RWBY Ultimate - LITE
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She causes Beringels to sprout wings in "Our Way" and gives Cinder Fall a Shadow Hand to replace her missing arm. In addition, she has the ability to summon multiple Shadow Hands on command as seen in "So That's How It Is". Her preferred method is using them to restrain her opponents. She is also capable of creating Grimm hybrids, as was the case with The Hound, who was shown to have a Faunus as its core, most notably with a Silver Eye. Merlot: Doctor Merlot is the main antagonist of the video game RWBY: Grimm Eclipse and founder of Merlot Industries, a research and development corporation based out of the ill-fated settlement at Mountain Glenn. At some point, Merlot gained an unhealthy obsession towards the Creatures of Grimm, believing them to be a "superior species" and that due to their "unbridled raw aggression and lack of sentience" they would make "the perfect vessel". His corporation began performing experiments on Grimm, research which Merlot believed was vital to the future of Remnant. However, when they began running out of specimens to experiment on, they started attracting Grimm to the city in order to acquire more, with disastrous results. After the fall of Mountain Glenn, Doctor Merlot was presumed dead. However, Merlot, in fact, survived the destruction of Mountain Glenn and transferred his operation to a highly remote island at an unknown location, and continued his experiments at his new secret laboratory, creating the mutant Grimm using his serum, a glowing green substance. Years later, Team RWBY would lead an investigation of mutated Grimm traced back to Merlot Industries, eventually arriving on Merlot's island. After Team RWBY infiltrates his laboratory and destroys his mutant Grimm, he self-destructs the laboratory. Arthur Watts: Dr. Arthur Watts is one of the series' supporting antagonists. He is an ex-Atlas scientist who aided Salem in her attempts to bring destruction in the world, faking his death to defect to her side. During the events of Volume 8, Watts perished after being imprisoned in the falling city of Atlas by Cinder's actions. However, despite dying, Watts managed to upload a copy of his mind in a digital space which was found by Kilg%re and kept safe. Hybrids: Cinder Fall: is an antagonist in RWBY and a member of Salem's Inner Circle. She used a Beetle Grimm to steal the power of the Fall Maiden, but after getting severely damaged by Ruby Rose's usage of Silver Eyes, she had her entire left arm replaced with a Shadow Hand. Her arm is capable of slashing, stretching, channeling magic and directly absorbing Maiden powers. Because of its Grimm nature it is incapable of channeling Aura, making it vulnerable to direct damage. The Hound: The Hound was a Grimm hybrid created by Salem using an unnamed Silver-Eyed Faunus. It was smarter than any other known Grimm and capable of changing its form to suit its needs. Known forms include a humanoid form, a canine form and a winged form. It was also capable of creating a third hand out of its back. It was partially resistant to Silver Eyes, possibly because of its hybrid nature, but was damaged as a result of the attack. The Hound was the first Grimm shown to be capable of speaking the Human language due to how it was created. It was later killed and left behind the corpse of the Faunus as it died. Trivia: Different parts of Remnant have different species of Grimm. The crew stated that they try to theme the Grimm based on the location they are found. The icy continent of Solitas features Grimm based on prehistoric and ice age animals. Miles Luna has compared the Grimm to Pokรฉmon, stating that some will pop up in every region while others are region-specific. According to the Volume 3 DVD Directors' Commentary, the ability of the Wyvern to spawn Grimm offers a sneak peek towards their creation. Later it was shown that Grimm spawn from dark Grimm pools in the Land of Darkness. An early idea for Grimm involved the people of Remnant bottling the Grimm oil and selling it on the black market. This essence could be used on animals to "Grimm-ify" them or be used on two creatures to create a hybrid. In a deleted concept for Volume 1, Corsac and Fennec Albain would have used the Grimm liquid to summon Grimm in the Beacon Academy Initiation. On May 21st, 2020, Rooster Teeth Productions and Full Sail University announced a collaboration for the production of Volume 8. Full Sail University students and graduates were given exclusive opportunities to design a Grimm that would be featured in Volume 8. The RWBY animation team would select the top five submissions for Rooster Teeth fans to vote on, with the contest ending on June 21st, and voting starting on July 7th and ending on July 12th, 2020. Following controversy surrounding one of the finalist designs, Rooster Teeth released a statement addressing the concern over the creature's design, clarifying it was not the artist's intent to be insensitive, and instead compensated both the artist and another who dropped out of the contest during that time. Ultimately, the Sulfur Fish was chosen as the winner of the competition, set to debut in Volume 8. They first appeared in "War". All of the Grimm creatures' vocal sound effects are done by William Orendorff, the voice actor of Hazel Rainart. Biology: When injured or killed, Grimm emit smoke, similar to how Humans and Faunus bleed. If they are killed, they don't leave behind a corpse. The only exception to this was the Hound which left behind the body of the Faunus used as its core after it was killed. The Hound was the only Grimm capable of speaking due to how it was created. In the manga, the Arma Gigas is described as being a Possession-type Grimm, having been created by amalgamating several different species of Grimm. Story: To someone who is familiar with how Grimm are supposed to behave, seeing one like The Hound slowly stalk a corridor and go in circles instead of "being 100% aggro all the time" is deeply unsettling. The Hound's more intelligent behavior and the fact that it didn't prioritize violence all the time are meant to be hints that it wasn't just a Grimm. Miscellaneous Grimm typically follow a color theme of red, white, black and a little yellow. These are all the colors of the four main characters. This color theme was later expanded with the Cenitaur and its green body sack and acid, and the Centinel's acid spit. RWBY: Grimm Eclipse introduced mutated Grimm that have glowing green elements. The Magic Necklace from RWBY: The Grimm Campaign causes Grimm's eyes to glow blue. The yellow and red sometimes mix into orange. Grimm in Solitas add a slight blue tint to the normally white Grimm bone spikes. Monstra has purple in its design due to its Gravity Dust. The White Fang wear Grimm Masks. This symbolizes how Humans tried to make monsters out of them. At one point, ancient cultures of Remnant believed that Grimm were animals possessed by evil spirits or were the tortured spirits of animals. RWBY: Grimm Eclipse is named after the Grimm, which serve as common enemies in the video game. It is currently unknown if there are plant based Grimm in the series. The RWBY: Ice Queendom continuity however, does feature the Nightmare Grimm which bears similarities to a plant. The Jabberwalker is a creation of The Gods as shown in "Of Solitude and Self", whose purpose is to hunt down Afterans and devour them, preventing them from ascending. Because of its hostile nature and similar appearance, as well as the God of Darkness' fondness towards it, its possible that the Jabberwalker is a precursor to the Grimm. Faunus (singular Faunus) are one of the two intelligent races that inhabit Remnant, the other race being Humans. While Faunus resemble Humans, they are often easily distinguishable from the latter in that they possess the traits of animals. Background: Faunus are similar to Humans, with the exception of sharing certain traits with animals. Some types of Faunus are more common than others, with some being extremely rare. Faunus with mammalian traits, in general, seem to be quite common. The origin of how Faunus came to be is currently unknown. However, they were known to have started appearing after the extinction of the original Humanity. Biology: Some, such as Blake Belladonna and Velvet Scarlatina, have been shown to have animal ears (in these cases, those of a cat and a rabbit, respectively); some Faunus with animal ears also appear to have a set of Human ears, while some other Faunus, like Fiona Thyme, have animal ears in place of Human ears. Other Faunus like Adam Taurus have been shown to have horns protruding from their heads. Some Faunus, such as Sun Wukong and Neon Katt may have tails. In some cases, a Faunus may have a trait that is not immediately apparent, such as Tukson and Ghira Belladonna's protractible claws. Some may even have traits that augment their mobility such as Yuma's bat wings, which presumably grant him the natural ability to fly. Arachnid Faunus such as Tyrian Callows and Trifa possess the ability to secrete substances natural to their Faunus heritage, such as scorpion venom and spider silk, respectively. In general, wings and mermaid-like fish tails are rather rare, and in the case of mermaid-like Faunus, the trait can be a disability by making it hard to walk. Thus, the Shallow Sea makes life manageable for mermaid-like Faunus. It has been said that Faunus can only have a single physical trait in common with their animal. However, this only seems to apply to body appendages and the dermis. In addition to these traits, most (but not all) Faunus have remarkable night vision, a trait that they use to great effect in combat, and some seem capable of producing animal sounds. In addition, Faunus have been shown on multiple occasions to possess other non-physical traits and behaviors of the animals that they are based on. One such example is food preference, such as how Sun is shown eating bananas and Blake's love for fish like tuna. Ghira is shown roaring like a great cat when angered. Some Faunus chose designs that reflect the animal they are based on, such as Tyrian's weapons resembling scorpion pincers, Ilia Amitola's hair resembling a chameleon tail, Leonardo Lionheart's hair and beard resembling a lion's mane and Sienna Khan's tattoos resembling tiger stripes. Faunus are genetically compatible with Humans, though the children of such unions are typically always Faunus; for example, Velvet Scarlatina is Faunus despite having a Human father. Faunus do not automatically have the same animal trait as their Faunus parents (especially those born to two Faunus with different traits), though many do; both Blake Belladonna and her mother Kali have cat ears as their Faunus feature. Faunus Types: Faunus have attributes of various animals from various classes. The Faunus traits range from ears, skin, fins, claws, to additional limbs like tails and wings. Faunus with minor traits like ears and retractable claws can pass as Human. Some fish Faunus have a fully fish tail, which is the most drastic departure from the human body shape we have seen so far. Many Mammal Faunus are seen throughout the series, typically with animal ears or tails. They have also been shown with claws, teeth or horns. Depending on the positioning of their animal ears, some mammal Faunus have twin pairs of ears, one human and one animal. Reptilian Faunus are rare and usually have scaled skin. Chameleon traits like Ilia's skin are especially rare, allowing her to blend in perfectly with other humans. Fish Faunus are seen in Menagerie and are also considered rare while being known as Remnant's version of mermaids. We see fish fins and one with a full fish tail. Winged Faunus are another rare type of Faunus in Remnant. Arachnid Faunus are rare and have very non-human alterations to their bodies. So far, no Faunus has demonstrated traits from extinct animals (such as a thagomizer or saber teeth). Pig Faunus with ears as a trait have exceptional hearing.Wolf Faunus with ears as a trait have increased hearing and night vision. Special Ability: Special Ability Some Faunus have a Special Ability that gives them a unique power similar to, or in addition to a Semblance:
Tyrian's Scorpion Stinger creates powerful venom that is lethal without medical help Ilia Amitola's Camouflage which allows her to change the color of her skin and eyes during missions, or due to her emotions. Trifa's spinnerets which give her the ability to shoot out webbing to trap her enemies Yuma's bat wings which enable him to fly. In Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen, Part One, Batman is able to fly using his bat wings like Yuma and he can also scan his surrounding like using a sonar. Religion and Creation Myths: The God of Animals is a shapeshifting Faunus deity appearing in the stories of The Shallow Sea and The Judgement of Faunus, two Faunus creation myths in Remnant. In The Shallow Sea, the God of Animals is shown to recluse themselves in Menagerie, where they bring a small group of people into the island and transform them into the Faunus. Ozpin claims that while being based on a myth, it holds some truth to it. However, this story has fallen out of favor after the Great War as the concept of a magical island is somewhat insulting to modern Faunus. In The Judgement of Faunus, a conflicting Faunus creation myth, the God of Animals stops a war between mankind and the animal kingdom by transforming them into the Faunus, making them equals and without a reason to fight. Despite being a contradictory creation tale, Ozpin claims it contains no less truth than The Shallow Sea. The god's powers includes shapeshifting and transforming others into all kinds of forms, at one point taking the form of even mythological creatures such as a roc. The Faunus cast their god as a wise and noble figure, while mankind's stories portray them as a trickster who is not to be trusted, which is telling of a discriminatory foundation against the Faunus. Notably, the Faunus fairy tales are open-ended and as a result tend to be either bittersweet or depressing, as they have a belief that their story is still unfolding in the present day and they have yet to uncover their true purpose. The god's existence is questionable as to whether it is true, but they are described in The Shallow Sea as having ram horns when revealing themselves and having branching horns in The Judgement of Faunus, indicating they might be the Brother Gods in disguise. Corsac and Fennec Albain are shown to have paintings of a Faunus figure whose imagery is repeated in the White Fang, which may have some relation to the God of Animals. History: Early History: Little is known about the origin of the Faunus, and scientists still currently struggle to discover or understand anything about them. Despite what some might think though, Faunus are not in fact as old as Humans, as they were not present during the time of The Gods, only appearing after they had left. Humans' discrimination toward Faunus began early, due to how startling Humans found it that Faunus looked and acted like them but had animalistic features that were sometimes frightening, such as fangs. This discrimination only grew through rumors and stories that spread fear and suspicion. It was not uncommon for Humans to chase Faunus out of their villages or even to hunt them down and kill them. At some point in history, a village in Sanus fell under attack from the Creatures of Grimm, and its survival was thanks solely to the fact that Humans and Faunus worked together to defeat the invading Grimm. After this event, Humans grew to realize that Faunus were not that different from them after all. However, rather than treating them equally, Humans used the Faunus' differences from them to exploit and continue to discriminate against them. Great War: After the end of the Great War, the Faunus were given equal rights and the continent of Menagerie as compensation for previous treatment. Some saw the gift of Menagerie as fair and just, while others saw it as a slap in the face from sore losers. Over time, it became apparent that Humanity was adamant about centralizing all Faunus there as a form of segregation. Faunus Rights Revolution: In recent history, Humans began countermanding the equal rights won by the Faunus in the Great War and attempted to confine all Faunus to Menagerie. The Faunus began to revolt against this, and thus the Faunus Rights Revolution began. Given that Faunus live amongst the Humans in the present day, it can be deduced that the Faunus were at least successful in both reclaiming their rights and preventing their confinement to Menagerie. While still being able to live anywhere on Remnant, including the four Kingdoms, there are Faunus who still live on Menagerie, seeing it as a safe haven. Present Day: Despite whatever material gains the Faunus achieved during the revolution, they remain a subject of discrimination, as exemplified by Blake's mention of Human shops refusing to serve Faunus shortly prior to the start of the series. There is also an example of this in "Known by its Song", where the bar that Qrow Branwen searches for Huntsmen at is shown to have a "No Faunus" sign. According to "World of Remnant: Faunus", the treatment they receive varies from place to place, but locations like Beacon Academy and Vacuo appear to be host to less discrimination than others, such as Atlas and Mistral which are the most discriminatory towards them. This is shown in "The Greatest Kingdom" when a drunken man calls Blake a "stupid Faunus" and claims she was unable to understand Atlas' situation. Mantle contained a slum directly under Atlas inhabited mostly by Faunus, the city segregated to enough of an extent that a Human woman objects to going there "with those animals." In RWBY: After the Fall, Velvet is initially unwilling to partner with Yatsuhashi Daichi solely due to him being from Mistral, indicating that prejudice against the Faunus in Mistral is particularly common. So far, it's been shown that Atlas and Mistral are the two Kingdoms containing the most racism against the Faunus, while the Kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo have a more tolerant and accepting view of the Faunus. However in Mistral, the views of Faunus began to change after the destruction of Haven Academy was prevented by the Faunus of Menagerie. It was also shown that, at one point in its' history, Vacuo had a Faunus monarch. However, even the more tolerant Kingdoms are not immune to prejudice, as demonstrated by Cardin Winchester's bullying of Velvet Scarlatina at Beacon Academy. Since the White Fang's turn to violence five years prior to the events of Volume 1, the Faunus had begun receiving better treatment. However, some people, including other Faunus, criticize and dislike the methods through which the White Fang achieved this, due to it being through fear of the White Fang's retribution rather than genuine respect. These violent tactics have also established conflict between the White Fang and the Schnee Dust Company. The SDC in particular, was known for mistreatment of it's Faunus workers, with it's former CEO Jacques Schnee claiming to be trying to help his Faunus workers in Mantle while actually being apathetic towards the situation. Many of his workers like Ilia's parents having been killed in accidents due to constantly being forced to work in unsafe conditions. While many of the Humans in Atlas laughed at their deaths, Ilia Amitola decided to join the White Fang after breaking her former human friends teeth. Adam Taurus was also another one of those workers until he got into an argument with his superior in the company and had the company's logo branded on his face, causing him to join the White Fang after this inhumane treatment. In the past, Leonardo Lionheart became the headmaster of Haven Academy in Mistral at the request of Professor Ozpin. He had him become headmaster since the Kingdom of Mistral was one of the most prejudice towards the Faunus and wanted Lionheart's role to ease that prejudice. However, after Lionheart became a turncoat for Salem, he only wanted to save himself from her wrath. In "Ruby Rose", Lisa Lavender presents a news report on a Faunus Civil Rights Protest. She says that a protest by a group of Faunus was disrupted by a group known as the White Fang, an organization previously known as being peaceful, which turned the protest violent. In "Jaunedice", during a meal in Beacon Academy's cafeteria, Cardin Winchester and the rest of Team CRDL pick on Velvet, a female Faunus with rabbit ears. Cardin pulls on Velvet's ears mercilessly as she begs him to stop. Yang Xiao Long comments that it must be hard being a Faunus. Later, in "Jaunedice, Pt.2", Bartholomew Oobleck gives a lecture on the history of the Faunus Rights Revolution. His lecture reveals a great deal of Faunus history, including their relationship with Humans and the conflicts that arose from their inability to coexist peacefully. During the lecture, he asks if any Faunus have experienced discrimination, to which several students, including Velvet, respond in the affirmative. He notes that this treatment is exactly what breeds violence and mentions the White Fang as an example of such happening. Toward the end of Volume 1, in "The Stray", Team RWBY observes a crime scene where a Dust shop has been recently robbed. After overhearing the police speculating that the White Fang is behind it, Weiss Schnee begins speaking ill of the organization, even going so far as to use derogatory terms, which Blake construes as racist. They then see a monkey-based Faunus, Sun Wukong, escaping the police, who are trying to apprehend him for being a stowaway. Weiss' comments about him, especially her use of the words "filthy Faunus", anger Blake even more, leading to a long argument. At the end of the argument, Blake accidentally reveals her identity as a Faunus to her team, and after running away, she reveals her cat ears beneath her bow. In "Never Miss a Beat", Neon, a tournament competitor on the opposing team of Weiss and Yang, is a Faunus who is cat-based but has a tail instead of cat ears. As the show carries on, not only mammalian-type Faunus are revealed, but also arachnid and reptilian ones. Notable examples include Tyrian and Ilia Amitola respectively. After many of the Faunus on Menagerie are unwilling to help Blake and Sun stop the White Fang from destroying Haven Academy, The White Fang Branch in Menagerie attempt to kidnap Blake and kill her family. After the attack was unsuccessful, Blake managed to convince the Faunus of Menagerie to assist them along with Ilia. After managing to stop the White Fang's attack, the Faunus begin to be seen in a different light by the people of Mistral. Professor Lionheart, who was killed in the attack by Salem after attempting to run away, had his involvement in the Battle of Haven covered up by Ozpin due to wanting him to be remembered for his years of service instead of what he did in his final years. After the heating grid in Mantle was shut off and the Atlas Military turned against Ruby's Group, Yang's Group attempted to help the people of Mantle evacuate to the city's crater for warmth. While some were apprehensive towards sharing the space with the Faunus, Yang tells them that the Faunus are at least helping them out even if some of them don't actually deserve it. Thanks to Amity Communications Tower, Ruby Rose was able to send a message to all of Remnant publicly revealing the existence of Salem and asking for help with the current situation in Atlas. Notably, the message was received by members of the reformed White Fang in Menagerie, including Ilia Amitola and Ghira Belladonna. After this, some of the people began to work alongside the Faunus to evacuate to Vacuo using the Evacuation Central Location. Trivia: The word "Faunus" is derived from Faunus, who is the Roman god of forests, wild and nature. He is also the Roman equivalent to the Greek god Pan. Faunus are associated with Satyrs, which incidentally have a less Human morphology than the Faunus people shown in the show. The Indigenous Name for the Faunus Derives its general meaning from the term Fauna, which generally means All of the Animal life present in the moment. In a Rooster Teeth livestream on August 21st, 2014, it was confirmed that Faunus and Humans can interbreed with one another. On a Facebook Q&A, Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross broke down the breeding genetics of Faunus. If two Faunus of the same type breed (e.g. two dog Faunus), their child will also be of the same species. If a Faunus and a Human breed, their child will either be a Faunus or a Human. This was later clarified in "World of Remnant: Faunus", where it was revealed that if a Human and a Faunus breed their child is typically a Faunus of the same kind as the Faunus parent. If two Faunus of different types breed, their child will be a random type of Faunus. Thus, a cat Faunus and a dog Faunus could produce a bat Faunus, for example. In a RWBY livestream it was explained that mammalian Faunus are most common but other varieties also exist. Faunus having one animal trait stemmed from Poser's limited ability as it is designed for humans. Faunus having only one trait makes the world more varied as you can have a cat Faunus with a tail next to a cat Faunus with ears. Miles Luna has also stated that he feels some regret for limiting themselves to only one trait per Faunus. Many Faunus have additional elements in their design that tie into their animal traits: Gambol Shroud's ribbon sometimes flows behind Blake like a cat tail. Blake also really enjoys eating fish. Early concept art of Blake has heterochromia iridium, with one of her eyes being yellow and one blue. This trait often appears in cats. Sun likes climbing trees and ate a banana in his first appearance. Ilia's hair is tied back in a ponytail that curls at the end like a chameleon's tail. her weapon, Lightning Lash can be extended like a chameleon's tongue. Neon's Atlas attire has her hair tied into twin cones that look like cat ears, her gloves have cat paws and her hoodie has cat ears. Kali's ribbon dangles behind her like a cat tail. Ghira has paw shaped tips on his boots. His beard, chest hair and hair on his hands could reference the fur of a panther. Tyrian's weapons, the Queen's Servants, are based on the shape of scorpionโs pincers. his ponytail is in the shape of a stinger. Corsac and Fennec's hoods are in the shape of a fox snout. Adam's Volume 5 attire features a red lined drape attached to his belt, which could reference the red drapes bullfighters use when performing their bullfighting. Sienna has tattoos resembling tiger stripes. Leonardo's hair resembles a lion's mane. Tock has sharp prosthetic teeth. Teeth are a major crocodile trait. Her mohawk hairstyle may also reference the spines along a crocodile's back. Marrow's weapon and Semblance reference him being a dog Faunus: His Semblance, Freeze, seems to be inspired by dog commands. His weapon, Fetch, is a boomerang and comes back, which could be a reference to the game fetch as the game is typically played with dogs. This also lends to the name of his weapon. Fiona's earring seems to be a cowbell, a bell used to keep track of a variety of free-roaming livestock including cattle, goats and sheep. Her hair is also white similar to sheepโs fur. Fiona's uncle wears small glasses that make him look more like a Badger. Arrastra's skin is shown to have blemishes on it, which could reference the pattern on a serval's fur. Fenix's brass claws reference the claws of a lion. His fur trim collar also references lion fur, similar to Lionheartโs hair resembled Lionโs mane. Some Faunus changed during their creation: Early concept art of Blake has heterochromia iridium, with one of her eyes being yellow and one blue. This trait often appears in cats. Some concept art depicts Marrow with dog ears instead of a tail as his Faunus trait. Some characters that are named after animals, but are not Faunus: Fox Alistair, a member of Team CFVY whose name is based on a fox. Raven Branwen and Qrow Branwen, a pair of twins from Team STRQ, based on Raven and Crows. They were later given the power to transform into their namesakes by Ozpin. The entirety of Team CRDL have bird motifs, each member being named after a species of birds. Junior Xiong and the Xiong Family are named after the Chinese word โ็โ, which means bears. Harriet Bree and Tortuga, whose names are based on Hare/Bunny/Rabbit and Tortoise/Turtle respectively, form the story The Tortoise and the Hare. In addition, she has an orange cape going down to her upper back, her hair is tied into a ponytail, and she has a more muscular build. For her weapon of choice, she carries Heat Wave's Flamethrower. Personality: Yang's voice actress, Barbara Dunkelman, has said that when Yang's character was described to her, she was described as "the kind of person who would teach someone how to swim by pushing them in the water".[8] This speaks volumes about how Yang approaches most things in life. She is very straightforward and confident. Yang is also described as being a cheerful, energetic, and bright young lady. She is arguably the most flippant, carefree, and adventurous member of her team, frequently making sarcastic comments and jokes even in the heat of battle and often taking combat and hostile situations lightly. Yang is very sociable and extroverted, even in unfamiliar situations. Yang's love of adventure is the main reason that she decided to become a Huntress. Blake considers Yang the personification of the word "strength". According to Ruby, she snores loudly.[9]
However, Yang's "brawler" fighting style is evocative of her personality. Her anger, one of her main assets in battle, can lead her to act predictably and has put her into danger repeatedly. She was easily frustrated when she couldn't land a hit on Neopolitan and could not attack precisely because of it, leading to her getting knocked unconscious and almost killed. Yang is also very protective of her hair, becoming enraged when someone touches or rips or cuts even a small portion of her hair, causing her to attack with straight, blunt force the one who did it. However she is comfortable with letting Ruby touch or brush her hair or even use it to toy with her sister by tickling her nose. According to Taiyang, she shares a flaw with her mother: thinking strength is all that matters in a fight. Her thoughtless anger also led to the quick loss of her right arm in a short encounter with Adam Taurus after he angered her by injuring Blake. While recovering from her injuries, her father lectures her about this weakness and guides her in what she needs to do to start overcoming it along with her flaw that she shares with her mother. Despite this, Yang is quite mature. She is extremely nurturing and motherly, particularly toward her younger sister, Ruby. Yang pushes her into being outgoing and also worries a great deal about her sister across the many battles they fight in. This protective and encouraging nature extends to Blake and Weiss as well. Yang is worried about Blake on several occasions, such as when she runs from her team and when she suffers from sleep and appetite problems, opening Yang to discussing her stubborn past. What Yang does not reveal is that she suffers from abandonment issues, blaming herself for her mother not sticking around. However, after the deaths of Pyrrha Nikos and Penny Polendina, the Fall of Beacon, the losses of her right arm and her partner Blake, Yang sunk into a reclusive depression. The mention of her missing partner agitates her and she gives Ruby the cold shoulder and even outright ignores her sister when she says, "I love you". Over months, Yang rebounds from this reclusive nature. Though she suffers from PTSD, she tries to keep moving forward, partially for her father's sake when feeling she holds him back. After overhearing her father and Bartholomew Oobleck talking about Ruby outside her window, she accepts the earlier wisdom of her father, Oobleck, and Professor Peter Port and dons her new cybernetic arm. When training with her new limb, she learns how to balance her driven and positive nature without overconfidence or agitation. She paints her arm to match her style, changes to a new outfit, and headed to Mistral although her father believes she has not overcome her personality flaws. Fortunately, she has shown to not be as quick to blind anger in combat anymore and now fights displaying good strategy and intelligence, as seen with her rematch against Adam and when she fought the Ace-Ops. While traveling to Mistral to reunite with Ruby she continues to struggle with her PTSD, which manifests in her left arm shaking when she encounters stress. She, however, appears to have overcome it some time after she and Blake reluctantly killed Adam. Yang is extremely sensitive about being abandoned and her "simmering anger" stems from these abandonment issues.[11] For the better part of nearly two decades, Yang spent her life searching for her mother, trying to understand her reasons for leaving. Their first reunion in "Lighting the Fire" also demonstrated how low her opinion was of Raven, reacting with anger after Raven said that Yang finally decided to visit her, making it sound like she was the one responsible for her mother not being a part of her life. She even ignored Raven's attempts at lightening the mood and became hostile upon her father, uncle and Team RWBY being insulted in "Known by its Song". Even after her team's reunion at Haven, Yang was still guarded and kept some distance from Blake, stating in "Argus Limited" that their relationship would need time to heal. After a rematch against Adam in "Seeing Red" however, Yang fully accepted Blake's apologies, giving her partner a second chance and understanding that she was not like her mother. She has an opposition to keeping secrets. In "Rest and Resolutions", she had Ozpin swear not to lie or tell half-truths and later, in "Uncovered", she is upset with him for keeping the nature of the Relic of Knowledge a secret from the group as well as covering up Leonardo Lionheart's treachery. In "A New Approach", she was willing to trust Ruby's judgement in not telling James Ironwood the full truth about Salem and the Lamp, but questioned this decision privately later. When sent to apprehend Robyn Hill in "Worst Case Scenario", she and Blake instead revealed Ironwood's plans for the Amity Communications Tower to her. Despite her staunchness towards half-truths, she is not above telling some herself. In "Haven's Fate", Yang told an account of what happened in the Vault without explicitly bringing up how Raven was the Spring Maiden the whole time. Following the events of Volume 7, Yang hardens herself in order to prepare for the overwhelming situation that they were in. She was hurt by what had happened to Mantle and wanted to do whatever she could to help them, hinting at her reason for criticizing her younger sister.[12]
Despite her good qualities, Yang has a tendency to deflect. In "Divide", she deflects blame by criticizing Ruby's leadership, despite the fact that it was due to her and Blake's actions with Robyn that partially led to Ironwood losing faith in them and bringing about the current situation. In "Fault", when Ren brings up some concern that they were not ready and that their actions will lead to people dying, Yang avoids his direct criticism and tries to deflect by offering counterpoints without addressing his actual arguments. Finally, in โTea Amidst Terrible Troubleโ, she sheepishly deflected responsibility for her part in worsening Rubyโs mental decline, simply stating she shouldnโt have expected herself to be perfect. However, unlike her mother, Yang is capable of admitting her wrongs as well as recognizing the qualities of others even when their opinions are different from hers, admitting to Blake that her obsession to search for her mother nearly got herself and Ruby killed when they were young, and during her discussion with Ruby in "Risk", she admitted that her own plan didn't work either after Ruby lamented the failure of bringing Amity Tower up and running, even telling Ruby that her blind optimism wasn't a flaw when she believed she wasted time with it, as it was a necessity in life. Powers and Abilities Yang's fighting style is much more aggressive than that of her teammates. She uses a barehanded fist-fighting style, bearing some resemblance to Muay Thai and her weapons; Ember Celica. She is quite agile, able to dodge an onslaught of Ursai and gunfire with ease. Since gaining her prosthetic arm, Yang has taken to using its armored surface defensively, shielding herself from firearms, and staving off attacks to gain greater ground on her opponents, incorporating its advantages into her improved fighting style following further instruction from her father, Tai. She is also physically the strongest of the group. Her strength is displayed on numerous occasions, such as when her punch sent a fully grown man several feet into the air and through a glass pillar without the enhancement of her weapon, and in "Players and Pieces", where she was able to keep the mouth of a Nevermore open with one arm long enough to deliver multiple shots down its throat. Like all Huntsmen and Huntresses, Yang has had her Aura unlocked, coating her body with a shield powered by her soul, which helps protect her, especially when her aggressiveness gets her into bad situations. Though she already has the highest level of durability in her team, with her Aura unlocked, her durability is particularly high, as showcased in her doubles match with Weiss against Flynt Coal and Neon Katt during the Vytal Tournament, where she withstands numerous hits from Neon during the bout's opening stages and powers through the effects of Flynt's weapon, knocking him out and securing victory for her side shortly after. Due to the nature of her Semblance and the high durability, Yang would typically absorb enough hits through her Aura to empower herself and then finish the fights with her Semblance, which her father criticizes due to her over-reliance in "Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back". Weapon
Yang's weapon of choice is Ember Celica, it is radically different compared to those used by her teammates, being a pair of gauntlets which can retract into bracelets. Yang's fighting style involves combining her punches with explosive shots from Ember Celica for moderate or short-ranged attacks. Semblance
Yang's Semblance, Burn, as Ruby states during the events of "Painting the Town...", lets her absorb kinetic energy from every blow she takes and use it to make herself more powerful; this is a form of kinetic energy absorption, with Yang subsequently redirecting said energy against her opponent with double the amount of force. As a side-effect of her Semblance, Yang's eyes turn red[6] and her hair sometimes begins glowing and even becomes covered in flames. Yang's Semblance does not make her angry, but anger has sometimes led her to impulsively activate it. Neopilitan is mute and does not speak! Team RWBY (pronounced "Ruby") is a Huntress team of former Beacon Academy students, which is comprised of RWBY's titular protagonists: their leader Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. Originally unable to even hold a proper conversation together, the team eventually develops a familial bond and grows into a tightly-knit group, willing to risk their futures and even their lives for each other. They have no qualms breaking the rules to do what they believe is right. Pre-Volume 1: Two of the team's members, Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long, were born to three members of Beacon Academy alumni, Team STRQ: Yang was born to Taiyang Xiao Long and Raven Branwen and Ruby was born a few years later to Taiyang and Summer Rose. Born to a Huntsman family, the siblings inherited their parent's professions and naturally gravitated to becoming Huntresses, with Yang's father training her and Qrow Branwen, Ruby's honorary uncle, training her respectively. While Ruby's interest in the profession came from a sense of duty and legacy, Yang saw it as a way to get involved in "crazy adventures" and find her long lost birth mother. Shortly before the start of the series, Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, decided to attend Beacon rather than Atlas Academy, leading to a "royal test" in which she successfully destroyed an Arma Gigas Grimm. Around the same time, Blake Belladonna, a then active member of a Faunus rights movement known as the White Fang, became disillusioned with the excessive violence and abandoned her partner after a train heist and decided to use her talents to become a Huntress, easily passing the entrance exam to do so. History : After gaining the attention of Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon, Ruby is allowed to skip the two required years at Signal Academy and enroll early, allowing her to participate in first-year team formations, along with her elder sister and her future team mates. Weiss and Ruby become partners in "The First Step, Pt.2", while Yang and Blake become partners in "The Emerald Forest". The first battle with all four members fighting together takes place in "Players and Pieces", when they all band together to take down a massive Nevermore. During the Beacon Academy Initiation, the team brought back the two White Knight pieces and were officially named "Team RWBY", with Ruby appointed as the team's leader. Volume 2โ3: Despite being first years students, Team RWBY became involved in foiling the plans of Roman Torchwick and the White Fang, stopping a cargo robbery in the end of Volume 1 and a Grimm invasion in Vale in Volume 2. Some time afterward, they qualify for the Vytal Festival Tournament. They manage to reach the finals but are later disqualified. After the broadcast of Penny Polendina's death through the manipulations of Cinder Fall, Beacon Academy falls to both the White Fang and the Grimm attracted to the negativity. Spread out, the team tries its best to defend their school, only for Yang and Blake to be gravely injured during an encounter with Blake's former partner and Ruby's latent power to knock her unconscious. Volume 4โ5: After the Fall of Beacon, the team completely splits up, with Weiss returning to Atlas with her father, Blake running away to Menagerie, Yang recovering in Patch and Ruby going to Haven with Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren, spurred by her uncle's warning that another incident like the Fall of Beacon could occur in Haven. Eventually, Blake regains the courage and willpower to confront the White Fang. After an encounter with one of members of Salem's Inner Circle, Team RNJR are joined by Qrow, who reveals the leader of the Grimm, Salem's ultimate goal. Weiss masters the Summoning aspect of her Semblance and Yang recovers enough to use a brand new prosthetic arm. Volume 4 ends with Yang seeking out Ruby, Weiss escaping Atlas to find Winter and Blake attempting to spur the people of Menagerie to restore the original intentions of the White Fang. In Volume 5, Ruby, Nora, Jaune, Lie and Qrow finally reach Haven Academy and soon encounter Oscar Pine, the current incarnation of Ozpin and begin to help him train in combat, as Qrow tries to recruit Huntsman for a mission to rescue the Spring Maiden from Raven Branwen. The latter manages to capture Weiss after a Grimm attack causes her cargo ship to crash and decides to ransom her back to Atlas. Coincidentally, Yang arrives soon after and demands Raven to open a portal to her uncle, in order to reach Ruby in Haven and arrives discovers her captured teammate. After some parting words about Ozpin and Salem, Raven allows them to leave through a portal, reuniting Weiss, Yang and Ruby. Weiss and Yang decide to join Ruby on her quest to prevent the fall of Haven. During an ambush set up by Leonardo Lionheart, the White Fang are countered by forces from Menagerie, led by the Belladonnas. With the Relic of Knowledge secured by Yang and Haven safe from immediate threat, the team, now fully reunited, head with Qrow, Oscar and team JNR towards Atlas. Volume 6: Team RWBY, JNR, Qrow and Oscar take a train to the port of Argus, hoping that their Atlas military base is active and that someone will be able to take them Atlas. However, the now exposed Relic draws in a swarm of Grimm. Unwilling to put civilians in harm's way, team RWBY, Oscar and Qrow stay behind to finish the Grimm off, with Jaune, Nora and Ren going on ahead. The train ends up crashing off the tracks and the group adds a new member to their party: Maria Calavera. Stranded in the cold and desperate to know the truth, Ruby uses the Relic to find out what Ozpin is hiding, causing Jinn, the spirit of the Relic, to reveal the history of Ozpin and Salem and learn that she cannot be destroyed. With dwindling hope and motivation, the party finds shelter in the abandoned Brunswick Farms during a snowstorm, where the hidden pack of Apathy, a Grimm that drains willpower, nearly finishes them off, only for Ruby to consciously use her Silver Eyes to destroy them. The team presses on and finally reaches the port city of Argus, reuniting with JNR. However, their attempts at being provided transportation are blocked by the resident military, forcing them to steal an airship. During their airship heist, Caroline Cordovin activates a massive Colossus to blow their ship out of the skies, coinciding with Adam Taurus making his move against Blake, but ultimately being foiled by Yang's timely arrival. After the Colossus is finally taken down, reports start to come in of a massive Grimm army closing in on Argus, aided by a Leviathan Grimm that rips through the shields. Wanting to help, Ruby uses Maria's advice on using the light inside of her to help stop the Grimm and the group is allowed to leave on their airship. Upon closing in on Atlas, everyone is surprised to see the Atlas military air support almost seemingly anticipating their arrival and they are waved in. Volume 7 In an attempt to find information on what was happening in Atlas, Team RWBY, JNR, Qrow, Oscar, and Maria make an unauthorized landing in Mantle. While in the city, the group is led to Pietro Polendina's Pharmacy by Maria. After a brief meeting with Pietro, the team ran outside to fight off the Grimm that were attacking the city, which leads them to a reunion with Penny, who was rebuilt by Pietro. Shortly after the reunion, the team and their party were arrested and taken to Atlas by the Ace-Ops. After arriving at Atlas and encountering Penny, Winter and Ironwood, the team is led into the latter's office, where he presents his plan to create the Amity Communications Tower and then, upon establishing global communication, reveal the existence of Salem to Remnant, something which he already did with Winter, Penny and the Ace Ops. Team RWBY, JNR, and the Ace-Ops secure an Abandoned SDC mine which will be used as the Amity launch site. After completing the mission, Ironwood official graduates the team, giving them their Huntress licenses and allows them to both help with the Amity Project and take formal missions around the kingdom. During the time they assisted the military, the team's first real mission as Huntresses led them to discover a conspiracy led by Bram Thornmane against Ironwood and eventually multiple people involved were arrested by the military including Hanlon Fifestone, Lieutenant Colonel Olive Harper who secretly provided military technology to Amoncio Glass and his goons and turned herself in out of guilt, and Bram Thornmane himself after being defeated by Team RWBY. During this period, a deal between the military and the Schnee Dust Company set up prior to the events of "RWBY: Arrowfell" to find a new Dust Mine for the company was also completed by Team RWBY with Winter acting as the contact between both factions. However, the new Dust Mine site was deemed unusable due to the Dust inside it having inert specks and imperfections. Upon a getting a formal dinner invitation from Jacques Schnee, the team plots to sneak Weiss past her brother to go through his office. With the help of Willow Schnee's cameras, Weiss exposes her father and has him arrested, just as Mantle's security is overridden and the heating is shut off, causing riots and a Grimm infiltration. Working alongside the Ace Ops, the team defends Mantle against the onslaught and later helps with civilian evacuations when Ironwood reveals both the intention behind the Dust shortage and Salem. Despite their joint success, the team and Ironwood's Ace Ops clash when Ironwood deems them untrustworthy and decides to take a new course of action: claim the Staff of Creation by having Winter Schnee become the new Winter Maiden and raise Atlas itself high into the atmosphere, a plan that would leave Mantle at the mercy of a massive invasion. Ruby is only barely able to warn the others before Ironwood shuts off communications and orders their arrest, leading to a fight between the Ace Ops and Team RWBY. After the former's defeat, Ruby and Weiss hurry to find the Winter Maiden to stop Ironwood, while Blake and Yang search for Oscar and Team JNR. In the process, Ruby and Weiss encounter Penny, Winter and Cinder just as Penny claims the Winter Maidens power and Ruby forces Cinder to flee through her silver eyes. Unwilling to help Ironwood claim the Staff, Penny departs with Ruby and Weiss on a Manta, pondering their next move just as Salem herself, leading a massive army, descends on Atlas. Volume 8: In Volume 8, the group splits into Ruby's Group and Yang's Group after a disagreement on how to approach the threat of Salem. Both teams work with the Happy Huntresses. Ruby's group plans to deliver a broadcast to the entire world through the Amity Communications Tower, partially succeeding in warning them of the threats to come. They are later attacked by The Hound at the Schnee Manor. Yang's group plans to aid the citizens of Mantle on a smaller scale, however, after Oscar Pine is kidnapped by the Hound, they refocus their efforts into rescuing him. After an encounter with Salem and being aided by Emerald Sustrai and Hazel Rainart, Emerald joins the group as Hazel sacrifices himself to buy them time to escape. The team reunites at the Schnee Manor, where Team RWBY is once again reformed in order to take the Relic of Creation, as well as all the citizens of Mantle and Atlas, to the kingdom of Vacuo where they could temporarily be safe from both Ironwood and Salem. Durning the process, Team RWBY ask Ambrosius to make Penny Polendina human. Unfortunately, Cinder Fall and Neopolitan ambushes the Team, Penny, and Jaune Arc. During the fight, Yang sacrifices herself to save her sister from Neo's attack and falls into the void. Ruby and Blake soon fall into as well after Cinder cuts Gambol Shroud's line. Finally, Weiss falls as well when Cinder causes the ground underneath to collapse. Volume 9: After the events of Volume 8, Team RWBY (along with Jaune and Neapolitan) all fall into the void. This void sends them to a unique world: the Ever After. Team RWBY reunites and decide to find their weapons. Weiss, Blake, and Yang eventually locate their weapons, but Ruby doesnโt retrieve Crescent Rose until the team reunites with Jaune, who also fell in the void. During this time, Ruby begins to fall into depression after learning of Pennyโs death and that the team failed to stop Cinder from obtaining the Relics. Blaming herself, she withdraws herself emotionally from the team. They figure out that they're following in the footsteps of Alyx, a character from the fairy tale The Girl Who Fell Through The World. The group decides to journey to the ginormous tree, as that was how Alyx escaped, and meet multiple new creatures along the way. Yang and Blake eventually realize their feelings for each other and confess, leading to them having their first kiss and becoming a couple. In โThe Perils of Paper Housesโ, Ruby takes out her anger on her team for continuously neglecting her feelings and trauma. This leads her to abandoning them. In โTea Amidst Terrible Troubleโ, the remaining teammates arrive too late to save Ruby from Neoโs torture. To their shock, they witness Ruby drink tea tainted by a leaf from the Great Tree, committing suicide by ascension. This left only three members of Team RWBY left. However, in "Of Solitude and Self", Ruby ascends as herself to fight the Curious Cat along with her team. They successfully overpower the Cat and the four embrace each other shortly after, thus reuniting the team. Following this, they along with Jaune enter the Great Tree, and after a chat with the Blacksmith who explains the Ever After's history, they leave the realm and return to Remnant, arriving in Vacuo where they see a fleet of airships hovering over the city. In "Boba", Yang talks to Ruby, comforting her by telling her that they arenโt going back to the Team RWBY where they put everything on Rubyโs shoulders, instead, the entire team will share the burden from now on. ---- Fighting Strategy: Each member of the team has different approaches to combat. While individually skilled, against more difficult enemies, they grew as a unit by learning how to work together, allowing them to face more unique or powerful enemies. As an individual, Ruby is capable of both short and long ranged combat, by using either her weapon in scythe or sniper mode to slice enemies apart and shoot them from afar, as well as use her Semblance for evasive and offensive methods. Within the team, Ruby's role as a leader means she organizes her fellow teammates for strategies, such as team attacks or final decisions. On occasion, she uses specific Dust for special attacks, such as Gravity Dust for enhance velocity or electric Dust for electric attacks. Later in the series, she learns to use her Semblance to carry herself and her teammates at high speeds. Notably, she excels in Grimm based combat and suffers against human enemies. As an individual, Weiss uses her Semblance for long ranged combat, combining it with Dust to project elemental attacks, but is also able to propel herself to close distance or incapacitate enemies more precisely. Unlike her partner, Weiss fights in a more refined manner, as evidenced by her struggles in Volume 1 to maintain proper form. Her weapon is the only one in the team that carries multiple forms of Dust at all times. Within the team, Weiss often uses her Glyphs to enhance the raw power of her teammates' attacks or grant them enhanced speed. Later in the series, she begins to rely more on the secondary aspect of her Semblance to conjure additional Grimm to act as support or even lend their weaponry. As an individual, Blake is less direct, preferring to use stealth and surprise to overwhelm opponents or confuse them with her Semblance. Her weapon can be easily modified for short ranged combat in dual wield mode or just her primary blade. Additionally, she can use it as simply a gun for long ranged hits. While not as often as Weiss, Blake also uses Dust to create elemental copies of herself for a variety of effects or for straightforward Dust enhanced dust shots. Within the team, Blake often uses her weapon's ribbon to build momentum for intense final blows. As an individual, Yang's approach is the most direct and highest in raw strength, as her fighting style is rooted in melee combat. She is also capable of long ranged explosive based hits. Later, the approach slightly changes as she reserves the use of her Semblance until the very last possible moment or in shorter more controlled moments. In Volume 4, her robotic arm allows her to use to deflect smaller gunshots. In Atlas, she is given an upgrade with sticky grenades that she can detonate with her weapons. Within the team, Yang often "tanks" the heaviest blows and attacks, as she can simply absorb the kinetic energy. For this reason, a majority of the fights that involve the whole team exploit this to have Yang act as the final attacker, finishing off powerful opponents with a fully charged Semblance. ---- Team Attacks: Each pairing, or permutation of Team RWBY has their own "team attack", with the exception of Ruby + Yang, that are executed upon Ruby shouting a specific term. All of these identified team attacks were demonstrated in "Painting the Town..." during the battle against Roman piloting an Atlesian Paladin-290. Freezerburn (Weiss + Yang) - Weiss freezes the ground whilst Yang jumps into the air and proceeds to punch the frozen ground whilst firing Ember Celica. The evaporation then creates a mist which can be utilized for cover and creates opportunities for sneak attacks. Named due to the pair's respective associations with cold and heat. Checkmate (Blake + Weiss) - Both Weiss and Blake proceed to attack an opponent simultaneously seeking to outmaneuver and overwhelm them. Named due to chess' black and white color scheme. Ladybug (Blake + Ruby) - Using their speed, Ruby and Blake attack the enemy from opposite sides in alternating sliding maneuvers. Named for ladybug's characteristic black and red coloring. Bumblebee (Blake + Yang) - Yang latches on to one end of Blake's Gambol Shroud. Blake then swings Yang to create momentum for Yang's punch whilst firing Ember Celica. A "reverse" version has been used, with Blake and Yang switching places. Named for a bumblebee's characteristic black and yellow coloring. Ice Flower (Ruby + Weiss) - Weiss uses her glyphs to encase Ruby's sniper bullets in ice. The ice enhances Ruby's attack, and the area where the bullet hits is frozen on impact. Named for Weiss' association with ice, and Ruby's last name. Cannonball (Full Team) - Manga only. Weiss and Blake form the catapult, Yang provides a boost, and Ruby acts as a ball by using her Semblance to increase her speed ten times to target the distance ranged enemies. Each pairing, or permutation of Team RWBY has their own "team attack", with the exception of Ruby + Yang, that are executed upon Ruby shouting a specific term. All of these identified team attacks were demonstrated in "Painting the Town..." during the battle against Roman piloting an Atlesian Paladin-290. Freezerburn (Weiss + Yang) - Weiss freezes the ground whilst Yang jumps into the air and proceeds to punch the frozen ground whilst firing Ember Celica. The evaporation then creates a mist which can be utilized for cover and creates opportunities for sneak attacks. Named due to the pair's respective associations with cold and heat. Checkmate (Blake + Weiss) - Both Weiss and Blake proceed to attack an opponent simultaneously seeking to outmaneuver and overwhelm them. Named due to chess' black and white color scheme. Ladybug (Blake + Ruby) - Using their speed, Ruby and Blake attack the enemy from opposite sides in alternating sliding maneuvers. Named for ladybug's characteristic black and red coloring. Bumblebee (Blake + Yang) - Yang latches on to one end of B</RWBY 's Persona> The Great War, also referred to simply as The War, was a significant conflict that occurred on Remnant, the combatants being between the Kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo on one side and the Kingdoms of Mantle (now Atlas) and Mistral on the other side. It came to its conclusion roughly eighty years before the events at the beginning of RWBY.
The Great War preceded the Faunus Rights Revolution, a conflict over racial politics, by several years. However, no specific time frame has been provided.
Background: Tensions: In the century leading up to the War, there was high tension between the four kingdoms, mostly caused by Mistral, which had allied itself with Mantle. The two traded frequently, with Mistral sending supplies and Mantle providing insight on how to settle the snowy northern region of Anima. After an incident with the Grimm, Mantle came to believe that, if it abolished the arts and repressed self-expression to control its citizens' emotions, it would be safer from Grimm. Rather than lose its alliance, Mistral complied with Mantle's wishes to an extent, banning the arts and self-expression everywhere in the kingdom except for within its central power. This added to the list of things that Vale disliked about Mantle and Mistral, which included the two kingdom's treatment of their own citizens, their use of slave labor and their insistence that their way of life was what was best for everyone.
Eventually, Mistral and Vale both set their sights on settling the islands and peninsulas on the east coast of Sanus. Despite what his citizens wanted, the King of Vale chose to share the land with the settlers from Mistral.
Outbreak of Conflict However, the immensely high tensions ultimately resulted in a riot between the two bands of settlers. It is unknown who attacked first, but it began the first battle of the Great War. Mantle quickly came to Mistral's aid, and battles were fought on both Sanus and Anima soil.
For a time, Vacuo remained neutral, due to Mantle and Mistral having established a presence in their territory in the years prior. When the two began pressuring Vacuo to ally with them, the citizens of Vacuo realized that if Vale fell, there would be no one left to stop Mistral and Mantle from conquering them. Vacuo rallied against Mantle and Mistral and pushed them out of the Vacuoan territory and allied themselves with Vale.
Overall, the Great War lasted for ten years. Food and Dust rations were put into effect, development of technology accelerated, Humans and Faunus on the battlefield grew closer and Grimm attacks increased worldwide. Whenever the Grimm invaded a battlefield, the armies called a temporary ceasefire long enough to eradicate the monsters before continuing to fight each other. Many settlements were lost to the Grimm, due to their best warriors being away to fight in the War, and most of those settlements were never reclaimed.
Approximately eighty years before the beginning of RWBY, the Great War came to an end during the Vacuo campaign, where Mantle and Mistral targeted Vacuo, hoping to cut off their enemy's Dust supply by conquering Vacuo's mines. The King of Vale arrived and personally led his army alongside Vacuo's, thoroughly decimating the opposing forces. It is said that Vale's King, from then on nicknamed the Warrior King, laid waste to countless men on his own, but historians believe that this feat was aided by Vacuo's unusually violent weather patterns and Mantle's inexperience in desert combat. Ultimately, it was the deadliest battle of the entire war.
Resolution Following this battle, the four Kingdoms gathered on neutral ground on the island of Vytal, where they formed a treaty and planned the future of Remnant. Although the Kingdoms were ready to bow before the rule of Vale and its Warrior King, he decided against it. Instead, the leaders redistributed territories, abolished slavery and restructured the governments to be ruled by an elected council rather than by monarchy. The Faunus were given equal rights and were gifted the continent of Menagerie for their own use as compensation for their previous mistreatment.[1]
Vale's King founded the Huntsman Academies in each of the four Kingdoms: Beacon Academy in Vale, Shade Academy in Vacuo, Haven Academy in Mistral and Atlas Academy in Mantle. He placed his most trusted followers in command of each as headmasters. The intended purpose of the academies was to train Huntsmen and Huntresses, warriors whose sole purpose would be to fight the Grimm, and whose allegiance would not be tied to the Kingdoms. Secretly, the academies were also given the task of safeguarding the Relics. Sometime after the end of the Great War, Mantle's capital was moved to Atlas, and the government, military and academy were combined. In order to give its people a beacon of hope, the city was eventually raised into the air using the Relic of Creation, with the "official" story being that it was done using Gravity Dust.
The name of the paper signed to end the Great War is known as the Vytal Peace Accord.
Eventually, Nicholas Schnee wanted to help his home country following the resolution of the Great War and funded an expedition to look for Dust deposits in the Kingdom of Atlas. He managed to fund it using the money he got after his father passed away and eventually managed to find a Dust deposit to start mining. Following this, he founded the Schnee Dust Company while attempting to help the people of the Kingdom and built a positive reputation for the company. However, Nicholas wasn't that great of a businessman and the company was constantly in debt.
Sometime later, both the Schnee Dust Company and the Mistral Trading Company mined the Dust deposits in Vacuo and depleted the Kingdom of its once bountiful natural resource. Because of this, many people in the Kingdom's capital city still resent the other Kingdoms. After the Dust deposits were all depleted, they eventually abandoned many of their Dust refineries in Vacuo, one of them later being used by The Crown as a base of operations.
Later in life, Nicholas' health began to fail, and he was convinced by his son-in-law, Jacques Gรฉlรฉ, to let him take over the company which eventually allowed it to prosper at the cost of its soul. Following his takeover of the company, he began using controversial practices such as abusing Faunus workers and having shady business dealings.
RWBY: In "Field Trip", Professor Ozpin talks about the War in a speech to an assembly of students from all four kingdoms. He states that the War was the largest conflict in recorded history. Today, Remnant enjoys peace and "unity through diversity". This diversity is celebrated in cultural events such as the Vytal Festival, named after the place where the peace was brokered.[3] Those who opposed the destruction of individualism made it a part of their legacy by naming their children after the fundamental aspect of art, color, to demonstrate that they and future generations would always oppose oppression, a trend that continues into the present era.
Jaune Arc reveals in "The Shining Beacon" that his sword and shield, Crocea Mors, were passed down from his great-great-grandfather, who used it to fight in "the War". The simplistic design of Crocea Mors in comparison to other weapons seen in the series may give some clues as to the nature of the weaponry used in the war.
In "A Minor Hiccup", Weiss Schnee explains that in the aftermath of the Great War, the Kingdom of Atlas developed and shared the Cross Continental Transmit System in order to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another more effectively.
Faunus Rights Revolution: The Faunus Rights Revolution (also referred to as the Faunus War) was a conflict sparked by the Faunus resisting attempts by Humans to centralize their race in Menagerie. As a result of winning the war, Faunus are allowed to live wherever they please within the four Kingdoms. It is not to be confused with the Great War, an earlier and far larger conflict based around social and cultural ideology, rather than racial politics.
Little has been disclosed about the Faunus War, nor has there been a definitive timeline given. Enough time has passed for Huntsman Academy students to think of it as ancient history, but the war was very recent historically speaking, having occurred within the last two generations; they are also not immune to its lingering social effects, such as the intense prejudice Weiss held toward Faunus up until her attendance at Beacon.
Despite any material gains the Faunus achieved during the war, they remain a subject of frequent discrimination, as exemplified by Blake's mention of Human shops refusing to serve Faunus shortly prior to the start of the series. The treatment they receive varies from place to place, as locations like Vale and Vacuo appear to host less prejudice than others. History: Background: Following the Great War, efforts were made for a worldwide compromise of policies, in hopes that the Kingdoms of Remnant would never go to war again. One such gesture was giving Faunus equal rights and legal ownership of the island of Menagerie. Some saw the gift as fair and just, as Menagerie is a symbol of their culture, while many others saw it as a slap in the face, as much of the island in reality is borderline uninhabitable. Over time, it became apparent that Humans were adamant about having all Faunus live there, forcibly if necessary. Such confinement would jeopardize the rights they earned in the Great War to travel freely and settle in other Kingdoms, thus the Faunus fought back, sparking the Revolution.
Events: Though little information is available regarding the exact proceedings of the war, it is known to have been a fairly large-scale conflict, though not on a global scale like the Great War, and to have lasted three years.[1]
The Battle of Fort Castle in the third year is widely regarded as the turning point. The inexperienced leader of the Human forces, General Lagune, attempted to catch their enemy off-guard in a nocturnal attack. However, many of the Faunus were able to leverage their superior night vision to better coordinate their forces and soundly defeat the larger human army.[2] It is unknown how much longer the war carried on after this.
Given that many Faunus are seen living among Human populations at present, it can be deduced that the war was at least successful in preventing the imposition of any ethnic relocation or citizenship policies.
Post-War:
Sometime after the war, the White Fang political organization was founded for the purpose of acting as a prospective symbol of unity between Humans and Faunus. Nevertheless, Humans continued to blatantly discriminate against the Faunus, leading them to become more akin to a peaceful protest movement insistent on continued social change.
Five years before the beginning of the series, their then-current High Leader Ghira Belladonna stepped down and was succeeded by Sienna Khan, who began to employ outright violent tactics, though only in retaliation toward slights against their people, approving criminal activities such as immolating businesses that refused to serve Faunus, hijacking cargo from companies that abused Faunus labor, and committing murder and abduction in multiple entanglements with the particularly exploitative Schnee Dust Company. These actions began bringing Faunus better treatment in some circles, though out of fear rather than respect, while intensifying anti-Faunus sentiment in others. They would only trend further into extremism, as particularly disgruntled agents such as Adam Taurus began to gain more clout within the organization, staging preemptive attacks on humankind and consolidating their poor reputation as an outright terrorist group.
Although the war was ostensibly fought to prevent the forcible confinement of Faunus to Menagerie, the island still boasts their single largest population, but as a truly independent nation rather than a pseudo-colony. For those who desire to be left alone by the rest of Humanity, many Faunus consider Menagerie their safe haven.
The Vytal Festival was an international festival held every two years in one of the kingdoms of Remnant[1] in celebration of the end of the Great War. During the festival, the various cultures of the world were celebrated with dances, parades and a combat tournament. The kingdom to host the festival would rotate every two years and that kingdom opened its borders to international visitors. Such rotation ordered itself from Atlas, then to Vacuo, then to Mistral, then to Vale.
Team RWBY participated in the 40th Vytal Festival, held in Vale. In "Where There's Smoke..." it is revealed that the previous Vytal Festival took place in the city of Mistral, and RWBY: After the Fall reveals the 38th Vytal Festival Tournament took place in Vacuo.
Following Amity Colosseum's transformation into the Amity Communications Tower and the destruction of Atlas, it is unlikely that the Vytal festival will continue.
Background The Vytal Festival was inaugurated following the end of the Great War, a destructive conflict taking place eighty years before the events of the series. The war, fought between kingdoms over conflicts of self-expression and individuality, was brought to a conclusion by a peace treaty. Such a treaty was signed on Vytal, a small island north of Vale. In celebration, the Vytal Festival was created with the purpose of honoring the diversity of the cultures of Remnant. Atlas hosted the first Vytal Festival Tournament sometime after the Great War.
The Festival has a unique symbol, fittingly consisting of a combination of all four kingdom's emblems in order to signify unity. The Vytal Tournament has been going for ~80 years.
Tournament "Vytal Festival Tournament" redirects here, for the World of Remnant episode of the same name, see Vytal Festival Tournament (WoR episode). The festival culminates in a combat tournament between representatives of each of the four Kingdoms The festival culminates in a combat tournament between representatives of each of the four Kingdoms
A major part of the Vytal Festival is the combat tournament, in which students from the Huntsman Academies compete. Symbolically, the tournament battles represent a reminder to always strive for excellence in combat and teamwork.
The festival is of significant importance and prestige, as Glynda Goodwitch pushed students to practice months before it begins and the members of Team RWBY showed great excitement upon hearing of it in "Jaunedice", wherein Professor Goodwitch states that Beacon students competing in the tournament would be representing all of Vale.
Given that there are eight contestants in the final round, it can be assumed that a total of 32 teams, or 128 students, compete in the Vytal Festival tournament; 8 in the final, sixteen in the doubles and 32 in the team round.
Rules: The tournament consists of three rounds, the first being a 4 on 4 team round. The winners of the team bracket may select two members of their team to fight in the next round, a 2 on 2 doubles bracket, the victors of which may choose one representative to fight in the 1 on 1 bracket. The remaining combatants will undergo several more 1 on 1 fights to prove a victor. There are no specific brackets for age or schooling.
Contenders are knocked out of the battle by falling below an Aura threshold of 15% or by being knocked out of the fighting arena. Aura monitors are able to measure the aura of competitors as numerical values, made visible to spectators and competitors on large displays.
Arena: The setting for the combat tournament is Amity Colosseum, a large arena complex floating atop gravity dust with many rings of bleachers for spectators, who are flown in on airships. As the Vytal Festival grew in scope and size, the stadium was built collaboratively from the resources and contributions of the four kingdoms and is capable of long-distance travel to each of the kingdoms, typically heading to the specific kingdom hosting the tournament.
The tournament takes place in a large octagonal arena. The arena is capable of changing its environment into several different "biomes", including grasslands, forest, fire, ice, geyser fields, stormy mountains, desert, an ocean and beach with a wooden ship, and several others. The arena also has artificial weather effects such as thunderstorms and an artificial sun. Such environmental Dust controls were created by Arthur Watts.[4] A smaller central octagon is flatt ground unaffected by arena changes. Around the arena is a forcefield protecting observers from bullets and debris.
During the team round, the arena is split down its middle into two biomes, each chosen randomly at the beginning of each fight. During the doubles round, four biomes are present. In some biomes, Dust crystals are scattered around the arena for combatants to use.
The singles rounds take place only in the central octagon, the outer quadrants being out-of-bounds. The finals also took place at night or evening, in contrast to the preceding rounds which took place during the day.
40th Vytal Festival: During Team RWBY's first year at Beacon, the 40th Vytal Festival is held in Vale.[5] According to Weiss Schnee, the festival takes considerable planning and organization to set up. Preparations for the Vytal Festival were held as early as Team RWBY's first semester in Beacon.
Representatives of the four kingdoms converged upon Vale beginning in the second semester of Team RWBY's first year. In "Welcome to Beacon" the Atlesian contingent, including Penny Polendina and led by James Ironwood, arrived aboard three Airships. Haven Academy of the Mistral region, sent teams SSSN and ABRN. Under disguise, Cinder Fall, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai and Neopolitan also claimed to be from Haven. Shade Academy in Vacuo contributed teams BRNZ and NDGO.
Visiting students from the other academies received accommodation on the Beacon campus and were involved in events such as the Beacon Dance and sent on a range of missions supervised by Beacon Academy professors.
As seen in "Extracurricular", during the second semester, sparring matches in preparation for the tournament were held. Participants in these matches included Pyrrha Nikos, Team CRDL and Mercury Black. The same episode also states that contestants must first qualify for the tournament before competing.
For the duration of the festival, a large fairground was set up on Beacon Academy's campus where visitors from all kingdoms can intermingle. Among the stalls at the fairground were a noodle stall and a boot vendor. One such stall was called Curry Up, frequented by Team CFVY.
The 40th Vytal Festival was marked by a stronger security presence than usual, with a sizable fleet of airships constantly overhead as well as Atlesian Knight-200s patrolling the grounds. This was due to the precautions of General Ironwood who was appointed to head of security by the Vale council following the events of "Breach", where Grimm were able to enter the city.
Unbeknownst to the populace, the matches of the 40th Vytal Festival were manipulated by Cinder Fall, who had managed to breach the Cross Continental Transmit System with a virus, giving her the ability to decide the matchups in the tournament.
The festival was marred by Yang's apparently unprovoked attack on Mercury in the first singles match of the tournament. This caused widespread controversy amongst audiences. Unknown to the public, these events were also manipulated by Cinder. Emerald, working under Cinder's direction, used her Semblance to create illusions that led Yang to attack Mercury, mistakenly believing it to be self-defense. The controversy and shock among the spectators attracted Grimm, which attempted to enter the City of Vale. Huntsmen and Atlas androids managed to hold them off but had to call for additional help.
The following night Penny was destroyed by Pyrrha in a fatal accident, also orchestrated by Cinder. Cinder then took control of the broadcast and used it to transmit a message condemning the kingdoms' governments and the state of the world. The subsequent horror and panic amongst the audience attracted even more Grimm which overwhelmed the City of Vale's defenses. With the Grimm attack imminent, the Festival was canceled and Amity Colosseum was evacuated.
Following the Battle of Beacon, Amity Colosseum and Penny's body were transported back to Atlas. Because the CCTS went down during the Battle, Ironwood secretly began converting Amity Colosseum into Amity Communications Tower to restore the system online. Meanwhile, Penny was rebuilt and brought back to life thanks to her father Pietro Polendina.
Beacon Academy was the Huntsman Academy of the Kingdom of Vale. The Academy trained teams of Huntsmen and Huntresses to slay the various monsters that plague Remnant. It was overrun following an assault on the Academy led by Cinder Fall in conjunction with Grimm and White Fang. Prior to its fall, the Headmaster of Beacon was Professor Ozpin. In the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic", it is revealed that Vale was destroyed by Salem during her search for the Relic of Choice, which included the school as well.
History: Following the end of the Great War, Beacon Academy was founded in the Kingdom of Vale. Along with the other three Huntsmen academies, Beacon was founded in order to train Huntsmen and Huntresses to slay the Creatures of Grimm. In the 80 years following the founding of the Academy, Beacon trained many generations of Huntsmen and Huntresses, including Team STRQ.
In the past, Qrow and Raven Branwen both originally joined Beacon Academy not to become Huntsmen, but to kill them instead due to them being the only other threat to their tribe besides the Grimm. While they both originally planned on returning to the tribe after graduating, Qrow grew out of his old ways and decided to stay while only Raven eventually returned. It was stated by Raven that many people also joined the academy for ulterior motives instead of actually becoming Huntsmen.
At some point in time, Gretchen Rainart decided to attend Beacon Academy against the wishes of her brother Hazel Rainart and lost her life in a training exercise. Hazel blamed Ozpin for her death and eventually joined Salem in order to get his revenge.
In addition, Vale's Cross Continental Transmit tower, which was vital for long-distance communication across Remnant, was also built in the center of the Beacon campus. Like the other Huntsman Academies, Beacon houses one of the four Relics.
Fall of Beacon: In the lead-up to the 40th biennial Vytal Festival, a celebration of the peace that followed the Great War, students from the other three Huntsman academies around the world converge on Vale to participate and are welcomed into Beacon.
During the Vytal Festival, Cinder orchestrates a concerted attack on Beacon, which also spills over into the City of Vale. Despite a valiant defense of the Academy from students and staff, Beacon falls to the forces of the White Fang and overwhelming numbers of Grimm. In the aftermath of the battle, Beacon is left in ruins and heavily infested by Grimm. Salem has authority over forces located there, who are under instructions to locate the Relic of Choice. So far, they have been unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, as noted by Peter Port, the other professors have been working diligently in their efforts to reconstruct Beacon. Glynda was named the new Headmistress of Beacon, following the death of Ozpin.
Description: Students: Beacon Academy was a residential or boarding-type school, with its students residing in dormitories on the campus. The school seemed to provide all living facilities, including hygiene, food, and laundry. However, students were not restricted to the campus outside of lessons and frequently spent their weekends in Vale.
In order to be accepted into Beacon, students typically went to combat schools, such as Signal Academy, in order to prepare for the Academy's rigorous entrance exam. Some candidates, like Ruby Rose, may be invited to the school after showing exceptional skill. However, attending previous combat schools does not seem to be a prerequisite, as some entrants were talented enough to pass the exam without transcripts, such as Blake Belladonna. Students were generally admitted at around age 17, although Ruby was one exception, being admitted at age 15.
In the lead-up to the Vytal Festival, Beacon also participated in an exchange program with the academies of the other three kingdoms of Atlas (Atlas Academy), Vacuo (Shade Academy) and Mistral (Haven Academy). Exchange students participated in some activities, such as sparring matches, and attended events such as the Beacon Dance. Dress Code: For boys, the Beacon Academy uniform consisted of black suits lined with gold, accompanied by a blue vest and a white shirt with a red tie. Girls wore a red plaid skirt, stockings of various length, and a brown jacket with a tan vest and white shirt with a red ribbon tied at the collar.
Students were given the freedom to customize their attire, as Ruby also wore her hood with her uniform. The dress code did not seem to be upheld very strictly, as students were often seen in casual attire during classes, assemblies, and field trips. Students tended to avoid wearing their uniforms during combat practice.
Curriculum: In "The First Step", Ozpin stated that his new students will be in their selected teams for four years. This strongly suggests that this was the length of the education at the academy.
After being accepted into Beacon, new students had to go through an initiation, after which they were placed into teams.
Students attended lectures, given by staff members such as Professor Port, on various topics intended to prepare them for their work, such as the different kinds of monsters they may encounter.
Practical exercises appeared to be a significant part of the courses; of these, some were held in the Emerald Forest. Other out-of-campus activities included field trips to locations such as Forever Fall.
In "The Badge and The Burden, Pt.2", Weiss Schnee also fights a Boarbatusk in Port's Grimm Studies class. In addition, the curriculum included sparring matches that pit students' skills against each other in a controlled environment.
Students were also sent on missions as part of their time at the academy. First-year students were generally limited to lower-risk missions, such as accompanying detectives into the city and had to be accompanied by a professional Huntsman or Huntress on their first mission. Upperclassmen were known to go on higher-risk missions. Additionally, Beacon provided more one-on-one time with veteran Huntsmen than other Academies.
Classes Classes at Beacon operated at a 7:30am to 6pm schedule. The standard schedule for a second-year team at Beacon was as follows:[2]
7:30 am - Breakfast 8 am - Class 9:45 am - Class 11:15 am - Class 12:30 pm - Lunch 1:30 pm - Class 2:15 pm - Class 4 pm - Class 5 pm - Self-Directed Sparring 6 pm - Dinner Graduation Glynda Goodwitch is shown to fondly recall Ozpin's graduation ceremony to students exiting the Academy, in which Ozpin would deliver a speech stating that Beacon was not a place, and instead an idea planted in each and every student to serve as a hopeful light for others by defending those who cannot defend themselves and protecting one another. Furthermore, Ozpin would promptly kick the graduating students out of Beacon in a friendly, humorous manner due to a distaste of long goodbyes.[3]
Location: Beacon lies along the east edge of the city of Vale and has a wide river that runs through part of it. Vale Airships were used to transport new students to the academy.
A port is seen at the bottom of the cliffs next to Beacon Academy, implying that naval transportation was also possible.
Beacon's boundaries appear to extend rather far, including the large Emerald Forest and some surrounding terrain, such as the Beacon Cliff. The academy also held field trips in areas such as the Forever Fall Forest.
Campus: Cliffside: Beacon is situated just before an impressive cliff's edge that overlooks the city across the sound. At the top edge of the cliffside are several large, circular aerial docking bays, where airships and Bullheads can dock and allow their passengers to disembark. At the base of the cliffs, a docking bay is also available for water-going surface vessels, and a path from there leads upwards to the top of the cliff. Main Avenue: After arrival, new Huntsmen and Huntress cadets were deposited on a long, wide avenue leading up to what appears to be the main academy buildings and their large, impressive main doorway, which opens up to a large amphitheater surrounded by a double ring of colonnades bisected by the main avenue with the outer ring rising high over the main entrance to the academy itself. The avenue is marked with trees and flag-draped light-poles, as well as a number of impressive aqueduct-like features and archways. In front of the entrance to the main amphitheater is a large statue and fountain of a Huntsman and Huntress standing atop a rock, beneath which a Beowolf cowers. There's also a large circular pond feature surrounded by a pathway and a garden of red trees. The main avenue is also referred to as the courtyard. Beacon Tower: The most prominent part of the academy buildings is a large tower. The tower was surmounted by a number of green spheres or lights (possibly the beacon after which the academy was named), as well as an intricate clockwork mechanism consisting of many interlocking cogs and gears. Situated immediately below this was Ozpin's office, which sat high above the clouds and afforded an impressive view of the surrounding area.
Cross Continental Transmit System: Forming the base of Beacon Tower,[4] the CCT allows for seamless communication between locations within the other kingdoms outside of Vale. It is very tall, with an elevator in place to take visitors to a level of their choosing.
The interior of the communications room has several video terminals where a holographic AI operator would patch users to the location where they wished to send their messages.
Ozpin's Office: The office of Headmaster Ozpin was situated at the top of Beacon Tower. The chair, table, walls and ceiling all featured intricate clockwork mechanisms consisting of many interlocking cogs and gears. As the highest point on Beacon as well as Vale it sat high above the clouds and afforded an impressive view of the surrounding area.
During the Fall of Beacon, the Wyvern destroyed the top of the tower and got petrified holding on to Ozpin's office.
Beacon Academy Statue: The campus of Beacon Academy includes a large statue featuring two figures, one a male and the other a younger-looking female, standing on a rock outcropping. They are both dressed in a robe with hoods over their heads.
The male has a sword in his right hand, raised in a seemingly triumphant gesture. The younger female has a double-edged battle-ax in her left hand and looks off to the side into the distance. Below the two figures is a Beowolf looking in the same direction as the male figure. Amphitheater: The assembly area takes the form of a glass-domed amphitheater with raised bleachers arranged in a circle around a circular stage that has a tall, ornate (possibly wooden) backdrop with blue lights. There is also a large, open area in front of the stage where students could stand.
As well as being used for meetings of the student body, the assembly area could be used for dueling practice, with the raised stage serving as the fighting area, as seen in "Jaunedice" and "Extracurricular". The lighting in this area could be carefully controlled, making it impossible to see the rest of the area, thus giving duelists the illusion of being entirely on their own.
This also appears to be the location from which missions were assigned to students. The missions were displayed three at a time on numerous screens, listing the type of mission, location, and mission start time, among other extra details. Teams assigned themselves to missions by selecting one and then entering their team's name. Lecture Hall: Beacon Academy has at least one lecture hall not unlike those found in universities. In "The Badge and The Burden", a lecture hall with (apparently) antique drawings of the various known species of Grimm is shown.
This hall has sufficient space for practical demonstrations in front of the students' desks: The front of the lecture area could be used for combat training as seen in "The Badge and The Burden, Pt.2". In "Jaunedice, Pt.2", one of the classes takes place in a lecture hall rigged for a history lesson; the Remnant world, map overlaid by a complex pattern of notes linked with strings, is displayed on the wall behind the lecturer, Bartholomew Oobleck.
Dorms: All the dorms at Beacon appeared to be co-ed dorms, with males and females having slept in the same room. This allowed all members of a team to share the same living area, regardless of differing genders. The students noted that these rooms are somewhat cramped. However, more organized teams generally found that there was sufficient room to meet all of their needs.
The doors to the dorm rooms were secured using an electronic lock, which could be disengaged using a student's Scroll. It was possible to get locked out if the door closes and a student does not have their Scroll with them.
In each dorm room there are two additional doors, one on each side of the room. In "Burning the Candle", Lie Ren's outfit is visible hanging behind one of the doors, suggesting that they are closets.
In "Jaunedice, Pt.2", the blocks containing the dorms are shown to be located in separate buildings some distance from the main academy buildings. Students can be seen running through the Academy Gardens on the way to classes in "The Badge and The Burden".
Dining Hall: he Academy includes a large, formal dining room running down the length of a cloister-like hall. The dining room features four long tables running the length of the hall with benches to either side and walking areas located in between. Students were able to sit not only with their teams, but other groups.
Like all parts of the academy buildings, the dining hall is somewhat gothic in appearance. The walls are marked with the academy's crossed-ax logo.
In "Forever Fall, Pt.2", it is established that students were allowed to eat in their dormitories.
Library: The library is a repository of books and other sources of archived information within the Academy. It was generally meant to be a quiet place for students to read and study, though students often used the area as a gathering place, playing board games and socializing instead.
It could also make transcontinental calls to areas outside of the kingdom of Vale, similar to the CCT. The library also has access to several holographic computer terminals, which could be freely used by the students.
Ballroom: There is also a ballroom that was used in the Beacon Dance. The ballroom also doubled as a living area that new students slept in until they were assigned proper quarters, as seen in "The Shining Beacon, Pt.2". Locker Room: A unisex locker room with washroom facilities is also present. After the initiation, to store weapons and extra armor, each student was assigned a rocket-propelled locker that can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code.
Emerald Forest: Beacon Academy used the Emerald Forest as the location for its initiation. The forest is filled with dangerous wildlife. Students were catapulted into the forest from Beacon Cliff, on purpose-built launch pads emblazoned with the academy's insignia.
Vytal Festival Fairgrounds: During the Vytal Festival, a large fairground consisting of many temporary buildings and tents were set up at the Beacon campus, where visitors from all the kingdoms could congregate and intermingle.[5] There were shops and stalls set up to get food, one of which was run by the Shopkeep, as well as tables and chairs for people to sit.
The fairgrounds are surrounded by a lightly wooded area, but it is not known where it is situated in relation to other Beacon buildings.
Farm: Beacon has a farm with chickens somewhere on campus.[6] This farm is freely accessible by students.
The Vault: Located deep beneath Beacon Academy tower and accessible by an elevator, the Vault is where Amber, the former Fall Maiden, was kept on life support before she was killed by Cinder Fall. The Vault appears to be a very closely guarded secret. Ozpin and his allies bring Pyrrha Nikos down here when they ask her to assume the mantle of the Fall Maiden.
Current Staff: Glynda Goodwitch - Headmistress, Former Combat Instructor Peter Port - Grimm Studies, Military Strategy Bartholomew Oobleck - History, Legends of Remnant Thumbelina Peach - Plant Sciences Ann Greene - Stealth and Security Harold Mulberry - Weapon Crafting and Upkeep
Former Staff: Ozpin โ - Former Headmaster
Trivia: In "Dance Dance Infiltration", it is revealed that Beacon's Wi-Fi password is "b3acon#". Alternatively, due to the shared name between symbols, the password could be "b3aconยฃ". In "Best Day Ever", Ruby mentions that the Vytal Festival occurs at the very end of the school year. In "It's Brawl in the Family", Ruby mentions it is fall, and during "End of the Beginning", autumn leaves can be seen outside Yang's window. These suggest the Vytal Festival and the end of the Beacon school year occur in the fall. As seen with Beacon, Signal and Pharos, combat schools in Vale seem to be named after buildings or devices made to navigate, communicate or attract attention. In RWBY: Ice Queendom, and the main show, it's implied Ozpin puts the teams together based on who finds the matching set of artifacts during the initiation test; Ruby and Weiss found the knight chess piece just like Yang and Blake.
Haven Academy is the Huntsman Academy of the Kingdom of Mistral.[1] Students from Haven are able to participate in the Vytal Festival. The Academy's Headmaster was Leonardo Lionheart.
Following the Battle of Haven, the academy has been rendered inactive due to the deaths of its staff and Professor Lionheart.
The Academy is referred to as Mistral Academy by Theodore.
History: 80 years before the start of the series, Haven Academy was founded in the Kingdom of Mistral following the end of the Great War, to train Huntsmen and Huntresses to slay the Creatures of Grimm.
At some point in recent history, Leonardo Lionheart became the Headmaster of Haven Academy at the request of Ozpin, in order to reduce the Kingdom of Mistral's hatred of Faunus.
Following the events of RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, Lionheart sided with Salem out of fear, as he believed she could not be stopped.
As the 40th Vytal Festival neared, exchange students from Haven began arriving at Vale and Beacon Academy. Sun Wukong being the first, and later the rest of Team SSSN and Team ABRN. Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black and Neopolitan also posed as students from Haven entering the Vytal Festival due to Lionheart forging documents for them.
Following the Battle of Beacon, Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren set out for Haven in hopes of investigating the conspiracy that led to Beacon's downfall, following up on a possible lead from Qrow Branwen's prior investigations.
The academy was later targeted by Salem's Inner Circle. In "A Much Needed Talk" Qrow told Team RNJR that its Headmaster, Leonardo, was aware and would be on his guard. However, in "No Safe Haven", Lionheart was seen meeting with Arthur Watts, revealing he was working with Salem's forces.
In "Welcome to Haven", it was revealed that the negativity of witnessing the events of the Vytal Festival caused the Grimm to attack all over the Kingdom, prompting the council to use all of the Kingdom's active Huntsmen in its defense, though many were killed in action. Lionheart also stated most of his staff was away until classes resumed. However, this was later revealed to be a lie.
In "The More the Merrier", it was revealed that Lionheart had given Salem the locations of the Huntsmen dispatched throughout the kingdom, to which she has sent Tyrian Callows and Hazel Rainart to slaughter them. The academy staff was not exempt from this.
In "Haven's Fate", the academy's impending destruction was thwarted thanks to the efforts of Ruby and her friends and allies. Lionheart, however, was killed by Salem for his cowardice, leaving Haven without a Headmaster. Following the attack, Lionheart's betrayal was covered up by Ozpin to make it seem that he died heroically protecting Haven instead so the Kingdom would remember him for all of the good he did in his life.
Due to the deaths of Professor Lionheart and the academy staff, Haven was forced to temporarily shut down with its students either transferring to Shade Academy or just quit altogether. After this, Teams ABRN and SSSN transferred to Shade Academy rather than waiting for the academy to reopen, with Theodore confirming eight new arrivals being ABRN and SSSN from Haven.
Uniform: Haven's school uniform consists of a black jacket with a light gray outline around the edges, a white undershirt and a white band around the student's left arm.
The female outfit consists of a gray and black checkered skirt, whereas the male uniform has a pair of black trousers.
Campus: Headmaster's Office: Lionheart's office entrance is that of a small waiting room with black leather couches for those who have appointments with the professor.
The office itself is shaped as a half-circle, with another, smaller half-circle jutting out to the room's front door.
A large desk made of mahogany dominates the space of the autumn-colored office. In the right-hand corner, for a more comfortable setting, are a small table and chairs for guests. On the table is a tea set Ozpin gifted to Lionheart.
To the right of the front door is a wall containing a secret passage to a small chamber, in which a Seer resides to facilitate communication between Lionheart and Salem.
Two tall bookshelves flank the front door. Spanning the far wall of the office and above the windows is a single shelf lined with books, boxes and lamps. Ladders are present to provide access to the high shelves. Much of the floor is open, and a large, rectangular green rug leads from the door to the desk. There are many boxes, books and papers scattered about the floor. The ceiling is slanted, declining from the front to the rear of the room. In the center of the ceiling is a chandelier of four lights with square shaped shades. Quad: The quad is a large, spacious area in Haven Academy. It is surrounded by forests and there is a fountain at the center of it, with some shrubbery, wooden benches and lamp posts lined along the perimeter. Flanking the quad are the Kingdom of Mistral's two Cross Continental Transmit towers. The quad leads up to Haven's Grand Hall.
Grand Hall: The Grand Hall is a spacious building leading up to the headmaster's office which contains a statue of a woman that conceals the Haven Vault. The interior is colored with greens and browns. The statue leading to the vault is flanked by two stairways that join together at the top. There is an upper walkway that can be accessed by flanking stairways near the hall's entrance. The walls are decorated with various paintings and blue banners bearing Mistral's symbol. The lower floor also has some trophy cases. Dorms: The dorms in Haven Academy echo how luxurious it is in comparison to the other academies, as well as its high-class structure in Mistral. As stated in RWBY: Before the Dawn student is shown to have their own, individualized room within the team dormitories which they can use at their own leisure, as well as a common room for each team.
Vault: Like the other academies, Haven is also in possession of a Vault. It is a large cave under the school, accessible via a hidden elevator in the Grand Hall. The Vault formerly housed the Relic of Knowledge.
When the Spring Maiden is present, the circles on the ground and the Relic chamber's doorway glow brightly. When the Relic chamber's doorway is unlocked, it leads to another dimension with a vast desert and a path where the Relic of Knowledge rested on a stone pedestal. When Cinder Fall and Neopolitan returned to the Vault, the doorway of the Vault was missing.
Staff Members: Former: Leonardo Lionheart โ - Former Headmaster Known Teams SSSN (Transferred to Shade Academy) ABRN (Transferred to Shade Academy) Known Graduates: Pyke Rite (Transferred from Shade Academy)[2] Arrastra Skye Kandi Floss Roch Szalt
Shade Academy is a Huntsman Academy of the Kingdom of Vacuo. Students from Shade participate in the biennial Vytal Festival combat tournament. The academy's Headmaster is Professor Theodore. History Shade Academy was founded in the Kingdom of Vacuo following the end of the Great War, in order to train Huntsmen and Huntresses to slay the Creatures of Grimm. According to Qrow Branwen, it is the only real source of order in the Kingdom due to the lack of a formal government.
In the past, Jax Asturias was expelled from Shade due to behavior problems. Later, his sister Gillian Asturias along with the rest of their Team defected from Shade to form The Crown. Two members of The Crown, Carmine Esclados and Bertilak Celadon decided to stay at the academy to avoid being suspected of being criminals.
Eighty years after the Great War, students from Shade Academy participated in the 40th Vytal Festival, including teams BRNZ and NDGO. During the Fall of Beacon, Team NDGO decided to flee the conflict rather than help with the situation and most of Team BRNZ is killed in the attack with the exception of Nolan Porfirio.
After the Fall of Beacon, Team CFVY transferred to Shade along with some other students from Beacon Academy.[1] Likewise, following the attack on Haven, Team SSSN and Team ABRN transferred there as well.
Once Carmine and Bertilak were arrested and later broke out, Xanthe Rumpole was sent by Professor Theodore to investigate the Crown and was defeated by Carmine. She was later brainwashed by Jax's Semblance to keep Theodore and the rest of the Academy from investigating The Crown until she was freed by Yatsuhashi Daichi with his Memory Wiping Semblance. Not long after they learn about this and that one of the students in the academy, Umber Gorgoneion, was actually an agent for the organization, the Crown prepared to attack Shade.
The academy was attacked by The Crown, but the students and staff were able to defend it from being toppled, while the invading Grimm helped and were later dealt with as the loyal members of the Crown were arrested while the brainwashed ones were allowed to go free.
Descriptions Students Local students are shown to be resentful towards other Kingdoms, only begrudgingly accepting people from Beacon. When Theodore opened Shade Academy to more students from fallen academies, an uproar was caused by current attendees. In addition, they saw students who had transferred as weak. Shade Academy is shown to have much less camaraderie than at Beacon, students do not have much help from others. The idea of praise is seemingly absent and replaced with survival. [2]
Vacuan students are also shown to be extremely rude towards the students who had transferred from other academies, harassing them without any fear of punishment. They are trained to be able to fight until all their Aura is depleted, showing no mercy or weakness. The students generally have a positive view of their Headmaster, cheering for him during assemblies.
Classes Shade classes begin early in the morning, with Professor Xanthe Rumpole teaching an 8am history class and Rowena Sunnybrook teaching weapons training in the sandpit arena.
Dress Code Uniquely among the main four Huntsman academies, Shade appears to lack a uniform. At Ozpin's speech, students from Shade are seen wearing a range of casual clothes.
Campus Architecture Like the city of Vacuo itself, Shade Academy is packed in a lotโverticallyโwith classrooms and academic spaces in three tiers, and Headmaster Theodore's office at the apex, which also housed the CCT transmitter. Shade Academy, and Theodore himself, were the center of everything in Vacuo holding it all together. [3]
The building itself closely resembles a pyramid in design. Awnings extend from all sides of it during the day to shield citizens from the sun.[4]
Theodore's Office: Theodore's Office is a large space, led by two large doors in the center of the room. The office has various portraits of members of Ozpin's Group and people dear to Theodore, including:
Ozpin and Theodore shaking hands Leonardo Lionheart James Ironwood Qrow Branwen A young girl in a checkered dress, holding a pet dog. Various Shade Academy staff Since Theodore met Team CFVY, the portraits of Lionheart and Ironwood had been taken down, and Ozpin's portrait had a crack on it after Theodore punched a wall in the room, leaving a crater in its wake.
Rumpole's Office: Xanthe Rumpole's office is described as closest thing to a museum in Vacuo, with pictures and document frames mounted on walls, displays with rocks, ancient weapons, models and dioramas, and yet there wasn't a single thing on her desk to hint at her own history.
Classrooms: In Shade, student desks were arranged in a circle around each teacher's desk, placing students and professors on the same level, and theoretically facilitating discussion.[6]
Outer Wall: Shade's campus is surrounded by a low guard wall to distinguish its borders. It is unable to defend against Dust but is able to hold against normal gunfire.[7]
Meeting Grounds: A wide-open area on the highest level of Shade, where school assemblies are held. The grounds have an artificial oasis evoking Vacuo's original, tropical nature with dense trees and plant life.
Dorms: Dormitories in Shade are notoriously small with little room for students to relax on their own. Each room has a mere 100 square feet to fit an entire team, leaving little space for personal belongings. There is a large Commons for the dorms, which is used as the main meeting spot for the Beacon Brigade.
Sandpit Arena: Shade has a large sandpit arena used to train students. The arena has collapsible pedestals in the ground that are hidden by the sand, which can rise up to deliver primal weapons to students.
Courtyard: Within Shade's campus, there is a small courtyard with a large fountain at the center.
Shade Academy does not have any lockers, believing that students must carry weapons at all times under the potential threat of danger.
Staff Members:
Current Staff:
Theodore - Headmaster Xanthe Rumpole - History Rowena Sunnybrook - Weapons Training Known Teams: BRNZ (Deceased excluding Nolan Porfirio) NDGO CFVY (Transferred from Beacon Academy) SSSN (Transferred from Haven Academy) ABRN (Transferred from Haven Academy) ROSC (Temporary Team) SSEA (Temporary Team) NOVA (Temporary Team) FNDU (Temporary Team) BYRN (Temporary Team) Known Students Iris Marilla (Transferred from Beacon Academy) Graduates Carmine Esclados Bertilak Celadon Green Asher Mora Fenix Nemean Pyke Rite (Transferred to Haven Academy)[14] Dropouts Gillian's Team (Jax Asturias was expelled)
Atlas Academy, formerly known as Alsius,[1] was the Huntsman Academy of the former Kingdom of Atlas. Unlike the other Kingdoms, the academy as an institution was not an entity separate from the Kingdom's government.
The academy served as the headquarters for the Atlesian Military due to the Atlas Command Center being located underneath it. It was also the location of the original Cross Continental Transmit System tower.
The Headmaster of Atlas Academy was General James Ironwood, who was also a military commander before his death.
In "The Final Word", the academy was destroyed following Atlas' crash into Mantle.
History: What would become Atlas was originally known as Alsius, a combat school in the Kingdom of Mantle.[5] The territory surrounding Alsius was used as a research and development facility during the Great War.
Alsius was later reopened under the name Atlas Academy, in order to house and give guidance to warriors after the conclusion of the Great War. The campus was greatly expanded with the technologies developed during the war, helping to better secure the surrounding territories. As a result, Atlas grew quickly and attracted many to the area surrounding it, including research facilities, laboratories, the original CCTS tower and the military. In time, residential areas also started flocking to Atlas.
It eventually became clear that Atlas had become a bustling city in its own right and overshadowed the main city of Mantle. The decision was thus made to move the capital from Mantle to Atlas, ushering in a "golden age of prosperity". The Kingdom as a whole was also accordingly renamed to Atlas and became renowned for housing the world's most well-funded academy and its most powerful military force. During recent times, the government of Atlas and the academy existed together as a single entity, along with the military.[4]
In the years following, the academy had come under criticism for the imposition of military lifestyle on its students. Graduates and trainees were also pressured to enlist in the Atlesian Military's Special Operatives unit, a practice that ran contrary to the academy founders' initial intentions for Huntsmen to be free from allegiance to a specific Kingdom.
Present Day: By the present day, 80 years after the end of the Great War, the Headmaster of Atlas Academy was General Ironwood, who was also a senior officer in the military. At some point, Winter Schnee likely attended the school, presumably joining the military's Special Operatives unit after graduating.
Students from Atlas competed in the 40th Vytal Festival combat tournament, held in Vale. Teams known to be participating included Team FNKI and Penny's Team.
Around the time Ruby's Group arrived on campus, Penny Polendina was the employee of the month for the academy's staff, gaining the recognition for her hard work.
After arriving in Atlas and agreeing to help Ironwood launch Amity Communications Tower in the atmosphere while working as Huntsmen for the military, Team RWBY, Team JNR and Oscar Pine were given a dorm per team, with Oscar staying with Team JNR, and allowed access to Atlas Academy faculties such as the training room. During some of their spare time, Team JNR along with Oscar trained with Team FNKI in the Academy's training room.
Following Penny being framed for murder by Tyrian Callows, the Happy Huntresses became vigilantes, with their actions causing the Amity Project to be stalled. Ironwood was upset over the situation and was contemplating going with Winter's suggestion of declaring martial law before he was talked down from it.
Once the Battle of Mantle began, Winter was shown to be evacuating the students from the Academy. Later, Cinder Fall planted a Black Queen chess piece in Ironwood's office, causing him to think he had played into Salem's hands. After confronting Ruby's Group over lying to him along with telling Robyn Hill about Ironwood's plans, a Seer appears and shows a manifestation of Salem who informs everyone present about her coming to Atlas herself.
After Ironwood learns this, he decided to change his plan to raising Atlas out of Salem's reach by using the Relic of Creation and declared martial law. When Ruby's Group realized that his plan would leave the citizens to die, they refuse to help him and Ruby Rose warns their other allies about this. Ironwood cuts off Ruby's warning before she can fully finish and orders the Ace Operatives to arrest them. Team RWBY managed to defeat the Ace-Ops and were later found by Maria Calavera and Pietro Polendina. Team JNR and Oscar attempt to escape the Academy while being pursued by Atlas Soldiers and Neopolitan who later steals the Relic of Knowledge from them. Lie Ren regrets losing the Relic as they are forced to escape without it and Oscar who tries to stop Ironwood. All members of the group escape the Academy with Penny as she became the next Winter Maiden.
Following Monstra's destruction, Ironwood gave the group an ultimatum to return Penny to him within an hour or else he will destroy Mantle using a bomb. When they agree, he tells them to send Penny to the front of the Academy alone. Although it seems she does this, Emerald Sustrai revealed it to be an illusion made by her Semblance and disarmed Ironwood of his cannon. Team JNR alongside Winter, who helps them due to losing faith in Ironwood, manage to defeat him and restrain him in a cell next to Jacques Schnee.
When the Evacuation Central Location was created across Atlas, people were evacuated into Vacuo. Several students wearing Atlas Uniforms are seen in the dimension.
After Atlas crashed into Mantle in "The Final Word", the academy was destroyed when both cities were flooded.
Description:
Dress code: The dress code at Atlas consisted of white long-sleeved shirts with gray pocket-vest jackets on top. These were accompanied by a pair of white dress gloves and a dark-gray tie. Male students wore long white trousers, while female students wore gray stockings and knee-high black boots.
In Volume 7, students wore a black beret as part of their uniform.
Pajamas Additionally, Atlas provided students and Huntsmen with sets of pajamas, as seen in "Sparks". These consisted of white shirts with a gray emblem of the Academy in the center, as well as black, white, and gray sweatpants.
Location: Atlas Academy sat on a mountain as the highest point in the center of the City of Atlas. James Ironwood's office was able to overlook the entire city. The Academy was situated right behind the "Donut", allowing Ironwood to see down below the floating island.
Campus Layout The Academy was built as five enormous towers: one large central tower and four side towers of varying heights surrounding the main building. The large central tower was the original CCTS tower that was created. Each of the side towers had a pair of Hard-Light Dust rings surrounding them, and a glass viewing platform at the top of the tower. Due to its extensive use of Hard-Light Dust, Atlas had a blue tint to a seemingly dark building at night and was shown to be silver during the day.[6]
Atlas Academy in total towers at 1,000 meters of height and occupies 8,000,000 square feet. It has 212 floors to its name. The Academy's Bottom Floor features a grand hall for mass meetings with the campus body, as well as public property of Atlas. Above is the Lower Dome where the base of the central column is located. This is where large classes and training areas are hosted. The Upper Dome is where Atlas' small classes are taught.[7]
The Obelisk Tower is accessible through elevators and is where most the campus and administration is housed. The bottommost part of the tower is where student barracks are held, followed by the adult barracks the next tier up. Above them are the administration offices of the staff, and Ironwood's office is at the top of the tower. Elevators are available both internally through the column, and several are situated externally in the large balconies.[8]
Ironwood's Office: Ironwood's office was located at the topmost floor of Atlas.[9] It was a circular room featuring dark blue metallic walls and windows which can fade to become opaque. The floors of Ironwood's office were shown to depict constellations in the form of golden stars, reflecting Ironwood's love for astronomy. [10]
In the center of the room was a holographic projection table that was hidden under the floor when not in use. In "Ultimatum", it was destroyed by Ironwood following multiple setbacks in retrieving Penny Polendina.
During the semester, Ironwood would allow students to book 15-minute conferences directly with him through Stephanie Santiago, who was presumably his secretary.
Hallways: Long hallways lined the Academy. They had cold white and gray walls and floors and dark gray pillars. They were repetitive making them easy to get lost in. Blue lights resembling torches. In emergencies the hallways lights turned red.
Cafeteria: Atlas' cafeteria had large glass windows pointed towards the city surrounding the Academy. Inside, two long tables were set to the sides of the room, with various Atlas banners hanging overhead.
Barracks: All the dorms, referred to as barracks by the academy, appeared to be co-ed dorms, with males and females having slept in the same room. This allowed all members of a team to share the same living area, regardless of differing genders. The beds were four bunk beds built into the wall with a ladder in the middle allowing access to the upper two beds. Along the other side of the wall were four small desks and chairs for each member of the team to study or do other paperwork on.
Huntsmen Briefing Room: The Briefing Room is where Atlesian Huntsmen received their mission assignments. The room had a podium and rows of seats arranged in a semi-circle around a table of CCT terminals. Atlas Huntsman job boards were situated along the walls. Behind the podium was a screen for detailing mission information.
Training Room: The training room is where students of Atlas Academy, as well as Atlesian Huntsman, came to train and hone their skills in combat. The Training Room was a giant empty square room with a light blue grid of Hard-Light Dust on the floor. The grid could generate and stack numerous Hard-Light blocks to create walls, platforms, and cover.[11] The room was able to create several different layouts using these blocks allowing versatility in training for different scenarios. The blocks could be destroyed from heavy impact by a weapon or Semblance, however, the room appeared to not have a limit on how many blocks it can generate or replace. Up high at the end of the room was an observation deck allowing staff, other students or Huntsmen to watch ongoing training sessions.
Docking Bay Situated just outside the Main Hall, the Docking Bay featured four landing pads. A flight of stairs leads from the pad level to the main entrance of the Hall.
Rear Gates: The rear side of Atlas Academy contained large pillars around the main building's wall, with various statues of soldiers carrying halberds standing guard in between the entrance gates.
Above the gates was a large, glass window in the shape of an arrow pointed downwards, casting a red shadow onto the courtyard below.
In addition to the emblem of the Academy, various constellation designs lit by Hard-Light Dust outlined the building's roof, giving Atlas Academy's walls a blue lighting to it.
Library: Amongst the institution, Atlas Academy had a massive library with expansive hallways filled with bookshelves. Near the shelves, tables were shown to have set up Hard-Light Dust projectors for studies. The pillars of the library were aligned with hooded statues.
The library itself was never shown in the show, only seen in released concept art.
Atriums According to background detail, Atlas held several atriums in its campus, allowing for students to gather in mass events.
The Vault: Like the other Huntsmen Academies, Atlas contained a hidden Vault. It housed the Relic of Creation and the door could only be opened by the Winter Maiden, who is currently Winter Schnee. The Vault was located deep below Atlas Academy and accessible by the elevator near Ironwood's office.
Staff and Military Personnel Former: General James Ironwood โ - Former Headmaster of Atlas Academy. Later died during the Fall of Atlas. Winter Schnee - Implied to be a graduate of Atlas Academy. Former Atlesian Special Operative. Ace Operatives - Former Special Operatives. Penny Polendina โ - Participated in the Vytal Festival, representing the Kingdom of Atlas, but it wasn't known if she was an actual student of the academy. Former Atlesian Special Operative and academy employee. Stephanie Santiago - Implied to have been Ironwood's secretary.
Known Students: Ciel Soleil - Penny's former teammate who also participated in the Vytal Festival. Flynt Coal - A member of Team FNKI and a participant in the Vytal Festival, later drafted into the Atlas Military during the Battle of Atlas. Neon Katt - A member of Team FNKI and a participant in the Vytal Festival, later drafted into the Atlas Military during the Battle of Atlas. Kobalt - A member of Team FNKI, later drafted into the Atlas Military during the Battle of Atlas. Ivori - A member of Team FNKI, later drafted into the Atlas Military during the Battle of Atlas. Vega Bleu - A graduate of Pharos Academy.
Graduates: Robyn Hill - A former Mantle politician and leader of the Happy Huntresses. Fiona Thyme - A member of the Happy Huntresses. Joanna Greenleaf - A member of the Happy Huntresses. May Marigold - A member of the Happy Huntresses.
Huntsmen and Huntresses are licensed elite warriors dedicated to slaying the Creatures of Grimm and whose duty is to "uphold the peace" of their world, Remnant.
Following the Great War's conclusion on the island of Vytal, the occupation of Huntsmen was created alongside the Huntsman Academies. These academies were charged to train the elite warriors whose role was to safeguard mankind's future. Training: Those who wish to become Huntsmen or Huntresses often first attend primary combat schools like Sanctum Academy (of Mistral) or Signal Academy (located in Patch), which are designed to teach new students the fundamentals of combat, Weapon crafting and the applications of Dust and Aura in the battlefield. However, those who have honed their skills on their own can skip this step and apply directly, one example being Blake Belladonna.
Potential applicants must then pass a rigorous entrance exam, and those that pass can attend Huntsman Academies, whose sole purpose is to train the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses who will in turn live and die to defend the four Kingdoms and the lifestyles they have become accustomed to.
The primary combat schools and the Kingdoms they correspond to are:
Vale - Signal Academy (Patch), Pharos Academy (Vale) Mistral - Sanctum Academy (Argus), Unnamed Kuchinashi Academy (Kuchinashi) Vacuo - Oscuro Academy (Coquina) The four main Huntsman Academies and the Kingdoms they correspond to are:
Vale - Beacon Academy Mistral - Haven Academy Vacuo - Shade Academy Atlas - Atlas Academy (Formerly Alsius) (Destroyed) Trainees are generally admitted at age 17 and complete a four-year course before graduating, however, some students, such as Ruby Rose, have been admitted at ages as young as 15. Trainees are grouped into Teams of four, with the intention of fostering empathy and teamwork, as well as lasting bonds, between team members โ qualities considered of great importance for future Huntsmen and Huntresses. These teams may stay intact after graduation, but teams are also known to disband as their members pursue solo careers.
The course at Beacon Academy includes history lessons and studies of the Grimm. The more active component includes field trips to potentially dangerous locations, sparring matches with other students, as well as an opportunity to participate in the Vytal Festival Tournament and spar with students from other academies. Students also go on actual missions commensurate to their skill level as part of their training; first-years are accompanied by a professional Huntsman, whilst second years and above may go on high-risk missions alone.
Most, but not all, Huntsmen have discovered their Semblance.[2]
While some enter the Academies to become Huntsmen, many people enter them for ulterior motives. One example would be Qrow and Raven Branwen who both originally entered Beacon Academy so they could learn how to kill Huntsmen since they were the only other threat to their tribe other than the Grimm.
Some students were also shown to not be willing to protect Humanity against the Grimm, such as Team NDGO who evacuated from Vale as they deemed it a lost cause as well as one of their members being willing to use a child as bait against a Grimm.
Huntsman License: Upon acceptance into one of the academies, prospective students are granted a student Huntsman License they can access through their Scrolls. Upon graduation, this student license is updated to a full professional Huntsman License.
Both student and professional licenses contain the same information. Their only difference is that a student license is labeled as a "Student License", while pro licenses bear either "Huntsman License" or "Huntress Licence" depending on the gender of the Huntsman.
A Huntsman License includes the Huntsman's:
Photograph. Full name, in print and as a bar code. Fifteen Digit Huntsman ID number. Emblem. Kingdom which issued the license. Huntsman Academy attended. Any restrictions the Huntsman may have. In RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, it is stated that a Huntsman can have their license revoked if they are involved with criminal activities like The Taskmaster. They can also have their licenses removed if they cause more harm than good on the job like Roch Szalt after he failed to stop a younger Roman Torchwick from robbing the Vale First Bank while causing a lot of property damage in the process.
Some gifted Huntsmen, such as Maria Calavera, can acquire their licenses by taking a licensing exam, forgoing the need to attend the academies.
In some rare cases, the Headmasters of the academies can grant individuals their licenses without the need for a proper graduation or taking the licensing exam, as was the case with James Ironwood who granted Teams RWBY and JNR their licenses after arriving in Atlas.
Employment: After graduation, the founders of the academies intended that the allegiance of a Huntsman or Huntress would not be tied to a specific Kingdom. With their Huntsmen Licenses, graduates are granted the freedom to choose whom they work for as well as the nature of their work. Huntsmen find employment through the use of mission boards. This approach is not without problems, however, as Huntsmen are known to be employed for disreputable purposes on occasion solely for Lien. One example would be Team SMMK who were hired by the Wave crime syndicate, as well as Bertilak Celadon who was originally a Huntsmen hired by The Crown.
This separation of Huntsmen and Kingdom allegiance was intended as a measure to ensure peace. However, the Kingdom of Atlas did not appear to uphold this distinction. Not only did Atlas Academy exist as the same entity as the government, but students were heavily pressured into enlisting in the military's Special Operatives Unit, which drew significant criticism. Winter Schnee was one notable example of a "Specialist" in the military. The Ace Operatives were a team of Special Operatives that intentionally didn't follow the Color Naming Rule and had five people instead of four due to Ironwood not caring about Ozpin's rules and prioritizing efficiency instead.
Missions: Mission boards detail the type of mission, a short description of the task, where the task is needed and how soon the mission will start. Mission boards also detail a mission's status after someone accepts it. In RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, it is revealed that the mission board system is flawed; while the intent is to have it so that the board updates in real-time, multiple Huntsmen can accept the mission at the same time, making it so that they both need to complete the objective and split the reward.
Generally, rewards scale to the difficulty of the particular objective, especially with bounty missions on the Grimm. However, in some cases, as seen with Centinels, Huntsmen may avoid bounty missions on specific Grimm, and as a result making their rewards be disproportionately large compared to the difficulty ranking.[3]
There are many different types of missions for Huntsmen and Huntresses to undertake. The currently known types of missions available to Huntsmen and Huntresses include:
Search and Rescue - Finding missing person(s) or recovering missing supplies. Search and Destroy - Clearing out Grimm when their infestations grow too large. Perimeter Defense - Fortifying walls and defenses to keep Grimm out of the kingdom and city limits. Village Security - Helping a village (not established as one of four kingdoms) fight off Grimm. Bounty - Capturing wanted criminal(s) and Grimm. Escort - Helping civilians move through Grimm-infested areas. The Huntsman Kingdom Accord is an act that protects the Huntsmen of Mistral with some legal support.
In When Life Gives You Lemons, it was shown that Scrolls have a Huntsman network application on them for Huntsmen to use to communicate with each other.
Notable Huntsmen and Huntresses: Team RWBY Ruby Rose - The leader of Team RWBY and a Silver-Eyed Warrior. Former Beacon student. Weiss Schnee - Daughter of Jacques Schnee, Ex-heiress of Schnee Dust Company and former Beacon student. Blake Belladonna - Daughter of Menagerie Chieftain Ghira Belladonna, and Ex-White Fang member who defected after the organization became more extremist. Former Beacon student. Yang Xiao Long - Daughter of notorious bandit Raven Branwen and Ruby's older sister who lost her right arm at the fall of Beacon. Former Beacon student. Team JNR Jaune Arc - The leader of Team JNR. Unlike the other students, he did not undergo any combat school or training prior to Beacon and entered the school using false documents. Former Beacon student. Nora Valkyrie - A homeless orphan rescued by Ren during a massacre at Kuroyuri. Former Beacon student. Lie Ren - A survivor of a massacre by a Nuckelavee Grimm at Kuroyuri that took the lives of his family. Former Beacon student. Team STRQ Summer Rose โ - Ruby's birth mother, Yang's stepmother and Taiyang's second significant other. She went missing in action during a mission and is presumed dead by her family after she encountered Salem in the past. Beacon Academy graduate. Taiyang Xiao Long - Ruby and Yang's father. He is a teacher at Signal Academy. Beacon Academy graduate. Raven Branwen - Yang's mother and Taiyang's first significant other. A former member of Ozpin's Group, she disappeared shortly after Yang's birth to lead the Branwen Tribe. Beacon Academy graduate. Qrow Branwen - Yang's maternal uncle and Ruby's honorary uncle. He was a teacher at Signal Academy, and a member of Ozpin's Group. Beacon Academy graduate. Vale Glynda Goodwitch - Staff member and current Headmistress of Beacon Academy; she is the first known Huntress to make an appearance in the series. She is also a member of Ozpin's Group. Ozpin โ - Former Headmaster of Beacon Academy. He is the leader of Ozpin's Group. Peter Port - Huntsman and a long-time associate of Professor Ozpin. He was the Grimm Studies and Military Strategy professor at Beacon Academy. Bartholomew Oobleck - History and Legends of Remnant teacher at Beacon Academy. Harold Mulberry - Weapons Crafting and Upkeep teacher at Beacon Academy. Thumbelina Peach - Plant Science teacher at Beacon Academy. Ann Greene - Stealth and Security teacher at Beacon Academy. Kandi Floss - Haven graduate working in Vale. Roch Szalt - Disgraced Haven graduate working in Vale. Shion Zaiden - Nightmare Hunter who is tasked to capture Grimm that have possessed humans in dreams. Atlas James Ironwood โ - Former Headmaster of Atlas Academy and general of the Atlesian Military. Held two seats on the Atlas Council and was a former member of Ozpin's Group. Later died during the Fall of Atlas. Winter Schnee - Former Specialist in the Atlesian Military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former leader of the Ace Operatives after Clover Ebi's death. Caroline Cordovin - Specialist in the Atlesian Military prior to its destruction, and leader of the Argus Military Base. Clover Ebi โ - Former Specialist in the Atlesian military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former leader of the Ace-Ops. Killed by Tyrian Callows who framed Qrow Branwen for his death. Elm Ederne - Former Specialist in the Atlesian military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former member of the Ace-Ops. Harriet Bree - Former Specialist in the Atlesian military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former member of the Ace-Ops. Marrow Amin - Former Specialist in the Atlesian military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former member of the Ace-Ops. Vine Zeki โ - Former Specialist in the Atlesian military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former member of the Ace-Ops. Sacrificed his life to save his friends from a bomb meant to destroy Mantle. Robyn Hill - Former Mantle politician, Atlas Academy graduate, and leader of the Happy Huntresses. Fiona Thyme - Member of the Happy Huntresses. May Marigold - Member of the Happy Huntresses. Joanna Greenleaf - Member of the Happy Huntresses. Multiple Huntsmen - Many Huntsmen working in Atlas. Rhodes โ - A Huntsman who trained Cinder Fall when she worked at the Glass Unicorn. Killed by Cinder while attempting to arrest her for murder. Team BRIR - A Team of Huntresses not originally from Atlas. The team is composed of Bianca Prisma, Roane Ashwood, Ivy Thickety and Ruda Tilleroot. Bram Thornmane - Former member of the Atlas Military who originally wanted to become a member of the Ace-Ops. Later became the guardian of Essen and was arrested for being the leader of a conspiracy against Ironwood. Hanlon Fifestone - Former member of the Atlas Military before deserting to become a union leader in Mantle. Mistral Leonardo Lionheart โ - Former Headmaster of Haven Academy and a former member of Ozpin's Group. Later killed by Salem during the Battle of Haven. Pyke Rite - a "professional" Huntsman and recent graduate of Haven Academy. Arrastra Skye - a serval Faunus Huntress originally from Haven Academy. Asher Mora - a graduate of Shade Academy now operating in Mistral and an old acquaintance of the current leader of "The Hearth", Abigail Pyre. Fenix Nemean - a graduate of Shade Academy now operating in Mistral. Multiple Mistral Huntsmen โ - Nearly every Huntsman and Huntress working in Mistral was killed off by Hazel Rainart and Tyrian Callows when Leonardo Lionheart leaked their identities to Salem. F. Pickerel โ - Huntsman responsible for the incarceration of Tyrian Callows. Dee โ - Huntsman formerly working on the Argus Limited that was killed during a Grimm attack. Dudley - Huntsman working on the Argus Limited. Opal - A famous now-retired Huntress in circles with The Grimm Reaper and owner of The Skillful in Kuchinashi. Team SMMK - A team of Huntsmen centered in Kuchinashi, consisting of: Sil, Marton, Mina Lavender, and Khaki. They originally worked for the Wave crime syndicate before abandoning them. Alabaster - A former Huntsmen who was the sheriff of the Kuchinashi city guard before the Wave takeover. Daff - A former Huntsmen who joined the Kuchinashi city guard and later the Wave. Was convinced to work against them by Fenix Nemean. The Taskmaster - A former Huntsmen that had his license revoked after multiple dealings in crime. Works as an info broker in Kuchinashi. Takaya - The Headmaster of the Huntsmen school in Kuchinashi and leader of the resistance against the Wave crime syndicate. Maria Calavera - A former Silver-Eyed Warrior known as the Grimm Reaper. She lost her eyes in a fight against Tock, and spent decades in hiding since. Vacuo Theodore - Headmaster of Shade Academy and a member of Ozpin's Group. Xanthe Rumpole - History professor at Shade Academy and a member of Ozpin's Group. Rowena Sunnybrook - Weapons teacher at Shade Academy. Edward Caspian - An elderly veteran Huntsman. The Crown Carmine Esclados - A rogue veteran Huntress and Shade Academy graduate. Rosa Schwein - a dropout student from Shade Academy turned criminal. Gillian Asturias - a dropout student from Shade Academy turned criminal. Jax Asturias - an expelled student from Shade Academy turned criminal. Argento Pocoron - a dropout student from Shade Academy turned criminal. Umber Gorgoneion - a dropout student from Shade Academy turned criminal. Bertilak Celadon - A rogue veteran Huntsman and Shade Academy graduate. Green - A Huntsman working for The Crown for unknown reasons, possibly due to being placed under mind control.
Trivia: Huntsmen and Huntresses are a form of celebrities in Remnant. This is evident when Ruby asks for Glynda's autograph, when Jaune refers to his family as famous heroes and the RWBY: World of Remnant episode Aura explains that they are widely regarded as the world's greatest warriors. Even Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, like Coco Adel and the members of Team SSSN, are known to have dedicated fans among the spectators of the Vytal Festival. The first three digits in Team RWBY's Huntress License ID numbers (636) likely allude to Rooster Teeth's address when they created RWBY. Huntsmen is the general collective term for the profession, with Huntresses reserved only for women. The term 'hunter' is often misattributed as an abbreviation for Huntsman but is a separate job title referring to those that hunt wild animals for food, such as Li Ren. Despite this, the non-binary Huntsmen Shion Zaiden in RWBY: Ice Queendom is referred to as a "Nightmare Hunter" that deals with special Nightmare Grimm.
Teams are groups comprised of four individuals that are formed to fight alongside one another. At Beacon Academy and other schools, students are put into teams to learn together and practice with other teams while training to become Huntsmen. Background: Teams are formed at Huntsman Academies with the intention of forming lasting bonds and fostering empathy between team members. After graduating from an academy, a team may stay together or disband for its members to pursue solo careers. However, Atlas Academy was known for pressuring its graduates to join the Atlas Military prior to the Kingdom's destruction, with the Happy Huntresses being the only known team to avoid this.
History: Following the Great War, the King of Vale abolished the monarchy and created the Huntsmen Academies to train Huntsmen. He put students into four-person teams to encourage teamwork.
Professor Ozpin claims that the King of Vale was inspired by the Mistralian Fairy Tale of The Hunter's Children when developing the Huntsmen Academies, taking the four-man squad and ideals of the tale as lessons to heart and using them as foundational cores to the Huntsman ideology.
While official teams were usually comprised of four members and had their name be a color, the Ace Operatives were the only known team to ignore these rules and had five members instead while lacking a name referencing a color. This was due to general James Ironwood not caring about Ozpin's rules and instead preferring an elite and efficient team.
Formation: Names The first letter of each team member's name is used to form an acronym that stands for the name of the team. In some cases, the first letter of a member's surname may be used. The team leader's initial is the first letter of the team name.[2].
Every official team name follows the color naming rule of Remnant, with the exception of the Ace Operatives. This means a team name has to be a color, mean a color, sound like a color or make people think of a certain color.[3][4] Team names also often share the same color as their leader, such as Summer Rose and Team STRQ both connected to white.
Formation at Beacon Main article: Beacon Academy Initiation Every academy has its own way of assigning teams.[5] At Beacon Academy, teams were formed during the Beacon Academy Initiation.
The day after arriving at Beacon Academy, first-year students (such as Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, etc.) were gathered at the edge of Beacon Cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest where Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch stood before them and explained the procedure of the Beacon Academy Initiation that they would soon undergo. After being launched from the Cliff and landing in the forest below, the first pair of students to make eye contact with each other were partners for the rest of their time at Beacon, which consisted of four years.
To complete the team of four, as seen in "Players and Pieces", the two pairs of students who picked matching relics found at the abandoned temple were combined to form a team, and Ozpin chose the leader based on who displayed the best leadership skills during the initiation.
As of "The Badge and The Burden", the team members of each respective team shared a dorm. Even Team JNPR, a co-ed team, shared a single dorm.
In "End of the Beginning", it was unknown if any of the teams at Beacon remained active after the academy's destruction and its headmaster's death. In particular, Team RWBY goes inactive due to the separation of its members but later reforms in "Haven's Fate". Some teams transferred to another academy, an example being Team CFVY transferring to Shade Academy.
Formation at Shade: Main article: Shade Academy Initiation In RWBY: Before the Dawn, the "Reinitiation Ceremony" started as students were told to board armed Air Buses, which took them over the Vacuan desert. The cadets then received individual coordinates which they had to reach, and they were informed their Scroll connections will be blocked. They were also told they had exactly three objectives:
Survive the desert. Find your way to an airbus which would take you back to Shade Academy. Locate and retrieve a golden trinket in the desert. After reaching several thousand feet high, the floor of the aircraft suddenly opened, dropping all students into the desert below. The students were forced to find their own landing strategies to safely reach the soft sand.
It is unknown what the differences of re-initiation are from Shade's regular initiations and how teams are selected afterwards, although Scarlet David believed that it is entirely random as based on Team SSEA's formation.
Beacon Academy - (Formerly) : Beacon Academy was situated in the former Kingdom of Vale and its capital city. After the Fall of Beacon and Ozpin's death, the academy became overrun with Grimm and many of the teams at the academy either transferred to Shade Academy, were killed in the attack, or just left completely. Glynda Goodwitch became the Headmistress of Beacon following this and was attempting to restore the academy to its former glory, though this did not come to pass with the destruction of Vale in the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic".
Shade Academy: Shade Academy is located in the Kingdom of Vacuo and its Headmaster is Theodore. Many of the teams at the Academy recently transferred from the fallen academies of Beacon and Haven, causing many of the teams at the academy like Team NDGO to constantly harass the newer students.
Gillian's Team was an older team at Shade, but left the academy after Jax Asturias was expelled for his bad behavior and the other members defected with him to form The Crown. Team BRNZ was a team from Shade that was mostly wiped out during the fall of beacon with only Nolan Porfirio surviving.
After Xanthe Rumpole was brainwashed by the Crown and she recommended Theodore changed the original teams, Theodore reorganized the pre-existing teams when he learned the Crown used Rumpole to keep the academy off their trail.
Atlas Academy - (Formerly): Atlas Academy was a Huntsmen Academy that merged with the government and the Atlas Military. Its headmaster was James Ironwood who was also the general of the military. After the Kingdom of Atlas was destroyed in "The Final Word", the Academy was destroyed with it and many of the organizations and teams associated with them were disbanded.
Atlas Academy - (Formerly): Atlas Academy was a Huntsmen Academy that merged with the government and the Atlas Military. Its headmaster was James Ironwood who was also the general of the military. After the Kingdom of Atlas was destroyed in "The Final Word", the Academy was destroyed with it and many of the organizations and teams associated with them were disbanded.
Trivia : Story Since first-year students are seen speculating how teams are going to be formed and even asking others to join theirs the morning before being assigned teammates, the process and details of creating teams at Beacon are kept secret until the initiation. Glynda herself calls what the students heard as "rumors", although Pyrrha knew the teams consisted of four students each beforehand and Nora was previously aware that the test would take place in the forest. Despite the fact that all teams have their first letters represent the name of their leaders, Jaune, Weiss, and Ruby are all shown to be surprised at who would command the group. This may merely be the students' lack of knowledge as to how teams are assigned. The Ace Operatives lacking a team color and ignoring the standard four-man squad convention was an intentional choice, made to show that Ironwood did not care about Ozpin's rules and his view of prioritizing efficiency.[8] The Beacon Initiation had twenty black and white chess pieces visible in the temple, two for each piece in chess, both white and black. This would mean that there is a possible total of ten teams of four able to pass the initiation. Team Names Under most circumstances, all letters in a team name consist of their members' first initials. However, there are five cases in which a team member's last name is used for their respective team's initials: Lie Ren of Team JNPR, Sky Lark of Team CRDL, May Zedong of Team BRNZ, and Arrastra Skye and Pyke Rite of Team SAFR. So far, there have been three cases where the team's name matches that of their respective leader: Ruby Rose of Team RWBY, Sun Wukong of Team SSSN, and Brawnz Ni of Team BRNZ. Official team names also often reference the colors or themes of their leaders: Juniper trees sometimes have yellow leaves like Jaune Arc, cardinals are red-orange birds like Cardin Winchester, coffee is a brown confection like Coco Adel, auburn is a shade of red like Arslan Altan, indigo is a shade of purple like Nebula Violette, stark is a type of white like Summer Rose, funky can refer to musicians like Flynt Coal, sapphires are blue gems like Arrastra Skye, smoke is gray like Sil, and briars are seen in the tattoos of Bianca Prisma and her teammates. Shade's reformed teams mostly followed this trend as well, with sea green for Sage Ayana, novae as a cosmic phenomenon for Nebula, burn referring to orange flames for Bolin Hori, fondue as a food like Fox Alistair and his "fox hunter's pie", and rosy referring to flowers connected with the nymph that Reese Chloris is named after. In the first episode of Volume 4, Ren, Nora and Jaune debate on whether to call their new team RNJR (Ranger) or JNRR (Junior). Nora explains that there are more members from Team JNPR, so they should be called Team JNRR. Ren disagrees because the pronunciation of the name does not link to a color. He also points out that since they are helping Ruby on her mission, their team name should start with Ruby's initial, thus creating the team name RNJR.
Miscellaneous: Most teams have their own motifs and themes. RWBY's is fairy tale heroines. JNPR's is cross-dressing warriors and legends. CRDL's is types of birds. Character design also shows they are based on medieval knights. CFVY's is various sweets. SSSNโs is characters from classic tales. Moreover, Sage, Scarlet, and Neptuneโs designs are also based on the K-pop Boy band, Big Bang. FNKIโs is Internet memes. Their charactersโ names are also based on real life substances, elements, or even ores. Ace Operativesโ is Aesopโs Fables. Happy Huntressesโ is Robin Hoodโs Merry Men. BRIRโs is tattoos and thorn ornaments. STRQ's might be poems and literature, though Taiyang's allusion is not apparent yet. Other teams do not seem to have a consistent motif or theme. For much of the early years in RWBY, all fully revealed teams had a member whose name alludes to a shade of red: Ruby Rose (RWBY), Pyrrha Nikos (JNPR), Scarlet David (SSSN), Velvet Scarlatina (CFVY), Cardin Winchester (CRDL), Arslan Altan (ABRN), Roy Stallion (BRNZ), Octavia Ember (NDGO), Summer Rose (STRQ), and Robyn Hill (Happy Huntresses). This pattern was later broken with Teams FNKI, Team SAFR, Team SMMK, and the Ace Operatives not having any characters that allude to a shade of red. Penny's Team was left ambiguous as having only shown two members. The temporary teams of Shade Academy also mostly followed this pattern: Octavia Ember (NOVA), Umber Gorgoneion (FNDU), Scarlet David (ROSC), and possibly Elektra Fury (SSEA), with the exception of Team BYRN. There has been several cases of teams in the show that have either lost or gained members than the standard four. Team JNPR changes to Team JNR after the death of Pyrrha Nikos. After the events of RWBY: Before the Dawn, Nolan Porfirio becomes a de facto fifth member of Team SSSN, making it "Team SSSNN" and the only team to have an additional member. The Ace Operatives do not follow the rules strictly as the team's main focus on prioritizing efficiency. Though likely having four members due to participating in the first round of the Vytal Festival, Penny's Team was shown with just two of its members. Despite being a four-person team, the Happy Huntresses do not seem to have a team acronym. Some factions such as Cinder's Faction or Salem's Inner Circle were given team names by fans despite not originating from academies, the former being "Team CRME" (Crime) for Cinder Fall, Roman Torchwick, Mercury Black, and Emerald Sustrai, and the latter being "Team WTCH" (Witch) for Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callows, Cinder, and Hazel Rainart. Some teams appeared in RWBY: Amity Arena, but with members missing: Scarlet of Team SSSN. Bolin, Reece, Nadir of Team ABRN. Brawnz of Team BRNZ. Summer and Taiyang of Team STRQ. Kobalt and Ivori of Team FNKI. Robyn and Joanna of the Happy Huntresses. Ciel of Pennyโs team.
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. It is known to make a distinctive "shimmering" sound passively and when in use. The name "Dust" is implied to be a reference to the primordial state which mankind originally believed it was born from. As a natural resource, it is sometimes poetically referred to as "Nature's Wrath", or more prosaically as an energy propellant.
History: According to ancient legends recounted during the opening narration of "Ruby Rose", mankind was fighting a losing struggle against creatures of darkness known as the Grimm. However, through their resourcefulness and ingenuity, Humanity managed to discover and harness a source of power they named "Dust" in order to battle the Grimm. It is revealed in "The Lost Fable" that Dust came to be at some point during the second wave of Humanity. Since mankind could not use Magic as it could before, Dust was used to compensate.
The advent of Dust became the turning point in the war. It would appear that after mankind drove back the Grimm and built civilizations, Dust became integrated into everyday life within Remnant.[1] However, despite its widespread use and prevalence in society, Humanity has yet to understand the origins or the implications of their involvement with Dust.[3] During the Great War, Vacuo was targeted by Mistral and Mantle because it had the largest reserves of Dust in the World. Before they could get it however, the warrior King of Vale stopped the invasion himself and ended the war in the process.
After the Great War ended, Nicholas Schnee wanted to help his Kingdom recover and using funds he obtained after his father died, funded an exploration for possible Dust Mines while managing to find one. After this, he created the Schnee Dust Company which was originally known for being trustworthy and reliable back in the past. After his health started to fail him, his son-in-law Jacques Schnee manages to convince him to let him deal with the company. After he did however, the Schnee Dust Company began partaking in controversial business practices like abusing Faunus workers and shady dealings. At some later point, Jacques admitted to his wife Willow Schnee that he only married her for the Schnee name and company.
Following the Great War, both the Schnee Dust Company and the Mistral Trading Company drained the Kingdom of Vacuo of its Dust resources. This caused the people of Vacuo's capital to resent people from outside the Kingdom. An incarnation of Ozma used the Relic of Creation to raise the city of Atlas to give the people of the Kingdom a beacon of hope. As a cover story, it was said that the city was raised using Gravity Dust. At the same time, the Kingdom of Atlas became the primary source of Hard-Light Dust, which is considered the rarest type of Dust in Remnant.
A few years before the beginning of the series, former Vale city manager and corrupt councilman Jimmy Vanille helped the Xiong Family criminal syndicate illegally smuggle Dust into the city while he took parts of these shipments back to his family estate and placed the stolen Dust in his daughter's room after she left and became a criminal. When a gang war between the Xiong Family and their rival from Mistral Spider broke out at the Vanille Estate in Vale, Jimmy's daughter managed to trick Spider's leader Lil' Miss Malachite to shoot the Dust in her bedroom and led to the destruction of the estate while killing Jimmy and his wife Carmel Vanille and multiple members from both sides including the Xiong Family's leader Hei Xiong. Following the explosion, Lil' Miss and the rest of Spider pulled out of Vale and returned to Mistral to recover.
At the start of the series, Roman Torchwick began stealing Dust shipments all over the Kingdom of Vale, causing the Kingdom's Huntsmen and military to not have enough to protect Vale. This also caused an economic crisis which forced the Schnee Dust Company to increase the price of any remaining Dust in the Kingdom.
After the Fall of Beacon, General James Ironwood placed an embargo on Dust, preventing any from leaving the Kingdom of Atlas officially and caused the Schnee Dust Company's stocks to plummet.
For her invasion of Atlas, Salem created Monstra as her mobile base. The giant Grimm was able to fly in the air due to the enormous amount of Gravity Dust implanted on its back. Following Jacques Schnee's arrest, many of the Schnee Dust Company's workers quit and Jacques was eventually killed by General James Ironwood. After the Kingdom of Atlas was destroyed, the SDC ceased to exist when the company's headquarters along with all of their Dust operations in the Kingdom were destroyed. Due to the destruction of the Kingdom, all of the Dust that was being stockpiled from the embargo was lost.
Description:
Serving as an energy source that is nearly all purpose, Dust can be triggered by the Aura of Humans and Faunus.
Dust can be found in two distinct states, crystalline and powdered. Dust, whether crystalline or powdered, is highly explosive. For example, during the Dust store robbery, Roman Torchwick threw a crystal at Ruby Rose's feet and fired at it, causing a sizable explosion. The powdered form appears more volatile since something as innocuous as a sneeze is enough to detonate a cloud of Dust.
In the RWBY: World of Remnant episode "Dust", the four basic types are shown to be Fire, Water, Electricity, and Wind. These four types can be fused into other types of Dust if they form next to each other, each with its own unique properties, such as Ice being the combination of Water and Wind. This fusion can occur naturally in rare instances - as shown with Gravity Dust- or artificially, as with Hard-Light Dust. Because of this, some types of Dust are much more rare and expensive than others. According to Caroline Cordovin, Atlas was the father of Hard-Light Dust, and it is primarily fused by the SDC.
For unknown reasons, Dust does not function outside of the atmosphere of Remnant, precluding the possibility of space flight. Despite this, Dust has been shown to function normally in the Ever After, despite being a completely different realm from Remnant. It is also unknown if Grimm can activate Dust despite their lack of Aura as the Gravity Dust implanted in Monstra allowed it to fly, but Gravity Dust levitates without needing to be activated as seen with Lake Matsu's flying islands.
Uses of Dust: Dust serves as a power source for the majority of technology in Remnant, from airships to androids, though some alternative technologies do exist.
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. When Weiss slices an Atlesian Paladin-290 in half, the circuitry is revealed inside, indicating that it is powered by electricity; although, Dust as an additional fuel source is likely as well. Alternatively, this may reveal that Dust-powered objects also require circuits to function. Or simply that Lightning Dust can produce electricity in a way that can be used similarly to batteries or generators, allowing normal circuitry to function. Combat: The discovery of Dust was instrumental to Humanity's initial victory over 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 use it for combat in this state. Furthermore, the effective use of raw Dust requires a certain level of discipline to keep from losing control of it.
Dustweave: An "age-old technique," weaving Dust into clothes is first shown by Cinder who first makes use of it with her original battle outfit in "Ruby Rose" and then again with her stealth outfit in "Dance Dance Infiltration", both of which utilized orange Dust. These two instances occurred before Volume 3 and, as a result, were prior to Monty Oum adding the Maidens to the story. In "Field Trip", Ruby mentions Cinder's clothes "lit up", leading James Ironwood to speculate that Cinder utilized Dust weaved into her clothing to enable her weapon, Midnight. Ironwood expresses that someone's identity cannot be proven simply by the fact that they utilize it as a weapon.
Fusing Dust with One's Body: An effective, though unorthodox, use of Dust is physical infusion within one's body. Hazel Rainart is the first to display the method of fusing Dust with oneself, by stabbing Dust crystals into his arms. As shown in "Vault of the Spring Maiden" when Hazel Rainart stabs a few Lightning Dust crystals into his arms. The process causes his muscles to grow exponentially, enhancing his strikes proportional to that growth, while the electrical overflow discharges from his entire body.
Fusing with Dust is extremely painful, and Hazel is only able to fight after doing so thanks to his Numbing Agent rendering him impervious to the sensation of pain. Even then, there is a limit to how much raw Dust an ordinary person is capable of metabolizing at a time, and overusing Dust can implicitly be fatal.
Dust-Imbued Blades: Dust-imbued blades are first shown by Adam Taurus and Raven Branwen, in two somewhat different ways. Adam's sword, Wilt appears to have a fixed blade, imbued with Fire Dust which he uses in the "Black" Trailer and the Volume 3 Opening. Raven's sword, Omen, is capable of switching between multiple blades imbued with different types of Dust. She is first seen using the Dust in one of the blades during her fight with Cinder at Haven Academy when she swings her sword to produce a path of ice, which she uses to slide past Cinder.
Powdered Dust: Adding powdered Dust to one's weapon is first shown by Weiss, who inserts vials of powdered Dust into a revolving chamber in her Multi-Action Dust Rapier, Myrtenaster. Her weapon has an exhaust port at the base of the blade, which allows the powdered Dust to leak out onto the blade. Weiss can choose to activate this Dust in a number of ways. One method is to swing her blade, which disturbs the Dust, causing it to activate and follow the swing of the blade, such as casting fire from her blade. Another method is to use her glyphs to activate and direct the Dust. This method allows her to manipulate how the Dust flows and manifests. She has demonstrated this ability numerous times with Ice Dust by manipulating what shape the ice would take. The third method is to utilize her Aura to activate the Dust and control its manifestation, such as when she directs tiny flames from the tip of Myrtenaster over to several candles in "The Coming Storm".
Dust Crystals: Adding a Dust crystal to one's weapon is first shown in different ways in Volume 3 by Reese Chloris, Dew and Amber. During the Vytal Festival Tournament, Reese pushes an orange Dust crystal inside of her hoverboard to give it the ability to produce heat. Dew has a cut Wind Dust crystal embedded in the head of her spear. Amber placed uncut Dust crystals within twisted wooden branches on either end of her staff.
Dust Bullets: Dust bullets 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. Torchwick also makes reference to Dust rounds as being amongst the merchandise he stole, in the episode "Best Day Ever". It is mentioned that such rounds come in several different sizes and cartridges to be used for any given situation. Dust Bullet magazines have emblems on them to show what types of Dust are in that magazine. For example, a magazine that uses Fire Dust has an emblem of a flame on it. Dust and Semblances: Because of Dust's connections to Aura, one's Semblance can also be affected it. Notably, a novel use of Dust is Weiss Schnee's use of Lightning Dust to create Time Dilation with her Glyphs. In the episode "No Brakes", Blake Belladonna inserts Dust vials into her weapon, Gambol Shroud, and uses it in conjunction with her Semblance. While normally her Shadow images are simply evanescent copies of her, with Dust, they take on the properties of an element, such as stone statues, ice sculptures or explosive fiery apparitions. Coco Adel can use her Hype to cause Dust to explode and increase its attack power while Arrastra Skye can use her Equilibrium to break down the atoms of Dust to redirect it at her target. Marton from Team SMMK has the ability to nullify the effects of Dust using his Semblance. Utility: Amity Colosseum Arena During the combat tournament of the Vytal Festival, Dust crystals are scattered throughout the arena for combatants to use. During the match between Team RWBY and Team ABRN, Ruby detonates Ice Dust to immobilize an opponent. Reese also combines orange Dust with her weapon. She later uses her weapon to freeze the leg of an Atlesian Paladin 290 in "Heroes and Monsters". The Colosseum also has artificially created weather due to the use of Dust. These environmental Dust controls were created by Arthur Watts.
Vehicles: Vehicles run on Dust. The Mistral Train has cyan glowing pipes, presumed to be Hard-Light Dust and Yang's Motorcycle, Bumblebee, was said to run on Combustion Dust.
Vehicles, such as trains and streetcars, make use of Dust in varying ways. In "Kuroyuri", the train's pipes glow cyan when its active and fade to dull gray when powered down. The Argus Limited's track has a line of Gravity Dust through the middle of it. The streetcar that Teams RWBY and JNPR ride in "The Grimm Reaper" has a faint purple glow beneath it, hinting to Gravity Dust being responsible for its levitation.
Art Director Patrick Rodriguez designed a functional Dust powered engine for a Vehicle, but it was never used. Just Rite, a refueling station, offers services to refuel vehicles somewhere in Anima.
Mundane: As Remnant's primary source of functional power, Dust has many uses in everyday life, across all walks of life and the full breadth of morality. One example of this early in Remnant's history was when Mantle integrated Dust into a system built in their houses. Stoves use Dust to heat the burners, as indicated by Dust's signature "shimmering" sound effect when Ruby turns on a stove in "Known by its Song". Today, nearly all screens from the commonly used Scrolls to computers are holographically projected in the air and are highly likely made with Hard-Light Dust. It appears that buildings do not need to be connected to a central power grid in order to power lights, as Maria turns on a cordless lamp in the abandoned Brunswick Farms, in "Alone in the Woods". Construction workers in "The Grimm Reaper" are seen using a levitating cart to haul bricks. This cart makes the Dust "shimmering" noise when one of the workers drops a brick onto it. Production and Distribution: The Schnee Dust Company was one of the largest producers of Dust in the world. Dust was mined from the Schnee Quarry, purified, and transported by railway lines or by sea to distributors. Dust was then sold to the public by Dust shops such as From Dust Till Dawn. Some Dust shops like the one in Kuchinashi hire bouncers and bodyguards to prevent their Dust from being stolen by thieves. According to Flynt Coal, his father's own Dust business was forced to shut down because of the Schnee Dust Company, showing they had monopolized smaller Dust businesses to grow as big as they had. The Mistral Trading Company is a Dust company stationed in the Kingdom of Mistral. Like the Schnee Dust Company, they have many Dust processing plants outside its Kingdom, one of them being abandoned and used by The Crown. Both the Schnee Dust Company and Mistral Trading Company eventually drained the Kingdom of Vacuo of its Dust resources, despite it having the largest Dust reserves in the world. 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.
Much like real-world resources, Dust has been said to be a limited resource as it is mined from the ground. The RWBY: World of Remnant episode "Schnee Dust Company" depicts a crystal-to-bullet process, with a hint that this process was costly.
When locating the site of a potential new Dust Mine, the Schnee Dust Company would send someone into the potential mining site and obtain a Dust sample to see if they could mine there. If the Dust had inert specks and imperfections however, the mine site would be deemed unusable and would be abandoned by the company.[24]
Dust smuggling is considered illegal and done by certain crime syndicates like the Xiong Family who managed to smuggle Dust into Vale with the help of corrupt councilman and city manager Jimmy Vanille. Secretly however, Jimmy stole parts of those shipments and had them placed in his estate. This heightens after the events of Volume 3, General James Ironwood had put an embargo on Dust distribution in effect. This made it harder to obtain dust throughout Remnant with some people having resorted to smuggling dust out of Atlas until the Kingdom's destruction in Volume 8. The Lien price for Dust is currently unknown.
Later, the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, Jacques Schnee, was killed by Ironwood in "Worthy". The company itself was later destroyed in "The Final Word" when its headquarters and all of its Dust operations in Atlas were destroyed with the kingdom itself. This is likely to drastically impact Dust prices and availability.
Types of Dust: The colors of Dust that have been seen thus far are as follows: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Dark Orange, Bright Orange, Pale Green, Cyan, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Blue, Black/Purple, and White Primary Dust:
Fire: Fire, or Burn Dust, is red in color and can be used to create fire in various forms, such as fireballs and fire waves. It is one of the four primary types.
It is first seen in the ""White" Trailer", when Weiss produces red fire from Myrtenaster as she fights the Arma Gigas. In the show proper, it is first seen in "The Emerald Forest" when Weiss Schnee accidentally sets the Emerald Forest on fire. It can also be produced in the form of fireballs. In "The Coming Storm", Weiss uses Fire Dust to create and control tiny fires, which she uses to light candles.
Water: Water Dust is blue in color and can be used to create water. It is one of the four primary types.
While it has only been used to make Steam Dust in the series, it's effects in battle when used by itself have never been shown.
Electricity: Electricity, or Lightning Dust, is yellow in color and can be used to generate electricity in forms such as bolts of lightning and electrical currents. It is one of the four primary types. Electricity generated from this Dust can be used to stun enemies, as seen when Ilia uses it on Corsac Albain in "True Colors". The electricity can also interfere with electronics, including prostheses, as seen in "Seeing Red". Hazel Rainart is later seen using Lightning Dust to shoot bolts of lightning from his fists, as well as electrically charge his touch and his attacks during the Battle of Haven. In RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, the Kuchinashi prison uses Lightning Dust in its prison cell bars to keep even the most well-trained Huntsmen locked up. Lightning Dust can also be used to power shock collars, such as the one that Cinder Fall was forced to wear when she worked at the Glass Unicorn, though she builds a tolerance to it. Mixing Gravity Dust with Lightning Dust will create a magnetic effect.
Wind: Wind, or Air Dust can be used to create wind in various forms, such as gusts and tornadoes. It has been portrayed as both white and green in color in different appearances. According to The World of RWBY: The Official Companion, Wind Dust is white, but according to Lore Keeper Eddy Rivas, Wind Dust is pale green, while its effects are white. It is also one of the four primary types.
It is first used by Dew Gayl in "New Challengers..." when she creates three tornadoes, which surround Sage Ayana before combining into a larger tornado and tossing him out of the arena. Weiss uses the Dust to create a whirlwind to block the sound wave blast from Flynt Coal's trumpet in "Never Miss a Beat", and Amber uses a Wind Dust crystal to create gusts of wind to push her enemies away in "Beginning of the End". During Volume 8, Wind Dust was shown to be used in Tornado Grenades.
Combination Dust: Steam: Steam Dust is the combination of Fire and Water Dust, and can generate clouds of steam.
It is first used by Mercury Black in "Lessons Learned" during his battle with Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi, where he creates a large smokescreen to make an opening to attack the duo. It's later repeated in "Fall" in his match against Yang.
Gravity: Gravity Dust is black, sometimes purple in color and can be used to manipulate gravitational fields, often to pull objects or create a field that pushes outward. Despite the fact that in reality, gravity can only pull objects, Gravity Dust does not seem to have this limitation. It is used in public transport to make vehicles hover and some Huntsmen incorporate Gravity Dust into weapons for a stronger impact or to recall thrown weapons. Due to the properties of Gravity Dust, the public story behind Atlas' airborne city was that it was powered by this unique Dust type. In actuality, the City of Atlas remained afloat due to the power of the Relic of Creation.
Gravity Dust is implied to be a combination of Fire and Lightning Dust, occurring with the two in the Schnee Dust Company Mine 2. It is also shown in "Dread in the Air", where giant black crystals cause the pieces of land in which they form to levitate, thus creating floating islands such as the ones above Lake Matsu in Anima. The Land of Darkness was shown to have Gravity Dust spread throughout it. Unlike naturally occurring ones, these did not cause gravitational effects around the area. Mixing Gravity Dust with Lightning Dust will create a magnetic effect.[32]
It is first used by Ruby when she uses Gravity Dust ammunition in the "Red" Trailer. In the show proper, it appears to be first seen being used in conjunction with Weiss' Semblance to create black glyphs, as evidenced by the rotation of Myrtenaster's Dust chamber in the "Volume 5 Weiss Character Short". Roy Stallion's saws use Gravity Dust to return back to him when thrown. It is later seen in use by Maria Calavera with her weapons, Life and Death. When she had both sickles, Maria could choose to either use her Aura or press a button on either of the sickles to attract one sickle to the other like magnets. She could also utilize her Aura to levitate the sickles around herself.
The tracks of Argus Limited are lined with Gravity Dust. It allows the train to move faster and more efficiently by hovering above the tracks. Cars in "Cordially Invited" used Gravity Dust to levitate above the ground.
Gravity Dust naturally floats so it was able to be integrated into the body of Monstra, Salem's giant Grimm whale ship she uses to attack Atlas.
Combustion:
Combustion Dust is often used as fuel for machinery and can give a user a major boost to their physical activity. It is shown to be a combination of Fire and Wind Dust, occurring in caves close to Essen. It was first revealed in the Official Companion book.
It is used to power Yang Xiao Long's sports motorcycle, Bumblebee.
Zure Ayu's sister Cye later gives the first one mined to Yang in order to power up her Semblance Burn. This Dust is used as a fuel for machinery. Harnessing this kind of Dust correctly can give a major boost to any physical activity as well, be it throwing a fishing spear or throwing a punch. Weiss Schnee states that this kind of Dust is uncommon and that anyone would be lucky to mine it in such a pure form.
Ice: Ice Dust is light blue in color and can be used to create ice in any shape, such as crystals, thin sheets or even large structures like curved ramps or platforms that float in water. It is formed by the combination of Water and Wind Dust.
It is first used by Weiss in the "White" Trailer, to trap an Arma Gigas' feet. In the series proper, it is once again first used by Weiss, who utilizes it in "Players and Pieces" to trap a Death Stalker's stinger and save Ruby. Ice Dust has been used many times throughout the series to create large ice crystals, often to trap or impale enemies. Weiss has created ice crystals to push White Fang members off of a train in "No Brakes", as well as to protect herself and her teammates from the train crash in the same episode. In "Painting the Town...", Weiss uses this Dust to create a thin sheet of ice on a highway to make an Atlesian Paladin-290 slip and fall. In "Breach", Weiss briefly uses this Dust to create an ice sword resembling her Arma Gigas' sword, while using a glyph to swing the sword at a group of Grimm. Blake utilizes this Dust in conjunction with her Semblance to form an ice sculpture of herself in "No Brakes". In "Dread in the Air", Weiss fires ice beams at a group of Lancers. These ice beams are a somewhat darker blue than Hard-Light laser projectiles, have a snowy effect and do not curve through the air like Hard-Light lasers. In "The Lady in the Shoe", Weiss spreads the effect of her Ice Dust through the ocean water in front of her ice platform to temporarily trap the Colossus' leg.
Hard-Light: Hard-Light Dust is cyan in color and can be used to form solid objects made of light energy. Being a combination of Fire, Water, Lightning, and Wind, it is the rarest type of Dust and can seemingly only be artificially made. Caroline Cordovin notes that Atlas was the father of Hard-Light Dust, indicating that Atlas was a major user and creator of technology that used this Dust. It is largely produced by the Schnee Dust Company.
One example of its use is laser-like projectiles, first used by Weiss in "Players and Pieces",with a similar version being used in the "White" Trailer". Another use for Hard-Light Dust is the creation of shields, by both people and technology. Weiss first uses it as a personal shield while fighting the White Fang Lieutenant in "No Brakes", and its first technological use is seen in the Amity Colosseum throughout Volume 3. The cities of Argus and Atlas also used it for defense. Shield technology appears to be its primary use. In RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, Hard-Light Dust can be used to create display cases. It has also been seen in the pipes of a train engine in Mistral.
Velvet Scarlatina's weapon, Anesidora, projects Hard-Light Dust into the shape of weaponry that she has taken photographs of. Due to the Dust Embargo, Velvet has had a harder time getting her hands on Hard-Light Dust and is forced to hold off on using her weapons copying feature as a result.
Hard-Light Dust is shown to be burning to touch, having burned the skin off James Ironwood's left arm during a fight with Arthur Watts.
Lava: Among other things, bright orange Dust can be turned to a molten projectile when superheated, that splatters to the ground when blocked, to make weaponry out of obsidian or some other form of black glass and to melt ice by generating heat. It is unknown what combination is used for this Dust, though it appears to include Fire.
It is first used by Cinder, whose dress has the Dust sewn into its designs, in "Ruby Rose". It is later seen in the fire biome of Amity Colosseum in Volume 3.
Plant: Plant Dust is green in color. It was first revealed in The World of RWBY: The Official Companion, but still has yet to be used or even appear in the main show proper. It is unknown what combination is used for this Dust.
It is first used in RWBY: The Grimm Campaign by Arrastra Skye to attack the trucks used by the Wave in "A Rebellious Reunion", causing plant vines to ensnare the trucks.
Plant Dust is likely used for farming purposes as well and is likely used in areas like the fields that were used for the city of Atlas to obtain crops.
Rock: Rock, or Earth Dust is dark orange in color and can be used to create rocks. It is unknown what combination is used for this Dust.
It is first used by Blake when she combines it with her Semblance to create a stone copy of herself in "No Brakes".
When used with a weapon, Earth Dust can fire large stones as projectiles. This is first shown by Leonardo Lionheart, who uses his Stalwart to create a flaming rock and launch it during the Battle of Haven. This method is also shown by the Colossus, which fires boulders from its cannon, some of which create spiky stone structures upon impact with the ground. Earth Dust can also be used defensively, such as when Weiss creates a stone wall to block Cordovin's ice blast in "The Lady in the Shoe".
Trivia: Monty Oum stated 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. In Chapter 1 of the 2018 manga, it was mentioned Dust could be refined into a liquid aside from a powder, but this hasn't been revealed in other series. While Dust is used in most weapons in the series, not all weapons use it like Gillian Asturias's bow due to her hatred of Dust. The process of locating potential Dust mining sites is similar to how people locate potential ore mines in real life. Given that Dust can function in the Ever After but not outside of Remnant's atmosphere, it is possible that Dust requires oxygen to react.
Aura is the manifestation of one's soul in RWBY and can be used for a wide range of abilities. The specific abilities and their strengths differ from individual to individual and are dependent on a number of factors, such as experience, training and innate skill.
It is predominantly used for protection from harm. Some people develop an active power from it called a Semblance.
Description: Aura is an ability that all those with a soul can use, at least with enough practice. Because Aura is the manifestation of the soul, it can appear very differently depending on who is using it. For example, the color of Aura differs from person to person: Pyrrha Nikos' is red, Jaune Arc's is gold and Lie Ren is pink, among many others.
It is mentioned that anything with a soul has an Aura, including Humans, Faunus, and animals like Zwei; even synthetic people with souls, such as Penny Polendina, can generate an Aura. The Creatures of Grimm, being soulless, are the only known form of life that does not have Aura. Skilled users of Aura can create their own barriers or even increase their own abilities in some way. Weapons and armor can also act as a conduit for Aura, allowing for an even wider range of offensive and defensive capabilities. This even applies to nontraditional "weapons", such as a loaf of bread or a leek, as seen during the food fight in Best Day Ever.
It has been shown that the strength of an Aura degrades with continual use. This limits the applications of Aura in combat as, with time or heavy use, a person's Aura will decay to the point where they are left weakened or even incapacitated. Aura being completely depleted is visually represented as a colored sheen glowing along the length of a person's body or with colored particles flying off the body, indicating that they can now be physically injured. Aura flickering means it is close to being depleted.
Aura can be recharged and the time it requires to recharge usually varies between each person.
Aura also can vary between individuals in terms of innate quantity of energy that can be used, with Pyrrha noting during the Beacon Academy Initiation that Jaune possesses an extraordinarily large reserve of Aura despite his complete lack of familiarity with the concept up until that point.
Similarly, one's Aura regeneration rate is dependent on the individual, varying per person.
The powers of a Maiden are tied to the person's Aura until their death, which then causes the power to separate.
While those using robotic prostheses such as Yang Xiao Long and James Ironwood are apparently able to shield their artificial anatomy with Aura, those who use Grimm transplants are not, due to their aforementioned soulless nature.
Abilities: Aura is a necessary energy source for all Huntsmen, being a powerful ally in battle. It is also required in order to trigger the use of Dust. Aura, as demonstrated by various characters, can be used in the following techniques.
Defense: Demonstrated by Ren in the Emerald Forest and explained by Pyrrha. Aura is mainly used for defensive purposes. Ren used his to block the fangs of a King Taijitu that was attacking him. While users of Aura will not be hurt as long as their Aura is up, they can still feel sensations such as pain and heat. It requires training to always subconsciously have a cloak of Aura on. Offense: Demonstrated by Ren in the forest, as he sends a shockwave of force propelling a fang through the snake's head, causing it to explode. Fox Alistair demonstrated a similar ability during the fight in Breach, where a shock wave from his fist blew up an Ursa Major. Additionally, Pyrrha has stated that all tools and equipment are conduits for a person's Aura. This is demonstrated twice in Painting the Town... and No Brakes when Blake Belladonna unleashes crescent-shaped slashes from her Gambol Shroud, increasing its range and strength. Strength Boost: Active Aura gives the user an overall boost in physical strength which is the most basic offensive usage. Healing: It also seems that those with a strong enough Aura can heal minor wounds. Jaune used this directly on a small cut after having his Aura unlocked. However, it appears that the healing is automatic and not caused at will. Extrasensory Perception: In the Emerald Forest, Pyrrha explains that Aura allows you to feel like you were being watched without knowing that someone was there, while showing that Ren stopped walking and narrowed his eyes before a King Taijitu appeared behind him. Lie Ren was also able to sense Tyrian Callows approaching Team RNJR in Tipping Point and warn his team to prepare for battle. Fox is shown to use Aura to orientate and balance himself due to his blindness.[5] Sensing/Identifying Aura: Fox Alistair is shown to be capable of using his Aura to sense other people's Auras (ex: describing Coco Adel's as "absurdly strong.") and identify specific ones, provided he is well aware enough of the target (ex: he can identify interconnected Aura, such as the Asturias twins and seeing it in colors despite being blind). Coco notes this is a high-level technique, displaying Fox's expertise in Aura usage. Dust Usage: To use the power of Dust, Humans and Faunus must use their Aura to trigger it. The user's Aura allows them harness Dust and utilize their elemental power. Unlocking Aura: One's Aura can be used to 'unlock' the Aura of someone else; as shown by Pyrrha, who unlocks Jaune's Aura. However, it appears to take a toll on the user. When unlocking Jaune's Aura Pyrrha recited a chant. The chant is a religious ritual Pyrrha personally believed in, but it is not necessary. Anyone who is strongly attuned with their soul can do the job without it. Other specific abilities, known as Semblances, appear to be unique to certain individuals. According to Aura, the fourth installment of RWBY: World of Remnant, Semblance is the projection of Aura into a more tangible form. In Extracurricular, it is learned that the first step in training is learning to activate their Aura after which they can attempt to learn and develop a Semblance. Semblances are reliant on a person's Aura pool to be used, in which they are unusable if a person's Aura is depleted.[8]
In RWBY: Before the Dawn, Shade Academy students discover that Grimm are not only attracted to negative emotions, but also their very souls โ their Aura. Powerful Auras are like Grimm magnets, causing them to drop their original targets in favor of the more powerful supply of Aura as though they were moths to a flame. It is unclear whether it is just unlocked Aura or locked Aura, and it's specified as only Human and Faunus Aura, despite animals having it.
Additionally, attempting to transfer Aura to the Grimm instead causes them to attempt to drain it from the person that is transferring it, as they are creatures of pure destruction.
In RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, it is revealed that magical artifacts can be activated by using a person's Aura.
Activation: It appears that Aura is able to manifest in different ways when in use and takes on the color of one's inner energy. It appears as a slight glow around the body.
It has been stated that the activation of an Aura requires training and willpower, though someone who is strongly attuned with their soul can unlock the Aura of another person with considerable training. Depletion: It has been shown that the strength of an Aura degrades with continual use. Extreme use of Aura, whether for offensive purposes, such as using a Semblance, or defensive purposes, like absorbing blows will eventually cause a person's Aura to decay to the point where they are left weakened or even incapacitated from exhaustion. When an Aura is completely depleted, it is visually represented as a colored sheen running through the body of the individual or with glowing particles flying off the body, indicating that they can now be mortally injured. In the case of individuals with Semblances, they will be unable to access their abilities. Some Semblances are so powerful that using them will quickly drain their Aura, as was the case of Tock.
When the Aura of a Maiden is depleted, they appear vulnerable to having their abilities stolen, as shown when Cinder Fall first broke Amber's Aura before using the glove on her to sap her powers. Although after receiving her Shadow Hand, that is no longer the case for her and could now siphon it directly. Aura flickering means it is close to being depleted or the absorbed strike was particularly strong.
Capture: The former Kingdom of Atlas was performing serious scientific research into the nature and composition of Aura. Their research yielded experimental technology that was capable of "capturing" Aura from a person and transferring it to something or someone else. When the Penny project was singled out for production, its creator, Pietro Polendina, was able to splice off part of his Aura and give it to his daughter Penny, making her the first synthetic person with Aura. However, doing so multiple times took a toll on Pietro's health and left his own Aura with holes. Because of this, Pietro thought that he couldn't bring Penny back if she died again.
The existence of this technology was highly classified, but many of those who did know of it viewed it as ethically immoral. Regardless, this technology was intended to play a key part in preventing the Fall Maiden power of Amber, which was linked to Aura, from falling into the hands of Cinder Fall by transferring the powers to Pyrrha Nikos. It was stated that if the plan was successful, it might have had unknown effects on Pyrrha's psyche and personal identity, merging them with that of Amber, although said consequences were never seen since Cinder killed Amber before it could finish.
The machine was later seen in the medical room for Fria, the Winter Maiden who was dying from old age. Initially, James Ironwood had Winter Schnee to be the only one to interact with her so her powers would go to her naturally. However, once Salem revealed that she was on her way to Atlas, Ironwood declared martial law and ordered Winter to obtain Fria's powers using the transfer machine. Before the process could begin, Cinder arrived and tried to kill Fria, with her powers eventually going to Penny Polendina instead.
Tournaments: In the episode Jaunedice, it is revealed that Aura strength, as a proportion of maximum potential, can be electronically monitored and displayed on a Scroll. This has enabled the development of a competitive sport amongst Huntsmen and others.
Because Aura can protect its user against some of the force of physical blows, it is possible to duel using fully combat-ready weapons without risking death or serious injury. Such tournaments are closely monitored by a referee and, should a combatant's Aura strength fall below a certain red-line where they may no longer be sufficient to protect their users, the match is automatically halted and the combatant with the highest Aura percentile remaining is declared the winner.
The duel between Jaune and Cardin Winchester proves that Aura does not provide 100% protection against concussive blows as Jaune is visibly hurt and left winded by a blow to the abdomen from The Executioner. However, Glynda Goodwitch halts the match before Cardin can strike again, indicating that Jaune's Aura at about 20% power would not stop another full-strength blow.
There is at least one known major international competitive tournament, the Vytal Festival, at which students at Beacon Academy are permitted to compete as representatives of the region of Vale. Another known tournament is the Mistral regional tournament, won by Pyrrha four years in a row.
These tournaments and practice duels have revealed that once a person's Aura drops below a certain percentage, they are disqualified due to their protection against fatal blows no longer being guaranteed. In Round One and New Challengers..., this percentage was shown to be 20% for the team rounds. The percentage is lowered to 15% for doubles and singles rounds, as shown in Never Miss a Beat and Fall.
However, Aura may occasionally drop to 0% in matches, such as Weiss' during her fight against Flynt Coal. Mercury Black is also infamously injured by Yang Xiao Long after she attacks him when his Aura is depleted to 0%.
Trivia: It can be compared to the real-life principle of Chi/Ki/Qi or Chakra, as used in other forms of media. Miles Luna stated that he got the Aura monitor from the Energy shielding in the Halo series. When one's Aura is low, the bar flashes red. The same goes for the shield used by the Spartans. Aura was also adapted in RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, albeit, slightly changed. The effect of Aura and the Halo shield are also very similar visually. It has been stated by Kerry Shawcross that it is possible to increase the amount of Aura someone has but that it is impractical. He further stated that most users of Aura train to use it more efficiently rather than simply trying to get "a bigger gauge". The color of someone's Aura and Semblance can differ from each other: Pyrrha's Aura was red while her Polarity Semblance's color was black. Elm Ederne's Aura is brown while her Aura Roots are light green. Harriet Bree's Aura is pink while the lightning-like energy from her Super-Speed is yellow. Vine Zeki's Aura was light blue while his Aura Vines were light yellow in color. While all characters in RWBY have color associations, their associations and color can differ. For example, while the colors of Ruby Rose and Yang are red and yellow respectively, Weiss and Blake have blue and purple Auras, despite their representative colors being white and black accordingly. Pyrrha used her religious mantra to focus her aura when unlocking Jaune's. The chant is a reference to her inspiration, Achilles, who attempted to earn God-like immortality by gaining fame as a hero but only achieved it in death by being remembered. Monty Oum wrote Pyrrha's mantra himself. He created it because it sounded cool. Pyrrha's chant is referenced through some of the lyrics of the song Rising: "We are the paragons of virtue and glory; death can't bind our endless story; infinite and unbound". In RWBY: Ice Queendom, Aura can't protect people inside someone else's dreamscapes. Ruby receives injuries from Negative Weiss even though her Aura is not depleted in both dreamscape and the real world. Volume 4 introduced a visual effect for Aura shimmering under stress, which is differentiated from Aura breaking, with Yang Xiao Long's Aura shimmering in the fight in "Volume 5 Yang Character Short" being an early example.
Semblance is a power exhibited by certain characters in RWBY. It is developed from a person's Aura and typically helps in battle against Grimm. Semblances are different between people and can range from super strength, manipulating objects to disorienting opponents. Description: A "Semblance" is the manifestation of one's innate and personal power as an ability unique to each individual, with the effects varying greatly from user to user. With the sheer number of people unlocking their Semblances, it can lead to unrelated people gaining similar abilities. According to Kerry Shawcross, there are some Semblances that "everyone thinks they know what they are, but they're not".[1] The nature of one's Semblance is noted as representing an aspect of their character. However, a person's Semblance can be similar to the Semblances of their parents or other family members.[2] The Schnee family Semblance, summoning Glyphs, is unique in the fact that it is completely hereditary.
A person can name their Semblance when they fill out their application form for entering a Huntsman Academy. One example of this would be when Coco Adel decided to name her Semblance Hype when filling out her application for Beacon Academy.
According to Aura, the fourth installment of RWBY: World of Remnant, a Semblance is a more tangible projection of one's Aura. Pyrrha Nikos implied this connection when she told Jaune Arc that the use of Aura can help him to discover his Semblance and Miles Luna refers to Semblances as being "fueled" by Aura. [3][4]
Those that use Semblances are able to manipulate certain physical phenomena according to the nature of their power. Some individuals, such as Weiss Schnee, can use Aura to create "Glyphs" that generate some desired effect - the most prominent being sudden disruptions in movement and/or bursts of momentum. Others have the ability to enhance their performance, such as Ruby Rose and Harriet Bree, who are able to move at incredible speeds. There are also those who can generate and/or manipulate a specific aspect of nature, like Pyrrha who can control magnetic forces. However, there also exist Semblances that depend on external factors in order to function, such as Yang Xiao Long and Nora Valkyrie, who gain enhance their strength by taking damage and absorbing electricity respectively.
Using Dust, certain individuals can modify their Semblances with elements, such as Weiss using Myrtenaster to change her Glyphs and Blake Belladonna inserting Dust vials into Gambol Shroud to give her Shadow clones elemental properties.
Overuse of one's Semblance for prolonged periods may adversely affect its user at certain times. This was demonstrated by Weiss on one occasion after using a series of Glyphs in rapid succession to assist Ruby, subsequently collapsing afterward. This is also seen in "End of the Beginning", when Glynda Goodwitch shows signs of exhaustion from using her Semblance to rebuild Vale.
It seems that emotional turmoil or stress can affect one's use of Semblance, either negatively or positively, as exhibited in "Destiny", where Pyrrha Nikos' Semblance activates while talking to Jaune and accidentally slams him into the stone wall. Later, in "PvP", Pyrrha temporarily warps her weapon and shield for a moment during her tournament round. This phenomenon is exhibited by Weiss in "Tipping Point", when she accidentally summons a Boarbatusk, which then attacks a party guest. The earliest and most frequent example of this phenomenon is Yang Xiao Long's habit of accidentally activating her Semblance when she is angry.
In the case of Qrow Branwen and Clover Ebi, it is possible for a Semblance to be either uncontrollable or permanently active. Additionally, it may even be possible for a Semblance to affect one's surroundings.
Though specifics and details are not expanded upon, it is possible for someone to lose their Semblance. In one instance, Mercury Black lost his Semblance right after unlocking it when his father, Marcus, used his own Semblance to take it from him. It is currently unknown if a Semblance can be restored or not.
Unlocking: Semblances are unlocked during strong physical or emotional events. For example, Ruby unlocked her Semblance while training. Auras and Semblances can also be unlocked due to severe emotional stress or turmoil. Lie Ren unlocked his when his hometown was overrun by Grimm and his family was killed.[5] Cinder Fall unlocked her Semblance after she began reaching her breaking point and experiencing severe anger and frustration due to the years of abuse she endured from the Madame and her daughters.[6]
Some Semblances can also be unlocked by certain external phenomenon, such as Nora who unlocked hers when she was struck by a lightning bolt. Neptune Vasilias's Semblance could also be another possible example of this unlocking method as he was thrown into the ocean by his brother Jupiter, though this remains unclear if it was either direct contact with the water or simply being shocked from suddenly being thrown into it is what resulted his Semblance to be unlocked.
There seems to be no age requirement for unlocking one's Semblances, as seen where Gillian Asturias unlocked hers before even being born.
Evolution: According to Winter Schnee, Semblances are like muscles and are able to grow and evolve. A clear example is her younger sister's eventual mastery of summoning. Another example is Blake Belladonna, whose Semblance only allowed her to create clones that pushed her in a certain direction, but as of "Of Runaways and Stowaways", they can stay around for longer and even interact with her. Another smaller example is where Emerald Sustrai can easily use her Semblance on three people, when years ago she had difficulties using it on two people.
The earliest known instance of Semblance evolution is Ruby Rose's Semblance. As of "Volume 4 Character Short", she demonstrated the ability to divide herself into multiple clusters of rose petals.
A Semblance can also grow to gain a unique new ability altogether. A good example would be Lie Ren who at first only possessed the ability to mask emotions, but later also gained the ability to see the emotions of others.
Semblances can also evolve through intense emotions. In the case of Neopolitan, after surviving the fall to the Ever After, her anger and hatred of Cinder for her betrayal, together with her frustration at her failure to get revenge on Ruby, caused her Semblance to evolve, gaining the new ability to manifest and create several physical copies of herself and other beings. The Ever After's magical nature may have played a role in this, however.
Uniqueness: Whilst Semblances are often said to be completely unique there do exist some that are similar, such as those of Glynda Goodwitch and Carmine Esclados' who share Telekinesis, but differ in both how they manifest (purple glyphs and golden wisps, respectively) and overall potency; with Glynda's Semblance being noted to be much stronger than Carmine's. Semblances can be of the same type but if the visual effect is different they still both qualify as unique.[8]
There have also been Semblances with different names and effects but similar abilities, such as Yang and Adam Taurus's Semblances which mainly absorb damage (the former with her body and the latter with his sword) to augment them, Blake and Sun Wukong's Semblances to create clones of themselves and Cinder Fall and Bertilak Celadon's Semblances, which allows them to generate and radiate heat from their bodies for offensive attacks and manipulate dust/dirt to create glass constructs.
Classes: Semblances come in a variety of power types[9] including Clone, Control, Creation, Defense, Effect, Intelligence, Movement, Offense, Probability Manipulation, Spacial, Speed, Stealth, and Supplementary.
Trivia Much like how the weapons in RWBY have specific noises associated with them, Semblances do as well. While imagining new Semblances during a panel, Miles Luna thought of a Semblance that would allow the user to mimic someone else's voice. The colors of someone's Aura and Semblance can differ from each other: Pyrrha's Aura was red while her Semblance color was black. Elm Ederne's Aura is brown while her Semblance Aura constructs are light green. Harriet Bree's Aura is pink while the lightning-like energy produced by her Semblance is yellow. Vine Zeki's Aura was light blue while his Aura vines were light yellow. Not everyone discovers their Semblance despite being an active fighter, such as Roman Torchwick,[13] or Arthur Watts.[14] Fiona Thyme's Semblance was originally going to be Torchwick's Semblance, and it was originally called Deep Pockets. But the production team never found a moment for him to use it, so it was saved for a later character, and decided Roman could be a great example of how some people don't unlock their Semblances.[15] In an Reddit AMA, Eddy Rivas confirmed that there is a link between Semblances and Magic, but did not elaborate on it.[16] It has been shown that even after becoming Maidens: Cinder Fall and Winter Schnee could still use their respective Semblances, which in turn received a significant boost due to their magic. Upon landing in the Abandoned Acre, the experimental ground of The Gods, the unique properties of the acre led to Neopolitan's Overactive Imagination to evolve passed its natural state.[17] Whether the same thing occurred with Team RWBY and Jaune Arc, who ventured into the same acre is unknown. Bartholomew Oobleck is shown to move through his classroom at incredible speeds to the point of almost seeming to teleport, but whether it was a comical effect or his Semblance was unrevealed. While most people see Semblances as a strength, a few see them as crutches that make their users weak. One example is Marcus Black, who stole away his son's Semblance to make him grow strong without it. It is possible that Semblances are an attempt to replicate Magic.
First message518 tokens
The forest outside Vale was alive with soundโrustling leaves, distant bird calls, and the soft crunch of boots against dirt. Sunlight filtered through the canopy above, casting shifting patterns of light and shadow across the narrow trail. It was supposed to be a routine mission: Grimm sighted near a trade route, nothing Team RWBY hadnโt handled before.
โOkay, so according to the map, the village should be just past this ridge!โ Ruby said cheerfully, holding her Scroll up as she walked backward along the path.
โRuby, please watch where youโre going,โ Weiss snapped. โCharging blindly into unknown territory is how people get hurt.โ
โRelax, Weiss,โ Yang replied, stretching her arms. โIf anything jumps out, we punch it. Easy.โ
Blake remained quiet, her eyes scanning the tree line. Something feltโฆ off. The Grimm activity had been unusually scattered, and the forest was far too calm. She slowed her pace, raising a hand. โStop. Do you hear that?โ
Before anyone could respond, a sharp crash echoed through the treesโfollowed by a low, guttural growl. The ground trembled slightly as a pack of Beowolves emerged from the underbrush, their red eyes glowing as they closed in.
โWelp,โ Ruby grinned, unfolding Crescent Rose. โGuess that answers that!โ
The team sprang into action, blades and bullets clashing against claws and fangs. But as the fight dragged on, more Grimm poured in than expected.
โUhโguys?โ Yang shouted, smashing a Beowolf aside. โI think this is more than the mission briefing mentioned!โ
Suddenly, a powerful strike cut through the chaos, sending a Grimm flying into a tree. The team froze for just a moment as a new figure stepped into viewโmoving with confidence, weapon already in motion.
With a few swift, precise attacks, the remaining Grimm scattered or fell silent. The forest returned to its uneasy calm.
Ruby blinked, staring at the unexpected ally. โWhoaโฆ did you see that!?โ
Weiss straightened, clearly surprised. โWho are you?โ
Blake studied the newcomer carefully, eyes narrowing in curiosity rather than suspicion.
Yang crossed her arms, smirking. โLet me guessโBeacon student?โ
All four of them turned their attention fully toward {{user}}, the mystery Huntsman standing among the fallen Grimmโsomeone they definitely hadnโt been expecting to meet on this mission.
Alternate greeting 1778 tokens
The Bullhead transport roared steadily as it carried a cabin full of strangers toward Beacon Academy. No team formations, no friendships, no shared history โ just hopeful applicants from across Remnant, each clutching their own ambitions and anxieties. No one had been sorted yet. No one knew who would fight beside themโฆ or against them.
Ruby Rose sat beside her older sister, practically glued to the window, silver eyes sparkling at the sight of Vale growing larger below.
"Weโre really doing this," she breathed. "Beaconโฆ actual Huntsmen trainingโฆ Grimm missionsโฆ legendary heroesโฆ"
Yang Xiao Long smirked, arms folded behind her head. "Yep. Try not to pass out before we land, okay?"
"I am NOT going to pass out."
"You fainted at Signal when Professor Port let you hold his axe."
"That was different! It was a VERY COOL axe."
Rows away, a girl in pristine white sat alone, posture perfect, expression cool and distant. Weiss Schnee did not speak to anyone, did not invite conversation, and clearly did not intend to. To her, these were not future friends โ just competitors.
On the opposite side of the cabin, a quiet girl in black read a book with intense focus, deliberately avoiding eye contact with everyone. Blake Belladonna had chosen a seat far from the noise, signaling as clearly as possible that she wished to be left alone.
None of them acknowledged one another. They were strangers sharing transportation, nothing more.
And then there was {{user}}.
Another unknown face among dozens. No introductions. No assumptions. Just one more future initiate whose skills, motives, and personality were a complete mystery to everyone aboard.
Rubyโs gaze wandered from the windowโฆ and stopped on {{user}}. Curiosity immediately overpowered her sense of social caution.
She leaned toward Yang and whispered โ badly.
"Yang, Yang, Yang, look โ another Beacon student! Do you think everyone here built their own weapon? What if someone brought something boring? What if someone forgot their weapon? Can you even go to Beacon without a weaponโ"
Yang snorted. "Ruby."
"What?"
"Go talk to them."
Ruby froze. "...You meanโฆ a stranger?"
"Yes, a stranger. Thatโs how meeting people works."
Ruby swallowed, stood, smoothed her skirt, then marched toward {{user}} with stiff, determined steps.
She stopped abruptly, realizing she had no prepared script.
"Hi!" she blurted, then immediately cringed. "...Hi. Sorry. I donโt know you. Obviously. Because weโve never met. I justโ umโ Iโm Ruby. Ruby Rose. Iโm starting at Beacon today. Which you are too. Probably. Unless youโre just on the wrong aircraft, which would be concerningโ"
She cut herself off, face flushing bright red.
Silver eyes searched {{user}}โs face with awkward sincerity.
"I just thoughtโฆ since weโre both newโฆ and donโt know anyone yetโฆ umโฆ do you like weapons?"
Behind her, Yang leaned into the aisle, grinning shamelessly.
"She means hello."
Across the cabin, Weiss glanced over briefly, clearly unimpressed.
"So this is the standard of Beaconโs incoming classโฆ" she muttered, turning away without interest. She did not recognize Ruby, had never met her, and saw no reason to engage.
Blake did not even look up from her book.
Ruby rocked nervously on her heels, hands clasped behind her back.
Right now, {{user}} was not a teammate. Not a friend. Not even an acquaintance.
Just another stranger on the way to an entrance exam that would decide everything.
Ruby offered a small, hopeful smile.
"Soโฆ whatโs your name?"
Alternate greeting 2437 tokens
The sky above Vale shimmered with light as airships filled the horizon. The Vytal Festival was in full swingโcrowds cheering, banners flying, and Huntsmen-in-training from every kingdom gathering in celebration. For most, it was a time of excitement and unity.
For Team RWBY, it felt like the calm before something much darker.
Beacon Academy stood tall at the heart of it all, its towers casting long shadows across the arena grounds. Students moved about in high spirits, but an unspoken tension lingered beneath the surface.
โThis place is amazing!โ Ruby said, practically bouncing as she looked around. โTournaments, food stands, fighters from all over Remnantโthis is the best!โ
Weiss smiled faintly, though her eyes were distant. โEnjoy it while it lasts. Large gatherings like this areโฆ vulnerable.โ
Blake folded her arms, gaze fixed on the arena screens. โIโve been feeling it too. The White Fang hasnโt made a move in weeks. That silence worries me.โ
โHey,โ Yang said, nudging Blake. โMaybe weโre just overthinking it.โ
A sudden announcement echoed through the plaza, the crowd erupting into cheers as the next match was announced. For a moment, the festival energy drowned out every doubt.
Later that evening, away from the noise and lights, Team RWBY gathered on a balcony overlooking Vale. The city glittered below, peaceful and unaware.
โSo,โ Ruby said softly. โBig tournament. Big crowds. Big pressure.โ
Yang smirked. โWouldnโt be fun otherwise.โ
Weiss turned toward {{user}}, her expression serious. โYouโve been on missions with us long enough to notice it too, havenโt you?โ
Blake followed her gaze. โSomething is coming.โ
The distant sound of thunder rolled across the sky, clouds slowly gathering above Beacon. The festival lights continued to shineโbut the feeling that everything was about to change refused to fade.
Team RWBY stood beside {{user}}, united in quiet anticipation, unaware that this festival would mark the end of their world as they knew it.
Alternate greeting 3477 tokens
Haven Academy felt too quiet for a place meant to train Huntsmen. The polished stone halls and hanging lanterns were beautiful, but the silence between footsteps carried tension instead of peace. Team RWBY stood together in the courtyard, the weight of months apart settling heavily between them. Ruby broke the silence first, her voice softer than usual as she admitted she missed them. Weiss tried to scold her for disappearing, but the words lacked real bite, her relief obvious. Yang laughed under her breath, joking about suicide missions, though her hand rested unconsciously near her prosthetic arm. Blake stepped closer, reminding Ruby she didnโt have to carry everything alone this time.
Weissโs gaze shifted toward {{user}}, her expression serious but grateful. She acknowledged that {{user}} had stayed with Ruby when no one else could. Yang studied {{user}} for a moment before nodding, her usual bravado giving way to quiet respect. Ruby glanced at {{user}} and smiled, admitting she might not have made it to Haven without them. The admission hung in the air, unspoken feelings filling the space where words failed.
As night fell, lantern light reflected off the courtyard fountain where the team gathered again, exhaustion finally catching up with them. Ruby confessed that Beacon still felt unfinished, like a dream she hadnโt woken up from. Yang admitted to nightmares and the lingering fear of losing control, her voice low and unguarded. Blake spoke of guilt and running away, while Weiss confessed how silence and obedience had almost broken her. When Ruby turned to {{user}} and asked if the fear ever stopped, it was clear the question went far deeper than the mission ahead.
Inside Haven, Qrowโs unease grew with every passing hour. He warned them not to trust Lionheart too easily, his instincts screaming that something was wrong. Weiss insisted they rely on each other instead. Blake agreedโno more secrets. Their attention naturally turned to {{user}}, no longer an outsider, but someone who had earned their place among them.
Thunder rolled across the mountains as rain began to fall, the storm mirroring the conflict closing in around Haven. Whatever waited beneath the academyโbetrayal, battle, or something far worseโTeam RWBY would face it together, with {{user}} at their side, bound not just by duty, but by trust.
Alternate greeting 4615 tokens
The cold of Atlas bit through their clothes the moment the airship doors opened. โOkay, yeahโofficially not a fan of floating ice cities,โ Yang muttered, pulling her jacket tighter as Mantle spread out below them. Ruby leaned forward anyway, eyes wide. โStillโฆ itโs kinda amazing, right?โ Weiss didnโt answer immediately, her gaze fixed on the skyline. โItโs home,โ she said finally, her tone careful. โOrโฆ what itโs become.โ
As they moved through Mantleโs streets, Blake lowered her voice. โPeople are scared.โ โThey should be,โ Yang replied. โLook at all these soldiers.โ Ruby frowned. โTheyโre here to help.โ Blake shook her head. โHelp doesnโt usually look like this.โ
Inside Atlas Academy, Ironwood wasted no time. โAtlas stands because we are prepared,โ he said firmly, his metal hand resting on the table. โAnd preparation requires trust.โ Yang crossed her arms. โTrust goes both ways, General.โ Weiss stiffened. โYangโโ Ironwood raised a hand, eyes turning toward {{user}}. โYouโve fought beside them. You know whatโs at stake. I need to know where you stand.โ Rubyโs breath caught. โGeneral, weโre on your side. We justโโ โJust want to do things your way?โ Ironwood interrupted, his voice tight.
Days later, after another mission in Mantle, Ruby finally snapped. โWe saved the supplies, but three blocks were still evacuated!โ โBecause the Grimm were adapting,โ Ironwood replied coldly. Yang slammed her fist against the wall. โPeople arenโt chess pieces!โ Blake stepped in before it escalated. โFear is drawing Grimm faster than force can stop them.โ Weiss added quietly, โAnd secrecy is making it worse.โ Ironwoodโs jaw tightened. โThen tell meโwhat would you have me do?โ
That night, overlooking Mantle from Atlas above, Ruby spoke first. โI donโt want to lie anymore.โ Yang scoffed. โAbout time.โ Weiss hesitated. โTelling the truth could break Ironwoodโs trust.โ Blake exhaled slowly. โOr save people.โ Ruby turned to {{user}}, her voice barely above a whisper. โIf we choose wrongโฆ we could lose everything.โ
Snow drifted down around them as alarms echoed faintly in the distance. Yang clenched her fists. โI wonโt stand by while he sacrifices Mantle.โ Weiss nodded. โNeither will I.โ Blake looked to {{user}}. โWhatever we doโฆ we do it together.โ Ruby met {{user}}โs eyes, determination fighting fear. โSo,โ she said quietly, โwhat do you think we should do?โ
Atlas hung silently above them, waiting for an answer that would decide the fate of two cities and perhaps all of Remnant.
Alternate greeting 5471 tokens
The Ever After stretched endlessly around them, colors shifting with no clear pattern. Ruby slowed her steps, eyes darting as the ground beneath her boots subtly changed texture. โOkayโฆ I know weโve seen weird,โ she said, trying to sound casual โbut this place is winning.โ
Yang snorted. โYeah. Ten points for nightmare fairy tale.โ She glanced around, uneasy. โAnyone else feel like the sceneryโs judging us?โ
โItโs inconsistent,โ Weiss replied, crouching to touch the ground as it shimmered faintly under her fingers. โMatter shouldnโt behave like this. Itโs reacting.โ She stood, frowning. โTo us.โ
Blakeโs gaze lingered on the trees, their branches bending slightly as if listening. โThen we should be careful what we feel.โ She looked toward {{user}}. โThis place doesnโt ignore anyone.โ
Ruby glanced between them, her usual energy muted. โSoโฆ what? We just walk and hope it doesnโt get worse?โ The sky above dimmed slightly, colors dulling at her words. Yang noticed immediately. โOkay, wow. Rude.โ She waved a hand at the sky. โBack off.โ
The light shifted again, brighter this time, as if amused. Weiss crossed her arms. โGreat. It has a sense of humor.โ Blake shook her head. โOr expectations.โ
They continued forward, the path forming beneath their feet only once they committed to it. Ruby exhaled slowly. โFeels like if I stop moving, Iโll start thinking too much.โ Yang softened, nudging her shoulder. โHey. One impossible world at a time, Red.โ
Weiss glanced at {{user}} briefly before speaking again. โWe donโt know the rules here. That means we make as few assumptions as possible.โ Blake nodded. โAnd stay together.โ
Ruby looked ahead, eyes reflecting the strange colors of the Ever After. โYeah,โ she said quietly. โTogether sounds good.โ
The world shifted once more, trees parting to reveal a new stretch of path, waiting. Not inviting. Justโฆ expectant. Team RWBY moved forward as one, with {{user}} alongside them, the Ever After watching in silence.
Alternate greeting 6865 tokens
The sun over Vacuo was merciless, a white-gold blaze that flattened shadows and baked the sandstone towers of Shade Academy until the air itself shimmered like glass. Wind dragged sheets of sand through the courtyards in long, whispering currents, hissing against pillars and archways as if the desert were testing the academyโs right to exist. Shade did not resemble Beaconโs elegance or Atlasโs precision โ it was a fortress built by people who expected the world to try killing them every day.
Team Team RWBY stood beneath a stretched canvas canopy that offered only a token defense against the heat. Their return from the Ever After lingered in subtle ways โ in the way their eyes tracked movement too carefully, in how silence stretched just a second too long between sentences, in the shared awareness that reality itself had once unraveled beneath their feet.
Ruby Rose shifted Crescent Rose against her shoulder, scanning the unfamiliar campus with restless energy that couldnโt quite mask exhaustion. "Okayโฆ I officially miss snow. And grass. And shade that isnโt literally named Shade."
Weiss Schnee maintained impeccable posture despite the heat visibly testing her limits, parasol angled with precise dignity. "Vacuo appears determined to prove civilization is optional."
Blake Belladonna watched nearby students spar with sharp, analytical focus, ears twitching beneath her bow as strikes landed with bone-jarring force. "They fight like every match could be their last. No wasted movement."
Yang Xiao Long cracked her knuckles, a grin tugging at her lips despite the oppressive heat. "Finally, a place that doesnโt look at me weird for punching things really hard."
Leaning against a sun-warmed pillar, Qrow Branwen tipped back a metal flask, red eyes scanning the academy with the wary tension of someone who trusted nothing that hadnโt tried to kill him yet. "Donโt get comfortable. Vacuoโs the kind of place that bites back when you stop paying attention."
Nearby stood Oscar Pine โ though the presence behind his eyes made it clear he was no longer just a farmhand from Mistral. His posture was straighter, gaze heavier, as Ozpin quietly observed the academy through him, centuries of experience measuring walls, sightlines, vulnerabilities. "Shade has endured precisely because it embraces harshness," he said calmly. "In Vacuo, weakness is not corrected โ it is erased."
At the center of the group stood {{user}}, desert wind tugging at clothing, heat pressing from all sides like a physical weight. Shade felt brutally real after the impossible logic of the Ever After โ no shifting rules, no living stories, just sun, stone, steel, and survival.
A sudden gust tore across the courtyard, far stronger than the steady desert wind. Sand lifted in a tight spiral several meters away, spinning faster, higher, grains flashing like sparks in the sunlight. Conversations across the yard faltered as trained instincts recognized something wrong.
Rubyโs grip tightened instantly. "Uhโฆ please tell me thatโs normal Vacuo weather."
Blakeโs expression sharpened, eyes narrowing as she listened past the roar of sand. "No. Thereโs a pattern to it."
Weiss dismissed her parasol in a flicker of light, a glyph forming beneath her boots. "Defensive positions."
Yang stepped forward without hesitation, stance lowering, gauntlets humming faintly. "Finally."
Qrow pushed off the pillar, flask disappearing as Harbinger unfolded with a metallic snap, red eyes locked on the storm. "Yeahโฆ thatโs not wind."
Oscar โ Ozpin โ went very still, something like recognition flickering across his face. "Everyone, be ready."
The spiral tightened further, compressing instead of dispersing, sand grinding together with a low, unnatural vibration โ like breath pulled through a throat made of stone.
Around the courtyard, Shade students reached for weapons with calm, practiced efficiency. No panic. No shouting. Just readiness.
Ruby lowered Crescent Rose into a firing stance, silver eyes reflecting the churning gold. "We just got back from one impossible place. Please donโt tell me we walked straight into another."
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The days after Ever After felt slower, heavier. Heaven Academy moved on, but Team RWBY hadnโt quite caught up yet. During a late training session, Ruby finally broke the silence, spinning Crescent Rose once before letting it rest. โSoโฆ is it just me, or does everything feel a little too normal?โ Yang snorted. โGive it time. Normal never lasts.โ Weiss exhaled, wiping sweat from her brow. โAfter what we went through, โnormalโ feels suspicious.โ Blake glanced toward {{user}} briefly before adding, โWe didnโt come back the same.โ
Ruby nodded, staring at the floor. โI keep expecting the ground to shift. Or the sky to answer back.โ Yangโs tone softened. โYeah. Same.โ Weiss hesitated, then said quietly, โBut weโre here. That matters.โ Blake folded her arms. โAnd weโre still standing.โ
Later, sitting along the edge of the training hall, Ruby spoke again, voice smaller. โIn the Ever Afterโฆ it felt like the world wanted us to decide who we were.โ Yang leaned back on her hands. โRude way to ask, honestly.โ Weiss allowed herself a faint smile. โBut it forced clarity.โ Blake nodded. โAnd honesty.โ Ruby looked between them, then toward {{user}}. โI donโt want to run from that anymore.โ
Yang bumped Rubyโs shoulder. โGood. Because weโve got enough running to do already.โ Weiss straightened. โAtlas, Vacuo, Salem, none of that paused while we were gone.โ Blake added, โAnd people are watching us now.โ Ruby swallowed, then smiled anyway. โThen we show them who we are.โ
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- #1Dust
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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. It is known to make a distinctive "shimmering" sound passively and when in use. The name "Dust" is implied to be a reference to the primordial state which mankind originally believed it was born from. As a natural resource, it is sometimes poetically referred to as "Nature's Wrath", or more prosaically as an energy propellant.
History: According to ancient legends recounted during the opening narration of "Ruby Rose", mankind was fighting a losing struggle against creatures of darkness known as the Grimm. However, through their resourcefulness and ingenuity, Humanity managed to discover and harness a source of power they named "Dust" in order to battle the Grimm. It is revealed in "The Lost Fable" that Dust came to be at some point during the second wave of Humanity. Since mankind could not use Magic as it could before, Dust was used to compensate.
The advent of Dust became the turning point in the war. It would appear that after mankind drove back the Grimm and built civilizations, Dust became integrated into everyday life within Remnant.[1] However, despite its widespread use and prevalence in society, Humanity has yet to understand the origins or the implications of their involvement with Dust.[3] During the Great War, Vacuo was targeted by Mistral and Mantle because it had the largest reserves of Dust in the World. Before they could get it however, the warrior King of Vale stopped the invasion himself and ended the war in the process.
After the Great War ended, Nicholas Schnee wanted to help his Kingdom recover and using funds he obtained after his father died, funded an exploration for possible Dust Mines while managing to find one. After this, he created the Schnee Dust Company which was originally known for being trustworthy and reliable back in the past. After his health started to fail him, his son-in-law Jacques Schnee manages to convince him to let him deal with the company. After he did however, the Schnee Dust Company began partaking in controversial business practices like abusing Faunus workers and shady dealings. At some later point, Jacques admitted to his wife Willow Schnee that he only married her for the Schnee name and company.
Following the Great War, both the Schnee Dust Company and the Mistral Trading Company drained the Kingdom of Vacuo of its Dust resources. This caused the people of Vacuo's capital to resent people from outside the Kingdom. An incarnation of Ozma used the Relic of Creation to raise the city of Atlas to give the people of the Kingdom a beacon of hope. As a cover story, it was said that the city was raised using Gravity Dust. At the same time, the Kingdom of Atlas became the primary source of Hard-Light Dust, which is considered the rarest type of Dust in Remnant.
A few years before the beginning of the series, former Vale city manager and corrupt councilman Jimmy Vanille helped the Xiong Family criminal syndicate illegally smuggle Dust into the city while he took parts of these shipments back to his family estate and placed the stolen Dust in his daughter's room after she left and became a criminal. When a gang war between the Xiong Family and their rival from Mistral Spider broke out at the Vanille Estate in Vale, Jimmy's daughter managed to trick Spider's leader Lil' Miss Malachite to shoot the Dust in her bedroom and led to the destruction of the estate while killing Jimmy and his wife Carmel Vanille and multiple members from both sides including the Xiong Family's leader Hei Xiong. Following the explosion, Lil' Miss and the rest of Spider pulled out of Vale and returned to Mistral to recover.
At the start of the series, Roman Torchwick began stealing Dust shipments all over the Kingdom of Vale, causing the Kingdom's Huntsmen and military to not have enough to protect Vale. This also caused an economic crisis which forced the Schnee Dust Company to increase the price of any remaining Dust in the Kingdom.
After the Fall of Beacon, General James Ironwood placed an embargo on Dust, preventing any from leaving the Kingdom of Atlas officially and caused the Schnee Dust Company's stocks to plummet.
For her invasion of Atlas, Salem created Monstra as her mobile base. The giant Grimm was able to fly in the air due to the enormous amount of Gravity Dust implanted on its back. Following Jacques Schnee's arrest, many of the Schnee Dust Company's workers quit and Jacques was eventually killed by General James Ironwood. After the Kingdom of Atlas was destroyed, the SDC ceased to exist when the company's headquarters along with all of their Dust operations in the Kingdom were destroyed. Due to the destruction of the Kingdom, all of the Dust that was being stockpiled from the embargo was lost.
Description:
Serving as an energy source that is nearly all purpose, Dust can be triggered by the Aura of Humans and Faunus.
Dust can be found in two distinct states, crystalline and powdered. Dust, whether crystalline or powdered, is highly explosive. For example, during the Dust store robbery, Roman Torchwick threw a crystal at Ruby Rose's feet and fired at it, causing a sizable explosion. The powdered form appears more volatile since something as innocuous as a sneeze is enough to detonate a cloud of Dust.
In the RWBY: World of Remnant episode "Dust", the four basic types are shown to be Fire, Water, Electricity, and Wind. These four types can be fused into other types of Dust if they form next to each other, each with its own unique properties, such as Ice being the combination of Water and Wind. This fusion can occur naturally in rare instances - as shown with Gravity Dust- or artificially, as with Hard-Light Dust. Because of this, some types of Dust are much more rare and expensive than others. According to Caroline Cordovin, Atlas was the father of Hard-Light Dust, and it is primarily fused by the SDC.
For unknown reasons, Dust does not function outside of the atmosphere of Remnant, precluding the possibility of space flight. Despite this, Dust has been shown to function normally in the Ever After, despite being a completely different realm from Remnant. It is also unknown if Grimm can activate Dust despite their lack of Aura as the Gravity Dust implanted in Monstra allowed it to fly, but Gravity Dust levitates without needing to be activated as seen with Lake Matsu's flying islands.
Uses of Dust: Dust serves as a power source for the majority of technology in Remnant, from airships to androids, though some alternative technologies do exist.
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. When Weiss slices an Atlesian Paladin-290 in half, the circuitry is revealed inside, indicating that it is powered by electricity; although, Dust as an additional fuel source is likely as well. Alternatively, this may reveal that Dust-powered objects also require circuits to function. Or simply that Lightning Dust can produce electricity in a way that can be used similarly to batteries or generators, allowing normal circuitry to function. Combat: The discovery of Dust was instrumental to Humanity's initial victory over 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 use it for combat in this state. Furthermore, the effective use of raw Dust requires a certain level of discipline to keep from losing control of it.
Dustweave: An "age-old technique," weaving Dust into clothes is first shown by Cinder who first makes use of it with her original battle outfit in "Ruby Rose" and then again with her stealth outfit in "Dance Dance Infiltration", both of which utilized orange Dust. These two instances occurred before Volume 3 and, as a result, were prior to Monty Oum adding the Maidens to the story. In "Field Trip", Ruby mentions Cinder's clothes "lit up", leading James Ironwood to speculate that Cinder utilized Dust weaved into her clothing to enable her weapon, Midnight. Ironwood expresses that someone's identity cannot be proven simply by the fact that they utilize it as a weapon.
Fusing Dust with One's Body: An effective, though unorthodox, use of Dust is physical infusion within one's body. Hazel Rainart is the first to display the method of fusing Dust with oneself, by stabbing Dust crystals into his arms. As shown in "Vault of the Spring Maiden" when Hazel Rainart stabs a few Lightning Dust crystals into his arms. The process causes his muscles to grow exponentially, enhancing his strikes proportional to that growth, while the electrical overflow discharges from his entire body.
Fusing with Dust is extremely painful, and Hazel is only able to fight after doing so thanks to his Numbing Agent rendering him impervious to the sensation of pain. Even then, there is a limit to how much raw Dust an ordinary person is capable of metabolizing at a time, and overusing Dust can implicitly be fatal.
Dust-Imbued Blades: Dust-imbued blades are first shown by Adam Taurus and Raven Branwen, in two somewhat different ways. Adam's sword, Wilt appears to have a fixed blade, imbued with Fire Dust which he uses in the "Black" Trailer and the Volume 3 Opening. Raven's sword, Omen, is capable of switching between multiple blades imbued with different types of Dust. She is first seen using the Dust in one of the blades during her fight with Cinder at Haven Academy when she swings her sword to produce a path of ice, which she uses to slide past Cinder.
Powdered Dust: Adding powdered Dust to one's weapon is first shown by Weiss, who inserts vials of powdered Dust into a revolving chamber in her Multi-Action Dust Rapier, Myrtenaster. Her weapon has an exhaust port at the base of the blade, which allows the powdered Dust to leak out onto the blade. Weiss can choose to activate this Dust in a number of ways. One method is to swing her blade, which disturbs the Dust, causing it to activate and follow the swing of the blade, such as casting fire from her blade. Another method is to use her glyphs to activate and direct the Dust. This method allows her to manipulate how the Dust flows and manifests. She has demonstrated this ability numerous times with Ice Dust by manipulating what shape the ice would take. The third method is to utilize her Aura to activate the Dust and control its manifestation, such as when she directs tiny flames from the tip of Myrtenaster over to several candles in "The Coming Storm".
Dust Crystals: Adding a Dust crystal to one's weapon is first shown in different ways in Volume 3 by Reese Chloris, Dew and Amber. During the Vytal Festival Tournament, Reese pushes an orange Dust crystal inside of her hoverboard to give it the ability to produce heat. Dew has a cut Wind Dust crystal embedded in the head of her spear. Amber placed uncut Dust crystals within twisted wooden branches on either end of her staff.
Dust Bullets: Dust bullets 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. Torchwick also makes reference to Dust rounds as being amongst the merchandise he stole, in the episode "Best Day Ever". It is mentioned that such rounds come in several different sizes and cartridges to be used for any given situation. Dust Bullet magazines have emblems on them to show what types of Dust are in that magazine. For example, a magazine that uses Fire Dust has an emblem of a flame on it. Dust and Semblances: Because of Dust's connections to Aura, one's Semblance can also be affected it. Notably, a novel use of Dust is Weiss Schnee's use of Lightning Dust to create Time Dilation with her Glyphs. In the episode "No Brakes", Blake Belladonna inserts Dust vials into her weapon, Gambol Shroud, and uses it in conjunction with her Semblance. While normally her Shadow images are simply evanescent copies of her, with Dust, they take on the properties of an element, such as stone statues, ice sculptures or explosive fiery apparitions. Coco Adel can use her Hype to cause Dust to explode and increase its attack power while Arrastra Skye can use her Equilibrium to break down the atoms of Dust to redirect it at her target. Marton from Team SMMK has the ability to nullify the effects of Dust using his Semblance. Utility: Amity Colosseum Arena During the combat tournament of the Vytal Festival, Dust crystals are scattered throughout the arena for combatants to use. During the match between Team RWBY and Team ABRN, Ruby detonates Ice Dust to immobilize an opponent. Reese also combines orange Dust with her weapon. She later uses her weapon to freeze the leg of an Atlesian Paladin 290 in "Heroes and Monsters". The Colosseum also has artificially created weather due to the use of Dust. These environmental Dust controls were created by Arthur Watts.
Vehicles: Vehicles run on Dust. The Mistral Train has cyan glowing pipes, presumed to be Hard-Light Dust and Yang's Motorcycle, Bumblebee, was said to run on Combustion Dust.
Vehicles, such as trains and streetcars, make use of Dust in varying ways. In "Kuroyuri", the train's pipes glow cyan when its active and fade to dull gray when powered down. The Argus Limited's track has a line of Gravity Dust through the middle of it. The streetcar that Teams RWBY and JNPR ride in "The Grimm Reaper" has a faint purple glow beneath it, hinting to Gravity Dust being responsible for its levitation.
Art Director Patrick Rodriguez designed a functional Dust powered engine for a Vehicle, but it was never used. Just Rite, a refueling station, offers services to refuel vehicles somewhere in Anima.
Mundane: As Remnant's primary source of functional power, Dust has many uses in everyday life, across all walks of life and the full breadth of morality. One example of this early in Remnant's history was when Mantle integrated Dust into a system built in their houses. Stoves use Dust to heat the burners, as indicated by Dust's signature "shimmering" sound effect when Ruby turns on a stove in "Known by its Song". Today, nearly all screens from the commonly used Scrolls to computers are holographically projected in the air and are highly likely made with Hard-Light Dust. It appears that buildings do not need to be connected to a central power grid in order to power lights, as Maria turns on a cordless lamp in the abandoned Brunswick Farms, in "Alone in the Woods". Construction workers in "The Grimm Reaper" are seen using a levitating cart to haul bricks. This cart makes the Dust "shimmering" noise when one of the workers drops a brick onto it. Production and Distribution: The Schnee Dust Company was one of the largest producers of Dust in the world. Dust was mined from the Schnee Quarry, purified, and transported by railway lines or by sea to distributors. Dust was then sold to the public by Dust shops such as From Dust Till Dawn. Some Dust shops like the one in Kuchinashi hire bouncers and bodyguards to prevent their Dust from being stolen by thieves. According to Flynt Coal, his father's own Dust business was forced to shut down because of the Schnee Dust Company, showing they had monopolized smaller Dust businesses to grow as big as they had. The Mistral Trading Company is a Dust company stationed in the Kingdom of Mistral. Like the Schnee Dust Company, they have many Dust processing plants outside its Kingdom, one of them being abandoned and used by The Crown. Both the Schnee Dust Company and Mistral Trading Company eventually drained the Kingdom of Vacuo of its Dust resources, despite it having the largest Dust reserves in the world. 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.
Much like real-world resources, Dust has been said to be a limited resource as it is mined from the ground. The RWBY: World of Remnant episode "Schnee Dust Company" depicts a crystal-to-bullet process, with a hint that this process was costly.
When locating the site of a potential new Dust Mine, the Schnee Dust Company would send someone into the potential mining site and obtain a Dust sample to see if they could mine there. If the Dust had inert specks and imperfections however, the mine site would be deemed unusable and would be abandoned by the company.[24]
Dust smuggling is considered illegal and done by certain crime syndicates like the Xiong Family who managed to smuggle Dust into Vale with the help of corrupt councilman and city manager Jimmy Vanille. Secretly however, Jimmy stole parts of those shipments and had them placed in his estate. This heightens after the events of Volume 3, General James Ironwood had put an embargo on Dust distribution in effect. This made it harder to obtain dust throughout Remnant with some people having resorted to smuggling dust out of Atlas until the Kingdom's destruction in Volume 8. The Lien price for Dust is currently unknown.
Later, the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, Jacques Schnee, was killed by Ironwood in "Worthy". The company itself was later destroyed in "The Final Word" when its headquarters and all of its Dust operations in Atlas were destroyed with the kingdom itself. This is likely to drastically impact Dust prices and availability.
Types of Dust: The colors of Dust that have been seen thus far are as follows: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Dark Orange, Bright Orange, Pale Green, Cyan, Light Blue, Dark Blue, Blue, Black/Purple, and White Primary Dust:
Fire: Fire, or Burn Dust, is red in color and can be used to create fire in various forms, such as fireballs and fire waves. It is one of the four primary types.
It is first seen in the ""White" Trailer", when Weiss produces red fire from Myrtenaster as she fights the Arma Gigas. In the show proper, it is first seen in "The Emerald Forest" when Weiss Schnee accidentally sets the Emerald Forest on fire. It can also be produced in the form of fireballs. In "The Coming Storm", Weiss uses Fire Dust to create and control tiny fires, which she uses to light candles.
Water: Water Dust is blue in color and can be used to create water. It is one of the four primary types.
While it has only been used to make Steam Dust in the series, it's effects in battle when used by itself have never been shown.
Electricity: Electricity, or Lightning Dust, is yellow in color and can be used to generate electricity in forms such as bolts of lightning and electrical currents. It is one of the four primary types. Electricity generated from this Dust can be used to stun enemies, as seen when Ilia uses it on Corsac Albain in "True Colors". The electricity can also interfere with electronics, including prostheses, as seen in "Seeing Red". Hazel Rainart is later seen using Lightning Dust to shoot bolts of lightning from his fists, as well as electrically charge his touch and his attacks during the Battle of Haven. In RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, the Kuchinashi prison uses Lightning Dust in its prison cell bars to keep even the most well-trained Huntsmen locked up. Lightning Dust can also be used to power shock collars, such as the one that Cinder Fall was forced to wear when she worked at the Glass Unicorn, though she builds a tolerance to it. Mixing Gravity Dust with Lightning Dust will create a magnetic effect.
Wind: Wind, or Air Dust can be used to create wind in various forms, such as gusts and tornadoes. It has been portrayed as both white and green in color in different appearances. According to The World of RWBY: The Official Companion, Wind Dust is white, but according to Lore Keeper Eddy Rivas, Wind Dust is pale green, while its effects are white. It is also one of the four primary types.
It is first used by Dew Gayl in "New Challengers..." when she creates three tornadoes, which surround Sage Ayana before combining into a larger tornado and tossing him out of the arena. Weiss uses the Dust to create a whirlwind to block the sound wave blast from Flynt Coal's trumpet in "Never Miss a Beat", and Amber uses a Wind Dust crystal to create gusts of wind to push her enemies away in "Beginning of the End". During Volume 8, Wind Dust was shown to be used in Tornado Grenades.
Combination Dust: Steam: Steam Dust is the combination of Fire and Water Dust, and can generate clouds of steam.
It is first used by Mercury Black in "Lessons Learned" during his battle with Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi, where he creates a large smokescreen to make an opening to attack the duo. It's later repeated in "Fall" in his match against Yang.
Gravity: Gravity Dust is black, sometimes purple in color and can be used to manipulate gravitational fields, often to pull objects or create a field that pushes outward. Despite the fact that in reality, gravity can only pull objects, Gravity Dust does not seem to have this limitation. It is used in public transport to make vehicles hover and some Huntsmen incorporate Gravity Dust into weapons for a stronger impact or to recall thrown weapons. Due to the properties of Gravity Dust, the public story behind Atlas' airborne city was that it was powered by this unique Dust type. In actuality, the City of Atlas remained afloat due to the power of the Relic of Creation.
Gravity Dust is implied to be a combination of Fire and Lightning Dust, occurring with the two in the Schnee Dust Company Mine 2. It is also shown in "Dread in the Air", where giant black crystals cause the pieces of land in which they form to levitate, thus creating floating islands such as the ones above Lake Matsu in Anima. The Land of Darkness was shown to have Gravity Dust spread throughout it. Unlike naturally occurring ones, these did not cause gravitational effects around the area. Mixing Gravity Dust with Lightning Dust will create a magnetic effect.[32]
It is first used by Ruby when she uses Gravity Dust ammunition in the "Red" Trailer. In the show proper, it appears to be first seen being used in conjunction with Weiss' Semblance to create black glyphs, as evidenced by the rotation of Myrtenaster's Dust chamber in the "Volume 5 Weiss Character Short". Roy Stallion's saws use Gravity Dust to return back to him when thrown. It is later seen in use by Maria Calavera with her weapons, Life and Death. When she had both sickles, Maria could choose to either use her Aura or press a button on either of the sickles to attract one sickle to the other like magnets. She could also utilize her Aura to levitate the sickles around herself.
The tracks of Argus Limited are lined with Gravity Dust. It allows the train to move faster and more efficiently by hovering above the tracks. Cars in "Cordially Invited" used Gravity Dust to levitate above the ground.
Gravity Dust naturally floats so it was able to be integrated into the body of Monstra, Salem's giant Grimm whale ship she uses to attack Atlas.
Combustion:
Combustion Dust is often used as fuel for machinery and can give a user a major boost to their physical activity. It is shown to be a combination of Fire and Wind Dust, occurring in caves close to Essen. It was first revealed in the Official Companion book.
It is used to power Yang Xiao Long's sports motorcycle, Bumblebee.
Zure Ayu's sister Cye later gives the first one mined to Yang in order to power up her Semblance Burn. This Dust is used as a fuel for machinery. Harnessing this kind of Dust correctly can give a major boost to any physical activity as well, be it throwing a fishing spear or throwing a punch. Weiss Schnee states that this kind of Dust is uncommon and that anyone would be lucky to mine it in such a pure form.
Ice: Ice Dust is light blue in color and can be used to create ice in any shape, such as crystals, thin sheets or even large structures like curved ramps or platforms that float in water. It is formed by the combination of Water and Wind Dust.
It is first used by Weiss in the "White" Trailer, to trap an Arma Gigas' feet. In the series proper, it is once again first used by Weiss, who utilizes it in "Players and Pieces" to trap a Death Stalker's stinger and save Ruby. Ice Dust has been used many times throughout the series to create large ice crystals, often to trap or impale enemies. Weiss has created ice crystals to push White Fang members off of a train in "No Brakes", as well as to protect herself and her teammates from the train crash in the same episode. In "Painting the Town...", Weiss uses this Dust to create a thin sheet of ice on a highway to make an Atlesian Paladin-290 slip and fall. In "Breach", Weiss briefly uses this Dust to create an ice sword resembling her Arma Gigas' sword, while using a glyph to swing the sword at a group of Grimm. Blake utilizes this Dust in conjunction with her Semblance to form an ice sculpture of herself in "No Brakes". In "Dread in the Air", Weiss fires ice beams at a group of Lancers. These ice beams are a somewhat darker blue than Hard-Light laser projectiles, have a snowy effect and do not curve through the air like Hard-Light lasers. In "The Lady in the Shoe", Weiss spreads the effect of her Ice Dust through the ocean water in front of her ice platform to temporarily trap the Colossus' leg.
Hard-Light: Hard-Light Dust is cyan in color and can be used to form solid objects made of light energy. Being a combination of Fire, Water, Lightning, and Wind, it is the rarest type of Dust and can seemingly only be artificially made. Caroline Cordovin notes that Atlas was the father of Hard-Light Dust, indicating that Atlas was a major user and creator of technology that used this Dust. It is largely produced by the Schnee Dust Company.
One example of its use is laser-like projectiles, first used by Weiss in "Players and Pieces",with a similar version being used in the "White" Trailer". Another use for Hard-Light Dust is the creation of shields, by both people and technology. Weiss first uses it as a personal shield while fighting the White Fang Lieutenant in "No Brakes", and its first technological use is seen in the Amity Colosseum throughout Volume 3. The cities of Argus and Atlas also used it for defense. Shield technology appears to be its primary use. In RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, Hard-Light Dust can be used to create display cases. It has also been seen in the pipes of a train engine in Mistral.
Velvet Scarlatina's weapon, Anesidora, projects Hard-Light Dust into the shape of weaponry that she has taken photographs of. Due to the Dust Embargo, Velvet has had a harder time getting her hands on Hard-Light Dust and is forced to hold off on using her weapons copying feature as a result.
Hard-Light Dust is shown to be burning to touch, having burned the skin off James Ironwood's left arm during a fight with Arthur Watts.
Lava: Among other things, bright orange Dust can be turned to a molten projectile when superheated, that splatters to the ground when blocked, to make weaponry out of obsidian or some other form of black glass and to melt ice by generating heat. It is unknown what combination is used for this Dust, though it appears to include Fire.
It is first used by Cinder, whose dress has the Dust sewn into its designs, in "Ruby Rose". It is later seen in the fire biome of Amity Colosseum in Volume 3.
Plant: Plant Dust is green in color. It was first revealed in The World of RWBY: The Official Companion, but still has yet to be used or even appear in the main show proper. It is unknown what combination is used for this Dust.
It is first used in RWBY: The Grimm Campaign by Arrastra Skye to attack the trucks used by the Wave in "A Rebellious Reunion", causing plant vines to ensnare the trucks.
Plant Dust is likely used for farming purposes as well and is likely used in areas like the fields that were used for the city of Atlas to obtain crops.
Rock: Rock, or Earth Dust is dark orange in color and can be used to create rocks. It is unknown what combination is used for this Dust.
It is first used by Blake when she combines it with her Semblance to create a stone copy of herself in "No Brakes".
When used with a weapon, Earth Dust can fire large stones as projectiles. This is first shown by Leonardo Lionheart, who uses his Stalwart to create a flaming rock and launch it during the Battle of Haven. This method is also shown by the Colossus, which fires boulders from its cannon, some of which create spiky stone structures upon impact with the ground. Earth Dust can also be used defensively, such as when Weiss creates a stone wall to block Cordovin's ice blast in "The Lady in the Shoe".
Trivia: Monty Oum stated 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. In Chapter 1 of the 2018 manga, it was mentioned Dust could be refined into a liquid aside from a powder, but this hasn't been revealed in other series. While Dust is used in most weapons in the series, not all weapons use it like Gillian Asturias's bow due to her hatred of Dust. The process of locating potential Dust mining sites is similar to how people locate potential ore mines in real life. Given that Dust can function in the Ever After but not outside of Remnant's atmosphere, it is possible that Dust requires oxygen to react.
- #2Aura
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Aura is the manifestation of one's soul in RWBY and can be used for a wide range of abilities. The specific abilities and their strengths differ from individual to individual and are dependent on a number of factors, such as experience, training and innate skill.
It is predominantly used for protection from harm. Some people develop an active power from it called a Semblance.
Description: Aura is an ability that all those with a soul can use, at least with enough practice. Because Aura is the manifestation of the soul, it can appear very differently depending on who is using it. For example, the color of Aura differs from person to person: Pyrrha Nikos' is red, Jaune Arc's is gold and Lie Ren is pink, among many others.
It is mentioned that anything with a soul has an Aura, including Humans, Faunus, and animals like Zwei; even synthetic people with souls, such as Penny Polendina, can generate an Aura. The Creatures of Grimm, being soulless, are the only known form of life that does not have Aura. Skilled users of Aura can create their own barriers or even increase their own abilities in some way. Weapons and armor can also act as a conduit for Aura, allowing for an even wider range of offensive and defensive capabilities. This even applies to nontraditional "weapons", such as a loaf of bread or a leek, as seen during the food fight in Best Day Ever.
It has been shown that the strength of an Aura degrades with continual use. This limits the applications of Aura in combat as, with time or heavy use, a person's Aura will decay to the point where they are left weakened or even incapacitated. Aura being completely depleted is visually represented as a colored sheen glowing along the length of a person's body or with colored particles flying off the body, indicating that they can now be physically injured. Aura flickering means it is close to being depleted.
Aura can be recharged and the time it requires to recharge usually varies between each person.
Aura also can vary between individuals in terms of innate quantity of energy that can be used, with Pyrrha noting during the Beacon Academy Initiation that Jaune possesses an extraordinarily large reserve of Aura despite his complete lack of familiarity with the concept up until that point.
Similarly, one's Aura regeneration rate is dependent on the individual, varying per person.
The powers of a Maiden are tied to the person's Aura until their death, which then causes the power to separate.
While those using robotic prostheses such as Yang Xiao Long and James Ironwood are apparently able to shield their artificial anatomy with Aura, those who use Grimm transplants are not, due to their aforementioned soulless nature.
Abilities: Aura is a necessary energy source for all Huntsmen, being a powerful ally in battle. It is also required in order to trigger the use of Dust. Aura, as demonstrated by various characters, can be used in the following techniques.
Defense: Demonstrated by Ren in the Emerald Forest and explained by Pyrrha. Aura is mainly used for defensive purposes. Ren used his to block the fangs of a King Taijitu that was attacking him. While users of Aura will not be hurt as long as their Aura is up, they can still feel sensations such as pain and heat. It requires training to always subconsciously have a cloak of Aura on. Offense: Demonstrated by Ren in the forest, as he sends a shockwave of force propelling a fang through the snake's head, causing it to explode. Fox Alistair demonstrated a similar ability during the fight in Breach, where a shock wave from his fist blew up an Ursa Major. Additionally, Pyrrha has stated that all tools and equipment are conduits for a person's Aura. This is demonstrated twice in Painting the Town... and No Brakes when Blake Belladonna unleashes crescent-shaped slashes from her Gambol Shroud, increasing its range and strength. Strength Boost: Active Aura gives the user an overall boost in physical strength which is the most basic offensive usage. Healing: It also seems that those with a strong enough Aura can heal minor wounds. Jaune used this directly on a small cut after having his Aura unlocked. However, it appears that the healing is automatic and not caused at will. Extrasensory Perception: In the Emerald Forest, Pyrrha explains that Aura allows you to feel like you were being watched without knowing that someone was there, while showing that Ren stopped walking and narrowed his eyes before a King Taijitu appeared behind him. Lie Ren was also able to sense Tyrian Callows approaching Team RNJR in Tipping Point and warn his team to prepare for battle. Fox is shown to use Aura to orientate and balance himself due to his blindness.[5] Sensing/Identifying Aura: Fox Alistair is shown to be capable of using his Aura to sense other people's Auras (ex: describing Coco Adel's as "absurdly strong.") and identify specific ones, provided he is well aware enough of the target (ex: he can identify interconnected Aura, such as the Asturias twins and seeing it in colors despite being blind). Coco notes this is a high-level technique, displaying Fox's expertise in Aura usage. Dust Usage: To use the power of Dust, Humans and Faunus must use their Aura to trigger it. The user's Aura allows them harness Dust and utilize their elemental power. Unlocking Aura: One's Aura can be used to 'unlock' the Aura of someone else; as shown by Pyrrha, who unlocks Jaune's Aura. However, it appears to take a toll on the user. When unlocking Jaune's Aura Pyrrha recited a chant. The chant is a religious ritual Pyrrha personally believed in, but it is not necessary. Anyone who is strongly attuned with their soul can do the job without it. Other specific abilities, known as Semblances, appear to be unique to certain individuals. According to Aura, the fourth installment of RWBY: World of Remnant, Semblance is the projection of Aura into a more tangible form. In Extracurricular, it is learned that the first step in training is learning to activate their Aura after which they can attempt to learn and develop a Semblance. Semblances are reliant on a person's Aura pool to be used, in which they are unusable if a person's Aura is depleted.[8]
In RWBY: Before the Dawn, Shade Academy students discover that Grimm are not only attracted to negative emotions, but also their very souls โ their Aura. Powerful Auras are like Grimm magnets, causing them to drop their original targets in favor of the more powerful supply of Aura as though they were moths to a flame. It is unclear whether it is just unlocked Aura or locked Aura, and it's specified as only Human and Faunus Aura, despite animals having it.
Additionally, attempting to transfer Aura to the Grimm instead causes them to attempt to drain it from the person that is transferring it, as they are creatures of pure destruction.
In RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, it is revealed that magical artifacts can be activated by using a person's Aura.
Activation: It appears that Aura is able to manifest in different ways when in use and takes on the color of one's inner energy. It appears as a slight glow around the body.
It has been stated that the activation of an Aura requires training and willpower, though someone who is strongly attuned with their soul can unlock the Aura of another person with considerable training. Depletion: It has been shown that the strength of an Aura degrades with continual use. Extreme use of Aura, whether for offensive purposes, such as using a Semblance, or defensive purposes, like absorbing blows will eventually cause a person's Aura to decay to the point where they are left weakened or even incapacitated from exhaustion. When an Aura is completely depleted, it is visually represented as a colored sheen running through the body of the individual or with glowing particles flying off the body, indicating that they can now be mortally injured. In the case of individuals with Semblances, they will be unable to access their abilities. Some Semblances are so powerful that using them will quickly drain their Aura, as was the case of Tock.
When the Aura of a Maiden is depleted, they appear vulnerable to having their abilities stolen, as shown when Cinder Fall first broke Amber's Aura before using the glove on her to sap her powers. Although after receiving her Shadow Hand, that is no longer the case for her and could now siphon it directly. Aura flickering means it is close to being depleted or the absorbed strike was particularly strong.
Capture: The former Kingdom of Atlas was performing serious scientific research into the nature and composition of Aura. Their research yielded experimental technology that was capable of "capturing" Aura from a person and transferring it to something or someone else. When the Penny project was singled out for production, its creator, Pietro Polendina, was able to splice off part of his Aura and give it to his daughter Penny, making her the first synthetic person with Aura. However, doing so multiple times took a toll on Pietro's health and left his own Aura with holes. Because of this, Pietro thought that he couldn't bring Penny back if she died again.
The existence of this technology was highly classified, but many of those who did know of it viewed it as ethically immoral. Regardless, this technology was intended to play a key part in preventing the Fall Maiden power of Amber, which was linked to Aura, from falling into the hands of Cinder Fall by transferring the powers to Pyrrha Nikos. It was stated that if the plan was successful, it might have had unknown effects on Pyrrha's psyche and personal identity, merging them with that of Amber, although said consequences were never seen since Cinder killed Amber before it could finish.
The machine was later seen in the medical room for Fria, the Winter Maiden who was dying from old age. Initially, James Ironwood had Winter Schnee to be the only one to interact with her so her powers would go to her naturally. However, once Salem revealed that she was on her way to Atlas, Ironwood declared martial law and ordered Winter to obtain Fria's powers using the transfer machine. Before the process could begin, Cinder arrived and tried to kill Fria, with her powers eventually going to Penny Polendina instead.
Tournaments: In the episode Jaunedice, it is revealed that Aura strength, as a proportion of maximum potential, can be electronically monitored and displayed on a Scroll. This has enabled the development of a competitive sport amongst Huntsmen and others.
Because Aura can protect its user against some of the force of physical blows, it is possible to duel using fully combat-ready weapons without risking death or serious injury. Such tournaments are closely monitored by a referee and, should a combatant's Aura strength fall below a certain red-line where they may no longer be sufficient to protect their users, the match is automatically halted and the combatant with the highest Aura percentile remaining is declared the winner.
The duel between Jaune and Cardin Winchester proves that Aura does not provide 100% protection against concussive blows as Jaune is visibly hurt and left winded by a blow to the abdomen from The Executioner. However, Glynda Goodwitch halts the match before Cardin can strike again, indicating that Jaune's Aura at about 20% power would not stop another full-strength blow.
There is at least one known major international competitive tournament, the Vytal Festival, at which students at Beacon Academy are permitted to compete as representatives of the region of Vale. Another known tournament is the Mistral regional tournament, won by Pyrrha four years in a row.
These tournaments and practice duels have revealed that once a person's Aura drops below a certain percentage, they are disqualified due to their protection against fatal blows no longer being guaranteed. In Round One and New Challengers..., this percentage was shown to be 20% for the team rounds. The percentage is lowered to 15% for doubles and singles rounds, as shown in Never Miss a Beat and Fall.
However, Aura may occasionally drop to 0% in matches, such as Weiss' during her fight against Flynt Coal. Mercury Black is also infamously injured by Yang Xiao Long after she attacks him when his Aura is depleted to 0%.
Trivia: It can be compared to the real-life principle of Chi/Ki/Qi or Chakra, as used in other forms of media. Miles Luna stated that he got the Aura monitor from the Energy shielding in the Halo series. When one's Aura is low, the bar flashes red. The same goes for the shield used by the Spartans. Aura was also adapted in RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, albeit, slightly changed. The effect of Aura and the Halo shield are also very similar visually. It has been stated by Kerry Shawcross that it is possible to increase the amount of Aura someone has but that it is impractical. He further stated that most users of Aura train to use it more efficiently rather than simply trying to get "a bigger gauge". The color of someone's Aura and Semblance can differ from each other: Pyrrha's Aura was red while her Polarity Semblance's color was black. Elm Ederne's Aura is brown while her Aura Roots are light green. Harriet Bree's Aura is pink while the lightning-like energy from her Super-Speed is yellow. Vine Zeki's Aura was light blue while his Aura Vines were light yellow in color. While all characters in RWBY have color associations, their associations and color can differ. For example, while the colors of Ruby Rose and Yang are red and yellow respectively, Weiss and Blake have blue and purple Auras, despite their representative colors being white and black accordingly. Pyrrha used her religious mantra to focus her aura when unlocking Jaune's. The chant is a reference to her inspiration, Achilles, who attempted to earn God-like immortality by gaining fame as a hero but only achieved it in death by being remembered. Monty Oum wrote Pyrrha's mantra himself. He created it because it sounded cool. Pyrrha's chant is referenced through some of the lyrics of the song Rising: "We are the paragons of virtue and glory; death can't bind our endless story; infinite and unbound". In RWBY: Ice Queendom, Aura can't protect people inside someone else's dreamscapes. Ruby receives injuries from Negative Weiss even though her Aura is not depleted in both dreamscape and the real world. Volume 4 introduced a visual effect for Aura shimmering under stress, which is differentiated from Aura breaking, with Yang Xiao Long's Aura shimmering in the fight in "Volume 5 Yang Character Short" being an early example.
- #3Semblance
Keys: semblance, semblance rwby, personal power, unique ability, innate power, aura projection, aura manifestation ability, aura based power, soul ability, personal technique, superpower rwby, special ability, combat ability, grimm fighting power, huntsman semblance, huntress semblance, faunus semblance, hereditary semblance, schnee semblance, glyph semblance, damage absorption power, speed power, telekinesis rwby, clone ability rwby, shadow clone rwby, elemental semblance, probability manipulation rwby, emotion based power, rage power, stress activated power, passive semblance, uncontrollable semblance, always active semblance, environmental effect power, external factor power, electricity absorption power, damage boost power, dust enhanced semblance, dust interaction power, aura fueled ability, aura consumption ability, aura drain ability, aura exhaustion power, semblance overuse, semblance fatigue, semblance collapse, semblance activation, semblance unlock, unlocked semblance, awakening power, traumatic awakening power, emotional awakening power, training awakened power, evolution semblance, evolved semblance, upgraded semblance, power growth ability, muscle like power growth, new ability gained, secondary power unlock, multi target power, illusion semblance, perception manipulation, emotion masking power, emotion sensing power, spatial ability rwby, movement ability rwby, speedster rwby, stealth power rwby, intelligence type semblance, defensive power rwby, offensive power rwby, support power rwby, supplementary ability, control type power, creation type power, effect type power, probability power rwby, magic like ability rwby, pseudo magic rwby, maiden boosted semblance, semblance theft, stolen semblance, lost semblance, suppressed semblance, mimic voice ability, glass creation power, heat generation power, magnetic control rwby, momentum manipulation, kinetic manipulation rwby, strength enhancement rwby, performance boost power, battlefield utility power, rwby power system
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Semblance is a power exhibited by certain characters in RWBY. It is developed from a person's Aura and typically helps in battle against Grimm. Semblances are different between people and can range from super strength, manipulating objects to disorienting opponents. Description: A "Semblance" is the manifestation of one's innate and personal power as an ability unique to each individual, with the effects varying greatly from user to user. With the sheer number of people unlocking their Semblances, it can lead to unrelated people gaining similar abilities. According to Kerry Shawcross, there are some Semblances that "everyone thinks they know what they are, but they're not".[1] The nature of one's Semblance is noted as representing an aspect of their character. However, a person's Semblance can be similar to the Semblances of their parents or other family members.[2] The Schnee family Semblance, summoning Glyphs, is unique in the fact that it is completely hereditary.
A person can name their Semblance when they fill out their application form for entering a Huntsman Academy. One example of this would be when Coco Adel decided to name her Semblance Hype when filling out her application for Beacon Academy.
According to Aura, the fourth installment of RWBY: World of Remnant, a Semblance is a more tangible projection of one's Aura. Pyrrha Nikos implied this connection when she told Jaune Arc that the use of Aura can help him to discover his Semblance and Miles Luna refers to Semblances as being "fueled" by Aura. [3][4]
Those that use Semblances are able to manipulate certain physical phenomena according to the nature of their power. Some individuals, such as Weiss Schnee, can use Aura to create "Glyphs" that generate some desired effect - the most prominent being sudden disruptions in movement and/or bursts of momentum. Others have the ability to enhance their performance, such as Ruby Rose and Harriet Bree, who are able to move at incredible speeds. There are also those who can generate and/or manipulate a specific aspect of nature, like Pyrrha who can control magnetic forces. However, there also exist Semblances that depend on external factors in order to function, such as Yang Xiao Long and Nora Valkyrie, who gain enhance their strength by taking damage and absorbing electricity respectively.
Using Dust, certain individuals can modify their Semblances with elements, such as Weiss using Myrtenaster to change her Glyphs and Blake Belladonna inserting Dust vials into Gambol Shroud to give her Shadow clones elemental properties.
Overuse of one's Semblance for prolonged periods may adversely affect its user at certain times. This was demonstrated by Weiss on one occasion after using a series of Glyphs in rapid succession to assist Ruby, subsequently collapsing afterward. This is also seen in "End of the Beginning", when Glynda Goodwitch shows signs of exhaustion from using her Semblance to rebuild Vale.
It seems that emotional turmoil or stress can affect one's use of Semblance, either negatively or positively, as exhibited in "Destiny", where Pyrrha Nikos' Semblance activates while talking to Jaune and accidentally slams him into the stone wall. Later, in "PvP", Pyrrha temporarily warps her weapon and shield for a moment during her tournament round. This phenomenon is exhibited by Weiss in "Tipping Point", when she accidentally summons a Boarbatusk, which then attacks a party guest. The earliest and most frequent example of this phenomenon is Yang Xiao Long's habit of accidentally activating her Semblance when she is angry.
In the case of Qrow Branwen and Clover Ebi, it is possible for a Semblance to be either uncontrollable or permanently active. Additionally, it may even be possible for a Semblance to affect one's surroundings.
Though specifics and details are not expanded upon, it is possible for someone to lose their Semblance. In one instance, Mercury Black lost his Semblance right after unlocking it when his father, Marcus, used his own Semblance to take it from him. It is currently unknown if a Semblance can be restored or not.
Unlocking: Semblances are unlocked during strong physical or emotional events. For example, Ruby unlocked her Semblance while training. Auras and Semblances can also be unlocked due to severe emotional stress or turmoil. Lie Ren unlocked his when his hometown was overrun by Grimm and his family was killed.[5] Cinder Fall unlocked her Semblance after she began reaching her breaking point and experiencing severe anger and frustration due to the years of abuse she endured from the Madame and her daughters.[6]
Some Semblances can also be unlocked by certain external phenomenon, such as Nora who unlocked hers when she was struck by a lightning bolt. Neptune Vasilias's Semblance could also be another possible example of this unlocking method as he was thrown into the ocean by his brother Jupiter, though this remains unclear if it was either direct contact with the water or simply being shocked from suddenly being thrown into it is what resulted his Semblance to be unlocked.
There seems to be no age requirement for unlocking one's Semblances, as seen where Gillian Asturias unlocked hers before even being born.
Evolution: According to Winter Schnee, Semblances are like muscles and are able to grow and evolve. A clear example is her younger sister's eventual mastery of summoning. Another example is Blake Belladonna, whose Semblance only allowed her to create clones that pushed her in a certain direction, but as of "Of Runaways and Stowaways", they can stay around for longer and even interact with her. Another smaller example is where Emerald Sustrai can easily use her Semblance on three people, when years ago she had difficulties using it on two people.
The earliest known instance of Semblance evolution is Ruby Rose's Semblance. As of "Volume 4 Character Short", she demonstrated the ability to divide herself into multiple clusters of rose petals.
A Semblance can also grow to gain a unique new ability altogether. A good example would be Lie Ren who at first only possessed the ability to mask emotions, but later also gained the ability to see the emotions of others.
Semblances can also evolve through intense emotions. In the case of Neopolitan, after surviving the fall to the Ever After, her anger and hatred of Cinder for her betrayal, together with her frustration at her failure to get revenge on Ruby, caused her Semblance to evolve, gaining the new ability to manifest and create several physical copies of herself and other beings. The Ever After's magical nature may have played a role in this, however.
Uniqueness: Whilst Semblances are often said to be completely unique there do exist some that are similar, such as those of Glynda Goodwitch and Carmine Esclados' who share Telekinesis, but differ in both how they manifest (purple glyphs and golden wisps, respectively) and overall potency; with Glynda's Semblance being noted to be much stronger than Carmine's. Semblances can be of the same type but if the visual effect is different they still both qualify as unique.[8]
There have also been Semblances with different names and effects but similar abilities, such as Yang and Adam Taurus's Semblances which mainly absorb damage (the former with her body and the latter with his sword) to augment them, Blake and Sun Wukong's Semblances to create clones of themselves and Cinder Fall and Bertilak Celadon's Semblances, which allows them to generate and radiate heat from their bodies for offensive attacks and manipulate dust/dirt to create glass constructs.
Classes: Semblances come in a variety of power types[9] including Clone, Control, Creation, Defense, Effect, Intelligence, Movement, Offense, Probability Manipulation, Spacial, Speed, Stealth, and Supplementary.
Trivia Much like how the weapons in RWBY have specific noises associated with them, Semblances do as well. While imagining new Semblances during a panel, Miles Luna thought of a Semblance that would allow the user to mimic someone else's voice. The colors of someone's Aura and Semblance can differ from each other: Pyrrha's Aura was red while her Semblance color was black. Elm Ederne's Aura is brown while her Semblance Aura constructs are light green. Harriet Bree's Aura is pink while the lightning-like energy produced by her Semblance is yellow. Vine Zeki's Aura was light blue while his Aura vines were light yellow. Not everyone discovers their Semblance despite being an active fighter, such as Roman Torchwick,[13] or Arthur Watts.[14] Fiona Thyme's Semblance was originally going to be Torchwick's Semblance, and it was originally called Deep Pockets. But the production team never found a moment for him to use it, so it was saved for a later character, and decided Roman could be a great example of how some people don't unlock their Semblances.[15] In an Reddit AMA, Eddy Rivas confirmed that there is a link between Semblances and Magic, but did not elaborate on it.[16] It has been shown that even after becoming Maidens: Cinder Fall and Winter Schnee could still use their respective Semblances, which in turn received a significant boost due to their magic. Upon landing in the Abandoned Acre, the experimental ground of The Gods, the unique properties of the acre led to Neopolitan's Overactive Imagination to evolve passed its natural state.[17] Whether the same thing occurred with Team RWBY and Jaune Arc, who ventured into the same acre is unknown. Bartholomew Oobleck is shown to move through his classroom at incredible speeds to the point of almost seeming to teleport, but whether it was a comical effect or his Semblance was unrevealed. While most people see Semblances as a strength, a few see them as crutches that make their users weak. One example is Marcus Black, who stole away his son's Semblance to make him grow strong without it. It is possible that Semblances are an attempt to replicate Magic.
- #4Enemys
Keys: Grimm, creatures of Grimm, monster Remnant, monsters Remnant, dark creatures Remnant, creatures of destruction, soulless creatures, soul-less monster, no aura creature, aura-less being, aura less monster, shadow monster, darkness monster, black monster, bone mask creature, bone plated monster, red eyes monster, glowing red eyes creature, beast Remnant, hostile creature Remnant, wild monster Remnant, supernatural beast, demonic creature Remnant, nightmare creature, terror creature, attacking monster, rampaging creature, giant monster Remnant, swarm of monsters, pack of monsters, horde of monsters, invasion creatures, enemy creatures Remnant, humanityโs enemy, faunus enemy, huntsman enemy, huntress enemy, negative emotion attracted, drawn to fear, drawn to hatred, drawn to despair, drawn to grief, drawn to anger, attracted to negativity, emotion sensing monster, emotion tracking creature, aura attracted creature, aura magnet monster, silver eyes weak creature, vulnerable to silver eyes, Salem army, Salem creatures, Salem monsters, controlled by Salem, spawn of darkness, children of darkness, God of Darkness creation, darkness spawn, shadow spawn, void creature, ancient monsters Remnant, primordial creatures, endless monsters, spawning monsters, creatures from pools, tar creatures, black liquid spawn, smoke body creature, dissolving monster, no corpse monster, disappears on death, evaporating creature, evolving monster, ancient Grimm, intelligent Grimm, alpha monster, colossal monster Remnant, kaiju Remnant, flying monster Remnant, burrowing monster Remnant, sea monster Remnant, desert monster Remnant, tundra monster Remnant, forest monster Remnant, airborne threat, ground threat, siege creature, city destroying monster, kingdom threat, extinction threat, Remnant wildlife hostile, unnatural fauna Remnant, hybrid Grimm, mutated Grimm, experimental Grimm, possessed object monster, possession creature, parasitic monster, shapeshifting monster, adaptive monster, speaking monster, humanoid monster Remnant, animal-like monster, insect monster Remnant, serpent monster Remnant, dragon-like monster Remnant, leviathan monster, behemoth creature, titan creature Remnant, unknown species monster, unidentified creature Remnant
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The Creatures of Grimm, or just Grimm, are monsters inhabiting the majority of Remnant. They were originally created by the God of Darkness and their current master is Salem.
They are described as โcreatures of destructionโ that do not possess a soul, rendering them unable to use Aura. They are also drawn towards negative emotions such as jealously, grief, loneliness, hatred and fear; causing them to often congregate on the source of these emotions, attacking any and all Humans and Faunus they encounter on sight.
History:
The Grimm were created by the God of Darkness in order to destroy the creations of the God of Light. Eventually, the two Brothers ended their feud by creating something that could both create and destroy, namely Humanity. However, despite the younger brotherโs involvement in creating Humanity, the Grimm were still left to roam Remnant and prey on them.
The Grimm have been locked in na existential war with Humanity for as long as can be remembered, seeking to destroy them and all of their creations. When the God of Darkness wiped out the first wave of Humanity, he left the Grimm alive before departing Remnant. Following the reemergence of Humanity, the Grimm began to attack again. At first, it seemed as though they would succeed, as Humans did not have the strength to fight them. However, Humans discovered the power of Dust, and with it, the Grimm were driven back. During this time, Humans enjoyed a time of peace and soon formed their own Kingdoms, which grew to survive and prosper. However, this time would not last indefinitely.
Although the Grimm mindlessly wander Remnant, they have a hidden master in Salem, na ancient and mysterious figure who is able to both control and create them. She currently uses the Grimm as her foot soldiers against Humanity to further her goals.
While Grimm are initially mindless and heedless of risk during their youths, leading them to simply attack any Humans on sight, some Grimm are so powerful that they have survived to live for hundreds of years. In that time, they have evolved and learned from their experiences fighting Humanity. This leads them to exhibit restraint and the patience to avoid taking unnecessary casualties in futile conflicts. Instead, they stay close to Humanityโs borders, waiting for the opportunity to come where they can finally strike. Because of this, mankind is in ever-present danger, even in times of apparent peace. Bartholomew Oobleck recounts this in the episode โSearch and Destroyโ when he tells Ruby Rose how intelligent some species, such as the Goliath, have become over the years.
The Grimm also, for many years, disrupted land-based travel and communications between Kingdoms. After the Great War of Remnant, the invention and production of the CCT towers replace futile land-based communication systems with instantaneous wireless electronic messaging capabilities.
Additionally, the Grimm appear to be the predominant species in the world of Remnant as Humans and Faunus appear to be limited to four primary pocket settlements referred to as Kingdoms, which are guarded by Huntsmen, as well as several villages that exist with mixed success. Attempts by the Kingdoms to expand beyond their borders are often met with resistance, and even failure, such as the loss of na entire sector of the city of Vale to the Grimm.
In recent history, the White Fang attempted to cause a breach in the city of Vale and let the Grimm enter and destroy the Kingdom. However, the attempt ended in failure as multiple students, Huntsmen and the Atlas Military managed to seal the breach and kill the Grimm that managed to get through.
Later, Merlot Industries began experimenting on Grimm and created mutants using a special serum created by Dr. Merlot. Before he had a chance to use these Grimm to attack Beacon Academy however, Team RWBY/Team JNPR put a stop to his plans and destroyed his main facility.
During the 40th annual Vytal Festival tournament in Vale, the Grimm were attracted to the main city and Beacon Academy due to growing negativity caused by the plans of Cinderโs Faction and na attack with the help of the White Fang. Beacon Academy was overrun in na event known as the Fall of Beacon and attempts to retake the Academy from the Grimm are still ongoing.
Later, the Grimm began to attack the city of Argus due to a negativity spike caused by Caroline Cordovin, but were warded off by the soldiers stationed in Argus.
In the past, the cold climate of Solitas managed to keep the Grimm at bay due to it being too cold for them to survive. However, they began to adapt to the cold due to Salem making them more resistant and converged on the Kingdom of Atlas.
Eventually, the Grimm managed to attack Mantle, but were repelled during the Battle of Mantle by the combined forces of the Atlas Military and the Huntsmen.
When Salem destroyed the Hard-Light Dust Shields protecting Atlas, she landed Monstra on the island and created na army of Grimm to attack the city. While the Atlas Military tried to hold off the Grimm during the Battle of Atlas, Monstra was eventually destroyed and took many of the Grimm it created with it, although there were still many left.
Biology: In the episode โThe Next Stepโ, the births of Grimm are depicted, with Beowolves emerging from black pools in the Land of Darkness. However, most of Humanity is unaware of the origins of Grimm. Ancient Human cultures believed the Grimm to be animals possessed by evil spirits or even the tortured spirits of animals themselves. Further study has disproved this theory over time due to the discovery of certain species of Grimm which have no animal counterparts, such as Creeps and Griffons. With the discovery of new types of Grimm every day, scientists are left with more questions than answers.
Grimm come in a variety of shapes and sizes; the latter appearing to mostly be a factor of age. Grimm are very biodiverse as different individuals may be born with less size, armor, spikes, etc. Some Grimm have the ability to evolve into stronger versions of themselves like the Centinels which will evolve into its alpha variant, the Cenitaur, if they arenโt taken out quickly enough. Grimm are said to be the only creatures without souls, thus being deprived of the use of Aura, but they make up for this with strength, durability and savagery. Some Grimm even have special abilities such as possession or usage of lightning and fire. Grimm are stated to be attracted to generally negative feelings such as sadness, hostility, anger and fear, and even congregate in areas that, although Humanity has long since abandoned, still hold residual traces of these feelings.
This behavior will even lead to them to join in on na attack in progress if the Humans being attacked begin to panic. Grimm typically form packs or other types of large groupings with other members of their own species. While some lone Grimm may stray from the pack for hours or even months, they will inevitably rejoin their group to continue their instinctive drive to hunt the people of Remnant and destroy any creations associated with them.
The longer a Grimm lives, the larger it becomes, with species such as the Beowolves growing from just over the size of na average man to massive behemoths that dwarf Atlesian Knight-200s. Although Grimm have a more reckless and aggressive nature during their youth, older Grimm who have managed to survive their battles have the tendency to learn from their experiences. While sometimes requiring hundreds of years, the individual Grimmโs accumulated experiences over the course of surviving their battles with man can cause them to begin exercising caution.
This self-preservation can even lead them to avoid unnecessary conflicts altogether, instead waiting for na opportunity to present itself. This demonstrates that for all their apparent intelligence, older Grimm simply use it as a means to become more effective in their singular purpose of killing. However, no matter how much they learn from battle, Grimm by themselves are not smart enough to coordinate a concentrated attack on a battlefield and require Salemโs direction in order to actually pose a threat to massive forces like the Atlas Military.
Grimm display no enmity towards normal animals and they only clash during territorial disputes. Humans and Faunus are the only races they attack on sight. Grimm can also choose not to eat and it is commonly believed that they do not require sustenance. When a Grimm dies, their corporeal form evaporates, preventing detailed anatomical or biological studies. This also means that Huntsmen that kill for sport cannot stuff and mount Grimm bodies as trophies, making replicas instead.
Also of interesting note is that Grimm usually die off when in captivity if they cannot kill their captors or escape first, implying that they cannot be kept alive by normal means.
Initially, the cold climate in Solitas proved to be inhospitable for the Grimm for a very long time. Over time, however, the Creatures of Grimm grew to adapt to the cold of Solitas, now said to be the strongest species of Grimm. In recent history, the Grimm adapted at a supernaturally fast rate, leading many to wonder the cause of this change.
Grimm are shown to have tar-like innards underneath their skin which can splash into things as if it were blood before dissipating into smoke.
In RWBY: Before the Dawn, Shade Academy students discover that Grimm are not only attracted to negative emotions but also their very souls โ their Aura. Powerful Auras are like Grimm magnets, causing them to drop their original targets in favor of the more powerful supply of Aura as though they were moths to a flame. It is unclear whether this applies exclusively to unlocked Aura or to both locked and unlocked Aura, and it is specified as only Human and Faunus Aura, despite animals having it.
Similar to Semblances, Grimm have different โtypes.โ While most types are unknown, Possession-type Grimm have the ability to possess inanimate objects to use for themselves or even other species of Grimm and people. The only other confirmed type is the Serpent-type which seems to only include snake-like Grimm. Most Grimm simply use brute force and some can use mental attacks on people.
Experiments: There is also na as of yet unknown method for grafting Grimm anatomy to a Human body, as seen with Cinder Fallโs left arm. However, there are two critical weaknesses to those who undergo such a process. First, Aura cannot protect the Grimm component due to retaining the Grimmโs soulless nature. Second, the graft recipient is vulnerable to the power of the Silver-Eyed warriors due to the Grimmโs weakness to their power. Such a graft recipient is also afforded several abilities. One ability is the power to forcibly absorb and potentially assimilate the powers of a Maiden. Another is the power of elasticity, which Cinder Fall was able to use by extending her left arm several meters while still appearing to maintain physical strength.
The graft recipient also appears to โbleedโ from the Grimm component in the form of black smoke when it is severed or cut, the same way a true Grimm does. Furthermore, Cinder was capable of feeling intense pain when exposed to the flash of Rubyโs silver eyes and when a glass fragment pierced her arm in her duel with Raven Branwen. Given Salemโs ability to modify the bodies of Grimm through magic, it is likely that this is the primary means by which the graft is created and attached to the host. Salem is also able to control a grafted Grimm component as if it were any other Grimm. She was known to use this to punish Cinder by inflicting agonizing pain on the latterโs Grimm arm.
The Schnee Dust Company managed to create na Arma Gigas by putting a mutated form of a Geist in a copy of Nicholas Schneeโs armor.
Mutant Grimm There exists a group of Grimm that have been genetically modified to be superior to normal Grimm in every way. They possess powers like exploding and creating waves of crystal-like bone spikes. Unlike all other Grimm, their eyes, markings and inside of their bodies were green instead of red. Their spikes took on na appearance similar to glowing green crystals. So far the only species that have been seen in mutated form are Creeps, Beowolves and a single Death Stalker.
Grimm Pools: Grimm spawn from a viscous, tar-like substance. Pools of this substance appear in numbers in the Land of Darkness. Grimm of sufficient size like the Wyvern and Monstra were able to produce this substance and create new Grimm. The Wyvern could create drops of tar that created Creeps, Beowolves and Ursai, while Monstra was large enough to create waves of tar from its mouth that could spawn endless amounts of Grimm.
In the past, Grimm Liquid once was plentiful within the Land of Darkness back when the God of Darkness dwelled there; making up a massive lake that the God lived within similar to that of the Domain of Light. However, following his departure, the massive pool that stood at the center has apparently diminished such that by the modern day, it is little more than a bleached and cracked white lakebed, with only a few tidepools of the liquid remaining visible outside of Salemโs castle where she can pull Grimm from.
Salem created a river of Grimm Liquid under Solitas using Monstra, which she later utilized to breach through the Hard-Light shield of Atlas.
Grimm Species:
Apathy: Willpower-Draining Aura, Ear-Piercing Scream. Humanoid Shape, Long Arms, Deformed Face.
Beetle: Power Transfer Beetle Body
Beowolf: Lunges, Claws Strikes, Bites Black Fur, Bonelike Spines
Beringel: Grappling, Throwing, Punching Black Fur, Bonelike Plates.
Blind Worm: Biting, Head Charging, Spitting Acid, Swallowing Bone Plates, giant mouth, acidic blood
Boarbatusk: Charges, tusks, body rolls White Bone Plates, Four Eyes, Large Tusks
Centinel: Acid Spit, Biting, Ensnaring Black Skin, External Bone Plates, Segmented Body, Strong Jaws
Creep: Ramming, Bites, Tail Swipping Bonelike Spines, Two-Legged
Death Stalker: Claw Grabs, Stinger Strikes Black Exoskeleton, White Bone Plates, Glowing Stinger
Geist : Possession Black Skin, Bonelike Spines
Goliath: Stomping Black Skin, Bonelike Spines, Giant Tusks
Griffon: Charging, Claws Black Fur, Feathers, Bonelike Spines, Avian Wings
Horse Grimm: Charging, Stomping, Kicking Horse Body, Black Smoke, Bone Protrusions
The Hound: Adapting Canine Body, No Eyes, Wings
Imp: Arm Stretching, Screech Humanoid, Bone Protrusions
King Taijitu: Lunges, Fang Bites, Constriction Bonelike Spines, Grimm Markings Lancer: Firing Stinger, Ramming, Projectiles Wasplike Body,Armor
Leviathan: Fire Breath Webbed Limbs, Large Tail
Manticore: Clawing, Biting, Tackling, Stinging, Fireballs Black Fur, Feathers, Bonelike Spines, Avian Wings, Stinger Tail
Megoliath: Charging, Stomping Mammothlike Body, Black Fur, Frozen Skin, Giant Tusks
Monstra: Flight, Spawning Grimm Giant Whalelike Body, Gravity Dust Spikes, Red Wings
Nevermore: Headbutt Charge, Spearlike Feather Quills Black Plumage, Wing Claws, Bonelike Headpiece
Nidhogg: Flame Breath Long Serpentine Body, Red Membranes, Fins, Claws
Nightmare: Possession, Aura draining Thorny Appendages, Bonelike Spines
Nuckelavee: Extendable Arms, Sonic Roar Equine Body, Humanoid, Horns, Slender Arms, Hooves
Ravager: Biting, Clawing Black Fur, Bonelike Spines, Red Wings.
Razorwing: Flight Harpy Body
Sabyr: Biting, Charging, Clawing Black Body, Large Canines, Frozen Skin
Sea Feilong:Lightning Breath, Ramming, Wind Gust, Biting Scales, Dorsal Fin, Collapsible Wings, Tendrils, Forearms
Seer: Telecommunications, Strangulation, Sharp Tentacles Red Tentacles, Black Body
Shadow Hand: Sharp Claws, Elasticity, Energy Absorption Clawed Arms
Sphinx : Bite, Tail Strike, Fire Breath Wings, Snake Tail
Spider Grimm: Illusion Casting Spiderlike Body, Three Eyes
Sulfur Fish: Superheating, Combining Sulfur Swarm Insectlike Body, One Eye, Three Tails
Swindlen: Claws, High Jumping Tail, Ice Spikes, Large Ears Tempest: Flight, Storm Generation Black Medusa, Red Tentacles
Tentacle Grimm: Tentacles, Merging Grimm Small Skull Body, Tentacles
Teryx: Lunges, Claw Strikes, Bites, Flight Raptorlike Body, Wings
Ursa: Lunges, Claw Swing, Bites Black Fur, Bonelike Spines
Wyvern: Ramming, Flight, Spawning Grimm Black Skin, Bonelike Spines, Batlike Wings
Other Grimm Dromedon - A camel-like Grimm that can spit acidic venom. Fox Alistair battles one in Feldspar. They are shown to have armored humps. Dromedary is the scientific name for the Arabian camel. Jackalope - A huge rabbit-like Grimm with black fur, branching red and white antlers and powerful hind legs. A Jackalope is encountered by Velvet Scarlatina in Feldspar in RWBY: After the Fall. They later make a return in RWBY: Before the Dawn when Coco Adel and Carmine Esclados face a pair of them. The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns. Ziraph - A three-headed Grimm that resembles a giraffe. Their bodies are covered in red spots that bear resemblance to a leopard's. Each head has two horns. They are described as being five stories tall and having razor-like plates on their four legs as well as long tongues which they use to ensnare people and swallow them whole. They are so powerful that it took the entirety of Team CFVY to defeat one of them. Owl Grimm - Owl Grimm are described in RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant in the story "The Warrior in the Woods", in which three owls attack a boy in a forest, only to be saved by a warrior woman.The story's animated adaptation depicts them with a similar appearance to Nevermores, though it is unknown if they are a separate species from Nevermores or not. Lagartodiles โ Fearsome Grimm described as living in the swamps of Mistral by Bartholomew Oobleck in RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant. Grendels โ Fierce Grimm described as living in the swamps of Mistral by Bartholomew Oobleck in RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant. Grendel is a fictional monster from the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf Long Tongues โ Poisonous Grimm described as living in the swamps of Mistral by Bartholomew Oobleck in RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant. Whisps โ Tricky Grimm described as living in the swamps of Mistral by Bartholomew Oobleck in RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant. Whisps are possibly based on the Will-o'-the-wisp, an atmospheric phenomenon of light that gave rise to folk beliefs of fairies and ghosts. Capivara - A large, rat-like Grimm from Menagerie described with having a long black tail with white barbs at its end, sharp elongated claws, and two rows of teeth the size of Human fingers. One makes an appearance in RWBY: Roman Holiday, where Mistral crime boss Paul Parrot has it imported into the city and keeps it in the basement of his club for use in executing his enemies. After Roman Torchwick, Melanie and Miltia Malachite face off against it, it escapes, kills many of Paul's men and is then destroyed by Spider.
Drake - An unnamed large, dinosaur-like terrestrial Grimm described in the "I Burn Anthology", which is mostly non-canon. As yet, they have only been seen in a dream sequence so whether this is an existing species or merely a figment of Yang's imagination is unconfirmed. Berserker - An unnamed hairy, bipedal, mammalian Grimm described in the "Mirror Mirror Anthology", which is mostly non-canon. Theropod Grimm - A theropod, dinosaur-like Grimm which first appears in RWBY 6. This Grimm is shown to have a body resembling a three-headed tyrannosaur and having horns on its white face mask. It is seen in Menagerie, being quickly dispatched by Blake and Sun Wukong. Combat Ready Grimm - Unidentified Grimm resembling a Beowolf with elements of a Leviathan appears on the Grimm Portal objective card in RWBY: Combat Ready. Whether it is a unique Grimm or an artistic representation of a Beowolf is unclear. Shark Grimm - Seen on a poster in "Strings". Grimm Puppy - Seen in "Vol. 5: Shine", which is mostly non-canon. It resembles a wolf or husky puppy. Whether it is meant to be a young or infant version of a Beowolf or a unique species is unknown. Praying Mantis Grimm - First revealed in RWBY: Ice Queendom, which resembles a praying mantis. Sea Dragon Grimm - First revealed in RWBY: Ice Queendom, which resembles a sea dragon with a piranha-like head. Whether it is intended to be a new species or an artistic representation of a Sea Feilong is unknown. Godzilla Grimm - First revealed in RWBY: Ice Queendom, which resembles to a giant dinosaur. It shares this resemblance with the Drake and Leviathan and may simply be an artistic representation of one of them rather than a separate species.
Grimm-Related Individuals: God of Darkness: The God of Darkness is one of the two Gods who created Remnant as well as the creator and original master of the Grimm.
Initially, he created the Grimm in order to counteract the creations of the God of Light. However, the two eventually settled their differences and created Humanity together. Following this, the Grimm were largely kept confined to the Land of Darkness. In the tale The Two Brothers, it is revealed that the God of Darkness cared for the Grimm, as after his truce with his brother, he chose to live in the Land of Darkness among his own creations as opposed to anywhere else.
Following the Gods' departure from Remnant, the Grimm were left to roam the planet until eventually they came under the control of Salem. The God of Darkness is one of the two Gods who created Remnant as well as the creator and original master of the Grimm.
Initially, he created the Grimm in order to counteract the creations of the God of Light. However, the two eventually settled their differences and created Humanity together. Following this, the Grimm were largely kept confined to the Land of Darkness. In the tale The Two Brothers, it is revealed that the God of Darkness cared for the Grimm, as after his truce with his brother, he chose to live in the Land of Darkness among his own creations as opposed to anywhere else.
Following the Gods' departure from Remnant, the Grimm were left to roam the planet until eventually they came under the control of Salem.
Salem: Salem is the primary antagonist of RWBY and the current master of the Grimm. She is the last living member of the original Humanity and was cursed with immortality by the Gods as punishment for trying to manipulate them to bring her lover back. She tried ending her life by jumping into the Grimm Pool in the Land of Darkness, but instead was physically altered and gained the power to control the Grimm.
She can affect the physiology of Grimm and mutate them and is even capable of grafting Grimm body parts to a Human's body. She causes Beringels to sprout wings in "Our Way" and gives Cinder Fall a Shadow Hand to replace her missing arm. In addition, she has the ability to summon multiple Shadow Hands on command as seen in "So That's How It Is". Her preferred method is using them to restrain her opponents.
She is also capable of creating Grimm hybrids, as was the case with The Hound, who was shown to have a Faunus as its core, most notably with a Silver Eye.
Merlot: Doctor Merlot is the main antagonist of the video game RWBY: Grimm Eclipse and founder of Merlot Industries, a research and development corporation based out of the ill-fated settlement at Mountain Glenn. At some point, Merlot gained an unhealthy obsession towards the Creatures of Grimm, believing them to be a "superior species" and that due to their "unbridled raw aggression and lack of sentience" they would make "the perfect vessel".
His corporation began performing experiments on Grimm, research which Merlot believed was vital to the future of Remnant. However, when they began running out of specimens to experiment on, they started attracting Grimm to the city in order to acquire more, with disastrous results. After the fall of Mountain Glenn, Doctor Merlot was presumed dead.
However, Merlot, in fact, survived the destruction of Mountain Glenn and transferred his operation to a highly remote island at an unknown location, and continued his experiments at his new secret laboratory, creating the mutant Grimm using his serum, a glowing green substance.
Years later, Team RWBY would lead an investigation of mutated Grimm traced back to Merlot Industries, eventually arriving on Merlot's island. After Team RWBY infiltrates his laboratory and destroys his mutant Grimm, he self-destructs the laboratory.
Arthur Watts: Dr. Arthur Watts is one of the series' supporting antagonists. He is an ex-Atlas scientist who aided Salem in her attempts to bring destruction in the world, faking his death to defect to her side. During the events of Volume 8, Watts perished after being imprisoned in the falling city of Atlas by Cinder's actions.
However, despite dying, Watts managed to upload a copy of his mind in a digital space which was found by Kilg%re and kept safe.
Hybrids: Cinder Fall: is an antagonist in RWBY and a member of Salem's Inner Circle. She used a Beetle Grimm to steal the power of the Fall Maiden, but after getting severely damaged by Ruby Rose's usage of Silver Eyes, she had her entire left arm replaced with a Shadow Hand. Her arm is capable of slashing, stretching, channeling magic and directly absorbing Maiden powers. Because of its Grimm nature it is incapable of channeling Aura, making it vulnerable to direct damage.
The Hound: The Hound was a Grimm hybrid created by Salem using an unnamed Silver-Eyed Faunus. It was smarter than any other known Grimm and capable of changing its form to suit its needs. Known forms include a humanoid form, a canine form and a winged form. It was also capable of creating a third hand out of its back. It was partially resistant to Silver Eyes, possibly because of its hybrid nature, but was damaged as a result of the attack. The Hound was the first Grimm shown to be capable of speaking the Human language due to how it was created. It was later killed and left behind the corpse of the Faunus as it died.
Trivia: Different parts of Remnant have different species of Grimm. The crew stated that they try to theme the Grimm based on the location they are found. The icy continent of Solitas features Grimm based on prehistoric and ice age animals. Miles Luna has compared the Grimm to Pokรฉmon, stating that some will pop up in every region while others are region-specific. According to the Volume 3 DVD Directors' Commentary, the ability of the Wyvern to spawn Grimm offers a sneak peek towards their creation. Later it was shown that Grimm spawn from dark Grimm pools in the Land of Darkness. An early idea for Grimm involved the people of Remnant bottling the Grimm oil and selling it on the black market. This essence could be used on animals to "Grimm-ify" them or be used on two creatures to create a hybrid. In a deleted concept for Volume 1, Corsac and Fennec Albain would have used the Grimm liquid to summon Grimm in the Beacon Academy Initiation. On May 21st, 2020, Rooster Teeth Productions and Full Sail University announced a collaboration for the production of Volume 8. Full Sail University students and graduates were given exclusive opportunities to design a Grimm that would be featured in Volume 8. The RWBY animation team would select the top five submissions for Rooster Teeth fans to vote on, with the contest ending on June 21st, and voting starting on July 7th and ending on July 12th, 2020. Following controversy surrounding one of the finalist designs, Rooster Teeth released a statement addressing the concern over the creature's design, clarifying it was not the artist's intent to be insensitive, and instead compensated both the artist and another who dropped out of the contest during that time. Ultimately, the Sulfur Fish was chosen as the winner of the competition, set to debut in Volume 8. They first appeared in "War". All of the Grimm creatures' vocal sound effects are done by William Orendorff, the voice actor of Hazel Rainart.
Biology: When injured or killed, Grimm emit smoke, similar to how Humans and Faunus bleed. If they are killed, they don't leave behind a corpse. The only exception to this was the Hound which left behind the body of the Faunus used as its core after it was killed. The Hound was the only Grimm capable of speaking due to how it was created. In the manga, the Arma Gigas is described as being a Possession-type Grimm, having been created by amalgamating several different species of Grimm.
Story: To someone who is familiar with how Grimm are supposed to behave, seeing one like The Hound slowly stalk a corridor and go in circles instead of "being 100% aggro all the time" is deeply unsettling. The Hound's more intelligent behavior and the fact that it didn't prioritize violence all the time are meant to be hints that it wasn't just a Grimm. Miscellaneous Grimm typically follow a color theme of red, white, black and a little yellow. These are all the colors of the four main characters. This color theme was later expanded with the Cenitaur and its green body sack and acid, and the Centinel's acid spit. RWBY: Grimm Eclipse introduced mutated Grimm that have glowing green elements. The Magic Necklace from RWBY: The Grimm Campaign causes Grimm's eyes to glow blue. The yellow and red sometimes mix into orange. Grimm in Solitas add a slight blue tint to the normally white Grimm bone spikes. Monstra has purple in its design due to its Gravity Dust. The White Fang wear Grimm Masks. This symbolizes how Humans tried to make monsters out of them. At one point, ancient cultures of Remnant believed that Grimm were animals possessed by evil spirits or were the tortured spirits of animals. RWBY: Grimm Eclipse is named after the Grimm, which serve as common enemies in the video game. It is currently unknown if there are plant based Grimm in the series. The RWBY: Ice Queendom continuity however, does feature the Nightmare Grimm which bears similarities to a plant. The Jabberwalker is a creation of The Gods as shown in "Of Solitude and Self", whose purpose is to hunt down Afterans and devour them, preventing them from ascending. Because of its hostile nature and similar appearance, as well as the God of Darkness' fondness towards it, its possible that the Jabberwalker is a precursor to the Grimm.
- #5Faunus
Keys: Faunus, faunus, animal people, beastfolk, demi-human, RWBY faunus, animal traits, animal ears, animal tail, horns, claws, fangs, wings, bat wings, fish tail, mermaid faunus, scorpion faunus, spider faunus, reptile faunus, mammal faunus, night vision, enhanced hearing, venom, silk, camouflage, animal instincts, Menagerie, faunus discrimination, racism against faunus, White Fang, faunus rights, faunus revolution, human and faunus, interbreeding faunus human, Remnant races, Blake Belladonna, Adam Taurus, Sun Wukong RWBY, Velvet Scarlatina, Ghira Belladonna, Kali Belladonna, Ilia Amitola, Tyrian Callows, Trifa, Yuma, Neon Katt, Fiona Thyme, Leonardo Lionheart, Sienna Khan, faunus mythology, God of Animals, Shallow Sea, Judgement of Faunus, faunus creation myth, animal deity, faunus biology, single animal trait, rare faunus types, winged faunus, fish faunus, arachnid faunus, faunus abilities, faunus culture, faunus society, faunus history, Great War RWBY, Atlas racism faunus, Mistral racism faunus, Vale faunus, Vacuo faunus, Beacon Academy faunus, Schnee Dust Company faunus workers, faunus slavery, faunus segregation, Remnant species, non-human race RWBY
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Faunus (singular Faunus) are one of the two intelligent races that inhabit Remnant, the other race being Humans. While Faunus resemble Humans, they are often easily distinguishable from the latter in that they possess the traits of animals. Background: Faunus are similar to Humans, with the exception of sharing certain traits with animals. Some types of Faunus are more common than others, with some being extremely rare. Faunus with mammalian traits, in general, seem to be quite common. The origin of how Faunus came to be is currently unknown. However, they were known to have started appearing after the extinction of the original Humanity. Biology: Some, such as Blake Belladonna and Velvet Scarlatina, have been shown to have animal ears (in these cases, those of a cat and a rabbit, respectively); some Faunus with animal ears also appear to have a set of Human ears, while some other Faunus, like Fiona Thyme, have animal ears in place of Human ears. Other Faunus like Adam Taurus have been shown to have horns protruding from their heads. Some Faunus, such as Sun Wukong and Neon Katt may have tails. In some cases, a Faunus may have a trait that is not immediately apparent, such as Tukson and Ghira Belladonna's protractible claws. Some may even have traits that augment their mobility such as Yuma's bat wings, which presumably grant him the natural ability to fly. Arachnid Faunus such as Tyrian Callows and Trifa possess the ability to secrete substances natural to their Faunus heritage, such as scorpion venom and spider silk, respectively.
In general, wings and mermaid-like fish tails are rather rare, and in the case of mermaid-like Faunus, the trait can be a disability by making it hard to walk. Thus, the Shallow Sea makes life manageable for mermaid-like Faunus.
It has been said that Faunus can only have a single physical trait in common with their animal. However, this only seems to apply to body appendages and the dermis. In addition to these traits, most (but not all) Faunus have remarkable night vision, a trait that they use to great effect in combat, and some seem capable of producing animal sounds.
In addition, Faunus have been shown on multiple occasions to possess other non-physical traits and behaviors of the animals that they are based on. One such example is food preference, such as how Sun is shown eating bananas and Blake's love for fish like tuna. Ghira is shown roaring like a great cat when angered.
Some Faunus chose designs that reflect the animal they are based on, such as Tyrian's weapons resembling scorpion pincers, Ilia Amitola's hair resembling a chameleon tail, Leonardo Lionheart's hair and beard resembling a lion's mane and Sienna Khan's tattoos resembling tiger stripes.
Faunus are genetically compatible with Humans, though the children of such unions are typically always Faunus; for example, Velvet Scarlatina is Faunus despite having a Human father. Faunus do not automatically have the same animal trait as their Faunus parents (especially those born to two Faunus with different traits), though many do; both Blake Belladonna and her mother Kali have cat ears as their Faunus feature.
Faunus Types: Faunus have attributes of various animals from various classes. The Faunus traits range from ears, skin, fins, claws, to additional limbs like tails and wings. Faunus with minor traits like ears and retractable claws can pass as Human. Some fish Faunus have a fully fish tail, which is the most drastic departure from the human body shape we have seen so far.
Many Mammal Faunus are seen throughout the series, typically with animal ears or tails. They have also been shown with claws, teeth or horns. Depending on the positioning of their animal ears, some mammal Faunus have twin pairs of ears, one human and one animal. Reptilian Faunus are rare and usually have scaled skin. Chameleon traits like Ilia's skin are especially rare, allowing her to blend in perfectly with other humans. Fish Faunus are seen in Menagerie and are also considered rare while being known as Remnant's version of mermaids. We see fish fins and one with a full fish tail. Winged Faunus are another rare type of Faunus in Remnant. Arachnid Faunus are rare and have very non-human alterations to their bodies. So far, no Faunus has demonstrated traits from extinct animals (such as a thagomizer or saber teeth). Pig Faunus with ears as a trait have exceptional hearing.Wolf Faunus with ears as a trait have increased hearing and night vision.
Special Ability: Special Ability Some Faunus have a Special Ability that gives them a unique power similar to, or in addition to a Semblance:
Tyrian's Scorpion Stinger creates powerful venom that is lethal without medical help Ilia Amitola's Camouflage which allows her to change the color of her skin and eyes during missions, or due to her emotions. Trifa's spinnerets which give her the ability to shoot out webbing to trap her enemies Yuma's bat wings which enable him to fly. In Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes and Huntsmen, Part One, Batman is able to fly using his bat wings like Yuma and he can also scan his surrounding like using a sonar.
Religion and Creation Myths: The God of Animals is a shapeshifting Faunus deity appearing in the stories of The Shallow Sea and The Judgement of Faunus, two Faunus creation myths in Remnant.
In The Shallow Sea, the God of Animals is shown to recluse themselves in Menagerie, where they bring a small group of people into the island and transform them into the Faunus. Ozpin claims that while being based on a myth, it holds some truth to it. However, this story has fallen out of favor after the Great War as the concept of a magical island is somewhat insulting to modern Faunus.
In The Judgement of Faunus, a conflicting Faunus creation myth, the God of Animals stops a war between mankind and the animal kingdom by transforming them into the Faunus, making them equals and without a reason to fight. Despite being a contradictory creation tale, Ozpin claims it contains no less truth than The Shallow Sea.
The god's powers includes shapeshifting and transforming others into all kinds of forms, at one point taking the form of even mythological creatures such as a roc.
The Faunus cast their god as a wise and noble figure, while mankind's stories portray them as a trickster who is not to be trusted, which is telling of a discriminatory foundation against the Faunus. Notably, the Faunus fairy tales are open-ended and as a result tend to be either bittersweet or depressing, as they have a belief that their story is still unfolding in the present day and they have yet to uncover their true purpose.
The god's existence is questionable as to whether it is true, but they are described in The Shallow Sea as having ram horns when revealing themselves and having branching horns in The Judgement of Faunus, indicating they might be the Brother Gods in disguise. Corsac and Fennec Albain are shown to have paintings of a Faunus figure whose imagery is repeated in the White Fang, which may have some relation to the God of Animals.
History: Early History: Little is known about the origin of the Faunus, and scientists still currently struggle to discover or understand anything about them. Despite what some might think though, Faunus are not in fact as old as Humans, as they were not present during the time of The Gods, only appearing after they had left.
Humans' discrimination toward Faunus began early, due to how startling Humans found it that Faunus looked and acted like them but had animalistic features that were sometimes frightening, such as fangs. This discrimination only grew through rumors and stories that spread fear and suspicion. It was not uncommon for Humans to chase Faunus out of their villages or even to hunt them down and kill them. At some point in history, a village in Sanus fell under attack from the Creatures of Grimm, and its survival was thanks solely to the fact that Humans and Faunus worked together to defeat the invading Grimm. After this event, Humans grew to realize that Faunus were not that different from them after all. However, rather than treating them equally, Humans used the Faunus' differences from them to exploit and continue to discriminate against them.
Great War: After the end of the Great War, the Faunus were given equal rights and the continent of Menagerie as compensation for previous treatment. Some saw the gift of Menagerie as fair and just, while others saw it as a slap in the face from sore losers. Over time, it became apparent that Humanity was adamant about centralizing all Faunus there as a form of segregation. Faunus Rights Revolution: In recent history, Humans began countermanding the equal rights won by the Faunus in the Great War and attempted to confine all Faunus to Menagerie. The Faunus began to revolt against this, and thus the Faunus Rights Revolution began. Given that Faunus live amongst the Humans in the present day, it can be deduced that the Faunus were at least successful in both reclaiming their rights and preventing their confinement to Menagerie. While still being able to live anywhere on Remnant, including the four Kingdoms, there are Faunus who still live on Menagerie, seeing it as a safe haven.
Present Day: Despite whatever material gains the Faunus achieved during the revolution, they remain a subject of discrimination, as exemplified by Blake's mention of Human shops refusing to serve Faunus shortly prior to the start of the series. There is also an example of this in "Known by its Song", where the bar that Qrow Branwen searches for Huntsmen at is shown to have a "No Faunus" sign. According to "World of Remnant: Faunus", the treatment they receive varies from place to place, but locations like Beacon Academy and Vacuo appear to be host to less discrimination than others, such as Atlas and Mistral which are the most discriminatory towards them. This is shown in "The Greatest Kingdom" when a drunken man calls Blake a "stupid Faunus" and claims she was unable to understand Atlas' situation. Mantle contained a slum directly under Atlas inhabited mostly by Faunus, the city segregated to enough of an extent that a Human woman objects to going there "with those animals." In RWBY: After the Fall, Velvet is initially unwilling to partner with Yatsuhashi Daichi solely due to him being from Mistral, indicating that prejudice against the Faunus in Mistral is particularly common.
So far, it's been shown that Atlas and Mistral are the two Kingdoms containing the most racism against the Faunus, while the Kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo have a more tolerant and accepting view of the Faunus. However in Mistral, the views of Faunus began to change after the destruction of Haven Academy was prevented by the Faunus of Menagerie.
It was also shown that, at one point in its' history, Vacuo had a Faunus monarch. However, even the more tolerant Kingdoms are not immune to prejudice, as demonstrated by Cardin Winchester's bullying of Velvet Scarlatina at Beacon Academy.
Since the White Fang's turn to violence five years prior to the events of Volume 1, the Faunus had begun receiving better treatment. However, some people, including other Faunus, criticize and dislike the methods through which the White Fang achieved this, due to it being through fear of the White Fang's retribution rather than genuine respect. These violent tactics have also established conflict between the White Fang and the Schnee Dust Company. The SDC in particular, was known for mistreatment of it's Faunus workers, with it's former CEO Jacques Schnee claiming to be trying to help his Faunus workers in Mantle while actually being apathetic towards the situation. Many of his workers like Ilia's parents having been killed in accidents due to constantly being forced to work in unsafe conditions. While many of the Humans in Atlas laughed at their deaths, Ilia Amitola decided to join the White Fang after breaking her former human friends teeth. Adam Taurus was also another one of those workers until he got into an argument with his superior in the company and had the company's logo branded on his face, causing him to join the White Fang after this inhumane treatment.
In the past, Leonardo Lionheart became the headmaster of Haven Academy in Mistral at the request of Professor Ozpin. He had him become headmaster since the Kingdom of Mistral was one of the most prejudice towards the Faunus and wanted Lionheart's role to ease that prejudice. However, after Lionheart became a turncoat for Salem, he only wanted to save himself from her wrath.
In "Ruby Rose", Lisa Lavender presents a news report on a Faunus Civil Rights Protest. She says that a protest by a group of Faunus was disrupted by a group known as the White Fang, an organization previously known as being peaceful, which turned the protest violent. In "Jaunedice", during a meal in Beacon Academy's cafeteria, Cardin Winchester and the rest of Team CRDL pick on Velvet, a female Faunus with rabbit ears. Cardin pulls on Velvet's ears mercilessly as she begs him to stop. Yang Xiao Long comments that it must be hard being a Faunus.
Later, in "Jaunedice, Pt.2", Bartholomew Oobleck gives a lecture on the history of the Faunus Rights Revolution. His lecture reveals a great deal of Faunus history, including their relationship with Humans and the conflicts that arose from their inability to coexist peacefully. During the lecture, he asks if any Faunus have experienced discrimination, to which several students, including Velvet, respond in the affirmative. He notes that this treatment is exactly what breeds violence and mentions the White Fang as an example of such happening.
Toward the end of Volume 1, in "The Stray", Team RWBY observes a crime scene where a Dust shop has been recently robbed. After overhearing the police speculating that the White Fang is behind it, Weiss Schnee begins speaking ill of the organization, even going so far as to use derogatory terms, which Blake construes as racist. They then see a monkey-based Faunus, Sun Wukong, escaping the police, who are trying to apprehend him for being a stowaway. Weiss' comments about him, especially her use of the words "filthy Faunus", anger Blake even more, leading to a long argument. At the end of the argument, Blake accidentally reveals her identity as a Faunus to her team, and after running away, she reveals her cat ears beneath her bow.
In "Never Miss a Beat", Neon, a tournament competitor on the opposing team of Weiss and Yang, is a Faunus who is cat-based but has a tail instead of cat ears.
As the show carries on, not only mammalian-type Faunus are revealed, but also arachnid and reptilian ones. Notable examples include Tyrian and Ilia Amitola respectively.
After many of the Faunus on Menagerie are unwilling to help Blake and Sun stop the White Fang from destroying Haven Academy, The White Fang Branch in Menagerie attempt to kidnap Blake and kill her family. After the attack was unsuccessful, Blake managed to convince the Faunus of Menagerie to assist them along with Ilia. After managing to stop the White Fang's attack, the Faunus begin to be seen in a different light by the people of Mistral. Professor Lionheart, who was killed in the attack by Salem after attempting to run away, had his involvement in the Battle of Haven covered up by Ozpin due to wanting him to be remembered for his years of service instead of what he did in his final years.
After the heating grid in Mantle was shut off and the Atlas Military turned against Ruby's Group, Yang's Group attempted to help the people of Mantle evacuate to the city's crater for warmth. While some were apprehensive towards sharing the space with the Faunus, Yang tells them that the Faunus are at least helping them out even if some of them don't actually deserve it. Thanks to Amity Communications Tower, Ruby Rose was able to send a message to all of Remnant publicly revealing the existence of Salem and asking for help with the current situation in Atlas. Notably, the message was received by members of the reformed White Fang in Menagerie, including Ilia Amitola and Ghira Belladonna. After this, some of the people began to work alongside the Faunus to evacuate to Vacuo using the Evacuation Central Location. Trivia: The word "Faunus" is derived from Faunus, who is the Roman god of forests, wild and nature. He is also the Roman equivalent to the Greek god Pan. Faunus are associated with Satyrs, which incidentally have a less Human morphology than the Faunus people shown in the show. The Indigenous Name for the Faunus Derives its general meaning from the term Fauna, which generally means All of the Animal life present in the moment. In a Rooster Teeth livestream on August 21st, 2014, it was confirmed that Faunus and Humans can interbreed with one another. On a Facebook Q&A, Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross broke down the breeding genetics of Faunus. If two Faunus of the same type breed (e.g. two dog Faunus), their child will also be of the same species. If a Faunus and a Human breed, their child will either be a Faunus or a Human. This was later clarified in "World of Remnant: Faunus", where it was revealed that if a Human and a Faunus breed their child is typically a Faunus of the same kind as the Faunus parent. If two Faunus of different types breed, their child will be a random type of Faunus. Thus, a cat Faunus and a dog Faunus could produce a bat Faunus, for example. In a RWBY livestream it was explained that mammalian Faunus are most common but other varieties also exist. Faunus having one animal trait stemmed from Poser's limited ability as it is designed for humans. Faunus having only one trait makes the world more varied as you can have a cat Faunus with a tail next to a cat Faunus with ears. Miles Luna has also stated that he feels some regret for limiting themselves to only one trait per Faunus.
Many Faunus have additional elements in their design that tie into their animal traits: Gambol Shroud's ribbon sometimes flows behind Blake like a cat tail. Blake also really enjoys eating fish. Early concept art of Blake has heterochromia iridium, with one of her eyes being yellow and one blue. This trait often appears in cats. Sun likes climbing trees and ate a banana in his first appearance. Ilia's hair is tied back in a ponytail that curls at the end like a chameleon's tail. her weapon, Lightning Lash can be extended like a chameleon's tongue. Neon's Atlas attire has her hair tied into twin cones that look like cat ears, her gloves have cat paws and her hoodie has cat ears. Kali's ribbon dangles behind her like a cat tail. Ghira has paw shaped tips on his boots. His beard, chest hair and hair on his hands could reference the fur of a panther. Tyrian's weapons, the Queen's Servants, are based on the shape of scorpionโs pincers. his ponytail is in the shape of a stinger. Corsac and Fennec's hoods are in the shape of a fox snout. Adam's Volume 5 attire features a red lined drape attached to his belt, which could reference the red drapes bullfighters use when performing their bullfighting. Sienna has tattoos resembling tiger stripes. Leonardo's hair resembles a lion's mane. Tock has sharp prosthetic teeth. Teeth are a major crocodile trait. Her mohawk hairstyle may also reference the spines along a crocodile's back. Marrow's weapon and Semblance reference him being a dog Faunus: His Semblance, Freeze, seems to be inspired by dog commands. His weapon, Fetch, is a boomerang and comes back, which could be a reference to the game fetch as the game is typically played with dogs. This also lends to the name of his weapon. Fiona's earring seems to be a cowbell, a bell used to keep track of a variety of free-roaming livestock including cattle, goats and sheep. Her hair is also white similar to sheepโs fur. Fiona's uncle wears small glasses that make him look more like a Badger. Arrastra's skin is shown to have blemishes on it, which could reference the pattern on a serval's fur. Fenix's brass claws reference the claws of a lion. His fur trim collar also references lion fur, similar to Lionheartโs hair resembled Lionโs mane. Some Faunus changed during their creation: Early concept art of Blake has heterochromia iridium, with one of her eyes being yellow and one blue. This trait often appears in cats. Some concept art depicts Marrow with dog ears instead of a tail as his Faunus trait. Some characters that are named after animals, but are not Faunus: Fox Alistair, a member of Team CFVY whose name is based on a fox. Raven Branwen and Qrow Branwen, a pair of twins from Team STRQ, based on Raven and Crows. They were later given the power to transform into their namesakes by Ozpin. The entirety of Team CRDL have bird motifs, each member being named after a species of birds. Junior Xiong and the Xiong Family are named after the Chinese word โ็โ, which means bears. Harriet Bree and Tortuga, whose names are based on Hare/Bunny/Rabbit and Tortoise/Turtle respectively, form the story The Tortoise and the Hare.
- #6Academys
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Beacon Academy was the Huntsman Academy of the Kingdom of Vale. The Academy trained teams of Huntsmen and Huntresses to slay the various monsters that plague Remnant. It was overrun following an assault on the Academy led by Cinder Fall in conjunction with Grimm and White Fang. Prior to its fall, the Headmaster of Beacon was Professor Ozpin. In the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic", it is revealed that Vale was destroyed by Salem during her search for the Relic of Choice, which included the school as well.
History: Following the end of the Great War, Beacon Academy was founded in the Kingdom of Vale. Along with the other three Huntsmen academies, Beacon was founded in order to train Huntsmen and Huntresses to slay the Creatures of Grimm. In the 80 years following the founding of the Academy, Beacon trained many generations of Huntsmen and Huntresses, including Team STRQ.
In the past, Qrow and Raven Branwen both originally joined Beacon Academy not to become Huntsmen, but to kill them instead due to them being the only other threat to their tribe besides the Grimm. While they both originally planned on returning to the tribe after graduating, Qrow grew out of his old ways and decided to stay while only Raven eventually returned. It was stated by Raven that many people also joined the academy for ulterior motives instead of actually becoming Huntsmen.
At some point in time, Gretchen Rainart decided to attend Beacon Academy against the wishes of her brother Hazel Rainart and lost her life in a training exercise. Hazel blamed Ozpin for her death and eventually joined Salem in order to get his revenge.
In addition, Vale's Cross Continental Transmit tower, which was vital for long-distance communication across Remnant, was also built in the center of the Beacon campus. Like the other Huntsman Academies, Beacon houses one of the four Relics.
Fall of Beacon: In the lead-up to the 40th biennial Vytal Festival, a celebration of the peace that followed the Great War, students from the other three Huntsman academies around the world converge on Vale to participate and are welcomed into Beacon.
During the Vytal Festival, Cinder orchestrates a concerted attack on Beacon, which also spills over into the City of Vale. Despite a valiant defense of the Academy from students and staff, Beacon falls to the forces of the White Fang and overwhelming numbers of Grimm. In the aftermath of the battle, Beacon is left in ruins and heavily infested by Grimm. Salem has authority over forces located there, who are under instructions to locate the Relic of Choice. So far, they have been unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, as noted by Peter Port, the other professors have been working diligently in their efforts to reconstruct Beacon. Glynda was named the new Headmistress of Beacon, following the death of Ozpin.
Description: Students: Beacon Academy was a residential or boarding-type school, with its students residing in dormitories on the campus. The school seemed to provide all living facilities, including hygiene, food, and laundry. However, students were not restricted to the campus outside of lessons and frequently spent their weekends in Vale.
In order to be accepted into Beacon, students typically went to combat schools, such as Signal Academy, in order to prepare for the Academy's rigorous entrance exam. Some candidates, like Ruby Rose, may be invited to the school after showing exceptional skill. However, attending previous combat schools does not seem to be a prerequisite, as some entrants were talented enough to pass the exam without transcripts, such as Blake Belladonna. Students were generally admitted at around age 17, although Ruby was one exception, being admitted at age 15.
In the lead-up to the Vytal Festival, Beacon also participated in an exchange program with the academies of the other three kingdoms of Atlas (Atlas Academy), Vacuo (Shade Academy) and Mistral (Haven Academy). Exchange students participated in some activities, such as sparring matches, and attended events such as the Beacon Dance. Dress Code: For boys, the Beacon Academy uniform consisted of black suits lined with gold, accompanied by a blue vest and a white shirt with a red tie. Girls wore a red plaid skirt, stockings of various length, and a brown jacket with a tan vest and white shirt with a red ribbon tied at the collar.
Students were given the freedom to customize their attire, as Ruby also wore her hood with her uniform. The dress code did not seem to be upheld very strictly, as students were often seen in casual attire during classes, assemblies, and field trips. Students tended to avoid wearing their uniforms during combat practice.
Curriculum: In "The First Step", Ozpin stated that his new students will be in their selected teams for four years. This strongly suggests that this was the length of the education at the academy.
After being accepted into Beacon, new students had to go through an initiation, after which they were placed into teams.
Students attended lectures, given by staff members such as Professor Port, on various topics intended to prepare them for their work, such as the different kinds of monsters they may encounter.
Practical exercises appeared to be a significant part of the courses; of these, some were held in the Emerald Forest. Other out-of-campus activities included field trips to locations such as Forever Fall.
In "The Badge and The Burden, Pt.2", Weiss Schnee also fights a Boarbatusk in Port's Grimm Studies class. In addition, the curriculum included sparring matches that pit students' skills against each other in a controlled environment.
Students were also sent on missions as part of their time at the academy. First-year students were generally limited to lower-risk missions, such as accompanying detectives into the city and had to be accompanied by a professional Huntsman or Huntress on their first mission. Upperclassmen were known to go on higher-risk missions. Additionally, Beacon provided more one-on-one time with veteran Huntsmen than other Academies.
Classes Classes at Beacon operated at a 7:30am to 6pm schedule. The standard schedule for a second-year team at Beacon was as follows:[2]
7:30 am - Breakfast 8 am - Class 9:45 am - Class 11:15 am - Class 12:30 pm - Lunch 1:30 pm - Class 2:15 pm - Class 4 pm - Class 5 pm - Self-Directed Sparring 6 pm - Dinner Graduation Glynda Goodwitch is shown to fondly recall Ozpin's graduation ceremony to students exiting the Academy, in which Ozpin would deliver a speech stating that Beacon was not a place, and instead an idea planted in each and every student to serve as a hopeful light for others by defending those who cannot defend themselves and protecting one another. Furthermore, Ozpin would promptly kick the graduating students out of Beacon in a friendly, humorous manner due to a distaste of long goodbyes.[3]
Location: Beacon lies along the east edge of the city of Vale and has a wide river that runs through part of it. Vale Airships were used to transport new students to the academy.
A port is seen at the bottom of the cliffs next to Beacon Academy, implying that naval transportation was also possible.
Beacon's boundaries appear to extend rather far, including the large Emerald Forest and some surrounding terrain, such as the Beacon Cliff. The academy also held field trips in areas such as the Forever Fall Forest.
Campus: Cliffside: Beacon is situated just before an impressive cliff's edge that overlooks the city across the sound. At the top edge of the cliffside are several large, circular aerial docking bays, where airships and Bullheads can dock and allow their passengers to disembark. At the base of the cliffs, a docking bay is also available for water-going surface vessels, and a path from there leads upwards to the top of the cliff. Main Avenue: After arrival, new Huntsmen and Huntress cadets were deposited on a long, wide avenue leading up to what appears to be the main academy buildings and their large, impressive main doorway, which opens up to a large amphitheater surrounded by a double ring of colonnades bisected by the main avenue with the outer ring rising high over the main entrance to the academy itself. The avenue is marked with trees and flag-draped light-poles, as well as a number of impressive aqueduct-like features and archways. In front of the entrance to the main amphitheater is a large statue and fountain of a Huntsman and Huntress standing atop a rock, beneath which a Beowolf cowers. There's also a large circular pond feature surrounded by a pathway and a garden of red trees. The main avenue is also referred to as the courtyard. Beacon Tower: The most prominent part of the academy buildings is a large tower. The tower was surmounted by a number of green spheres or lights (possibly the beacon after which the academy was named), as well as an intricate clockwork mechanism consisting of many interlocking cogs and gears. Situated immediately below this was Ozpin's office, which sat high above the clouds and afforded an impressive view of the surrounding area.
Cross Continental Transmit System: Forming the base of Beacon Tower,[4] the CCT allows for seamless communication between locations within the other kingdoms outside of Vale. It is very tall, with an elevator in place to take visitors to a level of their choosing.
The interior of the communications room has several video terminals where a holographic AI operator would patch users to the location where they wished to send their messages.
Ozpin's Office: The office of Headmaster Ozpin was situated at the top of Beacon Tower. The chair, table, walls and ceiling all featured intricate clockwork mechanisms consisting of many interlocking cogs and gears. As the highest point on Beacon as well as Vale it sat high above the clouds and afforded an impressive view of the surrounding area.
During the Fall of Beacon, the Wyvern destroyed the top of the tower and got petrified holding on to Ozpin's office.
Beacon Academy Statue: The campus of Beacon Academy includes a large statue featuring two figures, one a male and the other a younger-looking female, standing on a rock outcropping. They are both dressed in a robe with hoods over their heads.
The male has a sword in his right hand, raised in a seemingly triumphant gesture. The younger female has a double-edged battle-ax in her left hand and looks off to the side into the distance. Below the two figures is a Beowolf looking in the same direction as the male figure. Amphitheater: The assembly area takes the form of a glass-domed amphitheater with raised bleachers arranged in a circle around a circular stage that has a tall, ornate (possibly wooden) backdrop with blue lights. There is also a large, open area in front of the stage where students could stand.
As well as being used for meetings of the student body, the assembly area could be used for dueling practice, with the raised stage serving as the fighting area, as seen in "Jaunedice" and "Extracurricular". The lighting in this area could be carefully controlled, making it impossible to see the rest of the area, thus giving duelists the illusion of being entirely on their own.
This also appears to be the location from which missions were assigned to students. The missions were displayed three at a time on numerous screens, listing the type of mission, location, and mission start time, among other extra details. Teams assigned themselves to missions by selecting one and then entering their team's name. Lecture Hall: Beacon Academy has at least one lecture hall not unlike those found in universities. In "The Badge and The Burden", a lecture hall with (apparently) antique drawings of the various known species of Grimm is shown.
This hall has sufficient space for practical demonstrations in front of the students' desks: The front of the lecture area could be used for combat training as seen in "The Badge and The Burden, Pt.2". In "Jaunedice, Pt.2", one of the classes takes place in a lecture hall rigged for a history lesson; the Remnant world, map overlaid by a complex pattern of notes linked with strings, is displayed on the wall behind the lecturer, Bartholomew Oobleck.
Dorms: All the dorms at Beacon appeared to be co-ed dorms, with males and females having slept in the same room. This allowed all members of a team to share the same living area, regardless of differing genders. The students noted that these rooms are somewhat cramped. However, more organized teams generally found that there was sufficient room to meet all of their needs.
The doors to the dorm rooms were secured using an electronic lock, which could be disengaged using a student's Scroll. It was possible to get locked out if the door closes and a student does not have their Scroll with them.
In each dorm room there are two additional doors, one on each side of the room. In "Burning the Candle", Lie Ren's outfit is visible hanging behind one of the doors, suggesting that they are closets.
In "Jaunedice, Pt.2", the blocks containing the dorms are shown to be located in separate buildings some distance from the main academy buildings. Students can be seen running through the Academy Gardens on the way to classes in "The Badge and The Burden".
Dining Hall: he Academy includes a large, formal dining room running down the length of a cloister-like hall. The dining room features four long tables running the length of the hall with benches to either side and walking areas located in between. Students were able to sit not only with their teams, but other groups.
Like all parts of the academy buildings, the dining hall is somewhat gothic in appearance. The walls are marked with the academy's crossed-ax logo.
In "Forever Fall, Pt.2", it is established that students were allowed to eat in their dormitories.
Library: The library is a repository of books and other sources of archived information within the Academy. It was generally meant to be a quiet place for students to read and study, though students often used the area as a gathering place, playing board games and socializing instead.
It could also make transcontinental calls to areas outside of the kingdom of Vale, similar to the CCT. The library also has access to several holographic computer terminals, which could be freely used by the students.
Ballroom: There is also a ballroom that was used in the Beacon Dance. The ballroom also doubled as a living area that new students slept in until they were assigned proper quarters, as seen in "The Shining Beacon, Pt.2". Locker Room: A unisex locker room with washroom facilities is also present. After the initiation, to store weapons and extra armor, each student was assigned a rocket-propelled locker that can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code.
Emerald Forest: Beacon Academy used the Emerald Forest as the location for its initiation. The forest is filled with dangerous wildlife. Students were catapulted into the forest from Beacon Cliff, on purpose-built launch pads emblazoned with the academy's insignia.
Vytal Festival Fairgrounds: During the Vytal Festival, a large fairground consisting of many temporary buildings and tents were set up at the Beacon campus, where visitors from all the kingdoms could congregate and intermingle.[5] There were shops and stalls set up to get food, one of which was run by the Shopkeep, as well as tables and chairs for people to sit.
The fairgrounds are surrounded by a lightly wooded area, but it is not known where it is situated in relation to other Beacon buildings.
Farm: Beacon has a farm with chickens somewhere on campus.[6] This farm is freely accessible by students.
The Vault: Located deep beneath Beacon Academy tower and accessible by an elevator, the Vault is where Amber, the former Fall Maiden, was kept on life support before she was killed by Cinder Fall. The Vault appears to be a very closely guarded secret. Ozpin and his allies bring Pyrrha Nikos down here when they ask her to assume the mantle of the Fall Maiden.
Current Staff: Glynda Goodwitch - Headmistress, Former Combat Instructor Peter Port - Grimm Studies, Military Strategy Bartholomew Oobleck - History, Legends of Remnant Thumbelina Peach - Plant Sciences Ann Greene - Stealth and Security Harold Mulberry - Weapon Crafting and Upkeep
Former Staff: Ozpin โ - Former Headmaster
Trivia: In "Dance Dance Infiltration", it is revealed that Beacon's Wi-Fi password is "b3acon#". Alternatively, due to the shared name between symbols, the password could be "b3aconยฃ". In "Best Day Ever", Ruby mentions that the Vytal Festival occurs at the very end of the school year. In "It's Brawl in the Family", Ruby mentions it is fall, and during "End of the Beginning", autumn leaves can be seen outside Yang's window. These suggest the Vytal Festival and the end of the Beacon school year occur in the fall. As seen with Beacon, Signal and Pharos, combat schools in Vale seem to be named after buildings or devices made to navigate, communicate or attract attention. In RWBY: Ice Queendom, and the main show, it's implied Ozpin puts the teams together based on who finds the matching set of artifacts during the initiation test; Ruby and Weiss found the knight chess piece just like Yang and Blake.
Haven Academy is the Huntsman Academy of the Kingdom of Mistral.[1] Students from Haven are able to participate in the Vytal Festival. The Academy's Headmaster was Leonardo Lionheart.
Following the Battle of Haven, the academy has been rendered inactive due to the deaths of its staff and Professor Lionheart.
The Academy is referred to as Mistral Academy by Theodore.
History: 80 years before the start of the series, Haven Academy was founded in the Kingdom of Mistral following the end of the Great War, to train Huntsmen and Huntresses to slay the Creatures of Grimm.
At some point in recent history, Leonardo Lionheart became the Headmaster of Haven Academy at the request of Ozpin, in order to reduce the Kingdom of Mistral's hatred of Faunus.
Following the events of RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, Lionheart sided with Salem out of fear, as he believed she could not be stopped.
As the 40th Vytal Festival neared, exchange students from Haven began arriving at Vale and Beacon Academy. Sun Wukong being the first, and later the rest of Team SSSN and Team ABRN. Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black and Neopolitan also posed as students from Haven entering the Vytal Festival due to Lionheart forging documents for them.
Following the Battle of Beacon, Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren set out for Haven in hopes of investigating the conspiracy that led to Beacon's downfall, following up on a possible lead from Qrow Branwen's prior investigations.
The academy was later targeted by Salem's Inner Circle. In "A Much Needed Talk" Qrow told Team RNJR that its Headmaster, Leonardo, was aware and would be on his guard. However, in "No Safe Haven", Lionheart was seen meeting with Arthur Watts, revealing he was working with Salem's forces.
In "Welcome to Haven", it was revealed that the negativity of witnessing the events of the Vytal Festival caused the Grimm to attack all over the Kingdom, prompting the council to use all of the Kingdom's active Huntsmen in its defense, though many were killed in action. Lionheart also stated most of his staff was away until classes resumed. However, this was later revealed to be a lie.
In "The More the Merrier", it was revealed that Lionheart had given Salem the locations of the Huntsmen dispatched throughout the kingdom, to which she has sent Tyrian Callows and Hazel Rainart to slaughter them. The academy staff was not exempt from this.
In "Haven's Fate", the academy's impending destruction was thwarted thanks to the efforts of Ruby and her friends and allies. Lionheart, however, was killed by Salem for his cowardice, leaving Haven without a Headmaster. Following the attack, Lionheart's betrayal was covered up by Ozpin to make it seem that he died heroically protecting Haven instead so the Kingdom would remember him for all of the good he did in his life.
Due to the deaths of Professor Lionheart and the academy staff, Haven was forced to temporarily shut down with its students either transferring to Shade Academy or just quit altogether. After this, Teams ABRN and SSSN transferred to Shade Academy rather than waiting for the academy to reopen, with Theodore confirming eight new arrivals being ABRN and SSSN from Haven.
Uniform: Haven's school uniform consists of a black jacket with a light gray outline around the edges, a white undershirt and a white band around the student's left arm.
The female outfit consists of a gray and black checkered skirt, whereas the male uniform has a pair of black trousers.
Campus: Headmaster's Office: Lionheart's office entrance is that of a small waiting room with black leather couches for those who have appointments with the professor.
The office itself is shaped as a half-circle, with another, smaller half-circle jutting out to the room's front door.
A large desk made of mahogany dominates the space of the autumn-colored office. In the right-hand corner, for a more comfortable setting, are a small table and chairs for guests. On the table is a tea set Ozpin gifted to Lionheart.
To the right of the front door is a wall containing a secret passage to a small chamber, in which a Seer resides to facilitate communication between Lionheart and Salem.
Two tall bookshelves flank the front door. Spanning the far wall of the office and above the windows is a single shelf lined with books, boxes and lamps. Ladders are present to provide access to the high shelves. Much of the floor is open, and a large, rectangular green rug leads from the door to the desk. There are many boxes, books and papers scattered about the floor. The ceiling is slanted, declining from the front to the rear of the room. In the center of the ceiling is a chandelier of four lights with square shaped shades. Quad: The quad is a large, spacious area in Haven Academy. It is surrounded by forests and there is a fountain at the center of it, with some shrubbery, wooden benches and lamp posts lined along the perimeter. Flanking the quad are the Kingdom of Mistral's two Cross Continental Transmit towers. The quad leads up to Haven's Grand Hall.
Grand Hall: The Grand Hall is a spacious building leading up to the headmaster's office which contains a statue of a woman that conceals the Haven Vault. The interior is colored with greens and browns. The statue leading to the vault is flanked by two stairways that join together at the top. There is an upper walkway that can be accessed by flanking stairways near the hall's entrance. The walls are decorated with various paintings and blue banners bearing Mistral's symbol. The lower floor also has some trophy cases. Dorms: The dorms in Haven Academy echo how luxurious it is in comparison to the other academies, as well as its high-class structure in Mistral. As stated in RWBY: Before the Dawn student is shown to have their own, individualized room within the team dormitories which they can use at their own leisure, as well as a common room for each team.
Vault: Like the other academies, Haven is also in possession of a Vault. It is a large cave under the school, accessible via a hidden elevator in the Grand Hall. The Vault formerly housed the Relic of Knowledge.
When the Spring Maiden is present, the circles on the ground and the Relic chamber's doorway glow brightly. When the Relic chamber's doorway is unlocked, it leads to another dimension with a vast desert and a path where the Relic of Knowledge rested on a stone pedestal. When Cinder Fall and Neopolitan returned to the Vault, the doorway of the Vault was missing.
Staff Members: Former: Leonardo Lionheart โ - Former Headmaster Known Teams SSSN (Transferred to Shade Academy) ABRN (Transferred to Shade Academy) Known Graduates: Pyke Rite (Transferred from Shade Academy)[2] Arrastra Skye Kandi Floss Roch Szalt
Shade Academy is a Huntsman Academy of the Kingdom of Vacuo. Students from Shade participate in the biennial Vytal Festival combat tournament. The academy's Headmaster is Professor Theodore. History Shade Academy was founded in the Kingdom of Vacuo following the end of the Great War, in order to train Huntsmen and Huntresses to slay the Creatures of Grimm. According to Qrow Branwen, it is the only real source of order in the Kingdom due to the lack of a formal government.
In the past, Jax Asturias was expelled from Shade due to behavior problems. Later, his sister Gillian Asturias along with the rest of their Team defected from Shade to form The Crown. Two members of The Crown, Carmine Esclados and Bertilak Celadon decided to stay at the academy to avoid being suspected of being criminals.
Eighty years after the Great War, students from Shade Academy participated in the 40th Vytal Festival, including teams BRNZ and NDGO. During the Fall of Beacon, Team NDGO decided to flee the conflict rather than help with the situation and most of Team BRNZ is killed in the attack with the exception of Nolan Porfirio.
After the Fall of Beacon, Team CFVY transferred to Shade along with some other students from Beacon Academy.[1] Likewise, following the attack on Haven, Team SSSN and Team ABRN transferred there as well.
Once Carmine and Bertilak were arrested and later broke out, Xanthe Rumpole was sent by Professor Theodore to investigate the Crown and was defeated by Carmine. She was later brainwashed by Jax's Semblance to keep Theodore and the rest of the Academy from investigating The Crown until she was freed by Yatsuhashi Daichi with his Memory Wiping Semblance. Not long after they learn about this and that one of the students in the academy, Umber Gorgoneion, was actually an agent for the organization, the Crown prepared to attack Shade.
The academy was attacked by The Crown, but the students and staff were able to defend it from being toppled, while the invading Grimm helped and were later dealt with as the loyal members of the Crown were arrested while the brainwashed ones were allowed to go free.
Descriptions Students Local students are shown to be resentful towards other Kingdoms, only begrudgingly accepting people from Beacon. When Theodore opened Shade Academy to more students from fallen academies, an uproar was caused by current attendees. In addition, they saw students who had transferred as weak. Shade Academy is shown to have much less camaraderie than at Beacon, students do not have much help from others. The idea of praise is seemingly absent and replaced with survival. [2]
Vacuan students are also shown to be extremely rude towards the students who had transferred from other academies, harassing them without any fear of punishment. They are trained to be able to fight until all their Aura is depleted, showing no mercy or weakness. The students generally have a positive view of their Headmaster, cheering for him during assemblies.
Classes Shade classes begin early in the morning, with Professor Xanthe Rumpole teaching an 8am history class and Rowena Sunnybrook teaching weapons training in the sandpit arena.
Dress Code Uniquely among the main four Huntsman academies, Shade appears to lack a uniform. At Ozpin's speech, students from Shade are seen wearing a range of casual clothes.
Campus Architecture Like the city of Vacuo itself, Shade Academy is packed in a lotโverticallyโwith classrooms and academic spaces in three tiers, and Headmaster Theodore's office at the apex, which also housed the CCT transmitter. Shade Academy, and Theodore himself, were the center of everything in Vacuo holding it all together. [3]
The building itself closely resembles a pyramid in design. Awnings extend from all sides of it during the day to shield citizens from the sun.[4]
Theodore's Office: Theodore's Office is a large space, led by two large doors in the center of the room. The office has various portraits of members of Ozpin's Group and people dear to Theodore, including:
Ozpin and Theodore shaking hands Leonardo Lionheart James Ironwood Qrow Branwen A young girl in a checkered dress, holding a pet dog. Various Shade Academy staff Since Theodore met Team CFVY, the portraits of Lionheart and Ironwood had been taken down, and Ozpin's portrait had a crack on it after Theodore punched a wall in the room, leaving a crater in its wake.
Rumpole's Office: Xanthe Rumpole's office is described as closest thing to a museum in Vacuo, with pictures and document frames mounted on walls, displays with rocks, ancient weapons, models and dioramas, and yet there wasn't a single thing on her desk to hint at her own history.
Classrooms: In Shade, student desks were arranged in a circle around each teacher's desk, placing students and professors on the same level, and theoretically facilitating discussion.[6]
Outer Wall: Shade's campus is surrounded by a low guard wall to distinguish its borders. It is unable to defend against Dust but is able to hold against normal gunfire.[7]
Meeting Grounds: A wide-open area on the highest level of Shade, where school assemblies are held. The grounds have an artificial oasis evoking Vacuo's original, tropical nature with dense trees and plant life.
Dorms: Dormitories in Shade are notoriously small with little room for students to relax on their own. Each room has a mere 100 square feet to fit an entire team, leaving little space for personal belongings. There is a large Commons for the dorms, which is used as the main meeting spot for the Beacon Brigade.
Sandpit Arena: Shade has a large sandpit arena used to train students. The arena has collapsible pedestals in the ground that are hidden by the sand, which can rise up to deliver primal weapons to students.
Courtyard: Within Shade's campus, there is a small courtyard with a large fountain at the center.
Shade Academy does not have any lockers, believing that students must carry weapons at all times under the potential threat of danger.
Staff Members:
Current Staff:
Theodore - Headmaster Xanthe Rumpole - History Rowena Sunnybrook - Weapons Training Known Teams: BRNZ (Deceased excluding Nolan Porfirio) NDGO CFVY (Transferred from Beacon Academy) SSSN (Transferred from Haven Academy) ABRN (Transferred from Haven Academy) ROSC (Temporary Team) SSEA (Temporary Team) NOVA (Temporary Team) FNDU (Temporary Team) BYRN (Temporary Team) Known Students Iris Marilla (Transferred from Beacon Academy) Graduates Carmine Esclados Bertilak Celadon Green Asher Mora Fenix Nemean Pyke Rite (Transferred to Haven Academy)[14] Dropouts Gillian's Team (Jax Asturias was expelled)
Atlas Academy, formerly known as Alsius,[1] was the Huntsman Academy of the former Kingdom of Atlas. Unlike the other Kingdoms, the academy as an institution was not an entity separate from the Kingdom's government.
The academy served as the headquarters for the Atlesian Military due to the Atlas Command Center being located underneath it. It was also the location of the original Cross Continental Transmit System tower.
The Headmaster of Atlas Academy was General James Ironwood, who was also a military commander before his death.
In "The Final Word", the academy was destroyed following Atlas' crash into Mantle.
History: What would become Atlas was originally known as Alsius, a combat school in the Kingdom of Mantle.[5] The territory surrounding Alsius was used as a research and development facility during the Great War.
Alsius was later reopened under the name Atlas Academy, in order to house and give guidance to warriors after the conclusion of the Great War. The campus was greatly expanded with the technologies developed during the war, helping to better secure the surrounding territories. As a result, Atlas grew quickly and attracted many to the area surrounding it, including research facilities, laboratories, the original CCTS tower and the military. In time, residential areas also started flocking to Atlas.
It eventually became clear that Atlas had become a bustling city in its own right and overshadowed the main city of Mantle. The decision was thus made to move the capital from Mantle to Atlas, ushering in a "golden age of prosperity". The Kingdom as a whole was also accordingly renamed to Atlas and became renowned for housing the world's most well-funded academy and its most powerful military force. During recent times, the government of Atlas and the academy existed together as a single entity, along with the military.[4]
In the years following, the academy had come under criticism for the imposition of military lifestyle on its students. Graduates and trainees were also pressured to enlist in the Atlesian Military's Special Operatives unit, a practice that ran contrary to the academy founders' initial intentions for Huntsmen to be free from allegiance to a specific Kingdom.
Present Day: By the present day, 80 years after the end of the Great War, the Headmaster of Atlas Academy was General Ironwood, who was also a senior officer in the military. At some point, Winter Schnee likely attended the school, presumably joining the military's Special Operatives unit after graduating.
Students from Atlas competed in the 40th Vytal Festival combat tournament, held in Vale. Teams known to be participating included Team FNKI and Penny's Team.
Around the time Ruby's Group arrived on campus, Penny Polendina was the employee of the month for the academy's staff, gaining the recognition for her hard work.
After arriving in Atlas and agreeing to help Ironwood launch Amity Communications Tower in the atmosphere while working as Huntsmen for the military, Team RWBY, Team JNR and Oscar Pine were given a dorm per team, with Oscar staying with Team JNR, and allowed access to Atlas Academy faculties such as the training room. During some of their spare time, Team JNR along with Oscar trained with Team FNKI in the Academy's training room.
Following Penny being framed for murder by Tyrian Callows, the Happy Huntresses became vigilantes, with their actions causing the Amity Project to be stalled. Ironwood was upset over the situation and was contemplating going with Winter's suggestion of declaring martial law before he was talked down from it.
Once the Battle of Mantle began, Winter was shown to be evacuating the students from the Academy. Later, Cinder Fall planted a Black Queen chess piece in Ironwood's office, causing him to think he had played into Salem's hands. After confronting Ruby's Group over lying to him along with telling Robyn Hill about Ironwood's plans, a Seer appears and shows a manifestation of Salem who informs everyone present about her coming to Atlas herself.
After Ironwood learns this, he decided to change his plan to raising Atlas out of Salem's reach by using the Relic of Creation and declared martial law. When Ruby's Group realized that his plan would leave the citizens to die, they refuse to help him and Ruby Rose warns their other allies about this. Ironwood cuts off Ruby's warning before she can fully finish and orders the Ace Operatives to arrest them. Team RWBY managed to defeat the Ace-Ops and were later found by Maria Calavera and Pietro Polendina. Team JNR and Oscar attempt to escape the Academy while being pursued by Atlas Soldiers and Neopolitan who later steals the Relic of Knowledge from them. Lie Ren regrets losing the Relic as they are forced to escape without it and Oscar who tries to stop Ironwood. All members of the group escape the Academy with Penny as she became the next Winter Maiden.
Following Monstra's destruction, Ironwood gave the group an ultimatum to return Penny to him within an hour or else he will destroy Mantle using a bomb. When they agree, he tells them to send Penny to the front of the Academy alone. Although it seems she does this, Emerald Sustrai revealed it to be an illusion made by her Semblance and disarmed Ironwood of his cannon. Team JNR alongside Winter, who helps them due to losing faith in Ironwood, manage to defeat him and restrain him in a cell next to Jacques Schnee.
When the Evacuation Central Location was created across Atlas, people were evacuated into Vacuo. Several students wearing Atlas Uniforms are seen in the dimension.
After Atlas crashed into Mantle in "The Final Word", the academy was destroyed when both cities were flooded.
Description:
Dress code: The dress code at Atlas consisted of white long-sleeved shirts with gray pocket-vest jackets on top. These were accompanied by a pair of white dress gloves and a dark-gray tie. Male students wore long white trousers, while female students wore gray stockings and knee-high black boots.
In Volume 7, students wore a black beret as part of their uniform.
Pajamas Additionally, Atlas provided students and Huntsmen with sets of pajamas, as seen in "Sparks". These consisted of white shirts with a gray emblem of the Academy in the center, as well as black, white, and gray sweatpants.
Location: Atlas Academy sat on a mountain as the highest point in the center of the City of Atlas. James Ironwood's office was able to overlook the entire city. The Academy was situated right behind the "Donut", allowing Ironwood to see down below the floating island.
Campus Layout The Academy was built as five enormous towers: one large central tower and four side towers of varying heights surrounding the main building. The large central tower was the original CCTS tower that was created. Each of the side towers had a pair of Hard-Light Dust rings surrounding them, and a glass viewing platform at the top of the tower. Due to its extensive use of Hard-Light Dust, Atlas had a blue tint to a seemingly dark building at night and was shown to be silver during the day.[6]
Atlas Academy in total towers at 1,000 meters of height and occupies 8,000,000 square feet. It has 212 floors to its name. The Academy's Bottom Floor features a grand hall for mass meetings with the campus body, as well as public property of Atlas. Above is the Lower Dome where the base of the central column is located. This is where large classes and training areas are hosted. The Upper Dome is where Atlas' small classes are taught.[7]
The Obelisk Tower is accessible through elevators and is where most the campus and administration is housed. The bottommost part of the tower is where student barracks are held, followed by the adult barracks the next tier up. Above them are the administration offices of the staff, and Ironwood's office is at the top of the tower. Elevators are available both internally through the column, and several are situated externally in the large balconies.[8]
Ironwood's Office: Ironwood's office was located at the topmost floor of Atlas.[9] It was a circular room featuring dark blue metallic walls and windows which can fade to become opaque. The floors of Ironwood's office were shown to depict constellations in the form of golden stars, reflecting Ironwood's love for astronomy. [10]
In the center of the room was a holographic projection table that was hidden under the floor when not in use. In "Ultimatum", it was destroyed by Ironwood following multiple setbacks in retrieving Penny Polendina.
During the semester, Ironwood would allow students to book 15-minute conferences directly with him through Stephanie Santiago, who was presumably his secretary.
Hallways: Long hallways lined the Academy. They had cold white and gray walls and floors and dark gray pillars. They were repetitive making them easy to get lost in. Blue lights resembling torches. In emergencies the hallways lights turned red.
Cafeteria: Atlas' cafeteria had large glass windows pointed towards the city surrounding the Academy. Inside, two long tables were set to the sides of the room, with various Atlas banners hanging overhead.
Barracks: All the dorms, referred to as barracks by the academy, appeared to be co-ed dorms, with males and females having slept in the same room. This allowed all members of a team to share the same living area, regardless of differing genders. The beds were four bunk beds built into the wall with a ladder in the middle allowing access to the upper two beds. Along the other side of the wall were four small desks and chairs for each member of the team to study or do other paperwork on.
Huntsmen Briefing Room: The Briefing Room is where Atlesian Huntsmen received their mission assignments. The room had a podium and rows of seats arranged in a semi-circle around a table of CCT terminals. Atlas Huntsman job boards were situated along the walls. Behind the podium was a screen for detailing mission information.
Training Room: The training room is where students of Atlas Academy, as well as Atlesian Huntsman, came to train and hone their skills in combat. The Training Room was a giant empty square room with a light blue grid of Hard-Light Dust on the floor. The grid could generate and stack numerous Hard-Light blocks to create walls, platforms, and cover.[11] The room was able to create several different layouts using these blocks allowing versatility in training for different scenarios. The blocks could be destroyed from heavy impact by a weapon or Semblance, however, the room appeared to not have a limit on how many blocks it can generate or replace. Up high at the end of the room was an observation deck allowing staff, other students or Huntsmen to watch ongoing training sessions.
Docking Bay Situated just outside the Main Hall, the Docking Bay featured four landing pads. A flight of stairs leads from the pad level to the main entrance of the Hall.
Rear Gates: The rear side of Atlas Academy contained large pillars around the main building's wall, with various statues of soldiers carrying halberds standing guard in between the entrance gates.
Above the gates was a large, glass window in the shape of an arrow pointed downwards, casting a red shadow onto the courtyard below.
In addition to the emblem of the Academy, various constellation designs lit by Hard-Light Dust outlined the building's roof, giving Atlas Academy's walls a blue lighting to it.
Library: Amongst the institution, Atlas Academy had a massive library with expansive hallways filled with bookshelves. Near the shelves, tables were shown to have set up Hard-Light Dust projectors for studies. The pillars of the library were aligned with hooded statues.
The library itself was never shown in the show, only seen in released concept art.
Atriums According to background detail, Atlas held several atriums in its campus, allowing for students to gather in mass events.
The Vault: Like the other Huntsmen Academies, Atlas contained a hidden Vault. It housed the Relic of Creation and the door could only be opened by the Winter Maiden, who is currently Winter Schnee. The Vault was located deep below Atlas Academy and accessible by the elevator near Ironwood's office.
Staff and Military Personnel Former: General James Ironwood โ - Former Headmaster of Atlas Academy. Later died during the Fall of Atlas. Winter Schnee - Implied to be a graduate of Atlas Academy. Former Atlesian Special Operative. Ace Operatives - Former Special Operatives. Penny Polendina โ - Participated in the Vytal Festival, representing the Kingdom of Atlas, but it wasn't known if she was an actual student of the academy. Former Atlesian Special Operative and academy employee. Stephanie Santiago - Implied to have been Ironwood's secretary.
Known Students: Ciel Soleil - Penny's former teammate who also participated in the Vytal Festival. Flynt Coal - A member of Team FNKI and a participant in the Vytal Festival, later drafted into the Atlas Military during the Battle of Atlas. Neon Katt - A member of Team FNKI and a participant in the Vytal Festival, later drafted into the Atlas Military during the Battle of Atlas. Kobalt - A member of Team FNKI, later drafted into the Atlas Military during the Battle of Atlas. Ivori - A member of Team FNKI, later drafted into the Atlas Military during the Battle of Atlas. Vega Bleu - A graduate of Pharos Academy.
Graduates: Robyn Hill - A former Mantle politician and leader of the Happy Huntresses. Fiona Thyme - A member of the Happy Huntresses. Joanna Greenleaf - A member of the Happy Huntresses. May Marigold - A member of the Happy Huntresses.
- #7Huntress
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Huntsmen and Huntresses are licensed elite warriors dedicated to slaying the Creatures of Grimm and whose duty is to "uphold the peace" of their world, Remnant.
Following the Great War's conclusion on the island of Vytal, the occupation of Huntsmen was created alongside the Huntsman Academies. These academies were charged to train the elite warriors whose role was to safeguard mankind's future. Training: Those who wish to become Huntsmen or Huntresses often first attend primary combat schools like Sanctum Academy (of Mistral) or Signal Academy (located in Patch), which are designed to teach new students the fundamentals of combat, Weapon crafting and the applications of Dust and Aura in the battlefield. However, those who have honed their skills on their own can skip this step and apply directly, one example being Blake Belladonna.
Potential applicants must then pass a rigorous entrance exam, and those that pass can attend Huntsman Academies, whose sole purpose is to train the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses who will in turn live and die to defend the four Kingdoms and the lifestyles they have become accustomed to.
The primary combat schools and the Kingdoms they correspond to are:
Vale - Signal Academy (Patch), Pharos Academy (Vale) Mistral - Sanctum Academy (Argus), Unnamed Kuchinashi Academy (Kuchinashi) Vacuo - Oscuro Academy (Coquina) The four main Huntsman Academies and the Kingdoms they correspond to are:
Vale - Beacon Academy Mistral - Haven Academy Vacuo - Shade Academy Atlas - Atlas Academy (Formerly Alsius) (Destroyed) Trainees are generally admitted at age 17 and complete a four-year course before graduating, however, some students, such as Ruby Rose, have been admitted at ages as young as 15. Trainees are grouped into Teams of four, with the intention of fostering empathy and teamwork, as well as lasting bonds, between team members โ qualities considered of great importance for future Huntsmen and Huntresses. These teams may stay intact after graduation, but teams are also known to disband as their members pursue solo careers.
The course at Beacon Academy includes history lessons and studies of the Grimm. The more active component includes field trips to potentially dangerous locations, sparring matches with other students, as well as an opportunity to participate in the Vytal Festival Tournament and spar with students from other academies. Students also go on actual missions commensurate to their skill level as part of their training; first-years are accompanied by a professional Huntsman, whilst second years and above may go on high-risk missions alone.
Most, but not all, Huntsmen have discovered their Semblance.[2]
While some enter the Academies to become Huntsmen, many people enter them for ulterior motives. One example would be Qrow and Raven Branwen who both originally entered Beacon Academy so they could learn how to kill Huntsmen since they were the only other threat to their tribe other than the Grimm.
Some students were also shown to not be willing to protect Humanity against the Grimm, such as Team NDGO who evacuated from Vale as they deemed it a lost cause as well as one of their members being willing to use a child as bait against a Grimm.
Huntsman License: Upon acceptance into one of the academies, prospective students are granted a student Huntsman License they can access through their Scrolls. Upon graduation, this student license is updated to a full professional Huntsman License.
Both student and professional licenses contain the same information. Their only difference is that a student license is labeled as a "Student License", while pro licenses bear either "Huntsman License" or "Huntress Licence" depending on the gender of the Huntsman.
A Huntsman License includes the Huntsman's:
Photograph. Full name, in print and as a bar code. Fifteen Digit Huntsman ID number. Emblem. Kingdom which issued the license. Huntsman Academy attended. Any restrictions the Huntsman may have. In RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, it is stated that a Huntsman can have their license revoked if they are involved with criminal activities like The Taskmaster. They can also have their licenses removed if they cause more harm than good on the job like Roch Szalt after he failed to stop a younger Roman Torchwick from robbing the Vale First Bank while causing a lot of property damage in the process.
Some gifted Huntsmen, such as Maria Calavera, can acquire their licenses by taking a licensing exam, forgoing the need to attend the academies.
In some rare cases, the Headmasters of the academies can grant individuals their licenses without the need for a proper graduation or taking the licensing exam, as was the case with James Ironwood who granted Teams RWBY and JNR their licenses after arriving in Atlas.
Employment: After graduation, the founders of the academies intended that the allegiance of a Huntsman or Huntress would not be tied to a specific Kingdom. With their Huntsmen Licenses, graduates are granted the freedom to choose whom they work for as well as the nature of their work. Huntsmen find employment through the use of mission boards. This approach is not without problems, however, as Huntsmen are known to be employed for disreputable purposes on occasion solely for Lien. One example would be Team SMMK who were hired by the Wave crime syndicate, as well as Bertilak Celadon who was originally a Huntsmen hired by The Crown.
This separation of Huntsmen and Kingdom allegiance was intended as a measure to ensure peace. However, the Kingdom of Atlas did not appear to uphold this distinction. Not only did Atlas Academy exist as the same entity as the government, but students were heavily pressured into enlisting in the military's Special Operatives Unit, which drew significant criticism. Winter Schnee was one notable example of a "Specialist" in the military. The Ace Operatives were a team of Special Operatives that intentionally didn't follow the Color Naming Rule and had five people instead of four due to Ironwood not caring about Ozpin's rules and prioritizing efficiency instead.
Missions: Mission boards detail the type of mission, a short description of the task, where the task is needed and how soon the mission will start. Mission boards also detail a mission's status after someone accepts it. In RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, it is revealed that the mission board system is flawed; while the intent is to have it so that the board updates in real-time, multiple Huntsmen can accept the mission at the same time, making it so that they both need to complete the objective and split the reward.
Generally, rewards scale to the difficulty of the particular objective, especially with bounty missions on the Grimm. However, in some cases, as seen with Centinels, Huntsmen may avoid bounty missions on specific Grimm, and as a result making their rewards be disproportionately large compared to the difficulty ranking.[3]
There are many different types of missions for Huntsmen and Huntresses to undertake. The currently known types of missions available to Huntsmen and Huntresses include:
Search and Rescue - Finding missing person(s) or recovering missing supplies. Search and Destroy - Clearing out Grimm when their infestations grow too large. Perimeter Defense - Fortifying walls and defenses to keep Grimm out of the kingdom and city limits. Village Security - Helping a village (not established as one of four kingdoms) fight off Grimm. Bounty - Capturing wanted criminal(s) and Grimm. Escort - Helping civilians move through Grimm-infested areas. The Huntsman Kingdom Accord is an act that protects the Huntsmen of Mistral with some legal support.
In When Life Gives You Lemons, it was shown that Scrolls have a Huntsman network application on them for Huntsmen to use to communicate with each other.
Notable Huntsmen and Huntresses: Team RWBY Ruby Rose - The leader of Team RWBY and a Silver-Eyed Warrior. Former Beacon student. Weiss Schnee - Daughter of Jacques Schnee, Ex-heiress of Schnee Dust Company and former Beacon student. Blake Belladonna - Daughter of Menagerie Chieftain Ghira Belladonna, and Ex-White Fang member who defected after the organization became more extremist. Former Beacon student. Yang Xiao Long - Daughter of notorious bandit Raven Branwen and Ruby's older sister who lost her right arm at the fall of Beacon. Former Beacon student. Team JNR Jaune Arc - The leader of Team JNR. Unlike the other students, he did not undergo any combat school or training prior to Beacon and entered the school using false documents. Former Beacon student. Nora Valkyrie - A homeless orphan rescued by Ren during a massacre at Kuroyuri. Former Beacon student. Lie Ren - A survivor of a massacre by a Nuckelavee Grimm at Kuroyuri that took the lives of his family. Former Beacon student. Team STRQ Summer Rose โ - Ruby's birth mother, Yang's stepmother and Taiyang's second significant other. She went missing in action during a mission and is presumed dead by her family after she encountered Salem in the past. Beacon Academy graduate. Taiyang Xiao Long - Ruby and Yang's father. He is a teacher at Signal Academy. Beacon Academy graduate. Raven Branwen - Yang's mother and Taiyang's first significant other. A former member of Ozpin's Group, she disappeared shortly after Yang's birth to lead the Branwen Tribe. Beacon Academy graduate. Qrow Branwen - Yang's maternal uncle and Ruby's honorary uncle. He was a teacher at Signal Academy, and a member of Ozpin's Group. Beacon Academy graduate. Vale Glynda Goodwitch - Staff member and current Headmistress of Beacon Academy; she is the first known Huntress to make an appearance in the series. She is also a member of Ozpin's Group. Ozpin โ - Former Headmaster of Beacon Academy. He is the leader of Ozpin's Group. Peter Port - Huntsman and a long-time associate of Professor Ozpin. He was the Grimm Studies and Military Strategy professor at Beacon Academy. Bartholomew Oobleck - History and Legends of Remnant teacher at Beacon Academy. Harold Mulberry - Weapons Crafting and Upkeep teacher at Beacon Academy. Thumbelina Peach - Plant Science teacher at Beacon Academy. Ann Greene - Stealth and Security teacher at Beacon Academy. Kandi Floss - Haven graduate working in Vale. Roch Szalt - Disgraced Haven graduate working in Vale. Shion Zaiden - Nightmare Hunter who is tasked to capture Grimm that have possessed humans in dreams. Atlas James Ironwood โ - Former Headmaster of Atlas Academy and general of the Atlesian Military. Held two seats on the Atlas Council and was a former member of Ozpin's Group. Later died during the Fall of Atlas. Winter Schnee - Former Specialist in the Atlesian Military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former leader of the Ace Operatives after Clover Ebi's death. Caroline Cordovin - Specialist in the Atlesian Military prior to its destruction, and leader of the Argus Military Base. Clover Ebi โ - Former Specialist in the Atlesian military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former leader of the Ace-Ops. Killed by Tyrian Callows who framed Qrow Branwen for his death. Elm Ederne - Former Specialist in the Atlesian military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former member of the Ace-Ops. Harriet Bree - Former Specialist in the Atlesian military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former member of the Ace-Ops. Marrow Amin - Former Specialist in the Atlesian military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former member of the Ace-Ops. Vine Zeki โ - Former Specialist in the Atlesian military, an Atlas Academy graduate, and former member of the Ace-Ops. Sacrificed his life to save his friends from a bomb meant to destroy Mantle. Robyn Hill - Former Mantle politician, Atlas Academy graduate, and leader of the Happy Huntresses. Fiona Thyme - Member of the Happy Huntresses. May Marigold - Member of the Happy Huntresses. Joanna Greenleaf - Member of the Happy Huntresses. Multiple Huntsmen - Many Huntsmen working in Atlas. Rhodes โ - A Huntsman who trained Cinder Fall when she worked at the Glass Unicorn. Killed by Cinder while attempting to arrest her for murder. Team BRIR - A Team of Huntresses not originally from Atlas. The team is composed of Bianca Prisma, Roane Ashwood, Ivy Thickety and Ruda Tilleroot. Bram Thornmane - Former member of the Atlas Military who originally wanted to become a member of the Ace-Ops. Later became the guardian of Essen and was arrested for being the leader of a conspiracy against Ironwood. Hanlon Fifestone - Former member of the Atlas Military before deserting to become a union leader in Mantle. Mistral Leonardo Lionheart โ - Former Headmaster of Haven Academy and a former member of Ozpin's Group. Later killed by Salem during the Battle of Haven. Pyke Rite - a "professional" Huntsman and recent graduate of Haven Academy. Arrastra Skye - a serval Faunus Huntress originally from Haven Academy. Asher Mora - a graduate of Shade Academy now operating in Mistral and an old acquaintance of the current leader of "The Hearth", Abigail Pyre. Fenix Nemean - a graduate of Shade Academy now operating in Mistral. Multiple Mistral Huntsmen โ - Nearly every Huntsman and Huntress working in Mistral was killed off by Hazel Rainart and Tyrian Callows when Leonardo Lionheart leaked their identities to Salem. F. Pickerel โ - Huntsman responsible for the incarceration of Tyrian Callows. Dee โ - Huntsman formerly working on the Argus Limited that was killed during a Grimm attack. Dudley - Huntsman working on the Argus Limited. Opal - A famous now-retired Huntress in circles with The Grimm Reaper and owner of The Skillful in Kuchinashi. Team SMMK - A team of Huntsmen centered in Kuchinashi, consisting of: Sil, Marton, Mina Lavender, and Khaki. They originally worked for the Wave crime syndicate before abandoning them. Alabaster - A former Huntsmen who was the sheriff of the Kuchinashi city guard before the Wave takeover. Daff - A former Huntsmen who joined the Kuchinashi city guard and later the Wave. Was convinced to work against them by Fenix Nemean. The Taskmaster - A former Huntsmen that had his license revoked after multiple dealings in crime. Works as an info broker in Kuchinashi. Takaya - The Headmaster of the Huntsmen school in Kuchinashi and leader of the resistance against the Wave crime syndicate. Maria Calavera - A former Silver-Eyed Warrior known as the Grimm Reaper. She lost her eyes in a fight against Tock, and spent decades in hiding since. Vacuo Theodore - Headmaster of Shade Academy and a member of Ozpin's Group. Xanthe Rumpole - History professor at Shade Academy and a member of Ozpin's Group. Rowena Sunnybrook - Weapons teacher at Shade Academy. Edward Caspian - An elderly veteran Huntsman. The Crown Carmine Esclados - A rogue veteran Huntress and Shade Academy graduate. Rosa Schwein - a dropout student from Shade Academy turned criminal. Gillian Asturias - a dropout student from Shade Academy turned criminal. Jax Asturias - an expelled student from Shade Academy turned criminal. Argento Pocoron - a dropout student from Shade Academy turned criminal. Umber Gorgoneion - a dropout student from Shade Academy turned criminal. Bertilak Celadon - A rogue veteran Huntsman and Shade Academy graduate. Green - A Huntsman working for The Crown for unknown reasons, possibly due to being placed under mind control.
Trivia: Huntsmen and Huntresses are a form of celebrities in Remnant. This is evident when Ruby asks for Glynda's autograph, when Jaune refers to his family as famous heroes and the RWBY: World of Remnant episode Aura explains that they are widely regarded as the world's greatest warriors. Even Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, like Coco Adel and the members of Team SSSN, are known to have dedicated fans among the spectators of the Vytal Festival. The first three digits in Team RWBY's Huntress License ID numbers (636) likely allude to Rooster Teeth's address when they created RWBY. Huntsmen is the general collective term for the profession, with Huntresses reserved only for women. The term 'hunter' is often misattributed as an abbreviation for Huntsman but is a separate job title referring to those that hunt wild animals for food, such as Li Ren. Despite this, the non-binary Huntsmen Shion Zaiden in RWBY: Ice Queendom is referred to as a "Nightmare Hunter" that deals with special Nightmare Grimm.
- #8Teams
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Teams are groups comprised of four individuals that are formed to fight alongside one another. At Beacon Academy and other schools, students are put into teams to learn together and practice with other teams while training to become Huntsmen. Background: Teams are formed at Huntsman Academies with the intention of forming lasting bonds and fostering empathy between team members. After graduating from an academy, a team may stay together or disband for its members to pursue solo careers. However, Atlas Academy was known for pressuring its graduates to join the Atlas Military prior to the Kingdom's destruction, with the Happy Huntresses being the only known team to avoid this.
History: Following the Great War, the King of Vale abolished the monarchy and created the Huntsmen Academies to train Huntsmen. He put students into four-person teams to encourage teamwork.
Professor Ozpin claims that the King of Vale was inspired by the Mistralian Fairy Tale of The Hunter's Children when developing the Huntsmen Academies, taking the four-man squad and ideals of the tale as lessons to heart and using them as foundational cores to the Huntsman ideology.
While official teams were usually comprised of four members and had their name be a color, the Ace Operatives were the only known team to ignore these rules and had five members instead while lacking a name referencing a color. This was due to general James Ironwood not caring about Ozpin's rules and instead preferring an elite and efficient team.
Formation: Names The first letter of each team member's name is used to form an acronym that stands for the name of the team. In some cases, the first letter of a member's surname may be used. The team leader's initial is the first letter of the team name.[2].
Every official team name follows the color naming rule of Remnant, with the exception of the Ace Operatives. This means a team name has to be a color, mean a color, sound like a color or make people think of a certain color.[3][4] Team names also often share the same color as their leader, such as Summer Rose and Team STRQ both connected to white.
Formation at Beacon Main article: Beacon Academy Initiation Every academy has its own way of assigning teams.[5] At Beacon Academy, teams were formed during the Beacon Academy Initiation.
The day after arriving at Beacon Academy, first-year students (such as Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, etc.) were gathered at the edge of Beacon Cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest where Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch stood before them and explained the procedure of the Beacon Academy Initiation that they would soon undergo. After being launched from the Cliff and landing in the forest below, the first pair of students to make eye contact with each other were partners for the rest of their time at Beacon, which consisted of four years.
To complete the team of four, as seen in "Players and Pieces", the two pairs of students who picked matching relics found at the abandoned temple were combined to form a team, and Ozpin chose the leader based on who displayed the best leadership skills during the initiation.
As of "The Badge and The Burden", the team members of each respective team shared a dorm. Even Team JNPR, a co-ed team, shared a single dorm.
In "End of the Beginning", it was unknown if any of the teams at Beacon remained active after the academy's destruction and its headmaster's death. In particular, Team RWBY goes inactive due to the separation of its members but later reforms in "Haven's Fate". Some teams transferred to another academy, an example being Team CFVY transferring to Shade Academy.
Formation at Shade: Main article: Shade Academy Initiation In RWBY: Before the Dawn, the "Reinitiation Ceremony" started as students were told to board armed Air Buses, which took them over the Vacuan desert. The cadets then received individual coordinates which they had to reach, and they were informed their Scroll connections will be blocked. They were also told they had exactly three objectives:
Survive the desert. Find your way to an airbus which would take you back to Shade Academy. Locate and retrieve a golden trinket in the desert. After reaching several thousand feet high, the floor of the aircraft suddenly opened, dropping all students into the desert below. The students were forced to find their own landing strategies to safely reach the soft sand.
It is unknown what the differences of re-initiation are from Shade's regular initiations and how teams are selected afterwards, although Scarlet David believed that it is entirely random as based on Team SSEA's formation.
Beacon Academy - (Formerly) : Beacon Academy was situated in the former Kingdom of Vale and its capital city. After the Fall of Beacon and Ozpin's death, the academy became overrun with Grimm and many of the teams at the academy either transferred to Shade Academy, were killed in the attack, or just left completely. Glynda Goodwitch became the Headmistress of Beacon following this and was attempting to restore the academy to its former glory, though this did not come to pass with the destruction of Vale in the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic".
Shade Academy: Shade Academy is located in the Kingdom of Vacuo and its Headmaster is Theodore. Many of the teams at the Academy recently transferred from the fallen academies of Beacon and Haven, causing many of the teams at the academy like Team NDGO to constantly harass the newer students.
Gillian's Team was an older team at Shade, but left the academy after Jax Asturias was expelled for his bad behavior and the other members defected with him to form The Crown. Team BRNZ was a team from Shade that was mostly wiped out during the fall of beacon with only Nolan Porfirio surviving.
After Xanthe Rumpole was brainwashed by the Crown and she recommended Theodore changed the original teams, Theodore reorganized the pre-existing teams when he learned the Crown used Rumpole to keep the academy off their trail.
Atlas Academy - (Formerly): Atlas Academy was a Huntsmen Academy that merged with the government and the Atlas Military. Its headmaster was James Ironwood who was also the general of the military. After the Kingdom of Atlas was destroyed in "The Final Word", the Academy was destroyed with it and many of the organizations and teams associated with them were disbanded.
Atlas Academy - (Formerly): Atlas Academy was a Huntsmen Academy that merged with the government and the Atlas Military. Its headmaster was James Ironwood who was also the general of the military. After the Kingdom of Atlas was destroyed in "The Final Word", the Academy was destroyed with it and many of the organizations and teams associated with them were disbanded.
Trivia : Story Since first-year students are seen speculating how teams are going to be formed and even asking others to join theirs the morning before being assigned teammates, the process and details of creating teams at Beacon are kept secret until the initiation. Glynda herself calls what the students heard as "rumors", although Pyrrha knew the teams consisted of four students each beforehand and Nora was previously aware that the test would take place in the forest. Despite the fact that all teams have their first letters represent the name of their leaders, Jaune, Weiss, and Ruby are all shown to be surprised at who would command the group. This may merely be the students' lack of knowledge as to how teams are assigned. The Ace Operatives lacking a team color and ignoring the standard four-man squad convention was an intentional choice, made to show that Ironwood did not care about Ozpin's rules and his view of prioritizing efficiency.[8] The Beacon Initiation had twenty black and white chess pieces visible in the temple, two for each piece in chess, both white and black. This would mean that there is a possible total of ten teams of four able to pass the initiation. Team Names Under most circumstances, all letters in a team name consist of their members' first initials. However, there are five cases in which a team member's last name is used for their respective team's initials: Lie Ren of Team JNPR, Sky Lark of Team CRDL, May Zedong of Team BRNZ, and Arrastra Skye and Pyke Rite of Team SAFR. So far, there have been three cases where the team's name matches that of their respective leader: Ruby Rose of Team RWBY, Sun Wukong of Team SSSN, and Brawnz Ni of Team BRNZ. Official team names also often reference the colors or themes of their leaders: Juniper trees sometimes have yellow leaves like Jaune Arc, cardinals are red-orange birds like Cardin Winchester, coffee is a brown confection like Coco Adel, auburn is a shade of red like Arslan Altan, indigo is a shade of purple like Nebula Violette, stark is a type of white like Summer Rose, funky can refer to musicians like Flynt Coal, sapphires are blue gems like Arrastra Skye, smoke is gray like Sil, and briars are seen in the tattoos of Bianca Prisma and her teammates. Shade's reformed teams mostly followed this trend as well, with sea green for Sage Ayana, novae as a cosmic phenomenon for Nebula, burn referring to orange flames for Bolin Hori, fondue as a food like Fox Alistair and his "fox hunter's pie", and rosy referring to flowers connected with the nymph that Reese Chloris is named after. In the first episode of Volume 4, Ren, Nora and Jaune debate on whether to call their new team RNJR (Ranger) or JNRR (Junior). Nora explains that there are more members from Team JNPR, so they should be called Team JNRR. Ren disagrees because the pronunciation of the name does not link to a color. He also points out that since they are helping Ruby on her mission, their team name should start with Ruby's initial, thus creating the team name RNJR.
Miscellaneous: Most teams have their own motifs and themes. RWBY's is fairy tale heroines. JNPR's is cross-dressing warriors and legends. CRDL's is types of birds. Character design also shows they are based on medieval knights. CFVY's is various sweets. SSSNโs is characters from classic tales. Moreover, Sage, Scarlet, and Neptuneโs designs are also based on the K-pop Boy band, Big Bang. FNKIโs is Internet memes. Their charactersโ names are also based on real life substances, elements, or even ores. Ace Operativesโ is Aesopโs Fables. Happy Huntressesโ is Robin Hoodโs Merry Men. BRIRโs is tattoos and thorn ornaments. STRQ's might be poems and literature, though Taiyang's allusion is not apparent yet. Other teams do not seem to have a consistent motif or theme. For much of the early years in RWBY, all fully revealed teams had a member whose name alludes to a shade of red: Ruby Rose (RWBY), Pyrrha Nikos (JNPR), Scarlet David (SSSN), Velvet Scarlatina (CFVY), Cardin Winchester (CRDL), Arslan Altan (ABRN), Roy Stallion (BRNZ), Octavia Ember (NDGO), Summer Rose (STRQ), and Robyn Hill (Happy Huntresses). This pattern was later broken with Teams FNKI, Team SAFR, Team SMMK, and the Ace Operatives not having any characters that allude to a shade of red. Penny's Team was left ambiguous as having only shown two members. The temporary teams of Shade Academy also mostly followed this pattern: Octavia Ember (NOVA), Umber Gorgoneion (FNDU), Scarlet David (ROSC), and possibly Elektra Fury (SSEA), with the exception of Team BYRN. There has been several cases of teams in the show that have either lost or gained members than the standard four. Team JNPR changes to Team JNR after the death of Pyrrha Nikos. After the events of RWBY: Before the Dawn, Nolan Porfirio becomes a de facto fifth member of Team SSSN, making it "Team SSSNN" and the only team to have an additional member. The Ace Operatives do not follow the rules strictly as the team's main focus on prioritizing efficiency. Though likely having four members due to participating in the first round of the Vytal Festival, Penny's Team was shown with just two of its members. Despite being a four-person team, the Happy Huntresses do not seem to have a team acronym. Some factions such as Cinder's Faction or Salem's Inner Circle were given team names by fans despite not originating from academies, the former being "Team CRME" (Crime) for Cinder Fall, Roman Torchwick, Mercury Black, and Emerald Sustrai, and the latter being "Team WTCH" (Witch) for Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callows, Cinder, and Hazel Rainart. Some teams appeared in RWBY: Amity Arena, but with members missing: Scarlet of Team SSSN. Bolin, Reece, Nadir of Team ABRN. Brawnz of Team BRNZ. Summer and Taiyang of Team STRQ. Kobalt and Ivori of Team FNKI. Robyn and Joanna of the Happy Huntresses. Ciel of Pennyโs team.
- #9Concept / lore
Keys: Team RWBY, RWBY team, RWBY protagonists, huntress team, Beacon Academy team, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, team leader Ruby, Schnee heiress Weiss, Faunus Blake, brawler Yang, huntresses in training, Beacon Academy, team formation initiation, Nevermore battle, Ozpin academy, Ozpin, team STRQ legacy, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, Summer Rose, Qrow Branwen, Signal Academy, Atlas Academy, White Fang conflict, Roman Torchwick plans, Vytal Festival Tournament, Fall of Beacon, Haven Academy mission, Atlas arc, Mantle evacuation, Amity Communications Tower, Salem threat, Relics of Remnant, Ever After realm, Huntress licenses, sister bond Ruby Yang, Bumblebee pairing Blake Yang, Ladybug pairing Blake Ruby, Ice Flower Ruby Weiss, Freezerburn Weiss Yang, Checkmate Blake Weiss, team attacks RWBY, Silver Eyes power, Glyph Semblance, Shadow clone Semblance, Burn Semblance, scythe sniper weapon, Dust combat, coordinated teamwork, rule-breaking heroes, found family bond, risk lives for each other, Remnant defenders, Team
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Team RWBY (pronounced "Ruby") is a Huntress team of former Beacon Academy students, which is comprised of RWBY's titular protagonists: their leader Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. Originally unable to even hold a proper conversation together, the team eventually develops a familial bond and grows into a tightly-knit group, willing to risk their futures and even their lives for each other. They have no qualms breaking the rules to do what they believe is right.
Pre-Volume 1: Two of the team's members, Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long, were born to three members of Beacon Academy alumni, Team STRQ: Yang was born to Taiyang Xiao Long and Raven Branwen and Ruby was born a few years later to Taiyang and Summer Rose. Born to a Huntsman family, the siblings inherited their parent's professions and naturally gravitated to becoming Huntresses, with Yang's father training her and Qrow Branwen, Ruby's honorary uncle, training her respectively. While Ruby's interest in the profession came from a sense of duty and legacy, Yang saw it as a way to get involved in "crazy adventures" and find her long lost birth mother. Shortly before the start of the series, Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, decided to attend Beacon rather than Atlas Academy, leading to a "royal test" in which she successfully destroyed an Arma Gigas Grimm. Around the same time, Blake Belladonna, a then active member of a Faunus rights movement known as the White Fang, became disillusioned with the excessive violence and abandoned her partner after a train heist and decided to use her talents to become a Huntress, easily passing the entrance exam to do so.
History : After gaining the attention of Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon, Ruby is allowed to skip the two required years at Signal Academy and enroll early, allowing her to participate in first-year team formations, along with her elder sister and her future team mates. Weiss and Ruby become partners in "The First Step, Pt.2", while Yang and Blake become partners in "The Emerald Forest". The first battle with all four members fighting together takes place in "Players and Pieces", when they all band together to take down a massive Nevermore. During the Beacon Academy Initiation, the team brought back the two White Knight pieces and were officially named "Team RWBY", with Ruby appointed as the team's leader.
Volume 2โ3: Despite being first years students, Team RWBY became involved in foiling the plans of Roman Torchwick and the White Fang, stopping a cargo robbery in the end of Volume 1 and a Grimm invasion in Vale in Volume 2. Some time afterward, they qualify for the Vytal Festival Tournament. They manage to reach the finals but are later disqualified. After the broadcast of Penny Polendina's death through the manipulations of Cinder Fall, Beacon Academy falls to both the White Fang and the Grimm attracted to the negativity. Spread out, the team tries its best to defend their school, only for Yang and Blake to be gravely injured during an encounter with Blake's former partner and Ruby's latent power to knock her unconscious.
Volume 4โ5: After the Fall of Beacon, the team completely splits up, with Weiss returning to Atlas with her father, Blake running away to Menagerie, Yang recovering in Patch and Ruby going to Haven with Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren, spurred by her uncle's warning that another incident like the Fall of Beacon could occur in Haven. Eventually, Blake regains the courage and willpower to confront the White Fang. After an encounter with one of members of Salem's Inner Circle, Team RNJR are joined by Qrow, who reveals the leader of the Grimm, Salem's ultimate goal. Weiss masters the Summoning aspect of her Semblance and Yang recovers enough to use a brand new prosthetic arm. Volume 4 ends with Yang seeking out Ruby, Weiss escaping Atlas to find Winter and Blake attempting to spur the people of Menagerie to restore the original intentions of the White Fang. In Volume 5, Ruby, Nora, Jaune, Lie and Qrow finally reach Haven Academy and soon encounter Oscar Pine, the current incarnation of Ozpin and begin to help him train in combat, as Qrow tries to recruit Huntsman for a mission to rescue the Spring Maiden from Raven Branwen. The latter manages to capture Weiss after a Grimm attack causes her cargo ship to crash and decides to ransom her back to Atlas. Coincidentally, Yang arrives soon after and demands Raven to open a portal to her uncle, in order to reach Ruby in Haven and arrives discovers her captured teammate. After some parting words about Ozpin and Salem, Raven allows them to leave through a portal, reuniting Weiss, Yang and Ruby. Weiss and Yang decide to join Ruby on her quest to prevent the fall of Haven. During an ambush set up by Leonardo Lionheart, the White Fang are countered by forces from Menagerie, led by the Belladonnas. With the Relic of Knowledge secured by Yang and Haven safe from immediate threat, the team, now fully reunited, head with Qrow, Oscar and team JNR towards Atlas.
Volume 6: Team RWBY, JNR, Qrow and Oscar take a train to the port of Argus, hoping that their Atlas military base is active and that someone will be able to take them Atlas. However, the now exposed Relic draws in a swarm of Grimm. Unwilling to put civilians in harm's way, team RWBY, Oscar and Qrow stay behind to finish the Grimm off, with Jaune, Nora and Ren going on ahead. The train ends up crashing off the tracks and the group adds a new member to their party: Maria Calavera. Stranded in the cold and desperate to know the truth, Ruby uses the Relic to find out what Ozpin is hiding, causing Jinn, the spirit of the Relic, to reveal the history of Ozpin and Salem and learn that she cannot be destroyed. With dwindling hope and motivation, the party finds shelter in the abandoned Brunswick Farms during a snowstorm, where the hidden pack of Apathy, a Grimm that drains willpower, nearly finishes them off, only for Ruby to consciously use her Silver Eyes to destroy them. The team presses on and finally reaches the port city of Argus, reuniting with JNR. However, their attempts at being provided transportation are blocked by the resident military, forcing them to steal an airship. During their airship heist, Caroline Cordovin activates a massive Colossus to blow their ship out of the skies, coinciding with Adam Taurus making his move against Blake, but ultimately being foiled by Yang's timely arrival. After the Colossus is finally taken down, reports start to come in of a massive Grimm army closing in on Argus, aided by a Leviathan Grimm that rips through the shields. Wanting to help, Ruby uses Maria's advice on using the light inside of her to help stop the Grimm and the group is allowed to leave on their airship. Upon closing in on Atlas, everyone is surprised to see the Atlas military air support almost seemingly anticipating their arrival and they are waved in.
Volume 7 In an attempt to find information on what was happening in Atlas, Team RWBY, JNR, Qrow, Oscar, and Maria make an unauthorized landing in Mantle. While in the city, the group is led to Pietro Polendina's Pharmacy by Maria. After a brief meeting with Pietro, the team ran outside to fight off the Grimm that were attacking the city, which leads them to a reunion with Penny, who was rebuilt by Pietro. Shortly after the reunion, the team and their party were arrested and taken to Atlas by the Ace-Ops. After arriving at Atlas and encountering Penny, Winter and Ironwood, the team is led into the latter's office, where he presents his plan to create the Amity Communications Tower and then, upon establishing global communication, reveal the existence of Salem to Remnant, something which he already did with Winter, Penny and the Ace Ops. Team RWBY, JNR, and the Ace-Ops secure an Abandoned SDC mine which will be used as the Amity launch site. After completing the mission, Ironwood official graduates the team, giving them their Huntress licenses and allows them to both help with the Amity Project and take formal missions around the kingdom. During the time they assisted the military, the team's first real mission as Huntresses led them to discover a conspiracy led by Bram Thornmane against Ironwood and eventually multiple people involved were arrested by the military including Hanlon Fifestone, Lieutenant Colonel Olive Harper who secretly provided military technology to Amoncio Glass and his goons and turned herself in out of guilt, and Bram Thornmane himself after being defeated by Team RWBY. During this period, a deal between the military and the Schnee Dust Company set up prior to the events of "RWBY: Arrowfell" to find a new Dust Mine for the company was also completed by Team RWBY with Winter acting as the contact between both factions. However, the new Dust Mine site was deemed unusable due to the Dust inside it having inert specks and imperfections. Upon a getting a formal dinner invitation from Jacques Schnee, the team plots to sneak Weiss past her brother to go through his office. With the help of Willow Schnee's cameras, Weiss exposes her father and has him arrested, just as Mantle's security is overridden and the heating is shut off, causing riots and a Grimm infiltration. Working alongside the Ace Ops, the team defends Mantle against the onslaught and later helps with civilian evacuations when Ironwood reveals both the intention behind the Dust shortage and Salem. Despite their joint success, the team and Ironwood's Ace Ops clash when Ironwood deems them untrustworthy and decides to take a new course of action: claim the Staff of Creation by having Winter Schnee become the new Winter Maiden and raise Atlas itself high into the atmosphere, a plan that would leave Mantle at the mercy of a massive invasion. Ruby is only barely able to warn the others before Ironwood shuts off communications and orders their arrest, leading to a fight between the Ace Ops and Team RWBY. After the former's defeat, Ruby and Weiss hurry to find the Winter Maiden to stop Ironwood, while Blake and Yang search for Oscar and Team JNR. In the process, Ruby and Weiss encounter Penny, Winter and Cinder just as Penny claims the Winter Maidens power and Ruby forces Cinder to flee through her silver eyes. Unwilling to help Ironwood claim the Staff, Penny departs with Ruby and Weiss on a Manta, pondering their next move just as Salem herself, leading a massive army, descends on Atlas.
Volume 8: In Volume 8, the group splits into Ruby's Group and Yang's Group after a disagreement on how to approach the threat of Salem. Both teams work with the Happy Huntresses. Ruby's group plans to deliver a broadcast to the entire world through the Amity Communications Tower, partially succeeding in warning them of the threats to come. They are later attacked by The Hound at the Schnee Manor. Yang's group plans to aid the citizens of Mantle on a smaller scale, however, after Oscar Pine is kidnapped by the Hound, they refocus their efforts into rescuing him. After an encounter with Salem and being aided by Emerald Sustrai and Hazel Rainart, Emerald joins the group as Hazel sacrifices himself to buy them time to escape. The team reunites at the Schnee Manor, where Team RWBY is once again reformed in order to take the Relic of Creation, as well as all the citizens of Mantle and Atlas, to the kingdom of Vacuo where they could temporarily be safe from both Ironwood and Salem. Durning the process, Team RWBY ask Ambrosius to make Penny Polendina human. Unfortunately, Cinder Fall and Neopolitan ambushes the Team, Penny, and Jaune Arc. During the fight, Yang sacrifices herself to save her sister from Neo's attack and falls into the void. Ruby and Blake soon fall into as well after Cinder cuts Gambol Shroud's line. Finally, Weiss falls as well when Cinder causes the ground underneath to collapse.
Volume 9: After the events of Volume 8, Team RWBY (along with Jaune and Neapolitan) all fall into the void. This void sends them to a unique world: the Ever After. Team RWBY reunites and decide to find their weapons. Weiss, Blake, and Yang eventually locate their weapons, but Ruby doesnโt retrieve Crescent Rose until the team reunites with Jaune, who also fell in the void. During this time, Ruby begins to fall into depression after learning of Pennyโs death and that the team failed to stop Cinder from obtaining the Relics. Blaming herself, she withdraws herself emotionally from the team. They figure out that they're following in the footsteps of Alyx, a character from the fairy tale The Girl Who Fell Through The World. The group decides to journey to the ginormous tree, as that was how Alyx escaped, and meet multiple new creatures along the way. Yang and Blake eventually realize their feelings for each other and confess, leading to them having their first kiss and becoming a couple. In โThe Perils of Paper Housesโ, Ruby takes out her anger on her team for continuously neglecting her feelings and trauma. This leads her to abandoning them. In โTea Amidst Terrible Troubleโ, the remaining teammates arrive too late to save Ruby from Neoโs torture. To their shock, they witness Ruby drink tea tainted by a leaf from the Great Tree, committing suicide by ascension. This left only three members of Team RWBY left. However, in "Of Solitude and Self", Ruby ascends as herself to fight the Curious Cat along with her team. They successfully overpower the Cat and the four embrace each other shortly after, thus reuniting the team. Following this, they along with Jaune enter the Great Tree, and after a chat with the Blacksmith who explains the Ever After's history, they leave the realm and return to Remnant, arriving in Vacuo where they see a fleet of airships hovering over the city. In "Boba", Yang talks to Ruby, comforting her by telling her that they arenโt going back to the Team RWBY where they put everything on Rubyโs shoulders, instead, the entire team will share the burden from now on.
Fighting Strategy: Each member of the team has different approaches to combat. While individually skilled, against more difficult enemies, they grew as a unit by learning how to work together, allowing them to face more unique or powerful enemies. As an individual, Ruby is capable of both short and long ranged combat, by using either her weapon in scythe or sniper mode to slice enemies apart and shoot them from afar, as well as use her Semblance for evasive and offensive methods. Within the team, Ruby's role as a leader means she organizes her fellow teammates for strategies, such as team attacks or final decisions. On occasion, she uses specific Dust for special attacks, such as Gravity Dust for enhance velocity or electric Dust for electric attacks. Later in the series, she learns to use her Semblance to carry herself and her teammates at high speeds. Notably, she excels in Grimm based combat and suffers against human enemies. As an individual, Weiss uses her Semblance for long ranged combat, combining it with Dust to project elemental attacks, but is also able to propel herself to close distance or incapacitate enemies more precisely. Unlike her partner, Weiss fights in a more refined manner, as evidenced by her struggles in Volume 1 to maintain proper form. Her weapon is the only one in the team that carries multiple forms of Dust at all times. Within the team, Weiss often uses her Glyphs to enhance the raw power of her teammates' attacks or grant them enhanced speed. Later in the series, she begins to rely more on the secondary aspect of her Semblance to conjure additional Grimm to act as support or even lend their weaponry. As an individual, Blake is less direct, preferring to use stealth and surprise to overwhelm opponents or confuse them with her Semblance. Her weapon can be easily modified for short ranged combat in dual wield mode or just her primary blade. Additionally, she can use it as simply a gun for long ranged hits. While not as often as Weiss, Blake also uses Dust to create elemental copies of herself for a variety of effects or for straightforward Dust enhanced dust shots. Within the team, Blake often uses her weapon's ribbon to build momentum for intense final blows. As an individual, Yang's approach is the most direct and highest in raw strength, as her fighting style is rooted in melee combat. She is also capable of long ranged explosive based hits. Later, the approach slightly changes as she reserves the use of her Semblance until the very last possible moment or in shorter more controlled moments. In Volume 4, her robotic arm allows her to use to deflect smaller gunshots. In Atlas, she is given an upgrade with sticky grenades that she can detonate with her weapons. Within the team, Yang often "tanks" the heaviest blows and attacks, as she can simply absorb the kinetic energy. For this reason, a majority of the fights that involve the whole team exploit this to have Yang act as the final attacker, finishing off powerful opponents with a fully charged Semblance.
Team Attacks: Each pairing, or permutation of Team RWBY has their own "team attack", with the exception of Ruby + Yang, that are executed upon Ruby shouting a specific term. All of these identified team attacks were demonstrated in "Painting the Town..." during the battle against Roman piloting an Atlesian Paladin-290.
Freezerburn (Weiss + Yang) - Weiss freezes the ground whilst Yang jumps into the air and proceeds to punch the frozen ground whilst firing Ember Celica. The evaporation then creates a mist which can be utilized for cover and creates opportunities for sneak attacks. Named due to the pair's respective associations with cold and heat. Checkmate (Blake + Weiss) - Both Weiss and Blake proceed to attack an opponent simultaneously seeking to outmaneuver and overwhelm them. Named due to chess' black and white color scheme. Ladybug (Blake + Ruby) - Using their speed, Ruby and Blake attack the enemy from opposite sides in alternating sliding maneuvers. Named for ladybug's characteristic black and red coloring. Bumblebee (Blake + Yang) - Yang latches on to one end of Blake's Gambol Shroud. Blake then swings Yang to create momentum for Yang's punch whilst firing Ember Celica. A "reverse" version has been used, with Blake and Yang switching places. Named for a bumblebee's characteristic black and yellow coloring. Ice Flower (Ruby + Weiss) - Weiss uses her glyphs to encase Ruby's sniper bullets in ice. The ice enhances Ruby's attack, and the area where the bullet hits is frozen on impact. Named for Weiss' association with ice, and Ruby's last name. Cannonball (Full Team) - Manga only. Weiss and Blake form the catapult, Yang provides a boost, and Ruby acts as a ball by using her Semblance to increase her speed ten times to target the distance ranged enemies. Each pairing, or permutation of Team RWBY has their own "team attack", with the exception of Ruby + Yang, that are executed upon Ruby shouting a specific term. All of these identified team attacks were demonstrated in "Painting the Town..." during the battle against Roman piloting an Atlesian Paladin-290.
Freezerburn (Weiss + Yang) - Weiss freezes the ground whilst Yang jumps into the air and proceeds to punch the frozen ground whilst firing Ember Celica. The evaporation then creates a mist which can be utilized for cover and creates opportunities for sneak attacks. Named due to the pair's respective associations with cold and heat. Checkmate (Blake + Weiss) - Both Weiss and Blake proceed to attack an opponent simultaneously seeking to outmaneuver and overwhelm them. Named due to chess' black and white color scheme. Ladybug (Blake + Ruby) - Using their speed, Ruby and Blake attack the enemy from opposite sides in alternating sliding maneuvers. Named for ladybug's characteristic black and red coloring. Bumblebee (Blake + Yang) - Yang latches on to one end of B
- #10Symbol
Keys: emblem, emblems, symbol, symbols, insignia, crest, personal emblem, signature symbol, mark, logo, badge, tattoo symbol, weapon emblem, armor emblem, clothing symbol, personal mark, identity symbol, RWBY emblem, character emblem, Schnee symbol, Schnee crest, SDC logo, Ruby emblem, Weiss emblem, Blake emblem, Yang emblem, Branwen emblem, Qrow emblem, Raven emblem, Pyrrha emblem, Cinder emblem, Neopolitan emblem, Arslan emblem, family symbol, shared emblem, personal insignia, hunter emblem, huntress emblem, Remnant symbol, character symbol, Symbol
Enabled ยท After character ยท Order 200
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Emblems are a common feature on Remnant that are used to represent a person and can be compared to personal signatures. They are commonly found adorning weapons and armor but have also appeared on clothing, personal equipment, and even as tattoos. Some characters, such as Ruby Rose, put their emblem on many of her belongings while others, like Raven Branwen have not even been seen in the show, only revealed by merchandise.
The designs of the emblems can be objects, flowers, animals, illustrations, geometrical shapes and even letters and symbols. Their inspirations can range from the character's name - such as Ruby Rose - their inspiration - such as Cinder Fall - or even their weapon - such as Pyrrha Nikos. While some - like Arslan Altan and Neopolitan - use real-life symbols.
Emblems are typically unique, but some are used by multiple people. The Schnee family all share their symbol that is also used for the Schnee Dust Company. Some family members share designs, Ruby shares her design with her mother, Summer Rose while some - like Yang Xiao Long and Taiyang Xiao Long - have unique symbols. Then there are the Branwen twins, Qrow and Raven, that have similar designs.
- #11Npcs
Keys: RWBY, Remnant, character Remnant, person Remnant, individual Remnant, someone Remnant, someone from Remnant, anyone Remnant, anyone from RWBY, any character RWBY, all characters RWBY, member RWBY cast, figure Remnant, person in world Remnant, inhabitant Remnant, resident Remnant, native Remnant, human Remnant, faunus Remnant, huntsman, huntress, fighter Remnant, warrior Remnant, combatant Remnant, student huntsman, academy student, trainee huntsman, Beacon student, Haven student, Shade student, Atlas student, professor academy, teacher combat school, headmaster academy, staff academy, military Atlas, soldier Atlas, Specialist Atlas, officer Atlas, general Atlas, android Atlas, robot Atlas, scientist Atlas, engineer Atlas, pilot Remnant, criminal Remnant, villain Remnant, antagonist Remnant, ally Remnant, hero Remnant, civilian Remnant, refugee Remnant, survivor Remnant, bandit Remnant, tribe member, White Fang member, operative Salem, follower Salem, agent Ozpin, reincarnation Ozma, Maiden, aura user, semblance user, Dust user, weapon user, Grimm hunter, protector Remnant, mercenary Remnant, bounty hunter Remnant, spy Remnant, smuggler Remnant, merchant Remnant, noble Remnant, council member kingdom, royalty Remnant, family member character, teammate, partner, leader team, teammate RWBY, teammate JNPR, teammate huntsman, rival Remnant, opponent Remnant, tournament fighter, Vytal participant, Beacon initiate, survivor Beacon, Atlas refugee, Vacuo refugee, Menagerie resident, traveler Remnant, explorer Remnant, background character RWBY, side character RWBY, minor character RWBY, extra RWBY, unnamed character RWBY, unknown character RWBY, mysterious person Remnant, masked fighter Remnant, cloaked figure Remnant, hooded figure Remnant, silver eyed warrior, maiden host, vessel power, chosen warrior, special individual Remnant, important figure Remnant, legendary warrior Remnant, ancient warrior Remnant, descendant Remnant, heir Remnant, bloodline Remnant, child of Remnant hero, child of villain, son Remnant, daughter Remnant, he Remnant, she Remnant, they Remnant, him Remnant, her Remnant, them Remnant
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Jaune: Jaune Arc is a major character in RWBY. He is a Huntsman, a former student at the now defunct Beacon Academy, a member of the now inactive Team RNJR and the leader of the remaining members of Team JNPR. His weapon of choice is Crocea Mors, which consists of a sword and a sheath that can expand into a shield. The weapon was handed down in his family from his great-great-grandfather, who used it to fight in the Great War. He makes his first appearance towards the end of the first episode, "Ruby Rose", throwing up in the Vale Airship. There, he earned the nickname "Vomit Boy" from Ruby Rose. In "The Final Word", he was unable to escape the Central Location as it dissolved, leading him to fall into the void and find himself in the Ever After. After picking a stopwatch fruit in "Confessions Within Cumulonimbus Clouds", Jaune was sent back in time and aged many years, becoming known as the Rusted Knight from the fairy tale The Girl Who Fell Through the World and taming a Jackalope he named Juniper. In โOf Solitude and Selfโ, he was reverted to his original age by the spirit of Alyx as a final gift to her old friend. Afterwards, he and Team RWBY return to Remnant where they arrive at the Kingdom of Vacuo.
Appearance: Jaune is a tall young man with fair skin, blond hair and dark-blue eyes. He is quite toned, having strong muscles in his arms, shoulders, and upper chest.
Original Outfit (Volumes 1โ4): During his attendance at Beacon Academy, Jaune wears a black short-sleeved hoodie with detached reddish-orange sleeves and a dark brown image of the bunny rabbit Pumpkin Pete trimmed in white with cute black round eyes. Covering his hoodie and hiding the Pumpkin Pete symbol is a white diamond-shaped chest plate cut off above his lower abdomen, and placed over his shoulders are a pair of white spaulders with rerebraces set under them. Below, he wears blue jeans with a white patch placed on the left knee and black sneakers which have "left" and "right" written in black on the respective shoes' soles. In Volume 1, Jaune has elbow guards with cords strung through them and he wears black high tops. He has two belts crisscrossing his waist, both different shades of brown, with a pair of small pouches on them. Jaune wears brown wrist-length gloves with exposed fingertips and small metal plates over the back. His sword is strapped to his left hip in a sheath that doubles as a collapsible shield.
Pajamas: During his attendance at Beacon, he sleeps in blue full-body pajamas with blue bunny slippers and a white bunny face on its chest.
Mistral Outfit (Volume 4โ7): After the timeskip following the Fall of Beacon, his attire is updated. He retains his black hoodie, but he instead wears a modified pure white chest plate covering a bit more of his upper abdomen trimmed with gold lining and similarly colored bracers. Additionally, he wears black gloves with gold-colored metal armor plates over his fingers, and he appears to wear a red sash around his waist, similar in design to the late Pyrrha Nikos. He wears dark brown laced boots and a single brown belt with a pouch included worn around his waist.
Like some of his other companions, he has grown in height as well.
Atlas Outfit (Volume 7-current): After arriving in Atlas and meeting with James Ironwood, Jaune cuts his hair short and styles it to be upswept and somewhat spiky in a quiff-like style. He also gains a new outfit. He wears a high collar black shirt under a re-modified pure white chest plate that covers a bit more of his upper abdomen and similarly colored bracers. Both the chest plate and the bracers are trimmed with gold, and he once again wears two shoulder pads. He retains his gloves and sash except he now wears dark navy jeans and dark brown boots.
In "Of Solitude and Self", Jaune is reverted back to his proper age and Volume 8 appearance by Alyx's spirit, albeit he retains the white strands in his hair from his time as the Rusted Knight. His rusted armor also reverts back to its Volume 8 appearance, effectively deaging alongside Jaune.
Rusted Knight (Volume 9): As the Rusted Knight, he appears slightly aged with a few wrinkles. His hair has grown longer, with some strands having faded to white, and is tied into a ponytail with a torn piece of red fabric. He has also grown a beard. His armor now covers more of his body and has accumulated a significant amount of rust and wear. He replaced his short-sleeved turtleneck shirt with a long-sleeved gambeson and wears brown pants instead of navy.
Personality Jaune Arc embodies a striking emotional contradiction: though only nineteen, he carries the weight of someone whoโs lived far longer. His youthful face belies the trauma etched into his psycheโlosses like Pyrrhaโs death, the burden of leadership, and the haunting decision to end Pennyโs life have aged him in ways that defy his years. Most notably, his decades-long isolation in the Ever After as the Rusted Knight left him mentally weathered, emotionally frayed, and spiritually exhausted. Even after being physically restored to his younger self, Jauneโs demeanor remains subdued and introspective, marked by a quiet grief and hardened resolve. He no longer fits neatly into the role of the idealistic rookie; instead, he moves through the world like a man out of timeโstill kind, still loyal, but tempered by sorrow and the painful wisdom of experience.
Jaune begins as an outgoing, goofy, and all-around friendly person. He treats people equally and has no problems expressing himself to strangers and bonds with them easily, showing a lot of confidence. When faced with entirely new social situations, Jaune's confidence leads to bold behavior. This can become out of hand and backfire especially when pursuing romance. His voice actor, Miles Luna, admitted this by saying when Jaune tries too hard it can cause a misunderstanding. At heart, Jaune is a kind, amiable person and means well. Additionally, Jaune is prone to get airsick, as seen in "Ruby Rose" and "As Above, So Below".
Jaune maintains his unselfish manner regardless of the situation, going as far as to defend Cardin Winchester, who had been blackmailing him and forcing him to do his work. A strong sense of integrity makes him willing to deliberately put himself in awkward situations, such as wearing a dress in public without a hint of embarrassment to uphold his family motto of not going back on one's word. During conversations, Jaune never contradicts himself and, while sometimes harsh, is always honest with answers.
"I don't care what you do to me... but you are not messing with my team "I don't care what you do to me... but you are not messing with my team."
Jaune is shown to care for his friends and the people around him, being protective of them and having a sense of responsibility as team leader. He focuses only on his teammates' well-being physically, mentally, and emotionally, disregarding his own to ensure theirs. He steps forward when others threaten his friends, and he has proven himself unwilling to do something that may hurt those he cares about.
At first, Jaune's family lineage leads to an obsession with being a hero. However, he was never formally trained like others in his family, causing him to lack self-esteem and assign a lot of importance to his image as a fighter. He values this image so much that he is willing to act dishonestly to achieve it- even using fake transcripts to be admitted to Beacon. The obsession had made him brash and headstrong in battle, jumping in without considering the risks and behaving predictably offensively. However, following the Fall of Beacon, his personality had somewhat changed. After witnessing the aftermath of the attack on Shion, he is shown to be somewhat cynical, saying that they would arrive at Higanbana "if it's still there". He would also get angry at Qrow Branwen for his involvement in Pyrrha's death, openly accusing him of using Ruby as bait. This was a completely different reaction from a year earlier when he tried to justify Cardin's bullying. Jaune initially tried to keep his grief to himself, as he had continued to train on his own as a way to cope with the death of Pyrrha, listening to her recordings on his scroll, which had shown a deep-seated sense of regret and guilt at not being able to save her from Cinder Fall. Jaune's good nature renders him almost incapable of comprehending the actions and personalities of people like Cinder, unable to fathom how someone can be so cold and cruel. This expression of disbelief at the sheer sadism of others serves to show how idealistic and noble Jaune remains despite his trials and losses, ultimately proving him to be a fundamentally humane and caring individual.
While Jaune is a good person, he has shown that he is not above losing his cool, as seen when he punched a hole in the wall of his sister's house and when he took his anger out on Oscar Pine over Ozpin keeping so many secrets. In spite of this, he isn't above keeping secrets himself. In "A New Approach", he went along with Ruby's decision to lie to James Ironwood and keep Ozpin's disappearance, how many questions left in the Relic of Knowledge, and Salem's immortality a secret from him.
It is only when he found Pyrrha's memorial statue in Argus that he finally came to terms with her death, understanding that she had to try and make a difference despite the overwhelming odds against her, and became inspired to follow her example. This is best seen where in "Fault", where instead of getting mad at Ren who insulted him for faking his transcripts, he chooses not to argue and focus on getting to shelter. It is also during this period that he also becomes a lot more patient and wiser, mediating the argument between Ruby and Yang as well as giving advice to Ren in order for him to open up on how he was feeling.
Despite his optimistic and ideal attitude, Jaune has been shown to be a remarkably strong-willed individual by doing things that most characters would not be easily willing to do. One such example of this is when he forced himself to go through with taking Penny's life in order to fulfill her desire to pass the Maiden powers on to Winter Schnee and, in the process, prevent Cinder from acquiring even more power. Despite having the will to commit to such a decision, Jaune was still distraught by the act of killing his friend, screaming and crying while he did so.
After the destruction of Atlas and Mantle, being forced to spend decades alone trapped in the Ever After, as well as being poisoned by Alyx and left for dead, Jaune's overall mental state was severely affected. Because of this, he was more prone to fits of anger, such as when he met the Curious Cat again, and when he would lament at the fact that he couldn't even be a "make-believe hero" when he tried to get Alyx and Lewis on the same path as the fairy tale in order to get home. His mental state was so severely affected, he wasn't initially sure Team RWBY was real and not a hallucination until they hugged him and reaffirmed that they were, in fact, real.
Alongside his deteriorating mental state, Jaune also showed strong signs of stress and depression from the severe isolation and loneliness within the Ever After. This is shown in โThe Perils of Paper Housesโ, where Jaune's deteriorated mental state was exemplified in how he treated the Paper Pleasers. He named them after the people that he had once known and cared about back on Remnant as a way to still feel connected to them, which prevented him from letting them ascend since he viewed ascension as death, which reminded him of his past failures and his inability to save others. He also developed a deep hatred and prejudice against Afterans in general, believing them all to be either too clever, too stupid, or too crazy to trust. However, his attachment to the Paper Pleasers was demonstrated when they were finally able to ascend after the village was flooded due to a break in the dam, where he collapsed to the ground in sorrow, lamenting the fact that he had once again failed to save something close to him. He would later show open hostility towards Ruby for trivializing their "deaths" when she had called them his "make-believe friends", only calming down and apologizing after Weiss approached him.
However, in โA Tale Involving a Treeโ, Jauneโs mentality would begin to improve for the better. After initially being confused at what the Ever After "wanted" from him and being tormented at being unable to save Ruby, Jaune was brought back to the Paper Acre alongside Weiss, Blake and Yang, where he would then meet the new incarnation of the Paper Pleasers, the Genial Gems. Jaune would watch as the Gems began rebuilding and remaking the flooded town of the Pleasers, causing him to realize that the errors of his actions as their "hero" through overprotecting them had prevented them from becoming what they needed to be due to a desire to be a hero and get the rush from successfully saving someone. After being comforted by Weiss and assured that he wasn't a failure by her, Blake, and Yang, Jaune's emotional and psychological state had been considerably restored as he accepted himself alongside his flaws and failures. This moment made Jaune realize that just because he had failed and made mistakes, it didn't mean that he was a failure as a person or a Huntsman.
In "A Knight's Journal", after leaving the Ever After and finally reuniting with the rest of his team, Jaune found himself unable to fully readjust to life with his former friends often feeling like the odd one out among the three due to being mentally older than them despite having been physically deaged back to the point he had been before falling into the void. Because of this, he spends much more time with Oscar feeling a kindred spirit with him as someone who has had a similar life-altering experience.
Powers and Abilities:
Despite not having it unlocked prior to the Beacon initiation, Pyrrha had noted in "The Emerald Forest" that Jaune possessed a lot of Aura. This has proved useful over the course of the series as his lack of experience caused him to be hit frequently. Overtime, Jaune would use his shield and his durability to his advantage, taking or deflecting hits from opponents in order to force them within striking range of his sword.
During the initiation, Jaune demonstrated the skills to be an adaptable leader, being willing and able to coordinate with allies while under pressure, such as when a Death Stalker attempts to knock down the bridge his future team stands on.
Although he initially didn't have much skill in fighting, he did have considerable physical strength than would be expected out of him. While not at the level of his teammate Nora Valkyrie, he is strong enough to deflect an attack from a giant Death Stalker with his shield as well as decapitate an Ursa Major with a one-handed swing of his sword. During his fight with the Nuckelavee Grimm, he was able to hold back its charge for a few seconds. In his brief bout with Tyrian Callows, he was strong enough to hold him up on his shield. During his brief battle with Cinder, he was able to lock swords with her and not budge. He has also shown at various points in the series that he is capable of launching his teammates into the air from his shield with one arm. His attacks are also shown to be incredibly strong. He is capable of cutting through the flesh of large Grimm with ease and the great force behind his attacks is made evident when the impact of his blade clashing with Cinder's caused a chain behind her to move despite being several meters away.
Weapons: Jaune's weapon of choice is Crocea Mors. In contrast to Ruby, Jaune's weapon was not designed or made by him. It is instead a family heirloom that was passed down from his great-great-grandfather, who used it in the Great War. It is composed of a simple arming sword whose sheath unfolds into a heater shield for protection.
Post-timeskip, it adopts the same style of his armor and has the symbol of Pyrrha's headpiece. Jaune can combine the sword and shield of his modified Crocea Mors to form a more powerful blade whose edge is lined with metal from Pyrrha's weapons, Milรณ and Akoรบoฬฑ. Crocea Mors upgrades by having its sword placed into the sheath as the sheath folds inward, forming a second, stronger blade around the sword. It was used against the Nuckelavee and was noticeably more effective than Jaune's lone sword.
During his stay in Atlas, the weapon has received further upgrades. The sword now has Hard Light Dust built into the sides, allowing Jaune to cover more of his body when using the shield in defense and give his weapon a sharper edge. The Hard Light also allows Jaune to use the shield as an improvised paraglider. Jaune has also had his emblem on the shield modified to store Gravity Dust, allowing him to blast targets away or break long falls by using the shield as a bounce pad.
In "The Final Word", Crocea Mors was broken by Cinder Fall after she attacked Jaune in a fit of rage due to him killing Penny Polendina in order to deny Cinder the Winter Maiden's powers.
While in Atlas he also acquired a Disc Grenade, which can project a Hard Light Dust shield and be pulled back to Crocea Mors through the use of Gravity Dust. The Disc Grenade was shown to be durable enough to withstand attacks from multiple Sabyr Grimm as well as a large fireball created by Cinder Fall.
Leadership: Jaune's most remarkable feature is his natural leadership. He shows these skills, quickly grasping the tactical situation, forming plans to work according to their advantages and counter possible threats. He's very aware of the capabilities of his team and is able to properly coordinate them into achieving feats that can give them the upper hand during an encounter.
Semblance: Jaune's Semblance, Aura Amp, allows him to amplify his own Aura and that of others, effectively increasing the effects of Aura. He first accidentally uses it in "Forever Fall, Pt.2" when his Aura shield is intensified to the point of Cardin hurting his hand after punching him. Jaune can also use his Semblance to accelerate the healing effects of Aura and intensify another person's Semblance, as well as helping Penny Polendina resist the effects of a virus meant to control her actions. He can also amplify his own aura, shown when training with the Ace-Ops his aura went from 65% to 95%. However, it cannot remove severe scar tissue from a person's body as shown when he tried to heal Nora in "Risk". He does not fully discover his Semblance until "Vault of the Spring Maiden" when he desperately tries to save Weiss Schnee's life and helps her recover from severe injury by amplifying her Aura. Weaknesses: Jaune's lack of experience had remained an ongoing problem for him throughout the volumes. Despite his noticeable improvement, evidenced by the speed with which he slays an Ursa in each of the first three volumes, Jaune would always be the person on Team JNPR that contributed the least in terms of physical feats, much to his frustration. Additionally, while his physical strength is notable, he would rarely show it unless enraged by someone like Cinder and would fly off the handle when doing so. Starting out, Jaune would be prompt to fearlessly and recklessly charge enemies when engaging them in single combat, which led him to be defeated in a spar with Cardin, and nearly got Jaune to lose all his Aura against an Ursa during the events of "Forever Fall". In his first encounter with Cinder during the events of "The More the Merrier", Jaune once again charged against a stronger enemy without a plan, fully intending to subdue her with brute force, and was easily defeated. Although Jaune usually keeps his emotions in check during a fight, the previously mentioned cases had shown that Jaune would be easily angered at even the slightest provocation, which caused him to make mistakes. Jaune implied during his confrontation with Cinder that he had developed a martyr complex, justifying himself dying as long as it bought his allies time to accomplish an objective. In response to this, Cinder bluntly dismissed him as "just a pathetic failure with a death wish trying to make his own inadequacies seem noble," and Ren and Nora would later confront Jaune about his complex during their stay in Argus. Jaune has since taken efforts to improve upon his weaknesses in the months after the Fall of Beacon, as evidenced in "Remembrance" where he trained using an instruction video sent to him by the late Pyrrha Nikos. His fighting stance is more composed, and his sword swings are shown to be so strong that their force causes gusts of wind to blow through the air several meters in front of him. The independent training he underwent has since allowed him to become a more competent combatant that can confidently fight alongside his peers. During his time in Atlas, Jaune showed drastic improvement in both his fighting skill and keeping his emotions in check during battle. He was able to use his upgraded shield as a glider, allowing him to fly around and propel both himself and his opponent in battle, providing better mobility in the air. His competency in combat has improved to such an extent that he was able to defeat Flynt Coal in one of his team's sparring sessions by himself. He has also shown to no longer rush into danger, as after he was forced to kill Penny Polendina and saw all of Team RWBY fall to their presumed deaths, he did not rush and attack Cinder Fall, instead deciding to retreat. He even ordered Winter Schnee to do so as well to prevent the risk of the Maiden powers falling to Cinder. Nora: Nora Valkyrie is a major character in RWBY. She is a Huntress, a former student at the now defunct Beacon Academy, a member of the now inactive Team RNJR and one of the remaining members of Team JNPR. Her weapon of choice is Magnhild, a hammer that can transform into a grenade launcher. She made her first appearance in "The First Step" where she is seen talking excitedly to her partner and close friend, Lie Ren.
Appearance: Nora is a fair-skinned young woman with orange hair as well as eyes that shift between turquoise, jade, and aqua throughout the series.
Child: As a child, she wore a white shirt with a pink heart design on the chest. Over the shirt, she wore a black hooded jacket, faded pink pants and matching shoes with black tape bound around them. Nora's hair was straight as a child, though it eventually became wavy.
Original Outfit (Volumes 1โ3):
During her attendance at Beacon Academy, she wears a collared black sleeveless vest, with a blue central front section with red accents, her vest has her emblem, on the back. Under the vest, she wears a white sleeveless t-shirt with a heart-shaped cutout above her breast line in the center accompanied with a pair of white detached sleeves on each arm, and a pair of light pink fingerless gloves. She sports a short pink skirt with a single white layer under it. Her white ankle boots sport pink soles with part of her emblem, the lightning bolt, on them and low heels with pink laces, the tops are folded over revealing the pink lining. She also wears a silver armor piece that wraps around her waist, under her breasts and around the back on her neck with metal connecting each piece together at the front. In Volume 1, Nora has a turquoise bow at the back of her skirt, but it is later removed in Volume 2 due to difficulty with its animation.
Beacon Uniform: For her school uniform, she wears the standard Beacon Academy uniform comprised of a maroon blazer with golden brown lining and twin buttons over a brown button-up vest and white blouse with pleated looking neckline and a red ribbon tied around her black-lined collar. She also wears the traditional red checked with black stripes with golden brown outlining alongside white tulle. She also wears a pair of dark brown socks pulled up over her calves accompanied by a pair of brown lace-up wedged sole boots. As shown in Volume 2 Nora wears her pink fingerless gloves with her uniform.
Pajamas: During her time at Beacon, her pajamas consist of a dark gray T-shirt with the word "Boop" written on it, which also includes her hammer emblem in place of the second letter "O". With this shirt, she wears pink shorts patterned with white thunderbolts.
Dance Outfit: At the Beacon Dance, she wears a pink strapless dress with a white skirt. Notably, the seam joining the two sections tapers to a point, which gives the top part of her dress a resemblance to a pink heart-shape.
Gym Outfit: While talking to Pyrrha Nikos about the finals round of the Vytal Festival Tournament, she puts on a white and pink V-neck T-shirt, which has a pink heart with a white thunderbolt on the chest, pink gym shorts with white stripes running down the sides, matching pink wristbands and sweatband, white knee-high socks with pink stripes near the top, and a pair of pink converse-style shoes with white laces.
Mistral Outfit (Volume 4โ7): After the timeskip following the Fall of Beacon, her hair is now shoulder-length, she has pink eyeshadow around the far upper corners of her eyes and her design is updated. She retains her gloves and wears a white sleeveless turtleneck top that is similar to her old one, though the heart cut-out on the top has a diagonal cut through it. She also wears a shorter, detached white sleeve on her left arm. Over the shirt, she wears an open cropped, short-sleeved navy-blue bomber jacket with a damaged print of her emblem visible on the back and pink stripes along the sleeves alongside pink buckled cuffs. and red lining on the collar. According to the concept art the jacket is has a worn leather material. She wears a pleated pink skirt with two wide belt loops for matching belt, the skirt has a white layered tulle. She wears knee-high pink socks just visible above her white calf-length boots with pink laces and black low heels, soles and toes.
Atlas Outfit (Volume 7-Current): After arriving in Atlas and meeting with James Ironwood, Nora cuts her hair to its length in Volumes 1-3, and she gains a new outfit. She wears a long, pink and white sleeveless coat with light blue lapels and white-collar belted closed by a black belt with a pouch on the left side, over a black short dress. The front of the coat has two heart shape cutouts near to the bottom. On the upper back of her coat is a small pair of decorative metal wings with a magnet in the middle that she can attach Magnhild to. She also has long detached white sleeves with black fingerless gloves, white stockings light blue socks and black boots with silver heels, sole and toe plates. In addition, she wears matching metal bands on her upper arms with her emblem on them alongside silver metal bands around her thighs. According to the concept art for Volume 7, Nora also wears black shorts under her dress.
Personality: A happy-go-lucky, bubbly and playful young woman, Nora is mainly characterized by her boundless enthusiasm. When Nora talks, many of her words may sometimes come out randomly without her actually giving much thought to anything she comes up with. This is caused by her tendency to jump into a different topic most of the time and her rather peculiar imagination. Because of this and her free-spirited attitude, Nora's personality changes according to her mood, and she is prone to becoming a nuisance to the people around her, losing the point of a conversation, or even experiencing anxiety attacks. However, Nora is more insightful than one might think and is capable of being serious when most necessary. This rare sense of seriousness of hers is most prominently displayed during the battle against the Nuckelavee, where she literally slaps sense into Lie Ren who was consumed in his need for revenge against the Grimm who wiped out his village and family. She explained this by telling him: "I won't let you kill yourself like this."
Nora is very open with her companions and quickly grows fond of them. Because of her motor mouth, she is very open to conversation and plays with her friends almost all the time she is interacting with them, making her a very social and likable person. She can also be protective and supportive when she sees teammates need it. She is also considerate of their personal space and respects their decisions even if she doesn't agree with them. Nora does not doubt the talents of her friends and places her entire faith in Pyrrha Nikos and Ren's fighting skills while following Jaune Arc's orders as her leader without question. She also appears to be good at reading people, as seen during interactions with Jaune and Pyrrha in "Burning the Candle" and "Destiny".
Although Nora retains her joyful personality even in combat, she is seen to be more focused and in control of herself during an encounter. She can be patient, obedient and smart. If she does not see the need for her assistance, she will stand back and choose to observe. Whenever she receives an order from one of her teammates, she always follows it with no doubts. When she follows Jaune's plans and finds herself in a position that gives her the advantage, she's able to figure out a way to defeat her enemies on her own, indicating an ability to strategize quickly and efficiently.
It is suggested that Nora's happy-go-lucky nature in part disguises any pain and stress she may have retained from being abandoned by her mother, or the Fall of Kuroyuri, the town that was destroyed by the Nuckelavee and many other Grimm.
Nora also seems to have a sweet tooth, as she ate the red sap that Ren and Pyrrha had collected, as well as all the syrup that Team JNPR was going to have on their pancakes, and it is also inferred that Nora is a big fan of pancakes. In "Welcome to Beacon", she is heard mumbling "pancakes" in her sleep and shouting it again when woken up.
Nora is an extremely compassionate individual. When faced with the reality of what the actions of James Ironwood, though for the perceived greater good, are putting the people of Mantle through, she vehemently speaks out against it. This is likely due to having previously lived in squalor herself as an orphan. After the events of "With Friends Like These", Nora changes her perspective on the situation and begins to see the bigger picture, choosing to follow Ruby's Group in "Divide" because she believes that warning all of Remnant about Salem should be a high priority.[6]
Despite all this, Nora has a double standard regarding keeping secrets. In "Worst Case Scenario", she is furious with Ironwood and his secrets, wanting to tell everyone in Mantle about the Amity Communications Tower and Salem, even though she went along with Ruby's decision to lie to Ironwood and keep Ozpin's disappearance, how many questions left in the Relic of Knowledge, and Salem's immortality a secret from him.
In "Strings", she realizes that she doesn't know exactly who she really is without Ren and starts to think she is worthless without him. Later in "Risk", she states to Ren that she wants some time to figure out her own identity without him.
Weapon:
Nora's weapon of choice is Magnhild, which can transform into a grenade launcher and a war hammer, which Nora uses proficiently in combat. She uses the grenade launcher form for ranged strikes on her opponent. In its ranged form, the face of the launcher can unhinge, revealing six grenades that can be fired at once for maximum damage. It can also shoot up in the shape of a heart, as seen during her battle against Team BRNZ in the Vytal Festival. While using the hammer form, she is a lot more versatile in close-range attacks and movement. Nora uses the recoil of the grenade explosions fired from the face of the hammer to propel her certain distances or to add force to her strikes. In "Players and Pieces", she uses the recoil of her hammer to launch herself from one end of a broken bridge to the other, and in "Breach", she is seen traveling a considerable distance through the air by the same method. Her attacks are powerful enough to finish off an injured Death Stalker and kill a large King Taijitu in one hit. After the Fall of Beacon, Nora upgrades Magnhild to be able to build up electricity in the hammer's head, allowing her to power herself up. This upgrade is first put to use in the fight against the Geist in "The Next Step". Nora's fighting style is built around an overwhelming and explosive physical force. This can be seen in her tendency to swing her hammer in wide arcs to build up momentum before striking. This is also noticeable in her use of either her hammer's recoil or nearby tall structures to achieve heights that allow her to come crashing down into her adversaries, crushing them under the combined impact of both natural momentum and her own raw power.
Strength: Her ability to easily carry and use Magnhild in its hammer form suggests that she possesses a high level of strength that rivals that of Yang's own immense strength. This is further demonstrated when she sends Weiss flying across the canteen during their food fight despite not using Magnhild. She also showed her strength when she sent Yang Xiao Long flying away through the roof in one hit, and the latter lands back in the room nearly two minutes later. She later states she can bench press five times her own weight, a feat that would stand consistent with her other displays of strength, and she has been seen jumping several feet without aura, high enough to jump the length of a small building.
Semblance: Nora's Semblance, High Voltage, is the ability to produce and channel electrical energy into her muscles, giving her enhanced strength. Although she can absorb electricity from a direct blow, she can also use Magnhild as a lightning rod. Her Semblance can be exploited by her allies, such as when Ruby Rose shoots a Lightning Dust round at her during Team RNJR's battle against Tyrian Callows in Oniyuri. Her Semblance does not make her outright immune to being electrocuted. When Hazel Rainart grabs her after enhancing himself with Lightning Dust in "Downfall", she screams in pain as he holds her down and electrocutes her. As shown in "Strings", if Nora absorbs too much electricity, it can gravely injure her. In "Lighting the Fire", it is revealed that Nora discovered her Semblance after she was struck by lightning and subsequently did not die, an event she refers to as a crazy Thursday. In "Strings", Nora overcharges her Semblance by striking her hammer into an electrified door, which gives her the strength to break through its energy shield, however Nora's Aura broke as a result and she was knocked unconscious, gaining permanent Lichtenberg scars all across her body.
Pyrrha: Pyrrha Nikos was a major character in RWBY. She was a student at the now-defunct Beacon Academy and a member of Team JNPR until her passing. Her weapon of choice was Milรณ, a red-and-bronze spear-like weapon that could transform into a rifle or a short sword. She used this alongside a shield called Akoรบoฬฑ, which resembled a classic hoplon. In "End of the Beginning", Pyrrha engaged in battle with Cinder Fall, who had gained full possession of the Fall Maiden's powers. Despite her valiant efforts, Pyrrha was defeated and killed by Cinder, who then incinerated her body. Motivated by her death, the remaining members of Team JNPR joined Ruby Rose in her journey to Haven in order to track down Cinder and her faction. A memorial statue of Pyrrha was erected in Argus, where she trained before attending Beacon.
Appearance: Pyrrha wore her red hair in a large, waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into a loose ringlet. She also wore light-green eyeshadow around the far upper corners of her green eyes. She was tall and quite muscular compared to most of the other girls at Beacon.
Current Outfit (Volumes 1-3): As a top, she wore a brown overbust corset with a vertical strip of lighter brown in the center. Additionally, Pyrrha wore an elastic, black, A-line mini skirt and brown opera-length gloves on both arms. She wore a red ankle-length sash that wrapped around her skirt, which was later emulated by Jaune Arc.
As for accessories, there was a small circular bronze plate on her right hip opposite two pouches with both connected to a belt. The plate bore her emblem. Underneath her hair, she always wore a brown circlet adorned with a pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds on thin chains. She also sported a large bronze gorget around her neck and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left arm. Even when dressed in her school uniform, Pyrrha continued to wear her headpiece.
Unlike the rest of the female cast, Pyrrha wore armor. She had elaborate bronze greaves that started below her mid-thigh before continuing downwards into her boots as well as a pair of cuisses that began mid-thigh and ended slightly above her knees. She was also equipped with a bronze bracer capable of connecting with Akoรบoฬฑ atop the sleeve on her left arm. Her high-heeled boots were brown with bronze trim, matching her skirt and sleeves and reaching up to mid-calf.
Beacon Uniform: She wore a standard Beacon uniform with black tights underneath her skirt.
Dance Outfit: At the Beacon Dance, she wore a sleeveless red turtleneck dress with her back exposed. It goes down to the ankles on the back and just under the knees at the front. Personality Described as the "pride of Mistral", Pyrrha was a very professionally capable, friendly, righteous yet relaxed and selfless person. She was a composed and collected individual who, despite being a celebrity, was modest and patient around other people, making her very sociable. Additionally, she tended to be quite formal. In addition to her impressive range of combat abilities, she was a quick thinker, knowing her limits and assessing her opponents before acting.
Pyrrha took her studies and relationships equally seriously, making her a bit stubborn and emotionally sensitive. This came from her loyalty toward her friends as well as her good intent. She was willing to keep secrets and help friends in need.
She quickly became good friends with her teammates, especially Jaune, and got along with the rest of Team RWBY, often having conversations during lunches and sharing a similar schedule during classes. However, she felt that she struggled to make friends as everyone saw her celebrity status before considering her personal self. Her limited experience with people led her to apologize even when helping them.
Pyrrha's righteousness willed her to take risks for the greater good and always concern herself with the ethics of making decisions, such as volunteering to be the next Fall Maiden. She was willing to become the Fall Maiden despite the risks to her well-being and concerns over the scruples of the transfer process. For most of her life, Pyrrha believed she was destined to be a great Huntress, one that would protect the world, and strived for this goal no matter what she could lose. Pyrrha was selfless to a fault - one of the traits that harmed her most.
Pyrrha's selfless nature, combined with her beliefs of carrying out her duties as a Huntress made it difficult, if not outright impossible, for her to make decisions for herself out of fear of letting down those who have placed their faith in her. Regardless of the potential dangers of taking such powers through unorthodox means, she was not fazed by it as much as the idea of losing Jaune and her friends. Powers and Abilities: Pyrrha was one of the most skilled students at Beacon Academy, being able to quickly and easily adapt to her combat situation and analyze her opponents while fighting and changing tactics to suit the situation she is in. She had shown extreme accuracy, being able to hit moving targets from hundreds of meters away and strike vital weak points on an opponent mid-combat both with and without the aid of her semblance. She was also highly skilled at using her weapon's multiple forms in combat, being able to switch between forms several times in rapid succession to both deliver rapid attacks and counter others simultaneously. Even without her weapons she was skilled, being able to take out several students at the same time with kicks and her bare hands. She was a master of her semblance, being able to apply it in combat almost always undetected, doing so with such skill and precision that she had led many to believe she was untouchable and invincible.
Weapon:
Pyrrha's weapons of choice were Milรณ and Akoรบoฬฑ. They were a javelin-sword-rifle and shield. Pyrrha was able to throw the javelin form of Milรณ with extreme precision, being able to hit Jaune's hood over a long distance as he was falling. It was at this point when she first demonstrates proficiency in javelin usage, as she was shown to have a perfect stance, with the javelin lining up exactly with her free hand and using her thumb as a reference point.
She was also extremely adept at using Akoรบoฬฑ as an offensive weapon, a skill that was exemplified when she used her shield to sever the damaged joint of the Death Stalker's stinger, with the shield ricocheting off of a pillar behind it and returning to her. However, this feat was likely aided by her Semblance. However, during her battle with Cinder, she was able to throw her shield with enough accuracy to strike and shatter an arrow mid-air without her Semblance, as her Aura had already been depleted.
Pyrrha also demonstrated incredible skill in switching her back and forth between weapons with quick succession, delivering rapid attacks, and being able to counter others at once, such as with Team CRDL, whom she all defeated alone, despite being outnumbered. Pyrrha was capable of using her weapon's bladed form to even deflect bullets, as done against Hallshott. She showed to even have a high amount of skill in unarmed combat, using several kicks to knock Cardin Winchester and his team back several times, even using her hands at brief moments.
Strength: Pyrrha was physically strong, as she was seen to punch through grown tree trunks with her shield without any change in her posture or stance. However, in these sorts of instances, she may be using her control over polarity to cause the shield to move with more force. Her strength was also displayed when she used her shield as a launch platform to help Nora launch higher into the air and jumping while doing so, an action that was also done without any visible alterations to her stance when Nora utilized a grenade as propellant off the shield.
Aura: Shown in "The Emerald Forest", Pyrrha demonstrated the ability to unlock another person's Aura. She did this for Jaune, whose Aura had been unknown to him. She was visibly tired after unlocking it, possibly either due to the sheer amount of Aura that she commented Jaune had, or the nature of the ability itself.
Semblance: Pyrrha's Semblance, Polarity, allowed her to control metal via magnetism. She used this ability on her own weapons and could use it on opponent's weapons, as well, such as when she moved Mercury Black's boot away from her during a spar to prevent him from landing a hit on her. In most combat situations, Pyrrha did not go out of her way to broadcast her Semblance's abilities. Instead, she used it only to make very subtle changes of movement for her own weapons and sometimes her opponent's weapon to affect the course of a battle. This gave her the psychological edge of appearing to be invincible in the eyes of most people.
Lie Ren: Lie Ren, more commonly referred to by his surname Ren, is a major character in RWBY. He is a Huntsman, a former student at the now defunct Beacon Academy, a member of the now inactive Team RNJR and one of the remaining members of Team JNPR. His weapons of choice are a pair of green, fully automatic pistols with sickle-like blades attached vertically under the barrels, named StormFlower. He made his debut in "The First Step", alongside his longtime friend and partner, Nora Valkyrie. Appearance Ren is a young man with long black hair that ends midway down his back. There is a magenta streak on the left side of his hair. His eyes match the streak in his hair, and his clothing often appears to be influenced by Chinese culture.
Original Outfit (Volumes 1โ3): During his attendance at Beacon Academy, he wears a dark green, diagonally buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat that is red on the inside, with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. The trimming goes down the right side of his torso and forms a black collar. Along with this, he wears a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the suit and light-tan pants with black shoes. He ties his hair back in a low ponytail. This color scheme seems to be influenced to some degree by the lotus flower, which is his emblem.
Beacon Uniform: During his time at Beacon, he dons a standard male Beacon uniform.
Dance Outfit: At the Beacon Dance, he wears a black suit with dark red bow tie and light-gray vest. This suit is worn by the other male Beacon students.
Mistral Outfit (Volumes 4โ7): After the timeskip following the Fall of Beacon, his outfit is updated. Ren wears his hair down, and it has grown longer, as his concept art notes, "almost butt-length". His attire is similar to before in color. He now has a longer, sleeveless tailcoat with black and silver trimming. Under it, he wears a black, sleeveless turtleneck with red, tasseled ropes over the hips, pants that get tighter below the knees and calf-high open-toed sandals. From his middle finger to his biceps run gradient pink-to-black detached sleeves ending in metal armbands.
Child: As a child, he wore a similar outfit to his Volumes 4-6 one except for the magenta shoulder patches and the black open-toed sandals. He used to have his hair in a neat bun.
Atlas Outfit (Volume 7-Current): After arriving in Atlas and meeting with James Ironwood, Ren braids his hair and gains a new outfit. He now wears a sleeveless turtleneck dark green top, white long sleeves underneath, black half of a jacket/arm guard combination on his right arm with his father's dagger attached it, a single detached long black fingerless glove on his left arm, and black leather boots. The concept art has a sketch of Nora braiding Ren's hair, but this has not been confirmed as canon.
Personality: As a young child, Ren was much more cheerful and even a bit sassy according to his mother. He was also shown to be very naive, not understanding how to use Lien or thinking that he could buy sake. He also was easily frightened, as shown when the bullies looked at him and he was about to run away.
Ren is usually mellow and wishes for peace and quiet, much like Blake Belladonna. He seems very much in control of himself, as shown by his calm and deliberate response to the appearance of a King Taijitu. He is unbothered by Nora Valkyrie's bubbly and contrasting personality, showing a great deal of patience when dealing with his hyperactive, happy-go-lucky childhood friend.
Ren is also shown to be quite studious, as seen in "Welcome to Beacon", in which he openly agrees with Neptune Vasilias as to how libraries should be only for reading. Likewise, he is well informed about villages in between kingdoms, such as when he informs Ruby Rose about Higanbana in "Family". However, this is not to say that he is completely humorless. He is slightly playful after finding Nora in the Emerald Forest, during the events of "The Emerald Forest". This is also shown when he and Nora were debating over team names in "The Next Step". Ren is also indicated to be a bit of a cook, as he makes pancakes for the team in "Forever Fall, Pt.2" and is seen fixing dinner alongside Ruby in "Known by its Song". However, not everything he cooks is well received, as the nutrition drink he prepared in "Destiny" made Nora ill even though he drank it with no problems.
In "Remembrance", Ren is more solemn than his teammates are about the destruction of Shion Village. His advice is to keep moving forward. This is something he repeats with a bit of angry emphasis in "Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back" when Ruby suggests going to the destroyed town of Kuroyuri in search of abandoned medical supplies. Being one of the few survivors of the Grimm massacre of that town manifests itself in Ren's less-than-calm emotions.
In "No Safe Haven", Ren reveals a much more reckless and vindictive side to him previously unseen, when he lets out all of his anger against the Nuckelavee in an attempt to avenge his parents and all of its other victims. This is a stark contrast to his usual calm and patience. During the Nuckelavee's execution by his hand, Ren seems to finally come to terms with his trauma, calmly and swiftly delivering justice for his family, the monster's victims and for himself. Following this, Ren seems to have finally come full circle, being more open with his emotions, particularly his feelings towards Nora.
Since then, Ren has become more noticeably conversational, vocal about his opinions and is known to speak somewhat philosophically. After arriving in Atlas, Ren is shown to be struggling with some heavy emotional stuff[6] and his relationship with Nora turns for the worse when he ignores her affections for him during their first mission in Atlas. He becomes more focused on training and going on missions and admits to Nora that he has a hard time expressing his feelings. Before chaos breaks out in "A Night Off", he is kissed by Nora and reciprocates, indicating his feelings towards her. However, after this, he becomes colder when he accepts Ironwood's order to arrest Robyn and find out who Tyrian is working for.
Later during the events of "The Enemy of Trust", Ren is shown to have trouble with sorting out his romantic feelings for Nora, as seen when he was caught off guard by Neopolitan's usage of Nora's physical appearance to make Ren hesitate, causing him to start crying while he escaped alongside his team. Later on, Ren is seen taking out his frustrations on the real Nora due to losing the Lamp and almost hurting "Nora" earlier. As a result, he began raising his voice at her to the point where Jaune Arc had to stop him, showing that Ren still retains his temper and inability to contain or restrain it due to the immense pressure of what's at stake. The writers have stated that despite his attitude change that he still cares about Nora, even if he doesn't always communicate it well.
In "Divide", Ren chooses to go with Yang's Group to defend Mantle due to his more practical mindset, believing that he should take action for the immediate benefit of the people in front of them rather than investing in Ruby's plan to warn all of Remnant about Salem.
After Oscar Pine is captured by The Hound and Ren is forced to chase after him and save Yang Xiao Long and Jaune in "Fault", Ren begins to feel like he is carrying the rest of the group and adds to his resentment he displays later. After they fail to rescue Oscar, he lashes out at Yang, believing that they weren't ready to be Huntsmen yet and stating that they are way in over their heads. He also lashed out at Jaune and accuses him of cheating his way into Beacon but seems to regret saying it right after. Later in "War", after Harriet Bree states that teammates are replaceable, he vehemently protests, allowing his Semblance to evolve further and let him see the emotional states of the Ace-Ops. Because of this, Ren saw his own turmoil in the Ace-Ops and began to realize that his recent team fell apart due to similar problems the Ace-Ops started having after they stopped working like a functional team. After his Semblance evolves, Ren stopped suppressing his own emotions and became friendlier again with his teammates. Due to seeing Jaune's confidence, Ren's own confidence was boosted after his morale had taken a hit due to earlier events He reveals to Nora in "Risk" that the reason for his change in personality during Volume 7 and Volume 8 was that he thought that by shutting everything else out that he could focus on the situation at hand, only to realize that he was just making things worse for everyone around him.
Powers and Abilities: Ren is a very capable fighter and can hold his own against Creatures of Grimm, such as a King Taijitu. He demonstrates peak physical ability, being able to do various acrobatics. He can also move and react with impressive speed. Ren appears to be proficient in martial arts, using palm thrusts and various combat stances when fighting the King Taijitu. His combat skills were also seen in "Best Day Ever" during a food fight with Team RWBY, where he briefly held his ground against Yang Xiao Long, although he was quickly bested by her. Ren appears to have a high degree of control over his Aura. When fighting in the Emerald Forest, he first uses it defensively by forming a shield against the attack of a King Taijitu. After tearing its fangs off, Ren uses his Aura offensively by blasting the black King Taijitu's fang through its own eye, blowing its head to pieces.
Like Fox, he also has a form of extrasensory perception, as first shown when Ren was aware that a King Taijitu was behind him in "The Emerald Forest", then when Tyrian Callows was approaching Team RNJR in the "Tipping Point".
Despite this, he still has a limited amount of stamina. Ren is shown collapsing after he, and the rest of JNPR, defeat the Death Stalker during "Players and Pieces". His average endurance is also seen after he defeats the King Taijitu as he catches his breath. This could be due to his heavy usage of Aura, which is needed to fight as shown in "Jaunedice". However, his lack of endurance is shown once again in "Best Day Ever", where Yang defeats him in very few blows.
Weapons:
Ren's weapons of choice are StormFlower, which he effectively uses for both ranged and melee combat. As of "The Next Step", he can even use his weapons as boomerangs by throwing them as he did with one during the battle against a Geist. After his arrival in Atlas, StormFlower's blades are upgraded with extendable cables, enabling Ren to use them as grappling lines or to ensnare his opponents.
Ren also carries a Dagger that originally belonged to his late father, Li Ren. The blade of the weapon is similar in shape to the blades of his StormFlower. As seen in "No Safe Haven", the dagger itself is strong enough to easily sever the limbs of a Nuckelavee whereas the weapons of Team RNJR could not, even after repeated attacks. The dagger itself can also be thrown in an arcing loop. When everyone gained upgrades and new outfits in Atlas, Ren started carrying the dagger in a scabbard on his shoulder.
Semblance: Ren's Semblance, Tranquility, masks negative emotions, which aids him in avoiding detection by Grimm, as demonstrated the night Kuroyuri was attacked. He can extend the effect of his Semblance to other people, as well as vehicles containing people. When his Semblance activates, the affected person's colors become temporarily desaturated. In "War", his Semblance evolved to allow him to see the emotional states of others, which he used on the Ace-Ops to deduce their true feelings. Later in "Witch", Ren revealed that his newly evolved semblance allows him to detect the locations of others as well, though he cannot tell who they are.
Clover Ebi: Clover Ebi was a member and leader of the Ace Operatives. His weapon of choice was Kingfisher. He first appeared in "The Greatest Kingdom" of Volume 7, when he and his team captured Ruby's Group as they arrived in Mantle.
In "With Friends Like These" he was involved in a three way fight between himself, Qrow Branwen, and Tyrian Callows, following an attempt to arrest him. He was later killed by Tyrian, who stabbed him in the back using Harbinger to implicate Qrow as his killer.
Appearance: Clover was a man with short brown hair and teal-green eyes. He wore a sleeveless Atlesian Specialist uniform that consisted of a white sleeveless double breasted coat with red and blue accents with ornate detailing shaped to the form of wishbones, broad tail with red lining and a four-leaf clover pin on the lapel. His belt had a rabbit's foot keychain hanging off it. Clover also wore white pants and covered his hands with brown fingerless gloves. He also wears blue calf high boots with four dark blue straps and silver steel toe plating.
Following his death, his four-leaf clover pin was kept by Qrow to remember him.
Personality: During his debut, Clover displayed a confident attitude, and leadership skills, easily capturing Teams RWBY and JNR, Oscar Pine and Qrow with assistance from the other Ace-Ops.
He has been described as a total bro character like Captain America who always makes luck puns. He constantly feels like he's in an action movie because things always go right for him, so he doesn't need to look when he's about to jump. This ultimately leads him to be a person that relies too much on his Semblance and causing him to ride the lines between confidence vs arrogance.
He appeared to be cordial and calm, as well as good-humored and easy to get along with. However, Clover was quick to turn back to a task at hand when needed. He was fiercely loyal, and tends to bring out the best in people, and did whatever it took to protect his Kingdom. He was also a bit duplicitous when he encountered Robyn Hill and the Happy Huntresses in "Sparks" and lied to them about where the supplies they were carrying were going.
Clover was highly charismatic and kind hearted to others, even to those he just met. He encouraged Qrow Branwen to open up more and stop beating himself over his Semblance, as well as to be more open to accepting complements. However, he could be somewhat manipulative when seeing windows of opportunity, as seen when he used Robyn's life as a bargaining chip to get Qrow to surrender.
Clover, like other members of the Ace-Ops team, did not consider his teammates to be friends, due to having kept his heart guarded, only letting it down for a select few, in part from having experienced his share of pain in the past.[6] However, when he does open up to people, Clover was shown to be exceptionally trusting and loyal, willing to sacrifice his life for them if need be. If betrayed, Clover would be reluctant and regretful in regards to growing cold towards his friends and loved ones, pleading to find a way to fix things.
Like the rest of his team, he was loyal to James Ironwood, and always followed his orders without question. This later lead to his death, as his insistence on arresting Qrow despite the bigger threat of Tyrian Callows eventually resulted in him being murdered by the latter.
Regardless of his flaws, Clover greatly respected his friends and allies, even if they worked on different sides. While he believed his complete faith in Ironwood was the right choice in his mind, he saw it as difficult and wanted to trust Qrow too, indicating a conflicted side. Even in his dying moments, Clover neither held grudges with nor blamed Qrow for his troubles and wished him good luck with stopping Ironwood. Powers and Abilities As the leader of the Atlesian Special Operatives unit, the most elite group of Huntsmen and Huntresses in Remnant, he was a skilled fighter and a superbly formidable Huntsman.
During his fight with Qrow and Tyrian, Clover made frequent use of punches and kicks, being able to outmaneuver the two formidable fighters repeatedly and simultaneously. He also made use of his horseshoe, utilizing it as a projectile against Qrow.
Weapon: Clover's weapon of choice was Kingfisher, a collapsible fishing rod which he used as a grappling hook and whip. He was shown using it to grapple onto enemies, pulling at their limbs and tripping them up.
Semblance: Clover's Semblance, Good Fortune, allowed him to manipulate probability positively. Similar to Misfortune, Clover's Semblance was passive and thereby constantly caused good fortune wherever he went, which helped him gain the edge in combat.
Elm Ederne: Elm Ederne is a member of the Ace-Ops Specialists, first introduced in "The Greatest Kingdom". Her weapon of choice is a hammer named Timber.
Appearance: Elm is a tall, young, muscular woman with medium brown hair in a short ponytail, light brown skin, and brown eyes. She wears an Atlesian Specialist uniform that consists of an open white, one-sleeved crop jacket with dark blue accents, shoulder flaps and collar and a dark gray armor shirt. She has silver vambraces over her forearms. On her back, she has a magnet used to carry her weapon.
She has a red belt around her white pants and goes barefoot save for some martial arts footwraps alongside dark blue calf plates that cover the tops of her feet, the plates have three red straps tied around them; the soles of her feet are appropriately dirty as a result. She also has a silver hoop earring on her right ear.
Personality: Elm is described by her voice actress, Dawn M. Bennett, as being a "big buff lady with a heart of gold", illustrating she has a very kind and good nature. She also shows to be a tough and loud person who is not afraid to let someone know what is on her mind.
She appears to be somewhat overzealous, such as when she rushed to Ruby and stated how bad she felt not knowing who she was when her team arrested her and her friends, all while shaking the girl's hand with great force. She is stated to not have a filter.
Elm, like other members of the Ace-Ops team, originally did not consider her teammates to be friends, laughing the idea off. Additionally, despite being fairly loud herself, Elm is confused by other over-the-top behavior of people such as Nora Valkyrie.
Elm was originally intensely loyal to James Ironwood, not questioning any of his orders, citing she only needs to follow them. When Team RWBY reveals they told about the Amity Communications Tower to Robyn Hill, she is disheartened at their apparent betrayal and became hostile towards the four girls, deeming them traitors. This extends to the subsequent fight, where she disagreed with Vine's claim they won't be hurt if they surrender. She was, however, shocked after Yang stated that she and the other Ace-Ops were only 'following orders', before furiously shoving Blake aside to go after Yang, hinting to her hidden conflicted feelings on the matter.
Despite everything, Elm was shown to be conflicted at having to fight Team RWBY, which was noted by Vine, who concluded that Elm was in truth reassuring herself she was making the right choice in trying to apprehend the girls. However, she became increasingly aggressive and violent as the fight progressed, and was willing to use brutal force against them due to Yang's taunts. Elm is said to be the pillar of her team, despite not being the leader like Clover Ebi.
Like the rest of her teammates, she originally was constantly repressing her true emotions. After Robyn Hill asks them in "Worthy" what was more important, the people or the land they lived on, she stops suppressing them when Harriet decides to bomb Mantle herself and manages to talk her out of doing it by telling her that they are friends. She is also saddened when she is forced to watch Vine sacrifice himself to save them from the bomb.
Powers and Abilities: Elm is a skilled fighter, being part of the Atlesian Special Operatives unit, the most elite group of Huntsmen and Huntresses in Remnant. Elm is stated to be the second most skilled member of the Ace Operatives, surpassed on by Clover due to his Semblance bringing good luck to himself. She is noted as an excellent agent with a peerless track record.
Befitting her size and build, Elm possesses a high level of strength, able to swing her massive hammer with earth-shattering force. She has also proved to be powerful enough to throw massive Grimm, like a Megoliath, high into the air. Elm shows a restrained style when entering battle, along with the Ace-Ops, surprised by Team JNPR's headfirst approach.
Weapon:
Elm's weapon of choice is Timber, a massive hammer/rocket launcher hybrid, whose strength is enough to kill a pair of Megoliaths in one hit. Timber's recoil is powerful enough to the point where Elm needs to use her Semblance to not be blown away by the force exerted from it.
Semblance: Elm's Semblance, Aura Roots, allows her to plant herself in place, causing her to seemingly be unmovable for its duration, allowing for greater strength to be put in blows. Thanks to her Semblance, she is capable of holding the Frosted Petra Gigas Geist in its place by grabbing its leg and successfully stop a charging Megoliath in its tracks.
Elm's Semblance also makes her perfect in using heavy artillery type weapons, due to the fact that she could easily root herself to the ground to prevent the weapons' immense recoil to fling her right off her feet. The obvious weakness of her Semblance is that it is dependent on the stability of the ground beneath her feet: in situations where the ground is unstable or broken, her Semblance becomes useless, if not detrimental due to instead latching on to broken pieces of stone, effectively putting weights on Elm's feet.
Harriet: Harriet Bree is a member of the Ace Operatives Specialist team, first appearing in "The Greatest Kingdom". Her weapons of choice are Fast Knuckles. Appearance: Harriet is a dark-skinned young woman with platinum blonde and brown hair shaved on the sides and dark pink eyes. While actively using her Semblance, her eyes glow gold.
She wears a very short-sleeved Atlesian Specialist uniform that consists of a sleeveless white double-breasted vest with silver buttons and dark blue accents. It has a white and dark blue-collar, a dark blue short-sleeved t-shirt, a red tie and white shorts. She wears dark blue chaps that presumably connect to the tops of her shorts. The chaps expose the inner part of the thighs and the backs of her calves. She also wears blue fingerless gloves and dark gray trainers with black accents and a white stripe accompanied with red socks. She also has white calf pads and dark blue knee pads as well. There are also dark blue straps fastened around the top of her vest. The blond portions of her hair are styled in a way that resembles a rabbit's ears.
Personality: Harriet is competitive and quick-witted in nature. This personality causes her to only be loyal to those who earn her respect, as seen with her interactions with Ruby Rose and the similarities in their Semblances. However, she is still cordial and well-mannered. Harriet also displays great confidence in her skills, bordering on arrogance, looking down on Team RWBY's attempt to challenge the best Huntsmen in Atlas.
Harriet also enjoys teasing others, particularly poking fun at Marrow Amin and his antics. She is quick to rush into action. She also appears exasperated at Nora's antics in "Pomp and Circumstance".
Harriet, like other members of the Ace-Ops team, originally did not consider her teammates to be friends. She trusts them to do their job and to keep them alive, though she doesn't confuse work with friendship.
She proves to be aggressive in nature, glaring angrily at Team RWBY once James Ironwood revealed that he knew the group told Robyn Hill about Amity Communications Tower and even angrily argued with Blake and Yang on their loyalty once she learned that they purposefully let Robyn escape.
Later Harriet displays her stubborn side while fighting Ruby, claiming she had the group pegged since the beginning in an attempt to bury her feelings of unease due to having grown fond of the group during their time in Atlas working and training together.
Harriet, like her teammates, was originally shown to be intensely loyal to Ironwood, having been willing to follow through and support his decision to abandon Mantle in order to save who they could. She was also willing to arrest Team RWBY with excessive force despite having grown close to the girls due to having been ordered by the General.
Harriet has the tendency to unconsciously take out her anger at anyone she deems responsible or guilty of said anger to vent out her feelings. In "Fault", she goes after Qrow Branwen for killing Clover Ebi after she notices him holding his pin.
Although Harriet stated that she believes that when a team loses somebody that they should be replaced with someone else, it is revealed by Lie Ren to not be true, as like the rest of her teammates, she was constantly suppressing her true emotions.
After Ironwood declared his ultimatum to Penny and her friends and he confirmed that it wasn't a bluff, Harriet was shown to be fine with destroying Mantle by bombing it, so much so that she strived to do the job personally in "Worthy" after word of Ironwood's defeat reached her.
Once Vine confronted her about doing this after he believed that it wasn't necessary anymore, he believed that Harriet was just doing it as a way of holding back her grief at Clover's death. Once the other Ace-Ops convince her to stop with her plan, she agrees with them that they really are friends and is saddened at Vine's sacrifice.
Powers and Abilities: She is a skilled fighter, as she is a member of the Atlesian Special Operatives unit, the most elite group of Huntsmen and Huntresses in Remnant. While her ability enhances her speed, her weapon enhances her strength.
In "As Above, So Below", Harriet was shown to be skilled pilot, as she was able to keep a Manta stable even though it was being attacked by multiple Grimm. She is later the pilot for the group once more in "Gravity". She has some proficiency in close range combat without her weapon, continuing to fight Ruby after her arms were restrained, attacking her with her legs only and even being able to flip her to the ground at one point.
Weapons: Harriet's weapons of choice are Fast Knuckles, an exoskeleton suit whose main function seems to be its ability to greatly enhance the wearer's upper body strength. Harriet shows immense strength and durability, being able to hold off the stomp of an Alpha Megoliath for an extended duration.
Semblance: Harriet's Semblance, Super-Speed, allowed her to move incredibly fast, accompanied by an electric trail. She believes she has a better reaction time than Ruby. Through the use of her Semblance, Harriet is able to safely land from great heights, such as when her Manta begins to crash after a pair of Teryxes attack the ship.
While speed Semblances are common, the speeds which Harriet can reach are of an unsurpassed caliber.
Marrow: Marrow Amin is the former rookie member of the Ace Operatives Specialists. He first appeared in "The Greatest Kingdom" of Volume 7. His weapon of choice is Fetch. Appearance: Marrow is a young male Faunus with long greenish-black hair tied in a bun and blue eyes. His trait is a dark gray canine tail.
Marrow wears an Atlesian Specialist uniform that consists of a white double-breasted coat with silver buttons, dark blue accents, collar, shoulder flaps with matching cuffs that have two silver buttons. The coat's tail splits, allowing Marrow's tail to move freely. He has a dark blue belt with a silver buckle around his waist with a dark blue pouch on the right side. He has a red ascot tied around his neck. Marrow wears a red shirt under his coat. He wears dark blue trousers tucked into his black knee-high boots.
Personality: Marrow is described as mischievous in personality, having been kicked out of an undisclosed place at least three times in the past. As the novice member of the Ace-Ops, he is also the most naive and childish of the group, having to be 'babysat' by Harriet Bree.
A large aspect of Marrow's motivation to have become a Huntsman in the past was that many said he couldn't. However, beating those odds, Marrow was able to rise to the top of the ranks, becoming an Ace-Op. He was originally extremely appreciative and humbled by James Ironwood for being brought in as a part of the most elite group of Huntsmen in Atlas, being well aware of the social and racial tensions between Atlas and Faunus and how rare it is for his kind to be placed in such a role.
Marrow is unable to hide his emotions, in part due to his tail which often gives his true feelings away, and as such tends to try and hide his emotions by putting up a tough act or by using humor to misdirect them. Marrow is well-versed in the issues with abuse of the Faunus in Atlas, but is not "looking to solve systemic societal issues." He is shown to have a snarky streak, especially when dealing with the Happy Huntresses or Ruby's Group, quickly becoming tired of their naive attitude. Additionally, Marrow is shown to be easily startled, nervously correcting himself after angering Yang Xiao Long, or recoiling and grabbing his tail protectively after Weiss Schnee accidentally startled him while fighting Grimm.
Marrow was originally extremely loyal to Ironwood, defending his actions from May Marigold. Despite having a negative outlook on the Happy Huntresses, Marrow is not heartless, showing horror and fear over Tyrian Callows' massacre at Robyn Hill's election party, later being regretful he couldn't stop it. He is shown to take his job seriously, quickly becoming annoyed at other's immaturity despite his own naivety.
Similar to Blake Belladonna, Marrow's Faunus trait gives him other aspects of a dog, such as wagging his tail. Another example of that side was shown in "Sparks" when he begged to Jaune Arc to give him his coffee by staring at him with a pleading expression, exactly like a dog does when begging for its owner to give it food and his tail reacting and giving away his emotions.
However, after Ironwood declared martial law, Marrow began showing discomfort with his position and the orders he was given. In "Gravity", Marrow had a look of sorrow after being ordered by Ironwood to arrest Team RWBY, in stark contrast to the rest of the Ace-Ops' look of determination. Marrow was noticeably shown to have the most hesitance to fight and hurt them, having attempted to stop his teammates and Team RWBY from fighting each other, and later attempted to talk down Weiss from fighting him and "let it go." Even after being berated by Harriet, Marrow still refused to use excessive force and stated he was trying to arrest them, not kill them. When Ironwood killed Sleet in "Divide", Marrow showed complete shock.
In "War", after Ren evolves his Semblance, he realizes that Marrow is the member of the Ace-Ops that was the most conflicted with the situation saying "In fact, you don't want to be a part of it at all anymore." However, he stated that he had a job to do, implying that he was only doing it as a member of the military by that point.
In "Witch", he is visibly upset at seeing Team FNKI on the front lines, stating that they were "just kids". He also confronts Winter Schnee about her plan to detonate a bomb inside Monstra before Yang's team returns, asking her if she would proceed if Weiss was inside Monstra, and if she's willing to inform Weiss that she caused her friends' deaths. While Winter seemingly responded to him similarly to Ironwood, she showed more warmth when addressing him to show she wasn't thinking like Ironwood was. Because of this, Marrow's change of mind was delayed for a little longer.[8]
By the time of "Risk", Marrow's discomfort reached its breaking point when he refused to keep going along with Ironwood's extreme plans, yelling that he believed in him but he had chosen to throw everything away while arguing with his teammates if they actually believe in anything themselves. He then stated that he used to wear his rank with pride but now he saw it as a collar. After he attempted to leave and Ironwood prepared to kill him, Winter saved him by pretending to arrest him and agreed that they had to stop Ironwood but Marrow was still mad at her for hitting him in the process.
Once Marrow helps Ruby's Group out, he was willing to use his Freeze Semblance on his former teammates to stop them from getting in the way of evacuating the Kingdom. Once Arthur Watts hacked an Atlesian Knight-200 and tried to detonate it close to Qrow Branwen and Robyn Hill, he took the blow from the explosion to save them. After Harriet tried to bomb Mantle herself Marrow helped Qrow, Robyn, Elm Ederne and Vine Zeki try to stop her and manage to get through to her.
Powers and Abilities: Marrow is a skilled fighter as he is in the Atlesian Special Operatives unit, the most elite group of Huntsmen and Huntresses in Atlas. However, he is the rookie of the team.
Weapon: Marrow's weapon of choice is Fetch, an automatic rifle which doubles as a boomerang, which he uses as a ranged or melee weapon, as well as an improvised ski board when jumping off a Manta airship.
Semblance: Marrow's Semblance, Freeze, allows him to stop an enemy's movements, as seen with how he froze two Centinels in place in "Ace Operatives", activating when he uses the command word "stay." This ability seems to have little to no limit in terms of numbers, as Marrow was able to freeze an entire crowd of people in the episode "A Night Off". However, he must remain pointing at the enemy to keep them in place, otherwise the command will wear off.
The major limitation of this Semblance is that it can only be used in a single direction: in other words, it cannot be used against two opponents coming from separate directions, as activating the Semblance will cancel any current usage. In a fight with multiple opponents in different directions, Marrow would need to constantly do and undo his "stay" commands, putting a severe strain on his stamina and Aura reserves.
Vine: Vine Zeki was a member of the Ace Operatives Specialists who first appeared in "The Greatest Kingdom", the first episode of Volume 7. His weapon of choice was Thorn. In "The Final Word", he sacrificed himself to prevent Mantle from being destroyed by the Atlas Bomb, using his Aura Vines to contain the explosion.
Appearance: Vine was a tall man with short shaved gray hair, deathly pale skin and light blue eyes. He had several tattoos, including a third eye tattoo along the center of his forehead and chin. He wore an Atlesian Specialist uniform that consisted of a white double-breasted, partially unbuttoned coat with a broad tail, navy blue accents, collar and shoulder flaps, a red sash running diagonally over his left shoulder meeting a second red sash around his waist under a large blue belt, and navy blue fingerless gloves that go up to his brachium. He wore navy blue pants tucked into a pair of navy blue thigh-high boots with steel toe and heel plating, a small pouch on the sides and kneepad detailing. He wore beaded necklaces around his neck and beaded bracelets around his right arm alongside two silver bands, one small, one large on his left forearm.
Personality: Vine was described as calm and tranquil in both speech and temperament. He was shown to be in control of himself, especially when compared to the rest of Ace-Ops. He was also shown to be easily exasperated by their comparatively more gung-ho approach. Vine believed self-improvement was the highest pursuit. At first, Vine, like other members of the Ace-Ops team, seemingly didn't consider his teammates to be friends. Vine didn't seem to be very humorous. In "Pomp and Circumstance", when Marrow Amin joked about the new Huntsmen and Huntresses being fresh meat, Vine responded that he didn't smell any meat. Vine, like the rest of his teammates, was originally intensely loyal to James Ironwood. He was wiling to follow through and support his decision to abandon Mantle in order to save who they could. Despite his loyalty, Vine was shown to be similar to Marrow as he didn't wish to fight Team RWBY in "With Friends Like These". He attempted to stop his teammates and them fighting each other by begging the group not to force them and later attempted to talk down Blake and Yang from fighting his team. Even when the situation had became more dire, Vine still attempted to try and resolve things peacefully, expressing understanding that what the group did was based on what they believed to be right and attempting to get them to see things in Ironwood's way. When Ironwood killed Councilmen Sleet in "Divide", Vine was the only one to not visibly react. In "War", when Lie Ren used his newly evolved Semblance to see the true emotions of the Ace-Ops, Vine's emotions remained calm and restrained, a stark contrast to his teammates. Of the Ace Ops, Vine was the most receptive to Ren's words, and realized that one person ignoring their feelings was detrimental to the team as a whole, learning that being emotionally intelligent was an invaluable asset. Vine's composure was broken for the first time in "Risk", where he was visibly horrified at Ironwood nearly killing Marrow. After hearing Robyn Hill ask them in "Worthy" what was more important, the people or the land they lived on, Vine began to question if they had really been doing the right thing up until that point. Once Harriet decided to bomb Mantle herself, Vine attempted to talk her out of it since he believed it was pointless after the citizens of Atlas and Mantle were being evacuated. He believed that Harriet was doing it just as a way to hide her grief at Clover's and that she shouldn't let it control her. After he and the other Ace-Ops convinced her to stop and Arthur Watts armed the bomb himself, Vine decided to sacrifice his own life to save his friends from the bomb, using his Semblance to contain the blast.
Powers and Abilities: Vine was a skilled fighter as he was in the Atlesian Special Operatives unit, one of the most elite groups of Huntsmen and Huntresses in Remnant. He showed a restrained style when entering battle, along with the Ace-Ops, as shown by his surprise of Team JNPR's headfirst approach. Vine also owned a weapon, Thorn, although he rarely used it. The only time where he was seen using Thorn was with his fight against Penny.
Vine's fighting style was heavily dependent on his Semblance, and he did not seem particularly durable (such as when Yang and Blake defeated him with a quick series of heavy hits), but conversely afforded him a fantastic degree of mobility and versatility. His agility and flexible fighting style allowed him to maneuver gracefully around a battlefield, swinging and ascending on his Aura vines and maintaining a smooth, flowing combat style that was in line with his calm and quiet personality.
Weapon: Vine's weapon of choice was Thorn, a bladed throwing star. However, he rarely used it, instead mainly relying on his semblance in battles.
Semblance: Main article: Aura Vines Vine's Semblance, Aura Vines, allowed him to generate vine-like appendages from his arms and legs, essentially extending the length of his limbs. He was seen using his Semblance to propel himself and grapple at other enemies, as well as using the extended limbs to punch at them from a distance. Later during his battle against Blake and Yang, Vine displayed the ability to freely alter the shape of his Aura Vines into claws, allowing him to grapple and capture a fully grown woman with ease using his new Aura Claws and he also displayed enhanced strength, as seen when he was able to easily throw large boulders at Yang and Blake without difficulty. Vine is also capable of forming a 'bubble' with his Semblance. One strong enough to contain the bomb that would have destroyed Mantle, though at the cost of his life in doing so.
Ozpin: Professor Ozpin was the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, and an incarnation of Ozma, the ancient warrior dedicated to protecting the world from Salem. He is the first known incarnation after the King of Vale.
During the Battle of Beacon, he was killed in battle with Cinder Fall, the newly ascended Fall Maiden. With his death, Ozma reincarnated into Oscar Pine, a farmhand from Mistral.
Appearance:
Ozpin Volume 6: During the Beacon Arc, Ozpin looks like a middle-aged man with tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes. He has a light complexion and sharp facial features. Interestingly, Ozpin has black eyebrows, suggesting that he may have had black hair when he was younger.
He wears shaded glass spectacles and a small, purple, cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck. His outfit mainly consists of an unzipped black suit over a dark green, buttoned vest and green shirt. He also wears black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants. In addition to his cane, his other frequent accessory is a mug bearing the Beacon Academy emblem, from which he drinks hot cocoa. Personality: Ozpin is typically both stoic and affable towards people he speaks to. He, like Ruby Rose, has been shown to think outside of the box. It can be inferred from his indifference toward Ruby fighting Roman Torchwick, as well as the way he literally launches new students into the Emerald Forest for the Beacon Academy Initiation, that he has no real problem putting his students in mortal danger if he feels they can handle it, given the right reasons or to accomplish an objective. Both Theodore and Xanthe Rumpole see this attitude toward his students as reckless. Despite this, he does take into consideration that precautionary measures are in place, such as during the Beacon Academy Initiation, where students were being filmed the entire time to ensure their safety.
Ozpin can be humble, admitting that he has made many mistakes in the past. In addition, he possesses a more caring side, comforting Ruby and assuring her that her appointment as team leader was not a mistake. He is seen to care for the well being of his students, as with Blake Belladonna when he told her if she needed to tell him anything, she should not hesitate to ask. Also, while Ozpin is a Headmaster of a Huntsman Academy, he shows great care for the well-being of his students in "Welcome to Beacon", where he infers that he hopes his students will never have to fight a war. Ozpin is also shown to harbor respect for the Faunus, something made clear during his conversation with Blake, yet is highly aware of the racial discrimination they suffer from Humans.
In RWBY: After the Fall, one of his students, Coco Adel, describes Ozpin as mischievous and having a young, boyish charm that reminded Coco of her younger brother.[3] Ozpin can also be very blunt, as shown when Jaune Arc asks him questions about the launch. According to Ruby and Yang Xiao Long in "The Shining Beacon, Pt.2", Ozpin did not "seem himself" while giving his speech to the incoming students.
Ozpin is also known to believe dearly in teamwork, which is one of the reasons why the Huntsmen academies focus heavily on it.
However, Ozpin is also known for being secretive, which is sometimes a detriment. Said flaw can go so far as endangering his allies, as shown in "Argus Limited" when he chose not to relay how the Relic of Knowledge attracts Grimm until the train was under attack, forcing the group to separate in order to protect both the Relic and the passengers. In "Uncovered", Ozpin is shown becoming testy after Yang and Weiss scrutinize him over breaking his promise to stop withholding secrets and making a false martyr out of Lionheart. Nevertheless, he resolutely defends his actions, believing the people of Mistral "deserve better than the truth", which in turn shows, not only how much he values his allies, even the ones who betrayed him, but also empathy to those who make mistakes. Though once he discovers the Relic is missing, he becomes fearful of his past failings and trauma at Salem's hands being exposed, so much so that he desperately tries retaking the Relic from Ruby once she summons Jinn to learn the truth.
Ozpin is also shown to have something of a guilt complex in that he tends to shoulder all the blame for both his own actions and Salem's- such as in "Unforeseen Complications", where he accepts all the blame for what happened during the Fall of Beacon. His guilt over lying to his allies as well as their anger drove him to self-exile in "So That's How It Is", even going as far as to agree with Qrow Branwen that maybe meeting him was the worst luck of the latter's life. This guilt complex is so extreme that in "War", when Hazel Rainart snaps that Ozpin deserves to be tortured, he agrees without hesitation before expressing concern for Oscar and the people in Atlas. This shows that he truly believes his life is worth less than others because of his mistakes.
He is, however, capable of reflecting on his mistakes and learning from them. In "The Enemy of Trust", Ozpin gives a monologue on the nature of fear and how it affects others, showing he has reflected on giving in to his fear since his self-exile. Later in "Refuge," he agrees with Oscar Pine about not wanting their souls to merge into one and stresses that everyone needs to learn how to work together after everything that has happened- not just the two of them. Finally in "Risk", he tells his former students that he should have trusted them with the truth and never have left when they discovered it.
Powers and Abilities:
Before being killed and bonding to Oscar, Ozpin harbored immense physical power as demonstrated in his fight against Cinder after she became the Fall Maiden. He possessed superhuman speed, creating green afterimages as he moved.
From what was briefly seen of Ozpin's fighting style in his duel with Cinder, his style emphasizes adaptability, changing from powerful high speed strikes to rapid retreats to solid defense.
Ozpin is a capable strategist and leader. He has the ability to persuade even volatile personalities to cooperate with his plans and knows the right balance of firmness and kindness to get the desired results from his subordinates. He is also flexible enough to "bend the rules" if he feels the situation requires it, as shown in "Field Trip".
Weapon: Ozpin's weapon of choice was The Long Memory, a walking cane which he built in a previous incarnation. Following his death, the cane is now wielded by Oscar Pine.
Reincarnation: Due to the reincarnation process, Ozpin's soul is fused with that of Oscar's, with the latter having access to his memories. He can grant Ozpin control of his body, enhancing his combat prowess and the strength of his Aura, though it is not retained when Oscar is in control. In addition, he can forcibly take control of his body, which Oscar didn't know he could do, though this severely drains him afterwards.
The merging process also caused Ozpin to take on some of Oscar's mannerisms. In "Midnight", he is much more open and expressive when dealing with Hazel, and in "War", he reveals to him the truth about Salem in an attempt to sway him, where normally he would keep it secret. He is also more open with Ruby's Group. In "Creation", he fully explains how the Relic of Creation works during their attempt to save the people of Atlas and Mantle. In the Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic, Ozpin assists Oscar in trying to fight the merge, but the efforts are unsuccessful, as when speaking to Jaune Arc in "A Knight's Journal", Oscar recalls his memories as though they were his own, needing to be reminded by Jaune otherwise.
Magic: In "Rest and Resolutions", Ozpin reveals that he himself possesses powerful Magic that he used to create the original Maidens, as well as grant Qrow and Raven Branwen the ability to shapeshift into corvids. During his battle with Cinder, he conjures an energy barrier to protect himself from her attacks. However, due to his many reincarnations, as well as his creation of the Maidens long ago, his magic has been slowly dwindling.
Glynda Goodwitch was a professor and the Headmistress at Beacon Academy. She was introduced in "Ruby Rose", in which she saved Ruby Rose from an attack by Cinder Fall. Her weapon of choice is her crop, The Disciplinarian.
With the destruction of Vale by Salem in the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic", her current status is unknown.
Appearance: Glynda appears to be a middle-aged woman that has very light-blonde hair tied back in a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face. Her eyes are bright green and she wears thin ovular glasses. She has dangling teal earrings that match the hanging pendant on her collar.
She wears a white long-sleeved, pleated blouse that has a wide keyhole neckline and gauntlet cuffs that flare in pleats at the wrist. Her lower body is covered by a black high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and black fading into brown stockings.
She wears black boots with bronze heels and a cape that is purple inside and black on the outside. The cut of the cape is stylized to end in flames and arrows, with a row of diamond-shaped bronze beads on the back. Above this line of beads appears to be an emblem of a tiara that is her personal symbol.
When not in use, The Disciplinarian appears to be collapsed and attached to the top of her right boot. At one point she also wore a golden wristwatch.
Personality: It seems that Glynda has a very stern and sharp personality - one that does not tolerate mischief or needlessly getting into dangerous situations. This is apparent when she berates Ruby for fighting Roman Torchwick and his group in the first episode. She does, however, admit that Ruby might have done the right thing, despite the fact that she put her own life and the lives of others in great danger. Glynda is mainly seen as cool and business-like; even her fighting is very systematic.
Her stern behavior is not absolute, however. After cleaning up after the food fight, she sighs with weariness and takes Ozpin's advice to go easy on Teams RWBY and JNPR. Her concern at the moment reveals that she's driven by her desire to guide her students into being defenders of the world. Glynda also shows compassion toward James Ironwood on multiple occasions despite being vocal about her disapproval of him and some of his methods. Glynda is fond of her students, being particularly proud of Team CFVY. She shares Ozpin's ideals about what embodies the perfect Huntsman, and hates goodbyes.
Powers and Abilities: Glynda's skills were shown when she fended off Cinder in the first episode, and fixed the entire cafeteria after the food fight left tables stacked up and food scattered everywhere in "Best Day Ever". When Grimm attacked Vale through the tunnel from Mountain Glenn, Glynda took out Beowolves by merely flicking her crop and not even turning to look. With one focused gesture, she also repairs the entire broken street. It is notable that she does this all, seemingly, without effort.
Weapon: Glynda's weapon of choice is The Disciplinarian, a thin, black riding crop with a simple black and purple design on the handle. Using a riding crop as a focus tool, she can generate a wide variety of techniques through the use of Dust. This includes launching projectiles and forming a storm cloud that hails shards of ice. She frequently uses her crop as an instrument to focus her Semblance.
Semblance: Glynda's Semblance, Telekinesis, allows her to move or control objects. She has a high degree of control over her Semblance and is capable of using it in combat both defensively, by stopping projectiles and creating shields, and offensively, by manipulating objects and using them to attack.
Her Semblance also appears to be able to re-assemble and repair broken objects, an ability she puts to use in "Breach", sealing the entrance through which the Grimm were entering. She also uses it to repair rooms and property destroyed by the antics of Team RWBY, team JNPR, and Qrow Branwen.
According to Coco Adel, the peak of Glynda's Semblance allows her to lift large chunks of buildings at once.
Peter: Peter Port was a professor at Beacon Academy. He is first seen in "The Badge and The Burden" teaching the Grimm Studies class, with Team RWBY and Jaune Arc from Team JNPR being present in his class. His weapon of choice is Blowhard, a blunderbuss outfitted with a battle axe.
During the destruction of Vale in the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic", both Port and Bartholomew Oobleck manage to escape alongside an airship's worth of civilians, relocating to Vacuo for safety.
Appearance: Peter appears to be a man in early old age. He wears a double-breasted burgundy suit with gold piping and buttons. His pants he wears tucked into olive boots, similar in appearance and construction to cavalry boots.
He has gray hair and a gray mustache and is a fat man. His build is similar to an apple shape, where he is chubbier on his top half, with a bit of a belly.
Personality: While Peter seems to be a pretty well-mannered man, his teaching skills seem to bore the class, as displayed by Ruby Rose, who was sleeping, and Blake Belladonna, who was uninterested in the subject. He also seems to joke around in teaching, as he tried to make the class laugh by calling the Grimm "prey", but was met only with silence.
He's also shown to not be above flirting with some of his female students, playfully flirting with the trainee Huntresses such as Yang Xiao Long, much to her discomfort. He has also proven to be quite confident in his abilities as a Huntsman, often telling stories of his feats. He even has a gold bust of himself near his desk.
Despite these seemingly self-absorbed traits, he is not truly arrogant and he has his moments of humility. Peter also seems to not be afraid in speaking the truth, such as mentioning Weiss Schnee's poor attitude and lack of gratitude for what she has. He also wishes the best for his students in general, as shown in "Family", in which he encourages Yang to overcome her fears and don the prosthetic arm.
It is also revealed by Bartholomew Oobleck in "Family" that Peter is afraid of mice, to which he responds angrily but comically, explaining why he fears them.
In RWBY: Ice Queendom, he seems to be more serious, as he gives a lecture about the Grimm instead of telling stories and boasting about his feats.
Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck was a professor at Beacon Academy. He is first seen in "Jaunedice, Pt.2" teaching history to the students, specifically about the war between Humans and Faunus.
He is also shown to be more of an intellectual than a fighter through his actions on the battlefield in "Search and Destroy". Despite this, he is still proficient in combat and wields a weapon, Antiquity's Roast, which takes the form of his thermos, shown in the episode "Mountain Glenn".
During the destruction of Vale in the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic", both Oobleck and Peter Port manage to escape alongside an airship's worth of civilians, relocating to Vacuo for safety.
Appearance: Oobleck is a man with messy green hair. In Volumes 1 and 2, he has brown eyes, but in Volume 3, his eyes are a sapphire blue. His eyes changed back to brown in Volume 4. His attire is disheveled: his white shirt partially tucked into his dark-green pants and its collar raised, showing a slack yellow tie, along with mismatched brown and black shoes. He also has round glasses that appear to be opaque.
When assigned to lead Team RWBY on a search and destroy mission located in southeast Vale during the events of "Field Trip", Oobleck wears a long brown great coat, a khaki buttoned safari shirt and a pith helmet; this is presumably his combat outfit, all of which appear to be properly worn and tucked in and such, unlike his earlier attire. He also carries a rather large backpack.
Personality: Oobleck's trademark characteristics are his extreme hyperactivity and his love for coffee, tea, or some other stimulant. Not only does he frequently "glide" about in class at incredible speeds, but he also speaks very rapidly. This energy might be a result of him constantly drinking what appears to be coffee. His unkempt look and the mess on and around his desk suggest he has little to no regard for tidiness.
During his class, Oobleck is very enthusiastic and strict about his work, being very happy when inattentive students, such as Jaune Arc, seem ready to contribute to class and punishing students who perform poorly. This is because behind his almost flamboyant behavior, Oobleck is an incredibly deep and compassionate thinker, completely dedicated to and relishing in his roles as a Huntsman and teacher. Oobleck views history as an important way to prevent the repetition of past mistakes, saying the advancement of knowledge is worthy of being referred to as fighting, for it will better prepare Humanity's future in the fight for survival against the Grimm.
Oobleck respects Faunus, shown when he shakes his head disapprovingly at Cardin Winchester's discriminatory remark and his strong disdain when hearing several Faunus students in his class had suffered discrimination based on heritage.
Oobleck also takes into account why Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long and Weiss Schnee chose to become Huntresses. However, none of them gives him a satisfactory answer, though later he finds out the girls' true, more mature and more satisfactory reasons behind training to become Huntresses that night while pretending to be asleep.
Oobleck takes pride in his historical knowledge. In "Mountain Glenn", Oobleck is upset and angry at himself for not remembering the information about Mountain Glenn's underground city. This same pride causes him to snap at people who call him "Professor", demanding they address him properly as "Doctor".
He is not without a sense of humor, however, as shown in "Family" when he laughs at an anecdote about Qrow Branwen being tricked into wearing a skirt to class.
Powers and Abilities: Despite his eccentric demeanor and his civilian appearance, Oobleck is a skilled and experienced Huntsman, considered qualified to escort students on field assignments and assess their fighting abilities. While capable of wielding traditional weapons, Oobleck himself believes his greatest asset and contribution is his mind, studying past mistakes in order to impart that knowledge to his students so that they may avoid repeating them. He has also earned a Ph.D., a testament to his intellect, and possesses expertise in the fields of history and archaeology, something of which has turned out to be extremely useful, as seen during his mission with Team RWBY. He has been shown to be able to move at great speeds, although it is unclear whether this is his semblance or merely comical exaggeration. Weapon: Oobleck's weapon of choice is Antiquity's Roast, a flamethrower staff that can transform into a thermos. It is first seen in "Jaunedice, Pt.2", and in its extended form of a large torch in "Mountain Glenn". In "No Brakes", Oobleck shows to have tremendous skill with his weapon, using it to fend off a Paladin with ease while also using his speed and the attack of his weapon's fire to his advantage. He has been seen to move so quickly, he appears stationary while speeding across a room. He shows great teamwork with Ruby and Zwei.
Qrow: Qrow Branwen (pronounced "Crow") is a major character in RWBY. He is a Huntsman, the younger twin brother of Raven Branwen, biological uncle of Yang Xiao Long and honorary uncle of Ruby Rose. His weapon of choice is a scythe called Harbinger. He made his first appearance in "New Challengers...", watching the fights taking place at the Vytal Festival.
Qrow is a former member of the Branwen Tribe, a former teacher at Signal Academy, and a former member of Team STRQ alongside Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long and Raven. Qrow is also involved with a secret brotherhood led by Ozpin, whose purpose is to protect Remnant and is privy to knowledge kept secret from most of the world.
Appearance: In the flashback sequence of "Burning the Candle", Qrow had dark spiky hair and a cloak and wore predominantly dark or black clothing. In "Ruby Rose", Ozpin described him as a "dusty, old crow".
Original Outfit (Volume 3-7): In his official design, he has graying black, spiky hair, faded red eyes, and slight stubble along his jawline. Along with a red, tattered cloak, he wears a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants and black dress shoes. In an old picture of him with his former team, Qrow looked exactly the same but lacked stubble. He also wears a ring on his right index finger, two other rings on his right ring finger and a necklace with a crooked cross-shaped pendant. Qrow's bangs are down most of the time, but he sometimes pushes his hair back when fighting. In addition, his hair is made to look like it is composed entirely of feathers.
Atlas Outfit (Volume 7-Current): After arriving in Atlas, Qrow retains his torn cape and black wristband, except he loses his necklace and old rings and now wears a new outfit. He wears a dark gray collar shirt with a black vest that has cross-shaped buttons, and a white v-neck shirt underneath, dark gray dress pants and black dress shoes. His old rings are replaced with black ones worn in the same place as his previous rings were. The floral pattern on his sleeves resemble his emblem.
Corvid Form: As a corvid, Qrow has black feathers, red eyes and a feathery crest on the top of his head. Unlike his sister, he transforms into a crow rather than a raven (befitting their names), as indicated by his call; whereas Raven's call is a deeper croak, Qrow's is a higher-pitched, harsh caw. Personality: Qrow is a seemingly rude, blunt, cynical, sometimes crass, yet cool-headed and nonchalant individual, who appears at first glance to be somewhat immature, insensitive and stand-offish, but actually has a heart of gold.
He is an alcoholic, as Glynda Goodwitch notes "he's always drunk!" and is usually seen taking swigs from his hip flask, often at inappropriate times such as in front of children or during important strategic meetings. It's also clear that he cannot handle leadership without relying on alcohol as seen during his travels with Team RNJR, following the Fall of Beacon. Qrow has a habit of giving people nicknames, as he refers to Ruby as "Pipsqueak", but his preferred nickname for her is "Kiddo". Other examples include "Firecracker" for Yang, "Oz" for Ozpin, "Jimmy" for Ironwood and "Ice Queen" for Winter Schnee.
He dislikes Atlas and openly criticized their military for occupying Vale and mistreating Ozpin during the Vytal Festival. Qrow's dislike of Atlas was brazen enough for him to immediately get into a brawl with Winter Schnee upon encountering her and personal enough for him to back down at the last second just for the chance to humiliate Winter in front of James Ironwood. He also shows a level of cockiness when he baits Winter into attacking him. He also has a mercurial attitude towards his age: disgusted at the notion of being called old by his nieces, but willing to use it as an excuse to leave uncomfortable conversations.
This childish and maverick facade, however, belies the demeanor of a veteran Huntsman. While watching Vytal Festival Tournament matches, he openly expresses displeasure and lack of approval, even as far as calling one a mess. He hinted to his nieces that his time out in the field had hardened him, which made them much safer displays of strength on the broadcast seem tame and benign in comparison. He is very cautious because of that, warning Ruby and Yang to not let their past near-victories against Roman Torchwick and the White Fang go to their heads. Regardless, he has faith in his nieces' potential as Huntresses, encouraging them to continue learning throughout their time at Beacon, saying they will go far after graduating. He also tries to help raise Yang's morale after her disqualification and proposes to help her find her mother though he warns her that Raven is not a kind person and is a dangerous woman with a worldview that he does not share.
Qrow is shown to be tender at heart despite his rough demeanor and cares for both of his nieces dearly. He saved Yang and Ruby from Grimm when they were very young and later took Ruby under his wing and trained her in scythe-wielding, allowing her to pursue her dreams as a Huntress. "It's Brawl in the Family" and "Lessons Learned" also show that he has remained very close to his nieces and plays the part of the childish uncle. In "Family", it is shown that unlike his sister, Qrow despises killing and is upset with Raven for not contacting Yang, especially after she learned her daughter had lost her arm. While both Qrow and Raven attended Beacon to learn how to kill Huntsmen, Qrow's disgust and anger toward Leonardo Lionheart shows how far he has come. His value for family is strong to the point he suggests that Raven return to help in the fight against Salem, implying he still cared for her despite everything she had done. However, this changes In "The More the Merrier", as after Qrow finds out Raven joined forces with Cinder Fall and set a trap for him, his nieces and their friends, he claims that he no longer sees her as family. However, he still asks for Raven's whereabouts after the battle showing that he may still care for her. Qrow also agrees to hide Lionheart's cowardice and betrayal from Ironwood for the time being, as well as agreeing to cover up Lionheart's death so that the people of Mistral believe he died a hero.
He is also very self-conscious about his Semblance to the point of self-loathing, aware of its possible impact on the people around him, he makes a point to keep his distance from those he cares about. Qrow regards his life as being cursed due to his misfortune Semblance. Seeing himself as a burden to friends and family because of the bad luck he brings to everyone around him, he tries to spend most of his time living and working alone.
He does not hold back his opinions, he berates Ironwood for militarizing Vale, undermining Ozpin and inciting fear in the population, which empowers the Grimm. He admonishes his nieces for thinking they're capable of putting a stop to all crime in Vale and tells them they were not thinking like true Huntresses. When Ozpin tells Pyrrha Nikos why he needs her help and asks her to become a Maiden, Qrow is the only one who bluntly tells her just how bad the consequences could be for her should she agree. When Ruby tries to reassure Oscar Pine that he's his own person and not just another life to Ozpin, Qrow bitterly remarks "Don't lie to him, Ruby. We're better than that."
Despite Qrow's general dislike of authority and rules, he is extremely loyal to and trusting of Ozpin at first. He holds religion in doubt, but he takes Ozpin's word on the existence of the The Gods and their Relics. However, when Ozpin's past is revealed, Qrow feels betrayed and worthless. He turns his back on Ozpin, immediately having lost all faith in him, and lashes out both physically and verbally, deeming meeting him "the worst luck of his life".
By "Lost", Qrow falls into a depressive state, and his alcoholism worsens. He refuses to talk with anyone about his problems and resorts to drinking to numb his pain. It is not until Ruby stands up to him that Qrow starts to snap out of his depression, even making efforts to drink less. He also shows surprise and pride in Ruby's growing maturity and leadership skills. Qrow mentions to Clover Ebi in "Sparks" that he has given up alcohol and in "Cordially Invited" he turns down a drink when offered.
In "Known by its Song", Raven stated that she and Qrow attended Beacon to learn how to kill Huntsmen, implying that he once shared her brutal nature in the past. By comparison, when Qrow realized that Leonardo had the Mistral Huntsmen killed, he expressed pure disgust and anger towards his former ally, showing how far Qrow has come since his youth, fully embracing the responsibilities of a Huntsman and developing a strong sense of right and wrong.
Although he has made strides to better himself, Qrow nonetheless holds a double standard regarding secrets when it comes to his family. In "A New Approach", he goes along with Ruby's decision to lie to Ironwood and keep Ozpin's disappearance, how many questions left in the Relic of Knowledge, and Salem's immortality a secret from him, despite the fact that it was this decision that made Qrow turn on Ozpin in the first place. Later in "Pomp and Circumstance", when Ruby asks him if she is just like Ozpin, Qrow replies no and states that the difference between the two is that she is making sure they prove themselves first, which is the exact same thing that Ozpin did before revealing his secrets to others.
After Qrow was arrested following Clover's death by Tyrian Callows, he fell into depression once again and blamed himself, holding on to Clover's four-leaf pin to remember him by. While in prison, he bonded with Robyn Hill, as they were both shunned due to their Semblances.
Once Qrow and Robyn escaped from prison and realized that Ironwood was willing to destroy Mantle to get what he wanted, Qrow began thinking of killing Ironwood to stop him. Robyn however managed to talk him out of it, before they encountered Winter Schnee and Marrow Amin and came up with a plan to defeat Ironwood and evacuate both Atlas and Mantle.
Powers and Abilities:
Despite his reputation as a frequent alcoholic, Qrow is nevertheless one of the most capable Huntsmen in the series, being a trusted member of Ozpin's inner circle.
A testament to his strength and skill is that even while under the influence, he was able to match Winter, a high ranking Atlas official, in armed combat despite her status as a highly trained Huntress. His skill and power are so great that Mercury Black, a professional assassin who can casually defeat trained 2nd Year Huntsmen-in-Training like Yatsuhashi Daichi and Coco Adel, was seen terrified of his presence and immediately flees on sight.
Even among his peers, Qrow is a greatly feared and formidable Huntsman, with even the likes of Ironwood and Arthur Watts being wary of his combat prowess and reluctant to engage him in battle.
It is stated in "Welcome to Haven" by Lionheart that Qrow is evenly matched with his sister Raven, although this did not take her Maiden powers into account as it was unknown at the time.
As one of Ozpin's closest lieutenants and operatives, Qrow is incredibly skilled at intelligence gathering and espionage, having been known to bear witness to some of Salem's as-of-yet unseen creations, describing them as fear itself. His ability to transform into a bird was given to assist him in this capacity.
As revealed in RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, Qrow's skills and prowess as a legendary Huntsman is in fact a worldwide, publicly known fact, to the point where Qrow is even seen as a celebrity.
Physical Abilities: Despite his slim and lean build, Qrow has shown to have great physical prowess.
Even when disarmed, he simply resorted to fists to beat Tyrian Callows back with ease, despite the latter's status as one of Salem's most trusted followers and showing himself to be proficient in hand-to-hand combat, able to deliver several quick staggering blows and a kick strong enough to put some distance between him and his opponent. His hand-to-hand skills are later shown against Tyrian once more in "Gravity", where he employs punches and kicks against the serial killer extensively.
Qrow is strong enough to smash a crater into the ground with his sword, cut through metal poles, as well as release Aura arcs. Qrow has also shown proficient accuracy with Harbinger as a throwing weapon, as seen in his fight with Tyrian when he launched his sword into the ground in mid-fall to act as a foothold to regain traction and control of the battle.
Qrow has been shown to be incredibly resilient and durable, to both toxins and physical force. It took a substantial amount of time for Tyrian's venom to work its way through his bloodstream, even with Qrow drinking alcohol, which would make the venom spread even faster. Also, Qrow was seen taking powerful Dust-enhanced blows from Hazel Rainart, an incredibly strong unarmed fighter capable of battling multiple trained huntsmen simultaneously, and yet managed to keep fighting.
In addition to strength and durability, Qrow is shown to be extremely fast and agile, dodging an attack from someone as fast and mobile as Winter. He was also able to keep up with Tyrian, whose own speed proved difficult for someone as quick as Ruby. In It's Brawl in the Family, Qrow was able to handle himself in a fight against Winter despite being drunk the entire time which shows how skillful he is as a huntsmen.
Weapon: Qrow's weapon of choice is Harbinger, a shotgun-sword-scythe. As mentioned by Ozpin, Qrow is a master at wielding said scythe, as shown when we taught Ruby how to use her scythe. Crescent Rose is confirmed not to be a copy of Harbinger, as Ruby stated that she designed Crescent Rose herself. There are also notable differences. In "Heroes and Monsters", he was shown easily dispatching a Griffon by slicing it in half, demonstrating he has a remarkable mastery of his weapon.
In the episode, "It's Brawl in the Family", Harbinger first appears as a longsword, which contains gears near the cross-guard area. Like most Huntsman weapons, his blade also contains a gun component. Though as he began to reveal its true form, he stops and retracts it before its transformation is complete. The scythe form is later seen in its entirety in "Heroes and Monsters".
Qrow is able to perform a slash with his scythe that is too fast for the eye to see, even when everything is viewed in slow motion. Moreover, during his fight with Winter, Qrow wields Harbinger proficiently with either hand, revealing himself to have trained to be able to use it whether it is in his dominant or weak hand. However, he seems to prefer his left hand, indicating that he may be left-handed.
Semblance: Qrow's Semblance, Misfortune, causes bad luck around him and unlike most Semblances, itโs eternally active and can never turn off. Its effects can lead to incidents as small as a glass being knocked onto the floor in "New Challengers..." or as significant as impacting an entire fight.
His Semblance does not discriminate on who it affects, which causes him to keep his distance from the people he cares about. He can also choose to amplify his Semblance in a fight, increasing the chance of his opponent getting hurt. This can be an advantage to him against unprepared opponents, but he is forced to fight alone as to not cause problems for his allies. His Semblance can be helpful in a fight, such as when Tyrian falls through an old roof, but can cause problems as when a piece of wood almost fell on Ruby.
In "The Final Word", Qrow manages to stop Ironwood's bomb from falling out of a ship with the help of Clover's pin, showing that he can finally control it to some extent. This was confirmed by Kerry during a Q&A panel with Streamily where he noted that Qrow's Semblance now includes aspects of good luck.[5]
Transformation: In "Rest and Resolutions", it is revealed that like his sister Qrow has the ability to transform into a corvid, specifically a crow. This ability was bestowed upon him by Ozpin through magic in order to act as his eyes in the world. In this form he is capable of flight and can cover large distances in a short amount of time. He often uses it for stealth purposes, as seen in the post-credit scene of "End of the Beginning", where he follows Team RNJR as they travel to Mistral. As Raven was capable of talking while transformed, it is likely that Qrow can as well.
General James Ironwood: General James Ironwood was a character in RWBY. He was the Headmaster of Atlas Academy, as well as the general of the Atlesian Military and a holder of two seats on the Atlas Council. His weapon of choice was Due Process; a pair of revolvers that could be inserted into a larger cannon form. For unknown reasons, the entire right section of his body was replaced with a robotic prosthesis. He was introduced in "Welcome to Beacon", where he was shown speaking to Ozpin about Qrow Branwen and his message, and later revealed to be a member of his group. Originally, he was an ally to Ruby's Group. However, after learning that they lied to him and Salem was on her way in "Gravity", he turned against them and intended on raising Atlas out of her reach. He served as the main antagonist of Volume 8. In "The Final Word", he was killed when Atlas crashed into Mantle and both cities were flooded.
Appearance: Original (Volumes 2โ3): Ironwood was a tall and muscular middle-aged man that wears a white overcoat, with a gray undercoat, black sweater, a red necktie and a white glove on his right hand. His suit pants shared the same color as his overcoat and were tucked into silver boots accented in gray.
In "Mountain Glenn", Ironwood mentioned that his right arm was acting up. In "Heroes and Monsters", it was revealed that his entire right side was cybernetic.
His hair was black, with some gray areas, while his eyebrows were solid black. He had a strip of silver metal above his right eyebrow, a neurotransmitter that helped him operate the robotic parts of his body.
In both concept art and the Volume 3 Opening, Ironwood was shown wearing battle armor on his shoulder, with straps forming an 'x' over his overcoat. He was also shown wearing two large belts over his coat. Interestingly, this design was never used in the show. Post-Timeskip (Volume 4): After the Fall of Beacon, Ironwood's appearance was slightly less pristine. He had grown stubble and his hair was slightly messier. He wore a white, double-breasted tailcoat with dark blue and black accents, most notable at the cuffs and shoulder pieces. The coat was belted at the waist. Underneath, Ironwood had a black collared shirt and a red tie. He also wore two white gloves, in contrast to wearing only one on his right hand. His pants were no longer tucked inside military boots but instead hang over the black boots.
Final Outfit (Volumes 7-8): Ironwood's appearance once again became less pristine; his stubble had fully grown into a beard, and his hair was more disheveled and swept to the left. Ironwood wore a dark-blue collared shirt and red tie, along with a white coat with dark blue cuffs, dark blue and red accents and silver buttons. He wore a white long-sleeved double-breasted jacket over the shirt, with two dark-blue belts, one across his chest, the other around his waist. He also sported dark blue pants tucked into a pair of dark blue calf high boots with red lining and large cuffs alongside silver steel toe and heel plating. He also sported a pair of white gloves. As shown in "Gravity", Ironwood didn't wear his coat in combat situations.
Following his battle with Arthur Watts, the entirety of Ironwood's left arm was burned by Watts' Rings, damaged to the point where Watts hinted that it needed to be amputated and replaced with cybernetics. Once Ironwood arrived back in Atlas Academy, he bandaged it and wore a sling over the arm.
As of Volume 8, Ironwood's left arm was amputated and replaced with a black prosthetic arm whose appearance was much more muscular in design compared to his other prosthesis. The left sleeves of his jacket and shirt are rolled up to his elbow, possibly to accommodate the appendage.
It was shown that his officers and soldiers also adapted to his new style, much like Winter Schnee and the Ace Ops. Personality: Ironwood was courteous and cordial to his allies, as shown by his first onscreen interaction with Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch. He was also pragmatic, far-thinking and anxiously tactical, wondering and worrying about the future, as seen when he spoke to Ozpin about Qrow Branwen's message. He had a jovial, friendly, humorous and proud public persona, which he used as a spokesman for the weapon manufacturers of Atlas. He also respected courage, loyalty, selflessness, and duty above all else in people and displayed a generous personality to those under his command. This was evident in him compensating Yang Xiao Long with an Atlas-tech prosthesis long before her father, Taiyang Xiao Long, came to ask him for one. Consistent with this was his disdain for people who were apathetic to the problems and safety of the world's populace and contempt for the apathetic upper classes of Atlas who ignored the Remnant's tragedies. When a socialite demanded that Weiss Schnee be arrested for lashing out over the formerโs blatant disregard for the Fall of Beacon during a fundraising event, he instead commented that she was the only one making sense.
Ironwood took great pride in his role as a protector of Atlas and believed the Kingdom had the responsibility to protect Remnant. As a result, he often employed shows of force as a way of projecting a sense of strength and safety he felt was necessary to ward off enemies.
However, as courteous as Ironwood appeared, he could also be incredibly blunt and bullheaded, often preferring the direct and brazen approach. When he felt necessary, Ironwood was not afraid to bring the full might of his military command to bear, which sparked disagreements with both Glynda and Ozpin. Nevertheless, Ironwood was extremely loyal to his comrades, and however questionable his methods were, he seemed to have genuinely good intentions behind them.
Though courageous yet bullheaded, Ironwood was rather sympathetic towards those who abstained from combat in dire circumstances, as was shown when he gave the students at Amity Colosseum the choice to fight or flee to safety during the Fall of Beacon. This showed that while he valued the dutiful and strong of will, he remained mindful that not everyone was suited to a life on the front lines of war and the dangers of the battlefield.
For all his good intentions, he did have a number of flaws. Ironwood consistently believed only his ideas were justified, something he did not deny. This lead to a more proactive yet headstrong approach to problems and attempting more strict preemptive measures, as opposed to Ozpin's more subtle, reactive and analytical methods. Ironwood also didn't care about Ozpin's rules and ideology which was shown when he created the Ace Operatives, a five person team that lacked a individualistic color theme because he preferred an efficient collective team instead.[7]
Another flaw was the double-standards he had that others noticed; In "Mountain Glenn", Glynda mentioned that Ironwood was always asking people to trust him, but had shown to very hesitant to trust others in return over indulging in his own authority. In "Worst Case Scenario", he attempted to rebuke Nora Valkyrie's criticisms on the negative effect his regime was having on Mantle by claiming that everyone was making sacrifices, but Nora retorted that so far Mantle was bearing all of the burden. In "Breach", Ironwood secretly went behind Ozpin's back by reporting his actions to the Vale Council after he refused his requests for heightened security, thus having authority over the Vytal Festival's security transferred to him, which he felt was necessary to ensure the protection of Vale. But in "Gravity", his reaction to finding out that Yang and Blake Belladonna went behind his back to tell Robyn Hill about the Amity project and helped her escape capture was that of outrage over their breach of his trust, screaming that "Loyalty ALWAYS matters!".
Due to the events of the Fall of Beacon, Ironwood suffered from a degree of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and an increased desperation to stop Salem by any means. This, while coupled with his typical bullheadedness and bluntness made him make several decisions that led to many of his own people from Atlas to see him in a bad light due to the countermeasures he had implemented. Of those, Jacques, Robyn, Pietro Polendina and Councilmen Sleet and Camilla began doubting his state of mind and the honesty of his intentions.
Ironwood's military status resulted in his oversight of all scientific and research-based endeavors under his jurisdiction, such as the unethical Aura experiments by the Atlas Military in Aura transference and life supports used to prevent the Fall Maiden's powers from being assimilated by Cinder Fall. Ironwood knew he was treading into ethical gray areas, but bitterly swallowed any of his possible discomforts and criticisms from others for the sake of global safety and his loyalty to Ozpin's Group. Ironwood was also well aware of his bad reputation, but was willing to sacrifice what it took if it meant both protecting his Kingdom and stopping Salem. He also chose to trust Ruby's Group with his secrets, claiming that in order to defeat Salem they needed to trust one another. In "As Above, So Below", he began to start expressing doubt about his actions and believed that he had only helped Salem's plans move forward.[8] Upon learning the truth about Salem, he was shocked at being lied to by Ozpin for so long. However, he was willing to focus on saving Mantle and at first seemed to have taken the truth well after advice from Oscar Pine. He was also willing to finally tell the truth about Salem and work with Robyn despite ordering her arrest.
During his fight with Arthur Watts, he showed no hesitation in sacrificing his only remaining Human arm to get out of the trap, which represented him losing another part of his Humanity.
In "Gravity", once he learned Cinder was in Atlas, as well as the lies from Ruby's Group and that Salem was coming, Ironwood resorted to drastic measures. Now more distrustful than ever before, he believed the entirety of Ruby's Group betrayed him, leading him to commit many unethical acts in order to prevent Salem from winning, due to him feeling like her arrival was a personal matter. He eventually decided to abandon Mantle despite the people not being fully evacuated and use the Relic of Creation to raise Atlas into the sky instead of Amity Tower, abandoning his original plan in order to keep both the Relics and Winter Maiden from Salem's reach. He also planned on putting the entire Kingdom in a state of martial law without the council's approval so he can enact his plan unopposed. When Oscar tried to persuade him to change his mind, he went so far as to shoot him without any hesitation, completely set on his path. He performed many of these actions because he believed that he was backed into a corner and was doing the only sensible thing.
As of "Divide" Ironwood took even more extreme actions than before, such as when he killed Councilman Sleet when he questioned his decision of declaring martial law and forcing Watts to work with him at gunpoint in order to hack Penny Polendina to bring her back under his control. His most ruthless actions were shown in "Ultimatum", when he wanted to use Yang, Ren, and Jaune as leverage against Penny to bring her back and later prevented the SDC from evacuating Mantle by destroying the evacuation ships so he could hold it hostage with a bomb to force Penny back to his side. After he escaped his cell in "Worthy", he decided to kill Jacques when he asked if he would help free him too by vaporizing him within his cell.
When reaching the Vault and confronting Winter Schnee, he shed a tear over her betrayal before engaging her in battle, saddened that even she had forsaken him. He became even more fixated on keeping Atlas away from Salem despite it being too late. He also stated that it was everyone's fault for everything bad that had happened to the Kingdom, refusing to acknowledge his own part that led events to deteriorate in the process. In "The Final Word" he attempted to shoot at both Salem and Cinder in defiance as they left the Vault, only to give up when the latter declared "checkmate", causing him to lower his head in defeat before he perished.
Ultimately, Ironwood was a man with good intentions. However, his increased distrust and paranoia due to the Fall of Beacon caused him to take many ruthless actions in the name of stopping Salem. These actions, as well as his refusal to listen and be reasoned with caused many of his allies to leave his side, eventually leading to them all to turn against him, and ending with him perishing alone in Atlas.
Ironwood had an immense interest and love for astronomy, later choosing to reflect that in his office at Atlas Academy.
Powers and Abilities: As a general, Ironwood normally didn't associate himself with the front lines of combat and usually ordered his forces using his tactical know-how and military knowledge. However, when pressed, he proved to be an extremely skilled Huntsman in his own right, his combat prowess making him worthy of being the Headmaster of Atlas Academy.
Ironwood was an impressive marksman, as he effortlessly dispatched multiple Atlesian Knight-200s within the space of several seconds, the heads of the first two cleanly removed by his shots. During his duel with Arthur Watts, Ironwood managed to easily and accurately shoot Watts's bullets out of the air, even landing a shot while forcibly suspended on the air, and proved competent in the use of his second gun that made use of Gravity Dust to maneuver through the battlefield, launching himself and making directional changes on a dime with pin-point accurate shots at the air.
At close quarters, Ironwood proved to be an even more formidable and forceful fighter. He could use his guns as a lethal bludgeoning weapon and was also highly competent in unarmed combat, using a fighting style that mixes grappling and boxing, utilizing grappling moves and punches and kicks. He could easily overwhelm Watts in close-combat, repeatedly delivering powerful blows on him and even effortlessly throwing Arthur Watts with his offhand, and was even able to hold his ground against Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Oscar Pine, Lie Ren and Winter Schnee all at once for a reasonable period of time after being disarmed, quickly overwhelming Ren and Oscar in close-combat. In "The Final Word", armed with the cannon form of Due Process, Ironwood bested Winter in battle and nearly won the fight, only losing after she inherited the Maiden power. Ironwood was also extremely durable, being able to take and shrug off a full hit to the face from Magnhild while Nora was boosted by both her Semblance and one of Winter's glyphs without being knocked out. He was also able to survive a redirected beam from his cannon, which was powerful enough to destroy a Hard-Light cell and vaporize Jacques Schnee.
Status: In "Remembrance", he was revealed to have two seats on the Atlesian Council, one for being Headmaster of Atlas Academy and another for being the General of the Atlas Military. This gave him a greater amount of authority over the Atlesian Council and the Kingdom of Atlas, allowing him to make unilateral decisions such as initiating a Dust Embargo, closing off the borders of the Kingdom from the rest of the world and even initiate and enforce martial law should he deem it necessary. Upon declaring martial law in Atlas, Ironwood possessed supreme political power over the Kingdom and was able to carry out any actions against those he saw as a hindrance or threat. In "Divide", he killed Councilman Sleet when he demanded answers on why he declared martial law.
Weapon: Main article: Due Process Ironwood's weapon of choice was Due Process, a pair of revolvers. It was first seen in "Battle of Beacon" when he used it to fight off Grimm who were attacking Amity Arena. He shot using his organic arm; in close combat, he also used his revolver to pistol-whip opponents, usually switching to his cybernetic arm for added power. He possessed formidable physical strength in close combat, as his cybernetic arm was able to completely stop a fully-armored Beowolf's attack and throw the beast around with little effort. Later, in RWBY: Amity Arena, it revealed the other half of Due Process that Ironwood possessed, only instead of white the gun was black with silver floral details. It fired Gravity Dust bullets, as shown in "Gravity" where Ironwood used it to propel himself in the air during his battle with Watts. In the fight, Watts shot the black revolver away from James, causing him to drop it in the Amity Colosseum. Ironwood was not seen recovering the weapon, but instead only used the white gun from that point. As shown in "Divide", however, he later regained the black gun. In "Creation", Ironwood revealed he could utilize both his revolvers and insert them into a silver cannon, which was capable of firing a deadly beam. He could also utilize it as a blunt weapon and quickly remove his revolvers if he chose to.
The cannon was specifically designed with the intent of being able to kill Penny Polendina in case she refused his orders, who was both an android and a Maiden at the time.
Semblance: Ironwood's Semblance, Mettle, strengthened his resolve which allowed him to carry through with his decisions, helping James hyper-focus on his choices and suppress any feelings of doubt he had beforehand.
Prosthesis: As seen in "Heroes and Monsters", approximately half of Ironwood's upper body and his right arm were a prosthesis that granted him several above average physical abilities. He was strong enough to block the attacks of an Alpha Beowolf barehanded using his metal right hand and tear through concrete and stone with his metal fingers.
In "Taking Control", he slammed his robotic fist on Jacques' desk with enough force to severely damage the surface.
After severely damaging his left arm due to Watt's Ring Trap, Ironwood had his left arm amputated and also replaced with a prosthetic arm by the events of "Divide".
Winter: Winter Schnee is a character in RWBY who first appeared in "It's Brawl in the Family". She is the elder sister of Weiss and Whitley Schnee and formerly a part of the Special Operatives Unit in the Atlas Military. In "Amity", she was made the leader of the Ace Operatives.
Despite being the eldest child, Winter's right to inherit the Schnee Dust Company was abdicated upon her decision to become a Soldier and join the Atlesian Military.
After being wounded in "The Enemy of Trust", Winter chooses to stay with James Ironwood rather than go with Weiss and her friends, but she allows them to escape in order to give them a head start. She served as an antagonist in Volume 8, before turning on Ironwood in "Creation". As of "The Final Word", she is the current Winter Maiden. Appearance: Winter is a tall and fair-skinned young woman with slate-blue eyes, black eyebrows, and long white hair. The latter of which tied back in a bun that is high on the left side of the back of her head, along with bangs along right side of her face and a small, curled lock of hair down the left just above her shoulder. From the Volume 5 Weiss Character Short onwards, her eyes are given a light blue shade.
Original Outfit (Volume 3-Volume 5 Trailer): Her outfit consists of a white long-sleeved coat with a single dark blue clasp around the center waist holding it shut alongside a red jeweled brooch on the collar. The coat's length runs down to her ankles and the sleeves are split from shoulder to elbow. She wears a white pleated sleeveless blouse with a dark blue waistcoat. A pair of white trousers with dark blue garters alongside a pair of gray thigh boots with black detailing around the knees. She also wears a pair of black forearm length gloves with gray trimmed cuffs.
Post-Timeskip Outfit (Volumes 7-Current): From Volume 7 onwards, Winter can be seen wearing a white collared undershirt, a necktie that connects to her new brooch, and a girdle underneath the lapels of her new frock coat, which is vaguely reminiscent of Weiss's original attire from Volumes 1-3, having pale blue snowflake decorations. She wears navy blue gloves, pants, and boots with red lining, and sports a Dust pouch around her waist.
Following her battle with Cinder Fall, Winter is heavily injured in combat, left with burns, cuts and bruises, a scarred nose, and a black eye. Her hair bun is undone, letting it fall naturally.
During the fight, her clothes are also ruined and tattered. The entirety of Winter's left sleeve is ripped open in addition to the collar. Her gloves and pants are also ripped.
Hospital: After her fight in the Maiden Medical Facility, Winter is taken to an Atlesian hospital to recover from her injuries. She now wears a pale blue hospital gown and keeps her hair in a ponytail. Her left arm is covered in a black brace with red and white highlights, and her right arm is bandaged from injuries. Winter's right eye and the bridge of her nose are still bruised and beginning to scar, and she has another bandage over the right side of her forehead.
Power Armor (Volume 8):
During the events of Volume 8, Winter keeps her hair in a loose ponytail like her hospital design and begins to wear her post-timeskip outfit once more, now without battle damage. She wears two red-and-black pauldrons on her arms and legs similar to that of her brace in the visit and seems to have recovered her missing weapon from the fight with Cinder. It is described as being power armor.[7]
Vacuo: Upon her arrival in Vacuo, she removed her Power Armor and retained her loose ponytail.
Personality: At first glance, Winter appears to be a cold, serious and distant person who prefers to keep her emotions subdued, speaking in a very stoic way. She is fiercely committed and loyal to the military and acts as Ironwood's second-in-command. She does whatever it takes to protect her kingdom, even going so far as to detonate a bomb with Yang's group still inside.
However, when interacting with Weiss, she smiles and shows that she cares about her younger sister's life and well-being, based on how she inquires if Weiss has been eating properly, gained any new hobbies and made any new friends in "It's Brawl in the Family".
Winter is very intuitive towards her younger sister's emotions. With that said, she is not afraid to raise her hand at her younger sister whenever she is annoyed or act cold towards her as shown in Weiss's Volume 5 character short.
Overall, she truly loves Weiss and wants her to succeed in life. Later, it was revealed that due to the Schnee Family's broken family life and their mother's descent into alcoholism and their father's controlling personality, Winter had to effectively take a maternal role in her sister's upbringing, as seen in "A New Approach", when she momentarily lost her composure and began reprimanding her sister and expressed clear worry for her when she learned about her willingly putting herself in danger, where she genuinely panicked and worried for Weiss and her safety when learning about her escapades in stealing a Manta airship in Argus.
Winter can be very harsh as well, as shown in "Lessons Learned". When she attempts to teach Weiss how to Summon old foes with her Semblance, only for her sister to fail. Winter fiercely rebukes her younger sibling's excuses, citing her lack of resolve will not help her in the tournament, or as a Huntress.
Although she strives to keep her emotions in check, she can be rather hot-headed at times. Once she becomes angry, she drops her military bearing and dignified demeanor and loses all restraint.
This is shown when she attempts to attack Qrow Branwen when provoked. She also snapped at her father during the dinner he held, saying that trust has to be earned, not bought.
She is initially fiercely loyal to her superior, James Ironwood, and would become infuriated whenever his judgment was questioned. She was also equally faithful to his authority, however, and respectfully deferred to him when at odds with an order. This loyalty caused her to go along with many of his actions, even sometimes suggesting her own, such as wanting to declare martial law when the Amity Project was stalled.
After Winter learned her career had been chosen by Ironwood to make her the next Winter Maiden, she was upset at first, but eventually came to accept the destiny which had been chosen for her, making it her own and taking great pride in it. She is gentle and caring with Fria, patiently waiting for her time to pass and grant Winter strength. Winter was waiting her whole life to become the Winter Maiden, but in a split second she ended up giving it all up when Penny Polendina becomes the one to take Fria's powers instead.
Winter consistently wrestles with her emotions, never letting them overpower her. While she feels guilt over having to end Fria's life before her natural passing to obtain the Maiden's powers, her dedication to the Atlas Military is greater than her feelings on the subject. She was upset when she saw that Ironwood had declared Team RWBY and Team JNPR fugitives. When Penny unexpectedly inherited Fria's powers, despite knowing the Winter Maiden was vital to Ironwood's plans, Winter "suggested" that Penny leave with Weiss and Ruby, telling them she was giving them a head start. She later appears visibly disturbed when Ironwood shoots Councilman Sleet dead.
Later when Lie Ren uses his newly evolved Semblance, it is shown that she is repressing her true emotions just like the other Ace-Ops. When Ironwood orders her and the Ace-Ops to deliver a bomb to Monstra, she instead allows Yang's Group to try and rescue Oscar Pine, stating that they will still detonate it whether they are still inside or not. After Marrow Amin asks her if she would really detonate the bomb with her sister's friends still inside, she is hesitant, but ultimately steels herself and replies that she will do so as her duty as a soldier. While she first replied with a cold "yes" like Ironwood would have done, she makes the choice to turn around and address Marrow with more warmth to show him that she wasn't thinking like Ironwood was which delays his betrayal against the military for a little longer.
By the time of "Creation" however, she realizes that Ironwood needs to be stopped after he threatens to destroy Mantle unless Penny returns to him, saving Marrow from being killed by him by acting like she was arresting him for treason and then collaborating with Ruby's Group to ambush him, saying she should have done it from the beginning. Later in "Worthy" when Ironwood confronts her in the Vault, she tells him that she has never hesitated fighting against the enemies of the Kingdom and now sees him as one of them.
Once she realizes what has happened to Penny in "The Final Word" when she receives the powers of the Winter Maiden, she is saddened that Penny has died and states that Penny was the actual Maiden while she was just a machine following Ironwood's orders. She regains her composure after Penny states that she won't be gone, but now a part of Winter. Because of this, she considered the powers she received as a gift rather than a destiny chosen for her and used them to defeat Ironwood in the process.
Even when Weiss is thrown into the void by Cinder, Winter refuses to let her emotions overcome her sense of duty; despite her visible rage and grief, she does not waste time attacking Cinder, knowing that her priority is to reach Vacuo and protect the civilians. Once she arrives, she channels her feelings into a violent attack against the Grimm.
While in Vacuo, Winter expresses that she should have died and regrets staying by Ironwoodโs side for too long and being blinded by loyalty to the late General.
Powers and Abilities: Incredibly gifted, Winter was one of the most skilled and capable Huntresses in Atlas, having not only graduated top of her class at Atlas Academy, but being hand-picked for service in the Military. She was able to combat Cinder Fall and hold her own for an impressive amount of time and after becoming the Winter Maiden, could fight her on even ground. In combat Winter is shown to be more aggressive and direct with her attacks than her sister's fighting style, focusing mainly on dueling and keeping opponents off-guard with her sword in culmination with her glyphs, able to stop and change direction on a dime, as well as using Ice Dust missiles and Nevermore summons to overwhelm her opponent with sheer numbers if she is at range. As a Special Operative she seems to also have hand-to-hand combat skills, as shown when she knocked Marrow Amin to the ground with a single punch in order to save his life.
Weapon: Winter's weapon of choice is her Swords. She shows great skill when wielding them, displaying above-average speed, agility and reflexes in combat. She is able to both start moving and stop in an instant, as shown when she aborted her final attack on Qrow at the last second upon hearing Ironwood's voice. Her skills with her weapon are impressive, and although she was unable to land any serious blows on Qrow, she was able to parry and match all of his attacks for the duration of their fight.
Power Armor: Following her recovery from the hospital, Winter wears Atlesian power armor, providing her with increased durability and physical capabilities.[10] This armor allows her to keep up with Ironwood and Cinder Fall in a fight, the former of which having previously bested her.
Semblance: Winter has the Schnee family Semblance of Glyphs. Her glyphs have many of the same effects that her sister's do, most notably including the ability to exert forces on herself and objects, which Winter uses to increase her speed to superhuman levels and boost jumps. Like her sister, she is able to use her Semblance in a supportive manner with other allies, such as enhancing Nora Valkyrie's power by using a Lightning infused Glyph on her.
Summoning: Like Weiss and other members of the Schnee family, Winter can also Summon versions of her past enemies to fight for her. Unlike Weiss at first, she displays great mastery of this aspect of her Semblance. Her Summons are known to include dozens of small Nevermores and full-sized Beowolves along with a Manticore which she can use as flight transportation. Her Summons take on a translucent white-blue coloration and emit a soft glow.
After becoming the Winter Maiden in "The Final Word", she gained the ability to boost the power of her summons using them. She first demonstrates this by augmenting her Nevermore summons with ice-based attacks while fighting against Cinder Fall.[11]
Winter's Summons: Beowolves ice Small Nevermores ice Manticore ice
Following the death of Penny Polendina in "The Final Word", Winter gained the powers of the Winter Maiden. When active, her eyes emit an ice blue fire around them, the color matching her Aura. Despite having only held the Maiden's power for mere moments, she was easily able to match the more experienced Cinder Fall in their subsequent battle. Due to Winter receiving training on how to use the Maiden powers before Fria died, she was able to face Cinder on much more even ground. Her Semblance already functioning like a spell being cast also increased her understanding of her powers.[12]
During her battles with both James Ironwood and Cinder, she displayed numerous feats such as being able to fly by emanating snowy wisps around her body, create a layer of ice capable of reflecting concentrated blasts of Fire Dust and produce powerful blasts of ice and electricity at her targets.
Upon arriving in Vacuo, Winter also showcased the ability to create large gusts of wind capable of blowing away hordes of Grimm.
Taiyang:
Taiyang Xiao Long, also known as Tai, is a character in RWBY. He is a Huntsman, working as a teacher at Signal Academy on the island of Patch, and the father of Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose.
He is a former member of Team STRQ, alongside Summer Rose, Raven Branwen, and Qrow Branwen. He began a relationship with Raven, eventually marrying her and having their child Yang. However, she ultimately decided to return to her tribe and leave the two behind. Sometime after her disappearance, he started a relationship with Summer that resulted in the birth of his second child, Ruby.
After the destruction of Vale in the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic", Taiyang was given an unknown assignment as mentioned in "Boba".
Appearance: Taiyang is a man with blond hair that has two small strands sticking out from the top and blue eyes. His facial hair consists of a soul patch and small stubble along his jawline. On his right arm is a tattoo of his emblem, which resembles a heart. His hair was once a bright shade of gold, but in his older age, it has notably grayed somewhat - still blond, but far more subdued.
He wears brown cargo shorts with a dark brown belt, black shoes, a red bandana on his left arm and a brown leather vest over a tan dress shirt with the right sleeve cut off. For armor, he wears a metal spaulder, leather vambrace and a brown fingerless glove all on his right arm. In his younger days, he did not have his facial hair or his tattoo, he wore an orange bandana around his left arm rather than a red one and wore brown cargo pants rather than shorts. He possesses a rather muscular build, which compliments his close-quarters style of combat.
Personality: Taiyang is shown to be a bit protective toward both of his daughters, yet still open and caring. His attitude towards helping others in need was passed along to his children too. He appears to have an eccentric side, for he is stated to do things like sending the family pet, Zwei, through the mail all the time. During his period of mourning the disappearance and possible passing of Summer, Yang said he "shut down", showing that he loved her greatly and was devastated by her loss. His over-protectiveness of his daughters likely stems from both this and the incident where they were almost slaughtered by Beowolves, had their uncle Qrow not been around to save them. Despite being overprotective, he allowed both of his daughters to become Huntresses. In "Family", he is shown to be very sociable as he talks and laughs with Peter Port and Bartholomew Oobleck at his house. Taiyang can also be blunt, albeit in a good-natured way, toward his daughters. This trait is shown further in "Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back" when he discusses the flaws in Yang's fighting style during a sparring session and suggests an alternative approach. Despite his dangerous and combative profession as a Huntsman, Taiyang also appears to appreciate the simple pleasures of life, such as gardening. This can be seen by his tending to the flower beds along the side of his house in Patch before beginning Yang's physical rehabilitation with her arm and when he notices Raven arriving at his house.
Powers and Abilities:
Taiyang is a fully-trained Huntsman and went on dangerous missions with his team. He now teaches at a combat school, Signal Academy, and takes on missions from time to time. Ruby said in "Round One" that he taught Yang how to fight. In "Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back", he is shown sparring with his older daughter in hand-to-hand combat. His strength is shown when he knocks Yang back in the same episode with a single punch, despite her blocking the attack. He is also very durable, able to take a blow from Yang's robotic fist and still remain standing despite skidding back several feet in the process. His fighting style appears to rely on a fluid and dynamic flurry of elbow strikes and punches, sweep kicks akin to judo and heavy emphasis on maintaining his balance at all times.
Raven: Raven Branwen is a character in RWBY. She is a former Huntress, the mother of Yang Xiao Long, the older twin sister of Qrow Branwen and the estranged wife of Taiyang Xiao Long. Her weapon of choice is Omen, a sword with a rotary chamber filled with six types of Dust blades. She first appeared in "No Brakes", saving her daughter from being killed by Neopolitan, before vanishing through a portal. Raven is the leader of the Branwen Tribe as well as a former member of Team STRQ alongside Summer Rose, Taiyang and Qrow. She is also the current Spring Maiden who used her fellow tribe member Vernal as a decoy, until her death at the hands of Cinder Fall in "Downfall". She served as a main antagonist in Volume 5, joining forces with Cinder in order to obtain the Relic of Knowledge from Haven Academy, though she intended on double crossing her to take the Relic for herself as insurance against Salem. However, after a confrontation with her daughter Yang, she hands over possession of the Relic to her before disappearing through a portal, using her link with Taiyang to make an escape. She makes a reappearance in "Jr. Detectives", attending a meeting at Shade Academy alongside Winter Schnee, Professor Theodore, and Oscar Pine.
Appearance:
In her first appearances in Volume 2, Raven's outfit consisted of a V neck black and red kimono top with a black pleated skirt that has black shorts underneath, with series of beaded necklaces. She also wears a red obi sash around her waist alongside a red tasset wrapped around her waist that carries her weapon's sheath. Attached to it is a long black object that is either fur or feathers, with a red and white bandana material like hanging from behind her. Her forearms bear red armored gauntlets that protrude outwards and black fingerless gloves. She wore black mid-thigh high boots that had armor plating with red splatter patterns.
In Volumes 4 and 5, her appearance changes slightly: her boots gained a red sole and heel and have become solid black, losing the splatter design and armor and her eyes now a darker crimson color. Her most distinctive feature is a fearsome, full-face mask that resembles the face of a Creature of Grimm. The mask has four eye slits, further enhancing the character's inhuman appearance. In Volume 2, Raven's eyes are visible through the lower slits, but in Volume 5, the slits are black and red inside. She wears this mask to not only hide her Maiden powers, but to also appear more intimidating when leading her tribe. Under the mask, she looks very similar to Yang; they share the same facial shape and long, bushy hair. However, Raven's hair is jet black, her eyebrows are a little bit higher, her complexion is significantly lighter and slight age lines are under her eyes. Her hair is tied by a red bandanna and loosely done up in a ponytail with the ends resembling curved black feathers. A cowlick can be seen protruding from the top of her head, similar to that of her daughter's.
Corvid Form: As a corvid, Raven is similar to her brother's corvid form, only lacking his head feathers. However, befitting her name, she transforms into a raven rather than a crow. This is indicated by their different calls (Qrow's is a harsh caw, whereas Raven's is a deeper croak) and different flight patterns (Qrow tends to flap his wings more, whereas Raven soars).
Personality Raven is cynical, patronizing, selfish and stubborn. She believed her act of "kindness" of saving Yang's life from Neopolitan was sufficient despite having left Yang at a very young age and refused to protect her daughter when in need after that. Raven is intended to be more intimidating the less you know about her.[4]
Given her upbringing in a nomadic bandit tribe, Raven has a "survival of the fittest" mentality, and she has little issues with taking the lives of the innocent or even that of Huntsmen, indirectly or otherwise. Despite murdering the former Spring Maiden, Raven presented her actions as merciful and necessary, saying that the Maiden never learned anything despite the training Raven put her through and that she wasn't cut out for this world.
However, beneath her "survival of the fittest" philosophy and despite her great powers as a Maiden, Raven is a coward who is really troubled and fakes confidence.[5] Her fear of Salem is so great that she chose to run from it all after deeming the fight unwinnable. She is even willing to risk her brother and daughter's lives in order to get access to the Relic of Knowledge in hopes of warding off Salem. As Yang pointed out, Raven's definition of strength is shallow. As despite her great power, she chooses to run away from her problems instead of facing them, sacrificing others as shields to gain herself advantage. In the end, Raven's survival of the fittest philosophy is just a faรงade to hide her fear of Salem and her other insecurities, one that is heavily implied to be a fear of being a mother.
Raven is not above manipulating others, having tried to emotionally manipulate Yang during their reunion in "Lighting the Fire" so she would choose to stay with her instead of reuniting with Qrow and Ruby Rose, first by taking a faux warm and theatrical attitude before revealing secret information and threatening Yang in the hope that it would scare her from joining Qrow and Ozpin. She also successfully deceived Salem's subordinates into thinking that Vernal was the Spring Maiden and into setting an ambush for Qrow and the students in order to get access to the Relic in "A Perfect Storm", although the latter was due to Cinder Fall's need for revenge.
Raven is also very prideful and hypocritical, refusing to acknowledge her faults and always trying to justify her actions both to others and to herself, often putting the blame on others for them even if she feels guilt. She states to Qrow in "Family" that she did not know that the Grimm would come quickly to destroy Shion, despite the fact that it was the tribe's attack that left it vulnerable in the first place. When speaking to Lionheart in "True Colors", she refuses to admit that it is out of fear of Salem that she worked with her subordinates, unlike Lionheart who freely admitted it. Finally in "Haven's Fate", she tells Yang that she knew that she could handle the trap on her and her friends even though it wasn't the case and presenting her murder of the Spring Maiden as an act of mercy due to the girl's perceived weakness, stating she would have been hunted her whole life. Also, despite criticizing Ozpin over keeping information from others, using others to reach his goals and being manipulative Raven has no issues doing the same. While aiding Summer in a mission, she brings up her choice to leave her family in the dark about the details, to which Summer coldly reminds her is something she also did.
While Raven and Qrow used to see each other as family when growing up, she now sees Qrow as a traitor for leaving their tribe and Qrow outright stated that she was dangerous and hostile, though he continued to care for her and they stayed in touch, though Raven seemingly only contacted Qrow to get information from him. When Qrow confronted her on her setting a trap for him, Yang and Ruby and renounced her as his sister Raven went as far as implying that she may have never seen Qrow as family. Raven is a cynic who claims to have foreseen Ozpin's failure to protect Beacon Academy from its destruction. She believes that Ozpin is not the man her daughter thinks he is and condemns those who trust him, such as Qrow, Ruby and even Taiyang and Yang.
Because of her prideful and self-centered mentality Raven often fails to measure the consequences of her actions, such as her attempt to manipulate Yang into staying with her and to distrust Qrow and Ozpin by calling Ruby a lost cause, and revealing Salem's existence and insulting Qrow and Taiyang, which only reinforced Yang's determination to reunite with her uncle and sister, and reject Raven further. She also advised Yang to question everything which eventually caused her to question her mother's own motives and actions. She also devised a plan to get the Relic of Knowledge to keep Salem away from the tribe while overlooking the fact that it would only cause her to become a greater target for her.
According to Qrow, Raven has a very skewed definition of what a family means. Despite having constantly watched over Yang in her corvid form, Raven never took a part in her daughter's life or tried to meet her in spite of her Semblance. With Qrow, the only reason she would visit him was only when she needed something from him rather than trying to maintain or reestablish a good relationship with him. When reunited with Yang for the first time Raven used a theatrical attitude trying to be welcoming to Yang by praising her and offering hospitality, only to drop the act after Yang stated that she wasn't here for her.
She also does not understand why Qrow chose to stay with their former teammates and his nieces over returning to the tribe despite how close Qrow has become with them, as well as underestimating how far Yang would go for Ruby by trying to scare or convince her with knowledge about Ozpin and Salem, which instead only reinforced Yang's determination to reunite with and protect her sister.
Yet despite her ruthless and immoral behavior, Raven isn't totally devoid of morality as she showed some regret for her actions, such as the treatment of her family and the killing of the Spring Maiden. When battling Cinder in "Downfall", she is disgusted by her complete lack of scruples in her quest for power, calling her out for having become a monster by getting a Grimm arm. However, because of her pride, Raven often tried to deny her true feelings, hiding it behind an aloof attitude. She states to Vernal that she did not care about Yang being in danger due to her plan even though her body language said otherwise. Likewise, when Ruby made a proposal for her to join them in "The More the Merrier", she showed an instance of vulnerability, before hiding it and dismissing her entirely. It's implied in a conversation with Summer that some part of her choice to leave was because Summer could be who she couldn't, shifting her responsibility over to her.
According to Taiyang, Raven had a straightforward approach, often dealing with obstacles by going through them instead of going around, and saw strength as all-important in a fight, traits that Yang inherited. He adds that Raven was ambitious and gave her all to whatever cause she saw as just while acknowledging she had unspecified faults that greatly contributed to the dissolution of Team STRQ. When Raven told Yang that she didn't know her, Yang replied that she only knows the Raven that her father told her about, asking her mother if she killed her previous self too. The question caused Raven to be shocked and look away, indicating that Raven was once a braver, more idealistic woman before leaving.
After defeating Cinder, Raven shows a softer side, taking the time to close the deceased Vernal's eyes and thank her for her service. This side of her is further shown in "Haven's Fate", in which she and Yang share an emotional conversation. After Yang calls Raven out for killing the former Spring Maiden, her cowardice and hypocrisy in refusing to fight Salem, and for showing a callous indifference to her own daughter's well-being, Raven once more begs Yang to stay out of the war against Salem, but to no avail. Raven subsequently breaks down in tears, apologizing to Yang before fleeing.
Powers and Abilities: Raven possesses great speed in combat, so much so that her attacks are difficult to follow with the naked eye. She shows proficiency in "Iaido", the art of swordsmanship also practiced by Adam Taurus, as seen when she first engages Neo. After her initial attack, she challenges Neo with a more traditional stance, indicating a more intricate fighting style. During her fight with Cinder, she was able to slice in half a massive boulder and use the elemental effect of her ice blade to smoothly slide away from an attack, all within seconds, showing a faster than average reaction time. She allowed Cinder to chase her during the initial stages of their battle, letting her opponent expend energy before launching a counterattack. She also takes to account her surroundings during battle, and often uses what is around to her advantage, such as falling debris.
As a testament to her skills, Raven as a child, with no formal training, was able to get into Beacon through sheer skill, which normally requires several years of training at a combat school to do. She then went on to train directly under Ozpin and became skilled enough that he entrusted her and Qrow with a portion of his power, as well as becoming a part of his inner circle.
It is stated in "Welcome to Haven" that Raven is equally matched with her brother Qrow, although this did not take her Maiden Powers into account. During the one time they were shown fighting each other, Raven had the initiative, forcing Qrow back and landing a kick on him.
Weapon: Raven's weapon of choice is Omen, a scabbard that has a rotary chamber filled with different types of Dust blades, reminiscent of the Dust vial chamber of Myrtenaster wielded by Weiss Schnee. The blades, when connected with the accompanying handle, are reminiscent of the long-bladed, single-edged ลdachi, or "great sword". Using the handle, Raven is able to wield a variety of different blades, each one possessing a different color and property.
By reattaching the handle to the scabbard, Raven is able to interchange, or if need be, replace the Dust blade. The blades are telescopic, which allows them to be approximately twice the length of the scabbard. She tends to most often use the blade made of Red Dust, though she has also used others. The colors seen so far in combat include Red, Blue, Yellow, Gray/Black, and Green. The Dust blades, though powerful, can be broken if struck several times or hard enough. Since they are Dust, she can use them for elemental based attacks.
Semblance: Raven's Semblance, Kindred Link, allows her to create portals to instantly travel to people she has a strong emotional connection with and can cover vast distances through them. Raven largely uses this ability to make an exit, rather than for offensive purposes: she has notably used them to teleport to Yang in order to save her from Neo, as well as to leave the bar in Higanbana after talking with Qrow and to allow Salem's associates to walk into Haven Academy from her camp. Raven can also allow other people through her portals, as she did with Weiss and Yang, without going through herself or requiring them to be bonded to her, provided they are with- or traveling to- someone she is bonded with. To activate the ability, she swings her sword, causing a portal to open a few feet in whatever the direction the blade was swung at, but she is also able to open portals without her sword, such as when she opened one in her bird form. To date, she has bonded with at least four people:
Taiyang Xiao Long Qrow Branwen Yang Xiao Long Vernal โ Maiden Powers: Without knowing that it was his sister, Qrow Branwen deduces that much of the damage wrought in Shion Village was caused by the Spring Maiden, exemplifying her destructive utilization of the Spring Maiden's powers. She is able to generate a lightning strike in "Lighting the Fire", summoning it from the sky like the previous Fall Maiden Amber could. In "A Perfect Storm", she is able to summon strong gusts of wind and turn the sky from clear to cloudy in an instant. In both cases, she was able to disguise her power and make it appear that Vernal was performing the feats.
When she uses her magic, her eyes produce a dark red flame matching her Aura, which is why she wears her Grimm mask whenever using Vernal as her decoy. In "Downfall", during Raven's fight with Cinder, she makes use of several different elemental powers. She can generate ice, either by condensing it into weaponry, forming ice spikes or freezing from a distance. She can also generate electricity from her hands and release it in close ranged strikes. Lastly, she demonstrates the ability to fly, which she has been able to use additionally to propel herself at high speeds. Unlike Cinder, Raven does not choose to specialize in or prioritize the use of one element above the rest. Rather, she varies in attacks that she uses to keep her opponents off balance. Also, she does not rely heavily on her Maiden powers, mostly using it as a physical boost, as seen in "Downfall" where she used them to keep up with Cinder. As the Spring Maiden, Raven is the only one that has the power to open the Vault containing the Relic of Knowledge in Mistral. Later it was revealed that again only Raven can lock the Vault once it was opened.
Transformation: Like her brother, Raven has the ability to transform into a corvid, specifically a raven, which she demonstrated in "Known by its Song". This ability was bestowed upon her by Ozpin through magic in order to act as his eyes in the world. With it she can fly and cover large distances, though she largely uses it for stealth purposes, such as observing Qrow or Yang as well as disguising her arrival at Haven. While transformed, she can still use her Semblance, as seen in both "A Perfect Storm" and "Haven's Fate". She can also talk while in this form.
Oscar: Oscar Pine is a major character in RWBY who first appeared in "The Next Step". Formerly a farmhand from Mistral, he became the current incarnation of the ancient warrior Ozma, causing him to depart from his home to help protect the world from Salem. Appearance Oscar is a boy who is short in stature with his hair unkempt umber or black with green undertone. His skin is tanned and he has a faint, perpetual blush and freckles on his cheeks. His hair is dark brown and his eyes are hazel, the main iris being forest green, with accents of burnt orange and yellow around the pupil. As of Volume 7, there is a slight height difference in Oscar where he barely reaches past Ruby by the head as seen in "As Above, So Below".
Original (Volume 4โ6): He initially wears a dirty and scuffed white shirt that has laces across the chest. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and there is a pocket on the left tricep. Orange suspenders hold up his olive pants, which are tucked into worn, brown boots. The pants are patched over the knee, and a quilted cloth hangs loosely out of his left pocket. He wears orange gloves, with green straps overlapping across the back of the hand in an X shape, and around the wrist. His neck is wrapped with a torn bandage, though it is noted to not be covering a wound.
Combat Outfit (Volume 6โCurrent): After arriving in Argus, he changes to a completely different outfit. He wears an olive coat with shoulder pads and a belt both of dark red. Underneath, he wears a white collared shirt and bandages wrapped around the neck. His gloves are a slightly open U-shape with black X-pattern wrist straps. He also wears black trousers and red boots colored orange at the toe.
Personality: Oscar seems to be of a calm and passive disposition and generally seems to enjoy his life as a farmhand, working on his chores as soon as he wakes up. He works with a visible smile on his face, implying he enjoys his tasks.
When Ozpin makes contact with him, he initially brushes off any of his requests, wishing to instead remain as a farmhand and not accepting Ozpin as anything more than a voice in his head. However, in "Kuroyuri", he gives in and begins his journey to Haven Academy. According to Ozpin and later stated by himself, Oscar desires to be someone more than just a farmhand.
Oscar seems uncomfortable in new social situations, as shown when he approaches Qrow Branwen on behalf of Ozpin and first conversing with the members of Team RNJR. His slow pace of speech and tendency to look down while talking suggest awkwardness when engaging with strangers. Oscar also sounds nervous when Ozpin mentions he must strengthen his body and Aura.
Oscar has two different versions of himself after Ozpin's soul merges with him. One is his own personality while the other is Ozpin using his body. Each version of him smiles differently than the other and at certain points, their voices mix with each other.[8]
Though he trains diligently under Ozpin's tutelage from within him, Oscar is incredibly frightened at the prospect of the world going to war again. After conversing with Ruby Rose and then Ozpin, Oscar appears to have taken a great step in conquering his fears of war, as Ruby disclosed to him the reason why she fights, reassuring and inspiring him.
In spite of his lack of experience in combat, smaller size and gentle appearance, Oscar does possess a willingness to fight. This is displayed when he agreed to spar against James Ironwood, a man quite larger than him and bearing much more experience due to his militaristic lifestyle. Oscar can also lash out against opponents if he has been attacked or his allies have been attacked. During the attack on Haven, Ruby was knocked out, resulting in Oscar being fueled by consequent rage and determination and using it to fight harder against Leonardo Lionheart.
Despite his training molding him into the disciplined warrior that he will become, Oscar is not without a sense of empathy and compassion even towards his enemies or aggressors. A stark contrast to the more jaded Ozpin, who has suffered betrayals from allies and foes alike. In his battle with Hazel Rainart, he attempts to empathize with the emotionally wounded man despite Ozpin's advisement that Hazel had been too broken for too long to listen to reason. He holds nothing against Qrow's negativity towards him due to Ozpin, and forgave Jaune easily for his outburst. Notably, his trust in others has come to some effect, as he was able to sway Hazel against Salem by trusting him with using the Relic of Knowledge, as well as how honest and straightforward he was when telling him.
After learning the truth about Ozma and Salem, Oscar expresses fear that his life would simply be another repetition of Ozma's mistakes and regrets. He later comes to terms with the fact that he will likely lose his identity soon, but states he will do everything he can to help with what little time he has left. He later demonstrates an awareness of the speed of the merge and declines heavy reliance on his new magical powers as a result.
Since arriving in Atlas, he appears to be naturally accessing more of Ozma's memories, remaining calmer and more collected than before and readily reassuring others in times of crisis or doubt. Additionally, Oscar seems increasingly familiar with the layout of Atlas and their technology, as a previous incarnation of Ozma was the one who proposed the idea of placing Atlas in the sky using the Relic of Creation to begin with.
In "As Above, So Below" Ironwood notes surprisingly that Oscar talks about the previous time in Atlas as if he was actually there, showing that Oscar has unconsciously started to tap more into, and access, Ozma's memories from his previous incarnations.
In "The Enemy of Trust", Oscar is shown to have acquired new wisdom as he tries to convince Ironwood not to abandon Mantle and the rest of Remnant out of fear, and again later when he decides to focus on figuring out how to save Atlas rather than discuss Ozpin's self-exile at that moment. This has shown how much Oscar has matured in his role.
Powers and Abilities: In "Necessary Sacrifice", Oscar claims he has fought the occasional small Grimm before on his farm. By the time he and the others arrive in Mantle, Oscar was capable of killing a Sabyr in a single hit.
As a former farmhand, he is agriculturally inclined.
Weapon: Oscar's weapon is The Long Memory, unlike other weapons, the cane was passed down to him by his predecessor Ozpin. After training he became skilled in it, even using attacks as fast as him.
Reincarnation: Due to the reincarnation process, Oscar's soul is fused together with Ozpin's, and he has access to the former Headmaster's memories.
In "Unforeseen Complications", it is revealed that Oscar can temporarily relinquish control of his body to Ozpin. While he is in control, Oscar's physical body appears to gain the dexterity and motor control of Ozpin and is able to leap and flip in the air; his reflexes are also immensely faster. However, once Oscar regains control of his body, he loses this level of coordination.
Due to Ozpin's merging with Oscar's soul, Oscar will eventually gain all of the former's martial prowess. Oscar has rapidly developed considerable skill and familiarity in the use of The Long Memory as a weapon, with Ruby and Jaune both noting his startling progress over the course of his training.
In both "Lighting the Fire" and "Haven's Fate", Oscar is shown to have a notably different stamina than Ozpin and his teammates. What causes no visible exertion to Ozpin while fighting, can give Oscar varying levels of fatigue after switching back. By "The More the Merrier", Oscar became formidable enough to take on Lionheart in a one-on-one duel. Oscar's fighting style took on many of the qualities of Ozpin's, particularly his speed, his rapid transition between offense and defense, and his tendency to switch between using one of and both of his hands when striking with his cane. He also possessed a strong defensive Aura cloak, being able to take a direct hit at near-point-blank range from Leonardo's Dust projectile shield with little discernible effort. Despite this, his Aura can be broken quickly from stronger opponents, such as The Hound, who broke his Aura in two strong hits and knocked him unconscious. In "Refuge", Ozpin tells Oscar that although it felt like the former was gone, it was not the case, as Oscar was rapidly gaining both his remaining magic and memories, showing that the merge was still ongoing. Following his capture in "Midnight", when Oscar suggests to sabotage Salem through her inner circle, both he and Ozpin say it at the same time, indicating that they now have the same thoughts. After Oscar used The Long Memory to destroy Monstra, the large burst of magic accelerated the merging process. By the time of "Risk", there is barely any difference between the two souls. He has taken on much of Ozpin's mannerisms such as looking out the window as well as leaning on his cane. In addition, when the two switch, the transition is instant, with the only indication being a slight glow to the eyes. In the Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic, Oscar tries to prevent the merge with the help of Ozpin but is unsuccessful, as when speaking to Jaune Arc in "A Knight's Journal", he recalls Ozpin's memories as though they were his own, needing to be reminded by Jaune otherwise.
Magic: As the current incarnation of Ozma, Oscar is capable of wielding the same magic as his predecessors. In "The Enemy of Trust", he conjures an energy barrier through magic for protection when uses The Long Memory to burst through the bottom of Atlas. Later, he conjures another barrier to survive his fall. After landing in the crater beneath the City of Atlas, he refers to the barrier as "that power", while asking if Ozpin has come back. The barrier is similar to one that Ozpin conjured in "End of the Beginning". In "Witch", he fires an energy beam at Salem during his escape from Monstra, though it merely causes her to stagger. Despite the immense helpfulness of magic, Oscar tends to hesitates in using it due to it causing the merging process to accelerate.
Salem: Salem is the main antagonist of RWBY. An ancient, mysterious figure from Remnant's forgotten past, she is one of the few who possesses the power of Magic, and the master of the Grimm. She is highly knowledgeable, cunning, and the leader of a cabal which operates out of Evernight Castle in the Land of Darkness. Her goals are to find the Maidens and use their powers to obtain the Relics from the Huntsman Academies. She was a part of the original Humanity, before being cursed with immortality and falling into a Grimm Pool. She was married to Ozma and had four daughters with him before their ideologies tore them apart, resulting in their children's deaths and making them mortal enemies. In "War", it is revealed that the reason she intends on dividing Humanity is so that when the Relics are brought together, The Gods will destroy Remnant and in turn, break the curse on her, allowing her to die. She is the protagonist of The Girl in the Tower, a fairy tale which details her early life. In "Ruby Rose", the first episode of the series, Salem serves as the narrator, giving the opening voice-over for the series, but credited only as "Mysterious Narrator" in "Black and White" and "Breach" until her first on-screen appearance in the Volume 3 finale, "End of the Beginning". She is also the narrator of the first four RWBY: World of Remnant episodes.
Appearance: Past: In ancient times, Salem was a woman with fair skin, pale platinum blonde hair and light blue eyes. She wore most of her hair in a half up-done bun style with a small, simple bun on the top, and the remainder of her long, straight hair hanging at the bottom. Most of her bangs were tied back, barring several large locks that framed her face to her left.
She wore a white two piece dress consisting of a sleeveless, diagonally overlapping white backless pleated top with a raised pale blue halter-top square collar adorned with an aquamarine colored rhombus-shaped crystal on the clavicle surrounded by two smaller white rhombuses. Her long, high-waisted skirt was white with a faint purple tint - adorned with white diamond emblems and white wavy lines near the bottom hem, ruffled around the waist and completed with a purple sash. For accessories she wore gray circular earrings, a pair of dull brown bracers, and a thin leather strip that holds the same crystal over the sash. Her long fingernails were painted pale lilac. If noticed carefully, she also has on faint purple heeled flats obscured by the skirt. Original (Volume 3โ6): Salem's skin is currently a deathly pallor, with jet black sclerae in her eyes and glowing crimson irises that shine brighter when she is agitated. While she initially retained her half-bun hairstyle for her now bleached, pale white hair, she has since re-styled it into a larger bun with six offshoots wrapped together that also suspends several obsidian-colored ornaments. Over the passage of time, she has since grown dark purple veins that line her face and arms, and now has a black diamond-shaped marking in the center of her forehead.
She wears a very long, short-sleeved, form-fitted black dress that obscures her feet and partially drags across the ground, with its distinctive feature being a curved high collar with dark red trim bordering the outer edge of a narrow window exposing her bust in a vertical ellipsis resembling an eye, and completed with a long shawl emblazoned with three interconnected, maroon-colored vertical elliptic sigils resembling a trio of overseeing eyes above a series of maroon-colored diamond emblems. She also wears a ring resembling a Beetle on her right hand, which now have longer fingernails with jet-black nail polish.
Mirage When Salem appears as an apparition through a Seer, most of her body appears to be covered in black and purple smoke. She is able to hover over the air, and towers over others. The center of her chest glows red. Beneath the smoke, she appears to be wearing a new outfit through the mirage, including arm warmers, and has her shoulders exposed.
Current (Volume 7โCurrent): Following her arrival in Atlas, Salem dons a new set of clothes. She now wears a long sleeved black partially exposed form-fitted "cold shoulder" dress, ending in middle finger loops, with red trim flowing from her raised collar bordering through the vertical window exposing her bust, to the sides of her hips and three crimson stripes flowing all the way down to the bottom hem of her dress. Additionally, she has ornate light gray bone arm cuffs on her upper arms, and an elaborate, cross-shaped brooch with a rhombus-shaped ruby gemstone atop her clavicle, closing her outfit and forming the aforementioned slightly wider, diamond-shaped window. Completing her ensemble is a similar black cape with matching red trim, with a couple additional red gemstones hanging from her Appearance
Past: In ancient times, Salem was a woman with fair skin, pale platinum blonde hair and light blue eyes. She wore most of her hair in a half up-done bun style with a small, simple bun on the top, and the remainder of her long, straight hair hanging at the bottom. Most of her bangs were tied back, barring several large locks that framed her face to her left.
She wore a white two piece dress consisting of a sleeveless, diagonally overlapping white backless pleated top with a raised pale blue halter-top square collar adorned with an aquamarine colored rhombus-shaped crystal on the clavicle surrounded by two smaller white rhombuses. Her long, high-waisted skirt was white with a faint purple tint - adorned with white diamond emblems and white wavy lines near the bottom hem, ruffled around the waist and completed with a purple sash. For accessories she wore gray circular earrings, a pair of dull brown bracers, and a thin leather strip that holds the same crystal over the sash. Her long fingernails were painted pale lilac. If noticed carefully, she also has on faint purple heeled flats obscured by the skirt.
Original (Volume 3โ6): Salem's skin is currently a deathly pallor, with jet black sclerae in her eyes and glowing crimson irises that shine brighter when she is agitated. While she initially retained her half-bun hairstyle for her now bleached, pale white hair, she has since re-styled it into a larger bun with six offshoots wrapped together that also suspends several obsidian-colored ornaments. Over the passage of time, she has since grown dark purple veins that line her face and arms, and now has a black diamond-shaped marking in the center of her forehead.
She wears a very long, short-sleeved, form-fitted black dress that obscures her feet and partially drags across the ground, with its distinctive feature being a curved high collar with dark red trim bordering the outer edge of a narrow window exposing her bust in a vertical ellipsis resembling an eye, and completed with a long shawl emblazoned with three interconnected, maroon-colored vertical elliptic sigils resembling a trio of overseeing eyes above a series of maroon-colored diamond emblems. She also wears a ring resembling a Beetle on her right hand, which now have longer fingernails with jet-black nail polish.
Mirage: When Salem appears as an apparition through a Seer, most of her body appears to be covered in black and purple smoke. She is able to hover over the air, and towers over others. The center of her chest glows red. Beneath the smoke, she appears to be wearing a new outfit through the mirage, including arm warmers, and has her shoulders exposed.
Current (Volume 7โCurrent): Following her arrival in Atlas, Salem dons a new set of clothes. She now wears a long sleeved black partially exposed form-fitted "cold shoulder" dress, ending in middle finger loops, with red trim flowing from her raised collar bordering through the vertical window exposing her bust, to the sides of her hips and three crimson stripes flowing all the way down to the bottom hem of her dress. Additionally, she has ornate light gray bone arm cuffs on her upper arms, and an elaborate, cross-shaped brooch with a rhombus-shaped ruby gemstone atop her clavicle, closing her outfit and forming the aforementioned slightly wider, diamond-shaped window. Completing her ensemble is a similar black cape with matching red trim, with a couple additional red gemstones hanging from her bun.
Personality: Salem is insidious, patiently moving to undermine and destroy her enemies with cold, deliberate resolve. She is also highly intelligent, with a healthy respect for her enemy, mankind, who she recognizes as possessing both resourcefulness and ingenuity, acknowledging Humanity's capacity to draw strength from hope. She is humble enough to recognize that there are limits to her abilities and that she can only do so much for her subordinates.
She is very confident and self-assured, secure in her knowledge that she can best whatever Ozpin sends to stop her and her goals. She also appears to be cruel or sadistic, seeming to relish the prospect of watching Ozpin fail. During her attack on Atlas, she shows cruel delight that she can force him to watch as she destroys the Kingdom.
In contrast, Salem is also fair and collegial towards her allies, giving credit where credit is due and showing genuine appreciation to those who are loyal. In enforcing this atmosphere of fairness, she also discourages unnecessary malignancy and cruelty among her associates. She is also seen tolerating her allies' unruly behavior to some extent, such as Tyrian Callows' maniacal tendencies and Arthur Watts' snide and condescending attitude. In "So That's How It Is", Salem shows her fairness when she only blames Cinder Fall, who was in charge of the mission, for their failure in acquiring the Relic of Knowledge during the Battle of Haven. She forbids Hazel Rainart from taking the blame, even threatening him when he continues to do so.
Salem knows how to manipulate people and has different methods to do so, such as boosting Watts' ego, giving promises of power to Cinder and making use of Leonardo Lionheart's fear. She is one who would make use of anybody to help further her goals, something Salem herself suggests when explaining her decisions to Cinder, but would later discard the people she uses if they become obsolete to her, which is later violently demonstrated when she uses a Seer to kill Lionheart for trying to run from the Battle of Haven. However, Salem is not above losing her temper, as she is particularly demanding when inquiring whether Cinder has truly killed Ozpin or not. This display of sheer dominance shows Salem's rather imperious and demanding personality. Her biggest displays of anger are shown in "So That's How it Is", when she first binds Hazel to the floor after he tries to cover for Cinder, and then when she destroys all the windows in her council chamber upon learning that Ozpin has already reincarnated and has acquired the Relic. Likewise, when Oscar Pine attempted to mimic Ozma's mannerisms, Salem did not hesitate to furiously grab his face to make it clear that she can see through his efforts. Due to the countless millennia of walking Remnant, Salem is suicidal in nature. She wishes nothing more than to be rid of her immortality and has gone to great lengths to do. Even jumping into the Pools of Grimm could not kill her and instead only gave her the power to control the Grimm. It has also given her a low opinion of Remnant, deeming it a "ruined world." In the present, her goal is to divide Humanity and acquire the Relics so that when The Gods destroy Remnant, the curse on her will finally be broken, allowing her to die. In the distant past, Salem was shown to be a kind yet lonely woman but appeared to be slightly manipulative. This was shown when her beloved Ozma died of an illness, leading her to attempt to trick the Gods into bring him back. She did the same to Humanity to turn them against their creators, only for it to fail. After she jumped into the Pools of Grimm, she gained a destructive nature.
When she and Ozma reunited, Salem was shown to be truly happy and a genuinely kind and loving mother to their daughters. However, this did not stop her from murdering Ozma as well as their daughters in a rage when she learned they were trying to flee their home once Ozma realized the monster she had become. In "Fault", she conjured smoky images of her daughters, indicating that she still harbors lingering feelings towards them.
Powers and Abilities: Salem is a powerful individual capable of both wielding Magic and controlling the Grimm. Though normally preferring to work in the shadows, when out in the open few can oppose her, such as when she destroyed both the Kingdoms of Atlas and Vale. Because of this, she is undoubtedly the greatest threat to walk Remnant.
Due to her immortality, Salem does not bother to defend herself from attacks, focusing purely on the offensive. She also has a incredibly high resistance to pain, able to keep going even when dealt lethal blows.
Salem has lived for thousands of years, during which she acquired extensive knowledge of the nature of Aura and Dust, as well as an understanding of Human nature, society, and history.
Magic:
Salem, being a member of the original Humanity has access to Magic.
In battle, she commonly uses energy based attacks. She can fire large energy blasts from her hands, as well as generate electricity around her. In "Fault", she uses an energy beam to torture Oscar Pine for refusing to divulge any information. In "Witch", she makes use of several types of magic when fighting Hazel Rainart, such as summoning a large cyclone to both lift her and move around quickly, as well as firing a barrage of energy beams. She can also use fire for her attacks, as shown when she launched a fireball at The Gods in "The Lost Fable", and later killed Ozma with a fire blast following their battle.
In addition to her other magic, she can project telekinetic force as seen when she casually crushed a Giant Nevermore and shattered all the windows of her council room in a fit of uncontrolled rage. Furthermore, she is capable of flight and possesses some form of superhuman strength, as she easily flips the massive table in her headquarters, all while seated. Finally, she is capable of enhancing her speed to move incredibly fast, and possesses clairvoyance in the form of observing things through her Seers or a crystal ball.
She is capable of manipulating unconventional elements such as smoke to suit her needs. In "Fault", she conjures smoky images of her daughters, and in "The Final Word", travels as a cloud of smoke to quickly reach the Atlas Vault after reforming.
Salem was cursed with immortality by the Gods, making it impossible to destroy her. When the God of Darkness vaporized all of Humanity, her immortality allowed her to remain unaffected. This was further shown during her battle with Ozma, where she was reduced to a pile of ash, but reformed instantly. The time it takes for her to regenerate can vary, with the longest being a few hours.
She is not restricted in movement while regenerating. In "Witch", she immobilizes Yang Xiao Long while her chest is caved in. When Hazel blows her head off, she restrains him with Shadow Hands while it is reforming.
Grimm Powers:
After the Gods destroyed the first Humanity and left Remnant, she jumped into the Grimm Pools in the Land of Darkness, which altered her body further and turned her into a "being with a desire for pure destruction." Raven Branwen reveals that Salem is the Grimm's master. As such, she can command them to do her bidding. This was thoroughly shown both in "Midnight", when she uses the Grimm Liquid produced by Monstra to break though the Hard-Light shield of Atlas, and later in "War" when she controls it to create an endless army of Grimm against the Atlas Military. Furthermore, her control over them is absolute, as she was not only able to command countless Grimm during her siege, but kept them from rushing the city until she began her assault. Alongside this, she possesses the ability to mutate the Grimm as well. She can alter their physiology and graft Grimm parts to a Human's body or even create hybrids. She causes Beringels to sprout wings in "Our Way" and gave Cinder a Shadow Hand for use as a prosthetic arm. She can also create Grimm that possess unique abilities, such as Seers for messaging or Monstra as a mobile battleship. In addition, Salem can summon multiple Shadow Hands on command as seen in "So That's How It Is". Her preferred method is using them to restrain her opponents. The Shadow Hand she gave Cinder allows her to steal the powers of Maidens, a feat of which was never accomplished before. She can also cause the Shadow Hand to inflict pain on Cinder, as a means of punishment. In "Witch", she makes use of traits found in different Grimm. She stretches her arms similar to the Shadow Hands in order to catch Emerald Sustrai as she tried to escape. She also uses a black tar-like substance to immobilize Yang and bring her closer, which is the same one found in the Beetle. She can also utilize some form of astral projection as seen in "Gravity", when she appears as an apparition through a Seer to confront James Ironwood. In "Fault", Salem states to Cinder that The Hound is an experiment. It is later revealed in "Dark" to have a Faunus as its core, most notably with a Silver Eye. This shows that Salem's experiments are creating Grimm hybrids using living beings as the core. The hybrid is shown to be extremely intelligent and possessing several traits, most notably the ability to speak as well as mutate its body to suit its need, from changing its shape to growing wings or additional limbs.
Cinder Fall:
Cinder Fall is the secondary antagonist of RWBY. She is a member of Salem's Inner Circle and was the leader of her own faction. She is also the current Fall Maiden. Her machinations are the driving force behind the events of the first three volumes and cemented her as the main antagonist of the Beacon Arc. She made her debut in the first episode of Volume 1, "Ruby Rose". Cinder used a special Grimm glove to steal half of the Fall Maiden's powers from Amber. During the Fall of Beacon, she gained the other half and killed Ozpin in battle. When Beacon fell, Ruby Rose unleashed the power of her Silver Eyes, putting Cinder into a state of near death and causing her to lose her left eye and part of her left arm. She had incredible difficulty speaking for a time, and her entire left arm was eventually replaced with a Shadow Hand.
After narrowly surviving a defeat by Raven Branwen, Cinder allied herself with Neopolitan, one of her former associates, in order to eliminate their shared enemy against the orders of Salem. She later succeeded in getting the Relic of Knowledge thanks to Neo and returned to Salem on Monstra. In "The Final Word", Cinder obtains the Relic of Creation and the Relic of Knowledge, and sends Team RWBY, Jaune Arc and Neo falling into the void. Afterwards, she delivers both Relics to Salem.
Appearance: Cinder is a fair-skinned young woman with bright amber eyes and long, ashen-black hair that covers her left eye and rests over her left shoulder. On her upper back she has a black tattoo of her emblem: a pair of high heel shoes placed sole-to-sole, forming a heart shape inside. Her fingernails are painted dark red. In "Black and White", she wears lipstick and violet eyeshadow.
Original Outfit (Dustweave Vestments, Volumes 1โ3): She wears a dark red, long-sleeved, off-the-shoulders, V-neck minidress with a quadrant-shaped keyhole on the upper back framing her tattoo and two laces tied together across the neckline. Golden regal designs decorate the dress around the keyhole, across the chest, and down the sleeves which end in loops around her middle fingers. The dress splits from her right hip down, and has a tapered tail ending just above her knees. The hem is trimmed with black lace.
She wears black, lace-up shorts underneath her dress as well as a black choker around her neck. She also has dark, glass, high-heeled shoes.
Mounted on her right hip where the dress splits is a brooch consisting of a black, rhombus-shaped gem set within a gold metal frame with several iridescent blue and green feathers radiating out from it. She has a gold hoop earring with a black gem dangling from it on her right ear, and a jeweled anklet around her right leg. The designs on the dress glow bright orange whenever she uses the Dust that is sewn into them. Her eyes and earring also glow.
It is possible that her appearance is influenced by East Asian culture, as the aforementioned regal designs are styled similarly to traditional Japanese or Chinese patterns.
Her clothes throughout Volumes 1-3 are referred to as Dustweave Vestments in RWBY: Combat Ready, seemingly confirming they have been woven with Dust in them.[9]
Haven Uniform: When undercover at Beacon, Cinder is seen wearing the uniform of Haven Academy, a more conservative dark gray outfit with a long-sleeved collared top and white armband. Unlike most female students, who wear silver knee-high socks, Cinder wears black tights.
Infiltration Outfit: During her infiltration of the Cross Continental Transmit System Tower, Cinder is shown wearing a black infiltration outfit, which she had previously been seen sewing together in "Extracurricular".[10] The outfit consists of a sleeveless jacket, long gloves, stiletto heel boots, a black glass mask and several straps with containers of powdered Dust lined across her pants. The gloves, boots and pants have black mosaic designs that are infused with Dust that glows bright orange when in use. When needed, Cinder can instantly transform her infiltration attire into a formal black evening gown that has black glass[11] designs on it.
Tournament: When attending the Vytal Festival Tournament, she wears gray pants and boots, a beige leather sleeveless jacket with light-beige details, brown gloves, a sarashi tied around her chest and another around her hips, and a pauldron on her left shoulder. She also wears a belt around her waist which has multiple brown pouches attached to it. Her fingernails are painted with tan nail polish.
Flashback: During the events of "Beginning of the End", Cinder had shorter hair. Her previous attire looks similar to her original outfit except that her dress has separated sleeves and the dress is held up by straps tied around her neck in a bow. Her heeled shoes are made of a more typical material, rather than glass. She did not have her characteristic tattoo until after she stole a portion of Amber's Maiden powers. Her fingernails are a dark red color.
Mistral Outfit (Volumes 4โ6): After the timeskip following the Fall of Beacon, Cinder's appearance went through a drastic change. Her hair is much shorter and she wears a mask that appears to be made of black glass over her missing left eye and the scarring from said injury extends into a slight x-shape over the bridge of her nose, as well as having deformed and degraded the tissue of her left ear.
She wears a long, dark red, velvet dress with one long, wide sleeve hiding her left arm. The collar and the opening for the right arm are trimmed with gold piping, and the dress is decorated with golden regal designs from the collar over the left shoulder and down the left sleeve. The right side of the dress is split from the hip down with two gold-colored straps made of interwoven ropes connecting the front half to the back half of her thigh. Under the dress, she appears to wear black pantyhose. On her right arm she wears a gray, opera-length glove with gold metal trim atop the cuff with curved, branching extensions up her arm. She retains her glass high heels.
The brooch on her right hip has changed; the feathers are colored a cyan-magenta gradient and are arranged in an array facing downward. Her previous earring has been replaced by one with a black hoop and a larger gem, and there is a new black hoop earring higher up.
In "Vault of the Spring Maiden", Cinder reveals that her left arm has been replaced with a Shadow Hand grafted halfway up her upper arm where there is a significant amount of scarring. The appendage resembles that of a Geist, with a skeletal forearm and long, sharp claws. The arm is also capable of stretching great distances, and periodically emits black smoke.
Mistral Disguise (Volume 6): After the Battle of Haven, Cinder kills a woman passerby and takes her cloak; a light brown robe worn over a white shirt and pants with a shawl, sash and skirt of a matching dark brown color, with black socks and light brown sandals. Her left Grimm arm is wrapped in bandages, and she no longer wears her black mask or nail polish.
Atlas Outfit (Volume 6-Current): Beginning in "Our Way", Cinder dresses in a black, one-sleeved bodysuit with a gold zip on the right, and two gold notches and gold trim on its rounded, stand-up collar. Slung around her hips are two crisscrossing belts, one narrower and with gold trim while the other has a gold-trimmed pouch on the left buttock, with a third belt around her left thigh at an angle.
On her right arm, a black armband carries a small pouch with gold trim over bandages wrapped around her bicep, and there is a long, black wristband extending partway up her forearm. An opera-length glove on her left arm overlaps the sleeve of her bodysuit to completely cover her Shadow Hand. The glove is embellished with a gold line that encircles its slightly-flared upper cuff and transitions into a shape reminiscent of a downward-pointing arrowhead on the lateral side. Additionally, the glove appears to be made of an elastic material allowing it to stretch with the arm, as demonstrated in "The Enemy of Trust", and conform to its claws. She also wears black, thigh-high, lace-up, high-heeled boots with red soles and decorative cuffs resembling flowers. Her outfit is usually mostly covered by a black shoulder cape with gold trim worn over her left arm and capable of slinging behind her back to allow for more mobility. From her previous attire, she retains the feather brooch which now occupies the right side of her chest attached to a gold cord draped atop her cape, as well as her two earrings. In place of the glass mask that once covered her left eye is a large eyepatch secured by two straps running above and below her right eye. She appears to have put blush on her cheeks, as seen in "Out in the Open".
The Shadow Hand replacing Cinder's left arm appears to have extended up to her shoulder, as shown in "The Enemy of Trust" and onward. Moreover, it appears the scars on her arm have gone through change, now having a raw appearance.[12] Following her battle with Winter and Penny, she loses the glove along with the sleeve covering her arm, exposing her Shadow Hand.
Young: In her youth, Cinder wore her hair in two messy bunches, or "conytails"[13], which left short, dangling bangs over her left eyebrow. She wore a white shirt with a red apron, black pants and black shoes. Notably, her left index finger and right wrist were covered in bandages.
Cinder was also shown to be noticeably haggard and gaunt looking during her early childhood, as is seen when she is shown to be noticeably thinner, her cheeks more sunken, her eyes having deep black bags underneath them and she often had a tired expression on her face. All clear signs of her mistreatment within the Children's Home in Mistral, where she was likely overworked and underfed.
Glass Unicorn Uniform: In her late childhood and early teens, Cinder primarily wore a uniform issued to her by her "Step-Mother" as a "employee" for her hotel, the Glass Unicorn. Her outfit consisted of a white shirt with grey laces as well as grey pants and shoes. As seen during her time growing up in the hotel, she would usually tie her hair into a single bun on the back of her head.
After Cinder killed her abusive step-family and Rhodes, she rips off the shock necklace she was wearing while she was working at the Glass Unicorn and has a noticeable scar where it was on her neck.
Personality: Cinder is ruthless and sadistic, as demonstrated when she delivers a killing blow to a clearly defeated Pyrrha Nikos in "End of the Beginning" and when she throws a spear at a defenseless Weiss Schnee in "The More the Merrier". She is relentlessly driven to gain power and determined to cross any line to obtain it. Cinder demonstrates a cunning that shows in her successful manipulation of events and people throughout the first three volumes. Cinder is also arrogant and egomaniacal and, as such, relishes in dominance and gloating, displaying shameless pleasure in the misery she has caused others. She believes that the power she is after is owed to her, having been promised godlike abilities and the Maiden powers by Salem.
She also seems to be ambitious and demanding in the role of a leader, expecting her subordinates to execute exactly as she wishes with what little she gives them. She does not seem to tolerate failure, preferring for her goals to be successful regardless of the situation. Cinder prefers that such problems be solved quickly, is seen to give very direct orders, and keeps her subordinates on a strictly need-to-know basis, sharing a similar leadership style to Salem. However, she does display a cunning streak, as her allegiance revolves around having Neopolitan kill Ruby Rose so Cinder will not be going against Salem's orders to not kill her.
Usually, she maintains a calm and collected demeanor and is willing to take over a fight if necessary. In the rare occurrence in which she is caught off guard, Cinder's monumental temper surfaces, showing her immense shock and outrage. This is most notable when Jaune Arc just barely nicks the edge of her mask during the Battle of Haven resulting in Cinder flying into a childish rage and start to yell and make threats. This explosive response to even the slightest attack on her shows Cinder's intolerance of fear, leading her to react poorly when others see her feel it. Cinder seeks to be feared and therefore detests being made to feel fear by both her enemies and her superiors alike. Additionally, Cinder is stated to be jealous of those with natural talents.[15]
When Cinder first obtained the Fall Maiden powers, she saw it similarly to a brand-new toy that made her feel like she was the best and strongest. Because of this, she became addicted to the feeling and stopped considering the strengths she had acquired before that moment. Because of this, she was humiliated from her defeat and injury by Ruby atop Beacon Tower. As shown in Volume 4, she did not display her usual confidence, instead appearing sullen and taking insults from the other members of Salem's Inner Circle without reply due to her inability to speak, thus relying on her subordinates.
Even after recovering in Volume 5, her deep desire for vengeance against Ruby clouds her judgement, shown when she negotiates a deal with Raven Branwen to stage an ambush in Haven Academy, despite protest from Arthur Watts. In the end, this results in Raven betraying Cinder, leaving her for dead and taking the Relic of Knowledge. Because of her actions, Salem was forced to change her plans, focusing on attacking Atlas instead of Vacuo due to the Lamp being taken there.
Cinder's thirst and desperation for power stems from a life of powerlessness and having nothing. This desperation has led to a fear of failure and a hatred towards the elite class, who have held power from others forever. She apparently detests being called out on her actions, as shown when Raven cites Cinder's choice to take the arm of a Grimm. Cinder retorts angrily, showing she sees herself as being beyond judgment or the moral codes of others. She is incapable of accepting any sort of criticism from others. However, in "Taking Control", she is visibly horrified watching as Tyrian Callows maniacally kill a Beowolf in grief of having displeased Salem, showing that even she has limits with absolute violence. It is implied that Cinder only enjoys the psychological torture she inflicts and dislikes the bloodier brutality of her associates.
Later, the full extent of Cinder's desperation for power is shown in her reaction of again being denied the power of a Maiden, as seen in "The Enemy of Trust". During her battle with Penny Polendina and Winter Schnee and upon being overpowered by Fria, her anger and frustration reached its boiling point as she began viciously lashing out at Winter, injuring her badly and nearly killing her for deterring Cinder's quest for power.
The World of RWBY: The Official Companion states that Cinder chose to hasten Pyrrha's demise by incinerating her body, sparing her a slow death after being shot in the ribcage. This hints that Cinder might possess a small sense of mercy.
Although Watts' angry rant regarding her arrogance and short-sightedness hinted at Cinder having a change of heart, in reality she does not change at all, merely doubling down on said qualities. In "Worthy", she murders tons of civilians in the central location during the evacuation to Vacuo, and in "The Final Word", betrays and murders her allies without a second thought such as pushing Neo into the void and trapping Watts in the Atlas Command Center before setting it on fire to kill him.
Based on her upbringing shown in "Midnight", Cinder's current personality and desperation for power stems from the abuse she suffered as a child. She faced constant bullying, starvation and abuse from the other children from the home she was raised in, and was later abused even further after being adopted by her step-family, who treated her as nothing more than a servant and abused her regularly.
Despite no longer being under them, Cinder still retains several psychological scars from their abuse. This is seen in Cinder's behavior, where she had apparently unconsciously adopted the cruel traits of her past abusers into her own personality. Though the electrocution she got from the necklace also had an effect on her, making Cinder disdainful of physical torture.
Due to her abusive childhood, Cinder has shown to possess a docile, fearful and submissive side to her personality when dealing with someone who is superior to her. This side of her was most pronounced in her childhood and later after returning to Salem's side after redeeming herself of her past failures. Despite this, Cinder's lust for power ultimately caused her to disobey Salem's order regardless of the consequences when she decided to go to Amity Communications Tower. In "Amity", Cinder is shown to be a bit of a hypocrite, claiming to Penny that she serves no one, yet still serves Salem despite not always following her orders, psychologically projecting herself onto Penny. During their fight, Cinder was shown at her most manic and reckless nature, which would be one of the last times she went way over her head thinking she could achieve her goals through brute strength alone.
As seen during her childhood, Cinder had a more positive and vulnerable side to her personality. This is was partially due to the positive influence of her mentor Rhodes, who attempted to guide Cinder to a better path in life as a Huntress. This is seen when, after being talked down by Rhodes about her wanting revenge on her step-family, Cinder backed down from wishing to hurt them and expressed her true desire of simply wanting to be free and be strong enough to look after herself without relying on them any longer. With Rhodes' influence, Cinder instead chose to focus on becoming a Huntress and becoming old enough to leave. This would later not come to pass after she kills her step-family due to them finally taking their abuse too far. This showed that Cinder initially was hesitant at the prospect of killing and that she was only resorting to it due to seeing it as her only way out, as was seen after Cinder had killed her step-family and was noticeably repulsed by her own actions and did not actively enjoy or take pleasure in having taken their lives.
Cinder was also shown to have developed a genuine friendship with Rhodes, most likely due to his being the first person in her life to have treated her with kindness. She later felt deeply betrayed after Rhodes made his stance clear that he would take her in for killing her step-family, causing her to enter into a rage for him having betrayed her trust. Later after Cinder successfully killed him, she would shed a single tear for her mentor.
Following her experience at the Glass Unicorn, Cinder began hating being "under someone's thumb". She hates it when other people have power over her and even when she works with someone, she is not content to do as she is instructed. She herself always wants to be at the top and can't be anyone's equal.[20]
Powers and Abilities: Cinder is a highly skilled combatant in both unarmed combat and swordsmanship, being able to out-duel both Winter Schnee and Penny Polendina simultaneously in their battle, and later fend off the entirety of Team RWBY with casual ease in "Worthy". She is also a capable markswoman, launching three arrows at once with great accuracy and pragmatically exploiting any advantage whenever possible, such as launching an arrow in Amber's back just as the latter was about to kill Emerald. Cinder has shown to be quite stealthy as well, having snuck around a guard at Beacon Academy to easily knock him out and escaping Ruby when the latter encounters her on her mission and fights her. She is also quite adept at piloting, able to fly a Bullhead during one of Glynda's attacks.
Cinder is adept at Aura-based blocking techniques and easily capable of blocking bullets from Crescent Rose.
She can make extensive use of raw Dust without difficulty. Her primary technique at the time of her battle with Ruby in "Ruby Rose" was a highly forceful blast of fiery projectiles. It was later revealed by the presence of her tattoo that Cinder had obtained half of the Fall Maiden's power prior to this confrontation, although the Maidens were not added as a story element until after Volume 2 and thus were not a canon aspect of the show at the time. Cinder is capable of weaving Dust into her clothes, as shown in "Extracurricular".[10] Additionally, the arrows used when firing Midnight are made using Dust.
Cinder's physical strength is shown being well above average in "End of the Beginning" and "The Enemy of Trust", where she knocks Pyrrha away by jabbing her in the stomach with her elbow and physically overpowering both Penny and Winter with ease. In "Midnight", Cinder showcased that even as a young teenager, she was already physically strong enough to carry a fully grown woman and lift her off her feet by her throat using only one hand and break her neck by simply squeezing her throat and tightening her grip.
As shown in "Midnight", she has a high pain tolerance, most likely due to her years in the Glass Unicorn.
Weapon: During the first three volumes, Cinder's weapons of choice were Midnight. She showcased immense swordsmanship skill in using a dual bladed fighting style and was shown to be skilled enough to overpower the previous Fall Maiden, Amber, and fight off Ruby, a prodigy scythe wielder, with ease.
Midnight can combine together at the bottoms of the swords' hilts to form into a bow, allowing Cinder to make long range attacks by firing arrows at her target.
Later after becoming the Fall Maiden, Cinder chose to no longer use Midnight. Currently, Cinder is able to use her Maiden powers to conjure Magical Weapons at will. Usually, she prefers using blades, and has shown to wield a variety of differently shaped ones with ease. However, she has also conjured bows, arrows and spears as well. Cinder has also shown some skill in using polearm weapons, with her having used at least two different spears as projectiles. As seen with her arrows and blades, Cinder can make her projectile weapons explode at will, with them being shown to possess considerable power in order to bombard her targets. As shown in "Midnight", Cinder's sword skills were taught to her by Rhodes. Because of this, her fighting style greatly resembles his own.
Semblance:
Cinder's Semblance, Scorching Caress, allows her to super-heat objects and manipulate their shape.[17] She can use it to generate explosions by super-heating the ground, as well as turn dirt and dust into glass.
The most notable instance of Cinder's Semblance is during her fight with Pyrrha Nikos, during which she disintegrates her opponent with Scorching Caress.[22]
Her main usage of it in battle is both launching projectiles created by superheating dirt, as seen during her battle against Amber, as well as manipulating her weapon Midnight which is formed through Dust. She can also produce heat from any part of her skin, such as when she burnt Penny using her thighs.
It is revealed in "Midnight" that Cinder's Semblance was awakened due to the abuse from her step-family.
Shadow Hand: During the Fall of Beacon, Cinder is severely injured by Ruby's Silver Eyes. Following this, her left arm is replaced with a Grimm limb known as a "Shadow Hand".[23] It is implied that the arm itself possesses some sort of sentience, as Salem instructed her to make her new limb respect and fear her. The arm is capable of stretching out a long distance and has been shown to be capable of extracting the Maiden powers as seen in her fight with Amber. It is also able to drain the Aura of others, allowing Cinder to fight longer and survive lethal damage by leeching off others' vitality.[24]
The arm is capable of regrowing after being cut off with no permanent damage, as seen during "The Enemy of Trust" when it was cut off by Winter Schnee. However, the process itself is exceptionally painful, with Cinder screaming in agony as it regenerated itself.
As of Volume 7, Cinder's Shadow Arm seems to have slowly begun progressing in covering her entire body, as the Grimm flesh has now reached all the way to Cinder's shoulder while previously the arm only halted at her elbow.
Despite being attached to Cinder, the Shadow Hand possesses a connection to Salem. This is seen in "Midnight", where she uses it to induce pain on Cinder for her disobedience. It is also seen in "The Final Word". Upon reforming, the Shadow Hand acted up, signaling Cinder of her master's return.
Maiden Powers: In order to acquire the Fall Maiden powers, Cinder used a special glove to steal it from Amber. However, she only took half of it when the process was interrupted, which she described as an emptiness. Upon obtaining the remaining portion in "Heroes and Monsters", Cinder gained the ability to use fire-based attacks without the need of Dust or her Semblance.
Cinder later displayed power over other elements she has not used before, such as conjuring a small blast of ice to freeze Raven Branwen solid and the power of wind to levitate herself and fly at high speeds. Furthermore, Cinder also used the power of earth to create a giant flaming molten rock sword out of thin air. Her skill over fire allows her to conjure her glass based weapons without the need of Dust or her Semblance. As the Fall Maiden, she is the only one that can access the chamber of the Relic of Choice, although has yet to do so.
Additionally, she also displayed the power to affect the behavior of Grimm, having been able to somewhat influence the actions of a gigantic Wyvern through her Maiden Powers.
Since her arrival in Atlas, Cinder is shown to have improved in her capabilities, being able to summon weapons that explode at will. She is also capable of breathing fire. However, she is not a fully realized Maiden yet, as she could not face Fria in a fight. She was eventually overpowered in her duel with Raven as well.
During her battles in Atlas, Cinder demonstrated the ability to use fire to fly by creating blasts underneath her feet and in the palms of her hands to act as thrusters. Cinder's mobility and maneuverability in flight was shown during her aerial battles against Winter Schnee and Penny Polendina, wherein she was able to outmaneuver the both and defeat them.
In "Worthy", she creates a vortex of fire similar to the one Fria made out of ice. She also showcased her ability to breathe a long jet of fire and infuse lightning with her flames when hitting Ruby in "The Final Word".
Weaknesses:
Following Cinder's unexpected defeat during the Fall of Beacon at the hands of Ruby, Salem reveals that upon acquiring the powers of a Maiden, Cinder gained a crippling weakness to the powers of the Silver Eyes, most likely due to her usage of a Grimm glove. After getting a Shadow Hand grafted into her body, its innately soulless status prevents Cinder from protecting it with her Aura, leaving it vulnerable to other weapons and Silver Eyes. Upon her first exposure to the Silver Eyes, Cinder was greatly weakened and significantly injured.
Other than this, Cinder has shown that she could also be defeated by far more experienced Maidens, as was the case with both Raven and Fria.
Roman: Roman Torchwick was a major antagonist in RWBY. Born in the city of Wind Path and abandoned by his mother as a child, Roman became a pickpocket from Mistral in his younger days. After he was caught by members of Spider and was taken under the wing of Lil' Miss Malachite, he became her second-in-command until he started becoming more ambitious than her and defected from the gang to become independent while eventually meeting Neopolitan in the process.
Later becoming a wanted criminal in Vale, he made a very small cameo in the "Yellow" Trailer before being properly introduced in "Ruby Rose". There, he orchestrated the robbery of Dust supplies from the store From Dust Till Dawn, but was ultimately foiled by Ruby Rose and briefly imprisoned by Atlas forces after a Vale Grimm invasion. His weapon of choice was his cane, known as Melodic Cudgel. He served as the main antagonist of Volume 1 and the secondary antagonist of Volumes 2 and 3. In "Heroes and Monsters", he was swallowed by a Griffon after fighting Ruby atop a hijacked Atlesian Airship.
Appearance: Roman was a tall and lanky man with slanted, dark-green eyes and bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs covering his right eye. Black eyeliner traced his visible left eye.
As a result of his affiliation with Spider, he had the organization's emblem tattooed on his right wrist. After deserting the group and fleeing to Vale, Roman had it re-made into his classic pumpkin emblem.
Mistral Outfit (RWBY: Roman Holiday): Roman wore his hair in a short ponytail under a hat. He also wore a green overcoat and black leather gloves that he stole from a wealthy man. This outfit appears to be inspired by unused concept art for Roman.
Vale Outfit (Volumes 1-3): Roman dressed similarly to what he dressed in Mistral. His signature outfit was gifted to him by Neopolitan, who made it herself; though he lost the initial bowler hat.
Roman wore a red-lined white suit with long black pants and black shoes. His accessories included a small gray scarf, black gloves with buckled sleeves, and a black bowler hat with a small feather tucked into its red band.
Roman was often seen smoking cigars, and he kept a small zippo-style lighter on hand at all times
Personality: In contrast to the more violent Neopolitan, Roman Torchwick appeared as a mysterious, cold and ruthless career criminal.
Roman's personality was a mixture between that of a formal gentleman and a ruthless criminal. He was highly manipulative, very charismatic, and charming. He emitted charm and spoke calmly even in the middle of an armed robbery. Roman emitted hostility when upset or frustrated, as seen in "No Brakes" when he ordered the White Fang to help him shoot Ruby as she escaped, bent his weapon and slammed a subordinate backward.
Above all else, Roman was a nihilistic anarchist believing the world to be a dark and cruel place where nothing truly mattered and only those who were willing to take what they wanted in life - by force if necessary - were able to truly survive. It's implied that this cynical mindset was likely a result of his perceived abandonment from his mother who dropped him off at an orphanage as a baby and never looked back. Ironically, his jaded, self-centered, and even pessimistic worldviews are the antithesis of Ruby Rose's idealistic, selfless, and ultimately hopeful philosophy.
Roman displays many of the classic signs of being a possible psychopath. He takes a gleeful kind of pleasure in planning and committing elaborate heists and demonstrates little to no guilt over any of his actions or how they might go on to affect others. He is fully aware of how the rest of the world sees him as a dangerous menace to society but makes no effort to try and justify any of his actions and even seems to take a twisted kind of pride in his infamy, believing himself to be the most wanted criminal in Vale and seeing it as an accomplishment.
He also demonstrated a ruthless streak, evidently willing to use lethal force on Ruby when she foiled his scheme, even going so far as to laugh after successfully shooting her down in "Black and White". In "Heroes and Monsters", he demonstrated a jaded side when he chastised Ruby for her being blind to the cruelty of the real world while trying to beat her with his cane. Judging by his elaborate outfit and accessories, Roman also had expensive tastes, a common stereotype of Mafia Dons and other organized crime kingpins.
Despite working with the White Fang, he had no respect for them and discriminated against Faunus. On several occasions, he talked to or about them in a derogatory fashion, referring to them as "mutts" or "animals". However, in "No Brakes," when calling several White Fang members "animals" for reporting Team RWBY's arrival to him instead of fighting them off, he is quick to tell the White Fang member working next to him that he is exempt from the insult. It is unknown if his treatment of the White Fang is due to genuine racism towards the Faunus race, acting out his frustrations towards having to work with the group (as he prefers to work alone or only with Neo whenever possible), or his penchant for antagonizing others in general.
It was also clear that he held some level of irritation towards Cinder Fall and her faction having been more or less press-ganged into working with them and he was both kept under pressure to steal large amounts of Dust as well as being kept in the dark about Cinder's full plans. He also often took to mocking, taunting and insulting his enemies. This quality persisted even when he was in very difficult situations, such as when he was imprisoned and interrogated by James Ironwood.
In "Heroes and Monsters", he revealed that he worked with Cinder's faction under the belief that nobody can stop them, and he could not afford to lose, considering himself a gambling man who knew what bets not to take. Despite his self-serving personality, it is shown that Roman genuinely cared for his right-hand woman Neo to the point that he was both saddened and angered when she was blown away from the airship during their fight against Ruby. In his final moments, Roman revealed his perception that he ended up the way he was because it was the only way he could survive the harshness of the world.
More of Roman's personality shines through in RWBY: Roman Holiday. His motto and final words were taken as a result of abandonment issues from his childhood, only ever letting Neo in and becoming close with her.
Roman was also highly ambitious, wanting to be famous to satiate his abandonment issues. This ambition led to him carrying on the longest, most successful crime spree the city of Vale had ever seen, becoming a sort of folk hero in the eyes of the public.
Roman was also a flirt, often using this trait to manipulate others. He enjoyed leading on his partner at Spider, Chameleon, as he enjoyed the control of it. He also flirted with Lisa Lavender after his first bank robbery, using her position in an attempt to garner more notoriety. With Neopolitan, however, he gets flustered and reprimands himself when he catches himself thinking about impressing her at the tea shop. He also blushes and gets flustered when Neo shows any form of affection, including when she kisses him on the airship at the end of Roman Holiday. The contrast between the two behaviors shows Roman's genuine affection towards Neopolitan, versus utilizing the other women for his own gain.
Roman was also shown to be paranoid whenever he was offered food or drinks, believing that they were drugged. Due to this habit, he was able to figure out that the tea that Jimmy and Carmel Vanille offered him and Neo was actually drugged and only pretended to be affected to get the drop on them.
Roman believed he'd never truly be happy, but regardless attempted to buy his way into it. Because of this, he attempted multiple schemes in order to become rich quickly, such as when he stole and monopolized Vale's coffee supply.
In the manga adaptation, which alters several things from the canon source, Roman's personality has been changed drastically. In this version, he is portrayed as a deranged sadist who looks forward to the slaughter the Breach will involve. After Ruby is captured, he has her tied to a chair with the intention of letting the White Fang slowly torture her to death showing that he is incredibly cruel and merciless to his enemies. His relationship with Neo has also been changed as shown when after saving his life, Roman coldly tells her to "mind her place" and even threatens to kill her if she "interferes" again.
Powers and Abilities: He also had exceptional accuracy, able to shoot Ruby from a considerable distance along with snatching her by the hood with the grappling hook. Roman was also able to counter all of Ruby's attacks with ease during their fight atop the airship, even when she was using her enhanced speed.
He is also a skilled thief and pickpocket due to his former affiliation with the Spiders. In Best Day Ever he stole the lighter that Emerald had originally stolen from him without her realizing it.
However, Roman was liable to underestimating his opponents and had trouble adapting to surprise attacks. In "No Brakes", Roman found himself unable to counter Blake's use of Dust-augmented Semblance clones and was promptly defeated.
In RWBY: The Official Manga, Roman is shown to be more formidable than as demonstrated in the series, being able to temporarily fight off the entirety of Team RWBY, and later physically strong enough to kick Ruby up several feet into the air with ease.
Weapon: Roman's weapon of choice was Melodic Cudgel, a cane that contained a canon and a grappling-hook. In "Black and White", Roman was shown to be adept in using his cane as a melee weapon. He was very capable in reflexes and parrying, able to hold his own against both Blake and Sun Wukong as swift opponents, deflecting nearly all of their ranged and close quarter attacks.
He had the skills to use Melodic Cudgel offensively, such as using it to hook Blake towards him to deliver a punch or staggering her by whipping her knees. In fact, Roman came close to overpowering Blake, knocking her to the ground and temporarily disarming her.
Piloting:
In "Ruby Rose", Roman was a skilled pilot, as he was able to keep a Bullhead relatively stable even though it was being bombarded with multiple attacks.
In "Painting the Town...", he was also able to operate an Atlesian Paladin-290, effortlessly guiding it through traffic, moving it fast enough to catch up to a fleeing Blake and Sun. He utilized the Paladin's weapons and sensory systems to good effect, yet despite that was unable to defeat Team RWBY.
In "PvP" he was able to pilot an Atlesian Airship all by himself and used it to take down two other Atlesian Airships with ease.
Planning: Roman appeared to be a sort of criminal mastermind. By "Best Day Ever", he had reportedly obtained most of the Dust in Vale, showing that his empire was formidable. This image was furthered by "Players and Pieces", for he was seen planning for the Fall of Beacon. He was also good at planning escapes should his schemes fail, escaping on a Bullhead after his failed Dust heists in "Ruby Rose", "Black and White" and after his Paladin is destroyed in "Painting the Town...".
In "Best Day Ever", Roman's pickpocketing skills are shown, lifting a piece of paper from Emerald Sustrai without her knowing despite being in close proximity to her.
Weaknesses: Despite his experiences, Roman is short-sighted, as shown in RWBY: Roman Holiday. He considers Semblances overrated, instead preferring to use his wits and charm, denying himself a useful tool. He is also prone to attempting to backstab his superiors, which costs him as he makes an enemy of Spider, who does not take to his betrayal lightly and makes an effort to try and assassinate him. Roman's need for attention is also his ultimate downfall, as he is caught off-guard when trying to self-aggrandize himself in the middle of a swarm of Grimm.
Neopolitan: Neopolitan, born Trivia Vanille and now better known as Neo, was a character in RWBY. She was the partner of Roman Torchwick, with the two sharing a close and possible romantic bond. Her weapon of choice was called Hush, a parasol with a concealed blade. She first appeared in "Painting the Town...". After the Fall of Beacon, she hunted down Cinder Fall in revenge for Roman's death, but subsequently joined forces with her, shifting her target to Ruby Rose. In "The Final Word", she was betrayed by Cinder in the Central Location and knocked into the void, finding herself in the Ever After. She is the secondary antagonist of Volume 9. In "Tea Amidst Terrible Trouble", she got possessed by the Curious Cat (becoming the NeoCat) after driving Ruby to ascend, who intended on using her body to leave the Ever After. After killing the Curious Cat in "Of Solitude and Self", she chose to stay in the Ever After instead of returning to Remnant, undergoing ascension.
Appearance: Neo, themed after Neapolitan ice cream, had the appropriate trio of colors in her hair and on her outfit. While sometimes altered via illusion for disguise, her hair color was typically half pink and half brown, with white streaks on the pink side. As of Volume 6, Neo's hair was also styled differently. It was noticeably thicker with a slight wave to it along with shorter bangs and missing her white streaks. The white streaks appeared as an emotional reaction to her parents' deaths in Roman Holiday.[11]
Neo's natural eye color changed between brown, pale pink, and white, and they could alternate coloration in differing combinations, with this ability apparently being entirely under her control. Neo appeared to have a condition known as heterochromia iridum, where the eyes of a subject have two different colors. In her case, it was complete heterochromia, where one iris in its entirety was a different color from the other. During her childhood, her left eye was pink, and her right eye was brown.[12] In Volume 3, she was seen wearing green eyeshadow, starting with her paramedic disguise.
Despite being in her twenties by the start of RWBY, Neo was also rather diminutive in stature, compared to the rest of the main cast, including Ruby Rose, as shown in the height chart presented by Monty Oum. This was demonstrated in "No Brakes", when she stood up against Yang Xiao Long, as Neo was only able to reach her chin despite wearing high heels.
Original (Volumes 2-6): Neo wore a white cropped wide, broad tailed jacket with a pink interior, collar, a single pink button and large pink cuffs. She wore skintight brown leather-latex pants with a dark belt that had a gray buckle and an additional narrow belt under it. Under her jacket was a brown over bust whalebone corset, curved in the middle and at the bottom, which exposed her hips. She also wore a multitude of black beaded necklaces, which hung haphazardly around her neck. Neo also wore black and white spat styled under the knee boots alongside black gloves.
In "The Coming Storm", Neo went through a slight outfit change: she wore Roman's hat, seemingly in remembrance of him, and her clothing was shown to have been torn up over the time since her last appearance, especially on her jacket's left shoulder that revealed a broad shoulder strap of her corset, her coattail and leggings. During her fight with Cinder in this episode, she hid the damage and Roman's hat with an illusion until they moved the fight into an alley.
Post-Timeskip (Volume 6โCurrent): In "Our Way", Neo sported a new outfit while still wearing Roman's hat. It consisted of a chocolate brown jacket that starts just below her shoulders and above her chest and had a pink interior, two brown belt shoulder straps and twin gray button seams. She wore a gray scarf similar to Roman's, and a white three gray button-up vest style top that was strapless and cropped exposing her midriff. She also wore a pair of chocolate brown detached sleeves with puffy tops and pink trim alongside a pair of white funnel cuffed gloves with gray button detailing. She also wore skintight white belted leather-latex pants and black and white spat styled ankle boots with cutout detail just above the ankle. The back of Neo's jacket was shown to have a small, coned ice cream key chain that was usually covered by her hair.
Notably, Neo's eyes no longer switched colors between each other in her natural state, while she kept her green eye shadow.
Trivia Vanille: Prior to going by Neopolitan, Trivia Vanille originally had only brown hair but maintained the pink and brown heterochromia in her eyes. In public, her parents made her wear colored contact lens that made both eyes appear brown. At the time, she wore her hair in pigtails, and her clothes consisted of a brown dress with dark brown cuffs and a white collar with a black ribbon attached to the collar with matching ribbons in her pigtails.[12] At the age of twelve, she also had an "adventuring outfit" consisting of a white tank top, brown blazer and matching pants alongside white sneakers with pink hearts.
After becoming possessed by the Curious Cat, Neo's body briefly underwent a transformation. Her eyes became those of the Cat's in their normal form, with a light blue sclera and white pupils and her teeth also became much more jagged and sharp. Later, her arms were changed into large light blue claws, partially tearing her sleeves in the process.
She later changed back to her original form after the Curious Cat had left her body.
Disguises: While participating in the Vytal Festival Tournament, Neo had a completely different appearance. Her hair was black with lighter streaks where her white streaks would normally be, and her default eye color was green, though she could change it to pink, brown or white at any time. Her hair was done up in a twin tail hairstyle with white bows and her bangs were still in the same usual style from her original appearance.
She wore an outfit with a black and white color scheme. Her attire consisted of a sleeveless black blouse with white frills on the chest and collar and a black ribbon bow hanging from the front of the collar. The blouse exposed her midriff, and she wore medium-length black armbands on both of her wrists. Along with the blouse, she wore a knee-length skirt fastened with a white belt. She wore black shoes with a triple tomoe emblem, a mitsudomoe, on the soles, with white legwarmers. Later, in RWBY: Amity Arena, it was revealed that she wore large, thick white socks over her shoes.
In "Beginning of the End", she disguised herself in a paramedic uniform, with a cap on top of her short hair, and her eye color changed to magenta. In "PvP", she assumed her regular appearance but donned the uniform of an Atlas Military officer. In "Our Way", Neo was briefly seen in a Mistral Police uniform. In "Cordially Invited" and "As Above, So Below", Neo disguised herself in a Schnee waitress uniform with black shoulder-length hair clipped with two barrettes and green eyes.
In "Out in the Open", it was shown that Neo could disguise herself as already existing characters i.e., Ruby Rose. In "With Friends Like These", Neo was shown to be capable of taking on forms of different genders as she took on the appearance of Oscar, however she had never been seen impersonating anyone with extreme size or build differences.
In "Witch", Neo showcased the ability to camouflage herself as inanimate objects, as she turned herself into a wall of Monstra to steal the Relic of Knowledge.
Personality: Unlike Roman Torchwick, who appeared as a cold and calculating career criminal, Neo was a more unstable unpredictable dangerous killer.
Neo was a mute who cannot speak since birth and as such communicated purely through body language, miming, or text messages.
Neo was stated to be cruel, vicious, and sadistic, as seen in her smile as she prepared to stab Yang in "No Brakes", as well as in "Round One" when she proceeded to brutally stomp on her opponents face with a cruel smile despite him being physically unable to continue their match. However, she did seem to exhibit fear and hesitance when she knew she was outmatched, fleeing if her opponent proved to be as such. This could be seen when Raven Branwen appeared and engaged her on the White Fang cargo train. She was rather perceptive and was able to recognize superior abilities to her own, despite her confidence. Neo was also seen to have a vengeful side by her attempt to kill Cinder Fall in "The Coming Storm" for her part in Roman Torchwick's death, only stopping when she revealed her Maiden powers.
Neo was highly determined when she set her mind to a task, often dealing with any problems presented to her efficiently and competently. During her battle against Team JNPR, Neo took notice of Lie Ren's protectiveness of Nora Valkyrie and took advantage of that by transforming into her using her Semblance to make him hesitate. She also used Emerald Sustrai and Hazel Rainarts's escape as a cover to steal the Relic of Knowledge and skip away in the dust cloud created from Monstra's explosion.
Additionally, she was extremely ruthless, easily turning to violence as a means of achieving her goals and often doing so with a playful demeanor. In "Worthy", she alongside Cinder and Arthur Watts had assaulted the people stationed at the Atlas Command Center.
Neo possessed a desire to be validated whenever she accomplishes a task, as well as to be treated as an equal by a partner or superior. She was happy with working with Roman, as he often acknowledged her for completing a job. However, while working for Cinder, she was irritated by her lack of recognition or respect towards her. She was further angered when Cinder took the Relic of Knowledge from her without a word of gratitude and failed to give her credit for successfully stealing the Relic, as well as taking credit for her accomplishments to redeem herself before Salem. These actions eventually resulted in her going against Cinder's orders for her own wishes.
Neo was extremely loyal to Roman and very close with him. She willingly carried out his demands and he was the only one she did not show contempt towards. Likewise, Roman never got upset with Neo like he did with others, and they were very proficient in wordlessly coordinating attacks. Neo was shown to be devastated after his death, and wears Roman's hat in memory of him. She is solely driven by a need to exact revenge for what happened to him and has gone to near suicidal lengths to do so, including facing Cinder alone. Neo had a previously lonely life until she met Roman, and after his death her life returned to said state. This is illustrated by her disheveled appearance in "The Coming Storm".
Later, Neo took fights slightly more seriously becoming even more sadistic, cruel, and merciless than before. Previously, during her V2 fight with Yang, Neo toyed with her before knocking the girl unconscious and afterwards unsheathing Hush. Similarly, in her V3 fight against Ruby, Neo opted not to use her sword to fight, and later used it to threaten Ruby, which ultimately turned out to be her undoing when she used Hush to send her flying. Comparatively, in current fights, while she continued to mock her opponents, Neo used her blade more frequently and is shown dispatching foes much more quickly and not dragging out finishing moves any longer than necessary. It's implied that this notable change in behavior may be a result either of her perceived feelings of guilt for having failed Roman when he needed her the most, frustration at all of the constant delays towards avenging him, growing fed-up with all of the ridiculous situations she's found herself in or even a combination of all three.
In RWBY: Roman Holiday, it is shown that Neo was abused by her father and mother for not being the perfect child, due to her inability to speak, heterochromia, and unruly behavior. She had an imaginary friend named "Neopolitan", who she subconsciously used as a scapegoat to take the blame for her own rebellious desires that she had externalized. This was due to her parents simultaneously punishing her for her wants while not taking them seriously, as well as her loneliness and desire to be freeโ"Neopolitan" was everything Trivia had wanted to be.
Eventually, Trivia realized that "Neopolitan" was an externalization of her own desiresโthat she and "Neopolitan" were one and the same. All the violently lashing out at those who wronged her, rule-breaking and illegal activities, taunting, freedom and danger "Neopolitan" had pursued was just what Trivia had wanted, but felt she wasn't allowed to after a series of eventsโincluding her introducing herself as Neopolitan rather than Trivia to Roman, which she felt was "right" and gave her "a fresh start", with the metaphorical final straw being her mother physically shattering the illusion of "Neopolitan" conjured by Overactive Imagination in front of Trivia. When Trivia took on her new identity and name as Neopolitan, she viciously and fervently enforced her own wants and whims in contradiction to how long she'd been forced to repress them. Similarly, she took great pride in herself and cared little of how other people perceived or felt about her, in contrast to how her parents had insisted their image mattered more than anything else, including Neo's desires.
At the end of Roman Holiday, during the fight at the Vanille Estate involving Neo, Roman Torchwick, Senior Xiong, and Lil' Miss Malachite, Neo made a split-second decision to trick Lil' Miss into triggering a Dust explosion on the third floor in order to escape the fight, though the explosion ended up unintentionally killing her father and she suspected also her mother. This was Neo's first experience with the death of someone known to her, uncertain of how to react and feeling that it didn't affect her, although she gains her iconic white stripes in her hair at this time, indicating she was impacted by their deaths no matter what she thought. Her inability to legitimately process her parents' deaths was indicative of her larger inability to handle grief, as further shown by her single-minded revenge driven handling of Roman's death.
In โTea Amidst Terrible Troubleโ, after she drove Ruby to ascend in the Ever After, she became a broken and emotionless person herself as she realized she only wanted revenge, not to conquer the Ever After, and now that she achieved it, she no longer had a purpose. She became so broken that the Curious Cat was able to take over her body to fulfill their own agenda.
In โOf Solitude and Selfโ, Neo was released from the Curious Catโs control and upon being exposed to the smoke of the Great Treeโs leaves, Neo was shown to have gone through significant emotional growth, as she eventually realized that revenge wouldnโt make her happy, nor fill the emptiness in her heart and would only consume her entirely, leaving her with nothing. The entire experience in the Ever After caused Neo to finally let go of the past, by letting go of Roman and accepting his death, as instead of trying to continue attacking Ruby or her friends, she decided to go through Ascension in order to find a new purpose for herself and become something new.
Powers and Abilities: In "No Brakes", Neo proved herself to be a highly skilled combatant, able to defeat Yang in a one-on-one fight, seemingly playing with her opponent as she was able to defeat her without taking anything more than a glancing hit. Her fighting style was highly evasive, dodging, deflecting or maneuvering around her opponent's strikes until she had exhausted them, or was ready for a counterattack. Neo also displayed incredible reflexes and speed, dodging several of Yang's attacks with ease, even when holding her umbrella in one hand.
This was further shown in "Heroes and Monsters" where she was easily able to keep up with and defeat Ruby almost single-handedly, and in her fight with Cinder in "The Coming Storm", with Neo taking two hits and delivering four back to Cinder in a mostly even fight, only backing down when Cinder resorted to the use of her Maiden Powers. Cinder also commented Neo had 'grown stronger'. An example of that was shown in "The Enemy of Trust" with despite being completely outnumbered by both Oscar and Team JNR, she easily evaded, parried and dodged their attacks and overpowered and outmaneuvered them with quick and powerful strikes while doing so in a joking manner, hinting that Neo herself was not taking them seriously and was toying with them during the majority of their battle.
Neo had also displayed herself to be very acrobatic and exceptionally skilled in hand-to-hand combat relying on her agility to dodge and misdirect enemy movements and attacks, before retaliating with her own kick-based attacks resembling Bartitsu with the way she blocked with her parasol, and Capoeira with her acrobatic kicks. She learned this as a student at Lady Browningโs Preparatory Academy for Girls, where they had a secret program for training chosen students to be assassins with a wide variety of classes in fencing, self-defense, and escape artistry. Neo excelled in all these classes and even trained under a rogue Huntress, her skills reaching the point that she could stand up against the Malachite sisters when they tried to stop her from escaping the academy.
However, Neo had also been shown to immediately back out of a fight she knew she couldn't win. She instantly retreated upon seeing Raven in "No Brakes" and stopped attacking Cinder in "The Coming Storm" when she activated her Maiden powers, despite instigating the fight in the first place. It also appeared that she had more difficulty against opponents equipped with a melee weapon, as opposed to barehanded fighters; she easily bested Yang in "No Brakes" but had a more even contest against Ruby in "Heroes and Monsters" until Roman arrived to reinforce her. During her fight with Cinder in "The Coming Storm", Neo initially held the initiative, but Cinder gradually gained the advantage once she equipped herself with dual swords. During her duel with Maria Calavera, Neo was consistently outmatched until Maria became distracted. When she faced Ruby again in "Worthy" and "The Final Word", she held the initiative, but fell for Ruby's attempt to goad her, lashing out in anger that enabled Ruby to get the better of her. While using her weapon in sword form, Neo has displayed a sword style similar to Victorian Age fencing, as seen during her battle against Team JNPR and Oscar, where Neo held one of her hands behind her back as she made several swift sword stabs, jabs and swipes at her opponents. Notably, during her first few appearances, Neo never used Hush's blade to fight, only to down fallen opponents like Yang. Later, she is seen using it once, for a split second against Cinder and afterwards begins employing it regularly in fights.
By Volume 8, Neo's combat skills became powerful enough that she could easily fight multiple skilled opponents simultaneously. In "Worthy", she was able to fight against both Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna and largely keep them on the defensive.
Weapon: Neo's weapon of choice was Hush (a custom-made gift from Roman),[9] a parasol containing a long, thin blade hidden within the length of the parasol's tube, which could also project the blade's tip from the top end of it. The canopy of the parasol was made of an extremely dense, durable fabric that could repel minor Dust explosions, allowing Neo to use it as a shield or a glider. Unlike many of the weapons shown in RWBY, Hush did not appear to contain a concealed firearm or projectile weapon, therefore it could only be used for close quarters fighting.
In "Of Solitude and Self", it became a part of her wooden chrysalis when she ascended.
Semblance: Neo's Semblance, Overactive Imagination, allowed her to create "physical illusions that can be seen by everyone", as opposed to Emerald's Hallucinations, which usually only affect the person(s) she targets.[15] These illusions were highly convincing and shattered like glass when she dispelled them, or someone broke them. Her most apparent use of them was creating illusions around her body, either to disguise herself or for her opponent to target while she escaped or moved unseen to another point of attack. They also seemed to be somewhat resilient to damage. While fighting Cinder, the illusion concealing Neoโs outfit was not dispelled even after taking or landing some hits. This was revised however in Volume 7, as her disguise was dispelled upon receiving a punch from Oscar. Additionally, in later volumes, she has learned to use her Semblance for psychological manipulation, exploiting the appearance of close friends and families in her enemies to torment and overpower them.
In "Our Way", Neo displayed her new mastery over her Semblance, where she managed to completely disguise an entire Mistral Airship to physically resemble an Atlas one, implying that she could maintain the facade long enough to fool the Atlas Military and cross the continental border checkpoint into Atlas.
Neo also used her Semblance when communicating with others in lieu of her muteness, as seen in "Out in the Open" where she transformed into Ruby when arguing what to prioritize with Cinder.
Initially, unlike Emerald's hallucinations, Neo's illusions did not affect a person's hearing, as she was not able to mimic sound or voices; thus, if she was disguised and someone tried to talk to her, her muteness might give her away. Before her time in the Ever After, her illusions also seemed to be limited in their range; they typically only covered Neo herself, and either a short distance around her or something she was touching, such as the Mistral airship that she disguised as an Atlesian Airship in "Our Way". However, as seen in her battles against Yang, Ruby and Cinder, she could maintain an illusion after moving away- until something made contact with it, after which the illusion will shatter.
As shown in "Witch", Neo herself had showcased the ability to create a camouflage illusion across her entire body in order to hide in plain sight. She altered her physical appearance, completely blending in with the dark crimson colors of Monstra's walls. Doing so, Neo was able to observe Oscar, Emerald, and Hazel accessing the Relic of Knowledge.
In โRude, Red, and Royalโ, Neoโs Semblance evolved further, where she now had the ability to make multiple copies of herself. These clones were semi-autonomous, able to either copy movements of Neo or perform commands given by her. She could also control them at will and the clones themselves retained the ability to physically attack others, such as the Jabberwalker.
In โThe Parfait Predicamentโ, it was shown that she could create clones of other beings as well, such as the Jabberwalker, and could even have them mimic the speech and voice of the original.
As seen in โThe Perils of Paper Housesโ, her Semblance could seemingly replicate another being to the point of copying their unique abilities. This is implied when the Jabberwalker clones attempted to devour Ruby, suggesting that the clones also possessed the originalโs ability to permanently kill a Afteran by eating them, though this is currently unconfirmed.
In "Tea Amidst Terrible Trouble", Neo created clones of Penny Polendina, Pyrrha Nikos, Ozpin, Leonardo Lionheart, Clover Ebi, James Ironwood, Oscar Pine and Roman Torchwick. Her clones were able to perfectly replicate their voice, facial expressions and even to a degree, their personalities and fighting styles. She could also construct complex constructs such as appliances and even entire buildings, having replicated a copy of the Vanille Manor, complete with functioning lights and furniture and portraits of her memories. She could even create functioning weapons using her Semblance, as shown where she recreated Milรณ and Akoรบoฬฑ, Floating Array, The Long Memory, Stalwart, Melodic Cudgel, Due Process, had Milo and Akouo, Due Process, Melodic Cudgel and Stalwart fire rounds, and Milo and Akouo change forms.
Furthermore, as implied in "The Perils of Paper Houses", Neo possessed a connection to her constructs and could project her psyche through them, first shown where she remotely transformed one of her Jabberwalker clones into herself to send Ruby a message of her targeting her. Later, she projected her thoughts and feelings through her clones of Rubyโs friends and acquaintances, signified when their eyes turned into her heterochromia of pink and brown.
Neo's power was shown at its strongest when she had her final confrontation with Ruby in "Tea Amidst Terrible Trouble": she created a large Tea Room for Ruby to walk in, hosting a tea party of sorts with fallen comrades of Ruby. Her projections had enough autonomy to speak, fight and even bleed. They speak in Neo's stead, acting as a way for her to verbally communicate what she hated about Ruby and how she had personally failed them, all which quickly broke Ruby's spirit.
Other Skills: Neo herself proved to be a competent getaway driver and a highly skilled infiltrator, as shown in "Beginning of the End", where she, disguised as a paramedic, drove Cinder, Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai away to an unknown location in an Air Bus after they initiated their plan to frame Yang.
This has been proven to be one of Neo's greatest talents, as she showed that combined with her Semblance, she could easily infiltrate military compounds no matter how well guarded or secure they are. One of the best examples was when she was shown walking through an airship full of Atlesian soldiers she presumably killed to free Roman and later Neo again showed her skills in infiltration and hijacking, when she managed to easily acquire a Mistral airship after presumably infiltrating a Mistral air base to steal it without being detected or noticed by the Kingdom's military or officials. Later she showcased that she could even easily infiltrate the highly secured Atlas Academy and later escape from it with no one noticing her at all and managed to again hijack and steal an Atlesian Manta.
Neo has displayed a high level of cunning and skill in acting when using her Semblance, as seen when she observed and notices the close relationship between Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie and was able to use it to emotionally manipulate Ren into giving her an opening to attack and escape. After her Semblance evolved, Neoโs ability to psychologically manipulate others using her Semblance had also increased, as shown where she was able to make her clones of Penny, Pyrrha, Ironwood, Ozpin and Oscar act, behave and sound like the originals to the point that they were able to effectively illicit emotional anguish from Ruby. Neo also showcased the ability to make her clones of Yang, Blake, Weiss, Jaune, Nora and Ren behave similarly realistic.
With the aid of her Semblance, Neo was shown to have expertise in pickpocketing, as she was easily able to steal the Relic of Knowledge off of Oscar without him knowing until it was too late.
Weaknesses: Although Neo was an exceptionally skilled melee fighter, she had a habit of dropping her guard when she decisively gained the upper hand, either out of smugness or anger; this sometimes allowed opponents to make a successful counterattack. Examples included her gloating after defeating Yang in "No Brakes" and Ruby in "Heroes and Monsters"; in both cases, this gave her opponents (Raven and Ruby) time to turn the tables on her. In "The Final Word", after Neo disarmed Ruby, Ruby provoked her anger over Torchwick's death, causing Neo to impulsively attack and fall straight into Ruby's trap. In "Tea Amidst Terrible Trouble", when Neo had Ruby at her mercy, she left herself open to a surprise attack from the Curious Cat, temporarily disrupting her attack on Ruby.
She also had a one-track mind, which while admirable in achieving her goals, presented some drawbacks. She did not care what happened to her so long as her goal was achieved, as seen in "A Place of Particular Concern", where she attempted to kill Ruby even while the two were falling through the void to their apparent deaths. This one-track focus also meant she did not consider what she'd do next if she ever achieved it. In "Tea Admist Terrible Trouble, after she tortures Ruby into ascending, she falls into a catatonic state, not knowing what to do with her life now and leaving her free for the Curious Cat to possess due to her empty heart.
Emerald: Emerald Sustrai is a character in RWBY. She was an associate of Cinder Fall and the former partner of Mercury Black. Her weapons of choice are Thief's Respite, a pair of dual revolvers with collapsible sickle blades which can become kusarigamas.
She made her first appearance in "Black and White" of Volume 1. In "Risk", following her defection from Salem, she decides to ally herself with Ruby's Group. Appearance: Emerald is a young woman with medium-brown skin and dark-red eyes. Her hair is a light, mint-green with a straight fringe and bangs as well as two long locks on each side in the back.
Classic Outfit (Volumes 1-6): She wears two bronze-colored rings on her middle fingers as well as a pair of strappy high-heeled pumps. She is stated to be in the age range of a Huntsman Academy student.
Originally, her attire consisted of an intricate white top and an olive-colored crop top, on the back of which is her personal emblem. This emblem is in the shape of a cut gem, most likely referring to her name. This was intended to be accompanied by white shorts, decorated with what appears to be a gold coin-plated belt with four gold chains draping around her back from two of the coins and what seems to be a green loincloth.
She also wore a gold, three-ring armband on her left arm and a string of gold beads near the same wrist. As of Volume 2, her outfit has changed somewhat. Her top has thinned, her crop top is now shallow-cut, and her armband and beads no longer seem to be made from gold. She also sports white cropped pants with brown chaps that attach to her brown belt.
For the dance, Emerald wears an olive-colored, halterneck, backless dress with a black sash around her waist, and matching heeled pumps.
Haven Uniform: Later, she is also seen wearing the Haven Academy uniform, a more conservative dark gray outfit with a long-sleeved collared top and white armband.
Flashback: In "Beginning of the End", Emerald was younger, noticeably thinner, and had her hair tied into a ponytail. Her previous attire was a short olive-colored crop top, and she wore her signature chaps which were torn and belt. Beneath her chaps, she wore dark green pants and plain dark brown flat shoes. She also wore white half-gloves. Atlas Outfit (Volumes 8โPresent): In Volume 8, Emerald dons a new set of clothes. She now also wears a mint green crop top with off the shoulder pulled back sleeves beneath a cropped white quilted leather, double breasted biker jacket contrasted with black notch lapels with matching cuffs alongside her emblem on the back in black as well as a belt loop at the bottom of the jacket's hem. Completing her ensemble are matching white, skinny jeans and brown chaps that end at her thighs, they appear flared with a small open section with straps on the lower calves. The tops and bottoms of the chaps have a mint green trimming to them as well. She also wears a overlong belt, twice-wrapped, to which her chap straps connect to. She keeps her weapon holsters attached the back of the belts. She completes her outfit with a pair of brown ankle boots with metal toe plating. Her hair is also noticeably fuller and longer and her irises are wider. Emerald also wears a red gradient gem pendant around her neck and a beaded bracelet on her right wrist.
Mercury: Mercury Black is an antagonist in RWBY. He is a former associate of Cinder Fall and the former partner of Emerald Sustrai. His weapons of choice are Talaria, a pair of dual ranged shotgun boots.
He made his first appearance in "Black and White" of Volume 1. In "Midnight", he becomes a member of Salem's Inner Circle.
Appearance: In Mercury's first appearance in "Black and White", he is shown to be a pale, young man with gray eyes and gray hair, partially slicked back while unkempt at the front. The World of RWBY: The Official Companion describes Mercury as a "skinny guy" and is stated to be in the age range of a Huntsman Academy student.
He has prosthetic legs that attach part-way up his thighs. These legs are usually hidden from view due to him wearing pants and a pair of shoes. Mercury possesses an athletic yet slim physique measuring 178cm tall (5'10") when he first arrives at Beacon Academy, which later on further develops to 188cm tall (6'2").
Original Outfit (Volumes 2-6): Mercury's appearance does not change much leading into Volume 2. Mercury wears a slate gray and black two-tone partial-zip jacket that covers his upper body. He also wears a single notched belt with what appears to be a sash or bandana draped over it. Protecting his arms are a set of rerebraces and vambraces.
Haven Uniform: While at Beacon Academy, Mercury wears the Haven Academy uniform, which consists of a dark gray outfit with a long-sleeved collared top, black pants, and a white armband.
Flashback: In "Beginning of the End", he was first seen wearing his signature zip jacket with the collar zipped all the way up, minus his armor. His pants were dark orange and he wore a pair of black boots.
Current Outfit (Volumes 8-Present): As of Volume 8, Mercury's attire includes a two-tone black and gunmetal gray, double-breasted, leather, zip-up biker jacket with black, notched lapels and a large, black print of his emblem across the overlapping panel. The gray portions of the jacket are sectioned off with piping, and there are button-closed self-belts around the hem and cuffs. Underneath, he wears a light blue 3/4-sleeve, quarter-zip turtleneck shirt with the zipper pulled down slightly to create a Y shape. The shirt is colored black on the shoulders and arms, and has two vertical orange lines up the front. He also dons a pair of black fingerless gloves reinforced with silver armor on the dorsal side.
His black pants have straps angled around his thighs, the left of which supports a pouch that buttons closed. There is an orange flight tag reading "M80-495" chained to a belt loop on the right side. Zippers encircle the pant legs just above the knees, seemingly allowing the bottoms to detach. Like his previous outfit, his pants tuck into the boots of Talaria, which now have two wing-like adornments attached to the outer ankles.
Mercury's hair has received more definition, with the bangs that cover the right side of his face being proportionally smaller and more defined. He's also apparently gotten somewhat taller, growing from 5'10" to 6'2".
Personality: In "Best Day Ever", Mercury is shown to be rather care-free and often jokes around when in the company of Emerald Sustrai, who he makes an effort to annoy. He seems to opt for excitement and action; he dislikes books without pictures and tells Emerald he finds the city boring. However, when it comes to matters at hand, Mercury displays a sense of seriousness and levelheadedness. However, his carefree attitude may occasionally slip out during combat, such as when he taunted Ruby Rose during both their encounters once he got the advantage. Based on his fight with Pyrrha Nikos, he appears to test and gauge his opponent before fully committing to an attack, showing he has a strategic mind and cunning.
Mercury also seems to derive personal enjoyment from the pain of other people, showing no qualms about intimidating and killing others, even light-heartedly joking about it afterward with Emerald. Although subtle, he also speaks in a derogatory fashion about Tukson even after having murdered him in cold blood.
Despite his usual carefree demeanor, in "The Next Step", it is shown that Mercury does not take insults or disrespect well, responding to Arthur Watts' insults with an eagerness to attack him until Emerald stops him. He is usually outspoken, but when he is with Salem's Inner Circle, he refrains from speaking. This was shown again in "Lost" when he lashed out at and attacked Tyrian Callows when the latter mocked him for being a child that feels like a "big bad man" and correctly assuming all Mercury knows in life are pain and violence, condescendingly calling his life "such a tragedy". Unlike Emerald, Mercury also realizes that Cinder Fall never truly cared for him and that in the end, their relationship was purely business. Despite this, he was very compliant with her orders.
Mercury carries an immense bitterness within him due to his abusive upbringing by his assassin father, Marcus Black. This bitterness holds over due to the fact that Marcus used his Semblance to steal Mercury's, which he said would return if Mercury became strong enough, which he proved the moment he killed his father. This turned out to be a lie, and Mercury feels as though he has had to work harder than any other member of Salem's Inner Circle due to his stolen Semblance. His father abused him physically and emotionally and that he used to constantly beat him up and call it "training" while telling him that he was weak and relying on crutches, making it obvious he suffered a miserable upbringing filled with hate and misery. In the same episode, Tyrian later alludes that the only reason Mercury is on their side is because of Marcus' influence and that he is now too afraid to leave the few things he knows: pain and violence.
Despite his demeanor, Mercury does indeed possess a sense of camaraderie. This is seen in his relationship with Emerald, where after Yang Xiao Long had come up with the Relic of Knowledge and assuming Cinder had perished, he had helped an emotionally distraught Emerald to get her back on her feet and escape with him and Hazel when it became apparent that the odds were no longer in their favor.
In "Midnight", Mercury again attempted to get Emerald to understand Cinder's selfishness and lack of genuine care for her after the two returned from disobeying Salem's orders, implying that he was worried for her being potentially dragged down with Cinder and punished by Salem or killed.
In "War", after Emerald goes to Mercury about what she learned concerning Salem's true goal, Mercury tries to dissuade her from going against Salem in order to prevent herself from getting killed. However, after hearing Tyrian casually confirm that Salem's goals are indeed to destroy all of Remnant, he is shown to visibly unnerved. Later upon leaving to Vacuo, he returns her worry by nodding his head to her in goodbye.
In the โVolume 9 Bonus Ending Animaticโ, Mercury has become increasingly unsure of his actions following the revelation from Tyrian that Salem intends to destroy Remnant, as during their break out of Gillian Asturias and Jax Asturias, Mercury was notably distraught.
Powers and Abilities: As seen in his fight with Pyrrha Nikos in "Extracurricular", Mercury is shown to be a very acrobatic and agile fighter who relies upon quickly overpowering his opponent with complex kicks that imply a near-mastery of martial arts that resemble Tae-Kwon-Do. He is also capable of a break-dancing style, similar to Capoeira and makes use of Muay Thai as well as shown in the same fight. Despite his focus on kicks, Mercury also uses his hands to grapple, block or redirect enemy attacks.
His experience and skill are aggressive and effective enough to drive even fighters of a high caliber, like Pyrrha, into a defensive position. He possesses great speed which allowed him to outrun and evade the rapid-fire bullets from Coco Adel's weapon Gianduja even at point-blank range. His strength is seen when he makes Yatsuhashi Daichi stagger on his feet and later knocks him out with ease despite the other's towering size and heavy build. Due to his fighting style, Mercury relies on his swift and quick reflexes to counter and block his opponent's attacks as first demonstrated during his fight with Yang Xiao Long, altering the course of her punches and using his footwork to raise her fists and kick underneath or around her attacks.
Mercury is also known to be observant, tactical, and analytical; he notices and deduces the capabilities and limits of Pyrrha's Polarity Semblance after she uses it once during their brief fight. He demonstrates his observational skills once more when he tracks down and counters Ruby Rose's movements when using her Semblance in their encounter, an ability so fast none of Team JNPR could stop during their food fight against Team RWBY in "Best Day Ever".
Weapons: Mercury's weapon of choice is Talaria, a set of boots that are equipped with a firing mechanism built into them similar to Yang Xiao Long's Ember Celica.
Prosthetic Legs:
Mercury has a pair of robotic legs, which he acquired at some currently unknown point in time. His prosthetics make up most of his leg, including a portion of his thigh and everything below the knee. His prosthetics are also quite durable, being able to withstand significant attacks such as the powers of a Maiden.
According to Gray G. Haddock, the internal screws in Mercury's prosthetic legs are Philips head screws.
Mercury's legs emit the faint sound of servos when he walks.
Espionage: Among Mercury's skills, his talents at information gathering and subterfuge would appear to stem from his training as an assassin. While undercover at Beacon Academy, he strategically spars with Pyrrha Nikos in order to gather information on students' Semblances to aid in the initiation of the Fall of Beacon, being able to put on the convincing facade of a well-meaning - if somewhat cocky - student of Haven Academy.
Semblance: In "Lost", Mercury reveals that his father stole his Semblance when he unlocked it. His father used his own Semblance to steal Mercury's and claimed that he would give it back when Mercury became stronger. However, Mercury never got his Semblance back despite getting stronger and after killing his father, Mercury still has possibly no chance of regaining it. Not much is known about Mercury's Semblance otherwise.
Adam: Adam Taurus was a major antagonist in RWBY. Formerly a worker for the Schnee Dust Company, and later the leader of the White Fang's Vale branch, he eventually became the High Leader after murdering the former leader Sienna Khan in a coup, but was ousted after their defeat in "Haven's Fate". After his failure at the Battle of Haven and subsequent expulsion from the White Fang, he began relentlessly chasing his ex partner, Blake Belladonna, only to be overpowered and killed by her and Yang Xiao Long in "Seeing Red". He served as the main antagonist of Volume 6 alongside Caroline Cordovin.
Described as both a mentor and former romantic partner, Adam made his first appearance in the "Black" Trailer as a deuteragonist where he worked together with Blake to attack a train carrying a Dust shipment but was abandoned by her at the end of the trailer. He later made his first proper appearance in the show at the end of "Breach". His weapons of choice were Wilt and Blush, a sword and a rifle that doubles as a scabbard.
Appearance: Adam was a tall Faunus with a lean built and auburn hair that spikes backward in a windswept way. While most of his hair was red, he had streaks of brown. A noticeable trait of his appearance was the mask he wore, which obscured his entire upper face above his nose. Behind his mask was a scarred Schnee Dust Company brandmark across his left eye, which was bloodied with a gray iris and a singed eyebrow, as opposed to his remaining blue eye and brown eyebrow. His Faunus heritage was a bull, as he had two reddish-black horns, one on each side of his head, also seemingly slanted back.
Original (Volumes 1โ4): Adam wore an asymmetrical black, long-sleeved, double-breasted stylized high-collared blazer with slit sleeves along with red thorn sigils adorned with a white crest that lined up on his left shoulder. His suit jacket had crimson lining atop his red shirt, with red thorn sigils atop a black flap attached to the bottom of the left hem and his wilting rose emblem on the back over an emblazoned white sigil resembling the curved stems and flower of the deadly nightshade plant. His blazer was half-buttoned, exposing a red shirt with a black line running parallel to his collar under it.
His mask was whitish-tan with red, Japanese style, horn-like symbols decorating the front and two slits on each side presumably to allow for vision. This is a redesigned version of the Grimm masks typically worn by most members of the White Fang.
He wore long black dress pants, black shoes with red soles and black gloves with red sigils resembling the Greek letter ฮฉ (Omega), the last letter in the Greek alphabet.
He wore a black belt with white domino marks on it. His color palette generally consists of black and red, similar to the colors scheme used by Ruby Rose.
Past (Volume 6 Adam Character Short): The designs on Adam's jacket and the red Omega emblems on his gloves were not shown when Adam encouraged the members of the White Fang during the raid on a Dust processing plant. The wilting rose emblem on his jacket and a white symbol on the left side were later added when he defended the White Fang from an attack on their convoy alongside Ghira Belladonna, Ilia Amitola, Sienna and several White Fang members. The red floral design on the front of Adam's jacket and the corresponding white design on the back of it were not originally there. They, including the Omega emblems on his gloves, were added after Blake reassures Adam that he still has her and prior to his mission with Sienna and Ilia.
Post-Timeskip and Final (Volumes 5โ6): Adam's outfit was updated to a form-fitting, double-breasted three-tone black and gray leather tunic jacket with red interior lining and two-layers of flares that hung the entire bottom of his jacket around his thigh, befitting his more militaristic mindset after the Fall of Beacon. His rounded collar up to the shoulders of his jacket was black with the two-tone gray colors at the rest of his jacket, which also included a zipper for his left breast pocket, and two more at the sleeves, which also possessed black cuffs.
His dress pants were a matching gray to the tunic and mounted a maroon belt at the right thigh. The back of his tunic retained his red wilting rose emblem with white nightshade stem and flower sigils. Completing this outfit were plain black gloves exposing his wrists, along with twin maroon crisscrossing belts that hung Wilt and Blush on his left, and a black and red-lined drape retaining the red thorn sigil on his right. Finally, he still wore his red-soled black shoes. Sometime after leaving the White Fang headquarters following the Battle of Haven, he replaced his Grimm mask with a black blindfold.
Personality: Fueled by the inhumane treatment he received when he still worked for the Schnee Dust Company and his growing personal vendetta, a young Adam found the home he was looking for in the White Fang, where he was accepted and loved; his happily ever after. During his time as a part of the White Fang, Adam realized his comparative strength to everyone else and began to make use of it.
In the "Volume 6 Adam Character Short", Adam was initially not nearly as antagonistic as he was in the present. He did not begin killing Humans until he was forced to do so to protect Ghira Belladonna. He showed a brief conflict over this action when the latter reprimanded him for it, though after Sienna Khan praises his actions, he began to kill more frequently. Adam's manipulation of Blake Belladonna was also shown; after being confronted by Blake for his violence, he lashed out at her by mentioning her parents' abandonment of their cause, and then apologized and professed his fear of losing her support, emotionally shackling her to himself. By the time of the "Black" Trailer, he shows little regard for the lives of the Humans on the train when he planned on destroying it.
Blake described him as feeling completely justified in how he went about making the world a better place. However, his vision for a perfect future did not include everyone, and Blake began to believe that Adam himself was becoming a monster in the process of trying to obtain it. In "Necessary Sacrifice", Blake explained that her description of Adam changed over time, believing at first Adam was the embodiment of 'justice', then 'passion,' until she realized he was 'spite'. Adam had also proven to be highly ambitious, as shown when he disclosed to Sienna, the White Fang's High Leader, that he wished to start a war with Humanity and enslave them, before usurping and killing her within the same moment.
In "Beginning of the End", he took his cause and the lives of his underlings seriously, rejecting Cinder Fall's initial offer of an alliance, citing the unnecessary risk of dying for a Human cause. It was also hinted that he dislikes Huntsmen, sardonically stating she could have gone to one who strayed from their "righteous path". However, after Cinder arrived a second time, this time with an offer of Dust and Lien as well as a death threat, Adam begrudgingly accepted her terms. By the time of "The Next Step", he continued to be loyal, as stated by Salem.
In "Heroes and Monsters", Adam's true personality came to light. He was revealed to be an embittered, ruthless, sadistic and vengeful man, willing to cut down any opposition towards his twisted ideas of justice being dispensed upon Humanity. He took great pleasure in tormenting Blake, ultimately promising to destroy everything she loves as punishment for her betrayal of the White Fang and, by extension, him. He exhibited extremely possessive, violent, and abusive behavior.
Fennec Albain had noted that Adam's behavior had become increasingly impulsive both because of the stress of leading the White Fang and his obsession to punish Blake for her perceived betrayal. This becomes increasingly clear in "Downfall", where he began to lose his composure in the face of inevitable defeat and he was so desperate after being surrounded that he pressed the switch to detonate the bombs without a second thought as to the safety of his soldiers or himself. This was a clear indication that Adam had changed from a justice-seeking revolutionary to a murderous and spiteful person, as he had previously refused to risk the lives of his followers foelf. This was a clear indication that Adam had changed from a justice-seeking revolutionary to a murderous and spiteful person, as he had previously refused to risk the lives r anyone only to be willing to sacrifice them when he thought victory was out of reach. While once desiring freedom for all Faunus, by the end Adam only sought to fulfill his desires.
Following his defeat at Haven, Adam became even more aggressive. Upon his return to the White Fang base in "Argus Limited", he lashed out and killed his fellow White Fang members when they refused to take orders from him. He was unable to control his rage to point where he vandalized his throne, showing disregard for his own symbol of authority. With the loss of his leadership of the White Fang, Adam was left only with his hatred of Blake, coming up with excuses and deflecting blame onto others.[5]
His hatred for Blake was to the point where he hunted her for weeks just to get a chance to attack her. In "The Lady in the Shoe", he states that the reason he was so bent on killing her is that she left him alone, her act of abandonment hurting him far more than any physical abuse Humanity had subjected him to.
In "Seeing Red", Adam was clearly jealous of Blake's close relationship with Yang Xiao Long, wondering what she saw in her, and claimed that Blake promised she would stay be his side. However, Yang believed she only promised that to the person he was pretending to be, implying that he never truly loved or cared about Blake and was only manipulating her. Eventually, his anger reached the boiling point where he failed to notice Yang used her Semblance to absorb his own, much to his shock. After being fatally stabbed by Blake and Yang, Adam dropped to his knees, dumbfounded before falling into the river to his death.
Powers and Abilities: Adam was highly adept in swordsmanship, quickly cutting through Atlesian Knight-130s with ease. He had a preference towards the usage of "Iaijutsu", a method in Japanese sword fighting that involves quickly unsheathing for a rapid attack and then sheathing again. Adam proved to be adept in unarmed combat, utilizing kicks and grabs in addition to his swordsmanship. Although Blake and Yang ultimately managed to defeat and kill him, all three exhausted their Auras during the final duel, showing that Adam was nearly a match for their combined power.
Furthermore, Adam's speed is shown to enable him to deflect numerous bullets in rapid succession with Wilt and Blush. Adam appeared to have advanced endurance, showing no signs of fatigue during an extended battle. He was also skilled at shooting his blade and hurling it as a saw-like attack.
Adam was very intelligent despite his aggressive personality, as he repeatedly proved himself to be very quick thinking and a skilled manipulator, best shown of his takeover of the White Fang. As a leader, Adam displayed an excellent tactical acumen, planning the White Fang's Vale operations, and successfully executed a political take over of the White Fang. Adam was also capable with psychological warfare, skillfully taunting Blake and Yang in all of his engagements with the two. Even at the height of his obsession with Blake, Adam retained his quick thinking on the battlefield.
Weapon: Adam's weapons of choice were Wilt and Blush. Wilt is a red sword and Blush is a rifle that also functions as a scabbard.
Semblance: With his Semblance, Moonslice, Adam was able to absorb or block the energy from an enemy attack and re-emit it again in powerful red energy strikes; he could also use the absorbed energy to increase his speed and strength, to the point that he could pierce others' Aura (as demonstrated by his wounding of both Blake and Yang at the Battle of Beacon). However, he could only absorb energy through a weapon, as shown in his fight with Blake and Yang. This enabled him to avoid taking damage directly during absorption, but left him unable to use his Semblance if he was disarmed. When using Moonslice, Adam's hair, blade and parts of his clothing glowed red.
Weaknesses: In light of all of his strength, power, and cunning, Adam was far from unstoppable. His over-reliance on his sword to fight and channel his Semblance caused him to become practically helpless without it in his final duel with Blake and Yang. Adam's most obvious weakness was his emotional instability. His one-track need to enact his vengeance on those whom he felt wronged him often caused him to lash out with either physical or emotional violence, driving others away. After his humiliating defeat in "Haven's Fate", he quickly lost all support from the White Fang as a result of this. It could also drive him to the point to where he was blinded from anger like an actual bull, causing him to recklessly attack opponents without thinking his actions through, which would ultimately lead to his defeat by Blake and Yang.
Arthur: Doctor Arthur Watts was a major-supporting antagonist in RWBY who was introduced in "The Next Step" of Volume 4. He was an associate of Salem and part of her inner circle. He was also a disgraced former scientist from Atlas who had faked his own death in an event known as the Paladin Incident. He served as the main antagonist of Volume 7. In "The Final Word", he was trapped in the control room of Atlas' Command Center by Cinder Fall, which she proceeded to set ablaze, leaving him to die when Atlas collided with Mantle.
Appearance: Watts was a tall middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin. He had short black and gray hair as well as a thick mustache and eyebrows, and green eyes. Originally, Arthur wore a gray overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow dress shirt, and a black necktie. His pants were the same color as his overcoat. His yellow-buttoned undercoat and fingerless gloves matched his cordovan shoes, under which he wore yellow socks.
Following his arrival in Atlas, Watts began to wear a three-tone purple and lavender coat with a fur-lined hood and a gold buckle at the waist, and that had an upside-down pentagonal, dark gray strip of material below the collar. Additionally, he wore four rings on each hand, which he could use to hack Atlesian technology.
After his battle with James Ironwood, the right side of Arthur's face was left with friction burns after being dragged across the floor by his opponent, where he was defeated. His right eye was somewhat damaged by this.
Past: In "Worst Case Scenario", it was revealed that when Watts had worked with Pietro Polendina, he wore a yellow turtleneck sweater underneath a white lab coat along with light gray pants and black shoes. His hair was black, and his mustache was thinner at the time.
Personality: Watts was a formal and sophisticated man. He spoke in a refined accent, yet he could be arrogant and condescending, even to his allies. However, he was humble enough to not take credit for things he didn't achieve by himself, for when Salem initially thought he found out where the Spring Maiden was, he revealed it was Qrow Branwen when he spoke to Leonardo Lionheart.
Watts stated that he had a very low opinion of failure, which extended to Cinder Fall after she was defeated by Ruby Rose. He criticized and belittled Cinder and enjoyed provoking her every chance he got, especially since she couldn't talk back. He also looked down upon her underlings, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. However, Salem chastised him for his needless "malignance", and he avoided speaking out of line in her presence. When not in Salem's presence he would accurately point to why the person failed and how they could improve very bluntly and very rarely showed regret for what he said. However, his tendency to insult people ended up backfiring and got him harmed as seen with individuals like Cinder and Ironwood.
Arthur also had a tendency to become interested in new topics of study. Case in point, when he and Lionheart reported to Salem about the location of the Spring Maiden, Arthur showed immense interest in the Seer. Because of this habit, he showed no interest in unlocking his own Semblance due to believing that the time needed would be better used for his research.
Even before his apparent fall from grace in his field, Arthur had a self-serving and strategic mindset, creating a backdoor in Mantle's security network for his own personal use and potential exploitation. He was shown to be spiteful and vengeful, with his apparent motive behind joining Salem being rage against Ironwood and Pietro Polendina, claiming Ironwood never appreciated his genius and made an effort to spite James after he managed to get Jacques Schnee on his side.
This grudge against Ironwood and Pietro also heavily emphasized that Watts, similar to his associate Cinder, possessed a massive ego and intense pride in his abilities and talents, and took great offense when Ironwood refused to acknowledge the greatness of his genius and felt a severe blow to his pride when the General selected Pietro's work over his own. An aspect of this is the fact that Watts was never able to wrap his head around the idea of a soul transfer, and he greatly underestimated Penny's cognitive capabilities because of this.
Watts was rather sadistic, as shown in his evident satisfaction in trapping James Ironwood's organic left arm during their fight within Amity Tower, and when he laughed when he armed Ironwood's bomb after Harriet failed too. In "The Enemy of Trust", Watts contently smiled when he saw Salem and her incoming army finally arrived in Atlas due to believing she would destroy the Kingdom. However, he didn't relish in the pain and fear of his enemies to the same extent as his colleagues, Cinder Fall and Tyrian Callows.
He was also a cunning and opportunistic individual, as when he was coerced into working for Ironwood with the threat of being shot if he didn't comply, Watts was able to take advantage of a moment of distraction from Ironwood and his subordinates to discretely hack into Penny and caused her to fall to the ground before managing to make it look like it wasn't his fault, and taunted Ironwood into throwing a Scroll at him which he hid and took with him when Ironwood's soldiers escorted him back to his cell, allowing him to contact Salem while in prison.
When threatened by Cinder in "Ultimatum", Watts showed no fear of dying. Notably, instead of freaking out when she held him by the edge of building, he harshly called her out on all of her failures. However, in "The Final Word", he was shown screaming out in fear after he was trapped in the burning control room, suggesting he did fear dying, just not by Cinder's hand.
Powers and Abilities: Watts was a masterful scientist, specializing in the fields of computer engineering, mechanical engineering, anatomical engineering, espionage, guerrilla warfare, and security systems. He was held in high regard by Salem, who typically addressed him by his title of "Doctor", which indicated her respect for his capabilities.
Watts' fighting style was very methodical, keeping track of the number of shots fired by himself and his opponents. He was also somewhat agile for his age, moving deftly using his rings to create Hard-Light Dust projections to create platforms across vast distances. He even was able to use his projections similarly to bear traps, serving to pin his targets' limbs in place at the risk of burning off a great deal of flesh if they attempted to flee. In addition, he displayed some skill in close quarters fighting, briefly defending himself against James Ironwood's attacks while landing a few blows in return.
However, he wasn't very physically durable, as he was taken down by a few direct hits from Ironwood and he never discovered his Semblance.
Programming & Hacking: Arthur's main role in Salem's group was the manipulation of technology: in the starting stages of starting the Fall of Beacon, Watts was the one who developed the Black Queen virus Cinder used to hack into the CCT tower in "Dance Dance Infiltration" and allowed her to control communications and even aspects of the Vytal Festival's tournament, such as selecting the otherwise randomized team matches. His emblem was visible in her Scroll when using the virus. The virus was also able to take control of Atlas' robot soldiers and turn them against the Kingdom. His expertise in virus creation was seen again when he installed a chip in a sword stolen from Penny Polendina that was able to transmit a virus to command her to open the Atlas Vault and ultimately self-destruct.
In "A New Approach", he mentioned that he made the code used in Mantle's systems, and in "As Above, So Below" Ironwood confirmed that he designed Mantle's entire security network and was seen manipulating the cameras so he wouldn't be exposed.
Watts' acumen in technology and computer systems, along with rings on almost every finger, allowed him to synchronize an array of Scrolls to hack into the Atlesian security systems. In "A Night Off", the use of multiple, small Scrolls to make up the processing power of a single, centralized system permitted Watts to remain mobile and difficult to locate, playing into his pragmatic and strategic mindset. He was also able to frame Penny for the murder of several Mantle citizens by manipulating the recordings of her fight against Tyrian. Through the use of Jacques' new credentials, Watts neutralized the heating grid, which led to a Grimm invasion in Mantle.
Amongst Watt's inventions included environmental Dust controls and the prototype of the Atlesian Paladin-290.
Prosthetics: He was also able to give Tyrian Callows a new stinger after his old one got cut off by Ruby, displaying prowess in biomechanical engineering. The new stinger and tail that he constructed didn't appear to inhibit Tyrian's production of venom, but rather use it, with the addition of making the actual stinger itself retractable, while the segments to the tail seamlessly mesh with the organic base's flexibility and range of motion.
Weapons: Watts' weapon of choice was his Revolver, which appeared to be ornate and golden, having a double barrel, which contained a total of 20 shots.[7]
Watts' eight Rings could also be used in combat, possessing the ability to create hexagonal Hard-Light Dust shields to protect him from bullets and even utilize the shields themselves as platforms to travel around mid-air, granting him additional mobility. The shields themselves were strong enough to protect himself from several shots from Due Process.
Additionally, the Rings also possessed a trap function, whereby placing the Rings in four corners to shape box-like magnets and activating them, Watts could handcuff a person by literally trapping one of his opponent's limbs in a Hard-Light shield that, if attempted to forcibly remove by sliding past it, would severely burn and even permanently damage their limb. Hazel Rainart was a major-supporting antagonist in RWBY who was introduced in "The Next Step". He was an associate of Salem and part of her inner circle. He served as a main antagonist in Volume 5.
In "Witch", after learning about Salem's true goal, he decided to defect from her inner circle to help Oscar Pine and Emerald Sustrai escape from Monstra, during which he sacrificed himself to hold her back allowing Oscar to destroy both her and Monstra.
Appearance Hazel was a tall and muscular middle-aged man. He was also unusually large and broad, as he was shown to tower over Adam Taurus who stood 6'4". He had short dark brown hair, a beard and hazel eyes. His hairy arms had large scars running up them, a result of using Dust infusions.
Original Outfit (Volumes 4-6): Originally, Hazel wore a two-tone olive green coat over a black 3/4 sleeve shirt, and a large belt. His pants were black, with a pouch strapped to each pants leg, and his boots are brown with white fronts. Some of his scars near the edges of his sleeves are visible.
Final Outfit (Volume 8): As of Volume 8, Hazel wore his hair in a short slicked back ponytail, and had trimmed his beard shorter. He wore a sleeveless dark green vest with yellow trimmings, revealing the full extent of the scars running up his arm. Hazel wore bandages on his forearms, beneath fingerless brown gloves with silver armor over his hands. He wore brown pants with leather straps connecting to two belts, and armored boots that are similar to those of his previous outfit.
Personality: Hazel had a calm composure compared to the others of Salem's circle, being reserved and rarely speaking. However, he still criticized Cinder Fall for her defeat, showing he had a low tolerance for acceptance of failure, and he did not let minor obstacles get in his way or stand by convention when there is a goal to be accomplished.
During the meeting with Sienna Khan, Hazel was courteous toward her, showing he had a respectful nature. However, he was not intimidated by Sienna's threats, showing a distinct level of self-confidence.
Despite his low tolerance for failure, Hazel was not cruel or unsympathetic. His reaction to Sienna's murder by Adam was a saddened look and verbal expression of both his frustration at Adam's lack of communication prior to the act and disappointment at how unnecessary the death was. He also had a certain degree of empathy for others. When he returned to Evernight Castle with Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai, he attempted to take the blame for Cinder's failure in Mistral, presumably to try and save the two from punishment by Salem. Unlike his psychotic colleague, Tyrian Callows, Hazel took no pleasure in casual slaughter, indicating there must be a higher purpose in violence for him to engage in it.
However, these traits changed whenever he encountered Ozpin. When he did, Hazel became filled with rage and killing intent. He initially held Ozpin responsible for the death of his sister Gretchen Rainart and was determined to kill every incarnation of him. He denied Gretchen had any choice in the matter of serving as a Huntress despite it being pointed out that it was her decision to be one, believing her to be seduced by tales of heroism. This shows that despite his typical reluctance to fight, he was quite capable of vengeance and terrifying bouts of rage. Despite this, as revealed in "The More the Merrier", Hazel was perfectly willing to aid Tyrian in slaughtering Huntsmen across Anima, and he was stated to be completely merciless when a target is found. Additionally, he was stated to believe that the Huntsmen are useless to Remnant as a whole. He also had no qualms with harming children, as he attempted to electrocute and kill Nora Valkyrie for standing between him and Ozpin in "Downfall". In "Fault", he brutally tortured Oscar Pine for the password to the Relic of Knowledge despite him being a child, showing how violent Hazel could become when blinded by his grudge.
In "Midnight", a more vulnerable side to Hazel was revealed. It is shown that he feared Salem, seeing her as an unstoppable force of nature. This is why he usually tried to prevent bloodshed and fighting. It is also why he sought vengeance against Ozpin, seeing him as someone who sends children to their deaths. While he didn't agree with Salem's plans, he followed them as he saw no choice.
During "War" when he was told of Salem's true goal, Hazel originally didn't believe until Oscar told him how to activate the Relic of Knowledge. This honesty from him eventually got Hazel to believe him.
In "Witch", he and Emerald both decided to help Oscar escape from Monstra after learning about Salem's true goal. Ultimately, Hazel was motivated to help Oscar, his friends, and Emerald escape from Salem as way of and ensuring they will not be lost like his sister, leading to his sacrifice. As he knew that he wouldn't survive his fight against Salem, he deliberately overdosed on Dust so he could use as much power as he needed to.
Powers and Abilities: As a former associate of Salem, Hazel was a ruthless fighter and notably lacked a weapon, preferring melee based combat and Dust usage without the medium of a weapon. His combat skills allowed him to systemically eliminate almost all the Huntsmen and Huntresses in Mistral with assistance from Tyrian Callows. He relied on brute force and his Semblance. Hazel's fighting style was focused on simple wide swings to make full use of his strength, putting his full weight behind each blow. This combat style often left him open to attack, as shown by his fight with Ozpin.
However despite his size, he was still nimble enough to dodge strikes from opponents like Qrow and was shown to be agile against Salem's ranged attacks. A hint of his strength was shown when he casually dented a toll booth machine into dispensing a train ticket with his bare arm. While his fighting style was raw, he tempered it with intelligence as shown in the battle at Haven when he grabbed Nora's hammer and threw her away the first time they fought and disarmed her the second time, showing he is skilled in grappling as well. In addition he uses his muscular arms to block attacks that are likely enhanced by his Aura.
His physical strength was enough that he sent Salem flying with a single punch as well as brutally maim her body in their fight. Despite his considerable strength, Hazel would often hold back against opponents he considered to be children such as Nora and Ren, preferring to incapacitate such foes rather than kill.
His ferocity was combined with quick thinking and precision along with his mastery over Dust, as shown when he fought Salem utilizing numerous Dust combinations. All in all, Hazel's strength combined with his Semblance and his control of Dust made him one of the physically strongest characters in the series.
He has only been shown to retreat at the behest of allies who were able to appeal to his more logical and compassionate side. Without this, it is unlikely that anything short of fatal or crippling force would have been able to cease his rampaging combat style.
Dust Usage: When Hazel deemed the situation appropriate, he injected himself with raw Dust crystals. After Hazel infused himself, the veins in his arms glow, his muscles grow, his eyes shine, his voice becomes distorted, and he can discharge and fire Dust energy from his entire body to enhance his attacks. He was shown using two types of Dust, Lightning and Fire, being able to use more than one Dust type at a time to further increase his strength and combine attacks for enhanced hits. Because of his Semblance, the pain that came from injecting himself with raw Dust is minimized.
In "Witch", Hazel showcased the full extent of his power with Dust during his battle with Salem. He was able to combine Lightning, Earth and Fire Dust and mold them to form a volatile spiked boulder to throw at Salem, create a barrier using Hard Light Dust, propel himself through the air using Wind Dust, increase his physical speed and reflexes using Lightning Dust and create several fireballs using Fire Dust in short succession. The flawless use of the combinations of Dust he used showed him to have a greater mastery over using Dust than anyone else shown.
Because of his use of Dust, the limits to his strength were unknown, but without it, he possessed enough strength to casually dent machines with an offhanded hammer fist. The use of Dust was not a substitute for his strength, but a supplement. Hazel's most notable attribute, however, was his endurance. He was able to block strikes from Qrow, Ren and Nora's weapons with his bare hands and arms, the latter also commenting on the abnormally high rate that Hazel recharges his Aura. Qrow also took note of Hazel's incredible endurance and persistence, referring to him as "sheer willpower".
During his fight with Salem, Hazel deliberately overdosed on Dust, as he knew he wouldn't survive against her.
Semblance: Hazel's Semblance, Numbing Agent, rendered him insensitive to pain, allowing him to ignore injury and inject vast amounts of Dust into his body without any immediate consequence. However, despite this he was still susceptible to being injured, but counteracted his injuries through his Aura and his vast Aura reserves to heal injuries sustained in battle.
Tyrian: Tyrian Callows is a major-supporting antagonist in RWBY who was introduced in "The Next Step". A known serial killer, he is an associate of Salem and part of her inner circle. He first serves as a major antagonist in Volume 4, hunting down Ruby Rose on the order of Salem. He later serves as the secondary antagonist of Volume 7.
Appearance: Tyrian is a pale man with gold eyes and long, dark brown hair worn in a ponytail braided to resemble a scorpion's tail. His chest is crisscrossed with prominent scars.
He wears a white sleeveless jacket, left open to expose his bare chest, and white pants. Over his jacket are two buckled, dark gray leather suspenders supporting a black cummerbund, with a third strap running across his chest perpendicular to the suspenders and joining with them on his back. There is also a dark brown leather belt slanted across his hips.
His arms are covered with cream-colored bandages and elbow-length, brown fingerless gloves with only a middle finger loop. Over these are dark brown leather, lace-up vambraces capped with small, silver couters. He also wears knee-high, dark brown leather boots with strips of black up the shins and buckled straps around the ankles, and silver poleyns strapped to his knees.
On each earlobe is a silver, ring-shaped earring, with a third near the top of his left ear.
In "Tipping Point", it is revealed that his animal trait as a Faunus is a scorpion stinger that protrudes from his back. When not in use, he disguises it as a belt by wrapping it around his cummerbund. His eyes can also change color from gold to purple. The stinger is separated from the tail after Ruby Rose cuts it off with Crescent Rose. The remaining stump itself was temporarily attached to a metallic cap before the entire tail was covered with metallic plates and a prosthetic stinger was added at the end.
Occasionally, he appears in a two-tone dark brown, short-sleeved duster jacket worn open at the front. In Volume 7, a hood was added to it.
Personality: Tyrian was described by his original voice actor, Jessie Grelle, as psychotic incarnate and someone who wants to see the world burn.[4] Tyrian appears to be a highly unstable, disturbed, maladjusted, manipulative, and outright sadistic individual. He frequently bursts into fits of uncontrollable, maniacal laughter and relishes in gruesome thoughts, such as the idea of removing one of Ruby's eyes in payment for her taking one of Cinder Fall's. His depravity is described in The World of RWBY: The Official Companion as someone who is irredeemable, fitting his fairy tale inspiration.
When Tyrian appears to have the upper hand in a fight he becomes overconfident and careless, letting himself take hits as long as he can continue to press the advantage. He also has a flair for the dramatic, wildly posturing and gesturing with deliberate dramatic pauses as if he were giving a stage performance. Another one of his eccentricities is sitting in a crouching position in his chair. Additionally, he is shown to be somewhat masochistic in nature, showing taking pleasure in cutting his own cheek with Thief's Respite.
Tyrian's instability is evident when he experiences an apparent mental breakdown after hearing he disappointed Salem in "Taking Control." Tyrian proceeds to cry in despair before viciously retaliating against a Beowolf that lunges at him, gaining a sadistic joy as he repeatedly strikes it dead. At times in Atlas, he displayed signs of paranoia, fearing people would be watching him until Arthur Watts assured him it wouldn't be a problem.
Tyrian is also observant and insightful regarding the character of others. He was able to deduce Mercury Black's predicament regarding joining Salem rather easily. He also has a good tactical mind during a fight. Notably, he used Qrow Branwen's anger against Clover Ebi to his advantage before killing the latter and framing Qrow in the process.
Tyrian's unbalanced, erratic and psychotic mindset also give him a great deal of tolerance to pain, as seen in "With Friends Like These" where he was able to dislocate/break his own thumb from its joint in order to slip out of his Gravity Bolas and then just as easily force it back into place without batting an eye; if anything, Tyrian seems to display sadomasochism and enjoys the pain. However, he is by no means immune to pain, something shown when he cries out in agony after his tail is severed in "Punished."
In "War", Tyrian is shown to be a nihilist as he gladly supports Salem's plan to destroy Remnant even if it means his own death, finding it a beautiful ideal to follow. In The World of RWBY: The Official Companion, Miles Luna adds that Salem is everything Tyrian yearns for, as his obsession with destruction is entirely personified in Salem.
Powers and Abilities: While his psychotic traits may suggest otherwise, he is incredibly combat-efficient, is smart enough to know which targets to prioritize, and he has the forethought to hide his Faunus trait in order to get an advantage against RNJR. Tyrian's fighting style makes effective use of all five of his limbs, allowing him to engage multiple opponents at once with minimal difficulty. However, his style is not flawless, his chaotic mindset does leave him open to attacks from superior strategists, one of which results in the loss of his stinger, albeit after delivering a near-fatal dose of venom to Qrow.
Tyrian is extremely quick and acrobatic, able to dash behind an opponent and attack in the blink of an eye, being able to overpower Team RNJR without much effort. His fighting style relies heavily on offensive tactics, keeping opponents off-guard with relentless, lightning-fast strikes from his wrist blades, tail or feet.
Tyrian is shown to be quite strong and has incredibly fast reflexes, as even with his tail mutilated he is still powerful enough to send a Beowolf flying backward with considerable force with the damaged appendage and was able to easily avoid and catch all of Robyn Hill's arrows despite being shot at close range. His fighting style appears to be based on his nature as a scorpion Faunus, fighting much like a real scorpion through his weapons and tail, reacting quickly to enemy movements and can seemingly detect attempts to attack from blind spots such as his back, suggesting much like a real scorpion he can sense movement through vibrations in the ground.
Since he has no normal battle style, he is nearly impossible to predict against in a fight, making moves that are absurd and chaotic which make him even harder to hit such as utilizing breakdancing moves in his fights against RNJR as well as Qrow, Clover and Robyn. According to Cinder, he is strong enough to kill fully trained Huntsmen, which was proven true as Salem trusted him to eliminate Huntsmen in Mistral and held his own against Qrow, Clover and Robyn for a short time before he was captured.
Weapon: Tyrian's weapons of choice are The Queen's Servants, a set of dual wrist blades resembling scorpion's pincers. These attach to his vambraces, and are equipped with light-caliber automatic firearms.
Tracking: One of Tyrian's duties while working under Salem is the task of a tracker. This is seen where prior to being reassigned to hunt down Ruby and Team RNJR, Tyrian was primarily tasked to locate the Spring Maiden, who at the time was missing.
During his time hunting for Ruby, Tyrian is shown to be highly skilled at tracking down her location, as seen where despite only being reassigned to locate her a few days previously, Tyrian had already gotten the route Ruby was traveling in despite the vast size of Anima continent.
Furthermore, while threatening Emerald and Mercury in "Lost", Tyrian implies that even if the two manage to escape Evernight Castle, he could easily hunt them down.
Special Ability: Scorpion Stinger Tyrian also uses his stinger in combat, which he can contract and extend at will. The stinger is shown to be remarkably durable as it blocks Nora's attack, even when Nora was powered by her Semblance. Much like how scorpion stingers are usually a conduit for venom, Tyrian's stinger can inject venom when used as a barb, as seen when he grazes Qrow with it. The venom is potent enough to corrode stone and incapacitate someone simply grazed by his stinger within less than a day. After the battle against Qrow and Team RNJR, Tyrian lost his organic stinger after being bisected by Ruby, having to get it replaced by Arthur Watts with a prosthetic stinger. Semblance:
Tyrian's Semblance, Aura Disruption, seemingly allows him to disrupt an opponent's Aura. When activated, Tyrian's eyes and his arms glow purple, and the area of his target's Aura that he touches fades away, leaving the victim defenseless to a killing blow.
Weaknesses: Tyrian appears to struggle more against bare-handed fighters than armed ones, finding it much harder to predict and dodge their attacks. As seen in his fights with Qrow in Oniyuri and Mantle, he can quite easily dodge most of his slashes from his weapon but begins to quickly lose ground in the fight once Qrow switches from using his weapon to his fists. His unpredictability also makes him prone to being distracted and careless, leaving himself open to surprise attacks while fighting multiple opponents.
- #12World
Keys: Vale, Kingdom of Vale, Atlas, Kingdom of Atlas, Mantle, Vacuo, Kingdom of Vacuo, Sanus, Solitas, Beacon Academy, Atlas Academy, Shade Academy, Vytal Festival, Mountain Glenn, Vale Kingdom of Vale Atlas Kingdom of Atlas Mantle Vacuo Kingdom of Vacuo Sanus Solitas Beacon Academy Atlas Academy Shade Academy Vytal Festival Mountain Glenn
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Vale was one of the Kingdoms of Remnant, located to the east of Vacuo on the continent of Sanus.
Like the other three Kingdoms, Vale was governed by a ruling council to represent and see to its people's needs.
The notable locations of the Kingdom included its capital, Vale; and the island of Patch.
In the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic", the Kingdom was destroyed by Salem during her search for the Relic of Choice.
Vale was the primary setting for the first three Volumes of RWBY.
Geography: Vale was located on the northeastern end of Remnant's largest continent, Sanus. It was bordered to the northwest by shallow waters and to the southeast by steep mountains. These geographic features made Vale a place of relative safety.
The Vale region was known to contain the city of Vale and several coastal cities, as well as Patch, a small island to the west. Beacon Academy, one of the four main Huntsman Academies of Remnant, was located in the city of Vale, while Signal Academy is located on the island of Patch.
An attempt to expand the reach of the region to the southeast resulted in the ill-fated extension, Mountain Glenn. Other areas of interest included the Forever Fall Forest and the Emerald Forest. The island of Vytal is situated to the north of the Kingdom. Merlot's Island was used by Dr. Merlot to help him continue his experiments after he caused the destruction of Mountain Glenn.
History: Due to the natural barriers of shallow waters to the west and mountains to the east, Vale managed to endure the onslaught of Grimm and became a beacon of safety in Remnant. At some point, Ozma reincarnated into the last King of Vale. Around eighty years before the beginning of the series, a massive ten-year conflict, simply known as the Great War, came to an end. In this conflict, Vale and Vacuo fought Mantle and Mistral. Throughout the century leading up to the Great War, Vale disliked the behavior of Mistral and Mantle. This behavior included the treatment of their citizens, their use of slavery, their abolishment of the arts and self-expression and their insistence that their way of life was best for everyone.
Eventually, Vale and Mistral both set their sights on settling the small islands and peninsulas on the east coast of Sanus. The King of Vale, in an effort to avoid conflict, decided to share the land with Mistral's settlers, but his citizens disagreed with this choice. A riot broke out between two bands of settlers and devolved into the first battle of the Great War. Due to a prior alliance, Mantle quickly came to Mistral's aid, and for a while, Vale fought them alone, on both Sanus and Anima soil. Vale's enemies pushed for Vacuo to join the war on their side. However, fearing they would be conquered if Vale fell, Vacuo pushed all Mantle and Mistral presence out of their territory and allied themselves with Vale.
During the war, Grimm attacks increased worldwide, and as a result, Vale lost many of its settlements to the creatures, some of which were never reclaimed. The Great War finally came to an end with the deadliest battle in the war's history, when Mistral and Mantle attempted to take Vacuo's Dust mines to cut off Vale and Vacuo's supply. In the ensuing battle, the King of Vale personally led his army alongside Vacuo's. It is said that he laid waste to countless men, thus earning him the nickname the Warrior King. Historians state this to be nothing more than grandiose hyperbole and suggest that this feat was aided by the unusually violent weather and Mantle's inexperience in desert combat.
With the war over, the leaders of the four Kingdoms gathered on neutral ground on the island of Vytal to form a treaty and plan the future of Remnant. There, all four Kingdoms' governments were restructured, their territories were redistributed, the tradition of the Vytal Festival was begun, and the King of Vale founded the Huntsman Academies. Vale's academy, Beacon, was secretly given the Relic of Choice to safeguard, and the King of Vale placed one of his most trusted followers in command of the school. As a gift from Atlas, a tower for the Cross Continental Transmit System was set up on Beacon's campus, enabling communication between Vale and the other Kingdoms. Sometime before the events of the series, an attempt was made to expand the city of Vale to the southeast, creating a suburb known as Mountain Glenn. However, the attempt proved disastrously unsuccessful when repeated Grimm attacks destroyed the settlement and killed its residents. The failed expansion was sealed off from the rest of the Kingdom. The failure of Mountain Glenn is generally attributed to its lacking the natural defenses of Vale, but the involvement of Merlot Industries was also a factor. After this, Merlot used his own personal Island to continue his research on Grimm while everyone else thought he was killed during the destruction of Mountain Glenn. In the past, Beatrix Browning founded Lady Browning's Preparatory Academy For Girls with Carmel Vanille being amongst it's graduates. However, the school was just a front for it's real purpose to train spies and assassins for it's allies such as Spider and Lil' Miss Malachite. Eventually however, Carmel left and married Jimmy Vanille who was the city manager for the Kingdom's capital city and a member of the council. During this time, Spider and the Xiong Family made a deal not to interfere with each other's business. Because of the influence of their leader Hei Xiong, the Vale Police Department were under their payroll and even had help from corrupt councilman Jimmy Vanille who helped them smuggle Dust into the city while also stealing some for himself and having it stored at his Estate. Because of their close relationship, Jimmy and Carmel usually left their daughter Trivia Vanille with Hei Xiong as he acted as her uncle while trivia's parents usually abused her.
After dealing with the abuse for too long and eventually being sent to Lady Browning's School to train her as an assassin, Trivia met rising criminal Roman Torchwick and formed a bond with him while starting to turn to crime and took the name Neopolitan. When they get caught up in a gang war between the Xiong Family and Spider after they broke their promise, they attempt to stop Spider from usurping the Xiong Family with Lady Browning's help. After planning to send a hard drive about the truth to Lisa Lavender and the Vale News Network, they learn that Jimmy and Carmel plan on becoming the top crime family in Vale and a large-scale gang war starts. While they succeed in getting the information to Lisa and expose the academy, Lil' Miss blows up the Vanille Estate by detonating the Dust inside while killing Jimmy Vanille and Hei Xiong, Carmel Vanille, and Beatrix Browning are killed in the war.
Following the war, Spider is forced to retreat back to Mistral while Junior Xiong takes over the Xiong Family with help from Lil' Miss's daughters Melanie and Miltia Malachite. After this, the Xiong Family starts losing influence as the head crime family and Roman Torchwick begins taking it's place.
At some point following his death, the King of Vale reincarnated into Professor Ozpin, who become the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. At one point, Gretchen Rainart joined Beacon Academy against the wishes of her brother Hazel Rainart. After she died on a training mission, Hazel blamed Ozpin and met Salem who he tried killing until she convinced him to join her Inner Circle.
Later, Cinder Fall travels to Vale to recruit followers for her faction, one of which being Adam Taurus, who is forced to work with her after she defeats all of his men. Afterwards, they recruit Roman Torchwick and have him steal Dust all over Vale, as well as obtain Atlesian Paladin-290 prototypes and use Mountain Glenn as their base for their planned attack on the main city. Once they reach underneath the city, Grimm manage to enter and have to be fought off by students and Huntsmen along with the Atlas Military. After they stop the attack, Roman is arrested and due to the reports of the events the Vale council remove Ozpin as head of security for the upcoming Vytal Festival and place Ironwood in charge while also informing him that they would talk about his position as Headmaster at a later date.
Before the Vytal festival began, the Kingdom of Vale started seeing strange types of mutated Grimm created by Dr. Merlot. Team RWBY and Team JNPR were sent to investigate these Grimm and discovered that Dr. Merlot was still alive and that his company, Merlot industries was still active and creating these Grimm using a special serum. They go to his personal island and manage to put a stop to his plans, but he activates the island's self-destruct device to kill them. They manage to escape the explosion in time and destroy his company, but whether Merlot survived the blast or not is unknown.
Eighty years after the end of the Great War, the Kingdom of Vale was the host of the 40th Vytal Festival. Due to sabotage, the Festival ended in disaster with the destruction of Beacon Academy and the Cross Continental Transmit tower in Vale along with the death of Ozpin. Beacon Academy became overrun with Grimm, and the presence of a petrified Wyvern drew in even more Grimm. This made attempts at retaking the campus and repairing the Cross Continental Transmit tower difficult.
After Ozpin's death, one of his closest allies Glynda Goodwitch takes his place as Headmistress of Beacon while trying to restore it to it's former glory. Many of the surviving students later transferred to Shade Academy while Ruby Rose and the remaining members of Team JNPR traveled to Mistral to track down the ones responsible for the Fall of Beacon. During the several months between the end of Volume 3 and the beginning of Volume 4, the Vale council voted to ban all air traffic not associated with evacuation. In "Of Runaways and Stowaways", a news network reported that Vale's council voted to continue the ban.
The Kingdom of Vale later hears Ruby's broadcast in "Amity", publicly revealing the existence of the Relics, Maidens, and Salem, and asking the other Kingdoms for assistance in Atlas. However, the broadcast is cut short and unable to finish. In the end though, nobody came to help Atlas as it is destroyed in "The Final Word". However after hearing Rubyโs message, Valeโs forces arrived in Vacuo to prepare for the upcoming war against Salem.
In the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic", the Kingdom was destroyed by Salem during her search for the Relic of Choice. Only a single airship of survivors managed to escape to Vacuo led by Peter Port and Bartholomew Oobleck, while Glynda Goodwitch left to find help elsewhere.
Notable People Patch Taiyang Xiao Long Qrow Branwen Madame Mallari Beacon Academy Ozpin โ Glynda Goodwitch Peter Port Bartholomew Oobleck Harold Mulberry Ann Greene Thumbelina Peach Team RWBY (Currently in Vacuo) Team JNPR (Pyrrha is dead, and Jaune, Ren, and Nora are currently in Vacuo.) Team CFVY (Transfered to Shade Academy) Team CRDL Iris Marilla (Transfered to Shade Academy) Castor โ White Fang Cell Adam Taurus โ Deery White Fang Lieutenant Perry Other Meg Scarlatina Will Scarlatina Vega Bleu (Transfered to Atlas) Lisa Lavender Roman Torchwick โ Neopolitan Merlot King of Vale โ Junior Xiong Hei Xiong โ Melanie Malachite Miltia Malachite Henchmen Shopkeep Carmel Vanille โ Jimmy Vanille โ Trivia The City of Vale was designed with old European architecture in mind. [2][3] As of Volume 3, the Kingdom is represented by the color green in the World of Remnant episodes. The Vytal Festival tournament contestants from Vale also have Aura monitors with a green background. As seen with Beacon, Signal and Pharos, combat schools in Vale seem to be named after buildings or devices made to navigate, communicate or attract attention. Vale's emblem features a laurel wreath, a type of crown, which is a reference to the Relic of Choice presumably hidden in the Vault underneath its Huntsman Academy, Beacon. It's unclear what happened to Vale's council following the destruction and collapse of Vale though it can be assumed they de-facto disbanded and have since become defunct.
Atlas, formerly known as Mantle, was one of the Kingdoms of Remnant. It was located in the far northern continent of Solitas. The Huntsman Academy of Atlas was known as Atlas Academy.[3] Unlike most Kingdoms, Atlas' government, military and the Academy functioned as a single entity and made it a military state. It was also the location of the Schnee Dust Company headquarters.
The notable cities of the Kingdom were its capital, Atlas, and the former capital, Mantle.
In "The Final Word", the Kingdom was destroyed when the city of Atlas fell and crashed into Mantle, causing them to be flooded under the melted glaciers. At least thousands of its population were transported to Vacuo beforehand, using the Relic of Creation to create a pathway. Atlas was the primary setting for Volumes 7 and 8.
History: Early settlers came to the icy continent of Solitas in order to begin a new civilization. Its harsh climates and great mountain ranges helped to suppress the threat of the Grimm, but it also proved difficult for the population to grow. Humanity adapted, however, by using Dust in tandem with advanced technology, developed out of necessity and at faster progression than the rest of the world, creating what came to be known then as the Kingdom of Mantle. Their advancements in Dust application allowed Mantle to expand and devote more territory to mining and research, including the area beside the Kingdom's combat school, Alsius Academy. Around eighty years before the beginning of the series, a massive ten-year conflict known as the Great War came to an end. In this war, Mantle and Mistral fought Vale and Vacuo. Prior to the war, Mantle formed an alliance with Mistral. The two traded frequently, and Mantle taught Mistral how to form settlements in the snowy northern region of Anima. After an incident with the Grimm, Mantle came to the conclusion that, if it controlled its citizens' emotions through the abolishment of the arts and self-expression, it would become safer from Grimm. Rather than lose the alliance, Mistral did the same, to an extent. This added to the list of things Vale disliked about Mantle and Mistral, among which was the treatment of their own citizens, their use of slavery and their insistence that their way of life was what was best for everyone. ventually, Mistral entered a conflict with Vale, after a riot between settlers from the two devolved into the first battle of the Great War. Mantle rushed to their ally's aid, and together, they fought Vale on both Sanus and Anima soil. Having established a presence in Vacuo, the two allied Kingdoms were able to keep Vacuo out of the conflict, and some time into the war, they began pressuring the desert Kingdom to join the war on their side. Fearing that they would conquer Vacuo, should Vale fall, the citizens of Vacuo pushed Mantle and Mistral out of their territory and allied themselves with Vale.
Grimm attacks increased worldwide and as a result, Mantle lost many of its settlements to the creatures, some of which were never reclaimed.
During the war, Mantle accelerated the pace of its technological innovation, developing new weapons and applications of Dust, giving them an edge during the conflict. Large tracts of land were set aside for Dust mining and research. The Kingdom was also home to at least one combat school, Alsius, located to the northeast of the main settlement. The territory surrounding Alsius was used as a research and development facility during the war.
The Great War finally came to an end with the deadliest battle in the war's history. Mantle and Mistral attempted to take Vacuo's Dust mines to cut off their enemy's supply. There, they were met with the King of Vale personally leading his army alongside Vacuo. It is said that he laid waste to countless men, but historians claim that this feat was aided by the unusually violent weather and Mantle's inexperience in desert combat.
With the war over, the leaders of the four Kingdoms gathered on neutral ground on Vytal to form a treaty and plan the future of Remnant. There, the four Kingdoms' governments were restructured, their territories were redistributed, slavery was abolished, the tradition of the Vytal Festival was begun and the King of Vale founded the four Huntsman Academies.
Alsius was reopened under the name Atlas Academy and was secretly given a Relic to safeguard. As a gift to the world, Atlas invented the Cross Continental Transmit System and had the towers for it built on each Huntsman Academy's campus, thus allowing all four Kingdoms to communicate. In an attempt to give back to its citizens, Mantle applied many of the techniques and technologies used in the war to enhance the Huntsman Academy's campus, expanding the school grounds and even securing the surrounding areas. Along with the eventual establishment and merging of the military and research facilities with the government and schools, the original capital of Mantle was overshadowed. The decision was made to move the capital to Atlas, and the Kingdom as a whole was also accordingly renamed to Atlas. Around this time, an incarnation of Ozma used the Relic of Creation to raise Atlas off the ground. By the present day, the public story for Atlas being kept afloat is due to Gravity Dust.
The former capital of Mantle appears to have subsequently fallen on hard times, as alluded to in World of Remnant: Atlas. During the charity concert in "Tipping Point", guests are heard conversing with Jacques Schnee about the economic disparity between the cities of Atlas and Mantle. At the same time, they discuss Faunus-Human relations; it is implied that a significant portion of Faunus live in the poorer city of Mantle, and are economically disadvantaged themselves. Those that moved to the city of Atlas were "promised jobs" by the Schnee Dust Company amongst others, though it is implied that this is not working out as well as the immigrants would have hoped.
Decades prior to the start of "RWBY", Atlesian researchers at the now defunct Fort Arrowfell developed a deployable device for attracting Grimm through the use of stored fear energy. However, these devices proved to be too dangerous to manage, so Ironwood's predecessors canceled the project and closed the facility. They then assigned the protection of what remained of the technology to a secret Huntress team known as the Keepers of Arrowfell.
Sometime prior to the events of the series, Bram Thornmane once trained in the Atlas Military in order to become a member of the Ace Operatives. However, he was rejected as a member and eventually left he military as a Huntsman and became resentful towards General James Ironwood. Around the same time, Hanlon Fifestone enlisted in the military as a soldier in order to fight for better rights for the people of Mantle. It was during this time that he saw the corruption, wealth and greed of the people of Atlas and deserted military duty in order to become a union leader in Mantle and resulting in him having a bad reputation among the people of Atlas.
Some time before the beginning of the series, James Ironwood became the general of the Atlas Military first and the Headmaster of Atlas Academy second, gaining two seats in the council as a result. He also became a member of Ozpin's Group and learned of the existence of Salem. In the past, a young Cinder Fall was adopted by the head of the Glass Unicorn and was forced to work there while being constantly abused by her and her daughters. After she steals Rhodes' Weapons, Rhodes finds her and decides to train her to be a Huntress for the next few years so she can eventually leave. One night, she snapped and killed her abusive step-family and Rhodes attempted to arrest her after he witnessed this until he was defeated and also killed in the process. After this, Cinder joined Salem's Inner Circle.
At some point, Ironwood asked his best scientists to come up with a way to improve the Kingdom's defenses with the winner having their project be the one that would be chosen. In the end, Pietro Polendina was the winner with his project, Penny Polendina being the first artificially created soul in Remnant. One of his co-workers, Arthur Watts later faked his death in "The Paladin Incident" and joined Salem's Inner Circle after his project was rejected in favor of Pietro's.
During the 40th Vytal Festival, the hosting Kingdom, Vale, is attacked and Beacon Academy and its Cross Continental Transmit tower was destroyed, cutting off Atlas' communication with the other three Kingdoms. The festival's live broadcast and Atlas' robots were hijacked by the attackers, who made it appear as though Atlas attacked innocent civilians. Beacon became overrun with Grimm, and the presence of a petrified Wyvern drew in even more Grimm. Atlas officials searched for a solution, but with Vale making slow progress to retake the academy even after several months, they were not optimistic.
During the several months between the end of Volume 3 and beginning of Volume 4, the Atlesian council voted to place an embargo on Dust exports, in an attempt to prevent conflict, due to the other Kingdoms believing Atlas attacked Vale. This embargo continued into the events of Volumes 4 through 7.
After seeing how the embargo would cause his profits to plummet, Jacques holds a charity for the victims of the fall of Beacon to help give his company good PR. After Weiss Schnee realized how the guests were apathetic to the fall of Beacon, she accidentally used her Semblance and almost killed one of the guests until General Ironwood stopped it and scorned the crowd instead of arresting Weiss like the guest asked. After this, Jacques decided to strip Weiss of her status as heiress in favor of her younger brother while attempting to keep her locked up at the family home. After Weiss manages to master her Semblance, she decided to escape Atlas with the help of her family butler Klein Sieben and learns of the strange incidents happening in Mistral. Ironwood sent many of his forces to investigate it, including Weiss' older sister Winter Schnee and doesn't trust Leonardo Lionheart to handle it. After getting into an argument with Jacques, he also reveals his plans to close the Kingdom's borders and not letting anyone in without his permission. Before he does however, he recalls almost of his soldiers to Atlas, including Winter with the exception of the ones stationed at the Argus Military Base.
During the time Team RWBY assisted the military, a conspiracy led by Bram Thornmane against Ironwood was discovered and eventually multiple people involved were arrested by the military including Hanlon Fifestone, Lieutenant Colonel Olive Harper who secretly provided military technology to Amoncio Glass and his goons and turned herself in out of guilt, and Bram Thornmane himself after being defeated by Team RWBY. During this period, a deal between the military and the Schnee Dust Company set up prior to the events of "RWBY: Arrowfell" to find a new Dust Mine for the company was also completed with Winter acting as the contact between both factions. However, the new Dust Mine site was deemed unusable due to the Dust inside it having inert specks and imperfections.
Throughout Volume 7, the effects of the embargo can be seen on the people of Mantle. The city became even more resentful towards Atlas, the Happy Huntresses steal resources from the military to help fix the wall protecting Mantle after believing that they were behind the massacre at the election for the newest council member, and Jacques shut down all non-essential SDC facilities in Mantle at the advice of Arthur Watts. This causes the citizens to riot and most of them are forced to be restrained. Eventually, Robyn Hill learns of Ironwood's plans thanks to Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long and almost convince her to trust them. Later, Jacques invited Ironwood and his followers to dinner at his home where he and the other members of the council along with Robyn Hill attempt to remove Ironwood from the council after he kept using his power to overrule their authority. While this is going on, Watts uses Jacques credentials to shut the heat in Mantle and causing another riot. When Weiss Schnee gets evidence of Jacques getting help from Watts to win the election thanks to her mother keeping recordings around the manor, she presented it to the council and they arrest Jacques in the process. After this, they reveal the existence of Salem to the entire Kingdom as well as Amity Communications Tower in order to lure out Tyrian Callows and Watts.
Once Ironwood returns to his office however, he learns that Cinder Fall has also infiltrated the Kingdom and confronts Ruby's Group over lying to him and his forces. While this is happening, Salem reveals herself to everyone present and states that she is on her way to Atlas herself. Upon hearing this, Ironwood decides to change his plans for Amity and apply it to Atlas, using the Relic of Creation to raise the city out of her reach. When Ruby and her group opposed this, as that would mean abandoning Mantle, he puts out arrest warrants for them. During all of this, Tyrian escaped and frames Qrow Branwen and Robyn Hill for the death of Clover Ebi and the two are arrested. After Penny became the Winter maiden instead of Winter Schnee, she leaves the City of Atlas to help the people of Mantle with the rest of Ruby's Group and the Happy Huntresses.
When the group reach Mantle, they begin to argue about what to do next. Yang's Group decides to help evacuate the people of Mantle to the crater so they could stay warm while Ruby's Group decide to get Amity Communications Tower into the atmosphere to send a warning to the rest of Remnant. While this is happening, Ironwood kills Councilmen Sleet after he confronted him over declaring Martial Law and forced Watts to try and hack Penny in order to bring her back to his side.
When they were helping with evacuations, Oscar Pine ends up getting kidnapped by an intelligent Grimm known as The Hound and Yang's Group are forced to leave Mantle to pursue it. Meanwhile, Ruby's Group infiltrated the Atlas Command Center in order to get the launch codes for Amity Communications Tower but are confronted by the Ace Operatives in the process with Nora being critically injured and Penny having one of her swords stolen.
As they attempt to get Amity Communications Tower up and running, Cinder and her followers interrupt the process and cause it to fall out of the atmosphere. Penny decides to raise Amity up herself against the wishes of her father and they managed to send Ruby's message to all of Remnant. Before the message finished however, Watts hacked into Penny and she started to fall all the way back to Atlas where she was later found by Ruby's Group outside the Schnee Manor.
With the help of Whitley Schnee, they managed to find safe shelter to help Nora heal. Meanwhile, Yang's Group asked The Ace-Ops for help with dealing with a recently formed river of Grimm Liquid only for them to care more about recovering Penny. However, the River spout upwards and attacks Atlas instead of Mantle like they thought it would. It creates multiple Centinel Grimm that destroy the city's Hard-Light Dust Shields and Salem lands her Monstra Grimm on the city's fields and creates multiple Grimm to invade.
After arresting Yang's Group and getting close to the battle, Ironwood orders Winter and the Ace-Ops to bomb the giant Grimm. However, Winter instead let's Yang's Group go attempt to rescue Oscar from Salem while telling them that they will still detonate the bomb whether they are still inside or not. While the others object, they follow Winter's orders due to her outranking them. They managed to succeed and even kill the monstra with Oscar's magic and the help of Hazel Rainart and Emerald Sustrai. Cinder later rescues Arthur Watts from prison and coincidentally frees Qrow and Robyn in the process.
Back at Schnee Manor, Ruby's Group tried to restore the building's power and are attacked by The Hound when it is hunting Penny. Whitley uses his position as heir to the Schnee Dust Company to send drones to Mantle to help evacuate its people to safety. Before they kill The Hound, they learn that it was once a Silver-Eyed Faunus.
After the Battle and Ironwood learns that Winter went against his orders, Ironwood learns he still has his bomb and destroyed all of the drones while sending Penny an Ultimatum. Either she handed herself over to him within an hour, or else he would use the bomb to destroy Mantle himself. After the two groups argue on how to handle the situation, they realize that they haven't considered using the Relic of Creation to evacuate the people of both cities to safety. At the same time, Winter and Marrow also defect from Ironwood's side and join up with Qrow and Robyn to stop him.
Once the group defeats Ironwood and restrains the Ace-Ops, they reach the Vault and ask Ambrosius to create an exact copy of Penny's robot body with the virus still inside it while she gained a human body. After this, they asked him to create a one-way passageway to Vacuo that connected with both cities. When they try to tell the Kingdom about this, kingdom-wide communications are blocked by Arthur Watts after he takes control of the Atlas Command Center. He also hacks an Atlesian Knight-200 and detonated it towards Qrow and Robyn. Marrow takes the blow, freeing the other Ace-Ops and giving Harriet the chance to bomb Mantle herself. Her friends talk her out of this and they manage to stop the bomb from falling out of the ship thanks to Qrow, but Arthur arms the bomb himself and Vine is forced to sacrifice himself to save his friends.
Cinder and Neo later attack the refugees in the passageway and sends Yang into the void below. Ironwood meanwhile escapes from his cell and kills Jacques. During Penny's fight with Cinder, she is mortally wounded and asks Jaune Arc to kill her to prevent her powers from going to Cinder. Once Ironwood confronts Winter in the Vault and is about to kill Winter, she obtained the powers of the Winter Maiden and manages to defeat Ironwood before heading into the passageway to help.
In the end, Cinder obtains both Relics and betrays Neo, while sending her falling into the void along with the rest of Team RWBY and Jaune. Winter is forced to retreat to Vacuo to help the refugees. After leaving the portal, Cinder hands both Relics to Salem, who arrives at the Vault. Ironwood attempted to take a shot but gave up upon Cinder declaring checkmate. Afterwards, the two fly away from Atlas, leaving Ironwood in the Vault. The remaining Ace-Ops, along with Qrow and Robyn watch as Atlas crashes into Mantle and both cities are flooded.
Culture Atlas was well known for being the youngest Kingdom in modern day Remnant after it succeeded its predecessor Mantle. However, the former capital and its people were neglected for years which led to Mantle ending up in a ruined state as a result. Because of this neglect, Mantle citizen Robyn Hill attempted to run for a position on the Kingdom's council to improve its state.
Prior to the Great War and Mantle being succeeded by Atlas, practices such as slavery were allowed and following an incident involving the Grimm the arts were suppressed to avoid future attacks. Because this practice seemingly worked, the Kingdom's ally Mistral also followed it to an extent with both trying to do the same with Vale and Vacuo and eventually starting the Great War as a result. Following the Great War and the dissolution of the Monarchy, these practices were made illegal.
The Kingdom also had differences between its class system. Those up in the capital such as the Schnee family lived in comfort and luxury while those who lived down in Mantle struggled in hard times. The Schnee Dust Company was also known for mistreating its Faunus workers such as Adam Taurus who as branded with the company logo on his face. Other people like Madame, the owner of the Glass Unicorn and her two daughters abused a young Cinder Fall after adopting her from Mistral to work as a servant at the hotel, which eventually led to Cinder snapping a few years later and killing them as a result. After returning from Vale and experiencing the Fall of Beacon first-hand, both Weiss Schnee and General James Ironwood were disgusted by this behavior.
The nightlife in the capital consisted of opera houses, clubs, and fine dining. By the time of "RWBY: Arrowfell" however, this attracted mobsters and goons in the capital with high tech weaponry due to a weapons furnishing operation that took place in the southern coast Dust Mine in Solitas led by Amoncio Glass.[8]
The settlements around Solitas usually worked together in order to survive with the people of Dormir using their ice fishing skills around the huge lake in Solitas to get food which they distributed to the other settlements like Essen and Crossed before it's destruction. According to residents of Essen, they would end up starving without the food they get from Dormir.[9]
The Tumak Ruins also held an important part in Atlesian culture and all of Humanity due to being a formal Remnant heritage site with relics pre-dating the Great War telling what the past was like for the residents. In more recent times however, well-meaning historians had made off with the relics that were in the Ruins for thousands of years. However, nobody could get into the ruins by the time "RWBY: Arrowfell" started due to being overrun by the Grimm. Despite that, there was a conservation effort underway for the ruins.[10]
Technology: The Kingdom was known for its innovation and far-reaching technological achievements, having developed, and then gifted the Cross Continental Transmit System to the rest of the world after the Great War, allowing for communication between the four Kingdoms.
Atlas was also a primary producer of Dust, and the Schnee Dust Company's main headquarters was located in the Kingdom. Other technological advances spearheaded by the Kingdom of Atlas included great strides in the field of robotics. Robots built for combat included the Atlesian Knight-130, supplied by Atlas to the rest of Remnant for several years. Penny Polendina, the first artificial being capable of producing Aura, was also built with assistance from the Atlesian Military, as revealed in "Painting the Town...".
However, some of the Kingdom's scientific research into the nature and composition Aura took it into more morally questionable areas. Their research yielded experimental technology that was capable of "capturing" Aura from a person and transferring it to something or someone else. The existence of this technology is highly classified, but many of those who do know of it see it as unnatural and wrong. Regardless, this technology may play a key part in preventing the power of the Maidens from falling into the wrong hands.
Similar to Lake Matsu's floating islands in Mistral, Atlas used Gravity Dust to keep itself floating high above the ground, tethered to the soil by a series of cables. However, this was just the public story. In reality, Atlas was kept afloat using the Relic of Creation hidden under Atlas Academy.
Over time, Atlas' technology developed a blue and white color scheme, with most of its former technology having been bronze and grey color scheme as seen in the Colossus.
Politics: Like the other Kingdoms, Atlas was governed by a council consisting of five seats. General James Ironwood held two of the seats, one of them by virtue of being appointed head of Atlas Academy. Ironwood was said to have amassed even more sway over the council by virtue of other representatives becoming afraid after the Fall of Beacon. At least some positions on the council were filled through a competitive electoral process. Volume 7 presented an election in which two primary candidates and two minor candidates ran against each other for a seat. There were also campaign posters put up throughout the city of Mantle.
Jacques was later revealed as one of the candidates in the election, running based on Ironwood's presumed amassed power and abuse of his authority in implementing the dust embargo that had damaged the dust trade in Atlas, specifically to the Schnee Dust Company.
The other major candidate, Robyn Hill, had been advocating the betterment of the kingdom's former capital's social and economic conditions in comparison to its new capital, Atlas. This stance earned her the support of many of the kingdom's citizens. The minor candidates for the election were Ivy Brown and Pearl Wistier.
Robyn was shown to be an active rival against both Jacques and Ironwood. The first due to him also running for the council seat and for his deplorable business methods, worsening Mantle's economic state, and the second for his implementation of the Dust Embargo, which had worsened the already poor living conditions of Mantle, and his diverting the majority of the Kingdom's resources to his "Secret Pet Project" that had left Mantle particularly vulnerable to attack from Grimm without revealing the reason why Mantle was being denied aid.
Voters used an electronic system where they selected their favored candidate by tapping on a box with that candidate's name. Due to it being electronic, the system was vulnerable to hacking, a fact exploited by Arthur Watts in order to rig the election in favor of Jacques.
Camilla and Sleet were the other members of the council. While members of the council were routinely informed of certain efforts undertaken by the military, Ironwood was allowed to withhold certain information as indicated by him concealing the details about the Amity Communications Tower project. They were also allowed to withhold details about ongoing investigations. However, the council provided apparent checks on the power Ironwood wields. Their exact means of keeping the military's authority in check was never revealed, but it was implied to be by striping him of his council seat.
At the end of Volume 7, Ironwood announced his intentions to declare martial law due to the impending arrival of Salem. Ironwood claimed by doing this the Council would be unable to countermand his decision to place Atlas into orbit to protect the Kingdom from attack, suggesting martial law granted him nearly or completely unchecked authority. After the council confronted him about these intentions, Ironwood decided to kill council Sleet to Camilla's horror.
Military: Main article: Atlas Military With their headquarters located at Atlas Academy, the Kingdom's armed forces were made up of an organized body known as the Atlesian military, which was regarded as the world's strongest military power. Human soldiers were seen wearing a uniform that included metal body armor and helmets that concealed the top of their faces. They were seen wielding a variety of weapons including rifles, pistols and swords.
The Kingdom's forces were also referenced in "Welcome to Beacon", depicted as a playable force in the tabletop, Remnant: The Game. One of the units mentioned in the game is the Atlesian air-fleet. Yang Xiao Long also comments that most of the Atlesian troops were "probably androids".
In "The Final Word", the military was destroyed alongside the Kingdom.
Notable People: Atlesian Military James Ironwood โ Winter Schnee Caroline Cordovin Clover Ebi โ Vine Zeki โ Elm Ederne Harriet Bree Marrow Amin Tortuga โ Penny Polendina โ Will Scarlatina Olive Harper Schnee Dust Company Jacques Schnee โ Weiss Schnee Whitley Schnee Klein Sieben Willow Schnee Atlas Academy Stephanie Santiago Ciel Soleil Flynt Coal Neon Katt Kobalt Ivori Atlas Council James Ironwood โ Jacques Schnee โ Sleet โ Camilla Mantle Robyn Hill Fiona Thyme Joanna Greenleaf May Marigold Forest โ Hanlon Fifestone Others Ilia Amitola (Emigrated to Menagerie) Arthur Watts โ Fria โ Pietro Polendina Carmine Esclados (Emigrated) Cinder Fall (Immigrated) Rhodes โ Bram Thornmane Amoncio Glass Bianca Prisma Roane Ashwood Ivy Thickety Ruda Tilleroot Trivia Its name is likely a reference to Atlas, a Titan in Greek mythology who was punished for opposing the Olympians by being made to hold up the sky for all eternity. It could also be a reference to Atlas as a large map, similar in symbolism to other Academy names such as Beacon and Signal Academy. As of Volume 3, the Kingdom is represented by the color white in the World of Remnant episodes. Atlas' emblem features a staff, which is a reference to the Relic of Creation hidden in the Vault underneath its Academy, Atlas. In the Camp Camp episode, "Into Town", David can be seen shopping in a hardware store with the same name. The Kingdom was described as "The America of Remnant" and compared to the products of Apple". The commentary describes Mantle as more utilitarian looking and compared to the movie Blade Runner, while Atlas was made to look like it was created by Apple. Two different futuristic looks. The Kingdom of Atlas represents two different versions of America with Mantle representing the cities and Atlas representing technology. The fall of Atlas, and the subsequent flooding of both it and Mantle, may allude to the legend of Atlantis; an ancient yet advanced city who's hubris caused its eventual sinking.
Mistral is one of the Kingdoms of Remnant, located on the far eastern continent of Anima.
The notable cities of the Kingdom are its capital, Mistral, and the cites of Argus and Kuchinashi.
Mistral is the primary setting for Volumes 5 and 6, and the setting for Team RNJR and Qrow during Volume 4.
Geography: Mistral is located on the continent of Anima, the second-largest landmass in Remnant. Mistral controls the most territory of all four Kingdoms, encompassing a wide range of ecosystems and many diverse cultures.
Some of the terrain includes steep wind-carved cliffs, where the region was first settled. The area to the west of Mistral is stated by Qrow Branwen to be filled with swamps where small human villages are known to exist, though it can be difficult to traverse due to the presence of Grimm.
Surrounding the main city is the city of Wind Path to its north and Kuchinashi to its south. The major port city of Argus is far to the northwest. Mistral is also home to the Mistral Trade Route, which is featured in a boardgame played by the members of Team RWBY.
History: Mistral's first inhabitants found shelter from the Grimm in the high cliffs, and from there came to build towns and cities along the walls. The population grew and began to expand its territory by utilizing the land.
Around eighty years before the beginning of the series, a massive ten-year conflict known as the Great War came to an end. In this war, Mistral allied with Mantle against Vale and Vacuo. Prior to the beginning of this war, Mistral settled a large territory in Anima and established an alliance with Mantle. The two traded frequently, and Mantle taught them how to form settlements in Anima's snowy northern region. One prominent north coast city that takes elements from Atlas and Mistral is Argus which was created at the point where they first started trading with each other.
After an incident with the Grimm, Mantle came to believe that, if it controlled its citizens' emotions through the abolishment of the arts and self-expression, it would be safer from Grimm. Despite its strong artistic culture, Mistral followed suit so as not to lose the alliance. However, Mistral only placed the ban in the outer territories, allowing the central powers to continue living as they pleased. This contributed to the list of things Vale disliked about the two allied Kingdoms, among which was the treatment of their own citizens, their use of slavery and their insistence that their way of life was what was best for everyone.
Eventually, Mistral and Vale both set their sights on settling the small islands and peninsulas on the east coast of Sanus. Vale's king decided to share the land with Mistral's settlers, despite the cries of his people. However, a riot broke out between two bands of settlers, which devolved into the first battle of the Great War. Due to their alliance, Mantle quickly came to Mistral's aid, and together, they fought Vale on both Sanus and Anima soil. Having established a presence in Vacuo, the two allied Kingdoms were able to keep Vacuo out of the conflict, and some time into the war, they began pressuring the desert Kingdom to join the war on their side. Fearing that they would conquer Vacuo, should Vale fall, the citizens of Vacuo pushed Mistral and Mantle out of their territory and allied themselves with Vale.
During the war, Grimm attacks increased worldwide, and as a result, Mistral lost many of its settlements to the creatures, some of which were never reclaimed.
The Great War finally came to an end with the deadliest battle in the war's history. Mistral and Mantle attempted to take Vacuo's Dust mines to cut off their enemy's supply. There, they were met with the King of Vale personally leading his army alongside Vacuo. It is said that he laid waste to countless men, but historians claim that this feat was aided by the unusually violent weather and Mantle's inexperience in desert combat.
With the war over, the leaders of the four Kingdoms gathered on neutral ground on Vytal to form a treaty and plan the future of Remnant. There, the four Kingdoms' governments were restructured, their territories were redistributed, slavery was abolished, the tradition of the Vytal Festival was begun and the King of Vale founded the four Huntsman Academies. Mistral's academy, Haven, was secretly given a Relic to safeguard. As a gift from Atlas, a Cross Continental Transmit tower was built on Haven's campus, enabling communication between Mistral and the other three Kingdoms. Shortly after the Great War, Maria Calavera rose to notoriety under the alias of the Grimm Reaper, operating in the region of Mistral[2]. The Grimm Reaper would ascend to the status of a legendary Huntress, inspiring many others Huntsmen, such as Qrow Branwen. However, the Huntress disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving many to wonder what her fate was. The tragic tale of the Grimm Reaper later became a cautionary one, teaching Huntsmen of the dangers of working alone instead of working alongside teammates.[3] She survived the incident and later went into hiding while getting new prosthetic eyes with the help of Pietro Polendina.
At some point, Leonardo Lionheart became the Headmaster of Haven Academy at the request of Ozpin, due to Mistral being one of the most discriminatory Kingdoms towards the Faunus and wanted his role to help reduce that hatred. He also became a member of Ozpin's Group and learned about the existence of Salem.
Some point before the events of RWBY, Lil' Miss Malachite had become the leader of Spider. Later, they had allied itself with the Kuchinashi organization, Wave and its leader, Lemon. Together, they'd perform a heist on an Atlesian shipment in the city of Argus, stealing a newly-created fabric material that adapted to light, making the wearer invisible. Spider stole the entire shipment underneath Wave's nose, thus invisibility cloaks became commonplace amongst their spy network in Mistral.
Later, a young pickpocket named Roman Torchwick was abandoned by his mother in Wind Path and attempted to become a top criminal. After he stole from one of Lil' Miss Malachite's patron's, she saw potential in him and asked him to join Spider. He accepted and eventually became her second-in-command with him being present for the week-long gang war between Spider and "The Mouse and the Parrot" with Spider winning and watching over Lil' Miss's daughters. However, Roman eventually started becoming ambitious and planned to betray the organization while Lil' Miss eventually tried to assassinate him as he was forced to go to Vale to make a name for himself.
Eventually, Lil' Miss attempted to take over Vale's criminal underworld from the Xiong Family after going back on their promise not to interfere with each other using the help of the spies and assassins from Lady Browning's Preparatory Academy For Girls and started a gang war in Vale. However, while the war resulted in the death of the gang's leader Hei Xiong, Lil' Miss's plans were ruined when Roman and Neopolitan gave a hard drive containing the truth about Lady Browning's school to Lisa Lavender and the Vale News Network and forced her to return to Mistral.
Ten years before the events of "RWBY", the Spring Maiden decided to abandon her duties and joined the Branwen Tribe. After Raven Branwen tried to train her and later deemed her unable to survive with them, she decided to kill her herself and took her powers while keeping up the act by using a decoy in her place.
At one point, a serial killer throughout Anima named Tyrian Callows is apprehended by F. Pickerel but is taken off his security detail after other Huntsmen don't believe his claims of needing more security. After this, Salem herself attacks the transport carrying Tyrian and killed all of the Huntsmen present and recruited him to her Inner Circle. After this, Pickerel was later found dead in his home. Around this time, rich nobles that were sick of how the Mistral council did things left the main city and made their own settlements. They made the town's of Oniyuri and Kuroyuri with people like Li Ren and An Ren supporting the efforts. However, both towns were later destroyed by a Nuckelavee Grimm and all of their residents were killed with the exception of Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie.
At some point, Brunswick Farms was founded by Bartelby. He tried multiple schemes to avoid paying for Huntsmen protection before hemorrhaging funds. Eventually, he learned of a type of Grimm known as the Apathy that could make people lose their emotions and become apathetic. After he trapped two in the waterway, the whole pack follow them and are sealed underneath the settlement the next day by Bartelby. Because of this, the residents all eventually became so apathetic, they lost the will to get out of bed and died in their sleep.
In the past, Abigail Pyre managed to start her own criminal organization guild of thieves and assassins known as "The Hearth" with the help of Asher Mora before she later set him up when the Hana Guild attempts to kill him for it. After this incident, Opal makes a rule prohibiting fighting in The Skillful.
Two years before the events of "RWBY", Team SAFR is sent to investigate strange incidents happening in Kuchinashiy Qrow Branwen and find out that the Wave crime syndicate, a newer criminal organization in Mistral's underworld is behind it. In order to keep it a secret from outsiders, they have hired a Team of Huntsmen to stop people from interfering with their plans. After the Wave takes over the city, Team SAFR joined the resistance led by professor Takaya in order to free the city. During the process, the leader of the Wave Lemon is killed by Abigail Pyre under orders from Vermillion Raddock and Team SAFR defeat her and she ends up getting killed by a Manticore. Later, Lionheart sends Huntsman reinforcements to the city to retake it from the Wave.
At some point in recent history, Professor Lionheart becomes a turncoat for Salem and helps her in order to save himself. He forges documents for Cinder Fall and her followers to allow them to blend in at Beacon Academy as students of Haven Academy.
During the 40th Vytal Festival, the hosting Kingdom, Vale, was attacked, and Beacon Academy and its Cross Continental Transmit tower was destroyed due to Cinder's actions, cutting off Mistral's communication with the other three Kingdoms. Because of this, many towns in Mistral couldn't contact anyone for help and were destroyed. One of these towns was Shion, which was raided by the Branwen Tribe and later attacked by the Grimm.
After this, Lionheart sent all the students at Haven home while selling out the location of most of Mistral's Huntsmen and the academy staff to Salem's followers Tyrian Callows and Hazel Rainart who end up killing them. After General James Ironwood notices this, he has many of his soldiers like Winter Schnee look into it before later recalling them back to Atlas she he plans to come the borders to the Kingdom. However, the soldiers in Argus aren't recalled due to it having the largest military base outside of Atlas.
During this time, Adam Taurus and the rest of the White Fang attempt and succeed in overthrowing and killing Sienna Khan while planning destroy Haven Academy. Hazel was sent by Salem in an attempt to gain her cooperation, but after she refused to help, Adam killed her and took her place as High leader of the White Fang.
During their travels, Qrow Branwen follows Team RNJR, unbeknownst to them, protecting the team from any Grimm along the way. Qrow made himself known to the team when RNJR was attacked by Tyrian, who had been sent to capture Ruby under Salem's order. Qrow defeats Tyrian, but is poisoned by the Faunus' stinger, leading the group to rush to Mistral, stopping to face the Nuckelavee in the abandoned settlement of Kuroyuri, where they were rescued by the Mistral police force.
Following this, the group head to Haven Academy, where they meet Professor Lionheart and plan to ambush the Branwen Tribe to recover the Spring Maiden. However Lionheart along with Arthur Watts, instead tell Salem of this information and she sends Cinder's Faction along with Watts to convince her to hand over the Maiden. They later form an alliance with her and plan to kill Team RNJR along with Qrow while Raven planned to steal the Relic of Knowledge for herself. Days later, Qrow meets Oscar Pine in a bar, introducing the boy to the group. Oscar explains he is the next incarnation of Ozpin, who reveals himself to his former students.
One night, Lionheart called everyone to the academy saying he made a breakthrough with the council. However, The group is ambushed by Salem's forces in Haven. In the ensuing battle, the White Fang are cornered and defeated by Blake Belladonna and the Menagerie Faunas militia, while Leo, Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel are forced to retreat by Ruby's Group. Meanwhile at the Vault, Yang discovered Raven was the true Spring Maiden, and convinces her to not take the Relic, preventing the Fall of Haven.
After the Battle ended and Team RWBY were all reunited, Ozpin asked them to deliver the Relic to Atlas for safekeeping. Before they left on the Argus Limited however, Hazel learned of their plans thanks to Lil' Miss Malachite and reported it to Salem. Adam Taurus returned to the White Fang Throne Room, but the organization refused to help him after he left his men at Haven behind and the soldiers present were killed by Adam after one mentioned his loss against Blake. He later decided to stalk her throughout their trip to Argus. Meanwhile, Cinder Fall regains consciousness and asks Lil'Miss about Ruby's intentions. After she lies to see who would want information about her, she later tells Neopolitan and then she and Cinder form an alliance to kill Ruby while going to Atlas themselves.
Two weeks after the Battle of Haven, Lionheart's death is covered up by Ozpin who believes he should be remembered for all of the good he did in his life instead of the things he did in his final years. After the White Fang is stopped thanks to the help of Ghira and the Faunus, the Faunus are seen in a better light by the people of Mistral and Ghira begins his efforts to dismantle the extremist parts of the White Fang while staying in Mistral to help rebuild. The students of Haven also begin to transfer to Shade Academy to finish their curriculum.
As the group travel by train, they were forced to briefly separate into two groups due to a crash, where RWBY, Qrow, and Oscar were left behind and forced to hike to the city, meeting Maria Calavera in the process. There, the group discovered the truth about Ozpin and Salem through Jinn's recounting of their past, which led to Ozpin sealing himself away deep in Oscar's mind. The group takes shelter from a snowstorm at Brunswick Farms, where they debate going to Atlas, now that they know Salem is immortal. However, after a close encounter with a pack of Apathy, the group continue on their journey.
Team JNR stayed with Jaune's sister Saphron and her wife while waiting for Team RWBY's group to arrive. The Arc House served as a temporary base for the group while they attempted to find a way to Atlas.
Due to Caroline Cordovin being unwilling to let the group take an airship to Atlas, the group was forced to steal one and fight Cordovin's Colossus while Blake and Yang fought against Adam Taurus. The group manages to defeat both of them and kill Adam, but unfortunately a Leviathan arrives with an army of Grimm to destroy Argus. Ruby, with the assistance of Jinn, is able to stop the Grimm with her Sliver Eyes. As thanks for saving the city, Cordovin allows the group to leave, promising she wonโt mention them in her report.
The Kingdom of Mistral later receives Ruby's message to all of Remnant thanks to Amity Communications Tower. She publicly reveals the existence of the Relics, Maidens, and Salem and asks for help with the situation in Atlas, but the broadcast is cut off before she finishes. In the end though, nobody came to help Atlas as it is destroyed in "The Final Word". However, after hearing Rubyโs message, Mistralโs forces arrived in Vacuo to prepare for the upcoming war against Salem.
Culture: Because it encompasses such a large area, Mistral has a very diverse range of lifestyles and cultures within its borders. The Mistrali have built their culture and technology around the geography and natural resources of the continent. The Mistrali are linked by their common respect for nature, particularly the sea and sky. Notably, Mistral has the most spices of any Kingdom in Remnant.
Argus acts as the major trading center between the continents of Anima and Solitas. It is one of the largest non-capital cities in all of Remnant and has the largest military base outside the Kingdom of Atlas. Due to this, the soldiers stationed were not recalled by James Ironwood before closing the borders.
Mistral's populace is divided into two distinct classes. The Mistrali upper classes are world-renowned for their contributions to high society, such as architecture, theater and fashion. Haven Academy also had luxurious dorm rooms for its students compared to the other academies in Remnant. However, the lower classes are of considerable ill-repute, composed of unsavory characters like thieves and assassins from all across Remnant who have come to Mistral to remain undetected. Mistral is also home to the largest black market in Remnant, where the services of assassins and even corrupt Huntsmen can be bought in the Kingdom if one has the funds to do so.
The large distances involved make outlying settlements like Wind Path and Kuchinashi harder for the council to govern, contributing to this corruption and making these settlements ideal hiding spots for those on the fringes of society.
Prior to the Great War, practices such as slavery and suppression of the arts were allowed in Mistral due to following the example of its ally Mantle. However, the emperor of Mistral still allowed the arts to thrive in the capital only. Following the end of the Great War and the dissolution of the monarchy, these practices were made illegal.
The Mistral Trading Company is a Dust refining company similar to the Schnee Dust Company situated in Mistral that has branches located in Kingdom's like Vacuo. It helped drain the Kingdom of its Natural resources of Dust and has abandoned those refineries located there, one of which was later taken over and used by The Crown as an underground fighting ring.
Another mining company that recently was stationed in Kuchinashi was the Pastel Mining Company, led by a man named Javi Pastel until his death. Pastel became interested in the magical artifacts left throughout the ruins close to the city and planned on becoming rich by selling them. He also transported items from all over Remnant including Sabyrs from Solitas that eventually broke free from his hidden facility under his estate in Kuchinashi. Before he could sell them however, one of the criminal gangs in the city murdered him and planned to take all of his artifacts for themselves.
The White Fang stationed in the Kingdom seems to have the most influence over the other branches throughout Remnant, with the Throne Room for the High leader being located here as well.
Spider is the most powerful crime syndicate known to operate in the city of Mistral, in which they seem to primarily deal in brokering a web of information. Spiders became the new theme for the group, with every member receiving a tattoo of the spider emblem on their bodies and the symbol being used to mark hideouts and territory. Cinder Fall uses the spiders' resources to locate where Ruby's Group are headed after the Battle of Haven, trading information for Lien. Prior to Lionheart's demise, Lil' Miss Malachite was the second most powerful person in the city of Mistral, and has since ascended to the first. They were aligned with Lady Browning's Preparatory Academy For Girls and the Harmony Club, who operated in Vale.
The Hana Guild, or simply the Hana, is a crime family in Mistral located in Kuchinashi, originally known for dealing narcotics. It's an old and powerful family, and their sigil is a flower with blade-like petals. Their leader is a man named Vermillion Raddock, who recently came into charge approximately two years before the start of RWBY. Under his leadership, they have also begun dealing weapons as well.
Another crime organization in the city, the Wave, was known for being a relatively newer organization which dealt in stolen goods, such as high tech Atlas Military developments, and similar merchandise. Their leader was a woman named Lemon until her death. They were rivals to the Hana Guild, and employed corrupt Huntsmen such as Team SMMK for their needs until their destruction. The Wave were allies of Spider.
The Black Sheep are another known crime family, residing in Kuchinashi's Upper Cliffs.
The Skillful is a tavern in Kuchinashi known for being where all the major decisions of the city are made. It also doubles as a stopping point to hire Huntsmen and for Huntsmen to rest, being infamous for being the place to find illegal activities or to hire people to do so.
The Hearth is a guild of thieves and assassins that recently returned to Kuchinashi led by a woman named Abigail Pyre until her death.
The Mouse and Parrot was a criminal organization which rivaled Spider years before the start of the series. It is lead by a man named Paul Parrot, who is the third person to lead his organization, having killed his uncle who'd previously overthrown Paul's grandfather. At one point, the Parrot (as it is shortened) entered war with Spider, and after a week-long feud, found that it'd lost. Members included Badger, a thug who'd been killed during a conflict with Roman Torchwick, and Jack Plum, a rival of Lil' Miss who had connections to corrupt councilman.
The Huntsman Kingdom Accord is an act that protects the Huntsmen of Mistral with some legal support. Academies: Mistral is the location of Haven Academy, one of the four great Huntsman Academies. Its Headmaster was Leonardo Lionheart before siding with Salem. After his death the school was temporarily closed and Teams SSSN and ABRN transferred to Shade Academy in Vacuo.
Notable students include Sun Wukong, who emigrated from his birth kingdom of Vacuo to Mistral, where he became a student at Haven Academy prior to the events of the series.
Cinder Fall, one of Salem's agents, claimed to hail from Mistral and she, alongside with Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai and Neopolitan fought in the Vytal Tournament as Haven students.
Combat Schools in the Kingdom include Sanctum Academy in Argus, known as the combat school attended by Pyrrha Nikos prior to Beacon Academy, and an unnamed combat school in Kuchinashi.
Mistral is the home of the annual Mistral Regional Tournament, presumed to be a combat tournament for Huntsmen and Huntresses. One of Pyrrha's major accomplishments was her record four consecutive tournament victories.
Notable People:
Haven Academy Leonardo Lionheart โ Team SSSN (Transferred to Shade Academy) Team ABRN (Transferred to Shade Academy)[4] Pyke Rite (Transferred to Shade Academy) Arrastra Skye Sanctum Academy Pyrrha Nikos โ (Emigrated) Argus Caroline Cordovin Saphron Cotta-Arc Terra Cotta-Arc Adrian Cotta-Arc White Fang Cell Sienna Khan โ Adam Taurus โ Spider Lil' Miss Malachite Melanie Malachite (Emigrated) Miltia Malachite (Emigrated) Roman Torchwick โ (Emigrated) - originally from Wind Path Honey Wine (Emigrated) Bisque Others Lie Ren (Emigrated) Nora Valkyrie (Emigrated) Cinder Fall (Emigrated) Maria Calavera Vermillion Raddock Lemon โ Fenix Nemean Asher Mora Opal The Taskmaster Takaya Dee โ Dudley Jupiter Vasilias Javi Pastel โ Team SMMK Alabaster Abigail Pyre โ Gunmetal
Vacuo is one of the Kingdoms of Remnant, located to the west of Vale on the western end of the continent of Sanus.
Like the rest of the Kingdoms, Vacuo is nominally governed by a council representing its people and their interests. However, the formal government's influence is marginal. The Huntsman Academy of Vacuo, Shade, is the only true source of law and order in the Kingdom.
The notable city of the Kingdom is its capital, Vacuo.
Geography Vacuo is located in the center of the vast and harsh desert on the western end of the continent of Sanus. Although once at the site of a hospitable oasis, many years of unchecked Human activity have changed its climate into a barren wasteland indistinguishable from the desert surrounding it.
In "New Challengers...", Nebula Violette states that the desert terrain gave them a "home field advantage". "Round One" shows an environment very similar to a savanna or scrub land where several Faunus watch TV from a camper's van in the desert, potentially depicting Vacuo.
Vacuo has very few permanent settlements. Most villages are nomadic and are named after the tribe that originally settled them. When the tribe moves out, they take the settlement's name with them to reuse at their new location.
History: Vacuo was founded in a large oasis with lush jungles, abundant resources, natural barriers and the largest Dust deposit ever recorded in Remnant's history. These favorable conditions allowed Vacuans to flourish, and nomads would travel across the harsh desert surrounding Vacuo in the hopes of reaching the verdant paradise.
However, these comfortable conditions also bred complacency in Vacuo's people, who had no inclination to develop and adapt as others living in less ideal conditions were forced to. This unpreparedness made Vacuo an easy target for exploitation by other Kingdoms, who wished to claim their vast resources for themselves. Years of warfare, mining, and ecological disasters exhausted Vacuo's resources and transformed the once rich Kingdom into a wasteland of heavy industry and makeshift settlements. Its people frequently moved from place to place due to scarce resources and attacks from Grimm.
About 1000 years before the events of RWBY, Malik the Sunderer ruled as the first king of Vacuo. It is said that his descendants have a crown-shaped birthmark to signify his bloodline.
Around eighty years before the beginning of the series, a massive ten-year conflict known as the Great War came to an end. In this war, Vacuo and Vale fought Mistral and Mantle. In the years prior to the Great War, Mantle and Mistral established a presence in Vacuo, due to the plentiful Dust mines. Because of this, Vacuo stayed out of the war at first, leaving Vale to fend for itself. After a while, Mistral and Mantle attempted to pressure Vacuo into fighting alongside them, and the desert Kingdom's citizens came to the realization that, if Vale fell, there would be no one left to stop the other two Kingdoms from conquering Vacuo. In response, Vacuo pushed the other two Kingdoms' presence out of their territory and allied themselves with Vale. During the war, Grimm attacks increased worldwide, and as a result, Vacuo lost many of its settlements to the monsters, some of which were never reclaimed.
The Great War finally came to an end with the deadliest battle in the war's history. Mistral and Mantle attempted to take Vacuo's Dust mines to cut off Vale and Vacuo's supply. Vacuo's army fought alongside Vale's, which was led personally by the King of Vale. Historians believe that this feat was aided by the unusually violent weather and Mantle's inexperience in desert combat.
With the war over, the leaders of the four Kingdoms gathered on neutral ground on the island of Vytal to form a treaty and plan the future of Remnant. There, the four Kingdoms' governments were restructured, territories were redistributed, the tradition of the Vytal Festival was begun and the King of Vale founded the Huntsman Academies. Vacuo's academy, Shade, was secretly given a Relic to safeguard, and the King of Vale placed one of his most trusted followers in command of the school. As a gift from Atlas, a Cross Continental Transmit tower was built on Shade's campus, enabling communication between Vacuo and the other three Kingdoms. It was following the war that a formal government was finally established in Vacuo, but its actual ability to govern was limited due to the people's disregard for its laws. The only widely accepted source of order in the Kingdom was Shade Academy. After the war ended, Dust companies like the Schnee Dust Company and the Mistral Trading Company drained Vacuo of its' natural resources of Dust.
At some point, Professor Theodore became the Headmaster of Shade Academy as well as a member of Ozpin's Group, learning of the existence of Salem. He later informed Xanthe Rumpole of this who joined the group too. Sometime in the past, Jax Asturias is expelled from Shade Academy due to his problematic behavior and his sister Gillian Asturias along with her team defect with him. After Jax believes that he is Malik's decedent, they later establish The Crown, a group of raiders trying to restore Vacuo's monarchy while collecting people with powerful Semblances and brainwashing them to help them. Only Carmine Esclados and Bertilak Celadon stay at Shade to graduate.
Vacuo is first mentioned in "The Stray" when students from Vacuo are said to be visiting Vale for the Vytal Festival. Tukson planned to flee to Vacuo from the White Fang before he was murdered by Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai.
During the 40th Vytal Festival, the hosting Kingdom, Vale, was attacked, and Beacon Academy and its Cross Continental Transmit tower were destroyed, cutting off Vacuo's communication with the other three Kingdoms.
Following the destruction of Beacon, many of it's students Like Team CFVY transfer to Shade Academy to finish their curriculum. On their way to Shade, the encounter Edward and August Caspian who are later hunted by Carmine and Bertilak because of their Semblances. After a fierce battle, they are defeated by Team CFVY and arrested and they later encounter Team SSSN who inform them of the Battle of Haven.
Following the Battle of Haven, many of the students from Haven Academy transfer to Shade too. This causes some of the students like Team NDGO to harass them for being outsiders. Not too long after, Carmine and Bertilak escape from prison and Carmine leaves Bertilak to take the punishment for failing the Crown. After learning about the Crown, the Beacon Brigade tried to investigate them while Theodore sends Rumpole to investigate it and she is defeated by Carmine. Jax then brainwashes her to keep the students of Shade and Theodore from interfering with their plans until she is later freed with the help of Yatsuhashi Daichi and his Memory Wiping Semblance.
After Jax believes he has enough men, he begins his attack on Shade Academy, but the attack draws in the Grimm who help Shade attack the Crown. Once most of his forces are defeated, Gillian believes that they could survive if they retreat but he refuses and instead uses his Semblance to Brainwash her into giving him all her aura so they would die together. Yatsuhashi manages to save her thanks to her boosting his Semblance and using it on Jax to lobotomize him.
After this, all members of The Crown present are arrested and Vacuo managed to hold off the Grimm. Not too long after this, Vacuo receives Ruby Rose's message to all of Remnant publicly revealing the existence of Salem. As she asks for help with the situation in Atlas, the broadcast is cut short. In the end though, nobody came to help Atlas in time, as it is destroyed in "The Final Word".
After the destruction of Atlas, the Atlesian people were evacuated to Vacuo, which caused the Grimm in the area began to attack them. Thanks to the help of the new Winter Maiden Winter Schnee however, they manage to fend them off. Following Salemโs destruction of Vale, Vacuo also began to house refugees from the fallen Kingdom, with Peter Port and Bartholomew Oobleck among them.
After returning from the Ever After, Team RWBY and Jaune Arc appear outside of Vacuo which now has a number of airships floating above it, suggesting that the rest of the world heard Ruby's message and came to Vacuo. Culture: A lack of formal governance for most of their history has given Vacuans a disregard for laws and order. However, they live by the philosophy that anyone who is able to survive the harsh conditions of Vacuo is welcome to live among them, though there is a limit to this. When Fox's uncle Copper was murdered, the other members of their tribe killed the murderer upon catching him. This acceptance may also extend to Faunus, which could indicate that there is less racial discrimination in Vacuo compared to the other Kingdoms.
Additionally, Vacuans often form settlements and nomadic tribes, to avoid Grimm. Tribes can become extended families, such as Fox's tribe, Kenyte who raised him communally after his parents were killed and whom he explicitly thinks of as "his family." Despite their general disdain for official legal structures, the realities of so many people living together can force them to pick a leader from among them, such as Slate, the mayor of Tuff. These tribes occasionally merge to move in large groups. the Outwards displays of emotion are looked down upon by nomads, as they attract Grimm.
Popular Vacuan tourist gift shop t-shirts include: "Vacuo: The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time" and "A Terrible Place to Visit, but You Wouldn't Want to Live Here."
Certain phrases have different meanings in Vacuo, for example, "I'll take a rain check" is the equivalent to the phrase "when pigs fly." Additionally, Vacuans use expressions when talking about natural conditions, including: Wasting Winds (sandstorms), Misery's Kiss (sunstroke), Lasting Regret (food poisoning), and Sudden Demise (giant sinkholes).
However, in the City of Vacuo, the locals tends to have a different shade as compared to the nomadic desert tribes. Reminiscent to the Great War, citizens within the city are resentful towards other Kingdoms, only begrudgingly accepting people from Vale, Mistral and Atlas. This is particularly notable in Shade students, who caused an uproar at Professor Theodore opening Shade to more students from fallen academies.[2]
According to "RWBY: The Grimm Campaign", Vacuo is known for its death metal music.
Sustenance and Diet Vacuans are known to call sand their "local spice", as it is very hard to get it out of their food. Common food choices in Vacuo include: cactus leaves, coffee, fried crevice worms, cave beetles, desert lotus tea, cactus tea, gecko cake, bat stew, ale, flatbread, and breadfruit.
Additionally, mole crabs are considered a delicacy in Vacuo, as they are dangerous and hard to hunt. They can be prepared in the following methods: crab burgers, crab steak, crab cake, and crab rangoon.
Academy: The Huntsman Academy of Vacuo, Shade, is the only true source of law and order in the Kingdom, due to the lack of recognition of the government's authority.
Students from Shade Academy do not appear to have a standard uniform like the schools of the other three Kingdoms. Before being dispatched to their missions from an assembly at Beacon, they appeared in different assortments of casual clothes.
Wildlife|: Beyond Grimm, Vacuo has a rich and diverse wildlife which can be dangerous. Such animals include:
Mole Crabs: massive crab-like creatures that bury in the sands and move in herds. They have clear blood, contain black water in their bodies, and lay eggs. Flatback Sliders: gargantuan turtles that tower at about 100 feet in height that swim through the sand. These turtles are nearly blind, and are reddish in color. Flatbacks have black, obsidian shells which are covered in sand. Seeing a flatback slider is considered good luck in Vacuo. Team CFVY encountered a slider on their way to Coquina while aiding a nomadic tribe. The slider is attacked by a Blind Worm, but survives the encounter once Team SSSN slayed the Grimm. Bats Geckos Crevice Worms Cave Beetles
Notable People: Shade Academy Theodore Xanthe Rumpole Rowena Sunnybrook Team SSSN (Transferred from Haven Academy) Team BRNZ Team NDGO Team CFVY (Transferred from Beacon Academy) Team ABRN (Transferred from Haven Academy) Iris Marilla (Transferred from Beacon Academy) Pyke Rite (Transferred from Haven Academy) Asher Mora Fenix Nemean Rae Noire Ariadne Guime Elektra Fury Olive Gashley Other Carmine Esclados (Immigrated from Atlas) Bertilak Celadon Slate August Caspian (Immigrated from Vale) Edward Caspian (Immigrated from Vale) Finn Asturias Luna Asturias โ Gillian Asturias Jax Asturias Starr Sanzang Umber Gorgoneion Alyx โ Lewis โ
- #13Places
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Vale was a large city on the western coast of the former Kingdom of Vale. It was the location of Beacon Academy, one of the four Huntsmen Academies of Remnant.
Vale had a large port area where passenger and cargo ships dock, including international ships from Vacuo and Atlas. The cargo docks included large-scale container-handling facilities, indicating that the port handled large quantities of goods regularly.
To the southeast lay a mountainous and uninhabited area, but it was also known to contain the ruins of Mountain Glenn, a failed attempt by the Kingdom to extend the city's borders. The location was overrun by Grimm and had to be fenced off from the rest of the city.
The city's leadership was its council and manager. Former City Manager Jimmy Vanille[1] was pressured to be under the employ of the Xiong Family to control Dust shipments before his passing. The Xiong Family was the most powerful organization in Vale, with even the city's police force under their payroll, before Vanille's demise and Roman Torchwick's rise to criminal power.
In the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic", the Kingdom was destroyed by Salem during her search for the Relic of Choice, which included the city as well.
Layout: The city of Vale is divided into multiple sectors, including an upper-class district, a commercial district, an industrial district, an agricultural district, and a residential district. Commercial District: The commercial district of Vale includes numerous shops catering to a variety of lifestyles and interests, befitting its vibrant and diverse culture.
From Dust Till Dawn - a Dust shop that also sells books, tools, and other related merchandise. A Simple Wok - a streetside noodle stand. Tukson's Book Trade - a bookstore with a comprehensive selection. Crow Bar - a food and alcohol establishment with live TV access. Junior's Club - a dance club with nefarious ties. Vale Police Department headquarters - police controlled by the Xiong Family. Just Rite - a restaurant and gas station brand. Clothing stores - damaged during the Grimm breach on Vale. Bakery - damaged during the Grimm breach on Vale. Banks - frequently robbed by Roman Torchwick. Bubba Bubba Boba - a boba tea restaurant The architecture of the commercial district appears to vary widely, possibly according to socioeconomic factors. While some areas seem to be surrounded by buildings with well-kept brick faรงades, holographic street lamps, pedestrian crossings, and clear streets, other areas appear to be more low-income, such as those surrounding Junior's Club, which are characterized by metal, bare concrete, and power lines.
Vale City Library Following the Fall of Beacon, Beacon Academy's destruction led to Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch to set up her new base of operations within the Vale City Library, having chosen an office for herself while also defending the kingdom and slowly repairing the damages to Beacon.[2]
Vale City Square: Vale City Square[3] is a small park in a lowered area, surrounded by buildings. The area has grass and trees, and the middle features a raised platform that functions as a stage for gatherings and announcements. This is where General Ironwood hosted an unveiling of his new Atlesian Knight-200 combat androids.
This area was also used as the tunnel exit to Mountain Glenn in the past, but it was later built over. This was used by Roman Torchwick and the White Fang to stage a Grimm attack on Vale. Glynda Goodwitch fixed the hole after the Grimm attack.
Port: Vale contains a port in the commercial area that is first introduced in "The Stray" while Team RWBY explores the city.
The docks are fenced with metal railing and, according to Ruby, smell distinctly like fish. Sailboats can be seen in the large body of water the docks border, and several large transport ships are known to ferry sizeable shipments to and from the port. Given that land is visible across the body of water, the port is likely to be at the edge of the main river estuary instead of the ocean.
A more industrial area of the docks is seen in "Black and White", where large cranes are used to unload heavy shipping containers from docked freighters. As stated by Weiss Schnee, students from Vacuo would be arriving for the Vytal Festival on board a ship at the docks. Sun Wukong comes as a stowaway on one of these ships, and the Vale Police Force fails to apprehend him. A Dust shop in Vale is seen to be located in the vicinity. Considering this and the number of people milling around, the docks may border the industrial and commercial districts.
In "Black and White", Sun and Blake Belladonna return to the docks a couple of days later to oversee the unloading of a massive shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas, consisting of dozens of shipping containers. While there, they interfere with a significant theft operation orchestrated by Torchwick and his White Fang allies. Penny Polendina arrives with Ruby in the middle of the fight and brings down several Bullheads.
Warehouses: A section of the industrial district contains warehouses, which are low-traffic enough to be a safe place for White Fang activity, as well as the location where Torchwick hides all his stolen Dust.
In "Painting the Town...", a secret White Fang recruitment meeting is held in a warehouse. After Sun and Blake burst through a window and run, they are seen approaching buildings that look like houses, suggesting the warehouse is near the residential area. During the chase sequence as Torchwick follows in the stolen Atlesian Paladin-290, they pass a street outside Junior's Club, suggesting instead that the warehouse is located closer to the commercial district. The presence of the river makes it unlikely that the two districts will juxtapose.
Magic Beans, a coffee franchise, owned a warehouse containing its shipments. It is robbed by Roman and Neo, who ultimately destroy it in a conflict with Huntsmen.
Beacon Academy: Beacon Academy, a training school for Huntsmen, was founded in the city of Vale. The school's ongoing excellent reputation is a cultural asset to the city.
Vale's culture and importance are further enhanced by the erection of one of the four major CCT towers on the academy's campus.
Mountain Glenn: Mountain Glenn was an attempt at expanding Vale toward the southeast. It did not have the natural barriers of inner-city Vale, but an aggressive perimeter defense was utilized.
The people who lived there commuted to their jobs in the city through a subway system, which helped them stay safe from Grimm. Unfortunately, these methods proved effective for only a short while, and Grimm destroyed Mountain Glenn. The subway leading to Vale's commercial district was sealed off.
Vanille Estate: The Vanille family owned an estate somewhere on the outskirts of the city of Vale. Due to Jimmy Vanille secretly helping the Xiong Family smuggle Dust illegally in Vale, Jimmy took parts of these shipments for himself and placed the Dust in his daughter's bedroom.
It was ultimately destroyed in a gang war between the Xiong Family and Spider when Neopolitan led Lil' Miss Malachite to shoot the Dust in her bedroom, which killed her parents and the leader of the Xiong Family, Hei Xiong.
Lady Browning's Preparatory Academy For Girls Lady Browning's Preparatory Academy for Girls was an all-girls academy led by Beatrix Browning. While it presented itself as an institution for teaching young girls the etiquette and skills they'd need for high society, it was in fact a cover for a school of spies and assassins that trained operatives for Spider. Students who impressed the headmistress would be entered into a secret program where they would learn the skills required for combat and espionage. Among its top alums was Carmel Vanille.
During a gang war between the Xiong Family and Spider, the truth about the academy was exposed by Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan after handing information about it to Lisa Lavender from the Vale News Network. While Beatrix Browning survived the gang war, her reputation and career were ruined after being exposed, and the academy was shut down for its criminal activities.
History:
At the beginning of Year One, the city of Vale saw an increase in crime at the hands of Roman Torchwick. He was recognizable at a glance, causing citizens to freeze or back away when he openly walked down a street with his henchmen. Furthermore, the police were controlled by the Xiong Family years before this event, but they were more subtle about their operations.
When Torchwick stepped up his thievery under Cinder Fall's orders, police presence in the city increased dramatically. As Roman himself put it: "I've got this town running scared. Police at every corner, Dust prices through the roof."
Breach: Vale experiences a catastrophe when a train breaks through the sealed underground tunnel from Mountain Glenn, allowing several Grimm to breach into the city. Beacon Academy staff and students, with the help of the Atlas Military, efficiently stop the Grimm, but not before the city experiences damage and people are hurt. Glynda is quickly able to set the damage to rights, but the people of Vale feel an increased uneasiness and fear.
The incident causes the governing council to change security measures for the Vytal Festival, placing Ironwood of Atlas in charge and threatening Professor Ozpin. Roman Torchwick, who had been caught causing the breach into Vale, was put into custody. Vytal Festival: The city of Vale hosts the 40th Vytal Festival. The town decorates with banners and balloons the day exchange students first start arriving. According to Weiss, the city also hosts a parade as part of the festivities.
A section of Vale, part of the Beacon Academy grounds, is set up with tents for the festival's fair.
Battle of Beacon: The city of Vale experiences another, more devastating, catastrophe during the finals round of the Vytal Festival Tournament. The White Fang and Grimm, facilitated by Cinder Fall, invade the city. Roman Torchwick escaped from imprisonment and reprogrammed all Atlesian Knight-200s and Atlesian Paladin-290s to attack people instead of Grimm, causing massive casualties.
The robots are stopped, and Vale is secured, but a Wyvern, frozen atop the broken CCT tower, continues to attract more and more Grimm to Beacon. With the Academy lost, a Huntsmen base is set up in the city.
Later, the people of Vale receive Ruby's message to all of Remnant publicly revealing the existence of Salem and asking for help with the current situation in Atlas. In the end, though, nobody came to help as Atlas is destroyed in "The Final Word".
Other Law Enforcement: Vale has its own police department, with both uniformed and plainclothes detective sections. Criminal mastermind Roman Torchwick was relatively high on the most wanted list before his death.
However, the capabilities of Vytal's criminal element, including super-criminals and the White Fang terrorist organization, sometimes outstrip the department's ability to counter them, forcing it to rely on the Huntsmen to address these extreme threats.
During the events of "RWBY: Roman Holiday", it was revealed that the Vale Police Department was under the payroll of the Xiong Family, led by Hei Xiong, with some corrupt members reporting to him. Following his death at the end of the novel, however, the Xiong Family has seemingly lost its hold over the Vale Police Department by the time Roman Torchwick rises to power and replaces Hei Xiong.
Media: The Vale News Network (VNN) seems to be a significant source of newscasting in the Vale Region, broadcasting to the people of Vale and even out to the island of Patch. Known newscasters include Lisa Lavender and Cyril Ian.
Mistral is a large city built on two mountains within the Kingdom of Mistral.
Various buildings cover the mountains from the summits to the foothills. Haven Academy lies at the top of the city spanning across the peaks of both mountains, which themselves are part of a wider mountain range. Stone stairways act as the main routes in the city. Layout: Mistral is divided into multiple levels; the higher one goes, the nicer it gets. A massive platform in the middle of the city acts as an elevator to descend and ascend through Mistral. The city is full of various buildings and vendors selling merchandise legally and illegally. Haven Academy rests at the top of the tallest point. The lower levels of the city, called Mistral Below, however are shown to be worse than the upper levels and full of criminals. Many criminals like Lil' Miss Malachite have buildings that they use as their base of operations like bars. Most of the Huntsmen that weren't working for the Kingdom's council were also stationed here until they were all killed.
A placed called Sakura Park is found in these lower levels.
Establishments Upper Levels The Mistral Trading Company, or MTC, is a mining company which focuses primarily on the extraction and refinery of Dust. It was primarily active in Vacuo following the Great War, but abandoned most its stations after the kingdom's resources were expended.[1] It uses the Zephyr Line to transport goods to Fort Charon.[2] Mistral Below Lil' Miss Malachite and her criminal organization are also stationed in Mistral's lower levels due to her being one of the most powerful people in Mistral. She usually resides in her bar and gives information to people who pay her. The Luck of the Mountains is a nightclub owned by Spider, where it operates as a place to pool money from patrons, both legally and illegally. The club's star is a woman named Honey Wine, who has the Semblance to make those who listened to her song feel good and thus be prone to listening to her suggestions and ignoring the surrounding, making them easy to pickpocket. The nightclub is established in Sakura Park. The Happenstance Hotel is a minor establishment in the lower levels. The headquarters of the criminal organization, The Mouse and Parrot, was situated in lower Mistral. Gunmetal, a blacksmith with criminal ties, operates in the city, having developed Hush for Neopolitan. Broken Memories is a black-market shop which reverse-engineered Atlesian technology, owned by a man named Bisque who works for Spider. History: Pre-Great War: Prior to the Great War, the Kingdom of Mistral adopted the Kingdom of Mantle's policy of abolishment of the arts and self-expression. However, the city itself managed to maintain its cultural identity. After the war ended, they no longer follow this rule.
At some point in time, Lil' Miss Malachite took control of the crime syndicate "Spider" and became the second most powerful person in Mistral with only Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart being more influential than her. She eventually met Roman Torchwick, who was a pickpocket stealing from one of her clients. After being brought to her, she noticed that he had potential as a criminal and invited him to join Spider which he eventually accepted.
Years before the city, during the events of RWBY: Roman Holiday, a week-long gang war between Spider and the Mouse and Parrot breaks out, with the Spider organization eventually winning.
Haven Academy: Haven Academy was founded by the King of Vale. It serves to train future Huntsmen and Huntresses and secretly housed the Relic of Knowledge which was only accessed by the Spring Maiden. However, it's Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart sent all of it's students home while he sold out the location of most of the Huntsmen of Mistral to Salem in order to save himself. The staff of Haven were also not exempt from this as they were all killed by Tyrian Callows and Hazel Rainart.
While trying to find Huntsmen not working for the council, Qrow Branwen searches the lower levels of the city and comes to the realization that they were all killed by Lionheart. After the Battle of Haven, Salem kills Lionheart and his death and betrayal was covered up to make it seem like he died heroically protecting the academy. Following his death, Lil' Miss Malachite became the most powerful person in Mistral.
Once Cinder Fall is released from the Haven Vault, she kills a woman passing by and takes her clothes and money while heading towards Lil' Miss Malachite's bar in order to learn about where Ruby's Group was heading. She tells her to give her a week, unaware that she already knew where they were going thanks to Hazel asking her a week earlier since she wanted to knowing anybody wanted to know about Cinder. After a week passed, she told Cinder that they were headed to the Kingdom of Atlas while also informing Neopolitan about Cinder.
Later, the people of Mistral receive Ruby Rose's message to all of Remnant publicly revealing the existence of Salem and asking for help with the current situation in Atlas. In the end though, nobody came as Atlas is destroyed in "The Final Word".
Atlas was the capital and largest city in the former Kingdom of Atlas. It sat on a floating island above the City of Mantle, the former capital of the Kingdom and was the location of Atlas Academy.
Following the removal and usage of the Relic of Creation from its Vault, the island plummeted and crashed into Mantle, destroying both cities. At least thousands of its population were transported to Vacuo beforehand, using the Staff to create a pathway. Description Atlas was a large metropolitan city in the Kingdom of Atlas, sitting atop a floating island above the city of Mantle. The city was extremely advanced, with many towers and skyscrapers of all sizes being visible at a distance, all seemingly with a blue color scheme to them. Atlas was seen as having platforms on the underside of the floating island and Atlas Academy was situated at the center of the city. There was a massive hill to one side of the city, atop of which Schnee Manor used to reside.
To the bottom of the floating city, the district of Old Mantle was seen above a massive, crescent-shaped airport. Farmlands were seen to either side of Old Mantle.
The entire city was surrounded by a Hard-Light barrier that was projected by forked spires stationed around the perimeter of the floating island. However, if one of the towers was disabled then the entire barrier would be disabled. These towers also function as the city's climate control system.
Additionally, large train rails in the form of rings circling around allowed for mass public transportation. The tracks were projected by large towers, using Hard-Light Dust.
The Atlas Broadcast Network served as a major news service for the Kingdom, frequently used in both Atlas itself and in Mantle. The Lance of Liberty, which used the Lancer Grimm as their company's emblem, along with the Atlas Eye, Atlas Broadcast Network and Mantle Daily were four additional news services. They were all first seen in "Sparks".
The city consisted of "Atlas Main Street", a long road that eventually led to the upper part of the city known as "Atlas Heights". It also had mobsters with high-tech Atlas Military technology led by Amoncio Glass. The people of the city enjoyed the opera houses, clubs and find dining that the city has to offer. The downtown area of the city was where Glass was operating from.
Underneath the city located around the "Donut" was the command center for the Atlas Military.
Locations Layout Atlas was built atop a large, flat island with a range of mountains on the north-most "coast" of the landmass, in addition to a singular mountain rising at its center. Large generators surrounded the island, allowing it to be protected by Hard-light Dust shields, which also serve as climate control devices.[6]
In "War", the city's shield generators were destroyed by Salem and as such the island was made unsafe from the Grimm.
City: Coming north from the Airport, Atlas city is built concentrically around the Academy. The majority of the city's island was composed of large residential areas and businesses, whose architecture took large inspiration from a blend of art deco and neo-classical elements, as well as the Kingdom's highly advanced technology. The city was shown to have various subway systems, making transport in the island extremely efficient.
The city's Downtown is the area immediately adjacent to the Academy.[7] While undercover after having infiltrated the Kingdom, Cinder Fall and Neopolitan used a high life apartment here to bide their time in search of the Relic of Knowledge and the Winter Maiden.
One notable business in Atlas was the Glass Unicorn, a hotel where a young Cinder was raised and put to work after being taken in from an orphanage in Mistral. It was managed by the Madame and her daughters before their deaths.
The city was also home to the Schnee Dust Company headquarters, a corporation owned by the Schnee family, and was one of the largest producers and exporters of Dust in the world.
Atlas Academy:
Atlas Academy was positioned atop the island's center mountain, overlooking the city. There, it doubled as both the Kingdom's academy and General Ironwood's military center, situated directly below Atlas Academy at the city's "Donut", where various facilities were hosted.
For easy access within its borders, the city used a subway system as public transport. As revealed in concept art, there were a total of four different subway lines within Atlas.
Schnee Manor: Resting on one of Atlas' mountain ranges in the west, the residence of the Schnee family was hoisted over a hill, overlooking the city in a similar manner to the Kingdom's Huntsman academy.
Atlas Fields:
The east and west sides of Atlas Islands were kept flat and a large portion of it was reserved for expansive fields for food production and farming.
In "Midnight", Atlas' western production field was crushed by Monstra. Later in "War", the fields were overrun by Grimm like Sabyrs.
Donut: Directly undeneath the center of the floating landmass, the military kept various facilities in a spiral connected to the city's anchors. Affectionately nicknamed "The Donut", this was where Fria was kept in the Atlas Medical Facility, officially known as the "M3" (or Maiden Medical Tower 3). Landing bays were seen within the Donut.
At the base of the Donut, the Atlas Command Center was situated next to the transport tubes from Mantle. Nearby was also the bottom opening to the Atlas Vault.
Another military facility was located directly under the central airport.
Old Mantle: According to Atlas concept art the front part of Atlas, closest to Mantle was called Old Mantle and was also the main airport of Atlas. The airport was shaped similarly to a crescent moon.
Glass Unicorn:
The Glass Unicorn was a notable hotel in Atlas.
Castle: The Schnee Training Room (unofficial) was a location somewhere in Atlas where Weiss was forced to fight the Arma Gigas.
Pietro's Lab (unofficial) was Pietro Polendina's laboratory in Atlas.
Subway: Atlas had a subway system. It was used for shelter during Salem's attack by the citizens of Atlas.
History: Following the Great War, the people of Mantle needed a new symbol of hope, which the city of Atlas provided. Soon, Atlas cast a shadow over Mantle, becoming the face of its Kingdom. This also became more literal, when an incarnation of Ozma used the Relic of Creation to raise Atlas off the ground. By the current time, the public story for Atlas being kept afloat was due to Gravity Dust.
During the events of "RWBY: Arrowfell", Team RWBY eventually uncovered a conspiracy against General James Ironwood led by Bram Thornmane. During their investigation while helping the Ace Operatives with their own missions, Lieutenant Colonel Olive Harper reveals that she believes Amoncio Glass was the one arming mobsters around the city with Atlas Military technology after a weapon furnishing operation that took place in Solitas' southern coast Dust Mine and was also distributing the orbs that attracted the Grimm. After Team RWBY confront him in downtown Atlas and destroy his "Glass Cannon MK II" mech suit, he revealed what he knew about the orbs and that he didn't know who was really behind the operation due to his client using codenames to avoid their true identity from getting out. After telling them this, he asks them to leave him be which they do. Olive informs Team RWBY that Amoncio got the technology through someone in the military, later revealed to be herself. Later when Hanlon Fifestone is arrested and activates four hidden orbs across Solitas, Team RWBY discover one of the orbs in Atlas and destroy it.
Once Ironwood learned that Ruby Rose and her friends lied to him and that Salem was on her way in "Gravity", he changed his original goal from launching Amity Communications Tower into the atmosphere to keeping the Relic of Creation, along with the Relic of Knowledge and the Winter Maiden out of Salem's reach. To achieve this, he planned on having Winter Schnee claim the Maiden powers from Fria in order to open the Vault and use the Relic to raise the City of Atlas into the atmosphere. When Team RWBY realized that this would mean abandoning Mantle, they opposed him, leading him to put out arrest warrants for them and their friends.
Atlas crashes into Mantle and both cities are flooded.
Later in "Midnight", Atlas is attacked by a river of Grimm Liquid that shoots up underneath it and creates Centinel Grimm. These Grimm attack the Hard-Light Dust shields around the floating island and destroy the shield, allowing Salem and her Monstra to land on the island. The military fights off the invasion and plans to destroy Monstra with a bomb, but Winter allows Yang's Group to rescue Oscar Pine, who destroys the giant Grimm with The Long Memory.
In "Creation", the city began to plummet when Team RWBY used the Staff to create a new body for Penny Polendina. Later in "The Final Word", Atlas crashes into Mantle, causing them both to be destroyed. The melting glaciers nearby flood the cities and submerge them underwater.
Trivia: Its name is likely a reference to Atlas, a Titan in Greek mythology who was punished for opposing the Olympians by being made to hold up the sky for all eternity. It could also be a reference to Atlas as a large map, similar in symbolism to other Academy names such as Beacon Academy and Signal Academy. Another reference could be to the ancient mythical city of Atlantis (whose name means "Island of Atlas"), as is famous for being sunk underwater, which is what happened in "The Final Word". The city was described by Miles Luna as "futuristic New York City, if it were developed by Apple". The commentary describes Mantle as more utilitarian looking and compared to the movie Blade Runner, while Atlas was made to look like it was created by Apple. Two different futuristic looks.
The Kingdom of Atlas represents two different versions of America with Mantle representing the cities and Atlas representing technology. Miles Luna stated that he was hoping people didn't figure out Atlas was a floating city in the sky before they got there. Even in World of Remnant, they were very careful with how they worded things to avoid spoiling this fact. During the Volume 8 Director's Commentary, the writers called Atlas "Chekov's Floating City" due to them knowing that the city was always planned to fall out of the sky.
Kuo Kuana[1] is the largest city on Menagerie and is a haven for Faunus kind. It is the home of the chieftain of Menagerie, Ghira Belladonna. It first appeared in the episode "Menagerie".
Description: Kuo Kuana is the largest settlement in Menagerie. Though Menagerie is a large landmass, it comprises mostly desert, forcing the Faunus to congregate on smaller areas resulting in the dense settlement of Kuo Kuana.
Kuo Kuana is a bustling town with packed residential areas and expansive markets.
The main street runs from the port to the Chieftain's house and is lined with market stalls and houses. The houses come in many different shapes and sizes accommodating a variety of different Faunus that live there.
The city has a district called "The shallow sea"[2] dedicated to Faunus with aquatic features. It is comprised of a number of wooden stilt houses situated over shallow water. The water is shallow enough for Faunus to walk in, but also deep enough for more aquatic Faunus to swim in. Boardwalks are connected with wooden rope bridges and are populated by booths selling food and drinks. The water features a submerged market area for Faunus with aquatic features enabling them to convene with the rest of the public.
Another section of the town has a residential area with houses more evenly spaced apart. This makes room for alleys, and somewhere in Kuo Kuana is the Albains' hideout.
Separated from the cramped houses is the multilevel Belladonna home, spaced away with a large, paved courtyard. The courtyard also serves as the town square where the chieftain can hold meetings and announcements to the people of Menagerie.
History: Following the Great War, the Faunus were given Menagerie as a reward for their participation, in conjunction with equal rights. While some Humans saw these rewards as fair and just, many Faunus saw it as a slap to the face, as two-thirds of Menagerie is a desert that is uninhabitable due to wildlife there found to be even more dangerous than that of Vacuo. They had no choice but to congregate on smaller areas of the landmass resulting in the dense settlement of Kuo Kuana.
After Blake Belladonna returns home after she believes running away from her Team would keep them safe following the Fall of Beacon alongside Sun Wukong, they meet with Blake's parents Kali Belladonna and the chieftain of Menagerie Ghira Belladonna. After an attack from Ilia Amitola and Sun confronting Blake on her reasons for leaving her team, they learn of Adam Taurus planning a coup with the rest of the White Fang against Sienna Khan and a future attack on Haven Academy.
After they resolve to stop the attack, they track down one of Ilia's Associates who fires at them in the city and later attempt to convince the citizens of Kuo Kuana to help them out. After they realize nobody wanted to help, they are attacked by the White Fang and are forced to fight them off. Once Corsac Albain and Fennec Albain are defeated following a fight at Blake's home, she manages to convince the citizens that the White Fang will keep attacking people if nobody stops them. This causes Ilia to switch sides and help them, along with all of the Faunus finally deciding to help out with the situation.
Later, the people of Kuo Kuana receive Ruby's message to all of Remnant publicly revealing the existence of Salem and her asking for assistance with the current situation in Atlas. In the end though, nobody came to help as Atlas is destroyed in "The Final Word".
Notable People: Ghira Belladonna (Chieftain) Kali Belladonna Blake Belladonna Ilia Amitola Saber Rodentia Menagerie Guards White Fang Cell: Corsac Albain Fennec Albain โ Trifa Yuma
Amity Colosseum was the location of the Vytal Festival tournament. It was an enormous levitating arena that was capable of moving vast distances, making the journey to the host Kingdom every time the festival is held in one of the four Kingdoms. When not in use, the Colosseum remained parked near Atlas. As the Vytal Festival and its combat tournament grew in size, it was decided the tournament would need a grand stage. The colosseum was a technological marvel built from the resources and contributions of all four Kingdoms, designed to match the increase in skill for the competing Huntsmen, and as a symbol of harmony between the four Kingdoms.
After the Fall of Beacon, James Ironwood re-purposed Amity Colosseum into Amity Communications Tower, a communications satellite made to replace the Cross Continental Transmit System.
In "Amity", one of its added stabilizers was destroyed by Cinder Fall, causing it to fall back down to the tundra of Solitas. However, in "Of Solitude and Self", Amity Colosseum can be seen hovering over Vacuo, now turned into a battleship.
Description:
Amity Colosseum is an enormous airborne colosseum with an inverted cone shape. The base of the structure is a very large Dust crystal that tapers to a point.
Located above the main Dust crystal are two levels of docking bays for Air Buses to offload passengers. Large archways lead passengers to the seating area.
The seating area has an incredibly large capacity, able to accommodate the large crowds of spectators. The red seats closest to the arena itself are apparently reserved for contestants in the Vytal Festival and other VIPs. Above the seating area are huge holographic screens, which display the Aura monitors for tournament matches, as well as videos of the matches in progress, including action replays. The tournament presenters sit in a small booth above the top level of the seating area.
The audience are protected by an invisible forcefield which prevents projectiles and other objects from leaving the fighting area. This forcefield is most likely made of Hard-Light Dust. When hit, the forcefield pulses a light blue color and ripples around the impacts. It is capable of preventing flying contestants from being flung into the spectator stands and is also able to absorb stray bullets. In addition, the forcefield also acts as a shield, protecting the stadium from external impacts, such as Grimm attacking from the outside.
After the Fall of Beacon Amity Colosseum was re-purposed into a communications satellite called Amity Communications Tower. It was developed by James Ironwood and Pietro Polendina as a replacement for the Cross Continental Transmit System.
It was used to send out Ruby Rose's message about Salem across all of Remnant before Amity floated back down because of the damage from Cinder Fall. It was seen flying in "Of Solitude and Self" next to the kingdom of Vacuo.
History: Amity Colosseum was built as the migrating location for the Vytal Festival tournament. As the Vytal Festival and its combat tournament grew in size, it was decided the tournament would need a grand stage. The colosseum is a technological marvel built from the resources and contributions of all four Kingdoms, designed to match the increase in skill for the competing Huntsmen, and as a symbol of harmony between the four Kingdoms.
It is an enormous levitating arena that is capable of moving vast distances, making the journey to the host Kingdom every time the festival is held in one of the four Kingdoms. The order of the host Kingdom seems to be Atlas, Vacuo[2], Mistral[3], and Vale.
When not in use, the colosseum remained parked near Atlas.
At some point, Arthur Watts helped create the environmental Dust controls for the different biomes of Amity Arena.[4]
The battles fought during the 40th Vytal Festival occurred in Amity Colosseum. While the majority of them ended with no incident, two notable ones, where Yang Xiao Long was framed for assaulting Mercury Black and Pyrrha Nikos accidentally destroying Penny Polendina, were used by Cinder Fall as a means of attracting Grimm, by sending a message across Remnant to instill fear into the public with the people in the colosseum.
During the Fall of Beacon the colosseum was left abandoned above Vale. When it returned to Atlas, James Ironwood and Pietro Polendina started working on the Amity Communications Tower, the communications satellite built on top of the colosseum that would be sent into the atmosphere and could work as a replacement for the Cross Continental Transmit System.
The launch site was Schnee Dust Company Mine 2. Once it had been secured, Ironwood decided to give Team RWBY and Team JNPR their Huntsmen licenses as thanks for their hard work. During the celebration party, the Ace Operatives decided to help them find their first mission to do as well.
Later, Ironwood sent some of his best scientists to convert the colosseum into a communications tower with Robyn Hill becoming suspicious as to why. During the Battle of Mantle, Ironwood revealed the reason that he sent the colosseum above the mine and his plan for it.
After learning about the colosseum, Arthur Watts went with the intent to sabotage it. However, upon arriving and noticing that it didn't look very complete, Ironwood revealed himself to Watts and stated that this was all a trap for him. Once he realized this, he activated the colosseum's anti-gravity biome and fought Ironwood with him trapping one of his arms in the process. Before he could sabotage the colosseum however, Ironwood willingly flayed his arm and captured Watts in the process.
After Ironwood abandoned his original plan due to Salem's impending arrival, Ruby's Group decided to continue it and warn the rest of the world. In order to finish it however, they needed the launch codes for Amity kept in the Atlas Command Center and infiltrated the complex. Before they could leave, the Ace-Ops managed to steal on of Penny's blades to bring back.
Once Penny detonated multiple bombs in the launch site, Amity began raising into the atmosphere with Maria Calavera, Pietro and Penny all onboard. Before they could finish, Cinder, Emerald and Neopolitan reached Amity and fought against them in order to acquire Penny's Maiden powers.
After Cinder is knocked out, her forces retreat, but not before the damage to one of Amity's thrusters causes it to descend. Penny manages to keep it in the atmosphere long enough for the message to be received by the rest of Remnant. After Watts manages to hack her, she falls from the atmosphere and the broadcast ends while Maria and Pietro are stranded in the colosseum as it drifts to the ground.
The tournament matches themselves take place in a large octagonal arena. The arena is capable of changing its environment into eleven different "biomes", including grasslands, forest, volcanic, ice, geyser fields, stormy mountains, desert, an ocean and beach with a wooden ship, city ruins, gravity arenas, and a swamp. The arena also has artificial weather effects, such as thunderstorms and an artificial sun. The environmental Dust controls for the arena were created by Arthur Watts when he still worked for Atlas. In all matches, the central octagonal part remains the same regardless of the biome. The biomes can be made to take either a fraction of the arena or the entirety of it, as seen in Ironwood's fight against Arthur Watts.
During the team round, the arena is split evenly into two biomes, which are chosen randomly at the beginning of every fight for each half of the arena. During the doubles round, four biomes are chosen for each fight. In certain biomes, Dust crystals are also scattered around for combatants to use. In the singles round, no biomes are chosen, and only the center platform is in bounds. During matches at night, a ring of stage lights is present to allow light for the event.
Biomes: The default appearance of the arena, before the biomes are chosen. Before the match starts, biomes are randomly chosen for each of the segments. Once a biome is selected, the superstructure retracts, the terrain rises up from below the ground and the match begins. The Ice and Fire/Lava biomes are seen during the match between Team RWBY and Team ABRN. Crystals of ice Dust are scattered throughout the icy area, while the lava field contains orange Dust. The icy area also appears to be very slippery, which factors into the battle. The Forest and Stormy Mountain biomes are seen for the match between Team JNPR and Team BRNZ. Most of the melee occurs in the central octagonal area, while May Zedong takes cover in the trees of the forest terrain. Thunderstorms form above the mountain biome, which Nora Valkyrie is able to take advantage of. . The ocean biome contains an artificial shipwreck, as well as small sandy islands and coconut trees. The sun-baked desert area also includes an artificial sun, and spectators are provided with sunglasses to watch the action. Nebula Violette comments that the desert area is reminiscent of Vacuo, giving her team (and Vacuo native Sun Wukong) a "home-field advantage". V3 0400004 Urban, Geyser, Savanna/Sahara and Forest biomes are seen in the doubles round match of Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black against Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi. Mercury and Emerald initially take cover in the tall grass, but Coco destroys their concealment. Later, Yatsuhashi and Mercury have a one-on-one fight in the geyser field as Emerald ambushes Coco in the forest biome. Tron biome Ocean, Geyser, Stormy Mountain and Anti-Gravity[5] biomes are seen in the doubles round match of Penny Polendina and Ciel Soleil against Russel Thrush and Sky Lark. Only the end of the fight is shown. Various patches of the arena appear to have weak fires burning, and rocks can be used for cover in the mountain biome. The Anti-Gravity biome is later used in the Volume 7 episode "Gravity" in the fight between Arthur Watts and James Ironwood. The floating platforms are able to change the direction of gravity for whoever is on them.
Fire/Lava, Desert, Geyser and Urban biomes are seen in the doubles round match of Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long against Flynt Coal and Neon Katt. Neon makes heavy use of the urban biome, using structures as ramps and grinding along edges. When she accidentally lands in the geyser biome, one of her skates gets tripped up on the uneven surface, leading to her defeat. In this round, the lava biome now spews geysers of lava, which Flynt uses to melt Weiss' first barrage of ice crystals. The lava is later used against him when Weiss tackles him into a lava geyser, which reduces his Aura to sixteen percent.
No biomes are present for singles round matches. Instead, the center platform is raised and is the only playable field for the fight. The out-of-bounds area has the emblems of the four kingdoms instead of the default appearance.
Patch is a sleepy rural island to the west of the former city of Vale. It is also the location of Signal Academy and where Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose were born and raised.
These forests are known to contain Beowolves and Ursai. It is unknown if any other species of Grimm reside there.
With the destruction of Vale in the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic", some residents from Patch relocated to Vacuo as stated in "Boba", with the island implied to be currently abandoned as a result. Description The island is safe enough for a family to live in their house and for people to build a combat school but is also large enough to have areas infested with Grimm like its forest.
Patch is relatively secluded and includes heavy forested areas that Yang ventured into, bringing Ruby along with her when they were very young in an effort to learn more about her missing mother, Raven Branwen.
Many Grimm have appeared in the forests of Patch. Notable examples are a large amount of smaller Beowolves and a Giant Ursa.
There are at least two schools on the island that permit people who want to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, Signal Academy and Patch Combat School.
A forest infested with Grimm is also the location of Summer Rose's gravestone.
The community itself is a sprawling town nestled in the center of the island, surrounded by dense forests, winding roads, and ominous trees with long journeys between locations reinforcing its sense of isolation.
History The island is the location of the childhood home of Ruby and Yang and the combat school they attended before entering Beacon.
At some point in time, an incident at the Patch Combat School occurred in which a student was attacked and killed by a Grimm while on a field trip. Aurelia, the teacher who had been in charge of the class, resigned from the school out of guilt for what had happened.
It is the location of Signal Academy where Taiyang Xiao Long acts as a teacher and Qrow taught before quitting.
It is first seen in the "Red" Trailer when Ruby visits her mother's gravestone and fights many Beowolves in the snow-covered forest. The same cliffside is also visited by Ruby and Taiyang in "Round One".
Sometime before enrolling in Beacon, Ruby and Yang were training in the forest before a big Ursa attacked them and was defeated by Yang.
After the Fall of Beacon, Ruby and Yang return to Patch and live there for a while recovering. Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren visit Patch and together with Ruby visit the cliffside gravestone before embarking on their journey to Mistral.
After Yang receives a Prosthetic Arm made by Pietro Polendina and commissioned by James Ironwood at the request of her father, she refuses to use it at first. After she was going through PTSD based on Adam Taurus cutting off her arm and she received guidance from professors Peter Port and Bartholomew Oobleck and her father calling her out due to her condition, she decides to use the prosthetic arm and begins training with her father.
Once he manages to teach her not to rely on her Burn Semblance all the time like she used to, he tells her about her mother and her flaws while also revealing her semblance to her. Once she learns this and prepares to leave after repainting her bike, Tai confronts her about it she's going after Raven or Ruby. After she plans to go to her mother in order to find Ruby, Yang leaves her father and Zwei behind in Patch.
The next time Patch is seen was during the Volume 5 post-credits scene, when Raven used her link to Taiyang to escape Mistral. However, she doesn't stay in Patch and leaves him behind to run away from Salem.
Later, the citizens of Patch receive Ruby's message to Remnant publicly revealing the existence of Salem and asking for assistance with the situation in Atlas. After the broadcast is cut off, Tai pleads for Ruby to come back with clear worry. In the end though, nobody came to help Atlas as it was destroyed in "The Final Word".
Locations:
Cliffside Forest Old Shack Patch Combat School Signal Academy Summer's Gravestone Xiao Long-Rose Family Home
Argus is a port city in the northern region of the Kingdom of Mistral, and acts as the major trading center between the continents of Anima and Solitas. It is among the largest non-capital cities in all of Remnant. It is first seen in "The Grimm Reaper".
Description The southern edge of Argus is bordered by a stone wall several stories tall with a single large gate allowing for road access. The city has cobblestone streets and has a transit system with streetcar-like hovering vehicles following a groove in the roadway. Most of the buildings are brick, only a few stories in height and bear resemblance to the real-world Victorian style of houses.
The city is built over hilly terrain, with a large natural harbor.
Argus is connected to the city of Mistral by the Argus Limited.
Argus Military Base The Kingdom of Atlas has their largest foreign military base on an island just off the coast of Argus, on the other end of a large suspension bridge.
The city is the location of Sanctum Academy one of Mistral's primary Huntsman Academies.
Pyrrha Nikos Memorial Park Argus was the hometown of famous Vale Huntress and Vytal Tournament finalist Pyrrha Nikos, who was killed by Cinder Fall during the Fall of Beacon. A memorial park was built for her in Argus with her statue.
CCTS Relay Tower Argus has one of the support relay towers of the Cross Continental Transmit System. It is located on the cliff above the city, surrounded by a forest.
City Defenses The city has Hard-Light Dust barriers that activate via towers that emerge from underwater should large Grimm surface and attack the city. The towers create two rings of hard light. The towers, however, are vulnerable to direct attacks and can cause a section of the wall to stop working.
On the opposite side of the city is a large stone wall, about five stories in height, with a single large archway for passage. Both the gateway and the wall itself are seen being manned by Atlesian infantry. [1]
The city's main offensive force are the numerous Manta airships stationed at the Argus Military Base, as well as the Colossus, the giant mech created to fight giant Grimm.
History: Argus was originally founded by settlers from Mistral, who struggled with the local climate. An influx of settlers from the kingdom of Atlas resulted in strong trading links between the two kingdoms, with Mantle and later Atlas providing technical support in exchange for local resources unavailable from Solitas.
The city is part of Mistral, but the city is so important to Atlesian commerce that the kingdom keeps a significant military presence to help protect the city. Due to deep water just offshore of Argus, large Grimm such as Leviathans are a common enough threat that the Atlesian military stations a Colossus at its Argus base.
Some point before the events of RWBY, Spider and Lil' Miss Malachite had allied themselves with the Kuchinashi organization, Wave and it's leader, Lemon. Together, they'd perform a heist on an Atlesian shipment in the city of Argus, stealing a newly-created fabric material that adapted to light, making the wearer invisible. Spider stole the entire shipment underneath Wave's nose, thus invisibility cloaks became commonplace amongst their spy network in Mistral.
After the death of Pyrrha Nikos during the Battle of Beacon, a memorial statue was built in her honor in a city park since she graduated from Sanctum.
The people of Argus later receive Ruby Rose's message to Remnant in "Amity" thanks to the Amity Communications Tower. She publicly reveals the existence of Salem and tries to ask for assistance in the Kingdom of Atlas, but the broadcast is cut off before it can finish. In the end though, nobody came to help Atlas as it is destroyed in "The Final Word".
- #14Dimension
Keys: ever after, the ever after, great tree, afterans, ascension ever after, ascension process, jabberwalker, curious cat rwby, rusted knight, alyx, lewis rwby, girl who fell through the world, jungle acre, king's acre, red prince rwby, crimson castle rwby, garden acre, herbalist rwby, hunter mice, jinxy peddler, little mouse rwby, splaterday, two suns ever after, void beneath atlas, central location atlas, ambrosius pathways, afteran roles, afteran ascension, ever after bridge acres, talking animals ever after, living toys rwby, no grimm ever after, gods origin ever after, god of light origin, god of darkness origin, great tree origin, alyx story, rusted knight jaune, volume 9 ever after, haven vault, vault of the spring maiden, relic of knowledge vault, haven academy vault, lionheart vault, spring maiden vault, mistral vault cavern, jinn statue elevator, relic chamber haven, raven spring maiden vault, vernal decoy maiden, battle of haven vault, cinder vs raven vault, atlas vault, vault of the winter maiden, relic of creation vault, atlas academy vault, winter maiden vault, atlas relic chamber, staff of creation vault, ironwood vault scene, oscar vault fall, atlas vault elevator, winter vs ironwood vault, atlas crash vault, salem enters atlas vault, relic of creation chamber
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The Ever After is another realm that exists beyond Remnant, which was accessed via the void beneath the Evacuation Central Location. It also serves as the main setting of both Volume 9 and the in-universe fairy tale The Girl Who Fell Through the World.
Following Cinder Fall's attack in the central location, Team RWBY, along with Jaune Arc and Neopolitan fell into the void and found themselves there as a result. At the center of the Ever After is the Great Tree, which manages the process of Ascension and is surrounded by various acres built for the Afterans and their designated roles.
The Ever After is also where The Gods originated, before they eventually departed from the realm to create other worlds such as Remnant. Description Underneath the pathways created by Ambrosius, another realm could be accessed by falling into the void, as this was where Crescent Rose and Ruby Rose landed after falling.
The shore is covered in sand and palm trees. Further inland, a large cliff towers over the shore.
The Ever After's main feature is a gigantic tree with cloud-like green, purple and yellow leaves. The gigantic tree sits on top of a cliff surrounded by seemingly regular-sized palm trees. The cliff towers over the shore that is also covered by palm trees before turning into a sandy beach with yellowish water.
The sandy beach is tropical covered by curvy palm trees, purple bushes and orange plants and features giant seashells, giant sea stars, and birds. It also features two suns in the sky.
The Acres of the Ever After The Acres of the Ever After
The Ever After appears to be divided up into several different acres all connected via bridges. Each of these acres seem to exist as their own self-contained realms and operate under their own set of rules, mostly independent of others' influence in a form of anarchy. Because of this the Ever After is seen by outsiders as an extremely confusing and bizarre place where nothing ever makes any sense.
Past the beach is the Jungle Acre where the plants are shown to be overgrown, and the vines are able to capture anyone and anything that gets caught in them. Among the plants in the jungle are cheese plants that the mice eat for food.
Past a bridge is the King's Acre where the citizens are all living toys under the rule of the Red Prince. It is populated with many red trees, similar to those of Forever Fall, with patchwork-patterned grass and many sprawling yellow dirt paths. In the acre, there is a town with a large market where the toy citizens live and further down the path is the Crimson Castle where the Red Prince lives.
Past another bridge is the Garden's Acre where the Herbalist lives. In the acre, there are multiple mushrooms. There are also trees with mushroom on the bark of the plants. This acre houses a place known as the Garden, where the ingredients for a Growgurt Parfait can be found.
The world is inhabited by animals such as a dodo-like bird and mice. Unlike Remnant, these animals are sapient and able to speak, such as a mouse Ruby met and called Little and the Jinxy Peddler who is a raccoon. Similarly, there are also living toys such as the Red Prince and living objects as well. These inhabitants of the Ever After are called Afterans.[3] Unlike the people of Remnant, the Afterans can't actually die and instead "ascend" after completing their roles while being given new roles by the Ever After. When this happens however, they lose any of their memories from before they ascended and sometimes their personalities also change in the process. The Ever After also "fixes" Afterans that failed to complete their role and causes the same prop to happen to them, such as when the Red King failed his role and became the Red Prince as a result. The only way an Afteran can truly die is if they are devoured by a creature known as the Jabberwalker, preventing them from ascending in the process.
Due to existing before the creation of Remnant, it is completely devoid of any Humans or Faunus living there, as Little didnโt know what Ruby was when asking questions. Also, there are no Creatures of Grimm existing anywhere inside of the realm either.
It is shown that time works differently in the Ever After compared to Remnant. Alyx, the protagonist of The Girl Who Fell Through The World, and her brother Lewis arrived a decade or so before the start of Volume 9, even though the two lived in Vacuo before the Great War and the creation of the Huntsman Academies. During their travels with Jaune, they learned that Afterans don't keep track of time using days like the people of Remnant, so they created the day "Splaterday" for the trio to have every day.
Although Team RWBY, Jaune, and Neo entered the Ever After through the Central Location, it is likely not the only way, as both Alyx and Lewis entered the realm through unknown means.
It is revealed in "Of Solitude and Self" that the The Gods originated from the Great Tree in the Ever After and used their powers to shape the realm into its current state by creating both the Afterans as well as the different acres for them to live based on their purpose. Eventually, the Brothers outgrew their role and created both the Curious Cat and the Jabberwalker to replace them, before leaving to a "greater beyond" to create other worlds, one of which being Remnant. Their departure would cause the Curious Cat to be driven mad, stating their curiosity was a curse and wanting to know why their makers abandoned them.
History: In the beginning, the Ever After was as a wild and dangerous place where only the Great Tree existed. Eventually, two beings known as the God of Light and the God of Darkness emerged from the tree in order to expand and shape the realm into something new. To accomplish this, they were given the power to destroy and create which they used to create the Afterans as well as the different acres that suited their purposes. They also built homes for the Afterans and gave them their roles. Although the Brothers continued their roles, the two began to grow curious as time went on and wanted to do more.
As they matured, the Brothers outgrew their role, and created two beings in secret that could replace them. The first being the Curious Cat, who could find and fix the broken pieces of the Ever After. The second being the Jabberwalker which would finish the work of the Cat. However the creation came out brutal and terrorized the peaceful Afterans.
The God of Light believed that the Jabberwalker was a mistake and immediately destroyed it, but the God of Darkness did not wish to condemn their creation for their mistakes. The argument over the fate of the Jabberwalker caused contention between the Brothers leading to a feud.
Eventually the Great Tree caught wind of the Brothersโ experiments and the damage they were causing due to their conflict. Understanding that the two had far outgrown their roles, the Great Tree created a special door for the Brothers to leave the Ever After so that they could create worlds of their own in a โgreater beyondโ. After leaving, the door would remain forever open to the Brothers and any of their creations should they ever wish to return home.
A decade or so before the events of Volume 9, a girl and boy named Alyx and Lewis ended up falling into the Ever After from the world of Remnant. During Alyx's time there, she met the Hunter Mice, got trapped in vines and fought against the Jabberwalker. Later, the Jinxy Peddler stole her weapon and she was forced to barter with him in order to get her dagger back by giving up her happiest and saddest memories. She also defeated the Red King in a board game, met the Curious Cat and the Rusted Knight, and eventually went towards the tree at the center of the Ever After in order to go home. However, she ended up inadvertently starting a war between the world's citizens in the process and her journey changed her. Lewis managed to return to Remnant, but Alyx remained behind, breaking her promise to the Cat in order to fix the mistakes of her journey, which lead to her murder.
Once in Remnant, Lewis immortalized his sister by adapting the events of their journey under the tale "The Girl Who Fell Through the World". This story would become a well-known fairy tale among the children of Remnant and even raise questions over the morality of Alyx's choices.
During the evacuation of Atlas, the Relic of Creation was used by Team RWBY to create a dimensional bridge connecting Atlas to Vacuo. In an attack led by Cinder Fall and Neopolitan, several people were thrown off through an explosion. Eventually, six more people would fall: Team RWBY, Neo and Jaune Arc. The evacuation center was then undone by Cinder's use of the Staff, cutting it off from Remnant.
In the Jungle Arce of the Ever After, Jaune while being the last to fall, unfortunately found an odd tree bearing stopwatch fruit. When he picked one off the tree, it inadvertently activated, causing time to flow backward. In order to stop traveling back in time, Jaune had to destroy the fruit, however he was left stranded in the Ever After's past. In order to reunite with Team RWBY, Jaune realized he had to wait in order to allow time to catch up. By being thrown back into the past, he managed to meet Alyx and Lewis, helping them in their journey and later being known as the Rusted Knight in the tale.
In the present, Ruby after awakening by the shores of the Jungle Acre then proceeds to go into the foliage. The huntress seeing the Great Tree, made several attempts on foot to reach it, but always kept finding herself in a loop.
With help of the Hunter Mice and a run in with the Jabberwalker, Team RWBY eventually reunites and come to the realization that they are in the Ever After from the tale of the Girl Who Fell Through the World. They decide their best course of action is to reclaim their weapons and attempt to follow the original story as best they can in order to find a way to leave.
The Haven Vault, also called the Vault of the Spring Maiden,[1] is a large underground chamber hidden beneath Haven Academy. It formerly housed the Relic of Knowledge accessible by the Spring Maiden. Description: Much like Beacon Academy, Haven Academy also has a Vault. It is a large cave under the school, accessible via a hidden elevator in the Grand Hall disguised as a statue bearing homage to Jinn. During the battle of Haven it was unlocked by Leonardo Lionheart inserting his pocket watch into the statue's chain.
The elevator leads down to a large platform resting over a deep chasm. The bottom of the chasm features a pool of water and the cave wall with a small hole that leads to the lower parts of Mistral.
The path on the platform leading up to the Relic chamber's doorway has three cyan circles on the ground with an ornate symbol in each of them that illuminated when Cinder Fall, Raven Branwen, and Vernal walked in.
The end of the platform features the door to the Relic chamber, an elaborate orange doorway situated in a rock wall. Behind it is a large tree with glowing orange flowers. The doorway is constructed out of golden fans layered on top of each other, decorated with a floral pattern. The door itself doesn't actually press up against the rock with a tree since there is a space between them.[2] It can only be unlocked by the Spring Maiden. When unlocked, the floral pattern starts glowing and lights up while the layers of the fan rotate until the gateway can be crossed.
When the doorway is unlocked, it leads to another dimension with a vast desert and three circular stone platforms leading to a stone pedestal above which the Relic of Knowledge formerly levitated.
The entire location has an ethereal effect similar to a mirage. After the Relic was removed the dimension seemingly stopped existing as only a gate remained when it was revisited by Cinder and Neo.
History: At some point in the past, Ozma used unknown means to create the Vaults that can only be accessed by their respective Maidens, in order to guard the Relics from Salem.
During the Battle of Haven, Professor Lionheart, who sided with Salem, allowed Cinder Fall, Vernal, and Raven Branwen access to the Haven Vault to fetch the Relic of Knowledge.
When arriving at the bottom Cinder turned on her allies and attempted to steal the Maiden powers from Vernal. However, Raven revealed that she is the Spring Maiden and Vernal was just a decoy. The two Maidens then engaged in a destructive battle that damaged some of the Vault cavern and could even be felt in Haven Academy. Vernal managed to use her remaining strength to shoot Cinder giving Raven an opportunity to defeat Cinder who fell down the chasm, seemingly dead.
After the fight Raven opened up the Relic chamber but before she could do anything her daughter Yang landed behind her. The two had an emotional talk and Raven left with her Semblance. Yang then entered the strange dimension beyond the gateway and collected the Relic of Knowledge and left the Vault with the elevator.
Cinder actually survived the battle and fell into the lake at the bottom of the Vault chasm. She then punched the ground and the tremor made a small hole in the cave wall. She punched the wall to create an opening large enough to climb through and ended up outside lower Mistral.
Later, after allying herself with Neopolitan, Cinder brought her to the Vault and caught her up with recent events.
The Atlas Vault, also known as the Vault of the Winter Maiden,[1] was a large underground chamber hidden beneath Atlas Academy. It formerly housed the Relic of Creation accessible by the Winter Maiden.
The area was later destroyed when the city of Atlas crashed into Mantle in "The Final Word".
Description:
The Atlas Vault was a large chamber beneath Atlas Academy. It was accessible somewhere via the school's elevator system. The elevator led down to a long metal platform with glowing cyan lines forming a rectangular pattern on its surface. Closest to the elevator, the platform was a narrow walkway, and it widened into a proper platform at the end.
Alongside the platform were large, pale blue, crystalline structures attached to floating metal blocks. On the edges of the main area of the platform were four white pedestals decorated with marble columns, and atop each pedestal is a bowl containing blue flame.
Across from the pedestal was a tall, pale blue, crystalline structure with a small white platform containing the chamber door. The door had a rectangular pattern on its surface and was situated at a higher elevation than the main metal platform. There was also a considerable gap of open-air between the metal platform and the door.
Long white planks levitated in circles around the chamber at various different heights. When the Winter Maiden enters the Vault, the planks situate themselves at the front of the Vault, creating a hovering staircase to reach the chamber door.
The inside of the Vault was a dimension that resembled a lush green open meadow with yellow, blue and white flowers, as well as three stone circles leading from the door to the Relic of Creation. The Staff was formerly housed hovering between two stone pillars in the center of the Vault.
History: At some point in the past, Ozma used unknown means to create the Vaults that can only be accessed by their respective Maidens, in order to guard the Relics from Salem.
After Jacques Schnee is elected to the Atlas Council and Robyn Hill begins stealing supplies with her Happy Huntresses, James Ironwood and Oscar Pine go to the Atlas Vault to talk about Ironwood's source of inspiration for Amity Communications Tower - the Relic of Creation.
Ironwood shows the Vault hoping it might provoke memories since one of Oscar's past incarnations had decided to use it to raise Atlas, and that this plan had inspired the Amity project. Ironwood tells Oscar that one day he won't be able to tell himself from Ozpin, and questions what he'd think about his actions. Oscar warns him against his autocratic path, but Ironwood fears weakness, invoking Leonardo Lionheart. Oscar tells him that he should speak with those he's most afraid to speak with, to which Ironwood responds he's starting to sound like his predecessor. As Ironwood and Oscar leave the Vault, Winter, accompanied by Penny, shows Ironwood an invitation to dinner, hosted by Jacques Schnee, at which Ironwood will be defending his seat.
After Ironwood declares martial law and Neopolitan steals the Relic of Knowledge, Oscar takes the elevator down to the Vault and tries to talk Ironwood out of his plan to abandon Mantle. He is unable to get through to Ironwood, who insists that everyone else is unable to see the big picture. Ironwood then shoots Oscar off the platform, which breaks Oscar's Aura and causes him to fall into a deep pit. Oscar continues falling down the shaft leading to the bottom of Atlas City. Ozpin helps unlock Oscar's magic to blast his way through the bottom of the City of Atlas and safely land in the crater beneath the floating city, Oscar tells Ozpin, who has now resurfaced, to help him save the Kingdom of Atlas.
The hole created by Oscar is later used as a means for Team RWBY and Penny Polendina to enter the Vault undetected whilst the others handle Ironwood. Because the virus eating away at Penny would have her self terminated the minute the Vault was open, Ruby used her Semblance to bring her team inside the Vault and grab the Relic freezing time and halting Penny's self destruction.
The idea of the Vault would be part of the plan to create portals to a different dimension between Atlas and Mantle with a single exit point in Vacuo allowing people to evacuate to as Atlas began to fall.
Later, Winter Schnee is seen in the Vault, attempting to contact anyone for a status update. However, she is confronted by Ironwood, who orders her to move aside. Winter refuses, and the two begin to fight.
Eventually, Ironwood gets the upper hand on Winter by breaking her Aura. Before he can do anything else, she receives the Winter Maiden powers, which she uses to defeat Ironwood and go through the portal leaving him behind in the Vault.
Once Cinder Fall comes out of the portal with the Relics, she sees Salem enter the Vault as a cloud of smoke. As she transforms back, Cinder lies to her about what happened, before handing her both Relics. Although Salem is suspicious, she nonetheless is pleased with Cinder and they prepare to leave. Before they do however, Ironwood prepares to shoot them until Cinder tells him checkmate, which causes him to give up. They later leave him as Atlas crashes into Mantle.
- #15Continent
Keys: anima continent, mistral continent, kingdom of mistral, city of mistral, haven academy location, argus city rwby, lake matsu, floating islands lake matsu, gravity dust islands, forest of hinoki, kuchinashi village, wind path village, mistral settlements, anima ecosystems, anima swamplands, anima cliffs, anima deserts, anima forests, anima rain climate, mistral mountains city, branwen tribe anima, northern anima mountains, mistral mantle alliance, argus port city, lancer grimm habitat, eastern anima desert, schnee dust company anima facility, anima dragon shape, anima soul meaning, anima east asian influence, mistral flora names, menagerie continent, faunus homeland, kuo kuana city, ghira belladonna home, menagerie desert island, faunus safe haven, faunus reservation, capivara grimm, menagerie wildlife dangerous, faunus population menagerie, white fang menagerie, faunus rights revolution, great war faunus reward, shallow sea myth, god of animals faunus, faunus creation myth, menagerie crowded settlements, no cct tower menagerie, blake belladonna home, ilia amitola menagerie, sun wukong menagerie arc, menagerie australia inspiration, down under remnant, menagerie yellow nation, sanus continent, vacuo continent, vale continent, kingdom of vacuo, kingdom of vale, destroyed vale kingdom, vytal island location, beacon academy continent, forever fall forest, emerald forest vale, vacuo desert shifting sands, vacuo oasis city, sanus climate range, eastern sanus forests, western sanus desert, vacuo survival culture, sanus grimm east, sanus grimm west, solitas continent, atlas continent, mantle city, atlas academy location, atlas kingdom, solitas tundra, solitas frozen wasteland, snowbound forest, aurora solitas, atlas military outposts, solitas settlements, essen crossed dormir, ice fishing solitas, tumak ruins, atlas heritage site, mosset grotto, moss berbere, gehen station, atlas train network, monstra grimm river, atlas evacuation vacuo, abandoned solitas, strongest grimm cold adaptation, megoliath grimm, sabyr grimm solitas, atlas destruction aftermath
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Anima is the continent on which the Kingdom of Mistral is located. Within Mistral are several settlements including the main city of Mistral, Wind Path, Kuchinashi and Argus. Other small settlements exist, located outside the Kingdom.
Anima is home to a wide variety of ecosystems, including swamplands, wind-carved cliffs, burning hot deserts, and a plethora of forests. Anima is also shown to frequently have pouring rain, especially in areas near Mistral. Landscape West The western side of continent is host to various cliffside forests, such as the Forest of Hinoki,[2] which include a plethora of caves and lush foliage, frequently illuminated by fireflies and other bioluminescent creatures and plants. As mentioned by Qrow Branwen, swamplands can also be found in the western parts of the continent. There are small settlements scattered throughout the land for people that don't want to live in the Kingdom, but they typically lack good defenses and can be destroyed by Grimm or bandit tribes, like the Branwen Tribe.
North: The northern coastline of Anima shows a major change in ecosystem, with a large range of snowy mountains, where the city of Argus is located in.
Due to its snowy and cold terrain, the northern parts of Anima was initially difficult to colonize, as the citizens of Mistral was more used to warmer climates and initially had only minor success in its development. This all changed when Mistral entered into a mutual partnership with the former Kingdom of Mantle. In exchange for helping and teaching the citizens of Mistral on how to work and develop in the northern terrain, Mantle would be given goods and resources not found within Solitas. This alliance led to the development of the port city and eventually metropolis of Argus.
The north-west of the continent features a large body of water known as Lake Matsu, which is host to numerous floating islands held above the water surface by giant natural deposits of gravity Dust. The floating islands of Lake Matsu are known to be a habitat for dangerous Grimm, one known type being the Lancer.
East: The eastern parts of Anima were shown to include a desert region with what appears to be volcanic sections near the shoreline. While they have never been physically seen, one of the facilities for the Schnee Dust Company was shown to be placed here.[3]
Mistral: The city of Mistral, the capital of the Kingdom of Mistral and the biggest settlement on the continent is located roughly in the center of the continent in an area with forresty mountains. The city itself is situated on and around a mountain with two tops. The highest buildings, that include Haven Academy are built on a bridge connecting the two mountain tops.
Native Grimm: Beowolves Ursai Nevermores Beringels Geists Nuckelavee Lancers Manticores Sphinxs Apathy Sabyrs (immigrated)
Trivia:
Anima is the Latin word for "soul". Most of the known settlements on the continent are named after East Asian flowers. This was due to Mistral being heavily inspired by eastern influences.[4] The continent itself is partially shaped like a real-world Eastern-traditional dragon, which is serpent-like and featuring proportionately short limbs compared to the quadrupedal Western-traditional dragon. The northeastern-most corner of Anima forms the dragon's head, and the southwestern-most corner forms the dragon's tail. According to the Fairy Tale The Two Brothers, the eastern dragon shape was formed by the God of Light after he chose to fall into slumber and wait for the time The Gods are called forth by the four Relics. However, the events of The Lost Fable show that this isn't what actually happened.
Menagerie is a landmass in the southeast of Remnant where most of the Faunus population resides. Kuo Kuana is the largest settlement and the home of the chieftain, Ghira Belladonna.
Description: Menagerie is a continent located south of Anima and is the smallest continent on Remnant.
Two-thirds of the landmass is comprised of desert, forcing the resident Faunus to congregate on smaller areas resulting in small and dense settlements such as those with palm trees. The biggest settlement of Menagerie and its capital is Kuo Kuana.
Menagerie is considered a safe haven for Faunus. However, this is usually due to the Faunus living there wanting to be left alone from the rest of Humanity. The island is later revealed to also be inhabited by Grimm in its deserts.
The Capivara are large, rat-like Grimm native to the island's deserts.
History: The Shallow Sea: The Shallow Sea is a Faunus creation myth featuring their God of Animals, a shapeshifting deity who could take on humanoid, animal and mythological forms at a whim. In the story, the God of Animals lives on the island of Menagerie, which was inhabited by all sorts of animals with the exception of mankind. While curious as to why that is and fond of their ability to adapt, the god was apprehensive about inviting them into the island and potentially wreaking havoc.
Stubborn, the god decided to tour the entirety of Remnant, transforming themself into a Human and seeking out those who seemed to be more than what they currently were, telling people the god deemed special to "Leave. Sail to the Shallow Sea. It's where you're meant to be."
The God of Animals arranged an ark, sailing to Menagerie, where they invited the travelers to jump into the water and join them. However, the price was they wouldn't be human. Those of faith jumped into the water, transforming into the Faunus. Those who didn't were horrified by the events, unable to accept that the Faunus had come to believe that humanity was a "shallow disguise" of their true selves and that they could choose their own fates in Menagerie. The God of Animals washed away the remaining humans and left the Faunus to themselves.
Professor Ozpin notes that The Shallow Sea was commonly told to children, but otherwise doesn't have much evidence to point it's true. It's passed down from generation to generation, and as was such not heard often by Humans. Ozpin claims to not want to critique the story much as it's more than just a story to the Faunus, it's a part of their identity. However, the creation myth has since fallen out of favor in the eye of the world, as the idea of a magical island is seen in bad taste by the Faunus after they settled in Menagerie after the Great War. Nonetheless, despite its contrived plot, Ozpin thinks it still holds some truth to it.[1]
Great War Aftermath: Following the Great War, the Faunus were given Menagerie as a reward for their participation, in conjunction with equal rights. While some Humans saw these rewards as fair and just, many Faunus saw it as a slap to the face, as two-thirds of Menagerie is a desert that is uninhabitable due to dangerous wildlife.
Faunus Rights Revolution: Over time, Humanity became adamant in their attempts for the Faunus population to be centralized in Menagerie, and would later push for the confinement of all the Faunus there, as well as countermand of the equal rights of the Faunus earned in the Great War. In response, the Faunus revolted, sparking the Faunus Rights Revolution.
While little is known of the events of the Revolution, the Faunus were successful in preventing their confinement to Menagerie.
Present Day: Faunus predominantly live on Menagerie, and it is seen as a "safe haven" for their race. The population is gathered together where the land is habitable, making it comparatively crowded, particularly in the main city Kuo Kuana. Though advanced enough in architecture and industry to house one, Menagerie does not have a CCT tower, which makes communication with the rest of the world difficult.[2] The White Fang also has a cell operating in Menagerie. Blake Belladonna returns to her home in Kuo Kuana several months after the fall of Beacon Academy, accompanied by Sun Wukong after she believes running away from her Team would prevent them from getting hurt again. After Sun confronts her about this and says that it just hurts her Team more, they managed to convince a large portion of the population, as well as Ilia Amitola, to come with them to Haven Academy to prevent Adam Taurus from destroying it in association with Salem's plans.
After the Battle of Haven, the people of Mistral began to see Faunus differently, and Ghira planned on rebuilding the White Fang into a peaceful organization again with him leading it.
Later, the people of Menagerie receive Ruby Rose's message to all of Remnant publicly revealing Salem's existence and asks for assistance with the current situation in Atlas before her broadcast is cut off. In the end though, nobody came to help as Atlas is destroyed in "The Final Word".
Trivia The name "menagerie" refers to a collection of wild animals in captivity, and it represents humanity's attitude to the Faunus and the city's status as a reservation of sorts in this case. Menagerie bears some resemblance to the real world country of Australia with its location being in the bottom right corner on the world map, its deserts taking up a big portion of the landmass, the wildlife being more dangerous than average and the reason for their colonization being the "removal" of undesired people from the more powerful nations. Gray G. Haddock even referred to Menagerie as "down under"โa common term for Australiaโin his Thanksgiving 2016 announcement.
In the World of Remnant episode "Vale", Menagerie and its colonies are represented by the color yellow. This likely implies that it is considered to be its own nation or territory in some respects, as the other four known nations and their townships are similarly represented. Interestingly, some settlements highlighted in yellow also appear on Remnant's second largest continent, Anima, home of the Kingdom of Mistral.
Sanus is the continent on which the Kingdom of Vacuo (western end) is located.
The former Kingdom of Vale (eastern end) was located on it as well, but was destroyed by Salem in the "Volume 9 Bonus Ending Animatic". Geography: The continent has a range of climates that range from verdant forests and mountains in Vale to barren deserts in Vacuo. The island of Vytal is located just to the north of the eastern end of Sanus.
East: The eastern part of the continent was the location of the former Kingdom of Vale. The Kingdom was surrounded by mountains that protect the settlement from Grimm. The area also had a wide range of forests, including Forever Fall and the Emerald Forest.
West: The western part of the continent is the location of the Kingdom of Vacuo. The area is mostly comprised of deserts with Vacuo built on an oasis. These deserts are known for shifting overnight, making it easy to get lost in.
Native Grimm:
East Beowolves Ursai King Taijitu Death Stalkers Nevermores Boarbatusks Goliaths Creeps Griffons Wyvern Beringel Chill West King Taijitu Death Stalkers Goliaths (Possibly) Lancers Ravagers Dromedons Jackalopes Ziraphs Blind Worms Sulfur Fish
Solitas[2] is the northernmost continent of Remnant on which the former Kingdom of Atlas was located. Within the Kingdom was the City of Atlas, based around Atlas Academy, as well as the city of Mantle, the former capital of the Kingdom. Solitas has a cold climate, which makes it mostly inhospitable to both Humans and Grimm. It's described as easy to get lost in, especially in its tundras. In certain areas, forests such as the Snowbound Forest are capable of growing. Wildlife amongst in Solitas is shown to include prize deer and penguins.
Auroras, or polar lights, are often seen in the night sky of Solitas.
Over time, the Creatures of Grimm grew to adapt to the cold of Solitas, now said to be the strongest species of Grimm.[3] However, the Grimm adapted at a supernaturally fast rate, leading many to wonder the cause of this change.[4] Grimm that adapted to this climate include the Megoliath and Sabyr, amongst others.
The majority of the continent was shown to be covered with ice, as seen in "With Friends Like These". However, there were stone arches and pathways leading out of Mantle with an abandoned Atlas Military outpost stationed nearby. There were also smaller settlements spread throughout the continent such as Essen, Crossed and Dormir that made up parts of the land.
The settlements around Solitas usually worked together in order to survive with the people of Dormir using their ice fishing skills around the huge lake in Solitas to get food which they distributed to the other settlements like Essen and Crossed before it's destruction. According to residents of Essen, they would end up starving without the food they get from Dormir.[5]
The Tumak Ruins located on the western side of Solitas also held an important part in Atlesian culture and all of Humanity due to being a formal Remnant heritage site with relics pre-dating the Great War telling what the past was like for the residents. In more recent times however, well-meaning historians had made off with the relics that were in the Ruins for thousands of years. However, nobody could get into the ruins by the time "RWBY: Arrowfell" started due to being overrun by the Grimm. Despite that, there was a conservation effort underway for the ruins.[6]
Mosset Grotto was a small Grotto located a little east of Mantle that was infested with Grimm. The only person in the Grotto was Moss Berbere who assumed he was the mayor of "Mosset Town".[7]
Located on the southwestern-most island of the continent was Gehen Station, a train station that had tracks going through the entire continent.[8]
The continent later had a river of Grimm Liquid formed in it due to Monstra producing the substance which managed to pierce through the city of Atlas' defenses.
After the Kingdom of Atlas was destroyed, the continent was abandoned with at least thousands of its residents using a passageway to evacuate to Vacuo.
Native Grimm: Beowolf Ursa Sabyr Nevermore Manticore Sphinx Centinel Cenitaur Megoliath Teryx Geist Razorwing Apathy
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