IfBleachis known for one thing, it’s the incredible level of power that some of its villains possess.Bleach’s villains often seem hopelessly strong, as if no one could ever even hope to compete at their level.
The strongestBleachvillains have a wide array of abilities that seem to have unlimited power behind them, making them terrifying characters both in-universe and out. Many aBleachvillain considers themselves to be akin to a god, and some of them have real evidence to back that up. These villains are ranked by the powers that they’ve displayed within the anime or manga, although anime-only filler villains haven’t been included. Here are 10 of the strongest villains ever seen inBleach, ranked.
Bleach Filler List: Every Episode You Can Skip
Bleach’s original anime is infamous for how much filler it has, and here’s a list of every filler episode and the few that are worth watching.
10Askin Nakk Le Vaar is Royal Guard for a Reason
First Appearance:Bleachchapter 494
Askin Nakk Le Vaar is a Quincy, and a member of Yhwach’s royal guard,known as the Quincy Schutzstaffel. He wields the Schrift known as “The Deathdealing,” whichallows him to calculate the lethal dose of any substance he ingests or even comes into contact with, and then alter that value as he sees fit, enabling him to kill enemies with ease. Askin can also use this ability to raise the lethal limit, effectively healing any injuries he may have sustained from that substance.
Naturally, he also possesses other Quincy abilities, such as the ability to condense surrounding spirit particles into weapons like his Heilig Bogen. Even on the verge of death, Askin was able to generate a powerful attack which could’ve left his opponents just as bad off as he was.
9Ulquiorra Cifer Pushed Ichigo to His Limits
First Appearance:Bleachchapter 190
Ulquiorra is the Cuatro Espada, marking him as the fourth strongest of Aizen’s Arrancar. Don’t be deceived, however; Ulquiorra’s power exceeds his rank, making him one of the more dangerous Arrancar.Ulquiorra is known for being insanely fast, able to dodge Ichigo’s Getsuga Tensho attacks with relative ease. His Zanpakuto’s Resurreccion, Murcielago, allows him totransform into powerful new form equipped with wings, and he’s the only Arrancar capable of taking his Resurreccion to a second stage.
Ulquiorra pushed Ichigo past his limits, causing Ichigo to take on a terrifying Hollow form in order to defeat him. Even then, defeating Ulquiorra wasn’t easy, and Ichigo could’ve easily lost his own humanity in the process.
8Baraggan Louisenbairn Was King of Hueco Mundo
First Appearance:Bleachchapter 244
Baraggan Louisenbairn is the Segunda Espada, or 2nd ranked, among Aizen’s Arrancar army. However, before he was under the command of Aizen, Baraggan was known as the King of Hueco Mundo, a title which he earned based on pure strength. As a former king, he has a massive ego, but with the power to back it up.Baraggan has some level of control over the passage of time,able to slow down projectiles aimed at him while increasing the aging rate of anyone who gets too close.
Baraggan’s Zanpakuto,Arrogante, is unusual in that it’s an axe rather than a sword, and his Resurreccion changes his appearance back to that of the skeletal ruler of Hueco Mundo. It expands his powers greatly, giving him a field of decay around him that makes it nearly impossible to fight up close.
7Coyote Starrk Was the Top Espada
First Appearance:Bleachchapter 229
Coyote Starrk is the Primera Espada, or top-ranked Arrancar. Starrk is generally a fairly lazy character, and has some qualms with senseless killing, making him stand out as fairly reasonable for an Arrancar. Starrk was also unusual in that he had split his soul in half, with the other half being Lilynette Gingerbuck, whocontains his sealed power and takes on the form of his pistols when he activates his Resurreccion.
Even before becoming an Arrancar, Starrk was so powerful that his mere presence caused other Hollows to die, which prompted him to split into two in the first place. Starrk’s pistols fire cero blasts rather than bullets, allowing him to execute these powerful attacks in such rapid succession that he’s completely unmatched by his fellow Arrancar.
6Lille Barro’s Ability is Almost Unbeatable
First Appearance:Bleachchapter 599
Lille Barro is another member of Yhwach’s Schutzstaffel, and happens to have been the first Quincy to be granted a Schrift by Yhwach.Lille’s Schrift, “The X-Axis,” allows him to fire unblockable shots that travel instantly, making it absolutely impossible to avoid being hit. Lille is also able to apply this ability to himself by opening his left eye, allowing him to become intangible and thus rendering opponents unable to hurt him. With Lille effectively unable to miss and unable to be hit, he’s nearly unstoppable.
Lille’sQuincy Vollstandigincreases his power even further, gaining the ability to teleport and entering a permanent state of intangibility. In this form, Lille’s shots (which come from the Vollstandig’s wings) are powerful enough to destroy entire floating islands.
First Appearance: Bleach chapter 599
His power and size grows as he takes damage
Yet another member of Yhwach’s Schutzstaffel, Gerard Valkyrie is an impressively muscular figure whose power seemingly has no limits. His ability, which is not a traditional Schrift, is known asThe Miracle, and allows him to manipulate probability, making unlikely events far more likely to occur, especially in his favor. His power and size grows as he takes damage, feeding off the fear of his opponents when they learn how his abilities work. His weapon also feeds on the hopes of his allies, allowing it to reflect damage back at attackers.
Gerard Valkyrie was so powerful that he was essentially unstoppable, and even when he was seemingly killed, he took on a monstrous new form. He was only brought down in the end by Yhwach’s final Auswhalen.
4Gremmy Thoumeaux’s Power Was Only Limited By His Imagination
First Appearance:Bleachchapter 572
Gremmy Thoumeaux is a Sternritter who wields the Schrift “The Visionary,” which allows him to manifest anything he can imagine into the real world. This can affect anything, including turning his opponent’s bones into cookies, and he can heal injuries he sustains by simply imagining they’re already healed.Gremmy was even able to summon a massive meteorthat nearly came crashing down, and would’ve destroyed the entire Seireitei had it not been for Kenpachi Zaraki.
Gremmy is even able to imagine other living things, allowing him to manifest multiple bodies for himself and gaining a numbers advantage in any battle. He claims himself to be the strongest of the Sternritter, and if one takes the Schutzstaffel out of the equation, he’s probably right.
3Jugram Haschwalth is Yhwach’s Number Two
First Appearance:Bleachchapter 485
Jugram Haschwalth is Yhwach’s top lieutenant, and actually shares Yhwach’s power, “The Almighty,” when Yhwach is sleeping. He is the only Quincy besides Yhwach able to imbue his power into others, enabling him to empower his allies with his presence alone.Haschwalth’s actual Schrift, “The Balance,” allows him to manipulate luck, taking misfortunes that befall him and exchanging them for the good fortune of others. This allows him to reflect damage he would’ve taken back at his attacker, making him difficult, if not impossible, to kill.
Haschwalth is an exceptionally skilled combatant as well, with tremendous spiritual power. Unlike most Quincy, he doesn’t use a bow, but prefers a sword and shield, with the latter capable of absorbing misfortunes that might befall him and allowing him to store them up to inflict upon an opponent at a later time.
2Sosuke Aizen Wielded Nearly Limitless Power
First Appearance:Bleachchapter 79
Sosuke Aizen was once a captainin the 13 Court Guard Squads, but defected to enact his own plans, which had already been in motion for decades.Aizen stole an object known as the Hogyoku, which gave him incredible powerand transformed him into a being that transcended both Soul Reaper and Hollow alike. While Aizen eventually lost his Hogyoku powers thanks to Ichigo, he retained immortality as a result of his fusion with the object.
Aizen’s Zanpakuto, Kyoka Suigetsu, allows him to create realistic illusions that can affect anyone who has ever seen him release the blade, including every high-level Soul Reaper in the Soul Society. It even worked on Yhwach, although the effect wasn’t as strong.
1Yhwach is Undoubtedly Bleach’s Strongest Villain
First Appearance: Bleach chapter 484
Yhwach is son of the Soul King, effectively the god ofBleach’s universe, and the king of all Quincy. He has the ability to grant portions of his power to his followers, known as Schrifts, but can also take back these abilities at any time, killing their former owners in exchange for stealing the power they’ve developed.Yhwach’s own Schrift, “The Almighty,” gives him a wide array of abilities, such as the ability to see not just one future, but all possible futures, enabling him to avoid anything that might pose a serious threat to him. He can alter future events to whatever outcome he desires, even if that logically doesn’t follow.
Yhwach is the strongestBleachvillain of all time
Near the manga’s end, Yhwach manages to absorb the powers of the Soul King himself, making him a literal god. For that reason, there can be no doubt that Yhwach is the strongestBleachvillain of all time.
Bleach
Bleach is a multimedia franchise created by Tite Kubo. The franchise started as a Japanese manga series. Ichigo Kurosaki is the main protagonist who is granted the powers of a being called the Soul Reaper. The success of the manga led to two anime TV shows, four feature-length animations, and several video games.
