User blog comment:ArrwCtchr/Character Development./@comment-9090085-20131019043246

You bring up some good points about how the plot and character development can be intertwined, and your grievances with the lack of plot development is legitimate(I would be the first to admit the main plot has fallen by the wayside); but when you say that Roman is our antagonist - as in the antagonist of the series; when you say he has to be behind every conflict the heroes encounter; when you say nothing connects; I have just these to say:

1) Just because you can intertwine plot and character development, doesn't mean you should.

More to the point, character development is not done just because you can, it's so character's are something at different points. In this case, I believe the characters are being developed to the point at which they are "ready" for when Roman's plan smashes them in the face. Whether they will "win" or not is not important: by showing that our heroes have dealt with their big interpersonal problems, by showing they are at they're "best", it will highlight just how dangerous our villains are when they push our heroes to their limit, or even crush them. Which will give them the impetus to improve themselves further so next time they win, it's all the sweeter for us.

Speaking of villains...

2) Most shows have Antagonists - Plural, not Singular.

There is a reason we call them "Main Antagonists", because they are the antagonist central to the story; the others, while threats and providing character development, may be tools the main antagonist, or ultimately be insignificant in the grand world. Conversely, the main antagonist may not be the one pulling people's strings, but is the one most personally invested in the heroes, And, while uncommon, the main antagonist can change over the course of the show - especially over seasons.

(Char Aznable is an excellent example of this: He is the main antagonist of Mobile Suit Gundam; is a protagonist in Zeta Gundam; is absent for ZZ Gundam; and returns as the main antagonist of Char's Counter Attack. He also moves from being a "grunt" in MSG to the leader of a nation in CCA)

I am bringing this up because I, personally, do not believe Roman is the main antagonist of RWBY - or at the very least is not the one of the whole series. I'll get to that later.

3) The Main Antagonist is necessarily the source of all "evil", nor are they always out to get the heroes.

Let me go on a tangent here: In Wakfu, Nox is the main antagonist, who appears in the first episode, but doesn't meet the heroes until ep2(where he is responsible for the episode's monster of the week). After a brief fight in which he is beaten back, he disappears until episode 13(about three hours). In the interim, our protagonists fight various minor antagonists completely unrelated to Nox; we find out why in episode 13 - he needed the heroes to reach their destination, as they would lead him to his prize. And afterward, he all but ignores the heroes because most of them are irrelevant to his plans(except when they are in his way at that exact moment). Even after he takes "center stage" there are still numerous foes unrelated to him that our heroes fight.

It sounds to me like you expect the Main antagonist to appear almost every episode.

I, personally, find it hard to believe in a villein who is trounced/thwarted every episode - they're like Team Rocket, a joke. A real threat, sure, but there's little drama when you know the heroes always win at the end of the episode. Not that that hasn't been done well before in say, Transformers: Beast Wars; but in that series, both sides are evenly matched, and most episodes are dedicated to finding an edge in the war(like "recruiting" team-mates), not the main plots of getting off the planet/machinations of the aliens - and even then, Megatron's subordinates would at times do things on their own. And sometimes, Megatron would win.

Another, more important thing though, is how invested the villains are in the heroes - how much they care. And Roman, put simply, doesn't care. Once Ruby was no-longer interfering in his plans, he ignored her, because he has much more important things to worry about then petty revenge(that window has passed) - like making sure he has enough Dust for his big operation.

This is the central problem with intertwining plot and character development in RWBY right now: the heroes and main antagonist are not interacting; you did give some good suggestions for how he might effect the heroes, but they just raise more questions: Why is Roman devoting resources to hunt down Ruby, when she is no-longer interfering? How is he controlling the Creatures of Grimm, when they are humanity's mortal enemy?

(I mean sure, if you really wanted to know everything he's up to, you could have him appear each episode with an update on his plans, but that would slow down the character development for the heroes - further slowing down the plot.)

More to the point, is that Roman's Role in the story? Which leads to:

4) You really can't say, 'The writers should have done X!' until the story is completed. Because there's always a narrative purpose, you just haven't thought of what it is.

Anyone can talk about how shows like RvB had lots of foreshadowing because the stories where that foreshadowing has paid off are finished. If someone had watched only to the part before, say, O'Mally shows up, they would call it plotless; not because it has no plots by that point, but because there is no overreaching plot: it's not the fight between the Reds and Blues because only one person takes it seriously - to everyone else it's an annoyance, a distraction from their own sub-plots. O'Mally is also one of the shows first antagonists - without him, there is little real drama(not that he automatically added it, mind).

What does this mean for Roman? I have always held the belief that Roman is RWBY's "Starter Villain"(a Decoy Antagonist, if you will): An obvious "mastermind" who, while competent enough to give our protagonists trouble, is more of a small fish, and really the pawn of someone else.

Why do I believe this? I could point to how he's not really a fighter, but I will instead point to his "accomplice" - "Crimson". "Crimson" has far more things in her favor for being the Main Antagonist, at least for the early part of the show: She is a major physical threat with her flames; her face is shrouded in darkness(an obvious lead-in to a dramatic reveal); and she appears in the opening with two other silhouettes after Roman appears(more important Villains usually appear later in credits). OK, that's pretty shaky, but I think it makes more sense for "Crimson" to be using Roman for her or someone else's plans.

Of course, while there may be a "Big Bad", there can also be a "Bigger Bad", whose machinations behind the scenes drive some aspects of the plot. For example:

Some like myself believe there is an entity that acts as the guiding will of the Grimm. This entity may be influencing "Crimson", who is in turn manipulating Roman to forward the entity's plans. Alright, there's basically no evidence for that, but it could be the case.

Which brings me to I feel is your problem: you're more or less saying the foreshadowing is bad before it has born fruit. Considering the Volume One Finale is three weeks away, you are essentially saying the story is bad right before you hit the climax. If you can hold off on deciding whether it was poorly or well written until you watch episode 16, then your arguments will have some weight.

Or if you just have problems with "Bully" episodes, well then that's totally your opinion, and you are completely entitled to it(I don't really like them ether).