Misfortune,[1] is the Semblance of Qrow Branwen. It is first seen in "New Challengers..." during Volume 3 and fully debuts in "A Much Needed Talk" in Volume 4.
It causes bad luck to happen around him.
Description[]
Qrow's Semblance manipulates probability negatively, causing misfortune wherever he goes, hence its name. Unlike most Semblances, his is almost constantly active and uncontrollable, with random spikes leading to incidents as small as a glass being knocked into the floor in "New Challengers..." or as significant as a wooden beam almost falling on Ruby Rose in "Punished". Qrow has stated that his Semblance can be used to his advantage in a fight.
His Semblance does not discriminate against whom it affects, including himself, which causes him to keep his distance from the people he cares about. It should be noted that all known instances of his Semblance activating on himself also proved detrimental to the people around him. The only instances in which this does not seem to be the case are in "Ace Operatives" and "Sparks". In both instances, Clover Ebi's own passive Good Fortune Semblance likely either neutralized the negative effect on himself or thwarted Qrow's Semblance. According to Kerry Shawcross, he can also choose to amplify his Semblance in a fight[2] to amplify the chance of his opponent getting hurt, in which case it uses Aura.
His Semblance can be helpful in a fight, such as when Tyrian falls through an old roof, but can cause problems such as when a piece of wood almost falls on Ruby. While this is often an advantage to him against unprepared opponents, he is often forced to fight alone as to not cause problems for his allies.
In "The Final Word" however, Qrow manages to control his Semblance using the help of Clover's badge and stops a bomb from falling out of a ship. While this is easily explained as misfortune for Harriet (and Watts), it does open the possibility of his Semblance evolving to include probability manipulation in both directions. This was confirmed by Kerry during a Q&A panel with Streamily where he noted that Qrow's semnlance now includes aspects of good luck.[3]
History[]
Misfortune is first seen in "New Challengers..." after Qrow leaves a bar, where the bartender accidentally knocks over a glass while grabbing the one Qrow had just been drinking from.
Qrow's Semblance might have played a role in Ruby and Yang's inability to beat him while playing video games in "Lessons Learned".
Misfortune is on full display when Qrow battles Tyrian Callows in "Punished", where Tyrian lands on a cracked wooden beam which breaks under his weight, leading to his falling through the damaged roof. His bad luck strikes again when Ruby ignores his warnings to stay away and tries to fight Tyrian alongside him, almost getting struck with a wooden beam falling from the same building. It's possible that the entire fight might've been under the influence of his Semblance, however these two instances are very clear markers of its presence.
Qrow explains his Semblance to Team RNJR in "A Much Needed Talk", stating it as the reason he had not been directly travelling with the group and instead keeping his distance from them. After walking away from the group's campfire, the burning log he had just been adjusting the position of falls out of the fire's confines where he had just been.
In "Unforeseen Complications", Qrow breaks a table leg simply by putting the weight of his foot on the table, breaking a glass full of liquid on it in the process.
Misfortune pops the tire of the trailer the group finds in "Alone in the Woods", leading to the group being delayed further at Brunswick Farms and having to directly deal with the Apathy Grimm horde trapped below the farm.
It's possible that Qrow tripping in "Ace Operatives" was caused by his Semblance. Later in the same episode, Misfortune results in the collapse of a metal support beam, leading to the Geist's escape further into the mine.
In "Sparks" while playing cards with Clover Ebi and his Good Fortune, Clover is able to win every round, much to Qrow's chagrin.
Qrow's Semblance might have played a role in "Gravity" while battling Tyrian alongside Clover and Robyn Hill, particularly with the ricochet of one of Robyn's crossbow bolts off of Harbinger into Tyrian's face, causing the Faunus' Aura to flicker.
Similarly, in "With Friends Like These" it likely influenced the trajectory of Clover's Kingfisher during the fight with the Ace-Op with Robyn in the Manta. Here his Misfortune causes the hook of Kingfisher to ricochet off Robyn's shield and loosen the metal bar Tyrian was tied to, allowing the Faunus to move freely and crash the airship. In the resulting fight against Clover and Tyrian in the same episode, Clover and Qrow's Semblances likely play a significant role, particularly in Clover catching Qrow's weapon multiple times and landing lucky hits that Qrow has a difficult time dealing with.
Qrow is finally able to properly control his Semblance in "The Final Word" by pulling out Clover's pin and concentrating, where he's able to snag the sliding bomb on the side of the cargo hatch and prevent it from falling out of the airship. While a standard use of his Semblance does explain this by increasing misfortune against Harriet (and Watts), the scene is shown in such a way as to open the possibility that he may have been decreasing misfortune against himself and Mantle instead.
Trivia[]
- Qrow's bad luck Semblance and Clover's good luck Semblance are mirrors of each other.
Image Gallery[]
References[]
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