Roman Torchwick/History

==Background== At some point in the past, he was detained by the Vale Police Department for an unknown reason. Though it is not said whether he has been previously imprisoned or convicted, it is stated in a Vale News Network report that he "continues to evade authorities." This suggests that he has been a fugitive for quite some time.

"Yellow" Trailer
Roman is seen briefly speaking to Junior Xiong before Yang Xiao Long walks up. He was paying Junior for the use of some of his henchmen, but left the club before the ensuing fight.

Ruby Rose
Roman walks up the street at night flanked by some henchmen, intimidating bystanders. He walks into From Dust Till Dawn, a Dust store, and comments on how rare it is for a Dust store to be open late at night to the manager.

He and his goons then start to rob the store of its Dust. However, when Ruby Rose begins foiling the heist and taking down his henchmen, Roman flees to a nearby rooftop to be picked up in a Bullhead piloted by Cinder Fall.

He tries to take down Ruby by shooting a Dust crystal he tosses at her feet, causing it to explode. However, this fails when Glynda Goodwitch appears and blocks the attack. Roman goes into the cockpit and tells Cinder about the Huntress, taking control of the ship as Cinder and Glynda engage in battle. Despite Glynda's efforts, the two make a successful getaway.


 * Episodes Covering These Events
 * "Ruby Rose"

Partnership with the White Fang
Inside a warehouse structure, Roman is on a phone call with somebody before angrily hanging it up as a thug comes into the room carrying a supply crate.

Roman pays the man before he asks him to open it, revealing the contents to be Dust crystals. He picks one up and stares into it briefly before looking up and stating "We're going to need more men."

A few months later, Roman arrives at the Vale Port along with members of the White Fang to steal crates of Dust from the Schnee Dust Company. His theft however, is interrupted when Blake Belladonna holds Gambol Shroud to his neck before mentioning that he and the White Fang were "going on a joint business venture." Using the arrival of more White Fang troops, Roman fired a shot from his Melodic Cudgel in order to stop her before engaging in a fight between her and Sun Wukong.

Roman nearly defeats the pair when Ruby shows up and prevents him from doing so. After attacking Ruby, he is forced to retreat when Penny's assault on the operation renders his theft a failure. As he is reviewing the botched heist, Roman is caught off guard by the arrival of Cinder and her associates, slightly chastising her for pairing him with the White Fang in the first place, before being coerced into continuing to work for them, as they have "big plans" for him.


 * Episodes Covering These Events
 * "Players and Pieces"
 * "Black and White"

Phase Two
Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black reunite with Roman at his secret warehouse and he comments that Cinder sent them again and how it was like the divorce as he rubs their heads. Emerald dislikes the idea of him even having children, but Roman clarifies it was a joke and only approached them to take a piece of paper out of her pocket. After seeing the address, he asks why they had it and Mercury says they were cleaning up his problem. He claims that he had everything under control and begins to threaten them, but Cinder arrives before he could finish his sentence and when asked what he would do to them, only saying he would "not kill them."

Roman tries to explain that he was planning on killing Tukson, but has been busy stealing all the Dust in the city. Mercury berates him as a common crook, but Roman rebuffs this by saying that he had city running scared, with Dust prices way up, police on every corner, and the warehouse full of their spoils. However Roman questions what the "grand master plan" is so future jobs will be easier, but Cinder intimidates him into dropping the subject and then informs him Dust no longer mattered as the first phase of the plan was over and they were moving on to the second.

Before she leaves with her associates, Cinder tells Roman to inform the White Fang that they need to move the Dust to a new location that she will inform him of later. Obviously frustrated, Roman grabs a cigar and puts it into his mouth, but has trouble finding his lighter until he hears it click and sees Emerald holding it, sticking her tongue out at him as she leaves.

Roman is seen addressing several members of the White Fang, including it's new recruits, telling them about their common enemies and in what ways he can help them take what is rightfully theirs, showing off an Atlesian Paladin-290 as an example. He then spots Blake and Sun in the midst of the crowd and chases after them in the robot throughout the town and highway, where he confronts Team RWBY. After a lengthy battle, Roman is defeated by the four girls, as Yang herself destroys the Paladin. When Yang fires a shot at him, Neopolitan jumps to his defense, and he then bids farewell to the team by their nicknames and escapes with his associate on a Bullhead.

After Ruby falls into a cave at Mountain Glenn and is knocked out by two White Fang members, she is brought before Roman, who appears out of a train cart, and becomes noticeably worried about the implications of her sudden presence.

Roman is seen interrogating Ruby on how she found them, while also taunting and mocking her as well. When she attempts to escape, Roman uses his weapon to hook onto Ruby, having fired his handle, catching her. When Team RWBY arrives with Doctor Oobleck, she takes the opportunity to escape. Angered, Roman orders the members of the White Fang to kill Ruby, and he fires as well, but misses every shot he fired.

Making his escape on the train, Roman is confronted by Blake and engages her in combat, but loses due to Blake's elemental clones, granted to her by Weiss' dust cartridge. Defeated, Roman taunts and attempts to persuade Blake to join him, but this fails as she ignores him, and Roman is knocked out by the Faunus.

Roman is seen being arrested following the Grimm attack on Vale. Later that day, while in his cell, he is visited by James Ironwood, who talks on how Roman refuses to speak to the authorities, him not being a fan of law enforcement, now the world's greatest military power. Ironwood then informs Roman that the council allowed him to keep him for as long as he wants, but Roman simply laughs and remarks on how it will be fun.


 * Episodes Covering These Events
 * "Best Day Ever"
 * "Painting the Town..."
 * "Mountain Glenn"
 * "No Brakes"
 * "Breach"