A friend asked me to explain how a fighter differs from a barbarian...

So i explained; a fighter trains to fight, most usually at a school, but most importantly, with a wide range of weapons. A fighter studies studiously and spends an equal amount of time in study of fighting as fighting itself. The Barbarian is trained by other barbarians, and does not study or go to school at all. He first undergoes The Crucible, where he is nearly killed by the other Barbarians during a five month process of learning to use his entire body as a weapon, from a Muay Thai style of H2H to a Greco Roman style of wrestling, while he is only a child of about 5 years. If he survives (few do) he undergoes The Healing. The Healing is a one week period where the Barbarians body must quickly bounce back and be ready for combat. No magical healing is allowed and many die from internal injuries and infection. Should he survive he begins phase two of his Crucible, where he begins training against wild beasts with little more than a dagger. He is left naked and armed with a dull blade in the forest. Should he survive, he is brought home to undergo the second phase of his Healing, were magic is used to bring the boy back to full health. Once fully healed the boy must begin his weapons training, were he is jumped by all other Barbarians (not just fighters or savage fighters, but those who have passed the crucible in full) and must survive with little knowledge of how to use his weapon, only intuition and pure drive. Once the boy completes this he must take his weapon into the forest and hunt and kill a beast of his choice. He must bring it home and prepare himself for The Ritual, were a bone is removed from the animal and sharpened, its blood blessed by a priest, and finally the boy is tattooed and ritually scarred. If he does not die from infection, he is no longer a boy, he is a Barbarian. He now can use the Primal Rage, a side effect of being tattooed with the blessed blood. He is to wear no shoes, little armor and few pieces of survival gear. Should the Barbarian survive to middle age, he becomes ready to induct another boy into the fold. (This may be how my campaign sees it, but when i think of Barbarian i dont think of a savage, less than human animal, but rather MORE of a human, more in touch with his animalistic side, changed mentally and physically by The Crucible. Where a Fighter simply perfects an art and his body, a Barbarian removes from himself all fear, pride, emotion and becomes one with the natural state of mankind.) So, what do you think?