Ruby Rose

Ruby Rose is the main protagonist of RWBY. Ruby's weapon of choice is her High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe (HCSS) known as Crescent Rose.

She first appeared in the "Red" Trailer visiting the grave of her deceased mother, Summer Rose. After an invitation from Headmaster Ozpin following an altercation with Roman Torchwick, Ruby attends Beacon Academy to become a Huntress. She becomes the leader of Team RWBY, consisting of Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and her half-sister, Yang Xiao Long.

Appearance
Ruby appears as a young, silver-eyed girl dressed in a black blouse, a black waist cincher with red lacing and a skirt with red trimmings, completed by a red, hooded cloak. She is currently the youngest character in the series. Her entire outfit is made up of various shades of red and black with black as the primary color on the main suit and red on the cloak. Even her shoulder-length hair is black with a red tint to it.

As of her second appearance, Ruby has cross-shaped pins holding her cloak to her shirt. Around her waist is a belt which holds large cartridges in individual loops, as well as a magazine pouch. In the "Red" Trailer, as well as the promotional logo for RWBY, she has a silver cross on her belt, but it was eventually changed into a silver version of her rose emblem.

Ruby's physical appearance resembles the Little Red Riding Hood archetype, which is further reinforced by the appearance of the Beowolves in her trailer. Director Monty Oum confirmed that she indeed alludes to, but is not based on, Red Riding Hood

Personality
At the start of the show, Ruby was described by Monty as being "innocent" and still a "little sister". She is quick to reveal she wanted to become a huntress in order to be like the great heroes in fairy tales, and has described being one as far more "romantic" than being a police officer. She has also shown a distinct lack of ability picking up social cues due to being a very open and honest person, which results in her being unable to pick up Weiss' sarcasm in the "The Shining Beacon", and struggling to act formal in "It's Brawl in the Family".

Although Ruby has no trouble interacting with friends, she does have trouble actually making them, and once admits that seeing new weapons "is like meeting new people, but better". This could have been a result of her having been accepted two years earlier to Beacon Academy, which forces her to leave her friends at Signal behind, as well as interact with people that were both older and more experienced than her. Regardless, both her and Jaune toast to being socially awkward during the Beacon Dance.

In the second chapter of the manga it is revealed that Ruby has had a fear of large crowds, as shown when she freezes up during a sparring match against Cardin Winchester. However, she manages to work through that fear with some encouragement from her teammates long enough to win the spar, and by the Vytal Festival has overcome them entirely.

In combat or dangerous situations she is shown to be quite impulsive and battle eager, such as when she attacks a Death Stalker on sight before learning of its high resistance to bullets and blade. This trait contrasts with her adaptability, for she is quite capable of forming attack plans with others in order to take down stronger foes, such as the Nevermore in "Players and Pieces," and Roman Torchwick in the Atlesian Paladin-290 in "Painting the Town...". After her discussion with Ozpin in "The Badge and The Burden, Pt.2", Ruby begins to take her role as leader of team RWBY seriously. Notably, future instances of recklessness are when none of her teammates are near her, such as in the "Battle of Beacon" when she goes alone to engage Roman and Neopolitan.

Powers and Abilities
In order to become a Huntress, Ruby trained at Signal Academy, where her skills and abilities far surpassed her peers. Wielding a dangerous weapon like Crescent Rose required strength, balance, and adaptability, all of which she demonstrated the night she stopped the robbery of a Dust shop in Vale. This led Ozpin to accept her into Beacon Academy two years before the usual age of admittance.

While at Beacon, Ruby developed skills as a decisive leader, being able to formulate and execute plans with others in order to take down tougher foes, such as the giant Nevermore encountered during initiation, and later in coordinated attacks against Roman Torchwick in an Atlesian Paladin-290.

Ruby's sense of balance stands out, particularly in precarious situations like perching on a taut ribbon in "Players and Pieces" or running off an exploding airship in "Heroes and Monsters".

Weapon
Ruby is a self admitted dork when it comes to weapons, which shows in her complex design and craftsmanship of Crescent Rose, her High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe which she designed herself at Signal, as well as her eye for detail when observing other peoples weapons and tools. This weapon can transform between a scythe and a sniper rifle, and can fire Dust rounds in either form with massive force, as demonstrated in the "Red" Trailer when she used a Gravity Dust magazine. Rather than compensate for it, Ruby harnesses the recoil to enhance her mobility in combat, firing shots to propel herself short distances, simultaneously attacking and evading opponent.

It is also capable of using fire and lightning Dust.

Ozpin has noted upon meeting Ruby that he has only ever seen one other scythe wielder as skilled with such a dangerous weapon; that person is none other than Qrow Branwen, Ruby’s teacher and uncle. According to Ruby, prior to learning under Qrow she was "completely garbage", although it’s unclear if that only applies to her scythe skills.

Despite showing a preference for engaging enemies in close combat, Ruby does possess enough accuracy to land headshots against Grimm, but notably needs to stand still to do so consistently, usually by anchoring her scythe to the ground to act as a monopod.

Semblance
Ruby’s Semblance allows her to dash with unnatural speed in whatever direction she chooses at the cost of Aura. This happens so fast she sometimes gives off the illusion of teleporting. She has displayed the ability to use this Semblance midair, as well as to create a powerful whirlwinds that can suck in and knock away objects and foes caught by it.

During the Volume 4 Character Short, she displayed much greater control over her Semblance, using it to repeatedly change directions in midair and attack at high speed. She also exhibited the ability to seemingly dematerialize into three separate clusters of petals which then flowed around an opponent before reforming. The exact mechanics of this ability are not yet clear.

She also increases her ability to pick up and carry someone, as her joint attack with Nora on the Geist was a vast improvement over the time she carried Penny Polendina. Another amped ability is her encircling of air, which she previously used successfully against Team JNPR and unsuccessfully against Mercury Black. Previously it was smaller, but she is now capable of enveloping her enemy in a tornado-like rush of air.

Notably, whenever she uses this Semblance, she leaves a trail of rose petals in her wake that dissipate over time. It is unknown what causes this, but these rose petals are not merely symbolic and can be perceived by others. Weiss once waved her hands to brush them away, and Ozpin comments on witnesses who reported rose petals left behind in a dance club.

Silver Eyes
Through her mother, Summer, Ruby comes from a line of legendary warriors who possessed powerful abilities related to their silver eyes, said to be an extremely rare trait. Upon seeing Pyrrha die in "End of the Beginning", Ruby accidentally uses this power in her grief and freezes the Dragon. However, she has no memory of doing this other than her head hurting. Later in the episode, Qrow describes a fairy tale about warriors with silver eyes who are so powerful that even the Grimm fear them.

In "The Next Step", it is revealed that Ruby's powers caused Cinder to lose her left eye, her voice, and the use of her left arm. Salem states that this is due to Cinder's attainment of the Fall Maiden powers, but does not explain why this is the case.

Trivia

 * Ruby alludes to the fairy tale character Little Red Riding Hood, particularly on her minor associations with Beowolves.