- For the other uses of "Atlas", see Atlas (disambiguation).
Atlas Academy, formerly known as Alsius,[1] is the Huntsman Academy of the Kingdom of Atlas.[2][3] Unlike the other Kingdoms, the academy as an institution is not an entity separate from the Kingdom's government.[4]
The academy serves as the headquarters for the Atlesian Military.
The Headmaster of Atlas Academy is General James Ironwood, who is also a military commander.
History
Origins
Alsius, combat school of the Kingdom of Mantle
What would become Atlas was originally known as Alsius, a combat school in the Kingdom of Mantle.[5] The territory surrounding Alsius was used as a research and development facility during the Great War.
Alsius was later reopened under the name Atlas Academy, in order to house and give guidance to warriors after the conclusion of the Great War. The campus was greatly expanded with the technologies developed during the war, helping to better secure the surrounding territories. As a result, Atlas grew quickly and attracted many to the area surrounding it, including research facilities, laboratories and the military. In time, residential areas also started flocking to Atlas.
It eventually became clear that Atlas had become a bustling city in its own right and overshadowed the main city of Mantle. The decision was thus made to move the capital from Mantle to Atlas, ushering in a "golden age of prosperity". The Kingdom as a whole was also accordingly renamed to Atlas. Today, the government of Atlas and the academy exist together as a single entity, along with the military.[4]
In the years following, the academy has come under criticism for the imposition of military lifestyle on its students. Graduates and trainees are also pressured to enlist in the Atlesian military's Special Operatives unit, a practice that runs contrary to the academy founders' initial intentions for Huntsmen to be free from allegiance to a specific kingdom.
Present Day
By the present day, 80 years after the end of the Great War, the Headmaster of Atlas Academy is General Ironwood, who is also a senior officer in the military. At some point, Winter Schnee likely attended the school, presumably joining the military's Special Operatives unit after graduating.
Students from Atlas competed in the 40th Vytal Festival combat tournament, held in Vale. Teams known to be participating include Team FNKI and Penny's Team.
After arriving in Atlas and working as Huntsmen for the military, Team RWBY, Team JNR and Oscar Pine are given a dorm per team, with Oscar staying with Team JNR, and allowed access to Atlas Academy faculties such as the training room.
Description
Uniform
Students from Atlas attending Ozpin's speech
The dress code at Atlas consists of white long-sleeved shirts with gray pocket-vest jackets on top. These are accompanied by a pair of white dress gloves and a dark-gray tie. Male students wear long white trousers, while female students wear gray stockings and knee-high black boots.
In Volume 7, students now wear a black beret as part of their uniform.
Pajamas
Additionally, Atlas provides students and Huntsmen with sets of pajamas, as seen in "Sparks". These consist of white shirts with a gray emblem of the Academy in the center, as well as black, white, and gray sweatpants.
Location
Atlas Academy sits in the center of the City of Atlas.
Campus
Layout
The Academy is built as five enormous towers: one large central tower and four side towers of varying heights surrounding the main building. Each of the side towers have a pair of Hard-Light Dust rings surrounding them, and a glass viewing platform at the top of the tower. Due to its extensive use of Hard-Light Dust, Atlas has a blue tint to a seemingly dark building at night, and is shown to be silver during the day.[6]
Ironwood's Office
Ironwood's office
Ironwood's office is a circular room featuring dark blue metallic walls and windows which can fade to become opaque. The floors of Ironwood's office are shown to depict constellations in the form of golden stars, reflecting Ironwood's love for astronomy. [7]
In the center of the room is a holographic projection table that is hidden under the floor when not in use.
Main Hall
The Main Hall features dark blue walls and corridors.
Cafeteria
Atlas cafeteria
Atlas' cafeteria is shown to have large glass windows pointed towards the city surrounding the Academy. Inside, two long tables are set to the sides of the room, with various Atlas banners hanging overhead.
Dorms
Team RWBY's Dorm
All the dorms at Atlas appeared to be co-ed dorms, with males and females having slept in the same room. This allowed all members of a team to share the same living area, regardless of differing genders. The beds are four bunk beds built into the wall with a ladder in the middle allowing access to the upper two beds. Along the other side of the wall are four small desks and chairs for each member of the team to study or do other paperwork on.
Huntsmen Briefing Room
The Huntsmen Briefing Room
The Briefing Room is where Atlesian Huntsmen receive their mission assignments. The room has a podium and rows of seats arranged in a semi-circle around a table of CCT terminals. Atlas Huntsman job boards are situated along the walls. Behind the podium is a screen for detailing mission information.
Training Room
The training room during a training session
The training room is where students of Atlas Academy, as well as Atlesian Huntsman, come to train and hone their skills in combat. The Training Room is a giant empty square room with a light blue grid of Hard-Light Dust on the floor. The grid can generate and stack numerous Hard-Light blocks to create walls, platforms, and cover.[8] The room is able to create several different layouts using these blocks allowing versatility in training for different scenarios. The blocks can be destroyed from heavy impact by a weapon or Semblance, however, the room appears to not have a limit on how many blocks it can generate or replace. Up high at the end of the room is an observation deck allowing staff, other students or Huntsmen to watch ongoing training sessions.
Docking Bay
Situated just outside the Main Hall, the Docking Bay features four landing pads. A flight of stairs leads from the pad level to the main entrance of the Hall.
Rear Gates
Winter Schnee in Atlas' rear gates
The rear side of Atlas Academy contains large pillars around the main building's wall, with various statues of soldiers carrying halberds standing guard in between the entrance gates.
Above the gates is a large, glass window in the shape of an arrow pointed downwards, casting a red shadow onto the courtyard below. In the episode "Gravity", Cinder Fall watches Winter Schnee directing students into the Academy following a Grimm attack in Mantle from this window, waiting for the Specialist to lead her to the Winter Maiden's location.
In addition to the emblem of the Academy, various constellation designs lit by Hard-Light Dust outline the building's roof, giving Atlas Academy's walls a blue lighting to it.[9]
Library
The Library
Amongst the institution, Atlas Academy is shown to have a massive library with expansive hallways filled with bookshelves. Near the shelves, tables are shown to have been set up Hard-Light Dust projectors for studies. The pillars of the library are aligned with hooded statues. While the library has yet to make a physical debut in the show, it is seen in a painting at Schnee Manor in "Cordially Invited", and fully displayed in concept art.
The Vault
The Vault
- Main article: Atlas Vault
Like the other Huntsmen Academies, Atlas contains a hidden Vault. It houses the Relic of Creation and the door can only be opened by the Winter Maiden, who is currently Penny Polendina. The Vault is located deep below Atlas Academy and accessible by the elevator near Ironwood's office.
Staff and Military Personnel
Current
- General James Ironwood - Headmaster
- Winter Schnee - Implied to be a graduate of Atlas Academy, Atlesian Special Operative
- Ace Operatives - A team of elite Special Operatives
Former
- Penny Polendina - Participated in the Vytal Festival, representing the Kingdom of Atlas, but it is not known if she was an actual student of the academy, former Atlesian Special Operative
- Team RWBY - A Huntsmen team licensed by Atlas Academy that worked for the Atlesian Military. Currently wanted.
- Team JNR - A Huntsmen team licensed by Atlas Academy that worked for the Atlesian Military. Currently wanted.
Known Students
- Ciel Soleil - Penny's teammate, also participated in the Vytal Festival
- Flynt Coal - A member of Team FNKI and a participant in the Vytal Festival
- Neon Katt - A member of Team FNKI and a participant in the Vytal Festival
- Kobalt - A member of Team FNKI
- Ivori - A member of Team FNKI
- Vega Bleu - A graduate of Pharos Academy
Graduates
- Robyn Hill - A Mantle politician and leader of the Happy Huntresses
- Fiona Thyme - A member of the Happy Huntresses
- Joanna Greenleaf - A member of the Happy Huntresses
- May Marigold - A member of the Happy Huntresses
Trivia
- Atlas Academy is named after the Greek Titan Atlas, who is said to have held up the pillar between the heavens and the earth as punishment for his actions in the Titanomachy. This suggests a motif of protectors and bearers of responsibility.
- Its name is notable in that it is a less direct, non-definitional reference to protection, differing from the names of its peers, Beacon, Haven, and Shade.
- Its name also brings to mind atlases, large books of maps, suggesting a motif of guidance and unity. This is appropriate, as Qrow Branwen states in the World of Remnant episode "Atlas" that it was originally founded to give guidance to warriors after the Great War.
- Alsius, the original name of the Academy before and during the Great War, comes from the Latin alsius, meaning "cold" or "liable to injury from cold".
- According to Chapter 3 of the manga, Weiss Schnee was originally supposed to attend Atlas Academy at her father's behest. However, she instead decided to attend Beacon Academy in Vale, in order to put distance between her and her controlling father. This is also hinted at in the episode "Lessons Learned".
- Atlas Academy's architecture uses a blend of art deco and neo-classical elements with fantasy/science fiction. [10]
Image Gallery
Official Graphics
References
- ↑ Miles Luna's Twitter
- ↑ RWBY Volume 3: World of Remnant: "Huntsmen"
- ↑ RWBY Volume 2: World of Remnant: "Kingdoms"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 RWBY Volume 3 Episode 3: "It's Brawl in the Family"
- ↑ RWBY Volume 4: World of Remnant: "Atlas"
- ↑ Concept art by Weston T. Jones
- ↑ Sam Keiser's Twitter
- ↑ Volume 7 Directors Commentary, Chapter 5.
- ↑ Concept art by Weston T. Jones
- ↑ Kevin Harger's Arstation
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