Ruby Rose

**Ruby Rose** is the main protagonist of *RWBY*. She is a Huntress, having been trained at the now-defunct Beacon Academy. Ruby's weapon of choice is her High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe known as Crescent Rose, which she designed herself.

Ruby first appeared in the "Red" Trailer visiting the grave of her mother, Summer Rose. After an invitation from Professor Ozpin following a short battle with Roman Torchwick, Ruby attends Beacon Academy in order to become a Huntress. During her time at Beacon, Ruby became a member and the leader of Team RWBBY, consisting of herself, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Gea Belladonna, and her own elder half-sister, Yang Xiao Long.

However, following the Fall of Beacon, Ruby travels to Haven Academy as a member of Team RNJR with the remaining members of Team JNPR. After the Battle of Haven, Team RWBBY is reunited again and they continue to participate in the war against Salem and her forces.

Following a battle with Neopolitan in the Central Location, Ruby was dropped into the void by Cinder Fall. Her current status is unknown.

## Ruby Rose

### Nicknames:

* Little Red (by Roman and Cinder)
* Pipsqueak (by Qrow and Robyn)
* Kiddo (by Qrow)
* Little flower (by Tyrian)
* Runt (by Harriet)
* Miss Hero (by Emerald)
* Crater Face (by Jaune)

## Characteristics

### Age

* 15 (Volumes 1–2)
* 16 (Volumes 4-5)
* 17 (Volumes 6-7)

## Appearance

### Outfit

* Red, Black
* Cream (Volume 4-Volume 7)
* Gray (Volume 7-Current)

### Accessories

Emblem Pin, Ammunition Clips, Pouch, Hooded Cloak, Gloves

## Traits

### Height

* 5'2" (1.57 meters) (Volume 1-6)
* 5'4" (1.62 meters) (Volume 6-7)

### Hair Color

* Black (Formerly)
* Black and Red

## Professional Status

### Previous Affiliation

* Signal Academy
* Beacon Academy

### Team

RWBBY

* Weiss

* Blake
* Gea
* Yang

### Previous Team

RNJR

* Jaune
* Nora
* Ren

## Professional Status

### Relatives

* Summer Rose (Mother) †
* Taiyang Xiao Long(Father)
* Yang Xiao Long (Paternal Elder Half-Sister)
* Qrow Branwen (Honorary Uncle)

## Media

### First Appearance

* "Red" Trailer (No Lines)
* "Ruby Rose"

## Appearance

Ruby is a fair-skinned young girl with silver eyes and neck-length black hair with red tips.

## Original Outfit (Volumes 1-3)

During her time attending Beacon Academy, she wears a black long-sleeved blouse with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves, over which is a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front, and a matching skirt with red lining. She also wears a pair of thick black stockings and black combat boots with red laces, red trims around the top, and red soles.

Her outfit is topped by a red hooded cloak fastened to her shoulders by cross-shaped pins. Her emblem appears as a large silver buckle on her wide black belt, which is slung around her hips on an angle. Attached to her belt are a pocket and a row of bullets.

In the "Red" Trailer, Ruby's cloak was fastened at her throat and a large silver cross is pinned to her belt in place of her emblem.

## Pajamas

During her time at Beacon, Ruby's pajamas consist of a black tank top featuring a heart-shaped Beowolf design on the chest and long white pants decorated with pink roses. She also wears a black sleeping mask decorated with triangular red eyes reminiscent of the Beowolves in the "Red" Trailer.

At her home in Patch, Ruby's pajamas are a matching dark-gray long-sleeved shirt and pants with faded-red polka dots and a white lining at the front and the collar.

## Alternate Outfit (Slayer)

During the events of "A Minor Hiccup" and "Painting the Town...", Ruby wears an alternate outfit codenamed "Slayer".

This outfit consists of a long-sleeve, light gray shirt with black belted cuffs near the ends of the sleeves. Over top of the gray shirt is a black pinafore with two vertical lines of red stitching that resemble the lacing on a corset. She wears a red skirt with a large black print of her emblem on the side and matching black tulle underneath.

Her stockings and shoes remain the same as her original outfit, though the boots lack the red trim that decorated the top. A few pieces of metal arranged in the shape of a rose are attached to the shoulder of her left sleeve, and her cloak's hood has been wrapped around her neck in a scarf-like fashion, while the rest hangs down like normal.

## Child

When Ruby was a child, she wore a dark red sleeveless hoodie with an attached cape, a white top underneath her hoodie, a black skirt and black shoes.

## Dance Outfit

During the Beacon Dance, Ruby wears a short, red, sleeveless dress with a thick black sash around the waist and black trim along the bottom. The bodice of the dress is split vertically to the sash and laced with black lacing. The yoke of the dress is transparent mesh with an opaque collar and hem, as well as opaque lines connecting the collar to her shoulders. She also wears black stockings and pumps.

## Beacon Uniform

During her attendance at Beacon, Ruby wears the same uniform as every other girl attending Beacon, consisting of brown shoes, red tartan skirt, white blouse with maroon trim and thin red bow, a brown vest with gold buttons and maroon blazer with gold trim, alongside full-length black stockings. However, she also wears her red cloak pinned to her blazer.

## Post-Timeskip Outfit (Volumes 4-7)

After the time-skip following the Fall of Beacon, her hair has grown slightly longer that maintains the color gradation from black at the roots to red at the tips and her new design sports a white high-neck décolletage blouse with brown studded wristbands on the arms. Her outfit retains the use of a black skirt with red tulle underneath, somewhat similar to her original outfit, but her waist cincher has been replaced with an overbust corset with red strip holding it in place. A black belt bordered in red holds the magnetic clip for Crescent Rose and its ammunition. She also has brown straps on her blouse that allow her to wear a small brown backpack.

In lieu of her usual full black stockings, Ruby wears thigh-high stockings reaching to a few inches below the hem of her skirt, decorated by an image of a long-stemmed rose. Her red-soled black boots contain four straps and buckles apiece.

Her cloak has a singular clip on the right shoulder in the shape of her emblem, replacing the cross-shaped clips from her original attire. Both the cloak and the stockings show tears from hard wear.

## Atlas Outfit (Volumes 7-Current)

After arriving in Atlas and meeting with James Ironwood, Ruby's hair becomes spikier and choppier. She has a new outfit, comprised of a black red lined lace-up corset with four buckles hanging loose over a mesh sleeveless top over a white low cut long-sleeved blouse, as well as a black choker around her neck. She wears a red pleated skirt that is split at the side with a small brown belted strap across the gap, and bright red shorts under it. On her arms, she wears black bracers with large brown buckled straps around the wrist as well as black fingerless gloves. Around her waist, she now has a brown belt with several bullets with a buckle of her emblem on it alongside a pouch on the right side with a Zwei based emblem and she wears black, thigh-high steel-toe boots with red soles and heels, a single buckled strap, rear seam and a large brown buckled strap with attached pouches near the top, over a pair of brown mesh tights. In addition, her torn cape is replaced with a new cape that has a hood as shown in Pomp and Circumstance.

## Personality

Ever since she was little, Ruby has had a romanticized view of the Huntsman profession. She is quick to reveal she wanted to become a Huntress in order to be like the great heroes in fairy tales, and she has described being one as far more "romantic" than being a police officer. Her mentality is described as "I don't have time for my emotions. I've gotta make sure that everybody else is okay." Lindsay Jones claims Ruby's mentality is "selfless, but that means she's not dealing with her own issues. Compartmentalizing and internalizing her grief is what might eventually destroy her." She has also shown a distinct lack of ability to pick up social cues due to being a very open and honest person. This results in her inability to pick up Weiss' sarcasm in the "The Shining Beacon" and her struggling to act formally in "It's Brawl in the Family".

Ruby is a self-proclaimed dork when it comes to weapons; she is quite intelligent, having designed and built Crescent Rose during her time at Signal, although she admits to going "a little overboard" with its design. She feels that seeing new weapons "is like meeting new people, but better." Oum has said she relies on Crescent Rose quite often in battle, which implies that her weapon is the source of her confidence in battle.

Ruby has a strong sense of moral justice, a trait she obtained from stories about heroes and monsters that her sister used to read for her, as well as the way her parents raised her. These stories are what gave her the ideals that she wished to live by and uphold throughout her life, and are the reason for her love for books. Because she is shown to be childish even when in class, she tends to study by herself to cover the necessary knowledge.

Ruby is shown to be naïve, as although she doesn't like to be the center of attention, becoming a Huntress would effectively put her in the spotlight. In addition to her dislike of attention, Ruby prefers to either be alone or with Yang. However, she has become comfortable around Team RWBY and Team JNPR. She does not lack social skills, but has problems when meeting new people. This is mostly because of her childish nature and lack of social grace, as she can be bad-mannered (only out of ignorance) and sometimes speaks without thinking. However, because of her enthusiastic personality, she can become very good friends with people who share her enthusiasm.

Despite this, Ruby's leadership skills make her a worthy teammate. While she may occasionally act without thinking, sometimes she seems to understand the situation better than most. She can then use this ability to quickly formulate plans. This was seen during Team RWBY's battle with the Nevermore, in which her teammates' positions allowed her to come up with a successful plan. Ozpin most likely assigned Ruby as team leader to ensure that she grows as an individual. This proves to be the case as she becomes a resourceful and dependable leader who studies so hard and so late, she falls asleep in the middle of the task, all to impress her teammate Weiss. She was also able to pass her beliefs as leader to Jaune Arc, thus helping him find a new sense of responsibility for the safety and well-being of his own team.

Ruby is also shown to care for all her teammates equally, despite their background. This is seen in how she expresses sympathy for Weiss' bad childhood after she explains her family's history with the White Fang, before showing the same concern moments later for Blake Belladonna when she runs away, having let slip her prior involvement with the group, and by extension indirectly revealing that she was a Faunus. Ruby's concern is further expressed in her desperate search for her teammate. This sense of care is later shown not to be limited to her teammates. She also shows some worry for Penny, telling the latter to stay out of the fight between Roman Torchwick, Blake Belladonna, and Sun Wukong.

Although Ruby has no trouble interacting with her friends, she does have trouble actually making them, and once admits that seeing new weapons "is like meeting new people, but better". This could have been a result of her having been accepted two years earlier to Beacon Academy, which forces her to leave her friends at Signal behind, as well as interact with people that are both older and more experienced than she is. Regardless, both she and Jaune Arc toast to being socially awkward during the Beacon Dance.

In the second chapter of the manga, it is revealed that Ruby originally had enochlophobia, a fear of large crowds, as shown when she freezes up during a sparring match against Cardin Winchester. However, she manages to work through that fear with some encouragement from her teammates long enough to win the spar, and by the Vytal Festival, she has overcome them entirely.

Ruby also has a sweet tooth, preferring five sugars in her coffee and scarfing down a large plate of cookies in "Ruby Rose". She is even seen with a plate of cookies in "Jaunedice", while her friends are eating more nutritious meals. This is shown again in "Alone Together", where Ruby rejoices and accepts coffee after learning Weiss put "blasphemous amounts of cream and sugar" in it.

In combat or dangerous situations, she is shown to be quite impulsive and battle eager, such as when she attacks a Death Stalker upon seeing it before learning of its high resistance to bullets and blades. This trait contrasts with her adaptability, for she is quite capable of forming attack plans with others in order to take down stronger foes, such as the Nevermore in "Players and Pieces" and Roman in the Atlesian Paladin-290 in "Painting the Town...". After her discussion with Ozpin in "The Badge and The Burden, Pt.2", Ruby begins to take her role as leader of Team RWBY seriously. However, future instances of recklessness are when none of her teammates are near her, such as in the "Battle of Beacon" when she goes alone to engage Roman and Neopolitan, who both outnumbered and outmatched her, luckily Gea was there to help out

In "Lost", Ruby further develops as a leader whenever she and her friends find themselves in trouble. This is evident when she directs the group when they are attacked on the Argus Limited and when she and Get stands up to Qrow after he turns down Jaune's proposed idea of stealing a military airship to get to Atlas. In "Dark" Blake recounts that Ruby's determination and optimism is something that has always inspired her, and she continues to look up to her despite being older.

Despite her stance on not keeping secrets from her teammates and friends, Ruby has done so to others. In "A New Approach", after James Ironwood inquires on what happened to Ozpin, Ruby lies, stating that she does not know what happened, despite the fact that it was her group's actions that led to his disappearance. She also states that the questions for the Relic of Knowledge were all used up, which is the same thing Ozpin said that led to them turning on him in the first place. These acts, along with Yang and Blake leaking classified information on the Amity Communications Tower to Robyn Hill, eventually result in Ironwood losing trust in them.

She also has a tendency on not backing down from a fight no matter the odds, which while admirable, can also be detrimental. This flaw is highlighted in her stance against Ironwood. In "Gravity", when Ironwood declares his intent to use the Relic of Creation to raise Atlas due to Salem personally coming, Ruby refuses the plan, as doing so would leave Mantlein danger. Although she and her group prevent Ironwood from carrying out the plan, this later caused both cities to be in danger when Salem landed Monstra on the island in "Midnight".

Ultimately, Ruby's choices can weigh heavily on her when her plans fail or her team becomes divided. When depressed or under intense pressure, she requires the same emotional support she often provides to her friends, despite constantly trying to keep up a brave face and a positive outlook as team leader. In "Dark", Ruby became overwhelmed and blamed her actions for leading to their situation, until she was reassured by Blake and Gea. She ended up breaking down in "Risk" due to the worsening situation, both her and Yang's plans ended up not working, and realizing what Salem may have possibly done to her mother after seeing the core of The Hound. However, Yang pointed out that, while Ruby's optimism and determination had occasionally been blind, it was also necessary in many situations, to provide the team with hope when they took risks. Thanks to her sister's reassurance, Ruby has regained her resolve to save the people of both Atlas and Mantle.

## Powers and Abilities

In order to become a Huntress, Ruby trained at Signal Academy, where her skills and abilities far surpassed her peers. Wielding a dangerous weapon like Crescent Rose required strength, balance and adaptability, all of which she demonstrated the night she stopped the robbery of From Dust Till Dawn, a Dust shop in Vale. This led Ozpin to accept her into Beacon Academy two years before the usual age of admittance.

While at Beacon, Ruby developed skills as a decisive leader, being able to formulate and execute plans with others in order to take down tougher foes, such as the giant Nevermore the team encountered during initiation, and later in coordinated attacks against Roman in an Atlesian Paladin-290. However, perhaps Ruby's greatest strength is her ability to give hope when it is needed most- something Ozpin described as "Something unquantifiable... a *spark*." She has a knack for finding the right words in the right situation, whether when rallying her teammates, comforting demoralized or suffering allies, or trying to sway enemies to her side. While Ruby's willingness to negotiate has occasionally backfired (as when she tried to recruit Raven in "The More the Merrier") she has inspired many with her words, actions and perseverance as a leader and Huntress.

Ruby's sense of balance stands out, particularly in precarious situations like perching on a taut ribbon in "Players and Pieces" or running off an exploding airship in "Heroes and Monsters". Despite her small size, Ruby's physical strength is considerable, given how skillfully she wields the large and bulky Crescent Rose. Perhaps one of the best demonstrations of her strength was during her initiation, when she used Crescent Rose to drag a Giant Nevermore *vertically* up a cliff, at high speed (although she was assisted by Weiss's glyphs and Crescent Rose's recoil).

Ruby's fighting style relies heavily on her creative uses of and methods for achieving momentum, relying on a combination of her Semblance and Crescent Rose's recoil to allow her to achieve massive impact force, then speeding away to avoid counterattacks and prepare her next strike. She can also throw her opponents off by creating slipstreams and even small whirlwinds using her Semblance.

Ruby also has some skills as a seamstress. According to "After the Fall", she made her original outfit herself.

## Weapon

Ruby's weapon of choice is **Crescent Rose**. Ruby is self-admittedly obsessed when it comes to weapons, which shows in her complex design and craftsmanship of her weapon, a High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe which she designed herself at Signal, as well as her eye for detail when observing other people's weapons and tools. This weapon can transform between a scythe and a sniper rifle and can fire Dust rounds in either form with massive force.

After arriving in Atlas, Crescent Rose was upgraded, with the blade now capable of rotation, allowing Ruby to swing her weapon more freely when in cramped spaces such as caves.

## Semblance

Ruby's Semblance, **Petal Burst** (also known as **Speed**), allows her to dash with an inhuman speed in whatever direction she chooses, often leaving trails of rose petals in her wake. However, this is, of course, at the cost of Aura so Ruby can't rely on it indefinitely. In "Best Day Ever", Ruby is shown to be capable of creating powerful tailwinds with her Semblance; if she gathers enough momentum, the resulting turbulence is capable of lifting people off the ground.

Within the episode "Ace Operatives", it was stated by Harriet Bree that Ruby's Semblance is not like other speed-type Semblances, though she does not elaborate.

It is later revealed by Penny in "Strings" that Ruby's Semblance allows her to disassemble herself at a molecular level and reassemble at a chosen location, negating her mass. With practice, she has proven able to do the same with anyone she is in contact with, similar to Ren's Semblance; she can carry at least four people along with her. This allows her to go around obstacles or through paths that she would not otherwise fit. She has also proven able to negate gravity while using her Semblance; in "The Final Word", she uses her Semblance mid-fall to circle up and around Neopolitan, attacking her from behind.

## Silver Eyes

Through her mother, Summer, Ruby comes from a line of legendary warriors who possessed powerful abilities related to their Silver Eyes, said to be an extremely rare trait. Upon seeing Pyrrha Nikos die in "End of the Beginning", Ruby accidentally uses this power in her grief and petrifies the Wyvern. However, she has no memory of doing this other than her head hurting. Later in the episode, Qrow describes a fairy tale about warriors with Silver Eyes who are so powerful that even the Grimm fear them.

In "The Next Step", it is revealed that Ruby's powers injured Cinder Fall greatly, causing her to lose her left eye and arm, and making it difficult for her to speak for a period of time. Salem states that this is due to Cinder's possession of the Fall Maiden powers but does not explain why this is the case. However, when Ruby uses her powers once again in "The More the Merrier", Raven Branwen, who possesses the Spring Maiden powers, is not affected despite being in the vicinity, indicating that the Maiden powers themselves do not cause an individual to be affected by the Silver Eye. This indicates that the reason Cinder was affected was due to her usage of the Grimm, through a Grimm beetle glove and later a Shadow Hand.

In "Alone in the Woods", Ruby has managed to activate her power intentionally after Maria Calavera tells her to concentrate on her loved ones, turning a group of Apathy to dust. Through Maria's guidance, Ruby was able to petrify the Leviathan in the episode "Our Way", but the massive Grimm was able to partially destroy the stone encasing its body before it was destroyed by Gea Belladonna and Adam Taurus

Despite Maria's guidance, Ruby still hasn't fully mastered the activation of her powers. In "Out in the Open", Ruby attempts to activate her eyes while fighting an Alpha Megoliath but is unable to concentrate with all the chaos. However, in "The Enemy of Trust", she quickly and easily activates her Silver Eyes upon seeing Cinder.

## Weaknesses

While Ruby is exceptionally skilled in Grimm-based combat, she does not fare as well against Human opponents. In addition, Ruby is heavily reliant on Crescent Rose. In contrast to her sister, her hand-to-hand capabilities are rather poor, making her easy to be taken down by mere grunts. Without her weapon, there is not much she can do in a fight, and her best bet is to run away with her speed. Her cape, on occasion, has been exploited and used against her, notably during the Beacon initiation when a Nevermore pinned her cape to the ground with its feather-spears. In "Lighting the Fire" Ruby is shown to be slightly improving in hand-to-hand combat under the tutelage of Professor Ozpin through Oscar Pine.

Although less skilled in unarmed combat, Ruby can often compensate by using her wits and her surroundings to turn the tables on her opponent, if she is unarmed. She has notably defeated Neopolitan once, in this manner. . When Ruby is disarmed in "The Final Word", she tricks Neo into lunging at her, then uses her Semblance to circle behind, disarming her and knocking her off the platform in a single attack.

Until she was guided by Maria, Ruby was using the power of her Silver Eyes in reaction to the death of a close friend or a loved one being in danger, without control on her part. In "Gravity", when Ruby experienced negative emotions after she found out about her mother's fate, she briefly lost control the power of her Silver Eyes and her head begun to hurt.