Credence Barebone



Credence Barebone was an American wizard who lived during the 20th century. He was the adopted son of Mary Lou Barebone, the leader of the New Salem Philanthropic Society, a No-Maj anti-witchcraft group.

Credence had two adoptive sisters, Chastity and Modesty, and lived with them and his adoptive mother. Chastity is stated to be the middle of the three children and since Modesty is clearly younger than her siblings, this would mean that Credence is the eldest of the three.

Credence was an Obscurial. He is also so far the most powerful obscurial known of in wizarding history and the longest lived. Where as most obscurials die before their 10th birthday, Credence has live well past that age. This is a testament to his incredible power as a wizard.

Early life
Credence was born to a loving unnamed witch and was well loved during the time that he was with her. Credence was not with his mother long though. She died when he was young. He was adopted by Mary Lou Barebone, an anti-witchcraft preacher who physically abused him, causing him to suppress his magic. But there was more to this act than meets the eye. She knew what his mother had been and knew that Credence might hold the same taint as she had. Mary Lou referred to her as a "wicked, unnatural woman," suggesting she may have played some part in the witch's death.[1]

Obscurus manifestation


By 1926, Everything came to a head during one of the Second Salem meetings at the church. His mother was taking a belt to him when the witch Porpentina Goldstein rushed forward to his defense. Tina magically assaulted Mary Lou, saving Credence from that beating and comfort him with a hug. And even though he had been obliviated afterwards, Credence found himself dreaming of the woman who had saved him from his mothers wrath frequently after this event.

Credence was losing control of his Obscurus, and it manifested in outbursts that were wreaking havoc in New York. During this time, he was contacted by Gellert Grindelwald, in the disguise ofp Percival Graves, who asked him to help find the obscurial child in the Second Salem Church; in return Credence was promised to be made free and taught magic.

On 6 December, after a failed attempt by the Second Salemers to garnish the support of Henry Shaw Senior and being insulted by his son the senator, Credence's Obscurus manifested and attacked a fund-raising dinner at City Hall, killing the senator.

The next day, Credence found a toy wand in Modesty's bedroom, but their foster mother assumed it was his. As Mary-Lou prepared to punish Credence, Modesty admitted it was hers, and the belt was torn from Mary Lou's hand. An Obscurus burst free at that moment and killed both Mary Lou and Chastity.

Still in the form of Graves, Grindelwald came for him and demanded Credence take him to Modesty, who had fled the destruction to her home before she was adopted. Once there, Grindelwald told Credence that he had no further use for him. This betrayal caused Credence to reveal his Obscurus, to the surprise of Grindelwald. Although Grindelwald attempted to apologise and offered to train him, Credence lost control and transformed completely into an Obscurus, going on a rampage. Grindelwald pursued him and the pair were found by Newton Scamander. Newt managed to calm Credence down in a subway tunnel, only for him to start attacking the Dark Wizard before the Magizoologist could gain his attention, though Tina managed to get him to stop once more. Soon after, Seraphina Picquery and Aurors from MACUSA arrived and proceeded to attack him, only stopping when they believed he was destroyed, though a single shred of his Obscurus form fled the scene, unseen to anyone but Newt.

Personality and Traits
He was described as "troubled" and "mysterious." Shy and withdrawn, this made him far more vulnerable to the abuse that came in response to the slightest infraction of his adoptive mother's strict rules. His timid personality also made him susceptible to manipulation by Gellert Grindelwald, who took a personal interest in him.

However, when he was insulted or threatened, his Obscurus form was unleashed, which was triggered by his negative emotions and experiences and acted violently because of it, causing wide-spread destruction and death to those who provoked him. Namely, he attacked Mary Lou Barebone because of the abuse the latter inflicted on him for so long, and Henry Shaw Junior for the way he mocked him.

After years of abuse at the hands of his adoptive mother, Credence Barebone has become a very timid and socially awkward young man. Credence's life has also always been mirco managed by his repressive and abusive mother so he really doesn't know how to handle things that are out of his normal routine. He is very withdrawn and easily intimidated by people in positions of authority. He is quiet and suffers from anxiety whenever he is forced to interact with new people or forced into a stressful situation. He gets very nervous in large crowds. (which is pretty much anything that's out of the norm when it comes to his daily)

He is scared, lonely and down right terrified of making any mistakes that would displease his mother. He has no friends outside and has been publicly humiliated more than once by his mother's open abuse in front of the Second Salemers. He is also very compliant and passive in most situations as he already knows the punishment if he decides to act out or defend himself in any way. He is the type of young man who keeps his head down and usually doesn't step out of line; particularly when his mother or other authority figures are around. He also has big trust issues because of his abusive upbringing.

Be that as it may, Credence is actually quite desperate for love, affection and acceptance to the point that he is insanely easy to manipulate and control to the point that he is willing to risk the wrath of his mother to help his manipulator or friend regardless of the consequences. Especially if he thinks he's doing something good for another person while he's earning this love and affection. This gives him a little bit of a rebellious streak and any sign of affection or acceptance is a sure fire way to win his boundless loyalty and devotion. That being said, Credence is also very sensitive and easily emotionally wounded by the things people say and do to him.

While he will keep his head down in most cases, name calling wounds him far deeper than one might think reasonable and betrayal even more so. He has a lot of repressed anger and pain that he doesn't share with anyone which only makes things all the harder to deal with when people put pressure on his raw chaotic emotions. He is easily overwhelmed and has been known to have emotional breakdowns that are usually done in private where no one can see unless he is with someone that he truly trusts.

With all that being said, tragedy is not the only thing to this young man even though it is the most dominating part of his life. Credence is also a very sweet and curious young man. Hidden under all of that pain there is a kind heart that would willingly put himself in danger for the sake of another. He also finds fascination in the simplest of things and has a deep curiosity in the world around him that he only shows when he thinks no one is looking. Credence has a lot of ambition, and is still very focused to get into the wizarding world. His dream is to become a wizard, and to learn everything about magic and he is very curious about it. He is also exceptionally polite and well mannered (probably because of Mary Lou's strict up bringing) and follows the rules given to him unless they interfere with more important matters.

Credence has also shown a willingness to take a beating without protest to protect his little sister and will snap out of a full on breakdown to find her if it's made clear that she is in mortal danger regardless of how he is feeling. He even puts exceptional effort into trying to make himself look presentable when he's in public places and can be soothed with simple words of kindness and understanding when he is at his most uncontrollable positions. He is not a boy who wants to do harm to others regardless of the actions of his Obscurus. It is simply something that he can't control for the most part. He also feeling guilt for what happened to his mother and older sister right now.

Magical abilities and skills

 * Obscurus Transformation: Credence was an Obscurial, prone to unleashing or embodying an Obscurus due to years of being forced to suppress his magic. He was notably more powerful than other known obscurials, living longer than any previously known.
 * High Magic Capability: While Credence never developed his magical abilities, his ability to survive for so long despite being an Obscurial indicated he had an immense amount of latent magical talent.

Mary Lou Barebone
Credence feared his foster mother due to her constant abuse. When she was about to attack his younger foster sister, he transformed into his Obscurus form and killed her.

Modesty Barebone
Modesty was kind to her older foster brother and he was close to her as a result. She defended him when he was about to be whipped by their foster mother. However, once he killed their foster mother and foster sister, she became fearful of him.

Gellert Grindelwald
Grindelwald used Credence to try and locate the Obscurial and tossed him aside when he thought he had obtained his goal. When it was revealed that Credence was the Obscurial, he offered to train him, but Credence declined. He continued to attempt to recruit Credence until the latter seemingly vanished after being attacked by MACUSA's Aurors. Grindelwald kept interrupting to keep him stirred up so he would cause more destruction. That was Grindelwald’s goal all along – to use an Obscurial like Credence to start a war between the magical folk and the No-Maj.

Etymology
Credence is derived from the Latin credere meaning to trust and to believe, and from credentia, meaning belief. Barebone is an Anglo-Saxon surname, thought to be taken from the name of an English village, Barbon or Barbourne.

Behind the scenes

 * Credence is portrayed by Ezra Miller in.
 * Initial reports said this character's name was "Kredan". When asked about it via Twitter, J. K. Rowling said, "Kredan is quite literally nobody. They got the name wrong!"
 * Credence reportedly becomes a "notable" character within the Harry Potter universe.

Notes and references
Credence Barebone Криденс Бербон Croyance Bellebosse Credence Barebone