The story takes place in a modern setting filled with monsters and supernatural forces. The series focuses on four girls, each with their own unique weapon and powers, who come together as a team at Beacon Academy in the city of Vale where they are trained to battle these forces alongside other similar teams. Prior to the events of the series, mankind waged a battle of survival against the shadowy creatures of the Grimm until they discovered the power of Dust, which allowed them to fight back the monsters. Dust is used to power magical abilities in the series.

RWBY (pronounced "Ruby") is an original American anime-style web-series created by Rooster Teeth Productions' animation studio. The series is created and directed by animator Monty Oum. The first episode of RWBY premiered on July 5, 2013 at the 2013 Rooster Teeth Expo and was released to the Rooster Teeth site on July 18, 2013.