Barret Wallace

Barret Wallace is a main character in the Squaresoft video game Final Fantasy VII.
==Canon==
===Final Fantasy VII (1997)===
The leader of a resistance group called AVALANCHE, Barret is a headstrong and confident man who believes any problem can be solved with enough bullets and shouting.
Barret began revolting against the energy giant Shin-Ra after the company set his village on fire, killing his wife Myrna in the process. 
Barret was blamed for the destruction of the village, and shunned by those he considered friends. He then moved to Midgar with his young daughter, Marlene, subsequently leading the group AVALANCHE in an effort to resist the Shin-Ra in whatever way possible. This led to meeting of Tifa Lockhart, who enlisted the help of hired mercenary Cloud Strife, enabling the bombing of two Mako reactors.
He is considered to be the first major black character in the Final Fantasy franchise, although many believe that General Leo Cristophe of Final Fantasy VI, a temporary party member, was also black. (Due to palette limitations and the stylization of sprites, the canon skin color of some characters could be somewhat ambiguous in Final Fantasy games preceding VII.)
===Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020)===
==Fandom==
Some fans have been critical that Barret's portrayal could have been influenced by harmful racist stereotypes and caricatures of "angry black men" and gun violence.Nix, Marc. "A History of Insensitivity," IGN, 6 March 2009 (updated 8 December 2016). (Accessed August 2020.) Many fans have alternatively—or often simultaneously—praised his character arc as a serious exploration of loss, revenge, destruction, and responsibility⁠.fury-brand. Barret’s a great character, posted to Tumblr on 28 February 2020. (Accessed August 2020.)whetsonefires. Thinking about Barrett and Dyne and Corel as a microcosm of the themes of ff7, posted to Tumblr on 27 February 2020. (Accessed August 2020.)Parish, Jeremy. "XIII Things About Final Fantasy XIII, Part VI", 1UP, 22 April 2009. (Accessed August 2020.)
Barret's design was influenced by Mr. T (of Rocky and The A-Team fame), and FFVII's original English localization added more similarities by exaggerating Mr. T's speech patterns in Barret's dialogue, garnering both praise and criticism from fans.Wikipedia. Barret Wallace - critical reception. (Accessed August 2020.) Emphasized similarities with Mr. T have persisted in common fanon regarding Barret.adrwynna, ekala, et al. anyone care to give me a history lesson on how ff7 fandom was like back in the day? posted to Tumblr on 8 December 2016. (Accessed August 2020.)
Despite being one of the first members of the playable party as well as having a focused storyline in the original game, Barret appears to be relatively excluded from fan works. Compared to Cid Highwind—the very last mandatory member of the party and one who also lacks the bishōnen appeal of the most popular characters—Vincent Valentine and Yuffie Kisaragi—who are optional, missable party members—and even Tseng and Reno—who are non-playable secondary characters—Barret has been featured far less frequently and less prominently in fan fiction (according to FFN and AO3)phantomstatistician. 10 Most Popular Characters in Final Fantasy VII Fan Fiction (AO3) 2005-2019, posted to Tumblr on 5 December 2019. (Accessed August 2020.)FanFiction.net Final Fantasy VII Archive. Barret Wallace works (Accessed August 2020.) and fan art (according to DeviantArt and Pixiv). Even within fan works tagged with his name, Barret tends to appear only as a minor character; it is difficult to find fan works with Barret as a main character via tagging systems alone. This lack of popularity could possibly be an issue of racism in fandom.
In a 2020 NHK popularity poll, Barret ranked dead last in votes among over 200 Final Fantasy characters, including several minor and unnamed characters.FF Ranking, NHK, Q1 2020. (Accessed August 2020.)
TheMomAbides. I translated the NHK Final Fantasy poll character rankings., posted to r/FinalFantasy in Q1 2020. (Accessed August 2020.) In a July 2020 Famitsu poll, Barret was voted the fifth most popular character in the first installment of Final Fantasy VII Remake with 498 votes, ranking below Jessie Rasberry (535 votes), and above Sephiroth (404 votes).リメイク』アンケート結果発表や開発スタッフインタビューなど、プレイ後に語りたい聞きたい大特集！, Famitsu, July 2020. (Accessed August 2020.)MKillerby. Character popularity ranking from Japanese fan poll in new issue of Famitsu, posted to r/FinalFantasy on July 2020. (Accessed August 2020.)GameFAQs. Official Famitsu character poll is out, Cloud and Tifa is tied for #1, posted to GameFAQs on July 2020. (Accessed August 2020.)
===Shipping===
Other than his late wife, Myrna, a character only mentioned in dialogue, Barret has no known romantic partners in canon.Ultimania Omega Character Map, translated by Schala-Kitty. (Accessed August 2020.) The player may choose to have Cloud refer to Barret as his boyfriend during his undercover infiltration of Don Corneo's mansion. Through certain actions and dialogue choices, the player may also trigger a "date" cutscene with Cloud and Barret during the party's second visit to the Gold Saucer, though they are not treated seriously as a couple.
Barret is not part of any of the top ten most popular FFVII ships on Archive of Our Ownphantomstatistician. 10 Most Popular Ships in Final Fantasy VII (AO3) 2005-2020, posted to Tumblr on 5 December 2019. (Accessed August 2020.).
====Pairings====
*Barret Wallace/Cloud Strife (Clarret)
*Tifa Lockhart/Barret Wallace (Barrifa)
==Fan Works==
===Fan Fiction===
*"The Nitty Gritty of It All" by Negative Creep - pastfic oneshot
*"Room and Pillar" by Negative Creep - pastfic oneshot
*"Haven" by Wallwalker
*"Strays" by Famira Damaris
===Fan Art===
*Color Barret and Marlene bu Ludi
*Barret by Michael Firman
*INKTOBER DAY 7: Final Fantasy VII: Barret and Marlene by thegreatshono
*I'm having Barret and Marlene feels all of a sudden. by characterundefined
*Final Fantasy VII - Barret - 3D Model Fan Art by Hunter Mortensen 
*The beginning of the Avalanche. by Moonshen
*バレット by ディスティハーダ
*FF7R アバランチ by tDsuke
===Cosplay===
*cosplay by Mr. T USA 1980
*Sailor Barret by RuthlessJS
*Genderbent Barret from FFVII by u/Maybean
===Video===
*Final Fantasy 7: Machinabridged by TeamFourStar - machinima abridged series
===Meta and Commentary===
*However, it’s a mistake to assume that Barret is so unyielding because he is stupid; it’s because he is righteous. by cryoftheplanet
*Thinking about Barrett and Dyne and Corel as a microcosm of the themes of ff7 by laurel and whetstonefires
*commentary and analyses featuring Barret Wallace by cryoftheplanet
===Challenges and Events===
*Barret Month 2020 on Tumblr
==Archives and FanLinks==
*FFVII stories and crossover featuring Barret Wallace on FFN
*Barret Wallace tag on AO3
*Barret Wallace works on Pixiv
==Resources==
*Wikipedia: "Barret Wallace"
*Official character page for Barret Wallace at Squaresoft.com - Archived 29 May 1998
*The Lifestream: Barret Wallace Character Profile p. 52-55 from the FFVII 10th Anniversary Ultimania
==References==
Category:Final Fantasy VII Characters