Barney was a Human male native of Belderone who served in the Rebel Alliance and later the Alliance of Free Planets. Barney and his lifelong friend Flint worked in an Imperial AT-AT factory until a team of Rebel agents arrived on Belderone in 3 ABY. Although Barney and Flint attempted to aid the Rebels, an Imperial reprisal destroyed their home village, and caused a despondent Flint to leave to train in the dark side under Darth Vader. Barney later trained under Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, and in 4 ABY helped foil an Imperial invasion of Naldar led by his old friend Flint.
A Human male, Barney grew up on the planet Belderone, an Outer Rim world that served as a major Imperial AT-AT manufacturing site during the Galactic Civil War. Barney and his best friend, Flint, came of age in a town fully controlled by the Empire, working in the local Imperial foundry, although they were kept unaware of what they spent their working days actually helping to build. In 3 ABY, as the war with the Rebel Alliance was reaching its height, the conflict came to Belderone when a ship containing Rebel agents—among them major Rebel leaders Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa—arrived on the world in order to help foment Rebel activity on Belderone and neighboring Kulthis.
Barney in 4 ABY
The spectacle of non-Imperial visitors drew Barney and Flint's undivided attention, and the two friends volunteered to be the Rebels' welcoming party—they were especially drawn to Skywalker's lightsaber, as Flint's late father had been a Jedi Knight. Barney and Flint were present in Flint's mother's tavern when an Imperial assassination squad tried and failed to kill the Rebels, inspiring them to follow them and attempt to join their cause. The two friends guided the Rebels to the factory where they worked, but arrived to find a fleet of fully armed and operational AT-ATs on the move—the Empire was making a pre-emptive strike on Belderone, and were headed directly in the path of Barney and Flint's home village. Barney and Flint suffered a serious landspeeder crash while racing home, and Barney was knocked unconscious. When he came to he found his hometown destroyed, his entire family dead, and Flint gone, having left to train as a Dark Side Adept under the Sith Lord Darth Vader. With nothing left for him on his homeworld, Barney left with the Rebels, hoping to fulfill his dream of helping free the galaxy and becoming a Jedi Knight.
Barney remained with the Rebellion through their climactic victory at Endor in 4 ABY, and afterwards served the fledgling Alliance of Free Planets on their Endor base. Barney trained as a soldier directly under Skywalker, but was frustrated by the Jedi's reticence to train him and his other students in the Force. Barney joined Skywalker and an Alliance detachment to the planet Naldar, not far from his homeworld of Belderone, when the planet's Princess Vila came to Endor to plead for aid after Imperial forces subjugated the world. On Naldar, Barney discovered to his shock that it was Flint—now an adept of the dark side—leading the Imperials on Naldar. Skywalker and Flint did battle, but the Jedi was wounded by a stormtrooper's blaster, prompting Barney to step in and reason with his lifelong friend. As Flint proclaimed his plans to lead his Imperial army against the rest of the Alliance in the sector, Barney challenged Flint to kill him first. Barney's act of defiance prompted Flint to stand down and dismantle his war machines, ending the Imperial threat in the region.
Growing up under the thumb of the Galactic Empire and compelled to work as a part of the Imperial war machine, Barney wished above all else to one day be a part of the solution to the galaxy's problems, and long held Rebel sympathies. Barney and his best friend Flint were inseparable in their younger years, and while Barney was occasionally exasperated by Flint's excitable nature, the two considered themselves partners in looking after their community. Barney knew Flint so well that he was unafraid to confront his old friend even after seeing him at the head of an Imperial army, correctly betting that Flint did not have the cruelty in his heart to kill him. Barney was awed upon witnessing Luke Skywalker use the Force for the first time, and immediately became fascinated with the idea of becoming a Jedi Knight himself—it was the possibility of receiving Jedi training that was a motivating factor for Barney leaving Belderone and joining the Rebellion himself. However, he later found himself frustrated by Skywalker's reluctance to train him as a Jedi.
Barney first appeared Star Wars Annual (1977) 3, written by Mary Jo Duffy and released in 1983. He later appeared in Star Wars (1977) 92, which serves as a direct sequel of sorts to the previous Annual. In his two comic appearances, Barney was illustrated by Klaus Janson and Jan Duursema.
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia