Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-27082610-20170729051211/@comment-27618538-20180217224743

I find both of your remarks rather hyper-critical- and you are not honestly giving the idea any room to be explored, merely shooting it down because “huntsman already can do this”.

I find that reasoning- lacking, very lacking- and while you have good examples- let me present you with my argument before you simply decide “nope, don’t like this, it’s foolish and pointless”. Really now, is this what I return to?

I’ll keep the argument simple and straight-forward, aura does boost abilities to a degree- a LIMITED degree- based on the person’s physical abilities and the like. Even as fast as other Huntsman are- they are not able to mirror Ruby’s Speed Semblance; here’s some interesting numbers for you to think about and honestly, really, REALLY, take into consideration.

And this is all in mind, that the user, Cross Vermillion- lives as a martial artist and fights with the experience and skill of one. A wushu master, and three-time gold medalist Olympian, was recorded (with an accelerometer) to strike at speeds of more than 40 feet (12.2 meters) a second- that’s no doubt one of the highest striking speeds for a martial artist. Moving at even half of that, is a fearsome 6.1 m/s- which is the average striking speed of some snakes according to the same article- a snake- which is a frightening speed.

Take that striking speed, multiply it by the first base tier- that’s a whooping 30.5 m/s- at base. Amp that up as at the second tier- Cross is firing blows off at 76.25 m/s (12.5 boost). At her full maximum boost, she’s firing off blows at 152.5 m/s- or 500 feet a second- assuming the previous two things; that she is not yet a master martial artist for the sake of these computations. Now let’s take this into consideration when imagining how well she does as a full-fledged master with years of experience and training- capable of matching the wushu master’s speed if not surpassing it; at just the matching level that’s still a boosted 61 m/s (200 ft) at base level boost (5 x), 12.5 x would jump her up to 152.5 m/s, and then at her maximum boost, 305 m/s aka 1000.66 ft/s.

Sonic booms are produced at speeds of around 332 m/s- which are not that far out of reach for Cross at maximum boost. Last I checked, only Ruby has such speed capabilities- only with her Semblance. I have not seen any indications in RWBY the last I watched the episodes, that the huntsman as a whole, are capable of going at supersonic speeds- otherwise, we’d be seeing sonic booms when they fight. And we haven’t, have we?

Now, strength wise- I am further disappointed that you have not actually looked at this to a further degree; again, the user is a martial artist- a trained master of their own body, who has learned how to utilize their entire body to maximize striking power, strength, and more. A boxer in this same article I am referencing, Steve Petramale, hits with a punch delivering 1,000 lbs of impact force- using boxing principles and instincts. That’s a sledgehammer to the face force wise, and that’s a single- I repeat, a SINGLE punch.

Aura can certainly shield against such force- from just an Olympian level boxer- without aura. With aura, they’d be extremely hard pressed to tank multiple punches of such power. Cross at the same level of skill and age, and considering her physique even as a woman, is delivering 700 to 750 lbs of force with each punch. Kicks in Tae Kwon Do, including the spinning back kick, has 1500 lbs of force or more, kung-fu flying double kick produces 1,000 lbs. The deal-breaker though, is in Muay Thai itself- from a deadly knee-strike to the chest, close-quarters; enough power to match that of a 35-mile-an-hour car crash.

A car crash ladies and gentleman- that’s the kind of knee kick that Melchor Menor, a former world champion of Muay Thai (two time champion in fact), can unleash. And while it may not be nearly up to that level, it is wholly possible- and even around that type of collision strength- can aura truly handle an enhanced blow of that magnitude, or would that not be Semblance level defenses needed?

To further hit my point home- her punches would start off at 3500 lb impact force (base level 5), jump up to 8750 at 12.5 boost, and at 25 boost- a devastating 17,500 lbs of impact force. Need I remind you, that at just half-boost for her strength, Cross is nearing 1 ton of impact force; at her maximum level of strength boosting, she’s hitting with over 8 tons of force. Eight. Tons. With just her punches, for those who are reading and keeping track.

Her kicks will mirror the devastating levels- at 5x boost- we have 5,000 lbs of impact force, then 12,500 lbs at 12.5, with her maximum boost making her hit with 25,000 lbs of force. Take that into consideration- as an enemy is receiving blows with the strength of several tons of force; and that is not even taking into account the kind of power level a martial artist huntsman of RWBY-verse is capable of; turning my OC character into a living weapon with her martial arts and more.

Now, aura has shown itself to be quite powerful in regards to tanking damage- dependent on the individual obviously. Yang is known to have perhaps the most powerful durability to date so far- the fact that Adam Taurus used his own Semblance from absorbing some shots from Blake prior to slicing through her arm and aura, to sever the limb. Sure, aura allows for remarkably high defense- depending on the person- and more importantly, if a Semblance is involved or not. You are also not taking into account that martial artists as a whole, are extremely knowledgeable; aura does nothing to negate the actual pain and sensation of damage- Hazel negated that only due to his Semblance itself if I’m not mistaken- but he still took damage.

And Ruby’s blocking of gunshots, is dexterity, not solely reflexes. Reflexes would allow her to keep up with the shots yes- but dexterity allows one to actually move at the speeds required. Adam Taurus for that matter, is a master/trained in Iado- the art of drawing- which requires, now follow me here, advanced training in not only reflexes but also movement and coordination. Reflexes mean nothing without the training and experience to utilize it fully- and Cross is doing so with a frighteningly high boost. There is a martial artist capable of catching arrows from a fellow master, through reflex alone; a feat that obviously Adam as a swordsman- a martial artist in his own right, is capable of. Ruby though, is no such martial artist, Sun clearly does have martial arts training in my opinion, probably a style that involves using a staff as part of the art- thus, he can use his staff to deflect and fight with far better than Ruby- not that she isn’t a talented warrior in her own right.

But, she like many others- are NOT martial artists. Qrow I will admit, is a former bandit/trained killer, so while he may fight with his fists, he has far more experience and training- probably using a refined boxing style. Taiyang certainly is another Huntsman with martial arts training, and has passed that down to Yang. Remember, martial artists and physical fighters of their arts, are trained and taught how to strike with maximum power using their entire bodies- Huntsman have some part of that training I would imagine- but to the same degree- no. Each warrior in RWBY is unique and uses a weapon to match their Semblance and capabilities; to compare them solely to martial artists- is an insult and ignorant. It is completely ignoring the years of experience and training that have gone into perfecting their arts and mastery of their body, performing moves of such speed and strength with precision and skill, that have earned them respect and recognition for their efforts.

I’ll argue that Ren has a superior awareness to others because that is connected to his actual Semblance and training- again, AS A MARTIAL ARTIST. The fact that I have to hammer this in is disappointing- has it not been clear enough that only a few Huntsman and Huntresses are actually trained to a high degree in martial arts? Ruby is honestly only recently learning how to fight without her weapon, so while she might boost herself with her aura and Semblance- she’s got poor knowledge in regards to actually utilizing it for hand-to-hand. The only ones that I know of (from what I have seen) that have training in hand-to-hand, are Lie Ren, Yang, Nora (who probably uses some sort of limited training from Ren)

(Truthfully, I'm ending my argument here, because it's taking far more time to have to retort to the entire critical shot and I frankly have no desire to try and air creativity around trolls)