Bartz Klauser^{[1] [note 1]} (known as Batz in Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals and Butz in Japan) is the main protagonist of Final Fantasy V. A good-hearted traveler from the town of Lix, Bartz finds himself caught up in the adventure while on a journey with Boko, his chocobo. He soon becomes a Light Warrior and learns of his greater importance to the world.

Bartz is easygoing, encouraging, and enjoys being helpful to people. These traits lead him to unwittingly join Lenna Charlotte Tycoon and Galuf Halm Baldesion on their journey and become a Light Warrior himself. However, Bartz is also dim and slow to pick up on certain things, something he is mocked for by the other characters. As a Light Warrior, Bartz uses numerous skills from the various jobs that he picks up from the crystal fragments.

History[]

Before Final Fantasy V[]

Bartz was born to Dorgann Klauser, a Dawn Warrior from Galuf's world, and Stella Klauser of the village of Lix. After the Dawn Warriors defeated Exdeath, Dorgann volunteered to stay behind in Bartz's world to watch over the seal they had placed on him, as the warriors were unable to destroy Exdeath.^[2]

When Bartz was a child, Dorgann would often leave to travel the world and fight monsters,^[3] wishing to protect the crystals. Nonetheless, he wished that Stella never tell Bartz about the crystals, believing they were not "his burden to bear".^[4] Stella fell ill and died when Bartz was young, after which Bartz would travel with Dorgann. Bartz developed a fear of heights at a young age after an incident of playing hide-and-go-seek and almost falling from the roof of a two-story house.^[3]

Three years prior to the events of Final Fantasy V, Dorgann died when Bartz was seventeen^{[note 2]} and his dying wish was for Bartz to travel the world.^[5] Along the way, Bartz met Boko, who became Bartz's steadfast companion, steed, and best friend.^[6]

Final Fantasy V[]

While Bartz was exploring the Tycoon area, a meteorite fell from the sky. At the impact site, he found Princess Lenna being attacked by goblins. After helping her, the two discovered an amnesiac old man named Galuf Halm Baldesion in the meteorite's wreckage. With both Lenna and Galuf headed for the Wind Shrine, Bartz declined to join at first, choosing to continue wandering.^[7] However, Boko prodded Bartz to help Galuf and Lenna, leading to him rescuing them from goblins again after an earthquake. This time, he agreed to get them to the Wind Shrine safely, noting his father's dying wish that he travel and a subconscious feeling that "the wind is calling him", while Galuf teased that Bartz was simply attracted to Lenna.^[5]

The earthquake also opened a cave through which the party saw a ship sailing without sails and came across a pirate hideout. At Galuf's suggestion, Bartz attempted to commandeer the pirate ship, owned by pirate named Faris Scherwiz. They were caught and imprisoned. Faris, having seen Lenna's pendant, had a change of heart and joined their quest, letting them take the ship to the Wind Shrine.^[8] When the four reached the Wind Shrine, they discovered that the wind crystal had already shattered and the party met Lenna's father, King Tycoon. As the crystals imbued the four with their essence, Bartz was imbued with the essence of the wind crystal. The king declared the four of them the new Light Warriors and implored them to save the other three crystals, after which they found the powers of legendary warriors stored within the wind crystal's fragments.^[9]

While staying at Zok's house in Tule in search of a key to the Torna Canal, Bartz woke up in the middle of the night, wondering if his father would have wanted him on the quest involving the crystals, before Zok entrusted Bartz with the key.^[4] Bartz later discovered that Boko had tried to follow them, prompting him to follow and find Boko in the care of the pirates' doctor in their hideout.^[10] As their quest led them to the Ship Graveyard, Bartz and Galuf discovered that Faris was a woman in disguise, though Bartz shrugged at the discovery and did not think of her any differently. At the graveyard's coastline, Siren hypnotized Bartz with a figure of his mother to steal his soul, though Galuf saved him, Lenna, and Faris, as he could not remember the girl Siren used to try and ensnare him.^[11] The party reached the North Mountain and saved Hiryu, Lenna's wind drake. Bartz balked due to his fear of heights, but Galuf forced him onto the dragon anyway.^[12]

When Bartz and the party arrived at Castle Walse, Lenna attempted to warn the king of the water crystal's impending destruction. Bartz attempted to resolve the debate before another meteorite fell near Walse Tower and both the Walse soldiers and the Light Warriors headed there to investigate.^[13] The warriors failed to stop the water crystal from shattering and sinking the tower, but Faris's water dragon Syldra rescued them at the last minute. After investigating the Walse Meteorite, Bartz found a warp point to Karnak, where the Light Warriors were imprisoned by the town guard. In prison, Bartz met Cid Previa, the inventor of the crystal amplification machines, who had been locked up for attempting to deactivate them upon realizing their damage to the crystals. The chancellor agreed to Cid's demand to release them to help him save Queen Karnak,^[14] who was trapped in the fire-powered ship. While they saved the queen, they were unable to stop a possessed soldier from shattering the fire crystal.

Cid became depressed, leading Bartz to search for Cid's grandson, Mid Previa, at the Library of the Ancients to bring Cid to his senses.^[15] After Mid reunited with Cid, the two repaired the fire-powered ship and allowed the Light Warriors to use it. Galuf regained some of his memories after seeing Mid and Cid's relationship and informed the group that he was a Dawn Warrior from another world who had arrived after sensing that Exdeath's seal was weakening.^[16] The fire-powered ship took the Light Warriors as far as Crescent before sinking into the Catapult below, leaving them stranded on the island until they found a flying black chocobo, which Bartz could ride. The black chocobo allowed Bartz to visit his hometown of Lix, where he reminisced about his childhood, reunited with the townspeople—who were happy to see him—and met a bard who had taken residence in his old house.^[3]

Upon returning to the Library of the Ancients, Cid and Mid were unfazed about the sunken fire-powered ship, but directed the Light Warriors to follow King Tycoon. Bartz learned that Faris was Lenna's long-lost sister, Princess Sarisa.^[17] In the underwater Catapult they found an airship, which Cid and Mid retooled to follow King Tycoon to the floating Ronka Ruins in the sky. The warriors unwittingly destroyed the crystal's guardian before learning that the king was possessed and was attempting to destroy the crystal. Before they were forced to fight him, Galuf's granddaughter, Krile Mayer Baldesion, arrived on another meteorite and cast a spell on King Tycoon, freeing him, but not before the crystal was destroyed and Exdeath was released. As the king perished, he asked that Bartz protect his daughters, Lenna and Faris.^[18]

Galuf, his memory fully restored, left for his own world with Krile on her meteorite. Though Bartz insisted that they join, Galuf forbid them as the meteorite would only allow a one-way trip. Nonetheless, after Lenna and Faris talked among themselves and decided to follow Galuf, Bartz instantly agreed and described Galuf as "one of us".^[18] The three worked with Cid and Mid to muster the adamantite in the meteorites, allowing them to teleport to Galuf's world. They arrived on a deserted island and were abducted by Exdeath, locked in Castle Exdeath until Galuf came to their rescue, halting his army's siege to do so.^[19]

After their escape, the four fought Exdeath's lackey, Gilgamesh, on the Big Bridge before the castle's barrier threw them to the continent of Gloceana. Bartz apologized for failing to help, causing Galuf to jokingly berate them before expressing gratitude,^[20] later telling Bartz in Regole that their actions had accidentally saved the army from the barrier.^[21] The Light Warriors roamed the continent until they reached a Moogle Village, where the moogles communicated with a moogle in Krile's chamber in the Castle of Bal, leading to Krile picking them up on her wind drake.

The Light Warriors headed to Drakenvale in search of dragon grass to heal Krile's wind drake, Bartz confidently declaring they would be the first to head to Drakenvale and survive.^[22] On the way, they passed through the town of Quelb and met Kelger Vlondett, another Dawn Warrior, who challenged Bartz to a duel and uses a lupine attack. Recalling a technique taught to him by his father, Bartz intercepted it, impressing Kelger, as the ensuing discussion revealed that Dorgann was also one of the Dawn Warriors.^[2] The Light Warriors retrieved the dragon grass and were summoned by Sage Ghido,^[23] though Exdeath sank Ghido's island, causing the party to instead travel to the fleet led by Xezat Matias Surgate, the final Dawn Warrior. There, they helped destroy one of the barrier towers, with Xezat sacrificing himself to do so, forcing Bartz to knock Galuf unconscious to pull him away from the exploding tower.^[24]

Using Xezat's submarine, the party found Ghido's cave. Finding a turtle inside, Bartz poked it until it spoke up, revealing itself to be Sage Ghido, who mocked Bartz and directed them to the Great Forest of Moore.^[25] The Light Warriors entered the Guardian Tree within the cave, where Exdeath tricked the warriors into destroying the crystal seals. Exdeath took the crystals' power and attacked the warriors, with Krile arriving to try to stop them, but she fell to his magic too. Galuf fought Exdeath with his full strength, surviving for a time before eventually dying and passing his power onto Krile, making her a Light Warrior to take his place.^[26] The new Light Warriors rushed to Castle Exdeath and fought Gilgamesh once more, only for Exdeath to banish him for him incompetence. The Warriors confronted Exdeath, who taunted them for fighting him without even knowing his plans. After losing to the Light Warriors, Exdeath shattered the crystals.^[27]

The crystals shattering merged Bartz's and Galuf's world into the complete world and the warriors found themselves back at Castle Tycoon. The chancellor threw a grand ball for Lenna and Faris's return and Krile and Bartz both ducked out. The two found Boko, whom Krile could communicate with, learning that Boko had not only healed, but found a wife, Koko, who had eggs on the way.^[28] Riding Boko, the two traveled west, but fell into an antlion pit, where Faris rescued them, disgruntled they had left her behind. Upon finding Ghido in his cave, Ghido explained that the worlds were split a thousand years ago to seal the power of the Void and that Exdeath had merged them to obtain the power once more. Exdeath emerged and confronted them, with Ghido holding Exdeath off for some time, before Exdeath used the power of the Void to consume Castle Tycoon.^[29]

Outside the cave, Ghido founds the Library of the Ancients, where he saw that scholars from the library and from Surgate Castle had the pages to complete the Sealed Tome, which described four tablets that could be used to unlock the twelve legendary weapons that had been used to defeat Enuo, the first wielder of the Void, a thousand years ago.^[30] Bartz, Krile, and Faris passed the Guardian Tree on their way to the first tablet, wherein Krile mourned Galuf, Faris mourned Lenna, and Bartz vowed to ensure there would be no more sacrifices.^[31] After finding the first tablet in the Pyramid of Moore, they discovered Lenna who had been possessed by Melusine, a demon from the Interdimensional Rift who had allied with Exdeath. Melusine attacked them while Exdeath used the Void to consume the Library of the Ancients. Lenna's wind drake, Hiryu, saved them and forced Melusine out of her body. After Melusine's defeat, the four Light Warriors were reunited. However, upon boarding their airship with the intent of finding the other tablets, Exdeath used the Void to consume Lix and many other towns, causing Bartz to fly into a rage and push the airship to its limits, until the others calmed him down.^[32]

The Light Warriors collected the twelve legendary weapons, battling demons of the Rift sent to stop them on the way. They entered the Interdimensional Rift and fought the remaining demons. Gilgamesh helped them defeat the final demon, Necrophobe, confessing he had wished to fight Bartz one more time mano-a-mano before seemingly sacrificing himself to destroy Necrophobe. Upon confronting Exdeath, he used the Void to consume the Light Warriors, though the spirits of the Dawn Warriors and King Tycoon aided them. Though the Void transformed Exdeath into Neo Exdeath, the Light Warriors prevailed.^[33]

The crystals were reformed and the places that had been consumed by the Void were restored. Bartz returned to Lix to visit his parents' grave and later resumed his wandering lifestyle. A year later, he reunited with the other Light Warriors at the Guardian Tree, where they resolved to continue protecting the crystals.^[34]

Characteristics[]

Appearance[]

Bartz has a slim, muscular build. He has white hair in Yoshitaka Amano's artworks, with a tight-fitting shirt and trousers with various beads and sashes. In the Dissidia Final Fantasy series, his hair is pale brown.

His sprite depicts him with brown hair, wearing a blue tunic, white shirt and trousers, and sometimes a red cape. Bartz's eyes are gray or brown depending on the source. In sprite form, his eyes are blue. Officially, he is the tallest of the playable party. When he takes on different jobs, his battle sprite changes accordingly. His freelance attire later became one of his alternate costumes in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012.

Bartz's Dragoon resembles Kain Highwind's armor in Final Fantasy IV, while his Mystic Knight costume resembles the attire of Minwu from Final Fantasy II.

Personality[]

Bartz:

The old guy's pretty dead set on getting there, too... All right. I'll go with you and personally see to it that you get there safely!

Bartz:

Yeah! You know, it was my dad's dying wish that I go out and travel the world... Plus, this time, it feels like—like the wind is calling me.

Bartz's crystal represents passion, the essence of wind.^[9] Bartz is a friendly, upbeat, confident, light-hearted traveler who is enthusiastic and quick to act without dwelling for too long. He enjoys being helpful and brushes off any thanks in return, as seen both when he saves Lenna at the start of the adventure^[5] and when he follows Galuf to his world.^[21] Bartz is supportive of his friends' needs, exemplified when he supports Faris' decision to continue her pirate demeanor when her true identity is revealed^[11] and when he trusts Galuf to make his way back alone, describing him as a "tough old cuss".^[35] Bartz is levelheaded to the point of being facetious, remarking that the others are "going overboard" after putting themselves in danger.^[23] Another of Bartz's weaknesses is that he, in many conversations, comes across dim and slow to catch on, something that Sage Ghido mocks him for.^[29]

Prior to the adventure, Bartz had no further ambitions other than exploration as his father had wanted, leading to him initially rejecting Lenna's invitation to join her quest.^[7] It is his conscience (and Boko's prodding) that leads him to change his mind and join her and Galuf before becoming a Light Warrior.^[5] Consequently, Bartz is forced to mature and form a greater sense of responsibility to the world.^[4] He goes on to face threats such as Exdeath with little hesitation and is unfazed upon learning that his father was a Dawn Warrior.^[2] Exdeath's use of the Void to destroy Bartz's hometown enrages him, causing him to briefly become uncontrollably angry in a way not typical of him.^[32]

Bartz often expresses excitement through outlandish phrases, such as "creeping crawdads"^[35] and "geez-oh-pete".^[23] Though Bartz developed a fear of heights as a child,^[3] he only briefly shows it when traveling to the North Mountain early in the adventure^[36] and never again as he has no problem riding airships or flying chocobos.

Abilities[]

As a Light Warrior, Bartz has access to all of the jobs learned from the crystal fragments, which store the powers of warriors of legend.^[9] Access to these powers allows Bartz and the other Light Warriors to mix them to combinations that suit the current battle plan. Bartz later acquires the twelve legendary weapons that had previously been used to defeat the warlock Enuo one thousand years ago.^[29]

In the story of Final Fantasy V, Bartz uses a skill learned from his father Dorgann to counter Kelger's lupine attack, which Kelger notes as a rare ability.^[2] Bartz also has skill with riding chocobos, both in his bond with Boko and ability to easily ride the black chocobo upon finding it in a forest.^[37] Bartz is described as having "superhuman keyboard manipulation skill" upon learning the piano by playing it a few times.^[38]

Gameplay[]

Bartz is the most available playable character, as he is in the party at all points in the game. He has the highest raw Strength, which may benefit jobs such as Knight, Monk, or Gladiator. Being the most available party member, it may also be beneficial to train him in healing jobs, such as White Mage, Blue Mage, Red Mage, or the Chemist.

Bartz has the innate element of wind and, therefore, the Finisher ability, exclusive to the Gladiator job available in some versions of the game, will take this element.

Stats[]

Each playable character has slightly different base attributes. These differences will make characters perform slightly better at some jobs than others, although they are ultimately negligible, as jobs dramatically alter a character's stats and equipment and abilities are of higher importance. If choosing to base jobs on characters' innate stats, however, Bartz has the highest raw Strength and lowest raw Magic and thus may suit physical jobs more.

	Strength	Agility	Stamina	Magic
Base	28	25	27	25
Highest[note 3]	54	41	53	58[note 4]

Musical themes[]

Bartz's theme is generally considered to be "Home Sweet Home", which plays in his hometown of Lix. "Four Hearts" is the track representing Bartz in the "5th Anniversary Special Medley" from Final Fantasy Record Keeper.

Other appearances[]

Bartz has made appearances in the following games in the Final Fantasy series:

• Final Fantasy IV: The After Years as a mention by another character.
• Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals as a main character.
• Final Fantasy VIII as a mention by another character.
• Final Fantasy XIV as a minion, Triple Triad card and cosmetics rewards.
• Dissidia Final Fantasy as a playable character.
• Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy as a playable character.
• Dissidia Final Fantasy NT as a playable character.
• Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
• Theatrhythm Final Fantasy as a playable character.
• Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call as a playable character.
• Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival as a playable character.
• Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
• Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as summonable Legend.
• Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
• Final Fantasy All the Bravest as a playable character.
• Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
• Final Fantasy Explorers as a Trance.
• Final Fantasy World Wide Words.
• Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summonable vision.
• World of Final Fantasy as a summonable Champion.
• Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
• Triple Triad as a card.

Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances[]

Bartz has made key guest appearances in the following non-Final Fantasy games:

• Puzzle & Dragons as a playable character.
• Monster Strike as a playable character.
• Yo-kai Watch: Wibble Wobble as a playable character.
• Magic: The Gathering
• Magic: The Gathering Arena

Merchandise[]

In 1999, Kotobukiya released a small diorama with a scene of Bart and Boko in a forest as part of the Cold Cast Collection.

In 2017, Square Enix released a figurine of Bartz as part of Volume 2 of their Trading Arts Mini line.

In May 2018, Square Enix released a silver Bartz pendant with a blue gem as part of the Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary campaign. The reverse side simply reads "Final Fantasy" with a carving of a crystal. Bartz is depicted in his Dissidia Final Fantasy appearance and 3ws released alongside pendants of the other Final Fantasy protagonists.

Gallery[]

Chibi job artwork

Artwork

Other

Etymology[]

Bartz is the pet name for Bartolomäus, the German form of Bartholomew. [view · edit · purge]Bartholomew is a Hebrew name that means "son of Talmay". Talmay is a Hebrew name meaning "he of many furrows", or one who owns large tracts of land.

[view · edit · purge]Klauser is a German family name derived from the medieval given name Klaus, short for Niklaus or Nicholaus, which means "people's victory".

Bartz is an alternate Latinization of バッツ (Battsu), which was originally envisioned to be Latinized as "Butz", but was likely changed by the localization team to avoid being mispronounced as "butts". The Latinization "Butz" can be seen as early as the 1992 Japanese official strategy guide and, since then, more prominently in Final Fantasy Art Museum Trading Card Collection and Japanese versions of Dissidia titles. In the English version of Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, he is referred to as "Batz", another transliteration of his Japanese name.

Butz is an existing German surname that emerged in medieval times as one of the notable families in Austria.

In the trailer for the 2013 iOS and iPadOS port of Final Fantasy V, both the Japanese and international names are shown for Bartz: "Bartz" is shown in the in-game cutscenes and battle shots, while "Butz" appears in the part where the playable characters are presented.

In Japanese, Batsu means "punishment".

Notes[]

Annotations[]

Citations[]