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Ruggy the Pebble

One of The Dark Four, appearing as a recurring character in the second season of the ElamenSTAR anime. Ruggy was a small frail boy with white hair, wide and vacant eyes, a haunted expression, and ill-fitting clothes. He was able to wield awesome powers of Earth Elemenstation both for great offensive and defensive effect.

Mendus the Mind, the leader of the Dark Four, found Ruggy in an orphanage (which was apparently just a cover operation for a jute mill) and somehow recognized his untapped potential. He rescued - some may say kidnapped - Ruggy and pressed him into service as the surprise muscle for the group. Ruggy seemed hungry for approval or any sign of affection or normalcy, but the other three of his group clearly had no desire or capacity for providing this for him.

Incongruous with his appearance and demeanor, his powers made him a formidable foe for the Underdogs, able to individually best any of them. This fact was particularly galling to Lander, the group's own Earth elemenstor. The only weakness that the Underdogs were able to exploit was a vulnerability to the Sound of Ondori, which they discovered in Journey to the Center of the Earth's Crust. This weakness perhaps implies a relation between Ruggy and MooMaa, although this was not explored in the series. Also not explored was the source of Ruggy's arcane knowledge, such as his detailed knowlege of the inner workings of the Tower of Power as demonstrated in the Monsters of the Shadows episode. On several occasions, Ruggy made claims under his breath that he had the ability to summon a pink Oni (the fiercest variety), but if he had this ability, he never manifested it on the show.

Further exploration of the character's unplumbed depths was cut short when he was unexpectedly and uncerimoniously killed in Episode 224. He was struck in the back by a powerful bolt of magical energy fired by Erlenminster and he instantly burst into a million tiny shards.

Interviews with Tomono Shuuan reveal that he had more planned for the character. He made claims that biographical details of the character were based on those of his own son, Ichigo Shuuan, although it is difficult to determine exactly which details to which he is referring. Apparently on outlining his vision for future of the character to Kazuki Tatsumaki (the lead story writer for season two), Kazuki killed Ruggy in the next scripted episode.