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Affiliation
Humanity
Salem has stated that she wishes to snuff out the hope of Humanity. However, she possesses a healthy respect for their resourcefulness and ingenuity and knows that Humans are able to derive strength from hope. However, by dividing them and depriving them of hope, she believes that she can rob Humanity of their strength.
Grimm
Salem is the Grimm's master and as such, she can command them to do her bidding. She also possesses the ability to alter the physiology of Grimm and graft Grimm body parts to a Human's body.
Salem's Inner Circle
Much like her enemy Ozpin, Salem has her own cabal of loyal followers, whom serve to further her agenda for Remnant. Said group includes Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callows, Cinder Fall and Hazel Rainart.
Cinder's Faction
Cinder's Faction is working under Salem. Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black are brought with Cinder back to Salem after her injury, while Roman Torchwick referred to being employed by people he could not stop.
Family
Unamed Father
Salem's father locked her away in a tower for unspecified reasons and is described as being cruel, implying he was abusive to her.
Unnamed Four Daughters
Not much interaction has been shown between Salem and her daughters, but she loved and cared for them deeply. When she found out that one of her daughters could use magic, she looked genuinely happy and proud of her. However her love for them was not enough to stop her from fighting Ozma when he tried to leave with them and they were killed in the ensuing battle.
Whether Salem has remorse or not for their deaths and still feels love for them is unknown.
Ozpin's Group
Ozpin
Ozma, Ozpin's original form and identity, was the one who freed Salem from imprisonment by her father. Salem deeply loved Ozma and grieved horribly upon his death by the way of illness. Ozma was important enough for her, to decide to go against the gods in order to get him back.
When Ozma and Salem encountered each other again centuries later after he'd been reincarnated, despite the many changes they'd gone through, the two instantly recognized one another and shared a heartfelt reunion. Though when they discussed their circumstances, Salem lied to Ozma, afraid he would feel disgusted once he learned of the lengths she had gone to either bring him back or commit suicide to be with him in the afterlife, blaming her situation on the Gods. Together, the two of them used their powerful magic to portray themselves as Gods to Humanity and the two formed a kingdom together. The two finally got married and formed a happy family, with Salem giving birth to four daughters.
However, Ozma's lingering guilt overtook him and he confessed to Salem. Salem reassured him that the past didn't matter anymore. Though, when Salem proposed a plan to exterminate and replace Humanity with a species in their vision. Ozma's warning from the God of Light came true and made him decide to take their daughters and escape. After catching him trying to leave with their children, a hurt and betrayed Salem attacked Ozma in a bloody duel that resulted in the deaths of their daughters. Flipping an injured Ozma on his stomach after he tried crawling to safety and stomping on his chest with her foot. Salem condemned Ozma for choosing his promise to the gods over their family, love and everything they'd created, and then burned him alive. Thus the centuries-long feud between the two lovers began.
However, millennia later, she is heard calmly and respectfully conversing with Ozpin in the episode "Ruby Rose". Ultimately, however, in "End of the Beginning", Salem affirms that she intends to watch Ozpin burn, but only after she destroys everything he has built. Judging from comments made by Cinder during the events of "Heroes and Monsters", Salem now deems Ozpin exceedingly arrogant. In every aspect of their conflict over the Relics, Salem appears to hold a great deal of contempt towards the man though she seems to respect his abilities as he was able of fighting her and foiling her efforts to get the relics for millennia. Given that their conflict is thousands of years old, her enmity for him has been given a great deal of time to ferment into a festering hate for Ozpin. When Salem learns from Hazel that Ozpin had already reincarnated and was taking the Lamp to Atlas, she orders all her subordinates to leave before unleashing a scream of fury and destroying her conference room. This display of her barely restrained powers shows just how strong her hatred for her former beloved has grown.
Qrow Branwen
Qrow has personally seen some of Salem's creations and stated that "they are fear". He is aware of Salem's interest in obtaining the Relic of Choice from Ozpin's safeguarded possession and knows she does not yet have it. Qrow does not by any means underestimate Salem's capabilities. He also seems to have a firm grasp of her tactics, telling Team RNJR that she operates from the shadows, turning people against one another so that all they only think to blame each other. Qrow is also a known target of Salem's faction, indicating that she sees him as a threat.
Leonardo Lionheart
Leonardo was Salem's informant in Mistral. Salem used his fear of her to control him and intimidated him if he overstepped certain boundaries. In "Haven's Fate", Leonardo was preparing to flee Haven when Salem's Seer caught him. Leonardo then offered to go to Salem insisting he could still be of use to her, but she disagreed and had her Seer kill him, calling him a coward afterward.
James Ironwood
Salem offered Ironwood a deal to surrender the Relic of Knowledge and Creation to her in order to spare Atlas, but he refused her offer in “Gravity“.
Salem's Faction
Cinder Fall
Salem pushes Cinder through her training.
Salem holds Cinder in high regard due to her status as the Fall Maiden, her success with destroying Beacon Academy, and her understanding that Cinder killed Ozpin. Salem does, however, refer to her as "young Cinder", which adds a note of condescension in their relationship. While treating Cinder in "Of Runaways and Stowaways", Salem asks her if she really killed Ozpin. She forces Cinder to speak for herself without relying on Emerald's assistance. Whether or not she believed Cinder is uncertain, but she did order more reinforcement at Beacon directly after. Salem puts Cinder through harsh training soon afterward, reminding her of her desires for power. In "No Safe Haven", Salem is pleased when Cinder displays mastery over the Maiden's power. In "Dread in the Air" Salem reminds Cinder that while she will get the power Salem promised her, that there is only so much she can do to aid her.
In "So That's How It Is", Salem is revealed to know that Cinder is alive, but that she is greatly disappointed at Cinder for being unable to complete the mission. She calls her a failure and decides to keep Cinder isolated until she redeems herself. She is unaware that Cinder is going against orders to bring Ruby alive.
Arthur Watts
Salem appears to find Watts to be a rather competent subordinate, leaving the complex and highly specialized task of replacing Tyrian's tail to him. However, despite her trust in him for such complex medical feats, she does find his commentary regarding Cinder's injuries at the hands of Ruby Rose to be less than charming and rather counterproductive to their agenda, showing that her respect for his talents and tolerance for his less savory behavior has its limits.
Tyrian Callows
Salem is disappointed with Tyrian.
Salem trusts Tyrian enough to have him hunt Maidens and Ruby Rose. In "Taking Control", she states that she is very disappointed by Tyrian's failure to capture Ruby.
In "Dread in the Air", she requests Watts to have a new tail made for Tyrian following his loss to Ruby Rose, showing that her use for him is not yet at an end despite his failure to capture Ruby and kill Qrow. Before Cinder leaves, Salem asks her to bring Tyrian and says she wants to have a word with him. Tyrian's commitment to Salem and his zealous if not psychotic determination to serve her at all costs is likely why she granted him the clemency of seeing fit to have his tail restored in spite of his failure.
Hazel Rainart
As one of Salem's lieutenants and her former liaison with the White Fang's Adam Taurus, Salem trusts Hazel to handle matters with the extremist faction into working in her favor of dividing humanity.
However, when Hazel tries to take the blame for failing the mission at Haven, Salem retaliates by binding him to the floor with Grimm arms, knowing that Cinder was the real guilty party and dislikes how he lied to her, despite his noble actions.
Tock
Prior to her death, Tock served under Salem as a subordinate. During their time together, Salem would repeatedly warn Tock to finish her prey off before her Semblance's invulnerability wore off, leaving her exposed. Tock never took this information to heart, remaining cocky, ultimately resulting in her demise in a battle with Maria Calavera.[1]
Cinder's Faction
Emerald Sustrai
Following their loss at Haven, Salem easily intimidates Emerald into confessing that Cinder was the reason for their defeat. Pleased with her truthful answer, she adds that Cinder is alive, but is temporarily exiled for her failure until she can redeem herself. She later frightens the girl when she is about to burst out in fury upon learning that Ozpin has reincarnated.
Team RWBY
Ruby Rose
Even before meeting, Salem was aware that Ruby and her Silver Eyes are a threat to her agenda, and is, therefore, planning to eliminate this problem. At the end of "End of the Beginning", Salem refers to Ruby as a "smaller soul", referencing Ozpin's words from "Ruby Rose".
When Cinder inquires about Ruby in "The Next Step", Salem reassigns Tyrian from going after the Spring Maiden to capturing Ruby and bringing her to the Land of Darkness. She expresses disappointment in Tyrian after his failure in carrying out the task and Cinder expresses that she may be punished if she kills Ruby instead of bringing her alive to Salem while talking to Neo, showing that Salem views her capture as very important.
It is not until "Gravity" when the two meet. As Salem is demanding that Ironwood surrender the Staff and the Lamp to her, Ruby interjects to tell her how they learned the truth about her from the lamp and will still stop her even without killing her. Salem merely tells her that Summer Rose once said those same words but was proven wrong, causing Ruby to break down crying with her silver eyes flickering and flaring.
White Fang
Adam Taurus
Salem was grateful for Adam's loyalty to her cause and entrusted him with ensuring the White Fang's cooperation. Adam was aware of her existence and stated that having her backing is part of the reason that the White Fang can win a war against humanity. On his own initiative, Adam killed Sienna Khan and took over the White Fang, stating this resolved Salem's concerns about Khan's willingness to work with them. Ironically, this decision would end up backfiring for both of them. As Adam would use his newfound power in a failed attempt to kidnap Blake Belladonna and kill her parents, who later formed a Faunus militia that foiled Adam’s end of the mission to destroy Haven. It is unknown if Salem knows or cares that Adam is dead.
Sienna Khan
Salem expressed interest in recruiting the leader of the White Fang and sent Hazel to a meeting with Khan set up by Adam. However, Khan rejected working with her subordinates due to their tactics and was killed by Adam, who usurped her position. It is unknown of what Salem thought of Adam's killing of Sienna without Hazel having the chance to convince her of working with her subordinates.
Other
Raven Branwen
Raven is aware of Salem's existence and seeks to protect her tribe from her. Raven is intuitive enough about Salem's goals and methods to have predicted Beacon's fall and Ozpin's failure. She knows that Salem wants the Relic that was left behind and is concerned enough about her having it to seek information from Qrow. Upon learning that Raven has the Spring Maiden, Salem sends her subordinates to convince the bandit leader that she needs to cooperate for the survival of her people.
However, in "Vault of the Spring Maiden", she is unaware that Raven Branwen is the true Spring Maiden and the tables have been turned against her and her faction. In "Haven's Fate", Yang states that if Raven gets the Relic of Knowledge, Salem will go after the bandit with everything she has until the Relic is hers.
The Brother Gods
Salem harbors a deep resentment for the Brothers, calling them "monsters" for denying her pleas and killing Ozma repeatedly in their feud. For the God of Light, she harbors hate due to his initial refusal to bring Ozma back to life and later destroying him after being resurrected. For the God of Darkness, she watched him kill Ozma in her arms after he was told by his brother of Salem's attempt to manipulate him into disrupting the balance between life and death. After both Gods cursed her to walk the world alone after being granted immortality to deny her from rejoining Ozma in the afterlife. In time, Salem fruitlessly attempted multiple suicides simply to spite them and grew to resent them to the point of raising an army against them.
Out of any other group or individual, Salem appears to hate the Gods nearly as much as she grew to loathe Ozma.
- ↑ RWBY: Amity Arena Tock card bio