Aura

## **Introduction**

**Aura** is an energy source that Humans and Faunus in the Dust World/Remnant use. Aura is an ability that all those with a soul can use, at least with enough practice. Because Aura is the manifestation of the soul, it can appear very differently depending on who is using it. The specific abilities and their strengths differ from individual to individual and are dependent on a number of factors, such as experience, training and innate skill.

## **Overview**

It is mentioned that anything with a soul has an Aura, including Humans, Faunus, and animals like Zwei; even synthetic people with souls, such as Penny Polendina, can generate an Aura. The Creatures of Grimm, being soulless, are the only known form of life that does not have Aura. As such, anyone who have souls, individuals from outside of the Dust World, can use Aura, such as Class 1A from the Quirk world are now able to use Aura thanks to Team RWBY unlocking it for them.

Skilled users of Aura can create their own barriers or even increase their own abilities in some way. Weapons and armor can also act as a conduit for Aura, allowing for an even wider range of offensive and defensive capabilities. This even applies to nontraditional "weapons", such as a loaf of bread or a leek, as seen during the food fight in with Team RWBY and Team JPNR. This applies to other-world abilities such as Quirks, as shown when Eijirou Kirishima who used his Aura to increase his Harding Quirk defenses which allowed him to take a direct punch from Uvogin, the physical strongest member of the Phantom Troupe at 50% of his strength and emerged unscathed.

It has been shown that the strength of an Aura degrades with continual use. This limits the applications of Aura in combat as, with time or heavy use, a person's Aura will decay to the point where they are left weakened or even incapacitated. Aura being completely depleted is visually represented as a colored sheen glowing along the length of a person's body or with colored particles flying off the body, indicating that they can now be physically injured. Aura flickering means it is close to being depleted. Aura can be recharged and the time it requires to recharge is varies between each person.

Aura also can vary between individuals in terms of innate quantity of energy that can be used, with Pyrrha noting during the Beacon initiation that Jaune possesses an extraordinarily large reserve of Aura despite his complete lack of familiarity with the concept up until that point.

## **Semblance**

**Semblance** is the manifestation of one's innate and personal power as an ability unique to each individual, with the effects varying greatly from user to user. It is developed from a person's Aura. With the sheer number of people unlocking their Semblances, it can lead to unrelated people gaining similar abilities.

The nature of one's Semblance is noted as representing an aspect of their character. However, a person's Semblance can be similar to the Semblances of their parents or other family members

## **Strengths**

Aura is a necessary energy source for all Huntsmen, being a powerful ally in battle. It is also required in order to trigger the use of Dust. Aura, as demonstrated by various characters, can be used in the following techniques.

* **Defense**: Demonstrated by Ren in the Emerald Forest and explained by Pyrrha. Aura is mainly used for defensive purposes. Ren used his to block the fangs of a King Taijitu that was attacking him. While users of Aura will not be hurt as long as their Aura is up, they can still feel sensations such as pain and heat. It requires training to always subconsciously have a cloak of Aura on.
* **Offense**: Demonstrated by Ren in the forest, as he sends a shockwave of force propelling a fang through the snake's head, causing it to explode. Fox Alistair demonstrated a similar ability during the fight in "Breach", where a shock wave from his fist blew up an Ursa Major. Additionally, Pyrrha has stated that all tools and equipment are conduits for a person's Aura. This is demonstrated twice in "Painting the Town..." and "No Brakes" when Blake unleashes crescent-shaped slashes from her Gambol Shroud, increasing its range and strength.
* **Unlocking Aura**: One's Aura can be used to 'unlock' the Aura of someone else; as shown by Pyrrha, who unlocks Jaune's Aura. However, doing this appears to take a toll on the user. When unlocking Jaune's Aura Pyrrha recited a chant, and it is unknown whether it is an incantation or merely a personal mantra:

* **Healing**: It also seems that those with a strong enough Aura can heal minor wounds. Jaune used this directly on a small cut after having his Aura unlocked. However, it appears that the healing is automatic and not caused at will.
* **Dust usage**: To use the power of Dust, humans and Faunus must use their Aura to trigger it. The user's Aura allows them harness Dust and utilize their elemental power.
* **Extrasensory perception**: In the Emerald Forest, Pyrrha explains that Aura allows you to feel like you were being watched without knowing that someone was there, while showing that Ren stopped walking and narrowed his eyes before a King Taijitu appeared behind him. Lie Ren was also able to sense Tyrian Callows approaching Team RNJR in "Tipping Point" and warn his team to prepare for battle. Fox is shown to use Aura to orientate and balance himself due to his blindness.

## **Weakness**

It has been shown that the strength of an Aura degrades with continual use. Extreme use of Aura, whether for offensive purposes, such as using a Semblance, or defensive purposes, like absorbing blows will eventually cause a person's Aura will decay to the point where they are left weakened or even incapacitated from exhaustion. When an aura is completely depleted, it is visually represented as a colored sheen running through the body of the individual or with glowing particles flying off the body, indicating that they can now be mortally injured. In the case of individuals with Semblances, they will be unable to access their abilities. Some Semblances are so powerful that using them will quickly drain their Aura, as was the case of Tock. When the aura of a Maiden is depleted, they appear vulnerable to having their abilities stolen, as shown how Cinder first broke Amber's aura before using the glove on her to sap her abilities.

Because most of them are used to fighting the Creatures of Grimm they are as experienced fighting one on one enemies as such the had disadvantage against other world races such as members of the Watcher's Race from the Cult Of The End. The semblance is also powered by there **Aura** because less effective or can't be used when it runs and needs to recover before further use.