Wreck-It Ralph

Turns out I don't need a medal to tell me I'm a good guy. Cause, if that little kid likes me... ..how bad can I be?  - Ralph

Wreck-It Ralph (or simply Ralph) is the titular main protagonist of the 2012 Disney movie of the same name. He's the main villain of a fictional arcade game called Fix-It Felix Jr. where he has the power to break anything with his fists. Despite this, Ralph disliked his role as the villain and thus embarked on a game-jumping adventure to prove himself that he can be the "good guy".

Why He's Gonna Wreck It

 * 1) While it's true that he seems like a bad guy at first, he's actually friendly. The reason why he gets angry easily is that the inhabitants of Niceland forced Ralph to live in the town's dump. Later on, he started to find it difficult to enjoy his role as a villain.
 * 2) Ralph throughout the film learns that having medals and an abundance of praise isn't what makes a good guy, but showing love and care for others does.
 * 3) He's is shown to be protective in a good way. For example, he protected Vanellope from various antagonists in the film and will bring physical harm to those who discriminate against her.
 * 4) Ralph does care for other characters that he meats like when he noticed that Q*Bert and his colleagues were homeless thus Ralph giving the cherries that he has stolen from the Pac-Man to Q*Bert and his gang.
 * 5) Even if Ralph doesn't really appear to be an intellectual, Ralph can be smart by having the ability to concoct plans and effective courses of action on the spot.
 * 6) Ralph did find a way to relieve the stress that he has been getting in the past 30 years by going to a Bad-Anon support group. He also did learn about the motto "one game at a time".
 * 7) Many of his moments are actually funny like "They invited Pac-Man, That cherry-chasing dot-muncher isn't even part of this game!" or "The Bunny Get's the Pancakes".
 * 8) He does have a good point that Gene can be mean and biased at times since both characters did argue in the first movie.
 * 9) Ralph is shown to overcome many obstacles without quitting like when he was able to get a medal in Hero's Duty or ordering a Sugar Rush steering wheel at eBay (no kidding).
 * 10) He is still capable of making others happy like when he made a kart for Vanellope or being fine with Vanellope joining Slaughter Race instead at the very end of Ralph Breaks the Internet.
 * 11) He sometimes knows what's best for others like when he creates a race track inside Diet Cola Mountain just so he can help Vanellope win the race.
 * 12) If he were to do something wrong like break Vanellope's car due to King Candy's advice, he can make up for whatever he did wrong. In this case, he asked Fix-It Felix to fix Vanellope's car.
 * 13) Ralph regrets what he has done wrong when he eventually got the medal. This is present when he found out that Fix-It Felix Jr. is getting unplugged due to Ralph's absence.
 * 14) He knew that King Candy is suspicious towards both Ralph and Vanellope which caused Ralph to learn that King Candy isn't as sweet as you would think. He even went out to look for her.
 * 15) He learned that he should accept his role as a video game villain meaning that he's willing to improve.
 * 16) In Ralph Breaks the Internet, he learned that sometimes friendship needs to be let go of, but will always be in their hearts. This is seen when he learned about Vanellope's fondness towards Slaughter Race.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) At the start of the first film, Ralph was a fairly selfish character like when he would break Arcade bylaws by game-jumping just to get a medal.
 * 2) He at one point was also arrogant, blinded by his own self-interest, and had little regret in causing damage during his pursuit for a medal.
 * 3) He spent years believing that only making friends and garnering appreciation for work are "good-guy exclusive" luxuries.
 * 4) He can also be naive at times like when he accidentally stepped on a cy-bug egg after he got his medal in Hero's Duty.
 * 5) Has an admittedly explosive temper.
 * 6) In Ralph Breaks the Internet, he has suffered greatly from character flanderization as he has been dumbed down in the sequel like when some of his dialogue goes against his character and his actions against Vanellope is worse compared to the first film (putting a virus in Slaughter Race), despite trying to stop her from going Turbo. Though Ralph still has his likable qualities in the sequel (and he did apologize afterward).

Trivia

 * Ralph was originally going to have an "I Want" song. During its time in production, a running gag involved Ralph never being able to finish the song, as whenever he began to sing, a character or event would interrupt.
 * Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen writer Jennifer Lee once made a tweet jokingly suggesting that Elsa and Wreck-It Ralph would make a good couple during the 2013 D23 Expo. As a nod to that, in Disney INFINITY, if Ralph and Elsa are introduced to one another, Ralph will tell Elsa that she is "really pretty", and Elsa will reply "And you have a warm heart." Though in Ralph Breaks the Internet, Ralph and Elsa don't have a romantic relationship.
 * In 2018, Ralph made a surprise appearance in the video game Fortnite coinciding with the release of Ralph Breaks the Internet and has Ralph's own dance (Hot Marat) added into the game due to the Fortnite scenes in the respective movie (for example, Ralph doing the floss and Hot Marat).
 * Ralph was inspired by Donkey Kong, the villain of the 1981 arcade game of the same name.
 * In the earliest versions of the story, Ralph was a supporting character, with Fix-It Felix Jr. serving as the protagonist.
 * Ralph went through an evolution of designs and was not always an oversized human with abnormally large fists and feet. Instead, Ralph wasn't a human at all: he was a beast, with designs ranging from a red furry monster (very similar to the overall character theme of Sully from Monsters, Inc.), to an abominable snowman-like creature, among others. Ralph, even at some points, resembled a character in the style of 1930s cartoon bad guys, such as Pete from the Mickey Mouse shorts. In order to have the audience develop a more relatable relationship with the character, Ralph's design became that of a humanoid figure, albeit matching the exaggerated style of a 1980s 8-bit video game.