Events[]
Battles[]
| Participants | Episode(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Roman and Henchmen vs. Ruby | "Ruby Rose" | Retreated |
| Roman and Cinder vs. Ruby and Glynda | "Ruby Rose" | Retreated |
| Roman and White Fang vs. Blake and Sun | "Black and White" | Interrupted |
| Roman and White Fang vs. Ruby and Penny | "Black and White" | Retreated |
| Roman vs. Team RWBY, Sun and Neptune | "Painting the Town..." | Retreated |
| Roman vs. Blake | "No Brakes" | Lost |
| Roman and Neo vs. Ruby | "Heroes and Monsters" | Killed |
Manga[]
| Participants | Chapter | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Roman vs. Ruby and Weiss | 18 | Lost |
Background[]
Roman was born in the city of Wind Path, where he was abandoned by his mother in a children's orphanage. As a result, he developed abandonment and attention issues, and took on the mantra "lie, steal, cheat, and survive." He came to the City of Mistral, where he began his criminal career.
RWBY: Roman Holiday[]
Chapter Two: Lie[]
At age eighteen, a young Roman Torchwick sits on Sakura Park in Mistral Below, the lower levels of Mistral, keeping an eye on a local nightclub, The Luck of the Mountains, where he plans on seizing any opportunity he finds. Roman thinks about the club's activities, both illegal – gambling in the basement, and legal – the entertainment. The club's star is a woman named Honey Wine, who has the Semblance to make those who listened to her song feel good and thus be prone to listening to her suggestions and ignoring the surrounding, making them easy to pickpocket.
Roman spots a drunken, wealthy man stumbling out of the club, and he finds that he really wants the man's coat. Roman pickpockets the man's wallet, and pretends to have found it on the street to return it to him after following him into an alley. The elite is distrusting of Roman, calling the young thief's bluff. With that, Roman beats the man a cane, demanding he surrender his coat and gloves.
As he reaps his rewards, Roman is flanked by two gangsters, Brick and Mortar, members of the Spider, an organization run by a woman named Lil' Miss Malachite, who frequented The Luck of the Mountains. They tell Roman that he is stealing from the mob boss by stealing from her patrons, and the former of the two is goaded into a fight which Roman wins. He escapes, but is found by a small army at the Happenstance Hotel days later. Roman is dragged to see Lil' Miss, one of the most powerful people in Mistral, second to Leonardo Lionheart, who had managed to overthrow the organization's leader. There, Lil' Miss decides that she sees enough potential in Roman Torchwick to find some work in him, and gives him a choice of what sort of person he wants to be. Roman accepted her offer and became a member of Spider.
Before RWBY[]
Some point after joining Spider, Roman left the syndicate and became independent in Vale. At some point prior to the start of the series, Torchwick was detained by the Vale Police Department for an unknown reason. Though it was not said whether he was previously imprisoned or convicted, it was stated in a Vale News Network report that he "continues to evade authorities". This suggested that he was a fugitive for quite some time. At some point, he met Cinder Fall and was recruited to her faction.
Roman was seen briefly speaking to Junior Xiong before Yang Xiao Long walked up. He was paying Junior for the use of some of his henchmen, but he left the club before the ensuing fight.
- Episodes Covering These Events
RWBY[]
Dust Robbery[]
"Okay... Get her!"
Roman's introduction was upon Salem's narrative words "darkness will return" as he walked down a street at night flanked by henchmen, intimidating bystanders. They entered From Dust Till Dawn, a Dust store. The Shopkeep offered all the till, but it was his Dust that Torchwick intended to take. When Ruby Rose foiled the heist by taking down Torchwick's henchmen, Roman fled to a nearby rooftop to be picked up in a Bullhead piloted by Cinder Fall.
He tried to take down Ruby by shooting a Dust crystal he tossed at her feet, causing it to explode. However, Glynda Goodwitch arrived in time to block the attack. Roman went into the cockpit and informed Cinder about the presence of a Huntress, taking over piloting as Cinder and Glynda engaged in battle. Despite Glynda's efforts, the two made a successful getaway.
- Episodes Covering These Events
Partnership with the White Fang[]
Inside a warehouse structure, Roman was next seen on a phone call that he angrily hung up as a White Fang thug came into the room carrying a supply crate.
Roman paid the Faunus before he ordering him to open it, revealing the contents to be Dust crystals. After examining one closely, he stated, "We're going to need more men".
A few months later, Roman arrived at the Vale port along with members of the White Fang to a shipment of Dust from the Schnee Dust Company. His theft, however, was interrupted when Blake Belladonna took Gambol Shroud to his neck, questioning his association with her former organization. He informed her that he and the White Fang were "going on a joint business venture". Taking advantage of her distraction at 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.
"These kids just keep getting weirder!"
Roman had nearly defeated the pair when Ruby showed up and called out to him. After attacking Ruby, he was forced to retreat when Penny Polendina's assault on the operation rendered his theft a failure. As he was reviewing the botched heist, Roman got caught off guard by the arrival of Cinder and her associates. He slightly chastised her for pairing him with the White Fang in the first place, but instead, he was coerced into continuing to work for them, as they have "big plans" for him.
- Episodes Covering These Events
Phase Two[]
Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black reunited with Roman at his secret warehouse and there is clear enmity between him and the two teenagers. Having pickpocketed Emerald, he discovered the address of Tukson's Book Trade and learned that the two had killed Tukson. Clearly annoyed, Torchwick threatened them, but Cinder's arrival made him stop.
To Roman's enjoyment, Cinder berated her two youngest associates for not following orders on keeping a low profile. However, when Cinder questioned why Roman had not already killed Tukson, he turned it around on her in order to inquire about the "grand master plan". Cinder intimidated him into dropping the subject and then ordered him to cease stealing Dust as they were proceeding to the second phase of her plan. Before she leaving with Mercury and Emerald, Cinder also ordered Roman to inform the White Fang that they needed to move the Dust to a new location.
Roman, speaking to a White Fang meeting
Roman was later seen addressing several members of the White Fang, including its new recruits, declaring their common enemies and in what ways he can help them take what was rightfully theirs, showing off an Atlesian Paladin-290 as an example. After recognizing Blake and Sun in the midst of the crowd, Roman gave chase in the mech throughout the town and onto a highway, where he confronted Neptune Vasilias and the rest of Team RWBY. After a lengthy battle, Roman was defeated by the four girls, the stolen paladin destroyed. Neopolitan came to his defense and enabled their escape on a Bullhead.
Roman next appeared in the underground railway of Mountain Glenn when Ruby was knocked out brought before him by two White Fang members. Despite being noticeably worried about the implications of her sudden presence, Roman interrogated her, greatly enjoying her lack of fighting skill without Crescent Rose. When she attempted to use her Semblance to escape, Roman hooked onto Ruby with the grappling handle of Melodic Cudgel. However, she literally pulled the wool over his eyes with his own hat when Doctor Oobleck and the rest of her team arrive, enabling her to escape. Angered, Roman ordered the members of the White Fang to kill Ruby. They opened fire at her, but all missed.
Making his escape on the train, Roman was confronted by Blake and engaged her in combat. He lost due to Blake surprising him by combining Dust with her Semblance, granted to her by Weiss Schnee's Dust cartridge. Defeated, Roman futilely attempted to persuade Blake to join him but was knocked out instead in the most funniest tone.
Roman was next shown being arrested following the Grimm attack on Vale, personally delivered into custody by Mercury and Emerald, due to the two acting as heroes. Later on, while in his cell on James Ironwood's airship, Roman refused to cooperate with Ironwood's interrogation telling him he is looking at the man who started the trouble. The general let Torchwick know that he was granted indefinite custody over him. Torchwick laughs maniacally, saying it would be great.
- Episodes Covering These Events
The Battle of Beacon[]
During the Battle of Beacon, Roman was broken out of prison by Neo. Together, they used the prisoner airship to destroy several other Atlesian Airships while he declared "It is good to be back!"
Roman Torchwick played with the control room buttons on the airship, first setting off an explosion of some sort, and second deploying a squadron of Atlesian Knight-200 soldiers midair. Neo gave him a Scroll with Cinder's virus on it, and he promptly plugged it into the control board panel. It infected every AK-200 with a hostile AI, turning them against the Huntsmen fighting against Grimm at Beacon Academy and in Vale. At the sound of someone landing on the roof of the airship, Torchwick instructed Neo to find out who did it.
Once Neo reported Ruby landed on the top, he immediately headed out to join Neo in gaining the upper hand against Ruby. As Neo held her on swordpoint, clinging on to her weapon on the side of the airship, Roman monologued about how he could not afford to lose and therefore must help his employers. His attempt at justifying his actions however, allowed Ruby enough time to open her parasol, causing Neo to be instantly blown right off by raging winds, much to his shock and concern.
Death[]
Roman, moments before his death
With his close partner now gone, Ruby attempted to lunge at Roman, only for Roman to anticipate her and then relentlessly beat her down. Angered at both Ruby's determination and Neo's fall, he cudgeled her while pontificating about how cold and cruel the real world is and how he plans to survive - until the negativity of his speech attracted a Griffon to swallow him whole out of nowhere. Ruby promptly kicked it, sending the Griffon and Roman into the hull of the exploding airship, but it is seen that the Griffon managed to burst through one of the walls of the Atlesian Ship and escaped with the most likely deceased Roman within. As a result, the Black Queen virus, which had been transmitted from the ship stopped, causing all Atlas mech to stop targeting Huntsmen.
- Episodes Covering These Events
Legacy[]
Neo wears Roman's hat as a memento.
In the middle of Team RNJR's fight against Tyrian Callows, Ruby asks why Tyrian has come to retrieve her. When she mentions Roman Torchwick as a possible cause for Tyrian's actions, he dismisses the deceased criminal as a pawn.
At some point after the Fall of Beacon, Neo found Roman's hat, and adopted it in remembrance of him to her wardrobe.
Settling the Score[]
Blaming Cinder for Roman's death, Neo arrived in Haven and managed to find Cinder through Lil' Miss Malachite, whom Cinder also employed to find Ruby and her team. Upon finally coming face to face with her, Neo attacked Cinder, nearly succeeding in winning, until Cinder displayed her true power. After informing her about Salem, Cinder successfully convinced her to aid her in her mission: secure the Relic of Knowledge and allow Neo to avenge Roman by killing Ruby, which she could do due to Neo not being part of Salem's faction.
- Episodes Covering These Events