Rugged Ridge

"You'll never best a bluff, persevere a peak, or curb a cliff -- just give up now!"

—Rugged Ridge, Death Screen

**Rugged Ridge** is one of two Run and Gun levels located on Inkwell Isle Three. It is based off of surrealist art and Greek mythology. You can start this level by interacting with the target on the ground on the western side of the area. This can be accessed by heading through the locked gate that opens after completing the Honeycomb Herald level.

## Enemies

 Pyro Head | These living balls of fire will circle platforms, dealing contact damage, but their pattern is set. They have 9999 Hitpoints, and killing them will freeze them in place.
 Mountain Lion | At one location each in sections 1 and 3, there will be giant stone lions whose roars are able to push the player back, which could cause them to be damaged by enemies and/or fall off a ledge in section 1.
 Clay Golem | These monsters, which come in various sizes, will walk across the platform. The player must shoot them until the golems are killed, or jump over them.
 Grim Jr. | These tiny dragons (that look very much like miniature versions of Grim Matchstick) spit fireballs at the player, some of which can be parried.
 Satyr | These satyrs will pop out of the dirt and skip towards the player. They skip as fast as the player's walking.
 Face | This face spits oil at the player. One of the pieces of oil can be parried, as can the face itself, allowing the player to jump over the face. It can also be destroyed.
 Cyclops | "Fee fi fo fum, I'm the guardian of this ruined land."
—Rugged Ridge, Cyclops
A huge cyclops will start chasing the player later into the level. He can't be hurt and will break platforms. The player must do some platforming until they reach the end, where the cyclops seemingly trips and falls over into the pit he was walking in. He has a unique death quote when dying in his section of the level.

## Statues

These are the statues that are seen in section 3:

* A fork archer
* A saucer
* Another saucer
* A (seemingly nude) chipped cup who is about to throw a saucer
* The Legendary Chalice
* A plate
* A spoon
* A figure with only one foot and half of another foot remaining (It is unknown who or what this statue would have represented.)
* An old teapot
* Another spoon carrying a stack of cups, in a pose similar to that of Atlas carrying Earth
* Two unidentified soldiers wearing armor (or empty suits of armor)

There are some statues which seem to correlate with characters in the game. For example:

* Chalice = Legendary Chalice
* Cup = Cuphead and/or Mugman
* Teapot = Elder Kettle
* Fork = Silverworth

At the beginning of the final section, a head can be seen, it is presumed this head belongs to one of the suits.

## Sections

There are four sections in this platforming level:

1. A mountainous area with mountain goats and scales that the player needs to balance on to jump to the next platform.
2. The next section takes the player on an elevator where the player has no choice but to survive until the platform hits the floor.
3. A path where satyrs pop out of the ground and walls spit oil at you.
4. An auto-scrolling section that takes place in what appears to be a ruined castle. The player must jump from platform to platform to escape the cyclops chasing them.

## Gallery

*The Cyclops' mugshot when you die during her section**An unused Cyclops sprite**Scale sprite**The* Calix Animi *emblem**A statue of the Legendary Chalice**A statue of an old teapot**A statue of a saucer**A second statue of a saucer**A statue of a cup about to throw a discus**A broken statue of a fork archer**A statue of a spoon balancing three cups on their back**A broken statue of an unidentifiable spoon-like figure**A statue of a knight or a suit of armor**The Cyclops tripping**Fireballs**A spinning pickaxe**A pencil test of the clay golem walking*
## Trivia

* This is the only Run 'n' Gun level in which the Mini-Boss cannot be defeated.
* This is the only Run 'n' Gun level to have two different death quotes.
* The statues in this Run 'n' Gun level are similar to Legendary Chalice.
* There was a glitch on this level where is if the second player makes it to the level when Player 1 is dead then the lift wouldn't go down.
* This is the only Run n' Gun level where you don't have to wait for the enemies to show up. Instead, you fight the first enemy encountered (a Mountain Goat) immediately.
	+ This is also the only Run n' Gun without a free-range pathway at the beginning. Instead, the player could fall off the large cliff platform that they start on, or they could take damage from a Mountain Goat's pickaxe and fall down the pit.

### Inspirations and similarities

* The beginning of the level resembles Act 2-2 of *Ninja Gaiden* for the NES.
* The Cyclops enemy's death line says 'fee fi fo fum', like the giant in the famous children's fairytale "Jack and the Beanstalk".
* The Cyclops may have been inspired by the cyclops from *The 7th Voyage of Sinbad*, which was animated in stop-motion by Ray Harryhausen
* The Cyclops behaves much like the introduction to the boss Mecha Dragon from the game Mega Man 2.
* The Mountain Goats resembles the *Hammer Brothers* from the *Super Mario* franchise.
* Aside from the Dragons (which have the same influences as Grim Matchstick), two other characters appear to be influenced by characters from *Silly Symphonies* cartoons:
	+ Pyro Heads are similar to the Flame from "The Moth and the Flame".
	+ Satyrs are similar to Pan from "Playful Pan"