Xantho Ricionzo

"To judge strength is to test trust. Those unworthy of power are never meant to protect us."

- Xantho Ricionzo

Xantho Ricionzo is first year student of Beacon Academy, the leader of Team XANE and the main protagonist of the upcoming fan-fiction novella, ''Team XANE: Clear Colors. ''His ace weapons are Dual-Mechanized Cane-Gunners (DMCG) known as Immitisoul and Asperage.

Appearance
Xantho is a young man with pale skin of papaya whip complexion, maize-colored eyes, and phthalo green hair with several white strands that are hereditary.

He primarily wears a monochromatic hunter green Barong Tagalog, a type of traditional Filipino clothing. Embroidered behind it is his emblem: a brow-like feather covering half a circle, forming some sort of glare. Under the clothing his white shirt, and a pair of vambraces and rerebraces for his arms for protection. Under his Barong are spaulders each on his shoulders. He also wears a pair of black fireproof slacks, each leg covering his weapons from underneath including enforced greaves: Immitisoul on the left leg and Asperage on the right.

He always has eyebags due to lack of sleep and is occasionally seen without them.

The only accessories he wears are his silver watch on his left wrist and a yellow scarf around his neck, which conceals a mole.

Personality
Xantho is mostly cold and austere, yet coolheaded and polite. He often speaks formally and poetically, especially using archaic words like "thee" and "forsooth".

As an introvert, he finds tranquility in solitude and silence, but keeps in touch with his best friend Mavin Emmerich and his sister Amara. In his free time when alone, he writes stories and reads books, or sometimes sing when feeling emotional. When engaging in conversations, he doesn't last long for he is often busy writing or studying. However, Xantho comes out of hiding when he sees or hears strong Huntsmen and Huntresses, making no hesitation to challenge them to prove both his and their worth, as he additionally says his opening remarks before battle: “Apologies, but I must judge thee.” Despite this, Xantho seem to have no intentions of bragging and just evaluates his opponent’s performance while fighting, although this often came off as mockery or sarcasm to them, and him being called out as "prideful".

As mentioned above, he is eager to fight worthy opponents. Whether weak or strong, he still evaluates. He dislikes "unfair and dirty" fights for Huntsmen and Huntresses, including uncontrollable arguments. This results his to using his Semblance, "Peacemaker", without hesitation and regret as he sees this as a faster solution. Frankly, he argues with his sister sometimes. He is also disgusted by numerous things, such as defenseless fighters still being attacked and pollution.

Striving to become a strong Huntsman is what he is devoted to, but is involuntarily more sided as an intellectual. Xantho always carries with him a different book every now and then as he read them. His thirst for knowledge based on his curiosity leads him to sleepless nights (and weird antics), resulting in his usual eye bags. He is quite irritable with people who do not take things seriously or study well, like how he nags Amara to read books. During a fight, Xantho catalogues everything about his opponents from weapons they used to skills they possess, all in which he use to his advantage, then jots down what he learns from them afterwards.

Despite Xantho’s negative nature, it is merely a façade to cover his sensitive side as he often views this as “weakness”, unless he is with someone whom he can trust. An example of his warm side is his duty as Amara’s big brother, being overly protective of her to the extent he keeps tabs of her movements.

Related to his love for animals, he admires the Faunus and anything about nature. And to the surprise of most people around him, he has a fascination towards the Grimm, seeing them as "potential creatures to befriend one day", despite knowing he should eliminate them as a future Huntsman.

Even the most coolheaded ones can have limits. Bringing up the worst parts of Xantho's past makes him uncomfortable. Continuously mocking that piece of past until he goes into a blinding rage loses his way of focus and thinking, including in battle. At this rate, he is more vulnerable to critical hits. However, one must be cautious against a furious Xantho. Once he reaches his emotional limit, he breaks down into tears, followed by extreme fatigue that prevents him from further fighting, and exposing himself to easy defeat.

Although Xantho mellows down into a more positive person, he still keeps some of his negative traits for he believes they are still helpful. Despite his serious demeanor, he does not lack eccentricity since childhood, such as how he can eat a burger in seconds without anyone looking and blunt whenever he does something embarrassing (like being forced to cross-dress). He is described as a hopeless romantic sometimes, and seems to fluster whenever he meets a girl whom he can relate in terms of likes and character, although he mostly admires those with "good hearts". However, he tends to hide this all the time by any means (un)necessary.

History
(Note: This whole section is best made as a short story to better understand)

Early Childhood
When Xantho was 11, his sister Amara decided to stay with their relatives in Vacuo along with the family heirloom—the Wing Adarna—with her after she inherited it from her father Bacco. Seeing his son upset about Amara’s leave and not inheriting the heirloom, Bacco unlocked his son’s Aura to compensate. However, this didn’t satisfy the young one as he sees no use of an unlocked Aura and that now that Amara wasn’t with him, he was more exposed to bullies due to his “weirdness”. His spirit was lifted when he met Mavin, a new classmate who hailed from Mistral. The two became friends immediately in terms of weirdness. Xantho was still affected by mockery despite this miracle, so he studied hard and topped his classes to tower this. He saw this as still unsatisfying though.

Xantho and Mavin and the rest of their class were taken to Signal Academy for a field trip. There, the two witnessed how students were trained for combat and forged their own weapons. They were also given the chance to watch a match between two Huntsmen who were teachers in the school. After watching the fight, Xantho was motivated to become a Huntsman, as he saw this as a way of towering against his weaknesses.

One night, Xantho and Mavin were biking peacefully when a dog barked at them from a distance, then gave chase. The two biked desperately as their wheels smoked. Xantho’s feet was nearly bitten in the process but kicked the dog away while peddling. When they lost the dog, Xantho developed a phobia for dogs.

Blue Hearts
Signal Academy had chosen Xantho as one of the candidates to be sent to Sanctum Academy in Mistral as part of the student exchange program for a whole month to embody the two combat schools. There, he met Vantasia Clara, one of the most popular and strongest students in Sanctum, dubbed as the “Black Swan”. Because of the majority of students saying she was the toughest, Xantho did not hesitate to challenge her in a sparring match. It was a draw, and at that moment, it was love in first sight in the battlefield, accompanied by the beauty and kindness she displayed to the exchange student. The constant apathy Xantho did his best to display humored Vantasia that she somehow also fell for him, accompanied by his studiousness and austerity. The two promised to see each other again in person when Sanctum sends their students to Signal next year.

By the time it was Sanctum’s turn, Vantasia was chosen as a candidate in the exchange program, which excited Xantho. He did meet the Black Swan on the first day of the program, but she said she never met him before. Mavin suggested that she was just playing around, and so Xantho used that to keep courting her. A prom was held in his combat school as farewell to the Sanctum students. Vantasia finally “remembered” Xantho before tonight and it made the novelist proud. As soon as he and the Black Swan were alone, and he proposed to her to become his girlfriend when they turn 17. But he was turned down spitefully. Vantasia called him “an abnormal egghead with no chance of finding his true love”. After that, he left him.

The heartbroken one hid himself somewhere in the school and wept alone. But Mavin knew his best friend well, so he was able to find where Xantho was hiding. The Faunus literally slapped sense into his pal that everything would be alright. The two made up and decided to just enjoy the rest of the time of the prom, dancing like crazy.

Xantho’s whole experience with Vantasia, however, made him a hopeless romantic, pessimistically thinking to himself that he would never find his true love and he would prevent himself from falling for another again no matter what.

Resolution
At the age of 13, Xantho was finally admitted to Signal Academy, along with Mavin. They were both always together, training with each other and coming up with weapons to make. Xantho found himself capable of kicking attacks and wielding canes. With his imagination and Mavin's advises, Xantho was able to create a prototype of his first two weapons, Immitisoul and Asperage. Furthering to his creativeness, he applied the two weapons to his legs in order to enhance their utilization.

It had been years since he last saw the family heirloom, the Wing Adarna. Within him, he felt the tug of jealousy he tried his best to push down a long time ago. The memory of that sword made Xantho modify his weapon even more, with two thin blades—made by Mavin—being used in the process...

When Xantho and Mavin were peacefully alone in a forest near Signal one day, they met the bully named Rojo, who came to destroy their weapons. Mavin tried to fight, but was overpowered and unconscious. Xantho then attempted to reason out with Rojo and asked why he must do this, then the bully replied, “Basically, if you’re strong, you can beat anyone. You’re not cut out to be a Huntsman looking like a nerd, Ricionzo, let alone kill a Grimm!”

The moment Rojo said that, a Beowolf appeared from the bushes nearby. The creature of Grimm firstly saw the bully as a threat to be neutralized immediately before going after Mavin and Xantho, therefore it went after him. Xantho thought Rojo could fight him due to the bully’s size and apparent strength, but it turned out that he was cowardly. Xantho shouted to him that he should use Mavin’s weapon, Sapphire Tamaraw, as it was now fully functional. After a few tries, Rojo was able to defeat the Beowolf.

Xantho asked if Rojo can help him take Mavin to the clinic, in exchange for telling the bully how to use Sapphire Tamaraw. But instead, Rojo turned against his savior, saying that he should finish him off to “clean any evidence” and decided to keep Mavin's weapon for himself. As soon as the bully was about to hit Xantho, Mavin suddenly held unto Rojo’s leg, distracting him and telling his friend to do something.

Angered of Rojo’s resolve, Xantho said, “In order to uphold the peace of the land, we are given strength to protect others from the evil forces like the Grimm. You are untrustworthy of possessing such power, you idiot!”

Xantho pushed the bully with his bare hands, unbeknownst that his palms were glowing yellow. Rojo was suddenly paralyzed. Assuming that this was his Semblance, Xantho helped Mavin up and escaped with their weapons with them.

From that day onwards, Xantho’s motivation to becoming a Huntsman changed. He vowed to not only protect the weak and uphold the peace of Remnant, but also test those who were trustworthy enough to hold power for the benefit of everyone.

Abilities and Powers
Xantho’s main offensive play is his kick-based fighting abilities during close combat, like Karate and Tae-Kwon-Do. He executes breakdance-like power movements often to recover footing. Additionally, he uses soccer moves to counter anything considered a projectile item. Despite having an array of kicking techniques, his defensiveness is more impressive, most probably using this to either wear down his opponents or analyze their fighting prowess. Xantho not only uses his arms to defend but also his large hands in number of ways, such as stopping his opponent’s attacks to retaliate and pushing them away by the chest to open up options while temporarily distanced. His favorite move is the front leg axe kick he personally calls the "Gavel".

Weapons
Strapped around both his legs from left to right under his slacks are his two weapons: Immitisoul and Asperage (simply shortened as Imas or Asim), invented with the help of Mavin. They are a pair of metallic plated greaves both positioned specifically—Immitisoul on the left and Asperage on the right. Each are attached with special light brown "canes" that serve as the weapons' activation for firing, and holding Xantho's rounds of "Calibullets" and Dust.

Imas is defaulted to use Calibullets and are fired similarly as Yang Xiao Long’s Ember Celica, such as how his bullet shots can propel him to jump high or dash. However, Xantho can control his Aura to send signals to his two weapons to use a variety of Dust, each cane having long rotary chambers that contain limited amount of "Dust bullets", much like Weiss Schnee's Myrtenaster. These Dust bullets are utilized in two ways: 1) Xantho can launch them with kicks, then they slowly lit and explode on contact; 2) and ready them for an enhanced kick. He can also use the Dust to stomp the ground and create a column of fire or freeze the floor, at the cost of how many capsules used. The following below is how he use each Dust:
 * Ice: Besides blasting ice to freeze foes, it is also used to freeze the floor into like an ice rink. Using this also enhances his kick into a icy and spiky hit, and freeze on surface that allows him to
 * Fire: Used commonly but effectively for a blazing kick or blasting a fireball. By doing the Gavel on the ground, the enemy in front of him may flinch from a burst of fire. Moreover, he can rocket jump with this Dust.
 * Wind: Quicker kicks and enhanced propulsion in midair.
 * Lightning: Electrical kicks.

Whether Imas runs out of ammo or not, Xantho can optionally resort to ejecting the synthetic canes (often by kicking his legs out), both extend themselves (27" in length, 3/4" in diameter and rounded in both ends), and fight with them. If the canes still contain any bullets especially Dust, Xantho can still use his Aura to use what type. He tends to use the canes in hand-to-hand combat for "special occasions".

Imas has an obscured feature called "Revolution Mode". The thin blades Xantho applied when he was in Signal Academy are inside the canes all along, waiting to be used. When the cane extends itself, the blades follow within. When handling his canes in his hands, he has the option to exert his Aura into "casting off the shells" of Immitisoul and Asperage, exposing the blades that reflect that of the espada ropera, a type of rapier. The blade's fuller and central ridge are revealed to have tubes on the center where the bullets came from. Using Revolution Mode is more of a last resort or when Xantho feels like it is the right time to use it.

Semblance
Xantho's Semblance is known as "Peacemaker", which allows him to paralyze his opponents only with palm thrusts. Seeing that he mostly uses his hands to defend, he uses this to his advantage. When executing a thrust, his palms glow yellow, regardless if covered by anything like gloves or dirt. Depending on the amount of energy he exerts with his Aura is the potency of the paralysis. This, however, weakens his arms and hands as a drawback, preventing him from defending effectively for a period of time (and in non-fighting situations, unable to write). The Semblance cannot be used to protect Xantho from electricity.

Amara Ricionzo
Ever since childhood, Amara and Xantho have always been good friends as a “dynamic duo”—Xantho considers himself the brains while Amara is the brawns. Like any other siblings, the two tend to quarrel sometimes. Before she moved to Vacuo, she had always been the one protecting Xantho from bullies in his school and neighborhood.

Xantho had begrudged his sister when the family heirloom was given to her instead of him, but this petty rift was sealed when the two worked together against a Grimm during the Beacon Academy Initiation. However, this does not change his critical view towards Amara as “a simpleton with determination”. Nonetheless, the two are considered inseparable with excellent teamwork.

Nadéa Clara
During the Beacon Academy Initiation, Xantho was annoyed of how a doubtful and hesitant girl like Nadéa could be so powerful especially in wielding her weapons, the Bakunawa. In fact, despite her worth, he never wanted her to be part of Team XANE. After the team was officially formed by Ozpin, Xantho did everything to distance himself away from Nadéa like criticizing her, despite admitting she is strong. However, the celebrity was too persistent to please him that he eventually gave up and decided to try hiding or ignoring her in non-serious times.

Her continuous attempts to reach out for Xantho gradually made him admire her more for her determination, though he tends to obscure this. He completely fell for her during a heart-to-heart talk in their prom night. Because of this, Xantho became slightly nervous around her sometimes, like how he is with any girl he considered smart and beautiful with a good heart (which Nadéa all possess). He also shows his warm side for her such as being concern for her safety and protecting her from seemingly fatal blows in combat.

Mavin Emmerich
The Faunus Mavin and Xantho met in school around the time Amara left for Vacuo and eventually became friends in terms of “weirdness”. Mavin was like the big brother Xantho never. Despite being cold towards his best friend sometimes, the Faunus is never really bothered by it. Xantho relies on his best friend with many things, especially weapon repairing. The two’s favorite pastime is playing card games.

Their friendship is strong and unwavering, but was always tested when it came to the Grimm who killed Mavin’s father. The Faunus would do anything to kill it when facing it in person, even if it meant ignoring the life of his friends in the process. Trust embodied the two to finish the Grimm off during its final stand.

Bacco Ricionzo
His father was the one who unlocked his son’s Aura as compensation when the family heirloom was given to Amara. Despite this, Xantho was still unsatisfied. His father’s smoking habits was what distanced the two from each other as close family as it gave his mother asthma.

Vantasia Clara
Vantasia Clara and Xantho used to like each other when they first met in the Signal-Sanctum exchange programs. It is still unknown to Xantho why would she turn him down so spitefully and called him “an abnormal egghead with no chance of finding his true love”. This made him think of her as a cruel mistress.

They met once again when Vanta transferred from Haven Academy to Beacon. The whole experience between them was awkward for Xantho, but the Black Swan treated it like it never happened. Because of this, his forgotten feelings for Vanta lingered back little by little that it created a sort of love triangle between him, her and Nadéa.

Trivia

 * Xantho alludes to the Philippine national hero, José Rizal.
 * While his first name is from the Greek word xanthos (ξανθος) literally meaning "yellow", Xantho's surname is a portmanteau of the Spanish words ricial and name alonzo. Ricial means "green fields", which connects to how Xantho loves nature, including green fields. Alonzo means "eager for battle" and German for "ready for a fight", which shows his attitude of battling worthy opponents. The Spanish word and name are both related to Rizal's full name—José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda.
 * The Xantho Trailer displayed references related to José Rizal. One notably is how Xantho was about to get killed by Cochach's men as a firing squad, which is similar to how the national hero was executed by the Spaniards. Xantho saying "Touch me not" is translated in Latin as "Noli me tangere", the name of one of Rizal's famous novels. Finally, Xantho shouting "It is unfinished!" was a reference to Rizal's last words before his execution, except it was the opposite—"It is finished!
 * Xantho possesses qualities that reflect that of Rizal's, such as being an animal lover, actor, bookworm, historian, phythophiliac, poet, peacemaker, and novelist.
 * His surname was originally "Ricial", until I found out someone's OC already took it. It is unknown whether the creator would continue on her OC. If not, it is fine. Xantho's surname is already meaningful enough.
 * The two weapon's names each are portmanteaus: Immitisoul is a combination of the Latin word immitis meaning "merciless" and soul, while Asperage is combined with aspera meaning "harsh" and rage. The weapons' second name Asim is Tagalog, translated as "sour".
 * Funny enough, his first name is a homonym to the Tagalog word santo meaning "saint". This is actually unintentional though and he does not look "saintly" enough in my opinion.
 * When Xantho uses his canes in combat, he uses the Arnis (or Eskrima or Kali), a martial art and national sport of the Philippines. The weapons he use is similar to the baston, the primary tool for arnis. Their length and diameter are shaped typically to how the baston are made with rattan, a common material used to make them.
 * As mentioned above that he uses arnis in special occasions, it is implied that Xantho is somehow more adept with this martial art or not (To be explained in fan-fiction novella).