Highlights
- Yhwach, the powerful character in Bleach, possesses the ability of Auswahlen, which allows him to select and absorb the power of other Quincy, resulting in their deaths.
- Upon activation, Auswahlen engulfs the selected Quincy in columns of light, redistributing their power to others while causing death to the victims.
- Yhwach can also use Auswahlen to revive fallen soldiers by stealing power from other Quincy, and he views all Quincy as expendable in his quest for power.
As the son of the Soul King, Emperor of the Wandenreich, and the Father of the Quincy in Bleach, Yhwach is a character armed with immense power, stemming from his status as a divine being as well as the vast arsenal of abilities he wields. Well-versed in all the Quincy's natural abilities, such as the manipulation and extraction of Reishi, he can execute their techniques with much more power and potency than any normal Quincy can hope to muster, which is just one of the many reasons why he is so fearsome.
That being said, he also possesses some unique abilities of his own, which far exceed the capabilities of normal Quincy in Bleach. One among them is the Auswahlen, which permits him to absorb power from those he selects to make it his own. Prior to his complete revival, which set the Thousand Year Blood War between the Quincy and Shinigami of the Gotei 13 in motion, Yhwach used this ability to regain the strength and vitality that he lost after his defeat at the hands of the Gotei 13 nearly a millennium prior to the start of the story. But what exactly is this ability, and how does it function?
What Is Auswahlen?
When literally translated from German, the word Auswahlen means "select," indicating the underlying concept of Yhwach's ability to choose those he will obtain power from. The ability has sometimes been referred to as "Holy Selection" or "Consecration," referring to how the technique is used by Yhwach to pick out those among the Quincy he deems "unnecessary." After this selection is made, he proceeds to extract their power in a process that is essentially fatal to those who fall victim to it. More often than not, the selection targets Quincy of impure blood.
On activation, those chosen as part of the selection are engulfed in massive columns of light, and absorbs power from them while redistributing it to those in need of it. Hence, anyone who benefits from the effects of Auswahlen will unlock even greater power than they had before. Conversely, those who are targeted by the selection will die instantly once the pillar of light hits them. Those who manage to evade the light after being selected it may survive, but they will lose their powers and the ability to use Quincy: Vollstandig.
Even being near the light is enough for a Quincy to lose their powers. Those targeted will develop a clot in their hearts made of Still Silver, which will be the cause of their death in case the pillar of light does not entirely rend and consume the flesh from their bones. However, if the Still Silver comes into contact with Yhwach's blood, he will temporarily lose his all his powers for a few moments.
Auswahlen is an extension of Yhwach's ability to distribute parts of his soul and grant power to those who receive its fragments. This is the foundation of his ability to grant Schrifts to his Sternritter, where he shares pieces of his soul in the form of a letter. He can also heal virtually anyone he touches by gifting them a piece of his soul. This fragment will collect all the knowledge, skills, and abilities wielded by an individual until their death, and the process also significantly shortens their lifespan. When they die, the soul fragment will return to Yhwach and be reabsorbed by him. In this manner, Yhwach enhances his power by granting it to others and allowing them to cultivate it, until he reclaims it upon their demise.
How Does Yhwach Use Its Abilities?
Shortly before he was revived completely, 9 years prior to the Wandenreich's invasion of Soul Society, Yhwach used Auswahlen to regain some of his lost power. This was around 990 years after he was first sealed by the Gotei 13. During this activation of the technique, Yhwach selected a number of Quincy he judged to be impure, most notably those with mixed blood, leading to the deaths of many such as Masaki Kurosaki and Kanae Katagiri.
The only mixed blood Quincy known to have survived this horrific purge is Uryu Ishida, who went on to be designated as Yhwach's successor. The transfer works with pure energy and not just accumulations of Reishi, which is why techniques such as Kirio Hikifune's Cage of Light — which blocks the movement of spiritual matter — cannot prevent the energy from escaping its confines.
Yhwach can also use it revive his fallen soldiers, by stealing the power of other Quincy and supplying it to his subordinates. More often than not, Yhwach uses this ability to empower himself, and his hands glow with light each time he uses it. Yhwach has also been shown using the ability to revive some of his elite subordinates by sacrificing others, indicating that he cares little for them and views all Quincy as expendable to some degree.
BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 – The Separation is available to stream on Hulu and Disney+.