RWBY/Characters

Professor Ozpin

 * Voiced by: Shannon McCormick


 * Big Brother Is Watching: Ozpin seems to know and see more than is reasonable, for instance having a live feed of Ruby and Weiss in the Emerald Forest during their initiation.
 * Eccentric Mentor/Trickster Mentor
 * Lennon Specs
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Shout-Out Theme Naming: To The Wizard of Oz. (The Wizard's initials spelled out "O.Z.P.I.N.H.E.A.D."; Ozpin is Headmaster of Beacon.)
 * Trademark Favorite Beverage: Is almost never seen without a coffee cup in his hand.  It could be argued that his Catch Phrase is "sluuuuuuuurp".

Glynda Goodwitch

 * Voiced by: Kathleen Zuelch


 * Badass
 * Badass Teacher
 * Badass Back: Was telekinetically bitch slapping Grimm with waves of her riding crop without even turning around in mid-stride in the Volume 2 Finale.
 * Lady of War
 * Lady of White Magic
 * Hot Librarian
 * Shout-Out Theme Naming: To The Wizard of Oz, of course.
 * White Mage: Her spell set tends heavily towards defense/repair.

Professor Peter Port

 * Voiced by: Ryan Haywood


 * Badass
 * Badass Teacher
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Eyes Always Shut
 * Great White Hunter
 * Large Ham
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Shout-Out: Monty Oum has decribed Port as Peter from Peter and The Wolf grown up, and indeed, Port's first lecture on-screen contains several references to Peter and The Wolf, and the background music switches to passages from the work.

Professor Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck

 * Voiced by: Joel Heyman

"Those who do not study history....are doomed to repeat it."
 * Anime Hair: One of the few examples on the good guys' side; he has a wild shock of green hair.
 * Badass
 * Badass Bookworm: Believes his mind is a better weapon than conventional weaponry.
 * Badass Teacher: With PhD's in history and kicking ass.
 * Beware the Silly Ones: He's slightly goofy, but when push comes to shove, he can more than prove he earned the right to be called a Huntsman.
 * British Accents
 * Insistent Terminology: Is very firm on being called "Doctor" and not "Professor".
 * Heroes Love Dogs: Immediately takes a shine to Zwei (and this seems to be mutual), even utilizing Zwei as a (willingly) magically enhanced projectile to take down enemies.
 * Lennon Specs: Which have Opaque Lenses.
 * Motor Mouth: To go with his Super Speed
 * Must Have Caffeine: He practically sips from his coffee cup every fifteen seconds. In the field he carries a massive thermos from which he also continuously sips.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure
 * Serious Business: The study of history is to him, with very good reason:


 * Shout-Out: To Dr. Seuss' Bartholomew and the Oobleck.
 * Super Speed

Team RWBY
(Pronounced "Ruby")

Tropes that apply to Team RWBY as a whole:
 * Action Girls
 * Badass
 * Amazon Brigade
 * Badass Crew
 * Color-Coded Characters
 * Theme Naming: Women and girls from Fairy Tales.
 * True Companions

Ruby Rose

 * Voiced by: Lindsay Jones

"I know you didn't plan this; You tried to do what's right. But in the middle of this madness, I'm the one you left to win this fight."


 * Ascended Fangirl
 * Badass
 * Badass Adorable
 * Badass in Charge: Officially so, as leader of team RWBY.
 * Elegant Gothic Lolita: Her "working clothes" have a very strong EGL flavor.
 * Friendly Sniper: She makes frequent use of a sniper rifle, however we haven't seen her use it against distant targets that much.
 * Little Red Fighting Hood
 * Magic Skirt
 * Magnetic Hero
 * Missing Mom
 * Motor Mouth: When she gets excited.
 * Petal Power: Ruby seems to emit showers of rose petals -- and a Dramatic Wind to carry them -- just by moving.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Judging by the heights of other characters, Ruby can't be any taller than about 5'2".
 * Recoil Boost: Ruby boosts her already-impressive speed by using the recoil from her Dust shells.
 * Small Girl, Big Gun
 * Socially Awkward Hero: Or so she initially describes herself. But by the middle of Volume 1 she seems to be quite at ease with the other students around her, enough that she can even briefly mentor Jaune on being a team leader.
 * Super Speed
 * Swiss Army Gun/Sinister Scythe: The two modes of her weapon.
 * Technicolor Eyes: Ruby has silver eyes, something that Ozpin comments on in V1E1.

Weiss Schnee

 * Voiced by: Kara Eberle

"Mirror, tell me something, Tell me who's the loneliest of all? Fear of what's inside of me, Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?"


 * Abhorrent Admirer: Jaune -- at least until about halfway through Volume Two.
 * Badass
 * Lady of War
 * Elemental Eye Colors: Blue eyes for the Ice Queen.
 * Good Scars, Evil Scars:  Weiss's surprisingly subtle facial scar -- acquired during the events of the "White" trailer -- is definitely a "good scar".
 * An Ice Person
 * Ice Queen -> Defrosting Ice Queen
 * Instant Runes: Her "glyphs".
 * Jerkass -> Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Magic Skirt: Plus enough petticoats or other under-ruffles to block even a view from directly underneath.
 * Only Sane Man: The least impulsive member of Team RWBY, at least.
 * Rich Bitch: Mellows considerably with Character Development.
 * Royal Rapier
 * Time Master: In Volume 2, Weiss employs a new glyph that instead of looking like a snowflake looks like clockwork, and which seems to accelerate her personal time rate for a brief period.
 * Woman in White

Blake Belladonna

 * Voiced by: Arryn Zech

"Born with no life, into subjugation. Treated like a worthless animal, Stripped of all rights, just a lesser being, Crushed by cruel ruthless Human rule."


 * Badass
 * Beast Folk
 * Bookworm
 * Badass Bookworm
 * Catgirl
 * Covert Pervert: It's heavily implied some of her favorite literature is on the trashy side. Ninjas of Love, indeed!
 * Doppelganger Spin/Doppelganger Attack: Blake leaves images of herself behind to take hits from opponents; most of the time these images appear to be insubstantial, but in V2E11 we see that she can also (apparently with the aid of Dust) make them of some elemental material -- fire, stone and ice were shown.  Unlike the typical Doppelganger manifestation, though, her images do not move.
 * Eyes of Gold
 * Important Hair Accessory: Her bow.
 * My Instincts Are Showing: She has demonstrated a few catlike behaviors in Volume 2, such as following the dot of a laser pointer and reacting with hostility to dogs.
 * Super Speed: And she leaves afterimages in her wake.

Yang Xiao Long

 * Voiced by: Barbara Dunkelman

"I burn! Can't hold me now. You got nothing that can stop me. I burn! Swing all you want. Like a fever I will take you down."


 * Badass
 * Badass Biker
 * Bare-Fisted Monk/Shotguns Are Just Better: Her weapon is Ember Celica, a pair of gauntlets that can fire Dust-filled shotgun shells, sometimes combined to give her punches greater impact.
 * Berserk Button: Nobody Touches the Hair.
 * Cool Big Sis
 * Cowgirl: Her "working clothes" give off this vibe, even though, on closer examination, they really aren't Western gear.
 * Critical Status Buff: Even though she isn't a video game character, Ruby tells us in volume 2, episode 4, she still manages to have this trope.
 * I Have Many Names: Or so she claims in the "Yellow" trailer.
 * Improvised Weapon: Substituted a pair of turkeys for her gauntlets during a food fight.
 * Jerkass: She's got a bit of this, especially when focused on a target.  For instance, in the "Yellow" trailer, she probably could have walked out of Junior's bar after apologizing for the Groin Attack and not had any trouble.  But she chose to escalate matters unnecessarily, apparently just for kicks.
 * There's also way she handled Blake's obsession with stopping Torchwick. Instead of remaining calm and trying to understand Blake's side of things, she gets angry the second Blake disagrees with her and shoves her against the nearby desk until Blake surrenders and agrees to slow down.
 * Kaleidoscope Eyes: Normally her eyes are lavender, but they go to bright red if her stress level is high enough -- or if someone presses her Berserk Button.
 * Missing Mom
 * Playing with Fire: Appears to be an effect provided by Ember Celica rather than an inherent power, judging by the red Dust shells it uses.
 * Pungeon Master: Mostly amusingly horrible ones.
 * Recoil Boost: Yang uses strategically fired shots from Ember Celica to launch herself into the air or directly at foes..
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning
 * Super Strength: And she gets stronger with every hit she takes.

Zwei

 * Voiced by: Mrs. PennyApple/Penny Layne Matthews


 * Cuteness Proximity
 * Expy/Shout-Out: To Ein from Cowboy Bebop
 * Made of Iron: Has been used as a projectile several times against mecha and Grimm and comes out of it unharmed.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter

Team JNPR
(Pronounced "Juniper")

Tropes that apply to Team JNPR as a whole:
 * Theme Naming: Historical or mythological figures who crossdressed at one point or another.

Jaune Arc

 * Voiced by: Miles Luna


 * Adorkable
 * Ancestral Weapon: The sword-and-shield combination called Crocea Mors ("Saffron Death" in Latin).
 * Badass: Takes a while for this to show.
 * Badass in Charge: Was chosen to lead Team JNPR due to his leadership ability.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
 * Butt Monkey: During Volume 1.  Once he Takes a Level In Badass, though, this ends -- though he still remains a bit insecure and goofy.
 * Casanova Wannabe: Towards Weiss, at least until about halfway through Volume Two.
 * Country Mouse: He gives the impression of having grown up relatively isolated from a lot of Remnant's pop culture and/or media.
 * Hair of Gold: Rare male example.
 * Incompletely Trained: Almost untrained, in fact, at the start of the series -- but Pyrrha eventually takes care of that.
 * Jeanne D'Archetype: Extremely rare male example of the trope, but he's got it -- protected by women who like him under the Dulcinea Effect, making him a Magnetic Hero, and a natural leader. Oh, and the name.
 * Legacy Hero
 * Magic Feather: Late in Volume 1, Pyrrha gives him a little unseen help in a battle with an ursa, the defeat of which allows him to really believe for the first time that he deserves to be at Beacon.
 * Oblivious to Love: Doesn't seem to notice Pyrrha's crush on him, though he does consider her a close friend. At least until about halfway through Volume 2, when he finds out directly from Pyrrha that she likes him.
 * Outnumbered Sibling: Has seven sisters.
 * Socially Awkward Hero
 * Unskilled but Strong: Pyrrha quickly realizes he has a lot of potential, he just doesn't know how to focus it properly.
 * Wholesome Crossdresser: Wears a dress at a formal ball because of a promise he made, and manages to look not too bad in it.

Nora Valkyrie

 * Voiced by: Samantha Ireland


 * Badass
 * Badass Adorable
 * Beware the Silly Ones
 * Cleavage Window
 * Drop the Hammer
 * Genki Girl
 * Grenade Launcher
 * The "I Love You" Stigma: According to an Image Song for Nora on the Volume Two soundtrack, instead of saying "I love you" to Ren, she says "boop" because it's safer.
 * Motor Mouth
 * Platonic Life Partners: Appears to be this with Rie Len -- but her Image Song on the soundtrack for Volume Two (track 5, "Boop") makes it pretty clear that she has, of late, fallen in love with him.
 * Rocket Jump: Nora can do this with strategic application of her grenade launcher/warhammer Magnhild.
 * Wacky Girl

Pyrrha Nikos

 * Voiced by: Jen Brown


 * Academic Athlete
 * Attractiveness Isolation: Being very talented in what she does also makes everyone else think she is out of their league.
 * Badass
 * Lady of War
 * Catch Phrase: "I'm sorry!"  Possibly followed closely by "Hello again!"
 * Celebrity Endorsement: As of the start of Volume 1, she's on boxes of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes, Wheaties-style.
 * Hot Amazon
 * Humble Hero: Despite her fame and athletic prowess, Pyrrha is terribly self-effacing and down-to-earth.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Perfectly willing to so this for Jaune..
 * Sexy Mentor: To Jaune.
 * Significant Green-Eyed Redhead
 * Throwing Your Gun Always Works: Especially when it turns into a spear.
 * Throwing Your Shield Always Works: Pyrrha's shield doubles as extra-large chakram.

Rie Len

 * Voiced by: Monty Oum


 * Badass
 * Not a Morning Person
 * Odd Couple: He and Nora get along well despite having totally opposite personalities.
 * Platonic Life Partners: Appears to be this with Nora.
 * The Quiet One
 * The Stoic

Team CRDL
(Pronounced "Cardinal")

Tropes that apply to team CRDL as a whole:
 * The Bully
 * Jerkass

Cardin Winchester

 * Voiced by: Adam Ellis


 * Blackmail: Overheard
 * Break the Haughty: Got his ego cut down severely when Jaune saved him.

Russel Thrush

 * Voiced by: Shane Newville


 * Cowardly Sidekick (to Cardin)
 * Knife Nut

Dove Bronzewing

 * Voiced by: (no spoken lines yet)


 * Cowardly Sidekick (to Cardin)
 * Eyes Always Shut

Sky Lark

 * Voiced by: (no spoken lines yet)


 * Cowardly Sidekick (to Cardin)

-

Team CFVY
(Pronounced "Coffee") "Caffeine. I'm caffeine. Caffeine. I'm caffeine. I'm a bad dream. I'm a rad scene. I'm a tad mean. But I'm not afraid to take you out."

Coco Adel

 * Voiced by: Ashley Jenkins


 * Badass
 * Action Girl
 * Action Fashionista: Has probably got to be the the best dressed Huntress in the series, and her reason for kicking ass so intensely in her debut fighting appearance was because some Grimm destroyed her favorite clothing store.
 * Cool Shades
 * More Dakka: Her handbag turns into a minigun.
 * Prepare to Die: Said word for word in her first appearance as a Pre-Mortem One-Liner.
 * Shout-Out: Possibly to Coco Chanel.

Fox

 * Ambiguously Red-Brown
 * Wolverine Claws: His weapon is a pair of bracers on which are mounted large, long blades that extend well past his hands.

Velvet Scarlatina

 * Voiced by: Caiti Ward


 * Badass Adorable
 * Beast Folk
 * Breakout Character: According to the behind the scenes videos, a single scene where she was designed just to be an example faunus led to an expanded role. And hundreds of fan-submitted designs for her in battle garb.

Yatsuhashi

 * BFS: To go with being The Big Guy.
 * The Big Guy: At seven feet tall even, he's the largest person in RWBY.
 * Samurai: Or has the same basic look, at least.

Team SSSN
(Pronounced "Sun")

Sun Wukong

 * Voiced by: Michael Jones


 * Badass
 * Beast Folk
 * Epic Flail
 * Fighting with Chucks
 * Walking Shirtless Scene: Most of the time wears a vest with no shirt.

Scarlet

 * Ambiguous Gender: Confirmed to be male, though.
 * Expy: Of G-Dragon from the K-pop group Big Bang.
 * The Unseen: For all practical purposes, although he did appear briefly -- at a very long distance -- in V2E5 after Mercury's fight with Pyrrha.

Sage

 * The Unseen: For all practical purposes, although he did appear briefly -- at a very long distance -- in V2E5 after Mercury's fight with Pyrrha.

Neptune Vasilias

 * Voiced by: Kerry Shawcross


 * Badass
 * Bishie Sparkle
 * I Can't Dance
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Invokes this with Jaune concerning Weiss.

Roman Torchwick

 * Voiced by: Gray G. Haddock


 * Affably Evil: Just because he's a villain doesn't mean he doesn't attempt to be civil to his enemies, especially in parting.
 * Badass
 * Badass Driver: Has thus far piloted an airship and a Powered Armor with a fair degree of skill.
 * Badass Normal: Has yet to display any abilities other than his melee and gunplay skills, but is able to fight experienced magic users to a standstill.
 * Cultured Badass: Dapper gangster-style suit-wearing "mob boss" type with a cane that doubles as a miniature cannon.
 * Boomerang Bigot: Utilizes this to get the White Fang to Enemy Mine with him, claiming that humans are assholes, but the ones he and the Faunas have a common enemy in are those who control everything.
 * Cigar Chomper
 * Dastardly Dapper Derby
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * The Dragon: To Cinder.
 * Grappling Hook Pistol: Can fire the handle of his cane as a grappling hook.
 * Gun Cane
 * Man in White
 * The Nicknamer: Rarely calls people (especially Team RWBY) by their names.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Said when it's obvious he's outmatched.

Cinder Fall

 * Voiced by: Jessica Nigri


 * The Baroness: Sexpot version.
 * Big Bad
 * Cat Smile: Does this quite a bit.
 * Evil Sorceress: Seems to fit this archetype very neatly right from her first appearance in V1E1.
 * Eyes of Gold
 * Face Framed in Shadow: When we first see her and in the first season opening.
 * The Man Behind the Man: Her initial appearance in V1E1 suggested she was Torchwick's flunky; the Stinger on V1E16 revealed that instead she was his boss.
 * Mythology Gag: When infiltrating the communications tower during the formal dance in Volume 2, Cinder is told she needs to get back to the ball by midnight.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Spy Catsuit: Has donned one on occasion.
 * The Tease: Flirts with just about everyone.

Mercury Black

 * Voiced by: J.J. Castillo


 * Bare-Fisted Monk: His primary attack method.
 * Book Dumb: By his own admission.
 * Deadpan Snarker

Emerald Sustrai

 * Voiced by: Katie Newville


 * Absolute Cleavage
 * Bare Your Midriff
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * You Gotta Have Emerald Hair

Neapolitan, aka "Neo"

 * Voiced by:


 * Adorable Evil Minion
 * Badass Adorable
 * Enigmatic Minion
 * Kaleidoscope Eyes: Her eyes seem to change between brown, pink and white, apparently depending on her mood, although it does appear the shifts can also be voluntary.  By default it seems she usually has one pink and one brown eye, matching her hair colors but in counterpoint.
 * Kick Chick
 * Master of Illusion: Appears to have some manner of illusion power.
 * Multicolored Hair: Has hair in colors reminiscent of Neapolitan ice cream, hence her name (probably) -- one side is pink with white streaks, and the other is chocolate brown.
 * Parasol of Prettiness/Parasol of Pain: Carries a delicate, lacy parasol which can block energy blasts and deflect blows, and which has a blade hidden in its shaft.  While she does use it as a weapon, it's almost secondary to her kicks.
 * Perpetual Smiler
 * Silent Antagonist: For the moment.  Grey Haddock has confirmed that she has a voice actress, and that the character is not mute.
 * Sword Cane: She has an epee-like blade hidden in the shaft of her parasol, and was about to use it to perform a coupe de grace on Yang after defeating her in V2E11, until Raven interfered.
 * Teleportation: Appears to be her primary non-combat ability, possibly her Semblance, and possibly in combination with some kind of illusion/image power.
 * Waif Fu: Easily below 5 feet in height, slender, flawlessly acrobatic and graceful, and took out Yang without getting a scratch on her.

Hei "Junior" Xiong

 * Voiced by: Jack Pattillo


 * Badass in a Nice Suit: Goes about his business wearing a three-piece suit without the jacket.
 * Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": As of V2E12, no one has actually called him anything other than "Junior".
 * Groin Attack: Got one thanks to Yang in Yellow trailer.
 * Mooks: Has a good-sized band of minions who all share the same fashion sense.  Sadly, he's not all that impressed with their quality.

Junior's Mooks

 * Conservation of Ninjutsu: There's a lot of them.  There's not a lot of skill or bravery amongst them.  Sadly for them, Junior knows this and lets them know he knows.
 * Lennon Specs: With bright red lenses.
 * Mooks: Exactly What It Says on the Tin
 * Sharp-Dressed Man: They all wear dapper black suits with red ties and Nice Hats.
 * Sinister Shades: They're making an effort at it, but it doesn't quite work.

Melanie and Miltiades "Militia" Malachite

 * Voiced by: Margaret Tominey

"Melanie, who is this girl?"

- Miltiades, about Yang, in the Yellow trailer


 * Alliterative Name: Times two!
 * Always Identical Twins
 * Elegant Gothic Lolita
 * Identical Twin ID Tag: Possibly.  Every time we've seen them, Melanie has been in all-white and Militia has been in all-red.
 * Kick Chick: Melanie's preferred weapon are a pair of spur-like blades on the backs of her armored boots, which she wields with an array of kicks.
 * Meaningful Name: Malachite is a pale green mineral; they have pale green eyes.
 * Twin Banter: Averted; they're quiet, almost dour.
 * What Might Have Been: According to Monty Oum, their outfits are based on early discarded costume designs for Weiss and Ruby, respectively.
 * Wolverine Claws: Militia's preferred weapon are a set of double claws the length of her forearms.

Adam Taurus

 * Voiced by: Garrett Hunter


 * Beast Folk
 * Colourful Theme Naming: Although it is not obvious, his name does fit the color theming of character names -- "Adam" is a Hebrew name meaning "Red Earth".
 * Ki Attacks
 * Mask Power

Unnamed White Fang Lieutenant

 * Voiced by: Gray G. Haddock


 * Beast Folk
 * Chainsaw Good: Carries an immense chainsword during his fight with Yang in V2E11.
 * Tattooed Crook: Has a distinctive set of tribal tattoos on his upper left arm.

Shopkeep

 * Voiced by: Patrick Rodriguez


 * Eyes Always Shut
 * No Name Given
 * Shop Keeper: Well, yeah.
 * The Unintelligible: Except for a single line uttered in the first moments of the very first episode, the Shopkeep's dialogue has been entirely grunts and other wordless sounds.

Penny Polendina

 * Voiced by: Taylor Pelto


 * The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In
 * Catch Phrase: "I'm combat ready!"
 * Hand Blast
 * Idiot Hair
 * No Sense of Personal Space
 * Pinocchio Nose: She hiccups when she lies.
 * Robot Girl
 * Set Swords to Stun
 * Strange Girl: Although by V2 she seems to have become more "normal", possibly due to her exposure to Team RWBY and other people outside of the complex where she was built.
 * Super Strength
 * Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Especially if you're telekinetically controlling a couple dozen or so...

General James Ironwood

 * Voiced by: Jason Rose


 * Artificial Limbs: It is believed that his right arm may be cybernetic; his right hand is always gloved, and it may somehow relate to the silver metallic strip that appears to be embedded in his forehead above his right eyebrow.
 * Four-Star Badass: And is perfectly willing to lead the charge into battle at the front if he had to.
 * General Ripper: Dangerously close to this trope, as it would be his first impulse to Zerg Rush his enemies and overwhelm them with sheer firepower.
 * Man in White: Possibly applies; the council's transfer of responsibility from Ozpin to Ironwood certainly doesn't look good, despite Ironwood's apparently sincere intentions.
 * Morality Pet: Both Ozpin and Glinda (whom he is well acquainted with) have called him out on his gung-ho tendencies and have attempted to temper his rashness with appeals to logic and caution.
 * More Dakka: Firm believer in this.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: To an extent. Is supportive of Ruby when she takes the initiative to stop a break-in at Beacon and commends her, but is also incredibly gung-ho and impulsive.
 * Shout-Out Theme Naming: Possibly to The Wizard of Oz -- some believe that he references the Tin Woodsman.  This may be even more likely if he does indeed have a cybernetic arm.

Qrow
(Pronounced "crow")
 * The Mentor: To Ruby, at least; probably to Yang, also.
 * The Unseen: Except in a brief, abstract rendering in a flashback.

Raven Branwen

 * Voiced by: Anna Hullum


 * Cool Gate: Apparently can generate them at will.
 * Generation Xerox: Bears a strong resemblance to Yang; current fan speculation is that she's Yang's missing mother.
 * Mask Power: See this image.