(OOC: Exitting Sephiroth mode for a minute.)

I thought he was an interesting villain, to say the least. Certainly not the best villain ever, but unique for sure.

The main attractions for me are that not only was he in a position of absolute power, but he was also the one thing the people hated, WHILE being in a position of absolute power. That is awesome.

As far as his development goes, it would have been more effective if he was like Kefka, constantly harassing us. Menrva should've also been seen more, because its supposed to be Barth's eyes and ears. Not to mention Chapter 11 onward, he seems to come off like a modern-day Seymour from FFX. Its just the feeling I had, because we're basically talking about the same thing.

Some guy who's a high-in-power official who randomly has the power to rape all who passes him by. His second battle really reminded me of that, because he appears in a new form, and its much more difficult. UNLIKE Seymour, however, all of his battles can be won on the first try if you're not a complete noob and forget about the stupid nodes. And by the third battle, I'm all "So... this gonna be like the last fight of Seymour, with the elemental reels?" It wasn't, but you get the idea.

I still wish there would've been ONE battle against his human form, to show his awesomeness, but oh well. I suppose the Orphan fusion thing was kinda cool, but after that, he's gone for good. And as I expected, Orphan randomly takes up the role as the true mastermind of the game's plot. Go figure.

Barthandelus's type is a rare one. Guys who come with a specific goal in mind, and will use whatever necessary to see it completed. To him, people are just tools: tools to be used and then discarded. He's kinda cruel that way, but that's what villains need to do more of these days. So, actually, he's not that different from Emperor Mateus.

Not the best villain, but I gave him a shot, and he worked, to an extent. Certainly better than Jihl. (I'm still supporting her even in death. The villain would should've been. )