Snippet 48

Author's Discussion 3

His Top 10 Worst List

Genre: Metahumor/Commentary

Tags: Questions will be raised for the viewers to answer, Retrospective, A bit of an Author's Words, Top 10

Mirai is exhausted as he looked to the pile of textbook he has to study later and then at the time before sighing.

Allow me to quickly sorry for the messy updates as I had to replace Chapter 22, 23, 34, and 36 which used to have Island Hell. I felt I really couldn't have the tale up after learning some information. That, and it's a bit too messy looking back. So, I'll be having guest writers on board and I recommend them. But I know why you're here. You want to see it, my personal shit list for who in RWBY I can't stand. Well, same rules apply as they have to appear in more than one episode. Just remember it's all subjective and a matter of opinion.

Mirai says this before flipping on the television with the recorded footage. He already stated this beforehand and left the record to show the audience. He was going to get some sleep after…a few minutes of FusionFall Retro.

#10 - Jaune Arc

Yeah, he would be higher, but I cannot expound any anger at him. Why? I'm tired of his canon self, simply. Jaune is a character who if he was in another show, he'd be canon fodder. He says he's from a noble family of heroes yet no idea what aura is?! Simply, his story is horribly disjointed and he's pretty much a karma Houdini. I like to quote an earlier statement that he has no reason to fake his way in. However, it doesn't help he's given the fan favorite treatment despite him not really deserving. Looking back, his design is rather bland, and the weapon is a disappointment as well. The only reason he's only number 10 is because I have a lot more beef with other characters than him. Also, there's the fact I had been introduced to him through fanfiction first before being later disappointed with his canon self. #FanonJauneoverCanonJaune

#9 - Cardin Winchester

This extends to his team. Now this pick has a bit of bias to it, as someone who endured bullying, I cannot stand bullying. However, Cardin and his team are the bland bully cliche we continue to see. They were pretty much made for cannon fodder to show off the other characters. I will say that Cardin is smart enough to blackmail Jaune to working for him but considering Jaune was not doing so hot in Beacon, it's all for naught. His and his team's problem is that they are boring, and we learn nothing about them. I should call them Team Plot Device. If there's one good thing I have to say, they're all better designed than Jaune.

#8 Velvet Scarlatina

Talk about wasted characters, but that's pretty much most of RWBY. Velvet started off as a one-off as a victim for Cardin. However, she grew to be a fan-favorite brought her back as a….second-year student. And here's where they screwed up. If she was a first year, it would make the fact she was being picked on my Cardin a bit more tolerable. However, her as a second year, leads to the question. "Why the hell is she taking crap from some first year nobody?"

It also doesn't help that Team CFVY is never seen confronting Team CDRL. You'd think that they bring it full circle, but no, the fans seems to remember things better. I have heard that Team CFVY has their own book, and that's fine. Maybe they won't break the power scaling of the now like they did in Volume 2. Her semblance, weapon, and her design…are ehhhh…not really a fan.

#7- Qrow Branwen

Funny enough, Qrow almost did not make my list. As he was on my personal favorites. The seventh slot was actually going to go either Glynda for being a cliché with no depth or to tie Whitley and Jaccques together. However, V6E4 had me to rethink on Qrow and I realize something, he's awful. He's pretty much a dick to anyone who questions Ozpin, chews out Yang after the Mercury charade, treats Winter poorly, decides to continually assist his allies drunk off his behind (which lead to Amber and Pyrrha suffering for it), and snaps to violence to punch Oscar, who is a child! What makes this worst, is he brings down the main four. As victims of abuse, Blake and Weiss should have stopped Qrow and it would have made for a tense. But, they stood by and let it happen. I can't be mesmerized by the cool voice and design anymore. Calling it now that he dies in Volume 6…let's hope they follow through.

#6 - Hazel Reinhart

He'd be higher on the list, he is only squeezed out by the top 5. Hazel has a similar problem to Jaune and my number five pick, stupidity and backstory issues. I don't get the logic in how Hazel decides to work for Salem when she (and by extension, the gods) are partly the reason she had to fight Grimm in the first place. If anything, he would make a good anti-villain wanting to fight both sides. A third option, if you will. But as is, he's a waste of a good voice talent and semblance.

Here we are the top five. The bottom five do not anger me as much as those do. However, a fair warning in that there will be some ties as we go on.

#5 - Ilia Amitola

I think the idea of just making a character for representation and nothing else is a completely stupid idea. Rooster Teeth tried this, and Ilia was the result. Starting off with "psycho lesbian antagonist" is definitely not a good idea. Ilia is basically Adam's replacement to be redeemed when they decided to butcher Adam's character to make him an abuser. However, it didn't work for a few reasons. One is we learn very little about her. Let's get to one of the important missing detail, why she's in love with Blake.

Ilia doesn't get any flashbacks to her past for her character to build and it's all through exposition. It's worse because like Adam, they are not reliable narrators. Ilia also gets the "Steven Universe" treatment of being rather easily forgiven despite doing horrible things namely nearly killing Blake's parents and put Menagerie and Mistral in peril by taking part in Adam's plan. For a woman who loves her, she pretty much as psychotic as Adam.

She does get one good line, "There's no such thing as innocent! There's no right thing to do! Only what's best for us! There's the humans that still hate the Faunus, and there's the others who stand by and let the hate happen! But you know what snuffs out hate? Fear. I don't like hurting people. But I'll tell you this… it's gotten us results."

This line is both bullshit and brilliant at the same time. It's brilliant because this points out how crappy a person is Blake (considering Volume 1's actions and her general cowardice). It's also BS because there's the fact that are innocent people in the crossroad. Children who don't know anything…similar to those kids Ilia beat up. This line was a part of my own inspiration for how I wrote "Remnant's Four Shadows" as I wanted to expand on that line of thinking. But moving on.

Ilia as a character doesn't work because of two other characters, Velvet Scarlatina and Neon Katt. Despite my disdain for Velvet, she makes Ilia look thick-skinned by comparison as Velvet had to put up with a lot more on-screen (and the fact that she lost her home and possibly her parents). And then there's Neon. If Atlas is supposed to be "racistland", then why the hell is Neon the way she is with no issue? Neon's existence calls what Ilia told us into question. Did Neon had wealth to back her up or was Ilia full of shit? It also doesn't up that the Adam short for V6 clearly shows Ilia is clearly older than Blake (in fact she's most likely Adam's age). Newsflash, RT! It's just as creepy with Ilia as it is with Adam! Ugh. If there are any good things to say, I do like the voice for her, her design, and her chameleon features were interesting.

#4 - Raven Branwen

Raven has long since been on my list of characters I despised in RWBY. However, with Volume 6, I hate her less. Raven's design is cool, but it screams overgrown teenager. Her weapon, however, is one of the coolest and a very practical one (what Jaune's could have been). However, her character is inconsistent. She insists that Ozpin put on them the curse of being birds, yet it's never shown any downsides. She's meant to be a third party, but she's so easily stringed to side that it's a joke. She's also an idiot. If she did not even to get involved, why take in a maiden? Why kill her for her power? Why even have a fake maiden in Vernal at all? Wouldn't that bring attention from Salem or Ozpin? Seriously, Raven could have put a pause on the plot by simply either kicking the original Spring Maiden to the curb or taking the power and not saying anything. She could have screwed them over if she wasn't such a prideful idiot in trusting. She pretty much only cares for herself as she pretty much using and manipulating everyone. By the way, for a feared bandit leader, only Vernal and herself were worth being fear compared to the rest of those jokers.

#3 - Blake Belladonna

I would have Adam on this list, but I ultimately scrapped him for Qrow. Besides, the man's a joke. Moving on, Blake started off as one of my favorites. A dark rebel against society that enthralled me. However, my favoritism faded the longer I stuck around. Funny enough, Weiss become the rebel I had seen in Blake in later volumes. But back to Blake, if you have read my work, I can sum Blake's problems up in three problems.

1) Her past (that was revealed in Volume 4) literally makes her reason to join the White Fang unjustifiable.

2) She is a hypocrite. (Did not do anything to help Velvet at all.)

3) She is too easily forgiven for leaving everyone around her. (No one's ever mad at her for leaving…except Adam and Ilia.)

Why is Blake desired by many in the show considering her attitude? I don't really get the appeal as it's never explained what they see in her. She is attractive but looks don't mean crap if your personality is crap. Like Jaune, Ilia, her scummy actions are swept under the rug. Blake was a terrorist and has taken part in robbing dust trains. She's probably killed someone. But I doubt the writers will have her past actively try to haunt besides former White Fang colleagues. I can say that Vexed Viewer sums up my problems with Blake with ease.

#2 - Salem

Originally, Ozpin and Salem were tied for number 2. However, with what was revealed in Volume 6, I had to drop Oz. He's still badly written but considering this is all technically Salem and the Gods' fault to begin with. If I had not my rule at the beginning about the one-episode deal, I'd put the brothers here instead. Salem is a complete mess as her goals are quite unclear. The lore for her? Rushed? Her full powers? Barely touched? Her goal? Barely explained. She is credited for things she hasn't directly done either. The only good thing I can say is that her Grimm Queen look is rather exotic, but the outfit could use a touch up. Her human design is rather bland…eh. I do have one question, though. If she's immortal, why bring back the Gods? Just wage war on the world since you lead the bane of humanity!

And here we are, the number 1 pick. But before we do so, here are some honorable mentions:

Yang Xiao Long - While I do think she's a bit on the hypocritical side hiding Raven's status (I do want to stress it could come back to haunt them), her character isn't as badly written as Blake's. I was going on a writing standpoint, and while Yang's handling isn't great. The following are much worse.

Ozpin - It's funnier to ask what he has done right.

Weiss Schnee - She was rushed, but she's the best written of the bunch sadly.

And now for the dishonorable mentions:

Sienna Khan - Literally created to die.

Glynda - While she was horribly cliche, she was a bit more forgettable. Most of her scenes could be skipped.

Pyrrha - She's my number 11. She was pretty much used as "development" for Jaune at the cost of her character. We don't learn much about her.

Ironwood - Typical incompetent military trope. I feel bad for him.

The Schnees (except Winter and Weiss) - *rolls my eyes* Too easy.

Tyrian - Edgy Joker wannabe

Oscar - Less scummy Jaune

Ruby - Bland as toast with little change (until V6, but it's too little too late)

And now the number 1 pick!

#1- Cinder Fall

If I have a character that I flat out cannot stand, it's this one. For six volumes, we don't know her backstory or anything other than she's power-hungry. She's a Villain Sue for most of show until Salem takes the front seat. Her plan literally relies on the character, but the better question is what's right with the character. Well, the design and weapons are cool. The voice…ehhh…she sounds like Jessie from Pokemon acting trying pillow talk. She also suffers from stupidity from the plot too sadly enough. From a writing standpoint, she's the worst hands down. And for some reason, she can't die! She tanks Silver Eyes and Raven to fight another day. If Neo does fight her, just end it already.

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Overall, these characters did not have to suck, and I do mostly feel it's all a matter of writing. I've seen plenty of writers take these characters to new heights, Melonishus, Green, Christopherweeblingjr, Jiu-jitsu dude (who writes a perfect Cinder), Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh (This guy knows his salt even with the limits he had!), and DPLxBeAsTxSnIpE (Someone who definitely got me into the trend of writing better Jaunes) are just examples of the many who do.

As the recording ended, Mirai was asleep at his neck dreaming of what to write next.

(A/N: I want to thank all of you delivering so many reviews lately. I did promise this list, and it's a long time coming since Volume 6. Will it change? Unlikely. Ruby and Ozpin were going to be on the list as well, but recent events have me not put them on. For those who wanted to know, Ozpin would have been with Salem for Number 2, and Ruby would have tied with Cinder for Number 1.