LogFAQs > #980107211

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Main Character 2
Barret Wallace

Two t's or one t, that is the question. I find myself always misspelling Barret's name. It's just one of those things.

This game really cements Barret as the true heart of the party, in my opinion. Here's a guy who comes across at first as pure Id: uncontrollable rage, braggadocio, righteous indignation... a terrorist. As the game proceeds, Barret emerges as someone with no choice but to fight further, a man who has someone he has to protect. And ultimately maybe a man who can hopefully find some alternative to fighting someday.

There are several unforgettable small moments with Barret in this game. Under Junon's dog quest, where he confesses all of these relatable fatherly fears about Marlene growing older. His weird uncle/older brother banter that he has with Red and Yuffie. The sailor suit. The way he cries after Loveless. The way he climbs up ladders with one hand.

I already mentioned how the Corel/Dyne stuff was largely worse this go around, but not a significant downgrade in the way Shinra Mansion and Cosmo were downgrades. The original pathos of the story is still present in Rebirth. The thing about Barret is that he was duped. He bought in to the Shinra propaganda and it cost him everything. So all of Remake's rhetoric about the planet and planetology is really a cover for this core of regret and loss that he is only gradually finding himself able to approach. It really is an underrated arc. We haven't gotten here yet, but this culminates in him not taking the leadership role once Cloud gets k.o.'ed by mako poisoning.

The ignorant masses sometimes claim that Barret was a stereotype in the original game. He wasn't, but Remake/Rebirth unveil een more layers to this guy beyond "angry Mr. T type." Unless the T stands for trauma I guess.

Hint for NPC 3: Remake's biggest mystery, not quite solved.
Hint for Minigame 3: In the Drift.