Barry Milliat

Barry as he appears in Criaturo Nocturno

Augustus Leopold School for Higher Learning (student)

Barry Milliat**,**more commonly known by his nickname **Barry,**is a a protagonist in *Wild Souls: Criaturo Nocturno*, and a supporting character in *Survival of the Fittest* and *Mammoth Among Men*.

Introduced as one of Jim's **El Grupa de Rana** members, Barry is first seen with Ayla, Rachel, and Jaiden at the Park Guell in Barcelona, Spain. He is initially presented as a heavily sarcastic and often frustrated young man who is suspicious of Cory when he is inducted into the group. As the story progresses, however, he warms up to Cory and becomes one of his closest friends.

Barry is an Animal-Spirit user, wielding the powerful medium-range **Bombardier Beetle.**

## Appearance

Barry is a young man of "slightly lower than average" height and average build. He has a ovular face with bronze hair he combs to the left, as well as thick eyebrows and a pointed nose. He has thick lips, as most characters do in *Criaturo Nocturno*.

In *Criaturo Nocturno*, Barry dresses in red slacks and a red button-down shirt, outlined in yellow. He wears a tie of identical aesthetic. He also wears black sneakers.

In *Survival of the Fittest* and *Mammoth Among Men*, Barry wears a standard male student uniform as a student of the Augustus Leopold School for Higher Learning. He also wears a pair of blue gym shorts and a white shirt during his stint in the Survival of the Fittest tournament.

## Personality

Barry is introduced as a heavily sarcastic person who is quick to get frustrated. He often verbally berates his teammates, especially Ayla, if they make stupid decisions, and shouting in their faces if they call him out on his own mistakes. He has very little patience, often briskly pacing or engaging in other anxious behaviors when things go off schedule. He also has a tendency to make cruel jokes or insult people, as well as generally distrust strangers upon meeting them.

It is revealed that most of these traits are a result of Barry's deep-seated frustrations with his personal life. The only boy in his large family, Barry grew up forbidden to utilize his powers for fear of accidentally damaging property or injuring someone, as well as being heavily sheltered most of his life, due to the fact that his parents trusted him little. In addition, Barry was expected to set a precedent, desired to excel in school and be an all-around strapping example of a young man. As a result, they forbade most extracurricular activities such as sports, clubs, dances, or parties.

Due to this, Barry had almost no real friends or even enemies for a long time, leading to him being what he called "an extra in his own story" and often suffering bouts of depression. His only real confidant was his Animal-Spirit, who after being confined within Barry for years, developed its own personality as the ability to speak English. Because Barry mostly brought Bombardier Beetle out to confide in or rant to it, it developed a bitter and angry attitude as a result of only hearing bad things about its user's life, and often refused to interact with Barry later. Barry considered the "loss" of his Animal-Spirit the final nail in his coffin, and fled to Spain.

Things only worsened for Barry there, however, as he was coerced by a gang of thugs into committing suicide, after they lied and told him they were El Cabro members, with guns trained on his family should he try and resist, knowing full well of Barry's Animal-Spirit abilities. Barry believed them and prepared to jump off a building before he was stopped by Jim's interference.

After becoming friends with the members of El Grupa De Rana, Barry opened up and displayed another side. He enjoys making jokes and often helps people out of emotional ruts with self-deprecating humor. He also enjoys being immature, especially with Ayla and Cory. He has stated that although he does not treat them as such, there is no one in El Grupa that he does not get along with.

## Abilities

**Animal-Spirit:**Barry wields the powerful Animal-Spirit **Bombardier Beetle**. As with all Animal-Spirits, Bombardier Beetle grants Barry choice superhuman abilities:

* **"Composition - 4":** Bombardier Beetle's primary ability is to generate and manipulation explosions as its user wills it to, on account of what Barry calls "Composition - 4" in reference to the explosive device. Composition - 4 is a forcibly secreted/activated liquid substance that Bombardier Beetle/Barry emit through their palms.
	+ **Explosion Manipulation**: Once Barry has emitted Composition - 4 through his palms, he can ignite it at will. Using this ability, Barry can generate explosions of varying sizes that can be very strong and highly destructive, most often burning or completely destroying their target. Barry himself is immune to the effects of the actual explosions, but will suffer from torn muscle fibers in his arms and shoulders as well as tissue damage in his hands if he uses Composition 4 over too long a period, due to recoil. Using Composition 4, Barry can move at faster speeds and reach higher heights using explosions.
* **Superhuman Durability:**Barry can endure up to twenty minutes of continuous explosion generation at a time before his ability begins to cause pain. He has stated that most of his durability applies to his ear canals, allowing him to hear even after letting off numerous explosions. In addition, Bombardier Beetle's armor has shown to be dense enough to withstand bullets and the force of a car crash.
* Due to familial trauma, Barry has the ability to **Beetle-view**. His father watched from outside his window for most teenage years to make sure he wasn't spilling his seed, which has manifested itself into a super power to detect sexual activity through walls. Despite this, Barry sadly fell down the sad path to being a volcel, after going crazy and writing stories of endless fights over stolen pizzas involving people who only wonder why, who, and what the fugde.

Although Bombardier Beetle is a medium-range Animal-Spirit, it prefers to reside within Barry's body. Bombardier Beetle is an intelligent Animal-Spirit, capable of limited speech and reaction. It shares an especially strong bond with Barry, calling him "Master" and panicking if Barry is separated from it, despite its own immense power. However, it is often on edge, as it is stated to embody Barry's own anger and ferocity. Therefore, when the two are separated, Barry becomes significantly more meek and timid.