Scroll



The scroll is an object that appears to function as a collapsible, holographic tablet. It is able to gauge a user's Aura and depict it as a life bar, along with those of the user's teammates, as well as stream video from cameras.

Description


The scroll is clearly more advanced, in some ways, than contemporary handheld devices. Visibly, they are nothing more than a translucent, touch-sensitive panel between two solid end grips; the interlocking design of these grips allows the unit to be collapsible, much like a scroll of paper, hence the name.

Each scroll has a yellow, diamond-shaped button in its center when the device is in its closed state. The user presses this button to unlock the two grips and deploy the screen. This button also flashes when the scroll gives an audible alert, such as when a new message has been received.

They are shown to have a range of sensory and interfacing functions, such as relaying information from surveillance devices in real time and monitoring the health of multiple people at once. Several icons at the top right of the display hint at Internet-style browsing functions, such as 'Home', 'Search', and 'Mail'. There are also 'folder' icons, indicating that the device can be used to store data.

The 'mail' function has been shown to access voice messages as well as displaying short text-only messages, similar to the real-world SMS system. Scrolls also seem to function as keys, seen when Ruby asks Jaune if he locked himself out of his room and he denies it, showing her his Scroll as proof. Whilst in voice message mode, Jaune's scroll is also showing an audio pattern analyzer window. It isn't clear if this is a standard part of the audio playback software or if it's a individual preference setting used by Jaune.



Two distinctly different types of Scroll have been seen so far. Teachers at Beacon Academy have units with screens similar in size to a piece of standard letter paper and with charcoal-gray hand grips.

Students are issued slightly smaller, white units with white hand grips that can deploy to a pocket notepad size or a size closer to a medium-sized tablet PC. It is not clear if scrolls at Beacon Academy are standalone devices, or mobile terminals for a larger, fixed computer system that serves all the students and faculty.

During his battle with the Ursa in Forever Fall, Pt.2, Jaune's scroll showing his Aura gauge appears to be attached to his shield. This suggests scrolls can be mounted onto other objects depending on the user's needs.

It was shown in A Minor Hiccup that scrolls can also be used as methods of identification and as mobile data storage devices. Both functions are used by Weiss at the Cross Continental Transmit Tower. It was also revealed that the Scroll can potentially take pictures, as Ruby pulled it out after she said she was going to take one of the CCT Tower. The camera lens of Weiss Schnee's scroll can be seen on the back of the right-hand handgrip when she uses the device's ID function in a lift at the CCT Tower.

RWBY
A scroll was first seen in the "Yellow" Trailer, when Yang Xiao Long used a smart phone-sized scroll to show Junior Xiong a picture of an unknown female.

A scroll was next seen in the pilot episode: Ruby Rose, held by Glynda Goodwitch as she lectured Ruby Rose on how reckless she was. When Ozpin entered the room, Glynda used her scroll to display a recorded video of Ruby's fight with Roman Torchwick's henchmen.

Later, Glynda was seen holding one in the episodes The First Step and The Emerald Forest, Pt.2. In the latter episode, she was seen using it to view videos of various students in the forest, and Ozpin was seen using a scroll to watch a live video of Ruby and Weiss Schnee.

At the end of The Badge and The Burden, Pt.2, when Weiss finds Ruby asleep, a scroll is visible on Ruby's bed.

The name of this device was finally given in the episode Jaunedice, shortly before Jaune Arc is seen in possession of a small scroll displaying his and his teammates' Aura as health meters.

In the episode Forever Fall, Jaune appears to have his own scroll, which he uses to unlock the door to his team's dorm.

In Forever Fall, Pt.2, after Jaune is knocked back by an Ursa's blow, he checks his scroll to see that his Aura is in the red.

In Black and White, Ozpin is seen with a scroll observing the live feed of Ruby at the docks (where an intense battle took place) and receiving a message from Qrow, before the credits roll.

In A Minor Hiccup, Ruby has her own scroll, with which she attempts to take a picture of the Cross Continental Transmit tower. Later, Weiss uses her own scroll to enter the tower, demonstrating its use as some sort of identification among the students at Beacon and also other schools. The scroll also seems to be capable of receiving transferred information, such as files from the Schnee Dust Company World Headquarters in Atlas, as requested by Weiss.

In Painting the Town..., scrolls are shown to be able to make and receive calls, as demonstrated when Blake and Sun phone the rest of Team RWBY for back-up.

During Dance Dance Infiltration, Ruby is able to use her scroll to summon her locker to her location in order to deliver Crescent Rose, which is stored inside.

In Mountain Glenn, scrolls are shown to be reliant on signal strength in order to make or receive calls. This was demonstrated when Ruby was unable to contact her team after locating an entrance to the secret White Fang base. This reliance on signal strength is shown again in No Brakes when trying to contact Jaune.

Trivia

 * Ruby mentions on her Twitter account that she gets to have her own scroll, now that she's been moved ahead two years. This implies that scrolls are supplied by Beacon Academy, and that they are not needed at Signal Academy or not used anywhere else.