RWBY VIII: Well, THAT escalated quickly

[HalfTangible]

My impression was that Blake wanted to take the white fang back, ie replace Sienna Khan's new violent ideology with the more peaceful one that Ghira put forth. We know from Blake's talk with Sun back in V1 (i think? might've been early V2) that the new violent ideology came from the white fang's new leader, presumably Khan. The fact that the fennec fox monks are lying to Ghira is meant to be an indicator that Ghira has fallen out of touch with his former organization's new ideas. ("Oh no, it's not us that's the violent killers, it's just those dirty heathens, we naturally condemn such actions. But the media still lies about how violent we are.")

[LaZodiac]

The notion that Adam is taking over leadership of the White Fang seems weird to me because for all practical purposes, he pretty much already has. He's already the head of a splinter group and can do things like wreck up Beacon with impunity, and the White Fang's existing leadership either can't stop him or won't stop him. Plus, the fact that he's pulled off several attacks on high-profile targets like the Schnee Dust Company and had a hand in trashing Beacon means that in the eyes of anyone and everyone outside the White Fang, Adam is the de-facto leader.

Also, I'm working on some fan comics. Mostly for my own amusement, but there's a few things about the character designs that I never thought about until I tried drawing them. Like how Yang has a lot of hair. It's so big and fluffy! Also, Yang switches to wearing sneakers after losing her arm... wouldn't those be really hard to tie with one hand? Wouldn't her boots be easier to put on? What about her pants? Those look like they'd be tricky to get on with one arm too. The poor girl's really making things tough for herself.

I mean welcome to clothes, and society in general. We've made basically everything with the assumption you have all four functioning limbs.

[The Fury]

Yang's arc in Volume 3 is that she's fallen into a state of depression following her injury and that she needs to get out of that funk and accept that she's down an arm before she can overcome her new disabillity and move on.

Making things harder for herself is a sign that she hasn't truly accepted that she's been crippled.(as is the bit about her not using the arm at first, and her comment about how she tohuht it would feel like dead weight when she finally does put it on and start training.)

It's all symbolic.

Really? My impression was that they were trying to visually cue Yang's depression by putting her in an outfit that's much more drab-looking than her usual attire. Like how she's not caring about her personal appearance anymore. I guess I can sort of see your point though.

I mean welcome to clothes, and society in general. We've made basically everything with the assumption you have all four functioning limbs.

True, though some articles of clothing are way easier to get on one-handed than others. Like if she were wearing sweatpants and flipflops that would have really completed the schlubby, down in the dumps look I think the character designers were going for.

[HalfTangible]

I mean welcome to clothes, and society in general. We've made basically everything with the assumption you have all four functioning limbs.

*nods* and unless I miss my mark, those pants she's wearing are extremely comfortable for someone who's spending most of her time in bed or wandering around the house in a depressed daze. She's probably prioritizing clothes she can comfortably wear for long periods over those that would be easy to put on, so she only has to do it once in a long while. Whether or not that's a valid train of logic is another question, but w/e, it's enough.

I figured the clothes were there to symbolize how guarded she'd become; like armor. You'll notice that she covers up more of herself in her casual home environment than she did when fighting bad guys, keeps her hair tied back (something she didn't even do in her school uniform) and wears a jacket with one arm tied as a constant reminder of what she's lost. When she stands, she compacts herself into a smaller profile, whereas before she spread herself out in big, bombastic and confident poses. Everything she does seems made to make herself look and feel smaller. When she puts on the arm, she suddenly loses the jacket, partly because she's about to go sparring, but she's also shedding the biggest reminder she had that she was missing an arm.

I could be reading too much into it tho.

[Rater202]

Really? My impression was that they were trying to visually cue Yang's depression by putting her in an outfit that's much more drab-looking than her usual attire. Like how she's not caring about her personal appearance anymore. I guess I can sort of see your point though.

It can easily be both.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Spoiler

Show

I mean, it seems mostly that Adam has ALREADY taken over the White Fang. Blake saw it happen. The key word there is "Take it Back", not "Save it from Adam".

Adam has no reason to be unhappy with the current leadership because, in all meaningful ways, he IS the current leadership. He's already in charge, they're just pretending otherwise while operating in Menagerie so they can keep getting support.

The notion that Adam is taking over leadership of the White Fang seems weird to me because for all practical purposes, he pretty much already has. He's already the head of a splinter group and can do things like wreck up Beacon with impunity, and the White Fang's existing leadership either can't stop him or won't stop him. Plus, the fact that he's pulled off several attacks on high-profile targets like the Schnee Dust Company and had a hand in trashing Beacon means that in the eyes of anyone and everyone outside the White Fang, Adam is the de-facto leader.

Salem also seems to be convinced that Sienna Khan is the leader of the White Fang. In fact, nobody seems to think Adam is the leader of the White Fang. What he is, is Salem's point man in the organization.

Leth's take is the same one I have. Adam has been presented as being an officer (and a well-regarded one) in the White Fang but I've never gotten the idea he is the leader of the White Fang as a whole. Salem's statements back that up cause keeping Adam on a leash is all well and good bit she isn't sending Hazel to talk to Adam cause when push comes to shove Adam doesn't speak for the White Fang, Sienna does and Adam just gives WTCH a good-in with them to grease the wheels.

Cause the thing about Adam being the leader of a violent splinter group, that's the lie the Fennec brothers told Ghira to keep the chieftain from causing problems. We've already seen and were told (by Blake and others) that the White Fang as a whole has become a group of violent terrorists, its only in Menagerie that the people think all the terrible things the Fang have done is the work of a violent hothead and a small group of malcontents. The only problem Adam had in working with WTCH was...they were human and considering how extreme Adam's views are, it would make sense that the rest of the Fang is onboard with what Adam's doing...hell, its actually unclear if the rank and file are aware of Adam's association with WTCH which just occurred to me,

As far as Blake goes, she has never just blamed Adam for the problems with the White Fang. Sienna is the 'new leader' Blake mentioned when she talked about how the White Fang changed. That was a conflict between nonviolent resistance and violent opposition. Adam's position--outright allying with the Grimm--is an even more extreme position, but also in some ways the logical conclusion of the transition Sienna initiated. So Blake is planning to take back the White Fang from Sienna in order to save it from Adam--but that doesn't mean blaming Adam to the exclusion of blaming Sienna.

My impression was that Blake wanted to take the white fang back, ie replace Sienna Khan's new violent ideology with the more peaceful one that Ghira put forth. We know from Blake's talk with Sun back in V1 (i think? might've been early V2) that the new violent ideology came from the white fang's new leader, presumably Khan. The fact that the fennec fox monks are lying to Ghira is meant to be an indicator that Ghira has fallen out of touch with his former organization's new ideas. ("Oh no, it's not us that's the violent killers, it's just those dirty heathens, we naturally condemn such actions. But the media still lies about how violent we are.")

Keep in mind this is entirely personal interpretation here, but it seemed clear from when Blake talked to the rest of her team and Sun about how the Fang became more violent that she links the Fang and Adam becoming more violent with one another. Not so much that one cause the other but the two were linked and it wasn't until Adam really went over the line (Black trailer) that Blake decided to bail on the group. Combined with the comment on the Grimm masks and whatnot and it really feels like Blake associates Adam with a lot of the wrongness in the Fang and that taking him out will...'fix' the group but that isn't and SHOULDN'T be the case. That's a fun character thread to follow, that of a victim associating her abusive ex with all the ills in a group she believed used to be right and removing him to try to fix it only to discover the problem runs much deeper.

The thing is that we've already seen that its more than just Adam...Heck, we've seen Adam's own reasons for being in the Fang have likely warped since Blake left!

Like I said, personal thoughts there, not necessarily what is intended or shown.

Rule #1: Zodi does not like RWBY. She will complain about every aspect of the show, get used to it

Nah, Zodi has said a couple times that she'd like RWBY to be a good show but doesn't feel it is right now. Which is fair, tis why you gotta seperate 'just talking about and giving RWBY crap' Zodi from 'giving critique of the series and how she would have done it differently' Zodi.

[HalfTangible]

Nah, Zodi has said a couple times that she'd like RWBY to be a good show but doesn't feel it is right now. Which is fair, tis why you gotta seperate 'just talking about and giving RWBY crap' Zodi from 'giving critique of the series and how she would have done it differently' Zodi.

You say that like it contradicts what I said.

[Callos_DeTerran]

You say that like it contradicts what I said.

Well it certainly seems to contradict the 'Zodi hates everything about RWBY' part of it, or at least was my intent...I might have missed or accidentally deleted that part in my last post though.

Edit: And it seems I did, my bad!

[HalfTangible]

Well it certainly seems to contradict the 'Zodi hates everything about RWBY' part of it, or at least was my intent...I might have missed or accidentally deleted that part in my last post though.

Edit: And it seems I did, my bad!

I didn't say that she hated everything about it, I said she complains about every aspect. Big difference (and I was being hyperbolic anyway ).

[Delicious Taffy]

This probably seems like one of those shallow "I just discovered fandom and/or forums" questions, but I ask it with a hidden agenda. I'd tell you what the agenda is, but it's hidden, innit?

Which character is your favorite, and what's the reason for it? For bonus points, which character is your least favorite, and what's the reason for that? There are no right answers, and your reason doesn't have to be particularly deep, so go ahead and be completely honest.

[Rater202]

This probably seems like one of those shallow "I just discovered fandom and/or forums" questions, but I ask it with a hidden agenda. I'd tell you what the agenda is, but it's hidden, innit?

Which character is your favorite, and what's the reason for it? For bonus points, which character is your least favorite, and what's the reason for that? There are no right answers, and your reason doesn't have to be particularly deep, so go ahead and be completely honest.

Favorite: Ruby. She's pretty much upfront about who she is and what she wants and her "simple soul" and cheerful optimism is very endearing. She's like a really bloodthirsty cinnamon role.

Least Favorite: Three-Way tie between Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald. All three of them was ***** and we don't even know why--I honestly wish that Mercury or Emerald had been eaten by the Griffon instead of Roman. Roman was a classy jackass. A Jacklass if you will. The others are just jackasses.

[LaZodiac]

This probably seems like one of those shallow "I just discovered fandom and/or forums" questions, but I ask it with a hidden agenda. I'd tell you what the agenda is, but it's hidden, innit?

Which character is your favorite, and what's the reason for it? For bonus points, which character is your least favorite, and what's the reason for that? There are no right answers, and your reason doesn't have to be particularly deep, so go ahead and be completely honest.

My favorite character is Roman Torchwick. Ignoring the fact that his design is basically just a rip off Adam from A Clockwork Orange, he's probably the best designed character (or at least the best designed villain if you're twisting my arm here). He starts off kinda bad, but once Cinder gets introduced he becomes an actual good character, due to being the only person capable of calling her out on her bull****. She says he's worthless, and he gestures to the fact that they're in a warehouse full of all the stuff he stole for her. He mocks her behind her back for talking too much and somehow saying nothing. Then they decide to kill him in a really stupid way, proving I shouldn't like anyone in this series because the creators clearly don't know how to use them. This ties directly into the character I like the least.

This is a tough question because "like the least" is different from "hate the most" in my views, so this is a mixed up jumble of stuff, but I'll say Blake is the character I like the least. She has the least interesting power, least interesting weapon, and aside from all the problems of them really not getting how to write a story about racism at all she has the least interesting story. She runs, she hides, that's it. That's her entire character arch, really. She is the most boring of the protagonists. But she's not bad, so she's my least favorite. Basically everyone else goes into "I don't like them" territory and is rated on a scale of dislike.

Now for the actual meaning of the question as opposed to my interpretation. The character I hate the most is a three way tie that shifts based on who I've had to endure latest. Neon Cat is the lowest of those because I know she's basically never going to show up again. I just really ****ing hate her stupid "I'm based on a meme" aesthetic and her entire characterization is really really bad and it's a super stupid joke that "oh these guys from Atlas, the super strict military place, are a goofy rave girl and a saxophone man". It's a good job but they absolutely botched the execution of it by making the characters mostly insufferable. After her is Sun Wukong, who is an INCREDIBLY annoying pissboy who annoys everyone he interacts with and is generally just a huge **** bag. He commits crimes because they're a fun idea to him and pokes into other peoples business, especially Blake's, in a creepy stalker like way that honestly should put him on the level of Adam, and the only reason it doesn't is because Wukong actually does try to help while Adam's idea of helping is slicing off her limbs so he can keep her in a safety box. They're both creepers but Wukong has the ever so slight veneer of technically being useful, which makes it worse.

And finally for characters I hate the most is Tirion. This stupid mother****er is probably the worst thing RWBY's done, and this is saying a lot. Design wise he looks near exactly like Greedling from FMA, personality wise he's basically non existent. He is the generic creepy bloodknight who enjoys murdering and maiming children archetype, only pushed to be a crazy fanatic of Salem like she's some sort of god. Except none of the execution is even remotely good. When he finally meets the heroes he's got this weird mix of prim and proper way of talking that overflows into crazy religious nutjob, and it takes until the fighting starts for him to actually embrace that character of creepy murder ****er. He's basically just around to cause enough damage to Qrowe to force him to tell dumb nonsense backstory, and since his tail got cut off he's not even an interesting threat anymore. And worse of all you could just excise him entirely and replace him with Roman and it'd actively improve the story in so many ways. Everything this stupid idiot scorpion mother****er does could be done better by Roman, and have even the hint of emotional depth and a fragment of there actually being some character stuff. Roman has many reasons to hate Ruby, especially given his "near death" in the finale if they decided to have him survive. He'd have a grudge. He'd WANT to become this cool pursuit type villain that hunts down that girl in red. But no, he dies and we get this characterless loser who gets a boner every time he thinks about chopping children into pieces. It ****ing sucks.

[Rater202]

@Zodi.

While agree with you about how Roman's death is a waste... The way he died wasn't stupid.

He was surrounded by Grimm, who are attracted to and implicitly feed on negativity. He was pissed off becuase Ruby probably just killed Neon who is, as far as I can tell, roman's best friend, and was in the middle of a spiteful rant that was just dripping with negativity.

It makes perfect sense. I just don't like that they did it.

[HalfTangible]

This probably seems like one of those shallow "I just discovered fandom and/or forums" questions, but I ask it with a hidden agenda. I'd tell you what the agenda is, but it's hidden, innit?

Which character is your favorite, and what's the reason for it? For bonus points, which character is your least favorite, and what's the reason for that? There are no right answers, and your reason doesn't have to be particularly deep, so go ahead and be completely honest.

Honestly, I haven't put much thought into my "favorite." But if I had to choose, I'd go with Yang. She has this same strange quality that the Wally West Flash had; she's fun-loving and as energetic as they come, but also has an eye for the bigger picture. Her talk with Blake about wanting her to slow down is one of my favorite scenes in the entire show. She's got anger issues I can sympathize with, and with the recent loss of her arm has grown a fair bit as a character.

Also I may or may not have a thing for blondes

A second favorite (which I only include cuz I think it'll be kinda surprising) is Oscar. I like his story and think it would serve interestingly on its own; its problem is that it's largely superfluous to the events of the volume, but the actual story isn't bad at all and has no real major missteps. Picture his story as its own thing, like a spin-off miniseries where he only shows up in that end credits scene at the end of the volume. It's much better that way.

And Roman Torchwick is the best villain.

Least Favorite: Neon Katt. No, I don't care that she's a one-shot character, nor that her song is actually kinda fun on its own. This is the most obnoxious piece of s#@$ ever produced by any show ever.

[LaZodiac]

@Zodi.

While agree with you about how Roman's death is a waste... The way he died wasn't stupid.

He was surrounded by Grimm, who are attracted to and implicitly feed on negativity. He was pissed off becuase Ruby probably just killed Neon who is, as far as I can tell, roman's best friend, and was in the middle of a spiteful rant that was just dripping with negativity.

It makes perfect sense. I just don't like that they did it.

I can see him getting side swiped due to focusing too much on Ruby, but to just get consumed and then the Grimm flies into the bridge of the airship to destroy it utterly and cause the airship to fall from the sky IS a really stupid series of events. It's an actual deus ex machina. It's also REALLY stupid from a writing standpoint since it means that no matter what, Ruby never BEAT Roman. She lost every time they fought personally, and she's never going to be able to overcome him because he died due to bull****. Even if it makes sense that it attracted a Grimm to him, why wasn't Ruby attacked as well? She was GOING TO BE KILLED by Roman. He had WON. That they singled out Roman is what I consider stupid. Sometimes even "it makes sense in context" doesn't actually make something good.

[HalfTangible]

"Now that I think about it, that makes some sense!" should be your reaction to a good twist, not to your villain's death scene.

The worst thing about Roman's death scene (imo) is that, as Zodi says, it's a Deus Ex Machina of the worst kind. From a dramatic standpoint it comes out of nowhere, and it saves Ruby without requiring her to actually win the fight. The fact that you can retroactively justify it by saying that Roman's negativity drew it to him doesn't mean anything since we had no indication that was what was happening. In fact, explaining Roman's character motive for the last few volumes implies the exact opposite. There is no point in explaining your villain's motive in the exact same scene - nay, the same minute - where he dies.

Even if it had been properly set up (panning to that Griffon eyeing Roman with a glow in its eyes at one point, perhaps?) it wouldn't change that Ruby never beat Roman, which means she never has the chance to show her growth in that manner. This is action 101 for a show like this: establish a character's limit, have them grow in some capacity, and then have them break it. There's a reason that Goku had to lose the first time he fought Demon King Piccolo. It was so when he eventually DID win, even on his last legs, we got to see that he had grown since the last fight. (this is also why another character almost always fights and loses before someone else steps in to win)

I'm still holding out hope that Neo dug through the wreckage, found Roman's body, and has brought him somewhere to be healed (obviously with scars). We know she'll be showing up again sooner or later.

[BRC]

And, I mean, it's not even like Ruby COULDN'T have beaten Roman in a fight. Roman isn't supposed to be some top-level fighter. He's got a fancy trick that works at range, and usually has plenty of mooks to hide behind. So, it's not like demonstrating that Ruby could beat Roman would make her too powerful.

Heck, they could still do the Grim thing if they want to keep Ruby's hands clean for some reason. Ruby beats Roman, he's hanging onto the edge of something by his cane, shouting his final taunts when the grimm bird thing swoops by and eats him.

[Rater202]

I can see him getting side swiped due to focusing too much on Ruby, but to just get consumed and then the Grimm flies into the bridge of the airship to destroy it utterly and cause the airship to fall from the sky IS a really stupid series of events. It's an actual deus ex machina.

That's not what happened.

The Griffon didn't randomly fly into the bridge--Ruby jumped and kicked it and sent it into the ship, where it's landing cuased an explosion. It also doesn't come out of nowhere--you see griffons flying in the background throughout the scene.

I'm just gonna link to the relevant part of the episode.

[LaZodiac]

That's not what happened.

The Griffon didn't randomly fly into the bridge--Ruby jumped and kicked it and sent it into the ship, where it's landing cuased an explosion. It also doesn't come out of nowhere--you see griffons flying in the background throughout the scene.

I'm just gonna link to the relevant part of the episode.

I forgot that happened. Now it's worse.

It still comes out of nowhere because he should of at least noticed it. It comes out of nowhere because it's a jump scare type thing. It's sudden.

[Lethologica]

Favorite: Qrow. I know the disaffected a-hole powerhouse who lets the kids break the rules and secretly cares is set up to pander to my basically-teenage-male-hindbrain, but I don't care, he gets the best lines and the best VA and none of the annoying parts of the story (except Two Brothers). Runner-up Yang, HM Ruby. I'm a sucker for main characters.

Least favorite: Tyrian. He has his sadist nutcase shtick and nowhere to go with it, and unlike the tournament characters, he's not a one-off. Runner-up Taiyang--everything he does as a dad seems askew and he hasn't had an opportunity to be anything else. HM Adam, who comes off less dangerous extremist than jilted abuser--not that being a jilted abuser is a terrible thing for Adam to be, but it needed to be the spice and felt like the whole dish instead.

[Rater202]

I forgot that happened. Now it's worse.

It still comes out of nowhere because he should of at least noticed it. It comes out of nowhere because it's a jump scare type thing. It's sudden.

The Grimm weren't bothered him until he started acting like their prey. they'd been circling the ship forever.

He took them for granted so one snuck up on him while he was distracted by being passed off and trying to kill Ruby.

[LaZodiac]

The Grimm weren't bothered him until he started acting like their prey. they'd been circling the ship forever.

He took them for granted so one snuck up on him while he was distracted by being passed off and trying to kill Ruby.

It's still really stupid. Again, just because it makes sense in context doesn't mean it can't be bad. Contextually appropriate sure, but writing was it's pretty awful.

[Forum Explorer]

This probably seems like one of those shallow "I just discovered fandom and/or forums" questions, but I ask it with a hidden agenda. I'd tell you what the agenda is, but it's hidden, innit?

Which character is your favorite, and what's the reason for it? For bonus points, which character is your least favorite, and what's the reason for that? There are no right answers, and your reason doesn't have to be particularly deep, so go ahead and be completely honest.

My Favorite Character?

I think Penny and Ruby. I'm a sucker for AIs and Ruby was the only one who handled S4 all that well.

My least Favorite?

Tyrian. He's going for the whole sadistic slasher thing, but RWBY being what it is, he isn't actually allowed to show it. He doesn't get the appropriate scenes to build up the horror, fear, and hatred both the audience and characters need to have to take him seriously. Instead he's just annoying.

and he's completely unnecessary, considering Roman could've done that job, and better, with more character importance.

@Zodi.

While agree with you about how Roman's death is a waste... The way he died wasn't stupid.

He was surrounded by Grimm, who are attracted to and implicitly feed on negativity. He was pissed off becuase Ruby probably just killed Neon who is, as far as I can tell, roman's best friend, and was in the middle of a spiteful rant that was just dripping with negativity.

It makes perfect sense. I just don't like that they did it.

Neon was explicitly floating down safely (which is stupid on multiple levels), and he had just defeated Ruby. Angry maybe, but still triumphant. And considering Ruby looked pretty sad and horrified by all that was happening, she should've been attacked sooner. Besides that, Roman isn't a bad fighter, he should've noticed the giant bird monster approaching. Not to mention I think that's the first time we've seen a Grim take out anyone in one hit.

So while it's justifiable, it's still a stretch, and just poorly done in general. A Grim attacking, and that letting Ruby get the upper hand isn't all bad, but what they did was pretty bad on almost every level.

[Rater202]

Neon was explicitly floating down safely (which is stupid on multiple levels), and he had just defeated Ruby. Angry maybe, but still triumphant. And considering Ruby looked pretty sad and horrified by all that was happening, she should've been attacked sooner. Besides that, Roman isn't a bad fighter, he should've noticed the giant bird monster approaching. Not to mention I think that's the first time we've seen a Grim take out anyone in one hit.

He seemed pretty angry as he was ranting, and said rant was absolutely full of negativity.

And the Griffon did engage Ruby imediately after eating him, so...

(While it's the only time we've seen a Grimm ohk someone, it's also the only time we've seen one big enough to eat someone whole get the drop on a distracted fighter.)

[Milo v3]

Weirdly for me, the fact that neon katt's weapons are dust-glowstick nunchucku is cool enough to not have her on my dislike list at all.

[Rater202]

So, who else almost died laughing at Weiss's rapid 180 upon meeting Zwei?

[HalfTangible]

He seemed pretty angry as he was ranting, and said rant was absolutely full of negativity.

And the Griffon did engage Ruby imediately after eating him, so...

(While it's the only time we've seen a Grimm ohk someone, it's also the only time we've seen one big enough to eat someone whole get the drop on a distracted fighter.)

Rater, point to a single thing in that entire scene that pointed to the griffon coming down and attacking Roman, besides the fact that the Griffon came down and attacked Roman.

You can justify anything in hindsight, but the fact of the matter is that nothing in the episode points to any of this, except the fact that "it happened". There is no excuse for Roman's death scene.

So, who else almost died laughing at Weiss's rapid 180 upon meeting Zwei?

I've seen that joke a million times and at that point Weiss was the character I hated most. So... no. Though I did appreciate the attempt.

[Rater202]

Rater, point to a single thing in that entire scene that pointed to the griffon coming down and attacking Roman, besides the fact that the Griffon came down and attacked Roman.

You can justify anything in hindsight, but the fact of the matter is that nothing in the episode points to any of this, except the fact that "it happened". There is no excuse for Roman's death scene.

1: They were surrounded by Griffons. Literally, there are very few shots where there is not a griffon in the background.
2: Grimm had previously been established as being attracted to Negativity, and Roman was really negative in that scene.
3: Roman was distracted and caught up in ranting to and trying to kill Ruby.

This is not justifying from hindsight. It wasn't foreshadowed a season in advance, but it didn't come out of nowhere.

[LaZodiac]

So, who else almost died laughing at Weiss's rapid 180 upon meeting Zwei?

The only reason this rip off from Cowboy Bebop isn't at least a mention in my hated character list above is because as an animal mascot he has no character he just exists.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Hmmmm, favorite character...I'mma split this in to hero and villain.

Hero would probably be Weiss. I dig her design, her abilities, and her character arc the most though Yang and Jaune are a very close second.

Villain would definitely be Salem cause she comes across as component but not omnipotent, caring for her pawns but still ruthless, and has definitely mastered that quiet air of menace. Come Volume 4, Cinder is probably my second cause so much about her makes more sense now in a very good way.

Least favorite would probably have to be...Qrow cause he honestly comes off as trying way too hard to be cool without actually being cool. He's got a great voice actor and great scenes but I honestly don't like the guy and have no investment in him. That said, he still manages to be entertaining so its not like I want stop watching when he shows up.

Villain-wise would be Roman. Again, entertaining dude but he left me bored at times and his...entire Volume 3 left a bad taste in my mouth. He didn't have any further role in the story but was brought back regardless cause of fan demand. At the end of the day I'm not particularly entertained by his character archetype and he lacked a crucial quality in a villain...he wasn't threatening. Neo was, and we'll probably never see Neo again now that Roman is dead, but the character got two fitting character finales and the second one he didn't really need cause he had already over-stayed his welcome.

Least Favorite: Three-Way tie between Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald. All three of them was ***** and we don't even know why--I honestly wish that Mercury or Emerald had been eaten by the Griffon instead of Roman. Roman was a classy jackass. A Jacklass if you will. The others are just jackasses.

We know why Emerald and Mercury are the way they are.

Mercury grew up with an alcoholic, abusive retired assassin that seemed to beat/abuse Mercury often enough that offing his old man seemed like the best course of action. After said old man probably ruined Mercury's legs badly enough they had to be replaced, though this could have happened during the fight but the fact his legs were already bandaged suggest it happened beforehand.

Emerald is a street rat that used her Semblance to keep from starving to death and was given an out by Cinder. Emerald is always the one portrayed as the least blatantly evil of the three cause she's mostly just loyal to Cinder and Cinder is clearly just using her.

...not trying to change your mind on them being *******s, just saying we know why they are the way they are. Cinder is still the mystery, although we know where she got her shtick from the first three volumes from now.

Rater, point to a single thing in that entire scene that pointed to the griffon coming down and attacking Roman, besides the fact that the Griffon came down and attacked Roman.

The fact the people fighting on top of the ship (Ruby when she was just confused and angry) had already been attacked by the Griffons two previous times during that fight? Ruby fights one Griffin on landing (and killing it reveals Neo was up there) and halfway through the fight when Ruby is hanging off the ship and about to be stabbed another one makes a pass at her.

You can not like what happened for a variety of legitimate reasons, but it didn't come out of nowhere...either on first viewing or in hindsight when it makes even more sense. Nor was it particularly stupid, but that's subjective and I argued that point in the past and don't feel like rehashing it.