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For the score of a similar name, see Silver Eyes.
It is the desire to preserve life which fuels the light inside you. And make no mistake, it is light. Preservation is an extension of creation, or, at the very least, an enemy of destruction.

Overview Image Gallery



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Ruby Rose activating her Silver Eyes

Silver-Eyed Warriors[1] are an ancient lineage of legendary warriors who possess special abilities through the usage of their eyes. Their power destroys Grimm and originated from the God of Light.

Background[]

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The God of Light with Silver Eyes

Silver-Eyed Warriors are a lineage group whose origins predates the establishment of both Huntsmen and Kingdoms. According to legend, those born with silver eyes are said to be destined to lead the life of a warrior. Silver eyes themselves are an extremely rare trait in the modern world. Maria Calavera suspects that the reason for this rarity is that Salem is actively hunting them to extinction.

With most of the information on the Silver-Eyes largely rooted in myths and legends, true accounts or knowledge of their powers are rather difficult to find. The most consistent traits among these stories are that the eyes themselves are special and the people who possess them are fighters of unprecedented prowess.

After seeing the history of the world, Maria postulated that the power originates from the God of Light. His dragon form has silver eyes and he is able to emit a bright light that destroys Grimm almost identical to Silver-Eyed Warriors.

According to the fairy tale The Two Brothers, he gave them this power because of his overprotective nature towards Humanity as a way to fight back against his brother's creations.

Powers and Abilities[]

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Maria could instantly petrify a Nevermore.

Silver-Eyed Warriors have powers that are fueled by strong desires to preserve life. According to Maria, it’s emotional, much like Semblances.

As preservation is considered an extension of creation, Silver Eyes can work against Grimm as they are manifestations of destruction. Legend has it that Silver-Eyed Warriors are able to strike down Grimm with a single look. According to Maria, Silver Eyes can turn Grimm to stone, blind them or vaporize them. In "End of the Beginning", Ruby Rose is told that when she unleashed her power, she "froze" the Wyvern atop Beacon's tower. It is later known that she did so by turning it to stone. Although immobilized, the Wyvern was not killed outright by Ruby's powers, and remains alive, continuing to draw Grimm to the area. In the past, Maria used her eyes on a Nevermore, turning it into stone. Some Grimm, such as the Leviathan, are not as badly affected, and display some resistance, as the Leviathan was only encased in stone and not completely turned into it.

When used against special Grimm, such as the Apathy, who are able to drain emotions and willpower, the light can disrupt their abilities. Ruby struck the Grimm with a single flash and was then able to focus a stronger more intense burst to completely destroy them.

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Ruby activating her Silver Eyes

Exactly how the powers manifest is not known beyond the fact that blinding streams of light, almost resembling wings, or a radial flash of light can come from the wielder's eyes. For the first few times, Ruby used her powers when her friends were in potentially fatal situations. But under Maria's guidance, Ruby is able to use her powers with control. In her prime, Maria was able to use her eyes in a split second after being temporarily disarmed, showing that calling upon the light becomes easier over time and faster to use.

According to Maria, the key to using the power is to focus on the relationship the wielder has with their loved ones and protecting them. This is consistent with the reactive uses of Ruby's eyes in the past. While difficult to actively train, one can create a state of mind in order to tap into the power when needed.

Grimm-Hybrids[]

Salem has made active attempts in experimenting on both Human and Grimm together in order to combine both aspects. She has been shown grafting Grimm flesh into others and granting them a variety of different abilities.

Due to their status as Grimm hybrids, they possess unique reactions to the power of the Silver Eyes.

Cinder Fall[]

Cinder Fall is a unique case as she used a special Beetle Grimm to steal the powers of a Maiden and later gained a Shadow Hand from Salem. This caused her to receive debilitating injuries from Ruby.

The first time Cinder was struck by Ruby's powers she lost her left arm, left eye and her voice, though only temporarily with the latter. The second use of her powers, though not at full effect due to being interrupted, was enough to hurt Cinder, who fell to the ground grabbing her Grimm arm in pain and briefly losing her sword.

Salem states that Cinder was especially susceptible to her powers because of her attainment of the Fall Maiden powers, but does not elaborate any further on this. As Ruby's Silver Eyes did not affect Raven Branwen in "The More the Merrier" or Penny Polendina in "The Enemy of Trust" and Cinder specifically clutched her Grimm arm in pain, it can be concluded that Cinder's Grimm transplant is the cause of her weakness to the Silver Eyes and not her Maiden Powers specifically.

The Hound[]

In "Dark" it was revealed that The Hound was a Faunus-Grimm Hybrid created by fusing Grimm flesh into the man and turning him into the core of the Grimm. When Ruby attempts to destroy it using her Silver Eyes, The Hound was shown to have a limited resistance that prevents them from being frozen or destroyed. In The Hound's case, Ruby's eyes briefly revealed his face, showing him to possess a singular Silver Eye, before the Grimm grafted over the Faunus regenerated and recovered, although left in a slightly weakened state.

As seen with The Hound, even other Silver Eyed-Warriors can also be turned into such creatures, albeit it is unknown if they still retain their power after being transformed.

Limitations[]

Because the power can only activate in the presence of Grimm, it is difficult to train to use outside of in the face of real danger. The rarity of the trait has also left much of their abilities only vaguely detailed in old stories due to the active hunt against them. Upon using her ability for the first time and losing consciousnesses, Ruby noted her head hurt while using her eyes, showing the light may drain a user's energy in the inexperienced.

Upon being used, the user is not invulnerable to being hurt or interrupted as Emerald Sustrai was easily able to knock out Ruby when she used her powers. Tock, an agent of Salem, effectively cut off Maria from access to her powers upon blinding her, leading to her retirement from active hunting.

Much like how a Semblance can be affected by strong emotion, Silver Eyes are susceptible to reacting to intense distress: Salem's revelation of a tie to her late mother caused Ruby's eyes to flicker and flash uncontrollably in grief. Notably, it did not have an effect on Salem's astral projection.

Later, she was able to still use them almost instantaneously upon encountering Cinder Fall afterwards.

Ruby attempted to use her eyes several times during a confrontation against her in the Evacuation Central, but was unable to focus properly. She later sees her mother's eyes glowing in the reflection of her weapon.

History[]

The Warrior in the Woods[]

Warrior woods - 2

The Warrior in the Woods

In ancient history, The Warrior in the Woods is a fairy tale describing a lonely Silver-Eyed Warrior who secretly defended a small village from the creatures of Grimm, motivated to protect life after her parents had been killed. Whilst defending the village, she meets a young boy several times throughout the years, and inspires him to be better for others. The boy would later find the Warrior's hut thrashed and destroyed, believing that she had died alone. He laments he couldn't be with her, having fallen in love with her silver eyes the moment he met her.[2]

RWBY[]

SilverEyes

Ruby using her powers for the first time

The first mention of Silver Eyes comes in "Ruby Rose" when Professor Ozpin comments about the color of Ruby's eyes. According to Qrow Branwen, their abilities are not well known outside certain circles.

In "End of the Beginning", after witnessing Pyrrha Nikos' death, Ruby uses her powers for the first time, wounding Cinder Fall and freezing the Wyvern, but she collapses afterward. After she wakes up, Qrow Branwen explains to her the legend of the Silver-Eyed Warriors and that, like her mother, Summer Rose, she is descended from them.

Hazel Rainart, a member of Salem's Inner Circle, claims that they have successfully "dealt with" Silver-Eyed Warriors before, criticizing Cinder for losing to a novice. Another member, Arthur Watts, agrees, claiming that even without the Maiden's power it should have been easy. However, Salem states that Cinder's attainment of the Fall Maiden's powers gave her a crippling weakness to their powers, although the nature of this weakness is not stated.

In "The More the Merrier", the fight between Cinder and Jaune Arc causes Ruby's powers to activate once more, unleashing a brief blinding light from her eyes that engulfs the room, but she is knocked out by Emerald Sustrai almost instantly. The effect, however, is enough to briefly cripple Cinder, causing her to fall down, her weapon to vanish and grabbing her implanted Grimm arm in pain.

In "The Lost Fable", the God of Light emits a light similar to the Silver Eyes when he transform into his dragon form. Later, Jinn's vision briefly shows the children of one of Ozma's incarnations, both of whom have Silver Eyes.

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Ruby learning to control her powers with help from Maria

In "Alone in the Woods", upon seeing Blake Belladonna about to be killed by an Apathy, Ruby, in panic, is able to manifest a brief flash to break their power and get Belladonna away. As they recover for a second attack, Maria Calavera learns of Ruby's Silver Eyes and tells the girl to focus on the thought of the people who love her and how they make her feel.

Ruby then activates her powers again, this time with more control and intensity. The horde are then vaporized, leaving everyone inside stunned. While the group escapes from Brunswick Farms, Maria reveals that she once had such eyes before losing them to Tock, a story she recounts as the group heads to Argus.

In "Dead End", Maria teaches Ruby what she knows about the eyes, including the source of their power being the preservation of life and a new theory on their origin based on what Jinn showed them, that their power came from the God of Light. She also tells her not to think of her eyes' light as a means to destroy evil, but rather as a means to protect the people of Remnant.

In "Our Way", Ruby decides to use her eyes on the Leviathan approaching Argus. She focuses her thoughts on the people she cares about, as memories flash through her mind. This fails at first due to remembering the deaths of Pyrrha and Penny Polendina, but then she manages to concentrate on the happy memories, the last one be that of her mother, before her eyes activate. She successfully petrifies the Leviathan, however it manages to free its head before it is finished off by the Colossus.

In "Gravity", Salem revealed she had an encounter with Summer Rose, causing Ruby’s emotions to spiral and, as her powers are emotionally activated, caused her eyes to flicker uncontrollably.

In “The Enemy of Trust”, Ruby encounters Cinder right after the conclusion of the latter's battle against Winter and Penny, and activates her eyes against her almost instantly. Notably, the effects weren’t severe, likely due to Cinder escaping just before she was hurt.

In "Dark", when The Hound knocked Penny unconscious, Ruby managed to react and prevent The Hound from escaping with her by using her eyes, causing it to crash through a window. However, The Hound survived the attack, though it’s head became exposed, which revealed that it was not only a Faunus-Grimm hybrid, but also possessed a Silver Eye as well. Ruby later comes to the conclusion that her mother may have been a victim of a similar or worse fate by the hands of Salem.

In "The Parfait Predicament", Ruby sees a axe-rifle weapon with her mother's face on the reflection. Her mother's eyes glow a bright silver, after which she wakes up from her dream right after.

RWBY: Ice Queendom[]

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Ruby unknowingly uses her silver eyes powers for the first time

The power of the Silver Eyes can also be used inside Dreamscapes. In “Light in Shadows”, Ruby unknowingly uses her powers for the first time on a Nightmare and weakened it. However, she does not remember her actions nor experiencing headaches.

Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen, Part One[]

When Ruby tries to remember how she defeated the Wyvern, she remembers she froze it with her silver eyes. However, her powers have no effect since the simulation of Grimm don’t feel like real ones from her original world. It's shown that she’s unable to use her powers in the simulation due to the Grimm inside it just being digital holograms.

Known Silver-Eyed Warriors[]

Originator[]

God of Light Mug
God of Light

Current[]

RubyV9C10Mug
Ruby

Former[]

Maria Mug
Maria

Deceased[]

Summer Thumb
Summer
Ozma Incarnation Son Mug
Unnamed
Ozma Incarnation Daughter Mug
Unnamed
BlankMug2
Maria's Father
Warriormug
Warrior
Hound-icon
The Hound

Trivia[]

  • Silver Eyes have small white lines in the iris, which is a detail that no other eyes have. This serves as a good indicator of the difference between silver and gray eyes.
    • The lines are not present in silver eyes during Volume 1, due to the different art style where eyes were colored with a gradient instead of two-tone.
    • A lot of the eyes people believed looked silver were actually light blue and just look silver on their monitors.[3]
  • The Volume 2 Opening puts great emphasis on Ruby's eyes, foreshadowing the eventual reveal of the Silver-Eyed Warriors.
    • Similarly, the Volume 6 Opening zooms in on both Ruby and Maria's eyes, hinting at their significance.
    • The song "Miracle" also hints the significance of the power of the Silver-Eyed Warriors.
  • According to Miles Luna, the creators themselves don't have a special name for the lineage of warriors and just refer to them as Silver-Eyed Warriors. He did however jokingly call them "Sparkly Dazzlers" when asked on the spot.[4]
  • In the episode Dark, it is revealed that Faunus can also bear Silver Eyes.
  • It is possible that Ozma shares a link to the Silver Eyes due to his connection to the God of Light, as one of his incarnations' family had two children with Silver Eyes while neither parent had them.

References[]

Setting
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