Guardians of the Forest of Menos

Introduced only in the anime, the guardians are a cluster of Adjuchas-class Hollows entrusted by Las Noches with watching over the Forest of Menos. What sets them apart is their shared power to summon and steer the Gillian that fill the woods, letting them stage ambushes against any trespasser. They answer to Sōsuke Aizen's Arrancar army and share a long-standing enmity with Ashido Kanō, a Shinigami stranded in Hueco Mundo.

When Ichigo Kurosaki's group is scattered into the forest, the Adjuchas gather in their cave-nest to plot the intruders' deaths and move out to hunt them. Their leader seizes the captured Nel Tu and her companions to use as bait, hoping to draw in the intruders and, above all, Ashido, whom he has fought many times before and wishes to face one on one. The scheme unravels as the guardians are picked off in turn by Ashido, Rukia Kuchiki, and Ichigo, clearing the way for the trespassers to fight their way back out of the woods.

Teres Holcan leads the group, reckoned the strongest Hollow in the forest, a turtle-masked Adjuchas undone when Rukia freezes his attack and Ashido lands the finishing blow. Aromazon, a gorilla-faced bruiser who moves fast despite his bulk, falls swiftly to Ashido, while the lanky, spike-limbed Becunes dies to Rukia's Sode no Shirayuki. Parateraul, rat-like and coldly cruel, survives Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshō only to plunge from a cliff after one last attack on Ashido.