Artorius Collbrande

Artorius Collbrande (アルトリウス・コルブランド, Arutoriusu Koruburando), also known under the former name "Arthur" (アーサー, Āsā), is both the fictional character and antagonist of the Tales of RWBY series created by Monty Oum and Yoshiharu Gotanda. He is the head exorcist and supreme leader of the Abbey and considered to be a savior by the populace for having acquired a power that would allow him to save the world from the Daemonblight, as three years ago, he appeared with a large number of malakhim and, with their help, exterminated a large number of monsters that threatened the world.

He used to live with Velvet in Aball as family, but isn't related to her by blood - he was, for a brief and wonderful time, married to Velvet's sister and so is her brother-in-law. Artorius becomes a Shepherd and has gained overwhelming support from the people, and possesses a strong sense of reason as part of his battle tactics, and has used this as the prime teaching for all Exorcists. The true reason over his action is his desire to be reunited with Celica again, as her reincarnation into a Malak and losing her emotion and memories over her time with Artorius drive him insane.

"Stop struggling! Give up your fight! I will end the world's sadness! I HAVE to end it!"
 * —Artorius Colbrande, to Velvet.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Ray Chase (English), Kenyu Horiuchi (Japanese), Not Known (Albanian), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Basque), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Cantonese), Not Known (Catalan), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (Galician), Not Known (German), Not Known (Greek), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hong Kong), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Indonesian), Not Known (Isralian), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Mandarin), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Tagalog), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Valencian), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

Appearance
Artorius appears as a refined man and leader of the Abbey, his attire representing its pristine colors. He wears a long, white and gold coat with an ocean-blue interior, as well as matching pants, gloves, and boots. An extravagant cape mirroring this color motif rests on his right shoulder, bound by a brown belt connected around his torso. He has light, blue-green eyes and long silver hair, which he keeps tied in the back.


 * Hair Color: Silver
 * Skin Color: Not Known
 * Eye Color: Light Blue-Green
 * Age: 29 (Scarlet Night), 32 (Main Story)
 * Birthday: Not Known
 * Height: 187 cm
 * Weight: Not Known

Personality
Artorius used to be a loving man who cares about his family, even though he is not related to any of them. Upon losing his wife, Celica Crowe, and their unborn child, he has changed into a sociopath who is willing to sacrifice Laphicet Crowe in a ritual for power. He favors the use of reason over emotion as part of his battle tactics, and has used this as the prime teaching for all Exorcists.

Despite his calm and superior demeanor, in the final battle he is shown to still harbor a significant amount of malevolence, specifically despair.

Friends/Allies

 * Abbey
 * Oscar Dragonia
 * Teresa Linares
 * Shigure Rangetsu
 * Melchior Mayvin

Family

 * Celica Crowe (Lover, Deceased)
 * Unborn son (Deceased)

Neutral

 * Duke Pantarei
 * Gaius
 * Ragou
 * Percival Yil Mid Asgard

Rivals

 * Alexei Dinoia

Enemies

 * Heldalf
 * Salem's Faction
 * Salem
 * Magilou's Menagerie
 * Velvet Crowe
 * Laphicet
 * Eizen
 * Magilou Mayvin
 * Rokurou Rangetsu
 * Eleanor Hume
 * Tabatha Baskerville
 * Brave Vesperia
 * Yuri Lowell
 * Repede
 * Karol Capel
 * Judith
 * Brave Vesperia's Allies
 * Estelle
 * Rita Mordio
 * Raven
 * Flynn Scifo
 * Lloyd Irving
 * Zaveid
 * Team RWBY
 * Ruby Rose
 * Weiss Schnee
 * Blake Belladonna
 * Yang Xiao Long
 * Team JNPR
 * Jaune Arc
 * Nora Valkyrie
 * Lie Ren
 * Qrow Branwen
 * Oscar Pine
 * Maria Calavera

Past
At least ten years after the Great War, Artorius, who went by the name Arthur at the time, was found in the forest outside Aball by a woman named Celica Crowe, who listened to his troubles before encouraging him to rest and eat, offering him an apple. Claiming that he had failed his master after the war, Artorius stated that he did not deserve to live, but Celica told him that life was not something one had to earn and that such feelings were proof that he was alive. Celica introduced herself and asked him to join her for dinner. Over time, he and Celica fell in love and got married While living in the village, he helped Celica's sister, Velvet make ends meet, while continuously taking care of Celica while she was pregnant. He also inspired both Laphicet and Velvet to become exorcists.

However, during a Scarlet Night some time ago, the brigands had attacked Aball for the reasons unknown. The brigands' malevolence resulted in them becoming monsters and attacking the village, while chasing Celica Crowe into the shrine in Tranquil Woods. Arthur rushed after her, slaying the monsters and daemons until he made his way to her. When a monster was about to attack him with his back turned, Celica pushed him away and received the blow that forced her into the depths of the shrine as a mouth of a mysterious entity devoured her. While consumed by grief over what had happened, he is approached by Melchior, who revealed that Aball's inhabitants offered him and his family to the daemons, explaining that the "reason" upon which they acted was so they could escape and hide.

Just then, a bright light emerged from the shrine's depth, surprising Artorius, who noted that it must have been in this place that the Empyrean they were looking for was located. Celica and her unborn baby were then reborn as malakhim, and Artorius forged a pact with Celica's malak reincarnation, Seres. Angry at people's selfishness, Artorius declared in that moment to put an end to the world's suffering with Melchior's help, intending to resurrect Innominat and use him to strip emotions from people, which would result in a lack of malevolence, therefore eliminating the threat of monsters.

Some time later, during another Scarlet Night that would become known as the Opening of the Advent, he first saved Velvet from a Blood Wolf. When Velvet returned to find her younger brother, Laphicet Crowe, she finds out that Artorius killed Laphicet and intended to sacrifice him as a reason to save the world. The ritual began and he attempted to sacrifice Velvet as well. Much to his surprise however, the daemons took to Velvet and nested inside her arm. Realizing that Velvet is a threat, he imprisoned her in Titania, the Prison Island. There, he kept her imprisoned to keep his plans stable and also to prevent anything from his past from foiling his plans. After that event, he became famous, establishing the head group of the Exorcists, The Abbey, as its leader and acts as the savior to the world.

Etymology

 * Artorius's name is derived from King Arthur, whose mythos and legends is the origin of many names in Tales of RWBY.
 * Both Artorius and Arthur are his real names. The story reveals that the name Arthur came from the shortening on the name Artorius—sharing the same meaning through the series' lore.
 * His name, Arthur, is a reference to how it is influenced by Arthurian Legends.
 * Collbrande is one of the alternate names for King Arthur's famous sword Excalibur.

Notes & Trivia

 * Artorius' Throne and its designed and construction was based on the original Empyrean's Throne.