Barbatos (DC)
Barbatos is a comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
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Biography
Barbatos was a cosmic being that was known to inhabit the universe. During the creation of the existence, there was a figure known as the World Forger charged for hammering Universes out of the fears and hopes of every living beings of the Multiverse in a place called the World Forge, a place of pure possibly deep in the dark beneath creation. For the most stable Universes, the World Forger would rise these worlds within the Orrery of Worlds while for the unstable ones, he would dispatch his dragon known as Barbatos to destroy them and return their energies back to the World Forge. However, Barbatos ends up killing his master and thus, he corrupted the World Forge. As a result, the deformed Universes that were unstable proliferated, populating the realm in which the World Forge lay with timelines that were all slightly off in their premise, resulting eventually in hell on their various iterations of Earth. Collectively, the Universes within the vicinity of the World Forge came to be referred to as the Dark Multiverse. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #4)
For centuries the Judas Tribe also known as the Court of the Owls manipuled events through history in order to prepare Batman to become the door for Barbatos. Their goals was to infect Batman with five metals from the Dark Multiverse sent by Barbatos and unleash the dark god upon Prime Earth and when they did, Barbatos was unleashed upon Prime Earth with seven Dark Knights that he handpicked to bring chaos on Earth.
In some point, Barbatos succeeded to enter Earth Prime at the dawn of man thanks to the secret efforts of the deity's worshipers and almost conquered its people but was sent back to the Dark Multiverse by Hawkman and Hawkgirl at the cost of their own lifes. However, Barbatos saw Batman falling through time by Darkseid during the Final Crisis and he saw the similarities between their emblems thus, he decided to turn Batman into the door that will allow him to enter Prime Earth again. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #1) At one point of time, Barbatos chained Mandrakk who was banished in the Dark Multiverse by Superman during the Final Crisis. (The Unexpected v3 #8)
Many centuries in the future, Barbatos' followers started to secretly prepare Batman to become the doorway for Barbatos to enter Prime Earth from the Dark Multiverse. His agents, by now known as the Court of Owls, planned to infect his body with each of the five heavy metals from the Dark Multiverse. In the meantime, Barbatos began looking for allies for his cause through the different dark matter realities. His search led him to one of the worst versions of Batman to ever exist: The Batman Who Laughs. Baiting him with the promise of destroying worlds beyond his own, this Batman became his second-in-command and assembled other evil Batmen to support them, forming the Dark Knights. (The Batman Who Laughs v1 #1)
Eventually, Batman learned of the Owls' plan, and tried to go back in time and stop Barbatos once and for all. However, Batman fell into a trap and was exposed to the final metal. Batman was transformed into the doorway which allowed Barbatos and his Dark Knights to enter from the Dark Multiverse. At this point Barbatos had his subjects kill the Court of Owls before personally draining Superman and Wonder Woman of their life force. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #2) In the Dark Multiverse, Barbatos put Batman under the illusion of being an elderly man reading a story about his adventures from his time as Batman to his granddaughter, Janet. However, Bruce noticed that his memories and the story did not match, and this allowed him to break free from the illusion. Barbatos then confronted Bruce and revealed to him that the only reason Batman had become a great hero is because he willed it, that he had shaped Bruce to became Batman and that he is nothing without him. Barbatos informed Bruce that the Dark Multiverse had created thousands of worlds built by his fears and he picked the darkest among them to be sent into the Prime Earth, and that they were winning. Faced with these revelations, Bruce begged in horror not to see or know anything more, surrendering to Barbatos. Hearing this, Barbatos sent Bruce back to the illusion and Bruce continued to read the story. (Batman: Lost v1 #1) While the Dark Knights ravage the world and sabotage the efforts of Earth 0's defenders against them, Barbatos watches the madness unfold from the summit of Challenger's Mountain. To stay appraised of his plan's progress, he would typically talk to the Batman Who Laughs for information. The next time Barbatos actually makes a move is when Batman Who Laughs calls him to aid in stopping Cyborg, who manages to access the full power of his Mother Box, becoming an unforeseen obstacle. When the captured heroes escape with Cyborg's help, Barbatos becomes concerned that Cyborg's power-up could present a real problem, but the Batman Who Laughs is sure that he will not cause any real problems. (Justice League v3 #33)
During the invasion, Barbatos mainly hung back across Challenger Mountain in Gotham. The Batman Who Laughs would periodically update him on his allies' progress. After Barbatos's defeat by the Justice League, the dark god found himself chained at the bottom of the Dark Multiverse by the Monitor, forced to watch the World Forge burn and light anew waiting the return of the World Forger.
Later, Barbatos returned to Gotham and waits until the Earth gets close to fully sinking into the Dark Multiverse. When the Batman Who Laughs gives him the signal, he begins to roar out his Anti-Music. His cry penetrates the dimensional barrier separating the positive and dark matter realities, summoning his dark army to overtake Earth. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #5) Clashing their metals together (Diana's bracelets and Kendra's mace), the two heroines succeed in helping Green Lantern, Mr. Terrific, Aquaman and Deathstroke fight back against the Dark Knights, Terrific convinces Plastic Man to awaken, turning the tide of battle. Reaching the Dark Forge, Kendra manages to break Carter out of Barbatos' corruption (reigniting the Forge in the process), Diana reaches Batman and Superman (donned in Tenth Metal, the prime constitute of the World Forge), and Barbatos is confronted by Flash and Cyborg, who have gathered reinforcements from other realities (including the "53rd Earth"). Refusing to lose, Barbatos reveals his last resort; using the combined power of the positive energy of his prisoner Over-Monitor, the Anti-Monitor's brain's negative energy, and the Batman Who Laughs' dark energy, he plans to leave nothing but darkness. However, an unexpected team-up of Batman and the Joker halts this plan, the Justice League defeat the remaining Dark Knights, and Hawkgirl subdues Barbatos. After Over-Monitor explains that all living things have trace amounts of Tenth Metal, the League proceed to use this power to pull Earth out of the Dark Multiverse (it also results in the Source Wall shattering). After the Justice League lifts their Earth out of the Dark Multiverse, Barbatos is left tied down at the bottom of the Dark Multiverse, locked in chains made from Tenth Metal by the Over-Monitor. There, he would be forced to watch the Forge of Worlds burn bright again, creating new worlds. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #6)
After Perpetua came into ascendance, her reclaimed power could be sensed across all across the Multiverse with even the captive Barbatos sensing it from within the Dark Multiverse. (Justice League v4 #35)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Barbatos was extremely aggressive, cruel, misanthropic and power-hungry, having little qualms of enslaving, butchering and ultimately destroying entire dimensions and realities. Despite his murderous impulses, Barbatos was sly, cunning, manipulative and willing to wait in order to succeed in his schemes. Barbatos loathes all form of life and happiness, wishing above all to plunge the central Multiverse into darkness, eradicating all life from it just so he can remake it in his dark image. Perhaps his biggest flaw was that he only knew one thing: destruction. In his eyes, he believed that all worlds are doomed to fall into darkness. To him, leaving the dark at all, to explore outside it, was the ultimate mortal sin.
It was Barbatos's lust for destruction that caused him to turn against his creator and usurp his control over the World Forge. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #4)
Powers and abilities
As the cosmic dragon of the World Forge, Barbatos was a being of pure destruction, capable to consume universes and is powerful enough to slay the World Forger. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #4) This meant he was a true immortal who was immune to the effects of time and aging. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #1)
Barbatos could manipulate darkness, alter his size, absorb life force, and he is practically invulnerable to everything from the positive matter reality expect Nth Metal. Furthermore, he can trap others in nightmarish visions of failure and death, transform others into their darkest selves, and create dark worlds. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #6) His scream, Anti-Music, is the wail of billion failed worlds able to pull the Earth so low in the Dark Multiverse that it could never be raised again. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #6)
Barbatos has destroyed countless unstable universes and can manipulate darkness, alter his size, absorb life force, and he is practically invulnerable to everything from the positive matter reality besides Nth Metal. In the Dark Multiverse, he can create dark worlds and resists Nth Metal, only Element X is pure enough to subdue him. Furthermore, Barbatos can trap others in nightmarish visions of failures and death, transform others into their darkest selves.
It was shown that Barbatos had the ability to corrupt others though dark metals and turn them into demon-like entities as well. (Dark Nights: Metal v1 #4)
Notes
- Barbatos was created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo where he made his first appearance in Dark Days: The Casting v1 #1 (September, 2017).
- The character's name was based on Barbatos.
- In Books of Magic v2 #5 (1994), an unrelated demonic Barbatos appeared in the issue who was a Duke of Hell.
- On DC, a blog provided some background in the comic history appearances of Barbartos.
Alternate Versions
- In Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal v1 #1 (2021), an alternate version of Barbatos appeared in a reality within the Dark Multiverse. As a hero in Gotham City, Batman trained many pupils, including Duke Thomas and Nightwing. At some point, he was cast back in time, where he caught the attention of the dark god Barbatos. Barbatos planned to use Batman as his entry point into the multiverse, and centuries later he did just that. He and his minions, such as the The Batman Who Laughs, besieged the universe using Batman. Eventually, Batman and the Justice League donned armor made of Element X to battle him, only to find that the armor was a trap placed there long ago by Barbatos. The armor destroyed the heroes, and remade them into horrible beasts. Bruce, however, was more than a mere monster, becoming a manifestation of Barbatos himself.
In other media
Video games
- In DC Universe Online, Barbatos appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game. Barbatos was a cosmic dragon created by the World Forger in order to destroy and return failed universes to the Dark Multiverse in order for their energies to be repurposed. Barbatos: The Bat God was a collection of investigations that can be found scattered across locations in the Metal Pt. II: Batscape alert and the Metal Pt. II: Into the Dark Multiverse raid as part of the Metal Part II episode.
- In DC Legends, Barbatos appeared in the setting of the mobile video game.
Appearances
- Dark Days: The Casting v1: (2017)
- Batman: Lost v1:
- Justice League v4:
- Dark Nights: Metal v1:
External Links
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