“ | To me, "knowledge" is simply a "weapon" for living. 'Tis not my "goal" in life. | ” |
—Retrace LXXXVII: Starting Point |
Introduction
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Rufus Barma (ルーファス=バルマ, Ruufasu Baruma) is a supporting character from Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. The oldest living leader within the Four Great Dukedoms, he is the head of the Barma Dukedom, though he has no known heirs. Despite retaining the outward appearance he had as a young man, Rufus is well into his sixties by the time Oz Vessalius escapes from the Abyss. Of all the authority within the organization, Rufus has the greatest command of information regarding Pandora and its activities. Thus, Oz and his friends routinely visit him in hopes of gaining the knowledge to pursue their goals.
Though one of the Four Great Dukes, Rufus is considered a national to "that country," and alludes to having experienced some degree of xenophobia throughout his life. He was nonetheless educated in the country Pandora Hearts is set in, having attended the prestigious Lutwidge Academy in his teens. There he met Sheryl Rainsworth, heiress to the Rainsworth Dukedom and one of his underclassmen. Though Rufus was in love with her, he would not realize his own feelings until after Sheryl had gotten engaged. Despite being repeatedly shot down, he would remain devoted to her for the rest of his life, spending the next five decades routinely asking for her hand in marriage. Regardless they remained trusted friends for their entire lives. In their youths, the two secretly swapped their Keys to the Doors, the lifelines for each of the Great Dukedoms, to not only guarantee their loyalty to one another but also represent the promise they made. To always work in tandem as Rainsworth and Barma and never allow another Tragedy of Sablier to come to pass.
Appearance[]
Rufus appears as a young man with long crimson hair that flows down Rufus' back and over his shoulders, while his bangs are brushed towards the right side of his face and a singular thick strand, an ahoge, sticks out atop his head. Rufus' eyes are dark grey and more oblong than that of the other characters, being because his family originated from a neighboring country. To add to his foreign appearance, Rufus' complexion is also considerably more pale than that of the other characters.
Rufus most commonly wears a thick, cream-colored robe that has a black collar, which Rufus keeps buttoned shut apart from a single button to allow Rufus' white ascot to show. The inside of this robe is a dark shade of red, and the robe itself is separated in two places at the front, to allow a long rectangular strip of fabric to hang before Rufus, covering his torso. Where the twin slits that create this rectangle of fabric end near the shoulders of the robe, a black belt that has gold detailing has been attached and strands of golden string hanging from the buttons that attach the belt to the robe. As well, on the robe there are crimson symbols of unknown meaning, on the cream colored fabric. Underneath, Rufus wears a white loose-fitting shirt, black tight-fitting pants and cuffed higher-heeled shoes.
Rufus also commonly appears in a different form, that being an illusion created by Dodo. This illusion Rufus appears as a large round man with a mustache, wild eyes and comical features, coupled with a hat shaped like a teacup (which actually contains tea). When Xerxes Break reveals this form to be nothing more than an illusion, Rufus reveals himself as the man always posing as Sheryl's valet.
Personality[]
Rufus is the longest-living Duke, and is thus particularly knowledgeable and has considerably high intellect. Through his accumulation of information, he is an apt judge of character and able to predict the reactions of people whom he encounters. He is somewhat cold, heartless, shrewd, condescending, calculating and manipulative. He is self-centered, and this attribute leads him to withhold important information from the other Dukedoms, should it benefit him. He has a cynical attitude to other humans and states that he weighs their value in terms of their ability to contribute to his knowledge.
He detests the ability of people to change without his knowledge, as it renders the information he has attained obsolete. He angers Oz more often than Break does. Rufus acts as Sheryl's valet, and it is implied through the omakes that he has some romantic interest for her, although this love remains unrequited. It was later proven that in the past, Rufus and Sheryl didn't get along with one another as they mostly argued. It wasn't until Sheryl revealed her engagement to Rufus that he realized he had fallen in love with Sheryl. He was deeply saddened about Sheryl's marriage to another man and made continuous attempts to ask her for her hand in marriage. Much to his dismay, Sheryl repeated rejected his proposals. Despite this, the two became extremely close friends as shown when Rufus and Sheryl exchanged their Keys to the Abyss. Rufus visited Sheryl whenever he had the chance.
Rufus is also a pragmatist. He states that his motive for betraying Pandora and siding with the Baskervilles is to ensure the recognition and preservation of his own Dukedom. However, Rufus revealed himself to be a double agent. After discovering the truth of the Tragedy of Sablier, Rufus immediately made plans to ally with the Baskervilles while helping Oz and his friends in secret. This is due to his desire to prevent Sheryl, and Oz and his friends from getting hurt despite the risks and consequences as a result of his actions. When confronted by Oswald (who took control of Leo's body) for his motive, Rufus bluntly tells him his reason: he still wanted to marry Sheryl, much to Oswald and Vincent's amusement and shock.
Although Sheryl was still mad at him for hurting her, she forgave him and the two friends remain to be as close as ever. Through Gilbert's narration, while Rufus never married Sheryl in the end, Gilbert believed Rufus was happy with the relationship he had with her until the end.
Powers and Abilities[]
Rufus has incredible intellect that he has collected over the course of his lifetime (due to his thirst for knowledge). Rufus has also displayed varying skill in hand-to-hand combat, using his bladed fan as a weapon that he's capable of holding his own against Xerxes Break's sword with.
Chain[]
Rufus holds a Legal Contract with the Black Winged Chain protecting the Barma Door to the Abyss, Dodo. Through the use of Dodo, Rufus is capable of projecting numerous illusions of absolutely anything which Rufus desires. Apart from projecting illusions, Dodo is also capable of prying open a distortion created between Earth and the Abyss, allowing Rufus access to the Abyss if he so desires; as well as the use of dark energy as a secondary offensive weapon if the need arises. Dodo also possesses phenomenal strength and endurance, however unlike his fellow Black Winged Chains, Dodo lacks the ability of flight due to the weight of his body and the size of his wings.
Quotes[]
- "Fie upon thee. I can cause an opponent to die of shock with mine illusions. Prithee, liken our Chains not, as thy Chain is useless against humans."
- " 'Tis as thou hast just said... I desire the information that be in thy hands."
- " And who dost thou think thou art refering to as the 'Bird-Brained Duke'?"
- Pandora will soon capitulate. And if that's the case... I will follow the stronger party and save the Barma House.
- Hatter, a few days ago... I finally finished deciphering Arthur Barma's notes. What was written there was Arthur Barma's confession. So I finally learned the truth about the Tragedy of Sablier. The truth about the man we all call a "hero"!
- "Drawest thou back, useless knave."
- "Thou... dost consider it troublesome to hide thy true self after provoking me on a previous occasion, I see."
- "Fret thee not. This time alone, the information cometh unto thee for thee."
- "The Barma family once devoted itself to researching alchemy and magic in its search for knowledge."
- "Five Sealing Stones were allocated to five trusted mages... and were to have been protected by each of them into the present."
- "What sayest thou? Shall I take over thy education and teach thee a lesson anew?
- Our promise, you say? That's why I've told you, sentimentality is a weakness of yours.
- I know everything.
- Information is power!
Appearances[]
- Retrace XXI: Discord (First Appearance)
- Retrace XXIX: Rufus Barma
- Retrace XXX: Snow White Chaos
- Retrace XXXI: Countervalue of Loss
- Retrace XXXII: Snow Dome
- Retrace XXXIV: Noise of Echo (Mentioned only)
- Retrace XLI: Where am I?
- Retrace XLII: Stray
- Retrace XLIII: Crown of Clown
- Retrace XLIV: Dusty Sky*
- Retrace XLV: Queen of Hurts
- Retrace XLVI: Persona*
- Retrace XLVII: Unbirthday
- Retrace XLVIII: Isla Yura
- Retrace XLIX: Night in gale (Mentioned only)
- Retrace LI: Lily&Reim (Mentioned only)
- Retrace LIII: Humpty Dumpty Sat On A Wall*
- Retrace LVI: Rabbit Eyes (Mentioned only)
- Retrace LIX: Couldn't put Humpty together again
- Retrace LX: Egg Shell
- Retrace LXI: Demios
- Retrace LXII: Repose
- Retrace LXIII: Purpose
- Retrace LXIV: Tarantelle
- Retrace LXV: Collapse
- Retrace LXVI: Jack
- Retrace LXXII: Bloody Rabbit
- Retrace LXXIII: A note
- Retrace LXXIV: Broken Rabbit
- Retrace LXXV: Alone
- Retrace LXXVIII: Decision
- Retrace LXXIX: Falling
- Retrace LXXXI: CHILDREN
- Retrace LXXXIII: After the Rain
- Retrace LXXXIV: Trickster
- Retrace LXXXV: Reverberate*
- Retrace LXXXVI: Wager
- Retrace LXXXVII: Starting Point
- Retrace XC: Clock Tower (Mentioned only)
- Retrace XCI: Juror (Mentioned only)
- Retrace XCII: A Story (Mentioned only)
- Retrace XCIII: Abyss*
- Retrace CIV: Will (†)
- Episode 21: Snow White Chaos
- Episode 22: Countervalue of loss
- Pandora Academy (Non-Canon)
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Trivia[]
- "Rufus" is a Latin word that translates to "red" or "redheaded."
- Rufus, as exemplified by his Contract with Dodo, is based off the Dodo[1] from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.[2]
- His likes are, in order, Sheryl, knowledge, mocking and teasing others, and speaking with sarcasm. He dislikes people who cannot take a joke or are difficult to banter with.
- His skills include gathering information and intelligence. He is weak when it comes to an angry Sheryl.
- Rufus uses the archaic, overly formal first person pronoun 我 (ware), translated to English as using outdated second person forms such as 'thou.'
- The derogatory nickname "bird-brained duke" was originally "アホ公爵" (aho koushaku). Break corrects himself for propriety, switching to the marginally less offensive "bird-headed duke," in Japanese "アホ毛公爵" (ahoge koushaku). The Japanese word for cowlick, アホ毛 (ahoge) literally translates to "idiot hair," making the original line a more graceful pun.