Characters / RWBY: Anima

RWBY Main Character Index
The Heroes: Team RWBY | Team JNPR | Ozpin and Oscar
Remnant: Sanus (Eastern) | Sanus (Western) | Anima | Solitas
Antagonists: Salem's Faction (Salem | Cinder Fall) | White Fang | Grimm Bestiary
Beyond Remnant: The Ever After

Other Media: RWBY: Ice Queendom - RWBY: The Official Manga - RWBY/Justice League - Justice League × RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen - RWBY Chibi

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Spoilers for all works set prior to the end of Volume 8 are unmarked.

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The World of Remnant: Anima

Remnant is a harsh landscape inhabited by the Creatures of Grimm that dominate the skies, land and oceans. There were once many kingdoms scattered across the continents of Sanus, Solitas and Anima. However, most have fallen to the Grimm, leaving behind only four survivors. By combining technological advancement with local topography, civilisation flourishes within the protected boundaries of these four kingdoms.

Anima is the second largest continent on Remnant and contains the Kingdom of Mistral, the kingdom with the largest controlled territory of all. It's also home to the largest non-capital city in the world, Argus, a northern port enabling trade between Anima and Solitas. In the north of the continent is a massive land-locked sea called Lake Matsu, which contains hundreds of islands that float in the air as a result of natural deposits of Gravity Dust.

The Island of Menagerie can be found off the south-east coast of Anima and it has closer ties to Anima than to any other continent.

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Kingdom of Mistral

Mistral's emblem

The Kingdom of Mistral is located to the north-east of Anima and is bordered on the west by the huge land-locked sea, Lake Matsu. It is the largest kingdom on Remnant and has contributed heavily to architecture, fashion and the arts. It is also home to the largest black market in the world, and is the host of the annual Mistral Tournament.

Eighty years ago, its attempt to colonise the eastern shores of the Kingdom of Vale was the spark that ignited the Great War.

The Kingdom is Mistral is protected by the elite Huntsman Academy, Haven Academy. One of its main feeder schools is Sanctum Academy, which is located in the City of Argus.

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Haven Academy

One of the four great Huntsmen Academies of Remnant, this elite school is based in the Kingdom of Mistral and oversees the capital city. Run by Professor Lionheart, it has produced generations of protectors as well as being responsible for the protection of the most wide-spread kingdom in Remnant.

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Leonardo Lionheart

Professor Leonardo Lionheart

Voiced by: Daman Mills^{Foreign VAs} Akihiko Ishizumi (Japanese)

Debut: No Safe Haven^* Volume 4 Episode 12

"For crying out loud! You almost scared me half to death!"

"Who are you trying to convince?"

The headmaster of Haven Academy, he is an old friend of Ozpin's, who once gifted him with a tea-set as a sign of their connection. The tea-set is kept in the headmaster's office and is used by him to entertain visitors to the school.

Leo fights with Stalwart, a shield buckled to his arm. Using Dust, he can create projectiles that he flings at his foes.

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• Alliterative Name: Leonardo Lionheart.
• At Least I Admit It: Leo is distraught over setting his old friend Ozpin up. In "True Colors", Leo suggests to Raven they're working with Salem out of fear, lamenting that he's done things that Ozpin will never forgive him for. Seconds later, after Raven assures Leo he did what was necessary to survive, he simply asks her "Who are you trying to convince?"
• Bad Liar: Watts thinks that Lionheart is very bad at improvisation. He reaches that conclusion after secretly listening in on Lionheart's meeting with Qrow and Ruby's team; Lionheart stalls Qrow from going in search of the Spring Maiden immediately, and claims he had nothing to report when Qrow accuses him of not checking in with Ozpin for months. Qrow leaves the meeting frustrated with Lionheart and in need of a drink. Watts isn't impressed with Lionheart either. Qrow is suspicious enough by Leo's behaviour that he reports the meeting to Ozpin, who agrees something is wrong. Ozpin won't tell Team RNJR what he suspects, only that he's keeping an open mind, but he wants everyone to be very careful about what information gets shared with Leo from now on.
• The Chains of Commanding: Leo drives his point across at the beginning of Volume 5 that even though he's headmaster of Haven, he can't just take resources from Mistral on a whim as Qrow is demanding. With the loss of so many Huntsmen after the fall of Beacon and the threat of war with Atlas looming, convincing the council of anything would take time. However, it turns out that he sabotaged Qrow's efforts and all those huntsmen are dead thanks to him setting them up in the first place.
• Corrupted Character Copy: Leonardo Lionheart is an intentional Expy of The Cowardly Lion from "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" that helped Dorothy in the story despite being a Cowardly Lion. Unlike the Lion in the original story however, he ends up working with the Big Bad and series version of the Wicked Witch, Salem, out of his fear for her which inadvertently Kickstarts the villains victory in Vale and causes the deaths of every Huntsmen in Mistral including himself when he tries to run away from the fight.
• Dirty Coward: Though he pretends to be a composed headmaster while serving as Salem's mole, Leo desperately attempts to bolt from the conflict between her and Ozpin thanks to his paranoia of the latter. Raven wonders what Salem has on Leo to have turned him against Ozpin and, when Ozpin personally witnesses how Leo is behaving on Salem's behalf, he wonders what happened to Leo. Leo realizes that Oscar hasn't been Ozpin's host for very long and therefore isn't truly Ozpin yet; he concludes that if he can deliver Oscar to Salem, Salem will grant Leo's release. His cowardice eventually culminates in Salem deeming him no longer useful for her plans after the Battle of Haven.

• Face–Heel Turn: According to Ozpin, Lionheart was a different person before joining Salem and he seemed just as loyal as Team RWBY appears to be in the present. The second season of RWBY The Grimm Campaign, which depicts the Kuchinashi incident and takes place two years before the beginning of the main series ends with him sending Huntsmen reinforcements to help deal with the Wave crime syndicate that's left in Kuchinashi after their leader is killed. By the time of the main series, he begins feeding Salem the locations of every Huntsman in the kingdom to have them all killed, and he enrolls Cinder's team into Haven Academy with forged transcripts so that they can sabotage Beacon Academy from within. By the time of the Battle of Haven, he learns of Oscar's identity and contemplates capturing him for Salem, hoping he can finally be freed from the torment of working for her. By then, he's become a person that Ozpin no longer recognises.
• Fallen Hero: According to Ozpin, Leonardo was a different person before joining Salem and he seemed just as loyal as Team RWBY appears to be. After Leo dies in the Battle of Haven, Ozpin spreads a lie that the headmaster had died protecting his school from the White Fang, reasoning that Leo should be remembered for his lifetime of service, rather than decisions he has made towards the end of his life. One example of his ability to do good in the past occurs during RWBY The Grimm Campaign, which takes place two years before the main show starts. He sends in Huntsmen reinforcements to help Kuchinashi deal with the Wave crime syndicate after their leader is killed. Two years later, he gives the location of all the kingdom's Huntsmen to Salem, so that she can have them wiped out.
• Fatal Flaw: Leo's major flaws are his fear of Salem's powers as well as his paranoia. After realizing his allies won't obtain the Relic of Knowledge, he tries fleeing to safety; despite Leo's frantic request to find her and prove his usefulness, Salem has no further use for him and kills him.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Though he's Killed Offscreen, the production team confirmed that Salem's Seer fatally impales him several times, including once through the back of his skull.
• I've Come Too Far: Leo is fully aware of how far he's fallen and hates himself for betraying Ozpin for Salem, but on top of being terrified of what Salem would do to him, he feels he's come too far to turn back and crossed too many lines for anyone to forgive him.
• Ironic Name: Leonardo is the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Leonard, which means "as brave as a lion". Lionheart means "having the heart of a lion", which is the same thing and therefore doubles up the meaning. He is also a lion Faunus; his leonine tail is hidden by the long coat he normally wears but becomes highly visible when he doesn't wear the coat. His weapon's name is "Stalwart", which indicates loyalty, reliability and resilience. However, he is a cowardly man who is scared of confrontation, doesn't like to fight, and who is so terrified of Salem that he has betrayed his oldest friend, Ozpin, to her. All the headmasters have a Wizard of Oz theme; Leo is the "Cowardly Lion".
• Killed Offscreen: When Salem uses her Seer to drag Lionheart across the floor, he is taken off-screen as the Grimm impales him and caused him to die as a result.
• Little Bit Beastly: He is a lion Faunus, complete with a tail that is normally hidden by the long coat that he usually wears. When he takes off the coat to fight, his tail becomes fully visible.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Leo fights, if he's forced to, with a left arm mounted buckler called Stalwart. The small shield is loaded with dust so when he rotates the shield to line up specific symbols, he can release various attacks. For example, by lining up a red dust symbol and then a white dust symbol, Lionheart can fire a projectile of flaming rock.
• Mole in Charge: Ozpin has a secret circle of people who know the true history of Remnant, know of Salem's existence, and are aware that the Huntsmen Academies were designed to protect the four Relics that Salem is trying to collect. Leo, as Haven's headmaster, is privy to all this information but appears to be working for Salem. Not only does that put a man of dubious allegiance in charge of the next generation of Huntsmen who are supposed to battle against the Grimm, creatures that Salem can control, but he is also in charge of the Relic that's hidden at Haven Academy, and which Salem desperately seeks. Watts implies that Leo may have been Salem's informant for some time and Qrow observes that Leo hasn't been checking in with Ozpin for months.
• Nervous Wreck: For a trained Huntsman, Leo is easily frightened, being terrified when a fellow Huntsman like Qrow happens to barge into his office. It's heavily implied that he wasn't always this way, with his fear of Salem being the likely cause of his paranoia and constant jitteriness.
• The Power of Legacy: Leo dedicated his entire life to serving the people and protecting Mistral to the best of his ability. At the end of his life, he fell under Salem's influence and betrayed both Ozpin and the people of Mistral who expected him to protect them. After the battle to save Haven has ended, Ozpin makes sure the truth of Leo's betrayal is buried with him. Leo is officially remembered as a hero who fought to the death to protect the school. When Yang challenges him about the cover-up, Ozpin tells her that he's not whitewashing how reprehensible Leo's actions were; he thinks that one terrible mistake at the end of a person's life should not undo the good of a lifetime's worth of service, and that the people of Mistral therefore deserve better than the truth.
• Regretful Traitor: Leo allowed Cinder and her acolytes entry into the Vytal Festival, has given Salem's forces all the information they need to systematically hunt down every Huntsman in the kingdom of Mistral, and tells the whereabouts of Raven and the Spring Maiden. All the while, he has a sad look on his face, admitting to Raven that even with his fear of Salem, he's fully aware of just what his actions have done to others. Even when he resolves to capture Oscar and turn him over to Salem, Leo's clearly just desperate to to be free of all this.
  Leo: You can call it whatever you want, it doesn't really matter. We're here... helping her. I've crossed a line... I've done things that Ozpin will never forgive, and he shouldn't! I don't know where I go from here.
• Repetitive Name: The name "Leonardo" means "brave as a lion", and his surname is a way to refer to courage by evoking the idea of lions being brave. His name, therefore, means "brave as a lion"... twice. He normally goes by the nickname Leo, which is "lion", so even with his nickname, he's effectively "lion-hearted lion" ("Courageous Lion").
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Leo spends his time in Volume 5 by acting behind the back of Ozpin's faction to help Salem's goals. Eventually, his inherent cowardice comes out and he attempts to flee for his life, but meets his end at the hands of Salem's Seer Grimm.
• This Cannot Be!: Leo fully expects Ozpin to return, but he struggles to understand how Qrow fits into it all. When Oscar and Leo confront each other, all Leo sees is a child who shouldn't be such a dangerous situation. Oscar wordlessly pulls out Ozpin's cane, revealing his identity to a shocked Leo, who says the trope name word-for-word. While Leo knew about Ozpin's reincarnation cycle, he didn't expect him to be able to make it back to Haven and is thoroughly baffled by how Ozpin found Qrow. Ozpin's only response is to wonder what has happened to Leo, but he keeps that thought inside Oscar's head.
• Trapped in Villainy: It's implied that Lionheart isn't obeying Salem because he believes in her cause, but because she's threatened to kill him or worse if he doesn't cooperate. When questioned in "True Colors" about why he's working for Salem, he admits that it's because he doesn't believe anyone can stop her and is terrified of what she could do to him. He also admits that he loathes himself for his actions, but feels like he's crossed too many lines on Salem's behalf for Ozpin or anyone else to forgive him.
• Treachery Cover Up: In the Volume 6 chapter "Argus Limited", Qrow sends General Ironwood a letter about the events of Haven. He tells Ironwood that Leo died a hero defending his school and gives a publicly acceptable summary of the incident. There is no reference to the Relic or Leo's role in the attack on the school and the deaths of multiple huntsmen, either in the letter or the official report. As Ozpin's group and the villains are the only ones who know the truth about what happened, that means Ozpin and Qrow have covered up the truth from the Mistral authorities. Ozpin later confesses in "Uncovered" that he covered up Leo's betrayal because he wants him to be remembered for his life of service, and not the dirty deeds he did near the end of that life.
• Villains Want Mercy: When the villains fail to achieve their goals at the end of "Haven's Fate", Leo intends to ask Salem for forgiveness and prove his usefulness to her. He assumes that if he can capture Oscar, Salem will grant Leo's release. Once he fails to defeat Oscar, Leo attempts to bail out of Haven, but Salem catches him with her Seer Grimm before he gets too far. Unimpressed by his frantic pleas for mercy, Salem uses the Seer to kill him.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: With the Relic of Knowledge lost, the White Fang's defeat, Cinder's disappearance, and Leo's compliance with her group exposed, Salem decides he's no longer a useful mole. Leo attempts to flee for his life, but she catches the latter with her Seer Grimm and uses it to murder him violently.

Team SSSN

Team SSSN

An all-male team of students from Haven Academy, led by the monkey-Faunus Sun Wukong. They arrive in Beacon Academy towards the end of Volume 1. While Sun and Neptune help Team RWBY in Volume 2, the rest of the team only appears in background shots until the tournament fights of Volume 3.

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Associated Tropes:

• Advertised Extra: In Volumes 2-3, Team SSSN are included in the intro sequences with the main characters. However, only Sun and Neptune have major focus; Sage and Scarlet have cameos and bit parts. After Volume 4, only Sun remains in the story and a Volume 8 cameo of reactions to Ruby's global message include Sun and Neptune only. Although RWBY: Before the Dawn casts Team SSSN as protagonists alongside Team CFVY, only Sun and Neptune are properly fleshed out; Scarlet's role is to be Sun's antagonist, and Sage receive little focus.
• Hero of Another Story: Team SSSN are indicated to be a rambunctious all-male team that are well-known enough to attract groupies in the stadium of the Vytal Tournament Festival. However, in the main show, only Sun and Neptune receive much air-time due to their romantic interest in two of the heroines and Sun decides to take his team to Vacuo at the beginning of Volume 6 while the main characters travel to Atlas. Team SSSN's story is instead picked up in the novel RWBY: Before the Dawn.
• Korean Pop Music: All four members of the team are inspired by members of the Korean boy-band, Big Bang.
  • Scarlet takes design elements from a combination of contemporary Asian fashion and K-pop stars, specifically G-Dragon.
  • Neptune takes design elements from a combination of contemporary Asian fashion and K-pop stars, specifically T.O.P.
  • Despite Sage's green hair, his actual hairstyle and his chest and neck tattoos are a reference to Taeyang.
• Theme Naming: All four characters' names are references to mythological/legendary figures or works.
  • Sun Wukong is named and designed after Son Wukong from Journey to the West.
  • Neptune Vasilias is named after Neptune, the Roman god of the seas (analogue to the Greek god Poseidon).
  • Sage Ayana references a Hindu epic (ayana means "walking a path" in Sanskrit), as well as the Thracian Sage tale from Aesop's Fables.
  • Scarlet David references Peter Pan (specifically, his sequel novel Peter Pan in Scarlet) as well as King David from The Bible's Books of Samuel.

Sun Wukong

For more information on Sun Wukong, please see RWBY: The Heroes.

Scarlet David

Voiced By: Gavin Free

Debut: Extracurricular^* Volume 2 Episode 5

"I hope I don't get sand in my shoes..."

The second member of Team SSSN, Scarlet fights with a cutlass and pistol called Hook and Darling. His Semblance lets him temporaily glide.

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• Coat Cape: He wears a pirate-style coat over his shoulder, though he ditches it for fighting.
• Flat Character: In the show, he only has a bit role involving two lines and a hint of his Semblance to give Team SSSN four members for the tournament, but RWBY: Before the Dawn gives him a larger role as Sun's antagonist. His character is fleshed out enough to explore his issues with Sun's leadership and clarify his Semblance to enable this role, but nothing more.
• Even the Guys Want Him: A young man is seen holding up his picture while girls are holding up pictures of his team members (well, Sun's abs).
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Has a fingerless glove on his right hand and a bandage around his right bicep, his hair covers his right eye, and his Coat Cape is over his left shoulder.
• Gender-Blender Name: Scarlet is often used as a female name.
• Groin Attack: He gets smacked in the crotch by a coconut during the Vytal Festival tournament, hitting him hard enough to lower his Aura to critical levels.
• Grappling-Hook Pistol: His pistol has a grappling hook component. However, the grapple doubles as the trigger guard instead of being a conventional grapple hook.
• Pirate: He has the appearance and weapons of one, using a cutlass and pistol that looks like it came out of a pirate movie. The majority of his first fight in the series against NDGO is on a beached pirate ship and his duel with Nebula Violette is played up to resemble a pirate's duel.
• Straight Gay: Mentions in passing to Ruby in an anthology manga that he prefers men, which is the sole hint to his sexuality. He is also implied to be in a relationship with Nolan at the end of the novel.
• Sword and Gun: To go along with his pirate theme, he wields a cutlass and flintlock pistol.
• Two First Names: "David" can be a first name or a surname.
• You Are in Command Now: When Sun ditched them to go to Menagerie, he was Team SSSN's leader for a while. He hated it, leading to him resenting Sun for leaving.

Sage Ayana

Voiced By: Joshua Ornelas^{Foreign VAs} Ryuichi Kijima (Japanese)

Debut: Extracurricular^* Volume 2 Episode 5

"Neptune, what are you doing!?"

The third member of Team SSSN, Sage wields a large broadsword called Pilgrim in battle.

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• BFS: He wields a giant sword that is nearly as tall as he is.
• Curtains Match the Window: While not the same exact shade, both his eyes and hair are a deep green color.

• Flat Character: In the show, Sage only exists to give Team SSSN four members for the tournament, speaking only one line and quickly being removed from the match. Even with Team SSSN's protagonist role in RWBY: Before the Dawn, Sage receives little focus. He shares Scarlet's frustration with Sun's leadership, but his character, abilities and motivations aren't explored.
• In a Single Bound: Performs one before beheading a Nevermore below. What makes this feat considerably notable is how Yatsuhashi^note established as one of the strongest characters required a boost from Arslan to perform this, while Sage gets to roughly the same height by himself.
• No Shirt, Long Jacket: He wears a trench-coat that is open to explose his muscular abs.
• Visual Pun: Sage has wings tattooed on his chest. When going up against Dew Gayl, he's quickly sent flying... straight out of the arena.

Neptune Vasilias

Voiced By: Kerry Shawcross^{Foreign VAs} Yoshiki Nakajima (Japanese)

Debut: Best Day Ever^* Volume 2 Episode 1

Neptune, an intellectual.

"Remember ladies, hands above the waist."

The fourth member of Team SSSN, Neptune often hangs out with Sun. He takes an interest in Weiss and also assists Team RWBY in their search for the White Fang and Roman Torchwick. Neptune fights with a trident that can also function as a rifle that fires electric bolts, nick-named Tri-Hard by Sun. His Semblance is hydrokinesis, letting him control and manipulate water if he touches it.

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• Absurd Phobia: Neptune is absolutely terrified of water. During the tournament, Teams SSSN amd NDGO have to fight in the desert and water biomes. Neptune takes one look at the water Biome and flees to the desert Biome, which is Team NDGO's territory. His refusal to engage properly in the fight becomes a problem for the team and a source of mockery for Sun. When he eventually comes over to the water to electrocute Team NDGO, who are standing in it, he tip-toes in a cartoonish fashion to get there. RWBY: Before the Dawn reveals this is a justified trope. The reason for his phobia is because his Semblance makes water stick to things ranging from himself to other people; his inability to control his power as a child meant that he almost drowned both himself and his brother. However, he doesn't tell anyone the reason for his phobia, keeps downplaying or denying it, and refuses to use his Semblance; this means other students continue mocking him or using it against him because they don't realise why he has it, what his Semblance is or how dangerous that Semblance can be.
• Amazon Chaser: He starts paying attention to Yang when he first experiences her wild motorcycle driving, and quickly becomes even more impressed with the aggressive, dominant way she handles both Junior's men and Junior himself.
• Casanova Wannabe: He has an eye for beautiful ladies and flirts with them as soon as he sees one. However, while he seems just as popular as the other members of team SSSN among their sizeable female fanbase, most of the main cast spurn his advances. Weiss was attracted to him during Volumes 2 and 3 but did not appreciate him flirting with the all-female Team NDGO during the tournament. He also flirted with Ilia, an attempt that was doomed to failure.
• Curtains Match the Window: Neptune has vivid blue eyes and he dyes his hair to match the colour. Jaune mentions that not many people can pull off blue hair the way he can.
• The Ditz: The extra focus he's given in Before the Dawn makes it clear that he's so trusting of Sun that he's easily tricked and extremely submissive; this can make his attitude seem at odds with more serious situations that he ends up in. Sage and Scarlet are both frustrated and mocking of his personality; it also makes it very easy for others to intimidate him, such as Yatsu and Fox.
• Elemental Eye Colors: Short of Nora, he has the bluest eyes in the show, fitting his association with water.
• Hidden Depths: Neptune comes across as the epitome of coolness, but not only is he afraid of heights and an intellectual, but he also admits to actively perpetuating his coolness vibe to draw attention away from his flaws, especially his lack of an ability to dance.
• Hydro-Electro Combo: The Vytal Festival Tournament emphasises that Neptune has a crippling phobia of water when Sun forces him to use his electricity-generating weapon on the pool of water their opponents are standing in. He normally tries to avert the trope because he almost drowned himself and his brother when they were children with his uncontrollable water-manipulation Semblance. He therefore refuses to use his Semblance and avoids all water to minimise further loss of control, fighting exclusively with his electrokinetic weapon.
• I Can't Dance: Admits this to Jaune as his explanation for turning down Weiss's invitation to the dance. He's extremely embarrassed about it.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: So far he has only been shown hitting moving targets, once on a vehicle moving at highway speeds. The other time, he shoots Dew Gayl out of the sky, right from over Sun's head where she was aiming a stab from out of the sky.
• Incompatible Orientation: While Sun is saying goodbye to Blake, Neptune spots the presence of Ilia behind Blake. He is immediately happy to see her and heads over to flirt with her. Blake starts to call off Neptune because she knows that Ilia is gay, though Sun tells her that Neptune will figure it out eventually.
• Insistent Terminology: He is not a nerd, he is an intellectual.
• In the Blood: All members of the Vasilias family have semblances related to water like Neptune. His older brother Jupiter can instantly turn water to steam, for example.
• Ironic Name: In Roman mythology, Neptune was the god of the ocean and commanded the seas. This Neptune is hydrophobic. His Semblance is the ability to control water he is in contact with, but he cannot control the ability. As a result, he runs the risk of drowning himself or others if he loses control, and is terrified of being around water as as a result.
• Making a Splash: His Semblance allows him to repel water from his body or draw it towards him as well as attach the water to something else. He has to touch the water to charge its molecules for him to control it.
• Mix-and-Match Weapon: His weapon Tri-Hard is a gun that can transform into a melee weapon gundao which the blade can split into a trident Shock Stick.
• Power Incontinence: When he was still learning how to use his Semblance, he nearly drowned himself and his brother. This intensified his fear of water to the point where his family had to move inland, and while training has helped him handle it somewhat he still doesn't have much control and prefers to just avoid water at all costs.
• Prongs of Poseidon: As a trident wielded by a man named after the god of the Sea.
• Pun: His trident is named Tri-Hard. Sun gave it the name and Neptune didn't catch it until it was too late.
• Retractable Weapon: When not in use his weapon can be collapsed and stored on his back, in a manner similar to Ruby's scythe.
• Ship Tease: He flirts with Weiss at their first encounter. She is flattered by his advances and later on tries to partner with him in a mission. Weiss also asks him out to the dance and cheers for him at the tournament. However, his attempt to flirt with the all-female Team NDGO during the tournament puts her off him.
• Shock Stick: He can channel electricity through its melee form, which is extremely effective for fighting opponents in water.
• Spiky Hair: His hair is spiked forwards, a little like the shape of ocean waves.
• Swiss-Army Weapon: His gun initially resembles a railgun and can transform into a guandao and a trident.
• Twinkle Smile: Flashes one when Sun tells him to "be cool" in front of his new friends.
  Neptune: Dude.
  Sun: (Beat) Good point.

• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Team SSSN's first tournament match occurs on terrain that is a mixture of desert and water. Neptune is terrified of water, and immediately tries to get as far away from it, endangering his team's cohesion in the process. It's not until half of SSSN is knocked out and team NDGO groups up in a water pond that he gets out of his funk and steps next to the water to deal the winning move, and even then, Sun has to yell at him to seize the opportunity.

Team ABRN

A rival team from Haven whom Team RWBY fights in the Vytal Festival tournament. Pronounced 'auburn'.

Arslan Altan

Voiced By: Ami Naito (Japanese)

Debut: Round One^* Volume 3 Episode 1

The leader of Team ABRN, Arslan is a martial artist who utilizes a rope dart for both mobility and combat.

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• The Ace: It's mentioned several times in Before The Dawn that she's on a utterly different level than most of her peers and that she's "wasted" as a member of Team ABRN. While she herself does not agree with the assessment that she's being "wasted", she is the most impressive fighter on her team by a considerable margin, works extremely well with most people she team ups no matter how odd the mashup might be and is a professional Team Mom.
• Alliterative Name: Arslan Altan.
• Animal Motifs: "Arslan" is Turkish for "lion" and her hair and color scheme make her look like a lion. She is also the leader of her team, a position associated with lions.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Arslan primarily fights with barehanded martial arts. Her actual weapon is an extendable utility wire - or perhaps a rope dart - which she mainly uses for tripping up her opponents, or for quick change in direction of movement when suitable objects are nearby. Additionally, her outfit appears to be heavily based on Buddhist Monks.
• Blade on a Rope: Her weapon is a dagger attached to a white string.
• Boring, but Practical: Arslan's weapon doesn't appear to be anything more than a dagger which doubles as a rope dart. She ends up sparring with Yang and keeps up with her opponent throughout the match until Bolin and Nadir's "difficulties" become too much of a distraction.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Easily one of the physically-strongest combatants in the series, though where her Aura control and mundane physical strength intersect is unclear. Regardless, she's strong enough to match fisticuffs with Yang despite lacking a weapon to counter Ember Celica, and later shatters an enormous ice boulder created by Weiss with one punch.
• Super-Strength: Arslan's sheer strength stands out even in this series. Along with the examples mentioned above, during the Grimm attack on the coliseum, she flings Yatsuhashi into the air to give him a better attack vector on the Nevermore, with only one arm, despite him being, well, Yatsuhashi.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Arslan implies this by rolling her eyes after Reese got eliminated and Bolin and Nadir got immobilized in a rolling ice ball. Before The Dawn has Sun comment that she's wasted on her team, but she doesn't see it that way.
• Team Mom: Calm, caring and highly supportive of her teammates (she utterly disagrees with any negative opinion about her fellow ABRN teammates), Arslan not only refuses to stay quiet in the face of Nebula bullying's of Velvet but outright disagrees with Rumpole about her teaching methods because in her mind they should not fight each others they are al teammates, and have to learn together, meaning Rumpole's teaching methods only undermines the goal.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: In Before the Dawn, she's temporarily placed as a subordinate on a team led by Nebula. Arslan remains professional and never attacks or defies her, but makes it clear that she's disgusted by Nebula bullying Velvet and her poor leadership.

Bolin Hori

Voiced By: Jon Risinger^{Foreign VAs} Ryōsuke Morita (Japanese)

Debut: Round One^* Volume 3 Episode 1

The second member of ABRN, Bolin wields a bo staff.

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• Mix-and-Match Weapon: His weapon is a Martial Arts Staff that has curved blades inside that can pop out at either ends to become a Double Weapon.

Reese Chloris

Voiced By: Erin Winn^{Foreign VAs} Chisato Mori (Japanese)

Debut: Round One^* Season 3 Episode 1

The third member of ABRN, Reese utilizes a hoverboard that can be split into two guns and also enhanced with dust crystals to add elemental effects to her attacks.

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• Anime Hair: Reese has pale green hair that falls down the right side of her face in a series of large spikes.
• Bifurcated Weapon: Reese's weapon is a Cool Board that can split into a pair of energy pistols.
• Cool Board: In its melee form, Reese's weapon is a Hover Board that can integrate elemental effects, in addition to direct melee attacks.
• Curtains Match the Window: Her hair has been coloured a very similar shade of green to her eyes.
• Defensive Feint Trap: She falls hard for this. When Blake retreats from her, Reese follows and finds Blake with her back to her, standing in plain sight, uncomfortably close to the edge of the ring. Upon trying to attack her from behind and knock her out of the ring, she finds herself closelined and knocked out herself.
• Elemental Powers: As mentioned, her hoverboard can be enhanced with Dust crystals, with fire and ice being the types observed thus far.
• Facial Markings: Reese wears eye black, a functional "makeup" applied under the eyes to reduce glare.
• Fragile Speedster: Her board grants her near-unparalleled aerial mobility, and between it and her inherent agility she's more than fast enough to keep up with Blake, who is no slouch in the speed department herself. Once Blake gets a hit in courtesy of the aforementioned trap, though, Reese goes down fast.
• Geo Effects: Her board can utilize a crystal from the fire stage and become hot enough to thaw ice.
• Guns Akimbo: Reese's weapon can transform into a pair of energy pistols for ranged combat, and she's seen holding them in this style mid-air.
• Leader Wannabe: Thanks to the team shuffling in Before the Dawn, she winds up in command of Team ROSC, even though she has no desire or aptitude for leading. It's not helped by the fact that she's nominally in charge of Coco, who is a leader and who makes it quite clear that she doesn't think Reese is up to the task. Needless to say, when the teams are officially restored she's a lot happier back in Team ABRN.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: Reese's hoverboard returns to her hand twice after Blake redirects it.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Had she done this in the above scenario, she would never have fallen for Blake's trap.

Nadir Shiko

Voiced By: Eiji Takeuchi (Japanese)

Debut: Round One^* Volume 3 Episode 1

The fourth member of ABRN, Nadir wields an assault rifle that appears to have a blade that can extend from it.

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• The Load: Nadir doesn't contribute much to his team's fight with Team RWBY and just gets incapacitated with ice, making Reese and Arslan un-freeze him.

City of Mistral

The City of Mistral

The capital of the Kingdom of Mistral, the city of Mistral is home to Haven Academy and boasts a thriving market economy set among picturesque mountains and waterfalls. Beneath this civilised veneer, however, lies a black market where anything can be bought... for a price.

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Dee and Dudley

Dee and Dudley

Voiced by: Alex Mai (Dee) and Chris Guerrero (Dudley)

Debut: Argus Limited^* Volume 6 Episode 1

"No one's gotta be worried with us around."

Dee: The Argus Limited's very own huntsmen. We'll be keeping everyone safe as we pass through Grimm territory.
Dudley: But, for a generous tip, we can be sure that your passenger car gets extra special attention.

Two professional huntsmen assigned to guard trains going from Mistral to Atlas. Not the brightest or most effective bodyguards. Dee has an electric mace, while Dudley wields a lever-action rifle.

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• Leeroy Jenkins: When faced with the Manticore, Dee charges and immediately gets killed.
• Say My Name: During the battle with the Grimm on the train, Dudley is alarmed when Dee rushes away from his side to attack the Grimm alone. A Grimm attacks Dee from the side, grabbing him. Dudley calls out his name as he's carried away.
• Shock Stick: Dee uses a spiked club that generates an electric current.
• Small Name, Big Ego: They think they're hot stuff being professionally certified huntsmen, but the huntsman and huntress trainees that they're trying to impress are far more skilled than they are. Qrow immediately shuts them down before they can boast about being professional huntsmen. It was also stated in the Commentary for Volume 6 that they both struggled to graduate from their Huntsman Academy.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Dee and Dudley are only introduced as Huntsmen who protect the train and bribe passengers for more money by offering to give them special protection. As a result, they're only in the show for as long as Team RWBY is on the train and Dee ends up dying by charging at a Grimm.

Lil' Miss Malachite

Lil' Miss Malachite

Voiced by Luci Christian^{Foreign VAs} Arisa Sakuraba (Japanese)

Debut: Uncovered^* Volume 6 Episode 2

"I'm 'Lil' Miss Gonna Skin You Alive' if you ever take that tone with me again."

"You know, I used to be afraid of spiders. Want to know what I did about it?"

The leader of the Spiders, the most powerful criminal organisation in the city of Mistral. Lil' Miss Malachite overthrew the previous boss and is now considered as powerful a leader of the city as the Headmaster of Haven Academy. All members of her organisation can be identified from the tattoos they wear of spiders sitting on a web.

Lil Miss Malachite is the mother of Melanie and Miltia Malachite.

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• Ascended Extra: She and her organization have a significantly expanded role in RWBY: Roman Holiday; the novel covers not only Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan's beginnings, but also the dark underbelly of Mistral.
• Animal Motif: Lil' Miss used to be afraid of spiders. As a result, she decided to overcome that fear by making spiders work for her. She runs a criminal information network in Mistral, using the symbol of a spider sitting on a web to identify her criminal headquarters. Every single member of her organisation can be identified by the presence of a tattoo of the same symbol somewhere on their body.
• Connected All Along: In the main show, Roman is only known as Vale's most notorious criminal. However, RWBY: Roman Holiday reveals that Roman is originally from Mistral. He was a Spider until he double-crossed Lil Miss; surviving Lil Miss's attempts at revenge and stopping her from taking control of Vale's underworld is how Roman became Vale's kingpin. It's also revealed that she knew Lemon, the leader of the Wave, introduced in RWBY The Grimm Campaign and stole Atlas Military technology right under her nose.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: She sometimes conducts her business while smoking a cigarette using a long cigarette holder with two bands of purple, her signature colour. She continues to smoke it throughout the fight between Cinder and Neo.
• Knowledge Broker: People approach her to find out information for them. However, she usually demands an up-front fee before she'll discuss business. She's also willing to delay giving information back to her clients just in case there are other people looking for information on those clients. When Cinder escapes from the Vault of the Spring Maiden, she seeks out Lil' Miss to find out where Teams RWBY and JNR have gone. Little Miss says it'll take her a week even though she already knows the answer, purely because she wants to know if there are any people searching for information on Cinder.
• The Queenpin: Lil' Miss is the head of an organized crime syndicate in Mistral. She is implied to be rather connected since she can get information on most people's whereabouts in exchange for compensation. Her gang's presence is signified by having a spider tattoo somewhere on their body, and Cinder notices that everyone in Lil' Miss's bar has the spider tattoo.
• Tattooed Crook: She's in charge of a criminal organisation whose presence in Mistral is depicted by tattoos of spiders sitting on webs being marked on buildings. Every single person who works for her organization has the same tattoo somewhere on their body. Lil' Miss wears her tattoo on her left shoulder.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Cottage cheese. She shares a meal of it with Roman in RWBY: Roman Holiday (which he dislikes) and is seen eating some when Cinder first meets her in volume 6.

Chameleon

Chameleon

Debut: RWBY: Roman Holiday

A member of the Spiders, serving under Lil Miss Malachite. She was assigned to Roman Torchwick when he was recruited into the organisation, and remained his partner until he left.

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• Chameleon Camouflage: Her Semblance allows her to blend into her surroundings, effectively becoming invisible to the naked eye.
• Facial Horror: A rival gang caught her spying on them, and tortured Cammie by slicing up one side of her face. She uses her Semblance to hide that side of her face, and the scars left from her torture.
• Invisibility Cloak: While facing her, Roman recalls that the Spiders had stolen an experimental material from Atlas. Cammie's clothing had been upgraded with it, further assisting her concealment abilities.
• Invisibility Flicker: Cammie's Semblance allows her to blend into her surroundings, but Roman is able to pinpoint her location by watching for a subtle shimmer in the air.
• Invisible Streaker: Cammie has been known to strip her clothes to make it easier for her to hide. Her clothing upgrades means it happens less often than in the past, but Roman reflects that how much clothing she's wearing is never a certainty until she lets people see her.
• Power Incontinence: Cammie's abilities aren't always reliable, causing her to re-appear when her emotions run high. This can cost a mission dearly, and once resulted in her being left so badly injured that she had to be rescued by Roman. It's one of the reasons why Roman doesn't think Semblances are worth having.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Both Cammie and Ilia are criminals with the ability to blend into their surroundings, a romantic crush on a former partner (Roman and Blake), and a history of losing control of their ability when they're overcome with emotion. The difference is where their ability comes from; Cammie's is a Semblance while Ilia's is her Faunus trait.

Paul Parrot

Paul Parrot

Debut: RWBY: Roman Holiday

Leader of the Parrot and Mouse Syndicate, which was at war with the Spiders.

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• Fed to the Beast: He would feed his victims to Grimm he keeps in his basement
• Sadist: Takes pleasure in making snuff films of feeding his victims to Grimm
• The Starscream: He murdered his Uncle who was the previous leader of the syndicate.
• Would Hurt a Child: Even children aren’t safe from his sadistic cruelty.

City of Kuchinashi

Known locally as "the egg in the viper's nest", Kuchinashi is an old, mysterious city that is nestled into the side of a mountain. The heart of the city is a tavern called the Skilful, where the important and the dangerous can be found, and all the decisions get made. Only those who possess a Huntsman licence can enter, but no one asks if that licence is legitimate, stolen or even expired.

Entering the city by the eastern gate requires navigating the Kuchinashi Approach, a series of ropes, drawbridges, gates and check points that span a deep chasm; it's a route that's designed to deter both Grimm and visitors alike. As the old Mistral saying goes: no one ever enters Kuchinashi by accident, it's not the kind of place people can just stumble into.

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Team SAFR

Arrastra Skye

Voiced by: Laura Yates

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

A serval-Faunus from a family of miners, Arrestra is a graduate of Haven Academy, but struggles to work well in a team.

Her weapon is Windlas, a weapon that can be used as both a pick-axe and a crossbow. Her Semblance is called Equilibrium and gives her the ability to split Dust to use its energy to restore people's Aura; the elemental effects of the split Dust are then discharged on another target — usually Arrastra herself.

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• Curtains Match the Window: Arrastra has very deep blue eyes and the hair to match. Even the fur on her feline legs is blue.
• Equivalent Exchange: Arrastra can use her Semblance to split Dust into the components of 'energy' and 'elemental effect'. She can direct the energy to restore the Aura of a person who has depleted theirs, but the elemental effect has to discharge, too. Normally, Arrastra is the target of the elemental backlash, but she can redirect this backlash to Grimm. She also needs Dust to be able to use the Semblance as the Dust is physically broken apart and used up when the Semblance is activated.
• Little Bit Beastly: Arrastra is a serval Faunus, three-quarters of her legs are feline instead of human, ending in paws and sharp claws instead of feet. This gives her a significant advantage over humans and other Faunus when climbing or jumping.
• Mix-and-Match Weapon: Her weapon is a pick-axe. However, when turned on its side, it becomes a crossbow.
• Powerful Pick: Arrastra comes from a long lineage of miners. Her weapon is therefore a pick-axe. However, it can also double as a crossbow if she turns it on its side.
• Super-Empowering: Arrastra's Semblance allows her to instantly restore the depleted Auras of others,. However, she has to do this by splitting Dust into its constituent parts: energy and elemental effect. She directs the energy to restore the depleted Aura, but the elemental effect has to be discharged, too. Usually on her.

Asher Mora

Voiced by: Chad James

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

An established Huntsman who graduated from Shade Academy, Asher is a wary individual who is slow to trust. However, he'll do anything for those he does trust... and for money.

His weapon is Fortune's Fangs, a pair of swordbreakers that can transform into a glaive. His Semblance is called Flash, and gives him the ability to produce light to blind people, damage Grimm or just light the way in the dark.

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• Delinquent Hair: Asher has a punk hair style, which is in keeping with his rough style of clothing and scarred features. He's prone to thieving behaviour, is money-oriented and doesn't really trust people.
• Dual Wielding: Asher fights with two swordbreakers when his weapon is in its default form. It allows him to trap and break opponents weapons when he fights.
• Grappling-Hook Pistol: Asher can shoot his blades to become grappling hooks that he can use to rapel up and down cliffs or walls, or to allow people to descend via a zip-wire. The rope is Hard Light.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Asher is mistrustful, prone to stealing, and enjoys regularly stealing Fenix's scroll to order things with it and pay bills using Fenix's money. However, once he becomes attached to people, he'll bend over backwards to help and protect them.
• Sticky Fingers: Asher is prone to stealing things, even in situations where he really shouldn't. If he's in a Dust shop, he'll try and steal Dust, if he's close enough to people, he'll try and pick their pockets. He has a habit of stealing Fenix's scroll and ordering things on it before giving it back.
• Summon to Hand: Asher can use Gravity Dust to recall his weapon back to his hands whenever he's thrown it.
• Technicolor Eyes: Asher's eyes are a vivid orange shade.

Fenix Nemean

Voiced by: Chris Kokkinos

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

A large lion-Faunus who graduated from Shade Academy. He has a charismatic personality and a rather short fuse when under pressure.

His weapon is Pandora's Aegis, a brass claw that he wears on one arm and a collapsable shield that he uses on the other arm. His Semblance is called Beast Mode, forcing him to transform into a beastial form that's much more powerful, but which struggles to retain his humanity.

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• The Berserker: When in Beast Mode, Fenix runs the risk of descending into a mindless beast that attacks the nearest person, even if it's a friend or ally.
• The Big Guy: Fenix is a large and powerful man, who often uses his strength in battle. He has been known to grab a Beowolf from behind and suplex it into submission and when his group had to flee a collapsing cliff, he was able to carry two grown men while dodging falling rocks.
• Hulking Out: When Fenix gets too stressed, he'll start morphing into his Beast Mode. This makes him stronger, faster, bigger and tougher... but it also risks his humanity and allows his animal instincts to take over.
• Little Bit Beastly: Fenix is a lion-Faunus. He therefore has rounded lion ears on the top of his head.
• Retractable Weapon: Fenix uses a shield in battle, but he collapses it into a more manageable form when he doesn't need it.
• Super-Strength: Fenix is already very strong to begin with, but his Beast Mode form makes him exceptionally powerful. However, using his Beast Mode risks his humanity every time he uses it.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Tacos. Or 'Tay-cos' as Fenix says. He loves them so much that, when on a crashing airship, a Grimm knocking a taco out of his hand caused him to immediately dive out of the airship after the Grimm that had stolen it.
• Wolverine Claws: Fenix is a very physical fighter. He has a brass claw that he can use on his right hand, which has blade extending from the knuckles. This allows him to make his punches even more dangerous.

Pyke Rite

Voiced by: Kerry Shawcross

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

An extremely optimistic, naive young man who graduated from Haven Academy, Pyke sees being a Huntsman as more of a calling than a job.

He can't decide what name to give his weapon, which he carries on his right arm. It's a drill that can dig stone or be used as a bludgeoning weapon; it can transform into a cannon that fires Dust ammo. His Semblance is called Fate's Hand; when activated, he leaves events in the lap of Lady Luck — for good or for ill.

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• Arm Cannon: Pyke carries his weapon on his right arm. It can transform into a cannon that he can fire Dust ammunition from.
• Large Ham: Pyke is a walking anime hero. He's dramatic; he likes making bold gestures and declarations to a such a degree that he can rub people up the wrong way the moment they meet him.
• Mix-and-Match Weapon: Pyke's weapon defaults to being a drill, but he can transform into a cannon instead.
• The Teetotaler: Pyke doesn't drink. When at the Skilful, he insisted on having a soft drink and when another team of Huntsmen tried to buy him a drink during a tense confrontation, he refused — even when they forked out the money for a top shelf drink.
• This Is a Drill: Pyke's default weapon is a huge drill that he carries on his right arm. It can dig through stone or be used as a bludgeoning weapon.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Pyke is a cheerful, innocent person who became a Huntsman to help people. He therefore won't even accept payment for a Huntsman job.
• Winds of Destiny, Change!: Pyke's Semblance allows chance to take over the situation he's in. By asking Fate to step in, Pyke's Semblance can vastly improve outcomes. However, it can also make situations much worse, too.

Alabaster

Sheriff Alabaster

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

An grizzled old Huntsman with a grumpy disposition who doesn't suffer fools gladly. He doesn't like Kuchinashi and Kuchinashi doesn't like him. He's the city's sheriff anyway.

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• Grumpy Old Man: Alabaster has a short, gruff demeanour and doesn't suffer fools gladly. Pyke's perky, innocent demeanour immediately rubs him the wrong way when they first meet. The second time he encounters the groups, he demands an explanation of recent events from them but qualifies that by ordering Pyke to keep his mouth shut because he's not in the mood to deal with him. Even when he is found by Team SAFR again at the beginning of season 2, he is still in a grumpy mood due to being a prisoner of Grayden and his people.
• Mix-and-Match Weapon: His weapon is an enormous broadsword that also doubles as a gun.
• The Sheriff: The Sheriff of Kuchinashi, Alabaster is in charge of city defence, policing and the City Guard. He's a former Huntsman, and doesn't seem put off by the fact the city murdered its last sheriff. He reveals that, in a place like this, the job is more about keeping trouble off the streets than stamping out crime completely. During season 2 when the city guard is disbanded and most of them have joined with the wave, Team SAFR consider using his position as the former head of the guard to reorganize them to take down the Wave. Before they can however, Alabaster seemingly sacrifices himself to help the group escape from the former police station taken over by the Wave and rely on Daft to help them achieve this instead.
• Uncertain Doom: During Season 2, the last time Alabaster is seen is helping hold off members of the Wave and stopping as many of them from chasing after Team SAFR. Among the screams of the members of the Wave, the team is unable to tell if any of them were Alabaster's before they are forced to leave.

Buck

Buck

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

A huge Faunus woman who is the Skilful's bouncer. No one gets past her if she doesn't want them to.

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• Bouncer: Buck's job is to control entrance to the Skilful. She's a massive woman and, while she's quite personable, she's also very firm about who gets into the tavern.
• Gender-Blender Name: Buck is a woman, but has a male name. She's a deer Faunus, who possesses antlers. In most species of deer, only the male has antlers. For certain species of deer, 'buck' is the term for the male.
• Little Bit Beastly: Although she's a woman, Buck sports a antlers rising from her head.
• Riddle Me This: Buck won't let anyone enter the Skilful until they've successfully answered her riddle. Once they've correctly answered it, she let's them in.

Daff

Daff

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

Daff is a member of the City Guard and shares a lot of information with the heroes.

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• I Just Want to Be Badass: Daff has modelled his appearance on Qrow, and tries to sound cool and say cool things, but it backfires. He tries to ask the heroes if they'd heard the joke where a Beringel stepped foot in a bar, but it falls completely flat.
• Perma-Stubble: Daff isn't quite clean-shaven; he sports a stubbled chin, a bit like Qrow, whom he resembles.
• Rebuilt Pedestal: At first, Daft sees the members of Team SAFR in a good light especially after they save his life from Team SMMK. When he was recovering from his wounds while preparing for a security job at the pastel manor auction, Pyke attempts to try getting information out of him and starts making Daff suspicious of him and the rest of the team for ulterior motives afterwards. :Later near the end of season 2 when he meets Fenix again after joining the Wave like the rest of the remaining Kuchinashi city guard, he is shown regretful of betraying everything he and the city guard originally stood for. Due to his position, Fenix asks for his help reorganizing what's left of the city guard due to Alabaster being missing with Daft believing in them again and agreeing to help.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Daff is described as a 'low-rent' Qrow. He has the same hairstyle, the same rough voice, the same Perma-Stubble... he's just much younger.

Wave

Wave

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

One of two criminal gangs vying for power in Kuchinashi. Known for dealing in stolen technology... and more recently, magic artifacts.

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Lemon

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

The leader of the Wave Gang.

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• Arc Villain: As the leader of the Wave crime syndicate, she serves as the main antagonist of the first two seasons of RWBY The Grimm Campaign after the Wave take over Kuchinashi and her forces become the main threat to Team SAFR. However, Abigail Pyre fatally wounds her in the second season finale.
• The Beastmaster: At the Pastel manor auction, Lemon comes into possession of a mysterious amulet that can control Grimm. With it, she launches an attack on all of her enemies in order to establish power over Kuchinashi. When under the amulet's control, the Grimm's trademark glowing red eyes turn blue, and they act as shock troops for Lemon to rally when needed. She later loses the amulet when Abigail Pyre steals it from her.
• Connected All Along: In RWBY: Roman Holiday, it's revealed that during a previous operation to steal more Atlas Military technology that Lemon and the Wave had worked together with Lil'Miss Malachite and Spider. Following the operation, Lil'Miss and Spider stole the technology right under Lemon and the Wave's noses. Among the technology was the invisibility cloak used by Chameleon.

Team SMMK

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

A team of powerful Huntsmen who arrived in Kuchinashi a few weeks before the heroes did, they seem connected to the city's strange goings-on and really don't like the heroes very much. The members consist of Sil, Marton, Mina and Khaki.

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• All Webbed Up: One member of the team has the ability to produce spider webs that can truss up targets. During their confrontation in the Skilful, Pyke gets covered in webs and is unable to move, but it happens under the cover of Sil's darkness, so the heroes couldn't see who did it. When Asher and Mina, who is there undercover posing as a reporter, confront each other at the Pastel Co. auction, it is her who displays this ability.
• The Big Guy: Marton is a massive, pot-bellied man who wields a heavy club.
• Casting a Shadow: Sil possesses the power to create darkness across a wide area. He does it when he and the heroes start aggravating each other in the Skilful, and again when they confront each other in the valley below the city.
• The Faceless: Mina constantly wears a helmet that hides her face, making it impossible to know what she looks like.
• Goth: Sil is a 'goth extrovert'. He wears dark colours and accessories and has long bangs that he has to constantly push out of his face.
• Only in It for the Money: The team willingly accept a large sum of Lien to accept a job from the Wave despite them being an infamous crime syndicate, showing that they are corrupt Huntsmen. Because of this, they serve as a constant problem for Team SAFR for the first two seasons of the show and are some of the more prominent enforcers of the Wave. That is until the end of the second season where the Team decide to steal some magic artifacts for themselves from the Wave while abandoning Lemon to die due to no real loyalty to her.
• Power Nullifier: Marton has the ability to cancel out the effects of Dust around him, rendering weapons that rely on it useless.
• Smoke Out: Marton's club uses Dust that produces copious amounts of smoke. Between Sil and Marton, the team drop darkness and smoke across an area to obscure their arrival and departure, and to give them an advantage in battle, even when Faunus night-vision is taken into account.

Hana Guild

Hana Guild

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

One of two criminal gangs vying for power in Kuchinashi. Known for dealing primarily in narcotics until the next leader, Vermillion Raddock, began to move the guild into dealing in weapons as well. They've taken an interest in collecting magic artifacts.

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Vermillion Raddock

For more information on Vermillion Raddock, see please see RWBY: Salem's Faction.

Opal

Opal

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

In her youth, she was a Huntress almost as famous as the Grimm Reaper. Now she's the owner of the Skilful; while she now spends her days serving drinks instead of fighting, nobody causes trouble in her bar and gets away with it.

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• 24-Hour Armour: She may be retired and tending bar, but she's still wearing vestiges of her Huntress armour, especially around the shoulders.
• The Bartender: Opal tends to stay behind the Skilful's bar, serving drinks. She's friendly enough and approachable for questions and advice. However, she's also quick to step in when there's trouble.
• Famed In-Story: Opal used to be a famous Huntress who ran in similar circles to the Grimm Reaper.
• Retired Badass: Opal used to be a Huntress who was associated with the same people as the Grimm Reaper. But that was a long time ago. Now, she runs the Skilful and tends bar. However, she still wears her armour and, no matter how rough or criminal her patrons are, they all behave when under her roof.

The Taskmaster

The Taskmaster

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

A mysterious information broker who is known only by a nickname. He knows everything that's going on in the city, but there's always a price for doing business with him.

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• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": If anyone does know his name, they're not talking. He's known by everyone only as The Taskmaster because he deals in favours and information. Everyone owes him something, so he can collect information from all aspects of the city's goings-on.
• Fallen Hero: The Taskmaster used to be a Huntsman himself before he had his license revoked for shady activities. After this, he becomes a knowledge broker in the criminal underworld.
• Knowledge Broker: The Taskmaster knows almost everything that's worth knowing about people and events in Kuchinashi. Information is his trade, so he doesn't deal with the money, he'll deal with information instead. When the group tries to get payment out of him, he counters by offering them to key questions they have from their backstories. The information he offers them includes the time fate dealt Pyke a bad hand, information regarding the White Fang in Kuchinashi for Fenix, the identity of the banker that owes Arrastra's family money, and the whereabouts of Abigal Pyre for Asher.

Taupe

Taupe

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

A young boy with a huge build; he works as a bouncer for the Hedges' local Dust shop, but dreams of being a great Huntsman one day.

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• Adorably Precocious Child: Taupe is very eager to prove himself in his first job and takes being the security for the shop seriously even if he doesn't really know what he's doing. He wants to be a Huntsman when he grows up, so he's trying to keep his nose clean and out of trouble. He's therefore really excited to meet real Huntsmen and, once he gets Fenix's phone number, constantly keeps texting him for trivial reasons as if he's made a new friend. Even after the Wave take over Kuchinashi, he attempts to prove himself when helping the resistance.
• Ancestral Weapon: Taupe has a sword of his own, but it's a hand-me-down from adult family members.
• Bouncer: The boy is protecting the Dust shop that's found just within the Hedges. He has a hand-me-down sword and his enormous size on his side, but he's brand new the the job and, in fact, to work in general. He takes his job seriously, however, as he wants to become a Huntsman.

Grayden

Grayden

Debut: Grimm Campaign^* An online RPG aired in show format that sits within the show's canon

The leader of a group of vagrants living out in the vast wilderness surrounding Kuchinashi, having long ago chosen to leave the city behind to escape the ever-increasing corruption and violence.

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• The Leader: He leads the settlement camped out around the former communications tower in the wilderness surrounding Kuchinashi, which has since been converted as a means to power their community and, thus, their way of life.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: While initially suspicious of Team SAFR due to their association with Alabaster, he lowers his guard once they explain theirselves and allows them to use the communications tower to call for help as long as it doesn't threaten the livelihood of his camp. He's also friendly towards Fenix when they first meet, even sharing food with him despite not knowing each other.

Beyond the Kingdom

There are plenty of places for thieves and traitors to hide in Mistral, but for some folk that isn't enough. Many people live outside the kingdom in settlements or villages and in towns or cities.

The wilds of Anima are also home to bandit clans who dominate the regions they claim as their territories.

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City of Argus

One of the largest settlements outside the kingdoms, Argus is a city that Mantle and Mistral founded together decades before the Great War. A vital trading port between the two kingdoms, Argus technically falls under Mistral's jurisdiction, but Atlas still maintains a base and sizable garrison to protect the city.

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Caroline Cordovin

Special Operative Caroline Cordovin

Voiced by: Mela Lee^{Foreign VAs} Tomoko Shiota (Japanese)

Debut: Dead End^* Volume 6 Episode 8

"You civilians are clearly incapable of comprehending our mission here in Argus."

"This base, that relay tower, the very safety of Argus are all gifts from the glorious Kingdom of Atlas! And it is my duty to uphold them, as only I have the wit and tenacity for such a task!"

A special operative from Atlas who is tasked with maintaining the security of the border between Mistral and Atlas. She controls who is allowed to enter Atlas through the port.

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• Alliterative Name: Caroline Cordovin.
• Big Damn Heroes: When Argus is attacked by a Leviathan Ruby's Silver-Eyes only succeed in partially freezing it, stalling but not stopping the giant creature. Cordovin arrives, having detached the wrecked cannon arm of her mecha, deploying a giant drill from the remaining arm to kill the Grimm off.
• Disproportionate Retribution: After Weiss and Maria steal one of her aircrafts and Maria pisses her off by chewing cashews in a blatant display of defiance, a furious Cordovin forgoes scrambling the fighters in lieu of personally piloting the Colossus, a Humongous Mecha designed for fighting sea Grimm, with the intent of displaying her superiority to both the protagonists and all of Argus by killing the protagonists.
• Fantastic Racism: She views the Atlesians as superior to other humans. She thus stops Weiss's friends from entering Atlas, despite her willingness to let Weiss return home. When Cordovin antagonises Team RWBY, she looks directly at Blake when she describes some of them as having "questionable character". It's made clear that, while she distrusts anything she thinks is not Atlesian, she has an even worse opinion of Faunus.
• Hero Antagonist: Though Cordovin's in charge of protecting Argus from attack by the Grimm, she's egotistical, prone to overreacting, and obsessively believes in Atlas's superiority. Determined to prevent Atlas's border lock-down from being breached, she refuses to even consider the possibility the heroes might have an urgent reason to make contact with Ironwood. As such, the heroes steal an airship which brings them into conflict with Cordovin. Maria's rekindling of her old rivalry with Cordovin causes the latter to personally battle the heroes with the Colossus. The fight only ends when Ruby's group disable the robot only to quickly realise they have inadvertently caused the Grimm to attack the city. The two sides are forced to cooperate to kill the giant Leviathan that is threatening the city, which results in Ruby apologising to Cordovin for her recklessness and Cordovin allowing the heroes to enter Atlas in the stolen ship.
• In-Series Nickname: In Team RWBY's first meeting with Cordovin, Maria calls her "Cordo" to her face. The nickname sticks; Teams RWBY and JNR all refer to her as "Cordo" from then on.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even though she acts like the most important woman in Argus and has a beef against Faunus as shown when she considers Blake a less trustworthy friend of Weiss, Cordovin care about what happens to her fellow comrades. When she realises that her own actions have put Argus in danger by the end of Volume 6, she helps finish the Grimm off after Ruby weakens it, and allows RWBY to take the airship in thanks for defending the city.
• Large Ham: When she first appears, Cordovin's prone to flashing her special operative credentials as well as acting boisterously over Atlas's superiority. Later on, Cordovin snaps after Maria steals an airship from her base and deliberately chews cashews in front of the intercom to further humiliate her; every line she speaks thereafter becomes a grandiose performance of rage and intimidation.
• Miniature Senior Citizen: Cordovin is an elderly woman of tiny stature. She barely reaches the waist of adult men and the fourteen-year-old Oscar is taller than her.
• The Napoleon: Despite her short stature, Cordovin makes up for it with a highly aggressive personality. She is haughty and condescending towards Team JNR for returning to the military base after denying them access. While insulting Remnant for turning its back on Atlas after the fall of Beacon, Weiss says they understand Ironwood's "worry", but Cordovin instead boasts about his courage. After realising the heroes have stolen the airship to undermine her authority, Cordovin fights them in a gigantic robot, as opposed to dispatching fighter pilots to recover it.
• Patriotic Fervor: Given her view of Atlas's superiority, Cordovin notes the latter is extending their hand and superior technology towards the other nations. Thus, she has a beef against anything she believes is un-Atlesian like Faunus, and views any negative traits as a mockery of her kingdom's military honour and prowess as shown when she dismisses Weiss's perception of Ironwood's "worry".
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Maria insinuates the reason she is in Argus is not because it's an important position, but because she's so irritating and fanatical that the Atlesian military wanted her as far away from their HQ as possible. It was eventually confirmed in the the sixth volume's DVD Commentary that Cordovin was assigned to Argus because she was considered a nuisance in her home Kingdom, and that she could do the least damage at Argus.
• Revenge Before Reason: Seeing her rival Maria fleeing away in a hijacked plane leads Cordovin to try stopping her in the Colossus, regardless if it causes turmoil among the citizens and attempts to kill Maria's partners. Once she's defeated, a whole new level of unreasonable shows up, as a swarm of Grimm is coming, including a giant one that the robot was supposed to be used against.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: She and Maria make no attempt to hide their distaste for each other when they see each other at Argus. This conflict stems from a past incident when Maria once brought cashew nuts onto a flight. As the nuts were a banned substance, Cordovin permanently added her to an extended screening list. So when Maria hijacks a plane, Cordovin doesn't take it well and Maria starts chewing on cashew nuts for extra taunting.
  Caroline: Witch.
  Maria: She-devil.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Cordovin's reaction to Teams RWBY and JNR stealing an airship, and Maria mocking her authority over the radio, is to pilot the Colossus so she can display her superiority to both the protagonists and all of Argus, unleashing a Wave-Motion Gun capable of blowing up mountains in an attempt to shoot them out of the sky. This bites her in the ass when the fear and negativity stirred up in town by the battle ends up attracting a Leviathan Grimm.
• You're Insane!: She ends up on the receiving end from Maria, after seeing Cordovin bring out the massive mecha and try to blow the airship out of the sky with a massive energy cannon that could blow up mountains.

Nubuck Guards

Nubuck Guards

Voiced by: Kyle Phillips

Debut: Dead End^* Volume 6 Episode 8

Two Atlesian Military personnel assigned to the Atlesian Military Base in Argus. They work under Caroline Cordovin, who considers them "two of her best guards" and are usually seen right behind her as her personal guards.

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• The Dividual: They do everything together. They have the same appearance, the same body shape, the same height. They sometimes speak in unison or finish each other's sentences.
• Large Ham: They are... eccentric, to say the least. They clearly get some of it from their superior Cordovin, who loves to shout every single word as loudly and with as much emphasis as possible, especially when talking about how superior Atlas is compared to the rest of the kingdoms.

Saphron Cotta-Arc

Saphron Cotta-Arc

Voiced by: Lindsay Sheppard^{Foreign VAs} Akiha Matsui (Japanese)

Debut: The Grimm Reaper^* Volume 6 Episode 7

"I love telling stories about my baby brother."

An older sister of Jaune Arc. Saphron allows Jaune and the others to stay at her home while in Argus. She is raising a son with her wife, Terra Cotta, who is a technician for Argus's relay tower.

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• Cool Big Sis: Though Jaune finds her embarrassing, she's a loving older sister to him nonetheless, allowing him and his friends to stay with her and her wife and son while in Argus. When Saphron teasingly suggests that Jaune decided to leave home to become a Huntsman because she was the first one to leave home, Jaune is flustered but doesn't deny it.
• Family Theme Naming: The Arc siblings have names taken from the colours of the rainbow; Saphron normally is spelled Saffron, a shade of orange.
• Happily Married: She's married to a technician named Terra Cotta, and they both happily raise a son together. Though they are both inconvenienced by Terra's troubles at work, Saphron doesn't seem to mind, Terra doesn't take it out on her or her son, and they both love each other regardless.
• Rainbow Motif: The name Arc comes from arc-en-ciel, the French word for "rainbow". Saphron is one of eight children, each of which is named after a colour of the rainbow (there is a set of twins associated with indigo). Each sibling wears the colour they're named after. According to the Volume 6 commentary, each of the Arc children are named after a colour of the rainbow; in Saphron's case, she's named after a shade of orange.

Terra Cotta-Arc

Terra Cotta-Arc

Voiced by: Jamie Smith^{Foreign VAs} Mirei Kumagai (Japanese)

Debut: The Grimm Reaper^* Volume 6 Episode 7

A technician for the relay tower in Argus. Her wife is Saphron Arc, with whom she is raising a son. Terra allows her brother-in-law Jaune and his friends to stay with them while in Argus.

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• Happily Married: She's married to Saphron Arc, and they both happily raise a son together. Though they are both inconvenienced by Terra's troubles at work, Saphron doesn't seem to mind, Terra doesn't seem to take it out on her or her son, and they both love each other regardless.
• Frames of Reference: Terra has a stern, no-nonsense personality than Saphron and has corresponding rectangular frames. She questions the legality of Qrow travelling with a bunch of unliscenced students, which he brushes off as "an extended training mission". While on the phone to work, she overhears Saphron telling the heroes about her work troubles, which she confirms with a very frustrated whispered hiss. Upon seeing Qrow lying drunk outside the house, she mutters about how it'll look to the neighbours, earning her a dig in the ribs from Saphron. When helping Blake sabotage the relay tower, she is extremely unamused by how relaxed Blake is and twice emphasises "It never happened" as part of her instructions.
• Smart People Wear Glasses: Terra wears rectangular frames and is a technician for the relay tower in Argus. She directs Blake on how to sabotage the tower in a way that affects the military base without damaging the city's access to it.

Adrian Cotta-Arc

Adrian Cotta-Arc

Voiced by: Lucella Wren Clary

Debut: The Grimm Reaper^* Volume 6 Episode 7

The infant son of Saphron Arc and Terra Cotta, and by extension the nephew of Jaune.

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• Crocodile Tears: Saphron has trained him to be able to cry and throw a tantrum on command. When Saphron notices that Cordovin is becoming suspicious of Weiss's behaviour as she struggles to smuggle Maria onto the airship, she encourages Adrian to start his tantrum to distract everyone. This allows Weiss to get on board the ship without further interference.
• Cuteness Proximity: Yang is fairly pragmatic and matter-of-fact while Weiss is serious and self-possessed. However, when Adrian starts trying to mimic Jaune's pouting body language, both Yang and Weiss immediately start cooing over how adorable he is.

Branwen Tribe

The Branwen Tribe is a tribe of bandits that live in the east of Anima, to the south of Mistral. They make their living by raiding towns and villages; while stealing and murdering are part of their lifestyle, they consider kidnapping and ransoming to be more trouble than it's worth — although they have been known to make exceptions.

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Raven Branwen

Raven Branwen

"I think... we just hit the jackpot."

^{Click here to see her masked.} 

Voiced By: Anna Hullum^{Foreign VAs} Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese)

Debut: No Brakes^* Volume 2 Episode 11

"The weak die. The strong live. Those are the rules."

Yang Xiao Long's missing mother, Raven rescues her daughter from being killed by Neopolitan in Volume 2. Although she wears a Grimm mask like the White Fang, she is not associated with them. She used to be part of Team STRQ with Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long and her twin brother, Qrow Branwen; since then, she lives in wilds of Anima, leading the bandit tribe that raised her and Qrow. According to her brother, she has an unusual view of the world that he doesn't fully agree with.

Raven fights with an odachi named Omen and a revolving sheath of Dust blades. Her Semblance "Kindred Link" allows her to bond to certain people; when she does so, she can create a portal that allows her to instantly teleport to them. Recipients of this bond include Taiyang, Qrow, Yang, and - by implication - Vernal.

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• Anchored Teleportation: Raven's Semblance, called "Kindred Link", allows her to create a portal that will take her to someone she has emotionally bonded with in the past. Raven retains the ability to teleport to this person even if she does not have a good relationship with them in present, as demonstrated when she creates portals to her brother, her ex-husband, and her daughter despite being estranged from all three of them. Raven can also allow other people through her portals without going through herself or requiring them to be bonded to her, provided they are traveling to someone she is bonded with.
• Animal Motif: Even her surname refers to corvids, translating as "white/blessed raven". Her Grimm mask is shaped like the head of a raven, and her hair is styled to look feathered. Along with her twin brother Qrow, she can shapeshift into a raven, a magical ability granted to the siblings by Professor Ozpin.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: She and Qrow joined Beacon Academy to learn how to slay Huntsmen in defence of their tribe's illicit activities. As a Huntress, she far surpasses most of her tribe in skill and power, and is their leader. She takes her role as the tribe's protector extremely seriously, and most of her decisions stem from that responsibility.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite her selfish aloofness, Raven secretly watches over Yang in corvid form, tries to convince her to join the tribe and attempts to dissaude her from joining the war against Salem. Although her character flaws keep sabotaging her family relationships, her behaviour shows hints of regret over the choices she's made.
• Bandit Clan: Raised by the Branwen bandit clan, she initially trained as a Huntress to protect them, eventually returning to become their leader. She led the attack on Shion Village and originally raised the Spring Maiden to make the tribe more powerful. In Volume 5, she has the tribe abduct Weiss in order to ransom her back to her father.
• Becoming the Mask: In Volume 5, Raven reveals that she and Qrow originally planned to become Huntsmen to protect the tribe from other Huntsmen. Ozpin convinced them to become real Huntsmen and key allies in war against Salem. However, upon discovering Ozpin's secret about Salem, she abandoned him and returned to her tribe as per the original intention.
• Believing Their Own Lies: Raven justifies her actions to herself the same way she justifies them to others. In "True Colors", Leo says they're both only working with Salem out of fear, but Raven assures that he did what was necessary to survive. An unfooled Leo asks her "Who are you trying to convince?", prompting her to silently leave.
• Beneath the Mask: She initially appears to be a strong, composed and intelligent tribal leader, always possessing a practical justification for the decisions she makes. However, she's actually a self-absorbed, pretentious and cowardly woman, implied to be full of regret and doubt but too proud to admit the truth even to herself. Her behaviour and decisions start being interrogated over the course of Volume 5, cracking her mask until her final confrontation with Yang over the Spring Maiden's fate breaks her; her cowardice and selfishness exposed, she tearfully apologises and flees in shame.
• BFS: Her odachi can extend to become as long as she is tall. During the battle of Haven, it's revealed that the Dust cartridge sheath is a rotating cylinder that contains dozens of Dust infused blades. Raven defaults to the red blade, but can change them quickly in the heat of battle.
• Broken Bird: Although she's known for being a strong, cunning bandit leader and Huntress, Raven is actually a cowardly and insecure woman, haunted by her fears and unable to handle criticism. Her lack of self-awareness makes her unable to properly comprehend the consequences of her decisions, ruining family relationships and dragging her back into the conflict between Ozpin and Salem that she had so desperately tried to escape.
• Byronic Heroine: A deeply conflicted woman who straddles the line between Anti-Hero and Anti-Villain, Raven's inability to face her own flaws brings her back into the very war she once escaped. Though an intelligent, strong and charismatic leader of the Branwen tribe, Raven is actually a frightened, insecure woman who cloaks herself in the trappings of power to hide from her own weaknesses. This lack of self-awareness leads her into a disastrous arrangement with Cinder that leads to Qrow disowning her, and culminates in Yang delivering such a brutal deconstruction of her choices that she breaks and flees.
• Cain and Abel: The Branwen twins have a rocky relationship due to how they view the world. Raven considers Qrow a fool for trusting Ozpin and a traitor for abandoning the Bandit Clan that raised them; Qrow is frustrated she that turned on Ozpin, abandoned Taiyang and Yang, and returned to a tribe of thieves and murderers. However, when Salem's subordinates threaten the clan's survival to obtain the Spring Maiden, Raven insists that she'll only cooperate if they help him kill Qrow during the attack on Haven Academy. Qrow's response is to renounce her as his sister.
• Can't Take Criticism: One of Raven's most notable traits is her inability to handle criticisms, always feeling a need to justify herself when someone questions or calls her out on her actions, and gets frustrated if her interlocutor keeps criticizing her. When dealt to a question or criticism that she can't defend herself against, she'll either excuse herself, such as when Lionheart asked her who she was trying to convince, or break down emotionally.
• Cool Gate: She can create one with a stroke of her sword to vanish as quickly as she appeared. In keeping with her red and black appearance, the portal is also red and black in color.
• Cool Mask: She wears a mask that covers her entire face and is designed to mimic a Giant Nevermore, being the head of a raven and containing four eyeholes. It's heavily implied that she wears it to hide the eye-fire that reveals when a Maiden is using her magic; Vernal is her decoy Maiden to keep the true Spring Maiden's identity secret.
• Cool Sword: Raven's main weapon is Omen, a long, Japanese-style sword with a bulky, mechanical sheath that contains many spare blades of different Dust types. She can draw the blade normally, or she can fire it from the sheath as if it's a gun. She favours a red blade, but can switch between blades of different colours by rapidly re-sheathing and unsheathing the sword.
• Cover-Blowing Superpower: To hide her identity as the Spring Maiden, Raven uses Vernal as a decoy Maiden, and wears a mask that hides the eye-fire that forms when Maidens use their magic. This way, Vernal can pantomime activating the power while Raven does so undetected. During the battle at Haven Academy, she publicly instructs Vernal to not use her power in battle to cover for the fact that Vernal won't be able to use magic while fighting.
• Cursed with Awesome: Her shapeshifting ability gives her aerial coverage, a discrete form in which to gather intel, and the ability to cover great distances quickly. However, Raven intimates to Yang that it is a curse that was forced upon her by Ozpin. Only when she challenges Ozpin in front of Qrow does Yang learn that this is deceptive: Raven and Qrow actually volunteered to receive it as a gift.
• Detachable Blades: Her Dust swords tend to shatter easily in the heat of battle, so her sheath contains a rotating chamber of spares that she can switch out to if she sees fit. To add even more utility, the chamber holds several different types of blades, each with their own powers.
• Dimensional Cutter: She usually creates portals by slicing the air with her blade, but there are some instances shown where this isn't entirely necessary.
• Dirty Coward: Given her Social Darwinist beliefs, Raven will only save a person once. She considers the war between Salem and Ozpin as a lost cause only blind fools would fight. However, at the conclusion of the battle at Haven Academy, Yang tells Raven she's willing to face her fear and fight Salem rather than run like her mother. She tearfully accepts Yang's offer to flee once again, leaving her daughter to take the heat from Salem for possessing the Relic of Knowledge.
• Disowned Sibling: Her relationship with Qrow was already rocky after she left Taiyang and Yang to return to the tribe, though he still seemed to have some hope for her and tried to convince her to come back to her family. However after Raven makes a deal with Cinder and sells him, Yang, Ruby and their companions to Salem's forces at Haven to save her own life, Qrow finally reaches his limit and disowns her as his sister.
• Divergent Character Evolution: At the end of the second volume, Raven's unmasked face is a Palette Swap of Yang's then-current model. Since the fourth volume, her re-designed model has a more aged appearance as well as an even more rugged hairstyle, giving her a more unique appearance compared to her daughter.
• Dramatic Unmask: In The Stinger of Volume 2, she unmasks herself in front of Yang. She has a very similar face to her daughter, if somewhat wider, but Ruby's color motifs and hair color.
• Due to the Dead: In "Downfall", after Vernal uses her Last Breath Bullet to distract Cinder long enough for Raven to finish her, Raven takes the time to close her eyes and thank her before going for the Vault.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Raven has dark hair and a deathly white complexion, making the focus on her fierce red eyes that much more striking. Because of her aloofness, each of her appearances is always played seriously, with the atmosphere becoming tense even when it's about a family reunion with Qrow (the latter of which is understandably not thrilled).
• Everyone Has Standards: Raven might be a self-absorbed, pretentious Social Darwinist who doesn't think much about who's hurt by her actions and willingly abandons Yang for most of her life, but she's appalled by how far Cinder's willing to go for power, even calling the latter a monster for replacing her arm with that of a Grimm.
• Everything's Better with Samurai: Her appearance evokes a Samurai motif, from her Japanese-style sword to her hakama-like attire. The wrapping around her stomach even has a Japanese mountain printed on it, even though Japanese culture is nonexistent in Remnant.
• Facepalm of Doom: In "Downfall," she finishes her fight with Cinder with a palm strike to the face, destroying Cinder's eyepatch and sending her falling into the chasm below.
• Family of Choice: Raven considers the Branwen tribe her true family rather than her estranged husband and daughter, and is disappointed Qrow has turned his back on them. Qrow notes her skewed perception of what family means.
• Family Theme Naming: She and her brother Qrow are both named after corvids. Their family name is also corvid-themed, being named after a Welsh goddess that was strongly associated with corvids and whose name translates to "Blessed/White Crow".
• Fatal Flaw: Raven's main flaws are her selfish behaviour and lack of self-awareness. Despite fleeing Ozpin's war, she takes in and eventually kills the fugitive Spring Maiden to personally steal the power. Later, Yang points out to Raven stealing the Relic of Knowledge to protect herself further from Salem will only put her at the top of Salem's hit-list. Faced with this realisation, Raven tearfully apologises and leaves the Relic with Yang.
• Flaw Exploitation: Knowing that Yang has spent her life searching for her mother, Raven tries exploiting that by offering Yang the option to live with her and learn the secrets of Remnant as opposed to joining Qrow and Ruby in the war between Ozpin and Salem. However, Yang turns these offerings down out of loyalty to the family who raised her.
• Foil: To Cinder Fall. Raven is loyal to her followers, secretly fears she cannot overcome her enemies, favours guerrilla tactics, avoids the limelight and hides her Maiden power. Cinder is an egomaniac with no loyalty to her followers, openly revels in her Maiden power, and wants to be known and feared. Cinder willingly threw herself into Ozpin and Salem's war to become more powerful, while Raven seeks power to avoid it. When they fight, they each accuse the other of having become a monster in the pursuit of power.
• Human Popsicle: While in Haven's Vault, Cinder freezes Raven in ice so that she can freely attack Vernal. Raven frees herself from the ice just as Vernal is fatally wounded.
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: Raven's default fighting stance is to have one hand ready to draw her blade. She blocks Neo's final attack on Yang with an incredibly fast sword draw, slash, and sheathe. During her fight with Cinder, she frequently sheaths and unsheathes at high speed in battle to change which Dust blade she wants to use.
• I Did What I Had to Do: In the episode "True Colors", Leo frets over how terrible they are for betraying Ozpin and setting Qrow up, but Raven assures him he did what was necessary, given how unstoppable Salem is.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Raven is renowned as a confident, strong and cunning Social Darwinist with exceptional combat skills. However, it's a cover to hide her selfishness, cowardice, inability to handle criticism and regrets about her life choices. Once Yang deconstructs this to expose her flaws, she tearfully apologises and flees. A Volume 9 flashback shows her telling Summer she thinks the latter is better at being a wife and mother than she was.
• It's All About Me: Raven always puts herself above her family and the tribe's values. This is highlighted when Yang calls out Raven on her selfish and cowardly actions in the episode "Haven's Fate."
• Jerkass Has a Point: Though Raven's a selfish Dirty Coward who only looks out for herself and her Bandit Clan, she warns Yang and Weiss Ozpin is hiding a terrible secret and Salem is unstoppable. She believes anyone who takes on Ozpin's fight is a fool who is a lost cause. As it later turns out, Salem was cursed by the gods to have Complete Immortality, thus she can't be destroyed. Ozpin has been keeping this secret because he fears people will lose hope if they know that even he doesn't know how to permanently stop an Invincible Villain.
• Katanas Are Just Better: She wields a long, blood-red odachi and is heavily implied to be one of the dangerous characters in the series, to the point that Neo immediately high-tails it in terror when Raven begins walking towards her.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: In the fifth volume, Raven intends to use the Relic of Knowledge to keep Salem away from her tribe. In the episode "Haven's Fate", however, Yang points out to Raven obtaining the Relic will cause Salem to pursue her for the rest of her life. After Raven tearfully apologises and flees, Yang takes the Relic in her place.
• Lady of Black Magic: Wearing a red and black hakama and carrying herself with a serious-minded, cunning air, Raven has a dark elegance about her. Thanks to her powers as the Spring Maiden, she is one of the strongest magic users in the setting, can form spikes of ice, conjure gusts of wind, generate magical swords imbued with electricity, and fly. She spent several years planning for the possibility that Salem will find her. As a result, when she fights Salem's subordinate, the recently-created Fall Maiden, she uses her experience and planning to defeat Cinder.
• Lady of War: Raven's a cool, cunning, and very dangerous warrior with an arrogant personality, even if it's in service to a very selfish and amoral belief system. She wears a red and black hakama and wields a long, blood-red katana, giving her the image of a female samurai. Wielding her katana in the Iaido style, she draws her blade and slashes with deadly speed and grace.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: As a bandit leader, Raven believes the strong survive and the weak die; she kills and steals for personal gain, kidnaps Weiss for ransom, and killed a Spring Maiden who trusted her. Volume 5 pits her against Cinder, a power-hungry sadist who thrills in destroying cities and inflicting mass suffering for its own sake, and who will pick people to die just to torment their friends. Raven doesn't want to get involved in Salem's plan to destroy the world, and thinks fusing with Grimm has made Cinder a monster.
• Mercy Kill: Raven claims her killing the previous Spring Maiden and stealing her power was this trope, saying that the Maiden failed to make any progress when Raven tried to train her. While Yang calls her out on this, it's unclear as to whether Raven was doing this, or if she's just trying to justify her actions.
• Modesty Shorts: Raven wears an extremely short, pleated micro-skirt that looks like gym-wear. Underneath the skirt, she wears a pair of black hot-pants that only occasionally becomes visible when she's moving during low camera angles. As a result, even when she's fighting or the camera is angled upwards from the ground, there's no danger of anything being revealed.
• Never My Fault: In the fourth volume, Raven doesn't take responsibility for her tribe's assault on Shion leaving it vulnerable for the Grimm to destroy it. One volume later, she never acknowledges the danger she's put her tribe in by becoming a Maiden, and dismisses her decision to lure her brother and daughter into an ambush as it being a sign of faith in their skill and strength to survive.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: Raven claims she only cares about her bandit tribe and protecting them from harm, originally having become a Huntress for that purpose. She avoids Ozpin's war with Salem, considers Qrow and Taiyang fools for supporting Ozpin, and only gets involved in the assault on Haven to protect her tribe from Salem. However, she occasionally passes on intel about Salem to Qrow and Ozpin, and her decision to take in the fugitive Spring Maiden years ago put her on a collision course with Salem, bringing her back into the war when Salem needs the Spring Maiden to obtain the Relic of Knowledge: something she knew would happen and spent years planning for the day it would happen.
• Not So Similar: A discussed example. Taiyang is proud to see something of Raven in Yang, but is also relieved to not see everything. He advises Yang to harness her strength of will without making her mother's mistake of bulldozing through problems instead of working around them. While he's vague about how Raven's flaws tore Team STRQ and their family apart, Yang eventually learns that she is courageous whereas her mother is a coward.
• Palette Swap: When animated in Poser, Raven was simply a copy of Yang's model, except with permanently red eyes and Ruby's red-tinted black hair color. By the time of Volume 4, she has a more distinct appearance with a broader face, squarish eyes and wrinkles; her hair is also spikier in contrast to Yang's wavy style.
• Regretful Traitor: It's implied that Raven does care for her team-mates and daughter, and regrets distancing herself from them. After Vernal asks about Yang being in danger from the plan to steal the Relic from Cinder, Raven pretends it doesn't bother her, but her body language implies otherwise. Later, Leo is shameful over betraying Ozpin and fear of Salem, but Raven assures him he did what was necessary to survive; he gives Raven an Armour-Piercing Question on who she's trying to convince, and Raven silently leaves. After Yang convinces Raven to hand over the Relic, she tearfully apologises for where her choices have brought them, and flees.
• Secret-Keeper: Volume 9 reveals that she was with Summer Rose, helping her with her secret mission that she never returned from.
• Secretly Selfish: While Raven initially appears to be a powerful Social Darwinist, Volume 5 reveals she is a self-absorbed coward who always puts herself above her family and the tribe's value. Raven willingly risks the lives of her own brother and Team RWBY to obtain the Relic of Knowledge so she can save her own skin. After realising it'll put her on Salem's hit-list, and Yang's willing to take the heat instead, it reduces her to tears — but she still takes the offer and flees.
• Shock and Awe: In keeping with her corvid motif, Raven has lightning powers. As the Spring Maiden, she favours proving her power by summoning storm winds and unleashing lightning. When she and Cinder fight over the Relic of Knowledge, she summons magical swords from a blue nimbus that crackles with electricity.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: She and Qrow have an interesting case of this regarding their Semblances and relations to their families. Qrow can't control his bad luck Semblance and resents how distant it forces him to be from his friends and loved ones to keep them safe, while Raven cut herself off from their family out of insecurity and fear despite her portal Semblance allowing her to instantly travel to their side.
• The Social Darwinist: Qrow and Raven feel very differently about the tribe that raised them to a bandit lifestyle. He thinks they're killers and thieves and turned his back on them. As for Raven, she's their leader because of her belief that the weak die and the strong live. Even though she only rescued Yang once, she expects Yang to save herself. She viewed her murder of the previous Spring Maiden as a Mercy Kill to spare her from being unable to survive on her own.
• So Proud of You: She's never been around to raise Yang and Qrow chastises her for appearing to have no interest in her daughter's well-being. However, when Yang locates her tribe's base camp and fights through the bandits to reach her, she openly admits she's impressed with Yang's determination.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Raven acts like a proud, strong Social Darwinist who prioritises her tribe's wellbeing above everything. However, she's implied to be unhappy and regretful about her life choices and estrangement from her daughter and team-mates. Despite abandoning Yang, she secretly watches her in corvid form; despite turning her back on Ozpin, she still passes him intel; when Yang seeks her out, she tries to get her to stay and is bitter when Yang doesn't. Although she grooms Vernal as a decoy, Vernal's death visibly upsets her; and after Yang points out to Raven that her decisions are based on fear and cowardice, she breaks down into tears and flees.
• Spell Blade: Her odachi Omen uses blades infused with Dust to dish out elemental attacks. While it's become more or less obsolete due to her Maiden powers being far superior in that regard, she does use several different blades in her battle with Cinder, including a yellow blade that causes lightning effects, a red blade that causes fire effects and a blue blade that she repeatedly falls back on, which produces ice effects.
• Strong and Skilled: Between her skills as a Huntress, versatile weapon and being the Spring Maiden, Raven is by far one of the strongest characters in the setting. Her battle with Cinder is a complete Curb-Stomp Battle in Raven's favour barring when Cinder uses her Grimm arm to try and drain Raven's power.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Raven and Yang are extremely similar physically, facially and in height. Yang has her father's blonde hair while Raven's is black; Yang's eyes are purple, mid-way between her father's blue and mother's red eyes, although they turn as red as Raven's when she's angry. Taiyang observes they both brute force their problems instead of thinking their way through them.
• Superpower Lottery: She was born with the talent to become an elite Huntress, and her Semblance allows her to teleport to anyone she has bonded with, no matter where in the world they are. She was granted the ability to transform into a raven, allowing her to travel huge distances without being noticed. She also possesses the full magical power of the Spring Maiden. This makes her more powerful and versatile than most characters in the show.
• Sword and Fist: Raven rounds out her advanced swordsmanship with use of heavy kicks, giving her a distinct advantage over otherwise equally skilled swordsmen. In "The More the Merrier", she sends Qrow flying off-screen with a single basic side-kick and in "Downfall" she dropkicks Cinder clean through house-sized boulders multiple times.
• Take a Third Option: She rejects Ozpin for fighting a war that cannot be won and keeping secrets that put lives in danger. However, she knows how evil Salem is and that Salem kills everyone she no longer has a use for. Harbouring the Spring Maiden makes her a target, so she planned for that eventuality. When Salem's subordinates force her to help them steal the Relic of Knowledge with the Maiden's power, Raven demands they kill Qrow in return, pitting Salem and Ozpin's forces against each other. She plans to use the chaos to steal the Relic for herself and disappear into the wilds with her tribe.
• Tears of Remorse: In "Haven's Fate", Yang delivers a brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Raven about how power does not equal strength, exposing the latter as a powerful but cowardly person. She also points out that Raven's plans to steal the Relic of Knowledge would ensure that Salem will pursue her for the rest of her life. For this, Raven tearfully apologises to Yang and regretfully flees, leaving Yang to take both the relic and the future heat from Salem.
• Teleportation with Drawbacks: Raven's Semblance allows her to create a bond with a person. That bond allows her to create a portal to that person, effectively allowing her to teleport straight to them. While this means she teleport any distance across the world, she can only do it to a person with whom she has bonded. Known bonds include Taiyang, Yang, Qrow and, by implication, Vernal.
• Thicker Than Water: A subverted example. She considers the bandit tribe she was raised in to be her family more than her own estranged husband, daughter, and niece, something Qrow, her twin brother, calls her out on. She's willing to do anything to protect the safety of the Branwen Tribe, such as demanding Cinder's team take her brother's life to give her the chance of stealing the Relic of Knowledge from Salem's forces so that she can use its power to protect her tribe from Salem.
• Thinking Up Portals: Raven's Semblance is the ability to create a bond with a person; this allows her to create glowing red portals to that person with a slice of her sword, enabling instant travel over great distances. Known links include Yang, Qrow and Taiyang.
• Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Despite Raven running away from the fight against Salem, Qrow still had some degree of faith in her and believed she would never betray them. It isn't until Raven sets Qrow and Team RWBY up to save her own skin that Qrow finally reaches his limit, telling Raven in no uncertain terms that she's crossed the line and disowning her.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Raven reveals to Yang and Weiss that she and Qrow can transform into ravens, and then proceeds to demonstrate the transformation to prove it. She refuses to explain the details behind it unless Yang agrees to stay (which she doesn’t), though she does tell them is that it's a form of magic and that Professor Ozpin did it to them.
• Weather Manipulation: She's the real Spring Maiden, using Vernal as a decoy. When the bandit camp is about to descend into a fight with Yang and Weiss, a bolt of lightning from the sky stops everyone in their tracks. When Cinder later asks Vernal to prove she's the Spring Maiden, Vernal raises her hands in concentration while Raven secretly uses her powers. Storm winds suddenly whip up and black clouds gather in a previously blue sky.
• Wild Card: Raven wants nothing to do with Ozpin and Salem's war; she knows how evil Salem is, but feels Ozpin is fighting an unwinnable war that just gets people killed. Having planned for years in case Salem took an interest in her, when Cinder's team arrives to strong-arm her into helping them, Raven first negotiates herself into a better position before agreeing. Her actual plan is to steal the Relic of Knowledge to protect herself and her tribe by pitting Cinder and Ozpin's teams against each other. Once she realises that will only put her on Salem's hit-list, she abandons the Relic to Yang and departs.

Vernal

Vernal

Voiced by: Amber Lee Connors^{Foreign VAs} Tomo Muranaka (Japanese)

Debut: Unforeseen Complications^* Volume 5 Episode 3

"Straight to the point. I like it."

"I'm not concerned in any of this. All I care about is my tribe, my family. This is a burden, not an honor."

Vernal is the most trusted commander of Raven's bandit tribe, being her confidante and number two. She fights with two bladed chakrams with firearms inside.

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• Boyish Short Hair: Vernal has extremely short hair that gives her face a boyish look. She favours trousers over skirts, and carries herself with a rough, laddish attitude.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: When Weiss attempts to fight Vernal, Vernal's greater combat experience makes it impossible for Weiss to do anything than defend against Vernal's attacks. Vernal is a pragmatic fighter so she leaves Weiss no opportunity to activate her most powerful glyphs or to summon her knight.
• Dies Wide Open: Vernal uses the last of her strength to fire her weapon at Cinder, creating a distraction that allows Raven to win the fight. Upon discovering that Vernal has died with her eyes wide open, Raven gently closes Vernal's eyes before she leaves.
• Guns Akimbo: Vernal's weapon consists of a pair of bladed laser guns. The blades form a circle around the gun, and the weapon can be thrown like a chakram. She fights with both at the same time.
• Last Breath Bullet: After being fatally wounded by Cinder in an attempt to absorb the Spring Maiden power, Vernal uses the very last of her strength to fire her weapon, which distracts Cinder long enough for Raven to defeat her.
• Meaningful Name: Vernal's name is based on a word that refers to anything relating to the season of spring and is pretending to be the Spring Maiden to hide the identity of the real one, and chose her name for that purpose.
• Pragmatic Villain: She states the bandits don't really deal in human trafficking because it's not worth their time. When they accidentally pick up a Schnee, they change their minds because they can ransom her back to her very powerful father. This pragmatism also extends to her fight with Weiss during the battle of Haven; she constantly puts Weiss on the defensive and never gives her a chance to utilize her summons or more powerful Glyphs.
• Red Herring: Cinder insists on Vernal accompanying her to the Vault of the Spring Maiden so that she can use the Spring Maiden's powers to gain access to the Relic of Knowledge. As her tribal leader, Raven insists on going with her. Once in the vault, Cinder turns on them in an attempt to steal Vernal's Maiden powers for herself. She fails because she didn't realize that Vernal was a decoy for the real Spring Maiden — Raven.
• Refusal of the Call: When Team RNJR and Qrow arrive in Haven, Qrow and Leo discuss the fact that the Spring Maiden hasn't been heard from in over a decade. Initially eager to try and honor the burden of being the Spring Maiden, it proved too much for her. She rejected her role and went on the run, disappearing off their radar until Qrow discovered that she's been living with the Branwen Tribe. This is true with the previous Spring Maiden, whom Raven murdered after gaining her trust; meanwhile, Vernal, who was Raven's most trusted lieutenant and in on the scheme, made for the perfect decoy by using the last known facts of the Spring Maiden's whereabouts.
• Satellite Character: Vernal's role in the story is to serve Raven's orders as the Spring Maiden that everyone is after, while Raven acts as her protective tribal leader. Although Cinder notices that Raven has Vernal very well-conditioned to follow Raven's beliefs about putting the protection the Branwen Tribe before all other concerns, she doesn't realize the purpose of that conditioning: that Vernal is designed to be a decoy, deflecting attention from the real Spring Maiden.
• Shock and Awe: When Yang and Weiss defy Raven, her bandits take it upon themselves to retaliate. To prevent the campsite descending into mass chaos, a bolt of lightning streaks down from the cloudless sky stopping everyone in their tracks. The lightning strike is accompanied by a supernaturally-enhanced shout from Vernal. It's later revealed to have been a trick; Vernal does not have that power at all.
• Tattooed Crook: Vernal has a tattoo on her left arm of a phoenix rising from flowers towards the crescent moon. She's a member of the Branwen Tribe, which is a band of thieves and murderers that have been known to hit villages and then leave them vulnerable to subsequent Grimm attacks as a result of the negative energy their attacks create. When the tribe captures Weiss, she is thrilled to have the chance to ransom Weiss off to her father.
• Weather Manipulation: Subverted. She presents herself as the Spring Maiden, but is really a decoy for Raven. See Raven's entry for more details.

Shay D. Mann

Shay D. Mann

Voiced by: Clifford Chapin

Debut: Welcome to Haven^* Volume 5 Episode 1

"I heard you're looking for someone."

A bandit of the Branwen tribe. When Yang comes looking for Ruby in Mistral, he approaches her, claiming he can help her in her search.

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• All There in the Script: His name is never spoken in the actual show, just listed in the credits.
• Butt-Monkey: Nothing ever goes his way. His plan to lure Yang into a trap backfires when the latter effortlessly defeats the group of bandits ambushing her, and his revolver tends to jam when he needs it most.
• Punny Name: In his first two episodes he is credited as "Shady Man". After that, he's credited as "Shay D. Mann".
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Subverted. His weapon of choice is just a handgun with what looks like a hunter's knife built into the handle; nothing special, except maybe for the fact that the moment he puts it into action, it jams.
• Teeth Flying: After hitting on Yang, she punches him hard enough to knock out one of his teeth, which flies past his body in slow motion as she strikes. Every time he smiles or bares his teeth after that, the gap from the lost tooth is visible.
• Uncertain Doom: He was last seen guarding the entrance to the tribe's camp with two companions when Cinder, Watts, Mercury, and Emerald appeared, right before the scene ends as Emerald draws her weapons. When the four arrive in the camp, two of the guards are seen in the background watching the confrontation with Raven but Shay is nowhere to be seen. It's unclear if he was just incapacitated or if he was killed.

Kuroyuri

In a region of wilderness that even the Mistral patrols seldom venture into, exists a long-abandoned village that bears the scars of the tragic fates that befall many of the settlements that spring up outside the kingdom.

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Li and An Ren

Li and An Ren

Voiced by: Kaiji Tang (Li), Dawn M. Bennett (An)^{Foreign VAs} Yoji Ueda (Japanese, Li), Azusa Tanaka (Japanese, An)

Debut: Kuroyuri^* Volume 4 Episode 10

Li: Sometimes, the worst action to take is taking no action at all.

An: Hello, little Lie.

The parents of Lie Ren. They made their first onscreen appearance in a flashback in the episode, "Kuroyuri". They both died during a Grimm attack on their village, which shares its name with the episode.

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• Bow and Sword in Accord: Li primarily fought with a bow, but he also had a dagger for close range that he gave to his son shortly before his death.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: An is a gentle mother who thinks Ren has inherited her sass; when she tells him no, she takes the time to explain why, she trusts him with money to buy presents for his father, and seeks to reassure him during the attack even though she is herself quite frightened. Li teaches his son to always take action when it's necessary, and willingly risks his life to protect his son.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: On Remnant, the likelihood of being killed by bandits or Grimm means that villagers can often go out in a blaze of glory. Li flees the collapsed home with Ren in his arms, despite being badly injured in the ribs. When he falls, the Nuckelavee catches up to them. He gives Ren his knife and tells Ren to run away. To buy Ren time, he drags himself back to his feet and, even though he's in agony every time he has to stretch his torso muscles to draw his bow, he keeps firing at the Nuckelavee until he runs out of arrows.
• Expy: When Li Ren was being modelled, the creative team realised he looked liked Hanzo. They decided to embrace the similarities and made him a full expy, down to bow and arrows and similar facial features.
• Eye Scream: Subverted. After An's death, the scene cuts to Li running through the chaos in the village with Ren in his arms. In the time between these scenes, he received a scar that ran over his left eye but leaving the eye itself uncut. It is unknown how he got this scar.
• Killed Offscreen: Both An and Li are killed off-screen with An being crushed by debris as it cuts to after her death right after and Li is killed by the Nuckelavee while fighting it off to give his son a chance to escape.

Others

Bartleby

Bartleby

The head of a farmstead in northern Anima known as Brunswick Farms. He and the rest of his community are dead by the time Team RWBY encounter the farmstead, but the diaries he leaves behind offers the group an insight into life on the farm, and the responsibilities he had as the person in charge of it.

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• Evil Is Not a Toy: Bartleby tried to lock two Apathy in the sewers beneath the estate as an attempt to use their influence to force everyone in the farm to stay calm and avoid the bad feelings that attract Grimm. His plan was to minimise the expense of hiring Huntsmen because the farm was haemorrhaging money. What he doesn't realise is that, when he seals up the underground waterways he's trapped the Apathy in, the rest of the pack has already followed their missing members. Instead of two manageable Grimm, he locks the farmstead up with hordes of them, dooming the lives of everyone who lives there.
• Gone Horribly Right: Bartleby tried to bring back a pair of Apathy Grimm to help keep everyone calm so he could cut costs on Huntsman protection. He made the mistake of leaving it open for a night before sealing up the tunnels to trap the two Apathy underneath the farm. That gave the pack of the captured Grimm time to follow their missing members and join them underneath the farm. When Bartleby sealed up the waterways, he had no idea there was an entire horde inside the tunnels, more than enough to kill everyone on the farm — including himself. Maria summed it up perfectly:

"Bartleby's plan worked. No one was angry, or sad, or scared. No one was anything. And then...no one was left."

• Too Dumb to Live: Though he acted with the best intentions, Bartleby's final scheme to overcome the farmstead's harship destroyed it. When separating a pair of Apathy from their pack, it didn't occur to him that the rest of the pack might track down their missing members. As their mere presence drains a person's will to live, Bartleby had no energy to immediately seal up the tunnels he put them in; by leaving it until the following morning, he gave the pack time to reunite before sealing an entire horde of Apathy underneath the estate. The pack's collective power ensured the entire community died in their sleep, including Bartleby.
• Zany Scheme: Bartleby's diaries reveal an ambitious man who set up the farmstead to try and make a community that wasn't stifled by the kingdom's authority. Maintaining the farm required hard work and massive expense. As a result, he was constantly coming up with odd schemes to save money and make a success of the farm. Unfortunately, his final scheme led to the entire community getting killed in their sleep.

The Captain

Voiced By: Bruce Carey^{Foreign VAs} Hiroki Yamada (Japanese)

Debut: Of Runaways and Stowaways^* Volume 4 Episode 3

"Now, now. No threat here. Just here to chat."

"With your paranoia, I think a few friendly faces wouldn't hurt."

The captain of the ship that Blake and Sun are sailing on in Volume 4. He and his crew are both experienced and very, very well armed - necessities when sailing across the Grimm-infested seas of Remnant.

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• The Captain: The highest-ranking officer on the ship, a skilled helmsman, calm under pressure, and a cunning tactician. He cares about his crew and his passengers, to the extent that he tries to talk to Blake when he realizes she's troubled and travelling alone. He's willing to give two young huntsmen a chance to help him protect his ship, and is very quick to direct Sun and Blake in what needs to be done so that he can finish off the Grimm.
• Chekhov's Gunman: He only physically appears in Volume 4, but in Volume 5, Blake mentions that she knows of a captain who can ferry a large number of Menagerie volunteers, bringing him to mind. Sure enough, a really large army of Faunus gathered by the Belladonas' efforts shows up as The Cavalry during the battle of Haven.
• Father Neptune: When the sea dragon Grimm attacks the ship, the crew are stunned, having never fought a Grimm that huge. The captain observes that no one has ever fought such a large Grimm before, and then calmly, efficiently, takes full command of the situation. He instructs the crew on how to fight, he strategises the use of the ship-board side-guns and main cannon, as well as turning the ship into a battering ram. He also takes command of the Huntsmen on board, instructing Blake and Sun on what he needs them to do for his ship to become effective against the fast-moving, flight-capable monster. No one questions his orders once he takes over, not even the anti-social Blake or mischief-making Sun, and it's his tactics that result in the defeat of the Grimm, rather than any plan the protagonists come up with.
• Manly Facial Hair: The captain has a full and shaggy white beard and side-burns, and full moustaches. It initially helps make him seem grandfatherly when he first tries to bring the anti-social Blake out of her shell, but once the sea dragon attacks, it helps give him a no-nonsense air, portraying him as a grizzled veteran when compared to his young crew and the two young Huntsmen that are travelling on the ship. Although even he has never heard of a Grimm this big, he calmly issues instructions and swiftly devises a plan to defeat it. He not only easily splits his attention between the movements of the Grimm, the effectiveness of the ship's side-guns, the ship's main cannon and his crew's activities, but he also takes command of Blake and Sun. It's his orders they follow to slow down the Grimm enough for his ship to become effective. Turning his ship into a battering ram, he pins the dragon to a sea stack and blows the creature's head off with the main cannon. It saves Blake and Sun's lives in the process.
• Nerves of Steel: The crew has never seen such a huge Grimm in all their time on the sea. The captain's response is to immediately take charge, rally the crew into performing their jobs, issue commands to both his crew and Huntsmen, when he realizes he has a couple on board. He can keep track of his ship, weapons, the coastline, two huntsmen and the Grimm to coordinate everything and destroy the Grimm with a killing blow. Not once does he lose his cool, or stop thinking and strategising.
• Ramming Always Works: His solution to the sea dragon boils down to having Blake and Sun cripple and draw its attention so he can ram the ship into it at full speed, stopping it in place so the main gun can finish it off.

Faunus Blacksmith

Voiced By: Chris Guerrero

Debut: The Next Step^* Volume 4 Episode 1

"Can't have a huntsman without his weapon."

A blacksmith who lives in a village on the continent of Anima. As payment for Ruby, Nora, Jaune and Ren saving the village from a Grimm, the blacksmith makes modifications to Jaune's weapons and armor.

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• The Blacksmith: He is the blacksmith of the village that is saved from the Grimm by Ruby, Nora, Jaune and Ren. As payment for their services, he makes modifications to Jaune's weapons and armor. He creates a border for the shield and a motif at the bottom of the shield. The sword gains a gold line down the center of the now sharpened blade and intricate design work at the cross-guard. The armor is made from scratch and is white with gold banding to match the weapons. He comments that the metal the team provided with is extremely high quality. The metal came from Pyrrha and the motif that's been added to Jaune's shield is in the shape of her tiara.
• Little Bit Beastly: He has bull-like horns growing out of his forehead above his eyes, identifying him as a Faunus.

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