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iamafanofcartoons · 1 year

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Why Ironwood’s actions made him a villain, and Team RWBY’s actions made them heroes.

Let’s go into some perspective about why Ironwood + his regime, and not Team RWBY, was the actual “worse than salem” group. And why Team RWBY are the heroes, and Ironwood and his regime the antagonists.

Let’s turn back the clock to before James threatened to nuke Mantle or blackmail Penny into helping him, and shot down planes that would carry people to safety.

“He genuinely offered all his resources to Team RWBY and co to maximize all the chances of them getting better and winning.” While squeezing Mantle dry.

Pre-V8 he still was authoritarian militarist, who locked down Atlas and Mantle, crippling its trade and defense capabilities of other regions, which led to a lot of people left to starve or die to Grimm, and he was also squeezing Mantle dry on top of it with a blatant disregard to its safety, and only giving it token "support", while his Huntsmen were more concerned with arresting people protecting Mantle, than helping them fight back Grimm.

Mantle was dying in volume 7, and it was all James’ fault, and critics were demanding that after Ironwood squeezed and bled Mantle dry, that Atlas abandon Mantle.

The writing is on the wall, but people are so focused on how he treated RWBY and co that they completely miss (ironically, unlike RWBY and co themselves, as it was their major concern) how he treats literally everyone else.

Of course he would treat them well, they are a very useful asset! Unlike people of Mantle, who could die in a ditch for all he cares.

That's not to say that he wants them dead, of course... he just doesn't care about them. He doesn't care about the people he's sworn to protect.

“ For Mantle, the entire point of the Huntsmen down there was to secure it and cover for the lack of resources. “

Lack of resources he himself created, funneling every drop of dust to his pet project.

James was always a borderline dictator. And he could pretty much brow-beat the Council to do what he needs, seeing how he held two seats out of five, and one was vacant.

“But James isn’t authoritarian!”

Authoritarian: Favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom.

“But Ironwood was trying to prevent invasion of Salem’s agents”

They infiltrated Atlas through Mantle, by means of using outdated security. With Watts even explicitly pointing out that Atlas got the shiny upgrades, but no one cared to get them to Mantle. And Cinder and Neo still got in. Ironwood failed spectacularly. As he always does.

People were losing their jobs and their living because of lockdown, and those who kept theirs, were working in harsh conditions. Grimm regularly invaded Mantle. People couldn't even get their children to schools without Huntsmen protecting them.

“Its for the greater good”

I just don't see any merit in humoring ideas that treat people as expendable pieces on the path to some lofty goal. "Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make" logic is the logic of villains.

“Ironwood employed Penny and the robots, that shows he cares!”

The robots were shown to be like Star Wars Movie stormtroopers in terms of effectiveness, and Star Trek Redshirts in terms of survivability.

Also, not caring for someone implies not giving any thought to their problems, and in this particular case those problems were directly or indirectly created by Ironwood's actions or negligence. Sending Penny down there is a band-aid, an illusion of action. Also he was running her 24/7, having girl do the job of an entire military and her sole energy source and repairs comes from her dying father, who’s also being run ragged on Jimmy’s project.

“But Team RWBY used the satellite?”

Should we just discard the progress, if it was made by amoral means? Or should we rather use it, to at least in some way honor those who suffered for it?

“But Ironwood didn’t commit murder till he shot Oscar”

Murder is not the only weapon in dictatorship's arsenal. There’s media control and forbidding public functions and mass gatherings, which Ironwood did in the first episode of V7. There’s also banning weapons unless you’re in the dictator’s private army, which Clover literally confirmed in the 2nd episode, even ignoring Qrow’s license.

“Influential people aren't simply council members. People with money and connection need to receive privileges in exchange for services they may provide. That's how politics work. “

And yet, he literally SINGLEHANDEDLY LOCKED DOWN ATLAS. And neither other council members, nor other "influential people", represented in a show by Jacques, could stop him, despite it hurting their bottom lines. Whoops.

“ Y'all keep forgetting what being a soldier/military man entails. You obey your superior without question. That's not authoritarian, that's how any self-respecting army functions. “

Huntsmen aren’t supposed to be soldiers, they’re warriors who act with a code and serve society, not a general who treats everything like a contest of measuring “GLYNDA!”

Ironwood privatized the Huntsmen System, thus preventing Atlas Huntsmen from serving society, with the exception of the Happy Huntresses, who Clover called “Worse than Grimm” to Qrow. Imagine that defying Ironwood makes you worse than Grimm? Apparently that’s all it took for Robyn Haters.

Speaking of Clover...obeying orders without question? You mean like how Clover decided to defend Ironwood’s decision to abandon Mantle, try to arrest Qrow, and completely disregard the mission to capture Tyrian because “Good soldiers follow orders?” Then the Qrow vs Tyrian vs Clover fight makes sense. Tyrian wanted to cause chaos, Qrow wanted to stop Ironwood and Tyrian, and Clover wanted to obey Ironwood’s orders without question. Qrow made the mistake of thinking that Tyrian, who had never lied before, had meant that “putting the kid to bed” simply meant incapacitating Clover, not killing Clover. Meanwhile Clover had no problem arresting anyone who wasn’t licensed by Ironwood or carrying weapons that weren’t part of Ironwood’s army. I guess Clover did die as he lived...not a huntsmen, but a soldier.

“ Unless they showed someone's corpse or Team RWBY looking at beggars, there wasn't any sign of famine or death as you mention. The most there was is extra security and frequent robot patrols. “

Just because there are no corpses lying around on the streets, doesn't mean that people aren't suffering. A lot of the times their suffering goes unseen. You can't deny that Mantle looks like a mix of cyberpunk slum and depressive post-USSR Eastern Europe city. That's enough to make an educated guess about the state of the city and its inhabitants.

Just because Ironwood sacrifices some things, doesn't give him the right to sacrifice something he doesn't own - namely, other people.

Watts of all people called Jimmy out on neglecting Mantle's security. Aside from that, how did he help Mantle aside from sending a few Huntsmen there, which is, again, a band-aid, and an illusion of action?

“Ironwood trusted them like he trusted Ozpin” Remember what he did to Ozpin in V2. You know, the whole going behind his “Friend’s” back to get Ozpin, Salem’s chief nemesis and founder of the schools, fired? And also putting Penny in the Vytal Tournament despite nobody allowing it if they knew she was an android? This is the same guy who talked about trust? Ironwood is a hypocrite because he loves to talk about trust while betraying everyone else’s.

Remember the episode “Sparks?”

Unrest doesn't happen like *snap* and everything blows up. Tension grows gradually and usually goes unnoticed, until it's at the point when a slightest spark is enough to ignite the situation. What Jacques and Watts did was that spark, but the groundwork was laid by Ironwood's actions raising the tension between Mantle and Atlas. And that growing unrest could be seen as far back as e1 of that volume - specifically, in the drunk racist and Forest.

“Ironwood didn’t expect Watts to be alive!”

Someone broke through a military grade cyber security and caused all Atlesian robots and mechs to go "Execute Order 66″ on people. Whether or not it was Watts is irrelevant, because it's a known (to Ironwood) fact that there's someone capable of doing it*.* You don't need a hindsight to account for it, just a regular sight and basic common sense. Which Ironwood has none. That Ironwood, knowing this, only went as far as updating the infrastructure in Atlas, but not in Mantle, is not just negligence, it's a sabotage of his own goals.

The fact is that Ironwood's methods revealed his disregard for people with whom his goals don't align.

“Ironwood was to take drastic actions! There needed to be sacrifices"

The sacrifices began when he locked down Atlas and Mantle. They were just incidental, a product of ignorance and negligence.

“Atlas was the mightiest military” Name one battle they won that didn’t involve Team RWBY’s help?

Their ships could barely fire upon some giant worms, and had not been updated since the great war, causing them only to be able to effectively fire single laser shots against other ships.

An elite huntsmen can take out tons of weaker grimm. And Ironwood’s ships were useless against grimm as well. The paladins could work...yes.But they had a nasty habit of being stolen or hacked...which was again, ironwood’s fault.

“Qrow was willing to trust Ironwood!”

Even though Qrow told them in V6 that they should ask Ironwood for help, by the time the team actually met Ironwood, Qrow had changed his position to not talking to him. Sound familiar? Something Lionhart?

Ironwood didn't take defensive measures against Salem's forces. We see in the very first episode that whatever Ironwood is doing to keep Salem's forces out of Mantle isn't working.

We learned in episode 2 that he was not only aware of his actions having literally the exact opposite effect of what he was promising the people of Mantle, but he also accepted that.

Even before the main cast met Ironwood, they knew he either had no idea what he was doing, or he wasn't on their side any more. They didn't know which it was, but they already knew they couldn't count on him.

The grand sum of Ironwood’s character is:

“I can tolerate leaving thousands of innocents to die for some vague concept of the great good, but I draw the line at insubordination and lying.”

“But Ruby and Yang were being hypocritical in going behind Ozpin’s back!” A huge part of volume 7 was that Ruby realized that Ozpin was ultimately morally grey, and morally grey I mean his actions he took while thinking of other people. Selfishness is the complete opposite of morally grey, which instantly disqualifies Raven Branwen (mass murderer and thief), Adam Branwen (Mass murderer and terrorist), and Roman Torchwick. (Thief, murderer, and racist) from ever being qualified as morally ambiguous. As a result, Ruby ends up acknowledging Ozpin’s points, and even starts working with him again in V8. Yang on the other hand was agreeing with Blake’s points during the cargo truck ride and decided to go: “Hey Robyn, I know jimmy is oppressing your people and your actions against him are valid, but he’s trying to restore global communications for the greater good and his ‘protector of mantle’ didn’t actually kill your constituents, so if you could please stop taking back what’s yours, James will eventually repair mantle.”

And Robyn went: Okay.

Yang and Blake got Robyn to be willing to compromise with Ironwood, something Ironwood cannot do himself, and something he is incapable of getting people to do unless he abuses his military and political power, which he does on a regular basis.

“But Robyn was a terrorist who sabotaged the project!”

She was taking back the supplies that were meant for Mantle, that Ironwood was stealing from Mantle, for his personal project that was done without the council’s authority. She was giving those supplies back to the people of Mantle. Which emboldened the suppliers of Mantle in giving them hope that they could pressure Ironwood to repair Mantle’s defenses. Ironwood’s response? Call the entire city of Mantle “A few cityblocks”

“Robyn’s outfit and equipment was ridiculous compared to Ironwood’s military”

Yeah, when you’re in a city that’s poorer than Vacuo and oppressed by a small-minded man with a giant ego, you don’t tend to have access to the best equipment, clothes, etc. Not to mention that unlike Vacuo, Huntsmen aren’t allowed to protect people in Atlas unless they’re part of Ironwood’s private army.

“Team RWBY were selfish, Ruby is acting just like Roman!”

Lying to save lives and prevent human extinction is not the same as lying for your own self interest. When the gang steal and airship to get into Atlas, it isn’t an evil thing. They are doing it so they can save lives and protect innocent people. The good guys make sacrifices when they have to, where there is absolutely no other choice. Ironwood would sacrifice anything he could to protect his people, you can debate whether or not he’s a true villain, but he goes to far. Sacrifice isn’t a last resort for him, he believes it is. But most villains believe they’re on the right side. This is why most “Rewrites” that try to “Fix” Roman, Adam , or Ironwood go out of their way to rewrite the plot and characters to try to claim that the Villains are in the right, and to shame any female characters who stand in their way. The both the White fang and the good side use violence. But the white fang use violence and seek division and persecution as vengeance for their own struggles. Ultimately, through salem’s manipulation, they divide the intelligent creatures of Remnant. They attack hurt innocent people to further their own goals. The good guys use violence so that violence can be ended. Remind you of anyone? Cough cough, Batman! The sin of the cynic is acting purely in self-interest. Torchwick's line of "lie, cheat, steal and survive" refers to putting his needs first and foremost. It's not the same as resorting to desperate methods to save lives. Like, Jaune cheating his way into Beacon is motivated by self-interest, but his idea to steal an airship in V6 was motivated by keeping others safe. He isn't proving Torchwick's ideals are right in the latter instance, it's quite the opposite. Same with Ruby.

I'm not sure how people can say that Ironwood was proven right when we are shown that there were ways to save the people of Mantle. It's not even a one-time thing either, he thought that he had to keep forcing Mantle to make sacrifices but it turns out it was completely possible to make a compromise with them.

And if we're going to be completely honest it's Ironwood's refusal to compromise that's the biggest factor regarding Atlas's fate. For example, Neo was able to steal the lamp because his soldiers unintentionally gave her the opportunity and a way to escape. It's what led to Robyn acting the way she did on the plane and everything involving Penny was because of him.

Frankly, the only point I can give critics is the white Fang and it's only because the series so horrifically failed to demonstrate the difference between Sienna and Adam.

“But Ironwood was prepared to compromise with Robyn”

He wanted to have her taken into custody 1st and only then was he going to "negotiate," with her... I don't think I need to explain how this is not under any circumstances an actual compromise.

The actual compromise between Ironwood and Mantle took place in the Schnee Manor and that was entirely thanks to Blake, Yang, and sadly Jacques. And that was a compromise that he broke mere hours later when he decided to completely unnecessarily abandon them all to die... A decision he made without seeking any advice and then straight up threatened the people who dared question him on it.

“Sleet: The fact of the matter is, you've operated with a fair amount of autonomy for the past few years, James. But we need now is for you to work with us “

So Ironwood disrespected his peers and did whatever he wanted, and when called out on it, refused to listen to his colleagues, his equals.

A person arrested and completely at James’ mercy ISNT really a negotiating.

“I can either throw you in jail for the rest of your life OR you can agree to work under me, under my terms and conditions.”

What a “””negotiation.“”” Much fair.

“But Ruby is the villain in the trolley scenario!” If the Trolley is the floating city of Atlas, then the people of Mantle are the ones lashed to the tracks, and Ironwood put them there. Salem is coming up behind the Trolley, and Ironwood wants to bulldoze over the Mantle people. Ruby and the Gang want to get the people on board, but Ironwood refuses to let them on. To the point where he will do anything to prove he’s right and somebody is wrong. Ironwood is literally the man who cuts off his nose to spite his face. So Ruby and Crew use Ambrosius to get everyone to a new destination.

“Ruby and crew destroyed Atlas!” According to Cinder, RWBY saved thousands. And if you think an infrastructure is what makes a kingdom, then you forget that a kingdom is nothing without living breathing people, who live in Atlas, who have made it to Vacuo, and while Vacuo is about as xenophobic as Atlas, they put power in the people, and everyone there works together for the common society. Aka, the greater good. The people of Atlas can do good for each other, when Ironwood isn’t sabotaging everything.

“Ruby sabotaged Ironwood’s broadcast!” Ironwood’s broadcast was “Hey world, I want you to ignore every bad thing I’ve done and every red flag I’ve given off because there’s a greater evil in the world, and I want you to let me use my army that failed to protect everyone into your borders just like I forcibly brought my army into the Vytal Peace festival. I promise I won’t do anything behind your backs like use your events for weapon testing of the human soul like I did back then?

What was Ruby’s Speech? “Hi Everyone, I’m a Huntress, my job is to help you all. Listen, Atlas is under attack by the same bad person that brought down Beacon. We’re all in the same mess. Yeah, she can’t be killed, but everyone working together has been able to stop her the past 80 years, and if we all work together again, we can do it again. Here’s some people you can trust to validate the info, but Ironwood can’t be trusted because of all his actions in the past and his red flags. I believe in you all, because you all can do incredible things, and together everyone can stop Salem”

So Ruby was trying to unite humanity, give EVERYONE the hope and strength to work together and fight Salem, and stop Ironwood from getting too big for his britches.

Ruby was not being a savior, Ironwood was trying to act like he was. Ruby was trying to make humans and faunus alike the saviors. Power of the People.

“Ironwood is a battle-hardened experienced general!” Remnant had been at peace for 80 years, the only conflict was Grimm and the White Fang. And Adam represented the main bad people out there...in Vale. So Ironwood basically used a display of military bravado for everything (Glynda’s words) and people think that’s battle experience? If that’s the case, then Team RWBY and JNPR have loads of experience both on Ironwood in terms of tactics, and on the Ace Ops in terms of combat. Oh wait! THEY DO! That explains why Ironwood fails so spectacularly against Salem and her agents tactics till Team RWBY comes along to help, and why Team RWBY can defeat the Ace Ops.

”He was completely different back in volumes 2-3!″

Why did people look at Adam Taurus, a wannabe edgelord who tried to murder innocent passengers on a train....and then people decided to defend his every action? Claiming Adam was “misunderstood?” What, like Vergil from Devil May Cry, who murdered innocent people for power and had no problem unleashing monsters onto civilians, just like Adam did in Volume 3?

Why did people look at Ironwood, who brought a war fleet to a international peace conference, got screamed at for his warmongering by the Assistant Headmaster who kept her voice relatively level even against team rwby’s food fight, got the headmaster fired for not obeying Jimmy, and used the conference to conduct weaponization of the human soul projects....and claim he was a savior?

So yeah...Ironwood was cool, had drip, had charisma, had good intentions. But his actions spoke louder than his words. Sadly people only listened to his words. Must be his Messiah Complex.

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supersaiyanjedi14 · 2 months

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RWBY Versus Series: Adam Taurus vs. James Ironwood

"But fear itself isn't worthy of concern, it is who we become while in its clutches. Will you be proud of that person? Will you forgive them? Will you understand why they felt the need to do the things they did? Will you even recognize them? Or will the person staring back at you be the very thing you should have feared from the start?"

PHYSICAL

At first glance, this seems like a very simple conclusion to reach. While Adam Taurus certainly has James Ironwood beat in terms of physical health and wellness (blind in one eye vs. triple amputee with half your chest gone, one is decidedly worse), Ironwood’s alterations and implants more than make up for his poor condition. Though originally a run of the mill homo sapian, James Ironwood is now more machine than man, with superhumanly strong prosthetic limbs and built in armor turning him into a veritable juggernaut. As a Faunus, Adam may have anatomical traits that put him beyond your typical human by way of his horns and likely night vision, but these traits are either vestigial or useless on neutral ground, and his is otherwise just another squishy meatbag. Ironwood’s superior anatomy carries directly over to physical performance levels, boasting physical strength that is light years beyond anything Adam could muster up. Yes, carving through military-grade robots like they were nothing is a testament to a heavy hitter, but it really doesn’t compare to being able to manhandle a Beowolf with only one hand. Ironwood’s superior might is further supported by his agility, bringing every ounce of his weight and might to his target every time. Adam may be able to brace himself to deflect a flying Blake, but Ironwood doing the same would be far beyond his ability to handle. While Adam’s performance against Yang Xiao Long proves that he can contend with physically stronger opponents, this is all he can do, and jockeying in an arm-wrestling contest with Ironwood is well beyond his capabilities. Quite simply, Ironwood’s body is 50% metal and he’s all the more dangerous for it.

However, despite the General’s overwhelming physical might, this is not a one-sided contest, as his Faunus opponent boasts some critical physical advantages of his own. Adam may not have any anatomical advantages he can leverage over Ironwood, but he does enjoy a significant age gap, at minimum 20 years. Additionally, much like Cinder Fall, Adam’s impaired eyesight is not a gamebreaker, as he has never been seen suffering from a physical blind spot, owed to either Aura-enhanced senses or simple muscle memory. In terms of athletic ability, Ironwood’s titanic strength is matched and countered by Adam’s mind-numbing speed. Simply put, if Adam can keep pace with Blake, casually run laps around Yang, and demonstrate blatantly superior acrobatic ability, then Ironwood is going to have his work cut out for him. Dexterity and reflex also go to the High Leader, demonstrating greater precision and control in his sword style than the General’s simple pistol whips. Ironwood’s ability to match and arguably defeat Winter Schnee, to whom Adam is easily comparable, is proof that he can deal with speed demons, but as with Adam and his strength, that’s the limit. He can contend with Adam’s speed, but he can’t actually match or surpass him. As far as health and athleticism is concerned, Adam Taurus and James Ironwood demonstrate a balance of opposites. Both are stronger in areas the other is, while certainly not weak, comparatively lesser in, and either getting the opportunity to leverage that superiority could affect the tide of the whole battle. If Yang can overpower Adam, so can Ironwood. If Winter can outpace/fence Ironwood, so can Adam. Both have proven they can engage such opponents without being overmatched, so neither will be able to coast by on strength or speed alone in this fight.

This dynamic of opposing strengths and weaknesses carries over to their respective endurance and tolerances. Once again, Ironwood’s cybernetics afford him a clear and distinct advantage over Adam, his natural armor and displays of physical hardiness allowing him to work through hits that would leave the High Leader a burned-out husk. Getting back up after getting punched into a crater is great and all, but it’s not the same as literally burning the skin off of your own arm, and that’s before we consider that Adam’s last bits of Aura were taking most of the damage. But on the other hand, it is worth noting that Ironwood’s superior displays have been the direct result of him allowing himself to take the hits even when he doesn’t have to. Combined with his visible fatigue against the subversive Watts and his brief clashes with JNR and Winter, Ironwood’s survivability in the long term has a distinct cap. Conversely, Adam’s final confrontation with Blake and Yang was anywhere from double to triple the length of Ironwood’s fight with Watts, during which he was executing his own intense energetic fighting style the entire time and facing opponents whose offensive pressure slaps anything Watts could muster up. Despite that, Adam still had enough energy to keep fighting unaffected after losing his Aura, and considering just how much punishment Blake and Yang had to subject him to in order to finally get him to that point, I would say that Adam has the stamina advantage by quite a significant margin. Mental health and discipline follow a similar pattern. Adam is the more unstable of the two, his violent outbursts being far more pronounced, whereas Ironwood’s military discipline leaves his composure far stronger to the point of apathy. Yet Ironwood’s ruthless determination still compels him to take unnecessary risks, while Adam, be it by either cowardice or pragmatism, has shown a willingness to pace himself and cut his losses if need be.

As overall physical specimens, Adam Taurus and James Ironwood display a balance of major advantages and disadvantages over the other that match up extremely well. Adam is younger, faster, more sustainable, and better at staying alive, while Ironwood is tougher, stronger, better equipped, and better at keeping his cool. Both are well optimized to take advantage of their opponents’ weaknesses, and both are ruthless enough to fight to the death if need be. As such, this verdict is determined by the severity of the disparities in their respective performances, and it is here where Ironwood’s enhancements give him a leg up. Adam may have been able to contend with Yang Xiao Long’s greater strength and fortitude, but Ironwood is very likely stronger and tougher than Yang, making his advantage over the Faunus that much more substantial. By contrast, Adam merely matches Winter Schnee’s agility, he does not surpass it, so his speed advantage is not enough to put the general too far out of his comfort zone. Adam can potentially turn this dynamic around through skill at arms, but he cannot overcome Ironwood on the back of raw physicality. To be clear, Ironwood still has an uphill battle ahead of him, as Adam’s own strengths and displays mean that he cannot afford to coast by on strength and endurance. It must be remembered that Ironwood’s superiority is wholly in the fact that his cybernetics expanding the strength and durability gap wider than the speed and stamina gap, the latter of which are still eggs in Adam’s basket. I will go so far as to say that if we were examining a hypothetical non-cyborg Ironwood, then Adam would sweep the edge on the back of his youth. As it stands, however, Adam’s only hope lies in skill and power, and a battle of the body is Ironwood’s to lose.

James Ironwood gets the edge for Physical Ability and Equipment.

MARTIAL

Starting from the top with a comparison of their weaponry, both Adam Taurus and James Ironwood carry one standard firearm as part of their primary arsenal, their respective standard performances being more or less comparable. Where the weapon sets diverge from this point demonstrate the differences in each warrior’s approach. With Blush’s ability to shoot Wilt as a projectile, its use as a close-quarters bludgeon, and the versatility Wilt boasts as a sword, Adam’s arsenal provides a wider range of options in battle, which his fighting style fully leverages. With the secondary explosive rounds of Due Process’s silver half and the gravity Dust in the black half, Ironwood boasts an array of distinct yet extremely powerful attack modes which he then layered on top of each other. While both combatants have experience contending with each other’s outliers, meaning there is no significant gamebreakers, Adam’s more diverse arsenal and superior melee options do make him overall better armed.

Carrying over from the differences in their weapons, the combatants’ fighting styles are worlds apart yet have similar emphases. Adam Taurus’s technique is a sophisticated yet vicious method designed to overwhelm his targets with sheer speed and ferocity, while turning away any retaliation by way of evasive maneuvers and active defense and counters. Meanwhile, James Ironwood’s style is the manifestation of strength and power, leveraging his overwhelming might for maximum effect to pound his opposition into submission, relying on his fortitude to soak up anything the enemy brings to bear before responding in kind. One relies on a refined core technique that blends his diverse skill set into a singular, high performance fighting style, and the other relies on a much simpler technique that allows him to dominate the combat through the direct application of power. Both emphasize heavy offense as their first response, defending when needed when that fails before quickly regaining their momentum, in keeping with their mutual objective of dominating and controlling the engagement. Furthermore, both have shown great success at landing counters on overly aggressive opponents, while they themselves have both overextended when facing defensive opponents. While I do consider Adam’s guerilla assassin style as more refined than Ironwood’s gritty boxing style, the skill gap is not substantial. Between Adam’s repeated victories over Blake Belladonna and parity with Yang Xiao Long versus Ironwood overpowering Arthur Watts and fighting evenly with Winter Schnee, their developed skill levels are more or less on par. Technical sophistication will not be enough to allow the Faunus to simply outfence the general, especially given how Ironwood’s power is something that Adam has come up short against in the past. To be fair, though, the same can be said of Ironwood, as evasive duelists are well-optimized for staying out of his crosshairs. Experience-wise, Ironwood certainly has a significant edge over Adam by way of his greater years, affording him training and fighting time that Adam simply didn’t live long enough to accumulate. That being said, the value of Ironwood’s experience is undercut by the fact that he has spent the better part of his career behind a desk rather than on the battlefield, whereas nearly all of Adam’s comparatively shorter career was spent fighting, leading White Fang raids practically every other Tuesday.

With their skill sets and skill levels so closely matched, the most relevant factor in this verdict is going to be their respective tactical sensibilities, ironic given their mutual legacy of disastrous decision making. Both Adam and Ironwood are ruthlessly domineering fighters whose primary strategies center around asserting their control over the situation, their differing methods being paths to roughly the same destination. Adam’s strategy of active defense and counter allows him to turn any attack back on his opponent while he rushes in to eviscerate the target before they have time to recover, preventing his target from bringing their full might to bear against him. Meanwhile, Ironwood’s approach of enduring and powering through allows him to blunt any spearthrust against him before coming crashing against the opponent’s guard with more force than most are reasonably prepared for. Both frequently open as the aggressor, moving to overwhelm the enemy directly while refusing to give an inch of ground. Failing that, though they don’t like doing so, both are able and willing to fall back on defense to wait for an opportunity to counterattack. Due to his overwhelming offensive might, Ironwood would certainly dominate in a head-to-head engagement, bullying through Adam’s more refined technique with brute strength and pounding him into submission. However, I do not believe that Adam would fall into this trap. As a guerilla fighter, Adam has consistently been in a position where he does not have the strength to meet his opponents head-to-head. Instead, he opted to use that strength against the opponent, taking advantage of their overextended attacks to rush in, get inside their guard, and cut them down, or simply relying on his Semblance to use their own energies against them. Yang proved that the best way to defeat Adam is to play defense rather than offense, denying him the openings he needs to exploit, forcing him to come to you, and ultimately using his own tactics against him. This is simply something Ironwood doesn’t do. Whether barefisted or guns-ablazing, Ironwood is an offensive dervish, charging in and attempting to overpower his opponent directly with overwhelming might. On the one hand, this makes Ironwood extremely vulnerable to Adam’s counters, as he will be forced to chase after the Faunus and meet him on his own terms. But on the other hand, Ironwood’s sheer output is beyond anything Adam has encountered beforehand, meaning that if the general is able to get his adversary between a rock and a hard place, Adam could get into trouble very quickly.

As such, this is going to hinge heavily on Adam’s ability to contend with Ironwood’s offensive. The practical benefits of Ironwood’s simpler, stronger fighting style are best expressed in a close-quarters engagement; as with Winter, Adam’s refined swordplay will merely allow him to contend in a pure hand-to-hand brawl. However, Ironwood’s weapons of choice are firearms, meaning that he is just as likely, if not more so, to open with gunplay to strike his opponent at range. Therefore, the big question is this; can Adam Taurus reliably defend himself against James Ironwood’s primary forms of attack? Yes, he can. Guns are exactly what he built his defensive technique to address, and advancing vanguards are exactly what his hit-and-run tactics are meant to subvert. If he can deflect a firing squad’s worth of rifle fire, he can keep pace with Ironwood’s trigger speed. And if he can endure Yang’s machine gun punching spree long enough to find an opening to evade, he can certainly work his way around Ironwood’s more sluggish advance. Furthermore, Adam’s own marksmanship and unarmed skill, while outclassed by Ironwood’s, will still be adequate to interfere with the general and wear him down, whether by interfering with his focus in his normal state or chipping away at his Aura when he’s going full Mettle. Where Winter was trying to whittle him down with precise cuts, Adam would be tearing into his exposed flank. However, this isn’t to say that Adam will simply be able to dance circles around Ironwood and slice him to ribbons. We’d still be experiencing something of a stalemate here, as Ironwood’s sheer output still eclipses what Adam has confirmed experience with, meaning he is still going to be a serious danger if he gets the chance to properly leverage his own offensive power. Outside of Yang (who eventually killed him), all of Adam’s confirmed or implied opponents have been fellow skill-based warrior assassins like himself rather than domineering juggernauts. If Ironwood is able to get his target between a rock and a hard place, Adam would ultimately get crushed underfoot.

Making Adam and Ironwood’s dynamic with each other even more significant is the fact that their weaknesses are centered around their inability to deviate from their chosen patterns. Both combatants have come up short against each other’s fighter type in the past, Adam falling to a heavy-handed brawler in Yang Xiao Long, and Ironwood a dynamic speed fencer in Winter Schnee. In both cases, their only recourse was to double down and escalate rather than adopt a more appropriate strategy, meaning they ultimately had nothing to fall back on when overwhelming force wasn’t enough against their more measured opponents. And this approach would be equally ineffective against each other given they are both equally unyielding when their backs are to the wall. A pure contest of martial skill between these two would be both a spectacular display of combative talent and a savage war of annihilation. And given their shared mastery of contrasting fighting styles and tactics, their ruthless aggression, and the significant strengths and weaknesses they have over each other, I don’t see either combatant as having any sort of decisive advantage over the other.

I declare Adam Taurus and James Ironwood EQUAL as Martial Artists and Combat Strategists.

SPECIAL

Adam Taurus and James Ironwood are physical combat specialists who use their Semblances as a direct supplement to their martial techniques, and their applications of their abilities play directly into their respective strategies. With Moonslice, Adam’s approach of defense and counter is given a whole new dimension, with each blow he blocks or deflects providing him with fuel to unleash a devastating counterattack. Meanwhile, Mettle perfectly plays into Ironwood’s endurance strategy by giving him the means to leverage his strength and power without interference or distraction from even his conscious mind. However, when efficiency and application are added to the mix, one power is easily more viable than the other. While Mettle does reinforce and elevate Ironwood’s performance to a substantial degree, its nature as an inwardly directed power means that its ability to directly influence the combat is extremely limited. Ironwood may be able to hyper-focus every single one of his punches and bullets to get the most bang for his buck, but his attack output is still restricted to how hard he can punch and nothing more. By contrast, Moonslice is an ability that has direct offensive applications, affording Adam an additional attack vector to supplement his physical technique. Furthermore, Mettle’s properties could potentially exacerbate Ironwood’s overextensions, leaving him blind to threats outside of Adam’s direct attacks. Ironwood may have the means to power through injury, but Adam’s ability to absorb hits makes him the only one who can capitalize on injury. In a battle of pure Semblances, Adam’s more versatile powers afford a critical advantage.

Ironwood is not entirely helpless as an ethereal combatant, however, as he is the only one here who incorporates Dust into his fighting style. With the gravity bullets loaded into Due Process, Ironwood compensates for Mettle’s lack of offensive application by way of powerful shockwaves. Not only do these blasts count as a decent match for Moonslices’s energy waves, but Ironwood’s use of them to support his movements and recoveries affords him a degree of versatility that Adam lacks. The problem, however, arises when tactics are thrown into the mix. Adam may be something of a one-trick pony when it comes to firing off Moonslices, but deflecting gunfire to build up energy for those slices is his go-to tactic in just about every situation. Blake and Yang both proved that the best way to subvert this is to blindside Adam with shots he can’t see coming and can’t deflect, something Ironwood’s certainly capable of doing. Problem is…he doesn’t. While perfectly willing to sucker-shoot someone at point-blank range, Ironwood overwhelmingly favors long range gunfire to attack the target directly, which is the absolute last thing to do against this opponent. Trying to gun down Adam Taurus at range, even with magic bullets, is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. Not only has Adam proven that he can keep up with Ironwood’s trigger speed, but his performance against the spider drone in the Black Trailer shows that he can easily deal with the magnitude of Ironwood’s rounds and throw them back. If a gigantic laser cannon couldn’t overwhelm Adam’s Semblance, comparatively dinky Dust bullets ain’t gonna do the job either. The only piece of Ironwood’s arsenal that even comes close to the spider drone is the energy cannon he utilized at the end of Volume 8, which isn’t applicable here because the cannon is not part of Ironwood’s standard equipment; he only breaks it out for special occasions.

At the end of the day, James Ironwood’s special abilities either gain him nothing or they seal his fate, especially when contrasted with the far more flexible powers Adam Taurus has at his disposal. Absorbing hits and throwing them back with a sword may seem like a very basic power, but not only has Adam made incredibly calculated uses of it, it is also perfectly optimized to use Ironwood’s own energies against him. Ironwood’s typical use of Mettle will merely enable him to keep charging after Adam without a thought to what his opponent might attempt, playing into the Faunus’s guerrilla tactics. Meanwhile, Adam will be able to capably nail the general with his own bursts of destructive power fluidly chained into his swordplay. And between Ironwood’s overwhelming offensive focus, emphasis on gunfire at range, and the extra oomph of his Dust rounds, he's going to be giving Adam quite a lot to work with. While Moonslice will not be enough to instantly one-shot Ironwood, it will still be more than enough for Adam to wear Ironwood down. Furthermore, for all his instability, Adam is able to maintain a more complete situational awareness without sacrificing his focus and aggression, only failing to account for the unexpected when he is being actively distracted. What Blake achieved with clever feints and flanking maneuvers, Team JNR achieved with an opponent with tactical tunnel vision. Ironwood has certainly mastered his Semblance and his use of Dust, but he is overspecialized and relatively one-note. Adam makes far more intelligent use of a Semblance that is more tactically viable and, dare I say, more powerful, and does so in a way that will make him the general’s worst nightmare.

Adam Taurus gets the edge for Special Abilities and Powers.

VERDICT

The name of the game here is Equal and Opposite. When looking at these two on paper, Adam Taurus and James Ironwood appear to have nothing in common, and in fact appear to be exact opposites to each other. One is a red and black garbed Faunus hailing from the dregs of society, leader of a smaller guerrilla force, and an openly malevolent, violent, and selfish young man who expressed his cruelty through both a terrorist campaign and a frighteningly abusive relationship. The other is a blue and white clad human from the most prosperous Kingdom on the map, commander of a large, organized army, and an outwardly charming, friendly, and honorable man who is genuinely dedicated to serving and protecting the world. However, when one observes the fine print and pushes aside the cosmetic details, the two are tragically far more similar that either would dare concede to. Both were powerful leading figures within two dangerously controversial factions in the world of Remnant. Both were initially driven by higher, nobler causes for the sake of their own people, only for those missions to become twisted and corrupted by their mutual preoccupation with power and control, itself heavily influenced by their severe physical and psychological trauma. But more than anything else, both were the architects of their own destruction, their egos and fear gradually driving away whatever allies they had as they slowly spiraled down a path of madness and murder. Both believed themselves to be the hero, but they merely lived long enough to see themselves become the villain. Just as there are a plethora of ironic similarities and stark reversals between these two, so too are their diametrically opposed approaches to combat perfectly suited for engaging the other. Physically, Adam Taurus has youth on his side and boasts superior agility and stamina, but James Ironwood’s cybernetic enhancements grant him vastly greater strength and durability. One is optimized for an endurance run, the other dominates a slugging match. With martial arts, Adam Taurus’s dynamic and counter-centric swordplay and James Ironwood’s domineering brawling and firepower are seamless foils to each other, perfectly optimized to hit the other where he is weakest. And in the realm of special abilities, Adam Taurus holds the means to attack using his opponent’s own power against him while James Ironwood possesses the ability to deliver each of his devastating blows with laser-guided focus, both powers elevating their respective fighting styles into something greater than the sum of its parts. This is nothing less than a contest of equals, and while both would be loath to concede to it, they are very much each other’s perfect adversary.

Given that both combatants predicate their success on controlling the engagement, the decisive factor in this matchup is going to be tactics and conduct, as he who can get the other to fight on his terms is he who controls. This is especially ironic given how both combatants are known for having made extremely ill-informed, borderline foolish, strategic decisions, a failing that went a long way towards driving them to ruin. However, neither Adam or Ironwood is truly incompetent, they simply lack forethought and tact, and it is worth noting that their blunders were often influenced by factors beyond their control. When examining their baseline conduct and approaches, they are again well-suited to engage each other, but there is a noticeable disparity that finally tips the scales one way. James Ironwood is the embodiment of the direct application of power, linear warfare. Everything he is bringing to the table, body, weapon and soul, is specifically designed to be the strongest and most formidable piece on the board, capable of overcoming any adversary while being virtually impossible to assail himself. He never deviated from this approach to combat simply because he never needed to 9 times out of 10, and the few times he did run into trouble, all he had to do was hit a little harder before the enemy finally broke. Meanwhile, for all his ambitions and delusions of grandeur, Adam Taurus is a guerrilla assassin first and foremost, non-linear warfare. He is operating from a position of lesser strength more often than not, so he works to avoid the head-on collision whenever possible. He rushes in to cut the enemy down before they have time to respond then quickly move on to the next target, and should they try to fight back, he will defend before immediately countering. Attacking Adam directly will either give him the opportunity to retaliate or provide fuel for his Semblance, and it is worth noting that most of his successes in battle were against opponents who actively resisted him. Adam had plans to subjugate the world, which would naturally involve eventually crossing paths with stronger armies, namely Atlas itself, so everything about him is built with the goal of undermining that strength. And because this is exactly the kind of approach to combat that James Ironwood specialized in, he is exactly the sort of opponent that Adam Taurus has optimized his skill set to combat. Adam’s ironic tactical and defensive superiority makes his narrow advantages in all other areas decisive edges. His greater speed and agility will keep him out of the general’s crosshairs, while his superior stamina will allow him to maintain his performance further into the fight. His fighting style is perfectly suited to take advantage of Ironwood’s overcommitments and land critical blows to further wear him down, while his Semblance will take his enemy’s own consistent attacks and throw them right back at him.

However, I need to stress that Ironwood is merely at a disadvantage, he is not overmatched. Adam’s advantages may be crucial, but Ironwood’s own are still guaranteed to give the Faunus problems. If Adam makes a single mistake or Ironwood gets the change to bring his full power to bear, he is going down. The only thing keeping Adam in this fight is his defensive technique, which he will only be able to execute so long as his head is in the game. Psychological health is the bane of both combatants’ existence, and their final defeats owed greatly to their deteriorating mental states. However, while Ironwood is outwardly more collected and stable than the disturbed Adam, his stubborn, borderline obstinate, determination was his greatest weakness, burning his candle from both ends by forcing his way through unnecessary risks, a factor that can lead him to either soldier his way to victory or completely burn him out. Adam may be the more overtly explosive and volatile man, but his instability is specifically rooted in childhood trauma and his relationship with Blake, and he only lost his cool when specific buttons were pushed. When Adam’s in the field, he is cold, focused, and all business. Even accounting for Adam’s clear hatred of Ironwood, Ironwood’s lack of intimate familiarity with Adam means than exploiting his instability would be unlikely even if he were one for psychological warfare. furthermore, Adam's conduct demonstrates that he is at least somewhat aware of his short fuse, operating in a way to prevent his composure from being tested. Both are extremely arrogant, yes, but Adam has displayed at least a small willingness to recognize his limitations and compensate for them, whereas Ironwood simply tries to be big enough to ignore them, damn the consequences.

In my view, if Adam Taurus and James Ironwood were pitted against each other in the context of the lore, they would no doubt approach each other the way they did Sienna Kahn and Ruby Rose respectively, the former playing it safe and assassinating him and the latter dispatching his forces to hunt him down. But if dropped in cold, their battle would most likely play out as a combination of their respective final duels with Yang Xiao Long and Winter Schnee. However, I also feel this would be a far more drawn out and vicious affair. To take a cue from YouTuber Antione Bandele, I will be breaking my projection into three stages; the Early Fight, the Mid Fight, and the Late Fight.

The Early Fight would begin as a simple standoff before exploding into action, both combatants charging in for the initial exchange. Despite their tendency for heavy offense, Adam and Ironwood typically open with a more controlled offensive, still aggressive but keeping their full might in reserve so they can assess and escalate as needed. Ironwood’s heavier guns and unarmed combat would enable him to initially gain ground through sheer force, but Adam has a better recovery strategy, absorbing hits with his Semblance and evading anything else before instantly countering. At the same time, Adam’s initial retaliation will be sure to knock Ironwood around a bit, but not in any way that would actually slow him down. As such, this battle will not be decided in the early fight, instead functioning as more of a mutual assessment.

The Mid Fight is where things will begin to escalate. Once Adam and Ironwood have each other’s measure, they would pull out all the stops, making more deliberate uses of their Semblances and powers while settling into an increasingly brutal rythem. Blades and bullets flying, surges of energy exploding around them, punches and kicks thrown, both intent on burying the other where he stands. It is here that Ironwood has his best chance of victory, as the increased intensity of his onslaught is certain to start putting Adam under serious pressure and potentially overpower him. However, I do not consider this outcome likely, as Ironwood’s approach is too straightforward to push Adam out of his comfort zone. It must be remembered that Yang defeated Adam by goading him into overextending, not by penetrating his defenses. Adam’s greater mobility will be more than enough for him to stay out of Ironwood’s crosshairs, while the openings provided by Ironwood’s attacks will be too great for him to ignore. This constant interruption will also undermine Ironwood’s own offensive, as he will be forced to respond to what Adam is doing rather than controlling the flow. While Watts’s slippery retreat gave Ironwood the opportunity to marshal his strength and power through, Adam’s in-your-face hack and slash will be chipping away at him at every opportunity. However, this will not be enough to seal the deal, as Ironwood’s greater durability and iron will will allow him to shrug off all but the most catastrophic hits and continue fighting.

As such, the final verdict hinges on what happens in the Late Fight. By this point, both combatants will be utterly exhausted, their Auras either already broken or one hit away, though Adam will be better off thanks to his more controlled approach to the battle while Ironwood would be leaning on the native power of his prosthetics and otherwise running on fumes. Both would be frustrated with not having ended their opponent yet, and would set aside grace to finish it once and for all. From here, I can see two potential outcomes. Option A; Ironwood’s fatigue will leave him exposed to a series of attacks that he can no longer effectively defend against and endure, and Adam will be able to cut him down. Option B; Ironwood goes all out and smashes into Adam with his full cyborg weight, willingly subjecting himself to any following injuries in order to bully through Adam's guard and beat him into a bloody pulp.

Of these two outcomes, I view a Faunus victory through attrition to be the more likely. Ironwood may be capable and willing to accept a pyrrhic victory, but he will only be able to do so if he is able to successfully get the drop on his target, and the only example we have of such was against a distracted Arthur Watts. Unlike Blake Belladonna, Adam has no reason to underestimate Ironwood outside of sheer stupidity, and would be on guard for any potential counterattack. In fact, Ironwood’s extreme threat level would no doubt play into Adam’s hands, motivating him to skip gloating and dispatch his target at the earliest opportunity. Compounding this outcome is the fact that Wilt and Blush are simply the superior option for such a takedown than Due Process; regardless of how powerful Ironwood's pistol whips are, battering someone into submission with blunt force trauma is not an efficient way of subduing your target quickly, especially when compared to a sword blade. Ironwood’s fierce resolve does him credit, but instead of pulling victory out of the fire, his final charge would merely prompt Adam to end it. In a scarlet flash, the High Leader would narrowly avoid the general’s mauling fist, and Wilt would carve into what remained of his flesh and bone. General James Ironwood’s body would fall to the ground dead, and the battered, bleeding, and exhausted Adam Taurus would use the last remnants of his strength to raise his bloody blade to the sky and roar in triumph.

I declare Adam Taurus the victor.

Well guys, I hope you enjoyed this next installment of the RWBY Versus Series. I’ve done my best to explain my position as completely as I can, but I understand if you disagree with me. All I believe is that Adam is the more likely to end the fight on his terms. If you disagree, that’s perfectly fine. All I ask is that you keep your comments civil.

In the meantime, feel free to send me asks about future matchups, stay safe, and I’ll see you guys later!

*all images taken from the RWBY Wiki*

#rwby #rwby versus series #adam taurus #james ironwood #rwby adam #rwby ironwood

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