Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-27883360-20160305074527/@comment-128.151.150.17-20160401015336

But whatever it is, I just want it to be well worth the long wait. One of the many reasons why Ren is hands down my favorite character is because I see a very dark horse in him and I really want to see that I'm right. I'd definitely be happy to see his Semblance be poison; it's a unique one and one that I think will fit Ren in more ways than one.

Ren is often compared to a ninja for visible reasons: he's agile and skilled in martial arts to say the least. But to add to that, it's not uncommon for a ninja (or anything similar) to use poison, whether for assassination or setting traps (probably easier to envision Ren performing the former). And just look at his weapons--at least to me, they remind me of snake fangs, especially the King Taijitu.

But of course right? He did rip apart the snake's fangs and use one of them to stab its eye--not unlike how he would with the StormFlower blades I'm sure. Frankly, the more I think about it, the less I believe that it's a coincidence on at least a symbolic level. I'm aware that his fight with the King Taijitu is a symbolic demonstration of aura, its usage, and its meaning (yin and yang). And yet, because of my theory (and hope), I'd like to think that's not all there is to it.

One thing that could both support and challenge my idea is his lotus symbol. The lotus flower is supposed to be a symobl of rebirth, divinity, and purity--not what you'd normally associate with something like poison. And yet, if I'm not mistaken, lotus flowers grow on swamps, or at least dark, murky waters and bloom by day. I trust that the rebirth theme comes from that. It has a dark origin, grows from it, but blooms into something "of the light" (for the lack of better way to put it). So in addition to that, part of my theory is that Ren is immune to poison--and such an immunity could fit the "purity" theme.

As to why we've never seen Ren use it before, it may be that he does not like it. In many cultures, the use of poison in combat is--go figure--considered to be very dishonorable. Therefore, he may choose to forego using his Semblance and hone his martial arts instead. And if that is true, I'd trust that sooner or later, he will have to embrace his own Semblance for whatever future scenario.

On a minor note, although his colors green and pink are supposed to be that of the leaves and flowers of the lotus, respectively, they can easily be colors for poison as well, especially green. Although there are also many cultures that'd color poison purple, it's still a similar color to pink (actually I've even see a pink poison gas in some shows quite a few times myself).

I'd also like to think that Nora's reaction to Ren's "green potion" is a subtle hint to his Semblance being poison, but I'm not going to rely too much on that one. But still worth mentioning since I did think of it. I've also thought of more OP stages of this Semblance idea but I've said enough.