Bari

# "I just thought...It'd be better to be together than to be alone."

**Bari** is the main protagonist of *How to Become a Dragon*. He is currently being tutored by Young Yoo to pass the Nakdong River Dragon Exam, therefore allowing him to become a dragon.

## Appearance

Bari has long black hair that is commonly tied up into a high ponytail. When tied up his hair is ankle length, and when let down, it is long enough to touch the floor. When his hair is tied up he leaves two strands that frame his face. In addition, on his head Bari has two horns that fade into aqua at the tips. Bari’s eyes are most commonly drawn as a cerulean blue, but he also has some form of Heterochromia/reflective eyes as often times he is shown with yellow in his eyes. Although the yellow is not always visible in his human form, in his imoogi form, it is consistently present. In his human form, Bari has long sharp black nails.

Bari’s imoogi form is depicted as a large snake with black scales, his scales reflect different shades of blue often such as aqua and cerulean blue. His underbelly is white, and on the tip of his tail, similar to his horns, he has a white fluffy end that fades into aqua.

In his human form, Bari wears a variant of the traditional male hanbok. The colors of his over-dress consist of a purple-gray main piece, and cerulean blue sleeves. Underneath that he wears the under-shirt of a male hanbok and an extra piece that contains long sleeves. Bari’s over-dress is commonly depicted to have two slits on the sides, and at the bottom of it there is a cerulean blue line. His over dress is knee length. Bari’s pants are also that of a traditional male hanbok. Around his calves he wraps around bandage looking fabric that are what connects his shoe, the bandage is connected to what can be assumed to be a sock.

## Personality

Bari has a kind and naïve personality. Although he is not a buffoon, at first Bari does not know many things about the modern human world. He is quick to adapt to situations and is an honest person. Bari is also very emotional, and is often described as a “sap”. His love/trust in humans often leads to other immortals berating him. He is very determined to become a dragon.

## Background

When Bari was training in the mountains, he had met many humans, the most special of humans to him at the time was Mr. Kim. Mr. Kim, Bari, and Damseol would all hang out together in the past until Mr. Kim betrayed Bari and sabotaged his ascension. When the Nakdong river dragon was announced, Bari set out for Mr. Kim's ancestor, in the end he meets Young Yoo . Young is a indirect descendant of Mr. Kim and tutors Bari under the condition that his karma will be cleared if Bari passes the exam. This is the start of Bari and Young's journey together.

## Relationships

Young Yoo

Even at the beginning, Bari and Young had a tight knit relationship. Bari held deep trust in Young due to how different he was from everyone else Bari had met. To Bari, Young is someone he can wholeheartedly rely on to help him and never let him down. Bari is incredibly grateful to Young for teaching him how to help without hurting himself in the process, and Bari values Young very much. He is shown to admire and cherish Young deeply. He is as fond of Young just as much as Damseol (who is one of Bari’s closest friends). Bari takes pride in showing Young how he’s changed, and holds Young close to his heart.

Miri

Miri is a long time friend of Bari’s. Two hundred years ago, he took care of Bari after his failed ascension. It is implied that despite Miri, Yeongno, and Bari being close, they weren’t as close as they were 200 years ago. To Bari, Miri is a friend he cares about and he sees Miri as reliable (for the most part). Bari’s perception of Miri is largely influenced by how Miri treated Bari 200 years ago, and not how Miri treats others. Although, he is aware of Miri’s flaws and is not blind to them.

Yeongno (SPOILERS IN THIS SPECIFIC SECTION)

Yeongno is a long time friend of Bari’s. Two hundred years ago, he stood by Bari’s side as emotional support after his failed ascension. Earlier in the series, Bari sees Yeongno as his reliable smart friend, but he is deeply disturbed at what Yeongno lies about. He still cares about Yeongno deeply and sincerely wishes the best for Yeongno.

Yeongno ends up drifting apart from both Bari and Miri completely as the series further progresses, becoming hostile when he's at his worst.

Kwangcheol

Kwangcheol is Bari’s acquaintance, Kwangcheol ends up helping Bari multiple times throughout the story despite how many times they deny enjoying Bari’s presence. Bari sees Kwangcheol as someone who is kinder than they let on. And he has an overall positive opinion on them.

HK and Yulia

Bari is friends with Young’s two students. They aren’t shown to hang out much on screen, but the three of them are known to have a positive opinion of each other.

## Trivia

* His name comes from Bari (바리), which is an alternative name of imugi (imoogi).
* Bari's curse on the Kim line was "you will never be able to get what you want most" in the most direct terms, but the curse isn't so black and white and operates in multiple ways.
* Bari is beautiful enough to be a high end model.
* Bari's favorite fruit is the Korean melon.
* Bari is implied to enjoy fruits in general.