Bleach is packed with exciting and powerful characters that fuel the shonen series' many fight scenes – and some villains, such as Captain Kenpachi Zaraki, soon become heroes instead. Later, many other mighty villains appear, such as the ten Espadas and the deadly Sternritter, along with elite Quincy. But did they live up to their potential?
Some did, such as Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, who went all out to defeat Ichigo, and the same can be said of Ulquiorra Schiffer. Unfortunately other Bleach villains – both major and minor – missed their chance to show off what they can truly do, usually because they were defeated or killed first. Which Bleach villains went down before their full powers could be put on display?
10 D.Roy Rinker, The Weak Link In Grimmjow's Squad
It's true that D.Roy Rinker was a rather weak and inconsequential Arrancar, serving mainly as a punching bag so Rukia Kuchiki could demonstrate her reborn Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo. Still, one wonders what D.Roy was truly capable of.
It's unlikely that D.Roy could have defeated Rukia even if he performed his resurreccion, but at least fans' curiosity could be sated if D.Roy's released form had manifested to give Rukia a real fight. He tried to use it, but Rukia froze him solid first.
9 Grand Fisher (Arrancar Form)
Grand Fisher was once a powerful Hollow, claiming the lives of many Soul Reapers with that lure affixed to his head. He later became a huge Arrancar, complete with a large zanpakuto. He talked a good fight, but Isshin Kurosaki disposed of him with a single blow.
If Grand Fisher had been brighter, he would have taken Isshin more seriously and compressed his zanpakuto to perform quicker, more precise strikes. A prolonged fight with Grand Fisher would have been fun, but instead, he took Isshin far too lightly and paid for it.
8 Aaroniero Arruruerie, The All-Consuming Espada
Aaroniero Arruruerie, the 9th Espada, earned that rank because he had eaten an astonishing total of 33,650 Hollows, allowing this Gillian-class Menos to fight roughly on par with an Adjuchas. He could manifest the body parts and abilities of any Hollow he had eaten, and through Metastacia, could also use Kaien's likeness and shikai.
Aaroniero's Kaien mode was fun to see, but once Aaroniero used his released form, Glotoneria, he actually became less effective, as a huge, immobile target with a few tentacles and mouths. He totally failed to show off what other powers he had under the hood. What happened to him being a one-man army?
7 Tesla Lindocruz, The Boar-Minotaur
Tesla Lindocruz was the fraccione, or minion, of the 5th Espada, Nnoitra Gilga. He is calm and serious, and he follows all orders without question. It's difficult to say just how good he is in a fight since he beat up a helpless Ichigo Kurosaki, then lost to the mighty Kenpachi in a single sword stroke. Tesla never got a chance to show what he can do in a fair fight, which is a shame. His released form is like a boar-headed minotaur, and seeing that in action against someone like Yasutora Sado would be exciting. But it was not to be.
6 Zommari Rureaux, The Monk Espada
In a sense, the 7th Espada Zommari Rureaux did show his full potential, since he used every trick he had in the fight against Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. But in another way, Zommari squandered his potential, since he ironically took Byakuya too lightly.
Zommari could control people's body parts with his released form's magic eyes, but he toyed with Byakuya too much and gave the Captain a chance to hit back & strike him down.
5 BG9, The Robotic Sternritter
BG9 was one of the Sternritter, the elite corps of Quincy who commanded the Wandenreich from the shadows. In particular, BG9 had a robotic appearance and voice, but BG9's true abilities will never be known. BG9 stole Captain Soi Fon's Bankai, but didn't use it much. This also prevented BG9 from using its own ultimate power, Voll Stern Dich. In fact, no one even knows what BG9's Sternritter letter, K, even stands for.
4 Robert Accutrone, The Gunslinger Sternritter
Another wasted Sternritter is Robert Accutrone, who has the letter N. Robert fought well against his enemies at first, outmaneuvering the mighty Shunsui Kyoraku and blasting one of his eyes out. Robert also opened a portal to allow rank-and-file Quincy to help take the fight to the Soul Reapers.
But what else can Robert do, aside from firing his spirit pistol? There's no way to tell, since Robert never used his Voll Stern Dich and failed to land any critical blows against his enemies. Not even the name of his true ability, aside from the letter N, is known.
3 Meninas McAllon, The Melee Sternritter
Meninas McAllon is one of several "femritter," a young lady who is often seen with Bambietta, Candice Catnipp, and a few others. She has a surprisingly gentle personality, even during combat, and doesn't like to fight if there's no good reason to do so.
Meninas' ability is The Power, allowing her to deliver incredibly impactful punches that can even blast Captains off their feet. Meninas rarely used this ability against her enemies, though, and she did nothing to turn the tide of battle. She could have been Bleach's Incredible Hulk, but that never happened.
2 Cang Du, Who Can Harden His Skin
Cang Du was one of the first Sternritter to appear, a serious and focused fellow who once stole Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya's bankai and used it once or twice in battle. His own ability is called The Iron, but rarely did he use it.
Other anime and comic characters prove how cool hard-skinned characters can be, from Colossus of the X-Men squad to Eijiro Kirishima. Cang Du completely wasted this opportunity, only once using The Iron to block a blow from Jugram Haschwalth.
1 Nianzol Weizol, The Bendy Sternritter
This peculiar Sternritter only appeared during one brief fight scene and had very little impact on the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. What's strange is not his apathy or his twin tongues, but the fact he can bend anything away from him, even by instinct. Nianzol usually does this defensively, to bend any opponent's attack away from him.
He even confounded Squad Zero for a short time, but then he was hit with a surprise attack, and went down. Is that really all he's got? It would have been much more fun to see him fight Squad 11's members and drive Kenpachi and Ikkaku Madarame up the wall with his frustrating ability.
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