Shopkeep

—Shopkeep, pleading with Roman Torchwick

**Overview**
Image Gallery

## ???

The **Shopkeep** is a character from *RWBY* who is the owner of the Dust shop From Dust Till Dawn. He first appears in "Ruby Rose", when his dust shop is robbed by Roman Torchwick and several Henchmen.

He is shown to own at least two shops: From Dust Till Dawn and A Simple Wok. He also mans a noodle stall at Vytal Festival fairgrounds.

## Appearance

The Shopkeep is an elderly, balding, gray-haired man with wrinkles under his eyes and over his brow. Typically, he wears a green shirt with a red apron and gray pants.

Being older, he appears to have trouble moving around and moves sluggishly, occasionally being hunched over. His eyes always seem to be closed but he can still see.

## Personality

In his first appearance, the Shopkeep shows little interest in conflict. He is timid when Torchwick and his men arrive, offering to let them take his money if they just leave. The man is very helpful, apparently taking part in preparations for the Vytal Festival and freely offering Emerald Sustrai directions to Tukson's Book Trade.

However, his helpful nature also makes him easy to take advantage of, as evidenced when Emerald pickpocketed him, despite his help. Given that he is seen driving an armored car for his Dust shop, the Shopkeep can be assumed to have a considerable work ethic, despite his age.

## History

During an attempted Dust robbery, the shop owner is held at gunpoint by one of Roman's henchmen. The Shopkeep tells them to take his Lien and go, but they instead only steal his Dust. One of the henchmen makes the mistake of trying to rob Ruby Rose as she's reading, but she knocks him out the front window and defeats the rest of Roman's men. When Roman tries to escape however, Ruby checks with the Shopkeep to make sure he is fine before pursuing Roman.

Later on, while his shop is under repair, the Shopkeep is seen assisting with the Vytal Festival setup by helping hoist a large banner in the center of town, while Team RWBY stroll pass, admiring the decorations.

A few months after the robbery, the Shopkeep reopens his store. While putting up a banner, he falls from the stepladder and Emerald helps him up. She asks for directions to Tukson's Book Trade and the Shopkeep points her in the right direction. She thanks him before leaving but, unbeknownst to him at the time, she took his wallet.

Sometime later when making a Dust delivery, Ruby falls into the road and the Shopkeep is unable to stop in time. Penny Polendina pushes Ruby out of the way and manages to stop the truck with her bare hands. She checks to make sure he is uninjured before fleeing the scene.

That night, after Sun and Neptune are knocked off the freeway by an Atlesian Paladin-290, the two are seen at a noodle shop, A Simple Wok, operated by the Shopkeep.

After their match, Team RWBY visits a noodle stall manned by the Shopkeep at the Vytal Festival fairgrounds after their first successful match of the tournament. Ruby and Yang Xiao Long both order the regular, and while Weiss Schnee attempts to order a low-salt option, she is served the same bowl of noodles. Blake gives the Shopkeep a knowing nod, and he hastily returns with a bowl full of fish. Weiss attempts to pay for the meal, but her credit card is declined. Luckily, Team JNPR arrives and Pyrrha Nikos pays for their meal.

He is later seen in his noodle stall at the fairgrounds watching Cinder's broadcast after the fight between Pyrrha and Penny.

## Powers and Abilities

The Shopkeep seems to be extremely talented when it comes to working. He operates (and possibly owns) multiple storefronts, fills a bowl of fish for Blake after she requests it in under 3 seconds, has the strength to throw credit cards like knives and embed them into a wooden surface, and has proven his dexterity by stacking large bowls above his head.

## Trivia

* The Shopkeep is similar to the cabbage merchant from *Avatar: The Last Airbender*, a character whose appearances involve a running gag of his shops getting destroyed.
* The Shopkeep appears in the first episode of each volume of the Beacon Arc.
* In *RWBY Chibi*, the running gag of the Shopkeep operating multiple businesses continues. He is shown owning an arcade, army and police surplus supply stores, and a motorcycle store called Easy Riders. He also works as a janitor at Beacon Academy with access to the Super Secret Vault, as a security officer at the airport, and as a dry cleaner.