Volume 4 Character Short

It's been several months since the Fall of Beacon, and the world of Remnant is still recovering. Tensions are high, lives have been lost, and the members of Team RWBY... are divided. Each of our heroines now faces a journey of their own. The Volume 4 Character Short, also known as the Volume 4 Trailer, was released on October 3rd, 2016, via Entertainment Weekly, YouTube and Rooster Teeth's website for all users.

A work-in-progress version was initially shown at the RTX 2016 RWBY Panel on July 1st and 2nd, 2016, exclusively for attendees. As an original character short, it features new animation and story and is not cut from upcoming scenes, in the same vein as the original four character trailers.

Summary
Several months after the fall of Beacon, Ruby Rose, clad in a tattered cloak and new outfit, comes across a burning village under attack by Grimm. Using Crescent Rose, she hitches a ride on a Nevermore and drops into the village, skillfully eliminating a pack of Beowolves in the village square. During the fight, she displays increased proficiency with her Semblance, including the ability to split into three separate streams and re-combine at will.

After defeating the Beowolf pack, Ruby is confronted by a Beringel, a new Grimm resembling a large gorilla. This opponent proves to be quite fearsome, being entirely unphased by multiple hits from Crescent Rose, and even manages to land some solid hits on Ruby. After a protracted fight over the village rooftops, Ruby uses her Semblance to engulf the Beringel in a whirlwind, impaling it in the chest with Crescent Rose and finishing the beast off with a point-blank headshot.

As her defeated foe disintegrates, Ruby receives a call from Jaune, Nora, and Ren, saying that they are on their way. She tells them to hurry, before eagerly re-joining the fight as more Grimm gather. Elsewhere, Weiss Schnee sits by a window watching the moon, Blake Belladonna stands on a pier watching the sun set over the ocean, and Yang sits alone on a tree stump outside her home.

Trivia

 * The character short is the first media from the main RWBY series to be animated entirely in Autodesk Maya, rather than Smith Micro's Poser. RWBY Chibi was also animated entirely in Maya.
 * The motion capture for the Beringel was done by animator Joel Mann. He used children's crutches (acquired off Amazon) to emulate the characteristic gait of a gorilla in the motion capture. Miles Luna also tweeted a video of Joel Mann re-enacting his mocap performance at RTX 2016.
 * The new character designs for Team RWBY and JNPR were created by Eileen Chang, who did the original character designs and artwork for Volume 1. The new Grimm designs for the Beringel, Nevermore and Beowolf were created by Erin Winn.