Nero Vanta

> "*And this isn’t a game either, Violet! Face it, you’re nothing outside of these walls! Do you think the world’s going to wait on you to make a plan before saving it?!*"—Nero, shouting at Violet Argyle during their fight.

## Media

### First Appearance

*Chapter 2: Rough Landing*

**Nero Vanta** is one of the main protagonists in *VNLA*. He is a Huntman-In-Training, currently attending Beacon Academy. His weapons of choice are a pair of gauntlets, which have gun attachments. The left gauntlet has a hidden blade and the right gauntlet can form a small shield. He named his gauntlets Hiraeth Umbra.

Nero made his first digital appearance in 2018, as part of a project on DeviantArt. However, he had been thought of previously, and was featured with his teammates in the original first draft of Volume 1, written in 2017.

Nero was paired with Lincoln Forrest during Beacon's Initiation. The unlikely pair were first seen in *Chapter 2: Rough Landing*, Nero having just fought and killed a young Ursa by himself, while Lincoln was thrown into a tree. His partner chooses the Queen of Spades, and later is put into Team VNLA, alongside Violet Argyle, Lincoln Forrest, and Anna Bleu.

## Appearance

Nero has pale white skin, black hair, and silver eyes.

### **Original Outfit (Volume 1)**

Nero's combat outfit, according to the official *VNLA* story, wears a sleeveless black hoodie with a red trim, white harem pants, red bandages wrapped around his hands and ankles, black running shoes. The image on the right is his unofficial outfit, used for promotional purposes only.

Nero's emblem is a dark grey heart with a stiletto blade on top of it.

### **Pajamas**

Nero's sleepwear consists of a black band t-shirt and baggy black pants.

### **Beacon Uniform**

Nero values his mobility, and so the way he wears his uniform reflects that. His tie is very loose, his sleeves are rolled up, and he normally doesn't wear the coat at all, although he does carry it around over his shoulder in case a teacher feels the need to correct him.

## Personality

Nero is a reserved young man. He doesn't talk about himself or his past, in fact he doesn't even acknowledge it. A lot is unknown about him at this time, but it can be inferred that Nero is very passionate about combat. While fighting Violet, he critiques her methods heavily, and ultimately he wins the engagement.
Nero tends to be a neutral person, although he is quick to anger. He tries to focus on his own path, which causes him to try and isolate himself from others. However, after a talk with Ozpin, he comes to understand that he doesn't need to do that, and in fact should learn to rely on others in order to better himself.

## Powers and Abilities

Nero is well-versed in the ways of survival in the real world. Where these skills came from or his passion about them is currently unknown, but he is most certainly the strongest fighter among his team.
Nero, during Initiation, single-handedly defeated a young Ursa while his partner Lincoln was stuck in a tree. Even afterwards he was barely winded. However, he does not overestimate himself or his opponents, and is fully aware that he has met his match once he and the team face a fully-matured Ursa.
Nero's movements reflect his way of life. He can be unpredictable, and makes his attacks in accordance in the long term, which is why he allows Violet to hurt him during their first fight so he could get her to run her own aura down. He's swift, and since his weapons aren't exactly high-caliber, values guerilla tactics over head-on assault.

## Weapon

The Hiraeth Umbra are certainly one of its kind. Although gauntlets can be seen used by another *RWBY* character, Yang Xiao Long, Nero's gauntlets have multiple functions. Both gauntlets have small guns, the left has a hidden stiletto blade, and the right can form a small shield close in size to Pyrrha Nikos' shield. They're light, relatively small, but fail to hold an incredible amount of ammo. He knows this, and therefore doesn't use the ranged-function too often. He relies on getting up close and personal, but if he has to, he will gun his opponent down.

Nero's gauntlets are capable of using Dust as ammunition, but so far he has yet to show off this function of his weapons.

## Semblance

Nero's semblance is called Cloak. He can make himself and one other person he touches completely invisible, although it's a constant drain on his aura. In total, he can probably keep himself hidden for a total of sixty seconds. Once touching someone else, this is cut in half.

His semblance isn't infallible, however. While invisible, Nero can still be interacted with. Grimm will be able to sense his negativity, should he be displaying any.

Nero can be seen using his semblance during Initiation while fighting an Alpha Beowolf. He had used his semblance to sneakily climb into a tree, before dismissing it as he dropped down on top of it.

## Weaknesses

Nero isn't a very good team player. Although he claims to be capable of working with others, he dreads it heavily.

Since Nero hasn't been very open, it currently isn't known what other weaknesses he has. He is impeccable in combat, and he's an unsocial person.

## Trivia

* Nero has PTSD, which is his mental motif.
* "Nero" is a word meaning "black," and "Vanta" is a word referencing the material "vantablack," which is said to be the darkest material in the world.
* In his original design, Nero wore an outfit somewhat similar to Mercury Black's. His pants are dark grey, however, and he has no gloves.
	+ This concept can still be found on DeviantArt, in the Group Gallery.
* He calls Violet an "Eggplant," which is actually the team attack for Lincoln and Violet.
* Nero's astrological sign is Virgo.
* Nero's official outfit is a shout-out to one of K.T. Starlight's favorite games, *Mirror's Edge: Catalyst*. The main character, Faith, can be seen wearing exactly what Nero is.

## References

1. ↑  The word *Hiraeth* is a welsh word which roughly means "homesickness for a home you can’t return to, or never was." The word *Umbra* was used as a reference to the Free to Play game Warframe, specifically a reference to the Excalibur Umbra frame, which is a darker shade of grey than the original Excalibur frame. In addition, *umbra* is Latin for "shade."