History Fanfic / ForgedDestiny

* TheMagocracy: Atlas, with mages and other magic using classes effectively replacing Nobles.

* RoyalBlood: As classes are (supposedly) passed down from parents to children, and seeing as the [[BlueBlood Noble Caste]] exists and there is also a [[GodEmperor god king]] in Mistral, this seems to be the case at least in Vale and Mistral with Atlas being the standout [[TheMagocracy Mage ruled kingdom]].

* TheHero: Played with:
** This is the purpose of the Hero Caste but several heroes abuse the power and authority for their own gain, and even those that don't generally don't care about the "NPC Caste" beyond as a source of goods that requires protection.
** Ironically, Jaune, who is the only member of the main cast that isn't of the Hero Caste, seems to most closely align with what most people think a Hero should be. He cares nothing for Class prejudices, having been raised a member of the Labour Caste, often inspires hope or determination in others, either through his actions or his words, and always shows a great deal of care for everyone around him.
--->'''Blake:''' "Everyone else looks up to you, even if Pyrrha or Nora are stronger on the front lines. There's a reason they chose to make you the Guild Leader."
** Both Summer Rose and [[spoiler:Tyrian Callows]] were implied to be perfect Heroes, and both of them paid dearly for it.
*** Summer was always eager to help others [[ChronicHeroSyndrome with no care for the cost to herself or her family]]. Her overzealous desire to save others, regardless of personal danger, lead to her [[ParentalNeglect spending little time with her children]] and [[MissingMom eventually dying on a quest]], leaving her family behind to pick up the pieces.
*** [[spoiler:Tyrian]] gave his everything to perform his duty as a hero of Mistral, but, when his charge fled in fear, duty demanded that he chase after and save them, forcing him to leave his fellow Heroes behind. [[spoiler:His charge, the Queen of Mistral, ran away from her carriage and drowned in a swamp before he could save her and his comrades died since he wasn't around to save ''them''.]] The king condemned him a [[{{Unperson}} Forsaken]] so no one would believe the embarrassing truth. [[GoMadFromTheIsolation He didn't take it well.]]
** Also something Ruby aspires to be [[GenerationXerox in imitation to her mother]]. Best seen during the Eldon Quest with Jaune. When the threat is discovered to be [[spoiler:human bandits rather than Grimm]], Ruby decides [[ChronicHeroSyndrome to press on and save the village immediately despite the level of threat being potentially greater]], while Jaune (and everyone else who learned about it later) believes it's better and safer to delay for a little while to get help. Afterwards it's revealed to be a major concern for both Yang and Qrow, as Ruby's [[GlassCannon low Constitution means she's even more likely to be killed.]]

* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: In Vacuo, the strongest person in a tribe is the leader regardless of Caste, whether they want to be or not.
* AuthorityGrantsAsskicking: Varies in several cases.
** In Beacon one of the standard requirements to becoming a teacher is to have a Level of at least 60, and a notable reputation for outstanding achievements.
** Subverted in the Kingdom's usual standard forms of government, where the ones in charge are Noble Caste members who are not very suited to fighting like the Hero Caste. Though played straight in Atlas, where the Noble Caste has been [[TheMagocracy replaced by Mages.]]
** Also subverted with the Hunters Guild, where Jaune is made the Guild Master despite having the lowest level in the group.
** Then played straight again with [[spoiler:Cinder]] who, as both a [[TheAce Prestige Class]] and [[spoiler:the future princess of Mistral,]] kicks a metric ''ton'' of ass with any fight she participates in becoming a CurbStompBattle as a result.

* AssKickingEqualsAuthority: In Vacuo, the strongest person in a tribe is the leader regardless of Caste, whether they want to be or not.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Varies in several cases.

** The description of the rune Jaune engraves on the sword he forges in Chapter 12 of Book 7 exactly matches that of the symbol found on both [[spoiler:the doors to the Vacuoan temple, and [[TheMacGuffin Jaune's amulet]]]] but he states that has never seen it before. The author later corrects this to have Jaune actually recognize the symbol.

* [[BatmanGambit Batman Gambit]]/DeliberateInjuryGambit: Jaune pulls this off against the fanatical [[spoiler:Tyrian]]. Realizing that his friends wouldn't be able to defeat such a skilled opponent, he made a show of attacking the enemy's object of worship. The attack ''would'' have been entirely ineffective, but [[spoiler:Tyrian]] didn't know that and left himself completely open while attacking Jaune.

* BodyguardCrush: A fairly common occurance in Atlas with Mages and Sentinels being partnered for most of their lives. [[spoiler:Also the reason for Watts' love for Weiss mother Willow, who he served as her Sentinel, and subsequent jealousy when she married Jacques instead. It eventually lead to him hiring an Assassin who killed both Jacques and Whitley, and later almost poisoning Weiss and Winter in an attempt to have Willow for himself, before he ended up murdering her as well.]]

* DoorStopper: With Book 6 officially ended as of September 17th, the fic stands at 94 chapters and nearly 700k words long. With 10 books planned out, it's still far from over with.

** [[spoiler:The whole scheme between the Vale King and Ozpin in having Jaune infiltrate the Greycloaks deliberately ignores the rather obvious fact Jaune's been instrumental in fighting and killing them, and knows far too much about Salem to be taken in by a mere promise of a wish. When Jaune points this out Ozpin brushes it off as "overestimating" the local members in comparison to it's leaders, despite the local members being capable enough that they can't be infiltrated with anything other than such a high-profile spy like Jaune.]]

** [[spoiler:Watts]]: He can't help but [[EvilGloating gloat to the heroes]] concerning the supremacy of his [[GeometricMagic rune-enchanted]] armor and how none of their weapons would be able to harm him. [[spoiler:So Jaune [[PlayingWithFire melts]] one of the runes from Watts' sword, stripping it of its abilities, while also distracting Watts enough for Blake to stab him [[EyeScream in the eye]] with his own enchanted dagger that he had previously fatally wounded her with before she was [[HealingHands healed by Watts' own spell that had missed its intended target thanks to Jaune.]]]]

* [[InterClassRomance Inter-Caste Romance]]: Seems to be generally frowned upon if not outright forbidden. The only confirmed case is Weiss's mother and father, a Mage of Atlas and a common Soldier respectively, and even then it only somewhat applies as both were Hero classes despite the differences in their political station.

* [[BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama Rogue Gal on Knight Guy Drama]]: The romantic relationship between [[spoiler:Blake as an Assassin and Jaune as a Knight]] is seen with derision and scorn by the general Beacon students, but is the only form of societal pressure the two have come across, and they easily dismiss it.

* SadisticChoice / MercyKill: For the people of Vacuo, who have to keep traveling between oases, the infirm or elderly are a significant drain of resources. The tribe would have to risk all of their lives to support one member. So when someone is too weak to move on, they stay behind and "return to the desert" rather than be a burden for their loved ones. Sun Wukong makes no secret of the fact that the dying choose to make their farewells with their families while and where they can and willingly remain behind to fertilize the oasis' soil.

*** The Paragon Class: [[spoiler:Tyrian Callows]]. Neither a melee spealist like the Champion nor an all-purpose powerhouse like the Elementalist, the Paragon simply brings A-rank growth across all stats.

* PositiveDiscrimination: Explored alongside the other aspects of prejudices and discrimination as a theme of the story. It's also the reason Jaune and the others are tricked into taking a ruined guildhall by the Peddler Azure, [[spoiler:who is really Roman under an illusionary spell]], as Jaune's belief in the Labour Caste being more honest and victimized than Heroes keeps him from being more critical of the deal. From then on Jaune resolves not to fall into this again.

** [[spoiler:In Chapter Five of Book Six, after revealing what a Reaper is to Jaune, Ruby ends the chapter [[WhamLine tearfully confessing that she is aware that Jaune is lying about his Class]]; she's had her suspicions [[SecretSecretKeeper since Book One]], and was hoping that he'd eventually tell her on his own. She only brought it up because she needed to him to use his blacksmith abilties to help her.]]

** [[spoiler:Ruby is revealed to be one to Jaune in Chapter Five of Book Six, tearfully confessing that [[WhamLine she is aware that Jaune is lying about his Class]], immediately after making him one of her secret keepers.]]

* ConfusionFu: The biggest advantage the Greycloaks have is that no one can completely figure out what their overall plan is, aside from “Summon Salem a bunch of times.” They demonstrate a variety of traits indicating a world-spanning organization, with the kind of far-reaching coordinatioon to successfully orchestrate [[spoiler: an all-out war between Vale and Mistral.]] Yet, at the same time, on an individual level, no single member seems to be interested in anything more than summoning Salem and getting his or her wish granted. This discrepancy makes it all but impossible to figure out what their overarching goals are, or even if they have them, beyond cultivating as much darkness and despair as possible in order to increase the likelihood of being able to execute a successful summons. At best, the heroes are only able to figure out enough to act against the latest summoning attempt, yet find little to no information that allows them to counter the organization as a whole.

* AntagonistAbilities: Salem has several. Her very presence presses down everyone till they're on their hands and knees (unless you happen to have very high Resilience, but that's considered a dump stat). Striking her with a weapon will either [[{{Intangibility}} go right through her,]] or [[BareHandedBladeBlock be caught with ease.]] She can easily [[SuperSenses detect the location of those out of sight or the true nature of those in disguise,]] can [[{{Telekinesis}} hurl and grab people without physical contact,]] and [[VillainTeleportation cross distances in an instant.]] All this, ''in addition to'' being the Queen of Grimm, and thus [[MookMaker able to create any kind of Grimm she wants!]]

* ChastityCouple: Averted. [[spoiler: By the end of Book 4 Blake decides to become more physically intimate with Jaune. By Book 5 onwards it's shown they continue sleeping together on a semi-frequent basis, [[EnterStageWindow although Blake takes measures not to alert the others to this.]]]]

** [[spoiler:While the first author's note states that the primary pairing of the work will be Lancaster(Ruby x Jaune), the author actually changed his mind within the first ten chapters and decided to make the pairing Knightshade(Jaune x Blake). Coeur has since stated that the pairing is now undecided.]]

** The very core of the story about ‘Jaune forging his own destiny’ is this, as the actual events see [[spoiler: he’s constantly being thrown into events due the urging and machinations of other people (particularly Ozpin), and that his very ability to become a Hero was due to [[ContrivedCoincidence conveniently]] having a wish granted by Salem, [[{{Plothole}} despite never actually meeting her]], as part of her intent to kill him by throwing Jaune into danger she believed he couldn’t survive]]. Thus despite the core theme or various [[WordOfGod statements by the author]], the story sees Jaune mostly being thrown into things by others with him just going along.

** When Ruby finally reveals the details of her Class to the rest of the guild and is then easily accepted by them, Jaune ruminates that [[spoiler:the rest of the guild might have been just as accepting of him had he not "chose not to take the plunge Ruby had" and instead [[ThePowerOfFriendship trusted his friends with his secret]]]]. The problems with this assessment are numerous. For one, Ruby was only revealing the details of her Class because the situation necessitated that she do so in order to effectively face [[spoiler:Raven]] and would have preferred never explaining them to the rest of the Hunters at all. Secondly, Jaune's secret was of an entirely greater severity than Ruby's as the revelation of his true Class could have led to his permanent incarceration or execution while Ruby's [[spoiler:had been sanctioned by the King himself[[/spoiler]]. Additionally, Pyrrha even admitted that had [[spoiler:Jaune revealed the truth of his Class at any point before the quest to Mistral, then she would have turned him over to the authorities, and that she would have still distrusted him had he done so at a later time]]. Lastly, Ruby reveals the details of her Class not only with the support of Jaune and Yang, but also after [[spoiler:the rest of the Hunters have already had time to learn from the atrocious actions they performed when Jaune's true nature was revealed]]. And this doesn't even address the issue that being a Reaper [[spoiler:is an entirely new and unknown Class, and thus the whole point is to see whether or not it's appropriate for the Hero Caste, negating many of the similarities to Jaune's situation, which has a more obvious niche in society]].

The work is currently updated on a weekly-basis every Monday. It can be found [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12044591/1/Forged-Destiny here]] on Website/FanFictionDotNet.

* Book 2 - Aberration of Atlas: The newly formed guild, and [[SixthRanger Blake]], set off on their Annual Quest, investigating strange goings on in the Kingdom of Atlas.

* Book 4 - The Forsaken: As the most distinguished first year guild in Beacon's recent history, The Hunters are tasked with investigating suspicious activity in Mistral.

*** Specialization conflict: Weiss is a Mage, but her passive requires her to use a sword. This means she doesn't get INT / WIS boost usually granted by staves or wands and doesn't have the stats to get any decent use from a sword.
*** Enhancing: Ruby's passive applies her superior AGI as a (partial?) bonus to DEX checks (and possibly STR checks for her skills). Ruby's not only ridiculously fast and hard to hit, but her attacks are in turn difficult to dodge, extremely precise and powerful enough to deliver (conditional) one-hit kills on Ancient Grimm.

* AntagonistAbilities: Salem has several. Her very presence [[GravityMaster presses down everyone till they're on their hands and knees.]] Striking her with a weapon will either [[{{Intangibility}} go right through her,]] or [[BareHandedBladeBlock be caught with ease.]] She can easily [[SuperSenses detect the location of those out of sight or the true nature of those in disguise,]] can [[{{Telekinesis}} hurl and grab people without physical contact,]] and [[VillainTeleportation cross distances in an instant.]] All this, ''in addition to'' being the Queen of Grimm, and thus [[MookMaker able to create any kind of Grimm she wants!]]

** Later on, it is implied that this gives Jaune the ability to ignore pain, fatigue, and fear, as well as resist mental interference, and Salem's paralyzing presence. This even pushes into HeroicSafeMode territory as Jaune still feels some fear but seems unable or unwilling to act on it

* EmotionEater: Salem, and by extension the rest of the Grimm. She has a preference for despair and anger, and dislikes love and satisfaction at a job well done.

* EyeScream: Happens to [[spoiler:Watts]] curtesy of Blake with his own magic dagger.

* [[BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama Rogue Gal on Hero Guy Drama]]: The romantic relationship between [[spoiler:Blake as an Assassin and Jaune as a Knight]] is seen with derision and scorn by the general Beacon students, but is the only form of societal pressure the two have come across, and they easily dismiss it.
* RoyalBlood: As classes are (supposedly) passed down from parents to children, and seeing as the [[BlueBlood Noble Caste]] exists and there is also a [[GodEmperor god king]] in Mistral, this seems to be the case at least in Vale and Mistral with Atlas being the standout [[TheMagocracy Mage ruled kingdom]]

** Beyond that, everyone has a hidden level, stats, and class based skills.
** [[spoiler:Paths act as a sort of talent tree as the skills that a person will acquire are heavily influenced by what they focus on in life.]]
* SadisticChoice: For the people of Vacuo, who have to keep traveling between oases, the infirm or elderly are a significant drain. So when someone is too weak to move on, they stay behind and "return to the desert" rather than be a burden for their loved ones.
* SecretArt: Jaune's [[spoiler:[[GeometricMagic Runesmithing]]]], as he seems to be the only person who knows about the skill. [[spoiler:This is implied to be because, as Jaune is the only known Blacksmith to have tried to be a Hero, his Path is trying to provide him with the means to accomplish his goal and this is the closest thing to a combat skill that it could give him.]]

** [[spoiler:Cinder]] of all people is one for Jaune. She doesn't know that he is actually a Blacksmith, but it's hinted that she suspects the class above his head to be a lie due to their interactions during their first meeting.

* TheSixStats: Every person in Remnant is born with the six classic stats, in addition to Agility (Agi) which denotes the ability to move and dodge, and Resilience (Res) which has unknown abilities.
* SlainInTheirSleep: Averted by Jaune [[spoiler:in the Magnis Quest when a [[MasterOfIllusion Blake-disguised Neo]] sneaks into his room at night to murder him, and he wakes up. Of course he believes it's another one of Blake's nightly visits, so she instead proceeds to [[KissOfDeath make-out with him before attempting to strangulate him.]]]]

** [[spoiler:Salem]] has been called up thrice by the [[BigBad Greycloaks.]]
** [[spoiler:Cinder's Phoenix]] may also count as it seems to take orders from, and act semi-autonomously of, its caster.
* SuperpowerLottery: Prestige Classes. They are mentioned several times throughout the story as being much stronger than equivalent classes of the same level with superior stats and abilites, and stand out to the point their very births are recorded. Examples so far include:
** The Champion Class such as Pyrrha and the bodyguard to the King of Vale, who are a superior Warrior type that historically were used to settle entire wars in single duels.
** The Elementalist Class like [[spoiler:Cinder]], a Mage-Melee cross type that specializes in only a single kind of elemental magic.
** The Paragon Class like [[spoiler:Tyrian]], who are the perfect embodiments of the Hero Class with A rank Stats in every category.

* TheseusShipParadox: Jaune creates Crocea Mors to the exact same specifications each time he crafts it. The original steel sword was shattered in the battle with Watts but Jaune gathered some of the shards and reforged the blade using Vacuan Silver. Jaune perfectly recreates the blade again when he gets hold of some enchanted metal. When that blade is similarly broken, he makes a new sword from scratch but still with the same shape, weight, balance, and reach as each of the previous ones. Each of these swords is still Crocea Mors[[spoiler: according to Jaune's second Passive, Blade Bond, which increases damage dealt in proportion to the length of time the same sword has been wielded.]]
** Somehow this even applies with entirely different swords that don't have any trace of the original blade in them, but just has the same physical traits of length and balance that Jaune merely always calls every blade 'Corcea Mors.'{{Lampshaded}} at the start of Book 8 where Jaune notes it makes absolutely no sense, but works regardless.

* TookALevelInBadass: As per RPG mechanics, killing Grimm or completing specific Labour tasks grants Experience allowing everyone to gain Levels and become stronger.

** The basis of the Caste System. Some classes will always be stronger or more specialized than others. A specialist class like Pyromancers or Surgeons will always be better in their particular niche than more generalized classes such as Mages or Doctors. Meanwhile, Prestige Classes are [[TheAce just plain overpowered]] compared to other individuals of the same level. Jaune, as a Blacksmith, will always have poor Dexterity and Agility, and will never gain any truly combat-related Skills.

An AU ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' fanfic written by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/6272865/Coeur-Al-Aran Coeur Al'Aran]], creator of {{Fanfic/Professor Arc}}. In this universe, Remnant is entirely governed by [[RPGMechanicsVerse RPG Mechanics]] with people born to various Classes that can be read above a person's head, and where Grimm drop loot when killed. Here, Jaune is born a Blacksmith, but dreams of becoming a Hero. Thanks to a [[{{McGuffin}} magical amulet]] he's discovered that changes the appearance of his Class to Knight, he manages to enter Beacon to fulfill his dream, but without any real knowledge of what being a Knight or Hero truly entails, and under constant fear of being discovered.

** [[spoiler:Tyrian]]: He summoned [[BiggerBad Salem]] in a mad belief that she would be a fair and just ruler. [[spoiler:She ends up manipulating both him and the heroes in order to bring about his death, to both get out of fulfilling his wish, and [[DespairEventHorizon push him further into despair and anguish.]]]]

* BaseOnWheels: The Roaming City of Vacuo is a HighFantasy DesertPunk take on the trope, with the city moving throughout the desert along a series of oases. Every few months the entire city is disassembled and moves on once the current oasis is exhausted.

** Book 7: [[spoiler:The guild have come to something of a reconciliation, but hundreds of civilians have been massacred, Qrow's dead, Lisa's dead, Jaune just suffered a week of almost unending torture, the kingdom of Vale seems to be on the brink of collapse, Raven is still at large and planning to summon Salem to make a potentially apocalyptic wish, and no one has any idea how to stop her that doesn't in some way make everything worse.]] This is the closest any book has come so far to a true DownerEnding.