User blog:Sorairo/On the Topic of Dust: Explanation?

Here is some stuff about Dust. Most of it is already on the wiki but it does have quite a few missing pieces though. Hopefully somebody can help out or those holes will just fill themselves as the episodes come out.

Summary

Dust is present naturally inside of the RWBYworld in crystal form. This is mined by the Schnee Dust Company in quarries, transported, and refined into powder. The powder form is more potent than the crystal form.

Dust seems to be roughly analagous to both fuel and gunpowder in our world. Arguably, those two things are solely responsible for how our world works today and it seems to be the same for RWBYworld.

There are eight natural colors for Dust: red, orange , yellow , green , light blue , blue , violet , and grey. There is also one other white Dust. However, no white Dust crystals were in the store From Dust Till Dawn and it has only been seen on Weiss Schnee. This can either mean it is very rare and expensive or it is artificially manufactured specifically for her.

Each of these colors seem to represent something, either some sort of natural element or some characteristic or idea. It really would be easier just to say that its magic and get it over with but for some reason (maybe its Monty's insistence that there is method to all of it) I'm going to go ahead and classify this stuff.

The Colors

Red seems to be associated with life, energy, and strength.
 * It was used by Weiss Schnee in her battle against the Grey Knight to deflect one of his blows. From this, it is evident that red Dust increases one's strength.
 * The inside of the Beowolves is red and since the Grim are creatures of Dust, it is possible that Beowolves are derived from red Dust. They are raw unrestrained energy and strength. (Though, of course, that doesn't stop Ruby from mowing through them with ease)
 * It could also be what was powering the robots on the train in the Black Trailer. The inside of the AK-130 Androids as well as the body of the Spider Droid were red and (despite Blake and Adam mowing through them) they are strong guards (at least when taking normal people into consideration).
 * Adam practically glows red before unleashing Moonslice and destroying the Spider Droid. Yet another instance of red and strength.

Orange is most probably associated with fire and heat.
 * This is most probably what Crimson used in her fight against Glynda.

Yellow seems to represent electricity.
 * First we see Weiss' sword glowing yellow and that she's able to move on the knight's sword and stick to it. Almost like a magnet. I imagine that somehow the yellow Dust allowed her to manipulate electromagnetism (motion of current throughout her body gives her magnetism??) and give herself the ability to stick to the metal knight.

Green represents....mind control/illusions? Okay, this one's a bit iffy.
 * There are three places where I've seen the color green prominently: trees (Emerald Forest), Lie Ren, and Ozpin's clothes.
 * As far as the trees go: green represents life and nature.
 * But for Lie Ren and Ozpin, nothing really screams nature-lover about them so I'm not sure what to make of that.
 * Ozpin has a tendency to screw with students' heads and if I were to take his connection with the Wizard of Oz further, I would say that this would be a defining trait for him. (The Wizard was after all just maintaining illusions in Oz)
 * Taking that further, I guess you could say something about Lie Ren too. Maybe his guns aren't really guns? They're green too

Light Blue seems to be associated with ice.
 * Most obviously used in Weiss' battle with the Grey Knight.

Blue represents....water? I'm really, really tempted to say water...but...we haven't actually seen blue Dust in action. (Unless I'm missing something)
 * There was that time that blue Dust seemed to spill out of Weiss' suitcase when she was chewing out Ruby. That resulted in some ice in the ensuing explosion. (So shouldn't that have been light blue Dust spilling out?)
 * During that same "chewing out session" Weiss mentioned Dust being associated with "fire, water, lightning, energy..."

Violet represents control but not just in a physical sense (like kinesis)
 * Violet was (arguably) used by Weiss in order to propel herself across the floor in her battle against the Grey Knight. Of course this is somewhat debatable since its white platforms that form under her but upon pausing the video, I found that she scatters some particles on the ground which have a slight purple tinge to them.
 * Violet was most probably used by Glynda (seems to just be her color) in the battle against Crimson
 * Glynda uses it to create a shield to block Torchwick's firework and the crystal from harming Ruby.
 * She uses it to manipulate building shards to fly about in various directions
 * She uses it to manipulate the weather. (This is where it does not just represent kinesis)

Grey represents...something. It's a naturally occurring color but I don't know what it does and we haven't seen it in action.
 * Some say it's powering the Grey Knight but then...what does that mean? The Grey Knight isn't glowing red like the Androids so it must be powered by something. But if it's being powered by grey Dust, then what does grey represent?

White is the rare or experimental Dust that has only been seen with Weiss. What it represents though...I have no idea.
 * It was definitely used in the finishing move in her fight against the Grey Knight. After slicing him, he glowed with white fire and shattered into pieces.

Living Creatures and Dust
 * I said earlier that the Beowolves were probably concentrated beings made of red Dust. All they are is raw strength. No feeling. No control. I imagine that all the Grim are actually beings that come from one specific strain of Dust and are imbued with specific powers according to which strain they come from. Humans on the other hand seem to be a mix of different types of Dust. We have strength (red), electricity via nervous system (yellow), and some heat (orange). Different people are imbued with different concentrations of different colors of Dust, thus lending everyone unique personalities.