Garr (Breath of Fire character)

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Garr (ガーランド / Garland is his full name. This was shortend to "Garr" in the English versions due to space limitation) is a playable character from the role-playing game Breath of Fire III. Muscular and cryptic, he plays a key role in the development of the game's plot, not to mention providing ample power on the battlefield.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.


[edit] History

Garr makes his first appearance in Genmel, loitering silently in Fahl's Pub when Balio and Sunder drag Ryu and Nina in after capturing them. He does nothing to stop the kids from escaping the inebriated Fahl. The party will encounter him later in that very same town, after being recaptured near Wyndia by Sunder.

Garr is the favoured participant in the Contest of Champions, a tournament owned and operated by Balio and Sunder. Everyone in and around the arena express their optimism over Garr winning the tournament in the end, which is exactly what he does, easily knocking out Ryu in a one-on-one duel at the finale. He is so powerful, in fact, that he participates alone in rounds meant to accommodate three man teams, and still comes out unscathed. During the tournament he expresses an unsettling fascination with Ryu, and - after defeating the young dragon - he sets the group free of Balio and Sunder's clutches. The horse brothers are reluctant to agree to this settlement, but a flash of Garr's eye is enough to convince them of their folly.

After freeing Ryu, Garr tells him that he should head towards Angel Tower, in the north, if he wants to know more about the Dragon Clan. Ryu agrees to do so, and heads out with his friends; it does not take long, however, for Balio, Sunder, and their men to catch up with them and attempt a fresh kidnapping. Garr will have none of this, however, appearing in the middle of the fray and aiding Ryu in defeating Stallion, the merged form of the equine brothers. He then decides to personally accompany the party to Angel Tower (presumably because they might fail to arrive there without him).

Thus begins a lengthy journey past the boundaries of the kingdom of Wyndia, wherein Garr makes little hints at what is to come yet never quite tells Ryu what he's planning to do. The only concrete piece of information Garr provides is that Ryu may die if he goes to Angel Tower, a development that does nothing to daunt the boy.

After quite some time the party arrives at Urkan Tapa, a religious community that holds Garr in great reverence by addressing him as a 'Guardian'. A visit to the village elder, Sudama, secures Garr with a passport into the depths of Angel Tower, just a little ways to the east. The party heads there next, and, after wandering through its corridors for a while, comes upon a great, darkened room with a ziggurat at its center. Garr asks whatever other party member is left to wait outside, as he must discuss a few things with Ryu.

Ryu is left to check the four sides of the ziggurat, and each one bears the name of a Guardian, complete with a number. On the furthest side is Garr's name, and upon reading it Ryu learns the truth of Garr's existence: he is, in fact, a dragon-slayer, tasked by the Urkan God to kill every last member of the 'wicked' Dragon Clan member. The ground surrounding the ziggurat is illuminated by the spirits of the dead dragons, revealing a graveyard filled with dragon bones. Garr then attacks Ryu, saying that his mission will be complete once Ryu is dead.

Ryu proves resistant to defeat, however, and utilizing his innate dragon powers he defeats Garr. Upon his defeat Garr expresses a thought which he'd clearly had before: the Guardians were never a match for the Brood. Yet when he asks Ryu if he'll finish the job, Ryu expresses his reluctance, refusing to kill Garr. The tower then erupts with chaos and begins to crumble as Ryu transforms into a Kaiser (the ultimate form of the Light Dragon clan) dragon and flies off.

Garr makes his reappearance mere moments later, though in fact ten years have passed. He is responsible for striking down a Whelp that has been terrorizing the miners of the Dauna Mine, and upon doing so he discovers (as he'd suspected) that the Whelp is Ryu. He returns Ryu's equipment to him and expresses his profound regrets as to his actions during the war against the Dragons four hundred years prior, asking that Ryu accompany him to see his God to discover the truth behind the dragon's extermination.

After finding their way through the Mine, Ryu and Garr are faced with the malignant shadow of a Dark Dragon long dead, one that presses Ryu to kill Garr and avenge his ancestors. Ryu refuses yet again, however, and the two must fight off the spirit's resentment in the form of a skeletal dragon.

The two, after a series of side trips which reunite them with their friends from the old journey, make their way back to Urkan Tapa, where Garr expresses to elder Sudama his wish to undergo the 'stone sleep'. Sudama wishes him a good rest and allows Garr to ascend to the top of Angel Tower, where, according to Garr, all Guardians are allowed to meet with their God before returning their powers to that same God. Garr refuses to return his power there, however, and is subsequently told that his God will not meet him there. Rather, he is asked - by Deis, a naga who should be familiar to players of Breath of Fire I and II - to see Guardian Gaist, who holds the key to releasing Deis, who, in turn, can point Garr towards his God.

Garr and company then return to Sudama, who expresses his surprise at Garr's continued existence and reveals that Gaist has disappeared amongst a colony of outcasts in the nearby town of Cliff. He also pleads with Garr to not act as Gaist has, and to retain his faith in God, a trait which Gaist lacked.

The party heads to Cliff and finds Gaist there, and Garr discusses the situation to Gaist. It is revealed that Gaist lost his faith in God and fled from his sins, unlike Garr, who held reservations as to God's intentions yet continued to murder members of the dragons regardless. Gaist tests Ryu and is killed in battle by the youth, thereby freeing Deis from her imprisonment under Angel Tower. When the party meets with Deis, Garr finds himself reprimanded severely by the sorceress, although she does commend him for the fact that he has finally decided to listen to what she has to say. A flashback confirms their past relationship, wherein Deis yelled at both Garr and Gaist for killing dragons, despite the fact that the Dragons always refused to fight back.

After Deis has opened Ryu's 'prana' and allowed him to locate God, the party decides to head across the Outer Sea. Garr plays a highly repentant role from here on in, apologizing often for his actions and constantly questioning why he agreed to kill the Dragon Clan when, in fact, they did not seem to pose anybody a threat. He finds himself particularly vulnerable when the party reaches Dragnier, the refuge of the Dragon Clan, where he is forced for a short time to live amongst the very race he had slaughtered four hundred years prior. The oldest living dragon, Jono, tells Garr that he is not particularly hated amongst the Dragon Clan, and that the war was simply fate; all he really asks is that Garr take the blinders from his eyes and actually address his 'God' by her proper name, Myria.

Garr's star moment in the game comes when he actually does meet Myria, deep within her high-tech Station. He asks her first why the Dragon Clan had to be eradicated, and after learning why, he defies her wishes and tells her (while pulling out his spear) that he believes in and trusts Ryu far more than he does her. He, amongst the rest of them, then engages Myria in battle, and after she is defeated he finally undergoes the 'stone sleep', bereft as he is of her power.

[edit] Personality

Garr, as he stands in the first half of the game, is a brooding and mysterious character. He does things when he wants to, and exactly as he wishes; nobody can stand in his way when he's made his mind up. He has a penchant for terrifying those who pose problems to him, particularly Balio and Sunder, and suggests that he will casually murder anybody who gets in his way.

This Garr does stick around somewhat for the second half of the game, though his edge is greatly blunted by a previously submerged repentant nature. He is still persistent and unrelenting, though also somewhat self-conscious, and deeply remorseful; he continues to punish himself for his past actions long after the fact, and is eager to aid Ryu as much as possible. More, he believes his life to be in Ryu's hands, stating on a few occasions that Ryu has every right to kill him. His personal conflict between a rooted belief in Myria and the blind facts pursues him at every turn, and does not truly relinquish its hold on him until the very end of the game, where he acts with his old conviction.

In many cases, players see Garr as a kind of father figure to Ryu.

[edit] Skills and Powers

As a Guardian Garr is privy to a level of brute strength that few other characters in the game can know. He fights with a gigantic spear, spinning it with relative ease and striking his foes with deep-cutting thrusts. His muscle mass does come at a price, however, as it makes him bulky, and slow - the only character likely to be on par with his sluggishness is Peco.

In addition to his strength Garr utilizes fire magic, though his subpar wisdom renders these attacks relatively useless in battle. His fiery powers do benefit him, however, in providing him with a thick skin to flame attacks, making him an ideal character for areas the likes of Mt. Zublo.

Thanks to his physical might, Garr can move heavy objects around in the field, though he also has trouble getting into tight spaces.