Ranking All of Team RWBY's Designs (so far)

[@kriblar98]

I also really hate how Weiss lost the red in her future designs, it was a nice contrast.

[@silvereyes242]

I mean she does have it in her volume 7 design, but it’s so overloaded with detail, colours and accessories that it no longer stands out as an important accent for her costume.

[@masterkillerfluffy]

@@silvereyes242 There was red...

[@gokbay3057]

She also became blue rather than white.

[@UnstoppableForces]

deez

[@Edo_Ginting]

White and red looks really good

[@lillylane1698]

I feel like at this point Weiss should lose her weapon if she's just gonna be a summoner. Just go all in into the mage archetype outfit and ditch that wii mote she refuses to tie to her wrist.

[@twiinsiink]

Honestly, for real tho. Like, just make it a wand if that's all it's gunna be.

[@Gunn3rGuru]

@@twiinsiink As an FFXIV player, she's a summoner with a red mage glamour. Red mages using rapiers and summoners using books

[@jesuisunstroopwafel]

I'm sure Wii Remotes are better weapons than some of the weapons in RWBY. Add a nunchuk and bam, you got a neat two-handed flail.

[@jaketionary2543]

@@jesuisunstroopwafel don't even need the nunchuck; just gotta let go of the wiimote and, if the living room wall can be taken for reference, it'll punch clean through a Beowulf at twelve paces, no problem

[@kirbycat1977]

I feel like summoning stuff with just her hands would be so much better for Weiss. Like why stick a sharp stick in the ground when you always fall over and touch the floor anyways

[@constantdisappointment5658]

The way you described Yang as an afterthought and "doesn't fit in with the rest of the girls" legitimately sounds like it could have been a great concept to develop her character. The older sister, who grew up only knowing her step-mother and only being seen as "Tai's other daughter" on Patch, finally breaks away by attending Beacon Academy only for Ruby to not only be accepted two years early, but LEAD HER TEAM. That sounds like such a struggle for someone to go through, and then her identity just keeps getting muddied after she finds out her biological mom is a crime lord, and she becomes a casualty when she loses her arm.

[@constantdisappointment5658]

Just imagine Yang going from "party girl trying to find herself" to "seeking advice from the bad guys" if she and Hazel reached a weird understanding during a fight.

[@Fly-the-Light]

@@constantdisappointment5658 Plus if she spent more time with her Mom and started seeing her perspective; if her Mom actually accepted her and started telling her the truth about everything, then you have a massively more interesting character

[@malachiowens3423]

Sound great but she would lose her party girl aspect

[@shadowclaw7210]

Honestly works well for more angsty Yang story line.

[@zephyrthepaladin3366]

Fanfic writers TO YOUR KEYBOARDS

[@betaAfro]

I love hearing people talk about character designs. Character designs are probably my favorite thing when it comes to making characters so descussing what makes or breaks designs is really nice. Plus im learning what *not* to do when making my own characters lol

[@bamby7766]

Same here

[@huttmuttbutt]

100% agree

[@disgusting2208]

When learning its better to follow professional artist’s advice who work in the industry.

[@imanijones54]

Same tbh

[@Shagaru_Bleed]

Same.

[@glowtz]

26:37 I think besides keeping Blake's arms visible, maintaining that slim fit outfit silhouette also helps. It makes her feel more cat like and nimble, complimenting her faunus trait and fighting style.

[@ericareaper8750]

Now that you are mentioning this. It makes sense

[@UnicornofWar]

"White? Bitch where?" I AM CRYINGGGGGGGG

[@Kaileedoodleloo69]

OMG HI THOMAS!!! 🤩🤩🤩

[@Electrosa]

Those "overall" dresses are called jumperskirts! They're THE design feature of lolita (in tandem with the poofy silhouette) which is why they crop up in Ruby's designs here and there, since lolita fashion played a pretty heavy influence in her early designs.

[@ashikjaman1940]

I will never understand why someone thought that "Lolita" was a good name for a kind of fashion

[@Electrosa]

@@ashikjaman1940 Because it has absolutely nothing to do with the book. It was invented by Japanese people who had never heard of the book and had no idea about any ~connotations~ The name Lolita was chosen because they wanted a sweet, feminine name for their sweet, feminine fashion.

[@ArvelDreth]

@@Electrosa exactly what I was gonna say. Lolita is a name that exists outside of the book, so they just chose it based on that.

[@hundvd_7]

@@Electrosa > It was invented by Japanese people who had never heard of the book That is completely false and you know it. Lolita fashion - in Japan - *is* devoid of the problematic sexual connotations that the name has in the west, _but_ it's asinine to say that it wasn't influenced by the novel. Lolita is elegant and old-timey, but also cute and childish.

[@raizenr2387]

@@hundvd_7 Hiya my wife used to be DEEEP into the fashion and its actually a style based off of Victorian Rococo fashion and the cute design aspect was (at least early on) in direct opposition to the prim and proper culture of the Victorian Era. Its why most Lolita Fashion events are based around Tea parties! The slightly more stoic inspirations did eventually find their way back into a sub sect of the community that would eventually take shape as inspiration for the "Gothic" Lolita style.

[@Pootis-Spencer]

If the rule to make good Blake outfits is to let her arms bare, then imagine a V7 Blake making snow angels while wearing a tube top with some gloves to keep herself from the cold XD

[@Jeddy027]

I mean, of course there would be exceptions to the rule.

[@dwieselmcallister]

Honestly, in my own fan designs, I've put Blake in a close-fitting, thermal bodysuit with cropped jackets or vests over that, so she still gets her trademark "look" with less risk of hypothermia. 😂 Tube top in the snow Blake is pretty hilarious, though! 😂

[@tiartiz]

Yoo. XD why this is soo funny.

[@wahajhaider6313]

Fun fact A reason as to why poser designs look so clean is because poser was a limiting software so having dumb long ass would be a physical issue Maya doesnt have this issue as much as poser but the issue still stands as you cant apply physics since that might cause too much clipping Hence why Weiss is so stiff Either they glue the dress or apply physics and have it clip 24/7

[@Axel_Kasai]

So that's why yang lost her physics huh

[@probablyjinxed]

yeah that makes a lotta sense, technical limitations really bring out the creativity in people tbh

[@kailastnam9793]

31:05 About the T-Pose: Usually models with more detailed shoulders are modeled in an A-Pose instead of a T-Pose.

[@a-mellowtea]

Seeing the photoshop of Weiss in pants flat out made me cackle.

[@RedMagius]

The most frustrating thing about Yang is that they refuse to do anything with her blob of hair. It's a giant mass of yellow, and her gauntlets are also giant masses of [the most disgusting shade of] yellow, if they put her in any more yellow she's going to look like she's doing road construction. The tans are a good choice in theory, but since this is an action show, she needs to read clearly, so instead of figuring out better colour placement, they cover her in brown. I'm also tired of the constant bandana around her neck, it seldom works, and there's no narrative reason why she needs to wear it in every single main outfit. The alternate look in vol2 was the _gold_ standard of Yang looks.

[@shiranui2844]

Putting Yang in red and/or a hotter brown would help.

[@TheDerpyDunsparce]

I did some team RWBY palette swaps on the BBTAG sprites before and everyone with Yang's colors was mostly brown and orange. With only yellow on their hair, metal pieces and their weapons.

[@nasimmason]

@@shiranui2844 yeah it would, she just needs anything to break up the yellow.

[@CaramelCoconuts]

the reason they refuse is cause in volume 1 when a strand of hair fell off she got really mad, and apparently they wanna stick to it. which is funny, since it's really about the only element they've stuck to since the volumes when monty was alive.

[@fishnewt1331]

@@CaramelCoconuts: I can’t even say they’ve stuck to that gimmick. Back in vol 1-3, you can get an inference based On Yang’s reaction from Neon’s insults that she probably was a bit vain. Nowadays, she is so serious and angry that the small character quirks she used to have are basically non-existent. Nowadays, it feels like they are only sticking to the long hair to make a character look like Yang, even though she feels nothing like Yang in character.

[@erynflynn8467]

I agree with a lot of your points. A big thing for me, is that even though Poser is more limiting, I found that the colours, and especially textures looked way better than they do in Maya. In Maya everything is way to flat, cell-shaded, and simultaneously too saturated and too desaturated. Ruby looks straight up gray-skinned way too often. RT really needs to take a hard look at colour theory and theming for their characters and the whole world.

[@Drengade]

one of the main reasons for that is because poser had no dynamic shading. all the shadows were literally painted on to the characters.

[@Soulessblur]

As someone who DOES really enjoy power armor designs, The Grimm eclipse designs are terrible, you're not just biased

[@Vigriff]

Same, and I'm normally a guy who enjoys seeing characters in stylish armor whether its fantasy or sci-fi.

[@dragonicdoom3772]

The thing about Weiss' volume 7-8 outfit is it fails at separating her from the Ace Ops and Ironwood. Look at her design, what are the three primary colours? White, red and blue. Now look at Ironwood and the Ace Ops, and what are their primary colours? White, red and blue. They're different shades of red and blue but they're still red and blue.

[@izzyq9200]

I've always loved Yang's designs, I'm a fan of browns and leathers and I'd probably wear a lot of what she does, and I agree that her vol 2 design was easily my favorite. That said I totally agree they do not and have never really fit aside from that one exception. Honestly when I think of it Yang often looks kinda like she belongs on team CFVY

[@whyamihere3836]

The thing I despise most about the newer designs is that Rooster teeth seem so adamant on shoving useless belts on characters that it logically would restrict movement . RT, for the love of everything that is holy, just make the characters actually wear the colors they represent without making it look like they emptied a closet every time they go out.

[@genesismoncada36]

worded perfectly

[@Jeddy027]

RT leaned a little too heavy into the overly anime fashion with unnecessary belts & several layers of clothing/gear. Those crazy detailed anime designs shouldn't be their main source of influence.

[@cameronheaton9900]

Does Rob liefield work there

[@frogradar]

@@Jeddy027 It barely even feels like that. It's like they took the Nomura meme of "haha belts and zippers" and forgot about the actual aesthetic pleasing parts of the design.

[@NovelVanguard]

Well I’m assuming that all the belts hold there bullets/cartridges in the along with any dust they might have on

[@ani5213]

I know this isn't the most important part, but I really love how Monty took the time to make the outfits of the girls cosplayable. Like, how am I supposed to find all those belts and trinkets and layers for a cosplay that they added after volume 3??

[@takkarsasori8961]

11:33 Honestly i love power armor, but these power armor look a little odd. (terrible) in a world where monsters literally hunt and kill humans our main characters (execpt jaune to my knowledge) have little or no armor at all, you'd think they would have small armor pieces around vital points to keep them from taking major blows.

[@noctisastrum7495]

The armor kinda reminds me of gen lock for some reason

[@axsprime]

@@noctisastrum7495 That's probably the point.

[@shadic1988]

0:00 - Intro 1:52 - Beacon (Ruby 1-3) 2:22 - Slayer (Volume 2) 3:26 - Shirow Miwa Manga (Ruby) 4:49 - Mistral (Einlee Concept 4-6) 6:21 - Mistral (In-show 4-6) 7:22 - Chinese Mobile Game (Ruby) 8:48 - Atlas (Einlee Concept Ruby 7-8) 10:34 - Atlas (In-show Ruby 7-8) 11:12 - Ruby's Power Armor (Grimm Eclipse) 12:30 - Ruby Conclusion 13:11 - Beacon (Einlee Concept Weiss 1-3) 14:03 - Beacon (In-show Weiss 1-3) 14:47 - Snow Pea (Volume 2) 15:32 - Shirow Miwa Manga (Weiss) 16:52 - First Atlas Appearance (Einlee Concept 4-6) 17:50 - First Atlas Appearance (In-show 4-6) 18:44 - Summoner (Chinese Mobile Game) 19:28 - Second Atlas Appearance (Volume 7-8) 21:21 - Weiss's Power Armor (Grimm Eclipse) 21:44 - Weiss Conclusion 22:24 - Beacon (Blake 1-3) 22:58 - Intruder (Volume 2) 24:07 - Shirow Miwa Manga (Blake) 24:43 - Menagerie with Jacket (Volume 4-6) 25:40 - Menagerie without Jacket (Volume 6) 27:00 - Ninja (Chinese Mobile Game) 27:57 - Atlas (Einlee Concept Blake 7-8) 29:15 - Atlas (In-show Blake 7-8) 30:50 - Blake's Power Armor (Grimm Eclipse) 31:18 - Blake Conclusion 31:53 - Beacon (Einlee Concept Yang 1-3) 32:57 - Beacon (In-show 1-3) 33:44 - Hunter (Volume 2) 34:43 - Shirow Miwa Manga (Yang) 35:28 - DGAS (Volume 4) 36:27 - Mistral Brown (Volume 4-6) 37:34 - Mistral Green (Volume 4-6) 39:14 - Mech (Chinese Mobile Game) 40:04 - Atlas (Einlee Concept Yang 7-8) 40:48 - Atlas (In-show Yang 7-8) 41:42 - Yang's Power Armor (Grimm Eclipse) 42:00 - Yang Conclusion 42:30 - Complete Tier List 45:35 - Fun Outro

[@nyhtfall1969]

Thx

[@shadic1988]

@@nyhtfall1969 No problem

[@Art-zp1qg]

The sleeveless Blake revelation was amazing, but the power armor’s mere existence made me want to turn the internet off. The armor looks horrifying.

[@omagoddd8246]

I love how Shiro Miwa's art style makes the character's hair look like ribbons. It looks cool

[@cameroncooper5941]

I never knew Yang was introduced much later than the others. Subconsciously I've know something was off with her design, but I never put it together until now.

[@lazycat3179]

I got into Genshin Impact over the summer and I would love to hear your opinion on the outfits! I really like how in depth you go into explaining why things do or don’t work and it would be cool to see that applied to Genshin.

[@secondaegis9190]

I second that. Though, I'd also like her to look at Kiana Kaslana from Honkai

[@scroobl]

@@secondaegis9190 I third it

[@squee-g1658]

@@scroobldon't you mean honkai impact 3rd? Ill leave now...

[@scroobl]

@@squee-g1658 lmaooo

[@balakeemogak8606]

I can say one thing to point things out Most prioritize function over form and there's not really a balance between function, form and sexy/cute/pretty some make sense, others do not.

[@thatonetemplar]

I'd love to see you do this for other characters. You could probably do an entire video on Cinder alone, the girl has like 10 in-show designs-

[@zsomboregri758]

I also really want that, especially cause I love hearing people bash Cinder's bandage shirt

[@Mekasoundwave]

Agreed, I really want to hear the Jaune Haircut Discourse

[@thatonetemplar]

@@Mekasoundwave She could do one on team JNPR maybe and include Jaune in that Jaune himself only has 2 designs total I think

[@arseneholmes6266]

@@thatonetemplar 3 i think

[@thatonetemplar]

@Arsene Holmes Nope, there's many more than just 3. Just off the top of my head there is: - Her outfit when she attacked Amber - Her V1-3 dress - Her Vytal Festival casual attire with the vest - Her Haven uniform - Her catsuit - Her V4-5 dress - The outfit she stole from that woman in V6 - Her black Atlas outfit with the cape - Her backstory outfit

[@slimeinc.3822]

tbh the edit of Weiss with pants at 23:41 looks really good, not as something really extremely useful for the show but just as a fit outside of the context of her character

[@twiinsiink]

Thank you, it took a really long time cuz I had to make the hair look right.

[@flyingfist4203]

It is fascinating to hear your critiques of Yang's outfits. I enjoyed her V1-3 outfit even though it didn't have a ton of her primary color like the rest of RWB did. Her hair just had such a nice shine/pop in the show and it always felt like there was so much of it (in a good way). So combine that with her weapons and the bit of the yellow shirt we see, that was enough for me to see her as the Yellow character. Though I worry that RT sees it that way too. The major promo artwork for Yang always has her hair spread out like a stylized wildfire, which they can't really do in the show. Also I have a soft spot for Yang's Atlas design, in spite of the dumb one exposed thigh look.

[@youwhat6624]

Yang's designs in general had always bothered me for some reason and I think I now know why. I never knew she was literally a freaking afterthought from her very conception which is a little sad tbh, but the fact that no one, not even monty himself, could seem to figure out how to put our goldilocks in actual yellow is rather dissapointing considering just how iconic the original outfits of the first three girls were :/

[@shorewall]

I wonder if Yang would look good in a yellow Leotard, almost like a superhero. Have like a black skirt and crop top, and a red accent somewhere.

[@BobMcBobJr]

Since the first episode, I thought that Yang looked out of place but, in the first season, she also felt out of place. She felt like big momma looking after the kids and I thought that's what they were going for. All the kids were in their super specific costumes that matched their color scheme and angsty personalities (anti-angsty for Ruby?) while Yang was wearing a brown jacket that was too small. Then all the other seasons came out and I realized they didn't really have a plan for her. She only has a little more relevance than Oscar. Also, yellow is a super garish color so using a lot of yellow would give it that garish superhero look which can, of course, be used well (ie superheroes). But, there is another option as we saw in the video.... gold. And she's based on goldilocks so seriously.

[@xShadow_MD]

Honestly i actually liked her look in vol 5 after she recovered. It definitely felt more suited for her in my opinion.

[@bradenthorn8123]

Since we're going to a hot environment I really hope weiss goes back to her skirt design because I feel like they're good with designing them.

[@jordanmchighlander9365]

Blake's outfits being much better WITHOUT sleeves makes an odd amount of sense.

[@JeanneMyBeloved]

Fr

[@dancingcarapace]

I honestly love that we got to see the Vale outfits in the Maya engine, and imo it’s what highlights Weiss’ Vale outfit the greatest. Seeing her in the Maya engine honestly puts her up to S tier in my personal ranking, just because it shows what Poser was *trying* to achieve but just couldn’t due to it’s own software limitations.

[@twiinsiink]

It looks SO CUTE in the Maya engine!

[@nalaxysketches8519]

Wow, that outfit design for Weiss in the Chinese mobile game is soooooo gorgeous! Like yeah, I can see it being slightly unpractical for combat. But personally, I think this pulls off the "rule of cool" principle so well that I can excuse it.

[@dwieselmcallister]

I actually made that outfit! You're right that it's super impractical (I guess it isn't anymore now that Weiss' sword is a glorified magic wand, but yeah), but if you remove the butt cape/butt veil (I made mine a separate piece that snaps around the waist), you are left with a short, pleated skirt that is similar to her usual miniskirts that she wears in combat. 😊 Much like Yang's V5-6 flap things, it's sort of a pointless detail if you can't actually wear it to fight in, but it *could* work.

[@nalaxysketches8519]

@@dwieselmcallister Wowie! It's cool for the original designer to reply to my comment. :D Your design is very beautiful, even with the veils.

[@dwieselmcallister]

@@nalaxysketches8519 oh no, I didn't design the outfit, sorry!!! I sewed it for myself to wear! 😅😅😅 I guess I technically designed the back because there is no back view of that outfit, but that was for personal use and by no means official. ;)

[@nalaxysketches8519]

@@dwieselmcallister Oooohh, okay. You should have probably worded that better, my bad 😅

[@dwieselmcallister]

@@nalaxysketches8519 haha yeah 😅😅😅 I physically made that outfit to put on my body lol

[@PersianSlashuur]

Honestly, I'd put most of the designs from Volume 7 (including for the characters outside of team RWBY) somewhere on the bottom half of the list simply because none of them look like they'd be good for winter. And I'm not just talking about the winter in the show, I'm talking about mild, real life winter. When I look at them on their own, like they're regular outfits, they're...pretty meh. Yang's is the only one that I genuinely like. The other 3's designs are too...complex, I guess? But within the context of the show, they are _awful._ Like, Blake wearing a jacket on a tropical island is one thing, but her wearing a _cat suit_ in weather so cold that it could _kill her_ is _beyond_ stupid. Now, I will admit. Even with my _extremely_ limited knowledge of character design/drawing in general, I know that giving the characters full-on winter jackets wouldn't really work due to how heavy and impractical they'd be in a fight, especially when you consider how most of them are speedsters. But, like... _come on._ _Surely_ they could've looked at least a _little_ warmer? Look at Ruby's outfit for example. I'm 90% sure that you could get away with wearing that during spring. It really does say something that Yang's looks like it would be the most warm outfit out of the 4 despite the fact that it has a boob window _and_ part of her leg exposed.

[@johannesseyfried7933]

Honestly, if they simply gave Blake a tight, black Sweater, I am sure it could have worked as well. I find it honestly sad that none of the Girls got some cute Winter Outfits. Its a damn Shame. (Yeah, I know, they wouldn't be practical for fighting....but I am sure there's a way to convey "warm" and "practical" with Clothes.)

[@leahnzastrzelecki5217]

@@johannesseyfried7933 Usually the best way to imply "warm" in character design is thickness. Thickness means room for implied layers of warm clothing or quilting or insulation underneath whatever you're seeing on top, much like with real life winter gear. On a technical level this may not be possible with the 3d software, but how the fabric wrinkles and folds is also important in conveying thickness--thin fabrics make many small, thin wrinkles and creases, thick fabrics tend to make large bunches or folds, but also less of them--a few strategic folds modeled or better yet textured into the RWBY outfits would have done wonders. Season 1-3 has shading textures, the later ones don't for whatever reason. The second best way to convey warmth is to limit exposed skin on an outfit as much as possible. To get warm and practical and feminine, the best way to achieve that is to vary the thickness across the body--cinch an otherwise puffy jacket with a belt and let the bottom flare out like a skirt, etc.

[@ashikjaman1940]

I feel like a big winter coat could work with Yang or Nora. They're supposed to be stronger so a thick coat wouldn't look out of place I think. Idk maybe I'm just thinking too much about Saejima from Yakuza.

[@ew275x]

I think stuff like thick or bunched up scarves, ear muffs, sweaters, fur, and thicker sleeves could work to look more like winter gear.

[@timbered9619]

I absolutely agree, but don’t their auras protect them from the cold?

[@prescibee2478]

My least favorite is definitely the atlas Weiss (only taking the show’s outfits into consideration). Not only because of the style, but the failed symbolism here. After season 5, she’s supposed to finally be free from her father, but this outfit makes it feel like she’s more captive than ever with the jacket, the multiple belts, the long dress, the complicated hairstyle… let her breathe!

[@regalos976]

From what I remember from one of Monty's videos is that he was very good in toning down excess elements and making less look more. That may be something the design team lost when they lost him. I can't say much for blake and Weiss, but for Ruby and Yang I have few comments. For Ruby I think they are trying to make her look more mature as the show goes on, but I think that runs antithesis to her character which is her innocence and simplicity which her original design capitalizes on. As for yang, whenever I looked at her I always thought of a campfire, which is what I feel like the justification is for all the brown and tan, the fire being her hair. Monty really wanted a brawler on the team, and if like you said the other 3 were made first, that means the responsibility fell to yellow. However, yellow by itself invokes more the idea of bright light or lighting both of which were more representative of a speedy fighting style. Fire tends symbolize the ferocity of brawling so I think they went with that. And that actually makes me think that the team may be associating the team with different elemental forces rather than their main color. Weiss with the cold, Yang with a forest fire, Blake with darkness, and Ruby with, well, roses.

[@peterclaymore2239]

not going to lie 43:38-43:51 that just hurts to have pointed out. Also as a guy who used to love yang (both in concept and character) I cant help but agree 100% with your observations. Here's looking forward to the JNR tier list... even if it might be a shorter video.

[@shanedixon5845]

17:53 18:10 a fun drinking game for volumes 4-6 is to take a shot every time Weiss' legs are shown entirely disconnected from the model because they decided to give her the most uncomfortably short skirt ever.

[@BumbleCrumble1072]

Yang being an afterthought since conception makes a lot of since she was a nonentity during Volume 1 and early Volume 2.

[@thomasraines1396]

Yeah Yang was just kind of “there”.

[@jsigg4106]

I love when you and your friends talk about the designs. I don't think I could ever spout all the things I love and hate about the designs as well as you guys can, and just listening to you guys makes me understand what I need to do more in my own designs. Now for a VERY off topic question: Where did you get that chart of blues at 16:46 when you were going over Weiss? I'd love to find more charts like that. As a colorblind person, it makes it a lot easier to visualize colors like that and to have references.

[@twiinsiink]

I searched "shades of blue" on google images :)

[@chunkysensei5404]

@@twiinsiink she is a genius (also not try to make fun of you really happy you are trying to do stuff like this, hope it goes well)

[@ninjafox1142]

I feel like you should make a tier list for JNPR's designs too.

[@pumkin610]

I would put all their show designs in s tier

[@konstancjadrzewo488]

I think the worst thing about Blake's short hair is how flat it looks. Her hair in longer version has those nice waves, so why flatten her hair completely in her newer design?

[@satan3862]

It legit looks like a bowl cut or one of those corona hair cuts people gave themself

[@avalonv6559]

Absolutely 100% right with Blake. It's so weird because I can't really explain WHY it's true, but keeping her arms free just makes her outfit feel so much more in line.

[@randomfandom3866]

I love hearing all of these critiques on the designs, really helps me figure out the designs for the characters I make especially for an Norse themed AU of RWBY I'm working on. I feel like I've gotten better at designing characters my only problem is coming up with fairy tales for them. I often forget a lot cause it seems even the show creators forget about this.

[@smolpeepee245]

I really hate being able to see Blake's human ears, characters having four ears has always been a huge pet peeve for me

[@Konokken]

God the hair kills me, I mean, I see the point of it in the plot, but the hair looks like shit.

[@Truewooper]

My wife hates that too

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

I find it the preferable alternative tbh, since the idea of having solely the cat ears always reminds me of that incredibly cursed comic of the cat with human ears

[@smolpeepee245]

@@whensomethingcriesagain I guess it comes down to opinion because I always feel human+cat ears are a lot more cursed lol

[@SRN-IRN]

Okay but... Why do the Vol 2 Slayer outfits overall look like better winter outfits than the actual winter outfits from the winter season??? Hello?? They don't seem the best but they definitely look warmer.

[@beanbrain6162]

That thumbnail art is adorable tho

[@crimson1194]

I swear whenever im like "ok no more ocs. This show deserves no ocs from me" boom a video by you about designs and im back at it because character design....is fun Also can someone tell me the name of the song in the yang section?

[@twiinsiink]

I am a plague, I'm sorry. Also it's Funky Kong's theme :)

[@dismaltenedor3979]

I almost screamed in abject horror when I saw those power suits. You really should put in a jumpscare warning with those.

[@3ds_fellgod-myhopewillneve617]

It really bums me out seeing how even the character designs have taken a downgrade along with everything else. RWBY is a show that yet again has always been more about style over substance, and that extends to the character designs. The original design for Ruby, Weiss and Blake, asides from having such amazing use of color theory, worked so well because they managed to be simple, yet striking and cute. The key word here is ‘simple’. Monty made these designs simple on purpose because he wanted the characters to be easy to cosplay as while still looking great. Now, with how overtly complicated so many of these later Volume designs are, it seriously goes against Monty’s designs philosophy. And whenever the designs aren’t overcomplicated, they’re super bland. So now it’s the worst of both worlds: designs too clustered and busy that cosplaying as these characters is a massive pain in the ass, as well as designs that aren’t striking or attractive. It’s like RT doesn’t understand the aspects of what made everything about RWBY so successful in the first place. And the sad part is that even with how bad some of these new designs are, they’re still leagues above most of the designs of many of the side characters in the later volumes....

[@gloomygloomstalker3878]

one thing ive gotta say as someone who loves designing characters, yang being in brown instead of yellow in theory is good because it allows her hair to stand out, I think you're right in that they dont choose good shades of brown tho, and they should be using at least a bit more touch of yellow for the undershirts. Really yang is just a tough character to design for due to needing to be the tough biker girl apparently XD the biker duds clash with her colour representation heavily. also, can we get a juniper and villains design ranking next?

[@skyslasher2297]

36:58 Also visually she only has one Ember Celica and that just messes with my OCD ya its built into the arm but its not shown making her seem unbalanced which I have to commend Vol 7 for addressing.

[@yourmourningstar]

I kid you not, I listen to these videos while designing characters to help get the creative juices flowing.

[@spinestealer8129]

I actually like the decision of adding purple to Blake’s outfits. It’s a complementary color to yellow, so it helps bring out her eyes, and I think purple goes very well with black as well. Enhances the look of “mysterious and brooding” i guess lol

[@drakingp2119]

Snow Pea is also my favorite Weiss and one of my most favored designs in the show

[@sumsum3873]

If it’s true that the girls’ V9 outfits will be their atlas outfits without the jackets then i’m honestly really curious to see how that goes. Blake would be in all black catsuit which might look good?

[@twiinsiink]

I think it's telling that almost universally for RWBY, simply removing some of the extra layers would infinitely improve the designs. It's really a testament to the fact that they should probably cool it on how overly-detailed some of the characters are.

[@ivanbackfromthecardshop8093]

We either have similar taste or the later designs are just that blatantly terrible because I don't think I've ever seen a mostly opinion tier list with such similar results to what I would give. Btw I just wanted to say your videos on design discussion have been very enjoyable I feel like it's a part of media that goes a bit under discussed so it's nice to see it get talked about

[@surraciddac170]

I always find it funny that the RWBY fandom can make better designs than the actual animators. My favorite ones is the ones for Ruby and Yang. These artists made a redesign for Yang with gold yellow as her center shirt while the other details is black/yellow with a cream yellow color. The outfit style looks badass and fits Yang, plus the yellow catches your eye rather than being covered up by brown. And black and yellow is a perfect combo ✨ And the ones for Ruby, this artist gave her little goggles and two renditions give her rolled up grey sleeves and a red and black winter outfit. It works better than the Mistral and ATLAS outfit.

[@supersparrowJ]

I do kinda like the idea of putting the girls in outfits where the colours on the torso contrast the hair (V4 Weiss concept art, V4 Blake) but it wouldn’t make much difference to put more of the characters signature colours onto the outfit and I don’t understand why they don’t do that more.

[@frenchy3044]

I agree with 99% of this. My favourite outfits for the team are Hunter and SnowPea for Yang and Weiss, and Blake's original outfit still slays, but my favourite outfit for Ruby is actually the Atlas outfit, despite how busy it is. It just all comes together in a way that's aesthetically pleasing to me.

[@kapkant6197]

Fun fact about Grimm Eclipse's models: the pre release versions of the game actually used Team RWBY's Poser models from the show, however at some point they downgraded them to the ones we have now. Funny enough Team JNPR still use their show models (at least when I played on Xbox at release) so they stand out by looking way better than the characters the game is named after.

[@twiinsiink]

I'm wondering if they changed the models to help with the game's performance? Like, maybe they were making it struggle with loading?

[@RainbowRatArt]

Personally I love Ruby's atlas design (this is from someone who doesn't watch the show and just likes listening to people talk about it) i guess I have the opposite opinion of you but if I look at her first outfit and then this one it really looks like an older more mature Ruby, she looks like she's ready for adventuring and combat. I always thought the belts on her thighs and wrists were to keep her clothing down so nothing falls down or billows out too much, plus it keeps you warmer if no skin is in danger of accidentally being exposed to the air and it just looks like the pressure and security of it would feel nice to me, at least that's what I first thought when I saw the belts. I like how the gray of her sleeves sort of matches the silver in her belt and tips of her shoes, I think there's a nice symmetry and mirroring in this design. My eyes don't get confused by the details, for me I can easily flow down her outfit and recognise each thing I'm looking at. I see the sleeves, I see the gloves, I go down her corset seeing the red, I see her belt and then her skirt which also looks like it's built to be more streamlined and wind resistant, and then I go down her legs and look at her shoes, I notice how the belts on her legs match her wrists and I like it and I also notice the silver that ties the shoes in to the other silvers on her. I think this outfit looks, comfortable, warm and perfect for combat, very easy to move in and no risk of anything falling down or blowing around too much besides her cape. Also I think her hair is really really cute. It just love looking at this outfit.

[@dvreaux]

Ruby is the main character

[@KraneJams]

the end part where you mention how the only s tier outfit after monty's passing was blake's when she lost the jacket, and she only had that outfit for 3 1/2 episodes made me laugh 💀💀 They keep adding random colors to new outfits that just don't match when they can just tweak the outfit while keeping a similar color scheme to make it look good. (e.x Flynt Coal's Atlas Design making the white contrast with the Dark Black and grays better while also keeping his iconic neon blue in some areas, Penny's adding more dark greens and black to contrast with her whites, while also getting rid of the weird light grays and light pink bow that were making ruining her color scheme of green and black. Her Orange hair doesn't match it at all but it's so iconic to her character that it just ties her Atlas outfit all together)

[@kylierinsley1723]

This is just a silly comment but the gap between the skirt and socks you see in Ruby's art designs for volumes 4-6- it's called the "Absolute Territory" (Zettai Ryoiki) in Japanese culture. That's a term for the ratio of the length of the miniskirt, exposed portion of the thigh, and overknee part of the socks. The proper ratio is 4:1:2.5, which seems to be in play in the design. (There's even a wikipedia article about it.) There' even a song about it, but generally it's a fetishistic design choice. Personally I think Ruby would've been better with full leggings, I don't see why she needed that very specific ratio unless someone was really into the idea of seeing her thighs.

[@Mx.Euphoria]

the power armor makes me feel like they made AI design it Also I think they tried to put Yang in browns to give her a Biker Girl feeling, when I first saw her I thought of Biker Tough Lady

[@kingdanett4043]

With Yang's Hunter Outfit I absolutely love the almost golden rose on her legs. You can see it better when she gets up from being hit by the Gigas mech thing I forgot the name of.

[@Umbran]

Weiss's Power Armor Model T-Pose is unbeatable lmao

[@mileslugo6430]

Averaging all the girl's looks it ranks as Yang with the best average (4.27), Ruby (4.22), Weiss (4.11), and bottoming out with Blake (4). Add it all together and what do you get? 4.15 well into the C's

[@Jeddy027]

If I had to guess the reason why they don't give the girls their main colors on their outfits: I assume they're counting the hair. Like I guess Yang's pass with just her hair alone & the outfit can be other colors. Is it a good reasoning? Nope. They don't do this with other characters. And there are ways to keep a character from becoming an X color blob on the screen. Ranging from using a different shade of the color to the use of highlights & accents.

[@jordanmchighlander9365]

Something I really like about Weiss's V2 outfit is that since it's monochrome it allows her hair, eyes, and even SKIN to contrast the outfit.

[@zlightning037]

I agree with a lot with what you said in this video, especially on how good the first designs for the girls were, well except for Yang (she really is an afterthought). For Yang i feel like they either need to lean in more on the biker aesthetic for her or for her overall color palette have more blacks than mud brown so that the yellow and gold can pop and really make her hair, eyes, and gauntlets be the very first things you see. With Blake, i think you hit her design issues right on the head. Blake's best designs are her sleeveless ones. But I feel like keeping her design simple would've helped tremendously. With Ruby and Weiss, their issues are so blatantly obvious its ridiculous. They both look like they're trying to look more mature and its looping right back around to overcomplicated, not their style and overall unrealistic. And with RT changing her fighting style from a supportive battle mage (using her glyphs) to a summoner, her rapier is kinda an eye sore to me. Like its a really good weapon but it doesn't match to her current fighting style. I really enjoyed this video (even though its 2 years old). It really got my brain thinking on what could've been, how the designs failed, and potential ways to make them better.

[@fishnewt1331]

39:04 Not gonna lie. I love how amused you are at giving Yang an ‘F’ Tier here. Like the choices from RoosterTeeth annoyed you earlier, yet this design choice from the green makes you sound like you’re ready to laugh hard on sight of it.

[@CoralPallet]

First video of the year and you started with a total banger! Seriously I feel like study the many details thrown here to try and improve my art. So great work as always!

[@bluejay43]

that Tuxedo cat picture you showed was so cute. I know it's not important to the video, but still.

[@BeetleTricks411]

Its too bad they none of their outftis can be ranked by relating to their character arcs since they just get them every 3 volumes rather than right after they overcome a tough struggle, Jaune gets Pyrrha design because of his arc on his outfit, Ren got the knife from his dad(despite it being 3 volumes later)...

[@K2niarDneK]

I actually think Blake's V4 white jacket, if they had to have it at all, would've made more sense if she got it at the beginning of V6. The group are headed to Argus is the frozen north of Anima, then heading even further north to Atlas in Solitas. It's going to he cold. So why, oh why, did they decide the _finale_ of V6 was when Blake was going to *LOSE* the big coat? Her without the jacket looks so much better as the 'main' version of the outfit, just a more casual version of her V1-3 clothes; and fits the tropical setting of Menagerie far more than a massive, heavy tailcoat.

[@bobi200samatar6]

So a while ago, I made my own versions of the Mistral era outfits and I was a little worried that I made Blake look too different from how she was supposed to be. Knowing that I actually pin pointed the sleeveless look for her before you pointed it out here makes me feel very validated, so thanks for that.

[@hollowfox213]

I think this is my new favorite video of yours! I’ve watched it like 3 times now lol Hearing you talk about character design is so interesting and engaging, that I hope you do another tier list for side characters or villains in Rwby (though, of course neither group gets as many outfits as Team Rwby, but I think you could still have a reasonably long enough discussion on just Team JNPR’s outfits through the years). Of course, you could also do similar videos on other random series and I would probably still be entertained lol

[@Moltens]

I have never seen that Ruby image at 4:42 before, but I absolutely LOVE that posing

[@AmberStone16]

you should do a fan design critique and ranking since there are so many great designs out there and id be interested to see them all and hear your opinion. and I will scurry away to make my own designs now I'm feeling inspired great vid x

[@bhume7535]

Never realized how much I like Weiss' volume 2 design until now and she is my favorite character. Its super stylin'.

[@curlystepper7386]

I remember making fanart of Blake's vol 2 intruder outfit with a version where I made the white shirt purple instead, darkening her color to be more ninja like, but still have a pop of color that's not just black

[@powerhouse6165]

Weiss' vol. 4-6 design is honestly my 3nd favorite outfit in the show. . . No idea why, it just is.

[@Unorthodoxica]

31:08 okay so, the others are in an "a pose" as opposed to weiss's t pose, which is interesting to me, i dont remember how their other models look but i suspect weiss's model is new because they've had to give her a new skeleton. And I think that might be because of the braid she has.

[@Ashyson780]

I feel like I'm the only person who like Ruby's Mantle outfit better than her original lol. Then again I like Kingdom Hearts designs so that might explain it.

[@djcwittz3012]

70% of this video is Rooster Teeth forgetting what colors the girls wear when it's literally Red White Black Yellow

[@CtisGaming]

39:40 That outfit feels like it's inspired by Tenchi Muyo. About Yangs other designs- the pictutes Rooster Teeth's going with are all highly vibrant and gradiented. In the lighting presented Yang gives off a golden feel- something that they haven't been able to translate to their 3D models and shaders. In fact, everyone's gradients and shading from the artwork don't carry over to 3D. They really need to invest in that Xrd shader tech.

[@PaytonPaw124]

You're not wrong you have pointed out many details this was amazing

[@parkermaisterra8532]

Ugh that "power armor" is just all my hate. The main appeal of Power armor is that for the most part its kick ass sci-fi armor. It should (unless specifically designed not to) make a statement of "Look how cool we are" Does it need to look practical? If you want sure but not necessarily. With the girls though rather than wearing cool armor they just seem to be wearing slightly altered sci-fi suits. Which is such a waste when they could have done so much more. Ruby could have worn the "regular" suit because out of everyone there she doesn't need armor since she literally has super speed. Weiss could have worn a more Knightly looking outfit in reference to her grandfather, Blake- the low key weeb could wear something like bubblegum crisis and as for Yang why not look like she legit combined with her Bike? Cause yeah turning your motorcycle into a suit of power armor is a thing and *its awesome*

[@mittenvonscrufflears7233]

Okay so I've been trying to design an outfit for Blake in Volume 7-8 and you suggested just not putting Blake in sleeves when designing her which actually works. BUT SHE'S IN A COLD DESERT CLIMATE IN VOLUMES 7-8! So I NEED to put her in sleeves, right? What's your opinion on the matter? Should I put her arms in mesh like they did with Ruby's? Also she has the short hair now which I'm not sure what to do with. Maybe I can research short French hairstyles. And probably put a bow in it too. I kinda want to make it long again but I also want to keep my design kinda cannon for the show.

[@twiinsiink]

Long gloves I think. And then like, give her furry boots and a scarf to imply that's how she's keeping warm.

[@mittenvonscrufflears7233]

@@twiinsiink Okay I'll try it. Thanks for the advice!

[@Talic518]

I really like the Minstral outfits but I do agree in comparison to other outfits they don't look great but their promo art looks fantastic. I will say, the purple cloth on Yang's leg is designed to close the purple of her eyes with something else but it misses the mark a little; using her purple eyes to contrast the yellow (since they are opposite colors) was enough and gave the overall look a nice pop without the cloth

[@Olivia-o4w9t]

Also with Yang casual outfit. I wish the characters in general wore more casual outfits rather than overly fancy outfits. Most of the style I think isn't very practical. For example how do they go to the bathroom without having to pull there pants with all those heavy stuff. And wearing those clothes isn't flexible for fighting.

[@Vortex945]

I also love the fun facts at the end

[@colemeara5752]

I've never seen those power armor models before. Dear lord. Very interesting and insightful takes! Ruby's Atlas outfit is still my favorite of hers, despite all the noise. Listen I just really like shorts. Maybe it's the Kingdom Heart fan in me, but I tend to not notice how noisy their outfits are. The belts are stupid but I love them because they are stupid. Over the top outfits are dumb but they're honestly kinda fun to me and if I'm going to deal with them wearing skirts and heels then I'm already suspending my disbelief away from what's sensible haha.

[@samuelfarquharson965]

I remember something that one of the artists for Halo Infinite said, I think it was 'Sparth', that by taking a recognisable silhouette and making small but noticeable changes you could update a look enough that it's different but ultimately familiar. Or something along those lines, I can't fully remember. I wondered if you shared that sentiment and if so, how would you evolve RWBY's designs using that mentality.

[@hellomynameisphia2082]

the thing that shocks me the most is that with blake and ruby it seems as though they took inspiration from their volume two outfits. But they didn't do that with weiss or yang even though those are the best designs they have ever had in the canon show. So it feels like the designers are actively going out of their way to make the designs as bad as possible.

[@RandominityFTW]

Lol. I didn't even know Ruby had that boob window until someone pointed it out. 90% sure it was another one of your videos years ago. And Ruby's original outfit is still the best in the entire series.

[@ragnarok1310]

Wow, I thought I was the only one to see the green in yang back in those respective episodes

[@selena44842]

Really enjoyed this video. Your channel has taught me so much about color theory and character designs

[@GabePlaysYT]

This is actually a wonderful class on character design!! I appreciated hearing all your thoughts. Simplicity and just a few choice, and smartly placed, colors really seem to be the key. All the outfits for everyone got overly messy overtime, away from the colors they are supposed to represent (why has Yang never predominately worn yellow??), and draw the eyes in too many weird places like Yang's bizarre purple knee thing.

[@makotoitou300]

I couldn't help but imagine Coco Adel making this tier list and just roasting team RWBY fashion choices