Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-26397825-20170410034737/@comment-26397825-20170516220744

Well we have seen that characters can unlock and deiscover their semblance dependant on situatons around them with Ren, so I think it goes a multitude of ways;

1st - that the user's personality helps dictate what sort of semblance they won't have. A person who hates the use of poison won't have a semblance that gives poison, and a person who is afraid of water won't have a water creating or controlling or utilising semblance. They may have a pison removing semblance, or a water removing (such as turning it into steam or 'rejecting' it away from their body.

2nd - their thoughts at the time of unlocking their aura do help shape what their semblance will be. So Ren needed a way to get to Nora unnoticed, so his semblance shaped itself to be a way to hide from Grimm. Emerald needed a way to steal to eat and live, so her semblance alows her to make shopkeepers see what she wants them to see. If Jaune's semblance is a shield/reflection type, it could be argued that the conversation with Pyrrha when his aura was being unlocked helped shape that: "It's like a force field!" being his words.

3rd - Their outlook on life help shape the small differences in their semblance as compared to others; Sun has always been more outgoing than Blake, so while his clones are weaker he can create more at the same time, reflecting his friendly outlook. Yang is more the type to accept the fall and become stronger because of it whereas Adam has seemed to be less accepting of 'hits' from others but needing to grow stronger anyway, so Yang gets stronger from the damage she takes while Adam has to absorb the energy behind an attack to redirect it back.

Not true "personality dictates the semblance" like what we originally thought, but certainly influenced in more roundabout ways by it.