Barnabas vs Vholran: Not Carbon Copies of a Looming Villain
On the 11th of July, someone in a Discord server I frequently lurk found a tweet about how Barnabas of FF16 and Vholran (a villain in the game Tales of Arise) looked similar and seemed to have similar backgrounds and methods. (tweet in question here )
Since I was working my way through the game at the time and hadn't truly encountered Barnabas yet, I thought it was an interesting observation. I played through Tales of Arise pretty much the first two weeks it came out and thought of Vholran as a Sephiroth-type villain (post about Vholran's actions in the game here), and a part of me wondered if Barnabas was going to be similar.
I mean, the readers for my Tales of Arise fanfic have been calling Vholran "Water Sephiroth" for a reason. The man looms over the plot, and even if he wasn't the one who set events in motion, he is still the final boss. Considering that Sephiroth and Barnabas are both Final Fantasy characters, at the time I could see them doing much the same.
Having beaten FF16 a couple weeks ago, I can confidently say that Vholran and Barnabas are not the same. Their methods may be similar, but the goals they stem from are so fundamentally different that I imagine Vholran and Barnabas would be at each other's throats if they ever came face to face with each other.
Full analysis as to why down below -- putting it under the cut because general spoilers for late game Tales of Arise (a year and a half old game, but still) and late-game FF16.
I'm going to get the similarities out of the way first: yes, Barnabas and Vholran both like dressing in dark clothes and are rulers of their own "kingdoms," enacting their power over the populace with an iron fist for the sake of their own goals.
But it's the details that sets them apart from each other.
First, Vholran's role in Tales of Arise, since his game has been out for a while.
Vholran was a man who was experimented on at some point before the start of the game and given great power as a result. Originally a slave without any agency -- and then a lab rat for a time -- he was suddenly placed on a high pedestal when he was told he was the Sovereign. In the context of Tales of Arise, that means he's the strongest of the Renans (the group that is oppressing Vholran's people, the Dahnans). While it's made clear that he is still going to be used as a tool for a mysterious force the Renans don't know about, he is still given power over Dahnans and Renans and allowed to do as he pleases in order to collect astral energy -- that is, Arise's version of aether. (This collection hasn't started destroying the planet Dahna yet, to be clear. Apparently three centuries isn't enough time for the Blight-alike (aka Hollowing) to set into the land.)
Vholran's ruling over his kingdom of water, Ganath Haros, essentially turned everyone into mindless puppets who worshiped the ground he walked on, willing to turn themselves into astral energy in order to fuel his schemes. He leaves behind a people who don't know how to think for themselves, and ultimately turns into the true final boss of the game, berating Alphen for being so weak that he needs to rely on others. He became a slave to his own desires in the end, wanting to rule over everything he saw -- even if that meant destroying the very worlds Alphen was trying to save. Alphen, a Sovereign in his own right, and someone Vholran hated and wanted dead more than anything else.
Vholran did everything he could to hold onto the power and seeming-freedom he had, and was killed in the end by the very man he had been re-created to replace.
Now, Barnabas' role in FF16 is very different from that of this crazed, ice katana-wielding swordsman who has so much in common with Sephiroth.
Barnabas was a man who moved to Ash from somewhere to the south and took over the whole continent, uniting the separated warring tribes under his banner and ousting the kingdom that used to be located around the Mothercrystal Drake's Spine. He's been the same physical age for the last 40 years according to Vivan Ninetales, and there is a reason for that -- the man is Akashic, someone who has been exposed to too much aether and as a result has lost the will to act on his own. He seems to survive by absorbing the aether of those around him, much like an energy vampire of some kind, and he serves his God and Master with unwavering loyalty that borders on religious fervor. The man willingly sold his soul to the devil and now walks in Ultima's shadow, wielding the darkness of Odin for the four-armed monster's goals. He is killed two fights before the final boss, happily accepting his death at the hands of Clive Rosfield, the Mythos he waited so long for.
How long has he waited? The game isn't clear, but considering Barnabas spoke of the destruction of Dezmekys and was almost maniacal about how long he and the souls within him had been waiting for Mythos...I'm inclined to believe Barnabas has been Odin for a long time. It certainly explains the ease with which he uses the Eikon's power.
Barnabas' ruling over Waloed and the surrounding villages in Ash was something of an iron fist scenario -- he made sure the people followed the religion of the Circle of Malius, and took all those bearing the Mothercrystals' blessing of magic and effectively trained them to be nothing more than mindless weapons...or fodder for the beasts they sought to use on the battlefield. He made sure to drill into his people the desire to give themselves wholly to their God, so that when they time came they would willingly give in to their faith and turn Akashic as he had. He was ordered to cut Clive's connections to his allies, to be certain, but ultimately found they served Ultima's purposes far better if they remained, as they made Clive stronger for a time. Still, he did encourage Clive to let go of his human side, social connections and all, even as he fell into a battle high during their fight.
In fact, the only time we see Barnabas be truly himself is during his final fight with Clive, in the midst of his battle high. A man who enjoys combat and pushing himself to higher heights...he might have made a fine ally, once, and perhaps a dangerous rival. But that was before he made his final choice and gave his all to Ultima.
Barnabas did everything he could to ensure that the world his master wanted came to fruition, and died at the hands of the man he and Ultima had eagerly waited for.
Vholran and Barnabas may look similar, but considering the above? Not the same person. Barnabas willingly gave up his will where Vholran clung to his; Vholran uses ice while Barnabas calls on the power of darkness. If Barnabas was anything like Vholran, he would have chafed at Ultima's commands, trying to find ways around them that would benefit him more than the so-called god -- maybe even to make himself god and Mythos in the place of Ultima and Clive. Which would've turned FF16 more into a race of who got all the powers first before Barnabas would die at Clive's hands and give him the rest of the powers he was missing, rather than the plot we got.
By contrast, if Vholran was like Barnabas, he would've accepted his role with the same grace and mindless loyalty that the Akashic vampire gave his master, and instead of berating Alphen for the bonds he had, he would have berated Alphen for not following orders and giving the Helganquil more trouble than they needed.
(And considering that Vholran and Alphen were both changed for the final goal of the villain of their story...I'd argue that makes them more like a first and second Mythos than a proper Odin copy. Just another point of difference.)
Barnabas and Vholran would've grated each other's nerves to no end, I guarantee it. The only story they share is their appearance and some of the broader setting points. It's truly the details that set them apart.
