Seems that every video on CS4 I see, there are lots of comments raging on Rufus, how DARE he. I played the game so I know what they're talking about. But I don't understand why people feel so betrayed by him in CS4, but many of the same people seem to like Colonel Richard.
Colonel Richard betrayed his own queen, the other army divisions, and basically the whole country, because he didn't have faith in it, and thought that he needed to take power in order to protect it himself. Sure, he got that crazy idea from mind-suggestion via Weismann. But he wasn't completely being mind controlled like the Ravens, he still was himself, he merely was installed a solution to his plight is all.
Rufus didn't really betray anyone. He was never truly with Arienrod, he was fooled by Osborne too, and thought that SOMEONE had to stop him, him being hot stuff, figured he may as well try his damn best to be the person to stop him himself, so he couldn't afford sentimentality to hold him back from literally saving the world (Not even Richard had that high a stake, he was merely trying to save Liberl's sovereignty...by usurping it himself, which, kinda breaks half the point, but oh well). He is presented as a very capable and impossibly powerful foe, and MC plot armor aside, if you had to bet on who had a better chance of beating Ishmelga between Rean and Rufus, most people would bet Rufus I would say (though more still would say Arienrod I reckon).
Not to mention by the time he offs her, Arienrod is effectively doomed already, plus she's a warrior, death is something they face and accept will happen one day. I just don't get it, why do people think he's so scum for kill stealing to aquire power to try and stop Ishmelga from literally destroying everyone?
The source of his arrogance is pretty understandable too IMO. He was born into nobility surrounded by low skill/talent/ethic nobles who had privileges handed to them who would squander it and look down on the people who worked harder and got less. He gained a disdain for the existing nobility, and wanted their class and status to be earned/deserved, and was willing to step up and do the work to make that happen himself, which he was succeeding due partially to his innate talent, but also his own drive/work ethic.
I suspect this gets expanded on somewhat in Hajimari. But still, I don't get the bridges are burned hate towards him now after one scene that is pretty understandable to me given the situation at that time.
I have a feeling it's a combination of several factors. First off, in contrast to Rufus, Richard doesn't dishonorably (and quite literally) stab someone in the back as part of his coup in the name of getting some more power for themselves. He can justify it however he wants but the simple fact is that Rufus wasn't the person who won that Rivalry so if anyone deserved that power it was Rean, who was in the process of rejecting it. Rufus could bloody well wait his turn and try and take the power from Rean in a face to face fight. So Rufus looks bad for playing dirty.
Second and (I suspect) the biggest reason is that he stabs Lianne Sandlot in the back. By that point she's comfortably established as one of the most upright characters (easily the most honorable member of Ouroboros) and a genuine heroine many times over. So having her die like that just rubs people the wrong way. Add that Rufus killing her robbed the player of the chance to have playable Arianrhod and that just makes it even worse. Also, it denied us the opportunity to see if a comment in Azure comparing Arianrhod's skill to Ein's was accurate. This is slightly counterbalanced by the fact that Arianrhod was ready to die going into that Rivalry and the final Black Records volume makes it clear that she was fated to die before the Tuatha de Danann appeared (and if she didn't, things would probably have gotten worse) but that's not much comfort.
Lastly, Rufus' motivations for everything he does in CS4 are fundamentally selfish. He wants power so he can become a 'perfect immortal being', saving the world is basically a sideline. One thing that the localization didn't exactly explain is that El-Prado is said to 'embody the radiance of eternity'. I think it came up the first time we see it but it's mentioned a second time in the endgame; that got localized as the Knight being 'like the sun'. Kondo explained in an interview that El-Prado chose Rufus as his Awakener in part because of his greed, along with his desire to claim his own identity being aligned with the whole 'eternity' thing. Anyhow, the point is that Rufus' motivations aren't nearly as sympathetic since they're colored by his selfishness.
That's my take at any rate.
I enjoyed Rufus's story arc throughout the games, and was one of the more interesting antagonists compared to the other nobles and even Osborne. That said, yeah it was overall just a dick move to backstab Lianne and was for me something I can never forgive him for. All that said, not like he's some kind of monster like Weissman and overall still can't hate the guy.
