History Characters / RWBYGrimmBestiary

[[center:[-[[Characters/{{RWBY}} Main Page]] | [[Characters/RWBYTheHeroes The Heroes]] ([[Characters/RWBYRubyRose Ruby Rose]] | [[Characters/RWBYWeissSchnee Weiss Schnee]] | [[Characters/RWBYBlakeBelladonna Blake Belladonna]] | [[Characters/RWBYYangXiaoLong Yang Xiao Long]] | [[Characters/RWBYTeamJNPR Team JNPR]] ([[Characters/RWBYJauneArc Jaune Arc]]) | [[Characters/RWBYOzpinAndOscar Ozpin and Oscar]]) | [[Characters/RWBYEasternSanus Sanus (Eastern)]] | [[Characters/RWBYWesternSanus Sanus (Western)]] | [[Characters/RWBYAnima Anima]] | [[Characters/RWBYSolitas Solitas]] ([[Characters/RWBYJamesIronwood James Ironwood]]) | [[Characters/RWBYSalemsFaction Salem's Faction]] ([[Characters/RWBYSalem Salem]] | [[Characters/RWBYCinderFall Cinder Fall]]) | [[Characters/RWBYWhiteFang White Fang]] ([[Characters/RWBYAdamTaurus Adam Taurus]]) | '''Creatures of Grimm''' | [[Characters/RWBYWorldOfRemnant World of Remnant]]-]]]

* AxCrazy: They're creatures of hatred with no goals other than killing people.

* BioweaponBeast: The Hound is not a naturally-occurring Grimm or anything that has been seen before, with even Cinder confused about its existence. When she asks about it, Salem merely offers a vague explanation that it is an "experiment" that she is testing. The numerous unusual abilities the creature demonstrates are therefore the result of whatever experimentation Salem has carried out, tailor-making a Grimm that serves as her hunter, guard, and companion.

!!All spoilers for Volumes 1-8 are unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.

* NonIndicativeName: Blind Worms have a single burning red eye in the center of their foreheads. While fighting one, Coco speculates over how it got its name, including the possibility that people don't see it coming when it attacks from beneath the sand. [[spoiler:She's sitting inside the Blind Worm while speculating, having been swallowed whole; her other speculation is that perhaps it because of the darkness experienced by the people whom it swallows whole.]]

!!All spoilers for Volumes 1-7 are unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.

'''First Members see episodes 1 week before public release. As a courtesy, please do not trope them for 1 week until they have been released to the general public. Please only trope the episodes that have been released to the general public. For more information, please visit the RWBY Forum thread.'''

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* AndIMustScream: The Hound's intelligence comes with some horrifying implications. [[spoiler: The host is just ''barely'' alive, and falls into a MadnessMantra after being struck with Ruby's Silver Eyes. How much remained of the original man is unknown, but it's clear that he's suffered in ways that are difficult to comprehend and been reduced to a feral state]].

* FacialHorror: What is hidden underneath its Grimm mask is even worse than the Grimm body itself. [[spoiler:It conceals a Faunus man with the right half of his face mangled nearly beyond recognition, with heavy scarring and flesh that seems to have melted and stretched in several places. His one remaining eye and human ear are both leaking black fluids, there is exposed muscle and bone along his jaw, and there are tumors growing along his jawline]].

* ItCanThink: While it's established that Grimm grow more intelligent as they get older, this has generally just meant that older Grimm have a better sense of self-preservation and know when to retreat. The Hound, however, displays disturbingly human-levels of intellect and tactical awareness when it begins using people as a HumanShield because it knows its attackers won't hurt one of their own. [[spoiler:Although initially skeptical about its true intelligence, the heroes are left with no doubt when it reveals it fully understands what they're saying by verbally communicating with them.]]

* NoBodyLeftBehind: {{Averted|Trope}}. Unlike other Grimm, due to its unique physiology, the hound leaves behind remnants of itself instead of fully dissolving upon death. [[spoiler:When the Hound is crushed to death under a giant suit of armor, its exposed arm hangs limply while the Grimm essence dissolves from it. What's left behind is the blackened skeleton of the Faunus that had been turned into the Hound.]]

* OutsideContextProblem: Every Grimm encountered so far has been relatively animalistic and of limited intelligence, with even the smartest ones only being intelligent enough to wait to attack a target. Salem considers it an experiment, but it defies the comprehension of everyone who is forced to deal with it. [[spoiler:The Hound is intelligent enough to use a HumanShield, communicate by talking, and arrange for back-up when it needs help. When initially exposed to it, Yang's team is too stunned to fight back properly and even Cinder is left unsettled when she first encounters it. Ruby's team are left dumbfounded and disturbed when their encounter reveals the Hound's body conceals a Faunus man; the source of the Hound's intelligence and ability to talk, his body has been twisted, transformed and deformed.]]

* TragicMonster: The Hound only exists because of the experimentation that Salem inflicted upon it. [[spoiler:Salem trapped a silver-eyed Faunus inside the body of a Grimm; the Grimm has human-like intelligence and the ability to speak, but the Faunus looks like it has been tortured, skin is stretched and torn across muscle and there is massive scarring across one eye.]]
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: While tracking Oscar, it can sometimes be seen in a bipedal werewolf form and sometimes in the form of a giant dog. When it ambushes Oscar, it does so as a dog initially, but transforms into a bipedal werewolf form so that it can hold Oscar properly. When it departs, it transforms its shoulders so that wings sprout forth, allowing it to fly away. [[spoiler:It even seems to do some non-visible shapeshifting just before it speaks, suggesting it's modifying its anatomy for that purpose.]]
* WasOnceAMan: The Hound's true nature is far more horrifying than a simple, intelligent Grimm. [[spoiler:When injured by Ruby's silver eyes, its head splits open to reveal that there is a ''person'' inside; a Faunus with a single, surviving silver eye.]]

Blind Worms are enormous segmented worms that are first introduced in the canonical light novel, ''Literature/RWBYAfterTheFall''. They have one eye and are regarded as the deadliest Grimm in Vacuo.

* ArcVillain: The Nuckelavee is the overarching antagonist of the RNJR part of Volume 4, with its presence foreshadowed throughout the volume in destroyed villages across Anima, and its mere existence and memory of its attack deeply affecting Ren and Nora. The last quarter of the volume features the monster itself quite prominently, and it serves as the [[FinalBoss final antagonist]] in the last episode of the volume.

* NoBodyLeftBehind: {{Averted|Trope}}. Unlike other Grimm, it dies in an unusual way, leaving behind remnants of itself instead of fully dissolving. [[spoiler:When the Hound is crushed to death under a giant suit of armor, its exposed arm hangs limply while the Grimm essence dissolves from it. What's left behind is the blackened skeleton of the Faunus that had been turned into the Hound.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: A giant hoof print starts appearing from early in Volume 4. The first sighting is outside the destroyed village of Shion, where Ren and Nora recognise it immediately. At Oniyuri, a town that was abandoned before it ever finished construction, Ren mentions the tale of Oniyuri and how its end came about as the result of a single Grimm, describing it as "not just any one". When Ruby and Jaune approach the long-destroyed town of Kuroyuri, the same hoof print is in the mud as the one seen at Shion. During the flashbacks that reveal the fate of Kuroyuri years ago, the Nuckelavee is only partially seen, but its scream is heard as it attacks, a scream that is also heard in the present day when Ren and Nora realise it's attacking Kuroyuri again.

* TurnsRed: After Team RNJR does enough damage to it during their fight, the spikes on its back extend, its horns grow even longer, and it rips the webbing connecting its jaws as it lets out a violent screech. From that point onward, the Grimm's attacks become even more aggressive.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Official subtitles for show, beginning with their introduction in the eighth episode of Volume 1, often spell it "Deathstalker", like the real life species. However, the ninth episode introduces the "Death Stalker" spelling on the walls of Professor Port's lecture theatre. Official material indicates that it is correct to use two words; it's the subtitles that tend to be inconsistent.

** Fast paced drums and even faster low brass notes, best heard in the end credits of "Search and Destroy" and "Forever Fall, pt. 2."

* OneHitPointWonder: Once its body has been destroyed and the Geist itself emerges, a single shot can kill it.

[[caption-width-right:350:''No.'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[WhamLine NO]]"'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[WhamLine '''''NO''''']]"'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"[[WhamLine '''NO''']]"'']]

* AnimalisticAbomination: Creatures of darkness that take the form of various real and mythological creatures, yet are clearly in no way "living", without [[TheSoulless souls]], and feed on [[EmotionEater negative emotions]]? The Grimm more than qualify.

* EmotionEater:
** It's a plot point that Grimm are drawn to negative emotions and congregate around sources of fear, hatred, sadness, and despair. Ozpin's BenevolentConspiracy justifies secrecy because widespread fear would inflict Grimm attacks on cities; the villains use the same rationale to inflict widespread fear and panic to trigger Grimm attacks against population centers.
** Cinder uses the first three volumes to weaponize the Grimm by priming the city of Vale, and wider world, with negative emotions. In the first two volumes, her crime spree on Vale and alliance with the White Fang unsettles and frightens Vale, building up tensions. In the third volume, she manipulates the Tournament to manipulate the emotions of the global audience. Publicly framing Yang and Pyrrha as cheats who betray the Huntsman code of honor causes global condemnation, creating Grimm spikes all over the world that center on Vale. When they expose Penny and imply she's evidence of secret technological warfare by Atlas, both the Tournament arena and Vale suffers a full-blown assault by the Grimm.
** The White Fang, through their mere presence, draw large numbers of Grimm to Mountain Glenn, which they then draw toward Vale at the end of Volume 2 when their train attack breaches Vale's defences, allowing Grimm to flood the city.
** Ironwood brings his army to Vale for the Vytal Festival because he thinks it'll reassure the public. However, the army just makes the jumpy citizens more ill-at-ease, attracting even more Grimm to Vale's borders. When Cinder takes remote control of the robotic army, she is able to make it look like Vale is under attack by Atlas. Even after the Volume 3 assault is repelled, the citizens are left so confused and afraid by what happened - and why it happened - that the Grimm continue taking an interest in Vale.
** Volume 4 has two instances showing the Grimm converging on a village in response to fear and panic. In the first case, RNJR come across the remains of a town where bandits had raided, and the sole surviving Huntsman says that the Grimm came in huge numbers in response to the panic from the raid. Later on, in a flashback, Ren's village is shown initially being attacked by the Nuckelavee, and only after some time did other Grimm begin to enter the town and attack the people in response to the panic caused by its presence.

* EmotionBomb: Perhaps inverted, the Apathy incite apathy, the ''lack'' of emotions, in their victims. Proximity to the Apathy causes a loss of other emotions, calming people down, and the number of Apathy increases the impact of their proximity to the point that they can cause an entire settlement to simply stop caring about anything and die of starvation or dehydration. At closer range, the Apathy can also [[MakeMeWannaShout unleash a piercing scream that dramatically amplifies this effect]], causing victims to collapse and lose all will to fight, eventually just lying down and waiting to die.

* WhiteMaskOfDoom: It's unclear as yet if their faces really do have masks, but they certainly have this aesthetic. Either way, Pyrrha refers to them as "manifestations of anonymity."

A miniature beetle-shaped being that bears the red eyes and black-and-white marks of the Monsters of Grimm. It appears to be summoned using a special glove, and Cinder uses to steal Amber's powers, it being responsible for the actual power transfer.