Barret Wallace - Final Fantasy
Barret Wallace is a playable character in the role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII, developed by Square Enix. Wallace was created by character designer Tetsuya Nomura, and appeared in the computer graphic film set two years after the events of the game, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, as well as a number of spinoff games and other media. Since the release of Advent Children, Barret has been voiced by Masahiro Kobayashi in Japanese and Beau Billingslea in English. On March 3rd of 2020, Barret Wallace is set to make another appearance to fans around the world in the Final Fantasy VII Remake, a much anticipated release. Barret Wallace was a critical success as a character, and since his introduction in Final Fantasy VII has become one of the series most beloved characters.
Appearance and Personality
Barret Wallace is a heavy build, muscular dark skinned male with scars on his face as well as tattoos, overall portrayed as a masculine, tough figure. He wears a dark brown vest with large army style boots and green trousers. He possesses a thick black beard, and mustache with a short buzzed haircut. His right arm that was lost around the time of the destruction of his hometown, is replaced with a prosthetic limb that includes a gun, becoming his iconic gun arm. A weapon in which he can attach and interchange various other weapons depending on the situation. Around his waist and left wrist, are numerous metal bands, he wears a single earring, and dog tags around his neck.
Barret is a brash and short-tempered character with a tendency to curse and use foul language. Having lost his way of life due to the invasion of Shinra, Barret turned his rage into extremism which results in his hot headed character. He is easily irritated and is prone to firing bullets from his gun-arm aimlessly into the air when full of anger and rage.
Backstory
Barret was raised in a coal mining town named Corel. There he married a woman named Myrna who was ill, and in order to help his wife get better he agreed to cooperate with Shinra in the construction of a Mako reactor north of Corel. Convincing his friend Dyne to cooperate with them as well, he eventually learns that Shinra destroyed the town. Because of an accident at the Coral plant causing the death of Barret's wife, and resulting Barret and Dyne to flee with Dyne's daughter, Marlene. Cornered by Shinra militants, Dyne slipped off a cliff and Barret grabbed him. Soldier's opened fire that left Barret right and Dyne's left hands to be mutilated, causing the latter to fall to their supposed death. Later, Dyne is discovered to be alive and confronts Barret, who eventually defeats him. After losing the fight, Dyne kills himself.
Barret Wallace is first introduced in Final Fantasy VII as an eco-terrorist and the leader of a group called AVALANCHE, an organization dedicated to saving the planet from Shinra corporation and stopping the misuse of Mako. Shinra is a megacorporation that is destroying the planet by harvesting Mako, the life force of the fictional world. Barret is working on bombing Mako reactors operated by Shinra in the city of Midgar. As the story matures, Barret begins to pursue the game’s main antagonist, Sephiroth, to save the Planet. During the process of the game Barret realizes that his true mission and personal quest is fueled for his love for his adopted daughter Marlene, not the one-sided ideology he was pursisting in. His main goal is to make the world a better, livable place for his daughter. Other Final Fantasy VII inspired titles and a movie to fill in more of Barret’s backstory, answering many questions not covered in the original Final Fantasy VII game.
Creation and Development
Barret was present in the early development of Final Fantasy VII and was planned to be one of three playable characters, along with Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough. He was a character that character creator Tetsuya Nomura had wanted to bring in to the Final Fantasy series. Barret’s name is actually derived from the Japanese transliteration of the english word “bullet”, and he was designed to use the “Gunner'' class. It was debated whether he should die in the game, but it was eventually decided against because it would have been too “obvious”.
Trivia
Barret is often compared to the media personality known as Mr. T, and because of this, during the creation of the film Advent Children, Nomura decided to make many changes to his appearance. The character of Barret has generated some controversy, with some commentators arguing that he portrays a negative image of African Americans, citing his use of slang in contrast to the other main characters of the game. Others disagree, citing his deep personality, difficult life decisions, and strong moral compass with fatherly tendencies as a rebuttal. Barret Wallace was voted 4th best video game sidekick by IGN, stating he “took the video game world by storm”.