Grimm

Grimm are beings that are born from the negative emotions of mankind.
[Theory] The Shattered Moon and the End of Remnant
So I was spending several hours listening to the RWBY soundtrack and I noticed a strange pattern.
Sacrifice- Born an angel, heaven sent, Falls from grace are never elegant. Stars will drop out of the sky, The moon will sadly watch the roses die.
I May Fall-Creatures of darkness will triumph The sun won't rise
When the moon is gone And we’ve reached our ends
When it Falls- Swallowed by the darkness, soon the moon is bathed in black The light of hope is taken and discontent is the contagion
Die- Enemies arise and the hate is flowing, Shattering the moon and bloodying the sky.
I noticed that the end of Remnant always comes after the destruction of the moon, the stars, or the sun or some combination of the three. In other words when one of remnants three major light sources is destroyed the world will end.
But why would the destruction of a light source matter its not like Grimm are stronger in the dark right? Or are they? So far in RWBY we’ve seen three major Grimm attacks, the Breach, The Fall of Beacon, and the Destruction of Kuroyuri. Of these three attacks the two that actually caused significant damage took place at night, coincidence? Doubtful. See the Breach wasn’t anticlimactic because of bad writing; it was anticlimactic because it took place during the day. (lol)
So the Grimm are stronger in darkness big whoop right, but imagine if every night instead of having a moon that is constantly full (which is another theory just waiting to happen) Remnant was, “Swallowed by the darkness.” Without any moon, based on the theory that the Grimm are stronger in the dark, imagine how devastating their attacks would be. Humanity would be hard pressed to survive.
This is why I think the moon is shattered, long ago someone, probably Salem or someone like her, tried to destroy the moon and insure that every night the Grimm would run rampant until the “Creatures of darkness will triumph / [and] the sun won’t rise”. But someone stopped her, possibly the silver-eyed warriors, and the moon was only shattered not destroyed.
This also explains why the Grimm fear the silver eyed warriors, since from what we’ve seen the silver eyed appear capable of literally firing massive beams of light from their eyes. Perhaps the silver eyed warriors received their power from the moon, warriors that were, “born an angel, heaven sent” to defend Remnant. I mean the moon is silver so... yeah, it kinda makes sense. This parts more just a cool idea than an actual theory.
tl;dr: Moon dies, world ends, grimm hate light, Salem tried to destroy moon once, silver eyed warriors=angels from moon
The rules of the Grimm are: 1) They are stronger at night 2) They are strongest in a moonless night 3) They are weaker when exposed to light( they can’t be killed by light, even with the SEW light) 4) They are attracted to negative emotions 5) They are repelled by positive emotions 6) Each Grimm type is attracted to only one negative emotion( the one that they were born from) 7) Dust is poison to them( due to being literally made out of positive emotions) 8) No Grimm besides Salem can even touch True Dust without dying 9) Grimm cannot be hurt by attacks that aren’t Dust or light-based.
Use Grimm in a fight as a way to visually show a person’s mental state, such as a swarm of Grimm being more focused on one combatant that is very negative, as opposed to another combatant that is more calm and collected. This was used to great effect in the Ruby vs Neo and Torchwick fight. Outright wars between people have never happened in Remnant due to the Grimm’s presence.
Here’s how the Grimm hunt. The Grimm have made Remnant a dystopia and have affected every aspect of living, such as the Grimm being their stand-ins for monsters in media. The Grimm in Atlas evolved to have white coats in order to be harder to spot by humans.
As cool as they are, the Apathy don't add up with the pre-established lore of Grimm. Grimm are attracted to negativity, wouldn't making characters apathetic actively go against their purpose as negative seeking creatures? This seems like it'd be only beneficial to the Apathy themselves, they're barely Grimm. They don't act like Grimm, aren't attracted to negativity like other Grimm and actively impede the hunting ability of other Grimm. And we can't even say that Apathy is a negative emotion because they were specifically being used to keep the Grimm at bay. I like the idea of the Apathy but like most things in RWBY, it actively goes against its own lore. It make me wish the Grimm included the seven deadly sins instead of having just the animal/fantasy based ones that act as fodder. That way, it shows how much of a threat Grimm really are that there are those that impact you psychologically to weaken you down or make you go insane and the physical ones can swoop in to finish the job. To expand on the “seven deadly sins” idea there are Psychological Grimm that work in tandem with Physical Grimm, such as a weak parasite Grimm that makes people more paranoid sometimes travel with a physically stronger Grimm that’s attracted to paranoia. This idea is taken from animals/plants that are codependent on each other to survive.
Returning to the Black Dragon and White Dragon continents, the most interesting feature is the large swath of darkness that gives the former continent its distinctive coloration. Yet, there is interestingly a band of lighter coloration on the southern shores of the continent. The significance of this is somewhat important to understand the state of human civilization on Remnant in the period of time when the series takes place. I am presuming the physical map is the situation in Ruby's time and the "points of light" map represents a historical period. The "points of light" are somewhat important on this matter as their location roughly correlates with the lighter areas of the map, with the White Dragon continent a notable exception for reasons I will speculate upon later.
The most obvious thing to note about the points of light is that Menagerie and the Black Dragon continents are the only ones that do not have a point of light on them. As Menagerie was essentially an exile colony for the Faunus the reasons for the absence of a point of light there are clear and it is obviously populated by them at least. Yet, there is no indication of a human population existing on the Black Dragon continent. One may also note that at the point furthest from the southern shores the territory is darkest and it progressively lightens the further south one goes.
The reason for this is hinted at in The First Step, Pt.2, when Weiss is surrounded by Beowolves in Ruby's absence. At the point the forest around her gets noticeably darker. One could chalk that up to a dramatic effect, but it would also line up nicely with the fact that the lighted areas are known population centers. This can also be inferred from Pyrrha's words in The Emerald Forest that "they are the darkness and we are the light." In other words, Pyrrha was not just speaking of a metaphorical "dark" and "light", but something a lot more literal. We can thus argue that the darker a region of the map, the higher the concentration of Grimm. As the Grimm can be located even in the lighter regions this does not suggest any area is "Grimm-free", but merely that some areas will be teeming with Grimm and others will have sparse populations. TL;DR- A Grimm’s presence can literally make the place darker.
I have said this before but the villains should of mostly been the Grimm. At most it should of just be Cinder team and Salem as the only human villains for the majority of the show. Adding Watts, Hazel, Tyrian, and whoever the volume villain will be (Raven/Leo for V5. Cordovin for V6.) the problem I have with the amount of human villains is that not only is screen time being pushed around all of them so none get good development, but since the writers (and mostly the fans) want them to stick around, they nerf the heroes in fights.
The Growing Grimm Threat: What would of made the Grimm ten times more terrifying is if they evolved the longer they stayed alive. Imagine Beowolves learning how to mimic voices of humans they killed or a Dragon Grimm that essentially becomes Smoug from The Hobbit. Or Grimm that learn how to use WEAPONS?!

Basic Information

Anatomy

It doesn't help that the Nuckaleev was made to not have the imp and horse be able to move independently.
I thought it would have been so cool if the imp would scream to disorient its opponents as a weapon pull out of it's back, bet it a Lance, Spear, or something a mounted Grimm would use. It would be a threat if the Grimm was not only mobile, but also proficient in multiple weapons. Since this Grimm was around when Ren was a child, and has a treasure trove of discarded weapons, it shows the Grimm's age and intelligence. Why not give it a bow similar to the one Ren's father used to actually add a personal stake for him outside of it being the same Grimm. Have it where after you kill the horse, the imp then uses dual daggers to attack Ren, and then Ren wins in a one on one fight?
Would have been much better. Like showcase that the Grimm are dangerous and threatening, but by Huntsman and Huntresses working together are they able to drive the Grimm back.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The Grimm do not need to eat, drink or sleep in order to survive. They choose to eat humans.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The grimm are equivalent to a sign on the screen saying "DANGER!". The show would have benefited a lot from a category system that showed us not only what the characters can fight, but also the danger the Grimm pose similar to the system used in One Punch Man or D.Gray-Man. Hey writers, its not that hard making menacing antgnoists/monsters. Just give/show the audience on why these Grimm should be feared. Over and over we are told that these things constantly destroy villages and towns, but we hardly see it, and these things are a threat to humans. Well, it's hard to take them seriously when a couple of teenagers make them look like fodder. It's even more harder to take them seriously when Ruby has her white flashlights she can use to one-shot them, and don't you dare create bigger Grimm to work around that power like you did at the end of s6. You aren't fooling me.
Shit, my fanmade angelic monsters are more of a threat than these lame Grimm, and I hardly have them do anything most of the time. Let's face it guys. The Grimm are only dangerous when plot demands it. Throwing brick = Using tool = Highly intelligent? No... The other two groups did show intelligence tho even if it was just pack tactics (which most Grimm use anyway). We really need more Grimm like the Apathy that affect people psychologically, even if it's just by looking extra creepy. Like the Nuck could've had its head always turning 360 degrees to keep its head focused on a target, that would've been terrifying. Instead we just get pack animals with varying levels of being fodder or giants that get one or two shot. We can only really get Grimm when we're outside cities so we probably won't be seeing any until the end of v7. V7 has a lot to deliver tho so It'd almost be better if they didn't show up at all especially since we still see them as a joke. Focus on Weiss' family, Penny coming back, fixing the villains and making Atlas feel like a real place. Put the Faunus and Yellowjacket in the trash and wait for v8 to make the Grimm an actual threat. It was Volume 2 that ruined the grimm for me. Coco (a second year student) slaughtering them all with one sweep of her minigun, killing Nevermores and Deathstalkers in seconds really destroys any threat they could possess.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

On the subject of Remnant being a Death World where humanity is allegedly overrun or overwhelmed by Grimm, I can't help but think the writers didn't quite sell the feel of it realistically enough. I believe there needs to be some signs of rationing out resources to cope with the issue, or maybe a stronger sense of desperation or fearful apprehension in the series' tone for humanity at large.
I wish they did a nightmare Grimm instead of the Apathy, at least then saying fighting it was them overcoming their despair would make more sense.

Major Organizations

The way it fits into the lore confuses me. According to the lore, Grimm are perpetually a threat to humanity and faunus. They destroy the two. Why is anything with a higher-than-average chance of causing negative emotion, especially abuse of all things, thought of highly?
Angler Grimm: (https://external-preview.redd.it/m8AToqVUzkU3kZ5E4acVhr_s7E7BMB5mRMVBvlZRmRM.png?width=614&auto=webp&s=98b224147cfb2b33037c3ef9996b95f291c09cff). You know, while this might be unnerving to some this grimm design is unnerving in all the right ways it's less of a mindless beast and more of a scary cunning beast, one that uses the vast spectrum of emotions to get the drop on you. I hope we can see more of that type in volume 7, like the apathy grimms. The interesting part of this (to me at least) is that assuming this creature hypnotized or at least made her see Summer to lower her guard then if someone were to try to save her there could be the possibility it would use said illusion to defend itself. Such as turning Ruby against them by making her think they was attacking summer, or for a moment after Ruby is saved she would believe her rescuers killed her mom or something.

History

Using drugs to keep people positive to ward off the Grimm is rather popular, and the process is similar to the drugs in “We Happy Few”.
Except that anti-depressive and drug that reduce the amount of Serotonine or Norepinephrine produced in the body are already a thing in our world so in the world of Remnant, that is technologically more advanced than our, they should have no problem creating them. Controlling people emotion is possible with the right amount of drugs (Look at "We Happy Few" and the Joy present in that game). Grimm are explicitly attracted to negative emotions; we know this. In this scenario, keeping people drugged up to suppress them makes perfect sense.
So what if it affects other body systems? There are huge man eating monsters that have pushed mankind to just four small kingdoms on the whole planet. I say those outweigh any risks. What's even worse is that there are other sci-fi stories that take this very concept and run with it. Ever heard of the film "Equilibrium"? The entire premise of that film is that its set in a society that suppresses emotions to prevent things like violence and war. The society of RWBY actually has a manifestly GOOD REASON to suppress emotions, and who cares about oppression when society itself is constantly at risk? In those kinds of circumstances, freedom is generally thrown in out in favor or security so, why wouldn't they mass produce drugs like that? It's not like producing the drugs would require absurd amounts of resources.
This isn't real life dude: this is a story, so real life problems need not apply. Hell, things going wrong with the drugs could actually be better for the story, as it creates drama and conflict for the plot. The whole point of bringing the drugs up is to talk about how they COULD HAVE written the story differently. That's all this is about. No need to go crazy comparing this shit to real life or even to the story of RWBY AS IT'S CURRENTLY WRITTEN, as all of this was just an alternate scenario they could have gone. Third, what I suggested would CREATE CONFLICT WHERE NONE CURRENTLY EXIST and have said as much in my explanation.
Are you even reading what I'm writing? I literally pointed out in my last comment that the drugs being imperfect would actually be boon by creating additional conflict. And even if the drugs were perfect, you can still get conflict out of the moral and ethical conundrum of whether or not its right to suppress emotion in the first place, and and what you do to those who refuse to do so. You can also get conflict surrounding the issue of what kind of society you would get by artificially suppressing emotion in the first place.
Honestly, this sounds like a much more interesting take on Remnant. Government forces people to take Happy Pills to keep the Grimm away. "Taking your pill for the day will keep the Grimm at bay!" and stuff like that. That's decidedly an interesting dystopian world. People getting taken off the streets and jacked up on happy drugs because they're being too depressing or angry.
You're right. One bad day at work can be enough. As many can attest, someone having a bad day will sometimes do their best to ruin someone else's day. Can you imagine the phrase "misery loves company" being a physical law of their world?
But that's not kid friendly, so RT won't even hint about something like that.
Basically... leave it to the Fanfiction writers, who do far better worldbuilding than M/K do. Hell, I recall one fanfiction where they showed that Huntsmen funerals are basically celebrations, basically to keep the negativity away, celebrate what they did in their life and a final 'fuck you' to the Grimm. Why can't the writers of RWBY go for some originality?
The Grimm are drawn in by negative emotions. The show could have instantly went dark, with the masses being supplied constantly with "happy drugs". The Hunter program could have successful applicants undergo surgery to install an emotion inhibitor in their brains. Seeing how the story of RWBY is a mess also reminds me of how important basic mechanics of a world must be established and followed strictly.
I pretty much forget about the Grimm when they aren’t on screen. They go down so easily that it’s hard to see them as a credible threat (like you said, we don’t see them from a civilian perspective at all). The show keeps trying to present them as some kind of “uncontrollable beast”, only to have them be easily controlled once anyone with a weapon comes onscreen. They are also way too clean (this is kind of an art style nitpick but it really makes them less intimidating). This show takes the concept of beasthood but then removes all the things that make it intimidating.
For example, in Bloodborne (yeah ik it’s a different medium but it has a lot of parallels with this so I like it as a point of comparison), one of the first monsters you encounter is the lycanthrope. Since Bloodborne is not the easiest game in the world, you will probably die to it the first time you run into it. When it fights you, it is extremely aggressive, does a lot of damage, and is covered in the blood of a presumably eaten victim. This leaves you with a real sense of fear because the scene actually shows you what makes it intimidating before you come back with a weapon and have a real chance of victory.
Meanwhile in RWBY season one, all the info about the Grimm is given through an expository animation (kind of like the start of lord of the rings). All the atrocities of the Grimm are simply talked about and left offscreen. Then they just get mowed down leaving us wondering why they were such a huge threat to begin with.
Get more varied threats, and make the Grim more threatening. At least have them kill some civilians on-screen to make the threat more convincing. Grimm represent all the negative aspects of the world. All the evils of mankind portrayed through monsters. The world is always gonna have good and evil in it, represented by Hunters and Grimm. So a “seal off the big bad”/ “stop the end of the world”-type ending would still fit. The show ending with a "and the story continues" sort of thing. The world carries on long after the show ends. They are like the Heartless in Kingdom Hearts and the Unversed from KH: Birth by Sleep.

Historical Figures

There are Grimm that are based off of the DeathStalkers from Fallout 4. There are Velociraptor Grimm. There are Megalodon Grimm, a giant prehistoric shark. There are Aswang Grimm, a creature from Filipino mythology that is a shapeshifter most known for hunting and eating small children in the night. Have this Grimm disguise itself as one of the child heroes. It turns into Summer Rose as soon as Ruby stabs it. This gives Ruby a panic attack. There are Wendigo Grimm, a creature from North American/Canadian mythos that is an evil spirit mix of monster and human in appearance local to wooden and swampy regions. It can imitate voices and create illusions and is most commonly associated with famine, the cold, and winter. There are Banshee Grimm, a female spirit from Irish mythology that usually appears when a family member has died. It’s titular screech draws more Grimm towards it. The Grimm Wyvern at the end of canon!V3 can breath fire and is given a backstory on why it was sealed in a mountain.

Common Myths and Legends

It's still four STUDENTS taking down an apex Grimm. It should take all 8 of them to take out a small pack of beowolves, and then the boss monster being the pack's alpha that really forces them to kick it into high gear just to get out alive. Then I could believe that Grimm like the Nevermore and Deathstalker could actually be a threat and require pro huntsmen to prevent complete destruction of humanity.
Sell the Grimm as creepy, Uncanny Valley alien, chimera-like monsters, like how in the Battle of Beacon episode where a Nevermore uses the claws on its wings as an extra pair of legs, much like a bat would, or how a Beowolf has its skeleton highlighted and chest segments exaggerated in a way that makes it look distinctly armored, almost more insect than mammal.
Use Grimm in a fight as a way to visually show a person’s mental state, such as a swarm of Grimm being more focused on one combatant that is very negative, as opposed to another combatant that is more calm and collected. This was used to great effect in the Ruby vs Neo and Torchwick fight. Outright wars between people have never happened in Remnant due to the Grimm’s presence.
The Grimm in Atlas are known for their white skin that blends in to the snowy tundra. They adapted this white fur in order to be harder to spot by humans.
The news focuses on only positive news so as to not spread negative emotion that attracts the Grimm. There are also societies that choose to be completely ignorant to what happens around them, so as to avoid Grimm attacks. A big theme in this RWBY AU is safety vs freedom. Both sides have enough valid points in order to make for a compelling argument. Since Grimm are attracted to negative emotions, have psychologists, therapists, and other mental health doctors be a high priority. For example, massage therapists to reduce stress, psychological therapists everywhere, yoga centers basically being a Starbucks stand-in.
People should have evolved culturally to repress negative feelings. Examples are Emotion Gestapos and Therapy gulags, which bring up the questions as to whether to sacrifice freedom for happiness and safety? Or is it morally wrong to suppress emotions even in this situation? How far to the extreme could this be taken? Throughout the series, there is also the lingering them of victory vs sacrifices. Is the victory worthy of their sacrifice? Are you sending them to their deaths unaware of what they are getting into or are they going fully aware of the price they are being asked to pay?
Clowns and other humor-based jobs and entertainment should be just as important to Remnant’s way of life as Hunters are. Grimm shall fear that ominous honk of a well trained clown.
There are a sort of “Happy Police” that exist in Remnant that monitor’s people’s happiness and jail/banish those that experience negative emotions. They are based off the Inspectors and Enforcers from Psycho-Pass.
The problem with Grimm is that we are told they are a threat. We aren't actually shown they are the world-ending menace they're hyped up to be. All the damage they have done seems to have either happened in the past (Kuroyuri, Mountain Glenn) or easily fixed in the present (Breach). Even the fall of Beacon was underwhelming. Yes, you had people running scared, but then you had Velvet whooping ass without breaking a sweat and looking fabulous while doing it. So, they're cannon fodder to a third-year student while also being the destroyer of worlds. That's... not how that works.
Contrast with Adam and Cinder at the end of volume 3, or better yet, with the titans in Attack on Titan. Similar premises (humans besieged by beasts they can barely handle), but you actually see the poor bastards dying in droves and struggling like hell just to bring a single fucker down. Which is how you build a sense of legitimate danger.
Now, I'm not saying RWBY should go down the gory grimdark route... but it can't rely solely on exposition anymore.
To show how much of a threat the Grimm are, have the beginning be about team RWBY trying to avoid fighting any Grimm. Different kingdoms have different philosophies on how to keep negative emotions in check to ward off the Grimm.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Here’s how the Grimm hunt: They are monsters that are attracted to negative emotions but only in closer proximity to the prey. Essentially, it is a more efficient prey location device that is sort of like how foxes use geomagnetism to hunt. This proximity range expands with age but the older a Grimm gets, the wiser it becomes and learns to avoid mankind until it either needs to or wants to strike.
The Grimm have made Remnant a dystopia and have affected every aspect of living, such as the Grimm being their stand-ins for monsters in media. The Grimm in Atlas evolved to have white coats in order to be harder to spot by humans.
Like the Law of Equivalent Exchange in Fullmetal Alchemist, RWBY has one concrete rule that it must abide by: Grimm are attracted to negativity, almost to the point that they are blind/inactive without it. Flesh out the Grimm concepts of them being attracted to negative emotions and the predator-prey relationship of humans, Grimm and Hunters, such as the Grimm evolved with red eyes for intimidation. Afterall, Ruby is LITERALLY born and bred to kill these monsters. She should treat them the same way a cheetah treats an antelope.