Gambol Shroud

Gambol Shroud, classified as a "Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe" (VBCS), is Blake Belladonna's signature weapon.

Description
Gambol Shroud has a thick, gray colored sheath with a sharp edge, similar to that of an oversized cleaver. Although serving as a sheath, it does possess a cutting edge and can be used effectively as a weapon. Gambol Shroud, when unsheathed, appears to be a dark gray katana and is equally as effective as, if not more than, its sheath.

The essence of both is that they fit together as one but come out to be two, so that they are compact for easier carrying. When in sheathed form, Gambol Shroud is held by the hilt, but when the two components separate, the sheath is held by a small rectangular hole near the bottom. The katana also has a compact, striker fired pistol built into its hilt.



The pistol is used as a ranged weapon and its recoil can be used to swing or anchor the blade. In pistol form, the weapon resembles a kama, with the gun barrel pointed in the opposite direction of the edge. The blade itself seems to be very strong, able to cut through the metal body of an Atlesian Knight-130.

The end of the katana's blade appears to have a sharpened double-edge, terminating in a raised spike. The spike and double-edge would allow Blake to have the main edge and pistol barrel facing outward, while maintaining a potentially lethal hold on an enemy.

By custom choice, Blake wraps a black ribbon tied to her right arm around Gambol Shroud's trigger in pistol form and freely swings it around. This form is similar to that of a kusarigama. In this form, her fighting style is somewhat similar to that of Ruby Rose, as both girls use the recoil from the firearm to increase the velocity of the blade component. The ribbon has been shown to be very strong, durable and elastic, being used as a slingshot by Team RWBY to propel Ruby to kill the Nevermore.

Dust Abilities


Specialized Dust cartridges can be inserted into Gambol Shroud to modify Blake's Semblance, changing her Shadows into more than just mere afterimages, in a manner not dissimilar to Weiss Schnee's weapon, Myrtenaster. The form her Shadows take on depends on the element of Blake's choosing, significantly increasing her Semblance's tactical applications.


 * Fire Dust - Changes Blake's Shadow into a fire bomb, which detonates and damages enemies.
 * Earth Dust - Changes Blake's Shadow into a stone statue, which can be used as impromptu cover and defense from attacks.
 * Ice Dust - Changes Blake's Shadow into an ice sculpture, which with correct timing can trap enemy weapons inside.
 * Violet Dust - Changes Blake's Shadow into a dark haze, lingering longer than her normal clones and blocking people's vision.

"Black" Trailer
Blake is able to use Gambol Shroud to easily cut through an army of Atlesian Knight-130s on a train. However, the weapon seems to do little to no damage against the much larger Spider Droid. It is, however, able to puncture through the bottom plating of its helmet.

The Emerald Forest
Blake uses it to finish off an injured Ursa by sneaking up behind and stabbing it in the back.

Players and Pieces
Blake uses Gambol Shroud during a fight with the Death Stalker, but is later knocked back by Nora Valkyrie, who accidentally bumped into her after attacking the Grimm creature. She then uses Gambol Shroud as a hook to throw herself on top of the Nevermore, where she delivers several slashing blows, of which all prove ineffective.

After Yang Xiao Long starts brutally attacking the Nevermore, her teammates join in shooting the avian creature. However, Ruby soon develops a plan; Blake tosses Gambol Shroud in its kusarigama form to Yang on another pillar, and Yang stabs her end of the ribbon into the pillar, while Blake holds the ribbon from the other side. Once Ruby sets herself into place, the ribbon is used as a slingshot to throw Ruby towards the Nevermore with Weiss' help.

No Brakes
The episode reveals that Blake can load Gambol Shroud with Dust cartridges, allowing her clones to take on elemental properties. She uses this ability to easily and quickly take down Roman Torchwick, hurting him with fire bomb clones, protecting herself with stone statues of herself, leaving dark afterimages and trapping him in an ice sculpture before unleashing a final attack.

Trivia

 * Gambol means "to leap about playfully." A shroud, commonly a cloth, is something that conceals or protects.
 * Gambol Shroud's katana could be thought of as a normal pistol with a sword sticking out the top of the barrel.
 * Gambol Shroud's pistol form resembles a Glock pistol.
 * The pistol's grip has changed from a block to a more gun like grip between the "Black" Trailer and the series. This may simply be because the weapon's animation assets were not completely detailed at the time of the trailer's release.
 * Gambol Shroud is currently tied with Miló, Emerald's Weapons, and Neptune's Gun for having the most transformations and forms possible (three).
 * Monty Oum hinted that the design of Gambol Shroud would be changing in Season 3.
 * Blake's weapon is the most versatile weapon for team RWBY: Not only does it have the most forms, with a sheathe, a sword and a kusarigama chain pistol, it can modify her Semblance with Dust, similar to Myrtenaster.