| “ | The weak die. The strong live. Those are the rules. | „ |
| ~ Raven talking to her brother Qrow. |
| “ | You won't find it. Because Vernal isn't the Spring Maiden. I am! | „ |
| ~ Raven revealing she is the Spring Maiden. |
| “ | I’ve stared death in the face over and over again! And every time I’ve spat in that face and survived, because I’m strong enough to do what others won’t! | „ |
| ~ Raven to Yang. |
| Raven Branwen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Series | RWBY |
| Age | 30s |
| Birthday | Unknown |
| Sex | Female |
| Species | Human/Maiden |
| Height | Unknown |
| Weight | Unknown |
| Alignment | Chaotic Neutral |
Raven Branwen is a major antagonist in the ongoing anime-style web series RWBY. She is the mother of Yang Xiao Long, the twin sister of Qrow Branwen, the leader of the Branwen Tribe, and a former member of Team STRQ. She is also the true Spring Maiden.
Background[]
The current leader of the bandit Branwen Tribe, Raven was raised by the tribe from birth alongside her little twin brother, Qrow. Sometime later, the two siblings enrolled in Beacon Academy and were assigned to Team STRQ, alongside Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long. After graduation, Taiyang married Raven and she bore him a daughter, Yang. However, Raven left him not long after to return to her tribe while Qrow remained a huntsman working for Professor Ozpin. Recently, she has managed to presumably capture the Spring Maiden and recruit her to her cause, as well as capture Weiss Schnee. However, Raven's activities had caught the attention of Salem and her followers, who threatened to destroy her camp lest she works with them. Raven planned to comply momentarily but intended to steal the Relic for herself with hopes of running away for good. But during the attack on Haven, Cinder betrayed Raven in an attempt to steal the Spring Maiden's power for herself, leading Raven to reveal that she, in fact, possessed the Spring Maiden's power all along. After a heated battle, Raven triumphed and was about to retrieve the relic, until Yang reminded her that she could never truly run and that by doing so, she was never as "strong" as she claimed. Her whereabouts are currently unknown after the Battle of Haven.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Aura: Aura is the manifestation of one's soul and can be used for wide range of abilities. The specific abilities and their strengths differ from individual to individual and are dependent on a number of factors, such as experience, training and innate skill.
- Semblance: Raven's semblance allows her to create portals in the vicinity of people she shares a bond with. Though not combat applicable, she can use these portals for quick appearance and hasty retreats. Other people are also able to pass through these portals. So far, Raven has been able to create portals to Taiyang, Qrow, Yang, and Vernal.
- Bird Transformation: Raven has the magical ability granted by Ozpin that allows her to turn into an actual raven. In this form, she is capable of flight without her Spring Maiden powers, as well as able to keep on the down-low.
- Spring Maiden Powers: Raven bears the power of the Spring Maiden, another magical ability granted by Ozpin that passes down through generations. She does not require Aura to use her powers, and she is capable of using a wide variety of elemental manipulation.
- Weather Manipulation: Raven can turn the sky from clear to cloudy in an instant, summon strong gusts of wind and summon sky-to-ground lightning.
- Ice Manipulation: Raven is most proficient in using the ice control aspect of her powers, evident in her battle with Cinder. She can create and shape ice to her will, such as freezing opponents, shooting ice spike projectiles, creating platforms and wield a variety of ice-based weaponry. This ability also allows her to open the vault in Haven Academy.
- Lightning Manipulation: Raven's second preferred element is lightning; she can summon sky-to-ground lightning and generate electricity from her hands, using them to supercharge her weaponry. She can also generate a field of electricity around her.
Equipment[]
- Omen: Raven's main weapon of choice, which is armed with a sheath that has a rotary chamber filled with different types of Dust blades. By reattaching the handle to the sheath, Raven can interchange, or if need be, replace the Dust blade. The blades are telescopic, 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.
Feats[]
Strength[]
- Clashed evenly with Qrow.
- Pushed Neopolitan back with a couple of strikes.
- Casually made a storm.
- Pushed Qrow back with a kick.
- Slammed Cinder into a large rock.
- Traded blows with Cinder.
- Blocked Cinder's strikes.
- Clashed evenly with Cinder after flying to her.
- Used her own absurdly large sword to clash evenly with Cinder's absurdly large sword, creating a shockwave that shook the entire building from the ground up.
- Knocked Cinder down with a kick.
- Sliced open a large rock.
- Broke through Cinder's sword and pushed her back with a flurry of strikes.
- Threw her sword hard enough to embed it in rock, swings around it, and used it to kick Cinder.
- Pushed Cinder off the edge of the platform with the help of her lightning powers.
Speed[]
- Dodged Qrow's shot in raven form.
- Opened a portal at the exact moment to allow Cinder's fireball through.
- Shot her sword out of her sheath, caught it in midair and flew/jumped a large distance to slam Cinder into a rock.
- Dashed around the floor while fighting Cinder.
- Fought Cinder in midair.
- Switched swords with Cinder in midair and continued fighting without missing a beat.
- Flew to the top of a large, falling rock formation.
- Fought Cinder while dashing around and on several falling rocks.
- Kept pace with Cinder on several falling rocks.
Durability[]
- Broke out of Cinder's ice.
- Withstood being choked by Cinder's Grimm arm.
- Immediately recovered after tumbling down onto a falling rock.
- Immediately recovered after being slammed into the ground by Cinder.
- Raven and Cinder tanked crashing into the ground on giant stalagmites.
Skill[]
- Along with her brother, attended combat school and became a Huntress just to spy on other Huntsmen.
- Along with her brother, caught the attention of Ozpin and attended Beacon Academy.
- Was originally a member of Team STRQ (Strong).
- Along with her brother, gained the ability to transform into birds from Ozpin.
- Discovered the horrible truth about the world of Remnant.
- Once had a relationship with Taiyang and gave birth to her daughter: Yang Xiao Long.
- Left behind her daughter, and became leader of the Branwen Tribe.
- Took in the previous Spring Maiden and killed her out of "mercy," inheriting the Maiden powers as a result.
- Led the attack on Shion Village.
- Saved her daughter Yang from Neo.
- Along with the rest of her tribe, took Weiss Schnee hostage.
- Tricked everyone into thinking her subordinate Vernal was the current Spring Maiden.
- Roasted Cinder, Arthur Watts, Mercury Black, and Emerald Sustrai.
- Along with Cinder's group, ambushed Qrow and the RWBY gang.
- Fought and defeated Cinder Fall.
Weaknesses[]
- Is a bad mom.
- Blades can be broken with enough force.
- Bird form is pretty useless in general.
- Portal creation isn't useful for combat.
- Abilities run on limited reserves.
- Cowardly and hypocritical.
- Silver Eyes are said to be a crippling weakness for Maidens like Raven.
- Said by Taiyang to be ambitious, stubborn, brash and headstrong, tackling problems by running directly at them.
- Willing to use others to boost her own chances of survival.
- Willing to exploit any and all advantages to turn situations in her favor, and is not afraid to use underhanded tactics.