Junior's Henchmen

"Torchwick hired my boys, and I guess he wasn't happy with them. Which is something I can relate to!"

- Junior explaining his relation with Torchwick to Yang as well as his disappointment in his henchmen.

Junior Xiong's Henchmen are minor antagonists from the American web cartoon series RWBY. They are criminal guards that protect Junior, with their most capable members being the deadly twins Melanie and Miltiades "Miltia" Malachite.

"Yellow" Trailer
Many henchmen are first seen in the "Yellow Trailer", serving as bodyguards for Junior in The Club, Junior's establishment. When hero Yang Xiao Long enters, Junior is finishing a deal with criminal Roman Torchwick to hire/borrow some of his men. As the two part, Junior goes over to the bar where the Malachite Sisters and a few henchmen are. Yang meets him and proceeds to interrogate him for information on Raven Branwen by grabbing his crotch, causing several henchmen to rush to his aid. Yang releases him, but then proceeds to punch him across the room. This causes the henchmen to go in to attack her. Yang uses an explosive punch from her weapons to send a crowd of them flying, then proceeds to kick, punch, and throw all of the henchmen rushing her. She is attacked by The Club's DJ, who fires at her with a gun, but she dodges the gunfire and makes her way to the DJ booth, where she bats him up.

Yang is then confronted by Junior's bodyguards Melanie and Miltiades "Miltia" Malachite, who prove to be tougher opponents due to their unique fighting style and unpredictable weapons: Melanie's bladed heels and Miltia's clawed gloves. However, after a difficult fight, Yang sends Miltia flying and kicks Melanie in the face. The two escape just as Junior shows up to fight Yang himself, though he is swiftly beaten as well.

Manga
Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of the manga adaptation recount and detail the events of the "Yellow" Trailer.

Volume 1
In the episode "Ruby Rose", Roman Torchwick and the henchmen he hired are seen robbing a Dust store called From Dust Till Dawn. They pull a gun on the shop owner, then proceed to start stealing Dust crystals and power from the store. One of the henchmen comes across hero Ruby Rose, who is unaware of the robbery going on. He attempts to intimidate her, but she simply throws him out the window. Roman tells them to attack her, but she easily takes them all out. She then chases Roman, but he gets away with the Dust with help from Cinder Fall. The henchmen were most likely arrested. Due to the failure of the henchmen, Roman, Cinder, and the rest of their group instead went to get troops from their allies in the White Fang.

Volume 2
In the episode "Painting the Town...", the henchmen are seen helping Junior in The Club when a pair of terrified henchmen run in and try to close the door, only for Yang and Neptune Vasilias to burst in. The henchmen, clearly remembering what she did last time, all point their guns at her. However, Junior calls them off, not wanting any more trouble. She interrogates him again about Roman Torchwick, and Junior tells her about how he hired his men and they never came back.

Volume 3
A henchman can be seen in the audience of the Vytal Festival Tournament eating popcorn in the episodes "It's Brawl in the Family" and "PvP".

Membership

 * Hei "Junior" Xiong - The leader of the group and the one that all the other henchmen serve. They dress similarly to him and protect hm, even if they are not very good at it.
 * Melanie and Miltiades "Miltia" Malachite - Junior's bodyguards and easily the most capable (at least in combat) of the group. They use bladed clothes and accessories as well as their martial arts and gymnastics to prove extremely dangerous.
 * Henchmen - The standard henchmen dress all alike with black suits, black hats, red ties, and red glasses. Their combat seems to be more based on numbers and intimation than actual skill, as they are usually cowardly and incompetent. However, they prove extremely loyal to Junior and rush to either protect or avenge him without a moment's hesitation.
 * DJ - The Club's deejay, this henchman dresses the same as the others, but with a massive bear mascot head as a mask. He attacks with a submachine gun and also runs The Club's music.
 * Bartender - A neutral, the bartender serves drinks to the other henchmen, Junior, and the patrons of The Club.
 * Roman Torchwick - While not a henchman or member of The Club, Roman hires some henchmen to aid him in his criminal affairs, though they stand no chance against Ruby Rose.

Weapons
Most of the henchmen carry small, pistol-like guns. However, many of them also carry long, curved swords with red blades with black handles, while others carry red fire axes. The Malachite sisters have their own unique weaponry: Melanie has bladed high heeled shoes and Milita has a pair of red and black gloves with two long claws on each of them.

Trivia

 * Junior, the henchmen, and The Club are "bear" themed, alluding to the three bears from Goldilocks and the Three Bears, as Yang alludes to Goldilocks.
 * Written on their axes is 空頭, written in the traditional Chinese format (the simplified Chinese form is 空头) which can be translated as "bear". This could also be the name or symbol of the group, but this is unknown.
 * The Henchmen themselves may be a reference to The Axe Gang, a semi-fictional group of gangsters who have appeared in numerous Hong Kong action movies, such as Kung Fu Hustle.
 * The henchmen in "Ruby Rose" were voiced by two kids from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.