Riptide
- "You said, 'Hey, sparkling teeth, I totally love three of your claws but not the others, and I wish your nose was a herring so I could eat it, and also your wings sound like sharks snoring."
- — Riptide translating Tsunami's Aquatic
Template:Infobox Character Riptide is a SeaWing with sky blue scales[1], dark blue horns, a pale underbelly[2], an old bite mark on his tail[3], claw mark scars across his underbelly[4], slash marks across his snout[5], and dark blue eyes. He was introduced in The Lost Heir as a member of the Talons of Peace and a lookout for the SeaWings. Coral seems to dislike him for being the son of Webs, as she thought of his family as traitors and cowards since Webs ran away in the middle of the battle and later came back to steal Tsunami's egg. It is possible that he is Tsunami's current love interest after all, he also taught her some Aquatic and in Winter Turning he asked Winter if they had a message for him from Tsunami. He is currently the leader of the Talons of Peace, or whatever the movement has become, according to Webs in Moon Rising and Winter Turning. It is hinted that Tsunami has a crush on him.
Biography
Pre-Series
Riptide hatched a couple of years before Webs, his father, fled the SeaWings in the middle of a battle. Webs later came back and stole Tsunami's egg from Queen Coral's Royal Hatchery so that she could fulfill the prophecy. Because of this, Webs became his tribe's most notorious traitor. Queen Coral hated Webs for what he had done, and she strongly distrusted Riptide, saying that betrayal ran in their family. She assigned Riptide the lowest of duties, guarding the border SeaWing territory, as far away from the palaces as possible. Riptide had been interested in knowing more about his father ever since. Because of this, he joined the Talons of Peace to find out about his father, though they told nothing about Webs except that he was safe. He secretly passed on SeaWing information to the Talons for years.
Riptide later discovered the Dragonets of Destiny in SeaWing territory and brought them to the Summer Palace of the Sea, after being questioned by the queen's brother, Shark. Coral finally met her long-lost daughter, Tsunami, and then revealed to her that Webs was his father and Riptide could not be trusted. Tsunami, however, felt it was unfair to punish Riptide for what his father had done.
Riptide followed Tsunami from a distance afterward and helped her repeatedly at sea. He wanted to protect the dragonets of destiny, and is shown to seem to be very fond of Tsunami. After Tsunami's first lesson of Aquatic with Whirlpool, who turned out to have taught her nothing, she went to Riptide. Riptide taught Tsunami some basic Aquatic, and they became friends. Later, when Tsunami takes on the role of protecting Queen Coral's last female egg, Riptide shows her the way to the Summer Palace. When Tsunami returned to the Summer Palace and went to see her friends, Riptide left before he could be noticed away from his guard post. After he left, Glory accused Tsunami of liking Riptide, and Tsunami immediately denied it.
The following day, Webs was found at the Summer Palace and Coral decided to later execute him for his crimes. Soon after, Riptide was found sneaking around outside the palace as well. Coral accused Riptide of working with his father and threw them both in prison, despite Tsunami's protests. Coral was convinced that Webs was the assassin that had been killing off her heirs for years, and she wanted her last egg, which was being guarded by Tsunami, to be put back into the royal hatchery. However, Tsunami knew that Webs was not the assassin and the egg was still in danger. She made a deal that if she caught the assassin, she had to let Riptide go. Coral, thinking that she already had the assassin, agreed.
That night, Tsunami stayed in the hatchery with the egg. The assassin turned out to be a statue of Orca, placed inside the hatchery. Orca had secretly been an animus dragon and had enchanted the statue to take out any potential threats to her being queen. Orca never became queen though, as she was killed accidentally during her challenge to become queen. The statue remained there after her death, killing all of Coral's daughters. Tsunami defeated it and saved Queen Coral's last daughter. The statue was later destroyed by Coral.
Coral agreed to release Riptide, but said he could not stay with the SeaWings. The dragonets had decided to leave the Kingdom of the Sea, and Tsunami suggested he could come with them. Blister, however, who was at the palace at the time, didn't want the dragonets to leave. To keep them all from leaving, Blister tricked Queen Coral into putting the dragonets in her prison. Anemone, Tsunami's younger sister, slipped away from her mother and freed the dragonets. The dragonets then released Riptide and Webs from their cage, and prepared to leave. Riptide then revealed to Tsunami that he had joined the Talons of Peace in order to learn more about his father, though they told him nothing. Tsunami was mad at Riptide for lying to her, but at the same moment, the SeaWing palace was attacked by the SkyWings and the MudWings, who had followed Webs to the Summer Palace. The dragonets and Webs escaped, but Riptide stayed to fight against Burn's alliance. Tsunami wasn't sure she had forgiven Riptide for lying to her, but she did hope to see him again.
Riptide was seen when Sunny, Tsunami, and Ochre go to the Talons of Peace's camp. There, he explained a few of the significant members of the Talons of Peace, such as Flame's mother, Avalanche. He is is also present at Burn's stronghold near the end of the book, and helps to hold Clay down while Peril burns the venom from the dragonbite viper out of him.
Riptide is mentioned by Webs in the Jade and Gold Winglets' history class. Webs said he was 'the leader of whatever the Talons of Peace are becoming'.
Riptide was seen in the book when Qibli, Winter, Kinkajou, and Moonwatcher were looking for somebody in the Talons of Peace who could point them to a spot in the Sky Kingdom, as he was the leader of the Talons of Peace ever since Nautilus stepped down. Moon sees the mysterious place where Icicle was dreamvisited by Scarlet and sketches it. He gets Avalanche and Pyrite, two Talons, to help them to look for it.
Personality
Riptide greatly cares for Tsunami. He may have a crush on her, as he tends to follow her around. In Winter Turning, his eyes lit up at the mention of Jade Mountain Academy as Tsunami was there and immediately questioned how she was. He also wants to avoid getting his father's reputation. He is displayed as being nice, but always seems a bit mysterious, shown when hesitating to tell Tsunami that Webs was his father or that he was working for the Talons of Peace.
Quotes
"I certainly did not! You said you liked me, and that you'd followed me all the way out here to tell me that." (To Tsunami when they first met.)
"That's not usually how I introduce myself." (to Tsunami when apologizing for not telling her that Webs was his father.)
" 'Squid-brain'. My new favourite insult, thanks to you." (To Tsunami when he was teaching her Aquatic)
"You said, 'Hey, sparkling teeth, I totally love three of your claws but not the others, and I wish your nose was a herring so I could eat it, and also your wings sound like sharks snoring.' " (Riptide repeating what Tsunami accidentally said in Aquatic)
"That's Anemone. Your sister."
"Squid! Didn't you hear my orders?"
Trivia
- A riptide is a dangerous current that can sweep you out to sea.
- In the vision Darkstalker showed Moon there is a blue dragonet. It is possible this is Tsunami and Riptide's dragonet.
- According to Tsunami, Riptide is much more handsome than Nautilus or Whirlpool.
Gallery
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Top right, art by Hawky -
by RhynoBullraq
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Lineart by Joy Ang, color by Hawky -
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Tsunami + Riptide
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diagram of a riptide
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Riptide
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Tsunami and Riptide :) -
Riptide
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Screenshot of Nigelpuppy's Map, Unity (Riptide top right)
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My drawing of Riptide.
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