Riz has very little patience for everyone else alive. She communicates better with the ship than with any human, and prefers to spend her time alone or with her nose over flight charts. She would prefer to be the only recognized mechanic around, though does occasionally back down to Pander, who is the better grease-monkey of the two. She comes from a well known, wealthy family, and has thereby attained the nickname "Ritz", which she despises, not for the name itself but for the connection it would suggest to her parents and the funds they own. She would rather be seen as a lone figure.

Dark skinned and honeyblonde, Ritz supposedly has blue eyes but they are usually hidden behind giant navigator's glasses, even when not at her station.