Adam Taurus recieved his scar when he was a kid and here’s why that’s important
I saw a lot of people speculating when Adam got that brand Some think he got it while he was fighting for the white fang while others think he got it when he was much younger I believe the latter is true
The first obvious clue is what he says to Blake in Volume 6 ep 11
“ People have hurt me long before we met. All sorts of people, all sorts of ways.”
This line gives uw two important pieces of information, Adam got the scar “long before” he met Blake and it isn’t the only one. It might be he has another physical scar, it might be something else entirely but that’s not what this is about.
Now, when did Adam meet Blake? In his volume 6 character short, a younger Adam, with his mask is seen traveling with the white Fang and Grisha, Blake’s father. Blake herself said she was involved with the white fang at a very young age and it is hinted Adam has been “connected” to the belladonna household for a while now. Seeing as Blake is 19 and Adam has been said to be in his “mid to early twenties” by the creators, I reckon Blake would have been able to go to rallies when she was 10 to 12 at the earliest. This means Adam got his scar before he was 16 himself. I’m assuming they met while they were both members of the white fang.
I believe Adam’s motivation for joining the White Fang was actually him getting this brand, and I say this because I also think the reason he wears the mask is to hide it. The mask is said to “make him look like a Grimm” and it shows that Adam wants humans to fear him the way they do Grimm. But the Grimm are associated not just with fear but all negative emotions, like rage, hurt, and a need for revenge, a lot of things that would fit really well with a scarred, frightened and abused Adam especially if this happened early on in his life and not just while fighting some humans for the white fang. Now you might say that in his short, the faunus react to his mask as if it’s a new thing? But we don’t know when this was set, it’s hinted to be later on in his life because although the faunus seem surprised to see him, they do recognise him and accept him taking the lead. Yet Adam is shown wearing his mask in the flashback where he fights with Grisha and Sienna Khan against the humans stopping their convoy and this seems to be much earlier in his life because it’s his first time killing and he seems a lot more hesitant in his actions. The faunus also cheer him on for being a hero for the skills he’s shown them but if this were set after the first raid shown in his character short they would already know how good he is.So i’m not entirely sure where this first raid fits chronologically? It might be those faunus just knew of him and hadn’t ever reall met him in person so didn’t know about his mask but idk
Back to the age thing:
If we say that the moment Adam and Blake met, via the White Fang was when Adam was about 16 years old that means Adam must have at that time already been able to fight, because we all know, White Fang members need to be able to defend themselves and I don’t think they’d let a 16-year-old just join them on missions or anything if he can’t fight or stand his ground. there’s also no mention of his parents but you know, he is like 23 so it’s not that weird but I do mention this because Blake was allowed to go to rallies when she was 12 or so probably with her parents to protect her, seeing as they both were involved with the white fang at the time. But the branding was done on his fucking eye and that eye does not look good in show so I’m assuming he lost moest, if not all his vision in his left eye, leaving him with no depth perception. Also a wound like that takes time to heal, a normal third degree burn takes 3 to 4 weeks but we have his eye to consider which I assume would have slowed the process. This is all assuming by the time he actually joined the white fang, he was already a capable fighter, he would have had to train to make up for his loss of depth perception or the burn happened such a long time ago, that wasn’t necessary anymore by the time he was 16 (in which case, his motivation prob would have been the brand and maybe sth else more recent to his joining the white fang).
Long story short: Adam got his burn when he was 13 to 14 at the latest and he might have had it waaaay earlier. Meaning someone branded a child with the SDC logo in the freaking eye. Why is this important? Because it shows a lot more depth to his character, reveals a lot more backstory than if he got it later in life. It makes him a better character while at the same time not excusing him for the actions he’s taken although he seems to believe his lot in life does excuse the things he does.