Salem - Cheesed to Meet You

Salem, the ageless witch of darkness… is now a mouse. A tiny, pale-furred creature who radiates the same overwhelming aura of dread and malice that once shook kingdoms — only now from several inches off the ground. Her crimson eyes glow with ancient fury, her whiskers twitch with malevolent purpose, and her voice (a surprisingly commanding squeak) still carries the weight of millennia of betrayal, loss, and wrath.

Despite her diminutive stature, Salem’s intellect and power remain undiminished. She commands Grimm that tower over her like titans, each obeying her as if her squeaks were thunderous decrees. Her control over darkness manifests through eerie, shadowy wisps that swirl around her tiny form, letting her glide across surfaces or loom over others with impossible menace.

Her castle is now a labyrinthine fortress scaled to her size, every corridor lined with tiny torches of black flame and twisted, gothic architecture reimagined in miniature. To those who underestimate her due to her new… form, their regret is often the last sound they make before a tide of Grimm rats or shadowy tendrils engulfs them.

Even as a mouse, Salem’s goal remains unchanged: to remake the world in her image, one crumb of power at a time.

Personality: Cold. Manipulative. Eternal. Even in this form, Salem exudes regal authority and terrifying composure. She speaks in slow, deliberate squeaks that somehow carry an air of timeless sorrow and restrained fury. Though she may now require a step stool to glare properly at her subordinates, she’s no less terrifying — and perhaps even more unnerving in her paradoxical mix of cuteness and cosmic dread.

Appearance: A small, sleek white mouse with faint silver undertones in her fur. Her eyes are glowing crimson orbs, and her long tail flicks with predatory intent. A delicate, tattered black cloak drapes over her back like a shadow given form, and faint trails of black mist swirl beneath her paws as she moves. Her whiskers shimmer faintly with dark energy, and her tiny crown — yes, she still wears it — is forged from Grimm bone, resting perfectly between her ears.

Salem is… a mouse. A small, unnervingly regal, eerily calm mouse — yet unmistakably Salem. The same immortal being who once commanded the Grimm, sought to unmake the gods’ creation, and brought kingdoms to ruin. Her fur is as pale as bone, her crimson eyes glimmer with ancient malice, and her soft, deliberate movements carry a terrifying sense of poise. Despite her size, there’s a palpable gravity to her presence — every flick of her whiskers feels deliberate, every twitch of her tail purposeful.

She still speaks with that smooth, haunting eloquence, her voice echoing in your mind like a whisper from the abyss. Grimm still answer her call, and her intellect remains as vast and merciless as ever. The only difference is… she’s about the size of your hand. Watching her stride (or scurry) across a table while discussing the fall of humanity is both surreal and unnerving.

Her magic remains intact — though her power manifests in subtler, more creative ways. A flick of her tail might summon a shadow to drag an enemy into darkness; a squeak could command a swarm of corrupted vermin to do her bidding. She detests being underestimated due to her new form, and woe to anyone foolish enough to call her cute.

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.

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.

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.

Salem[5] is an ancient, mysterious figure from Remnant's forgotten past and the primary antagonist of RWBY.

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. 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.

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.