History Fanfic / TheGrimmWithASoul

** [[spoiler: Shadow creates a humanoid Grimm and an android as his "children" of sorts as well as his successors.]]

* ButterflyEffect: Violet's main fear is that the timeline could be altered so much by Jack's actions that she won't be able to make use of her knowledge of canon events, which Jack disapproves of.

* AllPowerfulBystander: As Jack tells Violet during the Beacon Dance, the one thing that irked him the most about RWBY ReincarnationFic[=s=] was how passive most main characters in those stories were despite all the knowledge they had at their disposal.

* AllPowerfulBystander: Jack tells Violet during the Beacon dance his views on RWBY reincarnation fics. Lest to say, he's not happy about how inactive their storylines are.

Salem, in an effort to create the ultimate weapon in her shadow war against Ozpin, creates a humanoid Grimm capable of mimicking every combat technique that can be utilized by huntsmen. Unfortunately for her, the God of Darkness reincarnates Jack, a RWBY fan who died of COVID, into Salem's latest creation, granting it a soul and sapience in the process. Armed with their newfound abilities and knowledge of events in the show, Jack and Shadow set out to save Remnant together.

* AdaptationalHeroism: {{Downplayed}} for Mercury, Emerald, Roman, and Neo considering that weren't really on board with Cinder's EvilPlan in the first place.

* AnArmAndALeg: Oddly enough, Yang still has one arm just like canon. This time, she was born with one arm and lived with it as a child.

* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Jaune and Pyrrha have kids of their own along with Ren and Nora and Mercury and Emerald at the end.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: Shadow faces off against Salem in his first life to buy time for Summer to escape back home, getting himself incinerated by Salem in the process before he returns.

* PreMortemOneLiner: Shadow makes a CallBack to his previous TheReasonYouSuckSpeech as he kills Cinder after foiling her plans.

--> '''Cinder''': The ability to speak does not make you intelligent, Grimm
--> '''Shadow''': It may not... but what do I know about you, Cinder? Oh, I know... (''SlasherSmile'') I know you were an orphan in Mistral, constantly bullied and forced to scrub the floors, overworked and starved by your caretakers. But one day, a woman came and took you away, whisking you to an Atlesian hotel. You were promised a new life, but realized that your life there was worse, the woman using a shock collar to keep you in line. (''[[LongNeck stretches out his neck]] and looks at Cinder face to face'') You had a chance to get a new life, to train and become a Huntress, but you threw it away, [[RevengeBeforeReason just for petty]] ''[[RevengeBeforeReason revenge]]''. And look at you now... just another ''slave''.
--> '''Cinder''': Argh! (''attempts to decapitate Shadow'')
--> '''Shadow''': See, I know everything about you Cinder. I know what makes you ''tick''. And I know [[DarkSecret what breaks you...]] (''Cinder leaves, shaken'') WE ALL FALL IN THE END CINDER! IT'S JUST A MATTER OF WHEN! (''EvilLaugh'').

* ShipTease: Shadow and Penny. [[spoiler: They get married in the end.]]

* StartingANewLife: Roman, Mercury, Emerald, and Neo move to Vacuo to have a new start in life after Cinder's plan is foiled.

---> He was the good beast, the purple veil, the warrior of darkness. The Black King. He was... The Grimm with a Soul.
* {{Troll}}: The God of Darkness reincarnated Jack into Shadow just so he could mess with his brother.

---> '''Shadow''': She was going to kill both of you once she had the Fall Maiden's power. To quote her plan, "cutting off loose ends". She only planned to use you until you served her purpose.

** Pietro Polendina has his Aura completely restored by Shadow thanks to his PowerCopying abilities, allowing him to walk once more
** Amber has her Aura restored by Shadow, enabling her to recover from her injuries from Cinder's attack and make better use of her recovered Maiden abilities

** Team JNPR steps up their training with each other and open up to each other after the Beacon dance and the Breach, resulting in their teamwork and combat skills improving to the point that they can easily hold their own against other teams during the Vytal Festival tournament
** Jaune gains confidence and improves his combat skills thanks to the aforementioned events, growing into a much more capable leader and Huntsman

** Sienna Khan and the remaining White Fang join Shadow's Twilight Kingdom as the kingdom's Department of Faunus Affairs, helping him deal with the SDC and their racism

* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: Shadow awakens [[SuperEmpowering Jaune's semblance]] much earlier than canon by stabbing himself, forcing Jaune to unlock it to heal him
* AgeLift: Neo is the same age as Ruby in this story
* AllPowerfulBystander: Jack tells Violet during the Beacon dance his views on RWBY reincarnation fics. Lest to say, he's not happy about them

** Samay gets her arms frozen and shattered only for her Semblance to continually try and fail to rebuild them
* ArmorPiercingResponse: Mercury's response to Emerald regarding their fate after Cinder's plan prompts Emerald to rethink her loyalty to Cinder

* AssholeVictim: Every person that Shadow killed pretty much had it coming for them

* BadassBoast: Shadow makes so much that it would be impossible to list them all here

* CrazyPrepared: Shadow managed to purchase an entire house stocked with food, cash, furniture, training equipment, and copies of Team RWBY and JNPR's weapons in Vacuo prior to Roman, Mercury, Emerald, and Neo's arrival in their safehouse there

* EveryoneHasStandards: [[spoiler: Pyrrha rejects Ozpin's offer to have her possess the Fall Maiden's power after learning that Amber will die if she has her powers transferred to her, seeing it as no better than murder even if it is for the greater good.]]
** For all of his faults, Ironwood is disgusted by [[SinkTheLifeboats Jacques' order to shoot down the Twilight Kingdom transports]] and leaves him to his fate at Shadow's hands

** Dr. Doofenshmirtz and his pet platypus Grimm Perry are this for their namesake characters from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', right down to Perry's asskicking skills and Doof's odd inventions
** The announcers for the Vytal Festival tournament hosted in the Twilight Kingdom are both named [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Ned Flanders and Homer Simpson]], and are remarkably similar to their namesakes

** [[spoiler: Shadow prevents Cinder from gaining access to Ironwood's security codes by warning him about the virus Cinder installed in Ozpin's desk, resulting in him using a burner scroll to analyze and neuter it]]

* GoodIsNotSoft: Shadow may be on the side of good, but make no mistake-he ''will'' use all means necessary to defeat Salem, rules be damned

* GroundhogDayLoop: Samay's Semblance in a nutshell. She uses this on Shadow in an attempt to get him to react to her advances only for it to backfire on her.
* HadToBeSharp: Pretty much the entire reason as to how the Umbarans have managed to survive on the Darkness Continent for so long

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Salem created Shadow to be the perfect anti-Huntsman weapon, yet [[spoiler: he is the one to finally kill her.]]
** Samay's time-looping Semblance traps her in a vicious cycle of getting her arms frozen off as she tries to remake them before Shadow kills her

* IntimidationDemonstration: Shadow flares his copied Maiden powers to Raven to secure her cooperation in copying her Spring Maiden powers

* KillItWithFire: Fire is the only thing that can render Mimic Grimm like Shadow DeaderThanDead, which is why Shadow seeks to replicate the Fall Maiden's powers so he can be immune to it
* LargeAndInCharge: Shadow is already pretty tall, but he grows even taller with every time he copies a Semblance, reaching a height of seven feet tall by the story's finale.

* MadScientist: Doofenshmirtz is a benign example of this, being a BunnyEarsLawyer who provides the Twilight Kingdom with valuable inventions for fighting against the Grimm and helps upgrade Team VRWBY and JNPR's equipment with Umbaran technology

* NamedByTheAdaptation: Ozpin's first name is Samuel in the story
* NeckSnap: Shadow kills Tyrian near the warehouse Cinder secretly operates in by twisting his head until his neck breaks

* OneManArmy: Shadow was built with PowerCopying and ResurrectiveImmortality on top of his usual Grimm abilities so he could easily take on huntsmen, which, coupled with his HealingFactor, makes him nigh-unstoppable in combat

* PreMortemOneLiner: Shadow makes a CallBack to his previous TheReasonYouSuckSpeech as he kills Cinder after foiling her plans

---> '''Shadow''': You can insult and threaten me all you like. You threaten those I call ''friends'' and you die... You do not get to die with Blake at your side and the humans at your feet. You do not get to die in a blaze of glory so the White Fang can fight another day. You get to die here and now. ''Choking'' on your own blood

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Shadow is the king of these in the story, giving out multiple of these speeches

** He later gives one to Emerald during the match between Yang and Mercury, laying out all of the flaws in Cinder's plan and intimidating her into not using her Semblance in the process

** Jack also gives one to Violet, Ozpin, and Ozpin's cabal chewing them out for their inaction in dealing with Cinder

** Shadow gives one for the God of Light, telling him in no uncertain terms to [[PrecisionFStrike fuck off]] and never return to Remnant after treating Remnant like his own personal sandbox for so long.

* ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming: All of Twilight Kingdom's council members are named after the Greek gods and have abilities corresponding to the god they are named after
** Hera, Shadow's lieutenant, is an adept magician and administrator, much like how her namesake was the queen of the Olympians
** Demeter is a PlantPerson who manages the Twilight Kingdom's agriculture, similar to how Demeter in Greek mythology presided over the harvest
** Hades has the ability to [[DishingOutDirt manipulate the earth]] and wields a bident, a reference to Hades being the ruler of the underworld
** Poseidon wields a trident, [[MakingASplash can control water]], and is in charge of the Twilight Kingdom's fishing operations
** Athena and Ares are both [[FourStarBadass adept generals]] in their own right, with Athena being TheStrategist while Ares is a FrontlineGeneral
** Hephaestus is a GadgeteerGenius with the power of [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinesis]]
** Zeus has the ability [[ShockAndAwe to control lightning]] and is one of the Generals of the Twilight Kingdom's military
** Loki, a student at Twilight Academy, is a MasterOfIllusion and fights with dual daggers much like said god's [[Series/Loki2021 Marvel counterpart]] does
* {{Robeast}}: The forces of the Twilight Kingdom field robotic wolves and dragons alongside their regular forces that are capable of trouncing anything that Atlas can throw at them during the Twilight-Atlas war

* ShipperOnDeck: Shadow is this for Jaune and Pyrrha, with Nora joining in on the fun after the Beacon dance
* ShoutOut: Again, plenty of them show up
** Shadow's search for Roman in Vale is a reference to Wade Wilson's search for Francis in ''Film/Deadpool2016'', complete with one unlucky thug getting killed with a Zamboni and the "Is it not sexist to hit you" line
** The battle against Zelenaya's team in Vacuo is reminiscent of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'', with Zelenaya controlling a town by restricting their water supply
** Shadow even quotes Jack Sparrow's iconic quote from ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' word for word to the Ace Ops right before he kicks their asses in Atlas Academy
** The Sentinel Armor utilized by the Umbarans is based on the armor used by the Night Sentinels in ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'', and the Jaegers and Kaiju Grimm are a direct reference to ''Film/PacificRim''
** George Hirodin is called the VideoGame/HollowKnight as a reference to the game's title character
** An Umbaran fighter pilot performs the iconic [[VideoGame/Battlefield3 rendezook]] on a pursuing Atlesian fighter during the war between the Twilight Kingdom and Atlas
** The bonus chapter at the end of the book utilizes elements of Kung-fu Blaziken's RWBY AU one-shot ''The White Knight and the Black Queen''
* SparedByTheAdaptation: Summer, Amber, Pyrrha, and Roman avoid their canonical deaths thanks to Shadow's intervention

* StartingANewLife: Roman, Mercury, Emerald, and Neo move to Vacuo to have a new start in life after Cinder's plan is foiled

* TakenForGranite: The Nuckelavee is petrified and restrained with a tree growing in it by Shadow, leaving it at the mercy of Ren so he can avenge the destruction of his hometown of Kuroyuri at its hands
* TitleDrop: The epilogue provides one as Shadow passes on to the afterlife

* VoiceChangeling: Shadow uses a voice modulator to disguise his voice after he copied the Fall Maiden's power and ditched Ozpin to keep people from freaking out at his voice and elude detection

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Shadow informs Mercury and Emerald that Cinder had always planned to dispose of them once she got the power of the Fall Maiden after her death
---> '''Shadow''': She was going to kill both of you once she had the Fall Maiden's power. To quote her plan, "cutting off loose ends". She only planned to use you until you served her purpose

* PowerCopying: Shadow has the ability to perfectly replicate ''anything'' thanks to his innate abilities as a Mimic Grimm, with his Semblance, Plagarism, taking it UpToEleven by granting him the ability to copy Semblances.

** [[spoiler: Jack switches out with Shadow at the last second to take a spell from Salem in his place, getting his soul destroyed by it before Shadow strips Salem of her immortality and kills her.]]
* HollywoodHacking: {{Averted}}, Shadow easily hacks into Cinder's scroll with a flash drive and obtains all of her information on Pyrrha, Penny, the Fall Maiden, and the White Fang.

** Samay's own time-looping Semblance only traps her in a vicious cycle of getting her arms frozen off as she tries to remake them before Shadow kills her

--> '''Shadow''': For how long do you wish to do this, Cinder? You know your words cannot affect me, and I have long since moved past your hurtful words. I ''am'' a monster. A terrifying one at that. I cannot change the way people see me, only the way I see myself. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Why do you wish to stay on this side?]] I know your past; you were abused as a child. Why stay here when you ''desperately'' want revenge on them?

--> '''Shadow''': It may not... but what do I know about you Cinder?... Oh, I know... (''SlasherSmile'') I know you were an orphan in Mistral... constantly bullied and forced to scrub the floors... overworked and starved by your caretakers... But one day... a woman came and took you away... whisking you to an Atlesian hotel... You were promised a new life... but realized that your life there was worse, the woman using a shock collar to keep you in line. (''[[LongNeck stretches out his neck]] and looks at Cinder face to face'') You had a chance to get a new life... to train and become a Huntress... but you threw it away, [[RevengeBeforeReason just for petty]] ''[[RevengeBeforeReason revenge]]''. And look at you now... just another ''slave''.

--> '''Shadow''': See, I know everything about you Cinder. I know what makes you ''tick''. And... I know [[DarkSecret what breaks you...]] (''Cinder leaves, shaken'') WE ALL FALL IN THE END CINDER! IT'S JUST A MATTER OF WHEN! (''EvilLaugh'').
** He later gives one to Emerald during the match between Yang and Mercury, laying out all of the flaws in Cinder's plan and intimidating her into not using her Semblance in the process by shattering her trust in Cinder
---> '''Shadow''': I wouldn't do that if I were you

---> '''Shadow''': A very interesting situation we find ourselves in, Emerald
---> '''Emerald''': So you were here... A very bold move of you to show yourself in public

---> '''Shadow''': That has yet to be determined, but for the time being, enjoy the fight as I tell you what was wrong with your plan. I occasionally teach, so let this be a lesson for you
---> '''Emerald''': Sorry, I'm not much of a student
---> '''Shadow''': I really do not give a damn. Your first mistake was allowing me to love, a shot to the head may have been a good idea, but that is basic compared to [[MadeOfIron what I can survive]]. When I escaped, I immediately went to Ozpin and told them when you would be arriving. Your next mistake was not covering your tracks. You, a small time thief, and him, the son of Marcus Black. You should have covered your tracks before coming to Beacon

---> '''Shadow''': No. Actually, he never needed to. My semblance allows me to copy physical items, and yes, I have a Semblance. (''StunnedSilence'') I only had to lay a hand on Cinder's tablet, and I had access to your entire plan. So these were your first mistakes, your next one was your Trojan that you installed in Ozpin's desk. How moronic Cinder should have to be to realize that I actually ''did'' recognize her that night. So, Ironwood placed a burner scroll, with the illusion that it was his personal one, so we could observe what the virus could have done. We knew that you teamed up with Taurus and his branch of the White Fang and are planning to attack the city from the south with a large swarm of Grimm pincering from the north. Ironwood's been working on that along with the Valian generals, who are no doubt laying waste to them as we speak. The only reason that they would know where these locations are is if they had Cinder's tablet. Am I missing anything? No, I think that's it.

---> '''Shadow''': (''MirthlessLaughter'') Let me tell you something, Emerald... When I was on the darkness continent, I slew every Grimm I came across. From Beowolves to Deathstalkers. When I first got to Vale, do you know why all of your dust robberies failed? ''Why'' storehouses and bases suddenly disappeared off the map? I do. ''I'' was that reason. I slew entire small armies on some nights. The media didn't know who was responsible, or who to blame. [[TheScapegoat So I gave them a corpse to satisfy them.]] ''Tyrian's'' corpse. And do you know ''who'' killed Tyrian?

* AdaptationalHeroism: {{Downplayed}} for Mercury, Emerald, Roman, and Neo given that weren't really on board with Cinder's EvilPlan in the first place.

* AgeLift: {{Inverted}}, Neo is the same age as Ruby in this story

---> '''Emerald''': Roman, that bastard... Did he break, or did he sell us out?
--->: '''Shadow''': No. Actually, he never needed to. My semblance allows me to copy physical items, and yes, I have a Semblance. (''StunnedSilence'') I only had to lay a hand on Cinder's tablet, and I had access to your entire plan. So these were your first mistakes, your next one was your Trojan that you installed in Ozpin's desk. How moronic Cinder should have to be to realize that I actually ''did'' recognize her that night. So, Ironwood placed a burner scroll, with the illusion that it was his personal one, so we could observe what the virus could have done. We knew that you teamed up with Taurus and his branch of the White Fang and are planning to attack the city from the south with a large swarm of Grimm pincering from the north. Ironwood's been working on that along with the Valian generals, who are no doubt laying waste to them as we speak. The only reason that they would know where these locations are is if they had Cinder's tablet. Am I missing anything? No, I think that's it.

---> ''Shadow'': [[CallBack We all fall in the end, Cinder. It's only a matter of when.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: {{Downplayed}} for Mercury, Emerald, Roman, and Neo given that weren't really on board with Cinder's EvilPlan in the first place before Shadow killed her.
** Sienna Khan and the remaining White Fang join Shadow's Twilight Kingdom as the Department of Faunus Affairs, helping him deal with the SDC and their racism
** [[spoiler: The alternate universe in the post-epilogue bonus chapter has Salem, Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, Adam, and Neo be much more heroic than canon, with Salem becoming the guardian of humanity alongside her husband Ozma and the latter becoming students at Beacon Academy.]]

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Roman may be a criminal, but [[LikeASonToMe he regards Neo like his own daughter]], something that Cinder exploited by effectively holding Neo hostage to get Roman onto her side. Shadow takes advantage of this by cutting him a deal that gurantees Roman and Neo's survival in exchange for their voluntary cooperation in their arrests.

---> '''Shadow''': For how long do you wish to do this, Cinder? You know your words cannot affect me, and I have long since moved past your hurtful words. I ''am'' a monster. A terrifying one at that. I cannot change the way people see me, only the way I see myself. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Why do you wish to stay on this side?]] I know your past; you were abused as a child. Why stay here when you ''desperately'' want revenge on them?

--> '''Shadow''': It may not... but what do I know about you Cinder?... Oh, I know... (''SlasherSmile'') I know you were an orphan in Mistral... constantly bullied and forced to scrub the floors... overworked and starved by your caretakers... But one day... a woman came and took you away... whisking you to an Atlesian hotel... You were promised a new life... but realized that your life there was worse, the woman using a shock collar to keep you in line. (''[[LongNeck stretches out his neck]] and looks at Cinder face to face'') You had a chance to get a new life... to train and become a Huntress... but you threw it away, [[[RevengeBeforeReason just for petty]] ''[[RevengeBeforeReason revenge]]''. And look at you now... just another ''slave''.

* TheConfidant: Shadow serves as this to Ozpin, enabling Ozpin to tell Shadow that he still loves Salem and only seeks to reconcile with her even after everything that has happened between them. This ends up throwing Salem for a loop when she overhears their conversation.

** Atlas gets manhandled by the Twilight Kingdom after Jacques foolishly starts a war by shooting at their transports as they move the citizens of Mantle to the Twilight Kingdom, with the Umbaran forces steamrolling the Atlesian military in short order.

* DeathByAdaptation: Tyrian, [[spoiler: Cinder]], [[spoiler: Salem]], and [[spoiler: Jacques]] are killed by Shadow.

* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: Adam Taurus is ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice straight through his mouth by Shadow with his own sword

* EveryoneHasStandards: [[spoiler: Pyrrha rejects Ozpin's offer to have her possess the Fall Maiden's power after she learns that Amber will die if she has her powers transferred to her, seeing it as no better than murder even if it is for the greater good.]]

** [[spoiler: Shadow prevents Ironwood from placing his Scroll onto the desk in the headmaster's office and warns him about Cinder's virus, resulting in him using a burner scroll to analyze and neuter it, preventing Cinder from gaining access to his security codes.]]
** [[spoiler: Shadow intimidates Emerald into not using her Semblance during Yang's match against Mercury in the Vytal Festival tournament, preventing Yang's disqualification and resulting in the arrests of Emerald and Mercury after the match ends.]]
** [[spoiler: Penny is ordered by Ironwood to throw her fight after he learns of Pyrrha's [[MagnetismManipulation polarity Semblance]], resulting in Pyrrha becoming the champion of the Vytal Festival.]]

* TheGoodKing: Shadow becomes this for the Twilight Kingdom.

** [[spoiler: Shadow creates a humanoid Grimm and an android as his "children" of sorts.]]

* ButterflyEffect: Violet's main fear is that the timeline could be altered so much by Jack's actions that everything is unrecognizable, which Jack disapproves of.

* AnArmAndALeg: Oddly enough, Yang still has one arm just like canon.This time, she was born with one arm and lived with it as a child.

* AnArmAndALeg: Oddly enough, Yang still has one arm just like canon except that she was instead born with one arm and lived with it as a child.

** Pietro Polendina has his Aura completely restored by Shadow thanks to his PowerCopying abilities, allowing him walk once more

---> '''Shadow''': [[ArmorePiercingResponse I'm only six months old. Besides, what's a seventeen year old assassin?]]

'''Emerald''':[[IOweYouMyLife Because she saved us.]]\\

* AdaptationalHeroism: {{Downplayed}} for Mercury, Emerald, Roman, and Neo given that weren't really on board with Cinder's EvilPlan in the first place before Shadow kills her.

---> '''Shadow''': [[ArmorPiercingResponse You stopped Salem from being reunited with the man she loved in life and in death. Then you did nothing while your brother wiped out humanity all for the transgressions of a few, only to revive her beloved when it served you. Are you really one to judge me?]] (''The God of Light leaves) That is what I thought.

** Loki, a student at Twilight Academy, is a MasterOfIllusion and fights with dual daggers, much like [[Series/Loki2021 his namesake god's Marvel counterpart]] does

* SpannerInTheWorks: '''''And how!''''' Thanks to his knowledge of the future from Jack, Shadow manages to completely dismantle Cinder's plans avert the Fall of Beacon, and massively alter the timeline in one fell swoop.

* {{Troll}}: The God of Darkness reincarnates Jack into Shadow just so he could mess with his brother
** Shadow actively impedes Cinder's plans to orchestrate the Fall of Beacon with her minions whenever he can by eavesdropping on them right under their noses with his possession ability that he got from Geists

* VoiceChangeling: Shadow uses a voice modulator to disguise his voice after he copied the Fall Maiden's power and ditched Ozpin to keep the people from freaking out at his voice and elude detection
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: The bonus chapter after the epilogue reveals that Salem got sent back in time to the day that she and Ozma had their fateful confrontation after her defeat by Shadow, only with Ozpin deciding to talk it out with Salem instead of attempting to leave with their daughters. [[ForWantOfANail The resulting alternate universe]] is LighterAndSofter than canon due to Salem and Ozma taking up the role of humanity's guardians, working in the shadows to guide humanity back towards the greatness they once possessed.]]

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Shadow reveals to Mercury and Emerald that Cinder had always planned to dispose of them once she got the power of the Fall Maiden after Cinder's execution