Kind of, but we have better style.
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Belizarius is a character who appears exclusively within the Winx Club Comic Series. He makes his debut in Issue 21: The Shaab Stone and he becomes the central antagonist to the Shaab Stone story arc.
Appearance
Belizarius is a rather overweight man who seems to be in well over his forties as he has notable bald spots on his head. He has a light skin tone, light caramel colored hair, green eyes and some notable stubble on his upper lip.
He wears a purple suit with a reddish-violet waistcoat and light pink dress shirt underneath. He wears a small red bow tie and reddish-violet pants that have slim, vertical pink stripes to match his waistcoat. He also wears black dress shoes.
Personality
Belizarius is a selfish and impatient man. Due to his riches, the success of his company and the many influential connections he has, Belizarius has formed a core belief that "anyone can be bought." Thus, he becomes enraged when people refuse to work with him and turn down all of the offers he prepares. He takes these refusals personally and will go to great lengths (again using his wealth and various connections) to either flat out crush them or make their lives so miserable that they will be forced into accepting his initial demands. In fact, when doing so, Belizarius can become panicked and stressed until he gets his way, which leads to his downfall during the Shaab Stone arc. It is also revealed that most of his company, the TradeMagix Company, has been established due to acting outside the law of the realms he bases his trades in, so he becomes visibly anxious once the possible consequences come knocking.
Comics
Season 2
Belizarius makes his debut in the beginning of Issue 21: The Shaab Stone having just moved his company into Magix City. He is first mentioned by Sky who explains to his friends that Belizarius was able to move the TradeMagix Company to Magix City due to his ability to make friends with those who hold high positions of power. Belizarius is then seen throwing a party in his new residency, chatting it up with one of his associates. He admits to having faced a few difficulties trying to help Belizarius move his company and claims that the realm places its efforts into its schools, so businesses like Belizarius' are not really expected. Once this associate of his leaves, Belizarius is approached by his butler, Servidio, who lets him know that everything is going according to plan.
In Issue 22: Treason, the Shaab Stone Retrieval Mission was a total bust. Belizarius now has the Stone in his possession, all magic on Magix no longer works and Helia, who was tasked with leading the mission, is facing discrimination from every direction all because Riven did not want to follow his plans. Bloom tells her diary that she already told it but her diary is still unsure about most of the details, like if Belizarius is not actually some wizard instead of a mere dealer. Bloom tells her diary, again, that Belizarius is just a dealer who is trying to come up with the best way to conduct his dealings and that he only found out about the power of the Shaab Stone by chance. She further explains that he was hoping to get Griffin and the Cloud Tower witches to use dark magic to increase his tradings but, now that he has the Shaab Stone, it will be a lot harder for Griffin to refuse. Griffin laments over the fact that magic is fundamental to the universe's equilibrium and that, without magic, Magix is left vulnerable to any attack from outside. She claims that Belizarius has no idea what he has just done but Saladin believes that Belizarius knows fully well what the repercussions are and will still proceed to keep the Shaab Stone. Saladin then asks if Belizarius has come back to Cloud Tower for anything but Griffin responds by telling him that he has not. Griffin admits that, due to their circumstances, she may even have to give in the Belizarius' demands but Saladin assures her that they cannot give in to Belizarius' influences and that they will be able to get their hands on the Shaab Stone to destroy it. Meanwhile, in the outskirts of Magix, Belizarius boasts of his influence over everyone in Magix thanks to the Shaab Stone. As he marvels over the Shaab Stone's brilliance, Servidio comes into his office and tells him that they have a problem. He explains that one of Belizarius' "friends" is facing a lot of pressure from the headmasters of each of the magic schools and needs him to destroy the stone, adding that if the Fortress of Light Council were to get involved then his trading license could be revoked. However, Belizarius believes that now that he has the stone in his possession, no one will be able to deny him anything. He and Servidio lock up the Shaab Stone in a giant red safe and Belizarius declares that if anyone tries to take the stone from him, then he will have his men deal with them and laughs triumphantly.
At his office, Belizarius tries to butter up Helia with compliments by claiming that it would be an honor to employ Saladin's grandson. He further claims that Helia is destined for great things and will even be hired as a collaborator instead of a mere employee. Helia claims that he is no longer interested in Magix and wants to have business with all of the other realms, asking if he could see one of Belizarius' shuttles. However, Belizarius believes that Helia would be more useful to him closeby rather than working in other realms. He talks about how, despite Helia being Saladin's successor, he was treated terribly by his grandfather, to which Helia agrees. Belizarius tries to make the deal sweeter by saying that he could help Helia avenge himself but he needs Helia to prove himself useful. Helia asks what he needs him to do and Belizarius tells him to make him a promising offer, only to have Helia claim that he is capable of making Griffin work with him. Belizarius tells him that is could work and Helia further explains that there is a secret document about Griffin being appointed to Cloud Tower that supposedly went against other applicants and works around the law. He claims that he overheard Saladin talking about it but Saladin is unaware that Helia heard him discussing about it, and Helia claims that all three headmasters own a copy of this secret document. However, he cannot gain access to Cloud Tower or Red Fountain but assures Belizarius that he can get his hands on Faragonda's copy of the document. Belizarius' interests are piqued and Helia asks if that would be enough to prove himself to be worthy. Belizarius agrees to this but is unsure how Helia will be able to get the documents from Alfea. Helia claims that he knows someone on the inside who can and will help him do it.
In Issue 32: My Friend is a Dragon, Lothar and one of his henchmen have been seeing how popular and well-trained the dragon is and Lothar starts thinking that the many rich tycoons of Magix would pay big money to see such a well-trained dragon. The man with Lothar reminds him that thanks to Belizarius fleeing without even paying them, he would do anything to get out of their terrible situation. Lothar tells the man that they will take the dragon and flee Magix, remembering that he knows the owner of a circus in the Gourkal Dimension, that is always looking for oddities. His henchman asks how they will be able to kidnap the beast with fairies being close to him at all times, to which Lothar reveals that he still had pieces of the Shaab Stone on him from when they had to retrieve the stone for Belizarius. Now that they have a solid plan, Lothar and his henchman run off to gather the rest of his men.
Trivia
- Belizarius shares many similarities with another short-term villain who appears in later comics: Napoleon Codifer.
- Both are greedy rich men that desire to acquire more power and believe that they cannot be refused due to their wealth.
- Both have taken over a whole settlement in their pursuit of power.
- Belizarius keeps the whole of Magix defenseless with the Shaab Stone as he tries to force Griffin into his deal.
- Codifer controls the town of Hoggarth with his wealth and pollution-inducing factories.
- Belizarius's name is based on that of Belisarius, who was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire who became legendary because of his military skill and victories.
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