Barbara the Bat

Barbara the Bat is considered the main character of the Daigasso! Band Brothers series, being the main mascot of the series' three instalments. Barbara is the manager and owner of GB Music (Great Barbara Music), which appears to double as both a music store and a talent agency. She has a great love for music and manages a band in which she headlines as the lead guitarist, and often tries to tie her more-passionate and talented customers into her band's line-up.
Outside of the Daigasso! Band Brothers series, Barbara has made a number of cameo appearances in other Nintendo titles. In addition to making several minor appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, Barbara also prominently hosts the Nintendo DS games Master of Illusion and English Training: Have Fun Improving Your Skills! In the former title, Barbara appears as the owner of the magic shop that the player is invited to play it, while the latter title has Barbara giving players English phrases for them to type out.
In April 2016, character designer Ko Takeuchi also released two short comics where Barbara the Bat appeared alongside Ashley from the WarioWare series titled Ashley Meets Halloween and Barbara and Ashley. In the latter Barbara tries to have Ashley perform at her live club, hoping to have Ashley generate great revenue for her, only to be dismayed when Ashley's shyness causes her to fall asleep on stage.
== Physical Appearance ==
Despite being described as a fruit bat, Barbara lacks many of the characteristics of the species including their prominent wings. Instead, Barbara appears to be a busty woman who greatly resembles a human in many aspects. She has fair skin, with the top of her head being purple in colour; two stout ears protrude off the sides of her head, both pierced with hoop earrings. Contrasting her relatively human appearance, Barbara retains the small triangular nose of normal bats. Barbara wears a frilly pink scarf, a small purple bra that greatly exposes her cleavage, black pants and black shoes, as well as spiked bracelets around her wrists that are similar in appearance to those worn by Bowser. Her fingernails have been manicured and painted red as well, to match both the lipstick she wears and the electric guitar she plays.
== Personality ==
Barbara the Bat is notably quite an arrogant woman, and often works her employees and band members very hard despite rarely doing any work herself. She appears to be selfish and narcissistic as well, putting high value on her appearance and her own goals rather than acting friendly to most others. To highlight these facts, Barbara primarily refers to her associates as her "minions." Barbara also tries to act as a shrewd businesswoman, trying to take advantage of others by forcing them to take (free) guitar lessons in order to join her band, and trying to use others to make herself wealthy in short periods of time without needing to do any work.
== Canon Appearances ==
=== Daigasso! Band Brothers series ===
Barbara the Bat first appeared in 2004's Daigasso! Band Brothers, a Nintendo DS title released exclusively in Japan. In this game, Barbara senses the passion for music that one of her customers (the player) has for music, and forces them to take guitar lessons in hopes of adding them to her band. She also helps the player create their own songs by providing different samples for them to work with.
Barbara retains this same role in the game's sequels Jam with the Band, which was also released in European regions, and Daigasso! Band Brothers P.
=== Master of Illusion ===
In the game Master of Illusion, Barbara has seemingly left the music industry to try and get rich through other means. To this end, she opens up a magic store (Great Barbara's Magic Shop) that the player is invited into. Seeing the player's passion for illusions, she decides to teach them various card tricks in a forceful manner not unlike her Daigasso! Band Brothers appearances. Depending on the player's skills in performing the tricks she teaches them, Barbara will award a limited amount of points to the player in a single day.
=== Super Smash Bros. series ===
Barbara the Bat has made a number of minor appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series. Her most prominent role was as an Assist Trophy, appearing as such in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. As an Assist Trophy, Barbara would appear on the stage and begin strumming her guitar, releasing a shockwave around her to deal damage to nearby enemies. The final note she played on her guitar would be larger in size, and as such deal more damage. She is one of the unlockable assists, and will only appear after the player has collected twenty-five CDs.
Though she would not reappear as an Assist Trophy in later titles, she would continue to be referenced in several ways. Alongside the introduction of customizable Mii Fighters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U was a piece of headgear that players could equip onto their Miis titled the "Barbara the Bat Wig". This headgear is based upon the purple part of Barbara's head (which, due to its name, may in fact be hair) and includes her pierced ears. This headgear also reappears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Barbara also appeared as a collectible trophy in both Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. These games detail her appearance in the Daigasso! Band Brothers series and her general personality traits. Both of these trophies would also use her 3D model from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
* Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophy description: The manager of the music store GB Music in Waruwaru Town—her real name is Barbara the Bat. She leads the player through the game, showing her arrogant attitude as she cracks the whip at others but pampers herself. Her little brother's name is Tingtin the Bat. By the way, the "GB" in the name of her store stands for "Great Barbara," NOT "Game Boy."
* Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS trophy description: As the manager of a slightly dubious talent agency, Barbara's always looking for people who want to join a band. She'll even teach you to play—whether you ask her or not. It's best to let her think she's taking advantage of you, even if she really isn't. Her hidden theme music really illustrates the contrast of darkness and light in her soul...or something.
Barbara also appears as an Ace-class (★★★) Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Unlike many other Spirits, the Barbara Spirit has no Spirit Battle associated with it. As such the only way to obtain it is to summon the Spirit, which can be done using the cores of Rouge the Bat and Prince Saruno Sprits, as well as any Grab-type Core. The Barbara Spirit is listed as number 1,211 in the order, and is a Grab-type Spirit.
=== Super Mario Maker ===
Barbara appears as an unlockable costume for Mario that can be applied using the Mystery Mushroom. Barbara was added into the game on February 25, 2016 alongside a special Event Course titled "" that sees the player make use of the Barbara costume throughout.
== Fanon Appearances ==
=== Jake's Super Smash Bros. ===
Barbara appears in Jake's Super Smash Bros. as an Assist Trophy summon, marking her first appearance in the role since Super Smash Bros. Brawl. When summoned, she acts in a nearly identical manner to her original Brawl appearance, strumming her guitar to create shockwaves around her. The main difference however is that Barbara will release larger shockwaves at frequent, albeit inconsistent, intervals rather than solely doing so at the end of her appearance.
== Gallery ==
Category:Assist Trophies
Category:Females
Category:Mammals
Category:Shop owners
Category:Non-fanon characters
Category:Animals
Category:Bats
Category:Musicians
Category:Tomboys