Blake Belladonna

Blake Belladonna   is one of the main characters and the third character introduced in RWBY. Her weapon of choice is a Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe (VBCS) dubbed Gambol Shroud. She, along with Adam, first appeared in the "Black" Trailer on March 22, 2013 during the PAX East 2013 event, infiltrating a train and battling futuristic robots.

Appearance
Blake is a young girl of pale complexion, similar to Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee. She has long, wavy black hair, and her eyes are amber, complemented by light purple eye shadow flaring backwards. Her eyes are slightly titled upwards at the ends, giving her a somewhat catlike appearance. Blake wears a headband with an attached bow resembling cat ears, making her seem even more feline. However, even when preparing for bed she never takes it off. She wears black low-heeled boots and stockings that start off black at her hips, but gradually fade to purple as they near her shoes. There are small, white, flame-like markings on the outside of her stockings. She wears black ribbons on both of her arms, with a black detached sleeve with a silver band on her left arm. Blake wears a black buttoned vest with coattails, and a white, sleeveless undershirt that exposes part of her midriff with white shorts that may be connected to her shirt, although it is partly obscured by the vest. Blake also wears a detached scarf-like collar around her neck.

Blake wears what appears to be a black yukata as her sleeping garment.

Personality
As seen in the "Black" Trailer, she seems to have some righteous moral obligations in regards to human life, as she disagrees with Adam's plan to blow up the train with the crew still on board. Blake is described as being "mellow" by her voice actor, Arryn Zech. She also appears to be open, calm, and not afraid to speak her mind, as seen when she explains who Weiss is to Ruby, and then immediately points out the Schnee Dust Company's shady history, right in front of Weiss.

Although Blake seems to be serious most of the time, she does not lack a humorous side to her as seen in Episode 9 where she happily joins in with Ruby and Yang yelling "Banzai!" when Ruby suggests to decorate their new room. Similarly, her softer side is revealed when she hastily hides a pulp romantic novel named "Ninjas of Love" whilst filling her bookshelf in Team RWBY dorm room.

In both her appearances in "The Shining Beacon" and "The Shining Beacon, Pt 2" Blake is seen reading a book. The night before the initiation, she lights some candles to read a book and secludes herself from the other students. When Yang and Ruby approach her, she tries her best to make them leave (until Ruby takes interest in her book). This suggests that she is quite fond of books and isn't very sociable, preferring to be alone. She was even a little bit annoyed when her reading was interrupted by Yang and Ruby, but she appeared to warm up to them once Ruby took interest in the book she was reading, even going so far as to start a real conversation with Ruby rather than give short, curt answers. From her response to Ruby concerning her fairy tale view of the world, Blake is shown to likely be a realist stating that "unfortunately the real world isn't like a fairy tale." Blake also seems to have a habit of stating the obvious when she repeatedly asks Yang if Ruby and Nora were arriving in the manner that she (Blake) thought they were in "Players and Pieces", although she may have been doing this just to irritate Yang, or because of the confusion on how the events were being played, or it could also be in tribute to her sarcasm.

Abilities & Powers
Blake's most remarkable quality is her speed. Her speed is such that she is actually able to leave behind multiple after-images during her fight with the AK-130 Androids. This is useful for surprising or disorienting enemies. Blake first use of "after-image" in the series was in Players and Pieces, while fighting the Nevermore.

Blake also shows above average agility and endurance, as shown when fighting multiple enemies, yet maintaining motion and energy without fatigue.

Blake also exhibits a high level of skill when handling Gambol Shroud. She can slash away at opponents with startling speed and deflect incoming machine gun fire using just her blade. There are three forms to Gambol Shroud. When sheathed, her weapon is able to slice opponents in two with its cleaver-like cover. However, when unsheathed, it becomes even deadlier, and Blake is able to use both the katana and sheath in tandem against her opponents. She also appears to be able to freely and quickly change the way she grips them. Blake can then fold the sword into a gun-blade which is attached to an extending ribbon, similar to the Japanese kusarigama or sickle-and-chain. Her technique with this form of Gambol Shroud is similar to Ruby's with Crescent Rose. She uses the recoil from the gun attached to her blade to increase the speed of her attacks, and can slice multiple enemies with Gambol Shroud from the ground or in the air through a whirling attack. She also uses the momentum of the weapon on the ribbon as an anchor to maneuver herself in midair, and can grapple other opponents or objects from medium range to bring them into melee distance. She is quite accurate as well, and able to kill a Ursa with one strike during her meeting with Yang in the Emerald Forest.

Trivia

 * Blake is the first of the four girls to actually have speaking lines, compared to Ruby who was mute in her trailer, and Weiss who was singing (though provided by Casey Lee Williams and not her actual voice actor) and could only be heard grunting during the battle in the White trailer.
 * Blake means "black" in Old English. Belladonna means "fair lady" (Bella donna) in Italian, and it is also the name of a deadly nightshade plant.
 * Blake seems to follow the pattern set by Ruby and Weiss in that the characters are in large part inspired by fairy tale characters: Blake's last name, Belladonna, may have been based on Belle, the name of the Beauty in Beauty and the Beast.
 * Additionally her partner in the trailer, Adam, also shares his name with the Beast in Disney's adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
 * When she is first introduced in the regular series she is seen reading a book, much like Belle.
 * However, it has also been speculated that the pair are alluding to the Grimms' tale The Thief And His Master.
 * Given her feline traits, some fans speculate that Blake is actually a Faunus or part Faunus. This could mean she is a composite of Beauty and the Beast.
 * The lyrics to Red Like Roses supports the connection to Beauty and the Beast by referencing Blake as "Black the beast."
 * "Bellona" (a potential root word in Blake's last name, Belladonna) is the Roman goddess of war.
 * Blake's symbol on her stocking seems to have a purple holographic shine to it. Seen in Players and Pieces when she throws Gambol Shroud to Yang.
 * Blake's book "Ninjas of Love" may be a reference to the fictional "Makeout Paradise" novels from the Naruto series.