Oscar isn't even a side character? XDSide characters would be Illia, Sun, Velvet, Winter and so onOscar isn't one of the top main characters but he is still a member of the main cast lol
Right?? Oscar's not as much of a main character as RWBY but he's a strong deuteragonist with tons of plot relevance. Hell, I'd honestly say that narratively speaking he's more of a "main character" story-wise than JNPR. His role as Ozpin's reincarnation automatically put him high in the ranks of important characters, but he certainly wasn't acting as a main character early on. Important, yes, but not central or a major role, and only by proxy of Oz. He steadily became more involved in the storylines the main characters were in and began some arcs/conflicts of his own, but I can absolutely see why someone would see him as a side character even up through Volume 6.
But in Atlas? Sure, he was absent for a good chunk of the middle of v7, but he was a major player in it from the moment he confronted Ruby about lying to the moment he crash-landed in Mantle. He had more screentime in the v7 finale than any other character, was the inciting factor in bringing Ruby's inner conflict to the surface, was key advisor to Ironwood's moral quandaries (even being the one to convince him to open up to the council while he was mid-breakdown), was the reason Ruby changed her mind and decided to tell Ironwood about Salem, was the one to tell Ironwood, was the one to disobey the group's instructions and go extend another chance to Ironwood, had a whole speech about trust and fear (multiple, actually), got shot, unlocked magic, and took Ozpin's return in stride. He had a much larger effect on the overall plot and themes of v7 than JNR, or heck, even Weiss (they did play roles, of course! Just not as impactful cumulatively. Blake and Yang are debatable, but telling Robyn edges out arresting Jacques in terms of big-picture consequence, imo). Oscar was at the heart of the volume's core dilemma, along with Ruby, Ironwood, and to some extent Penny.
And Volume 8? Man, oh man, volume 8. Fun game: watch the first 10 chapters of v8 with the perspective that Oscar is the main character of the show. I know he's not, but just pretend as a thought experiment. It works perfectly. Team JOYR had more direct plot interaction for most of the volume than RWBN (Penny being an exception, of course), so when that yt channel posted "movie" versions showing each group's journey, a lot of people noted that it worked better to watch the RWBN one first and then JOYR, since the latter has higher stakes and feels more climactic and important to the story. There were comments like "wow, if you think about JORY as the main characters this volume makes a lot more sense." A large portion of that video was Oscar/Ozpin content. He got kinda shafted in the last couple chapters, but up until then, from a literary standpoint, Oscar was effectively serving as the primary protagonist of the volume, with Penny as the central character and Ruby as leader.
He was the first protagonist shown on screen for the volume, was retrieved and questioned with a setup for conflict with Oz, got captured by the show's Big Bad (prompting JYR's story to center around his rescue), was interrogated and tortured by Salem, was then tortured by Hazel for information, refused Ozpin's requests to take over and escape, came up with the idea to sabotage Salem from within, worked together with Oz to chip away at Hazel's devotion, had an introspective scene reflecting on the person he used to be and who he is now as well as fearing who he'll become, took over and took the risk of telling Hazel the password, which led to him trusting them and helping them escape along with Emerald (who had overheard Oscar revealing the password), BLASTED SALEM WITH MAGIC TWICE, blew up the whale that was destroying the kingdom (saving countless lives and allowing an evacuation to even be possible), killed Hazel as a sacrifice to save JOYRE, advocated for the group to give Emerald another chance even if they choose not to forgive her (she & others wanted her to leave; Oscar was the catalyst for her joining forces), vouched for Oz with a heartfelt speech, had the final moment of the reunion scene (framing his & Ruby's reunion as significant and cutting it off with him having to defend Emerald), and was constantly echoing the volume's core themes while mediating conflicts and bridging gaps to facilitate cooperation. He both acted as and was framed as the protagonist for much of the volume.
RWBY as a franchise is very centric on teams RWBY & JNPR. Look at the merch, the spinoffs, the supplemental material. Oscar's not given the "main character" treatment in the franchise, and is often (nearly always) absent from side content entirely. It's not surprising people don't tend to see him as a main character. But in the actual show? He is one. He's not THE main character, but he is A main character, and has more than earned that spot in the last couple volumes. I simply cannot see an argument for him being a "side character" after volume 8.
