Rue Bennett is a non-binary lesbian character from Euphoria.
Biography[]
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Rue is a 17-year-old recovering drug addict struggling to find her place in the world. Fresh out of rehab, she has no intention of staying clean and tries to make sense of what the future holds — until she meets Jules Vaughn, the eclectic, intriguing new girl in town.
Appearance[]
Rue is a skinny, biracial (her mother is black and her father was white) girl with a brownish-beige skin color. Sometimes, she applies eye make-up such as glitter or eyeliner. She has dark brown coily hair and dark eyes. Her outfits, in contrast with Jules', are very mute and rarely change. She most often wears her fathers hoodie or some other baggy hoodie/shirt, and shorts or loose fitting pants. Her footwear is usually converse or other sneakers.
Personality[]
Rue is sarcastic and introverted. Her battles with mental illness and drug addiction often times highlight the more negative aspects of her personality, such as when she's rude. She is also bipolar. That being said, Rue is far from being anti-social. She is able to get along with many people, and has several acquaintances. Rue has had a complicated relationship with her sexuality, struggling with compulsory heterosexuality. She experienced uncomfortable sexual situations with boys when she was younger (such as being "emotionally coerced" in to a blowjob) before realizing that she is a lesbian.
But despite her distant and apathetic front, she is shown to be very empathetic and caring for those around her. This is brought out especially in her relationships with her little sister, close friends and Jules, where she often puts herself in complex or dangerous situations to look out for. And despite arguing with her mother often, she also cares for her deeply (as does her mother to Rue).
Sexuality[]
Rue is a lesbian. She struggled with compulsory heterosexuality, and uncomfortable sexual encounters with boys before she realized that she is a lesbian. Rue's mother and sister are already aware of her sexuality, establishing she has already come out to them prior to the show's timeline. Gia knows Rue is in love with Jules, and Rue talks about Jules with her mother. Rue's relationship with her girlfriend Jules Vaughn is the first time she has been in love. She has a strong connection to Jules, and she loves her deeply.
Reaction[]
Rue, and her relationship with Jules has received love, and praise from LGBT fans on social media. Zendaya herself has spoken highly of the Rue and Jules relationship, which fans call "Rules". Rue is now a loved lesbian character. Fans have praised the authenticity of Zendaya's portrayal of Rue, and Hunter Schafer's portrayal of Jules Vaughn. Rue and Jules are now a fan favorite wlw couple.
Gender[]
In June 2021, creator of Euphoria Sam Levinson stated in an interview that Rue is non-binary[1].
Reaction[]
- This section is about fan reaction to the characters sexuality/gender identity. NOT THE IN UNIVERSE REACTION. In universe reactions would belong under sexuality/gender.
This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it.
Relationships[]
Jules Vaughn[]
Rue and Jules, a trans woman, first meet each other at Nates (a male football players) party. Nate tries to intimidate Jules, to which Jules, worried things would get violent, grabs a nearby knife and cuts herself. She does this while claiming she's invincible, and introducing herself to the onlookers. This grabs the attention of Rue, who greets Jules on her way out. They go home together, Rue patches Jules' arm, and they get high together.
Their friendship continues to evolve over the following two episodes, with Jules looking after Rue after she takes Fentanyl. Seeing Rue in this state upsets Jules, with her telling Rue that she's not trying to be best friends with someone who's going to kill themselves so Rue assures her that she'll stop using drugs upon her request.
Jules starts talking with Nate through an online dating app, who she thought was a boy called Tyler. This starts to create some tension between the two, as Rue begins to develop a crush on Jules. Though Rue does help Jules further her relationship with Tyler, this is only until Jules announces that she's going to meet up with Tyler after the carnival at night- to which Rue protests, siting how unsafe an idea that would be. Due to her concerning over Jules' safety, fight breaks out between two. They don't speak to each other for a while. The fight ends when Rue visits Jules' house and explains that the only reason she wasn't supportive of Jules meeting Tyler after the carnival was because she "cares for her, and doesn't want anything bad happening to her." Rue then kisses Jules, and then leaves crying, thinking she's ruined their friendship.
After this, they meet at the carnival. Jules assures Rue that it wasn't weird, but they agree to act as though the kiss never happened as per Rue's request. After the carnival, Jules meets 'Tyler,' and upon realizing that Tyler is Nate, she says that she cannot have a relationship with him because she does not trust him. He proceeds to blackmail her into not saying anything about their interactions, using the nude photos she sent him.
Jules visits Rue after her meeting with Nate and sleeps over. Rue asks her what happened with Tyler to which she responds "he didn't look like his picture." Rue proceeds to comfort her, and Jules kisses Rue. Later, Rue and Jules get matching lip tattoos which say Rules- an amalgamation of their two names.
Two episodes later at the halloween party of another boy, Jules feels upset because of Nate showing up at her house blackmailing her. This leads to her rejecting a kiss Rue initiated. At the party Jules takes some shots of tequila causing her to get drunk and then telling Rue that 'She should have been her chaperone, but now she's drunk.' Later, she falls into the pool, quoting a section from Romeo and Juliet to Rue. She then pulls Rue into the pool with her. While being under water they kiss. This upsets Rue, and as Rue leaves, she tells Lexi (her friend) that she feels like she is a burden. When Lexi tells Jules she and Rue are gonna leave, Jules calls Rue and Lexi and the town boring. Rue changes her mind and says that she can't leave Jules alone at the party.
The last time they see each other is at the winter formal, where Rue and Jules nearly run away to the city together. This is until Rue begins to think about her mother and her little sister, Gia, and says she can't do it. In tears, Jules leaves for the city while Rue stays behind.
Lexi Howard[]
Rue and Lexi have been friends since pre-school. The two were close with Maddy, Cassie, and Kat in middle school. However following Rue's father's death, their relationship drifted over the years because of Rue's addictions and mental illnesses. Although Rue doesn't consider her and Lexi to be as close as they were when they were kids, she still asks her for things like pee so she can pass a home drug exam. Rue on the other hand also had helped Lexi with teaching her how to French kiss prior their freshman formal as she was invited by a boy named Tucker Blake. Over the course of Season 1 we see Rue and Lexi's relationship grow steadily. Lexi comforts Rue at the Halloween party after she calls herself "a burden". She also helps Rue scare Troy McKay into being a gentleman to her sister, Gia. We also see Rue and Lexi act as detectives in a dream-like episode when Rue becomes manic.
There is a strong implication that Lexi has a crush on Rue as she appears to have longing, jealous faces when Rue and Jules are together. Towards the end of Season 1, Lexi asks Cassie what to do if she wants to hook up with someone which Cassie replies with "go and do whoever the fuck you want". Lexi says she will do as such, but the episode ends without any mention of her hooking up with someone or asking someone out. It is theorized that Lexi wanted to hook up with Rue, but since Rue left the party early she couldn't.
Elliot[]
Rue and Elliot finally meet in the middle of "Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door", after Rue walks in on Elliot snorting a line. She is immediately interested by him. The two stay in the washroom of Virgil's house, and after Rue snorts the same drug as Elliot, she feels like she's going to die so she has Elliot grab the crushed adderall from her sock to help her stay alive. After they laugh and Elliot's sure Rue's ok, it's the start of a friendship. They're later seen smoking a joint by the fire outside. It is later confirmed that Elliot has a crush on Rue, however his feelings aren’t reciprocated as Rue is a lesbian.
Tropes[]
See Also[]
References[]
[]
| LESBIAN | Anna • Rue Bennett |
| GAY | Minako |
| BI | Cal Jacobs • Derek |
| QUEER | Nate Jacobs |
| TRANS | Jules Vaughn |
| NON-BINARY | Rue Bennett • TC |
| GENDERQUEER | Minako |
| UNLABELED | Elliot • Jules Vaughn |