Exdeath



Exdeath (エクスデス Ekusudesu), also known as X-Death or ExDeath, is the primary antagonist and the Final Boss of Final Fantasy V. According to Ghido, despite his knightly appearance, Exdeath was once, and still is to an extent, a tree from the Great Forest of Moore.

Biography
After the malicious warlock-king Enuo was defeated and the Void was sealed away, humans turned to an alternative solution to purge their land of corruption and terror. The Great Forest of Moore provided a solitary prison for these malevolent souls to inhabit. Eventually many other monsters were drawn to the forest, becoming easily the most dangerous place on Galuf's world, and sealed within a tree. The various souls residing within the tree eventually made it self-aware so it assumed a human-like form, as evil as the many souls that composed him. Thus, the monster Exdeath was born.

Exdeath had a castle built upon one of the continents and proceeded to lay siege upon all of the kingdoms in the world. The Warriors of Dawn, Galuf, Xezat, Kelger and Dorgann followed Exdeath to an alternate dimension, where Exdeath was sealed and finally defeated. The Dawn Warriors needed to be sure that Exdeath would remain sealed forever, and needed someone to defend the seal. Dorgann volunteered, knowing that he would be forsaking his past by making sure that all of existence would remain undisturbed.

Dorgann eventually fell in love with a young woman named Stella, and the two eventually got married and had a son named Bartz. Five years after he was born Stella died, and not long after Dorgann passed away as well. Dorgann's dying wish was for his son to lead a normal life, and so he asked Bartz to travel the world, where he hoped nothing would harm his dear boy. So keeping his promise, Bartz became a wanderer, along with his best friend Boko, his pet chocobo.

Eventually Exdeath's dark influence caused the crystals to shatter one by one in a series of catastrophes, as he began to take control of denizens of the world to break them, including the Queen of Karnak and King Tycoon. Exdeath's in-game appearance was in the Ronka Ruins, after he was finally released from his seal when the Earth Crystal was shattered.

Exdeath teleported back to his castle in Galuf's homeworld, to resume his reign of terror. Galuf and his granddaughter Krile returned as well to rally a counter-attack. The remaining Warriors of Light followed them, but were soon captured by one of Exdeath's minions, and he used them as hostages in order to keep Galuf from progressing any further in the siege against his castle. In response, Galuf made a daring prison break and the party fought their way back across the Big Bridge, defeating Exdeath's lieutenant Gilgamesh, before his barrier was eventually activated, sending the Light Warriors hurling across the world.

Eventually, Exdeath made an example of what happens to those who did not support his unknown cause when he sunk Ghido's island. The sage later revealed that what Exdeath was seeking resided in the Great Forest of Moore, his original birthplace. When the warriors had broken the seals that bound what Exdeath sought, they found that they were truly the crystals, and they had just done Exdeath's dirty work. He then used the power of the crystals to torture the Warriors of Light, and after Krile failed to rescue them, Galuf finally resisted the power and took on Exdeath. Powered by hope, Galuf was seemingly unstoppable in the battle against Exdeath. But even when forced to retreat, Exdeath's power was unmatched, Galuf died soon after the battle and one of the crystals shattered, and afterward, Krile became a Light Warrior in his stead.

Exdeath was soon confronted at his castle, where he had taken the remaining crystals, and was apparently defeated. The crystals shattered, which resulted in the two worlds merging. Exdeath resurfaced, disguised as a splinter in Krile's hand. At Ghido's Cave (now once again above sea level), Exdeath revealed himself and his true goal: to control the Void, originally created by Enuo and in the process returning the world to a state of chaos. The Void had been sealed in the Interdimensional Rift when the worlds were split, but with the worlds recombined the Rift soon emerged over Castle Tycoon. Exdeath began to seize control of the Void, sending many parts of world into its depths as demonstration of its power. He also took command of the many demons of the Rift, promising to build for them a world of desolation with the Void.

Under Ghido's guidance, the party took the newly reformed Sealed Tome and used it to retrieve the Sealed Weapons of Castle Kuza, and the Light Warriors climbed into the Rift. By the time they reached Exdeath, he had finally mastered the Void and returned to his true, solid form: a monstrous tree. His attempts to use the Void on them were thwarted, however, by the spirits of the Dawn Warriors who restrained the Void. After a heated battle, Exdeath himself was engulfed by the Void much to his distress. He transformed into Neo Exdeath: a being of hatred and nihilism, desiring to erase all existence (including his own) for eternity. After a long final battle, the dark entity disappeared forever.

Character


Exdeath is a loud-mouthed, blaspheming being of pure evil. Throughout the duration of the game, Exdeath treats Bartz Klauser and his party as mere pests in the way of his withstanding goal, and constantly swats them away without killing them, seeing no reason to dispose of such a mild threat. He may seem cocky, but that's only because he can be, since his power is practically unmatched. He shows no empathy for the slaughter of his minions, even thinning out his own lines, as seen when he banishes Gilgamesh to the Interdimensional Rift for his repeated failings. Further, if his strength is ever depleted, he needs only a brief time to regenerate to fighting form.

His appearance in Dissidia gives a new angle to his motives and personality. His confidence and bravado are shown to come not only from his immense power, but his assurance that, whether or not he succeeds, everything will eventually come to an end and return to the Void. Because of this, he is not very proactive within the game's story, simply wandering with little purpose and agreeing to assist other Warriors of Chaos with their schemes. He is also unique in that, upon his final defeat in Shade Impulse, he is far more accepting of his defeat than most of the other Warriors of Chaos. Because he strives not only for the elimination of existence, but also for his own eventual demise, he finds pleasure in the feeling of dying. After assuring the Warriors of Cosmos that all will eventually return to the Void, spends his final moments standing tall, and laughing.

Appearance
Exdeath wears a sky blue suit of armor with a horned helmet, spiked shoulders and a long blue cloak. His helmet is topped with a two-ended plume and has a thin opening that would normally be used for sight. His armor is decorated with jewels, gold linings and beads, and though he is a warlock Exdeath also carries a sword with him that he can use in battle as proficiently as his magic. The opening seems to be the only actual orifice or exposed area to his outfit, and it is dark and small, therefore it is never revealed what his appearance under the armor in his humanoid form looks like.

In his tree form, Exdeath's torso and head are visible, but are a darker shade of blue. Below the torso he shows his true form as a tree, his bark showing a demonic face on its side. Soon after the Void begins to consume Exdeath's physical form, the various demons that his body was composed manifest as Neo Exdeath, a being composed of a random assortment of fiends, demons, and other beings, dominated at the front by a gray-skinned demon with red horns and muscular limbs.

Ambitions
Exdeath's ultimate goal is to withhold complete control over the infinite power of the Void, a sentient force that lives solely to consume all in its path. He proclaims that he wishes for control of all dimensions, which would cower over the power of the Void, but in the end, Exdeath himself is consumed by his power and turned into a nihilistic demon. In the final battle, he says that once he uses the power of the Void to erase everything, he will go on to erase himself, so that nothing will exist.

Strength
Exdeath is an extraordinarily powerful warlock who is able to destroy large areas of land with artificial disasters created by his powers. For example, he caused the earthquake that sank Ghido's island, and he burned down the Great Forest of Moore. The extent of his power is further revealed when it is mentioned that all Galuf and the other Warriors of Dawn could do was seal him because "he kept going down, but wouldn't stay down". Also, he may have had limited power or influence over the Void even before obtaining it, as he shows when throwing his lieutenant Gilgamesh into the Interdimensional Rift.

Once Exdeath claims complete control over the Void, his power soars. He is able to erase any part of existence with a thought, channeling the Void to engulf it and sending it into another random dimension. It is also a significant display of power when it is revealed that the only way the Light Warriors were able to defeat him was when his own power turned against him.

And when Exdeath was engulfed by the Void and spat out as Neo-Exdeath he gained more power than ever before since he merged with the destructive power of the Void itself but at the cost of his sanity, becoming a universal threat as he threatened to destroy the universe and himself.

Combat Skills
In combat, Exdeath, being the incarnation of countless evil beings sealed inside the tree he once was, is stupendous in the area of spellcasting. Though he rarely ever uses it, he is also decent in close combat with his sword as well. In Dissidia he even demonstrates the ability to telepathically control his sword, allowing him to engage in "melee" combat even from a distance.

Exdeath is also able to overwhelm a mortal consciousness and replace it with his own. He displays this power with Garula, Queen Karnak, and King Tycoon, as well as a random human guard who activates the Fire Crystal.

Music
Exdeath's has his own theme, named "The Evil Lord Exdeath", which begins with a theme similar to the one from the famous murder scene of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and further in, an evil laugh can be heard. This theme is played during all cutscenes where Exdeath makes a presence.

The theme "The Decisive Battle" is also connected to Exdeath, playing in all the battles against him. It shares similar tunes with "The Evil Lord Exdeath"

Battle


Exdeath is fought three times in the course of Final Fantasy V. Twice in his knight form, once in his true form as a tree. Afterwards, Neo Exdeath is fought.

Dissidia Final Fantasy


Chaos summoned a combined force of Final Fantasy's ultimate villains in an attempt to gain control of a number of Crystals, resulting in total control of the Final Fantasy worlds. Exdeath is one of these villains and stands as the villain representing Final Fantasy V, opposing Bartz.

Along with Kuja, the Cloud of Darkness and Kefka, Exdeath's aim is to engulf the world in the Void. With the desire to fight his rival Bartz, Exdeath helps Kuja in his plans for Bartz and Zidane. He also monitors the actions of Golbez, and is the first villain to discover Golbez's treachery.

Etymology
Exdeath may be a portmanteau of "Death," and "Exodus", which is Greek for "departure" and names the second book of the Torah, where Moses leads the Hebrew people out of Egypt to Israel. This may be a reference to the refuge of all the evil spirits that corrupted Exdeath's original body. The inclusion of his Esper form in Final Fantasy XII, below, also suggest this. It may also be a reference to the Latin prefix ex, meaning "out of", symbolizing Exdeath's birth from evil spirits.

There is debate on whether his true intended name is actually "Exodus", and whether "Exdeath" is a mistranslation kept in usage as it is the more familiar name to fans, as is the case with Ultros, Edward Chris von Muir, and numerous others. The name has been translated as both by Square Enix throughout the years, more recently as Exodus in Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

Trivia

 * The Esper Exodus from Final Fantasy XII and Totema Exodus from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance are based on Exdeath, and share his Japanese name (エクスデス). The Esper Exodus resembles Exdeath's knightly form with tree like qualities, while the Totema pays homage to his tree form.
 * Exdeath is one of two characters that are spawned from the repercussions of another, in Exdeath's case, the souls that humans trapped in the Great Forest of Moore. The other being the Cloud of Darkness, who was born from the imbalance of power from Xande's actions, and his death at the hands of the Warriors of Light in Final Fantasy III. Interestingly, though likely a coincidence, they are the villains who are associated with the Void.
 * A common misconception is that Exdeath is the reincarnation of Enuo. However, it is untrue and has never been proven with direct evidence.
 * Exdeath was the first final boss that required the player to fight another boss immediately before the final battle. Since Exdeath, all subsequent villains in the series have followed this trend.

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