Hannibal Barca
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— Hannibal Barca to Maharbal (Godzilla: Rage Across Time #4) |
Hannibal was a Carthaginian general and statesman of ancient Carthage who waged war in Italy against the Roman Republic from 218 to 202 BC. He appears as the protagonist of IDW Publishing's 2016 comic Godzilla: Rage Across Time #4 under the name Hannibal Barca, encountering Godzilla while crossing the Alps and exploiting the monster's power to clear a path to Rome.
Name
"Hannibal" is derived from the masculine name "Hanno" and "Baal", a major Canaanite god. Possible translations include "one who is gracious" or "grace of Baal." He is inaccurately given the surname Barca in Godzilla: Rage Across Time #4, likely on the assumption that he would have inherited it from his father, Hamilcar Barca. The fictionalized Hannibal also calls his father "Himilco", the name of a Carthaginian navigator who predated him by several centuries. Hannibal's native Punic name is “𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋" and the romanized spelling of his name is "Ḥanībaʿl."
Design
Hannibal is an aged but non-elderly man from Africa, fit and standard in physique. He possesses a long rugged scalp and a full set of facial hair. Hannibal wears a tunic with a blue top and a red bottom, heavily concealed in battle armor and a fur cloak. He dons a scale armor chest plate that covers his torso and shoulders. His lower arms are protected by copper-colored metal armbands, and he wears similar leg-bands on his lower legs that cover the front of his calves and knees. Hannibal's footwear appears to have the same armor covering as his limbs, and he is seen in battle with bronze flat, pronounced pauldrons. On his right side, Hannibal wears a tan shaggy shoulder cloak with a large disk-like clip that matches his metal adornments in color, and on his ear lobes are red circular earrings. Most prominently, Hannibal wears a metal mask that covers part of his face, concealing a massive eye scar that stretches from just below his hairline to his cheekbone. The mask is designed with an eye and an eyebrow as well as five circular extensions at the top, giving Hannibal a complete "face" and a tiara of sorts to reflect his status as a statesman and commander-in-chief.
Personality
Hannibal is an immensely stubborn and persistent leader, relentlessly bent on the goal of defeating Rome. Given his history, Hannibal has amassed a lot of enemies, some of which he unknowingly employed during his conquest on Rome. Though he is unhealthily determined to fulfill his ambition, Hannibal was reasonable enough to let his forces rest when one of the mercenary commanders complained to him. Moreover, Hannibal proves to be a highly resourceful and unorthodox tactician, drawing inspiration from a childhood experience involving ants when leading his attacks on Godzilla as well as exploiting the monster's travels to cleave the passageway through the otherwise unconquerable Alps. Ultimately, he was cunning enough to devise and execute a plan that successfully buried Godzilla beneath rubble and allow him to finally reach a Roman city.
History
- Godzilla: Rage Across Time #4 (2016)
Godzilla: Rage Across Time
"Classic Rome"
In 218 BC, Hannibal and his army marched south through the Alps towards Rome while being pursued by Roman forces. There they narrowly survived an encounter with Godzilla. When the Romans came upon his abandoned camp, Hannibal watched from shadows as some of his unfortunate elephants charged into the unsuspecting soldiers while enveloped in blue fire, setting many of the Roman troops ablaze in the process. Godzilla stood up and roared into the darkness while Hannibal was approached by his friend and second-in-command, Maharbal. Believing he has survived the monster because he hadn't conquered Rome yet, Hannibal regaled Maharbal with a childhood experience about a colony of Siafu ants that managed to agitate a rhino into causing much destruction to a village. He hoped to do the same with Godzilla to clear a passage through the Alps, attacking Rome from its unprotected north side.
When Godzilla went back on the move the next morning, Hannibal and some of his men chased the monster on their fastest horses. Hannibal climbed onto Godzilla's tail using a grappling hook and plunged his sword down, only for it to shatter on impact. Falling off the monster's tail and fleeing for the life, Hannibal escaped as a blast of atomic breath annihilated the men and horses that went with him. Returning to the rest of his army, Hannibal ordered the disparate mercenary groups he hired to accumulate and follow his path along the river. Hannibal planned to attack Godzilla the same as the Siafu ants do—"as an unbreakable column." Eventually faced with complaints from the mercenary commanders under his employment, Hannibal permitted the army to rest. That night, his forces were ambushed by a Celtic army who he had defeated many times in the past. Godzilla quickly cut the fighting short with a roar and blast of atomic breath, with Hannibal narrowly surviving by taking cover behind a shield. Hannibal angrily looked on at the roaring Godzilla when Maharbal approached him with news about a ravine where they could take refuge. Right as his followers decided to give up and drink away in their seeming final moments, Hannibal barged in on the men with a plan, declaring that he had found their northern passageway. Under his orders, Hannibal's men boiled their supply of wine to make vinegar and brought them to the ravines. Meanwhile, they prepared a catapult with a mass of the dead, tarred and ready for Hannibal to fire. Lighting the bodies aflame and firing the catapult at Godzilla's head, Hannibal happily lead the enraged King of the Monsters to the ravines, barely dodging his attacks in the process. When Hannibal was cornered by the monster, his men rained flaming arrows down on Godzilla's flank, which merited a blast of atomic breath in response. On his command, the soldiers cut loose the vinegar barrels to fall on the flaming stone, creating a massive explosion that brought down the cavern ceiling on top of Godzilla, burying him beneath rubble. Triumphant, Hannibal lead his surviving forces out of the Alps at last, though Maharbal warned him of the cost of their journey through the mountains. As Hannibal sounded his battle horn, a blast of atomic breath cut through the sky before the terrified eyes of the citizens of the nearby Roman city.
Abilities
Physical abilities
Hannibal is a strong, capable individual, succeeding in climbing onto Godzilla's tail while the monster was on the move before striking his sword against Godzilla's hide hard enough to shatter it. Hannibal proved agile enough to maneuver around and evade from some of Godzilla's physical attacks when he aggravated the monster into pursuing him to a ravine. Hannibal is highly resilient, leading his forces through the Alps without tiring from the harsh travels as easily as them. Thanks to his battle armor, Hannibal possessed extra protection when he found himself in close proximity to a blast of atomic breath that disintegrated enemy troops down to the bones.
Swords
Hannibal utilizes two swords, though he uses them one at a time. He drew his first sword in an attempt to pierce Godzilla's hide, only for it to shatter upon impact. Hannibal first used his second sword to defend himself during a Celtic ambushed, later using it to cut the restraining rope of the catapult he used to gain Godzilla's attention. He lost the blade while fleeing from the monster's ensuing attacks.
Shield
Hannibal possesses a shield that he used when Celts attacked his army, blocking an enemy's blade before having to protect himself from a blast of atomic breath as Godzilla intervened in the battle.
Grappling hook
Hannibal wielded a grappling hook when he and his fastest horses pursued Godzilla, successfully managing to hook onto the monster's tail before swinging down onto the dorsal side to make his attack.
Gallery
Trivia
- Godzilla: Rage Across Time #4 depicts Hannibal as having already lost his right eye in 218 BC. In reality, however, he would not lose it until the following year, when he marched through the Arno marshes in eastern Italy and contracted conjunctivitis.
External links
Comments
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