Barius

Information

Barius^[1] is a baker who lives in Katolis.

Appearance

Barius is a corpulent, fair-skinned man with a round face and nose, and bushy, gray eyebrows. His chin counts four uneven beard hairs, while wrinkles form under his brown eyes as well as on his forehead. His clothes consist of a gray pullover, wine red pants that end slightly past his knees, a brown apron, and dark brown shoes. He wears a red beret on his head, which covers up his short, gray hair.

Personality

Originally, Barius appeared to be a grumpy fellow, who would be displeased whenever Ezran and Bait entered his bakery, seeing as they would cause nothing but trouble. He would scold both of them and get visibly angry.

However, Barius grew more gentle and welcoming, showing a certain kindness and understanding for the young king when approached with concerns. Seeing as he was willing to defend his kingdom, he is visibly loyal.

History

Book One - Moon

Echoes of Thunder

Barius is first seen baking a fresh batch of jelly tarts when Ezran sneaks into his kitchen to steal some. Before the prince can do so, Barius catches him and scolds him for the attempted theft, reminding him that the tarts are for paying customers. When he looks over at Bait and realizes Ezran has taken some tarts while he was distracted, he gets furious once more. This is when Bait snatches another tart with his tongue, causing Barius to chase after him and out of his bakery.

Book Two - Sky

Breaking the Seal

In a flashback told by Viren, Barius is seen greeting King Harrow in the throne room shortly before the arrival of Queens Annika and Neha of Duren.

Book Three - Sun

The Crown

Barius approaches Ezran in the morning to offer him some freshly baked jelly tarts, telling him that he may request as many as he cares for.

The Midnight Desert

Barius is removing some fresh jelly tarts from the oven, as he hears a voice calling out for him. When he realizes King Ezran is sitting behind the grate that he had fixed, he offers to break it again, which he does by pulling it. He offers the young boy some jelly tarts, which are promptly devoured by Bait. When Ezran asks him for a favor, he listens intently, promising to take care of Bait if anything were to happen to Ezran. When asked if he understands what Bait needs, he responds with suggesting infinite jelly tarts, love, and understanding. He takes Bait from Ezran and once they are alone, Barius confesses that he has always seen the Glow Toad as a kindred spirit.

Heroes and Masterminds

Along with Soren, Corvus, and Opeli, Barius is one of the few Katolians who are still loyal to Ezran following Viren’s coronation. He helps in packing food so that Ezran can have sustenance on his journey to Xadia and gives his king as well as Bait a big yet suffocating farewell hug.

The Final Battle

Barius arrives at the battlefield together with Aanya's forces, carrying a rolling pin that he uses as a weapon during the battle. He attacks the enemies using his rolling pin, as well as jelly tarts, which he throws on their faces to blind them. After the battle, Barius joins the others in witnessing Zubeia awakening from her slumber, eating a jelly tart with an awed reaction.

Relationships

Ezran

At first, Barius disliked Ezran when he was still a prince, due to him scheming to steal his jelly tarts alongside Bait. However, when Ezran ascended the throne, Barius developed a newfound respect for him and even aided Aanya's troops in battle.^[2]

Bait

Like Ezran, Barius disliked him for scheming with the young prince to steal his jelly tarts. However, Callum once caught him secretly feeding tarts to Bait, leading him to believe that he had a soft heart. After Ezran's coronation, Barius openly showed affection for the Glow Toad and even offered Bait and Ezran some complimentary jelly tarts when they came to talk to him. He even agreed to temporarily take Bait into his care when Ezran took Viren's place in a prison cell. He stated that he had always seen Bait as a kindred spirit.

Opeli

Along with Corvus and Soren, Opeli and Barius were some of the few Katolians who remained loyal to Ezran. Barius and Opeli went together to Duren to request Aanya’s support and arrived on the battlefield together with Aanya’s forces.

Corvus

Along with Opeli and Soren, Corvus and Barius were some of the few Katolians who remained loyal to Ezran. Barius and Corvus went together to Duren to request Aanya’s support and arrived on the battlefield together with Aanya’s forces.

Aanya

Along with Corvus, Opeli, and the exiled Katolian troops, Barius was one of the humans who went to the kingdom of Duren hoping to enlist the aid of Queen Aanya and her forces after Viren began his march to Xadia. Barius was seen fighting alongside her and her forces during the battle of the Storm Spire.

Skills and Abilities

Baking

As his job title suggests, Barius is an excellent baker, whose jelly tarts are known to be delicious.

Combatant

Even though he is not trained to be a soldier, Barius can use jelly tarts to blind his enemies before bashing them with a rolling pin. His physical strength is enough to deliver debilitating head injuries to even enhanced soldiers, as the enemies he attacked were seen going down without much difficulty.

Trivia

Barius's jelly tarts are based on hamantaschen.^[3]
The very first credits image of the series shows Barius feeding Bait a tart and holding a finger to his mouth to indicate that it is their secret. This image later appears in Callum's Spellbook, along with a description of Callum having witnessed this scene.