Cinder Fall, Arlecchino Story | The Fall Maiden and The Knave

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.

Cinder is a fair-skinned young woman with bright amber eye. Her ash-black hair is cut short, 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.

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. Following her battle with Winter and Penny, she loses the glove along with the sleeve covering her arm, exposing her Shadow Hand.

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.[14]

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.[16] 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.

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". 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.

Cinder's Semblance, Scorching Caress, allows her to super-heat objects and manipulate their shape. 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.

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.

Being the Fall Maiden, Cinder harnesses the power of using 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.

Arlecchino, also known by her codename "The Knave," is a playable Pyro character in Genshin Impact.

She is the Fourth of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers and the current head of the House of the Hearth. She is addressed as "Father" by members of the House, who she calls her "children."

As one of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers, Arlecchino greatly respects the Tsaritsa, though she states that she is willing to betray the Tsaritsa if their interests ever were to differ. Arlecchino is working to achieve her goals by acquiring the Gnoses on her behalf. She handles Fatui matters with utmost importance and comes off as graceful and cordial. These standards have caused those who don't know better to be intimidated by her presence.

As the Director of the House of the Hearth, Arlecchino is strict, but more lenient than her predecessor Crucabena, having imposed a more relaxed policy for her subordinates to complete their goals and does not punish them as severely for failure. She appears to have a soft spot for children, seeing that many members of the House of the Hearth are young and orphaned children taken in across Teyvat and views them all as her "children," becoming particularly angered when their well-being is threatened or manipulated. While she does not like betrayal, she is not as cruel, as she was willing to spare traitors who demonstrated sufficient willpower by "executing" their identity in the House via excruciating mind-wipe rather than outright killing them physically; it is unknown what happens if someone is unable to withstand the pain this process causes, nor is it known how Arlecchino disposed of traitors before she implemented this "solution."

Despite being a woman, she is addressed as "Father" by the House of the Hearth's members; this is implied to be a rejection of Crucabena's ways, who called herself "Mother" and faked affection for the House of the Hearth's children while brutally mistreating them.

Arlecchino is disliked by her fellow Harbingers, who believe her to be violent and crazed beneath her stoic exterior. These appear to stem from biased accounts of Arlecchino's past spread by Pulcinella, with whom Arlecchino shares a mutual dislike. Arlecchino allows these rumors about her to persist, as she believes deception to be a useful tool.

Despite publicly claiming to be a Fontainian and having grown up in Fontaine, Arlecchino actually hails from Khaenri'ah. Arlecchino knows little about her origins, only knowing she had some kind of cursed fire running through her veins from a young age. All she does know was related to her by Pierro when she joined the Harbingers.

Arlecchino uses the tall female model. She sports black eyes with red "X"-shaped pupils and layered black and white hair, styled in a long ponytail with asymmetrical bangs.

Arlecchino's outfit. The ancient balemoon rises once more from dreams, casting a cold, crimson candescence that cocoons her completely. With this moonlight as her witness, she shall drink deep of life's chalice until her jagged fate comes to an end.

Arlecchino's outfit consists of a "X"-shaped white-greyish overcoat that has long tails with a red lining, a fitted grey shirt with asymmetric tails in the front, a short white tie bearing the symbol of the Fatui in red and black, sleeves with short red-edged black ruffles, and black fitted leggings with red ruffles that out just above the ankles . The skin of her hands and forearms is blackened due to her curse, with long fingernails painted red, and she wears several rings. She wears stiletto heels with a gray tone and reddish details and white "+"-shaped earrings. Her Pyro Vision is attached to the back of her overcoat at the nape of her neck.