Bleach Fantasy II Round 13: Baraggan Louisenbairn vs. Exdeath

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, FF snatched another victory against Bleach (FF still leads 8-4 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 13 ~ Baraggan Louisenbairn vs. Exdeath. 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 (Baraggan)

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.

Storyline (Exdeath)

When the warlock-king Enuo was defeated and the Void was sealed away, the humans tried to purge everything that is evil away from their land. The Great Forest of Moore acted as a solitary prison for the evil souls and they were sealed up within a tree. The souls sealed inside the tree made it self-aware and formed itself a humanoid form, bearing the trait of being as evil as the souls that created it. This was the creation of Exdeath. Exdeath sought out to lay waste on all the kingdoms of the world. The Warriors of Dawn: Galuf, Xezat, Kelger, and Dorgann followed him to an alternate dimension. They defeated Exdeath and used the power of the crystals to seal him. This would not spell the end of Exdeath as he shattered the world’s crystals one-by-one by taking control of the inhabitants of the world to break them, including the Queen of Karnak and King Tycoon. When the Earth Crystal shattered, Exdeath was released, appearing in front of Dorgann’s son, Bartz and the Warriors of Light in the Ronka Ruins and proceeded to Galuf’s homeworld to resume his path of destruction. Exdeath would demonstrate his power and make his enemies cower in fear by creating an earthquake so powerful to sink Ghido’s island. He would also trick the Warriors of Light by deceiving them to destroy the crystals in Galuf’s homeworld and proceeded to torture the Warriors of Light and killing Galuf in the process.  By shattering the crystals in both worlds, they merged into one, allowing Exdeath to seize control of the Void after being sealed by an Interdimensional Rift on top of Castle Tycoon. He would demonstrate the power of the Void, unleashing it on the world and turning parts of it into nothingness. By the time the Warriors of Light would encounter him now armed with the Sealed Weapons, Exdeath has already mastered the power of the Void and returned into his normal form as a monstrous tree. Exdeath attempts to send the Warriors of Light into the Void until the spirits of the Warriors of Dawn restrain it from absorbing them to nothingness. After an intense battle, Exdeath allows the Void to consume him, transforming him into Neo Exdeath, becoming a being of pure hatred seeking to destroy all existence, including his own. Another intense battle ensues and Neo Exdeath was eventually defeated and the destructive power of the Void relinquished from his control.

Powers/Abilities (Baraggan)

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.

Powers/Abilities (Exdeath)

Exdeath is huge and is quite a bulwark in that heavy armor of his. He is a powerful warlock, able to destroy huge chunks of lands as demonstrated when he unleashed an earthquake to sink Ghido’s island. According to the battle against the Warriors of Dawn, Exdeath is a hard guy to bring down that the only method to do was sealing him, but even that wasn’t enough as he is able to conjure monsters and people under his control to shatter them. If ever his strength is depleted, he would regain that in an instant through quick regeneration. By taking control of the Void, Exdeath has the ability to erase any portion of existence by channeling the Void to engulf it and send it to another dimension. When the Void consumes Exdeath, he is transformed into Neo Exdeath, gaining more power to destroy everything in existence, but at the cost of his sanity. As a boss character, Exdeath is fought in three forms: his warlock form, his regular tree form, and as Neo Exdeath. In terms of dark magic and white magic ability, Exdeath is able to cast the highest-tier levels of elemental magic such as Firaga (Fire), Blizzaga (Blizzard), and Thundaga (Thunder) and is capable of casting Holy, Flare, Meteor, and Vacuum Wave. Exdeath is literally immune to all status ailments; such notable ailments that Exdeath is resistant to includes poison, petrification, death, berserk, confusion, and old (rapid aging).

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

One thing we both know about these two is that both of them are as cruel as they come and can be very boastful when it comes to condescending on their opponents. But quickly evaluating the two, Exdeath curbstomps Baraggan in terms of story and powers/abilities. Again, despite Baraggan having the prestigious title as King of Hueco Mundo, he didn't do much until Aizen came into his life (not in a romantic way). Not to mention, despite conquering all of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan just completely stopped imposing his will whereas Exdeath had his kingdom established and was hell-bent on conquering every kingdom, not just in one world, but across different dimensions on different worlds where the kingdoms of those who once sealed him stood out. Not to mention, Baraggan only played one big part in the Bleach story arc, which is in the Fake Karakura Town arc, but it's not too significant. In terms of powers/abilities, what's Baraggan's most prominent ability? The ability to make things age and decay within his radius? That's nice and all, but Exdeath is immune to aging, which cancels out Baraggan's best forte and he has more of a fleshed out plethora of powers/abilities. Especially once assuming control of the Void, he can literally just engulf Baraggan into nothingness. You know what, that's exactly how Baraggan went out, disintegrated into nothingness (I remember that scene even though I wasn't into Anime as much then as I am now). Heck even Exdeath died that way too, but Baraggan doesn't have control of the Void like Exdeath does. The Void-obsessed warlock/tree trumps the Death-obsessed Espada here.

So who do you think won this matchup? Baraggan Louisenbairn from Bleach or Exdeath from Final Fantasy V? 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 (9-4):

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)