Bleach Fantasy II Round 24: Rukia Kuchiki vs. Lightning

Welcome back to another installment of Bleach Fantasy II where MechG & I once again collaborate on pitting the world of Bleach & the various installments of the Final Fantasy franchise. On Monday, Bleach took a victory against FF (FF still leads 13-10 against Bleach), but many things can happen. Like MechG said, Bleach Fantasy II posts will be on Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays. My daily schedule of Watch-list, WBCR, & Throwback posts will be the same as always (if delayed, posts will be on weekends). Without further ado, let's get started on Bleach Fantasy II Round 24 ~ Rukia Kuchiki vs. Lightning. Take into account that Storyline and Powers/Abilities are the deciding factors. MechG & I will switch-off ever 3 rounds in giving the verdict. Let's jam!

Storyline (Rukia)

150 years prior to the storyline, Rukia's older sister, Hisana, were brought up together in the 78 District of Rukongai, Inuzuri. Unable to take care of her sister, Hisana abandoned her and so a majority of Rukia's life was spent alone up until she met Renji. Rukia's chance meeting Renji & his friends flourished into a dynamic relationship ~ creating a little family, but things went downhill for the two when Rukia was adopted into the Kuchiki clan by Byakuya, later found out to be Rukia's adoptive brother & Hisana's husband. Rukia enrolled in Shin'o Academy in order to become a Shinigami alongide Renji & other Lieutenants and eventually found herself in the 13th division under Captain Jushiro Ukitake (she was admitted into the 13th division without taking an entrance exam). From here on, she developed a little crush on her lieutenant and admirer, Kaien Shiba. When Kaien Shiba became under the control of a Hollow, Kaien asked Rukia to do the unthinkable - Kill him. Following his lieutenant's request, Rukia killed both Kaien & Hollow controlling him and up until the rescue arc, had to live with the idea that she was Kaien Shiba's killer. Her relationship with Kaien is much like her relationship with Ichigo - Dynamic in the sense that both encouraged one another and have gotten stronger in terms of utilizing their Zanpaktou & becoming incredibly strong Shinigami.

During her stay and commission in Karakura Town, she met with Ichigo (who could see spirits and thus kicked Rukia). Her meeting with Ichigo, as said above, is much like Kaien Shiba's. However, her stay in Karakura Town with helping out Ichigo in fighting hollows & her Gigai body, were in jeopardy as the 6th Division Captain & Lieutenant, Renji (childhood friend) & Byakuya (older brother), took her in for her stay in the Human World. It wouldn't be until later where she learned that her Gigai body that Kisuke Urahara gave her was only a shell to hide Aizen's target - The Hogyoku. Rukia was eventually saved by Ichigo & his friends and though she's grateful for life being saved, she was ready to face execution without any regrets. After Ichigo & Byakuya's intense and badass one-on-one battle, Byakuya explained to Rukia the origins of her past - him being Rukia's adoptive older brother & of Hisana's fate. Soon after, Rukia would play a pivotal role in Bleach as Ichigo's right-hand. During the Arrancar Arc, she showcases her Zanpaktou for the first time - Sode no Shirayuki against D-roy (but was no match for 6th Espada, Grimmjow) and beating the 9th Espada, Aaroniero (who utilized Kaien's Zanpaktou and kept appearance from hollow). She helped out in Hueco Mundo by fighting Rudborrn & Yammy, but later would be saved by Ichigo's friends, Byakuya, & Kenpachi. After Ichigo loses his powers, Rukia is last seen disappearing from Ichigo's sight (this indicates that Ichigo can no longer see spirits). However, it wouldn't be long before Rukia reappears once more when Rukia restores Ichigo's power with a sword imbedded with the reiatsu of the Shinigami from the Gotei 13. She plays a more pivotal role during the bloody war between the Shinigami & Sternritter as she finally achieved Bankai ~ defeating As Nodt in the process as a result of her stay with the 0 Division & training intensely to help out Ichigo & his allies. 

Storyline (Lightning)

The eldest daughter in the Farron family, Claire had a tragic upbringing in her early life, losing both her mother and father from unknown circumstances, leading to raise her only family in her little sister in Serah. Though the loss of the parents greatly affected her, she believed she had to become an adult quickly in order to ease the pain and that’s when the legend of “Lightning” was born. After finishing high school, she enlisted in the Guardian Corps Security Regiment in Bodhum under the wing of Lieutenant Amodar and was promoted in the ranks as sergeant. Though she did this to support Serah as well as support herself, Lightning began to stray away from staying close to her sister and found less personal time with her as she worked long term hours. On her 21st birthday, Lightning learns that Serah has been branded as a Pulse L’Cie and accepted Snow’s proposal to be his bride, leaving Light infuriated and scoffing the couple out of the house. After opening the survival knife as a birthday present, Lightning watches the coverage of Sanctum officials putting the city of Bodhum on quarantine after the vestige containing the Pulse Fal’Cie, Anima was founded; she realizes the danger Serah is put into. With PSICOM enforcing the Sanctum rule for people to be “purged” into the world of Pulse out of Cocoon, Lightning volunteers, resigning from the Guardian Corps, and boarding one of the purge trains.

How to sum up Lightning’s role? Well she played a major part in XIII (she is the protagonist duh), took a back seat in XIII-2 (fanservice to develop her sister, Serah’s character), then regained the poster girl role in LR (Lightning Returns). So in the beginning of XIII, Lightning along with another purge volunteer in Sazh hijacked a purge train near the Hanging Edge, bypassing PSICOM soldiers (majority were fighting against Snow and his rebellious group, NORA) to reach the same vestige that branded Serah. Inside, Lightning and Sazh unexpectedly rendezvoused with Snow, Vanille, and Hope and bringing them together put Serah in a crystallized state in an indication that Serah completed her focus. With Serah crystallized, Lightning and Snow would bicker back and forth with Snow taking a side that Serah is alive and there’s a way to save her, but Lightning insists Serah’s dead, she lost her only family. Lightning took her anger on attempting to slay a dormant Anima with her gunblade, but that woke up the Fal’Cie and branded all five of them while transporting the vestige to Lake Bresha. Light along with the group now have to try and find out their focus before they become Cieth since they were branded and the group chooses to leave out Snow, since he was too hell bent to free Serah from her crystal state and they split into two: Vanille with Sazh and Hope with Lightning. Lightning helped Hope’s character development because out of all the FFXIII characters, Hope was the only one Lightning was open to talk to and she was like a mother-figure/older sister to Hope considering Hope’s mom died in the beginning of FFXIII during the purge. Lightning and Hope would eventually reunite with Snow and newcomer, Fang in Palumpolum and board the Lindblum the Calvary’s (lead by Cid Raines and Rygdea) ship to pinpoint Vanille and Sazh’s location. They find their location onboard the Sanctum ship, Palamecia and they encounter the Sanctum Primarch, Galenth Dysley, who transforms into the Fal’Cie, Barthandelus. After defeating Barthandelus the first time, Lightning and the group were casted off into Gran Pulse, they encounter Barthandelus again in Oerba and defeat him a second time. In the Cocoon capital of Eden, they defeat the Primarch a third time, awakening Orphan, the Fal’Cie who created Cocoon and its capital. The group defeats Orphan, Fang and Vanille sacrifice themselves to become Ragnarok and save Cocoon from total destruction,  Lightning is awaken from crystal stasis reuniting with Snow, Sazh, Hope, Sazh’s son Dajh, and Serah, Light and Serah embrace a sisterly moment to live happily ever after. But then forwarding to XIII-2, Lightning was dragged away from the surface of Gran Pulse, away from history to the timeless world of Valhalla where she would become the champion of the dying goddess, Etro and dueling against her fated rival, the Immortal Guardian of Time, Caius Ballad (those two would fight in an infinite loop throughout the whole game). So who watches over Serah? Lightning sends Noel, whom she rescues from falling towards Valhalla’s surface and a moogle (Mog) to watch Serah. When Light saw Serah’s death after resolving the paradoxes, it broke the timeless loop, she manages to defeat Caius, and preserve her sister’s memory sitting on Etro’s throne crystallized while Gran Pulse and the revived Cocoon swallow into chaos. 500 years later, in LR, Lightning is awakened by Bhunivelze to become the Savior to save all the souls in what is now Nova Chrysalia within 13 days before the world reaches judgment day and in exchange, Bhunivelze will free Serah’s soul. While doing all the soul saving, she encounters Lumina, a little girl that represents Lightning’s inferior side. So she saves a lot of souls, particularly the souls of Noel, Snow (both despaired from Serah’s death), Sazh, and Caius (under Yeul’s request), reunites with Fang to help her stop Vanille on the last day from singing to the souls of the dead in a cathedral in Luxerion. After doing all that stuff, Lightning encounters the almighty god himself, defeats him a couple times, then merges with Lumina, calls for help from Hope, Snow, Noel, Sazh, Vanille, Fang, and Serah to finish off Bhunivelze once and for all, and lead the souls to a new world where gods won’t intervene.

Powers/Abilities (Rukia)
Rukia's Zanpaktou, Sode No Shirayuki, is a ice-based Zanpaktou allows her to bring her body temperature to temperatures below zero and anything her sword comes in contact with freezes. She is able to temporarily fight in a "Dead" state due to her Zanpaktou abilities. Her Zanpaktou has a variety of attacks relating to ice called "Dances" and each has different and unique abilities such as freezing someone within her field of vision or firing ice directly at her opponents. She also has Bankai (Hakka no Togame), which allows her to reach temperatures below zero and everything around her is covered in ice (As Nodt's demise). She is also seen being proficient in Kido, Shunpo, & has gotten exceptionally stronger - going from a lower seat in the 13th Division to eventual Lieutenant.

Powers/Abilities (Lightning)

Okay so in the FFXIII trilogy, Lightning is a soldier branded as a L’Cie in XIII, a Valkyrie/knight hybrid goddess in XIII-2 who can see the timeline and the human world beyond Valhalla and is battling Caius for almost an eternity, and finally she’s a soul savior in LR whose abilities transcends that of a normal human (to this day, I still make this joke that Square Enix “roided” her up through every sequel in the XIII installment). Throughout that, her weapon gets modified from time at first with a gunblade in XIII that is able to specialize in short and long range (sword mode representing short range/melee, gun mode representing long range), then in XIII-2, her gunblade is modified where she can summon it on command during battle, and in LR, she wields a traditional sword called the “Crimson Blitz.” Her fighting style is based on high agility, speed, and versatility and those abilities increase through every sequel, but particularly in LR, she is more technical and stealthy and her speed and quickness is inhuman (as evident in her battle with Snow in the beginning of LR). In XIII, her strong paradigm roles are Commando, Ravager, and Medic, and she’s also a decent Synergist emphasizing on offensive modifications. She has high physical and magic stats out of the whole party and she can master magic for all four elements: fire, lightning (no pun intended), water/ice, and wind/air. Lightning’s ATB skill, “Army of One” is a Ravager-type skill where she builds up an opponent’s stagger gauge, attacks with her gunblade followed by heavy kicks, and her agility is at an all-time high. She can summon her Eidolon (XIII’s term for summon), Odin in battle and Odin specializes in heavy lightning (no pun intended again)-elemental spells. In Gestalt mode, Odin transforms into a horse and Lightning wields Odin’s sword, Zantetsuken into battle and before Odin can be ejected from the battlefield, Lightning, with the Zantetsuken, unleashes a devastating tornado attack, dealing massive damage to nearby enemies.

Verdict (By Stillmattic)
And the winner is...

This battle, for me anyways, was a difficult one to comprehend. Both are respectable women in their series, are bad@$$e$ in their own right, and, without them, there wouldn't really be a Bleach franchise or a Final Fantasy III/III-2/Returns. Lighting's character was build up to 3 games (mainly play as Serah & Noel in XIII-2) where Rukia, from the get-go, has and always will be a pivotal character throughout the continuity of Bleach. Sure, Lightning possesses a wide array of abilities ~ being stealthy, has high physical and magical attributes, and has a summon that can kick @$$ and take no questions. With Rukia, you could also say she possesses a wide array of attacks, but in all seriousness ~ Ice is the element she is most fond. It isn't until we see her Bankai that we see what she truly is capable of. Like her brother said, Rukia's Bankai is both dangerous & beautiful to look at. Now hypothetically speaking, say Lightning may be more agile, have a larger range of attacks, and have a summon (or in this case you could argue that her summon is like a Bankai) ~ Rukia can just go full Bankai on her, freeze everything and anything around her, and BOOM ~ Odin is of no use (unless he's able to go into Gestalt Mode). It seems that, much like Ichigo, Rukia is continuously getting more powerful. Her training with the 0 division also helped sharpened her senses and be prepared for what lies ahead in the enemy army. I will admit that I haven't played much of the FF III series, but I will say that Lightning is a pretty bad@SS character and just look so cool and confident in what she does, says, and overall is a welcoming addition to the FF World (Cloud, Tidus, & Squall to name a few). However, Rukia has had a entire series (300+ episodes) and Lightning has had 3 games ~ which do you think theoretically has more of an impact in their series/franchise? As much as I love Lightning (C'mon, who wouldn't want to fight beside her), I gotta give this to Rukia because her relevance alone, her continuous growth, and her impact on Ichigo has made Bleach all-around an enjoyable series. Lightning may have played a pivotal part in XIII and Returns, but Rukia has been the center of Bleach alongside Ichigo from start to finish. Rukia takes the win!

So who do you think won this matchup? Rukia Kuchiki from Bleach or Lightning from FF XIII, FF XIII-2, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII? Comment below and let us know. Reiterating again, Bleach Fantasy Round II posts will be on Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays w/MechG & I interchanging every 3rd matchups on giving the verdict. Bleach Fantasy Round II standings (13-11):

1) Yoruichi Shihoin vs. Prishe ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by MechG)
2) Uryu Ishida vs. Hope Estheim ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by MechG)
3) As Nodt vs. Vincent Valentine ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by MechG)
4) Kenpachi Zaraki vs. Jecht ~ Bleach (Verdict by Stillmattic)
5) Shunsui Kyoraku vs. Auron ~ Bleach (Verdict by Stillmattic)
6) Sui-Feng vs. Tifa Lockhart ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by Stillmattic) 
7) Mayuri Kurotsuchi vs. Barthandelus ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by MechG)
8) Sajin Komamura vs. Sin ~ Bleach (Verdict by MechG)

9) Toshiro Hitsugaya vs. Kuja ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by MechG)
10) Tia Harribel vs. Tidus ~ Bleach (Verdict by Stillmattic)
11) Bambietta Basterbine vs. Rinoa Heartilly ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by Stillmattic)
12) Riruka Dokugamine vs. Ultimecia ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by Stillmattic)
13) Baraggan Louisenbairn vs. Exdeath ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by MechG)
14) Ginjo Kugo vs. Caius Ballad ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by MechG)
15) Coyote Starrk vs. Cloud Strife ~ Bleach (Verdict by MechG)
16) Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck vs. Kefka Palazzo ~ Bleach (Verdict by Stillmattic)
17) Shinji Hirako vs. Emperor Mateus ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by Stillmattic)
18) Orihime Inoue vs. Yuna ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by Stillmattic)
19) Kisuke Urahara vs. Seymour Guado ~ Bleach (Verdict by MechG)
20) Renji Abarai vs. Squall Leonhart ~ Bleach  (Verdict by MechG)
21) Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez vs. Sephiroth ~ Final Fantasy (Verdict by MechG)
22) Yhwach vs. Promathia ~ Bleach (Verdict by Stillmattic)
23) Aizen Sousuke vs. Bhunivelze ~ Bleach (Verdict by Stillmattic)
24) Rukia Kuchiki vs. Lightning ~ Bleach (Verdict by Stillmattic)