Baraqiel is the current Vice Governor General of the Fallen Angels and Grigori. He is the father of Akeno Himejima and widower of Shuri Himejima. Baraqiel is also one of Azazel's closest friends, alongside Shemhazai.
Appearance
Baraqiel has the appearance of a middle-aged, gruff-looking man with black hair, matching beard and a muscular body. Being the Vice Governor General of the Fallen Angels, Baraqiel possesses ten black wings[1].
Personality
Baraqiel has a serious, rigid warrior-type personality. Baraqiel is very protective of his daughter, Akeno, and initially hated Issei due to his misconception of him being "A Dragon that devours breasts". This also suggests that he is naive to jokes, taking them in a literal sense. He also has a masochistic side to him, the inverse of which is inherited by his daughter.
History
Originally an Angel from Fifth Heaven, Baraqiel is one of the first few Angels that fell alongside Azazel and Shemhazai, eventually becoming one of the leaders of Grigori founded by Azazel. During some time in the past, Baraqiel was injured and found by Shuri Himejima who nursed him back to health. This event caused Baraqiel to fall in love with her, eventually leading to their marriage. However, despite Shuri giving birth to his daughter, her family could not accept Baraqiel due to him being a Fallen Angel, a fact that led her to be murdered during his absence.
Plot
Birth of the Breast Dragon Emperor
He was mentioned in Volume 3 by Kokabiel and again in Volume 4 by Azazel.
The Heroic Oppai Dragon
Baraqiel makes his official appearance in Volume 7, posing as Odin's bodyguard. While talking to Akeno, he nearly attacked Issei, who was eavesdropping, due to his misconception of Issei being the "Oppai Dragon" This was because Azazel had earlier jokingly told him that Issei is "A Dragon that devours breasts". The incident, however, is resolved when Akeno interferes, saying that Baraqiel is not her father, causing the latter much grief. He later helps in the final fight against Loki where he fought the children of Fenrir but was bitten by the one of the giant wolfs while trying to protecting Akeno, he was freed from its fangs by Issei but had lost a lot blood, forcing Asia to send him her healing aura to keep him alive but yet Akeno froze in panicked from seeing her father in a near death. Issei used his Pailingual to confirm Akeno's true feelings for Baraqiel which revealed that she still loved her father deep down. Shuri then appeared before them and embraced Baraqiel and Akeno while telling her to trust her father, resulting in Akeno expressing her true feelings for her father. He and Akeno having reconciled, combine their Holy Lightning to help Issei, who was wielding the replica version of Mjolnir to defeat Loki. After battle, Baraqiel was being carried by Akeno to stand, Issei came over to assist her and cleared up his misconception of him. Baraqiel then asked Issei if he liked his daughter, he replied that he did and that she was a reliable and kind lady.
In Volume 12, Baraqiel visited the Gremory Palace to comfort his daughter when she was immensely depressed over Issei's "death", bringing her out shock, he embraced her in his arm as she cried until she's ready to fight again. He was later promoted to Vice Governor General after Azazel resigned from his post and Shemhazai became Governor General. Azazel also said that when he found out that Akeno passed her Middle-Class Promotion test, Baraqiel was happy and cried manly tears at his daughter's success.
Red Dragon Emperor of the Blazing Truth × White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star: The True Dragon(s) of the Kuoh Academy
In Volume 22, Baraqiel appeared at his daughter's graduation ceremony where he was crying so much over her success, recording the moments with his digital camera, this emotional outburst greatly embarrasses Akeno. Later Baraqiel participates in the Rating Game World Tournament with his next match is against Issei's team. He paid a visit to Hyoudou Residence to ask Akeno about her new university life. He tells Issei for them to give it their all in their upcoming Rating Game, he also asks Akeno which of the two of them she'll cheer on, to which she answers; Issei. receiving a blow to the heart, Baraqiel angrily tells Issei that he won't lose and ran off in tears.
During their Rating Game match, Baraqiel's Lightning Team initially gains the advantage when they take the lead in destroying the objects and immobilized Issei's movements. When it came to the one-on-one battle between both Kings, Baraqiel questions how far Issei has gotten with Akeno and tells him to take responsibility for it, as a father he takes the rest of the match to test if Issei is compatible enough for Akeno. His team were able to immobilize Issei but he manages to break free and activate his Diabolos Dragon armor and comes to face Baraqiel again. Issei described his erotic moments with Akeno to Baraqiel and what she means to him, Baraqiel informs Issei of how Akeno is hurt inside when he chose Rias over her and that he should consider her happiness as well, at that moment Issei confessed to Akeno and promises to make her happy, thus proposing to her on the spot. Expressing his true feelings for Akeno caused Issei to continuously boost and overpower Baraqiel, just as he was defeated, in his mind Baraqiel tells his wife Shuri that their daughter has found a good man.
In Volume 24, Baraqiel arrived at Hyoudou Residence along with the parents and guardians of the girls Issei's engaged with to discuss with his parents plans for their children's wedding ceremony. While surprised at first, the girls quickly warmed up to it and began making suggestions for each of their respected ceremonies. Akeno in particularly asked her father that she wants to wear a shiromuku for her wedding, with manly tears flowing from his eyes, Baraqiel promises to prepare the most finest clothes for her.
Red Dragon Emperor of the Blazing Truth × White Dragon Emperor of the Morning Star: The True Dragon(s) of the Kuoh Academy
Baraqiel reappeared in Issei’s dream in True Volume 2, he expresses his happiness for his daughter’s wedding ceremony and complimented on her beauty.
Powers & Abilities
Immense Strength: Baraqiel possesses Satan-class powers as a former Cadre and the current Vice-Governor General of the Grigori. By possessing God`s Holy Lightning, he can kill a High-Class Devil or injure an Ultimate-Class Devil in a single strike.
Holy Lightning (雷光, Raikō): Baraqiel's signature move, one that combines light and lightning together. Baraqiel's Holy Lightning is reputed to be number one amongst Fallen Angels in terms of damage output from a single strike. His Holy Lightning is powerful enough to kill High-Class Devils or injure Ultimate-Class ones in one strike. He has mastery over his power of Holy lighting as he has shown the ability to shape his Holy Lightning into a spear, make thunder clouds in the sky, make Holy Lightning bolts rain on his opponents, as well as fusing it into punches and kicks to allow him to fight Issei in his Crimson Armor on equal terms.
Light-Based Weapons: While not shown in the light novel, in the anime, Baraqiel has shown that he can create a light sword.
Master Hand-to-hand Combatant: Baraqiel is shown to have some skills in hand-to-hand combat, being able to hold his own against Issei. He can also combine them with his holy lighting to further increase the power of his physical attacks.
Master Tactician: Baraqiel has shown to be able to implement a genius strategy, as shown in Volume 22 where he lured Issei into a corner by manipulation, completely tricking him into not noticing his plan. This is further proven when trapping Issei was all but a feint for him to use "Castling", swapping places with Rossweisse so that Baraqiel's Queen, Armaros, could ambush her.
Flight: Being a Fallen Angel, Baraqiel can fly using his wings.
Trivia
- Baraqiel's name translates into Lightning of God, which is represented by his and Akeno's specialization in thunder and lightning magic.
- Baraqiel is the 9th leader of the 20 Watcher leaders of the 200 fallen angels in the Book of Enoch, who taught men astrology during the days of Jared or Yered.
- Baraqiel is considered to be the father of Hazael, mentioned in the 9th century BCE inscription from Tel Dan.
References
- ↑ V7, L4