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| “ | One day, that sword will be in my hand, and all will be MINE! | „ |
| ~ Ruber seeking to steal the Excalibur blade and threatens to take over the kingdom of Camelot. |
| “ | Oh no, the stone! | „ |
| ~ Ruber's last words. |
Sir Ruber, simply known as Ruber, is the main antagonist of Warner Brothers' 1998 animated feature film Quest for Camelot (which is based on The King's Damosel by Vera Chapman). He is a traitorous and evil former knight of the Round Table, who sought to gain ultimate power by taking over Camelot (and possibly the world) as well as avenge his previous defeat at the hands of none other than King Arthur himself. He also has his pet griffin as his second-in-command, and his metal minions for his cause.
He was voiced by Gary Oldman, who would later go on to play Dr. Zachary Smith in Lost In Space, Lord Shen in DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda 2, and Dreyfus in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Personality
Ruber is extremely manipulative, brutal and wicked in nature. He is an opprobrious, loathsome, prideful and iniquitous man who has the brink of his insanity, due to his obsession with his idea of becoming the new king of Camelot. He is shown to be an exceptionally tough, competent, brainy, authoritative and strong fighter, so he can defeat many knights and kill a dragon with nothing but his bare hands, and the way that he turns around and stops an assault that is coming behind him. But despite his impoliteness and pridefulness, Ruber was once loyal, allegiant and trustworthy to Arthur, but suddenly changed, because he is refused both the ways he wants the share of his land, and to become the self-proclaimed new king. Ruber is far different from the other knights, with his deformed look and his own brawny strength that makes him stand out.
Although he gathered his henchmen and the Griffin, he can also be annoyed, resentful and argumentative by their nonsensical stupidity and their clumsiness, especially where they are about to take Excalibur from the ogre. Ruber does not take this very well if Kayley or Garrett interfere with his plan, foiling them. However, little is specifically known about Ruber knowing about Excalibur that after he melded the sword to his arm, and later accidentally gets it trapped in the stone, meaning that he cannot pull himself or the sword out, which causes his unintentional downfall and demise.
Biography
As stated in the beginning of the film, Ruber was once a trusted knight of King Arthur and a member of the Knights of the Round Table. However, following the 10-year rule of peace and justice in Camelot, Ruber grew obsessive with power. During a meeting, he attempts to take advantage of his rank by desiring riches, to which Arthur refuses to allow. Ruber then takes up a stand by nominating himself for the throne of Camelot. One of Arthur's loyal Knights, Sir Lionel, berates him for it, swearing that no one will serve a false king. This drove Ruber into a murderous rage, wanting to kill Arthur with a mace, but the brave Lionel defended the king at the cost of his life, right before Ruber turn to attack Arthur. However, using Excalibur, Arthur beats Ruber back. Ruber then flees away from Camelot in exile, vowing revenge that one day he will claim Excalibur and all of Camelot to himself.
Following his 10 years in exile, Ruber has gathered a swarm of barbaric followers to support his cause to take over Camelot. As the tenth year passed by, Ruber formulated a plan involving to steal Excalibur and use land carriages to infiltrate into Camelot to exact his revenge. As started, he attacked the lands of Lionel's widow Lady Juliana to take hold of her land wagons, and forced her to tag along with his plan by threatening to kill her daughter Kayley (the protagonist of the film). Although Ruber has his pet griffin to steal Excalibur from Camelot, the theft is bungled and the sword is dropped into the Forbidden Forest, thanks to the intervention of Ayden, the pet silver-winged falcon of the legendary wizard Merlin. During the ransacking of Lady Juliana's village, Ruber uses a potion that he bought from some witches (the potion is labeled to have come from ACME) to transform his followers into an army of "iron men with hands of steel" and prepares to ride to Camelot. However, upon learning of the Excalibur's current location from the Griffin and seeing Kayley escaping into the Forbidden Forest to search for it, Ruber orders the Griffin and several of his men to follow her. During much of the film, Ruber and his posse chase Kayley (who is now assisted by Ayden, a blind hermit named Garrett, and a two-headed dragon named Devon and Cornwall), only to fall into some trouble with the forest's natural inhabitants.
Eventually, after Kayley finally found Excalibur, Ruber and his men eventually manage to clear off from the forest, and capture her and Ruber grabs Excalibur from Kayley. With the legendary sword finally in his possession, Ruber then uses his ACME potion to fuse it to his wrist, replacing his right arm. Delighted, Ruber continues on with his plan, gaining entrance to Camelot and attacking Arthur once more while the Griffin and the rest of Ruber's men ward off the rest of the loyal knights.
Fortunately, Garrett, Ayden, Devon, and Cornwall arrive to the rescue; while Ayden, Devon, and Cornwall deal with the Griffin by burning him, Garrett takes Kayley to an underground tunnel leading to the Round Table, where Ruber is attacking Arthur before declaring himself to be the new king. During the fight, Kayley overhears Ruber to Arthur about the death of Lionel. Swearing that she will not serve a false king, Kayley slams a wooden beam into Ruber, launching him out of the window, and she is trapped by him when she follows. Garett attempts to strike Ruber from behind with his staff, but Ruber blocks the attack and throws Garett next to Kayley. However, he is unaware that both Garrett and Kayley are next to the stone where Arthur once wield Excalibur from it before becoming king.
Ruber closes in for the kill, but when he is about to strike, the two lovers move aside and Ruber accidentally plunges Excalibur back into the stone. The power of the stone kicks in and Ruber, realizing this, attempts to pull it away to no avail, as the energy given off by the stone expunges the taint of his ACME potion from the sword. As a result, Ruber's soldiers revert to their ordinary human selves, allowing the Camelot knights to arrest them and reclaim their kingdom and Bladebeak is transformed back into a chicken and Devon and Cornwall were split into two, but decide to stay as one. At the same time, Ruber gets killed as the energies between the stone and the potion conflict with each other, disintegrating him to pieces, being destroyed by the very same power he sought to obtain.
Trivia
- Ruber is loosely based on the Red Knight from the novel that inspired the movie "The King's Damosel" (in turn an adaptation of a character already made the staple antagonist in Arthurian literature). Unlike Ruber, the Red Knight is a less prominent antagonist in the story, though still the instigator of the main plot. He is also nowhere near as affable.
- The name "Ruber" means "red" in Latin.
- Coincidentally, the villains which Gary Oldman has portrayed, Ruber included, are all authoritative, power-hungry and would-be dictators.
- Instead of screaming, Ruber laughs in agony while being destroyed by the stone.
- He is similarly designed as Drake from Don Bluth's 1995 animated film The Pebble and the Penguin, in which both have a strong physiques, and both are made for power, and do not consider their adversaries as a major threat, such as Drake considers Hubie as a "Stupid pa pa pa penguin", and Ruber considers Kayley as a "Little Girl", Garrett a "Blind man", and the Falcon a "Pigeon".
- James Woods and Tommy Lee Jones were considered for the role of Ruber, but James Woods had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Disney's 1997 animated film Hercules, and Tommy Lee Jones also had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Men in Black.
Template:Warner Bros. Animation Villains