Babbage

Babbage {{{jpname}}}, {{{roname}}}
108 Stars Chisou Star
Gender	Male
Race	Human
Age	51 (S5)
From	Estrise, Queendom of Falena
Voice	Futamata Issei (S5)
Appears in	Suikoden V

Babbage (バベッジ, Babejji) is a supporting character in Suikoden V. Babbage is an incredibly intelligent, if eccentric, inventor obsessed with gears and clockwork mechanics.

History

Babbage is a highly talented inventor who works constantly from his workshop in Estrise. Known as the "Gear King", he is obsessed with gears and most all of his creations use them in some fashion. Over the years, he has created a wide variety of items, but his two greatest known creations are the windmills which overlook Estrise and the Revolving Bridge, dividing the East Palace from eastern Falena. He has an apprentice, Sorensen, who essentially takes care of his day-to-day needs, allowing Babbage to devote himself to his work.

Once the Sun Rune War broke out, it became clear the Revolving Bridge could only be controlled from the western side, giving a great advantage of the Godwin Faction. The Prince asked Babbage to stop the Revolving Bridge and the inventor accompanied the Prince and his group to the bridge.

Inside the inner portion of the Revolving Bridge, Babbage removed the crucial gear that kept the entire Bridge running, thus stopping the mechanism that allowed it to revolve. Back at Estrise, an impressed Prince asked Babbage to join the Imperial City Recapture Army, but instead, Babbage asked Sorensen to go with the Prince instead.

Babbage later assisted the Recapture Army once again, helping to create a mechanism to help with the destruction of Hatred Fortress. The mechanism, when placed on a Raftfleet ship, helped propel a barrel of oil on board into the fortress, starting a fire which forced the Godwin soldiers to withdraw before the fortress was destroyed by the tidal wave stemming from Ceras Lake.

After the water level at the Ceras Lake receded, a previously submerged room was discovered which contained a large gear from the Sindar civilization. Babbage was informed and so the inventor insisted on being taken to see the gears for himself. Impressed by the gears, he then worked on it for a time, which revealed a machine beside the room that could go up and down, saving time for walking up and down the stairs. After getting it to turn, Babbage joined the Recapture Army in order to study the gears further.

Following the war, Babbage returned to his workshop in Estrise, and continued his work with gears.

References

1. Genso Suikoden Kiwami Encyclopedia, pages 644-5