Baraggan Louisenbairn

Baraggan Louisenbairn is the 2nd Espada of Sōsuke Aizen's army and a villain from Bleach.

Past


In the past, Baraggan Louisenbairn was once an extremely powerful Hollow who reigned over Hueco Mundo from his palace, Las Noches, with an an enormous army of other Hollows at his command. Baraggan had a number of dealings with his fellow Vasto Lorde, Tier Harribel, and one day he called her and her three Hollow followers, Mila Rose, Sung-Sun, and Apacci to Las Noches. In this meeting, Baraggan said he was tired of her defiance towards him, offering her a choice to serve him or depart to some place where he could not see her, adding that there was nowhere in Hueco Mundo that was beyond his sight. When one of his servants tried to appeal to Harribel to surrender, only to be struck across the face for his trouble, the God-King reprimanded her for being so bold, but allowed her and her followers to leave.

Soon after this, Baraggan was pondering about how bored he’d become since there was no point in having an army when there was nothing to fight and no one to defeat. Suddenly Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, and Kaname Tōsen appeared within Las Noches, after killing one of the guards. Aizen asked Baraggan if he was the king of Hueco Mundo, which the Hollow confirmed, then asked the trio what they were. He noted they had no masks, so they weren't Hollows, but then said he didn't really care who they were as the three were a welcome alternative to splitting his army in two and having them kill each other out of boredom. Baraggan welcomed them to his palace and Tosen noted he found it odd that he called a place with no walls or roof a palace. The Hollow replied that he ruled all of Hueco Mundo and the sky itself was his roof. Aizen proceeded to hold up his Zanpakuto, telling Baraggan its name, and asked him to look at it. The Vasto Lorde asked him what he was doing and the rogue Shinigami asked the Hollow if he was satisfied with his current position and if he felt should rise higher. Aizen offered Baraggan even greater power and a new world in return for his obedience.

But the Vasto Lorde laughed, saying that there was no new world and no one higher than him, before he ordered his Hollows to kill them since he no longer found them amusing. Baraggan attacked and apparently managed to slay Aizen and his cohorts, asking if that was all they had. But the three reappeared, unharmed, and the Vasto Lorde asked how this was possible. Aizen revealed that Baraggan was under the influence of his Shikai and showed him that his entire army had all been slaughtered. With Gin and Tosen holding their swords at his throat, Baraggan was given no choice but to reconsider Aizen's offer and serve him as an Arrancar, becoming the 2nd Espada. However, Baraggan silently made a vow to himself on that day, that he would have his revenge on Aizen by killing him with the power that he received from him.

Invasion of Hueco Mundo
Baraggan attended a meeting of the Espada that Aizen called, where he told them about the invasion of Ichigo Kurosaki, Uryu Ishida, and Yasutora Sado. After seeing an image of their enemies, Baraggan noted that when he thought about the intruders, he wondered what they looked like, but was disappointed and unimpressed upon finding out they were so young. Later when Aaroniero Arruruerie was killed in his battle with Rukia Kuchiki, Baraggan noted that it was quite shameful for an Espada like Aaroniero to die in such a manner.

Beginning the Battle of Karakura Town
When Aizen was confronted by Captain-Commander Yamamoto and many Soul Reapers captains and subordinates from the Soul Society, he proceeded to summon Baraggan, along with his Fracción followers, Coyote Starrk, Lilynette Gingerbuck, Tier Harribel and her Fracciónes to the fake Karakura Town. After Yamamoto used his Zanpakuto to trap Aizen, Gin, and Tosen, Baraggan took command, telling Starrk he'd better not have a problem with that, and the 1st Espada lazily agreed. Baraggan ordered Findorr Calius to summon four powerful Hollows to destroy the pillars were holding the real Karakura Town in the Soul Society, but when they were destroyed by the Shinigami guarding the pillars. Baraggan declared that if they were going to use ants as guardians, he'd crush them with dragons and sent four of his Fracciónes to tear down the pillars.

However, while Choe Neng Poww managed to defeat his first opponent while taking down a pillar before being killed by Captain Sajin Komamura, the damage was temporarily repaired. Meanwhile Abirama Redder, Charlotte Chuhlhourne, and Findorr were killed off by the Soul Reapers stationed at each pillar. Enraged that four of his Fracciónes were easily defeated, Baraggan was about to take matters into his own hands but another of his Fracción, Ggio Vega, convinced his master to let him and Nirgge Parduoc to fight in their master's stead. The 2nd Espada gave them some pre-battle encouragement before the two took on Sui-Feng and Marechiyo Omaeda. However they were both killed and Baraggan got to his feet to deal with the two Shinigami himself.

Baraggan's Downfall
Already tired from their previous fight, Sui-Feng and Omaeda could do little to Baraggan and Sui-Feng found that her movements were slowed around him. The 2nd Espada explained that each Espada represented an aspect of death and in his case, Barragan's aspect is old age, which give him the power of Senescencia, allowing him to age those he touches and dilate time around him. The 2nd Espada demonstrated his power by getting close to Sui-Feng by using Sonído to touch her left shoulder, making her bones age until they broke, before she even realized what happened.

Stating that Shinigami didn't understand death, Baraggan released his Zanpakuto and Sui-Feng watched in horror as every step he took now rotted the building he stood on. She ordered Omaeda to run and Baraggan unleashed his Respira, which infected Sui-Feng's left arm, forcing her to have Omaeda chop it off to evade a grisly end as Baraggan noted his amusement that even Shinigami feared death. After Sui-Feng left Omeda behind as a distraction, Baraggan chased after him and the Soul Reaper tried to use the Shikai form of his Zanpakuto to smash parts of buildings to slow the 2nd Espada down. But Baraggan just disintegrated the rubble before it even touched him and deemed Omaeda not entertaining as he attempted to cut him down with his Gran Caída. However the 2nd Espada felt a surge of energy from Sui-Feng releasing her Bankai and turned to face her, somewhat surprised at seeing a Bankai, which he'd never seen before she fired it at him, generating a huge explosion.

But Baraggan used his Senescencia on Sui-Feng's attack to make it explode far away while he hid in the resulting smoke from explosion. It was only upon Hooler's arrival that the smoke cleared to reveal the 2nd Espada, unharmed. When Visoreds made their appearance on the scene, Hachigen “Hachi” Ushoda  joined Sui-Feng and Omaeda to fight Baraggan, who said it didn't matter who he was or what abilities he had as all were equal before his power.

The 2nd Espada was trapped in Kido box by Hachi, who said he'd seen Barragan's power and an attack couldn't do anything if it didn't touch the target. But the Arrancar touched the barrier and made it disintegrate, asking if Hachi had thought age couldn't affect Kido. Baraggan stated that nothing in the world lasted forever, declaring that the word itself was an invention by those who feared death. Hachi generated an even bigger barrier to hold back Baraggan and then, having analyzed Baraggan's evasion of Sui-Feng's Bankai, formed more barriers that formed into a box around Baraggan, leaving him nowhere to run. The 2nd Espada at first thought he was just trying to buy time, saying that was the equivalent of spitting in the face of a god. However Hachi revealed his true plan, having analyzed how he'd avoided Sui-Feng's Bankai and Sui-Feng fired her Bankai into the box directly at Baraggan.

But Baraggan managed to survive though with his skull severely cracked and he was utterly enraged. As the roof they were on started disintegrating, Hachi and Sui-Feng realized that the 2nd Espada had survived as he declared that he would not forgive them and unleashed waves of Respira. Baraggan focused his wrath on Hachi, prompting him to summon his Hollow Mask and form barriers to protect himself. The 2nd Espada asked who he thought he was playing Hollow with, declaring that he was the God-King of Hueco Mundo as his Respira broke through each barrier. Baraggan began laughing and declared that his power was absolute and all were beneath him. The Respira finally reached Hachi, shattering his Hollow Mask and decaying his right arm. However, taking the Espada's words to heart, Hachi created a barrier to keep his forearm's decay from spreading while enacting a gambit that could decide the outcome of the fight.

Hachi managed to transport the severed limb into Baraggan's stomach, telling the Espada that as he called his absolute, he wasn't completely immune to it and devised an external defense. By the that time, Baraggan realized only too late what was happening as he started to disintegrate from the inside and furiously demanded who Hachi thought he was to kill a god. But Hachi explains that in the Soul Society, the only gods where the Shinigami, the Gods of death and a non-Shinigami couldn't understand the seriousness of the word. He then apologized to Baraggan for their lack of faith, sarcastically calling him “God of Hueco Mundo”.

As Baraggan disintegrated, he remembered the humility he suffered at the hands of Aizen and the vow he made that day to kill the rouge Shinigami. Determined to fulfill that vow and not die alone, Baraggan threw his Gran Caída past Hachi towards Aizen, screaming that he will kill him. However, the weapon dissipated before it even reached Aizen, whose turned his back on the 2nd Espada as he completely disintegrated. Only his crown remained behind before it shattered from hitting the sidewalk below and Hachi, understanding the Espada's desire for revenge on their common enemy, paid his respects to Baraggan.

Personality
Baraggan has many personality aspects typical of an Arrancar such as being prideful, and a cold and dead-serious attitude. He prefers to impose his authority over others, such as when he took command when Aizen was imprisoned, even challenging a higher ranked Espada to disagree. Baraggan refers to Aizen as Boss and his opponents as ants, while his Fracciónes call him majesty. They also wait on him like a king, such as carrying his Zanpakuto and a throne for him. Baraggan is able to quickly and calmly analyze situations, then come up with a tactic against them much like a warlord. However he has a great deal of arrogance, due to the fact that he used to be king of Hueco Mundo and he has control of aging, a power he calls absolute. This power also gives Baraggan a high sense of fatalism and he says death by aging is inevitable for all and nothing can exist forever, which makes him quite merciless. However he is still easily angered, which can make him enter a blind rage and curse his enemies. Baraggan often goes all out to try and attack those that anger him, even when the odds are not in his favor.

Powers and Abilities
Baraggan possesses immense spiritual power, to the point that he is forbidden to release his Zanpakuto within Las Noches, which could destroy it. He also has considerable physical strength and the powers of Sonído, an Arrancar technique that lets him move extremely fast, Garganta, another technique that lets him move to and from Hueco Mundo, and a considerably strong Hierro, an Arrancar technique that makes his skin extremely durable.

However Baraggan's most dangerous power is Senescencia, the ability to dilate time around him, thus reducing the speed of anything that comes near him or aging whatever he touches at an accelerated rate, letting him inflict the damage that comes with aging. Like all Arrancars, Baraggan is able to enter Resurrección form by releasing his Zanpakuto, Arrogante, with the release command “Rot”. In his released state, Baraggan's power intensify with an even stronger time dilation field to the point he can age and deteriorate everything around him, protecting him from most attacks. This form also makes Baraggan able to use Respira, a mist-like attack that instantly ages and rots anything it comes into contact with, and summon Gran Caída, an enormous axe that is a version of the one he used as a Hollow.

Trivia

 * Baraggan has never actually referred to himself as an Espada and Starrk was the one who confirmed he was the 2nd Espada, though indirectly.


 * He refers to his Gran Caída as a “guillotine” for his foes.
 * Baraggan’s Resurrección form is an almost exact version of his old Hollow form except for a crack over his right eye where his scar would be. He is the only Arrancar (whose Hollow form has been seen) to transform into a complete incarnation of his former Hollow form due to Resurrección, while others have only partially done so at most.
 * The name of Baraggan's Zanpakuto, Arrogante, is "Arrogant" in Spanish, a reference to his arrogant personality, and "Great Skull Emperor" in Japanese, a reference to the appearance of his Resurrección form and of his old Hollow form.
 * Baraggan's Hollow and Resurrección forms greatly resemble the common interpretation of a lich. Combined with his powers, and Aizen comparing him to a Soul Reaper, Barragan could also be a interpretation of the Grim Reaper