Exdeath



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

Story
The original Warriors of Dawn, Galuf, Xezat, Kelger and Dorgann sealed Exdeath within the crystals of Bartz's world for 30 years prior to the start of the game. But eventually his 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. His first in-game appearance was in the Ronka Ruins, after he was finally released from his seal when the Earth Crystal was shattered.

He then teleported himself back to his castle in Galuf's homeworld, to resume his reign of terror. Galuf and his grandaughter 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 soon after arriving, 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 way back across the Big Bridge, defeating Exdeath's lieutenant Gilgamesh, before his Barrier 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. It was revealed later by the sage that what Exdeath is seeking resides in the Great Forest of Moore, his original birthplace. When the warriors had broken the seals that binded 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. This forced the warlock to retreat, but Galuf had died soon after and one of the crystals shattered, and after this 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 had shattered though, which resulted in the two worlds becoming merged. Exdeath resurfaced again, 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 the Void as demonstration of its power. He also took command of the many demons of the Rift, promising to build for them a world of darkness 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 original form: a monstrous tree. His attempts to use the Void of 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 nihility, desiring to erase all existence (including his own) for eternity. After a long final battle, the dark entity disappears forever.

No one can be sure if Exdeath was truly destroyed after that occurrence. After all, Enuo was seemingly destroyed 1,000 years prior to the events of Final Fantasy V, and yet you fight his Void-consumed self in the Sealed Temple after you beat the game. Nevertheless, Exdeath is never seen nor heard from again...

Battle
Exdeath is fought three times in the course of Final Fantasy V.

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. His design seems virtually unchanged from his original artwork. He was described as being a user of the dark powers of the Void. He has also been seen in his tree form, presumably his EX-Mode. One screenshot shows that his EX form is capable of using the energies of the Void. Though yet to be seen, he has been described as a "guard-and-counter" character.

In game he appears to use the Reaper Sword attack, one of his trademark skills, along with most Void themed attacks. The name of his Ex Burst is by far the strangest, being called 'The Laws of the Universe Mean Nothing!'

He will be voiced by Tarou Ishida in the Japanese version.

Trivia

 * The Esper Exodus from Final Fantasy XII and Totema Exodus from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance share Exdeath's characteristics. The Esper Exodus resembles Exdeath's knightly form with tree like qualities, while the Totema pays homage to his tree form.

Exdeath