GLS Conference

To fans of the role-playing game (RPG) genre, this legacy of antiquated depictions of Blackness is perhaps best exemplified by Barret Wallace from SquareSoft’s videogame Final Fantasy VII (1997). Robust, imposing, and equipped with a literal gun for an arm; Barret was for many their first Black playable character in an RPG. Embodying much of the industry's ideas on race, Barret was in many ways a window into how Blackness operated in gaming: controllable but secondary, righteous but unhinged, and hypermasculine yet desexualized. In 2020 SquareEnix would be faced with updating Barret from the gruff Mr.T-modeled entity of the ‘90s to a modern character befitting Final Fantasy VII: Remake.

As one of few notable characters of color who have been readapted for shifting cultural expectations, Barret Wallace provides a unique character study of racial representation across gaming contexts and time. Using Barret as a subject, this poster seeks to explore three questions: How has the character changed between releases? How do these changes reflect an evolving representational context in video games and society? And, how might Barret’s current depiction serve as a lens to interpret Blackness?