User blog:VedranTheII/Pretentious Diaries 3: Half-Grimm...do they even work?

Greetings and welcome to Pretentious Diaries, the segment where I take my headcanons, open them up with a hammer and chisel and poke it with needles for your viewing pleasure, ending it with me asking you afterwards whether you want me to remove some of them or poke harder and see what else twitches.

So what's this about?
Today I will…actually be talking about half-grimm…and no one is more surprised by this than me. I mean, after my last PD concerning aura and what can be done with it, I couldn’t help but think: What can I do to top that? What can I do to get a greater reception? What can I do to make a better PD? And after much debating and conversation with the voices in my head…I realized I can’t.

So after drowning myself into a drunken stupor with fizzy drinks, I resigned myself to the fact that PD2 is likely my peak, and everything after it will be poor by comparison…what’s that?…I already told you no…oh it’s not about the setting fire to...what do you mean this post is suppose to be about…oh right, half-grimm…

This blog posts mostly exists as a response to a number of things that tend to frequent the threads i check up on. Half-Grimm OC’s, Grimm controlling Semblances, transformations between a human and a grimm ala Werewolf, and other similar things. Are they possible in the show? Should I just brush them off as bad ideas? Both?

Well before i can talk about halfs, might as well talk about fulls.

A Full-Grimm
Grimm, oh you wannabe shadow pokemon. You know, you have to appreciate a series that’s not afraid to break standard logic when creating a new race. I mean most shows would have been satisfied with just taking a human...my bad, a model, and then adding to it one or 2 extra accessories like cat ears or a monkey tail and and call it a new race, but not this show…

…

...So anyway, enter the Grimm, a race that follows their own set of rules, independent from any living creature on remnant, specifically designed to make them feel like they’re ripped from an mmo game. In a sense they remind me of a Bizzaro land version of the monster from Slayers, and anything that reminds me of Slayers is a good thing in my book. However, due to many reasons i can list of the top of my head, Slayers had an easier time gradually explaining the unique traits of their monsters as the show progressed.

In other words, we -that is to say us and the characters of the show- actually don’t have a whole lot of confirmed information about Grimm; what we -that is to say the viewers- know, is bits of information said in a way that helps with immersion but not with understanding...a trait I’d applaud more if the lack of knowledge about them isn’t driving me insane...so let’s take a look at what I...well ok, WE, can piece together.

Stay a while and listen
Everyone say hello again to Not-Cortana, who is here to offers us some info, or rather speculation, about the grimm. But you know what, I’m all about speculation as long as they have a ground to stand on, like Jaunes hidden symbol being a bunny head. So what does she tell us exactly?So, according to her, Grimm are:

Not animals
Grimm are not linked to animals in any shape or form. True, all the Grimm introduced so far have an animal they seem to draw most of their features from:

" …however further study, as well as the discovery of newer, more horrific forms of Grimm, do not support this hypothesis — Not-Cortana"

Whether this means eldritch abomination looking Grimm, or Grimm made from Frankensteining creatures together, we cannot say…with my luck it’s probably just human like Grimm.

Worth noting, despite them not being necessarily based on animals, those that are have animal like behavior, most notably a bear grimm in volume 1 being attracted by the sweet scent of tree sap.

Wait...so does that mean that the rapier wasps in volume 1 are...little grimm? Food for though i guess.

Human focused
Grimm do not seem to need to eat, not in the traditional sense. For one they do not attack animals unless provoked, instead:

" …exclusively attack human and their creations. — you know who"

They seem to eat human flesh more out of a need to erase humans from existence rather than a source of sustenance. So why do they target humans, exactly?

" The creatures of grimm are lured towards negative emotion. — N_t-C_____A"

And a certain type of tree sap, confusingly enough...at any rate...

There is a common belief that emotions are something only humans, or human like beings can show. Although you can see animals care for one another, those that follow that belief attribute it to instincts rather than emotions; something borned, not developed. It isn’t possible for a carnivore, like a canine, to care for a random plant. On the other hand, it is possible for a human to grow and cherish a tree more than they do people that they interact with on a regular basis.

The show, to an extent, seems to embrace this concept. Humans can have emotions, and the negative ones attract Grimm. Meanwhile, Grimm and animals can’t have emotions, so they don’t produce an aura; simple right?

God dammit...so then what produces an aura if not emotions?...is it the fact that we’re alive?...so then wouldn’t plants also generate an aura? And does that mean Grimm are, for all intent and purpose, animated dead?

Simplest explanation i can think of is that Not-Cortana misspoke. Grimm are attracted to negative THOUGHTS, and not emotions, but having emotions lets you generate an aura. Essentially we, that is to say humans, can have thoughts that animals can’t, such as “I hate that person because he sells overpriced vegetables”, and that is what the grimm are attracted to. It makes sense, because animals can express emotions like rage and joy, but they can’t rationalize it like humans. On the other hand, while animals can’t rationalize, they can feel, much like humans, and as such, they produce an aura. If plants or bugs are later shown to produce an aura, then the requirement to have an aura may simply be being alive and the Grimm really are a type of animated cadavre.

Self destructing
One of the two more interesting bits of info offered in that video is the reason why there is so little info about the grimm. Their corpses disappear when they die...when they take too much damage. As early as the first trailer we can visibly see the corpses of a beowulf disintegrating.

Can evolve
The other interesting bit is that they evolve till they die. A grimm that lives grows more powerful and resistant with age in order to kill more efficiently.

Compare and contrast a younger grimm...

More bone plates, more mass, and potentially new abilities in the case of the nevermores.

What about the white beowulf?...

...What white beowulf?

The one in the RWBY game...

…There is a RWBY game?

Bonus Grimm


Well… Doesn’t this just complicate things. I’ll call you Rudolf until further notice.

Rudolf the white furred beowolf here is, as far as I know, the only one you can find on the map. He shows up after every other beowolf is killed, and unlike the rest, it hits harder, blocks attacks and even dodges.

Whem compared to a “normal” beowolf, Rudolf has:

- yellow eyes as opposed to red;

- white fur as opposed to black;

- dull white mask as opposed to a white one;

- grey markings as opposed to red;

- black claws and spikes as opposed to white.

So...why does it look like that? If there are white and black grimm, does that mean there are grey ones as well? Well, sort of...

Meaning that my decoloring theory has some ground to stand on...hopefully volume 3 will shine a little more light on this.

Half a Grimm
So that’s about all the info we can gather on grimm so far. Now with that out of the way, let’s go back to the reason this post exists. Half Grimm and Grimm manipulating OC’s. What does what I uncovered tell us about the possibility of them existing? There isn’t any…. Let’s go down the list

Grimm prostetics
Busted, because any attempt at making one results in the limb getting disintegrate.

Semblance that turns you into a grimm
Busted. Semblances are a direct application of aura, something grimm specifically don’t have. You turning into a grimm is equivalent to committing suicide because you have to somehow shed your soul in the process; once that happens, gaining it back isn’t possible, as that would require aura in order to use the semblance...something you would no longer have.

Semblance that controls animals
Busted. Won’t work on grimm, they may act similarly but are a completely different race.

Semblance that controls grimm
Bustedm mostly for plot reasons. A semblances that effect grimm and only grimm offer immeasurable information on how they work and function as a race. If people like that existed, info about them wouldn’t be so scarce.

And don’t try to tin foil this with the government keeping those people hidden; you can’t control the date you unlock the semblance so there is little to no way of getting to one without the media posting info.

Well what if a Grimm and a Human have a-no, NO, NO!
Grimm don’t have discernable genders, which is a fancy way of saying they don’t have either a *censored* or a *censored*, meaning that whatever method they use to reproduce is asexual in nature, making the two species completely incompatible.

Well what if they’re parasites and corrupt a human?
And somehow despite killing them in the thousands, no one picked up on this tidbit, how?

If it was a parasite that corrupts dead corpses, wouldn't humans notice their dead are disappearing, or get suspicious when grimm somehow made it past their defences and are attacking from the direction of the cemetery?

And if it corrupted living people there is literally no way someone hasn't noticed by now.

Conclusion
As of right now, Grimm powers, of any way, shape, or form, do not work within the context of the show; not from a biological, a metahuman, or just a logical standpoint. I will say this though...grimm get more and more confusing with every passing moment.

We can’t see their organs, because the show censored them with the anti-upskirt technology, so we can’t even tell if they have a stomach to digest human flesh. We can’t see ancient grimm, because the focus of the story is currently Vale-centered, and even in universe they have an inbuilt self destruct mechanism...regardless...

Half-Grimm...do they even work?

...I'm inclined to say no.