The Chill are possession-type Creature of Grimm. They first appear in RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant, where they are the main antagonists of the fairy tale The Grimm Child as well as its titular adaptation.
Appearance[]
According to DC/RWBY #5, a Chill without a host appears like a jet of ink-like black mass. When possessing a human, a Chill is indistinguishable from its host, other than their inability to speak more than the victim's last words.
In some versions of the story, when a Chill possesses a person, their skin and hair turn bone white with red veins and their eyes become pitch black, echoing Salem's appearance. This version has become so popular amongst people it has almost become the "canon" version of the fairy tale.
History[]
The Chill are the primary antagonists in the fairy tale of The Grimm Child, being real life Grimm that are threatening to mankind.
In the fairy tale, a Chill is responsible for the slaughtering of an entire town after two siblings named Oak and Poppy come into contact with it. This fairy tale is embellished in that a singular Chill is not powerful enough to kill an entire ghost town in a single night.
DC/RWBY #5[]
In DC/RWBY #5, a Chill is able to possess Superman. His wife, Lois Lane, arrives to save him and Superman's love for Lois allows him to break the Chill's possession, and the Chill takes over Lois' body, but her own love allows her to also break the possession, forcing the Chill to jump between the two until Ruby destroys it.
Powers and Abilities[]
The Chill are dangerous possession-type Grimm that are able to possess Humans and Faunus alike, capable of hopping from host to host through touch. When possessing people Chills are indistinguishable from another person, however, they cannot speak, or will only repeat their victim's last word over and over again. When not possessing anyone, Chills are incorporeal and live in the shadows.[1]
Moreover, Chills cannot control a body for more than a few minutes, thus making it impossible to slaughter a town like in the fairy tale. They instead, rely on the element of surprise and the unwillingness of people to kill their friends and loved ones to seal a victim's fate.
After being possessed, most victims of the Chill die once the Grimm leaves their body. However, victims can be saved in the moment with certain specialized Huntsmen or tools.[2]
As shown in DC/RWBY #5, Chill are even powerful enough to take control of Kryptonians such as Superman. However, Kryptonians and even ordinary humans like Lois Lane are able to break the possession without dying through strong positive emotions like love, at which case the Chill will be left defenseless and unable to possess its host until it is killed.
Trivia[]
- The Chill and The Grimm Child have inspired various collections of horror novels, films, comic books, and even video games throughout Remnant. It has become a staple campfire and bedtime story and has also become a favorite with parents that have disobedient children.
- The Chill also inspired an old party game called "The Chill", in which players must attempt to discover the Grimm in their midst before it's too late, the idea being that a Human possessed by the Chill is indistinguishable from an unpossessed Human.
- It's possible the idea of a party game based around the Chill was inspired by the real party game Wink Murder, where a Killer is randomly chosen in secret and needs to kill every other player's character. The goal is to find out who the murderer is before it's too late.
- The Chill is the second Grimm shown with the ability to possess things, a trait it shares with Geists and Nightmares.
References[]
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