Ruby

Ruby Rose is the main titular protagonist of RWBY. She is a Huntress, having been trained at the now defunct Beacon Academy. Her weapon of choice is her High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe known as Crescent Rose, which she designed herself.

Ruby first appeared in the "Red" Trailer, visiting the grave of her mother, Summer Rose. After an invitation from Professor Ozpin following a short battle with Roman Torchwick, Ruby attends Beacon Academy in order to become a Huntress. During her time at Beacon, Ruby became a member and the leader of Team RWBY, consisting of herself, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and her older half-sister, Yang Xiao Long.

Ruby is a fair-skinned young girl with silver eyes and neck-length black hair with red tips.

After arriving in Atlas and meeting with James Ironwood, Ruby's hair becomes spikier and choppier with her bangs swept to the side.

She has a new outfit, comprised of a black and red lined lace-up corset with four buckles hanging loose over a mesh sleeveless top over a white low cut long-sleeved blouse, as well as a black choker around her neck. She wears a red pleated skirt that is split at the side with a small brown belted strap across the gap, and bright red shorts under it. On her arms, she wears black bracers with large brown buckled straps around the wrist as well as black fingerless gloves.

Ever since she was little, Ruby has had a romanticized view of the Huntsman profession. She is quick to reveal she wanted to become a Huntress in order to be like the great heroes in fairy tales, and she has described being one as far more "romantic" than being a police officer. Her mentality is described as "I don't have time for my emotions. I've gotta make sure that everybody else is okay." Lindsay Jones claims Ruby's mentality is "selfless, but that means she's not dealing with her own issues. Compartmentalizing and internalizing her grief is what might eventually destroy her." She has also shown a distinct lack of ability to pick up social cues due to being a very open and honest person. This results in her inability to pick up Weiss' sarcasm in the "The Shining Beacon" and her struggling to act formally in "It's Brawl in the Family".

Ruby is a self-proclaimed dork when it comes to weapons; she is quite intelligent, having designed and built Crescent Rose during her time at Signal, although she admits to going "a little overboard" with its design. She feels that seeing new weapons "is like meeting new people, but better." Oum has said she relies on Crescent Rose quite often in battle.

Ruby has a strong sense of moral justice, a trait she obtained from stories about heroes and monsters that her sister used to read for her, as well as the way her parents raised her. These stories are what gave her the ideals that she wished to live by and uphold throughout her life and are the reason for her love for books.

Ruby is shown to be naïve as although she doesn't like to be the center of attention, becoming a Huntress would effectively put her in the spotlight. In addition to her dislike of attention, Ruby prefers to either be alone or with Yang. However, she has become comfortable around Team RWBY and Team JNPR. She does not lack social skills but has problems when meeting new people. This is mostly because of her childish nature and lack of social grace, as she can be bad-mannered (only out of ignorance) and sometimes speaks without thinking. However, because of her enthusiastic personality, she can become very good friends with people who share her enthusiasm.

Despite this, Ruby's leadership skills make her a worthy teammate. While she may occasionally act without thinking, sometimes she seems to understand the situation better than most. She can then use this ability to quickly formulate plans. This was seen during Team RWBY's battle with the Nevermore, in which her teammates' positions allowed her to come up with a successful plan. After Ozpin assigned Ruby as leader of Team RWBY and talked to her in "The Badge and The Burden, Pt.2", Ruby took her new role seriously, studying so hard and so late, she fell asleep in the middle of the task. She has become a resourceful and dependable leader and was also able to pass her beliefs as leader to Jaune Arc, thus helping him find a new sense of responsibility for the safety and well-being of his own team.

Ruby is also shown to care for all her teammates equally, despite their background. This is seen in how she expresses sympathy for Weiss' bad childhood after she explains her family's history with the White Fang, before showing the same concern moments later for Blake Belladonna when she runs away, having let slip her prior involvement with the group, and by extension indirectly revealing that she was a Faunus. Ruby's concern is further expressed in her desperate search for her teammate. This sense of care is later shown not to be limited to her teammates. She also shows some worry for Penny, telling the latter to stay out of the fight between Roman Torchwick, Blake Belladonna, and Sun Wukong.

Although Ruby has no trouble interacting with her friends, she does have trouble actually making them, and once admits that seeing new weapons "is like meeting new people, but better". This could have been a result of her having been accepted two years earlier to Beacon Academy, which forces her to leave her friends at Signal behind, as well as interact with people that are both older and more experienced than she is. Regardless, both she and Jaune Arc toast to being socially awkward during the Beacon Dance.

In the second chapter of the manga, it is revealed that Ruby originally had enochlophobia, a fear of large crowds, as shown when she freezes up during a sparring match against Cardin Winchester. However, she manages to work through that fear with some encouragement from her teammates long enough to win the spar, and by the Vytal Festival, she has overcome them entirely.

Despite her social awkwardness, Ruby is far from shy: she is enthusiastic and often eager to speak her mind. She is capable of being assertive, when necessary, as she has verbally stood her ground against many people who have tried to dissuade or humiliate her, including Weiss Schnee before they became friends, Roman Torchwick, Neopolitan, Caroline Cordovin and James Ironwood. Despite her usual kindness, Ruby can also be stern with her friends and close ones when she feels it necessary, such as arguing with Qrow in Argus or with Yang in Mantle.

Ruby also has a sweet tooth, preferring five sugars in her coffee and scarfing down a large plate of cookies in "Ruby Rose". She is even seen with a plate of cookies in "Jaunedice", while her friends are eating more nutritious meals. This is shown again in "Alone Together", where Ruby rejoices and accepts coffee after learning Weiss put "blasphemous amounts of cream and sugar" in it.

In combat or dangerous situations, she is shown to be quite impulsive and battle eager, such as when she attacks a Death Stalker upon seeing it before learning of its high resistance to bullets and blades. This trait contrasts with her adaptability, for she is quite capable of forming attack plans with others in order to take down stronger foes, such as the Nevermore in "Players and Pieces" and Roman in the Atlesian Paladin-290 in "Painting the Town...".

Ruby's weapon of choice is Crescent Rose. Ruby is self-admittedly obsessed when it comes to weapons, which shows in her complex design and craftsmanship of her weapon, a High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe which she designed herself at Signal, as well as her eye for detail when observing other people's weapons and tools. This weapon can transform between a scythe and a sniper rifle and can fire Dust rounds in either form with massive force. Ruby has proven to have excellent marksmanship, making a perfect headshot on a fleeing Geist in "The Next Step" and shooting down a missile in "The Lady in the Shoe".

Ruby's Semblance, Petal Burst (also known as Speed), allows her to dash with an inhuman speed in whatever direction she chooses, often leaving trails of rose petals in her wake.[20] In "Best Day Ever", Ruby is shown to be capable of creating powerful tailwinds with her Semblance; if she gathers enough momentum, the resulting turbulence is capable of lifting people off the ground.

Within the episode "Ace Operatives", it was stated by Harriet Bree that Ruby's Semblance is not like other speed-type Semblances, though she does not elaborate.

It is later revealed by Penny in "Strings" that Ruby's Semblance allows her to disassemble herself at a molecular level and reassemble at a chosen location, negating her mass. With practice, she has proven able to do the same with anyone she is in contact with, similar to Ren's Semblance; she can carry at least four people along with her. This allows her to go around obstacles or through paths that she would not otherwise fit. She has also proven able to negate gravity while using her Semblance; in "The Final Word", she uses her Semblance mid-fall to circle up and around Neopolitan, attacking her from behind. However, as shown by her battle with Mercury in "PvP", if her path is blocked by an unexpected obstacle mid-flight, her Semblance can be disrupted, forcing her to stop.

Through her mother, Summer, Ruby comes from a line of legendary warriors who possessed powerful abilities related to their Silver Eyes, said to be an extremely rare trait. Upon seeing Pyrrha Nikos die in "End of the Beginning", Ruby accidentally uses this power in her grief and petrifies the Wyvern. However, she has no memory of doing this other than her head hurting. Later in the episode, Qrow describes a fairy tale about warriors with Silver Eyes who are so powerful that even the Grimm fear them.

In "The Next Step", it is revealed that Ruby's powers injured Cinder Fall greatly, causing her to lose her left eye and arm, and making it difficult for her to speak for a period of time. Salem states that this is due to Cinder's possession of the Fall Maiden powers but does not explain why this is the case. However, when Ruby uses her powers once again in "The More the Merrier", Raven Branwen, who possesses the Spring Maiden powers, is not affected despite being in the vicinity, indicating that the Maiden powers themselves do not cause an individual to be affected by the Silver Eye. This indicates that the reason Cinder was affected was due to her usage of the Grimm, through a Grimm beetle glove and later a Shadow Hand.

In "Alone in the Woods", Ruby has managed to activate her power intentionally after Maria Calavera tells her to concentrate on her loved ones, turning a group of Apathy to dust. Through Maria's guidance, Ruby was able to petrify the Leviathan in the episode "Our Way", but the massive Grimm was able to partially destroy the stone encasing its body before it was destroyed by Caroline Cordovin.

Despite Maria's guidance, Ruby still hasn't fully mastered the activation of her powers. In "Out in the Open", Ruby attempts to activate her eyes while fighting an Alpha Megoliath but is unable to concentrate with all the chaos. However, in "The Enemy of Trust", she quickly and easily activates her Silver Eyes upon seeing Cinder.

Relationships:

Qrow Branwen: Qrow is Ruby's honorary uncle and mentor and although they are technically not biologically related, Ruby clearly loves him very much and the two are extremely close, sharing an almost parental relationship.

He saved her and Yang from Beowolves when they were young children, and he taught Ruby how to wield Crescent Rose among various other things. Ruby mentions to Professor Ozpin that she was "complete garbage" before Qrow started training her. Weiss suggests in "It's Brawl in the Family" that Ruby got her recklessness from Qrow.

Taiyang Xiao Long: While little interaction has been seen, according to conversations between Ruby and Yang, Ruby does not seem to like it when Yang tries to lecture her, stating that she sounds like their dad. Also, during her interaction with Penny regarding overprotective fathers, she says that she knows how it feels with a sympathetic face, signifying his high degree of over-protectiveness, which she does not seem to really enjoy. However, Ruby also quotes her father and mother as the ones who taught her to help others.

In "Field Trip" Ruby is overjoyed that their father has sent Yang and her a package.

In "End of the Beginning", Ruby is watched over by Taiyang as she recovers. She later leaves home in the winter without telling her dad personally, leaving only a letter explaining her departure.

Weiss Schnee: Weiss is Ruby's partner and a member of Team RWBY. Their first acquaintance was on bad terms, with Ruby knocking over Weiss' luggage, leading her to berate Ruby about the importance of the contents of the luggage, further accusing her of being "brain dead" due to her nervous expression after the mention of Dust. Ruby was seriously upset by Weiss' aggressive behavior and by the fact she has made what she has termed "a negative friend".

Later, in the Emerald Forest, Ruby kept acting recklessly to prove herself to Weiss. Weiss has since stated that Ruby's hyperactivity and lack of forethought is a big cause of tension between them, while Ruby was irritated by Weiss's bossy and arrogant demeanor. During the day, the two have learned to work together and the tension between them has started to lessen when they both became parts of Team RWBY. By "Players and Pieces", both are able to open to one another slightly but have not become friends yet. Although Ruby appears to try befriending her, Weiss is still annoyed by Ruby's childish antics, as seen in Peter Port's class lesson about the Grimm.

But after Ruby talks with Ozpin and Weiss talks with Port, the two seem to be on better terms with each other. Despite their earlier argument, Ruby acts affably to Weiss when she wakes her up, and Weiss says she believes Ruby can be a great leader, promising to be the best teammate. Although they have reconciled, Weiss is still stern with Ruby when she makes mistakes, such as calling her a "dunce" after she misunderstands Pyrrha Nikos' Semblance of "polarity" as being the power to "control poles", when it actually means controlling magnetism.

By "The Stray", Ruby and Weiss have developed some rapport, and they are seen acting far more friendly to each other. However, after Blake's accidental revelation of being a Faunus and former member of the White Fang, Ruby stills seems to be distressed by Weiss' attitude, as much of which also causes her pain, in sense of being a leader and keeping her friends together.

As of "Welcome to Beacon", the two seem to have developed a better and closer relationship, which was seen when after the two lost against Yang, each on different turns, the two hug and "cry" together. Ruby also laughs at Weiss' small joke following their battle against Roman in his Atlesian Paladin.

In "Round One", after Weiss saves Ruby from being attacked during the match, she calls Weiss her "BFF". While Weiss refutes this label, Ruby nonetheless holds it to be true.

Blake Belladonna: Blake Belladonna is a member of Team RWBY. The two have developed a strong bond, though their relationship was colder to start off with.

In "The Shining Beacon", despite helping out Ruby, Blake shows indifference to her as evidenced when Ruby tries to make conversation with her, but Blake is already walking away. That night, Blake is seen reading a book by candlelight, as Ruby is lying down talking with her sister. After Ruby pinpoints Blake, Yang pulls Ruby over to Blake to try and get them to speak to each other. Initially, this fails as Blake says she wanted to be alone to read her book, but the two find common ground over their shared love of books.

When Ruby is looking for Yang to partner with her during the initiation, she muses to herself about how Blake would be a good alternative, but that she might find it hard to socialize with Blake. Later, when observing a recent crime scene, Ruby was quick to agree with and defend Blake's statement on how it did not make sense that the White Fang would rob a Dust store, saying that it could have been Roman Torchwick, a criminal she encountered a few months ago.

After Blake outed herself as being a Faunus, Ruby tried to help her but was unable when she quickly ran out of the room, showing that Ruby cares for all her teammates. According to Ruby, she and Blake are already friends, as both already get along, although she is still quiet. Ruby also notes on how Blake's cat ears are cute. Ruby’s acceptance of Blake for who she is led to the two becoming close friends.

The two are usually on good and friendly terms, as Ruby herself was willing to help Blake in fighting their enemies. Both also seem to fight perfectly well together, as seen when fighting off against Roman, using their speed to their advantage when he piloted the Atlesian Paladin-290. After the Battle of Beacon, Ruby is saddened by the fact that Blake ran away after the battle. Although Ruby believes that Blake might have had a good reason for running away, contrary to what Yang believes. In "Alone Together", Ruby wishes that Blake was in Mistral with the rest of Team RWBY. In "Downfall", Ruby is surprised when she sees Blake again. But as they are in the midst of battle, she allows her teammate to head back out and fight. In "Haven's Fate", Ruby is surprised when Blake rejoins her and Weiss and asks if they are alright. After the battle, Ruby asks Blake what she is doing at Haven and later welcomes her back into the team, showing she had no resentment for the latter leaving before.

Yang Xiao Long: Yang Xiao Long is Ruby's older half-sister. When they were young, Yang used to read Ruby storybooks filled with the deeds of great heroes, which inspired Ruby to become a Huntress. In the past, Ruby complemented Yang's hair when she was brushing it and compared it to a burning dragon. In addition, Ruby cites Yang's entry to Beacon as one of her sources of inspiration for joining the school herself.

They both attended Beacon Academy at the same time, during which Yang has shown high levels of affection for Ruby, much to her embarrassment. Despite this, from the moment they arrived at Beacon, Yang has tried to pressure Ruby into finding friends as well as a team that did not include her, in order to help Ruby be less socially awkward.