Ripper

"Not every dog in Blade's Pack was evil."

— Arrow referencing Ripper in A Pack Divided, page 110

Ripper
Affiliations
Current: Past:	Fierce Dogs Fierce Dogs
Description
Species Breed Gender	Dog Doberman Pinscher Female
Names
Names	Member: Ripper
Family
Family	Unknown
Rank Positions
Rank	Member
Status
Status	Deceased
Book Appearances
Living	The Broken Path, The Endless Lake, Storm of Dogs
Dead	A Pack Divided

Ripper is a dark black-and-tan female Fierce Dog with a pointed snout, pricked ears and glossy coat.

History

In the Original Series

The Broken Path

Ripper does not formally appear in The Broken Path but is listed in the Pack List.

The Endless Lake

Ripper does not formally appear in The Endless Lake but is listed in the Pack List.

Storm of Dogs

Ripper does not formally appear in Storm of Dogs but is listed in the Pack List.

In the the Gathering Darkness arc

A Pack Divided

Ripper makes her first actual appearance. While some of the Wild Pack investigate the longpaw town, Arrow pricks his ears and when Lucky asks what is wrong, Arrow, in a choked voice, says that it is Ripper. Storm jerks back in surprise, remembering that Ripper was one of Blade's dogs, and she thinks that Ripper must have fled with the rest of Blade's Pack after the battle. However, she knows that Arrow must know her scent, and that if she really is there, then there would be trouble. Arrow bolts between the loudcage and bounds down the town's deserted streets, and the rest of the patrol follows, except for Bruno. When they find Arrow, he stands still, a dog corpse laying beneath him. Storm sees that a Fierce Dog lays sprawled on in the gutter, her coat dull and lifeless, her ribs and hip-bones jutting beneath it. The smell of death is overpowering, and Storm represses a shudder. Arrow softly says Ripper's name, and Storm realizes that if Ripper had wanted to kill Storm, there is nothing that she could do about it now. When Storm notices that deep sadness in Arrow's eyes, he softly says that not every dog in Blade's Pack had been evil. Bruno comes, apparently having followed them, and he glances at Arrow and the dead Ripper. Bruno tells Arrow that he could have fooled him, but Arrow says that he can decide what he is, and he looks down at Ripper, noting that the Fierce Dogs have their nature made for them by the longpaw Masters.

She is later noted by Arrow, when he says that after seeing Ripper's body in the longpaw town, he realized how different he is. Storm asks if he liked Ripper a lot, and has trouble imagining Arrow and Ripper in a fond, loving relationship. Arrow admits that he didn't like Ripper much at all, and that he won't miss her, but that when he saw her lying there, dead, he felt odd because she was already half-way gone to the Earth-Dog. He adds that she wasn't a Fierce Dog, but a Nothing Dog, and that she didn't exist anymore, wasn't a danger, and was gone altogether. Storm is slightly confused, and Arrow goes on that he had been told as a pup that Fierce Dogs were invincible, but that now it doesn't matter if Ripper had been bad or good, since nothing matters. He explains that it finished with her lifeless body on the edge of the hardstone, and says that it was hard for him to see a dead, helpless Fierce Dog. Arrow explains to Storm why he told her how he felt, but then adds that they should keep it between them, as he doesn't want any other dog to know how he felt at seeing Ripper, and Storm agrees. 

Later, when Lucky makes the new rank of scout dog, Storm still frets about the dead fox pup, and thinks that although they had seen Ripper's dead body, that doesn't mean that all of Blade's Pack were gone forever.

Quotes

"A black-and-tan Fierce Dog lay sprawled in the gutter, her once-glossy coat now dull and lifeless, her ribs and hip-bones jutting beneath it. Pale worms crawled at her empty eyes, and squirmed on her lolling, swollen tongue; they had been feeding on her for some time. The smell of death was overpowering, and Storm couldn't repress a huge shudder."

—Storm observes the corpse of Ripper

"Ripper was one of Blade's dogs!" Surely Ripper had fled with the rest of Blade's Pack after the battle? But Arrow must know her scent, and if she really was here, then there could be big trouble. "Blade's Pack wanted to kill me. And if any of them, survived, they might still be clinging to her wish." [...] A creeping horror turned Storm's blood cold, but it was mingled with guilty relief. If Ripper had still nursed Blade's mad ambition to kill Storm, there was nothing she could ever do about it now."

—Storm's thoughts about Ripper