Franchise / RWBY

"Do you believe in destiny?"

"Legends. Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, by-products, of a forgotten past. Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness, creatures of destruction — the Creatures of Grimm — set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void. However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change and, in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds."

— Opening narration, RWBY, "Ruby Rose"

RWBY (pronounced "Ruby") is a multimedia franchise from Rooster Teeth centering around an Animesque CGI web production of the same name that debuted in 2013. It is the company's first entirely original IP, and was created by Monty Oum.

The franchise takes place in the fictional world of Remnant, a Death World where humanity struggles to survive the continuous threat of the malevolent "Creatures of Grimm" through the aid of a mysterious energy source called Dust and specially trained warriors known as Huntsmen and Huntresses who fight the Grimm and protect the peace. The franchise title comes from the original show, which itself is named after its four protagonists (a team of trainee Huntresses) and their specific Color Motif: Ruby Rose (red), Weiss Schnee (white), Blake Belladonna (black), and Yang Xiao Long (yellow).

Oum's sudden death in early 2015 during the development of the show's third season (or "volume", as all seasons are referred to) left the future of the show in question until its creative team confirmed they had the required information to continue and complete it. From that decision onward, the show has spawned a range of merchandise and spin-off works to become a multi-media franchise.

This began when an official export to Japan (via Warner Bros. Japan) was announced at RTX 2014, with the first four seasons getting home video releases with a Japanese dub. Those curious about the Japanese dub can order the Volume 1 and 2 Japanese home video releases from Rooster Teeth's US store.

On April 1, 2016, the spin-off series RWBY Chibi was announced; it premiered a month later, with episodes being released during the hiatuses between volumes. It gives the franchise a more lighthearted and comedic spin, originally providing mood-changing Lightmare Fuel after the original show's third volume dramatically increased the villains' threat level, considerably increasing the show's maturity. Further spin-off series include the miniseries RWBY: Fairy Tales, released in late 2021, and the anime series RWBY: Ice Queendom, which aired for 12 episodes in 2022; produced by Studio SHAFT, GoodSmile Company, and nitro+, the anime tells a "canon-adjacent" story taking place during Volume 2.

There also exist several games based on the franchise or including its characters. The first one, RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, was released on July 5, 2016 after Steam Early Access for the game began the previous December^note It was originally a fangame before the creators eventually teamed up with Rooster Teeth to make it official after the company found out about the game; a second console game, RWBY: Arrowfell, was released in November 2022. The show also received several mobile phone games: RWBY: Amity Arena, released in October 2018; the RWBY Deckbuilding Game, released on Valentine's Day 2019; and RWBY: Crystal Match, released in August 2019. RWBY has additionally become part of the Arc System Works Massive Multiplayer Crossover BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, which also features representatives from BlazBlue, Persona 4: Arena and Under Night In-Birth.

Three separate manga stories adapted from the show have been released. The first, written by Shirow Miwa (released across 2016, localized in 2018), adapts all of the Volume 1 character trailers and some additional miscellaneous arcs. (Miwa's adaptations of the prequel trailers are considered loosely canonical.) Following this was the RWBY: Official Manga Anthology, one for each member of Team RWBY, released in 2017 and then in English in 2018-9. They feature fan artist adaptations of Beacon Academy side stories that are mostly compatible with canon. Finally, there is Bunta Kinami's RWBY: The Official Manga (released 2018), which adapts Volumes 1 and 2 of the show and is released monthly as part of Shonen Jump. Kinami's manga has a loosely canon reputation of "canon till it's not" by the showrunners.

In the lead-up to the original show's sixth volume, Rooster Teeth struck up partnerships with Scholastic and DC Comics to make licensed RWBY material. Scholastic began publishing a series of YA books in the summer of 2019, with the first book titled After the Fall. It focuses on Team CFVY studying at Shade Academy a year after the events of Volume 3. A sequel called Before the Dawn was announced at RTX 2019 and released in July 2020; its focus is on teams CFVY and SSSN. In August 2019, DC Comics began making a RWBY comic set during the Time Skip that occurs between Volumes 3 and 4. DC Comics also made two sets of crossover comics with the two franchises, RWBY/Justice League and DC/RWBY, released in March 2021 and February 2023 respectively.

In 2024, Rooster Teeth was shut down by Warner Bros., putting the RWBY franchise on permanent hiatus following the conclusion of the original show's ninth volume unless a third party takes interest in/acquires the rights. The final released products of the franchise were Justice League × RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen and RWBY Volume 9 Beyond

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Animation

• RWBY ^note This is the original show that started it all. (2013-)
• RWBY Chibi (2015-)
• RWBY: Fairy Tales (2021-)
• RWBY: Ice Queendom (2022)
• Justice League × RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen ^note A two-part animated film adaptation of RWBY/Justice League. (2023)
• RWBY Volume 9 Beyond ^note One of Rooster Teeth’s last RWBY projects before shutting down (2024)

Comic Books

• RWBY ^note Adaptation by DC Comics. Canonical status unknown. (2019-)
• RWBY/Justice League ^note Crossover with Justice League of America (2021)
• DC/RWBY ^note Grimm invade The DC Universe (2023)

Literature & Light Novels

• RWBY: The Session ^note Light novel set during Volumes 1 and 2 of the original show. (2017)
• RWBY: After the Fall ^note First in a series of young adult novels, set within the original show's canon. (2019)
• The World of RWBY: The Official Companion (2019)
• RWBY: Before the Dawn ^note A sequel to After the Fall, it is also set within the original show's canon. (2020)
• RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant ^note A book of Remnant fairy tales, presented as being set within the original show's canon.(2020)
• RWBY: Roman Holiday ^note A novel focusing on Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan, set within the official show's canon. (2021)

Manga

• RWBY ^note A Volume 3 livestream and Volume 4 DVD Commentary confirms that this manga aims to be consistent with canon. (2015-2017)
• RWBY: Official Manga Anthology ^note The Viz Media Panel at Anime Expo 2018 (Day 1) confirms that this manga aims to be consistent with canon. (2017)
• RWBY: The Official Manga (2018-2020)

Tabletop Games

• RWBY Combat Ready (2018)

Video Games

• RWBY: Grimm Eclipse ^note An interview with the RWBY creators confirms this game is set within the canon of the original show, despite being a separate story. (2016)
• RWBY: Amity Arena ^note An Amity Arena Twitter post confirms that this game aims to be consistent with canon. (2018-2021)
• RWBY Deckbuilding Game (2019-2020)
• RWBY (2019)
• RWBY Crystal Match ^note This was originally released as RWBY: Crystal Quest (2019-2021)
• RWBY: Arrowfell ^note This is a WayForward/Arc System Works game that is set during Volume 7 of the original show. (2022)

Web Video

• The Grimm Campaign ^note A CRWBY tabletop RPG based around the city of Kuchinashi within the canon setting. (2020-2021)

Crossover media

• Gaia Online ^note Ruby's Crescent Rose and Yang's fire were cosmetics for a limited time as a tribute to the passing of Monty Oum.
• Crusaders Quest ^note The girls of Team RWBY and Team JNPR were obtainable characters for a limited time. (2017)
• Puzzle Of Empires ^note Team RWBY were obtainable characters for a limited time to tie into the Volume 5 premiere.
• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle ^note Crossover with BlazBlue, Persona 4: Arena, and Under Night In-Birth, with more franchises on the way. (2018)
• Knights Chronicle ^note Team RWBY and Cinder Fall were obtainable characters for a limited time. (2019)
• SMITE ^note Team RWBY was added as premium skins for four playable characters (Ruby for Thanatos, Weiss for Freya, Blake for Amaterasu, and Yang for Terra) to tie into the Volume 7 premiere, with Cinder joining them three years later as a skin for Morgan le Fay (2019)

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"What's your favourite fairy tale?"

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