| “ | Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we part ways... | „ |
| ~ Roman Torchwick to Ruby Rose |
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. He serves as a secondary antagonist of the series.
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.
History
In the "Yellow" Trailer, Roman is seen speaking to Junior about purchasing some henchmen for a job he is planning; but then leaves before Yang walks up. In the episode Ruby Rose, Roman walks up the street at night flanked by some of Junior's henchmen and intimidating bystanders. He walks into From Dust Till Dawn, a Dust store, and starts to rob the Dust from the store manager after commenting on how rare it is for a Dust store to be open late at night. 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 by Cinder Fall. He tries to take down Ruby, exploding a Dust crystal he tosses at her feet, but this fails when Glynda Goodwitch appears and blocks the attack. Roman takes over piloting the ship as Cinder and Glynda engage in battle. Despite Glynda's efforts, the two make a successful getaway. Later in the episode Players and Pieces Roman is seen 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 before mentioning that he and the White Fang were "going on a joint business venture". Using the arrival of more White Fang troops, Roman fired a shot from 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 his failure, Roman is caught off guard by the arrival of Cinder and her associates Emerald and Mercury, and is coerced into continuing to work for them, as they have "big plans" for him.
In Best Day Ever, Roman is seen at his warehouse loading more Dust until he is approached by Emerald and Mercury again; jokingly comparing their presence as his kids after the divorce. After swiping a piece of paper from Emerald's pocket and reading the address, he demands to know where they have been. Mercury tells him they've been out "taking care of his problems". He claims that he had everything under control and begins to threaten them; only to stop when Cinder arrives. After Emerald tells Cinder that they had killed Tukson, a renegade White Fang member, themselves due to Roman taking too long, Cinder berates them for their actions and demands to know why Roman hadn't done the job sooner. Roman tries to explain that he was planning on killing Tukson, but has been busy stealing all the Dust in the kingdom of Vale. Mercury says he's no different than any other crook; but Roman rebuffs this by saying that he has the city scared, Dust prices are way up, police are on every corner, and the warehouse is full of more supplies than they know what to do with. He then tries to ask what their "grand master plan" is so future jobs will be much easier; but Cinder intimidates him into dropping the subject. She then tells him she no longer needs more Dust and that Phase One of her plan is finished; saying it's time to initiate Phase Two. Before leaving, she tells Roman to inform the White Fang to move the Dust and wait to receive coordinates to a new location.
In Painting the Town..., Roman is seen addressing several members of the White Fang, including it's new recruits, telling them in what ways they can take what is rightfully theirs, while also showing of an Atlesian Paladin-290 his associates had acquired for him. 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, Neo jumps to his defense, and he then bids farewell to the team and escapes with his associate in a Bullhead.
Personality
Roman's personality from Ruby Rose 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.
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?"
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 fend for himself against Blake and Sun without assistance, deflecting nearly all of their attacks. He has the skills to use his cane 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; she was saved by Sun, however, and Sun proved to be able to stand his ground against Roman. 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 entire city 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 Neo follow him in a Bullhead to pick him up if he required rescue from his foes.
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 Director's Commentary in the DVD mentions that Roman is a "shout-out to 'Clockwork Orange'" (1971 British film).
- 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 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.
- 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.
- Roman's weapon is confirmed to be named Melodic Cudgel.
Gallery
