Barret Wallace

Barret Wallace (, Barret Wallace) is a character from the video game Final Fantasy VII.

Origin
Barret first appears in Final Fantasy VII. Originally from the village of Corel, Barret was a supporter of allowing the Shinra Electric Power Company to build a Mako Reactor near the town. The move was opposed by Barret's friend Dyne, who worried about the destruction of the town's coal industry, which it depended entirely on. Despite Dyne's objections, Shinra built the reactor, only to later destroy it and blame the town as a pretext for burning the town to the ground. In the chaos, Barret and Dyne were gunned down by Shinra troops led by Scarlet, a Shinra board member. Dyne fell off a cliff, with Barret just barely catching him. A bullet struck Barret's hand, causing him to drop Dyne and ultimately lose the hand. Resenting Shinra, Barret replaced his hand with a prosthetic that could be equipped with a gun and moved to Midgar to carry out his campaign of vengeance and took custody of Dyne's young daughter Marlene. He formed an eco-terrorist group called AVALANCHE which consisted of Barret, Tifa Lockhart, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie.

Four years later, the group successfully bombed a number of Mako Reactors in Midgar before Tifa brought on her childhood friend Cloud Strife. Barret and Cloud clashed almost immediately, but Barret begrudgingly acknowledged that Cloud had his uses to the cause. During Cloud's second mission with the group, they were nearly cornered by Shinra, coming face-to-face with President Shinra himself. The group narrowly escaped, and Cloud was presumed dead after he fell from a great height. Tifa learned that Shinra had gotten intel of their raid from slum crime lord Don Corneo, so she went undercover to find out more. Reuniting with Cloud, Tifa learned from Corneo that Shinra planned to drop the Sector 7 plate onto the slum underneath to retaliate against AVALANCHE. Barret fought to prevent the Turks from carrying out this plan alongside Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, but ultimately only Barret would survive and make it to the top of the plate's pillar before being joined by Cloud and Tifa. Despite the assistance, the group failed to stop Reno from dropping the plate, though they escaped with their lives, and Barret learned that Marlene was in the care of Elmyra Gainsborough, the adopted mother of Aerith Gainsborough. In gratitude, Barret joined Cloud and Tifa as they stormed Shinra Tower to rescue Aerith. After being captured, freed by Sephiroth, and escaping Shinra Tower, Barret continued with the group, despite his reluctance of Cloud's leadership.

The group's travels eventually took them to Corel, where Barret was clearly not welcome. After proceeding to the Gold Saucer theme park, Barret seemingly went on a rampage, ending up in Corel Prison sentenced to death. There he learned that Dyne had survived his fall, and had also replaced his hand with a gun, and in fact was the one responsible for the rampage. Dyne had taken over the prison, and after a showdown with Barret, commits suicide. Soon after, party members Yuffie and Cait Sith broke into the prison and rescued Barret before his execution.

Barret continued fighting alongside Cloud, coming to realize that vengeance on Shinra was not the reason he was fighting anymore: rather it was the safety of Marlene and the continued survival of the planet. When Cloud became out of commission, Barret had the opportunity to become leader and wanted, but decided he was unfit for the role and passed the position onto Cid Highwind. Barret stayed with the group for Marlene's future and descended into Northern Cave for the final battle.

After the defeat of Sephiroth, Barret and Marlene decide to live with Tifa and Cloud in the city of Edge, situated near the ruins of Midgar. Barret leaves soon after on a quest to find alternative energy resources other than Mako. He would eventually find one in the form of oil. Barret would use this oil to both power the homes of many and the vehicles to transport those infected with Geostigma to Midgar for treatment. After returning to his friends and family during the events of Advent Children, he fought alongside Cloud against Bahamut SIN, then watched as Cloud fought Kadaj. One year later, Barret, alongside Cloud and Tifa, led the ground assault against Deepground during the events of Dirge of Cerberus. Barret is also seen sending Vincent Valentine a map via phone.

In Remake, Barret's personality is altered to be less hot-headed and more comedic. Rather than founding AVALANCHE, it was a pre-existing organization that he joined and later formed his own independent cell of. When the party finds President Shinra hanging from the side of a building, Barret contemplates killing him, but is convinced to let him go. Shinra takes advantage of this to draw a gun on Barret, but is stabbed and killed by Sephiroth, who also stabs Barret. The Whispers then swoop in and fully revive Barret before he dies. Barret then follows Cloud to the final boss and agrees to fight Sephiroth.

Barret is the muscle of the party, always willing to go on dangerous missions for the good of his cause to defeat Shinra, and later Sephiroth. A very passionate and emotionally driven person, Barret will never give up, even if it leads to reckless behavior. His hatred for Shinra is only matched by his love for his friends and family, particularly his adopted daughter Marlene. His most prominent feature is his Gun-Arm, which he received after his right hand was mangled and later amputated during the destruction of his hometown. This Gun-Arm can be customized to use various projectile or melee attacks, which Barret excels in using.

As a Mii Costume
Barret serves as the basis of the Barret's Outfit DLC Mii costume for the. Barret's Outfit uses both his design and his weapon from Final Fantasy VII, the Gatling Gun. He was revealed during the  presentation on December 17, 2020.

During the reveal trailer, the Mii Gunner representing Barret is first seen with the representing Tifa on the Spirit Train stage with the sound and red screen flash of an X Bomb, referencing the security check on the train during the mission to bomb Mako Reactor 5. Next, the Mii Gunner is seen battling Little Mac on the Mushroomy Kingdom stage, referencing his battle with Dyne at Corel Prison. Next, the Mii Gunner is seen battling Wario and Dr. Mario as oil from the Flat Zone X stage pours, referencing President Shinra, Hojo, and their pollution destroying the Planet. The ending image features the Mii Gunner jumping off the Great Plateau Tower stage leaping for the whip of Simon, referencing his escape from the collapse of the Sector 7 Plate.

Barret was released alongside the other Round 8 Mii Fighter costumes on December 22nd, 2020.

As a spirit
Barret also appears as an Advanced-class primary spirit in the Final Fantasy DLC Spirit Board.

Barret uses a Mii Gunner puppet fighter wearing a green Wild West Outfit and is fought on the Midgar stage. If the player has already purchased the Barret DLC costume, Barret will use a Mii Gunner puppet fighter wearing Barret's Outfit instead. He is fought along with three puppet fighters representing Barret's fellow members of AVALANCHE, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. During the battle, the Mii Brawler representing Jessie will start off with a Bob-omb and Exploding Type items will appear, referencing AVALANCHE's mission to bomb a Mako reactor at the beginning of Final Fantasy VII.

Barret's spirit battle is also notable for having the Mii Fighters resemble Barret and his fellow AVALANCHE members, as opposed to the standard Mii Fighters.

Trivia

 * The female version of Barret's outfit adds a black tank top, coincidentally matching his updated design in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
 * Similarly, when the Barret Mii Gunner is shown firing a Grenade Launch on Wii Fit Studio, the Mii is wearing black sunglasses, matching his updated design in the remake.