Team SLVR, some of my first OC’s kinda ever. I originally planned on doing proper drawings of them but I haven’t been back to doing those in a long while now, so I figured I’d post up their new designs and their finally designed weapons.
I’m not going to dwell on everything wrong with their original designs/drawings, because dunking on my past self’s art and design choices is not productive to growth. However I do actively enjoy thinking about character design, and there are a few big changes from the original designs to the new ones worth talking about. But I’ll keep it short.
I’m gonna put that, and then character details and stuff about their semblances and weapons under the cut.
Their original colour schemes were so messy and all over the place, ignoring the core theme of RWBY character designs; each character has a colour that represents them. Sand’s design has more red and purple in it than pale yellow, Lime’s is completely the wrong green, Violet’s is also the wrong purple, and there’s way too much of it without proper variation or dispersal throughout the design, and then Rouge’s is the only one with gold instead of Silver, their team colour. Completely ignoring all of the issues with the designs themselves, the colour language is completely off, and for something so integral to the very concept of RWBY OC’s to be so wrong, was my biggest issue with these original designs, when I finally came back to them
Hence, the colour overhaul in the new designs! I gave them all monochromatic eyes and hair, matching their personal colours. Sand has pale yellow eyes and hair, Lime has a bright acidic green, Violet a light purple, and Rouge a bright red, and then these same colours are pulled down throughout their designs, head to toe, and then broken up by a couple shades each of creams through dark greys and black, and finally they all have silver accents. Sand is the leader, and he’s meant to be a lighthearted and approachable character, so he has a bulk of lighter colour on his top half, with his personal colour covering what would otherwise be a large amount of black on his boots. Lime is practical, pragmatic, straightforward; she wears more armour, but also more of her personal colour is on show. Violet is outwardly timid, but also very powerful, her clothes are baggy and her colour seems to box her in and drown her out somewhat. And Rouge is a rogue, he’s sneaky and works in the shadows, so his personal colour takes a backseat to the bulk of black in his outfit.
And now for actually character stuff rather than just design rambling ^_^;;
Team SLVR (Silver) is based on mythical beasts/monsters of legend, and alongside team BDNA (Belladonna), who were based on various famous/archetypal witches, they were intended to be rivals for Team CRSS (Cress), to form a narrative of the fairy tale heroes against witches and monsters; with the obvious caveat of the witches and monsters being people with human feelings and motivations, and ultimately having more in common with each other than against.
Sand Martichoras: Sand is based on the Manticore, and his Semblance ‘Venom Lash’ presents itself as his Aura manifesting a large, spectral scorpion tail from his lower back; Venom Lash can be used to strike with the tail itself in order to poison a foe and drain them of their strength, or Sand can channel it’s power into his attacks, imbuing his dust shells with the same poisoning quality. His weapon, The Scorpion Stinger, is a weighty spear with a wide flat spearhead more appropriate for sweeping attacks than thrusts, and on the opposite end is a shotgun. It can be snapped in half to use both simultaneously, and can then be used like nunchucks or even as a grappling hook with the cable connecting them. Sand is the leader of Team SLVR, he’s confident but lighthearted and easy to talk to. Some would say he’s overconfident, or even vain, but for the most part he gets along with everyone he meets.
Lime Gorgana: Lime is based on the Basilisk, as well as Medusa, and her Semblance ‘Eye of the Gorgon’ presents itself as a pulsating green glow all about her, and her Aura manifesting several hissing snakes all around her head; Eye of the Gorgon is a powerful semblance which Lime struggles to control, it being able to activate without her meaning to when she becomes overly emotional. Eye of the Gorgon petrifies Dust, rendering it inert stone; when it is directed, it can petrify a controlled amount up to quite a great distance away, so long as Lime can see the container the Dust is in or the person carrying it. However it also petrifies Dust immediately around Lime as well, in a very small area while it is being carefully controlled and directed, but in a larger one when she loses control of it; regardless it means she cannot use or even carry any Dust of her own. Her weapon, The Serpentine Fang, is a simple one, owing to it’s inability to use Dust; it’s base form is a lithe, collapsible rapier which pairs elegantly with her arm-mounted shield, then it’s scabbard doubles as either a large, weighty cleaver, or when the rapier is inserted, as a substantial greatsword. To compensate for her inability to use Dust of any kind, Lime has trained her body to be a powerful and adaptive weapon all it’s own, equally skilled in the use of her shield, hand to hand combat, the rapid, flowing motions of combat with her rapier, and the devastating, crushing blows of her greatsword. Lime is the second in command of Team SLVR; her and Sand often disagree about many things, but they also trust each other explicitly. She is very levelheaded, and very pragmatic and practical, some would even call her cold blooded for some of the decisions she’s made in the heat of combat, but her skill with strategy is unquestionable .
Violet Wolfsbane: Violet is based on the Werewolf, and her Semblance ‘Lunar Frenzy’ manifests as her Aura expanding to project the shape of a spectral, bipedal wolf about her. While her Semblance is active Violet loses control, going into a frenzy, her expanded Aura protects her from a greater range of attacks and it hardens itself against damage, allowing her to fight for much longer than otherwise; it also gives her enhanced speed and strength, allowing her to leap and bound across great distances and rend through strong defences. However it comes at a great toll, draining her strength and expending her Aura, meaning that once it runs out, she collapses, often unable to even remain conscious, making it’s use in actual battle extremely high risk. Her weapons are The Violent Renders, manacle-like wrist bracers with crescent blades on their sides which can rotate and open out into tiered claws for varied uses, such as slashing, stabbing and rending. In their expanded state, the blades can also be detached from the manacles to be swung by cables at distant foes. Violet is timid despite her height, often walking hunched over or standing with all her limbs angled inwards, as if trying to make herself smaller, and she speaks with a soft voice. She is afraid of her Semblance and doesn’t like using it, but Sand, Lime and Rouge have helped to bring her somewhat out of her shell and have attempted to instil more confidence in her, especially with regards to her power.
Rouge Entigo: Rouge is based on the Wendigo, as well as the Jackalope, and his Semblance ‘Blood Hunger’ manifests as his Aura taking on a mottled black and red effect, with spectral antlers atop his head and pitch black eyes. While Rouge is channelling Blood Hunger, he is able to cannibalise his own Aura to exponentially increase his strength, as well as to perform other feats he is not otherwise capable of; By taking large chunks of power from his Aura at a time, Rouge is able to perform short range teleportation (only to a location he can see) or he can cut a similar portion off of another persons Aura; he can also corrupt Dust to significantly weaken it’s effects, or temporarily prevent the activation of someone else’s semblance. If someone else is willing, they can feed their Aura into Rouge’s, allowing him to devour it to use Blood Hunger more, or for longer. Rouge’s weapon is a shortsword/large dagger called The Happy Rogue, which can expand out into a lightweight hand scythe, or can be split into a pair of thin daggers, which can still then be expanded into a hand scythe/handaxe combo. As well as their obvious offensive capabilities, Rouge often uses The Happy Rogue for climbing, liking to take advantage of terrain for stealth as well as combat. Rouge is a prankster on the surface, but underneath he has quite an aggressive side, and has a penchant for violence. He and Lime were childhood classmates, and learned and trained together long before Team SLVR was formed, and while he doesn’t showoff his fighting skills nearly as much as she does, they’re equally matched when it comes to combat.
As individuals they all possess powerful semblances, versatile weapons and impressive fighting capabilities; together they are a formidable team, they work well together, and close ranks around their personal weaknesses. But they all have weaknesses that the rest of the team can’t cover for; Lime can’t use her semblance while near the others, or she risks petrifying their Dust, likewise Sand’s Semblance risks Poisoning the others, Violet’s semblance has a short shelf life in combat and if she drops at the wrong time she becomes a big liability, and while Rouge’s has the same problem, he can also take power from the others to extend it, heightening both the risk and the reward. Their strength as a team comes from knowing each others limits, weaknesses, and boundaries, and trying their best to work within and around them.