History RWBY / TropesHToK

* IronicName: Neptune Vasilias means "King Neptune", as in the Roman god. However, despite the god's associations with water, Neptune is actually terrified of water and avoids it wherever possible. [[spoiler:The novels reveal that his phobia stems from his water-control Semblance, which he cannot control. He has almost drowned himself and others as a result of his power; he views avoiding water as protecting people from himself.]]

* InjuredSelfDrag: Following Cinder's battle with Raven, Cinder is left heavily injured and unable to stand. Cinder drags herself out of the cavern they battled in until finding a passerby, who she mugs for her clothing and money to survive.

* JerkassToOne:
** Dr. Arthur Watts is a completely ruthless [[TheSociopath high-functioning sociopath]] aiding Salem's campaign of terror and genocide, but he usually acts at least [[FauxAffablyEvil moderately polite and well-spoken]] towards others. With Cinder, however, he goes out of his way to verbally disparage her and try to make her feel insignificant whenever they're within each-other's line of hearing. Cinder [[TeethClenchedTeamwork feels the same way towards him]].
** The [[EvilAllAlong Curious Cat]] is ruthlessly self-serving, and they despise all humans to the point of cruelty due to their past with Alyx, but they single out their former compatriot Jaune Arc in particular; directing disparaging remarks on his personal shortcomings at him when they cross paths again. This occurs even while the Cat is pretending to be Team RWBY's ally, in contrast to how the Cat acts impeccably polite towards Team RWBY, and it continues after the Cat's true colors are revealed.

'''Yang''': It's not worth it, Blake. They're ''just following orders'' now.

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: DiscussedTrope. In the World of Remnant episode "Huntsmen", [[BigGood Professor Ozpin]] mentions that every Huntsman is expected to live up to the ideal of the noble warrior who is motivated solely to protect the people, and who ''never'' succumbs to any darkness that could sway them from this path. In Volume 8, Blake admits that Ruby is her symbol of purity who restored her faith in the world, which reiterates Ozpin's Volume 5 message to Oscar that Ruby possesses an "[[TheParagon indefinable quality]]" that [[HopeBringer inspires others]] even in the darkest times. However, Ozpin's narration about Huntsmen ominously implies Huntsmen may struggle to uphold the ideal in practice, he reflects in Volume 7 on the fear's power to corrupt even the best, something Maria previously acknowledged in Volume 6 when admitting that, while a Huntress should fight to the bitter end, she failed to do so when she went into hiding after an assassination attempt blinded her; Ozpin warns Oscar that being TheParagon is a terrible burden for Ruby to shoulder, and Salem's Volume 3 speech makes it clear that the path to her victory lies in [[HopeCrusher tearing down Ruby]] to [[DespairGambit crush Ozpin's]] faith in humanity and will to keep fighting. The Atlas Arc (Volumes 7-9) puts the discussion into action by exploring the burden of being Huntsmen on the characters and the consequences for their lives and mental health when they fail.

* ImproperlyParanoid: This is the FatalFlaw for Ironwood , especially during Volumes 7 & 8, as the mere appearance of a chess piece crafted by the mastermind behind the Fall of Beacon is enough to trigger flashbacks to [[MyGreatestFailure his failure to defend Beacon]] and conclude that an evacuation he was overseeing was exactly what the villains wanted to sneak on aboard. From there, he begins to make bad decision after bad decision to try and keep himself and Atlas safe, eventually driving every ally he has away from him and causing enough division to [[spoiler:ensure that Atlas falls anyways]]. The worst part is that ''this'' was [[BatmanGambit what the villains really wanted out of him]].

* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: A GreatOffscreenWar created a world where people celebrate their individuality, and Huntsman "combat outfits" are particularly colourful, dramatic, and sometimes even impractical, compared to ordinary people. Examples include: Blake and Neo wearing detached sleeves that stay in place; Yang's pale, frilly skirts or bows that never get damaged or dirty; never-compromised modesty, such as Pyrrha's pencil micro-skirt or Emerald's boob-tube; never-compromised modesty such as Ruby and Pyrrha's bodices or Weiss and Ruby's crinoline-packed skirts. Clothing always forms perfect lines, even during intense activity, and cloaks always billow regardless of their weight. Even the best cosplayers can't defy physics, but the characters always look good as a result.

** Cinder does this often while grinning dubiously to add to her mysterious, ominous persona. It helps that her hair covers one of her eyes.

** Cinder does this often while grinning dubiously to add to her mysterious, ominous persona. It helps that her hair [[PeekABangs covers one of her eyes]].

* HeroicSacrifice: In "Never Miss a Beat", Weiss attempts to take out Flynt by tackling him onto a flame-spewing vent when he's about to target Yang. Weiss ends up depleting all of her Aura, and Flynt survives by the skin of his teeth, but is weak enough to be taken out by Yang. Once the battle is over, Flynt acknowledges her courage in the act.

In the Volume 3 finale, Cinder attempts to destroy Beacon Tower, but the teachers are too far away to intervene, leaving someone else to step into the role of protecting the tower until the teachers can arrive. Pyrrha gives Cinder a hell of a fight, her Semblance going toe-to-toe with Cinder's Maiden powers. Unfortunately, Semblance requires Aura, while Maiden powers do not. When Pyrrha runs out of Aura, Cinder kills her.

During the final episode of Volume 8, Arthur Watts activates the bomb that Ironwood originally planned to destroy Mantle with in order to kill Qrow, Robyn and most of the remaining Ace-Ops on the airship it's on right after Harriet was convinced not to use it. Vine Zeki willingly decides to stay on the ship in order to contain the blast of the bomb using his Semblance as well as protect his friends in the Ace-Ops. Harriet screams in horror as she realizes her friend is about to die as the bomb is successfully contained.

In the Volume 3 finale, Cinder attempts to destroy Beacon Tower, but the teachers are too far away to intervene, leaving someone else to step into the role of protecting the tower until the teachers can arrive. Pyrrha gives Cinder a hell of a fight, her Semblance going toe-to-toe with Cinder's Maiden powers. Unfortunately, Semblance requires Aura, while Maiden powers do not. When Pyrrha runs out of Aura, Cinder kills her.
During the final episode of Volume 8, Arthur Watts activates the bomb that Ironwood originally planned to destroy Mantle with in order to kill Qrow, Robyn and most of the remaining Ace-Ops on the airship it's on right after Harriet was convinced not to use it. Vine Zeki willingly decides to stay on the ship in order to contain the blast of the bomb using his Semblance as well as protect his friends in the Ace-Ops. Harriet screams in horror as she realizes her friend is about to die as the bomb is successfully contained.

** In Volume 9, Jaune Arc and the Curious Cat are ''not'' on friendly terms after a past incident between them which Jaune took personally. [[spoiler:The pair were companions with Alyx and Lewis during the decades Jaune was marooned in the Ever After, but Jaune came to mistrust the Cat after Alyx put him in a poison-induced coma and Lewis disappeared at the realm's tree, believing that the Cat and Alyx fed Lewis to the tree for a DeathOfPersonality. In the penultimate episode, Jaune fights the Cat in rage after he discovers that the Cat actually murdered Alyx just as the latter had had a crisis of conscience and intended to fix all the harm she'd done to Jaune and others. The Cat in turn reveals that they have a special contempt for Jaune, chiding his failures which the Cat has witnessed, snarling that they've found his "fairy tale nonsense" ''very'' tiring, and using illusions of the two people whose deaths traumatized Jaune the most against him amidst their fight while smiling sadistically through an illusion of Pyrrha]].

** In Volume 9, Jaune Arc and the Curious Cat are ''not'' on friendly terms after a past incident between them which Jaune took personally. [[spoiler:The pair were companions with Alyx and Lewis during the decades Jaune was marooned in the Ever After, but Jaune came to mistrust the Cat after Alyx put him in a poison-induced coma and Lewis disappeared at the realm's tree, believing that the Cat and Alyx fed Lewis to the tree for a DeathOfPersonality after Alyx put Jaune in a coma. In the penultimate episode, Jaune fights the Cat in rage after he discovers that the Cat actually murdered Alyx just as the latter had had a crisis of conscience and intended to fix all the harm she'd done to Jaune and others. The Cat in turn reveals that they have a special contempt for Jaune, chiding his failures which the Cat has witnessed, snarling that they've found his "fairy tale nonsense" ''very'' tiring, and using illusions of the two people whose deaths traumatized Jaune the most against him amidst their fight while smiling sadistically through an illusion of Pyrrha]].