Roman Torchwick

"I know this might be hard to believe, General, but uh... I'm not the biggest fan of local law enforcement."

- Roman Torchwick to James Ironwood

Roman Torchwick is one of the secondary antagonists of RWBY. He makes a very small cameo in the "Yellow" Trailer before being introduced properly in Ruby Rose, orchestrating and participating in the robbery of the store From Dust Till Dawn, the target being its supply of Dust.

Appearance
Roman has slanted, dark-green eyes and bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs covering his right eye. He wears a black bowler hat with a red band, and wears black eyeliner.

Roman wears a red-collared white suit and a small gray scarf. He has black gloves with rounded sleeves, as well as long black pants and black shoes.

Background
At some point in the past, Roman was detained by the Vale Police Department for an unknown reason. Though it is not said whether he has been previously imprisoned or convicted, it is stated in a Vale News Network report that he "continues to evade authorities". This suggests that he has been a fugitive for quite some time. He is later approached and recruited by Cinder Fall at the recommendation of Mercury Black. In the "Yellow" Trailer, Roman is seen briefly speaking to Junior Xiong before Yang Xiao Long walks up. He was paying Junior for the use of some of his henchmen, but left the club before the ensuing fight.

Volume 1
In Ruby Rose, Roman walks up the street at night flanked by some henchmen, intimidating bystanders. He walks into From Dust Till Dawn, a Dust store, and comments on how rare it is for a Dust store to be open late at night to the manager.

He and his goons then start to rob the store of its Dust. However, when Ruby Rose begins foiling the heist and taking down his henchmen, Roman flees to a nearby rooftop to be picked up in a Bullhead piloted by Cinder Fall.

He tries to take down Ruby by shooting a Dust crystal he tosses at her feet, causing it to explode. However, this fails when Glynda Goodwitch appears and blocks the attack. Roman goes into the cockpit and tells Cinder about the Huntress, taking control of the ship as Cinder and Glynda engage in battle. Despite Glynda's efforts, the two make a successful getaway.

In Players and Pieces, Roman is inside a warehouse structure on a phone call with somebody before angrily hanging it up as a thug comes into the room carrying a supply crate. Roman pays the man before he asks him to open it, revealing the contents to be Dust crystals. He picks one up and stares into it briefly before looking up and stating "We're going to need more men."

In Black and White, Roman arrives at the Vale Port along with members of the White Fang to steal crates of Dust from the Schnee Dust Company. His theft however, is interrupted when Blake Belladonna holds Gambol Shroud to his neck. When Blake demands to know why the White Fang are aiding Roman, the latter tells her that he and the White Fang are "going on a joint business venture." Using the arrival of more White Fang troops, Roman fired a shot from his Melodic Cudgel in order to stop her before engaging in a fight between her and Sun Wukong.

Roman nearly defeats the pair when Ruby shows up and prevents him from doing so. After attacking Ruby, he is forced to retreat when Penny's assault on the operation renders his theft a failure. As he is reviewing the botched heist, Roman is caught off guard by the arrival of Cinder and her associates Emerald and Mercury, slightly chastising her for pairing him with the White Fang in the first place, before being coerced into continuing to work for them, as they have "big plans" for him.

Volume 2
In Best Day Ever, Emerald and Mercury reunite with Roman at his secret warehouse and he comments that Cinder sent them again and how it was like the divorce as he rubs their heads. Emerald dislikes the idea of him even having children, but Roman clarifies it was a joke and only approached them to take a piece of paper out of her pocket. After seeing the address, he asks why they had it and Mercury says they were cleaning up his problem. He claims that he had everything under control and begins to threaten them, but Cinder arrives before he could finish his sentence and when asked what he would do to them, only saying he would "not kill them."

Roman tries to explain that he was planning on killing Tukson, but has been busy stealing all the Dust in the city. Mercury berates him as a common crook, but Roman rebuffs this by saying that he had city running scared, with Dust prices way up, police on every corner, and the warehouse full of their spoils. However, Roman questions what the "grand master plan" is so future jobs will be easier, but Cinder intimidates him into dropping the subject and then informs him Dust no longer mattered as the first phase of the plan was over and they were moving on to the second.

Before she leaves with her associates, Cinder tells Roman to inform the White Fang that they need to move the Dust to a new location that she will inform him of later. Frustrated, Roman grabs a cigar and puts it into his mouth, but has trouble finding his lighter until he hears it click and sees Emerald holding it, sticking her tongue out at him as she leaves.

In Painting the Town..., Roman is seen addressing several members of the White Fang, including it's new recruits, telling them about their common enemies and in what ways he can help them take what is rightfully theirs, showing off an Atlesian Paladin-290 as an example. He then spots Blake and Sun in the midst of the crowd and chases after them in the robot throughout the town and highway, where he confronts Team RWBY. After a lengthy battle, Roman is defeated by the four girls, as Yang herself destroys the Paladin. When Yang fires a shot at him, Neopolitan jumps to his defense, and he then bids farewell to the team and escapes with his associate on a Bullhead.

In Mountain Glenn, after Ruby falls into a cave at Mountain Glenn and is knocked out by two White Fang members, she is brought before Roman, who interrogates Ruby on how she found them. When Team RWBY arrives with Doctor Oobleck, she takes the opportunity to escape. Angered, Roman orders the White Fang to kill Ruby, and he fires as well, but misses every shot.

Making his escape on the train, Roman is confronted by Blake and engages her in combat, but loses due to Blake's elemental clones, granted to her by Weiss' dust cartridge. Defeated, Roman taunts and attempts to persuade Blake to join him, but this fails as she ignores him, and Roman is knocked out by the Faunus.

Roman is later arrested by Atlas troops following the Grimm attack on Vale. Later that day, while in his cell, he is visited by James Ironwood, who talks on how Roman refuses to reveal who he's working for. Ironwood then informs Roman that the council allowed him to keep him for as long as he wants, but Roman simply laughs and remarks on how it will be fun.

Volume 3
In PvP, Roman is seen being broken out of prison by Neopolitan, who returns his hat and Melodic Cudgel. He then takes the opportunity to destroy several Atlesian Airships, declaring that "It is good to be back!"

In Battle of Beacon, Roman Torchwick, in control of an airship, presses buttons of a control panel to see what they do. The first one sets off an explosion of some sort, and the second deploys a squadron of AK-200 soldiers. Neo gives him a scroll with Cinder's virus on it, and he plugs it into a port on the panel. It infects every AK-200 with hostile AI, turning them against the Huntsmen fighting against Grimm at Beacon and in Vale. He hears something impact the roof of the airship, and he instructs Neo to find out the cause.

Personality
Roman 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 willing to use lethal force on Ruby when she foiled his scheme; even going so far as to laugh after successfully shooting her down in Black and White. 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. This is further exemplified by his reaction to the destruction of his Paladin, which causes him to be violently flung to the ground scattered by debris. Rather than appearing upset with what happened to his battlemech or afraid of the situation, he simply brushes himself off commenting that the experience has ruined the cleanliness of his suit.

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 "mutts" or "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.

He is also often takes to mocking, taunting, and insulting his enemies, as seen when he called out to Blake Belladonna, saying, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty," as well as when he responded to Ruby's arrival by saying, "Well, hello, Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" This quality persists even when he is in very difficult situations; such as when he is imprisoned and interrogated by General Ironwood.

Skills and Abilities
Piloting: Roman appears to be a skilled pilot, being able to keep a Bullhead relatively stable while being bombarded with attacks. He is also able to pilot a Paladin battlemech and utilise the machine's weapons and sensory systems to good effect.

Fighting: Roman fights using his signature cane-cannon "Melodic Cudgel". In the first episode he did manage to hold off Ruby. As of Black and White, Roman is shown to be adept in using his cane as a melee weapon and he is very capable of parrying. He was able to hold his own against Blake and Sun without assistance, deflecting nearly all of their attacks.

He has the skills to use Melodic Cudgel offensively, such as using it to hook Blake towards him to deliver a punch or by staggering her by whipping her knees. In fact, Roman came close to overpowering Blake; having gotten far enough to knock her to the ground and temporarily disarm her. However, she was saved at the last second by Sun, who proved himself to be able to stand his ground against Roman, even with Roman still able to hold off Sun, despite being fired at.

He also seems to have exceptional accuracy, by which he was able to hit Ruby with a blast from his cane from a considerable distance, as well as impressive reflexes, as he was capable of defending himself against attacks from Blake and Sun, both of whom were extremely swift, dual-wielding opponents, with his cane. He is also capable of handling Blake in a fight despite her immense speed that generated "after-images", with him remaining perfectly aware of her position and movements during the engagement, quickly countering her attacks. He can also easily deflect incoming shots, such as seen with Sun's weapons.

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 eighth 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 Players and Pieces he is planning a heist, an attack or something similar, targeting the entirety of Vale. In Best Day Ever, Roman is seen to be quite a skilled thief, such as taking away a piece of paper from Emerald Sustrai without her knowing, despite being right next to, and coming into close contact with her. In Painting the Town..., Roman anticipated the possibility his Paladin might be destroyed and had his associate Neopolitan follow him in a Bullhead to pick him up if he required rescue from his foes; escaping with her after Team RWBY successfully destroy the Paladin.

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 specifically resemble Candlewick's appearance in Disney's film adaptation of Pinocchio named Lampwick.
 * In addition, similar to Roman's cane, Lampwick is often depicted holding a pool cue.
 * The Director's Commentary in the DVD mentions that Roman is a "shout-out to 'Clockwork Orange'" (1971 British film).
 * 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 bears some similarities to Jack Spicer as both act as main rivals to a heroic team with Roman being the main rival to RWBY and Jack Spicer being the main rival to the Xiaolin Warriors and both serve all powerful villainesses who act as the main antagonists of their respective series with Roman serving Cinder and Jack serving Wuya and both have a somewhat negative relationships with their masters.
 * Roman's name and weapon could relate to the famous firework Roman candle, which ejects multiple pyrotechnic stars and are illegal in some countries. Also, Roman's weapon fires a blast that resembles a firework.
 * 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.
 * Roman's fighting style seems to be inspired by the martial art of bartitsu, where practitioners are taught to use a cane as a weapon in addition to various hand-to-hand techniques.
 * Roman's symbol is a Jack-O'-Lantern, otherwise known as a Will-O'-The-Wisp or Will-O'-The-Torch, the origin of which was a spirit cursed to roam the world with only a torch/lantern. The symbol can be found on Roman's lighter.