Are there any characters who have different semblances than in canon? Or those who have unknown semblances actually shown?
A few characters, yeah!
Last year, when I talked about how Semblances were adjusted in the Redux, I sorted characters according to the degree to which their Semblance was modified. They got placed under one of five headings:
Characters who had their Semblances slightly adjusted.
Characters who had their Semblances completely overhauled.
Characters who had their Semblances removed and replaced with something else.
Characters with no Semblances.
Characters who previously lacked a Semblance, and were given one.
While plenty of characters (Yang, Sun, Pyrrha, etc) had their Semblances left intact, some needed to be modified to fit the new parameters that I created for the Semblance category system. Others had to be adjusted because of the out-of-context/meta issues surrounding them (like James’ Semblance being tied to ableism).
The rest of this post is going under a readmore. Potential spoilers ahead.
Ruby’s Semblance was the first one to get revamped. Instead of that weird quantum mechanics thing where she can disassemble and reassemble herself on a molecular level, she gets plain ol’ superspeed. No more transforming into clusters of petals and passing through narrow gaps. Ruby now has to work within the limitations and constraints imposed by superspeed: turning on a dime, braking and stopping abruptly, and weaving between obstacles without losing velocity. When she arrives at Beacon, she actually ends up becoming rather chummy with Oobleck because he offers to give her some pointers. The two of them share the same Semblance, and Oobleck is painfully familiar with learning how to not run headlong into things.
The Schnee Semblance (Weiss et al) got changed from being a grab bag of miscellaneous powers, to a single, definitive ability: summoning the thralls of defeated Grimm. I talk about the issues surrounding Weiss’ glyphs in greater depth here and here, so I won’t waste too much time rehashing those points. Basically, I wanted to decrease Weiss’ reliance on her Semblance, and force her to have a much more agile fighting style reminiscent of Winter’s fencing (as seen in V3.E3). It also means that when Weiss arrives at Beacon, she effectively hasn’t unlocked her Semblance yet. The fact that her family’s Semblance is publicly known makes Weiss extremely self-conscious. There’s a degree of expectation that she’s held to because everyone knows what it’s going to be eventually. The pressure that puts on Weiss frequently leaves her frustrated and insecure, in addition to overly self-critical. (It would be the difference between some random person unlocking their Semblance and getting told, “Hey, good job,” whereas Weiss unlocks it and everyone goes, “Well it’s about time. Took you long enough.”)
Ren’s Semblance is more or less the same as it was pre-V7/8, in that it allows him to cloak his emotions (along with the emotions of whoever he comes into contact with). It no longer enables him to see those multi-colored petal-things that float around people. Semblances that conceal one’s emotions from Grimm are direct responses to a sense that Grimm have, called algeaception (the detection of negatively-valenced emotions).
Raven’s Semblance, while it does enable her to teleport, isn’t tied to people that she shares an emotional link with. Instead, it allows her to move between two locations, but only if they’re places that she’s physically been to beforehand. If, for example, Raven wanted to teleport to the City of Mistral, she would have to concentrate on a specific location within the city (like a bar, or a hotel) and recall it with near-perfect clarity. Her Semblance requires a good deal of concentration in order to pull off. There were a few reasons why I ditched the emotional link component of her canon Semblance, which I’ll discuss on a later date. For now, the short version was that I wanted her Semblance to be something that she had direct control over, in the sense that Raven could choose what places she wanted to visit, in order to have the ability to teleport to them later on. That, and I was never fond of the show using Raven’s Semblance as “proof” that she still had an emotional connection to the daughter that she abandoned.
Cinder’s Semblance allows her to modify temperature and superheat things that she comes into contact with. Where it differs from the canon is that she can’t manipulate the things that she superheats (so she can’t heat sand particles into glass and then kinetically levitate them like she does in the show). By limiting her Semblance to just one specific thing, it forces Cinder to be a lot more creative—a lot more cunning—with how she goes about using it.
Jupiter’s Semblance was described as being able to turn water into vapor, so presumably, converting it from a liquid to a gaseous state. Given how oddly specific this Semblance was, I decided to tweak it. In the Redux, Jupiter and Neptune both have hydrokinetic Semblances. Their Semblances, similar to Weiss’, are now hereditary.
Marcus’ Semblance doesn’t actually enable him to “steal” someone else’s. What it does is temporarily dampen or suppress a target’s Semblance, rendering them unable to use it for a certain amount of time. However, because Marcus has been using his Semblance on Mercury for years, it resulted in a medical condition called subapothymia. Mercury’s Semblance isn’t gone; it’s just been severely dampened from long-term, recurring exposure to his father’s Semblance, to the point where the effect is now semi-permanent. One of the reasons why Mercury works for Cinder (and by extension, Salem) is because it gives him access to medical treatment through Watts. Watts was one of the world’s foremost experts in Aura and Semblance research—as such, he has the know-how to try and cure (or at the least, improve) Mercury’s condition. Changing the way that Marcus’ Semblance works created a scenario in which Mercury has a motive to stick around and help Salem, apart from simply wanting to be “top dog” in her new world.
James had his Semblance axed for fairly obvious reasons. The same goes for Hazel. Instead of giving either of them new Semblances, I opted to leave them without, because I wanted to have characters who managed to be successful fighters despite lacking them. I always found it fascinating that characters like Roman were consistently portrayed as credible threats (similar to Mai and Ty Lee in A:TLA, who were both deadly fighters despite being nonbenders), and I wanted to continue that trend with other characters in the show.
Sienna no longer has a Semblance, partly because her canon Semblance no longer fits under the category system that I created for the Redux. The other reason why I nixed it is because Sienna is now a non-combatant.
While there wasn’t anything wrong with Coco’s Semblance, strictly speaking, I wanted to get rid of it in order to have more characters who manage to get by without them. Despite only being a Second Year student, Coco is widely regarded as one of Beacon’s strongest fighters. It’s a fact that gives Jaune and Weiss some comfort, since at the beginning of the story, neither of them has unlocked theirs yet. For them, Coco is proof that you don’t need a Semblance to be dangerous.
As I mentioned earlier, Oobleck now has a speed Semblance like Ruby and Harriet. Port was given an intangibility Semblance, a power which allows him to render himself (or things that he comes into contact with) temporarily untouchable. Saber was given a terrakinetic Semblance, while Joanna was given an absorption Semblance (like Yang and Adam). Russel now has an invisibility Semblance like May, Dove has a pyrokinetic Semblance, and Sky has an acoustic Semblance (which allows him to amplify or increase the intensity of sounds that he makes, or of the things that he comes into contact with).
Maria and Marrow are both getting new Semblances, but I haven’t decided on what these will be just yet. Maria, because her canon Semblance is nearly identical to the extrasensory perception that’s already a built-in feature of Aura (see: Pyrrha’s speech to Jaune during the Emerald Forest, where she describes a function of Aura as “[feeling] like you were being watched”). Marrow, because it makes me really uncomfortable that an in-universe minority—a literal dog Faunus—activates his Semblance by using a command given to pets.
There are a few characters (like Tai and Summer) who I haven’t changed because I’m waiting to see if the canon will eventually unveil what their Semblances are (or if they ever had one to begin with). For now, those characters are TBD.
The only characters whose Semblances I can’t talk about are Qrow, Clover, Pietro, Penny, Ozma, Ozpin, and Oscar.
In the case of Qrow and Clover (who both have probability Semblances), it’s because it would give away crucial aspects of Qrow’s character arc.
In the case of Pietro and Penny (who both lack Semblances), it’s because it would reveal the circumstances of Penny’s creation.
In the case of all of Ozma’s hosts (who all lack Semblances), it’s because it would give away major changes to how the Redux handles magic (and by extension, the effects of the curse).
Counselor soothes, offering a hand forth to be taken; for his student to clasp and offer their worries. Crackling of orange, and with a close of eyes, the young hunter-in-training begins to calm, to breathe, and to settle lax in the office’s chair; ready now to speak their troubles without the fear of anxiety.
An exchange--one, that leaves the troubled teen soothed, but strikes Tawnie’s heart with their forgotten panic, one that the man has learned to hide and swallow, awaiting for it to fade on its own. Despite the swirling of anxieties in his chest vulture’s features are ever gentle and warm, hand removed now to offer the student space, and with a lean back to his chair, he speaks with a steady voice.
“Are you feeling ready to talk?”
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Moments pass, meeting ended, and as the door to his office is closed finally can the Faunus allow himself to breathe. Hands clutch against yellowed fabric of his shirt, head dipped low to tuck his body, and the stinging lingering in the corner of deep eyes begins to overflow in shed tears. He’s silent--allowing the emotions to spill and leave his mind, having gone through the experience time and time again, the counselor has learned to let it flow.
It takes only minutes for Tawnie to feel his grip returning, allowed then to wipe away the streaks of tears drying to tanned cheeks; but in its place, exhaustion begins to ebb. Deep eyes lidded, rings forming beneath, and the clock is glanced at--giving himself time to prepare before his next appointment.
Slow to rise and even slower then to move, the small, electric coffee pot settled on his desk is worked for the fourth time that day; and those void eyes stare in wait to be replenished.
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Gasps of pain catch in the vulture’s chest, the stinging heat blooming within an uninjured shoulder near blinding the man. Steps stumble, opposite arm reaches out, and forced is he to steady himself against the painted walls just outside of the infirmary’s threshold.
It wasn’t unheard of for the counselor to offer his aid for the academy’s nurse, having gained a medical degree himself to utilize upon the fields; and, anywhere else it would be needed for that matter. He was but a call away, and when unruly students unused to the pain of battle came to the infirmary he often found himself pulled away from his office and offering his semblance as aid.
A young Huntress, shoulder dislocated by an Ursa in Emerald Forest had been escorted by her team, the poor thing doing her best to keep a brave face; but as soon as prodding hands came near, she’d been overcome by the discomfort and refused to let it to be touched. Tawnie did not need any pleading by their nurse, happy to put on a brave face of his own as he settled the student, removing her pain to replace it with his own lack thereof. Once the sensation began to fade finally could that limb be popped back into place, and with all distracted, vulture is able to make exit as his arm begins to heat, and it feels as if his own is now displaced from socket to hang limply to his side.
Though no true damage lay any movement of that arm is agony; forcing the Faunus to breathe through his teeth, to ride it out, and allow the taken pain to begin numbing. It could take moments to hours; but lucky be it was no severe wound, and as the owner of the dislocated limb begins to recover, so does the one harboring residual pains.
I was kinda under the impression that Semblances are at least partially opportunistic in nature. Ren gains a Semblance to hide himself and others from Grimm in a situation where he needs to hide himself and Nora from the Grimm. Nora gets a Semblance to absorb electricity when she's struck by lightning. Jaune gets a Semblance that heals when he really needs to save Weiss from bleeding to death.
See, that's what I initially thought, too. And for years now, that's the headcanon I've rolled with—that some characters have Semblances which have nothing to do with their personality, but are instead adaptive reactions to immediate danger. It makes sense, right? Ren's concealed him from Grimm when he had no other recourse than to hide. Nora's allowed her to withstand electrocution from a lightning strike that could have ranged anywhere from 10 million to 120 million volts.
There's just one problem with this assumption: it's only that, an assumption. Nowhere in the canon—not the show, the comics, the manga, the books, the DVD commentaries—literally nowhere does RWBY clearly state that this is a plausible theory. Instead, the audience has to extrapolate that assumption from subtext, and even then, that assumption directly contradicts one of the series’ core tenets—that Semblances are tied to personality.
And as infuriatingly vague as the canon is, it does in fact stand by this:
In World of Remnant, Volume 2, Episode 4: “Aura,” we’re told the following:
“‘Semblance’ is a term used to describe the projection of Aura into a more tangible form. For some this could be the ability to control objects with telekinesis. For others it could mean superhuman strength. The power associated with a wielder's Semblance is completely unique.”
It’s not explicitly stated, but the conclusion we can draw here is that Semblances’ uniqueness is a reflection of their wielders’ uniqueness (or personality, as it were).
For a more definitive answer, though, we need only consult The World of RWBY: The Official Companion (page 39):
A Semblance is a personalized Aura manifestation, akin to a superpower. […] Semblances vary wildly from person to person, but generally reflect the wielder’s personality. An energetic Huntress might unlock superspeed, while an emotionless logician might be able to excel as a human lie detector.
The caveat here is that some people (like the Schnee lineage) can have hereditary Semblances instead. Thus, Semblances (according to the canon) can be lumped into two categories: personality-based and inherited.
But like you said, we have no reason to assume that there isn’t some third factor at play, because we have pretty compelling subtextual evidence via Ren’s and Nora’s circumstances.
In my initial deconstruction of Semblances, I talked about this problem quite extensively. Ren’s explanation to Oscar in V5.E4 only exacerbates the inconsistency because even the characters in-universe can’t seem to agree on an answer. Is it personality? Is it a coincidence? Who the hell knows. Certainly not us.
The canon’s lack of clarity is actually how I developed two of my concepts for the Redux: Auratic plasticity and hierarchical prioritization. In the Redux, there are three categories that Semblances fall under—innate, adaptive, and inherited. Auratic plasticity is the ability of the soul to generate a Semblance based on either an immutable personality trait (innate), a scenario-specific survival method (adaptive), or a “genetic” trait that’s repeatedly selected for due to its inherent fitness (inherited). These three categories are determined by a value called hierarchical prioritization—the soul’s ability to decide what Semblance-trigger takes precedence.
I go into greater depth here, but the short version is that the soul has a preferred or default order for generating Semblances: inherited > innate > adaptive. However, if a person without a Semblance is confronted by an immediate, life-or-death circumstance, then their soul can “override” the order and generate a Semblance tailored to their needs.
A person whose ship capsized out at sea, for example, might generate a hydrokinetic Semblance. Or, if someone is being mugged, and their attacker has a knife, then the victim might spontaneously generate a Semblance that renders their skin hard as steel.
Under this model, Ren’s and Nora’s Semblance now have plausible explanations.
As does another character’s—Qrow.
Consider the circumstances of Qrow’s youth: he not only grew up in the deadly wilds outside the protection of the main cities, [1] [2] but he was also born into a bandit tribe that raided towns and villages.
By the time he was the “perfect age” [3] to enroll at Beacon (presumably his late teens, 17 or so), he was already an extremely competent fighter as the result of his upbringing. He spent the entirety of his childhood and adolescence learning how to fight, and developing the necessary skills to do so.
It makes sense, then, that the constant threat of danger would be enough to cause a small child to develop a Semblance that would tip the odds of survival in their favor. A way to disadvantage an older or more skilled opponent in a fight, and give that child an increased chance of living to see another day.
That, to me, is a much better explanation for Qrow’s Semblance than simply saying that his personality brings misfortune.
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[1] World of Remnant, Volume 4, Episode 5: “Between Kingdoms.” Qrow: “You might ask: With the wilderness being so dangerous, why not just live in the big cities?”
[2] Volume 2, Episode 2: “Welcome to Beacon.” Blake: “I was raised outside the kingdoms. If you can't fight, you can't survive.”
[3] Volume 5, Episode 6: “Known by Its Song.” Raven: “The entrance exams were child's play compared to what we'd already been through.”
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On a side note, I went on the RWBY Wiki to fact-check something, and ran into this passage:
Some Semblances can also be unlocked by certain external phenomenon, such as Nora who unlocked hers when she was struck by a lightning bolt. Neptune's Semblance could also be another possible example of this unlocking method as he was thrown into the ocean by his brother Jupiter, though this remains unclear if it was either direct contact with the water or simply being shocked from suddenly being thrown into it is what resulted his Semblance to be unlocked.
Rather tellingly, the wiki uses these as examples of Semblances being tailored to life-or-death scenarios, but doesn’t provide any sources which explicitly state that those were the underlying causes. Without a definitive, authoritative source, these are correlation, not causation.
Hi, how are you doing ? I asked a question before and I have another. After reading your post about auras and semblances, I wanted to ask. What are your redux thoughts on the Schnne semblance? I always found it a fascinating semblance not only because to my knowledge is the only hereditary semblance but also because it has two abilities that seem to have nothing to do with each other.
Not too bad, anon! I’ve had a lot of ups and downs as of late, but life’s been pretty decent, all things considered. Thanks for asking, and likewise, I hope things in your life have been smooth sailing.
The Schnee Semblance is something of a mixed bag—as in, all of the things I like about it are inherently trapped in its unfulfilled potential, whereas all the things I dislike about it are actually canon. You might find my answer somewhat disappointing when I say that Weiss’ Semblance (and by extension, her family’s) is probably the most emblematic of all the problems that this series has with its pseudo-magic system. Specifically, how it fails to implement and scale their powers in a believable, internally-consistent manner.
Let me clarify my points:
The Schnee Semblance is hereditary. This statement contradicts one of the earliest tenets we’re given about Semblances, as stated by World of Remnant—that they’re specifically unique to each person. [1] Keep in mind that up until this point, this was pretty much the only concrete info we had on what Semblances were, and how they worked. And then, when Volume 3 came out, the show seemingly retconned this crucial bit of worldbuilding by introducing Winter, who has the exact same Semblance as her sister, and then later reveals that theirs is unique to their family bloodline. [2] Rather than elaborate on this contradiction, however, the show seemingly doubles down and exacerbates the ambiguity by having characters state that there’s no in-universe consensus on what the correlation is between a person and their Semblance. [3]
The Schnee Semblance is a plot-convenient Swiss army knife. Truthfully, I hate that Weiss’ Semblance has the ability to summon monsters, create shields, and manipulate Dust. Her Glyphs are just way too overpowered, and it never fails to ruin the enjoyment of a fight scene for me, because I always go into them wondering what new, convenient power the writers are going to give her next. I also think that the convenience of her Semblance limits the creative application of her powers because it removes any constraints. (I’ll elaborate more on that shortly.)
If you take more than ten seconds to think about the Schnee Semblance critically, you start to run into all sorts of questions: If Weiss’ Semblance is hereditary, then are Semblances genetic? Are they epigenetic? Why are Glyphs hereditary, but not other Semblances? Why did Yang acquire a Semblance that absorbs and amplifies damage as opposed to inheriting Raven’s portals? If Weiss, Winter, or Whitley hypothetically had kids, would their children be guaranteed to share their Semblance? Who was the first person in the Schnee lineage to have Glyphs? Is their family an unbroken chain of people with identical powers that stretches back generations beyond counting? Was the power always there, since time immemorial, or did it randomly manifest in one of the Schnees’ ancestors one day, and from that moment going forward, it was “locked in” to the family line? Why is the Schnee family the only one in the world with a hereditary Semblance? Are hereditary Semblances some sort of quasi-genetic/magical mutation in the genome/soul? If two people from families with hereditary Semblances got together and reproduced, would their kids have an equal chance of inheriting either Semblance? Would the two hereditary Semblances cancel each other out instead, leaving their kids’ Semblances to be completely random?
Like, that’s the thing with introducing a variable like heredity to Semblances—it means that the writers have to explain, or at the very least acknowledge, all of the questions that come along for the ride. But they didn’t. To my knowledge, not one of the creators has ever addressed any of these very valid points.
The inherent uniqueness, the fascinating potential of magical genetics, is ultimately ruined through how badly it was mishandled. Ultimately, the concept is reduced to a throwaway novelty with little relevance or meaning, because the show didn’t think it was important to answer these questions. And here’s the crazy thing—the show doesn’t actually have to provide an explanation.
There’s plenty of things about real-world genetics that scientists still don’t understand. RWBY could have just as easily had a character say in the show that Semblances aren’t fully understood, and that no one knows what factors make a Semblance hereditary or not, and that could have been enough. It might not be the most satisfying answer from a storytelling perspective, but at least it’s a plausible explanation provided in-universe to somewhat justify the inclusion of Glyphs in the worldbuilding. It is, at the barest minimum, better than nothing.
But for some reason, the show’s creators opted for nothing instead. So here we are.
TL;DR - There doesn’t appear to be any scientific disciplines, institutions, or professions that study Semblances, which could theoretically provide answers as to whether Semblances are determined by heredity, personality, situational dangers, or some combination of the three.
The other half the equation—Weiss’ Semblance being too OP—is more of a philosophical quibble than it is a production one. I’m personally a fan of self-imposed limitations within creative works, because I think that in-universe constraints can force writers to think creatively about how to circumvent problems.
Because I haven’t quite finished beating this particular dead horse, let’s use Avatar: The Last Airbender as an example.
In Book 3, Episode 7 - “The Runaway,” Toph and Katara are imprisoned by the local authorities. Because the bars of their cell are made of wood rather than metal, Toph can’t bend their way out. Similarly, there isn’t any water for Katara to bend, so they’re effectively trapped.
Until Katara wipes the sweat from her brow, and realizes that she does have access to an unconventional source of water. She begins to jog in place, and after a few minutes, she’s generated enough sweat to slice through the bars.
It’s one of my favorite scenes in the series simply because it works within the limitations of its worldbuilding to devise a plausible, clever solution that the characters were able to puzzle out.
By contrast, RWBY’s worldbuilding is built more on spectacle and convenience. Whenever a character is faced with a problem, the show likes to upgrade (or “evolve,” as the writers put it) a character’s Semblance to include new, tangentially-related or completely unrelated powers. In V8.E3 - “Strings,” Ruby’s Semblance gets upgraded from speed to, and I quote: traveling at an extreme velocity from one point to another by breaking herself down to her molecular components, thus negating her mass and then reassembling them at the destination, theoretically making it possible for her to transport [everyone] in the same way, as mass no longer matters.
Instead of, y’know, forcing the characters to work with their limited pool of collective powers to come up with a solution—Nora uses her electrokinetic Semblance to short-circuit the power in the room and cause a blackout; Weiss makes a miniaturized version of her Arma Gigas summon to create a commotion that’s out of their intended path—Ruby just happens to already have a built-in solution in the form of quantum fucking mechanics.
And this isn’t an isolated incident, either.
Ren goes from being able to cloak his own emotions, to being able to see the emotions of other people as these weird colorful petal-looking things. Which is how he deduces that Emerald is sincere about defecting from Salem, and allows the group to skirt around dealing with all sorts of personal and ethical questions—How do we trust someone who was comfortable abetting terrorism at Beacon and Haven? What does Emerald have to do in order to prove her trustworthiness? Is she entitled to forgiveness from people like Yang, who lost her arm as a result of Cinder’s plans, something which Emerald was complicit in?
Look at how Avatar handled Zuko’s inclusion in the group by presenting multiple, varied viewpoints based on the group’s inability to conclusively determine his trustworthiness: Toph is convinced that he’s being sincere, Aang accepts his offer to help, Sokka is reluctant and cautious to let him join, and Katara full-on does not trust him. Their individual reactions are diverse, valid, and justified through the narration and events of the story. It’s a consistent, logical framework that ultimately gives the show richness and complexity.
Ren’s Semblance, on the other hand, nullifies any sort of inter-group conflict or disagreement by effectively erasing all ambiguity about Emerald’s defection, simply because she feels bad. (Because guilt is clearly the only requirement needed for a character to prove that they’ve done a moral 180, and redeem them from COMMITTING WAR CRIMES.)
As disjointed and off-topic as my rant might appear, the point I’m trying to make is that RWBY relies on giving its characters a grab bag of get-out-of-jail-free powers, and Weiss’ Semblance having the ability to do several unrelated things (summon, create physical barriers, manipulate and alter the powers of Dust) epitomizes that.
Which is why, in the Redux, the Schnee family Semblance is getting nerfed. The only thing Weiss’ Semblance is capable of is summoning the thralls of defeated Grimm.
And similar to the canon, Weiss in the Redux has yet to master her Semblance, so she’s currently dependent on close-range fencing with Myrtenaster. Much of her revamped fighting style mimics Winter’s (as depicted in V3.E3 - “It’s Brawl in the Family”).
A while back I promised to address some of the major changes I’m making to Semblances, so I hope you don’t mind if I co-opt your question to do just that.
The first thing that got changed was the mechanisms behind Semblance discovery. I briefly talked about it here, but to reiterate:
Auratic plasticity is the ability of the soul to generate a Semblance based on either an immutable personality trait (innate), a scenario-specific survival method (adaptive), or a “genetic” trait that’s repeatedly selected for due to its “inherent fitness” (inherited). These three categories are determined by a value called hierarchical prioritization—basically, it’s the soul’s ability to decide what Semblance-trigger gets precedence.
The consensus among the scientific community is that there’s an order to Semblance-triggers: inherited > innate > adaptive.
That being said, there are exceptions to this rule.
Let’s say, for example, that Whitley was airdropped in the middle of the tundra. Currently, he hasn’t activated his Aura or discovered his Semblance. Under normal circumstances, his hereditary Semblance would be given precedence, so he would acquire summoning by default.
However, because Whitley is in an immediate, life-or-death scenario, his Aura has the ability to override the order and give priority to a different Semblance-trigger. In this scenario, Auratic plasticity allows for the simultaneous unlocking of Aura and Semblance, with a survival-specific Semblance being chosen to help Whitley deal with his circumstances as they currently are. It would be something that would either allow him to survive the cold (pyrokinesis) or escape to safety (speed).
A good example of an adaptive Semblance would be Nora’s. When she was struck by lightning, her Aura responded by giving her an electrokinetic Semblance that would allow her to channel the voltage without being killed. Ren’s is another example of an adaptive Semblance—in his case, his Aura gave him the ability to cloak his emotions from Grimm, because in that moment, he needed to hide rather than fight.
The other thing I did was create several broad categories that Semblances fall under. The reason for this was twofold: [1] I wanted to be able to create a limited number of available Semblances, in order to differentiate their powers from magic by eliminating any ambiguity as to what Semblances can/can’t do by comparison; [2] I wanted to make changes to already-existing Semblances and redefine them under the new parameters I created.
There are, broadly speaking, 14 categories that a Semblance can belong to:
Illusory. Semblances which can create visual or auditory illusions. [Characters with illusory Semblances include Neo and Emerald.]
Replication. Semblances which can create tangible clones, or “shades.” [Characters with replication Semblances include Blake, Sun, and Flynt.]
Elemental or Kinetic. Semblances which allow for the manipulation or generation of certain expressions of matter/forces, such as fire, electricity, water, ice, air, gravity, and magnetism. [Characters with elemental Semblances include Nora, Neptune, Pyrrha, and Glynda.]
Alteration. Semblances which alter certain qualities of matter, such as temperature, color, tangibility, or visibility. These alterations can either be self-inflicted or imposed on another person or object. [Characters with alteration Semblances include Cinder, May, and Bertilak.]
Enhancement. Semblances which exaggerate or heighten certain physical attributes to an otherwise superhuman level, such as speed, strength, or endurance. [Characters with enhancement Semblances include Ruby, Harriet, Octavia, Oobleck, and Rhodes.]
Summoning. Semblances which can summon apparitions, or thralls, of Grimm that have been defeated before. [Characters with summoning Semblances include Weiss, Winter, Willow, and Nicholas.]
Modification or Interference. Semblances which can directly influence another person’s Aura or Semblance. The effects of modification Semblances can also be self-inflicted. [Characters with modification Semblances include Jaune, Tyrian, Marcus, Gillian, Edward, and Tock.]
Mimetic. Semblances which allow a person to perfectly replicate body movements and speech patterns demonstrated by others. [Characters with mimetic Semblances include Velvet.]
Cloaking. Semblances which conceal a person from Grimm by directly interfering with either of a Grimm’s two primary senses—pneumatoception and algeaception. Cloaking Semblances can either mask one’s emotional state or hide one’s Aura signature. [Characters with cloaking Semblances include Ren.]
Probability. Semblances which can manipulate variables within one’s immediate surroundings to create cause-and-effect changes that either directly benefit the user, or disadvantage others. [Characters with probability Semblances include Qrow and Clover.]
Absorption. Semblances which store physical damage that can be later released as an attack. [Characters with absorption Semblances include Yang and Adam.]
Manifestation. Semblances which physically manifest a person’s Aura as extensions of certain body parts. [Characters with manifestation Semblances include Elm and Vine.]
Teleportation. Semblances which can transport a person between two different locations. Requires the person to have physically visited the location in question in order to warp to it, and demands intense focus/concentration in order to successfully perform. [Characters with teleportation Semblances include Raven.]
Metaphysical. Semblances which are loosely defined as having the ability to interfere with the mind. This heading is often regarded by apothymeticists as a wastebasket category because of how dissimilar many of the Semblances in this category are from one another. Metaphysical Semblances are considered to be among the rarest Semblances on Remnant. [Characters with metaphysical Semblances include Fox, Yatsuhashi, and Robyn.]
Over the course of Remnant’s history, the number of categories (and their criteria) have changed in tandem with researchers’ understanding of Semblances. They’re not perfect, granted, and certainly riddled with bias, but in the modern era they’re the best means scientists have for trying to catalog the diversity of Semblances.
The last thing I figured I’d mention before wrapping up this post is which characters had their Semblances modified, and to what degree. I’ll get into specifics when I actually do the individual write-ups on each character, but for now, here’s a short list of the characters that’ve had their abilities changed:
Characters who had their Semblances slightly adjusted:
Marcus, Cinder, Ren, Glynda, Qrow, Clover
Characters who had their Semblances completely overhauled:
Ruby, Weiss (et al), Raven
Characters who had their Semblances removed and replaced with something else:
Marrow, Maria, Scarlet, Jupiter
Characters with no Semblances:
Oscar, Ozpin, Ozma, the King of Vale, Roman, Coco, Mercury, Watts, James, Hazel, Penny, Pietro
Characters who previously lacked a canonical Semblance:
Oobleck
This post is, admittedly, far from everything I wanted to say about Semblances, but I figured I could go into more depth in separate posts.
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[1] World of Remnant, Volume 2, Episode 4: “Aura.” Narrator (Salem): “The power associated with a wielder's Semblance is completely unique.”
[2] Volume 3, Episode 4: “Lessons Learned.” Winter: “Every Schnee has the ability to summon. We have for generations. […] Unlike many, our Semblance is hereditary.”
[3] Volume 5, Episode 4: “Lighting the Fire.” Ren: “A common philosophy is that a warrior's Semblance is a part of who they are. Some say your personality and character can define your Semblance while some claim that it is the other way around. Of course, there are still many who don't see a connection at all.”
Born of little wings the scavenger shows no hostility; a stark contrast of this brother five years prior. Since birth tensions were held between he and his elder not even yet known, but as those years pass, such hatred burns away as two more are in the wake of the Holter family. Brothers of four all grown upon the same path that splits into two sets of forks, and each sibling takes their path with pride; even if some may be lead down the wrong.
His youngest siblings they sob beneath the cruelty of their eldest, and Tawnie knows he must stand tall, he must take their pain and harbor it for himself; to not allow such hatred to twist little hearts to follow such a path of despair.
Only but the age of ten, their eldest of fifteen, and the littlest of seven, and Tawnie cradles their heads, shushing their cries, his exterior of calm ever encompassing. They do not stop, pained by the words of their loved one, and in desperation to ease his brothers a crackle of orange sparks against the vulture’s visage, and suddenly, he’s thrown into disarray. No longer do the little ones cry, and two sets of eyes stare up now at Tawnie who in their place sheds their tears of abuse; broken to sobs, and devastated by what they felt.
A semblance, Tawnie would come to learn that his had been unlocked; but at such a young age, and the sensations it gave, uncertainty was had to its practicality.
He was careful; frightened even of feeling such emotions again, but as he grew and his brothers hatred rose, Tawnie learned to understand the use of this ‘gift’, that it was not just he who felt, but the other as well.
He’d begin to wear a smile, to swallow his worries and fears, and only ever allow joy to be held in his heart--a joy, that he so wished his eldest would understand. They would argue and fight, but still did the vulture hold his head up, baring his teeth in a grin, and clasping against his eldest’ wrist; forcing through his semblance, and taking away that anger to harbor if only to give his brother a moments peace.
Never had such rage been swallowed before--never had Tawnie felt so sickened with himself, and as his eldest began to smile, Tawnie began to seethe. The emotions were riled, overwhelming, and it was but minutes before it all dispersed; unable to stand the sensation of hatred in his heart.
It was the next week the eldest had left, not to Shade Academy, but to the call of the White Fang.
Tawnie has heard nothing of his brothers travels from that day; and in his place, would instead put himself through the training that Vacuo’s Academy would offer. A star student ever willing to learn, ever welcoming and social with all those around, and a positive beacon of hope for the team he would soon learn to carry upon his shoulders.
Years pass, skills evolve, and an accident on the field leads to tragedy; to a pain, that none should ever need to witness.
His semblance had been explored, he’d learned to harness and keep it under control; but still he did not know of the next steps in its evolution. Cries of pain echo through the desert, and crimson soaks into its sands; the body of his teammate coiled upon themselves, blooded and pained from the strike of a Deathstalker.
They’d been warned and prepared how to handle such attacks, the venomous creatures no rarity within the desert, but that did not leave any comfort to the one struck. Panic, and Tawnie remembers the words of his teaching, beginning to dig through their pack of supplies for first-aid while their other teammates kept the perimeter safe. Though, no focus can be found--not through the wailing of the injured, not through the panic gripping at his heart, and as he’d done before, the vulture only breathes--willing away those sensations of panic, attempting to draw forth one of calm, and only then, would he dare touch his ally.
A mistake, one would find, as no emotions are transferred through the hurt--and yet, those cries die down, the writhing slows, and while he believes it all to be well, the sudden upturn of pain dizzies him. As if he’d been stabbed through Tawnie’s breath began to rattle, vision blackened at the edges as a heat blossoms in his chest, and in replace of his teammate, voice breaks with a scream as venom not present bites in his veins.
