Bleach Fantasy II Round 3: Äs Nödt vs. Vincent Valentine

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, the second victory went Final Fantasy (FF leads 2-0 against Bleach), but many things can happen. Like MechG said, Bleach Fantasy II posts will be on Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays. My daily schedule of Affinity, 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 3 ~ As Nodt vs. Vincent Valentine. 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 (As Nodt)

Prior to enlisting with the Wandenreich army under the tutelage of his Majesty, Yhwach, As Nodt was just about ready to enter Death's door. A survivor of some sort, As Nodt was hospitalized and feared that living was painful and firmly was rooted into believing Heaven was the place to be compared to Hell because pain is nonexistent in Heaven. However, before he could reach that door, Yhwach entered in his life and gave him power to once again live.

In receiving orders from Yhwach, As Nodt, alongside his fellow Sternritter, were informed on invading and persecuting the Shinigami. Just as all captains figured it out, Sternritters can steal Bankai and make it their own. During his confrontation with 6th division Captain, Byakuya Kuchiki, As Nodt took his Bankai and eerily smiled at the sight of fear in Byakuya's eyes. Byakuya, distraught at the sight of his Bankai being stolen, was now vulnerable and it gave As Nodt the opportunity to nearly kill Byakuya. Sometime after nearly killing Byakuya, As Nodt reappears alongside other Sternritter to stop Captain Yamamoto, but failed miserably due to Yamamoto's flames. Following Rukia's return from the Royal Palace, she is the first to meet As Nodt. Frozen in place, it seemed as if As Nodt was no longer a threat....Rukia was wrong. Just as the two were fighting, Byakuya intervened, but informed As Nodt that he was not the one to finish As Nodt off. Releasing her Bankai, Rukia fought in a temporary dead-like state and finished off As Nodt, shattering him in his Vollstandig form. It is during this time that As Nodt feared for the worst.....Hell. 

Storyline (Vincent Valentine)

Twenty to thirty years before the start of FFVII, Vincent Valentine was a member of the Turks stationed at Shinra’s Department of Administrative Research to oversee the Jenova Project in Nibelheim. He fell in love with one of the scientist named Lucrecia Crescent, but when he found out about her connection to his deceased father, the relationship became strained and Lucrecia entered a relationship with Professor Hojo instead. When Lucrecia became pregnant, Hojo planned to use the fetus as a test subject, but Vincent objected to it, starting a feud. As Vincent confronted Hojo in the Shinra Mansion, Hojo shot Vincent in the chest and used his half-dead body to enhance his strength and endurance and giving him the ability to transform into various monster forms. The next process, Vincent received Chaos-tainted Mako from Lucrecia to rehabilitate his dead-like body and Protomateria to control it to a degree. As a result, Vincent gained superhuman abilities, but responded with rage for what Hojo did to his body. When Hojo created Sephiroth from Lucrecia’s fetus and when Lucrecia eventually fell ill, Vincent accepted it as a heavy burden and locked himself up in a coffin deep within the Shinra Mansion, where he slept for a long period of time to “atone for his sins.” He would be awakened after Cloud and his party discovered him and when Cloud mentioned Hojo, Vincent agrees to join the party to exact his revenge.

Vincent’s role in the FFVII storyline would be upgraded as he becomes the focal point in Dirge of Cerberus. I’ll try to decipher this as accurate as possible since I’m unfamiliar with this spinoff. While visiting Kalm, as a festival to celebrate the restoration of the Worldwide Network was taking place, he encounters a new breed of super soldiers working for the organization, DeepGround as they were terrorizing the city. Unknown, to Vincent, the DeepGround soldiers were hunting him down as well as selecting certain groups of people and killing the others. To get a better understanding of DeepGround, Vincent received the help of Azul, Shelke, Shalua and Reeve. However of the four, Vincent would find out Azul belongs to their DeepGround elite unit called the Tsviets and would dispatch to further his investigation of DeepGround. After finding out the connection between Lucrecia, Chaos, and Omega, a weapon in which DeepGround is trying to activate, Vincent visits the Shinra mansion and talks to a hologram of Lucrecia, providing the intel on Omega. While retrieving the information, Rosso, another DeepGround agent, ambushes Vincent and takes away his Protomateria before he would be eventually saved by Yuffie as Rosso was about deliver the final blow on him as he was losing control over the Chaos without the Protomateria. During the Battle of Midgar, Vincent was tasked to infiltrate the DeepGround stronghold before he landed off course into the remains of Sector 7. There he encounters Rosso once again and overpowers her before she would kill herself eventually so Vincent won’t savor the idea of killing her. After receiving a map of Shinra’s building leading to DeepGround’s complex from Cloud and Tifa, Vincent does battle against Azul in his Chaos form and later against Nero the Sable as he rescues Shelke. He later battles Nero’s brother, Weiss who is revealed to be possessed by Hojo and dispatches Hojo for good though Nero would later merge with Weiss. Able to regain control of Chaos retrieving back the Protomateria, Vincent engages against Omega, who is seeking to destroy the Planet. He uses the Chaos to its full potential to dispatch it and dispatch it again when Weiss merges with Omega to become Omega Weiss. As Omega was about to leave the Planet, Vincent forces it back, but at the expense of sacrificing his body. However, a week later, Vincent is seen alive and well, making amends with Lucrecia at Lucrecia’s Cave before leaving with Shelke.

Powers/Abilities (As Nodt)

Nicknamed "The Fear," As Nodt's abilities revolve around utilizing fear upon his opponents ~ attacking them mentally rather than physically. Attacking a person's optic nerves, instilling disturbing imagery/visions upon his opponent, forcefully shattering a person's rational thought, and overall inducing fear just by touching them are As Nodt's abilities. In his Vollstandig form, he grows larger, more creepy looking, and his Fear power is enhanced ~ creating a dome around him and his opponent to induce fear in their field of vision. He also has a even more disturbing transformation form that is meant to instill a fearsome image upon his opponent. Lastly, much like any other Quincy, As Nodt is capable of reishi manipulation, Blut, enhanced strength/durability, and possessing a spirit weapon ~ thorns (that are used to tangle his opponents in the web of fear that he has created for them).

Powers/Abilities (Vincent Valentine)

As mentioned in the storyline, Vincent became Hojo’s experiment after Hojo shot him half to death to put his body in a dead-like state. From then he was experimented with the Chaos and as a result, he gained superhuman abilities with enhanced endurance, strength, speed, agility as well as the ability to morph into monsters and regenerate after taking damage. By utilizing Chaos to its full potential while controlling it with the Protomateria, it’s easy to say Vincent is a lot more powerful than he is when watering it down as evident in his battles with Omega and Omega Weiss. In FFVII, he possesses the highest magic stats second only to Aeris and Cloud, so he is able to utilize a combination of elemental/non-elemental magic from low-tier to high-tier when equipped with materia possessing white and black magic abilities. His weapon of choice or choices famously revolve around pistols, revolvers, shotguns, rifles and depending on how powerful they are when customized, can deal a fairly great amount of damage. His Limit Breaks in FFVII are unique among the rest as in all four levels, he is able to transform into four different kinds of monsters and they can execute at a limit of two powerful attacks. The Limit Break is as follows: 1^st transformation: Galian Beast and its attacks: Berserk Dance, as obvious as it sounds goes berserk on an opponent and beats the living heck out of it and Beast Flare, unleashing fireballs that release explosions on any opponent, near or far. 2^nd transformation: Death Gigas and its attacks: Gigadunk, physically pulverizing an opponent while in mid-air and Live Wire unleashing a lightning-element attack. 3^rd transformation: Hellmasker and its attacks: Splattercombo, using the chainsaw on opponents in close range to deal major physical damage and Nightmare, inflict numerous status ailments such as Sleep, Poison, Silence, Confuse, Frog, and Mini. Finally his 4^th transformation: Chaos and its attacks: Chaos Saber, unleashing a slash from long range for decent damage and Satan Slam, transforming into a giant skull and casting Death on opponents for instant kill.

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

After evaluating the two, the capabilities of As Nodt made me think twice whether to consider him the victor in his matchup. But overall I think Vincent’s abilities make it more insurmountable for me to stand firm that he should be the winner. Let’s not mention that Vincent meets the criteria of role in story because he absolutely destroys As Nodt in that category. The last thing that resonated with me evaluating As Nodt back in the Bleach Kombat collab was that he was defeated by Rukia when she entered her dead-like state temporarily. Vincent is always in a dead-like state since his experimentation from Hojo after he was shot. I don’t think As Nodt can induce his fear capabilities on Vincent since Vincent specializes in long range attacks with his weapons and add in to his superhuman abilities to regenerate quickly from damage and transforming into Chaos to become more powerful. In Dirge of Cerberus, I think Vincent solidified himself as another bad@$$ groomed from FF7, taking down powerful opponents such as Weiss, Nero, and then the giant Omega. I’m sure he can hold out on his own with the likes of As Nodt and in my opinion, he is the victor here.

So who do you think won this matchup? As Nodt from Bleach or Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII/Dirge of Cerberus - Final Fantasy VII? 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 (3-0):

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)

P.S. There'll be Back-to-Back WBCRs this week since I was unable post last week's review. Until then, stay classy as always!