Grimm

The **Creatures of Grimm**, or just **Grimm**, are monsters inhabiting various parts of Remnant. The Grimm were originally created by the God of Darkness and their current master is Salem.

They are described as "creatures of destruction" that lack a soul; hence, they are unable to use Aura. They are also drawn to feelings of negativity - such as envy, sadness, loneliness, hatred, etc. - often congregating on the source of these emotions.

## History

The Grimm were created by the God of Darkness in order to destroy the creations of the God of Light. Eventually, the brothers ended their feud by creating something that could both create and destroy, namely Humanity. However, despite his involvement in creating Humanity, the Grimm were still left to roam Remnant and prey on them. According to the fairy tale *The Two Brothers*, the Grimm are motivated by resentment towards their younger kin; the God of Darkness was more amused by Humanity's determination and ingenuity and thus ignored his original creation. This explains the Grimm's disinterest in animals in contrast to their obsession with destroying Humans, Faunus, and anything the two peoples build.

Regardless of their motivations, the Grimm have been locked in an existential war with Humanity for as long as can be remembered, seeking to destroy them and all of their creations. After the God of Darkness killed the first wave of Humanity, he left the Grimm alive before he left Remnant. Following the reemergence of Humanity, the Grimm began to attack again. At first, it seemed as though they would succeed, as Humans did not have the strength to fight them. However, Humans discovered the power of Dust, and with it, the Grimm were driven back. During this time, Humans enjoyed a time of peace and soon formed their own Kingdoms, which grew to survive and prosper. However, this time would not last indefinitely.

While Grimm mindlessly wonder Remnant, they have a hidden master in Salem, an ancient and mysterious figure from Remnant's forgotten past who is able to both control and create them. She currently leads the Grimm against Humanity.

While Grimm are initially mindless and heedless of risk during their youths, leading them to simply attack any Humans on sight, some Grimm are so powerful that they have survived to live for hundreds of years. In that time, they have evolved and learned from their experiences fighting Humanity. This leads them to exhibit restraint and the patience to avoid taking unnecessary casualties in futile conflicts. Instead, they stay close to Humanity's borders, waiting for the opportunity to come where they can finally strike. Because of this, mankind is in ever-present danger, even in times of apparent peace. Bartholomew Oobleck recounts this in the episode "Search and Destroy" when he tells Ruby Rose how intelligent some species, such as the Goliath, have become over the years.

The Grimm also, for many years, disrupted land-based travel and communications between Kingdoms. After the Great War of Remnant, the invention and production of the Cross Continental Transmit System replace futile land-based communication systems with instantaneous wireless electronic messaging capabilities.

Additionally, the Grimm appear to be the predominant species in the world of Remnant as Humans and Faunus appear to be limited to four primary pocket settlements referred to as Kingdoms, which are guarded by Huntsmen, as well as several villages that exist with mixed success. Attempts by the Kingdoms to expand beyond their borders are often met with resistance, and even failure, such as the loss of an Mountain Glenn of the city of Vale to the Grimm.

## Biology

In the episode "The Next Step", the births of Grimm are depicted, with Beowolves emerging from black pools in the Land of Darkness. However, most of Humanity is unaware of the origins of Grimm. Ancient Human cultures believed the Grimm to be animals possessed by evil spirits or even the tortured spirits of animals themselves. Further study has disproved this theory over time due to the discovery of certain species of Grimm which have no animal counterparts, such as Creeps and Griffons. With the discovery of new types of Grimm every day, scientists are left with more questions than answers.

Grimm come in a variety of shapes and sizes; the latter appearing to mostly be a factor of age. Grimm are very biodiverse as different individuals may be born with less size, armor, spikes, etc. Some Grimm have the ability to evolve into stronger versions of themselves like the Centinels which will evolve into its alpha variant, the Cenitaur, if they aren't taken out quickly enough. Grimm are said to be the only creatures without souls, thus being deprived of the use of Aura, but they make up for this with strength, durability and savagery. Some Grimm even have special abilities such as possession or usage of lightning and fire. Grimm are stated to be attracted to generally negative feelings such as sadness, hostility, anger and fear, and even congregate in areas that, although Humanity has long since abandoned, still hold residual traces of these feelings.

This behavior will even lead to them to join in on an attack in progress if the Humans being attacked begin to panic. Grimm typically form packs or other types of large groupings with other members of their own species. While some lone Grimm may stray from the pack for hours or even months, they will inevitably rejoin their group to continue their instinctive drive to hunt the people of Remnant and destroy any creations associated with them.

The longer a Grimm lives, the larger it becomes, with species such as the Beowolves growing from just over the size of an average man to massive behemoths that dwarf Atlesian Knight-200|Atlesian Knight-200s. Although Grimm have a more reckless and aggressive nature during their youth, older Grimm who have managed to survive their battles have the tendency to learn from their experiences. While sometimes requiring hundreds of years, the individual Grimm's accumulated experiences over the course of surviving their battles with man can cause them to begin exercising caution.

This self-preservation can even lead them to avoid unnecessary conflicts altogether, instead waiting for an opportunity to present itself. This demonstrates that for all their apparent intelligence, older Grimm simply use it as a means to become more effective in their singular purpose of killing. However, no matter how much they learn from battle, Grimm by themselves are not smart enough to coordinate a concentrated attack on a battlefield and require Salem's direction in order to actually pose a threat to massive forces like the Atlas Military.

Grimm displays no enmity towards normal animals and they only clash during territorial disputes. Humans and Faunus are the only races they attack on sight. Grimm can also choose not to eat and it is commonly believed that they do not require sustenance. When a Grimm dies, their corporeal form evaporates, preventing detailed anatomical or biological studies. This also means that Huntsmen that kill for sport cannot stuff and mount Grimm bodies as trophies, making replicas instead.

Also of interesting note is that Grimm usually die off when in captivity if they cannot kill their captors or escape first, implying that they cannot be kept alive by normal means.

Initially, the cold climate in Solitas proved to be inhospitable for the Grimm for a very long time. Over time, however, the Creatures of Grimm grew to adapt to the cold of Solitas, now said to be the strongest species of Grimm. In recent history, the Grimm adapted at a supernaturally fast rate, leading many to wonder the cause of this change.

Grimm are shown to have tar-like innards underneath their skin which can splash into things as if it were blood before dissipating into smoke.

In *RWBY: Before the Dawn*, Shade Academy students discover that Grimm are not only attracted to negative emotions but also their very souls – their Aura. Powerful Auras are like Grimm magnets, causing them to drop their original targets in favor of the more powerful supply of Aura as though they were moths to a flame. It is unclear whether this applies exclusively to unlocked Aura or to both locked and unlocked Aura, and it is specified as only Human and Faunus Aura, despite animals having it.

Additionally, attempting to transfer Aura to the Grimm instead causes them to attempt to drain it from the user.

Similar to Semblances, Grimm have different "types." While most types are unknown, Possesion-type Grimm have the ability to possess inanimate objects to use for themselves or even other species of Grimm and people. The only other confirmed type is the Serpent-type which seems to only include snake-like Grimm. Most Grimm simply use brute force and some can use mental attacks on people.

### Grimm Pools

Grimm spawn from a viscous, tar-like substance. Pools of this substance appear in numbers in the Land of Darkness. Grimm of sufficient size like the Wyvern and Monstra were able to produce this substance and create new Grimm. The Wyvern could create drops of tar that created Creeps, Beowolves and Ursai. Monstra was large enough to create waves of tar from its mouth that created a Grimm army when it landed on Atlas in the show.

Salem created a river of Grimm Liquid under Solitas which she used during her attack on Atlas.

### Experiments

There is also an as of yet unknown method for grafting Grimm anatomy to a Human body, as seen with Cinder Fall's left arm. However, there are two critical weaknesses to those who undergo such a process. First, Aura cannot protect the Grimm component due to retaining the Grimm's soulless nature. Second, the graft recipient is vulnerable to the power of the Silver-Eyed warriors due to the Grimm's weakness to their power. Such a graft recipient is also afforded several abilities. One ability is the power to forcibly absorb and potentially assimilate the powers of a Maiden. Another is the power of elasticity, which Cinder Fall was able to use by extending her left arm several meters while still appearing to maintain physical strength.

The graft recipient also appears to "bleed" from the Grimm component in the form of black smoke when it is severed or cut, the same way a true Grimm does. Furthermore, Cinder was capable of feeling intense pain when exposed to the flash of Ruby's silver eyes and when a glass fragment pierced her arm in her duel with Raven Branwen. Given Salem's ability to modify the bodies of Grimm through magic, it is likely that this is the primary means by which the graft is created and attached to the host. Salem is also able to control a grafted Grimm component as if it were any other Grimm. She was known to use this to punish Cinder by inflicting agonizing pain on the latter's Grimm arm.

The Schnee Dust Company managed to create an Arma Gigas by putting a mutated form of a Geist in a copy of Nicholas Schnee's armor.

### Salem’s Children

Upon gaining access to the Relic of Creation, Salem experimented with creating other beings similar to herself, known as “Salem’s Children”. These beings retain her Grimm-like appearance, along with her connection to Grimm, along with the benefit of an Aura and Semblance.

They are still weak to Dust, as well as the effects of Silver Eyes.

There are currently 5 known Children:

* Shiro
* Kuro
* Haiiro
* Asteria
* Omaira

### Mutant Grimm

There exists a group of Grimm that have been genetically modified to be superior to even Alpha Grimm in every way. They posess powers like exploding and creating waves of crystal-like bone spikes. Unlike all other Grimm, their eyes, markings and inside of their bodies were green instead of red. Their spikes took on an appearance similar to glowing green crystals.

Currently, there are 48 Mutant Variants of the Grimm on the server.

## Grimm Species

### Lightning-In-My-Hand’s Grimm

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### Blue-Heart’s Grimm

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### Other Grimm

* **Dromedon** - A camel-like Grimm that can spit acidic venom. Fox Alistair battles one in Feldspar. They are shown to have armored humps.
* **Jackalope** - A huge rabbit-like Grimm with black fur, branching red and white antlers and powerful hind legs. A Jackalope is encountered by Velvet Scarlatina in Feldspar in “RWBY: After the Fall”. They later make a return in *RWBY: Before the Dawn* when Coco Adel and Carmine Esclados face a pair of them.
* **Ziraph** - A three-headed Grimm that resembles a giraffe. Their bodies are covered in red spots that bear resemblance to a leopard's. Each head has two horns. They are described as being five stories tall and having razor-like plates on their four legs as well as long tongues which they use to ensnare people and swallow them whole. They are so powerful that it took the entirety of Team CFVY to defeat one of them.
* **Owl Grimm** - Owl Grimm are described in *RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant* in the story "*The Warrior in the Woods",* in which three owls attack a boy in a forest, only to be saved by a warrior woman. The story's animated adaptation depicts them with a similar appearance to Nevermores, though it is unknown if they are a separate species from Nevermores or not.
* **Lagartodiles** – Fearsome Grimm described as living in the swamps of Mistral by Bartholomew Oobleck in *RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant*.
* **Grendels** – Fierce Grimm described as living in the swamps of Mistral by Bartholomew Oobleck in *RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant*.
* **Long Tongues** – Poisonous Grimm described as living in the swamps of Mistral by Bartholomew Oobleck in *RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant*.
* **Whisps** – Tricky Grimm described as living in the swamps of Mistral by Bartholomew Oobleck in *RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant*.
* **Capybara** - A large, rat-like Grimm from Menagerie with no connection to the animal of the same name. They make an appearance in *RWBY: Roman Holiday*.
* **Drake** - A large, Wyvern-like terrestrial Grimm described in the "RWBY: Official Manga Anthology#Vol. 4: I Burn", which is mostly non-canon. As yet, they have only been seen in a dream sequence so whether this is an existing species or merely a figment of Yang's imagination is unconfirmed.
* **Berserker** - A hairy, bipedal, mammalian Grimm described in the "Vol. 2: Mirror Mirror", which is mostly non-canon. Similar to Creeps, they appear to lack an animal equivalent.
* **Theropod Grimm** - A theropod, dinosaur-like Grimm which first appears in *RWBY 6*. This Grimm is shown to have a body resembling a three-headed tyrannosaur and having horns on its white face mask. It is seen in Menagerie, being quickly dispatched by Blake and Sun Wukong.
* **Combat Ready Grimm** - Unidentified Grimm resembling a Beowolf with elements of a Leviathan appears on the Grimm Portal objective card in *RWBY: Combat Ready*. Whether it is a unique Grimm or an artistic representation of a Beowolf is unclear.
* **DC Grimm** - Unidentified Grimm resembling a Beowolf or Ursa summoned by Weiss Schnee in the RWBY Comic which may have been an artistic representation of a Beowolf or Ursa rather than a unique species. Another Grimm with less discernible features was shown, although it was likely the same Grimm in the process of materializing.
* **Shark Grimm** - Seen on a poster in "Strings".
* **Grimm Puppy** - Seen in "Vol. 5: Shine", which is mostly non-canon. It resembles a wolf or husky puppy. Whether it is meant to be a young or infant version of a Beowolf or a unique species is unknown.

## Notable Characters

### God of Darkness

The God of Darkness is one of the two Gods who created Remnant and the originator of the Grimm.

Initially, he created the Grimm in order to counteract the creations of the God of Light. However, the two eventually settled their differences and created Humanity together. Following this, the Grimm were largely kept confined to the Land of Darkness. In the tale *The Two Brothers*, it is revealed that the God of Darkness cared for the Grimm, as after his truce with his brother, he chose to live in the Land of Darkness among his own creations as opposed to anywhere else.

Following the Gods' departure from Remnant, the Grimm were left to roam the planet until eventually they came under the control of Salem.

### Salem

Salem is the primary antagonist of *RWBY* and the current master of the Grimm. She is the last living member of the original Humanity and was cursed with immortality by the Gods. She tried ending her life by jumping into the Grimm Pool in the Land of Darkness, but instead was physically altered and gained the power to control the Grimm.

She can affect the physiology of Grimm and mutate them and is even capable of grafting Grimm body parts to a Human's body. She causes Beringels to sprout wings in "Our Way" and gives Cinder Fall a Shadow Hand to replace her missing arm. In addition, she has the ability to summon multiple Shadow Hands on command as seen in "So That's How It Is". Her preferred method is using them to restrain her opponents.

She is also capable of creating Grimm hybrids, as was the case with The Hound, who was shown to have a Faunus as its core, most notably with a Silver Eye.

### Merlot

Doctor Merlot is the main antagonist of the video game RWBY: Grimm Eclipse and founder of Merlot Industries, a research and development corporation based out of the ill-fated settlement at Mountain Glenn. At some point, Merlot gained an unhealthy obsession towards the Creatures of Grimm, believing them to be a "superior species" and that due to their "unbridled raw aggression and lack of sentience" they would make "the perfect vessel".

His corporation began performing experiments on Grimm, research which Merlot believed was vital to the future of Remnant. However, when they began running out of specimens to experiment on, they started attracting Grimm to the city in order to acquire more, with disastrous results. After the fall of Mountain Glenn, Doctor Merlot was presumed dead.

However, Merlot, in fact, survived the destruction of Mountain Glenn and transferred his operation to a highly remote island at an unknown location, and continued his experiments at his new secret laboratory, creating the mutant Grimm using his serum, a glowing green substance.

## Hybrids

### Cinder Fall

Cinder Fall is an antagonist in *RWBY* and a member of Salem's Inner Circle. She used a Beetle Grimm to steal the power of the Fall Maiden, but after getting severely damaged by Ruby Rose's usage of Silver Eyes, she had her entire left arm replaced with a Shadow Hand. Her arm is capable of slashing, stretching, channeling magic and directly absorbing Maiden powers. Because of its Grimm nature it is incapable of channeling Aura, making it vulnerable to direct damage.

### The Hound

The Hound was a Grimm hybrid created by Salem using an unnamed Silver-Eyed Faunus. It was smarter than any other known Grimm and capable of changing its form to suit its needs. Known forms include a humanoid form, a canine form and a winged form. It was also capable of creating a third hand out of its back. It was partially resistant to Silver Eyes, possibly because of its hybrid nature, but was damaged as a result of the attack. The Hound was the first Grimm shown to be capable of speaking the Human language due to how it was created. It was later killed and left behind the corpse of the Faunus as it died.

## Trivia

### Behind the Scenes

* The name for the creatures of Grimm may be a reference to the Brothers Grimm and *Grimms' Fairy Tales,* a famous classic collection of German fairy tales compiled by the brothers. Notable stories include "Little Red Riding Hood", "Snow White" and "Hansel and Gretel", all of which serve as inspiration for *RWBY* characters.
	+ In "The Lost Fable", Jinn refers to the Grimm as "The Brother's Grimm", pronounced the same as "The Brothers Grimm", strengthening the allusion.
	+ Additionally, the word Grimm is German for fury, wrath, fierceness or grim.
* Different parts of Remnant have different species of Grimm. The crew stated that they try to theme the Grimm based on the location they are found. The icy continent of Solitas features Grimm based on prehistoric and ice age animals.
* Miles Luna has compared the Grimm to Pokémon, stating that some will pop up in every region while others are region-specific.
* According to the Volume 3 DVD Directors' Commentary, the ability of the Wyvern to spawn Grimm offers a sneak peek towards their creation. Later it was shown that Grimm spawn from dark Grimm pools in the Land of Darkness.
* An early idea for Grimm involved the people of Remnant bottling the Grimm oil and selling it on the black market. This essence could be used on animals to "Grimm-ify" them or be used on two creatures to create a hybrid.
* On May 21st, 2020, Rooster Teeth Productions and Full Sail University announced a collaboration for the production of Volume 8. Full Sail University students and graduates were given exclusive opportunities to design a Grimm that would be featured in Volume 8. The RWBY animation team would select the top five submissions for Rooster Teeth fans to vote on, with the contest ending on June 21st, and voting starting on July 7th and ending on July 12th, 2020. Following controversy surrounding one of the finalist designs, Rooster Teeth released a statement addressing the concern over the creature's design, clarifying it was not the artist's intent to be insensitive, and instead compensated both the artist and another who dropped out of the contest during that time. Ultimately, the Sulfur Fish was chosen as the winner of the competition, set to debut in Volume 8. They first appeared in "War".
* All of the Grimm creatures' vocal sound effects are done by William Orendorff, the voice actor of Hazel Rainart.

### Biology

* When injured or killed, Grimm emit smoke, similar to how Humans and Faunus bleed. If they are killed, they don't leave behind a corpse.
	+ The only exception to this was the Hound which left behind the body of the Faunus used as it's core after it was killed.
* The Hound was the only Grimm that was capable of speaking the Human language due to how it was created.
* In the manga, the Arma Gigas is described as being a Possession-type Grimm, having been created by amalgamating several different species of Grimm.