Lutheran Barnett

"You say you don’t fear opposing the entire world as your enemy? Mighty arrogant of you, Shadow!"

- Lutheran to Shadow

Lutheran Barnett (ルスラン・バーネット) was the Assistant Principal of Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy and Sherry's adoptive father. In truth, he was the former 12th Seat Knight of Rounds of the Cult of Diablos who sought to reclaim his position by any means, including orchestrating a terrorist attack on the Academy and the royal capital to frame Shadow Garden, under the alias 'Sir Gaunt' (痩騎士), with the goal of acquiring the Eye of Avarice to cure his terminal illness, only to be thwarted and killed by Shadow.

Appearance
Lutheran was a middle-aged man. He had black slicked-back hair with grey streaks. In the light novel, he has a beard.

In his guise as "Sir Gaunt", he hides his face with a mask and dressed jet-black cloaks on the novel and manga. While in the anime, he wears a full suit of menacing-looking dark plate armor with a red cape that conceals his identity and voice.

Personality
"That’s why I had to kill her. I started stabbing her from her extremities inward, until I impaled her heart and twisted my blade."

- Lutheran reveals his true nature when he explains how he killed Lukreia to Cid Kagenō

While Lutheran was viewed as a humble and kind man in the public with a close relationship with his adopted daughter, Sherry, who he always tried to support her activities and encourage social interactions, this was all a façade to cover up his true nature, as the real Lutheran was a heartless power-hungry yet pitiful person.

Having been the 12th Seat Knight of Rounds in his peak before he was demoted due to his illness, he was completely obsessed with regaining his former glory. He is also highly manipulative as he used Sherry and her late mother as means to achieve his goals. He even expressed his pride in having killed Sherry's mother, making him a true psychopath which even disgusted Cid to the point that he called his action "unpleasant".

Despite his malicious and selfish side, Lutheran retained a bit of honor and respect for the handling of the sword; and that of the others since when he was in front of Shadow, he confessed that he must understand that just like others, when one goes the way of the sword, they cannot stop. When he obtained that sensation of power and glory, this lead Lutheran to do anything to recover his glory regardless of who he manipulates or kills, selfishly and sadistically.

Powers & Abilities
Despite his demotion as the former 12th Seat of the Knights of Rounds, Lutheran still possessed least amount of influence within the Cult of Diablos and still considered one of the organization's most powerful top executives. However, even after restoring his former strength using the "Eye of Avarice", he was easily defeated by Shadow without the latter even needing to get serious. As Assistant Principal, Lutheran also held authority over the Academy.

Physical Prowess
Before his death had the strength of at least a "Named Child" of the Cult. Having experience with strong fighters, Lutheran knew that with his condition wasn't enough to go against Shadow and was forced to use the Eye of Avarice to have a chance against him.

Multitalented Warrior
As a former Bushin Festival champion and Rounds Knight, Lutheran was highly skilled in both swordsmanship and magic. He was highly efficient in handling the sword even after falling ill. His illness did not deter him from practicing, however, it had taken its toll when it had gradually exacerbated until he used the Eye of Avarice.

Despite his illness leaving him severely weakened, Lutheran had shown to have enough strength and abilities to take on an ordinary magical swordsmen and instructor. However, he ends his fight quickly to avoid his illness symptoms from showing.

Master Manipulator
Through his façade, he was able to manipulate several people into believing his occupation at school and what has happen in his death. Prior, he was also able to manipulate Sherry and Lukreia into his bidding until the late researcher decided against working on the Eye of Avarice.

He used the attack on the Academy to convince people that Shadow Garden were the enemy, by framing it as an attack orchestrated by them.

Quick Flash
Through his mastery of the sword, he was able to strike his opponents after immediately unsheathing his sword. This is demonstrated when he believed to have killed Cid after hearing his confession.


 * Fast Flash Empowered

Equipment
 * Sword (Standard equipment for all Knights and Swordsmen.)
 * Tears of Diablos (in the novel, he uses the Diabolos pills to increase his strength before activating the Eye of Avarice.)
 * Eye of Avarice (By combining the artifact with the control unit, he was able to cure his illness and regain his powers from his peak for a brief period before being killed by Shadow.)

Trivia

 * Though only realizing it in his final moments, he is the only Cult member to have discovered Shadow's true identity and also the first person to make Cid, who is usually only interested in himself, feel "uncomfortable" on his action.
 * It is unknown exactly what seat he previously occupied, but it has been speculated that the position he occupied was the 12th Seat considering that position currently is still vacant until now.
 * After the death of Zenon Griffey who was the prime candidate for occupying the 12th seat, it is speculated that Lutheran took the opportunity to reclaim his "Seat" before another candidates emerged.
 * His first name was originally named as "Ruslan" in Japanese, but the official Yen Press translation renamed him as "Lutheran". Ruslan is still used in the web novel translation.
 * Lutheran shares a few characteristics with Darth Vader, being a menacing black knight with a cape as he using a deep voice and does not take failure well, suffering from an ailment that weakens him, and being the adoptive parent of the character. Unlike Vader, though, Lutheran does not feel remorse for any of his misdeeds and holds no true love for his adoptive daughter.