Arthur Watts

"What about her? Seems to me that this is Cinder’s problem, not ours."

- Doctor Watts on Cinder's concern for Ruby Rose. "I'm not particularly fond of failure."

- Arthur Watts

Arthur Watts, also referred to as Doctor Watts, is a major antagonist in the American web cartoon series RWBY. He is an associate of Salem and part of her inner circle.

He is voiced by Christopher Sabat, who is also the voice of Vegeta, King Piccolo and Yakumo Oomori.

Appearance
Watts is a man with short black and gray hair. He also has a mustache and green eyes. He wears a gray overcoat with yellow linings, a yellow dress shirt and a black necktie. His pants are the same color as his overcoat. His yellow-buttoned undercoat and fingerless gloves match his cordovan shoes, under which he wears yellow socks.

Background
Not much is known about Watts' past or how he joined Salem's faction, but he is said to have been a scientist and doctor at Atlas until he was later disgraced.

Volume 4
In "The Next Step", Watts attends a meeting at Salem's Domain with fellow associates Tyrian, Cinder and Hazel. Watts belittles Cinder for her "failure" at Beacon and loss to Ruby Rose. However, Salem arrives and chastises him for his needless "malignance". Watts is assigned to take over Cinder's duties while she recovers and meet with the group's informant in Mistral; to which he complies.

In "No Safe Haven", Watts is seen drinking tea and meeting with Salem's informant, who's revealed to be the headmaster of Haven Academy, Leonardo Lionheart.

Volume 5
In "Welcome to Haven", Watts eavesdrops on Lionheart's conversation with Qrow Branwen and Team RNJR. He then contacts Lionheart after they leave and tells him he needs to work on his improvisational skills.

In "Dread in the Air", Watts escorts Lionheart to a secret room to speak with Salem via Seer, and the latter informs her that Qrow arrived at Haven with Team RNJR and told them the Spring Maiden is with Raven Branwen's tribe. Salem praises her servant for retrieving this information and instructs Cinder and her team to meet with Watts and convince Raven to cooperate with them. She also instructs Watts to make a new scorpion tail for Tyrian, who lost it during his confrontation with Qrow and Team RNJR. Impressed, Watts tells Lionheart that it seems Qrow was right when he said the children weren't pushovers.

In "Rest and Resolutions", Watts arrives at the Branwen Tribe campground with Cinder, Emerald and Mercury.

In "A Perfect Storm", Watts meets with Raven and offers her a chance of "forgiveness" from Salem if she has Vernal open the chamber to the Relic of Knowledge. He also states that her time to decide is short as the White Fang plans to attack Haven soon. However, to his annoyance, Raven demands the death of Qrow in exchange for having Vernal open the chamber for them, and Cinder eagerly agrees. Watts angrily tells Cinder he knows she's doing this to get revenge on Ruby, and warns her that if their plan falls to pieces over her grudge with a child, he won't be the one taking the blame.

Personality
"Watts. Do you find such malignance necessary?"

- Salem, commenting on Watts' personalty.

Watts is formal and speaks in a refined accent. However, he is also arrogant and condescending, even to his allies. However, he is humble enough to admit not to take credit he didn't achieve by himself, as when Salem initially thought he found out where the Spring Maiden is, he reveals it was by Qrow when he spoke to Leonardo.

Watts states that he has a low opinion of failure, which apparently extends to Cinder Fall after she was defeated by Ruby Rose. He criticizes and belittles Cinder and enjoys provoking her, especially since she cannot talk back. He also looks down upon her underlings, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. Salem chastises him for his needless "malignance". However, he avoids speaking out of line in Salem's presence.

Arthur also has a tendency to become overly excited about new topics of study. Case in point, when he and Lionheart were reporting to Salem about the location of the Spring Maiden, Arthur showed immense interest in the Seer Grimm.

Powers and Abilities
Watts' abilities are yet to be seen, though he may have expertise in a field, seeing as Salem refers to him as Doctor. In "A Perfect Storm," Raven also identifies him as a former Atlesian scientist, implying technological feats. It is possible that he was the one who developed the virus Cinder used to hack into the CCT tower and rig the tournament.

He is also able to give Tyrian Callows a new stinger after his old one has been cut off by Ruby Rose.

Quotes
"My thoughts exactly. Even without her new power, it should have been effortless."

- Watts, to everyone, during the meeting.

"Why thank you, Professor. Salem always did say you were... quite hospitable."

- Watts, to Professor Lionheart.

"Oh, Leo. We have got to work on your improvisational skills."

- Watts, to Professor Lionheart.

"I’m still just so fascinated by this creature. Cinder dear, are we coming through? Can you see us clearly? Well, as clearly as you can."

- Watts, curious about the seer.

"As much as I’d love to take credit, ma’am, I can’t say that either of us are to thank for this development. I guess you could say, a little birdie told us."

- Watts, to Salem.

"Alright ladies, let's pause for a moment. We have one objective - retrieving the Relic of Knowledge. Now Qrow Branwen may be on our list of individuals we would very much like dead, but he's not going to go down without a fight, and he's not going to fight quietly. Our advantage here is just as you said - we walk straight into Haven, no resistance, no one the wiser. A battle with your brother throws that all out the window."

- Watts, to Cinder and Raven about the Relic of Knowledge and Qrow Branwen.

"Wait. Don’t think I don’t see what you’re after. If this falls to pieces over a grudge with a child, I will not be taking the blame."

- Watts, to Cinder.

Trivia

 * A "watt" is a unit of power used to express the rate of energy transfer which is generally correlated to electricity in modernized society. As a result, it invokes the colors associated with electricity especially shades of yellow, blue, and white seen in lightning.
 * He is the only character thus far with a customized Scroll, as opposed to the standard version other characters use.
 * Watts' emblem is a W symbol that appears on his customized personal Scroll and as a hologram in "Welcome To Haven" when Watts speaks to Leonardo Lionheart.
 * In the Japanese dub, Watts is voiced by Tooru Ookawa.
 * Although unconfirmed, it is possible based off the fact that he is often given important assignments and the fact that he speaks as if he is the superior to the other member's to Salem's Faction, it is quite likely that he is her second-in-command.