Backbeard (6th Anime)

**Backbeard** (バックベアード *Bakkube'aado*) is a Black Enemy that is semi-recurring yet major antagonist in the Gegege no Kitaro 6th Anime. Backbeard is the most powerful of all the Yōkai in the western nations.

He debut in Legend Realm's 26th Chapter.

## Appearance

The most noticeable being that he has a green eyelid, surrounding his eye which has a yellow sclera, a red iris with several violet veins and a dark ring around it and at the center of it is his black pupil. The texture on his body has additional faint blue highlights, his tentacles appear as cracks in the sky, having sharper, straighter edges and are now much longer. His body is still in the shape of a giant black circle, however it is disk-like and aligned from a certain angle, with the only part of him that extends from this is his eye. He is also able to assume a physical form, where his body resembles a tall humanoid that is roughly black with his skin having tints of green that appears to be raw tissues. His eye first forms from his abdomen but quickly moving to rest at the center of his face, lacking any other features. After being revived, his body takes on a form similar to previous adaptations, his skin has a fleshy texture, now matching his eyelid, and across his body are long tentacles.

## Personality

Not truly known, but he is sometimes moody, full of pride, and egoistic. He hates all of Japan's yōkai, and believes they are too weak to even be considered yōkai.

In the sixth anime Backbeard is more akin to a classic villain, almighty and powerful. He's willing to recognize a power greater than his own, as when he openly praises Agnès for turning the Ring of Arcana against him expressing great hopes in having Adél mastering the ring for him. Backbeard is a major social darwinist who believe the strong have the right to rule and dismiss the weak as unworthy of even living.

However, he feels no emotions or loyalty whatsoever for his own followers: he willingly sacrificed Adél and Agnés' mother to access the Ring of Arcana, and despite asking full loyalty from his servants, he doesn't seem to act in their defense. Also he willingly injures Adél to force Agnés to become the core of the Brigadoon Project. His whole Brigadoon Project hinges on stripping every yōkai in the world (and humans turned into yōkai) of their free will, getting blind obedience from them.

Overall his personality is a cluster of the personalities of his followers, past and present: he despises weakness and weak foes as much as Wolfgang does, shares the sadistic urges of Carmilla and the need to deliver physical punishment and pain to his strongest foes and force anything to oppose him to beg for his or her life, while expressing amusement at their predicament, the immorality of Victor Frankenstein, the tactical mind and arcane knowledge of Adél and the unbridled mystical power of Agnès.

Backbeard relishes in the position he has in the Western Yōkai hierarchy: while mostly unknown in the Eastern world, every Western Yōkai, such as Belial has heard of him, and is willing to listen his promises of powers and rewards for the ones pleasing him.

## Abilities

* **Eye Powers**: Backbeard's primary ability are his eye powers. Glaring at victims can have certain effects on them.
	+ **Hypnotism**: He can hypnotize others into becoming his minions and can counter other yōkai's hypnosis spells.
	+ **Dizziness**: He can disorient his enemies for certain periods of time, though the periods have ranged from momentarily to long-term.
	+ **Heat Beam**: Backbeard can fire a heat beam from his eye hot enough to set enemies on fire.
	+ **Energy Beam** : He can also shoot beams of concentrated yokai power.
	+ **Lightning**: He can emit bolts of lightning from his eye.
* **Tentacles**: Beard can use his tentacles to stab, hit, throw, bind, and capture enemies. He can also grow arms and legs when needed, such as he did for the sumo tournament in Kitarō Kunitori Monogatari. Occasionally he also uses the tentacles themselves as his limbs.
* **Dimensional Mobility**: He can appear from and disappear into different dimensions.
* **Physical Form**: Seen only in the 2018 anime series, under duress, Backbeard can mold his shadow body to assume a physical form, becoming a tall cyclops with a muscular, inky black body with his skin appearing to be raw tissues. His eye forms at the abdomen but quickly moves to the center of his face which lacks any other features. He claims that he rarely assumes this form, having last used it a thousand years ago to dispatch an unspecified foe. In this form he is capable of close combat, delivering great physical attacks to his enemy, while also retaining his large amount of yōkai power, amplifying his energy beams.

## Enemy

Similar to Dark Emperor Nyandam, he has a long range with strong damage.

## Weakness/Strategy

Fortunately, his weakness is came from eye, the most powerful part.