- I know what you're thinking. "Barry, your origin's awesome! And you're incredibly attractive!" Thanks. Glad you noticed. "Where'd your jetpack come from? I wanna get one and be just like you!" Makes sense. Technically, my jetpack's borrowed. Untechnically? I stole it. But! I stole it from Legitimate industries. They're bad guys. Remember, kids: Stealing from bad guys is totally fine.
- ―Barry Steakfries, Dynamite Fruit Ninja
Barry Steakfries (birth name: Bareth McSteakington Friesenhausen) is the main character and protagonist of Jetpack Joyride and the Barry Steakfries series. He is also the main mascot for Halfbrick Studios. Barry made his first appearance as the protagonist of Age of Zombies and has appeared in many other games developed by Halfbrick since then.
In Jetpack Joyride, Barry's primary goal is to run through the laboratory of Legitimate Research as far as possible, while causing havoc and robbing the scientists of their inventions (namely jetpacks, vehicles, and gadgets), and collecting Spin Tokens, coins and avoiding many obstacles on his way. He spends his time messing around with his arch-nemesis Professor Brains, as well as other members of the Really Bad Corp.
Appearance[]
Barry has brown eyes, brown hair, a five o'clock shadow, wears a tie, a dress shirt without the sleeves, and dress pants and is mainly seen with a Machine Gun Jetpack on his back. Despite that, players can change his in-game appearance by buying and changing his clothing.
In the official trailer, which serves as a backstory to the game, Barry appears as a struggling gramophone salesman, with combed hair, wearing glasses and a dress shirt with the sleeves intact. After he breaks into the Legitimate Research lab, he ditches the glasses, rips his shirt sleeves off and steals the Machine Gun Jetpack from the Scientists, making him look identical to his in-game appearance.
History[]
Age of Zombies[]
In his first ever appearance, Age of Zombies, Barry is portrayed as a parody of an action hero, who travels through different time periods to save the world from the zombie apocalypse. In the dialogue, he is shown to be adventurous and ready to jump into action whenever possible, and is often willing to help people in trouble, such as Prince Runingunin, Tanaka, and Ruby. In the game he is not wearing his iconic Machine Gun Jetpack, instead relying on ranged weapons (Shotgun, SMG, Grenade, etc.) to kill hordes of zombies.
In the original PSP versions of the game, Barry occasionally uses more mature language and is never seen without a cigarette, a trait which was bowdlerized in later versions. He is also shown to be a bit more willing to listen to people around him, as Professor Brains gets to explain his plans to Barry before the latter shoots him. The professor tells Barry that he set off a Zomb Bomb, and sent zombies through time to wipe out the human race. In later revisions however, Barry kills the mad doctor before the latter gets to tell his plans (which Professor Brains wanted to explain in extremely long monologue).
In the President Evil Update, he returns to the Wild West, but is dressed as Abraham Lincoln, and is informed by Ruby that Professor Brains has sent an army of undead George Washingtons to the Wild West. His Lincoln look serves as an alternate costume in multiplayer mode.
Monster Dash[]
Barry later reappears in Monster Dash, where his goal is to run as far as possible while blasting Monsters with ranged weapons, as well as the iconic Machine Gun Jetpack and Bad As Hog. In the 2020 update of the game, Barry was redesigned after his appearance in Battle Racing Stars, and given in-game dialogue.
Jetpack Joyride[]
In Jetpack Joyride, Barry acts as an anti-hero. After he comes across the laboratory of Legitimate Research, he sees a Jetpack as the way to start a new life, and breaks inside the facility. The scientists deploy obstacles to defend their laboratory, and run frightened of Barry. He is therefore wanted by Legitimate Research as seen in the trailers promoting "gadgets." A reward is offered for 10,000,000 dollars.
Despite this, Barry and the scientists have a love-hate type of friendship or friendly-rivalry, as shown in much of Halfbrick's official artwork and videos. Barry and the scientists will occasionally high-five each other upon passing by (in-game, as part of a mission, and in much official artwork as well). In "A Very Barry Xmas" trailer, Barry is shown helping the scientists decorate their laboratory. Barry is often shown playfully teasing the scientists (and vice-versa) in official material, cementing that no real harm is truly done to either the scientists or Barry aside from some slapstick and cartoon action.
Back to the Future Event Trailer[]
In this video, Barry is seen mopping the floors with Flash. Flash then points at a poster, showing auditions for the movie Back to the Future. The auditions were for the Marty McFly character, and Barry seemed interested. Thus, attempting to audition for the movie.
Barry is shown in each of the scenes, failing to get them right. All of these scenes reference scenes from the original movie. In one scene, Barry is shown trying to catch a truck, but fails and gets hit by a school bus. He is then shown next to Doc Emmett Brown while the doctor controls the DeLorean Time Machine. Excited, Barry grabs the remote control and drives the vehicle around the set, only to crash it into the crew.
Barry is then shown in another scene recreation from the first movie, about to be shot by Libyan terrorists. He then hides behind the van, but immediately snaps out of fear. He rips his sleeves, proceeding to attack the Libyans, forcing the director to stop Barry. Barry is shown again in another scene reference, spotting George McFly on top of a tree, admiring his love interest Lorraine. He then falls off of the tree, proceeding to get hit, while Barry was supposed to push him out of the way. Instead, he got distracted by Lorraine as well.
Barry is then shown again in another scene in the second movie, trying to escape Biff by running up the car. Only to fall in and off of it. In the scene where he was intended to steal one of the kids' skateboards, he instead pushes and throws them by mistake, forgetting his intent. In the final scene, he is at the school dance scene in the movie, playing the guitar. Instead of Barry singing the song he was intended to, he started yelling while playing another song. After yelling, he smashes his guitar, then stage dives onto the crowd, expecting to be carried.
Eventually, the crew kicks Barry out of the auditions. Disappointed, Flash then points to the DeLorean Time Machine that is out in the open. Barry then looks at the viewer with a smug grin.
Barry Steakfries Rock Operas[]
In the "Robot Bird" music video, he is shown to be late on a date with his then girlfriend, to whom he explains why he is taking so long to show up, though she dumps him at the end. However, he is shown to be riding on the Profit Bird and Mr. Cuddles with Flash (all of which he stole from one of the scientists, though whether or not he stole other vehicles and gadgets is unknown) which he has visibly more fun with.
In another music video, "Shirt Sleeves", Barry is shown have an uncontrollable "shirt ripping disease", which he has had since his childhood, ripping off his shirt sleeves, usually out of pure excitement. He asks the Tailor to fix his shirt multiple times, praising his work and claiming to be his "number one client".
In the "Monster Dash" music video, Barry is shown barricading his house from monsters, while training to fight them. Barry works out, but in a lazy way. He gets distracted by many things like Rocky 4, and a fat cat in a cat door. Barry is also seen painting a portrait of himself as well. When his alarm goes off, he gets his shotgun, grabbing it, ready to fight monsters.
Jetpack Joyride - A Very Barry Xmas[]
Barry Steakfries is seen spending time with Flash, and the scientists for Christmas. The group is setting up Christmas lights, and Barry plugs in the cable, turning on the lights on Legitimate Research. This however, causes Santa to catch their attention, and have a seizure from the flashing lights. Barry then has the idea to save Christmas by using the Sleigh of Awesome, and puts on a Santa hat. Barry and Flash set off on the sleigh and head to houses. Flash asks Barry if they are going to take the chimney. Barry says no, and instead, crashes through walls, dropping off presents. The two then high five each other, celebrating. Barry then gives Santa his hat back, and Santa fist bumps Barry, grateful for his acts.
Barry Vlog[]
In an on-going Barry Vlog series Barry talks about upcoming Halfbrick releases, updates, and sometimes miscellaneous topics. He also sometimes showcases fan art, and reads comments.
The series has noticeably different portrayal of him in comparison to previous depictions, having noticeable Australian accent, less confident and slightly more self-centered altitude. This series also shows him having a rivalry with Dan, despite being on friendly terms in other media.
On January 7, 2022, he uploaded the last video of the series saying that he was going "traveling", and ended off the video closing the windows and yelling his name before Dan appeared at the end as a cameo.
Jetpack Joyride Shorts[]
In the Level 2 video, Barry's personality is more developed and quite different than it appears in the game; he is shown to be much more kind-hearted and heroic. He is seen causing trouble in the Legitimate Research lab, but not hurting any of the scientists (merely scaring them). He encounters his old arch-nemesis Professor Brains in the video. Later in the short, he befriends a couple of the scientists (Craig and Steve), and forms a close friendship with the former, whom he had pulled out of some rubble from an explosion that he did not cause.
In other episodes, Barry is shown sometimes raiding the laboratory or hanging out, all while foiling Professor Brains' latest schemes and using many gadgets to help him along the way. He also meets new foes such as Robo-Barry and the Really Bad Corp.
Jetpack Joyride 2[]
In the sequel, Barry's personality is based on the one seen in Jetpack Joyride Shorts. His goal is to run through multiple villains' laboratories, defeating them in process. He is one of many playable skins along with Robo-Barry and Betty Beefpies.
Appearances in other video games[]
Raskulls[]
Barry appears in Raskulls as one of the unlockable characters. To unlock him, player needs to reach level 10 (Zuppercutter) in Online Multiplayer mode. On the character selection screen, Barry is shown to use finger gun gesture, as a nod to his appearances in Age of Zombies and Monster Dash.
Star Skater[]
Barry appears as an unlockable playable character in Star Skater. He can be unlocked randomly through a capsule vending machine or as paid DLC for US$ 1.99. When playing as him, the regular background music is replaced by the main theme from Jetpack Joyride.
Dan The Man[]
Barry appears as a playable character in Dan the Man, available either as premium DLC, or a reward for inviting 5 friends to the game. He has a unique play style in comparison to other characters, such as having a short-ranged shotgun with unlimited ammunition, and slightly altered move set based around attacking enemies from both in front of and behind him.
Barry's storyline in Main Story and Frosty Plains is the same as the one for Dan and Custom Character (or Josie in case of Frosty Plains), with the only difference being him being the player character. He does not appear in the YouTube web series. Barry's only canonical appearance comes from the "Fright Zone" DLC adventure. Here, he saves Dan from a horde of invading zombies and informs him about Professor Brains invading Dan's world to unleash the undead across the kingdom. Dan and Barry team up to defeat Professor Brains once again.
At the end, the two corner him near a cliff after defeating his Frankenstein. The two make him fall off a cliff after he had no more power in his gun. The doctor falls off the cliff. The duo, not sure what to do, head to the portal, and back home.
Dan The Man Wiki page on Barry Steakfries
Magic Brick Wars[]
Barry appears as one of the selectable avatars in Magic Brick Wars, with his appearance from Jetpack Joyride being unlockable by connecting both games together. Several different avatars of him can be unlocked by participating in the game's season passes or by purchasing them in game's store:
- Baywatch Barry (Beach Season)
- Monster Hunter Barry (Spooky Season)
- Elf Ranger Barry (Fantasy Season)
- The Easter Bunny (Easter Season)
- Hacker Barry (Cyberpunk Season)
Additionally, players can unlock several Barry's emotes. They can be obtained the same way Barry's avatars are.
Battle Racing Stars[]
Barry Steakfries is a starter character in Battle Racing Stars, a Halfbrick Studios All-Star racing game. Here, he uses his Machine Gun Jetpack to boost forward (Though it causes no harm to other racers) and has four abilities:
- Shotgun: Barry uses his shotgun to blast opponents in front of him.
- Dynamite: Barry drops a stack of dynamite (Same dynamite that players can win from Final Spin in Jetpack Joyride) behind him, which blows up upon a contact with an opponent or after a short period of time.
- Electroshield: Barry gains an energy force made out of zappers for a brief period of time, which he can use to attack the opponents, as well as protect himself from other racers' attacks (Level 3 and higher).
- RPG: Barry launches 3 Missiles in the air, which aim at Barry's opponents and slow them down.
Barry plays one of the major roles in "Robotic Invention" event, where he is asked by one of the scientists to help Professor Brains to collect nuts. Barry initially refuses to help his arch nemesis, but agrees as he finds out it's for the secret new invention, later revealed to be a robot version of Zombie T-Rex. He also briefly appears in one of the cut scenes of "Colossatron's Menace" event, asking Dan if there's going to be a Stage 9 of his series, with the answer being left ambiguous.
Fruit Ninja 2[]
While Barry makes no direct appearance in this game, all of the emotes from Magic Brick Wars (now known as "Taunts") can be unlocked through Pineapple, Dragon Fruit, or Cosmic Fruit boxes.
Trivia[]
- According to "The Art of Halfbrick" book, Barry's personality was originally based on the one of Phil Lasen (former CMO of Halfbrick), retaining his brand of humor, with his name even originating from Phil's own middle name.
- Barry as a main character was said to be liked by Halfbrick employees so much, he was later included as a playable character in Monster Dash and Jetpack Joyride.
- In the 100th episode of the vlog, he invites his mother on the episode, and his mother reveals his birth given name is Bareth McSteakington Friesenhausen. According to Barry, they wanted to name him Gareth, but the name was misspelled. Barry changed it to the current name possibly because he found it embarrassing.
- When Barry is KO’d and gets a Final Blast, he will tense up while flying. However, once he lands and slides, he will appear limp again.
- While Barry's exact age is unknown, he is shown to be in his 30s as of Jetpack Joyride 2, as he claimed to be growing in the '90s in one of the dialogue texts, and the 67th episode of the Barry Vlog has him talking about growing up with Sega Saturn as a kid.
- Barry Steakfries has also starred in a Geico commercial with Martin the Geico Lizard.
- In a Vlog episode related to the Midas Touch Event (formerly the Fifth Anniversary Event) in Dan The Man, he states that his top five favorite things are Dan's name, his own event, the Geezers, Dan's abilities, and his headband.
Voice Clips[]
- Main article: Barry Steakfries/Voice Clips
Gallery[]
- Main article: Barry Steakfries/Gallery
Gallery of Barry's Outfits and Costumes[]
Characters | |
---|---|
Main Characters |
Barry Steakfries · Flash · Craig · Robo-Barry · Betty Beefpies |
Supporting Characters |
Operator Stacey · Zombie T-Rex · Prince Runingunin · Tanaka · Ruby · Tailor · Steve |
Really Bad Corp Villains |
Professor Brains · Glorebax · Minertaur · Mik · Queen V · Red Photon · Nixie · Robo-Brains |
Unsorted Enemies |
Scientists · Zombies · Monsters · Don Zombie · King Shattinbricks · Super Ramen Samurai · Mad Dog McDraw · Zombie George Washington · Toni · The Science Crew |
Other Characters |
Fat Cat · Joe · Barry's Girlfriend · Santa · Marco Barry · Barry's Mom · Barry's Dad · Female Professor Brains · Peter Simpkins |
Guest Characters |
Sensei · The King · Olympus · Dan |
Comic Books |
Mr. Edgar · Jenny · Lab Lady · Great King Belaoch · Seventeen |
Jetpack Joyride India Exclusive |
BarryKanth · Lara · Chotus · Softee · Nagappan · Bijli Boy · Vinci |