Barbas (Skyrim)

"Skyrim is now host to giant, flying lizards and two-legged cat-men, and you're surprised by me? Yes. I just talked. And am continuing to do so."

- Barbas

Barbas is a large gray hunting dog found along the road outside Falkreath. Barbas is Clavicus Vile's companion, a supernatural creature that usually takes the form of a dog.

Barbas cannot be killed during the course of gameplay. He may sustain enough damage in a single attack to kill him if he were not protected, however, in which case he will flee, but he will return to the fight immediately if healed. Barbas is a useful follower to have in a fight. His bite is strong enough to kill many weaker enemies in one strike, and he's an effective decoy against more powerful enemies.

Oblivion
In Oblivion, Barbas's statuette guides you to find the Umbra sword. He first tells you to go to Pell's Gate. When you get the sword, return to Clavicus Vile's Shrine and either give the sword to Clavicus, or keep it and have all of his followers attack you.

Quests

 * Clavicus Vile's Shrine
 * A Daedra's Best Friend
 * Speak to Lod

Multiple Followers
See the main article Multiple Followers.

Barbas is one of the quest characters that can be exploited to follow you throughout Skyrim along with an additional follower.

Trivia

 * The Dragonborn can also go to Falkreath and accept the mission from Lod then continue doing other quests, after awhile of you not going to find Barbas he will instead come find you. Tell him "I'm busy" and he'll go wait at entrance to Haemar's Shame.
 * After returning Barbas to Clavicus Vile, the Dragonborn can return to Lod for a small reward by telling him "The dog was more trouble than he was worth".
 * Barbas is cannot be harmed at all, so he will never "kneel" like characters that are merely essential. He will occasionally flee in exceptional cases.
 * Barbas may attack the summoned dremora from the Conjuration Ritual Spell quest.
 * His barking, as with any dog follower, is incessant. This does not alert enemies.
 * He also "detects" you while sneaking and bumps into the Dragonborn. He maintains a very close proximity; any attempts to stop may result in him shoving the Dragonborn, making many basic actions difficult, including boxing the Dragonborn into corners.

Bugs

 * If the Dragonborn choose to follow Barbas to the shrine, his route through Helgen will see some bandit attacks take place - this may cause Barbas to do a second run through in Helgen.
 * As Barbas comes to the Helgen gate that requires opening by the Dragonborn, the opening of the door tends to slam poor Barbas against the wall. Close, then reopen to let him through.
 * If one decides not to kill Barbas and talk to him before he gets turned into stone, the whole statue of Clavicus Vile will disappear and Barbas will remain in the room forever. He will no longer follow or respond in any way, but remains stuck in the party restricting the ability to recruit any dog companions thereafter.
 * Lod, the blacksmith, may be dead, but the quest may still show up.
 * If one decides to follow Barbas through Helgen, if the main exit is locked, Barbas might start climbing the door erratically because he can't follow his scripted path. If the door gets unlocked during the process, Barbas might get stuck behind it, causing the game to crash.
 * Solution: To prevent this issue, if the door isn't unlocked before the pursuit, one can still get it open by reaching it before he does or during a fight with bandits, since Barbas cannot be killed at that point. The Dragonborn can also unlock the door and then close it again, and somehow Barbas will open the door himself.
 * There is a glitch where Barbas is invincible when you decide to kill him if one doesn't do things correctly.
 * Barbas can sometimes go through the metal gate behind the Clavicus Vile shrine and start fighting the boss vampires.
 * Sometimes, when approaching Haemar's Shame, it won't say onscreen that it is discovered, but it is possible to fast travel to it.
 * Glitch about Barbas not showing up at his quest marker after speaking to Lod. To avoid this glitch complete any misc quest (e.g. treasure hunt quest) involving Rimerock Burrow before speaking to Lod about the dog. Clearing Rimerock Burrow will not affect the quest to retrieve The Rueful Axe.
 * Entering haemar's cavern after getting the Rueful axe can cause objects to spawn in the cavern is entered.
 * Telling Barbas to wait inside Rimerock Burrow may cause him to disappear at the moment the Dragonborn takes the axe.
 * Barbas can get stuck inside Broken Oar Grotto. Please refer to that page's bug section for the PC version console command fix.
 * Even when A Daedra's Best Friend is completed, the game will sometimes still show Barbas as an animal follower. This will prevent the Dragonborn from getting another animal follower.
 * If the Dragonborn attacks Barbas before going to Haemar's Shame, using Command Animal will make Barbas continue on his path (until the spell wears off). This can be done at Clavicus Vile's Shrine, before speaking to him for the first time. Barbas will not be hostile towards the Dragonborn now.

Trivia

 * Barbas's flippant dialogue, along with his apparently telepathic conversation, may be an allusion to the film and book, "A Boy and His Dog," which was a major influence on the Fallout video game series. The dog's voice has a Brooklyn accent, which may allude to the "Son of Sam"--a mass murderer who claimed his dog was the servant of Satan and told him to kill people.
 * Barbas is the only talking non-humanoid creature in Skyrim, apart from Dragons (Khajiit and Argonians are humanoid)

Appearances

 * The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
 * The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim