Huntsmen Association

A **Huntsman/'***Huntress'* or **Hunter**is an individual trained to fight against the Grimm in defense for mankind and other sorts of threats to the world. Some are motivated by a sense of responsibility while others can be trained by their families who have been Hunters before them. Others may hold a personal vendetta against the Grimm while others hold a deep sense of justice. Regardless of the motivation, a Hunter is defined by a willingness to risk one's safety and life without expectation of a reward and the sacrifice sometimes they have to make to protect others. Usually, they are collectively referred to as the **Huntsman Association**

## History

While it has been said that the first generation of Hunters began with the Emperor during the time of Feudal Japan  there have been those who claim that Hunters have existed before recorded time. The history of these great warriors can be divided into four current 'Ages'. The first age is the Age of the Forgotten World, the time before the Grimm marked by first rising of the Human race and fall of several civilizations. Strange ruins have been discovered from these times that have no connection with any known Human, Faunus, or even possibly ancient Mobian civilizations.

The second is the Age of Darkness when the Grimm first rose up and spread across the world, attempting to destroy mankind and all of its creation. These were dark times as the Grimm were believed to be unstoppable. It was at that time that mankind was scattered, struggling to survive against the Grimm Horde. Some opted to fight, others opted to flee often by the sea while some even tried to go literally underground to escape the creatures of darkness and evil.

   The third is known as the Age of the Warriors as the Emperor sent his best warriors and advisers who had been trained to awaken their Aura across the world to find students and apprentices. They saved thousands of lives and spread their teachings. Soon enough the hunted became Hunters, fighting back against the Grimm and following them he teachings of their new allies. This age was marked by years of bloodshed and soon enough Faunus and Mobians appeared, fighting against the Grimm as well.

The Grimm was not the only threat, however. Over the years appeared many beings some considered to be demons or even corrupt humans wielding their new powers for their own benefit at the expense of others. These beings came to be known as 'villains' for their attempts at domination and rose Hunters to fight them known as 'heroes'. Since then the battle between these two sides have been recorded in legend in the forms of legendary warriors bringing down evil sorcerers, warlords, demons or monsters and other beings with dreams of domination.

   Then began the Golden Age when great warriors and heroes like Valhallen, Major Glory, Birdman, Blue Falcon and Krunk appeared and became the public face of these heroes and becoming an example to young aspiring Hunters. However, the so-called Golden Age nearly came to an end when political movement in the American government during the twentieth century moved for all Hunters and Huntresses to be drafted and labeled as part of the military to keep them under the control of the government. This caused many Hunters to retire out of fear for their friends and families and thus ended the 'Golden Age' of Huntsman in America.

However, heroes like Major Glory and even retired ones like Phil Ken Sebben were not content to let the Huntsman, only warriors capable of dealing with threats from the shadows vanish and moved to create a special system dedicated to training future Hunters and Huntresses that while was funded by all governments would remain separate from the military and thus prevented the creation of any secret 'Super-Soldiers' that were created by wayward scientists and led to the creation of 'super-villians'. This new system kept the duty of the Huntsman clear: protecting those who could not protect themselves and fight for a better tomorrow.

To ensure these Hunters had the proper training a set of secret academies were set up to properly initiate Hunters who showed the right skills and mindset. The locations of the academy or academies remain a closely guarded secret. Thus began the 'Silver Age of Huntsmen'.

As many Hunters and Huntresses came out of retirement many were soon quick to take important positions like the Sanban family becoming head of the leading Dust producing company in Japan and others taking important positions in America and Britain. Others formed secret branches like the Plumbers to combat non-Grimm threats such as aggressive extraterrestrials and quickly became an example for people to follow. However a major turning point was when the Faunus group known as Saytra was formed in response to the countries that were xenophobic to Faunus and other non-humans such as Mobians and began violent campaigns in response. Though many Faunus communities speak out against the Saytra some consider them to be freedom fighters.

It is at this point it is unknown just how the Silver Age of Huntsmen will impact future generations.

## Training

Training is usually recommended to start at a young age but formal training starts at the age of twelve so as to avoid being labelled as a group that creates child soldiers. There has been word of some wanting to push the age up to fourteen but even then many overprotective parents still label it as a group that lures in and creates child soldiers. Typically the youngest go through combat classes that is often mandatory to the dangerous and unpredictable nature of the Grimm.

In order to apply for a Huntsmen Academy a test is required for the applicants but varies among the academies:

For Nevernest you are required to pass your combat classes, willingness to do community service for at least several months a year since Huntsmen are trained to protect people from danger, basic training in living in the wild, Aura control and a forged weapon with the proper knowledge of how to use it. Nevernest places a heavy emphasis on trust and teamwork, while forging a solid foundation to grow from, often putting the students through heavy training with only a rare few being a live fire exercise all meant to test the strengths and bonds of the teams formed from the initiation test. Nevernest often sends their students on search and retrieve missions within the city limits in the first year and then allowing them out of the city in the second year under the supervision of teacher. It is only third year once a team would be allowed on a mission without supervision but even then it is only allowed when the teacher staff has given approval.

Yamanouchi Academy is different from the other because it follows an 'Escalator System' meaning rather than being a school for one certain level of education, it instead houses all grades from 1st-University separated by Elementary, Junior High, Senior High, and College divisions. With the exception of transferees or the new male students the year before the
series started, this means that there is no need for the traditional Entrance Exams so long as students maintain a respectful grade average. The school likes to promote a healthy fighting spirit in all its students while at the same giving discipline and wisdom to properly mold
 them into the kind of Huntsmen their warrior ancestors would be proud of. It originally began as a temple teaching a secret fighting style but
 has evolved since then, teaching students not only how to be modern Huntsman and Huntresses but also the virtues of Bushido that helped create the first generation of Hunters during the Time of Awakening: Integrity, Respect, Courage, Honor, Compassion, Sincerity and Loyalty.

Lucha Academy in Mexico follows the traditional wrestling code of masked wrestling. Unlike other academies Lucha Academy forbids the use of weaponry, believing that one's own body is the only weapon they need and their traditional teams are often trios, three member teams. The primary fighting style taught here is professional wrestling that more agile and perform more aerial maneuvers than professional wrestlers in other countries, who more often rely on power and hard strikes to subdue their opponents. Their Semblances manifest as signature moves and they are expected to have created such a move in their first year.

SkyFall Academy follows a trend that began after the end of the First Great War which the cost the lives of many, including the heirs of many wealthy families. With such wealth going un-inherited and many wealthy men set about to create a type of Huntsman, especially when the Silver Age of Huntsmen began when the wars ended with the Huntsmen Association independent of the government. The Huntsmen of Skyfall Academy are trained to never jeopardize the lives of the innocent, sacrifice themselves for the good of the mission, and above all else: being a properly dressed gentleman through and through. Just like Nevernest SkyFall places a heavy emphasis on teamwork.

Jade and Outer Haven Academies likes to take in young hunters that shows adequate skills already, enhancing them further either as an individual in the case of Jade Academy or as a team at Outer Haven. Like Nevernest, Outer Haven believes in training its hunters in all aspects, basically 'rebuilding' a hunter from the ground up.

## Huntsmen Class

Due to the power and skills Huntsmen have shown throughout history a tier system was established around the time of the Huntsmen Academies being established. This system has been used in ranking the many Hunters and Huntresses that have walked the world and over the years was updated to include the many feats the most famous Huntsmen have done or the many crimes of ones that have gone rogue.

Ranks:

**Class I Trainee:** This rank describes all young Hunters and Huntresses in training that have yet to attend one a Huntsmen Academy. They are usually trained by veteran Hunters such as a parent or perhaps a teacher in training class.

**Class II Rookie:** This rank describes Hunters and Huntresses that have trained enough to be allowed to enter Huntsmen Academies, having passed all the physical and IQ testing and presented a weapon that they have knowledge on how to use in combat and repair.

**Class III Combatant:** This rank describes Hunters and Huntresses who have completed over a hundred missions in the field. This rank is usually attained during time spent in the academies when students are given missions but will start under the supervision of more experienced teachers until they have shown competence and maturity under pressure.

**Class IV Veteran:** This rank describes Hunters and Huntresses who graduated and attained years of experience, battling Grimm and various rogues. People of this rank are skilled enough to handle missions alone and their experience leads them to be constantly hired by clients both benign and the ones who hire rogues for dirty jobs.

**Class V Elite:** This is the highest and rarest rank in the system, describing Hunters and Huntresses who wield such skill and power that one of them could take on a small army of Grimm or even other Hunters with little effort. An Elite's skill in combat combined with the evolution of their Semblance is what sets them apart from other Huntsmen with a few examples being Scotty Blake of Clan Blake in Scotland, and Joseph 'Dracon' Matthews, otherwise known as the “Dragon of Denver” in America. A rogue Elite's skill is considered an immense threat to any place without Hunters of at least Veteran Rank.

This ranking system applies to all form of skilled fighters, including criminals and rogues along with the usual bounties placed on them depending on the crimes they are accused of.

## Employment

As huntsmen are an independent organisation and don’t take orders from their respective governments, they can earn a pay by taking on assignments, requests, and missions that are usually depend on the level of their skills and reputation. Most common jobs are usually to hunt Grimm, villains, work with heroes and play as bodyguards for certain people. According to Yara, it is not common for Huntsmen to work with agents and many take these jobs from the mayor or the leader of a village such as Phil Ken Sebben who often recruit hunters for the tasks of their skills.

## Teams

### Known Teams

* Team SEKR
* Team SOND
* Team REYN
* Team Go
* Team DNJR

## Huntsman License

Upon graduating a Hunter Academy a Huntsmen license is given to the graduates that cannot be revoked and will allow them to travel anywhere in the world at minimum pay, depending on the severity of their missions but can still be blocked from certain countries labelled 'danger zones' or barred by local governments. The license can allow Hunters to access the Huntsmen website which is closed off from the rest of SkyWeb and can only be accessed through the license or the ten digit code hidden on the Hunter's license that is personalized for each Huntsman and Huntress. If lost or stolen the license cannot be replaced and it cannot be sold since it is worth nothing to anyone besides the Hunter who owns it.

Unfortunately there is a small handful that can find a way around it, such as Motor Ed giving his own personal code and license to his cousin for use of monitoring the Huntsmen website while Shego's own license became useless and disposable when she went rogue. A license contains a special DNA and finger print scanner that allows it to be used only by its owner and supposedly cannot be hacked or altered.

## Notable Hunters

* Dracon - Class V
* Scotty Blake - Class V
* Omnimon - Unclassified, considered Class IV equivalent
* Agunimon - Class II/III
* Major Glory - Class unknown
* Nier - Class IV
* Roland Deschain - Class V
* Takahiro Abe - Class V
* Coop - Unknown, possible Class V
* Shannon Blake
* Jesse McCree
* Pops
* Bunny Bravo
* Ross Noften - Class V
* Yara Quill - Class V
* Erika Ahlberg - Class V
* North - Class V
* Minato Namikaze
* The Shinkalions - Equivalent of Class III or IV

## Background Information

The Huntsman and Huntress is entirely based on the web series *RWBY.*

## Trivia

* The system of the huntsman and huntress may be similar to the Hero associations of Hunter x Hunter, My Hero Academia, and One Punch Man.
* The majority of characters from various animated shows that have been introduced in GrimmFall have been adapted into being Huntsmen and Huntresses.