Characters / RWBY: Ozpin and Oscar

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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Ozpin and Oscar Pine

"I have a grave responsibility to uphold. We both do."

"I am the combination of countless men who spent their lives trying to protect the people of Remnant."

In times long since forgotten, the warrior Ozma was a young man who only fought for what was right. That is, until the day he first met Salem. From that meeting would spawn a conflict that has spanned countless generations of men, all dedicated to stopping Salem.

In the present day, the leaders of this quest are Professor Ozpin and his unassuming heir, a young farm boy called Oscar Pine.

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Professor Ozpin

Professor Ozpin

Voiced By: Shannon McCormick^{Foreign VAs} Kazuhiko Inoue (Japanese)

Debut: Ruby Rose^* Volume 1 Episode 1

"But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten; things that require a smaller, more honest soul."

^{Click here to see his original incarnation} 

"There are indeed a misguided few who have filled their hearts with malice. It doesn't take a great number of people to cause harm, but I still believe there are far more people in this world willing to prevent it."

The headmaster of Beacon Academy, Ozpin is an enigmatic man with a mysterious past. He is the leader of a secret, international group of Huntsmen who protect the world from hidden and dangerous threats.

When fighting, Ozpin uses his cane "The Long Memory" like a rapier to make blisteringly quick strikes.

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• Affectionate Nickname: James Ironwood and Qrow Branwen, who have apparently known him for a long time, both call him "Oz".
• Armor-Piercing Question: Ironwood's response to the danger facing humanity is to bring a large army to protect Vale, but it takes him a long time to understand why Ozpin, Glynda, and Qrow disapprove. He only understands during a group argument that ends when Ozpin asks him a question that emphasizes how armies unsettle people enough to generate the kind of negative atmosphere that will attract the Grimm.
  "There's an energy in the air now, a question in the back of everyone's minds: if this is the size of our defenses, what is it we're expecting to fight?"
• Badass Teacher: Towards the end of Volume 3, Ozpin counters Cinder's enormous power with just his Semblance and takes a direct hit from the full force of her magic. Fighting in pitch darkness, with only the occasional flare of light from their powers, doesn't even slow Ozpin down; when the scene cuts out, Ozpin is easily pushing back Cinder's power and appears to be winning. When Salem learns Cinder killed Ozpin, she is suspicious, strongly implying that she thinks Ozpin should not have lost.
• Barrier Warrior: While dueling with Cinder at the end of Volume 3, Ozpin employs a range of tactics and abilities both in defense and offence while fighting her, including the ability to create a large, domed shield around himself that is translucent green in color and throws off green energy sparks. Although he initially slams his cane into the ground to form it, he can also maintain the barrier while moving.
• Beneath the Mask: The model of unflappable patience, kindness, and good humour, he remains level-headed even when upset or angry, and always encourages people to have hope for humanity's goodness and future. The first cracks in this mask appear in Volume 5 when he struggles to maintain optimism in front of a gloomy Qrow. Only when Jinn exposes his secret in Volume 6 does it become clear how fragile his hope and optimism has become in the face of repeated tragedy and betrayal — and that humanity's very survival depends on his waning ability to defy despair.
• Been There, Shaped History: A number of Ozpin's previous incarnations have shaped both world events and folklore. For example: he was the Old Wizard who created the Four Maidens in The Story of the Seasons; he is heavily implied to have been the King of Vale, who ended the Great War and created the world's current system of governance, including the Huntsman Academies; and one of his predecessors came up with the idea of suspending Atlas in the sky with the Relic of Creation.
• Big Good: As Beacon headmaster, he oversees the training of the next generation of defenders and is the senior headmaster; even though generals are implied to outrank headmasters, even General Ironwood defers to Ozpin. He leads a secret brotherhood whose job it is to protect the Maidens and Relics from Salem's evil, having been tasked by the God of Light with redeeming humanity for an ancient wrong they committed against the gods. He has walked the earth for thousands of years, endlessly reincarnating in his search for a way to unite humanity in peace.
• Big "NO!": Ozpin has developed a habit of keeping secrets and only telling others what he thinks they need to know. While he admits that he has learned over time to obfuscate the truth, he still doesn't stop doing it. When Team RWBY becomes tired of him lying or not giving them the full story, Ruby decides to ask the Relic of Knowledge for the truth about Ozpin. As soon as Ozpin realizes what Ruby is doing, he yells "No!" and charges at Ruby, shocking them all with his uncharacteristic behaviour. The Relic itself thwarts him.
• Broken Pedestal: Ozpin keeps the truth Salem is unkillable secret because he's so used to friends and allies turning on him when they learn the truth: Raven abandoned him, Leo turned traitor, and even the heroes turn on him when they learn the truth. The loss of Qrow's Undying Loyalty breaks him, and he locks himself so deep inside Oscar's mind that even Oscar can't reach him. In Volume 7, Oscar tells Ironwood that the reason Ozpin kept this secret is that he's afraid it'll cause people to lose all hope. During the climax of Volume 8 when he talks to the heroes again however, Ozpin makes up with the group and becomes a Rebuilt Pedestal.
• Brutal Honesty: His induction speech abrasively states the students standing before him are wasting themselves and it's up to them, not the teachers, to do something about it. Later on, he bluntly states that the first thing the students will do is throw themselves headlong into battle against deadly forces and that if they wish to survive, they better kill anything that moves because the teachers will not come to their rescue.
• Cane Fu: When Ozpin fights, he uses his cane like a fencing sword. He is capable of fighting at such a high speed, he can turn multiple projectiles flying towards him into dust without them hitting him, and can strike an opponent so fast they can't react in time to parry the cane. He can also slam the cane into the ground to create protective barriers.
• The Chains of Commanding: While he feels the weight of his responsibilities, he rarely shows them openly, with them only coming out in occasionally distant moods. He admits to Ruby that he's made "more mistakes than any man, woman, or child" on Remnant. And he's not lying. Being thousands of years old means it's chronologically impossible for anyone else to make as many mistakes as Ozpin.
• Character Narrator: In the pilot episode "Ruby Rose", a female narrator describes the world of Remnant; her cynicism and bitterness is countered by a more positive and optimistic male narrator, who is quickly introduced as Professor Ozpin. He also narrates Volume 3's world-building World of Remnant episodes, as well as most of the RWBY: Fairy Tales episodes, appearing on-screen in the fifth episode to conclude his narration with bitterness and despair.
• Child Prodigy: Ozpin is famous for having been a child prodigy, which enabled him to become one of the youngest headmasters appointed to an academy. Raven claims he rigged the system; he designed the Academies as the King of Vale, then filled them with people who are loyal solely to him. He himself admits to Team RNJR that the headmasters of the other Academies traditionally follow his orders because he arranges to have lieutenants he can trust during a time of reincarnation.
• The Chooser of the One: Faced with a de-powered and dying Fall Maiden, Ozpin searches for a replacement who possesses the necessary compassion, ability, and mindset to accept the power. For that role, he selects Pyrrha. Years ago, he decided Team STRQ had the necessary abilities to be drafted into his war against Salem. He took Qrow and Raven and gave them the ability to transform into their namesake birds. He's even the person who created the first Maidens; in other words, he's the "wizard" in the Seasons fairy tale.
• The Chosen One: An ancient conflict between the gods and Salem has left humanity a shattered remnant of its former glory. The God of Light tasked the great hero Ozma to guide humanity towards The Day of Reckoning: unite people in harmony and prove to the gods that humanity can be redeemed; if he fails, both humanity and Remnant itself will be destroyed. The God of Light decided to make Ozma reincarnate over and over into the bodies of living men to ensure that Ozma would never be alone. Professor Ozpin was the inheritor of this divine mission until responsibility passed to Oscar. The catch is that uniting humanity is impossible as long as Salem exists... and Salem is impossible to kill.
• Classy Cane: To go with Ozpin's smart, dark-green suit, is a dark, silver-topped cane named The Long Memory. The silver handle of the cane has a delicate vine-like pattern flowing down it. Where the handle joins the shaft are cogs and a silver lever. Although it complements his appearance, he can also use it in battle, wielding it like a rapier and using it as a focus to produce a barrier that can even stop the full force of a Maiden's power. This kind of use does not require activating either the lever or cogs. In Mistral, Ruby even asks if the cane is actually one of the Relics; Ozpin laughingly denies this, but enigmatically states it has a few tricks up its sleeve. In Atlas, one of those tricks is revealed: The Long Memory can store kinetic energy and has been doing so for many of Oz's lifetimes. Once unleashed, the bulk of it reduces Salem (briefly), the Monstra and most Grimm invading Atlas to dust.
• Clock Punk: Gears are a motif of his. His office is in the heart of the clock tower and as such the gears and cogs are everywhere. Even his desk is made of gears, and his chair is designed to give him the appearance of gear-themed wings. His cane also contains exposed gears at the base of the handle that is both an aesthetic and which have a number of uses in the function of his cane.
• Clock Tower: Beacon Academy's tallest tower and his office, with the clock's face acting as a large window.
• Cool Old Guy: He bribes Ruby with cookies when they first meet, gives her a kind speech about The Chains of Commanding when Ruby is uncertain of her place as leader of Team RWBY, and tries to ease her social anxiety by comparing dancing to her favorite activity, fighting. He knows Blake is deeply troubled about the White Fang and offers her a shoulder to lean on should she ever need it.
• Cool Teacher: Ozpin is a very laid-back teacher, who often imparts his wisdom to students. He advises Ruby on leadership and the value of relaxation; encourages Blake to confide in him because he can see how troubled she is; and gently interviews Velvet after Team CFVY's disastrous mission in Lower Cairn, not only tolerating her team-mates barging into the room to interrupt them but apologising for not preparing them better for their mission.
• Crazy-Prepared: Oz founded the Huntsman Academies to train future generations for combat, hiding a Relic in a secret vault within each school so they're constantly guarded by veteran warriors and can only be accessed by specific Maidens. Professor Lionheart can't simply hand over Haven's Relic when he defects to Salem, and extra protections for the Relic of Choice means that Salem can't retrieve Beacon's Relic even when she takes control of both the school and relevant Maiden. Oz embeds allies in kingdom power structures so that he still has powerful allies whenever he reincarnates, and gave Qrow orders to recover his cane should he die so his next host can retrieve it; this enables Oz to return to fight as Oscar much faster than anyone expected.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Ozpin once admits to Ruby that he's made more mistakes than any man, woman or child on the planet; she eventually learns this is not hyperbole. He has been reincarnating for thousands of years, his soul, Aura and memories merging with those of a new person each time, because he was tasked by the God of Light to prepare humanity for Judgment Day. His first host ignored the mission to reunite with his old lover, Salem. However, a terrible falling out destroys their home, children and host. Since then, he has learned to live properly with his host in his mission to unite humanity. However, Salem's quest to divide humanity makes Ozpin's mission impossible.
• Death of a Child: Ozma initially swallowed his doubts about Salem's violent method of uniting humanity until discovering her plan to replace humanity with their offspring. Being faced with the nightmare that his children weren't safe with their own mother galvanised him into abandoning Salem to save them. Intercepted before he could succeed, their ensuing battle accidentally killed all four daughters. Traumatised for several lifetimes until he could get back on his feet, he and Salem have been warring over the fate of humanity ever since.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: The mysterious, secretive Cool Teacher (a Mentor Archetype). His enigmatic decisions cause repercussions for everyone, including himself. Allowing Team RWBY to investigate the villains endangers the entire city, stripping him of Vytal Festival security and putting his job on the line. Allies and Kingdoms are ill-prepared for Salem's machinations because they don't know the Awful Truth, but abandon the fight whenever they do. When the heroes turn on him, the confrontation shatters him, leaving them to deal alone with Atlas' precarious situation and giving Salem the upper hand in Volume 7. One volume later, he and the heroes reconcile, each having learned lessons from the other.
• Determinator: He's been fighting Salem for thousands of years with no hope of victory or end. He refuses to give up, constantly putting his hope in humanity no matter how often they fail; even his most loyal supporter Qrow criticises his perpetual optimism. Jinn reveals that Oz always returns to his divine mission, no matter how events may break him — and Salem has made it her mission to permanently break him. As he and Salem are both immortal, they cannot end their war by killing the other. By sowing division and chaos, Salem makes it impossible for Ozpin to fulfill his mission to prove to the gods that humanity is redeemable; meanwhile, Ozpin's refusal to give up helping humanity achieve harmony makes it impossible for Salem to achieve her own goal of convincing the gods that humanity is irredeemable. The fate of the world therefore rests on Ozpin's determination to keep going whatever the odds.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Ozpin's first reincarnation ended with the loss of Salem's love and the lives of their children. His next few incarnations tried to cope with the grief and pain through alcohol; one reincarnation shuffled dejectedly in rags, another constantly threw back a flask of alcohol. The hip-flask he carries during one lifetime is almost identical to Qrow's.
• Emerald Power: Ozpin wears dark green and is a very skilled Huntsman, a child prodigy who became the youngest ever Academy headmaster. He can fight on a par with the Fall Maiden, moves at incredibly speeds that leave green afterimages and summons a green forcefield that crackles with lightning and power. His original form, Ozma, fought in battle with blasts of green magic from an emerald-topped staff, that continued to be carried through his reincarnations. His first reincarnation was so powerful, he and Salem could pass themselves off as gods; when they turned on each other, he reduced her to ashes. She only survived because her Complete Immortality brought her back from a stain on the ground.
• Eternal Hero: Ozpin was once the greatest and most pure-hearted hero of his time, and was given a mission from the God of Light to attempt to redeem humanity in the eyes of the gods. As part of his attempt to accomplish this, he has reincarnated many times over the course of at millennia, spending nearly every one of these lifetimes attempting to complete his task and to push back against the efforts of Salem, the setting's Big Bad and Eternal Villain. Unfortunately, the toll of constantly fighting this battle has worn away his better qualities, turning him from a noble hero into a well-meaning, but shady and hypocritical manipulator who has arguably done just as much damage to the world as his enemy.
• Fatal Flaw: Ozpin's mission is hampered by his inability to trust others with the Awful Truth about Salem and his past. In his experience, telling the truth leads to betrayal, but his tactics, deflections and lies also alienates his allies. Upon losing patience with Ozpin's passivity, Ironwood goes behind his back to strip him of Vytal Festival security. When the heroes learn the truth through the Relic of Knowledge, even the loyal Qrow turns on him, resulting in him locking himself deep in Oscar's mind. Oscar reveals to Ironwood that Ozpin hides the truth about Salem because he's terrified people will lose all hope.
• The Gadfly: Coco observes he shows a bit of a mischievous streak from time to time. He isn't above teasing his colleagues or playing tricks on his students (and Oscar) in their training.
• God-Emperor: When Ozma first reincarnates and reunites with Salem, she convinces him that the best way to unite humanity is to do it as gods. Because they are both immortal and magic makes them much more powerful than other humans, many people believe it and become their followers. They are able to establish and rule an entire kingdom until Salem's increasingly extreme methods of "uniting" humanity finally opens Ozma's eyes to the truth of her corruption; their masquerade ends in violence and tragedy, and they have been fighting over the fate of the world ever since.
• God Guise: As part of his curse, Ozpin possesses immense magical power. In the past, before he gave away most of his magic, humans mistook his power for that of a god's. He allowed them to keep thinking he was a god for years. His first reincarnation tried to build a happy home with Salem, who talked him into masquerading as gods to pursue his dream of uniting humanity. However, things fell apart when he realized that Salem planned on using the masquerade to take over the world and kill all humans who wouldn't fall into line. The ensuing battle destroyed everything they'd built and accidentally killed their children. They've been trapped in a cycle of pain ever since.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Good Cop to Glynda's Bad Cop. While she was reprimanding Ruby for her foolishness, he walked in to the interrogation room with a plate of cookies for the fifteen-year-old girl and complimented her skills, even offering to let her into Beacon early.
• Good Is Not Soft: Ozpin cares strongly for the safety of his students and is striving for peace for both humanity and the Faunus. He also launches his students into a Grimm-infested forest on their first day of school; both to test them and show what's in store for them as future Huntsmen. As the leader of the brotherhood that has opposed Salem for millennia, Oz shows a flexible mindset, tolerating both Ironwood's tendency to default to military bravado and Qrow's drunken antics, but if things get tense, he can and will rein them in to do as he says.
• Guile Hero: Ozpin conducts the war with Salem in secret so that he can nurture humanity's positive traits and protect them from Salem's attempts to bring out their worst traits. This means he'll bend the rules to help people if he assumes they'll just break them anyway, he councils Ironwood to use subtlety instead of military force and withholds his reincarnation into Oscar from Leo, whose behaviour has become suspicious. Originally a Knight In Shining Armour, his secrecy and manipulation now has a habit of driving a wedge between him and his allies, due to mistrust. When Oscar is captured and tortured, he and Ozpin start sowing discord among Salem's inner circle, starting by targeting Hazel's strong anti-violence beliefs to undermine his allegiance to Salem.
• Guilt Complex: Ozpin claims he has made more mistakes than anyone on the planet, that his immortality is a curse for failing to stop Salem, and blames himself for the fall of Beacon. He's not responsible for Salem becoming evil, but has made some terrible mistakes. Salem convinced his first reincarnation to masquerade as a god, leading to them trying to destroy each other; as immortals, all they destroyed was their kingdom and children. While Salem takes no responsibility, Ozpin takes it all. He refuses to share the burden of saving the world, thereby ignoring the God of Light's advice to never bear it alone. His guilt is so extreme that he agrees he deserves to be tortured: he defends Oscar, Atlesians and Remnant, but believes he is indefensible.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • During Ozma's first reincarnation, he marries and raises a family with Salem, whom he believes is helping him unite humanity. When he realises her idea of unity involves destroying humans, his attempt to rescue his daughters from her influence, leads to a confrontation that destroys their marriage and daughters' lives. It takes him several lifetimes to shake off the depression, but he is eventually able to shake it off, begin the fight against Salem and even find love again.
  • In Volume 6, the heroes forcibly uncovering Ozpin's painful secret and then turning on him extracts such an emotional toll that he is reduced to tears. He is so devastated by the declaration that he's the worst luck of Qrow's life that he simply agrees and disappears, retreating so deep into Oscar's mind that even Oscar can't reach him. Although he briefly resurfaces at the end of the volume to help Oscar land a crashing airship, he doesn't truly return until Ironwood tries killing Oscar in the next volume.
• He's Back!: When Ozpin's secret is revealed, all of the heroes lose their trust in him and he tearfully seals himself away inside Oscar's mind. However, Jinn stated in her vision that, no matter what, Ozma would always return to the responsibilities he had been given. When Ironwood tries to kill Oscar, Oscar resigns himself to fall to his death. Instead, Ozpin returns, which gives Oscar the impetus he needs to tap into Ozma's powerful magic and survive his fall. Upon landing, Oscar realises the power and memories he can now access are proof that Ozpin is back for good.
• Hypocrite: Ozpin constantly expresses his faith in humanity's ability to overcome adversity and stop the worst people from causing chaos. However, he doesn't trust humanity with the truth about Salem, not even his closest allies. When the heroes confront him about this, Ruby asks if his talk of having faith in humanity means everyone except the very team that's risking their lives for him. Although he tries to explain she's misunderstood, all it does is convince Ruby that she needs to ask the Relic of Knowledge to reveal what Ozpin is hiding.
  Ruby: So all those times you talked about having faith in humanity, that was just for everyone else?
• Killed Mid-Sentence: In the past, his very first host was trying to say something at the exact moment he was killed. It isn't revealed what he intended to say, but the circumstances of his death have affected everything about his reincarnations, and the nature of his Secret War with Salem, ever since.
• Killed Offscreen: The last time Professor Ozpin is seen in person, he is fighting against Cinder. Later, Cinder flies towards the top of Beacon Tower; Jaune assumes Ozpin's dead, but both Qrow and Taiyang talk of him being missing. At the beginning of Volume 4, Salem reveals that Cinder killed Ozpin herself although in private seems unsettled by the fact Cinder is certain she killed him. It's eventually revealed that only Ozpin's physical body died, his soul transfers to Oscar's body and begins merging with Oscar's soul.
• King Incognito: When Ruby first meets Ozpin, it's when she's being interrogated by Glynda for her reckless attempt to apprehend Roman for robbing a Dust shop. Near the end of the meeting, Ozpin asks Ruby if she knows who he is. She already knows exactly who he is, which seems to please him a lot.
• Last-Name Basis: Ozpin is only ever referred to as "Ozpin", the name of his then current incarnation, or "Ozma", the name of his original incarnation. Miles Luna has however stated that "Ozpin" is his surname, and that his given name has not been revealed yet. invoked
• The Leader: Ozpin leads a secret group of individuals protecting the world of Remnant from Salem. His followers respect him for being charismatic, level-headed, wise and possessing experience that they lack. However, since his allies have frequently betrayed him for years, he keeps the Awful Truth about Salem secret from even his closest allies. After the heroes discover this revelation, Ozpin retreats into the deepest recesses of Oscar's mind, forcing Ruby to take over as leader. Later, once he returns and has reconciled with them, he takes on the role of Spirit Advisor, leaving Ruby in command of the group and Oscar in command of the advisory role.
• Magic Knight: Originally born into a time when all humans could wield magic, he was a physical warrior whose primary weapon was a staff through which he unleashed his magic. He was the peerless warrior of his day, considered undefeatable by either man or monster. When reincarnated into a time when all humans had lost the magic, he retains both his magic and combat prowess. While his magic dwindles over time as he gives it away to others, his fighting skills remain undiminished. Even as Ozpin and Oscar, he can still wield both magic and weapons.
• Magic Staff: Ozma's original weapon of choice was a tall magical staff that was covered in swirling vine-like patterns and which was topped with a large emerald crystal that would glow when unleashing his power. After his death, Salem kept the staff, allowing his first reincarnation to be reunited with it. It has passed down every reincarnation until one host created the cane that eventually passes to Ozpin and Oscar. While the cane contains identical swirling patterns to the original staff, the exact relationship between the two is unknown.
• Meaningful Name: Ozpin is Beacon's headmaster and is named after the Wizard of Oz, whose full name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, or O.Z.P.I.N.H.E.A.D. (OZPIN HEAD). Like the Wizard of Oz, Ozpin is not the person he seems to be. His original name was Ozma; in the Land of Oz novels, the baby Princess Ozma was spirited away by the Wizard until she eventually returns to claim the throne of Oz. In-universe, "Oz" is therefore a catch-all name that can refer to a specific host, the original person, or combinations.
• Moment of Weakness: Normally calm in the face of adversity, he finally snaps in Volume 6 after the heroes confront him about his secrecy. Though Yang says he can trust them because they won't betray him, he furiously tells her Leo claimed the same thing; he's been betrayed too often to risk it. After Oscar tells them how to get answers from the Relic, Ozpin panics and charges at Ruby, but the Relic thwarts him. Upon realising the truth, the heroes turn on Ozpin, who disappears in despair. Two volumes later, Ozpin apologises for his behaviour and they admit they better understand how risky trust is after their own attempts to control this information backfired on them.
• Mr. Exposition: In Volume 5, due to his role as the Big Good and having most of the knowledge, there are a lot of scenes where he gives explanations to the good guys about the Big Bad and the threat she poses to the world.
• My Greatest Failure: Ozpin seems to take responsibility for everything that's gone wrong in the world, regardless of whether that's accurate. However, his greatest mistake seems to drive his actions in the present. The first time he reincarnated, he defied the God of Light's warning that Salem was no longer the person he knew; when they reunited, she manipulated him into trying to unite the world by pretending to be gods. He swallowed his misgivings until it eventually became impossible to ignore how evil she had become; this led to a terrible confrontation between them in which their castle, kingdom and four daughters all perished. That event became the trigger for Salem's world-destroying machinations, and the crippling guilt and secrecy Ozpin struggles with.
• Never Be Hurt Again: When the heroes confront Ozpin about his secrets, lying and truth-hiding, Yang claims they'll stand by him even knowing the truth. Ozpin reveals that Leo once promised the same thing, only to betray him to Salem; while he doesn't think Team RWBY's betrayal is a certainty, this has happened too many times for him to chance it. They ask the Relic of Knowledge to reveal the truth anyway, and then turn on Ozpin exactly as he expected, causing him to retreat into the back of Oscar's mind in despair.
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: After the battle of Haven, Ozpin covers up Leo's role in the attack on the school and deaths of so many Huntsmen so that he's remembered only as a brave Huntsman who died defending the school. When Yang confronts him about the cover-up, Ozpin states she only knew Leo at the end of his life and not the man he used to be. While he believes Leo's actions were reprehensible, it shouldn't erase the good he did prior to his fall from grace.
• No Name Given: Jinn does not introduce the names of Ozpin's predecessors, and Oscar is a little unsettled to discover that Ozpin's very first incarnation was one whose name was never known. Jinn confirms that the process of learning to share lives with the host who owned the body was something that took time to learn.
• Not Himself: While Ozpin gives his induction speech to Beacon Academy's new students, Ruby and Yang quickly note how troubled he seems, instead of his usual lively self. Ruby even comments that it's as if he's not even present. This is played for mystery, as the girls have no answers to why he's behaving so oddly and the next time he appears he's his normal self again.
• Not Hyperbole: When teaching Ruby about leadership, Ozpin remarks that he's made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child alive. He later informs her that he wasn't exaggerating. Having been forced by a special type of resurrection cycle to walk the earth for thousands of years, he's had far more time than anyone else ever will to make mistakes.
• Odd Name Out: All characters have a name that references a colour, even if it's just by association. Eighty years ago, a war ended that had tried to destroy artistic merit and individuality so Remnant's naming scheme is a deliberate attempt to ensure that kind of war never happens again. Ozpin's name deliberately doesn't follow the colour rule because he's the reincarnation of a man who has walked the earth for thousands of years trying to stop the immortal Salem from destroying the world. Her name also defies the naming rule.
• Offing the Offspring: When Ozma and Salem realized their concepts of uniting humans were incompatible, they had a falling out that led to them trying to destroy each other with their full power. Their four young children were caught up in the crossfire and died. Ozma's host also died and it's implied he did "kill" Salem, but her curse of immortality reformed her moments later.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Ozpin is such a calm and collected man that he has been criticised by Ironwood for not being more proactive against threats and by Qrow for being too passive about Ironwood usurping his authority. While his tone can become clipped and authoritative when he does become annoyed, he never loses control. In Volume 6, Team RWBY's persuit of his secret increasingly rattles him until they realise they can ask the Relic of Knowledge instead. He panics, screams "No!" and charges at Ruby, leaving everyone frozen with shock by his reaction. It's the Relic of Knowledge itself who intervenes to stop him.
• Outliving One's Offspring: During Ozpin's first reincarnation, he had children with Salem; when he realised how corrupt she was, he tried to remove their daughters from her presence for their own safety. They were killed in the ensuing battle, and Ozma spent many subsequent lifetimes drowning his grief in alcohol. The reincarnation that finally pulled him through it was able to find love again and raise two children. Since then, he's had countless lifetimes, some of which had families. As a result of his immortality, Ozpin has outlived every one of them.
• Parasitic Immortality: Ozpin has been tasked by the God of Light with redeeming humanity, requiring him to reincarnate in new hosts each time he dies; their souls, memories and personalities merge each time in a process neither can control. While Oz has learned how to share lives with his hosts intead of overwriting them, Loss of Identity is normal for both and Death of Personality is a risk for either one. Forced to fight Salem for millennia, who is seeking to destroy humanity, Oz has learned the hard way that her Complete Immortality inflicts such despair on those who fight her that he's become a secretive, manipulative Chessmaster to protect people's hope. Once The Paragon of his generation, the toll of his existence has left him riddled with guilt, regret and self-loathing.
• Permafusion: Whenever Ozpin's current incarnation dies, his Parasitic Immortality transfers his soul into the body of a living person. Ozpin's and his host's souls begin by Sharing a Body and can switch control; over time, however, the two souls permanently merge to create a new being with the skills, memories and abilities of both. What personality that takes can potentially differ from incarnation to incarnation, but there will always be recognisable physical and behavioural traits that survive the merge, in large part because the reincarnation always occurs with hosts that are "like-minded souls" to Oz.
• Plot-Triggering Death: His original death had very far reaching consequences in the series. Due to it having been the trigger for Salem's Start of Darkness and the destruction of the original race of humanity, every major event in Remnant's history for the past several thousand years can be directly traced to Ozma having died of illness.
• Poor Communication Kills: After a history of being abandoned and betrayed, Ozpin hides the Awful Truth from even his closest allies. Ironwood secretly conspires with Vale's council to strip him of Vytal Festival's security, Yang warns him she'll only support him if he stops hiding things, and all the heroes turn on him when the truth finally comes out. How he handles this information can make allies vulnerable to Salem's machinations and Theodore thinks he fails to prepare people by coddling them. In the Atlas Arc, Oscar reveals Ozpin is terrified of destroying hope after Ruby leads the heroes into repeating his mistake with Ironwood; Ozpin and the kids reconcile once Ozpin faces his mistakes and the kids acknowledge just how risky trust can be.
• Properly Paranoid: He hesitates to share his secrets with his allies because, in the past, many of them have turned on him when they eventually did find out; he shares this fact with Team RWBY when they claim they'll keep standing by him if he tells them. After Jinn reveals his and Salem's shared history, Team RWBY and Qrow turn on him exactly as he expected.
• Really 700 Years Old: It's not clear how long he's been jumping between bodies as he's done with Oscar, but he has been walking the earth for thousands of years in order to redeem humanity for the God of Light. Whenever his body dies, his soul, Aura, and memories merge with another, forcing him to continue in what he describes as a reincarnation that is extremely strenuous for all involved.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Calm, level-headed and flexible, Ozpin always pays attention to his students and takes any "extra-curricular", rule-bending or breaking in his stride. He offers Blake an open door for advice after implying he knows her White Fang links; he bends the rules to make use of Team RWBY's headstrong pursuit of villains, ensuring they gather intel while having trained protection. Raven later reveals he also used to do the same for Team STRQ. While the students think he's cool, the adults are warier about whether he's doing the right thing. The heroes later turn on him after learning his big secret, but eventually reconcile after he and they all learn a lesson in balancing doing the right thing with maintaining trust.
• Rebuilt Pedestal: It takes time and growth on both sides, but the damage to the heroes' image of Ozpin isn't irreparable. Throughout Volume 8, Ozpin does everything in his power to help Oscar while in captivity and both gives and receives trust. Once he's free and reunited with the others, Oscar stands up for him to the others, explaining how the wizard is the reason he's alive and Salem's at least temporarily incapacitated. Later, he personally apologises to the heroes for hiding the truth and running when they found it. Ruby and her friends for their part admit trusting others isn't as simple as they thought, given their own recent mistakes, and forgive him.
• Reincarnation-Identifying Trait: Whenever Ozpin assumes control of Oscar's body, the boy's posture straightens and his vocabulary and intonations match those of the professor. Since Volume 7, Oscar's behaviour increasingly mirrors Ozpin's in the way he leans on his cane, uses it as a "walking stick", takes to spending time quietly staring out of windows, and adopting Ozpin's posture of standing with his arms folded behind his back. Oscar seems unaware of it, but Ironwood becomes increasingly confused, observing the crossover several times. As Jinn's vision indicated, Salem can recognise Ozma no matter what and swiftly retaliates when Oscar pretends to be him upon their first meeting.
• Resurrective Immortality: Ozma has been reincarnating for thousands of years as part of a divine mission to redeem humanity for a past transgression against the gods. When Ozma's physical body dies, his soul, Aura and memories join with a new, compatible individual and their souls and Aura merge into one being over time. The host gains all of Ozma's collective knowledge and abilities while adding something new to Ozma, changing him slightly with each reincarnation. When Ozpin's body dies at the Battle of Beacon, the fourteen-year-old Oscar becomes Ozma's new host, but has to train his body and Aura before he can tap into the full scope of Ozma's knowledge and memories.
• Retractable Weapon: Ozpin's cane is a solid item with an ornate handle contains cogs and a leaver. He uses the cane in battle like a fencing sword and can retract the stem into the handle to carry it on his belt when not in use. While Ozpin is never shown retracting the cane on screen, Oscar does so openly.
• Round Hippie Shades: Ozpin wears a tiny set of circular, dark-tinted spectacles that are perched on the end of his nose and are held onto his ears by a pair of extremely quirky arms. By bringing together his smart appearance, academic job and extremely quirky personality, it helps summarise that he's an unconventional character who is willing the bend the rules to achieve the greater good.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Professor Ozpin wears a dark green three-piece suit over a green turtleneck and wears a cross-shaped pin, befitting his position as the headmaster of a Huntsman academy. At least one of his previous lives also dressed in formal clothing, as well as wearing golden rings.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Thousands of years of fighting Salem have taken their toll on Ozma, and his reincarnation into Oscar leaves him at his most psychologically fragile for years. He's been betrayed so many times that he refuses to share more than he has to. When Jinn replays the most tragic parts of his life for all to see, he is left traumatised on his knees and in tears; he numbly accepts their condemnation until he can't cope any more, retreating deep inside Oscar's mind, uncontactable even by Oscar. He has such self-loathing that he blames himself for the fall of Beacon, accepts Qrow's belief that he's the worst luck of Qrow's life, and even wholeheartedly agrees with Hazel that he deserves to be tortured.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: Beacon's initiation of new students involves them being thrown off a cliff into a monster-filled forest; teachers will not intervene to save them and if they don't kill anything in their path, they will die. When Ozpin bends the rules to permit Team RWBY to go on a mission considered beyond their age-group, he warns them that he's not doing them a favour and they'll have to live up to expectation. When training Team RNJR and Oscar in Mistral, he warns them he won't go easy on them. When Oscar and Ruby practice unarmed combat, they end up tasking nasty hits to teach them lessons about Aura use and dropping their guard in battle.
• Something Only They Would Say: When Oscar first meets Qrow at a bar in Mistral, Ozpin tells him to say "I'd like my cane back". Qrow instantly recognises who that is and gives Ozpin's cane to Oscar. When Oscar then takes the drunk Qrow back to Team RNJR's place, the first thing he says to Ruby is "You... have silver eyes", which is also the very first thing Ozpin ever said to Ruby.
• Spam Attack: Ozpin has the ability to fight at super-speed. When he uses his cane like a fencing sword, he can strike his opponent multiple times in a single second. Even with the completed power of the Fall Maiden, Cinder cannot keep up with the speed of Ozpin's cane strikes and gets hit over twenty times in just a few seconds, as if being juggled on the end of his cane.
• Speed Echoes: During their fight in Volume 3, Cinder throws a Flechette Storm of glass shards at Ozpin, who reduces every single one of them to dust without moving from the spot he's standing in. While his feet never move, his upper body moves so fast that it leaves echoes of himself all around him.
• Spirit Advisor: After his body is killed during the Battle of Beacon, Oscar becomes his new host. He guides and teaches Oscar in understanding his new powers and responsibilities, and acts through Oscar's body as an advisor and guide to the other heroes. Even after falling out with the heroes, he still guides Oscar into safely landing a crashing airship and unlocks his memories and magic for Oscar to access when left faling from Atlas to Mantle without Aura.
• Super-Empowering: After being questioned by Yang, Ozpin reveals that he can bestow magical powers on others of his choosing, such as Qrow and Raven, whom he gave the ability to transform into birds so that they could help him spy on Salem. He explains that this empowering ability has weakened over the centuries after he sacrificed a significant portion of his magic to create the original four Maidens.
• Super-Speed: When Ozpin does finally decide to move or fight, he is capable of extremely fast movements that make him extremely difficult to keep track of. This allows him to move fast, strike multiple times a second, and dodge multiple attacks with incredible reflexes.
• Surveillance as the Plot Demands: Ozpin can watch what's going on from a distance, just by using his scroll. Most of the time, he's keeping track of what Ruby is doing, but it's not unique to him. Other characters can watch events remotely, too.
• Theme Naming: All of the named incarnations of the Ozma entity have names with two syllables that start with the phonetically similar sounds "Oz" or "Os".
• Token Immortal: Ozma is one of only two immortals that exist, both having been granted immortality by the gods for different reasons. Ozma's purpose is to lead humanity to redemption, which requires him to constantly reincarnate via body-surfing from human to human whenever his host's body dies. Each new host gains his memories, knowledge, abilities and magic for the purpose of aiding people develop themselves and fight against Salem, whose Complete Immortality makes her unkillable, but still able to be opposed. The heroes Ozma travels with are therefore leading the fight to prevent Salem from destroying the world.
• Trademark Favorite Food: In the first three volumes, he is rarely seen without a coffee mug in hand, even in inappropriate locations, such as when launching students off the top of an isolated cliff in a monster-filled forest; even silhouettes of him in end credits and the World of Remnant mini-series include him holding a coffee mug. When he tells Team RNJR in Volume 5 about the mistakes he's made, Qrow's response is to silently hand him a coffee mug. The creators have confirmed he's actually drinking hot chocolate, not coffee.
• Unreliable Expositor: Ozpin has learned the hard way to play things close to his chest, making it hard to know when he's telling the truth, omitting important information or even outright lying. He initially claims he's cursed with immortality for failing to stop Salem in the past and only admits he possesses magic when Yang and Weiss reveal they know he gave Raven and Qrow the ability to shapeshift. When the heroes discover Ozpin didn't tell them that Relics attract the Grimm, they lose all patience and ask the Relic of Knowledge to reveal the truth. Upon discovering just how much Ozpin has been hiding, they turn against him completely, something he expected but which still breaks him.
• Waistcoat of Style: Ozpin wears a dark green waistcoat, to go with his dark green suit. It makes the green top he wears underneath it stand out vividly. A previous incarnation favoured pin-stripe shirts with charcoal grey trousers and a purple waistcoat.
• Weapon Twirling: While showing off in Oscar's body, he spins his cane rapidly as he explains how he's going to put RNJR through Training from Hell in order to get them to be strong enough to match Salem's henchmen. Whenever he is in control of Oscar's body during a fight, his "tell" is the cane-twirling, something Oscar doesn't do.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: Ozma has been reincarnating for millennia, trying to complete a divine mission to redeem humanity in the eyes of the gods. His task is impossible as long as his equally immortal ex-wife keeps trying to thwart him, locking them into an eternal war of grief, despair and rage. By the time Ozma reincarnates as Ozpin and his successor, Oscar, he is exhausted, burned out, and verging on emotional collapse. When Oscar tells Ozpin he really doesn't want their souls to merge in the inevitable process of him becoming part of Ozma, Ozpin sorrowfully agrees with him.
• World's Best Warrior: A legend in his own life time, Ozma was a hero who could not be defeated by monster or man and only died from an incurable illness. His first reincarnation's battle with Salem destroyed an entire kingdom. As the last King of Vale, he single-handedly ended the Great War, creating world peace, the Huntsmen Academies and current systems of government. Even after sacrificing most of his magic to create the Maidens, his combat prowess is so exceptional that Ozpin was renowned as a child prodigy who became the youngest ever headmaster of an elite Huntsman Academy.
• You Are Not Alone: The real intention The God of Light had in bestowing Ozma with the Parasitic Immortality he has had for millennia was to ensure he would never truly be alone in his mission. However, it took a number of reincarnation cycles before Oz learned how to share lives with his host.

Oscar Pine

Oscar Pine

Voiced By: Aaron Dismuke^{Foreign VAs} Rie Kugimiya (Japanese)

Debut: The Next Step^* Volume 4 Episode 1

"...but it doesn't feel crazy, any more."

^{Click here to see his combat outfit}  "I don't know how much longer I'm going to be me. But I did some thinking, and I do know that I want to do everything I can to help with whatever time I have left."

"Leaving home is crazy. Going to the city is crazy. Everything you've told me is completely crazy."

Introduced in Volume 4 as a labourer on his aunt's farm, Oscar's quiet life is broken when he's chosen for a mission to save the world.

To help him in this task, he is given the cane "The Long Memory", initially wielding it like a club until he begins to develop his combat skills.

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• Barrier Warrior: When Oscar fails to peacefully talk Ironwood down from his paranoia and rage, he is shot off a ledge with his Aura broken. Ozpin jolts him into action, which motivates Oscar to grab his cane, tapping into his inherited power for the first time. He summons a green forcefield that shatters the bottom of the shaft. He then creates a second barrier to survive the last part of the fall and land safely on the ground.
• Birds of a Feather: Ozma always reincarnates by pairing him with a "like-minded" soul, but the enigmatic Beacon headmaster initially seems to have little in common with a humble, honest farmhand; only gradually does it become clear they do have common ground. Salem comments on the similarity when Oscar instinctively lies rather than give her the information she wants; Ozpin then comments on the similarity when Oscar convinces him to focus on turning Salem's subordinates against her rather than seeking escape.
• Bookworm: Oscar spends his free time at the farm reading every book he can put his hands on, no matter the theme. He has many books in his room and mentions his aunt has many more downstairs. The Volume 6 opening credits shows him with his nose buried in a manual about Atlesian technology while the gang waits for a train to Argus.
• Call-Back: When Oscar first meets Ruby, his reaction of "you... have silver eyes" freaks her out because it repeats the first thing Professor Ozpin ever said to her. Ruby's group knows that few know the significance of silver eyes and Ruby will be hunted for them; Oscar's reaction therefore makes them suspicious until they learn he's carrying Ozpin's soul, Aura and memories.
• Cane Fu: Along with Ozpin's soul, Aura and memories, Oscar also inherits his cane. He therefore learns to fight using Ozpin's cane as his primary weapon. During his first real battle, he strikes, blocks and parries as if he is using a fencing sword and, to abruptly end the fight against his first opponent, he whacks Leo as if using a club or a baseball bat, sending the old headmaster flying down a flight of stairs.
• Deadpan Snarker: Oscar reacts to both humour and stress with snark. When his aunt telling him to wash his hands before dinner, he jokes that he didn't agree to such terms when he came to live with her; upon discovering he can't afford the train to Mistral, he asks Ozpin if their weird magical situation comes with an infinite supply of money. When Salem realises how young Oscar is, he sardonically apologises for not living up to expectation; she angrily warns him that she knows he's not really Ozma yet, implying that Oscar and Ozma have snark in common.
• Defiant Captive: Despite being fourteen years old, Oscar understands the importance of keeping silent when in enemy hands. When captured and interrogated by Salem, he angers her by responding to her surprise at his youth with sarcasm; when she asks him for the lamp's password, he lies and refuses to cooperate even after she tortures him with magic. She leaves him with Hazel, who vents his hatred of Ozpin through physical beatings. Although bloodied, bruised and holding his ribs in pain, Oscar not only refuses to cave but even starts looking for a way to undermine Salem by turning her subordinates against her.
• Emerald Power: Oscar's eyes are hazel green and his combat gear includes a green overcoat. His Aura is green and he can fight Haven's headmaster after just a month's training; Jaune, who also developed swiftly, comments on Oscar's development speed in awe; he's even able to help coordinate strategy against Cordovin in only his second major battle. While falling to his death in Volume 7, he unlocks his magic, saving himself by creating a spherical green barrier that explodes with emerald lightning upon landing. This barrier is the same one that was used by Ozpin during his fight with Cinder. Oscar can also fight by channelling streams of green magic from his hands to blast his targets. His cane has collected so much kinetic energy over Ozma's lifetimes that it can unleash a green and gold shockwave powerful enough to destroy the Monstra and engulf the city of Atlas.
• Endearingly Dorky: Although a child prodigy with huge, barely tapped potential, Oscar is unconfident, shy, sweet, unassuming and polite. He sheepishly apologises for staring at Team RNJR the first time he meets real Huntsmen. After Nora offends Ozpin by nicknaming him "Little Cute Boy Ozpin", she continues to call Oscar "Cute Boy Oz" whenever she glomps him. When Ozpin pats Yang reassuringly on the shoulder, his departure leaves Oscar jerking away in embarassment. His companions find his shy, politeness and embarassed reactions cute and amusing; even Neon calls him "that cute little farmboy" after training with him, laughing at his blushing, flustered response.
• Eye Colour Change: Oscar's eyes are predominantly green with a brown speck, but a faint yellow circle borders the pupils. Whenever he and Ozpin switch control of his body, his eyes flash with golden light.
• Farm Boy: Oscar is a young, seemingly normal boy, who lives on his aunt's farm and secretly wishes for a more exciting life. It becomes more exciting than he wanted after Ozpin reincarnates into his soul, making him the inheritor of a divine mission to redeem humanity and save the world. Once Oscar resigns himself to his situation, he risks the loss of his very identity to develop the abilities Teams RWBY and JNPR need in the quest to stop Salem from destroying humanity.
• Ghost Memory: Without warning, Oscar found his soul, Aura and memories merged with Ozpin's, meaning that he now possesses all of Ozpin's power, abilities and knowledge. However, he needs to train his body and his Aura to be able to take advantage of this inheritance. Ozpin has been reincarnating for thousands of years in order to stop Salem; whenever his host body dies, his soul, Aura and memories merge with a suitable person and the cycle begins all over again. Oscar is the newest host.
• Guile Hero: Oscar's development includes using his mind as well as his body and cane. It only takes him a few minutes to figure out the weakness in Cordovin's Mini-Mecha. He almost single-handedly convinces Ironwood to trust everyone with the truth, which leads to Atlas deciding to evacuate Mantle. When captured by Salem, he refuses to give her the information she wants even when tortured. He instead works with Ozpin to appeal to Hazel's more noble qualities, eventually revealing how the Relic of Knowledge works to emphasise that he trusts Hazel to find the truth for himself instead of giving that information to Salem.
• Heroism Won't Pay the Bills: When Oscar finally accepts that he is now The Chosen One, destined to guide the world when it most needs guidance, he sets off for Mistral, exactly as Ozpin wants. He immediately runs into a snag at the train station; he doesn't have enough money to pay for a ticket to Mistral. He asks Ozpin if this weird magical inheritance of his comes with an infinite supply of money. An amused Ozpin informs him that, unfortunately, he's on his own where finances are concerned.
• Holding Hands: After learning Ozpin's secret leaves the heroes reeling, a dejected Oscar asks Ruby if he's going to be just another one of Oz's lives. As she returns Ozpin's cane, she folds her hands over his and the hilt of the cane, trying to reassure him that he's his own person. The trope is subverted by Qrow interrupting to bitterly instruct Ruby not to lie to Oscar because they're better than that; Oscar therefore walks away completely unreassured.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Downplayed. Oscar is a farm boy who lives with his aunt on a quiet, isolated farm. It's not the life he wants to live, and Ozpin unsuccessfully appeals to this desire when he first merges with Oscar's soul. Although Oscar eventually resigns himself to his situation, being the reincarnation of a legendary warrior wizard who is tasked with a divine mission to save the world is a lot more special than he ever wanted; he dreads the day their souls full merge, fearing the loss of both his identity and his dreams.
• Innocently Insensitive: Due to his inexperience and fear of what the heroes are up against, Oscar lashes out at Ruby's attempt to cheer him up, demanding to know how she can be so calm. She soberly tells him how she keeps Penny and Pyrrha in her heart to help her keep moving forward; she reveals that she is scared of Salem, but is even more scared of what could happen if Salem isn't stopped.
• Instant Expert: Discussed in-universe. While Ozpin's own training helps Oscar develop at an accelerated rate, he still has to train his own body and Aura to handle his inheritance and unlock his own Semblance. While Jaune is incredulous at the speed of Oscar's progress, it takes a near-death experience at the end of Volume 7 for him to finally unlock Ozpin's power, but he gains control over it very quickly once he does.
• Internal Reveal: While Oscar and the viewer are aware from the middle of Volume 4 that he is Ozpin's next host, this information is slowly trickled out to Ozpin's enemies and allies over subsequent volumes as and when they reunite: Team RNJR, Qrow, and Hazel's team find out in Volume 5; Salem, Tyrian and Watts find out in Volume 6; Ironwood finds out in Volume 7.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: When others learn the secret truth of the world, they have the option to flee it all; as the new Ozpin, Oscar has been forced to inherit responsibility for a situation he has barely any knowledge of; burdened by a divine mission, never-ending war and personal vendettas against his predecessors, he's faced with the strong possibility that his very identity may eventually be lost to the immortal who is bound to his soul.
• Legacy of the Chosen: Oscar is the latest incarnation of a man who has spent thousands of years protecting Remnant from Salem as part of a divinely-tasked mission to redeem humanity in the eyes of the gods. Previous lives include the legendary hero Ozma, the Wizard who first empowered the Maidens, the last King of Vale that won the Great War, and Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy; all of their memories and experiences, along with their great burden, now reside within a former farmhand from Mistral.
• Loss of Identity: Ozma's reincarnation process involves his soul, Aura, memories and abilities merging with his new host's until they become one being. It took Ozma many reincarnations to learn how to cohabit with his hosts, but it's implied that more of Ozma survives than the host. Terrified his identity will be destroyed, Oscar was able to use Ozpin's hiatus to begin developing into the person he always wanted to be. Ozpin's return makes Oscar feel like he's lost that chance, and a sympathetic Ozpin sadly informs him that his absence didn't stop the process of their souls merge.
• Martial Pacifist: Oscar is a gentle-natured boy who prefers to talk with others and resolve conflicts without violence. But his inheritance of Ozma's memories and abilities allows him to fight on at least the same level as Team RWBY. He grows more confident in his negotiating and combat prowess over the course of the story.
• Meaningful Name: Oscar is a farm boy, who spends his day digging and tilling the earth. He appears to have a connection to the Wizard from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, whose real name was Oscar Diggs. The acronym of the Wizard's full name is O.Z.P.I.N.H.E.A.D., the origin of Ozpin's name, who is also based on the Wizard. The name Oscar Pine can be condensed to Oz Pin(e), i.e., Ozpin. Oscar and Ozpin are so deeply connected, their souls and Auras have merged into one, giving Oscar Ozpin's thoughts, memories and responsibilities.
• Morality Chain: Oscar quickly finds himself this while the heroes are dealing with Ironwood. In their talks, the general shows more of his concerns and possible ideas to the farmhand than anyone else, and Oscar reciprocates by encouraging him to put his trust in other people. This is in part James hoping that Ozpin will return to advise him in what to do against Salem. Oscar himself plays a big role in convincing Ironwood to bring Robyn and the Council into the fold when Mantle gets invaded by the Grimm, thereby briefly saving the city. And it is Ironwood shooting him in Atlas Vault when Oscar tries one last time to mend bridges that shows how far he has fallen in his paranoia.
• Morality Pet: He becomes this for Emerald in Volume 8. While Emerald had already decided to leave Salem after learning about her true goals, Oscar's kindness toward her and willingness to see the good in her and give her a second chance are partially what caused her to help the heroes and to start becoming a better person.
• Nice Guy: Oscar is regarded by both the heroes and villains as a "farm boy" who was ripped from his simple, uncomplicated life with his aunt by an unexpected soul-merge with Ozpin. Despite inheriting an impossible mission to save the world while becoming the victim of vendettas or anger against his predecessors, Oscar remains shy, kind and helpful; he doesn't hold grudges for others' issues with Ozpin or Ozma, and gently tries to help Ironwood hold onto his humanity in the face of his growing paranoia and stress, even refusing to fight when the general becomes aggressive. Even when being tortured by Hazel, he tries to reach through Hazel's mistrust of Ozpin by offering trust of his own. It works, and Oscar later shows Emerald the same kindness and trust after she escapes with him and the others.
• Oh, Crap!: When Hazel learns that Oscar is Ozpin's reincarnation, he shouts Ozpin's name in a fury. Oscar's face becomes slack-jawed in alarm and even Ozpin's response is "Oh, no". Confirming their troubled reaction, when Oscar asks if he should fight Hazel, Ozpin tells him to run.
• Past-Life Memories: Part of being Ozma's latest host means that Oscar can access the memories of his many predecessors. When Ozpin first tries to convince him of their situation, he gets Oscar to describe the Haven headmaster's office, a place Oscar has never seen but can intimately detail. The group learns how to use the Relic of Knowledge because Oscar can glean those memories from the unwilling Ozpin. In Volume 7, Oscar spooks Ironwood by talking about the true aspiration for Atlas being airbourne as if he was there the day it took flight.
• Power Glows: The very first time Oscar grants Ozpin control, his entire body glows bright green for a second and his eyes shine gold before both return to their natural state. Later indications of them switching places is restrained to simple glowing of the eyes. As Oscar tumbles down the shaft of the Atlas vault, his eyes glow as Ozpin briefly takes control to keep him from passing out. The boy then grabs his cane and activates the gears. The cogs emit a golden glow that bathe Oscar's entire body in a golden aura; when Oscar rights his fall, he strikes the bottom with a green sphere that unleashes flashes of green lightning. The cane later unleashes another flash of power so great everyone in Atlas witnesses it and the Monstra is vaporized from within.
• Required Secondary Powers: While Oscar will inherit all of Ozpin's abilities, including muscle memory, he doesn't have a combat background. He therefore needs to train up his body and Aura before he'll be capable of utilizing Ozpin's inheritance effectively.
• Resigned to the Call: When Oscar first heard Ozpin's voice in his head, he thought he was going mad and tried to reject or justify the experience any way he could. Although he's not happy with his situation, he eventually accepts the inevitability of being the inheritor of a divine mission to save the world even though he continues to struggle with the possibility of losing his identity forever to the immortal who's now bound to his soul.
• Retractable Weapon: The Long Memory is a solid, durable cane with an ornate handle that contains cogs and a lever. Oscar can use it in battle like a cudgel or as a fencing sword as he learns to master Ozpin's fighting style. Although Ozpin was never seen to retract or extend the cane, making it seem to come and go mysteriously, Oscar is regularly shown using the lever to control it. At full extension, the cane is almost as tall as Oscar but was only half as tall as Ozpin, who was a tall man. As a result, Oscar usually keeps the cane partially extended so that it only comes up to his waist. When he fights with it, however, he fully extends the stem to give him a longer reach.
• The Runaway: Oscar is living on his aunt's farm when Ozpin's Aura and soul merge with his. As the inheritor of Ozpin's ancient and very secret burden, he has to leave home and journey to Mistral to find his predecessor's allies to continue Ozpin's quest. However, there is no way he can explain his situation without either sounding completely insane or giving away secrets that should not be revealed. As a result, he packs his bag and sneaks away from home without a single word of goodbye.
• Sharing a Body: Each time his host body dies, Ozma's memories, skills and soul are transferred into the body of an existing male. Originally, he simply took full control of the host's body and only learned how to cohabit over many lifetimes. Jinn implies that the host who created the modern cane was the first host Ozma truly shared bodies with. Oscar is terrified that his personality will be lost when his and Ozma's souls finish merging; Ozma doesn't know what Oscar's fate will be, but is genuinely sad about the situation.
• Shrinking Violet: Oscar is quite shy and has a hard time talking to people he doesn't know. Most of the time, he stays quiet until someone else brings him into the conversation. He can be prone to nervous mannerisms such as stuttering, slowly spinning out short sentences and avoiding eye contact. New situations tend to make him huddle up, hugging an arm and Ozpin's casual ease with making physical contact with people he is trying to reassure can leave Oscar flinching away in embarrassment when Ozpin returns control back to Oscar, such as when Oscar cringes away from Yang after Ozpin touches her shoulder reassuringly.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: As the group recuperates in Argus, Oscar briefly leaves and no one can find him, adding to their worry. The next time they see him, he is dressed in typical combat gear that is slightly reminiscent of some of the clothes his predecessors wore. Oscar then explains that after some thinking, he decided that even with the truth behind Ozpin's legacy, he still wants to help his friends in any way he can.
• Single Tear: Oscar vents to Ruby that he's terrified of the situation he's in; he admits that he always wanted to be more than just a farmhand but cannot believe anyone would ever willingly ask for this. While he vents, he places Ozpin's cane in the sword-rack and glares at it; when the camera switches to his perspective, the view of the cane is misted over and a single tear falls onto the ground at his feet.
• Speak in Unison:
  • When Ruby and Oscar independently decide it's time to tell Ironwood the truth, they initially talk over each other, saying the same thing but with different wording, until they both say "...we should tell Ironwood" in unison. Lampshaded by Ruby when she sheepishly says "Oh! Guess we were on the same page, eh?"
  • When Oscar and Ozpin contemplate what they can do to interfere with Salem's plans while imprisoned on her ship, they come to the same conclusion together: turn Salem's own tactics against her. It leads Ozpin to observe that they really are very similar people, something Oscar isn't too thrilled to hear.
• Speed Echoes: During his fight in Volume 8, Oscar strikes Ironwood multiple times with his arm speeding up so much that he leaves behind multiple echoes of it.
• Split-Personality Merge: The God of Light made Ozma immortal by reincarating him into existing men so that he has to share the burden of saving the world by redeeming humanity. While Ozpin described himself as a conglomeration of countless men who have tried to protect the world, Jinn reveals that Ozma initially took over his hosts completely and had to learn over time how to cohabit with them. While everyone, including Oscar, assumes that Oscar's individuality is doomed, it's ambiguous as to what his fate will truly be.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: When Oscar and Ozpin switch control of Oscar's body, Oscar's eyes briefly flash gold, which reveals to everyone who witnesses that a switch is taking place. While Ozpin is in control of Oscar's body, Oscar's reflection will reveal the golden eyes.
• Take Up My Sword: Because their souls and Auras have merged, Ozpin encourages Oscar to travel to Mistral to locate Qrow, whom he knows has carried his cane from the fallen Beacon Academy to Mistral. Once Oscar locates Qrow, Ozpin prompts him to tell Qrow "I'd like my cane back". Qrow recognizes the situation instantly and gives the cane to Oscar, telling Ozpin that he's glad to see him again. Oscar is extremely startled when the handle he's been given elongates into the full cane simply as a result of his touch.
• Talking to Themself: Due to the merging of their souls, Ozpin can only speak inside Oscar's head unless he takes control of Oscar's body. As a result, whenever Oscar talks to Ozpin, he is the only one who can hear what Ozpin is saying. To everyone else, he looks like he's talking to himself.
• Talking Your Way Out: Oscar understands that Salem's strategy of Divide and Conquer and decides to use it against her when he can. After being captured by Salem he uses opportunity to reveal Salem's true goal of ending the world to Hazel, causing him and Emerald to turn on Salem and break him out.
• Token Wizard: Oscar is the only one among Ruby's group who can wield magic, due to being Oz's reincarnation. However, not only is he still unused to it, but he senses that the more magic he channels, the quicker his soul merges with Ozpin's. And he's not yet ready for that. Oscar first uses magic in battle against Salem, firing streams of green magic at her in an attempt to save Yang and Emerald.
• Too Awesome to Use: Ozpin's cane holds much more power than at first glance, but neither he nor Oscar harness it until they absolutely have to. The Long Memory was designed to store kinetic energy and release it when its handle is squeezed tightly enough. Ozma's many lives have been saving up such a large portion that when Oscar taps into it, a wave of green power vaporizes Salem (temporarily), the Monstra and many other Grimm in Atlas. But Oscar explains that this took up most of the cane's energy and he'll have to use it more sparingly from now on.
• Took a Level in Badass: Oscar's training with the gang has made him good enough to take Headmaster Lionheart completely by surprise, keeping him on the defensive all throughout their clash, a far cry from his initial appearance as a completely hapless kid. By the time the group reaches Atlas, Oscar is able to kill a Sabyr in one strike while performing some impressive acrobatics. When Neo attacks him to steal the lamp from him, he not only survives, but is able to break her out of her illusion and send her flying backwards with a single punch. Ozpin's return allows him to summon green energy that lets him strike through solid rock and survive a fatal fall even though his Aura was previously broken.
• Turn the Other Cheek: Qrow punches Oscar in the face and Jaune pins him against a wall in anger when they learn the truth about Ozpin, but Oscar doesn't hold a grudge against either of them; when Jaune immediately apologizes once the heroes see him again, Oscar says it's okay and admits he's been afraid of the same thing as Jaune. In Volume 7, he regularly spars with Jaune's team, who appear to have taken direct responsibility for looking after him. During their downtime, Jaune, Oscar and Weiss go to the movies together, showing that Oscar has no lingering issues with Jaune over the incident.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Oscar has inherited the powers of Ozpin, who was able to go toe-to-toe with the Fall Maiden, which would naturally make him a power player. However, he doesn't know how to use his abilities and lacks any form of combat experience or basic training. Despite his body's lack of training and his Aura's lack of strength, Ozpin can still force Oscar's body to easily somersault through the air from a standing start. However, as soon as Ozpin returns control back to Oscar, the boy loses his balance and falls off the chair Ozpin landed on.
• Voice of the Legion: Oscar has the ability to temporarily grant Ozpin control of his body. When this happens, Oscar's voice periodically becomes multi-layered with Ozpin's in an echoing effect that indicates the merging of two beings.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Oscar admits to Ruby that he's more terrified than he's ever been in his life, he and Ruby have a heart to heart about their fears. Ruby tells Oscar that the fact he's even willing to try and help protect the world speaks volumes about his character; she concludes the pep talk by telling him that he's braver than he thinks he is.
• Youthful Freckles: Oscar has freckles all over his cheeks. As a fourteen-year-old-boy, he is the youngest main character but carries the greatest burden as the inheritor of Ozpin's divine mission to save the world. Compared to the old headmaster who knew everything about the threat Remnant faces, Oscar is a farm hand with no combat background and limited life experience.

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"We need to find a way to work together. Not just the two of us — all of us."

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