User blog comment:ChishioKunrin/How the plot has used Ruby Rose/@comment-25936766-20170719130513

Personally, the real problem isn't so much that she "stumbles and reacts" more than she "gets actual character moments". The real problem isn't that she's there to move the plot more than being a person. The real problem is that none of the things she stumbles into affect her character in a noticeable way.

For starters: She saw Penny and Pyrrha die, and yet her character, her personality, didn't seem affected in the slightest except for a pair of nightmares that left no impact themselves, and her character moment in Kuroyuri.

And that character moment was more Jaune's than Ruby's. All Ruby did was blame herself for 3 short sentences before Jaune cut her off, even though half of the things he said (about how they lost Pyrrha, Penny, and WBY) were things that Ruby experienced more than Jaune, she should've been the one who said those things.

Penny was her friend, and RWBY was her team. Sure, both were friends of Pyrrha, Blake, WBY, but aside from Pyrrha, Ruby was closer to them. If anyone had to mention their deaths at that moment, it should've been the one who was closer to Penny and WBY and the one who saw Pyrrha die in her face.

See, not only did they miss a good chance for Ruby to show development, big development. They made Jaune steal it from her.

And then there's the Silver Eyes. A power so strong it petrified an ancient Grimm and scarred a Maiden. Something so powerful it could be a big factor in the fight against Salem and the Grimm.

You'd think: That she would show interest in such a power that is practically more mysterious than the Maidens, along with maybe some tiny sense of betrayal at the fact her Uncle Qrow, and Ozpin and co., and likely her dad, knew about them and never told her.

What actually happens: They are barely brought up once, and not even by Ruby. And even though Qrow was giving exposition right there, Ruby doesn't ask a single thing about them. And neither does NJR, to be fair. It's as if they didn't care.

Hell, they could've had a scene with Ruby trying to use them against the Nuckelavee once her team started getting their asses kicked around. But noooo, not even an attempt.

See, that's the real problem. A real person would be affected by the experiences in their life, especially the bad and shocking ones. But Ruby doesn't, even when everyone else is.

And that is why me and others say, that she has little-to-no Character Development. That she's very underdeveloped. That some feel that she's a Walking Plot Device is more of a side-effect