List of RWBY characters


This is a list of characters who appear in RWBY, an original anime-style CG-animated web series created by Rooster Teeth Productions.
According to series creator Monty Oum, every character's name is tied to a specific color. There are also other teams with their name combining to form acronyms that are also tied to a color.

Creation and conception

Oum designed the characters with assistance from artist Ein Lee. Oum had been browsing Lee's Deviant Art work and asked if she wanted to do some designs. The only rule provided for the series was "everyone must be badass." Lee also said that some of the characters were conceived between her and Oum, where he would provide a description followed by her sketching some ideas, or vice versa. Others were from brainstorming with other people. The characters utilize designs inspired by classic fairy tale characters. Each character has an associated color, and it is the first letters of these colors, red, white, black, and yellow, that give the series its name. Lee said that looking to people, Google image searches, and fashion were inspirations: "how people dress−down to the littlest detail—gives many subtle hints about who they are. It’s all about giving the characters a unique and memorable look that people can still identify with." Oum also drew inspiration from the Final Fantasy video games and the "ridiculously obnoxious weapons".
The series is written by Oum, along with fellow Rooster Teeth employees Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross. Oum was initially concerned about a story focusing on female characters being developed by a primarily male crew, but said they managed to do well developing the female characters.

Main characters

Team RWBY

Team RWBY is composed of four female students from Beacon Academy. Each member is associated with a color and alludes to a character in the fairy tale world—reflected in their names and personalities.

Ruby Rose

The 15-year old main protagonist who typically dresses in a black dress and a red cloak, using the Crescent Rose scythe as both a melee weapon and as a high caliber sniper rifle. In Volume 7, the blade of the scythe can rotate on the rifle. Her Semblance is called "Petal Burst", which enables her to transform into a fast burst of rose petals. Initially, it was thought that Ruby's ability was primarily speed, enabling her to run faster than the human eye can catch, and change directions in mid-air.. But in Volume 7, Harriet notes that there is more to Ruby's Semblance.
As her mother [|Summer Rose] died when she was very young, Ruby is raised on the island of Patch by her father [|Taiyang] and older half-sister Yang Xiao Long. Her uncle [|Qrow Branwen] teaches her how to wield a scythe and fight properly, with Ruby stating that she was "complete garbage" before he took her in as his pupil. Ruby was also inspired by the heroic fairy tales Yang read to her as a child to become a Huntress to protect the world from evil.
At the start of the series, Ruby's skills and resolve when Torchwick robbed a Dust shop robbery impresses [|Professor Ozpin] enough to enroll her into Beacon Academy two years early. Despite her social awkwardness, obsession with weapons, and dependence on her sister, Ruby becomes friends with her classmates while exhibiting the skills and qualities that placed her as the leader of Team RWBY. Following the Fall of Beacon, Ruby learns from Qrow that she and her mother are descendants of powerful silver-eyed warriors whom the Grimm long feared since the warriors can tap into the God of Light's power to inflict harm on the Grimm in various ways.
A few months later, informally calling themselves Team RNJR, Ruby travels with the remaining members of Team JNPR to Haven Academy in Mistral in order to find leads on their enemies. During their travels, Ruby is targeted by [|Tyrian], but she evades capture with Qrow's help. In Volume 5, Ruby trains in hand-to-hand combat under Ozpin's guidance while reunited with Weiss and Yang. During the Battle of Haven, briefly knocked out by Emerald while subconsciously activating her silver eyes, Ruby and her teammates reunite with Blake as they win.
In Volume 6, Ruby begins losing faith in Ozpin upon seeing his continued mistrust and learning the truth behind him and Salem.. This results with a guilt-ridden Ozpin sealing himself in Oscar's mind, forcing Ruby to develop leadership traits to restore morale while dealing with Qrow's increased alcoholism as they are joined by Maria Calavera. It was after an encounter with the Apathy Grimm that Ruby learns Maria was originally a silver-eyed warrior and requests her mentorship to consciously use her powers. She later takes charge of the group's plan in stealing an Atlas airship, and when they later fight Cordovin. After a failed attempt to negotiate with the operative, Ruby destroys the Colossus's cannon by firing at the Dust inside. In the fight against the Leviathan, Ruby uses her silver eyes to petrify it. After Cordovin finishes off the Grimm, Ruby makes amends with the operative and her group is allowed passage to Atlas.
In Volume 7, Ruby has become conflicted with the morality of her actions. As she hides the truth about Salem and the Relic of Knowledge from Ironwood because she does not fully trust him, she worries that she has become the same as Ozpin. She also develops a friendly rivalry with Harriet, as they are both have speed-type Semblances. After receiving her license from Ironwood, Ruby asks Qrow about Summer and her last mission and rekindles her friendship with Penny. When Salem demands for the Relics, Ruby is emotionally devastated when she finds out that the witch was responsible for Summer's death. After her team defeats the Ace-Ops, Ruby uses her silver eyes on Cinder and helps Penny escape with the rest of the group.
Ruby alludes to the fairy tale character Little Red Riding Hood.

Weiss Schnee

The 17-year-old heiress to the Schnee family, a powerful high-class family based in Atlas. Their Schnee Dust Company provides much of the worldwide supply of Dust, despite the family being targeted by the White Fang due to the immoral business ethnics of Weiss’ father Jacques, which included mistreatment of Faunus laborers. While inheriting her family's white hair and blue eyes, Weiss gained a noticeable scar over her left eye as a result of fighting an Arma Gigas Grimm. Weiss uses a Dust revolver/rapier named Myrtenaster. The sheath can create more than one change of elemental Dust, using a dial like silver encasement just above the bottom of her sword. The Dust crystals encrusted in the encasement allow Weiss to change the power of her sword in battle. Her Semblance is unique in the way that it is a hereditary trait in her family. Her ability consists of "Glyphs" that have a variety of push and pull effects, and the ability to summon previously defeated foes with the Arma Gigas as her primary summon.
Weiss chose becoming a Huntress at Beacon Academy with aspirations of restoring her family's honor, as she disagreed her father's business methods. While initially an egotistic know-it-all with some misplaced prejudice toward the Faunus, she gradually matures and gains understanding, repeatedly showing great trust in her teammates and even protecting the Faunus Velvet Scarlatina during battle. Weiss greatly admires her older sister Winter, but has a more distant relationship with the rest of her family. She had a crush on Neptune Vasilias during Volume 2, but gets angry with him when he flirts with other girls.
Following the fall of Beacon in the Volume 3 finale, Weiss is taken back to Atlas by Jacques Schnee. In Volume 4, her relationship with her father is still strained as she eventually got disinherited and confined in her room within the Schnee Estate as the result of losing her temper during a cocktail party. But once she masters summoning, Weiss escapes from her confinement with Klein's help and stows away in an airship to find Winter in Mistral. In Volume 5, Weiss is captured by Raven Branwen after the cargo ship crash lands in the outskirts of Anima. However, she breaks free from her confinement and reunites with Yang. Eventually, the two of them make their way to Mistral and reunite with Ruby. During the Battle of Haven, Weiss is easily overpowered by Vernal and is fatally impaled by Cinder. But her life is saved when Jaune unlocks his Semblance and amplifies her Aura to enable her wound to heal. In Volume 6, Weiss shows great displeasure with returning to Atlas. In Argus, she finds that she is the only one of her group that can go to the northern kingdom because she is a Schnee. She later smuggles Maria onto an airship so they can steal it for the group, but they are then attacked by Cordovin.
In Volume 7, Weiss is reunited with Winter, but is later shocked to find that her older sister has been chosen to be the next Winter Maiden. She is disheartened when the first mission in Atlas is in an abandoned Dust mine once owned by her father. Weiss also expresses her guilt to Blake about the discrimination her family displayed to the Faunus, and she confronts Jacques and learns that her mother's condition has worsened in her absence. After Jacques wins the election, Weiss becomes suspicious of her father and obtains a video from her mother, Willow, about his secret meeting with Watts. She promptly exposes the video during Jacques' dinner party, which leads to his arrest. After defeating the Ace-Ops, Weiss is forced to part ways with Winter to escape from Atlas.
Weiss alludes to Snow White, as her full name Weiss Schnee is German for "White Snow". Character designer Ein Lee said that Weiss was her favorite character among the four main girls to draw: "She's so delicate, and I love princess types."

Blake Belladonna

Blake is introduced as a 17-year old Faunus with cat ears with a love for books. She is the daughter of the White Fang's founder Ghira Belladonna, who formed the White Fang as a social rights advocacy group. But even as the White Fang turned into extremist paramilitary organization, Blake remained in the group against her parents' wishes until she left in disgust over Adam Taurus's disregard for civilian lives and joined Beacon Academy to make a difference as a Huntress. Blake's weapon is the Gambol Shroud, a "variant ballistic chain scythe" according to Oum with a sharpened sheath that has a pistol in the hilt, which is also attached to a long ribbon. Blake uses blade and sheath in attacking combinations, while also using the momentum of the blade anchored to an object to maneuver herself with the ribbon, even in midair. Her Semblance, "Shadow", allows her to create a hollow clone of herself that functions as an afterimage decoy while she moves in a different direction, later using Dust to give the clone an additional effect depending on the type of Dust used.
Before Volume 4, Blake concealed her Faunus identity by hiding her cat ears under a black bow as she felt she would have experienced discrimination like other Faunus. As a cat Faunus, Blake often exhibits feline behavior like being fearful of Ruby and Yang's pet dog Zwei and fish being her favorite food. After the Fall of Beacon, during which Yang was severely injured by Adam when she came to her aid, Blake runs off without telling anyone as she leaves for her homeland in the island nation of Menagerie to settle things with her parents. During Volume 4, she accepts Sun's company while discarding her bow, reunites with her parents and wants to avoid anything associated with the White Fang until Sun is attacked by Ilia Amotila. As Sun recovers, Blake reveals that she ran away from Team RWBY because she doesn't want anyone getting hurt because of her. Sun convinces her that she's only hurting her friends even more by pushing them away. Blake decides to take back the White Fang once learning of Adam's plan to take control of the organization and attack Haven.
In Volume 5, following a seemingly hopeless attempt to rally the people of Menagerie to protect Haven from the White Fang, Blake wins her peoples' support when the White Fang attempt to kill her parents while redeeming Ilia. In the Battle of Haven, Blake leads the Menagerians and stops Adam's attack while destroying his reputation within the White Fang. After successfully defending Haven, Blake reunites with Team RWBY as she joins them in their journey to Atlas. Despite returning to the group, Blake still feels uneasy with Yang out of guilt for her injuries during the Fall of Beacon. At an abandoned farm estate, she tries to assure Yang about facing Adam, but accidentally insults her instead. In Argus, Blake is sent by the group to disable the radar as they steal an airship, but is interrupted by Adam who fights her. She is easily overwhelmed and her sword is destroyed, but she is eventually saved by Yang, and the two team up to defeat and kill Adam.
In Volume 7, Blake is haunted for causing Adam's death, even when Yang assures her that it was something that they had to do. Her sword is repaired by Pietro with a yellow lightning streak where the blade was broken. After Ironwood orders for Robyn's arrest, Blake is convinced by Yang to reveal the truth about Amity's new purpose as a CCT to the Mantle politician.
Blake is an allusion to Beauty and the Beast, arguably to both Belle and the beast.

Yang Xiao Long

Yang, the fourth member of Team RWBY, is a blonde-haired girl and, at 17 years of age, Ruby's older half-sister. She wields twin shotgun gauntlets called Ember Celica. After she loses her right arm in Volume 3, her replacement bionic arm is installed with a shotgun mechanism at the wrist. In Volume 7, Yang has Pietro add sticky grenades to her arsenal. Her Semblance, "Burn", works on a "recoil-based system": whenever Yang takes a hit, her strength, toughness and striking power rise in proportion to her injuries. Her glowing hair and eye color change are caused by excess energy from the buildup, which also results in Yang often acting very "hotheaded" in battle.
Yang is the "big sister" of the group, caring deeply for her teammates. She is also very optimistic, never giving up in battle and hard times. Yang has revealed that [|her birth mother] left her family shortly after she was born and hasn't been seen since, which acts as a driving force for her character. She has been determined to find Raven ever since she realized that Summer Rose, Ruby's mother who also helped raise Yang, wasn't her own biological mother. Yang wanted to become a Huntress because of the adventure, as she calls herself a thrill-seeker in search of a life where she doesn't know what lies ahead of her.
Near the end of Volume 3, during the Battle of Beacon, Yang's right arm is severed by White Fang member Adam Taurus, following a desperate attempt to help a wounded Blake. In the aftermath of the fall of Beacon, she is bedridden in her home on the island of Patch, where she has become bitter and depressed. After the time-skip betweens Volume 3 and 4, Yang is still on Patch, trying to get used to life with one arm. She shows signs of PTSD, having visions and nightmares of Adam cutting her arm. She is also shown to be hesitant to use a bionic arm provided to her by Pietro. After an encouraging talk with her father Taiyang, Prof. Port, and Dr. Oobleck, in which Yang admits to being scared of moving on, she puts the arm on and resumes training with her father. While sparring, Yang learns to fight without relying on her Semblance as much as she did before, and learns more about her mother from Taiyang. In the volume finale, she arrives on the continent of Anima and heads for Mistral to find Ruby.
In Volume 5, Yang's personality has drastically changed to a more serious tone, and her left arm frequently shakes after a fight and when she is emotionally stressed. She approaches Raven and asks her to use her Semblance to teleport her to Ruby and Qrow, and unexpectedly reunites with Weiss. Despite her mother's attempts to convince her to forget about Ruby and join the tribe of bandits, Yang's request is ultimately granted and she and Weiss reunite with Ruby in Mistral. She is still angry at Blake for leaving her alone after the Fall of Beacon, but calms down thanks to Weiss' counsel. In the Battle of Haven, Yang confronts Raven at the vault and successfully has her mother relinquish the Relic of Knowledge. Reuniting with her teammates, Yang forgives Blake and welcomes her back into the team. In Volume 6, when Blake tries to make things up to her, Yang assures her that everything is fine and that she is happy that Team RWBY is back together. But she displays anger when she finds that Ozpin is still hiding secrets. Yang still has nightmares of Adam and is mad when she feels that Blake is pitying her. In Argus, Yang saves Blake from Adam and they team up and kill him.
In Volume 7, Yang questions Ruby's decision to hide the truth about Salem and the Relic of Knowledge from Ironwood, and tries to comfort Blake over Adam's death. Even though she trusts her little sister, Yang proceeds with Blake to reveal Amity's new purpose to Robyn. But this action backfires on Yang when Ironwood finds out what she and Blake told Robyn, leading to the order for their arrest.
Yang is an allusion to Goldilocks. Prior to the series, one of Oum's Tweets had a photograph of his computer monitor that reveals a file named "Taiyang Xiao Long", later revealed to be the name of Yang's father.

Team JNPR

Team JNPR is inspired by historical figures who had taken on the appearance of the opposite gender. In Volume 4 after the loss of Pyrrha, Ruby temporarily joins their group and they informally rename themselves Team RNJR.

Jaune Arc

A blond-haired student and the leader of Team JNPR who uses a sword and shield combination called Crocea Mors, an heirloom formerly belonging to his great-great-grandfather. His shield can fold into a sheath for his sword, although it retains its weight. In Volume 4, Jaune upgraded the shield so that it can act as a second blade for the sword. In Volume 7, the shield is further upgraded by Pietro with hardened light Dust on the sides that Jaune can use to act as a glider in air, and the crest can now hold Dust. His Semblance, "Aura Amp", allows him to amplify his Aura or that of others, and he can quickly recharge his Aura even when broken by Volume 7.
Jaune tries to appear confident in front of the girls, especially Weiss, but it often does not work out and he gets depressed over it, although because he treats Pyrrha normally, the latter is attracted to him. In one of the Volume 1 storylines, he is bullied by Cardin Winchester, although he later stands up for his teammates by disobeying Cardin's order to prank Pyrrha, and then saves Cardin from an Ursa. Although he used fake transcripts to get into Beacon and had not attended combat school, he is supported by his schoolmates who believe in his leadership, and his partner Pyrrha later helps him train.
In the end of Volume 3, Jaune goes with Ruby, Nora and Ren to Haven in search for answers and find the ones responsible for the events at Vale and Beacon, as well as Pyrrha's death. In Volume 4, he has Crocea Mors upgraded with accents from Pyrrha's old armor, and wears a sash around his waist in her memory, and continues to be heavily affected by her death. In Volume 5, Jaune works under Ozpin's guidance to find out what his Semblance is. In the Battle of Haven, upon being confronted by Cinder Fall, Jaune fights her to avenge Pyrrha but is easily overpowered. After Weiss is fatally impaled by Cinder, Jaune unlocks his Semblance and saves her from certain death. In Volume 6, Jaune is able to see his older sister, Saffron, when the group arrives at Argus. Upon learning of Ozpin and Salem's past, he lashes out at Oscar for being Ozpin's vessel. But upon finding Pyrrha's statue and coming to terms with her death, Jaune makes amends with Oscar and offers a plan of stealing an Atlesian airship to get to Atlas.
In Volume 7, Jaune begins his Huntsman career protecting preschoolers in Mantle, while also attracting the affections of young women. This experience will later prove useful for him as he leads one of the evacuations during the Battle of Mantle.
His name is a reference to the French heroine Joan of Arc.

Nora Valkyrie

An orange-haired student at Beacon who carries Magnhild, a war hammer that can be converted into a grenade launcher. Her Semblance, "High Voltage", is the production and manipulation of electricity, allowing her to channel the energy to her muscles and gain superhuman strength. Nora is very talkative and hyperactive, which tends to annoy her teammates, but she's also the most positive member of the team, almost always staying upbeat. But she displays a serious side when necessary, as when she tries to protect Ruby from Tyrian and when she calms Ren down during their battle with the Nuckelavee. She and Ren are long-time friends, though Jaune briefly assumes the two are a couple, which causes Nora to quickly say that they're not "together-together", which indicates that Nora's relationship with Ren is more akin to a brother-sister relationship. In a flashback in Volume 4, it's revealed that Nora was living on the streets of Kuroyuri when she was a child, presumably an orphan, and when the village was attacked by Grimm, Ren saved her, beginning their friendship.
In the end of Volume 3, Nora goes with Ruby, Jaune and Ren to Haven. In Volume 4, Nora has upgraded Magnhild, so that it can apparently hold a stronger electric charge. In the finale, she and Ren become a couple after their fight with the Nuckelavee.
In Volume 7, Nora is disheartened when Ren gives her the cold shoulder during their first mission in Atlas. But she is able to kiss him during Robyn's political rally before chaos ensues. After Ironwood increases the military in Mantle following Jacques' electoral victory, Nora loses her temper as she berates the general for allowing Mantle to suffer while Amity is being rebuilt.
Her first name comes from the Nora Barlow Columbine, while her last name, "Valkyrie", is inspired by the female warriors found in Norse mythology. She alludes to the Norse god Thor.

Pyrrha Nikos

A red-haired student with a long ponytail and bright green eyes. She wielded Miló, a javelin that could transform into a rifle or a xiphos sword, and a shield called Akoúo̱. Her Semblance is "Polarity", which is the ability to manipulate objects with magnetism. Prior to enrolling at Beacon, she graduated from Sanctum Academy with highest honors and had a record number of wins at a regional tournament for Huntsmen and Huntresses, landing her a cover photo on a Pumpkin Pete's cereal box. Due to her reputation, she has found forming relationships with others difficult because others often assume she is "too good for them" and that she is "at a level they simply cannot obtain". When Jaune ignores that and treats her normally, she becomes attracted to him and chooses him as her partner during the initiation. In Volume 3, Ozpin selects her to be the next Fall Maiden as he and Ironwood are forced to execute the transference by transplanting Amber's dying soul into her body, which Pyrrha feared as it would either kill her or she would no longer be herself. Though Pyrrha decides to go through with it, Cinder kills Amber to complete her transition into the Fall Maiden. Pyrrha attempts to stop Cinder after getting Jaune to safety, but is overpowered and incinerated.. Pyrrha's death affected Ruby, who saw her die and awakened her power, and Jaune, who uses a training video she made for him where she nearly confesses her feelings for him. But Jaune eventually moves on after coming across a memorial statue of Pyrrha in Argus, inspiring him and his fellow surviving JNPR teammates to continue their mission.
Monty Oum stated that Pyrrha was given her name for her red hair, and her full name is a reference to a Pyrrhic victory. She also alludes to Achilles from Homer's The Iliad.

Lie Ren

A black-haired student at Beacon who dual wields machine pistols with attached blades, collectively called StormFlower. In Volume 7, Pietro upgraded StormFlower so the blades can be projected from the guns to act as grappling hooks. His Semblance, "Tranquility", masks negative emotion, which allows him and his targets to avoid detection from Grimm. He and Nora are long-time friends, though he is the exact opposite of her, as he is mostly quiet, mellow and mature. Originally from Kuroyuri village in the Anima continent, Ren lost his parents during a Grimm attack by Nuckelavee with his awakened Semblance allowing him and Nora to be the only survivors of the attack. Joining Ruby alongside Jaune and Nora to Haven in the Volume 3 finale, Ren is able to avenge his parents when they encounter Nuckelavee after ending up in Kuroyuri, and reciprocate Nora's feelings for him.
In Volume 7, Ren's relationship with Nora turns for the worse when he ignores her affections for him during their first mission in Atlas. He becomes more focused on training and going on missions, and admits to Nora that he has a hard time expressing his feelings. But Ren is kissed by Nora, and he returns his affections for her before chaos erupts at Robyn's political rally. Afterwards, he becomes colder when he accepts Ironwood's order to arrest Robyn and find out who Tyrian is working for. In the finale, Ren becomes angry when he allows himself to be fooled by Neo's illusion of Nora, leading to him being bested by the illusionist.
While his name in Chinese translates to "huntsman", Ren is also Japanese for "lotus", which is his emblem. He alludes to the legendary Chinese hero Hua Mulan.
Although the character was originally voiced by the series creator, Monty Oum, his brother Neath Oum would later replace him as the voice actor from Volume 3 to the present, following Monty's death in 2015.

Qrow Branwen

A cool-headed and nonchalant former instructor at Signal Academy with a heavy drinking habit, Qrow is Raven's younger twin brother, making him Yang's biological uncle and an honorary uncle to Ruby. He was the fourth member of Team STRQ. Having taught Ruby to wield her Crescent Rose, his weapon, Harbinger, is a giant sword that can transform into a cannon or a scythe. Volume 6 reveals that he based Harbinger's design off of Maria's weapons because he admired her as the Grimm Reaper. His Semblance, "Misfortune", brings negative probability to those around him, and unlike other Huntsmen, his is always active and uncontrollable.
As revealed in Volume 5, being originally part of the Branwen Tribe, he and Raven were sent into Beacon to be trained as Hunters to give their people an advantage against Hunters. But Qrow renounces his kin for being killers and thieves, becoming a member of Ozpin's inner circle while given the ability to transform into a crow to serve as Ozpin's spy. Having being mentioned in the first two Volumes, Qrow makes his debut in Volume 3 as he reveals to Ozpin that their enemies are making a move on Beacon.
After the Fall of Beacon, Qrow tells Ruby that he specifically worked for Ozpin and resolve to continue in the man's stead while discreetly following Team RNJR as they head for Haven. In Volume 4, Qrow continues to watch over the team discreetly while having an encounter Raven in Higanbana where he questions his twin's callousness towards Yang while questioning her of the Spring Maiden's location. Qrow ends up revealing himself to Ruby when Tyrian attacks her group and ends up being poisoned by Tyrian's stinger, revealing most of what he knew to Team RNJR as they manage to get him to Mistral for a quick recovery. In Volume 5, following a meeting with Lionheart, Qrow is reunited with Ozpin when meets Oscar. Leaving RNJR in Ozpin's care, Qrow attempts to find some to Huntsmen help protect the Relic of Knowledge and learns they all died during their missions. In the Battle of Haven, furious upon realizing Lionheart's role in the deaths of Mistral's hunters, Qrow disowns Raven when she allied herself with Salem. In the aftermath, after he receives the Relic from Yang, Qrow is instructed by Ozpin to take it to Atlas. In Volume 6, Qrow's faith in Ozpin is destroyed when he learns of his leader's past and lack of a plan to destroy Salem. His alcoholism worsens and causes problems for the group, especially for Ruby. Qrow initially turns down Jaune's plan of stealing an airship to get to Atlas, but his arguments is stopped by Ruby. As the group goes through with the plan, Qrow starts to panic when things start to go wrong and he blames himself for it. After the fights with Cordovin and the Leviathan, Qrow begins to abstain from alcohol.
In Volume 7, Qrow is at awe with Clover because of his good fortune Semblance and bonds with him. After the Beacon students receive their Huntsman licenses, Qrow assures Ruby that her actions are morally right while opening up with her about Summer. Qrow teams up with Clover during the Battle of Mantle to help Robyn subdue Tyrian, only for Tyrian to kill Clover, and Qrow, along with Robyn, to be arrested by Atlesian forces for Clover's death.
Qrow alludes to Muninn from Norse mythology and is based on the Scarecrow from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
In February 2019, Rooster Teeth announced that Mignogna would no longer be part of the cast of RWBY amid accusations of sexual harassment. The following July, Liebrecht was announced as the new voice of Qrow.

Maria Calavera

An elderly woman with prosthetic eyes, though she cannot see color with them. She was originally a silver-eyed Huntress known as the Grimm Reaper before being blinded by the Faunus assassin Tock. The cane she uses was one of her two kamas, Life and Death, that combine at the ends to form a twin-bladed weapon. Her Semblance, which she calls "Preflexes", allows her to react to attacks almost before they happen. Unlike most Hunters, due to the risk of being targeted by Salem, Maria was trained by her father instead of attending a school. She meets Team RWBY, Qrow and Oscar after they crash-land into the snow region of northern Anima. Upon learning that Ruby has silver eyes, Maria teaches her to consciously use her powers when they are attacked by the Apathy Grimm. In Argus, she becomes a mentor to Ruby and shares what she knows about the silver eyes. She is later smuggled onto a military airship by Weiss to pilot it to the rest of the group, but the pair is then attacked by Cordovin's giant robot. Maria pilots the ship to provide air support for the group, and later to fly the group to Atlas.
In Volume 7, Maria takes the heroes to Pietro so they can find a safe way to Ironwood. She is the only member of the group to avoid being captured by the Ace-Ops. Maria later gives moral support to Pietro after Penny is framed for murder. In the volume finale, Maria secures an airship to help Teams RWBY and JNR, Pietro and Penny to escape Atlas.

Ozma

Ozma is an ancient warrior who has been reincarnated by the God of Light to defeat Salem. While Ozma is named after Princess Ozma from the Oz book series, his reincarnations reference the title character of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Ozma

An ancient warrior who was Salem's lover before he died from an illness. As Salem's desire to resurrect Ozma resulted in her rebellion against the gods, Ozma is brought back to life by the God of Light to stop her. But even vowing to reincarnate forever until Salem is defeated, Jinn reveals that Ozma cannot kill his former lover. Every time he dies, his soul transmigrates into a new like-minded host, allowing him to take control of his host body while both can access each other's memories with Professor Ozpin his current incarnation at the start of the series and referred as such before his origins are revealed. One of his past incarnations was the basis of the wizard from a story based on the creation of the first Maidens, another being a king who fought through war. Though he is stoic and affable to those around him and can be blunt at times, he is a humble man who deeply cares for his students despite admitting to be slightly mistrustful due to countless acts of betrayal he suffered across his past lives.

Professor Ozpin

The headmaster of Beacon Academy, armed with a cane, The Long Memory, which has numerous functions that include serving as a melee weapon capable of generating a protective force field. Despite appearances, Ozpin is gradually revealed as Ozma's reincarnation.
It is not really known if Ozpin was really killed by Cinder in the Volume 3 finale, but his soul or part of it transmigrated into the body of Oscar Pine, whom he urged to reach Haven where he is reunited with Qrow. In Volume 5, Ozpin tasks Qrow to find Huntsmen to protect the Relic of Knowledge while he personally trains Team RNJR and Oscar for their eventual fight with fight Salem. After the Relic is secured following the Battle of Haven, Ozpin has Oscar instruct Qrow to bring it to Atlas. In Volume 6, having promised earlier to be forthright with Yang and the others, Ozpin comes under fire for still withholding vital information as he admits to be slightly mistrustful due to countless acts of betrayal he suffered across his past lives. After his secret past is exposed by Jinn, he loses everyone's trust and he seals himself within Oscar's mind. However, during the airship heist in Argus, Ozpin guides Oscar in landing the airship, hinting that he has been aware of the group's activities after the train crash.
In the finale of Volume 7, Ozpin emerges from Oscar's mind after the farmboy is knocked out of Atlas by Ironwood and guides him to safely land on Mantle.

Oscar Pine

A young farm boy who appears in Volume 4 and lives with his aunt before starting to hear Ozpin's voice mysteriously communicating to him. It would later be revealed that Oscar has become Ozpin's new vessel following his demise in the Volume 3 finale. A reluctant Oscar eventually complies with Ozpin's request to travel to Haven. Once in Mistral, Oscar meets Qrow and receives Ozpin's cane as he joins Ruby's group, while revealing he can become a temporary medium for them to directly communicate with Ozpin. He later trains alongside Team RNJR to strengthen his Aura and discover his Semblance. In Volume 6, Oscar is able to resist Ozpin's control and helps Ruby to summon Jinn, only to end up being ostracized by most of the others by extension, when they lose trust in Ozpin. In Argus, Oscar is assaulted by Jaune and leaves the group for a while to have time to himself, acquiring a change of clothes, before returning to the group to help them with the time he has left as himself. In the fight against Cordovin, Oscar is able to figure out the Colossus' weakness, helping Ruby to defeat it. Later, during the group's flight to Atlas, Oscar admits that he was guided by Ozpin in crash-landing the airship.
In Volume 7, Oscar is entrusted with the Relic of Knowledge by Ruby while the others go on their first mission in Atlas. But he is uneasy with Ruby's decision to hide what they know about Salem and the Relic from Ironwood, as he feels that they are doing the same as what Ozpin did to them. Oscar then trains under Ironwood, fighting with Team JNR against Team FNKI at one point. After learning about the Relic of Creation, Oscar advises Ironwood to reach out to those he fears and try to gain their trust. When the Huntsmen mobilize to head for Mantle, Oscar stays behind in Atlas to tell Ironwood about Salem's immortality. He is later attacked by Neo and loses the Relic of Knowledge to her, despite receiving help from Team JNR. Oscar then heads for the Vault to talk sense to Ironwood, but to no avail as the general shoots him out of Atlas. However, Oscar receives guidance from Ozpin to save themselves from death.

Penny Polendina

An orange-haired student who came to the Vytal festival to compete in the combat tournament. She wields Floating Array: a small backpack which contains an array of gun-bladed weapons and wires. She can also use the swords as an energy beam cannon. She is known to act awkwardly around people, though she quickly becomes friends with Ruby.
In Volume 2, it is revealed that Penny is an android capable of generating an Aura. But in Volume 7, her creator Pietro reveals that her Aura was originally a part of his. In Volume 3, she reveals her body is vulnerable to magnets. During Penny's battle against Pyrrha in the Vytal Festival, Pyrrha is affected by Emerald's hallucinating Semblance, reflecting Penny's attack, causing the wires connected to her swords to tear her apart.
In Volume 7, Penny is shown to have been rebuilt sometime after the fall of Beacon, and upgraded with thrusters in her feet allowing her to fly. She has become the protector of Mantle and part of Ironwood's inner circle, but no longer has a team, and is ordered by the general not to focus on making friends. Penny is later framed for massacring several of Robyn's supporters by Watts and Tyrian during a political rally, and Mantle demands for Penny to be destroyed. Her name is later cleared when Jacques' secret meeting with Watts is exposed, and she joins the Huntsmen as they head for Mantle to fight off the Grimm, regaining the people's trust in her. While helping Winter in receiving the Winter Maiden's power, Penny ends up inheriting the Maiden's power while confronted by Cinder, joining Team RWBY soon after in fleeing Atlas.
Penny alludes to the character Pinocchio, hiccuping every time she tells a lie.

Supporting characters

Team STRQ

Team STRQ is a now-defunct team composed of Ruby and Yang's relatives, commented to have similarities to Team RWBY like being favored by Ozpin.
Team CRDL is formed as another first year team at Beacon Academy, alongside RWBY and JNPR.
Team CFVY consists of second-year Beacon Academy students. Velvet Scarlatina first appears in Volume 1,, while the others begin appearing in Volume 2. They serve as the protagonists of RWBY: After the Fall novel series, having been transferred to Shade Academy in Vacuo following the Fall of Beacon. The team's members have a red and brown color scheme and are named after desserts.

Atlesian Military

General James Ironwood
Headmaster of Atlas Academy and a renowned military leader, also being a member of Ozpin's inner circle despite disagreeing with him over using military force to handle threats head-on. According to Glynda, he tends to take his work with him wherever he goes. His weapons, collectively called Due Process, are a pair of revolvers. In Volume 3, it is revealed that Ironwood has a robotic right arm, torso and leg.
In his debut in Volume 2, Ironwood brings his military forces, which puts him at odds with Ozpin immediately. After Torchwick's attack on Vale, Ironwood is put in charge of security for the tournament by the council. But in Volume 3, Ironwood is unable for use his forces to fight off the Grimm, as they are either destroyed or hacked. In Volume 4, Ironwood has returned to Atlas to continue his duties as General and Headmaster of Atlas. It is shown that he is a close friend of the Schnee family, despite his strained friendship with Jacques over putting an embargo on Dust exportation and then closing off Atlas's borders to prevent another war.
By Volume 7, Ironwood plans to restore global communications by turning Amity Colosseum into a CCT tower, and to reveal Salem's existence to the world, which is why he called all of Atlas back to the kingdom to fight the Grimm that will flock to them when panic breaks out. But with Watts and Tyrian causing chaos in Mantle, Ironwood slowly descends into paranoia and starts to make irrational decisions, including the order for Robyn's arrest for stealing supplies for Amity. He is able to regain his composure long enough to reveal Salem's existence to the council, order the evacuation of Mantle, and lure and defeat Watts in Amity. But Ironwood's paranoia returns when Salem demands for the Relics, prompting him to move Atlas away and abandon Mantle while ordering the arrest of Teams RWBY and JNR, Qrow and Oscar when they oppose his decision. In the finale, Ironwood turns on Oscar and shoots him out of the Vault, and is devastated when he learns from Winter that the Maiden powers are gone, preventing him from using the Relic of Creation to move Atlas.
Ironwood alludes to the Tin Woodman from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Winter Schnee
Weiss' elder sister and Ironwood's right hand in the military, armed with a saber with a detachable estoc. Like Weiss, having left the Schnee family to make a difference, Winter inherited their family's "Glyphs" Semblance, which she fully mastered to easily summon constructs modeled after defeated Grimm. While dignified and distant, Winter deeply cares for Weiss and is ill-tempered, as shown when Qrow insulted the Atlas military while provoking her to fight him.
While Volume 4 explains Winter is in Mistral after the fall of Beacon to uncover an impending threat that is rising from the kingdom, Volume 5 reveals she was called back to Atlas when Ironwood closed the kingdom's borders. By Volume 7, Winter has become part of Ironwood's inner circle, and is chosen by the general to become the next Winder Maiden. Despite having the choice made by Ironwood, Winter sees the task as a privilege for her to do good in Remnant. After the Battle of Mantle, Winter proceeds to get the Maiden powers from Fria but the power is transferred to Penny instead while they are attacked by Cinder. Severely injured by the Fall Maiden, Winter refuses help from Weiss but allows her, Ruby and Penny to escape with their group. She later reports to Ironwood that they lost the Maiden powers
Caroline Cordovin
The special operative in charge in Argus. Cordovin is a prideful and arrogant woman who looks down on all non-Atlesians, and is emotionally unstable, especially when provoked. Upon meeting the group of heroes, she refuses to allow any of them to go to Atlas, except for Weiss. She also has a bad history with Maria. When the group tries to steal a military airship, Cordovin overreacts by piloting a giant mech called the Colossus to attack them. After seemingly defeating the group, she refuses Ruby's offer for a truce and prepares to attack her, only for Ruby to destroy the mech's cannon. Reflecting on Ruby's words, Cordovin finishes off the Leviathan after Ruby freezes it, and then allows the group to continue to Atlas.
Cordovin alludes to the nursery rhyme, "There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe".
Dr. Pietro Polendina
An elderly Atlesian scientist who traverses with a mechanic wheelchair, and is responsible for the creation of Penny, Yang's robotic arm, and Maria's cybernetic eyes. Maria visits him roughly every ten years to have her implants adjusted. With Penny's creation, Pietro gave her a huge portion of his Aura. In his earlier years, Pietro had a team of scientists that included Watts. When arriving in Mantle, Maria suggests that he may be able to get them a meeting with General Ironwood. After they arrive in his charitable free clinic, Pietro quickly recognizes Yang's arm, Weiss, and by association team RWBY telling them that his "daughter" told him all about them. Before the heroes' first mission in Atlas, Pietro upgrades their weapons at their request, though he has his own ideas from watching them in the Vytal Festival Tournament. After Penny is framed for committing murder in Mantle, Pietro shows signs of his health deteriorating as he tries to look after his daughter. In the finale, Pietro flees Atlas with Penny, Teams RWBY and JNR, and Maria.
Pietro is an allusion to Geppetto from Pinocchio.
Dave Fennoy previously voiced Dr. Merlot in RWBY: Grimm Eclipse.

Ace-Ops

The Ace-Ops are a special team of Huntsmen in the Atlas Military. Like Winter and Penny, they are part of Ironwood's inner circle. Each member is an allusion to one of the Aesop's Fables, with the team's name being a homophone of the word 'Aesop'.
Team FNKI is a team participating in the Vytal Tournament. Weiss and Yang take on two of their members during the doubles rounds, and the two fight during the Battle of Beacon. The other two members are introduced when Team FNKI returns in Volume 7.
The Happy Huntresses are composed of Atlas Academy graduates who did not join the military, and instead use their talents to serve Mantle. They refer to the Merry Men.
Each member of Team SSSN has a Big Bang motif. They are set to appear alongside Team CFVY in the upcoming novel RWBY: Before the Dawn.
Team ABRN fights Team RWBY in the first round of the Vytal Festival Tournament. Its members are among the group of students that fights off Grimm and Atlas mechs during the Battle of Beacon.
Team BRNZ fights Team JNPR in the first round of the Vytal Festival Tournament. In Before the Dawn, it's revealed that all of the team was killed in the Fall of Beacon, with the exception of Nolan being the sole survivor.
Team NDGO fights Team SSSN in the first round of the Vytal Festival Tournament. The characters are based on fans who were Indiegogo backers for the movie Lazer Team.
Maidens are women who are capable of wielding great magic, including control over the weather and natural elements, as well as being the only ones to access one of the four Relics each. The original Four Maidens, each named after the four seasons, were given their powers by Ozpin in one of his past lives with their magic transferred into the body of another woman.
Two deity brothers who were initially at odds with each other before they created humanity together on the foundation of creation, destruction, knowledge and choice. When Salem tried to have them resurrect Ozma, the brothers curse her with immortality as punishment. When she led a human rebellion against the brothers, the God of Darkness destroys all of humanity except for Salem, and the brothers left Remnant while leaving behind the four Relics as a beacon to summon them to judge the new race of humans that came to be in their absence.

Salem's Inner Circle

Salem

The main antagonist of the series who, prior to her formal introduction in the season three finale, was known as Mysterious Narrator, providing the origins of Remnant and Dust, along with narration for the first World of Remnant shorts. Volume 6 would reveal she was originally human before her attempt to save Ozma cursed her with immortality by the gods, causing the near extinction of humanity in rallying them against the deities and her attempt of drowning herself in a Grimm Pit mutated her into a human-Grimm hybrid. When Ozma was given the ability to reincarnate, Salem ends up in eternal conflict with her reincarnated lover over how best to guide the surviving humans while resolved to divide and rob them of their hope.
Salem first appears in the Volume 3 finale, revealed to have masterminded the actions of Cinder's factions while claiming Ozpin is dead during a meeting with her underlings at the beginning of Volume 4. According to Qrow, Salem is after the four Relics left by the deity brothers who created Remnant. In Volume 5, she has made a deal with the White Fang for the destruction of Haven. During the Battle of Haven, Salem has her Seer kill Lionheart when he tries to escape. In Volume 6, Jinn reveals Salem's origins to Team RWBY, Qrow, Oscar and Maria. When her subordinates return from Haven, she forces them all to accept Cinder as the cause of their loss, while becoming enraged upon learning that Ozpin had reincarnated sooner than expected. In the volume finale, Salem creates an army of flying Beringel to personally lead the attack on Mantle. In Volume 7, Salem appears via Seer to Team RWBY and Ironwood's group to inform them that she is coming for Atlas while demanding for the Relics, revealing that she killed Summer. Salem eventually arrives with her army as Team RWBY and their group are forced to flee Atlas.
Her name is based on the town of Salem, Massachusetts, known for its witch trials and alludes to the Wicked Witch from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Cinder Fall

A mysterious woman who possesses magma-based powers in creating various type of weapons: these include Midnight – a pair of blades that combine to form a bow that she uses to fire arrows – as well as a variety of weapons she creates using her Fall Maiden powers. Cinder's Semblance, "Scorching Caress", allows her to heat objects and manipulate their shape. She also fights with glass and has been noted to have fused Dust into some of her clothing.
Cinder is a very cunning and secretive woman, with goals of gaining power and becoming feared by others, and the end goal of overthrowing Ozpin, as per her superior Salem's wishes. She leads a team with Mercury and Emerald, recruiting Adam and Roman into helping her devastate Beacon. In Volume 3, Cinder kills the Fall Maiden and claims her power while killing off Ozpin and Pyrrha, the latter's death resulting in Cinder being exposed to Ruby's hidden powers manifesting.
Volume 4 reveals that Cinder lost her left eye and arm, the arm replaced with a Grimm limb grafted onto her body, and is initially forced to have Emerald speak for her until she regains her speech. After going through Salem's treatment, Cinder proceeds to master her new powers. In Volume 5, a fully recovered Cinder is ordered by Salem to seek out Raven Branwen and convince her to hand over the Spring Maiden so they can acquire the Relic of Knowledge. But Cinder deviates from the plan by arranging to help Raven kill Qrow if she and Vernal can help her get the Relic of Knowledge, leading an ambush as she overpowers Jaune and fatally wounds Weiss during the Battle of Haven. Once at the vault holding the Relic of Knowledge, Cinder reveals her Grimm arm as she kills Vernal for the Spring Maiden's power, learning too late that Raven is the real Spring Maiden. Volume 6 reveals that Cinder barely survived Raven's attack as resolves to regain Salem's favor to taking the Relic from Team RWBY. She seeks out Lil' Miss Malachite for intel on Ruby's whereabouts before being joined by Neo, whom she promises the honor of killing Ruby to in return for the Relic. Cinder then sets out with Neo for Atlas.
For most of Volume 7, Cinder lays low in Atlas while having Neo infiltrate the Schnee manor to find the Relic of Knowledge, later instructing her to acquire it during the Battle of Mantle. She later uses the chaos to follow Winter to Fria's location in order to take the Winter Maiden's power for herself, only for Penny to end up acquiring the power instead while Cinder is forced to retreat when Ruby arrives and uses her silver eyes. After retreating, Cinder regroups with Neo and takes the Relic of Knowledge to bring it to Salem.
Cinder is an allusion to Cinderella.

Dr. Arthur Watts

A doctor who is formal yet arrogant and condescending to his allies. His main weapon is a twenty-bullet revolver, while using his rings to both hack into networks, and use hard-light Dust as a shield. Watts once served as a scientist in Atlas alongside Pietro as well as an old acquaintance of Jacques, faking his death during the Paladin project.
First appearing the first episode of Volume 4, Watts is instructed by Salem to assume Cinder's role in meeting their informant, revealed in the finale as Haven's headmaster Professor Lionheart. In Volume 5, Watts is requested by Salem to return to her and build a replacement tail for Tyrian. Prior to his departure, Watts accompanies Cinder and her group to negotiate with the Branwen tribe camp and voices his disapproval of Cinder putting her vendetta towards Ruby before their mission. Watts later heads for Atlas with Tyrian under Salem's orders, where he hacks into Mantle's security to avoid detection. He then offers his services to Jacques by rigging the votes while destroying Ironwood's reputation with doctored footage, using the businessman to access Altas's systems and disable the heating during a snowstorm so the resulting negativity would instigate the Grimm to attack Mantle. But after the plan to destroy the city begins to fall apart, Watts heads for Amity where he is captured by Ironwood. He later watches in the finale as Salem arrives at Atlas.
Watts alludes to John Watson from Sherlock Holmes.

Tyrian Callows

A pale psychopathic scorpion Faunus with a long, black braided ponytail and yellow eyes that turn purple while striking with his stinger, showing himself to be extremely devoted to Salem. He wields The Queen's Servants, which are a pair of wrist mounted blades with gun barrels. His Semblance allows him to channel his Aura at his hand and slice through another's Aura to cause severe damage. Tyrian was a serial killer in Anima who escaped capture when the prison cargo ship carrying him was attacked by Grimm and he joined Salem afterwards.
In Volume 4, mocking Cinder for the injuries she suffered at the Fall of Beacon, Tyrian is assigned by Salem to find and capture Ruby. However, while catching up to Team RNJR, Tyrian is forced to retreat after Ruby cut off his tail when he poisoned Qrow. After returning to Salem and losing her favor, a distraught Tyrian vents out his frustrations on a Beowolf that tried to kill him. In Volume 6, Tyrian is outfitted with a new bionic tail developed by Watts and accompanies the scientist to Atlas after mocking Mercury and Emerald over their dilemma with Cinder's absence.
In Volume 7, Tyrian begins his killing spree of people critical of Ironwood, including Forest, to further ruin Ironwood's reputation in Mantle. He continues the spree at Robyn's political rally, assaulting the Mantle politician and killing several civilians, while Watts uploads an edited video of Penny to frame her for the attack. Tyrian targets Robyn during the Battle of Mantle and is briefly captured by Qrow and Clover, taking advantage of a fight between the two to crash their airship, and later killing Clover with Qrow's weapon.
Tyrian alludes to the scorpion from The Scorpion and the Frog while named after a shade of purple.

Hazel Reinart

A muscular man who is normally reserved and composed with his Semblance, "Numbing Agent", serving as a form of painkiller whenever he embeds raw Dust crystals into his body to augment his strength. Hazel joined Salem as he blamed Ozpin for the death of his sister Gretchen during a training mission while she attended Beacon, his calm exterior replaced with rage when in Ozpin's presence. In Volume 4, crossing paths with Oscar, Hazel is sent by Salem to Anima to meet up with Adam to ensure Sienna Khan's loyalty. In Volume 5, Hazel meets Khan but is mortified that Adam used him as an excuse to kill her without his knowledge and consent. He then joins Cinder and Raven as they ambush Qrow's group in the Battle of Haven, attacking Oscar once learning that Ozpin reincarnated into the boy. After losing the battle, Hazel escapes from Haven with Mercury while carrying an unconscious Emerald. In Volume 6, Hazel tries to take responsibility for the defeat at Haven, only to be pinned down by an angry Salem who already knew that it was Cinder who was responsible.
Hazel and Gretchen's names come from Hansel and Gretel.

Cinder's faction

The White Fang is an organization composed of persecuted Faunus fighting for civil rights like those committed by the Schnee Dust Company using their people for labor, originally established by Ghira Belladonna as a peaceful civil disobedience group. But when he stepped down five years prior to the beginning of the series and is succeeded by Sienna Khan, the White Fang became a terrorist cell under the gradual influence of Adam Taurus who staged a coup before the organization became fragmented in the aftermath of the Battle of Haven.
The father of Weiss, Winter and Whitley, and the current head to the Schnee Dust Company. His surname was "Gelée" before he married into the Schnee family, priding himself in maintaining the family's good name at any cost. While Jacques brought great success to the SDC after convinced his father-in-law Nicholas to let him take over the company, some of the practices he established to maintain the SDC have been considered controversial. The actions of the White Fang stating attacks on SDC over poor labor practices involving Faunus employees gradually plays a part in Jacques's strained relation with Weiss, with their family irreparably broken when Jacques admits to Willow that he married her only for the Schnee name during Weiss' tenth birthday.
Jacques is introduced in the Volume 3 finale when he takes Weiss back to Atlas in the aftermath of the Fall of Beacon. In Volume 4, upset over Ironwood's Dust exportation embargo, Jacques has Weiss participate in a charity concert to boost the Schnee family's public image. But the commotion Weiss causes during the charity's cocktail party forces Jacques to remove her as his heir and confine her in Schnee manor before she escapes him. In Volume 7, Jacques runs against Robyn for election on the Atlas Council, confronts Ironwood about taking control of an old SDC Dust mind, and coldly informs Weiss of Willow's condition. Jacques is later approached by Watts, who offers his services to rig the election and further destroy Ironwood's public image. Jacques proceeds to challenge Ironwood to defend his seat on the council after winning the election, only to be stripped of his position and arrested for treason when Weiss presented evidence of his dealings with Watts to the council.
Jacques alludes to Jack Frost.

Raven Branwen

Former third member of Team STRQ, the mother of Yang and the first lover of Taiyang, Qrow's older twin sister and leader of the Branwen Tribe who follows a survival of the fittest philosophy. Raven is armed with Omen: an ōdachi with interchangeable blades inside the sheath as her weapon of choice with her Semblance, "Kindred Link", allowing her to create a portal to whoever she has a bond with. As revealed in Volume 5, she and Qrow were sent into Beacon to be trained as Hunters to give their people an advantage against hunters. While she initially became a member of Ozpin's inner circle, as he gave her to shapeshift into a raven, Raven questioned Ozpin and resolved to learn the truths of their world on her own, her world-views calling her and Qrow to have a falling out while Taiyang reveals that Raven's flaws were the cause of Team STRQ, and his marriage to her, breaking up as she leaves him sometime after Yang was born. Raven becomes the current Spring Maiden during that time after killing off her predecessor, using Vernal as a decoy to conceal her power.
First appearing in Volume 2 to save Yang from Neo, Yang later having a dream of them meeting, Raven is formally introduced when she meets Qrow in Higanbana after their tribe accidentally caused a Grimm attack at Shion village and questioned her brother if Salem obtained one of the Relics while voicing his decision to turn his back on their tribe. In Volume 5, Raven's men capture Weiss after her cargo ship crashes near their camp, only to let her go after Yang arrives and demands Raven to take them to Ruby and Qrow. Raven attempts to convince Yang not to join Ruby in battling against Salem, revealing what Ozpin told her along with the power her gave her. When Cinder arrives to force an alliance, Raven agrees to help her obtain the Relic of Knowledge in return for Qrow's death while intending to take the Relic for herself to ensure her tribe's survival. During the Battle of Haven, after fighting her brother, Raven proceeds to accompany Cinder and Vernal to the vault and reveals herself as the real Spring Maiden when Cinder impales Vernal. Raven defeats Cinder and opens the vault to the Relic, but is later confronted by Yang who realized her mother's true motivation is that she is afraid of Salem despite her stubbornness to admit it. Raven is ultimately forced to relinquish the Relic to avoid a confrontation with Salem, and tearfully apologizes to Yang as she leaves to see Taiyang in Patch.
Raven alludes to Huginn from Norse mythology.

Branwen Tribe

The Crown is an organization based in Vacuo. They serve as the major antagonists in the RWBY novels After the Fall and Before the Dawn.
The Grimm, also known as the Creatures of Grimm, are soulless monsters that appear throughout the natural world of Remnant as they are devoid of aura and thrive on the worst aspects of humanity. The Grimm are creations of the God of Darkness that manifest from his domain's Grimm Pits, pools containing a dark substance which kills a non-Grimm being on contact. The Grimm were created for the purpose to destroy everything made by the God of Light, which later includes humans whom both brothers created together. Following the previous version of humanity wiped out by their creator, Grimm instinctively prey on new humans and Faunus races before their discovered of "Dust" with the Huntsmen and Huntresses established to control the creatures' numbers. But Salem, as the result of her attempted suicide in a Grimm Pit, is able to control the Grimm as she orchestrated Beacon's downfall through Cinder Fall to erode enough of the peoples' faith in the Hunters to enable the Grimm to annihilate the city nearly unopposed.
Grimm display no enmity towards normal wildlife; humans and Faunus are the only races attacked on sight. When Grimm die, their corporeal form evaporates, preventing detailed anatomical or biological studies. Grimm in captivity will die, if they are unable to kill their captors or escape, implying that they cannot be kept alive by conventional means. If the theory of Grimm not needing to feed is true, it is entirely possible that they survive on negative emotions as sustenance, or the act of killing in itself. Because they were created by the God of Darkness, Grimm can be fearful around those with silver-eyes whose access to the God of the Light's power can have varying effects on them that include paralysis, petrification, and complete atomization.
Grimm are portrayed as black in color with white masks with yellow markings and red trail-like designs. The name "Grimm" comes from the pair of brothers who wrote several fairy tales. The vocal sound effects of the Grimm are done by William Orendorff.
; Known species of Grimm