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We all know that all villains in the Final Fantasy series have their plans thwarted by an eclectic group of people. Whether you’re a guy with spiky blonde hair or a Lalafell with a giant axe, you’ll always deal the final blow to these guys. That is a fact. But what would happen if these antagonists faced each other in battle? Well, that’s what we’ll answer in today’s bout of two iconic Final Fantasy baddies: Emet-Selch vs. Sephiroth.
Meet the Villains
Before we delve into the Emet-Selch vs Sephiroth debate in Final Fantasy, we thought meeting the characters would be a good idea. If you didn’t know, both have been some of the most iconic baddies in the series. While Sephiroth is the one who has made it to other media, including Kingdom Hearts and Super Smash Bros., Emet-Selch hasn’t fallen behind. With his actions in Shadowbringers and Endwalker, he actually surpassed Sephiroth in popularity. But this isn’t a fight about who is the trendiest. It is a debate on who would kick butt better.
Emet-Selch: The Most Iconic Ascian
Emet-Selch, whose original name is Hades, is an immortal being known as an Ascian. By looking at the word “immortal,” one would think he has already won the battle, but the bell hasn’t run yet. We could talk about this character’s feats, but let’s focus on his combat abilities instead.
In FFXIV, he is the final boss of the Shadowbringers expansion in his combat form of Hades. While the Warrior of Light beats him after using the power of Light and other shenanigans, Emet-Selch has a lot of destructive power, from manipulating dark energy to summoning illusions and even trapping people. The latter is key to this debacle because, while Sephiroth has a lot of destructive power, Emet-Selch has wits even in battle and could trap the white-haired warrior. But let’s see how Sephiroth fares.
Sephiroth: The One-Winged Warrior
Whether you played the original or FFVII: Remake, Sephiroth has been a character that instills fear. With his ridiculously long sword known as Masamune and a large repertoire of magic skills, he’s a force to be reckoned with. Plus, in the original game, he ditched his handsome form to become Safer-Sephiroth, which is a form that can ruin everyone’s day.
In terms of strength, it is hard to match him. He’s a modified human with the ability to summon a solar system-destroying supernova. And when he isn’t using magic, he can cut down steel with his sword and parry some of our heroes’ most iconic abilities. Ultimately, he can hold his own against many enemies.
Emet-Selch vs Sephiroth Verdict
After a lot of introspection and debate, we came to a conclusion about the Emet-Selch vs. Sephiroth debate in Final Fantasy. And for us, our unbiased winner is Emet-Selch. While Sephiroth is the most iconic bad guy in the franchise, and we love him, the fact that Ascians are immortal gives them a huge advantage. Besides, Emet-Selch has more crowd-control skills that could put Sephiroth in a hairy situation and obliterate him. Besides that, Emet-Selch has more wits and intelligence than the one-winged warrior, so he could devise a plan to beat the white-haired husband easily.
Ultimately, this is our opinion, and we’ll have to wait for some crossover to confirm this theory. Still, it is fun to think that Emet-Selch could also take the crown away from Sephiroth as one of the most powerful bad guys in the franchise. But since the series is far from over, we’ll have to revisit these characters once more baddies show up in the future.
