Adam Taurus

### Occupation

High Leader of the White Fang (formerly, excommunicated)Head of the Vale branch of the White Fang (formerly)

Member of Cinder's Faction

Mercenarie

### Powers/Skills:

Wilt and BlushEnergy absorption

Hand-to-hand combat skills

Mastery of tactics

Leadership

Intelligence

Physical strength

Superhuman speed

Superhuman agility

Superhuman durability

### Hobby

Planning.Tormenting and antagonizing Blake.

Commanding the White Fang group and his subordinates.

Leading the White Fang.

Swearing vengeance on Blake.

Tormenting Yang both physically and mentally.

### Goals

Subjugate humanity (ultimately failed).Seek revenge on Blake for her desertion (failed).

Overthrow Sienna Khan and become High Leader (succeeded).

Destroy Haven Academy.

Assassinate the Belladonna family (both failed).

### Crimes

TerrorismMass murder

Destruction

Conspiracy

Usurpation

Mutilation

Torture

Stalking

“ What you want is impossible! But I understand because all I want is you, Blake. And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love. (Yang: Blake!, Blake where are you?!) Starting with her. „ ~ Adam Taurus to Blake Belladonna.

“ We can win a war against the humans. Not only because we have the support of Hazel's master, but because the Faunus are the dominant species of this planet. We're better than humans. We have everything humans have and more. Humans shouldn’t just fear the Faunus, they should serve the Faunus. „ ~ Adam expressing his goal.

“ People hurt me long before we met... All sorts of people in all sorts of ways... but no one hurt me quite like you...You didn't leave scars, you just left me alone. So... tell me, Blake... how does it feel to be alone? „ ~ Adam revealing his need for vengeance against Blake to her.

**Adam Taurus** is a major antagonist in the American animated webseries *RWBY*. He is a Faunus and a high-ranking member, later High Leader, of the White Fang. He seeks his own twisted view of justice for the Faunus, working as a terrorist to ensure the subjugation or eradication of humanity. He is also the mentor and ex-lover of Blake Belladonna.

He was voiced by Garrett Hunter.

## Appearance

Adam appears as a young adult male with red hair, his Faunus trait appears to be a pair of dark bull horns in his hair. His original outfit consists of black paints with black and red shoes, a red shirt under a black jacket with his symbol on the back and black gloves. Like almost all White Fang members, Adam wears a Grimm mask however his has red markings on it (though in his character short it was revealed that it did not originally have these markings). Following the timeskip after the fall of Beacon Adam's outfit changes to a black and gray shirt with zippers, the shirt also retains his symbol on the back, he retains the black gloves, black pants and the black and red shoes as well as his mask. However, his pants are lined with belts with what appears to be some sort of flag or sash held between two of them. Following Adam's exile from the White Fang he throws his mask away and replaces it with a black blindfold and in the episode "Argus Limited" he is shown wearing a black cloak while aboard the train. During his Fight with Blake in the outskirts of Argus he removes his blindfold revealing a normal looking right eye with a blue pupil while his left eye is red with a grey pupil, there is also a Schnee Dust Company (S.D.C) brand over his left eye (likely hinting that he was once used as Faunus labor).

## Personality

“ At first, I thought Adam was justice. Then, I thought he was passion. But over time, I realized I was wrong. He wasn't any of those things. He was spite - not hatred, not rage, spite. He won't accept equality, only suffering for what he feels the world did to him. And his way of thinking is dangerously contagious. „ ~ Blake to Sun Wukong, about Adam in "Necessary Sacrifice".

Blake describes him as feeling completely justified in how he went about making the world a better place. However, his vision for a perfect future did not include everyone, and Blake began to believe that Adam himself was becoming a monster in the process of trying to obtain it. Unlike Blake, he is shown to have little regard for the lives of innocent people, as he planned to blow up the train with everyone on board.

In "Beginning of the End", he takes his cause, and the lives of his underlings seriously, rejecting Cinder Fall's initial offer of an alliance, citing the unnecessary risk of dying for a human cause. It is also hinted that he dislikes Huntsmen, sardonically stating she could have gone to one who strayed from their "righteous path". However, after Cinder arrives a second time, this time with an offer of Dust and Lien as well as a dangerous death threat, Adam begrudgingly accepts her terms. Furthermore, in "The Next Step", Salem states that Adam has proven to be extremely loyal to her cause.

In "Heroes and Monsters", Adam's ruthless personality comes to light. He is revealed to be an embittered, unsympathetic, sadistic and cruel man, willing to cut down any opposition towards his twisted ideas of justice being dispensed upon humanity. He takes great pleasure in tormenting Blake, taunting her by calling her "darling" or "my love" and ultimately promising to destroy everything she loves as punishment for her betrayal of the White Fang and, by extension, him. He exhibits extremely possessive and violent behavior.

He is also extremely callous and merciless towards his enemies, slicing off Yang Xiao Long's arm with ease when she rushes him and even attempting to decapitate Blake when she appeared to stand between him and a crippled Yang. This characteristic is implied once more in "Of Runaways and Stowaways", when Lisa Lavender reports that all attempts to apprehend him are met with brutal force.

Adam has also proven to be highly ambitious and purposeful, as shown when he discloses to Sienna Khan, the White Fang's High Leader, that he wishes to start a war with humanity and enslave them, before usurping and killing her within the same moment. He expresses delight in taking over and feels no remorse in killing Sienna for it, something Hazel berates him for.

Fennec Albain has noted that Adam's behavior has become increasingly impulsive and unstable in his obsession to punish Blake Belladonna for her perceived betrayal of the White Fang. This was observed when he ordered the assassination of her parents despite the possibility of it alienating the citizens of Menagerie against his leadership due to her father Ghira Belladonna's position as Chieftain of the small nation state.

When Adam is confronted by his plans failing with Blake assembling her own army of Faunus to stop him along with getting the Mistral Police Department to aid her, Adam breaks down into anger and attacks Blake without any plan for concentration and even orders his men to fire on the crowd despite being outnumbered showing how Adam is too arrogant to admit defeat and would rather die fighting when he tried detonating the explosives knowing that he would be killed in the process.

In "Haven's Fate", Adam is revealed to show signs of egomania, narcissism, and/or arrogance when he bragged on how Blake needed others to fight for her, but was shocked and outraged when she said that she only came to Haven for her friends and not him. Adam lashed out and when he saw that his entire plan had failed, he fled Haven Academy to avoid capture in the same way Blake ran away when Beacon Academy had fallen. Blake let him run to make him know how it feels to run away and Ilia said that Adam's retreat would lead to his downfall revealing that he isn't the rightful leader to the White Fang and that he'd lose all of his allies due to his volatile nature.

In his Character Short, it is revealed that Adam was shown to originally be a righteous warrior who was honestly fighting to make life better for the Faunus, when he accidentally killed a racist that was about to attack Ghira, he did show remorse over the act, and expressed shock when his comrades hailed him as a hero. It's revealed that it was through Sienna Khan's influence that Adam began killing more frequently and willingly.

As revealed in "The Lady in the Shoe", Adam's obsession is due to the fact that in his eyes, she hurt him more than any Human ever did. As instead of leaving scars, she left him alone in the world (hinting to a lonely childhood) and his goal was to make her feel that exact same emotion. In "Seeing Red", Adam's obsessive need for revenge becomes his downfall. As despite losing Wilt, exhausted, outnumbered and his Aura shattered, he still tries to kill Blake out of sheer spite, leading her and Yang to finally kill him in self-defense.

## Background

“ Adam Taurus used to gaze up at the sky with bright blue eyes whenever he could, between shifts in the dust mines, dreaming of the day he would leave the tunnels behind to find his place. But what he found instead... was himself on the ground at the three letters that damned him now and forever. Scarred. Despised. Cold. (SDC) Adam's heart grows black, his hatred red hot. The final traces of love, the beauty he let go, never returns, and as the last petal falls, Adam is cursed to forever remain a beast. Because in this tale as old as time, there is no happy ending.

In this story... HE is the monster. „

~ Adam's backstory in his Info Card in Amity Arena.

Little is known of Adam's history, but at some point in his life, Adam was part of the Faunus labour force that served the Schnee Dust Company. At some point during his service, he was branded with the SDC logo on his face, scarring him and possibly blinding him in his left eye. Possibly fueled by this inhumane treatment, Adam ended up joining the White Fang. Sometime after he joined, he became the mentor of Blake Belladonna, teaching her much of what she knows in the art of battle, eventually, they became lovers.

As shown by the "*RWBY* Volume 6: Adam Character Short", he served under Blake's father Ghira Belladonna back when he was High Leader of the White Fang. The organization was, at that point, operating in a moral grey zone and falling quickly. When a White Fang group was passing through a wooded area, local xenophobic humans attacked them. Forced to defend themselves, Adam attacked the locals, but when one was about to attack Ghira, Adam accidentally killed him with his semblance. However, Adam was shocked when fellow comrade Sienna Khan and the rest of the group (with the exception of Ghira), started praising him as a hero.

Sometime later, Adam confronted Blake on a rooftop and tried explaining that the death was an accident. Blake however, reminded him that this wasn't the first time Humans had perished on missions he'd led and wondered how many more would die. Adam told her he didn't know and asked if she was about to abandon the White Fang like her parents (at this point, Ghira had stepped down and given leadership to Sienna) did, causing her to deflate. Adam, realizing he'd spoken out of line, apologized and revealed that he was worried she'd lost faith in him. After Blake reassured him that he still did, Adam thanked her and expressed his relief that he still had her by his side.

Sometime later, Adam, Sienna and Ilia Amitola attacked a SDC location. After slicing up the the Atlesian-Knight 130's, they were confronted by Human security. After one of the guards threw a smoke grenade, Adam and Sienna started killing the guards. Just as Adam was about to finish the last (with a smile) Sienna told him they needed to press forward, staying his hand.

Not long after, Adam, Sienna and Ilia Amitola attacked a Schnee Dust Company building in an act of terrorism and battled the guards and Atlas soldiers. Adam and Sienna overpowered them, with Adam taking sadistic glee in his attacks and even preparing to kill a guard he had already incapacitated.

Later, pleased with Adam's work, Sienna sent Adam to Vale to make him the leader of the faction operating there.

Some time later, Adam is approached at his campground by Cinder Fall and her subordinates Emerald and Mercury; who proposes an alliance that she believes would benefit both their groups. Adam immediately rejects her proposal, refusing to sacrifice his men for a "human" cause, and orders them to leave. Following their departure, Blake approaches Adam and asks him what they were discussing. Adam assures her it's unimportant and tells her they must focus on preparing for the upcoming train heist.

### "Black" Trailer

In the "Black" Trailer, Adam and Blake leap onto the roof of the train and infiltrate their way inside; only to find themselves surrounded by a squad of Atlesian Knight-130s. Adam's katana, Wilt, shoots out of his sheath/gun Blush and hits one of the androids in the head, stunning it as he rushes forward and grabs his sword, before cutting it to pieces. The rest of the androids charge in to attack Blake and Adam, but the two easily defeat them as they make their way through the train and enter a cargo hold. Adam looks inside one of the crates and tells Blake to move up to the next car while he sets the charges, having found the target. Blake asks about the people on the train, but Adam shows no concern for them; shocking Blake.

Just then a Spider Droid lowers itself from the ceiling and attacks the pair. The two unsuccessfully fight the droid and Adam is forced to save Blake when she is about to be stepped on. The droid then fires a large blast that knocks both Adam and Blake onto a flatbed car. Adam tells Blake to keep it distracted while he prepares for an attack. Blake fights it off, but retreats behind Adam when the droid charges for an attack. Adam uses his sword to stop the blast, seemingly absorbing the energy from it, which he then uses to destroy the droid.

When Adam turns around, however, he sees Blake on the next car, and the latter says goodbye to her former partner before separating the cars; abandoning the White Fang.

Following Blake's desertion, Adam decides to cease pursuit of her and put his focus on returning to Mistral. However, he is interrupted by Cinder Fall and her subordinates slaughtering all the White Fang members in the encampment. Cinder reiterates her request for an alliance, offering Dust and funding to continue his operations, and threatens him with death should he reject it again. Seeing no other choice, Adam is forced to accept the arrangement.

### Volume 2

In "Breach", Adam is seen conversing with Cinder Fall, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black following the Grimm invasion in Vale. Mercury expresses doubt that the White Fang will listen to them again after the losses they suffered, but Adam reassures the trio that the organization will listen to him.

### Volume 3

In "PvP", Adam is seen in a Bullhead leading the White Fang in their assault on Beacon Academy. Adam orders his troops to bring the humans to their knees before unleashing captive Grimm into the school.

In "Battle of Beacon", Adam ruthlessly tosses aside an Atlas Soldier in Beacon's dining hall when he notices Blake, whom he mockingly calls "his darling".

In "Heroes and Monsters", Adam is seen standing atop an Atlas student, asking Blake if she plans to run away again and accusing her of becoming a coward. He lectures Blake about how he wanted to "light the fires of revolution" with her, before unsheathing his katana and preparing to kill the student, though Blake intervenes and stops Adam's attack; declaring that she's not running this time. However, Adam proceeds to kick her away and disarm her, stating that although her dreams of equality and peace between Faunus and Humans are impossible, he understands Blake because all he wants is to be with her; something that is also impossible. He threatens to have his revenge on Blake by destroying everything that she loves – starting with a nearby Yang Xiao Long.

Adam baits Yang by stabbing Blake in the abdomen and provoking her into an angry charge. He then immediately intercepts Yang's attack and severs her arm with his katana. Approaching Yang to finish her off, Blake crawls in between them to protect her. Adam bemoans how Blake continues to hurt him before decapitating her – only to discover she had used her Semblance to distract him while she escaped with Yang. He calmly disposes of an attacking Creep before leaving the area.

### Volume 4

Months after the Fall of Beacon, Adam is identified as one of the perpetrators and is reported to have resisted apprehension with lethal force.

In "The Next Step", during a meeting between Salem and her followers, she sends Hazel Rainart to meet with the current High Leader of the White Fang, Sienna Khan, and ensure that they fall in line. Adam arranged the meeting and Salem praises his actions as showing his loyalty to her cause.

In "Family", Adam appears in one of Yang's post traumatic stress-induced nightmares, stalking her and eventually attacking.

In "Taking Control", after searching through Ilia Amitola's scroll, Blake finds files showing that Adam actually plans to overthrow Khan and take over the White Fang, as well as destroy Haven Academy.

### Volume 5

In "Dread in the Air", during the meeting between Hazel and Sienna Khan, Adam makes good on his plans and launches a coup. Moments before killing Sienna, Adam reveals his true ambitions of starting a war against humanity and seeking to have them enslaved in service of the Faunus. He then betrays Sienna and kills her, usurping her position as the new High Leader of the White Fang.

After taking over as High Leader, Adam sits on the throne and orders his men to give their former leader a proper burial; as well as to claim Sienna had been murdered by a human Huntsman. He plans to use her as a martyr to justify increased terrorism and violence by the White Fang against humanity. Hazel walks out saying that nobody needed to die, but Adam sadistically smiles as he leaves and says that he simply disagrees.

In "Necessary Sacrifice", Adam sends a message to Corsac and Fennec Albain instructing them to order Ilia Amitola to slaughter the Belladonnas with the exception of Blake, whom he requests be brought to him alive; stating the family has brought him nothing but grief and he means to fulfill his promise to Blake.

However, Adam is unaware that Blake has anticipated the trap and escaped from her captors and knocked them unconscious. His plan to kill Blake's parents, Ghira and Kali and kidnapping their daughter alive is thwarted and Ilia betrayed him after two of his agents Corsac is arrested and his brother Fennec is dead in the process during the attempted assassination of Ghira and Kali Belladonna.

As shown by the "*RWBY* Volume 6: Adam Character Short", Adam later receives a message from Hazel Rainart that the attack on Haven would be more complicated. However, Adam ignored the warning.

In "The More the Merrier", Adam has the White Fang set up explosives throughout the entire parameter of Haven Academy, delighted that the school is about to fall.

In "Downfall", Adam and a group of White Fang soldiers are preparing to evacuate the area before detonating the explosives, until Blake shows up and demands that Adam and the White Fang stand down. He mocks how Blake had finally turned herself in after years of searching by Adam, but she persists in demanding that he stop his plan and realize that what he's doing will bring no benefit to the Faunus race. Adam ignores her plea and mocks how she can't do much to stop him, but Blake surprises him by revealing how she assembled the people of Menagerie and they arrive to surround Adam and his forces. As the villagers see their loved ones alongside Adam and beg for them to stop the violence, Adam says that they are the enemy and is taken by surprise again when the Mistral Police Department arrive and surround him and his goons. In a desperate attempt, Adam presses the detonator, but the explosives were disarmed by Ilia and he charges at Blake in response and orders his men to open fire.

In "Haven's Fate", Adam continues to fight Blake and has his men continue fighting as well, but Blake's reinforcements overwhelm them and all of Adam's subordinates are pressured into standing down and surrendering as they are unable to kill one of their own kind. Adam holds Blake at gunpoint during the fight and mocked Blake for needing others to help her fight him, but she rebukes his statement by saying how she's at Haven for her friends and not Adam. Sun shows up and talks about how he volunteered to fight Adam and engages in a short skirmish with him, before Adam sees that his plan has failed and decides to pull out and runs away from the battlefield. Blake stops others from pursueing after him citing that it was a trap to have him pick them off one by one and how Blake would let Adam know how it feels to run away. Ilia shows up after the fight informing that Adam was the only one of the White Fang members to escape capture, but said that it would begin his downfall as the White Fang wouldn't want a leader that abandons his people and Ghira even suggested forming a new Faunus rights organization to replace the White Fang entirely. At the end of the episode, Adam hides in a tree and sees Hazel carrying Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black, before running away as well.

As shown by the "*RWBY* Volume 6: Adam Character Short", Adam wanders alone in the woods outside Haven Academy and drops his mask to the ground.

### Volume 6

In "Argus Limited", Adam returned to the White Fang headquarters. However, the White Fang members and guards at the throne room heard about his betrayal and failure and refused to serve him anymore. In rage, Adam violently kills them all and seats himself back on his throne. As he reflects, he remembers a remark one of the deceased guards made about Blake. This triggers another tantrum, where he slashes through the throne and yells out in wrath.

Adam tracks down Team RWBY and follows them as they depart Mistral for Argus, hoping to catch and confront Blake when she is alone. He is spotted once, by Blake on the Argus Limited. In this instance, he disappears so quickly that he is dismissed as a hallucination.

In “Uncovered”, a month after the “Battle of Haven,” Adam’s photo along with the photos of Cinder, Hazel, Emerald, and Mercury are all identitified as the perpetrators behind the attack.

In "Stealing from the Elderly", Adam confronts Blake when she is attempting to disable the radar tower in Argus. The two engage in a duel, and Adam demands to know why she had to come into his life and ruin everything, only for Blake to counter that he had stalked her across Anima and that she wants nothing to do with him.

Eventually, Adam manages to grab Blake by the neck, and she pulls them both over the railing, sending both plummeting to the forest. Blake tries to appeal to Adam to let go of his hatred and move on, only for him to angrily question if that is what she did to him. Adam declares that he let her go once, but would not make that same mistake twice. The two then engage in a standoff

In "The Lady in the Shoe", they resume their battle, Blake and Adam exchange blows in which Blake manages to hold her own for a while. even managing to land solid blows to him. Eventually, she starts jumping through trees to get away from him, prompting Adam to mockingly ask if she could do anything besides run. Adam sends Wilt spiralling into Gambol Shroud, knocking Blake off course and sending her flying straight into him. Adam slices at Blake only for her to use her tailcoat as a decoy before kicking him away and then shooting him.

The two take their fight to a nearby waterfall where Adam slowly gains the advantage. Adam then grabs Blake by her hands and exclaims that he wouldn't be doing this if she just behaved. Tricking her into thinking he threw Wilt away, he knocks a confused Blake away by slamming Wilt into her head. While declaring her selfish and a coward, Adam proceeds to kick Blake and slash at Blake across the floor. Only for her to defiantly call him delusional. Levelling his sword at the scar he inflicted during their battle at Beacon, Adam then swings Wilt at Gambol Shroud, using such force that it destroys the weapon.

Taking his blindfold off, Adam reveals the reason for his obsession for taking revenge on Blake. While humanity had hurt him in all sorts of ways, she inflicted the most hurt on him. She didn't leave scars, but rather she had left alone. Gripping his sword, Adam coldly asked her how it felt to share that emotion, and with a vengeful yell, stabbed her in the gut. Only for it to be revealed as a clone.

Turning around, he could only hear Blake declare that she wasn't alone before a yellow bike slammed into him from above. Getting up, he came face to face with Yang Xiao Long, Blake's new partner whose arm he sliced off during the Battle of Beacon. After Yang tells a weakened Blake to rest and that she'll hold him off. Adam mockingly tells Blake to indeed stay out of the fight as he and Yang have unfinished business. Staring at each other for a few moments, Adam quickly attacks Yang with all his power, but Yang, having greatly improved since their last encounter, is able to keep up with and land a few devastating blows.

However, Adam's superior training and speed wins and he knocks her back. Noticing Blake and Yang stare at each other in worry, an enraged Adam activates his Semblance, intent on taking her arm yet again. Sending Moonslice at her. Only for Yang to reveal the only damage to be a few cuts on her robotic arm. After Yang tells Adam that this was his last chance to leave peacefully, he briefly considers it before shrugging it off. Asking with a smirk if she believed that or she was just trying to scare him away so she wouldn't die protecting Blake. He then watches in rage as Blake takes Yang's hand and declares that they would protect each other.

In "Seeing Red", Adam mockingly asks Blake that if she knew she couldn't win two-on-one at Haven, then why she would think such a thing had changed now. After Blake coldly told him that she had people who actually cared about her and she couldn't die on them. Adam lamented to Yang that Blake had made a promise to always stick by him, telling Yang to take note on how well Blake had kept that promise. Only for Yang to ask if Blake had made that promise to him, or the person he pretended to be.

Adam then asks Blake if the reason she had abandoned him was because he wasn't good enough for her, with Blake calling him out on knowing that it went further then that. Getting into a fighting stance, Adam then declares that she had made her choice, and he'd made his.

Resuming their fight, Yang and Blake attack Adam, using their teamwork to shatter his defences and land blow after blow on him. Eventually, Adam manages to send Blake flying into a wall, shattering her Aura and forcing her to hang onto the cliff in fear of falling. Now with Yang on her own, Adam arrogantly asks Yang if she believes she's faster than she was at Beacon, causing her PTSD to flare and lower her guard, leading him to note that he didn't think so either.

Adam then proceeded to beat knock Yang around and note that her Aura was running low, unaware Blake was climbing back up. Adam continued his assault on Yang, asking with rage on what Blake saw in her, and how she was just as much as a coward as Blake. Unfortunately, this caused Yang's Semblance to activate, but Adam not noticing, used his Semblance to knock Yang back before slicing at her from the smoke, Only for him to realize with horror that she'd caught his sword with her robotic hand.

After saying "Gotcha", Yang takes his sword and then deals a devastating punch to his gut, sending him flying back into a small crater and shattering his Aura. Adam could only watch as Yang held his sword and mocked that while he was faster, she was smarter. With a smirk, she threw Wilt into the water below, causing a devastated Adam to try and save it in vain, only for Blake to appear from below and kick him in the face.

Both noticing Gambol Shroud's remains between them, they both tried reaching for the blade part. Blake grabbed it first and both with a mighty yell, Blake stabbed him with the sword part in his chest while Yang stabbed him with the katana part in the back.

Adam could only drop his arms at the sight of his blood seeping down the respective blades, uttering his final word "Oh" as he did so.

After Blake and Yang pulled the parts from him. Adam could only walk slowly to the edge of the cliff before dropping to his knees. Looking up at the sky for a few seconds, Adam's eyes rolled over, dead, his corpse falling down the cliff and hitting rocks (sounds of his bones being broken are heard) before slamming into the water below, ending the threat he posed once and for all.

## Powers and Abilities

“ Adam's strong, but his real power comes from control. He used to get in my head, make me feel small. But now I see he just wanted to pull me down to his size. „ ~ Blake telling Yang where Adam's real strength is derived from.

“ His Semblace is like yours, he absorbs energy through his sword, stores it up, and then sends it back when he's ready! „ ~ Blake telling Yang about Adam's semblance

Adam's abilities and skills seem to be on par with that of a highly skilled Huntsman. He is adept in swordsmanship, quickly cutting through Atlesian Knight-130s with ease. He has a preference towards the usage of "Iaido", a method in Japanese sword fighting that involves quickly unsheathing for a rapid attack and then sheathing again.

He has been shown in the trailer to be able to slash at enemies that are seemingly out of his blade's range, implying that he either moved there and back quickly or somehow extended the range of his blade. When he used Wilt to open the train car roof hatch, he moved so quickly that his strike was almost invisible to the human eye.

He will also occasionally use Blush for ranged attacks in conjunction with Wilt. Furthermore, Adam's speed is shown to enable him to deflect numerous bullets in rapid succession with Wilt and Blush. Like Blake, Adam appears to have advanced endurance, showing no signs of fatigue during an extended battle.

Adam is able to absorb or block the energy from an enemy attack and re-emit it again, usually with his sword. When absorbing attacks or shortly before striking back, the details on his body appear to glow red. When he attacks, the color appears to drain from the world and everything turns red and black. This move apparently requires some preparation, as he tells Blake to buy him some time before he is able to perform it.

When he uses this ability, red rose petals are shown floating in the air, symbolizing his theme of "wilt". In "Heroes and Monsters", his first strike against Yang is so powerful that it both breaks through her Aura and completely severs her arm, all in a single hit. However, the power of this technique may depend on how much energy he absorbs with his sword. Adam had taken two hits fired by Blake before attacking Yang, while he had absorbed a continuous beam of energy from the spider robot in the "Black Trailer" before disintegrating it.

Aside from his combat abilities, Adam is also an assertive and charismatic leader. Sienna even describes him as a symbol for many in the White Fang in "Dread in the Air". In "Breach", he assures Cinder's faction that the White Fang will listen to him despite the prior events, and in both Volume 4 and "Dread in the Air", Adam is able to gain enough support from many branches of the White Fang, including Sienna's personal bodyguards, to help him overthrow her and become high leader himself. However, his leadership abilities are shown to be progressively compromised by his increasingly unstable personality, making costly decisions to sate his personal vendettas.

## *RWBY: Amity Arena*

Adam appears as two Legendary units in *RWBY: Amity Arena*. The "Blade Slash Adam" unit moves quickly to a target and temporarily stuns them, then proceeds to attack surrounding units and buildings with wide reach. The "Moonslice Adam" unit attacks with wide swings, and can activate an ability where he temporarily absorbs damage before reflecting it back at enemy units.

## Quotes

“ Blake, it's time. „ ~ Adam, to Blake Belladonna.

“ Looks like we're gonna be doing this the hard way... „ ~ Adam, commenting that they'd have to fight through the Atlesian Knight-130s.

“ Move up to the next car. I'll set the charges. „ ~ Adam, to Blake.

“ What about them? „ ~ Adam, in response to Blake asking about the crew members.

“ No, but they'll listen to me. „ ~ Adam, to Mercury Black reassuring him that the White Fang will continue to cooperate with Cinder Fall.

“ The White Fang is not an organization for hire! We're a force of revolution „ ~ Adam to Cinder.

“ Bring them to their knees. „ ~ Adam, bringing Grimm to Beacon Academy.

“ (Blake:No,Adam?) Hello, my darling. „ ~ Adam, to Blake.

“ Running away again? Is that what you've become, my love? A coward? „ ~ Adam to Blake.

“ You and I were going to change the world, remember? We were destined to light the fires of revolution! (raises his sword to an Atlas soldier) Well consider this, the spark. „ ~ Adam to Blake.

“ Why must you hurt me, Blake? „ ~ Adam, to Blake.

“ From this day forward, I will be the one to lead the White Fang. „ ~ Adam to Sienna during his takeover of the White Fang.

“ Thank you, Sienna. You were there when our people needed you, but they need me now. I’m sorry you couldn’t see this through to the end. „ ~ Adam, as he murders Sienna Khan.

“ Give our former leader a proper burial. All who were here tonight will claim Sienna was murdered by a human huntsman. Sienna Khan will become a martyr for our cause. Her final act as High Leader. „ ~ Adam to everyone in the room.

“ I will not allow them to ruin this! The Belladonna name has brought me nothing but grief! You've done well in finding the deserter. Bring her to me alive but not before you've slaughtered her family. I have a promise to keep. „ ~ Adam, in a message to the Albain brothers.

“ Once the charges are set, move back to perimeter watch. Tonight, Haven falls. „ ~ Adam, announcing Haven Academy will be destroyed.

“ To think that I went through so much trouble to find you, only to have you deliver yourself to me. „ ~ Adam, to Blake.

“ Then it’s over for all of us. „ ~ Adam's suicide attempt to kill everyone including himself.

“ **I AM MAKING HUMANITY PAY FOR WHAT THEY'VE DONE**! „ ~ Adam, to one of the White Fang members.

“ I’m going to make you regret ever coming back… „ ~ Adam, to Blake.

“ Heh, you are still afraid, and you should be. I’ve made powerful friends while you’ve been away. „ ~ Adam, to Blake.

“ Tell me, does Blake make all of her classmates fight for her? „ ~ Adam, to Sun.

“ We may not want them to know who we are, but we should make sure they never forget to remember what we looked like. Now, it’s time we got what we deserved. „ ~ Adam, to White Fang members.

“ I don’t know. I’m out there fighting for us, and when you fight, people get hurt! What, do you want me to just abandon our cause? Like your parents? „ ~ Adam to Blake.

“ Don’t worry. Nothing will stop us now. It’s time I got what I deserved. „ ~ Adam, to White Fang members before the Battle of Haven highlighting his selfishness. “ The Belladonna girl... Blake... „ ~ Adam's breakdown after being exiled

“ It's nice to finally have time to ourselves, don't you think? „ ~ Adam confronts Blake at the radar tower

“ (Blake:Leave me alone!)But I've waited. So long. For you to be away from them. „ ~ Adam, revealing that he'd been waiting for Blake to be alone to strike.

“ Why did you have to come into my life and ruin EVERYTHING!(Blake:You stalked me across Anima I don't want anything to do with your life!) „ ~ An enraged Adam attacks Blake

“ (Blake: Let go of the past Adam, do it for yourself) 'Just forget it all?' Is that what you did to me? You just threw our memories away?! (Blake: ADAM!) I let you go once already Blake. I'm never making that mistake again. „ ~ Adam, enraged that Blake cast their memories together away and deciding to never let her go.

“ Can you do anything besides run?! „ ~ Adam chasing Blake through the forest

“ I wouldn't have to be doing this if you'd just behaved! But you're selfish! You're a coward!(Blake:You're delusional!) „ ~ Adam insulting Blake after he gains the upper hand.

“ You... „ ~ Adam upon Yang's arrival

“ (Blake:Yang.) (Yang:It's okay. Catch your breath for a second. I can hold him off.)She's right, Blake. it's okay, we have... unfinished business. „ ~ Adam preparing to fight Yang

“ Y'know, she made a promise to me once. That she'd always be at my side (chuckles) and look how well she's kept it. (Yang: Did she make that promise to you? or to the person you were pretending to be?) So I just wasn't good enough for you. (Blake: You know it's so much more than that!) I know you've made your choice and I've made mine „ ~ Adam trying to goad Yang into believing Blake will betray her.

“ Moment of truth, Yang! Do you think you're faster than you were at Beacon? (Yang gasps as her arm trembles) (chuckles) Me neither. „ ~ Adam taunting Yang

“ Hit me already! What does she even see in you!? You're just a coward like her! „ ~ An enraged Adam demanding to know why Blake chose Yang over him (hinting towards jealousy).

“ NO! „ ~ A horrified Adam as Yang chucks Wilt into the river.

“ Oh... „ ~ Adam's shocked last line after being fatally stabbed by Blake and Yang

## Trivia

* In Hebrew, Adam (אדם) means "Man" and Adom (אדום) means "Red". It is likely that Adam's name is a play on these two words. Adam is also known in Abrahamic religions as the first man created, possibly referencing the fact that he is the first male character to appear.
* Adam Taurus alludes to the Beast from the French fairy tale *Beauty and the Beast*. This allusion has had the following influences on the character and show:
	+ In the Disney version of *Beauty and the Beast*, the Beast/Prince's real name is Adam.
	+ His emblem is a wilting rose. In the fairy tale, the curse placed on the Beast would become permanent when the wilting rose he possessed lost its last petal.
* Adam's last name, *Taurus*, is a Latin word meaning bull.
	+ His mask has two red horn-shaped markings similar to that of a bull.
* In the Japanese dubbed version, Adam is voiced by Yūichi Nakamura, who also voiced Muramasa, Yuuki Terumi and Gai Tsutsugami.
* Adam was the first male character to make a physical appearance.
* Adam's sword is based on Kagura's sword from *Ga-Rei: Zero*.
* Adam is one of few characters to not appear in RWBY Chibi.
* Adam Taurus can be seen as a foil to Blake. While Blake genuinely wishes for peace between the humans and the Faunus, Adam Taurus seeks to get revenge on them and ended up becoming what he despised about them.
	+ Ilia Amitola likewise is also another foil for Adam. As both of them have mutual feelings towards Blake. The only main difference that she has no signs of resentment or grudge towards Blake, and eventually redeemed herself towards the end of Volume 5 once realizing the errors of White Fang. Adam, on the other hand, will go in petty lengths to make Blake and her loved ones suffer for abandoning him.
	+ Ironically, he is also an antithesis to Yang herself. In addition to both having possessing a similar Semblance, both of them have permanent scars - Adam has the SDC logo branded on his left eye, whereas Yang loses a right arm, which happens to be Adam's doing. Both of them are connected to Blake - Adam sees Blake as a possession that he constantly abuses on, while Yang and Blake are partners who watch each others' backs.
* Adam underwent a character re-design sometime during the development of the "Black" Trailer. In the behind-the-scenes footage released by *RWBY* animator Shane Newville on his Vine account, Adam's original model can be seen. Adam's original model lacks his signature long coat, instead having a black, short-sleeved top with a combat vest, cargo pants and combat boots. His sword, Wilt, originally had a black blade that glowed orange when making strikes, and was carried diagonally across his back.
* Adam's goals reflect similar ones from certain groups in America in the 2010s, claiming a desire for equal rights, when they truly seek superiority.
* Adam's death in Volume 6 is not only karmic, but if anything, ironic in two ways:
	+ In "Heroes and Monsters", he single-handedly defeated both Blake and Yang. In "Seeing Red", the girls turn things around with Blake and Yang simultaneously stabbing Adam with the shattered remains of Gambol Shroud.
	+ The way he murdered Sienna Khan has him impaling her with his sword, Wilt. In his last stand against Blake and Yang, they use the broken pieces of Gambol Shroud to stab him from the front and back