If you’ve read about <AURA>, you’ll know they are the manifestation of the power contained within one’s soul. The Semblance, however, goes deeper still. If one were to make a branching chart, it would stretch from Soul to Aura and Aura to Semblance. Without an Aura, a Semblance cannot exist. Like an Aura, Semblances are generally very specific to the people that have them, but can often be shared by families. Because of mixed bloodlines, you will find many within the World of Remnant may share very similar Semblances, even if they’re not directly related.

At its very core, the Semblance is the power of a person, manifesting in a physical representation of who a person really is within. In theory, a Semblance will always reflect a person better than their Aura ever will, because it is the epitome of their power. Interestingly, one can easier deduce what their Semblance might be by taking an introspective journey into their own psyche. Canon examples of what this alludes to can be seen in Pyrrha and Yang.

The former is a well-known fighter, one who draws in a large crowd. Despite this, she is alone and longs for companionship. This is reflected in her Semblance, manipulation of poles - she brings people in, but also pushes them away. In Yang’s case, she’s the proverbial hothead, never backing down from a fight. At the same time, she’s always ready to defend her friends. This is reflected in her Semblance, which gives her strength in comparison to the damage she takes, which generally occurs in defense of herself or others.

It is very important to consider aspects such as these when creating your character. Sometimes, it helps to draw inspiration from said character’s Personality section, as it’s the best look everyone else will have as to who your character really is.

WHAT DOES A SEMBLANCE DO?

Those that use Semblance are able to manipulate certain physical phenomena according to the nature of their power. Some individuals are able to use their Semblance to create glyphs that generate some desired effect, some are able to move at incredible speeds while others can manipulate magnetic forces. As stated earlier, Semblances vary from user to user - so don’t think these are “options” you have to choose from!

By using Dust, some people can even modify their Semblances with the elements (in the canon, Weiss using Myrtenaster to change her glyphs and Blake inserting dust vials into Gambol Shroud to make her Shadow clones take on elemental properties are examples of this).

Overusing one’s Semblance will cause their Aura reserves to deplete, yielding negative results. The most common is that the user will become incredibly exhausted of fatigued, though some Semblances can lead to more dangerous side effects.

Note to Artificial Aura characters: Being that such characters do not possess souls, they do not possess true Semblances. Some Androids display incredible feats of power, speed, endurance, etc - but this is due to their nature as machines and the technology found within their. While these are sometimes referred to as "pseudo" or "faux" Semblances, their lack of a soul usually means these abilities aren't as strongly refined as their human/Faunus counterparts, and unlike the latter these abilities don't naturally strengthen.

KEEP IN MIND: Semblances can only have one (1) ability (such as Ruby having Speed), but this ability can be used in multiple applications (Ruby using said speed to run fast and "Meta-Knight dash").

Having trouble creating a Semblance? Check out THIS TUMBLR POST by Suddenly Zeek!