User blog comment:Zolnir/Semblance/@comment-3146930-20140508212212

I have a few issues with this. The first thing is that your theory states that Semblance is born from a person's own desires. However based on this, it makes it seem that if a person's desire changes, it stands to reason that their Semblance would change too. I personally don't see this happening, as it would be strange if someone like Pyrrha spent all her life training her magnetic abilities and then one day after fulfilling her current desire, she all of a sudden had the power to control poles. This would also mean that those without strong desires wouldn't even have a Semblance.

For me it is more likely that, like Aura, a Semblance is something a person is born with but may not be able to fully control until proper training is applied. This can be seen when comparing Weiss and Ruby, as Weiss is shown to almost effortlessly control her Glyphs while Ruby only uses her speed occasionally and doesn't seem to be able to use it when under pressure.

Lastly just based on my own ideas, I don't think that a Semblance comes from the soul, but that is just my theory. I base this on the difference between Aura and Semblance. Aura for example seems to give everyone in the RWBY-world the same boost in powers (heightened scenes, minor protection, possibly faster reflexes, ect.), but a Semblance is unique from person to person (even if some are similar, such as Weiss and Glynda both using Glyphs, but if you notice the Glyphs look very different). Based on this, my theory is that Aura comes from the soul and Semblance comes from the body. Semblance is like a mutation, similar to the X-Men as an easy example. I base this on the fact that Pyrrha's Aura is Red, but her Semblance is Black. Also when Weiss makes a series of Glyphs to help Ruby kill the Nevermore, she appears physically exhausted for a moment after completing the task. This could be because a Semblance draws on a person's physical energy, while Aura draws on Spiritual energy. This could also explain why some people (like Ren) are shown to be very skilled in the use of Aura, but others (like Weiss) are shown to only be skilled in the use of Semblance.