Faunus



Faunus (singular Faunus) are a race of humanoid people in the world of RWBY who possess physical animal traits.

Background


Faunus are similar to the Humans of Remnant, except for the fact that they share certain traits with animals. Some types of Faunus are more common than others, with some being extremely rare. Faunus with mammalian traits in general seem to be quite common.

Some, such as Blake Belladonna and Velvet Scarlatina, have been shown to have animal ears (in these cases, those of a cat and a rabbit, respectively); Faunus with animal ears also appear to have a set of Human ears. Other Faunus in the background have been shown to have horns protruding from their heads. Some Faunus, such as Sun Wukong, may have prehensile tails. In some cases, a Faunus may have a trait that is not immediately apparent, such as Tukson's retractable claws.

Faunus can only have a single trait in common with their animal (ex: Blake having cat ears vs Neon having a cat tail). It has been stated that most Faunus have remarkable night vision, a trait that they use to great effect in combat.

In addition, Faunus have been shown on multiple occasions to possess other non-physical traits of the animals that they're based on. One such example is food preference, such as how Sun is shown eating bananas and Ruby notes that Blake "does like tuna a lot".

Faunus have had at least one major conflict with Humans in recent history. In particular, the Faunus Rights Revolution was an attempt by Faunus to gain rights through violence. The revolution is said to have stemmed chiefly from Humans' attempts to confine the Faunus to an area of Remnant known as Menagerie. Given that Faunus are seen living amongst Humans in the present day, it can be deduced that the Faunus were at least successful in preventing this confinement. While still being able to live within the human kingdoms, it has been noted that some Faunus have lived outside of their borders.



In spite of any gains they made during the revolution, Faunus still tend to be treated like animals or second-class citizens by some Humans, and are shown as still trying to gain equality.

This discrimination is exemplified by Cardin Winchester tormenting Velvet. Children are allowed to attend at least some schools with members of other races, but may be at risk of bullying from their non-Faunus peers. Thus, Faunus still seem to suffer from racism and discrimination in the present day.

Bartholomew Oobleck attributes the continuing racial tensions between Humans and the Faunus to the discrimination they have faced, also believing it to be the cause of ongoing conflicts in the present. A group of Faunus known as the White Fang have been in bloody conflict with the Schnee Dust Company for the past three generations of the company's leadership. Because of this conflict, Weiss Schnee holds a great deal of animosity towards the Faunus in general. Weiss also claims that White Fang's objective is the eradication of mankind, but this may be an exaggeration. However, Roman Torchwick reveals in the episode "Painting the Town..." that this is indeed the case; saying that their goals are to completely eliminate or subjugate humankind and establish a reign of Faunus supremacy: overthrowing human rule by destroying their government, military, and Huntsmen schools; and collapsing the pillars of human society.

RWBY
"Black" Trailer The White Fang sent in Blake Belladonna and Adam Taurus to steal a cart of Dust owned by the Schnee Dust Company from a cargo train. After the operation's completion, Blake leaves the organization.

Ruby Rose
Lisa Lavender presents a news report on a Faunus Civil Rights Protest. She says that a protest by a group of Faunus was disrupted by a group known as the White Fang, an organization previously known as being peaceful, which turned the protest violent.

Jaunedice
During a meal in Beacon Academy's cafeteria, Cardin Winchester and the rest of Team CRDL pick on Velvet, a female Faunus with rabbit ears. Cardin pulls on Velvet's ears mercilessly as she begs him to stop. Yang Xiao Long comments that it must be hard being a Faunus. Velvet is the first character to be confirmed as a Faunus.

Jaunedice, Pt.2
Dr. Oobleck gives a lecture on the history of the Faunus Rights Revolution. His lecture reveals a great deal of Faunus history, including their relationship with Humans and the conflicts that arose from their inability to co-exist peacefully. During the lecture, he asks if any Faunus have experienced discrimination, to which several students, including Velvet, respond in the affirmative.

The Stray
Team RWBY encounters a monkey-based Faunus, Sun Wukong, escaping the police, who are trying to apprehend him for being a stowaway. Later, Blake accidentally reveals her identity as a Faunus to her team, and after running away, reveals her cat ears beneath her bow.

Black and White
The White Fang were seen working with the Human Roman Torchwick, despite their prejudices against Humans, in several Dust robberies. They were soon confronted and repelled by the efforts of Blake, Sun, Ruby Rose, and Penny Polendina.

Best Day Ever
A Faunus bookseller named Tukson, owner of Tukson's Book Trade, is confronted by Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. Upon revealing that he is attempting to leave the White Fang and flee to Vacuo, the pair kill him.

Painting the Town...
Blake and Sun infiltrate a White Fang meeting as new recruits, in order to learn what is the enemy's next step involving the extremist group. There they find Torchwick riling up the Faunus against the human authorities, who also reveals that they are in possession of a Paladin mechanical suit, before noticing Blake and Sun among the crowd and giving chase to them across the city.

Mountain Glenn
Ruby Rose inadvertently finds two White Fang henchmen when looking after her dog Zwei, whilst camping on the abandoned Mountain Glenn. After following them to their hideout, Ruby tries to return to her team, the pavement collapses and she falls to an underground city, where other two White Fang henchmen subdue her and take her to their base, where the White Fang is loading a train with bombs and more Paladins. Torchwick is overlooking the operation

No Brakes
Torchwick orders the White Fang to prepare the train for an early departure after Team RWBY and Dr. Oobleck infiltrate the caverns. While the huntsmen aboard the train, the White Fang puts in motion the plan to detonate the wagon on the trains to allow access for Grimm into Vale. Team RWBY attempts to stop this plan, fighting several White Fang members along the way, but ultimately fail to stop the train from crashing into Vale, allowing Grimm to attack the city.

Never Miss a Beat
Weiss and Yang face Flynt Coal and Neon Katt in the tournament. The latter is a cat-based Faunus, possessing an orange tail.

Beginning of the End
Cinder Fall, Mercury and Emerald confront Adam Taurus with a proposition to use his men for their cause. He rejects initially, saying the White Fang is not a group to be hired, but a force of revolution. The three leave and later return, having killed the White Fang soldiers at the camp, and they make the same proposal, only bribing him with Lien and Dust. Adam realizes that turning down this offer would cost him much more.

PvP
Adam Taurus and other White Fang members transport Grimm directly to Beacon Academy.

Notable Faunus

 * Blake Belladonna - Cat-based
 * Velvet Scarlatina - Rabbit-based
 * Sun Wukong - Monkey-based
 * Adam Taurus - Bull-based
 * Neon Katt - Cat-based
 * Tukson - Puma-based

Trivia

 * The name "Faunus" is derived from Faunus, who is the Roman god of forests, wild, and nature. He's also the Roman equivalent to the Greek god Pan.
 * Faunus is associated with Satyrs, which incidentally have a less human morphology than the Faunus people shown in the show.
 * In a Rooster Teeth livestream on August 21st, 2014, it was confirmed that Faunus and Humans can interbreed with one another.
 * On a Facebook Q&A Miles and Kerry revealed about the breeding genetics of Faunus.
 * If two Faunus of the same phenotype breed (e.g. two Dog Faunus), their child will also be of the same species.
 * If a Faunus and a human breed, their child will either be a Faunus or a Human.
 * If two Faunus of different types breed (e.g. a Dog Faunus and a Cat Faunus), their child will have a chance of being a random type.
 * So far in the series, only Faunus with mammal-based traits have been shown. However, it was confirmed in the RWBY live stream that, though mammalian faunus are most common, other varieties do exist.
 * It was said in the RWBY Volume 3 Livestream that every Faunus has only one animal trait.