(Grand Blazer)

(ramonzer0)

(Brobuscus)

“Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno. -- All for one, and one for all.”

While the French author Alexandre Dumas did not invent this famous maxim, his use of it in The Three Musketeers to describe the close camaraderie shared between the novel’s merry band of heroes was etched into the annals of history, and acted as a reminder of one precept: even the greatest and strongest of warriors will need allies to help them accomplish much more than they would have working alone. Two such young-blooded quartets armed to the teeth with unbreakable bonds, extraordinary weapons, youthful vigor, sharp wit and experience triumphing over their worlds’ most dangerous threats have embodied this precept to a tee, and we’re pitting them against each other in our first original prediction - a battle between generations:

Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo - the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long - Team RWBY. Four of Remnant’s most fearsome Huntresses-in-training are set to clash against Manhattan’s saviors from the shadows in a fight which pits a strife-strengthened sisterhood against a brotherhood built by battle. All eight contestants have overcome insurmountable odds both individually and as a team, but when push comes to shove in a fight to the bitter end, they have one question to answer: will the heroes in a half-shell get sent back to the sewers in defeat, or will this be the day the colorful Grimm-slaying beauties say goodbye to a victory?

A Heads-Up From Ya Bois

If you’re reading this, which you definitely are unless you aren’t (there’s some kind of faux-scientific explanation here), we want to reiterate that this fight isn’t happening on the show at the time of publishing, and we’re releasing this blog between Seasons 5 and 6. Is there a possibility that more blogs like this could happen in the future? Probably. Hell, if DB ended up doing this for real, we could update this blog with any new info that comes out in the interim - we have our doubts it’ll ever happen, but you never know.

The format here is still going to mainly be the same under the assumption that this did get turned into an actual episode, so to be clear:

The Turtles are going to be composited across most major media sources available to them. Obviously, they’ve been in a lot, so if you need a frame of reference, we have the original Mirage comics, the shows from 1987, 2003 and 2012, the original 90s film trilogy, the Archie comics, the 2007 CGI movie, the recent IDW comic relaunch, the Michael Bay duology and whatever we can gather from the new Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Most of the games will be on a per-case basis.
For Team RWBY, they are current as of the events from Volume 6, and we will also be considering feats from the RWBY manga, the Session light novel and Grimm Eclipse video game.
This prediction will not be covering anything from RWBY Chibi, due to it being a non-canon series, or the TMNT OVA, as that deviates heavily from the Turtles’ origins and boasts too much power to be considered a fair fight for Team RWBY.
We will not be including any vehicles such as the Battleshell, Raphael’s Shellcycle or Yang’s Bumblebee. For the most part, we’ve also chosen to avoid mentioning non-recurring weaponry, like the Mystic and Cyber weapons the Turtles wield in 2003.
Also, we do want to stress one more rule that we’ve normally abided by on here so far: no crossovers allowed, so stuff from Batman/TMNT, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle or anything of the sort are not going to be included.

Lastly, we want to give a shout-out to the Youtuber named Blade-Raven who made the mash-up of “This Will Be The Day” and the Back to the Sewers intro we’ve used here on account of being too good of a song to not use for this blog.

Backgrounds

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

“Our journey together has not been an easy one. But it could not have happened without fate, courage, and great purpose. The world we live in is very dangerous. We have many enemies in the city above. My duty is to teach you all I know. One day, you will need to choose your own destiny.”

- Master Splinter

(Note: The Turtles’ multiple incarnations have differences with regards to certain details, such as whether Splinter is either Hamato Yoshi’s mutated pet rat or Yoshi himself mutated into one, and how the mutagen responsible for their transformation came to be. While we are still compositing them, the origin story below is taken from the 2012 cartoon.)

Many years ago, the ninja master Hamato Yoshi was embroiled in a rivalry with his adoptive brother Oroku Saki. Although both were close in their youth, their supposedly strong brotherhood was broken when they began competing for the affections for a woman named Tang Shen. Saki’s grudge against Yoshi only grew when he learned that he descended from the Hamato Clan’s sworn enemy - the Foot Clan; upon learning that his supposed family were the ones responsible for wiping out all that remained of his heritage, he swore to restore the Foot’s supremacy. Taking the name of the Shredder, Saki attacked Yoshi, left him for dead, killed Shen and took their only child to raise as his own as he began rebuilding the Foot as its leader.

Yoshi was distraught over the loss of everything he held dear and opted to exile himself away from his childhood home, adopting the alias “Splinter” and moving to New York, a city his beloved wife had always wanted to visit. On one fateful night, he bought four baby turtles from a local pet store when he decided to tail a suspicious-looking individual to a meeting. To his surprise, the individual and his cohorts were robots created by aliens called the Kraang, and the resulting battle that came from his eavesdropping caused Splinter and his turtles to be covered by a mysterious ooze which had mutated them based on their last physical contact; Splinter transformed into a human-sized rat whereas the turtles gained humanoid characteristics.

The newly-mutated Splinter retreated with the Turtles into the sewers, and took it upon himself to raise and guide them as if they were his own family. When the time came to name them, he remembered his childhood passion for Renaissance-era art and chose to name his sons after legendary figures of that time period in hopes that they too would grow up to achieve greatness of their own: Leonardo - the natural-born leader, Donatello - the gadgeteer genius, Raphael - the hot-headed scrapper, and Michelangelo - the young trickster. As they grew, Splinter imparted his knowledge of ninjutsu to not only equip them with the skills to defend themselves, but to also have a guiding set of principles and virtues which would guide their paths in life.

Initially, Splinter initially forbade them from venturing to the surface, but eventually gave them his blessing to explore it when they became teenagers; this gave them the opportunity to fight crime as nocturnal vigilantes whose existence and true nature are known only to a select few confidants. In time, the brothers’ duties as heroes brought them into conflict with many supervillains, including the Shredder himself, but through their many adventures, no single evildoer has managed to truly break them and the bonds they had shared with one another. Even until now, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lurk the sewers and rooftops of Manhattan, ever vigilant in facing any threat with a healthy mix of attitude, flash, vengeance and justice.

Leonardo

“You may destroy me, but I will NOT. LIVE! IN FEAR!”

Identifiable by his blue headband, he is the fearless leader of the Ninja Turtles, a position solidified by being the eldest among his brothers. His namesake is the Italian polymath and Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, whose countless contributions to both the humanities and the sciences have made him one of the most influential individuals in world history.

As the closest to their mentor and father figure in addition to being the most spiritual of his brothers, Leo has faithfully abided by Splinter’s teachings since childhood, and this reflects in his mainly serious and no-nonsense attitude in combat. He harbors the most skill in terms of martial arts prowess with his signature twin katana or other weapons, and uses his strategic mind to control the flow of a fight and maximize all opportunities to seal a victory.

Donatello

"Hmmm.... test out a huge, oversized, transforming robo-mech in the middle of New York? I'm down."

The Turtles’ resident bookworm, inventor and weaponeer, easily spotted by his purple headband. He is named after the sculptor Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, known for his work on the twin David statues. Although he identifies as a pacifist and tends to avoid combat if it can be helped, he will not hesitate to use his staff and other gadgets to defend himself and those he cares about if pushed to fight.

Long considered to be the smartest of the Turtles in terms of raw intellect, Donnie has invested himself in the world of science and technology for as long as he can remember. While his overly-complicated technobabble can confuse those who may not keep up with him, his inventions and knowledge have saved his brothers and allies on multiple occasions.

Raphael

"Gods have nothing on New Yorkers."

The Turtles’ unofficial second-in-command and biggest source of muscle, named after Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, a painter and architect whose works embodied Neoplatonic ideals. His signature color is red, having been the only Turtle to keep it after the franchise moved on from the original Mirage Comics. Fittingly enough, he boasts a hot-headed temperament which helps his natural disposition towards fighting and destroying anything that irks him.

Raph enjoys a good brawl, and has no qualms fighting up close and personal with his trademark sai and hard-hitting grapples and strikes while trash-talking opponents with sharp taunts. While his fiery attitude and rebellious nature often bring him into conflict with his allies in addition to adopting an “act first, think later” mindset with his movements, he knows where and when to channel his bursts of rage to help when needed.

Michelangelo

"I may not have superpowers, but I'm more than enough ninja to take you down!"

The youngest of the Turtles, and appropriately enough, the most childlike; he can be spotted with his signature orange headband. His namesake is Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, best known for painting several works inside the the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel and an archetypical example of a Renaissance man.

While Mikey can hold himself in a fight pretty well thanks to his two nunchaku, he’d much rather be skateboarding, playing games, pranking unfortunate fools or calling people a variety of weird nicknames, all with a cocky and carefree grin on his face. Despite his jovial exterior, his fun-loving attitude hides an unmatched potential to become one of the greatest ninja in history, which he shows glimpses of from time to time.

Team RWBY

“You have traveled here today in search of knowledge -- to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step.”

- Professor Ozpin

The world of Remnant is one filled to the brim with folk stories and fairy tales which recall the long forgotten history of mankind’s past, such as the tale of the two god brothers who created man, the Relics bestowed they bestowed onto humanity, the Maidens that represent the four seasons and the Creatures of Grimm that plague the world. To keep the peace by battling these beasts, aspiring heroes called Huntsmen and Huntresses are trained in elite academies across the Kingdoms to attain the knowledge and combat prowess needed for their line of work. In order to help better facilitate the learning process, these academies group their students into teams of four in order to help them foster lasting bonds that hopefully last after graduation.

While all have the potential to become great warriors in their own right, none have acted as much on said potential more than Beacon Academy’s Team RWBY, consisting of four girls from wildly different backgrounds and personalities: the energetic Ruby Rose, the prim and proper Weiss Schnee, the brooding Blake Belladonna and the happy-go-lucky Yang Xiao Long. Brought together by their Initiation, these four young women embodied the ideal qualities expected from their future profession in their own unique if quirky ways. They may be free to enjoy themselves as any ordinary teenager their age would do, but their resolves to fulfill their duties as Huntresses-in-training and future peacekeepers at any cost are nearly unrivaled.

For a time, Team RWBY began their own personal investigation into mysterious crimes throughout the kingdom of Vale linked to crime boss Roman Torchwick and his alliance with the White Fang terrorist organization. They also participated in the Vytal Festival tournament, an inter-academy competition meant to celebrate Remnant’s culture. However, the end of the Festival proved to be their darkest hour when the enigmatic Cinder Fall launched her endgame after months of infiltrating Beacon and acting as the White Fang’s benefactor: a Grimm rampage throughout Vale that not only caused the destruction of the academy, but the dissolution of the team when each of the girls were separated from each other at their lowest points.

However, their personal demons and divergent fates had never shaken their desire to do right by others, and each of them embarked on their own journeys to stop the true mastermind behind Cinder’s schemes: Salem, a malevolent entity who seeks the collapse of the world itself. After months apart from each other, this lead to their reunion in the kingdom of Mistral, and the reaffirmation of their close ties to one another. Now more matured and skilled than before and with the backing of their friends and mentors along the way, the new and improved Team RWBY have embarked on a long and arduous adventure with the fate of Remnant at stake, ready to face whatever challenges and problems that are in store for them together.

Ruby Rose

“As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!”

The youngest member of Team RWBY and the group’s leader. Cloaked in crimson much like Little Red Riding Hood, her beloved Crescent Rose is a custom-made scythe/sniper rifle hybrid she proudly customized on her own, and learned to use thanks to training from her honorary uncle Qrow Branwen. She and her supposedly deceased mother Summer hail from a lineage of mysterious Silver Eyed warriors feared by the Grimm for their immense power.

Raised on stories told to her by older half-sister Yang that inspired her to be a great Huntress, Ruby was able to enter Beacon Academy early by using her Speed Semblance to foil a bank robbery in such an impressive manner that she was handpicked by Headmaster Ozpin himself to study there. While socially awkward at times, she soon developed the skills needed to effectively lead her friends in battle, allowing her to blossom into the heroine she longed to be.

Weiss Schnee

“I'm a Schnee. I have a legacy of honor to uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I would do with my life. It was my duty.”

Heiress to the Schnee family, owners of a wealthy business conglomerate based in Atlas. Much like her kin, she can be identified by her all-white outfit and hair - an allusion to Snow White herself. She wields a rapier/revolver combination weapon called Myrtenaster, and inherited her family Semblance: the ability to create Glyphs which produce different magical effects.

Despite her haughty and standoff-ish nature, Weiss hides a more noble side to herself; she is aware of her family’s tainted moral history with their abuse of the Faunus - a human/animal hybrid race - and seeks to become a Huntress to correct their path. This has led to a strained relationship with her father Jacques, who has been mostly responsible for the Schnees’ dishonorable reputation as of late.

Blake Belladonna

“There's too much wrong in this world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality, corruption... Someone has to stop it.”

An anti-social cat-like Faunus and former member of the White Fang, a social rights group which fell to extremist methods and became a terrorist organization with the intent to make the Faunus the most dominant species in Remnant at the expense of innocent lives caught in the crossfire. Having been indoctrinated into the group at an early age, she swore off her violent past and hoped that the path of a true Huntress would help her atone for her past misdeeds.

When not in battle, she can be found immersing herself in the world of books, akin to her character’s inspiration: Belle, from Beauty and the Beast. Her Gambol Shroud is a multi-functional weapon that can shift between forms, and her Shadow Semblance allows her to create versatile elemental clones; both of these combined with her previous experience as a freedom fighter make her one of the deadliest Huntresses-in-training around in any Kingdom.

Yang Xiao Long

“I'm a thrill-seeker. I want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. And if I help people along the way, then that's even better. It's a win-win, y'know?”

An adventurous brawler with an optimistic outlook on life, and the team’s resident “big sister” figure. Upon the death of her step-mother Summer Rose, she has spent most of her life seeking her biological mother Raven Branwen, who abandoned Yang and her father Taiyang not long after the former was born. Despite having a crisis of confidence after losing her arm during the Fall of Beacon, she continued to push forward for the sake of her friends and family.

While normally light-hearted and quick to launch a few jokes or witty comments every now and then, Yang’s true terrifying nature comes out at times thanks to her literal hair-trigger temper; essing with her Goldilocks-style hair is a fast way to get pulverized into dust. In a fight, her Rage Semblance increases her power the more damage she takes, and she uses this strength along with her Ember Celica shotgun gauntlets to give her punches utterly ridiculous levels of force.

Powers and Abilities

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Ninjutsu Training

Taught to the Turtles since childhood by Master Splinter, ninjutsu is not strictly a fighting style or martial art, but the use of specialized military tactics with uses for espionage and guerilla warfare. The origins of ninjutsu date back to the early days of Japan, where shinobi or ninja served as spies for feudal lords. These warriors employed stealth and deception to carry out different missions, including information gathering, infiltrating rival territories and assassinating high-value targets.

Currently, the Bujinkan - a martial arts organization based in Japan - have dug up records from the Togakure-ryu school of ninjutsu which detail the essential skills every practitioner must learn, regardless of their mode of instruction. These became known as the Ninja Jūhakkei - the Eighteen Disciplines:

Seishinteki Kyoyo (spiritual refinement): A form of spiritual education. Before and even after mastering the other aspects of ninjutsu, practitioners must mentally, spiritually and emotionally prepare themselves for their duties as shinobi through meditation. The recommended points for reflection including knowing one’s self, nature, destiny, harmony, sight, the heart and love.
Ninpo Taijutsu (unarmed combat): Taijutsu is the common term to refer to any form of unarmed combat. Here, users not only learn mastery of striking and grappling techniques, but other modes of combat like mutou dori (fighting armed opponents without a weapon), koppojutsu (bone breaking), taihenjutsu (environmental movement based on spatial awareness) and senkojutsu (infiltration techniques). Some techniques here overlap with those taught in traditional Japanese martial arts like karate and judo.
Kenjutsu (sword techniques): An umbrella term to refer to training with most bladed weapons, such as katana, nodachi and kunai. There is also a distinction made between schools which teach dual-wielding (nitoryu) and single weapon (ittou-ryu) skills.
Sojutsu (spear techniques): Training in the use of spears, or yari.
Naginatajutsu (glaive techniques): Mastery of the naginata, a polearm. These are more known for being close combat weapons as opposed to spears, which keep opponents in mid-range.
Bojutsu (staff techniques): Training in the use of the staff and sticks. Besides attacks, practitioners learn to complement weapon use with hand-to-hand strikes and using the staff as a tool for movement.
Kayakujutsu (explosion techniques): This branch deals with the use of firearms and explosions.
Kusarigamajutsu (chain-sickle techniques): Deals with using a kusarigama, a weapon consisting of a sickle connected to a chain with a heavy weight on its end. Wielders of this often attack by using the chain and weight to immobilize an opponent or disarm them of their weapons, giving them an opportunity to strike with the sickle. They can also spin the sickle around to extend the range of their attack.
Shurikenjutsu (throwing weapons techniques): A general term referring to the use of any type of throwing weapon, like bo shuriken (spikes), hira shuriken (throwing stars) and tanto knives.
Hensojutsu (disguise techniques): Ninja were expected to blend in with the environment and impersonate locals with the use of costumes and proper acting, all through studying the area and planning accordingly.
Shinobi-iri (silent infiltration): Ninja were also expected to infiltrate any location without being detected, and this discipline covered all the skills needed to make such missions successful. These included causing distractions, taking note of weaknesses within the physical location or guard patrols, reducing sources of sound and light, and if need be, eliminating obstacles by any means necessary.
Bajutsu (mounted combat): This governs the use of horses as a means of escape or combat, depending on the situation. If the time calls for a fight, the practitioner must learn how to apply whatever combat training they have to protect themselves and their mount.
Sui-ren (water techniques): To cross water efficiently while maintaining cover, ninja employed ways to move across it quietly and submerge themselves in it if needed for long periods of time.
Boryaku (strategy and tactics): Aside from employing conventional strategies when the situation calls for it, boryaku deals with formulating more unorthodox means to win battles by exploiting psychological, emotional and political weaknesses to deceive and manipulate the enemy into an outcome favorable to the ninja.
Choho (espionage): This particular discipline was about using one’s mind to gather information and using it to further their goals.
Intonjutsu (escape techniques): In the event a ninja was discovered, he or she was required to disappear as silently and quickly as possible, using elements from the other disciplines to make their escape.
Tenmon (meteorology): Ninja were expected to take advantage of the local weather and adapt to the changes within it to exploit possible weaknesses.
Chimon (geography): By using the terrain of the area, ninja could employ different types of strategies and movements in accordance with battle conditions.

They have also been taught the Chi Gong technique, which allows them to slow their breathing and heart rate to survive extreme conditions for extended periods of time, such as a loss of oxygen, though this does require some form of meditation and concentrated focus.

Needless to say, the Turtles have come to master these elements after roughly spending a decade plus on training under Splinter, with occasional teachings from other masters such as the Ancient One and the Ninja Tribunal. That said, how they actually implement such strategies in a fight vary due to their own individual personalities: Leonardo is by far the most in-tune with these lessons in comparison to his brothers.

Mutation

Mutants in the larger TMNT multiverse are individuals who have come into contact with a mysterious ooze-like mutagen, usually granting them superhuman abilities. In the case of the Turtles, their exposure to was responsible for transforming them into four ordinary baby turtles to what they are most recognized for.

The specifics of what the mutagen does to the subject tend to vary based on each incarnation, but the main constant is that it has allowed the Turtles to take on humanoid appearances while making them faster and tougher than most peak humans; these traits would only go on to be honed and refined further thanks to their training under Master Splinter. Their enlarged shells serve multiple purposes as well, ranging from shields to blunt force weapons and makeshift boards to slide down slopes.

Leonardo

Leadership

Fairly self-explanatory. As the oldest, most mature and most disciplined brother, Leonardo naturally fit into the role of leader in the group. Whenever a plan needs to be made, Leo is usually the one who everyone turns to, and he has shown to a decent talent in discovering an opponent’s weaknesses a fair bit as well, allowing for a few on-the-spot improvisations.

Healing Hands

In the 2012 series, Splinter teaches Leonardo the Healing Hands mantra, a remedial technique passed down from the Hamato Clan. After performing the appropriate hand gestures, those who invoke this can heal themselves and others from all sorts of injuries, whether it takes the form of physical damage, poison or mental ailments such as mind control. Learning how to master this technique can be difficult given that only a select few individuals in history have been able to do so successfully, Leonardo and Splinter chief among them in the modern day.

This practice has its basis in the Kuji-kiri, the nine mantras of the ninja: rin - pyo - to - sha - kai - jin - retsu - zai - zen. These were said to be based on Buddhist teachings, and are meant to help its user harness spiritual energy through enlightenment and awareness of their surroundings.

Unfortunately, it does not seem capable of healing fatal wounds, as (*spoiler alert*) Leonardo never even attempted to save Splinter from death with it after he had been stabbed through the chest and thrown off a building.

Donatello

Genius-Level Intellect

He does machines! Anytime the Turtles need a new thing to combat a new enemy or explore a new place, Donnie seems to always already have it prepared. He’s built armoured tanks, burrowing machines, helicopters, blimps, submarines, motorcycles and more. He’s created several sets of monster-hunting packs, retromutagen, some brand new teched out weapons for himself, a giant mecha, manuvering gear, gliders, and a plethora of more stuff. Whenever the Turtles go up against some crazy powerful robots or cyborgs, Donatello is usually the one to figure out how to shut them down. He’s so smart, his IQ is rumoured to be in the 600s. For comparison's sake, the highest recorded human IQ is 300. Not too bad for a guy who spent his entire life underground.

Raphael

Street Fighting and Wrestling

Among his brothers, Raphael has the strongest penchant for fighting and relishes every chance he has to throw down against any opponent he deems worthy. His prowess in combat compared to his brothers is only matched by Leonardo, but even they have their differences. Raph himself can fight a traditionally clean battle, but if pushed he has no qualms about playing dirty, either by applying professional wrestling moves taken from one of his favorite pastimes or using makeshift weapons from the environment without or in conjunction with his sais.

Michelangelo

Raw Hijinks and Tomfoolery (We tried.)

As part of his oddball nature, Mikey tends to employ acrobatics into his fighting style more than any of his brothers, leading to him quickly diving around the battlefield, flipping, sliding, ducking, rolling and dodging around to disorientate his opponents and get the drop on them. This does also play into some of the tools he brings into battle; Mikey is not above bringing toys or other makeshift weapons to even the odds if the going gets tough.

Team RWBY

Aura and Semblance

In Remnant, any individual with a soul - regardless if they may be human, Faunus, or synthetic being - can manifest that power into what is called their Aura. While universally useful for anyone who can fully harness it, the best Huntsmen and Huntresses use their own Auras to uphold their duties in battle. In this respect, it can be considered the RWBY universe’s equivalent to chakra or ki, akin to the teachings of certain Asian philosophies and religions.

Aura has multiple purposes in combat, and their overall effectiveness is determined by many different factors, such as training and innate skill. For one, Auras augment a person’s ability to defend against fatal attacks, as well as their own striking power. These properties can also extend to any weapons the user wields. It also acts as a minor healing factor, capable of patching up non-grievous injuries. While these usually need to be activated on command, those with proper strength and training can easily tap into these powers unconsciously. For people with a more proper grasp of their Aura, they develop greater powers through their Semblance.

Semblances are abilities unique to individuals with strong enough Auras. These vary depending on the user, although they can be passed onto future generations through heredity for certain bloodlines like the Schnee family. Activation of such powers need not be consciously. Despite their impressiveness, overuse of Semblances can tax its users, and stress can negatively impact their effects. In extreme cases, these can drain a person’s Aura and prevent their use until their Aura is recharged naturally, but the speed at which it replenishes varies and may not be feasible in a combat scenario.

Team Maneuvers

Since assuming her role as RWBY’s leader, Ruby has studied her teammates’ Semblances, weapons and tendencies in battle enough to formulate synchronized attacks, which fully appear near the start of the second Volume. Each possible pair-up within the team has a specified codename and attack to go with it, which Ruby can call out to initiate:

Ice Flower: Weiss uses her Glyphs to augment Crescent Rose’s shots with ice.
Ladybug: Ruby and Blake use their Semblances to flank and blitz their opponents.
Checkmate: A cooperative attack between Blake and Weiss.
Freezerburn: Yang uses Ember Celica’s fire to shatter ice created by Weiss’ Glyphs, creating a mist to blind hostiles.
Bumblebee: Yang performs a launching attack while being propelled by Gambol Shroud.

Ruby

Speed

Ruby’s Semblance allows her to dissipate into a cluster of rose petals and move herself at speeds faster than the eye can see. Such a power has many uses; she can retreat, disorient foes by being too quick to catch, ram into them and create slipstreams capable of carrying waves of objects and people behind her.

Silver Eyes

Tales in the past spoke of legendary warriors that predate modern civilization; according to these stories, those who were born with silver eyes were not only destined to live the life of a warrior, but were feared by the Grimm for being very exceptional at hunting them down. Not much else is known about who these warriors were, where they came from or what powers they exactly possess, save for their eyes radiating a bright light when their powers activate.

During the end of Volume 3, Ruby inadvertently activated these powers for the first time upon witnessing Pyrrha Nikos’ death at the hands of Cinder Fall, not only gravely harming the latter but also petrifying the Grimm Dragon attacking Beacon Academy; the dragon remains alive but immobile, continuing to attract Grimm to the area. It was later revealed by Qrow that this was due to Ruby inheriting her eyes from her mother and his ex-teammate Summer, although he himself admits to not knowing much about how their powers worked.

Initially, Ruby has only activated these powers of her twice - unconsciously to boot; the second coming from seeing Weiss gravely wounded by Cinder much like what happened to Pyrrha. Three seasons later, she learns to further control this with the aid of an older Silver Eyed Warrior named Maria by focusing on her loved ones to at least tap into it naturally.

Weiss

Glyphs

As a member of the Schnee bloodline, Weiss inherited her family’s Semblance: the ability to create Glyphs that have varied effects, with a select few she has been shown to rely on in combat throughout the series. The basic glyph acts as a platform that Weiss can launch herself from to move around the field and perform quick dashing attacks with Myrtenaster. Her Dust cartridges can modify their effects even further, such as fusing Lightning Dust to create Time Dilation Glyphs that can speed up the actions of herself and others she chooses to enhance.

By far one of her strongest Glyphs is her ability to Summon foes she have previously defeated. As per the advice of Weiss’ older sister Winter, this is accomplished by focusing on opponents that pushed her into becoming who she is in her current state. Throughout the show, her primary Summon is the Arma Gigas she had defeated in her debut trailer, in addition to a Boarbatusk she felled from Professor Port’s class and the Queen Lancer from her attempt to escape Atlas in Volume 5.

Blake

Faunus Physiology

As her ears can so easily attest, Blake shares a fair amount of behaviors and traits with cats, given her nature as a Faunus. Namely, her superhuman levels of agility and heightened senses - especially her sight - are byproducts of her Faunus background, allowing her to have perfect vision in the dark and utilize stealth to a far greater degree than her teammates.

Shadows

Blake’s Semblance manifests in the form of clones she can create to serve many purposes. Although not as strong or durable as herself, these Shadows can defend against or disorient enemies, and she can also use them to propel her towards any direction she so chooses. How long each Shadow lasts or how many she can spawn in a single setting is unclear, although she has never been seen using these powers for extended periods of time.

The Shadows’ versatility can also be enhanced with Dust inserted into Gambol Shroud. Fire Dust turns them into walking bombs, Earth Dust creates statues with stronger durability, Ice Dust can freeze enemies, and a specialized purple Dust variant turns a clone into mist that can blind anyone who walks into it.

Yang

Rage

Unlike most other Semblances, Yang’s own is not one that she can actively control, as it is reliant on how much damage she takes over the course of a fight; the more she accumulates, she gains a power boost proportionate to the amount she gains. This physically manifests in her Aura becoming fiery, her hair becoming golden and her eyes turning into a shade of red. According to Taiyang, Yang’s blows within this state are two times as powerful as the attacks she can be hit with, but that level of power does not translate to a rise in defensive ability. Outside of being hurt, Yang also taps into this power whenever she feels great anger, even when not in a combat scenario.

Equipment

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Yumi

In comparison to bows used by other cultures, the Yumi used in Feudal Japan were long asymmetrical weapons often made out of bamboo and wood, although modern variants use material such as fiberglass or carbon fiber. A yumi is noted for its rather strong draw weight, requiring a large amount of force to fire. Given their intense physical training and their natures as mutants, it is no surprise at all that the Turtles can make fast and accurate shots with their bows from any and all angles.

Shuriken

The standard side-arm for any traditional Japanese warrior, the shuriken is a quick and deadly throwing weapon - not necessarily to kill an opponent, but to weaken them by aiming for exposed areas. Ninjas also used them in other non-direct ways, such as dropping them as makeshift caltrops. As depicted above, a shuriken often takes the form of a star-like disc, hence the colloquial term of “throwing star”, but other throwing weapons that fit this category include daggers, nails and needles. A few used by the Turtles in the past have even been imbued - either through magic or technology - with elemental properties, increasing their versatility further.

Catchphrases

What? You didn’t think we’d leave this out, did you? Having originated from the legendary era of the 80s and all its campy and cheesiness, it should be no big surprise that the TMNT mythos is filled with catchphrases. And what would an analysis of the Turtles be without including some of them?

Cowabunga: The classic catchphrase to yell when anything cool happens

Booyakasha: The modern catchphrase to yell when anything cool happens (though it tends to be used by Michelangelo more so than any of the other brothers)

I Looove Being a Turtle: Typically shouted in victory.

Turtle Power: The 90s spring-into-action phrase

It’s Ninja Time: The 2000s spring-into-action phase

Like a Turtle Do: Used when pulling off something that only a Ninja Turtle could pull off (typically only used by Michelangelo)

Sewer Apples: Used whenever something goes wrong (typically only by Raphael)

Leonardo

Twin Katana

Leonardo’s signature weapons; a pair of katana or ninjato depending on the incarnation. Historically, the katana was used as the weapon of choice by the ninja’s rival profession, the samurai. Compared to swords from other cultures, these are known for their curved, single-edged blades which have been called some of the sharpest cutting tools in history.

In the majority of his appearances, Leo’s katana are strong enough to deal with any range of enemies and has no problem cutting through most substances with ease. Aside from the variety of offensive options his swords give him, he can also spin them around to deflect or parry any type of attack, and the polished steel is nearly mirror-like in appearance, allowing Leo to look at them to increase his spatial awareness.

Ōdachi Blade

A five-foot long mystic weapon that Leo stole from Baron Draxum in Rise of the TMNT. While he is naturally quite skilled at the swordplay aspect of it, the real beauty of this weapon is its Portal Power/Power Portal Jutsu. With enough concentration, skill, and sometimes just a ton of luck, Leo can slash the air in front of him and create a portal, though where exactly it will lead is a little unspecific at times. In some instances, it goes exactly where Leo wants it to, in others it’s a rather general “away from where we are right now”, and then if he’s not thinking of a place at all it’s at complete random. He has been shown to use it as both a means of escape and to redirect projectiles away from him.

Leo boasts that he can make a portal from New York all the way to New Jersey (approximately 50 miles apart), though he has yet to back up this claim due to his inexperience in controlling the Portal Power, his current record being a few stories up a building.

Donatello

Bo Staff

A blunt weapon also used in other Asian martial arts, and Donatello’s preferred weapon. While it may not be as lethal as the ones used by his brothers, it boasts excellent range and has many uses in terms of aiding mobility.

A mastery of bojutsu is done with the intent of having the staff act as an extension of the user’s body, and use of it - primarily through large, sweeping attacks and thrusts - is often complemented with the occasional palm strike or kick. Don’s staff is also good for batting objects across great distances, or even allowing him to pole-vault across those great distances himself.

Naginata

Donnie learned in the 2012 series that blunt force is not always enough, so he modified his bo staff so that he can replace one of ends with a naginata blade for lethal slashes and piercing attacks.

Tech-Bo Staff

While his brothers may have taken the mystic approach to fighting in Rise of the TMNT, Donnie stuck to his technological roots and built himself a collapsable and ridiculously teched out Bo Staff that comes with more features than there are toppings on a supreme pizza. Here’s a list of them!

Composed of High Grade Titanium: What other kind of metal are you gonna use to make a science thing, right?
Grappling Hook: Ranges an entire city block. Can be detached from the bo itself and stuck onto something else so Donnie can continuing using his weapon.
Rockets: The tech bo can somehow sprout rockets out of either end of the tech bo to give Donnie’s strikes a great boost in power. By throwing both out at the same time, Donnie can throw it at an enemy like a projectile, though it can be rather hard to control what it’s doing in this scenario.
Selfie Stick: Why not, right? Take a cool pose when you’ve done something wicked or making memories with the bros. It also seems like Donnie’s phone is somehow stored inside the bo staff. The magic of science, folks.
Rocket-Powered Fist: Pretty self explanatory. A lot like the rockets from before, but now as a fist, packing a bit less power but a lot more control.
Hammer: No rockets on this one, but it can still be used to bust down bad guys.
Tennis Ball Launcher: Yep. With the push of a button, Donnie’s staff can turn into one of these bad boys to knock away small enemies and annoy the bigger ones. No one knows where the tennis balls come from though.
Drill: Can be used to drill into the ground or an opponent. Take your pick.
Electric Discharge: With the push of a button, the tech bo can create a large explosion of electricity, particularly useful for dealing with any bug-based enemies.
Fire Extinguisher: For putting out fires, which are usually started by Mikey.
Chainsaw: For ripping and tearing right through anything. Or just scaring the pants off someone.
Laser Gun: Transforms into a gun to shoot lasers.

Battle Shell Tech Packs

Since Rise of the TMNT made Donnie into a softshell turtle, he doesn’t have quite the same sturdy backside that his brother’s possess. In order to compensate for this, Donnie built an entire fleet of Battle Shells that he is constantly seen wearing to give him a technological boost in battle. Like the tech bo before it, there’s also plenty of tricks to this gizmo. And while Donatello has a fleet of them that he can call upon during battle, for simplicity’s sake (and a lack of solid grasp on how many of these packs he has, which ones have what functions, which ones share functions, etc.) we will compositing them into one Battle Shell.

Air Scooter: The tech pack can allow Donnie to take the skies and fly around Manhattan, and can even take a passenger, though this seems reserved for April due to his brother’s being more than capable of running rooftops and keeping up.
Claws: Four claws that extend from Donnie’s back and can be used to aid him in a battle or when some machines need building, like that one Science Squid guy, though Donnie’s don’t have quite as much range. He can also use them to grab an opponent and give them give them an electrical shock that typically stuns them for a bit. These claws can come decked out with building tools too, such as buzzsaws, a screwdriver, blowtorch, pickaxe, and plenty more, along with the ability to let Donnie to some high-speed wall-crawling
Lamp: For lighting up those hard-to-see-in kinds of places.
Music Mode: If you ever need some tunes in the background of your fight or dance routine, Donnie can hook you up with them by detaching part of his tech pack to make a floating DJ table.
Jets: Not really used for flight so much as to help propel Donnie in a given direction (at least when he’s wearing it).
Jet Pack: Actually used for Donnie’s solo flight.

Infrared Night Vision Goggles

A lot of these are pretty self-explanatory and do exactly what you think so don’t expect much out of the descriptions here.

Energy Reading: Pretty self-explanatory. Electrical, heat, solar, mystic, you name it, Donnie’s able to detect it with these things.
Location Tracking: Like Google Maps. Type up a place, figure out where it’s at.
Tracking Device: Donnie’s got a couple of these lying around, and so every once in a while he sticks one on a thing that’s important juuust in case the Turtles get separated from it.
Night Vision: A pretty obvious feature given the name, right? But yeah, flick these down and Donnie’s got perfect, green-tinted vision in the darkest of places.
Lock-On Targeting: To make sure the purple one hits his mark

Raphael

Sai

A pair of stabbing weapons that Raphael primarily uses. Historically, this weapon type originated from the island of Okinawa, but records show much earlier use in other countries within the South East Asian region. Traditionally, their primary intent is to defend against long-reaching weapons and disarm them.

As the sai’s design implies, Raph fights aggressively by charging in and using the sharp tips to stab enemies in vital target points while retaining a defensive position to block incoming attacks. He can also use them as makeshift climbing tools by stabbing them into any surface. As a last ditch ranged attack, he can also toss them like kunai, but this obviously means that he will be without a weapon himself until he reclaims them.

Twin Tonfa

Stolen from Baron Draxum in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Raphael ues his dual tonfa in conjunction with his street fighting style to make some devastating blows to his opponent. He can also use their Power Smash/Tonfa Power Jutsu to create force fields to either block attacks (though they can be broken through with enough force) or increase the power of his punches. He can increase the size of these fists to twice his size, or even create a giant glowing avatar around himself.

Nightwatcher Gear and Kusari-fundo

In the 2007 CGI film, Raphael began fighting crime as a solo act when Leonardo departed for training in South America. He donned the armor of a masked vigilante called the Nightwatcher for a spell before reuniting with his family. The Nightwatcher armor seems to consist of full-on steel plating which covers all of Raph’s body, and the helmet is equipped with two flashlights on the sides for dark environments.

While he still has them equipped, Raph’s main weapon in this garb isn’t his sai, but rather a kusari-fundo. Also referred to as a manrikigusari, it is a chain attached to weights on both ends mainly used as a hidden weapon meant to non-lethally subdue opponents and disarm them of their weapons, much like a kusarigama; the difference being that a kusari-fundo deals blunt-force damage as opposed to slashing attacks.

Michelangelo

Nunchaku

A pair of sticks connected by an iron chain, and Michelangelo’s primary weapon. Stories about the nunchaku’s origin detailed it as a tool used by farmers for rice threshing, but it failed to catch on as an actual weapon due to its ineffectiveness against the armaments prevalent during that era. Modern usage of this weapon type was popularized by Bruce Lee, who inspired combining it with various hand-to-hand fighting styles; examples today include Hapkido and Eskrima, disciplines originating respectively from Korea and the Philippines.

Aside from striking the enemy with the other ends of the weapon, nunchaku wielders combine it with other hand-to-hand moves, and the chains can be used as a way to disarm enemies of their weapons.

Kusarigama

In the 2012 TV series, modifications made by Donatello allow Mikey to turn his nunchaku into kusarigama, increasing its range and giving him a bladed weapon to cut through obstacles.

Kusari-Fundo

Mikey’s weapon of choice in Rise of the TMNT, once again stolen from Draxum. Barring Donnie’s projectile-based attacks, this weapon has the best range of all the Turtles’ and can be used to either smash in a foe’s head or tie them up and throw them around that way. It will also sometimes create a flaming skull that can go out of control, flying in every which direction, though Mikey has gained better control over it, allowing him to increase his range even further, stick it onto a given surface, and even create tornadoes of fire.

Team RWBY

Dust

An ancient source of power which spans back to the origins of Remnant, Dust was harnessed by humans to fight the threat of the Grimm, and was later used to fuel almost everything in society.

Dust often takes the form of crystallized energy, with colors designating their powers depending on their element. Wind (white), Fire (red), Water (blue) and Lightning (yellow) are the four major types of Dust, and secondary variants include Gravity, Ice, Steam and Earth among others, usually created by mixing in primary Dust types with each other. These also have more practical effects in combat, which each of Team RWBY’s members make use of to different extents. Usually, this comes in the form of crystals or magazines which the girls activate with the aid of their weapons.

Ruby

Crescent Rose

A High-Calibur Sniper-Scythe, which Ruby affectionately refers to has her “sweetheart”. It is a weapon of her own design, crafted when she was still a student at Signal Academy. Due to its size and weight, Professor Ozpin has theorized that only expert scythe users with skill on par with Ruby or her uncle Qrow Branwen can effectively wield such a weapon, which reflects the historical weaknesses faced by most cultures which used war scythes in combat.

In a long-range fight, Crescent Rose can take the form of a bolt-action sniper rifle which can take in different types of Dust ammunition. These allow Ruby to shoot Fire to burn opponents, Ice to freeze them, Lightning for paralysis and specialized Gravity rounds to boost the weapon’s recoil and propel Ruby in a specific direction.

When up close, it folds into a scythe which can act as a mount for Ruby to shoot without recoil. Strikes can also be amplified with shots that increase its cutting potential, and the bottom half of the storage compartment can fold into the blade to increase its size and boost it power further. In desperate cases, the scythe itself can also be used as a throwing weapon which returns to Ruby without fail most of the time.

Weiss

Myrtenaster

A Multi Action Dust Rapier which acts as a fusion between a standard rapier and a revolver; it is used by Weiss to help channel her Semblance and complement it in most regards. Its hilt contains a rotating mechanism with six slots; they can house multiple types of raw Dust, which she can release into the blade to enhance attacks or fuse together with her Glyphs to boost or modify their effects.

With Dust, Weiss can use Myrtenaster to launch fire projectiles, release ice as a barrier or a sheet on the ground or blow enemies away with Wind or Gravity Dust. The blade can also interact with her Glyphs, like boosting the effects of a time dilation spell with Lightning Dust.

Blake

Gambol Shroud

A Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe, and Blake’s weapon of choice. On its own, the weapon looks like a katana attached to a heavy metal sheath, but those components can be combined together in many different ways, giving Blake a very versatile weapon which can change weapon types on the fly. These include a pistol built into the sword’s hilt, a kusarigama whose range and power can be affected by the pistol’s recoil and can also double as a grappling tool, and a cleaver form which combines the sheath and the sword together and can be used to fire short-ranged projectiles from.

Gambol Shroud accepts different types of Dust magazines that Blake can use to modify the effects of her Semblance, making them more than just shadow copies of herself. As we’ve discussed above, Fire Dust can turn her Shadows into living bombs, Earth Dust turns them into statues which can defend against attacks, Ice Dust freezes enemies who touch a clone, and a special violet-colored Dust turns Shadows into a hazy mist which blocks the vision of those caught in it.

Yang

Ember Celica

A Dual Ranged Shot Gauntlet which serves as Yang’s primary weapons. She originally wore a matching pair, but when her right arm was lost in her fight against Adam Taurus, similar modifications were made to the new bionic replacement she began wearing in the following season. Inside each gauntlet are 12-shot magazines, which seem to house some form of ammunition that have not been confirmed to be Dust in any sort of way.

Ember Celica’s shots are akin to a shotgun’s buck-shot rounds that boost the kinetic energy of Yang’s punches and send enemies flying far away from her; much like Ruby, she can also use the shots’ recoil to propel her over similar long distances. Special red-colored rounds can also be fired from it; these seem to more akin to traditional gunshots, save for causing miniature explosions upon contact. As such, they compliment the extensive hand-to-hand fighting style Yang possesses quite perfectly.

Prosthetic Arm

In Volume 4, Yang obtained a new cybernetic arm to replace the one she originally lost; her father Taiyang believed it to be a way for her to snap out of the traumatic stupor she found herself in following the Fall of Beacon. Said to be made of state-of-the-art technology from Atlas, its strength seems result in stronger strikes than normal, and also contains a built-in shotgun akin to the lost half of Ember Celica.

The arm in and of itself can also act as a projectile which Yang can fire to knock back distant foes, but this comes with the obvious drawback of losing it until it is retrieved. Despite the setback this would normally possess, she has no qualms detaching it manually to trick enemies or escape their grasp if necessary, and her training alongside her father covers most gaps in her fighting style if she is forced to go without it.

Feats

Note: While there are some minor discrepancies, the TMNT and Team RWBY members are all more or less on equal footing with each other in terms of stats for the most part. So to save the trouble of writing “dodged laser fire” ten times, we’re going to only put the stat sections in for the Team categories, though we will still mention who’s the best at what for the sake of those minor discrepancies. You’ll get it as we go along.

We will be giving each ninja and each huntress their own accomplishments sections however, since each team member has managed to pull off some decent stuff there without any aid from the others.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Accomplishments

Defeated the Shredder, his daughter Karai, his other commanders and the entire Foot Clan on multiple occasions. (All canons)
Foiled a plan by four immortal stone warlords to unleash their guardian beasts and conquer the world. (2007)
Prevented the destruction of Manhattan and even larger world-ending threats. (All canons)
Multiple incarnations of the team have crossed worlds and teamed up to stop multiverse-threatening villains. (Turtles Forever, 2012)
All four Turtles have dragons as their spirit avatars. Kon of the Ninja Tribunal says that this is inconceivable for those so young. (2003)

For comparison’s sake, all four Ninja Tribunal members have dragons as their spirit avatars, and they’re the ones who created ninjutsu in the 2003 canon.

Brought down the Triceraton Empire. (Most canons)
Trained by the Ninja Tribunal to defeat the Tengu Shredder. (2003)
Have participated in multiple time-travelling shenanigans. (Most canons)
Destroyed the Technodrome, the mobile base of the Kraang aliens. (Most canons)
Manage to stay in incredibly good shape despite all the pizza they eat (all canons)
Participated in the Battle Nexus tournament, which saw them fight warriors from other dimensions. (2003)
Despite their varied personalities and fighting styles, all of them compliment each other in such a way that they are rarely beaten as a unit. (IDW)
Superhuman strength allows them to leap off the rooftops of Manhattan on a regular basis. (IDW)
Defeated Loki, the Norse God of Mischief, as well as the mythical beasts he summoned. (Mirage)
Infiltrated DARPA. (Mirage)
Saved the Turtleoids. (1987)
Each of the Turtles can single-handedly take on hordes of opponents and win. (All canons)
Emerged successful from each of their individual Vision Quests. (2012)
Defeated other mutants, such as Bebop, Rocksteady, Slash and Leatherhead. (All canons)
Banished Lord Dregg of Dimension X. (1987)
Defeated Sh'Okanabo, the Kanabo warlord seeking to infect Earth and turn it into a home for his species. (2003)
Have crossed over with Power Rangers, Batman and Ghostbusters (Next Mutation, IDW)