Bleach/Characters/Five

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Characters that appeared in Tite Kubo's Bleach. There are so many that they occupy eight pages. This page deals with the Vandenreich (and possibly any new characters that show up in the final arc).

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WARNING! There are unmarked Spoilers ahead. Beware.

Tropes Associated with the Vandenreich:

  • All Your Powers Combined: The Vandenreich is so far displaying quite an eclectic range of powers from different sources, and there are implications that they can use even more.
  • A Nazi by Any Other Name: The Vandenreich's entire set-up seems to be inspired by Nazi Germany themes, not only regarding uniforms but also certain behavioral attitudes, including one that borders on ethnic cleansing (one that fans nicknamed a Hollowcaust).
  • Badass Crew: Six members (led by Luders) waltzed right into Soul Society, declared war on Yamamoto, and waltzed right out of Soul Society without tripping any alarms until after the fact. They left behind 116 dead shinigami, one of whom was Yamamoto's Bankai-wielding lieutenant, who might have been killed by only one member of said crew according to shinigami speculation.
    • When they finally do invade the Soul Society; 1000 deaths in 7 minutes, possibly including another lieutenant -- Kira.
  • Badass Longcoat: The standard uniform.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy Combat Pragmatist: Remember how the Arrancars made a habit out of battling the Shinigami in lengthy, I Am Not Left-Handed-style fights? Yeah, these guys will just flat-out murder you. They don't wait until the smoke is cleared; they use it as a cover to shoot you through the gut. While your friends waste time activating their weapons, the Stern Ritter slam their heads to the ground before even getting a shot at retaliating.
  • The Empire: They're building themselves up as one, if their conquest of Hueco Mundo is any indication.
  • Evil Is Hammy: Some of them seem to be prone to, well, being REALLY loud and expressive when they want to. Ivan was a pretty decent example (with his hamminess getting him kicked off Ichigo's bed), but Kirge Opie puts on the pork in a simply incredible manner (and gets hammier and hammier as he absorbs Allon), and their Emperor is the rare kind of ham that doubles as The Stoic.
  • Equal Opportunity Evil: They offer this to Arrancars, with mixed results.
  • Faceless Goons: If anyone removes their mask, they usually have a specific role to play, regardless of whether or not it's short-lived.
  • Gratuitous German: Their known divisions are the Sternritter ("star knights") and the Jagdarmee ("hunting army"), most of their names sound vaguely German-ish, their attacks are all in mangled German and, lastly, they call themselves the Vandenreich...
  • Hero-Killer: You thought Aizen was bad? Within the first few chapters of the arc, 116 individuals get killed during a three-minute fight. One of them was Chojiro Sasakibe, a guy who had Bankai.
    • Taken Up to Eleven once they invade the Seireitei. A thousand casualties in 7 minutes - that's 143 wounded or killed every 60 seconds. Said casualties include Izuru Kira, Tatetsuna Gori, Asuka Katakura and Riku Togakushi.
  • Hidden Agenda Villain: While we know what their leader wants (i.e. to attack the Soul Society), that's about as far as we know regarding their goals, much less their motives.
  • Knight of Cerebus: From the outset of this arc, the Vandenreich has made it clear it won't hesitate to kill off established characters, without bothering to get into lengthy fights. No tactic is off-limits, to the extent that they force their enemies to murder the ones they're supposed to protect.
  • Malevolent Masked Men: Their main introduction to the shinigami was by presenting a group of seven fully masked warriors to Yamamoto himself.
  • Meaningful Name: The kanji used for the non-Japanese word "Vandenreich" mean "Invisible Empire".
  • Politically-Incorrect Villain: Implied.
  • Power Parasite: Their opening strike in the arc is to target shinigami bankai. The shinigami don't fully understand why.
    • The implication from Ivan's fight with Ichigo is that when a Shinigami uses a Bankai against them, they either absorb the power or the abilities. Since Ichigo's was technically a Fullbring, NOT a Bankai, information Ivan did not have access to, it failed, to Ivan's shock.
    • Kirge Opie makes it clear that its a form of Power Copying; anything made of spiritual particles can be absorbed and the Vandenreich member can take on the form and abilities of the victim [1].
  • Putting on the Reich: Their stormtrooper uniforms are very much Nazi-esque.
  • Villain Teleportation: The Vandenreich seems to have a unique teleportation technique that not even the Shakonmaku can disrupt. Ivan claimed it was proof of the them being "chosen".
  • Wham! Episode: These guys are very much prone to it. For starters, they killed Chojiro Sasakibe, prompted Mayuri to butcher thousands of Rukongai civilians, and decided to invade the Soul Society much quicker than anticipated. Furthermore, they (are implied to) possess an angelic One-Winged Angel, they enslave reishi, and their leader will lead the assault on the Seireitei. And we don't even know most of their names yet.

Vandenreich members

The Emperor of Vandenreich

Species: Quincy
Affiliation: Vandenreich
Abilities: Unknown

The Emperor of Vandenreich:

The leader of the Vandenreich, first seen when his subordinates deliver their report from the Soul Society. So far, he's shown to be ruthless, intolerant and disturbingly brutal. This is a man you do not want to annoy.

  • Authority Equals Asskicking: He's not to be fucked with. Aizen at least tried to be nice.
  • Badass: We don't know his name, they didn't even refer to him as the leader until his second appearance, so how do we know he was the boss right from the start? The way he acts alone is enough proof that he is superior to everyone else.
    • And then there's the small fact that he conquered Hueco Mundo and defeated Harribel.
    • And 1000 years ago, Yamamoto failed to kill him.
    • Badass Mustache: So badass, it almost looks like a beard.
    • Badass Cape: Sports a long black cape along with his Quincy outfit.
    • Badass Long Hair
  • Bad Boss: Kills two of his subordinates just for squabbling with each other and he seems to enjoy grabbing the attention of his henchmen by blowing off their limbs.
  • Big Bad: Definitely looks to be this.
  • Combat Pragmatist: He certainly doesn't adhere to the Laws and Customs of War; his first act of war? To screw the grace period for Soul Society to surrender and invade five days before he said he would.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: When he learned that Ichigo went to Hueco Mundo, his first reaction is to order an assault on the Soul Society, (correctly) rationalizing that Kirge Opie will keep Ichigo distracted enough for an invasion to occur.
    • Personally leading the assault on the Seireitei, instead of leaving it to the Stern Ritter. Cue a Mass "Oh Crap" from the Shinigami.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: He wants to hear about the present, not the future. When Luders gave his two cents on what the Soul Society would do after their attack, his boss butchers him.
  • The Emperor: As revealed in chapter 490.
  • Establishing Character Moment: One of the first things he ever does in Bleach is killing two subordinates just because.
  • Evil Overlord: Already conquered Hueco Mundo, and he's worse than Aizen with regards to ruling it.
  • Facial Hair of Evil
  • Fantastic Racism: Seems to view Arrancars as Cannon Fodder.
  • For the Evulz: He admits that he has no reason to praise or critique how one of his subordinates handled their mission, but he kills him regardless.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: That's triggered just by mentioning fights, He whips off one of his subordinates arms just for teasing a fight with Ivan. A bit more subtle since he has Dissonant Serenity to back it up.
  • Hypocrite: He hates violence, yet it is perfectly fine for him to go killing off his subordinates.
  • Jerkass: Aizen wasn't this unpleasant.
  • Kick Them While They Are Down: After destroying Luders' arm (and watching him crawl as he struggles to deal with the pain), he says that it's fine for Luders to give his report while lying on the floor. However, two seconds after saying that, he loses patience and threatens to destroy Luders' legs, "since you're not going to sit down".
  • Make an Example of Them: He doesn't like fights. He has two people bickering. He's told them in the past not to fight. Punishment? Lop off the arm of the one who started it just to ram his point home. And then kill the other one, anyway.
  • No Name Given: Thus far.
  • Only Six Faces: Depending on which fans you talk to, he either looks like Zangetsu, Kenpachi, Kyouraku or a long-haired Isshin. Or all four.
  • Porn Stache: This is what happens when you wear mustache, but no beard.
  • Really 700 Years Old: He's at least millennium old (and possibly older), according to Mayuri.
  • The Unfettered: Again, the stoicism makes it hard to see at first, but he lops off body parts left and right on a whim, and goes back on his formal declaration of going to war in 5 days as soon as he's feeling opportunistic.
  • We Have Reserves: When asked why he keeps killing his henchmen - particularly Arrancars, he replies he can always get new ones.
  • Wham! Line: "We're invading the Soul Society". Ordered on the same day that he declared war on them.

Stern Ritter

Species: Quincy
Affiliation: Vandenreich
Abilities: Unknown


Unknown Blonde Member

A member of the Vandenreich sporting long blonde hair who notices that Ivan's mission failed and observes that's not actually a bad thing. He seems to be the leader of the "Stern Ritter", the Vandenreich's main combat unit.

"Sorry, but we were ordered to kill everyone"

Species: Quincy
Affiliation: Vandenreich
Abilities: Unknown


Hooded Person

Species: Quincy
Affiliation: Vandenreich
Abilities: Unknown


Bearded Man

Species: Quincy
Affiliation: Vandenreich
Abilities: Unknown


Mohawk Man

Species: Quincy
Affiliation: Vandenreich
Abilities: Unknown


As Nodt

Stern Ritter "F", who murders a bunch of no-name Shinigami, before meeting Renji Abarai.


Species: Quincy
Affiliation: Vandenreich
Abilities: Unknown


Bambietta Basterbine

Stern Ritter "E".

Species: Quincy
Affiliation: Vandenreich
Abilities: Unknown


Man With Glasses

Species: Quincy
Affiliation: Vandenreich
Abilities: Unknown


NaNaNa Najahkoop

Stern Ritter "U".


Species: Quincy
Affiliation: Vandenreich
Abilities: Unknown


Masked Man
  • Cool Mask: Mexican mascara used by Lucha Libre warriors.


Jagdarmee

Species: Quincy
Affiliation: Vandenreich
Abilities: Unknown


Kirge Opie

The Commander of the "Jagdarmee" division of the Vandenreich, tasked with capturing and subjugating Arrancars. Despite appearing to be a relatively low-ranking officer (there are other Jagdarmee division captains out there), the Emperor trusts him enough to keep The Hero from returning to the Soul Society.

Opie: "Anyone that didn't understand what I just explained will end like this!" (stabs an Arrancar) "Like this. Like this." (stabs two more)
Subordinate A: "Is the captain really going to collect any Arrancars?"
Opie: (still stabbing in the background) "You're gonna diiieee!!"
Subordinate B: "Of course he's not.

Arrancar

Species: Arrancar
Affiliation: Vandenreich / Las Noches (formerly)
Abilities: Unknown


Luders Friegen

The Mouth of Sauron, sent to deliver war declaration to Captain Yamamoto. Apparently, he is The Rival to Ivan, but nothing significant ever comes of it.

Species: Arrancar
Affiliation: Vandenreich / Las Noches (formerly)
Quincy Bow: Unknown


Ivan Azgiaro

An Arrancar affiliated with the Vandenreich, appearing suddenly in Ichigo's room to introduce himself. He attempted to steal Ichigo's Bankai, before returning to the Emperor to confess his failure.

  • Badass Longcoat: He has a long, white, double-breasted trench coat with shoulder straps, tied using a black belt at its waist, which is adorned with a decorative buckle.
  • BF... Bow: He pulled out a gargantuan spiked bow. to fight Ichigo with.
  • Didn't See That Coming: Attempted to take Ichigo's Bankai, but as it was a Fullbring, NOT a Bankai, his method failed and he was forced to retreat.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Ivan stands on Ichigo's bed, and refuses to move. Ichigo high kicks him out the window.
  • Eyepatch of Power: His mask covers his left eye, with three holes on it.
  • Fascinating Eyebrow: Which apparently always looks like that.
  • Nightmare Face: When he thought he was about to succeed in neutralizing Ichigo's bankai, the maniacal glee on his face was very disconcerting to see.
  • Sacrificial Lamb: He's the first of the Vandenreich we meet and he attacks Ichigo very quickly into the arc. Then we learn how harsh his master is.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Mangareader and the Bleach wiki use "Ivan Azgiaro", Mangastream uses "Ebern Azgiallo", and some fans just call him "Iban".
  • The Reveal: He's an Arrancar that uses a Quincy bow.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: Is killed by his boss almost immediately after Luders is.


Unseen Member

An unnamed, unseen member of Vandenreich, he manages to kill 116 opponents in the space of three minutes. Alone.

  • Badass: He can kill 116 opponents in three minutes without backup.
  • One-Man Army: Holy fuck.
  • The Unseen: His only action to date is also his introduction to the storyline.
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  1. ↑ They take the spiritual particles, break them down, and then make them "subservient" to themselves
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