Okay. This probabily going to be the last villain installment of this series. There are a still a few characters I would like to tackle.
Ruby Scott
For all the intent and purposes Ruby Scott should be just a footnote in the long story of Tex: he appeared in the
Silver Bell storyline, an absolutely run-of-the-mill "town boss" plot that was used as a filler between issue #98 and #100 (1969). Ruby isn't even the main villain, he's just the gun-for-hire that the old Mr. Baker let loose against Tex. Overall Ruby appear in barely 30 pages of a 90 pages story and yet he hits his mark.
What makes the character memorable is that out of a crapton of gunfighters that tried their luck against Tex over the years, Ruby was the one that came closer to killing the ranger. Thanks to a swivel holster, Ruby was able to hit Tex twice while he was still drawing the gun, hitting him in the right shoulder and grazing his head. Apparently he only missed because Tex had the sun behind him, partially blinding Ruby.
The second and most important reason is that Ruby is the closest Tex ever come to have a palette swap opponent. Like Tex Ruby is something of a half-blood, he has a Pawnee "mate" (who calls him "Master", but seem to be truly in love with him), he lives most of the year in her village in the Pawnee Reservation and leave only when called. The main difference is in how these two characters relate to the world: Tex, despite his fame, always tries to blend in, to be just a good man among his fellows; Ruby lives in constant opposition with the entire universe, verything in him stands out, from his outfit to the way he behave, he want to world to challenge him, to remember him and to fear him.
Stat-wise Ruby Scott is a PL7-8 gunslinger (very offensive and initiative shifted) with a sizeable Intimidation score, probably the single most dangerous opponent that Tex ever faced one-on-one.
El Muerto
Francisco "Paco" Ordoñez
If Ruby Scott is, probably, the most dangerous gunslinger Tex ever faced, the one that most people remember is Paco Ordoñez a.k.a. El Muerto. Created by Sergio Bonelli, under the pen name of Guido Nolitta, in issue #190, Ordoñez remains particularly memorable not only for his disfigured visage (a consequence of his forst encounter with Tex and Carson, when he remained trapped in a burning building), but also for being a much more cold and calculating opponent than usual. Many of the historical opponents of Tex have a certain drammetic flair to them, even Protheus (who is usually very calm) tend to occasionally brag and have these moments of when he monologue like a raving madman. El Muerto never does anything of the sort, until the final showdown he showed to be extremely practical and down to earth.
The story of the character is interesting, albeit not incredible: the Ordoñez brothers were a gang of stagecoach robbers. During a holdup, Paco took a carrilon locket from a woman who, trying to get it back, pulled the mask off him, forcing the gang to gun down all the passangers. This brutal murder pushed Tex and Carson to find the Ordoñez and the two older brothers (Diego and Fernando) died in a gunfight, while Paco remained trapped inside a burning building. Miracolously, he survived and, many years later, returned to get his revenge. He sent his gang in the Navajo reservation, where they brutally murdered a youngster and beat Tiger Jack to a inch from the grave -- all to provoke Tex -- and left a message to meet at Boot Hill.
After a series of ambushes, one narrowly avoided thanks to the help of a recovering Tiger Jack, Tex arrived at Boot Hill and the final showdown echoed the work of Sergio Leone more than anything Bonelli senior ever wrote. In a cemetery overlooking a ghost town, Tex and El Muerto faced each other over an open grave, right next to the burrials of Diego and Fernando Ordoñez, while the carrilon that started the entire story played.
El Muerto is less impressive opponent than Ruby Scott, probably around PL6. He's a more well rounded opponent and has a gang of a dozen PL4 desperadoes at his disposal.
Vindex
Professor Francisco Carmonas
Another single issue opponent, but absolutely unique, Vindex was the "mon-de-plum" of Professor Francisco Carmonas a Mexican biologist and chemist that represent the first and, possibly, best dabbling of the entire series in the mad scientist trope.
Considered a true luminary in organic chemistry, professor Carmonas was working on the idea of creating artifical strains of grain, capable of growing in the arid Sonora Desert, to help his struggling homeland. To this end he travelled to Germany and took a young half-Mexican/half-German scientist Victorio Hermann as his protége. The first experiments had stunning results and Carmonas decided to return to Mexico and start the some field test. Somehow, somewhere things went south, really south, and Carmonas started a new line of experiments, altering humans and mountain lions into giants.
Now going by the name of Vindex, Carmonas started carving his new little kingdom near the Mexican/US border, protected by a pride of 10 courgars the size of bufalloes and a team of giant warriors called Zumas. Meanwhile, he started suffering from terrible headaches than became more and more frequent over time, implying that he was suffering from some kind of neurological disease, possibly a consequence of his old experiments.
Tex pretty much happened on Vindex's trail by accident after meeting a group of Piutes hunted by the Zumas and saving one Carlos Hermann, the younger borther of Vindex's protége. After being captured trying to sneak in Vindex's lair, Tex escaped with the help of Victorio Hermann and they managed to stall the Zumas long enough for help (Carson, Kit, Tiger and about 50 Navajos) to arrive. During the final battle, Vindex was shot by Tiger and died.
Vindex was never a real, direct threat. While he was incredibly intelligent (easily INT 20 or 22), in combat terms he barely scratched PL2-3 on defense and he never used a weapon. His Zumas, on the other hand were easily PL7 melee fighters a full size larger than an average human and his pumas were even more dangerous, probably ranking at full PL8 (Tex pretty much had to dispatch them using dynamite).