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I'm helping her for the same reason you are - I'm afraid. We... we can't stop her... No one can...
—Leonardo Lionheart


Professor Leonardo Lionheart was the Headmaster of Haven Academy and a member of the Mistral Council. He was referred to by Salem as an informant for her organization, and in "No Safe Haven", he was seen meeting with Arthur Watts. He served as a main antagonist in Volume 5.

He was later killed by a Seer commanded by Salem in "Haven's Fate", when he tried to escape from the Battle of Haven. However, his betrayal was covered up by Ozpin in order for the Kingdom to believe he died protecting Haven instead.

Appearance[]

Lionheart was a middle-aged man with a mane of tan/gray hair and a beard. He had a tanned complexion with brown eyebrows and dark brown eyes.

He wore a brown greatcoat with a matching mantle, which had cross emblems on each side. He also wore a white dress shirt under his coat, a western necktie and carried a pocket watch with a lion head on it as an emblem. Lionheart also wore dark brown slacks and dress shoes.

It was revealed in "The More the Merrier" that he was a lion Faunus and possessed a tufted lion's tail the same color as his hair and beard.

Personality[]

On the surface, Leonardo Lionheart demonstrated a rather polite and jovial persona and genuinely came off as a well-meaning and compassionate man. He was also shown to be easily startled and seemed to be somewhat timid. Despite this, he was willing to argue with people like Qrow Branwen and seemed unafraid to speak his mind to his fellow Huntsman. Lionheart also showed to be less impulsive than Qrow, suggested they waited and to figure out a better way to retrieve the Spring Maiden from Raven Branwen, rather than immediately head out to fight the Branwen Tribe and get to her. He was also quite perceptive, for he was able to deduce that Raven was on Salem's side for the same reason as himself: out of fear, rather than necessity as she claimed. He even said to her face, "Who are you trying to convince?"

However, in front of Salem, he revealed himself to be cowardly and upheld self-preservation above all else. He was also subservient, submissive and frightened of her. Away from her, Lionheart was ashamed of what he had done in her name and strongly felt Ozpin should not have forgiven him for selling out the locations of Mistral's Huntsmen to be killed by Tyrian Callows and Hazel Rainart so he could save himself. In his final moments, Leonardo panicked and vainly begs to Salem for his life, after pleading for another chance and attempting to turn on her.

Leonardo, despite his apparent self-loathing for his actions, had a tendency to rationalize his choices in a vain effort to ease his conscience. One example of this was when he realized Oscar Pine was the current reincarnation of Ozpin and he thought delivering him to Salem could get him out of the conflict completely.

According to Ozpin, Leonardo used to be a much braver person when he was still in his service and believed something in recent years might have changed him into a coward during his final years. This was shown during the events of RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, when he sent Team SAFR to Kuchinashi to investigate the strange incidents happening there and later received their distress signal when the Wave took over the city. In response to this, he sent Huntsman reinforcements to help them retake the city and chase off the Hana Guild when they were surrounded by them.

As implied by the overflowing amount of books in both his office and alongside the walls in the waiting room of his office, Lionheart seems to have been a very studious person.

Powers and Abilities[]

Despite being the Headmaster of Haven Academy, Leonardo had stated in "Welcome to Haven", that he was not the fighter that he used to be. This is proven true as Leonardo is shown to have trouble holding his own against Oscar Pine and Qrow when engaging in close combat with either of them, while instead fighting at a distance with his weapon.

Weapon[]

V5 11 00030

Leo using Stalwart.

Main article: Stalwart

Leonardo's weapon of choice was Stalwart, a Dust-loaded disk-shaped weapon strapped to his wrist from which he could launch conjured Dust projectiles. He was shown to be heavily reliant on his weapon, as he became helpless after being disarmed by a Seer.

Charisma[]

Lionheart was stated to be the single most powerful man in the city of Mistral as a result of his position and influence. His power dwarfed that of Lil' Miss Malachite, the second most powerful person in the city and most powerful criminal in operation. However, since his demise, she has taken that place.

Trivia[]

Allusion[]

  • Leonardo Lionheart alludes to the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. For more information on this allusion, see Leonardo Lionheart/Behind the Scenes.
  • He may also have a secondary allusion to the famous polymath, Leonardo da Vinci.
    • The two share the same first names.
    • Lionheart's weapon, Stalwart, resembles a painting pallet – in reference to da Vinci's famous paintings.
    • The statue of Jinn at Haven Academy likely references da Vinci's sculptures.
    • His pocket watch resembles da Vinci's clock; which was famous for being the first to measure both minutes and hours.

Color Naming Rule[]

  • His first and last name relate to lions, bringing light brown colors to mind.

Story[]

  • His last name is also intentionally ironic as he's actually quite cowardly.
  • While Kerry Shawcross admitted that he was sure they weren't going to properly show Leonardo Lionheart's death, they actually did mocap the death scene with Joel Mann acting it out in case they did show it on-screen. However, this version was never used since Lionheart's death happened off-screen.[2]
  • While the exact amount of time that Lionheart worked as a turncoat hasn't been mentioned, it is implied that he only started working with Salem for about two years before the start of the main series due to still being more brave and helpful by the end of season two of "RWBY: The Grimm Campaign".

Character&Design[]

  • Many Faunus have additional elements in their design that tie into their animal traits: Leonardo's hair resembled a lion's mane.
  • The lion head emblem on Lionheart's pocket-watch was made by Patrick Rodriguez.[3]

References[]

Characters
BRIR
RWBY/Justice League
Super Heroes and Huntsmen
Other
Minor Characters
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