Qrow Branwen

Qrow Branwen (pronounced "Crow") is the uncle of Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. He is a teacher at Signal Academy. He was mentioned in "Ruby Rose" as being the one who taught Ruby how to fight and wield her High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe, Crescent Rose.

Ozpin revealed their acquaintance when he deduced that Qrow was the source of Ruby's talent with such an uncommon and highly dangerous weapon, as he knows of no other scythe-wielders of comparable skill.

At the end of "Black and White", Ozpin, while viewing footage of the aftermath of the battle, receives a cryptic message from Qrow: "Queen has pawns". James Ironwood also knows Qrow and has been in contact with him.

It is revealed in "Burning the Candle" that Qrow was on a team with Summer Rose, Raven Branwen and Taiyang Xiao Long.

On August 7th, 2015 during the RTX 2015 RWBY Panel, it was revealed that Vic Mignogna would voice Qrow.

Appearance
In the flashback sequence of "Burning the Candle", Qrow had dark spiky hair and donned a cloak, with predominantly dark or black clothing. Ozpin's description of him being a "dusty, old crow" may give some clues about his age.

In his official design, he has graying black, spiky hair, with a red, tattered cloak, wears a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants, and black dress shoes.

He also wears a ring on his right index finger, two other rings on his fourth finger, and a necklace with a crooked cross-shaped pendant.

It can be noted that Qrow's bangs are down most of the time, but he pushes his hair back when fighting.

Personality
Qrow is a rude, blunt, cynical, sometimes crass, and foul mouthed, yet cool-headed and nonchalant individual. It's openly stated that he's an alcoholic as Glynda Goodwitch states that, "He's always drunk!". He openly disrespects the Atlas military, apparently for the recent occupation of Vale and the mistreatment of Ozpin as of late, immediately getting into a brawl with Winter upon first meeting her and backing down at the last second just for the chance to humiliate her in front of Ironwood. He also shows a level of cockiness when he smugly slicks his bangs back and taunts Winter into attacking him. This mischievousness isn't fake at all, for he shows in "Lessons Learned" that he's immature enough to be willing to distract his nieces with a sexual quip to claim victory over them in video games. He also has a mercurial attitude towards his age, disgusted at the notion of being called old by his nieces, but he is willing to use it as an excuse to leave uncomfortable conversations.

Behind this childish facade, however, lies the demeanor of a veteran Huntsman. While watching the Vytal Festival Tournament, he openly expresses displeasure and lack of impression while observing the matches (even as far as calling one a mess), implying he's not easy to please or possibly shrewd in his own skills and past experiences. This is likely because of his time out in the field, which has hardened him and made the much safer displays of strength seem tame and benign in comparison.

Qrow cares for his nieces dearly; he saved Yang and Ruby from being killed by Grimm when they were very young. He also took Ruby under his wing and trained her in scythe-wielding, allowing her to pursue her dreams as a Huntress. "It's Brawl in the Family" and "Lessons Learned" also show that he is very close to his nieces and plays the part of the childish uncle, ruffling Ruby's hair when he sees her again, playing video games with his nieces and not being above distracting them to claim victories. He's also very cautious, warning Ruby and Yang to not let their past (near) victories against Roman Torchwick and the White Fang get to their heads. Although cautious with them, he has faith in his nieces' potential as Huntresses, encouraging them to continue learning throughout their time at Beacon, saying they will go far after graduating.

He's also very aware of Yang's obsession with her mother Raven, making an unsuccessful effort to cover up her face when he shows Ruby and Yang the Team STRQ picture and quickly putting it away when he notices Yang's fixation on her.

Abilities and Powers
As mentioned by Ozpin, Qrow is a master scythe wielder, having taught Ruby how to use her scythe. Crescent Rose is confirmed not to be a copy of Qrow's scythe, as Ruby stated that she designed Crescent Rose herself, indicating Qrow's Scythe has a variety of differences.

In Yang's flashback, he was shown easily dispatching three Beowolves single-handed, displaying that he has remarkable mastery of his weapon.

In the episode "It's Brawl in the Family", he uses what looks like a longsword which contains gears near the crossguard area (on a regular blade), suggesting that his weapon has alternate forms. One of these is a gun form, and he begins to reveal what is implied to be its scythe form, but stops and retracts it before it is fully shown.

Qrow is shown to be strong enough to smash a crater into the ground with his sword, and is capable of cutting through a metal pole. He also seems to be able to launch a sonic wave from his sword.

Another testament to his strength and skill is that even while he was drunk he was able to match Winter Schnee, a high ranking Atlas official.

He also appears to be ambidextrous, as during his fight with Winter he showed the ability to wield his weapon proficiently with either hand, switching it back and forth between each hand several times over the course of the battle.

Once using his scythe he seems to swing it with ease. Unlike ruby's scythe, his has a curved pole, as well as the blade edge being on top. Which is in contrast to ruby's which is on the bottom.

Trivia

 * On November 10th, 2013, a Wikia account registered as Montyoum made an edit to this page to indicate that Qrow's full name was "Qrow Branwen". As no verification from an official source was provided that this account was linked to Monty Oum in any way, the edit was reverted. Interestingly, however, following the release of the Volume 2 episode "Breach", on October 30th, 2014, it was revealed that Raven's full name was "Raven Branwen".
 * The credits for the episode "New Challengers..." confirmed that his last name is Branwen.
 * Branwen is Welsh, meaning "blessed white raven/crow", which corresponds to his first name.
 * Qrow may allude to Brân the Blessed, who was the brother of Branwen, which Raven could be alluded from.
 * Given his name and his association with Ozpin and Ironwood, it's possible he is based on or alludes to the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.
 * The mumbling of the phrase "That's my uncle!" by Ruby is a reference to the Rooster Teeth Animated Adventure "Left 4 Trek".
 * This is referenced again in the episode "It's Brawl in the Family" when Ruby first notices Qrow and Winter fighting.
 * Qrow was first seen in "Burning the Candle", not in a rendered model, but only as stylized artwork.
 * While only officially given a name by Monty when RWBY was created, the character Qrow is based on what had been a brainchild of the show's creator for nearly a decade. He had gone through many design iterations, but both his personality and combat style have essentially prevailed over the years.
 * Qrow is the first character in the show to curse without being censored. Previously, Roman nearly said "fuck" in "Black and White", and Ozpin stopped Glynda from saying "dicks" in "Field Trip". Cardin's use of the word "crap" in "Forever Fall, Pt.2" is not considered a curse, as "crap" is often seen as a replacement word used to refrain from cursing.
 * During his fight with Winter, his left eye flashed a red glint after Winter whacked him in the face, before he smashed a crater into the ground. It's unclear if there is a significance behind the eye glint; it could just be a dramatic visual effect often used in animation from a trope called "Twinkle in the Eye".