James Ironwood

James Ironwood is the headmaster of Atlas Academy, a General in the Atlesian military, and a holder of two seats on the Atlesian Council. His weapon of choice is a revolver. For unknown reasons, his right arm, leg and part of his torso were replaced with robotic prosthetics.

He was introduced in "Welcome to Beacon", where he is shown speaking to Ozpin about Qrow Branwen and his message.

Original (Volumes 2-3)
Ironwood is shown to be well dressed and clean, much like Ozpin. He wears a white overcoat, with a gray undercoat, black sweater, a red necktie, and a white glove on his right hand. His suit pants share the same color as his overcoat and are tucked into silver boots accented in gray.

In "Mountain Glenn" Ironwood mentions that his left arm is acting up. In "Heroes and Monsters" it is revealed that his entire right side is cybernetic.

His hair is black, with some silver and gray areas, while his eyebrows are solid black. He has a strip of silver metal above his right eyebrow, a neurotransmitter that helps him operate the robotic parts of his body.

Post-Timeskip (Volume 4 - Current)
After the Battle of Beacon, Ironwood's appearance is slightly less pristine. He has grown stubble and his hair is slightly more messy. He wears a white, double-breasted tailcoat with dark blue and black accents, most notable at the cuffs and shoulder pieces. The coat is belted at the waist. Underneath Ironwood has a black collared shirt and a red tie. Ironwood also now wears two white gloves, in contrast to wearing only one on his right hand. His formal pants are no longer tucked inside military boots but instead hang over black boots.

Personality
Ironwood is courteous to his allies, as shown by his first onscreen interaction with Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch. He is also far-thinking and tactical, wondering about the future, as seen when he speaks to Ozpin about Qrow's message.

Ironwood has a jovial and friendly public persona. His skills as a communicator see him acting as a spokesman for the weapon manufacturers of Atlas. In this role, he is easy-going and humorous, able to draw a crowd into his presentation.

Yet however courteous Ironwood may appear, he can also be incredibly blunt, arrogant and generally prefers the direct approach. When he feels it is necessary Ironwood is not afraid to bring the full might of his military command to bear, which can spark disagreements with both Glynda and Ozpin. Glynda displayed dissatisfaction in Ironwood's bravado attitude. Nevertheless, Ironwood is extremely loyal to his comrades and, however questionable his methods may be, he seems to have genuinely good intentions behind them.

Ironwood questions his trust in Ozpin, telling a concerned Glynda about how he felt he was losing it. Glynda told him instead of talking about trust, he should show it more. Ironwood is aware that the actions he takes can be taken badly, but he has a tendency to admit to such actions only after they have been revealed.

James consistently believes his own ideas are the best course of action, whether he is being opposed by Ozpin or Jacques Schnee. According to Jacques, James does not trust anybody but himself, something the general does not deny; instead, James believes his skepticisms are justified.

James is known to respect courage, selflessness, and duty above all in people, and displays a generous personality accordingly. This is evident in how he commissioned an Atlas-tech prosthesis for Yang Xiao Long before her father, Taiyang came to ask him for one, showing that Ironwood had already seen fit to compensate Yang for the loss of her arm in her attempt to bring down Adam Taurus during the Fall of Beacon. Consistent with this is his disdain for people who are disconnected from and apathetic to the problems and safety of the world's populace as a whole. This was prominently witnessed by his contempt for a socialite at a Schnee fundraising event when he commented that Weiss was the only one making sense there.

Due to his background in the military, James' primary focus is progress and results in his approval of all scientific and research-based endeavors under his jurisdiction. This can be seen in his own culpability in unethical Aura experiments by the Atlesian Military in Aura transference and life supports used to prevent the Fall Maiden's powers from being assimilated by Cinder Fall. Despite this, James is aware of the ethical gray areas that he treads, bitterly swallowing any possible discomfort he has and criticism he is struck with for the sake of global safety and his loyalty to Ozpin's group.

James, while not overly fond of Qrow's alcoholism, appears to enjoy a bit of alcohol in his coffee, as he was seen pouring a presumably alcoholic fluid from a flask into a coffee mug in Ozpin's office.

Rather headstrong at times, James prefers a more proactive approach to problems, attempting more preemptive measures, as opposed to Ozpin's more subtle, reactive, and analytical methods to handling their enemies. This can be seen in his attempt to use military presence to intimidate their foes into abstaining from their then-unknown agenda during the Vytal Festival with an armada of ships and patrols of Atlesian Knights.

Though a courageous if somewhat bullheaded man, Ironwood is rather sympathetic towards those who wish to abstain from combat, as was shown when he gave the students at Amity Coliseum the option of staying to fight or fleeing to safety, claiming that no one would fault them if they took the latter option. This shows that while he may be a warrior who values the dutiful and strong of will, he remains mindful that not everyone is suited to a life on the front lines of war.

Powers and Abilities
As a general, Ironwood normally doesn't associate himself with the front lines of combat and usually orders his forces using his tactical know-how and military knowledge. However, when pressed, he is very adept in combat.

As revealed in "Battle of Beacon", Ironwood uses a revolver to fight off Grimm. Ironwood is an impressive marksman, as he effortlessly dispatched multiple Atlesian Knight-200s within the space of several seconds, the heads of the first two cleanly removed by his shots. He shoots using his organic arm; in close combat, he also uses his revolver to pistol-whip opponents, usually switching to his cybernetic arm for added power. He possesses formidable physical strength in close combat, as his cybernetic arm was able to completely stop a fully-armored Beowolf's attack and throw the beast around with little effort.

In "Taking Control", he slams his robotic fist on Jacques' desk with enough force to severely damage the surface.

Trivia
For information on his character allusion and other choices for the character made by the creators, see James Ironwood/Behind the Scenes.
 * "Ironwood" is a common name applied to a number of types of wood known for their hardness. Alternatively, Ironwood (Járnviðr) is also the name of a location in Norse mythology.