Ricky Goldsworth
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Related tropes/genres | Crime AU |
| See also | C.C. Tinsley |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
Ricky Goldsworth is a character originally created by Ryan Bergara, who thereafter became a popular feature in many fanworks in the BuzzFeed Unsolved fandom.
Background
In the True Crime episode The Creepy Murder in Room 1046,[1] Shane comments on how easy it apparently was in the early 20th century to have a fake identity (referencing how the murder victim went by a pseudonym and was not properly identified for some time after his death). Ryan argues that one could still get away with a fake identity today. He coins the psuedonym "Ricky Goldsworth" on the fly; he and Shane proceed to engage in a sort of roleplay where Ryan is trying to check into a hotel under a false name while Shane interrogates him at the receptionist's desk. The roleplay gets intense, with Ryan playing more aggressive, and eventually Shane relents. This brief scene set the stage for what would become the Ricky Goldsworth trope.
After Ricky became popular in the fandom, he would often be mentioned to Ryan and Shane by fans; sometimes these references made their way into Unsolved and especially its aftershow, Postmortem. Ricky would evolve over time from a consciously created pseudonym to a kind of split personality within Ryan, one that takes over Ryan's body when mentioned while Ryan himself blacks out and experiences amnesia. The running gag appears to have ended with Unsolved, as Ricky Goldsworth has not been brought back on any Watcher show.
Fandom
To this day, some members of the fandom will bring up Ricky Goldsworth whenever they believe Ryan is acting unusually confident, aggressive, or suspicious. Headcanons differ; sometimes Ricky is described as a demon or other supernatural spirit "possessing" Ryan, and sometimes he's treated more as an alter in his head.
In the world of fanworks not meant to be seen by Ryan and Shane, Ricky was (and to some extent still is) quite popular. The most popular pairing featuring Ricky is easily Ricky Goldsworth/C.C. Tinsley, or Tinsworth. Tinsley is another popular feature in the Unsolved fandom; notably, he shares his name with a real-life detective who operated during the 1940s, and was involved in the disappearance of the Sodder children (an early case featured on Unsolved). He and Ricky are often depicted as being in a cat-and-mouse relationship, with Tinsley trying to capture or arrest Goldsworth, while Goldsworth teases him, taunts him, or even chases him back.
Many Tinsworth works are also Shyan works, where Ricky and C.C. are just pseudonyms for Ryan and Shane. As time went on, Tinsworth became popular among anti-shippers within the fandom, as it supposedly did not include real people. It must be noted that nearly all artistic depictions of Ricky Goldsworth and C.C. Tinsley are inspired by the real-life likenesses of Ryan and Shane, respectively; and it must be reiterated that C.C. Tinsley was ostensibly a real person.
In fanart, Ricky Goldsworth is often depicted wielding a knife, which is often covered in blood (as is Ricky himself). He is often paired (either romantically or aesthetically) with Demon!Shane. Ricky has in a sense become the counterpart to Demon!Shane, an dark version of Ryan to match a dark version of Shane; one may also view Ricky and Demon!Shane as embodiments of both halves of Unsolved (Ryan/Ricky representing the True Crime seasons, and Shane/Demon!Shane representing the Supernatural seasons).
Versions of Ricky Goldsworth that portray him as a split personality (or alter in a system) have been criticized for reinforcing negative stereotypes about dissociative disorders.[2] [3]
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Art
- here’s a Ghoul Boys as the fandoms favorite Demon Shane and Ricky Goldsworth :) by artemistoonz
- More Ghoul Boys art by neverending-space
- they're flirting by boobgara