History Fanfic / FairiesOfTheShatteredMoon

* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Qrow has a moment like this when commenting on the magic Team RWBY [[spoiler:and JNPR]] have, noting that compared to them his ability to turn into a bird seems pretty lame. [[spoiler:Carla]] comforts him that it gives him unrivaled espionage ability, but he points out that in the fights they'll be getting into it won't be of much use.

* Eleanor Tremaine's Semblance is Lucifer, a cat made out of fire.

* FeelingTheirAge: This is the case for Mard Geer Tartaros. He was far more powerful 300 years ago where he was a match for Ozma in his prime, who is touted an one of the most powerful Wizards to have ever lived and destroyed most of Zeref's demons, reducing their numbers to bare few we see in the Tartaros Arc.
* FreudianExcuse: Cinder's obsession with power is fuelled by [[spoiler:how her entire life was thrown upside-down by events outside of her control. Her father Benjamin Autumn was assassinated by her step-mother Eleanor Tremaine when he caught on to how she was using him for Atlas Intelligence to stop Mistral from going to war with the Faunus. Then she was forcibly taken back to Atlas where Eleanor subjected her to brutal and abusive to turn into a killer loyal to Atlas. Then ''something'' happened to her on her first mission which caused her to be declared KIA, and eventually led to her falling in with Salem.]]

* FreudianExcuse: Cinder's obsession with power is fueled by [[spoiler:how her entire life was thrown upside-down by events outside of her control. Her father Ben Autumn was assassinated by her step-mother Eleanor Tremaine when he caught on to how she was using him for Atlas Intelligence to stop Mistral from going to war with the Faunus, then she was forcibly taken back to Atlas where she was molded into a weapon with military training and Eleanor's "discipline" (heavily implied to have been physical) due to her Silver Eye powers. Then ''something'' happened to her on her first mission which caused her to be declared KIA, which was when she fell in with Salem's group.]]
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Mard Geer Tartaros, who was the being that originally kidnapped Salem, then known as Sitara, and locked her away. This prompted Ozma taking the quest to save her, but by the time he got to and freed her after a hard-fought battle it's evident she was already partially corrupted into who she is now.]]

* BigBrotherMentor: Multiple members end up as this to the members of Team RWBY.

* AdultFear: All over the place, but one of the biggest ones is realizing your loved ones are now being targeted by a shadowy organization and there's nothing you can do to protect or just help them fight simply because you don't have the skills or power to stand with them. [[spoiler:And for Taiyang and Qrow, the extra realization that their daughters and nieces are going up against the same group that ultimately took their mother from them.]]

* CantCatchUp: Commented upon by Qrow and Sun, who both note that without magic, they're basically useless when it comes to facing off against the real threats coming up. Sure, they can take on Grimm no problem, but the heroes are effectively [[OneManArmy One-Man Armies]] who can solo hordes without breaking a sweat and their enemies border on PhysicalGod-tier opponents. It's hard not to feel useless.

* CantCatchUp: Commented upon by Qrow and Sun, who both note that without magic, they're basically useless when it comes to facing off against the real threats coming up. Sure, they can take on Grimm no problem, but the heroes are effectively [[OneManArmy One-Man Armies]] who can solo hordes without breaking a sweat and their enemies border on PhysicalGod-tier opponents.

* TheDragon: The Ophiuchus, the strongest member of Salem's inner circle who stands heads and shoulders above them all with only Salem herself as his equal, When he puts his foot down, the others stop whatever they're doing. He's pretty chummy with Salem in spite of it all and the two genuinely seem to consider each other friends. [[spoiler:It is all but confirmed he is a demonized Natsu.]]

* UnskilledButStrong: [[spoiler:Blake's Full-Body Takeover: Grimm Soul is unbelievably powerful, able to ragdoll the likes of Adam Taurus easily, beat down a combined assault from Sun, Ilia, and Ghira together, and overpower Yang in direct physical combat. However, in its unmastered state she's just a boiling cauldron of rage and instinct whose strategy boils down to "attack until it stops moving" and "use clones to surprise enemy".]] This gets her in trouble when [[spoiler:she fights [[SkilledAndStrong Tyrian]], who admits that in raw power and speed he's technically outmatched, but his powers, his choice of battlefield, and most importantly his (not entirely) rational mind give him the edge. He even admits that if she was sane she ''could'' probably turn the tide (at least before he wiped out his [[SuperMode Etherious Form]]), but as she is the only reason she lives is because [[IWantThemAlive he was explicitly ordered to bring her back to Salem alive]].]]

* TakeALevelInBadass: Happens to Team RWBY after spending six months in Earthland even though only 3 days have passed in Remnant.

* UnskilledButStrong: [[spoiler:Blake's Full-Body Takeover: Grimm Soul is unbelievably powerful, able to ragdoll the likes of Adam Taurus easily, beat down a combined assault from Sun, Ilia, and Ghira together, and overpower Yang in direct physical combat. However, in its unmastered state she's just a boiling cauldron of rage and instinct whose strategy boils down to "attack until it stops moving" and "use clones to surprise enemy".]] This gets her in trouble when [[spoiler:she fights [[SkilledAndStrong Tyrian]], who admits that in raw power and speed he's technically outmatched, but his powers, his choice of battlefield, and most importantly his (not entirely) rational mind give him the edge. He even admits that if she was sane she ''could'' probably turn the tide (at least before he wiped out his [[SuperMode Etherious Form]]).]]

* AmnesianHero: [[spoiler:This seems to be the case with Erza who has forgotten her time as a Fairy Tail Wizard and has been living in Remnant for nearly 20 years as Scarlet Nikos, the mother of Pyrrha Nikos. She doesn't even remember who Pyrrha's father, who is strongly implied to be Jell]].

* TheDragon: The Ophiuchus, the strongest member of Salem's inner circle who stands heads and shoulders above them all with only Salem herself as his equal, When he puts his foot the down, the others stop whatever they're doing. He's pretty chummy with Salem in spite of it all and the two genuinely seem to consider each other friends. [[spoiler:It is all but confirmed he is a demonized Natsu.]]

** Hazel is absolutely disgusted by Adam's attempted coup on Sienna and steps in to protect. He then even offer ''her'' the spot among Salem's Gates that was initially promised to Adam.
** Salem. She is similarly disgusted by Adam's actions towards Sienna and she sees betrayal of one allies for something as petty as power as utterly reprehensible.

** Suprisingly, Salem of all people also encourages this amongst the members of her inner circle. She advises Cinder to view Emerald and Mercury as not her subordinates but her equals and allies.

** Gray and Weiss get quite a bit, which is commented upon by several characters. Weiss, for her part seems to have genuine feeling for Gray, but avoids acting on them out of respect for him and Juvia.

* UnskilledButStrong: [[spoiler:Blake's Full-Body Takeover: Grimm Soul is unbelievably powerful, able to ragdoll the likes of Adam Taurus easily, beat down a combined assault from Sun, Ilia, and Ghira together, and overpower Yang in direct physical combat. However, in its unmastered state she's just a boiling cauldron of rage and instinct whose strategy boils down to "attack until it stops moving" and "use clones to surprise enemy".]] This gets her in trouble when [[spoiler:she fights Tyrian, who admits that in raw power and speed he's technically outmatched, but his powers, his choice of battlefield, and most importantly his (not entirely) rational mind give him the edge. He even admits that if she was sane she ''could'' probably turn the tide (at least before he wiped out his [[SuperMode Etherious Form]]).]]

* BeYourself

** Gray and Weiss get quite a bit, which is commented upon by several characters.

* UnskilledButStrong: [[spoiler:Blake's Full-Body Takeover: Grimm Soul is unbelievably powerful, able to ragdoll the likes of Adam Taurus easily, beat down a combined assault from Sun, Ilia, and Ghira together, and overpower Yang in direct physical combat. However, in its unmastered state she's just a boiling cauldron of rage and instinct whose strategy boils down to "attack until it stops moving" and "use clones to surprise enemy".]] This gets her in trouble when [[spoiler:she fights Tyrian, who admits that in raw power and speed he's technically outmatched, but his powers, his choice of battlefield, and most importantly his (not entirely) rational mind give him the edge. He even admits that if she was sane she ''could'' probably turn the tide (at least before he wiped out his Etherious Form).]]

* AffablyEvil: Salem in this fic is [[AdaptationalHeroism is far more chummy than canon]], to the point she seems to be a genuine BenevolentBoss to work under [[spoiler:and who's goal at least in part involves destroying the Grimm once and for all]]. Cinder herself actually gets annoyed at how much she pushes the "friendship and rainbows" crusade. That said, she's still very much willing to crush anyone who gets in her way and refuses to join her side.

** [[CoolTeacher Juvia and Gray's]] critique of Weiss' fighting style after her spar with the former. While Weiss has expertly learned the techniques that Gray has taught her, she ultimately does not create much beyond them as years of training Jacques has taught her to do as told and not create her own style. This is detrimental when using Maker Magic, which relies on creativity. Indeed, the closest Weiss came to challenging Juvia was when she combined Ice-Make Lance with her time dilation glyphs to create [[UpToEleven Ice-Make Phalanx]].
* CantCatchUp: Commented upon by Qrow and Sun, who both note in their own ways that without magic, they're basically useless when it comes to facing off against the real threats coming up. Sure, they can take on Grimm no problem, but the heroes are effectively [[OneManArmy One-Man Armies]] who can solo hordes without breaking a sweat and their enemies border on PhysicalGod-tier opponents.

** Salem's inner circle, [[spoiler:the "Gates", each use one of the magics of the 12 golden Celestial Spirits and one of the curses of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros (and presumably Mard Geer) combined]], in addition to their own natural abilities and Semblances. In order:
*** Cinder possesses, in addition to the Fall Maiden's powers, the powers of [[spoiler:[[ArcherArchetype Sagittarius]] and [[MagicEnhancement Kyouka]].]] She also has [[spoiler:Silver Eyes.]]

* TheDragon: The Ophiuchus, the strongest member of Salem's inner circle who stands heads and shoulders above them all, and when he puts his foot the down the others stop whatever they're doing. He's pretty chummy with Salem in spite of it all and the two genuinely seem to consider each other friends. [[spoiler:He's also a demonized Natsu.]]

** Weiss's magic is [[KillTheGod Ice God Slayer Magic]], which manifests as black ice that can kill gods.

*** Cinder possesses, in addition to the Fall Maiden's powers, the powers of [[spoiler:[[ArcherArchetype Sagittarius]] and [[MagicEnhancement Kyouka]].]]

** As in canon, Cinder while using the Fall Maiden's powers. [[spoiler:Wendy]] comments that she's putting out flames intense enough even Natsu would have been impressed by them before he went off for TrainingFromHell in the Tartaros arc.

** And of course, Cinder herself proves to be this to Ruby and Pyrrha. Despite the latter being one of the strongest in-training Huntresses [[spoiler:and unlocking her magic during the fight]] and Ruby using her own Magic to its fullest, neither are able to handle Cinder's full Fall Maiden powers. [[spoiler:Even Wendy, who is post-Alvarez Empire arc, struggles to handle her even in [[SuperMode Dragon Force]] until she manages to win.]]

* ComboPlatterPowers: [[spoiler: Salem's inner circle, the "Gates", use magic related to the 12 golden Celestial Spirits and the curses of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros (and presumably Mard Geer) combined, in addition to their own natural abilities and Semblances.]]
* DemonSlaying:
** Yang's magic is [[PlayingWithFire Fire Devil Slayer's Magic]], which manifests as pink-colored flames. Natsu comments that, similar to Zancrow's God Slayer flames, it's hard to eat her magic.
** And of course, there's Gray's own Ice Devil Slayer's Magic.

* KillTheGod: Weiss's magic is [[AnIcePerson Ice God Slayer's Magic]], which manifests as black ice that can kill gods.

* ComboPlatterPowers: [[spoiler:Salem's inner circle, the "Gates", use magic related to the 12 golden Celestial Spirits and the curses of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros (and presumably Mard Geer) combined, in addition to their own natural abilities and Semblances.]]

** Yang serves as one to Mercury after their match at the Vytal Festival. While he was holding back during the fight to let her win, her overwhelming him with [[BreathWeapon Fire Devil's Rage]] at the end makes him realize that he can't compete [[BadassNormal as he is]] anymore. From then on, he becomes determined to acquire magic of his own to close the gap.

** Despite Blake accessing her Take-Over: Spirit Soul's first [[spoiler: Grimm form]] to protect her partner from Adam, Yang still ends up losing an arm when [[spoiler: Blake is overwhelmed by the Full-Body Take Over and goes wild.]] She is [[It'sAllMyFault riddled with guilt]] over what happened.
* It'sAllMyFault:

** Despite Blake accessing her Take-Over: Spirit Soul's first [[spoiler: Grimm form]] to protect her partner from Adam, Yang still ends up losing an arm when [[spoiler: Blake is overwhelmed by the Full-Body Take Over and goes wild.]] She is [[AllMyFault riddled with guilt]] over what happened.
* AllMyFault:
** Both Blake and Sun blames themselves for Yang [[AnArmAndALeg losing her arm]]. Blake for [[losing control of her Grimm transformation]], and Sun because [[he and Neptune arrived just when Yang had seemingly calmed Blake down and fired on her.]] Yang herself notably doesn't blame either of them, as they were both trying to help her and didn't fully understand what was going on.

** Yang serves as one to Mercury after their match at the Vytal Festival. While he was holding back during the fight to let her win, her overwhelming him with [[BreathAttack Fire Devil's Rage]] at the end makes him realize that he can't compete [[BadassNormal as he is]] anymore. From then on, he becomes determined to acquire magic of his own to close the gap.

** Yang serves as one to Mercury after their match at the Vytal Festival. While he was holding back during the fight to let her win, her overwhelming him with Fire Devil's Rage at the end makes him realize that he can't compete [[BadassNormal as he is]] anymore. From then on, he becomes determined to acquire magic of his own to close the gap.

* WakeUpCallBoss: During their time with Fairy Tail, Team RWBY finds out that Tartaros might have a connection to the book that sent them to Earthland and try to sneak away to track down the dark guild, Erza catches them. Still fresh off their victory at the [[Recap/RWBYV2E12Breach Breach]], the girls are confident that they can handle whatever wizards can throw at them. Erza then has them fight [[PlayingWithFire Natsu]]. The girls [[CurbstompCushion put up a good fight]], but fall to their knees in surrender once he shows his full power in [[SuperMode Lightning Flame Dragon Mode]]. Natsu even references the time [[WorldsStrongestMan Gildarts]] taught him the [[Recap/FairyTailTenrouIslandArc same lesson]]. Team RWBY agrees to stay with Fairy Tail for the time being and [[TakeALevelInBadass learn magic]] until they are strong enough to survive fighting Tartaros.

-->-- [['''Ruby Rose''']]

!!Tropes present in RWBY Zero:

* WakeUpCallBoss: During their time with Fairy Tail, Team RWBY finds out that Tartaros might have a connection to the book that sent them to Earthland and try to sneak away to track down the dark guild, Erza catches them. Still fresh off their victory at the [[Recap/RWBYV2E12"Breach" Breach]], the girls are confident that they can handle whatever wizards can throw at them. Erza then has them fight [[PlayingWithFire Natsu]]. The girls [[CurbstompCushion put up a good fight]], but fall to their knees in surrender once he shows his full power in [[SuperMode Lightning Flame Dragon Mode]]. Natsu even references the time [[WorldsStrongestMan Gildarts]] taught him the [[Recap/FairyTailTenrouIslandArc same lesson]]. Team RWBY agrees to stay with Fairy Tail for the time being and [[TakeALevelInBadass learn magic]] until they are strong enough to survive fighting Tartaros.

* WakeUpCallBoss: During their time with Fairy Tail, Team RWBY finds out that Tartaros might have a connection to the book that sent them to Earthland and try to sneak away to track down the dark guild, Erza catches them. Still fresh off their victory at the [[Recap/RWBYV2E12"Breach" Breach]], the girls are confident that they can handle whatever wizards can throw at them. Erza then has them fight [[PlayingWithFire Natsu]]. The girls [[CurbstompCushion put up a good fight]], but fall to their knees in surrender once he shows his full power in [[SuperMode Lightning Flame Dragon Mode]]. Natsu even references the time [[World'sStrongestMan Gildarts]] taught him the [[Recap/FairyTailTenrouIslandArc same lesson]]. Team RWBY agrees to stay with Fairy Tail for the time being and [[TakeALevelInBadass learn magic]] until they are strong enough to survive fighting Tartaros.