Ruby and Nora features a variety of sociopaths from canon characters to original characters and characters that are given Adaptational Villainy.
Those appearing in multiple stories:
- While it's clear that Void has issues and was merely assisting Light, he certainly shows no remorse for the millions of universes that he slaughters for his brother. In the present, he promises Salem godhood if he assists her in getting out of his imprisonment and revokes her powers once he is freed. He's willing to destroy worlds if he can get what he wants.
- Salem is an Omnicidal Maniac bent on causing chaos and suffering and wants the powers of a god. She proves to be a textbook case of the trope. She lacks empathy for anyone and manipulates those beneath her for her plans by using intimidation or promises of a reward. She is very sadistic and says she enjoys fear from her prey while not caring much about the destruction left in her wake. In addition, all of Cinder's sociopathic traits are actually Salem's. Even when she was young, she had traits of this since she killed her sister to be next in line to the throne and later decapitated her father when Void gives her power.
- Cinder Fall manipulates others into doing what she wants and plans to kickstart a massacre in Vale. She even smiles as she orders Emerald to use her Semblance to frame Pyrrha, one time resulting in death. Her relationship with Emerald is merely to keep her wrapped around her finger and she'd discard her at a moment's notice. Shown when she later kills Emerald for not being ruthless enough.
- Mercury Black willingly takes the lives of friend and foe alike. He takes pleasure in shooting civilians during the Fall of Beacon for sport and enjoys torturing people. The reason he murdered his parents in this story isn't that his father was abusive. When asked why he did it, he says "Why not?"
- Neopolitan is a sadistic maniac who takes pride in the carnage she creates. She is also incapable of loving anyone. She admits that she'd love Roman if she were capable, implying that she isn't. Before being picked up by Cinder, she was a Serial Rapist and was in the middle of raping Emerald.
- With Jacques Schnee, there is no question about it. The fact that he belittles his daughter and emotionally abuses her along with mocking his other daughter's death is the tip of the iceberg. He is willing to murder his father-in-law to inherit the company and is willing to threaten an infant Weiss to make sure Winter doesn't talk about it. He even allies with Salem to take over Atlas. His charm is blatantly superficial and he manipulates people for his benefit. It only gets worse once he's in charge of Atlas. He orders the destruction of Menagerie and lobotomizes Faunus to work for him.
- Raven Branwen is cold-hearted and lacks empathy for the victims of her raids and occasionally her own tribe. She is also relentlessly ruthless in how she works. Killing people is second nature to her, and she'll turn her back on anyone if it's convenient for her. She even turned her back on her family because she didn't like having kids, looking on genuinely affectionate father-child relationships with disdain. She also fails to have a comprehension of why Qrow isn't proud that their mother died in childbirth since she says it was his first kill. She displays some rather down-to-earth symptoms when she reveals that she was dating both Tai and Summer at the same time without either of them knowing. All because she was, in her own words, bored and horny.
- Little Miss Malachite is regarded as one of the most ruthless mobsters in Remnant's history. She falls asleep listening to the screams and gunshots during the Fall of Beacon, and she takes the people Raven abducts from her raids and sells them into slavery. She also happily works with Salem despite knowing how destructive she is. When she was young, she wanted to get rid of things like love, empathy, and conscience. It appears that she has succeeded.
One-Shot Characters:
- Ruby's Birthday: Admah Keter is a derranged Serial Killer. He kills for almost no real reason, manipulates others into doing his dirty work when necessary, and possesses no empathy for the people he kills and torments. He's also superficially charming even though that charm doesn't really hide how despicable he is. His grandiose sense of self-worth shows itself as well when Ruby doesn't think he's a threat.
- Weiss and Pyrrha: Nurse Abigail Lemon kills patients in the hospital because she thinks it makes her a goddess. Her arrogance also shows when she says that she’s better than Pyrrha simply for her control over who lives and dies. She's a master liar and manipulator since no one suspected she was responsible for the deaths and she could act heartbroken about it. And she does not have any remorse for killing almost a hundred people just to make her escape.
- Pyrrha's Past: Colonel Lyra Nikos horrifically abused Pyrrha, murdered her husband for defying her, tortured Faunus because she believed they have associations with the White Fang (whether that was true or not), and had no true concern for anyone other than herself.
- Field Trip:
- Father Tieriseas Scorch proudly takes the lives of others whether they are human or Faunus. He orders gay Faunus to kill their lovers to prove their loyalty, even if that lover is a member. He's also an incredibly charismatic leader. His grandiose sense of self-worth is clear when he declares himself a messenger of the gods (and later boasts about boosting himself to Godhod). He later admits that he enjoys the screams of what he claims to be the damned souls as Grimm beasts tear up Vale.
- Adam Taurus relishes in violence and views Blake more as a possession he couldn't have rather than a true loved one. When he finds out she's gay, he's just angry that he can't have her.
- Winter Has Come: The mercenary known as "Skull" who is Mercury in disguise is a clear example. He kills his own men just to get a bigger cut from Cinder. He's also a Consummate Liar since his men expected to make it out alive. In his message to Vale, he outright states that he's not being paid enough to feel empathy for their plight.
- Attacks: Harold White has shades of it. He sets up fake Grimm attacks where innocent people get killed simply because he wanted to be the leader of the village instead of Penwood. Manipulating people and endangering lives for such a petty reason pegs him for such.
- Atlas: The Wendigo is one of Salem's sentient Grimm beasts. Unlike the Aswang who is Ax-Crazy yet fervently loyal, the Wendigo acts on his own accord and is a Serial Killer just because he enjoys the taste of flesh and blood. His superficially charming persona is 100 percent deliberate. This trope is even more notable since the Spider is benevolent. This shows that they don't have to be sociopathic or could at least learn not to be that way.
- The Road to Atlas: Light is a Jerkass God and a definite example of this trope. He manipulated his brother into helping him kill entire universes and their fellow Gods, and the only reason he wants to overthrow Spectrum is so he can be in charge. When his plans are figured out and he and his brother, Void, are banished to Remnant, he and Void go completely off the rails and slaughter the entire human race as his last act of spite towards Spectrum. This is exactly why he needed a Heel–Face Brainwashing.
- Cold: Cardin Winchester shows up in this story looking even worse than in canon. He's a Sociopathic Soldier who works for Jacques and assists in his tyranny. He mocks Jaune's sacrifice to save Ruby and assisted in Menagerie's destruction. In addition, he takes pride in torturing the resistance fighters.
