Talk:Yang Xiao Long/@comment-26838620-20151002234652/@comment-4010415-20151003014950

What Live said is right. It has been stated that Yang stores energy she gains in her hair. That perfectly explains why she's able to use her Semblance even when she wasn't hit, like in her fight against the Ursai in the Emerald Forest. Neither of them landed a single hit on her, but she was still able to use her Semblance against them. Where did the energy come from if she didn't gain any from getting attacked by the Ursai? It was stored in her hair.

She's protective of her hair because more hair means more storage space for more energy, and more energy means stronger attacks or more attacks, whichever she wants. If she has short hair, that means she has much less space for less energy, so she can't unleash as many Semblance-powered attacks or an attack quite as strong as she could with long hair. So, when hair gets pulled out or cut, that's taking away storage space.

It's also kind of interesting that they took a Goldilocks-inspired character and put so much emphasis on her hair, her golden locks.

I'm sure the fire is just a physical manifestation of her Aura, just like how the rose petals that come from Ruby are a physical manifestation of Ruby's Aura. Plus, there's the fact that, in the volume 2 opening, we had Team RWBY standing together with representations of their Aura trailing off of them, where Ruby's was rose petals, Weiss' was snowflakes, Blake's was black splotches/petals like what she had at one point in the Black Trailer, and Yang's was fire.

As for the explosions, there's a simple explanation for that, as well: Yang's Semblance involves her taking hits, changing that kinetic energy into raw energy she can use to power her attacks, and then releasing that raw energy. The explosion in the Yellow Trailer? That was Yang releasing a ton of energy she had stored, radiating outward from her. Basically, instead of directing it toward Junior by powering up a punch, she threw a tantrum and just released it all around her, shattering all the glass. The fire was, yet again, a physical manifestation of her Aura.

So, basically, a breakdown of how Yang's Semblance works is

Gets hit -> Turns the kinetic energy from that hit into raw energy -> Stores the raw energy in her hair -> Activates Semblance -> Hair glows, gains physical manifestation of Aura (fire) -> Releases that raw energy in the form of powered-up punches or explosions.

No Dust involved, except in her bullets.