A list of RWBY character inspirations

I decided I would do this for fun, since working out character inspirations is one of my favourite parts of watching. There’s a threshold of belief with the inclusion of certain characters. If you learn anything from this, yay me (and you... I guess).

 

Team RWBY

 

Ruby Rose- Red Riding Hood (she wears a red hood and fights wolves… duh)

Weiss Schnee- Snow White (her name is German for White Snow + the mirror theme in her songs)

Blake Belladonna- Belle, with some shades of Beast (Not as obvious. The fact that she is a reader is the biggest tie to Belle, but her Faunus traits also tie her to Beast (though not quite as much as another character)

Yang Xiao Long- Goldilocks (Her hair colour, combined with the repeated imagery of bears around her, alongside the occasional use of the phrase ‘just right’.)

 

Team JNPR (a slight connecting factor with JNPR is that they are all gender swaps and every character they are based off cross-dressed at some point in their story)

 

Jaune Arc- Joan of Arc (his name, the fact he’s a liar, Cardin’s basis and the use of French connections in his name and the names of his weapons)

Nora Valkyrie- Thor Odinson (The Freaking Lightning Hammer!!!!)

Pyrrha Nikos- Achilles (Pyrrha was the name that Achilles used when disguised as a girl in the myth, and SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER… she took an arrow to the heel before death, just like Achilles)

Lie Ren (Yeaaaaah… I don’t see this one, but it fits with the cross-dressing motif and apparently its confirmed)

 

Team SSSN

 

Sun Wukong- Sun Wukong (truly this is a deeply laid character inspiration that requires a deductive mind to work out)

Scarlet David- Peter Pan (In the NDGO fight, he literally did the famous Peter Pan flying pose. Alongside this is his pirate theme, which ties to the Peter Pan sequel ‘Peter Pan in Scarlet’.

Sage Ayana- One of Aesop’s Fables (going solely off behind the scenes stuff here)

Neptune Vesalius- Neptune (his name + Water)

 

Team CARMEN (unofficial, but cool)

 

Cinder Fall- Cinderella (her name, glass shoes and some story mirroring in ‘Dance Dance Infiltration’.

Adam Taurus- The Beast, with hints of Gaston (Adam is the real name of the Beast, his symbol a wilted rose, is pulled straight from the book, also his Faunus traits of a bull is like beast. His nature as an obsessive lover also reflects Gaston)

Roman Torchwick- Candlewick (the kid from Pinocchio that got turned into a donkey) with some hints of Alex from a Clockwork Orange (He looks a lot like both, plus his name is like Candlewick.

Mercury Black- Mercury, the roman messenger god (Name + Feetz)

Emerald Sustrai- Aladdin (she’s a thief (once literally referred to as a ‘street rat’) plus her illusion semblance may have some connection to the story that I can’t place my finger on))

Neopolitan- Mary Poppins (yeah, I have zero evidence for this beyond the umbrella, but I saw it in a YouTube comment, and I’m going with it (better than Harley Quinn, that’s for sure) I’ve also heard the Cheshire Cat, but I feel that another character suits that character better)

 

Team CFVY (they are all based on deserts)

 

Coco Adel- Coco Chanel + Chocolate (She’s very much a fashionable girl, so the designer brand connection is fitting plus… coco)

Fox Alastair- Fox Hunter’s Pie (his name is fox…)

Velvet Scarlatina- The Velveteen Rabbit + Red Velvet Cake (She’s a rabbit named Velvet, do I need to spell it also. Also, Scarlet… red… Velvet Red… Red Velvet)

Yatsuhashi Daishi- Yatsuhashi (It’s a Japanese desert)

 

Team PC

 

Penny Polendina- (Pinocchio. She’s a robot, she coughs when she lies, she controls her weapons through strings)

Ciel Soliel- either Jiminy Cricket or the Blue Fairy (I’m more inclined towards the latter due to her colour scheme)

 

Team CRDL (Bawds)

 

Cardin Winchester- Henry Beautford (The Cardinal of Winchester, and the man who sentenced Joan of Arc (Jaune) to death. His bird- Cardinal)

Russel Thrush (Thrush)

Dove Bronzewing (Dove and a type of pigeon called a Bronzewing)

Sky Lark (A shark… jk, it’s obviously a lark)

 

 

Team STRQ

 

Summer Rose- The last Rose of summer (Her name, plus the fact that her grave has an excerpt from the poem on it ‘thus kindly I scatter’.)

Taiyang Xiao Long- Not sure about him, sorry (I think there’s some fable, but I’m not sure)

Raven and Qrow Branwen- Huggin and Munnin (They’re Birds… cracked it. Their jobs as scouts/messengers mirror the role of Huginn and Munnin too)

 

Team FNKI (Memes!!!!!)

 

Flynt Coal- a recurring meme from Rooster Chief’s achievement hunter.

Neon Katt- (Nyan Cat. It’s too obvious for words)

 

Headmasters

 

Ozpin- The Wizard of Oz (the initials of the wizard spell out OZPINHEAD, the green motif, his deceitful nature and the inspiration of his related characters)

General James Ironwood- The Tin Man (He’s a cyborg, his supporting characters are all Oz related, and Qrow once questioned ‘if he even has a heart’)

Leonardo Lionheart- The Cowardly Lion (he’s literally a cowardly lion Faunus)

Shade’s headmaster- Scarecrow (we haven’t met them yet, but its so obvious)

 

Beacon Teachers

Glynda Goodwitch- Glynda the Goodwitch (clearly the tricky clue master beyond Sun Wukong’s origin was behind this one)

Peter Port- Peter and the wolf (his first name, and the fact that in his first appearance, he described a story of how he caught a Beowulf as a boy)

Bartholomew Oobleck- Bartholomew and the Oobleck (a Dr Seuss book) (I’ll be honest, beyond his green hair, the name is really all he has to connect him to the story)

 

Salem’s Faction

 

Salem- Wicked Witch of the West (If I’m honest, I feel she is more a composite of the wicked witch archetype in fiction, but she has the most in common with West, largely due to her being Ozpin (Oz)’s nemesis.

 

Hazel Rainart- Hansel (His name sounds like Hansel, he has a sister names Gretchen (Gretel). A little loose, but makes a lot of sense)

 

Tyrian ‘my favourite villain’ Callows- The Fable of the Frog and the Scorpion (This isn’t widely accepted, but it fits Tyrian surprisingly well. To sum it up, a frog is about to cross over, and river and a scorpion asks it to carry him across. The frog is reluctant, worrying the scorpion will sting it, but the scorpion states that it would be illogical, as then they would both drown. So, the frog carries the Scorpion, and the scorpion *gasps* stings the frog, dooming them both. The Frog asks why, and the scorpion simply responds that ‘it was in its nature to do so’. That seems to fit Tyrian’s personality quite well if you ask me, he kills because… that’s what he knows how to do. I’ve also heard the Cheshire Cat suggested (based on his eyes), but, once again, I have that for another character.

 

Arthur Watts- I don’t know why, but I get sort of a Professor Moriarty vibe off him. Perhaps Professor Frankenstein? We really don’t have enough to get a substantial theory yet, but I have a feeling that volume six will give us some stuff to go off.

 

Family

Jacques Schnee- Jack Frost (Jacques= Jack, Schnee= Snow/Frost)

 

Ghira Belladonna= Bagheera from the Jungle Book (big black cat, tender nature, his name. Fits well, yet not a lot of people realise it)

 

Haven’t got anything for Kali, Whitley or Weiss’ mom, sorry.

 

Other Characters

 

Oscar Pine- Dorothy Gale (A young kid living on a farm with their aunt, who gets thrown into a whole new world with a Wizard named Oz and a Witch at the centre… the two are quite interchangeable)

 

Ilia Amitola- (This may annoy people) The Cheshire Cat (Yep, I finally got to him. A) She camouflages, the Cheshire Cat does that B) Her theme song is FREAKIN’ called SMILE, and what is the Cheshire cat’s most famous trait…

 

 

Sienna Khan- Shere Khan (She’s a tiger, and her name is S. Khan… that’s it)

 

Fennec and Corsac Albain- Reynard, a trickster god taking the form of an anthropomorphic fox, who tricks other animals to meet his own ends

 

Klein Sieben- The Seven Dwarfs (His name translates from German to Small Seven, his multiple personalities that we have seen so far line up with the Seven Dwarves and she is a supporting character of Weiss ‘Snow White’ Schnee.

 

Brawnz Ni (This’ll make you laugh)- The Bronze Kneecap from Fairly Odd Parents (This is actually a confirmed thing, no joke)

 

Hei ‘Junior’ Xiong- Baby Bear (His name translated to Black Bear and his nickname is Junior. Also, he is a supporting character of Yang, who is Goldilocks)

 

Zwei- Ein from Cowboy Bebop (Ein is German for One, Zwei is German for Two, and they are both Corgi’s)

 

Shopkeeper- Cthulhu (I’m joking (or am I? (yes (Maybe Not? No.)))

 

If you have any alternatives for my choices, or possible choices for one’s I’ve missed, please comment. What characters would you like to see get RWBY adaptations?

Done