YMMV / Knight of Salem

• Complete Monster: Jax Asturias is a slaver whose depravity knows no limits. Founding the Crown organization to restore him to the top of the Vacuo monarchy, Jax uses it as a Human Trafficking ring, typically going after young orphans in particular because no one would miss them. After enslaving Jaune just because they happened to cross paths, it's revealed that Jax has been kidnapping people for years, enslaving hundreds of men, women, and children along the way. Within his club, he also forces the women to prostitute themselves to his guests, an act which manages to disgust even Salem herself. Believing himself to be above all others, Jax attempts to enslave Salem as well so as to make her his bride, sending his own helpless slaves to fight her when that doesn't work.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • In Chapter 21, the Belladonnas invited the Salem party to a big feast. Mercury in particular sits between Kali and Ghira, the former treating him like her own son, wiping his face with a napkin and everything. Mercury is awe-striken and blushing, probably because this is the closest thing to a parental(-ish) affection he ever got, what with having an abusive father and all.
  • In general, Tyrian becoming an oddly friendly and cool uncle figure to Jaune's nephew Adrian.
  • Salem's growing affection and respect for Jaune as a person warms the heart of a lot of readers.
• Jerkass Woobie: Lionheart is a backstabber and a traitor, but the unenviable position he finds himself in, plus the horrible stress he lives with day-to-day, makes many readers sympathize with him.
• Magnificent Bastard: Doctor Arthur Watts, shedding his usual petty and sadistic nature, is instead the only reason why Cinder remains a threat. While Cinder focuses on gaining power no matter the cost, Watts focuses on keeping her mission afloat, managing to keep her alive in spite of the damage the Grimm pools do to her, and even serving as a successful spymaster to give her intel from her former allies and from Atlas. When she finally loses any shred of sanity or intelligence and attacks Vale, Watts takes advantage and sneaks back to Jaune, giving him the means to kill Cinder by preying on her predictable and power-hungry nature, and happily returning to his former queen's service once she's dead.
• Strawman Has a Point: Team RWBY are repeatedly chastised for assuming Adults Are Useless and that only they can stop Salem and the other villains, frequently making things tougher for said adults to deal with. Goodwitch even gives them a dressing down for not even thinking to tell them about whatever information they stumble upon and expresses frustration when Blake continues to insist no-one else would do anything. This argument is undermined in the latter half of the story, when Tyrian frequently ambushes them inside Beacon for the sake of training and they do go to the adults for help... who do little to nothing to actually stop him once they learn his reasons, with Qrow of all people apathetically stating they could never catch Tyrian before, so why would now be any different. Even worse, they actually punish RWBY for their (admittedly excessive) resulting paranoia and ludicrous amount of traps without ever suggesting alternatives.

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