Draft:Ruby Gillman (Character)

Ruby Gillman
First appearance	Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken (2023)
Created by	Brian C Brown Eliott DiGuiseppi
Voiced by	Lana Condor
In-universe information
Gender	female
Occupation	student at Oceanside high princess of the seven seas
Family	Arthur Gillman (father) Agatha Gillman (mother) Sam Gillman (brother) Brill (Uncle) Grandmamah (grandmother)
Home	Oceanside

Ruby Gillman is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated film Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken (2023) produced by Universal Pictures. She is voiced by American actress Lana Condor.

Her origins lie in the original pitch that Brian C Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi have made to Dreamworks. The screenplay was written by Brown, DiGuiseppi and Pam Brady. Ruby was a typical 15-year old teenager that had friends, a cute crush and a loving family, but she and her family are krakens who relocated to Oceanside 15 years earlier after Agatha rebelled against her mother and give up the throne to become a real estate developer.

The character made history as the first female titular character in a DreamWorks film.

Personality

Ruby is a quiet, shy and awkward kraken who lives in the seaside town of Oceanside. Just like the rest of her family, she lives her life pretending to be a human. She feels occasionally embarrassed and annoyed by her parents and younger brother but overall loves them all greatly. Being a sophomore at Oceanside High School, she tries her best to fit in with the other students, attempting to act as normal as possible. However, her awkwardness gets thrown at the forefront whenever she speaks to her beloved crush Connor.

Despite her persona, she had feelings of resentment towards her mother after she found out that her mom knew about her heritage but didn’t tell her. She also feels betrayed by “Chelsea” after she reveals herself as Nerissa, though she quickly bounces back after a heartfelt conversation with her uncle.

She has a reserved nature resulted in a lack of self-confidence and insecurity, which made many situations Ruby had to endure much worse for her. She was prone to heavy bouts of anxiety and some moments even led to panic attacks, such as when meeting the “new girl” in school, Chelsea, for the first time. Throughout the film, she starts to develop a sense of confidence, and by the end is able to become a brave and confident individual, someone who is inspiring to those around her.

Her interest in the ocean is an interesting one, and something that is seen all throughout the film. Even though she had never entered it, the ocean had always endeared her, appearing to be well-drawn to it. Her bedroom is filled with ocean-related knickknacks, and she reads a quarterly-released magazine called The Marine Biologist Quarterly, even if her mother expressed her objections. Despite this fixation, she was deathly afraid of the ocean, never wanting to be confronted by it in a situation, which stemmed from her mom’s anti-ocean rule. Her thalassophobia was severe when faced with trying to save a drowning Connor, she had a panic attack before accidentally falling in. This phobia was overcome after having a talk with Brill, deciding to take a leap of faith that would change her life forever.

Ruby, to put it mildly, is a math nerd. So much so that she originally decided to ask Connor, who she tutors in the subject, to prom with an advanced quadratic equation. She’s even a champion mathlete at her school, geeking out about the subject with her friends, even if they think it’s not very cool. Due to her ability to apply the steps of an equation to real life, she was able to evaluate the severity of the underwater volcanic area known as The Well of Seas by tossing a discarded ship into one of the currents. On top of this, she also figured out how to destroy the Trident of Oceanus by making use of the exponential growth formula using the three giant krakens’ laser eye abilities. This skill allows her to use her smarts to her advantage, making her more calculating.

Physical appearance

In her normal form, Ruby is spindly and aquamarine-blue-skinned with vibrant-turquoise eyes, followed by both fluttery-like eyelashes and thin eyebrows, both being navy-blue. Her shoulder-length, navy-blue tentacle hair sports a noticeable cyan gradient at the tips, and her most distinctive physical attribute are her ears, which resemble pectoral fins.

Her typical wardrobe includes a green turtleneck sweater, tucked into her purple high-waisted jean short-shorts. Her shorts are worn over a set of purple, dark gray and white leggings in a randomized-striped pattern. Ruby also sport light gray knitted-socks and dark purple combat boots, which includes indigo laces and toes along with black soles.

On certain occasions, Ruby has worn attire that differs from her normal outfit:

• Every night, she goes to sleep with a retainer.
• On some days, she goes to school wearing wireless white headphones which appear with a headband cushion and multicolored LED’s on top of the speaker covers. The speaker covers themselves have a raised symmetrical red and white pattern, resembling a buoy. These headphones are presumably shared by the two Gillman children, as Sam is seen wearing them later in the film.
• At the end of her prom presentation to her mother, Ruby wore her normal outfit with black sunglasses. She later wears these when walking out of school one day with Chelsea.
• The day after the library incident, Ruby wore her normal outfit with an oversized pale purple jacket and temporarily wearing the headphones and sunglasses. The jacket itself appears to be a rain jacket, with many sea-themed patterns sewn onto it.
• During prom, Ruby showed up with an outfit seemingly created by her kraken abilities. The outfit consists of a purple sparkling dress, a ‘crown’, and pearl earrings, ending off with her normal socks and boots.

Giant Kraken form

When exposed to ocean water, Ruby transforms into a giant kraken. In this form, her skin changes to purple, having a slight sparkling texture present throughout most of her body. Her hair is also affected by the transformation, getting longer in length, suckers that now line the inner parts, and having small, glowing strips in-between each lock. Ruby’s ears are larger, a visible sparkling gradient prominent on the ends. Her eyes become a vibrant purple, with her eyelashes being a darker coloration. On her now webbed hands and feet, the suckers are always visible, albeit lacking a glow. On her torso, she has six fins that jut upwards, with three on each side, resembling a ribcage. Her upper arms and legs gain three spikes on each, with her lower limbs now having pelvic fins that protrude from the outer sides for stability. Ruby’s most distinguishing trait in this form, besides her size, is the extra leg, which has the same appearance as the other two. This extra appendage also aids in movement throughout the seven seas.

When Ruby’s bioluminescence is activated, her skin glows a bright pink, with the ends of her hair glowing purple. Her torso fins shine to the point of appearing almost white. The suckers that line the inner parts glow a dark blue. As the bioluminescence goes down her arms and legs, it becomes more and more visible, even on her hands and feet. The suckers on them gleam a bright blue coloration.

When her body armor is in use, her entire body is coated in a thin scaly-like substance, making her appear darker than normal. Despite the darker coloration, the sparkling trait from her skin remains, appearing a bright blue color all over the armor.

Relationships

Agatha Gillman

Ruby has an incredibly loving bond with her mother, even though she made anti-ocean rules.

Arthur Gillman

Ruby shares a loving bond with her father.

Sam Gillman

Sam is Ruby’s "annoying little brother". They seem to have a typical sibling relationship, as he constantly teases her, which is where her annoyance for him came from. Despite their fights and disagreements, the two still care greatly about one another, as Sam shows his more fierce and protective side when Ruby is battling Nerissa.

When he discovers that Ruby is a giant kraken, he shows his immense excitement, perhaps too much since she ended up lashing out at him.

Grandmamah

Grandmamah is Ruby's grandma - or 'Grandmamah' with emphasis on the second 'mah' as Grandmamah prefers to be called, she is a blunt force and a somewhat warlord Kraken who wants Ruby to be next-in-line of the Kraken kingdom - to lead the kingdom as the new leader.

While she doesn't prefer Ruby's lifestyle - started by Agatha herself - she expressed strong dislike hiding amongst humans and is very against it; as she believes Ruby's heritage belongs to the Kraken kingdom, she still has a sense of understanding as Grandmamah allows her to go back to the surface but knows that Ruby will return eventually.

While Grandmamah is a bit forceful, she only really trains Ruby because she asks for it; unintentionally playing a role to Nerissa's plot and expresses her worry towards Ruby when she realizes Ruby was friends with the actual Mermaid Queen.

Even after winning against Nerissa, Ruby still shows some mercy as she does briefly stop Grandmamah from potentially killing Nerissa and Grandmamah follows Ruby's moral code.

Uncle Brill

At first Ruby doesn't know much about her uncle (her mom's brother) but now she does.

Chelsea Van Der Zee

Chelsea Van Der Zee (or Nerissa) is one of Ruby's 'sea-girl' bestie as Ruby is a Kraken while Chelsea is a mermaid, but this relationship is only one-sided as Chelsea is only forming an ill-advised friendship with Ruby; essentially manipulating her with a fake story and her fake motive of wanting to get the Trident of Oceanus to end the war between Krakens and Mermaids.

After Nerissa continues manipulating Ruby to the point where Ruby finally accomplishes their goal of 'getting the Trident', she outright says her plan to Ruby and did not hold back in killing Ruby - but unbeknownst to Nerissa, Ruby lived and the two eventually fought in the surface, with Ruby and the other royal Krakens winning the battle due to her obsession of keeping the Trident.

Even while Nerissa being in such a vulnerable state after losing to the three royals, Ruby still shows some mercy as she does briefly stop Grandmamah, despite all of the bad actions that Nerissa has done to Ruby, Ruby still decides to spare Nerissa, showing that she still has a kind and merciful heart.

Connor

Ruby loves to math-tutor Connor but he has a sweet-natured innocence that she can't find irresistible, so much that she longs for them to go "prom" together (even though neither are a "prom" kind of person), however after an embarrassing prom-posal goes awry, Ruby finally jumps into the water to save Connor from drowning (even though Chelsea is mis-credited as the one who saved him), throughout the film, their relationship grows.

Margot

Margot is the main reason Ruby decided to go to prom as well as her best friend.

Kraken Abilities

• Body Armor: Ruby possesses a protective body armor that offers enhanced defense. The armor can be summoned by Ruby at any time to protect herself from any physical harm. The armor itself seems to likely possess tough rock-like properties. This power is only activated when Ruby is in the ocean.
• Camouflage: Ruby inherits the ability to achieve a full invisibility-like camouflage. This ability allows her to blend seamlessly into her surroundings. It is only activated while on the ocean.
• Laser Eyes: Ruby possesses the ability to emit powerful laser beams from her eyes. These laser beams are formidable weapons in combat, capable of inflicting significant damage upon her adversaries.
• Super Speed: Ruby is able to move at incredible speed while in water, capable of moving at superhuman velocities. In the movie trailers, she showcases her speed underwater, showcasing her agility and swiftness.
• Elasticity: Ruby is able to flex her body while on land, she can reach thing that are far away. Most of the Gillman family seem to share this trait.

Despite her mother and grandmother sharing the same powers, she is easily the most powerful of the royals due to her young age, quick study traits and quite a few attributes that make her on edge than the two former.

International Voices

Lana Condor (English)

Li Mu (Taiwan)

Zhang Mansha (Hong Kong)

Yaroslava Nikolayeva (Russian)

Elena Trayanova (Bulgaria)