Sheemie Ruiz
Encyclopedia
Stanley "Sheemie" Ruiz (born Stanley Sheemer) is a character in the Stephen King
series The Dark Tower
. He is a boy who works in a bar in Hambry. He is gifted with "the touch", or telepathic powers
. He has the ability to teleport and create locations that exist out of time and space. Sheemie is never seen.
's tale of the events in his youth that shaped his life and led to his quest for the fabled Dark Tower. (However, in the revised version of The Gunslinger
, Roland recalls him as "a boy... who’d had a mule".)
Sheemie is a "half-wit" or "obviously retarded" young man working at the Traveler's Rest, a saloon, whorehouse and boarding house in Hambry, the seat of the Barony of Mejis. He is the illegitimate son of Dolores Sheemer, and it is implied that the Rest's bartender, Stanley Ruiz, might be his father; the witch known in Hambry as Rhea of the Cöos
expressly refers to him at one point as the "son of Stanley". He shows moments of great insight, as well as extreme loyalty to his heroes, the ka-tet comprising the young Roland and his friends Cuthbert Allgood
and Alain Johns
, who come to Hambry under assumed identities to keep them from danger in their homeland of Gilead. The trio win Sheemie's loyalty and hero-worship when they stand up for him against the Big Coffin Hunters, a group of outlaws who are secretly working in Mejis for the rebel John Farson
. Sheemie is most fond of Cuthbert, the first of the trio to intervene, and continues to think of Cuthbert by his alias of "Arthur Heath" even after learning his true name.
Later, when the Big Coffin Hunters frame Roland's ka-tet as murderers and allies of Farson, Sheemie aids Susan Delgado, the love of Roland's life, in freeing the trio from jail. Sheemie is charged with watching over Susan while the ka-tet foils the Coffin Hunters' plans, but Susan is taken by the Coffin Hunters, the witch of the Cöos, and other confederates of Farson while Sheemie is away relieving himself
. Though Sheemie follows Susan and her captors back to Hambry and aids her in an escape attempt, Susan is ultimately recaptured and burned alive by the townspeople in an archaic ritual, as punishment for her part in the supposed crimes of the escaped trio.
After Roland tells the story of his time in Mejis to his latter-day ka-tet, Jake Chambers
asks about Sheemie. Roland reveals that, despite the long distance and many dangers between Mejis and Gilead, Sheemie followed the trio and finally arrived, with his mule "Capi" (short for "Caprichoso") in tow, in time for the Year's End Fair in Gilead. He also states that Sheemie then joined the young Roland and his friends on the initial stages of Roland's quest for the Dark Tower "as a sort of squire", but Roland's voice trails off before he can continue, and he does not speak further on the subject. Thus, Sheemie's fate during and after the fall of Gilead is unknown, though it is known that all of Roland's original companions on his quest died during that period of time, and that Roland had been travelling alone for many years before assembling a new ka-tet.
By the time Sheemie is seen again in the seventh book, The Dark Tower, it has apparently been confirmed that Ruiz was his father since he is now using it as his last name. It is also revealed for the first time that Stanley is his true first name as well. By this time, his powers have matured, and he can make portals between "our" world and Roland's world. He is now being used by the Crimson King
's forces as one the Breakers (a group of psychics who are mentally attacking the beams that support the Tower) in the Thunderclap station. He has become close friends with Ted Brautigan and Dinky Earnshaw
. The trio assist Roland's Ka-tet when they attack the station, however, during the battle he cuts himself on a piece of glass and the wound becomes infected. He creates a portal allowing Roland and Jake Chambers
to travel to Maine
and save the life of Stephen King
. During the subsequent journey he dies of blood poisoning, made worse by the toxic fumes in the region.
In the comic book
miniseries The Gunslinger Born, Marvel Comics
' adaptation of Wizards flashbacks, his parts are relatively unchanged, and in the sequel The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home
, Sheemie ends up in a Dogan, a military base, after the death of Susan Delgado, and activates a robot which grants him psionic powers, including telepathy
and teleportation
. He uses the latter ability to transport across a canyon while following Roland and his companions (who had cut the canyon's bridge to evade a posse from Hambry that was pursuing them). In the final issue of The Long Road Home, Sheemie rescues Roland's mind from the evil seeing sphere known as Maerlyn's Grapefruit, where Roland was being tortured by the Crimson King
with visions of his future and the Tower. Sheemie uses his newfound powers to first heal himself (after Cuthbert shoots him, mistaking him for an attacking wolf), then does the same for an injured Alain. Sheemie then enters the Grapefruit physically, astride Capi the mule, and expels Roland's mind; however, Sheemie and Capi themselves do not emerge from the sphere, and their immediate fates are unknown from that point until their arrival in Gilead as described in Wizard and Glass. The Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead
, shows Sheemie's arrival and he again uses his powers to dodge the guards on the main gate. Cuthbert and Alain eventually locate him within the city and save him from a group of Slow Mutants that have entered to city in the advance of Farson's attack on the city.
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
series The Dark Tower
The Dark Tower (series)
The Dark Tower is a series of books written by American author Stephen King, which incorporates themes from multiple genres, including fantasy, science fantasy, horror and western. It describes a "Gunslinger" and his quest toward a tower, the nature of which is both physical and metaphorical. King...
. He is a boy who works in a bar in Hambry. He is gifted with "the touch", or telepathic powers
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
. He has the ability to teleport and create locations that exist out of time and space. Sheemie is never seen.
Fictional history
Sheemie Ruiz first appears in the fourth of the Dark Tower books, Wizard and Glass, in Roland DeschainRoland Deschain
Roland Deschain of Gilead is a fictional character, the protagonist and antihero of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. He is the son of Steven and Gabrielle Deschain and is descended from a long line of "gunslingers", peacekeepers and diplomats of Roland's society...
's tale of the events in his youth that shaped his life and led to his quest for the fabled Dark Tower. (However, in the revised version of The Gunslinger
The Gunslinger
The Gunslinger is a novel by American author Stephen King, and is the first volume in the Dark Tower series, which King considers to be his magnum opus. It was first published in 1982. The story centers upon Roland Deschain, the last gunslinger who has been chasing after his adversary, "the man in...
, Roland recalls him as "a boy... who’d had a mule".)
Sheemie is a "half-wit" or "obviously retarded" young man working at the Traveler's Rest, a saloon, whorehouse and boarding house in Hambry, the seat of the Barony of Mejis. He is the illegitimate son of Dolores Sheemer, and it is implied that the Rest's bartender, Stanley Ruiz, might be his father; the witch known in Hambry as Rhea of the Cöos
Rhea of the Cöos
Rhea Dubativo of the Cöos is a fictional character who appears in several novels by Stephen King, most notably his Dark Tower series, as well as the comic book spinoffs of that series. Rhea is a very stereotypical fairy tale witch in appearance, personality and abilities; she is old, ugly, rides a...
expressly refers to him at one point as the "son of Stanley". He shows moments of great insight, as well as extreme loyalty to his heroes, the ka-tet comprising the young Roland and his friends Cuthbert Allgood
Cuthbert Allgood
Cuthbert Allgood is a fictional character from Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. He is Roland Deschain's childhood friend and a member of his original ka-tet. Cuthbert, often called Bert, is first featured in The Gunslinger, but he does not play a major role in the series until Wizard and...
and Alain Johns
Alain Johns
Alain Johns is a fictional character in Stephen King's Dark Tower series.Alain was a member of Roland Deschain's original ka-tet along with Cuthbert Allgood and Jamie De Curry. In the original version of The Gunslinger, Alain was not mentioned, although Roland recalls having a friend named 'Allen'...
, who come to Hambry under assumed identities to keep them from danger in their homeland of Gilead. The trio win Sheemie's loyalty and hero-worship when they stand up for him against the Big Coffin Hunters, a group of outlaws who are secretly working in Mejis for the rebel John Farson
John Farson
John Farson is a fictional character from Stephen King's The Dark Tower series of novels and comic books. Known as "The Good Man", Farson is the leader of a revolution in In-World who appeals to the common people, wanting to end the training of Gunslingers and re-distribute power. His stated...
. Sheemie is most fond of Cuthbert, the first of the trio to intervene, and continues to think of Cuthbert by his alias of "Arthur Heath" even after learning his true name.
Later, when the Big Coffin Hunters frame Roland's ka-tet as murderers and allies of Farson, Sheemie aids Susan Delgado, the love of Roland's life, in freeing the trio from jail. Sheemie is charged with watching over Susan while the ka-tet foils the Coffin Hunters' plans, but Susan is taken by the Coffin Hunters, the witch of the Cöos, and other confederates of Farson while Sheemie is away relieving himself
Urination
Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, peeing, weeing, pissing, and more rarely, emiction, is the ejection of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. In healthy humans the process of urination is under voluntary control...
. Though Sheemie follows Susan and her captors back to Hambry and aids her in an escape attempt, Susan is ultimately recaptured and burned alive by the townspeople in an archaic ritual, as punishment for her part in the supposed crimes of the escaped trio.
After Roland tells the story of his time in Mejis to his latter-day ka-tet, Jake Chambers
Jake Chambers
John "Jake" Chambers is a fictional character in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series of novels. He first appeared in the short story "The Way Station" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in April 1980, which was later compiled as one of the chapters of the first Dark Tower book, The...
asks about Sheemie. Roland reveals that, despite the long distance and many dangers between Mejis and Gilead, Sheemie followed the trio and finally arrived, with his mule "Capi" (short for "Caprichoso") in tow, in time for the Year's End Fair in Gilead. He also states that Sheemie then joined the young Roland and his friends on the initial stages of Roland's quest for the Dark Tower "as a sort of squire", but Roland's voice trails off before he can continue, and he does not speak further on the subject. Thus, Sheemie's fate during and after the fall of Gilead is unknown, though it is known that all of Roland's original companions on his quest died during that period of time, and that Roland had been travelling alone for many years before assembling a new ka-tet.
By the time Sheemie is seen again in the seventh book, The Dark Tower, it has apparently been confirmed that Ruiz was his father since he is now using it as his last name. It is also revealed for the first time that Stanley is his true first name as well. By this time, his powers have matured, and he can make portals between "our" world and Roland's world. He is now being used by the Crimson King
Crimson King
The Crimson King, also commonly known as Los', is a fictional character created by Stephen King. He is the antagonist in the novel Insomnia the main villain due to a plot twist in Black House and one of the main villains in the latter half of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.-Fictional...
's forces as one the Breakers (a group of psychics who are mentally attacking the beams that support the Tower) in the Thunderclap station. He has become close friends with Ted Brautigan and Dinky Earnshaw
Dinky Earnshaw
Richard Ellery "Dinky" Earnshaw is a fictional character appearing in Stephen King's Dark Tower series and short story "Everything's Eventual". Dinky is a powerful psychic, also known as a Breaker...
. The trio assist Roland's Ka-tet when they attack the station, however, during the battle he cuts himself on a piece of glass and the wound becomes infected. He creates a portal allowing Roland and Jake Chambers
Jake Chambers
John "Jake" Chambers is a fictional character in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series of novels. He first appeared in the short story "The Way Station" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in April 1980, which was later compiled as one of the chapters of the first Dark Tower book, The...
to travel to Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
and save the life of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
. During the subsequent journey he dies of blood poisoning, made worse by the toxic fumes in the region.
In the comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
miniseries The Gunslinger Born, Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' adaptation of Wizards flashbacks, his parts are relatively unchanged, and in the sequel The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home
The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home
The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home is a monthly five-issue comic book mini-series, a spin-off of Stephen King's sci-fi western novel series of the same name. The first issue was published on March 5, 2008...
, Sheemie ends up in a Dogan, a military base, after the death of Susan Delgado, and activates a robot which grants him psionic powers, including telepathy
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
and teleportation
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
. He uses the latter ability to transport across a canyon while following Roland and his companions (who had cut the canyon's bridge to evade a posse from Hambry that was pursuing them). In the final issue of The Long Road Home, Sheemie rescues Roland's mind from the evil seeing sphere known as Maerlyn's Grapefruit, where Roland was being tortured by the Crimson King
Crimson King
The Crimson King, also commonly known as Los', is a fictional character created by Stephen King. He is the antagonist in the novel Insomnia the main villain due to a plot twist in Black House and one of the main villains in the latter half of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.-Fictional...
with visions of his future and the Tower. Sheemie uses his newfound powers to first heal himself (after Cuthbert shoots him, mistaking him for an attacking wolf), then does the same for an injured Alain. Sheemie then enters the Grapefruit physically, astride Capi the mule, and expels Roland's mind; however, Sheemie and Capi themselves do not emerge from the sphere, and their immediate fates are unknown from that point until their arrival in Gilead as described in Wizard and Glass. The Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead
The Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead
The Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead is a six-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics. It is the penultimatestory arc of five based on Stephen King's The Dark Tower series of novels. It is plotted by Robin Furth, scripted by Peter David, and illustrated by Richard Isanove. Stephen...
, shows Sheemie's arrival and he again uses his powers to dodge the guards on the main gate. Cuthbert and Alain eventually locate him within the city and save him from a group of Slow Mutants that have entered to city in the advance of Farson's attack on the city.