Espada

Standing as the ten strongest and highest-placed Arrancar under Aizen, the Espada each hold power on par with a Shinigami captain. Every member carries a numeral from zero to nine, and a lower figure signals a deeper well of spiritual energy. That number is tattooed somewhere on the body, the spot differing per member, Grimmjow wearing his at the small of his back and Coyote Starrk his on the back of one hand. Counting Aizen together with his lieutenants Kaname Tosen and Gin Ichimaru, the ten as a bloc stand roughly equal to Soul Society's captain corps.

Because of their might and rank, each Espada may direct Aizen's lesser forces, the Numeros and the Exequias as well as a hand-picked Fraccion drawn from the Numeros. A firm hierarchy binds the group, seniors ordering their juniors around and frequently rescuing them from harm, while Aizen entrusts them with dangerous errands like scouting the Human World or dueling captains unaided. Any member who loses a limb or outlives their usefulness can be demoted to the Privaron Espada and handed a three-digit number, though a cast-down fighter may win a seat back by killing their successor. Inside Las Noches, those ranked fourth or higher may neither release a Zanpakuto nor fire a Gran Rey Cero, since either might raze the stronghold.

They also share methods barred to common Hollows, among them the punishing Caja Negacion, the blood-mixed Gran Rey Cero, and the released-form Cero Oscuras. In concept every seat presides over one of ten human roads to death, a motif that tints each holder's powers and outlook. The bulk of the Espada die in Aizen's war on the Gotei 13, and after his fall Tier Harribel rules Hueco Mundo for a time before the Wandenreich takes it, so that only a scattering of members remain by the Quincy war's close.

The familiar roster ties every rank to a facet of mortality. Coyote Starrk, the Primera, stands for solitude; Baraggan Louisenbairn, the Segunda, for old age; Tier Harribel, the Tres, for sacrifice, a seat Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck once occupied; Ulquiorra Cifer, the Cuatro, for nihility; Nnoitra Gilga, the Quinta, for despair; Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the Sexta, for destruction, a rank he reclaimed from Luppi Antenor; Zommari Rureaux, the Septima, for intoxication; Szayelaporro Granz, the Octava, for madness; Aaroniero Arruruerie, the Noveno, for greed; and Yammy Llargo, logged as the Diez until his release exposes him as the genuine Cero, ruled by rage. Ex-members stripped of standing become the Privaron Espada, the likes of Cirucci Sanderwicci and Gantenbainne Mosqueda, plus Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio. By the wars' close most of the ten lie dead, with Harribel and Grimmjow among the rare survivors.