Barthez Battalion

The Barthez Battalion is a group of fictional characters in the popular Beyblade anime and manga series. The team consists of Miguel, Mathilda, Aaron, Claude and their coach Barthez. The team only appears during the third season, Beyblade G-Revolution.

Although the team is formed by cheaters during the Beyblade World Championships, they are actually only following their coaches' orders. During a match with Tyson the team discovers that one must not cheat to win, as Beyblading is just for fun. Barthez Battalion then ditch their coach and fight the rest of the tournament fairly. Although they are knocked out of the tournament, they accept their defeat gracefully.

It was later revealed in the series that, according to Tala, the team was merely a demonstration put together by BEGA in order to cause a splash at the world tournament with their coach, Barthez, being Boris' agent after all. But thanks to Tyson's effort, Miguel realized that Barthez could not be trusted.

Barthez Battalion represents Europe during the Beyblade World Championships.

Members

Miguel (voiced by Chris Marren in the American version)

Miguel
Beyblade G-Revolution character
Japanese name	Mihaeru
Bit-beast	Dark Gargoyle

Miguel is the main player on the team. He cares for his teammates and will do anything for them. He is often teamed with Claude and the two are both great battle partners and close friends. As Team Leader, he is put under the most pressure by Coach Barthez, and is very conflicted about cheating in order to win. This boils to a point where he rebels against Barthez's orders completely in his match against Tyson, and though it ended in his defeat, Miguel was proud to have fought honorably. After admitting his faults and fighting fairly for the remainder of his matches, Miguel and his team gained new-found respect from the other teams and from the fans. While beyblading, he grows devil wings. His bit-beast is Dark Gargoyle with the Fire Execution attack.

Mathilda (voiced by Katie Griffin in the American version)

Main article: Mathilda Alster

Mathilda
Beyblade G-Revolution character
Japanese name	Mathilda
Bit-beast	Pierce Hedgehog

Mathilda is the only female member of the Barthez Battalion. She is a quiet, good natured girl who lacks confidence, and it is shown she fears her coach Barthez. Mathilda looks up to Miguel as their leader and shows respect for him. While she is generally quiet and has a mousey voice during the show, she put her all into her Beyblade matches.Very Good friends with Mariah and Julia in the end of series G-Revolution Example: Beyblade G-Revolution Episode 49.

Mathilda's bitbeast is Pierce Hedgehog. Her Beyblade was however destroyed when Coach Barthez decided to destroy it during her Beyblade match against Daichi. Her attack is Poison Needle, and her Beyblade still is a combination of Attack, Defence and Endurance. During her bit-beast matches, when she launches her Poison Needle, she seems to grow butterfly wings, despite the fact that her bit-beast takes the form of a hedgehog.

Claude (voiced by Jason Barr in the American version)

Claude
Beyblade G-Revolution character
Japanese name	Claude
Bit-beast	Rapid Eagle

Claude was personally trained by Barthez himself. He usually never questions Barthez to his face, but often wonders if what he is doing is the right thing. Claude shows respect for Miguel and his skills. Claude was injured during his battle with Rick, although he could have moved out of the way of the attack, Barthez ordered him to stay were he was so that the crowd would favour Barthez Battalion over the All Starz.

Claude follows Miguel's examples and stand up to Barthez. His bit-beast is Rapid Eagle (originally called "Killer Eagle"), and when he launches his Twin Sabre attack, he grows angel like wings.

Aaron (voiced by Dan Warry-Smith in the American version)

Aaron Silva
Beyblade G-Revolution character
Japanese name	Aaron
Bit-beast	Rushing Boar

Aaron usually does what he is told like Claude. He seems to lack confidence and doesn't stand up for himself.

Aaron is a quite powerful Beyblader. Not very quick to get angry, he is usually fine with following Coach Barthez's orders, regardless of the consequences. The problem is, the more he finds himself acting against his morals, the more he seems to question it. He just doesn't have the nerve to go up against Barthez on his own. His bit-beast is the Rushing Boar and its attack is Spin Charge.

Coach Barthez (voiced by Edward Glen in the American version)

Jean-Paul Barthez is the coach of the Barthez Battalion. He's an abusive coach, who is only interested in showing off his Beybladers. He uses whatever method it takes to make them, and ultimately him, look good. His team in the Japanese version is called the Barthez Soldiers. He is Boris' agent.

Using cheats and tricks, Barthez gets his team entered in high level competitions. But later awaking his true instinct, Miguel and his team begin to stand up to Coach Barthez, ending with them firing and ruined him as their coach.

History

The Barthez Battalion was introduced to the Bladebreakers through the television, when it was announced that they have knocked the Majestics out of the championship. Tyson found it very strange that the Majestics were defeated by such a new, unknown team. In their first match, they faced the PPB All Starz. Max defeats Miguel, and Claude faces Rick on the next round. Rick hits one of the pointy pillars on the stadium, and it accidentally goes towards Claude. Claude tries to dodge it, Barthez orders him to stay were he is. Claude is then hit, and therefore severely injured. This leads the crowd to believe that Rick attacked Claude on purpose.

On their next match against the White Tiger X, they reveal their dirty tricks to the ones who are watching the anime. On the first round, Ray defeats Claude without great difficulties. Then, Miguel battles with Lee. Miguel's blade's bit chip reflects the light of the stadium, temporarily blinding Lee. This is enough for Miguel to knock Lee's Galeon out of the stadium. Miguel then faces Ray on a stadium full of ropes. Miguel secretly unleashes a pair of blades off his beyblade, who spin fast enough to avoid being noticed. However, it is possible to see that Ray's Driger was hit before hitting Miguel's blade. Also, Driger strangely fell off a rope after the rope was suddenly torn up. On the next part of the tournament, in Spain, Kenny discovers about Barthez Battalion cheating after watching a slow-motion video in which it is possible to see Miguel's illegal beyblade. Kenny and his friends say they are going to show it to Mr Dickenson, but then Rick appears and says that it is useless to carry this idea on, because the championship is already on its course and it would be required the entire championship to be redone.

On the third round, they will face the BBA Revolution. Daichi begins fighting with Mathilda. He wins, but Mathilda's Beyblade is completely destroyed. It was a plan by Barthez: all the pieces of the destroyed Pierce Hedgehog hit Daichi's blade, completely damaging it. If Barthez's plan works, Miguel will defeat Tyson using his illegal Beyblade, but as Daichi's blade is destroyed, the BBA Revolution team would lose. However, his plan didn't work: During his fight against Tyson, Miguel tried to fight according to the rules, which drove Barthez mad. He lost, but still felt good about it.

For the next match, Aaron fought for the first time, as Claude is injured and Mathilda's blade is destroyed. His beyblade is also able to cheat: it hides a hidden web which will immobilize any opponent and leave it vulnerable for any attack. However, he decides to use his legal beyblade against Tala, who wins the battle with ease. Before the second round between Kai and Miguel begins, Barthez yell at Aaron and the others, and Miguel decides to fire him. Kai defeats Miguel, but for Barthez’ surprise, the audience starts to cry out for Miguel's name.

On their last fight, and first following their own strategies, they face the F-Dynasty. The first match between Julia and Miguel ends with Julia's victory. For the next round, they ask Mathilda to fight, using a beyblade made with parts of all other members' bey-parts. Raul, on the other side of the bey-stadium, needs to prove to himself and his sister that he can do well all by himself, or in other words, without his sister's assistance. He wins, and the Barthez Battalion leaves the championship proud of having played according to the rules and to their own strategies.

Aaron and Claude aren't seen until the Japanese epilogue of the series, while Miguel and Mathilda appear occasionally to support the G Revolutions team as they fight against the BEGA League.