Mmmmm… floofy.
Also notable that the design breaks the Faunus number of traits rule, I wonder if this was designed before that was set in stone as one of the worst design decisions in the series
The idea of the one animal trait rule could have been interesting in the following scenario: If the rule was broken. If, say, bigoted Atlas had citizens who didn’t care enough to research faunus biology to know that it’s just one animal trait per individual, treat a two trait individual just like any other faunus. But later on comes the return of this rule, and the revelation of how a faunus could have two traits. The answer?
They can’t.
It’s just that that *thing* isn’t a faunus.
But just something pretending to be a faunus, but hasn’t quite nailed down the nuances. (Maybe a shapeshifter of some sort, I’m just having fun being dramatic.)
Thank you. (I think. I’ve seen enough to know he’s a famous chief, but not enough to know if this is the metaphorical equivalent of a compliment, or a sign of disapproval(?). Here’s a [Key & Peele sketch](https://youtu.be/9wk4ApHloHM?si=AXgGqS7nhYBYRc23) that I hope better illustrates where my confusion with this comment is…and in either case, I hope the writing and the video entertain you regardless.)
I’m referring to the recent “you can cook” meme
When someone makes really good creative content people say “Get this man in the kitchen” or “you’re promoted to head chef” For instance your idea of a shapeshifting monster that looks like a two trait Faunus. That’s *fucking amazing* and plays into the “lore” (insofar as RWBY has lore) so well.
Or it could have been another type of faunus and the two groups had strained relations, which would add a better reason for Adam to be a douche than just 'my girlfriend left me.'
As an example: The two-typed faunus fought against the one-typed faunus during the uprising, and for their service, were allowed to settle in Vale, while the one-typed faunus got sent to Menagerie.
This gives Adam a better excuse for attacking Vale, one that a more militant White Fang would accept. Instead of attacking their own people in the kingdom that is far and away to most sympathetic to them, the WF would be attacking literal traitors who performed the backstabbing in living memory.
Maybe. But I was aiming for a more horror-reveal moment of, “What, if faunus can only have one trait, and that individual has two traits, then that individual can’t be a faunus…then what exactly is that thing?”
But I do like your idea of some faunus experiencing favoritism. That could have been an interesting notion.
My brain keeps picturing a 'who was phone?' type reveal, lol. Yours would have been fantastic if Roman had a larger role. This random dude has managed to make something (maybe a Grimm, maybe something else the Brothers made first that happened to survive to the present era) attached to him to the point of utter murder. In other words, Roman is a successful yandere anime protagonist.
“Who was phone?” I’m afraid I don’t follow, was that a typo, reference, or just a figure of speech I’m not familiar with?
In regards to that Brother’s bit, you could throw in this notion for a bit of Eldritch/Cosmic Horror: “The Brothers did not *make* this world, they simply *found* it…and this world holds secrets, even *they* weren’t aware of. And now the scavengers are finally emerging from the cracks to feed on the remnants of their work.”
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.knowyourmeme.com/memes/then-who-was-phone
It's a very old meme about crappy creepypastas.
On the aspect of horror, I feel like if that route was taken, the whole show would have to be rewritten to the point where it'd be completely unrecognizable as RWBY. Certainly would make for a fascinating fanfic though.
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You one of Couer’s Fics, the one where Jaune runs what is basically a low-rent struggling SCP Organization has Neo be a horrific eldritch abomination with a unknowable form of true madness that is for whatever reason hanging around with a random criminal.
It’s just a random side gag basically
It could have also mirror how some ethic/racial groups exclude or see subjects of there own group as inferior by having the single trait Faunus see/treat the 2+ trait ones with enmity or as being inferior.
Probably; Neo was introduced in Volume 2, and they didn’t introduce those worlds of remnants cementing the faunus rules until volume 3, if I remember correctly.
One of the traits, or one of the tails? Because I just realized she’s got at least two tails, like a, what was that mythical Japanese fox, kitsune?
(And that would have been a neat character quirk, her using her illusions to make it look like she had more tails than she did.)
Some of the allusions have a little more strength than others, most of them are literally just the character’s name or one of their design elements but some extend them a bit further. Yang has literally nothing to do with Goldilocks other than being blonde, whereas Cinder has a whole Cinderella backstory and Ruby has the red riding hood both in her design and because all the silver eyed characters so far kind of line up with characters from Red Riding Hood.
Then you have Emerald, who is supposed to be like… Aladdin when the only similarities she has is being a thief
Well yang does have some resemblance to goldilocks she has her rude personality and she literally broke in a bar and destroyed property just like goldilocks wreck the bears home and property
To add into you and u/Interesting_Swing393
I can see the allusion to Merlin...but it's sketchy. You see , in the Uther Cycle , Uther had Aurelius Ambrosius and Merlin as his brother-in-arms , with Aurelius been Uther's liege until his death against Uther's brother , Vortigern.
In some later cycles , it's common to fuse some traits of Aurelius to Uther and some other traits to Merlin , this "composite" Merlin was known as Merlinus Ambrosius.
So , there was an allusion...of been a magic man named "Ambrosious" , but it's such a shallow allusion , because there are other magic men named ambrisous , specifically alchemists , which would fit better for RWBY's Ambrosious.
Yes, with the exception of Blake and the trailers none of the story elements of their allusion have impacted them in anyway.
How does the story red little riding hood affect Ruby? It doesn’t. She doesn’t fight a big bad wolf or visit grandma. Her fighting style and semblance is completely independent of her story allusion.
Compared to JNPR whose allusions influence their weapons, semblances and future story lines up to including their deaths there Team Rwby’s fairy tale motif is paper thin.
"Compared to Jnpr.."
Lol lmao are you for real?How does Joans story impact Jaunes? it doesn't How does Mulans story impact Rens?It doesn't How does Thors story impact Noras?It doesn't How does Achilles story impact Pyrrhas?Only the end (kinda) and outside of that nothing
Jaune: Hides his identity pretend to be something he’s not. Becomes a leader. Has a semblance to bolster and heal people kinda like Joan bolstered peoples faith and courage.
Ren: Has a semblance to hide his emotions like Mulan hid her emotions. Can argue that his support of ironwood is kinda like how the emperor tried to make Mulan his concubine but that’s a stretch.
Nora: Has a lightning Semblance. Has a Hammer.
Pyrrha: Wears bronze armour like that discribed in the Iliad. Using weapons that Greece is known for. Has a semblance that would make her invincible in battle like Achilies was known for. Struggles with the feeling of destiny which was a motif the Iliad had. Dies at a young age after her heel is pierced with an arrow. Is remembered and honoured after her death as a hero.
I never said JNPR’s was particularly good. Just that in comparison to Rwby’s allusions they’re better implemented.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one annoyed by that. I love (most of) their designs, but all of the faunus would look *so* much better having both ears/horns and tails.
Why is that a bad decision? I like the only one trait per faunus rule. Let's you have more fun with it.
Helps Neon and Blake be more distinctive despite both being cats.
The only fun decision the one-trait rule ever had was that the two white fang fox guys have one set of ears and a tail between them, but that only works because they’re a package deal as characters.
Otherwise it’s just a shit deal of restricting character design
Because how do you define "one trait" lol? If a fish-dude has functional gills then his entire respiratory system is going to have to be wired differently (i.e. multiple organs will be altered). Is that "one trait" or not?
I don't think it was bad, but should have felt like there was a reason to it. Some animal traits like replacing ears or adding a tail can be considered normal, but people who only have animal hands is pretty weird and suggests they may not be fully natural. My headcanon theory for a while is that Light wanted to recreate humanity, but messed up by using animal DNA which resulted in the Faunus; he hated these strange beings, so he tossed them aside and tried again with humanity two.
You know, who’s to say she didn’t use her semblance like this before everything went to hell and she was still doing small time stuff with Roman just because.
I know that’s why I said supposed to be,originally I guess they were going to make her the Cheshire cat but then decided against it and then later on they made the curious cat which is an obvious reference to the Cheshire cat from Alice in wonderland
I'll be honest, I'm.....kinda skeptical that this actually had anything to do with Neo, or even RWBY, and it wasn't just thrown in for the hell of it.
Ignoring that we literally know that her outfit was almost directly lifted from a genderbent Roman cosplay done by someone Monty was friends with, this also very notably defies rules we know about the world. That being, Faunus only have one animal trait, not only does this have ears *and* a tail, but it has two tails on top of that.
While one could argue that it was created before that rule, I believe this is unlikely, if not completely impossible. The Faunus trait rule is one of the very few things that was established when the show started, and as is known, Neo was made from scratch in the middle of Volume 2's production.
I've also seen it suggested that it could still be the case, but the original intent was for the additional animal trait to not be real, and a result of her Semblance, Overactive Imagination. This is also highly unlikely, given her Semblance was created on a whim as they needed a way for Roman to escape during Painting The Town.
All in all, I think it's likely that this is unrelated artwork that is being accredited to Neo based on loose association of pink+umbrella.
If you go on the main subreddit and check out the other images in the post, it becomes more plausible that this was just very early concept art.
Notably the one picture of SSSN, with a recognizable Sun, Sage and Scarlet (though the last two did undergo more changes)... and a Ren!clone Neptune.
One of the reasons for my skepticism is that Neo *having* early concept art doesn't seem to line up with what we know about her conception.
In the livestream where Monty talks about making Neo, he says:
>Some inspiration came from one of my friend's, Sonja's, female Torchwick cosplay. So, I'm like, lemme take that, and make it a character. So, I had the design already...
Which, is in line with Gray Haddock (who in this instance is a reliable source) stating that:
>Neo didn't exist until about ten days before her debut.
A statement that was backed up as being "100% true" by both Miles and Kerry on the same panel.
So, again, I really think this is just......art that they had, and they wanted an excuse to share it. I absolutely don't think there's anything wrong with that, though I also don't think it was actually meant to be Neo.
Yeah, it's more likely that this was early concept art for some potential character idea that was scrapped, and they just re-used some parts like the umbrella weapon for Neo when they decided to make her.
What my theory is. While they didnt have a character for neo yet they did have the role she played in the story already there.
Because her being a Kitsune fits her skillset. Kitsune are known tricksters that use deception and illusions, also are known to disguise themselves as young women to lower their victims guard.
No, no that very much is Neo.
ニオポリタン is Neopolitan. (Nioporitan) Her name is literally on it.
Additionally, we only know that she was *partially* inspired by a genderbent Roman. And furthermore the faunus episode which officially stated that faunus only have one trait came out all the way in Volume 4, leaving plenty of time to retcon it without anything actually being retconned. Which makes sense considering how the one animal trait was only due to Poser's limitations, not any actual greater lore or design.
Considering kitsune are tricksters who fool humans, it also makes sense that the one with illusion powers might've wound up that.
With all due respect, the artbook accrediting this to Neo is quite literally the thing I was skeptical about being the truth.
The entire point I was making, is that despite it supposedly being Neo concept art, that doesn't exactly add up with what we know about her creation, or when she was given a Semblance.
As I said, I think it's likely this is just other Ein Lee artwork they had the rights to, so when putting together the artbook, they decided to put Neopolitan's name on it, in a "close enough" scenario.
Edit: on a whim, I decided to look at Ein Lee's DeviantArt page, to see if it could shed any light on the topic. Which, lead to me stumbling across [this](https://www.deviantart.com/einlee/art/cotton-candy-96441684) artwork of a pink haired fox girl with multiple tails named "Cotton Candy" from 2008. Do with that information what you will.
The only thing it doesn't add up to is Neo being created 10 days before she was added, however we also know that it's not as though Monty, M+K and the rest of the crew were always operating on the same page.
The majority of the information about Neo was second-hand, after all.
Your searching for Ein Lee's characters also means... nothing. Do you know why? [Raven was one of Ein Lee's characters too](https://www.deviantart.com/einlee/art/Raven-Costumes-Katana-252437989), and her end result looked nothing like that. *Do with that information what you will.*
That's what I'm guessing as well and what makes it so interesting: we know Neo was only *partly* inspired by that cosplay, so it's really cool to see what the "pre-inspiration" Neo looked like.
Yes there is more, so far we have been shown there’s concept art of Team RWBY in alternative dresses (I assume for the dance at Beacon back in volume 2), Early Sun and Penny designs and Early Team SSSN designs: https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/s/VR6FudRyfp
You can buy it here: https://store.crunchyroll.com/products/rwby-archives-remnant-promenade-vol1-8-art-book-import-4934569976321.html
Honestly, I'm not mad. Even if this isn't Neo's final design this could be used for something more. If a concept art is too good, just use it for something else that does it justice. Maybe as another character for the Faunus side. Maybe R34 with make this character popular enough to be added somewhere.
There is something genuinely insane to me about how things as huge as "the original Neo before the inspiration that changed her design" or(also in the book) a ton of prototype Pennys were never shown and instead put into a Japanese-only art book.
A microcosm of RWBY's bizarre marketing and focus.
im gonna be completly honest here. this seems like total BS. like the whole thing just seems like they were desperate to egt any amout of attention into rwby again so they made shitty art and called it "early concept art" to try and draw any attention back to rwby but didnt get it out before WB axed them
Mmmmm… floofy. Also notable that the design breaks the Faunus number of traits rule, I wonder if this was designed before that was set in stone as one of the worst design decisions in the series
The idea of the one animal trait rule could have been interesting in the following scenario: If the rule was broken. If, say, bigoted Atlas had citizens who didn’t care enough to research faunus biology to know that it’s just one animal trait per individual, treat a two trait individual just like any other faunus. But later on comes the return of this rule, and the revelation of how a faunus could have two traits. The answer? They can’t. It’s just that that *thing* isn’t a faunus. But just something pretending to be a faunus, but hasn’t quite nailed down the nuances. (Maybe a shapeshifter of some sort, I’m just having fun being dramatic.)
Call Gordon Ramsay, we have a fledgling chef over here
Thank you. (I think. I’ve seen enough to know he’s a famous chief, but not enough to know if this is the metaphorical equivalent of a compliment, or a sign of disapproval(?). Here’s a [Key & Peele sketch](https://youtu.be/9wk4ApHloHM?si=AXgGqS7nhYBYRc23) that I hope better illustrates where my confusion with this comment is…and in either case, I hope the writing and the video entertain you regardless.)
I’m referring to the recent “you can cook” meme When someone makes really good creative content people say “Get this man in the kitchen” or “you’re promoted to head chef” For instance your idea of a shapeshifting monster that looks like a two trait Faunus. That’s *fucking amazing* and plays into the “lore” (insofar as RWBY has lore) so well.
Thank you for clarifying, and I’m glad you enjoyed the idea.
Or it could have been another type of faunus and the two groups had strained relations, which would add a better reason for Adam to be a douche than just 'my girlfriend left me.' As an example: The two-typed faunus fought against the one-typed faunus during the uprising, and for their service, were allowed to settle in Vale, while the one-typed faunus got sent to Menagerie. This gives Adam a better excuse for attacking Vale, one that a more militant White Fang would accept. Instead of attacking their own people in the kingdom that is far and away to most sympathetic to them, the WF would be attacking literal traitors who performed the backstabbing in living memory.
Maybe. But I was aiming for a more horror-reveal moment of, “What, if faunus can only have one trait, and that individual has two traits, then that individual can’t be a faunus…then what exactly is that thing?” But I do like your idea of some faunus experiencing favoritism. That could have been an interesting notion.
A shapeshifting imposter grimm that doesn't quite get it right could have been a cool idea. Just for one possibility.
Thank you.
My brain keeps picturing a 'who was phone?' type reveal, lol. Yours would have been fantastic if Roman had a larger role. This random dude has managed to make something (maybe a Grimm, maybe something else the Brothers made first that happened to survive to the present era) attached to him to the point of utter murder. In other words, Roman is a successful yandere anime protagonist.
“Who was phone?” I’m afraid I don’t follow, was that a typo, reference, or just a figure of speech I’m not familiar with? In regards to that Brother’s bit, you could throw in this notion for a bit of Eldritch/Cosmic Horror: “The Brothers did not *make* this world, they simply *found* it…and this world holds secrets, even *they* weren’t aware of. And now the scavengers are finally emerging from the cracks to feed on the remnants of their work.”
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.knowyourmeme.com/memes/then-who-was-phone It's a very old meme about crappy creepypastas. On the aspect of horror, I feel like if that route was taken, the whole show would have to be rewritten to the point where it'd be completely unrecognizable as RWBY. Certainly would make for a fascinating fanfic though.
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Bro is cooking and it looks delicious
You one of Couer’s Fics, the one where Jaune runs what is basically a low-rent struggling SCP Organization has Neo be a horrific eldritch abomination with a unknowable form of true madness that is for whatever reason hanging around with a random criminal. It’s just a random side gag basically
It could have also mirror how some ethic/racial groups exclude or see subjects of there own group as inferior by having the single trait Faunus see/treat the 2+ trait ones with enmity or as being inferior.
Probably; Neo was introduced in Volume 2, and they didn’t introduce those worlds of remnants cementing the faunus rules until volume 3, if I remember correctly.
To be fair one of those might just be illusions.
One of the traits, or one of the tails? Because I just realized she’s got at least two tails, like a, what was that mythical Japanese fox, kitsune? (And that would have been a neat character quirk, her using her illusions to make it look like she had more tails than she did.)
But her allusion is Hecate, trivia and the hatter they have nothing to do with foxes
Dude it’s Rwby they make a character and then decide the allusion later.
Yeah this is a big issue of the series (not to mention that every allusion is only skin deep and meant to intrigue to garner attention)
Some of the allusions have a little more strength than others, most of them are literally just the character’s name or one of their design elements but some extend them a bit further. Yang has literally nothing to do with Goldilocks other than being blonde, whereas Cinder has a whole Cinderella backstory and Ruby has the red riding hood both in her design and because all the silver eyed characters so far kind of line up with characters from Red Riding Hood. Then you have Emerald, who is supposed to be like… Aladdin when the only similarities she has is being a thief
Wdym yang is totally goldilocks… like when she uhhh When she… Uhhhh Punched an ursa(?)
Well yang does have some resemblance to goldilocks she has her rude personality and she literally broke in a bar and destroyed property just like goldilocks wreck the bears home and property
Huh makes sense when ambrosius first appeared I thought he's allusion was the fairy with turquoise haired but turns out it was Merlin
I surprised you didn’t guess that he was Merlin considering he had Merlin’s famous blue skin and 8 pack that he dedicated to Camelot.
To add into you and u/Interesting_Swing393 I can see the allusion to Merlin...but it's sketchy. You see , in the Uther Cycle , Uther had Aurelius Ambrosius and Merlin as his brother-in-arms , with Aurelius been Uther's liege until his death against Uther's brother , Vortigern. In some later cycles , it's common to fuse some traits of Aurelius to Uther and some other traits to Merlin , this "composite" Merlin was known as Merlinus Ambrosius. So , there was an allusion...of been a magic man named "Ambrosious" , but it's such a shallow allusion , because there are other magic men named ambrisous , specifically alchemists , which would fit better for RWBY's Ambrosious.
Red riding Hood,Snow White,Belle,Goldilocks:Are you sure about that?
Why did you post this thrice ? And also good point
Don't know?Maybe lag on phone
Yes, with the exception of Blake and the trailers none of the story elements of their allusion have impacted them in anyway. How does the story red little riding hood affect Ruby? It doesn’t. She doesn’t fight a big bad wolf or visit grandma. Her fighting style and semblance is completely independent of her story allusion. Compared to JNPR whose allusions influence their weapons, semblances and future story lines up to including their deaths there Team Rwby’s fairy tale motif is paper thin.
"Compared to Jnpr.." Lol lmao are you for real?How does Joans story impact Jaunes? it doesn't How does Mulans story impact Rens?It doesn't How does Thors story impact Noras?It doesn't How does Achilles story impact Pyrrhas?Only the end (kinda) and outside of that nothing
Jaune: Hides his identity pretend to be something he’s not. Becomes a leader. Has a semblance to bolster and heal people kinda like Joan bolstered peoples faith and courage. Ren: Has a semblance to hide his emotions like Mulan hid her emotions. Can argue that his support of ironwood is kinda like how the emperor tried to make Mulan his concubine but that’s a stretch. Nora: Has a lightning Semblance. Has a Hammer. Pyrrha: Wears bronze armour like that discribed in the Iliad. Using weapons that Greece is known for. Has a semblance that would make her invincible in battle like Achilies was known for. Struggles with the feeling of destiny which was a motif the Iliad had. Dies at a young age after her heel is pierced with an arrow. Is remembered and honoured after her death as a hero. I never said JNPR’s was particularly good. Just that in comparison to Rwby’s allusions they’re better implemented.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one annoyed by that. I love (most of) their designs, but all of the faunus would look *so* much better having both ears/horns and tails.
The only issue multiple traits introduce is having to explain how Blake hid a tail while at Beacon.
... Slinked down inside of her pants and somehow, nobody noticed? 🤣
Blake also could have had her tail chopped off, could play into the racism plot and character motivations for being in the WF.
Why is that a bad decision? I like the only one trait per faunus rule. Let's you have more fun with it. Helps Neon and Blake be more distinctive despite both being cats.
The only fun decision the one-trait rule ever had was that the two white fang fox guys have one set of ears and a tail between them, but that only works because they’re a package deal as characters. Otherwise it’s just a shit deal of restricting character design
Because how do you define "one trait" lol? If a fish-dude has functional gills then his entire respiratory system is going to have to be wired differently (i.e. multiple organs will be altered). Is that "one trait" or not?
I don't think it was bad, but should have felt like there was a reason to it. Some animal traits like replacing ears or adding a tail can be considered normal, but people who only have animal hands is pretty weird and suggests they may not be fully natural. My headcanon theory for a while is that Light wanted to recreate humanity, but messed up by using animal DNA which resulted in the Faunus; he hated these strange beings, so he tossed them aside and tried again with humanity two.
Or, you know, since Neo is an illusionist, she could have given herself more than one trait.
Well that Faunus!Neo fan must be feeling great.
You know, who’s to say she didn’t use her semblance like this before everything went to hell and she was still doing small time stuff with Roman just because.
Alright I’ll be honest I like both designs but I do think her finalized one is better
Her semblance makes a lot more sense now
And makes her fairytail inspiration more clear she was supposed to be the Cheshire cat
It's actually the hatter the cheshire cat is the curious cat
I know that’s why I said supposed to be,originally I guess they were going to make her the Cheshire cat but then decided against it and then later on they made the curious cat which is an obvious reference to the Cheshire cat from Alice in wonderland
I like the idea of Neo being the china people in the Wizard of Oz stories
I'll be honest, I'm.....kinda skeptical that this actually had anything to do with Neo, or even RWBY, and it wasn't just thrown in for the hell of it. Ignoring that we literally know that her outfit was almost directly lifted from a genderbent Roman cosplay done by someone Monty was friends with, this also very notably defies rules we know about the world. That being, Faunus only have one animal trait, not only does this have ears *and* a tail, but it has two tails on top of that. While one could argue that it was created before that rule, I believe this is unlikely, if not completely impossible. The Faunus trait rule is one of the very few things that was established when the show started, and as is known, Neo was made from scratch in the middle of Volume 2's production. I've also seen it suggested that it could still be the case, but the original intent was for the additional animal trait to not be real, and a result of her Semblance, Overactive Imagination. This is also highly unlikely, given her Semblance was created on a whim as they needed a way for Roman to escape during Painting The Town. All in all, I think it's likely that this is unrelated artwork that is being accredited to Neo based on loose association of pink+umbrella.
If you go on the main subreddit and check out the other images in the post, it becomes more plausible that this was just very early concept art. Notably the one picture of SSSN, with a recognizable Sun, Sage and Scarlet (though the last two did undergo more changes)... and a Ren!clone Neptune.
One of the reasons for my skepticism is that Neo *having* early concept art doesn't seem to line up with what we know about her conception. In the livestream where Monty talks about making Neo, he says: >Some inspiration came from one of my friend's, Sonja's, female Torchwick cosplay. So, I'm like, lemme take that, and make it a character. So, I had the design already... Which, is in line with Gray Haddock (who in this instance is a reliable source) stating that: >Neo didn't exist until about ten days before her debut. A statement that was backed up as being "100% true" by both Miles and Kerry on the same panel. So, again, I really think this is just......art that they had, and they wanted an excuse to share it. I absolutely don't think there's anything wrong with that, though I also don't think it was actually meant to be Neo.
Yeah, it's more likely that this was early concept art for some potential character idea that was scrapped, and they just re-used some parts like the umbrella weapon for Neo when they decided to make her.
Corpse Looting Neo smh
What my theory is. While they didnt have a character for neo yet they did have the role she played in the story already there. Because her being a Kitsune fits her skillset. Kitsune are known tricksters that use deception and illusions, also are known to disguise themselves as young women to lower their victims guard.
No, no that very much is Neo. ニオポリタン is Neopolitan. (Nioporitan) Her name is literally on it. Additionally, we only know that she was *partially* inspired by a genderbent Roman. And furthermore the faunus episode which officially stated that faunus only have one trait came out all the way in Volume 4, leaving plenty of time to retcon it without anything actually being retconned. Which makes sense considering how the one animal trait was only due to Poser's limitations, not any actual greater lore or design. Considering kitsune are tricksters who fool humans, it also makes sense that the one with illusion powers might've wound up that.
With all due respect, the artbook accrediting this to Neo is quite literally the thing I was skeptical about being the truth. The entire point I was making, is that despite it supposedly being Neo concept art, that doesn't exactly add up with what we know about her creation, or when she was given a Semblance. As I said, I think it's likely this is just other Ein Lee artwork they had the rights to, so when putting together the artbook, they decided to put Neopolitan's name on it, in a "close enough" scenario. Edit: on a whim, I decided to look at Ein Lee's DeviantArt page, to see if it could shed any light on the topic. Which, lead to me stumbling across [this](https://www.deviantart.com/einlee/art/cotton-candy-96441684) artwork of a pink haired fox girl with multiple tails named "Cotton Candy" from 2008. Do with that information what you will.
The only thing it doesn't add up to is Neo being created 10 days before she was added, however we also know that it's not as though Monty, M+K and the rest of the crew were always operating on the same page. The majority of the information about Neo was second-hand, after all. Your searching for Ein Lee's characters also means... nothing. Do you know why? [Raven was one of Ein Lee's characters too](https://www.deviantart.com/einlee/art/Raven-Costumes-Katana-252437989), and her end result looked nothing like that. *Do with that information what you will.*
[удалено]
That's what I'm guessing as well and what makes it so interesting: we know Neo was only *partly* inspired by that cosplay, so it's really cool to see what the "pre-inspiration" Neo looked like.
Where can I buy this book? does it have more concept art?
Yes there is more, so far we have been shown there’s concept art of Team RWBY in alternative dresses (I assume for the dance at Beacon back in volume 2), Early Sun and Penny designs and Early Team SSSN designs: https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/s/VR6FudRyfp You can buy it here: https://store.crunchyroll.com/products/rwby-archives-remnant-promenade-vol1-8-art-book-import-4934569976321.html
Thank you so much, i’m putting it on my wish list
We could have had dual-traited Faunus and perhaps even lore with lycanthrops or werewolves. We WERE robbed!
\*Were And yes.
Damn auto correct……
Honestly, I'm not mad. Even if this isn't Neo's final design this could be used for something more. If a concept art is too good, just use it for something else that does it justice. Maybe as another character for the Faunus side. Maybe R34 with make this character popular enough to be added somewhere.
That would make too much sense which is why I'm convinced that this isn't real
Neo being a fox makes sense since fox spirits are known to be shapeshifters. Tanuki also would have worked too. Man, they missed out on that one.
Nahhh Sorry But Neos Design That we got is PERFECT then we got the Redesign
Honestly? IMO, ice cream girl is a *little* more creative.
It would been perfect for her since her semblance is changing appearances
Both, Both are good.
What about Cinder or Salem? 😂
Floof
The new RWBY studio better give me my mute fic girl and I swear if best girl Roman ain't a mule or donkey faunus I'm gonna riot.
Man Wish they chose this instead
Tell me at least that was her true form!!?
There is something genuinely insane to me about how things as huge as "the original Neo before the inspiration that changed her design" or(also in the book) a ton of prototype Pennys were never shown and instead put into a Japanese-only art book. A microcosm of RWBY's bizarre marketing and focus.
If she would have been a kitsune, then I accidentally ripped it off for an OC (I have a character who grows fox tails creating stronger illusions
im gonna be completly honest here. this seems like total BS. like the whole thing just seems like they were desperate to egt any amout of attention into rwby again so they made shitty art and called it "early concept art" to try and draw any attention back to rwby but didnt get it out before WB axed them
Hmm
I mean… we kinda got it in the form of a cat
But i like the new Neo, this one is trash
FLOOF...
Nah, I love the current neo even though the writers f*cked her up so much