YMMV tropes for RWBY: Before the Dawn. For the main series' YMMV tropes, see here.
- Base-Breaking Character: Sun's portrayal in the book has split the fandom in half. The first half of the fandom likes the exploration of problematic behavior they felt had been glossed over in the show through deconstructing his habit of ditching his team to insert himself into the lives and business of strangers or friends without permission. However, the other half of the fandom was furious with his portrayal, feeling that the novel stripped Sun of his charm and character growth to so excessively and negatively exaggerate his behavior that he became unrecognizable. The gulf between the feeling that the novel gives him much needed character growth versus the feeling that it completely ruins him frequently turns discussions about the novel into fights.
- Broken Base: Sun's controversial portrayal has polarized fans between two positions that contain very little common ground. One camp believes he is an unapologetic Adaptational Jerkass, negatively re-casting his actions in the show, and seemingly forgetting that he realized he treated his friends horribly, hence him taking them to Vacuo in the first place. This camp therefore believes the book is unfair to Sun, derailing his character and ignoring the context of Sun's actions in the show. Another camp argues that the novel addresses issues parts of the fandom had with Sun's character in the show, the difference being that the novel gives the audience an insight into his inner thoughts, how the rest of his team really feels, and how they disagree on what Sun's problem really is. This camp therefore believes the book explores in more depth issues that were hinted at, but glossed over, in the show.
- Complete Monster: Jax Asturias, the mastermind of the Crown, is a childish and envious man with delusions of grandeur. Manipulating his close friends and sister into going along with his plans to restore the Vacuo monarchy with him in charge, planning to purge the "weak" and anyone who wasn't loyal to him, Jax uses the Crown to have countless people, including children with notable Semblances, trafficked and enslaved with his Semblance, leaving them conscious but bent to his will. As part of his plan to attack Shade Academy, Jax turns several citizens and minions who displease him into "Aura vessels" to make himself stronger, hoping to use his army to crush the other Kingdoms under his heel, bury them in the sands and rule all of Remnant once he's king. When his plan is failing, Jax "settles" for using his Army to go out destroying Shade and his enemies out of spite, even attempting to kill his own sister when she tries to save herself—an act he had also attempted when they were children.
- Contested Sequel: Compared to the generally positive reception After the Fall received, reviews for Before the Dawn have been more mixed, with primary criticisms being the prose and description work, the handling of Team SSSN (alongside the characterization choices for returning characters from the series such as Team NDGO) and the general quality of the plot given several continuity errors.
- Mis-blamed: Many of the criticisms leveled at the book place the blame on writer EC Myers, ignoring that while he writes the novels, the story being told is noted on the cover to be by the series' main writers, Miles, and Kerry, meaning they have a degree of control on what is done.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: While the book gives the impression it will have a shared focus between Teams CFVY and SSSN, in practice, it's focused on CFVY and Sun. The remaining members of SSSN are all neglected to varying degrees as a result, with many believing that a third novel is necessary just to give them proper focus before the series proper goes to Vacuo.
- Neptune fares the best out of the three, getting an established backstory, elaboration on his Semblance, and exploration on both his relationship with Sun and his hydrophobia. Aside from that though, he's largely just left as the butt of numerous jokes, including using his hydrophobia as the basis of one in spite of being Harsher in Hindsight. Not helping matters is that the Insistent Terminology from the series proper of him being an intellectual is largely an Informed Attribute here, with him instead coming across as The Ditz.
- While Scarlet theoretically receives the most focus of the three thanks to his arguing with Sun, in practice he's largely a plot device. Aside from the confirmation of his Semblance, nothing is explored about his character, his backstory, his relationship with his team before going to Vacuo, or his overall personality outside of the idea he's supposedly the opposite of Sun. What could have been a great dynamic where Sun and Scarlet play off each other as opposites while trying to reconnect, is largely neglected due to the reinitiation. Most of his scenes are instead of him being a Broken Record over Sun being a terrible leader and picking fights with him.
- Sage overall gets the short end of the stick. Nothing is explored about his personality, his background, or his feelings on Sun outside of giving him the silent treatment. He is also the only member of Team SSSN to not have his Semblance revealed nor have a chapter shown from his perspective.
- Tear Jerker: Before The Dawn confirms that Sun's parents died so young he can't remember their faces anymore, which has fueled his need to move onward ever since. He rushes to form new connections but refuses to be tied down to any of them, not even going to see his cousin when he's in Vacuo again because he knows he's not dependable; he doesn't want to show up on her doorstep only to disappear from her life yet again. Beyond that one confession to Velvet, he constantly tries to wave off his recent traumas rather than deal with them; this jeopardizes his relationship with his own team because they want to work through their collective trauma together while he keeps pushing them away. When he's in the Lotus-Eater Machine of Jax's Semblance, Sun fully embraces the illusion and says his Semblance is all the team he needs.
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
- Sun is left in this position to many readers. Sun is shown via narration and inner monologue to be aware of his own shortcomings, but because of his upbringing and deep-seated issues, is incapable of properly addressing them out of a fear of being hurt again, only managing to ever confide in Blake and Velvet, with the former inspiring him to improve, and the latter getting him to face these issues. However, Sun has received this response for two different opposing reasons.
- Many readers feel that the novel tries too hard to make Sun come across as an irresponsible jerk and The Unapologetic, many pointing out that this characterization goes against his behavior in Volume 6 where he admitted to those very same criticisms and acknowledged he needed to get back to his team. They also point out it largely ignores the context behind Sun running after Blake in favor of painting Sun as purely selfish, the end result being Sun suddenly being an Adaptational Jerkass to justify his being called out. As such, some readers feel the narrative is being unfair to Sun for the sake of making him need to learn a lesson, and that as a result its hard to feel sympathy for him in the novel when the situation feels forced, not helped by seemingly everyone calling him out despite how well or little they know him, to the point even the narration is talking him down.
- Just as many readers however tend to agree with those that try and call him out in the novel. Numerous characters, namely Scarlet and Coco, consider Sun to be an oblivious idiot that is way too self-absorbed and would never willingly admit to being wrong, Yatsuhashi and Fox even claiming he's a "bad influence" on Velvet. The narrative however makes it a point that, because they can't see inside Sun's head and that he only ever meaningfully talks with Velvet, the others aren't given a proper impression of him and are basing their issues on surface-level behavior. Said readers, however agree with said criticisms and treat Sun as if he is like said surface-level behavior, claiming they feel Catharsis Factor when he is called out, and that the series proper let him get away with his behavior for too long.
- When Fox and Yatsuhashi learn that Velvet and Sun are gone and need to find out where, they try to interrogate Neptune, with Fox specifically saying they're both playing bad cop when Neptune asks if it's Good Cop/Bad Cop. While the intent is for the two of them to come across as desperate in trying to find Velvet, it just makes Fox look like an asshole when he exploits Neptune's hydrophobia to try and get information out of him and instead just gives him a panic attack, not helped by the fact Fox knows what trauma can do to someone thanks to knowing about Coco's claustrophobia, but that Yatsuhashi also says there's a line between being harsh and being a bully, only for Fox to just tell him off.
- Sun is left in this position to many readers. Sun is shown via narration and inner monologue to be aware of his own shortcomings, but because of his upbringing and deep-seated issues, is incapable of properly addressing them out of a fear of being hurt again, only managing to ever confide in Blake and Velvet, with the former inspiring him to improve, and the latter getting him to face these issues. However, Sun has received this response for two different opposing reasons.
