WARNING: Unmarked spoilers ahead.
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Protagonists
All:- Adaptational Heroism: In the canon RWBY series these characters are sadistic, wrathful monsters obsessed with revenge, power, and control; as opposed to this version which has them as helpful heroes looking to overthrow the villainous dictatorship.
- La Résistance: The team opposes the tyranny controlling Remnant and seek to abolish it.
Cinder Fall
Cinder Fall is the second-in-command of the Resistance against Lord Ozpin, leading her team in the hopes of surviving and creating a better Remnant.
- All-Loving Hero: Cinder is all-around caring, smart, helpful, and loyal, and will do anything for her team of the good of her world.
- Eyepatch of Power: After losing her eye to the Reaper, Cinder now wears a patch or a roll of bandages to cover the wound.
- Flashback Nightmare: Cinder has nightmares about the Bombing of Beacon.
- Heroic BSoD: Cinder was traumatized by her encounter with the Reaper that cost her her eye; when she is forced to confront the Reaper again, she freezes in her tracks and can do nothing but silently panic.
- Kansas City Shuffle: Cinder comes up with one to attack Beacon Laboratory :
"If we set up that there's some kind of mass revolt at Haven, one that we caused, one Lionheart and his men can't contain, Lord Ozpin will send Huntsmen, Huntresses, guards, soldiers… anyone he can to make sure that they, and by extension, we, don't escape. He'll think he has the entire Resistance cornered, when in actuality, we'll still be here, blowing up Beacon Laboratory!"
- Rebel Leader: Tough Salem is technically the real leader, Cinder serves as the de facto leader after Salem loses her sanity.
- Trauma Button: Cinder is nice and will put up with a lot, but loses her cool if someone mention how she lost her eye; she'll either get extremely anxious or, in the worst cases, violent.
Salem
Salem is the leader of the Resistance and Cinder's idol. Unfortunately, Lord Ozpin did something to her during the Bombing of Beacon, resulting in her to lose her mind and become paranoid and insane.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Salem has lost her mind, and now is completely disconnected from reality.
- Driven to Madness: Salem used to be not only sane, but wise and intelligent. Whatever Lord Ozpin did to her messed her up bad.
- Rebel Leader: Salem is the leader of the Resistance, and remains in that position despite her insanity.
- Talkative Loon: Salem usually rambles nonsense due to her insanity.
- Troubled Fetal Position: Salem has a habit of sitting in a fetal position and rocking back and forth.
- Wasteland Elder: Salem leads the Resistance through the dystopian Remnant; at least she used to.
Mercury Black
Mercury is a member of the Resistance.
- Byronic Hero: While he is, at his core, a hero who just wants to protect others, Mercury is also brooding, cynical, and rude due to his grim outlook on life.
- The Cynic: Mercury hates the world he lives in, and any decision that he dos not see benefit in he is quick to dismiss and deconstruct.
- Good Is Not Nice: Mercury is easily the most rude and cynical of the Resistance members, talking back to his leaders, yelling at teammates, and even bringing up traumatic events to get his point across.
Emerald Sustrai
Emerald is a member of the Resistance.
- The Caretaker: While everyone chips in to take care of Salem, Emerald and Neo seem to be the one to do it the most, comforting Salem during rough times and making sure she remains safe and healthy.
Roman Torchwick
Roman is a member of the Resistance.
- Cigar Chomper: Roman loves to smoke cigars, and usually has one around the base.
- Mistaken for Romance: Roman and Neopolitan are extremely close partners and friends, to the point that people suspect they are in love, but they never say either way and have no concrete evidence that they are, in fact, lovers.
Neopolitan
Neopolitan, also called Neo, is a member of the Resistance.
- The Caretaker: Neo loves and looks after Salem, and is probably the one who cares about her the most."She seemed to be the one who loved Salem the most; sharing the same room, helping her with her medicine, and calming her down when she got disturbed. Neo was the kind of person you could always count on to put others before herself."
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Neo's is killed by the Reaper when the latter stabs her through the chest with a scythe blade. As if that was not enough, the Reaper proceeds to slice Neo in half down the middle, leaving her as two bloody halves on the street.
- Cute Mute: Neo is a chipper and friendly girl, but never says a word.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Neo gives her life to save the rest of her team from the Reaper.
- Mistaken for Romance: Roman and Neopolitan are extremely close partners and friends, to the point that people suspect they are in love, but they never say either way and have no concrete evidence that they are, in fact, lovers.
- The Speechless: Neo never talks; no one is quite sure why, but she's still cheerful and chipper nonetheless.
- Parasol of Pain: Neo's signature weapon is a reinforced parasol.
Adam Taurus
Adam Taurus is the ex-leader of the White Fang and later a member of the Resistance.
- The Infiltration: Adam Taurus actually was the leader of the White Fang, but after the organization was usurped from him and he witnessed the Bombing of Beacon, he secretly joined with the Resistance, but remained undercover in the White Fang.
Antagonists
All:- Adaptational Villainy: In the canon RWBY series most of these characters are helpful heroes, brave warriors, and gentile protectors. However, now they are sadistic killers, corrupt businessmen, and bloodthirsty tyrants.
- Downplayed with Yang, who used to be a genuinely good girl no different from canon. Until Ruby enslaved her and broke her, that is.
Lord Ozpin
- Big Bad: He is the ruler of Remnant, is the commander of the Huntsmen and Huntresses, and is responsible for Remnant’s state.
- The Sociopath: He is a ruthless tyrant who demands respect and seeks power at any cost, ruling a dictatorship over Remnant and forming elite armies of warriors to snuff out any resistance and ensure his place of power. He bombs Vale as a demonstration of his power and authority, and outlaws anything that displeases him, including romance in the ranks of his enforcers.
Ruby Rose
Ruby Rose, also known as the Reaper, is a sadistic serial killer that wanders Remant looking for victims.
- Alliterative Name: Her first and last name start with "R".
- Ax-Crazy: Ruby only wants to kill.
- Cain and Abel: While both her and Yang are villains, she's the Cain to Yang's Abel. Ruby is pure evil, in contrast to Yang's status as an Anti-Villain.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Almost any of Ruby's victims suffer from this at her hand, but Yang gets the worst of it by being tortured day and night by being beaten, forced to lick Ruby's boots, and forced to fight for her "mistress".
- Evil Gloating: Ruby likes to bring up past kills and mutilations a lot.
- Evil Wears Black: Ruby dresses in a black outfit with a skirt, described as "the color of a moonless midnight".
- Faux Affably Evil: Ruby behaves much like the Genki Girl she's in canon, and affectionately calls La Résistance her "besties", but it doesn't hide the Ax-Crazy monster underneath.
- Godhood Seeker: As explained in her prologue, her objective is to surpass humanity, then Grimm and finally Gods.
- Hate Sink: In complete contrast to canon Ruby, who was designed to be loved by the audience, the Reaper is a black hole of redeeming qualities and performs deeds only the worst minds could come up with as casually as breathing.
- Kick the Dog: To start, she murdered her defenseless innocent mother and then goes to kick so many dogs she might as well have set an animal shelter ablaze.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: She's nicknamed "The Reaper". It's more than appropriate.
- Laughing Mad: Ruby likes to have a good laugh after she’s cut someone to pieces.
- Obviously Evil: In stark contrast to her canon counterpart.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: While not covered in detail, it's clear she raped a teenage boy who she later orders Yang to kill.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: Aside from her pitch-black outfit, Ruby also wears a blood red cape and hood.
- Red Baron: "The Reaper".
- Self-Made Orphan: Ruby begins her life of crime by violently killing her own parents.
- Serial Killer: Ruby Rose is a traveling serial killer who attacks anyone she comes across for the sole purpose of cutting them to pieces.
- Sinister Scythe: Ruby's signature weapon is a massive collapsible scythe, usually bloodstained.
- Slasher Smile: Ruby brandishes a toothy grin when she feels she has the upper hand.
- The Sociopath: Ruby seeks to surpass gods by becoming the most evil being in existence, leading her ego to only be overshadowed by her bloodlust.
- Villain Protagonist: Ruby serves as the main character of her prequel chapter, "Red Dawn".
- Would Hurt a Child: Has no qualms about killing infants.
Weiss Schnee
Weiss Schnee is the stern and cold leader of the Schnee Dust Company.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Weiss runs her company with an iron fist, forcing slaves to work for her and dealing in questionable business practices.
- Fantastic Racism: Weiss absolutely hates Faunus and sees them as no more than slaves, and even then thinks that slavery is too good for them.Weiss: So buzz off, beast.
Blake: Schnee. Your company has been a thorn in Faunus’ sides even before the White Fang.
Weiss: I know. We’ve treated you things with no less care than you deserve.
Blake: You use Faunus slave labor! And soon, you will pay for that, you and your entire species!
Weiss: ‘Slave labor’ she calls it. You things aren’t deserving of the right to be called slaves. I simply see you as beasts of burden; you have no say. You have no rights. And you never will, creature! - Villain Protagonist: Weiss serves as the main character of her prequel chapter, "Cold Front".
Blake Belladonna
Blake Belladonna is the wrathful and misanthropic leader of the White Fang.
- Alliterative Name: Her first and last name start with "B".
- Cat Ninja: Blake is a cat Faunus who fights much like a ninja, using sword-like blades and specializing in stealth.
- Cool Mask: Blake wears a white mask over the upper half of her face.
- Evil Wears Black: Blake often dresses in a black uniform.
- Fantastic Racism: Blake hates humans and desires to wipe them off the face of Remnant, hoping for a Faunus-controlled world.
- I Want Them Alive!: Blake wants to ensure that no harm comes to Adam Taurus; she wants to do that herself.
- Perpetual Frowner: Blake is almost never happy, and her expression is either serious or one of rage.
- The Starscream: Blake was second-in-command of the White Fang, but used her wit to usurp the organization from Adam Taurus.
- Superior Species: She believes Faunus to be superior to humans, and desires to create a Faunus-controlled Remnant.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: Adam Taurus intended for the White Fang to be a peaceful symbol of protest, but after Blake took over, she transformed the group into a terrorist organization bent on human genocide.
- Villain Protagonist: Blake serves as the main character of her prequel chapter, "From Shadows".
- Woman Scorned: Adam's departure from the White Fang is something Blake hasn't taken well and she remains obsessed with him to the present day.
Yang Xiao Long
Yang Xiao Long is the unwilling, but brainwashed and tortured slave to Ruby Rose.
- An Arm and a Leg: Concluding her fight with Ruby after the latter murdered her parents, Ruby cuts off both of Yang's arms with her scythe blade.
- Anti-Villain: She's not evil per se, but Ruby enslaving and torturing her turned her into a broken woman that will not hesitate to attack if Ruby tells her to.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Yang has been psychologically tormented and programed to obey Ruby. She even has a trigger phrase that, when Ruby says it, causes her to attack.
- Break the Badass: Yang used to be a formidable fighter and athlete, training to become a soldier. After Ruby kills her parents, Yang stands up to her and gives her a good fight. However, she is defeated and loses her arms and eyes to Ruby, who then proceeds to break her by keeping her as a slave and trophy pet.
- Cain and Abel: While both her and Ruby are villains, Yang is the Abel to Ruby's Cain. Yang starts out as a good girl no different from canon and is only Forced into Evil, while Ruby is pure evil and the one who made Yang a villain in the first place.
- The Dreaded: Blake decides to flee upon engaging her (outright referring her as the Reaper's maniac), Jaune and Pyrrha are unnerved by her, and this is understandable : she did gave them quite a fight. It's even implied Ruby herself feared her half-sister : she noticed after their fight that Yang was too good of a worthy opponent.
- Eye Scream: Yang had both of her eyes cut out by Ruby's scythe blade.
- Handicapped Badass: Losing her eyes and arms doesn't makes Yang any less of a fighter. As soon as Ruby says "sic 'em", Yang goes berserk.
- Made a Slave: After losing her eyes and arms, Yang is turned into a slave and trophy pet for Ruby.
- Manchurian Agent: As soon as Ruby says "sic 'em", Yang is on the warpath.
- Protagonist Journey to Villain: "365.5" describes Yang's unwilling downfall from enthusiastic huntress wannabe to Ruby's slave.
- Slave Collar: Yang is forced to wear a metal collar with a chain on it. Considering it was meant for a small dog, it is understandably too tight.
- Slave Mook: Yang never wanted to be evil, but is forced to serve Ruby and even conditioned to attack at her command.
- Tragic Villain: While Yang is an antagonist and will attack when ordered to, she really is a scapegoat who witnessed her younger half-sister kill her stepmother and father, lost her eyes and arms to her, and is forced into a life of torture and endless abuse at Ruby's hand.
- Trigger Phrase: Yang is Ruby's unwilling victim, but years of psychological reconditioning have given her a violent attack mode, which Ruby can bring about by telling her to "sic 'em".
- Villain Protagonist: Yang serves as the main character of her prequel chapter, "365.5"
- Worthy Opponent: While she kept mocking her and hitting below the belt, Ruby also noted in her mind that Yang was actually a worthy opponent. Too good of one, in fact.
