101 Atypical Barbarians

[Nupo]

32. A Brownie. Most Brownies are timid, pasifist that avoid melee combat, not this one. Armed with a Brownie sized great axe, charge is his favorite combat tactic.

[souridealist]

33) The Redeemed.

Once, she was a raider and a killer; what she wanted, she took, and a greatsword could settle any dispute - usually in her favor. The furies of battle were her lifeblood and her glory, and what reason did she have to care for any of the people she left behind?

Then something changed. Maybe someone like her took out someone she loved. Maybe someone saved her life for no reason except that she was there and hurting. Maybe it was no one little thing, but a gradual years-long accumulation of doubt and guilt and regret.

Either way, that's all behind her now. She's going to be a better person. She will be helpful and kind; she will be a champion of good. She will be compassionate. She will not be needlessly violent. She will share what she has and work to save lives.

But damn, all this morality stuff is hard. And it's just such a relief when sometimes, she find a marauding dragon or a fiend or a necromancer raising an army of shambling soulless monsters, and she gets to break out her old problem-solving methods again. SPLAT.

(I've played a character like this once and she was one of my favorite characters I've ever played.)

[Concrete]

34.
The moody brat.
In his teens, not sure who he is. He goes from wide-eyed wonder to moody bitterness to a raging roar which breaks into a birdlike screech on the drop of a hat. Mostly, he just can't deal with his emotions yet, and he has way too much of them.

Maybe his parents pampered him and didn't give him any discipline. Maybe his dad was a drunk who kicked him around. Maybe his family had a bad reputation and everyone just spat on him til he snapped. Maybe he's just young and a bit effed in the head. Either way, so far, hitting stuff has worked better than words, and now, for better or worse, he's gonna take on the world.

Maybe a good friend will turn him from his rage? Maybe a party of psychos will use him as their attack dog? Maybe he'll rush headlong into something he can't handle in a fit of idealistic heroism and/or pubescent rage and end up lunch for an owlbear?
Or maybe, just maybe, he'll end up figuring himself out, turning his rage to his benefit, and become all he can be.

[Braininthejar2]

35 The cultist - he used to be an ordinary thug, beating up people in the dark alleys. Then he had to skip town to avoid the noose, and on his way through the wilderness got tangled with some really weird guys... anyway, dressing in animal skins and hunting commoners looks like fun, and it turned out he's a natural at the whole bestial rage thing.

36 The whaler - after an argument with the chief, he left the hot savanna of his home with nothing but a loincloth and a spear to his name. He walked forward till he found the sea, and it turned out the guys on that ship really needed a guy who knew how to throw a spear and wasn't afraid of large beasts. He knows the basics of language already, but is still getting the hang of the whole 'swimming' thing.

[Bohandas]

32. A Brownie. Most Brownies are timid, pasifist that avoid melee combat, not this one. Armed with a Brownie sized great axe, charge is his favorite combat tactic.

Sounds like the Nac Mac Feegle

[sengmeng]

37) the death seeker.
"Only those who die in battle go to Valhalla"
Could be at a ripe old age too, eager to find that one opponent who can FINALLY get the job done.

[minderp]

In a game I ran a few years ago I had a barbarian npc that was an Intellectual (scholar and scribe). His primary quirk was that he always went last in the first round of any combat no matter what his Initiative was because he had to fold up his glasses and put them away.

Cute!!!
His eyes flicked up from the pages of script, he peered over the top rim of his glasses. A slow sigh expelled from his lips, as he gently shook his head. Will i ever finish this book?
As the horde of dark creatures flooded through the chamber door, he snapped the pages shut. The creatures began to swarm into the room, prowling to form a tight circle around him, the barbarian lifted his glasses from his nose. With calm and unhurried movements, he folded the metal frames and slipped them into his chest pocket. As he reached for the greataxe that leaned against the splintered edge of his desk, his lip curled in vexation. I will finish this chapter tonight!

[Cernor]

38. The Masochist

The universal truth of combat is that in order to strike, you simultaneously open yourself up to attack. The Masochist simply does this in reverse order: she waits patiently and allows her foes to land a non-lethal strike. The moment their strike lands, her axe is a blur, ensuring they don't score a second hit; in the heat of battle, she hardly even notices her wounds.

[Wartex1]

39. The Reverse Coward

This Barbarian is scared of basically everything, but, instead of running in fear like a normal coward, he/she goes into a panicked frenzy, giving her/him a terror-based Rage rather than one found in anger.

[Socratov]

40. The Were-Chav
Normally this Noble born person is fine. He has his butler with him and when adventuring and entering battle he will calmly ask Jeeves for his #7 Iron. However, that thin veneer of civilisation could all come to a crashing halt when his baser side gets out...

"I swear I will cut ya! I swear on me mum! Oi will stab you roight in the kidneys you'll see!"

[sengmeng]

41. The battlerager. Thibbledorf Pwent from the Drizzt series. He's a dwarf, and part of a civilization, but he's every bit a barbarian just the same.

[Twizzly513]

42. The Honorable Wolf
Never met his parents, raised by coyotes in the desert. Was found as a child by a desert tribe. They taught him about the ancestors. They taught him honor, language, and serentity. They taught him how to hone his primal ferocity to deadly perfection. He's quiet, and has an unshakable fortitude in battle, with unrivaled tenacity. He is seemingly always calm, and even when his rage burns brighter than a dwarven forge, it barely shows on the exterior.

This has become a recurring character in some campaigns I've had. He never says much. He once showed up to help the party fight an invading fire army, and the night before they had speeches and they wanted him to do a speech. All he said was: "Do not fight for yourself, or your family. Fight for the man beside you, and his family." They assumed he was a cleric or something cause he wore long robes but then when the fight started he dropped the outer robe to reveal half an armory of weapons and tattoos all along his body. But the campaign they're doing now takes place before that one, and this time they saw him as a feral child being dragged into the desert tribe's camp. He bit the bard.

[Dr paradox]

43. The Driven Scholar
This barbarian was told from a young age that he was born to be a king. His throne was stolen by lesser men, and his bloodline has passed down the secret of their birthright for centuries, with only the last signet ring of their royal house to remind themselves of where they came from.
Or, at least, this young barbarian was told that, and he believed it. Now, he's dedicated to reclaiming his throne, though first he needs to find out just where it is. To do that, he's thrown himself into academic and historical study, first for months, and then for years as his research into the symbol on the ring refused to bear fruit. He gained an honorary degree and a reputation for thorough work as he traveled from library to library and university to university in search of any evidence of his lost kingdom.
Eventually, however, honor stops being enough to pay tuition and entry fees, so now he finds himself in need of adventuring work.
I'm kind of playing this guy right now. He eventually found out where he's supposed to be the king of, and now he's there trying to gather enough evidence to support his claim to the throne, without really understanding that even if he IS the "rightful" king, just proving it won't get him the crown.

[RyumaruMG]

44. The Party Barb

Glory and honor are all well and good, but what's really best in life? The party after you crush your enemies! Victory feasts are what this Barbarian fights for. Food, drink, music! WHOO! It's less a frenzy of rage and more of a vision of what they're going to do after they win.

[Kitten Champion]

I actually made my second-ever Barbarian character last week.

45. The Convert.

His people were conquered. Not by steel and fire, but by the charismatic proselytizing of a very patient, steadfast cleric. One who managed to capture the heart of their mercurial warlord leader. His mother embraced the new religion with fervor, recognizing its capacity to end the cyclical bloodshed of their inter-clan wars that in all likelihood her relatively feeble son wasn't going to survive. He had a good memory though and was more eloquent than most, he could be one of these priests and earn the status she sought for him without lifting a weapon, thus she indoctrinated him. He came out of his childhood with a ferocious zealousness in these beliefs, to a degree that would dwarf many a long-time faithful. His seeming passion however, belied a deeper well - a much more unfortunate one from his perspective - as he possessed the inkling of chaos that was the Berserker Rage. Something that would grow in potency as he physically matured. Formally seen as a very rare blessing of their old god upon his people the Rage has rapidly been revised into a loathsome curse, which left him in quite a state when confronted with the messy collateral of his mystical temperament.

He's actively repulsed by his own nature now leading to heavy self-suppression. Which causes him this underlying seething anxiety with every aspects of his life... except, ironically enough, when he enters the state of Rage itself. All of that pent up emotion gets released, causing him to feel sheer ecstasy that makes every other moment in his life feel dull and colourless in comparison. He loves the madness, relishes it once it removes his agency to stop it, but refuses to admit it to anyone, even himself.

[sengmeng]

**Disclaimer: I mean this respectfully, and this idea should not be played for laughs

46. The Autist

Living in a tribal society means survival, based on everyone specializing in a role and hunting cooperatively. Except that one guy. He hunts alone. He makes his own weapons. He knows what plants are safe. He seems to know everything, but he barely talks and in fact the tribe thought he was slow, but in his teens, he started disappearing into the wild for days and eventually weeks at a time, with no problems. Oh, and do NOT interrupt his routine.

[DontEvenAsk]

46. The Berserkr

Shock. Awe. Intimidation. Raw, pure carnage. The berserker is a ticking time bomb. His soul, for whatever odd reason, is not fully human, but partly bestial in nature.

Perhaps a vicious animal achieved enlightenment during its lifetime and has been reincarnated as a higher-order being to befit its exalted status. Perhaps the berserker has the faintest traces of werebeast blood, not enough to make a shifter but not so little as to have no effect. Perhaps he was born or conceived on ground sacred to the wilds and the god of the hunt, or under a star sign that carries the magic of the beast. Perhaps he himself treats with animal ghosts, embodying them as a Binder does with vestiges. Perhaps it is a power granted directly from the berserker's animal god. He may even shapeshift fully into a monstrous version of his usual form.

However he comes by this power, the berserker leads a spiritual life of scrupulous good behavior in times of peace. His wild, ferocious nature is dangerous to everyone around him - friend or foe. Berserkers have been known to fly into a rage and proceed to slay every soldier on the battlefield, no matter whose standard they were flying. A berserker is a terror weapon - a warrior so destructive that it strikes fear into the heart of the enemy merely to know that you're desperate enough to use one. A berserker is not a trained, disciplined, efficient soldier; he is a disaster waiting to happen. Point him at the enemy, then run away.

He's rather tired of this routine, but he cares for his clan and wants to do his part, so he stays. Clanless berserkers, since they have no "keepers" to restrain their fury, are reckoned as little better than thugs and dangers to society in his homeland. Perhaps if he could find a team of more level-headed people to work with, he'd stand a chance outside the clan, assuming he doesn't tarnish their names by association... but good comrades like that are hard to come by.

47. The Demigod

This Barbarian, like the berserker, is not fully human. However, this one is not bestisl in nature, but divine or fey. In some cases it is merely a part of his supernatural nature - fey caprice, perhaps, or maybe his divinity comes from a god of war. In others, it may be a curse laid on the demigod due to divine drama. Think Cuchulainn in warp spasm meets Hercules Furens. This archetype is usually atoning for something - Cuchulainn got his name by way of accidentally killing a lord's dog and swearing to faithfully serve as the animal's replacement, while Hercules was cursed to fall mad and kill his family, an unspeakable crime in general but especially to the ancient Greeks, and undertook his infamous twelve labors as penance. A more medieval variant is the malero, which is undertaken not by the person who committed the sin but by generous pilgrims who "take" the sin and go questing to purify it; a very demigod Barbarian might be adventuring to absolve his tribe rather than himself.

48. The Veteran

He used to be a soldier. He was a good soldier, too. But then came the war - he's been in multiple wars, but this one will always be the war for him, the greatest war, the worst war - and it was...

It was madness. The mages unleashed their new research, the smiths their new weapons, the king his new allies - but the tactics were the same. Why? Why follow the same drills that were developed for use against cavalry when you're facing a regimented fleet of pyromancers on nightmares? It makes no sense. No sense. It's madness, madness, and his CO doesn't like it any better than he does, and his CO up the line, but once you get any higher than that it's all officers, officers clear to the horizon, and what do officers know about mud in your teeth and dying in droves?

Come to think of it, that's probably where the rage started. Seething, simmering resentment for leaders who had no idea what they were getting their men into, and did it anyway.

He didn't realize it could get worse, until it did. Nightmares - the sleeping kind, not the demon kind - replaced his dreams. Sometimes he'd wake up screaming without having dreamed at all. He started to twitch, almost imperceptibly; it didn't impair his fighting - he's always been a melee man, himself - but it makes him more certain than ever that he'll never be an archer.

Then he started to freeze up, when it got too loud or when he was too outnumbered. At first he was able to hide it, but after a while, someone was bound to find out.

They didn't understand what was wrong with him, what had cracked his iron discipline. They thought he was just giving in to fear, those brass, may Asmodeus take 'em. Apparently that's how you get a dishonorable discharge for cowardice. How's sending good men to die to cover your own backsides look for cowardice? Stupid officers.

He's sick of it. He's sick of all of it, sick and bloody tired, and that day something snapped in him. Now, when he loses sight of where and when and even who he is, it no longer takes the form of freezing up in what looks like fear.

It amuses him, in a dark way, to know that his dishonorable discharge was what catalyzed the change in him that would've made the army want to keep him. Oh well. Mercenary work pays better anyway.

49. The Predator

Someone who's never so much as seen the sea thinks a shark's feeding frenzy is horrifying - a mad dash to devour at the mere scent of blood. A fisherman, however, who has seen the river filled more with salmon than with water, or the sea thick and alive with thrashing potential catch - he understands. He feels it too - when there are so many, he feels compelled to descend on them like the end of days and carry off as much food as he can.

Some do it with fish. Others... don't.

The clan may participate in ritual cannibalism of enemies. The Barbarian might be a policeman who can get a little (a lot) too focused on the takedown. His race might be one that naturally preys on certain others. Whatever it is, this Barbarian can't help but try to pick from the crowd when severely outnumbered by enemies... or should we say prey?

Edit:

**Disclaimer: I mean this respectfully, and this idea should not be played for laughs

46. The Autist

Living in a tribal society means survival, based on everyone specializing in a role and hunting cooperatively. Except that one guy. He hunts alone. He makes his own weapons. He knows what plants are safe. He seems to know everything, but he barely talks and in fact the tribe thought he was slow, but in his teens, he started disappearing into the wild for days and eventually weeks at a time, with no problems. Oh, and do NOT interrupt his routine.

...you found me. I don't know how, but you found me.

(I'm not offended at all, that's honestly a pretty close fit for how my, uh, eccentricities work. I'm a lot more talky - not that I'm particularly good at communicating, but I do try a lot - and my issues center more around a preferred status quo than a routine per se, but just about everything else fits. And I'm here to attest that you can totally be Chaotic-aligned and autistic. That is a thing that happens - think of it like a Chaotic rogue having a code of honor and being a "gentleman thief.")

[Braininthejar2]

47: The transformed: So, turns out this skunk familiar we found on the dead wizard hadn't always been a skunk. Now she's lost her familiar intelligence, and she barely remembers who she used to be, but she's relearning to talk... No, that human form isn't her natural either. I think she was a female satyr, rare as it is. But let's play it safe and keep her human for now. Did you see what she did to that guy?

( My DM dropped that one on me - she was a mix of numbers 11 and 14, guaranteed to stumble over any plot hooks the party encountered. )

[JBPuffin]

**Disclaimer: I mean this respectfully, and this idea should not be played for laughs

46. The Autist

Living in a tribal society means survival, based on everyone specializing in a role and hunting cooperatively. Except that one guy. He hunts alone. He makes his own weapons. He knows what plants are safe. He seems to know everything, but he barely talks and in fact the tribe thought he was slow, but in his teens, he started disappearing into the wild for days and eventually weeks at a time, with no problems. Oh, and do NOT interrupt his routine.

(I'm not offended at all, that's honestly a pretty close fit for how my, uh, eccentricities work. I'm a lot more talky - not that I'm particularly good at communicating, but I do try a lot - and my issues center more around a preferred status quo than a routine per se, but just about everything else fits. And I'm here to attest that you can totally be Chaotic-aligned and autistic. That is a thing that happens - think of it like a Chaotic rogue having a code of honor and being a "gentleman thief.")

(Likewise, although I am of a more neutral sort - I'm punctual, but not organized, and that's what I prefer in others. I'm more likely to be a paladin though with this stake up my arse...)See? I even kept the status quo with the paren! Yay!

To contribute!
48. The Machine
Even good programming has glitches, and this warforged has a rather noticeable one. Originally constructed to safeguard caravans, his masters discovered an unfortunate flaw in his circuitry - when the caravan was attacked, he'd go ballistic, swinging his battleaxes in a tornado of trauma that damaged the wagons as much as the attackers. Worse, sometimes he'd go after the caravan itself...they thought about scrapping him for residuum, but a savvy arena manager bought him for shows instead. A bona fide killing machine who can barely contain his thirst for blood? Who wouldn't want that in the pit?

[DontEvenAsk]

(Likewise, although I am of a more neutral sort - I'm punctual, but not organized, and that's what I prefer in others. I'm more likely to be a paladin though with this stake up my arse...)See? I even kept the status quo with the paren! Yay!

(Hah. Me, punctual or organized? A hallelujah chorus will rise up over the hills, and the barbecues of the Hells will rue the day. I suppose I'd make an okay Barbarian/Paladin of Freedom.)

There's been a numbering... kerfuffle... I think I'll just call this one 50 and hope for the best.

50. The Miser
This gal is a classic rags-to-riches story - grew up a street rat, clawed her way to wealth through hard work and perseverance. A spendthrift attitude and a tendency to viciously defend whatever precious resources she could claim served her well. But she's gotten tired of the soft life. Feather beds are too soft, having food delivered on a silver platter is too easy, and she feels a bit vulnerable with her money in a vault instead of her pockets.

Did I say a bit? I meant a lot.

So she goes to the bank (What? Fantasy can have banks!) and gets her money changed over to valuable gems - something compact, so she can carry her whole fortune with her. She buys a sword and pays for lessons. And then, when her tutor pronounces her ready, she gets some quality armor and sets out into the wilderness. She already feels better - risk around every corner; resources have to be worked for. The city has gotten too cushy for her, but this is just right.

Oh, but there's one thing you should know about her: do not try to take her stuff.

[sengmeng]

51) the "monk"

"All right, this is called the Sun-and-Moon stance..."
*gets socked in the gut
*rages

[napoleon_in_rag]

52. Heavy Metal Barbarian

Barbarian/Bard/Warlock build

Long ago, this long haired, muscular human made a deal with a fiend from the most rockin' level of hell. He is now able to focus his rage into his vocal cords to project his singing to a startling level of volume. Wielding his "axe" (a +5 Lute of Chaos), he travels from place to place holding unbelievably loud concerts that are immediately followed by a combination of war, mayhem, earthquakes, and excessive debauchery. His music reviews are mixed. Elves liken his music to the noise of two Tarrasques mating. Orks believe that, if you listen carefully, you can hear the voice of Gruumsh. Lawful Good Paladins and Clerics protest out in front of his shows while their sons and daughters sneak in the rear.

By playing the right riff and scowling a certain way, the Heavy Metal Barbarian performs the following Special Abilities:

Cone of Flame: A 5' cone of flame shoots from the end of his lute. It does no damage but looks really cool.
Summon Groupies: 2d4 groupies appear. These groupies will be a mix of heavily tatooed female tieflins, succubi, and vampires. They will not aid in combat but will stand around behind the Heavy Metal Barbarian looking bored.
Cause Fear in Bats and Rodents: As part of his show, the Heavy Metal Barbarian occasionally bites the head of a rat or a bat. Because of this all rats and bats (including creatures that can turn into a rat or a bat) have an instinctual fear of him.
Destroy Hotel Furniture: Nothing angers the Heavy Metal Barbarian than a undamaged couch in his hotel room. He often throws them out the window after checking in.

For additional character inspiration, watch the following videos:

Danzig "Mother"
Gwar "Immortal Corrupter"
Pantera "Cowboys from Hell"
Megadeth "Symphony of Destruction"
Motorhead "Ace of Spades"
Metallica "One"

5/18 Edit - Not Heavy Metal but I am adding this video because Chris Cornell had the vocal cords of a Heavy Metal Barbarian. RIP.
Soundgarden "Jesus Christ Pose"

[Braininthejar2]

51) the "monk"

"All right, this is called the Sun-and-Moon stance..."
*gets socked in the gut
*rages

[JAL_1138]

An awakened bear with levels in bard and bear totem barbarian, who owns an alehouse and acts as bartender, and wears spiked barding when adventuring.

The barbed-barded beer-bar bartending bear-barbarian bard bear.

[DontEvenAsk]

An awakened bear with levels in bard and bear totem barbarian, who owns an alehouse and acts as bartender, and wears spiked barding when adventuring.

The barbed-barded beer-bar bartending bear-barbarian bard bear.

One might even say... bardbearian.

[Bohandas]

54.) The Ancient - This guy has been fighting for so long that it won't be long before old age does what no foe has been able to (think Ghengiz Cohen from Discworld)

[Wraith]

55.) The Newbie

Clarence isn't like the other Barbarians. For a start, he didn't learn how to reach into the core of his being and pull back a terrifying battle-rage by consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms, or through ritual flagellation, or even heathen rites of dancing around bonfires; he learned it from a book entitled "Berzerker Rayge - The Historyes of The Barbaryan Peeples of ye Steppe".
Despite being a scrawny, underweight, bespectacled lad of only 16, the romantic lifestyle none the less bewitched him and so, with his Grandad's woodchopping axe dragging behind him and suitably unfettered by the restraints of civilisation (he'd left his inhaler on his beside table and only brought with him ONE of his pairs of thermal underpants) he set off into the wilderness to search for the rage and fire within himself. May the Gods save and protect us all.....

[AnBe]

56) The Gamer
This man really enjoys playing games. However, he has one severe psychological problem: He can't stand losing. He also severely hates cheating.
Every time he loses in a game of any kind, he flies into an obnoxious rage, often spraying hateful insults from his mouth. Even before the game is over, he has a dirty mouth, trash-talking his opponents into submission. Even your grandma is fair game for this kind of treatment. No one in his home town will play games with him anymore, because when he loses he acts like a little prick. Still, when the game rage is on, his physical strength is a force to be reckoned with, often breaking many things. You think that thick, sturdy game table is too heavy for him to flip over? Think again.

[Natediggadoggit]

57: Verminkiller
This goblin was found raiding a butcher's shop while little, but that butcher took him in and trained him to keep his stock and shop free of vermin. Not well acclimated to urban life, he's learned to channel his urges into his work. He gleefully hunts and destroys rats, weasels, porcupines, skunks, and stray cats, and then eats them savagely. He learned well, and now has gone off on his own, and started his own business. He's discovered the secret in life, people will pay you to eat meat, so you can spend that money on even better meat!

[sengmeng]

57: Verminkiller
This goblin was found raiding a butcher's shop while little, but that butcher took him in and trained him to keep his stock and shop free of vermin. Not well acclimated to urban life, he's learned to channel his urges into his work. He gleefully hunts and destroys rats, weasels, porcupines, skunks, and stray cats, and then eats them savagely. He learned well, and now has gone off on his own, and started his own business. He's discovered the secret in life, people will pay you to eat meat, so you can spend that money on even better meat!

I... I've been wasting my life.