Rubirules

Rubirules is the final antagonist and Man Behind the Man of Chris "Kirbopher" Niosi's original webseries, ''TOME: Terrain of Magical Expertise. An unseen entity for most of the series, Rubirules is finally revealed as a character in Episode 12: Secret of the Netkings and as a villain in the series finale Truth. Tears. Ambition. ''Originally presented as the game's jovial (if sarcastic) graphic designer; Rubirules is eventually revealed to be the mastermind behind the hacker orginization D-Buggers.org, and has been manipulating the antihero duo of Zetto and Kizuna into running the organization for him for supposedly benevolent means. In fact, his goal is to gain control of the dangerous virus Kajet and the Antivirus "Dragon Bug" program to control SOFDTI, the core AI that runs the game.

History
Rubirules was originally the Graphic Designer for Netking Software, a game company working on a new kind of interactive virtual reality that would allow players to control game elements directly with their thoughts. When the developers realized that they had accidentally created a fully sentient AI, Rubirules believed he could use the program to revolutionize technology and create a new world where he would be remembered as a hero. After being dismissed by the other Netkings (who believed SOFDTI was a living thing and should not be treated as a mere tool), Rubirules became embittered and began to concoct a plan on how to gain control of SOFDTI for himself. When he witnessed the virus SOFDTI accidentally created being sealed away, he realized that this virus was the key to controlling SOFDTI and monopolizing upon her to achieve his world vision. Rubirules contacted the two youngest members of Netking Software, Zetto and Kizuna, and convinced them to begin a hacker organization that would find the virus and contain it so that no user of the game would be hurt. He also made a secret deal with a young programmer named "Neomutant", who would help him create a program that would be able to control the virus once he had it in his grasp. However, this programmer secretly wanted to use Rubirules's plan as an opportunity for revenge against a girl who had rejected him, deciding to use her as the power source for the developing Antivirus program (which would put her in danger). This girl was named Stephanie, and eventually began to play the game TOME herself, befriending the young man who would discover the virus (Alpha) and therefore become a target for Rubirules's hackers. When his plan was set in motion, Rubirules returned to acting as the game's graphic designer, allowing Zetto and Kizuna to complete their mission while he aided them in subtle ways from the sidelines (such as by keeping the game's moderators off of their trail). Rubirules made Stephanie (known as "Flamegirl" within the game) the host for the new Antivirus once it was completed, and hid a piece of the Antivirus weapon in a character model that he randomly distributed to a player of TOME (this player would become Nylocke, a friend of Alpha and Flamegirl's).

When the virus finally escaped confinement and began to revert to its true monster form, Rubirules's plan was kicked into motion, and he aided the other Netkings in sealing it while Neomutant lured Flamegirl and Nylocke to the hacker base. Flamegirl and Nylocke were used to complete the Antivirus Weapon, known as the "Dragon Bug", but due to Neomutant's interferance Flamegirl was rendered comatose as a result. After the Dragon Bug was unleashed and began to do battle with Kajet, Rubirules revealed his true intentions to the other Netkings, asking if they wanted to aid him in his plan while being unaware of Flamegirl's current condition. When they refused, Rubirules began to put his plan into action himself, containing the virus and antivirus in gem prisons and taking them to the game's core to use on SOFDTI. After SOFDTI was revealed to be the controller of the mysterious user Gamecrazed, Rubirules bested her with the Antivirus and Virus programs before Alpha arrived to save Flamegirl. With aid from Zetto and Kizuna, Alpha wrestled control of the Virus away from Rubirules and bargained with it to become Virus Fusion Alpha; however, Rubirules merged with the Antivirus afterwards in order to be able to combat him and transformed into a monstrous form of his own. During the fight, Rubirules used his shapeshifting abilities to become a mirror image of Alpha, but this form too was defeated by a last burst of energy from the fused Alpha, and Rubirules was logged out of the game. Rubirules used his administrative abilities to return to the game and attempt to explain to the Netkings the reasoning behind his plan, but the government official codenamed "Giga" appeared to arrest Rubirules for violating rules set in place when the game was first revealed. Afterwards, Rubirules and Neomutant were both most likely arrested by the United States government, however, as a result of his actions, the fate of the game itself was left unknown.

Personality
Rubirules initially appears to be a jovial, if sarcastic, individual who serves as TOME's graphic designer, however, it is later revealed there is more to him than meets the eye. He is, in fact, an incredibly egotistical individual who wants to be remembered in history for his technological achievements, regardless of how his actions effect others. Rubirules is known to try and take credit for other people's work, and while he does not actively take pleasure in it, he is more than willing to sacrifice others if it gets him what he wants. He is also known to be a liar and manipulator, taking advantage of Zetto and Kizuna's fragile emotional states to get them to do his dirty work for him. Rubirules believes that others are foolish for caring about an AI like SOFDTI, and also believes that what he is doing is for the good of all mankind, however, SOFDTI knows via telepathy that what he really wants is to become famous and to gain attention in any way he possibly can. Rubirules ultimately cares about himself above all else, and ends up in prison as a result of engangering both a human life and the life of a digital beng.

Powers and Abilities
Rubirules is an ordinary human being in real life, having no particular superhuman powers or trats. He is, however, an incredibly skilled graphic artist and animator, and is also a good programmer, able to regulate a system of digitial avatars that functions as an important part of TOME. Within the world of the game, Rubirules possesses shapeshifting abilities, able to mimick the powers of any other player in TOME's interface. When merged with the Antivirus, Rubirules gains all of the powers of the purple flame in addition to  his normal powers, and is able to transform into a mosnter form with incredible power within the game. His normal powers are also augmented, and he is able to transform into a more powerful version of any user, with the Antivirus making their avatar discolored. He also has the ability to summon the Dragon Bug's head from his arm to attack foes, mirroring the appearance of Alpha when fused with Kajet.

Trivia

 * Rubirules is based on the character Rubyrulz from Tv Tome Adventures, where EXE/Execk was the mastermind behind the hackers instead. He actually incorporates elements from various TTA villains into himself, although he is not actually a villain in the original series.
 * Rubirules was originally going to transform into a different form during the final battle nicknamed "Graphix", but this idea was scrapped when Rubirules's overall design was altered into his current one.
 * Rubirules's real name has never been revealed.