Barthandelus



Barthandelus [bɑɹ'tæn.dɪ.lɨs] is a powerful fal'Cie from Final Fantasy XIII. He is the self-proclaimed Lord-Sovereign of the Cocoon fal'Cie, and the true form of the game's main antagonist.

His ultimate goal is to destroy Cocoon, so the deaths of its citizens as "sacrifice" would call back the Maker, the god who created the world and long since departed. As Barthandelus is a Sanctum fal'Cie, he is incapable of harming Cocoon directly, which is why he uses Pulse l'Cie as tools to exact his plan.

Datalog
''This fal'Cie has long lived under the guise of Galenth Dysley, the Sanctum's supposedly human Primarch. Unbeknownst even to his closest aides, he has kept careful watch on the fugitive l'Cie through the eyes of his rukh, Menrva, forcing them to grow stronger while at times aiding secretly in their flight.''

Barthandelus desires only that the l'Cie complete their Focus, which he explained to be transforming into the beast Ragnarok in order to destroy Orphan and all of Cocoon.

Appearance and Personality
In all of Barthandelus's appearances as a fal'Cie, his form continuously changes. At first, Barthandelus appears as a towering, bronze, god-like creature with gold lining, alien markings visible on his skin, and four face-masks grafted onto the sides of his head as adornments. He has a snake-like throat with gills at the end. His eyes lack pupils and he has an eerie grin with sharp, dagger-like teeth. In a later appearance, Barthandelus becomes white-skinned with a new adornment.

Barthandelus is heartless and sinister. He thinks of humans and l'Cie as mere tools for the fal'Cie's manipulation, and will not hesitate to exploit their weaknesses - and in some situations, their strength - to his advantage. However, Barthandelus also seems to genuinely mourn for the state of the world, stating numerous times Cocoon's people suffer and that the l'Cie are only prolonging that pain by choosing not to follow their Focus. Like Orphan, Barthandelus ultimately desires his own destruction.

War of Transgression
Between six and seven hundred years before the start of Final Fantasy XIII, under his orders to search for Etro's Gate, Barthandelus devised a plan to use humans to find the door to the Unseen Realm. To instigate a civil war, he stole Arks and resources from Pulse, and lured Pulsians to Cocoon with promises of paradise; instilling fear and hatred in the people of both worlds. These actions sparked the wrath of the Pulse fal'Cie Anima and caused it to wage war on Cocoon. Barthandelus defended against the attack as Cocoon's population was not large enough for a sufficient sacrifice.

The Pulse l'Cie Vanille and Fang were chosen by Anima and tasked with transforming into Ragnarok to destroy Cocoon. Only Fang performed the transformation and the incomplete Ragnarok only managed to crack Cocoon's outer shell. Taking pity on the people of Cocoon and knowing that Cocoon's destruction would disrupt the natural order, the goddess Etro intervened, forced Anima into a deep sleep, and crystallized Fang and Vanille before they could finish the job. The crystallized l'Cie were placed within the Pulse Vestige alongside Anima. In accordance with his plan of one day using Ragnarok to destroy Cocoon, Barthandelus brought the Vestige into Cocoon and placed it near the seaside town of Bodhum, while he sourced raw materials from Pulse to repair the damage to Cocoon's shell and make more land for people to populate. Cocoon continued to grow into a human paradise, assisted by the Cocoon fal'Cie, while the people grew up under the impression that the fal'Cie saved them from a Pulse invasion.

Final Fantasy XIII Episode Zero: Promise
Sometime before the events of Final Fantasy XIII, Barthandelus assumed the guise of Galenth Dysley and took the helm of Sanctum politics, waiting for the day when Fang and Vanille would take up Ragnarok's mantle once more.

Barthandelus awakens the sleeping Anima to reawaken Vanille and Fang from crystal stasis. After informing PSICOM of a Pulse invasion being underway, Barthandelus begins monitoring Fang and Vanille as they wander Cocoon. Realizing the Pulse l'Cie are not going to complete their Focus, he turns his attention to the newly-branded l'Cie Serah Farron, and uses her to put his plan back in motion, leading to the Purge.

Final Fantasy XIII
When a chain of events leads to Lightning, Sazh, Hope, and Snow being branded as Pulse l'Cie to destroy Cocoon, Barthandelus realizes his time has come. He marks the Cavalry leader, Cid Raines, as a l'Cie to help the Pulse l'Cie complete their Focus. Pulling strings from behind curtains, he and the other Cocoon fal'Cie secretly guide the l'Cie towards their goal: by forcing them to fight Sanctum soldiers to strengthen them and ensuring that they safely proceed through countless obstacles, namely escaping from the grips of PSICOM. After Sazh and Vanille are captured in Nautilus, Barthandelus spreads news of their impending public execution as bait to lure the other four l'Cie to him.

Lightning's group takes the bait and rushes to the airship Palamecia to save their friends. In the airship's control room, the group confronts Barthandelus in his human guise, before he absorbs Menrva and reveals his fal'Cie form. Barthandelus attacks the party and is seemingly defeated, but merely melts away and returns as Galenth Dysley, unscathed. Barthandelus gives the group an airship and sends them to the Fifth Ark resting beneath the Cocoon capital Eden to further strengthen their powers as l'Cie so they may grow strong enough to defeat Orphan.

Inside the Ark, the party finds an old Pulsian airship that takes them to Gran Pulse, where they discover the village of Oerba. They are surprised to find Serah at the end of a ruined rail-bridge, reciting the legend of Ragnarok. Serah's guise melts away to reveal Dysley, who tells the party he has set up Cid Raines as a puppet Primarch to further his goals. Barthandelus reveals his plan is to coax the Cavalry, now outraged by Raines's apparent traitorous behavior, to destroy Orphan. After fighting the party again, he leaves behind Menrva, resuming its airship form, so the group may return to Cocoon, should they wish to save its citizens.

The party reaches Edenhall at the heart of Eden where Orphan resides, only to find the Cavalry has turned into Cie'th; Barthandelus never intended them to reach Orphan and only used them as a ploy to get the l'Cie to enter Orphan's Cradle. The l'Cie still refuse to fulfill their Focus, and Barthandelus fights them in hopes of forcing their hand. Defeated, Barthandelus sinks into Orphan's pool, awakening Orphan from its rest. Orphan assimilates the shell of Barthandelus, and fights the party one last time, forcing them to defeat it, and in turn, destroy Cocoon.

Abilities
As a fal'Cie, Barthandelus possesses great magical powers, the most notable of which is the ability to shapeshift. As he is a fal'Cie, Barthandelus has the power to brand l'Cie.

During his first form, Barthandelus is nigh impossible to effectively harm unless his pauldrons are all destroyed, and each of them have their own elemental affinities. His second form uses laser-like attacks and his magic arsenal abruptly changes to one with powerful status ailment-inflicting spells. In his third and final form, Barthandelus's powers change, utilizing powerful laser attacks and Ultima.

The true level of his power remains unknown, as he only fought the party to manipulate them into following his plan; not to defeat them. In his final fight, he allows himself to be defeated so his lifeless body can be used by Orphan.

Battle
Barthandelus is fought three times, first on the bridge of the Palamecia, secondly at Oerba, and finally as the ante-penultimate boss in Orphan's Cradle.

Music
"Fighting Fate" is the boss theme against all three incarnations of Barthandelus. It references his intent to bring about Ragnarok, using the l'Cie as his tools, reciting a more than full version of it while assuming Serah's form. He adds, "Make of this day a brave epoch. Deliver the Divine, Ragnarok". In Latin, it is "Creo dies tempo fortis. Vindico divinum, Ragnarok".

Etymology
Dysley's true form, Barthandelus, is based on the Germanic literary shape-shifter that is conceived by Hans Sachs from the Greek god Proteus as described in Homer's epic, The Odyssey. He is called Baldanders in the Italian, Spanish, and Japanese versions.

Trivia

 * In Final Fantasy XIII-2, one of the possible names for chocobos when racing in Serendipity is "Barthandelus X".

Barthandelus