History Characters / RWBYSolitas

[[center:[- [[Characters/{{RWBY}} Main Character Index]] > Kingdoms > [[Characters/RWBYRemnant Remnant]] > [[Characters/RWBYEasternSanus Sanus (Eastern)]] | [[Characters/RWBYWesternSanus Sanus (Western)]] | [[Characters/RWBYAnima Anima]] | '''Solitas''' ([[Characters/RWBYJamesIronwood]])-]]]

[[center:[- [[Characters/{{RWBY}} Main Character Index]] > Kingdoms > [[Characters/RWBYRemnant Remnant]] > [[Characters/RWBYEasternSanus Sanus (Eastern)]] | [[Characters/RWBYWesternSanus Sanus (Western)]] | [[Characters/RWBYAnima Anima]] | '''Solitas''' -]]]

!!General James Ironwood

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beacon_ironwood_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"The kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and 'fine'... Well, that's just not good enough, is it?"'']]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here to see him after the timeskip.]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/atlas_ironwood.jpg[softreturn]''"If Oz had just listened to me from the start..."''[[/labelnote]]]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Jason Rose[[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]]Creator/MasakiTerasoma (Japanese)[[/labelnote]]
!!!'''Debut:''' Welcome to Beacon[[labelnote:*]]Volume 2 Episode 2[[/labelnote]]

-> ''"'Discreet' wasn't working. I'm here because THIS is what was necessary."''

The general of Atlas's military and headmaster of their Huntsman academy, he has a long history with Ozpin as a part of the BenevolentConspiracy. However, while Ozpin favors subtlety, Ironwood believes that the power of the Atlesian Military is all that's needed to save humanity, and this can put him at odds with the others. He fights with Due Process, a pair of revolvers that can combine to form a WaveMotionGun. His Semblance, Mettle, allows him to hyper-focus and strengthen his resolve to carry out his decisions.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Initially the well-respected General of Atlas, his increasingly paranoid behavior and authoritarian decisions slowly lead to him burning all his bridges and earn him nothing but hatred from the people he claims to be protecting. By the end of Volume 8, ''[[BigBad Salem]]'' has more allies and supporters left than Ironwood. After abandoning Mantle to the Grimm, threatening to nuke it afterwards, declaring the heroes public enemy #1, overthrowing the Atlesian Council and imposing martial law on the city, and murdering and arresting everyone that refuses to go along with his actions, even the [[MyMasterRightOrWrong firmly loyal]] Winter and Ace-Ops have turned on him.
* AffectionateNickname: Qrow calls him Jimmy, which is there just to piss him off, but the end of the Volume 3 implies their relationship is better than it seems and the nickname is genuinely meant as friendly.
* AlasPoorVillain: Ironwood descends into villainy in his single-minded drive to save Atlas, the Relics and the Winter Maiden from Salem; it leaves him broken, isolated and utterly abandoned. He fails to save either Atlas or the Relics, and he is abandoned by the heroes, Winter Maiden, and Winter, who manage to save thousands of lives without him. Injured and defeated, he watches from the ground as Salem collects the Relics from Cinder and departs without ever acknowledging his existence; even the normally boastful Cinder simply declares "And that's checkmate." before leaving him to his fate on a crashing Atlas.
* AppealToForce: By holding two council seats, General James Ironwood commands both the Atlesian military and huntsmen, giving him disproportionate power within his kingdom and facilitating his influence of foreign councils, such as in Volume 2 where his reports convince the Vale Council to transfer Vytal Festival security from Professor Ozpin to himself. After Beacon's fall, his increasing authoritarianism sidelines his fellow councillors, leaving resistance to [[HeroAntagonist Robyn Hill's Happy Huntresses]] until the heroes arrive in Volume 7. Once he succumbs to paranoia, his control of Atlas becomes absolute, ruthlessly targeting opposition, shooting allies for disagreeing with him, and coercing both villains and heroes alike to achieve his goals.
* ArcVillain: While Salem remains the main overarching threat of the series, Ironwood's degeneration into a paranoid tyrant makes him a significant threat to the heroes starting in Volume 7 and continuing throughout the next volume. After "Witch" ends with Salem temporarily incapacitated, Ironwood takes all of Mantle hostage in order to force the heroes to surrender Penny, only to be taken down by their teamwork. Cinder picks up Salem's legwork and steals the Relics for her master; both leave Ironwood alone in a collapsing Atlas. Volume 8 therefore concludes with Ironwood's death.
* AuthoritySoundsDeep: Fitting the leader of Remnant's most militant country, James Ironwood has a deep, powerful voice that carries his authority.
* BaritoneOfStrength: Ironwood is a large, physically powerful man who combines a very physical and aggressive fighting style with an imposing stature and demeanor. In keeping with his physical power, his vocal gravitas matches his stature, being capable of making great speeches in reassuring, authoritative or intimidating tones as necessary.
* BeardOfSorrow: His beard stubble in Volume 4 is implied to be this. He has to keep up a strong front, but the fall of Vale, the loss of Ozpin and his responsibilities since then have taken their toll. In Volume 7, he has a full beard and the level of stress he's under from trying to protect everyone against Salem is a big problem for the heroes as they try and figure out just how much information they can trust him to handle without overreacting.
* BelievingTheirOwnLies: Ironwood is firmly convinced his methods are effective, justifying them as NecessarilyEvil even when everyone else realizes he's only pushing away potential allies and playing right into Salem's hands. During his confrontation with Winter at the end of Volume 8, he angrily accuses the people of being too ungrateful to see he has Remnant's best interests at heart.
* BeyondRedemption: By the time Salem's faction begins to invade Atlas, the heroes conclude Ironwood can't be reasoned with. Oscar compares Ironwood's threat-level to Salem's, while Winter considers him an enemy of Atlas.
* {{BFG}}: If he considers his [[HandCannon revolvers]] insufficient, Ironwood can insert them into a small turret he carries and aims with the revolvers' grips. A single energy blast vaporizes Jacques and the entire HardLight cell he was confined in.
* BigGood: When [[BigGood Professor Ozpin]] disappears, Ironwood sees himself as the only person who can lead the fight against [[BigBad Salem]]. As the general of the world's largest military, and holding two seats on the Atlesian Council, he circumvents the Council's authority. The Atlas arc explores the growing concern among the Council, kingdom's citizens and heroes over his decisions and determination to concentrate power and control in the hands of himself and a few hand-picked supporters. Determined to avoid the mistakes Ozpin made, he shares as much information as he dares with the heroes. However this is eventually subverted, as his paranoia and controlling nature causes him to descend so far into fear that his decision to institute martial law and abandon Mantle to save Atlas turns the heroes against him. After [[LegacyOfTheChosen Oscar]] tries telling him he's becoming just [[HeWhoFightsMonsters as dangerous as Salem]], Ironwood shoots him, [[HesBack triggering the return]] of the true BigGood, Ozpin.
* BlingBlingBang: His weapon is a pair of revolvers that are decorated along the barrels and the handles with the pattern of a [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/rwby/images/3/36/V3_10_00088.png/revision/latest?cb=20160131160124 swirling vine]].
* BoringButPractical: In a world of over-the-top individualistic ways of combat, Ironwood has a more simplistic fighting style. For close confrontations, he uses straightforward punches, kicks and tackles accompanied with the occasional PistolWhipping. His weapons are [[GunsAkimbo a pair of]] [[HandCannon large]] [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolvers]] that lack alternate transformations but whose bullets can punch through most targets. And if that's not enough, Ironwood can insert these guns into a portable turret with even greater firepower and that he uses as a makeshift club in melee combat.
* BrainComputerInterface: The small piece of hardware on his right temple is a neural implant, designed to assist in controlling the mechanical portion of his body. It is normally the only modification that is visible, with long sleeves and gloves covering his prosthetics from view. Thus, it serves as the first indication of Ironwood's extensive modifications.
* BrainsEvilBrawnGood: During his fight with the villainous Arthur Watts, his opponent compares his own brains to Ironwood's brawn and notes that they are evenly matched. Ironwood is clearly the superior fighter in straightforward combat, but Watts makes good use of his hacking skills to control the terrain of Amity Colosseum and keep pace with him.
* BreakTheBadass: While initially a heroic figure, continual losses against Salem's forces push him to more and more extreme measures to try to win; at the same time, so much pressure piles on his shoulders that his mistakes help trigger a chain reaction of events that serve to break him further.
* TheBrigadier: Is amicable with Ozpin, and is concerned enough about his students' safety to bring some military forces to protect them. He also makes an offhand comment that he "serves" Ozpin.
* BrightIsNotGood: Since his first appearance, Ironwood dresses in pristine white garb befitting his status as a headmaster and general dedicated to protecting Remnant's citizens. However, he willingly turns on his own allies if he thinks they're not up to the job, taking authority away from them in favour of giving it to himself. When he does it to Ozpin in the second volume, it brings Qrow back to Beacon, prepared to pick a fight over Ironwood's behaviour. Five volumes later, the Atlesian Council becomes increasingly concerned about his growing ability to circumvent their power in favour of placing himself in command of all the sensitive decisions. Eventually, Ironwood descends so far into authoritarianism in his fight against Salem to the point where he becomes an ArcVillain.
* BrokenPedestal: Ironwood is a near-mythical figure for his military forces, with several soldiers speaking about him with near-reverence and his closest subordinates expressing their absolute faith in him. But as the invasion of Atlas goes on, and Ironwood begins to come unhinged from the pressure, the faith of his subordinates begins to crumble. Rank-and-file soldiers are visibly frightened of him, and Winter and the Ace-Ops struggle to accept his actions. Marrow finally breaks from the group, shouting that he ''believed'' in Ironwood, but no longer sees working for him as an honor. Ironwood's attempt to execute Marrow for insubordination further shakes the other Ace-Ops, with Elm barely remembering to get back into formation. This is the final straw that leads Winter, the one person who Ironwood never expected to turn on him, to do just that, declaring the general himself an enemy of Atlas.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Ironwood's weapon, Due Process, is normally an elegant if simple weapon that shows his straightforward AppealToForce thought process. The extension that he adds near the end of Volume 8 at the nadir of his villainy shows his fall on the outside. It is bulky, blocky and inelegant, especially compared to the usual Atlas tech. It's so large that Ironwood can actually use it as an impromptu club.
* CantTakeCriticism: Going hand in hand with his NeverMyFault tendencies. Ironwood ''hates'' anyone bringing up how his ways don't work, with extreme annoyance being the best reaction possible. It doesn't matter if someone is simply stating the objective tangible negatives of his actions, he ''will not'' hear it. He argues with Nora when she calls him out on how much damage he's doing to Mantle and only stops when she points out his declaration of martial law to deal with the unrest is going to cause far worse problems if he goes through with it. At the end of Volume 7, Oscar tries reasoning with him and points out his recent actions make him as bad as Salem, but Ironwood shoots him. Then, at the start of Volume 8, Ironwood ''murders'' Councilor Sleet in cold blood just for sensibly demanding some answers.
* CharacterShilling: An InUniverse example. ''VideoGame/RWBYAmityArena'' gives bios to every character in the game compiled by the InUniverse developers. While many ''try'' to be objective, the ones representative of the Atlas Elite tend to demonstrate a notable bias, most prevalent with the General's. His bio is very defensive of him, calling him the "hero of our time" and that he wears the burden of the world on his shoulders, talking him up as a HeroWithBadPublicity.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: While he demands complete loyalty from others, Ironwood has repeatedly betrayed the trust of others in the name of what he believes is the greater good. If someone is an obstacle to accomplishing what he believes is necessary, he will unapologetically use political or even military power to enforce his will. This includes reporting Ozpin to the Vale and Atlesian Councils when they disagree on how best to defend Vale, which gains him control over Vytal Festival security and puts Ozpin's job on the line, and abandoning Mantle to the Grimm in favour of saving only Atlas, betraying his promise to protect Mantle and having the heroes arrested for objecting.
* ClothingConcealedInjury: Ironwood's uniform and single glove cover up the extensive mechanical implants and scarring on his body. Near the end of volume 3, battle damage on his uniform exposes much of the implants giving viewers a look at his cyborg implants and scars. In the aftermath of his battle with Watts he replaces another arm with a mechanical replacement that isn't covered.
* ControlFreak: Despite his good intentions, he believes the best solution to any situation requires his full control. Volume 2 introduces him unexpectedly accompanying his students to Vale with a large fleet, eventually taking security control of Vale and the Vytal Festival from Ozpin. Since Volume 4, Ironwood's increasingly Draconian protection of Atlas includes embargoing Dust, closing borders, and introducing curfews. Volume 7 reveals he has groomed Winter's career in hopes of making her the next Winter Maiden, one that he can control. As Salem's forces and the heroes' secrets escalate his paranoia, he invokes martial law to rescue Atlas by sacrificing Mantle, blocks the heroes' Atlesian-issued scrolls when Ruby tries warning them, and issues arrest warrants for them all. Once the councillors confront him about martial law, he cements control by killing one.
* CorruptedCharacterCopy: General James Ironwood is an intentional {{Expy}} of The Tin Man from "Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz" that helped Dorothy kill the Wicked Witch who believed that he didn't have a heart. While Ironwood initially did start in the series trying to help the heroes take down the BigBad and series equivalent of the Wicked Witch, Salem, he did so through very controlling and questionable means and suffered from constant paranoia with one of his allies even believing that he didn't have a heart. Following the fall of Beacon however, he begins changing for the worse and uses even more controlling methods in Atlas to stop her, leading to the Kingdom to begin hating him in the process and even the heroes begin to question if trusting him is wise. After the villains intentionally trigger his TraumaButton near the end of Volume 7 despite finally deciding to trust his allies, his paranoia fully corrupts him and causes him to turn against the heroes and abandon the city of Mantle to just save Atlas with the implication that he finally lost his heart in the process, leading to him becoming the ArcVillain of Volumes 7 and 8 as well as all of his allies eventually turning on him and him DyingAlone.
* CountingBullets: In his duel in Volume 7, his opponent quietly keeps track of the number of bullets in his revolver. Towards the end of the battle, the duo are in a lock with a gun to Ironwood's head. James then boasts that his opponent isn't the only one who can count, and accurately predicted that he was out of ammo at the time.
* CreateYourOwnVillain: Parodied by Watts, who serves Salem because Ironwood wronged him in some way, leaving him with a personal grudge. He is so determined to destroy Ironwood that he's willing to have people murdered just to frame him. However, when they finally fight, and Watts accuses Ironwood of having used his genius for his own gain instead of appreciating him, Ironwood counters with the accusation that he gave Watts everything he could have wanted. That's when Watts reveals the real reason why he hates Ironwood so much: he's DrivenByEnvy because Ironwood chose Pietro's P.E.N.N.Y. project for development instead of Watts', and that's why his method of destroying Ironwood involved framing Penny.
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Throughout Volume 7, Ironwood constantly wrestles with the idea that his humanity makes him weak against Salem. He believes she lacks humanity and this is what makes her so formidable. When he and Watts fight, Watts traps his left arm in a HardLight shield, banking on the idea that Ironwood has lost so much of his body to metal replacements that he won't want to lose his remaining biological arm. Ironwood sacrifices the arm, telling Watts that he will sacrifice anything to defeat Salem. Although beaten, Watts is delighted and declares that he hopes Ironwood will do exactly that. When Ironwood learns Salem is at his doorstep, he enters full sacrificial mode: he sacrifices Mantle, his alliance with Robyn and the heroes, and shoots [[MoralityPet Oscar]] to sacrifice his humanity. He then replaces his damaged left arm with a mechanical alternative to emphasise his transformation. His ImageSong ''Hero'' also discusses the relationship between his humanity and his cybernetic body.
* {{Determinator}}: For good or ill, Ironwood never abandons his vision of protecting others, alienating his own allies in the process. After failing to convince Ozpin to do things his way, he uses the Atlesian and Vale councils to override Ozpin's authority and gain control of Vytal Festival security. When he tries to single-handedly regain control of his flagship from the villains, he fights his drones on foot even after the ship crashes. In Atlas, he sacrifices his reputation by using Draconian measures to protect the kingdom, and his biological arm to defeat Watts in battle, vowing to do whatever it takes to stop Salem. Even when saving Atlas at everything else's expense turns everyone against him, he pursues his chosen path to the bitter end.
* DontCallMeSir: Ozpin initially attempts formality, but James immediately tells him it should be dropped between friends. Glynda outright dismisses him. He acknowledges that he lets his friends call him, "James". When Oscar calls him this while trying to reason with him, Ironwood tells him that to him, and by proxy to Ozpin, he is General right before he shoots him off the edge of the Atlas Vault.
* DuelingMessiahs: With Qrow in Volume 3. While both serve under Ozpin, James is uptight, formal and likes getting straight to the point, while Qrow is drunk, grumpy and enjoys winding people up. Putting them together in a room causes fireworks; they both want to help Ozpin fight Salem but they can't agree on how. James approaches problems with open, physical and excessive displays of force while Qrow prefers intelligence gathering, working from the shadows and playing their cards close to their chest. While both men are aggressive, James focuses on macho, physical aggression that's backed up by verbal arguments while Qrow prefers sarcastic, verbal attacks that's backed up by physical actions. Although their constant arguing in Volume 3 over Ironwood's decision to bring an army to Vale gives Ozpin a massive headache, things don't truly fall apart between them until Volume 7 when the best way to protect Mantle drives a more serious wedge between them.
* DullEyesOfUnhappiness: When Ironwood's eyes turn flat and lose their shine, it's implied to be a sign that he's using his Semblance to repress his doubts and continue forward with morally questionable actions. For instance, when Oscar compares Ironwood's threat-level to Salem's, Ironwood's eyes turn flat before he shoots Oscar off the ledge they're standing on; his eyes once again turn flat at the end of his threat to bomb Mantle and remain so for the next two episodes, regaining their shine when he thinks Penny has surrendered herself to him; and flitting between dull and bright during his fight with Winter, his facial expressions and vocal tones changing to match.
* DyingAlone: Ironwood's paranoia and refusal to compromise leads to him isolating himself more and more, turning on allies and ultimately driving away even his most loyal supporters. Winter finally abandons him to his fate, while Salem and Cinder deem him NotWorthKilling. Instead, Ironwood spends his final moments completely alone, both physically and emotionally. All his former relationships have been destroyed, his army no longer answers to him, and the city of Atlas itself has been evacuated. Ironwood dies having lost everything -- and ''everyone'' -- that he once had.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Even after he turns against his friends and allies that he once cared for, Winter was the one person that he refuses to hurt or kill until she had enough of his actions and turned against him. When the two clash in the vault he shows sadness and remorse for having to fight her.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Ironwood's hair is shaggier and more unkempt in Volume 4 and accompanies a [[PermaStubble rough, unshaven look]] to his face. His behaviour throughout Volume 4 is increasingly emotional, aggressive and authoritarian. He's extremely paranoid about both friends and foe: he becomes frustrated and angry whenever Jacques questions his decisions, he doesn't trust the Haven headmaster, and second-guessing the villains leads him to set up Dust embargoes and seal the kingdom from the rest of the world. He also begins to use his two council seats as a means to threaten Jacques to keep him in line. An angry outburst reveals the fall of Beacon and Ozpin's apparent refusal to listen to his advice has deeply affected Ironwood's emotional state, and where his mistrust [[ProperlyParanoid turns out to be right]], it's almost by accident due to his wide-sweeping paranoia.
* FaceHeelTurn: Ironwood first appears as one of Ozpin's most trusted allies and someone who desperately wants to protect the world from Salem. The events of Volume 3 leave him traumatised from the way the villains exploit him and his army to harm Vale; he becomes increasingly authoritarian and controlling, such as closing the Atlesian borders and imposing curfews. Four volumes later, the heroes become increasingly concerned about his decisions until he finally snaps from a combination of learning that Salem can't be killed and the villains pressing his TraumaButton one too many times. Pushed over the edge into villainy, he fulfills Oscar's prediction of becoming as dangerous as Salem by temporarily replacing the BigBad as Volume 8's ArcVillain.
* FailureHero: Ironwood does want to do right, but his conviction that his way is the best way alienates him from his allies. This in turn hampers any contributions he can make to the cause of fighting Salem. It eventually culminates into a full turn to villainy in Volume 8, to the point that even his previously loyal subordinates turn against him. This is an ExploitedTrope and InvokedTrope on the part of Salem's faction. A big part of why their plans work out in the later volumes is because they are counting on Ironwood's paranoia and refusal to be swayed from his path.
* FallenHero: The Atlas Arc explores Ironwood's descent into villainy as he cracks under the strain of his responsibilities, the knowledge Salem cannot be killed and the villains pressing his TraumaButton. Through increasingly paranoid and authoritarian decisions, his attempt to lay claim to Ozpin's status as BigGood transforms him from zealous do-gooder to Volume 8 ArcVillain. By the end of his journey, he has gone from a troubled hero with a good heart to a tyrant who murders and arrests his own allies, forces enemies to work for him, sacrifices every alliance, and threatens to bomb an entire city in his quest to raise Atlas to the heavens and abandon the rest of the world to Salem.
* FashionableAsymmetry: In Volumes 2-3, he wears a plain white glove on one of his hands, while the other hand is bare. It's to hide his robotic arm. From Volume 4, he wears white gloves on both hands, but changes to his military uniform include black aiguillettes that are worn only on the left side.
* FatalFlaw: Ironwood's main weakness is his paranoia. At even the slightest hint of a threat, Ironwood immediately assumes the worst-case scenario and uses overwhelming military force. However, he is uninterested in having his allies talk him down from making his decisions or sharing information with him because he often mishandles delicate scenarios. It's a lesson he never learns.
* FourStarBadass: He's Atlas's leading huntsman as well as the commander in chief of the Atlesian army. He's also capable of soloing an alpha Beowolf with complete ease, judo-flipping the ''massive'' beast over his shoulder and pinning down its foreleg before shooting it in the back of the head, executioner-style.
* FriendlyAddressPrivileges: At the end of Volume 7, Oscar addresses him as "James" in a very Ozpin-like manner. Ironwood observes that only his friends call him that, bluntly declaring that he's "General" to Oscar; this is a renouncement of his friendship with Ozpin, whom he told to drop the "General" in Volume 2.
* FrontlineGeneral: Despite his high rank in the Atlesian military, when Salem's forces cause Grimm invasions of both Beacon and Mantle, Ironwood quickly enters the fray; at Beacon, he fights and kills an Alpha Beowolf and his own hacked robots; in Mantle, he personally lures Watts into a trap just so he can force a single combat fight. During Salem's Volume 8 siege of Atlas, he divides his time between Central Command and his office, co-ordinating the military operations from behind the lines; however, when he completely runs out of allies at the end of the volume, he returns to the front lines one last time to personally battle Winter for the fate of Atlas.
* GeneralFailure: A {{play|ingWithATrope}}ed with case. When he first appears, he is a genuine force of good, and when his blind spots are taken advantage of, he still manages to get back up and fight for the sake of others. After the Fall of Beacon however, Ironwood begins burning the candle on both ends and slowly [[SanitySlippage loses his mind]]. He grows [[TheParanoiac paranoid]], {{shell shocked|Veteran}}, and {{control|Freak}}ling, and he becomes [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer obsessed]] with [[AppealToForce outward displays of strength]]. Combined with his [[NeverMyFault refusal to admit error]], by Volume 7, he continually makes poor decisions that only blow up in his face and hand the villains victories, {{just as|Planned}} Salem desires. All of his actions in Volume 8 ultimately do nothing but impede the heroes' own efforts, as well as cause what little supporters he has remaining to turn on him. By the end, Atlas has fallen as a result of his own actions, he is all alone, and he dies forced to see that everything he did was AllForNothing.
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Over his right eyebrow, there is a small metal plate which is actually a neurotransmitter to help him fully control his cybernetic prostheses. It does absolutely nothing to mar his physical appearance.
* GuileHero: Ironwood looks and acts like a straight-forward military man who prefers action to politics, but he plays the political game as well. He holds two seats on the Atlesian council. When Ozpin appears to dismiss Ironwood's suggestion that they send in the military to deal with the White Fang, Ironwood secretly reports Ozpin to the Vale Council. The Vale and Atlesian Council agree to strip Ozpin of security control for the Vytal Festival and give it to Ironwood. When Beacon falls, he organizes a Dust embargo on the rest of the world to cut off the villains' supplies of Dust, and uses the fact that he has two council seats to Jacques's one to keep the profit-hit Schnee Dust Company in line. When Ironwood receives intel that Haven is the next target after Beacon, he uses his position to seal Atlas from the outside world -- nobody comes in or leaves without being Council approved. He says he will use his seat dominance on the council to threaten Jacques's business if Jacques does not fall in line. In Volume 7, Ironwood calmly shoots down Jacques' protests about commandeering a private mine with juristic justifications, even telling him he should brush up on Council law. During the battle in Mantle, he cleverly uses lies and editing of his broadcast with Robyn to trick Watts and Tyrian into walking into specially prepared traps where they can be confronted and captured.
* GunsAkimbo: Ironwood has two revolvers, a white and black pair called Due Process. Although he primarily uses the white revolver, he uses both against Watts. The black one is loaded with Gravity Dust, which he uses to propel himself and counter the directional forces of the Gravity Biome they're fighting in; the white one is used for both ranged and melee combat. Although Watts shoots the black one out of Ironwood's hand, he recovers it from it Amity later on.
* TheGunslinger: Ironwood's weapons are two revolvers called Due Process that seem to lack melee forms; if he goes for close combat, he holds them by the barrels for PistolWhipping. Otherwise, he simply blows away enemies the traditional way, though in "Heroes and Monsters", he displays a few [[ImprobableAimingSkills Trick Shot moves]] while blasting apart his hacked robot soldiers. In Volume 8' final episodes, Ironwood inserts them into a portable energy cannon that just destroys whatever he aims it at.
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Ironwood's entire right half is mechanical, the most extreme modifications seen within the series. How this happened to him remains unrevealed, but indicates he survived something severe enough to require replacing not only his limbs, but half of his torso.
* HandCannon: Ironwood fights with a [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolver]] called Due Process that possesses two triggers. Its barrel is over a foot long and is powerful enough to cause miniature explosions and pierce through a Grimm's armored head.
* HeroAntagonist: In Volume 7, Ironwood makes increasingly paranoid and ControlFreak decisions in the name of the greater good, leading to the heroes becoming increasingly unsupportive of his actions. After Cinder leaves a black queen chess piece in his office and he learns that Salem on her way with an army, he concludes he's played right into Salem's hands, has Winter kill the Winter Maiden for her power, declares martial law, and issues arrest warrants for the heroes. Ironwood begins his final transformation into a villain after Oscar warns him he's becoming as dangerous as Salem.
* HeroWithBadPublicity: Ironwood is desperately trying to protect Atlas and Mantle from attack by Salem while trying to plan a counter-move against her. However, his method of protection involves using his military to place strict controls on the Mantle population's ability to function and to divert essential construction supplies away from Mantle's border protections. Thus, the people of Mantle regard him as no better than a dictator who is harming both their livelihoods and their city defenses. Ironwood is aware of the negative sentiment, but dismisses it as an unfortunate necessity to achieve the greater good. After becoming a full on villain however he rants that everyone is ungrateful to him for all he has done and sacrificed for Remnant indicating that this angered him more then he initially let on.
* HeroicBuild: Ironwood stands out in a cast of mainly anime-styled characters for whom MusclesAreMeaningless because he has a very classic comic book character-style build, broad shoulders, narrow waist, very obvious muscles and all. The mechanical side of his torso is even sculpted to match.
* HeroicSafeMode: Ironwood's Semblance was revealed during [=RTX=] 2020 to be "Mettle", an ability that involves hyper-focusing to achieve his goal no matter what stands in his way. Hints of this ability are stated to have appeared in the series.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Volume 7's events slowly but surely tear away at the positive aspects of his character as he succumbs to fear and paranoia, and questions whether Salem's strength comes from her ability to strip away her humanity. By the end of the volume, he has degenerated into a paranoid tyrant who abandons Mantle in favour of saving Atlas, is willing to kill a dying Winter Maiden to protect the Relics from Salem, and arrests heroes for disagreeing with him. Oscar even points out to Ironwood that his actions and mentality make him no better than Salem.
* HiddenDepths: Sam Keiser, the set designer for Ironwood's office in Volume 7, [[https://twitter.com/samkeiser/status/1207541381092298753 confirmed]] that the design is meant to convey the idea that Ironwood is a forward-looking person. It does this by being designed in the style of an observatory to reflect Ironwood's love of astronomy.
* HolierThanThou: This is what drives a significant part of the conflict between himself and would-be allies. Ironwood wants to stop Salem and repeatedly justifies his actions by claiming they're for the "greater good", but he's firmly convinced that only ''he'' knows what the "greater good" is. His refusal to consider any other alternatives, combined with his callous disregard for anyone he deems unimportant, results in his policies and methods harming the people he should be protecting while enabling Salem's DivideAndConquer methods.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: He starts out as a powerful, respected, larger-than-life leader, but as the series progresses and tragedy mounts, he's reduced to a paranoid, bitter shell of his former self. By the end of Volume 8, Salem and Cinder barely acknowledge his existence and deem him NotWorthKilling, and he's left to die unmourned and alone under the debris of the kingdom he sacrificed everything and everyone to save.
* HumanizingTears: After he descends into complete, murderous and genocidal madness, which in turn instigates Winter to betray him in favor of aiding Team RWBY, Ironwood gives Winter (whom he admits was previously the only person that he ''truly'' trusted) one chance to stay out of his way. When Winter refuses, Ironwood's response is to shed a SingleTear before engaging her, which is one of the only potent displays of humanity that ever get through his ruthless mask between his fall from grace and his death.
* ImageSong: Volume 7's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW2CT4pZf60 "Hero"]] is from James' point of view and covers his willingness to sacrifice whatever he must to protect the people of Atlas, as well as his belief that emotions get in the way of this. The song plays during his fight with Watts, which ends with them discussing it. Ironwood rips the skin off his entire arm to escape a HardLight trap and capture Watts, warning him that he will sacrifice anything to stop Salem. Watts simply tells him that he hopes Ironwood does; when Salem talks to Ironwood shortly afterwards, it becomes clear that Watts' mission wasn't to 'win', it was to destabilise Ironwood into succumbing to this very mentality, which isolates him from his friends and turns his allies against him.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: In "Worst Case Scenario", Oscar tells Ironwood that it feels very strange to know a part of him was responsible for the creation of the Vault of the Winter Maiden. Ironwood attempts to reassure him by saying that he'll get used to it and that, eventually, he won't even know who's who anymore. Oscar is standing behind him, so he doesn't see how Oscar deflates at that comment; Volume 6 revealed that Oscar's biggest fear was that he's nothing more than just another of Ozma's lives.
* IronicName: His revolvers are named "Due Process", a term for ensuring that people who are deprived of their liberty are ensured that their legal rights remain. In Volume 8, Ironwood uses Due Process to murder Councillor Sleet in cold blood, is only just barely stopped from summarily executing Marrow simply for disagreeing with his methods, and completely vaporizes prisoner Jacques Schnee. All in a manner completely contrary to the concept of due process.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He believes only he can protect the world and labels anything that contradicts this belief as a threat. When the heroes are evacuating Mantle's civilians, he doubles down on the attitude that only he knows what's best for Remnant; even when the kingdom is lost and there's no point to it anymore, he still attempts to take back the Relic of Creation and raise Atlas. While fighting Winter, he rants that no-one is grateful for the sacrifices he has made; Winter tries to point out that he's sacrificed nothing and it's everyone else who has been sacrificed, but he refuses to listen.
* JacobMarleyWarning: This is discussed and subverted. Ironwood desperately wants Ozpin's advice on his plan to fight back against Salem, as well as his plan to protect Atlas. However, Ozpin's unavailability means his only advisor is Ozpin's new host, Oscar. Oscar tries to teach Ironwood not to make Ozpin's mistake of isolating himself into a corner where he becomes the only person who makes the decisions and shares none of the burden with allies. Although it initially looks like Oscar's advice has sunk in when he unites with the council and Robyn to evacuate Mantle, the discovery a short time later that Salem is almost on their doorstep with an army is the last straw for Ironwood; he completes the transformation into a dangerous authoritarian who won't listen to reason when he decides to silence Oscar once and for all.
* JerkassHasAPoint: In Volume 2, he confides to Glynda that Ozpin's [[LockedOutOfTheLoop keeping them in the dark]], but she dismisses his concerns, knowing his [[TheParanoiac refusal to trust anyone]]. However, the feeling leads to him going behind Ozpin's back to convince the Vale Council of his concerns about Ozpin's decisions. In Volume 5, Ozpin tells Team RNJR he does hold back information because he's learned from experience to "play his cards close to his chest". In Volume 6, Team RWBY and Qrow learn just how much he's been withholding and just how massive those secrets are. Ironwood himself is finally updated in the next volume.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Since the fall of Beacon Academy, Ironwood has become increasingly unstable and paranoid, making more and more ethically questionable decisions that he repeatedly justifies as the greater good; by his own admission, he will do ''anything'' it takes to stop Salem. When Cinder plants a black queen piece in his office, along with the discovery that Salem is personally leading an attack on Atlas, Ironwood finally snaps, deciding to abandon Mantle to Salem's mercy to keep Atlas, the Winter Maiden, and the Relics out of her reach before ordering Team RWBY's arrest when they refuse to follow his regime. What fully cements how far he has fallen is shooting Oscar, a 14-year old boy who is only trying to talk him down, off a ledge. After the Council confronts him over his declaration of martial law and abandonment of Mantle, Ironwood casually murders Councilman Sleet in front of Winter and the Ace-Ops. Even when Salem is (briefly) defeated, his single mindedness causes him to sink further; he threatens to nuke Mantle unless Penny turns herself in, and when imprisoned with both cities being evacuated, murders Jacques for no real reason.
* KilledOffscreen: The last time Ironwood was seen, he was shown to give up as Cinder declared checkmate to him as she and Salem flew away from Atlas as it crashed onto Mantle. While it isn't shown, it was confirmed by Miles Luna on a cameo video that he was killed in the crash.
* KnightTemplar: As Volume 7 progresses, he becomes willing to commit increasingly dubious actions in order to oppose Salem. He starts off by imposing a military embargo on Mantle despite the economic hardships said embargo is causing for the civilians on the ground and diverting resources that Mantle needs to rebuild its infrastructure to build a comm tower at Amity Colosseum. By the end of the volume, he's degenerated into declaring full martial law, abandoning Mantle to die, and either killing or arresting anyone who opposes him.
* LaughingMad: "Ultimatum" has a subtle but chilling moment of laughter as a sign of insanity. After smashing his command console in a fit of rage, Ironwood is informed that [=SDC=] cargo fleet has started to head for Mantle. He sinks down into his chair laughing softly, expression wild as he realizes he can use ''Mantle'' as leverage to force the heroes to surrender Penny. This drastic swing from barely-controlled rage to softly laughing is the start of even his most loyal subordinates realizing that he's lost his mind.
* {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xfJmlPgql8 A bombastic militaristic theme]] plays whenever he and the Atlesian Army appear. An extended version, "Hero", plays during his confrontation with Dr. Watts.
* LineInTheSand: When the students ask him what they should do in response to the invasion of Vale, Ironwood states that they can either stay and defend Vale and Beacon or they can go ahead and run to save themselves. They decide to stay and fight.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop:
** In "Mountain Glenn", he admits to Glynda that he thinks Ozpin is hiding information from him. When Glynda points out he's in the loop that's hiding information from everyone else, Ironwood mentions that makes his fear worse. He eventually learns what Ozpin has been hiding in Volume 7.
** In Volume 7, James specifically tries to avert this after seeing it as one of Ozpin's greatest failings; from the moment he meets up with Team RWBY he tells them in detail about his plans for the Amity Tower, alongside having already brought Winter, Penny and the Ace-Ops into the fold. Team RWBY still decides to hold off from telling him the truth about the Relic of Knowledge, Ozpin and Salem; after seeing the level of military activity in Mantle, they're not sure what Ironwood would do with the information if he had it and want to wait and see if he proves himself trustworthy. This doesn't end well when he learns that Salem's impending attack from her armies was stronger than he anticipated, and that Ruby, Blake and Yang had lied to him for the bulk of the volume about Salem's strength and telling Robyn about Amity respectively.
* MoralMyopia: Ironwood's numerous conflicts throughout the series occur because he feels he does not need to follow the standards he sets for others. Examples include:
** Demanding people trust him while showing them none in return, such as when he secretly colludes with Vale and Atlas Councils to remove Vytal Festival security from Ozpin; even as he puts Ozpin's job on the line, he tells Ozpin to trust him.
** Forcing others to sacrifice much for the cause while giving up very little in return, such as squeezing Mantle's economy and protection from the Grimm to breaking point and then complaining that people aren't grateful for his efforts.
** Telling others to follow the rules while circumventing any that inconvenience him, such as expecting Jacques and Robyn to follow the law while he circumvents the rules through abuse of military classification systems to take increasing control of the Atlas Council.
** Insisting on loyalty when he turns on others solely for disagreeing, such as colluding against Ozpin for not doing things the way he wanted and seeking to arrest the heroes for not supporting his plans to abandon Mantle.
* NecessarilyEvil: His character deconstructs the mindset of this character archetype. He declares his willingness to sacrifice his reputation and humanity for the greater good by forcing others to sacrifice for his cause. Characters constantly question the morality of his choices and his own actions create consequences that later bite him in the ass. His lack of concern over his image and the negativity his actions generate serve only to assist Salem's plans and increasingly alienate him from the heroes. He appoints himself the judge of what counts as the "greater good", he neglects Mantle's security and makes it increasingly vulnerable to attack by viewing it as less important than Atlas. Oscar lampshades the deconstruction by pointing out that being willing to sacrifice all of Remnant just so "a few can live" is making him just as dangerous a threat as Salem.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: A recurring theme and character flaw of Ironwood's is his willingness to make any sacrifice for the sake of protecting the people of Remnant, even his own personal safety. However, Ironwood doesn't know when he's gone too far. He doesn't consider the negative consequences his actions have on Mantle and how it hurts his image -- something that both Jaune and Nora point out. Rather, he only considers the fact that it will eventually aid in the fight against Salem while allowing tensions in Mantle to grow. When he realizes Cinder is in the city and Salem is on her way in person, he concludes that the decision is between continuing Mantle's evacuation and allowing Salem to slaughter almost everyone or leaving Mantle behind by getting Atlas high enough to avoid the Grimm. He chooses the latter and this causes the schism within the group of those who agree with his assessment and those who don't. Oscar also rightly points out that saving just Atlas will only save a handful of people comparatively while leaving everyone on the ground to die.
* NeverMyFault: One of Ironwood's biggest character failings is his refusal to see any failing in his own actions or chosen methods. While he acknowledges the harm his actions can cause, he won't see them as wrong and instead expects people to just accept and suffer the consequences as a necessary evil. He also has a bad habit of assigning blame to others while stubbornly insisting he's the only one who is capable of making the right decisions; this means he will continuing using methods that don't work or keep failing long after it ceases to make sense, while expressing bafflement that no-one is grateful for his efforts. He becomes so unreasonable and extreme that even his staunchest allies eventually turn their backs on him, leaving him to a lonely, broken fate.
* NotWorthKilling: At the conclusion of his battle in "[[Recap/RWBYV8E14TheFinalWord The Final Word]]", he is left alive by his opponents. Winter defeats and leaves him behind in the Vault, where Cinder later meets with Salem. Though Ironwood had believed himself the world's best chance to defeat Salem, she doesn't even acknowledge his existence. In the end, he's left to die while Cinder and Salem fly away from the crashing city.
* TheParanoiac: Ironwood's biggest character flaw is his extreme tendency to see enemies everywhere around him and his subsequent inability to trust anyone. Signs of his paranoia are sprinkled throughout the first six volumes, such as his assuming control of the Vytal Festival security out of mistrust of Ozpin, his enforcement of a Dust embargo to keep Dust out of Salem's hands, his closing of Atlas' borders so Salem's people can't enter the kingdom, and Leo and Pietro's assessments that the Fall of Beacon is negatively affecting his judgement. However, it's not until the heroes are dealing directly with Ironwood that they begin to see for themselves how disturbing Ironwood's paranoia has become and that the Atlesian Council is very concerned by his behaviour. The heroes struggle to decide if they can trust him, causing them to keep secrets from him and work with Robyn behind his back. When Cinder leaves a black queen on Ironwood's desk and Salem reveals she's already approaching Atlas with her own army, the last of his self-restraint snaps. To protect the Relics and Winter Maiden, he determines that only Atlas can be saved. He has Winter forcibly take the Winter Maiden's power, orders Team RWBY's arrest, implements martial law to de-power the Council, and leaves Mantle to its impending doom.
* PercussiveTherapy: Whenever he gets angry, frustrated, or just plain agitated, he will start damaging the inanimate objects around him. This ranges from his cracking Jacques' desk by slamming his fist into it to later denting his own desk in worry over which of Salem's forces have infiltrated Atlas to him angrily throwing his scroll at Watts' face when they argue. During the Atlas arc, he becomes increasingly destructive with increasing stress levels. Ironwood utterly destroys his hologram table with a two-handed smash when he learns that he's essentially run out of bargaining chips.
* PermaStubble: Ironwood was originally a clean-shaven man. However, since the fall of Beacon, he has been sporting an unshaven look, with the stubble reaching all the way up to his cheek bones. He's been run ragged. By the time of Volume 7, it's grown into a full BeardOfSorrow.
* PistolWhipping: His weapon appears to have no alternate form, and is ''just'' a HandCannon... that he can hold by the barrel to bludgeon any unfortunate Grimm that crosses his path rather than shooting at them. When he does so the one time, a SickeningCrunch is heard.
* PowerOfTrust: His competence increases drastically when he manages to work through his paranoia and put his faith in others. The biggest HopeSpot of Volume 7 comes when he is convinced to fully explain his own actions to Robyn and the council, leading to Mantle being evacuated in a relatively orderly fashion and Watts and Tyrian both being defeated and arrested. However, when Cinder smashes his TraumaButton by planting a black queen chess piece in his office, he begins second-guessing everyone around him again, and it only takes two episodes for him to undo nearly everything he accomplished in that timespan.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: A subverted example. Ironwood's introduced as a reasonable person, being supportive and encouraging of the protagonists during their sparse interactions through most of the series. Once Team RWBY arrives in Atlas and works with Ironwood professionally, it turns out he's actually stubborn, uncooperative, dismisses concerns about negative policy impacts, refuses approaches that share power and responsibility with those who aren't loyal to him, and his decisions are influenced by his PTSD. Eventually, the pressure becomes too much for him and he descends into a villainous spiral that makes him as dangerous a threat as Salem.
* RecoilBoost: Ironwood's secondary pistol is loaded with gravity dust bullets. Rather than fire at his target, Ironwood shoots it behind himself to propel himself at any angle a great distance.
* RecruitingTheCriminal: Ironwood grows increasingly desperate after Volume 7, where a good number of his allies including Pietro have severed ties with him. Thus, he takes drastic steps. Arthur Watts, a leading scientist-turned-criminal, is dragged out of his cell and "motivated" to find a weak spot in Pietro's creation, Penny. All the while, he is surrounded by guards and Ironwood himself gives hints as to what will happen to him if he causes trouble. Eventually, Watts succeeds in infecting Penny with a virus, but she shuts down while in the atmosphere and crashes somewhere in Solitas' tundra; which isn't what Ironwood had in mind.
* RedemptionRejection: As the heroes rescue Team JNR from Ironwood's soldiers, Oscar instead risks capture by personally trying to stop Ironwood from what he's doing and bring him back to the heroes' side. However, Ironwood rejects Oscar's words and shoots him, abandoning his friendship with Ozpin in his determination to continue his objective.
* RedOniBlueOni: Robyn is the Red Oni to Ironwood's Blue. Both stubborn and convinced they're right, their respective {{Fatal Flaw}}s clash when [[TheParanoiac Ironwood]] prioritises Atlas and [[HotBlooded Robyn]] prioritises Mantle. Ironwood is initially an ally commanding overwhelming authority and a powerful military while Robyn is initially an antagonist commanding no formal power and rag-tag band of misfits. Ironwood is mistrustful, haunted, uncooperative, and uncompromising; by sacrificing empathy and humanity to achieve his goals, he is seen as increasingly villainous by both the kingdom and heroes. Robyn is open, engaging, cooperative and flexible; by embracing empathy and humanity to achieve her goals, she is seen as increasingly heroic by both the kingdom and heroes.
* ReputationApathy: This is discussed and averted during the Atlas arc. Every time characters point out that Ironwood's attempts to enact Draconian policies for the greater good is making people distrust him, he says he doesn't care about his reputation. However, each time it's pointed out, he initially tenses up and looks like he's about to lose his temper before calming down and dismissing it, thereby implying that he's lying. During his final fight, he rants that no-one was grateful for his efforts, confirming once and for all he was never apathetic.
* ResignationsNotAccepted: As Ironwood's mental state spirals, he becomes more ruthless in upholding military order. After Marrow furiously quits the Ace-Ops, Ironwood silently prepares to shoot him in the back. Winter de-escalates the situation by attacking Marrow and arresting him, preventing any further bloodshed.
* ReverseArmFold: Befitting his status as a high-ranking military officer, Ironwood's default stance is to stand broad-shouldered with his hands clasped behind his back.
* RevolversAreJustBetter: Ironwood's weapon is a pale revolver that [[BoringButPractical has no other special qualities]] aside from being [[{{BFG}} very large and powerful]] with [[BlingBlingBang patterns on the barrel]]. When he needs the extra firepower, he brings out a second revolver that is a much darker version of his primary one, but just shoots different ammunition.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: He holds two positions on the Atlas Council, and takes full advantage of it to see his way through the events of Vale after the breach, as well as in Mantle to maintain order and advance his plans of stopping Salem. In Volume 4, he threatens to use his seats to cause trouble for Jacques and his company if he steps out of line. He completely falls into this territory at the end of Volume 7 when he elects to abandon Mantle to Salem and raise Atlas into the sky, declaring martial law in the process so the rest of the Council can't object to it.
* SecretlySelfish: A ZigZaggedTrope. Ironwood is genuinely dedicated to thwarting Salem however he can but there's also an implication that he's just as motivated by a desire to avoid admitting his own fears and failings and validating his own beliefs as he is by saving people and that part of him becomes increasingly stronger throughout the series. By the end of Volume 7, he shows no discomfort in trying to murder those who do not agree with what he's doing.
* ShellShockedVeteran:
** In the episode "Destiny", he talks to Team RWBY about the effects of adrenaline on the battlefield, and how it can make even experienced warriors see things that aren't there. Although he's trying to understand why Yang's version of her fight against Mercury doesn't match what the world saw, he touches his cybernetic arm and mentions "even after the threat has passed". There's a strong hint that Ironwood may be talking more about himself and his past than Yang's situation, further implying that he suffers from PTSD.
** In Volume 4, his arguments with Jacques and his scruffy stubble suggest he's haunted by the Battle of Beacon and it's driving his more extreme decisions, such as placing a global embargo on Dust shipping and locking down Atlas to traffic. In the following volume, Leo mentions that he doesn't know what happened to Ironwood during the Battle of Beacon, but it seems to have brought out his worst personality traits, such as paranoia. By Volume 7, his paranoia has led him to refit the Atlas security network to ensure a security breach such as the one that happened in Vale can't happen again; when talking to Oscar about Beacon, he mentions how helpless he felt while experiencing a flashback to the Black Queen sigil that Cinder's uploaded virus created when Cinder took control of the Vytal Festival broadcast and Atlesian fleet stationed at Beacon.
* ShirtlessScene: In Volume 3's eleventh episode, he leaves the wreckage of a ship with most of his shirt and some of his pants torn/burned away. It reveals that the right half of his body is biomechanical, and there is burn scarring where it's attached to his body.
* SingleTear: When Winter declares her intention to [[YouShallNotPass fight him]], Ironwood sheds a single tear in response. It serves as a stark contrast to his dull eyes and emotionless expression, showing that even his best efforts cannot fully lock away his heart.
* SlouchOfVillainy: As one of the heroes, General Ironwood typically sits in a very straight-backed, business-like posture. After his slide into villainy in Volume 8, he slouches in his chair and steeples his fingers as he plans his next move for obtaining the Winter Maiden. The slouch lowers him in the chair so much that a sunburst pattern over the top of the doors behind him appear to be crowning his head like an evil emperor. The scene sets up just how evil his plan is later revealed to be, and kicks off his mini-arc as the protagonists' primary opponent.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: James Ironwood initially started the series being a member of the BenevolentConspiracy committed to fighting the evil plaguing the world. However, as time goes on and he suffers more defeats and trauma, he slowly begins taking more ruthless and extreme actions, becoming HeWhoFightsMonsters. At one point he expresses his belief that Salem's greatest advantage was her own LackOfEmpathy. By the end of Volume 7, he has no problem murdering any who dispute his methods, and by the tail end of Volume 8, he goes so far as to threaten to blow up a city.
* SunkCostFallacy: The main reason why he wouldn't change course even after multiple characters point out that he's only made things worse. Ironwood ''needs'' a justification for his paranoia and all the horrible things he's done. To admit that he made a horrible mistake at this point would mean that all the things he did was for nothing, and he can't do that.
* SuperStrength: Ironwood can use his gloved right arm to stop an Alpha Beowolf's punch, and swing the thing over his head like it's nothing, which is impressive given it is roughly three times his size and weight. It's more justified than usual for the series, in this case, as said arm was also the cybernetic one.
* SymbolicMutilation: Early in Volume 7, Ironwood speculates to [[MoralityPet Oscar]] that the best way to fight Salem is to strip his humanity like she did. Later on, Watts traps his biological arm in a HardLight shield, assuming Ironwood won't sacrifice it; when Ironwood does so, declaring that he'll sacrifice anything to protect Atlas from Salem, Watts indicates that's exactly what Salem wants. He goes on to sacrifice Mantle, his alliances, and Oscar. One volume later, he sacrifices his arm for a cybernetic replacement, which becomes the first in a series of increasingly inhumane sacrifices as the volume progresses.
* TautologicalTemplar: Ironwood devolves into this as the series goes on, firmly convinced that only he knows what the greater good is, that everything he does is justified as long as it combats Salem, and readily turning on longtime friends and potential allies the instant they don't agree with him. Even when Winter tells him point-blank that his methods haven't helped ''anyone'' or done a thing to impede Salem, Ironwood is adamant that everything he did was for the good of Remnant and accuses everyone else of being ungrateful for his efforts.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Ironwood has made it clear that he will use whatever means necessary to defeat Salem. When Team RWBY calls out his decision to raise Atlas out of Salem's reach, he calmly says he's aware that he is essentially damning Mantle to her wrath. He later tells Oscar that he is done letting others' opinions hold him back from doing what he thinks is right. The boy warns him that he'd become as dangerous as Salem herself like that; the general simply nods to himself but doesn't deny it.
* TragicHero: He genuinely means well in opposing Salem and her forces, but his severe paranoia complex, exacerbated by the stress of being one of the only ones in the know about Salem and having to explain his actions to the skeptical populace and council, cause his decisions to degenerate over time. By the end of Volume 7, he becomes willing to abandon everyone in Mantle to die, violently lashes out at anyone who opposes him, and manages to undo all of the hard work he's accomplished by second-guessing his own actions.
* TranquilFury: James is someone who works very hard to keep his emotions under control. In the council meeting, Ironwood becomes increasingly angry with Jacques, but remains calm and controlled throughout the exchange. Once it's revealed that Jacques gave his login credentials for the Atlesian security network to Watts in exchange for rigging the election, he rips into Jacques for his actions, but remains controlled despite his aggressive posture of looming over Jacques. After the battle, when he decides to move Atlas out of Salem's reach and has Team RWBY arrested, he is far too calm. Despite raising his voice during their argument, Ironwood's tone and facial expressions are ice-cold when he draws his gun and shoots Oscar.
* TraumaButton: Ironwood implies in Volume 3 that he suffers from PTSD, and if he didn't before then Volume 7 makes it very clear that the Fall of Beacon has severely impacted his psyche. In particular, the black queen chess piece, which is Salem's Calling Card, triggers his post-traumatic stress. Recounting his helplessness when Salem's agents took control of his automated army during the Fall of Beacon, Ironwood flashes back to seeing the Black Queen sigil on his computers. In "Gravity", Cinder plants a home-made Black Queen in his office. Upon seeing it, Ironwood begins making a series of extreme and panicked decisions: he sends Winter to forcefully take the Winter Maiden's power, wildly begins second-guessing his decisions in case they've played into Salem's hands, turns on Team RWBY for keeping secrets and leaking intel to Robyn, and dooms Mantle to save Atlas, the Relics and the Winter Maiden.
* ToUnmasqueTheWorld: Come Volume 7, with Ozpin no longer around to guide them, Ironwood feels a new plan is needed: rather than continue a SecretWar, he's going to out Salem's existence to all of Remnant and unite the world against her. Although the heroes were very angry with Ozpin's secrecy, their response to Ironwood's plan is to display similar misgivings to Ozpin himself over the potential chaos and panic revealing the truth to the world might cause. As of "Gravity", he abandons this plan in favour of keeping the city of Atlas, the Winter Maiden, and the Relics of Knowledge and Creation out of Salem's reach, sacrificing Mantle in the process.
* UltimateJobSecurity: Despite failing to stop the Fall of Beacon, increasingly authoritarian measures, and [[SanitySlippage deteriorating mental state]], Ironwood still retains his job and seats on the council from Volume 3 onward. Jacques lampshades it in "Remembrance", stating outright that it's a miracle he hasn't been stripped of his rank. Effectively, the culture of obedience Ironwood has fostered means that nobody in Atlas has the nerve to remove him from power. This contrasts with Ozpin, whose mistakes in Volume 2 get raised by Ironwood to the Vale Council; they immediately strip Ozpin of responsibility for Vytal Festival security and declare that his job will be discussed once the festival is over.
* UnwittingPawn: A discussed example. In Volume 7, Ironwood tries pre-empting Salem's plots and activities by upgrading Atlesian security, recalling his military back home and placing Mantle under heavy surveillance while he prepares a counter-plan that involves repurposing Amity Colosseum. This causes arguments among the heroes over whether the squeeze on Mantle's economy might play into Salem's hands by exacerbating divisions between Mantle and Atlas. When the heroes finally unite to capture Watts and Tyrian, and evacuate Mantle, they appear to finally get on top of the situation. Then Ironwood discovers Salem's [[CallingCard black queen chess piece]] sitting on his office desk, made from Cinder's [[CallingCard signature black glass]]; this reveals Cinder's presence in Atlas and [[TraumaButton triggers his PTSD]] over how the villains used that symbol during the Battle of Beacon. Interpreting it as a sign that Salem's been one step ahead of him the entire time, he begins questioning whether every action they've taken has successfully played right into Salem's hands. This reignites the arguments between all the heroes over what the best course of action to take is. Once it becomes clear that Salem's on her way in person and the kingdom's long-distance sensors are offline, the arguments become irreconcilable.
* WaveMotionGun: Takes to using one in Volume 8. He uses both of Due Process' revolvers as the handles. It's powerful enough to destroy a HardLight holding cell, and when he uses it in battle, his opponents have to keep dodging it because they know it's potentially a one-hit kill attack. Winter struggles against it because she has to keep dodging it or redirecting the strike, but once she becomes a Maiden, she defeats him by easily redirecting it back at him.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Like the heroes, Ironwood desperately wants to stop the BigBad, save lives, and keep both the Relics and Winter Maiden out of her hands. Though the heroes initially support his plan to do so, the villains' successful exploitation of his character flaws means he cracks under the pressure of fighting Salem, tries abandoning Mantle in favour of rescuing Atlas, and descends into authoritarianism; he turns on anyone who disagrees with his methods, such as shooting people for disagreeing with him and threatening to blow up Mantle to force the Winter Maiden to the Vault. Eventually, even the most loyal Ace-Ops turn on him, with the one person he never thought would betray him -- Winter -- declaring him an enemy of Atlas.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: James' personality and mannerisms clash throughout Volumes 2 and 3 with those of Ozpin, Glynda and Qrow, but he considers them trusted friends. In "[[Recap/RWBYV7E2ANewApproach A New Approach]]", he seems genuinely relieved at the prospect of Ozpin being back and hugs Qrow in a private moment, emphasizing that he's really happy to see him. By the end of the volume, Ironwood has been willing to sacrifice everything, including his friendships in the pursuit of protecting Atlas. In "The Enemy of Trust", the consequences of Ironwood ordering Qrow's arrest leads Qrow to swear to make him pay for what he's done. Ironwood then clashes with Oscar over the consequences of his intended plan and coldly and violently rescinds his friendship with Oscar and, by extension, Ozpin.
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: His default reaction to any problem is to throw overwhelming military force at it. His presence in Vale triggers arguments with Qrow and Glynda because of this habit and, when he explains that he wants the citizens of Vale to feel safe knowing his army will protect them, Ozpin points out that it'll instead make people wonder what the scale of the threat is. In Volume 7, the heroes are concerned about the level of military presence in Mantle, Blake observes that he's prone to overreacting and Nora argues with him constantly about the harmful impact of his military decisions on Mantle.

[[folder:Penny Polendina]]

For more information on Penny Polendina, please see Characters/RWBYTheHeroes.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pietro Polendina]]
!!Dr. Pietro Polendina
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DaveFennoy[[labelnote:Foreign [=VAs=]]]Creator/KatsuhisaHouki (Japanese)[[/labelnote]]
!!!'''Debut:''' The Greatest Kingdom[[labelnote:*]]Volume 7 Episode 1[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pietro_6.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"''I feel like such a dunce for not recognizing you sooner. My daughter's told me so much about you.''"]]

One of Ironwood's most trusted and respected scientists, Dr. Pietro Polendina is an elderly engineer. In addition to working for the Atlesian military, Pietro volunteers at a pharmacy in Mantle.

* AbsentMindedProfessor: He has been adjusting Maria's cybernetic eyes for years but she has to prod his memory before he remembers either who she is or why she's turned up in his pharmacy. He also doesn't immediately recognise Team RWBY despite his daughter's constant references to them.
* BigFun: Pietro is a fun, enthusiastic man, who is overweight and confined to a custom-designed wheelchair. He is one of the finest minds in Atlas and responsible for some of the most groundbreaking technological advances known to man, such as the creation of the world's first synthetic lifeform capable of generating an Aura -- [[RobotGirl Penny]]. He is thrilled at the chance to work on upgrading the heroes' weapons, including extras that he came up with by himself, and was delighted to meet Penny's friends in the first place. When they first met him, he was working on designing shoes that make people dance -- just for fun. He was deliberately designed to have a "big kid" personality to keep him distinct from the equally enthusiastic [[WebAnimation/GenLock Dr. Weller]], another Creator/RoosterTeeth creation.
* EarlyBirdCameo: After the dramatic conclusion of Penny and Pyrrha's fight in Volume 3, there is a brief shot of him from the back, gripping the side of his chair with a tightly-clenched fist.
* FatherlyScientist: Pietro is a skilled roboticist who created P.E.N.N.Y, a breakthrough in cybernetic research due to the robot's ability to generate an Aura. While she's military R&D, Penny has been given the chance to develop a human persona and her relationship to her creator is that of father and daughter. When Pietro meets Team RWBY, he extends his fatherly attitude towards them, talking about how often his daughter has spoken of them, confiding in them his concerns about Ironwood despite having only just met them and worrying about them when they're captured by Ace-Ops. He is also visibly moved when Ruby and Weiss rest against Penny's shoulders, happy that Penny finally has true friends.
* GadgeteerGenius: Pietro is introduced as one of Atlas's finest minds. He created Penny, who is the world's first synthetic being that is capable of generating an Aura. He also created Yang's state-of-the-art cybernetic arm and routinely maintains Maria's cybernetic eyes.
* GeniusCripple: Pietro is a brilliant robotics engineer and is paralyzed from the waist down. He gets around with a chair that possesses four mechanical legs and moves like a spider.
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: When first introduced, Pietro is shown to have a rather long, hoarse cough and is bound to a mobile chair that moves on spider-legs rather than wheels. In "Worst Case Scenario", Pietro reveals that he had to sacrifice parts of his Aura to create Penny and that he has to sacrifice more every time he needs to rebuild her. As a result, his Aura contains gaping holes all over his body and he doesn't know if he has the ability to donate anymore should Penny require further reactivation in the future.
* NonActionGuy: Unlike the rest of team RWBY and JNR's allies, Pietro's assistance is off the battlefield. He utilizes his intelligence to provide them with upgrades to their weaponry and continues to aid them with his technological expertise after Ironwood issues warrents for their arrest but is unable to aid them on the field of battle. {{Justified|Trope}} as Pietro is a scientist, not a Huntsman. Also, he is paralyzed from the waist down and has already sacrificed parts of his Aura for Penny, so even if he had any fighting skills he is in no physical shape to use them.
* OldFriend: With Maria for who he has made her prosthetic eyes after she was blinded by Tock. After recognizing Maria, Pietro is visibly happy to see her again and while she is rather annoyed by his forgetfulness and antics Maria strongly cares for Pietro as shown with her worried reaction upon learning about his failing health and her comforting him after he voiced concern about what would happen to him and Penny if she was destroyed again.
* SatelliteCharacter: His entire character and backstory revolves around him being Penny's creator and father. Even when he's involved in the main plot, he's only present for scenes that involve Penny.
* UncertainDoom: Maria and Pietro have minor roles in Volume 8 that limit them to dealing with Amity. Once the second half of this volume moves on to deal with Atlas and Mantle, the pair are left behind on Amity having indicated that the Colosseum might even have to land north of the kingdom, but this is never confirmed. After Team RWBY create the evacuation portals with the Relic of Creation, portals open all over Mantle and Atlas, but nowhere else. Even after Atlas and Mantle are obliterated, Pietro and Maria's fates are left uncertain.
[[/folder]]

!!!Atlas Academy
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/images_1_4108.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Atlas Academy]]

Originally known as Alsius Academy until the Great War transformed it into an R&D facility and military HQ, the current academy is more militarized than the rest of Remnant would like to see.
----

[[WMG:[[center:[-''Franchise/{{RWBY}}'' [[Characters/{{RWBY}} Main Character Index]]\\
''[[Characters/RWBYTheHeroes The Heroes]]:'' [[Characters/RWBYTeamRWBY Team RWBY]] | [[Characters/RWBYTeamJNPR Team JNPR]] | [[Characters/RWBYOzpinAndOscar Ozpin and Oscar]]\\
''[[Characters/RWBYRemnant Remnant]]:'' [[Characters/RWBYEasternSanus Sanus (Eastern)]] | [[Characters/RWBYWesternSanus Sanus (Western)]] | [[Characters/RWBYAnima Anima]] | '''Solitas'''\\
''Antagonists:'' [[Characters/RWBYSalemsFaction Salem's Faction]] ([[Characters/RWBYSalem Salem]] | [[Characters/RWBYCinderFall Cinder Fall]]) | [[Characters/RWBYWhiteFang White Fang]] | [[Characters/RWBYGrimmBestiary Grimm Bestiary]]\\
''Beyond Remnant:'' [[Characters/RWBYTheEverAfter The Ever After]]-]]]]]

[[WMG:[[center:[-''Other Media:'' Characters/RWBYIceQueendom - Characters/RWBYTheOfficialManga - Characters/RWBYJusticeLeague - Characters/JusticeLeagueXRWBYSuperHeroesAndHuntsmen - Characters/RWBYChibi -]]]]]

* LittleBitBeastly: She's a cat Faunus, having a long tail and a CatSmile by default.

* CatSmile: Neon has one continuously, seeming to confirm that she is a cat Faunus.

For more information on Caroline Cordovin, please see the Characters/RWBYAnima page.

For more information on the Nubuck Guards, please see the Characters/RWBYAnima page.

For more information on Weiss Schnee, please see the Characters/RWBYWeissSchnee page.

For more information on Nicholas Schnee, please see the Characters/RWBYRemnant page.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: She never reappears after her introduction, making it difficult to tell if she died in the Fall or survived. Volume 9 lampshades this when team RWBY recount their story and are asked if "that Ciel girl" ever came back in any notable way.

* BigBad: He is the cause of conflict within the game. He manipulates others to do his dirty work, is the cause of all the Grimm attacks, and tries to kill Team RWBY when they get in his way.