Highlights
- The Espada in Bleach are organized by number, ranking strength and reiatsu level, with Ulquiorra as the Cuatro Espada.
- Ulquiorra was once a Vasto Lorde-class Hollow, showing distinct moral and power differences from his peers.
- Ulquiorra's hidden power, Segunda Etapa, surpasses Coyote Starrk, making him the strongest Espada member.
One of the best things about Bleach is the ensembles, groups of characters with different backgrounds, designs, personalities, and powers. Sosuke Aizen's Espada is one of the most iconic villain groups in anime. A group of Hollows that tore off their masks and gained Soul Reaper powers, hence the name "Arrancar", Spanish for "to tear off". And one thing that makes the Espada interesting is how they're organized. The Espada are ranked by number, according to their strength and reiatsu level.
But a certain team member has garnered a lot of debate and adoration in the Bleach fandom for many years. Ulquiorra Cifer, the Cuatro Espada possesses a secret transformation that not only their leader, Sosuke Aizen, knows of, Segunda Etapa. Is Coyote Starrk, the Primera Espada, truly the strongest of the team, or is Ulquiorra, with his hidden power, the true number one?
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Ulquiorra's Origins
In a manga one-shot, fans are shown a bit of the origin of Ulquiorra Cifer. He was once a Vasto Lorde-class Hollow, the highest level a Hollow can reach, bearing humanoid features and overwhelming power. Ulquiorra preferred solitude, as he didn't comprehend the animalistic and savage behavior of his peers. Ulquiorra wandered on his own, seeking meaning in Hueco Mundo, always far away from other Hollows, meaning his immense power was natural, and not from cannibalizing other Hollows. In that sense, he was much like Coyote Starrk and Tier Harribel, exhibiting a distinct moral and power difference from the usual.
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It is unknown when he became an Arrancar and joined the Espada, but he was granted the number four, putting him just behind Coyote Starrk, Barragan Luisenbarn, and Tier Harribel in that order.
The Difference Between Ulquiorra and Starrk
In official terms, Coyote Starrk is the strongest of the Espada. Not only is he number one, but he's also split into two beings, the second being Lilynette Gingerbuck, who takes the form of a young girl. Back when Coyote was a Vasto Lord Hollow, his reiatsu was so immense and overwhelming that it instantly killed any Hollow that approached him, and tired of a life of solitude, he split part of his power, creating Lilynette.
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Ulquiorra did not go through this same situation when he was a Hollow, as he wanted to be alone on his own accord. So why would Starrk and Ulquiorra be comparable as two Espada? Starrk has one of the strongest Resurreccion, Los Lobos. Starrk gains dual pistols and the ability of "Wolf Pack Generation", where he summons hundreds of ghostly wolves. Meanwhile, Ulquiorra has essentially two transformations, Resurreccion: Murcielago and the monstrous Segunda Etapa.
Ulquiorra's Segunda Etapa
Ulquiorra states that not even Sosuke Aizen knows of this transformation, meaning there's no official way for him to be ranked against the other Espada. Coyote Starrk fought against Shunsui Kyoraku and Juushirou Ukitake, two of the strongest captains of the Gotei 13, and he lost mainly due to his giving up the fight after Lilynette died. Ulquiorra fought against Ichigo, and at no point were their powers even comparable. Ulquiorra always overwhelmed Ichigo the entire fight, only going into Segunda Etapa to simply break Ichigo's will.
There's a key difference between Starrk's Los Lobos and Ulquiorra's Segunda Etapa. Ulquiorra needed to leave the castle of Las Noches to transform, as his power would decimate the place. Stark, Harribel, and Barragan all used their Resurrection in the Fake Karakura with no repercussions on the environment. Then, when Ulquiorra is fighting Zangetsu, he employs his most powerful technique, Lanza del Relampago. Zangetsu immediately dodges it, and when it hits several miles away, the explosion is so colossal it shakes the place where Orihime and Uryuu are standing.
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Ulquiorra's overwhelming power is better demonstrated in the effect it had on its environment, the Castle of Las Noches would not sustain the power of Segunda Etapa. While there's no official confirmation, it is safe to say from everything shown in the Arrancar arc, that at first glance, Ulquiorra is in the right spot of the ranking, but once he enters Segunda Etapa, he surpasses Coyote Starrk, making him the strongest member of the Espada.
Bleach
Based on Tite Kubo's battle shonen manga, Bleach centers around Ichigo, a high school student who is dragged into the world of Soul Reapers. The original anime ended in 2012, but it was revived in 2022.
