History Fanfic / ArcRoyale

** [[spoiler:Headmaster and Xiong are pursuing their own unknown goals, pitting the two sides against each other while uniting the criminal underworld under one banner. Xiong in particular is far more concerned about making sure this world's Xiong Clan is able to function once he's gone than he is about the battle, while Headmaster seems to view the whole thing as a teaching opportunity]].

* MythologyGag: Even in another world, [[spoiler:people still think Fanfic/ProfessorArc is too dangerous to fight in battle.]] Special mention for [[Fanfic/TheBeaconCivilWar Warchief]].

* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: [[spoiler:Fate is banking on this when he makes his move during the battle at Beacon. By the end, he expects at least ''most'' of the other iterations will be taken out, and that if any of Salem's faction remain, the heroes will need to keep him around and help him win because they'd have no other options to save their own world]].

** [[spoiler:Fate, despite working on his own, ends up dealing major blows to Ozpin's side in particular simply by covering up his true intentions with his hedonistic lifestyle. By hiding himself within Ozpin's side, he's able to discreetly kill an iteration (Barista), take advantage of the chaos to kill another (Warchief), force both sides into a confrontation that puts all of them in danger, and almost kills Ruby to take Knight with her. He then kills Agent after his cover is blown, and that's without knowing whether or not he killed Leviathan]].

* SympatheticMurderer: [[spoiler:Fate blew up Barista, his own ally, but all he wants to do is save his friends in his own world after having failed to do so for well over a thousand years. Additionally, he targeted Barista specifically so that his friends would have the chance to stop him before he would have to kill them, something that even he's not desperate enough to want to do]].

** Chapter 29: [[spoiler:Fate's treachery turns the entire Beacon battle into a disorganized free-for-all, with Warchief dead and Ironwood out of commission; Cinder attacks Beacon with her forces to try to find the Maiden; and through it all, Ozpin is revealed to have been Rat's Anchor from the beginning, unleashing him on the chaos and giving him permission to kill any Jaune who might be hostile regardless of allegiance]].

* WorthyOpponent: Knight initially thinks Grimm is just like Salem, but [[spoiler:when the two talk before their final battle, he realizes that Grimm is also a monarch from a peaceful world and is nothing like the Salem Knight knew. The two lament having to fight, but both do so because of their duty]].

** [[spoiler:Fate is working on his own within Ozpin's side to undermine it, first by killing Barista and then by forcing the two sides to meet in Beacon so as to kill any iterations he can]].
** All throughout this, Rat and his Anchor are working in the background. [[spoiler:In truth, giving that his Anchor is Ozpin, they're truly loyal to his agenda]].

* GodzillaThreshold: Ozpin is half-considering letting up and giving Ironwood free dictatorial reign over Vale, knowing that it would likely cause long-term damage to the nation based on principle alone, in order to potentially have an edge to win his war once and for all.

* HiddenAgendaVillain: In contrast with Cinder's blatant power hunger, [[spoiler:Headmaster and Xiong's]] end goal is still a mystery, and a recurring plot point with the heroes' side of the narration is that they'd love to take the time to figure it out but Cinder's more destructive plans keep having to come first.

* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Grimm impales himself on Knight's sword to get his helmet off before swarming the man's mouth with miniature Lancers, asphyxiating him. The two die shortly afterwards]].

** [[spoiler:Fate suggests that the heroes blame the Brother Gods for his treacherous actions against them — actions which include sabotaging the war effort, killing half their iterations, and attempting to kill Ruby just as a guarantee that Knight falls before him. All because he refused to trust that any of them would ‘’really’’ have let him have the wish (as all on their side save for Leviathan genuinely had no desire for it)]]. Everyone is disgusted by this but [[spoiler:have no choice but to work with him because he’s one of the last iterations left]].

* VillainousBreakdown: Cinder ''freaks out'' when she realizes [[spoiler:just how hopelessly outclassed she and her entire group are by Knight.]]

* {{Revenge}}: [[spoiler:Chapter 34 reveals Xiong's motivation for the war wasn't the wish; it was to ruin Cinder's plans as payback for her murder of Hei in his world. He succeeds by spiriting away the Fall Maiden and laughing in her face when she finds out]].

** Finally, Rat and his unknown anchor are also working in the background.

* NervesOfSteel: Despite being substantially weaker than him, Xiong shows no fear when confronted by Knight, which impresses the latter. As Xiong puts it, he can't stop Knight if he wants to kill him, so he sees no point in worrying about something he can't change.

** [[spoiler: After TheReveal of Fate's sandbagging, he shows himself to be a JackOfAllTrades - with an emphasis on ''all'', as the thousands of years he's had has made him an expert actor, a master fighter with training in ''every'' weapon, and a better hacker than ''Watts''.]]

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Downplayed with Emerald and Mercury. The former admits to hating the latter, [[spoiler:but when he dies, she's the only one who mourns him, crying into Ashari's shoulder about it. As Ashari puts it, even if Emerald hated him, Mercury was still a part of her life, and no one likes something comfortable being taken away]].

-->'''Warchief:''' [[spoiler:You said you didn't want to fight!]]\\

* SuicideByCop: Heavily implied with [[spoiler: Leviathan's death. It's noted that he could have destroyed all the other participants in the war with tidal waves had he wanted too after his true form manifested in reality, [[WillfullyWeak but chose to fight more directly]], which is what allows Knight, Ren, and Nora to kill him.]]

** Knight specifically invokes the Saber class with his KnightInShinningArmor personality and status as the strongest iteration of Jaune keeping with the reputation of Sabers in ''Fate.''

* Barista really doesn't know what he can contribute when it comes to a battle for the fate of the world, but he's happy to make some coffee and cake to calm everybody's nerves.
* Jaune's status as this eventually means he is the one to convince teams [=RWBY=] and [=JNPR=] to fight despite the power of the iterations: He is the only one there who is used to being weaker than everyone else so the challenge doesn't cause him to lock up.

* DoesntTrustThoseGuys: Hunter, as a literal hunter of animals for food, sees Huntsmen and Huntresses as superpowered glory-hounds. He's not happy to be stuck in the same room as them, let alone being forced to fight alongside them.

** [[spoiler:Headmaster Arc is just as friendly and warm as he was in his home story, even to his enemies, but he's also utterly ruthless in his pursuits, uncaring about Leviathan's death and happily turning Atlas and Cinder against each other]].

* RefusalOfTheCall: While the prospect of getting any one thing he wants gives him some pause, Fate refuses to submit to the Gods' plan as he feels the deck was stacked against him. Hunter agrees, as world-shattering battles are neither his business nor his responsibility.

* NonActionGuy: Barista really doesn't know what he can contribute when it comes to a battle for the fate of the world, but he's happy to make some coffee and cake to calm everybody's nerves.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Fate is ''very'' unsettled when he learns [[spoiler:Agent Rat]] was able to tail him without his knowledge.

* AppealToForce: Knight initially defers to Ozpin and Ironwood when it comes to organizing the war, keeping his own experience as a leader and strategist quiet. [[spoiler:But after one too many missteps, he loses patience with their approach. He declares his intent to play the death game ''his'' way, and gives the heroes two choices: they can work ''with'' him, or ''around'' him. Either way, he's going to do what he wants, and his impossible power means that he's too strong to force into obedience and too valuable to alienate. Ozpin and Ironwood nerviously concede to the first option, and from then on let Knight mostly set the pace]].

* DeliberateInjuryGambit: [[spoiler:Grimm descends upon Knight in a suicidal dive that he ''knows'' will end with him impaled on Knight blade, and once that happens, he uses the close-quarters opportunity to try to take apart his opponent's armor with his tendrils. He only manages to loosen parts of it, not remove it... but that's enough for very small Grimm to fit underneath, which proceed to seal Knight's fate]].

* WeakButSkilled: Fate laments that he's got all the knowledge and experience he could ask for, but none of it will do him any good when he's as weak as regular Jaune and he's up against the likes of Knight, who is in his prime.

* ExperiencedProtagonist: Most of the Jaunes summoned have already experienced many of the events in their home stories, though whether this helps them is another matter. For example, Leviathan, Knight, Magnis, and Ashari are all powerful characters coming from the ends of their respective stories, with the first two even being among the strongest entities in their worlds by that point. Meanwhile, Barista also comes from the end of his story, but is little more than a civilian who can make a good cup of coffee.

** In Chapter 32 [[spoiler:Jaune and especially Ruby]] finds the resolve to not [[spoiler:solely rely on Knight and the other iterations]] anymore, coming to the conclusion that they needed to fight to save their world themselves after an angry RousingSpeech from Jaune accuses them all, himself included, of standing by and letting others do most of the work. Ironic that [[spoiler:Agent and especially Knight, who team they initially planned to wait for, are already dead]] at that point while the others are occupied, meaning they have no choice but to rely on themselves anyway.

* ChangedMyMindKid: [[spoiler:Hunter abandons Beacon after being press-ganged by Ironwood, but returns and backs up JNPR during the villains' attack on Beacon.]]

* BrokenPedestal: Pyrrha isn't sure what to make of Fate, an alternate version of her crush who immediately comes off as a caustic asshole.