RWBY Discussion: Motivation

[@vicentetemes5793]

Cinder: I hate Ruby, I want to set her ass on fire for what she did to me! Also Cinder: Oh hi Jaune.

[@malikoniousjoe]

Vicente Temes "Oh hi 'Who are you?'"

[@malikoniousjoe]

Intellectual Canine *General Kenobi*

[@pickyphysicsstudent201]

" I did not hit her, its bullshit, I did not hit her, I DID NOT!... Oh hi, Jaune."

[@heyarnold7256]

Speaking of which someone recently showed me this huge analysis of why Jaune vs Cinder actually works better than Ruby vs Cinder. www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/158405400/3/RWBY-non-Spoiler-Discussion#176751932 After reading it, It's hard to disagree tbh.

[@GhostManCrisis]

Vicente Temes, what is this? The Room, RWBY style?

[@malikoniousjoe]

You know the running gag in One Punch Man where Speed of Sound Sonic is obsessed with fighting and killing Saitama and Saitama diesn't even remember who he is? RWBY is that stretched over 4 years now.

[@twiinsiink]

And RWBY doesn't play it as a joke.

[@DemonicRemption]

@@twiinsiink You must be joking... Because I get these episodes have four to six minutes to work with. But with overarching plot threads, that's plenty of time... I suspect the writers are inexperienced with action stories with arcs.

[@twiinsiink]

@@DemonicRemption 4 to 6 minutes?!??! Looking at volume 6 (the most recent volume when I had made this video), the shortest episode is 13 minutes long. Most episodes run between 16-20 minutes long. Hell, RWBY episodes haven't been 4-6 minutes long since volume 1.

[@DemonicRemption]

@@twiinsiink See, I thought I was just hearing things when you mention in your Volume 1 reviews that later episodes from Volume 2 onward were 13 to 20 minutes long... That furthers my suspicions about the lack of experience with action oriented overarching plot threads by the writers. Because by Volume 6 they should have it locked down, unless there's no planned direction for the story to go... What furthers that suspicions of no planned direction is how rushed and underdeveloped the shipping is.

[@zusfrankenstein8561]

It speaks a lot about the quality of your show if a satirical parody of the shonen genre delivers on better character and world building than your actual shonen-inspired show.

[@markuseavids5362]

This show is no longer about Team RWBY's wacky adventures, it's about Ozpin and Salem's love drama with other characters dragged into the mess.

[@twiinsiink]

It's sad how accurate that statement is.

[@timebrain3188]

And honestly, that was a mistake. It would have been better if the overarching story was 'learn how to be a proper set of hunters, and graduate.'

[@brandonontama2415]

Agreed. 100%

[@auxiliary_rose7342]

@엄식 Also doesn't help that the whole Salem vs Ozpin conflict is resulting in exactly what would've happened had he stayed with her when she suggested they expand their rule. And Oz is sending the population of fallible beings against an unbeatable opponent who has magic and a never ending army of feral creatures.

[@1TW1-m5i]

I wonder if we could go back to that somehow. Maybe at Atlas, they're expected to join in schooling, while the adults deal with the problem. Like in the first seasons. But, the kids semi-offical part in dealing with this now would make this a weird change. Especially with the whole Oscar-Ospin thing.

[@cardcaptor1792]

I like your picture of team RWBY sitting in the couch how you positioned them shows more personality

[@twiinsiink]

Thank you :)

[@KrazyKelor]

@@twiinsiink are you the thumbnail artist?

[@twiinsiink]

@@KrazyKelor Yup! There are two of us on this channel, one of us does the thumbnails for Reviews and the other does the thumbnails for Discussions.

[@KrazyKelor]

Twiins iink - mad respects. I love both types of video.

[@a-mellowtea]

"Adam climbed the corporate ladder" That is the best way I've ever heard anyone put it and I love you for that.

[@twiinsiink]

My favorite thing to do is describe Adam's villainy in a way that makes it sound totally mundane.

[@runbaa9285]

It's eye-opening at how much a simple statement of "I'm going to be Hokage!" for example, can make such a huge difference to a story. Having an end goal paints every action of the MC to be a step forward to that end goal.

[@MaestroAlvis]

I mean... "I wanna be hokage" is also kind of a passive goal. All you can do is become strong and then hope you've been a cool enough dude to be chosen. "I wanna kill my brother" is much better because while you can train for that, once you see your brother you're next step is clear.

[@Katt245]

@@MaestroAlvis while it's true that it's pretty generic, being the Hokage entails protecting Konoha and Naruto as character is prone to trying to keep his friends as close to him as possible and siding with the "good guys". So Sasuke's dramatic flee is technically a motivation for him. Madara is a threat the protagonist wants to take down because it's detrimental to his friends and the village he wants to protect. It's simplistic as hell, but at the very least is reasonable and understandable. Naruto had a reason for fighting the bad guys and being proactive. Heck, even if we take it as a passive goal at least we get to see him grow on screen, barring the time skip which wasn't a bad idea to begin with

[@fightingmedialounge519]

To be fair I wanna be hunters is about not the same level tells us just as much. Really the issue is ruby lacks pathos.

[@teddybearpaladin]

Regarding that, I remember starting Naruto I didn’t find the motivation necessarily compelling, but relatable. I’m fairly certain a lot kids at some wanted to be President growing up without the understanding of what that position of leadership entails. Either way, I can admit that is a self-motivated goal, which is important to establish for characters. There is something to be said about writing characters who lack a clear goal, but that requires acknowledgement of that to get something workable.

[@BaronVonLag]

At this point, I feel like RWBY can be summarised with "Hey, what's that? What's that on ground over there? Is that the script?"

[@BaronVonLag]

@Scathanox Spot on analogy there.

[@zeynoz.8453]

@@BaronVonLagç ü

[@kana22693]

@Scathanox So much wasted potential with both of these franchises. :(

[@gokanshurisbabyfather4003]

Lol

[@zusfrankenstein8561]

RWBY's not a show, it's a really awesome template for fanfiction.

[@darkice60000]

oof. oscars so forgettable he doesnt even get mentioned in videos anymore. dude basically embodies this problem.

[@sunkenobi1501]

How? I'm just curious.

[@darkice60000]

@@sunkenobi1501 the only reason oscar is here is because ozpin told him to come. he knew nothing about ozpins past or his goals. some dudes disembodied voice rummaged through his thoughts and told him he could help the world and oscar just took his word for it and ran away from home. for all he knew somebody could easily have just had a telepathy semblance and he just got lured away from his family by some sort of predator. oscars goal of stopping salem is not his own and his motivation, according to ozpin, is that he just doesnt want to a be a farm boy anymore, which is even more vague than yangs "i want to go adventuring" or ruby's "i want to be a storybook hero".

[@twiinsiink]

Oh dang. Yeah I forgot about him. It doesn't help that all of his development happens off-screen, making it hard to know what prompted him to go on this quest- if he even has a reason outside of "the voice in my head won't shut up so I guess I'll go".

[@ProxyDoug]

I was wondering the other day if Oscar was never revealed, things could've been more interesting. They could have these characters alude to things he did, and they would use the relic not to know more about him but to find where his new incarnation was before Salem find him. We would also avoid having this all knowing character around that no one never asks about anything.

[@kana22693]

​@@ProxyDoug The Oscar problem could've been avoided entirely if Ozpin didn't "die" to Cinder, if instead he would've held his own long enough for the students to escape and then dipped out of that fight to go check on the relic. Cinder would've gave chase but lost him in the elevator shaft, then Pyrrha would've fought her under the assumption that Ozpin must've died in combat. Done! Now we don't have to deal with a placeholder for Ozpin and we can also have a real fight against Hazel that doesn't make him look pathetic, I mean Hazel punching Oscar in the shoulder felt weaker than one of Qrow's punches which it's really sad when you think about it.

[@FraserSouris]

I've seen one comment describe the lack of motivation as "Imagine Frodo and Sam going to Mt. Doom but have no idea why they're going there or what to do once they are there"

[@twiinsiink]

Pretty much.

[@noobartist6009]

That's really the thing. RWBY is full of conceptual character arcs and motivations but our cast aren't proactive or make the effort to achieve these goals. Miles and Kerry still write their characters like the story is just there to let Monty Oum animate fights. Miles is fine as a VA and his writing is always at its best when he's writing comedys. RWBYs current tome doesn't play to any of his strengths

[@noobartist6009]

@@somedudewhodraws9377 I wont deny, past vol 3 its like he forgot how to write anything, period. But the old comedy always worked for me. In that case do you dislike Camp Camp?

[@jjojon7072]

@@noobartist6009 is he the guys that writes the comedy for rvb? if so I agree with you because the show is great best thing RT created

[@noobartist6009]

@023 Studios Perhaps it got good after but I was sick of Rvb After the snooze fest of season 11 and 12.

[@zusfrankenstein8561]

Miles was at his best when Ruby still had a light-hearted, comedic edge to it. Now that it's a depression-fest, his writing just seems subpar.

[@nicklausmclean5099]

I know this conversation is old and I don't expect anyone to reply. But if I may add, if we look at the songs of the earlier volumes, the lyrics imply the show taking a dark turn at some point. Die, Red like Roses part 2, and I May Fall ,to name a few, are good examples. So perhaps a shift in tone was planned, just that Miles wasn't the right person to write it.

[@rachelsmith5601]

Obviously Ruby's whole "I saw Phyrra die" thing was so she could show off her eyes as a grand finale thing, but I wish they actually showed her being affected by it Like Jaune is. Sure, Jaune loved Phyrra and cared about her, but Ruby was her friend and SAW HER DIE. Like, you want to give Yang PTSD (which I'm not criticizing) but not Ruby? Ruby logically should have some5hing along the lines of survivors guilt as her next character arc. This could even lend to her using her semblance of speed more so she can't be late saving someone again. Hell, have her learn to use he silver eyes for the same reason! I'm just annoyed Ruby isn't acting like Jaune when it comes to Phyrra just because they weren't as close. I think she makes up for that with watching her die.

[@twiinsiink]

Agreed!

[@benjaminmcneil574]

It's hard to call someone a friend when you don't really show the friendship...

[@fightingmedialounge519]

Jaun loved her? Seems like he only saw her as a friend until she died.

[@ajnapalm]

@@fightingmedialounge519 Friendship is Love.

[@iatemycat5320]

@@fightingmedialounge519 he didnt love her like a crush, he loved her like a friend, his best friend, that still is love.

[@LostDarkCloud]

Yeah, it was important for SOME reason for Ruby to see Pyrrha's death, but you're right she doesn't... emote... anything about that...to Cinder or anyone if I'm remembering right.

[@Dianwhy]

Ruby doesn't share her emotions in general though. She never talks about her mom, or anything. The only time she ever has is with Oscar in volume 5.

[@giancarlobarbieri7685]

I want to talk about 3 characters: Óscar, Nora and Ren. The problem with Ren and Nora is that they don’t have any motivation besides “we have to fight the bad guys because we are the good guys”We even don’t know they motivations to be huntsmans, Is Ren a huntsman because he want to protect the small villages around the kingdoms because when he was a kid no one risk their live for his village? And what about Nora? She wanted to stick with Ren the rest of her life and she decided to become a huntress? And Oscar... Boy, he have a lot of problems of his motivations. We don’t know anything of his past besides he was living with his aunt in farm and, well... don’t have any parents. We don’t even know why his soul were connected to Ozpin soul, or more important: why he decided to hear Ozpin and join his fight. He is like Phyrra, he didn’t have a choice, he just was force to join in this war. Why did he decided to listen to Ozpin? Or Why did he ran away? The writers don’t take him serious and every important moment of his character happens off screen, like in volume 4 he don’t want to listen to Ozpin and two episodes later he is doing what Ozpin told him to do. Why? Maybe in the future Ruby or someone else in the future is gonna ask him his motivations to be with the heroes and we actually learn something of his past. My theory is that his parent were huntsman and they both die fighting a Grimm and he was afraid of die like his parents did, but he decided to join, like he said to Hazel: she died protecting other before herself, so do I.

[@twiinsiink]

Agreed!

[@dddmemaybe]

Aren't Nora and Ren in like actual couples mode? It feels like if real human beings had those two personalities they would try and get the fuck away from dangerous combat to be together right? Their relationship doesn't have the emotions to seek or succeed at dangerous combat. It feels like their character motivations are in direct opposition of their current path. If you consider Jaune and Pyrrha(deceased) they would be in great fear of the same thing happening to the other of their couple, right? why has that not been addressed and real humans in that kind of family mood typically follow retreat and safe patterns.

[@failingeverything5793]

I remember writing a whole explination for Oscar but its honestly just a fanfic at this point. Basically Oscar is stressed because of Ozpin's apperance is his head. This causes Oscar to feel *negative feelings* and negative feelings *attract Grimm*. So after one day of wacky hijinks the Grimm show up, because of how far the farm is from the city this is a bad sign. I have two scenarios that both make sence and both can set up some intresting plot points. Ver 1: Ozpin takes control of Oscar and uses whatever garden thingy is in the closest range to fend off the attack. The Grimm are drivien off and Oscar decides that its best for him to leave because he is just a walking Grimm magnet. Not without reassuring his aunt that he'll be okay. Oscar follows Ozpin simply because Oscar has nowhere else to go, so Ozpin shows Oscar around the outside world while also teaching him some fighting moves. Ozpin does hide the truth from Oscar though, also during the entire time they dont fight with the cane, they fight with whatever farm thingy Ozpin chose. Ver 2: Oscar has been out here for awhile, so it would make sence that he and his aunt know how to fight and have the nessesary weapons for it. But with the added stress of Ozpin the horde of Grimm is way too big so again, Oscar leaves. The aunt knows how to fend for herself so at leat this time they aren't leving her defenseless. In this scenario Oscar has a fighting style already, and probs has a favorite weapon too. Oscar has not unlocked his aura yet so there is still room for growth. Follows the same thing as ver1 except Oscar has his own fighting style now, and cannot be as easily overwritten by Ozpin. So in fight scenes you would see Oscar fighting with his prefered weapon, and then when Ozpin switches he uses the cane(if they have it). Making it eaiser to tell the difference between the two in a fighting setting(and not have the eyes glow weirdly). In both scenarios I would have Oscar be absolutely facinated by the city world. He would look like a kid in a candy story looking at all those buildings. I'll also keep the whole "have you ever wanted to see what the rest of the world looks like" motive in cause why not. (Also the group having to explain to Oscar what a Scroll is sounds noice). And have the group be highly protective of Oscar but not Ozpin lol. It would be funny to see them be super warm towards Oscar but become super cold when Ozpin is in control. Let Qrow take up the mentor role but still have the drunkness be a bad thing, as in he's still cool but being drunk and unlucky at the same time is a shit idea. Now here comes motive for other characters. Rapid fire GO Why Ruby makes team RNJR. And Why Yang leaves the house Ruby wants to help people all around the world right? She cant just do it at home can she? Lets add in Yang's motive now while we are at it(this is going more and more off the track and i love it). Yang gets her robotic arm early, as in when Ruby leaves to form RNJR early. Tai, Ruby, and Qrow manage to get Yang to go with Ruby, Yang only relents when they claim its to make sure Ruby doesn't do some crazy crap(Ruby: Hey I wont D:

[@failingeverything5793]

I have come back to say my rewrite is shit lol

[@Dianwhy]

They were so close to fixing this problem at Brunswick farms when the characters started asking "hey why are we doing this." If they'd followed that thread, and had them actually sit and think about what they wanted, that could have been a fresh start with new direction. But then the writers treated it like 'oh that was just the depression grimm talking, nothing to see here."

[@twiinsiink]

Yes! I wish they had talked about it more after the farm adventure!

[@Dianwhy]

@@twiinsiink I was so hopeful and then disappointed. Hopefully they'll be forced to confront motivations once they get to Atlas because then its step one mission complete. If its another confusing fluff season I dont know if I can keep watching.

[@kanokun18]

Yang Vol 7. "No use talking to them, theyre just following orders". The same thing everyone in the show does

[@thomasraines1396]

But you have to understand it’s different because reasons.

[@JyggalagPrincessOfOrder]

@@thomasraines1396 It's different because RWBY really didn't have an alternative to just doing what Ozpin was planning on doing. GOing anywhere else just doesn't make sense, and staying there also doesn't make sense. Ace Ops had the choice to refuse and fight for the people of Mantle and they didn't, they just followed orders. Ace Ops had a choice. RWBY did not.

[@thomasraines1396]

@@JyggalagPrincessOfOrder RWBY had a choice, don’t act like they didn’t. Realistically no Huntsmen or Huntress would ever have to make the choice (an extremely difficult one) of weighing thousands of lives against the weight of their mission. RWBY’s idea was to hold out, call for help and hope to God that someone showed up to save them.

[@JyggalagPrincessOfOrder]

@@thomasraines1396 What other choice did they have? Going to Vale makes no sense, that's where a lot of Salem's stuff is, and Vacuo is not only super far away but also not as safe as Atlas. Atlas is the safest place on Remnant at the moment, and is definitely the safest place to keep the Relic of Knowledge. They sure as hell had other choices, but the other choices were really stupid. Ace-Ops had to make a hard decision, and went with following orders. That's what the criticism is. "Realistically" doesn't matter. This is real, and the choice of weighing thousands of lives against the weight of the mission is very real. That was part of RWBY's initial plan, they were also attempting to pressure Ironwood into continuing the evacuation of Mantle. That failed, and as such they came up with the staff plan.

[@thomasraines1396]

@@JyggalagPrincessOfOrder *they* didn’t come up with anything, they didn’t even know how the staff worked (and when they ultimately enact their plan they still fuck it up for various reasons) until Ozpin showed back up and told them about how it worked. Their only plan was to call for help and wait for others to show up, the other plans proposed are brought up by other people. I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about in regards to the other stuff. The show has the whole “military bad” and “following orders makes you a tool” mentality and doesn’t look at the nuances of either, especially in a world like RWBY which constantly insists “life isn’t like a fairytale”.

[@tike481]

I feel the the series is just a sequence of constant let downs now. And as much as I love your videos, they only help shed the light on how glaring the problems are. I pretty much watched volume six and just...couldn't stop rolling my eyes at everything. Like I've said in the past, I used to love RWBY for its bombastic fun and fights with just enough story and direction to keep it from becoming repetitively stagnant. I don't like to say that the series took a nose dive after Monty's passing, but I can't help but feel Monty was the one who kept it from turning into...this... 1. The grimm are a constant reminder of the looming threat of death: literally no two grimm are exactly the same and are supposed to become more and more dangerous. Yet they are regulated to the background now until the plot calls for them to actually have some action that the fans desperately crave. 2. We have so many antagonists, but none of them are used and utilized properly. Adam was a ideal concept of a fleshed out grey moral area character: that was then morphed into an abusive boyfriend...while then to only demonstrate how powerful and scary he is by decimating both Blake and Yang to where he even maims yang: to where we've never seen her injured and be practically indestructible. To only nerf Adam due to the plot demanding it for progression: neither Blake nor Yang have changed that much to earn such a victory and you mean to tell me that they just magically beat him now because 'friendship' and ship-baiting. Salem and friends are one offs that have a strange hard on for 'little miss silver eyes' but then ignore her at every chance imaginable. There are at least several instances where they could have off'd her and been done with it: evil wins? 3. We have such a huge world to explore yet we don't do ANYTHING with it. We spent most of our time in Beacon, then went tip toed through to Haven, and are now just going to Atlas... 4. The romance/ship angle of this series is heavily forced and I personally feel even unnatural as most of these characters barely know each other at best or the affection is one sided at most of the time. Hell even some of the friendships do not feel flowing and natural. Juane being mad about Pyrrha's death is understandable even though they kind of rush into 'love' with Juane being oblivious to her advances for the longest while, while Ruby saw Pyrrha die to which she 'dues ex machina's' her silver eyes mechanic to the center stage to barely ever talk about it again until going to Atlas, then has...dreams...night terrors... about Pyrrha to which she has little to no time with? These examples could go on and on. 5. The action is literally gone. The creators and writers would rather bore you to death with constant plot dumping and exposition without really wanting to push the story forward. Then when we do get action, the choreography is all over the place, and our characters are not using their strengths and combo attacks to the fullest that they could be as animating is expensive apparently: so much so that we spend most of our time watching our protagonists being stationary or barely moving at all... 6. DOES ANYONE REMEMBER WHY DUST WAS INTRODUCED?! To only have it not play a single role of importance, a total waste of a mechanic in your world along with the semblance of a character as they literally mean nothing and are just a cheap gimmick to help you identify the character...sorta...when their used...rarely... Then finally Aura is the other gripe I have now as there was no point in introducing it as it keeps changing and doesn't even play by it's own rules once changed. Its used to break up the immersion of their combat thats so rare as we need to enhance 'danger' of the characters so that it slogs the fights to a crawl. 7. Could you actually show my the faunus racism that Blake goes on and on about just a tiny bit more. I find it hard to believe the motivational point for her when its barely touched upon and kinda just becomes background noise.... there is like two other instances where we see something minor about it....good job on that. I won't go any further as I could go on and on, but I can't help but stress that I really did love RWBY. A friend introduced it and wanted to have someone to look forward to it with as volumes came out, and I do my best to enjoy it for their sake, but as a fan I'm just sad about how poorly RT has handled their franchise, not to mention all the drama with Kick-Vic...sigh.

[@perdixgeek807]

It doesn't make any more sense as well like for example, the Bumblebee ship doesn't make sense the build-up for Blake seemed to lean to Sun but they just pander to the audience. I don't mind pandering but it made it lose consistency after that. So do you think that a character who NEVER TRULY TALKED about a relationship but a character who had a true HEART TO HEART talk which one would make sense?

[@poemboigenesis4435]

@@perdixgeek807 The relationship that has the two characters talk to each other heart to heart instead of the two characters that hardly talk to or talk about one another

[@kana22693]

@@perdixgeek807 After volume 5 Yang x Weiss would've literary made more sense than bumblebee, not much more considering that Weiss was shown to be interested in boys multiple times back in her Beacon days but just a tiny bit more than f***ing bumblebee. That ship always struck me as arbitrary.

[@perdixgeek807]

@@kana22693 for me I understood why by awkward shoehorned moments

[@thewhatnow9372]

RWBY is really just a show about the worlds worst divorce and how to not handle it like an adult

[@travonarmstrong6093]

This has been a problem with the show since the opening scene, where Roman is the one planning to rob the dust shop and Ruby is oblivious to this until the bad guys literally force her into the plot. The writers really need to take notes on how to write protagonists being proactive because it amazes me how they can write the show for so long without realizing a problem that has plagued the show from the beginning.

[@krys9463]

RWBY: The Meandering Chronicles. I kind of find it funny to listen to volume one commentaries because Monty literally says, 'we need a Sokka character!' 5 or so years later Jaune has more development then the main four. XD

[@Apirlroge]

Jaune has more development because he is Miles Luna's character. Miles seems to push his character because he can now.

[@jackolantern6719]

@@Apirlroge hey at least he has a semi consistent character unlike our mains

[@zusfrankenstein8561]

Jaune doesn't even have that stellar of a developmental arc compared to other similar characters in anime, it just seems like a lot when compared to the negligible amount of development the actual main cast went through.

[@kmgyening]

Questions: *If Yang wanted to become a huntress for the adventure, and because she wanted a life where she didn't know "what tomorrow will bring", then why does she complain about being involved in the Salem conflict? Why does she complain about being lied to, or kept out of the loop? She specifically said she was a thrill seeker. Wouldn't willingly injecting herself into a conflict without knowing much of anything about it put her in the greatest position to experience not knowing what tomorrow will bring, AND getting a thrill out of it? How is wanting to know all of the information at all consistent with these stated character traits?* The writers don't write these characters consistently, and it's really frustrating.

[@fightingmedialounge519]

Because she's also strong and independent.

[@Super_Sonic-nt4wq]

Because she wants surprises, but only the ones she expected.

[@kmgyening]

@@Super_Sonic-nt4wq But that literally contradicts what she said in Volume 2.

[@jess4334]

To me I think it's reasonable to not want to be in Salem's conflict When I first heard Yang's reason I imagine something less extreme than Salem's conflict

[@kmgyening]

@@jess4334 Sure, but she decides to involve herself directly in it anyway. Which is part of the contradiction I'm talking about.

[@Bronasaxon]

Me to Team RWBY: I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to... evolve?

[@returnedtomonkey8886]

Ultron Qoutes best qoutes

[@Axel_Kasai]

"The protagonists are more than just pretty designs you put on merch" you sure about that? :p

[@violet999ab]

Well, they’re supposed to be, anyways.

[@minose400]

So in short: The villains create the plot while the heroes react to it?

[@twiinsiink]

Yeah, actually.

[@dcb2art]

@@twiinsiink That's just sad

[@benjaminmcneil574]

That's usually what happens in stories, anyway. The bad guys plot, heroes thwart it. Heroes have morals, Villains have work ethic. But I see what you mean overall, for the heroes aren't *actively* seeking to thwart them, it's like the plot's robbed them of the choice to do so.

[@Bleeperblopper497]

@@benjaminmcneil574 doesn’t excuse rwbys bad plot

[@DaSpineLessFish]

Bruh, these reviews are more entertaining than actually watching RWBY

[@twiinsiink]

Thank you!

[@carlmart5797]

For the past two years I've only watched RWBY to enjoy these KZbinrs wrecking its shit even more than I would if I were oblivious lmao I kinda want RWBY to continue being shit. I had hopes for it and threw genuinely constructive criticism whenever I could, but at this point, I realized the writers aren't even trying so why should I? I gave up on it and now have a blast watching people obliterate what RT is doing with what could have been an epic for the ages.

[@carlmart5797]

@@somedudewhodraws9377 Besties better than the resties!

[@carlmart5797]

@@somedudewhodraws9377 A RWBY reboot in 2D by a Japanese studio with lead writers who know what they're doing, now that would be epic. I'm amazed at how much more character development you can find in the manga anthologies than the show, I actually enjoy them way more than I ever did the show proper. Except for the food fight in V2, that was actually one of my favorite parts of the whole series, I still find it funny and more engaging than any of the newer fights.

[@carlmart5797]

@@somedudewhodraws9377 Yang had the second worst transformation out of the characters (the worst is Adam). She went from caring older sister and party girl to angsty lesbian. I'm also pissed about Weiss, I miss her sass, she was fun and now she's the mopy-goody-goody older sister type, like, wtf.

[@hikimorihijinxz9673]

Hence why I like the villians of the show more than the protagonists in the earlier seasons like Roman, Neo, Mercury, Cinder and......Adam who Team Rwby made sure to really to stab the Adam fans right in the chest both litteraly and metaphorically to push Bumblebee. I'm not crying.

[@emotionlessniv]

I know your pain.

[@JesseGolo]

My headcannon is that Oz spent his lifetimes reducing Salem's power. When he died as Ozma she was the last living ruler of a powerful expansionist kingdom and at the beginning of the show, she only had six real followers and no political power. Then he just settled into what he hoped would be a long-lasting stalemate with no intrest in bringing the gods back (he already had all the relics, he could hace done so if he wanted).

[@JesseGolo]

I certainly hope so. I do find I'm foolishly optimistic when ir comes to this show.

[@ProxyDoug]

It's like a train wreck in slow motion, but the train keeps derailing on purpose and stick the landing for absolutely no logical reason. I have to say though, the motivations of the character are only as bad as the opposition they find on the way. For instance, Yang wants to go on adventures and have fun, she's a proud and easy going character that trained to rely on herself and nothing else, but at some point she lost an arm which should have taken her into some introspection so she could evaluate her life goals, but she just shakes her hand a bit and puts on her new arm. Similarly, Weiss and Ruby dream of doing great things based on their role models, but never at any point were they ever faced with a moral question regarding that goal. Would Ruby endanger her entire group to save one person? What if there were children in that group? What is Weiss going to do about the Faunus slaves under Atlas? Has she ever proved that she can lead anything? It feels like that was her arc since volume 1 but she never showed that she can do anything other than not stay on the way when other people are doing the planning.

[@hikimorihijinxz9673]

Odd that the story is like 6 volumes in and Team Rwby still doesn't have motivations or the desire to ask questions about their journey.Y'know being characters with a mind of their own?

[@Mr.EintheMorning]

Volume 8: Ruby, Weiss, and Blake sit around a house while Atlas is being invaded.

[@twiinsiink]

For real tho

[@Mr.EintheMorning]

@@twiinsiink The saddest thing was that they could have easily solved the motivation problem in this very volume just by having Salem lead the charge herself. Seeing her on the battlefield would definitely cause panic and attract more Grimm anyway. Maybe she accompanies her precious Hound to the mansion and waltzes right through the hole in the wall right after the reveal of its identity. Ruby: That was...a person. Salem: That's right, little Rose. And you'll be joining him just like your mother. Boom. Problem solved in the fewest steps possible.

[@ElvenRaptor]

@@Mr.EintheMorning CRWBY could have really stood to take a page out of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books in terms of motivation. Harry Potter, right out of the ball-gate in book one, is given a motive to want to get involved in the weird stuff happening around Hogswarts because the guy who murdered his parents is lurking around looking for the Philosopher's Stone and also trying to kill certain people. Boom! A personal connection between hero and villain right at the start. If the series had Ruby wanting to go to Beacon not just because that's where her and Yang's parents went, but because she's actively trying to find out how Summer died and suspects Ozpin knows, that'd at least be SOMETHING beyond "YAY I WANNA BE THE BESTEST HUNTSGIRL!" It's been implied that there's something fishy about Summer just up and dying, even if that risk comes with being a Huntress, you have to factor in she was operating in a fairly safe location like Patch. Her daughters were slaying mobs of local Grimm by their midteens, so Patch is obviously not a hot-bed for Grimm. So to have Ruby be among those who think something's off about Summer's disappearance is not unreasonable.

[@thomasraines1396]

@@ElvenRaptorthat would be cool.

[@1TW1-m5i]

If you think about it, they're like video games characters. Just there for you to go through an adventure. Especially modern ones which pull you through and tell you what to do, rather than ones which give you tools and let you do whatever.

[@returnedtomonkey8886]

Don't insult ma boi geralt of rivia this way please.

[@visionarycomics4230]

I think that’s a great way to summarize the show; It’s written like a video game rather than a show.

[@johnking9943]

@@visionarycomics4230 Sad thing is, that's what drew me in personally; I figured it was going to be like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, where the story was just going to be there to transition between fights, and the fights would be able to make up for any poor story-telling. Unfortunately, what sounded like a good idea in theory could've had a better execution.

[@GMP1isReal]

@@returnedtomonkey8886 I feel like Geralt of Rivia is an exception where (unless plot happens) he just travels around the world and gets hired to do his job and seeing whatever shit he comes across. And him having an actual personality throughout it all helps significantly while he does what a witcher does and be a badass to help with the entertainment factor.

[@AwFiddleStickss]

Totally agreed about Roman. Easily the best antagonists the show had to offer, which is ironic as he’s apparently their “first” big villain.

[@GMP1isReal]

The show spent all their skill points into writing an actual personality into the first few volumes, Torchwick especially.

[@WildWolfGod]

I feel like the fact that thoughts aren't explored in RWBY is a huge determinant. We only see them act or hear them speak but not the steps from point A-B with the thought process and that takes away from the dimensions of the characters.

[@benjaminmcneil574]

Now if they explored characters thoughts on-an example-JoJo levels... Yeah. Say what you will about Araki's memory, but he loves his creation and tries his best to make it entertaining, and the effort always shows.

[@redx589]

You know what I think it is? I think this a product of a prevalent mindset I see all too often in western media. It's the idea that Villains are all selfish and thats why they're bad while the Heroes are all selfless and thats why they're good. Thats why we often see every villain pursuing personal goals and striving to achieve their ambitions while the Heroes only do things in service of other people. Ambitions and Selfishness have become synonymous with Evil and Villainy. Hence why the Heroes are never allowed to do anything for themselves. They're never allowed to just want anything because "thats selfish". This mindset is flawed however because the very fact that we have a sense of self and can do things in service of ourselves is exactly what makes us Human. It's what separates us from Robots. Which is ironically exactly what the main cast has become when you remove personal desires, goals, and selfish wants. Mechanical set pieces that can only follow instructions. Volume 6 seems to have just broken them out of this as the kids start to take action for themselves but only time will tell if they ever truly become motivated to be on this journey.

[@alexrussell6399]

Remember how the writers said that this show is an anime? Remember how each straw hat in one piece has there goal and motivation stated and explored even in the just the east blue arcs let alone the whole series. Remember how most of the non one off characters in Pokémon have stated motivations and actively work towards them. Remember how pretty much every Yugioh series has the characters have both long and short term goals that they set out for. The only explanation for the lack of motivations are either bad writing or laziness. And like you said back in seasons 1-2 I wasn’t paying attention to the plots because that’s not what I was there for. You can have a show with little to not plot or motivations but great action and the reverse is true too, but if the one you focus on is bad and you don’t improve in the other don’t be shocked when people criticize you left and right.

[@JesseGolo]

Even SAO has establoshes goals for Kirito and... well 1 is beter than 0.

[@zusfrankenstein8561]

RWBY makes me actually appreciate SAO more, which is kind of frightening.

[@fightingmedialounge519]

What? Yugi's only goal was to have friends which he immediately got. Everything else is just him reacting.

[@purpolpukepandaa3392]

The main problem is the protagonist and villains aren’t eye to eye it’s mainly Salem and Ozpin, not Ruby or the main heros, sure we get an occasional Ruby but mainly it’s just Ozpin and Salem

[@benjaminmcneil574]

Ever heard if Jojo? Wanna hear a good example of motivations and goals from that verse? Part 5's protagonist, Giorno Giovanna. From beginning to end, he knew exactly WHAT he wanted and *WHY* he wanted it. To become a Crime Boss-a Don-so he can clean up Italy and repurpose the mafia to help the oppressed, not be the oppressors. This was born from the fact that he saved a member of the mafia as a child and said man returned the favor by protecting and helping him from the shadows as he grew up. He wants be that kind of Don for all of Italy. His catchphrase is literally 'I, Giorno Giovanna, have a dream!'. Course, he mostly says this when he's about to do something *EXTREMELY* reckless in order to buy his friends a path forward, signifying his resolve. He differs from the Jojos before him because they mostly reacted to their situations(Jonathan reacted to Dio, Joseph reacted to the Pillar Men/Kars, Jotaro reacted to his mother getting sick, as well as to Dio, and Josuke was reacting to his hometown being plagued with troublesome Stand users as well as Kira(this one is somewhat acceptable because aside from the usual Jojo eccentricity-gambling and getting pissed about his hair being insulted- he is genuinely a normal high school student, and one of the kinder Joestars.) Giorno breaks the pattern by having a motivation linked to a set goal and proactively pursuing it from beginning to end. He gets his idealism from Jonathan and his ruthless ambition from Dio. The former is why he isn't a villain-he genuinely wants to help the people of Italy-and the latter is why he isn't a clear-cut hero, either: nearly every foe he's gone up against *dies.* The most the other Joestars did was beat the crap out of the bad guys REALLY badly. I dunno. Just providing my two cents via Jojo.

[@DelusionalDunmer]

Same could be said about all the other main characters in the previous volumes. (Spoilers in case people haven't seen JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) Part 1: Johnathan's honor is why he must stop Dio Brando. First he sees Dio kill his father, and then finds out he has this incredible power. Since Johnathan was established as an honorable man, he can't just sit on his hands and let Dio take over the world with his vampire zombification abilities. That would be cowardly and against what he was taught as a child. Part 2: Joseph's entire reason for fighting against the Pillar Men was when Straits revealed Speedwagon was dead but not really. After his defeat, he mentions Santana which brings Joseph into the Pillar Men fiasco. Joseph really just wants to help his friend Speedwagon, which got him mixed up in the rest of the plot. Part 3: Jotaro's only reasoning for killing DIO is to save his mother from her deadly stand. That's it. It helps us see past his cold, stoic shell because on the inside he is much more emotional (like when he abandoned all thought and charged DIO when he killed Joseph, even though the safer and more logical plan would be to keep your distance) and the only reason he went on this journey was his love for his mother. Part 4: Josuke mainly springs into action when Shigechi dies since that was when it was revealed that a serial killer was on the loose. He seems more determined and serious in the episodes where he is on the hunt for Kira. You pretty much explained Josuke's motivation which was to spend his high school life while getting rid of troublesome stand users in his town. The only JoJo who I can really see not having a set goal would be Joseph, as his goals and enemies change through the volume. At the beginning it was avenging Speedwagon. Then it was saving Speedwagon and killing Santana, which lead to meeting Ceasar and the Pillar Men, only to have Joseph and Ceasar train to defeat them. There are like 3 different motivations Joseph goes through but I'd argue that everyone else does have a set goal in mind in their parts. You say that the previous JoJo's react to their situations but that can be the same for Giorno, being that he saw how corrupt the mafia became, selling drugs to children and all. You could say that was the situation that stimulated Giorno. Sure he had a set goal from beginning to end but that could be the same for all the other JoJos other than Joseph. I still agree with your points about Giorno though.

[@ramiel3759]

I have to say Giorno is the worst exemple to give motivation to the characters,he is passive as the heroes from the RWBY team;i think Jolyne is more suitable since she has a long term reason to act and her actions affects the story in a meaningful way

[@brandonontama2415]

Making Salem immortal was an horrible idea.

[@saint1515]

True

[@Bronasaxon]

I wouldn’t mind her being immortal...making her unkillable, on the other hand, was a mistake.

[@dlo397]

The only bad part about Salem being immortal is that literally everyone's first and only option is to kill her. They don't even try to discuss other ways to possibly stop her.

[@KrazyKelor]

@@dlo397 Ozma didn't even word his question very carefully. "How do I destroy Salem?" RUBY's question was more useful than that. By using "I" he's referring specifically to himself, and Djinn responds in kind with "you can't" but who knows if anyone else could? Maybe she can only be stopped by Silver Eyes, teamwork, love, we don't know, but all he did was demonstrate his own egocentrism by not even considering someone else could do it, or even that maybe someone else HAS to do it. If they go with that by having his exact words be the thing that kept him from discovering her weakness, it will just officially confirm Ozma is the worst hero of the show since he was too stupid to realize the wording of his questions is extremely important when you only get three per century.

[@AngelicAvenger]

@@KrazyKelor Is there any doubt in your mind that this is exactly what's going to happen? Because I don't doubt it for a second. Salem is going to get the evil in her eye-lasered out by Ruby, and then she's going to kiss and make up with Ozpin. And then they're all gonna be like "Jinn didn't you say she was unstoppable?" and Jinn will be like "Nah I said you couldn't kill her, not that you couldn't save her!" and everyone will be happy. The end. Sorry if I just spoiled the ending for you.

[@supersoldier4079]

The biggest issue with the motivations is that they keep dropping what motivations the characters were hinted at having. It's like what ErruptionFang suggested. Roosterteeth is more concerned with the destinations of the plot rather than the journey of it. Just another one of the many reasons the fanfictions are better.

[@ryanratchford2530]

ALthough I've never watched RWBY, your RWBY critic videos always help remind me of the basics of good storytelling that if find but helpful to remind myself of & relieved my own story has these aspects. Thank you!

[@ollin-tonatiuh6418]

Rigby from Regular Show >>>> Blake and Yang

[@thememewhocriedboi4794]

Rigby from Regular Show >>>>> Everyone

[@returnedtomonkey8886]

Rigby best boi.

[@darthkai3621]

I feel like at this point, Ruby needs a Pyrrha-like character to help push her forward. I mean, it worked with Jaun

[@tweetytang6511]

To be honest, the fact that they've managed to dump so many things to work with and work on none of them is impressive.

[@justanotherchannelonyoutub126]

The last three Volumes had everybody standing around and talking like Red vs Blue, only RvB makes it way more entertaining than RWBY does

[@tempusmars6272]

Facts. At least RvB knows to throw in a joke to make sure we're paying attention

[@malikoniousjoe]

Another good point to keep in mind is: Why are these characters in particular more worthy of this adventure than any other in their universe. Team RWBY and JNR aren't special in any way. They don't have any wants except for the world to not be destroyed, which any sane person would also desire. Are they more capable or a better fit for the job? Not really considering all the crazy feats and shit other fodder characters can do (that is in the early seasons). The journey lacks weight and personal stakes on top of being boring, drawn out, and so generic it'd give Final Fantasy 1 a run for its money.

[@jonlim6504]

Aside from The Silver Eyes BS. Even with that it's barely mentioned in the hero group and only the villains said something about it. As a result the characters doesn't feel like they're progressing

[@nocktukdaze8256]

My thoughts exactly

[@malikoniousjoe]

Sir Lomin And even then the villains seem unsure as to whether they care about the Silver Eye BS haha

[@s3studios597]

Listening to this made me think of Dragon Ball Z where the heroes' motivation essentially boils down to beat the current bad guy/antagonist and maybe collect the drgonballs. The difference there being they actively work towards that by fighting/training/going after the badguy, or trying to prevent the badguy from showing up and people mainly watch DBZ for fighting anyway.

[@Kai_Mercer]

Goku wants to keep getting stronger vegeta wants to rival goku and everyone else wants to beat the bad guy

[@dcb2art]

And yet I find all of Dragon Ball to be a way better and more entertaining series then RWBY

[@benjaminmcneil574]

@@dcb2art Dragon Ball characters are also likable. Even the bad guys to a degree. Flawed, but likable.

[@fightingmedialounge519]

Except they really don't start intense training and searching for the drgainballs until after the bad guys attack. Relay dragonball is self aware problem of the weak show.

[@turcumircea5816]

Just like one character from dmc would put it *Show me your motivation!*

[@turcumircea5816]

*Sees them trying to fight him* You are not worthy as my opponent.

[@flxklr8698]

@@turcumircea5816 *As they charge in* Foolishness

[@turcumircea5816]

@@flxklr8698 *As all of the get impaled* You cannot protect anything...let alone yourselves.

[@flxklr8698]

@@turcumircea5816 you're going down...hhhhhhhhaaAAAAA

[@turcumircea5816]

@@flxklr8698 you think you stand a chance?

[@cygnusking5996]

Finally! I've been waiting for someone to realise that the characters don't have a personal goal after vol 5. I actually enjoyed vol 5 because everyone was doing there own thing and i assumed that they were going to use this chance to show us diffrent parts of the world and how they act. E.g Ruby shows us how mistral is and how the discrimination against the faunus effects people, as well as how the people geel knowing that there huntsmen are dead. Weiss shows us how atlas is responding to having the world see there troups attack beacon. What is ironwood doing to counter this? How does this effect weiss and the SDC? And how is weiss going to change the company? Is she going to work and side with ironwood and thus eventually make her way into the main plot. Blakes plot will most likely stay the same, except that adam doesn't get knocked out like a chump, but his plan still fails though. After the plan fails blake has a breif encounter with JUST ruby where they catch up before blake goes back to challange the white fang. And finally Yang will meet up with raven where she learns most of ozpins shady secrets. Yang decides to stay with raven to learn more about magic ozpin and the .maidens, during this time yang slowly moves over to ravens side as she understa nds that salem is immortal. However she doesn't give up hope and decides to question ozpin himself so he leaves the camp and travels to ruby. On the way we get to see the local area and how they are effected by beacons fall which will either make her think more or less of ozpin. By having the characters seperate then its possible to develop them and the world around them as well to make the show dynamic and interesting.

[@ansongordon-creed4047]

I've given this issue some thought as a writer. Honestly, giving your characters weak or no motivations is an easy trap to fall into. Let's break it down step by step. Volume 1-3: The team wants to defeat the mysterious conspiracy behind Torchwick. Why? Well, they're huntresses, the cops aren't doing a good job, and Blake has reasons since the White Fang are involved. That's both a motivation and a goal. Not the most compelling or personal, but not nothing, and works well enough in a more episodic series. Volume 4: RNJR wants to get to Mistral and learn about Cinder. Why? I guess to avenge Pyrrha's death and the others. Not bad, only it's only Jaune who talks and thinks about Pyrrha or seems to hate Cinder. Ruby has slipped into "because I'm the hero" territory. Yang wants to get over her trauma (good), Weiss wants to escape her abusive father (good), and Blake wants to run away (compelling, but doesn't lend itself to conflict, which now has to chase her down.) Volume's 5: Yang and Weiss want to reunite with their family (good.) Blake wants to beat the White Fang (good). RNJR? I guess once Qrow told them the stakes of the conflict with Salem, they figured they had to stay and help because there was no one else available. It's not easy to say what they want or why. Volume 6: Whole cast wants to secure the Relic of Knowledge because it's currently vulnerable, and losing it brings you one step closer to the end of the world. A clear goal, but one with stakes, ironically, so important it drowns out any personal connection that characters could have to the plot or other characters. It's also harder to say why, emotionally speaking, some of these characters want to be part of this forever-war: They believe Cinder to be dead, there are those more qualified (albeit maybe not at the moment), and it conflicts with some of your other goals; they'll likely die in this war and be forgotten, which won't allow Blake or Weiss to accomplish their broader political goals. Volume 7-8: Whole cast wants to get Atlas back on its feet, and save the civilians in it, because they're in immediate danger. It's not that the characters don't have goals or motivations, it's that the goals are almost all short term, and the motivation have boiled down to "the world/innocents are in immediate danger, and we're the (only) heroes who can stop it" for several years now, both of which make them less compelling. The reveal of Salem's immortality also kneecapped this in some ways, because it prevents the characters from even having prospects of longer term accomplishments; why should we care if the heroes repulse this Grimm invasion or defeat that minion if Salem won't care, since she'll keep coming?

[@dcb2art]

I hate to say it but the characterization as well as the characters motivations make me feel like the wtiters are doing the Tetsuya Nomura routine when comes to their writing. They just write whatever comes first and move right along with no clear end goal on how the show is going to end.

[@saint1515]

Sadly true

[@brandonontama2415]

Kingdom Hearts 3...

[@dcb2art]

@@brandonontama2415 that, a little bit of 2 and dream drop distance.

[@runbaa9285]

True. But the thing is, KH is a video game. A weak story can be overshadowed by great gameplay. RWBY is a static medium, as in, non-interactive. It can't afford to trip on its storytelling.

[@dcb2art]

@@runbaa9285 yeah, that's true, I'll give you that.

[@gravenwolf6535]

The show is no longer about RWBY it's about the ships (mainly Bumblebee) I'm still upset with how they handled the end of volume 6 specially the Adam fight. I just can't think why they needed to involve Yang in the fight: -she's not a faunus. -she wasn't in the White Fang. -She wasn't together with Adam. -Her only connection to Adam is because he cut her arm off. That gives her enough reason to be involved in the fight?Bullshit. The only explanation she was involved is to push Bumblebee period. Blake should have been the one to face him on her own but instead CRWBY nerf her turning her into a damsel in distress so Yang can save her from the big bad Adam. We've seen Blake fighting in the black traler v1, 2,3,4 and 5. She's more than capable of standing toe to toe with Adam. Not to mention she knows about his semblance giving her an advantage in the fight. This coming from the same person who defeated him with one hit in v5. Then Yang getting over her PTSD just like that. I don't care what people say PTSD is something that can't be cured it gets treatment but it will never go away. Yet she overcome it and beat Adam like nothing was wrong with her. Then, nerfing Adam turning him into a complete idiot losing his sword and forgetting his sheath is a gun duh! In my opinion Blake should have been strong enough to beat him alone. And after she will face Yang and tell her it was over. Also there was no need to kill Adam, it's enough to send him to the Atlas military so they can take care of him. But it's all about pushing the Bumblebee agenda because CRWBY as well as the crazy fandom loves this ship. I still don't know why though, Blake and Yang are so different it doesn't make sense to me.

[@twiinsiink]

Reason for Yang to join the fight: her friend was in danger. It's not like someone would just opt out of helping their teammate simply because the assailant is a different race than them. I feel Bumblbee was rushed into but I find no issues with the idea of including Yang into the Adam fight. Rather, I find it odd that literally none of the other friends (all 8 of them) cared enough about Blake to also go out and check on her once she stopped responding to them.

[@fortunestar3123]

I see RWBY more as a brand rather than a show these days. Why build upon a game that a fan made, in a company that was founded on fan support, when squeezing out a mobile game would make more easy money. Why take your time and let your writers improve their craft when releasing the show at a Call of Duty schedule gets you more money for your show with Hollywood actors?

[@twiinsiink]

Yeah, I definitely get the impression RT has this sort of mindset with RWBY now-a-days.

[@fortunestar3123]

@@twiinsiink Lately whenever there's an outfit change or new character I'm more excited for what artists and the less troublesome fans do with those. Still want the show to be its best, but I have to get what I can.

[@mishussy]

tbh in my opinion a show called "JNPR" would've been alot more interesting

[@twiinsiink]

The writers do at least seem to actually care about JNPR.

[@AngelicAvenger]

@@twiinsiink More like they seem to care about JP. Nora and Ren might as well be shadow people from Vol. 1 that occasionally shout one-liners.

[@twiinsiink]

@@AngelicAvenger True!

[@celtic889]

I would be down for that.. their characters actually had good chemistry unlike RWBY.. which was literal garbage.. only good char outta team RWBY is Weiss rest are thrash.

[@heyarnold7256]

I'd watch that.

[@zusfrankenstein8561]

The sad thing is, RWBY is, for all intents and purposes, supposed to be a battle shonen. But even the most cliche battle shonens I've seen at least give the main character an arbitrary goal or dream to work towards in the beginning, so even if the stay flat as a character, you can always at least have the sense that they're getting closer to something, whether that be getting slowly stronger or more determined. The illusion of change is maintained even if they themselves don't change drastically as a person. Motivation for achieving that goal can differ, but there always should be a goal. Naruto wants to be Hokage. Luffy wants to be Pirate King. Eren Yeager wants to kill all the Titans. Ruby Rose should have at least had the generic shonen goal of being the best/strongest huntress in Remnant. We know that's feasible for her because her mother was one of the greats. She also has those magic sharigan eyes that can nuke Grimm, so it's definitely a realistic goal. As it stands right now, Ruby just wants to be a huntsmen because her mom was one and she also thinks it's pretty cool to be one as well. That's not a goal, that's just an eventual checkpoint she'll reach anyway if she enrolls at a huntsmen academy. She'll graduate no matter what her goal is, so just aiming to be a regular huntsmen isn't enough. It should be relatively long term. That's why Weiss and Yang are my favorite out of the RWBY girls because they actually have motivations that work and are easy to understand. Weiss wants to reform her corrupt family's business by following in the footsteps of her honorable grandfather and becoming a strong huntress. She wants to change the world, which is a decent goal. Yang's goal is much less lofty but it's driven purely by her character, so it works just as well. She wants to find her mom, who ran out on the fam when she was a baby. As bad as Ruby's motivations are, Blake's takes the cake for being the worst one out of the four. What exactly are her motivations? Why did she choose to enroll at Beacon? Why does she want to become a huntress? Is it just to run from the White Fang? Why would she want to save the lives of humans if she was part of a terrorist organization just a couple months prior?

[@fightingmedialounge519]

Blake's wants to stop and reform the white fang which honestly better then other characters who goals could be just easily achieved without enrolling into the academy. Ruby's goal isn't that far off from wanting to be pirate king or hokage. The problem comes from lacking pathos which luffy and naruto have, and her goal being at odds with what her initial character was unlike say pirate king which requires to be a massive influential leader(which luffy wasn't) or hokage which requires you to have a deeper understanding of the village and what it stands for( which naruto didn't).

[@ramiel3759]

RWBY nowdays is the battle shounen without battle

[@breakfastsquad9871]

RWBY Fans: could you please make a consistent and good story? Roosterteeth: That's a good idea, but here's a better one. How about we don't do that?

[@jazminsabino4403]

The only reason Jaune gets so much screen time is because he's Miles Luna's self insert.

[@program4215]

The things Team RWBY listed to Oobleck when he asked them why they wanted to be Huntresses are just "side quests". They are personal goals they want to achieve for themselves along the way, which is exactly why Oobleck was unsatisfied with any of their answers. Those weren't their actual reasons. That's why most of them are passive, to avoid impeding the "main quest" as much as possible. Later on, when they go to sleep after talking with Oobleck, he overhears their real reason: They all want to protect people. They want to preserve life. That is their main quest. And the villains in the show stand in direct opposition to that goal. While I agree totally that the villains shouldnt be the only ones doing anything for the plot, I think the heroes' goal is much better than something petty like Jaune's desire for revenge against Cinder, however justified. Wanting to gain something for yourself by creating a conflict is the villain's job. That's selfish and cruel. The villains goals involve the deaths of innocent people and supporting the grimm, the ultimate enemy of humanity. That's why the heroes fight Salem and her group. They want to protect people, and Salem wants to kill and subjugate people.

[@timur5241]

"They're just following orders now!" "Still just following orders" Both lines are spoken by Yang in V7 & V8

[@summergold4602]

Ruby should of thought she killed Cinder. Ruby saw Cinder kill Pyrha then actived her eyes 'killing' the now stone dragon on top of beacon tower. When she woke up and Qrow told her about how she killed the dragon, she should of immediately thought of how she also probably killed Cinder as well.

[@johnaxios6335]

The way I view the problem is that the show went from an episodic slice of life anime to a fantasy adventure and didn't really know how to transition that well. I know others will disagree with me but I do wish they gave two more seasons to their time at Beacon just to see the characters develop more into their own, form relationships, and create their own motivations *before* being thrust into the fire.

[@ngchloe4877]

motivation has always been a problem in the series, even with all the improvements in volume 6, they still haven't quite figured that one out and may never figure it out because the plot is on autopilot. There's still some good character in the series, but they're lacking in motivation. A story can still work when it's driven more by the plot than character driven, so I don't worry about it too much unless the plot completely overshadows their developments and personalities

[@sunkenobi1501]

Exactly!

[@ProxyDoug]

That lore is so out of the left field. What does the god of light mean with balance? Were the relics even on remnant before he tasked Ozma with finding them? Are they more than just a kill switch for mankind?

[@bigcountry8652]

More importantly, why does Oz refer to his ability as a curse by the gods? When A: he willingly accepted the form of immortality, whilst Salem did not. B: it was very clearly the god of lights decision to task him with the goal of "unite humanity." I've recently had an ongoing argument with folks on amino where they claim that's Ozpin's goal instead of defeating Salem. Anyways, the answer? Because this shit is being made up[ as they go along.

[@bigcountry8652]

@Scathanox What's worse is the fact that the god's themselves are a botched representation of the Yin Yang concept. Why do I say that? There's two reasons; the first being that the two of them changed body colors between volumes 4 and six, with the brother of light being darkened and the brother of darkness bright with a black outline and flickering chest. In volume six however, they represent decent enough colors given that yellow and purple are COMPLIMENTARY NOT CONTRASTING, but kudos nonetheless. The other big reason in their design that they suck is that in many instances, Yin is the darker, skewed, weak, and above all else, feminine side of the coin. Guess a series with a 90% female cast thought of the concept but figured they already had enough tits to animate, lol jk. In actuality the two gods get worse the more you apply logic to them, and in fact the two play into a bigger problem with the show that you've brought up too; the very poor balance of the show. In a series where out of the population, only a third chose to be trained as warriors with access to a soul projection as a shield (whether passive or something they have to actively have to activate). With potential to utilize a super power with said soul projection, and are taught to fight in unity with like-minded warriors. Fighting against a never-ending feral army of creatures, led by an immortal witch hellbent on ruling humanity by force; seeking four macguffins that hold immense power and intelligence, with potential to bring back two gods who claim to care about humanity, but not enough to actively use their power to bring the humans back and instead leave it to evolution to bring humans and Faunus back to the rock previously inhabited primarily by said feral creatures and the immortal ruling over them. Oh, and throw in four women with exclusively elemental powers, and people who are born with powers that vary in effect from case by case with this power coming from one of the two gods. Seem a little off yet?

[@dannywave3363]

1: It's good to know that you're back to uploading as I could guests was rough 2: I enjoy your reviews and discussions and hope to see more of your perceptive 3: Your dossvisdiibs has helped me during my writing process with an alternative RWBY Hope you have a good weekend break and see you next time

[@saint1515]

That cool can you share some details about it i love rwby rewrite's

[@dannywave3363]

Well, I ain't say to much as I got some ideas, just not plan out. However, I briefly give you insight of how I view Aura Aura An ability that every living bring have that was born nor inject with Aura within your DNA or body system This is one version if aura as I got another version for a different story

[@saint1515]

@@dannywave3363 that pretty damn cool. I too am working on a story similar to rwby but i am have an issue with my MC. that i can't decide to either make him part chameleon like ilia but with her own damn character or part wolf

[@dannywave3363]

@@saint1515 I do agree that it won't work in RWBY, yet we gotta remember that they change the rules so much that aura itself is bullshit with the recent added rules Also, this origin of airs I have is for anlernstuve version of RWBY

[@saint1515]

@@dannywave3363 true on all fronts but speaking rwby rewrite do you read the other part of my comment could really use a second opinion on it

[@rejeneracion]

motivation is no the word ... logic is the word. cinder in volume 4: i hate ruby. cinder in volume 5: who is ruby? in volume 2 the hunters : yes we save the city in volume two the high leaders : they fail to save the city. raven: i don´t care about ozpin oh salem in anything. raven: i going to take the think that ozpin and salem care much in any of the 6 volume there is any logic in the made of the plot.

[@dcb2art]

Volume 4 : Qrow saves Ruby from Tyrian Volume 6: Maria saves Ruby and her team from the Apathy Grimm. As well as tell Ruby how to use her silvet eyes. Volume 6 Ruby: We've been in bad situations before and we didn't need an adult to come save us or tell us what yo do.

[@rejeneracion]

@@dcb2art oh yes i forget that , thanks : D

[@timothymclean]

About the only way I can see salvaging this story is if the protagonists get confronted with _something_ that makes them question whether their goals line up with their motivations. That is, whether following Ozpin's orders and doing stuff with the Relics is actually going to make the better world I'm pretty sure half of them passionately care about. Of course, that would require either turning Ozpin into another caricature of a villain or building new motivations for the main gang, but it's a better option than just letting the plot run on autopilot while the protagonists follow adventure hooks like PCs in a crappy D&D campaign.

[@SaiyanGamer95]

No lie, I miss the light-hearted episodes with occasional serious stuff. Yeah, I'm kinda tired of the trope where the silly, light-hearted show becomes darker and more serious, but still, with RWBY, they clearly can't handle the serious stuff. The show is largely Racism Bad, Characters Swear Now, People Die, and the protags just do things because other people tell them to do things. I would prefer the show return to the old style.

[@randomcenturion7264]

I'd recommend Welcome to Demon School Iruma-Kun. It's like 90% light-hearted magical school hijinks with villains that are still a threat and moments of seriousness, but it never takes away from the fun and it maintains it's Slice of Life approach.

[@triggerfairy4070]

I don't mind having initial simple motivation at the start aslong as the motivation continues to evolve

[@twiinsiink]

True!

[@Isaiah-lf3kk]

"Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water."- Kurt Vonnegut

[@ChanghisKhansBasement]

Watching RWBY now is like taking drugs: you know its bad yet you keep watching it.

[@auxiliary_rose7342]

Pretty accurate summary.

[@travonarmstrong6093]

Then I guess I'm going through rehab since I stopped watching, but still hanging out with my drug buddies for some reason. Also, accurate af summary.

[@Genji-Agito]

Adam Taurus Expectations: I want what's best for the faunus. Reality: I'm obsessed with some bitch.

[@Victor-056]

Naofumi would be foaming in the Mouth at seeing how these 'Heroes' do Jack Shite to save their own World... At least, if not Raphtalia. Seriously, the difference between that and this, is that Rising of the Shield Hero actually has a good idea on what it's doing, giving the Heroes a reason to be what they are, with the biggest Villain of them all, and the reason behind the waves, is a complete unknown, and merely uttering the name would have Me buried under REEEE'ing Fans. WAHBY Spoiled the biggest Villain of the series by Season 4, lost all personal motivation for the Heroes by Season 4, and are now just flying by the Seat of their oversized Clown pants! And frankly, it feels like RWBY is basically, NPC the Series. The hero cast can't go anywhere without someone else telling them to go there.

[@Scarabswarm]

I respect a lot of your points, though a couple I disagree with. Personally I've found a lot more insight into the characters motivations by listening to the soundtrack. I feel that it's kind of like a Greek chorus, relaying internal monologue, suppressed feelings, and even motivations. Weiss specifically has the recurring theme of being torn between what her mind wants, and what her heart wants. Her mind saying, "be good, play the game, then you can change the situation when you inherit", and her heart's desire to do something immediate like becoming a huntress "If I had taken a job in Atlas, it wouldn't have changed anything". She keeps trying to both keep her father happy, and satisfy her own desire to improve things, and she walks that very thin line for 3 seasons. Though as time passes, you can see she is slowly rebelling more and more from her father's ideals. So to me, that scene where she is disinherited is the moment she realized the first option to change things is gone. There is no more balancing act so she doesn't have to pretend anymore, which is why she only mopes for a few seconds. She realizes that she isn't torn anymore, and the song lyrics begin to reflect it. "I've pulled myself together now, my mind and heart are one".

[@twiinsiink]

While I also like a lot of the soundtracks, they are not cannon. It's supplemental material and so should not be considered when analyzing the show.

[@DatCameraMON]

Yeah, IDK why I see the, "the soundtrack is where the real insight and story is at" a lot, but it frustrates me each time I do. It is such a poor excuse to find meaning where there is none. It causes the show to seem better than it is and falsely leads people into a incorrect assumption about what is actually happening in the show. A comparable example to this situation, I feel, would be reviewing video games, specifically older video games. With a game, you have several components that make it what it is, gameplay, story, music, and visuals. If I were to give a game an 8/10 because I found the visuals or music to be some of the best I've ever heard in a game, but the gameplay and story have the depth of a puddle, it would be very misleading to people who read or watched my review of the game. You cannot just push aside the main content, for supplemental material that you find worthy (and as Twiins pointed out, non-canon and irrelevant to RWBY in general) and say that makes up for flaws in the main content.

[@Scarabswarm]

@@DatCameraMON well, it's not exactly as non-canon as if it were some random person's tumblr fanfic. There is a certain amount of collaboration in the creation process, as the songs have foreshadowed things a year or more in advance. I'm not saying that the show is perfect, or that the soundtrack is where everyone should go for the "real" story. I'm just saying that for *myself,* it fills in a lot of gaps. So since you said "IDK why", I'd be happy to explain *my* reasons. Basically, I'm not going to pretend it doesn't exist so I have an excuse to dislike the show in it's more "pure" state. Why anyone would purposefully choose to dislike things is kinda beyond me. I feel it makes the show better by giving explanations to things we see, but that aren't fleshed out in the episodes. I accept that there is only so much dialogue and animation time they can dedicate to each sub-theme in an ensemble piece without dragging the episodes to a crawl. Also, since many things weren't addressed early on, (due to budget, inexperience, writing, time, software limitations, whatever) the longer it will take to address these things in-episode now. The show is like your sister's first Thanksgiving turkey. A little dry in parts, overall okay, but she used mom's amazing stuffing recipe which turned out great. I'm not going to say I had a terrible thanksgiving dinner "because I refuse to count the stuffing as part of the experience" as it "isn't technically part of the turkey". It's a critic's job to evaluate things in a vacuum. But I'm not a media critic, I'm a media fan. So just like I can admit that a food critic would tear my sister's turkey apart despite the stuffing, I can recognize a media critic being right in doing the same for the show. I'll still recommend to people who find the turkey dry though, to go ahead and try the stuffing.

[@AngelicAvenger]

@@Scarabswarm It's not just a matter of being a critic and viewing RWBY in a vacuum, it's a matter of customer convenience. I shouldn't have to assemble the full story myself by consuming tons of different streams of content just to have a basic understanding of what is happening. It also doesn't help that the show's usage of the soundtrack has become shorter and more fragmented as the seasons have gone on. Red Likes Roses Pt. 2 plays in full during the Nevermore/Deathstalker fight scene in Volume 1. There's also either most of or all of Die during RWBY vs. the Paladin in Volume 2. But in the recent Volumes, I don't actually remember the last time we got a full song during the show. Was it Raven vs. Cinder? I know there was a clip of some sort of new Silver-Eye song during the last episode of Volume 6, but it was approximately 5 seconds long, if that. The point is, it doesn't feel like RT is even trying to integrate the soundtrack and the show at all, they just expect viewers to do it all themselves. I'm not buying an IKEA bookshelf here. I shouldn't have to do extra work to cover for their own shortcomings.

[@rosalindajeshiva7167]

ruby could also want to become a huntress because her mom did it and she wanted to follow in her footsteps or something

[@raccoonstarsmember]

Torchwick was the best-written character in the entire show.

[@donanthebarbarian5177]

Ok so one point in volume 5 when everyone except Blake is presented with the knowledge of Salem and Co. Everyone was given the option of don't join the quest and LITERALLY ALL OF THEM defaulted to: "I trust Ruby so it's her call." And Ruby decided that joining the quest for her goal of : "I want to protect people." And thus everyone was on the path of Ozpin calls the shots except Blake... Who promptly joined because she defeated the White Fang and then decided to follow Yang and deal with the pain and desire between them as that is now what she wants to do... So EVERYONE except Blake is on the quest because Ruby, and Blake is on the quest because "I wanna **** Yang." And not joining the quest gets in the way of that...

[@redstarshooter85]

I totally agree with you: placing magic in the world of RWBY is a huge mistake! Semblances are unique already, so placing magic in halfway in Volume 3 is no doubt a pathetic excuse of a plot device to "give Jaune and Ruby character growth and motivations." I cannot say it enough, "magic in RWBY sucks!"

[@twiinsiink]

It really does! I've actually made a video about it before (here's that link) kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIq3knt3rdyjd6s The real kicker for magic is how the characters are always amazed by it, when it's basically identical to semblances.

[@redstarshooter85]

@@twiinsiink Thanks! I'm gonna check it out!

[@mauriceisaac3646]

I always just felt they wanted to get back at the people who destroyed Beacon in hopes of bringing it back, but it feels like that gradually got lost in the shuffle of everything that came afterward.

[@rosalindajeshiva7167]

a good long term goal for ruby is have the death of her mom somehow be related to Salem (should be done right though). that would give her a reasonable goal to want to defeat Salem; to avenge her mom. if Jacques is working with Salem, that may be a good goal for weiss too ig.

[@rosalindajeshiva7167]

ok I saw volume 7 and I was right haha I'm so proud of myself

[@fightingmedialounge519]

I don't know how much ruby would care.

[@mumblerogre2455]

The “heroes” are so lame, I want the bad guys to win. Or at least for Hazel to kill the crap out of Ozpin

[@tempusmars6272]

Hell yeah

[@benjaminmcneil574]

Remember the reincarnation curse...that death won't last very long.

[@sumsum3873]

Another Twiins iink video? Yessss

[@1TW1-m5i]

Idk, I just want to see the rest of the world. And if they don't do justice to Atlas...

[@JesseGolo]

One word, Racism. To be more specific, how confident are you in M&K's ability to portray Faunus oppression at this point.

[@nickthepick8043]

Man, why didn't I listen to this sooner when I started being proactive in the RWBY fandom? It nails everything that I was too naive to think about.

[@locvo2050]

A *powerful* wise man once said : *"SHOW ME YOUR MOTIVATION!"*

[@brandonframe1743]

I'd dig a deep hole, drop the Relic in it, bury it then go home

[@randomcenturion7264]

I'd dig a deeper hole, drop the show in it, pour cement into the whole, then go home.

[@TempestMaximus]

It would make more sense if Ruby, Jaune and others go back to Vale helping and investigate what happened then go to Mistral to warn them of Cinder's presence. Etc.

[@nekoqueen22]

thank you for everything you said

[@awesomezeke769hd8]

Even TTG makes more sense then this and that’s saying a lot

[@dcb2art]

That is just sad

[@awesomezeke769hd8]

Darrick Bell what do you mean

[@dcb2art]

@@awesomezeke769hd8 That TTG Teen Titans Go a show that's a Kiddy Bastardized version of the 2003 Teen Titans makes more sense then RWBY's Writing.

[@awesomezeke769hd8]

Darrick Bell yeah it fucking sucks

[@awesomezeke769hd8]

Darrick Bell and it’s a joke

[@ShadowBlade972]

Best way I can describe it is, the main cast are murder hobos in a D&D session, but instead of looking for the plot they just ask the nearest NPC where to go.

[@Lupirio23]

With this video it actually makes me think that what Oz said about taking the relic to Atlas, would make sense if he wanted to lock it away with the Staff. Unfortunately before he decided to retreat into Oscar, made no such intention. It's too bad they didn't recognise the point about Salem being immortal like I did or Ruby does at the end of V7; "We don't need to kill you to stop you." Keep the Relics out of her hands, quash her attempts to rise up and you're probably Gucci until she recoperates. (I'm under the impression Salem had a hand in the War and thus was put down to try and build up with a new team, the team she has now.) Probably been Ozpin's MO from the get go.

[@my_artflare]

I always get so triggered the more I realize how terrible RWBY's writing is 🤦‍♂️

[@saint1515]

Me too

[@saint1515]

@Scathanox what is that

[@brandonframe1743]

You get better writing in Fanfiction lol

[@saint1515]

@@brandonframe1743 true

[@cameronperkins6052]

Except it’s not terrible

[@WwZa7]

Sooo team Salem are actually... *Avengers* ?

[@twinodoom]

I was disappointed when Volume 6 didn't get the characters to find their own personal motivations. I really hope that Volume 7 fixes this.

[@DeepRootDisease]

I think that a really interesting plot twist would have been them deciding that they actually want to destroy the asshole gods. Then the final bosses would have even more weight

[@benjaminmcneil574]

Pretty sure they are in *NO WAY* capable of that.

[@stickginge]

The fall of beacon never needed to happen. When it did i assumed it was because they want to steam forward with the story, since they lost Monty, and get it finished as soon as possible. This world they started could have lasted as long as naruto or bleach, spend all the time in beacon until graduation where they all go to complete a goal, Weiss tries to make a better name for the Schnee, Blake tries to change the white fang to a helpful group instead of a terrorist group, Ruby hunts just like her mother did, helping people and Yang.....I don't know bangs everyone she likes (she's the only one with no real goal i see her wanting except maybe sorting out her mum issues). I made this section of the comment on another video but i am gonna share it again: I knew it would go downhill from volume 3. 3 was not a bad volume but what happened in it did not need to happen. They threw them out of the school setting, which then just pushed the story forward way too fast. A bunch of kids that are not really close to graduating are now expected to beat the big bad of the world (Imagine young naruto going off to beat the main antagonist of the story) . They officially made Adam the angry ex instead of a good leader and killed off one of the best villains. Imagine if the story stayed at the academy, Torchwick could have been a good villain to keep going throughout there time there with the occasional Cinder or white fang appearing, then after some time and graduating the team splits up (which is what you do as hunters, you are not a permanent team of 4). THEN the academy is attacked, maybe with one of them there during it (probably Yang) but they can't defend it from that many Grimm and loses an arm to one biting it off (Not Adam cutting it off since i think they just did that to make Blake and Yang have something to connect on). After which we move on to getting info on the big bad from Oscar (same age as in show, not older version like the rest of the team).

[@Cykeys]

Do you think you'll do a video on the rather questionable competency of "Professional Huntsmen/Huntresses" seen in the show so far? This is considering that our people like the two on the train and pretty much every other professional seems to get a huge nerf just to make our heroes and villains look better by sheer comparison.

[@twiinsiink]

I hadn't thought of that before. Maybe if we got to see more professional Huntsmen (that aren't also teachers/government officials) then it might be worth talking about.

[@KrazyKelor]

@@twiinsiink Relative power levels of the various characters would be a good thing to examine.

[@Cykeys]

@@twiinsiink If not the capabilities and power levels of professionals, then why not the rather inconsistent skill levels of the cast as mentioned (i.e. Weiss somehow forgetting she could Time Dilate, or fight with her sword as a sword; how Oscar is somehow apparently on the level of Mercury and Emerald due to only a few weeks of training in Mistral while Merc was trained from childhood while Eme had street smarts; or how Headmaster Lionheart is barely a competent fighter in the finale of Vol 5 despite being a Headmaster, etc.

[@Scarabswarm]

Cykey they do hang a lantern on the bad fighters to explain their lack of skill. Qrow calls out Dee and Dudley as "the bottom of the barrel" and Oz remarks how he hoped they weren't graduates of his. Lionheart says he "isn't the fighter he used to be", but we never know how good he was before, only that Qrow thought he could help. Whereas the dying huntsman in Shion village engaged with "a whole tribe" of Raven's bandits and then the subsequent Grimm attack that included the Nucklavee.

[@Cykeys]

@@Scarabswarm Perhaps, but I still find it hard to believe that most of Salem's Council of Evil (except Watts) had that much trouble taking on RWBY and co. (most of whom are drop out 1st year students) despite being supposedly quite successful and having impressive backgrounds. Honestly, I think Tyrion is the best on-screen fighter of the bunch atm.

[@littledragonchild1757]

It honestly kinda sounds like a DM who worked really hard to create a world and setting, but the PCs just ask what to do next instead of being part of the story.

[@lanseiosefanderson]

Vergil: foolishness Ruby....foolishness

[@kirbycat1977]

Blake being based off of belle tells me why she doesn't do anything, belle didn't do anything either other than come back to the beast. The freaking furniture did more

[@Super_Sonic-nt4wq]

Edit: Tl;dr: Have the character's motives and ideals mature without outright changing them, so they can actually connect with the plot. That way, even if they are technically shoehorned in, it feels organic, and you become invested in how they will tie into the story. While I like your analysis, my main problem with the characters' motivations is that they've never developed beyond what we're initially told. When we're introduced to the characters, many of their motivations feel shallow, but that's perfectly acceptable at the start of a series. This leaves room for growth and maturity, along with the excellent potential for backstory. But the fact of the matter is, RWBY doesn't delve into any of that. It would seem that after they're introduced, the character's motive doesn't even matter to their arcs, hardly, if never, even being brought up again. I've never been particularly bothered when a plot comes to the character, so long that it makes sense given the setting. Take My Hero Academia for example. The majority of the first half is the villains invading UA and terrorizing the students. Class 1-A hardly make any plot-changing decisions, but it makes sense given their circumstances. They're in their first year of High School. They shouldn't even have to deal with this in the first place. So the author takes advantage of this by highlighting their trauma and having these situations influence their growth and maturity. He also has the plot and the students affecting each other in many different ways because, while they all have distinct motives, their goal is the same at the end of the day, becoming heroes. Essentially, I mean that the plot matures the character's motivation without outright changing it or ignoring them, leading to decisions that later affect the story and still tie into their motives. RWBY doesn't seem to have this, though. Hell, they hardly even react to the things going on around them. I'm completely fine with Ruby's motive just basically being 'I want to be a hero like in the books,' but it's never brought up again. I can see it subtly influencing her actions, like her tendency to recklessly run into combat, but stuff like that is never explored. It's almost like she doesn't even have a character arc. Actually, the more I think about it, I don't think any of the title characters have actual 'arcs.' Only "flaws" that are clearly shoehorned in just so they can say their characters have development. Honestly, I think Rwby's writing faults result from the writers caring more about introducing cool new plot threads and story elements rather than taking the time to develop the story and characters. RWBY's writers don't care about telling an actual story; they're only focused on having a flashy plot.

[@tamarrartis2918]

Rwby is a great way to teach what not to do in a 3d action cartoon with main female characters and Jaune.

[@auxiliary_rose7342]

One could argue that the lack of any personal motivation to get active in the plot is intentional on the writers part, and is reflective of how many people in the current generations are only doing things because they are asked to, while they are indifferent and apathetic towards those things themselves. Is it a stretch to say that? Maybe. Is everyone like that these days? Not exactly, but it's something worth noting. It wouldn't surprise me since the shows writing really has strayed away from the fantasy setting it was meant to thrive in; a point made by Regular Dude in his video here that mainly talks on the triangle between Adam, Blake and Yang. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d53Qm5qrib5shbc Regardless, it really sucks that the villains are the only ones with motivations and are willing to work towards them, and yet they get foiled by Scooby Doo hijinks from the hero's who are basically the same person split into separate bodies, a point you yourself made in your latest volume six review. They've clearly set up the most opportunities for Cinder Fall, and two things are increasingly clear with each volume. 1) no matter how many times it's nearly gotten her killed, that smug attitude of hers is like the tattoo on her back, staying till the end. 2) even with all the focus as a villain she's had, the fact that she's the only villain willing and capable of killing named characters in order to obtain her goals, and the obvious turn against Salem implied by her maiden relic being that of choice; taking all of this into consideration, and all the work implied by her also implied backstory, she'll be one upped by these kids who only hate her for giving them a dosage of reality.

[@twiinsiink]

The idea that the writers are trying to make a social commentary with their scripts seems pretty unlikely, honestly.

[@auxiliary_rose7342]

@@twiinsiink Yeah I don't buy it either but wouldn't care regardless.

[@KrazyKelor]

Not to mention how dumb that commentary would be when the primary thing inhibiting people's drive to do anything is income inequality and stagnating wages failing to keep up with costs of living.