T.W. Barker

T.W. Barker is an antagonist in the Sonic Boom television series. He is an anthropomorphic dog and the villanous ringmaster of T.W. Barker's Circus of Wonders, a circus that holds its performers against their will. An entrepreneur and professional con man, Barker is a devious trickster with skills as a lawyer and real estate agent who plays people to his advantage.

Appearance
T.W. Barker is an anthropomorphic dog about as tall as Knuckles with a medium-broad chest and shoulders. He has dark grey fur with light grey fur on the tip of his bushy tail, triangular ears, medium-sized muzzle, and as a stripe down the middle of his head. He also has cheek tufts, noticeable fangs, a pointy black snout and orange eyes.

His attire consists of a white shirt with a red bow tie, a red jacket with darker cuffs and collar and yellow epaulettes, black boots, white gloves, and a black top hat. While working as a lawyer, he wears a dark blue jacket from a suit.

Past
For some time, T.W. has run a circus called T.W. Barker's Circus of Wonders where he made the performers stay against their will.

Season one
While in the Village, Barker observed the Eggmobile that had been put on sale by Orbot and Cubot. Buffing that he thought Orbot and Cubot were trying to con him, Barker offered them a deal: he could take the Eggmobile out for a test drive and the duo could name their price. As Orbot agreed to it, Barker left with the Eggmobile, though Orbot and Cubot did not realize until much later that he stole it.

Eventually, Barker's performers escaped him. Hearing of Team Sonic, Barker set up a trap to make them a part of his circus. Encountering Team Sonic (excluding Tails) under the pretense that it was by accident, Barker lied to them upon his introduction that his performers were ill and could no longer perform. As he had planned, Team Sonic helped fill in for his performers at his next show. Afterwards, Barker revealed his true intentions and imprisoned Team Sonic in special cages with some Motobugs he had ordered standing guard. However, Barker's plans were foiled by Tails. After Sonic trapped Barker in a cage, Barker begged for the heroes to release him.

Barker was later hired by Dr. Eggman as his lawyer when the doctor sued Sonic for injuring him. With his skills, Barker convinced everyone in the court that Sonic was a malicious outlaw bend on harming the innocent Eggman. However, Barker's efforts would come to naught when Amy exposed Eggman for faking his case. During the "Battle of the Buns" between Chez Amy and Meh Burger, Barker would come to the former for a meal. Barker later joined the New Year's Eve party held in the Village Center where he got to see Soar the Eagle at work.

Some time later, Barker came to the auditions for Bro-Down Showdown alongside his partner Wolfie. However, the pair were rejected by Dixon for being "too ugly." Instead, Barker spent some time watching the show live. Barker would later visit the Village Center in time to see Sonic clear his name after being accused of thievery. Another time, Barker visited the Robot Battle Royale to watch the tournament, where he saw Eggman steal Tails' Hypno-bot at the end.

Called to a meeting held by Eggman at his lair with other local villains and rogues, Barker came with his Stunt Bears. There, Eggman wanted them to form a team to beat Team Sonic. After some leadership disputes leading to team exercises, Barker opted for Eggman's leadership so the group could prove themselves after Shadow the Hedgehog had left the group criticizing them. At their attack on Team Sonic, Barker faced Knuckles in Octopus Bot upon the Tree Spy's signal, luring the echidna away from his team. However, he was still beaten.

Season two
After conducting some scams, Barker was forced by law to get a permit for committing evil. To do so, Barker had to take an exam, which he passed, although the law was soon rendered null and void. Hearing later that Knuckles was looking for a house, Barker presented himself as an (unofficial) real estate agent and tricked Knuckles into buying a house. He then began strong-arming Knuckles with his Stunt Bears to make him pay the unfair house fees in his contract. Violating Barker's contract though, Knuckles brought in his team, and Barker was scared into nullifying Knuckles' contract by Amy. Seeing the success of the Muckfoot Mania, Barker sought to make Muckfoot an attraction at his circus. Although Barker caught a mud-covered Knuckles instead, he posed Knuckles as the real Muckfoot. After a succesful showcase in Hedgehog Village, Barker took Knuckles on a world tour to show him to the rubes. Team Sonic soon came for Knuckles though, so Barker had his allies, including Dr. Eggman and his robots (who had joined his circus), fight them. However, Barker and his crew lost when the heroes sent them into a berry-induced sleepwalker trance.

Personality
T.W. Barker is very sly, sinister, greedy and devious. A smooth and charismatic talker, he is quite sharp, intelligent and manipulative: he has managed to present himself as a proper gentleman and selfless entertainer to earn others' sympathy, tricked Orbot and Cubot into letting him steal the Eggmobile, and deceived an entire courtroom in his favor. Also, because he is a con man, he knows how to not let himself get deceived by anything. This is best exemplified when he recognized a mud-covered Knuckles when everyone else mistook Knuckles for Muckfoot.

Hungry for profit, Barker is extremely selfish, proud and has no regard for others. He has been known to keep his performers against their will to force them to work for him, and he often leaves his henchmen to fight for him while he remains safe, the latter of which hints towards at somewhat cowardly nature. When he loses his composure, he can be rather short-tempered, loud and kind of degrading, like when he desperately begged Team Sonic not to leave him trapped in the cage they caught him in when they departed.

Powers and abilities
T.W. Barker is a very crafty con man and a well-educated lawyer with a silver tongue. Using simple wits, appeal, verbal traps, and mind games, he can easily win over his victims' trust and turn an otherwise iron-clad argument in his favor. As a testament to his skills, he was able to trick an entire courtroom into supporting him and Eggman without much effort. He is also a versatile pilot, piloting the Eggmobile and Octopus Bot without any difficulty.

Allies

 * Stuntbears
 * Stunt Bear No. 1
 * Stunt Bear No. 2
 * Dr. Eggman

Enemies

 * Team Sonic
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Amy Rose
 * Sticks the Badger

Trivia

 * T.W. Barker's name is a reference to P.T. Barnum, a master of the Circus arts and was even called the "Circus King".
 * T.W. Barker has his own action figure.
 * According to Bill Freiberger, Barker, like Dr. Eggman, thinks the Lightning Bolt Society are a bunch of losers.
 * T.W. Barker is the first villain in the Sonic Boom television series besides Dr. Eggman to directly antagonize Team Sonic.
 * According to Bill Freiberger, T.W. Barker's initials do not stand for anything as of yet.