Twenty-Fifth Baam

"I need to know... why... Rachel... betrayed... ME...!" - Baam to Hwa Ryun

Twenty-Fifth Baam, ('Night/Chestnut') (Abbreviated as Baam/Night) is an Irregular and is the central protagonist of Tower of God: Part 1. Baam enters the Tower in search of his best friend Rachel.

Five years later in Tower of God: Part 2 - The Return of the Prince, Baam, under the alias Viole, is a member of the infamous anti-government group FUG.

Appearance/Personality and Origin of Name
In Part I, Baam is a young boy with brown hair and amber/gold eyes. He wears a brown long sleeved shirt, red vest and beige pants. After the Crown Game test he received a lowest tier regular uniform and a hairband from Koon. He is described as good-looking and cute by the Black March and Androssi Zahard. Yuri also calls him a "hotty" in Part II as a semi-joke.

He is a caring young boy, and understands the true meaning of life, due to his life before The Tower being spent in almost complete solitude. He hates loneliness and other people's loneliness, seen when he urges Androssi not to be lonely and even moreso when he comments on Rachel's story. He's very naive and unknowledgeable about the Tower. During this part, he only climbs the Tower to be with Rachel.

In Part II, he is taller and he has grown out his hair, with the bangs covering part of his face, more specifically his eyes. His new outfit consists of a black sweatshirt, beige pants and clothes with the mark of FUG.

He is far more violent, and now completely understands that to climb The Tower, you must be pre-emptive and ready to kill. He speaks far less, and rarely will show any expression. He seemingly joined FUG at one point after leaving the Second Floor.

Name's Origin: He is named after his birthdate, the "twenty-fifth night". Later, the Guardian of the First Floor, Headon, abbreviates his name to Baam, joking, "It has become a tasty name!' In Korean, the word 'baam' has two meanings; one is 'night' and the other 'chestnut'. The Second Floor Guardian also jokes on this pun, saying to Baam "You...look tasty".

History
Baam's early life is mostly unknown and nothing is known about where he lived before coming into the Inner Tower, other than that it was some kind of cave. It's suspected that he was isolated by the order of Zahard himself or the 3 Lords, due to the Zahard Crest in the cave. He was dressed in an unkempt manner, had long unruly hair, and a white scarf around his neck. There was only one source of light in the cave, towards which Baam built a huge tower of stones. After climbing his tower, Baam found the light was unreachable, shining through a crack in the high cave ceiling. This caused him great upset, but as this happened the rock above broke off, and a girl with it, Rachel.

Rachel became Baam's only friend, and taught him how to read, write and talk. She also told him about the sky and stars, and of human warmth. She educated him on many things about the human world, though his grasp on human society is still fairly poor.

The two played a crude board game in the cave with chalk lines and stone pieces, always drawn out somehow by Baam's tactics. Rachel would frequently journey above through the opening from which light cascaded, denying Baam to come with her, telling him, "Up there, only those who have been chosen can play." She told him stories of the world above; of the yearly festivals, the fruit-bearing trees given by God, the children playing - a world filled with light and merriment. Baam would wait for her to return with nothing else to do but dream of going up there and playing with her.

At one point, Rachel also told him the story of a man loving a star so much that he built a tower to get to it. The others called the man crazy but he kept stacking it anyway. Eventually the man was able to reach the star and live with it forever. Whether or not this has anything to do with the story is unconfirmed.

Tower of God: Part 1
Baam enters the Inner Tower in search of his friend Rachel. When Rachel decided to climb the Tower, he went after her, chasing her and tackling her to ground. After Baam appeals to Rachel to not go to the tower, she merely states that she wants to go so she can be reborn. Afterwards, a light from the tower appears under her, giving the impression that she was in fact selected to go to the tower. However, it is stated by Headon, the Guardian of the First Floor, that she was not the one chosen by the tower. He does state, indirectly, that Baam is the one the tower chose (it's unclear whether this means that Baam is a Regular or not, but he at the very least has the strength of an Irregular). She was merely taken along for the ride as Baam grabbed on to her.

Baam awakens on the First Floor of the Tower, with Rachel watching behind a invisible shield, where he encounters Headon. Headon welcomes Baam and decides to test him with a Ball test, in a chamber guarded by a White Steel Eel, telling Baam that he can go to the next floor if he pops the Ball. At this same time, Yuri Zahard hears that an Irregular has entered the Tower, and travels down to the bottom floor alongside Evan Edrok. Evan gives Baam a Pocket, as is customary for arrivals into the Tower, but he receives an expensive A-Grade model. Yuri warns Headon that the test is too difficult for Baam but Headon refuses to change the test. However, he does agree to bend the rules to allow Yuri to lend Baam her weapon, the Black March, to help him pass the test.

Baam manages to get past the White Steel Eel by letting it swallow him and then stabbing its tongue. Consequently, he gets to the Ball and punctures it with the Black March. However, the Ball does not pop, so Baam listens to Evan's advice to call out to the Black March, asking it to ignite. To Yuri's surprise, the Black March listens to Baam and bursts the ball, sending Baam to the next floor.

He arrives on the 2nd floor in a grassy plain and is immediately engaged in a survival test to cut down half of the participants in the area by any means. He is attacked by a Regular, but manages to escape due to luck and considerable agility. He decides that he has to fight if he wants to ascend the tower and find Rachel, and is just about to attack a harmless creature when Koon appears and tells Baam he is making a mistake. Rak then appears, wishing to "hunt" Baam and the Black March in his possession. Koon then launches a surprise attack on Rak, giving him and Baam time to hide behind a rock from the infuriated hunter.

An announcement calls, ordering the Regulars to team up in groups of three, thus leaving Baam and Koon no choice but to try and group with Rak. When persuasion fails, Baam attempts to confound Rak by dropping the Black March and asking Rak to continue hunting him. Baam and Koon seize this opportunity to grab Rak at the last second, forcing him to team up with them, admitting them to the next phase of the test.

The survivors are teleported to a room to meet their Exam Supervisor, Lero-Ro, who blasts a Shinsoo barrier at them, stating that whoever passes through it passes into the next test. The barrier appears to have little to no effect on Baam, and so he immediately passes, much to Lero-ro's surprise. The examiner sits down with Baam and wagers a bet on who will get through the barrier first, with the prize of the winner allowing to ask the loser a question. Both bet correctly but despite the draw, Lero-Ro allows Baam to ask what an irregular is, which Lero-Ro duly explains. Afterwards, Koon and Rak emerge through the barrier, readying the team for the next test.

Baam, Koon, and Rak are presented with the examiner Yu Han Sung's test, in which they have to rely on a scant few clues to choose a correct door out of several, and pass due to Rak kicking open a random door within the time limit. They then decide to take part in a bonus test called 'Crown Game', the winner of which instantly passes onto the 3rd floor. The team set off in the 2nd round as the Black March reacts to the ignition of Anak's weapon, Green April, which is noticed by her. She demands that he give it to her, coming off the throne and so forfeiting the game. Baam makes a bet with Anak to give Black March to her if his team fails to win the next three rounds, but if he wins then she has to give him Green April. Baam's team manage to take control of the throne and Baam sits on it with the crown while Koon, Rak and their allies fend off the other Regulars. This stance is maintained until the final round, when a mysterious cloaked team enter the contest, one of which Baam becomes convinced of being Rachel. She is subsequently attacked in front of him by a masked combatant, later revealed to be Hwa Ryun, and so he instantly surrenders the throne and game to save her, subconsciously activating his potential for shinsoo. The shinsoo attacks Hwa Ryun, slicing her mask and face, and both fall to the ground unconscious. As a result, he loses the Black March to Anak.

Baam wakes up five days later, two days after the Position test has began. Koon tells him that the girl he saved was not Rachel, although Baam is still convinced and wonders why Rachel did not simply tell him the truth. He is assigned the Wave Controller position and discovers that he has an incredible talent for handling Shinsoo in his studies. He befriends some of his peers during this stage, including Androssi, Hatsu, and Ship Leesoo.

In the last stage of the Position test, the Hide-and-Seek game, Baam is assigned to Team B. He watches Team A's attempt through a monitor and is saddened by Koon's loss.

As Team B enter the game, Baam travels with the team's fishermen Androssi, Des Lion and Hong Chunhwa. He talks with Androssi about her history, and wonders how she managed to get all the food she wanted. Androssi then assaults her fellow Fishermen, making Baam realize how she had done it: by defeating or killing everyone who got in her way. Des Lion then attacks Baam, believing him to be in on Androssi's plan but Androssi steps between them and suppresses the strike. She tells Baam to watch closely as she was going to show him what is necessary to climb the Tower and protect Rachel, and starts towards Des Lion. Baam comes between them to stop the fighting, only to be betrayed by Lion who takes him hostage. However, he is easily despatched and slammed against the far wall, causing Hong to ignite his blade, Namaruda, firing a surge of Shinsoo at Androssi. Baam again gets in the way and takes the impact head on, managing to stay standing. He decides to leave them, as he would not fight others, and would never attack those precious to him, even if it got him to the stars. Androssi asks him why he keeps chasing Rachel, and he simply replies, "The heart moves where the heart wills," and runs off.

He then finds a Lighthouse, and its controller tells him that they have lost communication with Rachel, who was within the Safety Zone. Baam heads over there in fear of her safety. When he arrives, he finds Ho holding Rachel with a knife to her neck. He threatens to kill her unless Baam defeats Quant. Quant subsequently engages in combat with Baam and immobilizes him with shinsoo. He whispers to Baam that if he can copy the Paralyzing Flow he used on him, he could stop Ho for long enough to rescue Rachel. Baam does this with relative ease, much to Quant's shock, and saves Rachel.

As Androssi emerges on the scene, Baam utilises his newly acquired paralysis ability to help her successfully defeat Quant.

Afterwards, it is discovered that Rachel has lost the use of her legs, and so Baam asks Koon and Rak for help in enabling her to carry on up the Tower. Later that day Baam finds out that he has passed the Position test. It is found out that in order for Rachel to continue ascending the Tower, an Irregular would have to consult with the floors' Guardians, and so Baam admits to the congregation that he is one. After the results, all the participants who pass decide to side with Baam in his route up the Tower via Guardian-directed testing, despite the implications of helping an Irregular.

In the standby before the final exam on the 2nd floor, Baam attends Ho's funeral and trains in hand-to-hand combat with Androssi.

The final exam, the Submerged Fish Hunt, involves Baam being encased within a large bubble alongside Rachel. In the aquatic environment, Baam feels strangely envigorated and empowered. As the timer on his Pocket indicates 13 minutes left, Baam talks to Rachel about her legs and their ascension up the Tower. Presented with the question of why she wants to see the stars, Baam realizes he does not know the answer. He reveals his happiness at being beside her again and how he has changed since he last saw her.

As the two talk, they are interrupted by a dark projectile from the depths beyond that glances the bubble containing them, and are astonished to see that the Bull has found them. As it approaches to devour them with its jaw stretched out wide, Baam summons all his Shinsoo into one blast. This freezes the Bull in place, allowing the bubble to drift on past it. The bull starts moving again, but Baam quickly kills it. As the Mangdol Madame appears, Baam goes to share his happy victory with Rachel, until she unexpectedly stands up, with no trouble, and pushes Baam out of the bubble, saying; "I'm sorry Baam. Here, you need to die."

After the group that is guiding Rachel up the tower has left, he was found alive at the bottom of the depths by Hwa Ryun, and is convinced to climb the tower with her.

Tower of God: Part 2 - The Return of the Prince
In Tower of God: Part 2 - The Return of the Prince, Baam, now known as Viole, appeared on Floor 20, having defeated three Regulars when Ja Wangnancame in. Ja Wangnan seemingly "convinces" Viole to work together to take down the next opponent. Viole stays idle until Hon Akraptor comes and makes a vote-off. Viole says he will make them all fail here. He reveals the results of his training with his speed, strength and new shinsoo techniques. Goseng notes that his clothes seem to have a mark similar to the 'mark of the slayer'. He soon makes quick work of the 10th competitor, Horyang and Akraptor. He seemingly corners Ja Wangnan until he gets one of Ja Wangnan's cheap bombs to the face. He gets hurt by this and uses a lobster-like skeletal technique that heals his wounds. At this point, the test is over and he rides up to the next testing area by himself. Viole has a flashback to when Rachel told him the story of the man who built a tower to reach a star.

The next test is a Shinsoo Strengthening Test and Viole is the last person to take the test. Akraptor says to the other Regulars taking the test: "He (Viole) is the strongest Regular here". Viole uses HwaJeopGongPaSul on the machine (breaking it partly in the process) and scores 134,769 points to the amazement of everyone.

Love recognized HWAJeopGongPaSul instantly as one of FUG's preferred techniques, what lets him ponder whether Viole is part of FUG or not.

As the winner of the Shinsoo Strengthening Test he is ordered by Love to pick 7 other people of his choosing to take the next test with him. Viole however, despite the pleas of Ja Wangnan and other contestants to pick them, declares that he won't choose any teammates and asks Love to have all of them fail the test, stating that none of the current contestants are qualified to be his teammates.

The enraged Yeon asks him how self-conceited he must be and berates him for acting like he was actually part of the criminal organization FUG, proclaiming his symbols to be nothing but fakes.

Viole calmly retorts that his marks are not fake and that he is indeed one of the slayer candidates of FUG, going so far as to state that he lives for the deaths of Zahard and his kin. Thus he cannot choose any of them as he is their proclaimed enemy. Love says that while he understood his concerns, that the rules cannot be changed. He remarks how some of the contestants here are desperate enough to 'make a deal with the devil' in order to pass this test and then goes on to invite Viole to a game between the two of them in order to resolve this issue.

Relationships
Rachel: Baam has a deep friendship with her and and it is strongly implied that he fell in love with her. He also views her as an older sister figure. She was the reason why he entered the tower in the first place. However, since Rachel requested Koon to lie about her identity, Baam wonders why she will not just reveal herself to him and is aware she may not want him to follow her. Baam decides to do so anyways and is eventually betrayed by her, confusing him. It is unclear whether Baam seeks vengeance against Rachel and perhaps he only wants to know why she betrayed him.

Koon: Baam was a little uneasy with Koon at first, but they've become good friends, despite having contrasting personalities and characteristics. Koon has aided Baam countless times throughout various obstacles presented in the second floor. Koon saw something within Baam which he had lost a long time ago, and was determined to help Baam get to the top, and in case of his death at least carry out his last wishes.

Rak: Baam is also friends with Rak, although Rak is a little bit annoyed by him at times.

Powers and Abilities
In Part I, Baam is fairly weak at the start of the series, seemingly having almost no skills. But later in the story, Baam is shown to be a prodigy at manipulating shinsoo (like most Irregulars). He learns techniques that most Rankers take decades to learn, in mere seconds. It can be considered that he is even stronger than Androssi now, as he managed to kill the Bull, a feat which even Anak and Androssi couldn't pull off.

In Part II, he has become powerful to the point where others are beginning to fear his power and avoid him. He is now openly declared a "monster". He easily and clearly dwarfs the regulars on the 20th floor. His physical abilities and traits of combat are of great similarity to Androssi and Hwa Ryun's. This is most likely because they both respectively trained him (Hwa Ryun likely did).

Agility: Baam is very agile; he can dodge sword blows very effectively. After his training with Androssi he has gotten much faster and can even avoid the fastest attacks. In Part II, his speed increases to the point where he can appear next to someone to deliver a blow in a flash.

Intuition: Despite not being much of a fighter, Baam has good fighting instincts, as shown when he correctly determines a Steel Eel's weakness in only a few seconds. Sort of unrelated to fighting, he is able to find ways to make playing the board game with Rachel last longer with his tactics, letting Rachel stay longer with him.

Shinsoo Genius: Baam can use Shinsoo surprisingly well for someone who has had little experience or training with it. For example, he learns the Paralyzing Flow technique within a few seconds and rapidly becomes able to use it at a reasonable range, which Quant reveals took him decades to learn. So, logically, he can be considered to be stronger than a Ranker when it comes to shinsoo. Presented with the scenario of protecting Rachel, Baam's potential far exceeds the norm, and in one instance it appeared the Shinsoo around him struck the enemy Hwa Ryun of its own accord. He is also able to use shinsoo without having formed a contract with the current floor's guardian -- something that is considered both impossible and against the very laws of the tower.

Shinsoo Beams: Baam can fire beams of Shinsoo, the largest seen so far was big enough to punch straight through the Bull's head.

Paralyzing Flow: At medium to close range, Baam can temporarily immobilize an enemy using shinsoo. This is an ability taught by Quant that usually takes decades to learn which he mastered instantly, and apparently Baam can use it at a greater range than most.

Shinsoo Resistance: Normally, a person wouldn't be able to move under an enormous density of shinsoo, which is usually located where the white steel eels live. However, Baam has demonstrated an amazing resistance to shinsoo pressure, being able to move freely even in dense shinsoo environment. This is also shown during Leo-ro's test when Baam was unaffected by the shinsoo barrier that Leo-ro had cast, while all the participating regulars were moved back. He was blasted by a powerful wave of shinsoo as Hong Chunhwa's weapon, Narumada, ignited and emerged relatively unscathed by the attack. He is seemingly able to walk through any kind of shinsoo pressure, as if the shinsoo itself was changing just for him. In Part II, he now has complete invulnerability to Shinsoo. The downside is that his great weakness comes from anything that doesn't use Shinsoo (unconfirmed).

Black Shinsoo Aura: Even though uncomfirmed whether this is a result of Baam being an irregular (Like Red Tower Enryu's influence to it) or because of his current fighting style, Shinsoo tends to turn into a dark blue-almost-black smoke when used by him.



(Double-Handed) Shinsoo Punch: In Part II, Baam has a new technique that involves him using shinsoo to reinforce his normal punches to the point where one punch is able to crack the floor. He can extend the shinsoo to strike from far away as well.

Shinsoo Barrier: In Ch. 84, he can create a small shinsoo barrier to block shinsoo beams.

Delayed Shinsoo Bomb: Also in chapter 84, he can gather shinsoo together to make a sort-of shinsoo bomb that explodes after a few seconds creating a beam of shinsoo that sends the opponent flying back.

Healing Exoskeleton: In chapter 84, Baam can create a lobster-like exoskeleton that heals his wounds.

Martial arts: In chapter 84, he displays knowledge of certain martial arts moves. It is unknown who his teacher was: Hwa Ryun or someone else, or what schools of martial arts he knows.

HwaJeopGongPaSul: A technique that allows one to transfer a shock of Shinsoo through vibrations from one self to a targeted object. It is unknown to what extent he is capable of using this technique. As for now, the effects of a simple touch are catastrophic. It seems that this particular style of fighting is a trait of the FUG organization.

Notes and Trivia

 * An amusing fact about Baam: With the sole exception of Anak, who is a half princess, Baam seems to attract romantically any princess of Zahard he comes across. Two examples of that is the affections that are shown towards him by Androssi and Yuri, though it might just be the author's way to add comic relief moments for the later.
 * He goes under the alias Jyu Viole Grace in Part 2. It is speculated that he might be adopted by the leader of FUG, but it has yet to be confirmed.
 * Akraptor calls Baam "the strongest Regular", ironic since Baam is an Irregular.