Roman Torchwick

Roman Torchwick is a character in the world of RWBY. He makes his short and uneventful debut in the "Yellow" Trailer and is met again in the Pilot episode, orchestrating and participating in the robbery of a store, the target objective of which was the Dust.

Appearance
Roman has slanted dark green eyes and bright orange hair, with long bangs covering his right eye. He wears a black bowler hat with a red band, and has black eyeshadow around his eyes. Noticeably, he has extremely long eyelashes. Roman wears a red-collared white suit and a small grey scarf. He has black gloves with rounded sleeves, and has long black pants and black shoes.

Personality
Roman's personality from Episode 1 seems to be a mixture of a formal gentleman and ruthless criminal. He affects charm and speaks calmly even in the middle of an armed robbery but also demonstrates a ruthless streak, evidently being willing to use lethal force on Ruby when she foiled his scheme. This kind of personality is common in psychopaths, people who are able to act extremely sweet and deceivingly kind while still committing evil acts. Judging by his elaborate outfit and accessories, Roman also has expensive tastes; a common stereotype of Mafia Dons and other organized crime kingpins.

Despite working with the White Fang, he appears to have no respect for them or the Faunus in general. On several occasions he talks to them in a derogatory fashion, referring to them as though they are just animals. It is unclear if this is representative of hostility towards the Faunus in general or him acting out his frustrations of having to work with the group, perhaps because he does not like being ordered around by Cinder and her associates.

Abilities

 * Piloting: Roman appears to be a skilled pilot, being able to keep a large transport airship relatively stable while being bombarded with attacks.
 * Fighting: Roman fights using his signature cane-gun. Though his skill at combat hasn't as of yet been very impressive, he did manage to hold off Ruby.
 * Planning: Roman appears to be some sort of criminal mastermind. So far, the one attempt to rob a Dust shop seen on screen has failed. Yet by the eight episode he has recovered from this and got his hold on more Dust, showing that his nefarious scheming is something to be reckoned with. Even more so as by episode eight he is planning a heist or and attack or something similar including the entire region of Vale.

Trivia

 * Roman Torchwick's design is based off the Pinocchio character Candlewick. Candlewick's original name was Romeo, which is similar to Roman. Roman's red hair, hat and cigar mostly resemble Candlewick's appearance in Disney's film adaptation of Pinocchio named Lampwick.
 * Roman's appearance is also very similar to that of Alex from the film A Clockwork Orange. Whether there are any further similarities between the two is yet to be seen, though his "Dangerous Gentleman" personality may be one of them.
 * The same could be said about Roman looking similar to Phantom R from Rhythm Thief and the Emporer's Treasure
 * He also bears some similarities to Reaver, the character from the Fable videogame franchise, both in appearance and personality. His extravagant taste in outfits and the cane that he uses as a weapon, plus his penchant for ranged attacks over melee combat, mark some such similarities, with his relatively gentlemanly but egocentric personality and his criminal tendencies adding more validity to this comparison.
 * Roman's name and weapon could relate to the famous firework Roman candle, which ejects multiple pyrotechnic stars and are illegal in some countries.
 * Given the penchant for wordplay that Roosterteeth exhibited in Red vs. Blue, this possible allusion is not too unlikely.
 * In Episode 1, Roman calls Ruby by the name "Red", a possible reference to the fact that she is an allusion to Little Red Riding Hood.
 * In episode 1, after one of the henchmen is flung next to his feet, he remarks, "You were worth every cent, truly you were", implying that the interaction between him and Junior in the "Yellow Trailer" was possibly Roman hiring Junior's men for the robbery.
 * It is revealed that he and the White Fang are working together.