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As RWBY is no stranger to Nightmare Fuel, it shouldn't come as a shock that War Machines contains some nightmarish moments.
- During initiation, Penny and Weiss come across the wreckage of a Bullhead. Already eerie enough, but things rapidly get worse as a Geist possesses the wreckage and chases them down.
- The two are able to flee, with Penny carrying Weiss to safety with her jet wings, but the damage taken from hitting the bird means that one of her thrusters is damage, and she might not be able to stay stable if it fails.
- As if all of that wasn't enough, the Bullhead had a built-in machine gun, which the Geist is able to use in order to further exasperate the existing damage to Penny's wing.
- Ruby Karyatis is far eerier than Penny Polendina was in canon.
- She's introduced stealthily stalking Team BYSP while they're staking out the docks in anticipation of a Dust heist. The only evidence they have of her presence prior to her making herself known is silver dust floating in the air as she uses her Semblance to dash away.
- Unlike Crescent Rose, which was designed with fighting hordes of Grimm in mind, Luminous Electra is a war scythe designed with hurting people in mind. There are very few ways for her to subdue someone without cutting them, unlike how Crescent Rose had a blunt edge for nonlethal force.
- Before departing in Chapter 9, Ruby admits that she'd like to talk weapon designs with a former member of the White Fang, and then cheerfully adds that she'd have to arrest them later. As Blake is a former member of the White Fang, this ultimately puts her in danger as well.
- Near the end of Chapter 10, Ruby's stealthier side shows yet again, as she overhears the tail end of the argument between Blake and Weiss, and learns that Blake is a former member of the White Fang, right as the rest of the organization shows up.
- After the battle with the White Fang in Chapter 11, she engages in a discussion with Blake that has her advocate for the Atlas Military running the SDC, and by extension, the monopoly on Dust throughout Remnant. Blake points out that she's advocating for literal fascism, with Ruby having no clue what that word even means. For such a simple exchange of conversation, it's also a frightening display of just how indoctrinated Ruby is.
- Unlike in canon, Weiss attempts to physically assault Blake when she learns the latter is a former member of the White Fang.
- Blake's expanded backstory further elaborates on how brutal anti-Faunus racism can get.
- She mentions getting mauled by an Atlesian police dog as a child, which nearly tore off her leg if she hadn't unlocked her Aura in the middle of the attack.
- It's mentioned that the Atlesian Military and police officers would regularly murder peaceful protestors.
- Ilia's parents' deaths were bad enough in canon, but Blake brings up the possibility that they may have slowly suffocated to death in the collapsed mine over the course of several hours, as opposed to getting crushed.
As War Machines is focused on Penny and Ruby being separated from their respective families and growing up in a new environment, it's natural that there'd be some sadder moments.
- In the very first chapter, we have Ruby's situation. She's been abducted by her home at such a young age that she doesn't even remember Patch. All she's ever known is Dr. Watts' lab. As adorable as her antics are, the fact is that she's been deprived of her loving family. Ironwood and Pietro are both horrified by what Watts was doing for a reason.
- As much as Ironwood pities her, he's not above attempting to weaponize her when he sees her vaporize Grimm with her eyes. as soon as the idea that she might have been made in a lab enters his mind, he stops thinking of how to reunite her with her family and starts thinking of how to mold her into a weapon. He claims that he'll allow Ruby to leave if she wants to later, but only after she's been raised with the responsibility of saving the world on her shoulders. When Pietro asks if that's any different from what Watts was going to do with her, Ironwood offers a simple rebuttal:
- Notably, while Ironwood's words implicitly spark a Heel Realization in Pietro, he intended to use this statement as justification for his own actions, and has no such introspection.
- Ruby's Semblance in the first chapter is identical to her Semblance in canon, dispersing her body into flower petals. By the time she's reintroduced in Chapter 9, her Semblance instead dissolves her into silver dust, as her Silver Eyes now take precedence over her long-forgotten family-ties in how she views herself.
- Ruby Karyatis in general is just close enough to her canon counterpart to make what she's become feel wrong. She wears the Atlas Academy uniform instead of her iconic outfit and cape. Her iconic silver eyes are covered by brown-colored contacts. Luminous Enforcer is a dual-bladed warscythe that can split in two or convert into a big gun, designed for fighting and hurting people instead of Grimm.
- Ruby admits outright that she wants to be a weapon so someone else can do all the thinking for her.
