Characters that appear in Tite Kubo's Bleach. This page deals with first to fifth Espadas.

NOTE: To avoid confusion to English-language readers, who may be more familiar with the English anime than the manga, all names are in Western order.

Contains unmarked spoilers

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(#1) Primera Espadas - Coyote Starrk and Lilynette Gingerbuck

Coyote Starrk

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_stark.png

^{Resurrección}

"I so envied the weak. The weak can always find others to be around. I want to be weak. And if that's impossible, I at least want to find companions who are as strong as I."

Species: Arrancar

Zanpakutō: Los Lobos

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (JP), Keith Silverstein (EN), Arturo Mercado Jr. (Latin-American Spanish)

The First Espada, a lazy Arrancar who prefers to avoid fighting altogether and largely lacks malicious intent. Despite his apathy and laziness, he is highly analytical and a flexible fighter to boot. His Fracción is the young Lilynette Gingerbuck. Defined with the aspect of 'Loneliness', Starrk was a Hollow who grew too powerful and envied the weak because they can pack together, and joined Aizen for the sole purpose of having friends and comrades. His number tattoo is on the back of his left hand and his Hollow hole is in his sternum.

His Zanpakutō is Los Lobos, which transforms him into a traditional Wild West gunslinger with overwhelming offensive abilities. His guns allow him to fire Cero at a very rapid rate and he can use his soul-splitting abilities to create multiple weaponised spirit wolves.

Abnormal Ammo: Aside from Ceros, he can also release exploding spirit wolves made out of pieces of his soul.
Action Bomb: His spirit wolves explode with the force of a small nuke once they latch onto a target, as Love and Rose found out the hard way. The dub even calls them "wolf-shaped warheads".
Adaptation Dye-Job: His hair is jet black in the manga, brown in the anime.
Affably Evil: In spite of his laziness and apathy, Starrk is easily the least malicious and aggressive of the Espada. He never mocks his enemies, doesn't act arrogant, apologizes when he abducts Orihime, and even compliments Kyoraku's attacks during their fight. He's so nice that Kyoraku laments that they're enemies, and does not enjoy the fact that he has to kill him.
Alas, Poor Villain: While villain may be stretching it, his death at Kyoraku's hands via Iro Oni was easily the most heartwrenching of any of the Espada. All his life he he wanted to have friends but couldn't because his powers were too strong and uncontrollable and killed people. He went so far as to split off part of his power and soul to make Lilynette so he would have someone to talk to, and joined Aizen because he was grateful for him giving him those comrades and helping him control his power. He makes it clear he's not really interested in fighting anyone to the death even when he has to fight, and during the final part of his fight with Kyoraku, Lilynette dies Taking the Bullet for him before he follows shortly afterward, reminiscing about her and the other Espada even as he falls to the ground. Even Kyoraku makes it clear he takes no pleasure in killing Starrk, nor that he's even in the right for doing it either.
Ambiguous Situation: An interview to promote the final arc revealed which Espada will return. Grimmjow, Nel and Harribel were stated to return, as they had survived the events of the Arrancar Saga. Notably Starrk, Nnoitra and Zommari were given a small chance to return, while the other Espada were given zero, With the final arc being cut short it remains unknown what the significance of said distinction was. Starrk, Nnoitra, Zommari, Szayelaporro, and Aaroniero were killed by a Zanpakutō (Baraggan died by his own powers, Yammy of blood loss, and Ulquiorra was fatally injured by a Cero), which would mean that they were either cleansed and ended up in Soul Society or ended up in Hell.
Animal Motifs: His Resurrección is related to wolves. More specifically the "lone wolf", reflecting on his aspect. His name and western cowboy-like outfit relate to coyotes. His resurrección's name literally translates to "The Wolves."
Anti-Villain: Standing in contrast to the other Espada who are clearly villainous, Starrk barely even qualifies as a villain. His list of villainous acts include snatching Orihime away from Ichigo and returning her to Las Noches' fifth tower, and lazily fighting against Kyoraku (and Ukitake, Love and Rose). He never actually hurts Orihime and flat-out says that he's only doing this because Aizen ordered him to, and offered to pretend-fight Kyoraku because he's just that damn lazy. The only reason Starrk can be considered a villain is because he's an Arrancar who works for Aizen. During his final fight with Kyoraku, we learn more about Starrk's character and motivations: he fights for Aizen out of gratitude to him for ending his loneliness, but even then, doesn't ever want to fight seriously. Then, when he finally does decide to get serious, his motivation for doing so is Lilynette pointing out that fighting for real is the only possible way to stop more of his True Companions from dying.
Apologetic Attacker: Apologizes several times before doing something to oppose the protagonists, such as taking Orihime to Aizen and whenever he decides to be more brutal in his fight with Kyōraku.
Avenging the Villain: In a manner of speaking by Starrk, who was rather depressed that he was the only one affected by Baraggan's death.
Starrk: Lord Aizen, you couldn't even spare a word for Number Two?
Awesomeness by Analysis: Figured out how Shunsui's and Ukitake's Shikai abilities work after only a few attacks.
Badass Bandolier: As part of the lone-wolf gunslinger theme of his Resurrección, he gains a pair of black bandoleers that connect his back to his forearms. They don't hold bullets, however - they let him summon an army of spectral wolves that explode when they latch onto an opponent, and a pair of energy swords if he needs them.
Badass Longcoat: He gains a long white coat lined with grey fur in his released state.
Batman Gambit: The anime version of the fight invokes a Fake Weakness in his guns by having him holstering his right gun every time he fired in an attempt to fool Kyoraku into thinking he was recharging and luring him close on the assumption his opponent would be studying the pattern of attacks to find a weakness; he was right.
Battle Aura: As a Hollow, the original being that was powerful enough to kill all the other Hollows around him until he split into Starrk and Lilynette, and continued to have the problem with inadvertently killing Hollows around the two until he was found by Aizen, who proceeded to find colleagues that could withstand the Pressure. His in particular is blue.
Beam Spam: His Cero Metralleta technique forms a dozen or so energy spheres, each of which acts like a machine gun that fires Ceros at rapid rates of fire. Kyoraku calls him out on how "unfair" this technique is.
Brilliant, but Lazy: He's Espada #1, is brilliant at analyzing a fighting situation despite having little information to use, but tends to sleep more than do a thing and requires Lilynette to kick him into gear.
Bystander Syndrome: Lilynette calls him out for sleeping when Aaroniero is killed, to which he asks what she wants him to do about it.
Characterization Marches On: He's oddly apathetic towards Aaroniero's death seeing how it would later be established that he genuinely consideres his fellow Espada to be friends, going as far as to being the only person to mourn Barragan's death.
Combat Pragmatist: He doesn't hesitate to shoot Kyoraku in the back at point blank range while the captain was distracted by Wonderweiss.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Proving what it takes to be Primera Espada, he easily defeats Rose and Love, two Captain-level opponents with the added power of Hollow masks, at the same time.
Cursed with Awesome: The same power than made him the Primera Espada is also what caused him centuries of loneliness and depression. He was so powerful no other Hollow could approach him without dying instantly because of his Spiritual Pressure.
Doppelgänger Spin: His Sonido is fast enough that he can make multiple afterimages of himself, and when Kyoraku tries to cut one Starrk is able to use the distraction to appear under him and fire a Cero.
Dual Wielding: Once he activates his Resurrección, he wields a pair of pistols that fire Ceros, and when he takes it even further, he trades those out for a pair of blue laser blades similar to his original katana.
Even Evil Has Standards: Starrk is different from most of the other Espada in that he demonstrates moral standards, and a general lack of moments of dickishness. When he comes to abduct Orihime to take her back to Aizen's palace, he apologizes and even says that he abhors kidnapping women, but orders are orders.
Evil Counterpart: To Kyoraku, though he's a little lacking in the 'evil' department. Both are Brilliant, but Lazy warriors capable of incredible feats but are reluctant to do much and have MUCH younger assistants that freely whack them despite being nowhere near as powerful as they are, and even have similar application of speed and fighting style. They differ largely in that Kyoraku is more carefree and easygoing while Starrk is more lazy and apathetic. Also, Starrk is a much more straightforward fighter, while Kyoraku defies his samurai motif as a Combat Pragmatist.
Extreme Doormat: He doesn't have an issue with Baraggan bossing him around, despite being a rank above him. Lilynette kicks him and calls him out for it.
Eyepatch of Power: His release covers his left eye with an eyepatch that looks like it's made of bone with a Hollow hole in it.
Flash Step: Starrk is so fast that he's able to grab Orihime when she's within feet of both Ichigo and Kenpachi and whisk her away before either of them have even finished drawing their swords.
Flunky Boss: Starrk has the ability to split his soul into hundreds of spectral wolves. If an enemy comes into contact with the wolves, they will explode. This ability allows Starrk to nearly kill Love and Rose before he attacked from behind by Kyoraku.
Friendless Background: Starrk is defined by his loneliness and it is in fact his Aspect of Death. He was so powerful that his mere presence would kill any beings he came across until Aizen helped him put his power under control.
Fusion Dance: Lilynette is not his Fracción, she's his Zanpakutō. Once they enter their Resurrección state, they rejoin into one being with Lilynette becoming his twin guns.
Guns Akimbo: He wields two guns when in his Resurreccíon. They are actually Lilynette transformed, and can rapidly fire Ceros.
The Gunslinger: Starrk exists in a series where characters primarily fight with swords. At first, Starrk seems to follow the usual traditions of the series by fighting with a katana. However, his katana is not his Zanpakutō; it is actually his Fracción Lilynette. The two merge together to unlock Starrk's Resurreccíon. In his released form, Starrk takes the appearance of a western-styled outlaw gunman. He utilizes a pair of Cero-shooting pistols, and is highly proficient in it.
I Am Not Left-Handed: A gambit he pulls in the anime where he fires a powerful Cero from his right pistol and then holsters it, creating the illusion that while the right gun is more powerful, it requires recharge between firing. When Kyoraku tries to take advantage of this apparent weakness, Starrk just flips the gun forward and shoots him in the face.
I Just Want to Be Normal: Does not care about his power at all, since it caused his loneliness in the first place. He even admits he envies those who are weak. Starrk wanted so desperately to be able to exist among other Hollows without killing them with his presence alone that the original Hollow he used to be split themself into Starrk and Lilynette simply to have a friend to talk to. Aizen recruited him with the promise that the other Espada would be strong enough to withstand his presence.
I Just Want to Have Friends: He's lonely to the point where he'd even consider Baraggan a friend. The entire reason he joined Aizen's army in the first place was because he desperately wanted to have people in his life that he could be close to. He and Lilynette were once apart of the same being, a Hollow who was so overwhelmingly powerful, that every other Hollow died just by being in its pressence. In order to escape the isolation, the Hollow split itself into two being to create a companion, spawning Starrk and Lilynette in the process.
Laser Blade: In his final fight with Kyoraku, Starrk creates a pair of glowing blue swords made from his Reiatsu, and is quite skilled with them.
Literal Split Personality: Starrk and Lilynette were originally a single Vasto Lorde who split into two out of desperate loneliness upon becoming an Arrancar. As a result, they don't know which of them was the original or whether identifying an original even matters; though for all intents and purposes Starrk acts as the main body and retains the power to split his soul into other beings, including creating an entire pack of wolves to function as his army.
Lonely at the Top: More or less the basis of his character. All the Espada embody an aspect of death, and the aspect that Starrk embodies is 'Loneliness'. From the beginning the original Hollow wanted to have friends, which was impossible for it was so unbelievably strong as a Vasto Lorde that the spirit energy leaking from it was enough to kill any weaker Hollow who happened to be near it. It eventually split its soul into two separate beings just to have someone it could hang out with: one part became Starrk, the other part became his Fracción, Lilynette Gingerback.
"I was jealous of the weak ones. The weak are allowed to congregate. I want to be weak. If that's impossible... at least give me comrades as strong as I am."
Lonely Together: Which one of Starrk and Lilynette came first is unknown by either. To escape their desperate loneliness, the original split the other from their soul to create companionship.
Madness Mantra: A more tragic variation occurs when cornered by Shunsui pragmatic way of fighting on top of losing Lilynette, he begins to think about not being alone. He then dies completely comatose from his defeat and by himself.
Martial Pacifist: Doesn't seem to care much for combat, being extremely reluctant to fight Kyoraku seriously. He dislikes the idea of taking revenge altogether unless it's for a friend.
Mr. Fanservice: Not to Ulquiorra or Grimmjow's extent, but he is pretty damn handsome, especially with his Badass Longcoat and cowboy theme.
Non-Indicative Name: Despite his name being Coyote Starrk, his Animal Motif is the wolf. His background is that of a lone wolf who desperately wants to be part of the pack and his power, Los Lobos ("The Wolves"), allows him to split his souls into both companions and an entire pack of soul wolf weapons.
Non-Malicious Monster: Most Hollows are malevolent spirits driven by negative emotions to feed on Souls. Despite being a Hollow, Starrk is not evil or malicious, and is only alligned with the other Espada because he views them as his True Companions.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: Starrk is introduced as someone who is usually every lazy and not very interested in fighting. He even asks Kyoraku if they can just pretend to fight. Much to Kyoraku's surprise, Starrk is actually the Primera Espada and the strongest Espada.
Perpetual Frowner: Starrk is a very lazy and apathetic man. His facial expression never changes from being a bored, uninterested frown.
Person of Mass Destruction: He is the Primera Espada, and possesses a immense level of Spiritual Power. Though he doesn't care for fighting, he is a very dangerous combatant. In his Resurreccíon, Starrk can fire 1,000 Cero from his pistols all at once. He can split his soul into hundreds of spectral wolves, all of which have the destructive power of a bomb.
Power Incontinence: As a Vasto Lorde, he was so powerful that his uncontrollable Reiatsu killed everything around him until he met Aizen. This was the reason why he was so lonely, as all the other Hollows stayed away from him because of his overwhelming power.
Punch-Clock Villain: Starrk opposes Soul Society purely out of gratitude to Aizen for providing him with comrades who won't die from his presence. He even suggests to Shinsui that they just pretend to fight, and when his fighting is half-hearted when he doesn't feel pressured by his allegiance, attempting to give Rose and Love the opportunity to run.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Starrk is laconic and lackadaisical, while Lilynette is brash and hot-tempered.
Samurai Cowboy: He starts off with the typical trappings of an Espada, including a long robe and a katana. His Resurrección gives him a gunslinger outfit with a pair of pistols to match, and he also demonstrates the ability to summon energy swords.
Savage Wolves: He can summon an army of vicious wolves made of his Reiatsu which explode in a spectacular fashion when they sink their teeth into an enemy. With just this ability, Starrk effortlessly defeats Love and Rose.
Self-Made Man: Quite literally. He's one of the two Hollows in the Espada who turned into an Arrancar by himself - specifically two selves. By the time they met Aizen, Starrk and Lilynette were already Arrancars, as opposed to the rest of the Espada who all underwent the Hogyoku process after the fact. It's telling that right from the start, he was already on a completely different level from the rest of his kind. The only other Arrancar who were confirmed to be self-made was the non-canon Arturo Plateado, Ulquiorra — albeit only revealed in the UNMASKED databook, and the incomplete (and significantly weaker) Grand Fisher — who was turned into one by Aisslinger.
Seven Deadly Sins: Kubo Tite revealed in the MASKED interview that some of the Espada were modeled after the Seven Deadly Sins. Starrk, with his indifferent attitude and general passiveness, seems to embody the sin of Sloth.
Token Good Teammate: The most villainous thing about Starrk is his choice to fight for Aizen. Everything else about him, ranging from his actions and even his personality don't match up to his teammates aside from Harribel. Despite this, Shunsui makes it clear that since it is a war, he wouldn't hold back in punches despite how nice of a guy Starrk may be. When Shunsui kills Starrk, he doesn't feel good about it at all, and doesn't even try to justify it as right, clearly wishing he didn't have to fight him.
Torso with a View: His hollow hole is located in his sternum.
Undying Loyalty: As he dies, Starrk notes he didn't get to exactly thank Aizen fully, making him one of the few Espada loyal to him outright. It's justified because Aizen gave him exactly what he wanted; companions as strong as himself.
Villainous BSoD
- A minor one. Despite saying he's not the kind of guy to get revenge for his fallen comrades, Love notes that his performance in their fight gets considerably worse after Baraggan's death. It takes being scolded by Lilynette for him to go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge instead.
- In the anime, he appears to completely lose the will to fight after Lilynette's death.
Walking Wasteland: Before splitting into Starrk and Lilynette, as a Vasto Lorde he was so overwhelmingly powerful that the Reiatsu leaking from him alone was enough to kill any Hollow that came near him. He was so lonely as a result that he wished he was weaker so that people could be around him long enough for him to form friendships. When Aizen first met him, he was surrounded by mountains of dead Hollows.
Wave-Motion Gun: His guns fire massive Ceros at once. Made worse by his Primera ranking, leading to them being both powerful and incredibly fast.
Willfully Weak: He had always desired to be weaker so his Reiatsu would stop killing any Hollows who approached him (and if that wasn't an option, to at least have comrades strong enough to handle it). In battle, Starrk isn't weak by any means, but his heart's generally not into fighting. He never goes full out at any point during his fights either, the one time he got a bit serious he easily overpowered Rose and Love, and he only lost his fight with Shunsui because he didn't really give his all.
World's Strongest Man: Starrk is the Primera Espada, and is one the few Hollows who possesses power that rivals, or even surpasses that of Baraggan Louisenbairn. Before he officially became an Arrancar, his Spiritual Power was so immense that it caused other Hollows to disintegrate just by being in his presence. He's also one of the few Arrancar in Aizen's army that became the way he is naturally rather than being amplified by the Hogyoku. He is able to fight two of the longest-serving Captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, and was able to effortlessly defeat two Visoreds that were once Captains themselves, and would've killed them too had it not been for Kyoraku's intervention. Noticeably, in Spirits Are Forever With You, Starrk and Lilynette's wolves are stated by Cien Granz to be one of the most powerful abilities in Hueco Mundo period alongside Yammy's Resurreccion and Baraggan's Respira, surpassing even Ulquiorra's Segunda Etapa. All of this comes from someone who doesn't even go full out either.

Lilynette Gingerbuck

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_lilynette_6.png

"Why do you think that Aizen made you number one?! Because he believes in your power, right!? If you don't want to lose any of your comrades, then the only thing to do is fight!"

Species: Arrancar

Zanpakutō: Los Lobos

Voiced by: Kiyomi Asai (JP), Kate Higgins (EN), Analiz Sánchez (Latin-American Spanish)

Lilynette is Starrk's sole Fracción and is about as dangerous as you'd expect from someone that looks as young as she does. Nevertheless, she shares a very close relationship with Starrk despite her irritability. In truth she and Starrk are two parts of the same Hollow split into two.

Boisterous Weakling: She has much more drive to fight than the lazy Starrk, but she's weaker than a Gillian, leading to Ukitake toying around with her and even telling her to go home like a child.
Cute Monster Girl: She's a Hollow, which does technically make her a monster... However, she's just too cute and non-threatening to actually pose a danger to anyone. By herself, at least.
Fusion Dance: She's Starrk's Zanpakutō, not his Fracción; meaning when they merge she becomes Espada #1 too.
I Just Want to Have Friends: Like Starrk, she was never able to make friends with anyone due to the immense power the pair possessed.
Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Watching her try and fail to keep her dignity as a fighter while Ukitake toys with her, to the point she breaks down crying, makes her an odd case of an allegedly villainous character chalking up Woobie points.
Ineffectual Death Threats: It's hard to take her cries of "I'll kill you!" seriously when she's dirty and crying.
Intergenerational Friendship: Subverted. She's a child who's friends with a much older Starrk, though Lilynette makes a point that Arrancar don't age.
Literal Split Personality: She's not truly Starrk's Fracción, they're two fragments of the same Hollow, so she is also the Espada #1.
Little Miss Badass: Tries to be one in her battle with Ukitake, but utterly fails at it... And then it's revealed that she's Starrk's Zanpakutō and once the duo uses their Resurreccíon, Lilynette proves to be far more dangerous than before.
Living Weapon: When she enters Resurreccíon with Starrk, her consciousness is stored in one of his pistols and she can even fire Ceros at will without his input if push comes to shove. When they take it further, she can take control of their exploding reishi wolves and guide them to targets.
Lonely Together: She was actually part of the same Hollow as Starrk originally, and they're largely the same person, including their lack of a capacity to survive without companionship.
Navel-Deep Neckline: Her torso is covered by something that is barely more than a balero. It just about covers her breast region, but the rest of her chest and stomach is entire exposed.
Not-So-Harmless Villain: At first look, Ukitake effortlessly curb-stomps her. Then she and Starrk use their shared Resurreccíon and proves to be much more lethal.
Plucky Girl: Doesn't give up even when Ukitake is clearly just messing with her to avoid killing her.
Punch-Clock Villain: Like Starrk, she doesn't really have much in the way of actual villainous traits. She's short tempered at worst, but for the most part just hangs out with these guys because she's lonely and there's no one else the pair can really interact with.
Sinister Scimitar: Can pull one out of her mask's broken left horn to fight. Not fight well, but fight. Ukitake quickly takes it away from her as if she's a child playing with scissors, and it disintegrates as she enters Resurrección with Starrk.
Small Name, Big Ego: She can talk a big game, but she's very likely the weakest Arrancar in Aizen's army. Ukitake even notes that her Cero is weaker than a Gillian's. Then again, her usefulness isn't tied to her own fighting ability, but what she does to boost Starrk's.
Stripperiffic: She wears a tiny vest, long boots and gloves, and a pair of really short undergarments, all of which are white-colored with black outlines. A light BREEZE should result in a wardrobe malfunction, really.
Taking the Bullet: In the anime, she dies intercepting a wind attack from Kyoraku that was meant for Starrk.
Torso with a View: Her Hollow hole is located on her solar plexus.

(#2) Segunda Espada - Baraggan Louisenbairn

Baraggan Louisenbairn

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_barragan.png

^{Resurrección}

"Soul Reapers, humans, Hollows, Arrancar, all of their differences and strife, will, freedom, beasts, plants, the moon and stars and sun - all of it is meaningless! There is but one absolute in this world, and that is my power!"

Species: Menos / Arrancar (Vasto Lorde)

Zanpakutō: Arrogante

Voiced by: Shōzō Iizuka (JP), Steve Kramer (EN, Hueco Mundo Arc), Michael McConnohie (EN, Fake Karakura Arc onward), Salvador Reyes (Latin-American Spanish)

The Second Espada, the self-proclaimed God of Hueco Mundo, defines the death aspect of 'Aging'. Baraggan was the original ruler of Hueco Mundo and by all rights lived up to his namesake until Aizen came and screwed him over, forcing him into begrudging servitude. Throughout his life, he has one wish: to exact vengeance and kill Aizen. As his Zanpakutō's name implies, he's extremely arrogant. The location of his number tattoo is unknown and his Hollow hole is in his sternum.

His Zanpakutō is an enormous battle-axe named Arrogante which allows him to slow time and age his opponent through physical contact, leaving their bones brittle. He can release its true form to become a skeleton clad in purple furs and garbs that is able to launch Respira, a black wave of rapid aging that decays everything it touches in a matter of seconds.

All There in the Manual: The novels "Spirits are Forever with You" and "Can't Fear your Own World" explain more about his reign as the ruler of Hueco Mundo and how he had formed the first generation of the Espada.
Antagonist Abilities: Baraggan's Respira makes him an almost untouchable opponent. In his unreleased state, he can slow down any attack coming at him so he can easily avoid it. Any tactics and techniques are impossible against him because simply getting near him will age either the technique or the opponent to death. This even extends to the ground he's walking on and also allowed him to survive a Fantastic Nuke to the face. If his Respira does touch an opponent, they have to sever the part of the body that's rotting to avoid dying.
Arch-Enemy: Baraggan was once the god-emperor of Hueco Mundo, with the first generation of Espada being his vassals. When Aizen arrived, Baraggan was unceremoniously deposed and made into the second-ranked Espada, something he saw as an unforgivable humiliation. Ever since, Baraggan nursed a deep grudge against Aizen, and after being mortally wounded by his own Respira his last act is to try to take Aizen down with him.
Bad Boss: Just before Aizen showed up to kick him off his throne, he was considering dividing his army in half and having the two sides fight to the death just to pass the time. When all of his Fracción are killed, he shows more disappointment in the fact that they lost than the fact that they died.
Badass Boast: "I am king. I am God. I will never die." Becomes a Madness Mantra during his Villainous Breakdown.
Badass Longrobe: His Resurrección cloaks him in a dark purple, furry cloak, a noticeable departure from all the white seen in Las Noches' army.
Breath Weapon: In his released state he can exhale a black miasma called "Respira", the "Breath of Death", which rots whatever it comes into contact with.
Cool Crown: He has a large, impressive spiked crown when he is in his Resurreccíon. When in his unreleased state, the remains of his Hollow mask merely look like a crown. Back when he was still a Menos, he wore a slightly less fancy golden crown as the king of Hueco Mundo, only for Aizen to cut it in half during his takeover.
Dem Bones: In his original Hollow form — presumably a Vasto Lorde-class Menos, given his humanoid appearance and enormous power — he resembled a human skeleton clad in a crown and black robes, and his Resurrección returns him to that state by rotting away his flesh. This is to symbolize his power over old age and decay, which lets him rot other people into skeletons.
Evil Gloating: For the most part, it's completely justified, but it's also just about all that stops him from managing to do a lot more horrific damage before he went down.
Faster Than They Look: Baraggan doesn't really move around that much past a slow intimidating gait as he lets his powers destroy any attacks aimed at him and chase down his foes. However, on one of the rare occasions he actually uses Sonido, he appears right behind resident speedster Sui-Feng and lightly taps her on the shoulder while she can only react in confusion at what just happened.
Fatal Flaw: Arrogance and ignorance. Barragan has absolute confidence that he is a god whose power makes him the strongest being in creation, and thus unbeatable. However, it's this supreme arrogance in himself that causes him to toy with his opponents rather than just kill them, which leads them to realize that his absolute power must naturally work on him as well, a fact that Barragan has remained ignorant of for one million years precisely because he's too arrogant to consider that he has any weaknesses. In the end, his flaws lead to his downfall.
The Fatalist: The aspect of death that Baraggan represents is death by old age. His power is to generate a Battle Aura that causes anything or anyone in its vicinity to age rapidly to the point of decomposition. Baraggan proclaims that death by aging is the only form of death that can not be avoided and something that the mind cannot fathom, except that it's inevitable even for Soul Reapers despite their long lives. He lectures to Sui-Feng and Hachi that nothing can exist forever; even the word "forever" is meaningless, since it was born from the fear of death.
Foreshadowing: When Aizen is trapped by Yamamoto and the top three Espada are left to their own devices, Baraggan takes charge; his subsequent conversation with Harribel and Starrk pretty strongly indicates that he outranks the former (telling her that, as he should address Aizen with respect, so she should address him) and is outranked by the latter (to whom he makes a sideways comment about not wanting to hear any complaints about him calling the shots). Sure enough, he's #2, Harribel is #3, and Starrk is #1.
A God Am I: Baraggan Louisenbairn genuinely thinks of himself as a god who sits far above everyone else and refers to himself as the "God of Hueco Mundo" multiple times during his fights against Sui-Feng and Hachigen, even though he's just an Arrancar (albeit an incredibly powerful one) like the other Espada. He was a Vasto Lorde that used to be Hueco Mundo's undisputed ruler before being overthrown by Aizen thanks to his power to rot anything in his vicinity making him effectively unstoppable. Aizen himself was only able to beat him with his illusions before he could unleash that power. Eventually, he gets disintegrated by his own power being turned against him. His opponent notes that perhaps this is the only way to kill a god.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: In his human form, he has several noticeable faded scars on his face. Most of them vanish when he activates his Resurrección, given he loses all flesh, but the scar over his eye becomes a noticeable visible crack on the same place of his skull.
Hoist by His Own Petard: After all the trouble Sui-Feng and Hachi went through, after surviving two Bankai nukes and proving immune to Kido, after taking arms off of both his opponents, he is finally taken down when Hachi teleports his own decaying arm into Baraggan's stomach, disintegrating Baraggan into nothingness from the inside out.
Humiliation Conga: As King of Las Noches, Baraggan was minding his own business when Aizen and his Co-Dragons came out of nowhere, bluntly stated that he wasn't good enough for what he was best at, wiped out Baraggan's entire army, forced him to serve the ones that defeated him and got labeled with the rank of "2nd" Espada to further spite him. His palace turned into Aizen's own headquarters.
Hypocrite: After Sui-Feng panickledly has Omaeda cut off her left arm to save herself from Respira, he muses that Shinigami (Gods of Death) seem to fear death as much as anyone else. He later ridicules Hachi for thinking Kido was eternal and wouldn't age, insisting that "eternity" was simply a concept made up by those afraid of death. During his Villainous Breakdown, he rants about how he's an undying god, only to get killed by his own power. Hachi laments that he was ultimately just as afraid of death as anyone else.
Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance:
- Before Aizen, Gin, and Tosen arrived and usurped his throne, he believed that he had already conquered everything, and was incredulous when Aizen told him there are other worlds besides Hueco Mundo. This is especially noteworthy, given that his own Hollow subjects have regularly been coming and going between the worlds for millenia.
- Another example is how he is defeated. He spent the entire battle raving about how his power is absolute, and how everything turns to dust before it. It isn't until Hachigen points it out to him does Baraggan realize that he must be protected from his own power if he remains unaffected by it, allowing Hachi to turn Baraggan's power against him by forcing it back into a place where the protection doesn't reach. Hachi even muses over his ignorance as he dies, noting that despite his belief, Baraggan's life was just as finite as those he looked down on.
Implacable Man: Sui-Feng is aghast at the level of punishment this guy shrugs off, even wondering during the third or fourth time he's taken the party's best shot and come back for more if he's immortal.
"Instant Death" Radius: Baraggan's power is to manipulate time, which enables him to instantly age whatever he or his Respira touches to dust, and unless the affected body part is amputated the rot will spread to the entire body.
Large Ham: Normally, he's more of a Cold Ham, making dramatic speeches with a leveled voice, but during his Villainous Breakdown, he ramps it up with his Madness Mantra.
The Law of Diminishing Defensive Effort: When Sui-Feng first uses her Bankai, Baraggan stares in half-interest as the missile flies toward him, and emerges from the explosion unscathed. After determining that he aged the missile to explode before it hit him and trapping him so he can't do that again, he panics as Sui-Feng readies another missile and ends up losing part of his face from this second attack.
Logical Weakness: Baraggan was able to rule Hueco Mundo for an untold length of time due to his aging power being absolute. Unlike other powers (which can usually be mitigated or even negated completely by someone with higher Reiatsu than the user), everyone is affected by his power, because nothing lasts forever. Hachigen defeats Baraggan by concluding that if this is true, Baraggan himself is no exception and must have some sort of trick that protects him. He was absolutely right, and when someone exploits said weakness, Baraggan kills himself without having any way of escaping.
Make Them Rot: When he is in his Resurreccíon, Baraggan has an ability called Respira which allows him to accelerate the age of anything in his general vicinity to the point of decomposition. Nothing is immune Stone crumbles, spells fade away and flesh rots when it hits a target. Not even he is exempt from Respira's effects, as Hachigen has to use Baraggan's power against him in order to defeat him.
Mono no Aware: Baraggan's power is a very literal embodiment of "mono no aware", which is a Japanese cultural ideal that all things are impermanent. This is reinforced by the fact that his power has the unique property of being absolute; no person or thing is immune to aging and dying. This applies to Baraggan himself, and Hachigen realizing this fact is what allows him to defeat Barrigan by turning his own power against him.
Non-Standard Character Design: Twice over. All Hollows seen in the series have distinct stylized masks, with the exception of Barragan whose mask during his time as a Vasto Lorde looked like a realistic human skull. In fact, given his nature as a walking skeleton, it's unclear if he ever had what could be considered a mask at all. Then there's his Resurrección. Whereas every other Arrancar's release changes them into a form resembling their original Hollow self while still keeping at least some level of their humanoid body, Barragan's is a full transformation that, barring a slightly different crown, is exactly how he looked as a Hollow. Much like Ulquiorra's Segunda Etapa form, it emphasizes just how different he is even compared to his fellow Hollows.
"Not So Different" Remark: During the usurpation of Baraggan's kingdom, Aizen made the observation that Baraggan, a skeleton clad robes of black and wielding his axe like some bringer of judgement, looked very much like the western depiction of a Shinigami/Soul Reaper, his kind's enemy.
Oh, Crap!: When Sui-Feng shoots him directly in the face with her Bankai, he's horrified to discover he can neither block nor avoid it. Later, Hacchi evokes another such expression from him when he figures out Baraggan's secret. Baraggan is vulnerable to his own power and Hacchi figures out how to turn it against him.
Old Soldier: Baraggan Louisenbairn is the physically oldest-looking and one of the most powerful members of Aizen's Arrancar army. When Aizen and his cohorts are trapped by Yamamoto's fire during the assault on the fake Karakura Town, Baraggan takes command without any objects from his fellows (including the First Espada). It also helps that before Aizen came along and usurped him, he was the legendary God-King of Hueco Mundo and Hollowkind, and the light novels would reveal he's actually one of the oldest living Hollows in existence.
Person of Mass Destruction: His Respira in particular, if he lets it run wild, will basically turn everything around him into a wasteland without him having to lift a finger or move from the spot if given enough time.
Pitiful Worms: Everyone else is an “ant” as far as he is concerned.
Rapid Aging: This is the core of his power. His power to manipulate time enables him to accelerate the aging of whoever he or his abilities touch. Even in his unreleased state his touch can age his target enough to make their bones snap like twigs. When he unleashes his full power, anything that fails to get out of the way crumbles to dust in a matter of seconds. The results of this enables him to rot his enemies down to the bone, and even defend himself from oncoming attacks.
Razor Wind: When he swings his axe, the wind produced is strong enough to slice a building in half some distance behind Sui-Feng.
Red Baron: Not he himself, but his ability 'Senecia' is in all of Hueco Mundo known as 'Baraggan's curse'.
Red Herring: The way he takes charge, and the fact that he's the oldest looking Espada led some people to believe he was Espada #1. Even Kyoraku had the same thoughts.
Required Secondary Powers: Hachi realizes that if Baraggan is telling the truth about his power being absolute, then Baraggan himself is vulnerable to his own power and therefore needs a second power to protect himself from his primary ability, and it only works on the surface of his body, not inside.
Scary Skeleton: His Resurreccíon transforms him into a skeletal humanoid figure wrapped in a black cloak and crown. A powerful foe whose Respira attack causes anything or anyone that comes in contact with it to rapidly age to dust.
Seven Deadly Sins: Kubo Tite revealed in the Masked interview that some of the Espada were modeled after the Seven Deadly Sins. His god complex coupled with his Resurrección, Arrogante (Spanish for arrogant), make him a dead ringer for Pride.
The Starscream: He was the king of Hueco Mundo by virtue of being the most powerful person around... until Aizen showed up. After being forcibly recruited, he was waiting for his chance to take his throne back.
Superpower Lottery: Baraggan has, in addition all the other handy powers that Arrancar have, Respira, which allows him to in its weakest state slow his opponent's movements and at full strength rapidly age anyone and anything that gets close to him, destroying or reducing the power of even the strongest attacks so they do nothing and allowing him to, unless his opponent takes drastic measures, kill anyone with just his presence alone. With this power he was considered the undisputed King of Hueco Mundo before Aizen came knocking, the only thing that can get around this power are techniques that go for the mind, and it's so game-breaking that he's not immune to his own power and needs to use a secondary ability to protect himself, or else he'd be more or less impossible to kill in a fight. Used right, it could possibly be more effective than even Kyoka Suigetsu, and only abilities introduced past his death truly can compare in raw power.
Sword Beam: A variant. He can combine his Respira with his axe, and with every swing of his axe he can release waves of Respira at far away targets.
Taking You with Me: As Baraggan's rotting away, he screams he won't die without "him" and throws his axe seemingly right at Hachi, who doesn't have time to dodge...but it goes careening right past him on a course for Aizen. The axe disintegrates before it makes it and Baraggan himself follows shortly afterwards. Baraggan was resentful towards Aizen for taking his kingdom from him, and vowed to one day get his revenge.
This Is Unforgivable!: Going in hand with his god complex, one of the few things that sends Baraggan into a frothing rage is if an ant (read: everyone else) actually manages to injure him. When he's in the process of dying from his own power thanks to Hachigan, he begins screaming this over and over at the Vizard for daring to successfully defy a god.
Time Abyss: Baraggan was one of the first Hollows to wander through the sands of Hueco Mundo, making him around a million years old.
Time Master: This is the nature of Baraggan's power. His abilities stem around manipulating the flow of time to slow down his enemies and make them age and crumble into dust. As it turns out, even he's not immune to this power and needs to use a special personal field to protect himself. The moment someone managed to get a piece of that power past said shield, it was over in a matter of seconds.
Torso with a View: His Hollow Hole is in the center of his chest, although it's covered by his robes and not usually visible.
Unskilled, but Strong: Barragan's strategy doesn't go any further than using his Time Master powers to slow and age incoming attacks and throwing his Respira around to age his opponents into dust. In his defense, the nature of his power means this is enough to deal with almost any opponent no matter how strong they are, so he's never had any need for skill.
Victory Is Boring: In his backstory, Baraggan was extremely bored with his complete rule over Hueco Mundo because he had nothing to conquer with his vast powers and army.
Villain Ball: In spite of having a power that could wipe out Marechiyo in an instant and being able to touch Sui-Feng in his normal form alone without her realizing it with his incredible speed, he opts to chasing him around. This leads to him being attacked by Sui-Feng's Bankai and it's only through his Antagonist Abilities that he is able to make it out unscathed. Overall his tendency to gloat about his philosophy and superiority instead of finishing them off immediately, eventually gets him killed.
Villainous Breakdown: When Sui-Feng and Hachi manage to injure him, he completely loses his shit.
Baraggan: "HAHAHAHAHA! Tiny, tiny! Tinytinytinytiny! Soul Reapers and humans and hollows and arrancars all have their own differences and quarrels! They have will and freedom and animals and plants and the moon and the stars and the sun and every little thing! But only my power is absolute! Everything else is tiny and insignificant! Your proper place is under my supreme rule! Equality is not born from rivalry! Look into my eyes, for you are no different than insects to me!(...) I AM THE GREAT EMPEROR! THE GOD OF HUECO MUNDO! BARAGGAN LUISENBAIRN!!!"
Walking Wasteland: His special ability is to rot and age everything into dust. Plants, buildings, people, attacks, everything. Even he isn't immune to it, which is how he is able to be defeated.
We All Die Someday: His power to age makes him virtually impossible to kill since everything ages away and nothing lasts forever. Fortunately, Hachi realizes that he is no exception so he uses his own power against him by severing and transporting his rotting hand into the old Espada's stomach.
We Have Reserves: He sent his Fracción into battle fully expecting them to win, and he was noticeably enraged when they were killed, but he also didn't lift a finger to help them when they started losing, and gave the impression that he was only angry because his servants being defeated made him look bad. Otherwise, he didn't care. In his backstory, as he was planning to have his loyal army fight each other to the death before Aizen dropped in. Mainly because he was bored.
When Elders Attack: He looks ancient and even his powers revolve around Old Age, as it works on the principle of senescence. He's also just as muscular as Captain Commander Yamamoto.
World's Strongest Man: Played With. As the former self-proclaimed God of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan earned that right by carving out a kingdom, declaring his sovereignty, and then defeating all challengers to his power. However, Starrk, Yammy, and (as revealed in the light novels) even Szayelaporro before he willingly weakened himself to remove his "imperfection" all have more Reiatsu than he does at their full power. What makes him so devastating is that his power is one of the only exceptions to the rule of "greater Reiatsu can mitigate or even negate its effects", meaning he could legitimately and even easily defeat even those technically stronger than him in a direct fight, which is what let him consolidate power so utterly before Aizen came along and why Szayelaporro was part of his court despite being strong enough at the time to qualify as the first Cero Espada. He's so strong that he could only be killed by his own power.

(#3) Tres Espada - Tier Harribel

Tier Harribel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_harribel_6.png

^{Resurrección}

"No world is without sacrifices. But if we produce casualties, we would also sustain casualties of our own."

Species: Menos / Arrancar (Vasto Lorde)

Zanpakutō: Tiburón

Voiced by: Megumi Ogata (JP), Laura Bailey (EN, Original Series), Jeannie Tirado (EN, Thousand-Year Blood War), Nalleli Solís (Latin-American Spanish)

The Third Espada, a Dark Action Girl who led an all-female Fracción squad. Harribel shows actually more compassion compared to the rest of the Arrancars towards her own Fracción, but she still fulfills her Dark Action Girl credentials. She defines the death aspect of 'Sacrifice'. Her number-tattoo is located on the left side of her right breast, and her Hollow hole is in her womb.

Her Zanpakutō, Tiburón, gives her a shark motif and control of water-based abilities. In her normal form, the blade is hollow and can be filled with spiritual power to increase its strength.

Adaptation Expansion: The anime dedicated a handful of filler episodes to showing her backstory as a pacifist Vasto Lorde opposed to Barrigan's reign, protecting a trio of female Adjuchas - who later became her Fracción - from the predations of other Menos.
Adaptational Modesty:
- In the manga, her outfit leaves her Underboobs exposed, and her mask fragments underneath just cover her nipples while baring most of her chest. In the anime, her outfit completely covers her chest, and her mask fragments only expose some cleavage.
- Her pants in the manga leave much of her thighs exposed, but are more conservative in the anime.
All There in the Manual: A novel-esque story titled "Nestle To Night" (found in the Unmasked databook) reveals that Harribel and her Fracción survived the entire Fake Karakura ordeal thanks to Orihime healing them. This happens again regarding her fate after the manga, as ''Can't Fear Your Own World" reveals that she was rescued from the Wahrwelt by Nelliel at some point and returned to Hueco Mundo after the war ended.
Amazon Brigade: All three of her Fracción are female, and make up the Tres Bestia (Spanish for "three beasts"). Anime filler shows that they deliberately gathered up to avoid predation from male Hollows, as female Hollows are generally considered easy targets.
Ambiguously Brown: She has dark skin (noticeably more so in the manga than the anime); but as she has a Spanish-flavored name like the other Arrancar, it's unclear what her ethnicity is supposed to be, if she even has one.
Animal Motifs: Her Resurrección is related to sharks. In anime-only flashback, her Vasto Lorde form is a humanoid Hollow with shark-themed armor.
Anti-Villain: Conducts herself in a much more restrained and honorable manner than her compatriots, although messing with her friends brings down her wrath. Her anger usually takes the form of Tranquil Fury, with the only time she drops her air of quiet dignity being when Aizen betrays everyone. Aizen is irritated to discover he has to use his sword on her twice before she can be properly defeated.
Badass in Distress: Sometime before the start of the Quincy's invasion of Soul Society, she was captured by the Vandenreich to destabilize Hueco Mundo. She's shown defeated and chained up in Yhwach's stronghold.
BFS: Unusual for most females in Bleach, she wields a massive broad sword in Resureccion that resembles a shark's tooth.
Beauty Equals Goodness: She's the only current female Espada, and one of the hottest and bustiest characters in the series. Is it any surprise she ends up being the most moral of the group and takes over as benevolent ruler of the Hollows by the end of the story?
Bishōnen Line: In contrast to the other Espadas' Resurreccións - which make them appear more monstrous - Harribel's Resurreccíon makes her appear more human by doing away with the fanged mask-fragment covering her mouth.
Butter Face: Subversion. Her body is curvaceous, but when she unzips her jacket, the lower half of her face is covered by her mask fragment — a skeletal jaw, in keeping with her shark theme. Once she enters her Resurrección, however, her face becomes as gorgeous as the rest of her body.
Contralto of Strength: She is the only female among the current Espada, and holds the absolute deepest voice of all females in the series. It helps that her unreleased state leaves her with mask fragments muffling her mouth.
Custom Uniform of Sexy: Her uniform shows off her midriff and the lower portion of her bosom while covering her mouth.
Dark Action Girl: She's the most powerful female Arrancar in Aizen's army and is fully capable of overwhelming a Captain-class Soul Reapers like Hitsugaya.
Declaration of Protection: In the wild, Harribel lived as close as she could to a life of non-violence and starvation to defy the Social Darwinist laws of Hueco Mundo. Since then, she has been motivated to fight by a desire to keep her few friends from dying.
Does Not Like Men: She knows that male Hollows will invariably prey upon females, especially since she lives in such a brutal world that the likes of Baraggan rise to the top. However, she does get along fine with the likes of Starrk, meaning she's still a reasonable enough person.
Everyone Has Standards: The novel "Don't Fear Your Own World" has her see Yhwach's state as the new Soul King. Seeing what they've done made her understand why Aizen wants to destroy it so bad.
Friend to All Children: According to Nelliel, she gets along well with children and has a bit of a soft spot for people who are kind to them.
Going Commando: In the manga, we get a shot of her skirt going up, and there's nothing covering what's underneath. This is changed in Bleach: Soul Resurrección, to her wearing black panties under her skirt.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Zigzagged. Harribel has golden blonde hair and, while she can be stoic and a cold woman of few words, she truly cares for her home and treats her Fracción as her daughters and is a reasonable and noble woman at heart.
Heel–Face Turn: While she was never evil to begin with, once she becomes the new Queen of Hueco Mundo, she ends the conflict with Soul Society and restores peace to Hueco Mundo.
Hidden Heart of Gold: She's ruthless in battle and a very quiet woman, but truly cares for those close to her and only joined Aizen to end the conflict in Hueco Mundo. Once she becomes the new ruler, she proves to be a far better ruler than anyone ever could have been. In Can't Fear Your Own World, Nelliel comments that she has a Sugar-and-Ice Personality and gets along well with kids.
High Collar of Doom: Presumably to cover her mask remnants, her collar zips all the way up to her nose.
The High Queen: After Barrigan's death, Harribel becomes the queen of Hueco Mundo — later taking up co-leadership alongside fellow former Tres Espada Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. As one of the more amiable Arrancar, the Soul Reapers see her as a viable option for arranging a peace treaty between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo.
Intimate Marks: Her Espada Tattoo is on the bottom of her breast, and only visible if she unzips her jacket all the way open to expose her Navel-Deep Neckline. The databooks also reveal that her Hollow hole is in her womb.
Lady Legionnaire Wear: Her Resurrección gives her a miniskirt made of bones.
Lady of War: She's calm, honorable, and quietly dignified. As the strongest female Arrancar and only female Espada, she is able to overwhelm Hitsugaya with her swordsmanship and water abilities once she releases her Zanpakutō.
Making a Splash: Her main ability in her Resurreccíon is being able to create and manipulate water. During her fight with Tōshirō, she uses her power to fire high-pressure water projectiles and summon an enormous torrent of water that floods multiple city blocks. She can also manipulate the temperature of water she comes in contact with, as shown when she instantly boils Tōshirō's ice, melting it before it can reach her.
Mama Bear: Harribel's "Aspect of Death" is sacrifice and the meaning behind this lays within her relationship with her three Fracción. Harribel has no desire to kill, but she knows that she lives in a Crapsack World where the strong prey upon the weak. She joined up with Aizen because she did not want her own weakness to lead to the deaths of her True Companions. Nevertheless, each of them would gladly sacrifice their own lives for her sake, and they've even adopted Harribel's theme of sacrifice by removing a part of themselves to create the extremely powerful Ayon.
Martial Pacifist: Like Starrk and her predecessor Nelliel, Harribel hates fighting, but will use her considerable power if it means protecting her True Companions. Her short story in the UNMASKED databook reveals that she joined Aizen's forces specifically so that she could bring an end to the constant fighting of Hueco Mundo.
Men Use Violence, Women Use Communication: She chose to protect female Hollows from male ones, and created an Amazon Brigade of female Hollows, stating that the males always targeted females. She is also one of the rare Hollow that refuses to gain power by violently consuming other Hollows regardless of gender. She shares this attitude with her fellow co-ruler Neliel by the time they both take over Hueco Mundo at the end of the series.
Messy Hair: Her hair looks like it hasn't seen a brush in years and is in a permanent state of dishevelment.
A Mother to Her Men: Unlike the Espada not named Starrk and Nnoitra, she actually cares a great deal for the safety of her Fracción. The anime takes it a step further by hosting a Whole Episode Flashback detailing her past, where she actually recruited Apacci, Sung-Sun and Mila Rose to help form a stable group to keep male Hollows from eating them. Given how her Hollow hole is located in her womb, symbolizing how she's effectively a Parental Substitute for her girls.
Ms. Fanservice: Let's not beat around the bush, Harribel is drop dead gorgeous. She has an extremely curvaceous figure, which her clothes greatly show off — her normal outfit doesn't even fully come down over her chest, giving her a gratuitous amount of underboob, and her hakama has deep slits on either side of her that show off her hips and thighs. Her Resurreccíon takes it even further by giving her an extremely Stripperiffic outfit.
Navel-Deep Neckline: When her top is unzipped and in her Resurrección form her breasts are only partially covered on the upperside, leaving her underside and stomach entirely exposed. The anime extends the fragments to cover the undersides of her breasts too but still allows the cleavage exposure to cover the stomach as well.
Non-Malicious Monster: Flashbacks in the anime reveal that even as a normal Hollow, Harribel disliked killing, which stands in stark contrast to the usual bloodthirsty attitude displayed by most Hollows.
"Not So Different" Remark: While watching Grimmjow and Ichigo fight, Tier notes to herself that Ichigo's Spiritual Power is similar to that of an Arrancar — Ichigo having been wearing his Hollow Mask at the time — and that their battle looks less like one between an Arrancar and a Soul Reaper and more like one between two Espada.
Odd Friendship: With Nel, her Espada predecessor. The fact she's content in letting Nel co-rule alongside her shows how much they get along despite their differing personalities.
Perpetual Frowner: Has not even one time seen cracking a smile.
Person of Mass Destruction: As shown in her battle with Hitsugaya, she could easily flood an entire city if she wanted to. She is the 3rd most powerful Espada, meaning that she is prohibited from releasing her Zanpakutō in Las Noches, as the destructive power could potentially obliterate the palace.
Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Inverted. In her unreleased state, her hair is mostly shoulder length with three ponytails around her head. She loses the tails in her Resurrección, leaving her with just the shoulder-length hair.
The Power of Friendship: In contrast to other Hollows, who rely on The Power of Hate and kill to become stronger, Harribel made a vow to rely on her comrades for support.
"I don't want to become stronger through the power I gain by killing and sacrificing another. If I can't win alone, then I'll win as a group."
Razor Wind: Upon entering her Resurrección state, the first swing of her sword has so much power behind it that the sheer pressure of it cuts right through Tōshirō's ice clone from over a dozen feet away.
Reasonable Authority Figure: She's cold and a stoic woman but is fair and just with her ruling of Hueco Mundo. Urahara even calls her as such stating she's very reasonable as an Arrancar and a wise decision in having her as ruler.
Riddle for the Ages: Just why exactly did Yhwach bother to capture her, instead of killing her outright? Harribel speculates that Yhwach either had plans for her in his new world or tried to convert her into an enemy and give her Quincy powers, but can't be sure if there may be another reason. Also falls under Aborted Arc as the abrupt end of Bleach led to the purpose of her imprisonment being forever unknown.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Contrary to other Espada, she's clearly distraught when Yamamoto defeats her Fracción (though it's later revealed that they survived his "light roasting"). While her tone and expression don't change much, she becomes much more condescending and physically aggressive toward Hitsugaya. When she enters her Resurreccíon, she immediately cuts him in half before turning her attention to Yamamoto with the intent of avenging her subordinates, though she's interrupted by Hitsugaya (she actually cut an ice illusion). After seemingly freezing her to death, he apologizes for not letting her have her vengeance.
The Smurfette Principle: Though some of the Privaron Espada were female, she is the only woman among the Espada during the present story.
Sole Survivor: She and Grimmjow are the only survivors among the Espada.
Statuesque Stunner: She's the fourth tallest lady in Bleach at 175cm/5'9" and is very curvy.
Stripperiffic: In her Resurrección form, her shirt disappears, leaving only two thin bones to cover her breasts. She also gets a short skirt, high heeled boots, long gloves, and what looks to be a row of sharks teeth travelling up her navel. In the manga, even in her casual wear, the underneath of her breasts were constantly exposed and her hakama was so low that it was obvious she wasn't wearing any underwear.
The Stoic: Almost always calm and composed. It's rare for her to lose her cool.
Sword Beam: Her Ola Azul ability charges Reiatsu within the hollow section of her sword and then fires it; La Gota fires a shark-tooth shaped water projectile from the tip of her sword; and she also fires her Cero from her sword in a similar fashion to Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho.
Thou Shalt Not Kill: Appears to have rejected The Social Darwinist law of Hueco Mundo despite being the third or fourth most powerful Hollow known. After becoming a Vasto Lorde, she refuses to eat other Hollows to gain power.
Threatening Shark: Her sword's name is the Spanish word for shark and her Resurreccíon adds a shark motif to her appearance. She even refers to herself as the shark when one-shotting (a fake) Hitsugaya.
Token Good Teammate: With her distaste of killing and kindness and caring towards her subordinates, Harribel is by far the most morally-centered of the Espada. She also doesn't show any real malice towards the Soul Reapers at Fake Karakura until Yamamoto roasts her Fracción.
Torso with a View: Unlike most of the other Arrancars, this one is subverted. It's where her womb is supposed to be, with her "Beyond Resurrección" form in Bleach: Brave Souls showing it's usually hidden under her pants and skirt.
Tranquil Fury: When her Fracción are seemingly killed, Harribel doesn't outwardly shows very little outward emotion, but becomes much more aggressive in her fighting style and goes to town on Hitsugaya with the intent of taking on Yamamoto to avenge them.
True Companions: Harribel is very close to her Fracción and cares deeply about them. This is expanded upon in her anime-exclusive backstory, which reveals they have been close comrades since before they were Arrancar. As such, she is enraged when she thinks they were killed by Yamamoto, and they beg Orihime to save her life after Aizen mortally wounded her.
Underboobs: In the manga the underside of her breasts are exposed in either forms, but censored in the anime and video games. Suspiciously enough, however, during a flashback to Wonderweiss' creation at episode 294, her underboobs are rendered fully, without any censorship whatsoever.
Water Is Womanly: She's the only female in the Espada, has a shark motif, and her Zanpakutō, Tiburón, gives her water powers. Harribel is a calm, quietly dignified warrior who takes on a motherly role to her Fracción, symbolized by the hollow hole on her womb.
Willfully Weak: Refusing to eat other Hollows means that she didn't continue to gain power the same way far less moral Hollows like Baraggan did. This combined with her steadfast refusal to kill and her belief in fighting as a group explains quite well why she didn't seem as powerful as the other Vasto Lorde Arrancar. Of course, when she actually puts some effort into fighting, she's a total badass.
You Are in Command Now: Due to the fact that every Espada more powerful than her is dead, she became the ruler of Hueco Mundo by default.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Aizen loses interest in the Espada when he realises that even combined they're still weaker than he is. He cuts down Harribel himself, although she's later saved by Orihime, inheriting leadership of Hueco Mundo until being captured by Yhwach.
You Will Be Spared: Yhwach intentionally spared her for unknown reasons. She was later brought into the Soul King's Palace after Yhwach transformed it using his power.
The Worf Effect: Despite being the new ruler of Hueco Mundo, Yhwach defeats her with little effort, showing that the Quincy King is on a whole other level.

(#4) Cuatro Espada - Ulquiorra Cifer

Ulquiorra Cifer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_ulquiorra.png

^{Resurrección}
^{Segunda Etapa}

"Your words are those of a man who knows not true despair. If you know it not, then allow me to teach you. This is the face of true despair."

Species: Menos / Arrancar (Vasto Lorde)

Zanpakuto: Murcielago

Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (JP), Tony Oliver (EN), Roger Craig Smith (EN, Bleach: Shattered Blade), Kaihiamal Martínez (Latin-American Spanish)

The Fourth Espada, Ulquiorra is cold, rational, reserved, and absolutely loyal to Aizen, which more or less netted him the position of The Dragon despite not being his most powerful subordinate. However, all traits put him in direct conflict with Grimmjow, to the point where though he acted as Ichigo's main rival, Ulquiorra has far more enmity for the Sixth Espada. He considers Ichigo, and all others either weaker than him or human, little more than "trash". Ulquiorra defines the death aspect of 'Emptiness'. His number tattoo is on the left side of his chest and his Hollow hole is in his sternum - though in his debut it was in the base of his throat.

His Zanpakuto, Murcielago, transforms him into a bat-like demon that gives him incomprehensible speed and allows him to create energy javelins. He has a hidden second transformation named Segunda Etapa that transforms him into a demon with vastly enhanced destructive and regenerative abilities.

He received a short comic made by Tite Kubo about his back story in the third data book, Unmasked, which shows his origins.

Alas, Poor Villain: His character arc is about trying to understand the meaning of human emotions, which he finally does, just barely too late, in his final moments. The tragedy of this is reflected in how the protagonists react to his passing; Orihime comes to peace with him by reaching for his hand, and Ichigo is obviously devastated at having killed Ulquiorra the way he did.
All the Other Reindeer: In his backstory in Unmasked, Ulquiorra had a white body except for his wings and no mouth, while his brethren were jet black and had mouths. They tried to devour him for his different appearance, and he was forced to kill them in self-defense.
All There in the Manual: His backstory is not addressed in the manga or anime but is instead revealed in the Unmasked datebook, which furthermore reveals what exactly his unique Segunda Etapa form is.
An Arm and a Leg: Ulquiorra tore Uryu's hand off, then his own arm was chooped off by Hollow Ichigo.
And I Must Scream: As a Hollow, he was unable to feel, hear, smell, or eat anything. All he could do was see the world, which is why he only trusts what he can see as an Espada and any metaphysical concepts such as hope and love are just foreign entities to him.
Animal Motifs: "Murciélago", the name of his Zanpakutō, means "bat" in Spanish. When he releases the sword, he gains giant bat wings.
Art Shift: When he debuted in the manga, Ulquiorra's appearance was slightly different. His hole was in his throat rather than his chest and as a consequence was much smaller. Additionally, his mask remnants had cracks around the cranium.
Barehanded Blade Block: He does this often thanks to the Arrancar standard Hierro, of which Ulquiorra's version is abnormally strong. This extends to deflecting all sorts of attacks, including Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho and Urahara's Benihime. It gets to the point that Ichigo notes during a later battle that Ulquiorra drawing his sword doesn't change anything other than make his reach longer.
Bare-Fisted Monk: He is a master of hand-to-hand combat, and it is his preferred fighting style. He only draws his sword if the situation absolutely calls for it.
Beam-O-War: Ulquiorra pits his normal Cero against Ichigo's black Getsuga Tensho and overwhelms it, but he's shocked when Hollow Ichigo's Cero Gigante easily overpowers his Segunda Etapa form's Cero Oscuras twice.
Body Motifs: His eyes are given heavy emphasis. His whole outlook is based on only acknowledging what can be seen. One of his powers is the ability to relay what he's seen by destroying one of his eyeballs, which he's able to regenerate (this would explain why he retained his regenerative powers instead of seeking a power-up like the other Arrancar). Ironically, his Resurreccíon is bat-themed, when bats aren't known for relying on sight.
Break Them by Talking: He's very good at getting under his victim's skin. When Ichigo felt Rukia's Reiatsu vanish after she collapsed from her fight with Aaroniero, he initially tried to ignore Ulquiorra, until Ulquiorra reveals that he's the one who forced Orihime to come to Hueco Munco. In a rage, Ichigo attacks, which is exactly what Ulquiorra wanted him to do. He also engages in this frequently with Orihime, telling her that her friends are going to die, there is no hope for her and that she should just resign to being Aizen's tool. After one too many, Ichigo finally tells him to shut up.
Brutal Honesty: He has little to no grasp of emotions and thus has no tact, stating his opinions bluntly and often harshly. When he informs Orihime of her friends invading Hueco Mundo, he says that if he was in her place, he would be furious at his friends for charging into Hueco Mundo so recklessly.
Catchphrase: Has a habit of saying "I see" or a variation thereof when finding new information. Then again, he once boasted that he could see everything, unless it didn't exist, and Unmasked revealing that sight was his only sense as a Menos adds significance to this.
Catch Phrase Insult: He likes to refer to those he sees beneath him as "trash".
Character Tics:
- No matter what he's doing, one or both of his hands are in his pockets at all times. If he takes a handout, then something bad's going to happen. Even when he finally starts using his sword, he only swings it with one hand while keeping the other in his pocket.
- Grimmjow notes to Orihime that Ulquiorra likes to stab prey of particular interest to him in the same spot where his Hollow hole is located. Ulquiorra himself doesn't seem aware he does this.
Climax Boss: The final fight between Ichigo and Ulquiorra is the turning point of the Arrancar Saga. The battle's conclusion signifies the end of the quest to rescue Orihime from Hueco Mundo. Ichigo is then free to rescue the rest of his friends and leave Hueco Mundo to the Captains while he heads back to Karakura Town. It also sets up the despair that weakens him for the rest of his fights until his final battle with Aizen.
Curb-Stomp Battle: His first display of offense has him blasting some holes in Orihime's escort guards before they can do a thing. He gives Ichigo a lesson of dominance during their first encounter. When Ichigo refuses to give up despite Ulquiorra demonstrating that his first Resurrección completely outclasses him, Ulquiorra angrily unleashes his Segunda Etapa form in an attempt to crush Ichigo's resolve with despair. After blowing a hole in Ichigo's chest with a point-blank Cero Oscuras, he proceeds to maul Ishida too when the latter tries to stand up to him. When Ichigo Hollowfies, however, he quickly finds himself on the receiving end of a merciless beatdown that ends in him being mortally wounded by a point-blank Cero.
Dark Is Evil: He is highly associated with darkness and the color black. His hair is black, and when he transforms into his Resurreccíon, he gains a pair of black wings and his Reiatsu turns from green to black with a green outline. He can fire a black colored Cero called Cero Oscruras, though Ulquiorra implies that any Espada can use it when in Resurreccíon. In his Resurreccíon: Segunda Etapa, his lower body is covered in dark fur, his arms are colored black, and a dark substance pours down from his Hollow hole.
Death by Irony: He was the embodiment of nihilism, which translated to the way he mercilessly fought Ichigo. Guess who was the one to finally defeat him? An even more merciless and nihilistic version of hollow Ichigo.
Despair Event Horizon: He was born into a group of black Vasto Lordes, pure white and with only one sense (sight). He then wandered the desert for a period of time until, in a moment of pure despair, he encounters a strange phenomenon that rips off most of his mask. His obsession with trusting only what he can see and his inability to understand anything that doesn't register with his sense of sight stems from this. Databooks reveal that Segunda Etapa is the manifestation of that despair.
The Dragon: He appeared to have been Aizen's right-hand man and was given missions that one would've expected to be given to Espadas with higher ranks. This led to Ichigo assuming he was the top Espada and that if he were to defeat him, the war between the Soul Reapers and the Arrancar would be as good as won on the Soul Reapers' side. Ulquiorra responds by revealing himself as the 4th Espada. He's not the highest-ranking Espada, but he is the strongest Espada that follows orders efficiently without letting his personal emotions get in the way. Tellingly, he's the Espada that Aizen entrusts Las Noches to while he is gone and provides the one of the most strenuous fights for Ichigo in the series.
Dull Surprise: Ulquiorra lacks any form of human emotion. The closest he gets to an expression besides line face is during battles where he's shocked, which is expressed by just barely widening his eyes. If it wasn't for dramatic speed lines or speech bubbles with exclamation marks you may not even catch that his expression changed at all. However, his repeated fights with Ichigo leads to a Villainous Breakdown, because Ichigo's refusal to give up starts to get to him. When he transforms into his true super form, the fact that Ichigo still won't stay down pisses him off to the point that he starts shouting at him. He later manages to recollect himself, and when he's about to be nuked by Ichigo's Hollow form after being caught off guard, all he does in response is stare blankly at him and say, "do it". Since he's the Espada that represents nihilism, this is to be expected.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Ulquiorra has bone-white skin and jet-black hair that both make him stand out from all other characters around him ever since his introduction. He's a symbol of nihilism and his lifeless pallor is part of his theme of not truly understanding what it means to live.
Even Evil Has Standards: Ulquiorra is a being of emptiness and thinks nothing of being cruel and merciless if his orders demand it. Despite that, he regards Nnoitra as, in his words, "repulsive scum" for suggesting he sexually abuse Orihime, and he generally has a low regard for the untethered brutality and insanity of most of his fellow Espada.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: The defining theme of his character arc is his inability to understand why Ichigo and his friends continue fighting for Orihime when they shouldn't be able to win, and their allies keep falling. He also fails to grasp friendship, love, and almost all other emotions too. When Orihime explains that this is due to the connections their hearts share, he is even more confused. It's a point which he questions again and again, to Orihime and at one instance, Ichigo.
"You're a fool, Kurosaki Ichigo. You fear my power, yet you still fight as if you think you can win. I don't understand you. If this is because of what you humans call a heart, then it is because of your hearts that humans feel pain. It's because of your hearts that you die."
Evil Counterpart:
- In the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, he most resembles Byakuya, as they both serve pretty much the same role in their respective story arcs. Both abducted one of Ichigo's close female friends and love interests, which brought him to Soul Society or Hueco Mundo; both served as recurring antagonists who repeatedly beat the crap out of Ichigo in all but their final battle, where Ichigo got the upper hand by surrendering to his inner Hollow, and so on. Both are also The Stoic, but where Byakuya is secretly Not So Stoic, Ulquiorra is actually so stoic as to be inhuman. Both also had a reoccurring problem within their arcs; where Byakuya struggled with a Pillars of Moral Character issue, Ulquiorra struggled to understand that which he was incapable of seeing. And while Byakuya goes out in a winged angel form, Ulquiorra's Release resembles a winged bat-demon.
- He's also similar to Uryu, being an aloof pale-skinned brunette who wears white and uses projectiles made from light. Both also become The Dragon for an Arc Villain, but while Uryu has a Hidden Heart of Gold, Ulquiorra is devoid of empathy.
Eye Colour Change: Upon releasing his Segunda Etapa, Ulquiorra's eyes go from green irises with white sclerae to yellow irises with dark green sclerae.
Eye Scream: His eyes can be removed and crushed to display his memories. The eye restores itself later and is apparently not painful. He goes the rest of the scene missing an eye.
Face Death with Dignity: A reflection though it may be on his absolute disconnection from emotion, Ulquiorra at the end nevertheless treats his ultimately mortal wounds calmly, holds nothing against Ichigo, and dies with peace and understanding.
Fantastic Nuke: His Lanza del Relampago is a javelin jam-packed with dense energy that creates an absolutely enormous explosion and pillar of Reishi that is comparable to a nuclear explosion when thrown. The destructive force of a single Lanza is so significant that Ishida expresses shock when Ulquiorra reveals he can simply generate a new one after throwing the first.
Fashionable Asymmetry: Ulquiorra's mask remnants only cover the left side of his head. Upon releasing the remnant's mass shifts so that it's more symmetrical, but only covers the topmost part of his head.
Finger Gun: He prefers to shoot his Ceros by pointing his index finger at his enemy and firing it.
Four Is Death: He has a ghost-like appearance, a nihilistic philosophy and demonic transformations designed to evoke death by despair. He's the fourth Espada, the lowest rank that's still considered too powerful to enter his released state while inside Las Noches, has had four Hollow transformations (Hollow, Arrancar, Resurreccíon, Segunda), his helmet transforms from four ridges to four horns, and a lot of his fights invoke the number four via chapter numbers and the number of chapters or volumes his battles span. During said fights, he manages to practically kill Ichigo twice.
Full-Frontal Assault: His clothes disappear when he transforms into his Segunda Etapa form. His lower body is covered by fur.
Gallows Humor: Realizing he had only moments left to live after being blasted by Hollow Ichigo, he tells the now-purified Ichigo to resume their fight. Ichigo refuses as he can't bring himself to fight an injured opponent. Ulquiorra muses that even when opportunity knocks, Ichigo still won't get on the same page as him.
Gone Horribly Right: Ulquiorra wanted Ichigo to realize that Hollows are the superior race. He himself was butchered by Ichigo's Hollow form.
Good Wings, Evil Wings: Upon releasing, Ulquiorra grows a pair of pitch-black bat wings that make him look like a devil.
Graceful Loser: Unlike most of the other Espada who cursed their opponents and/or broke down upon defeat, he spends his dying moments thanking Ichigo and Orihime for giving him an opportunity to find out more about what it's like to be human. In the manga, he even gives off a light smile as he dies.
Green and Mean: Green tends to be associated with Ulquiorra. His eyes and tear-markings are both emerald green, along with his Cero, when previous Arrancar had red, yellow and orange Cero.
Half the Man He Used to Be: In his final fight against Ichigo, he is overpowered by the Hollowfied Ichigo. Hollow Ichigo then pins him down and blasts him with a point-blank Cero, vaporizing half of his body. He does regenerate, thanks to his Healing Factor, but because the organs can't regenerate, it only extends his life for a little bit before he slowly disintegrates into dust.
Hannibal Lecture: He gives one to Orihime when she feels Sado's Spiritual Pressure fall yet continues to insist he isn't dead.
Ulquiorra: "What would you have me say? "Don't worry, I'm sure he's still alive"? Ridiculous. I am not here to comfort you. I don't understand: why are you so fixated on life and death? At any rate, your friends will soon be annihilated. So what if that's one step closer? They should have seen this coming from the start. If they couldn't see it coming, the fault lies in their own foolishness. Laughing them off as a group of idiots would be sufficient. Why can't you do that? If it were me, and my friends entered Hueco Mundo without first gauging their strength, I'd be infuriated by their stupidity."
Healing Factor: He's the only Espada who didn't sacrifice high-speed regeneration for greater attack strength when he became an Arrancar. He has the ability to instantly regenerate everything but major organs. Theoretically, you could break this guy's neck and he'd get up in a few minutes.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: He saves Orihime and Uryu from Hollow Ichigo in his final moments, finally coming to understand humanity just too late to make good on it.
Hellish Pupils: His pupils are slitted like a cat's, drawing attention to his emotionless lack of humanity compared to other Espada. When he activates his Resurreccíon: Segunda Etapa, the sclera of his eyes changes from white to dark green and his green irises become yellow, with his pupils still being slitted.
Hero Killer: Ulquiorra is one of the most competent and effective antagonists in the series. He blasts two Soul Reapers escorting Orihime to the Human World with a Bala that would've killed them had it not been for Orihime's healing ability. He confronts Ichigo two times in the series, and both encounters have Ichigo nearly dying. He goads Ichigo into battling him and punches a hole into his chest the first time they fight, before leaving him for dead. During their second battle, he reveals his second Resurreccíon: Segunda Etapa and brutalizes Ichigo before holding by him the neck and blasting a hole into his chest with a Cero Oscuras. Ichigo is only able to survive thanks to his inner Hollow taking control of his body and regenerating the wound.
Hey, You!: Despite spending quite a bit of time around Orihime as her jailer in Las Noches, he always directly addresses her as "woman", even in his final moments when he begins to show some level of empathy toward her. He only uses her name when he's speaking about her, not toward her.
Horned Humanoid: His mask remnants leave him with a horn on the left side of his head. His Resurreccíon extends the mask to both sides of his head to give him a pair of horns. In his Resurreccíon: Segunda Etapa, the mask remnants disappear, and the horns come directly from his head. His left horn is cut off by Hollow Ichigo's finishing slash, and he later returns the favor to stop a Cero directed at Ishida.
Horns of Villainy: As both a hollow and in both of his released states Ulquiorra has prominent horns.
Hope Crusher: He spends every interaction with Ichigo attempting to dash any hopes he has. He does this to the point that during their final battle, he could have finished Ichigo off just in his Resurreccíon alone but transformed into his Resurreccíon: Segunda Etapa just to emphasize how hopeless Ichigo's situation truly was. When Orihime arrives, he tells Orihime to watch as he blasts a Cero Oscruras through Ichigo's chest, nearly killing him. Orihime completely breaks down, begging Ichigo to help her. The cries for help manage to prompt Ichigo's Inner Hollow to possess Ichigo's body and continue the fight against Ulquiorra.
I Am Not Left-Handed: He is the only Arrancar known to have a second Release form, similar to a Zanpakutō's Bankai. He hasn't shown this to anyone but Ichigo and claims that even Aizen doesn't know about it.
Identity Amnesia: He has no memory of being anything but a Vasto Lorde, which shows how much he knew about humans to begin with. According to Unmasked, this is because he was never a human to begin with: he was born a Vasto Lorde Hollow.
Inconsistent Spelling: The official romanization is "Cifer", but Bleach: Brave Souls spells his last name as "Shifar".
Jerkass: If he's not being ordered to do a task by Aizen or is killing someone, his favorite pastime seems to be goading on people who aren't goading him on. When he informs Orihime of her friends invading Hueco Mundo, he insults her friends for their perceived stupidity in front of her, which prompts Orihime to slap him. He then threatens to force-feed Orihime if she doesn't eat her food. When he confronts Ichigo for the first time, he tells him about Rukia's near-death and rubs it in his face. When Ichigo tries to dismiss him, he goads Ichigo into fighting him by revealing that he kidnapped Orihime and had everyone in Soul Society think she turned traitor; trying to get revenge for Orihime's sake ends with Ichigo getting a hole torn open in his chest.
Kneel Before Zod: When Ichigo's Visored form proves to be evenly matched against him, Ulquiorra retreats to Los Noches' roof and unleashes his Resurrección, intending to crush Ichigo's resolve to save Orihime with despair. Growing increasingly frustrated with Ichigo's refusal to give up, he unleashes his second Resurrección: Segunda Etapa, and completely overwhelms Ichigo while demanding that he accept he cannot win.
Lack of Empathy: Unlike most examples who tend to be The Sociopath, he is flat-out incapable of comprehending - let alone feeling - human emotion. Because emotions aren't tangible concepts, and don't physically exist, he dismisses the existence of human emotion. This puts him in conflict with the highly compassionate Orihime. When Ichigo and his friends invade Hueco Mundo to save Orihime, Ulquiorra bluntly states that he isn't there to make her feel better and callously states that if he was in her position, he would be furious and curse their stupidity for invading Hueco Mundo without gauging their strength. This prompts Orihime to slap him. He then leaves but not before cruelly demanding her to eat her food, threatening to force-feed her if she doesn't. In his final moments however, he finally grasps some semblance of what human emotions entail before he finally dies.
Lean and Mean: While he has a slim build but is lightly muscular in his base form, his Resurrección: Segunda Etapa leaves him looking rather emaciated.
Lightning Bruiser: His first fight with Ichigo has him moving too fast for Ichigo to see, shrugging off his strongest attack, and nearly killing him with his bare hands. And that's before he releases. His second released form just makes it even worse. It's fairly safe to say Ichigo only wins because of his uber-Hollow form and because Ulquiorra ran out of energy to hold his form together.
Lima Syndrome: Subtly develops this toward Orihime, starting with mentally acknowledging her courage when she stands up to him, to being fascinated with her personality. His final moments are spent reaching out to her.
Little Bit Beastly: His Resurreccíon is nowhere near as bizarre or inhuman as previous Arrancar. Aside from his wings, tail and fur on his lower body he looks more human than beast. Foreshadowed by both Uryu and Toshiro, who stated that Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar have the most human-looking appearance.
Meaningful Name: His surname "Cifer" could be an allusion to the fallen angel Lucifer, foreshadowing his Resurreccíon's diabolical appearance.
Mortal Wound Reveal: After being on the receiving end of Hollow Ichigo's point-blank Cero Gigante, he manages to get back up, stop the rampage, and looks like he's about to finish his battle with Ichigo. Cue his remaining wing exploding into ash, a sign that his Healing Factor isn't working anymore. Of course, his thoughts do reveal that his internal organs aren't coming back before this, so it's more for the characters' realization than the audience's.
Near-Villain Victory: Both times he fought Ichigo, Ulquiorra left him fatally wounded. It was thanks to Orihime's healing and a sudden emergence from Hollow Ichigo that lead to his eventual defeat.
Neck Lift: During his final battle with Ichigo, he uses his prehensile tail to lift Ichigo by the throat.
Nigh-Invulnerability: His Hierro is durable enough that he was barely scratched from his fights with Ichigo, and not damaged at all from his fight with Grimmjow. He's exceptionally durable even by Arrancar standards and seems to be aware enough of this that guarding against attacks and piercing opponents with his bare hands has become a staple of his fighting style. That Hollow Ichigo was able to easily wound him is testimony to how strong the former becomes.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He mauls Ichigo during the final confrontation to get him to give up while Ichigo is doing his best and Ulquiorra isn't using his full strength.
No Mouth: As a Hollow, his mask had no mouth opening, leaving him unable to eat.
No-Nonsense Nemesis: Ulquiorra is not the type of person who goes into hammy speeches or sadism. He just chooses to get the job done as efficiently as possible. Whenever he fights against Ichigo, he does not laugh maniacally or gloat. He simply does his best to eliminate him or kill him. He has the distinction of being the only antagonist in the series to bring Ichigo to the verge of death.
No Range Like Point-Blank Range: He puts a Cero Oscuras through Ichigo's chest at point-blank range. Hollow Ichigo returns the favor with interest a few minutes later.
No-Sell: In his debut scene with Yammy his first display of power consists of negating Urahara's Benihime attack with a wave of his hand. During his first fight with Ichigo, he's not strong enough to block the Getsuga Tensho outright, but sustains only damage to his clothes. In their second battle, his Release form is strong enough to deflect a Getsuga Tensho with nothing but his spiritual pressure. In addition to all this, he often pulls the Barehanded Blade Block.
Oh, Crap!: He is inwardly alarmed when Hollow Ichigo repeatedly counters his Cero Oscuras with a normal Cero, catches his Lanza del Relámpago — which produces nuke-level explosions — barehanded and is unharmed, and bypasses his Pesquisa using Sonido.
Our Demons Are Different: The kanji for his Zanpakutō's name translate as "Black-Winged Great Demon". In his Resurreccíon, he has a gigantic pair of pitch-black bat wings, and horned helmet. His Resurreccíon: Segunda Etapa gives him an even more demonic appearance: he has a pair of long horns atop his head, a pair of bat wings, and a second pair of wings underneath. His arms are colored black with claws at fingers, and his lower half is covered in black fur, and now sporting a long black tail.
Oxymoronic Being: Masked reveals that unlike most Hollows, he was never the soul of a dead person, nor went through the Menos metamorphosize, but instead, came into being as a Vasto Lorde. Can't Fear Your Own World reveal that over a million years ago, the world was a chaotic place where life and death were mixed together, and stagnation and progress were in constant disarray. As a result, Hollows could naturally come into existence without necessarily going through the stages of evolution or being corrupted souls of dead humans. As an Arrancar, this is what enables him to go beyond Resureccion and enter a second form called Segunda Etapa, a representation of the oxymoronic origins of his Hollow race.
Perpetual Frowner: Due to his nihilistic outlook, he is constantly frowning or wearing an emotionless expression. The only time he smiles is during his death scene, when he comes to understand the importance of the human heart.
Person of Mass Destruction: His Lanza del Relampago attack packs the kind of power you'd expect from a tactical nuke, with the explosion it produces actually dwarfing the city-sized dome of Las Noches in height. After his first attempt at killing Hollow Ichigo with it fails, Ulquiorra reveals that he's capable of using this destructive technique in succession.
Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: After Hollow Ichigo curb-stomps him, pins his head with his foot, and starts charging a point-blank Cero, Ulquiorra calmly tells him to get it over with.
Ulquiorra: I see. You'll show no mercy. How very Hollow-like of you. Go ahead. I lost to you; I no longer have meaning. Do it.
Power Gives You Wings: His Resurrección, causes him to grow gigantic bat wings in addition to greatly boosting his power.
Power Makes Your Hair Grow: In his first Resurrección form, Ulquiorra's hair grows a little past shoulder length; and in his Segunda Etapa form it grows into a long mane. Both forms are accompanied by a massive increase in power.
Prehensile Tail: In his Segunda Etapa form he has a long tail that he uses to lift up Ichigo by the neck.
Red Herring: He seemed to act as Aizen's hands and had a very calm demeanor about him and a similar way of delivering a Hannibal Lecture as Aizen. All of this led Ichigo to believe he was Espada #1.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Ulquiorra's stoic nature and androgynous appearance make him the Blue Oni to the more hot-blooded and masculine Red Oni such as Ichigo, Yammy and Grimjow.
The Rival: He replaces Grimmjow as Ichigo's rival and primary antagonist for the Hueco Mundo Arc. He and Ichigo are at odds not just because of being on opposing sides, but for their conflicting ideals. Ulquiorra is a nihilist who sees no reason on why Ichigo should try so hard to defeat him, while Ichigo is determined to convince him that difference in power mean nothing. Ichigo's final fight with Ulquiorra was by far the most grueling and strenuous fight that he went through during the Arrancar Saga, and filled him with a pit of despair that Ichigo wasn't able to overcome until his fight with Aizen.
Self-Made Man: Like Starrk, he's the only other Espada who became an Arrancar the old-fashioned way: By ripping off his mask himself and claiming the power through sheer force of will, without the aid of a Hogyoku. Just like Starrk, Ulquiorra is on another level compared to the other Espada, hiding power that even Aizen wasn't privy to.
Seven Deadly Sins: Used as Theme Naming, since his final battle with Ichigo had each sin in the title; The Envy, The Greed, The Gluttony, The Pride, The Sloth, The Wrath, and The Lust 1 through 6. Chapters entitled "The Ash" and "The Heart" wrap the fight up.
Shout-Out: His ability of "recording" things with his eye and then tearing it out so other people can have access to what was recorded was faithfully based on Black Swan, a character from Saint Seiya — of which Kubo is a fan.
The Spock: He is the coldest, most ruthless, and most rational of the Espada, never letting emotions get in the way of judgement. While his comrades generally act like children, he openly describes himself as an emotionless tool for Aizen to use as he pleases. He's so analytical that his regenerative powers are even used to aid in his ability to exactly report on something he's witnessed exactly as it happened via crushing his eye. As he says, he doesn't believe in what he can't see and therefore his method of understanding the world is to analyze it as clinically as possible. The closest he ever comes to showing emotion are several cases where his eyes slightly widen and a single instance where he raises his voice.
The Stoic: Ulquiorra always speaks in a calm and in control tone, and appears either indifferent, or melancholic. Unlike Byakuya, who hides his emotions, Ulquiorra is genuinely incapable of feeling anything. His expression never goes anywhere beyond the slight raising of his eyebrows when he is surprised by something. When he has his final fight with Ichigo, he finally gets pissed at Ichigo refusing to recognize his inferiority and raises his voice for the first and last time in the series. In his final moments, he finally begins to grasp the concept of human emotion.
Straw Nihilist: Ulquiorra was rejected by his clan, which consisted mostly of black Hollows, while he himself was a white Hollow. He was forced to kill them in self-defense and wandered the endless deserts of Hueco Mundo unable to feel, eat, or hear anything. When he became an Arrancar, Ulquiorra made nihilism his personal philosophy under the logic of "if you put value in nothing, you have nothing to lose". Consequently, Ulquiorra dismisses intangible things such as emotions as being irrelevant and only places value in what he can perceive with his eyesight; to the extent that nihilism is his Aspect of Death. It's so fundamental to his nature that it's hardly even a personality aspect. This philosophy becomes the center of his conflicts with both Ichigo and Orihime. His character poem in the twenty-second volume of the series is themed on the belief that the world and all things living on it are without significance. His Image Song Our World is also about his belief that existence is without meaning. When he is nearing death, he finally starts to understand what emotions entail.
Supernatural Gold Eyes: Espada aren't supposed to have a second Resurrección, but he does. Not only does it increase his power, but there's a level of mysticism attached to it in that his Reiatsu feels completely different from his first Resurrección's. Unsurprisingly, he has the golden eyes to fit this supernatural mystery.
Tail Slap: In Segunda form, his whip-like tail becomes a long-range weapon that he uses during his battle with Ichigo.
There Is No Kill Like Overkill: After Ichigo refuses to back down despite being well and truly outclassed by Ulquiorra's released form, the Espada decides to show him just how insignificant his efforts are by transforming again, despite having no need to.
This Cannot Be!: Spoken word-for-word when Ichigo resurrects into a stronger, Hollowfied form after being fatally injured. It's the closest he has ever come to sounding genuinely intimidated.
Time Abyss: Unmasked reveals that he was born as a Vasto Lorde, as part of a race of Hollows that spontaneously came into existence. This goes against the order of the current world, but as Can't Fear Your Own World reveals, is perfectly possible in the world that existed before Soul Society came into existence. As a result, he is anywhere between a million to a hundred million years old.
Torso with a View: A strange example in that his Hollow hole changes position following his initial appearance. It starts out in his neck but ends up in his lower chest by the time he dies. In his case, it illustrates that he is without a heart, and has a complete lack of understanding of human emotion. In his Segunda Etapa, black blood leaks from it.
Tranquil Fury: When Ichigo posits that he's able to keep up with Ulquiorra because the latter is becoming more like a human, Ulquiorra scowls, splits the floor in half with his Reiastu, and steps his game up. After entering his released state, he also becomes increasingly frustrated that Ichigo refuses to give up even after he clearly showed that he could No-Sell Ichigo's strongest attack (his Hollow Mask-enhanced Gestuga Tensho) and shatter his mask with a single Cero Oscuras, to the point of raising his voice for the first time to insist that victory is impossible for him.
Underestimating Badassery: Despite him noting that Ichigo's power when on the brink of Hollowfication dwarfs his own, he dismisses Ichigo as trash not worth worrying about. Once Ichigo actually Hollowfies, he goes from dishing out a Curb-Stomp Battle to getting one dished out to him, and expresses disbelief that this could happen to him.
Villainous Rescue:
- He protects Loly and Menoly when Ichigo throws a Getsuga Tensho them. When they start to thank him he cuts them off, stating he "didn't do it for you two".
- Later, he saves Orihime and Ishida, at least indirectly, from the rampaging Hollow Ichigo, apparently believing he would win the fight if he cut off Ichigo's horn.
Wave-Motion Gun: His Cero Oscuras is a black energy beam that's magnitudes more powerful than a normal Cero, being capable of easily overpowering a Hollow mask-empowered Ichigo and vaporizing a significant portion of Las Noches' roof with one shot.
What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: He is initially unable to comprehend abstract concepts and emotions, especially love. He finally begins to understand it just before his death, while Orihime keeps reaching for his disintegrating form.
"Hearts? You humans are always talking about hearts. It's as if you have them in your hands. But my eye sees everything. Nothing can escape it. What is a heart? If I rip open your chest will I see it? If I crack open your skull will I find it in there?"
Willfully Weak:
- Upon being transformed into Arrancar, almost all of the Hollows in Aizen's army gave up their ability to quickly regenerate in exchange for a boost in raw power. He is the only known Arrancar who chose to keep his high-speed regeneration at the cost of this power-up, meaning that despite being one of the most powerful members of the Espada, he's actually not as strong as he could have been.
- Furthermore, his rank as the Fourth Espada is based upon the power of his first Resurrección only, as he intentionally kept the Segunda Etapa form a secret from even Aizen. It's all but certain that if Aizen had been aware of it, he would have ranked even higher. Indeed, the only reason he shows the form off to Ichigo at all is in an attempt to finally break his spirit by showing him he never would have defeated him even if he defeated his first Resurreccíon.
Winged Humanoid: Both his Resurrección forms have large bat-like wings, enabling him to fly at speeds faster than even skilled combatants like Ichigo can't react to.
World's Strongest Man: Despite being ranked fourth, Ulquiorra is far more powerful than he seems to be. Even before the true extent of his power is revealed, Ulquiorra states that he is forbidden from releasing his sword as its immense power could potentially destroy Las Noches itself and has to take the fight with Ichigo outside of the dome. When he releases his Resurreccíon, Ulquiorra thrashes Ichigo, who was at his absolute strongest at the time. When Ichigo refuses to give up, Ulquiorra transforms into his Resurreccíon: Segunda Etapa, revealing himself as the only Arrancar capable of unlocking a second stage of Resurreccíon. Ulquiorra states that Aizen himself isn't aware of it. If he was, he would've undoubtedly ranked higher. He proceeds to further demolish Ichigo and comes the closest out of any villain in the series to killing him. Ichigo is only able to gain the upper hand thanks to his Inner Hollow.

(#5) Quinto Espada - Nnoitra Gilga

Nnoitra Gilga

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_nnoitra_7.png

^{Resurrección}

"Ain't no chance of salvation for us. Never has been. With or without Aizen, that's never gonna change. If there's one thing I'm grateful to that guy for, it's the fact that he gave me power. Thanks to that, I've been able to savor greater battles than ever before. I'm gonna be strong. Stronger than anyone."

Species: Arrancar

Zanpakutō: Santa Teresa

Voiced by: Nobutoshi Canna (JP), Michael Sinterniklaas (EN), Eduardo Ramírez (Latin-American Spanish)

The Fifth Espada, a Death Seeker. Once, he was the Eighth Espada, but was promoted sometime after a sneak attack to Nel, the 3rd Espada of the time, whom he hates because she pitied and disrespected him. He defines the death aspect of 'Despair'. He is noted to have the greatest Hierro (iron-hard skin) amongst the Espada.

Santa Teresa, his oddly shaped... axe-like Zanpakutō, gives him six arms and six scythes, all capable of high-speed regeneration if he was to lose one or two. His number tattoo is on his tongue, and his Hollow hole is where his left eye should be - along with the remains of his Hollow mask.

Alas, Poor Villain: Clearly what the anime (with a very sad music theme) aimed at, showing him as a Nietzsche Wannabe living behind the Despair Event Horizon, with an absurdly huge overcompensated inferiority complex.
Ambiguous Situation: An interview to promote the final arc revealed which Espada will return. Grimmjow, Nel and Harribel were stated to return, as they had survived the events of the Arrancar Saga. Notably Starrk, Nnoitra and Zommari were given a small chance to return, while the other Espada were given zero, With the final arc being cut short it remains unknown what the significance of said distinction was. Starrk, Nnoitra, Zommari, Szayelaporro, and Aaroniero were killed by a Zanpakutō (Baraggan died by his own powers, Yammy of blood loss, and Ulquiorra was fatally injured by a Cero), which would mean that they were either cleansed and ended up in Soul Society or ended up in Hell.
Animal Motifs: His Resurrección, Santa Teresa, is the Spanish name for a praying mantis. His transformation grants him six arms, giving him an insect-like appearance, and his scythes are meant to evoke the image of a mantis' forelegs.
Antagonist Abilities: Specifically matched up against melee characters (like Ichigo and Kenpachi), Nnoitra is problematic to fight. In addition to an inherent Damage Reduction via his Hierro, he is also Multi-Armed and Dangerous in Resurrección, allowing him to deflect his opponent's weapon with one limb and then immediately counter and overwhelm them with all the others. He can even regenerate these limbs if one happens to be chopped off.
Arch-Enemy: Nel and Nnoitra have incompatible philosophies. She believes in never fighting without reason and avoiding it if possible, he believes fighting itself is a reason to fight. He hates women, especially women in positions of authority over him, as Nel used to be and Harribel is. Nel dismisses his philosophy and refuses to see him as a warrior. As a result, she feels he needs to be watched over to prevent himself from getting into more trouble than he can handle. Eventually, he rips off her Fracción' masks, smashes her mask, and throws her out of Las Noches.
Ax-Crazy: Nnoitra delights in combat and bloodshed. He is sadistic, bloodthirsty, and battle hungry, which is rather fitting as he is Kenpachi's Evil Counterpart. When he was the 8th Espada, he slaughtered a group of Hollows despite not being ordered to do so, all while laughing like a mad man.
Blood Knight: He is basically the Espada equivalent to Kenpachi in this department. Nnoitra revels in combat more than any of the other Espada, and even tells Nelliel that alcohol can't compare to the euphoric feeling he gets in a battle. However, he differs from other examples in the series in that he is not above fighting dirty, exploiting weaknesses and getting frustrated when a battle drags on for too long. His goal in life is to either prove he's the strongest or die fighting to the very end.
Boring, but Practical: His Resurrección doesn't have crazy or special techniques that the other current Espadas have. All he gets are six arms, six scythes and a Healing Factor that allows him to regrow his arms, but his regeneration abilities aren't nearly as strong as Ulquiorra's. The increase of his Reiatsu is enough to make him a serious challenge against Captain-class enemies.
Combat Pragmatist: In his words, a fight is meant to be won, so dirty tactics are fair game. He ambushes Ichigo just after his intense battle with Grimmjow ^note so that the Soul Reaper would be too exhausted to successfully defend himself, and goes the extra mile by having Tesra take Orihime hostage to further dissuade Ichigo from fighting back. In the past, he also used a device supplied to him by Szayelaporro to trick Nelliel into attacking an illusion of himself so he could deal her a grievous wound while her back was turned. Everyone calls him out on this, as these are the actions of a coward, not a noble warrior. He rebukes these claims by claiming a battle is "unfair" by nature.
Nnoitra: This is a battle. Of course it's gonna be unfair. That which is called 'battle' was a monster originally born of unfairness and intolerance. I can't stand that guy. I can beat that guy. I can't forgive that guy. We make enemies for all sorts of reasons, and from the moment you make an enemy, until one of you draws his last breath - you're in a battle.
Death Seeker: Basically, Nnoitra's life goal is to kill every single person he meets, until he is either the strongest person in existence or killed in the act. He has no problem with either option and the second one is what actually occurs.
Despair Event Horizon: Hit it at some point in the past and kept right on going. "None of us is getting redemption." Baraggan states that he represents the aspect of death that is 'despair'. His oversized inferiority complex and Nelliel's pity and Condescending Compassion didn't help matters.
Determinator: He manages to stand back up after Kenpachi nearly cuts him half through sheer force of will.
Don't You Dare Pity Me!: One of the things he hates above all else is being pitied. A huge part of his hatred towards Nelliel is due to her insistence in the past on following him around and keeping him out of trouble on the grounds that he was weaker than her. Just before his death, he muses on how much it hurts to be pitied, equating it to having someone stomp on an open wound. Though he doesn't help his own case when he goes out of his own way to antagonize others as much as possible, even when they are stronger than he is and would actually come to respect him more if he simply show some damn humility and honor.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Nnoitra is a deeply unpleasant individual, but he does have a redeeming factor in his care for his Fraccíon, Tesra, who is described as his only confidant. When Tesra is stricken down, Nnoitra is silently devastated.
Evil Counterpart: Similar in some ways to Kenpachi as a bloodthirsty, fight-loving psycho with the desire to fight strong enemies, but Nnoitra is strongly distinguished by character traits, such as genuine lechery, misogyny, pettiness, arrogance, and an inferiority complex. The core of their insanity is also different: Kenpachi fights for fun and can get serious when he realizes that his life is on the line, while Nnoitra is a Death Seeker whose greatest desire is to be slain in battle; Nnoitra is obsessed with proving he is the absolute strongest, Kenpachi loves finding out the opponent might be stronger than him. However, when a fight drags on too long, Nnoitra gets frustrated. Zaraki, on the other hand, loves a long hard battle. Nnoitra has vowed to never show mercy to his opponents, while Kenpachi will spare an opponent who’s too injured to continue so he can have a rematch. A visual parallel is also drawn with Nnoitra's eyepatch, which is later replaced with a scar identical to Kenpachi's after taking a strong slash to the face and chest.
Evil Is Petty: Nnoitra absolutely despises being pitied and will pay back anyone who does. He attacked Nelliel because she didn't consider him a true warrior. During a fight, his Fracción Tesra runs to see if he is okay, only to punched across the ground for his trouble. He also has a derogatory view of women; his hatred of Nelliel is partly because she is a woman of higher rank than he is, he sadistically ripped off the masks of her Fracción solely to goad her to fight him out of spite, and acts lecherous towards Orihime forcing his fingers in her mouth to watch Tesra kill Ichigo, even suggesting to Ulquiorra that he should "discipline" her.
Evil Laugh: Pulls one off after injuring Kenpachi with his hidden pair of arms, thinking he dealt him a serious blow.
Eyepatch of Power: Wears an eyepatch over his left eye to conceal his Hollow hole, as well as his mask remnants around it. He is also strong enough to go toe-to-toe to Kenpachi.
Face Death with Dignity: He dies having gotten the death he always wanted and falls accepting his death.
Hate Sink: Even amongst the Espada's he stands out as one of the worst. He's rude, foul-mouthed, selfish, and overall evil bastard of a man who has no regard for anyone but himself and loves killing anyone who stands in his way. However, this trope is downplayed by the time of his death, which sheds some sympathy on his character.
He-Man Woman Hater: He kept picking fights with Nelliel because he refused to accept women could be stronger than men and loathed her pity. At a meeting, he mocks Harribel, claiming she's too scared to fight. His suggestions on what Ulquiorra could do his "pet" Orihime drew Ulquiorra's disgust. Later, he shoves his fingers into Orihime's mouth to silence her, a gesture so loaded in Japan that the animators censored the scene into having a hand clamped over her mouth instead.
Healing Factor: His released form can regrow any arm that Kenpachi cuts off. The regeneration does not seem to extend beyond his arms, though.
Hey, You!: He never refers to Soul Reapers by name (except Aizen). When he asks Ichigo by his name, Nnoitra initally seems to go on Last-Name Basis with him like Grimmjow does, but soon he has already forgotten it. Kenpachi, on the other hand, does remember Nnoitra's name after killing him.
High Collar of Doom: You could be forgiven for assuming that spoon-like piece of clothing that juts out high above his head was some kind of hat. It's actually the collar of his shirt.
Horned Humanoid: His released form has asymmetrical horns that look like a crescent driven halfway through his skull.
Hypocrite:
- During his fight with Ichigo, Nnoitra tells him that he hates people who keep on attacking despite knowing they have no chance of winning… when he himself kept picking fights with Nelliel in their backstory despite the fact that she effortlessly defeated him every single time until he resorted to dirty tactics.
- He hates fighting "weak" opponents yet has no problem attacking "strong" opponents when they are not at 100%. (Ichigo and Grimmjow after their battle). Naturally, this is another reflection of his Inferiority Superiority Complex.
- He mocks Grimmjow for his loss against Ichigo, calling him a Sore Loser, which is telling since Nnoitra whole motive against Nelliel is because he can't stand he lost to a woman and went to severe lengths to get back at her because of how butt hurt he was over losing to a woman.
- He can't stand the idea of being pitied on by others, yet he has the gall to pity Chad after defeating him and leave him for dead.
I Am Not Left-Handed: His Resurrección looks like it has four arms, but it really has six. He also has a very powerful Healing Factor, just in case anyone actually manages to damage him.
Improbable Weapon User: His Zanpakutō is...odd, to say the least. The best way to describe it would be to call it an enormous crescent shaped scythe with an identical crescent blade stacked on top of it, facing the other direction. As a result of it's bizarre design, he's rarely able to hit an opponent with the blades of the weapon except when charging with the Zanpakutō pointed forward like a spear, and instead opts to simply swing it like a club. In the past, his Zanpakutō had a slightly different, though equally strange appearance, being only one large crescent blade facing upward.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Nnoitra proclaims himself the strongest Espada, acting extremely egotistical during his fights. But beneath his arrogant front is man with a deep inferiority complex. He had an inability to win fights, especially against Nelliel who at the time was the 3rd Espada. That, combined with Nelliel pitying him for his destructive stupidity, caused him to develop a grudge against her that motivated him to attack her. As his fight with Kenpachi starts to drag on, he gets increasingly more desperate and frustrated over being unable to beat the mighty Captain. He hates being spared by an opponent, viewing it as the biggest disrespect to a warrior.
Jerkass: Abrasive, vulgar, and misogynistic, he admits he loathes women holding higher ranks than himself, and displays no respect for Harribel now or Nel in the past as a result. His enmity with Nel extended to their incompatible battle philosophies. His botched attempt to murder her and her Fracción led to their de-powering and exile. Even the emotionless Ulquiorra recoils in disgust when Nnoitra implies the captive Orihime should be raped. When later restraining her, Nnoitra shoves two fingers into her mouth, a gesture associated with Japanese porn that the anime changes into a more chaste gagging scene. Naturally, nobody likes him, save for his subordinate Tesra; of course, Nnoitra is a dick to him too, even though he does cares for Tesra's well-being.
Kick the Dog: He loves doing this.
- He goes out of his way to restrain Orihime and force her to watch as Tesra tortures an already battered Ichigo for seemingly no other reason than for his own amusement.
- In a flashback, he ruthlessly rips off Nelliel's Fracción' masks out of spite to force Nel to fight him by "giving her a reason".
- He deliberately attacks Grimmjow when the latter was half dead from fighting Ichigo and tries to kill him despite Grimmjow himself never having done anything to him. The fact he did so was likely because he just wanted to make Grimmjow suffer even more over his loss to Ichigo.
Kick Them While They Are Down: He attacks both Grimmjow and Ichigo after their battle when neither of them are in any condition to fight back. He then goes on to essentially torture Ichigo as the the Soul Reaper desperately tries to defend himself and he makes Orihime watch.
Lack of Empathy: Is utterly devoid of any compassion or respect for anyone but himself and Tesra. This is reflecting on his fighting style, having no code of honor or willingness to acknowledge anyone as a worthy foe.
The Law of Diminishing Defensive Effort: When he fights an exhausted Ichigo, he realizes that he can simply grab Tensa Zangetsu and muses that he wasted energy evading it beforehand. He's visibly shocked when Nelliel easily cuts him. Kenpachi starts out doing no better than Ichigo, leading Nnoitra to repeatedly boast that Kenpachi's blade will never cut him, but takes evasive action when he gets pinned down and nearly stabbed in the face. When Kenpachi lampshades this trope by pointing out that obviously he must have seen some danger, Nnoitra brushes off his evasion as something that any trained warrior would naturally do.
Lean and Mean: Nnoitra is a misogynistic, battle-obsessed sadist who is among the most-unpleasant of the Espada, and has an incredibly stringy physique (though his torso is still muscular). Ichigo is astonished at the force of his Zanpakutō swing despite his lanky arms.
Maniac Tongue: His tongue is strangely long, and he often sticks it out to either display his rank tattooed on it or to fire Ceros from the tip, giving him an even more psychotic appearance.
Mighty Glacier: Nnoitra is not a very fast fighter and rarely uses Sonído during a fight. But his attacks are powerful and his Hierro is top-notch.
Moral Myopia: He decides that Chad is Not Worth Killing, claiming that nobody will think better of him for killing weaklings. Later, Nnoitra is shown to have a massive inferiority complex and hates it when people show him mercy because they think he's too weak and he claims he'll cut anyone down, whether they can fight back or not.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: In Resurección, he can fight with up to six arms, each one holding a weapon. He can also manifest as many as he wants at any one time, allowing him to attack with four and then reveal the remaining two at the worst possible moment.
Next Tier Power-Up: Nnoitra's appearance during his feud with Nelliel is different from his appearance during the Espada arc, implying that he was upgraded by Aizen using the Hōgyoku.
No-Sell: Chad's best attack doesn't budge him (despite immediately previous TKOing a Privaron Espada), and an exhausted Ichigo's blade harmlessly bounces off his skin.
Nonstandard Character Design: His eyes are thinner than every single major character's so far, and the large upper teeth. (Rather like Shinji's, oddly enough.)
Noodle People: He's extremely tall — being more than two meters tall —, thin and lanky. Ichigo lampshades it when he notes that Nnoitra is surprisingly strong despite his lanky body.
Not Worth Killing: Spares Chad's life after defeating him, explaining to Tesra that he's not going to waste energy finishing off someone who's as good as dead already. He hates it when his opponents show this attitude towards him, on the other hand.
Organ Dodge: Kenpachi tries to stab him through his head and into his brain. Luckily for Nnoitra, Kenny stabbed him through his Eyepatch of Power, which actually hides his Hollow hole, so he hits nothing but air and Nnoitra uses this opportunity to stab Kenpachi through the chest with his hand.
Pet the Dog: He cares enough for his Fracción Tesra to warn him to get away from Kenpachi after sensing the latter's power. The databooks confirm that Tesra is Nnoitra's "confidant", and that Nnoitra experiences "shaken grief" when Tesra is cut down.
Rule of Symbolism: According to the databook, Nnoitra is symbolic of an "Asura" from Buddhist theology. An Asura is essentially a deity that has become addicted to anger, violence, sadism, and envy and is utterly incapable of solving any conflict with anything less than violence and death. They are also egotistical to a fault, and feel a compulsion to look down upon others.
Sir Swears-a-Lot: Holy hell, is he ever. Nnoitra easily stands out as one of the most foul-mouthed characters of the manga.
Seven Deadly Sins: According to a Kubo Tite interview, some of the Espada were modeled after the Seven Deadly Sins. Considering Nnoitra's history with Nel and with his general desire to be stronger than anyone else, his sin is probably Envy.
Slasher Smile: As a Blood Knight, he lives for battle... and hopes to die that way, too. Anything that involves or leads to violence and bloodshed is something that makes him grin.
Slaying Mantis: While he does have Asura symbolism going on, animal-wise Nnoitra is heavily associated with mantises, with his Zanpakutō "Santa Teresa" meaning "Praying Mantis" in Spanish and his Resurrección being a multi-limbed being with Sinister Scythes evocative of a mantis's forelegs.
Small Name, Big Ego: Despite being the Quinto Espada, ranked below four (five if one includes Yammy's 0 Espada ranking), he claims to be the strongest Espada due his hardened skin that's more durable than most Arrancar. A large part of it plays in how he deals with his crippling insecurities about his weakness and a putting a front to disguise it
The Sociopath: Nnoitra believes that Hollows are damned souls who shouldn't bother with things like "redemption" or trying to better themselves, and thus he sees nothing wrong with trying to kill anyone and everyone in his path as he seeks to become either the strongest around or gets killed in battle by someone stronger, both of which he longs for. He loathes Nel because she pitied him, and attempted to kill her and her Fracción to achieve a higher rank in the Espada. He savagely attacks Ichigo, breaking his arm, and forces Orihime to watch Tesra give a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to Ichigo, taking sadistic glee in their anguish. Even Ulquiorra, who is incapable of feeling emotions is disgusted with him when Nnoitra displays lecherous intent towards Orihime. The only person he's ever shown a smidgen of care for is his Fracción Tesra.
Sore Loser: Easily one of the worst in the series. As his entire motivation against Nel was because he could never beat her, and with her constantly belittling him, made him obsessed with beating her one day, even if he had to resort to cheating to get some payback on her.
Super-Toughness: Even by the standards of the Arrancar, Nnoitra's Hierro was considered exceptional. His skin is durable enough that his hand only produces sparks by grabbing hold of Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu, and takes multiple hits from Kenpachi's blade with no visible damage, until Kenpachi finally gets used to the toughness of his skin.
Tombstone Teeth: The current page image. Nnoitra has a mouth full of uniformly rectangular teeth, and unless he's speaking it's impossible to tell where his upper jaw's teeth end and his lower jaw's teeth begin. This serves to accentuate his creepiness, as he's usually baring them in a Slasher Smile.
Took a Level in Badass: He was previously the 8th Espada at some point in the past, but managed to claw his way up to 5th, and given the tough-ass time he gave Kenpachi, he seems to have earned it. Nelliel was once so strong she could beat him down, without taking in a scratch, as Nnoitra is bloodied up. When they meet in the current timeline, Nnoitra is an even match for Nelliel, as none of her attacks did any significant damage to him. Nnoitra is also a recognition that the Espada have improved greatly since Nelliel's expulsion.
Torso with a View: His Hollow hole is in his head, in place of one of his eyes. It's normally covered by his eyepatch, so when Kenpachi stabs him through it expecting an instant kill, it simply passes harmlessly through his head.
Tragic Villain: Nnoitra is a horrible person and an absolute Jerkass, there's no denying it. However, there's a smidgen of sympathy regarding his character: For all of his bravado and assholish personality, Nnoitra is ultimately just a Death Seeker with a huge Inferiority Superiority Complex who evolved in the likes of Hueco Mundo, leading him to see himself and his species Beyond Redemption. The aforementioned complex was even more aggravated by Nelliel's constant Condescending Compassion, consistently belittling him, disrespecting him, refusing to even see him as a fellow warrior, which ultimately pushed his Rage Breaking Point.
Variable-Length Chain: The chain attached to the hilt of his weapon can grow and shrink in length, which he puts to use by extending it long enough to swing his Zanpakutō around like a flail.
Victory by Endurance: Nnoitra uses this against Ichigo. After Ichigo defeats Grimmjow and apparently rescued Orihime, Nnoitra announces his presence by one-shoting the exhausted Grimmjow before thrashing the equally exhausted Ichigo. In Nnoitra's case, this was triply assholish because Ichigo, Grimmjow and Orihime were all equally fair game in his eyes.
Villainous Breakdown: Kenpachi's clear enjoyment of what appears to Nnoitra to be a losing battle starts to strongly unnerve Nnoitra. As Kenpachi continues to laugh and enjoy himself, Nnoitra descends into raving and swearing at him. Eventually, this psychological edge causes Nnoitra to be too shaken to think to defend himself when Kenpachi finally goes for a killing strike, crippling him in one blow.
Worthy Opponent: He begrudgingly considers Nelliel this. After he and Szayelaporro conspired to throw her out of Las Noches, Nnoitra laments that the one thing he'll miss about her is the fact their blades will never cross again.
Would Hurt a Child: As noted above, he has zero qualms about brutalizing Nel in her child form. He also attempts to go after Yachiru when it looks like he's killed Zaraki. Fortunately for Yachiru and unfortunately for Nnoitra, Zaraki isn't going to go down that easily.
Yachiru: "You should watch out! Ken-chan'll get mad if you start attacking me!"

Characters / Bleach: Espadas 1 - 5

Contains unmarked spoilers

Coyote Starrk

Lilynette Gingerbuck

Baraggan Louisenbairn

Tier Harribel

Ulquiorra Cifer

Nnoitra Gilga

Alternative Title(s): Bleach Ulquiorra Cifer

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Characters / Bleach: Espadas 1 - 5

Edit Locked

Contains unmarked spoilers

Coyote Starrk

Lilynette Gingerbuck

Baraggan Louisenbairn

Tier Harribel

Ulquiorra Cifer

Nnoitra Gilga

Alternative Title(s): Bleach Ulquiorra Cifer

Previous

Index

Next