Balisarius (2024)

Regent Balisarius was a tyrant in charge of interstellar armies for the Imperium. He was portrayed by Fra Fee in Rebel Moon. A series covering Balisarius' backstory has been planned, but it hasn't been officially announced.^[2]

Biography[]

Balisarius was a loyal soldier of the Motherworld, eventually working his way up to the rank of general. He was known as a war hero who preferred fighting alongside his men rather than leading from above. He led an attack on Kora's homeworld and apparently saw something in her when he found her there as a child. Rather than killing her with the rest, he decided to take her in and adopt her as his own daughter. He renamed her "Arthelais," raised her aboard his dreadnought-class battle cruiser, and had her trained in the ways of the Motherworld.

Balisairus dragged Arthelais along aboard his dreadnought for five years, raising her with no softness. He brought her from world to world as he conquered them in the name of the Motherworld. As she grew up, he used his influence to give her advantages over her fellow graduates from the Academy Militarium and, alongside her own militaristic accomplishments, this granted her a position among the elite guards of the royal family, appointed as the seneschal for Princess Issa.

When King Athander Carathon saw the brutality of General Balisarius' command, who the king saw akin to a son, his heart was broken. When deciding on the punishment, the king settled on promoting the general to a senator, where he would no longer be on the battlefield to continue atrocities. Holding this new position, with the support of other senators and high-profile individuals of the Motherworld, many of whom achieved their positions with Balisarius' help, Balisarius launched an assassination plot on the royal family, killing the king, the queen, and Princess Issa.^[3] Balisarius used these assassinations to take command of the Imperium and name himself Regent of the Realm.

Distraught at her failure, Arthelais abandoned her post and became the most wanted fugitive in the universe. Later, Balisarius tasked Admiral Atticus Noble with hunting down the Bloodaxe insurgents at the far edge of the Realm. It was here, out in this distant system, that Noble found Arthelais, now going by her original name of "Kora," but he failed to capture her. He reported this news to Balisarius, who updated Noble's goals. Hunt down each and every member of the Bloodaxe revolution and bring his precious child, Arthelais, back to him so that he could crucify her for her treachery under the shadow of the senate.^[4]

At the royal palace of Moa, Balisarius received word that there were likely no survivors on The King's Gaze after the Battle of Veldt. He calmly remarked that Arthelais would see to it that there were indeed no survivors. With a crown on his head and a staff in his hand, he walked out to the ledge to address the thousands of soldiers and warships awaiting his address.^[5]

Abilities[]

• Leadership: Balisarius was the leader of the Realm. He earned his position through his years of service to the Motherworld, ultimately plotting the assassination of the royal family and taking over as regent in their stead. He successfully garnered the support of the powerful figures of the Motherworld to slay the royal family and establish the Imperium with himself at its head, where he controlled the largest power in the galaxy.

Equipment[]

• Bone staff: After the king's assassination, Balisarius took up a replica of the king's bone staff, using it as a cane, to show his authority as the new ruler of the Motherworld. Like Admiral Atticus Noble's Golden Scepter, it's possible the cane contained fragments of the original staff, but whether this is true is unknown.

Appearance chronology[]

Behind the scenes[]

Fra Fee, who is significantly younger than the character he portrays, was aged up for the present-day scenes. He was chosen in part because a younger actor would be ideal for a live-action Balisarius backstory, which was a separate project Zack Snyder was interested in exploring. Speaking with TUDUM, Fee said that he was encouraged to use his natural accent, which helped indicate the fact that Balisarius is not of the Motherworld, but had infiltrated their ranks.^[6]

Concept art of the character depicted him as notably taller than Admiral Atticus Noble, who was taller than Balisarius in the final movie.

The name "Balisarius" resembles the name "Belisarius," a military commander of the Byzantine Empire who served under Emperor Justinian I and contributed greatly to the Eastern Roman Empire's conquests of several parts of the Western Roman Empire, notably in North Africa, southern Spain, Italy, and the Balkans. Unlike Balisarius, Belisarius, although suspected towards the end of his life of having participated in a plot against Justinian, never openly attempted to seize power.

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