Ilia Amitola

Ilia Amitola is a major antagonist turned protagonist in the world of RWBY. She is a chameleon Faunus and high-ranking member of the White Fang serving under Adam Taurus. She was also formerly allies and friends with White Fang deserter and protagonist Blake Belladonna.

She is a minor antagonist in Volume 4 and major antagonist turned anti-hero/supporting protagonist in Volume 5.

In the original English version, she is voiced by Cherami Leigh Keuhn, who also voiced Lucy Heartfilia, Asuna and Elizabeth Midford. In the Japanese dub, she is voiced by Mariya Ise, who also voiced Stocking.

Appearance
Ilia is a young woman and a chameleon Faunus. In her normal appearance, her skin has somewhat darker spots on her arms, legs, and face. Her brown hair is tied back in a ponytail that curls at the end like a chameleon's tail, and her eyes are a light gray with a faintly bluish tint. Her Faunus trait grants her the ability to change the color of her skin, hair and eyes, allowing her to blend in with her environment. Her colors also appear to change in response to her emotions.

As a White Fang member, she wears a Grimm Mask with chameleon horns on it to hide her identity. Her mask also points upward at the top and extends past her hairline; this resembles the crest of a veiled chameleon. She wears a black, plum, and navy sleeveless stealth suit with short legs. The suit has two parts to the bottom section: a navy blue front panel that matches her belts and the rest is plum-colored. The color divide is at the center of her thighs. The stealth suit's zipper is gold, and over it, she wears navy blue belts with gold buckles. She wears simple black boots with a cuff and a black glove on her right hand.

As noted by her concept art, her body type gives her a smaller bust and rear.

Personality
Not much is known about Ilia, other than that she shows determination when fleeing from the Belladonna home. She seems hesitant to fight Blake Belladonna and shows a bit of past loyalty when saying "You shouldn't have come back", as a warning. However, she shows no hesitation in harming Sun.

She used to enjoy blending in with Humans, even supporting their anti-Faunus beliefs despite the hypocrisy. This stopped after an incident involving the deaths of multiple Faunus, including her parents, in a mining accident. The event served as a catalyst for her joining the White Fang. Ilia was also vindictive enough to assault her former friends in Atlas as they snickered at the losses sustained in the mining accident.

In "Alone Together" it is revealed that Ilia believes that is the only to get humanity to stop hating the Faunus, and that while she dislike hurting people it has gotten the Faunus results. Though when Blake question what it has gotten her personally she is visibly disheartened, but still asserts that everyone has to make sacrifices for the greater good. She also reveals that she has romantic feelings for Blake, and was always jealous of how Blake looked at Adam, longing for Blake to look at her in the same manner.

Past
Ilia was born to two Faunus parents employed by the Schnee Dust Company. Her parents and she worked in the Schnee Dust Company mines, forced into cruel and dangerous Dust mining jobs as a part of the Faunus labor force. However, her parents wanted her to have a better life, so they eventually managed to get her out of the mines and into a prestigious school. However, she was forbidden to reveal her Faunus heritage, as her parents knew it would cause trouble. So Ilia agreed, and spent her time at the school pretending to be human, even making human friends and pretending to dislike Faunus to hide her true nature.

However, one day, an accident occurred at the mines. A Dust explosion caused a cave-in, killing and injuring many Faunus workers, including Ilia's parents. Despite the tragedy, Ilia's human friends mocked and laughed at the event. Ilia, however, was overcome by grief and accidentally changed color to reflect her emotions, revealing herself as a Faunus. The human students ridiculed and feared her, and Ilia finally snapped and attacked, beating them and breaking their teeth.

She fled from the school, and later decided that she should not blend in with humans, and that she should make them pay for their prejudice. She joined the White Fang, and later met with Blake. The two formed a strong friendship, and Ilia felt betrayed and angry when Blake deserted the White Fang for a different life.

Volume 4
In "A Much Needed Talk", Ilia is seen spying on Blake at the Belladonna's household until she is discovered; escaping the scene as Blake and Sun Wukong give chase.

In "Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back", Ilia fights both Blake and Sun to prevent herself from being interrogated. During the battle, she loses Sun's purloined Scroll, injures Sun and demands that Blake hand over the Scroll. After Blake refuses, Ilia gives her a warning before retreating.

In "No Safe Haven", Ilia is seen meeting with fellow White Fang members Corsac and Fennec Albain.

RWBY Volume 5 Blake Character Short
Blake and Sun go out, looking for an associate of the White Fang and Ilia. They spot him and give chase, but Ilia comes in, attacking Blake and sun. She breaks a lift above Blake, causing the crates it carried to drop and smash to the ground, giving Ilia and the associate cover as they escape.

The short is also cut with flashbacks of Ilia and Blake while they were both in the White Fang, with Ilia revealing her backstory to her former friend.

Volume 5
In "Welcome to Haven", Ilia herself surreptitiously visits Blake Belladonna, unrepentant about letting the blame be passed to her. She urges Blake to stop and leave before it is too late, but knows it is useless.

In "Unforeseen Complications", Just as Ghira is about to bring Blake up to speak, Ilia Amitola emerges from the crowd and calls out the Belladonnas as traitors, saying that following Adam is the only way for the White Fang. Sun tries to apprehend her, but she gets away, though she is chased down by Menagerie guards.

In "Necessary Sacrifice", Ilia is summoned by Corsac and Fennec Albain at a hidden White Fang hideout. She is given the news about Sienna Khan's death and Adam's ascension to the throne, before being assigned her next task: to assassinate Ghira and Kali Belladonna and deliver Blake to Adam alive. Ilia is horrified at this new order, but Corsac assures her that it's a necessary sacrifice. Ilia nonetheless shows hesitance over this as she leaves.

In "Alone Together", Ilia lures Blake away from her home a letter, and has three other White Fang members ambush her. She tells Blake she is sorry it has to be this way, though Blake does not believe her. Ilia then tells Blake that she is sorry, but the only way to snap humanity's hatred of the Faunus is with fear, and the while she does not like hurting people it has gotten them (the Faunus) results. When Blake ask what it has gotten Ilia personally, she is clearly shaken by her question, but still asserts to Blake that they all have to make sacrifices for the grater good. Blake then ask if she thought that killing her was good for everyone, Ilia tells her no but killing her family is, much to Blake's horror. When Blake tells Ilia that she will not allow her to harm her family, Ilia tells Blake that she knows which why she was going to be sent to Mistral, into Adam's hand. While Blake begs Ilia not do this, and that this was not how she was, Ilia tells her that it is, but back when they were friends Blake was to busy falling for Adam to notice, telling Blake that she was always jealous of the way Blake looked at him, and wanted Blake to look at her that way, revealing that she has romantic feeling for her (her chameleon skin even makes it look like she is blushing when she tells her this), but they can't always get what they want. Ilia then leaves with one of the White Fang member, leaving the other two to take Blake away. Unbeknownst to Ilia, Blake had prepared for such a situation, having Sun lie in wait, who helped free Blake from the two White Fang members.

In "A Perfect Storm", Blake proceeds and runs into Ilia Amitola on the way. The two former friends then prepare to battle each other.

Powers and Abilities
Ilia is very agile, able to climb and run along trees and rooftops.

Her Faunus trait allows her to change the color of her skin, eyes and hair. This gives her the ability to hide from others by blending in with the environment. Like a real chameleon, her skin seems to change with her emotions. For example, in "Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back", when she becomes frustrated, her skin turns red, and her hair, eyes and skin spots turn yellow. Following this, she takes on a more sorrowful expression, with her skin turning green and her hair, eyes and skin spots turning blue. The change in color begins at her eyes and reaches to her extremities from there. In certain cases, her eyes may change without her skin changing.

Weapons
Ilia's weapon of choice is a whip, which is able to load Dust. It is capable of cutting through metal easily with its blade.

Trivia

 * Amitola is the word for "rainbow" in Sioux or Cherokee.
 * Prior to the Volume 5 Blake Character Short, Miles Luna noted that Ilia could easily pass for a human.
 * Ilia is the first confirmed LGBT character in RWBY.
 * Ilia is the first antagonist in the RWBY series to redeem herself.