Salem's Faction
The Big Bad of AZRE and Remnant, Salem and her faction are the forces that Ozpin had been fighting against for millennia, keeping her existence a secret to uphold the fragile peace he worked to create.
open/close all folders
Salem
- “Salem. You were right, Oz. She’s been making some big moves from Evernight, and it looks like the people she’s been gathering over the years are now coming out.”
The secret Big Bad of AZRE, Salem is a mysterious woman who had been locked in a secret war against Ozpin, controlling men and Grimm alike to achieve her goals. Some time before the story began, she was locked away in her castle in Evernight, an undetermined location far away from the four Kingdoms and humanity, but with Ozpin growing weaker with time, she is growing stronger, and is looking to finally be free.
- Ancient Evil: She and Ozpin have lived for thousands of years, long before the Kingdoms themselves were formed. While Ozpin is portrayed as the Big Good, Salem is portrayed as this, controlling the Grimm that had hunted humanity for their entire existence.
- Affably Evil: She's cemented as the Big Bad who wishes to tear down everything that Ozpin built, but she is also polite to everyone, even Kaanchana after it was revealed that she had Banesaw and Iya spy on Cinder to uncover what she was hiding. The only time she slips slightly out of this is when she insults Cinder, calling her a liar and foolish right in front of her.
- Arch-Enemy: She's this to Ozpin.
- The Beastmaster: Her complete control of the Grimm have made her this, as Qrow tells the inner circle that she's been creating things that they should be worried about, and is making bigger moves with increased Grimm activity across Remnant.
- Big Bad: While the White Fang are the Big Bad of Team AZRE, especially Adam, Salem is this for the entire of Remnant, proving a much bigger threat that Ozpin is focusing more on.
- Complete Immortality: Downplayed. Compared to her complete immortality in RWBY, the author explained that Salem's ability to regenerate primarily comes from her willing infusion with Grimm essence, giving her near immortality at the cost of being susceptible to silver eyes.
- The Dreaded: Out of all the dangerous enemies that the heroes face, Salem is the worst of them all. To the point that she even puts fear in Ozpin's heart. Even her allies fear her, as Arthur simply mentioning her causes Merlot to become visibly terrified.
- Equal Oppotunity Evil: Compared to the racism that the Faunus has to deal in Remnant, Salem shows no bigotry and talks to Kaanchana, a Faunus woman, with respect and even trusts her to work as Cinder's equal, promising rewards should she do as Salem asks.
- Fantastic Racism: Surprisingly, not towards the Faunus. Salem hates the second humanity that descended from her own race, believing them to be nothing more than pests and Semblances nothing more than scraps of magic left behind. Her goal to become the Goddess over them is fueled by this percieved superiority to them.
- Mysterious Past: Nothing is known about her yet.
- Odd Name Out: Like Ozpin, she is the only character to have a name that doesn't reference a colour, since she and Ozpin are actually people from the First Humanity; people that went extinct thousands of years ago.
- Only One Name: She's only known as Salem. Whether she actually has a last name or not is unknown.
- Really 700 Years Old: Like Ozpin, Salem had been alive for several millennia.
- The Unseen: Despite finally being revealed in Ozpin's group, Salem hasn't physically shown herself just yet. Justified, as she is locked away by Ozpin's magic, and so can't physically leave Evernight, a place that the heroes can't possibly reach themselves. She makes an appearance in Queens of Black and White, speaking through her Seer Grimm that is kept in Cinder's room.
Inner Circle
Those working directly under Salem, they are handpicked from criminals, rejects and those that revere the masquerading Goddess.
Cinder Fall
- “They may pretend to be Remnant’s only defense against the Grimm, but we both know that they are anything but infallible. Who were they protecting when the Emperor used them to subjugate your people in Mistral? Who were they protecting when Atlas stole sacred lands and threw the Faunus into their mines? The poor, the weak, they’re all left to rot because Huntsmen only want one thing in this world. Power.”
Another of Salem's inner circle members, Cinder Fall is a young woman who approached Kaanchana and the White Fang for their help in her plans; taking down Beacon Academy and reclaiming a mysterious woman named Amber.
- Bad Boss: She isn't above using emotional and physical threats to keep her subordinates in line. She constantly undermines and manipulates Emerald, who won't fight back because of her loyalty to Cinder, and burned Roman's face when he argued back that what she wanted him to do was impossible in the time frame. Ilia start witnessing this ide of Cinder when she's forced to work under her directly rather than staying with Banesaw and Iya.
- The Bully: Even with her grand plans and comments on society, Cinder is clearly causing the destruction and chaos simply for power. She uses her superior power to strongarm other people into her plans, only keeping it under control with Kaanchana due to the older woman's willingness to work with her and strong personality meaning that Cinder can't easily browbeat her into obeying.
- Dark Action Girl: Implied heavily to be one of the strongest with unnatural abilities, and is a dark themed reserved woman who uses cruelty to keep everyone around her in line.
- Disproportionate Retribution: What she does when she feels that her authority is being undermined. Roman refuses to take Emerald and Mercury seriously when they come asking about the Dust he owes them? Cinder responds by burning his cheek to the point that it is visibly blistered.
- Evil Is Burning Hot: She has the ability to heat things up, even the very air itself, as her anger at Ilia, Mercury and Emerald killing Tukson against her orders caused Cinder to warm the very room up to unbearable temperatures.
- Fairytale Motif: Cinderella from the titular fairytale.
- Fanservice Pack: Cinder is clearly attractive and knows how to use it. After removing her cloak upon returning to Vale City, she is shown wearing a short dress with long flowing sleeves, the collar around her neck making a diamond shape window in her outfit.
- Faux Affably Evil: She can put on a convincing enough act, as seen with her polite conversation with Kaanchana, but underneath that mask is a cruel and sadistic woman who isn't afraid to hurt everyone around her for the most minor of crimes.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Whenever she's emphasising a point or feeling strong emotions, Cinder's eyes glow a golden colour with small flames flickering off them.
- High-Class Gloves: Wore a pair when she went to meet Kaanchana in Now We Must Go, removing them in her next appearance.
- I Control My Minions Through...: Authority. Cinder puts herself above everyone else and has little tolerance to any insubordination, going as far as to physically hurt any that dare to do so. Outside of Emerald and Mercury, she keep the rest of her allies in the dark on many things, with Kaanchana assigning Banesaw and Iya to figure out just what Cinder is keeping from them.
- Meaningful Name:
- Cinder is the black substance that is made from burnt wood or materials, with Cinder having both a fire motif and black in her designs; having black hair, using black glass for her shoes and even wearing a black cloak in her first appearance.
- Fall is another name for Autumn. Cinder is personally connected to a woman named Amber, who Cinder first called Autumn.
- Minidress of Power: Her dress is very short, only reaching to Cinder's thighs.
- Power Glows: The decals on her clothing glows whenever she uses her fire, suggesting that Cinder somehow knows the Vacuan art of Dust Weaving similar to Roxanne and Ruri.
- Pragmatic Villainy: She admonishes Emerald, Mercury and Ilia for their part in killing Tukson. Not because of any moral reason against the needless death, but because doing so risked them being exposed before she could infiltrate them into Beacon Academy.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: Her golden eye colour is natural, but the way they look in combination to her unnatural power puts everyone else on edge. Ilia even thinks of how much she hates how unnatural Cinder's eyes are.
- Vague Age: She's obviously older than the teens in the villain's group, but younger than Banesaw, who's in his late 40s, and Iya, who's around thirty one at the time of the arc.
- Would Hurt a Child: Has come close to actually hurting Ilia, who is only fourteen at the time.
Arthur Watts
- “I shouldn’t have to tell you how much I despise people going back on their word. You wouldn’t want her to know of this little incident… do you?”
One of Salem's inner circle members, Arthur Watts is disgraced Atlesian scientist allied with Doctor Merlot, providing him with the equipment he needs for his Grimm experiments, and in return wants the souls, and Semblances, of the unfortunate victims that Merlot captures.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: As confirmed on the AZRE blog, he's Winter's biological father.
- Driven by Envy:: Arguably Watts' biggest flaw, as everything that went wrong in his life happened because his envy and pettiness made him unable to accept things going wrong and moving on. Willow being engaged to Jacques and keeping him as a secret affair, plus his projects either being taken without credit or passed over for his rival Pietro's, pushed Watts to the brink and ended with him stealing classified information, leading to his arrest and faked death.
- Early-Bird Cameo: He was talked about in the airship by Mauve chapters before he's revealed to be alive and working for Salem.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Watts' love for Willow is what ultimately pushed him over the edge, as his inability to live happily with her due to her marriage to Jacques caused him to snap. Even after her death and nearly two decades passing since they last met, he still keeps the white hankerchief with her intial in his front pocket.
- Faking the Dead: Atlas, and the whole world, believes he's been dead for decades. His appearance in Merlot's lab proves otherwise.
- Lack of Empathy: From his very short introduction, Arthur clearly shows that he isn't above threatening even his allies with worse if they fail to meet his high standards, indirectly threatening Merlot with informing Salem of his poor performance if he doesn't stick to the deadlines.
- The Starscream: Decades before AZRE began, he was once a respected scientist who had multiple scientific breakthroughs in his careers, his works propelling Atlas further ahead. However, driven by frustration over his personal life and having his work constantly uncredited/passed over, he stole classified military information and was tried for treason against the Kingdom, faking his death to avoid punishment.
Tyrian Callows
- “So long as the music plays, we dance. So let's dance.”
One of Salem's inner circle members, Tyrian Callows is an assassin and spy stationed in Mistral. Originally an infamous serial killer, they were eventually arrested but escaped, pledging themselves to carring out Salem's will. Their first job in the story was eliminating Huáng Qiujun, the Imperial Prince, but was fought off by Seigyoku.
- Animal Motifs: Scorpions. Along with their Faunus trait being a scorpion tail, their weapons are curved blades on their wrists to mimick pincers, along with their ponytail being segmented similar to how the tail is shaped.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: Their Semblance allows them to rip through small parts of a person's Aura, allowing them to bypass the protection completely and cripple their opponent completely with both weapons and poison.
- Beware My Stinger Tail: Their tail is often used in battle, being capable of delivering delibitating venom that they also coat their blades with.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Their weapons are tied to their forearms, similar to a scorpion's pincers.
- Combat Pragmatist: Raised as an assassin, Tyrian takes any advantage in a fight to win. When Seigyoku is preoccupied with protecting the much younger Qiujun, they try to attack and kill both, as well as using bombs and sneak attacks to try and eliminate Seigyoku first.
- Fantastic Racism: As a Faunus working in the Jade Palace just like Seigyoku, they have been dealing with racism from everyone, including the Empress, for presumably years before the attack. After they escape, the Empress even calls them a creature.
- Faux Affably Evil: Unlike his goddess, Salem, Tyrian doesn't actually respect anyone and simply talks in a poetic, theatrical way while praising anyone who earns it. Seigyoku's fame and quick thinking in dealing with their venom earns compliments from them, though they still try to kill her and Qiujun.
- Giggling Villain: They constantly giggle and laugh at anything, regardless of the severity of the situation.
- Hidden Depths: Despite their portrayal as an insane murderer, Tyrian has a sharp mind and knows a lot of Remnant than they let on, being able to accurately explain Seigyoku's entire backstory, prowess in the Academy, and even her mother's maiden name.
- Know When to Fold Them: While persistent in tracking down Seigyoku and Qiujun to complete their mission, Tyrian ultimately retreats after Seigyoku destroys both the balcony they're standing on, and the one above.
- Like a God to Me: They revere Salem, seeing her as their goddess and constantly calling her "My Lady", refusing to speak her name.
- Little Bit Beastly: As a Faunus, they have a scorpion tail as their trait.
- Purple Is Powerful: The one person who manages to fight Seigyoku and actually force her to retreat multiple times, Tyrian is named after the purple dye and is dressed in mostly purple, white and gold. Even their venom is purple in colour, along with their Aura.
- Purple Prose: Speaks mostly in this, to the point that it unnerves the more casually spoken Seigyoku.
- Scary Scorpions: A terrifying serial killer and assassin for Remnant's most dreaded villain, they are also a scorpion Faunus who uses their venom to incapacitate and kill their victims.
- Serial Killer: Their backstory before working for Salem, as Tyrian was one of Remnant's most dangerous serial killers, rivalling even Iya, to the point that their name scared even the Empress when it's brought up years after their arrest.
- Slashed Throat: Like Mercury, Tyrian has a long cut across their throat that looks like it'd been cut at one point, though the cause of it is unknown.
- Stealth Expert: When not being theatrical, Tyrian shows just how good they are at going undercover as they spent years as a servant in the Jade Palace, waiting for the right oppotunity to strike. It was so convincing that even someone trained in espionage, Seigyoku, couldn't tell Tyrian's true alliance until they let the mask slip.
Underlings
Those that haven't made it into the inner circle, rather working for Salem's closest allies.
Cinder's Faction
Emerald Sustrai
- “I don’t care about the White Fang or whatever you guys think. All I care about is Cinder. She’s the only one who’s looked out for me.”
One of Cinder's subordinates and the only Faunus, Emerald is an older teenage girl who, along with Mercury, is helping Roman plan out and rob high profile Dust stores for their product.
- Adaptational Modesty: Her outfit is updated in AZRE, with her white jacket similar to her canon one, only for her bust and midriff to be covered up by a long green shirt to better suit the cold weather.
- Adaptation Species Change: She's a human in RWBY, but was changed into a Faunus in AZRE.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason she's so loyal to Cinder. Emerald was on her own all her life, not even getting help from the White Fang despite being a Faunus, and so latched onto the first person who showed her a better life. This has caused Emerald to denounce her connection to her people and solely care for Cinder, much to Ilia's concern.
- Deadpan Snarker: She's pretty sarcastic to everyone around her.
- Fairytale Motif: She's Aladdin from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.
- Meaningful Name: Emerald is a green gem. Emerald herself has bright green hair and wears green in her design, even wearing some jewellery to connect back to her stone. Emeralds are also heavily associated with Cleopatra; Emerald's allusion.
- No Sympathy: She feels nothing towards Tukson's death or Ilia's adverse reaction to it. Ilia trying to get her to connect with Tukson and her shared race, Emerald shuts it down, straight up admitting that she doesn't care about the Faunus, the White Fang, or the murder.
- Pet the Dog: Even though she had no reason to, and was even risking arrest, Emerald manages to grab the grimoire of the Ankou people for Ilia in Clarity, who noticed it last chapter when talking to Tukson. There was no reason for doing this other than Emerald knowing that it was important to Ilia and her culture.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Emerald has a crimson eye colour, and is a dangerous villain who's helping Cinder take down Beacon Academy, robbing countless civilian Dust stores, and takes part in the murder of Tukson.
- Rock Theme Naming: Named after the green gem stone, emeralds.
- Selective Obliviousness: Her idealisation of Cinder is so strong that Emerald straight up ignores anything that threaten to shatter this fragile image. When Ilia tries to point out that someone who truly cares for her wouldn't treat her that way, Emerald lashes out just like an abuse victim who has yet to see through their abuser's manipulations.
- Technicolor Eyes: Emerald's eyes are naturally red.
- Undying Loyalty: Unlike Mercury, who doesn't act nearly as loyal to Cinder, Emerald is deeply devoted to Cinder and does everything she can to please her, never turning against the woman who reached out to her when no one else did.
Mercury Black
- “Night time robberies too much in your old age?”
One of Cinder's subordinates, Mercury is an older teenage boy who, along with Emerald, is helping Roman plan out and rob high profile Dust stores for their product.
- Armed Legs: His weapons are built into his boots, allowing him to fire projectiles out of his legs.
- Because I'm Good At It: His reason for joining Cinder. He rather join and do something he's good at than be forced into it like Ilia.
- Deadpan Snarker: Just like Emerald, Mercury often reacts to situations and people with biting retorts, his page quote being his response to Roman complaining about Cinder not giving him the time or resources he needs to get his job done.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Unlike everyone else, Mercury's eyes are described as very dull and even lacking any eye shines that everyone shows, matching his rather sour and antisocial mood most of the time.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He shows no hesitation or even care for the potential death and destruction Cinder will cause by destroying Beacon, and projects that through his callous attitude to everyone around him, but even Mercury is visibly horrified by Cinder burning Banesaw to the point that his face was charred and his right eye burst.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: A more minor case, but Mercury's winter jacket has a collar that's folded on the right side, with the left completely up.
- Meaningful Name: Both his first and surname connect to his colour scheme. Mercury is a metal that's silver in colour, with Mercury wearing plenty of silver and blue in his colour scheme, on top of being the name of his allusion. Black is an English surname, with Mercury wearing black to accent the lighter, metallic colours.
- Mythical Motifs: His allusion is the Roman God; Mercury.
- No Social Skills: He genuinely seems incapable of connecting with other people except Emerald. Even with spending just as much time with Ilia, the only other teen even near his age, Mercury doesn't start many conversations with her and most of them time outright ignores her.
- Pet the Dog:
- While also for pragmatic reasons, as they didn't want to get caught, Mercury willingly gives his jacket to Ilia when she gets covered in Tukson's blood, all without even being asked by Emerald or Ilia.
- Most of his interactions with other people are cold or sarcastic, except for Emerald. Their relationship is clear that he visibly softens when she's in trouble or hurting, and even gets angry for her when Ilia was forced by Cinder to rat them both out.
- Despite his harsh attitude, Mercury does subconciously care about Ilia, to the point that he lets her vent about her traumatic past and shields her so she doesn't have to watch Banesaw, the one person she cares about, being violently burnt by Cinder.
- The Quiet One: Compared to Emerald, Mercury doesn't really speak all that much, especially when around Cinder. It's only when he's alone with Emerald and Ilia that he opens up more, and even has a more playful attitude with his friend.
- Slashed Throat: One of his scars is a long cut across his entire throat, curtosy of his father. It didn't kill Mercury, though.
- Smoking Is Cool: He smokes despite being underage, something that Ilia thinks is cool and mysterious, which pushes her to accept one from him. He quickly averts it by admitting that she shouldn't start and it's an awful habit that he picked up to deal with stress, his foul mood at the start of the chapter heavily implying he was withdrawing from nitcotine.
Roman Torchwick
- "Oh, my little songbird, I'm a man of my word. So long as we're on the same side, you got nothing to worry about from me."
An infamous criminal of the Vale underground, Roman Torchwick was pulled into helping Cinder with her plans of bringing down Beacon Academy, allying with the White Fang and planning countless robberies on high profile Dust shops, stealing all the Dust he can for his new master.
- Affectionate Pickpocket: He acts friendly towards Emerald and Mercury when they return from Tukson's store, only to steal the plane ticket that Emerald stole from Tukson. When he finds out what they done, his charming attitude quickly drops.
- Bad Boss: Only to the White Fang members who work with him. Even Banesaw and Iya, two high-ranking members and deadly fighters, barely get any respect from Roman.
- Benevolent Boss: While he treats his Faunus allies poorly, Roman shows a far better attitude towards his own gang, especially Neo.
- Distaff Counterpart: As both are part of the same organisation, Roman and Neo are dressed in similar clothing with familiar colour palettes. Roman's is a harsher palette (red, black and white) to Neo's softer palette (pink, brown and white).
- Evil Is Hammy: Similar to Iya, Roman has an over the top personality and is rarely quiet about anything.
- Fantastic Racism: Even before his appearance, Iya and Banesaw reveal that he's racist towards the Faunus and the White Fang, and is later revealed to even be allied with the anti-Faunus hate group; the Faunus Rejection Society. When personally introduced, he very quickly devolves into racial slurs when talking to Banesaw and Iya, and even shows some xenophobia towards Anima people who live in the mountains like Banesaw, nicknaming them "mountain men".
- Gentleman Thief: Subverted. He definitely likes to play the part, but is quick to use violence for a variety of problems that stand in his way, such as threatening Iya for simply talking back to him or holding Ilia's face up with his cane when she wouldn't look at him. He's still an accomplished thief with the amount of Dust he had already stolen and the reputation he had made for himself in Vale.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Like most of the group save for Cinder, Emerald and Mercury, Roman is kept on a need-to-know basis and has no idea about the deeper reasons that Cinder wants to attack Beacon, or even about Salem and the Maidens. Unlike Iya and Banesaw, he doesn't make a huge effort in finding out.
- The Nicknamer: He seems to give people around him nicknames. Iya has been called "songbird", Banesaw once being called "mountain man", Ilia is either "kid" or "squirt", and Neopolitan is simply called "Neo".
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Is stuck in this with Cinder. Even just telling her that he needs more time to fulfil her high demand ends up with Cinder burning his cheek, leaving a blistered wound next time Ilia sees him.
- Pet the Dog: He's very unplesant to anyone around him, especially towards Faunus, but he genuinely cares for Neo and is friendly only towards her. The feeling is mutual given her own protectiveness to her friend.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Unlike Cinder, who seems to give oppotunities and holds no obvious prejudice towards the Faunus, Roman is actively racist towards all of them, even those who are meant to be working with him. His prejudice goes so far that he even publicly allies himself with Faunus hate groups like the FRS.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With both the White Fang and Cinder's group. He openly voices his disdain of Iya and Banesaw to their faces, and acts the same towards Emerald and Mercury. While he doesn't badmouth Cinder to her face, it's clear he loathes working for the woman.
- Villainous Friendship: Both he and Neo are part of the same criminal organisation that Roman leads, and while he shows nothing but contempt for everyone around him, he actually cares for Neo and willingly listens to her, even showing that he knows sign language just so she can communicate with him.
- Would Hit a Girl: While he hasn't been shown actually hitting anyone just yet, Roman does threaten Iya with smacking her and doesn't shy away from physically intimidating a teenage Ilia.
Neopolitan
- “I recognise you… Neopolitan.”
Roman's right hand woman and loyal ally, Neopolitan is a mute criminal who has found herself and Roman forced into an alliance with Cinder.
- Curtains Match the Windows: She has multicoloured hair and eyes, with the colours of her hair and eyes swapped on either side; e.g the brown side of her hair has her pink coloured eye, and vice versa.
- Cute Mute: She cannot speak and communicates purely in sign language, and is described as beautiful in her appearances.
- Distaff Counterpart: As they are both part of the same organisation, Neo and Roman share similar clothing styles with familiar colour palettes. Neo's is a softer palette (pink, brown and white) to Roman's harsher palette (red, black and white).
- The Speechless: Similar to Ruri, Neo is mute and cannot speak, only communicating in sign language and both facial expression and body language.
- Sword Cane: Her parasol has a sword hidden inside, which she uses infrequently. The only time she's pulled it out was to threaten Banesaw when he grabbed Roman's cane.
- Technicolor Eyes: Just like her hair, Neo has one brown eye and one pink eye.
- Undying Loyalty: Despite Roman's many flaws, Neo is loyal to him and him only, going as far as threaten people bigger and stronger to protect her friend.
- Villainous Friendship: Both she and Roman are part of the same criminal organisation, with Roman leading it and Neo acting as his right hand. Despite Roman's poor attitude to everyone around him, and Neo's lack of care to her other allies, both show that they truly care for each other with Neo protecting Roman and Roman learning how to cater to Neo's needs as a disabled woman.
Arthur's Faction
Doctor Merlot
- “You meddling kids can’t possibly understand what I’m trying to do! I am on the brink of historical discovery! One that will change everything we know about the Grimm!”
An Atlesian scientist with an obsession over the Grimm, Doctor Merlot abandoned his kingdom and people to carry out his unethical experimentation, doing whatever he could to make the scientific breakthrough. Eventually, this unique interest in the Grimm, along with his skills, brought him to the attention of Arthur Watts, and Salem herself.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: In Grimm Eclipse, Doctor Merlot once studied at Beacon Academy, leaving because of differences in his and Ozpin's ideals along with his increasingly unstable fascination of the Grimm, having no connection to Salem. In AZRE, he was an Atlesian scientist that willingly left after being derided by his fellow scientists, joining Salem after years on the road because she could give him the funding and equipment he desired to carry on his research.
- Admiring the Abomination: He seems to be the only person in Remnant who finds the Grimm interesting and wishes to study them, rather than monsters to be hunted for protection or sport. This fascination led him into Salem's faction, as she can give him all the Grimm to study, and his unique knowledge can be used to further improve her armies.
- Affably Evil: Merlot is responsible for the countless disappearances of Vacuo's citizens, including Huntsmen, using them for experiments that are all but shown to be excruciating and horrific, and is the one to take Ruri's Semblance. However, he talks to Ruri very much like a doctor would to his patient, being patient and calm even when she tries to fight back. His attitude quickly disappears when he's in stressful situations.
- An Arm and a Leg: He's missing his right hand, instead replacing it with a prosthetic.
- The Beastmaster: Though it's unknown if he can control the Grimm that he didn't personally create, all the experiment Grimm listen to his orders without hesitation, especially the Stitched.
- Fairytale Motif: Doctor Moreau from the book The Island of Doctor Moreau.
- Electronic Eyes: Has a red, cybernetic one to replace his left eye.
- Evil Former Friend: Once a proud Atlesian scientist like Pietro, but started to slowly destroy his relationship with his comrades when he went further into the study of Grimm and Grimmification, eventually abandoning them when they realise just how far he had gone.
- Eye Beam: His prosthetic lets him do so, though it isn't very accurate in the fight with Eirian.
- Eye Scream: The left side of his face seems to have been heavily disfigured under his metal plate, with his left eye completely replaced with a fake one.
- Facial Horror: Most of his face looks like a normal elderly man, but his left eye has been completely removed, that part of his face heavily scarred with a metal plate fixed into it and a glowing red eye replacing his normal blue one.
- Meaningful Name: Merlot is a red grape that is used in making a wine of similar colour. Though he still keeps the cold and colourless pallete from his time in Atlas, Merlot does wear a red sweater under his lab coat and has a red, cybernetic eye.
- Non-Action Guy: He does try his best, but it's very clear that he's nowhere on the level as even Huntsmen in training like Eirian.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Actively keeps Ruri to experiment on because her Faunus genetics yield far more interesting results than humans, despite Atlas having a very dark history of Faunus exploitation and experimentation.
Carmine Esclados
- “For what really matters in this world. Money.”
A criminal working for Doctor Merlot, Carmine Esclados is the one responsible for personally kidnapping many of the people that had disappeared in Vacuo, taking them to the doctor for his experiments.
- Adaptational Modesty: While she still shows some skin, Carmine covers up far more in AZRE compared to her outfit in Before The Dawn, with her wearing various hues of brown, red and tan to blend in with Vacuo's citizens.
- Adaptation Species Change: She's a human in Before The Dawn, but is a snake Faunus in AZRE.
- Animal Eyes: She's a snake Faunus, and so has slit pupils.
- Arch-Enemy: Built up to be this with Qrow. Both have past bad blood, with Carmine and Qrow knowing each other by name, and Carmine knows just how strong Qrow is given that she would rather retreat than carry on fighting. Back in the hideout, while she talks about Sable with annoyance, she is outright venomous when talking about Qrow.
- Boomerang Bigot: Minor, but when talking about Sable, a fellow Faunus, Carmine refers to her as "that Faunus pest" in a derogatory way. Likely a result of growing up in Atlas.
- Combat Pragmatist: Whenever Carmine is forced to fight, she does whatever she can to get an advantage on her opponent, either by blinding them in sand that she's used to create sand storms, or by throwing things at them and getting in attacks when they're busy dodging.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: After Team FNKI reveals just how little respect Huntsmen get in Atlas due to increased military presence, Carmine's past with the kingdom can be seen in a different light, especially as she and Teumessian are both Faunus.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: While she clearly doesn't care for Bertilak, even after he was arrested, she shows a more friendly relationship with fellow trafficker Teumessian, going as far as saving her when Merlot's hideout was about to self-detonate.
- Even Evil Has Standards: She may be committing all these crimes for a paycheck, but even Carmine and her group are disgusted not only by Merlot's experimentation on living people, but Atlas' continued work towards machinery that messes with a person's very soul.
- Fairytale Motif: Quetzalcoatl from Aztec Mythology, and the Red Knight from Arthurian Legends.
- Greed: Her main motivation. She isn't loyal to Merlot or Salem at all, and is simply only there because they pay her better than her job as an Atlas Huntress did. When called out by Roxanne for commiting heinous acts simply for a profit, she shows no regret for it.
- Carmine: Can't eat on good faith alone.
- In the Hood: Copies the headscarf tradition from the Leib Tribe to hide her face, wearing a red scarf similar to Zanthus and Sable.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: She's cocky, but Carmine is not stupid. When facing against Qrow Branwen, a veteran Huntsman who has over a decade of experience over her, and a wide range of abilities, she takes the smart option and runs away, masking her escape with sand to blind him.
- Little Bit Beastly: As a snake Faunus, she has scales and fangs similar to that of a viper.
- Mayincatec: Averted. Carmine takes from Aztec mythology and weaponry, wielding a tecpatl and being inspired by Quetzalcoatl; an Aztec God that took form as a feathered serpent.
- Meaningful Name:
- Carmine is a shade of red, with Carmine not only having bright auburn red hair, but decorated with red accents on her outfit.
- Esclados is Portuguese for "Scaled". Her Faunus trait is scales along with snake fangs. It's also the name of the Red Knight in Arthurian Legends.
- Mind over Matter: Her Semblance is a Telekinesis type, similar to Glynda's, with Carmine using it to create localised sandstorms and levitate objects to throw at people.
- Only in It for the Money: A motivation different to her counterpart's one in the book, as that Carmine was loyal to the Crown and Gillian. Carmine in AZRE has no Crown to follow, simply staying with Merlot because he pays her better than anyone else. Despite that, there are moments where she expresses doubt over whether the money is worth it when she sees what Merlot is doing.
- Technicolor Eyes: Her eyes are a very pale shade of yellow.
- Villain Respect: Has this for Ruri. Carmine appreciates Ruri's spirit and fighting prowess, even going as far as asking Merlot if her and her group could have Ruri instead. Unfortunately, her request was declined.
- Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Her eyes are a pale yellow, and Carmine herself is a sneaky criminal who commits human trafficking and murder for coin.
Teumessian
- "Atlas has this whole monopoly over everything. They make themselves out as the good guys, but this? No person saying they’re the good guys does something like that.”
A fellow trafficker like Carmine, working together to kidnap people in Vacuo for Merlot to conduct experiments on.
- Affably Evil: The most out of the trio. While Bertilak and Carmine show little hesitation in their illegal work, Teumessian doesn't like what Merlot is doing to the people they kidnap and actively voices her concerns, something that Carmine actually agrees with. When she's fighting Adam and Zanthus, she clearly doesn't want to and only does because they brought Huntsmen to their hideout. When she has them dead to rights, she even apologises for having to kill them.
- Combat Pragmatist: Whatever she cares about, it isn't a fair fight. Her hookblade is not only good for travelling across wide gaps, but hooking people and tipping them off balance for a cheap shot. Not only that, she uses Lightning Dust so that the shock ends up paralysing her opponent enough for her to finish them.
- Fairytale Motif: The Teumessian Fox in Greek Mythology.
- In the Hood: Like Bertilak and Carmine, Teumessian wears a shawl that covers her face, something that seemingly everyone in their group wears to disguise themselves.
- Kick Chick: She primarily kicks her opponents when fighting.
- Little Bit Beastly: She's a fox Faunus, having a long bushy fox tail as her trait.
- Meaningful Name: The Teumessian Fox is a Greek legend regarding a fox that could never be captured. Teumessian is a fox Faunus who escaped captured by Huntsmen constantly, able to escape Merlot's hideout with Carmine without capture.
- Only One Name: While Bertilak and Carmine both have surnames revealed, Teumessian is only referred to by her first name, making her the odd one out in the Vacuo Arc villains.
- Shock and Awe: She uses primarily Lightning Dust in her gun.
Bertilak Celadon
- "The girl with the silver eyes..."
One of the traffickers working for Merlot, alongside Carmine and Teumessian.
- Carry a Big Stick: He wields a giant mace similar to Mauve's.
- Fairytale Motif: The Green Knight from Arthurian Legend, matching Carmine's Red Knight.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The Lightning Dust in his mace allows Bertilak to shock and temporarily stun his opponents, opening them up for further attacks. This allows him to gain the advantage on Roxanne in their fight, but when she realises what his mace can do, she uses the Dust weaves in her boots, along with her own Lightning Dust, to absorb Bertilak's attack and increase her attack damage. The following attack destroyed his Aura and took Bertilak out the fight, allowing him to be arrested.
- In the Hood: Just like the rest of his group, he wears a blue hood that completely covers his face, to the point that Roxanne can't even see his eyes like she could with Carmine.
- Meaningful Name:
- Bertilak is the name of a character in the poem "Gawain and the Green Knight", with his allusion being the Green Knight.
- Celadon is a shade of bluish-green, Bertilak wearing plenty of blue and green in his outfit.
- Playing with Fire: Like Eliana, Bertilak's Semblance is pyrokinesis; the ability to manipulate fire.
- Satellite Character: Unlike Carmine and Teumessian, who at least have some characterisation and motives behind their actions, Bertilak appeared for one chapter, got beaten by Roxanne, and was arrested short after. He's the only villain in the Vacuo Arc to actually be captured.
- Shock and Awe: His mace splits into different segments that emit electricity through Lightning Dust.
