Monty Oum

Monty Oum was the creator and lead animator of the animated web series *RWBY*. He was born on June 22, 1981. Around 2002, he dropped out of high school and began creating fan videos. In 2007, he used characters from *Halo 2* and *Super Smash Bros. Melee* to create a fight between a Spartan and Samus Aran in a fan-made "ultimate showdown." He later worked at Midway Games as a combat designer and then at Namco Games in similar roles for *Afro Samurai*. In 2009, he met Burnie Burns at an SDCC International panel. The following year at PAX East 2010, he was announced as a new hire at Rooster Teeth. He began animating for Season 8 of *Red vs. Blue*, the show that started Rooster Teeth. After working long hours on *RvB*, Burnie Burns and Matt Hullum decided to let him develop his own project, which later became *RWBY*. Monty brought on Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross to help write the series. *RWBY* premiered in 2012. On January 22, 2015, Monty was rushed to the hospital due to a severe allergic reaction. Following surgery, he fell into a coma for 10 days and passed away at 4:24 P.M. on February 1, 2015.