Monroe Fuches

"*Denial. It's tough. I used to think I was a soldier, ignoring the fact I never fought in a battle my whole life. I was a poser. Then I fancied myself a mentor, fostering other men's natural abilities but it wasn't until I was in prison, and I got beaten to an inch of my life day after day that I finally dropped the bullshit and just accepted who I am. A man with no heart.*"
―Fuches to NoHo Hank.[src]
**Monroe Fuches** later known as **The Raven** is the main antagonist of *Barry*. He served as one of two main antagonists (alongside Goran Pazar) in Season 1, the main antagonist in season 2, the overarching antagonist in Season 3, and one of the two main antagonists (alongside NoHo Hank) in Season 4. He was portrayed by Stephen Root.

Fuches was the handler of Barry Berkman's hits and deals with the business side of the job. Fuches worked with Berkman after Berkman's discharge from the Marines up until Barry's raid at the monastery where Barry attempted to kill him.

Having survived the attack, Fuches was sent to Chechnya for several months until returning to the states to get revenge on Barry only to be arrested and sent to prison. Once freed from prison, Fuches went by The Raven and finally accepted who he was. His current whereabouts are unknown after the shootout at NoHoBal and seeing Berkman one last time.

## Biography

### Background

Fuches was a close friend to John Berkman for years while also serving as an Army officer in the United States military. Fuches met Barry Berkman when he was seven years old and quickly took a liking to him.

### Recruiting Barry

Following Barry's murder of an innocent man in Korangal, Afghanistan, Fuches was able to arrange Barry's discharge from the marines, beginning Fuches' manipulation of Barry. The years following the discharge, Fuches molded Barry into a hitman after seeing potential in him.

### A New Partnership

In 2018, Fuches arranged for Barry to travel out to Los Angeles to work with the Chechen operation. Fuches worked with head of operations, Goran Pazar to have Barry kill a local gymnast Ryan Madison for having an affair with Pazar's wife. Fuches eventually flew out to LA to help Barry with the Chechens after issues came up.

#### Prisoner

After Barry's hesitant manner about to the killing, the two are kidnapped by the Chechens and brought to Pazar's home. Fuches is tortured by Pazar's right hand man NoHo Hank and Vacha until Barry agreed to a hit on another target. When Barry accepted the hit, Fuches was forced to remain and be held prisoner until the hit was done.

However, Goran Hank had no intention of letting Fuches live as he had already gotten a famed Chechen assassin named Stovka come to the United States to kill both. When he arrived, Fuches began talking to him only for Stovka to kill himself. Fuches denied any involvement but the Chechens beat him more and were ready to kill him.

Fuches is eventually freed by the Chechens and continues working with them, planning new hits as it is learned that Bolivian crime boss, Cristobal Sifuentes is coming to the States. Barry is told to that him out with the help of others while Fuches continues to work behind the scenes.

Fuches is captured again after Goran learns that Sifuentes is a nice person and that the hit on them was planned based off of Fuches' lies. Fuches is captured and told to be killed by Ruslan but is delayed by the Chechen building a trap to kill him with. This gave Barry enough time to kill Goran, Ruslan, and other Chechens, saving Fuches.

Fuches escapes as the cops close in on the place, though his tooth is left behind.

### New Hitmen

After Pazar's death, Fuches is brought to an airport by Barry and forced to get out of the car, losing Barry. Fuches decided to go back to Cleveland and began hiring new hitmen to try and replace Barry. None of them were even close to Barry's skill, one hitman leading the police back to Fuches' motel room.

Fuches is taken into custody and claimed that he was held hostage. Eventually, Fuches was interrogated by LA cop, John Loach, giving Fuches a chance to enact revenge on Barry.

### Revenge on Barry

#### Working with Loach

Fuches and Loach returned to Los Angeles with the goal of having Barry confess to his crimes while Fuches is wearing a wire. At first, Fuches failed to get Barry to reveal information, annoying Fuches. When Barry came to Fuches for help, Fuches began to have doubts about ratting him out.

One night, Barry came to Fuches and accidently revealed that he killed Janice Moss, giving Loach enough information to arrest Barry. However, Fuches and Barry were given the assignment of killing Ronny Proxin, a man who has been sleeping with Loach's wife.

Fuches drove Barry to the Proxin home and waited as Barry performed the hit. When Barry escaped the house, wounded, Fuches drove to a drug store to patch him up but got alarmed when Barry revealed that Ronny's daughter, Lily attacked him as well. They got Barry the supplies he needed and patched him up but the stitches were done poorly and are pulled out quickly.

As Fuches drove around, they eventually found Lily. Fuches attempted to talk to her but Lily ran onto a roof and waited there for hours. At night, Fuches once again tried to help Barry by applying superglue to Barry's wound but it isn't useful. Then, Lily jumped onto their car and snuck in through the back.

Fuches is alarmed when Lily bite down on his face but was unable to do anything as he had accidently superglued his hands to the wheel. Lily ripped a piece of Fuches' cheek away before running off. Fuches drove both of them to another store for supplies but when the police arrived, Fuches hid the car and waited for Barry.

#### Showing Gene the Truth

After Barry once again attempted to cut ties with him, Fuches went to Gene Cousineau's lake house and eventually found the body of Janice Moss, a victim of Berkman. Fuches, now under the alias Private Investigator Kenneth Goulet, met Gene and told him that he had a lead on her whereabouts.

Fuches takes Gene into the woods, getting angry as Gene talks about Barry. They finally reach an abandoned car and in the trunk, they find the body of Janice. While Gene does this, Fuches calls in the report, claiming to be Gene and frames the murder on him. He then aims his gun at Gene's head but is unable to do it. Fuches fleas the scene, only being spotted by Barry.

#### Monastery Massacre

Fuches heads to the monastery for shelter and helps ease relations with the Chechens and Bolivians. That night, the two groups celebrate but when Barry arrives, he begins killing people to get to Fuches. Fuches hides throughout the monastery while Barry kills nearly all the people inside. Fuches asks Akhmal and Yandar to help him, who identify him as Barry's mentor. They take him out through a back door and he manages to escape Barry's wrath.

#### Living in Chechnya

The Chechens sent Fuches to Chechnya for at least six months as they wait for things to die down in Los Angeles. He lived in a small cabin and farm. Fuches soon got a phone call from Hank, informing him that he can return to LA as things have blown over but Fuches was content with his life.

When he learned that Barry is no longer a problem, Fuches called Barry to apologize only to mock Barry for trying to fix his relationship with Gene. Fuches then expressed the desire for revenge against Barry. His caretaker tried to convince him to abandon the idea, using an old fable about forgiveness. However, Fuches missed the point of the fable and intended to strike back at Barry.

#### The Truth is Revealed

Fuches arrived back in L.A. and began going to the victims' families who were affected by Barry. Under the name, Kenneth Goulet, Fuches arrived at the house of Julie and Kyle and revealed to them the real truth. He also visited Ryan Madison's father, George Krempf, trying to make him see that Barry "stole" Ryan's life.

Fuches then went to the biker gang that Taylor used to be with and explained to them what Barry did. Fuches attempted to convince Taylor's sister, Traci only to be shot by another biker.

Fuches is quickly found and recovered in a small house and quickly fell for a girl. When Fuches got a call from Janice's father, Jim Moss and seeing a newspaper about Barry, Fuches decided to steal their car and go after them.

#### In Custody

Fuches arrived at Moss' home and the took decided to take a drive. Fuches was surprised when Moss arrived at the Police Station and is taken into custody by Mae Dunn. Under the alias The Raven, Fuches is interrogated by Barry's friend, Albert Nguyen and admitted to turning Barry into a hitman and revealed Barry's role in Chris' murder.

### Life in Prison

Fuches was sent to the California State Penitentiary. Early in his tenure, Fuches was shocked to see that Barry was also in the prison, going straight to the FBI Agents to strike a deal. Wearing a wire, Fuches went to Barry but when Barry apologized about what happened, Fuches abandoned the idea of turning him in.

Fuches, now using the Raven as his true status, failed to try and convince some other prisoners to protect Barry. Fuches then called Hank and revealed that Barry is working with the FBI. Fuches once again changed course and worked with Hank on taking Barry down but after watching a movie, Fuches decided to warn the guards about a hit placed on Barry.

After Barry escaped the prison, guard went to Fuches and began beating him until he was on the brink of death for days. This gained him respect with the other prisoners and also made him realize that he had to shed his old ways and become who he truly is.

### A New Life

#### NoHoBal Conflict

Eight years later, Fuches is released from the prison and is greeted by his gang that consisted of Jason, Damian, and other former prisoners. He then visited Hank who has taken up a massive sand corporation. In exchange for his silence regarding Hank's criminal activities, Fuches wanted an expensive house and information on Barry's whereabouts. Fuches pressured Hank into meeting these goals so that Fuches' men will work as security for Hank.

That night, a drunk Fuches toasted the table about their collaboration but the dinner fell to pieces after Fuches claimed that Hank killed Cristobal. This comment destroyed their collaboration.

The next day, Fuches and his men are attacked by Hank with a rocket that failed to hit the house they were living in and shot at Hank and his driver, causing the two to run off.

#### A Bad Deal

Fuches arrived at NoHoBal late at night to see NoHo Hank and his crew standing in the lobby with Sally Reed. Fuches asked for John Berkman but Hank wanted to wait. Fuches forced Hank's hand and was told he'd be here soon. Fuches then offered a new deal to Hank: Fuches and his men leave forever if Hank admits to getting Cristobal killed. Fuches helped Hank get through it as he admitted to the murder. Just as John was brought into the room, Hank pulled out of the deal, telling Fuches that he is a liar. Fuches immediately pulled out his gun and shot Hank in the chest. Fuches quickly lunged onto John as both sides of men gunned each other down.

When the shooting stopped, Fuches walked John out of the building and handed him off to Barry. He gave Barry one last look before leaving forever into an unknown sky.

## Personality

On the surface, Fuches appears to be a friendly, paternal figure towards Barry and most people around him, giving them advice, helping them to mitigate conflicts in their life, and usually speaking in a relaxed and welcoming, but confident, voice.

Underneath this superficial façade, Fuches is a selfish, cowardly, narcissistic, and dangerous individual who truly cares for no one but himself. He has shown himself to be more than willing to lie to others, damage their relationships, force them through painful revelations, and manipulate and gaslight them in order to further his own ends, be it the pursuit of money, revenge, or both.

Fuches is also a rather petty individual, who reacts extremely whenever he feels that he's been disrespected. He spent the last few episodes of Season 2, as well as the entirety of Season 3, trying to completely ruin Barry's life as revenge for Barry refusing to work for him, as well as refusing to apologize to Fuches for trying to kill him in the Season 2 finale after Fuches nearly got Gene imprisoned for a murder he did not commit. Fuches also did this despite having multiple opportunities to get away with all of his crimes (which would surely land him in prison for the rest of his life, or on death row) and start a peaceful life on a farm, which shows just how much his entitled attitude and rage can get the better of him. This fits with some fan speculations that Fuches has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, as many narcissists become highly enraged and vengeful, often to the point of behaving ludicrously, towards people over minor slights, or instances of someone refusing to give in to their unreasonable demands for how that person should behave around them.

While being physically incapable of effectively defending himself, and showing a pathetic inclination to run from danger, rather than confront it, Fuches is by no means harmless, or incapable of seriously hurting others. He is a highly charismatic speaker and manipulator, able to turn regular people into willing killers overnight, convince two warring crime groups to bury the hatchet in a few hours, and able to manipulate Barry into killing for him (as well as unfairly giving him most of the money he earns from his hits) for at least a year, all with just the power of his charms and tongue.

## Media

### Episode Stills

* Season 1
* Season 2
* Season 3
* Season 4

## References

1. ↑ Fuches identifies himself as private detective "Kenneth Goulet" when he talks to Gene Cousineau (in the episode "The Audition") and also later, when approaching others (in "all the sauces").