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Unmarked Spoilers for Arc Royale up to Chapter 27! You Have Been Warned!

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Iterations

    General 
  • Achilles' Heel: If any of the anchors were to be killed, then the Jaune iteration that they're connected to will be instantly transported back to their own world no matter how powerful they are.
  • Alternate Self: Part of the premise of the story, as each iteration is a version of Jaune Arc from another world. Some of these worlds are vastly different from the heroes' Remnant, while others are simply alternative versions of theirs'.
  • Anyone Can Die: The main point of their summoning is for them to fight and kill each other, meaning none of them are safe.
  • Can't Live Without You: Each iteration is linked to an anchor to keep them in this world, and if that anchor dies, they'll be returned to their own world.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Justified. Given the fate that would befall the side that wins the war and a wish reward that would be granted to the last standing Jaune iteration, all of them will resort to dirty and/or unorthodox tactics to win.
  • Determinator: As Jaune puts it, nearly all of them, whether good or bad, possesses a relentless drive and achieve their own goals and never gave up in the face of adversary.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Almost all of them get one to differentiate their different styles to the other characters and audience:
    • Knight, despite having woken up in an unfamiliar bed with a Ruby who doesn't seem to know him, immediately comes to Leviathan's aid against Yang.
    • Leviathan originally seems as emotional and open as the main Jaune, but when he's asked for his information, all he gives is his name, showing his paranoid nature.
    • Barista originally seems like a nobody, but he's completely unmoved by everything happening around him and already knows about Salem.
    • Hunter rejects participating in the contest because this is far above his pay grade.
    • Fate curses out Jinn for making him another higher being's plaything before leaving the room to indulge in his various vices.
    • Null murders Ash without hesitation just to get rid of another competitor.
    • Ashari criticizes Salem for letting Null get away with it, threatens to go three for three on killing her when she threatens Emerald, and although Emerald rejects him, he makes it clear he still loves her.
    • Grimm is affectionate with Salem even knowing that she's not actually his mother, but doesn't hesitate to pull out his Grimm form when tensions get too high.
    • Xiong immediately puts Ozpin's group on the back foot by threatening to publicize the war and inciting mass panic if they don't let him remain neutral.
    • Headmaster Arc gives Yang an emergency medical kit to treat Ruby, bemoans Blake's habit of dragging her team out to fight villains, and pokes fun at how often his students get themselves injured, before casually leaving the very destructive battle happening in front of him.
    • Warchief stumbles out of the Atlas ship carrying him to Beacon and immediately begins vomiting into the bushes from his motion sickness, all while Ironwood awkwardly confirms his status as a genius strategist and tactician.
    • Rat tries to ambush Null using dirty tactics such as tear gas and has information about Null's semblance. Rat also breaks off the confrontation due to not wanting to risk civilians when Null retreats into the crowd.
    • Magnis tells off Winter Schnee for occupying a Valean village despite having no authority there. He is more than willing to talk things out, but when Winter stubbornly insists on subduing him, he is also willing to fight to protect the villagers.
  • Everyone Calls Them Barkeep: Invoked. They are all given titles to correlate with their respective status and differentiate from the original Jaune Arc.
  • Guilt-Free Extermination War: Since death for them means being sent back to their worlds with no memories of the war, any fatalities inflicted between them are essentially negated. Of course, since killing the anchors is also an option...
  • Logical Weakness:
    • None of them are immune to having their senses disrupted. As seen in Knight's case when Ashari uses flashbangs and tear gas to reduce his combat effectiveness in their first fight.
    • No matter how strong or skilled the Jaune iteration is, even if they have Aura, they're still living beings who can need to breathe. Leviathan manages to close the immense gap in power between him and Ashari by trying to drown him, and the otherwise unbeatable Knight is killed when Grimm asphyxiates him with a swarm of miniature Lancers.
  • Master Swordsman: Some iterations are very capable of using a sword, as seen with Knight, Ashari, Magnis, Fate, Revolutionary with the empowerment of Adam's spirit, and, near the end of the fic, Jaune Arc himself.
  • Shout-Out: With the exception of Just Jaune, the other Jaune interations function like the Servants of Fate/stay night, which is intentional by the Word of God.

    Just Jaune 
The Jaune Arc of the main world where the war between iterations is held, based on the canon version. He's the leader of Team JNPR.
  • Character Development: Starts out the story losing his self-confidence, as he can't help but compare himself to the summoned iterations, all of whom seem much more powerful and successful than him. After a pep talk and training with Magnis however, he becomes much more confident in himself and more willing to make big decisions, to the point that after being forced to leave Magnis behind and learning of Fate's treachery, he's the one who convinces RWBY and the rest of JNPR to keep fighting.
  • Disobeyed Orders, Not Punished: Ironwood commends him for a competent display of leadership in not following Winter's orders to rush into a close-range fight against Magnis. After Winter's implication that they would be punished for disobeying her, Team JNPR are caught off-guard by this seeming generosity so Ironwood explains his reasoning: Jaune, as the leader of JNPR, is responsible for gauging his team's capabilities and limits. A true leader does not send his troops into an unwinnable battle without good reason. Ironwood applies this logic to his own forces as well, reprimanding Winter for escalating the battle with her reckless behavior.
  • Disqualification-Induced Victory: Deconstructed and Played for Drama. Although Jaune technically won their duel, it's only because Fate broke the rules by using higher explosions, and considering how Fate manages to snag Nora's grenades without anyone noticing and use them to defeat Jaune in one move, it's still clear to everyone, including Jaune himself, that in an actual battle, Fate has his number by memory.
  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: A Running Gag of the story that's Played for Drama as Jaune is constantly surrounded by other versions of himself who prove to be a better fighter than he is. Thanks to Magnis' pep talk and support, he slowly regains his confidence.
  • His Own Worst Enemy: Both literally and figuratively. Despite the fate of the world being hanged in the balance and the unique situational problems arising with the various Jaune iterations, Jaune's already poor self-esteem and lack of confidence slowly taking a dive is also the focus of the story.
  • Irony: After being tired of Fate's insults, as well as Fate's Condescending Calmness toward Jaune's Cowardice Callout, Jaune challenges him to a one-to-one duel with the intention to "make him eat his words" and prove that Fate's just "all talk". Cue a brutal Curb-Stomp Battle with him on the receiving end by Fate, and the latter proves that Jaune is the one who fits his own accusations.
  • Loophole Abuse: He does this by claiming to be the last "Jaune" to survive the war, as the rules didn't forbid him to count himself as an interation and an anchor.
  • Made of Iron: Jaune proves his worth in his fight with Cinder, powering through everything she throws at him until she is beaten.
  • Refuge in Audacity: When the Brother Gods plan to start a new contest after the current one ended in a draw, Jaune declares he won by being the last Jaune Arc standing. It works enough to give him and his friends the opening they need to ultimately decide the whole thing in a final battle against Cinder.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Thanks to Magnis' tutelage and encouragement, Jaune continues to improve himself to the point where he was able to defeat a half-Maiden empowered Cinder Fall.

Anchored to Ozma's side

    Knight 
The protagonist of Forged Destiny. Anchored to Ruby Rose. For tropes pertaining to his original story, see here.
  • The Ace: He is the strongest iteration in the war due to the rules of his world carrying over, and any fight he gets into is a near-instant Curb-Stomp Battle.
  • Antiquated Linguistics: Invoked; after becoming King of Vale, his apprentice drilled the proper behavior for a king into his mind, to the point that he has trouble not talking like one.
  • Apologetic Attacker: Apologizes to Leviathan right before killing him, knowing that he had no choice.
  • Appeal to Force: Knight starts out the story going along with Ozpin's and Ironwood's handling of the war, but after a while, he loses his patience and decides to fight the war his way before offering them an ultimatum: They can work with him, or around him. They nervously concede to the former, as there is nothing they can do to force him to back down.
  • The Blacksmith: Knight's default class, as in his home fic, and is spelled out over his head along with his name, which weirds several people out.
  • Blasé Boast: Tells Ozpin he killed the Salem of his world, and later makes several statements about how easy his fights were. This is not him being boastful; he is saying these things as statements of fact.
  • Blind Obedience: Oh so averted hard. Because of Knight's chivalrous, and differential behavior, everyone, including Ozpin and Ironwood believe that he'll always be obedient and follow any order given to him, even if they know he is the strongest iteration. But chapter 24 and then on shatters that illusion the hard way as Knight is fed up with sitting idle and Ozpin and Ironwood allowing the war to drag out and risk the lives of Ruby and many innocent civilians if it means getting an advantage over Salem. So he gave them the ultimatum; actually using him to end the war or he'll leave and finish it on his own terms, along with giving a true demonstration of just how "powerful" he really is.
  • Bling of War: Wears heavy, shiny armor into battle. Given his origin, it's likely self-forged.
  • But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Knight's reaction to learning about the version of Salem he's fighting this time is just to comment on how he's faced worse. After returning following his beatdown of the White Fang and Cinder's entire faction - a feat that no one else on Ozpin's side could do on their own - Knight's only comment on what he did is that, again, he has faced worse.
  • Critical Existence Failure: Cinder's allies come to the conclusion that, as he hails from an RPG Mechanics 'Verse and subsequently functions like a video game character, this is how killing Knight could work - he can power through any injury he's given and never slow down or react, but the moment he hits 0 HP, he'll simply drop over dead. They ultimately don't get to test this theory; their one battle against him goes horribly and ends in a full retreat, and when Grimm kills him later, it's through the comparatively mundane method of choking him.
  • Good Is Not Soft: He's one of the nicest iterations in the war, with a strong sense of duty and a powerful moral compass. But when he fights Cinder's faction singlehandedly, he doesn't hesitate to use lethal force against them, slaughtering the White Fang and killing Mercury with barely any effort. The only reasons anyone escapes him is because he gets dogpiled by Grimm and Ashari uses the last of his smoke grenades.
  • Happily Married: Although his marriage with the Ruby Rose of his world was initially out of necessity to prevent war from breaking out, they did eventually develop feelings for each other. He's also this with the Blake of his world as well despite them not being officially married.
  • Heroes Prefer Swords: His class is both Blacksmith and Swordmaster, and he wields a sword in battle.
  • Knight in Shining Armor: He has both the appearance and personality for it.
  • Mathematician's Answer: He gives one to Ruby in reply to her asking him if he'll come back safe before going off to fight Grimm, saying that "[he'll] try [his] hardest". Yang notices that he never "promises" to come back safe, which leaves the implication that it won't end well for him.
  • Mundanger: Knight is the most powerful iteration compared to the rest, but what eventually kills him is Grimm sending thousands upon thousands of insect-like Grimm in every orifice to suffocate him to death.
  • Never Got to Say Goodbye: Downplayed. Similar to the iconic scene between Kiritsugu and Illya in Fate/Zero, Knight and Ruby did have a farewell scene just before he goes out and have a Combat by Champion Duel to the Death with Grimm, but he ends up dying in a Mutual Kill along with Ruby holding out hope of him returning alive before getting confirmation that he's dead.
  • Orifice Invasion: How he meets his end. After Knight manages to fatally impale Grimm, the latter took the opportunity to fill his lungs with miniature Grimm to kill him from the inside.
  • Polyamory: He's Happily Married to Ruby after a while in their Arranged Marriage while still keeping his romantic relationship with Blake in a Common Law Marriage. Knight lampshades this as his relationship with Ruby isn't an exclusive one despite them being technically married, and even Fate comments on Knight having "two" wives.
  • Story-Breaker Power: If it weren't for Knight's Willfully Weak Self-Restraint, Drama-Preserving Handicap, initial Hopeless with Tech, and initial differential behavior to his anchor and Ozpin and Ironwood's authority out of courtesy, the story would've been over much sooner.
  • Underestimating Badassery: Double Subverted. From the beginning, his incredible strength is acknowledged by both sides of the war, but chapters 24 and beyond show that they underestimate just how much of it was still held back, along with mistaking Knight's kind and loyal behavior as obedience due to their preconceptions of Jaune.
  • Warts and All: Although Ruby doesn't gain a Broken Pedestal view of Knight, her near-death experience against Null, the deaths of the other iterations, the subsequent consequence of the war dragging on, Knight's refusal to continue "playing along" with Ozpin and Ironwood's orders, and his Curb-Stomp Battle of Cinder's army forces her eventually realized that Knight is a person whose capable of making his choices, having his own sets of flaws, and wishes to get back home as efficiently as possible.

    Leviathan 
The protagonist of The Unseen Hunt. Anchored to Yang Xiao-Long.
  • Accidental Pervert: First appears when Yang kicks him out of her bed. Had Knight not intervened, she would have clobbered him.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: He's only a villain by circumstance, but after his Grimm form's emergence brings a Nightmare to Remnant, Knight is forced to kill him to stop it.
  • And I Must Scream: He was forever trapped within the Grimm dimension by the time he was transported to Remnant to participate in the tournament, and will have returned to the place after his death in the story.
  • Brown Note Being: As Leviathan, he is this. Witnessing his true Grimm form is enough to send Ruby into a panic attack, her mind being unable to fully comprehend his existence.
  • David Versus Goliath: He ends up being the Goliath in the scenario after his human body is killed and he takes on his Leviathan form, with the heroes being the proverbial David trying to bring him down to save Vale from his despair-induced rampage.
  • Despair Event Horizon: After his human form is destroyed and his true Grimm form manifests on Remnant, Leviathan realizes that he's effectively dead and has lost his chance at the wish. This, combined with the fact that his continued presence in the world will bring about The End of the World as We Know It, drives him to attack all other participants in the war — and Vale — in one last desperate attempt to win.
  • Eldritch Abomination: Leviathan's true form, as always, is a horrific and incomprehensible entity that terrifies all who look upon it, even the likes of Grimm and Ashari. Its mere existence on this Remnant is enough to cause a Nightmare.
  • Logical Weakness: Because he's from Earth instead of Remnant, he has no access to Aura. This makes him the most vulnerable, as it takes Fate shooting him with a sniper rifle to kill his human body.

    Hunter 
The protagonist of A Hunter or Something. Anchored to Lie Ren.
  • Aloof Ally: Unlike Fate, Hunter doesn't actively antagonize his allies, but at the same time he makes no attempts to bond with them, even fleeing after Ironwood tries to force him to fight and Barista is killed by Fate.
  • Badass Normal: Subverted. Hunter doesn't have a Semblance, nor his Aura activated, and is a hunter rather than a fighter. During the final arc, he doesn't even attempt to fight directly and usually relies on his archery skills, stealth, and tricks to distract the opponents and generally just try to not die. In the end, he goes down rather quickly by Null's hand.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Makes his return to Beacon and saving JNPR from Ashari and Emerald with several spore arrows.
  • The Bus Came Back: He leaves the narrative at the end of chapter 12, and makes his return in chapter 31.
  • Changed My Mind, Kid: After leaving Beacon following Barista's death, Hunter returns during the free-for-all, saving JNPR from Ashari and Emerald.
  • Classical Hunter: Hunter prides himself on being one for the sake of survival, and isn't a fan of Huntsmen who he views as showing off and killing Grimm for glory.
  • Doesn't Trust Those Guys: Hunter, as a literal hunter of animals for food, sees Huntsmen and Huntresses as superpowered glory-hounds. He's not happy to be stuck in the same room as them, let alone being forced to fight alongside them. His vigilance also meant he was the first in Ozpin's faction to realize Fate's secretly treacherous machinations, which was the real reason why he ran away.
  • In the Hood: His usual outfit.
  • Long-Range Fighter: Averted. Hunter is very good with a bow and arrow but isn't trained in combat. By the time he comes back and joins the fight against Cinder's forces, Hunter could only act as support for the heroes and is doing everything he can to survive so Salem's side won't gain an advantage by killing him.
  • Perpetual Frowner: He doesn't smile at all in the story.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Barista's death, being forced to participate in the war by Ironwood, and figuring out Fate's real plan, Hunter immediately left Beacon at the first chance he took.
  • Stealth Expert: Justified as he is a hunter after all, and was able to hide away from everyone, including Atlas Military, within the Emerald Forest after running away from Beacon. Also helps that everyone is more focused on the ongoing war rather than wasting time thoroughly searching for him.
  • The Straight and Arrow Path: He uses a simple bow and arrow in a setting where nearly everyone possesses guns and mech-shift weapons.
  • Thou Shall Not Kill: By his own principles, Hunter only kills animals to feed the people around him and not take human life.
  • Trick Arrow: He uses spore arrows to save Team JNPR from Ashari and Emerald by filling the area with smog.

    Fate 
The protagonist of Not this time, Fate. Anchored to Pyrrha Nikos.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: After everything he did to try and be the last Jaune standing, he ultimately dies before the final battle by protecting Pyrrha from a fatal wound. Crying as he dies, his last words are to tell Jaune to never end up like him.
  • All for Nothing: His morally dubious actions to ensure he is the last Jaune iteration standing, as well as all the bridges he burned when his betrayal becomes known, amount to nothing as he ends up dying and failing to get the wish.
  • Always Someone Better: Fate is very unsettled when he discovers that Agent Rat was able to tail him without him noticing. However, this is the only area Agent is better than him in; when the two fight, Fate easily counters every move Agent makes.
  • And I Must Scream: He's been trapped in a "Groundhog Day" Loop for over 2000 years, all while trying and failing to save his friends and stop Cinder Fall back into his world. Because of this, he immediately forms a plan to ensure himself as being the last iteration to survive in order to get the wish to break the loops.
  • Apologetic Attacker: Apologizes profusely to Ruby when he tries to kill her, as he feels like he has no choice but to do it if he wants to save his world.
  • Armor-Piercing Response: When Ozpin finally talks to Fate one-on-one, Ozpin tries to assure him that Pyrrha is skilled enough to not fall easily, only for Fate to shock him into silence by informing him that Pyrrha is always the first one to die.
  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: Reconstructed. His Curb-Stomp Battle against Agent pretty much consists of him pressing on the onslaught to overwhelm him with little to no form of defense. While this would normally be fatal against a trained secret agent who relies on pragmatism, thanks to Fate's over 2 millennia worth of combat experience, he can causally predict and counter against any move that Agent tries to use.
  • Berserk Button: Fate has two of these. The first is divine beings, as one has made his life a living hell for millennia; when he's first told about the war, he drops a Cluster F-Bomb on Jinn and refuses to play the Gods' game. The second is anyone trying to sympathize with his position, as he gets very angry with Ozpin and the original Jaune for trying to relate with him.
  • Broken Ace: When he stops holding back, Fate demonstrates exactly what two thousand years of training can give you; he claims to be a master of every weapon in Beacon and a better hacker than Arthur Watts. However, all that training and skill came with massive amounts of trauma that not even Ozpin can fathom, leaving Fate a hollow shell willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals.
  • Broken Pedestal: Fate's behavior aggravates Pyrrha, to the point she can't see him as connected to Jaune at all. It gets even worse after she finds out he was killing iterations on his own side and tried to kill Ruby, to the point she wouldn't mind killing him herself.
  • Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: Though Fate intentionally brings up how he's slept with just about everyone to put said people off-balance, he's affronted when Pyrrha assumes that he had somehow become a lech who wanted to get in everyone's pants. As he explains it, he barely had to "seduce" anyone; all his relationships with her and any of their friends were actual romances born from different team configurations allowing him to develop closer bonds that lead to one of them making the first move, after which they legitimately dated rather than just rushing into sex because it wasn't about sex, it was about love. As in his home story, he only has real sexcapades with women he barely knows and can stay detached from.
    Fate: My casual encounters are just that, but do you really think you, Nora or even Blake and Ruby would be into one-night stands?
  • The Casanova: Subverted. JNPR and RWBY think he's this because of how much he sleeps around, but Fate doesn't consider himself one. He's only so successful because he knows which girls in Beacon are up for one-night stands, and he only knows that because of his time loops. When it comes to actual romance, he was never one to make the first move, and the actual sex was only a natural progression of the relationship than something he sought from the start.
  • Cassandra Truth: Subverted. A big part of Fate's character is that he could never convince anyone of the truth of his time loops until Weiss, to the point that he gave up. But with the appearances of the other iterations, the truth about his loops isn't as unbelievable as it otherwise would be, and everyone believes him from the start.
  • Casual Danger Dialogue: Fate talks throughout his entire fight with Agent, venting about how difficult the latter has made the job Fate feels he had to do. Agent is incredulous that Fate could do this and still overwhelm him in their fight, as it's a sign of just how far above the latter is in skill.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: His response to Jinn explaining the premise of the story to him is a profanity-laden rant towards her and the Gods.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: On the receiving and giving ends. In a previous loop, Ironwood uses the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique on Fate due to being Mistaken for Spies, and the methods he recounted were having his fingernails pulled and getting electricity shot directly to his skull. In many other loops, Fate would hunt down Adam after he killed Blake right in front of him and inflict a slow, Cruel and Unusual Death onto the Bull Faunus (although he does show some regret since at the time, Adam hadn't yet done anything to technically deserve it).
  • Combat Pragmatist: He's just as weak as Jaune due to him looping back to a starting point where his body hadn't undergone a level of badassery, which by his account, he isn't at his strongest even though he has many lifetimes worth of experience. So he makes it up by subscribing to a "whatever works" mentality; case-in-point, he curb-stomps Jaune by simply pressing his buttons to the Rage Breaking Point and then throwing two of Nora's grenades that he causally snags without anyone noticing, as well as ignoring the rules set up for their one-to-one duel. That's not also getting in his successful attempts of assassination against the other iterations and overwhelming Agent in their fight through relentless Attack! Attack! Attack! as much as being better than the latter thanks to his over 2 millennia of experience.
  • The Cracker: One of Fate's myriad skills is computer programming, and he considers himself as good as Watts if not better. While the neutral faction takes out Vale's power grid and leaves Beacon vulnerable, Fate makes things exponentially worse by forcibly taking control of all the school's systems. Ozpin, similarly immortal and multi-talented, isn't as proficient as Fate and might eventually be able to break his control, but not fast enough to matter.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: He has a ton of knowledge from his time looping, but laments that almost all future knowledge he has relates to how the group's school year at Beacon tends to play out. The Jaune deathmatch happening at all changes enough about the timeline to render most of it useless, which is part of the reason why he quickly bails on participating. However, Ironwood forcibly drags him back in, noting that while the events themselves are now useless, his knowledge about the people involved is the furthest thing from it.
  • Death Equals Redemption: Fate sacrifices his life to save Pyrrha's, earning at least some of the heroes' respect back in the process even if they can't outright forgive him.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: When Knight sums up Fate's womanizing and substance indulgence as "a coping mechanism", the latter drops his affable mood and tries to set the record straight, claiming he doesn't have "coping mechanisms" because he's not coping with anything. He's just trying to stave off an unnatural degree of boredom.
  • Driven to Suicide: As he tells Headmaster in chapter 21, he had done this plenty of times in his previous loops.
  • Dumb, but Diligent: Fate isn't particularly smart by his own admission, but he has gained a lot of practical knowledge/skills from his loops (even if he can't make great use of it all), thanks to memorizing various factoids about people and experimenting with numerous different scenarios over his time loops. Whenever something completely new comes up, such as his sudden transplant to this fic's universe, he has no idea how to handle it.
  • Exact Words:
    • After Winter calls Team JNPR and Fate "traitors" for refusing to participate in the fight against Magnis in a meaningful capacity (instead providing minor fire support from a distance), Fate points out that they can't be traitors if they never had any loyalty to her to begin with.
    • As he stated to everyone throughout the story, he has no intention of fighting in the war. He intends to "win" instead.
  • False Flag Operation: Fate planted the bomb that supposedly almost killed him, pulling such a stunt to move suspicion off of him for the blast that killed Barista.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: Fate wastes no time getting on everyone's nerves with his jerkass attitude, his dislike of regular Jaune, and his unwillingness to fight with them. Later on, the others realizing that this is a coping mechanism and having one-on-one moments with Fate where he's willing to be emotionally vulnerable diminishes this a bit.
  • "Groundhog Day" Loop: The deconstruction from Fate's original story carries over here. During a discussion with Ozpin, Fate points out how people are not locked into a single choice just because it is what they did in the last loop. People are living beings who can make new decisions based on the actions of others. His metaphor involving Cinder also addresses another issue: Jaune goes back not too far, so the plans he tries to stop are already in motion.
    Fate: Dodge left and get hit and fixing that isn't as simple as going back and dodging right. They'll just shoot in that direction instead.
  • The Hedonist: Now seeing himself as having no chance in the deathmatch, no matter what he does to prepare at this point, Fate gets right back to indulging his various vices. The first thing he does is run off for cigarettes, and in the next chapter he bursts in hungover after having drunken sex with an older student. He says the only good thing about his time looping is that his body can never form a tolerance for his habits, so he's had his first time hundreds of times.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Despite how much of a jackass he acted as, and in spite of his betrayals, he ultimately meets his end by taking a fatal blow meant for Pyrrha.
  • It Gets Easier: Millennia of dying has given Fate a very jaded outlook on death, to the point that he's able to laugh at several of his more visceral deaths, much to Pyrrha's horror.
  • It's Personal: While he does acknowledge where Ironwood is coming from and why he did what he did, Fate is still obviously sore of the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique he suffered in a previous loop for being Mistaken for Spies along with his controlling, For the Greater Good personality in general, especially when Ironwood is enforcing the Jaune iterations on the heroes' side to participate in the war with a With Us or Against Us choice. By the time it's revealed that Fate is a traitor who's Playing Both Sides, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that his trapnote  for Ironwood, which would either kill him or at least gravely injured him to the point of being out of commission by the time he succeeds in his own plan, was motivated by personal spite as much as unfettered pragmatism.
  • Light Is Not Good: He wears a white coat and has Jaune Arc's Color Motif and association as a Historical Gender Flip of Joan of Arc. Yet, he's a Nominal Hero who is an all-around Jerkass that smokes, drinks, sleeps, swears, sexmonger, and is greatly reluctant to participate in the war. That's not getting into the fact that he was secretly killing off the other Jaune iterations in order to secure his victory, especially being willing to kill his friends' counterparts, who're anchors to those iterations; something that would be a Moral Event Horizon to him back in his own universe.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In his home story, Fate did many questionable things, but he had certain lines he was unwilling to cross. Here, he is responsible for the deaths of at least four friendly iterations of Jaune so he'd be the last one on the heroes' side, and attempts to kill Ruby because he believes it's the only way to defeat Knight and win the wish. He is very broken up over it and is very glad when he realizes he doesn't need to kill her anymore.
  • Rage Against the Heavens: When the idea of his circumstances is the result of higher beings meddling it becomes confirmed by Jinn, Fate gains a nasty Berserk Button regarding their mention and refuses to participate in the war out of spite. Then played with as their reward to grant the wish of any Jaune iteration who last stands is enough for Fate to participate anyway in order to be free from his "hell".
  • Really 700 Years Old: As a result of his constant Mental Time Travel "Groundhog Day" Loop, Fate is chronologically implied to be over a millennium in age, to which he stopped counting in Not this time, Fate. Jinn reveals that he's been looping for over 2000 years, making Fate over 2017 years old.
  • Sir Swears-a-Lot: He shows little tact in language and often spews profanities.
  • Tragic Villain: What he ultimately becomes. Having been stuck in a "Groundhog Day" Loop for thousands of years, enduring unimaginable trauma — including but not limited to watching his friends die over and over in cruel ways while he tries and fails to save them — Fate sees the Brother Gods' wish as his only chance to break the loop, and is desperate beyond compare to seize it. So he goes to extremes that rival Null's to ensure he's the last Jaune standing, including crossing the one line that he would never, ever cross in his own universe: sacrificing his aforementioned friends in this fic's setting universe to eliminate the iterations tethered to them, and even then he's so torn up about it that he still can't stop himself from holding back on them despite his desperation. Ultimately, Fate still loses his chance to win the wish (dying when he throws himself in the path of a fatal blow meant for Pyrrha rather than let her die again), and he despairs in his final moments before he goes back to the loop in his own universe.
  • The Unfettered: As his status as a traitor is revealed, there are no more lows that Fate can reach when the opportunity of being free from his "Groundhog Day" Loop is at hand in the war. Until he took a fatal blow meant for Pyrrha.
  • Weak, but Skilled: He laments that he's got all the knowledge and experience he could ask for, but none of it will do him any good when he's as weak as regular Jaune and he's up against the likes of Ashari, who is in his prime, and Knight, who is just impossibly powerful. But of course, when the opponent isn't strong enough to override his skill, like Agent Rat, he can press that advantage for all it's worth.
  • Wild Card: Fate ends up being this to both sides, as he kills off several iterations on his own team and upsets the balance between the two sides to increase his own chances of winning.

    Barista 
The protagonist of Service with a Smile. Anchored to Velvet Scarlatina.
  • Flat Character: He has the least amount of development out of the other iterations.
  • Killed Offscreen: He dies off-screen from a bombing attempt with nothing left behind.
  • No Body Left Behind: The bomb that killed him was powerful enough to practically incinerate him.
  • Non-Action Guy: He isn't a fighter, as he gave up his dreams of becoming a warrior and becoming a café owner.
  • Supreme Chef: He makes the best coffee in Vale, for everyone's enjoyment.
  • Surprisingly Sudden Death: He suddenly dies with no form of foreshadowing at the end of chapter 11, showcasing that Anyone Can Die.

    Ghost Jaune 
The deuteragonist of From Beyond. Anchored to Amber Autumn.
  • Dead to Begin With: He was already dead at the start of his story and his soul is currently anchored to the Blake of his world. Because of these circumstances, Ghost is technically the first Jaune iteration to "die" in the war.
  • Killed Offscreen: If you read his story, then it should be obvious.

    Warchief 
The protagonist of The Beacon Civil War. Anchored to General James Ironwood.
  • The Confidant: Is trusted enough by Ironwood to be brought into Ozpin's inner circle, and is even told about Qrow's ability to turn into a bird.
  • Non-Action Guy: While he was given martial training, Warchief mainly work as Mission Control for the heroes' side.
  • The Strategist: Plays this for the heroes in the field, coordinating Atlas's forces and sorting through whatever information they learn. This is why Fate takes him out first, as his ability to serve as a force multiplier makes him the most dangerous to Fate's goals.

    Agent Rat 
The protagonist of In the Kingdom's Service. Anchored to Headmaster Ozpin.
  • Badass Normal: Lacks a Semblance, but he makes up for it with his training and gadgets. His first fight has him be the first to critically injure Null, he handles three Atlesian soldiers with ease, and he's able to sneak up on Fate.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Saves Ruby's life when Fate tries to kill her.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Justified as him being a member of Vale's secret service. Agent relies on Sneak Attacks and stealth to take down his opponents and uses every trick in the book to win before they know it, as seen in his near victory over Null. However, this becomes deconstructed in his fight against Fate, who's better at pragmatism along with his over a millennium of combat experience.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: His attire consists entirely of black and grey colors, and he's anchored to Ozpin.
  • Extended Disarming: At Headmaster's soiree, Rat removes a collapsible knife, another knife at his wrist, his gauntlets, a belt of explosives, a submachine gun, and two handguns.
    Fate: Is that all? You don't have an APC hidden under there?
  • Good All Along: He spends a good chunk of the story being seen as a Wild Card by both sides, until chapter 29 reveals him to be an iteration anchored to Ozpin.
  • Jack of All Stats: As a secret government agent, he was trained in many forms of combat and weaponry, but does not specialize in any one of them.
  • Lawman Baton: He has a thin metal baton in his arsenal, and uses it in his fight against Null.
  • Malevolent Masked Man: Subverted. His face is covered up by a retractable mask, but he's revealed to be on the heroes' side.
  • Master of None: He's a very skilled and versatile fighter, but ends up being overwhelmed by Fate's mastery in their fight.
  • Senseless Sacrifice: Agent gives his life to allow Ruby to escape from Fate's assassination attempt, doing so in order to ensure Knight's survival and thus his side's victory. Unknown to everyone involved, Knight is already dead, so Agent died for nothing.
  • Shock Stick: By the time he goes up against Fate in chapter 31, he whips out an electric cane.
  • Stealth Expert: He can sneak up on nearly anyone, even Fate.

    Magnis 
The protagonist of One Good Turn Deserves Another. Anchored to Nicholas Arc.
  • Boring, but Practical: Magnis is a Huntsman with a sword and shield and that's it. He lacks Knight's outrageous strength and isn't as skilled as Ashari. However, he's in his thirties and is skilled enough with his weapons to easily defeat Winter Schnee.
  • Good Counterpart: He serves as this for Fate in regard to their relationship with Jaune. Both are interations of Jaune whose initial characterizations and backstories started out the same, and both grew in ways that differ in their treatment of Jaune. Fate is personally damning of Jaune and willing to sacrifice him to accomplish his own goal while Magnis is the most supportive of him and played a crucial role in Jaune's development that allows him to win the war in the end.
  • Face Death with Dignity: He allows himself to be killed by Cinder's forces to save Nicholas' life.
  • Mythology Gag: Magnis originated from Coeur Al'Aran first ever story, and it only makes sense that he has the most profound effect on Jaune's Character Development that plays a crucial role in the heroes' victory.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Although he gets his own fair share of screen time, Magnis is the only Jaune iteration to truly connect with Jaune compare to the others on the heroes' side and jumpstart Jaune's own Character Development to the point where he manages to win the war by defeating Cinder Fall in a one-on-one duel.

Anchored to Salem's side

    Ashari 
The protagonist of Relic Of The Future. Anchored to Emerald Sustrai.
  • The Ace: Is quite likely the most dangerous Huntsman on Remnant, with the only things holding him back being his desire not to hurt his old friends and his dislike of his own side.
  • An Arm and a Leg: Loses his right arm when Cinder's faction challenges Knight. He's darkly amused that he didn't even lose any Aura to the attack; Knight's swing was so powerful that he just bypassed it.
  • Badass Boast: When Salem threatens Emerald in front of him, he warns her that he's killed two versions of Salem before and offers to try for three. He says this in front of her, Hazel, and Tyrian without an iota of fear.
  • Berserk Button: Threatening Emerald. She's the only reason he's fighting on Salem's side, and as he tells Winter, he would kill Cinder himself if not for Emerald's devotion to her.
  • Blunt "Yes": His response to Yang asking him if he really thinks he can beat all of them. Given the Curb-Stomp Battle he hands out immediately afterward, his confidence is justified.
  • Combat Pragmatist: His first fight with Team RWBY and Team JNPR and their iterations have him using tear gas to temporarily blind Knight.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: He utterly decimated both Team RWBY and JNPR with child-like ease, and could've killed them if it weren't for his close connection to them and refusal to aid the villains' side.
  • Handicapped Badass: Even after losing his right arm, it doesn't hinder his effectiveness as a warrior.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: When Cinder orders Null to kill Emerald, Ashari instantly jumps in front of the shot, dying to protect his daughter.
  • Not in This for Your Revolution: Oh yes. He may be on Salem's side and currently working with Cinder Fall, but it's only because he's trying to keep Emerald safe, who's also his anchor and the Alternate Self of his adoptive daughter. If it weren't for Emerald being on Salem's side, he'll happily side with the heroes and take Salem down while also rescuing Emerald if she wasn't his anchor.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: Justified as he's never truly on Salem's side and when he's not on any official missions given by Salem or Cinder, Ashari would spend time with Emerald and tries to convince her to leave.

    Null 
The protagonist of Null. Anchored to Cinder Fall.
  • All for Nothing: In spite of everything he's done to attain the wish, he is killed alongside Headmaster when the latter blows both of them to smithereens, ensuring no one gets the wish by forcing a draw.
  • Anti-Villain: He's easily the most villainous iteration in the war; not hesitating to betray and kill his teammates, RWBY or JNPR in the slightest, and having no compunctions against threatening innocent people if it furthers his side's goals; but he's like this because of the murders of his parents in his home world, the tortures he and his family endured at Chivalric Arms' hands, and the challenges he faced and personal sacrifices he had to make while saving his sisters. Null wants to acquire the wish offered by the gods because it's the only chance he has to bring his parents back, and his POV reveals that he's considering specifically using the wish to Ret-Gone Chivalric Arms from his universe, thereby giving all the victims whom Chivalric Arms tortured and murdered a clean slate free of their evil.
  • Beneath the Mask: Null shows little to no concern for the lives of others and has no problems with killing. But his inner monologue shows that he's not happy about this, as he feels like he's backsliding into old habits he hoped to grow out of.
  • Brought Down to Normal: Null's Semblance shuts down Aura and other Semblances, leaving anyone who heavily relies on Aura and Semblance (i.e. everyone) as defenseless as a civilian.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Null rarely engages an opponent in open combat and usually relies on surprise attacks. Given the limits to his Semblance, his opponents being more skilled and experienced as fighters, and his intentions to win the contest by any means necessary, it's very much justified.
  • The Dragon: He is this for Cinder, fighting for her so they can both get their wishes. This causes him to kill anyone she orders, whether on the heroes' side or her own.
  • Man of Kryptonite: If anyone is aware of the events of Null, then Null serves as this for the people of Remnant thanks to his Semblance being a Power Nullifier. Especially if he kills an anchor, which would be an instant kill for the Jaune iteration that's connected to them.
  • Logical Weakness:
    • Null depends on the surprise factor of his Aura-canceling Semblance to catch those whose entire training depends on Semblance off-guard and suddenly vulnerable, allowing him to kill them with mundane means. When he meets an opponent who first learned to fight without relying on his Semblance, Agent, Null finds himself at a disadvantage and has to hastily retreat. Later, when Ozpin's faction is informed about the limits of his Semblance, the lack of the surprise factor means he finds himself struggling in fights against them.
    • Also, whenever he uses his Semblance to cancel out Aura, it also goes both ways.
  • Power Nullifier: Null's Semblance can negate the Semblances and Aura of others, even to himself, giving him an already big advantage against most of the cast.
  • Required Secondary Powers: Subverted. His own Aura is not immune to his Aura-canceling Semblance.
  • Token Evil Teammate: He's by far the most ruthless, cruel, alone, and determined of the iterations anchored to Salem and her minions. Ash, Grimm, and Ashari only stay on the villains' side instead of defecting due to misguided personal sentiments and/or a lack of options, and all of them have moral boundaries that they won't cross for anything. Null, however, is copasetic with the arrangement he has with Cinder wherein she wants him to be the last Jaune standing (meaning he will get the Gods' wish, which he's a lot more desperate for than his teammate iterations), and he's ready and willing to betray and kill almost anyone in his way.
  • Tragic Villain: He suffered horrible traumas in his own universe, including him and his family being kidnapped and tortured, the murders of his parents, the destruction of his life, and ultimately never being able to see his sisters again; driving him to desperate ruthlessness in his bid to acquire the wish for himself, so that he can Ret-Gone the tragedies which his family (and hundreds of other innocent victims of Chivalric Arms) suffered out of his universe. But it's all for nothing, as he doesn't get the wish in the end. The really tragic part is, when considering the above, Null comes across as possibly the iteration who's the most deserving of the wish next to Fate... but a victory for him would mean a victory for Salem in the main world because the Gods aligned him with Salem's side in the war, meaning he can't be allowed to win for the sake of the main world and everyone in it.
  • The Unfettered: He's willing to kill anyone, besides his father, Cinder orders him to, and is willing to betray anyone on his own side if it means getting the wish and saving his family.

    Ash 
The protagonist of Stress Relief. Anchored to Tyrian Callows.
  • Dead to Begin With: His first introduction is him being "accidentally" killed by Null in a mock Duel.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: He believes that Cinder Fall would be like the one from his own world, which cost him his life.
  • Kick the Dog: He's killed by Cinder's iteration of Jaune, with her knowing full well that he was in love with her.
  • Shadow Archetype: Invoked by Ashari in regards to Emerald for having their love for Cinder misplaced, which has led to Ash's death. This is proven true as Cinder tried to have Null kill Emerald to gain further advantage in the climax had Ashari didn't performed a Heroic Sacrifice.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: His first appearance is with his death at Null's hands.

    Grimm/Sheep 
The protagonist of White Sheep. Anchored to Salem. For tropes pertaining to his original story, see here.
  • All-Loving Hero: Like in his home story, Grimm is one of the nicest, if not the nicest iterations in the war, and has no real interest in fighting. The only reason he is on Salem's side is his love for his mother.
  • The Beastmaster: He's able to directly command his namesake, and even create entirely new species if he wants to, as he demonstrates when he escapes Atlas's ambush. However, not even he can control or influence Leviathan's Grimm form; the most he can do is keep the other Grimm Leviathan summons docile until the heroes clean them up.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: One of the nicest iterations in the war, but when Cinder pushes him too far, he nearly chokes her to death, and only refrains from doing so because he wants her to watch all her plans fall to pieces.
  • Cruel Mercy: Grimm has the chance to kill Cinder but doesn't take it, telling her that she only gets to live so that she can watch as all of her horrific plans bring her nothing but her downfall.
  • Deliberate Injury Gambit: Grimm descends upon Knight in a suicidal dive that he knows will end with him impaled on Knight's blade, and once that happens, he uses the close-quarters opportunity to try to take apart his opponent's armor with his tendrils. He only manages to loosen parts of it, not remove it... but that's enough for very small Grimm to fit underneath, which proceed to seal Knight's fate.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: He's half-human on his father's side while half-Grimm on his mother's.
  • Mutual Kill: How he dies against Knight.
  • Taking You with Me: He lets himself be fatally impaled by Knight's sword, so he could get close enough to successfully kill him as well.

    Headmaster 
The protagonist of Professor Arc. Anchored to Roman Torchwick.
  • Affably Evil: Just as friendly as in his home story, but for much of the war, he plays the part of an enemy of Beacon, working with Xiong to destabilize both sides of the war for their own ends. It's eventually revealed that he was always on the heroes' side; he only pretended not to be to force RWBY and JNPR to take action for themselves.
  • Ambiguous Situation: Since Headmaster doesn't get a POV in the story compared to his own worldnote , it's unclear how much of his assessments and plans are thought out from the beginning or of Indy Ploy.
  • Berserk Button: Threatening his students; Roman once insinuated he wouldn't mind if Ruby died, and Headmaster pinned him to the wall with such intensity that Roman thought he was genuinely going to die.
  • The Chessmaster: Plays this role as he does in his home story, but unlike there, the readers are never shown Headmaster's perspectivenote , so it's unclear how much of Headmaster's actions are really long-term planning and how much is him making things up as he goes.
  • Classy Cane: He wields the same one as Ozpin's.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: He manages to kill Ozpin at end of chapter 33 by using the same tactic he did to Cinder Fall back in his home story.
  • Excellent Judge of Character: His knowledge of everyone's personalities and his past work as Beacon's guidance counselor allows him to accurately gauge others' characters and manipulate them to his own ends. He's able to easily lead Cinder around because he knows her so well, and he's the first to pick up on Fate's true actions.
  • Taking You with Me: He meets his end by detonating a massive amount of Dust bombs he brought with him, and makes sure that Null dies alongside him. This causes the Brother Gods' contest to end in a draw.
  • The Password Is Always "Swordfish": The reason he manages to get access to Ozpin's backdoor channels is that the passwords are exactly the same ones from back in his own universe.

    Revolutionary 
The protagonist of A Rabbit Among Wolves. Anchored to Adam Taurus.
  • Arch-Enemy: He becomes this for Adam Taurus thanks to the latter's torture and captivity of him.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: His first scene involves being tied up, beaten back and blue, starved, and locked in a cage by Adam.
  • Hearing Voices: As in his home story, he has a ghost of his universe's Adam Taurus living inside his head that only he can hear, and this fic (much like in A Rabbit Among Wolves) explicitly confirms that it's real.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Only a "Heel" by the strictest definition of incarnating on Salem's side, but after his torture at Adam's hands and the heroes rescuing him from captivity, he ends up siding with Ozpin's side despite his anchor still being an ally of Cinder.
  • Mirror Match: By the time he fights Adam in chapter 34, Revolutionary allowed the spirit of his world's Adam Taurus to possess him and is able to fight the bull faunus to a standstill. Which eventually leads to them into a Mutual Kill.
  • Mutual Kill: How he meets his end in his fight against Adam.
  • Taking You with Me: One way or another, Revolutionary knew he wouldn't walk away from his fight with Adam alive. Sure enough, both he and his anchor end up dead by the end.
  • Touched by Vorlons: As seen in his first appearance, the spirit of his world's Adam is still anchored to his own, and Revolutionary allows him to possess him to fight Adam.

Others

    Xiong 
The protagonist of The Self Made Man. Presumably anchored to Hei "Junior" Xiong.
  • Affably Evil: Xiong is polite and to the point with everyone (Except Cinder), but he is also a ruthless crime lord willing to take actions the more moral iterations would balk at. Notably, after brutally killing the leaders of Vale's three largest crime families, he gives the waiter who witnessed it a generous tip, and he honors the deals he makes with the heroes.
  • Badass Normal: Xiong has no special powers and, by his own admission, is no match for a Beacon student. However, he makes up for this with his guile, ruthlessness, and information network. His first appearance has him blackmail RWBY and JNPR into leaving him alone, his second has him take over Vale's underworld, and his last has him deny Cinder the Fall Maiden's powers and deal a larger blow to her plans and ego than anyone had before.
  • Batman Gambit: He and Headmaster leak Cinder's location to Atlas, setting up a fight between the two sides. He then uses their fight as a distraction while he takes over Vale's criminal gangs for his own ends.
  • Die Laughing: After seeing the look of rage on Cinder's face at her realizing she's lost the chance to take the rest of the Fall Maiden's powers, especially as he lays out how screwed she is, he dies laughing his ass off even as she incinerates him.
  • The Unreveal: The identity of his anchor is never revealed, but it's heavily implied to be Hei "Junior" Xiong.
  • Worth It: Sacrifices himself and any shot at the wish for a chance to screw over Cinder, someone who terrified him in his own universe. When she catches and kills him, he is practically gleeful at how much he’s screwed her over.

    Stripper Jaune 
The protagonist of The Entertainer. Anchor unknown.
  • Killed Offscreen: A victim of Null, who was slain before he could even be seen and is only offhandedly mentioned in Null's monologue during chapter 10.
  • The Unreveal: Nothing is known of him or his anchor. In fact, none of the main characters In-Universe, but Null, learns or knew of his existence.

    ARC Corp 
The protagonist of Arc Corp. Anchored to Raven Branwen.
  • Accidental Pervert: First appeared when Raven was in the bath. Neither of them was amused by it.
  • Driven to Suicide: After learning he will return to his world upon death, he instantly grabs Raven's sword and nonchalantly impales himself with it.
  • Killed Offscreen: He never even properly showed up in the story, as he killed himself before Raven even appeared in the fic. The only proof of him even being there was Raven's recounting of his appearance and death.


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