#ozpin's inner circle
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RWBY COMBAT ANALYSIS: OZPIN
“The single quality that is common across every living creature on this planet... is fear. It's funny then, that as common as fear is... we so easily underestimate its power. Fear of growing close to someone, a subsequent fear of loss, fear of failure. And as more people depend on you, those fears can take on greater power. But fear itself isn't worthy of concern, it is who we become while in its clutches. Will you be proud of that person? Will you forgive them? Will you understand why they felt the need to do the things they did? Will you even recognize them? Or will the person staring back at you be the very thing you should have feared from the start?”
PHYSICAL
In the wake of Salem’s attempted overthrow of the Brother Gods and the subsequent purging of the first age of humanity, her former lover, the warrior mage Ozma, was reincarnated by the God of Light to act as an instrument against her, charged with reunifying mankind and keeping her at bay. Ozma was reborn countless times over the millennia, and when Salem’s agents instigated the Fall of Beacon Academy, he was operating as Ozpin, the institution’s headmaster. A middle-aged human male, Ozpin had been a member of Beacon’s staff since at least Team STRQ’s freshman year roughly 21 years prior, so he was likely in his mid to late 50s at the time of his physical death. While little is known about this incarnation’s personal background, he was confirmed to have been the youngest individual to attain a Headmaster position, the thousands of years of cumulative training and combat experience from his previous forms making him appear to be a prodigal talent and wise beyond his assumed years. As headmaster and a member of the Vale Council, he operated publicly as an administrative and political official, though in private he dedicated himself to a war of shadows against Salem, building a cadre of sundry yet well-placed allies among the other academies. The sad irony was that he found himself keeping just as many secrets from his friends as he did his enemies, his experiences with betrayal and deception leading him to keep many details closer to the chest than necessary.
Putting together a set of physical statistics for Ozpin is difficult due to a lack of information. Despite being a heavily featured character in the show’s first three seasons, Ozpin was only depicted in combat a single time, that being the brief snippets of his final duel with Cinder Fall, while all his other on-screen combative feats have been while he was possessing the body of Oscar Pine. Regardless, there is just enough information available and that can be inferred that a good measure of his abilities can be gauged. As a conventional man standing 6’6”, Ozpin had no significant anatomical factors or enhancements, distinguished only by his graying hair, brown eyes, and slender build. While his desk job kept him away from direct battlefields, Ozpin remained active in his campaigns against Salem, and as a professional Huntsman and veteran military operative, he would have certainly maintained a strict training regimen to keep himself healthy and vital. Despite being an older man, Ozpin remained valid competition for the much younger Cinder Fall, matching her fairly evenly during their battle. A speed and skill based martial artist, he demonstrated his highly polished dexterity in his core fencing technique, contending with Cinder’s assortment of weapons and deflecting her projectiles with casual ease. His agility was expressed though his dynamic physical component, combining blinding rushes with nimble footwork and incorporating deft acrobatic evasions during his fight with Hazel Rainart at Haven. Though the latter is a flawed demonstration due to the fact that he was operating in Oscar’s body rather than his own, Ozpin’s muscle memory and complete willingness to utilize such maneuvers leads me to believe that he did incorporate them in his previous form. In the realm of strength, Ozpin has little to draw from, as the few physical feats we have for him point to him being a speedster and measured fencer rather than a power duelist or brawler. Regardless, he did employ focused power blows against Hazel, so they were, again, likely part of what he used in his own form. Furthermore, given his previous incarnations as a battlefield warrior, he would have almost certainly attempted to maintain a good balance among his attributes, which would have obviously included strength training. He’s not particularly domineering, but he’s not even remotely weak.
Harder to determine than anything else is Ozpin’s tolerance for pain and injury, as the only hit he’s ever been seen taking was the sustained blast of fire that killed him. On one hand, Ozpin’s age had likely undercut his ability to maintain his performance in the long term, and fatigue would have almost certainly been a significant hurdle for him in any prolonged confrontation. On the other, Ozpin was a highly experienced player in his war with Salem and has clearly been though the meatgrinder of hard combat, so I sincerely doubt that he was some glass cannon who couldn’t take a hit. Even if his years did hamper his stamina, his emphasis on controlled technique minimized physical strain, and he was able to fight evenly with Cinder Fall for an extended bout despite the Fall Maiden’s youth. As several of his incarnations were military operatives and/or suffered extremely violent deaths, Ozpin has certainly endured a considerable amount of pain and suffering yet has continued to fight on. In any event, Ozpin’s millennia of training and combat experience afforded him with extreme patience and discipline, maintaining his calm under fire even in the most horrifying situations. During his battle with Hazel at Haven, Ozpin was subjected to numerous physical blows that knocked him across the hall, and while his possession of Oscar again limits the value of measuring his resiliency, this display does provide a powerful demonstration of his ability to understand and deal with pain in the heat of combat. His mental health was by no means perfect, however, as his traumatic experiences and the mounting pressures of his perpetual conflict with Salem left him an emotionally vulnerable man. When Jinn recounted his history to Team RWBY, the combination of reliving his life’s failures and the team’s angered reaction motivated him to retreat into Oscar’s subconscious, not resurfacing for several months at minimum. Fortunately, Ozpin has only cracked when specific buttons have been pushed, often through specific knowledge of his history, and he otherwise remained a stoic pillar of discipline, keeping himself together and persevering under fire.
During his service as Beacon’s headmaster, Ozpin dressed for the job, his wardrobe reflecting his professional status while also remaining practical for fighting. His day-to-day attire consisted of a simple black suit under which he wore a green dress shirt and vest, with a green scarf wrapped around his neck. He also regularly wore a pair of shaded spectacles, though weather these were prescriptions or merely sunglasses has never been confirmed. No protection, but still functional and stylish.
RANKING: Tier 3, Advanced Human Fitness
On one hand, Ozpin is a very strong athlete whose performance levels are more than sufficient to enable his combat skill and outperform his adversaries. But on the other hand, he was past his prime and was beginning to contend with the limitations of age. Ozpin will not burn out immediately, his feats and accolades proving that he can hold out in hard combat, but he does have a lower ceiling than one would hope for. Fortunately, Ozpin is aware of his limits and has built himself to compensate for them while continuing to leverage his strengths. Outwardly unassuming yet dynamic and powerful, he combines blinding energy with balanced, relaxed grace, employing a measured approach to cover his bases and stay alive while working to wear down his opponents before they can wear him down in turn. Essentially, an over the hill Tier 2.
MARTIAL
The ancient warrior Ozma carried a large, jeweled staff during his lifetime and continued to carry it through his incarnations, though by the time he inhabited the body of an unnamed settler, he had rebuilt it into the Long Memory, a collapsible cane imbued with magical properties. When fully extended, the cane was approximately three feet long, though Oscar Pine’s use of the weapon seems to suggest that the length is adjustable. It’s squared shaft composed of a highly durable black substance, and the silvered handgrip featured a protective hand guard. The handle was capped off on one end by a rounded pommel while the shaft extended from an intricate gear system that was clearly part of its magical components. The most notable property of the Memory was its enchantments, which allowed it to store kinetic energy from hits it either delivered or endured and then release that power at will. I’ll elaborate more on this in the Special Abilities section, but as it stands, the Long Memory in irrefutably the single most powerful hand-held weapon in the setting at this time.
Prior to his original death, Ozma was a famed wandering warrior, renowned for his righteousness, courage, and will. Already a tried and tested combatant when he learned of Salem, his skills allowed him to make quick work of Salem’s father and his armies, and he spent his remaining years as an adventuring hero. After becoming a reincarnating immortal, he continued to train and fight in his various conflicts with his former lover, garnering experience as a frontier settler, military operative, and of course, a Huntsman. His most notable form prior to becoming Ozpin was the last Warrior King of Vale, leading his forces to victory through the Great War and personally directing the final campaign in Vacuo, where he was reported to have laid waste to whole armies. With thousands of years of training and experience under his belt, Ozpin was unquestionably one of the greatest martial combatants, not just of his era, but of Remnant’s history as a whole. Even when operating under non-combative roles, namely his Headmastership of Beacon Academy, Ozpin understood that confrontation with Salem’s agents was an inevitability, not a hypothetical, and as such stayed on top of his training. However, despite being a heavily featured character for RWBY’s first three volumes (and even after the fact due to his merging with Oscar), Ozpin has surprisingly few explicit combat feats to his name, and the full range of his specific proficiencies has not been explored. Fortunately, there is just enough actual substance to back up his reputation, as the few fights he has been seen in speak to his incredibly advanced skill. Ozpin primarily operated as an armed combatant, Ozma’s skill as a swordsman demonstrated when he casually slew a Beowolf mere seconds after awakening in his first incarnation. This apparent specialization was expressed in his primary fighting technique, wielding his cane much like a rapier. His favored attacks were swift thrusts and stabs, employing both single strike takedowns and rapid-fire stabbing assaults, as well as powerful slashes and chops to bludgeon the opponent. Despite lacking an obvious edge, Ozpin’s attacks were always executed with grace and precision, his strikes targeting vulnerable joints to stagger and incapacitate his opponents, demonstrated when he brought the much larger and stronger Hazel Rainart to his knees. For defense, he favored whipping deflection parries to intercept projectiles and shunt blocks to brace against melee attacks, while relying on acrobatic evasions to avoid attacks he couldn’t meet head-on. As far as alternative fighting methods went, Ozpin has demonstrated advanced skill in hand-to-hand martial arts, taking an active role in teaching Ruby Rose such methods during their time in Mistral. Additionally, while Ozpin has never been seen utilizing firearms, I simply refuse to believe that someone with his career was not at least a competent marksman.
After millennia of operating as a frontline combatant, wartime military commander, administrator, and politician, it should come as no surprise that Ozpin was one of the most capable strategic minds of his day, distinguished by his calm demeanor and cautious foresight. With Salem and the Grimm as a constant, seemingly unending threat, Ozpin was extremely wary and preached constant vigilance against potential threats. However, where other preparation-minded leaders such as James Ironwood simply built up their primary power base to deter potential aggressors, Ozpin understood the large-scale impact of his decisions, emphasizing intelligence gathering and covert operations to take his opponents’ measure and nip threats in the bud before they spiraled out of control. In this manner, he effectively kept his conflict with Salem a complete secret for millennia, anticipating her attempts at insurrection and maneuvering his own well-placed followers to counter her. When Team RWBY uncovered information about the White Fang’s operations in Southeast, Ozpin opted to let the students scout out the area and work to dismantle them rather than sending troops to the region and tipping their hand prematurely. This vigilant and observant approach made him virtually impossible to overcome directly, forcing Cinder Fall to conduct a long, clandestine conspiracy in order to facilitate the Fall of Beacon. While Ozpin, like everyone else, was caught completely off-guard by the sudden terror attack, he maintained his composure and quickly delegated his subordinates to mount a defense, demonstrating that he could keep control of himself and maintain his tactical viability even when completely blindsided. Of course, Ozpin was by no means passive, and would decisively intervene when situations boiled over, forcibly taking over Oscar’s body during their battle with Hazel for his own safety after the farmhand insisted on acting on his own. Clearly a student of psychological warfare, Ozpin could quickly pick out specific buttons to push, getting under his adversaries’ skin to undermine their composure or, ideally, conscript them to his cause. When Oscar was captured in Atlas, Ozpin pleaded with Hazel to defect by appealing to his once noble intentions, eventually offering the identity of Jinn as a sign of trust. However, this emphasis on secrecy and underhanded tactics also highlighted his key limitation as a leader, as he frequently kept just as much information from his allies as his enemies. While a good man who genuinely valuing and caring for the well-being of his followers, Ozpin’s history of betrayal left it difficult for him to trust others with the whole truth, to the point where he was hiding critical information from his agents as he used them to achieve his goals. This seemingly callous use of people as tools and manipulation through half-truths contributed directly to Raven Branwen’s abandonment of his inner circle, broke Team RWBY’s trust in his leadership, and contributed heavily to Ironwood’s eventual fall from grace.
As far as his conduct in live combat was concerned, Ozpin applied his cautious yet proactive mindset in a way to undermine and subvert his opponents. He would open defensively so as to gauge the opponent’s skills, though he also had a tendency to draw his weapon to provoke a response. Once he settled into a comfortable rhythm or took the opponent’s measure, he would turn around and begin an intense yet measured assault, blitzing the opponent wherever possible and, whenever not, striking at exposed weak points to disable them. This method was best demonstrated in his battle with Hazel Rainart at the Battle of Haven, during which time he was occupying the body of his newest host, Oscar Pine. While initially content to let Oscar cut his teeth in the battle, this came to an abrupt halt when Rainart became aware of their situation, stabbing electric Dust into his arms and viciously assaulting Oscar. Forced to possess the boy for his own safety, Ozpin casually evaded Hazel’s brutish attacks before outflanking him with acrobatics, striking at his face, neck, and joints before he had a chance to properly respond. Eventually bringing Hazel to his knees, Ozpin was only prevented from finishing him off when Leonardo Lionheart shot him in the back, forcing Qrow Branwen to rush in to protect him. While it could be argued that this victory was brought about through superior speed, especially against Hazel’s bulk, it can just as easily be argued that Hazel’s brute strength was the only thing that enabled him to contend with his older and easily more skilled opponent. As far as Ozpin’s duel with Cinder at Beacon is concerned, Ozpin again held a solid advantage over the Fall Maiden. Clearly able to contend with her varied weapon proficiencies, he forced her to give ground with his refined and focused offensive and countered with swift reposts, swatting her flurry of glass shards aside like bothersome flies before putting her on the receiving end of a machine gun poking spree. Cinder ultimately resorted to unleashing her Maiden powers to attack the headmaster, and while Ozpin’s magic barrier was ultimately unable to save his life, the fact that Cinder had to resort to such extreme measures is a strong indicator that she could not overcome Ozpin in battle. While it is unclear who was in control of Oscar’s body during Team JNR’s ambush of James Ironwood, I do feel that Ozpin would have, at the absolute bare minimum, been able to pressure the General in open battle, and even defeat him as he did with Hazel.
RANKING: Tier 1, Complete Mastery
Already a distinguished warrior before he was cursed and having continued to live and train throughout his numerous incarnations, Ozpin, by his nature, has accumulated more training and combat experience than any normal warrior could possibly obtain. His fighting technique has proven versatile enough to engage a wide array of opponents, while also being refined to an unprecedented mastery. Even when operating in a new body, he still proved himself to expertly leverage his incredible talents. While not infallible as a tactician and strategist, he was nonetheless cunning and intelligent, knowing how to operate among friend and foe alike to achieve his goals and undercut his enemies. Further proving his ranking is that he has engaged several of the most devastating combatants in the current setting, and the best they could hope to do was contend. Ozpin has never been beaten in melee combat, his death at the hands of Cinder owing to her overwhelming magical power, not martial skill.
SPECIAL
Before the modern world of Remnant came to be, the first age of humanity possessed the ability to utilize magic, a blessing of the Brother Gods. Sorcery was commonplace in this time, and while the warrior Ozma’s exact standing in relation to his peers is unconfirmed, he was unquestionably a prodigal talent, seen when he single-handedly overcame the army of Salem’s father before besting the king himself in a wizards’ duel. However, after Salem’s attempted rebellion against the Gods, the brothers wiped their slate clean and destroyed their first humanity, the only survivors of this being Salem herself, cursed with immortality, and Ozma following his resurrection into the new world. With the current humanity incapable of accessing the otherworldly abilities of their precursors, Ozma and Salem were left in a vacuum, standing as two of, if not the, most powerful beings in the setting by default. For the purposes of this analysis, I will be taking all of the demonstrations of Ozma’s incarnations into account, not just the ones he specifically is using. Despite my assertions above that Ozpin’s physical and martial abilities while controlling Oscar are not fully accurate gauges for Ozpin himself, transferring into a new body has never been shown to have any impact on the ability to wield magic. As such, the feats and demonstrations of Oscar, the King of Vale, the Wizard and others can be carried over to all timelines. Magic has consistently appeared as an independent, virtually limitless energy source that its wielders, casually called upon even when the user’s Aura has broken. The powers offered by magic in the RWBY setting are quite varied, ranging from clairvoyance and long-distance communication to control over the elements or weather to various forms of manipulating energy. For his part, Ozpin has demonstrated the ability to unleash concentrated blasts of green energy as a long-range projectile, channeling his power through his scepter and later the Long Memory (more on that later). Alternatively, he could focus this power into powerful energy barriers to shield himself from injury, this ability being one of his favorite tactics. While the shield did fail against Cinder’s firestorm at Beacon, this is no sign of weakness given the godly power of the Fall Maiden. Additionally, he has demonstrated powers of personal levitation, likely developing this ability to enhance his already astounding agility in battle. While this is mere speculation on my part, I believe that the devastating weather conditions that contributed to the meatgrinding Vacuo campaign of the Great War was not simply Vacuo’s unpredictable climate but a consequence of magical influence on the battle, which could in turn be directly linked to Ozpin as the Warrior King was personally involved in that battle.
Aside from his direct combative powers, Ozpin’s most notable use of his magic was ironically the powers he surrendered. Over the course of his life, Ozpin has granted magical abilities to several his followers and allies, either as payment for services rendered or as a gifted tool for his agents to improve their performance. Following their kindness and companionship in the midst of one of his more depressing lives, Ozpin, then an unnamed hermit wizard, sacrificed parts of his own power to four young women to create the four Maidens. While I don’t usually like following A>B>C logic, I do find it reasonable to assume that Ozpin is comparable the powers and magnitude of the Maidens given how powerful he remains despite this relinquishing. Ozpin could also grant power on a smaller scale, as seen when he used what he described as a minimal amount of power to grant the Branwen twins the ability to shape-shift into birds. As remarkable as this ability is, however, it is also the source of Ozpin’s greatest limitation as an ethereal warrior. The amount of power needed to grant magical abilities to others took a significant toll on his own energy reserves, reducing the amount of power he could personally bring to bear. This was most clearly demonstrated in his offensive power. In his first incarnation, Ozpin was able to match and briefly overcome Salem with his energy beams, matching her strength with his own and his defeat likely owing more to Salem’s wrathful aggression and his own concern for the safety of their daughters. However, when Oscar unleashed his power on the Monstra during the Battle of Atlas, Salem was staggered but unhurt despite suffering a direct hit, and he was quickly overpowered in turn. Additionally, Ozpin claimed that his power was already dwindling, and though it has not been established why this is happening, it does indicate that his abilities may continue to atrophy as time continues. Fortunately, this decay has not reached a point where his powers are unapplicable in battle, and he did develop a significant countermeasure in the form of his weapon. Aside from being a bludgeoning tool, the Long Memory was also a magical artifact blessed with the ability to absorb kinetic energy, building up power with every blow. By pressing the handle on the hilt, the wielder could release this power into blasts of golden energy capable of sowing massive destruction. It was this ability that Oscar used to survive his fall from the Atlas vault, and later to unleash a surge powerful enough to obliterate the Monstra (which I’d like to point out was several miles across, weighed hundreds of thousands of tons at minimum, AND was imbedded with giant gravity Dust crystals) with an explosion that could be seen across all of Atlas…
...holy shit.
Already a distinguished spellcasting fighter during the first human age, Ozpin truly grew to the height of his abilities over his numerous lifetimes training and fighting with them, mastering his powers to a degree that few in his own time would have even come close to replicating. When he brings out the magic, it is in a powerful, focused spell meant to achieve only what he sets out to do, be it protecting himself from immediate harm or decisively disabling the immediate threat. He capitalizes fully on his innate abilities while also working within and around his few limitations, the building of the Long Memory easily being the greatest example of Ozpin compensating for his long-term handicaps. This standing is even more pronounced in the modern day due to Ozpin effectively functioning in a vacuum; Any limitations Ozpin may have as a spellcaster are functionally irrelevant in 99.9% of potential conflicts because he’s so overpowered that his weaknesses almost never come up. However, despite possessing tremendous destructive power at his fingertips, Ozpin rarely unleashed his abilities in live combat, both out of the need to conceal the war with Salem from the broader public and out of a conscious restraint in using up what remained of his power. Due to these factors, Ozpin only cut loose with his magic when he absolutely needed to, most obviously when confronted by the few other magic beings in his time, up to and including Salem herself. While extremely skilled with his magic and able to call upon it for tactical advantage, Ozpin’s powers were more often than not treated as a trump card, bringing down the hammer with extreme and unconventional powers that most opponents simply didn’t know how to combat. Against opponents who had a snowflake’s chance in hell of contending with his raw power, Ozpin relied almost exclusively on physical combat rather than expending his energies against an inferior target. On one hand, this restrained approach meant that Ozpin ran the risk of failing to make full and effective use of his powers, allowing battles to drag out for much longer than they would really need to and giving lesser opponents like Hazel plenty of opportunities to kill him before he wised up. On the other hand, Ozpin always has the option of cutting loose, and when he does use his magic, the results are absolutely devastating.
RANKING: Tier 1, Dominating Combat
This placement really should require no explanation. As part of a race with innate magical powers that transcend the magnitude and abilities of any conventional Semblance or application of Dust, Ozpin is undeniably one of the most powerful beings, not just of the current world of Remnant, but of the planet’s history as a whole. He balances out between standard offensive and defensive abilities and radical arcane powers that provide him with a great deal of flexibility in various combat situations, while his sheer destructive power is astonishing. He is by no means flawless; his restraint in using his magic proactively does limit his ability to integrate his powers into his martial sequences, while his performances against Cinder and Salem prove that he can’t overwhelm everybody. But at the end of the day, the number of people who could realistically challenge Ozpin’s power, even at this diminished state, is so pathetically small that it rarely comes up. Simply put, Ozpin used his special abilities like a tactical nuke, and if he is ever forced to draw out his full might, woe betide whoever stand in his way.
OVERALL RANKING: TIER 1, SUPER HUNTSMAN
With his overall combat performance determined by his martial skills and special abilities, Ozpin serves as a quintessential example of a Super Huntsman, undeniably one of the most advanced and powerful characters in the whole RWBY franchise. Even with his full potential being diminished by his advanced age and deteriorating magic, this degradation was not nearly enough to detract from his combative effectiveness at the time of his death. His strong athleticism allows him to continue his exceptional performance even against younger and stronger adversaries, he is an unparalleled martial artist with thousands of years of combat experience and training under his belt, stands as both a masterful grand scale strategist and flexible on the ground operator, and he wields god-like magical power that he can express both offensively and defensively to an unprecedented degree reinforced by one of the most dangerous hand-held weapons ever developed. Appropriate for the one who conceived the idea of the academies in the first place, Ozpin was the single greatest Huntsman warrior of his day, matching and exceeding all of his peers in some way while also setting the mold for what virtually every Huntsman and Huntress at the time strove to be.
Still, one must not mistake mastery for perfection or invincibility. Ozpin’s track record and accolades are testaments to his talents and prowess, but they are also evidence that he has not faced a true equal in years. As dangerous a fighter as he was, Hazel Rainart was ultimately no match for the headmaster even in an undertrained body, while Cinder Fall’s raw talent merely allowed her to contend, and she would have undoubtedly lost without the complete Maiden power. Most of the prominent combatants of the current setting are/were members of Ozpin’s own inner circle, and those who weren’t gave him a wide berth.
Contained both physically and mentally in an ivory tower, Ozpin’s isolation from the meatgrinder of hard combat mirrored his difficulties in maintaining the trust of his subordinates. So many instances of betrayal and failure have conditioned him to keep things far closer to the chest than appropriate, ironically turning Ozpin into a victim of the very power he cautioned Oscar against; fear. This fear of trusting others too much can also be seen in his fear of exposing all of his secrets and power, keeping his most valuable assets in reserve for much longer than he needs to. Fortunately, Ozpin has avoided a common pitfall of immortals in that, while he has grown secretive and accustomed to half-truths, he is neither stagnant nor truly cynical. The influence of Ruby Rose and her friends allowed the wizard to regain a spark of hope and trust, even amid arguably the darkest hour of the whole war with Salem. While we may never know how this would have influenced him prior to his merging with Oscar, it is fair to say that Ozpin, in all his forms, is one who can still learn and grow even after an obscenely long life and the most disastrous of failures. Ozpin himself may not be able to defeat Salem per Jinn’s claims, but his legacy of resistance can and will live on in the Huntsmen and Huntresses he has helped to guide. After all, as a fellow green-themed ancient master once said,
“Pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is. […] We are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters.”
*originally posted on RoosterTeeth Community page on 05-10-22*
* images taken from RWBY Wiki*
RWBY Combat Analysis
#rwby#rwby combat analysis#ozpin#ozma#rwby ozpin#ozpin's inner circle#beacon academy#advanced human fitness#complete mastery#dominating combat
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I keep thinking about the merge and I realize that everybody in the show thinks they all know what the merge is going to be because they've all heard different versions of it and I think the only reason they've heard different versions of is because they've asked about it and passing and ours has told them about one part of how the merge works and they think that's it but there are different forms to how the merge works
Yup! The Inner Circle especially! I actually went into that a good bit in my first merge video! Though my thoughts have changed in a couple ways since then, given it was made during the hiatus between chapters 9 and 10 of Volume 8. I'm hoping to make a 3rd soon going over my new thoughts, findings, and why it's so difficult to theorize about the merge :P
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the amount of information the inner circle is willing to share with the kids during v4-5 and where they, seemingly, draw the line is uh. interesting, to say the least, because it's like...
okay, around the campfire, qrow shares just about everything he knows about the brother gods, salem, the maidens (confirming that yes, magic is real), and the relics. he even tells team rnjr about his semblance. but when he's about to go on a walk and ruby asks him if there's nothing else he wants to tell them, that's when raven-as-a-bird shows up, qrow looks at her, and says "not tonight."
which.. by that point, the audience can tell pretty clearly that qrow can shapeshift, and that it's not his semblance since that's misfortune. so why, after everything else that he has already told rnjr, even the more personal stuff like his semblance, is the bird thing off limits?
and the same follows; they meet lionheart and the talk is all about the maidens and how they're connected to the vaults. they talk to ozpin, and he reveals more about his past and how he was cursed by the gods (which obviously wasn't the full truth, but still, it was talked about). nothing about birds. "not tonight" implies that qrow would be willing to share this information—though it could very well be avoiding it as well—but clearly he's in no rush to do so.
in the end, it's when raven talks to yang and weiss that we learn what this whole turning-into-a-bird business is about, and it's specifically framed as "hey, these people are telling you some things, but they are still hiding stuff from you"—"you said tai told you all about my semblance. well, i doubt he ever told you what oz did to my brother and me."
and when yang brings it up to the whole group later, this is what ozpin says: "hm, that's not a secret i thought she would give up so easily. your mother must trust you a great deal."
so. everything about the gods, salem, maidens, magic, relics... whatever. that information gets shared all the time, not that big of a deal.
but shapeshifting? that's where the line is drawn? that's the kind of information that the inner circle is not willing to share, and actually sharing it is a great sign of trust?
why?
it's stuff like this that makes me believe that there is more to shapeshifting, but in what way is the question.
#rwby#birb magic stuff compels me#but also it's rly funny how the birb thing is like#no one in the inner circle talks about it#and it's that one thing that raven uses as a proof—not just that magic is real#but that the inner circle is still hiding things even when they're sharing A LOT#raven def knew that ozpin or qrow would not give that information willingly and i need to know WHY that is
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Continuation of this post and a remake of this post:
———————————————————————————
(Ruby puts on her new Vacuo clothes and grabs Crescent Rose.)
RUBY: (SINGING) One day more
Another day, another tough mission
While global unity is coming to fruition
This can still turn bad on a dime
But we can stop it all in time
One day more
(At Salem’s base, Mercury sits alone.)
MERCURY: I did not live until today
How can I live when we are parted?
RUBY: One day more
(Emerald and Mercury sing together, but distant.)
EMERALD AND MERCURY: Tomorrow you’ll be worlds away
And yet, with you, my world has started
(Velvet also sings alone.)
VELVET: One more day that I have shown
EMERALD AND MERCURY: Will we ever meet again?
VELVET: One more day with her not seeing
EMERALD AND MERCURY: I just want to be with you
VELVET: What a life I might have known
EMERALD AND MERCURY: And I swear I will be true
VELVET: But she never saw me there
(We cut between Ruby’s Faction gearing up and Raven contemplating.)
MARIA: One more day before the storm
RAVEN: Do I follow where they go?
JOANNA: At the barricades of freedom
RAVEN: Shall I join my brother there?
MAY: When our ranks begin to form
RAVEN: Do I stay or do I dare?
WEISS: Will you take your place with me?
RUBY’S FACTION: The time is now
The day is here
RUBY: One day more…
(At her base, Salem addresses her inner circle.)
SALEM: One more day till mass destruction
We will nip it in the bud
CINDER: We’ll be ready for these children
They will wet themselves with blood
RUBY: One day more…
(Tyrian and Carmine get giddy.)
TYRIAN: Watch them run amuck
CARMINE: Catch them as they fall
TYRIAN AND CARMINE: Never know your luck
When there’s a free-for-all
JAX: Here a little dip
GILLIAN: There a little touch
JAX AND GILLIAN: Most of them are goners
So they won’t miss much
(At the refugee camps, Professor Peach’s section of Ruby’s Faction gear up.)
RUBY’S FACTION: One day to a new beginning
Raise the flag of freedom high
Every man will be a king
And every girl will be a queen
There’s a new world for the winning
There’s a new world to be won
Do you hear the people sing?
(Raven joins the gang.)
RAVEN: My place is here
I fight with you
(The Rose-Xiao Long-Branwen family non-verbally thanks Raven for finally turning around.)
RUBY: One day more…
SALEM: We will join these people’s heroes
We will follow where they go
EMERALD AND MERCURY: I did not live until today
THE CROWN: Watch them run amuck
Catch them as they fall
VELVET: One more day all on my own
CINDER: We will learn their little secrets
We will know the things they know
EMERALD AND MERCURY: How can I live when we are parted?
JAX AND GILLIAN: Here are little dip
There a little touch
RUBY: One day more…
SALEM: One more day till mass destruction
We will nip it in the bud
We’ll be ready for these children
JAX AND GILLIAN: Watch them run amuck
Catch them as they fall
Never know your luck when there’s a free-for-all
EMERALD AND MERCURY: Tomorrow you’ll be worlds away
VELVET: What a life I might have known
EMERALD AND MERCURY: And yet, with you, my world has started
RUBY: Tomorrow we’ll be far away
RUBY AND SALEM: Tomorrow is the judgement day
(Peach and her section head to the city. Salem and her inner circle walk to a balcony, as do Ruby and her faction.)
RUBY AND SALEM’S FACTIONS: Tomorrow, we’ll discover
What our Gods in Heaven have in store
One more dawn
One more day
One
Day
More
———————————————————————————
Part 1 here
Moodboard index here
Starring the voices of:
Lindsay Jones as Ruby Rose
Cristina Vee as Robyn Hill
Aaron Dismuke as Oscar Pine
Kara Eberle as Weiss Schnee
Katie Newville as Emerald Sustrai
Caiti Ward as Velvet Scarlatina
Barbara Dunkelman as Yang Xiao Long
Samantha Ireland as Nora Valkyrie
Neath Oum as Lie Ren
Burnie Burns as Taiyang Xiao Long
Jason Liebrecht as Qrow Branwen
Anna Hullum as Raven Branwen
Howard Wang as Whitley Schnee
Arryn Zech as Blake Belladonna
Miles Luna as Jaune Arc
Tara Platt as Kali Belladonna
Anairis Quiñones as Harriet Bree
Michael Jones as Sun Wukong
Dawn M. Bennett as Elm Ederne
Shannon McCormick as Professor Ozpin
Yuri Lowenthal as Mercury Black
Melissa Sternenberg as Maria Calavera
Marissa Lenti as Joanna Greenleaf
Sena Bryer as May Marigold
Casey Lee Williams as singing voice of Weiss Schnee
Jen Taylor as Salem
Jessica Nigri as Cinder Fall
Robbie Daymond as Tyrian Callows
Carrie Keranen as Carmine Esclados
Matt Mercer as Jax Asturias
Jessica DiCicco as Gillian Asturias
Stephanie Sheh as Umber Gorgoneion
Kira Buckland as Rosa Schwein
Ray Chase as Argento Pocoron
Additional Voices (main members of the Remnant Alliance):
Ashley Burns as Coco Adel
Tiana Camacho as Glynda Goodwitch
Cam Clarke as Bartholomew Oobleck
Michele Everheart as Fiona Thyme
Dave Fennoy as Dr. Pietro Polendina
Gavin Free as Scarlet David
Caitlin Glass as Willow Schnee
Lauren Landa as Carmella Lindt
Mick Lauer as Marrow Amin
Cherami Leigh as Ilia Amitola
Joe MacDonald as Yatsuhashi Daichi
Aaron Marquis as Nolan Porfirio
Elizabeth Maxwell as Winter Schnee
Max Mittelman as Fox Alistair
Josh Ornelas as Sage Ayana
Anthony Sardinha as Peter Port
Kerry Shawcross as Neptune Vasilias
J. Michael Tatum as Klein Sieben
Kent Williams as Ghira Belladonna
Additional Voices (Salem’s Faction):
Major Attaway as Hanlon Fifestone
Emily Fajardo as Trifa
Rebecca Honig as Mina Lavender
Nick Landis as Yuma
Derek Mears as Corsac Albain
Mike Pollack as Marton
Laura Post as Beatriz “Lady Beat” Browning
Lucas Schuneman as Amoncio Glass
Patrick Seitz as Vermillion Raddock
Kyle Taylor as Perry
Jeannie Tirado as Khaki
Maggie Tominey as Deery
Eric Vale as Sil
Yong Yea as Bram Thornmane
Additional Voices (Professor Peach’s section of the Remnant Alliance):
Orion Acaba as Harold Mulberry
César Altagracia as Crimson
Amalee as Ivy Thickety
Yssa Badiola as Ciel Soleil
William Ball as Saber Rodentia
Ryan Bartley as Arslan Altan
Brian Beacock as Roch Szalt
Laila Berzins as Starr Sanzang
Grace Bono as Nebula Violette
Jen Brown as Red Haired Woman & Lisa Lavender
Reba Buhr as Lily’s Younger Sister
Billy B. Burson III as Branwen Bandit 2
Paige Campbell as Dew Gayl
Bruce Carey as Captain
Dani Chambers as Iris Marilla
Clifford Chapin as Shay D. Mann
Luci Christian as Lil’ Miss Malachite
Greg Chun as Green
Alfred Coleman as Merchant
Adam Ellis as Cardin Winchester
Dorothy Fahn as Slate
Melissa Fahn as Lily
Erin Fitzgerald as Rae Noire
Flynt Flossy as Flynt Coal
Jim Foronda as Russet Ka
Sandy Fox as Ariadne Guime
Scott Frerichs as Mata
Grant George as Ivori
Christopher Guerrero as Dudley & Blacksmith
Claire Hogan as Octavia Ember
Victoria Holden as Mata’s Mother
Xanthe Huynh as Clarete Berbere
Chad James as Asher Mora
Chris Kokkinos as Fenix Nemean, Spider Bodyguard 2, Branwen Bandit 1, & Crew Member 2
Anjali Kunapaneni as Cye Ayu
Skye Lafontaine as Olive Harper
Aleks Le as Nadir Shiko
Judy Alice Lee as Ruda Tilleroot
Mela Lee as Caroline Cordovin
Marissa Lenti as Oscar’s Aunt
Joel Mann as Drunk Mann
Bryan Massey as Bertilak Celadon
Dustin Matthews as Drinking Buddy
Kyle McCarley as Sky Lark
Mike McFarland as Mayor
Ryan Mitchum as August Caspian
Lani Minella as Rowena Sunnybrook
Cassandra Lee Morris as Kandi Floss
Kim Newman as Higanbana Waitress
Brooke Olson as Mantle Child
Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Thumbelina Peach
Bryce Papenbrook as Russel Thrush
Jack Pattillo as Hei “Junior” Xiong
Paul St. Peter as Edward Caspian
Kyle Phillips as Nubuck Guards
Anairis Quiñones as Councilwoman Camilla
Eden Riegel as Elektra Fury
Sam Riegel as Finn Asturias
Jon Risinger as Bolin Hori
Cindy Robinson as Ann Greene
Patrick Rodriguez as Shopkeep & Cyril Ian
Kristi Rothrock as Zure Ayu
Andrew Russell as Kobalt
Ian Russell as Mossius Berbere
Alejandro Saab as Dove Bronzewing & Henry Marigold
Kerry Shawcross as Pyke Rite
Lindsay Sheppard as Saphron Cotta-Arc
Keith Silverstein as Professor Theodore
Jamie Smith as Terra Cotta-Arc
Gus Sorola as Fiona’s Uncle
Laura Stahl as Roane Ashwood
Christine Stuckart as Grandmother
Jenn K. Tidwell as Mother & Spider Bodyguard 1
Alexis Tipton as Bianca Prisma
Maggie Tominey as Miltia & Melanie Malachite
Meg Turney as Neon Katt
Natalie Van Sistine as Cerise Claire
Erin Winn as Reese Chloris
Kimberly Woods as Olive Gashley
Yunhao Xhong as Crew Member 1
Anne Yatco as Xanthe Rumpole
Laura Yates as Arrastra Skye
Mylissa Zelechowski as Gwen Darcy
Molly Zhang as Mikado Lem
Derreck Ziegler as Matte Skye
#rwby#greenlight volume 10#anti rwde#team rwby#bumbleby#team jnpr#renora#professor ozpin#team strq#zwei#ace ops#happy huntresses#winter schnee#team sssnn#emerald sustrai#team cfvy#whitley schnee#willow schnee#klein sieben#maria calavera#pietro polendina#ghira belladonna#kali belladonna#ilia amitola#bartholomew oobleck#peter port#glynda goodwitch#salem’s inner circle#the remnant alliance
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Listen, the sheer amount of "I'm so sorry for my husband rn (but I still stand by him)" radiating off of Qrow and Glynda in this tiny interaction.
Like, I get that the homoerotic tension between Qrow and Ironwood or even Qrow and Winter kind of takes center stage, but lord. The vibes are strong.
#* legends and stories; some of them true; some made up = meta *#* something pretty magical about it = otp ** right hand witch and left hand familiar *#* the real fight = inner circle *#there is so much to unpack i love this scene#it gives me chills#the attention and respect glynda gives him even though he's being immature and dramatic#the way they stand in solidarity between ironwood and ozpin#their vibes are more subtle but more genuine#hiding behind the false bravado he's throwing at everyone else#also the way qrow takes lead in the elevator like a belligerent guard dog over HIS BELOVEDS#retainer/retainer dynamic will never not hit right
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Glynda is the vice headmistress - now headmistress - of Beacon Academy. She is Ozpins left and right hand woman and someone who has been with him through everything during his time as headmaster.
We've seen posts going on and on about Qrow and the other members of the inner circle, especially the ones that have characters to do with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz but they never mention her or how she copes with everything. I think I might try and fix that.
(T.W: this is going to contain a theory of mine on how her semblance works),
Glynda's semblance, as we know, is telekinesis. She moves objects on either smaller or larger scales and has the ability to fix and repair things with her mind. We've seen her control and fix things on large scales before (the breach and the food fight) and as we know by now a semblance is a special power made by the soul/ Aura to fit one's personality, mental, or emotional state.
Depending on your mental and emotional health your semblance can evolve it doesn't matter if your feelings are negative or not your semblance will automatically evolve and to stay compatible with your personality and traits, you can still train it to get stronger though. Ren and Ruby are perfect examples for this.
Glynda is a vice headmistress, a member of the inner circle, Ozpins closest confident, a renowned huntress, and a combat teacher and disciplinarian at Beacon Academy. The most successful and prestigious of all four Academies. Safe to say she's got a lot of power at Beacon. We see that she cares about the students following the rules and staying on track while trying to enforce said rules. She has control on just about everything at Beacon. We also see that she's trying to keep everything together, keep her students safe, keep Ironwood trusting Ozpin, keep the school in shape. She needs to keep things together or else they'll break and fall apart.
After the fall of Beacon we see her trying to put a shop back together using her semblance...but it doesn't work. She's out of breath and confused. Yes you could play it off as she's probably tired from doing other things like putting Beacon back together. But that is not the case. We see that she's started putting the school back together later on after helping repair the city in the books, and the rest of the city still looks very much destroyed.
I have a theory on how a part of her semblance might work.
She needs to KNOW. That's it. She just needs to know. We all know her fairy tale inspiration is Glynda the Good witch of the east and that she is someone very important and someone with knowledge on just about everything. Glynda doesn't know anymore. She doesn't know what happened to her students, she doesn't know what happened to Lionheart or Ironwood, she doesn't know about Oscar or Emerald's redemption, and she doesn't know about Raven, Winter, Penny, Fria, or the maidens. The Good Witch lost her knowledge.
We also don't know how young (or old) she was when she unlocked her semblance. If it was when she was young as in a child or pre teen then I was right and she did not have a fun childhood like the rest of the cast, if it was when she was a student - a new huntress, then the stress was probably getting to her, if it was recent - as in slightly before canon - then the stress finally got to her but she didn't show it (most unlikely in terms of timeline and experience with her semblance (most likely in terms of stress) or it could be all of them but she just didn't show it because of being stubborn and a workaholic
#RWBY#CRWBY#Ozpins inner circle#Ozpin#Qrow#Ironwood#Lionhart#headmaster theodore#headmaster ozpin#general ironwood#professor goodwitch#glynda#glynda goodwitch#glynda the goodwitch#glynda the goodwitch if the east#dorothy#oz#todo#scarecrow#tin man#the wonderful wizard of oz#lie ren#ruby rose#theory#angst#rwby theory#fanfic#workaholic#she needs sleep#and a hug
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for the character headcanons: I'm gonna be predictable and ask for Ozpin lol
jokes on you this is what i was HOPING for >:)
Ozpin had a caretaker named Olivia Flora. She was kind, albeit strict, and did her best to keep him a child for as long as she could. Ozpin entered her care at 12, became a Huntsman at 15 (he was an exceptional student after all n with a lil help from the council it was official), and at 18 he was fully made Headmaster of Beacon Academy
she tried her best to make sure he was happy. his cookie recipe comes from her. his love for mystery novels comes from her. but when he was to become Headmaster, she was assigned to properly train and prepare him for his fate as the next Ozma
though, she was the reason he formed his inner circle to begin with. she always told him to find friends, and keep them close. as close as you can, so you will never be truly alone.
he trusted James, he trusted Glynda, and Qrow, and Theodore and Leonardo, too. he trusted his allies.
he did what she said...and it still turned out so bad...she tried so hard for him, and the world really was against him at every turn
.
A NICER ONE SO I DONT JUST FUEL U WITH DEPRESSION!!
it's not just cookies! Ozpin loves to bake, so he can make plenty of things. brownies, muffins, cupcakes, all that lil snack stuff
he is also a notorious stress baker so if the teachers lounge suddenly has a whole fuckin pie in there? its usually him. ...actually its always him. it'd never not be him.
#masky gets the mail#rwby#professor ozpin#THIS MAN IS TRAGIC AS SHIT YALL#i have so many ozpin thoughts its ridiculous#anyways he has specific things he likes to make for the inner circle :)#glynda gets red velvet mini cakes she loves that shit#qrow aint picky he'll eat whatever but ozpin always makes him frosted brownies#and james is simple he likes those lil marble swirl cupcakes? oz makes his just a lil less sweet#theodore got peanut butter squares a lot he loved peanut butter it was his favorite#and leonardo was a blueberry muffin kinda guy liked havin it with tea#HE CARED A LOT OKAY I REFUSE TO THINK HE DIDNT >:(
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"Evil" Pyrrha
Pyrrha: *walking through the halls* I am Salem's champion. I am the strongest of her inner circle. I am her most devout follower. My Goddess has tasked me with destroying this school. I will not fail. Nothing will stand in my way.
Jaune: *smiles and waves at her*
Pyrrha:
Pyrrha: *blushing* Fuck.
***
Cinder: Nikos, you were supposed to scout out the CCT tower. Why haven't you given me the intel?
Pyrrha: I uh... I got sidetracked.
Last night...
Pyrrha: *gorging herself on a pie Jaune made* Oh my god, it's so GOOD!
***
Jaune: What time is it?
Pyrrha: 4:30.
Jaune: Aw hell, I got to get to leadership class. *hugs pyrrha and kisses her forehead* I'll see you later Pyr! *runs off*
Pyrrha: *red*
Pyrrha: *knees nearly give out* Oh my goddess, what was that? I-I need to get back to the dorm.
***
Pyrrha: *reading a book on her bed* The Vytal Festival is almost here. It's a real shame, I was really having a fun time here.
Jaune: Hey Pyr, I was thinking...
Pyrrha: You where thinking?
Jaune: After the tournament is over, maybe we could go on a date. Just me and you?
Pyrrha: ...
***
Ozpin: And why, pray tell, are you telling us this sensitive information about Salem's plans?
Pyrrha: I had a change of heart.
Glynda: It's because of Mr. Arc.
Pyrrha: It's because of Jaune.
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option 1: tai’s guarding the crown of choice.
pros:
a legitimately important task that recontextualizes his ongoing decision to remain on patch as a personal sacrifice he makes for the greater good.
ozpin would pick the guy named for the god of light to be the gatekeeper of choice, huh.
if any parent in this story is meant to die, it’s him, and narratively this is the most intuitive way to do it.
cons:
realistically, what can tai do to prevent salem / cinder / summer from accessing the vault if they find it? if he’s the gatekeeper, staying on patch alone after everyone else evacuates achieves nothing except, ah, signaling to the enemy that the real vault is under signal academy. bad plan.
it means oz is breaking his promise to be honest and forthcoming, undermining his character growth for the sake of ‘surprising’ the audience with the most obvious answer.
means qrow has either been kept in the dark (see prev point) or he’s also deliberately hiding this information from his nieces after they asked him outright if he knew where tai is; this is so far afield for his character as to border on character assassination, and likewise undermines his positive growth since v7.
honestly makes both yang and ruby seem kind of stupid. they know the crown is hidden somewhere near beacon, that ozpin did something to protect it differently from the others, and that their father hasn’t left patch. ruby was sharp enough to guess that long memory might be a relic hidden in plain sight; yang is just as smart, and she knows tai had “some things” to look after on patch. are we expected to believe that “hey, is dad guarding the relic?” somehow hasn’t occurred to either of them?
tai harbors a whole lot of resentment toward ozpin, and based on qrow kicking him out of ruby’s bedroom to drip-feed her hints on where to go next, he seems to have been on the outer perimeter of the inner circle. why would oz entrust him with the relic’s safety?
glynda—ozpin’s scrupulously loyal second-in-command whose emblem is a crown and whose semblance puts her on par with a maiden—is a far more narratively plausible vault-guardian than tai, and the “sun dragon” makes a damn good red herring.
if he’s guarding the vault, he dies. sorry. but the point of putting the father of 2/4 protagonists in between the two main villains and the thing they want most (choice) is so they can kill him to get it, increasing tension and raising the emotional stakes of negotiating peace. to be clear, rwby is willing to Go There, but i think it’s an unsatisfactory way to close out the rose xiao long family arc.
option 2: survivors trapped under mountain glenn, and tai is taking point.
pros:
a genuinely important, worthwhile thing for him to be doing—even more so than guarding the crown. likely sets up a resolution for him in the vein of “you can be a good huntsman or a good father, and tai picked being a huntsman,” which is an elegant way to balance his contradictions.
gives him meaningful stuff to do in v10; for example, one stealthy huntsman with a bullhead could slip in and out of mountain glenn to get a few dozen people out at a time, and/or run supplies and messages between the kingdoms.
we get to see zwei back in action around mountain glenn :)
introduces a natural segue from playing defense in vacuo to mounting a counteroffensive against beacon as tai’s work clarifies the situation in vale.
easily the most 'heroic' direction for him without contorting the story to arbitrarily lionize tai: he’s a scout preparing the stage for the heroes to take the fight to salem, making him the good counterpart to watts.
cons:
makes no sense to keep it a secret. the emotional beats of B4 can still happen if the girls know this is what tai’s doing: instead of “do you… wonder why he’s not here? i know qrow said he’s on assignment, but what’s more important than here?” yang says “do you… wish he were here? with us? i know qrow said he’s looking for survivors, but how many of them can there really be by now? we need all the help we can get,” and ruby says “maybe we don’t have the full picture” as in maybe dad knows something we don’t and that’s why he hasn’t given up yet. the emotion is the same, and the big "they’re hiding in mountain glenn" reveal is hinted without spoiling.
leaves hanging the narrative thread of what tai has been doing since the fall of beacon, because the “some things” he was dealing with in v4 obviously wasn’t this.
option 3: tai is dead.
pros:
explains the apparent secrecy; qrow knows tai was away “on assignment” (i.e., had taken a huntsman contract that brought him out of the kingdom) at the time salem attacked vale, so he is missing but not yet presumed dead.
might reopen the mystery box of summer’s last mission through the real-deal “left on a mission and never came back” echo.
cons:
raven would know.
it’s a cheap, narratively unsatisfying twist that fails to deliver on the bread crumbs set up in v2-3 (tai starts going on missions again) and v4 (“some things”), and also undermines any serious emotional resolution with regard to yang and ruby’s complex relationships with tai.
option 4: summer’s working with salem, and tai is trying to convince her to come back.
pros:
“some things” being his presumed-dead wife who left him to join the enemy and with whom tai is now having an affair or otherwise hoping to coax back to the heroic side through the power of love whilst also keeping his mouth shut about her being a) still alive and b) a traitor is OBJECTIVELY the funniest answer.
brings forward and interrogates the way tai’s romantic grief informs the choices he makes as a parent: from hiding raven and then refusing to talk about her with yang, to shutting down when he lost summer and letting his five-year-old pick up the pieces, to discovering and then keeping summer’s secrets for the sake of some faint hope that she might finally come back to him.
cogent with the Dead (Absent) Mother / Neglectful Father / Evil Stepmother fairytale paradigm rwby deconstructs with raven, tai, and summer; the father chooses the stepmother over his children.
raises the emotional stakes of the war for summer through direct confrontation with the life she left behind, creating narrative opportunities to develop her character (is she still in love with tai? how does she feel about being his first priority, over their children? does she resent that he has her on this pedestal even now?) and apply pressure to her relationships with salem and cinder (do they know? is summer keeping her communication with him a secret, too? or is he an “asset” she’s using for salem’s benefit?).
consequently, raises the momentum of the narrative toward negotiation with salem; tai still has the coalition’s trust, however strained his personal relationships may be. summer is the obvious ambassador for salem’s side of the war, but she’s also the traitor who needs someone to vouch for her good intentions.
the secrecy needs no explanation: just as summer’s last mission was a summer secret, tai’s "assignment" is a taiyang secret and the girls know everything that oz and qrow do, because all of them have been left in the dark. raven might know, and she has the means to find if she doesn’t, but tai’s whereabouts are entangled with what raven knows about summer, so she can’t explain where tai is or why until she reveals her deep dark secrets about what happened between her and summer that night.
foreshadowing is solid: tai starts to go on "missions" again in v2, after the inner circle becomes aware that salem has infiltrated beacon and just before the breach downtown. when ruby visits summer’s grave in v3, she says "[dad] told me he’s going to be on some mission soon! i think he misses adventuring with you." he’s got to "look after some things" (but he isn’t talking about yang, because he stays home after she leaves). and then with B4 we have ruby echoing what the blacksmith taught her about summer in relation to tai, "maybe we don’t have the full picture?"
juicy
cons:
???
dependent on the unconfirmed theory that summer is working for salem as herself, not some unrecognizable enslaved monster, but i am as confident in that as i was about salem going to vale next and we all know how that turned out :)
taking their mom was not enough salem had to go for the full set APPARENTLY
option 5: secret fifth thing
pros:
???
cons:
???
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Smth that really intrigues me abt Ozpin is how the HELL he became a professor or Headmaster at such a young age
Like. Canonically he's younger than Theodore, who's in his mid-late 40s (I'd wager early-mid 40s based on looks but still). So at the oldest, Ozpin is in his early 40s, maybe mid-late 30s at the youngest.
So like. He's around the same age as STRQ?? Meaning he likely got his Huntsman license, at the youngest, at 17 years old and likely became a professor and then HEADMASTER not long after that.
It's repeatedly said that Ozpin was a child prodigy (something he actually shares with Pyrrha, an interesting parallel). And honestly I just... who got him into that position?? I HIGHLY doubt that the previous Oz had something set in place for the next Oz to get into such a powerful position, bc pressuring such a young teenager is not something that's in their character (unless the KoV specifically was like that, but we don't know anything abt him).
I doubt Ozpin, as a KID who wasn't even finished with the merge yet, wanted to be Headmaster (he stated repeatedly he was in Oscars place; scared, confused, and not wanting the responsibility that comes with the merge).
Maybe there were descendants of the King of Vales own inner circle that got Ozpin into that position? If so, that's pretty fucked up ngl.
Honestly, the more you think about Ozpin, the sadder he gets. I am DESPERATE for a side show or even a freaking book about him and STRQ. He has so so many parallels with Ruby and Pyrrha. He's such a compelling character I swear
#felix (host)#rwby#ozpin#team strq#rwby theodore#ruby rose#pyrrha nikos#kinda#hes such a good character honestly#rwby rambles
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I still remember from time to time that it's confirmed that Ozpin always chose, every year, a specific team to focus on and see if they're worth recruiting for his inner circle: STRQ was one, CFVY too, and obviously RWBY too, and many more teams, probably. Most of them weren't recruited, some were: for example, I bet Glynda was in one of those star teams back in her student days. Sometimes I wonder if Ozpin ended up not recruiting CFVY because he had RWBY now to focus on or because he simply didn't have the time because like. Beacon fell and he died.
Either way, CFVY still seems to somewhat occupy that “impressive team that breaks rules and lead the others and the Headmaster usually pays a bit more of attention to” spot at Shade Academy, so I really wouldn't be surprised if they do end up getting recruited now that Salem's secret is out.
#rwby#team rwby#team strq#ozpin#team cfvy#coco adel#velvet scarlatina#yatsuhashi daichi#fox alistair
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RWBY COMBAT ANALYSIS: JAMES IRONWOOD
"You can label me whatever you'd like, but the fact of the matter is I was right! The minute I softened, let my guard down, that's when Salem had her opening. All excellent philosophical points that won't matter if Salem wins. […] I am done letting others' inability to see the big picture get in the way of doing what's right. Robyn, the council, this Kingdom... even you.”
PHYSICAL
A human male, General James Ironwood’s exact age during the events of the series is unstated, though as a peer of the likes of Qrow Branwen, Jacques Schnee and Arthur Watts, I’d estimate him to be in his late 40s to early 50s. By the time of his death, two years after the Fall of Beacon, Ironwood had spent the bulk of his career as part of the Atlas Armed Forces, raising in the ranks to eventually become commander in chief of the Atlas army and later headmaster of Atlas Huntsman Academy. These joint positions earned him an unprecedented two seats on the Atlas Council, a factor that flavored the rest of his controversial life. However, while he represented the standard to which Atlesian Huntsmen and soldiers were compared, Ironwood was far from a conventional specimen. His most defining trait was his extensive cybernetic implants, his chosen treatment option for the multitude of combat injuries he sustained over the course of his life. By the end of the Atlas crisis, Ironwood had replaced both of his arms, his right leg, and the entire right half of his torso with robotic prosthetics, while an additional implant was installed into his forehead to link up the cybernetics with his higher brain function. While the full extent of Ironwood’s torso cybernetics in relation to his biological body has never been explored, I believe a good frame of reference would be those of the Star Wars antagonist Darth Vader, who was outfitted with various replacement organs to supplement his respirator and artificial bones and ligaments to reinforce his skeleton. However, where Vader’s reconstruction was restricted by the severity of his injuries and the need to preserve as much of his living flesh as possible, most of Ironwood’s cybernetics were merely a treatment option rather than lifesaving necessities, and he was all too willing to sacrifice his physical form in the name of continuing the fight. As a result, Ironwood’s prosthetics were both far more intrusive than was standard and designed to be combatively reliable, James’ ultimate goal being to become something more than human in order to combat the horrors of Salem.
While Ironwood’s willingness to discard his body for metal boded poorly for his restraint and principles, their practical benefits more than made up for it, making him one of the most physically powerful combatants of his day. Standing at a towering 6’6”, Ironwood’s cybernetic proportions closely approximated the muscular athletic build he no doubt sported as a young man, further distinguished by his graying black hair and beard, blue eyes, and pale skin tone. The most visible advantage of Ironwood’s metallic body was his incredible physical might, taking his already heavy-handed approach to combat and augmenting it with the benefits of robotics. He has casually manhandled high-caliber Grimm with his bare hands, lifted and thrown adult humans with an outstretched arm, crushed stone in his grip, and even smashed his own tactical console to pieces with a pair of slammed fists in a fit of anger. Given that his Aura was depleted when he lifted Arthur Watts over the Amity Arena lava pit, I feel comfortable saying that Ironwood’s baseline strength level was superhuman, his prosthetics specifically designed to surpass what his “weaker” flesh and blood could achieve. Compared to his peers, though few of Ironwood’s adversaries were particularly domineering, I think it is only reasonable to assume that only similar heavyweights could realistically challenge his strength. The only instance of Ironwood lacking confidence in his muscles and servos was against Penny Polendina, a designed and built combat drone far beyond mortal athleticism, motivating him to draw Due Process’s energy cannon instead. Despite this heavy emphasis on strength, the general’s other attributes were also polished. Though he favored grounded footwork and postures, rarely employing acrobatics, Ironwood was still quick on his feet, covering ground with power jumps, combat rolls, and running charges. While they appeared to be nimbler, neither Watts nor Lie Ren appeared to have any meaningful speed advantage over Ironwood, who kept up with them in close quarters and even overpowered them. While Winter Schnee was conclusively faster than him, this is no sign of weakness given her status as one of the most accomplished acrobats in the setting, and even then, his stalwart foundation and footwork allowed him to keep up with her. Furthermore, Ironwood’s reflexes were still polished enough to avoid point-blank gunfire, and he was skilled in the use of combat propellants to enable more dynamic maneuvers, freely using the gravity Dust in Due Process’s black half to launch himself across the battlefield. While the metal fingers of his cybernetic arms likely hampered his fine dexterity, Ironwood was still able to execute controlled technique-based attacks in battle, expertly wielding his guns as bludgeons on multiple occasions and easily keeping up with Lie Ren in a fist fight.
As has already been stated, Ironwood was a lifelong veteran soldier and Huntsman with a history of severe injury, the extensiveness of his cybernetics pointing to the amount of punishment he has had to endure. Between his prosthetics functioning as natural armor and his own incredible will to fight, Ironwood possessed an astronomical tolerance for pain and injury. During the Fall of Beacon, Ironwood endured a shuttle crash when his hacked AK-200 drones turned on him, and despite his clothing getting ripped apart, indicating an at least damaged Aura, he powered through and went on to demolish scores of drones in the battle. During his confrontation with Watts, Ironwood was regularly battered against the anti-gravity biome’s walls, was struck by several of Watts’ standard and Dust bullets, and finally broke his Aura when he tackled Watts off a platform and struck the arena floor. When Watts trapped his arm in a hard light barrier, Ironwood endured the agony of burning off his own skin to escape, sacrificing his arm before beating the scientist into the dirt. Even his defeats have only come from overwhelming force. At Atlas Academy, Ironwood was only brought down by the combined might of Team JNOR, Emerald Sustrai and Winter Schnee, subjecting him to a kick to the face, a flurry of thrown ice shards, multiple hits from the Long Memory, a direct hit from a charged Magnhild, getting run down by a charging Summoned Manticore, and finally a slash across the abdomen before he went down. Winter only defeated Ironwood when she assumed the power of the Winter Maiden and deflected a shot from Due Process’s energy cannon back in his face, bringing him to his knees. However, while Ironwood’s cybernetics allowed him to maintain his output in the long term, his overall stamina was surprisingly lackluster. By the time the Watts fight reached its final bout after only a few minutes, Ironwood was visibly fatigued, displaying labored breathing and less crisp transitions in his style. While the force he was up against at the academy was far greater than anyone could ever deal with, Ironwood still burned out fast, and it is worth noting that the general is one of the few characters who has actually lost consciousness when his Aura broke. Furthermore, despite his military discipline, Ironwood’s unwillingness to back down has led him to bite off more than he can chew and ignore dangers, needlessly subjecting himself to injury to force his way to victory. Accordingly, his ultimate fall was a long-term grind, his composure whittled away by his growing paranoia and his body beaten to the point where he couldn’t even regain his feet, dying under the crushing weight of Atlas itself.
While Ironwood almost certainly wore combat armor during his early years as an Atlas soldier, even continuing to own a pair of pauldrons for emergencies, his role as Academy Headmaster and a member of the Atlas Council meant that he was rarely deployed into active combat. As such, his usual choice of wardrobe was the Atlas Military Dress Uniform, though like other high-ranking Atlas operatives, his personal set was heavily personalized. During Atlas’s last days, Ironwood’s uniform consisted of a dress shirt and tie underneath a double-breasted white jacket, military style trousers, steel-toed boots, and a heavy white overcoat. He accessorized with a belt, bandolier, and a pair of white gloves, though after losing his left arm, he deliberately left the black prosthesis bare. With his cybernetics functioning as built-in armor, Ironwood’s wardrobe could afford to emphasize mobility over protection, leaving him free to leverage his mechanical physique to its fullest.
RANKING: Tier 1, Baseline Superhuman
Cybernetic enhancement generally affords significant practical advantages in physical combat, but their general limitedness often prevents them from drastically elevating physical performance level, and most cyborgs are merely squishy meatbags with slightly less squishy bits. However, James Ironwood’s extremely extensive cybernetics push him far beyond the standard, his prosthetics serving as both remedies to hold his body together and a preemptive measure to prevent him from breaking again. Ironwood is inarguably one of the toughest and strongest combatants in the setting, demonstrating physical might far beyond a mortal man’s and an absolutely inhuman tolerance for injury. Considering that James was perfectly willing to burn off his own arm, there is no telling how far this man will go to achieve victory. Ironwood’s only real limitation is his poor sustainability, indicating that he does have a limit to his performance and made all the worse by his refusal to cut his losses. Fatigue, both physical and mental, is James Ironwood’s biggest handicap, but pushing the general to that point will be an incredibly uphill battle, given that he is, quite literally, built like a tank.
MARTIAL
James Ironwood was armed with a paired set of heavy pistols known as Due Process, an ironic name if there ever was one. Combining aspects of both a revolver and semi-automatic pistol, each gun appeared to be about a foot and a half long, 5 inches thick, and designed with floral patterns engraved on the slide. Each pistol featured a secondary trigger that enabled it to fire specialized ammunition alongside standard rounds. The primary weapon was silver colored and loaded with explosive rounds, the yield strong enough to knock an alpha Beowolf into the air and reduce entire squads of AK-200 combat drones to shrapnel. The second pistol had a black finish along the slide and grips and was loaded with gravity Dust bullets, capable of generating shockwaves powerful enough to propel Ironwood through the air. Given that Ironwood was prepared to immediately execute Marrow Amin with the black pistol after the Faunus went AWOL, it is entirely possible that the Dust rounds were powerful enough to either break or penetrate Auras with a solid direct hit. Furthermore, the pistols were durable enough to be used as bludgeons in close quarters combat, one of Ironwood’s favorite tactics being to grab the weapon by the barrel and use it as a club when out of ammo. Overall, a simple yet reliably lethal weapon set, perfect for Atlas’s perfect soldier.
As the head of the Atlas Military and a professional Huntsman, James Ironwood obviously possessed the standard training background of his contemporaries, likely graduating from Atlas Huntsman Academy before enlisting his talents in the Special Operatives Division just as his later subordinates Winter Schnee and Clover Ebi did. Accordingly, he was familiar with the various ways to dispatch the creatures of Grimm and trained in the use of various military grade weapons and advanced hand to hand combat. A hardened soldier, his talents as a marksman and martial artist were built up through rigorous battlefield experience, and while his role as academy headmaster and government councilor meant he was rarely seen in the field, he clearly stayed on top of his training. By the end of his life, Ironwood stood as one of the most skilled and tenacious martial combatants of his day, effectively setting the mold for what Atlas Academy expected of its students. Ironwood’s personal fighting style was extremely physical, taking full advantage of his cybernetics to deliver a devastating offensive barrage, launching everything he had at the enemy and refusing to give an inch of ground. When at a distance, Ironwood relied on his exceptional marksmanship to dispatch opponents, alternating between single shots and dual wielding bullet swarms. Though he could expertly chain together sporadic bursts of gunfire to force opponents back, he overwhelmingly favored single shot takedowns. Against single adversaries, he homed in on his target and sought to destroy it with a precise killshot, nailing direct hits on Arthur Watts twice during their battle at Amity Colosseum. In group engagements, Ironwood switched over to explosive rounds, clearing away large groups of enemies with a single blow, as seen when he destroyed large squads of AK-200s during the Fall of Beacon. When forced to close the distance, Ironwood relied heavily on brutal close quarters combat techniques to overpower his enemies, wielding his guns as extensions of his body. His pistol whips were swift, powerful, and decidedly lethal, even when utilizing heavy ordnance analogous to Due Process’s energy cannon. When completely unarmed, Ironwood fully leveraged his cyborg strength through devastating punches, kicks, grapples, and tackles intended to subdue the enemy as directly and efficiently as possible. Despite this blunt offensive stance, Ironwood was not some mindless brawler flailing around. His unarmed skills were in fact quite sophisticated, clearly holding a dominant edge over Watts and fighting evenly with Lie Ren despite the latter having access to his weapons. If forced to defend, Ironwood’s policy was “endure and power through”, holding his ground and shrugging off hits before resuming the offensive. He employed deft evasions and sidesteps when dodging bullets, and when in close quarters he used his armored limbs to block attacks before manhandling the opponent to force open their defenses. Additionally, Ironwood’s understanding of his weapons’ functions allowed him to leverage the recoil for practical purposes, regaining his stance by blasting himself back to his feet. He bolstered his focused offensive technique with his Semblance and Dust loadout, striking with absolute commitment and intensity while adding more power to his attacks with elemental fury.
Ironwood was a reasonably capable military strategist, clearly understanding the value of his army’s strength and building his approach around leveraging this as fully as possible. However, Ironwood was no planner, his strategies mostly boiling down to building up his foundation to make an instrument that could overpower virtually any challenger while also being nearly impossible to overpower in turn. He expressed this both in preparing his forces and training his own students, investing heavily in the development of the Atlesian Knight drones and enjoying regular sparring matches with Oscar Pine. When commanding armies, he deployed his heavily armed and armored troops in as great numbers as possible, bringing down the hammer with an unstoppable force of offensive might. This approach proved successful at the Breach and in the early stages of the Battle of Atlas, the Atlas troops’ superior weapons and equipment allowing them to steamroll the various creatures of Grimm while also halting their advance long enough to develop a devastating counteroffensive. When he was personally fighting, Ironwood used these same tactics to turn battles into slugging matches where his cyborg strength and heavy guns could dominate. When confronted by the Alpha Beowolf at Amity, Ironwood rushed in and attacked directly, bracing up against the beast’s charge before shooting an explosive round into the ground, blowing it off its feet and allowing Ironwood to more easily manhandle it before shooting it in the head. As seen in his battle with Arthur Watts two years later, Ironwood was an expert at alternating his offensive abilities to keep up the pressure. He would propel himself with his guns’ recoil to close the distance then rapidly switch between standard, explosive, and Dust ammunition to hammer the target’s defenses. In close quarters, he employed the same methodology with his unarmed skills and pistol whips, each strike aimed at staggering or subduing the enemy in one fell swoop. His confrontation with Team JNR at Atlas Academy showed his ability to apply his tactics to group engagements, managing to overmatch the attacks of Jaune Arc, Oscar Pine and Lie Ren by seizing their arms and weapons and forcing open their defenses.
In all things Ironwood showed an emphasis on overwhelming power as a solid general-purpose solution, dominating his opponents rather than undermining or subverting them. Appropriately, his ultimate trump cards were the most devastating weapons he could get his hands on. Against Salem’s army, Ironwood used his troops to stall for time as he prepared a Dust warhead to obliterate the Monstra. In personable combat, Ironwood literally pulled out the big guns by outfitting Due Process with a large cannon. Less wieldy but more powerful, the cannon fired massive bolts of green energy capable of destroying heavy machinery and overpowering advanced ethereal defenses, punching through a hard-light Dust prison cell like wet paper and later overwhelming Winter Schnee’s black glyphs. Even with the extra heft of the cannon, Ironwood was still perfectly capable of swinging it around as a bludgeon, demonstrating the intensity and commitment that Ironwood brought to all of his skills. However, Ironwood’s tactics also demonstrate his serious weaknesses as a tactical thinker, weaknesses worsened by his pride and fear. Because his entire approach was built around leveraging strength and power for maximum effect, Ironwood was ineffective against more defensive and subversive opponents who could prevent him from bringing his full might to bear, while his overreliance on offense left him exposed to retaliation and tunnel vision. Despite being a physical lightweight with minimal dedication to physical combat, Watts was able to contend with Ironwood by maintaining a slippery retreat through the anti-gravity biome, forcing the general to chase after him while he chipped away at him from a distance. Ironwood was either unaware or unconcerned that he was being baited, continuing to come after Watts and getting his arm caught in the ring trap for his trouble. A similar fate befell him at the academy, his focus on each of his opponents individually leaving him blind to the various counters they levied against him, wearing him down. While Ironwood has displayed clever maneuvers in the past, such as when he outflanked Watts and Amity and surprised Winter with a pistol whip, these displays were a major exception to the rule. Whenever his preferred methods were questioned or his plans fell apart, Ironwood doubled down and fought harder, essentially forcing problems to become a nail for his hammer.
Ironwood’s tactical tunnel vision was most visibly demonstrated in his grand strategy blunders, stubbornly maintaining a military presence at the Vytal Festival and continuing the Amity Project while ignoring the concerns and protests his actions sparked in Mantle. Ironwood was at his best when his blunt approach was tempered by his more moderate allies, deferring to Ozpin’s subtler methods on multiple occasions despite their disagreements. When leading the charge, however, his stubborn persistence was his greatest undoing, allowing Salem and Cinder Fall to exploit and manipulate him on several occasions and essentially do their work of dividing humanity for them. When Cinder infiltrated the academy, Ironwood, convinced that Salem’s forces were with her, decided to abandon the Amity project and use the Staff of Creation to raise Atlas further into the atmosphere, abandoning Mantle to the Grimm. While Team RWBY’s attempts to talk sense into Ironwood fell on deaf ears partially due to their previous withholding of information, Ironwood’s flat admittance of the severity of his decision showed his commitment to a decision regardless of the consequences. Between ordering RWBY and co.’s arrests, murdering Councilman Sleet, attempting to execute the defecting Marrow Amin, and finally deciding to drop the Dust warhead on Mantle, Ironwood demonstrated an increasingly severe disregard for outside input or the questioning of what he and he alone saw as what was best for others. This arrogant short-sightedness directly contributed to his inability to anticipate the actions of his adversaries, underestimating Ruby’s resolve to save both Atlas and Mantle and being caught completely off guard by JNR’s ambush. When Watts disabled Ironwood’s cell during Cinder’s orchestrated chaos, the general emerged as a vessel of petty vengeance, murdering Jacques Schnee out of sheer contempt and triggering a pointless confrontation with Winter in the Relic vault to claim the Staff. While the two were able to fight on even footing, Ironwood’s brutal offensive allowed him to bully through Winter’s more delicate style and overpower her, proving that his martial might was extremely formidable despite its straightforwardness. Unfortunately, Ironwood was finally confronted by someone he could not simply overpower when Winter received the Maiden’s power upon Penny Polendina’s death, blasted into a crater by his own deflected shot.
RANKING: Tier 3, Standard Mastery
James Ironwood’s track record demonstrates a powerful, flexible, and ruthless martial combatant, capable of operating in just about any combat scenario with similar levels of comfort while bringing overwhelming force in all areas. His solid general-purpose weapon complements his fighting style and provides him with a solid array of offensive options, while his perseverance under fire allows him to keep up the pressure even in the face of staunch resistance. However, though certainly not unintelligent, Ironwood’s demonstrations also highlight his inability to think outside the box, failing to subvert his opponents or control the fight in a broad sense, and more disastrously, failing to prevent the opponent from doing the same to him. While political controversy obviously does not factor heavily into combative effectiveness, his ineffectual leadership in the crises of Volumes 7 and 8 does offer insight into his tactical failings. His only recourse to any situation being to throw brute force at it and keep it up until the enemy finally breaks, and he has nothing to fall back on if sheer strength fails. Still, this does not make Ironwood’s method ineffective or crude. His power and skill is undeniable, and anyone who opposed the general would be in for a whole Kingdom of pain.
SPECIAL
James Ironwood’s Semblance was an ability he called “Mettle”. A passive power, Mettle allowed Ironwood to strengthen his resolve and hyper-focus on his chosen goals, blocking out interference from both the world around him and his own reservations in order to drive him forward. When using this ability, injuries, odds, and even morality were non-issues to the general, turning himself into a deliberate machine of war who will achieve his goal or die trying. Unsurprisingly for anyone who’s been with the show since this Semblance’s reveal, the exact nature and effect of Mettle is not clearly defined, especially since its properties are so heavily tied to Ironwood’s personality and character arc. However, I do believe that Mettle’s specifics can be reasonably inferred based on what we do know. A common element whenever this power is shown or heavily implied to be in effect is Ironwood’s calm, borderline soulless, demeanor, even if the instance is shortly after a strong emotional outburst. When he decided to bomb Mantle, Ironwood was collected and relaxed (at least in a general sense) despite having smashed his tactical map to pieces in a fit of frustration not a minute earlier. As such, it is my belief that Mettle, in practice, serves as a naturally induced stress relief agent, numbing Ironwood’s nerves to help him regain and maintain his composure, a critical asset for a soldier in the field. To reference Star Wars again, Mettle has a lot of elements in common with the Expanded Universe power known as Battlemind, an inwardly directed telepathic mediation that Force-sensitives used to improve their focus and composure in combat.* Battlemind is also known to enable users to dispel negative emotion and telepathic attacks, and the former seems to be precisely how Mettle seems to work. With this power, Ironwood could essentially induce a state of mind where he could power through any obstacle, injury or distraction by simply ignoring it, homing in on his goal and pursuing it with all the unrestricted power he could bring to bear. Unfortunately, this factor also contributed heavily to his tactical limitations, so focused on his given objective that he was often blind to outside factors. Narrowing your focus might be a good call when you’re throwing hands with a rabid Beowolf or sniping someone, but trying to do the same in a tense political situation or a cunning trickster will leave you unable to see the forest for the trees.
Outside of his Semblance, Ironwood also incorporated Dust into his standard combat equipment, specifically gravity Dust bullets incorporated into the black half of Due Process. While most of the information here was already brough up in the Martial Arts assessment, the nature of these rounds still demonstrate an additional combative layer to Ironwood’s abilities. Black or purple in color, gravity Dust could affect gravitational fields to generate fields of force to either propel or attract outside objects. When used by Huntsmen in battle, gravity Dust often functioned as a form of limited telekinesis, manipulating the trajectory of weapons or projectiles for sustained or directed flight or generating powerful concussive shockwaves. In Ironwood’s case, the use of Dust in his pistol rounds was based around the latter application. The most obvious advantage of this feature, like most Dust ammunition, was enhancing the power of the projectiles, drastically enhancing the stopping power. Though seemingly a conventional power, Ironwood has utilized this property very inventively, particularly regarding the recoil. Similarly to Ruby Rose’s own use of Dust ammo in Crescent Rose, Ironwood utilized the shockwaves created by the gravity field to propel himself though the battlefield, functionally flying through the air. With only a few shots, he was able to reach Watts’ high ground position while also evading the scientist’s own attacks, and when he was caught in a geyser, Ironwood only needed a single bullet to arrest his fall and return to the platform almost immediately. Given that Ironwood is obviously not being blasted back into walls every time he shoots the black gun, it is likely that he incorporated technology into the pistol to enable some degree of control over the energy level, adjusting the intensity for different purposes. Where the full-powered blasts were enough to launch him up to great heights, a direct hit from one of the more controlled rounds sent Watts tumbling across the platforms but otherwise did not harm him, appropriate given Ironwood’s objective in capturing Watts rather than killing him. Furthermore, Ironwood’s attempted execution of Marrow Amin with the black Due Process leads me to believe that the Dust rounds could penetrate, or at least damage, passive Auras when used at the higher levels.
Ironwood’s Semblance and Dust loadout served as direct supplements to his martial methods, elevating his ruthless offensive with artificially induced focus and intensity and elemental warfare by way of his special ammunition. Leveraging Mettle has led to some of Ironwood’s most compelling accomplishments, powering through seemingly impossible odds to achieve his chosen objective regardless of what happened in the process. At Beacon, he charged the Alpha Beowolf head-on and was able to cooly overpower the creature in the bind. Against Watt’s, Ironwood’s determination allowed him to eventually close the distance with Watt’s slippery retreat and eventually overpower him, responding to the doctor’s subversions and traps as mere speedbumps rather than distractions. Even his own pain and injuries were able to be overlooked in this manner. However, therein lies his weakness. Despite these advantages and his range of applications, Ironwood’s special abilities fail to truly diversify his loadout, as all of his options are merely another tool to allow him to overpower the opponent directly rather than control the fight in a broad sense. More severely, they in fact contribute to his lack of tactical foresight. Where other combatants with metaphysical semblances, such as Qrow Branwen and Maria Calavera, have been able to adapt their powers to help control the flow of the engagement, Ironwood simply leaned on the basic properties of his abilities to force his way through situations. While a combination of Mettle and his own iron will allowed him to escape the ring trap and defeat Watts, Ironwood still subjected himself to unnecessary injury in order to attack Watts directly, throwing away his arm in pursuit of victory. Even beforehand when Watts caught his ankle in ice, Ironwood’s decision was to shoot it free so as to continue his pressure regardless of the tool he was taking. As Ironwood continued to slip into madness, his intense focus made him shortsighted and blind to other threats, his decision to bomb Mantle and complete unwillingness to budge on the idea alienating the last of his allies, up to and including the previously loyal Winter.
RANKING: Tier 3, Specialized Combat
Even if my theories of how Mettle works are wrong, there is no denying that James Ironwood’s special abilities elevate his fighting style into something greater than the sum of its parts. With Mettle’s hyper focus and his Dust’s devastating power, he brings his already domineering approach to battle to new heights by focusing his intensity and empowering his attacks. Despite this, Ironwood’s use of his abilities remains in a very narrow fashion, simply relying on the mind-numbing properties of Mettle and the power generated by his Dust to continue battering the opposition with brute strength. Ironwood has certainly mastered his traits and capitalized on their benefits, but his mastery functionally amounts to a one-trick pony. Instead of using Mettle to improve his laser focus where and when he needs it, Ironwood constantly spammed it so that he could ignore all distractions while he overpowered the opponent directly. Rather than providing him with options and versatility, Ironwood’s powers were just another club in his hands, and his use of them was ultimately devoid of subtly or tactical considerations. Instead, James Ironwood’s special abilities followed the mindset of “Once I see you, I’m going to beat the crap out of you.”
OVERALL RANKING: TIER 3, ADVANCED HUNTSMAN
As an overall combatant, James Ironwood serves as a quintessential example of the best that can be achieved through the direct application of power. Between his cybernetic enhancements, masterful marksmanship, expert unarmed combat skills, hyper focusing Semblance, and powerful Dust ammunition, Ironwood possessed all the tools he needed to overpower nearly any potential challenger, be it a battle of body, arms, or spells, all brought to a pint by an obscene will to fight. The problem is that this is all he can do, and his straightforward tactics mean that he doesn’t have the means or willingness to adjust his approach to different situations. Despite his superhuman physique, Ironwood’s capabilities are not so overwhelming that less physically able opponents cannot contend, and it ultimately does not drastically offset his more consistent standing as a martial artist or ethereal combatant. Like many other Tier 3s, Ironwood is flexible but not to the point of actual versatility, all his offensive options being ONLY offensive options. Given how his fighting style is built upon fully capitalizing on his physical capabilities, it is only appropriate that Ironwood’s body is the perfect metaphor for his strengths and weaknesses. Ironwood is trying to be the strongest piece on the board that can stand up and defeat any potential threat, just as he adopted increasingly intrusive prosthetics to make himself stronger than any other human. However, just as no one person can fight a war on their own, Ironwood’s body is too weak to shoulder all the demands he is placing on it in the long term. Just because you can fight to the death does not mean you need to fight to the death. Ironwood will ignore injuries and continue fighting until he is dead, but as a result, he’s burning his candle from both ends by forcing his way through hits he doesn’t need to take. Rather than building himself into an unstoppable juggernaut, Ironwood is a gas guzzler that can only go one way- forward.
For all his power, James Ironwood ultimately failed to become the mighty hero he believed himself to be, both because he was operating way out of his area of expertise and because he was afflicted by an overwhelming hubris. Despite his military mindset, Ironwood has spent the past decade or so prior to Volumes 7 and 8 as a peacetime politician and academic administrator rather than a frontline commander. While his snap judgements and demands of unwavering obedience are viable on the battlefield, where questioning the commander always leads to disaster and death, his attempts to apply that same mentality to grand strategy and government policy left him with an increasingly ruthless need for control. Ironically similar to Adam Taurus, Ironwood believed that he and he alone could bring about the success of his mission, and anything that challenged this perspective was a threat to be quashed. To Ironwood, if one did not approach the war with Salem with his views and strategies, they were ineffectual, naive, or simply too weak to do what had to be done. And rather than take in input from others, he simply surrounded himself with blindly obedient followers who would lay down their lives in service to him, all while insisting that others be grateful for his “hard decisions” even as they suffered for them. James Ironwood was a powerful warrior, but he was overly aggressive, bull headed, short sighted, and dare I say it, tactless. Instead of seeing Salem as the deceptive chess master she was or Ruby as a source of valid concern for his actions, Ironwood only saw more nails for him to hammer. And by the time he realized his hammer was broken, it was too little too late, having burned all his bridges fighting his friends rather than uniting against his enemies.
*originally posted on RoosterTeeth Community page on 12-10-21*
* images taken from RWBY Wiki *
RWBY Combat Analysis
*(Wookiepedia article on Battlemind)
#rwby#rwby combat analysis#james ironwood#rwby ironwood#atlas military#atlas academy#ozpin's inner circle#baseline superhuman#standard mastery#specialized combat
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RWBY Relic Pieces in Volume 1, Symbolism of the Pieces, and How It Ties To the Broader Narrative.
Did a quick searchup on the symbolism of chess pieces, and taking what I saw into consideration (note that this is very abridged, and possibly not entirely correct):
CRDL and the Black Bishop
Bishops are representative of religion, as well as spirituality, morality, and wisdom, and a direct reference to Cardin's mythological reference, the Cardinal of Winchester. In regards to the broader narrative that RWBY sets up, he can be considered V1's partial representation of the institution of Huntsmen, more specifically the deeply flawed and darker side standing opposite to the better/neutral aspects of Huntsmen that RWBY/JNPR represent, due to being a racist bully who stands against Grimm, yet also willfully persecutes and harms the people he's supposed to fight for, such as minority groups like Faunus and (given Jaune at this point is basically a civilian in huntsmen's clothing and training wheels) the people depending on the circumstances. Also acts as a form of foreshadowing to the other deeply flawed or outright bad huntsmen we'd come to see later in the series, as well as highlighting the lack of wisdom and morality that can blight the institutions that Huntsmen are supposed to be, represent and protect.
The Black pieces in chess always move second, which highlights how the Huntsmen are a highly reactive organization, and how this severely limits their ability to truly tackle the bigger problems regarding threats like the Grimm, Salem, society's deep internal problems, and in the bigger picture, Ozpin's divine mission.
JNPR and the White Rook
Rooks are representative of the land, being symbolic of the fortress that guards a city or land and its royalty, and how they essentially "guard" the other pieces, as well as representing stability. The majority of JNPR come from civilians compared to the likes of RWBY, with this becoming completely the case after Pyrrha's death and Oscar's inclusion, and they're shown consistently throughout the series as having the strongest connections to civilians on a personal level. They also frequently as the bedrock and stabilizing influence, through Jaune, Nora and Ren's friendships and roles as supporting characters. Being white pieces also highlights how as time goes on, they would develop an increasingly proactive role through the questioning of the narrative told to them by the metaphorical "royals" (in this case, Ozpin's secret circle) and the latter's failure to actually protect them.
This is especially notable in regards to Jaune, Nora, and from a story perspective Ren, given how the former consistently questions Ozpin and his inner circle's shadier actions throughout most of V4 - V8, and Nora and Ren were failed miserably and made orphans due to the lack of huntsmen and the society around them failing to protect them, while putting them into a situation where their only recourse is to become part of the system that failed them.
RWBY and the White Knight
Knight pieces are representative of the medieval military, fitting given the status of Huntsmen, as well as being considered adventurous, valorous, and unpredictable due to their unique fighting style allowing them a level of unpredictability that other pieces don't have, fitting of how RWBY are the main proactive force to pushing Ozpin and the true nature of the secret war against Salem out into uncharted territory, forcing them to actually change and grow.
Knights are also often historically drawn from nobility, much like how every major character in RWBY has some kind of tie to Remnant's most illustrious groups or some kind of major player (Ruby and Yang being part of major Huntsmen lineages, Weiss being a rich heiress to the most powerful corporation in the world, and Blake being effectively the Princess of the Faunus, as well as having ties to the most prominent civil rights activists and movements in all iterations of the White Fang).
Much like JNPR, they are far more proactive compared to the royals they serve, actively pushing the latter outside their comfort zone in a two-pronged attack alongside JNPR, but the series also strives to highlight and deconstruct the messier aspects of their relationship as huntsmen (and thus a form of warrior caste/mercenary, with the following tension in that relationship with the people they are trying to protect) and how the unpredictable nature of their changes results in as much positive and messier forms of change, for better or worse.
This got way longer than I thought it would.
#rwby#rwby analysis#rwby volume 1#rwby symbolism#team rwby#team jnpr#ruby rose#blake belladonna#jaune arc#weiss schnee#yang xiao long#nora valkyrie#lie ren#pyrrha nikos#oscar pines#ozpin rwby#cardin winchester#team crdl
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there might be some recontextualizing afoot here 🤔
"and oscar... just isn't himself." of course not, he's attending some very ozpin-like inner circle meetings—which probably isn't a good sign as far as the merge is concerned, but hey. it is what it is.
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based on your interpretation of the military Yang ask, i find it absolutely hilarious that Yang just casually knows government secrets, due to ironwood just telling her. Does Ozpin know he tells her?? Like, during the Mistral bandit can arc, Raven is just giving her the whole 'Grimm has a master' speech and Yang's like, 'duh. I already know. Next your gonna say you can turn into a bird and the sky outside is blue or something??'.
And I love the thought of Penny and Yang being friends, it'll give Penny more *human* interactions and mean she won't act as stilted as she does in canon.
My most favorite part of that au is that she knows stuff she shouldn't. I wonder if that's why I like the time loop and MitC verse's so much....?
(btw, do you have Wattpad?? That is where I am mostly likely to upload once I'm finished writing)
As a mesh of my interpretation and the actual original askers actual AU i think ironwood eventually kinda recruits Yang and sense her whole family was part of ozpins inner circle for a while he probably sees it as fine if he tells her certain things that are definitely secrets probably not everything but enough that he would think it gained her trust and loyalty because Yang is a VERY loyal person (one of the things that would make her a good soldier) but the way Yang is loyal isn’t the way that he’d want which is individually and relationship based so she’d be loyal to ironwood if he helped her and told her this stuff but as like a friend not as a general of the army or like her boss and she’d never keep those secrets if it posed a danger to the people she cared about
And if she knew the army was doing some messed up she’d offer that information whenever it came up cause she has a very solid sense of right and wrong
I don’t know if he’d tell ozpin he told Yang these things but if it ever came up that she knew ozpin would probably assume it was any of the people related to her that told her like maybe qrow when drunk so I doubt he’d get caught
I love the idea of Yang being like “Sky’s blue, moms are birds, government is evil, nothings new, one(1) portal please”
I do not have wattpad I just use the search bar and go “ao3 pls” and that’s how I find the things I read u could always send me the link 🥺 after it’s posted
Also I’m draw’n rn so if you want me to draw doodles for ur au or this one or draw with me that’s available for a lil while
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tag refresh, people
#* kiddo = ruby *#* firecracker = yang *#* sis = raven *#* tai = taiyang *#* the best of us = summer *#* oz = ozpin *#* farmboy = oscar *#* ice queen = winter *#* you were a legend = maria *#* show off = clover *#* i'm not sure he has a heart = james *#* glyn = glynda *#* close one = robyn *#* so special = ace ops *#* the real fight = inner circle *#* coolest team to ever graduate beacon = strq *#* you're gonna go far = rwby *#* you try stopping these kids = jnpr/ornj *#* they are fear = grimm *#* trying to divide us = enemies *#* i know everyone to some extent = friends *
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