Barbata

Barbata
Debut
First appearance	Volume 10, Chapter 72
Status	Inactive (Prayed Away)
Current Location	Moon
Personal
Race	Lunarian
Age	Unknown (about as old as Aechmea)
Professional
Occupation	Tech Supervisor Supervisor of Gem Restoration (formerly)
Teammate	Amethyst 84

Barbata is the lead scientist of the Lunarians, known as the "tech supervisor" to Aechmea. He's seen first running the Gem restoration project, and later teaching the Gems on the Moon about science. He has a great love for the culinary arts, which Aechmea uses to motivate him.

Appearance

Barbata has a generally relaxed and casual appearance. He is tall and thin. His hair is disheveled, messy and short, and he has a goatee. His eyes are much narrower than most other Lunarians seen.

He generally wears more loose fitting, baggy clothing, and is usually seen in an oversized lab coat similar to the one Rutile wears.

Personality

Barbata seems to be a relaxed individual that prefers to enjoy taking things at his own pace, but is often forced into doing other things. He is incredibly observant and critical, the only one displaying distress over the Gems' wishes to become nothing and / or Lunarians. He also seems empathetic and friendly, giving out high fives to Phos and treating the Gems in a more favourable way than most Lunarians. Nonetheless, he can be a bit awkward at times, especially while he was first meeting the Gems. However, it seems he was not always this outwardly open and empathetic. As a resident of the Khumela region, Barbata was deemed as in the lowest rungs of society in terms of morality. It is likely he grew as a person during the many years he was stuck as a Lunarian.

He is incredibly intelligent, figuring out possibilities about Gem restoration and technical details. He also has a great passion for the culinary arts, especially baking, preferring it to his technical work. He is also quite good at it and is known for his excellent skill on the Moon. He bonds with Alexandrite over this. While he seems to be known for it, the skill seems to be considered a hobby by Aechmea, as Barbata's job as tech supervisor takes precedent over his culinary. Aechmea uses this fact to persuade Barbata to agree to teach the Gems science by possibly allowing permission to Barbata to bake.

Character Profiles

Vol 12:

• Researcher.

Story

After becoming sick of their own existence and wishing for inner peace, the Lunarians turn to Kongō in order to become nothingness. A long line of Lunarians wishing to become nothingness forms, but out of concern that Kongō will break before everyone good has become nothingness, a caste system based on morality was instituted. The most moral Lunarians would become nothingness first and the worst of the worst would be last. Barbata, among many other Lunarians, was deemed to be in the lowest rungs of society, and was cast into a crater known as the Khumela region to wait until it was their turn to become nothingness. However, the crater quickly became a battlefield as the Lunarians tore each-other apart endlessly only to reform the next day. When the top officials finally visited the Khumela region, they were terrified by the sight of the torn apart Lunarians and ran away, leaving only one supervisor, Yama. Yama politely asks the residents of the crater what they needed. Afterwards, Yama was appointed as the Chief of Khumela, gaining the nickname "Yama Khumela" in the process, leading to the shortening of his name becoming Aechmea. He developed the area of Khumela and ensured that it would not become the chaos that it was before again. However, eventually Kongo broke, meaning that the residents of Khumela, including Barbata, and Yama were left behind.

Prayer Arc

Barbata is introduced after he requests to meet with Phosphophyllite about the matter of restoring Gems from dust. He informs them about how well the project is going and shows them the progress the inclusions of Red Diamond have made. However, he also informs Phos that it is currently impossible to restore the Gems with their memories intact. He also gives Phos the unfortunate news that, in order to restore the Gems, the Lunarians will have to murder all the Admirabilis due to the powder of the destroyed Gems having been incorporated into their shells. He leaves Phos to consider the decision, but promises he will do his best to find a solution without violence involved.

He is tasked with baking and cooking food for the wedding between Aechmea and Cairngorm, and ends up also making food accessible for the Gems to eat. Later, after Cairngorm accidentally blows up a lab, Aechmea persuades Barbata into becoming their science teacher with the promise that Barbata will be able to cook as much as he wants.

After Phos fails to make Sensei pray, Barbata cooks for Aechmea and the Gems and is present for dinner. When he learns of Phos' fate he asks Aechmea whether he plans on recovering Phos. He is then assigned to be the science teacher of Alexandrite, Benitoite and Amethyst 84 as well as Cairngorm.

Invasion Arc

Barbata overhears Cairngorm, Diamond and Amethyst 84 discussing being turned into Lunarians while working. He stops them out of concern, but encourages Amethyst 84 to look for a similar solution, before realising that he would need permission from Aechmea. Amethyst entrusts the task of persuading Aechmea to Cairngorm.

Barbata is attacked by Phos after repairing them

He is later woken up by an awakened Phos forcing Sensei into praying. He decides to cook one last thing before turning into nothingness and asks Amethyst 84 to help him. When Phos fails to make Sensei finish praying once again, he joins the others to greet Phos at the landing pad. He is frightened by the mentally unstable Phos threatening him and the others, but agrees to repair Phos after they are destroyed by Cairngorm's pet. Phos wakes up in the midst of being repaired and attacks Barbata and his assistant, escaping to meet with Aechmea. Once Barbata reforms, he is assembled alongside the other Moon Gems to meet Phos over the matter of who will come with them to Earth. He seems relieved to learn that Amethyst 84 will not be dragged into Phos' plans of invading Earth and nods along in agreement with their reasoning.

Barbata is brought over with Amethyst to investigate the ice containing Gem memories. He is then forced to explain the nature of the ice floes, and the origins of the Khumela region to Amethyst and Cairngorm in front of Aechmea. He explains how Aechmea became the prince and mentions his old name "Ema", but is corrected by Aechmea, who explains that his real name is "Yama" not "Ema", before disappearing to go to Earth.

Once the Lunarians return with the shattered pieces of the Earth Gems, Barbata accompanies Amethyst 84 as they announce the completion of the Gem-to-Lunarian-Transformation Machine. He prevents Amethyst from being the first test subject out of concern and is surprised by Goshenite's willingness to become the first test subject. When the test run is successful, Barbata supervises as the old Gems are brought back as Lunarians, a final solution to the Gem Restoration Project. He takes care to make sure Antarcticite is the last to be converted into a Lunarian in order to make sure they aren't lonely with Sensei, who was also restored.

Quotes

• "He's brilliant but unfortunately, he's perfect at everything. Plus he looks good, so he's made to do the most bothersome job of all- politics. Therefore, those like me who are only good at one thing have a chance to work in cases like these." - Barbata, about Aechmea and his own job.

• "Barbata actually prefers the kitchen over the lab, and can cook at least as good as a pro." - Cicada, about Barbata's cooking.

• "That's a disturbing conversation you're having. I'm not interested in turning my excellent students into lab experiments," - Barbata, on the matter of the Gems becoming Lunarians.

• "So we weren't completely abandoned. Right, Chief Ema?" - Barbata, about Aechmea not abandoning the Khumela region.

Relationships

Aechmea

As the "Yama Khumela" who refused to abandon the residents of the Khumela region, Barbata is undoubtedly somewhat grateful to Aechmea. In his first meeting with Phosphophyllite, Barbata praises Aechmea's extensive talent and even seems to pity Aechmea due to the pressures he faces as a politician. Nevertheless, he otherwise rarely expresses his gratitude, seemingly considering the relationship to that of an employee and a boss, rather than being "friends that can rely on eachother" like how Aechmea describes their relationship to Diamond. Despite claiming to have no outright feelings of like or dislike for Aechmea, Barbata appears unhappy to hear that Aechmea considers him a friend. At one point, he mentions to Amethyst 84 that attempting to convince Aechmea of anything is a harder process than that of Gems becoming Lunarians. Sometimes, he also seems to find the relationship between Aechmea and Cairngorm somewhat uncomfortable, mentioning that he isn't into the "same things" as Aechmea when suspected by the latter, and making a face of discomfort when the two show public displays of affection for each-other. Later, he even later manages to mispronounce Aechmea's original name, Yama, as "Ema".

Phosphophyllite

Despite being slightly put off by Phosphophyllite's personality quirks, Barbata admits to being grateful towards them for creating work for him after years of boredom. He seems to regret placing the decision of whether to kill the Admirabilis on their shoulders, and earnestly promises that he will do the best he can to find an alternate solution. When Barbata hears of Phos' destruction on Earth, he is the first to ask whether Aechmea intends to recover Phos, even in a room of Phos' old friends. As a result of Phos' destruction, the Gem restoration process is cancelled.

While already not particularly close, their relationship only deteriorates when, 220 years later, a mentally unstable Phos threatens Barbata among others to not get in the way of their plan to crush all Gems into dust. He is tasked with repairing Phos by Aechmea, but is attacked by them as they awaken. He appears to be frightned of the new Phos' violent tendencies and sweats profusely in their presence. He attends a meeting between Phos and the Moon Gems as they tries to convince the other Gems to invade Earth with them, and seems satisfied when Phos fails to threaten Amethyst into joining them.

Amethyst 84

Amethyst 84 appears to be Barbata's best student out of the Gems that chose to study under him, and has followed science as their career on their Moon. The two seem close, with Barbata acting as a sort of mentor figure, encouraging Amethyst to pursue their interests but preventing them from going too far (such as when they wanted to experiment on themselves to turn themselves into a Lunarian). Amethyst refers to him respectfully as "sir". He seemed satisfied to see Phos fail to convince Amethyst to join them in their invasion of Earth.

Trivia

• Barbata from Latin means "bearded", which is possibly referenced in the character's design of the only one with facial hair.
• Barbata is also a term used for several plants, such as chloris barbata (a grass) to tinnea barbata (a purple flowering plant). It's unclear as to which of these plants the character is a reference to.
• In the art book that came with Volume 10, Freedom, Barbata is depicted as having brown hair. It is unknown whether this is canonical to his appearance in the manga.

Gallery

Barbata high-fiving Phos

Barbata's introduction

Barbata's attire

Barbata's side profile

Barbata being interrupted

Barbata being bribed

Barbata displaying awareness

Barbata as he appears in the art book "Freedom"