Bartos is a minor character in Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. He is a Hell Knight and the adoptive father of Hyunckel.
Appearance[]
Like most members of his race, Bartos is a six-armed skeleton wearing a suit of armour, gloved hands and boots and a helm on his head. In combat he uses swords in each of his hands. He was coloured red in the 1991 anime adaptation like game Armfuls but was a paler white on the 2020 anime adaptation, more similar to that of a Skeleton swordsman, while other armfuls were the game colour. He wears a necklace with a star adornment given to him by Hyunckel.
His appearance in the prequel manga, Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken Yuusha Avan to Gokuen no Maou, is slighty altered, notably giving him a scar-like crack over his left eye-socket and overall making him appear taller and more imposing. For most of the time, he also wore a black cloak over most of his armor, with the hood up on his head.
Personality[]
Bartos was the rare case of a kindhearted monster during the apex of Hadlar's era where monsters ran rampant and attacked many towns, taking pity on an infant Hyunckel and raising him as his own. He was also loyal to Hadlar serving as the Dark Lord's strongest general, although his love for Hyunckel takes priority.
Bartos was an honorable fighter and proved as much during his battle with Avan. He also refused to kill women, values he passed onto Hyunckel and for whom he looked up to as the role model of any warrior.
Bartos' personality was likeable enough, that he got along without a problem with all three of the top generals, never having any sort of conflict with any of them.
When he briefly met his newly created, theoretical ally, Grandard, his disqusting personality even abhorred the noble Bartos, with the latter even beginning to questioning his loyalty towards Hadlar just after such a fleeting meeting with him, both due to such clear display of Hadlar's true character, and also the clear lack of faith from the Dark Lord's part on Bartos' ability to protect the Hell Gate.
Story[]
Bartos found baby Hyunckel
Bartos was a monster created by the Dark Lord himself from the body parts of six different master swordsmen and a member of Hadlar's army, one of its four top generals, alongside the mutant-Treeface Kigiro, Death Troll Gangadia, and the newest and weakest member of the quartet, the Lump shaman Brass.
As the strongest physical fighter of the army, he was tasked to being the guardian of the Hell Gate that led the way to Hadlar himself in the Underground Palace. During an invasion in the continent of Holkia, Bartos found an abandoned infant, and decided to adopt him and name him Hyunckel in reference to a legendary swordsman of the Underworld. Hadlar allowed it exclusively because of Bartos's rank, although Hyunckel was forbidden to ever set foot on the surface.
Bartos was a loving father to Hyunckel for many years to come, with other lesser monsters in the palace being acceptant of the human child. At some point Hyunckel made a necklace with a star adornment which he gave to Bartos as a gift. His dedication to the child even impressed Brass and would later inspire him to follow in his steps.
Avan vs Bartos
When Avan and his party stormed the castle to fight Hadlar, Bartos was alerted of the attack and decided to hide Hyunckel, telling him to not come out as he will have to fight the hero and possibly die in the combat. Bartos did his duty and fought Avan who defeated him but spared him as he noticed Bartos' necklace and realized that it was given to him by a child. Bartos explained his circumstances to Avan and requested that he raised Hyunckel in his place, as undead monsters require a source of power to sustain themselves and the fall of Hadlar would signify Bartos' own demise. Avan agreed to his request and thus Bartos granted him passage to Hadlar's chambers where Adan defeated Hadlar.
Hadlar's screams was heard on the entire castle but Bartos remained alive, he then notices a barely living Hadlar who was revived by Vearn. Hadlar told Bartos that he was going to enter a slumber to recover his strength to build his army again, but disgusted at his general for clinging to justice, decided to strike him down as worthless before leaving. Hyunckel would surface and find his father's remnants crumbling as Bartos is grateful for their time together.
Legacy[]
Bartos' death would have profound effects on Hyunckel himself, who believed Avan the hero to be the culprit. Avan would raise Hyunckel as promised and Hyunckel grew under his tutelage, although only to seize the opportunity to kill Avan in revenge. This failed and Hyunckel was left stranded and recruited by Mystvearn to serve as the Commander of the Undead Legion, seeking to destroy Avan and his legacy.
After the defeat of Crocodine, Hyunckel would be tasked with killing Avan's disciples. During his second encounter with Dai's party, Maam would find a Soul Shell containing the will of Bartos and a message explaining to Hyunckel the true circumstances behind his demise. Eventually Hyunckel would reform as a proper student of Avan and join Dai's party in fighting Vearn's Dark Army.
Abilities[]
Bartos was the strongest physical fighter in Hadlar's army, making him undoubtedly a great warrior on his own. Like other members of his race, Bartos is a skeleton swordsman who fights using all his six arms equipped with swords. He was, however, no match for Avan's own swordsmanship.
The secret of Bartos's swordsmanship abilities is shown and explained that having been created from the dead body parts of six different swordmasters slain on the battlefield by Hadlar, Bartos was able to access to all of their fighting prowess with each of his arms, which he then further improved though a rigorous training regime. He was so strong, he could easily launch slashes that left deep gashes into the very marble walls surrounding him with just the air pressure alone, and he even knew an earlier, unnamed, and less refined version of Bloody Scryde, the technique that Hyunckel would later perfected and make his own unique skill, which was nevertheless deadly enough to being able to pierce from side to side several rock walls. As a last resort, Bartos could also forgo half of his swords, therefore increasing the strength of his strikes by better focusing it on a limited number of weapons.
Gallery[]
Other languages[]
| Other languages | |
| French | Baltos |
| German | Bartos |
| Spanish | Unknown |
| Latin American Spanish | Unknown |
| Italian | Unknown |
| Dutch | Unknown |
| Norwegian | Unknown |
| Greek | Unknown |
| Portuguese | Unknown |
| Russian | Unknown |
| Chinese | Unknown |
| Korean | Unknown |