Is Ruby Rose a Bad Protagonist? | Video Essay Script

INTRODUCTION:

Quick question: who is the main protagonist of RWBY? Now, your answer could be either Ruby Rose, or the members of the titular Team RWBY, and I’d be inclined to agree with you. However, whatever your answer was, there is a problem in one of - if not, the - protagonists of RWBY: Ruby Rose lacks the necessary qualities of a good protagonist.

This critique has been around for a while, but really gained traction during Volume 4, and especially during Volume 5, and not without reason. RWBY has a large cast, and often times, members of the supporting cast wind up doing more for the plot then Ruby herself, or even the rest of her team. This is but one issue the show has been dealing with, and if it continues to go unaddressed, the problem will only get worse.

But before we delve into how exactly Ruby fails as the series’ protagonist, we need to take a step back and ask a much broader question.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROTAGONIST?:

A protagonist, in the most basic description, is the main character of a story who drives the story. The audience is meant to identify with and root for this character in their endeavors, and this character’s motivations, actions, and development should ideally be at the forefront of the story.

That’s not to say other characters can’t partake in the story or receive development. To the contrary, the best shows know how to balance their cast. Just look at Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire for you novel fans): its cast ranges in the hundreds, and even so, most characters - Sand Snakes (I SAID MOST) - are well written and developed. That’s why I often argue that RWBY’s problem doesn’t lie in its large cast, but rather, in how that cast is balanced.

IS RUBY A BAD PROTAGONIST?:

Ruby’s lack of action in the first two volumes I would say isn’t as bad in later volumes, specifically because the plots of those volumes wasn’t really all that important. Volume 3 is where the problem really takes hold. When we learn about the Maidens and get a rough idea of Cinder’s plans, Pyrrha is the one who’s aware of this, not Ruby or her teammates. Ruby takes on Roman Torchwick, who - while the main antagonist of the previous two volumes - is ultimately a very minor antagonist in the grand scheme of things.

After this, Pyrrha is the one who gets the final battle with Cinder, not Ruby. Ruby really only gets a Deus ex Machina - or Deus ex Silver Eyes (Yes, I know that translation is incorrect, but it sounds better) - and then… that’s it. She goes off unaware of what the audience already knows til nearly three quarters of the way through Volume 4, and even by then, once Tyrian is out of the picture, it becomes Ren and Nora’s story.

During Volume 4, while Team RNJR gets most of the screentime and has the most developed story, the most Ruby struggles with are vague nightmares about Pyrrha, and even then, we don’t see them affecting her in day to day life. She doesn’t jump at loud noises or freeze in battle. She doesn’t even talk about having to put on a brave face for her friends.

And in Chapter 10 when she’s about to break down, Jaune stops her. Now, I’m grateful Jaune had the emotional intelligence - yes, that is a thing - to not blame Ruby, but Ruby not blaming herself despite Jaune’s kindness prevents us from identifying with her struggles, and therefore, prevents any kind of growth she might’ve experienced.

Then we get to Volume 5. Team RNJR is said to be training for the first half, though all we see for Ruby is trying to fight without her scythe. It has nothing to do with her character, and we don’t even see her trying to integrate her Semblance into fighting hand-to-hand. It just comes across as very gimmicky, and like the story is grasping at straws. During this, Ruby is also sitting around the house, not even questioning Ozpin and Qrow as to if they’re telling the truth, or even inquiring about her Silver Eyes, or how her parents were involved in the war against Salem.

The closest we get to development in Volume 5 for Ruby is her conversation with Oscar, which admittedly felt out of the blue. The thing about Ruby I like in theory is that she’s optimistic. She’s well aware of the darkness in the world, but decides to fight to make it better in spite of that. However, she doesn’t ever struggle with this, and she doesn’t have any new insights. Likewise, her personality is largely the same as it was in Volume 1.

Then we get to the finale territory, where Ruby and Cinder don’t interact whatsoever. Ruby is simply knocked out after another Deus ex Silver Eyes - this time, it’s completely useless, and no one acknowledges it - and when she awakens, the most she gets is headbutting Mercury. Wow, such growth.

Meanwhile in the vault, Raven is the one taking down Cinder, and Yang is the one who gets the Relic of Knowledge. Ruby took no part in this at all, and didn’t even seem to have an effect in helping Yang summon the courage to call her mother out. As such, Ruby does very little to warrant being the protagonist within Volume 5 especially - it’s the volume that showcases the problem and makes it very hard to ignore it.

Despite all this, some have argued Ruby doesn’t need to be developed, becaue… 

IT’S “RWBY”, NOT “RUBY”:

This is a very strange argument to me, as it seems to miss the point of the criticism without addressing it. Yes, the series is named for the team, not the character of Ruby Rose. However, Ruby was the first character to be introduced, in both the Red Trailer as well as the first episode of the series, which is titled after her name, not to mention she’s the leader of the team. Saying she doesn’t need to be developed when we’ve got the other three girls is like saying that a table with a broken leg is fine because the other three legs are fine, even though because of that broken leg, that table is not stable whatsoever.

Let’s look at the 2001 Justice League animated series, which is part of the much larger DC Animated Universe. The show is named for the group of superheroes, but arguably, the leader is Superman. Even though Superman, along with Batman, had received much development in their own animated series before Justice League, they still get time to shine and develop even further. There’s also the 2003 Teen Titans animated series where even though the show is named for the group, all the characters, including the leader Robin, have their own arcs (Except Starfire, but she still gets time to flesh out her character).

The point is, no matter what a story does, it must develop the protagonist, and RWBY is no exception. Whatever the show does with Weiss, Blake, and Yang, or any of the supporting cast, the problem with Ruby’s character is still there, and can’t be ignored. So… what do?

WHAT CAN BE DONE?:

The damage for the first five volumes has already been done, but there’s still time to salvage Ruby as the series’ protagonists. Namely, the first goal should be to have her be more active in the story. Ruby needs to be the one taking on the antagonists, either alone or with her teammates, and she needs to be the one with the most prominent conflict. Hell, perhaps this could be made personal if the antagonists bring up Summer Rose also having Silver Eyes, making Ruby question whether these are the guys that killed her mother.

That’s not to mention the other issue with Salem as an antagonist, along with the show not being consistent on whether Ozpin is to be trusted. As such, we can further build suspicion around Ozpin and Qrow with Ruby calling them out on hiding important information from her and the others, and tie this into Team STRQ and Summer Rose.

Really, these are the only things that are absolutely necessary in fixing Ruby’s role as a protagonist. It’s that simple, but whether Volume 6 will take this all into consideration, we’ll have to wait til this fall to see.

CONCLUSION:

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I’m the Unicorn of War, and this has been a shit show!