Raven Branwen

*This article is about the **Raven Branwen** character. For articles that share the same name, see Raven.*

## Professional Status

### Occupation

Spring Maiden
Bandit
Huntress (Formerly)

### Team

**STRQ*** Summer Rose †
* Taiyang Xiao Long
* Qrow Branwen

### Powers and abilities

Kindred Link
Swordsmanship
Combat prowess
Flight
Pyrokinesis
Cryokinesis
Electrokinesis
Anemokinesis
Strength
Speed
Durability
Bird transformation

## Voice Actors

### English

Anna Hullum

**Raven Branwen** (レイヴン・ブランウェン, *Reivan Buranwen*) is the mother of Yang Xiao Long, the older twin sister of Qrow Branwen and the estranged wife of Taiyang Xiao Long. Her weapon of choice is Omen, a sword with a rotary chamber filled with six types of Dust blades.

She is the leader of the Branwen Tribe as well as a former member of Team STRQ. She is also the current Spring Maiden and had been using her fellow tribe member, Vernal, as a decoy.

## Description

### 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. She is seen wearing 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, and black leather boots beneath them. 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 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.

#### Corvid Form

As a corvid, Raven is similar to her brother's corvid form, only lacking his head feathers. However, befitting her name, she transforms into a raven rather than a crow. This is indicated by their different calls (Qrow's is a harsh caw, whereas Raven's is a deeper croak) and different flight patterns (Qrow tends to flap his wings more, whereas Raven soars).

### 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."

Taiyang states Raven had a very direct approach, and saw traits that their daughter inherited. Taiyang also revealed that Raven had a number of unspecified faults that greatly contributed to the dissolution of Team STRQ.

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.

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 close 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.

## 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 also practiced by Adam Taurus, as seen when she first engages Neo. After her initial attack, she challenges Neo with a more traditional stance, indicating a more intricate fighting style. During her fight with Cinder, she was able to slice in half a massive boulder and use the elemental effect of her ice blade to smoothly slide away from an attack, all within seconds, showing a faster than average reaction time. She allowed Cinder to chase her during the initial stages of their battle, letting her opponent expend energy before launching a counterattack. She also takes to account her surroundings during battle, and often uses what is around to her advantage, such as falling debris.

As a testament to her skills, Raven as a child, with no formal training, was able to get into Beacon through sheer skill, which normally requires several years of training at a combat school to do. She then went on to train directly under Ozpin and became skilled enough that he entrusted her and Qrow with a portion of his power, as well as becoming a part of his inner circle.

It is stated in "Welcome to Haven" that Raven is equally matched with her brother Qrow, although this did not take her Maiden Powers into account. During the one time they were shown fighting each other, Raven had the initiative, forcing Qrow back and landing a kick on him.

### Weapon

*Main article: Omen*
Raven's weapon of choice is **Omen**, a scabbard that has a rotary chamber filled with different types of Dust blades, reminiscent of the Dust vial chamber of Myrtenaster wielded by Weiss Schnee. The blades, when connected with the accompanying handle, are reminiscent of the long-bladed, single-edged ōdachi, or "great sword". 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 scabbard, Raven is able to interchange, or if need be, replace the Dust blade. The blades are telescopic, which allows them to be approximately twice the length of the scabbard. 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. Since they are Dust, she can use them for elemental based attacks.

### Semblance

*Main article: Kindred Link*
 File:V5 11 00009.png
Raven's Semblance, **Kindred Link**, allows her to create portals to instantly travel to people she has a strong emotional connection with and can cover vast distances through them. Raven largely uses this ability to make an exit, rather than for offensive purposes: she has notably 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 and to allow Salem's associates to walk into Haven Academy from her camp. Raven can also allow other people through her portals, as she did with Weiss and Yang, without going through herself or requiring them to be bonded to her, provided they are with- or traveling to- someone she *is* bonded with. To activate the ability, she swings her sword, causing a portal to open a few feet in whatever the direction the blade was swung at, but she is also able to open portals without her sword, such as when she opened one in her bird form. To date, she has bonded with at least four people:

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

## Etymology

* "Branwen" is Welsh, meaning "blessed white raven/crow", which corresponds to her first name. Raven can refer to a 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.

## Trivia

* Raven's character is based on Huginn from Norse mythology.
	+ 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.*
* In Volume 2's post-credits scene, Yang meets Raven, who removes her mask. Raven then tells Yang that they have a lot to talk about, as the screen cuts to black, ending the Volume. However, after the death of series creator Monty Oum and the departure from the previously planned storyline, this scene was later confirmed to not be canon. In continuity, is presumably now a vision or dream.
	+ Presumably Raven was originally meant to take a role similar to Qrow.
* She wears the same necklace as Neopolitan and Coco Adel. Incidentally, she faced off against the former before she retreated.
* Her unofficial theme is "All Things Must Die", which is heard during her fight with Cinder.
* 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 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.
* Going by Yang's age in Volume 8, Raven is at least 39 in the present day; though it's never stated when Raven gave birth.