Barbarians are savage and untamed villains. They are often cruel, dangerous and bloodthirsty with a desire to rule by force alone. Although stereotypically strong, they do not have to be strong to qualify. Basically, a barbarian fills the role of a semi-feral being intelligent enough that they still retain some humanity but are still ruled mainly by base instincts such as war and aggression.

While most Barbarians are portrayed as semi-intellectual ferals that can't be judged by our systems because of being ferals, there are also exceptions where these villains can be very smart, and at times even hit the Mastermind category.

A barbarian can also be a rude, violent and sanguinary individual. In some cultures, they are known as "ogres" (a reference to the mythical monster of the same name). In other words, Barbarians do not listen to reason whenever heroes say they should.

The opposite of Barbarian is Sophisticated, although the other villains would later reveal their true selves.