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The Grimmlands

The Royal Family

General

Adaptational Nice Guy: Nicholas being kidnapped by Salem when he went into the Grimmlands led to the group as a whole, as well as Salem's other lieutenants, becoming more pleasant and mostly giving up or toning down their goals.
Big, Screwed-Up Family: Downplayed - while they're all (at least nominally) evil or at least don't actively oppose Salem's Take Over the World goals directly except for Jaune and Nicholas, it's clear that they all love each other dearly and will go out of their way to ensure each other's safety and happiness, with a few exceptions (none of them among the Arc siblings and their parents).
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Salem, Nicholas, and their children all love each other deeply, even if they squabble as only families can. And while relationships between them can be more antagonistic, Tyrian, Watts, Cinder, and Hazel also count as part of the family and do care for the Arc children.
Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: A literal example - Jaune and his sisters all refer to Tyrian, Watts, and Hazel as their uncles, and Jaune at least sees Cinder as a big sister figure.
Superpower Lottery: Jaune and his siblings all have this big time. They've all been trained by their father, a Hunter skilled enough to survive in the Grimmlands on his own even before he met Salem, the ability to command Grimm and summon them by drawing their own blood, Grimm parasites implanted in them by Salem to serve as conversation partners and guardians, the ability to detect Grimm, and colossal Aura reserves.

Salem

Juniper Salem Arc, High Queen of Grimm

The immortal Queen of the Grimm, who has fought to annihilate the human race for thousands of years. At least, up until twenty-five years ago, when she met Nicholas Arc and started a family.

Adaptational Name Change: Her canon name is merely Salem. White Sheep has her taking her husband's name and also being called Juniper.
But I Can't Be Pregnant!: Her eldest child Sapphire was very much unexpected, as no one thought human and Grimm could crossbreed.
Composite Character: As the name "Juniper Salem Arc" implies, she's a fusion between Salem, the canon Big Bad, and Juniper Arc, Coeur Al'Aran's recurring O.C. Stand-in version of Jaune's mother.
Doting Parent: Being a Evil Queen without any sense of proportionality, she spoils her eight kids horrendously. Exhibit A, stealing an entire library for Jaune to have stories to read.
Entertainingly Wrong: Due to Jaune openly calling her "evil" and referring to her as owning "huge tracts of land," his team comes to believe that Salem works in real estate.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Salem's core motivation has changed from destroying humans and faunus for her own reasons to conquering them to ensure her family's safety.
Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Averted. For all she loves Jaune, she doesn't get why he wants to become a huntsman and would rather see him following into her footsteps.
Gorgeous Gorgon: To the point that her current husband's Last Request was for a booty call with her. Oscar also calls Ozpin crazy for dumping her when he first sees her.
Happily Married: Very loudly so, to her entire family's dismay.
I Want Grandkids: She wants them really bad, constantly pestering Jaune to find a nice girl - or many - and happily greeting Qrow into the family when her daughter Coral decides to marry him.
Love Redeems: Having children, and later marrying Nicholas, was what brought her back from her canon characterization to a Doting Parent who has mostly abandoned her goals of conquest and destruction.
Mythology Gag: Her being called Juniper since it was the team her son was on in canon.
Not Me This Time: States bluntly that while she was planning to invade Mountain Glenn, Grimm not under her control, drawn by negative emotions and the events mentioned in RWBY: Grimm Eclipse led to it being destroyed before she got around to it.
Parents as People: To say Salem was a flawed caretaker is...putting it mildly. Jaune doesn't appreciate her overtly affectionate and controlling behavior, but as Yang points out, Salem was trying to be a parent.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: She gives one about human and faunus infighting, even in the face of the Grimm, to Pyrrha during Chapter 73.
Ah, Mountain Glenn. Yes, I remember that. The first expansion out of Vale in goodness knows how long. Reports were brought of it to me. I allowed it to be completed. I waited for it to be filled with people. I even gave it a few years, just to let people build up their hopes and dreams. Do you know what happened when I finally decided to attack it?" [[...]] No, I did not. It's hard to destroy something that has already been destroyed. By the time I felt the time was right, I learned that some idiot had decided to experiment on my Grimm and caused the fall of that foolish settlement on his own. Vale and Atlas sealed the tunnels, condemning the people to death. I did not get the chance to destroy Mountain Glenn, because you irritating humans did it on your own. And before that as well, the Faunus Wars, Menagerie, the civil war in Atlas, the Great War. Even the attack on Beacon that resulted in your being here. None of those were my responsibility, let alone orchestrated by me or mine, though one could argue the latter had Cinder's involvement. But even so, the White Fang were not created by her or I. Their existence falls on you humans. Those were all your little wars, your little conflicts. I haven't actually made an effort to remove you all from Remnant for decades. I never get a chance. Every time I feel like it, your kind goes and implodes before I can so much as look in your direction. I've been raising children for the last quarter of a century and you're still stuck in your kingdoms, hiding behind your walls, whining about how the Grimm are hunting you to near extinction. They're not, by the way. When was the last time the Nevermore in the Emerald Forest flew up to attack Beacon, hm? When was the last time the Beowulves scaled the cliffs or the Goliaths charged the gates of Vale? All the while you've been brewing your own petty dramas. Racism, terrorists, criminal organizations, proxy wars and mining expeditions. If it's not about pride or egotism, it's about dust and lien. The reason I have not bothered to attack the Kingdoms is because I do not need to, even if I was given the chance. All I ever needed was to put you all in close proximity; lock you into small areas where humans would brush up against other humans. And to wait. You'd think by granting you all a common enemy, I would have saved you that drama. Alas, humans will be humans. You kill each other far more effectively than I could ever hope to.
Second Love: Her first and previous relationship with Ozma wound up the worst disaster ever, so that's a miracle that she found in herself the ability to love Nicholas Arc.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: For both her marriages. She fell for Ozma when he rescued her from her tower, and later grows to love Nicholas for being understanding and supportive.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: Her original punishment from the gods. Her ultimate goal is finding a way to break her curse of immortality to grow old with her husband.

Nicholas

Nicholas Arc

Salem's husband. He was captured by her twenty-five years ago, and had a rather... unusual Last Request.

Accidental Hero: By making the ruler of Grimm creatures fall in love with him, Nicholas opened the way for peace to be truly possible. And he was only looking for a fling!
All-Loving Hero: Dude had to be, in order to see beyond the fearsome Queen of Grimm and find a woman who really needed love and understanding.
All Girls Want Bad Boys: Gender inversion — he fell for the resident Evil Overlord.
Did You Just Romance Cthulhu?: More than romance, he married Cthulhu. And it's a smashing success on all accounts.
Good Parents: While he (understandably) had no clue how to raise a group of Half-Human Hybrid children at first, it's clear that all of them love their father dearly — even the not-quite-officially-family member Cinder.
Greater-Scope Paragon: Jaune's dream of peaceful cohabitation between mankind and Grimm was inspired by his father being able to invoke Love Redeems on his mother.
Grow Old with Me: Salem's ultimate goal is ridding herself of her immortality so that she can die with her husband.
Mayfly–December Romance: Nicholas is a human with a mortal lifespan, while Salem is older than (the current version of) mankind.
The Missus and the Ex: A gender-inversion with Nicholas as the Mister and Ozma as the Ex for Salem. He's quite nonchalant about it.
Nice Guy: Now you know where Jaune got it.
Refuge in Audacity: His Last Request when the resident Satanic figure imprisoned him in her dungeon? He asked if he could sleep with her. It surprised her into complying.
Second Love: Salem had been married to Ozma long before Nicholas was born. Of course, that particular relationship ended, to say the least, badly.
Sex God: When Salem decided to grant his last wish, she liked it so much that she kept him much longer than intended. Nowadays, she and him still have a very active marital life.

Jaune

Jaune Salem Arc, Crown Prince

The only son of Salem and Nicholas. He takes after his father and wants nothing more than to be a huntsman.

Big Brother Instinct: He gave into his Grimm bloodlust when his sister Lavender was about to be killed by huntsmen.
Drunk on the Dark Side: The first time his Grimm form is exposed to feelings such as hate and fear, it's such a rush that he devolves into mindless, animal aggression.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: It's white when he's in his Grimm form, but it's very much there.
Half-Human Hybrid: He was carried and birthed by an immortal being soaked in the power of Destruction, while his father is pure human.
Hard Head: Hazel breaking a chair on his head failed to rouse him from sleep and he headbutts Ironwood so hard the skull plate he grew shattered with no harm to himself.
Lineage Comes from the Father: Zigzagged. He wants to become a huntsman like Nicholas and inherited his sweet temperament from him, but his powers and social rank are a maternal legacy.
My Sister Is Off-Limits: He briefly trounces Ren into a spar after learning of his sister Lavender's crush on him, but is otherwise agreeable to the possibility of having Ren as his brother-in-law.
No Social Skills: Being raised by a very mentally and morally challenged "family" away from civilization wasn't conductive for his ability to function as a normal human being.
Strong Family Resemblance: A chance for him that he looks so much the part of Nicholas Arc's offspring, or people would grow curious about his mom.
Superpowered Evil Side: His Hentacle mode, especially when exposed to negative emotions.
Super-Toughness: He is consistently shown to be incredibly hard to hurt. He has tanked swings from Cardin's mace, remained unharmed from a sparring match with Weiss where she exhausted all her dust, and Hazel once hit him with a chair so hard it broke and Jaune didn't even wake up.
Unskilled, but Strong: While he's actually Strong and Skilled as Hentacle, taking that form is a Cover-Blowing Superpower which would likely get him killed by a lynch mob. But as it turns out, he's got enough Aura that he can just act as a Stone Wall against most enemies and win with a Victory by Endurance.
Wide-Eyed Idealist: In spite of the millennia of bad blood and hatred between Grimm and mankind, Jaune genuinely believes that both sides will peacefully coexist one day.

Sapphire

Sapphire Salem Arc

The eldest child of Nicholas and Salem. She is a bit cold and impersonal, but fiercely protective of her siblings.

Always Someone Better: Jaune calls her the strongest of Salem's children, including him. She is the self-appointed protector of all her younger siblings, and they are well aware she can back up that claim.
Big Sister Instinct: She has dedicated her life to defending her siblings... even from their own mistakes. Therefore she is unquestionably the strongest of her siblings, and Jaune is well aware that if she tries to force him to go home there is nothing he can do to stop her.
- Deconstructed to a degree with her motives - even though she has no Fantastic Racism or personal issues with humans or faunus, she's still planning to help her family's goals of conquest. Not out of a desire for power, but because she's convinced (for fairly solid reasons) that both races would love nothing more than to see her and all of her family dead.
Fantastic Racism: Averted. She has no issues whatsoever with humans or faunus. Her "interest" in helping her mother take over the world is purely sourced in a desire to keep her family safe from a world that, as far as she knows, would love to see them all dead.
Half-Human Hybrid: The very first one, proving that Grimm and human could crossbreed.
Ice Queen: She's colder than her siblings because her parents had no idea how to raise her, but were more comfortable and experienced with their other kids.
No Social Skills: Yes, but in a different way from her siblings. She's seemingly spent time in human society, so she comes off as merely cold from a human perspective, rather than borderline insane like the rest of her family.
Not So Stoic: When Qrow comments on her appearance - and later, gropes her as a distraction mid-battle - she's genuinely flustered.

Sable

Sable Salem Arc

The second eldest child of Nicholas and Salem.

The Ghost: Is mentioned a few times but never has any lines of her own

Coral

Coral Salem Arc

The second eldest child of Nicholas and Salem. Known for a rather cruel sense of humor.

Cool and Unusual Punishment: Apparently Salem controls Leo by threatening to let Coral have him. Jaune facepalms at that.
Jaune: Really, Mom? Really?
Lovable Sex Maniac: Her introduction has her getting hot and bothered over a picture of Qrow, she soon finds him and immediately seduces him, and every time she shows up after she is either trying to have sex with him or actually having sex with him.
Making Love in All the Wrong Places: She's rather unconcerned with the prospect of having sex on an active battlefield.
Skewed Priorities: She briefly considers allowing Sapphire to cut off Qrow's arm (as an alternative to killing him), citing "I don't need his arms." Qrow quickly manages to convince her his arms are necessary for cuddling.
Troll: She showed Jaune one of her smutty books just to mess with him, gave Cinder an illegally short skirt for her uniform so that she'd get in trouble, and is implied to be the one who named Cinder's team "CMEN."

Jade and Hazel

Jade Salem Arc and Hazel Salem Arc

Nicholas and Salem's second pair of twin daughters.

The Ghost: Despite being mentioned a few times, they never actually show up with lines of their own.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Salem is in the middle of her Freak Out, Watts mentions that the twins are in the tower and could calm her down... but they really don't want to, so they make Pyrrha do it instead.

Lavender

Lavender Salem Arc

The second-youngest daughter of Salem and Nicholas. She is the weakest of her siblings, but makes up for it with her sword skills.

The Beastmaster: As she's physically weaker than Jaune, her combat style makes use of her Fertile Blood to spawn legions of Grimm fighting in her stead.
Big Brother Worship: While some of it is faked to manipulate Jaune, she truly does care for him deeply. At one point, she realizes she can sabotage his relationship with Cinder... but doesn't, because Jaune asked her a real question and she has to give him an honest answer.
The Fake Cutie: She manipulates Roman by acting like a naïve and spoiled rich girl who just wants help from the nice criminal she met. The second he leaves, her smile disappears, and she discusses with her parasite how best to continue. She does note that Roman would likely help her even if he knew what she was really like, but prefers to be careful.
Generation Xerox: Salem's daughter is a Grimm-human hybrid who decided the best way to seduce a huntsman was to abduct him (albeit in her case, it was mnostly because she missed the dance and then panicked).
Half-Human Hybrid: Just like Jaune, she has a Grimm form which is nicknamed Femtacle.
Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: She's the weakest of her family, but to humans she is still super strong, super tough, has Huntress training from her father and Grimm-summoning abilities, and she singlehandedly cuts through half of Vale's criminal underworld looking for Jaune.
One-Steve Limit: Averted, since there's already a Lisa Lavender in Remnant's setting.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She's quite enamoured with Ren after he saves her from a collapsing building.
Unskilled, but Strong: Notably Averted. She is the weakest of all her siblings, to the point she almost dies in a fight most of the others would easily succeed in. However, she's at least got swordfighting skills thanks to her father teaching her, is by no means weak compared to most human beings, and she's able to at least hold off Raven with the aid of her summoned Grimm.

Amber

Amber Salem Arc

The youngest child of Nicholas and Salem.

A Boy and His X: Kevin is mentioned to be her pet.
One-Steve Limit: Averted, the previous Fall Maiden also was named Amber.

Salem's Lieutenants

Cinder

Cinder Fall

A cruel, manipulative woman who tried to murder the previous Fall Maiden to steal her power and will do anything to get the rest. Also Jaune's babysitter, his adoptive older sister, and the person who Salem bothers the most about making grandbabies.

Daddy's Girl: Nicholas mentions that she often sought refuge with him when she was younger, as he was the only normal human in a house of monsters. While she still refuses to call him "dad," she clearly sees him as one, and doesn't want to disappoint him.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: In most cases she's the same person as in canon - however, even though she's in denial about it, she clearly cares for Jaune, to a lesser degree the rest of the Arc siblings, and will in Jaune's case often put off her plans in order to keep him safe.
It's All About Me: Subverted. Despite constantly insisting this is the case, she often puts Jaune's safety over her own desires.
Like Brother and Sister: There are a few maybe-romantic moments she has towards Jaune, but she constantly refers to him as her little brother and is happiest when he proves that he's learned the lessons she taught him.
Only Sane Man: Caught between Jaune and Salem, she simply doesn't have time for her own plots and schemes.
Tsundere: She rants about how Jaune is just a tool, but then constantly worries about his well-being.
Wife Husbandry: Salem apparently adopted her for this. It failed as her relationship with Jaune is more Like Brother and Sister.

Tyrian

Tyrian Callows

A scorpion Faunus and psychopath. Also one of Jaune's uncles.

Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite all his craziness, he really does love Salem's family. Jaune mentions that Tyrian went into a Corner of Woe after Jaune didn't like one of his presents enough, and he is fiercely protective of Sapphire when Qrow gropes her.
Noodle Incident: He is somehow a licensed minister. Watts tells Salem You Do NOT Want To Know.

Watts

Arthur Watts

A professor, doctor, and anything else Salem requires. Generally the most sane of Salem's minions... except when it comes to gifts.

Grand Romantic Gesture: When Jaune asks him for help with a date with Yang, he gets them an unspeakably expensive dinner reservation, complete with private waitresses, private room, and a private band. Jaune belatedly realized that maybe he should have known better than to ask Watts for help.
Spirited Competitor: He's super competitive when it comes to gifts. He got Jaune a top of the line car (despite there being nowhere to drive it), got him a top of the line scroll months before it came out (despite Jaune being unaware of that being a big deal), and got Jaune and Yang a dinner reservation that would be more suitable for a fiftieth anniversary (despite it being their first real date).
Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: He's a doctor, dentist, licensed minister, hacker, engineer, teacher... anything that Salem needs that doesn't involve directly going out and murdering people, Watts handles. Part of this is on his own initiative, as he got tired of kidnapping experts when Salem needed them.

Hazel

Hazel Rainart

The namesake of one of Salem's twins. Also the combat instructor for the children.

Demoted to Extra: He appears once at the very end.
Snipe Hunt: Tyrian convinced him to find a Grimm unicorn for his nieces, which is why he's gone for most of the story. Ignoring the question of whether or not such a thing exists, he apparently forgot that Salem could just make a unicorn if her daughters really wanted one. In the last chapter, he finally finds one.

Grimm

Mannie

Man-Slayer

Jaune's pet ancient Beowolf. He has to leave him behind when he goes to Beacon.

A Boy and His X:
- Jaune plays with him like an oversized dog, despite Salem's annoyance. Jaune even feeds him scraps under the table.
- Mannie basically adopts Pyrrha when she comes to the tower. She is initially disturbed, but quickly comes to appreciate him.
Amplified Animal Aptitude: He's old enough to be intelligent and understand human speech.
Fluffy the Terrible: He acts like a normal dog, for the most part - he's also a very old and powerful Grimm, and one of the largest known Beowolf's in existence.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Jaune is the one that calls him Mannie as does Pyrrha. His full name is Man-Slayer, and he's far too old to have been given the name by Salem.

Remy

Remmington

Jaune's Grimm parasite that he holds a symbiotic relationship with.

Combat Tentacles: Jaune's infamous tentacles are actually Remy's. They are an extension of Remy's body, which is inside Jaune, and he controls them at Jaune's direction.
Deadpan Snarker: Despite not having any more information than Jaune, he still manages to be a lot snarkier.
The Symbiote: The first "parasite" in the fic, and the one we get the best picture of. Remy describes himself as Jaune's advisor, translates what Grimm are saying, and controls the tentacles. Jaune is capable of talking to Grimm on his own and can even control the tentacles against Remy's will (which is bad when he's in an Unstoppable Rage), but normally Remy handles it.

Yin (spoilers)

Yin Xiao-Long Salem Arc

The Grimm parasite implanted in Yang by Jaune. He is viewed as Yang and Jaune's first child.

Mystical Pregnancy: Jaune didn't intend it this way, but everyone (Yang in particular) points out that Jaune basically impregnated Yang and then ran off with her sister.
Yang: Damn it, Jaune. You could at least have let me experience the pleasant parts of baby making first.
The Symbiote: He is apparently the same type of parasite that Jaune and his sisters have, but he uses his abilities in a slightly different fashion.

Kevin

Amber's pet, a giant Grimm dragon. He was buried under a mountain in Vale for some reason.

All Animals Are Dogs: Ruby specifically compares him to her dog Zwei when he looks guilty for having eaten Weiss, and is able to command him by calling him "bad dragon!" Later, he follows Weiss around like a puppy. Jaune even mentions Amber taking him out for walks in the Grimmlands.
Attack Animal: Jaune first summons him to kill Adam and all the White Fang for hurting Yang. Later, Jaune summons him again (at Weiss' behest) to intimidate all the factions at the Battle of Haven.
Fluffy the Terrible: Apparently Cinder, of all people, named him.
Jaune: She was twelve at the time. And I don't think she thought mom was serious about letting her name a dragon.
Noodle Incident: In canon, it was unclear how long the dragon was under the mountain; it might have been there for centuries, and the mountain grew over it. Here, Kevin was flying around as recently as eight years ago, and it's mentioned no one knows how he ended up under a mountain in Vale.

The Seers

Seer Grimm

Some of the few Grimm that are created intelligent. While not very smart, they are intelligent enough to act as servants around Salem's tower.

Beneath Notice: As a normal part of the background, most people quickly learn to ignore them. This lets the heroes put on hoods and pretend to be seers when they need to infiltrate the tower. The seers do notice, but don't interfere since they are busy following Salem's orders, to the point of being reasonably content as long as the heroes are actually fulfilling the roles they are pretending to occupy.
In the Hood: They wear hoods at all times, making them look just like normal, if quiet, servants.

Beacon Academy

Leadership

Ozpin

Professor Ozpin

The headmaster of Beacon, and the leader of a secret council that is aware of Salem's existence... but not the part where she got married and settled down twenty-five years ago.

Adaptational Villainy: He's much worse in this fic, quickly overriding Oscar and manipulating Ironwood into attacking people who have been "corrupted" by the Grimm. He pulls back at the last second, realizing he was wrong before he can cause any true harm. He even reconciles with Salem.
Entertainingly Wrong: His conclusions regarding Jaune. He thinks detecting Grimm is his Semblance, and believes Raven is his mother.
Freudian Slip: When arguing with Ironwood about the necessity of an army, Ozpin says, "I will continue to put my trust in guardians, as I have for centuries." Then he coughs and says, "as we have."
I Reject Your Reality: He consistently ignores the possibility of the Grimm being anything more than mindless beasts and Salem being anything but a force of hatred and destruction. He almost refuses to believe Jinn when she tells him that Salem truly has turned over a new leaf, but Raven, of all people, convinces him to move on and accept the truth.
Jerkass Has a Point: Ozpin spent millennia watching Salem do nothing but try to destroy humanity. Why would he believe that she suddenly decided to settle down and be a housewife? To his credit, he eventually realizes he was wrong and reconciles with Salem.
The Missus and the Ex: He feels a mite awkward around Nicholas Arc, the current husband to his ex-wife. But Nicholas takes it in stride.
Right for the Wrong Reasons:
- He believes that Salem wants Jaune, and that Jaune has some incredibly powerful and dangerous ability. She does and he does, but those facts are unrelated; Salem just wants her son back.
- He thinks that Yang managed to enforce her will on a mindless Grimm arm. It's not mindless, but it is Yang's son, so he obeys her and is learning from her.

Glynda

Glynda Goodwitch

Ozpin's second in command at Beacon.

Hyper-Competent Sidekick: She's so good at her job that Ozpin briefly considers finding a way to pass his curse onto her. He quickly dismisses it because he has no idea how to do that, and she'd kill him anyway.
You Are in Command Now: She ends up as the new Headmistress of Beacon after the battle and Ozpin's death.

Team WJRP

Weiss

Weiss Schnee

Second-eldest daughter of Jacques and Willow, heir of the Schnee Dust Corporation. She is named leader of Team WJRP for coming up with the strategy against the Deathstalker, and is Jaune's partner.

Cruel to Be Kind: Her insistence that Ruby study hard rather than just copy off Jaune is not out of malice, but because Ruby is two years behind and has to work hard to catch up.
Hypercompetent Sidekick: After Jaune announces the existence of Grimm royalty, she ends up running most of the day-to-day operations, handling ambassadors, writing speeches, coaching Jaune on how to act, and so on. Yang notes that the Grimmlands will fall the day Weiss gets bored and decides to leave.
I Control My Minions Through...:
- At first, she tries to control her team through force of rightful authority; it works fine on Jaune (who has been conditioned to obey strong women), but Ruby and Pyrrha rebel under this treatment. Under Ozpin's suggestion, she starts explaining her orders better in order to build genuine respect in her authority.
- When Emerald starts working for her, Weiss controls her through means Cinder never considered: treat her respectfully and pay her a fair salary.
The Not-Love Interest: Weiss admits Jaune is physically attractive, but other than that they have no Ship Tease whatsoever. Even when they're in a Fake Relationship, none of Jaune's actual love interests are particularly worried that Weiss will steal him away.

Jaune

Jaune Arc

See "The Grimmlands: Royal Family"

Ruby

Ruby Rose

Daughter of Taiyang Xiao-Long and Summer Rose, half-sister of Yang, and a prodigy who came to Beacon two years early. She is Pyrrha's partner.

Covert Pervert: So covert that it even takes her a while to notice. She has strange feelings when picked up by Hentacle, and when she eventually discovers what "tentacle hentai" actually is, she enlists Blake in getting more.
Demoted to Extra: Was the main character in the show, a secondary character at best here. She's not even the leader of her team.
Memetic Mutation: In-Universe. During a press conference as the Ambassador to the Grimmlands, she lost her cool in a passionate speech about the necessity of peace between mankind and the Grimm. The less mature parts of the Internet latch onto her tear-stained face, applying it to less-than-serious matters.
When your mom says it's bedtime and it's only 9:59.
Wide-Eyed Idealist: Downplayed — she's quite aware of the huge toll the war against Grimm is taking on mankind, and that's why she supports Jaune's endeavor for long-lasting peace. This way, there won't be any more casualties.

Pyrrha

Pyrrha Nikos

A famous tournament fighter who dislikes being recognized.

The Ace: Everyone knows that Pyrrha will win the tournament. Every time the matches are announced, someone shouts "Yes, we didn't get Nikos!" Port even introduces Team WJRP as "Pyrrha Nikos and three other people."
Commonality Connection: She is initially interested in Jaune because she thinks that, like her, he's a skilled warrior trying to hide his true power. That's not quite right, but it's close enough.
Demoted to Extra: In the show, she was Jaune's primary love interest. Here, she's just another girl pining for him.
Put on a Bus: When Cinder kidnaps her, she largely disappears from the story except for a few brief scenes here and there.

Team RYBN

Ren

Lie Ren

An orphan and Childhood Friend of Nora. He is named leader of Team RYBN for his part in leading everyone to defeat the Deathstalker, and is Yang's partner. Not a sloth Faunus, despite what the White Fang believes.

Clueless Chick-Magnet: In large part due to Nora fighting any girl who gets close to him, he never notices that so many women are interested in him. Though he does get the message when Lavender kisses him.
Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Salem mistakes him for a girl, that's how goddamn beautiful he is.
Oblivious to Love: Not only is he unaware of all the girls interested in him, but he seems unaware of all the girls interested in Jaune. Love in general seems to go over his head.
Refuge in Audacity: He manages to become a respected leader in the White Fang despite not being a Faunus largely just by never flinching when questioned.
The Stoic: Ren's pretty calm in general, and his Semblance only enhances that. Nora also manages to convince the White Fang that his coolness under pressure is part of his heritage as a sloth Faunus.
Unwanted Harem: Nora, obviously, sort of Blake, definitely Lavender, and even Sienna Khan.

Yang

Yang Xiao-Long

Daughter of Taiyang Xiao-Long and Raven Branwen, and half-sister of Ruby. She is the first person Jaune talks to in Vale, and is Ren's partner.

Bruiser with a Soft Center: She's as surprised as anyone when Jaune's formal courtship attempts sweep her off her feet.
Interspecies Romance: The very human Yang falls for the half-Grimm Jaune.
Mistaken for Romance: Jaune takes her unthinking "it's a date!" seriously twice, eventually resulting in them getting together for real.
Yang: We're official.
Jaune: [confused] Officially together? Weren't we that before?
Yang: We're more official now. You're mine now.
Jaune: I... kinda thought I always was, to be honest.
[beat]
Yang: Then you were right.

Blake

Blake Belladonna

Daughter of Ghira and Kali Belladonna, former member of the terrorist White Fang, and a cat Faunus. Her partner is Nora.

Covert Pervert: She doesn't make that much effort to hide it, but the books she is reading constantly are apparently all filthy smut. Then there's the fact that she has worse books hidden elsewhere...
Odd Couple: Her partnership with Nora drags her out of her shell faster than in canon, as Nora absolutely refuses to allow her to sneak off into dangerous situations by herself.

Nora

Nora Valkyrie

An orphan and Childhood Friend of Ren. Her partner is Blake, and she is not a cow Faunus.

Clingy Jealous Girl: She gets very overprotective whenever any girl gets close to Ren. He never notices.
Refuge in Audacity: She manages to infiltrate the White Fang by claiming to be a cow Faunus, leading the recruits in song, and even outright asking the recruiter what their secret plans are. Everyone just assumes she's enthusiastic. At one point she reveals she actually has contacts in the White Fang and is able to get the team a location when Blake had nothing.

Others at Beacon

Velvet

Velvet Scarlatina

A second-year student and member of Team CFVY. She falls hard for Jaune when he (accidentally) saves her from Cardin.

Achievements in Ignorance: She managed to redeem Mercury without even realizing he was a spy.
Covert Pervert: When Mercury recruits her to keep an eye on Jaune, she jumps at the chance to take pictures of Jaune while he's sweaty and shirtless.
I Thought Everyone Could Do That: There's a brief moment in the dark room where she forgets that Mercury isn't a Faunus, and thus can't see in the dark.
Shrinking Violet: The explanation for why a second-year member of an accomplished team let a first-year bully her. She just can't handle any kind of confrontation.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: The more Mercury supports her and shows her kindness, the more she grows attracted to him.

Mercury

Mercury Black

Son of a famous assassin, and one of Cinder's subordinates.

Contrived Coincidence: He stumbles backwards into some information that Cinder wants, making him suddenly look a lot more competent than he really is.
Interspecies Romance: He winds up falling for Velvet, a rabbit Faunus.
Love Redeems: His relationship with Velvet slowly turns him into a good person, to the point that he helps Team CFVY defend Beacon and officially switches sides after the battle.

Emerald

Emerald Sustrai

An orphaned street rat with an interesting Semblance, and one of Cinder's subordinates.

Butt-Monkey: She spends most of the first half of the story looking like an idiot, having little success finding information that Mercury stumbles onto through blind luck. Her life improves in the second half of the story, after she starts working for Weiss.
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: "Betrayal" might be putting it strongly, but she doesn't lose much sleep over ditching Cinder after Cinder abandoned her at the Battle of Beacon. Ruby later notes that if Cinder was nicer, Emerald might still be working for her.
Odd Friendship: Thanks to their mutual bonding of their hair being dyed against their will, ex-street rat Emerald ends up becoming friends with and working for rich heiress Weiss.

Cardin

Cardin Winchester

A bully who suspects that Jaune is more than what he seems.

Armored Closet Gay: Jaune mistakes Cardin's bullying behavior for romantic interest, and politely turns him down in front of everyone in Beacon's cafeteria. Cardin is incensed, but does nothing further until he discovers that Jaune is Hentacle during the Forever Fall trip. His attempts to expose the Grimm in Beacon's midst consistently fail, painting him as someone who couldn't take 'no' for an answer after being rejected. Tie that in with Cardin's father apparently being an extreme traditionalist who wouldn't approve of a gay son, and this trope becomes his reputation in-universe.
Asshole Victim: Nothing ever goes right for Cardin when Jaune is involved, his attempts at bullying Jaune paired with the latter's social ineptitude end up making him look like he's romantically interested in him, no one believes him when he says Jaune is a Grimm monster, and when he accidentally dyed Emerald's hair white when he was going for Jaune, she pays him back by using her Semblance to make him see Professor Port naked. He's also a racist bully that picked on Faunus so it's all deserved.
Cassandra Truth: No one listens to his ramblings about Jaune being a Grimm abomination.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: Cinder realizes that Cardin's plan to dump white paint on Jaune would have resulted in Jaune looking like Hentacle for several days, in front of the people most likely to make the connection. The only reason it failed was because the trap accidentally got Emerald.
Mistaken for Gay: Thanks to Jaune's social blindness, he ends up mistaking Cardin's bullying for romantic attraction.

The White Fang

Adam

Adam Taurus

An important figure in a violent faction of the White Fang, only a few steps below High Leader Sienna. A bull Faunus, and Blake's ex-boyfriend.

Adaptational Attractiveness: In canon his Grimm mask hides a brand scar from the Schnee Dust Company. In this story his face is completely immaculate, a fact that completely surprises Cinder the first time she sees it.
Everything Is Racist: He thinks that Weiss is a racist who believes all Faunus are terrorists because she assumed he's a terrorist. Except he is a terrorist, and at the time is wearing a White Fang mask during a White Fang terrorist attack.
Exact Words: Ilia gave her word that Yang would be spared... but Adam didn't. Adam tries to kill Yang, and it is only Ilia yanking her aside that saves her, albeit at the cost of her arm.
Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: When Jaune summons a Grimm dragon, Adam tries to convince him to fight him one on one. Except since Jaune is in the middle of an Unstoppable Rage at the moment, he really doesn't care about honor or fairness, and simply orders Kevin to eat Adam.
Psycho Ex: Utterly obsessed with Blake, and goes as far as to try to kill Yang.
Sherlock Scan: During the meeting with "Hentacle," he prides himself on his study of human behavior. Other than the part where he mistakenly thought Hentacle and Cinder were lovers, he was spot on.
Strong and Skilled: He combines overwhelming power with skilled sword techniques, and boasts that this will allow him to kill an Unskilled, but Strong monster like Hentacle. Maybe he was right, maybe he wasn't, but he gets eaten by a dragon before he has a chance to find out.

Ilia

Ilia Amitola

An important lieutenant in Adam's faction of the White Fang. A chameleon Faunus, and Blake's ex-girlfriend.

Heel–Face Turn: She is captured after the Battle of Beacon, and quickly agrees to work with the heroes because there are no other options.
I Gave My Word: After capturing Yang, she promises that she'll let Yang go if Blake surrenders. Blake agrees, but Adam tries to kill Yang anyway. Ilia saves her life by pulling her out of the way at the last second, but Yang still loses her arm.
Pragmatic Villainy: She has a number of reasons for leaving Adam's faction, from love, to duty, to understanding humans weren't as bad as she thought. But the one she tells Sienna is a simple "I don't want to be eaten by a dragon."
Psycho Ex: Like Adam, Ilia is obsessed with Blake, but she doesn't take the psycho nearly as far as Adam.

Sienna

High Leader Sienna Khan

The highest authority in the White Fang after Ghira left. She is a tiger Faunus and runs the "moderate" faction.

Double Entendre: She tells Ren that he might be able to "work under" her one day. He misses the implications, and simply says that sounds like a "pleasant" experience.
Lesser of Two Evils: Ren tells her outright that she is one of the last people he would want in charge of the White Fang... but not the last. That distinction goes to the Albain brothers, who have turned Adam's faction into an insane cult worshiping him.

Others

Roman

Roman Torchwick

A crime boss in Vale. Jaune meets him on his first day in Vale, when he rescues him from Ruby.

Pragmatic Villainy: At their first meeting, Jaune mistakes him for an innocent bystander and Ruby for a shoplifter. After getting out of danger, Roman tells him the truth and does him a favor by getting him into Beacon. He explains to Neo that Jaune would have figured out the truth sooner or later, and would have been pissed. Some bad luck on Roman's part does end up with him at odds with Jaune, but Roman has just enough blackmail to keep Jaune from killing him before Jaune leaves Vale and forgets about him.
Uncle Pennybags: He invokes this with Lavender, figuring being the "cool uncle" and buying her stuff like an apartment is a safe way to make himself indispensible. She actually has far more money than him and could easily make do without him, but she allows the charade to continue because it's convenient.

Neo

Neopolitan

Roman's mute friend. She joins Cinder's team at Beacon as their fourth.

Troll: She repeatedly stirs the pot for no reason than her own amusement, such as when she kicks Jaune down into a White Fang rally. That causes a city-wide battle, Cinder looks like an idiot, Roman can't be blamed, and no one ever finds out she did it.

Qrow

Qrow Branwen

Brother of Raven Branwen, Yang's uncle and Ruby's Honorary Uncle. Ozpin calls him to train Jaune under the belief that Jaune has been targeted by Salem.

Accidental Truth: When Jaune asks him for advice in dating Yang, Qrow suggests treating her "like a princess," under the assumption that his neice would find it patronizing and end the relationship. He has no idea that, when coming from someone as guileless as Jaune, Yang really does find that kind of old-fashioned wooing sweet.
The Jinx: His bad luck Semblance is mentioned a few times. At one point he notices a distinct lack of bad things happening and wonders if it's run out of juice for a while... and then he meets Coral.
Sustained Misunderstanding: He spends a long time under the belief that Jaune is Raven's son, and thus Yang's half-brother.

Raven

Raven Branwen

Sister of Qrow Branwen, Yang's mother, and leader of a bandit clan.

Archnemesis Dad: Yang didn't like her even just hearing stories about her. It got worse when they actually met, and then even worse when Raven tried to kill Yin. The only reason Yang didn't kill her was because she needed a portal.
Jaune: Cinder, you can't kill Raven.
Yang: Now, Jaune, let's hear her out.
Not So Stoic: She tries to pull the "dangerous and mysterious" speech on Yang, only for Yang to not care in the slightest and tell her she needs to strangle her boyfriend for knocking her up. Raven turns into a stammering mess.
Offing the Offspring: When she sees Yin, she is convinced that Yang has been taken by Salem, and tries to cut the parasite out of her. She knows this will likely kill Yang, but considers it a worthy price to pay.

Ironwood

General James Ironwood

General of the Atlas military and Headmaster of Atlas Academy, as well as an old friend and ally of Ozpin.

Accidental Kidnapping: Under Ozpin's urging, he abducts Yang from the Grimmlands. That part was intentional, the accidental part was that he was under the impression that she was being mind-controlled and needed to be rescued. He is not pleased when he finds out he was tricked.
Babies Ever After: He ends up marrying Cinder, of all people, and their son is going to Beacon in the Distant Finale.
Reasonable Authority Figure: He says he'd be happy to meet with the Grimm peacefully; worst-case scenario he is killed and Atlas has fair warning. He ends up working with Jaune to fake a war so that Atlas can get peace without breaking their precious illusion of invincibility.

Winter

Specialist Winter Schnee

Eldest daughter of Jacques and Willow Schnee, sister of Weiss, and a specialist in the Atlas military. She acts as Ironwood's right hand.

Cuteness Proximity: Like her sister, Winter can't contain herself around Zwei. Ironwood finds this very disturbing.
Sustained Misunderstanding: When Jaune and Weiss are in a Fake Relationship to trick her, Winter has a conversation where she's talking about students having sex in their rooms, while Weiss is talking about students changing clothes in their rooms. They are both left very confused.

Jacques

Jacques Schnee

Head of the Schnee Dust Company, known for exploiting Faunus workers.

Giving Up on Logic: After the Battle of Haven, when he sees that Weiss managed to stop the battle with her giant Grimm dragon, he throws aside his scroll, grabs a bottle of wine, and goes off to find his wife.
Whitley: B-but you said mother was just a drunk who ignored reality!
Jacques: Exactly.
I Need a Freaking Drink: See above. Sometimes reality is just too much to handle sober.
Only in It for the Money: Everything he does is for more lien. Even his Fantastic Racism is only perpetuated because it's profitable to have a specific underclass. However, this also means that the heroes are able to get him on their side simply by offering him profitable mining contracts in the Grimmlands.

Whitley

Whitley Schnee

Youngest child of Jacques and Willow, and Weiss' little brother.

Engineered Public Confession: He threatens Emerald with plenty of creepy sexual subtext. Emerald used her Semblance to keep him from noticing that there were plenty of people close enough to overhear. At least one even got a recording.
Male Gaze: It takes about two seconds for Emerald to realize he's attracted to her, which she and Weiss use in their plan to ruin him.
Spoiled Brat: His biggest concern when Weiss uses a Grimm dragon to end the Battle of Haven with minimal loss of life, and then rides it off to the Grimmlands is "Why don't I have a dragon?"

Oscar

Oscar Pine

A random farmboy who ends up with Ozpin inside his head.

Twin Threesome Fantasy: In the Distant Finale, he somehow ended up with both Malachite twins.

Characters / White Sheep (RWBY)

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