How exactly does Yang Xiao Long’s semblance work?
Yang’s semblance has been described as “Draws Strength From Hits,” or a “fighting game power meter.” We see, and are told, that she gets stronger when she takes more damage, dishing it back out even stronger than before.
Yang’s hair also lights up, as if on fire, quite often (but not always) when she is angered, whether or not she has taken noticeable physical damage - even outside of combat. It has been said that she “draws strength from her hair.” (CRWBY has also stated they have not yet been able to satisfactorily replicate the fiery effect in the new animation engine from V4 onwards.)
Yang’s eyes also change colour to red, quite often (but not always) when she is angered, whether or not she has taken noticeable physical damage - even outside of combat. Early on this was stated to be a “side effect” of her semblance.
The fiery effects of her semblance sometimes seem to be quite real in their fieriness, as if a sudden release of aura sends fiery shockwaves around her. (This is also played with in RWBY Chibi, where her team roasts marshmallows above her flaming hair.)
Yang also displays ridiculous strength even without any visual tells of her semblance being active (when she carries a giant speaker on her shoulder like it’s a tiny boom box). Is that even part of her semblance?
While these different aspects of her semblance seem obviously linked, the inconsistency of their appearance and what seems to trigger each aspect is cause for speculation.
Schnee glyphs and summoning seem like an overwhelmingly versatile grab bag of powers, so perhaps Yang’s multi-faceted semblance isn’t so strange. That being said, Yang is the only character in the show known to have been born of a parent who possesses unnaturally-imbued magic. (Ruby is a similar case, although we know the Silver-Eyed Warriors are a long-standing legend of hereditary ability).
If the Schnee semblance is hereditary, and the Silver-Eyed Warrior powers are hereditary, what’s stopping Yang from inheriting some small fragment of Wizard-”gifted” magic from Raven? Could it have manifested separately from her semblance, however linked it may seem?
(Happy Semblance Saturday!)
