Bleach Fantasy II Round 7: Mayuri Kurotsuchi vs. Barthandelus

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 Wednesday, Final Fantasy took another victory against Bleach (FF still leads 4-2 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 7 ~ Mayuri Kurotsuchi vs. Barthandelus. 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 (Mayuri)

Not much is emphasized on Mayuri's upbringing, but we do know that he wasn't the original 12th Division Captain. 110 years ago, Mayuri was locked away in the Maggot's Nest - an underground prison (although it's unconfirmed on why he is in the Maggot's Nest, it is assumed he is enough of a threat to be locked away). There'll be that fateful day where he meets face-to-face with Kisuke Urahara, the-then Captain of the 12th Division who wanted to create the Research & Development Institute. His meeting with Kisuke to join his side allowed him to be free from prison, but if something were to happen to Kisuke ~ Mayuri would assume command of the 12th division. 9 years later, Mayuri, alongside Kisuke (12th Division Captain) & Hiyori (Lieutenant) would become the 3 leading heads of the 12th division. It wouldn't be long before the Visored (Hollowfication of Shinigami) took place and Kisuke, Tessai, Yoruichi, & the Visored experiments (Hiyori, Shinji, Kensei, Love, Rose, Lisa, Mashiro, & Hachigen) were banished from the Soul Society to escape persecution by Central 46. Years later, Isshin Shiba (Ichigo's father) was being questioned (notably the Head Captain & Mayuri himself) on the sudden appearance of a mysterious Hollow, reporting that it was unexpected while at the same time hiding the fact that Isshin met with a Quincy. Mayuri also conducted experiments on Soken Ishida, Uryu Ishida's grandfather/mentor.

During the Rescue Arc, Mayuri is seen alongside the other Captains in determining what to do with the Ryoka (Ichigo, Orihime, Uryu, Chad, & Ganju). Mayuri, curious to fight and conduct experiments on any of the Ryoka, fought against Uryu where he told him of his experimentation on Soken and his disinterest in the Quincy. This greatly outraged Uryu as he angrily fought Captain Mayuri and found himself to be in a touch situation where Mayuri's Zanpaktou was puncturing Uryu's nerves & was poisoning/weakening him. However, after over-extending his Quincy powers, Uryu managed to do a number on Mayuri, but it wasn't enough to do away with him completely as Mayuri liquified his body to escape Uryu's attacks. During his recovery from his fight with Uryu, Mayuri overheard of Aizen's defection from the Soul Society as well as his intentions from the start, but this didn't interest Mayuri one bit. Way way way later in Bleach, Mayuri shows up in Hueco Mundo to assist Uryu & Renji in fighting the 8th Espada in Aizen's army, Szayelapporo Granz. Mayuri, deceiving Szayelapporo Granz into thinking he was getting overwelmed by the Espada's abilities, eventually defeated the Espada by implanting  him with the Superhuman drug, slowing down a person's perception of time (it can make 1 second look like 100 years), After defeating the Espada, Mayuri & his artificial daughter/lieutenant, Nemu, opened up the Garganta in Hueco Mundo to assist the Captains & Ichigo in finding their way back to the Soul Society & Karakura Town. Sometime after Aizen's defeat and imprisonment, a new enemy known as the Wandenreich show up to start war against the Shinigami. Mayuri began analyzing and gathering information on the Wandenreich as well as informing Ichigo that a broken Bankai can no longer be considered a Zanpaktou. He is seen working alongside Nemu on an unknown experiment (probably a weapon/weakness against the Wandenreich) and is met by his former superior, Kisuke Urahara. He finally is about to encounter the Wandenreich when all of a sudden Kenpachi shows up out of the blue, hindering his schemes once more. 

Storyline (Barthandelus)

Barthandelus was a Fal’Cie created by the deity, Lindzei and had a main motive to destroy Cocoon and bring back the Maker who had been long gone since the creation of the world. During the War of Transgression between the worlds of Cocoon and Pulse centuries before the events of FFXIII, Barthandelus was ordered by Lindzei to find a way to Etro’s Gate. Barthandelus used humans of Gran Pulse to find the entrance to the Unseen Realm and lured them to migrate to Cocoon, granting the promise of paradise while instilling fear to those who refused to leave. However, the Pulse Fal’Cie, Anima intervened with his plans. While the two waged war, Ragnarok was summoned and cracked Cocoon’s shell. This allowed the goddess, Etro to intervene and place Anima into deep sleep and its l’Cies, Vanille and Fang into premature crystal stasis before they could complete their focus of destroying Cocoon. Barthandelus saw this as an opportunity and placed Anima’s vestige on the Cocoon seaside city of Bodhum while using Gran Pulse’s resources to repair Cocoon’s shell. From there, Cocoon continued to grow as a human paradise as people began to see the Cocoon Fal’Cie as those who saved them from Pulse’s attack.

During the time of FFXIII, Barthandelus undertook the human guise of Galenth Dysley, becoming the Primarch of Cocoon and the “voice of the Sanctum”, waiting until the day Vanille and Fang awake from their crystal stasis so they can carry on their focus of destroying Cocoon. He would quicken that up by awakening Anima to revive both l’Cie and informing PSICOM authorities that a Pulse invasion is impending. Growing impatient and realizing Fang and Vanille won’t complete their focus as they wander around Cocoon, Barthandelus sets his eyes on the newly branded l’Cie, Serah Farron to successfully execute his plan, setting up the next phase: the Purge. After Lightning, Snow, Sazh, and Hope were branded, Barthandelus continued to put his plan into motion by branding the Cavalry leader, Cid Raines as l’Cie and help them complete their focus. In a plan to bring the l’Cie together, it couldn’t have come at a perfect opportunity for Barthandelus as PSICOM officials captured Sazh and Vanille in Nautalius. He would then use them as bait so Lightning, Fang, Snow, and Hope would rush onboard his airship, Palamecia, to save both Vanille and Sazh. All six l’Cie, would confront Barthandelus in his human guise before he would manifest his true Fal’Cie form and engage them in battle. Though he was defeated, he reverts back as Dysley and revealed the party their focus of using Ragnarok to destroy Cocoon and their main source of power, the Fal’Cie, Orphan. He sends a ship for them to the Fifth Ark to further enhance their powers. He would later encounter them again in the Gran Pulse village of Oerba under the illusion of Serah to deceive them. Under his 2nd form, Barthandelus engages the l’Cie again and was defeated. Pleased at their progress, Barthadelus reveals to the group that the Cavalry has engaged in civil war with Cocoon, while disguising his true motive to trick the Cavalry in destroying Orphan. He leaves behind a ship again for the l’Cie to return back to Cocoon, in the capital city of Eden. He would encounter them again in Orphan’s Cradle while Cocoon is in a state of chaos. Barthandelus attempted to demoralize the l’Cie by bringing illusions of Serah and Dajh (Sazh’s son) and shattering them into crystal in hopes they would complete the destruction of Cocoon. They refused to fulfill it and Barthandelus assumes his final form and engages them in battle once again. However, to ensure Orphan’s awakening, Barthandelus allowed himself to be defeated to assimilate his body with Orphan’s.

Powers/Abilities (Mayuri)

An innovative captain, Mayuri has plenty of tricks up his sleeves. He has created drugs (both antidotes and lethal substances), sensors/monitors, can repair just about anything, traps (EX: a landmine Uryu used), and is adept in chemistry and strategy. What makes Mayuri a scary person to confront is his ability to discern an opponent and instilling fear just by analyzing them thoroughly. His Zanpaktou, Ashisogi Jizo, is capable of severing brain signals from the neural impulses and its Bankai form produces a poisonous gas that is lethal when inhaled. Out of all the Captains in the Gotei 13, Mayuri is the most creepiest one of all and you can't really tell if he's ready to be your ally or your friend. As a Captain, he is neither enemy nor friend - but a madman. 

Powers/Abilities (Barthandelus)

Assuming the guise of Galenth Dysley, Barthandelus is a master shapeshifter and magic practitioner and as evident in his role in the FFXIII story proved to be a master manipulator and planner. Under his human disguise form as Dysley, he has the ability single-handedly kill people with ease and surround himself with a powerful protect spell to overcome people of greater strength than him (ex: repelling Snow’s great strength when he relentlessly engages him in combat). He is also able to levitate, teleport, and create illusions such as that of Serah Farron and Dajh Katzroy for further deception. Under his true Fal’Cie form, he possesses immense magical powers and abilities and is fought in three forms. In his 1st form, he is able to cast the highest level of magic elemental attacks: Firaga, Blizzaga, Waterga, Aeroga, Thundaga, etc. In addition, he can unleash a devastating projectile charge attack called Destrudo. In his 2nd form, he is able to cast status ailments on opponents at the highest level possible such as Poisonaga, Dazega, and Cursega and in his final form, he is able to cast Ultima, unleashing a non-elemental, green energy blast and dealing major damage. The common abilities Barthandelus shares in all three of his forms are Thanatosian Laughter and Doom. Thanatosian Laughter is Barthandelus’ signature attacks where he shoots multiple arrays of lasers from his mouth for significant damage and Doom is a classic spell in the FF franchise in which he can cast on a party member to result in instant death after a certain time limit. 

Verdict (By MechG)

Barthandelus is a master manipulator. Enough said. This guy treated the six main heroes of FFXIII like fish in a barrel to cope with his plan whether they were aware of it or not. There’s no question both Barthandelus and Mayuri are diabolical in their own right and you can’t tell whether they’re doing something for the betterment of good or for evil, but when it comes to mystique, I feel Barthandelus has more to offer because of how good of a puppet master he was behind closed doors. The one knock on him is he was never mentioned in the sequels, not once, not even a flashback and in my opinion, his involvement is one of the most detrimental to the FFXIII storyline, especially in his backstory where he was one of the main belligerents in one of the most pivotal pre-XIII events during the War of Transgression whereas Mayuri didn’t provide much in his backstory aside that he was a prisoner and is obsessed with researching people.  It’s also mentioned that Barthandelus was fighting the l’Cie with his capabilities dumbed down on purpose so that they become strong enough to carry out his plan in obliterating Cocoon. Even though Mayuri has a lot of tricks up his sleeve and provides more mysteriousness on the powers/abilities side, just imagine the endless capabilities Barthandelus would hone when he is fighting at his normal strength as an omnipotent Fal’Cie created by the gods even though he is already powerful and has a plethora of powerful capabilities. So in short, this victory goes to the evil pope monster.

So who do you think won this matchup? Mayuri Kurotsuchi from Bleach or Barthandelus from 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 (5-2):

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)