Is Salem a Bad Villain? | RWBY Video Essay Script

INTRO:

So people have had issues with RWBY since its beginning back in 2013, but it seems to have been ramping up in the last couple years with Volumes 4 and 5. One of the more prominent criticisms is centered around Salem as the Big Bad. Namely, that she’s not compelling enough of a character to be the series’ central antagonist.

So, is Salem a disappointing villain, or are we perhaps missing something? Well, to answer that, we need to take a step back and ask a much broader question: “What makes a good, compelling antagonist?”

WHAT MAKES A GOOD VILLAIN?:

Now first off, I wanna make it clear that there is a difference between an antagonist and a villain. Antagonist simply means a character who opposes the protagonist, and villain explicitly entails acts of evil and malice. When we talk about what makes a good villain, the discussion is twofold: what about this character makes them more than a cartoonish, mustache-twirling baddie; and does this character have a foreboding presence which poses a threat to our heroes?

Take a look at the Disney villains, which are a brand unto themselves. We adore the classic villains such as Jafar, Ursula, and Maleficent. We know all the words to their songs, and damn anyone who refuses to admit they were lowkey rooting for them just because they were that enjoyable. We didn’t need a reason as to why these characters did what they did. Yeah, sure, Jafar wanted power, Ursula wanted vengeance, and Maleficent… well, she was just really petty, which I can get behind. But ultimately, they don’t have intricate tragic backstories like you’d expect from villains nowadays.

Now sometimes, this can result in a flat villain who’s just evil because evil is fun and hey they ain’t got nothin’ better to do for ninety minutes. On the opposite extreme, however, is that in their attempt to humanize villains and make them more motivated, stories will often erase any real threat or memorability that they once possessed. I can’t help but feel writers look at Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender and go “Oh, so I just need to have villains who get redeemed and my story will be just as fantastic!” That answer to that is… no.

See, Zuko was never really a villain - he was an antagonist, sent after the Avatar by his father, the true villain Firelord Ozai, and Ozai himself didn’t really have much depth to his motivations other than “Let’s burn down the world cuz fire is cool.” Note that not once in Zuko’s endeavors does he actually kill anyone or do anything truly heinous that you’d expect from a villain.

Take a look at Judge Claude Frollo from Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The reason why he’s such a good antagonist and villain is because he genuinely believes that he’s doing the right thing. He’s a holier-than-thou religious extremist whose insecurities about his own flaws, namely his sexual desires, manifest themselves in going after groups like the gypsies, even so far as to torture and kill them. He isn’t evil for the sake of being evil, but he’s still a very complex villain who poses a legitimate threat to the characters. In this, Frollo is the perfect balance between a villain who commits atrocities and an antagonist who has a genuine motivation that isn’t “I was born evil and so I do evil things.”

Now, what does this all have to do with Salem? Glad you asked.

SALEM’S MOTIVATIONS:

See, we don’t really know Salem’s motivations, and a huge reason for that is because the show wants to keep her origins and her relationship with Ozpin a mystery to be revealed later on.

All we really have to go on is Salem’s previous actions, as well as her connection to the Creatures of Grimm. The Grimm go out of their way to kill humans and destroy their creations, and as such, we’d assume the same of their master. The problem with this is that it means Salem is nothing more than a pure incarnation of that same mustache-twirling flat villain that audiences just do not jive with.

The show could take the classic Disney villain route in keeping Salem’s motivations generic and uninteresting if they gave her more to do, but that’s probably the bigger problem people have that is often conflated with her motivations.

Honestly, I don’t mind them keeping Salem’s motivations hidden away for now. The problem arises from… 

SALEM’S PRESENCE (or lack thereof):

The whole point of an antagonist is that they actively oppose the protagonist. They need to be an active threat. The problem with Salem is that she doesn’t really do anything. We don’t know how powerful she is, nor what her powers even are. Her introduction as the end of Volume 3 is strong, but as of Volume 4, all she does is instruct her minions. She hasn’t even encountered any of the main characters, most of which didn’t even know of her existence until very recently. Hell, Blake, one of the four titular main protagonists, still knows nothing of Salem, the Relics, or the Maidens.

Again, I’d be willing to forgive this if they took one of three routes, the first of which would be to not show us Salem at all or as little as possible. If the show was to focus on the characters’ journeys and not keep cutting back to the villains doing little to nothing, it’d keep Salem shrouded in mystery. Instead, her presence has been diminished, because none of her scenes really have any tension in what horrible thing she could do.

The second option is to give Salem an actual personality, and have her be unpredictable in how she treats her followers. Let’s say she was proud of Cinder killing Ozpin. Well, then Salem could be incredibly boisterous and place her on a pedestal, rather than mildly commending her. Then when Tyrian fails her, have Salem do something truly horrific to him, thus making Cinder much more tense as to what would happen if Ozpin somehow survived.

And if this is how Salem were to treat her supporters, imagine what she’d do to our heroes actively opposing her when they eventually and inevitably clash, not to mention actually hinting at what Salem’s powers could actually be.

And then there’s the third route, and this actually leads us into our next topic… 

THE OZ BEHIND THE CURTAIN:

This is the core of the problem, and the thing the show seems most confused about: is Ozpin really a hero, or is he a Devil in disguise? And honestly… I don’t think the show knows.

For the first two volumes, it was implied that Ozpin knew much more than he was letting on, and then in Volume 3, we learn that Ozpin is the leader of some weird secret society… cult, whatever, that has been lying to the general public about the Maidens’ existence. Ozpin gives Pyrrha an impossible request, but seems to highly respect and value her choice in the matter.

Cut to Volume 4, where Jaune is upset about what Ozpin, Qrow, and co. asked of Pyrrha, and then cut to Volume 5 where Raven is all “Ozpin ain’t what he seems.” Jaune’s lingering suspicion towards Ozpin would’ve set the groundwork for learning more about the horrible things Ozpin had done, namely… the bird thing.

See, the problem with everyone being upset for Qrow giving the Branwens the ability to shapeshift is that… it wasn’t forced onto them, and they can shapeshift at will. It’s not like Ozpin forcibly transformed them into his pets, and thus when we have the opportunity to Jaune and Yang be the two to create a rift in the group’s faith in Ozpin, it’s immediately dissipated.

Then we move onto the Hazel issue. Essentially, Hazel blames Ozpin for his sister Gretchen choosing to protect humanity from Salem and her Grimm, and presumably, she was killed by the Grimm. Hazel then decides the best way to avenge her sister is to work with the woman whose monsters killed his sister and kill the man who didn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to. So what could’ve been a great reason for us to remain suspicious of Ozpin, and moreover, Oscar to distrust him, was turned into an incredibly trite and forced backstory that ruined whatever intrigue there was in Hazel’s motivations.

And then Raven… oh boy. See, the ultimate failing in Raven’s character is that she comes across as this morally gray character ready to call Ozpin out on his bullshit, but by the end of Volume 5, Yang has called her out, and Ozpin is validated yet again. Raven could’ve had the Spring Maiden powers forced onto her, and that’s why she left, creating tension between Yang, Qrow, and Ozpin, and explaining Raven’s actions. Instead, Raven is just another bad guy and Ozpin can do no wrong.

The reason I mention all of this is because Salem’s one motivation that is clear is to destroy Ozpin. Whatever happened between them, it is rooted in something that happened between the two long ago, and as such, Ozpin’s character informs Salem as a villain, and since Ozpin isn’t really shown to do horrible things - the show hints at this but never really commits - Salem, as such, comes across as this generic evil baddie who wants to kill Ozpin because darkness and light and kill me with fire.

So that leads us to the question we’ve tried to answer today… 

SO IS SALEM A GOOD VILLAIN?:

If you were to ask me whether I thought Salem was a good or bad villain, I would say this: “It’s more complicated than that.” Yes, yes, I know, the internet no like the middle ground. Half the fandom - by which I mean the crazy people in the comments and not the nice people - wants to hang me for even criticizing the show even just a twinge, and the other deems me a sheeple for being too nice to the show.

But the problem with Salem, like most of RWBY’s other problems, can be amended if the show changes course. If it commits to Ozpin being this Devil in disguise who’s done unforgivable things that aren’t dismissed, and if the ones who call him out aren’t outright demonized, then perhaps there’s a change to salvage Salem’s motivations for wanting Oz dead.

And so long as Salem becomes an active player in the story, directly confronting our protagonists rather than always sending her lackeys while chilling in… well, hell, then perhaps when she shows off her true powers, we’ll be willing to forgive her lack of action in the first five volumes.

At the end of the day, Salem is just a meh villain, and whether she’ll fall into the “awful” category depends on what the show does with her, so we’ll have to wait and see.

CONCLUSION:

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this. I wanted to try making more in-depth content that I take my time on rather than trying to get it out every single week, as I feel that’s hurt the quality of my more recent reviews.

If you did enjoy this, then be sure to subscribe and ring that bell, because YouTube is a corporate monster that wants all creators dead. Also consider supporting me on Patreon, as you’ll get access to early videos and scripts, along with access to the private Asshole Parade Discord server.

And if you’re interested, I’m also publishing a book this August. There’s quite a few RWBY Easter eggs in it, so if you’re willing to check out the announcement trailer, synopsis, and first chapter in the description, I’d really appreciate your support (Also first four chapters are up on my Patreon, by the by).

I’m the Unicorn of War, and this has been a shit show.