Weapon Guns - RWBY Season 1

I watch a lot of Roosterteeth's stuff. Roosterteeth if you don't know make videos and podcasts for the internet and are famous for Red vs. Blue (machinima series). I was super jazzed when they announced they would be doing what is basically an anime which was to be done by the guy (Monty Oum) who was hired to but action animations in Red vs Blue. It was obviously going to be pretty funny (Roosterteeth specialise in comedy) with a focus on action. Overall the first series turned out to be fairly well written, there were plot twists, characters became more and more developed, the music and visuals were pretty good. There was nothing of any real stand-out quality except the weapons of the main characters. Anime is known for outrageous fight scenes (where characters yell out techniques and junk) but when I come to think of it there is no real focus on diverse and hugely inventive weapons (just the way in which they are used is wicked, for example Zoro from One Piece uses quite ordinary katanas in a really unique way). So I thought it would be cool to do a post about the cooler weapons within RWBY. 

Official poster: http://montyoum.deviantart.com/art/RWBY-336841243

What makes the weapons shown in RWBY so hype is that they are transformable. They do some wierd Transformer folding changing thing where they can change between numerous forms. Usually the weapons have three forms: one small form where it is easy to carry them; one where is it is better to use as a ranged weapons or rather as a gun of some form; and one form where they are best to use a melee weapons for close quarters fighting. It is sort of unclear how these weapons work on a technical level other than to say they could be powered by either or both of the character's Aura (their inner power thing) and Dust (this sort of magical power well dust that is found and valued throughout the world). Now before i go over the cooler weapons I should preface this by saying that I don't want to either understate the character's fighting skills or diminish the chereographers' innovation in writing this post but I think the weapons are really why this series is cool. I also think in an interview floating around on the internet that the creator Monty Oum even said that one fight (the one in the yellow or 4th trailer) felt it had something missing before turning the antagonist's baseball bat into a bazooka. In fact one of the older professors of Beacon (Peter Port his name is) seems to have his own combination weapon, further entrenching the importance of these weapons in this universe. 

Cool fanart: http://i3ushidokuroi.deviantart.com/art/RWBY-408158646

So yeah the weapons, for the most part anyway, drive the coolness of the combat sequences (there is only one exceptiong with Lei Ren when Pyrrha is explaining Aura). This is mainly because the weapons are transformable and a hybrid of both a melee weapon and a gun of some sort. A lot of the fight scenes have the characters quickly moving about and dodging using the force from firing their weapons to push them towards or away from their enemy. This force is also used to improve the strength with which the character can hit in a melee attack. Ruby is definitely the main example of this philosophy. Also these weapons seem to be the way in which the characters use magic through Dust. In other words characters could have potentially been allowed to use Dust outside of their weapons but the weapons seem to have such importance in the series that they have to be explained in some way. This is mainly seen with Weiss' and maybe Penny's fights. In fact when the characters fight as a team their roles and combinations are decided based on what they can do with their weapons. So when JNPR fights the big scorpion thing only Nora can finish it due to the nature of her weapon.

Crescent Rose. This is the scythe come sniper rifle of the main character, Ruby. She often uses the projectile power of her weapon to enhance her speed and the power of her melee attacks. Fanart: http://xuoust2o.deviantart.com/art/RWBY-Ruby-392577564

Myrtenaster. This is the sword thing of Weiss. Although this weapon doesn't transform it shows how the weapons are used to perform magic like summoning fire or ice, through Dust, rather than through the fighter themselves. Fanart: http://isaiahjordan.deviantart.com/art/RWBY-Weiss-Schnee-377170691

Gambol Shroud. Blake's weapon of some form or another. These take many forms including pistols, a katana and a kunai and chain (or rather ribbon). The lack of firepower seems to restrict its use to push Blake around in a fight but is definitely one of the more versatile weapons in the series. Fanart: http://baka-kiiro.deviantart.com/art/RWBY-Blake-393580853

Ember Celica. The shotgun gauntlets that Yang uses. Definitely very cool and again demonstrative of how the projectile nature of the weapons are used in close quarters combat. They don't transform hugely but can do so in order to block enemy attacks. Fanart: http://kelsealou.deviantart.com/art/Yang-RWBY-400506873

StormFlower. The SMGs with blades on them that are wielded by Lie Ren. These seem to be really the least exciting weapons, mainly because of its seemingly lack of transformablity and use to push him around for improved melee attacks. Fanart: http://dantherrien101.deviantart.com/art/Lie-Ren-of-RWBY-416188432

Milo. The sword/spear rifle thing that can also be used as a javelin by Pyrrha. This is my favourite weapons probably. I don't know if that's just because I like Pyrrha the best because she and her weapon has such a Greek theme to them, but whatever. It also seems to have a bit more versatility than other weapons to me. Fanart: http://fishnspice.deviantart.com/art/Pyrrha-s-Weapon-Animation-GIF-394666074

Magnhild. The sledge hammer that is combined with a gernade-launcher, all used by Nora. I know many people love Nora and her weapon. Again she uses her weapon mainly as a melee weapon and in its hammer form can pull the trigger to both push her around and to strengthen her melee hits. Fanart: http://grumpythesheep.deviantart.com/art/Rwby-Ep-8-Oh-Nora-415169084

Gunchaku (fan name). This is one of the more versatile weapon that can be change from a pair of nunchaks that are really pistols. It can also be combined into one of those long poles (like Donatello from TMNT uses). It is used by Sun Wukong in one really awesome fight sequence. Fanart: http://nightmarezenuki.deviantart.com/art/RWBY-Vale-Arena-Sun-Wukong-sprite-416014085

Puppeteer (fan name). The very confusing weapon used by Penny. At first this weapon could be seen to be control by extra powers beyond the weapon itself, but then it is revealed that all the "levitating" swords are really connected to a backpack thing by wires (extremely strong wires) than explicably control the swords. Again these create the magic, not the character alone. Fanart: http://linda916.deviantart.com/art/RWBY-Penny-412677704

So yeah I suggest you go to watch the series on: http://roosterteeth.com/archive/?sid=rwby&v=more/

The best episodes (in terms of fighting) is definitely the four trailers (red, white, black and yellow) and episodes 1, 7, 8 and 16.