Barrel (anime)

"I fused with Duo and we went on a long journey through the cosmos. I almost lost track of time. It was a wonderful experience. The universe has satisifed my curiosity. (...) Don't forget, Netto. I'm the 'Immortal Barrel'!"

- Barrel's final words to Netto Hikari

Colonel Barrel (バレル) is a character from Rockman.EXE Stream. Nicknamed ”The Immortal Barrel”, Barrel was a renowned soldier for the Ameroupean army 20 years before the start of the series. He was the operator of Colonel.EXE, a powerful secret military Navi that the Ameroupean army does acknowledge exists. In the present time, an elderly Barrel passes away early in the season, vowing to Duo.EXE that his war against him has just started as his younger self prepares to fight the alien Navi alongside Netto Hikari and his team of Cross Fusion Members, communicating to them and aiding them from the past.

Overview
Barrel has an undying and powerful sense of justice, rivaled only perhaps by Netto himself. A formidable and skilled soldier, Barrel is able to combat even machinery and viruses on his own without cross fusion, and will take immense risk to himself to assure the protection of the world, even going as far as using Spectrum to send himself as data through time to convene with the other Cross Fusion Members to fight against Duo, and even perform Cross Fusion with Duo himself to teach the alien NetNavi human compassion.

Barrel is a long time friend and colleague of Dr. Wily, seemingly unaware of what sort of person his friend would turn into later in life, and entrusted Wily with several instructions to enact when the time came, ensuring Barrel could contribute in anyway possible before his fated arrival in the present where Wily delivers to him his Synchro Chip.

Despite their short time together, Netto and Barrel share a close bond formed by Colonel often coming to Rockman's aid and Barrel mentoring Netto and aiding him from across time, as well as the two sharing their passion for justice and protecting the world from evil.

Rockman.EXE Stream
An elderly and wheelchair-bound Barrel debuts in the second episode of the season, watching as massive viruses materialized in the real world by Slur.EXE wreak havoc on the world while holding a damaged PET.

He later passes away while listening to his record player, promising Duo.EXE that his fight has only just begun. Hunter, Netto, and Enzan Ijuuin pass by his funeral while those attending fire off their guns, and Hunter explains he was a hero to Amerouope. Rockman.EXE notices Colonel's emblem on Barrel's tombstone.

Rockman.EXE: Hikari to Yami no Program

 * This film takes place between episodes 22 and 29 of Stream. Episodes 29 and beyond are summarized after this section.

TBA

Stream cont.
TBA

Trivia

 * Unlike his video game incarnation, in the present time of the anime Barrel is an elderly man that passes away early on in the series. His younger self, which looks like he does in the video games, has a large role in the anime as an ally of Netto that travels from the past to the present in the finale. Also unlike the games, Barrel was not raised by Dr. Wily, but instead the two are colleagues in the Ameroupean army in the past, and a young Dr. Wily aids him in traveling to the present to fight Duo. Because of this, he neither joins the WWW and is not the adopted sibling of Dr. Regal, that honor instead going to Yuriko Ozono.
 * Barrel’s roles in the video games is split up between him and his Beyondard counterpart in the anime. In Stream, Barrel is a colleague of Dr. Wily during their time in the Ameroupean army 20 years in the past rather than his adopted son like in the video games, but works with Netto and the Cross Fusion Members, the anime equivalent to Team ProtoMan and Colonel, to stop Dr. Regal, similar to his role in Mega Man Battle Network 5. In Beast, the Barrel of Beyondard removed Colonel’s emotion data like he did in Mega Man Battle Network 6, but this time it was to allow Colonel to battle the Zoanoroids and Cyber Beasts better, and Iris was created by the Beyondard Tadashi Hikari, not Dr. Wily.