Adam Taurus

Adam Taurus (アダム・トーラス, Adamu Tōrasu), is a fictional character and antagonist from the RWBY series. He is a bull Faunus and was originally a high-ranking member of the White Fang, as well as the leader of the White Fang's Vale branch, he became the High Leader of the White Fang after deposing the former leader Sienna Khan in a coup, but was ousted from the White Fang after their defeat in "Haven's Fate". After his failure at the Battle of Haven and his subsequent expulsion from the White Fang, he began relentlessly chasing Blake Belladonna, only to be overpowered and killed by her and Yang Xiao Long in "Seeing Red".

He wore a mask to conceal his SDC brand and scar over his left eye. His weapons of choice were Wilt and Blush, a sword and gun rifle respectively that doubles as the sword's sheath or a scabbard, and Adam can shoot Wilt out from the gun as a projectile. His Semblance was "Moonslice", which enables him to absorb attacks with Wilt and strike back with countered force.

Adam was the first male character to be introduced. Described both as a mentor and former romantic partner, Adam made his first appearance in the "Black" Trailer as a deuteragonist where he worked together with Blake Belladonna to attack a train carrying a Dust shipment, but was abandoned by her at the end of the trailer. He later makes his first proper appearance in the show at the end of "Breach".

"People hurt me long before we met... All sorts of people in all sorts of ways... but no one hurt me quite like you... You didn't leave scars, you just left me alone. So... tell me, Blake... how does it feel to be alone?"
 * —Adam Taurus, revealing to Blake Belladonna his need for vengeance against her.

Appearance & Biography

 * Voice Actor: Garrett Hunter (English), Yūichi Nakamura (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), Not Known (Spain-Spanish)

Appearance
Adam was a tall Faunus with auburn hair that spikes backward in a windswept way. While most of his hair was red, a portion of it in the back and several streaks were brown. A noticeable trait of his appearance was the mask he wore, which obscured his eyes and upper face above his nose. His Faunus heritage appears to be that of a bull, for he has two reddish-black horns- one on each side of his head, also seemingly slanted back.

His mask was whitish-tan with red, Japanese style, horn-like symbols decorating the front and two slits on each side presumably to allow for vision. This is a redesigned version of the Grimm masks over his eyes typically worn by most members of the White Fang. Behind his mask was a scarred Schnee Dust Company brand mark across his left eye, which was bloodied with a gray iris and a singed eyebrow, as opposed to his remaining blue eye and brown eyebrow.

Original (Adam Character Short)
The designs on Adam's jacket and red Omega emblems on his gloves were not shown when Adam encouraged the members of the White Fang during the raid on a Dust processing plant. The wilting rose emblem on his jacket and a white symbol on the left side were later added when he defended the White Fang from an attack on their convoy alongside Ghira Belladonna, Sienna Khan, Ilia Amitola and several White Fang members. The red floral design on the front of Adam's jacket and the corresponding white design on the back of it were not originally there. They, including the Omega emblems on his gloves, were added after Blake reassures Adam that he still has her and prior to his mission with Sienna and Ilia.

Original (Volumes 1–4)
Adam wore an asymmetrical black, long-sleeved, double-breasted stylized high-collared blazer with slit sleeves along with red thorn sigils adorned with a white crest that lined up on his left shoulder. His suit jacket had crimson lining atop his red shirt, with red thorn sigils atop a black flap attached to the bottom of the left hem and his wilting rose emblem on the back over an emblazoned white sigil resembling the curved stems and flower of the deadly nightshade plant. His blazer was half-buttoned, exposing a red shirt with a black line running parallel to his collar under it.

He wore long black dress pants, black shoes with red soles and black gloves with red sigils resembling the Greek letter Ω (Omega), the last letter in the Greek alphabet.

He wore a black belt with white domino marks on it. His color palette generally consists of black and red, similar to the color scheme used by Ruby Rose.

Post-Timeskip (Volume 5–Current)
Adam's outfit was updated to a form-fitting, double-breasted three-tone black and gray leather tunic jacket with red interior lining and two-layers of flares that hung the entire bottom of his jacket around his thigh, befitting his more militaristic mindset after the Fall of Beacon. His rounded collar up to the shoulders of his jacket was black, with the two-tone gray colors at the rest of his jacket, which also included a zipper for his left breast pocket, and two more at the sleeves, which also possessed black cuffs.

His dress pants were a matching gray to the tunic and mounted a maroon belt at the right thigh. The back of his tunic retained his red wilting rose emblem with white nightshade stem and flower sigils. Completing this outfit were plain black gloves exposing his wrists, along with twin maroon crisscrossing belts that hung Wilt and Blush on his left, and a black and red-lined drape retaining the red thorn sigil on his right. Finally, he still wore his red-soled black shoes.

Sometime after leaving the White Fang headquarters following the Battle of Haven, he replaced his Grimm mask with a black blindfold. Under the blindfold, Adam had a SDC brand that scarred his left eye.

Gray Iris (Left) Red Sclera (Left)
 * Hair Color: Brown and Red
 * Skin Color: White
 * Eye Color: Blue (Right),
 * Age: Estimated 23
 * Birthday: Not Known
 * Height: 6'4" (1.93 meters)
 * Weight: 181.7lbs

Personality
Blake described him as feeling completely justified in how he went about making the world a better place. However, his vision for a perfect future did not include everyone, and Blake began to believe that Adam himself was becoming a monster in the process of trying to obtain it. In "Necessary Sacrifice", Blake described Adam as such: "At first I thought Adam was the embodiment of 'justice', then I thought he was 'passion'. But over time, I realized... he was 'spite'... He won't accept equality, only suffering for what he feels the world did to him." Unlike Blake, he is shown to have little regard for the lives of innocent people, as he planned to blow up the train with everyone on board in the "Black" Trailer.

In "Beginning of the End", he then took his cause and the lives of his underlings seriously, rejecting Cinder Fall's initial offer of an alliance, citing the unnecessary risk of dying for a human cause. It was also hinted that he dislikes Huntsmen, sardonically stating she could have gone to one who strayed from their "righteous path". However, after Cinder arrived a second time, this time with an offer of Dust and Lien as well as a death threat, Adam begrudgingly accepted her terms. Furthermore, in "The Next Step", Salem stated that Adam had proven to be loyal to her cause.

In "Heroes and Monsters", Adam's ruthless personality came to light. He was revealed to be an embittered, sadistic and vengeful man, willing to cut down any opposition towards his twisted ideas of justice being dispensed upon humanity. He took great pleasure in tormenting Blake, taunting her by calling her "darling" or "my love" and ultimately promising to destroy everything she loves as punishment for her betrayal of the White Fang and, by extension, him. He exhibited extremely possessive, violent, narcissistic and abusive behavior.

He was also merciless and brutal towards his enemies, slicing off Yang's arm with ease when she rushed him and even attempting to decapitate Blake when she appeared to stand between him and a crippled Yang. This characteristic was implied once more in "Of Runaways and Stowaways" when Lisa Lavender reports that all attempts to apprehend him were met with brutal force.

Adam had also proven to be highly ambitious, as shown when he disclosed to Sienna, the White Fang's High Leader, that he wished to start a war with Humanity and enslave them, before usurping and killing her within the same moment. He expressed delight in taking over the White Fang and felt no remorse in killing Sienna for it, something Hazel Rainart berated him for.

Fennec Albain had noted that Adam's behavior had become increasingly impulsive and unstable both because of the stress of leading the White Fang and his obsession to punish Blake for her perceived betrayal of the White Fang. This is observed when he ordered the assassination of her parents despite the possibility of it alienating the citizens of Menagerie against his leadership due to her father's position as Chieftain of the small nation state, and it becomes increasingly clear in "Downfall" where he began to lose his composure in the face of inevitable defeat. There, he was so desperate after being surrounded as to even press the switch to detonate the bombs planted around Haven without a second thought as to the safety of his soldiers or himself. This was a clear indication that Adam has changed from a justice-seeking revolutionary to a power-hungry, murderous, spiteful, and ruthless sociopath, as he had previously refused to risk the lives of his followers for anyone only to be willing to sacrifice them when he thought victory was out of reach. While once desiring freedom for all Faunus, Adam only sought to fulfill his own desires.

In the "Volume 6 Adam Character Short", Adam was initially seen as being not nearly as antagonistic as he is in the present. He did not initially begin killing humans until he was forced to do so in order to protect Ghira. He showed brief conflict over this action when the latter reprimanded him for it, though Sienna's praise for his action led him to begin killing more frequently. Adam's manipulation of Blake was also shown; after being confronted by Blake for his violence, he lashed out at her by mentioning her parents' abandonment of their cause, and then apologized and professed his fear of losing her support, emotionally shackling her to himself. This exemplifies how Adam legitimately cared for Blake and relied on her for emotional support, but when he feared she would leave him he had no problem manipulating her into staying with him.

Following his defeat in Haven, Adam became even more unstable, cruel, temperamental, and violently aggressive. Upon his return to the White Fang base in "Argus Limited", he lashed out and killed his fellow White Fang members. His rage had become so great that he even vandalized the throne of the White Fang, slicing off a piece of its seat back, showing his utter disregard for even his own symbol of authority. With the loss of his leadership of the White Fang, Adam was left only with his hatred of Blake. His obsession with Blake had evolved to the point that he stalked her for months just to get a chance to attack her and reflects on his far more aggressive and liberal use of his Semblance. In "The Lady in the Shoe", it is revealed that the reason he was so bent on killing Blake is that she left him alone, her act of abandonment hurting him far more than any physical abuse Humanity had subjected him to. In "Seeing Red" Adam is clearly jealous of Blake's close relationship with Yang and felt Blake had left him because he "just wasn't good enough for her", despite Blake clearly telling him it was his violent tendencies. In his final moments, Adam showed shock that Yang and Blake had managed to defeat him.

Friends/Allies

 * Cinder's Faction
 * Cinder Fall
 * Salem's Faction
 * Salem
 * Hazel Rainart

Neutral

 * White Fang
 * Sienna Khan
 * White Fang Lieutenant

Enemies

 * Team RWBY
 * Blake Belladonna
 * Yang Xiao Long
 * Team SSSN
 * Sun Wukong
 * Ghira Belladonna
 * Kali Belladonna

Powers and Abilities
Adam's abilities and skills seem to be on par with that of a highly skilled Huntsman. Adam was adept in swordsmanship, quickly cutting through Atlesian Knight-130s with ease. He had a preference towards the usage of "Iaido", a method in Japanese sword fighting that involves quickly unsheathing for a rapid attack and then sheathing again. Adam proved to be adept in unarmed combat, utilizing kicks and grabs in addition to his swordsmanship.

He had been shown in the "Black" Trailer to be able to slash at enemies that are seemingly out of his blade's range, implying that he either moved there and back quickly or somehow extended the range of his blade. When he used Wilt to open the train car roof hatch, he moved so quickly that his strike was almost invisible to the human eye.

He would also occasionally use Blush for ranged attacks in conjunction with Wilt. Furthermore, Adam's speed is shown to enable him to deflect numerous bullets in rapid succession with Wilt and Blush. Like Blake, Adam appeared to have advanced endurance, showing no signs of fatigue during an extended battle. He was also skilled at shooting his blade and hurling it as a saw-like attack.

Powers

 * Aura: Aura is the manifestation of one's soul, and is possessed by both human and Faunus like Adam. A necessary energy source for all Huntsmen, Aura acts as an armor of sorts protecting the user from attack's that would otherwise kill a normal human being and grants the user a minor healing factor.
 * Faunus Senses: Like all Faunus, Adam can see in the dark as if it were a clear sunny day and should have higher senses than a normal human being.
 * Semblance: Semblance is a manifestation of a person's innate, personal abilities, which is different for every person who has one. Adam's Semblance is able to absorb or block the energy from an enemy attack and re-emit it again, usually with his sword. He demonstrated this by hitting a bandit with Moonslice hard enough to send him careening into a truck and shake it, killing him instantly. It also disintegrated a spider mech after absorbing a laser blast and, most infamously, sliced off Yang Xiao Long's arm after blocking two bullets from Blake.

Leadership
Aside from his combat abilities, Adam is also an assertive and charismatic leader. Sienna even describes him as a symbol for many in the White Fang in "Dread in the Air". In "Breach", he assures Cinder's faction that the White Fang will listen to him despite the prior events, and in both Volume 4 and "Dread in the Air", Adam is able to gain enough support from many branches of the White Fang, including Sienna's personal bodyguards, to help him overthrow her and become high leader himself. However, his leadership abilities are shown to be progressively compromised by his increasingly unstable personality, making costly decisions to sate his personal vendettas.

Semblance
With his Semblance, Moonslice, Adam was able to absorb or block the energy from an enemy attack and re-emit it again in powerful red energy strikes, usually with his sword. When absorbing attacks or shortly before striking back, the details on his body appeared to glow red. When he attacked, the color appeared to drain from the world and everything turns red and black. In Volume 6, black and red bolts of lightning appeared over his body and the world temporarily became darker.

Usually, Adam would absorb multiple strikes and then unleash his Semblance in one high powered strike, but used it far more freely in Volume 6, with less powerful blows. This ability was very similar to Yang's Semblance, but with two major differences: his Semblance enhanced attacks and not the user and, as he absorbed it through his sword, he did not feel the pain of the blows as what Blake and Yang described it in "The Lady in the Shoe". This move apparently requires some preparation time as seen in the "Black" Trailer to use his ability, as he tells Blake to buy him some time before he is able to perform it.

When he used this ability, red rose petals are shown floating in the air, and thus symbolizing his theme of "wilt". In "Heroes and Monsters", his first strike against Yang was so powerful that it both broke right through her Aura and completely severed her arm, all in a single hit. However, the power of this technique depended on how much energy he absorbed with his sword. Adam had taken two hits fired by Blake before attacking Yang, while he had absorbed a continuous beam of energy from the spider robot in the ""Black" Trailer" before disintegrating it.

Adam had been shown to channel his Semblance through the air or ground, respectively, during his battle against Yang in "The Lady in the Shoe". In the same episode, it has also been shown that Adam had the ability to create moving afterimages of himself.

Strength level

 * Cut through the roof of a car.
 * Decapitated a robot before slicing through its torso.
 * Sliced through multiple robots.
 * Kicked a robot through a large metal door.
 * Launched two robots in the air.
 * Staggered a spider mech with normal sword slashes.
 * Tossed an Atlas soldier with one arm.
 * Blocked Blake's strike and kicked her back.
 * Knocked Blake down with a slap and stabbed her in the stomach.
 * One-shot a Creep with a casual swing of his sword.
 * Stabbed and killed Sienna Kahn.
 * Sent Blake flying several meters with the pommel of his sword.
 * Sent Yang skidding back with three strikes.
 * Created a shockwave when he clashed blades with Blake.

Speed

 * Slid down a steep hill and jumped onto a moving train
 * Blitzed five bandits all by himself while dodging their bullets.
 * Staggered a robot before it could react, and sliced through it before it finished falling
 * Deflected rapid gunfire.
 * Sliced through half a dozen robots before they could react.
 * Dodged laser fire from a spider mech.
 * Saved Blake from getting stomped by a spider mech.
 * Intercepted a laser beam.
 * Blocked two point-blank shots from Blake.
 * Reacted to an enraged Yang.
 * Blocked point-blank shots from Sun Wukong.
 * Reacted to and swatted away Gambol Shroud thrown at him.

Durability

 * Tanked getting kicked by a spider mech.
 * Was just fine after being hit by a beam powerful enough to smash him through a metal door.
 * Tanked a hit from Sun.
 * Tanked a kick from Blake.
 * Survived falling off a radar tower.
 * Tanked a flying kick and gunfire from Blake.
 * Survived being run over by Bumblebee.
 * Tanked multiple hits from Yang.
 * Got up from a punch from Yang that created a trench and an uppercut from Blake.
 * Briefly survived getting stabbed by Blake and Yang with a broken Gambol Shroud.

Skill

 * Was previously leader of White Fang's Vale Branch.
 * Had been a member of the White Fang for most of his life and had close ties to the Belladonna family.
 * Attempts at capturing Adam had always been met with lethal force and failure.
 * Was a widely respected figure in the White Fang surpassing even that of Sienna Kahn.
 * Defended White Fang Members including Sienna Kahn and Ghira Belladonna from bandits.
 * Refused an alliance with Cinder Fall until their second meeting.
 * Cinder did not challenge Adam until she stole the Fall Maiden's power.
 * Raided a cargo train and stomped an army of robots in the process alongside Blake.
 * Led an attack force of White Fang soldiers onto Beacon Academy.
 * Curb stomped Blake and sliced off Yang's arm.
 * Killed Sienna Kahn and became the new leader of the White Fang.
 * Ordered the assassination of Blake's parents just to punish her.
 * Attempted to destroy Haven Academy.
 * Escaped capture from Haven authorities.
 * Murdered his followers in a fit of rage and madness.
 * Fought both Blake and Yang, nearly killing them both.

Weaknesses

 * Overconfidence.
 * Continual use of his Aura would cause it to decay to the point where he was left open to more significant damage.
 * Would lose his composure in the face of inevitable defeat.
 * His unstable personality led him to make costly decisions.
 * Depending how much energy he absorbed may have required some prep time.
 * Could not use his Semblance without Wilt in his possession.
 * Ultimately overpowered and killed by Blake and Yang.

Weapons

 * Main article: Wilt and Blush

He is adept in swordsmanship, quickly cutting through Atlesian Knight-130s with ease. He has a preference towards the usage of "Iaido", a method in Japanese sword fighting that involves quickly unsheathing for a rapid attack and then sheathing again.

He has been shown in the trailer to be able to slash at enemies that are seemingly out of his blade's range, implying that he either moved there and back quickly or somehow extended the range of his blade. When he used Wilt to open the train car roof hatch, he moved so quickly that his strike was almost invisible to the human eye.

He will also occasionally use Blush for ranged attacks in conjunction with Wilt. Furthermore, Adam's speed is shown to enable him to deflect numerous bullets in rapid succession with Wilt and Blush. Like Blake, Adam appears to have advanced endurance, showing no signs of fatigue during an extended battle.

Past
Little is known of Adam's early history, although at some point in his life, Adam was part of the Faunus labor force that served the Schnee Dust Company. At some point during his service, he was branded with the SDC logo on his face, scarring him and possibly blinding him in his left eye. Possibly fueled by this inhumane treatment, Adam joined as member of the White Fang and had close ties with the Belladonna family. Sometime after he joined, he became the mentor of Blake Belladonna, teaching her much of what she knows in the art of battle. Eventually, they became partner and lovers, before she chose to part ways and leave both him and the White Fang during a raid.

Volume 6 Adam Character Short
Adam began to wear a mask while fighting Humans, inspiring his peers. He also began to kill Humans on White Fang missions, including one instance that saved the life of Ghira Belladonna. Blake expressed doubt on how many "accidental" deaths he had been causing while the new White Fang Leader, Sienna, praised how valuable he was becoming.

Encounter with Cinder
Blake described him as having gradually become a monster. This change started around the time the when the White Fang began using terrorism to further its newer and older agendas under Sienna Khan's leadership. Adam gradually became a merciless and sadistic killer who utterly despises humans, willing to kill indiscriminately and slaughter anything he perceives as opposition. The night before the raid on the train, he is approached in his camp by Cinder's Faction with a proposal for an alliance which she believed would help both their groups. He promptly refuses, citing the unnecessary risk of his men dying for a human cause.

"Black" Trailer
Adam and Blake stand atop a cliff waiting for a train to arrive. When the train is about to pass, Adam and Blake slide down the cliff and leap onto the roof of the train before opening up a panel and jumping inside. Adam and Blake then find themselves surrounded by a squad of Atlesian Knight-130s.

Adam's chokutō, Wilt, shoots out of his sheath and hits one of the androids in the head, stunning it as he rushes forward and grabs his sword, before cutting it to pieces. The rest of the androids charge in to attack Blake and Adam, but the two easily defeat them as they make their way through the train and enter a cargo hold.

Adam looks inside one of the crates and tells Blake to move up to the next car while he sets the charges, having found the target. Blake asks about the people on the train, but Adam shows no concern for them. Just then a Spider Droid lowers itself from the ceiling and attacks the pair. The two unsuccessfully fight the droid and Adam is forced to save Blake when she is about to be stepped on.

The droid then fires a large blast that knocks both Adam and Blake onto a flatbed car. Adam tells Blake to keep it distracted while he prepares for an attack. Blake fights it off, but retreats behind Adam when the droid charges for an attack. Adam uses his sword to stop the blast, seemingly absorbing the energy from it, which he then uses to destroy the droid. When Adam turns around however, he sees Blake on the next car, and the latter says goodbye to him before separating the cars.

Forceful Obedience
After Blake's desertion, Adam decides to cease any pursuit of her and focus on returning to Mistral before being interrupted by Cinder Fall and her underlings hurting all the White Fang members in the encampment. He is forced to accept the offer, where he receives Dust and funding to continue his operations, or be killed otherwise.

Invasion of Vale
Adam is briefly seen following the Grimm invasion, conversing with Cinder, Emerald Sustrai, and Mercury Black. When Mercury expresses doubt that the White Fang will listen to them again after the losses they suffered, Adam reassures the trio that the organization will listen to him.

Attack on Beacon
"And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."
 * —Adam, to Blake Belladonna.

After Cinder's broadcast, Adam arrives at Beacon Academy on a Bullhead, leading an attack force of White Fang soldiers and releasing captive Grimm into the school. After ruthlessly tossing aside an Atlas Soldier, he notices Blake, whom he mockingly calls "his darling."

He lectures Blake on the revolution they once planned to start together, and accuses Blake of becoming a coward. He then declares his intention to "light the fires of revolution" and threatens to execute a defenseless student from Atlas. Blake springs into action to stop him and the two former partners clash swords.

However, he proceeds to kick her away and disarm her, stating that while her goal of peacefully striving towards equality is impossible, he can relate because he views his desire to be with her as impossible. When she attempts to shoot at him, Adam simply absorbs the energy and declares that he will accomplish revenge by destroying her loved ones – starting with a nearby Yang Xiao Long.

He baits Yang by stabbing Blake in the abdomen and provoking Yang's angry charge. He then immediately intercepts her attack by severing her arm. Approaching Yang to finish her off, Blake crawls in between them to protect her. As he bemoans why Blake must "hurt" him, he decapitates Blake - only to discover she used her Semblance as a diversion to escape. He calmly disposes of a Creep before walking away.

During the Timeskip
After the fall of Beacon, Adam is recognized as one of the perpetrators and is reported to have resisted apprehension with brutal force.

After the Fall of Beacon
"We can win a war against the humans. Not only because we have the support of Hazel's master, but because the Faunus are the dominant species of this planet. We're better than humans. We have everything humans have and more. Humans shouldn't just fear the Faunus, they should serve the Faunus."
 * —Adam Taurus, expressing his goal to Sienna Khan.

Adam arranges a meeting between Sienna Khan, the leader of the White Fang, and Hazel Rainart, an associate of Salem. This is considered an act of loyalty to the faction. Information from Ilia Amitola's Scroll, obtained by Blake and Sun, reveals that Adam is planning to overthrow Sienna as well as bring about the fall of Haven Academy.

During the meeting between Hazel and Sienna, he makes good on his plans and launches a coup. As a result, Sienna is murdered and Adam replaces her as High Leader of the White Fang. Hazel berates Adam for the murder, seeing it as needless. Adam casually states that he disagrees as he sits on the throne previously held by Sienna.

After the coup, Adam sends a message to Corsac and Fennec Albain. Furious at the Belladonnas for publicly denouncing him, Adam orders the Albains to have the family killed, save for Blake, who he wants brought to him alive, saying he has a "promise" to keep.

Attack on Haven
Hazel sends warning that the attack on Haven has become more complicated, but Adam has no worries.

On the night of the full moon, Adam has the White Fang set up explosives throughout Haven Academy's perimeter, eager to see the school fall. Suddenly, Blake confronts him, and he is delighted she seems to turn herself in without him having to look. Adam is enraged, however, when Menagerie Faunus along with the Mistral police force appear, outnumbering him. Refusing to stand down at police order, Adam pushes the button to detonate the explosives, only to discover Ilia has disabled them. He asks Hazel what to do, only for an answer to fix the problem himself. Angered his plan is falling apart, Adam attacks Blake, but she dodges with her Semblance and knocks him to the ground. He then orders the White Fang to kill their enemies, and a fight breaks out in the Haven courtyard.

As he is confronted by Blake, Adam tries to intimidate her by prying on her fear of him but to no avail. As Sun Wukong joins Blake, Adam finds that the White Fang members are arrested and he is alone. He briefly fights Blake and Sun before escaping. Blake sees through his plan, as he wants to lure them away so he can pick them off. In a nearby forest, Adam watches from the trees as Hazel and Mercury Black run from Haven with an unconscious Emerald Sustrai before going his own way.

The Personal Mission
Upon returning the White Fang's headquarters, the remaining White Fang goons are defiant toward him, having heard of his disgraceful abandonment of their brothers on Haven. Because he abandoned his people by retreat, the members say they will disregard his further orders, and when Adam returns to the headquarters telling them they had another mission, the goons dismiss him as high leader and asserts him they had lost their confidence in his leadership.

This angers Adam and he gives them one final warning to "step away from his throne." The goons refuse and mock Adam upon his failure to stop the Belladonnas, especially Blake. Unable to control his rage, Adam turns on them and slaughters them all while taking no visible damage himself. He sits back on his throne and then steps off and slices the top off and screams uncontrollably, having thought of Blake's betrayal and humiliation. He later discards his mask while staggering through the woods, alone.

One month after the Battle of Haven, Adam's picture is among those labeled as the perpetrators behind the attack.

Adam tracked down Team RWBY and followed them as they departed Mistral for Argus, hoping to catch and confront Blake when she was alone. He was spotted once, by Blake on the Argus Limited. However, he disappeared so quickly that she dismissed him as a hallucination. Days later, Adam cornered Blake atop the radar tower in Argus. The two engaged in a duel, which went through several levels of the tower. Eventually, Adam managed to grab Blake by the neck, and both went over the railing, sending both plummeting to the forest below. Blake tried to reason with Adam, but to no avail, as Adam vowed to never let her go again.

Resuming their battle, Blake and Adam exchanged blows in which Blake managed to hold her own for a while. She then tried to get some distance between them, with Adam in hot pursuit. Adam sent Wilt spiraling into Gambol Shroud, knocking Blake off course and sending her flying straight into him. The former High Leader slashed at Blake only for her to use her tailcoat as a decoy before kicking him away and then shooting him.

The two took their fight to a nearby waterfall where Adam slowly gained the advantage, berating her all the while. When she was on the ground, Adam unleashed his Semblance, which broke Blake's weapon in two. Taking his blindfold off, Adam reveals the reason for his obsession for taking revenge on Blake. While Humans had hurt him physically, being abandoned hurt far worse. Adam then stabbed her in the gut, but soon saw it was a shadow clone. Before he could attack again, Bumblebee slammed into him from the cliff above. Rising to his feet, he saw Yang Xiao Long, who he recognized without question. When Yang offered to fill in for Blake, Adam agreed, seeking to finish what he started at Beacon. Adam struggled at first, taking a lot of hits while unable to land any decisive blow of his own. His superior abilities soon gave him the advantage, however, knocking Yang back near the edge of the cliff, and then unleashed a fully-powered Moonslice. The attack visibly damaged Yang's robotic arm, but she withstood the impact upright. Yang gave him one last chance to stand down, but Adam called her bluff, insinuating that she was afraid to die protecting Blake. Blake rebuked him, taking Yang's hand and stating they were protecting each other.

Blake and Yang fought Adam together, putting him on the defensive. Though when Blake careened toward him and collided sword with sword, Adam parried the blow and forcefully threw her back at the cliffside, breaking her Aura and knocking her out of the battle. Adam then focused on Yang and brought up the night at Beacon to weaken her resolve. Having done so, Adam pressed his advantage with a series of kicks and sword slashes. Though as he fight went on, Adam became further unhinged and he attacked recklessly. He lept in for one final strike but was caught off guard when Yang used her Semblance, catching his sword in her robotic arm. Her hair on fire, she jerked Adam forward before punching him hard in the stomach, which sent him flying back, carving a gash in the ground beneath him.

Death
With his own Aura broken, Adam watched as Yang threw his sword over the edge, prompting him to chase after it. He looked down for it, and Blake sprang up and struck him with an uppercut, sending him stumbling back, stepping on Blake's broken weapon. He immediately dashed for it, but Blake was faster, and she and Yang stabbed cleanly through Adam with the broken blades of Gambol Shroud. Blood flowed from Adam's wounds, and after Yang and Blake removed the blades, he hobbled forward aimlessly. He dropped to his knees, his eyes faint, and fell into the water, smashing against the rocks during the fall.

Canon

 * White Fang vs. Supremacists (Won)
 * Adam Taurus and Blake Belladonna vs. Atlesian Knight-130s (Won)
 * Adam Taurus and Blake Belladonna vs. Spider Droid (Won)
 * White Fang vs. Schnee Dust Company (Won)
 * Adam Taurus vs. Students and Atlesian Military (Won)
 * Adam Taurus vs. Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna (Won)
 * Adam Taurus vs. Blake Belladonna and Sun Wukong (Retreated)
 * Adam Taurus vs. Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long (Rematch; Lost and Killed)

Canon

 * Battle of Beacon
 * Battle of Haven

Theme songs

 * Volume 6 Adam Character Short: "Lionized" - Jeff Williams.

Etymology

 * In Hebrew, Adam (אדם) means "Man" and Adom (אדום) means "Red". It is likely that Adam's name is a play on these two words. Adam is also known in Abrahamic religions as the first man created, possibly referencing the fact that he is the first male character to appear.
 * Adam's last name Taurus, is a Latin word meaning bull.
 * His mask has two red horn-shaped markings similar to that of a bull.
 * Adam alludes to the Beast from Beauty and the Beast and stands in as Gaston to Blake's allusion to Belle from the same story.
 * Adam's name and relationship to Blake compliment her reference to Beauty and the Beast as Adam was the true name of the Beast.
 * In the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, the Beast/Prince's name is often thought by fans to be Adam (although he is not referred to as such officially). Further similarities between Adam and the Beast are their respective roses. The Beast was transformed by a cursed, wilting rose, wilting being the operating connection, since Adam's emblem slightly resembles the Beast's rose.

Notes & Trivia

 * For more information on this allusion, as well as other choices the creators made for this character, see Adam Taurus/Behind the Scenes.
 * During the RWBY panel at 2016's London Comic Con, Arryn Zech and Barbara Dunkelman put Adam's age as early-to-mid 20s, with a guess of about 23.
 * Adam underwent a character re-design sometime during the development of the "Black" Trailer. In behind-the-scenes footage released by RWBY animator Shane Newville on his Vine account, Adam's original model can be seen. Adam's original model lacks his signature longcoat, instead having a black short-sleeved top with combat vest, cargo pants and combat boots. His sword, Wilt, originally had a black blade that glowed orange when making strikes, and was carried diagonally across his back rather than at his side.
 * In a picture Monty Oum posted on Twitter, the term "Moonslice" can be seen on a notes sheet regarding the Black Trailer, coinciding with the appearance of Adam's finishing move.
 * Adam and Ruby have some traits in common, mostly their color scheme and the heavy use of red imagery in their debut trailers.
 * Despite this resemblance to Ruby, Monty stated that the two are not related, the difference between them being "scatter and wilt".
 * Adam's sword is based on Kagura's sword from Ga-Rei: Zero.
 * Adam's mask appears beside Blake for a short while in the "Volume 1 Opening'".
 * Adam appeared alongside Junior Xiong, Melanie Malachite, and Miltia Malachite in a video Monty made as an alternate version of the JNPR dance scene in "Dance Dance Infiltration".
 * In the RWBY Volume 3 Marathon livestream, the RWBY crew note that Adam's behavior toward Blake in "Heroes and Monsters" is abusive and express that they are uncomfortable with it.
 * In BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, one of Hazama's color swaps is based on Adam. Adam's Japanese voice actor, Yūichi Nakamura, also voiced "Hazama".