Bleach Fantasy Round 6: Baraggan Louisenbairn vs. Emperor Mateus of Palamecia (Emperor vs. Emperor)

VS.

The first word that comes to mind when it comes to these antagonists is : Kingly. These two Emperors are the respective rulers of the Palamecia Empire & Hueco Mundo. With their superiro status as Kingly figures, these two have imprinted fear on those who oppose them. Mateus is the Antagonist of FF II and Baraggan is the 2nd Espada under the tutelage of Aizen Sousuke. So who's the better Emperor? Without further ado, let us compare these two in the following: Backstory/Role in Story, Powers/Abilities, and the Final Verdict by MechG2994 (every Monday). FF currently leads 3-2 against Bleach (As of April 25th). NOTE: MechG2994's portion is noted in Purple and Stillmattic's in Blue. The Headers are noted in Yellow.

Backstory/Role in Story (Baraggan Louisenbairn)

Baraggan, prior to being the 2nd Espada under Aizen Sousuke, was the respectable ruler of Hueco Mundo. Bored with his rule, he was about to have his own Army fight one another just for his entertainment and to fill in time. However, everything changed when Aizen, Gin, & Kaname entered Hueco Mundo, cut down one of Baraggan's men, and introduced Kyoka Suigetsu. With Aizen's Zanpaktou, he & his men swiftly cut down Baraggan's army prior to meeting one-on-one with Baraggan ~ leaving Baraggan's empire to crumble right before his eyes. Given the opportunity for more power, Baraggan believed Aizen's words to be comedic as Baraggan stated that there's no higher power other than Baraggan's rule itself. It wouldn't be long before Baraggan was under Aizen's tutelage as the 2nd Espada.

Baraggan was first introduced at the Espada meeting where the Intruders (Ichigi, Uryu, & Chad) first entered Hueco Mundo. Baraggan believed they weren't a threat, but Aizen says otherwise as he explicates that they entered Hueco Mundo to save Orihime Inoue and that the Intruders challenged the Gotei 13 and were on par with Captain-class Shinigami. As soon as the 9th Espada died by the hands of Rukia Kuchiki, Baraggan commented that the fool died too young. However, Baraggan doesn't play much of a pivotal role until he, Harribel, & Starrk were the last remaining Espada in the Fake Karakura Town Arc. As Aizen was trapped by Captain Yamamoto's flames, Baraggan assumed command as his temporary replacement and watched as his Fraccion fought and fell one-by-one by the Gotei 13. This angered Baraggan as he had no choice but to do everything himself ~ challenged the 2nd Division: Sui-Feng & Omaeda. He seems to have had the upper hand, explaining that each Espada controlled an aspect of Death and his was Age. Everything ages and begins to wither ~ that was Baraggan's aspect of death and, representing his Aspect, released his Resurrecion ~ a Black Skull figure cloaked in Black. However, after the Visored entered the fray ~ it seems as if the King of Hueco Mundo found his match as he died by his own power. Hachigen, planting the disintegrating hand inside Baraggan, began to wither away by his own power. Before his impending death, he tried one last attempt to attack Aizen, but failed as Baraggan's blade decayed before it got the chance to reach him. Even in death, the King himself, as explained by Hachigen, was afraid of aging and wanting to keep death at bay.

Powers/Abilities (Baraggan Louisenbairn) 

Being the 2nd Espada under Aizen's army & former King, Baraggan possesses an enormous amount of Spiritual Power and is proficient in Sonido usage. Like I said above, each Espada represents an Aspect of Death. Baraggan represents the Aspect of Aging/Time and, just like his ability states, he was able to deteriorate anything that he touches and comes in contact with: Aging Sui-feng's bones just by tapping her shoulder and the surrounding buildings crumbling just from standing on top of the roof. In his Resurrecion form (Arrogante), his power is amplified as he is more durable, everything around him withers away, and he wields a Double-bladed Axe. It's safe to say that wherever he stands or breathes - anything decays. 

Backstory/Role in Story (Emperor Mateus of Palamecia)

To be honest, the backstory of Mateus’ upbringing has been debated as canon or non-canon to the official FFII story arc, but it’ll deserve honorable mention to fill the backstory portion. According to legends, the Palamecian emperors are cursed with a long line of demonic influences as a result of the world seeking revenge. Prior to ascending to the throne as the next emperor, Mateus continued that trend, making a pact with Satan himself to help him become more powerful and possess the ability to summon demonic forces from Hell into the mortal realm. In his first act ascending to the throne as the next Emperor of Palamecia, Mateus exiled his mother to the deserts as she was trying to attempt to break the long cycle of demons controlling previous emperors by restoring Mateus’ sanity.

Emperor Mateus begins his world domination by unleashing the demonic forces to attack the kingdoms of Fynn, Kashuan, and Deist, the notable kingdoms a part as a resistance to bring down the perennial power of the Palamecian Empire. Since the kingdom of Deist, was home to the Dragoons and they are dependent on the wyvern population, Mateus poison’s the wyvern’s water supplies, almost putting the wyvern to extinction and leaving the Dragoons demoralized. After that event, the Wild Rose Rebellion was formed by the Kashuan Kingdom and the Fynn Kingdom, but eventually Fynn fell under Palamecia’s hands and Mateus begins his construction of the Dreadnought airship, capturing Princess Hilda and holding her up as a prize for a tournament in which Wild Rose member, Firion and his group participated in. Eventually Firion and the Wild Rose freed the Wynn Kingdom from Mateus’ hands as well as destroying the Dreadnought, leading to Mateus to summon a cyclone to destroy nearby towns. The Wild Rose rebels confronted Mateus in the heart of the cyclone and eventually kill him. However, Mateus used his death as means to enter the realm of Hell, defeating Satan for control and returning to the mortal realm in a more demonic form, and bringing the Hell capital of Pandaemonium to the mortal world’s surface. Firion and the other members confront Mateus yet again in his new form and they kill him once again, but again, Mateus wouldn’t go away as his imperial soul divided into two to represent rule over Heaven and Hell and it took Firion and his party to attack him on two fronts in both Afterlives to finally kill him off for good.

Powers/Ailities (Emperor Mateus of Palamecia)

To begin with, Mateus is incredibly powerful with or without the demonic powers. Aside from his ability to summon a devastating cyclone to destroy towns, he can cast a lot of heavy lightning-elemental magic spells and can lift his own castle and turn it into a mobile fortress. As mentioned, he was strong enough to defeat Satan for control over Pandaemonium and Hell itself and by assuming control of Hell, he also controls Heaven for some reason. In his Hellish, demonic form, as Emperor of Hell, Mateus learns some even powerful spells, able to drain an opponent’s lifeforce and use it to replenish his strength, and is almost invincible against physical attacks and as mentioned, he brought Pandaemonium to the surface of the mortal realm and can use demonic forces as his pawns before the battle actually goes to him, he can also summon the demonic forces in his mortal form due to the pact with Satan. In his heavenly form, as Emperor of Heaven, Mateus is more powerful considering he can possess the ability to resurrect a whole population of souls of dead people to fight on his side and he can cast a handful of devastating light/dark magic spells.

Verdict (by MechG2994)

And the winner is...

What a way to end the April portion of BF! These two indicate that you should respect their authority and if you don’t, you will feel their wrath. After carefully evaluating these two, it was a mixed bag for me at first, but in terms of story and abilities, and overall ambition, I have to say that Emperor Mateus wins this matchup. It’s obvious that Baraggan has been King of Hueco Mundo for quite some time and Mateus is just starting up his campaign; as the old saying goes: out with the old, in with the new. The fact that Baraggan used his own army to kill each other to satisfy his entertainment value speaks volume about his current reign, while Mateus, he wasn’t just ambitious to conquer the whole world, but he wanted to conquer the realms of Heaven and Hell, he could conquer the entire cosmos if he wanted to. Another thing is that Baraggan had to play 2^nd fiddle with Aizen after Aizen impressed him with his ability to single-handedly killing off his army and crushing his Empire in Hueco Mundo, Mateus on the other hand, wouldn’t want to play 2^nd fiddle with anyone. He wants to be the man, the ultimate authority, and that’s why he took out Satan for control of Hell and found a way to control Heaven. Not to mention, it took three fronts for Mateus to be defeated by Firion and his party: in the mortal world, in Hell, and in Heaven, for Baraggan, just one front as displayed in his defeat during the battle of the fake Karakura Town and that is why Mateus is the victor.

So who do you think won? Baraggan Louisenbairn from Bleach or Emperor Mateus of Palamecia from Final Fantasy II? Comment below and let us know. Look forward to Bleach Fantasy posts every Monday & Friday (unless specified) around 8am-11:59pm. As always, you all stay classy now. FF currently leads 4-2 against Bleach (As of Today ~ April 28).