Characters / War of Remnant: Other Antagonists

Teams RWBY and JNPR — Eastern Saunus — Western Saunus — Solitas — Anima — Menagerie — Other Antagonists — World Building (All spoilers unmarked)

Villains without any central region of operation.

Salem's Faction

Salem

Salem

The main villain of the story.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Heroism: Salem is a Well-Intentioned Extremist instead of a woman willing to destroy the world just so she could die.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: She lacks her Bad Boss tendencies and is more willing to let her subordinates indulge in their reasons for joining her cause. When Tyrian has his tail cut off, she comforts him rather than giving him the cold shoulder.
• Affably Evil: Despite her planning to destroy humanity, she is rather nice to her subordinates when they do as they're told.
• Benevolent Boss: As long as they are following orders and not being assholes to each other, she is very reasonable and kind to her subordinates. She defends Cinder from Watts and Wendigo mocking her, indulges Wendigo and Blackheart's desire for destruction when the time is right, and spends months healing Cinder while genuinely sorry she couldn't fix her sooner.
• Big Bad: She is the woman behind Cinder and Watts.
• Complete Immortality: Hazel says she has walked the earth for eons.
• Dark and Troubled Past: She says that her family was taken from her by Ozpin. Volume 6 elaborates on this. Ozma sold out her kingdom to the warrior leader and ended up getting her family and the kingdom destroyed in the process. When Radiance couldn't give her her family back, she attempted suicide. After teaming up with Abyss, she tries to go after Radiance and ends up losing the new kingdom she made out of revenge.
• The Dreaded: Her followers tend to fear her and will not go against her. Even Watts, as narcissistic and rude as he is, still knows to follow Salem's orders. The moment she reprimands him for mocking Cinder, he immediately backs down and apologizes without question.
• Driven to Suicide: The reason she has Abyss' power is because she attempted to do this by falling into the Grimm pools.
• Even Evil Has Standards: She shows her disgust for Cheshire running an underground fighting ring where men, women, and children fight to the death.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Of the first three volumes since all of the primary villains work for her and are furthering her plans.
• Healing Factor: Abyss granted her one after falling into the Grimm pools.
• Jerkass to One: Watts is the only one who doesn't receive the full extent of Salem's Affably Evil nature. She is much harsher with him than he is with the others since he is always acting like an asshole to begin with.
• A Mother to Her Men: She feels for both Cinder and Tyrian for being injured by Ruby to the point that she's willing to let her die for hurting them rather than keeping her alive for her silver eyes.
• Pragmatic Villainy: As much as she understands the desire to get revenge against Ruby for hurting Cinder, Tyrian, and Wendigo, she states that after the third comes back injured, she decides that he needs to kill the remaining Mistral huntsmen for the time being.
• Rage Against the Heavens: Thanks to Abyss, she believes the God of Light, Radiance, was a cruel tyrant. She also hates him for not allowing her to have her family back and letting those bad things happen in the first place. She amassed an army to take him on unsuccessfully, and now continues her plans to undermine Radiance.
• Tranquil Fury: Seeing Tyrian mutilated infuriates her, but the never raises her voice.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: She longs for a better Remnant, but is willing to burn the old one down in order to build a new one from the ashes. She even has her previous pawns in Grimm-based stasis pods so that they can survive to see her newer Remnant.

Abyss (SPOILERS)

The God of Darkness and Destruction

See his tropes here.

Salem's Inner Circle

Cinder Fall

Cinder Fall

The main instigator of the Fall of Beacon.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Nice Guy: She genuinely cares about Emerald and isn't abusive to her. She is also much nicer to her direct subordinates in general. She even chastises Mercury for flipping off his opponents in the Vytal Tournament. In general, she isn't an egomaniacal sociopathic narcissist who doesn't care about the lives she ruins. At least before her disfigurement...
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • On the flip side, she is also much more brutal and violent. Instead of knocking out the soldiers at the CCT tower, she slaughters them.
  • As of Volume 6, she becomes increasingly Ax-Crazy compared to canon. In the show, Cinder was certainly ruthless and sadistic, but it mostly had a goal of trying to assert her dominance while not caring about the people destroyed in the crossfire. During the "Consequences" arc in this series, she goes out of her way to be as needlessly cruel and murderous as possible.
• Affably Evil: Unlike her canon counterpart, her affability is genuine before becoming disfigured.
• Ax-Crazy: Throughout the "Consequences" arc of Volume 6, she becomes increasingly violent and deranged, preferring to kill in excessively brutal and sadistic ways. One including burning someone from the inside out with her fire breath. And she doesn't hesitate to set off the nerve gas in Mistral.
• Bad Boss: Downplayed. To everyone who isn't Emerald and Mercury, she is cold and caustic. Roman is well aware of her tendency to be like this.
• Benevolent Boss: She genuinely likes Emerald and Mercury and treats them nicely. He is even concerned about Mercury not being able to walk after Yang breaks his legs. Subverted after becoming disfigured when she starts abusing Emerald.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With Watts during the first three volumes. With Salem out of the way, they are the main instigators from her inner circle.
• Driven to Suicide: After losing her sisters, she eventually found herself at a bridge, planning to jump off. This is where Salem meets her.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She genuinely loves Emerald, and the feeling is mutual. At least, it is before she was mutilated.
• Even Evil Has Standards: In the past, she showed disgust at Watts so casually and remorselessly discussing the time he killed his whole family to fake his own death, especially since she would have given anything to see her family again. Her standards have become looser over time.
• Faux Affably Evil: After her fall into her revenge mindset, her pleasantries are no longer genuine and only thinly veil malice. The "negotiation" with Raven is one example of this.
• It's All About Me: In Volumes 5 and 6, she starts displaying a much more self-centered mindset. All she cares about his her own power. Even when she listens to other people's Freudian Excuses, she is bored to tears of them, whereas an earlier version of this Cinder would have shown sympathy.
• Kick the Dog: There was absolutely no reason for her to set off the nerve gas in Mistral other than sadism.
• Kick the Morality Pet: She slaps Emerald for questioning her about her sadistic request for an illusion of Ruby burning to death. She then implicitly threatens to put her back on the streets if she questions her again. This is taken further when she forces her to kill someone despite being visibly uncomfortable with the pointless murder.
• Misplaced Retribution: She was willing to let the woman who found her live after waking up, but when she says that she has a daughter and that she lost her husband. The resemblance to Raven, who had just thoroughly kicked her ass, causes her to not only kill her, but make her suffer for it.
• Never My Fault: Blames Jaune for his own death, screaming that he had jumped in front of her bow.
• Not So Stoic: When Canvas gets the jump on her by taking her by surprise, she ends her smug, self-assured act and starts taking him seriously as an opponent. When he ends up taking a picture of hers from her pocket, she goes absolutely berserk.
• Older Than They Look: She was at least in her twenties when she was infiltrating the Vytal Tournament. Yet, she is able to pass herself off as an older teenager.
• Pragmatic Villainy: While she seems to be nicer, that doesn't make her more moral. She only tells Mercury to calm down because causing a scene will be bad for the plan. She still promises to let him indulge in his petty vendetta as a reward for behaving.
• Promotion to Parent: Just after her twenty-first birthday, her parents died in a car crash. She had to take care of her teenage and kid sisters by herself.
• Slowly Slipping Into Evil: She started out as a good person, but the years after her sisters' deaths have loosened her morality. Even when she started out, she was still disgusted by some of her more immoral associates. However, Volume 3 shows her willingness to let Mercury indulge in a petty vendetta, the same thing she admonished Watts for when she started. After being disfigured, she starts becoming more bitter. At the end of the "Burning Cinders" arc, she starts acting like the sadistic monster she was in canon. She wants Emerald to make a gruesome illusion of Ruby being burned to death and when she questions her, she slaps her and yells at her while threatening to put her back on the streets. By the time of the battle of Haven, she acts much more like her canon self. It seems that Cheshire was right after all.
• Sole Survivor: She is the only member of the Fall family that is still alive.
• Took a Level in Cynic: It seems her disfigurement has made her more bitter and vindictive. While she was ruthless before, now she's driven to hurt Ruby out of revenge for what she did to her. She also becomes less empathetic to the suffering of others when they talk about their troubled backstories.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: After being disfigured, she starts to align with her canon counterpart more and more. She begins abusing Emerald and displays her revenge-driven sadistic mindset. She straight up falls asleep out of boredom from Neo's story about Paul Parrot maiming her. Something that an earlier Cinder would have shown sympathy for.
• Team Mom: Of her faction. She takes care of Emerald and Mercury as if they were children. It especially shows when the two are bickering with each other.
• Tragic Keepsake: The picture she has of her and her sisters.
• Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Her Semblance unlocks during the bombing of Cotton's fundraiser. In her grief, she begins hurling fire at Cheshire as he runs away.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Before her fall, she was a sweet person who cared about her sisters.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: She buys into Salem’s rhetoric about creating a better Remnant through their actions, and tries to encourage Emerald through this idea.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: She is uncomfortable with Cheshire noting that the reason he spared her is that he saw an inner darkness in her.

Doctor Watts

Dr. Arthur Watts

A former Atlesian scientist and genius computer programmer.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Jerkass: While Watts was a cruel dick in canon, this version goes out of his way to be as unpleasant as possible. He's rude to his allies and even ruder to his enemies.
• Adaptational Villainy: While Watts was a monster in canon, he never personally went out of his way to kill people. In this canon, prior to the Fall of Beacon, he held the highest body count due to his actions, only to be beaten by Cinder heading the slaughter of a city.
• Arch-Enemy: He has dedicated his life to ruining and destroying Ironwood, starting with everyone he holds dear.
• Ax-Crazy: He is more restrained than most examples in this series, but he seems far too willing to murder anyone in his way for petty reasons (if he even bothers with a reason).
• Bad Boss: He hired a group of mercenaries to attack the unveiling of the Atlas Knights and Paladins, promising they could rob the wealthy building it was being held in of all its loot. It's revealed he had no intention of letting them live, and staged the whole affair just to kill and injure a few of Ironwood's soldiers. The rest who work for him, like Blade, aren’t free from his snide remarks or being threatened.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With Cinder during the first three volumes. With Salem out of the way, they are the main instigators from her inner circle.
• Card-Carrying Jerkass: He does not care what people think of him and his manners. He will mock and belittle everyone with pride. Anyone who doesn't like it can buzz off as far as he's concerned. (As long as they're not Salem.)
  Cinder: I don't like you.
  Watts: Join the party of people I couldn't give less of a shit about.
• Composite Character: He takes Mercury's role in taunting Ruby while she tries to save Penny, and Neo's role in driving the ambulance to take Mercury away after Yang breaks his leg.
• The Cracker: He's the resident computer expert and uses this knowledge for nefarious purposes.
• Deadpan Snarker: He tends to be sarcastic and witty in every situation.
• Evil Is Petty: Has caused many mass murders and hurt innocent and heroic people just to spite Ironwood and Pietro. Emerald muses that he would've started a war without Salem's help, and he bluntly confirms this.
• Faux Affably Evil: His pleasant tone does nothing to hide the smug bastard underneath.
• For the Evulz: While he is working on furthering Salem’s plans, he tends to take pleasure in causing carnage, as shown when he casually causes traffic accidents in Mantle. He is upset when Slash won't let non-combatants get killed along with the Atlas soldiers in the unveiling, implying that he wants to cause as much damage as possible.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: For how openly antagonistic he is, he is the only one of Salem's subordinates who is disliked by everyone who isn't also a massive dick. And she treats him the harshest of all of them.
• Hate Sink: Watts seems to go out of his way to be the most detestable person in the room. He prides himself on being an absolutely petty narcissist willing to raze the world for his personal slights. Taking the time to ruin the life of Nicolas Shade just because Ironwood liked him shows how terrible he is. And he is a proud asshole who doesn't care what people think about his lack of manners.
• Insufferable Genius: He even gave himself the codename "Great Intelligence".
• Jerkass: He is an unrepentant dickhead to everyone he talks to. The only time he isn't is when he's forced to be nice by Salem.
• Jerkass to One: Inverted with Jacques. He is the only person he treats relatively nicely without having to be threatened into it.
• Kick the Dog: He holds up Ruby from saving Penny and openly mocks her simply because Penny is Pietro's creation and Ruby loves Penny.
• Kinslaying Is a Special Kind of Evil: Cinder admonishes him for killing his family so flippantly just to fake his death. Watts does not care in the slightest.
• More Despicable Minion: With Salem revealing herself to be quiet Affably Evil and a Benevolent Boss, Watts, with his arrogant, sociopathic dickishness, high body count, and petty motives makes her look like an angel.
• Narcissist: He has an enormous ego and will scorch earth simply because Ironwood chose Pietro over him, someone he viewed as inferior to him. He also doesn't hide his low opinion of his allies since he goes out of his way to mock them whenever they fail.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He is willing to openly be a dick to everyone he meets. However, once Salem tells him to stop picking on Cinder, he shuts up immediately without protest. She is one person he does not want to anger.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Despite being sadistic himself, he knows when to stick to the plan. He chides Tyrian for not going straight for Robyn in the window he provided.
• Sadist: Watts doesn't bother hiding his amusement at the suffering of others, especially Ironwood.
• The Sociopath: He's a petty, egomaniacal narcissist willing (and enthusiastic) to kill innocent people for the sake of getting what he wants. He has superficial charm, but it's so superficial that it doesn't hide the unpleasant prideful man underneath. He doesn't think twice about killing people and ruining lives all because he was passed over by Ironwood. He even justifies killing his family to fake his death and doesn't care about it.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Watts' diskishness makes him a burden to his allies just as much as to his enemies. Cinder has threatened him with Salem to get him to hurry up on the coding of the Blake Queen Virus.
• Token Evil Teammate: With Cinder herself far more affable, Watts is shaping up to be the most monstrous of Salem's Faction.
• Villainous Friendship: The only person he seems to treat nicely is Jacques, who is almost as much of a sociopathic narcissist as he is, so they have much in common.

Tyrian Callows

Tyrian Callows

A violent scorpion Faunus in Salem's inner circle.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Intelligence: He doesn't threaten the Higanbara waitress and politely asks Croak about Ruby's whereabouts. This suggests he has some more control over how he presents himself and knows when to hold back.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: He was one of the people who mocked Cinder about her disfigurement. In this story, he feels sympathy for her and is eager to get revenge on her behalf. He also isn't out to use violence on the rest of Ruby's party and allows them to run if they don't get in his way.
• Affably Evil: Despite his psychosis, Tyrian cares for his allies and wishes to avenge Cinder’s mutilation at Ruby’s hands. He even tries to let the rest of Ruby's party go if they don't put up a fight to stop him from taking her. True to his word, he intends to do just that when they seemingly abandon her.
• Ax-Crazy: Tyrian still seems to be the same maniac he was in canon. He looks forward to being able to butcher Ruby on Cinder's behalf and has a lot of fun murdering the attendees at Robyn's rally.
• Disabled in the Adaptation: While Tyrian was a maniac in canon, he was never hinted to be Hearing Voices like he starts displaying in "Burning Cinders".
• The Mentally Disturbed: Implied when he tells Cinder about the voices in his head.
• Mask of Sanity: He's not cackling madly when he asks about Ruby's whereabouts and puts up a decent act to appear stable. It also appears that he is even more mentally disturbed than in canon since he might be suffering from actual psychosis, but he otherwise doesn't show it.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Salem treats all her subordinates like children, but Tyrian falls into that role rather naturally. He needs to be comforted by Salem when he gets mutilated by Ruby.
• Sadist: Despite not going out of his way to hurt people, he certainly seems to enjoy it when he does. He nearly endangers the plan during the election rally attack by having too much fun slaughtering the attendees.
• Token Religious Teammate: Of a sort. Unlike the other subordinates, he reveres Salem as a goddess.

Hazel Rainart

Hazel Rainart

A large man who works for Salem.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Nice Guy: He doesn't have the uncontrollable anger towards Ozpin that he had in canon. He still hates him, but finding out Oz is in Oscar's head doesn't send him into a blind rage.
• Affably Evil: He isn't a bad guy compared to his compatriots. Not only does he defend Cinder from taunting, but he also is cordial to Sienna when he meets with her despite her followers being willing to kill him on sight. When he and Wendigo kill the Mistral huntsmen, he gives them a quick Neck Snap compared to Wendigo's extensive mental and physical torture. During the battle of Haven, he doesn't want to fight, but he'll still beat anyone coming after him.
• Feels No Pain: His Semblance, and a deconstruction. Just because he doesn't feel the pain doesn't mean he isn't taking damage. Team CARD takes advantage of this to wear him down.
• Freudian Excuse: His sister had silver eyes and was used by Ozpin to track down a mob boss despite only being 15. She was predictably killed and they never found the person who did it, leading to his grudge against Ozpin.
• Genius Bruiser: Despite his status as The Brute of Salem's faction, he is a very calculated fighter.
• The Ghost: In the "Friends" one-shot with Wendigo. They are never seen in the arc itself. Only the results of their actions.
• Neck Snap: How he kills all the Mistral huntsmen.
• No-Sell: To show his skill, he easily counters the heroes' attacks while letting them know exactly how they screwed up.

Wendigo

The Wendigo

A man who Salem transformed into a Grimm and the first of Salem's followers.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Intelligence: If you are to say that his closest canon counterpart is the Hound from Volume 8, then the fact that he is able to speak in full sentences and write shows that the process was done better this time.
• Ax-Crazy: The Wendigo is a violent monster with a history of ravaging villages for his enjoyment. He is gleeful at the idea of slaughtering the hundreds of Huntsmen in Mistral and relishes in the idea of tearing apart Ruby slowly. When he trains with Cinder, he is dismembering the other Grimm.
• Composite Character: He takes the role of the slaughterer of Kuroyuri from the Nuckelavee and the role of a Grimm/human hybrid from the Hound.
• Creepy Souvenir: Ren and Nora find mementos of his rampages through innocent villages in his cave, one of which is Li Ren's knife from Kuroyuri.
• Evil Is Bigger: Standing at nine feet tall, he towers over everyone in Salem's inner circle.
• Faux Affably Evil: The Wendigo is good at acting like he's being nice, but it doesn't negate the sadistic butcher underneath. He talks gently to Ren while brutally murdering his parents in front of him while shifting blame onto Nora for inadvertently leading him there. His note to Qrow taunting him about the dead Mistral huntsmen is written in a playful tone.
• The Ghost: In the "Friends" one-shot with Hazel. They are never seen in the arc itself. Only the results of their actions.
• I Shall Taunt You: He takes pleasure in mocking his victims before killing them.
• Jerkass: He mocks Cinder along with Watts, and he doesn't show much sympathy for Tyrian's injury. He also takes his time to mock Ren's parents after murdering them.
• Psychopathic Manchild: While subtler than someone like Tyrian, he shows to be someone who enjoys bullying others and sometimes behaves in an immature manner around Salem. He plays a prank on Cinder when she joins Salem's cause.
• Sadist: He takes pleasure in causing pain to his victims both physically and psychologically.
• Serial Killer: He is revealed to be one when Ren and Nora find the skulls of people he killed as trophies. He is technically a serial Spree Killer since he took out entire villages before moving on.
• The Sociopath: He shows himself to be sadistic and manipulative to his victims. He engages in wanton slaughter for no reason other than his own enjoyment. When he confronts Ren, he tries to blame Nora for his rampage to shift guilt onto her. And with his trophy collection and looking back on his rampages with fond memories, he has no remorse for it either.
• Stupid Evil: His sadism can get in the way of his logic at times. He knows the danger that Silver Eyes can be to him, but he doesn't show any hesitation when fighting Ruby. He panics when he remembers that.
• Was Once a Man: He is said to be the first person to ever be converted into a Grimm beast by Salem.
• Would Hurt a Child: Children are not spared from the decimation of villages as Nora and Ren nearly found out firsthand. He also once slaughtered an entire orphanage.

Blackheart

Blackheart

A childish, wannabe supervillain and the weakest of Salem’s faction.

Tropes:

• Card-Carrying Villain: He revels in chaos and destruction and openly states his desire to commit evil acts. Though, he's not very good at it.
• Harmless Villain: Described as the most useless member of Salem’s inner circle. Even CARD can keep him at bay and outwit him.
• Laughably Evil: While he has the spirit for evil, his complete lack of intimidating presence or competence ensures that he will always be treated as a joke.
• Psychopathic Manchild: He acts like a child pretending to be a supervillain.
• Stupid Evil: He is somehow dumber than Adrian, making him extremely ineffective as a villain. Adrian even calls him a dumbass.

Cinder's Subordinates

Mercury Black

Mercury Black

One of Cinder's subordinates.

Tropes:

• Abled in the Adaptation: He didn't get his prosthetic until after Yang shattered his leg.
• Adaptational Villainy: He became a Self-Made Orphan not because Marcus was abusing him. Only because he was bored.
• Adaptational Wimp: Genuinely lost to Yang during a sparing match, while in canon it's implied he threw their fight in Volume 3. The Battle of Haven takes it up further, as in Volume 5 he and Yang were on equal footing, while here he didn't bother improving his techniques and skills and not only gets easily beaten, but also killed.
• Arch-Enemy: To Yang, all because she beat him in a sparing match. He swore he'll get back at her and is zeroing in on Sapphire after learning of their relationship. It becomes mutual after he kills Sapphire.
• Ax-Crazy: He is ill-tempered, sadistic, and bloodthirsty. He revels in the idea of causing carnage and will go way too far when fighting in the tournament.
• Card-Carrying Villain: He openly states that he is psychopathic, narcissistic, and sadistic.
• Co-Dragons: With Emerald for Cinder.
• Death by Adaptation: He's still alive in canon, but here Yang kills him during the Battle of Haven.
• Eaten Alive: Yang feeds him to a trio of Ursa's as soon as she's done interrogating him, deliberately killing him the same way he killed Sapphire.
• Evil Is Petty: He is unreasonably angry about the fact that Yang beat him. So much so that he has to be told to behave by Cinder. She incentivizes this by telling him that she'll rig the fight match-up system so he gets a second chance to beat her.
• For the Evulz: His only motivation is to cause as much murder and suffering as possible.
• Ironic Last Words: He killed Sapphire using the Unhand Them, Villain! trick. When Yang has him dangling over the Ursas, he begs Yang to let him go. She does.
• It's All About Me: Openly states that he's the only person who matters to him.
• Jerkass: He seems to be incapable of not being a douche. When the other members of Team CMEN say "Hi" to CARD and are nice before the fight, Mercury flips them off before Cinder reprimands him for it.
• More Despicable Minion: Compared to Cinder, his pettiness and sadism make him look much worse.
• Sadist: The smile on his face as Tukson bleeds to death says it all. He also takes his time beating up Sapphire in front of Yang.
• Self-Made Orphan: He killed his father, but while it was initially believed that his mom died in a hit, it turns out she survived the attack. Mercury is the one who killed her. Both of them were done out of boredom.
• The Sociopath: He openly identifies as psychopathic, and could be seen as a low-functioning example. He is very ill-tempered and prone to violence while explicitly enjoying torturing and killing people. He states that he is narcissistic and shows that he is the only person who matters to him. He can appear charming, but his less desirable qualities shine through in the end.
• Token Evil Teammate: The cruelest and sadistic member of Cinder’s faction.
• Troll: Mostly to Emerald. He pretended that he'd have a way of finding Tukson’s bookstore long enough for Emerald to miss her shopping date with Cinder.
• Villain Forgot to Level Grind: Yang has spent the past several months of her life training to get better at combat and avenge Sapphire, while Mercury just spent that time playing video games. This leads to him horribly losing their fight at Haven and his subsequent death.

Emerald Sustrai

Emerald Sustrai

One of Cinder's subordinates and her girlfriend.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Nice Guy: She's much more hesitant about her villainous actions than she was in canon.
• Affably Evil: Friendly and upbeat with the Beacon students.
• Anti-Villain: Even more so than in canon, she's genuinely a nice gal when not committing crimes for Cinder, and is incredibly remorseful when committing said crimes.
• Bleed 'Em and Weep: She is much less comfortable with the murder of Tukson, to the point that Cinder has to comfort her afterward. She feels the same about murdering someone in Raven's camp, but Cinder refuses to comfort her this time.
• Co-Dragons: With Mercury for Cinder.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Cares greatly for Cinder, the two sharing a mutually loving relationship.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • While she'll swallow her remorse when killing for Cinder, she makes it no secret Mercury's sadism creeps her out. She also doesn't like his unnecessarily hostile attitude with their peers.
  • When Cinder starts becoming more sadistic, she expresses fear about the sudden change.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Emerald is on the verge of a mental breakdown during the Fall of Beacon. Seeing the horrors and the millions dead because of her left her begging to leave so she couldn’t watch anymore.
• Rescue Romance: She wants to follow Cinder after she saves her from Cheshire's fighting ring.
• Undying Loyalty: To Cinder. Despite how horrified she was when she killed Tukson, she is still dutifully following Cinder. Her loyalty is becoming tested further when Cinder Took a Level in Jerkass.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: She really doesn't like Mercury and will have no problem voicing that to Cinder.

Roman Torchwick

Roman Torchwick

A Remnant mobster that has gone in league with Cinder and her crew.

Tropes:

• Abusive Parents: His father was a violent Control Freak.
• Adaptational Wimp: Roman is far more cowardly than in canon, and he can’t fight as well, either. He usually prefers to run than fight, and the only time he did fight Blake absolutely destroyed him.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He genuinely cares about Neo and is furious when Ruby gets her blown off the ship.
• Even Evil Has Standards: When he was working with Paul Parrot in the past, he expressed some sympathy for Gretchen and her team when Paul was torturing them for snooping on him.
• Freudian Excuse: He mentions that his own father was abusive to him in an offhand comment. He claims that's how he was able to handle the Atlas "interrogations" when he was in custody.
• Papa Wolf: He is willing to do anything to protect Neo and keep her safe.
• Related in the Adaptation: Neo is Roman's daughter.
• Villainous Breakdown: Whatever false civility and charm he had goes out the window when Neo gets blown off the ship. All that's left is pure rage toward Ruby and everything she stands for.

Neopolitan

Neopolitan

Roman's right-hand woman and daughter.

Tropes:

• Abled in the Adaptation: Downplayed. While the cause of Neo's muteness in canon is not explained, she never says a word. In this, she is able to speak, but only with a hoarse whisper, implying damage to her vocal cords. While she still has trouble talking, it's more than in the show where she is implied to not be able to talk at all.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Certainly ruthless, but lacks her canon counterpart's sadistic and smug tendencies.
• Adaptational Wimp: She was easily able to beat Cinder when she resurfaced. However, Cinder is able to beat her into submission, even without her Maiden powers.
• Affably Evil: Allows Weiss and Blake to pass after Yang offers to fight her herself.
• Defiant to the End: Even when Cinder is strangling the life out of her, she still keeps her wits about her.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: Roman openly acknowledges that he should never go anywhere without her considering how useful she is.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Runs for the hills the second Raven shows up to save Yang on the train.
• Oh, Crap!: Right before she is blown off the airship, like in canon.
• Related in the Adaptation: She is Roman's daughter.

Salem's Other Allies

Professor Lionheart

Professor Leonardo Lionheart

See his tropes here.

Hound (SPOILERS)

The Hound

A specialized Grimm-human hybrid working for Salem.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Early Appearance: The Hound appeared in Volume 8 of the show. It shows up near the end of the last arc in Volume 5 of this series.
• Age Lift: Salem likely created the Hound later in life. Here, the Hound was created before the gods left humanity.
• Composite Character: The Hound in Volume 8 was revealed to be some random Faunus man. Here, it was created by mutating the warrior from "The Infinite Man."
• Female Monster Surprise: It is revealed to be made from the warrior woman that killed Salem's kingdom.
• Flawed Prototype: This is the first Grimm-human hybrid Abyss made, and she is little more than a feral beast with a level of sentience slightly higher than the average Grimm. These flaws seem to have been worked out by the time of making the Wendigo, who can speak in full sentences and is capable of complex thought.
• Last Episode, New Character: The Hound is revealed near the end of Volume 5.

Independent Antagonists

Lurker

Lurker

A mercenary who works across Remnant and runs several Snuff Film rings.

Tropes:

• Arc Villain: Of the "Rise of The Tiger" arc.
• Consummate Professional: Despite his horrific crimes, he knows how to get things done and won't accept any sloppy mistakes.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Sienna makes his death slow. She shoots out his Achilles tendon, shoots his hand to pieces, shoots his manhood off, and drives over his head.
• Dirty Coward: Starts pathetically begging for his life when Sienna finally gets her hands on him.
• Hypocrite: As much as he preaches about pragmatism, he ultimately gets himself kill pointlessly and sadistically trying to murder Sienna.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Running snuff film operations that prey on Faunus due to how little Remnant cares for them.
  • Mocks Sienna about her dead family.
• Laser-Guided Karma: He ends up being offed by one of the most recent people he has indirectly hurt with his actions.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently Cheshire owes him a favor for something he did for him.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name likely isn't "Lurker," but that's the only name he has.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Compared to Atwood, he is more level-headed and professional when it comes to his work.
• Professional Killer: Lurker is a professional, and while he does monstrous things, it’s all for money and he shows no sadism.
• Psycho for Hire: While more pragmatic and cold than most, his last moments attempting to kill Sienna while mocking her family’s deaths show he is still very much a sadist.
• Smug Snake: Seen best with his death, where he causally attempts to murder Sienna only to become a begging wreck when she rather easily turns the tables on him.
• The Spook: Sienna even calls him and Cheshire these because of the fact nothing, not even their real names, is known.
• Would Hurt a Child: Perfectly willing to give Atwood the means to rape and murder children if it means he could profit off of their suffering.

Cheshire

Cheshire

An assassin who works for Jacques and runs a fighting ring in Mistral.

Tropes:

• Animal Motif: Due to being based on the Cheshire cat, he wears a cat mask.
• Asshole Victim: Was castrated and roasted alive before the events of the series.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: He didn't mind dying, but being locked in one of the pods he uses to keep his prisoners while Cinder burns it to the ground was not something he was looking forward to. He is essentially baked alive.
• Faux Affably Evil: Casually chats with Robyn before revealing he’s bombing the location she’s at, mocking her with a chipper tune as he vanishes.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Has a handful of appearances, but he’s single-handedly responsible for Robyn’s Heroin addiction and for Cinder and Emerald joining Salem's cause.
• Hate Sink: Cheshire is a proud terrorist and likes to host fighting rings where men, women, and children like to fight to the death for his and other sick people's amusement.
• Mad Bomber: All of his kills were with bombs, and Sienna said it’s his main form of killing.
• Malevolent Masked Man: He wears a cat mask and he's a ruthless mercenary.
• No Kill Like Over Kill: He was tasked by Jacques to kill one woman, and he blows up the rally, killing dozens of people.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Cheshire is the only title he has due to not having any other form of identification.
• Posthumous Character: Robyn reveals he’s dead, and he only reappears in a brief cameo in the "Rise of the Tiger" arc and as a significant character in the "Burning Cinders" arc.
• Psycho for Hire: If his bombing of Nova’s rally was anything, it shows Cheshire loves his work.
• The Spook: Like Lurker, nothing is known about him other than his code name.
• Would Hurt a Child: Not only does he bomb the fundraiser where Cinder's sisters were, he also has children fighting in his death matches.

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