Dust

**Dust** is a source of energy in Remnant. The physical properties of Dust make it incredibly useful for a variety of purposes, particularly in the weapons of many characters in the series. It is known to make a distinctive "shimmering" sound passively and when in use.

The name "Dust" is implied to be a reference to the primordial state which mankind originally believed it was born from. As a natural resource, it is sometimes poetically referred to as "Nature's Wrath", or more prosaically as an energy propellant.

## History

According to ancient legends recounted during the opening narration of "Ruby Rose", mankind was fighting a losing struggle against creatures of darkness known as the Grimm. However, through their resourcefulness and ingenuity, Humanity managed to discover and harness a source of power they named "Dust" in order to battle the Grimm.

The advent of Dust became the turning point in the war. It would appear that after mankind drove back the Grimm and built civilizations, Dust became integrated into everyday life within Remnant.

Despite its widespread use and prevalence in society, Humanity has yet to understand the origins or the implications of their involvement with Dust.

During the Great War, Vacuo was targeted by Mistral and Mantle because it had the largest reserves of Dust in the World. Before they could get it however, the warrior King of Vale stopped the invasion himself and ended the war in the process.

After the Great War ended, Nicholas Schnee wanted to help his Kingdom recover and using funds he obtained after his father died, funded an exploration for possible Dust Mines while managing to find one. After this, he created the Schnee Dust Company which was originally known for being trustworthy and reliable back in the past. After his health started to fail him, his son-in-law Jacques Schnee manages to convince him to let him deal with the company. After he did however, the Schnee Dust Company began partaking in controversial business practices like abusing Faunus workers and shady dealings. At some later point, Jacques admitted to his wife Willow Schnee that he only married her for the Schnee name and company.

At some point, both the Schnee Dust Company and the Mistral Trading Company drained the Kingdom of Vacuo of it's Dust resources. This caused the people of Vacuo's capital to resent people from outside the Kingdom.

Following the Great war, an incarnation of Ozma used the Relic of Creation to raise the city of Atlas to give the people of the Kingdom a beacon of hope. As a cover story, it was said that the city was raised using Gravity Dust. At the same time, the Kingdom of Atlas became the primary source of Hard-Light Dust, which is considered the rarest type of Dust in Remnant.

Roman Torchwick eventually began stealing Dust shipments all over the Kingdom of Vale, causing the Kingdom's Huntsmen and military to not have enough to protect Vale. This also caused an economic crisis which forced the Schnee Dust Company to increase the price of any remaining Dust in the Kingdom.

After the Fall of Beacon, General James Ironwood placed an embargo on Dust, preventing any from leaving the Kingdom of Atlas officially and causing the Schnee Dust Company's stocks to plummet.

It is revealed in "The Lost Fable" that Dust came to be at some point during the second wave of Humanity. Since mankind could not use Magic as it could before, Dust was used to compensate.

For her invasion of Atlas, Salem created Monstra as her mobile base. The giant Grimm was able to fly in the air due to the enormous amount of Gravity Dust implanted on it's back.

Following Jacques Schnee's arrest, many of the Schnee Dust Company's workers quit and Jacques was eventually killed by General James Ironwood. After the Kingdom of Atlas was destroyed, the SDC ceased to exist when the company's headquarters along with all of their Dust operations in the Kingdom were destroyed. Due to the destruction of the Kingdom, all of the Dust that was being stockpiled from the embargo was lost.

## Description

As an energy source, Dust can be triggered by the Aura of Humans and Faunus. Because of this, one's Semblance can also affect it. Coco Adel can use her Hype to cause Dust to explode and increase it's attack power while Arrastra Skye can use her Equilibrium to break down the atoms of Dust to redirect it at her target. Marton from Team SMMK has the ability to nullify the effects of Dust using his Semblance.

Dust can be found in two distinct states, crystalline and powdered. Dust, whether crystalline or powdered, is highly explosive. For example, during the Dust store robbery, Roman Torchwick threw a crystal at Ruby Rose's feet and fired at it, causing a sizable explosion. The powdered form appears more volatile since something as innocuous as a sneeze is enough to detonate a cloud of Dust.

For unknown reasons, Dust does not function outside of the atmosphere of Remnant, precluding the possibility of space flight.

Some types of Dust are much more rare than others, such as Hard-Light Dust which is used for protective barriers and shields. According to Caroline Cordovin, Atlas was the father of Hard-Light Dust.

It is unknown if Grimm can activate Dust, Monstra was able to fly in the air due to the massive amount of Gravity Dust implanted in it's back, but Gravity Dust levitates without needing to be activated as seen with Lake Matsu's flying islands.

## Uses of Dust

Dust serves as a power source for the majority of technology in Remnant, from airships to androids, though some alternative technologies do exist.

Dust can still be used without the aid of weapons or machines and can be unleashed in its raw form such as lightning.

Technology powered by Dust is known to glow.

The people of Remnant attempted to achieve spaceflight and space-based communications with Dust as propellant fuel, but its inability to operate outside of Remnant's atmosphere hindered these endeavors.

When Weiss slices an Atlesian Paladin-290 in half, the circuitry is revealed inside, indicating that it is powered by electricity; although, Dust as an additional fuel source is likely as well. Alternatively, this may reveal that Dust-powered objects also require circuits to function. Or simply that lightning dust can produce electricity in a way that can be used similarly to batteries or generators, allowing normal circuitry to function.

### Combat

The discovery of Dust was instrumental to Humanity's initial defeat of the Grimm, and Dust continues to be used extensively in combat. Dust can be harnessed in a variety of ways, but when used in its raw form, its full potential requires both an Aura and the intelligence to use it, meaning Humans, Faunus, and certain artificial beings, such as Penny Polendina, are the only ones who are able to use it for combat in this state. Furthermore, the effective use of raw Dust requires a certain level of discipline to keep from losing control of it.

Methods of using raw Dust include weaving it into clothing, fusing Dust with oneself, forging a blade imbued with Dust and inserting Dust crystals or powder into one's weapon.

#### Weaving Dust Into Clothing

Dust-imbued clothing is first shown by Cinder who first makes use of it with her original battle outfit in "Ruby Rose" and then again with her stealth outfit in "Dance Dance Infiltration", both of which utilized orange Dust. These two instances occurred before Volume 3 and, as a result, were prior to **Monty Oum** adding the Maidens to the story.

In "Field Trip", Ruby mentions Cinder's clothes "lit up", leading James Ironwood to speculate that Cinder utilized Dust weaved into her clothing to enable her weapon, |Midnight. He refers to it as "an age-old technique" and expresses that someone's identity cannot be proven simply by the fact that they utilize it as a weapon.

#### Fusing Dust With One's Body

An effective, though unorthodox, use of Dust is physical infusion within one's body. Hazel Rainart is the first to display the method of fusing Dust with oneself, by stabbing Dust crystals into his arms. As shown in "Vault of the Spring Maiden" when Hazel Rainart stabs a few Lightning Dust crystals into his arms. The process causes his muscles to grow exponentially, enhancing his strikes proportional to that growth, while the electrical overflow discharges from his entire body.

Apparently, there is a limit to how much raw Dust an ordinary person is capable of metabolizing at a time. A prime example of this is how Hazel is only capable of utilizing as much Dust as he does due to his Numbing Agent rendering him impervious to the sensation of pain.

#### Dust-Imbued Blades

Dust-imbued blades are first shown by Adam Taurus and Raven Branwen, in two somewhat different ways. Adam's sword, Wilt appears to have a fixed blade, imbued with Fire Dust which he uses in the "Black" Trailer and the Volume 3 Opening. Raven's sword, Omen, is capable of switching between multiple blades imbued with different types of Dust. She is first seen using the Dust in one of the blades during her fight with Cinder at Haven Academy when she swings her sword to produce a path of ice, which she uses to slide past Cinder.

#### Powdered Dust

Adding powdered Dust to one's weapon is first shown by Weiss, who inserts vials of powdered Dust into a revolving chamber in her weapon, Myrtenaster. Her weapon has an exhaust port at the base of the blade, which allows the powdered Dust to leak out onto the blade. Weiss can choose to activate this Dust in a number of ways. One method is to swing her blade, which disturbs the Dust, causing it to activate and follow the swing of the blade. Another method is to use her glyphs to activate and direct the Dust. The third method is to utilize her Aura to activate the Dust and control its manifestation, such as when she directs tiny flames from the tip of Myrtenaster over to several candles in "The Coming Storm".

#### Dust Crystals

Adding a Dust crystal to one's weapon is first shown in different ways in Volume 3 by Reese Chloris, Dew and Amber. During the Vytal Festival Tournament, Reese pushes an orange Dust crystal inside of her hoverboard to give it the ability to produce heat. Dew has a cut Wind Dust crystal embedded in the head of her spear. Amber placed uncut Dust crystals within twisted wooden branches on either end of her staff.

#### Dust Bullets

Dust bullets are much simpler to use, merely requiring the user to pull the trigger. Ruby's weapon, Crescent Rose, has also been mentioned to use rounds containing different kinds of Dust.Torchwick also makes reference to Dust rounds as being amongst the merchandise he stole, in the episode "Best Day Ever". It is mentioned that such rounds come in several different sizes and cartridges to be used for any given situation.

One prominent example of raw Dust usage is Weiss' Multi-Action Dust Rapier, Myrtenaster, which contains vials of numerous colors of powdered Dust in its revolving chamber. She can allow Dust to flow from an exhaust port onto Myrtenaster's blade to augment her attacks, such as casting fire from her blade. She can also use her glyphs to manipulate how Dust flows and manifests. She has demonstrated this ability numerous times with Ice Dust by manipulating what shape the ice would take.

Dust Bullet magazines have emblems on them to show what types of Dust are in that magazine. For example, a magazine that uses fire Dust has an emblem of a flame on it.

#### Dust and Semblances

Another novel use of Dust is in the episode "No Brakes", where Blake Belladonna inserts Dust vials into her main weapon, Gambol Shroud, and uses it in conjunction with her Semblance. While normally her Shadow images are simply evanescent copies of her, with Dust, they take on the properties of an element, such as stone statues, ice sculptures or explosive fiery apparitions.

## Types of Dust

In the *RWBY: World of Remnant* episode Dust", the four basic colors are shown to be red, blue, yellow, and green. These four types can be combined to form other types of Dust, each with its own unique properties.

The colors of Dust that have been seen thus far:

* Red
* Dark Orange
* Bright Orange
* Yellow
* Green
* Pale Green
* Dark Blue
* Blue
* Pale Blue
* Cyan
* Black/Purple - These are the same type
* White

On top of this, the EER community has created new types of Dust, with their colors being:

* Green
* Light Grey
* Metallic Gray With A Slight Purple Tint
* Glowing White
* Deep Purple
* Black
* Red And Blue Tips With A Purple Center
* Smoky Gray

### Combustion Dust

Appears as a dark red crystal or powder.

Is commonly used as a fuel in vehicles, similar to gasoline.

Used in the creation of Hell Fire Dust.

### Darkness Dust

Appears as a dark black crystal or powder, and is formed by combining Refined Gravity Dust and Light Dust.

It bends all forms of electromagnetic radiation into its crystals, which then absorb the waves, turning them into heat. Creates a strange black field around itself at all times; can be used for High-grade aircraft stealth tech, high-efficiency solar panels, boiling water without a stove.

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### Electricity/Lightning Dust

Appears as a yellow crystal or powder.

It generates electricity, in forms such as bolts of lightning and electrical currents.

Used in the creation of Hell Fire Dust.

### Fire/Burn Dust

Appears as a bright red crystal or powder.

It creates fire, can be used for fireball and fire wave attacks. Combinng it with Water Dust will create Steam Dust.

Used in the creation of Greek Fire, Hellfire, Smoke, and Steam Dust.

### Gravity Dust

Naturally appears black, but turns purple when processed for use.

It can manipulate gravitational fields, often pulling objects or create a field that pushes outward. The Dust crystals cause the pieces of land they form in to levitate, creating floating islands.

Also used in the creation of Darkness, Hell Fire, Greek Fire, Magnetism, and Vortex Dust.

### Greek Fire Dust

Appears a bright green, and is created by combining Fire and Gravity Dust.

It causes a green inferno that cannot be stopped save by starving it of fuel. Can burn on water.

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### Hard-Light Dust

Appears as a cyan crystal or powder.

It can form solid objects made of light energy, and create laser-like projectiles or shields.

### Hell Fire Dust

Appears as a multi-colored crystal, with red and blue tips with a purple center, and is created by combining Fire/Burn, Combustion, Magma, Lightning/Electricity, and Gravity Dust.

It creates an extremely hot blue-purple-red flame that can cause things around it to combust due to its heat. The fires created can not be extinguished as foam and water would evaporate upon contact or if on a body of water the flame would cause it to bubble and steam, starving out the flame can put the fire out but it can burn for hours. Aura is a good defense against it and can starve it despite its low damage towards individuals with aura it is extremely, unbearably and unimaginably painful. Due to its uncontrollable nature this form of dust is considered illegal yet it doesn’t stop people from using it.

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### Ice Dust

Appears as a blue crystal or powder, and is created by combining Water and Wind/Air Dust.

It creates ice in any shape, such as crystals, thin sheets or even large structures like curved ramps or platforms that float in water.

### Light Dust

Appears as a glowing white crystal or powder.

A simple kind of Dust, it gives off a glow and was in the past used with religious significance, though now is simply used as a source of light in addition to traditional methods.

Used in the creation of Darkness Dust.

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### Magma Dust

Appears as a bright orange crystal/powder.

It can form a fiery projectile that splatters to the ground when blocked, creating explosive eruptions, making weaponry out of obsidian or some other form of black glass, or generating heat to melt ice. Used in the creation of Hell Fire Dust.

Used in the creation of Hellfire Dust.

### Magnetism Dust

Appears as a metallic gray crystal or powder with a noticable purple tint, and is created by combining Rock and Gravity Dust.

It magnifies any small enough magnetic field it's in when active, allowing for small-arms and rapid-fire railguns. Requires a small amount of electric current to make the ability active.

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### Mud/Cement Dust

Appears as a light grey crystal or powder, and is created by combining Water and Rock Dust.

It acts as a semi-liquid only to harden into stone quickly after. Used as an adhesive, often used by builders and construction workers for repairs or in traps used by Huntsmen/Huntresses.

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### Plant Dust

Appears as green crystal or powder.

It can create organic structures, such as trees, and can be used in replacement of fertilizer.

Used in the creation of Smoke Dust.

### Rock Dust

Appears as a dark orange crystal/powder.

It creates structures out of rock, or fire large stones as projectiles when used with a weapon.

Used in the creation of Magnetism and Mud/Cement Dust.

### Smoke Dust

Appears as a smoky gray crystal or powder, and is created by combining Fire, Wind, and Plant Dust.

It can create clouds of smoke, and is often use for smoke bombs and signals. The Dust can be dyed to change the color of the smoke created.

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### Steam Dust

Appears as a light blue crystal or powder, and is created by combining Fire/Burn and Water Dust.

It creates clouds of steam.

### Vortex Dust

Appears as a purple crystal/powder, and is created by combining Air and Gravity Dust.

Creates a miniature vortex that sucks things into it, then ejects everything outwards at a rate directly proportional to both the amount of dust used of each type and how much stuff was gathered, following this equation:
E(jection Speed) = D(ust Concentration)/d(ebris)
Or
E=D/d
More gravity dust increases the range of how much debris it picks up and length before explosion, and more Air dust increases the force of explosion.

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### Water Dust

Appears as a dark blue crystal or powder.

It creates water.

Used in the creation of Ice, Mud/Cement, and Steam Dust.

### Wind/Air Dust

Appears as a pale green crystal or powder.

It produces winds at various states, such as tornadoes, whirlwinds, and brief gusts.

Used in the creation of Ice and Smoke Dust.

## Utility

### Amity Colosseum Arena

During the combat tournament of the Vytal Festival in the show, Dust crystals are scattered throughout the arena for combatants to use. During the match between Team RWBY and Team ABRN, Ruby detonates Ice Dust to immobilize an opponent. Reese also combines orange Dust with her weapon. She later uses her weapon to freeze the leg of an Atlesian Paladin 290 in "Heroes and Monsters".

The Colosseum also has artificially created weather due to the use of Dust. These environmental Dust controls were created by Arthur Watts.

### Vehicles

Vehicles run on Dust. The Mistral Train has cyan glowing pipes, presumed to be Hard-Light Dust and Yang's Motorcycle, Bumblebee, was said to run on Combustion Dust.

Vehicles, such as trains and streetcars, make use of Dust in varying ways.

* In "Kuroyuri", the train's pipes glow cyan when its active and fade to dull gray when powered down.

* The Argus Limited's track has a line of Gravity Dust through the middle of it.

* The streetcar that Teams RWBY and JNPR ride in "The Grimm Reaper" has a faint purple glow beneath it, hinting to Gravity Dust being responsible for its levitation.

* Art Director Patrick Rodriguez designed a functional Dust powered engine for a Vehicle, but it was never used.

Just Rite, a refueling station, offers services to refuel vehicles somewhere in Anima.

### Mundane

As Remnant's primary source of functional power, Dust has many uses in everyday life, across all walks of life and the full breadth of morality.

Nearly all screens from the commonly used Scrolls to computers are holographically projected in the air and are highly likely made with Hard-light Dust.

One example of this early in Remnant's history was when Mantle integrated Dust into a system built in their houses. Stoves use Dust to heat the burners, as indicated by Dust's signature "shimmering" sound effect when Ruby turns on a stove in "Known by its Song".

Construction workers in "The Grimm Reaper" are seen using a levitating cart to haul bricks. This cart makes the Dust "shimmering" noise when one of the workers drops a brick onto it.

It appears that buildings do not need to be connected to a central power grid in order to power lights, as Maria turns on a cordless lamp in the abandoned Brunswick Farms, in "Alone in the Woods".

## Production and Distribution

The Schnee Dust Company was one of the largest producers of Dust in the world. Dust was mined from the Schnee Quarry, purified, and transported by railway lines or by sea to distributors. Dust was then sold to the public by Dust shops such as From Dust Till Dawn. Some Dust shops like the one in Kuchinashi hire bouncers and bodyguards to prevent their Dust from being stolen by thieves.

Crystalline Dust is apparently safe enough to leave out on display openly, whereas powdered Dust is dispensed from tubes on the wall and stored in portable cylindrical canisters. Bags that have been seen on store shelves have the same bright hues as the tubes and their Dust, but whether they contain Dust themselves is unknown.

Much like real-world resources, Dust has been said to be a limited resource as it is mined from the ground. The *RWBY: World of Remnant* episode "Schnee Dust Company" depicts a crystal-to-bullet process, with a hint that this process was costly.

According to Flynt Coal, his father's own Dust business was forced to shut down because of the Schnee Dust Company, showing they had monopolized smaller dust businesses to become as big as they had gotten.

Before the events of the series, Dust smuggling was considered illegal and done by certain crime syndicates like the Xiong Family who managed to smuggle Dust into Vale with the help of corrupt councilman and city manager Jimmy Vanille. Secretly however, Jimmy stole parts of those shipments and had them placed in his estate.

After the events of Volume 3, General James Ironwood had put an embargo on Dust distribution in effect. This made it harder to obtain dust throughout Remnant with some people having resorted to smuggling dust out of Atlas until the Kingdom's destruction in Volume 8.

Later, the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, Jacques Schnee, was killed by Ironwood in "Worthy". The company itself was later destroyed in "The Final Word" when it's headquarters and all of it's Dust operations in Atlas were destroyed with the kingdom itself.

The Mistral Trading Company is a Dust company stationed in the Kingdom of Mistral. Like the Schnee Dust Company, they have many Dust processing plants outside it's Kingdom, one of them being abandoned and used by The Crown. Both the Schnee Dust Company and Mistral Trading Company eventually drained the Kingdom of Vacuo of it's Dust resources, despite it having the largest Dust reserves in the world.

The Lien price for Dust is currently unknown.