Ulquiorra Schiffer

Ulquiorra Schiffer
Bleach character
File:UlquiorraAnimeEp113.jpg Ulquiorra Schiffer by Tite Kubo
First appearance	Chapter 190, page 18; episode 113
Created by	Tite Kubo
In-universe information
Species	Arrancar
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 and major antagonist in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. He is an arrancar in Sōsuke Aizen's army, and the 4th Espada. In the most recent Shonen Jump poll he ranked 10th, trailing Izuru Kira by 101 votes.

Conception and development

Tite Kubo said the character's name stems from a furniture designer named Patricia Urquiola. It is so cool it's not even funny. Be a good boy.

Character outline

Ulquiorra is a male arrancar that has green eyes with slit pupils. He has cyan 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; however, his jacket has longer coat-tails than others. Like most other arrancar, he possesses remnants of his former life as a hollow in his appearance. In his first appearance, Ulquiorra's hollow hole is positioned at the base of his neck, but when Ichigo encounters Ulquiorra in Las Noches, it has been moved onto his chest. 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.

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. Furthermore, he displays extreme disinterest in the greater portion of his battle, tending to keep his hands in his pockets while he fights. He also deems anyone he does not find of particular interest to be "trash" and therefore expendable. 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. Whether he is consciously aware of this habit or not is unknown.

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, 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 to stronger than his own.

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 and that he might prove useful to them in the future. 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 judgement.

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 and Wonderweiss Margera, 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, though this proves to be false when Orihime resolves to ruin Aizen's plans. After Chad was cut down by Nnoitra, Ulquiorra appears in Orihime's cell, trying to make her eat her meal. Orihime instead dwells over Chad's defeat. Frustrated, Ulquiorra tells her that her comrades will eventually all be defeated by the Espada, and that she should not find it surprising that one went down already. Orihime responds by slapping him. Ulquiorra then takes his leave telling her that he will return in one hour, and that he expects her to have eaten her meal, or else he will force feed it to her.

He reappears later to fight Ichigo, which ends in a sound victory for Ulquiorra. He leaves Ichigo alive but badly injured, telling him that he could never be able to defeat him, and remarking that even if he somehow managed to do so, there are three more Espada even stronger than him. He tells him to give up his fight as he can never win, and leaves Ichigo there to die. After discovering that Grimmjow has freed Orihime, Ulquiorra tracks them down and engages in a short battle with Grimmjow, ending with Grimmjow using a Caja Negación field to temporarily trap Ulquiorra. He escapes shortly after Aizen leaves to destroy Karakura Town, appearing in Aizen's throne room to take care of Las Noches and Orihime Inoue while Aizen is on Earth and is currently awaiting the arrival of Ichigo Kurosaki.

Abilities

Ulquiorra is the 4th Espada in Aizen's army. He can use both cero and bala blasts, the former of which is animated as green as opposed to the standard red and fired from his fingertips, and can deflect attacks of similar power barehanded. He can also open garganta to move to and from Hueco Mundo. He is strong enough to fight Ichigo in his vizard form without even unsheathing his sword or sustaining injury of any kind.

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. This eye apparently can regenerate, as Ulquiorra is seen with two eyes in his next appearance, and Yammy comments on it to that effect.

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 tough 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, fourth and fifth 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.