Artorias and Barbatos - A Story of Brotherhood

Today's post is all about Barbatos, the Lord of Iron, and his brother, Artorias, the Baron of Earthquakes. Feel free to read the previous post on Barbatos, if you haven't already.

Barbatos and Artorias are two demon brothers born after the demons escaped Heaven during the start of the Ancient Era. Like many demons, they were birthed from the same Broodmother, but they formed a special bond and took one another as brothers. It is unclear how exactly demons choose brothers and sisters, but even if a hundred demons come from the same pod, it is rare for more than two of them to form a close bond. Perhaps, in future Cryopod parts, this will be further elaborated on.

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Artorias.

Artorias is the Duke of Earthquakes. While I did not really write his character consistently throughout his early Refresh appearances, nor his Ancient Era incarnation, I intend to go back and fix it in the future.

As one of the few Barons among the demons, Artorias holds considerable prestige among his peers. Not only is he a military leader of high-rank, but also a mighty warrior. Despite only possessing the power of Earth Manipulation, he is by far the most adept Burrower among all of demonkind. He can 'swim' through the Earth like a landshark, battle a Balrog and do pretty okay (all things considered), and even tussled with the Archangel of Protection on a few occasions.

Despite his annoyance with his brother's antics and Barbatos's braggadocious nature, Artorias has a soft spot for the little twep. He always tries to keep his brother in line and teaches him how to be a more effective warrior, but when Barbatos attacks the helpless Uriel and bites her face off, the flood of Holy Energy, along with her soul entering his body, forces Artorias to take action.

And so, Artorias's final act as a flesh-and-blood being is to merge his soul with Barbatos's, sacrificing his life to save his younger brother.

This final gift changes Barbatos irreperably. Not only does Barbatos suffer immeasurably from the pain inflicted by Uriel's holy energy, but every day is a constant reminder of the brother whose life saved his. It's a sobering experience that changes Barbatos's life outlook and transforms him into one of demonkind's mightiest warriors.

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One final thing worth mentioning: Artorias's face is heavily based off two characters. Thrawn, from the Grand Admiral Thrawn Star Wars books, as well as the T-1000 from Terminator 2.

Grand Admiral Thrawn, pictured above. If you haven't read his books, then you will never understand why people like me hate the new Star Wars movies. It's not that we hate the new actors or anything like that, but that we already had one of the greatest works of fiction of all time for a potential Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Read 'em if you can.

This is the original Thrawn Trilogy. Timothy Zahn's masterclass in writing a badass villain.

This is its sequel series. Maybe not as perfect, but still damn good.

And finally, the T-1000, for reference.

Alright, next!

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Barbatos.

Barbatos is a top five character for me, across all of Cryopod. It's important to understand what he was in Classic, and how he's changed since I started writing Refresh.

In Classic, Barbatos and Agares were two forgettable characters. In fact, they were so forgettable that I totally mixed them up at one point and started off with Agares being the eldest demon, only to switch names with Barbatos at some point! Yikes.

However, that is no longer the case. Barbatos is the Lord of Iron now, a character who starts off as a whiny, ungrateful, power-hungry grunt who eventually becomes a battle-hardened warrior after suffering immense trauma when his brother dies to protect him.  Of course, Artorias merges his soul with Barbatos, so he continues to live on inside of his brother, but that doesnb't change the fact that Artorias ceased to exist among those in the physical realm.

Barbatos's powers initially consist of two abilities. The first is a low-level form of magnetism, and the second is a powerful transformation which activates when his rage builds to a certain level. Barbatos gains a ton of muscle, grows nearly a foot, and also temporarily obtains a godly level of bodily regeneration. When transformed, he is essentially a combination of Magneto and Wolverine.

Barbatos is a conniving schemer during the Ancient Era, before he suffers a fate worse than death. He constantly downplays the achievements of others, belittles them, and brags about how great he is, even when he doesn't accomplish much. Surprisingly, though, he is not so much a coward as he is ineffective in combat. The first time we ever see him unleash his full power is when the Balrog is about to kill Artorias, summoning Barbatos's innermost desire to always protect his brother.

He may be an annoying little shithead, but in the end, when it matters most, Barbatos steps up to the plate and he delivers.

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I think the most interesting thing about Barbatos really is his backstory and how he goes from Zero to Hero. Not a literal Hero of course, but you get the point.

In the future, when we see Barbatos for the first time, he's a quiet, brooding demon, one who hates war, violence, and conflict. A hundred millennia with the soul of a furious Archangel inside of him have only made Barbatos more of a pacifist as he sees what war does to those who survive it, as well as those who fall.

The second best thing about him is the contrast of his appearance, versus how he acts. Most demons look at him with a mixture of awe and fear. His very presence sucks all the air out of the room. Most demons have heard and circulated legends of his battle prowess, and tales of his incredible feats. Nothing can be exaggerated too much when it comes to the mighty Barbatos, and every embellishment only adds to his fame.

In truth, though, he isn't what most demons believe him to be. He's a quiet, introspective Duke who gained his powers only at great cost to himself. Every day, he worries that he will fall asleep and slip into darkness, allowing the Archangel of Protection to wrest control of his body and slaughter those around him.

He's certainly a top 5 character for me, but Cryopod has a ton of amazing characters. In the future, I can't wait to see what others will appear!

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And now, I'll finish this post by showing off a bunch of early artwork!

That's all for today, folks! The next character I am going to have MWTX draw will be Berith, the Emperor of Backstabbing. After her will come the three kings! Jepthath, Solomon, and Arthur!

Thanks for reading, and thank you for supporting me! Every dollar helps keep MWTX fed and alive!