Ruby Rose

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

During her time attending Beacon Academy, she wears a black dress consisting of a long-sleeved blouse with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves, over which is a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front, and a matching skirt with red lining and a red petticoat. She also wears a pair of thick black tights that fade to red near the bottom, and black combat boots with red laces, red trims around the top, and red soles.

Her outfit is topped by a red hooded cloak fastened to her shoulders by cross-shaped pins. Her emblem appears as a large silver buckle on her wide black belt, which is slung around her hips on an angle. Attached to her belt are a pocket and a row of bullets.

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.

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. 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.