Wreck-It Ralph (character)

"I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be... than me."

- Wreck-It Ralph

Wreck-It Ralph (or simply Ralph) is the eponymous protagonist of the 2012 Disney animated feature film of the same name and its 2018 sequel. He is the hulking "bad guy" of the classic arcade game Fix-It Felix Jr.. After years of enduring an overbearing and thankless job, Ralph left his game to pursue a better life—the life of a "good-guy"; this led to a chance encounter with a little glitch girl named Vanellope, who would help Ralph to discover his own self worth.

Background
In the fictional arcade video game, Fix-It Felix Jr., Ralph, serving as the game's antagonist, is in a rage of his forest home being destroyed by construction of a new apartment building. Ralph shouts out "I'm gonna wreck it!" and begins to demolish the building by destroying the windows, as revenge. As Felix comes in to save the day, Ralph throws down bricks, attempting to stop the hero from undoing his immense damage. However, Felix succeeds in repairing the apartment building and, at the end of the game, the Nicelanders who live in the apartment throw Ralph off the top of the building, sending him falling into a puddle of mud.

In reality, Ralph is a resident of Litwak's Arcade, where video game characters live, breathe, and have their own personal lives to indulge in after closing hours. In this society, Ralph repeatedly faces discrimination from his fellow programs — and more specifically, the inhabitants of Niceland. Because of his role as the villain of the game, the Nicelanders have developed a fear of Ralph, excluding him from all events and forcing him to live out in the town's dump, as opposed to the quaint apartment building where the other citizens live. The years of relentless mistreatment has shook Ralph to his core, eventually birthing the bad-guy's desire to change the program in hopes of having a better life.

Official Description

 * Ralph is a heavy-handed "wrecking riot" with a heart. For 30 years, he's been doing his job as the bad guy in the arcade game Fix-It Felix Jr. But it's getting harder and harder to love his job when no one seems to like him for doing it. Suffering from a classic case of "bad guy fatigue" and hungry for a little "wreck-ognition", Ralph embarks on a wild adventure across an incredible arcade game universe to prove that just because he's a bad guy doesn't mean he's a "bad guy".

Development
In the earliest drafts of the story, Ralph was one of the film's supporting characters, as Fix-It Felix Jr. initially held the title of the story's protagonist. However, writer Phil Johnston believed that the story of Ralph trying to become a bigger person — a hero — would be more compelling, and thus the roles of these two characters were switched.

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 Sulley from the Disney•Pixar film, 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.

Personality
Despite his hulking nature and villainous programming, Ralph is ultimately a sweet, well-meaning character. He is also extremely casual and somewhat laid-back. Though surrounded by over-the-top personalities (such as the excessively gruff Sergeant Calhoun or the magnanimous Felix), Ralph carries himself in a manner that's considerably more human, and less caricatured. However, a direct result of his programming, Ralph is also a destructive bumbler with an admittedly explosive temper. As such, he can occasionally fall into fits of rage, causing him to rampage and cause destruction to objects around him. This is what ultimately motivates Ralph's unpleasant reputation in Niceland, and the arcade as a whole, as well as the reasoning behind the bad-guy's insecurities and antisocial behavior. Even so, Ralph makes earnest efforts (in a rather passive-aggressive manner) to suppress his temper and wrecking habits for the sake of those around him, as well as himself—especially during social events like the 30th anniversary of Fix-It Felix Jr. Ralph's programming and constant mistreatment make this a difficult feat to accomplish, however.

Ralph was a fairly selfish character at the start of the film; his goal was to win the respect and hearts of other video game characters by retrieving a medal, but uncaringly causing havoc—including thefts, physical intimidation, and breaking Arcade bylaws by game-jumping along the way. He was also arrogant, blinded by his own self-interest, and had little regret in causing damage during his pursuit for a medal. Nevertheless, his intentions were pure at their core; he did not wish to become a hero for the sake of becoming one. Instead, he spent years living with the belief that only heroes were capable of making friends and garnering appreciation for their work, prompting him to change his reputation in hopes of receiving what he believes to be "good-guy exclusive" luxuries. Being that he spent thirty years facing prejudice and abuse, Ralph's lengths to achieve his goals had few bounds, with his breaking point having been reached.

Upon meeting the young, feisty misfit Vanellope, Ralph learns that having medals and an abundance of praise isn't what makes a good-guy, but showing love and care for others does. Loving and valiant, Ralph went through great lengths to ensure Vanellope's happiness and safety, ultimately at the expense of his own, thus allowing him to evolve from selfish to selfless over the course of the movie.

He is also shown to be extremely protective through his friendship with Vanellope, as he continuously protected her from various antagonists throughout the film, and was willing to bring legit, physical harm to those who unfairly opposed and discriminated her. This is partially out of relatable sympathy for the young glitch, as she had endured treatment similar to Ralph's own experiences, showing Ralph's desire to help those as unfortunate, or even less so, than himself. This is also seen during the first half of the film, where Ralph charitably bestowed stolen cherries to homeless Q*Bert and his colleagues, as their game was unplugged, leaving them without food and substance. Ralph's care for others was also showcased during the finale, where he invited homeless video game characters to live in Niceland as his neighbors.

Though he doesn't exactly appear to be much of an intellectual, Ralph actually proves to have some intelligence to him, as he has the ability to concoct plans and effective courses of action on the spot, using his brawn to his advantage in creative ways. This is notably seen during his adventures in both Hero's Duty and Sugar Rush, as well as the climax.

Physical appearance
Ralph is nine feet tall and muscular with spiky, dark auburn hair, brown eyes, thick eyebrows, and has a big pink nose. He wears a red-and-orange plaid shirt with two yellow buttons up, a teal shirt underneath, and brown single-strapped overalls. He usually does not wear shoes.

Powers and abilities

 * Superhuman Strength: Ralph is seen as having immense superhuman strength. He has shown being able to lift objects many times his own size and weight in the film. Ralph has demonstrated his strength multiple times, such as being able to bring down a building by smashing it with his own two hands, being able to lift a car of the ground with no stress, and he was able to smash through the walls of King Candy's "Fungeon" with a single punch. Also, Ralph was able to bring down the Mentos stalactites with a few smashes to the ground, and other feats demonstrating his supernatural strength level.
 * Superhuman Speed: Ralph can move at speeds greater than what is naturally possible.
 * Superhuman Durability: Ralph also has seen being superhumanly durable. He was able to withstand a strike from King Candy in his Cy-Bug form (which would have severely injured an ordinary human being), being hit by Venellope's cart multiple times, and even falling many stories from buildings in his game without sustaining damage.
 * Semi-Immortality: Ralph, being a video game character, also is semi-immortal, meaning that he can never age, but can die from being killed outside of his game, which he would be incapable of regenerating from.
 * Master-Wrecker: Living up to his name, Ralph is an excellent wrecking man. He is capable of completely obliterating buildings, huge objects, and taking down large structures all with his brute force.

Wreck-It Ralph
On the 30th anniversary of his game, Fix-It Felix Jr., Ralph attends a Bad-Anon support group meeting to relieve the stress he's been feeling for the last 30 years, this being the first time he has ever done so. There, Ralph confesses that he doesn't want to be a bad guy anymore, shocking the other members of the meeting who fear Ralph may be "going Turbo". Ralph reassures the others that he only wants a better life, but they try to encourage Ralph to accept his role for the good of his game and himself, reminding him of the Bad-Anon motto of "one game at a time". After the meeting, a downhearted Ralph returns home and finds that the citizens of his game are having an anniversary party without him. Ralph gets Felix to invite him in, but the Nicelanders are less than pleased to see the former. The awkward moment turns into a heated argument between Ralph and the mayor of Niceland, Gene, who sees Ralph as nothing more than a villain ineligible of receiving love or appreciation. A frustrated Ralph believes earning a medal, like Felix does at the end of each game, would give him the respect he deserves, and Gene indirectly agrees, offering the apartment's penthouse as Ralph's reward if he succeeded and proved Gene and the other Nicelanders wrong. As such, Ralph vows to somehow win a medal, in order to prove his worth.

Ralph then heads to Tapper's, to ask the bartender if he knows of such a game that presents bad guys with medals. After searching through Tapper's lost and found box, Ralph instead runs into a soldier from a game called Hero's Duty who tells Ralph that a medal is given to the bravest of the brave: the Medal of Heroes. The soldier then spots a cockroach on Ralph's shoulder, freaks out, and flees, inadvertently running right into a wall and knocking himself out. Ralph then seizes this opportunity to win a medal and steals the soldier's armor and sneaks into the game. However, it's not at all what he had hoped. Hero's Duty instead turns out to be a violent game infested by deadly creatures known as the Cy-Bugs. After blundering through the game, Ralph finally finds the medal. After collecting it, Ralph accidentally hatches a Cy-Bug egg and the baby bug immediately attacks him. In a scuffle, Ralph accidentally boards an escape shuttle that blasts them to Sugar Rush, a kart racing game.

Meanwhile, Fix-It Felix Jr. is put out-of-order due to Ralph's absence. Mr. Litwak reluctantly decides that if the game doesn't work by the next day, it would be unplugged. To save the game, Felix journeys off to find Ralph and teams up with the leader of Hero's Duty, Sergeant Calhoun, to do so. Back at Sugar Rush, the Cy-Bug apparently drowns in a taffy lake, but unbeknownst to Ralph, it instead creates a nest underground. During his catastrophic entrance into Sugar Rush, Ralph accidentally loses his medal, which is soon stolen by a little girl named Vanellope. Vanellope uses the medal to insert herself into Sugar Rush 's upcoming race. Ralph tries to get his medal back, but he finds himself in trouble with Wynnchel and Duncan, Sugar Rush 's bumbling and corrupt security forces. Ralph is arrested and taken to the castle of King Candy where he meets the king and his minion, Sour Bill. Ralph informs King Candy about his plight, but the king explains that the medal is now nothing but code and can only be retrieved when someone wins the cup at the end of the race. Ralph openly decides to steal back the medal once the race is won, but King Candy orders him to leave the game or be imprisoned.

Ralph escapes and tries to find some racers to help win back his medal. Instead, Ralph finds Vanellope being tormented by the racers for being a "glitch", programming errors that are banned from racing by orders of King Candy. Sympathetic, Ralph scares the racers off, though Vanellope is too upset and embarrassed to thank him. Instead, she proposes that she and Ralph team up; after Ralph helps her make a kart, Vanellope will win the race and get back his medal. Desperate, Ralph reluctantly agrees. They go to King Candy's kart factory, where Ralph and Vanellope work together to bake a kart. As Ralph feared, the kart comes out rather haggard, which seems to prove that he can only destroy. Surprisingly, Vanellope loves the kart and enthusiastically points out all its perfections, proving that Ralph is actually capable of making others happy. To commemorate their achievement, Ralph and Vanellope sign the kart, but their moment is short-lived as King Candy and his minions arrive to apprehend Vanellope.

Ralph frantically orders Vanellope to start the kart so they can escape, but Vanellope confesses that she doesn't know how to drive a real kart. With Ralph using his fists to manually drive them to safety, Vanellope directs them to her hideout in Diet Cola Mountain. Inside, Ralph berates Vanellope for not being able to drive and feels even more hopeless about regaining his medal. When Ralph explains that the medal is his only way of earning respect within his game, Vanellope relates it to her motivation for racing. She later gives Ralph a tour of her home in Diet Cola Mountain; its shabby and lonely atmosphere reminds Ralph of his dump back in Niceland, prompting him to ask why Vanellope doesn't just leave the game. Unfortunately, glitches can't leave their games, forcing her to endure her misery in Sugar Rush. This motivates Ralph to help Vanellope win the race; not only for his medal, but also so she can have a better life. Ralph wrecks the ground to create a race track within the mountain. He teaches Vanellope how to drive, and over time, Vanellope is revealed to be quite skilled, giving Ralph confidence that his medal is his for the taking.

Satisfied with their progress, Ralph and Vanellope start to make their way to the race. Before they leave, Vanellope excitedly returns to the mountain to retrieve something. During her absence, King Candy arrives and reveals to have uncovered Ralph's medal. He happily returns it to Ralph, in exchange for a chance to explain why Vanellope cannot race. According to King Candy, Vanellope's glitching would have the players think the game is broken, resulting in Sugar Rush being unplugged. Not only would the citizens of the game become homeless, but Vanellope (being a glitch) would be trapped and die alongside the cabinet. King Candy asks Ralph to somehow keep Vanellope from the race for her own safety, which the latter solemnly accepts.

After Candy takes his leave, Vanellope returns with a surprise for Ralph: a homemade medal with the inscription "You're my hero". She explains that she made it in the event that they don't win the race. Though touched, Ralph still tries to dissuade Vanellope from racing. Vanellope is initially confused, but immediately becomes suspicious upon noticing the Medal of Heroes around Ralph's neck. Vanellope questions where he got it, but the mention of King Candy leads her to believe that Ralph has betrayed her and formed an alliance with her nemesis. Ralph tries to explain that he only wants to protect Vanellope, but she refuses to listen out of distrust. Determined to live her dream, Vanellope tries to go on without Ralph, leaving the latter with no choice other than to wreck her kart. Distraught, Vanellope looks to Ralph through tears, and declares him a real "bad guy". She then runs off heartbroken, leaving a downhearted Ralph to return to his game with both of his medals.

When he returns, Ralph finds that all the Nicelanders, except Gene, have fled to Game Central Station due to the fear of their game being unplugged and shut down. Gene informs Ralph that Litwak will be unplugging the game in the morning due to Ralph's absence. He then hands over the keys to the penthouse as promised since Ralph proved him wrong and won a medal, and leaves as well. Alone again, Ralph stands on the balcony of the apartment building, regretting everything he's done. At this moment, Ralph accepts that he'll never be a hero and throws the Medal of Heroes at the screen of the game. The impact of the medal knocks off the out-of-order sign and reveals the Sugar Rush cabinet in the distance. On the cabinet, Ralph notices Vanellope's picture featured prominently along the side, making him suspicious of King Candy's story. Ralph rushes back to Sugar Rush and interrogates Sour Bill for answers. Ralph learns that King Candy hacked into Sugar Rush 's codes and tried to erase Vanellope out of existence, turning her into a glitch. He also learns that if Vanellope crosses the finish line in an official race, the game will reset and she'll no longer be a glitch.

Determined to set things right, Ralph collects the pieces of Vanellope's destroyed kart and barges into the fungeon where Felix is imprisoned after he was captured by King Candy's men. When Felix reprimands Ralph, the latter confesses that he only ran off to pursue a better life. Beginning to understand how he can't change who he is, Ralph asks Felix to fix Vanellope's destroyed kart, promising that he will never try to be good again if Felix does so. Proud of Ralph's selflessness, Felix happily complies. With the repaired kart, Ralph breaks into Vanellope's cell and apologizes for his actions. With all forgiven, he, Vanellope, and Felix rush to the already-started Random Roster Race. As a result of her glitching, Vanellope passes the other racers within minutes, with the only racer left that she's behind being King Candy himself. Meanwhile, Ralph is confronted by an infuriated Sergeant Calhoun. Calhoun informs Ralph that the Cy-Bugs have been bred underground, spawned from the baby Cy-Bug that he brought into Sugar Rush during his crash landing that he presumed drowned in the taffy lake. Just then, the Cy-Bugs explode from the ground and begin to ravage through Sugar Rush, prompting Felix and Calhoun to evacuate the citizens.

As they do, a swarm of Cy-Bugs begins to destroy the finish line, forcing Ralph into battle for the sake of Vanellope. As Ralph and Felix fend off the Cy-Bugs at the finish line, they notice Vanellope and King Candy battling on the jumbo screen. Suddenly, Vanellope's glitching distorts King Candy's appearance and reveals him to be Turbo, the supposedly deceased racer whose game-jumping caused the unplugging of two cabinets, coining the phrase "going Turbo". Vanellope is able to escape Turbo, but her kart is thrown off the track by Cy-Bugs before she can cross the finish line. As Ralph and Felix tend to her, the Cy-Bugs destroy the finish line, forcing them to make way for Game Central Station. Unfortunately, Vanellope is unable to leave due to being a glitch. As Ralph desperately looks for a way to save her, he recalls that Cy-Bugs can be stopped with a beacon. With this, Ralph quickly formulates a plan to erupt the Diet Cola Mountain to use the lava as a beacon, which will attract the Cy-Bugs to their destruction before they can destroy all of Sugar Rush, then spread to the rest of the arcade if they manage to breach Game Central Station.

Using Calhoun's cruiser, Ralph flies to the top of the mountain, where he begins to smash its crater of Mentos with his fists. Just as Ralph is about to bring down the crater, Turbo (who has transformed into a Cy-Bug hybrid after being consumed by one) arrives and attempts to kill Ralph. They battle, but Turbo gains the upper hand by lifting Ralph into the air. Turbo then forces Ralph to watch as the Cy-Bugs close in on Vanellope, Felix, and Calhoun as they try to hold the line and prevent the Cy-Bugs from entering Game Central Station. The evil king declares it's game over for the heroes, but Ralph resigns himself to his fate and breaks free from Turbo's grasps. As he falls toward Diet Cola Mountain, Ralph recites the Bad Guy Affirmation he learned at Bad-Anon and tightly grips Vanellope's medal. The impact of his fall sends the entire crater of Mentos barreling down into the lava. Before Ralph can fall into the pool of lava himself, he is rescued by Vanellope, who uses another racer's kart to race into the mountain and catch him. Together, the two escape the mountain and fall safely into a pond of chocolate. As planned, the eruption of Diet Cola Mountain produces a beacon that entrances, attracts, and kills all the Cy-Bugs, including Turbo, saving Sugar Rush and the entire arcade. In a moment of rejoicing at having survived a near fatal catastrophe, Ralph loudly announces his newfound love for chocolate (which he previously hated).

Back at the track, Felix restores the finish line, allowing Vanellope to complete the race. Once the finish line is crossed, the Sugar Rush game resets, restoring the kingdom to its original settings. Additionally, Vanellope's codes are also restored, and she is then revealed to be the true ruler of the game. At this time, the arcade is about ready to open, so Ralph and Vanellope bid each other farewell. Before he can depart, Vanellope tearfully offers him a room in her castle where he'll be happy, to which Ralph humbly denies the offer, telling her that their friendship is enough to keep him happy and that he has a responsibility of his own, finally accepting his important role as the bad guy of his game. After many salutations of farewell and humorous name-calling between the two, Ralph heads back to Fix-It Felix Jr. with Felix, just in time to show Mr. Litwak that the game is working again, sparing it from being unplugged.

During the finale, it is shown that the Nicelanders have finally learned that Ralph is an important part of the game and begin to treat him better than how they had treated him before. Nicelander Mary even bakes Ralph his own cake. Also, Ralph and Felix invite the homeless video game characters (including Q*bert) to help them out on the "bonus levels" of their game during gaming hours. This new addition has also brought newfound popularity to Fix-It Felix Jr. Ralph and Felix have also built new apartments for the new characters, making Niceland a home for them as well. Ralph is also present at the wedding of Felix and Calhoun, serving as Felix's best man and is even shown to be shedding some tears as the bride and the groom officially tie the knot. Finally, Ralph explains in his narrative that being thrown off the roof is the best part of his day due to being able to get a perfect view of Sugar Rush and of Vanellope racing. Many times, Ralph and Vanellope are able to see each other from each other's cabinet, causing the two to happily wave to each other. For that reason, Ralph concludes that having a medal is unnecessary to show that he is good, as, through Vanellope's friendship, he is able to see the goodness within his own heart.

During the end credits, it is shown that Vanellope and Calhoun regularly visit Ralph and Felix and vice versa, and the friends regularly have game-jumping adventures together.

Ralph Breaks the Internet
As the setting zooms in from the arcade's parking lot to Game Central Station, Ralph is first seen with Vanellope, sitting down on a bench waiting for the sunrise, playing "I Spy". He and Vanellope have root beer at Tapper's, goof around in a virus-infected Tron and relax at a football game. As the sun rises, Litwak plugs in a new Wi-Fi router, Sonic tells him everything about it, and Surge Protector forbids anyone from entering. Ralph later accompanies Vanellope in her game, trying to create a new track for her. As soon as she was about to reach the finish line, Vanellope decides to choose to take his track, which makes the game's steering wheel fragile. Swati and Nafisa, the players, call up Litwak to fix the wheel, but it breaks in two. Litwak had no choice but to unplug it, but Swati had found one on eBay. Ralph and Vanellope help the other Sugar Rush characters get to Game Central Station, and the racers are taken in by Felix and Calhoun until Sugar Rush was repaired and plugged in again.

Ralph and Vanellope sit on the atop building of the Niceland penthouse, looking at the broken console. Ralph later heads to Tapper's and gives Felix Vanellope's root beer, since she was not coming. Ralph then remembers they had a steering wheel on eBay, and decides to go to the Internet. He finds Vanellope, and they distract Surge Protector about a fake emergency. Ralph explained why they are going to the Internet, and then Litwak's netizen avatar appears, going into a capsule that could take people to the Internet. Ralph and Vanellope follow the avatar, and they are suddenly transported into the Internet's hub. KnowsMore transports the duo to eBay. Ralph and Vanellope unknowingly spiked the price of the steering wheel to $27,001. Ralph, broke, turns to a pop-up netizen, Spamley, for help. One of the options is to loot Shank's car in a game called Slaughter Race

In the game, Ralph creates a diversion for Shank while Vanellope takes the car. However, Shank manages to catch up with them and thwart the theft. Shank and her crew then record a video of Ralph saying "I'm gonna wreck it!" while being trapped by some hard air. Shank created a BuzzzTube account for him. He and Vanellope end up at BuzzzTube, where Yesss, the head algorithm, gives Ralph as many hearts as possible. Ralph also is seen making so many videos, and his most viewed video is his burned pie challenge video. Yesss encourages her pop-up netizens to spread the word about Ralph's videos, so that Ralph could get more views, and thus, more hearts. Vanellope decides to go to other websites as a pop-up, and Ralph chooses Oh My Disney for her because it had a castle, and Vanellope was a princess. Yesss agreed to redirect her there. Minutes later, Ralph and Yesss try to upload the final video, but it fails to load. The Eboy (the eBay mascot) tells Ralph that the steering wheel would expire in 30 minutes. Yesss tries to fix it while Ralph reads the comments, some saying that they loved him and that Fix-It Felix Jr. was their favorite game, and some saying that he was fat and ugly. Ralph was warned by Yesss not to read the comments, and she tells Ralph that he made enough money to buy the steering wheel.

Ralph thanks Yesss for all her help, and Ralph calls Vanellope on his phone that Yesss has given him, and Vanellope was delighted. Ralph then later makes his way to eBay with the eBoy. At eBay, Spamley is still seen asking netizens to get rich by playing video games. Ralph then tries to call Vanellope again, but his voice is muted. He overhears Vanellope tell Shank that she wants to stay with Shank in Slaughter Race, so Ralph knew he had to rescue her. Spamley and his sidekick, Gord, came with him as well, to the Dark Net. Spamley introduces Ralph to Double Dan and Little Dan, and then they turn on "Arthur", an insecurity virus that could slow down Slaughter Race. Turns out, the virus was just scanning for insecurities, and it made the game blow up.

Ralph tries to get inside the game and look for Vanellope. Shank then tells him and Vanellope to both get out of the game as it will reboot. Ralph then picks up an unconscious Vanellope, and Vanellope awakens, angry and grumpy at Ralph, knowing that he had put the virus in to slow down the game. Vanellope takes Ralph's homemade "You're My Hero" medal down to the Older Net, which breaks in two. Unbeknownst to Ralph, "Arthur" scans him as he's heading down to retrieve the medal, and launches his insecurities out all over the Internet in the form of thousands of purplish Ralph clones. The Ralph viruses evolve minutes later, and Vanellope tries to run away, looking for Shank. Vanellope then goes to KnowsMore, and she helps him close down his site. The real Ralph appears, and he comes up with a plan, to have Vanellope lure the clones to the antivirus district so that they will be deleted. Yesss picks up Ralph and Vanellope as KnowsMore's site is damaged. When the clones form a giant Ralph, Yesss tries to evacuate Vanellope, but both Ralph and Vanellope get trapped in the giant Ralph.

After Ralph resolves his insecurites, the clones dissolve, causing Ralph to fall. Spamley tries to catch Ralph, but he falls through Spamley's car and gets knocked out. Moana, Ariel, Elsa, and the other Disney Princesses, who have been watching the battle the whole time, use their magical powers and skills to rescue Ralph, which results in him safely landing on a bed while wearing Snow White's dress. Tiana's frog, Prince Naveen, kisses him, and Ralph awakens. Ralph is shocked to meet the Princesses for the first time and asks who they are. The Princesses tell him that they were with Vanellope during her visit and they have all become friends with her, and anyone else who is friends with Vanellope is friends with the Princesses, which makes Ralph their friend, too. Moana then tells Ralph "You're welcome." Ralph is grateful towards the Princesses.

After the battle, the netizens were saved, and Ralph then was ready to say goodbye for now to Vanellope. Shank calls Vanellope for another race, and Ralph sadly waved at Vanellope, knowing he would miss her so much. After she disappeared, he sadly walked his way back to Game Central Station. Ralph also explains the changes to himself and the arcade. The other Sugar Rush racers are able to win now and then, and players realized even without Vanellope, the game was still fun to play. He also explained how Felix and Calhoun were good parents, and he got to join Zangief's book club at Bad-Anon. Ralph then shared the burned pie he had got from the Internet with other arcade game characters. Ralph is then seen talking with Vanellope on Yesss's phone that he still has at Game Central Station, and Vanellope promised that she would visit Ralph and spend a time at Tapper's. Vanellope then says goodbye and promised she would talk to her next week, and Ralph ends the call. He watches the sunrise as other characters head to their games. Felix appears, and they head to work.

In a mid-credits scene, he and Vanellope fail at winning a game of Pancake Milkshake.

In a post-credits scene, a supposed-to-be sneak peek of Frozen 2 turns out to be Ralph rickrolling to the song "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley, with Slaughter Race characters and Felix joining him. While the end logos show up, Ralph tells the audience to try to get the tune stuck in their head, and that it is a real earworm, and that there are no more surprises to show up in the film, and the film ends.

Other appearances
Ralph and Felix made special appearances in an advertisement promoting GameFly, where the duo discovered the option to rent games online, though Ralph was vocally against the idea.

Ralph can be seen on the Fix-It Felix Jr. game cabinet in the web series, Disney Drive-On with The Muppets.

In the special first look for the Disney animated feature Big Hero 6, Ralph can be seen in several promotional cameos in the outlook of the film's primary location, San Fransokyo. In the actual film, an action figure of Ralph can be seen atop the computer of Hiro Hamada. In another scene, a figurine of Ralph covered in taffy (a reference to Sugar Rush) can be seen in Fred's bedroom.

A rhinoceros version of Ralph (named "Wreck-It Rhino") appeared on the cover of Duke Weaselton's bootleg copy of Wreck-It Ralph in the film Zootopia.

A tapestry drawing of Ralph can be seen just before the credits of Moana ends, hinting to his film's sequel.

Comics
In the spin-off comic, Wrecking Party, Ralph finds Niceland apparently abandoned on Sunday night. After searching for Felix and the other Nicelanders, he sadly heads to the dump, alone, believing the others have abandoned him, only to find the gang has thrown a surprise "Wrecking Party". To celebrate, Felix and the Nicelanders built a wall to wreck. After showing the Nicelanders the ropes on how to do so, the party continues and proves to be a success.

Other books
In Tricky Treats (part of the Disney 5-Minute Spooky Stories storybook), Ralph and Vanellope are featured in a Halloween tale set in Sugar Rush. On the night of Gloyd's Halloween party, Ralph and Vanellope accidentally come across an old Halloween-themed bonus level, ruled by the mischievous Boo Brattly; a ghost whose chaotic ways resulted in his banishment. Unfortunately, Ralph and Vanellope are unable to leave the stage unless they manage to capture Boo.

In Wreck the Halls, it is revealed that bad-guys, in the grand scheme of things, are still discriminated in the arcade, with the exception of Ralph in Niceland. To compensate, Ralph decides to throw a Christmas party for his fellow villains, with Vanellope's help.

Wreck-It Ralph
Taking place after the movie, Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun are in Sugar Rush to cheer Vanellope on for another race. Unfortunately, Ralph knocks a Cy-Bug egg into a taffy lake and rushes off to tell Felix. The Cy-Bugs hatch and immediately begin to attack Sugar Rush, eventually heading to Game Central Station. Vanellope and Calhoun evacuate with the other denizens while Ralph and Felix are given the task of destroying the bugs. Ralph and Felix journey off into Niceland, Hero's Duty, and Sugar Rush to eradicate the bugs, eventually being led to Game Central Station where they defeat the Cy-Bug Queen. After the bugs are defeated, Ralph heads to Sugar Rush to celebrate the new holiday made by Vanellope in honor of Ralph and Felix's success.

Disney INFINITY series
Ralph was added to the video game Disney INFINITY on the release of 'Wave 2', along with Vanellope as a playable character. He also has a custom vehicle known as Ralph's Wrecking Truck.

In the Niceland-inspired toybox world, mini "citizen" versions of Ralph and Fix-It Felix are featured roaming about.

In the 3DS version of Disney INFINITY, during Story mode in Niceland board, Ralph destroys all the houses, forcing the player to rebuild the house before Ralph destroys them again.

Disney Crossy Road
Ralph appears in the mobile app as a playable character. His normal form appears under the 'Rare' class. When a cherry is selected, Ralph can smash certain objects. Hero's Duty Ralph falls under the 'Epic' class and can shoot through obstacles. His "Wreck-It Rhino" counterpart also appears in the Zootopia set.

In promotion for Wreck-It Ralph 2 on June 30, 2016, Ralph "crashed" the game by randomly appearing throughout the stages of different franchises. His appearance notably differs when appearing in the The Haunted Mansion and Finding Dory stages; in the former, he appears as a transparent ghost, while the latter features him wearing a snorkel.

Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
In the action RPG, Ralph is a playable character and one of the first party members. In the story, he and Vanellope unlock a game in BETA mode, only to find that its world and programs are being corrupted by an evil virus. When Vanellope falls victim to the virus, Ralph teams up with Elastigirl and Frozone to save her and other fallen heroes.

Kingdom Hearts III
Ralph appears in the game as a Link summon. When activated, he falls through a Fix-It Felix Jr. console before rising up with Sora on his shoulders. His ability, 8-Bit Blast, consists of generating platform blocks he can jump on and explode into 8-bit pieces upon smashing them, damaging enemies nearby.

Disneyland Resort
In California, Ralph and Vanellope appear in the nighttime spectacular, World of Color in Disney California Adventure in the renditions Winter Dreams and Celebrate!

Walt Disney World
From 2012 to late 2014, Ralph and Vanellope made appearances at Disney's Hollywood Studios' Magic of Disney Animation attraction and greeted fans who walked through a making of an exhibit in a Wreck-It Ralph themed area. These sessions of meet-and-greets were discontinued in 2014, to make way for Hiro Hamada and Baymax. In 2018, Ralph began making meet-and-greet appearances in Epcot.

Ralph and Felix also appeared in an 8-bit segment of Celebrate the Magic at the Magic Kingdom. Ralph would later briefly appear in the replacement castle show, Happily Ever After, alongside Vanellope.

In the former Downtown Disney attraction DisneyQuest, a statue of Ralph was prominently featured. Ralph also served as the mascot of the facility prior to its closing.

In 2014, Ralph was added to the Magic Kingdom's annual Mickey's Boo-to-You Halloween Parade, as well as Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. The 2018 rendition of Boo-to-You debuted an update of Ralph's costume, which gave him a slightly more animated appearance and changed his hands from open to fisted. He was also given newly recorded dialogue. New dialogue was also provided for 2018's Very Merry Christmas.

Disney Cruise Line
In Vanellope's Sweets and Treats aboard the Disney Dream, Ralph has a dessert named after him called "Ralph Chocolate Covered Popcorn".

Trivia

 * Originally, much like Ariel's "Part of Your World" and Tiana's "Almost There", Ralph was meant to have what the filmmakers call an "I Want" song. However, the number was eventually dropped from the film, and 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 makes a brief cameo in the Futurama episode "Murder on the Planet Express" when a truck goes by and his head is on one of the arcade game machines.
 * This could also be a tribute to Wreck-It Ralph director Rich Moore, as he used to work on Futurama.
 * 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."
 * During renovations of the Walt Disney Animation Studios building, beginning in 2014, Ralph was one of the character silhouettes featured on the wall mural.
 * Wreck-It Ralph was one of the movies that actor Dan Stevens used to research the psychology of a beast for his role in Beauty and the Beast.
 * He is referenced in the Once Upon a Time episode "Greenbacks". After Victoria Belfrey discovers Sabine and Jacinda's newly started business, she rings a man named Ralph, and asks him to "wreck it".
 * He also made a surprise appearance in the video game Fortnite coinciding with the release of Ralph Breaks the Internet.