Well, here is another World of Remnant segment, this time to explain and elaborate upon this strange new phenomenon of the humanoid Grimm that have appeared recently in the story, and give some more insight into them and their characters.
Since time immemorial, the Grimm have plagued the world of Remnant and its people. The Creatures of Grimm, as they eventually came to be called by humans, came in a wide variety of different types and species, each with many variations of their own. However, there were occasionally some instances in which certain particularly strange or bizarre Grimm were known to appear. Reports from Hunters and Huntresses going back several centuries would sometimes speak of encounters a certain variety of strange humanoid type Grimm. These elite humanoid Grimm were much more powerful than their more common animal-like brethren were, but despite their vague humanoid shapes, they still lacked the intelligence of a human. They behaved more like scatterbrained zombies, and such did not pose as much of a threat as their frightening appearances would lead one to believe.
Nobody knew what the true nature of these bizarre humanoid Grimm were, or where exactly they came from. They just came and went as they pleased, appearing very rarely, as the saying goes, once in a blue moon. The threat that these humanoid Grimm posed to Remnant as a whole was minimal, as they could be defeated quite easily if a Hunter or Huntress was skilled enough and knew exactly what they were doing when fighting them. Behind the strange appearances of these unusual humanoid Grimm though, there lurked something far more dark and sinister in the background that very few people had ever witnessed and lived to tell about.
Even rarer than these encounters with this strange species of humanoid Grimm, there have been rumors, myths, and legends throughout Remnant's history of five unique Grimm in particular. These five Grimm were known to possess very human-like appearances for a Grimm, and could almost be mistaken for one when looked at from a glance. What's even stranger is that these five unique Grimm had intelligence far beyond that of any normal Grimm, rivaling even that of a human's, and what's more, they had the ability to speak. Whereas the rare species of humanoid Grimm mentioned earlier could sometimes mimic human words that they had heard, and repeat them in turn, these five very human-like Grimm could actually, quite concisely, speak words with meaning.
These five unique and powerful Grimm came to be known simply as The Grimm Lords, mainly due to the fact that all lesser Grimm seemed to mindlessly follow and obey them without question, as if they saw them as a higher authority, leading to the speculation that these five Grimm were the supreme rulers among all the Creatures of Grimm. Despite having been seen and witnessed before, the knowledge of the existence of these five Grimm was not widely known throughout Remnant, and many believed them to just be rumors and stories. This was due primarily to the fact that many who encountered these Grimm Lords often did not live to tell about the experience, and those who did were often left mentally scarred by their experience, and as a result nobody believed their accounts of what they had witnessed, simply writing them off as being crazy or insane. But they were real, and somewhere in Remnant or in another world they dwelt, commanding the Creatures of Grimm from afar, and crafting their dark schemes and designs.
In all of the instances in which these five Grimm Lords have been spotted, they were often seen either travelling together as a whole group, traveling in pairs, or just travelling by themselves, which indicted a likely possibility that these five Grimm Lords were all related to each other, and that each of them were the members of a family. The one who appeared to be the most powerful and prominent Grimm among the five of them was a being known as Salem, who was very likely the matriarch of the family, and the mother of the four other Grimm Lords with her. While this creature named Salem considered all of the Creatures of Grimm to be her "children", seeing herself the Mother Grimm, the four other Grimm Lords in her company were the only ones among the Grimm who were her actual biological children. Who the father of these children of Salem is and where they came from is complete mystery, if they even have a father at all that is.
All four of Salem's children were exceptionally powerful, just as she was, and each of them had their own various special abilities and skills that they had inherited from her. They all possessed varying degrees of magical powers, individually specializing in certain areas, and they all possessed the ability to shape shift to some extent and alter their forms at will. The eldest and most powerful among Salem's children was her eldest daughter Lilith, who was also known by her title of Queen of the Night. Lilith possessed the strongest magic out off all of her siblings, and was able to cast a wide range of powerful spells from almost every type of magic imaginable. The second and next most powerful of Salem's children was her eldest son Dracul, also known by his titles of King of the Night and The Semblance Eater. Dracul possessed one of the strangest and most devious powers among his siblings, having the ability to rip the life out of any living creature he came across and devour its essence. He could masterfully shape shift into nearly any creature he has ever devoured, and when taking on the form and appearances of any of his previous victims, he could even make use of the powers, skills, and abilities they had once possessed in life. Dracul was a truly dangerous foe indeed, and many opponents, both Hunter and Huntress alike have fallen to him, with his most recent victim of note having been the famed Huntress and Silver-eyed Warrior Summer Rose.
The third and next most powerful of Salem's children was her youngest daughter Agnes, who was also known by her title of Lady of Shadows. Agnes had the unique ability to mentally invade the minds of others, even being able to enter the thoughts and dreams of humans as they slept, and she had command over all shadows in her vicinity, being able to manipulate them at will, making the darkness her absolute domain. Finally, the fourth and next most powerful of Salem's children was her youngest son Lycaon, who was also known by his title of Lord of the Beasts. Lycaon like his brother Dracul also possessed an ability to shape shift, but his allowed him to take on the form of any beast in existence, both animal and Grimm alike, and all of their forms were his to take for his own and use whenever he pleased. Aside from this ability, Lycaon also possessed one other unique ability, in which he could absorb any kind of kinetic force directed at him, and then after absorbing it into his body send that force back at his target, effectively making him invulnerable to almost all physical attacks.
These four Grimm siblings, along with their mother Salem, were terrifying and formidable foes, wrecking much havoc throughout Remnant's history during the few instances in which they appeared, and were a bane to the existence of all Hunters and Huntresses. Even the Four Maidens and the Silver Eyed Warriors have come to know the terror of the Grimm Lords on numerous occasions. In fact, the children of Salem were their most persistent nemesis, and the two sides often faced each other in intense battles across the many incarnations of the Maidens and Silver Eyed Warriors. The Grim Lords have always hunted them, but to this day they have never been able to fully vanquish or defeat them due to their constant reemergence in new hosts, igniting anew their battles with them, over and over again.
For the most part, Lilith and Agnes often stayed with their mother Salem, rarely having a reason to venture out into Remnant unless it was absolutely necessary, and as a result, there are not as many sightings of them. On the other hand, their brothers Dracul and Lycaon ventured out into Remnant much more frequently, leading to sightings of them being more common, resulting in their existences being more well-known than that of their sisters. In fact, the two brothers have become so notorious that they have come to be known by one name in particular, The Brothers Grimm, a name which is feared all throughout Remnant by its Hunters and Huntresses.
I've got to say, coming up with the lore surrounding these four children of Salem is probably one of the elements of this story that I have had the most trouble with. For the longest time, I couldn't even figure out what to name them. I've gone through so many different ideas for what kind of theme their names should follow, but finally I decided on one. Originally, I was going to give them all names following a theme of witchcraft and magic, like their mother Salem's name does, but then I instead decided on making their names based on certain well known creatures of the night. Having them follow that theme instead makes much more sense because at their core, the Grimm are basically Remnant's creatures of the night.
Starting with the sisters, the eldest one Lilith is based on the various depictions of female demons that have been described in many cultures and mythologies from around the world. In particular, she is named after the demon Lilith, who is considered to be one the very first demons. The younger sister Agnes is based on the character of Black Annis, sometimes known as Black Agnes, from English folklore. Black Agnes is sort of like a bogeyman that supposedly appears in the night and kidnaps naughty children. She is also somewhat related to a type of creature known as a night hag, which sometimes visits people in their sleep and tries to harm them, and are often blamed for causing nightmares.
As for the brothers, it's probably a little more obvious what creatures of the night they are supposed to be named after. The eldest brother Dracul is based on a vampire, and who else better for him to be named after than the most famous vampire of them all, Count Dracula. The younger brother is based on a werewolf, and he is named after the legendary king from Greek mythology named Lycaon, who as punishment for some heinous crime that angered the god Zeus, he was turned into a wolf-like creature, becoming the very first werewolf and the origin of the term Lycan.
With all this being said, it kind of makes me wonder, could Salem have actually given birth to all four of these children, or could she have just created them using her own powers? If they all did have a father, what man could possibly have been brave enough to have four kids with her? I wonder, maybe it could have been Ozpin, since he seems to have some sort of connection with Salem. Maybe the reason Salem hates Ozpin so much is because he ran away and never payed child support. :)