Lie Ren/History

Background
Ren came from a family who broke away from the Kingdoms to create a town with their own laws: Oniyuri. However, a Grimm attacked while the citizens were still in the process of building the town, killing everyone, including Ren's parents. Ren became an orphan, as is his close friend Nora Valkyrie, with whom he appears to share an extensive history. The two later trained to become Huntsmen together.

Beacon Academy Initiation
Ren is woken up in the morning by an extremely active Nora, who chats on and on to him about how excited she is to finally be at Beacon Academy as he brushes his teeth and cleans up his sleeping bag. While the two are eating breakfast, she muses to him about how they could manage to get on the same team.

He finally speaks up as he pulls StormFlower from his locker, but only to tell Nora that sloths don't make much noise, since she had been going on about using a sloth-like noise to communicate with each other in the Emerald Forest. He is seen later readying his weapons atop the launch pad on Beacon Cliff as Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch brief the students on the objectives of their initiation.

Ren uses the knife-like edges of StormFlower to make a safe landing in a quick and efficient swirling movement down the outside of a tree, his momentum causing Ren to go around the tree instead of straight down it. He brushes himself off before seeing Yang Xiao Long fly over him and across the tree tops.

While wandering alone in the forest, Ren is attacked by a large King Taijitu. At first he fights it off with only his bare hands, but when the snake begins to coil around him, he pulls out his twin pistols and begins shooting it. The snake seems unaffected by these attacks, but Ren gets away by kicking it in the head and then stabbing the blades of his pistols into the snake's head when it tries to attack. Just then, the snake's white head appears behind Ren and begins attacking him.

Ren rides on the snake until he is thrown off and loses his pistols. When the black snake's head strikes, Ren uses his Aura to hold off the snake before breaking its fangs off. He then stabs the snake with its own fang and hits it with an Aura blast, causing the entire head to explode; he defeats the white head shortly thereafter. As he brushes himself off, Nora makes her "sloth call" before appearing hanging down head first from a tree. Ren states that sloths don't sound like that, but Nora just touches his nose while saying "boop".

As Glynda informs Professor Ozpin that the last team has been formed, she pulls up a recording of Nora and Ren's reunion. Glynda comments that she can't see them working well together and feels bad for Ren, but she thinks he is better off than Pyrrha Nikos, who is teammates with Jaune Arc.

Riding an Ursa, Ren and Nora arrive at the Abandoned Temple. He tells Nora to not do that again, but he first has to snap her out of her thoughts. He then flees the temple grounds to some ruins to get to safety. He, along with Pyrrha and Blake Belladonna, engage the Death Stalker chasing them. Eventually, Blake is replaced by Jaune and Nora. Ren then leads a head on attack against the Death Stalker, jumping onto the stinger and shooting it at point blank range to loosen the stinger (so Pyrrha can cut it off) until he is knocked back into a stone pillar, being incapacitated for the remainder of the fight. He is later inducted into Team JNPR.


 * Episodes Covering These Events
 * "The First Step"
 * "The First Step, Pt.2"
 * "The Emerald Forest"
 * "The Emerald Forest, Pt.2"
 * "Players and Pieces"

Start of Classes
Ren is first seen alongside his team sticking their heads out of their dorm room, who are all staring at Team RWBY rushing for class. After falling, he is later seen running to class with the rest of JNPR after realizing that they are late.



While eating in the cafeteria, Nora tells the others her dream with exaggerated detail. Any time she gets a detail wrong, Ren jumps in with the actual events of the dream, constantly correcting her.

Ren is briefly seen alongside Nora, in which both are told by Pyrrha to walk on ahead while she waits for Jaune.

Ren is seen alongside two members of his team, Nora, who is jumping on the bed, and Pyrrha, who is staring out the window. Nora asks about Jaune's whereabouts, to which he says he's been rather scarce after he started to do favors for Cardin Winchester. Pyrrha however, brushes him aside, claiming Jaune knows what he is doing. Ren and Nora looked at each other questioningly. Later, he is seen in the forest collecting sap as an assignment from Professor Peach with Nora, Pyrrha, and Team RWBY. Nora drinks the sap that he has just gathered and makes him refill the container.

Ren is briefly seen alongside Nora, both taking orders from Pyrrha to double back in case more creatures of Grimm reveal themselves.


 * Episodes Covering These Events
 * "The Badge and The Burden"
 * "Jaunedice"
 * "Forever Fall"
 * "Forever Fall, Pt.2"

Second Semester
While eating lunch with his team in the dining hall, Yang and Nora begin tossing food at each other as a type of game. However, when Nora throws a pie that hits Weiss Schnee, he shakes his head as Nora blames him. The two teams then engage in a food fight that causes all the other students to run away.

Ren kicks three watermelons at RWBY, but when he moves in to engage them, Weiss uses a ketchup bottle to cause him to slip and crash into a group of tables. He gets back up and grabs two leeks before facing Yang in close combat (who is using a pair of turkey-gauntlets). They exchange blows before Yang sends him flying into the air, jumps up after him after he tosses his leeks at her and punches him into the ground. He manages to get up just in time to be sucked into Ruby's finishing attack and Glynda soon arrives to end the fight.

Some time later, Lie is seen with his team in the library, all reading (although Nora is sleeping). After Sun arrives with Neptune, Neptune points out on how libraries are supposed to be for reading, and Ren agrees.



Sometime later, prior to the dance, Jaune pulls Ren into a conversation directly after his shower and before he can change into clothes. Ren sits listening to Jaune about his problems with girls and how he considers him a "best friend". However, Ren is unable to say anything after Pyrrha walks into the room and gives Jaune advice instead.

The following day at the dance, Lie Ren is seen with his team, dancing as a group. He is later seen with Team JNPR as they see Team RWBY off on their mission.

After Jaune receives a missed call from Ruby, he points his worries out to the team as they prepare to embark on their own mission. Ren objects to Jaune's fears, reminding the team of RWBY's prowess in battle. After alarms are sounded throughout the city, Jaune changes plans, deciding to aid RWBY. He then reassures Ren that they will sheriff the village later, who nods in response. He aids his team and the rest of the Huntsmen in fighting off the Grimm. After the fight, he's seen standing with the rest of the defenders.


 * Episodes Covering These Events
 * "Best Day Ever"
 * "Welcome to Beacon"
 * "Burning the Candle"
 * "Dance Dance Infiltration"
 * "Field Trip"
 * "Breach"

Vytal Festival Tournament
Ren and his team find Team RWBY at a stand in the fairgrounds before accompanying them for a meal. He asks his team if it's wise to eat before a fight. After Nora tells Jaune to aim his vomit at their enemies, he notes that it's disgusting, but he is not opposed to doing it if need be. Nora later details the team's skill while bashing Jaune, and he asks Jaune if he can take the indirect insult. They are soon called away by Bartholomew Oobleck to report to Amity Colosseum for their match.



Team JNPR's first match in the Vytal Festival tournament is against Team BRNZ of Vacuo's Shade Academy. After a brief melee in the center of the arena, Team JNPR is quickly pinned down by May Zedong, Team BRNZ's sniper, who has taken cover in the trees on the opposite end of the battlefield. Ren gets into a close-quarters fight with Nolan Porfirio, who hits Ren with his cattle prod, incapacitating him momentarily with an electrical shock. This draws the ire of Nora, who retaliates by sending Nolan flying with her hammer with help from her electricity-absorbing semblance.

Jaune tells Ren to distract May, which Ren does reluctantly. Charging at May, Ren evades attacks from other members of Team BRNZ, sliding beneath Roy Stallion's buzzsaw attacks. He eventually gets into another hand-to-hand exchange with Nolan, but is this time victorious, trapping him in a hold. May diverts her attention to Nora, but Ren is unable to help. After Ren calls out, Jaune and Pyrrha cooperate to block May's shot, saving Nora. Nora then unleashes a devastating attack on Team BRNZ, destroying May's cover and landing an explosive hammer blow to the other three.

Jaune attempts to finish the match by calling out team attacks, starting with "Flower Power" for Ren and Nora. However, Ren and Nora don't understand his instructions much to Jaune's frustration. Ren is especially confused as to how he is expected to bring "a flower" and how this constitutes a combat tactic. Nora suggests that he bring "flour, like in baking". Exasperated, Jaune simply has Nora hit Team BRNZ with her hammer, which she does, knocking them clear out of the arena and winning the match.

Team JNPR progress through the doubles round and elect Pyrrha to represent them in the finals. Before Pyrrha fights in the singles round, Ren and Nora offer her different ways to train. Instead of Nora's idea, helping Pyrrha work out, Ren offers Pyrrha a beverage made of herbs, vegetables and algae. Nora drinks some and instantly vomits it. Jaune suggests the team gets fresh air, and the four go outside. When he and Nora find Jaune and Pyrrha outside, Nora immediately drags Ren back to the fairgrounds to give Jaune and Pyrrha some time alone.

Ren and the rest of his team are present at Amity Colosseum to cheer on Pyrrha in her match against Penny Polendina, where he witnesses Pyrrha accidentally destroy her opponent.


 * Episodes Covering These Events
 * "Round One"
 * "New Challengers..."
 * "Destiny"
 * "PvP"

The Battle of Beacon
Ren is among the group of students present at Amity Colosseum at the beginning of this Grimm attack on Vale. His weapon flies to the floating arena in a rocket-propelled locker. After a Giant Nevermore breaks into the stadium and is defeated, he is among the students that choose to fight this battle rather than flee. The group takes an Air Bus to Beacon where they begin to fight the Grimm.

Ren, along with Nora, are recovering from their injuries while staying by their decision to leave only when Jaune and Pyrrha return.


 * Episodes Covering These Events
 * "Battle of Beacon"
 * "End of the Beginning"

Journey to Haven
After the incident, he accompanies Nora, Jaune and Ruby Rose to investigate the conspiracy behind the Vale crisis, beginning their journey to Haven Academy after they stop by Summer's Gravestone for Ruby to pay her respects.

Some time later, on the outskirts of Vale, a nearby village comes under attack by Grimm. Ruby is the first to respond, but Ren, Nora and Jaune quickly rush to assist her.

Ren is seen next with Nora and Jaune debating over their team name until Ruby appears, luring a large Grimm that was terrorizing a nearby village in Anima. Ren, along with the rest of Team RNJR, defeat the Grimm and head to the local blacksmith after speaking with the town official. There Jaune receives his new sword, shield, and armor. Ren calls it a "sign of progress". After that he and Team RNJR leave for the road.

They move on to Shion in the hopes of taking an airship to Haven. Upon arrival at Shion, they are all shocked to find it destroyed. Ren finds  a severely wounded Huntsman, who tells them that bandits attacked the village, and the panic attracted the Grimm. After hearing this he walks off and placed his hands over his head as Ruby, Jaune, and Nora try and think of a way to aid the Huntsman, but unfortunately he dies from his wounds. Devastated, Nora asks if they should bury the huntsman but Ren walks away saying that they should go. Nora walks after him and spot a symbol on the ground.

Days after the fall of Shion, the team travels to a village named Higanbana in order to stay at the village inn. Some time after their stay in Higanbana, Ren and the others happen to come across an abandoned village. After finding out its name, Oniyuri, Ren tells the group about the village and how his parents were involved with it before a Grimm managed to wipe it out. As the group prepares to leave, Ren starts to sense Tyrian, who was tasked to hunt Ruby. Tyrian easily overwhelms them and almost manages to seriously injure Ruby until Qrow Branwen timely intervenes.

Qrow and Tyrian fight, during which Ren and Nora try to intervene. After Ruby severs Tyrian's scorpion tail, causing him to flee, Ren asks Qrow how he was able to get to Team RNJR.

That night, Team RNJR learns from Qrow about the four Maidens, the two deity brothers, the four relics, and Salem. The following morning, the team wakes to find that Qrow has been poisoned by Tyrian. They create a makeshift stretcher to carry him and try to find help, but they are soon forced to make a difficult choice when their path splits between a mountainous route toward their destination and a route that leads to a destroyed town. The team splits. Ren, along with Nora, takes the mountain path in the hopes of higher ground allowing them to see a better way to bring help.


 * Episodes Covering These Events
 * "End of the Beginning"
 * Volume 4 Character Short
 * "The Next Step"
 * "Remembrance"
 * "Family"
 * "Tipping Point"
 * "Punished"
 * "A Much Needed Talk"
 * "Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back"