Discussion Characters / RWBYTeamRWBY

Perfect people don't exist, Perfect characters have a name in fiction; Mary Sue.

Message. The bliddy. MODS Already. This is the fourth bloody thread you've started in as many days, either ask them directly, or Stop. Bothering.

I've already asked here.

Link please?

• Actress or Character? The first is openly Bi, the 2nd hasn't been proven yet.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_representation_in_animated_web_series

Spam, Spam, Spam, does not make a convincing argument, instead;

• What is your source on this news?
• Ask the mods to add it in, seriously the fact this page got banned is a shame on the FNDM as a whole, I do Not trust the FNDM to be responsible.

Blake’s voice actress confirms that she is bisexual.

Can people resist turning everything into 'Bumble B 4 Ever'?

Look I know is that Blake is canonically bisexual can we finally unlock this page so we can finally edit it.

You can ask on the locked pages thread.

Thats baloni don't you think?

When people stop with the Ship Wars.

We're working on it in the Sandbox.RWBY Team RWBY page.

Maybe we can open an image pickin thread if necessary?

I agree as well.

I've put in an edit request.

Upload and link them so that people can see and agree on them. Then someone can put in a request to have them added.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rwby7_ruby.png

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rwby7_weiss.png

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rwby7_blake.png

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rwby7_yang.png

They look good to me.

bumping this

I agree

From what i gather, the Arch-Enemy is the hero's enemy, not the villain's.

The volumes could roughly be grouped together going by the kingdom/school in which they're set and focus on; Volumes 1-3 being Vale/Beacon, 4-6 being Mistral/Haven, and 7-9, presumably, being Mantle/Atlas. I'd offer that as a suggestion for labeling the corresponding character designs, ie: "click here to see her appearance in Mistral/Atlas."

Kinda speculative. I'd go with "click here to see her appearance starting in Volume #"

Now that it's pretty clear Yang and Blake are moving in a romantic direction (supported by Barbara and Arryn dropping the pretenses of saying the enjoy the ship 'as fans', talking about how it's happening and that it's been planned since the beginning - further evidenced when you consider that Arryn was the one who took it on herself to state that BMBLB didn't mean anything was happening because she didn't want people getting their hopes up over something that might not happen), maybe the ambiguous part can be dropped? At least with Blake, because she does have that history with Adam (even though it was abusive) and this current romantic dynamic with Yang, casting her as Badass Bisexual is probably the way to go. As for Yang - she's only got that one single instance in volume 1, which comes off more as a joke than anything, that suggests she might be into guys - and given the show was in its early days, could be chalked up to Early-Installment Weirdness, especially as subsequent volumes have her uninterested and often unimpressed by guys - so qualifying her as bisexual when she only has that one minor instance in volume 1 that she might be into guys and the whole mountain of Ship Tease she has with Blake feels a bit disingenuous because she could just be a lesbian. So listing her as Ambiguously Gay simply because the text hasn't explicitly stated seems like the sensible way to go there too.

I am in agreement with Sir Adamus. Blake & Yang's relationship is heavily layered with romantic coding that I feel shows a clear Romance Arc and Friendship as Courtship starting with Yang seeking out Blake with great interest after Ruby points her out & Blake choosing Yang as her partner in the Emerald Forest being the starting points. This continues with Yang's flirty attitude towards Blake "I love it when your feisty" to their conversation in "Burning the Candle" where Yang seemed to go in for an Almost Kiss before hugging Blake instead, then winking to her & offering to save Blake a dance. Blake choosing Yang as her first dance (Dance of Romance) and also being the only head to turn towards Yang while she was dancing with someone else which ties into Yang's comment claiming she would be turning heads at the dance.

Adding to the romantic coding, is Yang being the one who was shown when Adam (Blake's former Bastard Boyfriend) said he would destroy everything Blake loves, followed up by him trying to Murderthe Hypotenuse in Volume 3. Following that in volume 4 we see Yang holding a particularly unique place in Blake's hearts (her voice cracks when she talks about Yang) that stand out from her noted feeling of friendship towards others. We also see this in volume 5 with how they respond to seeing one another (Held Gaze) and with Blake's behaviour in Volume 6 constantly watching Yang and Yang's Flirting Under Fire during the first battle of the season, as well as the sun coming out and framing Yang when she assured Blake they would eventually be fine.

They also engage in a great deal of Holding Hands throughout Volume 6 which is done almost exclusively in RWBY between romantic couple from Salem & Ozpin, to Ren & Nora and even between Pyrrha & Jaune. One such hand holding scene is a near perfect recreation of Volume 4s between Ren & Nora. We also see Adam frequently fly into a jealous rage in regards to Yang, with him lashing out at Yang because she and Blake looked at one another, and screaming "What does she see in you?" when trying to kill Yang. He seems to regard Yang as a romantic rival and there is a great deal to be said for Blake & Yang holding hands and affirming their commitment to protect one another in the face of Blake's abusive ex who deeply wounded both of them and the two ultimately triumphing over him. This was also followed by Blake tearfully affirming she would not leave Yang and Yang cradling her head and assuring Blake she knew Blake would not.

I am in full agreement with Sir Adamus and capeclare. yangs and Blake arc are intertwined in ways very fitting for a romantic subplot, to the point where they start to mirror already established couples (the terracotta-arcs and Salem and Ozpin) and other heavily teased ones (Nora and ren). Yangs only proof of male attraction was ONE comment in 6 volumes meanwhile Blakes Adam arc is heavily centered around Yang and Adams own jealousy towards her, to the point where he said "What does she even see in you!?" like one can only refer to a potential romantic rival. After the fight they even are shown in very vulnerable positions with Blake reafirming her promise to Yang and tenderly headtouching included. It is impossible to deny the at the very least possibility of romance and as such ambigiousity of their sexualities.

In agreement with Sir Adamus, capeclare and Dragon Sun.

The romantic coding between Blake and Yang should get Blake moved to Badass Bisexual (or at least ambiguously bi) but she’s been staring at Yang, and catering to Yang for the entirety of the sixth volume.

Yang and Blake also parallel Ren and Nora (defeating a personal demon together, holding hands and cuddling on an airship). And Adam recognizes Yang as a romantic rival (“What does she even see in you?”)

They’ve held hands more than any other two characters in the last volume alone. Handholding has only been seen between romantic couples (Ren/Nora, Jaune/Pyrrha) as well as between Salem/Ozma in Jinn’s story (illustrating the romantic interest).

As for Yang? I’d move her to Ambiguously Gay. Her interest and flirting has been 100% directed at Blake from volume 2.

I am in full support of Yang being moved to Ambiguously Gay and Blake Ambiguously Bi. I am an huge fan of the show. Plus the Ho Yay section involving was deleted because it evolved beyond just that.

Sounds good to me. Perhaps a pruned down version of the last version of Ambiguously Gay would work.

I disagree about using Ambiguously Gay for Yang. The 'ambiguous' part of Ambiguously Bi already covers cases where attraction to the opposite gender is ambiguous.

Also in general, I feel a good rule of thumb is to assume early details haven't been retconned unless they are contradicted later. And I just don't think "only shows interest in their love interest" contradicts "can feel attraction to people besides them".

Heck, if you go by the logic of "she's only shown interest in Blake, therefore she's not interested in boys", you could argue that it's a case of Single-Target Sexuality, because she hasn't shown interest in other girls besides Blake. (To be clear, I'm not arguing this.)

Anyway, tl;dr: I think Ambiguously Bi is a better fit for Yang than Ambiguously Gay.

I would argue Yang's general lack of interest and being generally unimpressed by guys in general (even as early as volume 2, where she's unimpressed by Sun showing off his abs as an excuse for not changing his clothes for the dance - a spot where it would've been very easy to just have her enjoy the eye candy - and Neptune's general... everything) does contradict the "early details". Besides, using that single scrap of evidence as reason when it's not been followed up with or acknowledged (hell, some adaptations like the official manga and the TV edit of the Japanese dub skip over it entirely) since, feels like it's clinging onto something that doesn't reflect the now fully realised character six volumes in.

Please don't use the Badass Bisexual trope, I think the Badass clean-up thread is getting rid of that trope (and also Badass Gay as well). I put these tropes on the Is This An Example? thread on the weekend because of the Edit War.

The suggestion over there is that Blake should be Bi The Way because her bixsexuality is pretty much confirmed and that Yang should be Ambiguously Bi.

Personally, I would warn against the argument that Yang has only shown interest in boys once because, the truth is, she's also only shown interest in girls once, too. She's shown absolutely no general interest in girls beyond Blake. It just happens that, because Blake is her team-mate and a constant presence in the show, Yang's interest in her is sustained instead of one-off. If you're going to use the 'once only' argument against Ambiguously Bi, you immediately put yourself in danger of Single-Target Sexuality arguments regarding Blake (so, I agree with Twiddler on this point).

Since she's shown interest in the idea of dating boys but no interest in any of the individual boys she interacts with and interest in one, specific girl, but not girls in general, I have no problem with Ambiguously Bi. It makes sense. And, like Twiddler said, the 'ambiguity' covers the fact we don't know if she's gay or not. An entry under this trope can easily make it clear that the ambiguity is between bi and gay, not bi and straight.

That said, if people end up choosing Ambiguously Gay, the current Ambiguously Gay write-up is awful and, in places, inaccurate. And it's definitely shoehorning Early-Installment Weirdness (remember, in real life, people can show genuine interest in the opposite sex as teenagers only to later decide they're gay, so it wouldn't be weird for Yang to have shown genuine interest in the idea of dating boys and still decide later on down the road that, no, she's definitely gay).

I disagree with ambigously gay for yang as well. Ambigously bi is appropriate she has not done anything to suggest she does not like men romantically but oggling at boys indicates she at least finds them attractive and nothing later contradicts this. Being unimpressed by certain men she interacts with isn't enough. For Blake there has to be some sort of indication from her part (like blushing) beyond handholding. As Weiss, Ruby, and Yang have all held hands and hugged at one point too. I still we should wait until the dvd commentary comes out. The voice actors are not writers and most of them say they hope and think might happen but that is not canon confirmation.

The framing for Blake/Yang's interactions is undeniably romantic at this point, so I agree Bi The Way would be most appropriate for Blake. While I agree with Sir Adamus that clinging to to a single joke line very easily chalked up to Early-Installment Weirdness versus the consistent build-up in her relationship with Blake feels like weak justification, I can also agree Twiddler is correct in that the "Ambiguous" part in Ambiguously Bi does, fittingly enough, go both ways. That said, Ambiguously Gay carries that sentiment of ambiguity too, along with the idea that it's something she perhaps just grew out of, as Wyldchyld describes. So overall, I feel like Ambiguously Gay is the better fit for Yang's characterization.

Excuse me, but I have to be the bad guy here and speak on behalf of others and ask how long this discussion will take? I for one fine with waiting but some friends of mine told they are not liking how long this is taking. Again I am fine with the wait, I am merely acting as a mouthpiece for others so please do not be angry with me, and if I have offended anyone I apologize.

^^ "clinging to to a single joke line very easily chalked up to Early Installment Weirdness versus the consistent build-up in her relationship with Blake"

What does one have to do with the other? Whether she is attracted to guys has nothing to do with whether she is attracted to girls.

Ambiguously Gay puts forth an assumption — either her attraction to guys was retconned, or she grew out of it. Ambiguously Bi requires no such assumptions. Assuming that a detail from earlier still holds up is the default.

^ We're not running on a clock here, and we're all doing this in our free time, so the only answer I can give is that it'll take however long it takes. Also it's only been two days since this discussion started — that's nothing.

Again sorry for asking but I was only doing so on behalf of some friends. Also in my opinion I think that Blake definitely qualifies as Ambiguously Bi, but given the context of the replies that this is not the main issue, but where to place Yang. On that note I do believe that she qualifies more as Ambiguously Gay since that single joke does not really entirely mean that she is attracted to men. The only person she really shows any definitive and genuine attraction to is Blake. She could easily be a Straight Gay Character, she would not be the first character in media to be like that.

^ What if she was checking out guys and girls in the pajama scene? What would you take from it? (Assume V3 E11 hasn't aired yet)

When a one-off joke at the very start of the series is the entire basis for an argument, it kind of makes for a weak case. And I disagree with Wyldchyld's assertion that the inverse is true, and her comparative emphasis on Blake a better argument for Single-Target Sexuality than Ambiguously Gay, precisely because of Blake's sustained presence. Her interest in Blake, a member of her same sex, is an ever-developing constant. Her only expression of interest in members of the opposite sex was a literal joke. She never actually showed interest in dating them either, only teased Ruby about the co-ed nature of their dorm. Even arguing only for the case of attraction, as Adamus pointed out, it was never followed up on at any possible opportunity, even before the plans with Blake were evident. And if you're going to argue that she's never shown interest in any girls besides Blake, while holding up a one-off joke for general attraction to men, then shouldn't If It's You, It's Okay be the most appropriate option?

The matter of her sexuality is ambiguous, lacking any concrete statement or history, but the primary crux is that she has a dedicated romantic arc with a member of the same sex, which would of course be the primary point to be made regardless of which trope is listed, and then a tacked-on note "but she joked about checking guys out once." To me, that more casts ambiguity on her being gay, rather than ambiguously suggests she's bi.

I have long suspected that Yang is closer to gay then bisexual, but the question remains if Blake were a male would Yang still be attracted to her?

I've added a preliminary version of Ambiguously Bi to the page under Yang. Feel free to change or remove as needed.

I would also support doing the same for Blake. Of course, we would have to use only explicit examples of affection towards both Sun and Yang in this case and cut out interpretation, since that would go to Ho Yay.

I have tweaked the Ambiguously Bi entry for Yang. Hopefully, that's okay. I've also written up a Bi The Way entry for Blake — as her sexuality is confirmed and not ambiguous, she's Bi The Way, not Ambiguously Bi.

@jdixon0151: You shouldn't be posting on behalf of others. If they want to contribute, they should post here, too. Typically discussions on the discussion page will span several days because real life is a priority for everyone, and so may not be able to post multiple times a day, or even every single day. A week is a good rule of thumb.

Anyway, it appears to be sorted now to Blake being Bi The Way and Yang being Ambiguously Bi. Does anyone have any other changes to make?

Still don't really agree with the application of Ambiguously Bi vs Ambiguously Gay with regards to Yang, but with regards to Blake, I wasn't aware of any concrete statement having been made about her sexuality? I'd say Bi The Way applies regardless, but if there's an actual creator statement on the matter then it might be best to link that?

Where is the confirmation that Blake is bisexual from the creators? Did Miles or Kerry make a statement to that effect? Otherwise its mere conjecture until we get actual on the record stuff from the writers. I suggest the Bi The Way trope be removed. Give me evidence or at least a link or I will remove the trope from her page.

In addition although Blake and Yang have grown close, everything Blake has done can also be interpreted as trying to repair a broken friendship with Yang and not necessarily an indication she is bisexual. Considering she hasn't expressed interest in Ilia or any other girl in the past either I don't think this trope is appropriate. There has to be concrete indication that she likes Yang in a romantic manner (love confession, kiss, blushing etc). Sun hasn't bowed out of her life as we can expect him to return in the next volume or the one after. Yang's page seems good and I agree to the changes so there's not problem there.

"Interviews with the creators have confirmed that Blake is indeed bisexual."

Can someone please link the interview (or interviews) where this was confirmed? This trope seems to have been added recently, but this is the first I'm hearing of Blake being confirmed as bisexual in canon or by Wo G. Not even the RWBY Wikia states this.

"Interviews with the creators have confirmed that Blake is indeed bisexual."

Adding on to this, you can't explicitly state that creators have confirmed this with no actual confirmation to this. This is straight up lying to watchers of the show, and if this turns out to not be true this source is letting down a lot of actual bisexuals with a blatant lie that is backed by no proof. No source. No credits.

Either add a source, it isn't that hard - it'll literally just be backing the point if this is done and hurrah, then T Vtropes isn't making things up!

What the... are you guys serious? There is no "undeniably" about Blake and Yang being romantically involved. What evidence do we have? Adam's jealousy? Third party's observation is no evidence, we have a whole page of people making assumption like that and being wrong. Hand Holding? Hugs? we've had a dozen of hugs in the show, and most weren't romantic. Them being close? There is a trope for that. At this point there is nothing except a possibility in the future. Unless there is a source to the Word of God, i see no basis for Blake's bi the way entry to stay.

Well there is saying that the relationship between the two of them is not romantic nor is there any saying the relationship between them is not platonic. You can't simplify define this kind of things with out definitive proof, but in life not everything is definitive so. So labeling both Yang and Blake as ambiguously Bi would probably be the best bet.

Imo, at this point it is clear, that both are romantically attracted to each other. RT isn't even subtle about it. Most of the staff just seems to affirms that something is going on between the two. Just recently they had released a RWBY themed Valentine's card with Blake and Yang. It's the only RWBY Valentine's card https://twitter.com/RoosterTeeth/status/1096107393040039937

I would say at this point, the question is not if the two are attracted to each other, but rather if they will act on their feelings.

Also Barbara confirmed that the fans are not seeing something. These moments are deliberate, it's just that not all of these moments are deliberate.

The valentine's thing qualifies as ship tease for the fan community but it doesn't mean anything for the show itself. I suggest bitheway be removed until consensus is reached. Adam's comments are not sufficient. He is selfish and delusional. He called Sun her classmate which wasn't true. Blake refused to go to the dance with Sun because she was too distracted by Roman and the white fang. She is very concerned for Yang because she felt responsible for her arm. None of these points implies she is bisexual.

If Barbara Dunkelman said it, are you sure that's Word of God and not just Word of Saint Paul? Actors don't necessarily have writing authority, so unless the writer(s) officially told her that it would just be her interpretation. And even if she knows what the writers are gonna do, that would just be Word of Gay until such time as the show actually depicts evidence of attraction. If the show does go more clearly in that direction we can always add the Ambiguously Bi entry back in, but the entry as written seems misleading.

I'll be the first to admit, I haven't seen the whole show all the way through more than once. However I'm just up to S2 ep 8 in my second viewing, and even when I'm actively looking for signs of Yang and Blake being attracted to each other I've not seen anything convincing so far. Emphasis on not so far. Yang persuading her to go to the dance was no different from what a friend would do, and giving her the first dance wasn't that big a deal. Its not unheard of for straight girls to take a female friends as a prom date. In fact, the camera only shows the very end of their dance, and then shows Blake spending the whole rest of the evening dancing and having fun with Sun. So maybe the suggestiveness kicks in later, but that part of the current example text seems like a stretch to me.

The burden of proof is on the one providing the trope. None of the arguments put forth in this thread have shown Blake is explicitly bisexual. Everything is based on conjecture and speculation than hard evidence. Her obliviousness to Ilia's affections, her former attraction to Adam, and her present attraction to Sun implies she is straight so far. The arguments for bisexuality can ALL still fall within the context of platonic interactions between two girls. Once again nothing definitive (ex. like blushing because of Yang, a confession of some kind, admission over her feelings to another) has occurred. I agree with The Big Bopper. The trope makes the claim Wordof God by referring to interviews by creators that confirm her bisexuality but it is Wordof Saint Paul. Arryn is a voice actress and even in her livestream she uses alot of words like "I think" "maybe" and "I hope". Hardly confirmation and still nothing from Miles or Kerry which is required for the trope to stay up.

When I brought the Edit War to the Is This An Example? thread, I brought together all the information I could find on the matter, which included multiple references over a period of time from different tropers that Blake has been confirmed bisexual — if that is not the case, then it's my bad for limiting my investigation to this website alone.

If it hasn't been confirmed, then just decide on the basis of the content of the show itself whether Blake should be Ambiguously Bi or Bi The Way. That should be easy to do. The way I see it, you lot need to do the following:

• Agree whether Yang is Ambiguously Bi or Ambiguously Gay.
• Agree whether Blake is Ambiguously Bi or Bi The Way.

Given all the fussing over this, I'd recommend that no-one post an example straight to the Character page. Agree the trope, then post a draft entry to this discussion, let everyone agree the wording, and only then post the finalised entries to the Character page. Hopefully, that'll stop the need for shippers to continue edit warring over it.

I'm starting to think this more of a "Romantic" Two-Girl Friendship and don't think its Ambiguously Bi (though volume 7 may prove me wrong) and definitely not Bi The Way for reasons noted above. I therefore have decided to add this trope and remove Bi The Way as it seems more accurate, for again the reasons stated above. Obviously if future events change and Blake is proven to be indisputably bisexual (through the writers or upcoming volumes) then we can reinstate it.

Here is my proposed changes what do the rest of you think?* "Romantic" Two-Girl Friendship: Blake builds up a close relationship with Yang over the course of the series. When Sun asks Blake to the school dance, she initially doesn't want to go at all because she was obsessing over Roman's White Fang activities; but is convinced in a heart to heart talk with Yang to not stress herself and take some time to relax. During the Battle of Beacon, Blake encounters Adam, who defeats her and swears to destroy everything she loves for abandoning him. Blake's horrified expression when they see Yang desperately searching for her convinces Adam to make Yang his first target, resulting in the loss of her arm. Blake abandons Vale in guilt for what happened to Yang and hopes her absence will keep the rest of her loved ones from harm. When she reunites with Team RWBY and after the battle of Haven, Blake begins to rekindle her relationship with Yang. During Volume 6, Blake is very concerned for Yang, feeling responsible for her PTSD and arm loss, and trying to make amends for abandoning her. Their initial awkwardness and tension gradually dies as they reforge their broken trust and bond by the volume's conclusion.

Barbara explicitly stated in the Rewind several of their moments were the writer's intentions. The Voice actors are told stuff in advance. It was both Monty's and Miles and Kerry's to paint in a shippy/romantic way. Barbara is also close with them and was involved with the creation of the show since the beginning. Arryn also stated in the anime milwaukee lifestream that she made sure to ask the writers if Blake and Yang are heading in a romantic direction in volume 6. Unless the voice actors are lying, there is no reason to doubt them and I don't think they are lying, I would say their word counts as confirmation. And as for the writers, in the last Rewind, he didn't deny it and basically said, seeing it develop on-screen will be more rewarding.

But their interaction are meant to be seen in a romantic way and fullfill many romantic tropes. And going around the RWBY fandom, I would say that most agree that their interactions are way past "Romantic" Two-Girl Friendship. There is attraction between the two. Whether it will develop further is another question, but as for their sexual orientation, it is more clear.

Anyway, if Yang is Ambigously Bi because it is unknown if she is gay or only interested in Blake or bi, then Blake should be Bi The Way, since she is likewise interested in Yang and had something with Adam and Sun.

I disagree that Blake should be Bi The Way since the romance tropes are much stronger for Blake and Sun whereas her interactions with Yang, even up to this point, make her ambigouslybi at best if were being generous. They can still be seen in the context of close friends repairing a shattered relationship. Handholding and hugs don't count by themselves as team RWBY have all done them. The RWBY fandom is divided on this or are you not aware of the ship war and the platonic vs romantic debate? The "Romantic" Two-Girl Friendship even has a header image that mirrors what Blake and Yang do almost exactly after they kill Adam. The writers didn't outright deny it but neither did the voltron writers when they were asked by fans if klance was canon. Its marketing.

"Romantic" Two-Girl Friendship requires as much certainty about the nature of the relationship as Bi The Way. Your reasons for rejecting Bi The Way apply equally to "Romantic" Two-Girl Friendship.

As you've made it clear that you're citing a personal interpretation, the Ambiguously Bi trope seems like the natural compromise to make. You'd simply state as the entry for the trope that Blake has had male relationships (brief description of Adam relationship here) and male Ship Tease (brief description of Sun relationship here), but it's ambiguous as to whether her interactions with Yang are platonic (pothole "Romantic" Two-Girl Friendship) or romantic (pothole Bi The Way).

I agree with Bandersnitch and feel the entries are fine as they currently are, for the time being.

Hmm I guess your right. I suppose "Romantic" Two-Girl Friendship isn't correct for this. I have made some changes and put Blake into Ambiguously Bi for now as it works best for what we know for sure until future volumes or Wordof God reveal more. Also made some minor additions and removals to better reflect in show evidence.

Guys, you're edit warring over an entry that is still in discussion. It shouldn't have been added as if the discussion was decided. I believe that very point was made to me just a few days ago. It was right to tell me that the situation hadn't been fully resolved since I had some inaccurate information at the time that I didn't realise was inaccurate and it is right for me to tell you now that you shouldn't be doing this.

I'm asking on ATT for moderator intervention because I think this fandom needs help reaching a consensus that is not going to be an edit war in perpetuity.

The whole point of this discussion is to stop that from happening.

Stop removing reference to Adam going after Yang from the entries. He isn't some kind of Unreliable Narrator. The actions he takes, phrases he uses, are deliberate narrative choices which are relevant to the Ship Tease between Yang and Blake.

This is a mess.

This is in particular directed at uni_sonic and Zhane X 24, for jumping the gun and edit-warring (respectively), but at the next occurrence of adding or deleting some trope related to this conversation without a consensus being reached, the page is getting locked indefinitely and the troper(s) is getting suspended with little patience.

The question is whether Blake is currently bisexual, so we'd need Word of God to that effect. (It's possible that she no longer likes men, in which case she wouldn't qualify as bi.)

A hearty congrats to Kiwialamode, who has just deleted the Bi The Way entry. The page is locked. Figure out a consensus, preferably in one place (discussion here has the most activity, but there is also an ATT entry. Once settled, take it to Locked pages thread.

Honestly, both entries for Blake and Yang's sexualities seemed to get a bit overblown in trying to justify a relatively simple matter, so maybe it'd be best to trim them down a bit? Also including some adjustments to the Ship Tease entries because, as I previously said, Adam's use in the narrative is relevant to it. Blake:

• Bi The Way: Blake used to be in a relationship with Adam until she left him during the Black Trailer after growing disillusioned with his violent nature, later having Ship Tease with both Sun and Yang.
• Ship Tease: Sun is introduced winking flirtatiously at her, and he's frequently shown trying to charm her in his own dorky way. She fluctuates between being flattered and annoyed at his advances (he was her most frequent target of a Death Glare) at first, but she's warmed up to him, culminating in her dancing with him in Volume 2 and blushing at his flirting in Volume 3. Blake also has quite a bit with Yang, which became most noticeable in Volume 6 where Blake and Yang are constantly seen together, attempting to mend their relationship. Tellingly, Adam, Blake's former love interest, sees Yang and not Sun as a romantic rival for Blake, yelling "What does she even see in you?!" to Yang during the fight against him in V6E12.

Yang:

• Ambiguously Bi: Although the Ship Tease between Yang and Blake has increased in frequency over the volumes, she has displayed no interest in other girls and no interest in boys since V1C3, when she voiced her appreciation of the various topless boys sharing the hall with them for the night.
• Ship Tease: With Blake, escalating post-Volume 3. In Volume 5, Yang opened up to Weiss about her feelings regarding Blake's departure, with Yang tearfully admitting that she needs Blake. Adam's decision to sever Yang's arm as a start to his promise to destroy what Blake loves and his later rematch with Blake and Yang in Volume 6 make it clear that he views Yang as a rival for Blake's romantic affections.
  Adam: What does she even see in you?!

^ Regarding Blake's Ship Tease entry, I'd suggest removing the bracketed bit (it's not really necessary), remove the 'Tellingly' from the start of the final sentence, and remove the italics from Yang's name in the final sentence.

Blake's Bi The Way entry is currently a bit too ZCE. Ironically, it'll probably be easier for us to figure out the example content than it will be to decide on whether the entry should be placed under Bi The Way or Ambiguously Bi. So, let's focus on the content first and agree the trope second.

I've got no problem with Yang's entries.

Adam also sees Sun as Blake's classmate. Is he also correct in that respect? Adam is an unreliable narrator since most of his beliefs and actions are of someone who is paranoid, conspiratorial, and jealous. His comments do not factor into Ship Tease. Only Blake and Yang's interactions do. Or should I also add that Kali ships Blake and Sun and put that into Shipperon Deck for Kali's character page would you agree with that? Since she says "I like him" in a tone that a parent would say in approval for someone's prospective boyfriend/girlfriend and is clearly happy with her daughter's interactions with Sun.

Blake has not officially entered into a relationship with Sun or Yang. Her feelings for both are still ambiguous. Does she like Sun in romantic way or does she see him only as a close friend with occasional flirtation but never going further? Ergo for Yang. Does Blake see Yang as a close friend whose trust was broken and only recently repaired or does she harbor romantic feelings for her as well? Bi The Way would mean she is open about these feelings or admitted/confessed them in some manner to both. Since neither have happened we can only assume Ambiguously Bi. Unfortunately the writers will likely refrain from official confirmation for awhile so we can't jump to conclusions with Bi The Way. Its too soon.

"Adam also sees Sun as Blake's classmate." <— What episode is this bit from?

Unreliable Narrator is explicitly about misleading the audience regarding the truth of something. Not only does Adam have nothing to do with this trope, he doesn't have anything to do with any Narrator trope. There are only three characters that have had Narrator roles: Ozpin, Salem, and Qrow.

Your desire to dismiss anything Adam says or does is based entirely on your own personal choice. We're not dealing with YMMV tropes. His words and actions therefore carry no more or less weight than any other character's.

"Tell me, does Blake make all of her classmates fight for her?" Adam says this to Sun when they briefly encounter each other at the Battle of Haven. If we add Adam's perspective on their blake and yang's relationship as Ship Tease we should also add Ghira and Kali's perspective too. After all they act as over protective dad and encouraging mom tropes for their daughter and Sun.

So, the page has been locked for a while. Have things cooled down enough that someone can take it to the locked pages thread?

I has been locked awhile.

To be honest it should remain locked since no new information has been revealed since the edit war. Just wait for volume 7 or future commentary on the subject from the show writers.

Considering the two situations aren't remotely the same - Ozpin's keeping secrets that could get them killed and is leading them, while Yang isn't leading and is keeping a secret that holds no relevance to their situation, and Ozpin's a thousand year old wizard who should know better and Yang is a traumatised teenager and that information about Raven is wrapped up in her personal issues with the woman - no, Yang isn't a hypocrite.

Hypocrite also needs to be raised in-universe. It doesn't matter what fans think, it's an objective trope, not a subjective one — if it's not raised in-universe, it doesn't count. No-one has accused Yang of hypocrisy over anything, so the trope doesn't apply.

I've removed the entry from the trope's page for being misuse.

I moved my post to the proper discussion topic. Apologies!

Alright, got it. I was wondering about why it was in one place but not the other and needed to ask why. Thanks.

Remark removed - wrong place.

.

The Is This An Example? forum thread would an option to get further feedback as well. I'd link to it, but the Discussion Pages aren't cooperating on that the front. It's in the Trope Talk forum, first thread.

The problem you've got with the trope is that the trope description is quite sparse and therefore entirely revolves around the concept of the list of 'typically consists of' members. So that is all we have to go on for the point of the trope at all.

Now, this could be a trope description issue, which is why I'm thinking that perhaps the Is This An Example? thread be better — and there is a trope description improvement drive thread as well.

However, if you're using other examples as a ballpark for how much of the trope description to ignore, that's not the way to go. Because, I suspect you'll find that if you start pointing out examples where only two members fit the suggested list, people are going to suggest that the examples you're looking at are shoehorns that need to be cleaned up or removed.

I actually did bring it up there. While I've gotten people agreeing it may be an example of the trope, there was some disagreement on what each of the roles the girls fall under. I actually think there is a trope description issue as the definition is too vague.

I agree with you. Role placement was my problem (ultimately) with your entry, too. The girls' are struggling to fit into the trope as it's currently written, but it's such a horrible trope description at the moment, that an argument can actually be made that it's not the girls' that are the problem but the trope.

I believe this trope applies, but the example isn't written well.

From the trope page: "it's a quick, easy way to show the audience that Nothing Is the Same Anymore". Ever since the fall of Beacon, nobody was the same anymore. Ruby witnessed the death of her friends. Her top is similar to Penny's, and the placement of her sigil on her cape is similar to the placement of Pyrrha's sigil on her sash. Weiss was brought back to her gilded cage of a home. She wears jewelry and impractical shoes (more high-class and less combat-ready). If I sat here a bit longer, I could try to say something about Blake and Yang.

In V4/5 Ruby's cape is shredded, since she's no longer in the safety of Beacon. Weiss always had her ponytail off-centre as a form of rebellion, in V4 it's perfectly centre for the perfect heiress. . Blake ditches the bow that hid her faunus heritage, since she's no longer trying to blend in with humans, but instead goes home to a faunus country Yang is more difficult to say from clothing, but equally changed, she never goes past T-shirt/trousers (Shirt/pants to Americans) in V4 until she puts on that arm and goes out into the world again.

Actually, Weiss’s ponytail is still off-center in V4. The idea of her hair being straight came from her concept art, and the show itself disproved it.

Pretty sure you can elaborate all of that into Spirited Young Lady.

Yes, that's what I'm suggesting. We keep the example, but it needs to be Spirited Young Lady, not Rebellious Princess.

The Spirited Young Lady is already on the page, but is criminally short for an entry, and as is, is no better than a ZCE, so I guess you can take the above writeup and incorporate it into Spirited Young Lady.

• Spirited Young Lady: Though initially presented as a haughty Lovable Alpha Bitch, it's clear that enrolling into Beacon Academy is a decision of her own, and as the story progresses, we learn that she issues against her ostensibly rich family back in Atlas. Rebelling against her Corrupt Corporate Executive of a father plays a strong role in her character arc (especially in volume 4), and her primary goal in life is to be a Huntress and follow in her late grandfather's footsteps. It even comes up during her Calling the Old Man Out song "This Life Is Mine".
  I won't be possessed,
  burdened by your royal test.

This could work as well, I agree.

I just thought I'd mention that "This Life Is Mine" is the page quote for Rebellious Princess. It was added a few weeks ago without an edit reason. Considering that we've decided Weiss isn't one, should we make a discussion on that page or just revert the quote with this discussion as the reason?

I would leave it there. Ultimately, whether the character the quote is referencing is an example isn't as important as the quote's content and if it reflects the trope itself.

So, Rebellious Princess quote has been changed back to Aladdin, so without further ado, the Spirited Young Lady writeup above can go forward while deleting Rebellious Princess.

The rewrite works for me. And, yes, I changed the Rebellious Princess quote back to Aladdin the other day after a discussion in the General Page Quote Discussion forum thread. The page quote was changed without discussion, which was the reason it was switched back to the original quote. My edit reason states that the page quote needs to be discussed and agreed on that forum thread before changes are made.

Now see, I would believe that Qrow doesn't know any more than what he told Ruby if it weren't for the fact that he said that she was special "in the same way [her] mom was". From that, we can infer that Summer had silver eye powers and that Qrow knew about it. But somehow he just doesn't know anything about their origins or how they work, even though team STRQ was together for a long time? Something's weird about that.

But let's assume for a moment that Qrow doesn't know anything. What about thousands of years old, magical, knowledgeable Ozpin? She's finally reunited with him in Volume 5 and he clearly knew about her silver eyes from the get-go. Even if they're more focused on their human enemies, Salem has clearly decided that Ruby's silver eyes are a threat if she was willing to send Tyrian after her, so you'd think that Ruby would feel compelled to ask some questions about this power that Remnant's local queen of evil is now interested in. And hey, who better to ask than Salem's now established arch-nemesis? But nothing, no questions.

Speaking of Ozpin, why does he never mention that Ruby's powers are useful against Maidens? I don't believe that he simply doesn't know about that weakness considering that, again, he's thousands of years old and the power of the Maiden's was originally his to begin with. A discussion for another time, I guess.

For the sake of argument, let's say that neither Qrow nor Ozpin know anything that can help her. I still think she qualifies for this trope because she hasn't even tried to learn about the silver eyes. At no point has it been established that she can't learn about them or that she's busy with other things. She's just shown a complete lack of interest in finding out anything since the end of Volume 3 and the show has made no attempt to justify this.

While I lean in favor of including the trope, it desperately needs to be rewritten, as right now it's coming off as complaining about Ruby not asking about her powers instead of presenting an example of the trope.

It does sound kind of whiny when I reread it. I guess my frustration towards the shows tendency to keep things mysterious by having the characters not ask basic questions bled into the writing.

It's been a couple of days. Are we still discussing it, or should I add the trope back to the character page?

I haven't been able to respond because I've been avoided spoilers until the new episode became available to be to watch, plus, it's always a good idea to get input from elsewhere if not many people are using Discussion Page.

I've reworded the entry you added back to the page because it's incorrect in places. There's no indication that Ruby (or even Qrow) had any idea the silver eyes worked on Cinder. That was knowledge possessed by the villains and audience only. She therefore only knew it was a powerful anti-Grimm device that the villains were unhappy about her possessing.

I've put the rewrite here:

• Apathy Killed the Cat: At the end of Volume 3, an instinctive outburst of white power results in Ruby learning from Qrow that Ozpin once said that silver eyes mean that person is born with a powerful magical ability that legend says can slay the Grimm with a single glance. While travelling through Anima in Volume 4, Ruby displays no apparent interest in exploring her power, even after she learns the villains are hunting her because of it. Despite training with Ozpin in Volume 5, Ruby never asks him about training the power or why the villains are after it.

I notice your edit reason when you made the changes were because you hadn't received any comments on the Discussion Page. That's probably because the latest episode had not been released to the general public on the 28th (the Saturday) when you made the changes. The relevance of that being that people would be avoiding the pages to avoid all the spoilers the sponsors (who get to see the episode immediately) are putting on the page.

The episodes are not available to the public until the following Tuesday (today), and only then to people who have free accounts on the RT website. Everyone else will only get to see the episode a week after sponsors see it (so, in four days time) when the episode gets uploaded to YouTube..

If you're looking to start a discussion about something when a new episode is about to be released (even if it's not about something in the new episode), it may be worth giving it around a week before deciding no-one is going to respond — and perhaps advertising it on ATT and/or the RWBY forum thread as well, so people know it's there.

I don't have any inherent objection to the trope being placed under the General section, but I do think we need to take the Foil entries to the Is This An Example? thread. The nature of the trope means it's not the kind of thing that should be used for every compare/contrast character in a work (which seems to be how it's being used for this show). If that's happening, there's something going wrong with the way the trope is being used for that work.

I think I've given it enough time. The general consensus from the two threads (see original posts for the links to both) is that Four-Temperament Ensemble is shoehorning. Just because the team has four characters, it doesn't mean the trope is in effect. Both the girls' personalities and the various categories for each 'temperament' have to be cherry-picked to make the characters fit the trope, which is shoehorning.

There's also a feeling that the Four-Philosophy Ensemble is a shoehorn as it is also arguable how each girl fits each philosophy.

As a result, I've put a commented-out note on the page stating the following:

%% Please do not add FourTemperamentEnsemble or FourPhilosophyEnsemble to the page as consensus agrees the trope is not in effect. Please see Discussion Page for further information.

Hopefully, this will address the situation where this trope gets an agreed consensus only for it to be readded at a future date.

I'd much rather she be ambiguously bi- I'll be honest, I don't know exactly WHY the other user thought the aforementioned bit of interest in men doesn't count.

The thing is that with Yang it's clear she has SOME kind of interest in Blake and MIGHT have a more general interest in men- the problem is that she doesn't have a confirmed interest in either. It might be best to put her down as BOTH tropes; we have reason to think she could be bi, but the overall hinting only really suggests interest in one particular woman.

EDIT: Also, I figured that the original editor MEANT to basically re-edit it into Ambiguously Gay, seeing as her point was that the displays of interest in men were so fleeting as to be irrelevant in any analysis of her sexuality.

At best, we've got Ambiguously Bi. Yang's interest in men to at least some degree was made very clear early on. While she's shown flirting with Blake, she has outright expressed interest in men when they were all sleeping in one room.

Sounds good to me- I was just worried about starting an Edit War before.

EDIT: I'm strongly against removing the Ambiguously Bi trope, though- her flirting is utterly transparent, what's not clear is if she really means it.

That's what makes it ambiguous. She's displayed unambiguous interest in men, but ambiguous flirting with Blake. Combining the fact she's flirted with enemies while in combat, and that she hasn't displayed any other flirtatious behaviour with women, we don't know if she's genuinely bisexual or Single-Target Sexuality for Blake.

It doesn't make sense to give her both Ambiguously Bi and Ambiguously Gay because that basically sends a signal that there's shoehorning going on. I completely agree that Ambiguously Bi is the best choice for now.

However, given that Gamermaster has changed the trope back to Ambiguously Bi without contributing to the discussion first, I'm going to double-check on ATT what the next step should be since it's now a clear Edit War.

I've added the Ambiguously Bi example to the Is This An Example? thread to see if it's possible to get more input than three people.

I agree that they don't count, because Amazon Brigade isn't just about an elite force that is all-female, but also an elite, all-female army. RWBY is just a small, four-girl team, so they automatically do not count as an Amazon Brigade. This is shoehorning.

Volume 2 had already established that Weiss wanted to take over the SDC not because she wanted the money but because she wanted to redeem the family name. Jacques disowning her shocked Weiss not because she wanted that money and wealth, but because it destroyed her chances to redeem the family name through inheritance.

This reads far too much like it's trying to twist the trope.

Isn't it a rule now that all spoilers pre-Volume 4 are unmarked anyway?

Ruby so far seems to be anything but broken, so no, it doesn't

I'd consider leaving that in as a subversion?

To be truthful, Ruby does end up in a fight without her weapon three times - losing it in Volume 2 against the White Fang, not having it when facing Mercury in Volume 3 and losing it during her fight with Roman and Neo during Volume 3.

It is something of a major disadvantage to her as she seems to be completely over-reliant on the weapon and not much else - Weiss, Yang and Blake seem to be able to mix in their natural fighting talents with their Semblances and weapons. You never see Ruby use her speed Semblance for much outside of something like a Flash Step

If the character trailer for Volume 4 is any indication for how Ruby has grown since then, it's highly possible that this trope may still apply, but only for her Beacon Saga self.

It hasn't been focussed on much, but when it has been, it has been shown to be a major problem for her. The creators have said those scenes are deliberate because she's ace with Crescent Rose, but really needs to learn how to fight without it. This is the reason why the fandom keeps speculating that Crescent Rose will be destroyed at some point.

Everyone is weaker when you take away his standard weapon. I don't see entry for Green Lantern on the trope page because he cannot fight without his ring. Weiss also had lost her sword once and didn't even think about attacking untill she recovered it, and i've never seen Blake fighting without Gambol Shroud either. My point is, while Ruby is overspecialised(although even that is debatable since she's fully capable of using swords as well), it's in no way crippling. Keep in mind that this is when overspecialisation can cause problems in standard situations, not just very specific ones. Quoting the trope page:

"Don't confuse "having a weakness" or "not being the best at everything" or even "not being quite good enough" as being this trope. Don't be tempted to list something because it failed in some way unless you can point a finger at its crippling specialty! "

Ruby's reliance on Rose qualifies more as "having a weakness" rather than anything really crippling.

Of course everyone is weaker if you take away their strength. Yang is an example (the creators have confirmed her weakness against kick-based fighting and her strength at fist-based combat).

This is not what is going on with Ruby. Ruby is so completely specialised in fighting with Crescent Rose that she is unable to fight without it. Not only has this been shown in-universe, but the creators have confirmed that Ruby was deliberately designed this way because her character development will eventually include her being forced to learn how to fight without needing to rely on Crescent Rose.

Note: we don't know that she's fully capable of fighting with a sword because we never see her fight with one. She did pick up Penny's sword and hit a Giant Nevermore with it, but what she did was use her Speed Semblance to slam into the Giant Nevermore while holding the sword in front of her. The force pushed the creature back away from Pyrrha (without injuring it) and allowing Ruby to plant herself between the Nevermore and Pyrrha. After that, the Giant Nevermore is brought down by the other kids, not Ruby. She gets Crescent Rose back at that point.

The same creators who wished happy valentine's day just before killing of half of Fan-Preferred Couple? I wouldn't exacly trust everything they say about RWBY's future.

Anyway my point is it doesn't matter how unskilled she is without her standard weapon as long as she doesn't expect to fight without it. So far there were 3 situations where she was forced to fight without Rose only two of which were actually problematic(when she fought Black she just needed to get past him and she did.) the first of which was pure bad luck(falling into a random hole and losing weapon) the second of which was enemy who just happened to have weapon good for disarming opponents(and even then it wasn't easy) AND the fact that they were fighting on top of the airship and Rose was stuck in a side in a way that made it almost impossible to pull out without falling off, combination of unlikely circumstances that i don't think will happen again anytime soon.

As for standard situations Ruby doesn't go anywhere where she can expect fight without Rose, and when she doesn't expect fight but still is caught up in it there is still the rocket locker. Ruby's reliance on Rose is only weakness in a few very specific circumstances, when this trope is about overspecialising making useless UNLESS it's specific circumstances.

A two year old being excited for a new baby sister is pretty believable.

When I first heard the song, I assumed it was Summer's song. Knowing Raven had abandoned Yang just after birth, it's her vow to do no such thing to Ruby, the melancholy being that this is what a mother would say to her daughter if only she was alive to say it.

However, when Qrow made that crack about Ruby being 'daddy's special angel', my interpretation changed to it being Taiyang's song. I had this second theory before I learned that Jeff Williams made this song as a message to his own daughter. Either way, it sounds like a parent's song to a child.

Anyway, if people are debating, that means we don't know enough to trope it. I notice there been some shifting around of what song to apply to Yang as an Image Song. If people can't agree on that either, I suggest we don't yet know enough about Yang to know which song is meant to be her Image Song.

White Rose probably counts but i'd wait with it until we learn more about her. We know she was capable huntress and silver-eyed warrior but from what i understand this trope requires ancestral hero to be big shot enough, and we don't know just how much White Rose was famed in-story. Anyway i agree that in contect of Drunkle Qrow it's clear shoehorn

Yeah, I don't think Summer can be troped on much right now.

I'd consider Action Girl... insufficient context. Not zero, but not quite there. "Huntresses-in-training" is effectively meaningless (you can be completely shit at something and still be "in-training"), and "very capable fighters" is not enough to describe the trope alone.

The other one's more complicated. In a meta sense, Egocentric Team Naming applies. Let's face it, they wouldn't be called that if her name wasn't Ruby. But I don't think it's a character trope because of that, and should go on the main page.

Egocentric Team Naming is not just when a team is named after one of its members, it's when the member themselves was the one to name the team. That's why it's called Egocentric Team Naming.

Yeah, my understanding is the same as Twiddler's which is why I removed it.

An example of Egocentric Team Naming would be, say, in Friends when the gang are playing a game that Monica joins late but takes control over, and she yells out "Let's go, Team Monica!", much to everyone's annoyance.

That doesn't happen in RWBY. Ozpin chose the team names, Ruby had absolutely no say in it, and she is the person who later states that the team name is causing confusion.

By the same token, Team SSSN (led by Sun) would also not be an example, but this time through lack of knowledge. We simply don't know who names the Haven teams.

Tropes Are Flexible. Just focus on the spirit and not the letter.

The Egocentric Team Naming example is a shoehorn. Again, Egocentric.

Since Egocentric Team Naming specifically says it doesn't count when the person doing the naming names it after someone else, the trope isn't flexible enough to cover it.

The show has never claimed Yang is the slowest member of her team. That's fanon. What we have seen is that she's as willing to engage in acrobatics as anyone else on her team. Even if she did end up one day being confirmed as the slowest member of her team, the Mighty Glacier trope isn't for athletic, acrobatic characters who just happen not to be the fastest character in the team.

As to having trouble keeping up with anyone with any degree of speed, that's a very YMMV statement to make. Many of the characters have had trouble with something that, at some point; Yang has not been singled out for this in any way, and even the few characters who do have the ability to augment their speed, have been shown to sometimes struggle with speed in battle.

The only girl in their group that has "natural" speed is Ruby - and even that is Semblance-powered. Weiss uses glyphs to enhance her speed. Both of them are therefore using special abilities to enhance speed for (so far, short) periods of time and have actually never been shown to be significantly faster than any other characters when not using their Semblances. Comparing any character's natural or non-augmented speed to that (including Yang) isn't a level playing field. Even Weiss and Ruby have found that their speed doesn't always given them an advantage over their opponents' reflexes.

There is nothing in the show that singles out Yang as Mighty Glacier. The trope is being shoehorned on the basis of fanon.

Anyone she can't keep up with, everyone else seems to have trouble keeping up with. I get the idea, but no.

I do understand the fanon. Yang's a powerful, physical fighter who gets powered up by tanking some pretty nasty hits. That type of character is often portrayed in works as a Mighty Glacier, but Yang's so far not been that kind of stereotype.

^ Well, it's more that there's no good way to compare beyond audience interpretation of what's going on.

Does the show have to spell out everything? Because the show certainly expects you to pick up a lot from the combat.

I say shoehorn. She's not slow enough.

^^ I'm a big fan of shows leaving the audience to figure things out for themselves, but Yang's abilities and behaviour in battle do not fit the Mighty Glacier trope.

Yang's a Mighty Glacier in comparison to the rest of her team. To everyone else, she's a Lightning Bruiser.

^ That's what I meant by "relative"

Mighty Glacier is only relevant to Yang if her Semblance kicks in and decreases her speed and mobility while increasing her strength and power. The show hasn't claimed this is the case.

A Semblance temporarily enhancing Ruby or Weiss's speed no more makes Yang relevant to the Mighty Glacier trope than Yang's strength-enhancing Semblance makes Ruby and Weiss Weak, but Skilled. That's shoehorning.

Yeah, that's a shipping-based shoehorn. Cut it.

Are tropes not allowed to be used for singular scenes?

Because in that scene, Yang definitely performed the role typical of a love interest. Blake's psycho ex-boyfriend showing up promising to destroy everything she loves and Yang runs into the scene. I'm arguing that the role is easily a love interest role.

I don't think this will actually go anywhere, or that it's real ship tease. But you can't deny that Sun would make a lot more narrative sense to play that part.

Yang makes the most narrative sense given that she and Blake are main characters as well as being official partners within the show's titular team. We know from Volume 1 that the four-person teams are created out of two designated pairs (Team RWBY is created from the Ruby/Weiss and Yang/Blake pairs choosing the exact same chess piece during the cliff test). Previous scenes made it clear that both Ruby and Blake were missing, and Yang and Weiss split to locate their respective paired partner.

The profound impact on Yang's normally devil-may-care personality from her injury seems to be the beginning of a character arc for her. Adam is a profound piece of Blake's past come back to haunt her and her response is the apparent reversion to a character flaw she once stated she hated (running when situations get heavy), which appears to be the start of a character arc for her. As two of the four main characters, character development isn't simply likely, but pretty much mandatory.

Sun is a secondary character who does not appear in every episode, and doesn't necessarily interact with Blake in a romantic way even when he does appear (in other words, while he is Blake's love interest, he is not a Satellite Character that exists in scenes solely to function as Blake's love interest).

I'd argue the point about Sun, given that I really can't recall a scene where he isn't acting as a love interest ( or at least being set up as one by the narrative). Even the fight his team has ends with him reinforcing the shiptease.

As for Yang, I don't see why those argument disprove the entry. The key lines from the trope that got my attention : " may have an actual love interest, but they will usually be less significant than this character" which seems to be true if Rooster Teeth is using Yang as the character whose maiming hurts Blake. Yes there's a narrative reason for why Yang goes after Blake, but Sun in-universe has a just as good reason for going after her. (Actually, why does Yang not show more concern for Ruby than Blake? And Sun not offer to go with her to get Blake?)

For me at least, Adam's rant revealing his creepy love for Blake and the immediate contrast with Yang's arrival means she's taking up the narrative role of most important person to Blake, the person she "loves" most. Which should be Sun's role if he's the love interest.

So, since Yang is replacing Sun for that scene, I'd argue that she's the not-love interest of the episode.

Yang was concerned about both Ruby and Blake. Yang and Weiss separated according to who their designated pair was (Blake for Yang and Ruby for Weiss).

Sun does not have just as good a reason for going after Blake as Yang. Yang trumps Sun in every way given that she's a much more important character to the show than Sun. Blake and Yang are also no less significant to the show than the other - they're two of the four main characters who form the team that gives the show its name.

There is no narrative role in Adam's scene for someone who classifies as the "most important person to Blake". Adam never said he would target the person she loves most, or the most important person to Blake. He said, to quote, "I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love". Yang just happened to be the first person on the scene that Blake cared about, so Adam decided to start with her - and he made it clear that Yang was just the start.

Adam's statement isn't even limited to people. It's "anything", which could include any location that makes her feel happy, safe or connected - such as Beacon Academy. In terms of people, that threat should cover all of Team RWBY, all of Team JNPR, and Neptune as well as Sun. It may even include her teachers.

From a Doylist perspective, it is significant that they choose Yang to show up first. Yes, there's a narrative reason for so, but it'd be very odd story telling to have the person show up be someone they only cared about as much as others.

And that's my point, that Yang's importance to the plot also means her importance to Blake is more important than Sun, or at least that Rooster Teeth wanted to emphasize how important Yang is to Blake.

Yang, as Blake's partner, takes up the role of most important person to Blake. Which is why it makes narrative sense that she runs in when Adam threaten's to destroy what Blake cares about. I'm saying that the scene would ordinarily be performed by a love interest character. But Yang performed it.

It would only ordinarily be performed by a love interest if the story is calling for the important character to be the love interest. The role isn't automatically or ordinarily performed by a love interest except in stories that require a love interest plotline to be driving the storyline, or one of the driving forces of the storyline.

So far, RWBY hasn't been that kind of show. If love interests crop up along the way, they'll crop up, but it isn't a show that is driven by love interests - it's a show driven by team work and unity, even the villain's motives seem to be about unity (as in 'divide and conquer'). This story has been focussing on the paired partners and the team groupings, which is also what happened in this scene.

I'd like to know why, as well. Especially in regards to Cinder being a foil to Ruby, considering I'm the one that added the entry in the first place. Anyone want to explain why their clearly complimentary aspects and conflicting positions don't qualify as proper foiling?

The Foil examples that are on the page are:

Ruby

• Ruby/Weiss
• Ruby/Blake

Weiss

• Ruby/Weiss
• Weiss/Blake

Blake

• Ruby/Blake
• Weiss/Blake
• Blake/Yang
• Blake/Sun

Yang

• Blake/Yang.

As far as I can see from Twiddler's list, the three that are missing from the page are:

• Ruby/Cinder
• Weiss/Yang
• Yang/Mercury

As far as I understand the Foil trope, a foil are when two characters are designed in a way where characteristics of the one character highlight characteristics that are in/lacking in another character (and vice versa).

Those three missing examples look like they're just listing things that happen to be able to be contrasted between two characters rather than things that are definitely emphasising something about the paired character.

The Ruby/Cinder example could be a genuine one, given one is the protagonist and the other the Big Bad, but the example seems based on, as much as anything, assumptions. For instance, is Cinder illegally in Beacon? What if she has been signed on as a "legit" Haven student and is therefore waltzed into Beacon legally? Everything so far has set up Cinder to be connected to Haven, but we don't know anything about the legitimacy of that connection (although it looks like Volume 4 is going to start exploring that).

Cinder hasn't really cited a strong desire to change the world - her stated motive is to become strong, powerful and feared. Yes, she's given speeches that play to her audience, but we don't know if that's part of her machinations or whether she truly does want to change the world. She's still mysterious, although there's no doubt she is enjoying the chaos she's causing.

At the moment, the example is justing how they contrast but isn't saying why contrasts are important - which is my issue with the example.

Weiss and Yang seem pretty shoehorned to me. They haven't been set up in any strong manner outside of one tournament fight. It certainly doesn't explain how it's important for characterisation or story role.

The same goes for Yang and Mercury. Yes, they're exactly opposite in fighting styles, and, yes, Monty has said Yang is supposed to be weak against kick-boxers, but the example isn't saying why this is important.

I was concerned that the sheer amount of foil entries were turning into a list of contrasts and comparisons, which is heading into Chairs territory, because it's easy to find contrasts and comparisons with most characters in most works. I've never read a work with so many genuine foils.

It could be that these are examples, and I'm fine if they are and need to go back on the page, but I do think they need to explain why it's important instead of just listing what they are.

Thank you for your reply. I'll be returning the entry for Ruby/Cinder with some different wording.

I've got no problem with that. You might need to add it to the trope page as well. I probably removed it from there, too.

What COUNTS as a Ship Tease anyway?

The fact that ship tease isn't a YMMV trope is one of the great mysteries of the universe.

I haven't seen the DVD Commentary, but I do remember an interview (Afterbuzz, maybe?) where they discussed this very subject. In that interview, they certainly were joking around when they discussed it, so I guess it's up to fans to decide whether it was just part of the banter, or a point that should stick.

Personally, I think it's a joke based on the interview that I witnessed. However, I haven't seen the DVD Commentary, so I don't know if they've decided to roll with it, and turn a joke into a "fact". If anyone has seen the DVD Commentary, a response on this would definitely be useful.

Edited: Sorry, I misread your original post slightly, so I've amended my response accordingly.

I have heard the commentary at a friend's house, and he points to when Ren blocks Yang's kick. Ren has line-of-sight up Yang's skirt, and she flashed him.

So yeah. He gets flashed by Yang, Miles wasn't joking regarding it.

Cool, looks like they decided to roll with it then. Works for me.

It's kind of like how Girls und Panzer snuck a Panty Shot into it despite the director saying there will be done.

In-Universe ones are fair game, as long as the viewers don't see them. Other characters? Perfectly fine.

That's not a Panty Shot, though. You can't have a panty shot without, well, a shot. It's a filmography technique. Flashing someone isn't a panty shot.

The shape of it seems to match up with the summoned swords. I took some screenshots, but where did the image uploader go?

Edit: Okay, I made a quick comparison thing and uploaded it to tumblr: [1]◊ Note the shape of the blade (including how it narrows near the hilt) and the rings on the hilt.

(Btw, the sword from "Breach" appears at 3:12, if anyone wants to check it themselves)

The Media Uploader?

Yeah, what happened to it? It's not in the sidebar, and https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/imguploader.php returns a 404. Was it moved?

It's a sword made of Ice Dust. Weiss is incapable of Summoning until Volume 3 after her training session with Winter (barely) and saving Velvet (more, but only the arm and sword of the Knight)

Twiddle's image comparison◊ shows quite clearly that sword wasn't a summon but an ice creation. Yes, the shape is the same, but the texture clearly is not (one looks like ice, the other like solid light). Furthermore, the ice sword is not wielded by anyone, unlike the one shown in the season 3 finale.

But ultimately, the whole point of Weiss scene of her sister is she not being able to summon at all. The whole scene makes less sense if she could already make partial summons.

I'm going to give this a week, just to allow people time to respond.

Okay, I said I'd give this a week.

This was added back at an earlier stage while the example was still under discussion, so there's no need for me to add it back. The description text describes the scene as being Ice Dust not summoning, so I don't need to edit the content of the example.

Is everyone happy with that as an outcome?

I'm not sure I agree with the sentiment she's autistic. I'm high-functioning myself and I know how to socialize, I just don't like to. I think she's just an awkward teenage girl surrounded by people older than her and is easily flustered.

Dumping this here while I'm at it because there was no consensus.

• Ambiguous Disorder: Ruby can come off as more than just slightly goofy, sometimes. On top of various social issues she has to struggle with early on in the series, her addiction to combat and obsession with weapon engineering have both been acknowledged by her older sister and Professor Ozpin at different times. She also seems to have an issue understanding Weiss' use of sarcasm, as seen by her completely straight faced response to Weiss' snarking over where to find food in the middle of the festival courtyard. This would suggest her settling somewhere on the mild end of the autism spectrum.

The point of it being "ambiguous" is that it applies whether or not you know how much it applies, right?

As the original poster of that which was dumped, I'll also level my own two cents. I am also a high functioning autistic on top of having OCD. I've studied the concept for years as a means of understanding where I was most challenged socially to figure out ways of subverting my own tendencies to better connect with other people. In a sense, I studied the language of regular people and memorized it rather than being naturally fluent. Most of the tendencies that were listed are ones I had in common with Ruby during my teenage years, particularly unusually focused interests and literal thinking. Captain Capsase gave an excellent support argument in favor of Ruby's autistic tendencies and there's not all that much I can say that would add to it. Karxrida, what you need to remember is not all autistics are the same. Some choose not to communicate with others and some have no choice but to struggle socially. I'm not satisfied with saying she's merely awkward when she's exhibited textbook examples of the behavior well after she's acclimated to Beacon's atmosphere. So, how do we get a consensus going?

I remember this being addressed back when Volume 1 was still airing, and a consensus was reached back then as well. I can't remember where it was discussed, it might have been the forums.

I'm going to respond to a couple of Captain Capase's points. Please don't think me unsympathetic. I have a number of relatives who are on the spectrum, and manifest Autism and Aspergers in different ways. Ruby's behaviour is also very similar to my own. In fact, I struggle to socialise much more than Ruby does, and I definitely am not classified as being anywhere on the spectrum.

I appreciate the links, I think they're a good idea. Like Captain Capase, I'm hardly an expert in this area and wouldn't pretend to be. Obviously, I'm addressing points individually because of the limitation of posting. I know you'll say that this is what the pattern adds up to, not isolated points. I appreciate that, and I'm also looking at the pattern things add up to. I'm just seeing a different pattern to you.

Please let me know if I use any terminology that makes anyone uncomfortable or upset. It's not my intention, but I'm not expert and I might make mistakes. I will rewrite my post where necessary.

Let's avoid guessing about what we don't know. What we do know is that Ruby states she has friends back at Signal. She doesn't like the fact she didn't get to bring her friends to Beacon with her. She's been pushed forward two years, and has had to leave her friends back home. So, she's writing to them. We don't hear anything about those friends ever again.

Yang did get to bring her friends from Signal with her. Aside from two mentions of them in the first few episodes of Volume 1, they're never mentioned again either.

No other character (Weiss, Jaune, Pyrrha, etc.) ever has any reference of friends back in previous schools mentioned - not even once.

I don't feel the writers have treated Ruby unusually here compared to any other character. On the contrary, Ruby and Yang have actually been given more back story here than any other character, even if it was just one or two references that are never mentioned ever again.

The "Can I?" moment was written for pure comedy - and the comedy was at Weiss's expense, not Ruby's. I don't know if you want to view that as some kind of Unfortunate Implications, but it's worth bearing in mind that this is the first team work exercise the girls have together and they're still basically strangers at this point.

Goofing off in class was a story point - not only did it emphasise that Ruby is two years younger than everyone else in the class (and fifteen year olds goofing around in boring classes is very normal behaviour), but, if you notice, Yang and Blake were sniggering right along with her. More importantly, this was a plot point to set up Ozpin's later lecture to her about taking the responsibilities of leadership seriously. She only needed that one lecture to change her behaviour, and was later able to pass that wisdom on to Jaune when he was also screwing up his leadership responsibilities.

Ruby abandoning someone she's only just met for the only person she knows well isn't unusual behaviour for a child or a teenager. It's pretty normal behaviour. In fact, I've seen it happen quite regularly among adults, too. It's a comedic moment, but it's seems pretty "human" to me.

The writers appear to be trying to portray her as a geek. To me, she just appears like the standard storyteller's attempt to convey a geek. In her case, she's a tech-head, which in this show translates to huntsman weapons.

Jaune isn't a good example of anything that's normal at this point as he doesn't have the combat background, so he has no idea what's going on as it's all completely new to him.

Ruby's "I drink milk!" exclaimation is an example of childishness. To me it was a sign that the writers were trying to convey in the early days that Ruby was two years younger than the rest of student cast, and therefore less mature. It was a key point of Weiss's concern over her leadership, that she was so immature compared to the rest of them.

I have noticed in interviews that the writers are viewing even the seventeen year old characters as "children" - and indeed have had various adults point out they're just children (Ironwood asking if Ozpin thinks his children can fight a war or Ozpin reminding Glynda after the food fight that they're just children, even Cinder's speech about Penny being a robot in Volume 3, Episode 9 was couched in terms of children).

Whether you think the writers are doing a good job of writing the character ages is a different matter entirely, but the story has been putting a great deal of constantly repeating emphasis on just how young all these characters are, that they are innocent children and that they aren't viewed as adults.

Her comment to Qrow was just a joke. Probably to ease tension. It's exactly the same joke I would have made - in fact, I was thinking exactly that as Qrow said it, so I did find Ruby's come back funny for that reason alone.

From what the writers have said, Ruby was designed to be the Wide-Eyed Idealist whose youthful innocence has yet to be broken down by experience of the realities of life. Stories about children losing their innocence as their experience of life grows is very common, and fifteen is a very common age for protagonists to be when these 'coming of age' stories begin. Especially in anime, which is what this show is inspired by. I don't see anything unusual here.

I really don't think her socialising has been as much of an issue as some fans think it is - it was an early thing that was quickly resolved. She recognised her own past behaviour when she met Penny, and she was actually quite smooth when meeting Mercury, Emerald and Cinder for the first time (as Haven students).

This initial socialising didn't last long, just when she was new student at a new school. She and Jaune bonded extremely quickly, I thought, and once the team were together for the first time in a non-fight situation, Ruby, Yang and Blake seemed to be bonding quite quickly - it was Weiss who was struggling, mainly because she wanted to be the leader. The writers constantly referring to the theme of "strangers are just friends you haven't met yet" is something I've heard a lot in stories aimed at children and teenagers, and a sentiment I've heard parents and teachers express (in different words) when dealing with any children or teenagers who are facing a new environment (school or university, for example).

Being put off at the idea of having to start from scratch and make new friends all over again isn't that unusual, especially in children and teenagers. There are plenty of teenagers who find the idea of going to university very daunting because they won't know anyone, their friends won't be there, and they don't want to have to struggle to make new friends.

Yes, it's great to be one of those people who can waltz in to new situations and make friends at the drop of a hat (Yang is implied to be that kind of person), but it's also very normal for people to not be like that and to not look forward to meeting new people. Yes, certain conditions can make this more difficult for people, but it's very common among people who don't have any conditions as well.

We must not forget that this entire story is fairy-tale themed. Ruby herself is based on Little Red Riding-Hood. For the show's protagonist to make a shout out to this is to be expected, and her view on fairy tales isn't particularly unusual for a character who is starting the show as a Wide-Eyed Idealist.

If the consensus was reached two years ago back in Volume 1, it needs to be readdressed. There's far more evidence in support.

Writing off a situation of misinterpreted sarcasm for humor does not invalidate it as evidence, otherwise 60% of Castiel's behavior from Supernatural would have to be completely ignored because it served a punchline. Autism can be funny in some circumstances. I'm in no way offended by that idea.

We actually have seen visual conception of her imagination on at least one occasion, that being her trek through the Emerald Forest while she considered potential partners in Jaune and Blake. While it deliberately was meant to evoke RTAA in style, an argument could be made for its odd simplicity.

In addition, you can't dismiss Ruby's social difficulties as her "just being and awkward teenager" when supported by much more specialized examples of her behavior being pointed out. I was certified on the spectrum for near exactly the same reasons as have been covered in this argument. Take it from somebody who has it, the evidence is strong.

And, as it has been pointed out already, it's called Ambiguous Disorder meaning it doesn't have to be an absolute sure thing. There are already a plethora of characters on the page less qualified than Ruby who haven't gotten this sort of resistance.

I might as well ask with how this has been going on for so long. What is everyone's problem with the idea that the protagonist has some kind of disorder? It doesn't make her inferior in character to the rest of the cast. It doesn't make her any less able to fight the good fight in her state.

Just to point this out: using other examples on the trope page is never a good idea because it's not a guarantee that the other examples are correct. An entry has to stand on its own merit, not when compared to entries from other works.

This shouldn't come into it. People discussing whether or not the trope applies should not be interpreted in any way as an statement on the real life "disorder" itself or real life people who may fall into the discussed category.

The only thing that matters to the discussion is whether or not the character fits the trope.

Fair enough, let's look at the parameters of the trope instead of narrowing it to simply autism, then. After all, the trope itself doesn't have to fit any specific Real Life disorder as per the whole ambiguity part. Each point will be a direct quote from the page's primary description.

1) It's way beyond mere ordinary quirkiness. No reasons are given for the strange behaviour. No specific diagnosis is ever mentioned in the story.

While we've never been given a solid explanation for why Ruby is the way she is, several characters (namely Yang and Ozpin) have remarked on her social difficulties (one coming to mind is Yang asking her why she doesn't try making her own friends after Ruby mentions how seeing new weapons is like meeting new people "but better"). So, as per trope definition the oddness has been noted by other characters even though there has never been a solid diagnosis.

2) The disordered behaviour will often be Played for Laughs.

As seen by Ruby's responses to Weiss' sarcasm, in addition to various other things such as her RTAA themed imagination and pretty much whenever she really starts to geek out about weapons. Comedic effect does not remove the example from the table.

3) In the instances where this trope is played seriously, the character usually overlaps with The Spock, Pinocchio Syndrome, or Tin Man and focus on this character's struggle to befriend people or otherwise fit into society.

See Ruby's character development from Volume 1. She wants acceptance and support in spite of her reluctant nature and awkwardness in social circumstance. To help the parallels with Pinocchio Syndrome "I just want to be a normal girl, with normal knees".

4) In fact, any resemblance to any real disorder is likely accidental; the character's symptoms are exactly those symptoms the writer wants them to have.

Any arguments about Miles and Kerry intentions for writing Ruby as having these eccentricities can be considered moot until Word of God says otherwise. What matters is what's seen.

To me, it does seem quite normal for someone of her age who is set up to be a bit of a geek. I know loads of people who were just like her at her age, including me. So she doesn't stand out as unusual to me at all.

But it hasn't been singled out as anything akin to a disorder. What I mean by that is that the show keeps contextualising it in terms of her being childish or immature or needing to grow up. Even Ozpin's speech to her about the responsibilities of leadership is just a very kind and gentle speech about needing to grow up and mature.

Yang has only mentioned her needing to make friends right at the beginning when she was new to school, and it doesn't seem like anything unusual to me that I haven't heard from all sorts of parents or teachers to shy children entering a brand new environment or shy teenagers entering a new school - or even being said to socially adventurous children just in case they end up feeling a bit nervous or shy later on. Back when I was Ruby's age, that sort of "you need to come out of shell" type conversation or message got used on me - and plenty other kids in my year group.

I even heard when I was in university, directed towards eighteen and nineteen year olds. I continue to hear that sort of thing in adulthood, too. Take workplace celebrations or parties, there have plenty of times when colleagues give a team mate a nudge and tell them they need to break out of their shell and mingle more or socialise more.

All these people are considered "ordinary".

More to the point, this idea about making new friends in the early episodes comes across almost like moralising in children's stories - the "don't be afraid to make new friends" aesop. Yang trying to break Ruby out of her shell only happens a small handful of times, and is often accompanied by nearby scenes where someone else is saying the same thing but in a different way. For example, Jaune comments that his parents told him to view strangers as friends he hasn't met yet.

It's exactly the same thing Yang's doing, just in a different way, and it's very normal advice that parents give to children or teenagers who may initially be nervous about making new friends or entering new situations.

It has not been a recurring theme with Ruby throughout the show. It only happened at the start when she was entering a new situation and had to make new friends. And, as she pointed out to Yang, part of her problem was that she was very nervous about her ability to blend in, she was afraid she'd be singled out for having been advanced two years.

And just because there is evidence of geekiness being played for laughs, it doesn't mean that someone has some kind of disorder. I don't see any attempt to display her as anything other than a writer's cliche of how geek characters behave in stories. Even then, she's not a strong example of nerdiness. There are one or two incidents that are played for cuteness as well as comedy, but most of the time the subject never even crops up - so it's again, mostly early introduction stuff.

We may just have to disagree on the subject of Ruby's responses to Weiss's sarcasm because, depending on incident, I've interpreted it as her being funny in her own right, taking the high road over Weiss's tone, some early episode childish mockery or snit at Weiss's attitude, and only very occasionally genuinely not sensing Weiss's real attitude.

That all seems to be a normal, acceptable range to me, including sometimes not getting someone else's mood - which even the biggest social barfly can miss or get wrong. No-one is perfect, no-one reads a person's mood right all the time, and I don't see Ruby as missing social behaviours and cues on a regular basis. She's done it once or twice - and plenty of other characters in this show have done it once or twice as well, so it all comes across to me as the writers just portraying kids who are growing up.

She feels like she's being singled out because she's just been jumped up the school system by two years. I consider her fears completely normal given the situation. Not only have I seen plenty people have fears like that (including me) when it's happened to them, but it's also only an initial fear she faces. Once she's in the school and being treated normally, she's thrilled (hence her "normal knees!" relief in the students first fight with Grimm.

I agree, but as far as I can see, I'm watching a pretty normal show for teenager 'coming of age' stories, with pretty common cliches thrown in and very human behaviour that I can relate to, having had many of the same experiences as some of these characters when I was their ages (all the fantasy enemies and threat of war aside, that is :) ).

These posts are how I've been interpreting the show and the character (and other characters). I do find it genuinely interesting that something I view as completely normal behaviour, not just for an individual but also quite normal (as in contextually explainable) within the boundaries of the show we're watching, is interpreted by others as being not normal behaviour, and the reasons given for why that interpretation exists.

I'm beginning to see a serious issue with tropes using the word ambiguous. How exactly are those in favor supposed to lock this down when, without word of god or an in series diagnosis, all someone has to do is say "I consider the behavior completely normal" and every piece of evidence becomes moot?

I suppose I might as well restate how these exact traits when I was Ruby's age were enough to certify me as autistic, so the personal experience angle can go both ways.

These "Ambiguous" tropes are a bulk of nonsense that gets drowned beneath speculation. Do note though that Ambiguous Disorder is not about plain ASD.

@Septimus: Until such a time as they are deleted, that's just your opinion, unless I'm mistaken about how the wiki works. Currently, there is no character trope for Aspergers or ASD, just a Useful Notes page, and Hollywood Autism clearly doesn't apply, and the vast majority of character tropes on any given character sheet come exclusively from fan interpretations of the character's actions and dialogue rather than a Word of God description of their personality. There is inherently a certain measure of speculation when it comes to populating character sheets with tropes, and I don't see any reason to hold the "Ambiguous" tropes, the ones that apply to characters at least-to a higher standard. Not when virtually every character trope is already subjective. I'd also like to point out that all but three of the diagnostic criteria I attributed to Ruby were not predicated on speculation regarding off-screen behavior, merely observations of her interactions with other characters during the course of the series.

@Wyldchyld: One of the issues I'm seeing is that you seem to interpret what me and Serape are interpreting as Literal Mindedness as being jokes Ruby is consciously making. Sure, it's almost always been played for laughs outside of one occasion in the Nevermore fight, but that doesn't mean Ruby is aware of the fact that she sounds foolish. Given that this particular gag is specific to Ruby (and probably also Penny), I think it's pretty clear that being Sarcasm-Blind is a deliberate part of her character. As far as her behavior being what you view as "normal", many of the individual traits associated with autism can be found in perfectly ordinary people, and that's particularly true regarding traits found on the high functioning end of the spectrum. It only becomes a disorder when enough of them are present at the same time.

As far as author intent goes, that's pure speculation both ways and will probably remain that way, but there was clearly parallels being drawn between Ruby and Penny's behavior in the first episode Penny appeared in, and Penny is much closer to the popular conception of how someone with high functioning autism acts.

Finally, regarding previous consensus on this trope's usage, the consensus was "I can see it, go ahead and add it" (that was made on the forum topic and after a back and forth PM or two) the first time around, back when the trope was called "Ambiguously Autistic" and was explicitly about ASD. Then it got changed to Ambiguous Disorder, and got removed at some point between volumes, then re-added and removed a few more times after the page split before we reached the current impasse.

Capsase, you're a godsend in all this.

No, I'm saying I'm seeing a range of different things going on and it's not just one thing or the other. I may have to re-watch the show with this specifically in mind, but I really don't remember seeing very many Sarcasm-Blind moments from - not significantly so compared to other characters that have also had such joke moments, anyway.

That's a point I am addressing. I'm talking about people that have most, or all, of Ruby's traits who are regarded as completely normal people. Myself included. That's a problem I'm seeing with trying to resolve whether or not Ruby is supposed to be an Ambiguous Disorder character. People can see the symptoms of recognisable disorders, but people can also see completely normal behaviour that exists in people who have never been, and will never be, diagnosed with anything.

I won't respond to the rest because I think we need far more input to get this trope resolved once and for all, and I think everyone's made good points so far. Including the problem with dealing with tropes called "ambiguous".

I have to ask, you said you weren't on the austistic spectrum but shared many traits/quriks with Ruby? Is that an assumption you've made on your own, or is that the assessment of a mental health professional? Plenty of cases of ASD on the high end of the spectrum go un-diagnosed into adulthood, and it's fairly common for the most telling signs of the disorder to be masked by learned coping mechanisms by that point. This can be further complicated by co-morbidity with or misdiagnosis as ADHD, and by the gaps most people have in early childhood memories, which can make diagnosing an adult quite challenging.

As far as the Sarcasm-Blind / Literal-Minded gags, I don't recall any such jokes with characters other than Ruby or Penny, and as far as more generalized cases of Comically Missing the Point go, that's also been mostly restricted to Ruby and Penny to the best of my knowledge. While I doubt every episode has an example, there more than enough of them spread out over the course of the different volumes to say there's a recurring pattern. I re watched the series with this particular question in mind while I was writing the OP, so I'm fairly sure of myself saying this.

On another point you made, it's interesting to me that you perceive her behavior as childish. I don't disagree (she certainly doesn't act like a fifteen year old would be expected to), but "childish" is frequently how people with no knowledge of the disorder describe the behavior of someone with high functioning autism/Aspergers. Autism is, at its heart, a developmental disorder, and while missing early childhood developmental milestones is the most well known manifestation of this, it's not the only one.

Wyld Chyld seems to have opted out. I ask again, how do we reach consensus?

He's waiting for other people to respond. I'll link to this on ask the tropers if nobody else wants to weigh in.

And I've put it on Ask The Tropers here hopefully more people will reply to it there.

I'm actually responding to the way the creators have other characters raising that subject. I appreciate that can be a problem with the way people handle this in real life, but my approach is more about wondering whether the creators are mis-portraying an attempt at childishness. One thing (among many things) adult creators are well known for doing badly is portraying childish or immature behaviour.

Apologies extended to SerapeWF. I did mention on the RWBY thread, but I should have clarified here as well. I think it needs more than just us to ensure a firm consensus is reached. As I said on the forum thread, although I've argued my stance quite strongly, I really don't mind what decision is made at the end. Given that this has cropped up a few times in the past, I just want to make sure that we've aired everything that could be said so that a final decision will stick if it's ever queried again in the future. The more input we have from people, the stronger the decision will be.

I hope that helps you understand where I'm coming from.

I don't mean any offense, but after looking through the history of the page, you're the only one who ever removed the trope until the most recent occasion when it was pulled for discussion; it was added by around 4 different people.

For once I'm in favor of keeping something removed.

Most people just aren't that knowledgeable about things like autism, or indeed most disorders, and I would wager that includes the writers/character designers of RWBY. The widely assumed consensus is that she's just young, excitable, and naive. I would never have even imagined RWBY as autistic (high-functioning or not) if I hadn't seen this discussion post.

It doesn't seem like something set up by the writers, or intentional at all, I would leave it off the page. It could easily be construed that Yang has a violent streak or rage issues based on her behavior...but that's obviously not intended out-of-universe.

Ambiguous tropes are prone to overuse, and this is no different.

Plain and simple, in this case, I don't think Ruby is intended to be autistic by the writers. And if it's not intended and is just an armchair diagnosis, it shouldn't go on the page.

Ambiguous Disorder in general tends to see a lot of misuse in basically any slightly atypical behavior or quirks = Ambiguous Disorder. She's a somewhat quirky young girl. That doesn't mean she has an undiagnosed disorder. From all the overuse this trope gets I feel like tropers think that anyone who has a personality is autistic.

It could go on YMMV under Alternative Character Interpretation, but it has no place on a main page.

Silence in the Library Ambiguous Disorder doesn't have to be set up by the writers, beforehand. That's part of what makes it ambiguous, as I've already stated. In addition, you assuming someone doesn't have knowledge of autism is pure speculation on your part.

Larkmarn, we've countered every part of what you've said in earlier points of the discussion. In addition, saying "I feel like tropers think that anyone who has a personality is autistic" seems a bit odd, considering we're discussing exactly one character. No one is debating Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Ozpin, or Zwei's potential autism. Just Ruby.

^^ ... no, it needs to be set up by the writers, not based solely on fan-interpretation. Otherwise it's an Audience Reaction and thus doesn't belong on the page. "Ambiguous" in the name doesn't mean "it can go in no matter what."

Go read the description on the Ambiguous Disorder page before you declare that.

I have. For example, "We don't want to start any sessions of "armchair diagnosis," since that kind of speculation about real people inevitably leads to controversy."

Keep this in mind as well:"the character's symptoms are exactly those symptoms the writer wants them to have." The writer may not have a particular disorder in mind, but they're intentionally writing the character to have some sort of disorder. That's the point.

@Larkmarn: That particular line you quoted is the rationalization for banning real life examples on the page. Putting it on YMMV would be a good idea. IMHO, it was a mistake to remove Ambiguous Disorder from the YMMV category in the first place, and this whole discussion is a testament to that.

I would be happy with it going on the YMMV page. That sounds like a good compromise.

Regarding an earlier comment. You're right, it usually was me who ended up removing it, but that was usually after discussion between several people had agreed to removal, and I just happened to be the poster who did the removal each time.

^^ That's the specific context, but it still is clear we don't want an armchair diagnosis. And like I said, author intent is necessary. Otherwise it's Alternative Character Interpretation. Which I suggested a long time ago.

They're not guaranteed to be examples.

Volume 1, Episode 8 was a situation where there was clearly too much going on for the kids to keep up (until later on). Ruby was focussed on running from the Deathstalker, not watching what the Nevermore was doing which was firing from upwards and behind her - which is why it was her cloak that got hit.

Volume 1, Episode 16. You've just described her as being "blind sided".

Volume 2, Episode 10. Completely in character for Ruby - she is always more likely to attempt a fight first rather than running away.

Volume 3, Episode 1 could be for a whole range of reasons of which this trope is only one possibility.

Since Zaptech was the person who removed the trope in the first place, you should make contact with him and discuss his reasons for removing the trope. You shouldn't just add the trope back to the page because no one responded here. Perhaps nobody realised you'd put this question here?

1) Doesn't explain why she didn't use her speed when attempting to hit the Deathstalker in the first place, just like she did against the Paladin and the Beowolf. Nor is it any excuse to NOT use her speed to clear the area as fast as possible, regardless of what the Nevermore was doing.

2) She dodged the exact same attack from Roman in the first episode, when she had no idea the attack was coming, at a much closer range.

3) When she is armed. When she is unarmed (as when facing Mercury) she avoids conflict.

4) Such as?

Lastly, that approach implies that the discussion page is the wrong place to create discussion. And considering how this appears at the top of the page, you can understand how I find it difficult to miss.

When you are in a life-threatening situation and you have a power that could save your life, yet it seemingly doesn't occur to you to use it, this trope qualifies. Lord Knightcon is right, Ruby could've used her Semblance many times and seems to have simply forgotten about it. That's not a TERRIBLE thing, and in her defense, she gets better about it.

And Wyldchyld, whether something is in character doesn't affect whether or not they have the power or not, which is what matters. It's in-character for Weiss to not always use Dust, but she still apparently forgets she can use it during her fight with the White Fang Lieutenant because...?

...because she gave her magazine to Blake to use?

You have to remember that every time an ability isn't used, is not automatically an example of the trope concerned. Like I said, the person for you to talk to is the person who removed the example in the first place and discuss their reasons for doing so.

It's not just a matter of an ability not being used. All of the examples I listed are a matter of not using it when there was no logical reason not to, except to preserve dramatic tension in the scene.

To answer Silence's rhetorical question about Weiss and the Lieutenant: She didn't use Dust on him because the fight would have been over in two seconds if she completely encased him in ice or set him on fire from across the room.

If there's another trope that more aptly describes these situations, then by all means do tell.

Firstly, aversions aren't notable unless they're an omnipresent trope.

Secondly, it reads as complaining, as from this context alone it sounds like "she supposedly cares, but isn't showing it enough." I could very well be wrong, but that's how it sounds without knowing more context.

Well that's why I brought it up. I can already see people wincing because it sounds too harsh or critical to be applied to Blake, although I don't think the trope itself reflects terribly on her. I'll try to edit it to be more gentle, but...well ya know.

Is Protagonist-Centered Morality even applicable to characters?

I was the one who posted the second one so I'm leaving my two cents on the topic. The other one said "not fatal yet" so I took it as not a fatal flaw and replaced it with something else. It's not that I don't agree, it's that the original one admitted to be not a fatal flaw so I saw no point in leaving it there.

As for my own point. It's becoming some sort of running gag: Weiss judges a person, she's proven wrong, she gains a new opinion on them and doesn't learn the lesson at the end.

Ruby had to almost die by the stinger of a Deathstalker to get Weiss to drop the ice queen act and work together with her. And the whole issue was with Weiss, not Ruby at all. She saw Ruby as a weak and naive girl in a battlefield alongside people who are far above her level. And as Ruby said: "You don't even know me." This bad judgement from Weiss was born even though she knew nothing of the girl apart their first meeting but she had already labeled Ruby as a weakling. And that's only with Ruby. Jaune, Blake, Sun and even Neptune have all been a victim of this. It's a bad habit of hers that has caused her troubles thus proving to be a "flaw".

I'd caution that you're letting Ruby off scot-free, given that Ruby also needed a whack from the wisdom broom to stop being so childish (and she's still got an impulse problem). However, that's an aside. I haven't seen Weiss do anything that relates to the Fatal Flaw trope. Where has Weiss ever been in a position where, as a result of her personality flaw, she's a Tragic Hero who has either failed to succeed or suffered a Tragic Mistake? I don't think I've seen any of the characters do anything that could be that trope. Not yet, anyway.

I'm sure her snap judgements are some kind of personality flaw trope; I just don't think it's Fatal Flaw.

I agree with you about the first example.

It's not much about if Ruby's at fault or not here. It's about knowing to have a bit of mercy instead of being so pessimistic such as Weiss only snapping at Ruby when her team was cheering for her at class. Her bad treatment was exclusive for Ruby and while she has a few reasons to doubt the girl, Ruby has proven herself already for the most part but Weiss simply refuses to acknowledge her good qualities.

It's an important part of Weiss' character that affects a lot of her decisions during the entire series and brings her problems. If she didn't have that, every single issue she has dealt with so far would have never happened. Sure, there is no tragic mistake and she's no tragic hero but as far as I've seen in the Fatal Flaw page and its examples, that has little to do with it. It's more focused on the idea that the flaw itself brings a lot of issues to the character and takes part in the story. That being said, let's see:

Weiss' flaw is a running gag? Check

Weiss' problems have been caused by her flaw? Check

Weiss' flaw affects her role in the story? Check

Fatal flaw it is.