Maidens

The **Maidens** are the hosts of a vast magical power that has existed in Remnant for thousands of years. Their powers are derived from Ozma.

## Description

There are four Maidens in existence at any time, each corresponding to one of the four seasons - **Winter**, **Spring**, **Summer** and **Fall**.

### Powers and Abilities

#### Magic

The power of the Maidens is magic and is independent of Dust use and distinct from a Semblance. It is not powered by Aura, and a Maiden does not need Aura to use her powers, as shown when Amber continues to use her Maiden powers after her Aura breaks in "Beginning of the End". Maidens are still able to use their Semblance, as shown by Raven Branwen and Cinder Fall.

The Maidens are able to use any elemental power they choose, not being limited to their season, and some Maidens simply prefer certain elements over others. Amber is the first to show this ability in the show, when she uses lightning, fire, wind and ice during her fight in "Beginning of the End". Cinder Fall prefers to use fire but also uses ice to freeze Raven in "Vault of the Spring Maiden"; wind to levitate and presumably fly, as seen during her fight against Neopolitan in "The Coming Storm"; and earth to create a giant flaming rock sword while fighting Raven in "Downfall".

The Maidens are only able to use elemental magic, as they were not given anything else when they first received the powers.

When Maidens use their powers, their eyes become surrounded by a fiery glow that matches their Aura color.

Maidens are capable of conjuring weapons comprised of the elements. Although, Cinder has shown that experienced Dust-users can perform similar feats.

The World of RWBY: The Official Companion states that Cinder Fall has some control over the Wyvern through her Maiden powers, being able to influence its behavior.

In "The Enemy of Trust", it was stated by Winter that Fria has "fully realized" her power as the Winter Maiden, hinting that hers is a level not approached by the current Maidens. When Cinder tried to steal Fria's powers, she easily overpowered her despite the former being both younger and physically stronger.

### Vaults

The Maidens are also each tied to the Vaults hidden under the four Huntsman Academies, which were created by Ozma to safeguard the Relics. They act as keys, so nobody else can open the chambers that the Relics are stored in. Spring can access the Vault in Haven Academy, Fall can access the Vault in Beacon Academy, Summer can access the Vault in Shade Academy and Winter could access the Vault in Atlas Academy.

### Succession

The powers of the Maidens pass from host to host upon the death of the current holder in a process that has been continuing for thousands of years. The exact method through which the power chooses its next host is not fully understood. Under normal circumstances, the next Maiden, who is always a young woman, is the last person that the previous Maiden holds in her thoughts before she passes away. However, if the person in the dying Maiden's thoughts is male, is too old, or is otherwise not eligible to receive the power, the next host is chosen seemingly at random. This system apparently ensures that no one person can hold the power forever.

In "Never Miss a Beat", Ozpin states that "Maidens choose themselves", possibly indicating that the inheritance of these powers is voluntary, but it is unknown how this would fit into the above set of rules. It is possible Ozpin was speaking metaphorically.

When the Maiden powers pass on to a new host, they bind to the host's Aura, or more likely, their soul, as implied in "Fall" when James Ironwood and Ozpin explain to Pyrrha Nikos why they must use the Aura transfer machine. Cinder had "split" the power by using a Grimm to forcibly steal part of it, leaving Amber in a comatose state. With the Aura transfer machine keeping Amber on life support, her remaining Maiden powers could not be transferred without also transferring her "Aura", due to her still being alive.

When a Maiden's powers are being transferred while she is still alive, the object or Grimm that is transferring the powers glows the same color as that Maiden's Aura. This is first seen in "Beginning of the End", when a yellow-orange glow travels from Amber, through the Grimm beetle's slime and up Cinder's arm. In "Heroes and Monsters", that same glow spreads from Amber, through the Aura transfer machine's pipes, and onto Pyrrha. The effect could also be seen during Cinder's attempts to take the Maiden Powers for herself. In "Downfall" and "Amity", a red and green glow can be seen being transferred from Raven and Penny through Cinder's Shadow Hand.

In the event that someone who has stolen part of a Maiden's power kills the woman holding the other half, the power will seek out its other half. However, Amber's last thoughts could have also been a factor for Cinder fully ascending.

In "Vault of the Spring Maiden" and "The Enemy of Trust", Cinder attempts to claim the powers of the Spring Maiden and the Winter Maiden respectively, showing that she may have the capacity to hold more than one Maiden's power at a time, although this might be due to her arrogance. However, in "Divide", Salem states that she chose Cinder as her vessel for the Maidens, indicating that it might be possible.

In "The Enemy of Trust", it is shown that the power of a Maiden can also be transferred to a synthetic person that has a soul, as Fria's powers successfully transfer to Penny. Although the partial soul inside of Penny originally came from a man, Penny physically appears female and views herself as female, and thus proved to still be a viable candidate for inheriting Maiden powers as she is her own individual.

In "The Final Word", it is shown that when a Maiden perishes, she and her successor are spiritually transported to a limbo where they are able to converse with each other before the Maiden can then pass on her powers.

Becoming a Maiden appears to restore a person's Aura. As when Winter Schnee received the powers, she was able to use her Semblance against Cinder despite her Aura being broken by Ironwood moments ago.

## Trivia

* The color of a Maiden's eye glow matches her Aura, rather than being specific to which Maiden she is.
	+ Nearly all Maidens so far have had a matching Aura and eye color except for Amber whom had brown eyes and yellow-orange Aura, with her eye glow matching her Aura. This indicates that the eye glow does not necessarily match the Maiden's eye color but does match her Aura color.
* The age cutoff for gaining the Maiden powers has been stated to be unofficially around thirty years old.
* Many Maiden's names relate to their Maiden Seasons:
	+ Cinder Fall is named after Fall and is hinted she chose it herself
	+ The name of the decoy Spring maiden, Vernal, means something that is occurring in or relating to the springtime.
	+ "Fria" means "cold" in several languages.
	+ Both the original and current Winter Maidens have the shared name of "Winter".