History FairytaleMotifs / RWBY

[[folder:Volume 5]]
!!!Chapter 3
* When Yang stops at a refuelling station to buy a bottle of water, a bandit hanging around decides to hit on her. He comments on her appearance being "Not too bulky, not to lean, you're..." and she sarcastically finishes "...just right, I get it". That's because the name of the establishment is "Just Rite". This is all a reference to the ''Literature/{{Goldilocks}}'' that Yang is inspired by.
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* Yang Xiao Long is based on ''Literature/{{Goldilocks}}''. The setting for her trailer is a night club that is owned by a man called Hei Xiong, meaning Black Bear in Chinese. His nickname is "Junior", in reference to Baby Bear. The DJ is wearing a bear mask. Yang proceeds to make a mess of the night club, just as Golidlocks made a mess of the Three Bears home.

* Jinn and Ambrosius are based off the Genie from ''1001 Arabian Nights''. She's a genie that can answer up to three questions each century, and he's a genie that can make anything three times each century with the right blueprints, just as the genie grants three wishes. The Relic of Knowledge is basically the magic lamp that frees Jinn.

* Jinn is based off the Genie from ''1001 Arabian Nights''. She's a genie that can answer up to three questions each century, just as the genie grants three wishes. The Relic of Knowledge is basically the magic lamp that frees Jinn.

* Weiss Schnee is inspired by ''Literature/SnowWhite''. The translation of her name from German to English is "White Snow", and the song she sings in the introductory "White" trailer heavily alludes to the Magic Mirror in the original fairytale.
** Weiss's loyal family servant is Klein Sieben, which translates from German as "Little Seven". He is all seven of the Dwarves; he can switch between multiple different personalities, each with its own colour-coded eye colour, each personality is based on one of Disney's version of the Seven Dwarves, and his profession being a doctor brings to mind Doc.
-->'''Mirror, tell me who's the loneliest of all.'''

* Penny Polendina is heavily based on Literature/Pinocchio, an artificial creation that struggles with being a "real girl" and later achieves this dream thanks to some magic. In addition, her weapons are a multitude of swords she controls via strings, like a puppetmaster.

The Relic of Creation continues this trend, also housing a spirit/genie, with Ambrosius inside acting a great deal like Creator/RobinWilliams and specifically mentioning he can't bring people back from the dead, just like Disney's WesternAnimation/Aladdin.

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%%[[folder:Volume 3]]
!!Volume 3
!!!Chapter 12
* Are we including mythology under fairytales? If so, Pyrrha had well and truly lost her final fight when an arrow pierced her Achilles tendon.

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* Jinn is based off the Genie from ''1001 Arabian Nights''. She's a genie that can answer up to three questions each century, just as the genie grants three wishes. The Relic of Knowledge is basically the magic lamp that frees Jinn.

* Weiss Schnee is inspired by ''Literature/SnowWhite''. The translation of her name from German to English is "White Snow", and the song she sings in the introductory "White" trailer heavily alludes to the Magic Mirror in the original fairytale. And much like how Snow White suffered a DisneyDeath and was saved by a prince, Weiss was fatally wounded in Volume 5, only to be saved from death's door by Jaune, who has a crush on her.

* Weiss Schnee is inspired by ''Literature/SnowWhite''. The translation of her name from German to English is "White Snow", and the song she sings in the introductory "White" trailer heavily alludes to the Magic Mirror in the original fairytale. Her loyal family servant is Klein Sieben, which translates from German as "Little Seven". He is all seven of the Dwarves; he can switch between multiple different personalities, each with its own colour-coded eye colour, each personality is based on one of Disney's version of the Seven Dwarves, and his profession being a doctor brings to mind Doc.

* Weiss Schnee is inspired by ''Literature/SnowWhite''. The translation of her name from German to English is "White Snow", and the song she sings in the introductory "White" trailer heavily alludes to the Magic Mirror in the original fairytale. Her loyal family servant is Klein Sieben, which translates from German as "Little Seven". He is all seven of the Dwarves; he can switch between multiple different personalities, each with its own colour-coded eye colour, and each personality is based on one of Disney's version of the Seven Dwarves.

* Cinder Fall is based off ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}''. Her emblem is based off of Cinderella's iconic glass slippers, and her footsteps are accompanied by the sound of tinkling glass and regular shots of her heeled shoes, which are also made of glass. She constantly uses fire and glass weapons. In addition, [[Recap/RWBYV2E7DanceDanceInfiltration Dance Dance Infiltration]] has her returning to the Beacon Academy Dance at the stroke of midnight, shedding the clothing she wore to infiltrate the CCT; instead of a slipper, she leaves behind the glass mask she wore. The creators mention that her name was originally going to be Cinder Ella before they decided on Cinder Fall. Salem, who is the Wicked Witch to Ozpin's Wizard of Oz, also plays a more maternal role for Cinder, taking on the role of Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, by promising to help Cinder achieve her desires (in this case, power and infamy).

** The hotelier that adopts Cinder is very clearly based on ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}''s own stepmother. Likewise, the hotelier's biological daughters are basically RWBY's answer Cinderella's stepsisters.

* Velvet Scarlatina is based on the Velveteen Rabbit.
* Penny Polendina is based off Pinocchio (with her father Pietro as Geppetto). She's a robot who has Aura bringing her to life, and has issues with whether or not she's a real girl. Her weapon is operated by strings, much like Pinocchio was as a puppet.

* The Ace Ops are all references to [[TheAesop Aesop's fables]].
** Clover Ebi is ''The Fisherman's Good Fortune'', a story about a fisherman who made up for a bad day via a stroke of good luck at the end. Clover's Semblance allows him to bring good luck, and he fights with a weapon resembling a fishing rod.
** Harriet Bree is the hare from ''The Tortoise and the Hare'', having a SuperSpeed Semblance and a proud and impatient personality.
** Marrow is based on ''The Dog and its Reflection'', about a dog carrying meat that sees its reflection and, thinking the reflection is another dog, tries to steal ''its'' meat, but drops the meat it has in the process. Marrow is a dog Faunus [[spoiler: and in his fight against Weiss, pursues the chance of talking her down over fighting her, causing him to lose]].
** Elm and Vine are a reference to a common classical motif of elm trees and vines as symbols of mutual support and marriage- the elm is a strong tree, but does not bear fruit, while the vine ''is'' fruitful, but needs the elm to support it as it grows. Elm and Vine are a married couple who fight together, with Elm having a Semblance that roots her to the ground and Vine having a semblance that allows him to stretch out his limbs like vines.

* Adam Taurus is based on allusions found in ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''. He is supposed to be initially seen as the Beast to Blake's Beauty. As the show digs a little deeper into him, he's supposed to raise the question of whether he might be Gaston instead of the Beast. Finally, he's seen as the Cursed Rose around which the story is set -- a blight on the lives of the heroes. He is a monster who believes he is entitled to Blake's admiration and respect without the need to earn them.

* When the team first meets Pietro in his pharmacy in Mantle, he tells them he's working on "shoes that make you dance", a reference to Hans Christian Andersen's ''TheRedShoes''. This overlaps with the overarching ''Wizard of Oz'' theme in that ever since the movie, Dorothy is typically referred to as having [[TitleDrop ruby]] red slippers.

* The Malachite twins are based on ''Literature/SnowWhiteAndRoseRed''.

* Professor Rumpole from Shade Academy is based on ''Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}}''. She is short and squat at 4'0'', her hair is sandy blonde and braided with gold fabric, her coat contains gold flecks throughout and the inner lining is gold, her weapon is a wheel kept on a golden thread, and her Semblance allows her to permanently turn objects into gold. Rumplestiltskin had the ability to spin straw into gold. She also offers a challenge against the students where she tells them they'll be able to win if they can guess her first name. When Fox guesses her name correctly, she has the same reaction as Rumplestiltskin; stomping her foot in anger.

* Professor Rumpole from Shade Academy is based on ''Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}}''. She is short and squat at 4'0'', her hair is sandy blonde and braided with gold fabric, her coat contains gold flecks throughout and the inner lining is gold, and her Semblance allows her to permanently turn objects into gold. Rumplestiltskin had the ability to spin straw into gold. She also accepts a challenge against the students where she tells them they'll be able to win if they can guess her first name. The only way to defeat Rumplestiltskin is to guess his name. When Fox guesses her name correctly, she has the same reaction as Rumplestiltskin; stomping her foot in anger.

* The Crown and its leaders, Jax and Gillian Asturias, are based on the NurseryRhyme ''Jack and Jill''. Jax is the more dominant of the pair, with delusions of grandeur and ultimately leads their organization into disaster, attempting to drag his sister down with him in the process. Their father also reveals that the sickly Jax fell into a sandpit as a child, suffering a head injury.

* Professor Rumpole from Shade Academy is based on ''Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}}''. She is short and squat at 4'0'', her hair is sandy blonde and braided with gold fabric, her coat contains gold flecks throughout and the inner lining is gold, and her Semblance allows her to permanently turn objects into gold. Rumplestiltskin had the ability to spin straw into gold. She also accepts a challenge against the students where she tells them they'll be able to win if they can guess her name. The only way to defeat Rumplestiltskin is to guess his name.

* Professor Rumpole from Shade Academy is based on ''Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}}''. She is short and squat at 4'0'', her hair is sandy blonde and braided with gold fabric, her coat contains gold flecks throughout and the inner lining is gold, and her Semblance allows her to permanently turn objects into gold. Rumplestiltskin had the ability to spin straw into gold. She also accepts a challenge against the students where she tells them they'll be able to win if they can guess her name. The only way to defeat Rumplestitskin is to guess his name.

* Salem's back story is inspired by ''Literature/{{Rapunzel}}'', as Salem was imprisoned in a tower by her guardian and fell in love with her rescuer. The story based on Salem and Ozma's romance is simply called "The GirlInTheTower". Salem also plays a secondary role as "fairy godmother" to Cinder, promising to help Cinder achieve her desires, just as Cinderella's fairy godmother did.

* Penny Polendina is a gender-flipped allusion to ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio''. She is an artificial life-form that nonetheless is perfectly sentient and even explicitly possesses a soul (as she is capable of generating an Aura). Part of her characterisation over all of her appearances is her learning to talk and act more human-like; in essence, to become a real girl (something [[spoiler: she symbolically achieves when she ends up inheriting the power of the Winter Maiden]]).