Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-11188061-20131024094021

Perhaps someone has already thought about it, perhaps no one did.

Before

Perhaps they were once a single, united civilization, but after the Grimm War they were forcibly split by circumstances into two, and over time the Faunus and Humans forgot about each other's existence. After all, it was a war that nearly drove mankind into extinction.

Anyway, this theory speculates that the Faunus and Humans are different civilizations that did not know about each other's existence only until the last one hundred years (means 100+ years before current timeline) or so.

The reason for this is extremely simple: As we already know that the majority of Vytal is being populated by Grimm, this greatly discouraged either civilizations to expand their borders without extreme discretion. However, overcrowding is an issue that could only be solved by either limiting child birth (like China), or moving into new, bigger places. So the rule of border expansion is the same for both Faunus and Humans.

But they have to do this very carefully. Take the typical zombie-infested world or Attack of Titans universe as example: The people must first scout the danger zone and observe for a long period of time the movements and behaviors of the Grimm. Then, once they are sure that they could drive away the Grimm without significant risk, they began carefully clearing out the Grimm and set up an outpost at the area. Once safety is confirmed, the outpost is then allowed to grow into something bigger like a village, and so on.

Eventually, the two civilizations have expanded to the point where they made first contact with each other.

The Difference

Initially, the two civilizations are cautiously optimistic about other relationship. We will assume that they have their own native languages, but one of the known language - English in this case - happened to be mutual, to both of the races' surprise. In this case, it is extremely likely that the two civilizations did in fact have contact before the Grimm War. The two races eventually established a mutual alliance to help with each other's needs.

Over time, the Grimm was growing to be lesser and lesser of a threat. Mankind (both Humans and Faunus) eventually learned how to cope with the black beasts. They began to focus more on their own growth as the environment was no longer a threat.

The Humans:

Their greatest aspect was advancement in technology and science. As they grew more and more adapt at applying Dusts, the humans began to greatly improve their quality of life. With rapid expansion and subsequently booming human population, they quickly established themselves firmly as a major power - if not the first since centuries after the Grimm War - in Vytal.

This is pure speculation, but it is incredibly likely that the Humans are technologically more advanced than the Faunus. It is also possible that the the Humans are more superior in numbers in terms of overall population.

The Faunus:

They're physically more superior than Humans, and thus are adapted far more quickly to the Grimm infested environment than the Humans ever did. If we are to assume that Adam is indeed a Faunu (He did have Faunu characteristics, as compared to the more controversial Blake), then we can assume that they are incredibly athletic, strong and durable. It may look easy from our point of view, but cutting steel and deflecting bullets are no laughing matter.

We can also assume that the Faunus are Aura specialists. This is pure speculation, but since martial artists often emphasized on the honing of both body and spirit - especially the spirit - above all, it's not hard to believe that a Faunu may be a better Aura user than a Human. It is thus very likely that when it comes to one-on-one combat, the Faunu is superior to the Human.

Unfortunately, it is also because they adapted to their environment so quickly that they do not need technology nearly as much as the Humans do, and fell greatly behind in that regard. They also seem incredibly adapt to rough environment and terrains, which may suggest that the environment they grew up are more primitive than modern.

Also, it may be safe to assume that they either do not know of Dust's existence, treated it as a sacred object, or just don't really need it since they could already work around without relying on Dust.

Finally, the Faunus are likely to be lesser in numbers in terms of numbers of soldiers because of some very harsh requirements. A Faunu may need long years of training and pass through a number of trials before they qualify as true warriors. Hence, they replenish their troops far slower than the Humans do, and have smaller troop size.

The Reason To War

Overtime, The Human nation grew stronger and stronger, and they soon find the Faunus primitive, weak, and generally more of a prize than an actual ally. You may recall the various reasons the Western nations set out to colonize and conquer many countries; the barbaric, uncultured world - they believed the Faunus are uneducated, uncultured, primitive, and in general required a REAL civilization to lead and bring them to peace and prosperity. Like, look at them! They look like animals! Their brains must be as stupid as an animal too!

Hence the discrimination in the post-war future. The pro-war leaders of the Humans encouraged people to think the Faunu more like an animal so that their reason to war has stronger justification.

The real reason in the end, of course, is plain ol' greed. The Faunus is likely a secretive community, and did not reveal much of their physical techniques or Aura knowledge to the Humans. The Humans wanted that knowledge, and since the Faunus were unwilling to trade with them, they went to war to seize it forcefully.

Finally, The Humans have a definite advantage over the Faunus: While they are not physically superior, the Humans are likely more technologically advanced than the Faunus, and in sheer numbers as well. Also, they do not hold the notion of honor or morality like the Faunus do - it is war after all.

The State of the War

At any rate, the Humans are obviously winning. From the sound of Professor's Oobleck's lessons, the Humans were planning to centralize the Faunus at a very small and isolated corner of the world called Menagerie, and since that is generally not a plan you make when you're getting your ass kicked, we can safely say that the Humans are winning. However, things did not go as smoothly as some people might have believed:

1) When the war first started, it very likely ended in the Faunus' defeat. For one, the Faunus may not have believed that the Humans were really going to attack them. Two, the Faunus know that they're physically stronger than the Humans, and their pride had blinded them from the truth. Three, the Humans likely launched a very dirty surprise attack, thus catching the honorable Faunus completely by surprise.

2) Despite the Human's initial victories, the Faunus have three things on their side: Discipline, Overall strength superiority, and homeground advantage. So despite being outnumbered and outgunned, the Faunus launched a series of guerilla attacks that were incredibly effective and forcing the Humans to a halt. This may include destroying supplies, assassinating important officers, slaughtering small groups of unsuspecting patrols, or complete wipeout of the Human scouts (keeping the Humans constantly in the dark to the Faunu's location), etc.

The Faunus also never engaged the Humans in open combat unless absolutely necessary, and when they fight they made sure that they were going to be the victors. Thus the Human's progress slowed down considerably as both sides fought for every inch of the ground.

3) However, for all their successes, there are too little of the Faunus and too many of the Humans. Plus, the Humans are constantly adapting their technology to even out the Faunus' homeground advantage and their physical superiority, so things only got worse for them as time goes on.

Slowly but surely, the humans forced their way into the Faunu's homeland, and the Faunu's defeat, for all their heroics, seemed inevitable.

The Turning Point

The Humans' false lies of the Faunu (being dumb animals that needs to be educated, etc) however, backfired on themselves. No to mention the idiots who appointed an inexperienced person as General, General Legume was also an idiot who actually believed the propoganda, and he made a point by completely ignoring almost any knowledge about the Faunus at all - except their physical characteristics perhaps, so he could make horrendous puns during meetings.

By now any Human soldier who actually fought the Faunus and survived - or even those who interacted with Faunus before the war - would've known that these people have perfect vision in the dark. Night time is the time where the Humans would really want to hide behind the safety of their walls and cower, because the Faunus would win any battle conducted in the dark.

General Legume was unfortunately a man ignorant and stupid enough not to know that. He decided to wait until night time, and with a huge Human army tried to ambush the Faunus. As expected, he lost spectacularly, and I hope he died with a knife at his groin, because I have no tolerance for fools who lead thousands of people to their deaths especially when it could've been avoided so easily.

The Aftermath

At any rate, the massive defeat was the turning point of the war. The Humans lost a major portion of their army and no longer outnumber the Faunus enough to actually win - not unless they're willing to lose every men on the field - and a huge number of supplies and equipments have been destroyed in a single night.

Unfortunately for the Faunus, they too did not have enough numbers left to completely drive the Humans away. The war came to a standstill. Eventually both sides realized that they've suffered such terrible losses that continue fighting would not benefit anyone, and thus a successful peace negotiation was held, and the Faunus War was finally over.

It is unclear whether the negotiation were more beneficial to which side, but as we can see in the current timeline, all has ended unexpectedly well, with relationships amended to the point that they could have transfer students like Velvet to attend and learn at Beacon Academy.

Also, I would like to mention that the Faunus War is set between thirty to sixty years ago, counting from current timeline.

Extra: Professor Ozpin's Role in the Faunus War

This is a speculation. I believe Professor Ozpin played a crucial role during the War. He was very likely the tactician or warrior who had helped the Humans win against the Faunus initially. His attitude during his younger days however was likely unpopular with the superiors.

I also believe that Professor Ozpin came to realize his mistake and no longer wish to fight the Faunus. He very likely tried to find a way to stop the Faunus War without any bloodshed. However, he failed to stop in time - perhaps he may even be an indirect factor - General Legume from leading his army to their deaths, which ironically did end the Faunus War, but at a cost far terrible than anyone could've imagined.

After all, his quote to Ruby Rose, 'I've made more mistakes than any man, woman or child on the planet' is not something to be taken lightly of, and the only place where one man can make so many mistakes is I believe, the war. 