Sternritter

The are a group of powerful Quincy in the Wandenreich's army, who play a pivotal role in the invasion of Soul Society, being tasked with purging the Shinigami.

Organization
The Sternritter, also referred to individually as just, are an order of extremely powerful Quincy who serve as the Wandenreich's leading combatants. According to Akon, those Sternritter who participated in the first invasion of the Seireitei wield powers comparable to or greater than that of a captain-level Shinigami. Each Sternritter is assigned a Schrift by Yhwach, which bestows them abilities; each Schrift is based off an English word and letter.

Jugram Haschwalth is the, commanding the lower-ranking Ritter as Yhwach's right-hand man and his imperial adviser. Furthermore, 1,000+ years ago, Hubert was the of the Sternritter, under Haschwalth.

A select few (originally three) Ritter are appointed as Yhwach's and serve as his royal guard, being the order's most powerful and valuable Sternritter who first become active to take on the Royal Guard for Yhwach. Among the elite guard, Lille Barro is the unquestioned leader as the first-ever Sternritter to receive a Schrift. Pernida Parnkgjas and Gerard Valkyrie are the incarnated left arm and heart of the Soul King, respectively. Later, Askin Nakk Le Vaar is promoted from the lower ranks during the second invasion of the Seireitei, and Uryū Ishida is assigned to the Schutzstaffel following the creation of Wahrwelt.

There is a clear divide in treatment between the Sternritter's upper and lower echelons. When Yhwach personally makes an announcement, Haschwalth and the Schutzstaffel are permitted to stand on stage with him while the lower-ranking Sternritter remain in the audience. Furthermore, Yhwach and the Schutzstaffel do not attend meetings with the lower-ranking Sternritter; instead, these meetings where the lower Sternritter convene—held in Silbern's —are led by the Grandmaster Haschwalth, who passes down Yhwach's orders. One particular law forbids any infighting among the Sternritter, violation of which is punishable by death.

Different Sternritter may harbor either feelings of camaraderie or dislike towards one another. Some have no qualms about insulting or criticizing one another for their shortcomings or failures,  others will aid their fellow members in battle and if necessary protect them,  and yet other Ritter have no issue with getting their peers caught up in the crossfire of their battles, even if if means harming them or controlling them against their wills in order to fight for them. Despite this, there are indeed those Sternritter who care for their fellow members, may see them as friends, and can be even angered when a fellow Ritter betrays and tries to kill them;  some of the Sternritter even refer to each other by nicknames. However, there is also a streak of competitiveness between the Sternritter when it comes to attaining glory and receiving praise from Yhwach, even it means attacking and/or forcibly controlling their fellow members in the process.

All Sternritter are steadfastly loyal to their monarch, Yhwach, whom they refer to as "His Majesty" and hold in exceedingly high regard. Some have displayed a great deal of confidence in their emperor's abilities while others are impelled to personally halt any enemies' advancement towards him. Yet, differences in the degree of loyalty towards Yhwach are evident among the Sternritter. There are some willing to follow Yhwach's orders even at the cost of their own lives, some who will gladly accept a guaranteed suicide mission, and others who do not mind their own execution for being defeated so long as they die by Yhwach's hand; even after being left for dead and having his powers stolen by Yhwach's Auswählen, one member was still blindly loyal to him. On the other hand, there are some Sternritter who are loyal but not blindly so, thus being willing question Yhwach's decisions if they deem it warranted. Exemplary instances are when Yhwach named Uryū Ishida as his successor (the latter having been a recent recruit and stranger to all Sternritter, many of whom would have preferred Haschwalth and thus were dissatisfied) or when Yhwach decided to release Gremmy Thoumeaux amid the second invasion, despite other Sternritter describing him as a "monster" who, due to his unpredictable mentality, should have been kept locked up. Ultimately, three of the Sternritter came to assist the Shinigami for a chance to take their revenge on Yhwach for abandoning and nearly killing them via his Auswählen, aiming to personally kill the Quincy King in return  (with one Ritter having held a grudge against Yhwach since as early as the time he first met him).

Yhwach himself considers the Sternritter to be all expendable, though some more than others. During the second invasion of the Seireitei, when Yhwach took his Schutzstaffel, Haschwalth, Uryū, and Nianzol Weizol to the Soul King Palace, the remaining Sternritter were labeled unnecessary and thus rendered sacrifices for the Auswählen. Upon successfully draining Ichigo Kurosaki of his Quincy and Hollow powers, Yhwach proceeded to use Auswählen on the last two surviving Sternritter, Haschwalth (his "other half") and Gerard, declaring that he had no further use for any of them.

Creation
The Sternritter were created to invade and conquer Soul Society 1,000 years ago. Each member participated in an engraving ritual by drinking Yhwach's blood; this enabled Yhwach to carve a part of his soul into theirs. This carving takes on the form of a letter, which is used as the designation of the Sternritter and grants them their unique powers. Upon the Sternritter's death, the part of Yhwach's soul they received is returned to him, who gains strength because of it.

Unlike the other Sternritter, Pernida Parnkgjas and Gerard Valkyrie did not receive powers from Yhwach and were assigned letters based on abilities that they already had.

Uniforms
All Sternritter wear a distinctive white, ankle-length cloak that features the Wandenreich insignia emblazoned on its back and often, a hood attached to the cloak's collar, each with a button that resembles the Wandenreich insignia that fastens the cloak. Beneath this, the remainder of a personnel's attire usually consists of a heavily customized variant of the standard Wandenreich uniform—a white double-breasted trench coat tied with a black belt, worn together with white-coloured trousers and boots.

Sternritter who are appointed as Yhwach's Schutzstaffel wear a distinctive cloak known as the over their clothing; this white, ankle-length cloak is fastened at the front with three buttons that resemble the Wandenreich insignia, and features a large, red Hagal rune on the left side.

Equipment

 * During their invasions of Soul Society, like various others within the Wandenreich, all Sternritter carry on their person a round device that is approximately the size of a person's palm and has the Wandenreich insignia etched into its surface. When activated, this device is capable of stealing a Shinigami's currently released Bankai in the immediate vicinity. The medallion's owner can then proceed to use the stolen Bankai's power at will, even after the original owner of the Bankai has died. However, they are unable to exploit this power fully, as noted by Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, unless they train to control the Bankai which they stole. Yhwach has commanded that the Sternritter who took the Bankai of a captain is the one who will kill the said captain.

Appearances in Other Media

 * In Ryōgo Narita's short story, Beginning of the revive of Tomorrow, Shaz Domino is revealed to be a Sternritter with the letter "Ϛ" or . Shaz was originally a creation of Gremmy Thoumeaux, like Guenael Lee, but was made an honorary Sternritter by Yhwach.

Trivia

 * Pernida and Gerard are said to be the "only" Sternritter who did not receive their abilities from Yhwach, but a flashback reveals that the twins Royd and Loyd Lloyd have had their ability to copy others since before they were even born.
 * Guenael Lee is introduced as a Sternritter with the designation V: Vanishing Point. He is later revealed to be a creation of Gremmy Thoumeaux.
 * Despite being a Sternritter, Shaz does not appear on the cover of Chapter 640.

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