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“ | All we know about our history is from the little pieces that we find for ourselves. | ” |
Bartholomew Fatima, known in the Japanese version as Barthlomei Fatima (バルトロメイ・ファティマ, barutoromei fatima), nicknamed Bart (バルト, baruto) is a playable character in Xenogears. He is the leader of a group of sand pirates who ravage the Ignas desert in their sand cruiser, the Yggdrasil.
Appearance[]
Bart has tan skin and blond hair, with long bangs on each side. The rest is tied in a long thick braid. He wears a brown eyepatch on his left eye. His remaining eye is blue, a trait of his lineage.
Bart wears a red vest with black lining on the shoulder cuffs, which fan out from his shoulders. Underneath he wears a black sleeveless turtleneck with matching pants. Two black belts tied in his white chaps in each sides, which tuck into matching white boots. He has a black cross holster on his right side, where he keeps his whips.
Personality[]
“ | They all look the same. Let's start hitting some buttons. | ” |
Bart comes off as hot-headed and rambunctious, with a tendency to act impulsively, often causing grief for his comrades in the process. He can be brutally honest, and his free spirit is rarely successfully reigned in.
Underneath his brash attitude, Bart is a kind-hearted young man who has a deep talent for leadership and an eye to survival with honor and dignity. He is loyal to anyone he calls his crew or his friends, a trait that makes him stick by Fei throughout their journey.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Born the son of Edbart Fatima IV, the 18th king of Aveh, and queen Mariel Fatima, Bart was the crown heir to the Fatima throne. He is a descendant of Rene Fatima and Roni Fatima.
When Bart was a young child, Sigurd Harcourt became his appointed Guardian and knight-in-training. What Bart did not know at the time was that Sigurd was secretly his half-brother, a child from his father's affair with Shalimar Harcourt in the Aveh province of Norn. Two years later, Sigurd disappeared, having been kidnapped and taken to Solaris.
In 9987, when Bart was six years old, Shakhan led a successful coup d'etat of the Aveh government with the help of Gebler. Wanting to know the true nature of the Fatima Jasper, Shakhan and Gebler had members of the Fatima royal family interrogated using truth serum and torture. King Edbart, Bart's father, and Great Mother Elvira, Margie's mother, killed themselves before they could be injected with truth serum, while Baron Francis, Margie's father, died from severe torture. Queen Mariel, Bart's mother, died from the shock of learning that her family had died.[1]
Bart and his cousin Margie did not escape this treatment, with Bart in particular whipped and beaten while shielding his cousin. Despite this, they were able to keep from revealing anything due to a strong hypnotism technique passed down in their family, which locked away all memories relating to the family's secret treasure for thirteen years. Until the memory block could wear off, Bart and Margie were locked away.[2]
It was a month later that they were rescued by Sigurd and Bart's retainer Maison,[3] using the vessel Yggdrasil to escape.
To try to overcome the memories of the trauma he suffered, Bart gradually learned how to use whips from Sigurd.
Eye accident[]
Bart wears an eye patch over his left eye due to an accident that happened two years before the start of Xenogears, when he was trying to aid in the repairs to the Yggdrasil. The Yggdrasil's Slave Generator went temporarily out of control after it sustained damage after a battle and caught on fire. In order to stop the generator, Bart rushed to the engine room before anyone could stop him. Sigurd saved him from greater harm, but his right eye wasn't injured in the same way. After Bart was injured, Sigurd donated the cornea of his right eye in the hopes that Bart would regain his eyesight. Sigurd's prosthetic right eye was intentionally made to be a milky white so that Bart would not know this fact. [4][5]
Bart's injured left eye is still weak, but he was able to regain a small amount of vision after rehabilitation. Although he has difficulty judging distance, his fighting ability, being his specialty with whips, has not deteriorated in the slightest, so he does not seem to mind it much. He also seems to like the eye patch as a "pirate-like fashion."[4]
Bart personally customized his Gear Brigandier, which he personally excavated himself alongside the Heimdal, to have a "patch" over the left camera.
Xenogears[]
During the game, Bart crosses paths with Fei Fong Wong, and the two ally together. Bart shows Fei his lair.
During the game, Bart defeats Shakhan and becomes the 19th king of Aveh.
He also obtains the Omnigear Andvari, which was excavated from Ft. Jasper and initially stolen by Shakhan.
After the events of the game, Bart and Margie have an arranged marriage.
Gameplay[]
He is not particularly fast, but some of his weapons can cause status ailments. He is a strong and useful player with many self-powering Ether abilities.
In battles, Bart wields a whip and often times wielding two whips in both of his hands when using each of his deathblows. In both Rhythm Shock and Bracer, Bart can be seen using both punches and kicks as part of his deathblow. When using elemental deathblows, Bart is capable of using elemental magic with the use of imaginations where he gain wings to flap his opponent with a gust of wind, creating a deadly earthquake and lastly in both Prominence and Tornado, Bart is using two punches to create a deadly surge of both fire and ice as both of his hands are raising when using both of its abilities.
In Gear battles, both Brigandier and his Omnigear, Andvari, wielding a whip. It can status down or changing elements as part of its ether magic but it does not counterattack enemies unlike Bladegash. When using one of its deathblows he can whiplash its opponent with a single or two whips.
Deathblows[]
- Head Hunter: - 4 AP
- Bart whips his opponent with a single whip then spins his whip like a rope to lasso and ensnare the opponent. He then tosses them mid-air to fall into the ground, dealing damage.
- Twin Sonic: - 5 AP
- Bart lashes his opponent with his duel whips, similar to a jumprope, and lassoes his opponent to toss them on the ground while making his thumbs-up pose.
- Rhythm Shock: - 5 AP
- Bart hits his opponent with his dual whips and tosses his opponent with a single whip in mid-air followed by two knockout punches directly to the opponent's face, dealing damage.
- Dynamic: - 6 AP
- Bart deals multiple lashes on his opponent, hitting them with elemental damage. With the last blow, he tosses his opponent in mid-air with his dual whips to deal heavy damage while striking a pose.
- Astral: - 6 AP
- Bart lashes his opponent followed by hitting with his second whip, ensnaring his opponent in a burst of yellow sparkles, forming a large projectile while he further damages his opponent with his dual whips embedded with sonic waves.
- Bracer: - 6 AP
- Bart dual whips his opponent, followed by a single whiplash, a heavy kick, and more lashes from his dual whips.
- Justice: - 6 AP
- Bart heavily slings his opponent with his dual whips multiple times.
- Angel: - Wind Elemental, 7 AP
- Bart forms large angelic wings on his back and flaps them multiple times to form a giant tornado, dealing wind damage on his opponent.
- Land Break: - Earth Elemental, 7 AP
- Bart unleashes a powerful heavy blow to make a powerful earth fissure towards his opponent, dealing heavy damage.
- Prominence: - Fire Elemental, 7 AP
- Bart's whips are embedded with fire, creating a deadly fire pillar to deal fire damage in explosion to his opponent.
- Tornado: - Water Elemental, 7 AP
- Similar to Prominence, Bart's whips are embedded with water, making a bubble crush towards his opponent to deal heavy damage.
Guest Appearances & Cameos[]
Bart was a Rare Summon in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius during their second Xenogears collaboration period.
Quotes[]
- "The people who started the war are the reason. And unless you fight to get rid of the reason, nothing will ever change. I fight to get rid of the reason."
- "Well, it was really impressive from this side, believe me!" (after firing a 'Bart-missile' at his own crew)
- "Well, if it isn't Dr. Uzuki and his... errh, very big friend." (referring to Rico)
- "Of course. I'm Bart the immortal. Whaddya trying to say...?"
- "Hey! Just wait a minute! You know I'm not gonna stand by and let you commit double suicide... if that's what you're planning! ...You better come back alive, you hear!? Promise me!! Promise me that you will come back... Then I'll let you go!!" (to Fei, as Fei leaves to rescue Elly)
Trivia[]
- Bart's name may be a reference to Bartholomew the Apostle, one of the Apostles of Jesus Christ.
- Bart's title/nickname Young Master (若様, waka-sama) is similar to Jr.'s Little Master (ちび様, chibi-sama) in Xenosaga. Like Jr., he also commands a ship (the Yggdrasil vs the Durandal). Concept sketches for E.S. Asher are labeled BALTHOLOMEI.[6]
- Bart bears some similarities to Zeke von Genbu from Xenoblade 2. Both have eyepatches, boisterous, loud personalities, a loyal sidekick, and a rocky past tied to their royal lineage.
- As part of the Challenge Mode DLC, an accessory for Zeke was added called Embercake Zeke that changes his color palette to greatly resemble Bart.
Gallery[]
- ↑ Perfect Works, pg. 186.
- ↑ Perfect Works, pg. 186 Note: UG's translation mentions 'They were locked away until the memory block should wear off', but I'm not sure if 'they' refers to memories or Bart & Margie.
- ↑ Perfect Works, pg. 32.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Perfect Works, pg 182
- ↑ Perfect Works, pg 184
- ↑ Xeno Emission E2 pg. 47 (labeled 045.jpg) https://xeno-underground.net/media_xenosaga_emissions_e2.html