Rhys

Rhys is a contestant in Total Drama Lodge. He is labeled as **The Gamer**.

## Biography

Rhys’ life revolves around video games. He works a retail job, but daydreams about video games. When he discovered the world of video game tournaments, live streams, and speed runs, becoming a professional gamer became his goal. He trains at becoming the very best, like no one ever was, at the cost of his personal relationships and other priorities.

Rhys joined Total Drama to build his platform and subscriber count.

## Total Drama Lodge

Upon arrival, Rhys was live-streaming his experience. He forced Ulysses to join him on stream, much to Ulysses’ embarrassment. Rhys said suggestive things to Ulysses, but it seemed as though his intent was platonic. One of the hosts, Nolan, confiscated Rhys phone when he announced that he would live-stream his experience on Total Drama. This bothered Rhys. Rhys also announced his plan to create a new video game where he cast Ulysses and Connie. Connie was against the idea, lumping Rhys in with the corruption of the entertainment industry. Rhys seemed annoyed that Olive was allowed to keep her phone.

Rhys was put on the Bewildered Bears team, along with Ulysses. Rhys put himself in charge of the musical theater challenge, and held an audition. After rehearsals began, Rhys was dissatisfied with the romantic chemistry of the leads. He then kissed Ulysses to give an example of passion. He left Ulysses flustered, but stated that they were platonic. He later decided that the show needed a villain. He and Ulysses were amazed by the rawness and grit of Hoagie’s audition, and selected him as the secret weapon for their show. This backfired, though, as Hoagie was incapacitated by an ice cream binge, and their team lost the challenge.

The following day, Ulysses brought breakfast to the table. Rhys assumed it was for him and ate. Nolan and Melinda spoke about software that needed maintenance, which Rhys overheard and volunteered for. The others were impressed with the final product, an elaborate fighting game with characters based on the contestants. Rhys and Ulysses abandoned the challenge, with Rhys assigning AI for his and Ulysses characters so no one would notice they were missing. They searched for Rhys’ confiscated phone, and on finding it, Rhys abandoned Ulysses resulting in his getting the full blame for ransacking a room that was off limits to the contestants. He also brushed Ulysses off when he wanted to spend more time with him. Rhys was voted out, the reason being given that the team did not like him. Rhys did not seem particularly upset. After his elimination, Rhys rushed out of the room and started recording a live stream for his followers. He became startled when someone started to pursue him, and this scene ended. In a separate scene, Nolan stated that Rhys had been apprehended.

## Trivia

* Rhys’ character image went through several iterations before settling on the final product.
* Rhys’ name means ‘enthusiasm’ or ‘passion’.
* Rhys’ shirt and undershirt are based on Jubilee from the X-Men. The design on his chest is meant to represent a firework.
* His sleepwear is based on Space Invaders.
* In his bio, there is a reference to the Pokémon anime theme song in Rhys wanting to be the very best.
* Rhys is a heterosexual. His flirting with Ulysses is either unintentional or a ploy to get him to perform tasks for him. It’s also unclear if Rhys realizes that Ulysses has a crush on him.
* Similar to Dulce, Rhys’ dialogue contains a lot of terms that could be related to video games. Some examples are ‘pause’, ‘continue’, and ‘player’. I had written a portion of his dialogue without these terms, but changed them in order to punch up his dialogue a little.
* Rhys states that he wants to bring back FMV games, which stands for full-motion video. This is a technique to record video game scenes with live actors. This was more common in the 1990’s with games like Phantasmagoria and The 7th Guest.
* Rhys was originally going to be much less over the top, and more of an every man. He was also going to make it very far into the competition. However, I decided to change his personality and placement in order to allow other archetypes to make it further.
* Rhys’ personality is based on an extreme version of a movie director, specifically Woody Allen. With Rhys filming things and directing the musical challenge, I incorporated video games and streaming into this concept to make it more unique.
* I had written a portion of dialogue in the opening chapter of Rhys spearheading a nude mod of a Bubsy style platformer reference, but found it unnecessary.
* In the image from Theater Major Disappointment, the seats in the background were originally purple. I changed it to green because it suited Rhys’ turtleneck better. It was also meant to represent green in the rainbow, with each other image for the chapter having hues of another color.
* Rhys is dressed as Wolf Hawkfield from Virtua Fighter in Virtual Brutality. I chose a very muscular character for Rhys to reference to highlight his delusion, as he says this physique is toned down from his real physique. He was also chosen for his similar hair color.
* The bodysuits Rhys and Ulysses are shown wearing in their image from Virtual Brutality are based on the costumes from Tron: Legacy.
* Every non group image of Rhys is just him with Ulysses. I thought this would be a unique thing for his episode images.
* Rhys being eliminated second was meant to be surprising.

## Gallery

Rhys in sleepwear.Rhys in swimwear.An early version of Rhys.An early version of Rhys.An early version of Rhys.Rhys among the Virtual Brutality selection screen.Rhys with his team, the Bewildered Bears.