The world of RWBY combines fairy tales, action, and combat games to create a world where four young women (Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang) strive to become warriors called "Huntresses" while enrolled at Beacon Academy, in a story where even the narrator cannot be trusted. Let's just say this series has won its fair share of fans over the years and they found ways to express their love.
But why just stop at making fan-art when you can tattoo the characters and their emblems and expressions on your own body! Today, we're sharing some awesome fan ink that just might inspire you to go out and get some. But remember, even an image can tell a whole story, so there's plenty of spoilers to be had.
10 Yang and Emblem Tattoo
[Via jerredkincaid / Instagram]
Yang Xiao Long, the fourth member and "big sister" of Team RWBY, would be proud to learn she's been immortalized as somebody's ink. This golden beauty appears on top of her own personal emblem, a common feature in the RWBY world. Looking like a flame, she's ready to burn her enemies down to ash. As the cast of Team RWBY all reference fairy tale characters, Yang is kind of Goldilocks...if she went around taking names.
This one also came with a show, as tattoo artist Jerred Kincaid reworked it on the Stream service on Twitch TV.
9 Ruby Rose Emblem tattoo
[Via KOtorrent / Reddit]
As mentioned, in this show's universe, characters, even the villains, are often represented by personal emblems, symbols, that appear on a character's weapons, clothing, and even tattoos.
This bright, red tattoo is based around the emblem of the story's heroine, Ruby Rose, whose sort of Little Red Riding Hood in an anime-esque fighting game. This emblem actually has a bit of a history, as she "inherited" it, at least in design, from her mother, Summer Rose.
8 Qrow Tattoo
[Via M4URITZ / Reddit]
Qrow Branwen is the uncle of Yang and Ruby, a member of Team STRQ, and is arguably best known for his ability to transform into a bird, a trait he shared with his twin sister, Yang's biological mother, Raven. The ultimate "cool uncle," he's kind of a parody of the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz combined with Munin from Norse mythology, one of Odin's ravens. One fan honored him by getting a tattoo of his emblem.
It combines a unique design with the image of a crow. Often, the emblem appears dark red to help differentiate from Qrow's sister, Raven, who has a similar black image, but the color black works better with the whole "crow" motif. Reddit user M4URITZ even put the tattoo on the elbow below his dominant hand, meaning he'll always see it when he's writing.
7 Fight Like A Girl Tattoo
[Via nachancosplay / Instagram]
Crediting Instagram user pastelxghoul for this tattoo, this ink seems to take inspiration from a popular Facebook meme promoting the series, something the creators have taken notice of. After all, what better way to promote girl power than four powerful Huntresses? And that's just the start of the series' tough girl characters!
The pretty blue banner decorates is Nora Valkyrie's signature weapon, Magnhild. Surrounded by pink sparkles in the air, it stands as a good reminder that, with enough effort, it takes all kinds to be a queen on the battlefield.
6 Nora Valkyrie Tattoo
[Via bakajennah / Instagram]
Speaking of Nora, here we have a tattoo of her in person, looking like she stepped out of an anime adaptation of the series. Behind her is Magnhild itself and she's surrounded by hearts in the air.
As her last name hints at, Nora's character is based around Norse mythology. But she ain't no mere valkyrie...she's based on Thor! You see, her team, JNPR, is based around characters who disguised themselves as the opposite gender, referencing the myth of Thor disguising himself as Freyja and a bride to win back his hammer from giants. For reference's sake, her teammate and love-interest Ren is based on Mulan!
5 Blake Tattoo
[Via cheltattoos / Instagram]
Going back to Team RWBY, here we have Blake Belladonna, using Instagram user Samantha Orcutt as a model, designed by cheltattoos.
Using the fairy tale theme of the main team, Blake is kind of based on the story of Beauty and the Beast. Except this time, Beauty is the Beast. That bow in her hair covers up the fact that she is really a Faunus, animal-human hybrids, with cat ears.
4 'Keep Moving Forward' Tattoo
[Via descends / Instagram]
Instagram descends shared this tattoo, crediting Elizabeth McCarver as the tattoo artist. In this lovely ink, we see the four emblems of the girls, decorated by a banner, reading "Keep Moving Forward," quoting series creator, the late Monty Oum.
Fans have used the quote to honor Oum, which, according to The Huffington Post, was popularized by Walt Disney, with it appearing in tattoos and similar tributes. The Gaia Online community, for example, released a "Red Crescent" avatar, with "Keep Moving Forward" as the item's description.
3 Ruby and Grimms Tattoo
[Via tattoos_by_simon / Instagram]
It's time for Ruby herself to make an appearance on this list. She technically the title character. Okay, technically, "RWBY" is an acronym describing the four heroines, but it also conveniently settles into her name, too. Tattoo artist Simon Connolly shared this piece depicting her.
Keeping the Little Red Riding Hood theme out in the open, Ruby has her hood up. All the while, she is surrounded by Grimm, the antagonistic monsters of the show's universe, ready to attack like hungry wolves.
2 Ruby and Cresent Rose Tattoo
[Via bakajennah / Instagram]
As you can see, Ruby Rose is a popular model for fan tattoos, and this leg ink can be seen in a wrap around. She's seen excited in the air, while holding onto her weapon, the Cresent Rose, a mix between a scythe and a sniper rifle. It's a mainstay of the series, first appearing, along with Ruby, in the "Red" trailer.
An eagle-eyed reader might notice a glimpse of white hair can be seen on the back of the leg, behind Ruby. It's hard to tell, but does anyone else suspect Professor Ozpin is keeping an eye on her from the shadows?
1 Smiling Ruby Rose Tattoo
[Via laughin-man / Reddit]
This time, Ruby looks like she stepped out of some classic Shoujo manga, with her dark hair now decorated with ruby-red tips and a coy, almost-catlike smile, all the while she is tugging on her red cape.
According to Reddit user laughin-man, the art for this ink was developed by mojojoj and the tattoo was inked by nia.tattoo. The original art that inspired this can be seen here.