Tyrian Callows is an antagonist in RWBY who was introduced in Volume 4 in the episode, "The Next Step." He is an associate of Salem and part of her inner circle.
Appearance
Tyrian is a pale man with gold eyes and a brown ponytail braided to resemble a scorpion's tail. He wears a white sleeveless jacket with leather belts strapped to it, along with white pants. His jacket is left open, exposing his bare chest, which is crisscrossed with prominent scars. His arms are covered with purple bandages and leather vambraces. He also wears leather boots covering his entire shin with knee guards.
On each earlobe is a silver, ring-shaped earring, and near the top of his left ear is another matching earring.
In "Tipping Point", it is revealed that his animal trait as a Faunus is a scorpion stinger that protrudes from his back. When not in use, he disguises it by wrapping it around his belt. His eyes can also change color from gold to purple. The stinger is separated from the tail after Ruby Rose cut it off with Crescent Rose. The remaining stump itself was temporarily attached to a metallic cap before the entire tail was covered with metallic plates and a prosthetic stinger was added at the end.
Occasionally, he appears in a dark brown jacket which he wears open the same way he does with his white one. He uses the coat once again in Atlas, now displaying his coat has a hood which could be used to cover his face.
Image Gallery
Personality
Tyrian was described to his voice actor, Josh Grelle, as psychotic incarnate, and someone who wants to see the world burn.[4] Tyrian appears to be a highly unstable, maladjusted, manipulative and outright sadistic individual. He frequently bursts into fits of uncontrollable, maniacal laughter and relishes in gruesome thoughts, such as removing one of Ruby's eyes in revenge for her taking one of Cinder Fall's. He also expresses extreme glee when instructed to find Ruby, though is disappointed when told he must capture her alive. The World of RWBY: The Official Companion describes Tyrian as someone who is irredeemable.
He finds amusement in taunting his opponents while he fights and shows joy when Team RNJR will not allow him to take Ruby without a fight, indicating a level of bloodlust. When he appears to have the upper hand in a fight he becomes overconfident and careless, letting himself take hits as long as he can continue to press the advantage. He also has a flair for the dramatic, wildly posturing and gesturing with deliberate dramatic pauses as if he were giving a stage performance. Another one of his eccentricities is sitting in a crouching position in his chair.
Tyrian's instability is evident when he suffers from a mental breakdown after hearing he disappointed Salem. Tyrian proceeds to cry in despair before viciously retaliating against a Beowolf that lunges at him, regaining a sense of his sadistic joy as he repeatedly strikes it dead.
He is also surprisingly observant and insightful regarding the character of others. He was able to deduce Mercury's predicament regarding joining Salem's Faction rather easily.
In Atlas, he displayed signs of paranoia, fearing people would be watching him until Watts assured him it wouldn't be a problem. Afterwards, he returned to normal.
Powers and Abilities
Tyrian is extremely quick, able to dash behind an opponent and attack in the blink of an eye. He is also strong enough to block an attack from a fully charged Nora Valkyrie with ease and is able to overpower Team RNJR without much effort. While he displays traits that may suggest otherwise, he is incredibly combat-efficient, is smart enough to know which targets to prioritize, and he has the forethought to hide his Faunus trait in order to get an advantage against Team RNJR. His fighting style makes effective use of all five of his limbs, allowing him to engage multiple opponents with minimal difficulty. However, his style is not flawless, and his chaotic mindset does leave him open to attacks from superior strategists, one of which results in the loss of his stinger, albeit after delivering a near-fatal dose of venom to Qrow Branwen.
Tyrian is shown to be quite strong, as even with his tail mutilated he is still powerful enough to send a Beowolf flying backward with considerable force with the damaged appendage. According to Cinder, he is strong enough to kill fully trained Huntsmen.
Special Ability: Scorpion Stinger
Tyrian also uses his stinger in combat, which he can contract and extend at will. The stinger appears to be remarkably durable as it blocks Nora's attack, even when Nora is powered up by an electric shot from Crescent Rose. Much like how scorpion stingers are usually a conduit for venom, Tyrian's stinger can inject venom when used as a barb, as seen when he grazes Qrow with it. When he intends to sting someone, his eyes turn dark purple. After the battle against Qrow and Team RNJR, he loses his stinger along with a portion of his tail. His venom is potent enough to corrode stone and incapacitate someone simply grazed by his stinger within less than a day. Arthur Watts gives him a prosthetic stinger as a replacement.
Weapons
Tyrian's weapons of choice are The Queen's Servants, a set of wrist blades attached to his vambraces equipped with firearms.
Semblance
Tyrian activating his semblance.
Tyrian's Semblance seemingly allows him to disintegrate people's Aura. When activated Tyrian's eyes and his arm glow purple and if he touches someone's Aura it gets burned away, leaving the victim defenseless to a killing blow.
Trivia
- The most famous Tyrian color is Tyrian Purple, which is a shade of purple, similar to the color of the venom from his tail, and that of his eyes when he is prepared to use it. It is also the color of his Aura.
- There is also a Tyrian Blue, a Tyrian Pink, and the adjective or noun Tyrian, which refers to a native or inhabitant of the Lebanese port of Tyre.
- Tyrian is based on the scorpion from the fable The Scorpion and the Frog.[5]
- This is represented through Tyrian's psychotic behavior as the scorpion in the original fable would attack others simply because it was in its nature, much like how Tyrian openly embraces his own violent nature.
- Callows can mean lacking in color or firmness, typically referring to when insects or other arthropods, such as spiders, shed their exoskeleton, and something that is unfledged and immature.[6]
- The Queen's Servants resemble the pedipalp pincers of a scorpion, which is consistent with the fact that he is a scorpion Faunus.
