Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-114.79.60.17-20160626164308/@comment-4010415-20180628232502

Rion Dragonheart wrote: Hmm... Maybe Mercury is like Roman who hasn't discovered his Semblance yet. He might discover it against Team RWBY and cause them to have problems. It would certainly be interesting to see him turn the tables on a fight by discovering his Semblance.

And honestly, even though some people would probably complain that it'd be too convenient, I think it'd still fit, rather than the writing just badly giving him convenience for convenience's sake. I mean, let's look at some other instances of Semblance discovery that we know of.


 * Ren - Hides negative emotion. He discovered his Semblance when he needed it the most, when he was a small child who was completely alone in a Grimm-infested village, scared out of his mind. He wanted to go help Nora, but he was too afraid to leave his hiding place because of the Grimm. Suddenly, his Semblance activated itself, calming him down and allowing him to sneak past the Grimm and hide himself and Nora. Awfully convenient, huh?


 * Nora - Electricity absorption. She got struck by lightning, and her Semblance saved her life. Awfully convenient, isn't it?


 * Jaune - Aura amplification. We were told by Monty that the first sign we saw of his Semblance was in Forever Fall, back in Volume 1. He was bruised and beaten, likely because he still hadn't fully learned to activate his Aura when he needed it. He resolved to protect his teammates, and then Cardin punched him. There was a bright flash, Cardin's hand was hurt as if he punched a hard surface, and Jaune's wounds were healed (and were supposed to stay healed, but they came back because of an animation error). Awfully convenient.

It seems like one thing that might determine your Semblance is what you need most in the situation in which you finally activate it for the first time. So, if Mercury hasn't discovered his Semblance, it's entirely possible for him to suddenly discover it in a fight against the good guys.