User blog:NerdWithAKeyboard/PE Proposal - Arthur Watts

What's the Work?
RWBY is an American animated webseries produced by Rooster Teeth and created by the late Monty Oum. The story follows a team of young heroes as they defend the world of Remnant from terrorists, monsters, and supernatural beings.

Who is Arthur Watts? What has He Done?
Watts was once a brilliant scientist, working for Atlas' defense department alongside Pietro Polendina. However, when General James Ironwood decided to go ahead with Polendina's ideas for Atlas security (a robotic girl that would eventually become the hero Penny Polendina) instead of Watts', Watts felt disgraced. In an enigmatic incident known only as the Paladin Incident, Watts faked his death and fled, vowing revenge on Ironwood, Atlas, and all of Remnant. He was eventually found and recruited by Salem, who longed to destroy Remnant by dividing its people and sending the vile Creatures of Grimm after them. Watts joined Salem's cause, eventually working up to a part of her inner circle.

Watts aids in Salem's plans to destroy the kingdoms of Remnant, including sending Cinder Fall Penny's blueprints during the Vytal Festival Tournament, which allows Cinder to take advantage of the tournament, kill Penny, and start the Battle of Beacon, an event which led to the collapses of the entire city of Vale and the deaths of many students and civilians.

After Cinder returns from the battle wounded, Watts simply insults her. He is then tasked with taking over Cinder's duties. He meets with his informant Leonardo Lionheart in Mistral, and forces him to report to Salem as they prepare another attack on Mistral. Watts recruits Raven Branwen and Vernal to their cause, and then goes back to report to Salem. When the attack on Mistral fails, Watts goes to Atlas to prepare for the next attack.

Once in Atlas, Watts meets up with Jacques Schnee, who is running for a seat in the council, and offers him a guaranteed win in exchange for access to Schnee's logins. Schnee agrees.

Watts then brings serial killer Tyrian Callows into Atlas. Using his hacking skills and the information obtained from Schnee, Watts shuts the power off at a rally held by Schnee's political rival Robyn Hill, which allows Tyrian to massacre her followers. Watts then doctors the security video to blame Penny Polendina for the attack, airing it to the city of Mantle to incite panic and chaos. Hill, believing the video, starts a massive crime spree in retaliation towards the Atlas military. Watts also rigs the election, forcing Schnee to win.

As tensions rise, Watts then hacks Mantle's heating and security systems, shutting off all of them. The people in the city start to freeze; the culmination of the massacre, the election, the freezing temperatures, and the crime causes people to start rioting. The negative emotions attract a massive Grimm attack; with the security shut off, the city is completely vulnerable. Watts smiles in delight when he sees that everything is going according to plan.

Watts then goes to sabotage the Amity Communications Tower, where he is confronted by Ironwood. The two fight, and Watts severely damages Ironwood's arm by trapping it in a hard light shield. Ironwood manages to get out of it (though he has to burn off all the skin on his arm to do so), and finally manages to beat Watts and arrest him.

Watts is imprisoned, but the damage is already done. Because of him, Mantle is overrun with chaos and Grimm, and the reputations of the heroes are tarnished. Watts looks out from his cell and smiles wickedly as he sees Salem herself arriving with an army of Grimm.

Mitigating factors?
Watts rarely does any actual combat himself, instead setting things up for other people to do the fighting for him.

Watts is, to an extent, loyal to Salem. However, unlike Tyrian who worships her as a goddess, Watts seems to have the same flexible loyalty that Cinder does: they are not disloyal, but are mostly serving her to advance their own goals; in Watts' case, get revenge on Atlas for "disgracing" him.

Heinous standard?
RWBY has a lot of villains, and the current PEs are Cinder Fall, Adam Taurus, Dr. Merlot, Carmine Esclados, and Bertilak Celadon. What all of these have in common is that they either cause or utilize Grimm attacks to wipe out large populations. Watts, while not having the same personal flair as some of those villains, fits into this lineup, as he caused massacres, freezes, and chaos in Atlas to start a Grimm attack that, as of this point in the series, is still ongoing. On top of that, he is the one who set up Cinder, Adam, and Hazel Rainart's attacks on Vale and Mistral, as well as made it possible for Tyrain to commit his massacres.

Verdict?
Though he doesn't step into the fray that often, Watts has been the engineer behind some of the most catastrophic events in the series, all because of a petty reason. I say yes.