Ruxxtin

* 8-Bit
* 16-Bit
* Stilts

> "*EN GARDE! Face the mighty might of Ruxxtin the Great!*"
> ― *Ruxxtin*
>
>

    **Ruxxtin**, also known as **Ruxxtin the Great**, is a boss in The Messenger. He is the second boss of the game and is fought at the end of the Catacombs. Ruxxtin is a newcomer necromancer who wishes to take over the world with his undead army. He wields a talking staff.

## Profile

### Appearance

Ruxxtin is a short person wearing an oversized purple necromancer outfit. The outfit has a hood-scarf-cape combo, the cape being so large that it trails on the floor. He wears purple shoulder pads outlined with yellow, a belt of three purple oval gems outlined with yellow, white sleeves, white pants, yellow gloves, and yellow shoes. His face resembles that of a skeleton, though he is confirmed not to be a skeleton.

Ruxxtin wields a talking white staff with a white skull and four decorative purple horns at the top.

A few times throughout the Catacombs and at the beginning of the Ruxxtin boss room encounter, only Ruxxtin's backside is visible. And due to the fact Ruxxtin is floating during these appearances, his long cape naturally trails downward and disguises Ruxxtin's true height, which is much shorter than the full length of the cape.

### Personality

Ruxxtin has a high perception of himself. After his change of heart, he becomes a very helpful friend for Ninja.

## Boss Fight

Ruxxtin's projectiles can be destroyed and Cloudstepped off of, even if Ninja does not own the "Strike of the Ninja" shop upgrade. Ruxxtin has three different attacks: High Platform, Skull Ship, and Floor. When he finishes an attack, he moves on to the next attack. Ruxxtin chooses one of two attack patterns: attack pattern #1 always begins with Ruxxtin spawning on top of the high platform, and attack pattern #2 always begins with Ruxxtin spawning on the floor. Once Ruxxtin has chosen an attack pattern, it remains fixed until death or the game is reloaded.

* Attack Pattern #1: High Platform → Skull Ship → Floor x2 → Skull Ship → High Platform → Floor x1 → Repeat
* Attack Pattern #2: Floor x1 → Skull Ship → Floor x2 → High Platform → Skull Ship → Repeat

### High Platform

Ruxxtin spawns on the singular high platform at the top of the arena. He uses his staff to summon a sweeping rain of green projectiles from the top of the screen, first a wave from left to right, then another wave from right to left. Then, Ruxxtin will teleport away and transition into his next attack. Ninja can avoid the projectiles by standing underneath the skull ship. If Ninja is particularly skillful, he can Cloudstep off of the projectiles to reach Ruxxtin's platform at the top of the screen.

### Skull Ship

Ruxxtin spawns on the skull ship floating in the middle of the arena and slowly pilots it left and right across the screen. A huge green energy beam column stretches from the bottom of the skull ship to the ground. Ninja can safely avoid the energy beam by being on the edges of the screen or being above the skull ship's elevation.

Ruxxtin will infinitely pilot the skull ship until he is knocked off by an attack from Ninja, which stops the energy beam. Ruxxtin flies through the air until he lands on the ground, where he sits stunned for 3 seconds or alternatively until 6 damage is dealt to him while he's on the ground. Then, he'll teleport away and transition into his next attack. After performing the "skull ship" attack, the skull ship continuously pilots itself left and right across the screen, even without Ruxxtin on it. (However, if Ninja is quick to knock Ruxxtin off of the ship before he can pilot it, then the ship will continue to remain stationary.)

### Floor

Ruxxtin spawns on the ground level, on the side of the room that's furthest from Ninja. Three times in a row, Ruxxtin will shoot four consecutive green energy projectiles from his staff that fly horizontally across the screen, and then Ruxxtin will pause for a moment. Then, Ruxxtin teleports away and transitions into his next attack, which is sometimes a repeat of the "floor" attack. This attack ends early if Ninja deals damage to Ruxxtin.

## Main Story

As Ninja ventures through the Catacombs, he is trapped in a particular room where the exits are closed off by pillars. A floating Ruxxtin teleports into the room, with only his backside visible. Ruxxtin laughs menacingly then raises his staff upward, summoning a hoard of Skeloutons and Bats before teleporting away. Once Ninja kills all of the enemies, the pillars disappear, allowing Ninja to leave the room. He continues through the Catacombs and encounters Ruxxtin again in an identical manner, this time having to dispatch three summoned Mermofwizquards.

In the shop just before Ruxxtin's boss room, Ninja asks The Shopkeeper for advice on how to handle the Ruxxtin boss fight. She does not have much helpful advice to provide since Ruxxtin is a relatively new foe from the Blue Robes's perspective.

Ninja enters Ruxxtin's room, and like usual, Ruxxtin is floating with only his backside visible. Ruxxtin delivers an evil monologue about how he plans to take over the world with his army of the undead. Ruxxtin's Staff privately draws attention to the fact that Ninja has arrived, which annoys Ruxxtin, who was eager to play with his evil lab. The staff angrily reminds Ruxxtin that it is the one who's in charge and commands Ruxxtin to say something threatening to Ninja without embarrassing the two of them. Ruxxtin floats down to the ground and turns around to face Ninja, revealing that Ruxxtin is very short. He does his best to act threatening until he notices that Ninja is The Messenger. Ruxxtin asks his staff for advice, and the staff recommends that the obvious course of action is to steal the scroll. Ruxxtin agrees this is a good idea and engages in battle with Ninja.

Ninja defeats Ruxxtin, and Ruxxtin yields. Ruxxtin's Staff states that it is unwilling to yield, though. Ruxxtin goes on to say that the two of them are clearly not cut out for being evil, no matter how many skulls they slap onto themselves. The staff asks Ruxxtin what the two of them should even do at this point, and Ruxxtin suggests starting with introspection. The staff is not pleased with Ruxxtin's answer, saying that it would rather stick with being evil. However, Ruxxtin reminds the staff that it can't do anything on its own without Ruxxtin to carry it. The staff concedes that it has no choice, which settles the matter. Ruxxtin promises to Ninja that he and his staff will no longer be evil. Ninja continues onward, leaving the Catacombs behind and entering Bamboo Creek.

After Ninja gains the power to freely time travel, he returns to the Catacombs in 16-bit. Strewn throughout various walls of the Catacombs are portraits of Ruxxtin and Ruxxtin's Staff, proof that the duo left behind a legacy. Ninja eventually reaches Ruxxtin's room to find a giant coffin decorated with an enormously tall wooden figure of Ruxxtin. Ninja opens the coffin and dusts flies out, which reveals an even tinier coffin, a letter from Ruxxtin addressed to The Messenger, and Ruxxtin's Amulet inside of it. This location is stated to be "Ruxxtin's final resting place."

The contents of Ruxxtin's letter:

*Dear Messenger,*

*If you're reading this, it means what my research indicated is true and you travelled 500 years into the future. I meant it when I said I was done being evil, I even planned for my relics to come to your aid. First is my Amulet, yours to keep and remember me by. I also left my staff at the top of Glacial Peak. It will answer to you as long as you carry my Amulet. Also, I did some digging around the Catacombs and I believe I found a secret entrance to a new area you should explore, though it was very dark. Look for the secret passage in the room with two bats and a moving platform.*

*Best of luck on your quest.*

*Ruxxtin.*

Ninja takes Ruxxtin's Amulet and eventually travels to the summit of Glacial Peak, where he interacts with Ruxxtin's Staff to travel to Cloud Ruins.

## Picnic Panic

*For the main article, see Picnic Panic.*

Ninja arrives in alternate-timeline Ninja Village and is directed by the Ninja Elder to head towards the western side of the village, where Ruxxtin awaits by the docks. Ninja approaches Ruxxtin, who floats down to the ground and swivels around, revealing that he is wearing tall stilts with cargo pants. Ruxxtin has trouble keeping his balance, and his skull ship can be seen floating in the nearby waters. He announces that he's aware of Ninja's plan to travel to Voodkin Island and offers to take him there on his skull ship. But suddenly, a pink tentacle emerges from the waters, steals Ruxxtin's stilts, and swims away. Ruxxtin requests Ninja for help in obtaining his stilts back, noting he has a date tomorrow. Ninja is hesitant at first but agrees to help out.

Ruxxtin and Ninja surf together on Ruxxtin's skull ship on the Open Sea, as Ruxxtin uses his staff as a boat rudder. At the end of the Open Sea, they encounter Octo, a large pink squid. Ninja and Octo engage in battle, and Ninja eventually wins. Ruxxtin demands for Octo to return back his stilts, and as they argue with each other, it becomes apparent that Octo is Ruxxtin's adoptive mom. Ruxxtin forcibly takes back his stilts and sails off to Voodkin Island. Pi arrives to console Octo as they discuss how they are saddened by Ruxxtin's refusal to return home, talking about how Ruxxtin's "necromancer" phase has gone on for longer than expected.

Ninja and Ruxxtin arrive to the western edge of Voodkin Shore, and Ruxxtin re-equips his stilts and cargo pants. He informs Ninja that he will be waiting for his return. Ninja can talk with Ruxxtin at any time in order to repeat Open Sea from the beginning in order to obtain any missing Voodoo Feathers. After Ninja rescues the captured Phobekins, they celebrate with a picnic near Ruxxtin's skull ship. Ninja can talk with Ruxxtin to learn that Ruxxtin is enjoying the celebration but needs to leave soon in order to attend to his evil lab. When Ninja is ready to leave, he and Ruxxtin sail back home to Messenger Island.

## Trivia

* Ruxxtin is referred to as "Necromancer" and "Necro" in the picture files, and Ruxxtin's skull ship is referred to as "Necromancer\_Ship" in the picture files.
* Ruxxtin's desk is referred to as "Catacombs\_8\_EvilLab" in the picture files. He also refers to it as his "evil lab" during his dialogue. A tome, some potions, and a green scrying orb are present on the desk.
* The "Sabobo Direct - March 2019" video reveals that Ruxxtin is not actually a skeleton.
* Thierry Boulanger, the main writer and director of The Messenger, has revealed additional information about Ruxxtin.
	+ It's possible for the Ruxxtin of the Picnic Panic timeline to know about Ninja from the original timeline since Ruxxtin has a scrying orb in his evil lab and is able to use scrying magic.
	+ Ruxxtin wanted to raise an army of the dead in order to impress the Demon King and get recruited to eventually serve The Fleshmancer.

## Achievements

*For the main article, see Achievements.*

## Gallery

The back of Ruxxtin's head's 8-bit talk portrait icon.Ruxxtin's 16-bit talk portrait icon.Ruxxtin's spritesheet.Ruxxtin's enemy summoning effect spritesheet.Ruxxtin's skull ship's spritesheet.Ruxxtin's coffin's spritesheet.Ruxxtin's coffin's dust sprite.Ruxxtin's coffin's dust cutout sprite.Spritesheet of Ruxxtin with stilts.Spritesheet of Ruxxtin after falling off his stilts.Sprite of Ruxxtin's stilts.Spritesheet of Ninja and Ruxxtin surfing.Spritesheet of Ninja receiving a Game Over while surfing with Ruxxtin."Skull [a] programmer drew to prototype the Ruxxtin fight before [Sabotage Studio] had artists."Picnic Panic intro cutscene, with a tiny Ruxxtin in the horizon.Ruxxtin's Steam trading card.Ruxxtin's Steam trading card artwork.Official T-shirt design for PAX East 2018, which depicts Ruxxtin in the upper-right.Key art #2, which depicts Ruxxtin in the lower-right.Key art #3, which depicts Ruxxtin at the top.Picnic Panic key art, which depicts Ruxxtin with stilts, catching flight while surfing with Ninja.
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GhRospmGv0&t=1301
> "*Look, the necromancer is a newcomer. All we know for now is that he plans on taking over the world with his undead army.*"
> ― *The Shopkeeper*
>
>
3. ↑ Thierry's Lore Tidbits#February 23, 2019;
Thierry's Lore Tidbits#August 25, 2019