He’s bad, and that’s good! He’ll never be good, and that’s not bad! He’s Wreck it Ralph: the kindest bad guy
in the arcade. But what does good or bad, moral or immoral
look like in a system where characters are pre-programmed to carry out roles in a game? Does being good mean winning a medal for fixing
some busted windows? Does being bad mean giving the player a game
over? We’re about to find out. I’m Kyle from WickedBinge and this is Wreck-It
Ralph: Good to Evil. Let’s start with the number one best good
guy: Fix it Felix Jr.
Fix-it Felix: all around handy-man, and hero of his own game is an incredibly kind soul
whose programming compels him to do one thing: fix it. When Ralph breaks a building, he fixes it,
every day for thirty years. For this, he’s treated to a hero’s welcome
by the folks of Niceland inside his video game. But Felix never lets this go to his head. He’s down to Earth and appreciative. His one downside is that his convictions are
so strong that it’s difficult for him to comprehend a situation in which version of
“good” or “triumph” isn’t the best outcome for everyone. For thirty years, while always being amiable
to Ralph, he had no idea Ralph resented being forced to be the bad guy and being kicked
out of Niceland day after day. He simply assumed that Ralph embodied the
badness he externalized in his day job as Wreck-It Ralph. In short, Felix is his day job. Ralph isn’t. This disconnect is something that Felix never
knew until Ralph went AWOL and escaped his game. Now, a weaker character may have collapsed
in the face of such cognitive dissonance, but not Felix. Instead, he falls back on his old school beliefs
“that he has to fix what Ralph wrecks,” and proceeds to track his co-worker down. Along the way, he finds love in a sharpshooting
Sergeant, and eventually is able to grow enough to see the world from Ralph’s perspective,
eventually helping him save the arcade from the cy-bugs and Turbo. And, in the sequel, he and his new bride Calhoun
adopt the orphaned Kandy Krush racers (a thankless job!) and, incredibly, parent them into model
children. There’s truly nothing Felix can’t fix. Hot on Felix’s heels is a character with
little screen time, but an outside influence on the moral backbone of the Wreck-it Ralph
universe: Zangief. Zangief is a villain from the streetfighter
series, and a member of bad-anon, the bad guy support group. When Ralph is having second thoughts about
being a bad guy, Zangief is able to offer a touching (crushing?) story of his realization
that the bad guy allows the good guy to exist — and
therefore allows the player to triumph. “Zangief, you are bad guy, but this does
not mean you are a bad guy.” Without the challenge of the bad guy, there
can be no good, and therefore no triumph. This concept of fulfilling the role but not
letting the role define a character, neatly captures the philosophy of Wreck-it Ralph,
and eventually how the citizens of Niceland treat Ralph by the end of the movie: as a
good guy who plays bad. Truthfully, all off the villains at bad-anon
seem like sweethearts, so we could probably put a lot of them here… Bowser, Satiene, Clyde the Pacman ghost… But Zangief is the best ambassador of the
group, so we chose to focus on him. Given the fact that there are so many of them…
and they all work together for the same goals… We’re going to through in all of the Disney
Princesses next. Yes, there are a lot of them… but given
their roles are small, we can’t rank them all separately... Then again…. Maybe we should do Disney Princesses: Good
to Evil for a future episode… It goes without saying that the Disney Princesses
are good characters. In fact, they’re heroes in their own right. But… at the same time… They aren’t really heroes in their traditional
sense… Contextually, they’re fictional characters
even within the fictional Wreck It Ralph story…. Confusingly meta, maybe…. But they’re also very sweet and nice characters
who immediately befriend and help Venellope. And let’s not forget…. They also help Ralph during the climax of
the film proving that… even when you put aside their traditional backstories… they’re
still heroes in this universe as well. Following up on Zangief is the man who makes
the magic possible: Mr. Litwak. Mr. Litwak is the longtime owner and operator
of the arcade. He’s a kind-hearted soul who has a real
affinity for his games — almost treating them like the conscious being they secretly
are. When he has to unplug a malfunctioning game,
we see him in genuine emotional pain. This is a man who cares. Not only does he care for his games, but he
cares about his patrons. He works hard to ensure his arcade is up to
snuff for his young patrons, threading the needle between the latest technological breakthrough
and the classic oldies. Up next, we finally have Ralph: the bad guy
in the video game “Fix-it Felix Jr.” He wrecks a building every day. That’s his day job. However, as the “bad guy,” Ralph has had
to endure years of abuse at the hands of the citizens of Niceland and he’s become resentful. It’s this resentment that ultimately drives
Ralph to try and become a good guy by abandoning his game in pursuit of becoming a hero. Unfortunately, leaving his game makes Fix-It
Felix Jr. unplayable — threatening the game with being unplugged from the arcade. A pretty selfish choice. It’s this push and pull between being selfish
and selfless that propels Ralph through both movies. In the first, his antics accidentally unleash
a wave of monstrous cy-bugs on the game Sugar Rush, where he winds up befriending a young
racer, Vanellope, and ultimately uncovers a conspiracy to keep Vanellope (the true ruler
of Sugar Rush) as an unplayable outcast by the diabolically sweet King Candy. When the coins are down, Ralph makes the decision
to sacrifice himself in order to save Vanellope’s life — rescuing the arcade in the process. In the sequel, Ralph has made peace with being
a bad guy — as long as the citizens of Niceland realize it’s just his day job. He hasn’t however, made peace with how friendships
can evolve. Ralph’s greatest weakness in the sequel
again falls back on his selfishness — he fears losing his friend Vanellope to a new
and cool game, and in a moment of weakness, he releases a virus to slow down Vanellope. He ultimately has to, literally, face his
weaknesses and overcome them, and ultimately has to let his friend make her own decisions,
but it’s still a profoundly tough moment of growth for our lovable wrecker. His tireless persistence, his huge heart,
and powerful penchant for personal growth place Ralph as number five on our good to
bad list. Frankly, Ralph’s soul searching did him
good… a few more meetings with Bad Anon and maybe a self help book might help him. There are plenty on Audible! which we’re
lucky enough to have as a sponsor! Audible’s content includes an unmatched
selection of audiobooks, original shows, news, comedy and more -- In fact, a lot of the best
Disney films have been adapted to audiobooks! Including Wreck It Ralph. If you’d like to help support the channel,
use our link in the description for a FREE audiobook and 30 day FREE trial. Sign up at audibletrial.com/wickedbinge. We love cartoons and movies, but we also love
binging audio-books on Audible. And remember, signing up for a free trial
helps support the creation of our content. Moving on, we have everyone’s favorite non-alcoholic
barman: Tapper. Tapper is a bit like Mr. Litwak: he operates
an establishment that brings people together, and he does a damn fine job doing it. He’s there to offer some sage advice when
asked, or sling down half a dozen root beers. He’s a pro who’s always there to help
out a customer without serving up a single complaint. Next up, let’s talk about Sergeant Calhoun. Sgt. Calhoun is the no nonsense leader of
Hero’s Duty — a new and dangerous shooter game in the arcade. She is programmed to help the player destroy
the cy-bug menace in her game, and will stop at nothing to eliminate their threat. Her gruff nature comes from having the most
tragic backstory ever programmed: her fiance was killed by cy-bugs on their wedding day. This mental war-wound has stripped Calhoun
of her friendly nature, and threatens to consume her with thoughts of vengeance, but by teaming
up with plucky Fix-it Felix, she’s able to learn how to move on, and eventually love
again. Plus, like her new husband Felix, she adopted
the orphaned racers from Sugar Rush. That’s charity work. Now let’s talk about Ralph’s best friend
and the rightful ruler of Sugar Rush: Vanellope Von Schweetz. When we first meet Vanellope, she’s an outcast
kid in a racer game who just wants to race. And for some reason, no one will let her do
so. Instead, she’s mocked as a dangerous glitch. Her goal is to win a single after-hours race,
because then she’ll finally be playable by kids in the arcade. To accomplish this, she needs an entry token. When Ralph crashes into the game from Hero’s
Journey, she steals his medal as her entry token. Theft is a crime! She doesn’t win the race, but she does win
a friend, and ultimately, she uses her incredible glitching powers to save Ralph’s life in
the finale, whisking him to safety. Even after being revealed as the Princess
and ruler of Sugar Rush, Vanellope pardons the bullies who have wronged her for so long
(after joking about killing them, of course). It’s this drive for what is right, combined
with her self-sacrifice and mercy that lands Vanellope firmly on the ranking of good on
Good to Evil. Finally, we’re back to sequel characters. Next with: Yesss! Yesss is the head algorithm at Buzztube — a
video sharing site. She is all about finding, sharing, and monetizing
the next big trend, but she’s not a total cold corporate demon. She’s sympathetic to our heroes’ plight
— trying to raise money for Sugar Rush, and she helps Ralph manufacture ways to go
viral. She’s a busy woman, and she easily could
have ignored Ralph. Granted, she almost did until she saw his
and Vanellope’s viral potential, so you can certainly argue that her sympathy extends
barely beyond her pocketbook. It’s this intersection of sympathy and self-interest
that lands Yesss a bit farther down on our list. On the topic of sequel characters, we have
to talk about Shank. Shank is a tough racer from the online game
Slaughter. She mercilessly ends players’ lives without
a care. In fact, she views it as her duty to do so
— to teach them the value in failure. When Vanellope and Ralph try to boost her
car for cash, Shank engages the two of them in a race to the near-death in order to get
her stolen car back (fair). In consolation, she even directs the two car
thieves to her friend, Yesss. Not terrible at all! Next up: Knowsmore. Another character from the sequel: Knowsmore
is a search engine. He’s pretty much strictly neutral: you start
a query, he finishes it, and then he finds your answer. His only downside is his torrent of autofill
solutions if you don’t finish your query. Get that question in fast! Moving on to some minor baddies:
First the law enforcement duo Wynchell and Duncan. Sure, they are subordinates of King Candy
aka Turbo…. But they’re just low level law enforcement
doing their jobs. That said, they do seem to be prone to anger
and violence…. Even harassing Ralph when he’s trapped in
a cupcake. Police brutality I say…. But, it seems like they put their old ways
behind them by the end of the movie once Vanellope takes over. Next: Sour Bill. Sour Bill is one of King Candy’s minions
— and one of the few who knows that Vanellope
isn’t actually a glitch, but a true racer whose code was sabotaged by King Candy. He only reveals this information under torture
from Ralph, but the subsequent reveal by Bill that King Candy stole his (and everyone else
in the game’s) memory, leads a little credence to the idea that Sour Bill is only supporting
King Candy out of fear. Regardless, he still imprisons Fix it Felix,
and does nearly everything in his sour little power to keep Vanellope from restoring her
powers. Not a sweet guy. Below Sour Bill is Spamley — a bit of a
no-good huckster that lurks around the internet. He’s a spam algorithm who Vanellope and
Ralph run into in an attempt to raise some money. He wants to help! Granted the first job he gave them was to
boost a highly desirable car from the game slaughter and he eventually points Ralph in
the direction of a virus engineer, but at least the guy is somewhat upfront about what
he offers: cash for a crappy job well done. Next we have the Sugar Rush Racers … pre-Felix
and Calhoun adoption of course! The racers, lead by ace racer Taffyta, are
a cliquey group of sweet-themed kids who have it out for Vanellope, or as they call her,
the Glitch. They make it their life’s work to stop Vanellope
from participating in the Sugar Rush races — going so far as to sabotage her kart. Granted, their memory had been altered by
King Candy, but even in the sequel, these rascals were shown to be a handful. It’s only because of the superhuman parenting
of Felix and Calhoun (seriously, how did they pull it off) did these little sugar bombs
and candle heads (my candle!) finally become as sweet as they should have been all along. A good guy who’s a bad guy: Gene. Gene is the head of the residents of Niceland,
and purposely excludes Ralph from the game’s 30th anniversary party. His cruel ostracization (You sir are no good
guy) sets Ralph in motion on a quest to prove he’s a good person, ultimately putting the
entire arcade at risk. Had he tried to put aside his prejudice and
seen Ralph as a person and not a monster, he may have avoided a catastrophe. Instead, his arrogance made things a whole
lot worse before they got better. Now we’re heading into the home stretch. These are the bad guys who really are bad
guys. Our fifth most evil in the Ralph universe:
Double Dan. Double Dan is a virus engineer. He inhabits the dark net and creates products
with the intent to disable or otherwise compromise elements of the internet. Sure, he takes pride in his craft (his viruses
are excellent), but he is the internet equivalent of a weapons dealer — and an illegal one
at that. It’s his virus, Arthur, that Ralph misuses
and nearly breaks the internet. He’s amoral at best. Sometimes the creation is worse than the creator. Nowhere is this more evident than in Arthur
the virus that finds an insecurity and multiplies it. Ralph attempts to use it in the game Slaughter,
but it eventually discovers 100% insecurity in Ralph himself, and sets about creating
waves of replicated, insecure Ralphs that nearly destroy the internet. It’s a virus programmed to amplify insecurity
in order to destroy! Heavy evil. In third: it’s the cy-bugs — the villains
of Hero’s Duty. Like the replicating Ralphs in the sequel,
the cy-bugs are mindless. The do not understand they inhabit a video
game, and as such, they cannot differentiate between their role as characters and their
off-the-clock existence. They are programmed to destroy, and it is
only through their game’s use of a beacon that they are kept in check. Unlike the Ralphs who are just multiplied
insecurities, the cybugs are programmed destructors. Destruction is not their by-product, it is
their intention. This scorched Earth existence makes them truly
evil, and only behind two others on our countdown. And finally, the most evil one in the arcade:
King Candy aka Turbo. Turbo was a lead character in a racing game
that invaded another game at the arcade in an attempt to keep up his popularity. As a result of his stunt, both games were
unplugged. And that was the end of turbo. Supposedly. In reality, Turbo snuck into Sugar Rush, invaded
the game’s code, wiped everyone’s memory, and crowned himself King Candy. To make his plan stick, he ripped the code
for Princess Vanellope away from the game. However, if Vanellope were to ever win a race,
the game would reset, and her code would be reintegrated, thus exposing his grift. To stop this, he manipulated the entire population
of Sugar Rush into bullying and terrorizing Vanellope — keeping her as far away as possible
from the race. When she does finally enter the race, he nearly
kills her, before becoming a racer bug virus hybrid, who tries to infect the entire arcade. He’s a self aware virus, with not only has
the capacity to destroy, but also the intelligence and comprehension to want to do it. That’s evil. Thankfully, he’s destroyed by the Diet Cola
mountain explosion. Thank God. There may have been no stopping that monster. A bad guy who was, as Zangief said, a bad
guy. That’s our playthrough. Disagree with us? — wreck us in the comments. And don’t forget to check out our full Good-to-Evil
playlist. But most importantly, stay wicked.
