Barret Wallace

Barret Wallace
Final Fantasy character
Barret Wallace artwork by Tetsuya Nomura for Final Fantasy VII.
First game	Final Fantasy VII (1997)
Created by	Tetsuya Nomura[1]
Designed by	Tetsuya Nomura[2] Dan Suzuki (Remake)[3]
Voiced by	English Beau Billingslea (2006)[4][5] John Eric Bentley (2020–present)[6][5] Japanese Masahiro Kobayashi[7][5] Masato Funaki (Rebirth)[8]
In-universe information
Weapon	Gun arm
Home	Corel

Barret Wallace (Japanese: バレット・ウォーレス, Hepburn: Baretto Wōresu) is a character in Square Enix's role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII. He was created by character designer Tetsuya Nomura, and has since appeared in the CGI film sequel, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children as well as other games and media in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series. As of Advent Children, Barret is voiced by Masahiro Kobayashi and Masato Funaki in Japanese, while Beau Billingslea and John Eric Bentley voice him in English.

Barret is first introduced in Final Fantasy VII as an eco-terrorist, leading the group AVALANCHE to bomb Mako reactors in Midgar as to avenge the losses dealt him by the megacorporation Shinra Electric Power Company, the Planet's de facto world government, who operate under the pretense of saving the Planet. Over the course of the story, Barret re-examines his efforts and focuses on pursuing the villain Sephiroth in an effort to protect the planet and the future of his adopted daughter, Marlene. Elements of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII would later expand upon his character, detailing the character's history before and after the events of the original game.

The first black playable character in the Final Fantasy series, Barret's appearance and sometimes profane speech has been compared to that of Mr. T. He is also considered to be the first true father figure in the series, for his relationship with his adoptive daughter Marlene. His character arc is also considered a deconstruction of a revenge story, as a former coal miner seeking vengeance through eco-terrorism before eventually realizing revenge is not the right motivation. The character has earned praise, but also criticism and accusations of racism by some.