Ruby Rose

Ruby Rose is one of the main characters and the first character introduced in RWBY. Ruby's weapon of choice is a High Caliber Sniper Scythe (HCSS) named Crescent Rose. She first appeared in the "Red" Trailer released on November 5th, 2012, in which she fought Beowolves. She then appears near the end of "Yellow" Trailer greeting Yang and inquiring as to why she was "there".

Appearance
Ruby appears as a young girl dressed in a red cloak, black blouse, and a skirt with red trimmings. Her entire apparel is made up of various shades of red and black, with black on the main suit and red on the cloak and hood. Even her hair is lightly red-streaked. She has silver eyes. The pins holding the cloak to the shirt are cross-shaped.

Around her waist is a belt which holds large cartridges (possibly .50 caliber or comparable) in individual loops, a magazine pouch, and her symbol.

Initially Ruby resembles the Little Red Riding Hood archetype, and this is further reinforced by the appearance of the wolves, in this case the Beowolves. Director Monty Oum has confirmed that she indeed alludes to, but is not based on Red Riding Hood.

Personality
Although not directly shown in the trailers, Monty has described Ruby as being "innocent" and still a "little sister". This suggests that she is still naive to more serious matters in the world and maybe even a little bit childish. This childish nature is displayed when being scolded by Glynda Goodwitch after the robbery, Ruby responded by saying "They started it!". Oum has said she relies on Crescent Rose quite often in battle, which implies that her weapon is the source of her confidence, and without it she becomes vulnerable. For a seemingly young girl, Ruby doesn't at all seem fazed or terrified by monstrous opponents like the Beowolves. Monty has attributed this to the fact that she has not developed a fear of death yet. She is, however, unabashedly enthusiastic about meeting her role models. She is also prone to becoming very animated and talkative, especially when describing things she's passionate about, gesturing broadly and making accompanying sound effects.

Ruby is a down-to-earth, bubbly young teen who has a strong drive to help others, which also motivates her to become a Huntress. She also displays above-average intelligence as she both designed and built Crescent Rose. This shows that Ruby is quite knowledgable when it comes to weaponary and a capable weapons mechanic. Ruby doesn't like for a lot of attention to be drawn towards her, as shown when she told Yang she didn't want people to think she was special. This is odd seeing as how becoming a Huntress would effectively put her in the spotlight. But because of her nature, it is likely that Ruby is doing this to become the best she can be in order to best serve others.

Ruby is a self-proclaimed dork when it comes to weapons, she finds that seeing new weapons is like "meeting new people but better." This shows that while Ruby is upbeat and outgoing, she is still socially awkward and finds comfort within weapons. She also believes that weapons are an extension of oneself, which is evident in her fighting style.



Abilities & Powers
Ruby is shown to be highly adept at using her scythe, Crescent Rose, single-handedly fending off a large pack of Beowolves without injury. She is skilled in both Scythe and Gun components, slicing away at multiple opponents with blurring speed and accurately firing upon close- and long-range targets.

She appears to be extremely quick to begin with, but due to her small stature, her already high agility is further increased by utilizing her weapon's recoil. Only a few times does an opponent come close to striking her, but she evades, blocks, or counters the oncoming attacks.

Throughout the trailer, Ruby uses the recoil from Crescent Rose's shots to augment the speed and force of her strikes. However she is also able to spin Crescent Rose with exemplary skill and power without the recoil ability, and executes chain attacks often. She seems supremely confident in combat, immobilizing an enemy for a moment to calmly assess the battlefield and other enemies before destroying her current target.

She also uses the weapon itself as a platform from which to attack, as shown when Ruby laid down completely on the handle of Crescent Rose while firing at opponents. This integrated use of Crescent Rose in her fighting style is again demonstrated in Episode 1 of RWBY, when Ruby fights off thugs who tried to rob a Dust shop. Further more, Ozpin went so far as to compliment her fighting ability. Stating that she is of the same caliber as her Uncle Crow who is the most skilled scythe wielder Ozpin has ever met.

In addition to using her weapon's recoil to make her even deadlier in melee, Ruby also uses it to increase her maneuverability. With regular ammunition, Ruby is able to disengage from close quarters to fight at range, or rapidly jump from range to close with an enemy. This maneuverability boost is also shown in Episode 1 of RWBY, in which a supposedly less-experienced (but still proficient) Ruby uses the recoil to evade attacks, maneuver quickly around the battle space and then make attacks of her own.

The Cross Clips (technically magazines) Ruby uses near end of the Beowolf fight are observed to be far more powerful than the unmarked magazines, giving her even more speed and power. With the more powerful ammunition, Ruby is able to use Crescent Rose to propel herself directionally with extraordinary speed, and then rotate herself axially in midair to execute a devastating spinning slash attack.

In The Shining Beacon, Ruby tells Jaune that she designed and built Crescent Rose herself. The sophistication of Crescent Rose as a weapon and mechanism suggests that she has very strong mechanical engineering skills.

Trivia

 * She was the first character introduced in the series, appearing in a trailer released on November 5th, 2012.
 * She bears a striking resemblance to the famous fairy tale character Little Red Riding Hood. However, when asked by fans, Monty Oum stated that Ruby and the other girls will have no ties to any fairy tale at all. Although in a recent interview he did say Ruby's design was influenced by Little Red Riding Hood and that all the other main characters' physical appearances will be majorly influenced by other fairy tales and mythological tales.
 * Ruby's cross pins for her hood are not present in her trailer.
 * Ruby's design originally included a cross on her belt. This was later replaced by her "Scatter" (RoseIcon.png) symbol.
 * Monty has confirmed that Ruby is left handed; however, she is seen wielding with her right hand just as well, which stated by Monty is "common to switch both hands while fighting, especially to make it interesting."
 * Her possible connection to the Cliffside Altar (which bears a resemblance to a grave marker as stated above) implies she could be a reaper of sorts. This is further enforced by her hooded cloak, as well as her scythe, both of which are associated with the Grim Reaper.
 * When Ruby uses the cross clips, the muzzle flash turns black from the standard white.
 * Scatter and Wilt.jpg also shares a resemblance to Adam sporting a similar red and black motif.
 * Monty has confirmed that they are indeed not related to each other, and that their emblems differ from each other in terms of "scatter and wilt".
 * In the "Yellow" Trailer, Ruby encounters Yang, who calls her "sis". It was believed that this was just a greeting between one another but Monty has recently confirmed on twitter that it was not just a greeting.
 * Ruby is the only character that appears in more than one trailer.
 * Ruby possesses a set of large headphones with the same color scheme as her outfit.
 * Her scatter symbol is also stamped on them.
 * Ruby has demonstrated the ability to consume frightening quantities of baked goods in a short amount of time. It is unknown whether or not this is due to her youthful metabolism or some other unknown cause.
 * Additionally, this may be a reference to the cliche "cute anime girl" theme around certain anime characters.