Ruggie and Food

Ruggie grew up with food scarcity and talks about foraging for food with other children in his neighborhood, saying that while his grandmother looked after him there was only so much she could do about his going hungry.

Ruggie talks about asking for handouts, fishing in rivers and digging up fields after harvest season for discarded potatoes, saying that they were always hungry and always desperate.

Ruggie tells Trey about a time they managed to find a giant potato that had been somehow left behind after a harvest. He had hoped they’d be able to turn it into flour to ration out over multiple days, but instead his grandmother boiled it, roasted it and made a variety of different dishes to share with the neighborhood children until there was nothing left.

Ruggie says that food was all he ever cared about back then but he may have achieved some peace of mind by now when compared to before, though his wallet is still as empty as ever.

Ruggie has repeatedly said that he will eat anything that isn’t rotten, explaining how hyaena beastpeople have strong jaws and can break through large bones with their teeth, like real hyaenas. 

Jamil says that Ruggie’s tsum is “fixated on food” despite not having a mouth, which may be one of the ways it resembles Ruggie himself: Ruggie says he would hold a grudge forever if he missed out on fancy party food, and “as long as there’s food, you won’t hear any complaints from me.”

Despite his admitted fear of Malleus and Leona’s desire to leave Lilia’s farewell party Ruggie refuses to take the opportunity to return to Savanaclaw before Malleus arrives, as it would mean abandoning an opportunity for free food. Lilia observes, “A soldier who can still eat his fill when standing in an enemy camp is a formidable one indeed.”

Ruggie tells Leona “pride doesn’t fill an empty belly” in a line that he repeats to Jack in Leona’s dream.

Despite the shock of the circumstances of Leona’s dream world, when the rescue team needs a safe location to fall back to Ruggie chooses a restaurant in the city’s most expensive hotel because it is a place where he has always dreamed of eating (due to the famine of the dream world he does not get his wish).

While Ruggie is not a fan of Rook, he does attend Rook’s birthday party in order to tell him that Leona would not be coming. Rook observes, “Ruggie seemed to have quite an ardent appreciation for the food at the party.”

Enjoying food at parties is a theme for Ruggie as seen during Fairy Gala, Halloween and Spectral Soiree, where other characters comment on how much he eats (Silver: “Ruggie’s carrying seven plates at once, all piled high with food”.)

Ruggie refuses the offer of a dance with Riddle in order to prioritize the Spectral Soiree buffet, where he is joined by Lilia, who says that it is a pleasure to watch him eat. Ruggie takes a serving of everything available  at the party and says that it is nowhere near enough to fill him up.

Idia observes, “Ruggie’s spoon hasn’t stopped moving this whole time, even while he’s talking. And no sooner does he finish his soup than he’s moved on to the next dish. He’s like an eating machine!”

Ruggie says he wouldn’t say he is a gourmet: “I just eat anything that fills me up.”

Ruggie talks about eating twice as much at every meal as usual to keep up his stamina for new years at the school store, Kalim says that the last time he invited Ruggie to a party Ruggie ate more than anyone else and Grim says “(Ruggie) might be (his) biggest rival in terms of how much food he can put away.”

When Ortho says his wish for the Starsending event at NRC is for Idia’s wish to come true Ruggie responds, “How about wishing to be king? Or never having to worry about being hungry?”

Ruggie begins his Master Chef course by deciding to leave behind as many ingredients as possible so that he will be able to bring home anything he doesn’t use, but the chef ghost interprets his idea to make more food from fewer ingredients as the desire to cut down on food waste.

(Rook seems to draw a similar conclusion during Port Fest, saying that Ruggie promised to bring home all of their unsellable food, and, “Eliminating food waste is a wonderful thing.”)

Changing tactics, Ruggie decides to use every ingredient he has (and some leftover ingredients he receives from the ghost chef), increasing the size of the pan for his dish: “Instead of taking the extra ingredients, I’ll just take the leftover quiche!…I’m gonna dine like a KING tonight!”

Ruggie’s plan is almost compromised when the ghost chef encourages Trey to take home the leftovers instead. Due to Ruggie’s “scary look” Trey refuses the offer (“I’ll have to pass. I’d rather not get on Ruggie’s bad side”), with Ruggie successfully acquiring the desired leftovers.

Ruggie also receives the leftovers from the Spectral Soiree Halloween party, and Jade says that Ruggie always brings containers with him when he helps at Mostro Lounge.

Ruggie tries his best to eat even Kalim’s cooking during Culinary Crucible, saying, “I believe in cleaning every plate put in front of me. NO exceptions.” The chef ghost takes pity on him and helps Kalim to repurpose the dish, during which time Ruggie wanders into Trey’s vignette for food. Trey gifts Ruggie with a second pizza he has already prepared.

Kalim returns with his dishes repurposed into far more edible cuisine and Ruggie says, “It’s cool if I take the food I couldn’t finish to go, right? All those extra steps to fix the food made the portion size even bigger. I’m gonna be living off this for days!”

Ruggie will often mention his struggles to afford food: he is delighted to be selected as a judge for Master Chef, commenting that it is one less day of food expenses.

When wondering at the difference between the sizes in his and Leona’s clothing Ruggie reflects, “Guess that goes with the territory when someone gets a different diet and upbringing than the rest of us.I wish I was a little taller sometimes, but I bet that would come with extra eating expenses…”

Ruggie seems to enjoy camping during Vargas Camp because “There’s food wherever you look. And the best part? It’s free!,” and says he never missed a chance at a free meal.

After Ruggie helps out coworkers at Mostro Lounge, he asks them to replay him by letting him take home “an extra-generous comp meal.”

After describing a birthday he spent in town and eating with members of the Spelldrive club Ruggie says, “Enrolling here at Night Raven College has really opened my eyes to how awesome birthdays are.”

Describing a part-time job he once had at a ski resort Ruggie says, “best of all, I got all the free food I could eat!”

We learn from Rook that Ruggie gathers dandelions from around the school to eat in order to compensate for what he cannot afford, though when the prefect says they would like to try eating some he responds, “You’re so weird.”

He also has a voice line where he wonders if Jack is growing a cactus in his room for use as “emergency rations”. (Jack: “Ever since I learned that folks eat ’em in some places, I always tense up when Ruggie mentions cactuses.”)

When Ruggie tells Trey, “I dine on dandelions every now and then”, Trey responds that edible flowers in the Queendom of Roses are “grown in a controlled environment” and they “don’t eat random weeds”. 

Vil says that he received herbs from Ruggie for his birthday, and when he asked about them Ruggie revealed that he’d picked them around the school. 

Ruggie says that he doesn’t know much about flowers if they aren’t edible, and has a voice line where he wonders about eating snow.

Deuce says that he would want Ruggie to be with him if he were ever on a deserted island because Ruggie is good at fishing and picks a lot of the grass and things around the school, so getting food wouldn’t be an issue if Ruggie were there.

Ruggie says that he goes fishing in Crane Port from time to time, so it is possible that he is supplementing his locally-harvested dandelions and herbs with locally-caught fish.

Floyd says that Ruggie went fishing during preparations for Port Fest, catching a few and bringing them back to his dorm.

Ruggie says he never gives away his food both Idia and Deuce agree that Ruggie probably wouldn’t be willing to share food even if they were on a deserted island, but we have seen that this may vary by situation: in Book 4 Ruggie takes home “all the food that was about to hit its sell-by date at the cafeteria and the school store” for the specific purpose of giving it away to children in his neighborhood.

Jack explains that whenever school lets out for a long break, Ruggie stocks up on all the food he can get to share it with local children back home.

During his dream Ruggie receives free food from a vendor who refuses Ruggie’s offer of money in thanks for how Ruggie’s grandmother would feed them back when they were a child. When Ruggie arrives at the school one of the first things he does is share the food he has received with another student.

When given more food than he can eat by the vendors in the dream he says he will be sharing it with his father and grandmother, and the school he attends is revealed to allow both students and visitors alike to eat all the courtyard fruit they want, even if they are not enrolled. 

Explaining the school of his dream Ruggie says, “You know the three hyenas that served the King of Beasts, one of the Great Seven? Before they got connected with the king, they used to go hungry all the time. So here, we share food with anyone who’s hungry in honor of the hyenas’ spirit of solidarity.”

Even in his dream Ruggie struggled with food scarcity as a child. He explains, “I had a one-track mind for food back then…those days were rough. And that’s why I always take it seriously when I see other people who are hungry.”

Ruggie is shocked to learn that the world of his imagination was all a dream, saying, “You’re telling me all the food I’ve been eating wasn’t real?! I got ZERO calories from eating all those donuts I loaded with toppings?!”