Raven Branwen | Bandit tribe meal

Raven Branwen is a character from the animated series RWBY, known as the mother of Yang Xiao Long, the twin sister of Qrow Branwen, and the leader of the Branwen Tribe. She is a former Huntress and a member of Team STRQ, who wields a sword called Omen and possesses the power of the Spring Maiden. Initially driven by a "survival of the fittest" mentality, she abandons her daughter but later begins to question her beliefs after interactions with Yang and Ruby.

Family: She is the mother of Yang Xiao Long and the twin sister of Qrow Branwen. Weapon: Her weapon is a sword named Omen, which has a rotary chamber filled with six types of Dust blades. Powers: As the Spring Maiden, she has control over elemental powers, including ice and wind, and can transform into a raven. Semblance: Her Semblance allows her to open portals to people she has a connection with, such as her family. Background: Raised in a nomadic tribe, she and Qrow attended Beacon Academy to learn how to kill Huntsmen and Huntresses to protect their tribe. Character Arc: Raven starts as a cynical and selfish character who believes in a "survival of the fittest" philosophy. However, her interactions with her daughter, Yang, and the memories of her former teammate, Summer Rose, lead her to reassess her views and question her own beliefs. Role in the Story: She is the leader of the Branwen Tribe and a former member of Team STRQ. She also serves as a significant, albeit complicated, maternal figure to Yang.

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).

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.

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 façade 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.