| “ | Before we can destroy our enemies, we must find them. We must peer into every wretched hovel and every teeming market. | „ |
| ~ Baral |
Dhiren Baral, or as he more famously known as, Baral, Chief of Compliance is a blue aligned human wizard from Magic: the Gathering and a major antagonist of the Kaladesh block. A member of the consulate tasked with the elimination of mages, Baral would fervently extinguish those who could use magic of any kind and would eventually become one of Chandra Nalaar's worst enemies.
History[]
Early Life[]
Baral was an Honorable for the Consulate and was tasked with maintaining peace and stability across Kaladesh. This mainly meant arresting criminals who were stealing and smuggling aether and slaying mages who posed a threat to society. Though he thought very highly of himself and he tends to look down on others based on their skills and their attractiveness, Baral was dangerously effective at his job. While he was ordered to kill mages who could cause harm to others, Baral was secretly one himself and specialized in anti-fire magic. This made him a perfect combatant against pyromancers. While doing his duties, Baral would learn of a young girl named Chandra Nalaar who showed signs of being a ble to use fire magic. Even after the Consuls deemed his profession against the rebels too costly, Baral continued his crusade. He eventually found Chandra and her parents, would stab Kiran(Chandra's father) killing him, and burn down the village they were hiding in. Chandra was arrested and was blamed for all that happened in Baral's official report. He was about to publicly execute Chandra, but her planeswalker spark ignited, sending her to safety. This also created a fiery explosion that scarred Baral's face and made him despise the Nalaars. He was also demoted from a captain to a lieutenant. Baral's actions made Chandra believe she killed her parents for most of her life.
Kaladesh[]
Baral dissipating Chandra's fire
To make things worse, Baral captured Pia Nalaar (Chandra's Mother) and repeatedly tortured her by saying he murdered her daughter. Chandra and some of her allies Nissa Revane and Oviya Pashiri found the hidden prison Baral worked at, but they were captured in his Deadlock Trap. The three did manage to escape with Pia.
After Tezzeret became the Head Judge of the Consuls, Baral worked with him in order to confiscate artifacts from the Inventor's Fair and deal with the growing renegade threat. He was sent to face Chandra as a distraction because of the hatred the two had for each other, but Dovin Baan had to accompany him to keep him in line. They arrived at the central hub where the Chief of Compliance taunted Chandra causing her to leave her friends and they traveled to some abandoned buildings down by the river. He negated one of Chandra's fireballs and was about to catch her in his trap, but a thorn wall was created by Nissa to inhibit his plans. Being unable to face the two planeswalkers together, Baan rescued Baral in a thopter and the officer asked for some back up, but was denied since they were a distraction.
Once back on the ground, Baral and Nalaar continued their battle. Baral began tormenting his long time foe physically and mentally allowing him to kick her in her gut. He was about to have his revenge but a filigree bird arrived thanks to Pashiri causing enough of a distraction to allow Chandra to regain her footing. Through the next portion of their battle, Baral revealed to truth about Kiran's death. Chandra reached her breaking point allowing her to access her full powers at the cost of her wellbeing which was what he wanted. Nissa intervened again and managed to help Chandra calm down. Seeing the elf as a nuisance, he tried to kill her as well, but was stopped by Revane's elementals. Baral managed to escape in Dovin's thopter again, but the vedalken charged Baral with one count of murder, one count of attempted murder, one count of extrajudicial incarceration and multiple counts of falsification of the public record. He was subsequently detained afterwards.
Baral was incarcerated in a prison in the Dhund.
March of the Machine[]
Baral would eventually be freed from his imprisonment during New Phyrexia's invasion of Kaladesh, though his elation of his escape would be short lived when he was confronted by Phyrexian forces. Before he could be compleated, he was rescued by the sky pirate Kari Zev who upon learning who she saved, gave him an ultimatum of either helping her face the invaders or being sent overboard. With no other options, the two worked together to defend the plane with Kari's monkey first mate Ragavan keeping an eye on him to make sure he wouldn't betray them. His zealous defense of the plane made the Consulate willing to overlook his previous crimes. Once the invasion ended, the two became enemies once again.
Quotes[]
| “ | The echo of silence is music to my ears. | „ |
| ~ Baral |
| “ | Get out of my way. | „ |
| ~ Baral |
| “ | How easily your flames are quenched. | „ |
| ~ Baral |
| “ | We meet again, pyromancer. | „ |
| ~ Baral |
Gallery[]
.jpg "March of the Machine (1).jpg (453 KB)")
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 Villains
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Planeswalkers Phyrexians Multiversal Threats Villains by Plane Mirrodin/New Phyrexia Kamigawa Ravnica Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Alara Zendikar Innistrad Theros Tarkir Kaladesh Amonkhet Kaldheim Ikoria Arcavios Unknown | ||