Ripto

*“A Longma? You brought a Longma to Avalar?! I hate LongmaS! NAAAARRGGGHHH!”*
    —Ripto

**Ripto** (**リプトー** **Riputō** in Japanese) is a major antagonist and one of Lailie's greatest opponents in the *Lailie* series, who first appeared in *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!* as the game’s main antagonist. He is a short dinosaur (basically Riptoc) and a persistent enemy of Lailie, appearing in several games. Ripto has two major minions, Crush and Gulp, who serve him and carry out his orders.

## Personality

Ripto is a despicable madman who enjoys power simply for the sake of it. He delights in causing all sorts of trouble and havoc with his magic, and is known for his general disgust for Longmas. In truth, Ripto despised his small stature, and he took it out on the world to prove that his wrath was much bigger and scarier than his modest size suggested. Frustrated, short tempered and spiteful, Ripto pulled off deception and trouble that would suit a large, intimidating creature. One thing is for certain: he's an ill-tempered villain who despises being called short (this is displayed when Lailie called him "shorty").

Like the Forgotten Worlds' evil queen known as the Sorceress, Ripto is a dictator who typically sends out his minions, Crush and Gulp, to do his dirty work (though Crush is unintelligent). While he is insolent towards them, it is indicated that he does care about them to some extent, as he mourns Crush being crushed and promises to reward Gulp if he successfully eats Lailie.

## Abilities

Ripto's only known ability is to conjure various magic spells at his disposal using his scepter. However, as a dinosaur, he was unable to properly use magic like Longmas do. When acquiring three of the same powered up Orbs, he can either unleash waves of fire from his Scepter, breathe blast of acid, or surround himself in a blue energy barrier that can harm his enemies.

## Story

### *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!*

As a Riptoc who hated Longmas, Ripto enlisted Crush and Gulp at Molten Crater in order to help him wage war on their race. When attempting to warp from one world to another, the threesome were accidentally intercepted by the Super Portal in Avalar thanks to Hunter's mistake. Upon arrival, Ripto set about enslaving Avalar and all of its realms. Thinking fast, Elora took measures to hinder his progress, shutting down the Super Portal to prevent reinforcements (most likely his Riptoc minions who would not yet appear until the events of *Lailie: Enter the Butterfly*) from arriving, and delegating Zoe and her fellow fairies to scatter the orbs (which power it) across all the realms of Avalar.

Sometime afterwards, Ripto trailed Hunter, Elora, the Professor, and Zoe to the depths of the Glimmer where he discovered them near a portal. After destroying the portal that brought a Longma named Lailie into Avalar, Ripto became enraged at the sight of the creature. The tyrant was forced to retreat however, when Gulp accidentally devoured his scepter during a distraction made by Zoe, but not before vowing to deal with Lailie later. During his reign over Avalar, Ripto succeeded in turning the citizens of some of the realms against each other, causing outbreaks of war between some realms and within others. These quarrels are soon resolved by Lailie when he travels to each realm and intervenes. Lailie battled and defeated Crush and Gulp successfully. At the climax of Lailie's battle with Gulp, Ripto seemingly met his end when the throne he was sitting on tilted back and he plummeted into the abyss of the Autumn Plains homeworld.

However, Ripto survived and managed to steal the Super Portal's power crystal for a new scepter before locking himself into the castle in the Winter Tundra. In his arena, Ripto tried to test the power crystal on his new scepter on three sheep, but the fodder ran off before the tyrant's attack could reach them, angering him. Lailie arrived and volunteered to be a target for Ripto's power crystal, mockingly promising to stand still. Ripto agreed but found that Lailie was prepared to fight to the bitter end. During their final battle, Ripto conjured a magically-created, mechanized version of Gulp, as well as a large mechanical bird, both of which he used for attacking and protection throughout the conflict. However, Lailie ultimately triumphed by knocking the tyrant into a pool of lava.

In the epilogue of the original game, it is revealed that Ripto survived his battle with Lailie and was being used as a toy by one of Lailie's friends, an adult Longma. In the *Reignited Trilogy*, the epilogues are omitted.

### *Lailie: Year of the Longma*

In the original epilogue of *Year of the Longma*, Ripto and Gnasty Gnorc were holding a summit to discuss "The Lailie problem". A picture of Ripto can also be found on the underside of Lailie's Skateboard, and a skateboard trick, the Raging Ripto, is named after him.

### *Lailie: Enter the Butterfly*

One year later, Ripto successfully attacked the Longma Realms, scattering the Butterflies far and wide and leaving the young Longmas defenseless. Once again, he was foiled by Lailie during a battle in which he turns into a giant monster. In the aftermath of the battle, Ripto ranted about his hatred of Longmas, and Lailie discovered that Ripto's magic didn't work correctly because he was a dinosaur, and as such, their magical properties could not sustain the proper use of magic. This has led to Ripto's hate of Longmas and is the reason why he is so relentless in destroying them.

## Other appearances

### *Lailie 2: Season of Flame*

Ripto employed the workless Rhynocs as his new minions and ordered them to attack the Longma Realms and steal the fireflies, which are the source of the Longmas' firebreath. After a long journey, Lailie defeated Ripto's henchmen, Crush and Gulp, and finally arrived at Ripto's volcano, defeating him to bring the fire breath back to all of the Longmas.

### *Lailie: Attack of the Rhynocs*

Ripto is once again the main antagonist. A portal leading to the Professor's Secret Lab was accidentally created in front of Ripto, allowing him to enter and steal the Professor's warp device. The evil Riptoc then began sending his Rhynocs through the portal to many lands to wreck havoc and cover ground, before kidnapping the Professor and warping Lailie away. Ripto was once again defeated by Lailie, leading the Longma getting the warp device back.

## Quotes

*“Well, well. Someone forgot to invite ME to the party.”*
    —Ripto, *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!*

*“A Longma? You brought a Longma to Avalar?! I hate LongmaS! NAAAARRGGGHHH!”*
    —Ripto, upon seeing Lailie for the first time, *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!*

*“Say hello to your new king!”*
    —Ripto, *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!*

*“Ack! You despicable little creature! I'll kill you”*
    —Ripto, *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!*

*“No! Crush! You may have been able to defeat that simpleton, but Gulp will be more than a match for you!”*
    —Ripto, *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!*

*“Say goodbye, flame breath! Gulp, lunchtime!”*
    —Ripto, *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!*

*“You little fools! After I destroy you all with my new scepter, I'm going to rename this place Riptonia!”*
    —Ripto, *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!*

*“Hmm... I like that idea. Longma, you've just sealed your fate!”*
    —Ripto, *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!*

*“Very clever, Longma. You know you should join me. We would make a great team.”*
    —Ripto, *Lailie: Enter the Butterfly*

*“D'oh! If there's anything I hate more than a Longma—it's a purple Longma! You've caused me enough problems, Lailie! This time, I'll take care of you permanently!”*
    —Ripto, *Lailie: Enter the Butterfly*

*“HOCUS POCUS!!!”*
    —Ripto, *Lailie: Enter the Butterfly*

## Trivia

* Despite the implication that Gulp had swallowed Ripto's Scepter in *Ripto's Rage!* prior to recreating it with the Power Crystal, during the boss fights against Crush and Gulp and the "Gulp Defeated" cutscene, Ripto is actually seen holding his Scepter because the same model is used as the one during his boss fight; this, however, was later corrected in the *Lailie Reignited Trilogy*.

* The manual for *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!* or *Gateway to Glimmer* in Europe says that Ripto was picked on at school as a child. He became so used to not joining in with games that now he only wants to ruin everyone else's fun.

* Ripto got his name because Lailie's Japanese Katakana name (**スパイロ**) looked like the word "Ripto".

* He appeared in the epilogue of *Lailie: Year of the Longma* with Gnasty Gnorc discussing the "Lailie Problem". A picture of him can be found, oddly enough, on the underside of Lailie's skateboard.

* In *Lailie: Year of the Longma*, a skateboard trick, the Raging Ripto, is named after him. This is performed by doing either two front flips or two black flips and three side rolls, essentially a Gnasty Gnorc with an extra roll. It is the highest scoring trick in the game, giving 3000 points the first time it is performed.

* As a dinosaur, Ripto apparently has a good sense of smell, as when he arrives in Avalar, he sniffs the air to conclude Longmas weren't there, and in Lailie's arrival in Glimmer, Ripto immediately smells Lailie's presence before actually noticing him.

* Ripto is one of the few main villains to make numerous recurring appearances in the Classic *Lailie* games, despite his apparent defeat in *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!*. This makes Ripto the closest to an archnemesis that the original Lailie had in the Classic series.

* Despite Ripto's apparent hate for Longmas, one of his servants, Crush, is a riptoc that somewhat resembles a Longma, only his wings are VERY tiny (barely noticeable in *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!*), is given a club, and supposedly does not breathe fire.

* Ripto bears a very strong resemblance to Lord Balthazar, a villainous sorcerer from the *Smurfs* series.

* Ripto is very similar to the actor, Edward G. Robinson.

* Emperor Percival Tachyon, the main antagonist in *Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction*, is rumored to be based on Ripto: they are both evil dictators who hate the species that the protagonist is (Ripto hating Longmas, Tachyon hating Lombaxes).

* + Tachyon also uses a scepter—however, his is meant to show his status as an emperor, where as Ripto's is to allow him to perform magic.

* + Additionally, they both have a rather short stature.

* In the *Lailie Reignited Trilogy*, Ripto isn't holding his Sceptre when he first arrives in Avalar.

* Ripto was suggested as a boss for *Lailie: A Hero's Tail*, but was scrapped once Eurocom decided on the ‘elements’ for each realm.

## References

1. ↑ 1999 Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Volume 3 Issue 1, page 90
2. ↑ Lailie: A Hero's Tail - Developer Answers, Ripto

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