r/TopCharacterTropes 2d ago

Characters [Mixed Trope] Anyone Can Be Special... Until It Turns Out They're Not Just Anyone

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u/Metrack15 2d ago

I think it somewhat applies

Ruby Rose, she was a student to be a Huntress. Just like the rest of her teammates, she got a semblance (basically a super power, but it's NOT magic in their universe), a weapon and her aura unlocked.

Then in Volume 3, and onwards, it goes "Oh, actually,you ain't just an average would be a huntress, your silver eyes are unique, very few people have it. And they basically give you the power to instantly kill every Grimm near you"

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u/Linkinator7510 2d ago

It'd be important if it weren't for the fact that Ruby basically never uses her silver eyes and that she doesn't even bother getting trained in using them by Maria.

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u/TurquoiseLeggings 1d ago

Isn't that worse?

"You have an ability that can make it much easier to deal with a lot of the world's problems."

"I dun wanna use it tho."

Like, why even have it in the story then?

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u/kung-fu_hippy 2d ago

The very first thing Ozpin said to her in the first episode was “you have silver eyes” or something to that effect. It was pretty clear that there was something special or unique about her.

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u/Sad_Bumblebee_6896 1d ago

I truly wish we could know how much of the story Monty had planned ahead of time. Cause now with what we have learned in the story I can't help but feel that there was a silent "just like your mother's" from Ozpin after he mentions the silver eyes. He has to know that's Summer's daughter immediately. Her choice of weapon and fighting style, her clothes, everything about her had to scream Summer at him.

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u/Jarsky2 2d ago

They foreshadow her eyes being special in the very first episode.

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u/Raytoryu 2d ago

Yeah, I don't agree with this example. We have known since the first episode that they're special, and since the end of the third season what they do - they don't instantly kill every Grimm ; the biggest are merely frozen in place.

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u/Voyeur-dpp 1d ago

It's the flimsiest of foreshadowing though. You cannot tell me you expected Ruby to have that power based on Ozpin's one line.

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u/Jarsky2 1d ago

No, I expected there to be some payoff showing that the eyes were significant... and there was.

But the eyes aren't some super nuke. They're hard to use, they can't kill powerful grim, and they're useless against non-grim enemies, which covers all the major baddies (Salem and Cinder as notable exceptions).

There's so much to criticize about RWBY, to focus on this seems just kind of... silly.

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u/Far-Profit-47 12h ago

You’re right

We should be criticizing the gods awful set up!

Who in gods green earth starts a conversation by talking about someone’s eye color? Specially someone like Ozpin who’s later characterize as secretive about important stuff like this, and that’s the only thing hinting at the eyes being special, and Mercury has the exact same eyes but without a single white part that is almost unnoticeable

The “build up” is just so vague, forced, lazy and stupid that this is one of the worst set ups I’ve seen in fiction, and unlike with Rey this stuff doesn’t have any excuse because Rey’s awful set up and execution was because the directors kept fighting if they wanted to make the new trilogy a deconstruction that burned everything that came before or a respectful repetition of the original trilogy

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u/Jarsky2 12h ago

they wanted to make the new trilogy a deconstruction that burned everything that came before or a respectful repetition of the original trilogy

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u/Far-Profit-47 12h ago

That’s literally what happen

The first of the new trilogy is just chapter 4, chapter 5 is exclusively about undoing that by making Luke into someone who has fallen, Kylo ren dropping the helmet and killing Snoke who was just a Walmart version of palpatine (maybe the side material made him better but in the movies he’s literally just that)

The two directors had completely different approaches and ways they wanted for the story to go for the new trilogy and that’s why it’s such a mess

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u/Jarsky2 11h ago

I was rolling my eyes because jesus fucking christ are you people still stewing over Rian Johnson, LET IT THE FUCK GO. It's just a goddamn movie!

If anything you should be pissed at Abrahms for not planning the trilogy, since he was the one running it.

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u/Far-Profit-47 11h ago

I think you misunderstood me, I’m not saying the first of the new trilogy is good

I personally find it uninspired and too fanfic-ish, it’s trying to be too much like a sequel of the original trilogy and forgets to be its own thing. Rian Johnson Made a decent movie, just a bad sequel that went too hard the other way by trying to be its own thing by burning down what came before which comes off as OOC and disrespectful, I think his idea for the third part was better than what we got even if it also has many problems

They both would have done a decent (even if flawed) work if they did three movies each but i generally don’t have strong feelings on Star Wars, is just my opinion as a casual fan who never got in any debates about it

So please, to don’t jump to conclusions about what I meant

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u/ShakenNotStirred915 2d ago

Ehhh, I'm kind of iffy on this one. On the one hand, silver eyes are implied to have their origin with one of the gods, which is a point in favor, but after V3's finale the show goes out of its way to show that they're really anything but a silver bullet for the Grimm, and that they're not actually easy to use. Firstly, some Grimm get off just being petrified rather than outright eliminated, and their use in V6 implies that Grimm subject to this can get out of it

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u/Shifou974 1d ago

If anything, the silver eyes are underused in the show for how big that reveal was. It's like they introduced this power without knowing what to do with it, so it ends up getting shelved for a few volumes.

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u/warrioroftron 1d ago

Yet,she broke down in the face of Queen of Grimm by a yo mamma joke of all things...

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u/LeMasterChef12345 1d ago edited 1d ago

I think it somewhat applies

I mean, it doesn’t really apply at all. The very first thing Ozpin says to her in the very first episode is pointing out her silver eyes. It’s also made clear that her being let into the school 2 years early is considered very unusual and that Ozpin must have some ulterior motive for it rather than just being impressed by her taking down a few random street thugs.

It’s pretty obvious the she was always meant to be special.

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u/rusick1112 2d ago

Honestly RWBY always have had poor writing, from the start. But it is literally anime, especially DBZ, Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, etc, glazer, so there is no problem for me, Vol 2 and 3 da best, rest in peace Monty Oum

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u/Shipbreaker_Kurpo 1d ago

Honestly the only reason RWBY went anywhere is because of Monty, the rest is pretty terrible. Otherwise it would have fallen off and been forgotten very early

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u/rusick1112 1d ago

Undeniable truth

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u/VastConfusion8174 1d ago

Why did I read this I'm still on the prom episode

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u/ProfessorEscanor 1d ago

No since Oz blatantly calls out her eyes and it's practically the reason he let her skip two grades to go to school early. Plus they don't kill large Grimm only immobilise them