Winter Schnee


 * For the original Winter Maiden, also called Winter, see Maidens.

Winter Schnee is Weiss Schnee's elder sister, and a specialist in the Atlesian Military's Special Operatives unit. She is first mentioned in "A Minor Hiccup".

On August 7th, 2015 during the RTX 2015 RWBY Panel, it was revealed that Elizabeth Maxwell voices Winter Schnee. Concept art for her character design and outfit were also revealed. She first appeared in the series itself in the episode "It's Brawl in the Family".

Appearance
Winter Schnee is a tall young woman, with pale skin, white hair and medium-light blue eyes. Her hair is tied up in a bun at the back of her head, with the exception of her bangs, which are brushed off to the right side of her face, and a small lock of hair that reaches below her left ear.

Personality
At first glance, Winter appears to be cold, dignified, and distant, preferring to keep her emotions subdued and speaking in a very high-class, eloquent, almost robotic fashion. However, when interacting with Weiss, she smiles and shows that she cares about her younger sister's life and well-being, based on how she inquires if Weiss has been eating properly, gained any new hobbies, and made any new friends, in "It's Brawl in the Family". Winter also has the ability to know whatever Weiss is feeling. With that said, she is not afraid to raise her hand at her younger sister whenever she is annoyed. Overall, she truly loves Weiss and wants her to succeed in life.

Winter can be very harsh as well, especially towards Weiss. In "Lessons Learned" she attempts to teach Weiss how to summon old foes with her Semblance, only for her sister to fail. This causes Winter to growl at Weiss, saying, "If this is what you call trying, then you have no hope of winning the tournament, let alone succeeding as a huntress!"

Although she seems to try to keep her emotions at a low level, she can be rather hot-headed at times. Once she becomes angry, she drops her dignified lady-like demeanor and loses all restraint, for example when she attempted to attack Qrow in a vital area. She is fiercely loyal to her superior, General James Ironwood, and becomes very angry whenever his judgment is questioned; but she is equally faithful to his authority, and respectfully defers to him.

Weapon
Winter shows great skills with her weapon, displaying above-average speed, agility and reflexes in combat. She is able to both start moving and stop in an instant, as shown when she aborted her final attack on Qrow at the last second upon hearing Ironwood's voice. Her skills with her weapon are impressive, and although she was unable to land any serious blows on Qrow, she was able to parry and match all of his attacks for the duration of their fight.

Semblance
Winter has the Schnee family Semblance of "Glyphs". Her glyphs have many of the same effects that her sister's do, most notably including the ability to exert forces on herself and objects, which Winter uses to increase her speed to super-human levels and boost jumps.

Summoning
Like Weiss and other members of the Schnee family, she can also summon versions of her past enemies to fight for her. Unlike Weiss, she displays great mastery of this aspect of her Semblance. Her summons are known to include dozens of small Nevermores, as well as a full size Beowolf. Her summons take on a white-blue coloration and emit a soft glow.

Trivia

 * Winter was first alluded to in "The Badge and The Burden, Pt.2", when Weiss told Ruby Rose she always wanted bunk beds as a kid.
 * Winter shares her last name with Weiss, which is German for "Snow," following the color naming convention on Remnant.
 * Like Weiss, Winter's first name begins with a "W" and she is referred to as "Ice Queen."
 * Winter is one of the four calendar seasons, usually characterized by a cold weather, often accompanied by snow, further tying her entire name with her color motif.
 * Winter is shown to be ambidextrous or having some skill in wielding two weapons at once, as shown by her unique sword and dagger combination against Qrow Branwen in "It's Brawl in the Family."
 * Qrow refers to Winter as a "Specialist" in "It's Brawl in the Family". During the "Huntsmen" episode of RWBY: World of Remnant, Winter is heavily implied to be a member of the Atlesian military's Special Operatives unit, enlisting following her graduation from Atlas Academy.