Yang Xiao Long

Yang Xiao Long is a protagonist of the RWBY series.
==Canon==
Yang Xiao Long is a former student of Beacon Academy and member of team RWBY along with Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, and Weiss Schnee. Blake is her partner.
At the end of Volume 3 Yang attempts to fight Adam to protect Blake, but is easily defeated and has her arm severed. In V4 she is dealing with depression and PTSD, and slowly begins to train with her father using her new prosthetic arm.
==Fandom==
Yang was the last character of Team RWBY introduced in the Yellow Trailer on June 1, 2013, with the first volume starting a month later on July 18. While the trailers for Ruby and Wiess had featured no dialogue, Blake's and Yang did, which gave the fans a better idea of her personality. Early discussions around Volume 1 often speculated on who Yang was looking for information about in the Yellow Trailer and if she was hiding it from Ruby.
===Sexuality===
Yang's sexuality has be discussed within the fandom since the release of Volume 1. The early fandom often headcanoned Yang as pan or bisexual. This was in part due to her "partygirl" archetype presented in the Yellow Trailer and general friendly nature. Over time there was more discussion on whether this played into the negative trope of a promiscuous bisexual/pansexual.
Post-Volume 3 fandom saw more fans headcanoning Yang as a lesbian. This may have come about due Yang's partner Blake, whom she is most shipped with, already being headcanoned as bi and fans wishing to see further representation within that wlw ship. Fans of this interoperation frequently note Yang's apathy or outright aggression towards men outside of her friendship group. 
Some still believe Yang to be heterosexual and often sight an instance in volume 1 where she voiced approval of the coed dorms at Beacon. This instance is heavily debated within the fandom as the line itself has been cut from other formats Rooster Teeth has put out. It is considered by some to an example of compulsory heterosexuality, done either unintentionally by the writer, or something internalised by Yang herself.
===Common Tropes and Fanon=== 
* PTSD
* Amputation & Disability: Due to Yang losing her arm in Volume 3
* Body Type: Some fanworks show Yang with much more muscle than is presented in canon. Much of the reasoning being this is linked to Yang's brawler style of fighting which makes her the most physically powerful of Team RWBY. 
* Faunus AU: In Faunus AU's Yang is often a bear Faunus, to reference her Goldilocks roots, or a dragon Faunus, to reference a translation of her name being "Little Light Dragon". 
* Puns: Early fandom linked Barbara Dunkelman, Yang's voice actor, and her love to puns with Yang. This became canon in later volumes.
* Body Temperature: Some believe that Yang's Semblance would lead to her having a higher body temp than normal. This is often used in alongside the Huddling for Warmth trope.
* Yangst: A tag used for Yang flavoured angst.
===Shipping===
Yang's most popular ship is with her partner Blake and the two have been shipped together since their character trailers were first released in 2013. Between volumes 1 to 3 the other notable ships with Yang included Yang/Weiss, Yang/Neo and Yang/Mercury. While these ships were smaller than Yang/Blake comparatively, Yang/Weiss did see a significant rise in popularity after Volume 5 showed their reunion following the volume long separation of Team RWBY. 
* Yang/Blake: Bumbleby
* Yang/Weiss: Freezerburn
* Weiss/Blake/Yang: Bee's Schnees
* Yang/Neo: Baked Alaska (RWBY)
* Yang/Mercury: Combat Boots
* Yang/Jaune: Dragonslayer (RWBY)
==Notable Fanworks==
===Fanart===
* s-s-s-semblance unlocked by weissrabbit
* Surprise! Even though I draw a lot of Weiss and Blake, Yang is my favourite character and the most fun to draw. by Azure-zer0
* It’s a Faunus Yang! by raokiin
* burn brighter by mchandraws
* i can finally post my final for @rwbytarotproject !! by aiicon
===Vids===
* Monster Imagine Dragons (Yang Xiao Long) by feeish
===Meta===
* “Yang can’t be a lesbian, she totally checked out those guys in volume 1!” by honeyby
==Archives & Fannish Links==
* Yang Xiao Long works at AO3
* Yang Xiao Long works at FFN
* Yang Xiao Long tag on Tumblr
===Wikis===
* Yang Xiao Long at Wikipedia
* Yang Xiao Long on RWBY wikia
==References==
Category:RWBY Characters