Weiss Schnee

Weiss Schnee (Why-ss Sh-nee) is one of the main characters in RWBY. She made her appearance on the 14th of February 2013 in the White Trailer in which she was performing a song while having a flashback of a fight with the Giant Armor, both of which took place at the White Castle.

Appearance
Weiss appears as a teenage girl dressed primarily in light blue, white, and some red. She wears a pale blue bolero jacket over a similarly colored thigh-length dress, and a piece of black lace makes up the neckline of the dress. The inside of the bolero is red and the sleeves turn blue as it gets closer to her wrists. It has a crest on the back that bears a resemblance to a snowflake, and seems to have a connection with her magic, in appearance.



Weiss wears a necklace with a single jewel or bead. She also wears thin, square earrings. She wears white, heeled, mid-calf boots (also lined with red on the inside) and a small tiara that resembles icicles. Her long hair is white and pulled back in an off-center ponytail. She has a pale complexion and ice blue eyes. She bears a scar down her left eye. In her logo, she appears as tall, if not slightly taller than Ruby. In the possible flashback sequence in her trailer, Weiss also wears a small bag on the back of her dress wrapped around her waist with a ribbon. It's contents or what it is used for is unknown.

Abilities & Powers
Weiss is proficient in handling her weapon, the Rapier that was speculated. It appears to have a revolving chamber where various settings channel her magic in different ways.

Note: This is partial speculation as the exact powers of each mode are still unclear.

Red appears to enhance strength or create an enhanced shield, Light Blue conjures a wave of ice and Yellow seems to enhance her agility. Violet increases attack power for a split second dealing high damage with a slash attack while Blue appears to make a repulsion effect as well as the ability to bind the oponent. She dons white again just before she delivers a finisher attack (which makes the weapon glow with runes on the blade and possibly turns enemies into ice shards when defeated).

She seems supernaturally fast, having an ability to appear to teleport. Weiss has ice-based magical powers, and utilizes them to great effect, being able to hold her own against an Animated Armor Golem 2 or 3 times her size. She also appears to be very durable, having taken a full-blown punch from said assailant. She fights very gracefully, as if she were dancing on ice, and uses her powers to their full effect; however, she appears to be less confident then Ruby while battling, briefly hesitating after being knocked aside by the Armor. It is unknown what the name of her weapon is, and what exactly its abilities are.

One of her earlier and more noticable abilities is to cast a white magic unofficially called "Air Step" in which she creates a tangible platform in midair, enabling her to engage in aerial combat with no need to return to ground level. It is noticed if she uses the same spell while on the ground, it greatly enhances her speed for a short period of time; however, that may be another spell entirely, only visually similar.

She also appears to be much weaker in physical strength compared to Ruby, as her legs buckle inwards as she slides whereas Ruby keeps them bent and strong. She gives the impression of being as weak as ice, though the punch she receives demonstrates that she is tough as well. Even so, if it is true that physically she is weaker than Ruby, Weiss is noticably faster. At the very beginning of her fight, without using any particular magic powers, Weiss moves at speeds rivalling those of Ruby's when using Crescent Roses' special magazines.

Trivia

 * Weiss is the second character of RWBY introduced, appearing in her trailer that was released on February 14th, 2013.
 * She fights primarily with her left hand, and uses her right hand mainly in conjunction with magical attacks.
 * She appears to be related to Snow White as her theme sings about a mirror, although Monty Oum said that his characters would not be based off of fairy tale characters. This is supported by her name, when translated from German to English is 'White Snow', which is 'Snow White' with the first and last names exchanged.
 * She appears to be a popular singer as she is shown singing Mirror Mirror during her trailer.
 * Her first name, Weiss, is German for white while her surname, Schnee, is German for snow, thus combining to 'White Snow'. Her last name is also a nickname for someone with white hair or a pale complexion which Weiss has both of.


 * It's commonly speculated, and accepted that the fight took place before she sang. Evidence of this is usually cited by the scar she supposedly gained when the Giant Armor punched her. However, up until that moment, a clear view of her face is not shown, and when her face is revealed covered in blood, you can still make out her scar having already been there. Though this does not disprove that the fight took place before she began singing, it does disprove that she gained the scar from fighting that particular Giant Armor.
 * However, frame by frame comparisions give conflicting results, as many frames do not show that she had this scar before the fight started. However, before the battle begins, we see a brief glimps of her eye, bearing the scar. Whether this is a rendering error where the wrong texture was used, where the lighting hides the scar or whether the blood is purposely off centered is unclear.