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Tragic Character Analysis Barret Wallace, Final Fantasy VII I have always found the story of Barret Wallace to be profoundly tragic and, as a result, I find myself genuinely caring about him. When first met, he simply appears as an unkind brute who yells too much and cares little for the well-being of others, but as his plot arc unravels the player finds that it is quite the opposite. Before the events of Final Fantasy VII, Barret was a resident of Corel, a mining town, and a loving husband to a sickly wife, Myrna. In a desperate plea to help his beloved, presumably through monetary compensation, he aligns with the Shin-Ra Corporation and helps them build a reactor in the area. Unfortunately, this proves ill-fated as Shin-Ra betrays the people of Corel by destroying the town. Something the survivors never forget and vilify Barret for, even though he lost his wife and best friend over the course of the betrayal. Early on in Final Fantasy VII, Barret loses three more of his dearest friends and trusted AVALANCHE compatriots to Shin-Ra in a raid on the Sector 7 slums of the industrial city Midgar. Later, Barret travels to North Corel and is berated and abused by its inhabitants. To top it all off, in the Desert Prison, Barret must witness the villainy of an old friend whom he had long since thought dead, and inevitably destroy him. And yet his fighting spirit is always readily apparent. He yearns for nothing more than to spend time with his adopted daughter Marlene, but he knows he has to keep fighting the evil empire Shin-Ra have constructed. For the good of Marlene and every other person on the planet as well. I find this resolute persona amidst a history of tragedy to be fascinating and very admirable for any fictional character. I am quite positive that this caring was engineered by the many talented designers at Squaresoft because all of the sequences that truly reveal Barret's history and personality are through planned cutscenes and text blurbs that were done exquisitely well. Honestly though, I do not know if Barret would “survive” well in another game world. So much of his endearment comes from knowing where he came from and how it made him who he is. If that were stripped away, all that would be left is some rough and tumble soldier with an inexplicable potty-mouth. |
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