Roman Torchwick

Roman Torchwick was a character in the world of RWBY and a secondary antagonist.

Roman made a very small cameo in the "Yellow" Trailer before being properly introduced in "Ruby Rose", orchestrating and participating in the robbery of the store From Dust Till Dawn, the target being its supply of Dust, which was ultimately foiled by Ruby Rose.

In "Heroes and Monsters", he is devoured by a Griffon after fighting Ruby atop a hijacked Atlesian Airship.

Appearance
Roman has slanted, dark-green eyes and bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs covering his right eye. He wears a black bowler hat with a red band and a small feather, and wears black eyeliner.

Roman wears a red-lined white suit and a small gray scarf. He has black gloves with rounded sleeves, as well as long black pants and black shoes.

Personality
Roman's personality is a mixture between that of a formal gentleman and a ruthless criminal. He emits charm and speaks calmly even in the middle of an armed robbery. Roman also emits hostility towards people he either hates or dislikes, as seen with Ruby, when he tried to kill her, even ordering the White Fang to shoot her.

Roman also demonstrates a ruthless streak, evidently willing to use lethal force on Ruby when she foiled his scheme, even going so far as to laugh after successfully shooting her down in "Black and White". Judging by his elaborate outfit and accessories, Roman also has expensive tastes, a common stereotype of Mafia Dons and other organized crime kingpins.

This is further exemplified by his reaction to the destruction of the Atlesian Paladin-290 that he was piloting, which causes him to be violently flung to the ground scattered by debris. Rather than appearing upset with what happened to his product or afraid of the situation, he simply brushes himself off commenting that the experience has compromised the cleanliness of his suit.

Despite working with the White Fang, he appears to have no respect for them or Faunus in general. On several occasions he talks to or about them in a derogatory fashion, referring to them as "mutts" or "animals". It is unclear if this is representative of hostility towards the Faunus in general or him acting out his frustrations towards having to work with the group, perhaps because he does not like being ordered around by Cinder Fall and her associates.

He also often takes to mocking, taunting, and insulting his enemies, as seen when he called out to Blake Belladonna, saying, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty", as well as when he responded to Ruby's arrival by saying, "Well, hello, Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" This quality persists even when he is in very difficult situations such as when he is imprisoned and interrogated by James Ironwood.

Fighting
Roman fought using his signature cane-cannon, Melodic Cudgel. In "Black and White", Roman is shown to be adept in using his cane as a melee weapon and is very capable in parrying, able to hold his own against both Blake and Sun Wukong, deflecting nearly all of their attacks.

He had the skills to use Melodic Cudgel offensively, such as using it to hook Blake towards him to deliver a punch or staggering her by whipping her knees. In fact, Roman came close to overpowering Blake, having gotten far enough to knock her to the ground and temporarily disarm her.

He also seems to have exceptional accuracy, as he was able to hit Ruby with a blast from his cane as well as a grappling hook from a considerable distance. His reflexes are impressive as well. He was capable of defending himself against attacks from Blake and Sun, both extremely swift, dual-wielding opponents, using only his cane. Despite Blake producing shadow clones using her Semblance, Roman remained perfectly aware of her position and movements during the engagement, quickly countering her attacks. He can also easily deflect long range attacks, which is seen with Sun's weapons. Roman was also able to counter all of Ruby's attacks with ease during their fight, even when she was using her enhanced speed.

However, Roman may be liable to underestimating his opponents, or not foreseeing surprise attacks. In "No Brakes", Roman was not able to come up with a counter for Blake's use of Dust-augmented Semblance clones, and was overcome quickly and with relative ease.

Piloting
In "Ruby Rose", Roman was shown to be a skilled pilot, as he was able to keep a Bullhead relatively stable even though it was being bombarded with multiple attacks.

In "Painting the Town...", he is also able to pilot an Atlesian Paladin battlemech and utilize the machine's weapons and sensory systems to good effect, though he was unable to defeat Team RWBY while using the machine. Roman also showed great skill in piloting the Paladin, effortlessly guiding it through traffic, moving it fast enough to catch up to a fleeing Blake and Sun.

In "PvP" he is shown to be able to pilot an Atlesian Airship all by himself and uses it to take down two other Atlesian Airships with ease.

Planning
Roman appears to be a sort of criminal mastermind. By "Best Day Ever", he had reportedly obtained most of the Dust in Vale, showing that his nefarious scheming is something to be reckoned with. This image is furthered by "Players and Pieces", as he is seen planning a heist, attack, or something similar, targeting the entirety of Vale. He also appears to be very good at planning escapes should his schemes fail, escaping on a Bullhead after his failed Dust heists in "Ruby Rose", "Black and White", and after his Paladin is destroyed in "Painting the Town...".

In "Best Day Ever", Roman is seen to be quite a skilled pickpocket, such as taking away a piece of paper from Emerald Sustrai without her knowing despite being right next to and coming into close contact with her.

Trivia

 * Roman alludes to Romeo Candlewick from the story Pinocchio.
 * His appearance bears some resemblance to Candlewick's appearance in Disney's film adaptation of Pinocchio named Lampwick.
 * The director's commentary on the RWBY Volume 1 DVD mentions that Roman's appearance is a "shout-out to A Clockwork Orange" (1971 British film). This is likely because his appearance, in particular the bowler hat, eyeliner and penchant for white clothing, seems to echo the appearance of the gang (known as the "droogs") in the film.
 * Originally, Roman was only going to appear in Volume 1. However, Monty Oum, Miles Luna, and Kerry Shawcross grew to love his character and how Gray voiced him, and they decided to keep him around until Volume 3.
 * Roman's name and weapon could relate to the famous Roman candle firework, which ejects multiple pyrotechnic stars and is illegal in some countries. Also, Roman's weapon fires a blast that resembles a firework.
 * Roman calls Ruby by the name "Red", a possible reference to the fact that she is an allusion to Little Red Riding Hood.
 * In the episode "Ruby Rose", after one of his henchmen is flung next to his feet, he remarks, "You were worth every cent, truly you were", implying that the interaction between him and Junior Xiong in the "Yellow" Trailer was Roman hiring Junior's men for the robbery. This was confirmed by Junior in "Painting the Town...".
 * Roman's fighting style seems to be inspired by the martial art of bartitsu, where practitioners are taught to use a cane as a weapon in addition to various hand-to-hand techniques.
 * Roman's emblem is a Jack-O'-Lantern, otherwise known as a Will-O'-The-Wisp or Will-O'-The-Torch, the origin of which was a spirit cursed to roam the world with only a torch/lantern.
 * His emblem can be found on his lighter, as well as wrapped around the end of his cane.