Let's Talk About RWBY's Weapons

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There's a lot to say about RWBY's weapon designs over the years, and now I'm finally attempting to cover the topic! Let's dive in!

[@thejudgmentalcritter6584]

I'm really sick of seeing comments along the lines of "Well, it's because Monty passed away." That is INCREDIBLY rude. It's SO RUDE to imply Monty was the only one who ever did anything good for RWBY. Sit down and watch the credits for a volume, and see all those names. Every single of of those people worked hard to make the show what it is, and it's incredibly rude to imply they had no hand in it, and it was only Monty. It is RUDE to only give Monty all the praise and push any blame onto his old friends and colleagues. And it is RUDE to try and use Monty's name to shit on current RWBY, the people he called friends. It's fine if you want to give Monty praise and discuss how inspirational he was, but STOP using his name as an insult towards current RWBY. STOP striping the hard work the rest of CRWBY did to make RWBY a great show and say Monty was the only one who ever did anything. It's disgusting seeing people using his name that way. EDIT: Since some of you don't seem to actually understand what it is I'm talking about, here's some examples. Copy and Pasted from a comment of mine this thread. Giving Monty praise and acknowledging how much he did for the show, is perfectly fine, and encouraged. "Monty was an inspiration and I don't think we could ever truly replicate the impact he had on the show's creative development" GOOD comment! Using Monty's name to attack the people who used to be his friends, is NOT okay. "Lol. Monty would be spinning in his grave. Miles and Kerry have ruined his vision, and if Monty was alive I bet he would slap them over what they did to his show." BAD comment.

[@KokaKola633]

Thank you! I’m tired of people disrespecting Monty and the crew.

[@fishnewt1331]

They are still doing that? Unbelievable. That is incredibly disappointing to hear.

[@wilburforce8046]

Yea a lot of people seem to forget that Monty’s wife and best freinds were right there working on the first rwby seasons. It wasn’t just one dude. (Though apparently the Monty team got pushed out which explains the death of the character outfits/weapons/animation and such)

[@jayredd8340]

I think the biggest problem is the combination of writers. Monty, Miles and Kerry, working together, were worth more than the sum of their parts. The new writers aren't really adding anything to the mix, at least nothing unique to them. Miles and Kerry are decent writers, but in my opinion, they're at their best when they have people to bounce ideas off of, and I don't think Eddy and Kiersi are the right people for that, judging by Volume 8. But I do understand where they're coming from. If you're not well versed in the behind the scenes, it just seems like Monty died, and then the show went downhill. Monty dying wasn't the reason the show went downhill, it's because they didn't get someone to replace him until it was too late, and the people they got were evidently the wrong people. In my opinion, I believe that the best choice would be one of the other lead animators, but we'll probably never know.

[@TheKing-rp9by]

It’s true though. I’m not saying they don’t care about Monty or his series but when you see, fan-animation, fan-art or even some fanfics that have that care and time into they feel more like Monty’s work then the official studio. The series fixing RWBY by Celtic Phoenix. Is one of the best examples of this. Plus rooster teeth has fired. A lot of animators that worked with Monty.

[@dhakshkamra1553]

The conversation of having no colour on their weapons nowadays is hilarious in a world where there was something called the "Colour's Revolution "

[@KillerOrca]

RT forgot about that I think. Probably evolved into the Great War.

[@clothar23]

Especially considering it's mentioned within the show itself that the more colorful names of some of the characters are a direct result of said revolution. A memento and lingering defiance of everything they fought against.

[@romiarkan450]

I'd like to think some embrace the rule and some don't, either by doing the barest minimum to meet the color naming requirement (like using names that might relate to colors but still a bit of a stretch) or by not following it entirely. It's only been 80 years since the rule was in place, the cultural change around the world can't happen THAT quickly. Centuries, sure, but not 80 years. I'd like to believe many people in Atlas still stick to something OG like biblical/religious names (some of which have relations to colors), especially the old money and people from families established predating the rule. Hell some of the character names in this show are biblical/religious. Jacques, James, Caroline, Adam for example. We don't know a thing about Adam's origin but Jacques, James, and Caroline are Atlesians.

[@jackwhelan8249]

I mean it makes sense for the Ace Ops and Ironwood to have the color stripped from their weapons

[@chatyxd6078]

I think there's a big difference between being fast and fluid. The old fights weren't necessarily fast but they were so incredibly fluid and intentional that the fights felt really fast. Now the fights are just a flurry of blows that do nothing.

[@tugsuumovies1999]

you can speed things up or slow them down, bland animation and choreography are still gonna be bland. it's such a tragedy 😞

[@ethanlee8307]

I still go back to RWBY fights to this day, just to pick them apart cus they're just so damn fun.

[@tugsuumovies1999]

@@ethanlee8307 ikr, I get so pumped just watching the original trailers over and over again. Makes me wanna animate myself

[@declanclaus6681]

Rwby rly disappoints me. I just want v1 and v2 to be foreverr

[@aidenrivera4617]

They more like ,swing weapons not even like a raipeir or a actual syth it's more like they all use swords and they overlay the flipping other weapons over it I didn't noticed it from before but from my dad himself "it looks bland"

[@carbodude5414]

The animators think that speed was what made the old fight animations good when in reality, it was *momentum*

[@FlameUser64]

Both momentum and simple principles of martial arts. Coil… and then snap back like a spring. Build tension in the body and release to create power. Create power, and recycle it by following your momentum.

[@Krahazik]

Speed I think was a factor. Key there, a factor, not the whole. There were several factors or elements working together that made the original fights so good. Combined with the momentum Flame mentioned and the martial arts moves all working together with the right timing. To often you see with such things where someone tries to recreate this level of greatness in a thing and they want to find that single one element that was the key to greatness, they think they find it and run with it, but end up failing because it isn't just a singular thing that made the greatness great. Not just with fight scenes here in rwby, but other things too, including whole series.

[@brimmedhathoe4392]

Yup. Momentum and weight.

[@thenamelessnpc1000]

I almost feel as if Salem not having a weapon could have worked if she was the ONLY one without a weapon. Like, it would make her feel like even more of an outsider, that she's so powerful, she doesn't need anything but her own will or something

[@princeofqrow3181]

Is she really powerful?

[@thenamelessnpc1000]

@@princeofqrow3181 oh, I meant that more in a hypothetical sense, apologies for the confusion

[@ethanmaloney3438]

@@princeofqrow3181 she is the only other magic user besides Ozpin and the maidens; the former used a lot of his power I make the later so less magic for all. Meaning the is the only real caster left.

[@lucifer_d_falln1]

@@princeofqrow3181 she is currently built up to be the final antagonist who is op as hell... So...

[@princeofqrow3181]

@@lucifer_d_falln1 does she have to be boring?

[@frozenfoxgames5300]

"That bitch fought with a hoverboard." I love the way you said that.

[@JesseGolo]

"Did you know Robin's weapon is shaped like a bird." "Yes... five minutes ago, in this video."

[@crabunderarock5548]

I think Robin's Crossbow should have had some red feathered accents, like the red feather in Robin Hood's Hat. It could also not be gray

[@casualfanatic4217]

I hate everything about Robin. From her design to her character to the people who made her

[@javelinmaster2]

Why not make the crossbow resemble a actual Robin (the bird) and give it a hat? That would've given her a weaPUN!

[@crusadr_4966]

@@javelinmaster2 Channeling your inner Yang I see

[@ChestnutRiceandKamehameha]

Yes! A red accent would look quite nice. I also think the wing design can spread all the way around into a circle so that she has a shield/circular saw gauntlet for close quarters.

[@artistanthony1007]

Or atleast utilize gray better.

[@MrPoopenFarten]

Even Port's dumb weapon has more personality than the later ones. It's dumb and stupid, but it fits Ports as a person completely. He's a big oaf who was basically a hunter, it makes sense that his weapon would be just a shotgun axe. It fits him. Seeing Port with a spear or scythe would look weird, but seeing him with a large axe fits him.

[@gatfatf]

I could see Port with a spear, that's an effective everyman weapon. Practical, fundamental even. Just make it like a boar spear, which was used in hunting.

[@Vigriff]

More of a blunderbuss than a shotgun.

[@imgvillasrc1608]

​@Vigriff they're the same thing. The only reason why the blunderbuss has a huge barrel at the end was so that pouring powder and bullets would be much easier.

[@antondevonlh]

The worst part is there is a lot of great things that could be done, if it had been intentional. The Ace-Ops weapons are bland? Sure, because they are all military issue. Have Harriet call Ruby's Scythe a "fantasy toy" or something and later when she gets beat up have it be because Crescent Rose fits perfectly with Ruby's style, overcoming the specialized but not personalized nature of Harriet's gear. Some fighters use Semblances over weapons? Sure, have that be a surprise twist. Hazel doesn't use a weapon, and it takes the characters by surprise. How can he be keeping up with them through Semblance alone?! Put more weight on it. Hell, have Hazel fight Ironwood, and have him point out that he clearly *doesn't* have one (because F*ck Mettle). The machine man with no superpowers vs the superpowered hulk who shuns technology. That way, you can save on the hard part (designing a unique and fantastical weapon for literally every background extra in this show) and still tell a story. Having Weiss switch to more summons could be a personal choice; have a scene during some season where she gets really hurt being in the front lines, and so she starts relying on her Glyphs and Summons more to avoid that (and have her have to get into the fray later to save Ruby or something). We saw a little of with it Yang relying less on her Semblance and becoming a smarter fighter, and then they boiled that down into basically making her fight the exact same way everyone else does. I hadn't realized just how much wasted potential there was in this issue until this video (thanks, I hate it XD), not only because they just aren't making them the same, but because they aren't using that limitation in any way to advance the plot (a classic problem solving trick). Thanks for taking such a deep dive into this, and I can't wait for the next video ^.^ Keep up the great work =3

[@firewolf950tfwgaming7]

If I may jump on your bandwagon for how the writing could explain many of the weapon things, maybe the headmasters don’t have very well defined because they don’t have much time for their weapons traditionally and thus they compromise the weapon aspect for their managing position. Like Leo doesn’t have a good shield because he doesn’t dedicate time to it and just asks for the bare minimum in a shield and Ironwood doesn’t have a fancy gun and just 2 pistols because he oversees managing so many mass produced weapons that he’s rather have a simplistic set of guns that he can obtain easily. Then for Salem having a weapon, the show could establish weapons as a recently new concept in the history of remnant or at least just the idea of combining weapon and gun. Salem doesn’t use a weapon because at her time they were just basic weapons that only had one way of being used and just stick to magic or she just hates weapons like she doesn’t use them because she despises them. Also, back to the generational thing, maybe making your own weapon is also a regional thing. Ruby did say every student at SIGNAL ACADEMY makes their own weapons. Not everyone went to signal so maybe it’s only a tradition there. Maybe for some students they did just get a generic weapon and for other they just weren’t given the time to design one or were never thought to think of it that way. There are so many ways to alleviate this problem and they could have helped elevate some characters like ironwood.

[@TheGrandSilence]

You find it so much in RWBY, Your idea sound great and fun and I cant fathom how these points of potential all just get over looked by all the people on the show. Or if they just dont know how to pull it off. Every concept or character gets somehow wasted.

[@findlaymurray397]

With Weiss there could even have been an explanation for her defaulting to summong more, she used to use dust but back then she had an infinte supply from the SDC, and in v4 or 5 they even mentioned a dust embargo in Atlas. Things like that could be used to explain Weiss default to summong so much.

[@Tigerof2000]

i stopped watching rwby but when i saw that they destroyed jaunes sword i immediately thought so it wasnt important and realized what if instead of pyrrha dying when we didn't fully know her instead have jaunes sword break so he can build a new one keep pyrrha so i dont just get attached though fanfiction and their portrayls of her plus its still a momment of regret for jaune and for growth along with a mystery like maybe only magic could break it. Jaune my favorite character since he atleast had an arc.

[@sirnonsense5033]

I actually don’t think it’s surprising that Havel dosnt have a weapon just like saelem. The only part in this video I disagreed with is the thought that every character in this world has his unique weapon. In my understanding it was just the huntsmen that were like this who were trained by mentors in their style to fight grim ( Weiss from her sister, ruby her uncle ect) and made that weapon into their own style. Yes there are some villains who have some but I that’s likely fight huntsmen (imitated them) or were ex huntsmen going criminal. I still feel tho many new huntsman weapon look shit. I think making non huntsmen have normal weapons would be ok as long as we wouldn’t get that shit stuff like ironwoods new gun...

[@OneTaker]

Feel like the weapons have been more ...simplified? To make it easier for choreographers to plan out a scene with different animators and streamline the whole process which has sacrificed the unique aspects they had to each character. Thinking on this, have to say my favorite weapon that " is also a gun" is not from RWBY but from power rangers and its the power axe/Mothbreaker. And I loved that thing as a kid and it's still memorable to me even now and still think it's cool. Had such a simple transformation and think they only did it cos of how the weapons combined but still cool.

[@firelordwaffle2987]

deadlines might have something to do with the simplification. you do have to make genuine sacrifices to conform to time and/or budget constraints. of course I dont actually know what the production is like for the show.

[@nhall129]

I mean to be fair, i think the “weapon + gun” inspiration they took from was actually from games like BlazBlue. I think they mentioned Ragna’s sword, inspiration for Ruby’s weapons. For reference, i can transform into a scythe and has cartridges it uses.

[@cartoonishidealism582]

Yeah I definitely think that has something to do with it. I cannot imagine the pain of trying to describe exactly how Crescent Rose functions and transforms to a whole group of animators who all have to somehow keep it consistent.

[@Cykeys]

You also probably need to have to come up with the mechanical process as a drawing, then you'd probably have to hire an artist that specializes in machines/mecha stuff. Just look at the supplemental art for mecha shows like Gundam, Macross, etc. They draw interior mechanisms despite it rarely being in the show itself.

[@VenathTehN3RD]

Based on Shane's letter, I think that's probably the case. One of the things he mentioned that happened after Monty's passing is that the producers made a lot of changes to how their animation process worked. For instance, IIRC, rather than the same people animating an entire sequence as a whole they would instead divide it into the "action" parts with the combat and the "character interaction" parts with dialogue, and assign them to different animators/teams of animators. This was done so that they could streamline the animation process, and I could definitely see the weapons being downgraded to something more simple being influenced by that kind of compartmentalization. It kind of comes off as what you see with a restaurants that turn into fast food places: It's quicker and easier to make the product, but the quality usually drops as a result.

[@Prich319]

Even in the military, there was a long tradition of accessorizing personal weapons. For example, George Patton was as much famous for his personalized ivory handled paired revolvers as much as his temperament and campaigns. Note that they were revolvers, and not the M1911 that was standard issue at the time. It's not as common now, but even nowadays, you can have a pistol or rifle personalized, from pragmatic features like carbon fiber accessories and rubberized grips, to the absolutely elaborate, like Damascened gold inlay and intaglio engraving. The latter themselves tend to be as much a priceless work of art as they are a weapon. I see no reason why the Ace-Ops as an elite unit wouldn't have personalized weapons, especially since they all use wildly different and unique ones, rather than having been trained to all use the same mass-produced government issued models.

[@Cykeys]

Then we have Trench Weapons from WW1 made by frontline soldiers out of materials locally available. Those have way more personality than some RWBY Weapons, and it's cool to recognize some of the parts they're made from. Things like cogs and empty grenade cases being used as mace heads, coil springs used as shafts/handles, or a knife made out of a single flattened spike.

[@vincentmalasawmkimajongte7489]

"These engravings give you no tactical advantage whatsoever" - Large Manager

[@beanbrain6162]

Aww man all this shit is so cool

[@JudgeNicodemus]

@@vincentmalasawmkimajongte7489 fluid serpent/six-shooter jungle-cat

[@completelyferrouschemist6776]

@@vincentmalasawmkimajongte7489 Pinnacle Poohbah

[@nyongbella555]

In honour of this video being about weapons , let’s have a moment of silence for Cinder’s bow (a fallen hero.) idk if her using a spear/sword is supposed to be a middle finger to Pyrrha but I miss the Cinderella in cinder.

[@willbrolley262]

See, before V7 I had actually given CRWBY credit because it reflected her loss of depth perception that she needed to adjust to. Then she whips it out again like nothing and I realised that that was not the intent.

[@inplane9970]

I remember her backflip into an instant three-pronged shot against Ruby in V2. That was cool as hell! It was also a good twist on "guns also being swords." Instead it's a bow also being a sword.

[@goodbro2046]

To this moment I don't even know that cinder was the rwby version of Cinderella. 😂

[@therenegade4482]

Good Bro weiss father is jack frost and her grandpa is santa claus

[@smalltittypunkgf]

@@goodbro2046 ok aside from her backstory very obviously being a reference to cinderellas story we also have: 1. vol 1-3 she wears glass slippers 2. in "dance dance infiltration" she changes her outfit to a dress using dust 3. her name is a shortened version of cinderella 4. her bow is called "midnight". theres more but this is all i can think of atm

[@miadaorerk1681]

I feel like Salem not having a weapon makes sense because she comes from a time of magic and continued to live through that. But at the same time Mommy Salami going out with a shotgun would've been hilarious.

[@TheWarmachine375]

Mommy Salami: "Get off my lawn!" *fires shotgun*

[@princeofqrow3181]

But didn't she have an staff in the flashback.

[@TheWarmachine375]

@@princeofqrow3181 That was Ozma's staff

[@mjcsandboxgames4021]

Have weapon be made of Magic her can shape as desired

[@princeofqrow3181]

@@mjcsandboxgames4021 now that would be interesting other than she's just shoot laser beam all day.

[@colemiller9629]

Every time someone brings up how Weiss is basically a wizard now I get so upset. Summing something to fight could be interesting, but she never fights alongside the summons. She just has the summons fight. Most of the characters feel weaker than they did in earlier volumes because they don't have Monty animating them, but I think Weiss is the only one in the lore of the show that has actually become weaker. The first thing we see Weiss do is show that she was a better fighter than the knight she summons. She has to beat something to summon it, which inherently means that it is not as strong as her. This wouldn't be a problem if she also fights, but she doesn't. If she won't fight alongside the summons, then she is only fighting worse.

[@phirefly4104]

And if she just uses summons to defeat and reuse other summons, she'd be no more interesting than your everyday Pokemon Trainer :(

[@KrazyKelor]

Weiss’ weapon is the perfect encapsulation of how she has virtually no merit behind any of her life outside of Myrtenaster. It’s the only thing that she made all her own, unlike her glyphs that are hereditary, her family’s wealth that she didn’t earn, and her connections to Ironwood through her sister. That sword should be her dearest possession because it proves she has something to offer that no one else can. Instead she’s just Diet Winter, fighting like her sister does, but less effectively. Winter constantly criticizing her technique should have seen Weiss embracing her own path to success through techniques not learned from Winter. Can’t have that though.

[@AMVhuntingSyndrom]

idk man, if i could choose between swinging a sword fast vs summoning an ice titan and shooting fireballs id probably pick the latter. Really cant blame Weiss for being a tryhard.

[@VenathTehN3RD]

Yep. I think the closest we've gotten to seeing her fighting alongside her summons was in the first Ace-Ops fight. She actually took advantage of the fact that Marrow could only direct his Semblance in one direction at a time by attacking him from different positions so that he was basically forced to choose between restraining her or the knight, which in turn meant that when one was frozen the other could continue attacking. Which is honestly all the more disappointing, because it shows that the animators/choreographers *can* come up with ways for Weiss to fight creatively with her new skills, but either due to the production process or their own effort (I personally suspect the former) they just don't.

[@palindinX]

@@AMVhuntingSyndrom Being a tryhard implies you're using the best strats and overpowered techniques to win. Wiess relaying almost entirely on her summons, even in less advantage situations, is the opposite of tryhard, if anything it's more scrub-like. Volumes 1-3 she had Glyphs for speed, pressure and mix-ups, Dust for enhancing her whole kit plus range attack options, and she could also apply those benefits directly to her teammates for ultimate synergy. Now she just tends to immediately summon and stand there at the start and end of fights. Is it more safe? I guess. Does it look more interesting or win fights? Hell no.

[@selena44842]

This video reminded me of a quote from ATLA. "The sword is a simple tool but in the hands of a master it becomes the most versatile of weapons, and just as the imagination is limitless so too are the possibilities of the sword." A weapon design can be simple or complex, it how it's used that makes it memorable for me at least

[@jonnjones8263]

The same rules apply to superpowers. A character can have a relatively simple and ordinary power but it's how they use it that makes them interesting. Like the character Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece has the power of rubber. Thats it. He just stretches. Sounds lame when you first hear it. But when you see all the crazy ways he uses it and how inventive he is at coming up with creative solutions to problems with his powers it becomes amazing. The same rules should apply to weapons. A character doesn't need an overly complex super weapon to be strong. I wanna see more characters with relatively simple weapons used in more creative ways that tell me something about their personality. At the same time the lack of creative use of these weapons in the show hurts them. In the same way that a simple weapon used creatively makes it interesting, a complex weapon that isn't utilized effectively makes it frustrating. Because then a weapon with all these capabilities not being used as often as it should just makes it a useless piece of metal they're swinging around.

[@TheWarmachine375]

@@jonnjones8263 "There are no weak powers, only weak users." - Jeremiah Cross from This Bites

[@jonnjones8263]

@@TheWarmachine375 Facts.

[@andrewgreeb916]

@@jonnjones8263 sounds like Jojo stands, your stand doesn't get more powerful, you get better at using it and applying it to different circumstances

[@jonnjones8263]

@@andrewgreeb916 Yes. Except in this case I'm implying both. They ability gets stronger from learning to use it in more diverse ways.

[@jakman2179]

"RWBY was sold to us as an excuse to see cool weapons kill cool monsters in cool battles." I think that sums up why my college DND group ran a few RWBY games back in the day. Those were some fun games honestly.

[@griffinbaker3509]

What rules did you use? That sounds fun

[@jakman2179]

@@griffinbaker3509 D20 Modern with an additional homebrewed ruleset attached for the Semblances. Also, some rules about transforming weapons and team attacks.

[@griffinbaker3509]

@@jakman2179 cool, thanks

[@jakman2179]

@@griffinbaker3509 My game group has recently actually tried to restart some of it using pathfinder and the 3pp system Sheres of Power/Might/Guile using some Lite Gestalt rules with the Armiger class from Spheres of Might. Haven't had a chance to try it yet due to other games, but still. A little homebrewing can go a long way.

[@user-th1qo4cq9g]

What they also removed was the VOICE of the weapons. I don't remember who said it. but it was said that Monty made sure that each weapon had a unique sound. And I believe that. Especially when you watch volume one. when weapons are used, especially during transformations, they all have unique sounds to them. It's subtle but do notice it. Which makes the later volumes feel worse. they took away the voices of the weapons.

[@Krahazik]

This was even brought up in an early season behind the scenes video when they talked about composing the different sound layers for a given scene. The unique sounds each weapon makes as it shoots, as it moves and articulates.

[@mimicrymwot]

In Monty's own words "If you ask my sound designer, it's like five different sounds layered in one. He hates me".

[@story_appreciator6666]

Neat

[@matthewb5364]

Also, don't forget that Ren's pistols' blades are the same shape as the knife his father gave him before he died.

[@andreasfiltenborg4952]

They could have fixed Marrows weapon so easily. Give it more color and let him shoot it while it's flying. Can you imagine him freezing someone and then he lets loose a buzzsaw of bullets on them.

[@bamby7766]

Agreed, Marrow's weapon had the most potential. The lack of creative uses was a let down.

[@SwitchbackCh]

Yeah, just let logic hang for a minute and say he could make it fire remotely, and it can shoot itself to rapidly change its trajectory mid-flight.

[@shadowclaw7210]

It would also be interesting in narrative if Marrows weapon had colour it would hinted at his future rebellious mindset

[@ChestnutRiceandKamehameha]

Or just give it more impact. It hits so lightly for such a huge, heavy boomerang that it's not worth using over the actual gun functionality. I mean, semblance aside, he's unarmed after he throws it, but I don't ever remember that being used against him. Like, everyone is super skilled, but only he's capable of catching it? Not even Blake does?

[@ChestnutRiceandKamehameha]

@@SwitchbackCh that's pretty cool. Maybe he could have had a remote on his wrist ala Falcon to control it's firing mechanic

[@parkermaisterra8532]

Yes Ports weapon is stupid but that’s *exactly* why I love it . It’s literally just someone getting a blunderbuss and deciding to turn the stock into a battle-axe That’s so dumb that it simultaneously loops back into itself and becomes awesome

[@Gatekid3]

That makes it better. if people make their own weapons, you are going to have some idiots that make a dumb weapons but somehow makes it work. It just adds to his overly flashy/masculin character

[@adiazrue5776]

Agree, and his weapon clearly describe him as a person: a bit dumb, simplistic, but also really fun

[@KachiAT]

it's actually also concept what was in reality. Google axe pistols sometime. So I like it because Port is like super old and those weapons are like ancient stuff. It's akin to Jaune sword and shield - memory of old times. I quite like it, even though they still overdesigned it - somehow.

[@TheWarmachine375]

How does he hold it without hurting himself?

[@justasentientmclarenp1879]

I always thought Port and Oobleck were gag characters which is why their weapons are supposed to be stupid

[@dimensional7915]

I feel like Salem NOT using a weapon is important. she is one of two people left in the world that has REAL magic beyond just the 4 madians. magic is her weapon. it makes her strong enough to not need to rely on dust and the weapons that use that

[@brimmedhathoe4392]

Ooooh that's cool

[@crow2596]

like someone else said, it could be so much better emphasized if she alone had no weapon but her magic. here was the original comment: "I almost feel as if Salem not having a weapon could have worked if she was the ONLY one without a weapon. Like, it would make her feel like even more of an outsider, that she's so powerful, she doesn't need anything but her own will or something"

[@ProxyDoug]

The worst part of Marrow's weapon for me is how it turns from a ranged weapon into a ranged weapon, and when he uses it as melee, it's just worse than having a regular sword.

[@casualfanatic4217]

It would’ve been so cool if when he throws his boomerang it can still fire while In midair, creating a torrent of bullets hitting enemies at longer distance and wider range but at the cost of being less accurate so it’s only effective against multiple opponents spread out. I was waiting for this in the show and the fact it never happened shows how creatively bankrupt they are

[@AdventureHusky]

@@casualfanatic4217 And the fact that I've seen several other people say this exact comment as well just makes it worse. If so many people thought the same thing and saw that obvious opportunity, then why didn't a professional team of writers and chorographers who have worked on the show for years now not see it too?

[@nenmaster5218]

@@AdventureHusky This channel here is nice, but relatively small. Meanwhile, just saying: the best rwby video i know is from Hbomberguy.

[@FlyntofRWBY]

I think you are 100% right. I’ve noticed my love for the series has dropped over the last few years, and it’s because it’s lost that touch with the creativity and love for weapons and the animation. My favorite part of early RWBY was the choreography of the fights, and the details that went into weapons. I rewatched the first three volumes of RWBY 4-5 times just because I LOVED the animation and personality the fights had. I haven’t rewatched a single volume since volume 4. Unfortunately RWBY lost a lot of its personality when the animation for things such as weapons and choreography dropped. There have been a couple gems, but overall I haven’t cared too much. Really nice video! I agree with pretty much everything you said. You’re probably the first critic I actually enjoyed watching.

[@Powered1Buttercup]

Tbh I stopped watching because of the honestly bad writing that was there from day one buuuut I could see ppl sticking around for the character designs, the cool weapons and the fight scenes but now I don't think those things can hold the show either because they're so lacking. I'll also say that I really hate how overly complicated the designs have gotten, who's gonna tell them that it doesn't make the design better??!

[@Busk_SprayPaint]

love your rwby music videos dude

[@booperdooper9762]

I never expected to see you comment here. It's a pleasant surprise.

[@twinodoom]

24:09 Penny's explanation of how Ruby's Semblance works is actually random science babble that is inconsistent with how it works. If Ruby were breaking everyone down to molecular components to "negate mass", she would be able to fly through doors because mass is the only property preventing them from simply passing through the cracks of doors and inbetween wall molecules. Because the writers couldn't just say "Ruby can use her Semblance on nearby people" straight. edit: I should also point out that Negated Mass would have speeds that could theoretically achieve Time Travel, making it literally an equivalent to becoming The Flash.

[@axsprime]

Yeah if Ruby could break herself down to the molecular level she could in theory fly into people, reform and make them pop.

[@izilladkilla]

Don't forget that somehow Mercury still managed to kick her in V3, which would be physically impossible if she's supposedly breaking down to a molecular structure.

[@Mariusweeddeath]

Actually, even if she was breaking herself down to molecular components, you wouldn't be able to just phase through stuff without also being able to remove your electron field since that tends to be the first thing that all thing come into contact with. Then again, there is no real way to know what they mean when they say 'molecular components' so its basically just using big words to sound smart and make cents.

[@jonnjones8263]

God I wish they didn't use science to explain the powers. Now shit makes even less sense.

[@beary6584]

@@jonnjones8263 Qrow's little tidbit of "Some people can burst into rose petals" made more sense than the actual explanation

[@clarahill3016]

12:29 Hush, Neo's parasol, also allows her to "fall or fly" with style thanks to her body's light weight. And in Roman Holiday, it is teased that she can also use it as a javelin or as a hook to climb or grab stuff (ex: tie a flying vehicle's wire to it). Ironically, despite Hush being mostly just a normal parasol in shape, it's one of weapons that sees the most variety of creative uses. Not to mention Hush is one of the few weapons that has an actual background story, that explains how it was created and why Neo chose a parasol as a weapon. If only they put this amount of attention to detail and care into way more weapons in the actual show, including team RWBY's. 9 years, and we still don't know how and why Ember Celica became Yang's weapon of choice, or if she even design them, same for the weapons of other main characters.

[@quehay45]

We know even less about team RWBY's semblances' awakening and why they have those specific superpowers. The lack of backstory for their weapons is far from being their only issue.

[@artofthepossible7329]

@@quehay45 Part of me suspects it is because RWBY (the group) are based on fairy tale characters, and fairy tales are not places you go for deep backstories and extensive worldbuilding. Meanwhile Neo is based on neapolitan ice cream, which is first recorded in the 19th century, so a more modern approach is taken accordingly.

[@Slurpinonramen]

@@quehay45 Quite the contrary, I feel like ONLY Team RWBY's semblances have been kind of explained (minus Ruby). Blake herself explained how her semblance symbolizes her past of running away and leaving an empty/shell of person behind. Weiss' is passed down throughout the Schnee lineage (a few mysteries left like: why only women Schnees shown with the ability) but it seems like different Schnee's may have different specialties within the semblance i.e. summoning/time dilation/dust utilization. THAT concept could use some explaining tbh, and finally Yang's semblance representing her personality is subtle, yet obvious. She dresses and acts like a brawler, and her semblance backs it up. It's offensive, yet defensive- just like Yang! She's a fun, electric, and open person but is also traumatized, cautious, and stubborn. She's fine and good until she hits a breaking point- just like her semblance! That's how I choose to think about it anyway ~

[@TPNsBiggestFan]

it has a backstory?? i dont remember shit about rwby now im curious

[@clarahill3016]

@@TPNsBiggestFan They released books or light novels for team CFVY, Neo, and Roman.

[@simeonwashington9995]

The weapons becoming simpler and bland feels like what's happened to the characters color palettes as well, just getting washed out or confused and any new character or weapon lacks color or inspiration. Imagine if Robyn's crossbow had purple and green. Green is iconic for Robin Hood, but purple makes me think she has lethal bolts or arrows at her disposal. I also like the idea I saw in the comments where the Ace-Ops weapons could be intentionally bland and military grade (which honestly could have inspired conflict like James is so paranoid about Salem that he has the academy just pump out warriors without much personality and gives them weapons that compliment their skills but aren't unique to them.) It would be cool to see the Ace-Ops be influenced by RWBY and co and start customizing their weapons to their liking where we start seeing fluid transformations and varied utility no matter the form their weapons are in.

[@jacobfoxfires9647]

Definitely feels like the issue of the weapons alongside other elements can be tied back to the animation and stuff about the characters, which include the color. Everything is so washed out and dull. Where stuff like say Yang's hair that was this bright gold when she goes red eyes, and now it's a dirty blonde and has this lame fire effect instead. Everything became duller and lost it's shine and luster, including sembalnces, characters, and the weapons.

[@LizardKingRequiem]

The “weapon philosophy” of early RWBY has been an integral inspiration for my own passion project because it’s so inherently interesting to build on. Like if you take the interesting weapon designs of RWBY, and mix them with the varied techniques of something like, say, Demon Slayer, you would have a sick as hell system to flesh out.

[@twinarcher8123]

So what Bleach does

[@LukSter18998]

normal enough battle power level stuff. remember when Monty recommended “anime homework?” yeah. check out Soul Eater. or Gurren lagaan

[@joyc.e.7511]

@@LukSter18998 Normal, but not always executed great. It definitely is in Soul Eater due to half the cast being LITERAL weapons.

[@CakefoxDots]

i could talk about weiss’s design forever. She’s got a revolver/sword/wand, and it’s just amazing. It’s elegant, thin, agile, and it looks so delicate compared to ruby’s big gun, blakes pistols, and yangs gauntlets. It’s just like Weiss. It doesn’t transform but it doesn’t need to, because Weiss stands out from the other characters by having a semblance that is so unique, it characterises her family and is less of a secondary combo aspect and more of another weapon. Weiss has two weapons and uses them in tandem more than anyone else. Not only that, but the rapier is grey. It was the ORIGINAL grey weapon, not like in later seasons where they were trying so hard to make it look mecha-esque that everything became silver to be metallic. No, it was grey specifically because it had all the colours of dust, and grey was the perfect colour to not clash. Weiss wears all white in season two, except for the red, pale pink of her skin and light blue accents, with only a black frill on her chest. She’s mostly white with blue to highlight her winterness. Grey would make the weapon stand out, but not jarringly (the way a black weapon would.) It’s so perfect.

[@clingybish]

That Harriet misdirect was genius. I actually genuinely believed it.

[@Step43099]

I really did forget about it because they really are so bland

[@xillancommander]

I was over here like “pretty sure she used it before that…” honestly was questioning if she had used her bracers before that because critter said it in such a matter of fact way

[@Cykeys]

If the plainer weapons were intentional that could also lead to another great conflict in the show: Form vs. Function, and the sliding scale of practicality. On one end, you have weapons that are mass-produced and churned out by the millions going up against an masterpiece art project. Also, it would be interesting to see when personalization goes too far to the point of being a major detriment to the user. But then again, we can also include things like Logistics into the mix. With such unique weapons, could you imagine trying to supply Huntsmen/Huntresses to meet all of their custom weapons' needs? Uniform weapons make sense if you're trying to equip an entire army, but specialized/customized weapons would better suit Elites. Neither one of these weapon production ideologies are inherently wrong, they're merely filling out different niches and were created for different purposes.

[@VenathTehN3RD]

Agreed. It'd be a nice little bit of worldbuilding to show the difference between how Atlas functions and how the rest of the kingdoms function. It's mentioned in Volume 3 how Beacon keeping the military separate from the academy/civilian sector is so much different than it is in Atlas, and we see throughout the show that Huntsmen and Huntresses aren't trained as some kind of uniform fighting force that functions as an army for the nation in most of the other kingdoms. Instead they're basically independent agents who sometimes work together. Having most Atlas-based Huntsmen/Huntresses using far more standardized tools would be a good way to demonstrate how their graduates are expected to serve in or with the military (and thus are limited by how the military is willing/able to maintain the unique requirements of their equipment), rather than just going off and doing their own thing. The military will fund your equipment, but might not have the time, resources, or expertise to cater to any and all of the wild things that every single individual in the military wants to incorporate into their weapons, so they have to put some limitations on what they can do. An independent Huntsman or Huntress can do anything they want to with their weapon, but they'll also have to be responsible for maintaining its upkeep - finding places where they can get their supplies, affording to get everything they need, taking the time to make or wait for their specialized tools and ammunition, etc. As you said, neither is inherently wrong, but they serve different functions. Not only could it have been an interesting side plot for the characters to explore, but it would also allow them to streamline the animation/production process in a way that actually worked within the context of the story. But since it was never really explored in any way, it just feels like a drop in quality.

[@Cykeys]

@@VenathTehN3RD My main peeve with the whole Academy/Hunter System is the fact that it relies primarily on Huntsmen/Huntresses (And yes, I get that's the the point) because of the simple fact that there are too many threats out there and they are stretching themselves too thinly to deal with them. My issue is that there aren't that many of them compared to the millions of basic grunt soldiers. I was thinking that a Defense in Depth Strategy would be a better way to do the Hunter System akin to that of the late Roman Empire. We can have a bunch of part-time soldiers and militias who defended the borders from skirmishes and invasion attempts as well as act as guerillas when a massive invasion actually made it in, and a small group of elite professional soldiers who did the real heavy lifting and only deployed to address these major threats. I guess my main takeaway is that I feel that the Hunters need to integrate themselves more with the common person, or at least have assistance from normal everyday people who can do the mundane jobs that would take away from the Hunters important time.

[@robinthrush9672]

In a narrative there's nothing wrong with these ideologies, in reality there is. Namely balance, durability, stamina drain, practicality, self-harm (look at Port's blunderbuss with the axe heads on the stock), compromising functionality (don't want to bend your rifle/staff),speed vs. power, etc.

[@williamharmon4039]

@@robinthrush9672 Fair point, but RWBY was never particularly concerned with how effective or practical the weapons would be in the real world.

[@imbadatusernames3304]

@@Cykeys You're assuming that Remnant is on the same scale as Earth. Civilization might not be as widespread, and the planet itself might be smaller. If Remnant was equivalent to Earth, or if society expanded, that would be a problem, but we don't know much about it.

[@jeroenbok7892]

Port's weapon atleast has personality. Blowhard is a really stupid looking and impractical weapon and I can't imagine anyone using it except for Port.

[@ChestnutRiceandKamehameha]

It's called BLOWHARD!? 🤣

[@iwannaseehowlongyoucanmakethis]

And right beside him is oobleck who has the coolest fucking weapon in the show. A flamethrower staff that's also a thermos for his coffee, I mean cmon.

[@nikkibrowning4546]

And it highlights a transition between the simple weapons of Jaun's ancestor and the crazy complex ones used by the students.

[@robinthrush9672]

@@ChestnutRiceandKamehameha If you find that funny, notice that it's a blunderbuss with axe heads where you stabilize it against your shoulder.

[@bokaxet1698]

@@robinthrush9672 well, he has Aura but that would be a bitch to try and aim precisely

[@kyleoverton334]

One of the better decisions of the series in my opinion was having Ironwood (and Watts to an extent) just use a straight gun. It sets him apart from the rest of the cast as an "other" in their world but at the same time it fleshed out his character just as much as the other weapons. Ironwood is a simple and straightforward person, you see that in both his actions and his beliefs (as well as his fighting style). Despite pushing for progress in science he can still be seen as a very "traditional" kind of person, for him unlike the others his weapon is more or less a tool that he only uses when he needs to This even comes through in the design of Due Process, at first glance it looks like a polished futuristic gun but the base of the gun is that of a traditional revolver (insert Gun-Gun meme). And it compliments his fighting style so well, with his strength and durability he excels in close quarters combat, he uses a lot of holds and grapples to subdue enemies and his gun is there mainly just to add lethality. Instead of having it transform when he runs out of ammo, he simply switches to using it as bludgeoning weapon, simple and straightforward. I even liked that the second pistol uses gravity dust as a means to add maneuverability and speed so he can close the gap when he needs to. It made him feel more like a tank who found a way to circumvent a flaw in his preferred method of combat through ingenuity rather than just him becoming faster. And then they gave him that ugly and unwieldy cannon weapon... Edit: Adding on to this Like in-universe he needed it because his regular guns wouldn't be powerful enough to potentially take down a maiden. But there are so many better ways to give him an upgrade. For example, half of Ironwood's entire body is mechanical (something that they don't bring attention to enough imo). Instead of giving him an additional cannon weapon why not augment his guns to attach to his mechanical side or it's power source (like Genos from One Punch Man) or retrofit a cannon arm onto his mechanical side, that way he loses the utility of an arm for power. Or give him the Guts treatment where the hand detaches or gets pushed aside to reveal the cannon. And we know something like this is possible because Yang's prosthetic arm (which Ironwood gifted to her) was essentially given the same shotgun function that her Ember Celica had and was even upgraded again in Atlas. (Could've just as easily made it a function of his new left arm too) Would it really have been hard for Ironwood to commission a cannon arm attachment or gun upgrade instead of a giant unwieldy full sized cannon, that requires both his guns to be inserted into it, leaving him defenseless in the (likely) event he gets disarmed.

[@thereisnosuchthingaslove1820]

Im now in love with the idea of ironwood going blood and guts. Someone give him a dragonslayer

[@zerotohero1483]

As a former trumpet player, Flynt has the sauce. Thems the rules, I don’t make them, it’s just them the rules. Also, loved the Jak 2 reference. The Morph Gun is one of the coolest ideas in gaming, and I like to believe that the show pulled a little bit of inspiration from the game. I think the reason why Sun’s fight scenes are still the best and most loved is because they are the most visually entertaining. Even his fight in V4(or 5? I’m not entirely sure) they didn’t use the twirly blur effect that they seemed to love as often as they do now. We can see what’s happening every step of the way and it makes Sun feel more impressive as a fighter.

[@KokaKola633]

This has nothing to do with the video but I have a huge love and hate relationship with Flynt

[@zerotohero1483]

@@KokaKola633 lol, why?

[@TheWarmachine375]

@@zerotohero1483 Sun vs Roman was my favorite

[@zerotohero1483]

@@TheWarmachine375 same homie. The sauce on both of them in that fight.

[@TheWarmachine375]

@@zerotohero1483 Yup, Roman deflecting Sun's gun nunchunks at rapid speed is badass

[@irritatedlibrarian9057]

I completely forgot that Ruby even mentioned building your own weapon, or her obsession with them. It's like once we left beacon so many concepts were tossed aside, never to be seen again.

[@l3gitmemrr512]

Semblances no longer feel like they were made specifically for their character, and instead just feel like a power stuck on a random character. Like Ruby's "petal burst" I can't imagine anyone else having, but with semblances like Marrow's "Stay" or Vine's "Aura vines", I feel like they could've gone to any of the onslaught of one-time/background characters.

[@marquisstaelus5268]

The show used to be about the characters combat abilities and their weapons, which I loved. And I agree with all you talk about The characters, their weapons and style of combat should be the main point of the battles. Semblance are there to accent the character. Ruby had a big heavy weapon, her speed is there to balance that out. Weiss is has light and fast attacks while not outputting much damage, he glyphs accent her by granting extra mobility such as arial combat and her summons and elemental attacks should be used as more hard hitting, but nowadays they make her do those attacks far too often and utilize her mobility.

[@jacobfoxfires9647]

That was what drawn me for sure. You could tell many parts of their character through how they fought. Just like some weapons, their fighting style should of been personalized. With stuff like their semblance, dust, and use of weapons could show you a lot of their character. But now it feels so stock footage like. If you got a brawler, they fight the same. Using a gun feels the same. A melee weapon swings the same not even adding a bit of their flourish. Hell, Ruby treats her Scythe more like a sword, and that I feel is a huge mistake.

[@VenathTehN3RD]

What bothers me the most about Weiss is that she probably has the most potential for creativity and variety in her skill set. Due to her combination of dust-infused glyphs, summons, and melee combat, the kind of things that she could pull off could be amazing to watch. We saw plenty of it in the first few volumes, with her adjusting how she utilized her skills based on the situation, so we know that the character *can* pull of creative and adaptable tactics in terms of lore. The result is that it feels like the character has actually become a less competent fighter in the story ever since learning how to summon. And that could be a fun character arc if they actually used it - she finally learns to use this cool technique she was always failing at before, gets so caught up in trying to use it that she stops being as efficient, and after getting her ass handed to her (like at Haven) she has to learn how to incorporate her new skills into her fighting style rather than almost completely relying on the new skill. Instead, she mostly just chooses between either her summons or her old skill set, and when using the old one it seems far more simplified and less creative in how she uses it.

[@Krahazik]

The other trick with her glyphs, was that she could use them to boost the whole team not just herself. We see a lot of that in the first couple of seasons, how the team works together combining their talents and skills and weapons together to enhance each other. Weiss especially shined as a support character using her various mobility or anchoring glyphs on her teammates to boost tier movements or attacks.

[@DreamyAileen]

I once read somewhere that after Monty's passing and Shane's departure, RWBY didn't have a dedicated fight choreographer at all, and that most of the fights past that point were directed by Miles and Kerry themselves. You know, two guys who _aren't fight choreographers._ It's no surprise then that new weapons have been boring and lackluster, while old weapons are no longer utilized creatively in fight choreography.

[@TrinityCore60]

…That explains a lot, and I still haven’t seen past V5. (Not for lack of interest, mind you). I really hope they get the idea to hire someone who knows what they’re doing in that regard.

[@Dharengo]

So much this. Not that this will stop the fans from telling you how bad of a person you are for invoking Monty Oum's name.

[@artistanthony1007]

@@Dharengo And I ain't one of them, I may get defensive and sometimes hostile but this is not the time I will.

[@muazadam3631]

That makes sense but I'm surprised at how well they did (attack me if you want some of the fights were awesome)

[@TrinityCore60]

@@muazadam3631 oh, I agree. It’s just not the same without Monty. Then again, you have to be pretty darned good at your job to beat Monty’s work.

[@eachthebabyperry6716]

Recently, weapons in Rwby seem to be more attached to a character and not in a good way. I feel like highlighting why characters have certain weapons creative or otherwise would have really helped characters like the ace ops. Elm was basically "I am big, so I use hammer".

[@jaragi]

It’s also interesting to notice how the weapon compliment the characters’ fighting styles. Ruby isn’t as adept at hand to hand combat, so the scythe acts as a weapon to keep enemies at a distance. Plus combining the sniper fire with her swings helps add more strength and force, as well as working in tandem with her speed semblance. Even when reloading, her speed semblance helps her stay out of danger and evade attacks. For Weiss, the rapier fits with her more precision base approach and is supported by her glyphs, which act as Swiss Army knives in combat from shielding her to increasing her maneuverability. The dust chamber helps her keep all cards in one place and not have to really worry about carrying extra dust bullets like Ruby, as well as always having the dust ready to use in combat for long ranges attacks and infusing them into her glyphs. Edit: and given Weiss’ orchestral and musical talent, I like to imagine she also uses her rapier as a Conductor does their baton during an Orchestra, commanding and guiding her glyphs, dust, and summons to move the enemy right where she wants them in order to seal the final blow. A Snow Queen’s Gambit Blake’s gambol shroud mimics the versatility of ninja weapons, from the kusarigama-esque form of the pistol being both a ranged melee weapon and grapple to swing from, to her sheath also being used as a heavier sword (I think it’s bladed) for when she’s able to get close to an enemy with an opening. And they’re all able to be compact and stored easily, helping Blake move easily, especially with the use of her semblance to distract enemies and allow her to escape. Yang’s ember celica fit her up close and personal attitude and her power based boxing. Shotguns, as stated in the video, are great for power and spread but sacrifice accuracy. But that isn’t a problem for Yang since we’ve seen how she is in battle and how accurate she is when throwing her punches (a major aspect of boxing), so she makes up for the shotgun’s weakness. Plus, since Yang can often end up tackling groups on her own so it makes sense she use a weak tailored to warding off large groups. And of course, the mini explosions of the shotgun shells are reminiscent of her using her semblance and the firey aura that envelops her. Hell, maybe her semblance is part of the reason she can withstand the kickback of a shotgun strapped to each of her for arms.

[@sonfoku73]

I have seen many video essays on shows, many on RWBY, and I mean it when I say nothing physically hurt me and opened my eyes more than when you grayed out team RWBY's weapons and jazzed up Marrow's..... HOLY SHIT. I feel like I got hit by Nora's hammer to the face this is such an awakening.

[@jinkwon8410]

It's also the fact about that these weapons have lacked weight ever since the switch to Maya. Ruby used to Crescent Rose's big size and weight to swing herself. I have seen literally fan weapons [that may or may not be stolen by RT themselves I dunno] that are way more creative than the ones we currently got. Hell. I MADE WEAPONS THAT ARE MORE CREATIVE THAN THEM. Now, creator bias is there for obvious reasons, but still, unless you design a weapon to be bland from the start, don't make them bland at all.

[@dragonborn7955]

RT has stolen weapon designs

[@ChestnutRiceandKamehameha]

That fanmade bow/gun that showed up in this video was SO cool. I need more of that!

[@ShadeSlayer1911]

I am far from a very creative art person, but even I have come up with better designs. Freaking machine gun that turns into a glaive that can turn into a sword and shield. It was a messy project to draw out and required multiple revisions, but to this day I still love that drawing.

[@fishnewt1331]

You know, I think I could forgive Harriet’s and the rest of the Ace Ops being so bland if the others were better. I’d imagine they were given to the Ace Ops based on them being so different from literally everyone else, further showing their unity and loyalty to Ironwood. Of course, we don’t get that, but I think it could have worked that way if a little thought was given to their weapons. Also, I miss Geeky Ruby Rose.

[@gloomygloomstalker3878]

The other thing that's lost was weight, like they always kinda played loose with weight but typically something heavy felt heavy and it showed in the choreo, crescent rose being whipped around by Ruby shooting with it for instance, that all went out the window in recent volumes and now all the weapons swing around like they're made of plastic.

[@JmonsterNEO]

Marrow’s gunmerang, Fetch, could’ve had a timer switch in boomerang mode that would’ve caused it to fire a spray of bullets in the middle of it being thrown, it could actually have been a neat way for it to have a cool function.

[@Cykeys]

Not sure how they would implement this, but I would've liked at least one scene in the show or chapter in supplementary material (or even a short story for that matter) of a character making their weapon. The materials used, special customs/rituals, the thought process, etc. My main peeve is how weapons don't feel all that special. If these Hunter Weapons are supposed to be custom made to the user then I feel that they should be special in some way in order to differentiate some hired grunt from a Hunter. As an example, have Hunter Weapons be made out of a special Silver Alloy, or have Silver Plating like the swords that the Witchers use in the Witcher novels. Not only does this serve as badge of office, but also can tie into the world building a bit. Also on the topic of guns, most of the time, the guns don't really feel all that effective compared to the melee weapons. I'd personally chalk it up to the idea that melee combat is seen as more HEROIC AND HONOURABLE compared to ranged combat just from a glance at literature, mythology, and military history.

[@JesseGolo]

A scene with a character making a weapon? Well, when have we ever had the opportunity of seeing soneone who wasn't a combatabt slowly begin working to be a fighter over the story? Yes, I mean Oscar.

[@firelordwaffle2987]

Guns aren’t effective because they can’t be. That’s a huge problem with guns in fantasy generally, but when you introduce such a powerful weapon like that you know it isn’t going to actually hit anyone unless the story requires it to for whatever reason.

[@romiarkan450]

Seriously, how did every one of these guys get their weapons? We only know that Jaune's is a hand-me-down.

[@Appletank8]

The last time guns felt powerful were the very early seasons, where getting hit hurt like hell, especially Red trailer. Then giant grim showed up that were less effective, but the show seemed to shoot guns even more, when they did even less, making it feel like a whole lot of nothing.

[@hunterfay9817]

Alongside the weapons, there’s also another aspect that was introduced early on and left to be forgotten, especially with the lack of effective fight choreography: dust. It was mentioned at the very beginning how dust was revolutionary and key to humanity making a living and becoming as great as it is, yet people hardly use it now. Even Weiss stopped using it creatively as it was reduced to toss fire or ice, as compared to the more ingenious uses like lightning for a haste effect. The fact that there is a resource that lets you cast the elements could lead to many more fun ideas when combined with technology, rather than just blast it and hope for the best. Unfortunately it’s not well explored now, which makes it seem pointless when they hyped it up so much in the first few volumes, especially gravity dust, which could have had many fun uses if they actually did some creative work rather than let others do the work for them. This all culminates in me rambling about what was a type of magic system that had been ignored in favor of other ideas, since having the elements in a bullet and at your disposal seemed like a fun concept when they actually used it

[@minimalbstolerance8113]

Agreed. It took me about five minutes to work out that if Remnant had any creativity whatsoever, they could be dropping thermonuclear weapons on Grimm. Use fire and gravity dust in combination to achieve fusion temperatures and pressures and let the fun begin.

[@VenathTehN3RD]

The only time I can think of in the last several volumes where we actually saw dust being used in any even remotely creative way was the finale of V7, during the fight between Ironwood and Watts. They didn't do a *lot* with it, but a zero-gravity fight in Amity at least actually made use of the thing that the series built up as basically being the foundation of modern technology. I mean for heaven's sake, they didn't even make any use of dust during a fight in a dust mine or a massive grimm invasion of Mantle and Atlas. Sure, there's obviously dust that's technically in use (such as propelling bullets or providing power for vehicles), but it's such a tiny and insignificant background note that it can be easy to forget it's even being used. I'm not even really sure if the writers/animators remember that those things are powered by dust at this point.

[@hunterfay9817]

And sadly since dust has become a background feature of the series, there’s no chance to go into things like other unique kinds of dust with gravity as an example, how dust can effect semblances with Weiss and Blake being big examples early on in volume 2, practical uses for dust outside of operating machinery, and how there could have been conflict and intrigue over the mining and acquiring of dust, which was attempted and forgotten in volumes 1 & 2, and the embargo from Atlas was never a direct problem so it was nothing more than a background note with no consequences on the plot. It’s just another case of RWBY ditching a core idea that could have been fun to expand on and develop, but was forgotten like most things to keep tossing new ideas at the board with little effort to do much with them. Just another rant about the lack of exploring core ideas with promise

[@wander9816]

Speaking of intentionality: Yang’s yellow+boxing style makes me think of “float like a butterfly sting like a bee”. And its cool because we all know they did that intentionally and we responded to that. That is missing now.

[@stardrive9171]

Coming back to this video after looking up some fan made RWBY weapons, someone's character is also a fisherman who uses a fishing pole/harpoon to fight alongside a shield that turns into a chair for when he's fishing. AND IT STILL LOOKS SO MUCH BETTER AND MORE PRACTICAL THAN THE THIGN THEY GAVE CLOVER. LIKE SERIOUSLY.

[@patrickcarter2829]

I can't help but image the character doing this: Fisher: "I can't stand by this," *Turns shield into a chair.* Fisher: "Okay, continue."

[@stardrive9171]

@@patrickcarter2829 haha niiiiice. I can now too

[@alexbraun55]

"But we can't pretend that the idea of seeing a death scythe chopping up demon wolves wasn't what actually sold us on this concept." I think season 8 makes more sense if we try to imagine it as an *attempt at* a return to form. They knew they wanted epic fights between interesting characters and they weren't worried about what happened in order to get there. But it suffered pretty badly because the original fights were between characters that didn't have easily criticizable motivations, because they were never really given any motivations in the first place. Frankly, the feeling of the characters in the show being special didn't have to be artificially augmented by maiden powers or having to fight the immortal oldest human being. The fact that they were teenagers (at the time the show came out, people older than me, now younger than me) fighting to stop people with power from robbing others or inciting/creating violence was enough. The addition of certain fantastical elements to the show only really made it feel more like a fairytale, when that was the exact opposite of the intent.

[@liben5052]

huh, never thought of it like that before- a return to form. somehow it feels like they keep backing themselves into a corner because they just can't dedicate themselves into one route or the other.

[@goldencyclone4984]

You know... Given the whole thing of Monty assigning "anime homework" that Miles and Kerry talked about, I have to wonder if the shift from focusing on weapons to focusing on Semblances is a conscious or maybe even subconscious choice to try and make RWBY more like a very similar show with a similar concept... My Hero Academia. Plenty of people have said how Semblances and Quirks are incredibly similar concepts, so I really do wonder if the shift to Semblances is an attempt to replicate HeroAca's wider popularity.

[@coranbaker6401]

Probably not. They very clearly got inspiration for aura and semblances from Hunter X Hunter, where characters also have aura as well as a single, unique ability that also consumes that aura.

[@jameswoodhams9407]

I came to the comment section to say something just like this 😆

[@mikato2]

@@coranbaker6401 Oh shit, that would explain the abortive attempt in V1 to explain that Aura did stuff on its own. Remember Pyrrha trying to explain Aura in combat to Jaune? Sounded a bit like there was meant to be a whole system there. Aura was basically supposed to be Nen. But then nobody cared, and it got tossed to the wayside like so much else.

[@davidmccormick550]

RWBY used to be one of the best shows I have ever watched. MHA I can’t even watch, mostly due to the wimp main character bullied by his “best friend” And Izuku is an aider and abettor to his bullying. Like watching a horror girl walk into the blood-stained area for a dumb reason. Or watching next-to-last girl cut herself to act as bait. Now, RWBY is just mediocre, rather than the female-lead Final Fantasyish it looked to be. Sad.

[@ramiel3759]

@@mikato2 Togashi should make a workshop about power system,only he knows how to do it

[@juansalinas7484]

Honestly the weapons were my draw to the show entirely, I was fresh hot off the soul eater manga and was really obsessed with how one would fight with a scythe. Just the fluid elegant nature of both Maka's and Ruby's fighting styles are compared to their weapons being larger than them made it all seem awesome. I also can't lie when I saw yang in the death battle I thought shotgun gauntlets made so much sense and where the most ingenious invention ever created. Sadly the way the show is now I doubt they will focus on their weapons in favor of just more diolog oriented scenes. Im hoping for a training arc is implemented in the next season and maybe they explore the idea of one of their weakness in the fight for atlas was their disconnection from their weapons thus making team rwby rebuild them on their own. Just a thought

[@KrazyKelor]

It’d be kind of interesting if Ruby overcame conflict primarily by examining her opponents’ weapons. She can fight sure, but what if the running theme of the show was that Ruby is a hero not because she kills shit, but because she understands people through their unique self-expression that most other people ignore. While everyone else just smacks each other around, Ruby could have been the instrument by which we come to understand everyone because she looks for what matters most to each person. She could still learn a harsh truth every now and then that not everyone can be befriended, but if Ruby’s supposed to be a weapons nut, then why not make that the key to her success instead of just having her blunder into victory, failing upward at every turn? As for the increasing emphasis on semblances, I think the Silver Eyes foreshadowed that unintentionally. While the eyes aren’t a semblance, they are a hereditary gift that doesn’t reflect personal merit and instead function as Ruby’s final answer for all her problems. The eyes are the only thing that lets Ruby hurt Cinder, and it’s reasonable to suppose they’re a threat to Salem as well. And they have nothing to do with Ruby’s personality (her weapon.). She didn’t work for them or express herself through them. They’re just her ‘Eye Win Button.’ And even then she still sucks at using them. There’s not even a penalty for using them, like they’re extremely taxing on her or they kill her vision the more she uses them, or something. Weiss and Ruby are the perfect demonstration of Weapon Decay because they both have hereditary abilities that they use in favor of their weapons. While Ruby doesn’t SilverEye as much as Weiss summons and magics, the eyes are presented as the most important thing about her, and have endgame implications. Meanwhile, Weiss can’t just be a ballet fencer because summoning is what makes her ‘unique,’ except she has a whole family of summoners, one of whom is now also a MAIDEN which is another thing that has completely overtaken the importance of weapons. So yeah. Weiss is probably the biggest victim of the Weapon Decay in RWBY.

[@artofthepossible7329]

All you've done is take one character trait and take it to its logical conclusion, and yet the amount of changes to canon this would make (if done how I think you mean it to be implemented) is astounding.

[@captain_buggles]

Oh this would've been so much fun Also I feel like they could've pulled Silver Eyes back into being more personal for Ruby by having her try her hardest to train in using them, and still be bad at doing it the normal way, or have drawbacks that are too demanding the normal way, so instead she engineers some cool assistive device that helps her use them in her own way. Either like, through some cool hi-tech eyewear that focuses and controls the light better, or she figures out how to channel the energy into something that can store it, and then use it to power up her weapon. Mainly just because the imagery of her scythe temporarily getting a cool glow and dealing "super-effective" damage against Grimm for a moment, and/or having bullets that petrify any Grimm that gets hit, would be sick as hell.

[@Elsa_Jay]

You can forgive a more military like country like Atlas from standardizing their weapons so anyone can pick one up, while other places specialize in more unique variables. And while 'anyone' can build a weapon, I'm betting more people just get a cool pistol from a gun store or something. And having a guy who specializes in upgrading unique weapons in ways the user of said weapon wouldn't think of or had the supplies or tools to do? I love that. We just need to mix this back up so we can have both bland and colorful working together.

[@williamharmon4039]

In the case of the Ace Ops though I don't think we can consider their weapons standardized since they are unique designs not used by other soldiers. Customizing or personalizing weapons is a thing in the real military too, so there would be precedent to stylize their gear some more. Personally, I find it hard to care about the Ace Ops in general, but it was just a thought I felt like sharing.

[@rinzzler366]

I also think that only signal gets people to make their weapons, and other academies don't or its a more simple procedure. At least... thats my excuse for the lack of diversity.

[@snakeman830]

Team FNKI is from Atlas, and they are all very unique, personalized weapons.

[@vincentmalasawmkimajongte7489]

@@snakeman830 They're students not military, you can't arm one soldier with an AK and then arm the next with a Sig your logistics team would literally shoot themselves over the amount of work they'd have to do. Professional armies since the Romans have issued standard military equipment because it's effective, easy and cheap to replace.

[@snakeman830]

@@vincentmalasawmkimajongte7489 in Atlas, the military is the school. It doesn't make sense to have the students learn on unique, personalized weapons, then switch them to something more standardized later. If anything, they would do the opposite.

[@zoneco9013]

Honestly I'm fine with Salem not having a weapon but they should have given her something other than a giant magic laser. It would have been really cool if they made her a shapeshifter or something for combat. Just constantly creating and using new body parts, maybe growing grimm out of her shoulders or whatever. One second shes swinging bone blades and the next shes spewing acid and the next its a rain of nevermore feathers. Simultaneously makes her more unique and more terrifying while also connecting her more to the grimm. It would require much more teamwork and quick thinking just to survive and it adds another layer of difficulty for when they do figure out how to kill her permanently, doesn't matter if shes possible to kill if you aren't strong enough to actually do it. She could also use magic to shift the battlefield itself for extra difficulty, lava geysers? sure! collapsing floors? she can fly so why not. Also she had several opportunities to kill people outright in her fight, shes grimm and wants to wipe out humanity, why didn't she just kos everyone who was trying to get in her way? It even would have made Hazel's turn more interesting since he could just keep attacking her even after getting maimed.

[@thejudgmentalcritter6584]

True! Maybe if she had more "spells' than just nebulous laser light show. Or maybe if her "spells" required more interesting hand or arm movements.

[@VenathTehN3RD]

That's something about the show's handling of magic that just kind of annoys me in general. Magic is supposed to be this ancient power given directly to humanity by the God of Darkness. Something so fantastical and awesome that modern civilization considers it a thing of myth and legend. One of the prizes that the God of Light suggests they'll return to humanity if the species proves itself capable of learning from its mistakes, and which will make the species "whole" again. Yet most of the Semblances we've seen are far an away more astounding than the majority of the magic that we've actually seen on screen. I think the only time we've actually seen magic that I'd argue was clearly superior to most Semblances was with Amber, who was doing things like flinging lightning around, deflecting bullets, combining elements to turn leaves into a storm of bladed projectiles, etc. But that's about the only time it's ever happened. Sure, we've seen the results of some impressive magic. We know that Ozpin created the vaults and granted Qrow and Raven the ability to turn into birds. But in terms of actually seeing people *perform* magic, just about the only thing we've gotten aside from generic magic beams is slightly stronger versions of what we've already seen people do with dust and aura. Nora can absorb electricity and convert it into muscle strength. Ren can mask and sense emotions. Pyrrha can control magnetism. Jaune can boost auras and Semblances. Ruby can teleport. Yang and Adam can both absorb and redirect energy. Blake can create shadow clones (of various different types, if given dust). Weiss, Winter, and Willow can summon avatars of their defeated enemies. Harriet has super speed. Qrow and Clover bring bad and good luck respectively. Marrow can seemingly slow down time for a given target, or otherwise negate their ability to move/think. Raven can create portals between her and other people. Emerald can cause hallucinations. Neo can create physical illusions. Velvet can perfectly imitate fighting styles. Yatsuhashi can induce memory loss. Fox is telepathic. Flynt can create multiple clones that amplify the power of his attacks. Glynda is telekinetic. Robyn can detect lies by making physical contact with someone. May can turn people invisible. Fiona has freaking hammerspace in her palms. But no, please, continue to impress me with Ozma and Salem firing shiny bursts of light at things. Truly their displays of magical might are awe-inspiring.

[@Vigriff]

I read a fanfiction where the writer gave her a staff-scythe combo weapon.

[@TheVillainousMrPuns]

Good video! Best part about early rwby is that even the simplest and boring weapons had creative fighting styles and designs, you mentioned it with Flint, Neon, Neo and Ren, Torchwick had probably the second simplest weapon of the first season but he was given a fighting style that makes use of a cane, using its hook, doing strikes like a pool cue, etc. the simple weapons could work but you’re so right, they just don’t have the choreography anymore. The fighting styles also used to give a bit of insight to a character’s personality, hopefully it comes back!

[@frogradar]

I also miss when Blake actually used the ribbon of Shroud. I mean, she had a machine pistol-kusari-game-kitana. Like, she has a machine pistol, that can accelerate the speed, and recoil her LONG RANGE Kusari-game form around waves of enemies. Now all she does it use it as a YoYo for Yang... Like, the Ace ops vs RWBY fight... Blake has the ability to clone herself and fire a Kusari Gama at her enemies and yet they let Vine just wiggle his arms about and she stood around doing the bare minimum. She threw YANG around, who is heavier when she could have quite easily ripped Vine out from the ceiling.

[@BruceLigno]

I think that goes straight to the fact that no one seems to know how to show Blake actually fighting considering how cutthroat her fighting style was when Monty did it. Now, she borderline hasn't done any real blade-for-blade hits with anyone since around volume 5 with Ilia, and that fight was very lukewarm. We could say she did with Adam, but really looking at the fight, all she really did was deflect. If Blake was animated like she was in the first few Volumes, Ilia shouldn't have stood a chance (or she probably would have had a different weapon), and the Blake vs Adam could have easily been one of the best fights we have ever gotten, but because of Monty's passing, that fight got scrapped way back in Vol 3.

[@Appletank8]

Hey, remember when her Sheath was ALSO a blade?

[@moninix8131]

I think when it come to the Ace-ops, there are signs on their weapons that indicate they didn't make them. They probably just asked some army experts to made them with specific functions and that's it. I guess they don't look eye-catching beacuse... militarty? Like with the uniforms? I guess it's a better explanation than nothing

[@Appletank8]

It be neat if the Ace ops were unique in their blandness, yes. But weapon design just went down over time.

[@KokaKola633]

I kinda wished we got more instrument themed weapons like Flynt’s weapon is pretty cool! I love that the valves of the trumpet are dust ammo that’s really smart.

[@AtelierMcMuttonArt]

AYe, a Nevan-inspired weapon would be pretty great

[@snakeslife-uroborodjinn790]

A tuba that is also a gun.

[@ChestnutRiceandKamehameha]

How did this video actually make me like Weapon: Trumpet?

[@ChestnutRiceandKamehameha]

@@snakeslife-uroborodjinn790 not just a gun. A mortar. That could be so heavy hitting

[@williamharmon4039]

The argument some people make on this topic that the Ace Ops having simpler or less flashy weapons making sense because of standardized military equipment always confused me. How in the world is a boomerang of a fishing rod standardized equipment rather than a specific personal weapon that is just as outlandish and different in function as Cresent Rose would be compared to mass-produced and regulated weaponry? I don't see any other soldiers in the various shots focusing on them using anything like that.

[@williamharmon4039]

Not to mention the fact the Ace Ops are special operatives like Winter, meaning they went to Atlas Academy and trained as Huntsmen with their own unique styles and weapons just like Team FNKI.

[@rgama1173]

The happy huntress all have the same weapon, the rebels have more standarize weapons that the military

[@bennyd.1862]

Remember when Glynda said Cynder fought with glass…what happened to that? She seems to summon her weapons out of nothing ever since she became the Fall maiden.

[@derrickdaniels3955]

She's obsessed with her maiden powers which is a detriment now. Cinder used to be a avid threat but now after having gotten the power she just can't help use and flaunt it like a toy she can't get enough of. I can't really take her seriously with them especially since she doesn't use them to the max like in her fight with Ozpin and the fact that its made clear that maidens have access to all elements fire, ice, lightning etc but Cinder only uses Fire, used ice ONCE against Raven and played with lightning again ONCE when she shot Ruby at the end of V8.

[@Krahazik]

@@derrickdaniels3955 I think Cinder essentially had the same issue that the maiden she stole it from had, lack of experience and knowledge of her power and what she could really do with it. It was stated that the only reason they took the maiden down was because she was still young and inexperienced with her power. She made some critical mistakes in that fight which she might not have made if she had more combat experience. Cinder was essentially the same, lots of new power, no real experience in how to use it or what it can do.

[@speeddevil4040]

Something they could have given clovers fishing hook are different lures/bait to attach to the end. Give him bombs, blades, balls. It would be a Rod/Flail. Have him real in the end of the weapon to make it a short spear or mace.

[@heartbreak1740]

Also don’t wanna be that guy but for the explanation they gave in the show where penny explains it if I didn’t know ruby semblance is speed I would think it’s a dnd Misty step

[@kelsothesarcasmpirate]

I think it could've added to Ruby's character if her complete fascination with weapons evolved into an analytical observations of weapons. So she could study a weapon as she fights and know exactly what it's strengths and weaknesses are just by observing it. But because of her weapon savvy nature, she notices things other people won't. Be it a small point in the weapon that could stop it from working if you shot it or hit it hard enough. It could also add another sense of tactics used on her part since she's you know, the leader of Team RWBY.

[@KrazyKelor]

It should be the key to her success and how she relates to people; seeing the expression of others through their weapons could have been the thing that makes her a hero.

[@mentalpopcorn2304]

I really do miss the old RWBY combat. Shooting and swinging for high speed and mobility fighting looked so cool

[@kanekikingstorm2113]

I could see salem not using a weapon for the same reason that Palpatine rarely draws out a lightsaber in Star Wars: it’s beneath them. In the case of Palpatine, he only uses it to mock his enemies.

[@dhakshkamra1553]

Watch clone wars , he uses it there alot more

[@kanekikingstorm2113]

@@dhakshkamra1553 oh ive seen all of clone wars. I love his fight with maul and oppress.

[@Hashbrown1682]

But even then, he's not to be taken lightly, he's skilled with it, but doesn't prefer it. But when push comes to shove he's competent with them

[@TheWarmachine375]

@@kanekikingstorm2113 Palpatines loves going to the mall (maul) where the price cuts were savage

[@carbodude5414]

Not the same Palpatine is actually fun to watch when he fights

[@shmoopyroo2650]

the saddest character death were the weapons. i miss just seeing the weapons used for anything other then fighting! as someone who adores weapons and other intercut designed things it sucks to see like the main thing i loved about rwby go from the focus to "crescent rose?? who dat?" edit: it feels like if fullmetal alchemist just kinda faded out the fact that edwards arm is not only automail but also destructible! the amount of times he got in danger cause he couldnt use his alchemy thanks to a malfunction or a enemy destroying it made the fights intense and interesting, he also used alchemy on it to fight as well to make it a blade! it is his weakness, his own weapon and his motivation but if they just forgot about that part you'd be missing half the character.

[@junipervado6781]

One glaring detail in the action animations of recent volumes is their approach to key frames and in-betweens. Fights start and stop on key frames, or flashy poses, and the in-between frames slip by so fast that they hardly communicate any significant information. In-betweens seem to be nothing more than a vehicle to get from key frame to key frame. Pose to pose. Watching the fights in recent volumes feels like watching Friday Night Funkin. This might be their approach to avoid the need for squash-and-stretch. I don't know how complex or limited Maya's functionality is, maybe S&S as a principle of animation is difficult to work around in 3D programs. Certainly S&S was not a priority even in the volumes before the jump to Maya. The animators seem to compensate this by over-exaggerating arcs and inertia. Exaggeration is good, but in shots where movement isn't so frenetic, it tends toward bouncy and floaty action. I say this all as an enthusiast, not as someone who knows what they're talking about. It took a while to put my finger on these details.

[@playwars3037]

Personally I always loved Port's weapon. It is so incredibly and stupidly designed, while at the same time being so simple I can't help it. I mean, the first time I saw it I told myself : "This is ridiculous, it would be massively impractical to shoulder and fire this thing", then I remembered that I was watching a show who's main character is a 16 year old in a skirt with a warscythe crossed with a sniper rifle bigger than SHE is, who regularly hip fires the damn thing. So I just fell in love with it. Its so simple and corresponds to him so well. He's the old guy who likes simple stuff and telling stories. He isn't going to embrace the massive overengineered flashy weaponry. He needs range ? Take a good ol' blunderbuss. And if an enemy gets close ? Need to slice them, but a bayonet, or any other kind of edged weapon, can't be attached to the barrel. Then just slap a battleaxe on the cross and BAM ! Huntsman weapon. I freaking love it. And honestly I'd love to see more of the 'old', less technologically advanced weaponry. Like the Grim Reaper's weapons, the scythes are clearly less advanced than modern huntsman gear, but I almost feel that they have an added weight thanks to that. They have two tricks, you can recall a scythe to another and stick them together to make a double scythe, that's it. I don't know, I guess a lot more people want the weapons to be as flashy as possible, but I think there should be some that are deliberately simple like that, if only for the sake of contrast.

[@Gamerlord17]

The weapons in RWBY used to be so damn cool but now they are sorely lacking and I feel it's either due to a lack of creativity or a lack of budget considering they do have to animate the weapons transforming and such but still man they could have done so much cool shit in Atlas for example and just didn't. For example. Ironwoods guns were just that. Guns. They didn't really do much special and sure they gave him added mobility but THATS IT. They didn't combine or have another firing function or anything. Just plain guns...that he tend stops using for that stupid ass cannon they gave him 🙄😑

[@redjumper687]

What would have been cool for ironwoods weapon that makes it special to him would be that literally no one else could handle the recoil. The gun would be designed so that you had to either be absurdly strong or have a prosthetic to fire it without causing you any harm

[@WiserOdin]

the worst part is Ironwood's white revolver used to fire explosions. Like the rounds just blew up when you shot them at something. Which would have been an insane compliment to his other revolver. But no it now fires generic pew pew lasers.

[@Gamerlord17]

@@WiserOdin dude imagine if his guns combined into a laser gun or a shotgun or something. Hell imagine if they combined and turned into an axe?! James is based on the tinman after all

[@Gamerlord17]

@@redjumper687 we still don't even know how he lost his damn arm 😭

[@vincentmalasawmkimajongte7489]

Ironwood's a military man, his pistol probably something that's standard issue but just upped to fire huntsmen issue rounds

[@notallthatevil]

The most interesting thing about recent weapons is that the dog Faunus named his weapon fetch

[@ChestnutRiceandKamehameha]

Stop trying to make Fetch a thing Marrow!

[@carbodude5414]

Prepare for the stupid side of the fanbase claiming that all the new weapons and upgrades being so bland is because its meant to "match the tone of the show"

[@williamharmon4039]

Well, RWBY has been feeling pretty bland and lacking interesting style to me for a while now...

[@pumkin610]

Nora flying around really matches the tone of the show lol

[@Gatekid3]

The reason i think people still talk about ruby's semblance is how they decided to show it off after the style change. It kind of went from a trump card like Yang's to full utility like Blake and Weiss. The trailer and the food fight made it look like a burst of speed. but after volume 3 they started making it visually look like she was flying around in whatever direction she wants (Kind of invalidating how she uses her gun in a way). the show flipped from just calling it speed to "turning into rosepetals". And even after penny explains the power, its still not consistant, considering weight is not supposed to matter, but when she used it early on to carry penny, she got weighed down, now she can carry 4 people. It's a definitive answer so i cant say im "confused" on what her power is supposed to be, i just think they changed it to something alot less interesting. Its also a bit weird having to be sat down and told what the main characters power in 8 volumes in. It definitely takes away from my favorite aspect of her combat, which was her using her gun for movement.

[@TechBlade9000]

So you're saying there's a chance they took what was essnetially anime smear frames and made them literal

[@Gatekid3]

@@TechBlade9000 i think so. Starting at volume 4. Because the ruby character short has her split into 3 rose trails to warp around the opponent, when volume 3 had her get kicked out of it. It might be a case of misunderstanding the limits of her semblance. I don't recall her using it much outside of battle, so monty probably handled most of ruby's semblance usages and probably had a specific idea 4 it. Maybe after volume 3 they just decided to do what looks cool, because even if its not the same, you can just argue her semblance got stronger, which was what I assumed happened. Then they see people unclear on her power, so they settle it in volume 8 and make a cheeky joke about it. Regardless of the reason though, Ruby was left with unclear powers for most of the show. Id argue all 4 of the girls have confusing semblances.

[@daplinko3433]

Im upset phyra only used the gun rifle part of her spear in the crimson woods like in the tournament vs bronze when they have to take out the sniper she had a gun never used it her weapon was in my top 5 but never got used in a cool way

[@paultorrisi4992]

One thing I've noticed about weapons in the show is that they all feel like they're the same weight. You get these big hits from characters like Ruby and Nora, which makes sense because their weapons are huge and they need to move them with a lot of force to do anything, but you also get the same kind of big hits from people with lighter weapons like Blake and Ren. Also, a lot of the times big weapons move like they are only a few ounces, like that scene where Ruby deflects Emerald's bullets in V5 by spinning her scythe around. That weapon should be heavy as shit, and swinging it around would be tiring, but everyone in this show is also weirdly superhuman when it comes to strength and fatigue, which I also find weird.

[@willeh1947]

Even in the earlier volumes Ruby could spin her weapon pretty effortlessly. Definitely COULD not do it fast enough to block bullets like in V5 which was stupid. I’m pretty sure it comes down to Aura giving them superhuman strength. Like Yang in V2 is sent flying into the air and lands like forty+ seconds later and is fine. Or how Ruby casually (albeit using recoil) carry’s a giant fricken bird up a cliff. However, what I would LIKE to see is when Ruby’s Aura is broken she can’t use her weapon very well, because I’m pretty sure canonically it weighs like 50-ish pounds. THAT would be an interesting concept.

[@meogatopreto]

That made me think about a open letter of one of Monty's friends. At the time I didnt know exactly what he was talking about, but you nail it. The crew know how to make fun colourful and interesting designs, you can see it on Whatts weapon, Tac's whole design, Penny's redesign. But the new heads didn't have the same understanding of what the show was really about, and focused on the less important aspects, lead the creative team elsewhere. Its cern has changed. Maybe if it the show was presented this way since the beginning it wouldn't feel that bad, because somewhere between the volumes the RWBY had became a whole new concept.

[@internetxxx_pl0r3r_xxx77]

The individual weapons were the soul of their respective characters. Weapons as a whole were the soul of the show. Both have been neutered into almost lifeless uniformity. Makes ya think.

[@ranecrade2812]

i remember the choreography of the first 3 volumes the fights really did have weight and characters with speed showed it. Sun really shined in the early volumes, like the first time we saw him fight Roman. he is being overwhelmed by the constant swings and shots that he starts losing his footing he alsostruggles to keep up with sun. but now pretty much any character is set to the same speed and it sucks.

[@nenmaster5218]

Seen Hbomberguys video about RWBY though?

[@satp2023]

Going back to Jaune’s sword or just Jaune as a character is a shame. His progression could’ve been so many things. I found the concept of using a family heirloom in a new era of warfare exciting, more so that he didn’t even know how to use it because it showed his desire for glorious heroics. I wanted him to get better with the weapon, like when he is going through Phyrra’s drills in the forest and see it amount to something. I actually imagined the scene where it would pay off not against grim but against Humans or Faunus targets much like his great^2 grandfather would. Phyrra’s voice echoing instructions in Jaune’s mind as he is mentally locked into systematically cutting down his foes like bloody butter. Not only would it show how his growth as a person, help finding closure for Phyrra but show the over romanticised nature of chasing after glory in war. Another pet peeve I have is his customisation of the weapon, I’ll allow phyrra’s metals used to accent the weapon as a means to honour the dead. However I could only imagine Jaune’s Families’ reaction to the broad sword and hologram fortnite glider shield mods. Example, imagine I go to beacon with my grandfather’s actual tommy gun from WW2. Now imagine I come back but the tommy gun has a sawn-off barrel, a shoddy folding wire stock instead of a wood stock and a holographic sight welded to the darn thing. If he going to do all that then have him make his own sword and shield. I wanted to see some “If you’re nothing without this sword then you shouldn’t have it” energy, to see jaune forge his own legacy despite fully knowing being glorious is not entirely righteous. Overall I just think it’s a shame where his character ended up, I’m entirely sure where that is exactly.

[@Jordan-gp3mj]

Can we get a semblance video, because I’ve been waiting for that conversation! LOL I got plenty to say

[@marcksman7896]

Does anyone else think those little laughs Critter does often in her videos are just the cutest thing ever.

[@imjusthere8374]

Weiss I love her she’s amazing but after she learned how to summon she really lost her way of fighting because mostly she does is summon or keep using her semblance what happen to time dilation make her go faster and her cool attacks and dancing style she had

[@KrazyKelor]

They gave her too many abilities to start with, so she comes off as one of the wimpiest fighters because she uses them so poorly and keeps losing fights. Then they gave her more powers and she still sucks at using them, while forgetting to use all her other abilities.

[@imjusthere8374]

@@KrazyKelor yes, I actually never thought of it that way

[@GiantButterKnife]

For comparison, I think One Piece did a wonderful job of incorporating a new power into their world without completely upstaging the unique abilities that were already established. Haki is almost always shown to amplify a character's existing powers/abilities; it doesn't do all that much on its own.

[@TechBlade9000]

The mochi mochi dude was one of the best examples imo Honestly feels tailor made for him specifcally

[@Andrew-be2qv]

I always thought that giving Salem some sort of ancient broomstick weapon from the old world would have been cool. She uses it to fly, the twigs can be controlled to pierce her enemies, it can be used as a conduit for her magic in order for her to use more focused magic attacks, etc.

[@acgearsandarms1343]

If anything, she can make her own weapon out of magic. Ozma used a staff as a conduit for his already powerful magical skills. For me personally, I would have loved to see her with a sword, made of sharp metal and crystal, much like her castle in theme.

[@loganshockey4041]

This is a really well made video that expresses an aspect of something I've been trying to put into words. I miss the creative uses of RWBYs weapons and I'm not even caught up on the show anymore because after s7 I just go bored with the show. Every fight was bland. The show was fun because if someones semblance was weak then they usally had a cool weapon or vis versa. And those with both were powerhouses such as pyhrra. And her weapons weren't even that strong that's her skill. It used to be that people like glinda and cinder were unique because while they had weapons they used forms of magic which made them unique. Glinda actually stands out in the first few season because her semblance is so magical and she basically never fights with a weapon. You really drove it home when you talk about weapon color pallets too. Even Neptune's gun has some cool glowing bits and color that matches his athstic. I couldn't tell you off of the top of my head what it does or what his whole deal was but I remember he had a cool glowing gun XD great vid you earned my like and sub

[@arukana7761]

I really wish Jaune had the chance to upgrade Crocea Mors with Ruby since she is clearly knows a lot about making weapons. I figured that he would get the chance to go over with design with her, picking and choosing certain aspects as a sign of himself changing to a proper huntsman. Instead, Random Blacksmith upgrades and don't get me wrong. Integrating Pyrrha's circlet was very touching but there is more that could have been done? Instead of Crocea Mors just being able to become a two-handed sword, they could have made it could also become a spear or a jousting lance of sorts. Also, regarding Salem, I sorta figured the idea behind her was that instead of the weapon being an extension of herself, she has become the weapon. SHe has no need to weild a sword, or anything because in her mind, what is better than her own body compared to the creations of man. Either that or she has a weapon forged out of one of the Grimm pools, which could be cool.

[@CoralPallet]

I was just thinking about RWBY weapons and this videos comes out. What a perfect timing!

[@avej99]

I think the best weapon introduction for me was Coco. The setting of an experienced and well known upper classmen team joining they fray by jumping out a ship. Everyone pulls out their weapon or does something cool and coco casually walks up to a grimm kicks the fuck out of it and smacks it with her bag. Then she open fires on the nevermores by turning her bag into a freaking gatling gun. That was such a powerful and memorable introduction for a character we never met and hasn’t really had any relevance since then. But we all still remember her and her badass weapon reveal. I didn’t even know Vine had a weapon let alone use it

[@3Katapa]

I remember watching the last fight in Vol 8 and being shook that Nora can fly now????!!??

[@jadeharley7190]

I mean we know she can do the hammer explosive move like she did vol 1 in the never more fight but i5 was like really? It was such a short distance she went before so it was believable, but this was wayyy too long

[@ZoraVisions]

One of her upgrades to the grenade it was shown during training ttoo

[@danielmartins9901]

8:45 That's not the first time Harriet used her weapon, she used it to break a boulder some minutes before. EDIT: Nevermind, shut up

[@StoogesFan]

Ports weapon may be stupid, but that's nothing compared to Ironwoods hodge podge cannon which looked so awkward to wield; it's basically a turret without a mounting device. You try holding out anything like that with your arms, and you'll struggle within seconds to hold it up.

[@ddmacc]

Well he is half cyborg so i guess that would make it a bit easier to wield for him. I still agree though, the weapon just looks weird to hold

[@corniscorny]

Neo's fighting style reminds me of how airbenders fight. They're evasive and use their enemies force against them by redirecting the force of their attacks.

[@xzonex666x]

One of my favorite weapons in the show has always been Velvets Anesidora. Soooooo cool she gets to use other weapons as projections and we only saw it ONCE

[@magicaldemonboy100]

Kinda amazing how much thought the weapon were given within the early seasons. This video gives me a lot of inspiration to create and research weapons and how someone should fight with them now(for character design to be exact.)

[@SeaZollz2530]

Honestly this video made me understand more about weapon designing

[@dreameater8548]

Critter: carefully explains why it's not just "also a gun" and why each weapon is unique in its own way (thanks for your whole explanation, it felt on point. I don't know that much about RWBY so these explanations make it easy to learn about it) Internet: unfortunately for you... the *memes* will not see it that way.

[@cupcakejack7375]

I think part of why its gotten to this point is the loss of Monty. That guy was OOZING with talent for creative fight choreography and honestly its quite possible no one else in the team even compares to his level. Without someone that has that much creativity and attention to detail, i dont think the weapons could've been as good as they once were. Dont get me wrong tho, they definitely couldve been BETTER

[@Vortex945]

I love this video. You taught me how to apricate the things I like

[@Jay-ch5xu]

I love your point on the different type of guns fitting different use and combat style!

[@Hashbrown1682]

For weapons, I'd say they've become the footnote in regards to a character design. Like they'll prioritize the semblance first, then everything else, then finally they'll remember "oh yeah, they need a weapon. Just slap a gun on something and call it a day." And that feels so different from the early volumes, like the weapons abs semblance and weapons were taken into account with tandem to the character design.