As the eight-year hiatus of the Bleach anime comes to an end, fans of the popular series will no doubt be excited for the introduction of new characters and their powers. The Thousand Year Blood War arc features many powerful beings belonging to the Quincy race, most of whom operate under the Sternritter group. They are the strongest among all the Quincy and are usually given special titles based on the powers bestowed upon them by their leader Yhwach.
Their main aim was to purge the soul society of all Shinigami. Using their special abilities along with their bankai-stealing medallions, they made significant progress in doing so. In addition, they possess special forms referred to as Vollständig, which also greatly aids them in battle. Here are some of the strongest members of the clan featured in the series.
Updated May 31, 2023, by Emedo Destiny: Bleach is filled with a diverse cast of characters, and among them, the Quincies are in a class of their own. Though they were thought to have been driven to the edge of extinction, their recent uprising has seen fans develop more interest in them. They have ascended to new heights of strength, making them some of the strongest characters in the series, capable of easily overwhelming Death Reapers and stealing their bankai. Here are some of the Quincy clan’s most formidable members, their incredible abilities, and the impact they have had on the world of Bleach and their pivotal roles in the series conflict.
15 Quilge Opie
Quilge has an authoritative and unforgiving personality, showing no mercy in battle to those who dare defy him. The schirft which was bestowed upon him by Ywach is the letter J which stands for “The Jail,” and it granted him the ability to create Reishi cages that are almost impossible to escape from once trapped inside, he can also create constructs that are capable of closing down portals and gateways that connect different dimensions.
The trapped individual’s presence and reiatsu are also sealed off from the outside. The cage is nigh impenetrable and will still continue to exist even after Quilge’s death. It is so strong that even a point-blank bankai Getsuga Tensho from Ichigo did not get it to budge.
14 Bambietta Basterbine
Bambietta is a very sadistic person, who derives joy in the screams of her enemies, she also does not fight people who have forfeited their lives, seeing as it won’t be as satisfying as plunging them into despair. She possesses the schrift E called “The Explode,” which allows her to create reishi that turns anything they come in contact with into bombs.
She can also create an explosion around herself which can level the environment around her. She can also enhance her schrift ability when using Vollstandig, making a single bomb explosion strong enough to injure Shinji Hirako.
13 Meninas McAllon
Meninas can summon a great amount of strength by using the schrift P she was bestowed with, known as “The Power”. She has demonstrated incredible feats of strength, such as effortlessly overpowering Ichigo, even if it was for a short period, lifting entire buildings, smashing through barriers, and delivering devastating blows in combat.
She also possesses enhanced durability in addition to her raw strength, capable of withstanding powerful attacks and injuries that could decapitate weaker individuals, which makes her a formidable adversary on the battlefield. She can also drastically increase her muscle mass for a more dramatic effect.
12 Giselle Gewelle
Giselle is a goofy character outside of battle, but that personality can quickly change when she is in battle, becoming very cruel and sadistic even though she denies it. Her schrift Z for “The Zombie” allows her to control the bodies of whoever she gets her blood on. She can order them to do anything she wants, as shown when she took over various Death Reapers and made them attack each other during the Sternritters’ siege of Soul Society.
The amount of blood required depends on the reiatsu level of the victim. She can also heal herself and her comrades by replacing their flesh with the flesh of the deceased. She can even replace lost body parts too.
11 Gremmy Thoumeaux
Gremmy is a prideful Sternritter who believes that he is the strongest of them all. He is confident in his abilities, and rightly so, his shrift V for “The Visionary” allows him to turn his imagination to reality, enabling him to create and manipulate anything he can imagine.
His power extends to altering the fabric of reality itself, enabling him to materialize objects, manipulate the environment and conjure powerful weapons at will. He can clone himself and even go as far as creating sentient life. He is strong enough to keep up with the monstrous Kenpachi Zaraki, and that in itself is a very great feat.
10 Bazz-B
Given the special title “The Heat,” Bazz-B possesses abilities related to powerful flames that can overpower the strongest of opponents. His fire is strong enough to counter that of Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryusai, though he was still visibly affected. On the other hand, he was able to overpower the combined force of Rangiku Matsumoto and Tōshirō Hitsugaya, two captain-level shinigami, though the latter had lost his bankai.
He has a wide range of abilities, most of which are fire-based and denoted by the number of fingers he employs. They provide a decent amount of utility and usually increase in power with the more fingers he uses.
9 Äs Nödt
Äs Nödt’s title is “The Fear.” It represents not only the nature of his abilities but also the emotion that constantly plagued him before he joined Yhwach. His spirit weapon allows him to manipulate thorns and can induce a fatal amount of fear into opponents upon contact.
During the first invasion of the soul society, he stole Captain Byakuya Kuchiki’s bankai and inflicted him with fear using the thorns of his spirit weapon. As a result, he was able to defeat the powerful captain, crushing him both physically and mentally. During the second invasion, however, he was confronted by Rukia Kuchiki, and due to the nature of her bankai and ice powers, she emerged victorious.
8 Royd Lloyd
Possessing the title of ”The Yourself,” Royd has the ability to perfectly replicate the appearance, personality, and memories of other beings, allowing him to assume their identities flawlessly. This ability saw most of its use during the first invasion of the soul society, where Royd assumed the identity of Quincy King Yhwach.
Despite only being able to replicate appearances, Royd effortlessly defeated 11th Division Captain Kenpachi Zaraki, a shinigami considered one of the Special War Powers. He was consequently able to hold his own against Yamamoto Genryusai and weakened him enough for the real Yhwach to arrive and dispatch the Captain-Commander.
7 Pernida Parnkgjas
Pernida was granted the title "The Compulsory," but it is truly the left hand of the Soul King. Before joining the ranks of the quincy, it already possessed special abilities, making it one of the only two of its kind. It also belongs to a special force within the Sternritter known as the Schutzstaffel, serving as one of Yhwach's most powerful officers.
Pernida's main ability allows it to manipulate matter, inorganic or organic, by extending its nerves towards its target. Using this ability, it forced Kenpachi Zaraki to tear off his arm and drove 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi into a corner. Had it not been for the erratic nature of Mayuri's abilities, Pernida would have been an even more troublesome opponent.
6 Askin Nakk Le Vaar
Askin’s special title is ”The Deathdealing.” It allows him to manipulate the lethal dose of any substance or attack as long as he has been exposed to it at least once. This ability can be used in various ways, in one case granting him an impressive healing factor, and in another granting him immunity to otherwise powerful attacks.
He was able to partly incapacitate powerful figures such as Ichigo Kurosaki and Yoruichi Shihouin, using his deathdealing on both occasions. It ended up taking the combined might of Yoruichi, Kisuke Urahara, and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez to finally defeat him.
5 Lille Barro
Despite his perpetually closed left eye, Lille Barro is an excellent marksman. He was given the title of “The X-Axis” and he has the power to hit anything within his rifle's line of sight with unfailing accuracy. This power is further aided by the fact that it does not require tangible ammunition and cannot naturally be blocked by any defense.
He is the leader of the Schutzstaffel and possesses strength expected of one with his rank. During his fight against the new Captain-Commander Shunsui Kyōraku, he masterfully combined his different strengths and significantly injured the Gotei 13 commander. However, after the intervention of Nanao Ise, he was partly defeated and proceeded to clone himself, spreading his offshoots across the area.
4 Uryu Ishida
Uryū Ishida is the quincy that Bleach fans are most familiar with. He went through a lot of different changes throughout the series, but his most significant change arguably occured after he joined the ranks of the Sternritter. Becoming one of Yhwach’s subordinates, his successor, and a member of the Schutzstaffel. Uryū was given the title of “Antithesis.“
Uryū was originally one of Ichigo’s most powerful comrades, being able to manifest his own spirit weapon and fighting alongside him in difficult battles. However after receiving his new powers, he became capable of even more. His title grants him the ability to swap the current state of two selected targets, a power which allowed him to overpower grandmaster Jugram Haschwalth even if only momentarily.
3 Gerard Valkyrie
Along with Pernida Parnkgjas, Gerard is also a being with powers that precede his involvement with the quincy. He is the heart of the Soul King and holds the title of “The Miracle.” This ability allows him to overcome hopeless situations, granting him the power to manifest miracles which usually serve to augment his physical state.
He simultaneously fought against some of the series’ most powerful captains for an extended duration, relying on his miracle ability which enabled him to grow larger. He was eventually overpowered by a bankai-form Kenpachi but activated his Vollständig soon after. In an astounding display of strength, his solo battle against the multiple captains did not end in a loss. However, he ended up being recalled by Yhwach, signaling an end to the confrontation.
2 Jugram Haschwalth
Haschwalth is the second in command of the Quincy after Yhwach, acting as his advisor and commonly being referred to as the Sternritter Grandmaster. He was bestowed the title and ability of "The Balance," holding the power to transfer misfortune between individuals within a specific area.
In addition, he gains a fraction of Yhwach's power while the Quincy King is asleep, making him a much more formidable opponent during this period. His spirit weapon Freund Schild serves to augment his main power, absorbing misfortune directed at Haschwalth so he can transfer it onto others. It was due to this ability that he was able to counter Uryū’s Antithesis, only being incapacitated after his power was retaken by Yhwach.
1 Yhwach
Yhwach is commonly referred to as the Father of the Quincy and has been around for over a thousand years. He is an extremely powerful being and was responsible for defeating two of the soul society's most powerful figures, Yamamoto Genryusai and Ichibē Hyōsube. Furthermore, his main power has a name synonymous with his status known as “The Almighty.''
This ability allows him to peer into the future and alter events such that they may benefit him in the present. In the final battle against Ichigo, he is seen using it several times to wound the unsuspecting protagonist, going as far as breaking his sword immediately after he achieved true bankai.