What's the Work?[]
RWBY is an American animated webseries produced by Rooster Teeth and created by the late Monty Oum. The story follows a team of young heroes as they defend the world of Remnant from terrorists, monsters, and supernatural beings.
Who is Penny Polendina? What has she done?[]
Penny Polendina was the brainchild (and I guess actual child) of brilliant inventor Pietro Polendina. Pietro, when tasked with developing something for his home city of Atlas to use as security, came up with the idea of a robotic humanoid that, unlike normal machines, would not run on code, but rather have its own soul. Pietro sacrificed part of his own soul to put into this machine, which gave her her own personality and morality. He named her Penny, and raised her as his own daughter.
When she was ready, Penny was sent to the kingdom of Vale to train and participate in the Vytal Festival Tournament, where she would show off her various abilities. There, she met Ruby Rose and Team RWBY, who she befriended. When RWBY was attacked by the criminal Roman Torchwick and the terrorist group the White Fang, Penny leapt into action to protect them, though she was taken away by her Atlas bodyguards soon after.
Penny was instructed by General James Ironwood to lie low. When she was reunited with Ruby, Penny did not want to disobey and tried to hide. Ruby chased after her and into the path of an oncoming truck, and Penny jumped in the way to stop the truck. After checking if the driver was okay, Penny decided to reveal to Ruby that she was mechanical. Ruby took it well, and the two rekindled their friendship.
Penny, though often away due to her military duties, tries to talk with Ruby and spend time with her. Penny also participates in the Vytal Festival Tournament, showing off her abilities in friendly combat matches. She makes it all the way to the finals round. However, due to tampering by the evil Emerald Sustrai, her opponent, Pyrrha Nikos, accidentally kills her, revealing that she is a robot to the entire arena. Ruby is devastated over Penny's death, and tries to use one of her fallen friends' swords in the ensuing Battle of Beacon.
Back in Atlas, Pietro works on rebuilding Penny, again using a part of his own soul to bring her to life. Using what was recovered from her last body, he is able to retain her memories and personality, essentially bringing her back to life in a new, upgraded form. Penny takes to becoming the protector of the sister city Mantle, fighting off Grimm and being a general guardian of the city. When RWBY and their allies arrive in Mantle, Penny is so overjoyed to see Ruby that she tackles her in a giant hug.
Penny helps out RWBY in Atlas, as well as works for General Ironwood in attempting to relive tensions between the Atlas military and the vigilante Robyn Hill. When Hill tries to attack a military supply shipment, Penny confronts her and asks her politely to call off the attack so no one will get hurt. She later attends one of Hill's rallies as a guard, but the event is attacked by the serial killer Tyrian Callows. Penny goes in and fights him off, but the evil Arthur Watts doctors the footage to frame her for the attack. Despite the angered citizens of Mantle calling for her destruction, Penny still serves as their protector. She begins to form a friendship with Ironwood's Special Operative Winter Schnee, as Winter explains to the the importance of duty and emotion.
When Mantle is attacked by Grimm, Penny aids in evacuation efforts as well as fending off the Grimm. She teams up with Ruby to take down a massive Alpha, undeterred when the Grimm manages to injure her. She then goes with Winter to protect the Winter Maiden, Fria, from attack. When Cinder Fall comes to assassinate Fria, Penny fights her off, but Winter is wounded and sent falling off of a tower. Penny, defying her orders, rushes down to save Winter, then races to get back to Fria before Cinder can kill her. Fria holds Cinder back, but is dying. As Winter holds Cinder off, Penny comforts Fria in her dying moments. As Fria dies, she passes her power onto Penny, who becomes the new Winter Maiden. As the Grimm attack continues, and Ironwood's methods get more extreme, Penny goes with RWBY, intent on saving Mantle.
Mitigating factors?[]
- Penny is a machine, but she has her own soul the same as a human. Penny's soul is a part of Pietro's, but she has her own personality and is frequently shown to make her own moral choices (such as disobeying an order to save someone's life or telling the occasional white lie to keep someone safe).
- Penny has some level of enjoyment to combat, but only in sporting matches and actively despises real conflict, instead attempting diplomacy before fighting.
- Penny has killed Grimm, but they are soulless, genocidal, feral monsters.
- Penny can be overly enthusiastic with those she cares about, such as running to hug her friend so hard that she tackles them, but this is just her not realizing her own strength.
- Penny has lied on occasion, but that was only either to obey an order or keep someone safe. She feels guilty after lying, hiccuping whenever she does.
Admirable standard?[]
When compared with other PGs like Ruby and Pyrrha, Penny is around their league. Her main priority is the protection of others; even if they do not want her help, Penny will put herself in harm's way to ensure their protection. Even when she is framed by the villains or betrayed by her superiors, Penny never loses her determination to keep people safe.
Verdict[]
With a main priority of helping others and a never-ending optimism, Penny gets a yes from me.