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For the anime character, see Pyrrha Nikos (Dream Actor).
Do you believe in destiny?
—Pyrrha Nikos

Pyrrha Nikos was a character in RWBY. She was a student at the now-defunct Beacon Academy and formerly a member of Team JNPR until her passing.

Her weapon of choice, called Miló, was a red-and-bronze spear-like weapon that could transform into a rifle or a short sword. She used this alongside a shield called Akoúo̱, which resembled a classic hoplon.

In "End of the Beginning", Pyrrha engaged in battle with Cinder Fall, who had gained full possession of the Fall Maiden's powers. Despite her valiant efforts, Pyrrha was defeated and killed by Cinder, who then incinerated her body.

Motivated by her death, the remaining members of Team JNPR join Ruby Rose in her journey to Haven in order to track down Cinder and her faction.

A memorial statue of Pyrrha is erected in Argus, where she trained before attending Beacon.

Appearance[]

Pyrrha wore her red hair in a waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into a loose ringlet. She also wore light-green eyeshadow around the far upper corners of her green eyes. She was tall and quite muscular compared to most of the other girls at Beacon.

Current Outfit (Volumes 1-3)[]

V3 09 00035

As a top, she wore a brown overbust corset with a vertical strip of lighter brown in the center. Additionally, Pyrrha wore an elastic, black, A-line mini skirt and brown opera-length gloves on both arms. She wore a red ankle-length sash that wrapped around her skirt, which was later emulated by Jaune Arc.

As for accessories, there was a small circular bronze plate on her right hip opposite two pouches with both connected to a belt. The plate bore her emblem. Underneath her hair, she always wore a brown circlet adorned with a pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds on thin chains. She also sported a large bronze gorget around her neck and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left arm. Even when dressed in her school uniform, Pyrrha continued to wear her headpiece.

Unlike the rest of the female cast, Pyrrha wore armor. She had elaborate bronze greaves that started below her mid-thigh before continuing downwards into her boots as well as a pair of cuisses that began mid-thigh and ended slightly above her knees. She was also equipped with a bronze bracer capable of connecting with Akoúo̱ atop the sleeve on her left arm. Her high-heeled boots were brown with bronze trim, matching her skirt and sleeves and reaching up to mid-calf.

Beacon Uniform[]

She wore a standard Beacon uniform with black tights underneath her skirt.

Dance Outfit[]

At the Beacon Dance, she wore a turtleneck sleeveless red dress with her back exposed.

Image Gallery[]

Personality[]

Described as the "pride of Mistral", Pyrrha was a very professionally-capable, friendly, righteous yet relaxed and selfless person. She was a composed and collected individual who, despite being a celebrity, was modest and patient around other people, making her very sociable. Additionally, she tended to be quite formal. In addition to her impressive range of combat abilities, she was a quick thinker, knowing her limits and assessing her opponents before acting.

Pyrrha took her studies and relationships equally seriously, making her a bit stubborn and emotionally sensitive. This came from her loyalty toward her friends as well as her good intent. She was willing to keep secrets and help friends in need.

She quickly became good friends with her teammates, especially Jaune, and got along with the rest of Team RWBY, often having conversations during lunches and sharing a similar schedule during classes. However, she felt that she struggled to make friends as everyone saw her celebrity status before considering her personal self. Her limited experience with people led her to apologize even when helping them.

Pyrrha's righteousness willed her to take risks for the greater good and always concern herself with the ethics of making decisions, such as volunteering to be the next Fall Maiden. She was willing to become the Fall Maiden despite the risks to her well-being and concerns over the scruples of the transfer process. For most of her life, Pyrrha believed she was destined to be a great Huntress, one that would protect the world, and strived for this goal no matter what she could lose. Pyrrha was selfless to a fault - one of the traits that harmed her most.

Pyrrha's selfless nature, combined with her beliefs of carrying out her duties as a Huntress made it difficult, if not outright impossible, for her to make decisions for herself out of fear of letting down those who have placed their faith in her. Regardless of the potential dangers of taking such powers through unorthodox means, she was not fazed by it as much as the idea of losing Jaune and her friends.

Powers and Abilities[]

Pyrrha was one of the most skilled students at Beacon Academy, being able to quickly and easily adapt to her combat situation and analyze her opponents while fighting and changing tactics to suit the situation she is in. She had shown extreme accuracy, being able to hit moving targets from hundreds of meters away and strike vital weak points on an opponent mid-combat both with and without the aid of her semblance. She was also highly skilled at using her weapon's multiple forms in combat, being able to switch between forms several times in rapid succession to both deliver rapid attacks and counter others simultaneously. Even without her weapons she was skilled, being able to take out several students at the same time with kicks and her bare hands. She was a master of her semblance, being able to apply it in combat almost always undetected, doing so with such skill and precision that she had lead many to believe she was untouchable and invincible.

Weapon[]

PyrrahE55

Pyrrha aiming. Note how her javelin lines up with her free arm, forming a straight line

Main article: Miló and Akoúo̱

Pyrrha's weapons of choice were Miló and Akoúo̱. They were a javelin-sword-rifle and shield. Pyrrha was able to throw the javelin form of Miló with extreme precision, being able to hit Jaune's hood over a long distance as he was falling. It was at this point when she first demonstrates proficiency in javelin usage, as she was shown to have a perfect stance, with the javelin lining up exactly with her free hand and using her thumb as a reference point.

She was also extremely adept at using Akoúo̱ as an offensive weapon, a skill that was exemplified when she used her shield to sever the damaged joint of the Death Stalker's stinger, with the shield ricocheting off of a pillar behind it and returning to her. However, this feat was likely aided by her Semblance. However, during her battle with Cinder, she was able to throw her shield with enough accuracy to strike and shatter an arrow mid-air without her Semblance, as her Aura had already been depleted.

Pyrrha also demonstrated incredible skill in switching her back and forth between weapons with quick succession, delivering rapid attacks, and being able to counter others at once, such as with Team CRDL, whom she all defeated alone, despite being outnumbered. Pyrrha was capable of using her weapon's bladed form to even deflect bullets, as done against Hallshott. She showed to even have a high amount of skill in unarmed combat, using several kicks to knock Cardin Winchester and his team back several times, even using her hands at brief moments.

Strength[]

Pyrrha was physically strong, as she was seen to punch through grown tree trunks with her shield without any change in her posture or stance. However, in these sorts of instances, she may be using her control over polarity to cause the shield to move with more force. Her strength was also displayed when she used her shield as a launch platform to help Nora launch higher into the air and jumping while doing so, an action that was also done without any visible alterations to her stance when Nora utilized a grenade as propellant off the shield.

Aura[]

Shown in "The Emerald Forest", Pyrrha demonstrated the ability to unlock another person's Aura. She did this for Jaune, whose Aura had been unknown to him. She was visibly tired after unlocking it, possibly either due to the sheer amount of Aura that she commented Jaune had, or the nature of the ability itself.

Semblance[]

Main article: Polarity
Pyrrha semblance

Pyrrha using her Semblance

Pyrrha's Semblance, Polarity, allowed her to control metal via magnetism. She used this ability on her own weapons and could use it on opponent's weapons, as well, such as when she moved Mercury Black's boot away from her during a spar to prevent him from landing a hit on her.

In most combat situations, Pyrrha did not go out of her way to broadcast her Semblance's abilities. Instead, she used it only to make very subtle changes of movement for her own weapons and sometimes her opponent's weapon to affect the course of a battle. This gave her the psychological edge of appearing to be invincible in the eyes of most people.

Trivia[]

Allusion[]

  • Pyrrha alludes to Achilles from Greek mythology. For more information on this allusion, as well as other choices the creators made for this character, see Pyrrha Nikos/Behind the Scenes.
    • The bronze color scheme of her clothing and armor also recalls the look of Ancient Greek soldiers.

Color Naming Rule[]

  • "Pyrrha" is derived from the Greek adjective pyrrhos (πυρρός), which means "flame-colored". Nikos (Νίκος), meaning "victor of the people", is derived from Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory.
    • Her first and last name together are a reference to a Pyrrhic victory, a tactical victory that comes at such extreme cost it is often seen as a strategic defeat.[3]
    • Monty Oum stated that Pyrrha is named after her hair.[4]

Story[]

  • Pyrrha's Semblance may come from pyrrhotite, one of only two minerals that are found naturally magnetized.
  • She has appeared on the front of the box for a cereal called "Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes" as a mascot. Although she tells Jaune and Weiss that it was "pretty cool", she laments that the cereal is unhealthy. This event got a skit in RWBY Chibi based off of it in the form of a TV commercial for Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes. Her dislike of the cereal is slightly shown near the end of the commercial.
  • After her passing, some of Pyrrha's equipment was used to upgrade Jaune's weapons.

Miscellaneous[]

  • In the Volume 1 commentary, Miles Luna mentions with humor the coincidental similarities between Pyrrha and Agent Carolina from Red vs. Blue, who is also voiced by Jen Brown.[5]
  • On September 27th, 2019, the RWBY Crystal Match account's Twitter and Instagram made posts in celebration of Pyrrha's birthday. However, these posts were deleted later in the day.[6]

References[]

Characters
BRIR
RWBY/Justice League
Super Heroes and Huntsmen
Other
Minor Characters
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