Bleach Fantasy Round 14: Yhwach vs. Sephiroth (The Ultimate Evil Pt. 1)

VS.

We're almost at the end of May and it's unfortunate that Bleach Fantasy is coming to an end. This Friday, MechG2994 will be deciding the final 2 Matchup(s). Knowing this, FF currently leads against Bleach 7-6. This'll be my last time giving a BF verdict. Today's matchup is between Bleach's major antagonist now, Yhwach, and the renowned antagonist of FF VII - Sephiroth. Two ultimate evils....two badass villains.....two people you don't want to cross because you'll piss your pants. Without further ado, let us start off this week by comparing these two villainous B@d@$$e$ in the following: Backstory/Role in Story, Powers/Abilities, & Verdict (By yours truly). As said before ladies and gentlemen, my parts will be in Blue, MechG's in Purple, and the titles in Yellow.

Backstory/Role in Story (Yhwach)

Yhwach is the Father of the Quincy (also referred to as Your Majesty) and current major antagonist in Bleach's Thousand Year Blood War Arc. As a child, he could not hear, speak, or even move. Knowing this, Yhwach was fearless and never cried. Those around Yhwach treated him with reverence because upon who touched Yhwach gradually found something that they lacked beforehand. This only happened because Yhwach possessed the power to share out of his soul. Thus, anyone who came in contact with him shared a part of his soul and was able to heal their wounds (that person's own soul could have never done that). Treating him as a special being, Yhwach was always met with people and as he continuously shared out his soul unto everyone - Yhwach's own body became to function. He was able to harness his senses and as a result, he learned of the name people chanted to him - YHWACH. He realized that the very name people gave him is the name of the God that the people worshipped. As said above, he is the Quincy - the founder, creator, and King. His very blood flows unto every living Quincy. 1000 years ago, Yhwach and a man named Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto (Aka the former 1st Head Captain of the Gotei 13) met face-to-face and Yamamoto was unable to deliver the finishing blow unto Yhwach. He is the first person to bear witness to Yamamoto's Bankai - Zanka no Tachi and thus has a thorough understanding of how his Bankai works. Supposedly after the two fought, Yhwach lost his powers. Quincy Folklore suggested that "The Sealed King," after 900 years, would regain consciousness, after 90 ~ regain intellect, and after 9 ~ absorb the power of every "impure" Quincy to make their abilities his very own. As a result of what is known as Auswahlen, Ichigo & Uryu's Mothers died and lost their powers. This leaves Uryu as being the last "impure" Quincy alive. Yhwach reveals that this song (the absorption of "impure" Quincy) is known as Kaiser Gesang (Praise-Song of the Sacred Emperor in Japanese) and has another verse stating that the "Sealed King" will have the world after 9 days. During As Nodt's recovery in the hospital, Yhwach visited him and gave him power and sometime during the 17-month after Aizen's defeat, The Wandenreich conquered Hueco Mundo and currently hold Tier Harribel as hostage ~ using Hueco Mundo as another stepping stone to invading the Soul Society. It is also revealed that Yhwach intends to hire the assistance of former antagonist, Aizen Sousuke, but he turned down the offer. As of now: Ichigo Kurosaki, Kenpachi Zaraki, & Aizen Sousuke are known as the special war potentials. It is also revealed that the manifestation of Zangetsu that Ichigo saw was, in fact, Yhwach 1000 years ago. 

As two Arrancar(s) by the names Luder Friegen & Asuguiaro Ebern served under Yhwach and reported to the Wandenreich base, they were instantly killed for getting into a disagreement and for Asuguiaro failing to detain Ichigo Kurosaki. It is revealed that the Arrancars' deaths will not do any potential damage to the Wandenreich and that their deaths serve more as a stepping stone for the invasion of the Soul Society. While Ichigo is currently fighting Quilge Opie, Yhwach & the Wandenreich take this opportunity to invade the Gotei 13 and reveal a stunning ability - stealing Bankai. As Soul Society is plunged into war, it seems as if the Wandenreich have the upper hand as they stole most of the Captain's Bankai(s) and all that was missing was Captain Yamamoto's. Royd Lloyd, a former Sternritter that has the ability to mimic Yhwach in his entirety, fought and tired out Captain Yamamoto up until his death. With the Head Captain tired and drained after revealing his Bankai, the real Yhwach shows up, steals Captain Yamamoto's Bankai, and mercilessly cuts him down until he is nothing more than ash. Just as Yhwach kills Captain Yamamoto, Ichigo shows up from behind and tries to stop only ~ only for Yhwach to figure out that Ichigo used Blut Vene and stopping the fight from going any further. Aizen Sousuke, the former antagonist, was able to distort Yhwach's senses just a little after their little meeting. Yhwach & the Wandenreich soon retreat while the Gotei 13 recover from their injuries and the huge loss of the Head Captain. As Yhwach summons the Sternritter together, he reveals his successor and also given the letter "A" to be Uryu Ishida. This angers and confuses the Sternritter, but Yhwach still stands by his decision. As the Wandenreich invade the Soul Society again, Yhwach watches as his Sternritter fight the Shinigami (he witnesses both Mask De Masculine & Gremmy's loss). 

Backstory/Role in Story (Sephiroth)

When Sephiroth was born, he was born in an experiment with the Jenova Project to Professor Hojo and Lucrecia Crescent after Hojo infused cells from the omnipotent alien being, Jenova with Lucrecia's fetus containing the unborn baby. The majority of his lifetime, Sephiroth was raised by scientists of the Shinra Corporation where they used him as a super soldier in which he uses it to his advantage developing inhuman strength, endurance, agility, and combat reflexes (not to mention he developed to be a crafty and skilled swordsman) and became a prestigious 1st class member of Shinra's SOLDIER program. He battled among the greats and the other swordsmen who were close to matching him in terms of skill were Angeal and Genesis and he managed to best them both. He became a well-known and respected war hero due to his efforts in the Wutai War, everybody wanted to be like Sephy now. In the background story of Final Fantasy VII and further elaborated in Crisis Core, Sephiroth, upon reaching a Mako Reactor near Nibelheim, the hometown of arch nemesis, Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart, discovers a pod chamber of a monster containing the name, "JENOVA." As a result, Sephiroth goes crazy, mistakenly referring to monster as his "mother" and proceeds to burn the town of Nibelheim to the ground and killing Tifa's dad in the process with his longsword, the Masamune before recovering the pod containing Jenova.  Prior to recovering the Jenova pod, he was challenged by Zack Fair and later Cloud and as a result, he beats Zack, but Cloud beats him out of shear anger. After the Nibelheim incident, Sephiroth spends his time residing in the Lifestream, the essence and spiritual energy of the Planet and plotted to control it to become a god. His physical body then is encased in the Northern Cave, but he is able to control Jenova’s cells so he can take on multiple forms.

During the time of FF7, Sephiroth has been classified as “deceased.” However, he enacts on a plan to call a reunion to the Sephiroth Clones. When Jenova was transported to the main Shinra HQ, Sephiroth was able to manifest it to break out and kill Shinra soldiers guarding the HQ and President Shinra himself; with that, he also breaks Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aeris, and Red XIII out of imprisonment and he left his Masamune standing on the dead President Shinra, marking that he was present and galvanized Cloud to set out to find him and kill him once and for all. Sephy’s role throughout the majority of FF7 was just to play mindgames with Cloud and his party. He encounters them again during Shinra’s voyage to Costa del Sol and leaves behind a Jenova monster, in which Cloud and his party defeated and later back in Nibelheim where he reveals about the reunion. The full extent of his plans were revealed in the Temple of the Ancients where he would use Black Materia to summon Meteor to deal massive damage to the Planet, allowing the Lifestream to appear and heal it. Sephiroth wants to be in the center of that impact zone, so he can merge with the Lifestream, thus achieving his goal to become a god. In one of the most tragic cinematics in FF, his manifestation descended from above and stabbed Aeris behind after she used her White Magic powers as a Cetra to awaken Holy to prevent Meteor. After a battle, he starts messing with Cloud’s mind yet again, forcing him to hand the Black Materia. After Cloud rediscovers his past, he and his party prepare for one final battle with Sephy, at the Planet’s core. They take care of him physically in various forms, but Cloud ultimately seals the deal, defeating him metaphysically. After defeat, Sephy dissolves into the Lifestream and Meteor’s impact towards the Planet was averted due to Holy. In Advent Children, he still makes his presence felt within the Lifestream through the disease of Geostigma, manifested by Jenova’s consciousness, majority affecting children. He takes form in three humans: Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj. After a battle with Cloud, he disappears into the Lifestream again, echoing the words: “I will never be a memory.”

Powers/Abilities (Yhwach)

Being the Creator & Leader of a group of species known as the Quincy, Yhwach's very spiritual power SURPASSES that of an Espada (as seen when Tier Harribel is held hostage as she utterly lost to him) and he is the only one able to wield Captain Yamamoto's Bankai. He is also a expert swordsman, being able to repel a Captain in combat and, as said above, is known for his soul distribution ~ having others share a part of his soul, drink his blood, and in doing so - gets stronger and lives longer. If, however, he does not do this ~ then of course he becomes weakened. Like any other Quincy, he is also able to absorb and solidify reishi just from everything in the Soul Society, use Blut Vene (a defense mechanism that repels attacks when skin is under attack), Hirenkyaku (Quincy's version of Sonido or Shunpo to move incredibly fast), has enhanced strength/durability/agility, & is a hand-to-hand combatant that was able to repel Ichigo's attacks and escape unscathed. With any Quincy, Yhwach is able to fire arrows without the use of an actual bow or weapon that was able to kill Captain Yamamoto and his very own reishi broadsword that was enough to cut Captain Yamamoto in two. 

Powers/Abilities (Sephiroth)

You can’t deny that Sephiroth is one of the most iconic villains in the FF franchise. Aside from being a master swordsman and a great intellect, he has the ability to take on different forms whether it's in the form of a monster or in the form of a human (Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj in Advent Children) and when his physical form is gone he can still get into someone's mind like how he did with Cloud and his deceased best friend, Zack Fair, another 1st class SOLDIER member when Hojo injected both of them with Sephiroth clone cells. He can also summon a meteor through the use of Black Materia and can direct its course to a planet's destruction as he so pleases. In FF7 he is fought three times: in two forms using Jenova’s cells and in the metaphysical mind. His two forms are: Bizarro-Sephiroth and Safer-Sephiroth. The Bizarro form is kinda his dumb down form, but it can cast the highest levels of fire, ice, bolt (lightning), quake, and can weaken a party’s stats. In Sephiroth’s Safer form, that form is his god form and he has an 8 cycle attack sequence. Out of the 8, two of his most powerful attacks include: Super Nova and Heartless Angel, in which both can deal massive damage. In conclusion, Sephiroth is inhumanly powerful, a mastermind in mind games, and he defies death. He's just that damn impossible to kill off for good.

Verdict (By Stillmattic)

And the winner is...

Alright, Alright, Alright ~ this Matchup was hard as F*ck to decide. Both these villains kick major @$$ and are formidable opponents to the major protagonists, Cloud & Ichigo. Both have had a tragic upbringing, are expert swordsman, and no one would dare defy them because, after all, they're b@d@$$e$. However, after evaluating, giving some thought, and seeing who truly is the bigger threat ~ Yhwach takes the cake. First off, there is no doubt that Sephiroth defies death himself because he as two forms (one of which is a God-like form) and is considered inhumanly powerful, but you have to take into account this revelation - Yhwach IS GOD to the Quincy ~ the very creator, founder, and King of a species is enough to subdue Captain Yamamoto (now deceased), Kenpachi Zaraki (utterly powerless before Yhwach), and Ichigo Kurosaki. Yhwach's very power continues to grow thanks to distributing his soul unto everyone and he has lived many lifetimes ~ having wisdom, strength, power, and knowledge. Sure, Sephiroth was an experiment from the get-go, but Yhwach was born without any senses and couldn't freaking move. Yhwach was regarded as a God the very moment he was born whereas Sephrioth ultimately became a God-like being. It's a debate of Born as God vs. Becoming God and in my opinion - Being born and regarded as a God has more of an influence on that character. Since the current Bleach arc is still ongoing, you can argue that Yhwach's character is still developing and thus leaves room for improvement ifor Yhwach's character ~ we have yet to see how much power he truly possesses whereas Sephrioth's story & confrontations are already complete. I know I may gather hate on choosing Yhwach over Sephiroth, but my decision still stands ~ Yhwach is the clear winner.

So who do you think won this battle? Yhwach from Bleach or Sephiroth from FF VII? Comment below and let us know. As stated above, MechG will be choosing and giving the verdict for the final 2 BF matchup(s) THIS Friday (back-to-back posts along w/Friday's weekly Throwback). As always, you all stay classy now and look forward to Friday's final BF posts. FF & Bleach are tied 7-7.