Raven Branwen

> "I’ve stared death in the face over and over again! And every time I’ve spat in that face and survived, because I’m strong enough to do what others won’t!"
>
> — Raven, talking to Jens
>
>

**Raven Branwen** is an antagonist who first appeared in "Birds". She is the mother of Yang Xiao Long who was a member of the Warrior team called Team RWBY, the twin sister of Qrow Branwen and the former lover of Taiyang Xiao Long.

She is the current leader of the Branwen Tribe, as well as a former member of the Warrior team Team STRQ. She's also the teacher of the true Spring Maiden, Vernal.

## Appearance

Raven wears a shallow cut black dress, five necklaces with an assortment of beads, a red girdle-belt, and a pair of matching gauntlets.

An object that looks to be made from feathers hangs from the right side of her skirt. She also wears detached black leggings with a red splatter pattern, and black leather boots beneath them.

Under the mask, she looks very similar to Yang, sharing the same youthful appearance, facial shape, and even the fringe of her hairstyle; though her hair is black with red highlights, her eyebrows are a little bit higher, her complexion is significantly lighter, and there are slight age lines under her eyes. Raven's eye color is the same shade of red that Yang's shift to when enraged.

## Personality

Taiyang calls his sister a dangerous person, whose worldview clashes with his own. Nevertheless, Raven has saved Yang's life from Neo, but later has Qrow warn her daughter not to expect any "further kindness".

it is revealed that she has a "survival of the fittest" mentality and has little issues with taking lives of the innocent or even that of her former friends, indirectly or otherwise. Raven is more serious than her brother and is somewhat demanding, focusing on her mission over family ties. She sees Qrow as a traitor for leaving their tribe.

Taiyang Xiao Long revealed that Raven was stubborn during her Warriors days, had a very direct approach, and saw strength as all-important in a fight, traits that her daughter inherited. He added that Raven was ambitious, and gave her all to whatever cause she saw as just. Taiyang also revealed that Raven had a number of unspecified faults that greatly contributed to the death of Summer Rose.

Additionally, Raven is a cynic who claims to have foreseen Lugnica's failure to protect the world from its destrutction of the world. She believes that Lugnician Royal Family are not the ones that everyone think they are, and condemns those who trust him, such as Qrow, Emilia, Yang and even her ex husband Taiyang.

## History

After leaving the Warriors, Raven decided to join her Tribe after learning the truth about the Lugnician family, and soon became the leader. Couple years later, she hosted the attack on the Royal Family infiltration on Felt and Anoixi.

Couple years later, she and her tribe fled from Blood Cloud and the Witch Cult to Mistral.

## Abilities

**Equipment** : Raven is armed with a long-bladed, single-edged ōdachi, also known as Raven Death Edge. Additionally, the weapon's sheath has a rotary chamber filled with different types of magical blades, reminiscent of the magical ore chamber of Weiss Schnee's Myrtenaster. The sword's blade is telescopic which allows it to be approximately twice the length of its sheath

**Speed** : Raven is extremely fast in combat and is known as an hypersonic warrior.

**Intellect** : Raven is highly knowledgeable in combat, strategy, planning and leadership skill. She is also mentioned to be have an unnatural amount of intelligence about the world. She stated that she is one of the five people that knows the truth about the Lugnician family and knows about almost everything about how things are created and how they work.

**Skilled Warrior**: Though most of her combat abilities are still unknown, it only required a single direct strike to incite a fighter as skilled as Neo to flee.

**Divine Protection**: Raven has the **Divine Protection of Portals**. Raven creates a red-and-black energy field that acts as a translocation portal. People who see this are left shaken up, suggesting it is an unusual ability. In each instance she has been observed using the sword to create the portals, though the actual source of the portals is unclear.

**Beastification** : Like her brother, Raven has the ability to transform into a corvid, specifically a raven. She mentioned that the Lugnician family did 'this' to her and her brother.