RWBY #2 - Blake Belladonna's Cautionary Backstory

[leahandillyana]

In RWBY #2, set right after season 3, Marguerite Bennett presents Blake's backstory never fully shown in the cartoon. It's a cautionary tale similar to Harley's (whom the author had previously written), and as with Harley, the end of the storyline hints at possible future lesbian relationship (it makes sense only when you are familiar with the cartoon). Four pages (eight half pages) out of twenty.

Comments

[leahandillyana]

On unrelated note, this community reached the maximum of tags allowed.

[deh_tommy]

I’ve just realised something: Faunus are humans with traits from other animals, right? The Belladonnas are part-cat, Sun’s part-monkey, Marrow’s part-dog, etc. What’s animal does Adam take from?

I was never Adam’s biggest fan, so I wasn’t too broken up about what ended up happening to him (I actually rather liked his big fight, though). Still, I always thought that Adam, like the rest of the White Fang, started off meaning well before becoming radical. If this is canon, what did Blake ever see in him?

[matrix_dragon]

Adam was a bull faunus. And yes, he did start off well meaning and get worse. That doesn't mean he wasn't a bit of a shit to start with. Also, keep in mind that this comic is also being shown as a flashback from Blakes point of view, at the start of V4, when she's not in the right state of mind, to say the least. We don't see a lot of the gaslighting and emotional manipulation he put her through (Although there is a bit with his 'did you think your love would redeem me' line).

[kamino_neko]

It's common for Faunus names to reference their animal (albeit frequently in other languages, and sometimes very obliquely, like Scarlet Velvetina, or Ilia Amitola*) - the only counterexamples I can think of are Blake, her mom and Tyrian - so when wondering about them, that'd be the first place to look, and it works well with Adam, whose surname is Taurus, signalling that's he's bovine.

* She also confuses the matter by having her colour be oblique, as well, via reference to a different animal - Ilia is a purple species of butterfly. Her surname means 'rainbow', and that's the oblique reference to her chameleon nature.

[lieut_kettch]

Slightly squicky though. Wasn't Blake still a minor when she was with Adam?

[leahandillyana]

RWBYJNR are still minors in most current stories. However, given that the cartoon works on anime logic and absurdly young people are in positions of power, I don't think that Adam was older by more than a year or two.

[zachbeacon]

I've never been great with ages IRL but cartoon ages are baffling to me. I read a thing saying Entrapta was twice the age of the core cast (which does make me feel less weird about a certain ship) even though I assumed she was supposed to be around the same age.

Don't get me started on anime. Teens and people in their 20s all look the same and the few outside that range are just drawn as a generic old person.

[matrix_dragon]

Debate over Adams age is ongoing. Common consensus is that he's not a huge amount older, but it's very likely that there were some very disturbing elements to that relationship. And going by comments from Adams VA? Those disturbing elements were deliberate ALL ALONG.