A small girl with a big weapon might be one of anime’s most humorous, iconic, and awesome tropes. In 2012, the first trailer forRWBYintroduced audiences to Ruby Rose, the main character in the late Monty Oum’s action fantasy series, andshe and her giant scythe made quite the impression.
Ruby grew up alongside her sister Yang on a small island called Patch, but Ruby always wanted to venture off into the world. Not out of a desire to do some sightseeing, but to hunt monsters as a Huntress, the same way her late mother Summer did years previously.
RELATED:RWBY Ice Queendom: Who is Shion Zaiden?Trained by her uncle in the art of wielding a scythe, she uses it in conjunction with her special ability to devastating results in combat. It is a dangerous combination of agile and quick ground traversal and decisive stopping power, all wrapped up in one teenage girl.
Red Like Roses
Like with a few of the main characters from the early seasons,Ruby’s semblance looks pretty simple- which is to say that it’s clearly a speed ability. Ruby is able to zip across the battlefield in no time flat, but there’s more than meets the eye. First and foremost, there are a lot of rose petals.
Ruby doesn’t quite just speed up, nor do they teleport. They are able to propel themselves in any direction at great speeds, but in doing so, their physical form alters, as evidenced by the rose petals left behind in her wake, and her mid-burst form not quite resembling a human body. Initially, this is seen as a visual cue for how fast she’s moving, but in reality,her body is disassembled with her senses still intact.
As the seasons of the web series went on, Ruby’s ability evolved to allow her to change direction in midair and have more precise maneuvering. Taking advantage of her molecular disassembly, she can even split off into separate pieces only to reform at the desired point. Objects carried on her, and even other individuals close to her can also be safely transported.
Additionally, it’s possible for Ruby to produce powerful wind currents capable of moving people and objects. With just her semblance, Ruby possesses superior 360-degree maneuverability, and an ability to disassemble on a molecular level that has tons of potential. However, the ability is nothing without the weapon it is paired with.
It’s Also A Gun
Crescent Rose is a large scythe witha built-in large-caliber sniper riflebuilt into the frame. In its condensed form, it is holstered on Ruby’s back, under her red cloak. It can unfold into its first phase, a sniper form with an unfolding stock, a grip, and a second forward grip that doubles as the bolt for the rifle.
When it triggers its second phase, the stock extends fully to become the length of the pole of the scythe while the body of the rifle unfurls to bare the blades. Ruby is quite agile and is appreciably strong enough to carry the rather unwieldy-looking weapon but to use it to its full effectiveness, she needs to get creative.
Ruby uses the recoil of her rifleto put power into each of her swings, giving the momentum to cut through the toughest defenses. Slashing moves are viable, but given the scythe’s form and construction, it is more viable for her to use trapping maneuvers to get opponents' limbs or bodies caught beneath the blade, then fire to let the recoil tear them apart.
It’s a brutal weapon that is ideal for killing monsters, which makes Ruby’s use of the weapon that much more impressive when she handily dispatches human goons without killing them. She has exceptional technique and control over what isan otherwise confusing and oversized weaponto most.
Additionally, Ruby has been seen to use various elemental forms of Dust, just like her teammates, to give her bullets an extra punch. Ultimately, her speed in tandem with her scythe provides optimal strength and speed, provided she keeps good form and utilizes lateral movement to break through enemy defenses.
Ruby’s strengths are countered by her ineffectiveness in combat without her scythe, and despite some minor martial arts discipline, she is still very much weak without it. But it is a small price to pay for the effectiveness of what she does well.
