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Salem's Faction
Salem
The faction's primary leader opposes the Guardians of Remnant and the Remnant Knights, and the former Winter Maiden.
The Queen of Darkness
- Big Bad: Just like in canon, Salem is the primary antagonist, serving as the Mistress of Grimm and being the root cause of the evil plaguing Remnant.
- The Beastmaster: Salem was shown to be able to exert control over the Grimm, such as when she summons the Gargoyles in Chapter 83.
- The Chessmaster: She's not above making use of proxies and pawns to covertly act against the Guardians of Remnant and the Knight Order, or causing widespread destruction and chaos, and makes sure that nothing can ever be traced back to her, including her motives and existence.
- Disappointed in You:
- To Cinder in Chapter 20.
- To Tyrian who failed to capture Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, and Pyrrha Nikos in Chapter 83.
- To Hazel in a flashback mentioned in Chapter 83.
- Disproportionate Retribution: What she does to Luc Arc and the other survivors of the mission to take out the second Grimm Queen.
- The Dreaded: EVERY single one of her minions fears her as much as they respect her. Notably when a large amount are taken into custody after the battle in Mistral, they all commit suicide rather than risk her wrath.
- Evil Is Petty: She has Sharp Strike's tribe annihilated partially because they defied her, but also as a team building exercise for her disciples. And that's not even getting into what she did to Luc Arc and the others involved in the strike team to take out the second Grimm Queen.
- Evil Mentor: To Cinder Fall, Thorn Branch, and Anastasia Bloom.
- Legacy Character: In this fic, Salem is the latest in a line of individuals that had held the title of the Mistress of Grimm.
- Pet the Dog: When Jaune manages to break Pyrrha's brainwashing she actually lets them have a moment together before ordering Pyrrha dragged away to be re brainwashed.
- Revenge: Her primary motive after she had been betrayed by the ones she trusted and loved back when she was the Winter Maiden.
- Tranquil Fury: To the point that when she actually looses her temper all of her minions leave the room rather than be caught in the blast radius.
- Woman Scorned: While the bulk of her hatred is directed towards those who sacrificed her and her Maiden sisters for the greater good, she also despised Luc Arc, who betrayed her back when she was the Winter Maiden in a Suicide Mission to kill the previous Mistress of Grimm. This unfortunately triggered a vicious cycle of pain and suffering that would last for quite some time as she works to destroy everything and everyone on Remnant upon the orders of The Darkness.
- You Have Failed Me For The Last Time: Minions have been known to commit suicide rather than face her wrath for failing. b
The Son of Salem
The Son of Salem
Debut: Chapter 55: Best Laid Plans
Reference Picture
Created from multiple corpses of various deceased individuals, the Son of Salem is the mysterious new silent bodyguard of the Mistress of Grimm.
- Cool Sword: Chaos Edge, which was mentioned to be forged from Salem's dark magic and infused with an Elder Grimm's essence.
- Implacable Man: Able to take a horrendous amount of punishment and still keeps on coming.
- Mook Horror Show: He pulled this off against an entire military base of Atlesian soldiers.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Delivers a brutal one to Damien Ante on Salem's orders in Chapter 83.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In Chapter 83, knowing that Salem is mad over certain revelations, the Son of Salem left with everyone else after being ordered by her to leave to avoid her wrath.
- Super-Strength: He's shown to have more than above average strength at times.
- The Faceless: He never takes off his mask, which was clearly shaped like that of a Grimm Wyvern.
- The Voiceless: The Son has never spoken a single word ever since his appearance in the fic.
- Undying Loyalty: Obeys Salem's commands to the letter.
Salem's Inner Circle
The Inner Circle is composed of the most powerful members of Salem's faction, who are all subordinates assisting her in her plans to subjugate all of Remnant. All four have very different personalities, motivations, and skillsets...and, while they all share the goal of furthering their leader's plans, that doesn't mean they always get along with each other.
Cinder Fall
The Flame Witch and Fall Maiden
Originally named Cinder Kasai, and current inheritor of the Fall Maiden's power. She's also the elder sister of Ashe Kasai.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed. Cinder remains villainous through and through, but she is capable of loving someone other than herself, even if she doesn't let that get in the way of her goals.
- Cain and Abel: The Cain to Ashe's Abel, given that she murders him.
- Due to the Dead: Asks the heroes to treat Ashe's body with courtesy.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Cinder, surprisingly despite everything she has done, still cares for her younger brother Ashe. She's quite uncomfortable about killing Ashe but eventually went through with it because she couldn't disobey her master Salem, and because she has already chosen her fate.
- Ignored Epiphany: Realizes that Salem lied to her and used her, and that she's only a pawn. However her desire for power causes her to instead try to overthrow Salem rather than join the heroes.
- The Starscream: As of Chapter 54, Cinder plots to overthrow Salem and make the world hers.
- That Man Is Dead: This line below practically screams the trope.
- Cinder: I beg to differ, little Ashe. She helped me become the Fall Maiden, she gave me powers most can't even begin to comprehend. Destiny is oh so real! I am no longer Cinder Kasai, I am Cinder Fall!
Dr. Arthur Watts
Arthur Watts
- Jerkass
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate
- Non-Action Guy: Subverted. He directly took part in the massacre of Sharp Strike's tribe ten years before, and proves fairly capable in combat.
- Smug Snake: Albeit an incredibly competent one.
Tyrian Callows
- Axe-Crazy: Notably, he's the only one of Salem's crew who gets along with Norvik.
Hazel Rainhart
Cinder's Disciples
Emerald Sustrai
Cinder's loyal disciple.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Emerald, being loyal to Cinder, is uncomfortable with the rest of Salem's Inner Circle like Tyrian, Dr. Giger, Norvik, and Damien Ante, not to mention not taking Salem's punishment for Cinder (leaving Ruby's scythe scar on her face) with regards to her failure in Haven well at all.
- Undying Loyalty: To Cinder Fall. Her loyalty is so strong that Cinder trusts her to gather allies in her plan to overthrow Salem.
Mercury Black
- This Is Wrong on So Many Levels!: Mercury, surprisingly, feels this way when he mentions Salem creating the Son from the body parts of various deceased individuals.
Salem's Maiden Candidates
Anastasia Bloom
Art by jkphantom9
Anastasia Bloom
Debut: Chapter 50: The Beacon Lights Again Part I: Meetings
Salem's candidate for the Spring Maiden- Agent Peacock: Despite full of herself she IS still a dangerous warrior, managing to actually overpower Neo in their fight.
- Fallen Princess: Her family was well off before the Schnee's bought them out.
- It's All About Me: Is noted to be very selfish even compared to the rest of the faction.
- It's Personal: LOATHES the Schnee family considerably.
- Jerkass
Thorn Branch
Art by jkphantom9
Thorn Branch
Chosen Voice Actress: Jordan Reyne
Debut: Chapter 50: The Beacon Lights Again Part I: Meetings
Salem's candidate for the Summer Maiden- An Arm and a Leg: Lost her right arm from elbow down to Sharp Strike's relic sword when he cleaved it off during a fight in Chapter 76.
- Combat Pragmatist
- Even Evil Has Standards: Is notably disgusted by Alan Crawford's actions; when she goes back on her word to spare him it's as much out of contempt for his crimes as it pragmatism. She's also notably remorseful in letting Garrett Odinson die.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Was originally one of Garrett Odinson's enforcers before Salem recruited her into the cause.
- Guns Akimbo: Her custom weapons are two pistols.
- Teens Are Monsters: Started out as a hit woman when she was a teenager.
- Teleport Spam: One of her favorite tactics.
Other Associates
Roman Torchwick
An infamous crime boss in Vale who worked under Cinder. Before he is eaten alive by a Grimm in his last battle with Ruby, he leaves instructions for Neo to turn on Salem should something happen to him.
- Posthumous Character: Already dead by the time the story begins, but his death ends up motivating Neo to sabotage Salem's forces and help her former enemies.
Damien Ante
Left: jkphantom9'sinterpretation, Right:UGX7's interpretation
interpretation, Right:UGX7's interpretationDamien Ante
Chosen Voice Actor: Jason Saldana
Debut: Chapter 1: The Journey's Next Step (mentioned), Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods (full appearance)
Damien Ante is a notorious crime boss of Haven City in Mistral. He had previous connections with Roman Torchwick.- Ax-Crazy
- Benevolent Boss: He's loyal to his Enforcers who in turn are loyal to him as well.
- Evil Virtues: Loyalty. He genuinely cares for his soldiers, and even goes so far as to help Ashe defeat Saul when Saul murders one of his soldiers.
- Explosive Leash: Damien gets one from Salem in the form of a microscopic explosive device implanted into his neck due to the fact he released the Grimm Chimera early which killed Victor Giger.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Ante (temporarily) lost his arm due to Jaune impaling the crime boss's hand with his explosive daggers and Yang shooting it.
- Sadist: Undoubtedly.
- Slimeball: Emerald says that Torchwick was more likable than Ante, while Cinder herself seems to dread the idea of working with him.
Dr. Victor Giger
Dr. Victor Giger
Chosen Voice Actor: Udo Kier
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods (mention), Chapter 3: The City of Haven (full appearance)
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Giger is killed by the Grimm Chimera monster he created.
- Mad Scientist: What do you expect from someone who shares the same name as the artist who created the Xenomorphs from Alien?
Dr. Yiro West
Yiro West
Chosen Voice Actor: Dee Bradley Baker
Debut: Chapter 3: The City of Haven
A science of various fields and assistant to both Giger and Sherizawa. Dr. Toma Sherizawa
Toma Sherizawa
Chosen Voice Actor: Troy Baker
Debut: Chapter 1: The Journey's Next Step (mention)
- Evil Is Petty: Jumped ship in part because he was upset that Weiss defeated his Atlas Armor prototype
- For Science!: The other reason he joined up is because it gave him the chance to do whatever experiments he wanted without ANY limitations.
- I Gave My Word: One of his only redeeming qualities. He says that he'll spare innocent civilians at the weapons factory if the lead scientist cooperates; when the scientist does he leaves the prisoners unharmed.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: One of Salem's resident mad scientists; in fact a large part of his reason for joining up was the ability to do whatever the hell he wanted without any ethical constraints.
- The Sociopath
Dr. Isaiah Cadmus
Saul Jude
Saul Jude
Chosen Voice Actor: Tony Todd
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods (flashback cameo), Chapter 8: The Pieces Come Together (hologram)
An insane drug lord and Ashe's personal nemesis.- Artificial Limbs/Good Prosthetic, Evil Prosthetic: Has a mechanical right hand that can transform into a hook.
- Ax-Crazy: No shit.
- Freudian Excuse: For all that he's a piece of shit, it's made clear that he was an innocent child before Azrael exposed his soul to hell for shits and giggles.
- Would Hurt a Child: Killed Mila when she was pregnant with Ashe's childnote . He also threatened an elementary school full of children.
Matilda
Debut: Chapter 3: The City of Haven
The head Grimm Keeper of Salem Calabrese
Garrett Odinson
Garrett Odinson
Chosen Voice Actor: Mark Hamill
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Cared for Nora's parents and Nora herself, to the point that he genuinely regretted his role in their deaths. This is what allows Nora to get him to talk when Atlas's most experienced interrogators failed.
- Klingon Promotion: Killed his predecessor Hyman Dall.
- Morality Pet: Cares deeply for Nora, to the point that it's her asking him that gets him to finally confess his crimes to the Atlesian authorities despite knowing it'll provoke Salem's wrath.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Puts on a facade of being a respectable businessman to conceal his crimes.
- You Killed My Father: Indirectly caused the death of Nora's parents; when they fled to tell Ozpin he told Salem, who unleashed the Nucklavee in order to silence them.
The Grimm Commanders
Sheer Kaa
Art by jkphantom9
Sheer Kaa
Chosen Voice Actor: Idris Elba
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods
Grimm Commander of the Sabers- Evil Mentor: Was one of Pyrrha's trainers when she was brainwashed.
- Human Popsicle: He and Steppenwolffe spend ten years in cryostasis until their aura healed their wounds.
- Noble Demon: Has a strong sense of honor despite being on the bad guy's side.
- Revenge: One of his primary motivations.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Believes that the world is well and truly broken and that Salem's actions will create a better world free of war and bloodshed.
Steppenwolffe
Steppenwolffe
Art by jkphantom9
Chosen Voice Actor: Pete Postlethwaite
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods
Grimm Commander of the Beowolves- Evil Mentor: Was Pyrrha's teacher when she was brainwashed.
- Fallen Hero: Once fought for Faunus liberation.
- Fantastic Racism: While he makes exceptions for Ziz Mavis and Pyrrha he does not have a positive view of humans on the whole. As it later turns out, he doesn't even care about Salem's revolution and just wants to kill as many humans as he can, especially the Schnees.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has scars on his back from Dr. Giger's surgeries.
- Noble Demon: Has a sense of honor like Sheer Kaa.
Ziz
Art by jkphantom9
Ziz
Chosen Voice Actress: Marÿke Hendrikse
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods
Grimm Commander of the Nevermores- Body Horror: Her appearance is disturbing, to say the least. She has the black wings of an adolescent Nevermore grafted onto her body and made a part of her bone and muscle structure. Like the other Grimm Commanders, her skin is bone white, black veins covered her body as well as the blood-red eyes.
- Heel–Face Turn: While she still aligns with Salem, she goes out of her way to help the heroes after learning that her teammates HAD tried to save her only to die in the process.
- Left for Dead: Her backstory; her team thought she died after a particularly hard battle with a flock of Nevermore. Salem saved her and gave her a new life as a Grimm Commander.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When she learns that her team HADN'T actually abandoned her (and in fact had died trying to save her) she comes to regret her misanthropy.
Anansi
Mavis
Art by jkphantom9
Mavis
Chosen Voice Actress: Melissa Fahn
Debut: Chapter 50: The Beacon Lights Again Part I: Meetings
Grimm Commander of the Sirens- Left for Dead: Her backstory involved being left for dead tied to her own parents' bodies.
- Tragic Villain: Mavis was originally the daughter of servants aboard an Atlesian yacht. A Pirate Captain attacked and massacred the crew (her parents among them) and tied Mavis to her parents when she hit him before throwing them in the ocean to drown.
Norvik
Art by jkphantom9
Norvik
Chosen Voice Actor: Robert Englund
Debut: Chapter 1: The Journey's First Step
Grimm Chimera Commander and personal nemesis of Ozpin.- Arch-Enemy: Serves as one to Ozpin.
- Autocannibalism: Once his soul is transferred to the Chimera's body, his first request to Salem is for him to consume his original human body, which noticeably disgusts all of Salem's followers.
- Ax-Crazy: He's so unhinged, that even those who serve Salem (with the possible exception of Tyrian) are disturbed by him.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For all that he's a terrible person it's implied that a part of him still mourns his brother (who was killed as a result of his father's negligence and cruelty).
- The Friend No One Likes: Tied in with Axe-Crazy. EVERYONE (Except Tyrian) thinks he's a monster.
- Freudian Excuse: While he's implied to have been somewhat sociopathic from the beginning, it's later revealed that his father was an abusive huntsman obsessed with his legacy. After forcing Norvik and his brother to go through Training from Hell he locked them outside and let their fear attract the Grimm; Norvik's brother died from his wounds, and because his father had a good reputation everyone believed his blatantly false story.
- Self-Made Orphan: It's revealed that his very first victim was his abusive father; unlike his other victims, Norvik's father fully deserved it.
- Serial Killer: Was this before Ozpin defeated him 44 years earlier.
- Shout-Out: To the Gemini Killer of Exorcist III.
Fotia Drakos
Fotia Drakos
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods
Reference Picture
A Grimm Wyvern Commander who was abused as a child and taken in by Salem's forces... or so she thought. She is actually Pyrrha Nikos, who was teleported by Cinder to Salem's base to be brainwashed and transformed into a loyal Grimm Commander.
- Affably Evil: Always polite and well-spoken to her allies. Given that she's actually Pyrrha, it makes sense.
- The Beastmaster: Fotia becomes one to the Wyvern Grimm, and it remains loyal to her even when she regains her memories and turns on Salem.
- Knight Templar: Fotia believes the world is a rotten place to live in, and only working with Salem will make it better.
Ante's Enforcers
Reference Picture
Being the notorious crime boss of Haven City, Damien Ante has his own elite group of shock troops known as The Enforcers.
Lao
Lao
Chosen Voice Actor: James Sei
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods
Zane Zhan
Zane Zhan
Chosen Voice Actor/:' Jean Reno
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods
- Even Evil Has Standards: He's so disturbed by Saul Jude's cruelty and sadism, he outright refuses to carry out his order to make Ashe suffer from his illusions. Unfortunately, this gets him killed by Jude.
- Master of Illusion: His semblance.
Douglas Blade
Douglas Blade
Chosen Voice Actor: Grant Goodeve
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods
Trooper
Trooper (real name Alexander Camos)
Chosen Voice Actor: Steve Blum
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods
- Even Evil Has Standards: Trooper is evidently uncomfortable with how Salem treats those who worked for her, especially after witnessing the actions of Salem's associates which led to the deaths of other Enforcers, as well as Ante's punishment. It eventually planted a seed of doubt which saw him secretly helping the heroes whenever he can. It eventually gets to the point he joins in with Cinder's rebellion, not that he had a proper choice.
- I Did What I Had to Do: How he justifies mercy-killing Fireball.
- Mercy Kill: He gave one to Fireball after the latter Enforcer got himself immolated in flames.
- Villain Respect: Trooper acknowledged Ruby's strength while apologizing that she had become a killer like him.
Little Steve
Merrick
Tom-Tom
Tom-Tom
Chosen Voice Actor/Actress: Nathan Vetterlein
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods
Fireball
Fireball
Chosen Voice Actor/Actress:
Debut: Chapter 2: Alone in the Woods
- Body Horror: A past skirmish with a Grimm Ursa had caused an accident with his flamethrower, which resulted in severe third-degree burns all over his body.
- Kill It with Fire: Pretty much his modus operandi.
The Red Fang
Commander Hui
Hui
Debut: Chapter 5: Isolation
A bear Faunus and one of Adam Taurus' lieutenants.- Undying Loyalty: To Adam Taurus.
Lieutenant Ilia Amitola
A cheetah faunus with artificially given chameleon traits.
- Adaptational Species Change: Because the fanfiction was written long before we were introduced to Faunus with non-mammalian animal traits, Ilia here is a cheetah faunus who was artificially given chameleon traits.
- Not So Above It All: Despite being opposed to the Red Fang's more violent methods, she does take some satisfaction in the downfall of Alan Crawford and his cronies (as well as the humiliation of one of her former tormentors when it gets out that her dad was one of those cronies.)
- We Used to Be Friends: When she was at Atlas Prep her best friend was Vera Nordstrom, a racist rich girl who turned on her when Ilia's Faunus heritage was revealed.
- Who's Laughing Now?: Shows some shades of this when Vera Nordstrom (her ex friend turned tormenter) has her reputation destroyed on account of her father helping to commit mass murder.
The Sin Commanders
Wrath
Pride
Greed
Lust
Envy
Gluttony
Sloth
