Given what Ozpin said regarding Lionheart, I'd say this is Laser-Guided Karma.
So I was on the RWBY Reddit this morning, and someone made a Death Pool for future character deaths. I decided to share my death predictions here if no one minds. A few are the ones people are already betting will die, and the rest I'm betting will be likely to die down the road.
1. Penny, not permanently, may lead to Pietro pulling a Heroic Sacrifice to save Penny.
2. Ironwood, although personally I think a more fitting fate for him is to live and reflect on his mistakes when the dust settles.
3. Mercury. If I were to see one of Cinder's lackies get character development, Mercury would be the one I see dying the most. It would have to be at Cinder's hands, and something that gets through to Emerald that Cinder doesn't care about her or anyone. It's also likely Emerald herself would die, instead of Mercury, but I don't think this would be as impactful for Mercury as visa versa.
4. Raven. As much as I'm open for her having a redemption arc, I don't think it would be believable to live through it. Simply put, she gets the Vader/Kylo death.
5. Tyrian, I don't believe he's got that long before he outlives his usefulness, and he isn't as narratively important as Cinder.
6. Watts. Same as the above, I can see his usefulness running up, but unlike Tyrian I think he still has narrative importance, and he ain't anymore likely to die than Cinder.
7. A lot of folks are betting that Qrow will, but to be honest - and this is for my taste of poetic irony talking - my bet is that Tai may kick the bucket towards the end the series, and Qrow ends up becoming Ruby and Yang's sole parental figure.
Edited by Beast on Jun 13th 2020 at 2:09:40 PM
"It's like...a cliff, and if I do it, I'm just gonna...fall." "I think we're already falling."- 1. Penny: Doubtful. She's just been brought back and is the new Winter Maiden, so it would seem like a waste to kill her off now, even if only temporarily, plus I doubt RT would want to invoke Internet Backlash.
- 2. Ironwood: Either he dies here, or he lives to see how he nearly became a monster himself and works to redeem himself.
- 3. Mercury: Highly doubtful. Emerald and Mercury have both been set up for development and, alongside Hazel, are two of the only villains with potential redemption arcs, namely escaping their lives of abuse and realizing they need to get the fuck out of there.
- 4. Raven: Under no illusions she'll likely die, but I doubt it will happen unless its during the final battle.
- 5. Tyrian: Doubtful. Salem only has four Lieutenants at the moment, possibly five considering someone is at Beacon for her, and even then Cinder is rogue right now. If she didn't kill him after he failed to kill Qrow or capture Ruby, I don't see him outliving his usefulness. It would be more likely for him to die in battle much like Tock did against Maria, but even then only Qrow can match him. The one time he actually lost required Qrow, Robyn, and Clover teaming up on him in a narrow ally where he can't fight at his best, so I can't see him being killed in battle unless Qrow gets stronger, or he gets more allies to gang up on him with.
- 6. Watts: Same reason as Tyrian.
- 7. Qrow: Again, highly doubtful. Qrow is one of the Main Characters at this point and the controversy with Vic Mignogna is still fresh in a lot of fans minds, so for Qrow to be kill off soon in spite of that and being a massive fan favorite to the point "If Qrow dies we riot!" is an actual meme in the fandom, it would likely invoke massive Internet Backlash.
The other option with James is again to go through a Jumping Off the Slippery Slope into pure villainy like Charachters he's been given parallels to(Adam and Salem)
With Raven...there's been a lot of talk on the implications of the Redemption Equals Death trope. So honestly I'd imagine if she got one it would be like Shadow Weaver from She Ras, she did geniunly care about these people and make a sacrifice to help them...while simultaneously wanting to make a quick and easy way to get forgiven and then "Peace out" rather then go through the effort to be a better person.
Edited by Kylotrope on Jun 13th 2020 at 9:49:51 AM
Things are really about to get Fun around here![]()
I didn't say I was betting on Qrow dying, rather that if anyone else from Team STRQ was going to kick the bucket (besides Raven) it would probably be Tai, should he get re-involved in the story. Subsequently, Qrow would be left as Yang and Ruby's sole parental figure.
I will said James could pull a redemption equls death in were he sacrifice to stop salem and finally become a hero in the end, like adverting Adam in a way.
Penny I saw her becoming the leader of Altas and mantle(or whatever remind of both really) because while I dont see her dying, she is to powerfull as maiden to remain with the group and all the devopment would probeably move toward it.
Watts is to focus on ironwood and the storyline so I can see him dying, maybe Ironwood sacrifice to stop him, just like sherlock throw away with moriaty?.
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"The deaths of Penny and/or Raven have the obvious issue of the Maiden inheritance. I don't think either of them are going to die anytime soon.
Honestly, I don't see a lot of major characters dying in the next volume. Some of the Atlas-specific folks could be a possibility, in that the series isn't always kind to characters relevant to a specific region. Ironwood is very much a 50/50 at this point, it really depends on where he goes from here.
Qrow is both popular and a central character dealing with his own arc. I think there's a lot more to do with him and I don't think he's dying any time soon.
Of course, I could be wrong all around. They could absolutely pull a fast one on us and leave us shocked. Who knows?
Also, belatedly: AUGH the fucking Wheelers. They always scared me as a kid.
Well lets see who we've had truly die in series so far:
- Tukson:
- Minor character.
- Killed to serve as an Establishing Character Moment for Emerald and Mercury.
- Region specific? Yes. Part of Vale's branch of the White Fang and killed before he could run off to Vacuo.
- Roy Stallion
- Minor character.
- Killed during the Fall of Beacon, death only confirmed long after during the tie-in novels to illustrate the true impact of the Fall of Beacon on Shade Academy.
- Region specific? No. He was a student from Shade Academy but died during the Fall of Beacon in a completely separate Kingdom than his home.
- Roman Torchwick:
- Major antagonist.
- Originally just the Starter Villain before becoming the Breakout Villain, and was killed because the CRWBY loved writing him too much and they needed to avoid shoehorning him into the plot because of said love for him.
- Region specific? Debatable. His memory still lives on thanks to Neo, but he was limited to Vale in both appearances and scope.
- Amber:
- The Fall Maiden and a Living MacGuffin.
- She needed to die so that someone could get the other half of the Fall Maiden powers.
- Region specific? Yes. She was limited to Vale and each Maiden is initially limited to their own region, but unlike the others, never left her region.
- Pyrrha Nikos:
- Formerly main character.
- A character created to die as a Sacrificial Lion, except the CRWBY failed to realize that she can't be the Sacrificial Lion since that trope's purpose is to A. Show shit got dark, which was already accomplished by Penny's initial death, and B. be an otherwise unnecessary death, except her death was the catalyst behind Ruby unlocking her Silver Eyes, Jaune starting his true development, and RNJR going to Mistral which got them involved in the actual plot.
- Region specific? Debatable, but leaning towards no. She was a main character and she isn't solely associated with Vale, since her memory lives on in JNR and if anything is more associated with Mistral thanks to Argus.
- Fenix Atar/Pilot Boi:
- Minor supporting character.
- Only existed to give Weiss a reason to get to Mistral and was killed after the crash thanks to serving his purpose.
- Region specific? No. He was Atlesian but his entire existence and death involved Mistral.
- Sienna Khan:
- Minor antagonist.
- Stopgap in between Salem's forces officially allying with the White Fang, had to die so Adam could assume control and illustrate Hazel does have standards compared to his fellow Lieutenants.
- Region specific? No. While the White Fang base is in Mistral, she did lead assaults on SDC compounds and was the High Leader, meaning she likely wasn't limited to Mistral.
- Fennec Albain:
- Secondary antagonist.
- One of the corrupting forces for Ilia and an agent of Adam, killed to illustrate the fall of the White Fang in Menagerie and a Was It Really Worth It? moment from Saber to Corsac, with Corsac's response being the narrative confirming that no it wasn't.
- Region specific? Yes. He was entirely restricted to Blake's subplot while in Menagerie.
- Vernal:
- Secondary antagonist and Satellite Character to Raven.
- Had to die to reveal she was a Red Herring for the Spring Maiden and leave Raven little reason to stay behind after Yang gave her “The Reason You Suck” Speech.
- Region specific? Yes. Was Raven's second in the Branwen Tribe while in Mistral and died right before the plot left Mistral.
- Leonardo Lionheart:
- Secondary antagonist and Fallen Hero.
- Had to die to demonstrate Salem does practice You Have Outlived Your Usefulness, served as a sticking point against Ozpin for Yang after he lied about Lionheart's allegiance post-mortem, and justified Sun leaving the plot by taking SSSN to Vacuo due to his death leaving Haven academy with no headmaster.
- Region specific? Yes. Haven's headmaster and was killed right as the plot was leaving Mistral.
- Dee:
- Minor character.
- Killed defending Argus Limited and justified the need for RNJRWBYQO to get involved with defending the train.
- Region specific? Yes. Mistral Huntsman and only lasted one episode as the Plot left Mistral.
- Adam Taurus:
- Major antagonist.
- Killed due to White Fang plotline being ended and used as a means to end the awkwardness between Blake and Yang as well as give Blake These Hands Have Killed to deal with.
- Region specific? No. He's been around since Vale, was killed in Mistral, and according to Amity Arena was born in Atlas.
- Forest:
- Minor character.
- Meant to serve as exposition for the Happy Huntresses and was a Small Role, Big Impact with his death since it further damaged Ironwood's reputation.
- Region specific? Yes. Introduced on Solitas, died soon after.
- Clover Ebi
- Secondary Protagonist turned Minor Antagonist.
- Killed to highlight the mistake in Ironwood turning against the protagonists, serve as a Yank the Dog's Chain for Qrow, and further his animosity with Tyrian.
- Region specific? Yes. Leader of Atlas' Ace-Ops and killed while in Atlas.
- Fria:
- The Winter Maiden and a Living MacGuffin.
- Needed to die for Ironwood's plans so that Winter would become the new Winter Maiden and be one he could control, only for Cinder to try for her power and instead result in Penny becoming the Winter Maiden, stopping Ironwood's plans before they can get off the ground.
- Region specific? Yes. Introduced in Atlas and died there.
- Total deaths: 15.
- Total region specific deaths: 9.
- Total major or secondary characters among those: 4. Fennec, Vernal, Lionheart, and Clover.
Edited by RebelFalcon on Jul 18th 2020 at 9:52:35 AM
Rodimus: Self-sacrifice, Magnus— It's cheap. It's a cheap way out. I need to live so I can make amends.If only Qrow let himself get beaten up
On a serious note that wasn't tbe point of the scene regardless of what you think of it, Qrow dosent say anything about his team up after, just how he was gonna take James down.
Edited by Kylotrope on Jun 13th 2020 at 2:18:18 AM
Things are really about to get Fun around hereIs this for the whole show or V8? Because my answers differ. For one thing, these sorts of shows very often end with almost everyone dying, leaving just the main characters and main villains (the latter of whom, of course, then typically die as well). We know from concept art that Monty (at least at one point) planned for Team RWBY to survive, but that may have changed; anyone else is fair game.
1. Penny
- V8 - Not a chance in Hell. Not now that she's been resurrected, and certainly not now that she's become the Maiden. It's possible her body might be destroyed again, likely accompanied by a Heroic Sacrifice from Pietro.
- Whole show - The only way I could see this happening is as part of a series of "coincidences" that leave Team RWBY the Maidens. I might've said "or in the final battle," as I allude to in the header, but I don't think any Maidens will die that way, since it'd be too much of a distraction.
2. Ironwood
- V8 - Possible. See below.
- Whole show - Almost certain. Everything about Ironwood at this point screams Redemption Equals Death, and this show isn't exactly known for bucking expectations. (Who was surprised by Pyrrha's death?) That said, I think V9 is more likely than V8.
3. Mercury
- V8 - Doubtful. I think he's going to hang on until toward the end.
- Whole show - Likely. His arc with Emerald definitely carries overtones of The Dog Bites Back; she'll kill him.
4. Raven
- V8 - I barely expect to see her in V8, probably just a few cutaways, like with Cinder and Neo in V6. It's possible Tai might kill her, but I'd need pretty impressive odds to put money down.
- Whole show - Likely. See Penny above for one possible way, but it's possible someone else might inherit her powers. I definitely expect someone to kill her, though, most likely Qrow, Tai, Yang, or Emerald. What I will say is that if Yang inherits her powers, Penny will die; if anyone else does (Emerald, say), she'll live.
5. Tyrian
- V8 - Possible. See below.
- Whole show - Almost certain. Unlike Ironwood or Watts, I can't say if he'll make it out of Atlas, but if he does he'll probably be killed ahead of the climax, as I allude to in the header.
6. Watts
- V8 - Possible to likely. See below.
- Whole show - Almost certain. I don't see him making it out of Atlas, or even to Ironwood's death. My guess, say 50-60%, would be that he'll die in V8, and then, having driven out Salem, Ironwood will be the main antagonist of V9.
7. Qrow
- V8 - I highly doubt it.
- Whole show - Pretty sure. Qrow definitely seems like the sort of character who gets killed at the start of the endgame.
(No Pietro? Because as I said above, I expect Pietro to die giving the last of his soul to Penny. And of course, if Penny and Raven give their powers to the girls, so will Cinder. I expect Cinder to ultimately die either way.)
(Incidentally, if Team RWBY don't wind up the Maidens, my money's on Neo getting Cinder's powers, and, as I said above, Emerald getting Raven's.)
(Also, if Emerald does get Raven's powers, it will be impossible not to think of Doctor Sleep.)
Edited by TwinBird on Jun 13th 2020 at 9:18:19 AM
My posts make considerably more sense read in the voice of John Ratzenberger.
What kind of show? This isn't some show where Anyone Can Die or people are killed just for shock value like Akame ga Kill! or Attack on Titan, and they're trying to have an optimistic tone, so having most of the cast die seems counterproductive.
In what way is Emerald's relationship with Mercury something that would require The Dog Bites Back? He doesn't treat her like shit, he more often defends her such as when Watts badmouthed them or when Tyrian was intimidating her, and his one fight with her was him trying to get it through her head that Cinder doesn't give a shit about them.
And they seem to be setting up a redemption arc for Raven, so why would Qrow, Tai or Yang kill her?
And what kind of character does Qrow seem like? He's not even really subjected to the Mentor Occupational Hazard anymore since he's not The Mentor.
Edited by RebelFalcon on Jun 13th 2020 at 9:19:32 AM
Rodimus: Self-sacrifice, Magnus— It's cheap. It's a cheap way out. I need to live so I can make amends.
Action shows in general. Even the lighter ones have a habit of killing off their supporting casts in the final act.
As for Emerald, it might not be the right trope, but I definitely think she'll kill him.
Edited by TwinBird on Jun 13th 2020 at 9:20:03 AM
My posts make considerably more sense read in the voice of John Ratzenberger.Action shows don't do that in general. I can compile a list if I have to of action shows that don't kill half their cast near endgame.
But why? They're setting up redemption arcs for the both of them, and the two are practically all they have at the moment. So unless you're suggesting one of them doesn't redeem themselves and Emerald kills Mercury because of that, either to solidify her full turn to villainy or to escape a full on evil Mercury, I don't see this happening.
I agree we're seeing a redemption arc for both of them, but for Mercury it will be an Ignored Epiphany.
As for Raven, are we really seeing a redemption arc for her? She tries to kill a fellow villain whose interests are counter to hers, gets a “The Reason You Suck” Speech, and runs away. That's not a redemption arc. That's just a villain you plan to bring back.
My posts make considerably more sense read in the voice of John Ratzenberger.What makes you think Mercury will have an Ignored Epiphany though? Tyrian brutally deconstructed his character, and then pretty much made clear that he either needs to find a reason to be there, or get lost, and if he does, Tyrian will gladly hunt him down. And since that was made just after deconstructing his being, the entire point of that exchange was to illustrate he doesn't belong there. So unless you're saying he's going to double down and stupidly try to make himself out to be like he belongs there, despite even later showing him horrified at Salem creating the Flying Beringhal, I don't see how he'll get an Ignored Epiphany.
If they were planning on making her a villain still, they wouldn't have had her apologize and leave the Relic, nor would they have Tai notice her fly by. The point of The Stinger for Volume 5 was to establish that Tai knew she was on Patch. And since her Semblance can only take her to places there is someone she has a bond with, she's effectively stuck there or forced to fly as a bird to go anywhere else. They're setting up for her to start soul searching, find out just who Raven is. She was a Fallen Hero before, if they were gonna keep her as such they wouldn't have had “The Reason You Suck” Speech specifically point out she's not who she was anymore, nor would they go to pains to try and humanize her in Amity Arena.
Remember, this show is about as subtle as a brick to the face. If they telegraph something like this, then its more than likely going to happen.
Edited by RebelFalcon on Jun 13th 2020 at 9:43:03 AM
Rodimus: Self-sacrifice, Magnus— It's cheap. It's a cheap way out. I need to live so I can make amends.I definitely think Raven's going to die. She's racked up too many deaths on her belt off-screen... Same goes with Salem and Cinder, natch.
As for who I think is likely gonna die... I'm gonna bet on red and say about 75% of Atlasians/Mantleans. That nation's gonna go up in smoke with Salem's arrival with or without RWBY's intervention.
@Twin Bird
Once again, I did not say I expect Qrow to die. Had you read the list, I said there are people who predicted that, and I said if anyone else from Team STQR was to die, my bet would be Tai. Although admittedly it has less to do with what I think could happen and more of my sense of dramatic irony. I said the same thing on the reddit sub, and made a copy paste when I brought it up here
Also, I was talking "Series Wide" when I wrote my Death Pool, not just Vol 8.
Edited by Beast on Jun 13th 2020 at 9:09:27 AM
"It's like...a cliff, and if I do it, I'm just gonna...fall." "I think we're already falling."

* In fairness, that's more or less all you can do in the situation I'll expect they'll be in at the end of volume 8.
Edited by CaptainCapsase on Jun 13th 2020 at 11:09:15 AM