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howlingday · 1 year ago

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My idea for a potential DEATH BATTLE! #7

2023, Nov 28, 29, Dec 1, 2

PREVIOUS POST: SIXTH POST

MASTER LIST

Darth Sidious vs Master Xehanort (Star Wars vs Kingdom Hearts)

Which evil wizard of darkness behind the curtain will prevail?

FIGHTER 1: Darth Sidious, the sadistic and mean megalomaniacal mastermind behind the Galactic Empire.

FIGHTER 2: Master Xehanort, the darkness-seeking body-snatching chess master of Kingdom Hearts.

Wiz: The evil mastermind. The malevolent entity behind the curtain. One of the greatest evil is the one that presents itself as a friend. It leads to the demise of many heroes.

*CLIPS: Evil mastermind: James Moriarity. The malevolent entity behind the curtain: MHA's All For One. Evil fakes being friendly: the ego Death scene from Guy Ritchie's Revolver (Watch that movie, it's cool).*

Boomstick: These two may be geriatric, but they've put their wits to use and have formulated an entire chess plan to carry out their dreams and designs and are just as strong to boot. He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.

PREFACE (What to know): I am fully aware of how popular this MU is, with its 2021 DBX and its high-ranking position in 2023's Champion Poll, so I wanted to get this out before it becomes an actual episode. I wanted this MU since I played KH: Birth By Sleep in April and May 2020 since the lockdown had started and I had a collection of KH games to play. There is a large collection of Star Wars media and there is the old Legends content to consider alongside the vast history of Kingdom Hearts, so I will try to be careful with how I treat these characters, but as usual, my efforts will go into the "fight" more than anything else. If I am to consider them at their max, then we have Palpatine at the end of the Skywalker Saga and Xehanort with the χ-Blade. I WILL BE TREATING THIS AS A SEASON FINALE because of how much there is to go over for both characters and because it would serve as a beautiful contrast to Yoda vs. King Mickey: one season starts with the light and another ends in darkness. Also, I wanted this to be my 13th suggestion, but I should get this out before DB! beats me to it.

WHY:

Connections (What do they have in common):

1. Both are the main antagonists of the first saga of their series, The Skywalker Saga and the Dark Seeker Saga. (As of me writing this, the main series of SW and KH is those two sagas).

2. Both have concocted master plans in which they would spread their influence insidiously across reality, namely through manipulation and subordinates while maintaining a guise of reliability. Darth Sidious trained Darth Maul, turned Anakin into Darth Vader by manipulating his fear, and used his identity as Chancellor Palpatine to further his political career and deceive his way into accomplishing his goal of orchestrating the fall of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order through the Clone Wars, and then established his reign over the galaxy while Master Xehanort manipulated Terra who trusted him as a teacher into killing Eraqus as well as Ventus through Vanitas to create an ultimate weapon and Riku by exploiting his wishes to explore the outside worlds and even Maleficent. He also created Organization XIII to prolong his life.

3. Both are known for how they cheat death. Palpatine had his clones and attempted to possess Rey's body whereas Xehanort body-snatched Terra, had his Nobody, Heartless, and Organization XIII as his vessels, and even had a time-traveling younger self.

4. Both have dabbled in scientific or science-like research. Palpatine is mostly known for his experiments in Sith Alchemy and Xehanort is mostly known for the creation of the Nobodies and the mass release of Heartless. These are not their only contributions, but I am not listing all of them.

5. Their goal was to have ultimate power in some form. Palpatine wanted supreme control over every being in the galaxy and Xehanort wanted to conquer Kingdom Hearts to obtain ultimate power/knowledge and recreate the worlds the way he saw fit.

6. Both are among the most dangerous warriors trained in their respective ancient ways (Sith ways + the Dark Side of the Force, and Keyblade mastery + Darkness), if not, they are flat-out the most dangerous. Despite that, their greatest attribute arguably is not their strength or their tenacity to see their dreams come true, but their manipulation of others.

Personal reasons (Why I want this battle/like this MU): Back in March and April 2020, I played KH II, BBS, and 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage, and then I played DDD and watched Back Cover. Needless to say, I noticed similarities between KH and SW, namely comparing the plots of BBS & Revenge of the Sith, Terra & Anakin, Xehanort & Palpatine, and the plans of the antagonists. Shortly after, I watched this video, this video, and this video and then looked up more stuff online and found this beauty by Naitsabes89:

Since then, I tried to get a very good friend of mine who's into Star Wars to play KH, crowned Grand Master Yoda vs. King Mickey as my favorite DB!, and listened to BY's "Destined for Darkness", "Birth By Exile", "This Heartless Empire", and Skye T.'s "Insidiosa Tenebrae", none in that specific order. There was also an old article that mentioned how Nomura was wearing his love for Star Wars on his sleeve and how both had a giant conflict that wiped out the ancient wizard knights, namely the 100-Year Darkness and Keyblade War, but I can no longer find it. I also really want to add to DB!'s collection of great SW episodes of the 2020s: 2020's Obi-Wan, 2021's Yoda, 2022's Boba Fett (I wouldn't call it great, but I did enjoy it a lot), and 2023's Darth Vader.

Also, I want their personalities to play off each other: the cunning masterminds trying to coax and manipulate the other to fall into a trap while showing off merciless power.

More than anything, this is my most wanted matchup.

THE FIGHT:

Art and animation: Easy; make it 3D like the DBX and all Star Wars episodes since 2020. 2D may be easier, but the grandiosity of the characters and the matchup demands something of great animation. I do not mean to disrespect the 2D/sprite team considering the phenomenal work from just 2023 alone, but 3D models can allow for more fluid movement and better blade-to-blade combat. If possible, get DevilArtemis again and take inspiration from The Clone Wars' lightsaber duels and high-tier KH III combos (I will do my damndest to do the same).

Possible setup: Cue the Death Star, floating in space, with ominous music and equally ominous vocals. We see the two combatants playing chess like Eraqus and Xehanort in KHIII, both doing their iconic smirks/evil grins; shenanigans are afoot.

"I am disappointed you declined my offer to rule the galaxy with me. Your power and wits would make for an excellent emperor." Palpatine hates how that sounds, but he doesn't stop the smirk; he has a plan, but he does respect the power and wits of his adversary. After all, he foresaw Vader's power surpassing his and even congratulated Maul for surviving his wounds and for his attempt to take over Mandolor. The title of emperor was his and his alone, but he needs to be careful; he can sense the darkness of his foe and he has wits to match. He moves a black pawn, removing a white pawn from the board. We see Stormtroopers and droids aiming and shooting at a giant mass of Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed, beating them back a bit.

"I am not interested in your galaxy or your army. I do not have any interest in your dark magics or sciences." Xehanort moves a white pawn and removes a black pawn. The forces of Darkness start to overrun the forces of the Empire. "I wish to know of the Force and its Dark Side, and conquer it."

"You think you can match the Dark Side? Your feeble skills are no match for its power."

"Your arrogance and power blind you. They are your weakness." After a few more moves, the black pawns are off the board, but there are a few white pawns left. The forces of Darkness across the Galaxy have killed the Imperial Troops.

"Your faith in your pawns is yours." He does his iconic evil chuckle and moves a black rook. Darth Maul draws his Lightsaber and starts to fend off the dark mass with his wrath, weapon, and the Force, but then Vanitas swoops in and the two engage. Xehanort had moved a white rook, but all the pawns started to disappear off the board in a few short moves; Palpatine had moved his forces. Palpatine moves his second rook. Kylo Ren fights Young Xehanort. Xehanort then moves a knight. The Nobodies of Organization XIII engage the Inquisitorius. Palpatine moves a bishop. Asajj Ventress confronts Ansem SOD. Xehanort moves his white bishop. Xemans duels with Tyranus. Both move their queens. Terranort and Vader clash weapons. Then, we cut to the board: only the kings stood, and they knew what that meant.

Xehanort draws his keyblade, No Name. Palpatine draws his lightsaber, but even its evil red glow does not compare to the wickedness in Palpatine's voice.

"You will experience the full power of the Dark Side."

"The Darkness will end you."

FIGHT! :

1. Palpatine launches himself like in Episode III, but Xehanort only blocks it and parries. They start to duel as Sidious did against Windu. Sidious may be channeling the Dark Side, but in typical Palpatine fashion, he's going to play with his food for a bit. With his sadistic smile, he duels like in the cut fight between himself and the Jedi Council/Mace Windu from Episode III. Xehanort keeps up, playing more on the defensive. He dodges and counters, but Sidious parries and also counters.

2. Channeling a bit more of the Dark Side, Sidious outmaneuvers Xehanort, strikes him hard, and attempts to impale him, but Xehanort teleports away. Sidious chuckles. "Not confident in your skills? Feeling slow?" "I've kept pace with quick opponents before. You're no different." They engage again, like how Sidous dueled Savage Oppress and Maul, only for Xehanort to summon orbs of dark energy, forcing Palpatine to parry and dodge, but Xehanort gets in his Continuous Attack, slashing fast and teleporting. Sidious blocks a strike, kicks Xehanort away, and draws a second lightsaber, rushing Xehanort, and even though Xehanort can successfully parry a lot of the attacks, Sidious is in his element. He is channeling the Dark Side, flipping around and moving dexterously, dodging Xehanort's orbs of darkness and Fire spells. The two engage in a blade-lock, their golden eyes staring the other down. Xehanort is overpowering him a bit despite using two lightsabers, so Sidious pushes him away with the Force.

3. Xehanort is pushed against the wall but uses his telekineses to launch projectiles. Sidious then moves his own, but Xehanort redirects all of them and then uses a lot more objects to form his Blade Tornado. Sidious then uses the Force to stop and rip apart the projectiles. He then uses his iconic Force Lightning only for Xehanort to teleport away, who then casts Thundaga. Palpatine raises his two lightsabers to block the lightning and then leaps at Xehanort again, but he then uses Rising Ground, raising the ground in front of Palpatine, but Palpatine slices it and pushes it like Obi-Wan did to Kakashi's Earth justu and throws it with telekinesis.

4. Xehanort teleports behind the Sith, but the Sith blocks him and they start to duel with blades again, but Sidious channels Force Lightning again. Xehanort struggles a bit, but he uses Firaga to keep his distance. Seeing an opening, Xehanort disarms Sidious, grabs Sidious, pushes him down, and then hits him with cold air, attempting an Ultima Freeze. Sidious uses Force Lightning like he tried to on Darth Vader like in Episode VI, but Xehanort does not stop, so he uses the Force to draw in a lightsaber.

5. Xehanort dodges the attack but is caught off guard by the second lightsaber drawn to Palpatine and is hit, and Palpatine then starts to use Force Drain, recovering a large amount of health, bringing Xehanort to his knees. "You old fool. Now you see the folly of your ways. I have UNLIMITED POWER!" Sidious follows this up with more Force Lightning. Xehanort, struggling in pain, summons the almighty χ-blade. Xehanort then uses Call Calamity, throwing the χ-blade. Sidious uses the Force to throw the χ-blade back, but the χ-blade is cooling the air, smashing 3 fireballs together, and dropping three lightning strikes on them. Palpatine narrowly dodges, and then parries several dark shots, even using the Force to redirect attacks again.

6. Xehanort then uses XIII Combo, attacking using his avatars and several light rays, but Sidious simply "kills" the avatars (I don't think this is possible, but it looks cool in my head) and parries the light rays. Sensing his foe near, he blocks Xehanort's attack, χ-blade having become a double blade. The χ-blade then turns into a pair of chakrams, but Sidious keeps being agile and evasive, but he does not get far as Xehanort then turns the χ-blade into a whip and draws Sidious close. This does not deter the Sith lord, however, as the then uses the momentum to slash Xehanort. Xehanort then turns the χ-blade into its normal form and then, there's another blade clash. Xehanort wins and destroys the lightsabers. (If it was only one lightsaber, he draws in the second one, he destroys it.)

7. Xehanort then summons Kingdom Hearts and attempts to drain whatever light he can from Sidious, but he is unsuccessful. Sidious senses this and laughs. "You fool... You do not understand; I AM the Dark Side! You will be destroyed!" Using Force Lightning again, he shocks the Keyblade master and pushes him away.

8. Darth Sidious wins by using the Dark Side. He pins Xehanort to the wall, immobilizing him so can't even use the χ-blade. He then uses Force Drain again, severely weakening Xehanort. We then see the rest of Organization XIII being defeated; Xehanort can sense it and Sidious knows. "Only now in the end do you understand. You were no match for the Dark Side. You have paid the price for your lack of vision. Now, you will die." Using Force Lightning for a final time, Sidious ends the old master, proving the Dark Side, nay, himself to be the ultimate power.

9. Master Xehanort winds by using his magic and the χ-blade. Pushing through the Force, Xehanort uses Stopza, leaving Palpatine frozen in time. Xehanort ends the fight by using a beam of Darkness like at the end of KH III's final fight. We can then see Organization XIII overcoming the Empire and Sith. “Checkmate. And so, darkness prevails.”

11. KO!

RESULT:

Strengths and weaknesses:

Darth Sidious:

+ Has options for an instant kill.

+ Much more agile in physical combat.

+ Much more ruthless.

+ Precognition.

+ Could likely use Force Persuasion or Possession.

+ Force Heal and Force Drain allow for healing.

+ Drain Knowledge could allow for psychological damage.

≥ Likely the better manipulator.

= Likely equally skilled as both have had extensive training.

- His sadism and wanting to play with his opponent could give Xehanort a chance to attack him.

- As far as I can tell, he does not resist cold air or freezing.

Master Xehanort:

+ If scaled to King Mickey, then he's physically faster, stronger, and more durable.

+ Greater versatility and ranged options with the χ-blade's transformations and his magic, so it is highly likely that he can overwhelm his opponent and keep himself at a distance.

+ His two armor sets allow for greater defense. The first one extends his offensive versatility and even gives him the ability to turn his Keyblade into a defensive wall. The second one even comes from him powering up.

+ Considering his versatility in magic, it is very likely that he has access to Cure.

+ Greater mobility with teleportation and Corridors of Darkness.

+ Stopza allows for instant kill setups.

+ Could likely transfer his heart to Palpatine with complete ease due to the darkness in Palpatine's heart.

= Likely equally skilled due to training and experience.

- It is fair to assume that he has a limited magic pool like Sora and King Mickey, so if he runs out, he would be more vulnerable while it recharges.

- He is very likely to end up winded and tired like in his solo fight against Terra in BBs.

Ending puns:

"Palpatine Sidiously had it coming."

"Xehanort did not have the heart to win it."

MUSIC:

Name: "Imperial Chessmasters"

The name refers to the Galactic Empire and the characters' complex multi-generational plans that involve the manipulation of others for domination and power.

Art:

Foreground: Xehanort's chess piece but the head is the emblem of the Galactic Empire with lightning emerging from the center to the left and darkness emerging from the center to the right.

Background: on the left, it's the Death Star; on the right, it's Kingdom Hearts succumbing to Darkness.

Sound: DUEL OF THE FATES + KH III FINAL BOSS THEME (FRAGMENTS OF SORROW, BUT GRAND), BABY! Slow, dramatic building with slight vocals and piano, and a pinch of drums. It doesn't play during the chess scene, starting when we see that only the kings are left sounding like the introductory strings of the KH III final boss theme. There are strings when they first clash blades. Then the vocals, piano, and strings just keep going from there. It is tense, dramatic, and of course, there are sorrowful moments, changing pace along with the fight: dramatic and fast with the deeper strings and choir or slow and tearful with lighter vocals and higher note strings. Therewolf Media is the ideal pick as he has done Hearts of Light which also beautifully mixes the orchestral sounds of SW and KH. If you want a good idea of what this song could sound like, check out these beauties and gems...

1. Duel of Sorrow ( KH style Mash up Duel of Fates/Fragments of Sorrow)

2. Kingdom Hearts 3 - Duel of the Fates (Battle Theme)

Or I could leave it to the imagination. Seriously, I can imagine it in my head and it is beautiful. Listen to the themes I referred to the original themes you'll hear something great when you try to mix them in your head.

1. Duel of the Fates

2. KH III Final Boss Theme

(strikethrough: I think it'd be something so great that John Williams and Yoko Shimomura would acknowledge it. I wanted to add another element to this mix, but I'll save it.)

FINAL THOUGHTS AND WORDS

I know how weird it would be to have Maul, Ventress, and Kylo Ren as part of Sidious' army, but I did not know who else to use, and I didn't put this in the preface because I wanted the chess army to be a surprise.

I don't know if this will surpass my suggestions of Azula vs. Cinder or Trunks vs. Luminary, but I don't care. I LOVE this MU, and I already said that this is my all-time most wanted. I had fun imagining the choreography and especially the music. I am the least bit worried about the MUSIC because there is so much to take inspiration from whereas the fight itself will need a combination of character interactions, swordplay, and ranged attacks. If it ever becomes an actual episode, I'll temper my expectations because the battle is most certainly not going to be like this idea of mine.

This is my last MU idea for the year.

CHESS PIECES

Kings: Darth Sidious vs. Master Xehanort

Queens: Darth Vader vs. Terra-Xehanort

Bishops: Darth Tyranus and Asajj Ventress vs. Xemnas, and Ansem, Seeker of Darkness

Knights: Inquisitorious vs. the Nobodies of Organization XIII

Rooks: Darth Maul and Kylo Ren vs Vanitas and Young Xehanort

THANK YOU AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS! SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

_________________________________________

Once again, I am impressed with your presentation. I've seen quite a bit of Star Wars, but I always forget Palpatine has a lightsaber. Also, Xehanort's fight in KHIII forever sticks out in my brain as one of the most frustrating final bosses of the game.

And as for what you've shown, I like it. The poster at the top was hilarious and thinking on it, KH could include Star Wars due to a mutual benefactor (Disney). The videos you have linked well in here are also a neat watch.

And while I absolutely LOVE that opening to the fight, my only criticism is the name of the soundtrack. For me, while clever, it doesn't really invoke anything... I dunno, flashy? Maybe something more along the lines of...

DESIGNS OF DARKNESS

Happy holidays and thank you for your fine creations.

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