Salem and Frankenstein: A RWBY Theory

Something that has been bothering me for months now in regards to RWBY is one question: why does Salem exist?

According to Ozpin, he was punished by the gods for failing to stop Salem in the past

But why would the gods create something if they were only going to have it be destroyed?

Then it occurred to me: what if it wasn’t the gods who created Salem?

What if Salem’s story is similar to that of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein?

If you don’t already know, in the book, Victor Frankenstein creates the monster, but is immediately horrified by his creation and rejects it

Because of this, the monster comes to resent Frankenstein, and seeks revenge by killing his wife. This eventually leads to a prolonged game of cat-and-mouse between Frankenstein and the monster, in which Frankenstein tries his best to run from his creation. However, after a considerable amount of time, both Frankenstein and the monster die during the chase, and the story ends.

Well, what if in this story, Ozpin’s original form - the Wizard - is Victor Frankenstein?

What if the Wizard was tampering with the Grimm and (accidentally or otherwise) created Salem?

What if, like Doctor Frankenstein, the Wizard immediately regretted this and shunned Salem

What if the gods punished the Wizard for creating Salem and then failing to destroy her

What if, like the monster, Salem came to resent the Wizard and decided to get revenge by destroying him and all of humanity

This would explain why Salem exists, and it would also explain why Ozpin hated Doctor Merlot’s work so much in RWBY Grimm Eclipse

It would also explain why the Wizard became a recluse; to hide from Salem and the problems that came with her

And it would explain this exchange in episode three of Volume 5

Ozpin is constantly remorseful because it was his predecessor who got us into this mess, and now he has to enlist the help of others in order to fix it. Salem hates Ozpin because the Wizard rejected her, and won’t stop until she has her revenge on him. Whatever the case, this will all eventually lead to a climactic confrontation, in which Frankenstein and the monster face off one final time. And who knows if either of them will survive this time around.