Manticores are large, lion-like flying Creatures of Grimm. They first appeared in "Argus Limited", attacking a train heading to Argus.
Appearance[]
Manticores have the body and head of a lion, wings of a predatory bird and the tail of a scorpion. They also have black fur and feathers, with white bone-like spines on their bodies, including a white lion skull and a large, crown-like mane of bone. A pair of bull horns also protrudes from their skulls.
Manticores in Solitas have parts of their skin frozen, including their fur and feathers, due to the extremely cold weather in the tundra, most notably having completely frozen over noses. They also appear to be slightly larger than the variant seen in Anima. This variant is known as an Ice Manticore.
Manticores in DC's RWBY comics have a different appearance to the ones seen in the show, with spiked clubs on the ends of their tails instead of a stinger and lacking wings. This variant of the Manticore is also much bigger than the ones seen in "Argus Limited", dwarfing them. Both attributes come from the Manticore's original concept art.
History[]
In RWBY: The Grimm Campaign, a Manticore was used by the Wave crime syndicate to protect their ship through a Magic Necklace which attacked Team SAFR. Later, they find Lemon after she was attacked by Abigail Pyre who stole the necklace and took control of the same Manticore herself. After Team SAFR fight against Abigail and the Manticore, Asher Mora steals the necklace and takes control of the Manticore himself to attack Abigail who fears for her life. Later when the ship they were on began to crash, Asher controlled the Manticore to fly his team and Abigail out of the crash but still run into debris themselves. When they awaken, they find that Abigail and the Manticore are both gone but hey still have the necklace. Abigail was heavily implied to have been killed by the Manticore.
These flying creatures attacked a train in the icy parts of Anima. They were fought off by the combined efforts of Team RWBY, Qrow Branwen, Jaune Arc, Oscar Pine, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren.
More Manticores attacked Argus along with a group of Sphinxes, being fought by those same Huntsmen along with the local armed forces.
During a mission in "Sparks", Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee face an Ice Manticore near the Schnee Dust Company Mine 2. More Ice Manticore appear in "A Night Off", after Penny Polendina is framed for murder in the Mantle Warehouse whilst Jacques Schnee gives a victory speech.
In "The Enemy of Trust", Winter Schnee summons a Manticore during her battle with Cinder Fall in the Atlas Medical Facility. Ice Manticores are later amongst the Grimm which arrive in Atlas with Salem and Monstra at the end of "The Enemy of Trust".
Manticores are among the Grimm used by Salem in the Battle of Atlas to fight again the Atlas Military. One engaged in battle against Neon Katt and was killed. Winter Schnee later used her Manticore summon to help fight against James Ironwood after she switches sides in "Creation".
Powers and Abilities[]
Manticores are quite agile for their size, flying fast enough to catch up with an express train and delivering quick blows with their claws. Along with clawing and biting, Manticores also use their large frames for flying tackles. Manticores can also sting prey with their venomous scorpion-like tails, and are capable of breathing fire, sharing the latter ability with the Sphinx.
Trivia[]
- Manticores are legendary creatures with the head of a human, body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion. Their Grimm counterpart differs from the traditional Manticore in many ways, as it lacks any human features, and has traits from birds of prey and bovines instead.
- These creatures were designed by fan artist Aromie "Inkyou24" Kim, who first posted a concept of a manticore Grimm on Reddit and was then invited by the RWBY crew to develop it further for the actual show.[1] They later also designed the Centinels.
- In the same episode they make their debut in, a group of them is commanded by a Sphinx. Both are feline based, have bird-like wings and are capable of shooting fireballs from their mouths.
- In RWBY #3, Team RNJR faces off against a pride of giant, wingless Manticores in the Forest of Hinoki, defending a nearby village.
- Manticores in the RWBY DC Comics are larger, lack wings and some have a spiked mace tail. This design actually resembles Aromie Kim's original design more closely than the final design seen in the show.
References[]
| Minor Combatants | ||||||
|