RWBY (pronounced "Ruby")[6] is an American anime-influenced adult computer-animated web series created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth.[7][8] It is set in the fictional world of Remnant, where young people train to become warriors (called "Huntsmen" and "Huntresses") to protect their world from monsters called Grimm. The name RWBY is derived from the four main characters' forenames: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, and their respective theme colors (red, white, black and yellow).[9]
Following several promotional trailers, the first episode was screened at the Rooster Teeth convention event RTX and then released on their website in July 2013. Subsequent episodes were released approximately weekly, first to Rooster Teeth's subscribers and then to YouTube a week later. The series became a viral hit, and a second season, subtitled Volume 2, was released in July 2014.
Oum died in 2015, during production of the third season for the series.[10] This resulted in a delay in the production, as well as an overall shift in the series production and release schedule. Despite the creator's death, the remaining crew members confirmed their intention to continue the series,[11] and Volume 3 was released in 2015 as planned.[12] Meanwhile, the first two seasons were released to home media and made available on streaming services such as Netflix and Crunchyroll, the latter of which would include releases of the current season in their simulcasts. In October 2016, the fourth season was released. The series has also been dubbed in Japanese and broadcast by Tokyo MX,[13] in partnership with Warner Bros. Japan. Rooster Teeth released a video game called RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, as well as a spin-off series called RWBY Chibi in 2016.
As of March 2021, the website has aired eight volumes. Rooster Teeth announced volumes eight and nine on October 3, 2019.[14] The eighth volume premiered on November 7, 2020.[15] The ninth volume is currently in production, and will begin airing in 2022.