Barret Wallace

First game	Final Fantasy VII(1997)
Designed by	Tetsuya Nomura
Voiced by (English)	Beau Billingslea[1]
Voiced by (Japanese)	Masahiro Kobayashi[2]
Fictional profile
Weapon	Gun arm
Home	Corel

Barrett,whom I changed name to Bubba, Wallace was the first African-American character in the Final Fantasy series. It's been rumored that we was modeled after Mister T.

Other than him being black, and being the leader of AVALANCHE, I really didn't care for him much in FFVII. He was too tough on Cloud(the main/controllable character). Also, he was strong but weak i battle(at least for me seeings has I hardly ever had him in my party).

But in "Advent Children" he got a much need makeover

and was voiced by actor Beau Billingslea

and was far more likable.

Some bio:

Final Fantasy VII

First seen in Final Fantasy VII in 1997, Barret is introduced as the leader of the eco-terrorist organization AVALANCHE. Situated in city of Midgar, his group opposes the ruling company, Shinra, and their use of "Mako" energy as a power source, believing it to be killing the Planet. To this end, AVALANCHE bombs their Mako reactors, with the specific goal of saving the Planet.^[11] When the game begins, they have just hired the mercenary Cloud Strife at the behest of his childhood friend and AVALANCHE member Tifa Lockhart,^[13] nicknaming him "Spiky" in reference to his hairstyle.^[14] After the deaths of several members of AVALANCHE, Barret follows Cloud out of Midgar in pursuit of the game's villain, Sephiroth.^[11]

Along the way he encounters a former friend of his, Dyne, armed in a manner similar to him, who forces Barret to fight him. Upon Barret defeating Dyne, Dyne kills himself. Through flashbacks it is revealed that Shinra had wanted to build a Mako reactor in his home town of Corel, an idea Barret advocated. However due to an accident at the plant, Shinra razed the town, killing Barret's wife in the process, and causing Barret and Dyne to flee with Dyne's daughter, Marlene. Cornered, Dyne slipped off a cliff and Barret grabbed his hand, but Shinra soldier's opened fire, and destroyed Barret's and Dyne's right and left hands respectively, causing the latter to fall to his presumed death.^[11] Barret adopted Marlene as his own daughter, had an "adapter" graft to his arm to interface with prosthetic weapons to aid in his combat against Shinra, and founded AVALANCHE.^[15] Dyne's death causes him to admit his grudge with Shinra is solely for revenge, with his earlier claims of "saving the world" meant only to convince himself he was fighting for the greater good. Barret eventually shifts his goal to actually wanting to save the Planet, doing so for Marlene's sake, and he helps Cloud and his allies defeat Sephiroth to prevent the Planet's destruction.^[11]

Early drafts of Barret's background featured subtle differences, such as Marlene intended as Barret's biological daughter, and his wife executed in front of him by a then-undecided Shinra executive. The attack on Corel was initially written to be due to the discovery of Mako energy and Shinra's desire to keep its existence a secret. His reunion with Dyne was also different, written to culminate in a duel between the two in Corel's ruins, while Cloud and the others fought investigating Shinra soldiers.^[6]

Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

Barret appears in Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, a 2005 mobile phone-based prequel to the events of Final Fantasy VII, which shows the events prior to Corel's destruction. He helps the game's protagonists, the Turks, defend the Mako reactor, believing it to be the town's future.^[11] It is revealed that the reactor is under attack by the original AVALANCHE group, who are the cause of Shinra's attack upon the town. Unaware of their involvement, Barret uses their ideals to form his own branch of the group.^[16]

In 2005, Barret appeared in the CGI film Advent Children, which details the events two years after Sephiroth's defeat. Barret places Marlene in Tifa's care, travelling the world to rebuild the planet's infrastructure and find alternate power sources to replace Mako.^[14] He returns later to assist in combating the film's villains, the Remnants and fight the summon creature Bahamut SIN. He later appears in a small role in the 2006 video game Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, set one year after Advent Children, where he helps the protagonist Vincent Valentine prevent Omega WEAPON from destroying the planet.^[11]

A novella entitled "Case of Barret" was released in 2007 exclusively for the "Limited Edition Collector's Set" DVD edition of Advent Children. Written by Kazushige Nojima as part of the On the Way to a Smile series, it details the events between Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children, examining Barret's reaction to his weapon and his belief that it made him a monster. At the conclusion of the story, Barret visits the creator of the adapter on his wrist and receives the prosthetic hand/gun combination seen in the film, reasoning that although he needs a hand, he also still needs a weapon to prevent others from having to fight. He then decides to return to Marlene.^[15]

Some, Cosplay Barrets

Probably the best