Only add tropes that apply to the characters in this story, otherwise consult the respective pages on their home series. Unmarked spoilers for RWBY Within
Team RWBY
Ruby "No-Scope" Rose
The Leader of Team Ruby and of Strike Eight.
- The Captain: Has this rank by the end of RWBY Within.
- Character Development: Goes through The Chains of Commanding and matures quite a bit compared to her canon self. She still has her idealism.
- Friendly Sniper: As in canon, but since Cresecent Rose had limited ammo that cannot be replaced on Earth, she switches to a laser sniper rifle while with X-COM.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: The source of her nickname comes from a incident where she shot an alien grenade out of the air, this happening even before they (re)gained the ability to use Aura on Earth.
- Psychic Powers: Obtains these in RWBY Within, though she isn't that skilled with them yet.
- By Remnant Unknown, she's significantly more skilled with them, and is able to read emotions and communicate telepathically. Emerald actually notices this, but manages to dissuade Ruby through careful acting. Ruby is still suspicious, though.
- Tragic Keepsake: After Vance's death, she begins carrying around all the dogtags of all the soldiers who die under her command.
- After Zhang's death, she receives his Hand Cannon, Aureate Mercy, and carries it with her alongside Crescent Rose.
Weiss "Elsa" Schnee
The second-in-command of Team RWBY.
- Adaptational Badass: Ends up mastering her summoning skills much earlier than in canon, due to all of the training she received from X-COM.
- Badass Bookworm: Helped Vahlen develop a method to create synthetic Dust using Elerium, despite not having a good understanding of Dust outside of using it in combat.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Has defrosted a bit more than in canon, and is willing to help Vahlen do so throughout RWBY Within.
- Annette notes that Weiss is clearly struggling to keep up the façade of being the "Ice Princess" when they return to Remnant, and that no matter how hard she tries, Sergeant Schnee will always be lurking beneath the surface.
- Following the Battle of Beacon, she is seen spending time comforting survivors and handing out rations.
- Enemy Summoner: Can use glyphs to summon ice constructs to fight for her. Due to her time with X-COM, she has several summons that her far more experienced sister cannot use.
- After being forced to execute some captured X-COM operatives to maintain her cover, she's also able to summon them
- Sergeant Rock: While all of Team RWBY are promoted to Sergeant by the time RWBY Within ends, she is the first to reach the rank, and fills the role better since she's already Ruby's second-in-command. Even after defrosting, she is still far more strict and serious compared to most of her team.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: Ends up in the Assault Class in this story, so her primary weapon whenever Myrtenaster isn't usable is a shotgun.
Blake "Sabretooth" Belladonna
The third member of Team RWBY and Strike Eight.
- Army Scout: Fulfills this role for Team RWBY and for Strike Eight.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Downplayed. Her Semblance doesn't include her cybernetics, and going from being a Stealth Expert and scout to being a MEC trooper results in some issues.
- Hollywood Cyborg: Becomes one after the Site Recon mission, due to injuries she sustained from a Chryssalid attack.
- Invisibility Cloak: X-COM integrates one into her (Remnant) combat outfit. She passes it off on Remnant as an evolution of her semblance.
- Irony: In canon, Yang lost one of her arms trying to protect Blake from Adam. In addition to what's listed in Yang's entry, here Blake loses one of her (cybernetic) arms fighting Adam after he wounded Yang.
- Lightning Bruiser: While her MEC doesn't pack as much of a punch as Yang's, it's still quite powerful, and makes up for it by being faster and more mobile.
- Meaningful Rename: Attempted. After she becomes a MEC trooper, MacAuley tries to change her nickname to "Wolverine", saying that Wolverine is basically Sabretooth, except with metal implants. It doesn't really catch on, though, and she's still being called "Sabretooth" by the time of Remnant Unknown.
- Open Secret: Her Faunus nature is revealed to X-COM when she loses her bow fighting an EXALT Operative. X-COM, having dealt with stranger things over the past few months, couldn't care less that she has cat ears.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: While all members of RWBY and JNPR suffer from some issues due to their time in X-COM, Blake seems to have bee affected the most, with her possibly having developed severe PTSD. After she loses control and imagines a member of ABRN is an alien during their match, Ruby has to step in and knock her away. Cinder ends up taking advantage of this, having Mercury slice her with a small poison-coated blade that sends her into a blind rage during their one-on-one match, ending with her preparing to decapitate him before she ends up blacking out.
- Surpassed the Teacher: As Adam was the one who taught her, her leaving him to die has shades of this.
Yang "BFG" Xiao Long
Fourth member of Team RWBY and Strike Eight.
- Big Sister Instinct: After Ruby is hospitalized, she admits that she's afraid of Ruby dying, either on Earth or on Remnant, and points out that Ruby didn't actually know the risks when she enrolled at Signal, since she was trying to fulfill her childhood dream.
- Hollywood Cyborg: Becomes one after the events of Site Recon, though unlike Blake, she didn't have any injuries that needed healing. She did it so that Blake wouldn't be the sole cyborg on their team.
- Irony: In canon, Yang ended up losing her right arm due to trying to protect Blake from Adam. Here, she willingly sacrifices all of her limbs and becomes a MEC Trooper as a sign of respect toward Blake, who didn't have that choice.
- Stuff Blowing Up: As the squad's Rocketeer, she specializes in demolitions.
- True Companions: To her team, and especially Blake. She willingly has all of her limbs torn off and gets turned into a cyborg, just so that Blake won't be the only cyborg on their team.
Team JNPR
Jaune "Dakka" Arc
The leader of Team JNPR, he is the only person on Remnant outside of Team RWBY to see the first portal, and is the one to tell Ozpin about it. By the end of RWBY Within, he achieves the rank of Lieutenant, making him the second highest-ranking member of Strike Eight after Ruby, and the only other officer from Remnant prior to the Battle of Beacon.
- Adaptational Badass: The time he spends with X-COM helps to close the power and skill gap between his team and himself quite a bit.
- BFG: Is Strike Eight's Gunner.
- Character Development: Matures during his time on Earth, loses his Leeroy Jenkins tendencies, and grows into his role as a leader.
- Fastball Special: A tactic used in Remnant Unknown, even being referred to as a "Fastball Special". Comes in two distinct flavors: Arc Throwernote , and Arc Launchernote .
- More Dakka: As the team's Gunner. It's in his nickname!
- Official Couple: With Pyrrha. Finally.
- Training from Hell: Undergoes this under Zhang. He has to do a ton of it before he's even allowed to use an LMG.
Nora "Hammertime" Valkyrie
Team JNPR's muscle.
- Horrifying the Horror: The operative who responsible for her initial Engineer training is a former member of a drug cartel. He can't tell who's scarier: Nora, or the leader of the cartel.
- Stuff Blowing Up: She's the team's Engineer, which specializes in using grenades.
Pyrrha "Ares" Nikos
Team JNPR's second in command, and Strike Eight's Infantry Specialist.
- Anger Born of Worry: Her reaction to learning what Jaune went though in order to unlock his Aura is best described as this.
- The Generic Girl: Her X-COM class, as she doesn't really have any specialization.
- Official Couple: With Jaune. At long last.
Lie "Shrike" Ren
The last member of Team JNPR, and The Medic of Strike Eight.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Noticed that Bradford was stressed based on his speech pattern, body language, and sleep schedule. The rest of the team only noticed it after he pointed it out. When MacAuley points out that it sounds like borderline stalking, Ren simply replies that he's very observant.
- The Medic: Is this for Strike Eight.
- Shock and Awe: X-COM adds in Arc Throwers to Stormflower just prior to his return to Remnant.
- The Stoic: Still this.
X-COM
Central Officer John Bradford
Commanding Officer of the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit. Serious, diligent, and highly skilled, he is beloved by his operatives. Even if their antics drive him crazy sometimes.
Also known as "The Great Commandy One".
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Borrows the Councilman's "We will be watching" to finish off his conversation with Lisa Lavender.
- Composite Character: As RWBY Within lacks the presence of X-COM's Commander, Bradford acts as leader for the X-COM project instead of merely being the middleman for the Commander. The stress that Bradford faces when dealing with the Council in the sequel also takes some traits from X-COM 2's version of Bradford. He also receives the Commander's nickname of "the Great Commandy One" from the List of Things X-COM Operatives Are No Longer Allowed To Do
- The Chains of Commanding: In the sequel, Bradford's insistence in handling the Council leaves him exceedingly stressed and burdened, causing the Council to question Bradford's actions in keeping the Temple Ship in X-COM's hands only.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Bradford's become increasingly reliant on alcohol as the Council continues to pressure him into letting them on the Temple Ship.
- Not So Above It All: Usually quite serious, and at one point orders a group of operatives to stop playing Training Montage music. Only for him to end a speech at the end of a long period of training by singing "I'll Make A Man Out of You". His canon reference to Civilization is turned into a love of the game, with him organizing large multiplayer games of it with X-COM!Penny.
- Time Stands Still: His gift from Weiss at the end of RWBY Within is a pocket watch that can slow down time. Which is extremely fitting considering whom the other Bradford is...
Dr. Moira Vahlen
X-COM's Chief Scientist and top researcher into investigating and studying the alien technology.
- Beyond the Impossible: With Weiss' help, she managed to create synthetic Dust, despite having no real equivalent of it on Earth and very limited understanding of Dust, Aura and Semblances. She gives the information on it to Weiss as a gift.
- Subverted Trope. Dust is just Elerium that decayed under specific conditions... Synthetic Dust from Elerium ended up being just about as weird as "synthetic alcohol" from sugar when that little bombshell was dropped.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Thanks to Weiss' help, Vahlen becomes a lot more friendly to the staff of X-COM.
- Closet Geek: Despite her seriousness, Vahlen is the source of Weiss's codename, the rest of X-COM noting how much Vahlen loves Frozen.
- Omnidisciplinary Doctor: Downplayed. While she works in and runs projects covering a wide range of fields, she admits that her area of expertise is physics, allowing Tygan, who has a background in biochemistrynote , to examine Blake's blood sample, which she is investigating for signs of chemicals in case Mercury had poisoned her to cause her to go berserk.
- Workaholic: Part of the reason why she's unpopular with the rest of X-COM at the beginning is because she acts completely professional towards anyone who isn't Bradford or Shen at all times. She gets better with Weiss' help, but still needs to be reminded not to bring her work to the bar with her, and she apparently always carries syringes with her, even while she's taking a short vacation on Remnant.
Dr. Raymond Shen
X-COM's Chief Engineer, and probably one of the most skilled engineers on Earth. Father of Lily Shen, who takes after him in terms of skill.
Also known as Santa.
- Cool Old Guy: He helps builds weapons, create improvements, and even sneaks cookies for Ruby after she's been banned from buying them from the commissary. There's a reason why he's nicknamed Santa.
- The Engineer: He is The Engineer at XCOM, with very few people coming close to his level of skill. He's able to take apart Team RWBYs weapons without damaging them, adapt Remnant's weapon shifting technology to MECs and aircraft, program AIs, and set up an interdimensional communications network.
- Papa Wolf: Willingly stays behind in Remnant during the Battle of Beacon while VIPs are being evacuated back to Earth because he's unwilling to leave his daughter behind.
- Precision F-Strike: Despite being a friendly old man who rarely raises his voice, When his daughter is in danger, he makes it very clear he won't leave at all.Shen: (To Bradford)"If you think I'm leaving without my daughter, you are fucking mistaken, my friend."
Field Commander Peter Van Doorn
The highest ranking field operative in XCOM, one of the greatest heroes in all of XCOM, and one of the best known, acting as the de facto public face of XCOM. He leads Strike One, the strike team made up of the best operatives in XCOM.He also acts as XCOM's second-in-command, stepping in for Bradford when he is unavailable.
- Commanding Coolness: He's the field commander of XCOM for a reason.
- Four-Star Badass: Was a general before joining XCOM, and is still a high-ranking officer in XCOM.
- Universally Beloved Leader: One of the most beloved members of XCOM, both within XCOM and with the public. The Council may be willing to butt heads with Bradford, but they step carefully when dealing with Van Doorn.
- You Are in Command Now: Is given de facto command of XCOM on Earth when REMCOM is cut off, and has officially been made the new Central Officer as of chapter 36 of Remnant Unknown, though both he and Councilman Bailey hope that it won't be permanent.
Captain Beagle
The Australian leader of XCOMs Strike Five team who for lack of a better term, has quite the infamous reputation for how his missions turn out Hint: Absolutely sideways, no matter how standard.
- Awesome Aussie: Fittingly for a leader of an XCOM strike team.
- Shout-Out: His name based of the famous XCOM lets player Beaglerush, famous for cranking up the difficulty of the Long War to a point in which the developers thought was impossible, and proceeding to succeed anyway.
- Walking Disaster Area: His missions in-universe revolve around tings going haywire, no matter how mundane. Despite EVERY SINGLE MISSION going crazy, he still makes it out no worse for wear.
Major Xander "Claymore" Vance
One of XCOMs best marksmen, part of Strike One, and attached to Strike Eight to help guide team RWBY. Teaches Ruby how to be a marksman, how to be a leader, and how to deal with operatives dying under her command.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted. He continues to be brought up long after his death, even into Remnant Unknown.
- Friendly Sniper: One of XCOMs best, and is quite friendly.
- The Mentor: Acts as one to Ruby, both as a marksman and as a leader.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: He stays behind to buy the rest of Strike Eight time during the Site Recon mission. His death sends Ruby into a Heroic BSoD that lasts several weeks, and it takes the arrival of team JNPR to shake her out of it.
- Pop-Cultured Badass: Averted. While he has nothing against pop-culture, he tells MacAuley not to make all of team RWBY's nicknames references. He gives up after Blake is nicknamed Sabretooth. Ironically, the nickname MacAuley tries to give Weiss right after that is the only one that is not a reference (Though it doesn't stick, and Weiss' nickname ends up being Elsa, as suggested be Vahlen).
Colonel Shaojie "Chilong" Zhang
Former Triad, Zhang is one of XCOMs best gunners, and is also part of Strike One. Serious and often viewed as unapproachable, he takes a shine to Ruby after she complements him (while she is very, very drunk), being one of the people who recommend her for promotion to officer.
- BFG: One of XCOMs best gunners. He notes that they carry XCOMs heaviest non-MEC weaponry while training Jaune.
- The Comically Serious: Is extremely serious, especially when it comes to being a gunner. He treats becoming a gunner as if it's like becoming part of a knightly order.
- Determinator: The only operative able to stand up while under the Ethereal's psychic assault, and actually manages to shoot it at the same time.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted. Ruby continues to carry his Hand Cannon, Aureate Mercy, after his death, even when she returns to Remnant and fights in the Vytal Festival.
- The Mentor: Acts as this to Jaune, much to Jaune's misfortune.
- Not So Above It All: He enjoys evading Ruby's questions about him, and finds her drunken behaviour to be amusing. His training of Jaune is also quite eccentric at times.
- The Stoic: Even more so than Ren. Part of why people often view him as unapproachable
Annette Durand
Head of the Psi Ops and big sister figure to Team RWBY during the Long War. As the stories go on, she ends up becoming so much more.
- Ascended Extra: In the game, despite being the focus of Operation Progeny, she becomes little more than another (albeit slightly more powerful) rank-and-file soldier. Come RW, and not only is she both a powerful Psi Op and an Officer, but she becomes The Volunteer, and the first Earth-born Huntress to unlock an Aura. The sequel only ups her status from there.
- Determinator: Her defining trait.
Corporal/Master Sergeant Conor "Mac" Mac Auley
From Ireland, MacAuley was originally one of XCOM's base technicians. He changes careers and becomes a field operative after helping Ruby defend Engineering during the Base Defense. He's friends with team RWBY.
- Almighty Janitor: He may only be a Master Sergeant, but he's pretty much Shen's second-in-command of Engineering after being stranded on Remnant, and had already been specifically chosen to work alongside him on an extremely important project.
- The Engineer: Started out as one of the base technicians, is the operative chosen to work alongside Shen to setup the communications system for REMCOM, and stays behind to keep Amity from crashing into Vale.
- Currently one of the leaders of the engineers on the Avenger, and is responsible for setting up their comms system throughout Remnant.
- Fighting Irish: Downplayed. He starts out as a base technician before becoming a field operative, but even after that he's still more focused on engineering, setting up, operating, and repairing equipment and systems in the field. After being stranded on Remnant, he focuses more on repairing and maintaining the Avenger and XCOM's communications system.
- The Nicknamer: Comes up with most of team RWBY's nicknames, with the exception of Weiss (he wanted to call her Ice Queen). Ironically, his nickname, "Mac", is one of the simplest nicknames in XCOM, simply being a short form of his last name.
- He's also the one who nicknamed the Archon "the Viper King".
- Pop-Cultured Badass: To Vance's annoyance. Most of the nicknames he comes up with are pop-culture references, and he drops other references fairly often.
- Rank Up: Starts out as a base technician and a Corporal, but changes careers to being a field operative following the Base Defense, and by Remnant Unknown he is a Master Sergeant.
- Shout-Out: A possible one, assuming it isn't just an error. While RWBY Within and Remnant Unknown refer to him as Conor MacAuley, his one appearance in Tales From The Anthill has him called Colm MacAuley. Colm Meaney is the actor who played the equally Irish engineer Miles O'Brien on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.
- Talk Like a Pirate: Does this throughout Chapter 29 of Remnant Unknown alongside Beagle, even singing a sea shanty at one point.
- Took a Level in Badass: Went from a base tech to being one of XCOMs best field operatives and engineers.
Lily Shen
Teenage daughter of Raymond Shen. A genius engineer like her father, she's extremely interested in Hunters. When she first appears, she's not officially part of XCOM, but has semi-officially joined.
- The Engineer: Alongside her father and MacAuley, she's one of XCOM's best engineers on Remnant.
- Fangirl: Loves Hunters. It's implied that part of this comes from her love of anime.
- Shipper on Deck: Is convinced that Sienna Khan and Bradford are starting a relationship, and comes up with a ship name for them (even outright referring to it as a ship name): Striped Sweater.
- Teen Genius: She's still a teenager, but she's almost as good of an engineer as her father. He's been teaching her since she was little, and she's fairly certain that he has MacAuley purposefully break some of the detectors before giving them to her, just to keep her on her toes.
Penny Polendina (XCOM)/ Nichole
A copy of the original Penny Polendina's mind that has been loaned to XCOM. Usually pilots a MEC suit or a Gremlin.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Penny's first "appearance" is as a SHIV that Ruby programmed with lines that sounded like Penny.
- Good Counterpart: Briefly becomes this when the original Penny is infected by Cinder's virus.
- I Have Many Names: Has gone by Penny, Nichole, Terry (from Terra), and Vanessa so far.
- Meaningful Rename: Has been trying out different names after the original Penny was disinfected and brought back online. Eventually chooses to go by Nichole.
- Remote Body: Unlike the canon Penny, who's only experience is living in her singular body, Nichole has more practical experience using drone bodies and is not attached to any given platform.
- Spaceship Girl: Acts as the ship A.I. for the Avenger when not in the field.
- Split-Personality Merge: Initially wanted to do this with the original Penny, which was part of the agreement when Ironwood loaned her to Ozpin. After knocking out the original Penny after she got infected, removing the virus, and bringing her back online, she decides it's better to have a backup copy than to merge the two.
The Council of Nations
The Councilman
The Council's representative to XCOM.
- Face Framed in Shadow: The Councilman continues to do this after the end of the alien war, worsening Bradford's suspicion of the Council's plans for the Temple Ship. It's the Councilman's willingness to finally reveal himself to Bradford that helps to ease any issues between the two of them.
- I Choose to Stay: Attempted by the Councilman during the Battle of Beacon, stating that he is willing to stay in Remnant as an act of solidarity to the people of Remnant. It's only through convincing by Bradford that the Councilman begrudgingly agrees to return to Earth.
- Poor Communication Kills: The Councilman admits that their less than ideal response to Bradford's suspicion after the end of the alien war has only strained relations between the two groups.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Like in canon for RWBY Within. After Bradford and the Council begin to mend their relationship, he starts to go back to this during Remnant Unknown. He is completely understanding of why Bradford kept Remnant a secret, and after returning to Earth during the Battle of Beacon(At Bradford's insistence), he simply asks what's wrong with the communicator, recognizes that Van Doorn is the best person to command XCOM in this situation, and then heads off to call the rest of the Council, promising that they will authorise the use of all available resources to help Van Doorn solve the issue.
- Verbal Tic: His speech tends to be... peppered with pauses, even when talking in... person.
Lieutenant Jane Kelly
The leader of the Councilman's security escort.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: Used to be part of the Irish Army Ranger Wing, having transferred from the Naval Service.
- Fighting Irish: Skilled enough to lead the security escort for one of the most powerful people in the world, and wears the Irish flag on her cap with pride. Has no trouble keeping up with XCOM's operatives, and is entrusted by the Councilman to keep Tygan safe when he stays behind on Remnant.
Dr. Richard Tygan
The Council's scientific representative.
- I Choose to Stay: Stays on board the Amity Colosseum while its crashing to prevent it from hitting the City of Vale.
- More Expendable Than You: His reason for staying aboard Amity instead of Vahlen, saying that she'd be a greater loss than him.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Downplayed. While he is skilled enough to investigate and understand a fair amount of the workings of the Temple ship, and take Vahlen's place in steering Amity away from Vale, his backgroundnote is in biochemistry, which comes in handy, as the Council had him work on a project involving Berserker blood, which allows him to notice that Blake's blood cells have damage that resembles what happened to test animals injected with a serum developed from it.
The Reapers (SPOILERS)
General
Founded by the crew of a Harvester that somehow ended up on Remnant, the Reapers are a collection of free Vipers, humans, and Faunus who secretly live on Remnant, primarily in an underground complex located in Mountain Glenn. Experts at stealth, they are able to use the Gift of Shadow, channeling power from substance the Grimm are made out of, to enhance their abilities. They have allied themselves with XCOM.
- Ancient Conspiracy: They've been living on Remnant for centuries.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Rather than a collection of survivalists fighting to free Earth from ADVENT, they are a collection of free vipers, humans, and Faunus, who predate the foundation of ADVENT by centuries, and have powers that channel the Grimm.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Averted. They were founded and are lead by vipers who have broken free of the Ancients.
- Composite Character: Of the various Resistance Factions in War of the Chosen. They have the name, stealth focus, masks, and some of the characters from the WOTC Reapers, aliens who have broken away from the control of the Elders like the Skirmishers, the mysticism and access to special powers unavailable to other factions like the Templars (as well as using a melee weapon to help channel the power), are lead by the Viper King from Alien Hunters, and wield some of the weapons from Alien Hunters.
- Dark Is Not Evil: They wield the power of the Grimm and call themselves Reapers. However, they are on XCOM's side, and have been fighting the Grimm since they were founded. While they do force anyone who comes across them to join in order to preserve their secret, it's noted that they choose to do this when it would be simpler to just kill them.
- Elaborate Underground Base: Their home under Mountain Glenn. While the upper levels are primarily the abandoned tunnels made when humanity tried to settle the region (and are left abandoned to help conceal their presence), the lower levels are entirely made by the Reapers, partially made out of material scavenged from the Harvester that first brought the Vipers to Remnant, and have been there for centuries. Bradford even comments that it reminds him of the Anthill.
- Heel–Face Turn:
- It is made clear that these Vipers were servants of the Ancients at some point before ending up on Remnant, rather than being a remnant (no pun intended) of their species that escaped the initial enslavement.
- Some, if not all, of the Faunus Reapers are former members of the White Fang who wandered too far into the tunnels and came across the Reapers.
- He Knows Too Much: A fair number of the humans and Faunus members are people who wandered too far into the tunnels of Mountain Glenn, came across the Reapers, and were forced to join them to preserve their secret.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: The vipers either can't speak human languages, or choose not to, but the human and Faunus Reapers are able to understand them.
- Irony: The Reapers in War of the Chosen absolutely despised aliens, even the free Skirmishers, to the point that they were completely willing to eat aliens, possibly even the partially human ADVENT Troopers. Here, they not only have free aliens in their ranks, but were founded by them, and are lead by the Viper King. In fact, they are arguably one of the most cosmopolitan organizations on Remnant, treating vipers, humans, and Faunus as equals.
- Mutually Exclusive Magic: People who are bestowed the Gift of Shadow unable to have their Auras unlocked, and vice versa, as Aura is the projection of the Soul's Will, while the Gift of Shadow draws on soulless power of the Grimm. According to one of the Vipers, the Archon once tried to give the Gift to a huntsman who joined them. It did not go well.
- Our Souls Are Different: Gaining the Gift of Shadow involves degrading the recipient's soul in order to allow them to channel the soulless power of the Grimm, meaning a Reaper who chooses to take the Gift cannot go back. They still have souls, but they are damaged.
- Snake People: The Vipers make up the majority, if not all, of the free aliens, and are the ones who founded the Reapers.
- Stealth Expert: Extremely skilled at stealth, helped by the Gift of Shadow allowing them to become invisible.
The Archon, a.k.a. The Viper King
The only known male Viper, the Archon is the leader of the Reapers, and the person who discovered the ability to channel the essence of the Grimm. He does not follow the will of the Ancients.
- Adaptational Heroism: Fought against XCOM in XCOM 2, and was considered dangerous enough that the Elders kept him frozen to keep the Vipers under control and prevent them from breeding out of control. Here, he leads a faction made up of free vipers, humans, and Faunus, and is one of the first organizations on Remnant to ally with XCOM.
- Insistent Terminology: Unless they are talking to a Reaper, XCOM almost always refers to him as the Viper King, rather than the Archon.
- Non-Indicative Name: Despite being called Archon, he's actually a viper. Though it should be noted that the Archons were never created in this story.
- The Only Way They Will Learn: While he is allied with XCOM, he doesn't tell them everything he knows, and at times is purposefully vague, as he believes that "some truths must be learned in the face of adversity".
- The Smurfette Principle: Inverted, as in canon, he is the only male Viper XCOM has encountered, though it hasn't been made clear if he's actually he only one on Remnant, or just the only one that XCOM has met.
XCOM's Remnant Allies (SPOILERS)
Hei Xiong, a.k.a. Junior
Club owner, black marketer, information broker, and leader of a small criminal enterprise in Vale. Aligned himself with XCOM in exchange for their support.
- Friend In The Blackmarket: XCOM goes to him for supplies and equipment they can't acquire through legitimate channels.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Agreed to work with XCOM in helping Vale recover, rather than trying to get as much as possible while the government was in chaos and law enforcement was distracted, because he knows that helping the city recover will net him more wealth in the long run.
Taiyang Xiao Long
Father of Yang and Ruby, experienced huntsman, widower, and a teacher at Signal.
- Living Legend: Is referred to as a local legend in Patch, with everyone there ignoring Cinder's attempts to turn them against Hunters. As Bradford notes, one warning would not be able to undo the years of hard work and sacrifice that Taiyang has put into defending Patch.
- Papa Wolf: His initial reaction to Yang revealing her cybernetics to him is to ask who is did this to her, so he can track them down and kill them.
Winter Schnee
Atlesian Specialist and older sister of Weiss. While not openly allied with XCOM, she has set up a contingency plan with them after she begins doubting some of Ironwood's plans.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: XCOM theorizes that this is what happened to her during her operation, as she is suddenly far more hostile towards XCOM, willing to order her soldiers to fire on a target despite the fact that XCOM operatives are in the way.
- Cool Big Sis: While her relationship with Weiss can be a bit cold at times, she legitimately cares for her, comforts her after she's forced to kill two XCOM operatives to maintain her cover, and confides in her about her doubts about Ironwood's plans.
- Properly Paranoid: Sets up a contingency plan with XCOM in case something goes wrong with the operation she's about to undergo for Ironwood. Considering the fact that the operation is being performed by Dr. Merlot, that's a good idea.
Ghira Belladonna
Father of Blake, husband of Kali, chieftain of Menagerie, former leader of the White Fang.
Initially planned on convincing Sienna Khan to back ADVENT, he instantly changed his plans once Blake and Yang told him the truth about Cinder.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After he finds out about what happened to Blake, all he can think of is how dismissive he was of Kali's fears when Blake first ran away, how he thought letting her go out and learn how dangerous the world was first hand was the right thing to do, and how close they came to losing their only child due to his decision.
- Papa Wolf: While he may have felt she could take care of herself before, he definitely cares a lot about Blake. The instant Blake says that there's something she needs to tell him about Adam, he asks if she needs him to kill Adam for her.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Instantly believes his daughter and Yang, and wants to do his best to help XCOM. He knows that publicly throwing his support behind them and denouncing the allegedly pro-equality ADVENT would be a bad idea, so he plans a speech that, while not entirely anti-ADVENT, will question some of their claims, and sow the seeds of doubt amongst the Faunus. He also always disliked Adam, knowing exactly the sort of person he was, and he's relieved when Blake reveals that she killed him, as it might allow him to steer the White Fang back onto a peaceful path.
ADVENT (SPOILERS)
Cinder Fall
The public face of ADVENT. Claims that the Hunters and XCOM cannot be trusted, but the White Fang can. Probably evil.
- Mouth of Sauron: More important than the average one, but still serves as the public mouthpiece of ADVENT and Salem.
- Faux Affably Evil: Is completely polite to Lisa Lavender, and talks about all the good she and ADVENT have done. Most of those good deeds were simply undoing problems she herself caused and fixed by simply turning off her virus, having Salem withdraw the Grimm, or are just outright lies, usually taking credit for someone else's work. Also, she's a sociopathic murderer who works for an Eldritch Abomination that seeks to bring about the end of mankind.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Is trying for this, but between XCOM's good deeds, counter-propaganda campaign, and the decades of good deeds many hunters have racked up, there are plenty of people who still trust the hunters, a fair number who trust XCOM, and plenty who distrust her solely because of she claims that they are evil.
Jacques Schnee
The current head of the Schnee Dust Company, and the father of Weiss and Winter.
Corrupt, bigoted against Faunus, and an all around nasty piece of work, he appears to be throwing his lot in with ADVENT.
- Abusive Parents: Besides his actions in canon, he brings two captured XCOM operatives before Weiss so he and Whitely can watch her squirm, and force her to choose where her loyalties lie. He then has them executed.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Just as bad, if not worse, than in canon. In order to make in roads with Cinder, he orders the execution of two captured XCOM operatives, despite having exactly zero legal authority to do so. As Winter notes, he's has never shown any remorse over the deaths of workers in various mining accidents, or due to the near-slave-labour conditions he forces upon them.
Neutrals (SPOILERS)
General James Ironwood
Commander of the Altesian military, and headmaster of their Hunter academy, he holds two seats on their council, making him one of the most powerful men in Atlas.
- Head Butting Heroes: Even before the Battle of Beacon, he distrusted Bradford and the "Valean Reconnaissance Division", ordering Winter to spy on them and Weiss, implanting a surveillance program in Penny without her knowledge to spy on Ruby, and generally being suspicious of them. Afterwards, he refuses to help XCOM, still being suspicious of them. Despite this, he genuinely wants what's best for his people and humanity.
- Chapter 38 reveals that part of his invitation for XCOM to visit Atlas was so he could get their help in figuring out what was going on with Doctor Merlot's biological enhancement program.
- Properly Paranoid: He is completely correct that something is up with "Captain" Bradford and the "Valean Reconnaissance Division", and that Ozpin is keeping secrets from him.
- It's made clear in chapter 38 that he doesn't trust Doctor Merlot in the slightest, but political pressure is forcing him to allow the biological enhancement program to go through, despite the fact that Merlot refuses to reveal what it entails. Part of why he made Winter go through it was because he thought she would be able to tell him about it, but when she returned, she refused to reveal anything about what happened.
- Secret-Keeper: Bradford revealed the true origins of XCOM to him following the Battle of Beacon.
Lisa Lavender
Anchorwoman for the Vale News Network, her programs have become a propaganda battlefield between ADVENT and XCOM, with her caught in the middle.
- Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: Has had Cinder Fall, one of the most dangerous and evil people on Remnant, on her show on multiple occasions for interviews.
- Kent Brockman News: Averted. She does her best to remain neutral between ADVENT and XCOM, and is not afraid to ask either sides difficult questions or point out problems with their arguments.
