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 will 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.

Personality
Qrow is a rude, blunt, cynical 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 Schnee upon first meeting her and backing down at the last second just for the chance to humiliate her in front of James Ironwood.

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.

Qrow likely cares for his nieces dearly, as 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.

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. During the fight it seemed that he was merely toying with her, while she was giving it her all, implying that Qrow is probably more skilled than her.

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.

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 Branwen'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. This could also prove the point that Qrow and Raven are connected in a way.
 * 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.
 * However, this is a gray area since the word "damn" can be seen as a curse in some places, such as the US, while in others it is not considered a curse but just a normal word, such as places like Australia.
 * 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, as it could just be a dramatic visual effect often used in animation, from a trope called "Twinkle in the Eye".