Ulquiorra Schiffer

Ulquiorra Schiffer
Bleach character
Ulquiorra in the anime
First appearance	Chapter 190, page 19; episode 113
Created by	Tite Kubo
Voiced by	Daisuke Namikawa (Japanese) Steven Blum (English, Shattered Blade)
Profile
Gender	Male
Title	4th Espada in Sōsuke Aizen's army

Ulquiorra Schiffer (ウルキオラ・シファー, Urukiora Shifā^?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. He is an arrancar in Sōsuke Aizen's army, and the 4th Espada.^[1] He ranked 20th in the most recent Shonen Jump poll.

Character outline

Ulquiorra is a male arrancar with a melancholic appearance and has green eyes with slit pupils. He has cyan^[2][3] lines descending from his eyes, making it appear as if he is crying, and is almost always frowning. He wears typical arrancar clothes: a white jacket, black sash, and a white hakama. They are somewhat similar to what Ichigo's inner hollow wears. However, his jacket seems to have longer coat-tails than others. Like most other arrancar, he possesses remnants of his former life as a hollow in his appearance. The remainder of his hollow mask lies on top of his head, forming a broken helmet, much like that of the example silhouette of a vasto lorde. His Espada number, four, signifying his rank amongst the Espada and level of power, is tattooed on the left side of his chest.^[1]

Ulquiorra is a very cold and callous figure, hitting his comrade Yammy in the stomach with his arm on one occasion in an effort to get his attention. He also deems anyone he does not find of particular interest to be "trash" and therefore expendable.^[4] As noted by Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, Ulquiorra has a habit of stabbing people in the same location as his hollow hole whenever he's particularly interested in a battle.^[5]

Ulquiorra is also analytical; during his and Yammy's first visit to the human world, he makes several remarks on the humans who confront them. He theorizes that Orihime Inoue's healing power is a temporal-spatial ability, which Aizen describes as the rejection of fate,^[6] and comments on how Ichigo Kurosaki's bankai can easily get through Yammy's defenses. He also notes Ichigo's power fluctuation, which varies between very weak and stronger than his own.^[7]

It would appear that Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, the 6th Espada, are not on good terms. While Ulquiorra allowed Yammy to kill anyone he deemed as "trash", which included Ichigo, Ulquiorra allowed him to live based on his belief that Ichigo's power was so turbulent that eventually he would destroy himself.^[8] Grimmjow's conflicting viewpoint was that Ichigo should have been destroyed outright, as he could overcome his weakness and grow even stronger. Despite Grimmjow's argument, Aizen trusted Ulquiorra's judgment.^[9] This disagreement led to Grimmjow's unauthorized assault on the real world. Though Ulquiorra is of a higher rank than Grimmjow, Grimmjow is confident that Ulquiorra is afraid to fight him for fear of them destroying one another.

Synopsis

Ulquiorra first appears alongside Yammy when they arrive in Karakura Town to gain information on Ichigo Kurosaki. Ulquiorra retreats with Yammy once he finishes examining Ichigo's abilities, also taking note of Orihime Inoue's fate-manipulation powers. A month later, Ulquiorra sends a second group of arrancar (not counting Grimmjow's rogue actions) consisting of several Espada, meant to distract the shinigami while he captures Orihime. By threatening her friends' lives, he convinces her to come peacefully, allowing her to say goodbye to one person beforehand.

Upon returning to Las Noches, Ulquiorra claims that he has trapped Orihime in a psychological prison from which her loyalty to Aizen is guaranteed,^[10] though this proves to be false when Orihime resolves to ruin Aizen's plans. Ulquiorra reappears to fight Ichigo, which ends in a sound victory for Ulquiorra. He leaves Ichigo alive but badly injured, suggesting to him that he should retreat if able. After discovering that Grimmjow has freed Orihime, Ulquiorra tracks them down and engages in a short battle with Grimmjow, ending with Grimmjow using a portable negación field to temporarily trap Ulquiorra.^[11]

Powers

Ulquiorrra is the Cuatro Espada in Aizen's army, meaning Ulquiorra's abilities are fourth amongst all of the arrancar under Aizen's command.^[12] He can use both cero and bala blasts, and can deflect attacks of similar power barehanded.^[13] He can also open garganta to move to and from Hueco Mundo.

Ulquiorra has the unusual ability to replay events he has seen to others by removing and crushing his left eye, which then turns into dust and flows around those Ulquiorra intends to use it on. The dust shows images of what Ulquiorra has seen during his missions.^[14] This eye apparently can regenerate, as Ulquiorra is seen with two eyes in his next appearance, and Yammy comments on it to that effect.^[15]

In the game, Bleach: Hakujin Kirameku Rondo(a.k.a. Bleach: Shattered Blade or Bleach: Wii.) he is shown that he can crush his eye, using a move that curses an opponent with sucking and ripping their reiatsu(spirit power) apart. After, he slashes an "X" on his body, which can show on the enemy.

Zanpakutō

The name and released state of Ulquiorra's zanpakutō have not been revealed, as he has never been shown using it, instead relying on his bare hands and iron skin. The handle is green and the guard has two curved extensions from its shorter sides, giving it an eye-like appearance.

Appearances in other media

Ulquiorra is the first arrancar to be featured in a Bleach video game, appearing in the third and fourth installments of the Bleach: Heat the Soul series for the PlayStation Portable. He also appears in the Wii fighting game Bleach: Shattered Blade and PS2 fighting game Bleach: Blade Battlers 2nd. He has a cameo and artwork in Bleach DS 2nd: Kokui Hirameku Requiem.

Ulquiorra has his own character album as part of the Bleach Beat Collection 3rd Session. The two vocal tracks are entitled CRUSH the "WORLD" DowN and Our World.

Notes and references

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