Raven Branwen

**Raven Branwen** (レイヴン・ブランウェン, *Reivan Buranwen*), is a fictional character and deuteragonist from the *RWBY* series. She is the mother of Yang Xiao Long and is Qrow Branwen's twin sister. She was a member of Team STRQ and is the current leader of the Branwen Tribe. She is also the true Spring Maiden, and had been using her fellow tribe member, Vernal, as a decoy. Her weapon of choice is a sword with a rotary chamber filled with six types of Dust blades. She first appeared in "*No Brakes*".

"*The weak dies. The strong lives. Those are the rules.*"

—Raven, talking to her brother.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice Actor*: Anna Hullum (English), Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (German), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (French), Not Known (Latin American Spanish)

### Appearance

Raven wears a shallow cut black and red dress, five necklaces with an assortment of beads, a red girdle-belt, and a pair of matching gauntlets. She wears gloves in Volume 2, but in Volume 4 onward she wears fingerless gloves.

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 in Volume 2, but in Volume 4 onwards her leggings are solid black. Under her leggings she wears black boots, which have red high heels and soles. Her most distinctive feature is a fearsome, full-face mask that resembles the face of a Creature of Grimm. The mask has four eye slits, further enhancing the character's inhuman appearance.

Under the mask, she looks very similar to Yang, sharing the same facial shape, though her hair is more ravenous and 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 shifts to when enraged. She also wears a red shawl in her hair, along with a strange ornament that looks like curved black feathers.

* Hair Color: Black and Red
* Skin Color: Pale White
* Eye Color: Red
* Age: Not Known
* Birthday: Not Known
* Height: Not Known
* Weight: Not Known

## Personality

During a conversation with Yang, Qrow calls his sister a dangerous person, whose worldview clashes with his own. Nevertheless, in "*No Brakes*", Raven saves Yang's life from Neo but later has Qrow warn her daughter not to expect any "further kindness."

In "*Family*", it is revealed that she has a "survival of the fittest" mentality and, despite having graduated from Beacon Academy as a Huntress, has little issues with taking lives of the innocent or even that of other Huntsmen, 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. Additionally, Raven is a cynic who claims to have foreseen Ozpin's failure to protect Beacon from its destruction. She believes that Ozpin is not the man her daughter thinks he is, and condemns those who trust him, such as Qrow, Ruby, and even Taiyang.

In "*Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back*", Tai reveals Raven was stubborn during her academy days, had a very direct approach and saw strength as all-important in a fight, traits that her daughter inherited. He adds that Raven was ambitious and gave her all to whatever cause she saw as just. Taiyang also revealed that Raven had unspecified faults that greatly contributed to the dissolution of Team STRQ.

Whether or not she is likely to be religious, Raven does believe in the existence of the relics.

Raven has a penchant for patronizing others. She acts condescendingly toward Weiss and Yang in "Known by its Song" and toward Cinder's group in "A Perfect Storm". Raven credits others' success with their relation to her, especially with Yang after she could handle the trap set at Haven Academy.

Raven's intellect and skill is apparently infamous. Cinder states she has heard numerous stories of her strong and clever reputation before trying to rob Vernal's supposed Maiden powers, only to discover Raven had managed to fool her, for she is the true Spring Maiden.

After defeating Cinder in "*Downfall*", Raven shows a softer side, taking the time to closing up the deceased Vernal's eyes and thank her for her service. This side of her is further shown in "*Haven's Fate*", in which she and Yang share an emotional conversation. After Yang calls Raven out for her cowardice in refusing to fight Salem and for showing a callous indifference to her own daughter's well-being, Raven once more begs Yang to stay out of the war against Salem, to which Yang refuses. Raven subsequently breaks down in tears, her love for her daughter finally showing itself. Raven tearfully apologizes to Yang before departing in her corvid form.

## Relationships

### Family

* Qrow Branwen (Twin Brother)
* Taiyang Xiao Long (Former significant other)
* Yang Xiao Long (Daughter)

## Powers and Abilities

Raven possesses great speed in combat, so much so that her attacks are difficult to follow with the naked eye. She shows proficiency in "Iaido", the art of swordsmanship practiced by Adam Taurus, as seen when she first engages Neopolitan. Though after her initial attack, she challenges Neo with a more traditional stance, indicating a more intricate fighting style.

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.

It is stated in "*Welcome to Haven*" that Raven is equally matched with her brother Qrow.

### Abilities

Raven possesses great speed in combat, so much so that her attacks are difficult to follow with the naked eye. She shows proficiency in "Iaido", the art of swordsmanship practiced by Adam Taurus, as seen when she first engages Neopolitan. Though after her initial attack, she challenges Neo with a more traditional stance, indicating a more intricate fighting style.

### Semblance

Raven's Semblance allows her to create portals to instantly teleport to people she has bonded with. While she is never seen using her portals directly for combat, she has used them to teleport to Yang in order to save her from Neo, as well as to leave the bar in Higanbana after talking with Qrow. Raven can also allow other people through her portals, as she did with Weiss and Yang. In each instance, she swings her sword to create the portals.

She has bonded with at least four known people:

* Taiyang Xiao Long
* Qrow Branwen
* Yang Xiao Long
* Vernal

### Transformation

Like her brother, Raven has the ability to transform into a corvid, specifically a raven. This ability was bestowed upon her by Ozpin through magic.

### Maiden Powers

Without knowing that it was his sister, Qrow Branwen deduces that much of the damage wrought in Shion village was caused by the Spring Maiden, exemplifying her destructive utilization of using the Spring Maiden's powers. She is able to generate electricity or a lightning strike in "*Lighting the Fire*", summoning it from the sky like the previous Fall Maiden Amber could. In "*A Perfect Storm*", she is able to summon strong gusts of wind and turn the sky from clear to cloudy in an instant. In both cases, she was able to disguise her power and make it appear that Vernal was performing the feats.

As the Spring Maiden, her power can be used to open the chamber at Haven Academy, which contains the Relic of Knowledge. Her eyes gain a dark red aura when she demonstrates her powers, which is possibly the reason why she wears her Grimm mask often. In "*Downfall*", during Raven's fight with Cinder Fall, she makes use of several different elemental powers. She can generate ice, either by condensing it into weaponry, forming ice spikes or freezing from a distance. She can also generate electricity from her hands, using them to supercharge her weaponry, release it in close ranged strikes, and generate fields of electricity around her. Lastly, she demonstrates the ability to fly.

### Weapons

Raven is armed with a long-bladed, single-edged ōdachi, or "great sword". The weapon's red blade is reminiscent of katanas carried by Junior Xiong's henchmen, as well as Adam Taurus' Wilt. Additionally, the weapon's sheath has a rotary chamber filled with different types of Dust blades, reminiscent of the Dust vial chamber of Weiss Schnee's Myrtenaster.

The blades, when connected with the accompanying handle, are telescopic which allows it to be approximately twice the length of its sheath. Using the handle, Raven is able to wield a variety of different blades, each one possessing a different color and property.

By reattaching the handle to the sheath, Raven is able to interchange, or if need be, replace the Dust blade. The blades are telescopic in nature, which allows them to be approximately twice the length of the sheath. She tends to most often use the blade made of Red Dust, though she has also used others. The colors seen so far in combat include: Red, Blue, Yellow, Gray/Black and Green. The Dust blades, though powerful, can be broken if struck several times or hard enough.

## History

### Past

Both Raven Branwen and her twin brother, Qrow Branwen, were raised in the Branwen Tribe, a group of bandits based in Anima.

When the tribe decided that they needed a force to counter the Huntsmen (the only real threat to their raids), Raven and Qrow were sent to combat school as they were of age. The twins' skills and abilities garnered Ozpin's attention, and they were enrolled to Beacon Academy and were placed on Team STRQ, along with Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long. Ozpin had revealed his secrets of his abilities, his longevity, and Salem's existence to Team STRQ, and had also gave Raven and Qrow the ability to shapeshift into birds to their namsakes. Deciding on investigating on her own, her findings gradually made her become more horrified and disillusioned of the world, and she developed negative conceptions towards Ozpin.

She was once in a relationship with Taiyang and bore him a daughter: Yang Xiao Long. But deciding to stay true to why she became a Huntress, she left for the tribe, not long after Yang's birth, and eventually rose to become its leader, while possibly wanting distance herself from Ozpin. Qrow, however, never returned to the tribe, seeing them as "killers and thieves," and had believed in Ozpin. Raven saw Qrow's desertion as betrayal and his trust in Ozpin foolhardy, and the twins have been feuding with each other ever since.

Approximately seven years later, she met the previous Spring Maiden who abandoned her responsibilities, and accepted her into the tribe. Despite giving her training in her abilities, Raven found her too weak to take advantage of her power, and killed her out of "mercy," inheriting the Maiden powers as a result. Shortly after, she assigns one of her tribesmen, Vernal, to serve as the decoy of her being the Spring Maiden.

## Synopsis

### *RWBY*

#### Mountain Glenn

She makes her debut in the episode "*No Brakes*", where she intervenes in the fight between Yang and Neopolitan, just before Neo could deliver the killing blow on an unconscious Yang. Her mere presence appears to deeply frighten Neo, who immediately breaks off and teleports away. Yang regains consciousness just in time to see her mysterious savior disappear into a red and black rift.

In a post-credits sequence during the Volume 2 finale, "*Breach*", Raven and Yang apparently meet again, this time in front of the main statue at Beacon Academy. When Yang asks her who she is, she tilts her head down and removes her mask, revealing an uncanny facial resemblance to Yang before stating they had much to discuss.

#### Vytal Festival Tournament

After her singles round fight, Yang is visited by Qrow. She mentions that she saw Raven on the train, and Qrow confirms it. Qrow adds that he does not agree with her worldview and calls her dangerous. Nevertheless, he tells Yang information that can help her track Raven down.

#### Meeting in Higanbana

Several months after the fall of Beacon, Raven meets Qrow in a tavern at Higanbana to discuss the whereabouts of a relic and if Salem possesses it. Parts of the siblings' background are revealed during the conversation, including their childhood of being raised by the bandit tribe that caused the recent massacre in Shion village. Raven is still angry at her brother for leaving the tribe, considering them their family. Qrow counters with Yang's situation, saying he is angry at Raven for treating her daughter as if she does not exist. Raven says she leads the tribe now and subtly claims responsibility for Shion. After receiving no answer on the relic, Raven refuses to tell Qrow whether or not she knows where the Spring Maiden is, and she leaves.

#### Raids in Anima

Somewhere near Lake Matsu, Raven and her bandits stumble across a crashed cargo ship and find a weakened and injured Weiss Schnee. Feeling that the girl has great value, Raven knocks Weiss unconscious.

Raven exits her tent in the bandit camp to find her daughter Yang in company. She addresses her with congratulations at first and offers to answer any of Yang's questions. After Yang says she came as a stepping stone to get to Ruby, Raven is disappointed and would rather Yang searched for Ruby directly just as she did for her. She also considers Ruby a lost cause by her relation to Qrow, saying Ozpin is not outwardly truthful or worthy of trust. She leaves the choice to Yang, but she also calls Yang stubborn. Yang's retort leaves Raven to disregard her daughter until Yang and a newly freed Weiss almost fight the entire tribe. Raven accepts the situation and calls the two into her tent to learn "the truth".

Raven tells Yang and Weiss she and Qrow attended Beacon Academy to kill and not become Huntsmen, that Ozpin was very interested in Team STRQ and shared many secrets with them and that there is a being named Salem who leads the Grimm to destroy humanity. When Raven starts insulting Team RWBY, Taiyang and Qrow, Yang angrily yells at her and asks why she left her. Raven does not answer and instead offers to prove the existence of magic. Raven leaves the tent and later transforms away from her namesake bird after saying it is "what Oz did to my brother and me". Raven creates a portal and gives an ultimatum- either Yang and Weiss stay with her and learn more or go to Qrow and Ruby and face what she believes is certain death. Raven is disappointed to hear Yang say all she cares about is Ruby's safety. When Yang and Weiss ride toward the portal, Raven says she will not act kind the next time they meet. After her daughter leaves, she agrees in not having been kind this time either.

#### Dealings with Cinder

One day, Raven is shocked to learn from Vernal that Salem has found them with four of her followers waiting for her: Cinder Fall, Arthur Watts, Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. During their meeting, she keeps a confident persona, orders her tribe to prepare to move and has Vernal display her mastery over the Maiden powers. Though after learning Haven Academy Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart is working for Salem, Raven loses her cool and states her refusal to get caught in the war between Salem and Ozpin.

She struggles to negotiate, and Cinder and Watts pressure her with the White Fang's upcoming attack on Haven. Raven seemingly capitulates, but asks for the death of her brother because he knows her possession of the Spring Maiden would mean she helped Salem. Though she knows Qrow has Yang, Weiss and Ruby with him, she proposes they ambush Qrow while he is alone and retrieve the Relic for Salem.

After Salem’s followers leave, she has Vernal follow them to learn where they are staying. Raven then reveals her plans to take the Relic of Knowledge for herself to ensure the survival of the Branwen tribe. She shapeshifts into her bird form and flies through a portal to Qrow in Mistral.

She's next seen in Headmaster Lionheart's office after he ends with call with Qrow. She learns of his reasons for helping Salem and tells him there is no shame in wanting to survive. Though when asked who she was trying to convince, Raven abruptly makes her way out.

#### Attack on Haven

On the night of the full moon, Raven watches over Lionheart in her avain form as he meets with Qrow and the students. But when Yang spots her and Qrow fires at her, she reveals herself and confirms with her brother that she has the Spring Maiden. But she refuses his demand to work with him and his allies to defeat Salem, as to her, defeating Salem is impossible. She is then approached by Ruby, who reasons that nothing is impossible as long as they work together and asks her to join them. But Raven just comments that the girl is like her mother and allows Cinder to attack her. After the revelation of both Raven and Lionheart’s betrayal, a battle ensues between the heroes and villains with Raven fighting her brother. She states her disappointment in her family and is not surprised when Qrow cuts his family ties with her.

When Qrow moves to protect Oscar Pine from Hazel Rainart, Raven, Vernal and Cinder travel down to the Vault where the Relic is kept. The bandits continuously express lack of excitement at retrieving the Relic, and Cinder walks behind the two as they approach the Relic's chamber. Raven dons her mask and reaches for her weapon, only to be taken by surprise when Cinder freezes her. By the time Raven frees herself, Cinder has taken Vernal down and found no Maiden powers within her. Raven throws off her mask and reveals herself to be the true Spring Maiden.

The former allies begin to fight, and Raven shatters Cinder's sword, a fragment sticking into her Grimm arm. Raven points out it is unprotected by her Aura due to its nature, and the pair quickly resume. As the fighting grows more intense, large stalactites begin falling from above. Raven is caught by Cinder's Grimm arm but sees an opportunity and freezes Cinder's feet to the floor long enough for a falling stalactite to crush her. Raven then leaps onto another stalactite, and Cinder propels up to resume the battle. The pair clash swords repeatedly atop the falling debris, and Raven slowly gains the advantage. Both combatants land hard upon the ground, their Auras badly damaged but Cinder clearly the worse for wear. Raven warns Cinder to watch her back, and her opponent turns and blocks a last ditch effort from Vernal. Seizing the opportunity, Raven gets behind her and uses a lightning-enhanced palm strike, sending Cinder over the edge of the walkway. Raven encases her in ice for good measure as Cinder falls into the abyss, defeated.

Raven thanks Vernal for her last act of service, closes her eyes and proceeds toward the Vault door. She places her hand upon it, and it opens moments later, revealing the Relic of Knowledge beyond. As she nears the Vault, she hears a gunshot behind her. Raven turns around and glares to see Yang on the other end of the walkway.

Raven tells Yang it was not personal for her to lead Yang into the trap in Haven and admits to opening the Relic's chamber. Yang asks what happened to the previous Spring Maiden, and Raven is dismissive, leading Yang to realize Raven killed her. Raven says she could not learn and would be hunted her entire life and that she killed her out of mercy. Yang asks why Raven led her and her friends into the trap and concludes Raven is not strong for putting others into conflict instead of herself. Yang uses this logic to persuade Raven to let her take the Relic. Raven is enraged at her accusations at first, but later realizes that Yang is serious about taking the Relic and facing Salem. She tries to persuade her daughter not to do something she wishes not to, but to no avail. After she is shoved aside, Raven tearfully apologizes and travels through a portal to Taiyang, leaving the Relic for her daughter.

## Battles

### Canon

* Raven vs. Neopolitan (Won; enemy withdrew)
* Raven vs. Qrow (Interrupted)
* Raven vs. Cinder (Won)

## External links

* Raven Branwen *Wikipedia*
* Raven Branwen *RWBY Wiki*

## Notes & Trivia

*For information on her character allusion and other choices for the character made by the creators, see Raven Branwen/Behind the Scenes*.

* *Branwen* is Welsh, meaning "blessed white raven/crow", which corresponds to her first name. Raven can also refer to as a certain number of bird species in the genus *Corvus*, or in reference to the color black.
	+ As well as the fact that their first names, Raven and Qrow (crow), are both black birds in the genus *Corvus*. Specifically, ravens are a type of crow.
	+ During the scene where Yang talks about her search for Raven and being saved by her uncle Qrow in "Burning the Candle", the text on the chalkboard (enlarged) is an extract from a poem about Huginn and Muninn, two ravens from Norse mythology. The text supposedly reads:
	+ :*Hugin and Munin fly each day over the spacious earth.*
	+ :*I fear for Hugin, that he not come back, yet more anxious am I for Munin.*
* She wears the same necklace as Neo and Coco Adel.
* Her mask appears to be a more elaborately-styled version of the Grimm Masks worn by the White Fang.
	+ Notably, her mask and feathered hair give her an appearance markedly similar to a Nevermore, likely referencing her name.
* The red and black portal that Raven uses is visually similar to the one created by Cinder's glove in "Beginning of the End". A similar looking portal is seen in both the Volume 1 and Volume 3 Opening animations.
* Since Yang never mentions actually meeting Raven during her conversation with Qrow, it can be assumed that the post credit scene in Volume 2 is some kind of dream or vision.