Ruijerd Superdia

Ruijerd is a warrior of the Superd race, once a proud people of the Demon Continent. During Laplace's campaign he, like many Superd, was subjugated by deceit: he was given a spear that turns its bearer into a beast, and under its influence he disgraced his family's honor and killed his own kin. He is ashamed of this and hates Laplace.

After that war, persecution fell upon the Superd: they are regarded as absolute evil, used to frighten children, and kept away from cities. In truth, the "Superd's disgrace" is a curse laid upon them. For more than four hundred years Ruijerd tried single-handedly to restore his people's honor, and could not move a single step forward.

A tall warrior of the Superd race: emerald-green hair, porcelain-white skin, and a ruby-like third sensory organ on his brow. A vertical scar marks his face; his sharp eyes and stern look make a menacing impression. He wears an embroidered vest and trousers that strike Rudeus as Native-American in style.

He looks young for his race, yet his features betray countless battles. He long wore his hair long — until he cut it, having learned the remnant of his people's curse lingered there.

Behind a fearsome exterior hides a gentle, honest man, shy to the point of bashfulness. He loves children and cannot bear to see a child abandoned to its fate — "it wounds the honor of a warrior of the Superd race." His pride, in his own words, is "covered in scars."

Ruijerd is straightforward and cannot lie, keeps his given word to the end, and despises roundabout ways and cunning. Several centuries of persecution made him accustomed to the fear and rejection of those around him, but did not embitter him.

After the Teleport Incident, Ruijerd finds Rudeus and Eris, cast out onto the Demon Continent, builds a fire, and saves the children. Despite Rudeus's suspicions (the Man-God had been goading him to trust "the nearest man"), he vows to deliver the children to their homeland — on the other side of the world. Thus the Dead End party is born: Ruijerd, Rudeus, and Eris wander for three years from the Demon Continent across the Millis Continent to the Asura Kingdom.

Rudeus deliberately puts Ruijerd's name forward, doing everything good "in his name," so as to mend the Superd's reputation; thus the epithets "Dead End" the Guardian Ruijerd and Eris the "Mad Dog" come about. At the very threshold of home, Ruijerd learns from Rudeus that the Superd's dishonor is a curse, and that by cutting his hair he weakened it. At Eris's home they part: Ruijerd stays behind to search for surviving Superd and restore his people's honor, and takes Roxy's Migurd pendant as a keepsake.

Years later, Rudeus finds the lost Superd village — and there too finds Ruijerd, who has at last reunited with his people. In the final war against the Man-God, Ruijerd again fights side by side with Rudeus. After the victory he stays to rebuild the Superd village, becomes its representative in negotiations with the Kingdom of Beheyril, and grows close to the Greyrats — Norn tags along after him everywhere. Zanoba and Norn publish "Tales of the Superd Race," and the people's reputation gradually mends.

Ruijerd is an outstanding spear warrior. The third eye on his brow serves him as a biological radar: he senses living beings around him, which makes him an indispensable scout and sentinel (hence the epithet "the Guardian"). The radar, however, does not work underwater and does not react to labyrinth traps.

He is so strong that in hand-to-hand combat he surpasses almost anyone, which is precisely why his defeat by Orsted (who bested him with close-combat techniques alone, even shackled by his own restrictions) was a heavy blow to him. He eats neatly — cutting his food with a single fork, without a knife, "like butter."