Dust is a source of energy in Remnant.

The physical properties of Dust make it incredibly useful for a variety of purposes

particularly in the weapons of many characters in the series.

he name "Dust" is implied to be a reference to the primordial state from which mankind was born. As a natural resource, it is sometimes poetically referred to as "Nature's Wrath

or more prosaically as an energy propellan

Dust is known as a naturally occurring, crystallized energy propellant triggered by the Aura of Humans and Faunus. For unknown reasons, Dust does not function outside of the atmosphere of Remnant, precluding the possibility of space flight.

Dust can be found in four basic types. These four types can be combined both artificially and naturally to form other types of Dust, each with their own unique properties.

Different colors of Dust appear to correspond to their different natures or effects.

the four basic dust

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In World of Remnant: Dust, the four basic colors are shown to be red, blue, yellow, and green. Other known colors include dark blue, cyan, white, purple, bright orange, dark orange and pale blue. Each color has its own unique property.

Volume 2, green was said to correspond to wind, but it appears that wind may have been changed to white Dust in Volume 3.[ Red is known to correspond to fire, and yellow has been shown to generate lightning.It is unclear what property blue corresponds to, but since both steam and ice Dust are "secondary" types of Dust partially consisting of water Dust, it follows that water Dust may be a "primary" Dust type.

Wind or Air - A "primary" type of Dust, said to correspond to the green crescent shape in World of Remnant: Dust.However, as of Volume 3, it appears that wind may have been changed to white Dust

Fire or Burn - Miles states that red is fire Dust in the RWBY Volume 3 Live Stream. Miles also specifically informs the RWBY wiki in the Volume 1 Directors Commentary that these are called Burn Dust crystals

Water - Mentioned by Weiss in "The Shining Beacon" and mentioned by Miles as a type used to make steam and ice Dust.It is represented by a blue crystal in World of Remnant: Dust.

Lightning - Mentioned by Weiss in "The Shining Beacon". Yellow Dust has been shown to generate lightning. Ice - A "secondary" type of Dust, formed by the combination of Water and Air Dust. In "The Shining Beacon", dark blue Dust is shown to be ice, as Ruby sneezes on red, dark blue and yellow Dust, resulting in fire, ice and lightning.

Steam - A "secondary" type of Dust, formed by the combination of Water and Fire Dust. Gravity - First shown when Ruby uses Gravity Dust ammo in the "Red" Trailer. Gravity appears to have the colors black and purple in its released energy, as seen in "Reloading", the 3rd episode of RWBY Chibi. Gravity Dust crystals are black and can cause the pieces of land they form in to levitate, creating floating islands, such as the ones floating above Lake Matsu in Anima.

earth - First shown when Blake makes a rock clone in "No Brakes". Through process of elimination, the only Dust color that could have been responsible for the rock clone is white. However, as of Volume 3, air Dust has been changed to white, leaving earth as an unknown color.

Bright orange-colored - This type of Dust is sewn into the designs on two of Cinder Fall's outfits, and crystals are seen in the volcanic biome in Amity Colosseum. Examples of its use include launching a fiery projectile that splatters to the ground when blocked,[14] creating explosive eruptions,making weaponry out of obsidian[16] and generating heat to melt ice.(edited)

Cyan-colored - This color's type is unknown, and it has been seen in the pipes of a train engine in MistralThere are multiple instances of Dust use resulting in cyan-colored effects, but it is unknown if this particular type of Dust is responsible. These instances include Weiss firing cyan lasers after spinning Myrtenaster's revolver,b arriers generated by both Amity Colosseum and Weiss and temporary weapons produced by Velvet's camera

Crystalline and Powdered

Dust can be found in two distinct states, crystalline and powdered. Both crystalline and powdered Dust are known to be highly explosive

Both powdered and crystalline Dust can presumably be activated by Aura. Weiss uses powdered Dust in her weapon, the Myrtenaster.

These four types can be combined both artificially and naturally to form other types of Dust

idk how

Dust serves as a power source for the majority of technology in Remnant, from airships to androids, though some alternative technologies do exist.However, Dust can still be used without the aid of weapons or machines and can be unleashed in its raw form such as lightning.

Technology powered by Dust is known to glow

The discovery of Dust was instrumental to humanity's initial defeat of the Grimm, and Dust continues to be used extensively in combat. Dust can be harnessed in a variety of ways, but when used in its raw form, its full potential requires both an Aura and the intelligence to use it, meaning Humans, Faunus, and certain artificial beings, such as Penny Polendina, are the only ones who are able to effectively use it for combat.

Dust bullets, however, are much simpler to use, merely requiring the user to pull the trigger. Ruby's weapon, Crescent Rose, has also been mentioned to use rounds containing different kinds of Dust

While this form is the most common and easiest way to use Dust in battle, it can also be used in its raw form, which is described as being "elegant, yet destructive" in nature and requiring a certain level of discipline to maintain control over. More archaic uses for Dust as a weapon include weaving it into clothes or directly implanting it into the wielder's body.

One prominent example of raw Dust usage is Weiss Schnee's Multi-Action Dust Rapier, Myrtenaster, which contains vials of numerous colors of powdered Dust in its revolving chamber. She can allow Dust to flow from an exhaust port onto Myrtenaster's blade to augment her attacks, such as casting fire from her blade. She can also use her glyphs to manipulate how Dust flows and manifests. She has demonstrated this ability numerous times with ice Dust by manipulating what shape the ice would take

he Schnee Dust Company is one of the largest producers of Dust in the world. Dust is mined from the Schnee Quarry, purified, and transported by railway lines or by sea to distributors. Dust is then sold to the public by Dust shops such as From Dust Till Dawn.

Crystalline Dust is apparently safe enough to leave out on display openly, whereas powdered Dust is dispensed from tubes on the wall and stored in portable cylindrical canisters. Bags that have been seen on store shelves have the same bright hues as the tubes and their Dust, but whether they contain Dust themselves is unknown.

uch like real world resources, Dust has been said to be a limited resource as it is mined from the ground.[32] The RWBY: World of Remnant episode "Schnee Dust Company" depicts a crystal-to-bullet process, with a hint that this process is costly.

Creator Monty Oum has compared Dust to Materia from the Final Fantasy video game series

He went on to state that, originally, all of the Dust in Myrtenaster was going to be red but still have different effects. This was because he felt that red went well with Weiss' design, as well as the fact that, design-wise, he was uncomfortable with having a character with a certain color palette walk around with "a rainbow" on them. He ended up putting those feelings aside and deciding that it would be better for the audience if Dust was color-coded

Now after all that I'd like to say thank you to Maxinonor for the info so I could copy and paste it, and the dust Finn will use is different from normal; he can generate it near endlessly and is essentially like mana. And it is colorless to the point where it's near invisible.