Aura and Semblances

[Grimm]

Aura.

The Soul. Life. All seem synonymous in the world of Remnant.

All living things have an aura, from mighty mammoths to the smallest squirrel. Most animals don’t fully utilize their auras - they simply don’t have the breadth of emotion, intelligence, and focus held by Humanity. Humanity, and Faunus by association, are the only beings seemingly capable of tapping into their innate Aura to aid them. And aid is precisely why an aura is necessary against the Creatures of Grimm.

Without one’s aura, a human is defenseless and able to be killed in much the same fashion as any other animal. A quick shot to the heart or a tortuous death in the most macabre fashion. It is with their Aura that humans are capable of withstanding deadly blows and weathering through the storm. This is the first notable aspect of Aura that one first finds in life. Acting as a shield, Aura lets a human withstand and, with enough practice, repel oncoming attacks. Everyone seems to have this past a certain point in age, though it is only strengthened with training.

Repelling attacks eventually leads into the next form of Aura control: making attacks. Empowered by one’s aura, Humans can strike mightier blows than would be normal. Lumberjacks fell entire trees in a swing, while those fighting Grimm use the same to strike deadly blows to the beasts. In ‘Attacking’ the ground, some huntsmen are capable of making themselves more maneuverable and faster in combat.

With its defensive properties, it should come as no surprise that some - though a very small number - learn how to use their Aura to heal others. By placing their aura into another and directing its flow, things from small scratches to major injuries can be undone with enough time. Aura is not going to bring someone back from death, though it can probably stop them from getting there in quite so fast of a fashion.

At least the first two of these skills are somewhat passive in nature. One may actively empower them, but at a basal level, everyone’s aura lets them hit a little harder and take a bit stronger of a hit than they should be capable of taking. Further discussion on how much damage you can deal and take is talked about more in our thread on Aura Strength.

[Grimm]

Semblances

Most of the time, when people are asked “what is a semblance?” the usual answer is “a manifestation of what makes one’s soul different.” Whereas the same question of Aura would be answered “A manifestation of one’s soul.” A semblance may enhance someone who is already fast speed further, or it might crystallize around them in some sort of cannonball barrier. Often times, what one anticipates for a semblance is not precisely what one would want to find in themselves. Using a few examples from canon for this point:

Blake is the perennial identifier of this. Her semblance allows her to leave behind phantasmal images when she moves. She pins these images as something tied to her own cowardice. Those of you looking for a start of an idea can think about instinctive impulses on which your character acts without thinking, even if it is to their own detriment. However, we see in Blake’s development, her semblance has slowly gained more forward-thinking proactive uses, and it is this same sort of power development that you can expect as we go through the lives of your characters.

Examples of very powerful semblances in the series are the sort of Pyrrha and Glinda. The former’s semblance, Polarity, allows her to manipulate the metal around her at will. Similarly, Glinda’s semblance of Telekinesis is comparably more powerful in that it is not limited to mere metallic objects. Nonetheless, this absolute control you often see of the environment is a rarity and as a general guideline, is not the tier of power you should necessarily shoot towards as a new student. You will have time to develop your semblance as your character grows. You might even surprise yourself on where you take your semblance as you do so.

If you do have any questions though, do not be afraid to ask about a semblance to see if it would be cleared by the application process. We understand people typically start with the powers and work out from there when making a new character, and would prefer not to make a character change too much based on a change in abilities.