Ruby Rose


 * For the episode of the same name, see Ruby Rose (episode).

Ruby Rose is the main protagonist, the leader of Team RWBY, and the first character introduced in RWBY. Ruby's weapon of choice is her High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe (HCSS) known as Crescent Rose.

She first appeared in the "Red" Trailer released on November 5th, 2012, in which she fought Beowolves. Her second appearance was at the end of the "Yellow" Trailer, greeting her older half-sister, Yang Xiao Long, and asking what she was doing at The Club.

Default Outfit


Ruby appears as a young, silver-eyed girl dressed in a black blouse, a black waist cincher with red lacing and a skirt with red trimmings, complete with a red cloak. She is currently the youngest character in the series. Her entire outfit is made up of various shades of red and black with black as the primary color on the main suit and red on the cloak. Even her shoulder-length hair is black with a red tint to it.

As of her second appearance, Ruby has cross-shaped pins holding her cloak to her shirt. Around her waist is a belt which holds large cartridges (possibly .50 caliber or comparable) in individual loops, as well as a magazine pouch. In the "Red" Trailer, as well as the promotional logo for RWBY, she has a silver cross on her belt, but it was eventually changed into a silver version of her rose emblem.



Ruby's physical appearance resembles the Little Red Riding Hood archetype, which is further reinforced by the appearance of the Beowolves in her trailer. Director Monty Oum confirmed that she indeed alludes to, but is not based on, Red Riding Hood.

Pajamas
Ruby's pajamas consist of a black tank top with a heart-shaped Beowulf design on the chest and white long pants with pink roses as decoration.

She also wears a black sleeping mask with triangular red eyes reminiscent of the Beowolves in her trailer.

At her home in Patch, Ruby's pajamas are a matching dark grey long-sleeved shirt and pants with faded-red polka dots and a white lining at the front and the collar.

Alternate Outfit (Slayer)
During the events of "A Minor Hiccup" and "Painting the Town...", Ruby wears a long-sleeve, light gray shirt with black belted cuffs near the ends of the sleeves. Over top of the gray shirt is a black pinafore with two vertical lines of red stitching that resemble the lacing on a corset.

She wears a red skirt with a large black-colored print of her rose emblem on the side of it, and the inside of her skirt is black. She still wears her black stockings and black-and-red boots. A few pieces of metal arranged in an abstract shape are attached to her sleeve on her left shoulder, likely as a form of armor such as a spaulder. As usual, she wears a red cape with this outfit. This cape is short like the one she wears with her uniform, but with a scarf as part of the hood.

This outfit was codenamed "Slayer".

Dance Outfit
During the Beacon Dance, Ruby wears a short, red, sleeveless dress with a thick black sash around the waist and black edging at the bottom. The dress reaches about halfway down her upper leg. At the chest, the dress splits vertically down the middle and each half covers each of Ruby's breasts. Across this vertical split is black criss-crossing ribbon. The fabric covering her upper chest, shoulders and upper back appears to be black mesh. The collar of the dress is black, and from midway up each sleeve, a thin black line of fabric extends up to the front middle of the collar. With this dress, she wears semi-transparent black pantyhose and a pair of black pumps, which she has trouble walking in.

Personality
Monty has described Ruby as being “innocent” and still a “little sister.” Most of Ruby's personality is shown through her childish nature, as well as her fighting style. She is shown to be impulsive, naïve, and innocent, but when necessary, she can be serious and dependable. In "Battle of Beacon" and "Heroes and Monsters", Ruby also appears to be quite stoic in the face of a very dire situation, even following a traumatic event.

Ruby is a self-proclaimed dork when it comes to weapons; she is quite intelligent, having designed and built Crescent Rose during her time at Signal Academy, although she admits to going "a little overboard" with its design. She feels that seeing new weapons "is like meeting new people, but better". She seems to be fascinated by any type of weapon, even robots, as seen when she became entranced by James Ironwood's presentation in "A Minor Hiccup". Monty has said that she relies on Crescent Rose quite often in battle, which implies that her weapon is the primary source of her confidence in battle.

Ruby has a strong sense of moral justice, a trait she obtained from stories about heroes and monsters that her sister used to read for her, as well as the way her parents raised her in childhood. These stories are what gave her the ideals that she wished to live by and uphold throughout her life, and are the reason for her love for books. Because she is shown to be childish even when in class, she tends to study by herself to cover the necessary knowledge.

Ruby is shown to be naïve, as although she doesn't like to be the center of attention, becoming a Huntress has effectively put her in the spotlight. In addition to her dislike of attention, Ruby prefers to either be alone or with Yang. However, she has become comfortable with Team RWBY and Team JNPR. She does not lack social skills, but has problems when meeting new people. This is mostly because of her childish nature and lack of social grace, as she can be bad-mannered (only out of ignorance) and sometimes speaks without thinking. However, because of her enthusiastic personality, she can become very good friends with people who share her enthusiasm.

Although she is highly skilled in battle, Ruby seems reckless and impulsive, attacking on sight instead of thinking the situation through beforehand, as seen during her first fight alongside Weiss Schnee. Also, Ruby at times doesn't seem to analyze the battlefield at all or take the time to study an opponent, such as when she attacks a Death Stalker on sight before learning of its high resistance to bullets and blades. She seems to lack experience when it comes to fighting as a team, as she demonstrates almost no coordination with Weiss during their fight with a pack of Beowolves in "The Emerald Forest, Pt.2".

Despite this, Ruby's leadership skills make her a worthy teammate. While she may occasionally act without thinking, sometimes she seems to understand the situation better than others. She can then use this ability to quickly formulate plans. This was seen during Team RWBY's battle with the Nevermore, in which her teammates' positions allowed her to come up with a successful plan. Ozpin most likely assigned Ruby as team leader to ensure that she grows as an individual. This proves to be the case as she becomes a resourceful and dependable leader who studies so hard and so late, she falls asleep in the middle of the task. This demonstrates her dedication to becoming a good leader. She was also able to pass her beliefs as leader to Jaune Arc, thus helping him find a new sense of responsibility for the safety and well-being of his own team.

Ruby is also shown to care for all her teammates equally, regardless of their race or background. This is seen in how she expresses sympathy for Weiss' bad childhood after she explains her family's history with the White Fang. She shows the same concern moments later for Blake Belladonna when she runs away, after revealing herself as a Faunus. Ruby's concern is further expressed in her desperate search for her teammate. This sense of empathy is later shown not to be limited to her teammates. She also shows some worry for Penny Polendina, telling the latter to stay out of the fight between Blake, Sun Wukong and Roman Torchwick.

Ruby is seen to have a dislike for formal attire, that being dresses and heels, as shown in "Burning the Candle" during the dance, where she wanted to change back into her hood, and even complaining on how it's possible for Weiss to fight on heels, despite Yang telling Ruby that she looked beautiful in a dress.

Manga
In the second chapter, it is revealed that Ruby has a fear of large crowds, as shown when she froze up during the sparring match against Cardin Winchester. However, she soon overcomes her fear during the fight after re-affirming why she wishes to be a Huntress, and some encouragement from her teammates. Obviously, she appears to have little problem with large crowds by the time of the Vytal Festival.

Abilities and Powers
Ruby is very skilled in combat, despite her small stature and age when compared to those around her. This is a result of special training from her Uncle Qrow, who Ruby claims took her under his wing in order to improve her skills. As a result, Ruby is a master at using her scythe; even Ozpin admits that he hasn't seen someone of Ruby's skill since Qrow himself.

Weapon
Ruby's first display of her skills was in the "Red" Trailer, where she single-handedly fends off a large pack of Beowolves without injury. Later, in "Ruby Rose", she is able to defeat Roman's group of henchmen after they tried to rob From Dust Till Dawn, forcing Roman to retreat.

Ruby's main weapon in combat is her scythe, Crescent Rose, which she designed herself, as all students at Signal do. Her weapon is a combination of a scythe and a high-powered rifle, which causes a large amount of recoil when fired. Ruby uses the recoil from Crescent Rose's shots to augment the speed and force of her strikes. However, she is also able to spin Crescent Rose with exemplary skill and power without the recoil, often executing chain attacks with this technique.

Even without the use of special abilities, Crescent Rose is incredibly sharp. In "The First Step, Pt.2", Ruby was able to cleanly slice through a large tree with a single, non-recoil-augmented blow, causing the tree to fall. She also uses the weapon itself as a platform from which to attack, shown when Ruby laid down completely on the handle of Crescent Rose while firing at opponents. Sometimes when she plans to fire the rifle from a stationary position, she twirls Crescent Rose's scythe tip into the ground to give her a monopod for stability and a way to absorb the recoil that would otherwise cause Ruby to be thrown backwards.

Ruby carries two kinds of ammunition with her: unmarked and Cross Clips. The unmarked magazines will fire off a high-caliber bullet with a white muzzle flash. Cross Clips (technically magazines), on the other hand, give off a black muzzle flash and are shown to have significantly greater power than the unmarked magazines. This lends her even more speed and power. With Cross Clips, Ruby is able to use Crescent Rose to propel herself with extraordinary speed before rotating herself axially in midair to execute a devastating spinning slash attack.

Semblance
To add to her already impressive battle prowess, Ruby's Semblance is speed, as stated by Pyrrha Nikos. Because of her Semblance, she is able to move from place to place so quickly that that she appears to be teleporting; she seems to materialize out of nowhere. She does so to avoid the first Beowolf's lunge in the "Red" Trailer, and later, she shows it to Weiss during a conversation in the Emerald Forest. In "Best Day Ever", Ruby uses her speed to great effect, creating a powerful whirlwind that blows away not only Team JNPR, but also most of the loose objects in the room, slamming them all against the cafeteria wall, causing it to shatter and form a crater.

However, Ruby does not seem to have full control of this ability or is only able to use it when concentrating, for she does not use it when being chased by the Death Stalker in "Players and Pieces", leading to her being pinned by the Nevermore's feather. Whenever she uses her Semblance, she leaves a cloud of rose petals in her wake that quickly dissipates. It is unknown what causes this, but these rose petals are not merely symbolic and can be perceived by others, as shown by Weiss who once waved her hands trying to brush them away.

Additionally, in "A Minor Hiccup", she has difficulty stopping. This may be due to her carrying Penny and not being used to controlling her powers whilst carrying a heavy load equal to or greater to her body weight, or even the fact that she is technically airborne in that instance.

Agility
Ruby also seems capable of jumping extraordinary heights, even without her weapon's recoil. In her confrontation with the Beowolves, she jumped several meters into the sky (augmented with her Semblance) and took a couple seconds to return to the ground.

Endurance
Ruby has enhanced endurance, showing no signs of fatigue in battle at all. In "The Emerald Forest", Weiss and Ruby are forced to retreat from a pack of Beowolves, and when battling the Nevermore, she showed no signs of fatigue. After running a certain distance to safety, Ruby shows no signs of weariness, while Weiss is seen trying to catch her breath.

Her endurance is also seen after the battle with the Nevermore, where she is aided by Yang, Blake, and Weiss in defeating the large Grimm by dragging it up a cliff and beheading it; upon landing, she doesn't appear to be exhausted in the slightest. However, despite her endurance, in "Search and Destroy", Ruby is seen to be exhausted after fighting several groups of Beowolves, but this could've been due to the fights having been one after another, possibly having no break.

Weaknesses
Ruby is not without weakness however. In contrast to her sister, Ruby's hand-to-hand capabilities are rather poor; in "Mountain Glenn", after losing Crescent Rose when a section of the ground collapsed underneath her, she was easily defeated and knocked out cold by a nameless White Fang soldier despite attempting to fight back. Later on, in "No Brakes", she is unable to land even a single unarmed hit on Roman, though she was eventually able to escape from him using her super speed to return to her teammates.

These incidents show that, for all her amazing skills, Ruby is still a child two years younger than her peers. Her body is likely not as strong as her comrades, and thus she has less natural strength than they do. This is a major contrast to "Ruby Rose", when she was able to take down two of the henchmen Roman hired with relative ease without the use of her weapon (it is unknown if Junior's henchmen are as able as the White Fang).

Ruby appears to be more aware of her lack of skills in hand to hand combat with her run in with Mercury Black in "PvP" where she doesn't have her weapon on her and attempts to get past him with her speed instead of fighting him.

She is also rather impulsive, which can lead to her making mistakes, such as attempting to thwart a robbery by herself and little mind to collateral damage and self harm.

Silver Eyes
Ruby comes from a line of legendary warriors who possessed powerful abilities related to their silver eyes, said to be an ultra rare trait. Upon seeing Pyrrha die in "End of the Beginning", Ruby accidentally uses this power and freezes the Dragon. However, she has no memory of doing this. Later in the episode, Qrow describes a fairy tale about warriors with silver eyes who are so powerful that the Grimm fear them.

The full extent of this ability is still unknown.

Miscellaneous
Outside of combat, Ruby has expressed great knowledge regarding weapons, which shows in her complex design and craftsmanship of Crescent Rose. On occasion, she has been shown to be successful as a decisive leader, being able to quickly formulate and execute plans for herself or her team, which may have contributed to her appointment as team leader.

She also seems to have an eye for detail. In "Destiny", she is able to spot Emerald from across the arena almost immediately. In episode "Heroes and Monsters" while hanging of the side of an airship with Neopolitan above her, she notices Neo's Umbrella switch. She quickly pulls herself up and presses it causing the umbrella to open up and the wind catches it pulling Neo away.

Trivia

 * Ruby alludes to the fairy tale character Little Red Riding Hood.
 * This allusion has affected her appearance, causing her to almost constantly wear a red hooded cape.
 * In the "Red" Trailer, she fights a large pack of Beowolves, possibly a reference to Little Red Riding Hood coming face to face with a wolf in the story.
 * Her name alludes to a type of gemstone that is often found in red. Furthermore, "Ruby" is the name of an actual shade of red. Meanwhile, her surname, "Rose", alludes to another shade of red and a type of flower that is also found most often in red.
 * Ruby is the only character to appear in more than one trailer, appearing in both red and yellow trailers.
 * Monty has confirmed that Ruby is left-handed. However, she is seen wielding her weapon with her right hand just as easily, implying trained ambidexterity. Monty has stated that it is "common to switch both hands while fighting, especially to make it interesting."
 * Despite sharing similar emblems and a red-and-black color scheme, Monty confirmed that Ruby and Adam are not related to each other and that their emblems differ from each other in terms of "scatter and wilt".
 * Although Ruby is often depicted to favor sweets like cookies, her favorite food is actually strawberries.
 * Early designs for Ruby were set aside and later used for Miltia Malachite, one of Yang's foes in the "Yellow" Trailer.
 * Ruby's alternate outfit, "Slayer", appears to be somewhat based on the early sketch shown in the second production diary.
 * Ruby, alongside Nora Valkyrie, is one of the few characters who owns an object in sale at the Rooster Teeth store – in this case, her Rose Pajama Pants.
 * Ruby takes her mother's maiden name rather than her father's surname. The reason for this is unknown.
 * At the RTX Australia 2016 RWBY Panel, Ruby's Skype username was RlyRlyKoolKid.