Exdeath Exdeath also known as X - Death , ExDeath , Exodus , or Exodes in " " , is the main antagonist of " Final Fantasy V " . According to Ghido , despite his knightly appearance , Exdeath was once , and still is to an extent , a tree from the Great Forest of Moore . Profile . Appearance . Exdeath wears a sky blue suit of armor about seven feet tall with a horned helmet , spiked shoulders and a long blue cloak . His helmet is topped with a two - ended plume and has a thin opening that would normally be used for sight . His armor is decorated with jewels , gold linings and beads , and though he is a warlock , Exdeath carries a sword he can use in battle as proficiently as his magic . The opening on his helmet seems to be the only exposed area to his outfit . His appearance under the suit of armor is revealed in " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " by purchasing the second alternate costume for Exdeath . In his tree form , Exdeath ' s torso and head are visible , but are a darker shade of blue . Below the torso he shows his true form as a tree , the bark forming a demonic face on the tree ' s side . Neo Exdeath is a gray - skinned demon with red horns and muscular limbs and the various demons that composed his previous form manifesting from the waist down . Personality . Exdeath is a selfish , maniacal , loud - mouthed , blasphemous being of pure evil . He treats Bartz Klauser and his party as mere pests in the way of his goal , and swats them away without killing them , seeing no reason to dispose of such a mild threat . He may seem cocky , but his power is practically unmatched . Exdeath shows no empathy for the slaughter of his minions , even thinning out his own lines as punishment for their failings . He is incapable of understanding positive human emotions , such as love , evidenced when Exdeath fights Galuf . Exdeath is sure Galuf can ' t beat him because " all the hatred in the world could never defeat [ Exdeath ] " . However , Galuf surprises Exdeath at nearly overcoming him , explaining he isn ' t fighting out of anger or hate , but out of love for his granddaughter . Exdeath ' s appearance in " Dissidia Final Fantasy " gives a new angle to his motives and personality . His confidence and bravado are shown to come not only from his immense power , but his assurance that , whether or not he succeeds , everything will come to an end and return to the Void . Thus he is not proactive but simply wandering and agreeing to assist other Warriors of Chaos with their schemes . Upon his final defeat in Shade Impulse , Exdeath is more accepting of his defeat than most of the other Warriors of Chaos . Because he strives not only for the elimination of existence , but also for his own eventual demise , he finds pleasure in the feeling of dying . After assuring the Warriors of Cosmos that all will eventually return to the Void , he spends his final moments standing tall and laughing . Abilities . Exdeath is an extraordinarily powerful warlock , being able to destroy large areas of land with artificial disasters . For example , he caused the earthquake that sank Ghido ' s island , and he burned down the Great Forest of Moore . All Galuf and the other Warriors of Dawn could do was seal him because " he kept going down , but wouldn ' t stay down " . If his strength is ever depleted , he needs only a brief time to regenerate . Even when he was sealed away , Exdeath could possess monsters and people into doing his bidding to shatter the crystals that acted as his seal . He can shapeshift , as he once transforms into a splinter . Once Exdeath claims control over the Void , his already great power soars . He can erase any part of existence with a thought , channeling the Void to engulf it and sending it into a random dimension . The only way the Light Warriors can defeat him is when his own power turns against him . When Exdeath is engulfed by the Void and is spat out as Neo Exdeath , he gains more power than ever before since he merges with the destructive power of the Void itself , but at the cost of his sanity , threatening to destroy the universe and himself . In combat , Exdeath , being the incarnation of countless evil beings sealed inside the tree he once was , is highly skilled in the area of spellcasting . Though he rarely ever uses it , he is decent in close combat with his sword . In " Dissidia " , he can telepathically control his sword , allowing him to engage in " melee " combat even from a distance . Story . After the malicious warlock - king Enuo was defeated and the Void was sealed away , humans turned to an alternative solution to purge their land of corruption and terror . The Great Forest of Moore provided a solitary prison for these malevolent souls , and they were sealed within a tree . Many other monsters were drawn to the forest , making it the most dangerous place on the second world . The various souls residing within the tree made it self - aware and it assumed a humanoid form , a being as evil as the many souls that had spawned him , and Exdeath was born . Exdeath had a castle built upon one of the continents and laid siege upon the kingdoms of the world . The Warriors of Dawn — Galuf , Xezat , Kelger and Dorgann — followed Exdeath to an alternate dimension where Exdeath was defeated and sealed using the power of the crystals . Dorgann feared the seal wouldn ' t last and stayed behind while the other three warriors returned to their world . Dorgann fell in love with a woman named Stella , and the two married and had a son named Bartz . Five years later Stella died , and not long after Dorgann passed away as well . Dorgann ' s dying wish was for his son to lead a normal life , and so he asked Bartz to travel the world . Keeping his promise , Bartz became a wanderer , along with his best friend Boko , his pet chocobo . Exdeath shatters the world ' s crystals one by one as he begins to take control of the denizens of the world to break them , including the Queen of Karnak and King Tycoon . Exdeath appears to Bartz and his friends in the Ronka Ruins when he is released from his seal when the Earth Crystal shatters . Exdeath returns to his castle in Galuf ' s homeworld to resume his reign of terror . Galuf and his granddaughter Krile rally a counter - attack and the remaining Warriors of Light follow the two , but are soon captured by Exdeath ' s minions and used as hostages to keep Galuf from attacking his castle . Galuf saves his friends and the party fights their way back across the Big Bridge , defeating Exdeath ' s lieutenant , Gilgamesh . Exdeath erects a barrier around his castle , sealing himself inside . Exdeath makes an example of his enemies when he sinks Ghido ' s island . The sage later reveals Exdeath is seeking something in the Great Forest of Moore where he was created . The warriors venture to the forest and break the seals that bind what Exdeath seeks , but the seals turn out to be the second world ' s crystals , and Exdeath was using the Light Warriors all along . Exdeath uses the crystals ' power to torture the Warriors of Light , but Galuf resists and takes on Exdeath alone . Galuf dies after fending Exdeath off , and one of the crystal shatters . Afterward , Krile becomes a Light Warrior in his stead . The Light Warriors confront Exdeath at his castle where he had taken the remaining crystals . The crystals shatter , merging the two worlds , and Exdeath resurfaces disguised as a splinter in Krile ' s hand . At Ghido ' s Cave that is again above sea level , Exdeath reveals himself and his true goal : to control the Void and return the world to a state of nothingness . The Void had been sealed away in the Interdimensional Rift when the worlds were split , but now when the worlds are recombined the Rift reemerges over Castle Tycoon . Exdeath seizes control of the Void , sending parts of the world into its depths as demonstration of its power . He takes command of the Demons of the Rift , promising to build for them a world of desolation . Under Ghido ' s guidance , the party acquires the newly reformed Sealed Tome and uses it to retrieve the Sealed Weapons of Castle Kuza . The Light Warriors venture into the Rift to confront Exdeath , but by the time they reach him he has mastered the Void and returned to his true form : a monstrous tree . Exdeath sends the Light Warriors into the Void , but is thwarted by the spirits of the Dawn Warriors who restrain the Void and save the Light Warriors . After a heated battle , Exdeath is engulfed by the Void transforming into Neo Exdeath — a being of hatred and nihilism desiring to erase all existence , including his own , for eternity . Neo Exdeath is defeated , and disappears , releasing his control of the Void , and the world is restored with new crystals being born . Gameplay . Exdeath is fought three times , twice in his knight form , and once in his true form as a tree . Afterwards , Neo Exdeath is fought . Exdeath is the first final boss in the series that requires the player to fight another boss immediately before the final battle . Since Exdeath , all subsequent villains in the series have followed this trend . The Sealed Castle houses a random enemy called Exdeath ' s Soul , which is similar to the battle with Exdeath at his castle . Musical themes . Exdeath ' s theme is " The Evil Lord Exdeath " , which begins with a theme similar to the one from the famous murder scene of Alfred Hitchcock ' s " Psycho " and further in , an evil laugh is heard . The theme is played during cutscenes where Exdeath appears . Throughout the theme , measures can be heard from the " Final Fantasy IV " theme , " Ring of Bomb " compounded by dramatic strings that culminates the suspense . The theme " The Decisive Battle " is also connected to Exdeath , playing in all of the battles against him . It shares similar tunes with " The Evil Lord Exdeath " . This theme also appears in the " Dissidia Final Fantasy " and " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy " games . Other appearances . Exdeath has appeared in the following games throughout the " Final Fantasy " series : Etymology . Exdeath may be a portmanteau of " death " and " exodus " , a reference to the refuge of the evil spirits that corrupted Exdeath ' s original body . It may also be a reference to the Latin prefix " ex " , meaning " out of " , symbolizing Exdeath ' s birth from evil spirits . It is possible the name ' Exdeath ' is a mistranslation and misinterpretation of the original Japanese name , and his original name was meant to be Exodus . This is evidenced by Exodus from " Final Fantasy XII " and Exodus from " Final Fantasy Tactics Advance " both being translated and interpreted as " Exodus " , while their Japanese name , ( エクスデス ) , remains the same . The Esper Exodus resembles Exdeath ' s knightly form with tree like qualities , while the Totema pays homage to his tree form . Square Enix has shown a history of keeping a more widely known and accepted name in the United States , however , such as Edward Chris von Muir , whose original name was Gilbert .