Fanfic / RWBY: Second Generation

"Once humanity was united against a common foe, they grew stronger. But it is important that as a species, they do not become complacent. Something is stirring in the air, and those who would fight for the dark are beginning to reemerge. If humanity is to survive the storm that’s headed their way, they’ll need to do so together. But heed my words. They were able to claim victory over the queen, but they will bow before a king. He is biding his time in the dark, waiting to deliver the final blow."

— Prologue

A Tale of Racism, Romance, Revenge, and Relics

RWBY: Second Generation is a RWBY Original Character fanfiction by Verse_Warden about an alternate future for the world of Remnant. Set five years after the War of Salem, itself twenty-five years after the Fall of Beacon, the story follows four students enrolled in the rebuilt New Beacon. While there, they all get caught in a massive pileup of conspiracies of both a political and mystical nature.

The story focuses on team VOLN (pronounced as Violin), comprised of Verse Warden, Orion Brean, Lyla Marko, and Noir as they learn the ins-and-outs of being Huntsmen. As they have a lot to learn, sinister forces are building up a plan to destroy everything. Will they be able to survive what's coming?

The story currently has four volumes of twenty chapters, and a fifth has begun as of September, 2018. The story can also be read on Fanfiction.net. The author has gone on record to state that the main version is the one on the RWBY Amino.

As of December 2018, the series appears to have been Orphaned with the deletion of the original Amino account. However, it was saved as of January 2019, with a Channel Hop and reinvigoration on the FFN version.

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RWBY: Second Generation provides examples of:

• Abusive Parents: Orion reveals that his dad Tyler was this way. It gets worse as his dad is revealed to be a part of the Underground.
• Achilles' Heel: Verse, due to an encounter with a Boarbatusk early on, has a scar on his left shoulder. It gets used against him when Licorice stabs him in the aftermath of the Storm Arc
• Action Duo: Initially, the main characters were all paired before coming together. The best example is Nyanza and Sage, who were this well before the timeline of the story.
• A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 13 focuses entirely on the Jericho Initiates.
  • Chapter 67 focuses on Team EBNY's final exams, which involve tracking and killing a large flock of Nevermores in the Emerald Forest.
  • Chapter 73 is from the perspective of a retired team CRNS.
• A Father to His Men: Gender inverted with Cherie. Her caring for her team is one of the reasons Headmaster Pine appoints her as leader of Team CRNS.
• Affectionate Nickname: Team CRNS usually refers to Hibiscus as “Bun.” They also have a tendency to call Nyanza “Nya”.
  • As of Chapter 56, Lyla has started to call Verse “Green Boy,” or just “Green.”
• All Just a Dream: Verse's encounter with Centani. Or was it? As of the Volume 3 finale, It wasn’t.
• All Your Powers Combined: Nyanza and Sage can pull this off when they combine their weapons. By locking their weapons together, they can fuse dust and unleash a joint Sword Beam, combining Nyanza’s Wind with Sage’s Earth dust.
• Aloof Ally: Noir was this at the start, but he's growing into his team.
• Alpha Bitch: Diamond, full stop. She's eventually the one who forces Verse to reveal himself as a Faunus.
  • She's gone even further as of Volume 2. Her racist tendencies to faunus have gotten her expelled and now she has joined the Underground.
  • Since she killed Tyler and betrayed the Underground at the end of Volume 2, she’s getting better about this.
• Always a Bigger Fish: After the War of Remnant, Salem fell. Now, Remnant has to deal with The Jericho Initiates, whose end goal is to Summon the God of Darkness to Remnant.
  • As revealed in The Stinger for the finale of Volume 3, that’s all small potatoes compared to Jericho.
• Amnesiac Hero: Noir can't remember who he really is due to growing up sick. He's stated to deal with some memory loss, but the extent of this is unknown.
• Amusing Injuries: Used occasionally in the first few volumes for a humor break. Verse and Cherie can't seem to stop running into each other. And there was that one time Lyla crashed into Noir during initiation.
• Ancestral Weapon: Orion's weapon, in a way. He picked it up from Mars after he died.
• And I Must Scream: Licorice at the beginning of Volume 4. Despite being ripped apart by the Grimm, she doesn't actually die for over an hour, leading to a very slow and painful demise.
• An Ice Person: Anyone who uses Ice Dust in their weapons.
• Antagonistic Governor: Cobalt Drew was formerly the chieftain and governor of his village before he killed all the faunus living there, including Verse's family
• Applied Phlebotinum: Dust.
• Arc Number: 4, just like the original series.
• Arc Villain: Overlapping with Big Bad Ensemble, this is the role of the Underground. Their impact on the story lasted one volume until they were all dealt with at the end of Volume 2, except for Cobalt.
• An Arm and a Leg: Twice in the volume 3 finale. The first is Cobalt, who has his leg chopped off when Orion gets the drop on him. The second is Hibiscus, who has her hand burnt off in Cobalt’s Explosion.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Sky delivers one to Verse when he is distraught over losing his mother’s cape. It seems to be the turning point to snap him out of his Heroic BSoD.
  Sky: “So you lost Mom’s cloak. I didn’t realize that your entire personality was based on the clothes you wore. Besides, you’ve tailored it so much that it’s really not hers anymore. Don’t you recognize your own handiwork when you’re bearing it on your back?”
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: This happens to everyone upon death, unless they have some Unfinished Business. Their spirit moves onward to the Beyond. This is revealed with the ascension of Sky's spirit.
• As You Know: Used by Headmaster Pine to describe the War of Remnant.
• Attack Its Weak Point: This is Razz's semblance. She can scan for structural weaknesses and deliver precise attacks to those weaknesses.
  • This is later used against Verse. Licorice sneaks up behind him after his aura is depleted and stabs him in his left shoulder, which was previously scarred and damaged by a fight with a Boarbatusk.
• Attention Whore: Diamond claims this of Verse. This causes Verse to break out in rage and admit he's a Faunus. Her later behavior essentially pinpoint her as this, but she’s gotten better about it.
• The Atoner: All of Team VOLN. Verse wants to avenge the death of his family at the hands of Cobalt, Orion wants to make up for the death of a father figure, Lyla wants to forgive herself for letting her brother get hurt, and Noir wants to make up for his past crimes.
• Ax-Crazy: Licorice. Full-stop.
• Badass Family: The Hart family. Nyanza and Sage are huntresses in training, and their father Daniel is a retired huntsman. You have to be badass in that business to survive to retirement.
• Badass Teacher: All of the instructors at New Beacon have to be this in order to teach the students. Props go to Professor Storm, the combat instructor who doubles as a Reasonable Authority Figure.
• Bad Boss: Baki and Qara both execute underlings who disappoint them. Baki seems to be the boss overall of the Jericho Initiates, and he’s planning to murder the rest. He’s already plotted the death of Anai at Qara’s hands
  • Tyler Brean treated Diamond terribly during her time with the Underground, repeatedly mocking her to her face and threatening to kill her. It’s what sparked her Heel–Face Turn.
• The Bad Guy Wins: After chapter 55, Licorice gets away with the relic of Choice, leaving all four relics in the hands of the Jericho Initiates.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Despite the setting, Razz prefers to fight barehanded.
• Bash Brothers: All of the main ten students have become this due to the amount of time they've spent together. However, this has dropped between team CRNS since they gave up.
• Battle Amongst the Flames: The final confrontation of the volume four finale takes place amidst the burning Initiate campground.
• Battle Aura: Of course. This is a staple of the world of Remnant, so most characters have this as a manifestation of their soul.
• Battle in the Center of the Mind: Lyla did this against herself as a young child, according to her official character bio.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The basic roles for Team VOLN. Lyla is the Beauty, Verse is the Brains, and Orion and Noir share the Brawn.
• Becoming the Mask: Noir was originally a persona created to hide from the public, but he has since grown as a student, and is trying to keep his own personality in line.
• Berserk Button: Do NOT make fun of Faunus while Verse is around. It’s also unwise to mention his family’s death.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Verse is typically a genuine person. Just don't piss him off. See Berserk Button above.
• Biblical Motifs: Jericho. In the Bible, Jericho was a city that fell under siege by the Hebrews, acting under god. Jericho in this story is a Physical God himself who seems to be destined to bring ruin on the entire world of Remnant. In addition, he does have a small but devoted following who seem to want that exact thing.
• Bifurcated Weapon: Orion's Day's End can be split apart to be twin hatchets.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: As of Volume 4, this has been established with Qara and Baki. both have two relics, and it appears that Qara has left the Initiates, leaving the two caught in a game of Cat-and-mouse.
  • Finally settled one and for all in the volume 4 finale. Qara wins.
• Big Bad Ensemble: So far, it seems that this is the role of the Jericho Initiates, made up of Qara, Baki, Anai, and Licorice.
  • However, as of the end of Volume Two, it appears to be going more towards a Big Bad Duumvirate between Qara and Baki. Licorice is now acting more like a servant to them and Anai was killed by Qara.
• Big Brother Instinct: Verse will go out of his way to protect his teammates. Gender inverted with Sage. She usually protects Nyanza with all her might.
• Big Damn Heroes: This is how Mars saved Orion early on.
• The Big Guy: Orion definitely fills this role as a bruiser on Team VOLN.
• Blade Brake: Razz and Orion do this to stick their landing upon initiation.
• Blinded by the Light: Nyanza can exploit this, using her Semblance as a bright flash to blind her opponents.
• Blow You Away: Anyone using Wind Dust can accomplish this, but Lyla has nearly mastered this in combat. Verse occasionally picks this up as well.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Sage and Orion can pack a serious punch, and are both very in touch with their emotions.
• Bonding over Missing Parents: All of team CRNS grew up in the same orphanage, owned by Nyanza and Sage's father. This applies to team VOLN as of Chapter 21, with the exception of Lyla, who still has her parents.
• Bookends: Chapter 56 begins and ends with Cobalt alive in Vacuo and making a purchase of some sort. At the beginning, he’s buying groceries. At the end, he’s buying an airship ticket to Vale to go after Verse.
• Boom, Headshot!: The Underground Arc is brought to a quick end when Diamond turns against the Underground by shooting Tyler in the back of the head.
• Boring, but Practical: Blood Moon, one of Noir's weapons, is nothing more than a simple pistol, but it gets the job done.
• Bottomless Magazines: Completely averted, as each weapon has a certain capacity.
• Bookworm: Nyanza is shown enjoying a book in her first appearance, and it's implied that she has always been like this.

• Breather Episode: Chapter 18 is really easy compared to the plot-heavy chapters immediately proceeding it.
  • Chapter 66 has Team VOLN sitting down to play a board game together, despite the ongoing arc building up to the Final Exams. The title is even called Taking Time to Breathe.
• Broken Bird: Verse becomes this literally after the Storm Arc. His cloak, the only reminder of his mother, is taken away by the wind and he falls to pieces over it. Fittingly, the episode after the Storm Trilogy is called Broken Bird.
• The Brute: Qara seems to fill this role in the Initiates. It’s reinforced with his semblance of disintegration. Although it seems Too Awesome to Use, since it puts him in a coma for a month.
• The Bus Came Back: Early on in the series, Licorice ran away into the forest. Later, it was shown that she caught up with the Jericho Initiates and is now after the Relic of Choice.
  • At the end of the second volume, Cobalt ran away, seemingly unscathed. By chapter 56, he’s shown buying a ticket to Vale to settle a score with Verse. As of chapter 59, he's launching a one-man assault on New Beacon to find him.
• Buffy Speak: Sage can break into this at times.
  Sage: We’re faunus. We have night vision. Use it, and quit keeping everyone awake with your glowiness.
• Cast Herd: The characters are primarily broken up by what team they're on or what their alliance is. Primarily it’s broken into Team VOLN, team CRNS, India and Diamond, teachers, the Underground, and the Initiates.
• Casting a Shadow: Noir's semblance allows him to use his actual shadow as a physical being. This is used to great effect for stealth and deceit.
• Cat Girl: Nyanza and Sage are cat faunus. The same also applies to India, although she is a tiger.
• Character Tics: Verse has a habit of cracking his neck when things get serious.
• Cheerful Child: Hibiscus is an exciteable, 8-year-old rabbit faunus living with team CRNS. Sage and Nyanza are like big sisters to her, and she’s considered a part of their family.
• Chekhov's Gun: The crystal of fire dust that Professor Storm gave Orion in chapter 57 comes back into play in Chapter 70 as Verse uses it to blow himself up so he can get rid of Berdea and force a victory in the final exam.
  • Another comes in the form of Verse's scarred shoulder from the Initiation Arc. Licorice is able to get the drop on him, attacking his weak point, and taking him out of the fight.
• Chess Motifs: Just like in the main series, teammates are chosen by a selection of chess pieces.
• Cliffhanger: Chapter 19 ends with one as Verse reveals himself as a faunus.
• Close-Range Combatant: Sage. Her weapon is one of few that doesn't double as a gun, instead folding into a close-range dagger.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Licorice gives this off in spades.
  Licorice: Sorry, friend, but the dancing wolf people want me to kill you now.
• Color-Coded Characters: Yep. Just like in the main series, everybody's name reflects color in some way.
• Combat Clairvoyance: Orion's semblance. He can see about five seconds into the future while fighting, and use this information to help himself or his teammates dodge enemy attacks.
• Combination Attack: Nyanza and Sage can do this when they lock their weapons together, allowing them to fire a Sword Beam of sorts.
  • Team VOLN gets a full one in Chapter 90 with Formations Tatsumaki and Blitz. Lyla and Verse sweep up a tornado around Qara, while Orion uses his Combat Clairvoyance to guide Noir, who unleashes dozens of bullets at once. Too bad it wasn't enough to take down Qara.
• Companion Cube: Verse seems really fond of his cloak. It's all he has left of his Missing Mom.
• Cool Airship: The story kicks off on the airship to New Beacon.
• Cool Mask: Noir wears a masquerade-style black mask that unfolds unto a bullwhip.
• Cool Shades: Verse sports a pair of sunglasses at all times.
• Cool Sword. Multiple. Verse's weapon is a fullered Crusader, and Nyanza and Sage carry mirrored serrated machetes.
• Corrupt Politician: Cobalt Drew. He was acting head of a village when he orders the extermination of all faunus, including Verse's family.
• Coup de Grâce: Qara delivers one to Pine at the end of Chapter 79.
• Crash-Into Hello: Verse and Cherie in the first Volume. Repeatedly.
• Crazy Is Cool: In-universe. Licorice acts like a lunatic in battle, but she can still kick ass, as shown when she [[spoilers: impales Verse's shoulder.]]
• Crazy-Prepared: Verse is noted to carry a little bit of each dust type for any situation.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: In his first appearance, Baki has a messenger sent to his death by trapping him in a room full of Ursae who tear him to shreds. The same later happens to Licorice in the first chapter of volume 4.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Orion vs Licorice early on. Because of her Motor Mouth tendencies, he lands her on the ground quickly. She seems to resent him for this and singles him out in the Storm Arc.
  • While not technicallly a battle, per se, the race between Lyla and Verse in chapter 56 ends with one, with Lyla coming out on top. At the end of the day, She can fly circles around him with ease.

• Dare to Be Badass: Headmaster Pine often includes these when he's trying to motivate his students. It's rubbed off on some of the other teachers, too.
• Dark Is Evil: All of the Jericho Initiates use the color black in their design, and their names all reflect black in some way. Plus, when combined, the names of Baki, Licorice, Anai, and Qara forms team BLAQ by the series's team dynamics. Then there’s Jericho, the actual God of Darkness who seems to be behind them.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Noir. Despite his semblance, his overall black and grey color scheme, and his Dark and Troubled Past, he's a good guy who's fighting to protect the innocent and make up for his crimes.
• Dark Secret: All of the main cast has one, but Verse and Noir stand out. Verse is secretly a faunus in hiding, and Noir killed someone in Atlas.
• Dead Person Conversation: Verse’s deceased sister Sky acts as Verse's spiritual advisor, communicating with him on a regular basis.
  • By Chapter 75, it appears that they can't speak anymore.
• Death by Childbirth: Orion implies that this is why his dad is the way he is. He blames Orion for the loss of his wife as Orion was born.
  Orion: All I can remember is him saying something about stealing his wife from him when I was born.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Diamond, after her Heel–Face Turn in Volume 2.
• Destination Defenestration: Licorice goes crazy and jumps out of a window, falling two stories. She survives and is approached about joining the Jericho Initiates.
• Destroyer Deity: Jericho is the fabled God of Darkness and Destruction.
• Detachable Blades: Orion's weapon works this way to make it more modular. It's how it can switch between its three modes.
• Determinator: Verse. Even after being impaled in the shoulder during initiation, he still gets up and finishes the fight. This is later used against him, as his tunnel vision gets him swept up in climbing a tree to reclaim his lost cloak. He never stops to rest and ends up exhausting his aura, opening himself up for an attack.
  • Qara. The man can trek through miles of desert on foot and No-Sell a Combination Attack from all of Team VOLN without exhausting himself.
• Detonation Moon: Remnant's moon was already shattered before the events of the story.
• Deuteragonist: Team CRNS mostly fills this role. While Team VOLN is usually in the spotlight, they are just as important to the plot.
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Verse when he accidentally outs himself as a faunus.
• Disappears into Light: This is what happens to summoned objects when Verse's semblance wears off.
• Dishing Out Dirt: This is one of the practical applications of Sage's semblance. By channeling vibrations through the ground, she can create localized earthquakes. On a lesser note, anyone who uses Earth Dust can accomplish this.
• The Dog Bites Back: In Chapter 23, India finally stands up to Diamond for the latter's racism am harassment.
  • At the end of Volume 2, Diamond gets her own moment when she stands up against Tyler and leaves the Underground.
• Domino Mask: Noir wears one of these. It also doubles as a functional bullwhip.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Qara Rasulov. Although, it's unclear what his endgame is.
• Dual Wielding: Several characters' weapons involve this. Orion's weapon has a mode that acts as twin hatchets. Noir wields a pistol and a whip at the same time, and Razz can usually be seen using two of her quills as knives.
• Easy Amnesia: Noir has shades of this as an effect of his sickness.
• Eerie Pale-skinned Brunet: Noir fits this to a T, especially when wearing his mask. It’s all just an aesthetic of his, as he’s really a nice guy.
• Elemental Powers: Available to all, accessible by the use of Dust.
• Emerald Power: Verse's semblance takes the form of green Hard Light.
• The Empath: This is how Lyla's semblance works. She can tap into other's emotions through physical contact and help them overcome their obstacles.
• Establishing Character Moment: Many. Just to name a few: Orion is introduced hyperactively chatting up Noir, while the latter just gets annoyed. Nyanza is shown using her semblance to read a book in the dark. Likewise, Baki is shown executing an underling.
• Evil vs. Evil: Qara vs. Baki in the volume 4 finale. Qara wins and claims the relics.
• Eye Scream: According to illustration on the Amino version, Diamond appears to be missing her right eye. According to her official bio, she lost it in a training accidentinvolving her father. This has not been expanded upon in the story proper.
• Face–Heel Turn: Licorice, in the beginning.
  • Later on, this is a major plot point when Diamond gets expelled from New Beacon and joins the Underground.
• Facepalm: Lyla pulls this the second time Verse and Cherie smack into each other.
• Famed In-Story: Verse, albeit slightly. He's known locally as a young writer before he began his combat training, but it hasn't yet been shown whether this is fame or merely recognition.
• Family of Choice: Team CRNS is definitely this to each other, and it's implied that they were this way before the events of the story. As of Volume 2, it’s expanded to include Team VOLN, India, and Diamond.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: The messenger and the scapegoat from Volume 1. Another example is Anai, who was disintegrated by Qara at the end of volume 2.
  • This also applies to Licorice as of the beginning of Volume 4. After fulfilling her purpose, she is sent to be torn apart by Grimm. In this case, it was slow and painful, as it took over an hour for her to die.
• Fantastic Racism: Diamond in volume 1 had a particular prejudice against Faunus. It was then exemplified by Cobalt and Ezekiel, who planned a faunus genocide and ran a faunus brothel, respectively.
• Fatal Flaw: Verse’s Determinator tendencies. While usually a good thing in regards to characterization, Verse takes it to an extreme. His determination and Heroic Willpower lead to him having serious tunnel vision, unable to quit something he has his mind on. This makes him have a very one-track mind and leads to a self-destructive need to achieve his current goal. This comes back to bite him when he exhausts his aura trying to climb a tree for a scrap of his cloak, leaving him wide open when Licorice attacks.
• Feather Motif: Verse keeps a quill feather tucked behind his ear, and has been generally associated with feathers throughout the story. As it turns out, he has a lot more on his back.
• Foil: Noir and Licorice are both whip-wielders with a black color scheme and are a bit crazy. However, their paths divulge pretty severely at the point where while Noir has been healed of his insanity issued, Licorice never has. Thusly, their moralities have been almost polar opposites. While Noir is more stoic and reserved, Licorice is more boisterous and flamboyant. In addition, while Noir pairs his whip with a pistol, Licorice is paired with a Dagger, allowing her to be extra sadistic. In addition, both have a motif regarding masks. Noir wears a physical mask over his face to conceal his identity. In a similar vein, Licorice has a metaphorical mask as her Semblance, giving the illusion of sanity. Both end up taking off the masks over time. Noir removes his as he gets more mature, while Licorice loses hers as she begins to lose control.
  • There is an unsettling one between Verse and Cobalt. Both are very involved in the Faunus-Human conflicts troughout the narrative due to the burning of Mandala. Both are held down by their tunnel vision and Revenge Before Reason tendencies. And to add icing to the cake, both are more than willing to blow themselves up for an advantage, though Verse had enough aura to survive the blast. One of the only thing differentiating the two is that Verse has friends who help keep him in line.
• Fragile Speedster: Lyla is the fastest character in the story, but she cant take much punishment before her aura breaks.
• Freudian Slip: How Verse reveals that he’s a faunus.
  Verse: “If you seriously think I haven’t seen the blatant racism against our kind, you’re the most stupid person I’ve ever met!”
• Fuuma Shuriken: Slicer Mode, the third function of Orion's weapon, acts like this albeit with only two blades.
• Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: To break him out of his Heroic BSoD, Sky comes back and berates Verse for dwelling on his past and the loss of his cloak.
• Grand Theft Me: Jericho to Qara in Chapter 90.
• Gravity Master: Anyone who uses Gravity Dust in their arsenal.
• Hand Blast: Cherie's weapon is a glove capable of an electric variant of this.
• Hard Light: Verse's semblance works this way.
• Heel Realization: Diamond gets this when the Underground start abusing her and threatening to kill her. She uses this to redeem herself and kill Tyler.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Verse is shaping up to be the protagonist, and his weapon’s main form is a sword, only using the shotgun for a Recoil Boost.
• Heroic BSoD: Verse after losing his mother’s cloak during the Storm Trilogy. He resigns himself to bed for a chapter and lashes out in rage against his own teammates. It takes Sky talking him down to bring him out of it.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Nearly everybody in the main series sacrificed themselves in the War of Salem.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: This is the main plot arc of Volume 2, as Diamond runs off to join the Underground after being expelled from New Beacon. Later on, she realizes her mistakes and makes amends with her team, turning back to the side of New Beacon after killing Tyler.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Tyler Brean. His introduction had him beating his son Orion, and he later spends a large portion of his time harassing Diamond. In the end, he assaults them once more, which sparks Diamond to kill him.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: This happens to Verse early on, but only in his shoulder. After a few weeks, he's back in commission. However, it does leave a weak point where the scar is.
  • This happens to Headmaster Pine at the end of chapter 79, courtesy of Qara.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Team CRNS, after Cobalt's attack on New Beacon decide to leave the life of being huntresses because of Hibiscus's injuries and the trauma they faced.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Verse is typically a clumsy goof, but when he gets serious, nothing can stand in his way.
• Light 'em Up: Nyanza's semblance, allowing her to glow in the dark or release a blinding flash of light.
• Little Bit Beastly: Faunus are mostly human with a single animal trait, and they are very prevalent in the work. Just a brief list of what we've seen so far: Cherie, Razz, Nyanza, Sage, India, Dr. Oro, and Verse.
• Living Shadow: Basically, Noir's semblance. He can control his actual shadow and affect the real world with it.
• Make Me Wanna Shout: The true purpose of Sage's semblance is to use and manipulate sonic vibration in the air. She can channel these vibrations for concussive attacks or to trigger minor earthquakes.
  • The more traditional use of this is also Eminence's semblance. As shown in chapter 67, she can create a concussive force by screaming.
• Manchild: Orion typically acts immature, but he knows when it's time to get serious.
• Manipulative Bastard: Baki. So far he’s been shown to be incredibly manipulative, setting the downfall of two subordinates and Anai to cover his tracks regarding The Relics.
• Mask of Sanity: This is shown to be how Licorice's semblance works. Her aura gradually corrects her mind, making her appear and act less crazy. As she loses aura, she undergoes Sanity Slippage and shows more of her true Ax-Crazy side.
• Meaningful Name: All of the character's have a name that reflect their color scheme, but a few go deeper than that.
  • Verse reflects his poetic nature. In writing, a Verse is comparable to a stanza in a poem.
  • Orion is named after the constellation Orion, also known as The Hunter. Orion himself is studying to be a huntsman.
  • This also applies to Licorice, but by her last name, Hullu, which is Finnish for crazy.
• The Medic: Berdea seems to fill this role for Team EBNY, as shown in Chapter 67.
• Morality Chain: Team VOLN acts as this to Verse, counterbalancing his tunnel vision and thirst for revenge. They're what keep him sane and on the right path.
• Motor Mouth: Licorice tends to lean this way when she goes nuts. Also, Orion started out with this
• Named Weapons: Everyone has a specialty weapon with a unique name. Just to name a few:
  • Verse's is Falchion Lyric, a fullered crusader sword that doubles as a shotgun of sorts.
  • Orion's is the Day's End, a modular axe that can break apart and be rearranged a number of different ways.
  • Lyla's is Stellar Wind, a wooden staff that acts as a long-range sniper rifle. It can also unfold into a glider that can fly using a Recoil Boost.
  • Noir has two. Night Sun is a whip that can mechanically fools into his mask. Blood Moon is a simple pistol.
• Natural Weapon: Razz. As a porcupine faunus, she has several sharp quills on her back that she can break off and use as daggers. India also has this, as it turns out her Faunus trait is Wolverine Claws.
• Neck Lift: How Qara kills Baki at the end of volume 4. The victor lifts the loser by the neck, crushing it in hand for the kill.
• Not So Stoic: While Noir is usually The Quiet One, Licorice's antics and madness regularly drive him up a wall. Best shown in her introduction in Chapter 17.
  Noir: That… That was weird, right? Like, even for this school, she was weird.
• Not Quite Dead: Sky, Verse’s younger sister. Although how she can communicate with him is unknown.
• Not Quite Flight: Lyla's weapon can use a combination of wings and dust to fly around the battlefield, but it's using a Recoil Boost from Wind dust.
• Oh, Crap!: Basically Verse's reaction when he oversleeps in Chapter 18.
• Old Shame: Noir feels ashamed about his old persona of Jack Mitchell.
• Panthera Awesome: India is a tiger faunus.
• Parental Substitute: Mars Singh to Orion. He's not related to him, but he acts as a father figure for Orion. It’s later shown that all of Team CRNS, but especially the twins are this to Hibiscus.
• Phrase Catcher: Verse and Cherie have become this. Every time they crash into each other, someone is bound to say "damnit, [name]!"
• Physical God: Centani and Jericho are Remnant's gods of Order and Chaos, respectively.
• Playing with Fire: Anyone who uses Fire Dust in their weapons. Orion usually defaults to this.
• Polar Opposite Twins: Nyanza and Sage. Nyanza is really reserved, preferring to stay back and use brains, while Sage is really aggressive, attacking and overpowering enemies with brawn. This is reflected in their appearance. While both are cat faunus, Sage has a pair of ears, while Nyanza has a tail. Also, more subtly, Sage has her hair drawn to the right, while Nyanza draws to the left.
• Posthumous Character: Olive and Sky Warden, and Mars Singh. Although Sky might not be quite as dead as we thought.
• The Power of Creation: Verse's semblance in a nutshell. He keeps a quill pen tucked behind his ear. By writing an object's name with it in midair, Verse can summon that object out of Hard Light. However, there are some limitations. He can only summon non-living objects, and whatever he summons can't have moving or mechanical parts. There's also a time limit; anything summoned only last about five minutes before fading away.
• Pragmatic Hero: Verse. He'll do anything to gain an advantage in a fight, even blowing himself up.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Orion gives one to Licorice regarding her Motor Mouth before he ends their sparring match.
  Orion: You should really focus on the match, or else your opponent might do this.
• Put on a Bus: At the start of Volume 4, team CRNS returns top their home to care for Hibiscus, swearing off the lifestyle of huntresses and wanting no part of the war they're fighting.
• The Quiet One: Noir usually doesn't say very much, so when he does speak, it's usually meaningful.
• Rape as Backstory: Razz was sold to a brothel owned by Ezekiel as a young girl, and it didn't end well for her. Eventually, Cobalt came by to sample Ezekiel's wares.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Most of the teachers, but props go to Dr. Oro. He genuinely cares for his students, and even promises to keep Verse's secret. Too bad that secret wasn't able to last.
  • Also Professor Storm. Despite being New Beacon’s combat instructor, she does not hesitate to give advice to her students when they need it, but understands when the time comes to take command. However, she does keep them in check and does not care for recklessness or collateral damage.
• The Reveal: Quite a few have happened over the series.
  • Verse is actually a faunus in hiding, as well as a major political figure.
  • Verse's sister regularly appears to him as a spirit, alongside a mysterious man named Centani.
  • Cobalt, The man who killed Verse's mother and sister is alive and well leading the Underground in Vacuo
  • The Jericho Initiates now have access to all four relics and are trying to summon the God of Darkness.
  • The Gods of Light and Darkness are real. Centani, the god of Light, has some unknown connection to Verse, while Jericho is planning the downfall of Remnant through the Initiates.
  • Centani's connection with Verse is finally explained, as Verse is a "champion" chosen by Centani to fight Jericho's chosen champion.
• The Rival: Second-year students Team EBNY are shaping up to be this for Team VOLN. They sparred together in Chapter 64, and are pitted up against each other in VOLN's final examination.
• Running Gag: In the first volume, Verse and Cherie kept running into each other by LITERALLY running into each other.
• Sadistic Choice: In the Volume 2 finale, Cobalt offers Verse the choice to save his friends and kill himself, or to watch his friends die. Verse instead chooses to Take a Third Option and fights his way out.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Razz tries this when Oro's class gets political. Oro catches her before she can leave, though.
  • Team CRNS pulls this after Hibiscus gets hurt in Cobalt’s attack. This causes them to walk away from being huntresses, leaving the lifestyle altogether.
• Serious Business: Team VOLN takes their game of Grimm and Gargoyles WAY too seriously. Especially Verse and Noir.
• Serrated Blade of Pain: A non-villainous example in Nyanza and Sage's weapons, which are a mirrored pair of serrated machetes. The serration is Justified because the blades have to fit together for a Combination Attack.
• Ship Tease: Volume 3 is opening up with this between Lyla and Verse.
  • It’s gotten more pronounced with Chapter 56. The two set time aside to have a mostly friendly race between one another, wagering cookies and mopping the dorms.
• Shock and Awe: anyone who uses Lightning Dust in their weapons. Cherie's weapon defaults to this.
• Shout-Out: Chapter 66 involves team VOLN playing a tabletop role-playing boardgame called Grimm & Gargoyles, complete with 20-sided die. Hilarity Ensues as the game goes way out of hand.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: India and Verse to Diamond when she claims they're only crying for attention.
• The Soulless: Grimm, just as in the main series.
• Spirit World: The Spirit Realm acts as a place where spirits like Sky with Unfinished Business linger.
• The Stinger: Each Volume finale has had one so far.
  • Volume one had Verse’s dream with Centani, the God of Light.
  • Volume two had Qara disintegrating Anai and Baki stealing her relic.
  • Volume three showed Centani and his brother Jericho watching over the world of Remnant, commenting about their "Champions."
  • Volume 4 had Jericho looking down at Qara, confirming him as Jericho's champion after he finally possessed all the relics.
• The Stoic: Noir doesn't say much, and when he does, it's usually important.
• Stone Wall: Qara's fighting style, alongside his ridiculous strength, is his ability to tank and No-Sell hits from any source. Even a Combination Attack from Team VOLN couldn't stop him from reaching the Shadowed Sword.
• A Storm Is Coming: Midway through the third Volume, Verse reveals he has a trick ankle that goes off when it’s about to rain. Sure enough, within three chapters a storm is ravaging Vale and New Beacon through the Storm Arc.
• The Strategist: Verse can think on his feet and come up with solutions on the fly. This is what earns him the leadership role of Team VOLN.
  • This is exemplified by his plan to claim victory over Team EBNY in chapter 70. He intentially reserves his aura and doesn't use his semblance, knowing that he'll need it all later to survive a point-blank explosion. He instead utilizes Orion's semblance to dodge every attack Berdea can throw his way while drawing Eminence closer so he can [[spoiler: take them all out at once, leaving Orion standing to win the match.
• Stuff Blowing Up: Volatile fire dust can have this effect.
• Swiss-Army Weapon: Literally every weapon.
• Sword Beam: Nyanza and Sage can combine their weapons, forcing Earth and Wind Dust to collide, and create this. India can also pull this off with her twin hatchets in the same manner.
• Take a Third Option: Instead of killing himself to save his friends, Verse fights back and kills the people holding them hostage.
• Taking You with Me: Cobalt does this when he is finally defeated at the end of Volume 3. Once he realizes he won’t get away, he detonates a bomb jacket he’s wearing. Verse and Hibiscus get caught in the blast, with Hibiscus comatose and nearly dead.
  • In chapter 70, Verse pulls a similar trick to pass Team VOLN's final exam against Team EBNY, using his aura to tank a ground-zero blast of fire dust to take out Berdea. This time, it works, and his reserved aura lets him survive the blast.
• Technicolor Eyes: According to illustrations in the Amino version, Dr. Oro has one blue eye and one green eye. This has not been expanded on.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: Cobalt’s main mode of attack involves grenades, detonators, and mini bombs.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Sage and Nyanza, respectively. Sage is outgoing, adventurous, and fights up close, while Nyanza is more resigned, shy, and keeps to a distance.
• Too Awesome to Use: Qara’s semblance. It allows him to disintegrate any one thing he touches, but it puts him in a coma for a month. He uses this ability to kill Anai at the end of Volume 2, and has just woken up at the end of the Storm Trilogy.
• Tragic Keepsake: Orion's weapon. He Picked it up after the death of the only man who actually cared about him.
  • Verse’s cloak and necklace also count, as they’re all he has left of his mother and his sister Sky, respectively. Subverted with his cloak. Verse has been tailoring it little by little as he grows, to the point where it’s more his handiwork than his mother’s. Sky uses this fact to help him get over it when he loses it in the Storm Trilogy.
• True Companions: Over the course of the series, Teams VOLN and CRNS as well as India and Diamond, have become this. Lessened significantly, however, when [[spoiler: CRNS leaves New Beacon for good.
• Unfinished Business: It's revealed that spirits with unfinished business linger for a while in the Spiritual Realm. It's how Verse can communicate with Sky.
• Unflinching Walk: Implied to be Qara's fighting style, given that he completely No Sells anything and is able to trek across the Vacuese desert on foot while VOLN needed an airship to do so.
• The Unreveal: In India’s and Diamond’s fight early in volume 2, Diamond briefly reaches behind her back to show her weapon, only to decide that India’s not worth using it. We later learn that it’s a cannon with a sharp attachment of sorts that she uses to kill Tyler.
• Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Noir, after winning Grimm & Gargoyles.
• Void Between the Worlds: The Spirit Realm is treated as a bizarre nonexistence between life and the Beyond.
• Warrior Poet: Verse. His personality is a reflection of this. He is a skilled fighter, but is also known for his writing. His semblance reflects this in that anything he writes is summoned via Hard Light.
• We ARE Struggling Together: Chapter 21 basically leads to this realization among team VOLN.
• Weapons Kitchen Sink: Hmm, let's see here. We have swords, axes, Bo staffs, whips, gloves that shoot dust, knives, and guns. Lots of guns.
• Western Terrorists: In his attack on New Beacon, Cobalt acts as this, throwing bombs and grenades everywhere. He also blows himself up with a suicide vest in an attempt to pull a Taking You with Me.
• Wham Episode: Several.
  • Chapter 13 shows the existence of the Jericho Initiates.
  • Chapter 15 shows that all of the cast of RWBY proper have died in the war prior to the story.
  • Chapter 20 reveals that Verse is a Faunus and that he comes from a village that was destroyed. It also introduces a mysterious character named Centani, and shows that Verse can speak to his deceased sister Sky. These may be linked, as they happen at nearly the same time.
  • The Volume 2 finale, where resident Alpha Bitch Diamond has a change of heart and turns against the Underground. This in turn allows most of them to be either killed or imprisoned. Except for Cobalt.
  • The Storm Trilogy, acting as the mid-volume finale of Volume 3. Through three chapters it is revealed that Licorice has successfully infiltrated New Beacon and stolen the Relic of Choice, the Initiates now have access to all four relics, much of the city of Vale is now ruined, and Verse loses his only link to his mother.
  • Chapter 55 reveals how Licorice's Semblance works, as well as the Initiates' plan to gather all four of the relics to summon the God of Darkness to the world. What's more is that at the end Licorice gets away with the last relic.
  • Chapter 60 has Cobalt run a full attack on New Beacon, causing damage and severely injuring Hibiscus before finally dying himself. The Stinger reveals that Verse meeting Centani wasn’t just a dream, and that he is the God of Light. In addition, Jericho, the god of Darkness is shown to exist. Both gods have chosen “Champions” to represent them, with Verse representing Centani and the Initiates representing Jericho.
  • Chapter 61 follows it up immensely. First, the audience learns the extent of Hibiscus's injuries. She's been permanently deafened and missing her hand. Then, Team CRNS pulls a Screw This, I'm Outta Here, leaving behind the life of huntresses forever. Next, Verse shows that he's been working on repairing his cloak and a new design is revealed. Lastly, Qara kills Licorice after she brings the relic of Choice, leaving the Initiates and pitting himself against Baki.
  • Chapter 75 has Verse finally learn why he can see Sky and Centani. It's because Verse was chosen by Centani himself as a "champion", destined to fight for the reclamation of the four relics. Centani also reveals the existence of the Spirit Realm, and how Sky has been lingering there. The chapter then ends with Sky's spirit moving onward to the Beyond as she completes her Unfinished Business. Now it seems like a final showdown between Verse and one of the Initiates is soon to come. However, which Initiate remains unclear.
  • Chapter 79. [[spoiler: Headmaster Pine goes after Qara trying to reclaim his cane and the other relics, but gets killed for his efforts. Baki then reveals himself to Qara and a final showdown is about to begin.
  • Chapter 80, the finale of Volume 4, ups the above with the final showdown green Qara and Baki, where the winner will have all four relics. Qara kills Bski and finally steals them all for himself.
  • Chapter 84. A mysterious black sword has fallen from the sky and embedded itself in the ground in Vacuo. It seems to have some effect on the world's weather, causing disasters on a global scale across Remnant.
  • Chapter 89: Qara gets to the Sword before the heroes and pulls it out of the ground, completely ignoring all of their attacks with an Unfliching Walk. ]]
  • Chapter 90: Jericho pulls a Grand Theft Me on Qara, revealing to Verse the true nature of the Brothers' games with him. Verse now has one week to prepare for an Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny.
• Wham Line: We get a major one in chapter 33, revealing that verse can communicate with sky, who was thought to be deceased.
  Sky: “You really are an idiot, Verse. You know that?”

• Xanatos Gambit: Verse's strategy to pass their final exams against team EBNY is this. To pass, they either need to completely eliminate EBNY or force a 1-on-1 brawl. Verse deliberately stores up his aura, not using his semblance more than once in the fight, until the battle whittles itself down to Verse and Orion vs. Eminence and Berdea. He uses Orion's semblance to dodge all of Berdea's attacks. He then draws aggro from Eminence, who tries to get in closer. When they're both in range, he has Orion detonate his fire dust crystal to take them out with him, counting on his aura to help him survive the blast. This would either eliminate both Eminence and Berdea and win the match for them, or force a single brawl between Orion and a weakened Eminence, which would count as a pass.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Sky uses this as a means to break Verse out of his Heroic BSoD after losing his cloak. It works.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Qara kills Licorice after she succeeds in bringing him the relic of Choice.
  Qara: You can take heed in knowing that you did your part, child.

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The war will be mine to win, just sit and wait. My time is at hand.