General Baal

"Die, you worms...Together with this burning ship!!!"

- General Baal

General Baal (バール将軍) is the father of Colonel Mullen and the supreme commander of the Garlyle Forces, the private security forces of the Joule Foundation that was the major developer of the port town of Parm. Under the guise of a peacekeeping expedition, he uses his army to unravel the secrets of the ancient Angelou Civilisation for his own personal agenda. His insatiable greed for absolute power and dominion, at the expense of his son and humanity, is the catalyst for the resurrection of Gaia, the entity behind the fall of the ancient civilisation, and the true objective of Operation Yggdrasil. He is the primary antagonist of Grandia.

About
Baal is the military commander of the Garlyle Forces. A ruthless man, he is known to be feared by the Joule Foundation, which Baal is a member of. He is also knowledgeable in science and history. His discoveries of Angelou technology have led to the creation of advanced aircraft and weaponry that became part of the Garlyle arsenal. Furthermore, he dabbled in biological warfare upon the denizens of East Elenica from using the remnants of Gaia. He has used the power of Gaia on his own body for evolutionary purposes unbeknownst to his son and subordinates. As a result, his consciousness is at one with Gaia.

Baal is also a psychopath with no sense of honour or compassion for others, seeing them as tools for his own ends. His relationship with his son and subordinate, Colonel Mullen, is dysfunctional; 23 years prior to Grandia, his son was born from his desire to learn the secrets of Angelou from his humanoid mate, not out of love. To achieve his avaricious desire to become the ultimate being by resurrecting Gaia, he is willing to sacrifice all of humanity, including his own son Mullen, in the process. Whether this is due to Gaia's influence or his own megalomania is unknown.

Disc 1
General Baal, the head of the Garlyle Forces, is first seen in the opening cutscene on his airship, the Grandeur, awakening from a similar dream of visions he had seen before. He cursed the unseen forces which made him see these visions (presumably the Spirits). Hereupon, he enquires his son and second-in-command, Colonel Mullen, on their current location. Mullen responds that it had only been a half an hour since he asked before and that he looked tired. Baal scolds Mullen to address him as "father" when no military personnel are at present. Mullen retorts that Lieutenant Leen is still here. Baal chuckles at his remark and changes the subject that Leen is a vital part of Operation Yggdrassil. He counts on the abilities of Mullen and Leen to uncover desired results from the near completed excavation of the Sult Ruins near Parm.

After his first encounter with Justin in the Sult Ruins, Mullen returns to his father, Baal, on the Grandeur to report on the excavation: He failed to uncover the object in question and is prepared for the consequences of his failure. Baal responds that no other can replace him and to commence with the next strategic plan before he departs. Leen is perturbed by General Baal's hastiness before Mullen silences her.

Not much is seen of Baal after Justin, Feena and Sue journey to the Dom Ruins apart from mentions. In the inner depths of the Twin Towers, Mullen explains his lineage to Feena: his mother was a humanoid. His birth was the result of his father's obsession to learn more of the Angelou Civilsation by mating with his mother, alluding to his strained familial relationship with Baal.

Disc 2
Baal takes on a more prominent role in the second half of the story. Justin and Feena crossed the Sea of Mermaids and infiltrated the Tower of Doom, the cause of the local villagers who were turned to stone. Inside, the army had begun research on a strange creature inside, which is revealed as Gaia. Baal appears on a projection screen and is shown to be greedy and fanatical, displaying a cruel and twisted personality which struck fear into Feena in particular. Dissatisfied with the research on Gaia, which culminated in the petrification of the villagers, he scolds the Sergeants to improve on their biological research before his holographic projection disappears. Baal orders Leen from behind the scenes to reclaim the Gaia Seed stolen from the Tower by invading the nearby Cafu Village.

In the Zil Padon Ruins, Baal is seen involved in its excavation by the Garlyle Forces. It is revealed that Baal is aware of the Chosen One who holds the Sprit Stone, and that the Chosen One opened the door to the ruins - which is Justin. Baal demands that Mullen finds the Spirit Stone immediately. After a brief altercation with Mullen on his resolve to follow orders, Baal takes Leen on an active platform ascending to the room which controls the dormant Golems. Using Leen's Icarian powers, he uses the awakened Golems to destroy the Chosen One and the Garlyle Forces who accompanied him, including his son Mullen. Baal finally reveals his cold relationship toward his son Mullen to Leen: that he is worthless as his humanoid mother. His death by the Golems is meaningless to him. In the following scenes, Baal can somehow sense the awakening of another Icarian, which is Leen's twin sister, Feena.

Outside of the ruins, Baal and Mullen have a heated discussion on the deaths of many personnel involved in the excavation. Baal showed no remorse for their deaths and ordered Mullen to meet him in J Base, the Garlyle headquarters in East Elencia where Gaia presently resides. Baal takes the captured Feena, knowing that she is an Icarian like Leen, onboard his flagship: the Grandeur.In the private quarters of Baal on the Grandeur, Baal remarks on the symbolism of the Icarian statues to Feena; the four arms were meant to represent Icarian twins, which are Leen and Feena in the present. He learns of the name of the Chosen One, Justin, from Feena, and he is eagerly awaiting his arrival on the ship to try to rescue her. After the self-destruct sequence has been initiated, Baal and Justin finally meet in the Command Centre of the damaged ship. Baal comments that the man who holds the last piece of the Spirit Stone is but a mere boy. He offers to trade Feena for the Spirit Stone from Justin, but this is just a ploy to kill him, as he is aware that he is chosen by the Spirits. Unsuccessfully murdering Justin, Baal and Justin have a duel nearby an escape fighter plane. Losing the battle was another ruse of Baal, as he finally reveals his actual power: his mutated right arm signifying his symbiosis with Gaia. Defeating Justin effortlessly - and losing the Icarian Feena - he finally obtains the remaining piece of the Spirit Stone, laughing uncontrollably while he is seemingly burning inside of his crashing flagship.

Believing to be dead, Baal is shown to be alive and well within J Base, watching the growing Gaia Seed within an ancient facility. Mullen and Leen make their entrance to reason with him. Baal expresses his delight at the resurrection of Gaia, now that he has finally made the Spirit Stone whole again. Mullen pleads his father not to revive Gaia, but it was in vain. Baal reveals that the revival of Gaia is the true objective of Operation Yggdrasil. Showing no contriteness for the deaths of his subordinates and for the petrified humanoids by Gaia, despite his son's admonishment, Baal leaves the chamber to bring back the final piece to complete Gaia's resurrection. Convinced by Leen's fear and suspicion of Baal, Mullen finally stages a military coup to stop his father's insanity.

In Alent, Liete reveals to Justin that Baal is the one who desires to make the Spirit Stone whole to resurrect Gaia to destroy the current world. Justin learns that Baal is alive and returns to East Elencia to stop Gaia's revival.

In his private quarters at J Base, Baal is seen laughing manically and communicating to Gaia. Everything he has done for Gaia for has been for the realisation to rule the world with unimaginable power. Mullen and his entourage enter his chambers. Mullen wrests complete control of the Garlyle Forces from his father. Operation Yggdrasil is now aborted. Their new objective is the destruction of Gaia and the Spirit Stone. With his familal ties finally dissipated, Mullen demands Baal, now a pariah of his own army, to relinquish the remaining piece of the Spirit Stone. Angered by his father's insanity, Mullen and his Garlyle soldiers attempt to kill their former commander.

Justin and his party arrive in J Base to stop Baal from reviving Gaia. They witness that the majority of Garlyle have sided with Mullen against his father. Defeated by Baal, an injured Mullen pleads with Justin to stop his father's insanity. In the Ovarian Chamber, Baal is seen standing close to the Spirit Stone. He acknowledges Justin's presence and reveals that he is too late: Gaia's resurrection is underway. Baal's idiosyncratic behaviour shocks Justin. Liete explains that Baal's ego is in union with Gaia's, and his unlimited greed is the root cause of Gaia's return. Baal, whose ego is merged with Gaia's will, remarks on the Icarian Feena's presence. As Gaia incarnate, he will not be sealed again as he was after the fall of Angelou - that this time he will eat the Icarian. Revealing his symbiosis with Gaia underneath his cloak again, Justin and his party do battle with Baal for a second time. His body seemingly destroyed, Baal's voice can be heard from afar. Bellowing with excitement, he states that he has finally exceeded human existence. Desiring to devour all that the world and everything brings, Baal commands Gaia to complete his union with him. Baal, now at one with Gaia, echoes that it is fate that humanity has brought back Gaia. If the greed of humanity gave rise to Baal, then destruction itself is humanity's desire. Emerging violently from its cocoon, sprouting giant tentacles, Baal laughs manically as the appendages of his new body are spread across the continent. Baal is seen again inside the upper levels of Gaia's body in a more monstrous form than before, resembling little of his former human self. He boasts that his goal of achieving the pinnacle of human evolution has been realised. He attacks Justin and his party in his new form to protect Gaia from destruction. Defeated, Baal is seen again as a worm-like creature. Adamant that he has not lost, Baal ascends to the summit to evolve again as part of Gaia's Core. Emerging from the base in his new form as the Gaia Core, Baal and Justin, both holders of Spirit Stones standing in opposition, have a quarrelsome debate on the nature of humanity before they battle for the final time. The fatalist Baal believes that humanity were born to hoard all of the riches of the world whereas the optimist Justin argues that humanity will work side by side for the future. With the destruction of his Evil Gaia incarnation, Baal is finally rid of as the evil force behind Gaia forever.

Battle
General Baal is fought five times during the course of the game, increasing in power each time. In the last two boss fights, he is referred to as Gaia Core and Evil Gaia.

First Battle

 * Lightning: "Witness my lightning power!"
 * Wind: "Witness my spiral power!"
 * Blizzard: "Witness my power!"
 * Water: "That won't work at all!"/"My power cannot wane!"
 * Explosion: "Witness my blast power!"
 * Vanish: "My power cannot wane!"
 * (Offensive) "Receive my judgement!"
 * (Defensive) "Witness my Power!"
 * Defeat: "These worms couldn't have done me in! Urgh!"

Second Battle

 * Gaia Power: "Resistance is futile! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
 * Gaia Strike: "There! Ha ha ha ha ha!"
 * Gaia Fang: "Ha! Try this on for size!"
 * Hoist Heel: "Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
 * Vanish: "Ahh!"

Third Battle

 * Gaia Tail: "Take that!"
 * Grand Cross: "How 'bout this!"
 * Seed Smash: "This is the ultimate power! Ha ha!"
 * Deathmark: "Ha ha ha ha! I've obtained infinite power!"

Grandia Digital Museum
General Baal appears as a boss in Grandia: Digital Museum and is fought alongside his son, Colonel Mullen in the Garlyle Military Bases. Baal has 7000HP and utilises many of the skills he possesses in the main series. Baal and Mullen give the party a total of 9000exp and 5000G when defeated.

Picotto Knights


General Baal appears as a playable cocoroid in the Game Arts developed, online action RPG, Picotto Knights on PlayStation Vita. Baal and the other Grandia characters are available to download as additional content within the game.