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| “ | I'm going to do everything I can to defend this kingdom... no matter the cost. | „ |
| ~ General James Ironwood to Winter Schnee, just seconds before he kills Councilman Sleet for calling him out on enacting martial art law in Atlas. |
| “ | James is what my friends call me. To you, it's General. | „ |
| ~ James as he betrays Oscar and shoots him. |
| “ | I have only done what was best for Remnant, and no one is grateful! | „ |
| ~ James having a villainous breakdown during his battle with Winter Schnee. |
General James Ironwood is a supporting character turned major antagonist in the ongoing American animated webseries RWBY. He originally started out as a hero and the headmaster of Atlas Academy and general of the Atlas Military who wanted to help the heroes to defeat Salem, but in Volume 7, he resorts to extremist acts to get his way, and even threatens millions of people's lives. He is the final antagonist of Volume 7 and the main antagonist of Volume 8.
He was voiced by Jason Rose in English and Masaki Terasoma in the Japanese dub.
His Qualities[]
What Makes Him Entertaining?[]
- He started out as a genuinely heroic character, as he was aware of the existence of Salem and wanted to stop her. He even allied himself with the heroes and attempted to prevent Cinder Fall from destroying Beacon Academy.
- He is genuinely tragic, as he got PTSD from the events of Volume 3 after the Fall of Beacon, which blinded him to any mistakes he made and he was exploited and manipulated by the villains into turning against his allies, leaving him to die alone.
- He is an extremist to an extent, as his ultimate goal is to stop Salem regardless of the circumstances despite how cruel and horrid his methods are.
- He is generally a very brave character, as he almost never shows fear even before his death.
- Even though he has zero care for anyone but himself, the only person he still genuinely cares for is Winter, as despite almost hurting her, he still gave her a chance to leave, and when she refused to take advantage of the offer, James sheds a tear. This shows that he was greatly saddened by the betrayal and wanted to keep Winter safe even after becoming a villain.
- He is astonishingly smart, as he always has a backup plan and he doesn’t complain about the failures of his plans.
- He has a cool fight against Arthur Watts in Volume 7, and he stood up to Watts when he angrily told him that he never appreciated his genius and stood atop it, to which James replies with, “I gave you everything you could have wanted!”
- He usually keeps his composure and recovers from the moments where he gets angry.
- He killed Jacques Schnee to make him pay for everything he had done.
What Makes Him Detestable?[]
- While he was originally an anti-villain, he later subverts most of his redeeming qualities and sacrifices his moral code in his pursuit to kill Salem. He even sacrifices innocent people, betrays and manipulates his allies and comes up with a plan that lacks long-term viability and loses his perspective while doing so.
- He crosses the line when he betrays Oscar (and renounces his friendship with Ozpin in the process) and shoots him in cold blood all because Oscar questioned James' actions.
- He killed Councilman Sleet with a gun after Sleet lashed out at him for enacting martial law.
- He held the city of Mantle hostage and tried to nuke it just to break Penny's mentality, which also marked his full descent into villainy.
- He turned Atlas into a cruel dictatorship and declared martial law on Atlas and renders the heroes public enemy #1, arresting anyone who goes against his actions. Even worse, he used the excuse that Blake and Yang went behind his back by telling the trustworthy Robyn Hill of the Amity project them to cement them as enemies.
- He tried to have Marrow executed all because he complained about his plan to destroy Mantle.
- Overall, while he started out as a noble hero, his paranoia got the best of him and caused him to become an enemy to everyone. Even Winter Schnee points out that he is no protector but an enemy to Remnant.
Trivia[]
- James was originally proposed to be a Magnificent Baddie, but got rejected due to being too pitiful, paranoid and petty as he murders others for disagreeing with his opinions. Thus, it was decided that he qualifies for this wiki instead.
External Links[]
- James Ironwood on the Villains Wiki
- James Ironwood on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
- James Ironwood on the Heroes Wiki
- James Ironwood on the RWBY Wiki
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 Entertainingly Detestable
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Adam Taurus | Arthur Watts | Cinder Fall | James Ironwood | Roman Torchwick | Tyrian Callows | ||