#ruby and oz are a role-reversed odin and baldr

[anthurak]

Ruby’s and Ozpin’s Mythology Allusions and How to Flip the Script on Ragnarok

Ever since Volume 6, I’ve talked quite a bit about how the possible allusions that a number of RWBY characters could have to Norse Mythology. Mostly how I think Ruby Rose herself has surprisingly quite a bit in common with Odin, and particularly how I think Ruby in many respects makes a far BETTER Odin than Ozpin does. Basically, I think the only thing Ruby needs to be a full-blown proper literary allusion to Odin is an eyepatch.

And of course, Ruby’s not the only one: We’ve got the more-well known cases like Nora being an allusion to Thor, Qrow and Raven being Odin’s ravens Huginn and Muninn and Ozpin having a few nods to Odin, even if I think Ruby ultimately has more in common with Odin. Then there is less obvious examples like how Yang’s missing arm and being her team’s most upfront fighter could make her a reference to Tyr. Or how Cinder’s fire powers, use of flaming swords and ties to Salem’s doomsday plot could make her a nod to Surtr. And I think we can all agree Neo could make for a perfect allusion to Loki.

However, there is one prominent Norse deity that has really stumped me for a while now. Not because I feel he HAS to be included somehow, but because one RWBY character has connections to them that throws a lot of theories into question.

Specifically, I am referring to Baldr. And here’s why the absolute golden boy of Norse Mythology has had me so stumped:

You see, Baldr is the son of Odin and is a god of light and beauty and purity and general goodness and is basically beloved by all the Norse gods. He’s also invulnerable to harm from all things except mistletoe, which of course he manages to get killed by. Specifically thanks to Loki being his customary chaotic little shit.

However, Baldr also doesn’t STAY dead. He’s supposed to be resurrected after Ragnarok when all the older gods, giants and monsters (Odin, Thor, Heimdall, Tyr, Loki, etc.) have been slain. From there he leads the other survivors of Ragnarok, mostly the other children of those other gods like Thor’s sons Magni and Modi, as well as surviving humans, into the new world that comes after Ragnarok.

Now, does quite a bit of all that sound a LOT like one RWBY character in particular? Friendly, nurturing, beloved by all their friends and family. Leads the new generation after the previous generation has fallen. Heavily associated with LIGHT?

Yeah, as far as I could tell for a while, the best candidate for a Baldr allusion among RWBY’s main cast is Ruby herself. You know, the one who ALSO happens to have a lot in common with Odin?

Needless to say, this question of whether Ruby is an Odin allusion or a Baldr allusion left me rather stumped for a pretty long time now. After all, it’s just a bit hard for Ruby to be an allusion to BOTH. But recently, I think I may have finally come up with a way of rectifying all this. And it’s definitely one of the weirder theories I’ve come up with…

Because I now think there is another RWBY character that fits a lot of Baldr’s characteristics. Someone who was a very well-liked and respected leader (in his time), was very optimistic, is heavily associated with light, and unlike Ruby, HAS come back to life after being killed. A bunch of times actually.

Yeah, I’m talking about Ozma.

Specifically building off the reverence/respect/loyalty his followers show him (at least at the start of the show), the fact that he’s effectively an agent for the God of Light and how he’s been resurrected.

And you know how RWBY always takes its folklore/fairy tale/literary allusions and turns them around, flips the script or otherwise don’t play the narrative straight?

Well, I now have a feeling that Ruby and Oz represent a role-reversed Odin and Baldr!

Ruby is effectively an Odin in the position of Baldr with many of his positive qualities, specifically a young leader of the next generation after the old guard has failed. And Oz is a Baldr in the position of Odin with many of his negative qualities, specifically an old, weary leader whose obsession with forestalling the end of the world has driven everyone away from him.

With Oz, we basically have a subversive, deconstructionist take on Baldr that shows how his whole destined chosen-one status could crush even the most idealistic heroes. And on the flipside with Ruby, we have a subversive, reconstructionist take on Odin that shows how they can be a genuine heroic figure and leader who can lead their family and friends to save the world.

This also neatly explains why not just Ozpin, but all of the Oz’s seem to be missing a lot of the typically key elements of Odin, like a hooded robe/cape, a tall staff or spear or especially an eyepatch. I mean, the fact that Ruby pulls off the ‘Mysterious Hooded Figure’ look a bunch of times alone makes her a better Odin than Oz.

Going back to Oz, consider how Ozma is revered and remembered as this great, flawless hero in his own time and recounted in ‘The Girl in the Tower’, who also happens to die tragically, a death which sets off a series of domino’s that leads to a great battle that causes the end of the world. And then he is resurrected into the new world that came after in order to fulfill a ‘great purpose’ and lead/save the new humanity.

Really, looking at Oz’s life from the start, his story really starts feeling like some twisted version of Baldr’s, where him dying and being resurrected after Ragnarok is only the START of his story. Where his being some prophesied leader/savoir figure was a role effectively forced upon him, and has now effectively crushed him. Even the way Oz constantly reincarnates could be considered a twisted version of Baldr’s resurrection: No matter what happens, Baldr/Oz just can’t seem to die.

And of course, this would create an all too effective contrast with Ruby being an allusion to Odin and basically flip the whole concept of the Norse Ragnarok narrative on its head: The whole point of Ragnarok is that it can’t be stopped, no matter how much Odin with all his cleverness, guile, trickery and knowledge struggles to prevent it. In that sense, we can consider Odin as representing the futile struggle against one’s Fate, while Baldr represents an acceptance of Fate.

Which means that Ruby representing Odin and Oz representing Baldr completely flips this idea: Oz’s ‘acceptance’ of Fate represents cynical defeatism and assumption that Salem cannot be stopped and that the Gods cannot be allowed to return because they too cannot be stopped. While Ruby’s defiance of Fate represents optimistic determination and a refusal to submit or give up.

If Oz is a deconstruction of Baldr, then Ruby is a reconstruction of Odin.

Consider how many times Ruby has achieved victory through cleverness and outwitting her opponents: Disposing of Neo at the Battle of Beacon, incapacitating Tyrian with a sneak attack, manipulating Cordovin to get a killing shot, exploiting the Lamp’s effect of freezing time to use her Silver Eyes, manipulating Harriet by needling her competitive streak, tricking Ironwood with the help of JNPR and Emerald, disposing of Neo again during the battle in the void, the list goes on.

Also consider how Ruby is both the first to be shown using the Lamp of Knowledge and the Staff of Creation. And how a major aspect of Ruby’s character is the pursuit of answers that her parents, mentors and leaders have either hidden from her or don’t even know themselves. In other words, a quest for Knowledge.

And then of course there are the numerous symbolic references Ruby has to Death just like all Silver Eyed Warriors. Just like Odin is a God of Death.

Odin is a clever trickster who wanders the world in a mysterious hooded cloak with a tall spearstaff often on a quest for knowledge and answers. Mostly in a doggedly determined quest to avert an end of the world that others have called inevitable. A so-called fate that Odin defiantly refuses to accept.

Like I’ve said before; at this point I think the only thing Ruby’s missing is an eyepatch.

[anthurak]

The Ravens’ Odin

So one thing I’m particularly happy with that happened during this latest round of ‘theory-crafting about Norse Mythology allusions in RWBY’ is finally realizing a plausible solution to one of bigger conundrums surrounding Ruby being an allusion to Odin.

That being: If Ruby is meant to be an allusion to Odin, then why were Qrow and Raven, who are allusions to Odin’s ravens Huginn and Muninn, effectively ‘created’ (ie; given their powers) by Ozpin? After all, that’s one of the biggest reasons people have considered Oz and allusion to Odin over the years.

But here’s the interesting bit, using RWBY’s trend of twisting or flipping the script on it’s allusions and references: As I discussed in this recent post; I think Ozma/Oz as a whole is actually an allusion to Baldr, with the destruction of old humanity by the gods being Remnant’s equivalent to Ragnarok, and that Ruby and Oz represent a role reversal of Odin and Baldr.

With all that in mind, I think the whole story of Remnant starts feeling like the Norse myth-cycle effectively playing out in reverse. With Ragnarok being the BEGINNING of Remnant’s story instead of the end, and Baldr (Oz) being among the ELDEST of the Aesir while Odin (Ruby) is among the youngest.

So if the lore of RWBY represents a bunch of the beats of Norse mythology playing out backwards, I’d say it only makes sense that in this version of events, it is not Odin who creates/molds Huginn and Muninn, but rather Huginn and Muninn who mold/create ODIN.

And wouldn’t you know it; Qrow is a longtime mentor and father-figure to Ruby.

And as for Raven... well, let’s just say I may have a theory or two on how she ‘created’ Ruby XD