Gambol Shroud

Gambol Shroud, classified as a "Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe" (VBCS), is Blake Belladonna's signature weapon.

Description
Gambol Shroud has a thick, gray colored sheath with a sharp edge, similar to an oversized cleaver. Although serving as a sheath, it does possess a cutting edge and can be used effectively as a weapon. Gambol Shroud, when unsheathed, appears to be a dark gray katana and is equally as effective as, if not more than, its sheath.

The essence of both is that they fit together as one but come out to be two, so that they are compact for easier carrying. When in sheathed form, Gambol Shroud is held by the hilt, but when the two components separate, the sheath is held by a small rectangular hole near the bottom. The katana also has a compact, striker fired pistol built into its hilt.

The pistol is used as a ranged weapon and its recoil can be used to swing or anchor the blade. In pistol form, the weapon resembles a kama (Japanese sickle), with the gun barrel pointed in the opposite direction of the edge. The blade itself seems to be very strong, able to cut through the metal body of an AK-130 Android.

The end of the katana's blade appears to have a sharpened double-edge, terminating in a raised spike. The spike and double-edge would allow Blake to have the main edge and pistol barrel facing outward, while maintaining a potentially lethal hold on an enemy.

By custom choice, Blake wraps a black ribbon tied to her right arm around Gambol Shroud's trigger in pistol form and freely swings it around. This form is similar to that of a kusarigama. In this form, her fighting style is somewhat similar to Ruby's, as both girls use the recoil from the firearm to increase the velocity of the blade component. The ribbon has been shown to be very strong, durable and elastic, being used as a slingshot by Team RWBY to propel Ruby to kill the Nevermore.

"Black" Trailer
Blake is able to use Gambol Shroud to easily cut through an army of AK-130 Androids on a train. However, the weapon seems to do little to no damage against the much larger Spider Droid.

The Emerald Forest
Blake uses it to finish off an injured Ursa.

Players and Pieces
Blake uses Gambol Shroud during a fight with the Death Stalker, but is later knocked back by Nora, who accidentally bumped into her after attacking the Grimm creature. She then uses Gambol Shroud as a hook to throw herself toward the Nevermore, where she delivers several slashing blows, of which all prove ineffective.

After Yang decides to attack the Nevermore with everything, her fellow teammates join in shooting the avian creature. However, Ruby soon develops a plan; Blake tosses Gambol Shroud in its kusarigama form to Yang on another pillar, and Yang stabs her end of the ribbon into the pillar, while Blake holds the ribbon from the other side. Once Ruby sets herself into place, the ribbon is used as a slingshot to throw Ruby towards the Nevermore with Weiss' help.

Trivia

 * Gambol means "to leap about playfully." A shroud, commonly a cloth, is something that conceals or protects.
 * Gambol Shroud's pistol form resembles a Glock pistol.
 * The pistol's grip has changed from a block to a more gun like grip between the "Black" Trailer and the series. This may simply be because the weapon's animation assets were not completely detailed at the time of the trailer's release.
 * Gambol Shroud's katana could be thought of as a normal pistol with a sword sticking out the top of the barrel.
 * Gambol Shroud is tied with Miló and Akoúo̱ for having the most weapon transformations, with three apiece.
 * It is unknown if this applies to all weapons, but Monty has hinted at the design of GS changing in Season 3 on Twitter.