RWBY OC GUIDELINES AND TIPS

(2) Species

Oooooohhhh I love discussing this!
The Faunus and humans live in the world of Remnant together, the White Fang metaphorically drawing a line between them.

The Faunus Population

Both species exist, of course, but keep in mind that Faunus are a little bit less common that humans, and not many go to Beacon. Blake Belladonna and Velvet Scarletina are the only Faunus I actually saw attending Beacon, and here could easily be more but what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't just make your OC team all Faunus. There should be a maximum of one Faunus per team, please keep that in mind! Faunus may be a well known sub-species but they are slightly rare at Beacon.

Faunus Rules

And Faunus aren't special little snowflakes either, they are just like humans. Just because Cardina (random name) is a Faunus doesn't mean he is an orphan who was abused and has a bunch of spider traits.
Some rules about Faunus that everyone seems to ignore is that they only have a one animal trait. Only one, guys! ONE! Is it that hard to understand? I get that some people may not have heard of it but Rooster Teeth, the group behind RWBY, has confirmed it. And I don't think I need screenshots to prove it. Rooster Teeth also said in an interview that Faunus are based off of real animals. So you hear that, edgelords? No, your OC cannot be a dragon or god forbid a Grimm Faunus. Grimm are developed from sludge, they ain't got no soul, making them not real animals. For all I care go ahead and make your OC a narwhal and try to pull off the unicorn thing, that is actually very creative compared to a frickin' griffin Faunus! I actually like that idea.
But for those thinking, "But Araaaahhhh, my OC needs to be a special Faunus and needs to have wings and fangs and super cool eyes!"
Stop. Just because your OC is a Faunus, doesn't mean they're particularly special. They are, in ideal standards, equal to humans. Don't make them special just because you "can"! If I wanted to get philosophical about it, I'd say that it's discriminatory to be expecting more of Faunus. They are equals to humans, no more or less though, no matter your view.

Clearing Up Confusions

By the way, I've heard the argument, "But Araaahhhh, Blake has cat ears and cat eyes. She has two Faunus features, why can't my OC? And Ilia has two Faunus features too, her spots and ability to change colour and stuff!"
I've had this conversation many times, and by now I can easily solve this. Yeah, it stumped me when I recognized this but honestly, they both only have one.
First of all, unnatural eye colours are common in RWBY, as it is an anime. Emerald has natural green hair, Yang has natural lilac/red eyes, Scarlet naturally has hyper-red hair, and so on. Blake's gold eyes are no exception. Her pupils, which are usually drawn as narrow in fanart, are actually canonically round. Sure, they sometimes are slightly more oval, but same goes for the other characters. It's hard to notice because Blake is a domestic cat Faunus, so people have tunnel vision on her eyes being a cat-like trait. In all honesty though, they're just yellow and Rooster Teeth draws more oval-y pupils than round ones.
And about Ilia, changing colours is her semblance. It's based off of her Faunus type but it is simply just her semblance, end of story.
So yeah, Faunus only have one trait! No more, and they are based off of real animals. Keep those rules in mind when creating a Faunus OC.

What Animal Parts to Use and Avoid

Also, lots of people give their Faunus OC wings as a trait and I highly discourage this, as it is unlikely. We never see a canon Faunus with wings. That would be overpowered, and it has become a trope among RWBY OCs. And a bad one at that. Try to avoid this and spread your creativity, why not animal-like skin, hair, and etc? Be creative with your animal parts.

Faunus Ideas

OK, OK, this is a long chapter but bear with me. I have two Faunus OCs, both in separate teams. One is a deer Faunus and the other is still undecided, but I have two solid Faunus ideas. Coming up with ideas is difficult, and I'm here to help and suggest ideas, feel free to use any of the following!
///////////////////////
Hedgehog Faunus - Short spines on back
Turtle Faunus - Shell
Fish Faunus - Gills or scales
Meekrat Faunus - Tail
Bat Faunus - Leathery webbing between fingers
Rhino Faunus - Horn
Horse Faunus - Ears
Zebra Faunus - Stripes all over body
Snake Faunus - Forked tongue, fangs, or scales
Beetle - Antenni

And as for humans, they're self explanatory. They do not have animal traits. That's about it, there's only one physical boundary between human and Faunus.