Baraggan Louisenbairn (Zawazambe)

Baraggan Louisenbairn (バラガン・ルイゼンバーン, Baragan Ruizenbān), originally incorrectly romanized as Barragan Luisenbarn, was an in Sōsuke Aizen's army and was the segunda (2nd) Espada.

Appearance
Baraggan has the appearance of an elderly man with a white moustache and white hair. His face is lined by large scars in the left side of his chin and across his right eye. Despite his aged appearance, Baraggan is quite stocky and muscular, especially when compared to the other Espada, and when standing (albeit with the slouch of an elderly person) he is of a fair size. He wears a regal white leather coat with black fur lining; he has short sleeves and three black fur stripes running along the bottom. He also wears a golden wrist band on both wrists and a belt which consists of three thick chains attached to a large metal disk with a sun emblem. His overall appearance is like that of a barbarian lord (of Viking origin). The location of his Espada tattoo is unknown, while the location of his Hollow hole is in the center of his chest. The remnants of his Hollow mask take the form of a five pointed crown just above his forehead.

When he was the King of Hueco Mundo, his crown had four elegant protrusions which were ornately decorated.

Personality
Baraggan Louisenbairn, once the great King of, has maintained his superior ideology through his dethroning and even death. Arrogant in every sense of the word, Baraggan is a boastful and proud being who is very linear regarding authority. Baraggan is quick to take control of a situation, seeing himself as the only one apt to lead and command authority. His unreasonable arrogance stems back to his days as the proclaimed "God-King" of Hueco Mundo where he had maintained such a broad expanse of power that he referred to the skies as the roof to his castle. His pride in his strength, status and lineage serve as defining characteristics as he is quick to anger when the things he takes pride in are mocked and belittled. During his original confrontation with, just after Aizen had slaughtered all of Baraggan's servants, he compared an enraged Baraggan to a Shinigami which sparked a sudden spark of rage within Baraggan not often seen. Ironically, Baraggan has displayed a willingness to damage his pride in order to redeem it. Despite the overwhelming hatred for Aizen, Baraggan joined the in an attempt to get closer to Aizen so that one day he could kill Aizen with his own two hands. It wasn't until Baraggan became faced with his imminent death that he realized his deepest desires would never be realized and, like an animal, he leaped to kill Aizen. His Pride was his downfall.

As a King, his leadership skills were something to be praised. During his reign of under the title of "God-King", Baraggan commanded a vast army of  who swore their allegiance to him. A combination of fear and respect is what fuels his comrades, who refer to him as "his majesty". During the events of the , Baraggan commanded a small squadron of his strongest and loyalest who fought until death in the name of Baraggan. Baraggan is quick to take control of a situation and is able to skilfully and calmly analyse his opponents in battle, a testament to his capabilities as a King and a strategist. As a being who carried the status of the segunda (second) Espada, Baraggan acted as the de facto General of the army while Aizen was decommissioned behind the wall of fire, although he did so only after threatening the other two Espada two challenge him if they had any issues with his leadership.

The progression of time, embracing old age, a cold and silent death; this is Baraggan's aspect of death. It was his ability to manipulate time that added to his overwhelming arrogance as it let him stand outside of the boundary of life and death and act as a curator between the two. His staunch hatred of Shinigami, namely being compared to them, may relate to his ability to control time. Like a Shinigami, Baraggan controls the flow of life and death and his ideology greatly conflicts with that of the Shinigami. Shinigami seek to pursue the lost souls and grant them passage to the, the most pure variation of Heaven that we are aware of. Baraggan is a arrogant and proud King who only desires to better himself and to gain power. He detests the way of the Shinigami and refuses to be equated to them, even though their abilities are one in the same.

As the Espada of Old Age, Baraggan possesses a sense of fatalism that comes from his power, bragging that death by aging is something that the mind cannot fathom except for the fact that it is inevitable; even for Shinigami. He even lectures that for everything that can exist for a lifetime cannot exist forever; even the word forever is meaningless as it was born out of the fear of death. This philosophy makes Baraggan quite merciless against his enemies, literally rotting the flesh from their bodies. Baraggan proves his ideology regarding death by aging, when he himself succumbs to his powers. He embraced his death and faced it with pride, despite his final moments being rather unfortunate. As a being who epitomizes death by aging. Baraggan cannot truly die, he can only be reborn. When he accepted his death, he embraced the idea that he does not stand outside the boundaries as he once perceived and that in fact, he simply cycles through the flow of life and death. With this realization, Baraggan had come to accepting the truth to his powers, he is damned to constantly suffer. The slow process of aging is one that ends in suffering. It appears quick, but what it really is a long drawn out process over the course of dozens of years. Baraggan is incapable of not suffering, leading to his inevitable resurrection which took place within the, where the root of his powers lie.

History

 * For the full list of Baraggan's plot and history, see on the Bleach Wiki.

Powers & Abilities
Enhanced Strength: His elderly appearance is not to be taken lightly as Baraggan is a being who boasts considerable strength and incredible physical prowess. His large stocky build is a testament to his strength, which he often displays as a show of force to those who are not so willing to succumb to his rule. With a single swipe with his zanpakutō, Baraggan can effortlessly slice through several buildings over a mile away and was strong enough to slice clean through one of the towers surrounding.

Taking on a dark red hue, Baraggan's spiritual power manifests in ways different then most. To those who bear witness to Baraggan when he begins to release his monstrous spiritual energy, within the depths of his power one can see what appears to be the swirling agonized souls of the departed. Baraggan's own Fracción have commented on how chilling it is to be near "his Majesty, Lord Baraggan" when he releases his spiritual energy at the sheer gut-wrenching agony it induces within their own soul. Feelings of a slow, encroaching death, overwhelm those who feel it and this is followed by feelings of intense suffering. Despite having lost his place in the Espada in death, during his time as the segunda, Baraggan was among the top four Espada and therefore forbidden to release the his zanpakutō within due to the sheer destruction it would cause.

During the , while in his Resurrección, Baraggan was able to take on a direct hit from the of the Captain of the,  which he came out of with only a part of his skull and lower part of his arm destroyed. While sealed, Baraggan has shown to easily withstand oncoming physical attacks and brush them off as "the pestering of annoying ants."

By pouring in spiritual energy through his fist, the color of Baraggan's Bala takes on a dark red and crackles violently. Very rarely does Baraggan rely on Bala due to his status as a King and how willing his subordinates are to die in battle for him. A fully charged Bala shot off by Baraggan was able to blow away a large portion of his Fracción; leaving him without the right half of his chest, his right arm and the upper part of his right leg. Baraggan went on to claim that the Bala he used was weakened as he wanted to make his subordinate suffer.

As an, Baraggan has displayed the ability to charge his Cero at an enhanced rate and was able to fire it off so quick that his opponent did not have time to unsheathe their sword. Before physically firing his Cero, Baraggan crushes the concentration of spiritual energy at his palm to compact it down before releasing it outward. By doing this, Baraggan is able to fire off a much more linear and narrowed Cero capable of a more precise hit. When releasing his zanpakutō, Baraggan's Cero increases drastically. He no longer requires a gesture to charge his Cero and the focal point for the spiritual blast is now located at the forefront of his crown.

When wielding his zanpakutō, Baraggan is often reliant on Sonído to quickly move behind his opponent to deliver a swift kill which is among his most common method of attack. Baraggan has shown to rely more on Sonído for dodging and maneuvering around his opponents attacks then as a method of approach.

Senescencia (セネスセンシア, Senesusenshia; Spanish and Japanese for "Senescence"): The manifestation of Baraggan's aspect of death, dying of old age, which focuses on drawing the power of the through to the surrounding area by turning Baraggan into a gateway between the two areas. By doing so, Baraggan is capable of dilating time around him, thereby reducing the speed of any target that comes near him and making their efforts at attacking him useless and thus has sufficient enough time to counter them. By creating a link between the Dangai and his current location, Baraggan is capable of reflecting over the density in time of Dangai allowing him to replicate the Dangai's affects of time distortion. By constantly making use of Senescencia, Baraggan can slowly wither away the body of those who make contact within him to the point where they are so brittle that they crumble into dust.

Zanpakutō
Arrogante (髑髏大帝 (アロガンテ), arogante; Spanish for "Arrogant," Japanese for "Great Skull Emperor"): Baraggan's Zanpakutō takes the form of a large, double-headed battle axe with a pair of rounded blades and a slit-eye pendant in the middle of its focal point. Despite it being roughly the same size as himself, Baraggan wields his Zanpakutō with a single hand relatively easily. During the Battle of the Fake Karakura Town, he originally kept it hidden in his throne although he has since motioned to keep it strapped over his shoulder.
 * : Arrogante's release phrase is Rot (朽ちろ, kuchiro). When releasing his Zanpakutō, Baraggan holds it out in front of him with its axe-head pointing downwards and declares the release. The slit-eye pendant between the axe-blades then generates red spiritual energy, and begins to release numerous jet-black/purple flames that literally burn away Baraggan's flesh, reducing his entire body to little more than a skeleton, complete with his head becoming a skull and his hands and arms reduced to bone. However, he retains both of his armbands. Afterwards, Baraggan's body becomes draped in a purple cloak, with a pitch-black tattered fur collar around his neck area and the fringes of his cloak, which gives him a macabre appearance strongly reminiscent of a lich. Several lengths of golden chain, originally worn like a belt around his waist, now dangle out of either of his armbands. The pendant from his Zanpakutō is now worn at the center of his chest near his neck as an elegant pendant. The sandals of his uniform become white, pointed-toe boots. His crown-like mask fragment turns into a full, extravagantly-decorated and bejewelled crown that features a chain which runs downward on the left side. He still retains the scar present on his right eye from his previous form, visible now as an apparent crack in the same location.
 * Resurrección Special Ability: His natural abilities are further enhanced by his release.
 * Enhanced Senescencia: While in his Resurrección form, Baraggan is able to age and deteriorate every object around him; even the very building he walks upon begins deteriorating from his mere presence. Because of this he is protected from most close-range and melee attacks, as everything that comes within a specific range of him rapidly ages and disintegrates before actually making contact. For example, Baraggan is able to deteriorate numerous rocks thrown at him by Ōmaeda's Shikai, as they make contact with his field. He used the ability on Suì-Fēng's Bankai and to make it explode far away from him, allowing him to escape the blast relatively undamaged.
 * Respira (死の息吹 (レスピラ), resupira; Spanish for "Breathe", Japanese for "Breath of Death"): Baraggan unleashes a black/purple, smoke-like miasma that radiates outward from him. The Respira immediately ages and rots anything that it comes into contact with. It can move fast enough to strike even Suì-Fēng while she was attempting to escape from it at full speed. The breath decays the skin on Suì-Fēng's left arm until only shredded clothes and her arm's skeleton are left behind. Even after escaping the attack, the deterioration continued until the afflicted area had been amputated. Another notable aspect of the ability is that Baraggan can control its speed, as he purposely released a slower Respira when chasing Ōmaeda. Respira can even dissolve Kidō, as Baraggan demonstrated when he destroyed a Kidō cage that Hachigen had imprisoned him in. Baraggan explained this effect by stating that because all living things eventually die and the things that they create eventually die as well. Under normal circumstances, Baraggan is protected from the effects of his own ability. However, this protection is negated if his Respira somehow enters his own body.
 * Gran Caída (滅亡の斧 (グラン･カイダ), guran kaida; Spanish for "Great Fall", Japanese for "Axe of Ruin"): Baraggan now wields a Resurrección form of his original double-bladed axe, which he keeps hidden within his cloak. It is the same axe he used as King of Hueco Mundo, before he became an Arrancar. The axe itself has a much-slimmer and much-darker appearance than its predecessor, featuring two pointed blades and a large spike protruding outwards from its center, in place of the now-absent slit-eye pendant. There are also four golden chains present around the base of the spike, which appear to extend into his cloak, before attaching to an ornate bracelet worn around his right wrist. Just as before, he wields the axe with a single hand. This is the only weapon wielded by an Arrancar that remains in a form that's vaguely similar to its pre-released state. Baraggan uses this in an attempt to finish Ōmaeda off, referring to it as his "guillotine."

Trivia

 * Baraggan never once referred to himself as an and was only confirmed as the Second Espada by Coyote Starrk (albeit indirectly), making him the only Espada to have his rank confirmed by someone else.
 * Baraggan's aspect of death is Aging (or Time)