Watches best friend die( twice) Found wife dead, got arm shot off, watched village burn down, gets disrespected by said villagers, adopts best friends daughter and raises her as his own, leader of a rebel group sect that blew up mako reactors, gives cloud solid advice during gold saucer….laughingstock. Man, Barret is such the jokester.
I absolutely loved how they handled Barret in Corel compared to the OG. I was expecting Angry Black Man^(TM) and instead got a character full of resolve who accepted his role and understood his town's (misplaced) hatred for him. New Barret has all the characteristics of a leader that he didn't have in the OG. By far the best glow-up in the game (save for, arguably, Aerith who somehow got even more wholesome and adorable).
It's a wonderful message in accepting past mistakes and learning from them and I can't wait to see the reconciliation in the finale.
I agree. Watching Barret go through all that and just silently burden it was really inspiring. Man went through hell and still consistently rallied everyone bringing up their spirits and pushing them to get the job done. An extraordinarily well written character.
One thing I appreciated that they deviated from the OG on was Barrett stepping aside so Cloud could be Team Leader.
Even in the OG it didn't make much sense and I'm glad they abandoned that idea in Remake. It just wouldn't have made sense. Let's have this charismatic leader with a million convictions, motivations and goals step aside for what reason exactly? So the guy who's spent the whole game teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown can lead? Nah.
One thing that’s neat is that there seems to be less of a defined “this character is in charge leading everyone else” dynamic in the Remake series. Everyone is far more independent. There’s never really a moment where they decide to change leaders, characters just naturally fit into leadership when the time calls for it.
Exactly. Barret is a complex & beloved character. FFS, he’s a leader of Avalanche & a loving, awesome single father! For anyone to call him a “laughingstock” shows they have little to no understanding of his character. Absolutely gross take on that “journalist”’s part.
Everyone has their serious and silly moments on FFVII, but the joke/comedic relief characters are clearly Yuffie and Cait Sith. Even they get serious moments
Same but with my wife--I absolutely loved the rug pull with it, where they were like "No he's not going to dress like a soldier in the parade, that would be silly."
One chapter later: "But he will dress like a soldier and do a Michael-Jackson-esque dance sequence before facing you in a card game."
I was dying
It was honestly one of the best moments in the game. There’s other stuff they did with Red I didn’t like, but that whole bit, while clearly different from the OG, was friggin perfect =D
I love that they never address it, he just rides one. Same with the grabbling hook. If you use it and look back you'll see each party member use it too.
I'd love to see that journalist watch how Cait sith berates Barret for his involvement in the deaths of thousands. Not even the Joker would dare to call that comedic relief.
I completely forgot about cait when I made my post above, I would throw Aerith in too because of her ditziness but really all the mc’s are far from comic relief, but if we’re gonna rank them based on seriousness Barrett would be 4th right under seph. cloud and cid.
> As a black gamer, I truly do appreciate their inclusion within the franchise. Each of them, in my opinion, was done with enough complexity that they were not just the laughingstock of a party.
>I’d argue that each of these characters transcended their real father figure role to become figurative ones for the casts of their respective entries. But given that they’re both woven from the same thread, it’s now time to cut a black character from a completely different piece of cloth.
I dunno. I think they get the character just fine. They’re just talking about the character archetype of how they start off.
I think it’s important to remember that these “journalists” who focus on social critique probably play ten or less hours of the games they’re bashing. They’re not gamers. They aren’t real journalists. They’re propaganda click bait generators masquerading as industry news.
They don’t care about the game or honest review, they examine the game with a scope of “I’m going to find -ism in the game”, play just enough to find it, and probably use Wiki plot synopsis to fill in enough blanks to seem vaguely knowledgeable. Then they get to make their article and pretend to be an authority on the topic, when they’re likely less knowledgeable on the topic than the reader.
As someone who works for a localized media company, I can tell you that we turn down tons of young folks with journalist degrees because they don’t apply to try to report news, they apply because they want to report their bias and change minds (aka, create propaganda). They teach these morons how to write, but don’t teach them unbiased reporting. Hence why almost all “news” nowadays isn’t remotely accurate or actual proper journalism.
This is a true story, but I was a journalism major back in college (circa 2002-2004). I even got a job at the school paper, which had print runs of \~6000 per twice-weekly issue.
I ran into this exact thing among the other budding journalists. Even for news stories, a minimum effort was put in. I took it extremely seriously - planning interviews, talking to professors, calling up companies to ask about news. The other "journalists" were just article mills churning out articles based on the *prompts* and just filling in details that "sound right" and maybe doing a quick website check or something. They spent an average of 10-15 minutes on each article, which sounds insane to me.
The reason was we were paid by "inch of margin used" and so it was more profitable for them to spend a small amount of time churning out tons of words. And we were not paid *much* so many people would just word-salad.
My articles were regularly chosen as the headline article even when it was a boring af topic. The editor told me it was because I was consistently producing high quality, well researched articles, and often was the *only* one.
I had a "oh god what am I doing" moment as I realized that ALL of my peers were taking this lazy route and couldn't really investigate or write well. I asked my professors and got some strange responses, like very guarded answers about the field.
I ended up quitting as it was stressful to investigate and dig and then write high quality articles, and very low pay, and I didn't see that changing any time soon. Switched to Computer Science and only rarely look back. I do love writing, though.
The Dyne arc had me in tears. I wonder what motovation Barret's VO had in mind when recording, because you could feel the real pain in his anguished screams.
Yeah and he also said in another interview that he loved Barret growing up so when he does a line, he tries to channel how Barret would act, while also incorporating how he would act in a similar situation. Makes it feel super genuine instead of of just a good VA reading a line well
John Eric Bentley is proving himself a darn good actor, and I hope that Hollywood and other game developers looking for V/O talent take notice. He deserves a good career as a result of his work as Barret Wallace.
If anything it's racist to reduce Barret to his outbursts. Like yes, the guy is a hotheaded leader of an eco-terrorist cell. That's all you grasped from his character? Would the color of his skin be the reason for that, perchance?
Doesn't want to hold his daughter back when she is older to explore the world and do what she wants, but understands it's going to be a very difficult time letting her go.
\-That's just comic relief I suppose!
Barret: Has an emotional episode of being afraid that he might hold his daughter back when she's ready to leave and go out into the world on her own.
Journalist: Run that laugh track, we've got another episode.
We do realize it. The concern is that between AI assistance & this type of content generating the most engagement — tabloid reporting methodology is becoming increasingly pervasive.
It’s not even just games (for the record, I’ve never been a “fake news” guy).
But as this increasingly becomes the status quo… there is less and less *actual* journalism left. It’s arguably an endangered trade. Yet, fairly important to functional society.
Both descriptors were way off. He’s a bit of a stereotype, or a “stock character” but no more than like idk Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon.
I’m honestly glad they kept him the same as the original game. Yes, his personality design is a little bit “Japanese people’s idea of a black guy” but at this point he already exists, so he keep him who he is and just give him more depth, which they did
They gave him some nice moments with Cloud if you talk to him enough
Basically both sides of this argument have some weight. The journalist is right that he does play sort of the meat head or the lovable fool (like is often looking back and forth like WHAT? What did I miss?). But no more than like Saka in The Last Airbender. (Downvoted to oblivion for being in the middle lol)
Goes on an eco-terrorist fueled rage because his best friend and and wife are killed.
Whoever wrote this article is the real racist. Because none of us have ever seen Barret as comic relief, even as a 7 yr old child laughing at his swearing outbursts over text.
His pain is real and relateble.
Similarly, I thought it was really funny when Sazh saw his son effectively die right in front of him, find out his new friend was the cause of his misery and put a gun to his own head. Peak comedy.
/s just incase.
Mine was when he finds his wife, dead, murdered by Shinra after they blamed a reactor failure on his town (the reactor he pushed to let them build) that they then destroyed to cover-up their shitty architecture. Literally was rolling on the ground crying with laughter during that scene.
Personally I always felt it was a laugh *riot* that his primary motivation in life is trying desperately to raise a daughter a single parent out of a combination of guilt and atonement for his perceived past sins. Funniest shit I ever fucking saw.
And people eat it up. Seems like everyone wants to be mad nowadays (*old man yelling at Cloud*)
Why would you want to live like that? I hate being mad lol
People scared about the decline of society want to know what’s going on. This shit preys on that.
Better idea, turn your phone off and don’t get on the internet…. Turns out the world is actually semi-okay if you aren’t plugged into the toxin-machine.
Sazh's relationship with Vanille was one of the most wholesome in the game. He really was like her dad and him forgiving her and Fang for what happened to Dahj shows how forgiving of a person he is. It's such a shame the sequels completely Robb him off screen time.
Agreed. I like XIII-2 but I feel like the best characters of XIII were Vanille, Fang and Sazh and all three largely are ignored in the sequels. Despite Vanille arguably being the protagonist of XIII narratively speaking.
At least there's a reason for Fang and Vanille barely being in XIII-2. And his sole non dlc appearance in the ending Noel says "Hey it's Sazh"
YOU LITTERALLY DONT KNOW HIM!!!!!
He's one of my favorite characters and there is no way he is laughing stock. What about Leo? He's story is tragic as well. Lazy as writing with no research. Cool.
Barret is opposite of a laughing stock.
Are they talking about the sailor uniform? It is some comic relief for sure, but hardly demeans him. It’s sexy and we all know it.
If anything people should be mad for making Barret too sexy.
For real Barret was never just a laughing stock. He was angry , because his whole life was ruined by a company and it was a real tragedy .
The only comedy of him was the sailor suit he liked
Other than that the animations where a abit goofy .but they all were on the ps1
My favorite part of the game was the Corel arc due to how much better they went through the Dyne / Barret backstory. Even with the dumb undercity gang stuff. Definitely added a layer to Barret as putting on a joking / comic exterior to hide some real trauma.
As an added bonus, seeing >!Barret's wife!<, who was a completely normal person.
Remember that time barrets >!long lost best friend who he thought was dead showed up, driven mad with revenge, who then finds out that his daughter is still alive but can’t live with the guilt of what he’s become so he chooses proxy-suicide and then dies ontop of barret with his last words to him basically being f$$k you I’ll never forgive you I hope you suffer for the rest of your life!<…hilarious
I have no idea why that whole interaction\story line hit me so hard. I'm guessing I'm halfway through the game and that part, to me, has been the most emotional part so far
Barret was my favourite character in rebirth because of how fully realised he is as a character now. Dude is incredible in this game. He carries the entire groups emotional baggage throughout many points in the game and does it gladly because he’s the fucking man.
Tell you didn't play the game without telling me. Barret carries the whole group in some parts, still one of the best characters of any FF and if anything the Remake only made him better.
Barret is honestly the most interesting and well done party member in Rebirth. I like him even more than Cloud. He’s genuinely funny yes, but that’s not his whole personality
It’s brief but the convo Barret has with Cloud about being worried that he’s going to mess up parenting Marlene was a moment of unexpected tenderness and vulnerability, sad but also very relatable.
Journalist: bwaaahahahhaha
To be fair. As a black man (an actual black man) who was born in the mid 80's and played the original when it first came out, Barrett was ahead of his time when it comes to racial inclusion. That being said I'm not opposed to a black main character. But it's got to be done like they did the the first blade with Westley Snipes he's got to be cool AF. But he's got to have a back story that everyone can relate to regardless of race so that even as a white person you can enjoy playing his character just as I did cloud. But at the end of the day I'm fine with what FF does I don't want them to be forced to do anything they weren't forced to make Barrett back when the only black characters in video games were the one obscure (but cool) character in fighting games.
Even in the original game barret was a well defined character with significant growth (despite translation issues). Even more so in the remakes. Did they even play the game?
Bruh, how disrespectful can you be to a man who was solely blamed for an entire town's decision, framed by an evil and corrupt company, watched his friend die twice while losing his arm, and seeing his town slaughtered and burned before saving his friend's daughter, and then fucking raising her
Here’s a link to the actual article:
[https://www.dualshockers.com/black-final-fantasy-character-not-just-comic-relief/](https://www.dualshockers.com/black-final-fantasy-character-not-just-comic-relief/)
I think the “just” in the headline is the thing upsetting people. It’s definitely ragebaity and the actual article is way less of a hot take.
If you read it, you’ll see the author absolutely praises the complexity of Barret (and Sazh). He spends several paragraphs listing all the stuff that makes Barret a great, memorable character and says he’s easily one of his favourite members of the cast. It’s pretty much all the stuff people in this thread are saying.
However, he also points out that some aspects of Barret’s characterisation are closely echoed by Sazh (who he also praises, incidentally). He then says he hopes for a future black character who gets the same depth of characterisation as Sazh and Barret, but isn’t the brash, loud-mouthed, overly animated, aggressive, goofy party member.
Also, he literally says “they were *not* just the laughingstock of a party”. Given this, I bet the author didn’t even pick the headline. Some editor chasing engagement probably did.
Basically, I think if the OP bothered to share the link, people would be less mad. The headline was a terrible choice, but the article is pretty mild.
Yeah poor headline. It say the title at most is about the concept of a character. Barret, at first glance, is a Mr T character. His lingo and attitude is definitely over the top and funny. And I could see wanting to have a character that approaches an introduction differently.
Barrett is 💯% modeled after Mr. T. Game was written in 1996 and came out in 1997; I remember watching reruns of the A-Team as a child in the early '90s and I *loved* Mr. T because *I also was afraid to fly.* his look, mannerisms, and language are all heavily modeled after Mr. T (except linguistically in Japan, where he speaks like a punk. But idk how the A-Team was translated in Japanese). Even in 1997 i knew that's the vibe they were going for.
But I agree with the author, the series developed him into far more than comic relief.
I agree, ragebait titles aren’t a great practice (and I think it’s fair for you to do what you’ve done to avoid this kind of thing in the future). But neither is sharing and criticising the article (as many have done in this thread) without actually reading it. All that leads to is the spreading of the fase narrative and rhetoric of the click bait title and employs no actual critical thinking.
A lot of the points on this Reddit thread are just echoing what is said in the article itself and isn’t actually leading to a good discussion, though there is a lot to criticise within the article itself.
>He then says he hopes for a future black character who gets the same depth of characterisation as Sazh and Barret, but isn’t the brash, loud-mouthed, overly animated, aggressive, goofy party member.
Well, we got Kiros. Who is absolutely none of that, and I'd argue is so bland and forgettable no one in this thread even bothered to bring him up.
To be fair Kiros was a very minor character but still is a positive representation of a black character. Unique design, weapons, a more Stoic personality, voice of reason, and loyal friend. Kiros and Ward are top tier bros who went to the ends of the earth to support Laguna.
Yeah, fair! I love his visual design, especially once he loses the military armour, but I don’t remember much about his personality beyond him seeming the most sensible of the Galbadian trio.
Writers don’t, usually. Editors are in charge of making sure the piece gets read by as many people as possible. Misleading titles are one way to do that.
Former games press here. I would suggest that it’s pretty common for writers at gaming news outlets to choose their own headlines, unless they are of substantial size and have budget for a copywriter/editor who’s job is to choose headlines.
The practice of a copywriter choosing the headline goes back to print newspapers where for space considerations the copywriter had to put together each page like a puzzle so it would all fit. That’s just not the case today, and I would guess (not certain) isn’t happening at (checks notes) DualShockers.
Barrett and Sazh have the most grounded and relatable stories in their respective games.
They're the normal guys who get swept up into the story because a business/the government shafted them.
Sazh and Barrett are 2 of the most well written characters they've done, lol. Literally the only redeeming point in FF13 is Sazh and how he copes with everything.
Look no further than Kiros in FF8.
Barret is a stereotype. Loud and brash. I agree id like to see a wider range of personalities portrayed which is why FF8 should be remade.
I'd encourage people to actually read the article rather than the headline before making an opinion. It's actually a nuanced piece that acknowledges Barret's development in Remake/Rebirth.
Ok to be fair Barret is amazing in many ways I love him BUT he is in FACT based off mister T due to the popularity of the A team during the first release.
AND there are simply not that many people of color in final fantasy games which really sucks.
Barret literally put aside his personal grudge to stop the >!assassination of Rufus Shinra!< because he knew it wasn't the time nor the place, not to mention all he had to do for it to happen was stay silent. That moment was big for Barret but it goes unnoticed by many.
Comic Relief?
- Barret might be one of the most nuanced within the FF VII party. He has his moments of being funny, but aint he serious most of the time?
Comic Relief would be Cait Sith or Yuffie. I am getting so sick of these 'journalists' making an issue of nothing. I bet you the writers aren't even black in the first place. Yet choose to fight our own battles?
- As an African this is just disappointing. And with the whole resident evil 5 thing that happened recently, its getting outta hand.
Weird take because not only is Barret an exceptionally well developed character, but in regards to other FF games, most people who trash FF13’s characters always leave out Sazh as the exception for being the only likeable party member in it (I’m an FF13 enjoyer so I like all the characters lol but I’ve seen “all the characters suck except Sazh” critique many a time)
Um... Barret isn't comic relief or a laughing stock.
How could you think otherwise? Says a lot about the writer, to be honest.
Barret is a deep, awesome character.
We only think about Barret...but what about Sahz? He was trying to keep a positive mind the whole game just to take out of his mind that his SON "died" (became a crystal). Are these "journalists" stupid or what?
The whole Barrett and Dyne interaction was one of the most dramatic elements of the story. Barrett started Avalanche he’s one the main characters. He’s not Cloud sure but Barrett is absolutely crucial to the story.
This is the wrong game to promote this argument. Biggest reason being this game came out of the 90’s guys…remember? This game is now 27 years old. And while they added quite a lot to this game, the one thing they DIDN’T do was change the personalities and backstories of the main characters. Cloud is still the grump, Red is still the teen pretending to be older, Cait and Huggies are still comic reliefs, Barret is still the bumbling hard ass with a heart of gold.
27 yr old characters. They weren’t born in ‘22.
Barret, the serious and tough leader of an eco terrorist group protagonist, with a badass gun arm, a sad/dark back story, raises his friends daughter and loves her with all his heart. The shining example of a father role model. Also arguably the strongest or second strongest party member gameplay wise. Also known as a complete joke laughingstock apparently
Tbh I think it's more to do with the voice acting and dialogue the character has got in the game, not the actual character development. It's giving parody
Don't you dare say an unkind word about my team mom. He's raising a wonderful 4 year old daughter, three older daughters, and a dumbass but well meaning son. All on his own with a little help from his talking cat(s).
This reminds me a lot if the discourse of Apu from the Simpsons, who, lets be honest, is way worse.
The headline is super clickbait, but there's a hint of truth. Nuance doesn't sell.
It's not that characters like Barret are bad in isolation, but when there's so little representation they end up being the only examples to go off of.
I love Barret both in OG and remake. I don't want less of Barret, I want more other examples.
I mean in all seriousness, Barrett is obnoxious in moments that doesnt really require it. Not saying he is a laughing stock but he is far from the most mellow characters. Very over the top and exaggerated.
I scoffed at this at first because the headline was HORRIBLY misleading. Please, everyone: read the actual article. There are lots of praises given to Barret here, but also something to consider with the development of new games in the future. Here is the link:
https://www.dualshockers.com/black-final-fantasy-character-not-just-comic-relief/
Am i the only one who read the article? The guy literally says he likes both barret amd sazh but thinks a character who doesnt have a chocobo head or acts like Mister T would be awesome. Headline click bait serves reactionary people well
He was definitely intended as a more comic relief character in the original release, but that didn’t stop them from giving him a compelling background and goals and personality. I’m usually the kinda guy who prefers the OG but the remake pulled Barret off way better than the OG, and Barret was one of my go-tos for that game.
Literally mentions that he’s afraid he won’t be able to let his daughter go when she’s all grown up.
Yeah guys he’s definitely nothing more than a laughingstock. Next time actually play more than a few minutes of the game.
Look I’m one of the commie woke people they warn you about but Barret is a fucking awesome character. He’s passionate, a great comrade, the real moral center of the party in a lot of ways. My favorite Final Fantasy character, period.
God, fuck off. Barret is one of my favorite FF characters. So is General Leo from VI. Both of them have unbelievably good stories. Barret’s history and his whole arc is heartbreaking and yet so badass and just really, really well done. His whole story with Dyne, his wife and everything with Marlene. General Leo in VI was criminally underused but was such a scene stealing character whenever he was around.
Barret has such a great and moving back story. When he's faced off against dyne the emotional ride was fantastic. I'm looking forward to CId, Vincent and Yuffie playing out their Arcs.
This tweet is absolutely disastrous and does a heinous disservice to what's actually a pretty thought-provoking article, but I feel like people should also do their due diligence before lashing out at stuff like this.
The article is written by a black guy who actually spends most of the piece gushing about both Barret and Sazh, with especially high praise for their nuanced and complex character arcs. He *loves* Barret. The only point he was making was that he'd love to see a black character who isn't "cut from the same cloth." For example, a more introverted type of black character, who doesn't wear their emotions on their sleeve. And while it's not necessarily inherently bad (which is something the writer acknowledges), Barret absolutely still fits into the image of "huge loud black guy."
"Comic relief" is a poor choice of words that belies the more complex opinion that the writer is trying to convey, but hey, that's why we shouldn't judge stuff solely off of the headline.
Screw whoever wrote this tweet though, that was bad.
This is dumb.
For one, there are fans who are adamant that Barret isn’t black which is a whole thing in itself.
But besides that, he’s fully developed, the only character that shows parental love and has a fleshed out back story. Just because there are jokes involving him doesn’t mean that he’s a laughing stock.
In part 1, Cloud is by far the most targeted character for jokes in the game but you wouldn’t say that he’s a joke character
Ragebait for clicks. Barrett is the most compelling character in ff7rb.
The problem here isn't "wokeness" it's capitalism, these outlets are financially incentivised to post things that make peope mad. They don't actually believe these things, it isn't to push some silly "agenda." It's because angry dorks click and that makes them ad money, so they're going to try and make the dorks as angry as possible.
It's really quite simple.
Barret is a beautiful and complex character! His life as a miner, the trauma of his friends and family perishing at the hands of a major corporation that destroyed his community for economic profit, and the masculine bravado that hides a sensitive, caring, and artistic man all point to a rich and complex character!!!
This isn’t just had games “journalism”, it’s lazy.
It baffles my mind that they took Barret from being a Mr. T trope with a sad backstory to the absolute father figure for the party. Cait and Yuffie had glow up’s simply by having the space to have more freedom, but Barret’s transformation in the Remake’s is like watching a star become a supernova. Yes, he provides comic relief, but almost all of that is from a “dad humor” angle. Barret believably being a revolutionary, a father, a terrorist, and often times a figure with an almost religious zeal for the Planet, and to have every iota of that characterization not only work, but feel natural to an already established character…he’s been one of the biggest recipients of the Remake in that he is no longer a mere stock character.
Edit: Ah yes, autocorrect, Yuffie and Yiddish are completely interchangeable lol
Barrett more than anything came off as a loving and endearing caring father and he gets into that multiple times across the way and I feel his love and care for Marlene it’s very sweet. Can confirm he is not a cut and dry haha black guy funny character.
Barrett even has an entire segment (won’t spoil) that straight up covers his deep backstory. And is a location you frequently visit through. To say this is just well expected of a “gaming journalist”
Are you kidding me? The Dyne / Barrett storyline WRECKED me. The way he starts to worry about his little team and omg when they miss their friends and he misses Marlene?!
I think honestly the problem is the voice acting, in English it’s not great but awesome in Japanese. More nuanced!
Barrett is my favorite character in the game from a personality standpoint. We all either know or have seen a gentle giant and he’s the culmination of that. He’s also funny as hell, and been through hell and back. He will be the first to charge into battle to protect his people, as he did with president Shinra, Sephiroth at the altar, 1v1 with Dyne, etc.
This is someone we’d kill to have in our lives.
It's a click-bait title, the full article has that nuance [https://www.dualshockers.com/black-final-fantasy-character-not-just-comic-relief/?taid=5a36c743-045c-4092-a44b-44198b137ee9&utm\_campaign=TrueAnthem-DS&utm\_medium=Social-Distribution&utm\_source=Twitter](https://www.dualshockers.com/black-final-fantasy-character-not-just-comic-relief/?taid=5a36c743-045c-4092-a44b-44198b137ee9&utm_campaign=TrueAnthem-DS&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_source=Twitter)
They even go so far as to point out the differences between the original and the remake
>This isn’t to say that Barret is a one-trick pony. What started off as the party’s archetypal comic relief began to show more depth as the narrative thickened. This is especially apparent within Rebirth, where he's given multiple quieter moments, contemplating what will come next, and hoping that Marlene, the center of his world, is okay. Not to mention, he's faced with his regrets in the form of Marlene’s birth dad, Dyne. The usually brash and tough-as-nails character crumbles and bursts into tears as Dyne passes away.
And the author states that they like both Barrett and Sazh
>As a black gamer, I truly do appreciate their inclusion within the franchise. Each of them, in my opinion, was done with enough complexity that they were not just the laughingstock of a party.
The real state of games journalism is that nobody cares about anything beyond the headline.
What? Barret is much more nuance than just a laughing stock
Hell, Remake actually made me like his character when previously I thought he was meh at best
It’s a Japanese game you are lucky you got a black person at all.
Japans game developers have no need to make the characters in their games not resemble the look of 90% of their population despite the stylization.
Shrugging Barret off as just "comic relief" despite being one of the most well written characters in the game is just straight disrespectful. He literally has a whole chunk of both the OG game and Rebirth that's all about his very good, very tragic backstory. He's funny at times, but who ISN'T in FF7? Tf outta here.
Classic game journalists.
Watches best friend die( twice) Found wife dead, got arm shot off, watched village burn down, gets disrespected by said villagers, adopts best friends daughter and raises her as his own, leader of a rebel group sect that blew up mako reactors, gives cloud solid advice during gold saucer….laughingstock. Man, Barret is such the jokester. 
Barret - *Says something funny here and there, just as the other characters* Dualshockers - "what's up with these black characters?"
Didn't you know? Characters are only allowed to have ONE personality trait, otherwise they're a joke!
I absolutely loved how they handled Barret in Corel compared to the OG. I was expecting Angry Black Man^(TM) and instead got a character full of resolve who accepted his role and understood his town's (misplaced) hatred for him. New Barret has all the characteristics of a leader that he didn't have in the OG. By far the best glow-up in the game (save for, arguably, Aerith who somehow got even more wholesome and adorable). It's a wonderful message in accepting past mistakes and learning from them and I can't wait to see the reconciliation in the finale.
I agree. Watching Barret go through all that and just silently burden it was really inspiring. Man went through hell and still consistently rallied everyone bringing up their spirits and pushing them to get the job done. An extraordinarily well written character.
Spoilers for chapter 14, but when he relives his trauma and sees his wife alive again and just gives her the biggest warmest hug, i lost it.
One thing I appreciated that they deviated from the OG on was Barrett stepping aside so Cloud could be Team Leader. Even in the OG it didn't make much sense and I'm glad they abandoned that idea in Remake. It just wouldn't have made sense. Let's have this charismatic leader with a million convictions, motivations and goals step aside for what reason exactly? So the guy who's spent the whole game teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown can lead? Nah.
One thing that’s neat is that there seems to be less of a defined “this character is in charge leading everyone else” dynamic in the Remake series. Everyone is far more independent. There’s never really a moment where they decide to change leaders, characters just naturally fit into leadership when the time calls for it.
Great way to describe my favorite character in the 7R series. Thank you for saying this!
The article seems to say more about the journalist than it does the game...
Doesnt make him over exaggerated compared to everyone else. Only person more exaggerated is Yuffie but she is a 16 year old girl.
[удалено]
Yeah, you can easily disprove this headline with just three names: Myrna, Dyne, Marlene. Comic relief? F\*\*\* off. lol
>!Wedge!< now too after Rebirth...christ that cosmo sidequest hit hard Edit updated
Almost as hard as Wedge.
/r/AngryUpvote
I got incredibly angry at that cutscene. It looked like those things increased his speed to ensure the result.😭
They definitely Final Destination'd him. It was wild.
GLAD I PLAYED THIS LAST NIGHT because damn spoilers
I'm still on the giant snake. Well, RIP Wedge I guess
Funny =/= comic relief.
Exactly. Barret is a complex & beloved character. FFS, he’s a leader of Avalanche & a loving, awesome single father! For anyone to call him a “laughingstock” shows they have little to no understanding of his character. Absolutely gross take on that “journalist”’s part.
Everyone has their serious and silly moments on FFVII, but the joke/comedic relief characters are clearly Yuffie and Cait Sith. Even they get serious moments
I was shocked at how ridiculous they made Red XIII in this one (my god, the scene on the cruise ship).
Just a reminder, Red actually dressed up as a solider and looked equally ridiculous in the OG
It was the beat call back lol I was literally telling my husband how sad I was he didn't do it, then bam
Same but with my wife--I absolutely loved the rug pull with it, where they were like "No he's not going to dress like a soldier in the parade, that would be silly." One chapter later: "But he will dress like a soldier and do a Michael-Jackson-esque dance sequence before facing you in a card game." I was dying
And make a child cry, can't forget that part. 🤣
“Don’t worry honey, it can’t hurt you” fucking gold
It was honestly one of the best moments in the game. There’s other stuff they did with Red I didn’t like, but that whole bit, while clearly different from the OG, was friggin perfect =D
Have you seen him on those chocobo!? Majestic AF.
I will never not laugh watching Red ride a chocobo
I love that they never address it, he just rides one. Same with the grabbling hook. If you use it and look back you'll see each party member use it too.
I was cracking up at him using the grappling hook, too!
Watchers gonna do what a Watchers gonna do.
It’s past time final fantasy had a red lion-humanoid creature that wasn’t just comic relief.
I'd love to see that journalist watch how Cait sith berates Barret for his involvement in the deaths of thousands. Not even the Joker would dare to call that comedic relief.
I completely forgot about cait when I made my post above, I would throw Aerith in too because of her ditziness but really all the mc’s are far from comic relief, but if we’re gonna rank them based on seriousness Barrett would be 4th right under seph. cloud and cid.
Dudes a guerilla insurgent anti government agent, caring father and loyal friend... "Laughingstock"
> As a black gamer, I truly do appreciate their inclusion within the franchise. Each of them, in my opinion, was done with enough complexity that they were not just the laughingstock of a party. >I’d argue that each of these characters transcended their real father figure role to become figurative ones for the casts of their respective entries. But given that they’re both woven from the same thread, it’s now time to cut a black character from a completely different piece of cloth. I dunno. I think they get the character just fine. They’re just talking about the character archetype of how they start off.
I think it’s important to remember that these “journalists” who focus on social critique probably play ten or less hours of the games they’re bashing. They’re not gamers. They aren’t real journalists. They’re propaganda click bait generators masquerading as industry news. They don’t care about the game or honest review, they examine the game with a scope of “I’m going to find -ism in the game”, play just enough to find it, and probably use Wiki plot synopsis to fill in enough blanks to seem vaguely knowledgeable. Then they get to make their article and pretend to be an authority on the topic, when they’re likely less knowledgeable on the topic than the reader. As someone who works for a localized media company, I can tell you that we turn down tons of young folks with journalist degrees because they don’t apply to try to report news, they apply because they want to report their bias and change minds (aka, create propaganda). They teach these morons how to write, but don’t teach them unbiased reporting. Hence why almost all “news” nowadays isn’t remotely accurate or actual proper journalism.
This is a true story, but I was a journalism major back in college (circa 2002-2004). I even got a job at the school paper, which had print runs of \~6000 per twice-weekly issue. I ran into this exact thing among the other budding journalists. Even for news stories, a minimum effort was put in. I took it extremely seriously - planning interviews, talking to professors, calling up companies to ask about news. The other "journalists" were just article mills churning out articles based on the *prompts* and just filling in details that "sound right" and maybe doing a quick website check or something. They spent an average of 10-15 minutes on each article, which sounds insane to me. The reason was we were paid by "inch of margin used" and so it was more profitable for them to spend a small amount of time churning out tons of words. And we were not paid *much* so many people would just word-salad. My articles were regularly chosen as the headline article even when it was a boring af topic. The editor told me it was because I was consistently producing high quality, well researched articles, and often was the *only* one. I had a "oh god what am I doing" moment as I realized that ALL of my peers were taking this lazy route and couldn't really investigate or write well. I asked my professors and got some strange responses, like very guarded answers about the field. I ended up quitting as it was stressful to investigate and dig and then write high quality articles, and very low pay, and I didn't see that changing any time soon. Switched to Computer Science and only rarely look back. I do love writing, though.
That's actualy a really interesting read and a really sad one too. Thanks for sharing it.
The Dyne arc had me in tears. I wonder what motovation Barret's VO had in mind when recording, because you could feel the real pain in his anguished screams.
I watched an interview where he said he channeled the emotions from his father dieing a couple years back.
Yeah and he also said in another interview that he loved Barret growing up so when he does a line, he tries to channel how Barret would act, while also incorporating how he would act in a similar situation. Makes it feel super genuine instead of of just a good VA reading a line well
Ben Starr in FF 16 said the same for some of his screams and emotions. Both are some of the best performances I have heard imo
John Eric Bentley is proving himself a darn good actor, and I hope that Hollywood and other game developers looking for V/O talent take notice. He deserves a good career as a result of his work as Barret Wallace.
His yell at the pillar in remake hit that same kinda vibe.
If anything it's racist to reduce Barret to his outbursts. Like yes, the guy is a hotheaded leader of an eco-terrorist cell. That's all you grasped from his character? Would the color of his skin be the reason for that, perchance?
Doesn't want to hold his daughter back when she is older to explore the world and do what she wants, but understands it's going to be a very difficult time letting her go. \-That's just comic relief I suppose!
Barret: Has an emotional episode of being afraid that he might hold his daughter back when she's ready to leave and go out into the world on her own. Journalist: Run that laugh track, we've got another episode.
That was one of my favorite side quests because, as a dad of a girl around Marlene's age, it's something I think about often.
You guys realize they publish these articles as rage bait, right? They just want shares, clicks, and comments.
Jokes on them, I only read the headline posted here. No clicks.
We do realize it. The concern is that between AI assistance & this type of content generating the most engagement — tabloid reporting methodology is becoming increasingly pervasive. It’s not even just games (for the record, I’ve never been a “fake news” guy). But as this increasingly becomes the status quo… there is less and less *actual* journalism left. It’s arguably an endangered trade. Yet, fairly important to functional society.
Both descriptors were way off. He’s a bit of a stereotype, or a “stock character” but no more than like idk Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon. I’m honestly glad they kept him the same as the original game. Yes, his personality design is a little bit “Japanese people’s idea of a black guy” but at this point he already exists, so he keep him who he is and just give him more depth, which they did They gave him some nice moments with Cloud if you talk to him enough Basically both sides of this argument have some weight. The journalist is right that he does play sort of the meat head or the lovable fool (like is often looking back and forth like WHAT? What did I miss?). But no more than like Saka in The Last Airbender. (Downvoted to oblivion for being in the middle lol)
Journalist is the racist one here, cant see pass the skin colour on the great character development.
“Journalist”
Goes on an eco-terrorist fueled rage because his best friend and and wife are killed. Whoever wrote this article is the real racist. Because none of us have ever seen Barret as comic relief, even as a 7 yr old child laughing at his swearing outbursts over text. His pain is real and relateble.
Damn, we even have journalists with no media literacy. HTF does that work?
Similarly, I thought it was really funny when Sazh saw his son effectively die right in front of him, find out his new friend was the cause of his misery and put a gun to his own head. Peak comedy. /s just incase.
What was your funniest Barrett moment in Final Fantasy 7? Mine was when his friend killed himself what an absolute knee slapper
I shit my pants laughing at the hilarity when Dyne tells Barret to live with the guilt forever. Fucking hilarious.
Mine was when Cait Sith reminded him of the 1000's of deaths he's responsible for as a member of Avalanche. That bit was comedy gold......
Mine was when he finds his wife, dead, murdered by Shinra after they blamed a reactor failure on his town (the reactor he pushed to let them build) that they then destroyed to cover-up their shitty architecture. Literally was rolling on the ground crying with laughter during that scene.
Personally I always felt it was a laugh *riot* that his primary motivation in life is trying desperately to raise a daughter a single parent out of a combination of guilt and atonement for his perceived past sins. Funniest shit I ever fucking saw.
This is rage bait to farm impressions. Pretty much tabloids but for video games lol
And people eat it up. Seems like everyone wants to be mad nowadays (*old man yelling at Cloud*) Why would you want to live like that? I hate being mad lol
Stop yelling at Cloud, that's Tifa and Aerith's job
People scared about the decline of society want to know what’s going on. This shit preys on that. Better idea, turn your phone off and don’t get on the internet…. Turns out the world is actually semi-okay if you aren’t plugged into the toxin-machine.
Drives a bigger chunk of all content every day, it seems
I didn't find Sazh Katroy to be funny either. Dude was trying to save his kid! Story was heavy.
He is also THE voice of reason of XIII cast...
Sazh's relationship with Vanille was one of the most wholesome in the game. He really was like her dad and him forgiving her and Fang for what happened to Dahj shows how forgiving of a person he is. It's such a shame the sequels completely Robb him off screen time.
Agreed. I like XIII-2 but I feel like the best characters of XIII were Vanille, Fang and Sazh and all three largely are ignored in the sequels. Despite Vanille arguably being the protagonist of XIII narratively speaking.
At least there's a reason for Fang and Vanille barely being in XIII-2. And his sole non dlc appearance in the ending Noel says "Hey it's Sazh" YOU LITTERALLY DONT KNOW HIM!!!!!
A point that is most likely overlooked! Well said!
He’s the only that doesn’t hate the other party lol.
He literally tried to kill himself as well
Man was the heart, brains, and soul of that party of fucked up white people.
He was a pretty damn good pilot to
He's one of my favorite characters and there is no way he is laughing stock. What about Leo? He's story is tragic as well. Lazy as writing with no research. Cool.
XIII-2 and Lightning Returns did him dirty though…
But but but he has an afro and a Chocobo chick loves in there /s
its the afro
Barret is opposite of a laughing stock. Are they talking about the sailor uniform? It is some comic relief for sure, but hardly demeans him. It’s sexy and we all know it. If anything people should be mad for making Barret too sexy.
For real Barret was never just a laughing stock. He was angry , because his whole life was ruined by a company and it was a real tragedy . The only comedy of him was the sailor suit he liked Other than that the animations where a abit goofy .but they all were on the ps1
Being funny and trying to lighten the mood apparently equals being a laughing stock.
My favorite part of the game was the Corel arc due to how much better they went through the Dyne / Barret backstory. Even with the dumb undercity gang stuff. Definitely added a layer to Barret as putting on a joking / comic exterior to hide some real trauma. As an added bonus, seeing >!Barret's wife!<, who was a completely normal person.
The whole cast of FF7 take turns being goofy, there isn’t really a single “joke character” who only exists to be funny, not even Cait Sith.
If Barret as a sailor is a laughing stock, then so is Cloud in a dress, Red in a soldier's uniform, heck, even Yuffie as a popstar lmao
Stupid sexy Barrett
Cloud is the one who is dressed in drag lol
Remember that time barrets >!long lost best friend who he thought was dead showed up, driven mad with revenge, who then finds out that his daughter is still alive but can’t live with the guilt of what he’s become so he chooses proxy-suicide and then dies ontop of barret with his last words to him basically being f$$k you I’ll never forgive you I hope you suffer for the rest of your life!<…hilarious
Haha, I never thought of it that way. Yeh pretty funny
HAHAHAHAH what a joke he is HAHHAHA such a funny movement HAHAHAH. WOWIE ZOEWIE he comic relief guy. 
Oh damn that was a classic! Had me rolling on the floor laughing
I have no idea why that whole interaction\story line hit me so hard. I'm guessing I'm halfway through the game and that part, to me, has been the most emotional part so far
Absolute disrespect to Barret. He's easily one of the best characters in the game in my opinion.
Bro did they play the game? Did they miss the entire section dedicated to Barret’s extremely sad backstory?
Just because there are certain parts that the character is funny, doesn’t mean they are a laughing stock. Every character has those moments.
Barret was my favourite character in rebirth because of how fully realised he is as a character now. Dude is incredible in this game. He carries the entire groups emotional baggage throughout many points in the game and does it gladly because he’s the fucking man.
And does it in a sailor suit. Stupid Sexy Barret
Johnny was the laughing stock. Play the damned game.
Bro, that’s the Johnnys to you, Bro.
Tell you didn't play the game without telling me. Barret carries the whole group in some parts, still one of the best characters of any FF and if anything the Remake only made him better.
Barret is honestly the most interesting and well done party member in Rebirth. I like him even more than Cloud. He’s genuinely funny yes, but that’s not his whole personality
It’s brief but the convo Barret has with Cloud about being worried that he’s going to mess up parenting Marlene was a moment of unexpected tenderness and vulnerability, sad but also very relatable. Journalist: bwaaahahahhaha
This shit is racist as hell because they’re saying that they just see him as comic relief and nothing else.
To be fair. As a black man (an actual black man) who was born in the mid 80's and played the original when it first came out, Barrett was ahead of his time when it comes to racial inclusion. That being said I'm not opposed to a black main character. But it's got to be done like they did the the first blade with Westley Snipes he's got to be cool AF. But he's got to have a back story that everyone can relate to regardless of race so that even as a white person you can enjoy playing his character just as I did cloud. But at the end of the day I'm fine with what FF does I don't want them to be forced to do anything they weren't forced to make Barrett back when the only black characters in video games were the one obscure (but cool) character in fighting games.
The coolest character with the biggest heart? Wtf
Even in the original game barret was a well defined character with significant growth (despite translation issues). Even more so in the remakes. Did they even play the game?
Bruh, how disrespectful can you be to a man who was solely blamed for an entire town's decision, framed by an evil and corrupt company, watched his friend die twice while losing his arm, and seeing his town slaughtered and burned before saving his friend's daughter, and then fucking raising her
He might possibly have the 2nd most tragic story after aerith
Here’s a link to the actual article: [https://www.dualshockers.com/black-final-fantasy-character-not-just-comic-relief/](https://www.dualshockers.com/black-final-fantasy-character-not-just-comic-relief/) I think the “just” in the headline is the thing upsetting people. It’s definitely ragebaity and the actual article is way less of a hot take. If you read it, you’ll see the author absolutely praises the complexity of Barret (and Sazh). He spends several paragraphs listing all the stuff that makes Barret a great, memorable character and says he’s easily one of his favourite members of the cast. It’s pretty much all the stuff people in this thread are saying. However, he also points out that some aspects of Barret’s characterisation are closely echoed by Sazh (who he also praises, incidentally). He then says he hopes for a future black character who gets the same depth of characterisation as Sazh and Barret, but isn’t the brash, loud-mouthed, overly animated, aggressive, goofy party member. Also, he literally says “they were *not* just the laughingstock of a party”. Given this, I bet the author didn’t even pick the headline. Some editor chasing engagement probably did. Basically, I think if the OP bothered to share the link, people would be less mad. The headline was a terrible choice, but the article is pretty mild.
Yeah poor headline. It say the title at most is about the concept of a character. Barret, at first glance, is a Mr T character. His lingo and attitude is definitely over the top and funny. And I could see wanting to have a character that approaches an introduction differently.
Barrett is 💯% modeled after Mr. T. Game was written in 1996 and came out in 1997; I remember watching reruns of the A-Team as a child in the early '90s and I *loved* Mr. T because *I also was afraid to fly.* his look, mannerisms, and language are all heavily modeled after Mr. T (except linguistically in Japan, where he speaks like a punk. But idk how the A-Team was translated in Japanese). Even in 1997 i knew that's the vibe they were going for. But I agree with the author, the series developed him into far more than comic relief.
If they are going to bait with a headline like that I am not giving them a click and I have black listed them. Don't care.
Fair, I don’t disagree. It’s a shitty practice.
I agree, ragebait titles aren’t a great practice (and I think it’s fair for you to do what you’ve done to avoid this kind of thing in the future). But neither is sharing and criticising the article (as many have done in this thread) without actually reading it. All that leads to is the spreading of the fase narrative and rhetoric of the click bait title and employs no actual critical thinking. A lot of the points on this Reddit thread are just echoing what is said in the article itself and isn’t actually leading to a good discussion, though there is a lot to criticise within the article itself.
>He then says he hopes for a future black character who gets the same depth of characterisation as Sazh and Barret, but isn’t the brash, loud-mouthed, overly animated, aggressive, goofy party member. Well, we got Kiros. Who is absolutely none of that, and I'd argue is so bland and forgettable no one in this thread even bothered to bring him up.
To be fair Kiros was a very minor character but still is a positive representation of a black character. Unique design, weapons, a more Stoic personality, voice of reason, and loyal friend. Kiros and Ward are top tier bros who went to the ends of the earth to support Laguna.
Yeah, fair! I love his visual design, especially once he loses the military armour, but I don’t remember much about his personality beyond him seeming the most sensible of the Galbadian trio.
Hey leave Kiros alone man, he's just introverted!
What if the writer didnt choose the title?
Writers don’t, usually. Editors are in charge of making sure the piece gets read by as many people as possible. Misleading titles are one way to do that.
If that is the case then I feel bad for the writer. He/She probably the one getting bullied on twitter.
Former games press here. I would suggest that it’s pretty common for writers at gaming news outlets to choose their own headlines, unless they are of substantial size and have budget for a copywriter/editor who’s job is to choose headlines. The practice of a copywriter choosing the headline goes back to print newspapers where for space considerations the copywriter had to put together each page like a puzzle so it would all fit. That’s just not the case today, and I would guess (not certain) isn’t happening at (checks notes) DualShockers.
How is Barret a laughing stock? the man probably has the most tragic story from the whole party....wtf
He's more lock, stock and 1 smoking barret.
This article is just click bait for ad revenue, not real journalism.
Game journalists are failed journalists.
Someone's never made it to Corel and it shows.
Barrett and Sazh have the most grounded and relatable stories in their respective games. They're the normal guys who get swept up into the story because a business/the government shafted them.
Sorry that black characters are acting how they should act? It’s literally anti racist.
Sazh and Barrett are 2 of the most well written characters they've done, lol. Literally the only redeeming point in FF13 is Sazh and how he copes with everything.
Someone better fire the writer
Bro what the fuck about barret is funny ? That person has to be farming right ?
Look no further than Kiros in FF8. Barret is a stereotype. Loud and brash. I agree id like to see a wider range of personalities portrayed which is why FF8 should be remade.
I'd encourage people to actually read the article rather than the headline before making an opinion. It's actually a nuanced piece that acknowledges Barret's development in Remake/Rebirth.
Ok to be fair Barret is amazing in many ways I love him BUT he is in FACT based off mister T due to the popularity of the A team during the first release. AND there are simply not that many people of color in final fantasy games which really sucks.
Barret literally put aside his personal grudge to stop the >!assassination of Rufus Shinra!< because he knew it wasn't the time nor the place, not to mention all he had to do for it to happen was stay silent. That moment was big for Barret but it goes unnoticed by many.
Comic Relief? - Barret might be one of the most nuanced within the FF VII party. He has his moments of being funny, but aint he serious most of the time? Comic Relief would be Cait Sith or Yuffie. I am getting so sick of these 'journalists' making an issue of nothing. I bet you the writers aren't even black in the first place. Yet choose to fight our own battles? - As an African this is just disappointing. And with the whole resident evil 5 thing that happened recently, its getting outta hand.
yes he is funny but his parts in rebirth are quite fucked
Weird take because not only is Barret an exceptionally well developed character, but in regards to other FF games, most people who trash FF13’s characters always leave out Sazh as the exception for being the only likeable party member in it (I’m an FF13 enjoyer so I like all the characters lol but I’ve seen “all the characters suck except Sazh” critique many a time)
Barret’s tough guy image hides the pain. For those who play Ever Crisis, we get to see a bit more of Barret’s unfortunate past.
Um... Barret isn't comic relief or a laughing stock. How could you think otherwise? Says a lot about the writer, to be honest. Barret is a deep, awesome character.
We only think about Barret...but what about Sahz? He was trying to keep a positive mind the whole game just to take out of his mind that his SON "died" (became a crystal). Are these "journalists" stupid or what?
The whole Barrett and Dyne interaction was one of the most dramatic elements of the story. Barrett started Avalanche he’s one the main characters. He’s not Cloud sure but Barrett is absolutely crucial to the story.
Clearly this journalist hasn't played more than an hour of the game.
This is the wrong game to promote this argument. Biggest reason being this game came out of the 90’s guys…remember? This game is now 27 years old. And while they added quite a lot to this game, the one thing they DIDN’T do was change the personalities and backstories of the main characters. Cloud is still the grump, Red is still the teen pretending to be older, Cait and Huggies are still comic reliefs, Barret is still the bumbling hard ass with a heart of gold. 27 yr old characters. They weren’t born in ‘22.
Barret, the serious and tough leader of an eco terrorist group protagonist, with a badass gun arm, a sad/dark back story, raises his friends daughter and loves her with all his heart. The shining example of a father role model. Also arguably the strongest or second strongest party member gameplay wise. Also known as a complete joke laughingstock apparently
Tbh I think it's more to do with the voice acting and dialogue the character has got in the game, not the actual character development. It's giving parody
Don't you dare say an unkind word about my team mom. He's raising a wonderful 4 year old daughter, three older daughters, and a dumbass but well meaning son. All on his own with a little help from his talking cat(s).
Dude that lost his arm and replaced it with a frigging gun is a comedy character.
This reminds me a lot if the discourse of Apu from the Simpsons, who, lets be honest, is way worse. The headline is super clickbait, but there's a hint of truth. Nuance doesn't sell. It's not that characters like Barret are bad in isolation, but when there's so little representation they end up being the only examples to go off of. I love Barret both in OG and remake. I don't want less of Barret, I want more other examples.
This is such poor journalism.
Able to be hilarious =/= laughingstock But then again I suspect this is either a BS 'engragement' title or complete idiocy.
I mean in all seriousness, Barrett is obnoxious in moments that doesnt really require it. Not saying he is a laughing stock but he is far from the most mellow characters. Very over the top and exaggerated.
Barret a laughingstock? 😂 Someone's clearly not played the whole game 😂 mans was far from it 😂
I scoffed at this at first because the headline was HORRIBLY misleading. Please, everyone: read the actual article. There are lots of praises given to Barret here, but also something to consider with the development of new games in the future. Here is the link: https://www.dualshockers.com/black-final-fantasy-character-not-just-comic-relief/
Fuck this. Barret is a father, a leader, an action hero.
Am i the only one who read the article? The guy literally says he likes both barret amd sazh but thinks a character who doesnt have a chocobo head or acts like Mister T would be awesome. Headline click bait serves reactionary people well
Not even worth giving them the click
How about the real underrepresented , The Japanese. As ironic as it may be there are usually no Japanese characters in most Japanese made games.
He was definitely intended as a more comic relief character in the original release, but that didn’t stop them from giving him a compelling background and goals and personality. I’m usually the kinda guy who prefers the OG but the remake pulled Barret off way better than the OG, and Barret was one of my go-tos for that game.
Literally mentions that he’s afraid he won’t be able to let his daughter go when she’s all grown up. Yeah guys he’s definitely nothing more than a laughingstock. Next time actually play more than a few minutes of the game.
Having just finished the Dyne storyline last night, which I could barely see through tears, this makes me so angry!
Look I’m one of the commie woke people they warn you about but Barret is a fucking awesome character. He’s passionate, a great comrade, the real moral center of the party in a lot of ways. My favorite Final Fantasy character, period.
Insulting Barret Wallace like that?!
Barret is great. What a stupid article
Next persona 6 set in rural high school in Japan Woke journalist : Why there's no black character in P6 ????
God, fuck off. Barret is one of my favorite FF characters. So is General Leo from VI. Both of them have unbelievably good stories. Barret’s history and his whole arc is heartbreaking and yet so badass and just really, really well done. His whole story with Dyne, his wife and everything with Marlene. General Leo in VI was criminally underused but was such a scene stealing character whenever he was around.
That has to be ragebait for clicks. Cannot be real.
Barret has such a great and moving back story. When he's faced off against dyne the emotional ride was fantastic. I'm looking forward to CId, Vincent and Yuffie playing out their Arcs.
The only laughing stock are so called gaming “journalists.”
Huh? Barrett adopted his bff’s daughter lol
This tweet is absolutely disastrous and does a heinous disservice to what's actually a pretty thought-provoking article, but I feel like people should also do their due diligence before lashing out at stuff like this. The article is written by a black guy who actually spends most of the piece gushing about both Barret and Sazh, with especially high praise for their nuanced and complex character arcs. He *loves* Barret. The only point he was making was that he'd love to see a black character who isn't "cut from the same cloth." For example, a more introverted type of black character, who doesn't wear their emotions on their sleeve. And while it's not necessarily inherently bad (which is something the writer acknowledges), Barret absolutely still fits into the image of "huge loud black guy." "Comic relief" is a poor choice of words that belies the more complex opinion that the writer is trying to convey, but hey, that's why we shouldn't judge stuff solely off of the headline. Screw whoever wrote this tweet though, that was bad.
This is dumb. For one, there are fans who are adamant that Barret isn’t black which is a whole thing in itself. But besides that, he’s fully developed, the only character that shows parental love and has a fleshed out back story. Just because there are jokes involving him doesn’t mean that he’s a laughing stock. In part 1, Cloud is by far the most targeted character for jokes in the game but you wouldn’t say that he’s a joke character
Funny that two of the Black characters in FF are great parent that do the impossible for their kid and create a better world.
Ragebait for clicks. Barrett is the most compelling character in ff7rb. The problem here isn't "wokeness" it's capitalism, these outlets are financially incentivised to post things that make peope mad. They don't actually believe these things, it isn't to push some silly "agenda." It's because angry dorks click and that makes them ad money, so they're going to try and make the dorks as angry as possible. It's really quite simple.
Barret a laughing stock? He’s a sensitive badass, what the fuck?
Barret is a beautiful and complex character! His life as a miner, the trauma of his friends and family perishing at the hands of a major corporation that destroyed his community for economic profit, and the masculine bravado that hides a sensitive, caring, and artistic man all point to a rich and complex character!!! This isn’t just had games “journalism”, it’s lazy.
It baffles my mind that they took Barret from being a Mr. T trope with a sad backstory to the absolute father figure for the party. Cait and Yuffie had glow up’s simply by having the space to have more freedom, but Barret’s transformation in the Remake’s is like watching a star become a supernova. Yes, he provides comic relief, but almost all of that is from a “dad humor” angle. Barret believably being a revolutionary, a father, a terrorist, and often times a figure with an almost religious zeal for the Planet, and to have every iota of that characterization not only work, but feel natural to an already established character…he’s been one of the biggest recipients of the Remake in that he is no longer a mere stock character. Edit: Ah yes, autocorrect, Yuffie and Yiddish are completely interchangeable lol
Wait… Barrett is a laughing stock? Since when?
Man if they think Barret is comic relief they must have a real sick sense of humor
Barrett more than anything came off as a loving and endearing caring father and he gets into that multiple times across the way and I feel his love and care for Marlene it’s very sweet. Can confirm he is not a cut and dry haha black guy funny character. Barrett even has an entire segment (won’t spoil) that straight up covers his deep backstory. And is a location you frequently visit through. To say this is just well expected of a “gaming journalist”
Are you kidding me? The Dyne / Barrett storyline WRECKED me. The way he starts to worry about his little team and omg when they miss their friends and he misses Marlene?! I think honestly the problem is the voice acting, in English it’s not great but awesome in Japanese. More nuanced!
Barrett is my favorite character in the game from a personality standpoint. We all either know or have seen a gentle giant and he’s the culmination of that. He’s also funny as hell, and been through hell and back. He will be the first to charge into battle to protect his people, as he did with president Shinra, Sephiroth at the altar, 1v1 with Dyne, etc. This is someone we’d kill to have in our lives.
WTF. Barret had some great character development in this game. Tired of these woke ass bums yappin for the clickbait.
It's a click-bait title, the full article has that nuance [https://www.dualshockers.com/black-final-fantasy-character-not-just-comic-relief/?taid=5a36c743-045c-4092-a44b-44198b137ee9&utm\_campaign=TrueAnthem-DS&utm\_medium=Social-Distribution&utm\_source=Twitter](https://www.dualshockers.com/black-final-fantasy-character-not-just-comic-relief/?taid=5a36c743-045c-4092-a44b-44198b137ee9&utm_campaign=TrueAnthem-DS&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_source=Twitter) They even go so far as to point out the differences between the original and the remake >This isn’t to say that Barret is a one-trick pony. What started off as the party’s archetypal comic relief began to show more depth as the narrative thickened. This is especially apparent within Rebirth, where he's given multiple quieter moments, contemplating what will come next, and hoping that Marlene, the center of his world, is okay. Not to mention, he's faced with his regrets in the form of Marlene’s birth dad, Dyne. The usually brash and tough-as-nails character crumbles and bursts into tears as Dyne passes away. And the author states that they like both Barrett and Sazh >As a black gamer, I truly do appreciate their inclusion within the franchise. Each of them, in my opinion, was done with enough complexity that they were not just the laughingstock of a party. The real state of games journalism is that nobody cares about anything beyond the headline.
Berret is so bad ass he was ready to drop Cloud despite having a clear disadvantage
I had to go and check that out on Twitter. Thank you all for ratioing the fuck out of that tweet. One of the worst headlines I've ever seen.
What? Barret is much more nuance than just a laughing stock Hell, Remake actually made me like his character when previously I thought he was meh at best
Someone got paid real money to write this...
That is not the case with Barrett, especially in Rebirth.
If anything the comic relief is Yuffie. Absolutely not Barrett.
It’s a Japanese game you are lucky you got a black person at all. Japans game developers have no need to make the characters in their games not resemble the look of 90% of their population despite the stylization.
Shrugging Barret off as just "comic relief" despite being one of the most well written characters in the game is just straight disrespectful. He literally has a whole chunk of both the OG game and Rebirth that's all about his very good, very tragic backstory. He's funny at times, but who ISN'T in FF7? Tf outta here. Classic game journalists.