Blake Belladonna (RWBY: Ice Queendom)

Blake Belladonna is one of the main protagonists of the anime television series RWBY: Ice Queendom, an alternate timeline spinoff of the American animated webseries RWBY. She is a Huntress-in-training at Beacon Academy and a member of Team RWBY.
She is voiced by Yū Shimamura, who also provided the Japanese dub voice for Blake in RWBY, as well as voiced Annie Leonhart in Attack on Titan and Princess Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In the English dub, she is voiced by her original voice actress Arryn Zech.
==Biography==
Blake Belladonna was born as the only child and of Ghira Belladonna and his wife Kali, in the Faunus-run continent of Menagerie. Blake and her family were Faunus, and Blake specifically was a cat Faunus with an additional pair of cat-like ears on her head.
When she was a teenager, Blake became a member of the White Fang, a Funus rights group. However, under changing leadership, the orginization gained new extreme views of Faunus rights, supporting a more militaristic, supremacist White Fang that eventually became an anti-human terrorist organization bent on ruling through fear. Blake, despite having reservations about the group's violent turn, remained with the organization and even pursued a romance with Adam Taurus, a high-ranking member. However, as the White Fang became more violent, she opted to abandon them. Electing to not put her skills towards radical terrorism and unethical violence any longer, Blake decides to travel to Beacon Academy in Vale to become a Huntress. She dons a large black bow on her head to hide her cat-like ears. During an attack on a train owned by the Schnee Dust Company, which employed Faunus slave labor, Blake and Adam fought off the robotic security and plan to set charges to destroy the train. However, Blake is horrified when Adam reveals that he plans to kill the human crew as well. As Adam is distracted fighting a Spider Droid, Blake decides to abandon him and the White Fang, severing their connection and the train car. She escapes to Vale.
On the airship ride to Beacon, Blake is approached by Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long, attempting to befirend her. The conversation turns to a criticism of the Schnee Dust Company, catching the attention of the company's heiress, Weiss Schnee. She attempts to defend her company's honor, resulting in an argument that Blake walks away from.
The students are then informed that they will be dropped off at the Emerald Forest for initiation. The new students are sent into the Emerald Forest to retrieve artifacts at a hidden temple. They are also informed that the first individual they make eye contact with will become their teammate for the rest of their time at the Academy. After landing, Blake meets up with Yang, and the two travel to a temple and retrieve their relic. Ruby, Weiss, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren join them, and the students are forced to flee from a Nevermore and Death Stalker Grimm. Blake aids in taking down the Nevermore, allowing them to escape.
Following the initiation, Professor Ozpin sorts the students into teams based on the relic they chose. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang are formed into Team RWBY, with Ruby named the leader, much to Weiss' dismay. She pouts and initially rejects the decision, not knowing that her body has been infected by a possessive Nightmare Grimm.
Blake attends class, and witnesses Weiss' short temper towards Ruby. Both Ruby and Weiss seek advice from their professors, and Weiss tells Ruby that she will try to be better.
Soon after, Jaune is found possessed by a Nightmare Grimm. Teams RWBY and JNPR get help, and Shion Zaiden arrives to rid Jaune of the possession. They link Jaune's mind with Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren's, and they fight off the Grimm from within, causing it to flee and be captured. Shion believes that Jaune's currently weak Aura and lack of Semblance made it easier for the Grimm to be expelled, as it was unable to feed on the Aura, unaware that Weiss is also possessed.
On a day off, Team RWBY goes to the city's docks to survey the incoming students. There they meet a stowaway named Sun Wukong, who Weiss instantly takes a disliking to because of him being a Fuanus. As Ruby and her team go through Vale, Ruby meets Penny Polendina, who instantly befriends her. Later, it is revealed that Blake is a Faunus and former member of the White Fang. Blake flees from her team in embarrassment, and Ruby and the others go looking for her. Blake meets up with Sun, explaining how she abandoned the White Fang and wants to attone for her past. Sun reveals that the White Fang are stealing Dust shipments, and the two go off to investigate.
Once there, Blake witnesses the White Fang working with the human criminal Roman Torchwick. She and Sun fight the White Fang, and are aided by Penny in fighting them off. Weiss confronts Blake, apologizing for her prejudice and offering to be her friend and ally.
However, the Nightmare Grimm attacks Weiss, trapping her in her own mind. Ruby is the the first to be sent in by Shion as Yang and Blake watch. Ruby manages to escape the dream, and reports that she found herself in a surreal dream world resembling a totalitarian Empire, and cannot get to the ceter where Weiss is due to the Grimm's interference. She tells that Weiss is notably more cold and hateful in her dream, which Shion tells her is the Nightmare influencing and manipulating her and not her true self, a version of her dubbed "Negative Weiss". Ruby volunteers to go back into the dream, and this time Yang and Blake volunteer to come along as well.
Blake finds herself in Weiss' dream, noting differences in her appearance based on how Weiss perceives her. She also notes that her weapons are more powerful. Ruby leads Yang and Blake through the city, dodging the Grimm and Weiss' security. Blake finds a way closer to the center, and then the three discover that Weiss' dream versions of Ruby and Yang were originally locked in the tower they are trying to get to. They play along, with Ruby and Yang surrendering to security and being escorted back to the tower and locked up, with Blake following close behind, unaware that Weiss is on the lookout for her as well, being the only Faunus in her Empire.
Blake picks the lock to the room Yang and Ruby are kept in, and while Yang stays behind to quell suspicions, Ruby goes with Blake, showing a relic she found that Shion said would be useful in waking Weiss up. Blake and Ruby enter a chamber of thrones. As they explore, they are suddenly cornered by Nega-Weiss and the security detail, who anticipated Blake's arrival.
As Ruby goes to retrieve Yang, Blake stays to fight and distract Nega-Weiss. She learns that Nega-Weiss has to keep removing her from her sacred places, making Blake feel as though Weiss has retained her prejudice. She manages to allude Nega-Weiss and meet back with Ruby and Yang, who have cleared the path using the relic. Together they find the Grimm, but Nega-Weiss attacks, protecting the Nightmare and overwhelming the others. Ruby uses the last of Shion's Aura to pull herself, Blake, and Yang out of the dream, but not before the relic is destroyed.
As Blake tries to figure out what to do, she meets up with Sun, explaining what she witnessed in Weiss' dream. Sun points out that if Weiss is continually thinking about her, and the dream version of her is always infiltrating the sacred places of her mind, it means that she made a breakthrough with her and is changing her mind, almost certainly for the better. This gives Blake an idea on how to change Weiss' mind and thus change her dream. She meets back up with Ruby and Yang, as well as Team JNPR, with a plan which will involve changing the dream so Weiss can confront the Grimm with what resistance she still retains. They get the aid of Jaune, who Shion reveals that, due to having been recently possessed, will still be seen that way by the Grimm, and thus ignored as long as he does not get too close. Despite approving of their idea, Shion warns them that it will be their last chance, and if they fail, Weiss will die.
Blake and her allies return to the dream, but this time they fight off the White Fang attacking the train and allow it to reach the city. This makes Weiss change the dream, opening the walls so that the train may enter the inner city and proving to Ruby and the others that they really can change the dream by intervening. Nega-Weiss is especially shocked by seeing Blake fight off the White Fang, but is adament that her arrival will not affect the Empire as a whole.
Jaune, still invisible to Weiss' security and the influence of the Grimm, finds his way to one of the prisons for "Sillies" and tricks the guard known as "Dopy Klien" to get in. There he finds the place warm and inviting, as well as finds a yellow relic inside. He frees the "Sillies", including the dream versions of his teammates. He also frees dozens of child versions of Weiss, which represent the childhood feelings she locked away for being too "silly". These child-like representations begin spreading to the security, making them all carefree and rebel against the other security forces. However, as the "Sillies" begin to grow out of control and the Grimm begins to take them under its control, Nega-Weiss herself arrives, using magic to transform the tower ito a giant fighting robot version of her grandfather, Big Nicholas, and attack the invading forces. Blake and Yang distract the robot as Ruby sneaks inside and uses a coin to get them inside.
Using the relic given to them by Jaune, Blake and her teammates make their way back to the Grimm to kill it for good. However, they are once again halted by Nega-Weiss, who uses a portal to banish Blake and Yang to the outskirts of the Empire. There, they find a house that represents all the people not welcome in the Empire, and Blake realizes that, in Weiss' mind, this is where she would belong. She explores and finds a purple relic, and also finds that Weiss' versions of the White Fang reside there. She realizes that Weiss still associates Faunus with extremism, a viewpoint Blake admits she once had towards humans. This gives Blake an idea: voluntarily become possessed, as her dark side, being the extremist antithesis to Nega-Weiss' extremist dark side, would not only be able to move freely due to the Grimm recognizing her as another possessed vessel, but be able to fight Nega-Weiss on equal footing. Yang is reluctant, but after getting permission from Shion, she agrees to let Shion use the Grimm that was extracted from Jaune on Blake.
As Blake is possessed, she sees Adam and realizes he is the embodiment of her dark side: all of the hate and prejudice towards humans that she used to have as well. Yang flees as Blake is possessed and enveloped by her dark side, becoming a violent, vengeful, prejudiced persona dubbed "Negative Blake". Blake's nightmare begins merging with Weiss', allowing Blake, now with new clothing, weapons, and a Grimm mask resembling Adam's, to lead the dream versions of the White Fang in an attack against Weiss' security. She personally attacks Nega-Weiss, with even Negative Weiss noting how hateful and different Blake is from what she knows. As Nega-Blake and Nega-Weiss battle, Yang gives Ruby the relic and helps her get back into the tower so she can fight the Grimm once and for all. She succeeds, freeing Weiss and restoring her mind.
However, Negative Blake continues rampaging, and her teammates fight her. Yang manages to knock Blake back to consciousness, allowing her to split from her Negative side and join her team in fighting it, now fully controlled by the Grimm. They overpower it, with Blake striking the final blow, symbolically destroying the evil person she used to be. Ruby and her team inform Weiss what happened, much to her embarrassment. As the dream fades, they all wake up in the real world once more.
Blake and Weiss reconcile, and Blake and Yang relax by playing video games together. She later goes to bid Shion farewell. Blake is called to meet with Professor Ozpin, who reveals that he knows about Blake's past and invites her to be herself, though she is adament that she is looking to start anew. As she walks to a meetup with her team, she is joined by Weiss, and the two have a discussion about the corrupt, prejudiced groups they both originate from, and how they both seek to redeem themselves and their groups through becoming Huntresses. The team eat at a café, where Blake realizes she has found people she can be herself with.
Later on, Blake participates in a food fight against Team JNPR just before the start of a new semester at Beacon.
==Appearance==
Blake is a fair-skinned girl with long black hair, which she later cuts to shoulder-length. She has large amber eyes, and stands over five and a half feet tall. She has a cross-shaped scar on her lower left abdomen, around her midriff area. Her most prominent feature, and the one signaling her Faunus heritage, is a pair of black, cat-like ears on top of her head and through her hair. She sometimes covers these with a large black bow. Her clothing usually incorporates ribbons and exposed midriff, and usually comes in blacks, purples, whites, and greys.
==Powers and Abilities==
Blake is an expert combatant, excelling at both ranged and melee combat. Her weapon, Gambol Shroud, is a combination gun and katana, which allows her to fight with the blade or fire Dust ammunition. Her weapon's sheath is bladed as well, allowing it to act like a cleaver. Additionally, the blade can be attached to a long durable ribbon, allowing the blade to be used as a chain scythe on the end of the ribbon, allowing for long range hooking and attacks. She can use Gambol Shroud as a grapple, swinging from raised structures.
Blake possesses a Semblance, a power unique to her drawn from her soul. Her Semblance, Shadow, allows her to create an afterimage-like clone duplicate of herself. These clones, while unable to last long and fade after a single hit, distract and confuse opponents, allowing Blake to either retreat or close in for attack while her Shadow takes the blow for her. Additionally, by channeling Dust through her weapon, Blake can infuse her clones with elemental properties.
Like all creatures with a soul, Blake also possesses an Aura, a physical defense generated by her soul. This durable field is invisible except when it is overtaxed, where it flashes purple. Her Aura defends her from attack and can even heal minor wounds, but if it takes too much damage it will become depleted and require time to return.
As a cat Faunus, Blake also possesses night vision that allows her to see well in the dark, an advantage common to most types of Faunus. Her cat ears are also highly sensitive, allowing her to pick up sounds her humanoid ears otherwise could not.
The version of Blake in Weiss' dream seems to possess all the same abilities as her real world counterpart, though her weapon's ribbon is notably longer and can be thrown farther due to how Weiss perceives it.
Negative Blake, being Blake's dark side (or at the very least how she perceives her dark side), has similar abilities, but now with weapons resemvbling a hybrid between hers and Adam's, a Grimm mask, and far more powerful dark energy. She possesses the same acrobatics and combat skill, but with no remorse and fueled by anti-human prejudice.
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