User blog:The Devil's Advocate WP/Weiss the Innocent Victim

A month ago I happened to write up a post saying Weiss was the nicest member of Team RWBY, though I feel I made a somewhat inadequate case of it at the time. I figure now is as good a time as any to revisit the subject and get around to what I neglected. Obviously, the most recent episode is a sticking point for people and that is something I will get to, but the point I feel does not get driven home enough is exactly how innocent Weiss is compared to her other teammates. That is what is most important to understand about Weiss to get a real grasp for her character.

Suffice to say, Blake has the least compelling claim for innocence and victimhood of the bunch. Whatever the reasons, being part of the White Fang meant Blake was fighting a war and at least assisting people who she knew were killing other people. Not fighting Grimm and not injuring people, but killing people. Yang was not killing or aiding people in killing others, but she clearly does not bat an eye at the thought of using excessive force on a whim whether it is necessary or not. Even Ruby, for all her pure-heartedness, has fought and killed monsters and clearly enjoys fighting like her sister as we saw in the first episode.

Weiss? All indications are that her first experience of real combat was during the initiation. She was spooked in the fifth episodes when the Beowolves started showing up and in the next episode we hear Weiss mentally preparing herself, reminding herself of her training. Weiss did not think of how she had done this before, because she had not done this before. The only indication we have of her having any prior battle experience if her trailer. Only problem is that it was not a real battle. Her fight is with a giant suit of armor in the middle of an expansive area in a compound that belongs to her family as indicated by the snowflake symbols on the walls. It was a classic training exercise with the armor being some sort of expensive autonomous equipment.

There you have it, Weiss is the least battle-hardened of the team. It is pretty easy to see how she could be self-assured in training and then get uneasy during combat. Her lack of experience in real conflict is important. Even more important is how her attitude changes when it comes to real conflict. Outside training, she gets weak-willed and somewhat sloppy when fighting alone. You see it in the confrontation with the Beowolves in the forest and again when she is fighting the Boarbatusk. In a sense you see it when she is on the Nevermore after Ruby jumped. The moment she is alone she loses all composure.

Weiss breaks that pretty quickly, however, whenever someone is in danger. She leaps in to save Ruby from the Deathstalker without a moment's hesitation and in Episode 14 she seems to be the only one ready to jump in for Jaune's sake until Pyrrha calls her off. It is in the moments when someone needs to be protected from danger that she most often shows the composure she has in the White Trailer. All the others are quite capable of being composed and resolute in real combat, even when they are alone. In other words, she is not someone who is good at fighting when it is only her own life at stake. She is only a decent fighter when fighting for someone other than her self.

Now we tie back into a point I raised in my previous post that Weiss herself is conflict-averse. As odd as it may seem for someone wanting to be on the frontline of some never-ending battle with the Grimm, Weiss just does not seem to have the appettite for confrontation. Ruby, Yang, and Blake, all show some enjoyment from fighting and one-upmanship. Whether it is Blake needling Cardin for his ignorance, Ruby smirking at the people trying to rob her before curb-stomping them, or Yang getting a guy to lean in for a kiss and then sucker-punching him 20 feet, they all seem to have no trouble enjoying confrontation. On the other hand, in the rare circumstances we see Weiss smile it is safe to say it is not because she is in a fight.

That she seems to always be arguing with someone is more a product of her being the focus of events rather than her actually seeking out conflict. Ruby fell on her suitcases and blew her up and Jaune shows up to invade her personal space and make unwanted advances. Yet she always starts out handling the situation calmly with each response she gets only escalating the situation. Even in the most recent episode Weiss starts out simply saying the White Fang are an awful bunch of degenerates. Her attitude is not exactly abnormal and "degenerate" would be a suitable fit for individuals such as Adam. Then Blake acts as though there is something wrong with that and begins minimizing the White Fang's actions and increasingly radical views so the situation escalates. Weiss is still agitated over that when she begins badmouthing Sun Wukong and Blake interjects with the conversation escalating further as a result. It is Blake's initial minimization of the White Fang's actions and ideology that agitates Weiss to the point where she makes her later comments. Discrimination against your kind aside, you don't suggest that genocidal intentions are merely misguided.

So what of the attitude Weiss exhibits towards the Faunus? Even if she was aggravated by some rather "misguided" apologetics for the White Fang does it not still mean her attitude is too much? Well, this is partly where that stuff about her being conflict-averse and not battle-hardened comes into play. The thing about not being one for conflict and having never been in real combat herself until going to Beacon is that she was all the same not living a safe and comfortable life beforehand. Ruby and Yang seem to have lived relatively happy and secure lives as they grew up and likely had little contact with the Faunus, except maybe encountering some in school. Not the kind of environment that breeds racial hostility. For them it is easy to be accepting and trusting of the Faunus and less upset about the White Fang. They also seemingly had a constructive and loving home environment.

Yet for Weiss she was always part of the conflict, but never a participant. Throughout she would have to process people she knew and loved dying or vanishing and only really knowing that the people responsible were Faunus. Situation being as it was meant her entire life involved being under tight security, with any Faunus individual being a potential threat to her life and the lives of her family. How far they want to insure her personal security is another point. It is presumed that Weiss may have only been tutored and this is implied from how she often talks of training and studying yet never mentions going to combat school. One could assume this was simply because she was rich, but it could just as much have been about her personal security as any outside education would leave her more exposed. Then there is the fact the White Trailer seems to take place in a family-owned building. Perhaps this castle-like building was part of the sprawling Schnee estate large enough to accommodate a concert hall?

Given that Weiss never mentions having friends of her own and that her song in the trailer was all about being lonely and cold, it seems the most likely conclusion is that most of her life was spent as a sort of prisoner in a large estate with only the help to keep her company. Such isolation on its own would be bad enough, but having to grow up with people close to you being killed, or simply not being seen again, as part of a conflict in which you were not actually involved would be maddening. Any time off the estate would mean being kept constantly vigilant in case the White Fang attack as any Faunus could be a White Fang member acting the part of an innocent civilian to get close. Having her home life involve a constantly furious father going on about the latest violence committed against their family or company aggravates it further. As if all that was not enough, she was undoubtedly also being pressured into becoming a suitable heir for the company.

Blake at some point presumably chose to join the White Fang and had comrades to support her during that time. Yang and Ruby had each other and their own large group of friends. For Blake conflict was about her choosing to no longer be a victim, while with Ruby and Yang it was because they loved it in some fashion whether it was the romance or just enjoying a good fight. Weiss lived through a conflict by no choice of her own and had no option to defend herself. It was not about romance or personal enjoyment, but imprisonment. Yet, it seems unlikely that her family would push for her to become a huntress if they were so set on keeping her safe, so it seems this was most likely her own desire. Perhaps that giant armor was being rough on her because her father made it treat her rough in an effort to convince Weiss that becoming a huntress was not a good idea.

Weiss seems intent on protecting people and that she wants to be a huntress is telling on its own. She shows little interest in personal conflict and is only truly resolved when she is protecting other people. During all her talk of the White Fang and the Faunus, she always makes clear that her harshest words are for the White Fang. With the Faunus she merely talks of having trust issues. Yet, her choice to be a huntress makes it seem that she has no real desire to even fight the White Fang. The Grimm are soulless monsters after all, and thus not earning much sympathy. Upon learning Blake was in the White Fang her words are essentially to question Blake's loyalty and nothing more. Despite how plainly she expressed her hatred for the group it does not show in how she speaks of Blake. A group that has had her living in fear for her entire life and yet she cannot muster a truly cross word for Blake upon learning of her being a member.

To contrast her with Cardin, he is but an ignorant bully who enjoys hurting people and goes out of his way to confront people in a cruel manner. All of Team RWBY save Weiss show that same capacity for happily stepping up and confronting others yet Weiss can only seem to get annoyed with the people right in front of her after they do something to personally confront her. Weiss is not going to seek out and bully some other Faunus. She is probably too conflict-averse to actually do anything more than give a criminal Faunus a lecture about breaking the law if she even had the will to confront the individual. In fact, she only chased after Sun when Yang prodded her. Her words for Faunus in general are rather mild given the circumstances of her life and even on the White Fang she does not exactly show as much hostility as she claims to have when actually confronted with a member. It seems more likely that her talk is but bluster and bravado from someone who is simply too soft-hearted to actually act the way she talks.