Specifications

Who will be included?

Among Aizen’s larger army of Arrancar, the Espada is a specific designation given only to the ten strongest at any given time. Unlike the lesser Arrancar at Aizen’s disposal, the Espada’s assigned number rankings are based solely on the power of the individual, with numbers 0 through 9 establishing their hierarchy of strength. That said, there are many characters who could arguably qualify as “Espada” by technicality. Sosuke Aizen, for instance, was considered the organization’s leader despite not being an Arrancar at all, and his subordinate shinigami, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tōsen, could also be seen as extensions of the group.

There are also lower ranked Arrancar with number designations in the triple digits who are known as the “Privaron Espada”, prior members who were demoted due to being surpassed by the current members. Even outside of internal demotions, there is also the matter of Nelliel tu Odelschwanck, the former number 3 who left the organization after being crippled by one of its members, and Luppi Antenor, who temporarily replaced Grimmjow as the number 6 when Grimmjow lost his arm, only for Grimmjow to regain the arm and promptly kill him, retaking his spot. Lastly, each of the Espada are responsible for underlings of their own called Fracción, Arrancar who are basically their personal subordinates.

All in all, we will first and foremost be focusing on Arrancar, thus excluding shinigami like Aizen, Gin, and Tōsen. Aizen in particular also falls under a similar purview as Juubito; he’s his own thing distinct from the Espada themselves, and would render all of them irrelevant to the fight. Secondly, we will largely be excluding Fracción from the equation with a couple key exceptions. The “Espada” as a term refers only to the top 10 Arrancars, and the Fracción are all lesser and would not fall under the designation. However, there are two key exceptions to this. The number 1 Espada, Coyote Starrk, has a Fracción named Lilynette whom he fuses with in order to enter his Resurrección (his transformation). Because she is integral to his combat abilities, and is actually the counterpart half of Starrk himself, she will be included as part of his arsenal. Similarly, the number 8 Espada, Szayelaporro Granz, has several Fracción that he specifically modified for his own use in combat, serving as tools for him in battle. These will also be included for the sake of granting him his full combat potential, especially since we will be doing something similar for the Shichibukai Gecko Moria and his zombies.

This policy with the Fracción will also extend to the Privaron Espada such as Dordoni, Cirucci, and Mosqueda, as they were all demoted due to falling behind the current Espada in power. Since they aren’t strong enough to be Espada anymore, they’ll be excluded for a similar reason as the Fracción. However, both Nel and Luppi will be treated differently. Since both of them were relevant members of the Espada during the story, and both were removed from the group for reasons other than being too weak, both will be included here, in alignment with our policies on former Akatsuki such as Orochimaru, and former Warlords who were kicked out or left.

As such, the included members will be Starrk, Baraggan, Harribel, Nel, Ulquiorra, Nnoitra, Grimmjow, Luppi, Zommari, Szayelaporro, Aaroniero, and Yammy.

Visibility

In the context of Bleach, spiritual beings like Shinigami, Hollows, Pluses, and so on are invisible to the normal human eye, impossible to perceive through sight or hearing by anyone who lacks spiritual awareness – though notably, even ordinary humans are able to touch Hollows, as stated by Rukia. Naturally, this has led to some complications in some debates regarding whether the Bleach character can be seen by their opponent at all, and whether their natural invisibility could be seen as an instant-win against some opponents. So this begs the question of how this will be handled for this blog.

It should be noted first of all that it doesn’t take that much spiritual awareness to see these beings in the first place. Even characters in Bleach like Tatsuki who lack their own powers but have some minimal degree of innate spiritual attunement can do so. And in both Naruto and One Piece, there are plenty of examples of characters being able to see souls and spirits. In Naruto, people are able to see Dan’s ghost form and the Reaper used for the Reaper Death Seal, as well as souls being released from the Reanimation Jutsu. In One Piece, people are able to see Perona’s ghosts, Brook’s spirit when he projects it from his body, and the souls that Big Mom can pull out of her victims with her Devil Fruit. This is not anything reliant on any specific ability in either verse; everyone by default possesses the awareness needed to see spirits.

This is to say that we will be proceeding under the assumption that everyone involved in this battle royale will be able to see the Espada. To be entirely honest, even if there weren’t examples like the ones listed above, we would “probably” be making that specification from the beginning anyway. While it isn’t an unwarranted topic of discussion… entirely… we’re ultimately here to talk about what would happen if these characters fought, not what would happen if the Akatsuki and Warlords found themselves haunted by ghosts one day. Frankly, as far as we’re concerned, we’re not really sure why anyone would want to talk about a VS match where one side can’t even see or interact with the other in the first place. It’s not what most people are here for, it’s boring and lame, no one cares. If you want to argue that the Espada neg because no one can see them, then fine I guess. You’re free to think that. It’s not what we’ll be discussing here, however. 

Thousand Year Blood
War/Novels Scaling

The Espada are primarily known for being the main threats in the Arrancar Saga, and the majority of them only appeared in that part of the story, with Starrk, Baraggan, Ulquiorra, Nnoitra, Zommari, Szayel, Aaroniero, and Yammy all perishing by the time of Aizen’s defeat. 

However, there were four members – Grimmjow, Luppi, Nel and Harribel – who survived (er, sort of, in Luppi’s case), with three of them going on to rebuild Hueco Mundo, and eventually returning in the final arc of the series, the Thousand Year Blood War. In this arc, Grimmjow, Luppi and Nel play supporting roles in the conflict against Yhwach and his Quincies, with Harribel being sidelined due to having been defeated by Yhwach himself. Grimmjow in particular not only saved several key players on the Shinigami’s side of the war, but later even proved essential in the defeat of one of Yhwach’s elite royal guards. After the war, Grimmjow and Nel rescued Harribel from her imprisonment, and the three of them continued to work together as allies, returning again in the post-series Can’t Fear Your Own World novels, where they assist in battle against the antagonists there. 

Throughout these later appearances, the surviving members of the Espada showcase greater feats of power and ability, as they contend with the series’ newer, stronger foes. Although the Espada as an organization is no more by the time these things happen, as Aizen had been long-defeated, similar to how the other groups are being handled, these characters will have access to any and all powers and scaling showcased in later material, to properly represent them at their full potential.

Cien

So, Cien. You might be wondering if you don’t know the Bleach light novels, who the fuck is Cien? Well, he’s a clone of Szayelaporro from the light novel Bleach: Spirits Are Forever With You. Key word: clone. Not the real Szayel, a different character. Who isn’t an Espada member. So he’s not included, right?

Well, yes and no. See, the secret backstory for Szayel that you’d never know if you only read the manga is, way in the past he was the Cero – the zero-ranked – Espada, the strongest of them all. However, this changed when he split himself into two beings, Szayelaporro Granz, and his brother, Yylfordt Granz, both of whom appear in the manga in the modern day. In splitting himself, Szayel lost a lot of his power, dropping out of the Espada entirely for a while, before eventually developing new powers and rising back up through the ranks, eventually reaching the number 8 spot that he resided at during the events of the story.

Cien, as he appears in the novel, is a clone of the original Szayelaporro from the past, with all the power of the original zeroth Espada. In a sense, he represents what the “prime” Szayelaporro would have been like. With this in mind, although Cien himself is a separate character who cannot be included, his feats and statements are still relevant when judging the peak of Szayel’s own potential, as we are doing for all the characters here.

“Beyond Resurrección”/Hogyoku

In the mobile game Bleach: Brave Souls, every single member of the Espada possesses a new transformation known as a state “Beyond Resurrección”, achieved through merging their bodies with the Hogyoku. For those of you who aren’t familiar and don’t remember Madara VS Aizen, the Hogyoku is an extremely powerful MacGuffin capable of manifesting the desires of the person using it. In the series, Aizen merges himself with the Hogyoku, and its power is what facilitates his rapid evolution into his higher forms, like the White one and the Butterfly one. It also makes him nigh unkillable, even against anything in the Soul Society.

In the hands of the Espada in the game, the Hogyoku likewise elevates them to new levels of power, granting them higher forms that drastically enhance their potential. For example, Baraggan’s Respira gains a wide enough range of effect to destroy the Moon. However, obviously, none of the Espada do anything like this in canon. None of them ever even had the Hogyoku canonically, let alone used it, let alone merged with it entirely the way Aizen did. They also cannot realistically coexist, as there is only one Hogyoku and there is no precedent in canon for numerous people to merge with it at the same time, rather than just one.

As such, as cool as the forms are, they cannot be included in good faith, as they are simply too far removed from canon, similar to how we excluded Itachi’s Perfect Susanoo from Storm. 

Espada

Background

When the Shinigami Captain, Sosuke Aizen, betrayed the Soul Society in his quest to ascend to the Soul King’s Palace, he had to amass a powerful army in order to confront the Gotei 13 whenever they inevitably came to stop him. He did this by setting up a base in Hueco Mundo, and forcing many of its inhabitant Hollows to undergo the process of becoming Arrancar, unmasked Hollows capable of matching the powers of a Shinigami. Standing at the very top of that army were the Espada, the ten most powerful followers Aizen had at his disposal. With their incredible power, they led the rest of Aizen’s armies while taking on orders directly from the mastermind himself. At first, they simply grew in power while recruiting other powerful Hollows, but once Aizen got his hands on the Hogyoku, a sphere with the power to completely shatter the boundaries between Shinigami and Hollow, the Espada became powerful enough to go on direct missions to the World of the Living and do battle against the Captains of the Gotei 13.

Things quickly took a turn when Espada Quatro, Ulquiorra, discovered the human Orihime, who possessed the mysterious power to revert all phenomena. Under Aizen’s orders, he kidnapped her, as they planned to utilize her unique abilities to prevent the Hogyoku from deteriorating from constant use. This, in turn, resulted in an invasion of Hueco Mundo by Substitute Shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki, his friends, and a group of Captains, who did battle against many of the Espada while in their quest to retrieve her. Of course, this was all part of Aizen’s plan from the start. Kidnapping Orihime was a distraction from the start, and his real plan was to make the Soul Society divide its numbers while Aizen, his cohorts, and Espadas Uno to Tres invaded Karakura Town, where they would sacrifice all of its inhabitants to allow Aizen to ascend to true godhood. However, the Gotei 13 were prepared for his scheme, setting up a fake version of the town to lure in Aizen and have a final showdown against the Espada. 

The result of these conflicts were the deaths of nearly every single member of the Espada and the eternal imprisonment of Sosuke Aizen. With their leader defeated and most of their members dead, the Espada as they once were ceased to be entirely.

Teamwork & Group Dynamics

The Espada, as Hollows, have a tendency to instinctively seek conflict and battle, as killing is fundamental for a Hollow’s growth. However, they are willing to follow one with greater power than their own, which is how Sosuke Aizen managed to keep them all in line while acting as their leader. In operations, the Espada tended to act primarily on their own or accompanied by their Fraccions, with few exceptions such as Yammy and Ulquiorra both heading to the World of the Living in search of humans with powerful spiritual pressure. Espada with smaller numbers such as Starrk, Barragan and Harribel were typically sent out for more important missions than the rest, due to their greater power.

The Primera, Starrk, is one of the few members of the Espada with a true sense of comradery for his fellow Arrancar. Due to the loneliness that he experienced for most of his time in the sands of Hueco Mundo, he sees the Espada, Hollows powerful enough to be able to exist alongside him without dying, as his friends, being one of the only members with a clear sense of loyalty to the group as a whole. This is in direct contrast to the Segunda, Baraggan, who sees himself as the God of Hueco Mundo and believes all other Arrancar to be beneath him, attempting to take leadership of the group the moment Aizen was out of the picture despite Starrk and Harribel, who were of a similar rank to him, still being present.

Both members to take the role of Tres Espada, Nel and Harribel, are strongly against the Hollow mentality of killing to increase power, and as such are easily the most friendly and least aggressive of the entire group, notably having taken the role as King of Hueco Mundo together once the Thousand Year Blood War had reached its conclusion. As such, they are very likely to be capable of organizing the group and keeping the more bloodthirsty members in check, something they have been shown to be capable of doing with Grimmjow in the events of Can’t Fear Your Own World.

Ulquiorra does not care much for his fellow Arrancar, only obeying the orders of Aizen throughout the entirety of their war against the Shinigami, but has been shown to be extremely severe to Yammy while the two were working together, going as far as attacking the Decimo Espada over his recklessness. Overall, while he can be strict with his inferiors, Ulquiorra is someone who is willing to follow all orders given to him by a superior, and can be seen as one of the most reliable of the Espada. Yammy, on the other hand is one of the most unreliable of the group, tending to let his emotions dictate most of his decisions while on missions and recklessly following his instincts regardless of orders.

Nnoitra, Grimmjow and Luppi are all overly destructive and bloodthirsty battle-seekers and will go out of their way to enter conflict in most situations. But while Grimmjow can be reasoned with by others such as Nel and Harribel, typically by using his desire to protect Hueco Mundo so it can be a battlefield for his duel with Ichigo as leverage, and Luppi is mostly capable of helping the group out despite his grudge against Grimmjow, Nnoitra’s suicidal nature and raging chauvinism make him a lot less willing to working alongside members like Nelliel, and more certain to look for the strongest opponents in the battlefield so that they can kill him in battle.

Zommari has never had any notable interactions with any other Espada, working completely alone the one fight he had in Aizen’s war against the Soul Society and at most calling out Aaroniero for not being capable of truly killing Rukia and deciding to “clean up his mess”, but he seemed to be greatly loyal to Aizen and his cause.

Szayelaporro, being a scientist first and a fighter second, typically stays back at his lab collecting data from the battles fought by his Fraccion or other Espada members in order to prepare his many gadgets. Notably he has worked alongside Nnoitra to take out Nelliel due to both of them sharing “common interests” at the time. Aaroniero has not notably interacted with the rest of the Espada in the main canon, but in the tie-ins for the fourth movie, they were completely willing to kill Szayelaporro the moment they realized that Aizen was not around, showing that they had no care for their fellow Espada in the slightest and would have attempted to kill them at any time if they could get away with it. Szayelaporro notably only doesn’t share such feelings due to him prioritizing figuring out where the two of them were, and would have likely also attempted to kill Aaroniero otherwise.

Overall, the Espada greatly struggle when it comes to properly working as a group, but some specific members are more than capable of keeping things in check and preventing the more aggressive members from going out of control, though in-fighting will likely remain an issue no matter what.

Verse Mechanics

Arrancar Physiology

Arrancar are Hollows who have removed their masks to gain the abilities of a Shinigami, granting them the ability to wield a Zanpakuto. Regarding the abilities intrinsic to them, even the weakest of Hollows have the ability to evict souls, devour them, and seal them in other bodies. As spiritual entities all Hollows are imperceptible, even more so than common Spirits as those with spiritual sensitivity can’t view them at all. As in the case of other souls, Hollows / Arrancar are also not composed of physical matter, but a spiritual particle called Reishi.

Although they often seek and devour souls, within environments composed of Reishi such as Hueco Mundo, they can sustain themselves indefinitely by absorbing it into themselves. Arrancar can also cloak their spiritual pressure to prevent Shinigami from detecting them, due to Aizen modifying them. And although nothing explicitly states spiritual entities are immortal, they have been known to live for centuries, if not thousands to millions of years.

Furthermore, Souls within Bleach also encompass the mind and things such as memories. Spiritual entities are also naturally more resilient to attacks due to their life force being entwined with their Reiryoku, allowing them to survive fatal blows to the heart, and lungs. The very presence of Hollows and thus Arrancars by extension are poisonous, causing those who mingle with their energies to suffer soul collapse and eventually death should they lack a natural resistance to them.

Every Hollow of Gillian-Class or beyond also has access to Negacion, a beam of light which pulls its target into another world and prevents them from being attacked.

Reiryoku & Reiatsu

Reiryoku or Spiritual Power is an energy that is generated by all beings, which grants Shinigami and Hollows their powers. Its most fundamental application is the ability to perceive souls and Hollows, which are typically imperceptible to those that lack any spiritual power. A being’s Reiryoku density corresponds to their physical statistics such as strength and speed. When one’s Reiryoku exceeds their opponent’s, they become impervious to their attacks, and can cause them to suffer the force of their own strikes. In moments of near death, a being’s Reiryoku can increase dramatically, allowing them to survive an attack they would otherwise perish to. Beings with potent Reiryoku can resist effects which cause Reishi bonds to break down. Shinigami of higher power can also physically touch the spirit ribbons, while those of lesser spiritual strength cannot.

Reiatsu or Spiritual Pressure is the force exerted by Reiryoku when it is released. When one’s Reiatsu is greater than those within their vicinity, it can induce various effects such as unconsciousness, fear, weakness, subjugation, etc. It can even crush the soul. 

Resistances

Regarding the resistances a standard Arrancar should possess, beings of high spiritual power can resist the soul crushing effects of another’s spiritual pressure when others cannot. They are also strong enough to withstand a Quincy’s power to break down the bonds holding their spiritual matter together, and should be able to resist the soul decay caused by other Hollows. Generally things such as shinten tranquilizers that can forcibly put people to sleep are also ineffective on beings with higher spiritual pressure. It’s been shown that powerful Reiatsu can resist gravity and spatial manipulation, with Ichigo being able to withstand Aizen’s Kuroshitsugi, as well as illusions to an extent, given that in Can’t Fear Your Own World, Tokinada’s version of Kyoka Suigetsu could be overcome through raw spiritual pressure.

Beings on the Espada’s level can also break seals with Reiatsu, with spatial prisons such as Caja Negacion being unable to hold them for long. Hollows are implied by statements from Luppi to naturally resist poisons, requiring specially-tailored toxins to be affected at all. Even before fully awakening their powers, beings with enough spiritual pressure can break free from Kido that induce paralysis with no effort. Even BoS Orihime was able to resist memory erasure despite having almost no spiritual power, and all characters with spiritual awareness were able to retain their memories of Rukia when she was taken back to the Soul Society, while everyone else forgot about her.

All of the Espada, due to being spirits, have survived direct attacks and blows on their… well, spirits, and should thus be resistant to most attacks directly targeting the soul. Powerful individuals that some of the stronger Espada are comparable to, such as Royd Lloyd, are able to use their defensive abilities to survive extreme temperatures emitted by something as hot as Yamamoto’s Bankai, which can reach up to 15,000,000 degrees Celsius. Aizen has shown that a strong enough Reiatsu can overcome attacks from Soi Fon’s Shikai, which can target and pierce internal organs, so the Espada can likely replicate such a defense as long as they are stronger than the attacker.

Yammy no-sold Loly’s corrosive poison – which could melt stone – through sheer resilience alone, with even weaker characters like beginning of series Ichigo being able to withstand acid that normally melts things with only minor burns. Ulquiorra’s Reiatsu was so powerful that Orihime struggled to negate a wound inflicted on Ichigo with her phenomena rejection, which works by denying, reversing, and rejecting phenomena, defying reality itself to undo and heal any damage done. Despite possessing such a powerful ability, Ulquiorra’s Reiatsu was able to defy her rejection ability, requiring her to break through the Reiatsu first before Ichigo could be healed. Later on, after Ulquiorra had entered Segunda Etapa, his Reiatsu had become so powerful that Orihime could not heal Ichigo at all.

Reishi

Reishi is the matter which composes the soul and other spiritual objects and places, existing as a particle that is even smaller and more fundamental than atoms. This particle is of vital importance to the Arrancars, for it is the source they draw from to sustain themselves and fuel their power. An Arrancar is capable of passively feeding on the Reishi present in the environment, allowing them perpetual sustenance in environments brimming with Reishi, and can otherwise devour other souls when they are in places less dense with soul matter.

Cero

The Cero is an attack unique to Hollows. By accumulating their Reiryoku into a single attack, they can discharge a stream of light that burns away its target. The Espada also have access to the Cero Oscuras in their released state, which is ten times more potent than a common Cero. Lastly, all of the Espada have access to an amplified variation of this technique, in which they utilize their own blood to discharge a Gran Rey Cero. The Gran Rey Cero is the ultimate Cero, powerful enough to distort space and destroy the massive fortress of Las Noches in its entirety.

Bala

The Arrancars have access to another projectile type attack called “Bala”. It is weaker than their standard Ceros, but 20 times faster.

Descorrer

Arrancars can move freely between Hueco Mundo and the Living World via Discorrer, a technique which creates an opening into the Garganta. Due to the Garganta’s nature as a space which surrounds all worlds, one can travel through locations separated from time and space such as the Dangai.

Sonido

Sonido is the Arrancar’s counterpart to the Shinigami’s Shunpo, allowing them to move at high speeds in swift bursts that resemble teleportation. The Sonido has a unique property that allows them to become undetectable to a Shinigami’s spiritual senses as they move. Users of this technique can also leave behind afterimages.

Pesquisa

By utilizing Pesquisa, an Espada can evaluate an opponent’s strength and spiritual pressure with a glance. They can detect the precise location of presences with even a hint of spiritual pressure, in a similar manner to Shinigamis and Quincies.

Hierro

All Arrancar have hardened skin which acts as natural armor. Due to this, striking an Arrancar can injure the attacker for days. Their skin can prevent piercing weapons from penetrating them, and dampen a blade’s cutting ability. 

Caja Negacion

A device given to all the Espada by Aizen, Caja Negacion is a special cube-shaped device that is intended to simulate the effects of Negación fields on the target. When used, the cube isolates and traps the victim inside a closed dimension forever. A normal person is trapped forever, but someone with enough power output like Ulquiorra can only be trapped for 2 to 3 hours at most.

Zanpakuto

The Zanpakuto is a spiritual weapon, and its name can be read as “The Ghost Cutter”, for it is a weapon capable of harming souls (note that in spite of Ichigo’s claim here, there are numerous examples of Shinigami and Hollows being harmed or killed by things other than Zanpakuto). However, unlike a Shinigami, the Zanpakuto of an Arrancar does not awaken its wielder to new powers, but acts as a seal that contains their true form. Upon activation, the seal is released, and they assume a form more similar to their original Hollow state.

Resurrección

In contrast to the Shinigami, the Arrancar have their own release state called “Resurreccion”. Their “true form” is sealed within their Zanpakuto, and the release of their full power is said to be comparable to a Shinigami’s Bankai. A Bankai amplifies a Shinigami’s power by 5 to 10 times that of their Shikai, and Resurreccion would entail a similar increase.

Coyote Starrk

Background

“I envied the weak ones. If you’re weak, then you can gather in as large a group as you want. I want to become weak and if that’s not possible, then I at least want to make friends that are as strong as me.”

Near the pinnacle of the Espada stands the Primera, the number one, and the man who knows better than anyone else the crushing weight of loneliness and isolation: Coyote Starrk. Before he was an Espada, before his life and fate were changed by Sosuke Aizen, he was simply a Hollow wandering Hueco Mundo in search of friends. But companionship he would not find, for the sheer power that he emitted with his presence alone was great enough to crush and kill any Hollow who went near him. This insufferable, suffocating seclusion led the Hollow to separate its soul into two beings – Coyote Starrk as he is now, and Lilynette Gingerbuck, his other half. Finding companionship and comradery in himself and himself alone among the barren wasteland.

Until one day, everything changed, as they finally met a man who could stand in their presence without dying. Impressed by their strength, Aizen offered Starrk a place among the Espada, among other strong Hollows whom he could call his friends, his family. Starrk accepted, and thanks to his immense power was granted the rank of Primera. Each of the Espada represents a different form of death, a different cause of suffering, and Starrk’s, fittingly, was isolation. Even among peers, Starrk was still alone, for the rest of the Espada did not care for companionship – he alone saw the others as his friends. 

This came to a head in Aizen’s invasion of Karakura Town, where Starrk helped lead the charge alongside fellow Espada, Baraggan and Harribel. Facing off against top tier Shinigami Shunsui Kyoraku, Jushiro Ukitake, and multiple Visored at once, forced to watch as his allies were cut down in the distance as Aizen watched on uncaringly, Starrk began to wonder if continuing to fight was truly worth it. And even after fusing with Lilynette, this unwillingness to fight, the pain of losing the comrades he had come to care for, left Starrk open to a final strike from Shunsui that ended his life for good. Alone in life, alone in death, Starrk embodied isolation well, but for a time at least, he was happy to have found people to stand alongside as equals.

Lilynette Gingerbuck

Starrk’s literal other half, always accompanying him wherever he goes as his only Fraccion. Lilynette isn’t exactly skilled at combat on her own, despite her unique curved sword, but is fundamental for Starrk to reach the pinnacle of his power, as she is his actual Zanpakuto, Los Lobos. When he enters his Resurrección, Lilynette fuses with him and transforms into his guns he uses.

Experience & Skill

In the short time we are with Starrk we get to see he’s incredibly skilled. While most of his attacks consist of gunslinging and Cero spam, he was able to decipher many of his opponents abilities and tricks. As shown above he was able to identify Shunsui’s swords, sword style, and dominant hand (or hands in this case) by simply observing how he swung his sword. He does this multiple times throughout the fight: he was able to figure out Ukitake’s Shikai ability by just firing at him three times, and was able to work out how to play Iro Oni after just a single round. His ability to keep up with two Captains in the first place is an incredible testament to his skill and ability in combat.

Equipment

Sword

A completely regular sword that Starrk uses in combat while in his base form. As this is not his Zanpakuto, with Los Lobos not being sealed in the form of a weapon at all, it is a normal sword with no special attributes.

Abilities

Speed + Cero

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Starrk can perform a special technique in his base form where he performs a high-speed flurry of strikes coupled with a Cero that inflicts immense damage.

Forms/States

Resurrección: Los Lobos

By reuniting with Lilynette, Starrk is able to release his Resurreccion. Upon release, a big blue beam of reiatsu fires into the sky from his location, and from the smoke emerges a cowboy style Starrk, with two guns to match his general “high noon” vibe. The only Espada who brought guns to a sword fight, Starrk’s Los Lobos can chain-fire Ceros at an unparalleled pace, with no limit as far as ammunition is concerned. Attacks in this state include…

Cero Metralleta

Simply put, Starrk fires multiple Ceros from his gun in rapid succession which, due to the sheer rate of fire, appears visually as though he fired one giant Cero. His firing rate with this attack is so fast, he can fill one spot with a thousand shots in an instant, so quickly that all of his thousand shots are fired within the time that the initial shot takes to move a few centimeters. Incredibly impressive as far as speed and rate are concerned, considering these are literal beams of light he’s firing. The sheer amount of energy released by the attack is so great, it can even overwhelm foes who are capable of absorbing energy.

Colmillo

From his bandoliers, Starrk is able to produce spiritual energy and shape them into the form of swords. So if he ever gets tired of bringing guns to a sword fight, he can always bring swords to a sword fight! Which is much less unusual, but hey, it’s Bleach, swords are strong.

Camarada

Starrk’s signature ability lets him split his soul into wolves. These wolves will hunt down Starrk’s opponents and bite down on them, exploding on impact. They are extremely relentless, able to regenerate from physical attacks and capable of moving through small gaps and cracks due to being made out of soul juice (note: this is a joke, that’s not an actual term-). Due to this and the potency of their explosion, they are stated to be stronger than a Cero.

In the anime, enough wolves being destroyed or exploding will kill Lilynette since they’re formed from Starrk’s soul and hers, though this is a pretty stupid weakness and isn’t in the manga, so take it or leave it.

Los Lobos – Colmillo

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Starrk has an attack where follows his wolves as they charge toward the opponent, exploding on contact before he delivers two deadly blows to deal massive damage.

Weaknesses

In spite of how cool he is, Starrk undoubtedly has one of the most embarrassing performances out of the entire Espada, with only Yammy and Zommari jobbing harder than him. Despite being the Primera, and managing to put up a fight for a while against Shunsui, Ukitake, and the Visored, Starrk was ultimately defeated by a single slash to the chest from Shunsui Kyoraku, who did not even need to use Bankai against him.

In fairness, however, his mindset may have contributed to this. As noted, Starrk is one of the only Espada who cared genuinely for his comrades, and at this point had begun to realize that Aizen did not care for the Arrancar, on top of the fact that multiple Espada had died by then. Coupled with his naturally lazy disposition, this essentially seemingly ensured that Starrk’s heart wasn’t in the battle. On top of this, the anime worsened his situation even further by making it so that when enough of his Los Lobos wolves are destroyed, Lilynette will die with them. With his other half gone, it’s only natural that Starrk’s will to fight would falter even further.

Baraggan Louisenbairn

Background

“I know you can’t understand it. That’s how death is. And from now until this battle ends, you won’t understand anything that happens. Decay.”

Before he was known as the Segunda Espada, Baraggan Louisenbairn sat atop the throne of Las Noches as the undisputed God-King of Hueco Mundo, the world of the Hollows. Bored in his absolute power and unchallenged command over all the ants beneath him, Baraggan passed the time with pointless entertainment, such as splitting his army in half and having them battle each other. After all, there’s nothing more pointless than an army without an enemy to attack, right?

However, Baraggan’s eternal rule and endless boredom would come to a sudden end upon the arrival of Sōsuke Aizen, a Soul Reaper who offered him greater power and a new world where he did not have to feel unsatisfied with how things were. In exchange? He asked only for Baraggan’s obedience. And in spite of his everlasting boredom, that was a request that was more insulting to a king than anything in the world. Baraggan laughed in Aizen’s face, incredulous that such a pathetic, lesser creature would ever presume to be his superior – and then he watched in shock as Aizen and his subordinates crushed his army in an instant.

Subjugated, placed under the spell of Aizen’s Kyoka Suigetsu, Baraggan received the power that Aizen offered him, but a hatred was born in his heart. Even serving under Aizen as a member of the Espada, the King of Hollows vowed to make Aizen regret ever giving him power, that he would never die and pursue the man who had insulted him so, until the end of time. A promise that Baraggan ultimately could not fulfill, perishing in battle against the Soul Society. Still, in his last moments, it was his hatred for Aizen that guided his hand, as he threw his axe toward his humiliator, in one final, futile attempt at revenge.

Ultimately, an ironic end. Baraggan represents death by old age, and always looked down on everyone else for being enslaved to such a fate. But in the end, his own decay put an end to him, and even with all his power, all his desire to get back at Aizen, he died before ever getting a chance to realize his ambitions. In the end, Baraggan was right: nothing and nobody is free from senescence. Not even him.

Experience & Skill

While Baraggan’s skill is relatively unexplored, with his only major fight mostly consisting of him spamming Respira and relying on his decay field to negate attacks, he should be relatively skilled. For starters, he’s thousands of years old, having ruled Hueco Mundo in the distant past, and commanded an army while doing so. He was also able to successfully deduce the nature of the Fake Karakura Town, demonstrating himself to be a capable thinker. He has also exhibited skill with a battle axe and should be adept at all of the Arrancar’s standard techniques and combat abilities.

Equipment

Arrogante

Like other Arrancar, Barragan also possesses a Zanpakuto that seals his true power, but Baraggan’s is unique in that instead of a sword, his takes the form of a large double-sided battle axe. Known as Arrogante, this Zanpakuto’s reach and strength are great enough to casually cleave buildings in half even in its unreleased state, from as far as a mile away. By saying aloud the release phrase for his Zanpakuto, 朽ちろ, or “Rot” while the axe is angled downward, Baraggan can activate his Resurrección.

Abilities

Senescencia

Even without releasing his Zanpakuto, Baraggan possesses governance over the most dangerous form of death among the Espada: Senescence, or aging as a result of time. He’s basically the embodiment of getting older, which grants him several abilities that are incredibly difficult to overcome without specific means. Notable examples include:

Time Dilation Field

When in combat, Baraggan is capable of constantly projecting an effect around himself which causes incoming attacks to slow substantially just as they’re about to make contact, granting him ample time to respond appropriately to counter the assault. Basically, he had Limitless before Gojo made it cool.

Age Acceleration

The more well-known of Baraggan’s time manipulation abilities, which allows him to age that which he touches. In his unreleased state, this extends only to that which he touches directly with his hand, and is only powerful enough to do things like break a person’s arm upon contact, by rendering their bones brittle.

Catastrophic Strike

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Baraggan can swing his axe down, creating a massive shockwave that strikes multiple enemies at once.

Forms/States

Resurrección: Arrogante

Compared to his base state, which was already remarkably formidable, enough to outmatch Captain level Shinigami like Soi Fon, Baraggan’s released state is an absolute demon, described as more terrifying than Aizen, and arguably the most difficult of the Espada to defeat in a direct confrontation. Upon release, Baraggan’s own reiatsu burns away his flesh and transforms him into a skeletal, reaper-like figure. In addition to the standard amp that a Resurrección grants, Baraggan’s Senescencia becomes powerful enough to completely deteriorate his surroundings, including the very ground he walks on. It also grants him an incredibly deadly ability known as…

Respira

Respira, or the Breath of Death, is an aura-like miasma emitted from Baraggan’s body which radiates out from him like smoke, consuming anything it touches with Senescence, aging and rotting them until they’re reduced to nothing. Just the slightest contact was able to decay the flesh off of Soi Fon’s arm, requiring her to sever it to prevent it from spreading to the rest of her body and killing her. Of note, outside of a couple exceptions, Soi Fon at this point was the fastest among the Gotei 13, and Respira was still fast enough to tag her when she was attempting to evade. Baraggan can alter the speed of the attack at will, discharging it faster or slower deliberately depending on the situation and the opponent.

In addition to the omnidirectional wave he can produce, Baraggan can also exhale it from his mouth and send it in a specific direction for targeted attacks. Of note, the aging effects of this aura are not limited to physical substances, as Baraggan was also able to use it to make a Kidō attack grow old and wither away, despite Kidō being Reiryoku-based, and having the potential to last for a thousand years – in Baraggan’s own words, a thousand years is not eternity.

Decay Field

What makes Baraggan’s Resurrección truly difficult to defeat is not his Respira, which can be dodged by a fast enough opponent, but rather its upgraded version of his time dilation field. Rather than simply slow an attack down, any person or physical matter that approaches Baraggan, upon coming into contact with his field, will be aged into dust in an instant, preventing nearly any attack from reaching him. However, this is notably not absolute, as a large and powerful enough attack (such as the blast from Soi Fon’s Bankai) fired from a close enough range will not be aged quickly enough to fully negate the attack. However, it can still provide some degree of protection, reducing the scope of his injuries to an extent.

Additionally, Baraggan’s own body is not itself included in the range of the field’s effect, as he has a different power covering the surface of his body, which repels his own power – this is the reason why Senescencia and Respira do not age him to death along with everything else. For this reason, attacks teleported or spawned within his body are not vulnerable to the effect of the field, and if objects affected by his own power are teleported within his own body, Senescencia has the potential to kill him just as it can anything else. 

Gran Caída

Also known as the Axe of Ruin, this is the released state of Arrogante, which is more or less a more powerful version of the normal axe, but can also be used to concentrate Respira into a slashing form and extend its range with a swing of the axe.

Respira – Esgrimir

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Baraggan can unleash a toxic breath of Respira on the opponent before slicing them with his axe.

Weaknesses

As covered previously, attacks teleported or spawned within Baraggan’s body can bypass his aging field, and he is not physically immune to his own power, requiring a field covering his skin to repel it in order to prevent him from dying from it. His field can also be penetrated by a strong enough attack from a close enough range. Lastly, Baraggan is incredibly arrogant and looks down on all others with no exception, leading him to do things like deliberately slow down his Respira to toy with weaker opponents, or fearlessly look at Aizen’s sword upon request, a choice which allowed Aizen to place him under its effects.

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck

Background

“There was a time when we ceased to be Human and became beasts. And then in becoming Arrancar, we regained our capacity for reason. One who possesses a reason should require a reason to fight.”

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck was the first known Arrancar to hold the title of Tres Espada, one of the most powerful members of Aizen’s army. Despite possessing that much power, Nelliel cared for her fellow Arrancar, wishing to protect those weaker than her and refusing to take the lives of others without reason. To Nelliel, the Arrancar had no need to follow only their murderous instincts from their time as Hollows, and believed they should only fight for a reason; in short, she was far more of a pacifist than most Espada. This mentality put her in conflict with the Octava Espada at the time, Nnoitra Gilga, whose lust for battle and desire to die caused him to take the lives of many Hollows and effectively attempt suicide whenever he could, even going out of his way to challenge Nelliel over and over, expecting her to kill him, something that never came to pass. 

However, someone as kind as Nelliel was bound to suffer in an environment like Hueco Mundo. While she spent some time in peace alongside her best friends and retainers, Pesche and Dondochakka, eventually Nnoitra attacked all of them, shattering their masks in a sneak attack, with Nelliel especially being damaged to the point of most of her Reiatsu leaking from her body. Thrown into the sands of Hueco Mundo, reverting to a child and having lost most of her memory, Nel lost her position as an Espada, living alone with her former retainers as she healed from her wounds.

And so, she lived a simple life in the desert, simply enjoying her time with her friends and surviving without a care in the world, for a pretty long time. Things changed, however, when the Substitute Soul Reaper, Ichigo Kurosaki, and his friends invaded Hueco Mundo, seeking to rescue their friend Orihime who had been captured by Aizen. Nel quickly befriended Ichigo, and helped him on his journey, despite her fear of what lied inside the palace of Las Noches. The two journeyed through the palace, with Nel providing support as Ichigo faced challenge after challenge, until eventually, they ran into the now-Quinta Espada. Nnoitra and Nel once more had crossed paths. 

At first, Nel still had no memory of her time as an Espada, but Nnoitra remembered all too well, relentlessly attacking both her and Ichigo. But as Ichigo neared his death at the Quinta Espada’s hands, something inside Nel… snapped, and she started to remember who she really was. She returned to her old self, and fought back against Nnoitra, her power easily overwhelming Nnoitra in spite of how long he spent training and getting stronger. Nelliel could have won then and there… but the constant leaking of her Reiatsu weakened her too much, and she was soon defeated. Thankfully, Nnoitra was eventually defeated by Zaraki Kenpachi, and Nelliel lived to see another day.

As the rest of the Espada and Aizen were defeated, Nelliel lived peacefully in Hueco Mundo, now under the rule of Tier Harribel, until seventeen months later, when the Quincies returned and assaulted the world of the Hollows, forcing her into combat once more. Thanks to one Kisuke Urahara, Nelliel no longer had to worry about reverting to a child in battle, and she became one of the most powerful and important of the Arrancar, helping in the final battle against Yhwach’s Royal Guard and becoming one of the leaders of Hueco Mundo alongside Harribel. Always protecting those weaker than her, always showing kindness, no matter what.

Experience & Skill

Fitting for one who once bore the title of third Espada, Nelliel is an incredibly skilled fighter. She was already incredible at combat before her mask shattered, but even after a great amount of time had passed while she was stuck in her child form, she was still more than capable of utterly overwhelming Nnoitra, who had grown in power enough to go from eighth Espada all the way to fifth. 

Equipment

Gamuza

Nel’s personal Zanpakuto, possessing a green sheath, a light green hilt and a tsuba that resembles a pair of crescent moons joined together. As with other Zanpakuto of the Arrancar, it serves to seal her power and as her main tool in combat.

Transformation Armband

A special armband/bracelet made by Kisuke Urahara that allows Nel to switch back and forth between child and adult forms at any given time, and stay indefinitely in her adult form. Thanks to this bracelet, Nel no longer has to worry about reverting to a child mid-fight, as she did during her fight against Nnoitra.

Abilities

Super Acceleration

While in her child state, Nel has access to a less developed version of the Sonido technique, which she refers to as Super Acceleration, to speed her body up.

Nel Tamapunch

Owie right in the balls

Nel Shower

Nel’s saliva possesses healing properties, capable of curing wounds when it comes into contact with the body of someone injured. Gross!

Cero Doble

Nel’s signature technique, the Cero Doble, allows her to completely devour incoming Ceros before sending them right back twice as strong (hence, doble/double) by combining it with a Cero of her own as she fires. She could use this technique even in her child form, though is obviously more effective at doing so as an adult.

Creature of the Wind

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Nel can fire a large purple Cero beam from her mouth with massive AoE, dealing huge damage.

Forms/States

Child State

After Nnoitra shattered her mask, the constant leaking of Reiatsu from Nel’s body forced it into a child-like state, causing her to lose most of her combat ability and her memories for a while. All of Nel’s abilities are severely weakened while she is in this state, and she is incapable of using her Cero Doble to the greatest extent of its ability, being limited to just firing back enemy Ceros without combining them with her own.

Resurrección: Gamuza

Nel’s Resurrección, Gamuza, turns her into a centaur knight, transforming her blade into a large lance. While we’ve seen very little of her in this form, due to Nel only using it while in her weakened state, its primary technique is…

Lanzador Verde

An ability exclusive to Nel’s Resurrección, in which she launches her newly obtained lance with immense force. Once it reaches its target, it starts to drill through their defenses in order to deal more damage, piercing through them and destroying anything used as a shield, and was strong enough to harm even Nnoitra, whose Hierro is the strongest of all the Espada.

According to the Can’t Fear Your Own World novel, this attack drills through not only other attacks and spiritual pressure, but even the space itself in its path, its piercing power great enough to harm even a being as strong as Ikomikidomoe.

Weaknesses

Due to Nnoitra shattering part of her mask, Nel’s Reiatsu for a time was left constantly leaking out of her body, forcing her into a much weaker child form, and preventing her from using Resurrección for more than a couple of minutes. While this was mitigated by Urahara’s Reiatsu-containing armband, it is potentially possible for the weakness to rear its head again if she ever loses that piece of equipment.

Tier Harribel

Background

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

The Espada are often seen as an organization of bloodthirsty killers and psychopaths – and for the most part, this perception isn’t far off. From Yammy and Nnoitra’s insatiable bloodlust, to Ulquiorra’s unfeeling nihilism, to Szayelaporro’s shady experiments, they certainly have their fair share of monsters among their ranks. But not all Arrancar are evil, and not all Espada draw their sword for no reason; ranked Tres among them and embodying death via sacrifice, Tier Harribel is a more moderate presence next to her allies.

Born in a literal dog-eat-dog world where Hollows consume one another to survive, Harribel never believed in the cycle of violence and consumption that other Hollows followed in pursuit of strength. To sacrifice others for her own sake was a choice she refused to make, and her desire for a better world for Hollows was answered by Aizen’s arrival. Join him, he said, and she would gain the power to prevent future sacrifices, protecting the Hollows around and beneath her. And so, an Espada Harribel became, alongside her close companions Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun – the Tres Bestias.

Thus, when Aizen’s invasion of the Living World began, Harribel entered the battle alongside Starrk and Baraggan, with the Tres Bestias at her back. But though she fought well against Toshiro Hitsugaya of the Soul Society, she was the only Espada who managed to keep up the fight, with Starrk and Baraggan both falling against their own foes. Moments after Starrk’s death, Harribel felt the cold bite of a sword; not Hitsugaya’s, but Aizen’s, her own superior who had promised her a better future free of sacrifice. Cold and unfeeling even in the face of his own hypocrisy, Aizen sacrificed his final remaining Espada, declaring she and her companions to be failures, too weak to stand alongside him.

Miraculously, in spite of being cut down by one of the most powerful Shinigami in history, Harribel survived. The rest of the Espada dead and gone for the most part, she made her way back to Hueco Mundo alongside the Tres Bestias, and took up residence in Las Noches once again. It was there she came to befriend fellow moderate and pacifist, Nelliel, and achieve a civil partnership with the still-bloodthirsty but sufficiently tempered Grimmjow. As Hueco Mundo’s new ruler in both Aizen and Baraggan’s absence, Harribel sought to lead the Arrancar and the Hollows away from their violent ways. And although threats like Yhwach and Hikone would always continue to threaten Hueco Mundo, Harribel would stand against them as the first line of defense; unlike Aizen, prepared to sacrifice herself before anybody else.

Experience & Skill

Having spent most of her life fighting for her own survival in the vast deserts of Hueco Mundo, Harribel is an incredibly skilled fighter. She fought Toshiro, a prodigy among the Shinigami, matching him blow for blow and even going as far as to outsmart him and use his own attacks against him during their brief battle. Even upon the arrival of Hiyori and Lisa of the Visored, two extremely skilled fighters in their own right, turning the fight into a three against one, Harribel still managed to maintain the upper hand against all of them.

Equipment

Tiburón

Like other Arrancar, Harribel possesses a Zanpakuto that seals her full power. Harribel has a uniquely designed Zanpakuto that takes the form of a short and wide, yet hollow blade, which she draws from the sheath on her back. 

Abilities

Ola Azul

An attack in which Harribel concentrates her Reiryoku into the hollow part of her Zanpakuto before launching it as a beam of energy towards an opponent. She can use an enhanced version of this move while in her Resurrección state, named Trident. 

Forms/States

Resurrección: Tiburón

Harribel’s released state, in which Tiburón becomes notably larger, transforming into a thick pata, the shape of which resembles a huge, particularly long shark tooth, with its hand guard completely covering her hand. Given its shape, it almost resembles a lance more than a sword, but don’t be fooled; its cutting power is exceptional. With her Resurreccion released, she can use her primary unique skill…

Water Manipulation

Harribel’s main ability is her power to control water, fitting for a Shark such as herself. Similar to Ola Azul, her water attacks come primarily from her blade; specifically, releasing her Resurreccion causes gill markings to appear on the sides of the sword, out of which she can summon water. Through her hydrokinesis, she has demonstrated the following abilities:

Hirviendo

Literally translating to “boiling”, Harribel is able to cause any water near her to start to boil. The temperature and state of the water is irrelevant, as she has shown to be able to boil water even when it is in the form of ice. Thanks to this broad application of the ability, ice attacks are largely ineffective against her, and it serves as a broad counter to all forms of H₂O that one might call forth against her.

La Gota

By concentrating a great amount of water into the shape of a large drop, Harribel is able to launch a devastating projectile attack with great concussive force, which she is also able to spam several times in a row, should the situation call for it.

Cascada

As you might expect given the “cascade” in the name, this attack is essentially a massive waterfall, in which Harribel produces a massive torrent of water and drops it on her enemies, crushing them under the enormous deluge.

Shield

Harribel is capable of transforming Tiburón into a more defensive state, forming a shield above her arm that can be used to block attacks. As seen above, this shield is durable enough to hold up even against sword strikes from powerful Visored like Lisa. In Can’t Fear Your Own World, she even uses such shields to block attacks from Ikomikidomoe, an enormously powerful Hollow which was acting as the Zanpakuto of Hikone Ubuginu, a Soul King candidate.

Blue Smash

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Harribel summons a torrent of water and travels alongside it while dealing damage to her foe.

Weaknesses

None notable.

Ulquiorra Cifer

Background

“The things reflected in my eyes have no meaning… The things that could not be reflected in my eyes, do not exist… There is nothing. In you… And in me…”

Once a lone and nameless Vasto Lorde wandering the wastes of Hueco Mundo, this Hollow could not see meaning in the life he lived, sinking into the depths of nihilism and eventually shattering his own mask. With this came his transformation into an Arrancar, and attainment of sentience far beyond his previous state, though his new evolution only furthered his prior beliefs. Eventually, he was approached by a man from the Soul Society proclaiming himself the new ruler of the Hollows, and joined his organization of Arrancars, the Espada. He came to be known among them as Ulquiorra Cifer, ranked Cuatro in power.

Even with his more human intellect, Ulquiorra remained empty and heartless, loyal to his new master yet showing no attachment to anything. The hole in the center of his chest was an emblem of his detached nature: he had no heart. A fate that one day, two humans would free him from.

Sent alongside Yammy into the mortal plane to track down a human by the name of Ichigo Kurosaki, Ulquiorra initially showed little regard for the Substitute Shinigami in their first encounter, deeming him a non-threat. His friend Orihime, however, was a different story, for she possessed a power that would be of great help to Aizen. With Aizen’s blessing, Ulquiorra captured the girl and brought her before him, and upon her resistance, reproached and threatened her. She clung to the friends she still had, but he saw such attachments as useless, berating her more and asserting that she ought to accept that such things meant nothing now. Her abduction was staged in such a way that it would lead her friends to view it as a betrayal on her part, but much to Ulquiorra’s surprise, they came to her rescue anyway. 

Ulquiorra was puzzled. It made no sense to him. The plan had gone perfectly, and the Shinigami had, as intended, assumed that Orihime had turned traitor. So why did Ichigo and his friends come anyway? Upon his second meeting with the human he had dismissed, he pushed and probed to gauge his reactions, even revealing that he’d been the one to take Orihime. But in the end, it didn’t prove enlightening, and by the end of their bout, Ulquiorra was utterly disappointed and still entirely unable to understand Ichigo’s reasoning, once again disregarding the human as weak rubbish. 

As Aizen’s plan proceeded, Orihime was left alone with Ulquiorra, her role fulfilled and no hope for her left. He declared that she no longer was of any use to them, and was no longer protected, sealing her death. As he asked if she was afraid, she showed no fear, only asserting her faith in her friends, to his surprise. Their conversation turned to the true source of Ulquiorra’s confusion: what it means to have a heart. Orihime described it as a feeling of connection binding two or more persons together. Ulquiorra scoffed at the notion, and dismissed it as nonsense devoid of substance. Still, the small amount of curiosity he felt had not abated.

As Ichigo came to fight once more, stronger than he once was, Ulquiorra still overwhelmed him with ease. For Ichigo, however, all that he loved was at risk, so he continued on in spite of how hopeless it seemed. Despite Ulquiorra declaring his persistence futile, Ichigo refused to surrender, refused to accept the uselessness of his actions. So to show Ichigo the true meaning of despair he so desperately denied, Ulquiorra sought to utterly decimate him and leave him near dead on the ground. In spite of his efforts, however, it was Ichigo’s will to defend his loved ones that won. Hollowfying completely, Ichigo tore Ulquiorra apart. Defeated. Broken. Nothing left but the end. 

The most he could manage, with the last of his strength, was to attack a rampaging Ichigo from behind, severing one of his horns, diverting a Cero meant for Ichigo’s friends, and shattering his mask, allowing Ichigo to regain control. And so Ulquiorra stood dying, face to face with a foe who in spite of everything, still wanted to keep fighting to end what they started, while Ulquiorra could fight no longer. As his body gave out and he began to dissolve into the wind, he once more reached out to Orihime and asked if she feared him. When she said she did not, he at last understood, just a little, what it meant to possess a heart. With that, Ulquiorra Cifer passed away, the emptiness within him filled for the first time by a connection. 

Experience & Skill

As for his skill in combat, Ulquiorra is capable of contending with Ichigo and is above others who can contend with Shinigami who possess up to centuries worth of combat experience. Earlier in his time as a Shinigami, Ichigo was able to defeat Kenpachi, who was stated to have more kills than all the other court guards, and later his skill would grow exponentially as he achieved Bankai. He also showed an aptitude for quick analysis in his fights against the other Shinigami.

Ulquiorra was able to fatally wound Ichigo without needing to use his sword initially, and even as the latter grew strong enough to contend with his base form Ulquiorra continued to hold the advantage, with Ichigo even admitting he was completely unable to read his movements in their first encounter.

Equipment

Murciélago

Like all other Arrancar, Ulquiorra wields a Zanpakuto which contains his released state. His is a standard katana, with its simplicity perhaps reflecting his unique aspect of death: Emptiness. As far as we’ve seen, Murciélago lacks notable unique properties, and Ulquiorra forgoes it entirely after releasing, with an overall much greater focus on overwhelming energy attacks and hand to hand combat, with his own hands having the piercing power of a sword.

Abilities

Solita Vista

The most heeby-jeeby of Ulquiorra’s abilities, in which he rips out his own eye and crushes it in his hand like glass, with the dust-like remains of the eye forming an illusory display of his memories that others can view. Thanks to his regeneration, Ulquiorra can quickly regenerate the eye, but it won’t save you from having to look at his gross empty eye socket in the meantime.

Regeneration

Unlike most other Arrancars who relinquished their ability to regenerate after they removed their mask, Ulquiorra maintained this instantaneous regeneration, allowing him to reconstruct any non-vital areas of his body such as limbs in a matter of moments.

This regeneration extends as far as recovering the lower half of his body, but is limited by an inability to restore vital organs. For example, if you blow up his stomach, the muscles and skin and bones will come back quickly, but the stomach inside will be gone for good. If Ulquiorra suffers sufficient damage, his regeneration will make him seem okay, but lost vitals will take a toll on him until his body eventually gives out.

Conquistador

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Ulquiorra has an attack where he strikes down at the ground, creating a large dust explosion, before firing a large Cero at the opponent.

Path Ender

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Ulquiorra has an attack where he extends his piercing fingertips to impale the opponent and deal huge damage. He does this to Ichigo in canon too, though it is not a named attack.

Forms/States

Resurrección: Murciélago

Ulquiorra’s first Resurreccion. In addition to looking Cool™, this form massively increases his capabilities in the same manner as all Resurreccion, allowing him to completely blitz Ichigo, who could react to him before. As acknowledged before, this state largely forgoes the use of swordplay in favor of energy attacks and overwhelming Reiatsu. He also sprouts massive wings… for flying! And through the simple act of releasing, Ulquiorra emits so much power, he could destroy all of Las Noches.

Luz De La Luna

An attack accessible to Ulquiorra’s Resurrección, in which a lance of light composed of Ulquiorra’s spiritual pressure can be used to strike enemies at close range, exploding upon impact. It can also be tossed as a projectile, and moves so fast that even Hollow Mask Bankai Ichigo was unable to perceive it, only responding at all after it had fully moved past his head. 

Luz Afilada

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Ulquiorra can create a blade of light to charge at the opponent and stab them with it.

Segunda Etapa

Of all the Espada, Ulquiorra is the only one among them to possess a second Resurreccion, a secret which he kept from all the other Arrancar and even Aizen. Though not stated, it’s likely that this second state is a similar amp to an Espada’s initial release, in other words comparable to that of a Shinigami’s Bankai. Against Ichigo, Ulquiorra entered this state despite the fact that his first release was enough to overwhelm Ichigo’s full power already. He transformed simply for the sake of showing Ichigo true despair.

And true despair, he showed him. In addition to completely blitzing Ichigo too fast for him to see, Ulquiorra’s grippers alone were strong enough to grab Ichigo by the side of the head and slam him across Las Noches, no blades or blasts needed. Once Ulquiorra did start busting out the big guns, each of his attacks caused massive widespread destruction, greatly damaging Las Noches and the surrounding area. In the end, he succeeded in outright killing Ichigo, his Reiatsu too powerful for even Orihime to reject – and his victory would have been absolute, had Ichigo not undergone complete Hollowfication at the last minute, returning to life with overwhelming power and brutality.

Lanza Del Relampago

After undergoing his Second Release, Ulquiorra is capable of unleashing Lanza Del Relampago, his ultimate attack. During his fight against Vasto Lorde Ichigo, Ulquiorra unsuccessfully used Cero Oscuras – stated to be a 10x amp – and then afterward used Lanza Del Relampago, believing that it might work, thus implying the attack is over 10x stronger than Segunda Etapa Ulquiorra’s base abilities.

Appearing in the form of a gleaming lance, this attack can create massive explosions, much like Luz De La Luna, so powerful that it dwarfs Las Noches in size, and Ulquiorra prefers not to unleash it at close range, presumably in fear of harming himself with it. That said, although the attack is difficult to contain, he can use it consecutively without fatigue, and he can use it as a melee weapon if he has to, though it proved ineffective against Vasto Lorde Ichigo, even with a direct hit at point blank range.

Cero Oscuras – Aplastado

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Ulquiorra can unleash a Cero Oscuras and spread it across a wide area, causing several large explosions with a vast area of effect.

Weaknesses

Ulquiorra doesn’t have many weaknesses to speak of, but there are a few worth noting. For starters, possibly thanks to his nihilistic outlook, he can sometimes act on a whim without much reason. For example, he held back his speed against Ichigo during their battle despite having no reason to, only speeding up once Ichigo expressed confidence at being able to react to him. Later, he entered Segunda Espada just to show Ichigo despair, even though he already had the advantage in the battle. In fairness, this is not an action that had any downsides for Ulquiorra, but he still had no reason to do it instead of simply killing Ichigo, showcasing his tendency to act based on his whims instead of pragmatically. Additionally, while Ulquiorra’s regeneration is rather potent, it does not make him unkillable in the slightest, for any damage inflicted to his vital organs cannot be reverted. 

Nnoitra Gilga

Background

“I will get stronger, stronger than anyone, and fight the ultimate enemy. There can be no one greater than I am. I will crush all my rivals… no matter what.”

For as long as he’s been among Aizen’s army, the Quinto Espada, Nnoitra Gilga, cared only for one thing: battle. In years past, when he was lower ranked among the Espada, he gleefully massacred Hollows for the sake of advancing his own strength, even when that was not what Aizen had ordered. In his eyes, he did not need to have a reason to draw his blade beyond the sake of doing so, his bloodlust existing for no reason greater than itself. His dream was to fight, fight, fight – and eventually, die. To become the strongest, and ultimately perish in battle against a worthy enemy, the life fleeing his body before it hits the ground, was Nnoitra’s greatest and only aspiration in life.

It was this heartless, demented mentality that put him at odds with his then-superior, the Tres Espada Nelliel. Unlike the ruthless and bloodthirsty Nnoitra, Nel did not believe in drawing one’s blade without a reason, and refused to do so against someone like Nnoitra, no matter how many times he challenged her to battle. It was upon saving his life that she made her reasoning clear: because he was weaker than her. A rationale that Nnoitra, in his incredible selfishness and arrogance, could not accept, especially not from a woman. It was for this reason that he cracked Nel’s skull open from behind and dropped her into the desert to rot, before resolving to grow beyond her and rise through the ranks of the Espada until none could surpass him.

A promise that, to an extent, he fulfilled. In time, he grew greatly in power, increasing in rank by three to become Espada number 5, which by that time was enough to match the former number 3 upon her return. Poised to put an end to his opposition once and for all, however, Nnoitra found himself face to face with his final opponent, the legendary Kenpachi Zaraki. Though Nnoitra’s strength and resilience impressed even a foe as mighty as Kenpachi, he was ultimately overcome, cut down in battle, as he had always desired. A respectable, honorable end – for a detestable, honorless person.

Experience & Skill

Nnoitra has spent years fighting anyone he can get his hands on and as such is an incredibly capable warrior, having advanced from eighth among the Espada to fifth, with the gap between individual numbers being noted as significant. His skill with a blade has allowed him to match seasoned veterans like Kenpachi in swordsmanship, even getting the upper hand on him several times via his unorthodox weapon usage and additional limbs. He also isn’t afraid to play dirty, collaborating with Szayelaporro to devise a plan to catch Nel off guard and cripple her, which was successful despite the fact that she was much stronger than both of them at the time.

Equipment

Santa Teresa

Nnoitra, like other Arrancar, wields a Zanpakuto. Unlike the typical sword shape that other Zanpakuto have, however, Nnoitra wields a lengthy polearm with two gigantic crescent moon blades attached to it, razor sharp and incredibly heavy. On top of this, it’s connected to a chain at the bottom, which allows Nnoitra to throw Santa Teresa as a massive projectile to hit foes from afar, before easily pulling it back. He can also swing it around by the chain in a helicopter-like motion to build up momentum for an attack.

Abilities

Indice Radar

A unique variation of the Pesquisa ability shared by the Arrancar. By placing his finger on the ground, Nnoitra can directly reach any nearby enemies and detect the exact amount of Reiryoku that they possess, allowing Nnoitra to figure out where to find the strongest ones around.

Hierro

While all the Espada possess the skin-hardening Hierro ability, it is Nnoitra who specializes in it the most, having described his Hierro as the hardest among all the Espada. This hardened skin was so resilient that Ichigo couldn’t cut it, and it could withstand slashes from even Kenpachi Zaraki, one of the strongest Shinigami in the Soul Society.

Wild Scythe

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Nnoitra fires a Cero at his opponent before rising into the air and shooting one of the large crescent blades of Santa Teresa at his opponent.

Forms/States

Resurrección: Santa Teresa

Nnoitra’s Resurreccion, Santa Teresa, is an incredibly powerful addition to his already immense strength. Activated with the release phrase 祈れ, or “pray,” it grants Nnoitra an extra set of arms and four giant scythes to attack enemies with. In addition, Nnoitra gains enhanced regenerative abilities, allowing him to quickly recover from damage and restore any destroyed limbs. He also possesses the ability to generate two more arms for a grand total of six, and produce new scythes from his wrists to replace any destroyed ones. In this state, the power of Nnoitra’s spiritual pressure became so great that it began to sharpen Kenpachi’s sword through sheer aura. An overwhelming offense combined with this great regeneration makes Nnoitra nearly unstoppable.

Weaknesses

Being predominantly a physical powerhouse who lacks many unique abilities, Nnoitra has few significant weaknesses, aside from his Hierro obviously having limits and not protecting his eyes. However, personality-wise it’s a different story, with Nnoitra being incredibly arrogant and chauvinistic, and prone to allowing those feelings to inform his actions.

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

Background

“Each and every one of you is a coward. Fine. I’ll devour you. Look forward to the time when you’re a part of me! I….I AM THE KING!!”

Within Hueco Mundo, there was once a small, Adjuchas-class panther Hollow – one with a dream to become as strong as he could. This man was Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, and he started out as fairly weak, nearly devoured by another group of Aduchas-class Hollows… before he ate a chunk of one of their group, Di Roy Rinker. They were largely impressed by this, and told Grimmjow that they wished to become Vasto Lorde, but they could not do that on their own – they needed someone with the primal urges of Grimmjow, and his desire to become king. As a result, he became their leader, and even after they gave up their goal of becoming Vasto Lorde, they followed him even after he became one of Aizen’s Arrancar, becoming the Sexta Espada, and representative of one of the broadest and most primal forms of death: Destruction.

However, Grimmjow’s time in the Espada wouldn’t last forever, as he went on an unauthorized mission to Karakura Town to kill one Ichigo Kurosaki, believing him to be a threat. After his Fraccion were all slain, he and Ichigo fought, and while the Substitute Shinigami scarred him, Grimmjow was on the verge of victory… until, of course, he was intercepted by Kaname Tosen, for leading an unauthorized mission and getting his men killed. This made Grimmjow furious, and he told Ichigo his name and to remember it, for if he ever heard it again, it would be the last thing he ever heard.

Grimmjow was brought back to Hueco Mundo, where he had his arm incinerated and his rank as the Sexta Espada stripped from him by Tosen, for his failure, and for disobeying orders. He was replaced by a new Sexta, Luppi Antenor, soon afterward, which naturally infuriated him. Soon after, he was sent on an invasion with Luppi, Yammy, and the newly-born Wonderweiss (don’t worry about him, he’s a whole thing), where he encountered Ichigo yet again. After facing off against Ichigo’s new form and still keeping up with him regardless, he was ultimately robbed of finishing the fight yet again thanks to the timely arrival of both Rukia and Shinji. Taken back to Hueco Mundo by Ulquiorra soon afterward, their mission complete, Grimmjow’s desire to settle the score with Ichigo smoldered ever more intensely.

With Orihime newly captured, Grimmjow used her incredible healing ability to restore his arm. And of course his Espada tattoo as well – Luppi was unneeded now, after all. Or at least the top half of him was. No room for two Sexta in Hueco Mundo.

As the Soul Society came to invade, the newly-reappointed Grimmjow was told to wait for the intruders. However, hearing about how Ulquiorra had defeated Ichigo, he decided to step in, taking Orihime with him to fully heal Ichigo so they could have a proper rematch. And so they did battle yet again, and in the end, even with the power of Grimmjow’s Resurrección, he could not overpower Ichigo, despite his best efforts even after being impaled. Beaten to a pulp by Ichigo and struck down by Nnoitra soon afterward, Grimmjow was left severely wounded… but not destroyed just yet.

Seething in the throes of defeat, Grimmjow tempered his rage and recklessness, continuing to live in Hueco Mundo and seeking to get stronger, as he always had done. Hollow after Hollow fell before him and was consumed, and in time his strength became unrecognizable from what it once was. When Yhwach and his Quincies came to play, Grimmjow struck down the Sternritter assigned to Hueco Mundo in a single blow, and chose to stand side-by-side with the Shinigami that had formerly been his enemies. At the behest of Kisuke Urahara, Grimmjow proved instrumental in the defeat of elite Sternitter Askin, and later teamed up with Nelliel to free Harribel from Yhwach’s imprisonment.

Though the Espada are no more, and he’s long-since left his rank behind in strength, Grimmjow remains the violent embodiment of destruction that he always has been, with even some of the Quincies’ best falling before him. Even so, he isn’t the same man he once was. His honor and desire to be the strongest guide his actions, and his partnership with Harribel and Nel is stronger than the Espada ever were. Even in the face of enemies as overwhelming as Hikone, Ikomikidomoe, and Tokinada, Grimmjow will never stop fighting, and never stop in his unwavering resolve to become king.

Experience & Skill

Contrary to the Sexta Espada’s fellow team members, Grimmjow’s main speciality and primary focus is hand-to-hand combat rather than swordsmanship. His flurries of punches and kicks were capable of effortlessly beating Ichigo’s swordplay while in his Bankai, and as easily parrying his attacks with his fists.

Grimmjow’s proficiency in this field of combat is extremely impressive, as Ichigo even during his childhood was a karate expert who trained relentlessly both professionally and by his father, and sparred against Tatsuki on a daily occasion, whom he eventually surpassed in martial arts. To put it into perspective, Tatsuki came second in Japan’s National Girl’s Martial Arts Championship while fighting with a broken arm, a huge disadvantage to have. Despite one of Ichigo’s defining characteristics in combat, his extreme adaptability and growth, which he had showcased a lot of times in both hand-to-hand and sword duels, he was completely helpless against Grimmjow’s skill, despite Ichigo previously showcasing proficiency not exclusively in punches and kicks, but in defensive techniques such as counterattacks, body locks and takedowns in close quarters. 

That said, Grimmjow’s swordsmanship is not underwhelming by any means, quite the opposite, Grimmjow is an expert swordsman just by the virtue of being Sextra Espada. He was capable of holding his own and fighting against Ichigo using Bankai with the Hollow Mask using a single arm, and after Ichigo’s mask broke, Grimmjow was undeniably the winner of the fight before it was interrupted. That led to his fight with Shinji, in which Shinji was wearing his Hollow mask, and in a terrible, weakened state while still missing his arm, Grimmjow was still capable of holding his own and fighting back with his skill.

He is also an extremely observant and perceptive combatant. During his first fight with Ichigo, he was capable of quickly figuring out upon a simple observation that the Bankai empowered Getsuga Tensho was damaging Ichigo, and noted how he would be capable of doing 2 to 3 more attacks of such power level. Upon their second fight, Grimmjow noticed how as soon as Ichigo’s mask broke/came off, his breathing became heavier and therefore, he was struggling to use Hollowification, however, Grimmjow noted how it may not be as simple as that, and denoted how the masked state may have a time limit, Ichigo had been dealt too much damage or that he had lost too much spiritual energy. And in their third fight, he brought up the fact that Ichigo extended the amount of time he can stay in his masked state.

Equipment

Pantera

Like the rest of his group, Grimmjow possesses his personal Zanpakuto to limit his power. Pantera appears as a regular katana used for close ranged combat, with a light blue sheath and handle. As noted previously, he forgoes the use of a blade entirely after releasing, and even in base makes liberal use of punches and kicks alongside his sword, to beat down an opponent the old fashioned way.

Abilities

Blue Piercing Stab

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Grimmjow has an attack where he dashes forward to his opponent at blinding speeds before piercing them with his extended hand.

King’s Destruction –
Gran Rey Cero

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Grimmjow can charge towards the enemy and perform four sword slashes which erupt into spirit energy, before firing a Gran Rey Cero, causing a large explosion.

Forms/States

Resurrección: Pantera

Grimmjow’s Resurrección and true power, unleashed with the reactive phrase 軋れ, or Grind. After releasing, Grimmjow’s appearance changes drastically to something more feline and predatory, with his teeth become jagged and sharp, his hands turning into black claws and his feet becoming black clawed paws, similar to that of a cat, along with a slender whip-like tail that’s longer than his body.

He even gains blades protruding from his forearms and his calves. His already incredible strength skyrockets, his skin becomes hard enough that a sword creates sparks simply by raking across it, and even just roaring creates massive shockwaves. He also gains a couple of notable abilities in this state…

Garra de la Pantera

Translating to “Panther’s Claw”, Garra de la Pantera launches miniature cut darts from Grimmjow’s elbows at high speeds, with a single one packing enough force to destroy a skyscraper sized structure upon contact. Grimmjow can fire five of these all at once to overwhelm opponents, and the strength of such an attack is great enough that he expected it to kill Hollow Mask Ichigo, and was impressed that Ichigo survived them.

Desgarrón

Translating to “Tear”, Desgarrón is Grimmjow’s strongest attack. By channeling large amounts of energy into his claws, Grimmjow creates large arcs of energy which he can swipe toward his opponent. He can create up to ten of these enormous blades at once and move them around like regular claws, serving as an effective ranged option as well.

Weaknesses

Despite his incredible power and skill, Grimmjow has quite exploitable and obvious flaws, his main ones being his extreme cockiness and arrogance, with him quickly clashing with those who hold him in low regard and consider him weaker than he believes. He is extremely impulsive, making him prone to jumping to fights and overall decisions and developing grudges towards… a lot of people, including fellow Espada members such as Ulquiorra.

Luppi Antenor

Background

“See? I told you to fight me four against one! Sorry… I mean four against eight.”

Luppi Antenor is one of Aizen’s many, many Arrancar, and little else is known of his past outside of that. After Grimmjow went against Aizen’s orders and invaded Karakura Town, losing many Arrancar in the process, he was removed from his position as Sexta Espada, and Luppi was promoted to fill his spot, becoming the representative of Destruction; befitting of his violent personality as much as Grimmjow’s. 

Similar to the former Sexta, Luppi values strong opponents, even offering to take multiple on at once. This ego and drive for battle has made him a bitter rival toward Grimmjow, with their fundamental natures, so alike in many ways, being simply incompatible. Destruction cannot be tempered with more destruction after all. However, Luppi’s time among the Espada, unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on your perspective – was short-lived. After a single mission where he faced off against Toshiro Hitsugaya, Aizen managed to capture Orihime Inoue, a human with the ability to reject phenomena. She demonstrated her power by healing Grimmjow’s lost arm, and he immediately made himself known as the stronger Sexta, killing Luppi in cold blood and reclaiming his place in the Espada.

But as conclusive as getting his entire upper half blown up may seem, Luppi soon found himself waking up again, his body restored and covered in stitches like Frankenstein’s Monster. A comparison not too far off, as his newly renewed lease on life was thanks to resident mad scientist of the Soul Society, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who had gone on a fucked up shopping spree through Szayel’s morgue – buy three dead Arrancar, get one free! Some restrictions apply.

Revived and enslaved, Luppi soon found himself on the front lines of the Quincy Blood War, alongside other formerly-dead Arrancar Dordoni, Cirucci, and Charlotte. Together they formed some kinda… Suicide Squad…

…Nah, that’s stupid. The Corpse Unit! Much better.

Under Mayuri’s control, Luppi fought the zombified Rangiku Matsumoto during the battle against the “Z” Sternritter, Giselle Gewelle. Not that he had much choice in the matter, since although Mayuri’s modifications made him much stronger than he was before, he was also outfitted with a handy dandy electro-shock system, which can crank up the voltage directly in his brain if he ever steps out of line. 

Still, even trapped under the employ of a madman for… probably the rest of forever, there was one silver lining to Luppi’s situation: he had the opportunity to settle the score with Grimmjow, once and for all. As soon as the opportunity arose, Luppi took off and did battle with his old rival, and though Grimmjow’s strength was unrecognizably greater than it once was, greater than all the Espada of the past, Luppi’s strength had grown as well, and he proved himself Grimmjow’s equal, fighting him to a standstill. Not bad for nobody’s favorite Espada.

Experience & Skill

Having been selected as Grimmjow’s (temporary) replacement as Sexta Espada, Luppi is no slouch when it comes to fighting. Without releasing his Zanpakuto, he was already able to overwhelm Yumichika, the Fifth Seat of the Eleventh Division of the Gotei 13, renowned for their incredible skill when it comes to fighting. After release, Luppi was capable of going up against multiple Captain-class fighters at once, including young prodigy Toshiro Hitsugaya of the Tenth Division, and had the upper hand for most of their battle. After being resurrected by Mayuri, Luppi could face off against the zombified Soul Reapers during the Quincy Blood War, and could match an un-released Grimmjow in battle, showcasing his immense skill despite having been out of the battlefield (and life) for a long time.

Equipment

Trepadora

Luppi’s personal Zanpakuto is a sword with a simple design, with a four-pronged shiba and pink sheath. It functions just like the other Arrancar’s Zanpakuto, and is hardly ever used outside of releasing Luppi’s power.

Abilities

Postcognition Drug

After being revived as part of Mayuri’s Corpse Unit, Luppi’s body underwent modifications, and his blood now contains one of Mayuri’s most dangerous concoctions: a drug that traps the mind of whoever is affected by it into reliving past events over and over and over again, while they remain paralyzed in reality. 

This poison is especially potent, as it’s indicated that Hollows possess natural poison resistance, and that Mayuri specifically designed this poison to accommodate for that fact, allowing it to work anyway. Albeit, it still ultimately proved ineffective against Grimmjow, who had adapted even stronger poison resistance through his encounter with Askin Nakk Le Vaar.

Forms/States

Resurrección: Trepadora

Luppi’s Resurrección, his true Hollow powers, takes the form of eight large tentacles connected to his body. Luppi has total free control over these extra appendages, manipulating them as easily as he would any other limb, and having the ability to freely alter their shape, such as making one of them become covered in spikes. Luppi has boasted that since he has eight more limbs, he becomes eight times more powerful in this state.

In Can’t Fear Your Own World, thanks to his strength increase from Mayuri’s modifications, Luppi demonstrates the ability to fire eight Gran Rey Ceros from each of his tentacles at once, an enormously powerful attack capable of matching even Grimmjow’s strongest offense.

Thirst & Destruction –
Gran Rey Cero

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Luppi fires a volley of Ceros from each of his limbs before firing a Gran Rey Cero and causing a large explosion.

Weaknesses

Luppi’s greatest weakness is his tendency to toy with his opponents instead of finishing the fight quickly. He is extremely cocky in battle and takes sadistic pleasure from hurting his adversaries, such as when he invites multiple enemies to attack him simultaneously, or when he takes the time to comment on Rangiku’s body before threatening to poke it full of holes. For this reason, he has failed to finish off his opponents, leading to an overall lack of success in his missions. He’s also highly vengeful, allowing his hatred of Grimmjow to control his actions, though he can set this aside in dire circumstances, as he fought alongside the other Arrancars against Ikomikidomoe in Can’t Fear Your Own World.

Zommari Rureaux

Background

“Everything is ‘governed’ by its rightful master. Subordinates act under the orders of their superiors. The masses live under the rule of their king.”

The rescue mission to save Orihime was going poorly. Ichigo had defeated Grimmjow, Rukia had defeated Aaroniero, but the rest of the Espada were alive and kicking, and the good guys had found themselves on the ropes. Ichigo was getting rocked by Nnoitra right off the heels of his exhausting battle, Renji and Uryu had been struggling with Szayelaporro for like 20 episodes now, and Rukia was bleeding out on the ground, an Espada even stronger than the one she barely defeated standing over her. All seemed hopeless, until from the depths of despair, the Soul Society arrived to save the day! With his allies aiding elsewhere, Byakuya Kuchiki arrived to protect his sister, and faced off with the Septima Espada, Zommari Rureaux.

Not much is known about Zommari’s past, or really Zommari in general, I won’t even hold you. He shows up, fights Byakuya and dies, but let’s make him sound cool anyway. Among the Espada, the cause of death that Zommari is known to represent is Ecstasy, which from what little we see of him, fits his personality to a tee. Though he appears calm at first, his devotion to Aizen’s cause is potentially the greatest and most fervent of the Espada, and his hatred of the arrogant Shinigami and their wanton slaughter of Hollows is on clear display throughout his fight against one of the most aloof Shinigami of all.

More than anything, however, Zommari is simply a fanatic whose enthusiasm makes him look just as arrogant as he declares the Shinigami to be. Byakuya declares himself Zommari’s superior and looks down on him, sure. But arrogance is an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance and abilities, and Byakuya’s claims are not exaggerated. He IS Zommari’s superior. In challenging Byakuya, the head of the Kuchiki Clan, Captain of the Gotei 13 – in putting himself, the mere Septima Espada, on Byakuya’s level – Zommari was the one being arrogant. And so, facing down an opponent who could calmly stare him down and speak the truth, who could overwhelm every ability Zommari put forth, the Septima died screaming out his support for Aizen. Dying in ecstasy for the cause, as befits him.

Experience & Skill

Zommari is a master of Sonido combat, being incredibly capable when it comes to high-speed movement techniques even when up against Byakuya Kuchiki, a Captain-Class Shinigami who is similarly a master of Shunpo. While his full skill level is difficult to gauge, given that Zommari’s only fight was one-sided in his opponent’s favor, his training with a sword should befit his rank among the Espada, and he demonstrated the ability to recognize Byakuya’s advantages against him in their fight, even if he was unable to compensate for those advantages.

Equipment

Brujería

Zommari’s Zanpakuto takes the form of a simple sword, serving as his main method of attack in battle. He doesn’t really do anything with it besides normal sword stuff, though it becomes fixed in front of his chest when he prepares to release, as he needs both his hands at that point.

Abilities

Gemelos Sonido

While the Sonido is a technique shared by all of the Arrancar, Zommari has mastered it to an extreme level. Since he is the fastest Espada, he can move fast enough to make it appear as if he had doppelgangers acting alongside him, being able to create up to five of these afterimages in battle. These afterimages are advanced to the point where they can suffer visible damage before discorporating, in a manner somewhat similar to what you’d expect of an actual, tangible clone.

Forms/States

Resurrección: Brujería

Zommari’s Resurrección turns the lower part of his body into a strange round structure, as well as covering his body with a total of 58 eyes. His pink cocoon-like lower half serves defensive purposes, as he was able to protect himself from Byakuya’s Bankai by taking refuge inside of it and emerging afterward. However, the thing that makes Zommari truly dangerous is…

Amor

The unique ability of Zommari’s released state, which allows him to place a mark wherever each eye sees, taking complete control of that thing. Typically, he places these marks on his opponents’ limbs, causing the target to lose control over parts of their body such as their arms and legs, commanding them to move how he wants. However, as shown by Byakuya, it is possible to counter this if you can sever the tendons in that limb or otherwise disconnect them from the rest of your body.

On the other hand, if Zommari takes control of a person’s head, their entire body becomes his to command, no longer allowing them to take action to protect themself from his manipulations. It should be noted however that if the body is forcibly immobilized, marking the head will not supersede that, and the marks themselves are invisible projectiles when placed, able to be blocked by a barrier before they can reach their target. Lastly, each eye can only take command over one thing at once, and if Zommari is assailed by projectiles greater in number than 58, he can be overwhelmed and unable to stop all of them. Byakuya was able to recognize and exploit all of these weaknesses over the course of his short fight with Zommari.

Weaknesses

While Zommari’s Amor may seem like an extremely deadly attack, it possesses several flaws. Controlled limbs and body parts can easily be cut and disabled to prevent him from using them. He cannot force something to move if it is forcefully immobilized. He is unable to control more than 58 things at once, as he can only use it once per eye. And his marks take the form of projectiles which can be blocked.

He’s also pretty arrogant, short-tempered (at least when facing a Shinigami whom he hates), and quick to panic when things aren’t going his way.

Szayelaporro Granz

Background

“Eternally repeating that cycle of death and rebirth, an existence such as this… truly, mine is what may be called a ‘perfect existence’!”

Once a human working as an alchemist in the Living World, Szayelaporro Granz did not have to be a Hollow to embody the form of death he would one day represent: Madness. His brother Yylfordt was an army general, and the two of them took the lives of many innocents in the name of Szayel’s twisted experiments. In time, karma came for the brothers as it often does, in the form of violent Hollows born from the spirits of those they’d killed. But instead of getting haunted and killed by the ghosts like a normal person, Szayel became fascinated with the Hollows, and saw them as a stepping stone to a grander ambition: his desire to become a perfect being.

Forcing himself to become a Hollow and consuming many of them, including his own brother, the former alchemist evolved into a mighty Vasto Lorde and came to serve under King Baraggan of Hueco Mundo. Eventually, when Aizen came to conquer the king, Szayel joined his ranks as well, and was ranked Cero among the Espada – not Cero as in the attack, mind you, the number, Zero. The strongest Espada above even the Primera.

Despite his incredible strength, Szayel was unsatisfied with what he had, and still saw himself as imperfect. His brother, he thought, was an obstacle to his perfection, and needed to be removed like a tumor if he ever wanted to achieve his dream. So he severed his brother’s soul from his own, splitting them back into two beings and dropping out of the Espada entirely, his power greatly reduced.

In time, however, his scientific prowess proved one of Aizen’s most valuable assets even still. He developed not only numerous technological resources, but many new abilities for himself as well, eventually rejoining the Espada as the Octava – a far cry from his former glory, but steadily making the climb back to the top. With his powers and advancements, Szayel proved a difficult and slippery adversary for even seasoned Shinigami like Renji Abarai, even with the Quincy Uryu backing him up. With his Resurreccion, he believed he had become immortal, unbeatable, and as he had always dreamed, perfect.

And that, dear reader, was his fatal mistake. Szayel lived his life and his death as a scientist, always eternally striving for perfection. A scientist who thinks he’s achieved perfection has nothing left to do, nothing left to strive for – and that fatal arrogance proved his undoing when faced against Mayuri Kurotsuchi, a scientist even madder than himself. Scorning Szayel for daring to think himself perfect, an insult to scientists everywhere, Mayuri did the cruelest thing he possibly could and drugged Szayel, enhancing his perceptions to make him superhuman.

Too superhuman. From Szayel’s perspective, seconds stretched into years, decades, until every instant seemed like a century to him. He had all the time in the world to think, but his body lagged behind his senses, and as Mayuri approached him with a sword, it was all he could do to slowly raise his hand to block, only for the sword to pierce right through. Mayuri took his time, as agonizing years passed in Szayel’s head. How many had it been? How many centuries? He couldn’t remember. He had lost count. It didn’t matter anymore. He just wanted that damned sword to pierce his heart already and end his suffering. He just wanted to die.

And die he did. His mind, already deeply insane, was shattered beyond repair by Mayuri, and as the sword finally found its way into his heart, Szayelaporro perished as he lived: in the depths of madness. A perfect testament to the imperfection of all that is.

Experience & Skill

While Szayelaporro is far from the most skilled in direct combat, his abilities and experience as a scientist are nearly second to none. After acquiring the details of one’s Bankai, he could quickly perform modifications to an entire building in order to prevent one from being capable of ever activating it, and after seeing Uryu, a Quincy, fight once, managed to prevent him from using most of his Quincy abilities in battle.

In terms of combat ability, he could easily block and avoid attacks from Renji’s Shikai without any sort of difficulty, showing that he’s deserving of his position as an Espada, and was comparable to opponents like the Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi, but it’s his intellect and his devices that make him a threat like no other.

Equipment

Fornicarás

Szayelaporro’s Zanpakuto, used for activating his Resurrección. Due to Szayel not being much of a direct fighter, it’s not used as much, but he has used it to block attacks, even ones as strong as Renji’s Shikai.

Spirit-Recording Bugs

Also known as Rokureichū, these parasitic insects are planted on fellow Hollows by Szayelaporro to record information on enemy abilities, such as Renji Abarai’s Bankai, thus allowing him to prepare any necessary counter far ahead of time.

Modified Fracciones

While most of the Espada possess Fracciones, Arrancar soldiers that directly follow their every command, Szayelaporro’s soldiers are greatly unique in comparison. They were modified by Szayel to be much more powerful than they would be otherwise while they were still Hollows, allowing him to send them out to face off against most adversaries, and by consuming them, Szayel can recover all wounds he could suffer in the heat of battle.

Power Sealing Device

Although it was never seen, Szayelaporro used some sort of device in order to seal away the powers of Uryu, a Quincy, and the Bankai of Renji Abarai. This device seems to be located within Las Noches, specifically the area ruled over by Szayelaporro, and requires Szayel to have analyzed one’s abilities before he can properly tune it to one’s powers and activate it.

Illusion Device

An unnamed device that Szayel used to help Nnoitra in his surprise attack against Nel. The device created an illusion of Nnoitra, tricking Nel into focusing on that so that the real Nnoitra could catch her off-guard.

Abilities

Ability Negation

While his ability to negate Renji’s Bankai and Uryu’s Quincy abilities were attributed to devices he planted in Las Noches, Szayelaporro was capable of completely negating the Cero Sincretico fired by Pesche and Dondochaka due to him already being familiar with the technique, showing that he could theoretically negate most attacks if he has enough knowledge about them and how they work. Even if it’s an attack Szayel hasn’t seen before, as long as it’s spiritual energy he’s familiar with, he can diffuse the impact and reduce any damage he can take.

Final Curtain Call

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Szayelaporro can draw his sword and creates a huge slash, which explodes into odd black ink that scatters across the battlefield and damages other opponents.

Forms/States

Resurrección: Fornicarás

Szayelaporro’s Resurrección is one of the most unique amongst the Espada, granting him multiple interesting abilities. Including…

Carbon-Copy

By spraying his own blood on an enemy, Szayel can create several clones of them that have the same exact abilities as their original selves, effectively trapping them in a mirror match against several enemies at once. He is also capable of altering their appearances on a whim.

Teatro de Titere

By “consuming” an opponent with one of his wings, Szayel can produce a small doll version of said opponent. Described as “a remote control for the senses”, all damage done to said doll will be directly reflected to the person it’s made from, and it can be popped open in order for Szayel to completely crush any and all internal organs.

Gabriel

For his ultimate trump card, Szayel… impregnates an enemy by having part of him enter their body through the belly button, laying an egg inside the internal organs so that it can feed on its host and kill them, allowing him to be “born” again after being defeated in battle. In addition, if his body were to be consumed in any way, it can take over the nervous system of whatever consumed it in the first place, allowing him to have complete control of their actions.

Final Performance

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Szayel can unleash a strange liquid from his back into the air, where his modified Fracciones burst out from and charge at the opponent.

Weaknesses

While Szayelaporro’s abilities are extremely dangerous, he never highlighted the same degree of pure combat skill that many of the other Espada share, relying more on his dirty tricks and control over the battlefield to overcome his enemies. If he does not have enough time to understand an enemy attack, he will be unable to properly negate it in time. In addition, while Gabriel is an incredibly powerful technique, his absorption of all fluids and chemicals in an enemy’s body can lead to him accidentally absorbing something extremely detrimental to him, such as when he absorbed the superhuman drug placed in Nemu Kurotsuchi that was his downfall.

Aaroniero Arruruerie

Background

“A Gillian doesn’t have the abilities necessary to become an Espada. And yet I am one, I was given the number nine. Do you know why that is? It’s because I am the only Arrancar with unlimited evolutionary potential!”

Imagine losing your mentor, watching him die right in front of you, coping with the trauma for years on end… and then coming face to face with that supposedly-dead mentor in the middle of an enemy’s fortress. Being told with his voice and his face to kill your new friends. This was Rukia Kuchiki’s reality, when she came face to face with the Noveno Espada, Aaroniero Arruruerie.

Aaroniero is a Gillian; in fact, the only Gillian in Hueco Mundo who has ever managed to join the ranks of the Espada. Despite being the weakest classification of Menos, Gillians are still made up of many thousands of Hollows; in Aaroniero’s case, the souls within him are 30,000 strong. Thanks to his abilities, unlike other Hollows who simply become more powerful through consuming each other, Aaroniero gains the abilities and knowledge of those he eats, and the ability to shapeshift into them. His all-consuming hunger and desire for more power belies Aaroniero’s form of death, which fits him perfectly: Greed.

One of the Hollows he had consumed, Metastacia, had formerly possessed and caused the death of one Kaien Shiba, Lieutenant of the Soul Society’s 13^th Division, who had trained Rukia prior to his death. Armed with Kaien’s memories and seizing his opportunity, Aaroniero took on the Shinigami’s form and sought to manipulate Rukia into changing sides, a cruel tactic which was ultimately unsuccessful. Rukia recognized that although Aaroniero looked and sounded like Kaien, he was saying things her old friend would never say, and so she exposed his deception with the light of the sun. A battle ensued, and though Aaroniero managed to spear her through the stomach with his trident, his overconfidence proved his downfall, and the tank of liquid surrounding his heads found itself pierced by a sword and shattered.

Laying on the ground and suffocating to death, Aaroniero screamed in terror, despair, and agony, his pitiful wails filling the room as he choked on air and his own evaporating ambitions. His hunger was always for power, but in the end, he hungered only to breathe.

Experience & Skill

Despite being a Gillian, Aaroniero is an extremely dangerous Arrancar, mainly due to the effects of their ability, Glotonería. As shown from their display as Kaien Shiba, Aaroniero can gain the experience, skill, memories and powers of whatever Hollows they manage to devour, to the point where Rukia could not tell any difference between their fighting style and Kaien’s. Adding on to that, Aaroniero claims to have eaten 33,650 Hollows in total. These combined experiences and memories were enough to overwhelm Rukia for most of their fight.

Equipment

Glotonería

Aaroniero possesses an incredibly odd Zanpakuto. Unlike the other sword or generally weapon shaped Zanpakuto, Aaroniero’s takes the form of a grotesque tentacle with a gaping maw in the middle. This is what Aaroniero uses to consume other Hollows and gain their abilities, and allows him to evolve without limit, unlike normal Hollows, which is why he is the only Gillian-class Menos among the Espada

Nejibana

Due to having eaten Metastacia, a Hollow that had fused with Soul Reaper Kaien Shiba, Aaroniero has access to Kaien’s own Zanpakuto, Nejibana. After receiving the command “Rage through the Seas and Heavens”, this sword turns into a mighty trident-like weapon that constantly has water flowing through it. Nejibana’s power is the manipulation of said water, each hit from it feeling like the impact of crashing waves. Due to their unique powers, Aaroniero is just as skilled at using Nejibana as Kaien was in life.

Abilities

Aspect Manifestation

While his Resurrección is sealed, Glotoneria allows Aaroniero to perfectly copy and manifest any aspect of those he has absorbed This goes further than just appearances, as he can copy fighting styles, knowledge, and even abilities. However, he can only manifest one of these aspects at a time.

Due to having absorbed Metastacia, Aaroniero should have their abilities, such as:

Spirit Body Fusion

By piercing his red tentacles into a target, Metastacia/Aaroniero can enter the opponent’s body and control them directly, even changing their appearance to be more similar to a Hollow.

Zanpakutō Destruction

If a Shinigami’s Zanpakutō touches the red tentacles on Aaroniero’s back, it will instantly be destroyed, even if it’s by someone stronger than him.

Synchronized Awareness

Aaroniero possessed the ability to directly relay information directly to all of their fellow Espada, which they did to report on Rukia’s presumed death moments before their own.

Forms/States

Resurrección: Glotonería

Aaroniero’s Resurrección turns the lower half of their body into a gigantic, octopus-like… thing. According to Aaroniero, this is the physical manifestation of every single Hollow they had consumed up to that point, and allowed him to employ all of their power simultaneously, essentially becoming a one-Hollow army over 30,000 strong.

Weaknesses

Despite possessing the combined powers of over 30,000 Hollows, Aaroniero has only ever showcased the Soul Reaper abilities of Kaien Shiba in battle. In addition, they are completely unable to use their abilities while under sunlight, requiring the darkness to properly fight. Destroying the glass capsule where Aaroniero’s heads are located can also critically injure them, leaving them unable to fight any further as they suffocate when exposed to air.

Yammy Llargo

Background

“Piss me off more, and more, and more! The more you do, the more pathetic your final deaths will be!”

Appearing on the scene in Karakura Town with Ulquiorra at his side, Yammy Llargo made his debut by sucking up the souls of every human in the vicinity, aside from those who are more spiritually aware, and can resist such attacks. As the Nappa to Ulquiorra’s Vegeta, he isn’t much of a talker, or a thinker, or a planner; he’s not even really a fighter, at least not in the sense that he cares (much) how strong his opponent is. He’s a murderer. The kind of guy who likes crushing bugs for fun, or fist bashing his doctor’s torso into red jelly to test out the new arm they just finished surgically attaching to him. His rank? Decimo, rank 10. His form of death? Rage.

Naturally, the good guys were pretty unhappy with Yammy showing up and sucking all the innocent civilians, so Ichigo intervened and chopped off his arm, and Yammy was sent back to Hueco Mundo with his proverbial tail between his legs to heal. During this process, he found himself followed constantly by a small dog Hollow, Kukkapuro. Unbeknownst to Yammy, he reminded the little guy of its old owner, and so it stayed by his side as he regained his strength, in hopes of rejoining the fight when the time comes.

And “regain” is an understatement, as Yammy’s might and body proportions just kept getting bigger and bigger over time, until he wasn’t just healed, he was better than he was to begin with. Much better. As the conflict in Las Noches came to a head and Ulquiorra was slain by Ichigo, Yammy released his Zanpakuto and that 10 on his shoulder lost the 1.

Yeah, remember when we said he’s the Nappa to Ulquiorra’s Vegeta? Imagine for a second what it would be like if Nappa was actually the stronger of the two all along, and that’s basically Yammy. While eating or sleeping, he stores up massive amounts of spiritual energy, and then releases it in moments of extreme rage, becoming the Cero Espada rather than the Decimo when fully unga’d up. Remember from Szayel – the Espada are ranked zero to nine, not one to ten.

In spite of Yammy’s overwhelming strength, however, he showed up at a point where surpassing the Espada was the name of the game. Faced with an even stronger Ichigo than the one that fought Ulquiorra, and subsequently Byakuya and Kenpachi at the same time, Yammy’s Cero title sadly didn’t amount to much, and he got sliced up and jobbed with much less effort than the weaker Espada that came before him. But even as he died from his wounds, Kukkapuro stayed by his side, with Yammy never understanding why the dog insisted on following him in the first place.

Experience & Skill

Yammy’s fighting style can be described as reckless and brutish. He never strategizes or utilizes tactics while in combat, preferring to simply strike his opponents really hard until they’re knocked out. Which tends to work well enough due to his overwhelming strength, allowing him to fight against opponents like Ichigo, Hitsugaya, Uryu and Renji while maintaining the upper hand. However, against an opponent stronger than himself it’s considerably less effective, with Byakuya and Kenpachi dealing with him with moderate difficulty at worst, thanks in part to his straightforward approach.

Equipment

Ira

Yammy’s Zanpakuto. Due to Yammy’s preference for simply punching his problems away, he only uses it for the sake of activating his Resurrección and occasionally blocking sword strikes. It’s probably sharp or something though. Slice, slice.

Abilities

Gonzui

Yammy possesses the unique ability to quite literally suck in people’s souls. He performs it simply by inhaling, and it has a large radius, being capable of sucking in a massive amount of souls at once. However, people with Reiryoku and spiritual awareness have shown to be able to resist this ability and keep their soul.

Rage Boost

Yammy is capable of storing great amounts of Reiryoku during times of inactivity, such as when he’s eating and sleeping, which he can unleash whenever he feels great amounts of anger and rage. This results in a great increase not just to his raw power, but to his size as well, and is directly connected to his ability to use Resurreccion. 

Forms/States

Resurrección: Ira

By storing up enough energy for a full release, Yammy’s Espada number changes from 10 to 0, and he grows to a truly gargantuan size. Upon releasing, his strength exceeds even Starrk’s thanks to this boost, becoming the strongest Espada at the time of the Arrancar Saga. Notably, data-books confirm that Yammy’s rank as the Cero is accurate, despite his relatively poor performance against Byakuya and Kenpachi. Even after transforming, Yammy’s rage boosts never stop, and he keeps becoming stronger and stronger and stronger the longer the fight goes on. 

Ira – Furio Maxima

In Bleach: Brave Souls, Yammy can fire a barrage of rapid fire Balas from his fist that create large explosions upon impact, each having their own massive AoE.

Weaknesses

Yammy is, simply put, a complete idiot. Despite having the potential to be the physically strongest member of the Espada, his fighting style is extremely flawed and he still struggles immensely in most of the battles he gets involved in, especially when up against opponents capable of easily outsmarting him like Kisuke Urahara. He also has issues when it comes to detecting Reiatsu, being utterly unable to tell how much of a threat an enemy is until it’s too late.

Feats

Overall

• [Starrk] Fought Shunsui, Ukitake, Rose, Love
• [Baraggan] Ruled over all of Hueco Mundo
• [Baraggan] Fought Soi Fon, Omaeda, Hacchi
• [Nel] Fought Nnoitra, Hikone, Ikomikidomoe
• [Harribel] Fought Toshiro, Lisa, Yhwach, Hikone, Ikomikidomoe
• [Ulquiorra] Fought Ichigo, Uryu, Grimmjow
• [Nnoitra] Fought Chad, Ichigo, Nel, Kenpachi
• [Grimmjow] Fought Ichigo, Rukia, Ulquiorra, Hikone, Ikomikidomoe
• [Grimmjow] Killed Quilge Opie and Askin Nakk Le Vaar
• [Luppi] Fought Toshiro, Rangiku, Grimmjow, Ikomikidomoe
• [Zommari] Fought Byakuya
• [Szayelaporro] Formerly the Cero Espada
• [Szayelaporro] Cloned himself to create Cien
• [Szayelaporro] Fought Renji, Uryu, Mayuri
• [Aaroniero] Killed and consumed over 30 thousand Hollows
• [Yammy] Fought Ichigo, Chad, Loly & Menoly, Byakuya, Kenpachi

Power

• [Everyone] Capable of destroying Las Noches in its entirety
• [Starrk] Destroyed Hollows just by being near them through his sheer reiatsu
• [Baraggan] Slices a building in half with one swing of his axe
• [Harribel] Smashed through Hitsugaya’s Bankai
• [Nel] Damaged Nnoitra despite his ultra-hard Hierro
• [Nel] Pierced through Ikomikidomoe’s eye with her lance
• [Ulquiorra] Creates a massive explosion with Lanza Del Relampago that kicks up an enormous amount of sand beyond the horizon
• [Ulquiorra]Cero Oscuras clashes with Vasto Lorde Ichigo’s Cero and kicks up a large amount of sand
  • In the anime, this creates an enormous shockwave that disperses air
• [Nnoitra] Incapacitated Arrancar Arc Grimmjow with a single hit
• [Nnoitra] Caught Bankai Ichigo’s sword with his bare hand like it was nothing
• [Nnoitra] Pierced through a suppressed mid-series Kenpachi’s torso with his bare hand
• [Grimmjow] Sends Ichigo flying with a throw
• [Grimmjow] Impales Luppi and later vaporizes the top half of his body
• [Grimmjow] Kicks Ichigo through a city block
• [Grimmjow] Fights evenly with Bankai Ichigo
• [Grimmjow]Shatters a large pillar in one strike
  • Garra de la Pantera destroys a similar sized pillar
• [Grimmjow] Oneshot Quilge Opie after he had absorbed Ayon, albeit with a sneak attack
• [Grimmjow] Ripped out post-Auswahlen Vollständig Askin Nakk Le Vaar’s heart with a sneak attack
• [Grimmjow] In terms of sheer spiritual pressure, his Gran Rey Cero is stated to be stronger than CFYOW Ginjo’s Getsuga Tensho, and Ginjo and Tsukishima acknowledge him as an opponent who would not be easy to defeat
• [Luppi] Capable of producing eight Gran Rey Ceros at once, and matching post-series Grimmjow
• [Szayelaporro] Was considered the Cero Espada in the past
• [Yammy] Off-screened Renji and Sado
• [Yammy] Claims that Grimmjow, Nnoitra, and Ulquiorra are trash compared to him
• [Yammy] Sends Ichigo flying with Bala
• [Yammy] Sends Kenpachi flying with enough force to shatter a large pillar
• [Yammy] Creates a massive explosion with his Cero that kicks up a large amount of sand
• [Yammy] While off-screen, managed to harm and bloody mid-series Kenpachi with no eyepatch

Speed

• [Everyone] All Espada are able to react and move in tandem with Ceros, which are stated to be beams of light
  • [Everyone] Bala moves 20 times faster than Ceros
• [Starrk] Dodges Ceros so fast it looks like they hit him
• [Starrk] Cero Volley can fire off a thousand shots in an instant
• [Baraggan] Respira was too fast for Soi Fon to dodge, despite the fact that she was the fastest Captain at the time
• [Ulquiorra] In his first release, moves too quickly for Hollow Mask Ichigo to react
• [Ulquiorra] Lanza Del Relampago was launched a massive distance in a short time
• [Grimmjow] Outspeeds Bankai Ichigo and claims his speed is only average
• [Grimmjow] Bankai Ichigo can barely keep up with him
• [Grimmjow] Blitzes Ichigo on multiple occasions
• [Grimmjow] Resurrección keeps up with Bankai Ichigo
• [Zommari] Fastest Sonido among the Espada, capable of producing many afterimages
• [Aaroniero] Fast enough to dodge natural sunlight, remaining in the shadows to avoid having his identity revealed

Durability

• [Starrk] Tanked a blow from Love’s Shikai
• [Starrk] Survived being impaled through the chest by Shunsui
• [Baraggan] Tanked multiple blasts from Soi Fon’s Jakuhō Raikōben
• [Harribel] Survived Aizen’s first attack, requiring a second one to incapacitate her
• [Ulquiorra] Able to deflect Hollow Ichigo’s Getsuga Tenshou and Grimmjow’s Cero with his bare hands
• [Ulquiorra] Survives a full power Cero from Vasto Lorde Ichigo
• [Nnoitra] Hardest Hierro among the Espada, tough enough that Kenpachi struggled to cut him
• [Zommari] Survived Byakuya’s Senbonzakura Kageyoshi
• [Yammy] Tanks a point blank Sōkatsui from Rukia
• [Yammy] Withstood a Getsuga Tenshou from Hollowfied Ichigo to the neck and was only nicked
• [Yammy] Survived a combined strike from Kenpachi and Byakuya

Scaling

Overall

Starrk

During the time of the Arrancar Saga and Aizen’s invasion of Karakura Town, Starrk was ranked as the Primera Espada, above those ranked 2 through 9. While other Arrancar in Aizen’s army are not ranked on strength, the ten Espada themselves are the exception, meaning that at the time, Starrk’s power was beyond the rest of the Espada aside from Yammy, the Cero. This allowed him to fight against Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake, two powerful captains all by himself, and contend easily with powerful Visored on top of that like Love and Rose. 

His superiority to all those ranked beneath him is further confirmed by secondary media, with Cien in the Spirits Are Forever With You novel confirming that Starrk’s wolf pack, Baraggan’s Respira, and Yammy’s max power are (at that point) beyond any power in Hueco Mundo other than Aizen’s or his own. This claim was made in spite of the fact that Cien was aware of Ulquiorra’s Segunda Etapa release, proving that although Aizen may not have known of the form, Ulquiorra’s ranking among the Espada was accurate regardless, with only his standing relative to Harribel remaining unclear.

It should be noted that although Starrk was nearly supreme among the Espada with the sole exception of Yammy, the Espada themselves (at least of the Arrancar Saga) only scale so far, with Captains like Byakuya and Kenpachi tearing apart even Yammy, and Aizen insinuating that the Espada are too weak to stand alongside him, while his closer subordinates like Gin and Tosen were not. This becomes especially true when looking at characters like Aizen himself and his peers, who are altogether beyond anything Starrk could compare to.

When factoring in power cliffing from later arcs and implementing all of the characters at their peak, Starrk should now be seventh strongest of the Espada here. Yammy, prime Szayelaporro, and the four Espada who are still alive – Grimmjow, Harribel, Nel, and Luppi – should all be beyond him to varying extents.

Baraggan

As the Segunda Espada, Baraggan’s strength is ranked just below Starrk among the Arrancar, making him eighth strongest when factoring in modern scaling. As was the case with Starrk, his superiority to Ulquiorra is confirmed by Cien, and the Can’t Fear Your Own World novel pays great respect to his power, with him having been comparable to earlier versions of Ikomikidomoe in the past. He has proven his power by overwhelming Soi Fon, a Captain of the Soul Society, and putting up a good fight even when she was later backed up by Hacchi, one of the Visored who was formerly the lieutenant of the Kido Corps.

Nel

During her time in the Espada, Nel was ranked third among them, though the value of this number decreased after she left, with Nnoitra proving comparable to her upon her return, despite the fact that he was the fifth strongest by then. This proves that the Espada as a whole had gotten stronger in her absence, to the point where the current fifth and the former third were now similar in strength. In spite of this, Nel overall maintained an advantage over Nnoitra in their fight, only losing due to reverting to her child state, though admittedly this was against an unreleased Nnoitra, while she herself did release her Resurreccion.

While Nel’s current power is the most vague of the four surviving Espada, it is clear that she has increased in power significantly since the time of the Arrancar Saga, becoming strong enough to pierce through Ikomikidomoe’s eye with her lance, fighting it alongside Grimmjow, Harribel, and Luppi, with none of them being able to finish it off easily. This suggests her current strength is on a level relative to Grimmjow’s, albeit lesser, given that she was able to injure an opponent that he could not outright defeat.

Harribel

During the Arrancar Saga, Harribel held the rank of Tres Espada, below Baraggan but above Ulquiorra. It should be noted that although she, Baraggan and Starrk were introduced alongside one another as the top 3, it is implied that her strength may have been significantly lesser than theirs, with Cien not seeing fit to mention her when discussing the greatest powers in Hueco Mundo, despite mentioning both Starrk and Baraggan alongside Yammy. Because of this, her exact standing relative to the number 4, Ulquiorra, is actually unclear, given that Ulquiorra did not show Aizen his Segunda Etapa, and so her rank alone does not prove that she was necessarily stronger than him.

That said, Harribel was still in the upper echelon of the Espada, at minimum stronger than Nnoitra and likely at least comparable to Ulquiorra. She was able to fight Toshiro Hitsugaya for an extended time despite his prodigious skill as a Captain of the Soul Society, and was the only Espada who was not defeated in combat, instead being eliminated by Aizen out of disappointment in the Espada’s performance as a whole. It’s also worth acknowledging that her strength was great enough that Aizen’s first strike did not finish her off, requiring a second one to incapacitate her, and even that did not actually prove fatal.

Being one of the surviving Espada, Harribel has naturally grown much stronger in the time since the Arrancar Saga, now acting as the monarch of Hueco Mundo, and fighting Ikomikidomoe alongside Grimmjow, Nel, and Luppi. Her strength nowadays is so great that even Yhwach saw fit to fight her personally instead of allowing any of his Sternritter to do it, despite the fact that this is not Yhwach’s modus operandi in other situations, with him rarely stepping in himself unless it is warranted. 

Of note, she does not seek to antagonize Grimmjow or establish herself as a competitor to his goal of becoming king, as she feels the two of them would end up fighting to the death, suggesting that the two are on a relative level capable of killing each other, with the indication being that Grimmjow is overall superior.

Ulquiorra

Ulquiorra was Ichigo’s greatest rival among the Espada, and in every bout consistently overwhelmed him with the exception of his spontaneous Vasto Lorde transformation. He is fourth among the Espada, and as such the superior to all ranked beneath him.

In his first encounter with Ichigo, Ulquiorra was capable of surviving a full power Getsuga Tenshou from his Bankai state combined with the Hollow Mask while still in his dormant form, suffering only light wounds. He then proceeded to mortally wound him with minimal effort. In their second battle, Ichigo only performed marginally better as Ulquiorra completely dominated him even after he grew stronger, and stated that even with his Visored Mask he wouldn’t be able to defeat him. In his first release he pummeled Ichigo to an even greater extent. In his second release, he was capable of battling with Ichigo’s Vasto Lorde state and briefly clashing against his Cero with his own attacks. Comparability (to an extent) to the Vasto Lorde is in particular noteworthy, given other statements about the form.

Nnoitra

Being the Quinto Espada during the Arrancar Saga, Nnoitra was only a rank below Ulquiorra in strength, and superior to all the Espada members ranked below him. According to him, the gap between individual Espada members was significant, as he claimed that he was much stronger than Grimmjow, who was only one rank below him. Though in fairness, the accuracy of his claim could be debated, as among other reasons he also claimed – falsely – to be the strongest Espada. 

His power as the fifth-ranked Espada allowed him to not only toy with a fatigued Bankai Ichigo, but also fight evenly with Nel, the former Tres Espada, without even releasing his Zanpakuto. Perhaps most impressively, he was able to pressure even the incredibly powerful Kenpachi Zaraki in one-on-one combat, withstanding many blows and striking back with damage severe enough that Kenpachi thought he could end up dying. His strength was great enough that Kenpachi needed to remove his eyepatch and implement kendo techniques into his fighting style in order to win.

It should of course be noted however that Kenpachi subconsciously suppresses himself throughout the series, only achieving his full potential after his fight against Unohana much later down the line. Prior to that point, Kenpachi always only put forth the amount of power needed for any given opponent, and Nnoitra is no exception.

All in all, factoring in the peak potential of other Espada members both before and after the Arrancar Saga, Nnoitra is tenth place among the Espada, with only Zommari and Aaroniero being his inferiors. However, he is still incredibly powerful in his own right.

Grimmjow

At the time of the Arrancar Saga, Grimmjow was the Sexta Espada, and thus was actually on the lower end of the group power-wise. However, he was still an incredible force to be reckoned with, powerful enough that Luppi, his temporary replacement as Sexta, was casually two-shot by Grimmjow after he got his arm healed by Orihime. Throughout the arc, he’s a consistent rival to Ichigo, with the two of them ultimately having an extremely close battle in which Ichigo was forced to Hollowfy and pushed to his limits, having difficulty fully overcoming Grimmjow even after a mental amp.

However, in the time since, Grimmjow has gotten much, much stronger, confirmed multiple times throughout Can’t Fear Your Own World, as a result of continuing to challenge and consume Menos Grande and Arrancars after his defeat against Ichigo. In the manga, this allowed him to oneshot Quilge Opie and Askin Nakk Le Vaar, two powerful Sternritter, albeit in both cases with surprise attacks. In the novels, it was stated that even a stray attack from Grimmjow’s battle with Luppi would be capable of oneshotting Candice Catnipp and Meninas McAllon, further proving that current Grimmjow is a threat to the Sternritter, even outside of surprise attacks.

Grimmjow was also confident in his ability to challenge True Shikai Ichigo, which is backed up in the novels, where it’s stated that Grimmjow would be a difficult opponent for the likes of Ginjo and Tsukishima, and that his Gran Rey Cero possesses a greater volume of spiritual pressure than Ginjo’s Getsuga Tensho – with Ginjo’s Getsuga in the same novel being stated to rival Ichigo’s.

This is made even more impressive by various other statements about Ginjo in the novels, primarily that he’s a prime candidate for Soul King, and potentially capable of defeating the Soul King candidate Hikone Ubuginu. Despite all this, Ginjo acknowledged Grimmjow as a difficult opponent whose raw power rivals his own, lending credence to Grimmjow’s confidence in taking on a modern-day Ichigo.

As alluded to earlier, Luppi as of CFYOW was capable of fighting Grimmjow to a standstill for an extended period, but outside of him there are no Espada that could be considered Grimmjow’s equal. Even Harribel as she is currently was worried about the idea of Grimmjow choosing to fight her to the death, and multiple implications throughout the novels cement Grimmjow as the strongest living Espada – and thus, the strongest Espada in general.

Luppi

Luppi was originally Grimmjow’s replacement as Sexta Espada in the Arrancar Saga, though was not his equal, as Grimmjow put a hole through his chest and then blasted off his top half as soon as he was back in fighting condition. That said, he was no joke even then, capable of overpowering a Captain class shinigami (Toshiro) and three lieutenants (Ikkaku, Rangiku, and Yumichika) all at once with his Resurreccion released.

As of his resurrection by Mayuri and tenure in the Kurotsuchi Corpse Unit, Luppi has been upgraded to a higher level of power, allowing him to fight evenly with current Grimmjow and push him to use his Resurreccion. He can fire eight Gran Rey Ceros from each of his tentacles, an attack strong enough to match Desgarron, Grimmjow’s strongest move. And alongside the other three living Espada, he was able to fight for an extended time against Ikomikidomoe. Given his startlingly good performance against Grimmjow, Luppi is arguably tied with him as the strongest Espada, and is at worst a very close second. A far cry from the gap that once existed between them.

Zommari

Zommari kinda sucks. Bottom text.

In all seriousness, Zommari is ranked the Séptima Espada, putting him above Aaroniero and Szayelaporro, at least how he was during the Arrancar Saga, but his only combat showing, against Byakuya Kuchiki, was a one-sided squash match in his opponent’s favor, even with the advantage of a hostage. He should however at least be comparable to Lieutenant-class shinigami, scaling above Szayel and Aaroniero. However, overall he is eleventh among the Espada covered here, with Aaroniero alone being below him in power.

Szayelaporro

Szayelaporro is… weird. He typically doesn’t fight directly, and when we do see him do so, he primarily relies on technology and hax abilities rather than raw strength and physical combat, making him hard to judge. However, even with backup from Uryu, Renji Abarai (a Lieutenant) was largely helpless against Szayel’s tools and tricks, requiring Mayuri to bail them out in the end.

Of course, this version of Szayel is greatly diminished from what he once was. In the past, he was the Cero Espada, strongest of them all, until he separated himself into two halves, the Szayel that we know, and his brother, Yylfordt. This caused him to drop out of the Espada for a time, before eventually moving back up to the Octava position after mastering new, dangerous abilities.

While “prime” Szayel is hard to judge since we haven’t seen him, we do have indication of his capabilities in the form of his clone, Cien, who possesses all the power of the original Szayelaporro. Cien claimed that his power exceeds that of Starrk, Baraggan, and even Yammy, indicating that the original Cero Espada was stronger than the current one. However, due to a lack of showings or statements, it’s impossible to say with certainty that Szayel should scale any further than nebulously above Yammy. As such, he would likely be the fifth strongest Espada at his peak, below only the four that are still alive currently.

Aaroniero

Aaroniero is without a shadow of a doubt the weakest of the Espada, which is to be expected, as he is merely a Gillian-class Hollow. While the full extent of his abilities was left unclear, he was only shown to be capable of doing battle against Rukia, not even a Lieutenant yet at the time, though given that he consumed Metastacia and gained Kaien Shiba’s abilities, he should at least be comparable to a Lieutenant level Shinigami, since Kaien… was one. That said, he does not have any combat showings against the Captain class before his death.

Outside of Shinigami, he should be comparable to Arrancar such as the Privaron Espada, former Espada members who were bumped down and replaced, which would put him beyond people like Dordoni, who was able to match post-Visored training Ichigo and push him to use his Bankai. Other Arrancar weaker than the Espada, namely Shawlong, was also able to overwhelm a Captain level Shinigami like Toshiro, though only when Toshiro had Gentei Reiin in place, which limits his power to 1/5 of its normal level.

Yammy

As the Cero Espada, Yammy was the strongest of them all back in the Arrancar Saga, at least after building up his power and releasing his Resurreccion, which took him from tenth to zeroth. In addition to his number, he directly claimed that the rest of the Espada are trash compared to him, despite being familiar with all of them and having sensed Ulquiorra’s fight with Ichigo.

While his rather pitiful performance against Byakuya and Kenpachi might make this claim seem doubtful, databooks for the series back up his claim of being the strongest, as does Cien in Spirits Are Forever With You. With this in mind, though he is exceeded by the four surviving Espada and by the former Cero, Szayel, Yammy should be sixth among the Espada overall, beyond Starrk and Baraggan and those below them.

Notable Feats

Ichigo Kurosaki

Many of the Espada have fought Ichigo and pushed him to his limits, with even members of the Privaron Espada initially being able to pressure Ichigo into Bankai after his training with the Visored. As Ichigo got progressively stronger over the course of the Arrancar Saga, he began to match higher Espada more and more over time, having a difficult battle with Grimmjow in which he had to Hollowfy, and later of course his battle with Ulquiorra where even his Hollow Mask was insufficient, and even later a full power Yammy, before eventually he came to surpass them all and battle Aizen directly. As a result, different Espada only scale to Ichigo at different points in time.

However, the strongest members currently, most notably Grimmjow, should compare to his True Shikai to at least some extent, putting them at least comparable to the majority of feats he has demonstrated throughout the series. Do keep in mind though that not all of these feats would necessarily apply to all of the Espada.

• Substitute Shinigami Arc Ichigo reacts to and blocks a Cero from a Menos Grande
• Soul Society Arc Shikai Ichigo contributes a portion of the Reiryoku needed to power the Reishukaku, which produces a massive shockwave upon impacting the Seireitei’s barrier
• Post-Bankai Training Shikai Ichigo blocks the Sokyoku, which is stated to have power equal to one million Zanpakuto, and beyond that is capable of increasing its power by dozens of times, at which point it would be able to destroy the entire Soul Society
  • Note that Ichigo only blocked the Sokyoku’s initial impact, and would not have been able to block the second one, suggesting that at this point he was not capable of matching its power boost
• Post-Bankai Training Shikai Ichigo gouges out a portion of Sokyoku Hill, which is visible relative in size to the rest of the Seireitei
• Soul Society Arc Bankai Ichigo deflects hundreds of millions of cuts from Byakuya’s Senbonzakura in an instant, though it’s likely he blocked multiple cuts per each swing of his own
• Fullbring Shikai Ichigo creates a massive blast in his fight with Quilge that dwarfs Hueco Mundo’s massive sand dunes in size
• The creation of his True Shikai vaporizes an entire sea
• True Shikai Ichigo cuts through Soul King Yhwach multiple times

Captains of the Soul Society

Aside from Zommari and Aaroniero, all of the Espada have showings indicating they should be comparable to Captain-class shinigami, and so scale to most feats from the Captains up until the Arrancar Saga.

Post-Arrancar Saga, only Grimmjow, Luppi, Harribel and Nel would be comparable to the Captains for the most part, on account of Grimmjow’s novel statements and his showing against Askin, one of the strongest Sternritter who should at least be somewhat relative to even some of the strongest Captains like Kenpachi (Askin, being one of the Schutzstaffel, should be relative albeit weaker than fellow member Gerard, who fought Kenpachi, Byakuya and Toshiro 1v3).

• Soi Fon and Yoruichi dodge Negacion, a light beam, as it engulfs Aizen
• Gin’s Bankai expands a massive distance in an instant and splits Karakura Town in half
• Rose’s whip significantly outspeeds Starrk’s Cero barrage to block it
• Komamura splits through a portion of Sokyoku Hill with his Bankai
• Shunsui reacts to and avoids light-based attacks from Lille Barro
• Toshiro can conjure storms with a radius of at least 3 ri, and reduce the temperature within that area to freezing
• Toshiro produces a massive enough amount of ice to prevent a portion of the Wandenreich from breaking off and falling
• Kenpachi is stated to be capable of destroying the Dangai in his clash with Azashiro
  • This was clashing with Azashiro’s Shikai, which takes all his power and concentrates it in one blow. Azashiro’s prior Bankai state had enough power to damage the walls of the Dangai with Kido
• Kenpachi cuts through and destroys a massive meteor before it can hit the Seireitei

Lieutenants of the Soul Society

A step below the Captains, all of the Espada should be at least Lieutenant level and thus scale to any of these feats no problem – even Aaroniero should be at least that level, scaling to Kaien.

• Renji blocks Mask De Masculine’s light-based laser beam
• Nanao reacts to and dodges Lille Barro’s light-based Light of Judgement, despite lacking a Zanpakuto and having no experience in a real fight
• Hisagi dodges a massive barrage of Bala from Findorr Calius, moving FTE relative to the attacks
• Hisagi and Rangiku dodge Negacion light beams, as they engulf Tosen and Gin respectively
• Rukia produces a massive amount of ice and reduces the area to absolute zero during her fight with As Nodt

Quincy & Sternritter

Grimmjow in Thousand Year Blood War was able to oneshot Quilge Opie, a powerful Sternritter whom Yhwach trusted to conquer Hueco Mundo all by himself, even after Quilge had activated Vollständig AND absorbed the power of Ayon, an extremely powerful Chimera-like Hollow (translation if you don’t wanna check the glossary: he oneshot a strong guy who was hella amped).

He also did something similar to Askin, one of the Schutzstaffel who was among Yhwach’s strongest Sternritter, even after Askin had been empowered by Yhwach’s Auswahlen, which redistributed the power of all the other Sternritter to the Schutzstaffel (translation: he oneshot one of the strongest of these guys when he had the power of a bunch of the other guys transferred to him).

With this in mind, Grimmjow (and by extension Luppi, Nel, and Harribel) should be comparable to various feats performed by the Sternritter.

• Uryu moves so quickly he blitzes his own shadow, disappearing from sight while it remains in place
• Pernida, as the left arm of the Soul King, should be comparable to the right arm Mimihagi, which was able to:
  • Temporarily stabilize the three realms
  • Travel the distance to the Soul King’s palace quickly
• Liltotto dodges Yhwach’s Auswählen, which crossed the distance from the Soul King’s palace twice in a matter of moments
• Bazz-B is strong enough to offset Yamamoto’s flames with his own
• Quilge creates a large explosion in Hueco Mundo, kicking up a massive amount of sand larger in size than the surrounding dunes
• Candice can fire arrows that can be accurately described to be as fast as lightning
• Gremmy conjures a massive meteor above the Seireitei
• Lille carves away a portion of the Wandenreich with a light beam
• Lille blows an even larger hole through part of the Wandenreich
• Royd Lloyd’s Blut allows him to survive the heat of Yamamoto’s Bankai from a short distance

Full Hollow Ichigo

Ulquiorra was able to fight Full Hollow Ichigo, and while he did lose decisively, he was able to clash with Ichigo’s Cero for a time, and survive a point blank Cero head-on, albeit with significant injuries. Additionally, the Hellverse movie depicts the fight as much more extended and evenly matched, which Tite Kubo himself has said is more in line with his intentions for the fight than the manga itself. With this in mind, Ulquiorra and those stronger than him should downscale from this Ichigo’s showings.

• Creates a massive blast atop Las Noches
• Capable of creating massive explosions across all three layers of Hell in the Hellverse movie
• Capable of destroying Hell and breaking the chains that maintain its separation from the earth
• Stated in the Hellverse novelization to have shaken all of Hueco Mundo in his fight with Ulquiorra

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto

Some of the Sternritter, mainly Bazz-B and Royd Lloyd, have showings that you could use to argue they are somewhat comparable to Yamamoto, which would then end up applying to Grimmjow and the other living Espada. More convincingly, however, novel Grimmjow being comparable to Soul King candidates like Ginjo would put them on a level at least relative to Yama, if not potentially even higher.

• Dries up all of the water in the Soul Society with his heat
• Would have burned away the entirety of the Soul Society with his Bankai, had he continued fighting for long enough

Senna & The Blanks

Senna is a character from the Memories of Nobody film, a being called the Shinenju who is composed entirely of the memories of lost souls called Blanks. These Blanks became disconnected from the flow of souls and lost within the Garganta, eventually congregating together into one place, their memories forming the Shinenju. As the Shinenju, Senna possessed control over the Blanks, and could manipulate them to utilize their power at will.

In the movie, it is established that all of the Blanks coming together created a dimension called the Valley of Screams within the Garganta, which was causing the Human World and Soul Society to contract toward one another. At the end of the movie, Senna uses the power of the Blanks to reverse the damage, pushing the two worlds apart again.

As far as scaling goes, characters on the level of a Soul King candidate should be comparable by default, since the Soul King controls the flow of souls that the Blanks come from. However, it’s established in the movie that Senna’s Zanpakuto came from a Shinigami that was absorbed by a different Valley of Screams 100 years ago. Meaning that the Blanks within the current Valley are, at most, the number of people that have died within the last hundred years, likely far less since only a tiny portion of those souls would become separated from the flow of souls and turn into Blanks. Even generously, this would at most number in the hundreds of millions, which is comparable in number to the souls composing the strongest Arrancar in Hueco Mundo. Which would put the strongest Espada (Ulquiorra and above) comparable in strength to the total aggregate of Blanks that Senna controlled.

• The Blanks create the Valley of Screams pocket dimension over the course of three days
• Senna harnesses the Blanks’ power to create a massive series of explosions within the Dangai, preventing the Soul Society and Human World from colliding with each other and pushing them back into their proper positions

Kido Cannon

The Kido Cannon is a weapon from the Memories of Nobody movie which was charged by 156 members of the Kido Corps. Remember the Chakra Cannon? It’s that, but again! This one actually applies to the entire Espada however, as this movie takes place before the Arrancar Saga, and every Espada should be at least Lieutenant Class, beyond the average Kido Corps members who were powering this thing. However, they would only get 1/156th of the total yield. It is possible that the current Espada could scale to the full yield, though this is debatable.

• Destroys the Valley of Screams, a pocket dimension

Soul King Candidates

As previously established, Grimmjow in Can’t Fear Your Own World is established to rival Ginjo in power, who is established repeatedly throughout the novels to be a Soul King candidate, and potentially even capable of defeating other prominent Soul King candidates like Hikone. With this in mind, the strongest Espada could potentially be in a similar ballpark as such characters, especially considering Grimmjow was confident in his ability to challenge current Ichigo, who is also a Soul King candidate and on a similar level.

• Ginjo’s Getsuga Tensho is stated to be capable of rivaling Ichigo’s strongest as of Can’t Fear Your Own World
• The Soul King is responsible for maintaining the cosmic balance of the three realms, preventing them from collapsing at all times
• Had Ginjo become the Soul King, he could have remade the worlds as he pleased

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