Lie Ren/Behind the Scenes

Throughout the production of a series, a lot goes on behind the scenes in regards to planning and design, which often go through multiple stages before resulting in the final version that is seen on screen. Some concepts and ideas can have an effect on the show and characters, and unexpected occurrences during production can also lead to changes and additions to the plans for the show.

Character Basis
Lie Ren alludes to Mulan, which follows JNPR's theme of people who dressed as the opposite gender. Mulan had to disguise herself as a man to join the Chinese army.
 * Ren's original battle outfit and timeskip battle outfit have Chinese influences.

Emblem
Ren's emblem is a stylized depiction of a lotus flower. His father, Li Ren, shared this emblem and had it on the sheath of his dagger. This emblem appears on one of Lie Ren's possessions:
 * StormFlower - on the side of the grip of each gun.

Original Battle Outfit
Ren has undergone a significant change since the early concept art that Einlee drew.

In his early concept art, he wears a modified, green cheongsam, with a pair of white pants underneath. The cuffs of the cheongsam are pink, and it has a raised, red collar. There appears to be a pink and dark green design on the right shoulder, somewhat resembling a lotus. Around his waist is a red sash with a gold-colored buckle. His footwear consists of a pair of pink shoes. His hair is pinned up in a bun and lacks its characteristic pink streak. Instead, he has gray coloring in his bangs. His eyes appear to be white or gray. He is shown holding a sword.

Concepts With No Change
There are no visible differences between the show and concept art versions of the following outfit.

Production

 * Monty Oum told Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross that "Ren is an honorable warrior" and let them come up with the rest of his personality. Miles and Kerry's development of Ren's personality began with his and Nora Valkyrie's introduction scene in "The First Step". They decided that Nora is a morning person, while Ren is not. From there, "it exploded" into Nora always being energetic and Ren never being energetic.
 * In the original Volume 1 Opening storyboard, Ren appears posing with Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, before Nora hops onto Jaune's back.
 * Monty Oum was Ren's original voice actor. After Monty passed away in February of 2016, his brother, Neath Oum, became Ren's new voice actor.
 * After Volume 3, Rooster Teeth changed animation software from Poser Pro 2013 to Autodesk Maya. With this change, the animation department also made all new models for RWBY.