Pyrrha Nikos

Pyrrha Nikos was a student at Beacon Academy and a member of Team JNPR.

Her weapon of choice, called Miló, was a red-and-bronze spear-like weapon that could transform into a rifle or a short sword. She used this alongside a shield called Akoúo̱, which resembled a classic hoplon.

In "End of the Beginning", Pyrrha engaged Cinder Fall, who had gained full possession of the Fall Maiden's powers. Despite a valiant effort, Pyrrha was defeated. Cinder murdered her shortly thereafter by shooting her through the chest with an arrow at point-blank range, before disintegrating her remains and scattering her ashes.

Motivated by her death, the remaining members of Team JNPR joined Ruby Rose in her journey to Haven in order to track Cinder and her faction.

Appearance
Pyrrha wore her red hair in a waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into a loose ringlet, and had vivid green eyes. She also wore light-green eyeshadow around the far upper corners of her eyes. She was tall and quite muscular compared to most of the other girls at Beacon.

Her top consisted of two layers. The top layer was a light-brown, strapless top split divided vertically with some bronze patterns. This may be a piece of leather or metal armor as it appears to be quite stiff, maintaining its shape without support; this layer also seems to have some kind of riveting or small, round embroidery on the sides, which may also be heavy stitching. The bottom layer is a low bronze V-neck. Pyrrha wore an elastic, black, A-line miniskirt and brown opera-length gloves on both arms. She wore a red ankle-length drapery that appeared to be wrapped around her skirt.

There was a small circular bronze plate by her right hip opposite two pouches with both connected to a belt. The plate bears her "shield and spear" emblem. She wore a bronze circlet headpiece that could be seen above her ear and under her bangs. A pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds hang from her circlet on thin chains. She also sported a large bronze gorget around her neck, and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left arm. Even when dressed in her school uniform, Pyrrha continued to wear her headpiece.

Unlike the rest of the female cast, Pyrrha wore armor. She had elaborate bronze greaves that start below her mid-thigh, continuing downwards into her boots and a pair of cuisses that begin mid-thigh and end slightly above her knees. She also donned a bronze bracer on top of the sleeve on her left arm, which appears to be able to connect and disconnect from her shield easily. Her high-heeled boots are brown with bronze trim, matching her skirt and sleeves, and reach up to mid-calf.

Personality
Pyrrha was a very professionally-capable, friendly, and relaxed person. She was a composed and collected individual who, despite being a celebrity, was modest and patient around people, making her very sociable. Additionally, she tended to be quite formal. As a righteous person who treated people equally, Pyrrha stated that she could not stand those who enjoy committing "atrocious" acts such as bullying. Pyrrha was also a very helpful and selfless person, such as when she gave Jaune Arc advice in confessing his feeling to Weiss Schnee, despite being interested in him herself.

Pyrrha also seemed to be both a quick thinker and a helpful person. However, she still had a tendency to act before thinking, frequently following a friend's lead before fully thinking it through. Pyrrha was also a level-headed thinker in battle. Despite her impressive range of combat abilities, she also knew her own limits and can make accurate assessments when faced with a stronger, more powerful opponent.

An engaged person, Pyrrha took her studies and relationships equally seriously, making her a bit stubborn and emotionally sensitive. However, this was due to her loyalty towards her friends as well as her good intent. She was shown to hold grudges against those who have severely hurt her feelings, though she could eventually forgive them with a simple apology from their part. She was willing to hold secrets and help friends in need, sometimes without considering the consequences, even if their actions can be "atrocious" to some degree.

At first, Pyrrha did not seem to have any particular attachment to anyone seen in RWBY except for Weiss, who acknowledged her achievements. As the series progresses, she quickly becomes good friends with her teammates, especially Jaune, and gets along with the rest of Team RWBY, often having conversations during lunches and sharing a similar schedule during classes.

Pyrrha herself confessed that she always felt lonely, as her celebrity status made many people view her as essentially unattainable, thus preventing her from forming any kind of meaningful, long-lasting relationships. Due to this, Pyrrha had little experience with people and it can be seen in her own optimistic attitude as she tended to apologize to everyone even when helping them. She viewed herself as incapable of bonding with people to the point of saying that Jaune is the reason for her new friendships.

Pyrrha was also willing to take risks for the greater good, and always concerned herself with the ethics of making decisions, such as volunteering to be the next Fall Maiden. She was willing to become the Fall Maiden, despite the risks to her well-being, and raised concerns over the scruples of the transfer process. For most of her life, Pyrrha believed she was destined to be a great huntress, one that would protect the world, and strived for this goal, in spite of what she could lose. Pyrrha was selfless to a fault, willing to put others before herself, unfortunately, this trait also has the potential to harm her the most.

In "Destiny", it is clear that Pyrrha was struggling to decide if she wanted to take on the burden of becoming the next potential Fall Maiden. Pyrrha's selfless nature, combined with her beliefs of carrying out her duties as a huntress made it difficult, if not outright impossible, for her to make decisions for herself, out of fear of letting down those who have placed their faith in her (i.e. Ozpin's group and by extent, the Four Kingdoms). In spite of the potential dangers  of taking such powers through unorthodox means, she was not fazed by it as much as the idea of losing Jaune and her friends. While implied that those reasons, her fear of isolating herself from others even more, is enough for her to decline the role of Fall Maiden, she was unable to on her own without potentially hurting anyone in the process, and sought a way out though the encouragement of someone else. Because of this, Pyrrha ran the risk of placing great strain on her emotional well being.

Weapon


Pyrrha was able to throw the javelin form of Miló with extreme precision, being able to hit Jaune's hood over a long distance as he was falling. It was at this point when she first demonstrates proficiency in javelin usage, as she was shown to have perfect stance, with the javelin lining up exactly with her free hand and using her thumb as a reference point.

She was also extremely adept at using Akoúo̱ as an offensive weapon, a skill that was exemplified when she used her shield to sever the damaged joint of the Death Stalker's stinger, with the shield ricocheting off of a pillar behind it and returning to her. However, this feat was likely aided by her Semblance.

Pyrrha also demonstrated incredible skill in switching her weapon back and forth, with quick succession, delivering rapid attacks, and being able to counter others at once, such as with Team CRDL, whom she all defeated alone, despite being outnumbered. Pyrrha was capable of using her weapon's bladed form to even deflect bullets, as done against Dove Bronzewing's sword. She showed to even have a high amount of skill in unarmed combat, using several kicks to knock Cardin Winchester and his team back several times, even using her hands at brief moments.

Strength
Pyrrha appeared to be rather strong physically, as she was seen to punch through grown tree trunks with her shield without any change to her posture or stance. However, in these sorts of instances, she may be using her control over polarity to cause the shield to move with more force. Her strength was also displayed when she used her shield as a launch platform to help Nora launch higher into the air and jumping while doing so, an action that was also done without any visible alterations to her stance when Nora utilized a grenade as propellant off the shield.

Aura
Shown in "The Emerald Forest", Pyrrha demonstrated the ability to unlock another person's Aura. She did this for Jaune, whose Aura had been unknown to him. She was visibly tired after unlocking it, possibly either due to the sheer amount of Aura that she commented Jaune had, or the nature of the ability itself.

Semblance


Later in "Forever Fall, Pt.2", Pyrrha demonstrated the ability to control magnetism through her Semblance and has knowledge of how each one differs. She first demonstrated this ability in "The First Step" to retrieve her spear after pinning Jaune to a locker. She later used it in "Players and Pieces" to attract her shield to her bracer and then to pull her javelin from the Death Stalker's eye as she flew over it. She used it again to move Jaune's shield as he fought an Ursa in "Forever Fall, Pt.2".

As of "Best Day Ever", Pyrrha's semblance of magnetism was shown to not be affected by the number of objects as she is shown being able to manipulate hundreds of soda cans and uses them as projectiles after Blake disarmed her. In "End of the Beginning", Pyrrha showed even more raw power with her Semblance when manipulates multiple fragments of the clockwork in Ozpin's office larger than herself, all at once.

In most combat situations, Pyrrha did not go out of her way to broadcast her Semblance's abilities. Instead, she used it only to make very subtle changes of movement for her own weapons and sometimes her opponent's weapon to affect the course of a battle. This gave her the psychological edge of appearing to be invincible in the eyes of most people.

Trivia

 * Pyrrha alludes to the Greek warrior hero Achilles.
 * Monty Oum stated that each member of JNPR alludes to someone who cross-dressed in their story. Achilles disguised himself as a red-haired girl named Pyrrha in order to avoid having to fight in the Trojan War.
 * As mentioned by Cinder in "Extracurricular", Pyrrha's nickname is The Invincible Girl.
 * In popular versions of the myth, Achilles was killed by an arrow to his heel, which was alluded to by the shot that crippled Pyrrha during her fight against Cinder.
 * "Pyrrha" is derived from the Greek adjective pyrrhos (πυρρός), which means "flame-colored". Nikos (Νίκος), meaning "victor of the people", is derived from Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory.
 * Her first and last name together are a reference to a Pyrrhic victory, a tactical victory that comes at such extreme cost it is often seen as a strategic defeat.
 * Monty said that Pyrrha is named after her hair.
 * Pyrrha's Semblance may come from pyrrhotite, one of only two minerals that are found naturally magnetized.
 * She has appeared on the front of the box for a cereal called "Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes" as a mascot. Although she tells Jaune and Weiss that it was "pretty cool", she laments that the cereal is unhealthy.
 * It is stated by Weiss that she graduated at the top of her class in Sanctum Academy and has "won the Mistral regional tournament four times in a row, a new record".
 * She is somewhat similar to Agent Carolina from Red vs. Blue, who is also voiced by Jen Brown. Both have red ponytail hairstyles and green eyes, and both are the best at what they do. In "Players and Pieces", Pyrrha lands in a stance very similar to one Agent Carolina landed in.
 * After the death of Pyrrha, Jen Brown posted the following message on Twitter as a parting message to her character. (the text has been reformatted for the Wiki)


 * To start let me just say it has been a true honor to play such a vibrant character. Playing Pyrrha meant the absolute world to me and getting to see how much she meant to many of you as well means a lot.


 * The entire Rooster Teeth team and RWBY crew deserves so much praise for how beautifully the show was handled. I have known from the minute I was cast 3 years ago that this would be Pyrrha's fate. It was Monty's intention from the start. And although it is kind of a relief to no longer have to keep it to myself, I am very sad that her journey has come to an end. Watching that final scene was beyond emotional for me. When you've invested so much into a character it is hard to let them go.


 * Most importantly I thank Monty. I miss him every day and thank him for trusting me with Pyrrha. Monty also intended for me to play other roles after Pyrrha's exit and although I have no further details right now... I fully trust that Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross will stay true to his wishes and have me back as someone new. I love those guys.


 * I end by giving my heartfelt gratitude to you the viewer. You guys are seriously the best. And for the last time, I'm sorry!


 * Oh yeah, and also... Long live Lisa Lavender!!!