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The story of the wicked manipulator Salem from RWBY.

Background[]

Tragic Beginning[]

In a time before the world was Remnant, Salem was once a human woman whose mother died giving birth to her, her father who was once a kind hero but later a cruel tyrant after his wife's death, locked Salem in the tower after losing hope that the child would be a boy to take the heir. But one day on Salem's 16th birthday, she devise a plan to escape her father's grasp.

Asking for a birthday gift, her father gave her a pen and supply of papers at her request, where she wrote stories of being locked by a monster who wished to keep her at home forever. After many warriors died trying to save her, she was finally rescued by a brave knight named Ozma. The two fell in love and spent their life together until Ozma fell deathly ill and passed away. Desperate to bring back her lost love, Salem met with the God of Light to beg him to bring Ozma back, but the God of Light refused in order to maintain the balance of life and death.

Seeing no other hope, Salem turned to the God of Darkness for help. The God of Darkness, thinking he has a worshiper and follower, agreed to her request. However, the God of Light intervened and explained the situation to the God of Darkness, who corrected his mistake. The two of them then cursed Salem with immortality by bathing her in the Fountain of Life, hoping that it would teach her the importance of life and death.

Salem was distraught that she could not die and be with her beloved, even trying to kill herself many times. However, she decided she could use her gift to get revenge on the gods. She went around the world, flaunting her immortality and claiming she stole it from the gods. She would describe the gods as being able to be overthrown, leading to a massive human revolution against the gods. When humans tried to kill the gods, the God of Darkness wiped out everyone in the world except for Salem, and the gods abandoned the world as a "Remnant" of what it once was.

Salem wandered the world for centuries as life returned to it, but only desired to die. She eventually came across the God of Darkness' Grimm Pool, which she thought would counter the Fountain of Life and finally kill her. She dove in, but was not killed, but rather transformed into an entity craving destruction while also given authority over the Grimm.

Rise and Fall of the "Goddess"[]

However, Ozma was given the chance by the God of Light to return to Remnant and reunite humanity. Once he did, he could gather the relics of knowledge, creation, choice, and destruction to summon the gods again and have them once again live among them. However, if humanity was still divided when they returned, the gods would wipe the world clean again. Ozma agreed to the task so he could be with Salem again, and returned in a new body. He found Salem, and the two reunited, though she blamed the destruction of the old world on the gods and Ozma did not tell her of his task. Seeing each other as immortal beings, Salem suggested they use their powers to become the new gods of the world. Ozma reluctantly agreed, and the two grew a following as god-like beings, establishing a kingdom. The two quickly married and started a family, parenting four daughters.

However, Salem's ambitions grew stronger, and her desire to rule over humans began to become her one goal and obsession. Ozma, fearful of the person she had become, explained to her why he had been sent back. She didn't mind this and stated instead that she plans on replacing the current humans with magical humans from their bloodline. Alas, such dreams would come to a tragic and brutal end when Ozma, finally unable to tolerate Salem's malicious ways any longer, tried to sneak away with their children. Salem caught them and betrayed, furiously attacked Ozma. Although Ozma was the more powerful warrior, Salem's immortality allowed her to emerge victorious as though he was able to kill her, she would simply resurrect until he was finally too injured to be able to fight back anymore and Salem killed him while condemning Ozma for not being able to just settle in with her, as their daughters were killed in process.

Plans for World Destruction[]

Because his task was not yet completed, Ozma's soul traveled into the body of a like-minded individual. This continued for centuries until Ozma, now known as Ozpin, remembered his task and began trying to reunite humanity. However, Salem opposed him and tried to divide humanity. She kept a facade that she wanted to use the Relics to remake the world, but in truth she had long lost interest in such dreams: Shattered by the deaths of her daughters and the destruction of the kingdom she and Ozma had built and with it, the only time she was truly happy, Salem only cared to find a way to be released from her immortality. Knowing that bringing the Relics together would summon the Gods, Salem planned to find and unite the relics after she had divided humanity so when the gods would see how divided the world still was, it would be destroyed and Salem along with it, finally giving her rest.

Sometime before the beginning of the series, Salem identified Silver-Eyed Warriors as being threats to her Grimm conquest, and began working on wiping them all out. This included hiring Tock to assist in the genocide. At some point, Salem was challenged by Summer Rose, a Silver-Eyed Huntress and mother of series protagonist Ruby Rose, and presumably killed her, the encounter being enough of a fight that she seemed to respect Summer for her capabilities and courage.

Volume 1[]

In "Ruby Rose", Salem narrates the early of history of humanity, born from dust. She tells of their struggles against the Creatures of Grimm, their discovery of nature's wrath, Dust and the beginnings of civilization in the absence of the shadow of the Grimm. Salem ominously warns that "there will be no victory in strength". However, Ozpin replies that "Perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul."

Volume 3[]

In "End of the Beginning", after the fall of Beacon Academy and the death and destruction that are wrought upon Vale, Salem's conversation with Ozpin is continued. Salem declares that this is merely the first step in her plan to divide humanity, to snuff out their source of hope which they draw strength from. She claims that she will destroy everything that Ozpin has built, and she invites him to send in his Guardians, his Huntsmen and his Huntresses, and his "simple soul", for she is confident she will defeat them all and expresses malicious joy at the idea of seeing Ozpin burn.

Volume 4[]

In "The Next Step", after the Fall of Beacon, Salem holds a meeting with her subordinates in her lair. She orders Doctor Watts to meet with an informant in Mistral, Hazel Rainart to meet with the White Fang leader, Sienna Khan and Tyrian Callows to hunt down Ruby Rose whilst Cinder Fall stays at her side for "treatment". She claims Haven Academy will be the next to fall.

In "Of Runaways and Stowaways", Salem remains in her lair with Cinder as she receives her "treatment". Salem tells Cinder "it" can sense her fear and tells Cinder to make it fear her instead. A Seer floats into the meeting room and gives a message to Salem regarding the Grimm's lack of progress in finding the relic at Beacon Academy. Salem turns to Cinder and adamantly asks her for a final answer reporting on whether she killed Ozpin or not.

When Cinder turns to Emerald to speak on her behalf, Salem angrily slams the table and orders Cinder to say it herself. Cinder reaffirms Ozpin's death. Salem orders the Grimm to reinforce their numbers at Beacon Academy, stating "The relic is there." She then mutters to herself, "What are you planning?"

In "Taking Control", Salem is seen training Cinder to control her Fall Maiden powers by pitting her against Grimm. Furious that Cinder continues to have difficulty using them, Salem asks Cinder if she lied about wanting power. Tyrian then enters the room and Salem asks if he succeeded in retrieving Ruby Rose. Upon hearing he failed his mission, Salem expresses disappointment in him before leaving the room.

In "No Safe Haven", Salem is seen watching Cinder train with more Grimm and smiles when Cinder mercilessly incinerates a vision of a defeated Ruby Rose created by Emerald.

Volume 5[]

In "Dread in the Air", Salem and a recovered Cinder are contacted through a Seer by Watts and Leonardo Lionheart. Lionheart informs Salem that Qrow Branwen had arrived at Haven Academy with Team RNJR and told them he believes the Spring Maiden is hiding in Raven Branwen's bandit tribe. Pleased at this news, Salem instructs Cinder to travel to Anima with her team to meet with Watts and convince Raven to cooperate with them.

Once they have the Spring Maiden and use her to retrieve the relic, Cinder will then contact Hazel and fulfill their promise to let the White Fang destroy Haven Academy. In the meantime, Salem assigns Watts to begin work on a new tail for Tyrian, who lost it in battle with Qrow and Team RNJR, before ending the call.

Salem then listens to Cinder vent her frustrations about working with bandits and keeping Ruby Rose alive. Salem tells Cinder not to underestimate the usefulness of others, using Lionheart as an example and warns Cinder that if Ruby has learned to harness her powers, she must make sure to protect her own. Before Cinder departs, Salem requests that she informs Tyrian she wishes to have a word with him.

In "Haven's Fate", when Professor Lionheart attempts to gather items in his office and flee the losing battle at Haven, Salem contacts him through the Seer and asks Lionheart where he was going, to which Lionheart can only stammer. Salem then asks him if there was something he wanted to tell her, to which he tells her that Cinder was to blame for deviating from the original plan. When Lionheart begs that he could flee to her location and prove he still has used to her, she replies with nothing but silence, having decided to kill Lionheart, upon realizing just how cowardly Lionheart is and how easily he would turn his back on her. Realizing that Salem has no intention of letting him live, Lionheart tries to destroy the Seer only for Salem to have it knock Lionheart's weapon away, after which Lionheart attempts to run away only to be grabbed by the Seer and while begging for his life and contentiously telling Salem he could still be of use to her, Salem coldly ignores Lionheart's pleas and has the Seer viciously stab Lionheart until he dies. After killing Lionheart, Salem looks through the Seer and disgustingly notes that Lionheart was a coward.

Volume 6[]

In "Uncovered," the God of Light's creation Jinn reveals that Salem was once a human.

In "The Lost Fable", Jinn tells Team RWBY, Oscar, and Qrow Salem's story, from being locked in her tower as a human to her fall, her rebirth as a monster, and her conflict with Ozpin. However, she also reveals that Salem cannot be destroyed.

In "So That's How it Is", Salem calls a meeting. She disciplines Hazel, demanding he tells her the reason they failed at Haven Academy. Hazel explains that it was Cinder's fault, and Salem decides that she will leave Cinder behind. Hazel then tells her that Ozpin is still alive, and has inhabited a new body much sooner than normal. This infuriates Salem, as Ozpin getting the Relic to Atlas would prevent her from achieving her goals, to where she emits a dark aura and starts cracking the windows of the room and dismisses her faction. Once they have left, Salem tries to calm down but eventually snaps and unleashes her magic in a rage with a scream so powerful it shatters the windows of the room.

In "Our Way", Emerald and Mercury look on in shock and horror as Salem creates new, hybrid Beringels with wings on their backs. Hazel tells them that Salem is taking matters into her own hands.

Volume 7[]

In “Gravity”, as tensions rise between Team RWBY, general Ironwood, and the Ace-Ops, a seer Grimm bursts out of Watts’ duffle bag. Salem’s disembodied voices addresses Ironwood. Shortly after, the seer Grimm dies. Upon death, it releases a smoke projection of Salem. Salem tells RWBY and Ironwood that Watts and Tyrian were not sent to Atlas to “win”, but to set the stage for her. Salem offers the choice of surrender or die, to which, Ironwood refuses to back down. Ruby steps in and tells Salem they are going to stop her. Salem retorts and tells her, her mother said those words. Ruby then breaks down and her silver eyes flash for a brief second. The Salem smoke projection dissipates.

In “The Enemy of Trust”, Salem is seen riding on top of a whale Grimm with an army of Grimm flying behind her.

Volume 8[]

In “Divide”, Salem sits on a throne inside Monstra, where she is reunited with Cinder. She expresses disappointment with Cinder, telling her she put her trust in having Cinder as the host for the Maiden powers, and it wouldn’t have been wise coming back empty handed. To the immortal queen’s surprise, Cinder offers her the Relic of Knowledge, the Fall Maiden takes full credit in stealing it from Ironwood, this frustrates Neo. Tyrian then steps forth from the shadows and begins taunting Cinder. Telling her she isn’t cunning, but that Ironwood is an idiot.

Cinder retorts by saying that very same General outsmarted him and Watts. She then sarcastically tells the Faunus it is a shame Watts never made it back. Tyrian answers her and says Watts was a necessary sacrifice. Their argument is cut short when Salem asks who Neo is and Cinder answers that Neo is a very useful asset. This further frustrates the mute enforcer. Shortly after, Hazel, Emerald, and Mercury arrive. Emerald sees Cinder and is delighted her old master has returned, but Cinder berates her, shutting down any happy emotions Emerald had. Cinder tells Salem that Polendina’s robot got in her way from obtaining the Winter Maiden powers, and will soon claim what is hers. But Salem tells her to know her place and Cinder reluctantly grovels before her queen. Salem places her hand on her throne and an image projects the city of Atlas on Monstra’s front. She dismisses her subordinates afterwards.

Much later after her subordinates were dismissed, Salem seemingly talks to the Relic, telling it she has questions, but first needs to know how to use it. She puts the object in front of a Grimm and the latter sniffs it. She then orders the Grimm to bring her the one who has the knowledge of using it.

In “Fault”, after the Hound was successful in bringing Oscar to her, Salem is finally reunited with her former lover. When Oscar wakes up, Salem was conjuring a dark cloud of her daughters before she dismisses it and proceeds to mock Ozma for choosing a vessel as small as Oscar and asks if he has nothing to say to her. Oscar's attempts to imitate Ozma irritate Salem to where she furiously grabs him by the face to make it clear she can tell he is not yet fully Ozma. She then calmly asks Oscar where the Relic of Beacon is, but Oscar truthfully answers her, saying he has no idea what she is talking about. Salem is unsurprised, knowing fully well Ozma would keep it hidden as long as possible. She then asks the farm boy how to access the Lamp of Knowledge and Oscar lies, saying the Lamp is out of questions. Not fooled, Salem then shoots a magical beam at Oscar’s chest, causing him to writhe in agony. Salem gives off a sardonic smirk as she caresses Oscar's face and admits that now she can see why Ozma choose Oscar and tells him to give her the password to the Lamp. Oscar defiantly claims she will never have it. Salem simply smirks and summons Hazel to physically beat Oscar. Claiming that is for Salem’s failure at Haven Academy, and the rest will be for his sister.

Walking through the halls with her pet by her side, Salem encounters Cinder and Neo, who nervously asks what that Grimm is. Salem coolly response it’s an experiment. Cinder then tries to get Salem’s approval in locating the Winter Maiden, but Salem immediately denies Cinder’s request and mocks Cinder for believing she could demand her and get what she wants after her failures. Cinder then scolds her master, telling her without the Maiden powers, the vault is useless, and that they are doing nothing. While hearing this, the Hound turns around and roars at Cinder. Salem tells her subordinate to know her place, and the latter reluctantly claims without her she is nothing.

In "Midnight", after Ozpin finally takes control of Oscar and tries to reason with Hazel, Salem gives a dark smile as she states Ozpin has wonderful timing. She then prepares for her assault on Atlas and when Ozpin tries to reason with her allies, Salem sadistically says that he is too late. As the grimm pool she has conjured unleash hordes of Grimm upon Atlas, Salem smirks and states it is time.

In "War", Salem is seen starting to attack Atlas herself, while Ozpin finally reveals what Salem's true goals are: Her reasons to gather the four Relics together was never to be able to remake the world, but to summon the Gods to Remnant. Her true goals are to have the Gods judge humanity and the world unredeemable and thus eradicate Remnant along with her, finally releasing her from her curse, thus why she has been dividing the world, knowing if humanity remains divided, the gods will destroy Remnant, clearly rattling him. Ozpin tells the disbelieving Hazel that and even tells him the password for the lamp so he can confirm the truth for himself. Meanwhile, Emerald also hears and unlike Hazel believes Ozpin and tells Mercury. Despite Mercury's initial disbelief, he comes to believe it once Tyrian callously admits Salem is highly destructive and is left unnerved but is forced to go to Vacuo, though the look on his face suggests he is planning to betray Salem just like Emerald is.

In "Witch", Salem is alerted to Emerald's betrayal and Oscar's escape, with Emerald and Hazel having betrayed Salem after realizing Oscar was right, when the Lamp is stolen by Neo, who has overheard everything. She soon corners Emerald, Oscar, Yang, Jaune and Ren and easily defeats them all but Hazel arrives and saves them and fights Salem, eventually restraining her as Oscar uses a powerful spell on them both.

In "Ultimatum", it is revealed that Oscar used most of the magical power stored in the Long Memory wielded by Ozma's reincarnations to summon a powerful bolt of magical energy that killed Salem and presumably Hazel as well. Though it leaves the Long Memory weakened, Oscar states that Salem was damaged enough that she won't be able to recover for a long period of time and it also ends her invasion on Atlas temporarily.

In "Final Word", Salem has reformed and she goes to the Atlas Vault to meet with Cinder, who has acquired both the Staff and the Lamp. Presented with 2 of the Relics and closer than ever to finally achieving eternal rest, she ignores Ruby's death, which she clearly knew Cinder had caused, and instead tells her she has done well, pleased with the results. As she leaves, ignoring Ironwood, she also asks on what Cinder used the Staff to create to unmake what the Staff had made before and when Cinder said she added more flames to the fires of Atlas, Salem simply nods satisfyingly, clearly knowing she meant she had killed Watts and not caring, and flies away victoriously.