Maria Calavera

**Maria Calavera** (マリーア・カラベラ, *Marīa Karabera*), also known as The **Grimm Reaper** (グリム・リーパー, *Gurimu Rīpā*), is both the fictional character and tritagonist of the *Tales of RWBY* series created by Monty Oum and Yoshiharu Gotanda. She is a traveling silver-eyed Huntress who also played an important pivotal role in Alfred's backstory during the Great War. Her weapons of choice are the two kamas, Life and Death, that combines at the ends to form a twin-bladed weapon. Her Semblance, which she calls "Preflexes", allows her to react to attacks almost before they happen. Unlike most Hunters, due to the risk of being targeted by Salem, Maria was trained by her father, who was the original Grimm Reaper before her, instead of attending a school.

She first appeared in *The Coming Storm*, where she followed the footprints left behind by Alfred and the others after they crash-land into the snow region of northern Anima. Upon learning that they were in trouble at an abandoned farmhouse, Maria stepped in and used her powers to save them when they are attacked by the Apathy Grimm. In Argus after learning that Ruby a Trainee-Huntress who has silver eyes, she becomes a mentor to Ruby, teaches her how to consciously use her powers, and shares what she knows about the silver eyes.

"*Life... is beautiful. It is precious. And it must... be protected.*"

—Maria Calavera, telling Ruby about the importance of life.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice Actor*: Janet Varney (English), Not Known (Japanese), Not Known (Albanian), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Basque), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Cantonese), Not Known (Catalan), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (Galician), Not Known (German), Not Known (Greek), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hong Kong), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Indonesian), Not Known (Isralian), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Mandarin), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Tagalog), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Valencian), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)
*Voice Actor (Future)*: Melissa Sternenberg (English), Not Known (Japanese), Not Known (Albanian), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Basque), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Cantonese), Not Known (Catalan), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (Galician), Not Known (German), Not Known (Greek), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hong Kong), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Indonesian), Not Known (Isralian), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Mandarin), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Tagalog), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Valencian), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

### Appearance

#### Current Timeline

Maria is a young woman with dark skin, shoulder-length black ash hair, and silver eyes. She wears an ornate skull mask that all but completely conceals her face, revealing only her lower jaw. She also wears a laced waist-cincher over a long blue tunic with a dark gray hemline that falls over a dark teal skirt that also has the same gray hem. The tunic opens in a 'v' to reveal an off-white folded collar. The long sleeves are also cinched just above the elbows. All three cinches and the hem are the same dark gray as the hooded cloak Maria also wears. Her boots are dark brown. In addition, she wears a dark blue skull necklace.

#### Future Timeline

In the future, she would become an elderly woman with long silver hair, which she wears in a single braid down her back. She is of small stature and appears to be hunched over, requiring the use of a walking stick.

She wears a full-length dress in the traditional Tabasco style, consisting of a dark blue top with full sleeves and skirt comprised of alternating light and dark blue layers. In addition to her dress, she wears thick brown gloves and a heavy blue cloak trimmed at the edges with a pattern of white, hollow triangles on a light blue background. A similar white and blue trim is around the neck of the cloak. The cloak is secured to her shoulders with ornate white pauldrons.

Due to the blind injury she suffered in some point in time, she requires goggle-like prosthetic eyes to see. The prosthesis is dark gray with cyan colored lenses, each of which is equipped with a set of adjustable shutters capable of mimicking natural expressions. Four rectangular cyan lights create a partial ring on the outer bottom edge of the eyes, while a single cyan nodule on the top outer edge overlaps slightly with each lens. Two small antennae protrude vertically from the upper left side of the prosthesis. On the upper right is a port that allows for the attachment of a wireless receiver, allowing Maria to directly receive data from equipment.

Additionally, Maria carries a walking stick comprised of a natural wooden shaft terminating in a smooth, narrow section and metal foot with a purple band around its middle. Her walking stick is topped by an ornate blue skull connected by means of a thick metal band with a purple ring at its center. On the front of the connecting band is a large, blunt protrusion located directly below the skull's mouth.

* Hair Color: Black (Current), Silver (Future)
* Skin Color: Brownish-Tan
* Eye Color: Silver
* Age: Not Known
* Birthday: Not Known
* Height: Not Known
* Weight: Not Known

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* Team RWBY
	+ Ruby Rose
	+ Weiss Schnee
	+ Yang Xiao Long
* Ozpin's Group
	+ Qrow Branwen
	+ Oscar Pine

## Abilities and Powers

Maria possesses high skill in combat, aided by her Semblance. She was able to fight multiple opponents at once, and she is capable of dual-wielding her kamas, making good use of the gravity Dust within them. Additionally even in her future's advanced age, she is more durable and resistant than average, able to shake off a train crash, jump down a deep well without injury, and even run at a considerable paceage, shown during "*Alone in the Woods*".

Maria is also a certified aircraft pilot, being able to fly an Atlesian Manta ship.

### Physical Abilities

#### Silver Eyes

Maria was born with silver eyes, which allow her to project bright white light from her eyes that is lethal to the Creatures of Grimm. She was seen with the ability to petrify a massive Nevermore in quick succession while disarmed. She has a relatively good understanding over the activation of the ability, refusing to label it as a means to destroy, but to protect, but little to no idea of its origin, until she theorized it was divine. She inherited her eyes from her father, who was also a Silver Eyed Warrior himself.

However according to her future self, after when she gets blinded by a future Faunus assassin, she will no longer have access to this ability.

### Combat Skills

#### Semblance

Maria's Semblance, which she nicknamed "Preflexes", allows her to sense everything better than most people and react to attacks almost before they happen.

## Etymology

* Maria is a Latin name, the meaning of which is highly debated. A possible translation comes from the Hebrew name, Miryam, which means God's Chosen One. Maria is Latin for the name Mary, mother of Jesus who was chosen by God to give birth to his child in Christianity.
	+ It gives the Marian blue color, which is mostly worn by Mary in paintings.
	+ One possible interpretation of the name is "sea of bitterness", which could allude to her feelings after being blinded and retiring from active duty.
* Calavera is the Spanish word for "skull" and is the name for the decorative skulls made of clay or sugar which are used as part of Día de los Muertos celebrations, which the skull on Maria's weapon is modeled after.
* Her nickname references the Grim Reaper, the personification of Death. The wordplay also references Maria's previous occupation as a huntress and killing (reaping) Grimm.