DEATH BATTLE: Two sides of the same coin - PRELUDE

(*inside a dark room*)

???: Is everything ready?

??? 2: Seems so to me.

???: Then give your best, we don’t want to screw this up.

??? 2: Yeah, yeah I know. Now, where’s that damn light switch?

???: Somewhere over there.

(*crack*)

???: Sorry, it was here.

??? 2: Idiot.

(*light turns on*)

???: Let’s go Musok!

Musok: After you, Züsrik.

Prelude: Two sides of the same coin

Title card under:
sta.sh/01ovv3tpfnvy

Züsrik: Sometimes life tries to screw you over and take everything you hold dear away from you. And then you can choose what to do.

Musok: Like taking revenge against the one who wronged you. Like Ragna the Bloodedge, the Grim Reaper.

Züsrik: Or taking the path of forgiveness, like Aang the Avatar.

Musok: And we want these two to duke it out. I’m Musok and that’s Züsrik.

Züsrik: Hi!

Musok: And we compare their weapons, armor and skill to find out, who would win in a Death Battle.

Ragna the Bloodedge


Height: 185 cm (6’0.8”)
Weight: 78 kg (172 lbs)
Age: unknown (in his 20s)
Hair: White
Eyes: one Green, one Red (heterochromia due to possessing Azure Grimoire)
AKA: The Grim Reaper, Bloodedge, “Good Guy”

Züsrik: Well, in the year 2100 a unknown monster appeared and…

Musok: Wait, wait, wait. We want to start at the beginning, not in the middle.

Züsrik: But the Black Beast appeared 100 years before the story of Blazblue starts. And how should we explain “THAT” story to someone, who hasn’t heard of this game before?

Musok: Oh man. I didn’t think about that.

Züsrik: And because of that you have me. So, around the year 2100 an unstoppable creature called the Black Beast appeared, killed nearly half of humanity and poisoned the atmosphere with Seither before it was finally was killed by 6 heroes.

Musok: And humanity was saved until a man clad in red and a giant sword on his back appeared. This man stood against the government of the world, the NOL, and their corrupted leaders.

Züsrik: His early years Ragna and his brother Jin and his sister Saya lifed a sheltered life in a church. Until one day Saya got sick, Ragna took care of her and Jin got jealous because of this. Throw now a sociopath named Terumi in the mix and you get a real fucked up childhood.

Musok: His home destroyed, his brother and sister abducted in front of his eyes and getting an arm cut off, the young boy was saved by a vampiric gothic lolita named Rachel giving him the Azure Gremory, which replaced his lost arm.

Züsrik: And after being trained by one awesome ninja cat, who also happened to be one of the strongest fighters in the Blazblue storyline, you get one badass warrior, the Grim Reaper, Ragna the Bloodedge.

Feats

- Despite having comparatively little combat training, effortlessly slaughtered 300 veteran soldiers and several dozen Praetorian guards
-- This earned him the Moniker “The Grim Reaper”; he did not decide it for himself
- Rendered the Black Beast dormant for an entire year
-Has repeatedly destroyed the bases of the Novus Orbis Librarium, a multi-national task force that regulates the control of power in the world, all while eluding capture
- Acquired a bounty “large enough to buy a small country”
- Has battled quite nearly every other character in the game, and has lost only rarely; even then usually with interfering circumstances
- Fought off Azrael, a criminal feared by just about everyone else in the entire world, while half-blind and possessing a paralyzed arm for a good time
- Even without access to his Azure Grimoire, was capable of fending off v-No.13-‘s nonstop barrage of swords from all directions
- With some help from Noel and Jin, defeated Take-Mikuzachi in under 10 minutes

Musok: And gaining such an imposing nickname, Ragnas list of feats are pretty impressive. He destroyed multiple NOL-bases without help, battled and defeated some of the strongest warriors of the Blazbue cast, including his brother Jin, the leader of the six heroes Hakumen and Terumi himself.

Züsrik: Ragna is strong enough to throw around cars, fast enough to dogde sky to ground lightning and tough enough to survive being punched through multiple pillars or being impaled multiple times. And one thing we learned from “that” fight, pillars…

Musok: No, no, no.

Züsrik: What?

Musok: He was smashed through pillars, point. We don’t want to start another discussion about “that” fight.

Züsrik: All right. Ragna also packs a healing factor and a sixth sense. Speak about a hard to kill fighter.

Attributes
Strength
- Can throw cars
- Can stagger giant monsters like the Take-Mikuzachi
- Can trade blows with Azrael, Terumi, Rachel, Jin, and the rest of the cast
Speed/Agility
- Dodged Rachel's sky-to-ground lightning strikes
- Dispatched hundreds of gun-wielding soldiers without being hit once, before he was very experienced in combat
- Can react to the Take-Mikuzachi's laser blasts after they fire (as in, not aim-dodging)
- Matched Hakumen, who reacted to Bang-Shishigami's lightspeed technique
- Defeated Terumi, who reached the inside of the Takamagahara system in 1/480000th of a second
-- And kept up with his Light of Judgment
- Can jump very high distances into the air
Endurance/Durability
- Can fight through dozens of stab wounds, extreme electrocution, crippling pain, etc.
- Laughs at such injuries as high falls and being punched through multiple thick walls
- Can take extreme beatings from Terumi, Jin, Take-Mikuzachi, Nu-13, and similarly powerful enemies
Intellect/Skills
- Above average, but otherwise nothing special
- Master swordsman, capable of fighting very skilled opponents with as much power as him
- Expert hand-to-hand combatant: uses an informal style that appears to be a cross between martial arts and street-fighting
- A good cook, apparently?
Willpower
- Has allowed him to resist immense pain, as well as psychic/mental assualts to some degree
Ars Magus
- Taught to him by Jubei, one of the Six Heroes
4th Wall Awareness
- Only on occasion, not to the same extent as, say, Deadpool
- Has not used it to his benefit in combat before
Minor Healing Factor
- Recovers more quickly from heavy injuries than other people
Heightened Perception/Sixth Sense
- Seemingly capable of predicting exactly when and where v-No.13-‘s numerous swords were coming from in the opening cinematic to their battles
- Possibly tied to his connection to the Boundary maybe?

Musok: Next to his fists Ragna relies on his sword Bloodscythe, which also happened to be a scythe.

Züsrik: I don’t know if that’s cool or simply overused seeing all the multi purpose scythes popping up in fiction.

Musok: Bloodscythe can steal the soul of his opponent.

Züsrik: Definitly a cool weapon.

Weapons

Blood-Scythe
- A massive, powerful blade that shapeshifts from sword to scythe and back
- Slowly devours the soul of those it strikes upon contact
- Roughly 5 feet in length total
- In base form, essentially a slightly smaller Buster Sword
- Awakened, becomes a scythe surrounded by a radiant crimson energy blade composed of seithr

Musok: Given to him by his Master Jubei, the Bloodscythe always was Ragnas weapon.
Züsrik: What? This weapon was given to Jubei 100 years before Ragna was born, so how…

Musok: Time travel.

Züsrik: Ah, all right. Wait, time travel?

Musok: To complicated to fully explain, so here’s the short version. Ragna used a cauldron, traveled back to the time the Black Beast was still alive, meeting past Jubei, became his friend and gave him his weapon and coat before returning to his timeline.

Züsrik: Back to Ragnas battle style. During a fight he uses a drive called Soul Eater, who does just that. Damaging his opponents soul and heal Ragna with it. Together with his outstanding Seithr manipulation it allows him to utilizing a devastating moveset. Including promising his opponent what awaits them?

Musok: What?

Züsrik: Hell, Belial, Hades, Inferno. All that means just one thing to the Grim Reapers opponents. Hell awaits you.  

Special Attacks
Drive- Soul Eater
- All of his seithr-based attacks damage the opponent's soul by destroying it and converting it into seithr piece by piece, allowing Ragna to replenish his health
Hell's Fang
- Dashes forward, delivering a black-seithr infused punch, then follows through with a stream of seithr
Blood Scythe
- Overhead swing with Blood-Scythe’s awakened form
Dead Spike
- Creates a rolling wave of dark seithr on the ground, with resemblance to a head of the Black Beast
Belial Edge
- A diagonal downwards dive, blade-first, that scores multiple hits
Gauntlet Hades
- Two whirling, black seithr-infused hammer fists
Inferno Divider
- A skyward slash infused with dark seithr
Not Over Yet
- Grabs a prone opponent, holds them up in the air, then impales them with the Blood-Scythe

Distortions
 

Carnage Scissors
- dashes forward and delivers two seithr-empowered slashes
- requires 50% Astral heat
 
Devoured by Darkness
- Turns hand into the Black Beast's claw, grappling and channeling dark power through his victim
- Requires 50% Astral heat

Astral Finish
Black Onslaught
- A chain of scythe slashes, then a channeling of seithr as dark energy barrages opponent, concluding with a powerful sword stab that disintegrates an opponent’s soul into seithr
- Automatic win if landed, at least in-game
- Requires all of Astral heat, and that opponent has 35% or lower HP


Musok: Should he need some more fire power, Ragna can use two distortions, Carnage Scissors, a two hit combination in form of an X, and Devoured by Darkness, where he grabs his opponent and channels darkness through the victim.

Züsrik: And his ultimate attack is called Black Onslaught. This attack is so strong, after using it there is nothing left of his opponent. Nothing. Not a body, not a soul. Nothing!

Musok: I think they got it.

Züsrik: And that’s not all.

Azure Grimoire

- Acquired from Rachel after the loss of his right arm to Terumi
- Mass of extremely condensed seithr, similar to the Black Beast
- Allows him to freely manipulate seithr for versatile long-range attacks
- Gives him access to the boundary, essentially giving him an infinite pool of seithr
Barrier
- Consumes a small amount of barrier meter to completely block incoming attacks
Burst Barrier
- Knocks away and interrupts opponents
- Essentially functions like a combo breaker

Musok: As said he got the Azure Grimoire from Rachel Alucard, which took the form of his right arm. This powerful weapon allows him freely manipulation of seithr and even access to strong barrier, which is powerful enough to block a city destroying attack.
Züsrik: And for the extra piece on the cake it allows him to use the Burst Barrier, a shockwave that knocks enemies away and interrupt their attacks.

Transformations


Blood Kain IDEA
 
- Doubled attack power
- Convert Distortion Drives into more powerful Overdrives
- Lasts longer the more injured Ragna is upon activating it
The Black Beast
 
- Can accidentally activate this if placed under too much stress/pain, although it is a very rare occurrence
- Awakens the Black Beast, the legendary 8-headed sentient mass of black seithr that nearly destroyed all life
- Technically not Ragna, but a part of it is bound to him in the form of his Azure Grimoire
- All of its attacks inflict seithr poisoning
- Is capable of becoming semi-incorporeal, merging with the ground to cross distances at alarming speeds
- As a being that exists outside of the Logic, is wholly immune to conventional weapons, the four elements (fire, earth, water, wind) and the two origins (light and darkness)
-- Is only known to be successfully harmed through the use of sorcery, or the magic element (as well as effects generated through the use of sorcery)
- Destroyed most of the entire world in one of the endings of Continuum Shift: while that since has technically been retconned, it has been outrighted stated multiple times to possess that power since then, and the retconned ending in question directly referenced by the time-traveling Rachel Alucard
Unlimited Mode
 
- Gains an aura of dark seithr, manifested as hazy purple-black fire, and Blood-Scythe begins flashing red periodically
- The power of the True Azure, theorized to be the full power the Black Beast controlled
- +25% attack power
- Unlocks new combos, and use of seithr becomes even more versatile
- x10 endurance
- All attacks now apply his Soul Eater drive, as all attacks are infused with dark seithr
- Soul Eater drive restores a greater % of damage dealt as HP
- Ragna has CANONICALLY used this in the story modes of his games; notably, his battle against the Gigant: Take-Mikuzachi
- Can stack with Blood Kain IDEA
- At least as strong in regards to the potency of attacks as The Black Beast, as Ragna successfully held it off for an entire year as "Bloodedge"
- Lasts for the rest of the battle

Musok: Ragnas ace in the hole are two transformations. One is the activation of the Blood Kain IDEA, double his attack power, but runs on a time limit. The time he can use this mode is dependend on his remaining health, the less he has, the longer this mode stays active.

Züsrik: And the second mode is the Unlimited Mode. This increases all his stats by a significant amount and doesn’t run out as long as his opponent lives. It gives Ragna enough power to stand up to Gigant:Take-Mikazuchi. And you know the best, he can activate both Unlimited Mode and Blood Kain IDEA at the same time.

Musok: But he has to be careful. If he loses control of his Grimoire, he turns into the Black Beast itself. A near unstoppable and unkillable monster of destruction.

Weaknesses

- Has a short fuse
- Prefers close range to long range
- Somewhat reluctant to use the full power of the Azure Grimoire
- The Azure Grimoire will "remember" purely magical wounds dealt to its bearer
- Having to pay for other people's food

Züsrik: Which leads to his flaws. Ragna is a close range fighter with limited range option. Also he doesn’t handle magic very well, since the Azure Grimoire “remembers” wounds inflicted by magic.

Musok: Also he is easy to provoke. But given his feats, that’s something I didn’t want to try.

Züsrik: All in all he is one badass with kickass powers and someone I don’t want to meet on the battlefield. Good that it isn’t me, he is gonna face here.

Musok: Let’s see, if the Grim Reaper can reap his opponents soul.

"But, because I lost that power, my head had cleared a little... now, I've had time to reevaluate that power. So I'm thankful, actually. Lately, whenever something happened, I would use the Azure Grimoire right away... I was relying on that power. Not my own- someone else's. So, what's MY power then? What can I be proud of and say 'this is my power' about?"

Aang

Aang

AKA: The Avatar, The Last Airbender
Age: 12 physically, 112 chronologically
First Appearance: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Züsrik: Air, Water, Fire, Earth. In the world of Avatar everyone knows about these elements and the benders, people who can use magic power to influence one element.
Musok: No magic!

Züsrik: But one person can bend all the elements, the avatar. And the Avatar in question is this bald kid. Bald? Come one, anime brought us so many crazy hair styles and here we have a bald kid? What where they thinking.

Musok: No anime!

Züsrik: What?

Musok: Avatar isn’t an Anime, but a Cartoon.

Züsrik: So no magic, no anime. Why am I doing this again?

Musok: Because I said so, now go on.

Züsrik: The Avatar we are interested in is Aang, a young Airbender, who is also the last of his clan.

Musok: Being born into the clan of monks Aang was raised that every life was precious and to scorn every form of violence. The result was…

Züsrik: …that the monks were all killed when the Avatar was 12 making him the last Airbender. And how did he survive. Well, he ran away and made one of Captain America, sleeping for 10 years. Then he was found by Katara and Sokka, returned to the world and started kicking fire nation soldier ass.

Musok: Travelling through the whole world, learning all kind of bending and saving the world. Having such a journey at the age of 12…

Züsrik: 112, actually.

Musok: … he has some impressive feats. He has driven of an entire fire nation fleet after just waking up, escaped the fire nation time and time again and taught a village how to… dance.

Züsrik: Very important, very important.


Feats:
-Mastered airbending when he was 12
-Evaded capture from the Fire Nation for 100 years
-Escaped capture from Zuko with help from Katara and Sokka
-Helped stop Zuko and his crew from burning down Kyoshi island
-Helped the Northern Water Tribes defense against the Fire Nation invasion
-Almost destroyed the entire Fire Nation invasion fleet by himself
-Help stop the Fire Nation from breaking through Ba Sing Se's wall
-Helped expose Long Feng and the Dai Li's corruption
-Helped Zuko find redemption and find the Sun Warrior civilization
-Mastered all four elements in under a year
-Defeated Fire Lord Ozai, the strongest firebender in the world empowered by Sozin's comet
-United the Four Nations and ushered a technological revolution
-Help establish the first democratic state in the Avatar universe
-Overcame and defeated Yakone, one of the strongest bloodbenders

Musok: Being a bender Aang is a trained martial artist. He is able to lift and carry large rocks, fast enough to run on water and tough enough to endure blows from older and stronger persons.  

Physicality:


Strength:
-Regularly trades blows with adult martial artists
-Can trade blows with Zuko, who can cut through rocks
-Before learning earthbending, can lift a large rock


Speed:
-Known for his agility and speed
-Can run fast enough to run on water
-Said to run as fast as the wind
-Regularly dodges blows from martial artists easily
-Dodges firebending from both Zuko and Azula when he was exhausted
-Regularly dodges waterbending, earthbending, and firebending attacks
-Fast enough to dodge and redirect lightning from Azula and Ozai
-Can increase his speed with airbending


Durability:
-Surprisingly tough for his size
-Regularly shakes off blows from adult martial artists
-Has tanked bending attacks on numerous occasions
-Took hits from Zuko, who strong enough to smash large rocks
-Walks off a fire blast that sent him flying into a wall and broke his stone armor
-Easily tanks an explosion he and Zuko created
-Walks off hits from a swamp monster that can throw tanks
-Survived getting shot by Azula's lightning
-Withstood the heat from firebending from Ozai who was empowered by Sozin's Comet
-Endures the pain of being bloodbended by Yakon

Züsrik: As a martial artist Aang doesn’t need any extra weaponry. He uses however a glider staff, who function both as a weapon and as a help for flying.
Musok: He also carries a bison whistle to call his trusted friend Appa, who is, well, a sky bison. These creatures can use airbending to stay in the air and can create powerful gust of wind with one tail slash.

Weapons and Equipment:


Glider Staff:
-Glider
-Combat Staff
-Fire resistant
-Made of wood and metal
-Can fly with airbending


Bison Whistle:
-Produces sounds that can attract a large number of animals over a given area
-Sound can only be picked up by animals and undetectable by humans
-Used to call in his Sky Bison, Appa


Appa:
-Aang's mount and long time companion
-Can produce powerful gusts of wind with a tail flick
-Can fly for two days straight
-Strong enough to lift 2 Fire Nation tanks with his horns
Züsrik: In a fight Aang is a clever and cunning opponent. He is a trickster, often thinking on the fly to beat his opponents. This even goes so far to come up with new uses of bending. Heck, even Azula used his way of bending to create new techniques for herself.
Musok: Since all bending goes back to different types of martial arts, Aang has all in all four different fighting styles. This means, that he can also change his style to match his opponent. But the style he uses the most is the Airbending style, favoring speed, evasion and defense over offense.

Skills and Abilities:

Clever and Cunning:
-Clever and has a trickster mentality
-Regularly uses out of the box strategies
-Creative with his abilities to take on enemies
-Tricks or bluffs is way with people to get by



Master Martial Artist:
-Mastered several martial arts
-All bending is based on a martial art
-Airbending is based on Ba Gua
-Waterbending is based on Tai Chi
-Earth bending is based on Hung Gar
-Firebending is based on Northern Shaolin Kung Fu
-Has defeated other experienced martial artists


Bending Arts:
-The ability to manipulate the elements
-The elements compose of water, earth, air, and fire
-As the Avatar, Aang can use all 4 elements


Waterbending:
-Can manipulate water
-Adaptable and versatile
-Can change from water, steam, and ice instantly
-Focuses on turning the enemies' strength against them
-Can create walls of ice, water jets, watery tendrils, etc


Earthbending:
-Can manipulate the earth
-Emphases strong defense and great offense
-Can create stone walls, stone armor, and toss boulders


Firebending:
-Can manipulate fire
-Most aggressive of bending arts
-Simple and direct, focuses on offense over defense
-Shoots fire blasts, fire steams, and fire waves for projectiles
-Can be used for propelled flight and burning incoming attacks


Airbending:
-Can manipulate air
-Aang's prefered element
-Focuses on speed and evasion
-Forgoes strong offense for greater defense
-Uses agility to tire foes and countering them
-Can create gusts of winds, miniature tornadoes, streams of air
-Can create an orb of air called the air cycle for transportation


Seismic Sense:
-Detects the exact location anything connecting to the ground
-Grants a certain amount of precognition


Lightning Redirection:
-Technique to absorb and redirect lightning attacks back at enemies

Züsrik: Aang greatest strength however is his ability to bend all elements. This means, that he can use the environment around him to attack or defend himself during a fight. The way he can bend is limited only by ones imagination, meaning that he can use the elements in many different ways.

Musok: So he can create fire out of thin air or control already existing fire with firebending. He can create Tsunamis or freeze liquid with waterbending, make an armor of rocks with earthbending or decrease his airresistance with airbending, making him faster.
Züsrik: Aang also learned how to sense through the earth thank to Toph Bei Fong, so he doesn’t need his eyes to see an opponent, as long as the foe is connected to the ground. And thanks to Zuko he learned how to redirect lightning. And for more fire power Aang has his own super mode, the Avatar state.


Avatar State:
-Form where he accesses the skills and experience of all past avatars
-Increases his physicality greatly
-Increases the scale of his bending immensely
-Waterbending can control the ocean itself easily
-Earthbending can cause split continents and compress boulders
-Firebending can control lava and giant fire waves
-Airbending can create hurricanes and twisters
-Gains flight thanks to enhanced airbending
-Can create an elemental shield to defend himself
-Can combine the elements for powerful attacks

Musok: Giving him access to the experience of all the former Avatars, this mode not only increases Aangs bending powers immensely, it also give him a boost in the physical department. In this mode, he was able to stand up to a powered up Ozai and was able to beat him. He also gains an all new bending power, Energy bending.


Energybending:
-Oldest and purest form of bending
-Can perceive and control spiritual energy
-Capable of tracking people by sensing the energies of the world
-Can seal away the energy of enemies, taking away bending or abilities

Züsrik: Being taught by the lion turtle this form of bending allows Aang to sense the energy of people around him. And for the cherry on top, Aang can use this ability to take away the bending of other benders. Making him a nightmare to face. But he isn’t perfect.


Weaknesses:
-Still human
-Still vulnerable in Avatar State
-Pacifistic, will only fight when necessary
-Lightning redirection is very risky and dangerous
-Energybending may backfire if foe's willpower trumps his

Musok: Aang is still a human and especially in his normal state very easy to kill or to knock out. So he was nearly killed through on hit by Azulas lightning. Also both Energy and Lighningbending bears great risk, Lightning can hurt him when not done correctly and energybending can even backfire, if his opponent has a greater willpower than himself.

Züsrik: But don’t make the mistake to underestimate him. Because he will bend his way out of every situation life throws at him.  

("Water. Earth. Fire. Air.
Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.
A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone.
But I believe Aang can save the world.")

Title Card by night-the-hedgehog7
Ragna Bio by ThePerpetual
Aang Bio by Dynamo1212