User blog comment:Varzan Deodinm Beldinm/RWBY Episode 12... wow.../@comment-82.33.101.54-20131005080854/@comment-9090085-20131007023604

Sorry to pop in unannounced!

Darkcloud1111 wrote: You also have to consider that Jaune doesn't even know the basics of combat. He didn't even know what Aura was until Pyrrha told him and apparently Beacon has Scrolls that can show Aura levels like a life bar, so Aura isn't a big secret. It is like the only thought in Jaune's mind is he wants to be a hero.

However he has no training, no knowledge of any form of combat (melee, Dust, or Aura), and no real skill to speak of besides being a good tactician (I'll give him that). However to go through your entire life wanting to be a hero and not even knowing the basics of the basics shows that he really didn't take any kind of initiative growing up. He said he wanted to be a hero like his ancestors, but was never good enough. It is like it was a childhood dream he had and one day he stumbled upon a chance to make his dream come true after giving up on it for most of his life. Except he is going from Step 1 to Step 11, skipping everything that is important. Unfortunately, I think that more-or-less sums up Jaune's problem - He doesn't want to work to be a hero.

The parallels to Ruby's life are surprising, when you think about it: both of them were charmed by stories(Fairy Tales for Ruby, War stories for Jaune), and both were garbage initially. But while Ruby knew she needed help(and got it from Qrow), Jaune actively refused help because (in his mind) that's what heroes do.

Think of almost any Shonen Anime hero, and most of them are determinators who make for their lack skill and knowledge with hot-blooded passion, and bring down any opponent by themselves no mater how much stronger they are... and that's what's being deconstructed. Not long after he landed in the Emerald Forest, he began ticking check boxes in the Shonen Anime Hero list: *Lots of power(Aura) but little skill in actually using it - Check. But now we get a revelation, one that throws the entire checklist on it's head: that he entered Beacon for ultimately selfish (if misguidedly noble) reasons.
 * Not knowledgeable in the world so characters can explain things for the audience - Check.
 * Has moments of genius while being a joke most of the time - Check.

Did that make sense? If not, I'm sorry for being bad at arranging my thoughts.

I will just say 2 things:
 * This Dark Secret of Jaune's makes me take him seriously now; he has some real, ingrained problems that I want him to work towards overcoming.
 * I am reminded of just after 7:20 in this video: Interview with Monty Oum and Kathleen Zuelch, how in the old days, if you failed in your apprenticeship, you died. Jaune is probably going to have to learn that he can't afford to fail...