Dr. Hamilcar Barcas (also called Hamical Balcus in some translations) is one of the primary antagonists of Guyver: The Bioboosted Armour. While he may appear to be an old man, he is one of the most powerful of the Twelve Zoalords, the co-founder of Cronos and its leading scientist. He makes his first appearance when the series' events shift to Relic's Point, overseeing the research and development of new Zoanoids. As the series progresses and Cronos dominates the world, Barcas tends to the organisation's larger projects concerning mass Zoanoid production and interstellar travel. Among the Zoalords, Dr. Barcas is the most dedicated to Archanfel and his ideals, being the only member of the Council of Twelve who is aware of Archanfel's lethargy condition and his sanctuary island of Silha.
Contents
History
Early background
The man who would become known as Hamilcar Barcas was once an elderly merchant and traveller over 400 years before the events of the Guyver series. This old man, knowing his time upon the Earth was growing short, wanted to explore the New World in the time he had left. During his voyage across the ocean, however, his ship met with disaster as it was caught in a violent storm. Miraculously, the old man survived and found himself washed up on the shores of a mysterious island. Apparently, no one else from his vessel had survived.
The old merchant explored the lush, beautiful island to find that its jungles were home to extraordinary creatures: ancient beasts, including towering brachiosaurs, believed to have been extinct for millennia. Perhaps most strange of all was a lagoon inhabited by what appeared to be mermaids. Shocked and terrified by these incredible creatures, the old man tried to flee. As he ran, he came across an ancient structure apparently built by human hands, a temple of sorts relatively untouched by the passage of time. As though mesmerised, the old man entered the temple, and within he found yet another unbelievable sight: a young man, nude and encased within what could best be described as a womb, suspended in fluid and in a deep sleep... or so it appeared. The figure within the amniotic bubble stirred and the old man found himself inexplicably in awe of this person, bowing before him and pledging his service to him. Archanfel awoke and emerged from his "womb", appointing the old man as his servant and blessed him with a red crystal that bestowed great power upon him, enhancing his mental prowess and halting his ageing process.
Shortly after recieving Archanfel's blessing, Hamilcar Barcas informed his new lord of how the world had developed while he had slept. He was then tasked with seeking out ten other individuals like himself and granting them similar power that he now possessed. This was the first step towards the establishment of a new society that would bring about the final evolution of the human race and fulfill their original purpose as intended by the Creators. The full details behind the recruitment of the other Zoalords is unknown, but over the next 400 years Barcas and his chosen ones would discretely infiltrate society and manipulate it from the shadows to suit the will of Archanfel, and thus the secret organisation of Cronos would be established.
Modern era
By the modern period, Cronos was operating on a worldwide scale and had amassed great wealth and resources to proceed with the mass-production of the Zoanoids. Dr. Barcas himself tended to Cronos' more delicate research projects in different areas of the globe, such as the study of the Creator relic located beneath Cronos Headquarters in Arizona, the optimization of the final Zoalord and later the study of another Creator ship discovered in Japan. It was during the establishment of Relic's Point that Barcas commenced research on the Hyper-Zoanoids, the elite Zoanoids that would serve as field commanders for their armies in the coming conflict.
It was during Cronos' study of the relic beneath Mount Minakami that the three Guyver units were discovered, which would cause no end of trouble for the organisation in the not-too-distant future. The units were shipped to the Cronos Japan branch for further study, but shortly after they would be stolen by a wayward Zoanoid test subject and would be lost forever when all three units were found and activated. Cronos Japan's efforts to capture Sho Fukamachi - Guyver-I - all ended in failure and the Japan branch would later be destroyed completely thanks to the combined efforts of Guyver-I and the then-unknown Guyver-III.
With the downfall of Cronos Japan, Dr. Barcas stepped up to take charge of the Guyver situation himself. Working with the Japan branch's surviving commander Richard Guyot, Barcas mobilised the Lost Number Commandos and the Hyper-Zoanoid Team Five to attack Sho Fukamachi and his friends and family. Thanks to Guyot, they had also determined the identity of Guyver-III: Agito Makishima, one of Cronos' own candidates for future leadership.
Though Guyver-I was able to rescue his friends Tetsuro and Mizuki Segawa from Relic's Point, his father - Fumio Fukamachi - was captured. Dr. Barcas decided to use Sho's father against him by turning him into a deadly anti-Guyver Zoanoid: Enzyme II. When Sho attempted to rescue his father, Barcas let him believe he had succeeded then used his Zoalord telepathy to take control of Fumio, who transformed before Sho's eyes and attacked him. The plan did not quite go as expected; though Enzyme II succeeded in ripping out the Guyver's brain, the bio-booster continued to function without its user's guidance and fought back without restraint. The Guyver soon after regenerated and Sho regained consciousness, but to his horror he discovered that the out-of-control Guyver had killed his father. This would also work to Dr. Barcas' advantage since Sho became so traumatised by the shock of killing his own father, he became unable to bio-boost for a time.
Sho's inability to bio-boost was only temporary, however, and Dr. Barcas soon faced multiple problems at once. Not only had Sho been able to reactivate the Guyver, but the over-optimized Lost Number Aptom had gone rogue and was attacking the personnel of Relic's Point, consuming Zoanoids and gaining their forms and powers. Even the Hyper-Zoanoid Team Five fell prey to Aptom, and worst of all Richard Guyot had turned traitor and was planning to use a Unit Remover to sever a Guyver from its host and take its power for himself. Guyot's ambition even caught the attention of Archanfel himself and a fierce battle erupted between the two Zoalords within Relic's Point itself. At the same time that this battle was taking place, the Guyvers were being sheltered by a team of Cronos researchers plotting to bring down the organisation from within. The Guyvers were able to gain access to the ancient Creator ship located in the bowel's of the base and had found a way to reactivate it.
Dr. Barcas was later greeted by the other Zoalords who had answered his summons when Relic's Point fell into disarray. Thanks to Guyot's quasi-black hole and the take-off of the relic, Relic's Point had been destroyed and the ship was about to fall into the hands of the Guyvers who would surely use it to destroy Cronos completely. However, Archanfel had survived his duel with Guyot and the Zoalords rallied to him and used their combined power to destroy the ship completely. However, Sho Fukamachi - who was in control of the ship - had willed it to send his friends far away to safety while he himself was seemingly destroyed along with the relic.
New world order
Days after the fall of Relic's Point, Cronos enacted its X-Day plan and conquered the world. In the months following the establishment of the new world government, Dr. Barcas was left to oversee Cronos' management and the continued production and refinement of new Zoanoids. He spent much time operating out of Cronos' Dead Sea Plant, leading the development of the organic starship known as the Ark. Before the emergence of the Guyver Gigantic, Barcas also dedicated much of his time to re-optimizing ZX-Tole, the last surviving member of Team Five. Knowing that Aptom was still alive, Dr. Barcas wished to be prepared for when the rogue Lost Number resurfaced, and so had ZX-Tole re-developed specifically to counter Aptom and destroy him.
Much to the horror of Barcas and the rest of the Zoalords, not only did ZX-Tole fail to kill Aptom but was also destroyed while fighting against Guyver-I, who had returned as the Guyver Gigantic. With Guyver-I and his rebellion continuing to cause trouble in Japan, Dr. Barcas has been forced to see to the threat posed by Agito Makishima and his own resistance movement, Zeus' Thunderbolt. In a daring move, Guyver-III, who could also equip the Gigantic, attacked Cronos HQ in Arizona and fought directly against Dr. Barcas and the Zoalords Waferdanos and Li Yentsui. Yentsui and Waferdanos both perished and Cronos HQ was destroyed, but Dr. Barcas survived the encounter.
Personality
Dr. Barcas is learned and wise, yet tirelessly continues to build upon his already extensive knowledge. He is constantly experimenting with Zoanoid optimization procedures and has achieved numerous breakthroughs in Zoanoid development, only to quickly work toward exceeding his previous triumphs. As a man of science, Dr. Barcas continuously strives to surpass himself and is confident in his belief that no one on Earth can match his genius.
More than the progress of science, Barcas is utterly dedicated to Archanfel and the ideals of Cronos. He revers Archanfel like a god and serves him as his most trusted follower, but Archanfel's increasingly long periods of dormancy have recently caused the doctor and the other Zoalords to question their faith in him.
Zoalord data
Dr. Barcas is supposedly the most powerful of all the Zoalords, second only to Archanfel. All of the other Zoalords look up to Barcas as a friend and guide, sometimes referring to him as "Old Man Bal" or "Barcas the Elder". He is perhaps the greatest scientist in the history of mankind, having conducted near constant research on Zoanoid development for decades.
As a Zoalord, Dr. Barcas wields incredible psychic powers granted him by the zoacrystal embedded in his forehead. The full extent of his power is still unknown, but he has displayed the ability to fly, project blasts of energy and conjure telekinetic shields. It seems that his body hasn't aged at all ever since he acquired the zoacrystal. Dr. Barcas is capable of telepathically controlling all Zoanoids within a ten kilometre radius without suffering any kind of stress or ill effects. He has not yet displayed a Zoalord battle-form, though it is almost certain that he does have one. What abilities his battle-form is capable of remain a mystery.
