CAN WE TALK ABOUT NORA VALKYRIE REAL QUICK
Hey but forreal I wanna talk about Nora Valkyrie for a second and why she’s my favorite character in the show.
We have to take into account each hunter/huntress’s backgrounds for this to work, and once we do, you’ll notice a pattern. Naturally, paying for the training and a basic custom weapon + ammunition it takes to become a hunter/huntress in training takes no small amount of money, which would most likely be coming from their parents.
Pyrrha comes from a background of fame and fortune and presumably a normal family, so it is no surprise as to how she is able to afford Beacon and her custom weaponry and ammunition.
Jaune comes from a long line of warriors; his family name no doubt has a lot of prestige and power behind it.
Blake’s parents seemed to be the only family with a mansion in all of Menagerie, and are deferred to by the White Fang. Not to mention, Blake joined the White Fang at an early age and got extra training and experience beyond her peers.
Weiss comes from the Schnee family, owner of the Schnee Dust Company, one of the richest families in all of Remnant.
Ruby and Yang, though not super rich, are descended from three of the most infamous hunters and huntresses in the world, and would naturally get certain privileges other children would not, such as training and elementary combat schooling.
Even Ren, who was an orphan for most of his life, was still raised by a seemingly upper-middle class family with a warrior father. Even after his parents’ deaths, their savings would transfer to him anyways.
All of Nora’s classmates have come from backgrounds that gave them some monetary (or otherwise) advantage. Becoming a hunter/huntress can be safely assumed to be a vocation reserved for the upper-middle/upper classes of society.
But Nora, from birth, has had next to nothing to her name. No family, no money, no food; just her and the streets. As a child, she likely slept in the forest and under houses, and had to beg and steal just to make it to the next day. She’s dealt with bullies and law enforcement, starvation and sickness, without anyone’s help. Of all of her classmates, she has had to fight the hardest to get where she is today, and somehow remains positive about it regardless. This is exemplified in her fighting style: swinging around a giant hammer at lightning speed. She hits fast, hits first, and hits hard. This isn’t finesse or style, like Pyrrha or Weiss. She learned that from fighting to survive from day one.
Without the funds necessary to acquire a custom weapon such as Magnhild with ammunition that would be more expensive than most such as grenades, she most likely had to become one of the top students in her class with very little experience, and probably without even adequate clothing or previous education. Other classmates could have bought their way up with better gear and better training, but Nora Valkyrie earned it all through sheer hard work.
But she hasn’t let her past define her or even touch her in any way. She remains positive and infectiously bright through the worst of times, and loves and cares for her friends with a vengeance because she hasn’t had any before and isn’t willing to let go any time soon. And as a result, she has one of the hardiest auras of the show. This, combined with her extreme and extensive training, has granted her intricate knowledge of the inertia of her body and Magnhild during combat, a technical skill generally unnecessary unless you’re Ruby Rose or Blake Belladonna, that likely requires a lot of quick mental calculations. She has a strong, inherent, and deadly understanding of physics that allows her to navigate the battlefield and apply tactical pressure as adeptly as any of her classmates with smaller and more agile weapons.
So I really hate when fanfiction and fanart portrays Nora as exclusively this airheaded comic relief character who’s an adorable badass-but-for-no-reason. Obviously she does have a reason, and though she does often serve as a comic relief character, it’s still in tune with her nature and runs deeper than just a plot device: she doesn’t want her friends to feel down because she’s lived within true sorrow and loneliness, and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. And I especially hate when they portray Nora as ‘Ren’s girl’, and define her entirely through her relationship with him. Of course she has a natural inclination to be with him, but not once is she ever considered lesser to or dependent on Ren. She’s a much rounder character than people allow her to be, and is entirely her own person.
so yeah tldr nora’s fuckin dope come fight me bitch
dededos
theartofmadeline
turnnoffyourmind
janainaart
stormborns
origamiaround
ellievsbear
