Bob Barbas

"This is Bob Barbas of the Raptor News Network. Just...doin' God's work."

- Bob Barbas

Bob Barbas is a villain in the videogame DmC: Devil May Cry. He is demonic TV news reporter and the owner of media corporation Raptor News Network and is the undisputed “King of Media”. He is one of the demons holding power and control over Limbo City and he wants Dante dead.

Human Form
In his human form, Barbas is a overweigth middle-aged man, with a terrible comb-over and wearing a crisp suit.

Demon Form
In his demon form, Barbas is a large digital head that resembles his head.

Personality
Bob is a textbook hero-hater. He seems to be a devout follower of religion and feels that he is doing "God's work" by publically intimidating and demonizing Dante and the other "terrorists" (Though the God he referred to is probably Mundus). His radical, extremist views on human morality means he will do whatever it takes to villanize Dante. Though at the beginning of the game, he is shown as a recurring gag character, he is later revealed to be a corrupt demon lord. Bob is extremely arrogant and loyal to Mundus, during boss battle constanly taunting and intimidating Dante with power of his master.

History
The first glimpses of Barbas are of his newscasts, where he often uses his show on Raptor as a soapbox to talk about his own personal beliefs, and usually to spread propaganda to the public, controlling the overall opinion Limbo City has on people like Dante and groups like The Order.

Later on in the story, Dante sets his sights on "taking Bob off the air," and makes his way through an upside-down section of the city in order to reach Bob's news tower. In this upside-down area of Limbo, Bob tortures humans who do not follow Mundus' orders in his own personal prison.

Once Dante arrives at the Raptor News Network tower, he encounters Bob Barbas' demonic form. During the battle, Dante'd "go inside" Bob and fight his way through hordes of demons that attacked him while Bob reports the incident as "violent, shocking footage" of Dante murdering innocent people, commenting on his background and making Dante seem like nothing but a violent terrorist, who even spread sexual disease.

During the battle, Bob reports that The Order is being raided by SWAT teams. This only angers Dante, while Bob taunts him that they cannot hope to defeat Mundus. At the end of the battle, Dante shoots Bob Barbas' human form, killing him after he says "you're fired", and acquiring the Aquila.

Powers and Abilities
Bob is able to control Limbo to some extent, bending reality to his desires and creating hindrances to stop Dante. Among his abilities is powerful beam of energy emitted from his tower's core that is able to disintegrate large spaces of matter and deal considerable damage to Dante as he ventures closer to Bob's lair.

Bob Barbas's true form is confronted at virtual core of his tower. During boss battle he alters reality freely, attacking Dante with electrical discharges and pixel holograms. When deprived of health, Bob can transport Dante in fake virtual broadcasts depicting him "slaughtering innocent civilians", which, in fact, are Bob's demon minions. The only way to materialize Bob and deal damage to him is to hijack his power supply channels by attacking with the weapon Eryx, which leave him temporarily vulnerable to Dante's attacks.

Trivia

 * Bob Barbas is very similar towards J. Johan Jameson. Both of them hate the main protagonist considering them as a menace to society, and making false story about the hero. However, unlike Jameson, Barbas is an outright villain working for an even greater villain.
 * Barbas' demonic form resembles a "giant, talking head," a nickname which newscasters are often called with humorous if not derogatory connotations.
 * For a time it was unknown if Bob Barbas was a human being controlled by demons or if he actually were one, but latter trailers confirmed that latter and also confirmed that the "god" he was following was actually Mundus.
 * Bob Barbas has also been compared to J. Jonah Jameson of the Spider-Man comic book series. Jameson is infamous for attempting to use fake news reports and even attempting to use fake evidence to depict Spider-Man as a menace to society, similar to how Bob attempts to portray Dante as a criminal through slanderous news reports. If this resemblance is intentional, this is not the first time that Devil May Cry has paid homage to a well known comic book character.
 * The Raptor News Network and Bob Barbas are parodies of Fox News and Bill O'Reily, respectively. During the battle against Bob, he screams Bill O'Reily's catchphrase, "we'll do it live!".
 * Bob's last name Barbas was named after the demon who is one of the 72 demons of the Ars Goetia and the Great President of Hell. He answers truly on hidden or secret information and is depicted as a lion.