Nnoitra Gilga

Character outline
Nnoitra Jiruga {ノイトラ・ジルガ (Noitora Jiruga) first name is sometimes romanized as Nnoitora} is the 5th espada Aizen Sosuke's Army. (Before his named was officially dubbed as Nnoitra he was called Noitora many times in the manga in which like many of the Espada's naming sounded much better to fans than Nnoitra and has become a huge subject of debate like Grimmjow's last name Jaggerjack being changed to Jeagerjaques.)

First and foremost, Nnoitra is very tall and lanky dwarfing even Chad's height by a foot. He always wears a huge smile which shows his upper-teeth. His hair is long covering most of the left side of his face. He also wears an large eyepatch that covers his left eye which conceals his hollow hole and mask fragments which consists of a small set of jawbones and teeth surrounding his hollow hole. His tattoo signifying his rank as the 5th is located on his tongue. Nnoitra's look consists of a modified arrancar jacket that opens at his chest showing his midsection which closes at his waist. His neckline also has an overblown spoon-like hood. His hakama seems the same but the pant-legs close inside his socks which are long and his sandals are extended at the end making it look like he is wearing wicked-witch boots. He is also extremely rude and lecherous, accented by his snake-like eye and his nickname for Orihime Inoue: "pet-sama". He even went as far to ask Ulquiorra how well he "taught her". His goal is prove himself the strongest Espada and does not waste his time killing those he dubs weak. However he has no problem attacking stronger opponents who are already injured, a trait both Ichigo and Grimmjow berate him for.

In his later moments during his battle with Kenpachi he begins to show a side of weakness. As he recalls from his past with Nel about her taking pity on him as Kenpachi does by not killing Nnoitra even after Kenpachi wins. Since Nnoitra despises people who take pity on him because his goal is to become the strongest he actually gains a small sense of pride; and becomes angry at the fact that neither Nel or Kenpachi would finish him off when they had won (because they don't think of him as their equal) which even Nnoitra finds disrespectful. This stems from an inferiority complex he developed while serving as 8th espada with Nel Tu when she was still 3rd espada.

Nnoitra is also very different when it comes to using his hollow powers as an arrancar. For example, Most Arrancar's Pesquisa (ability to sense people with spiritual pressure) works by using a meditative state closing their eyes and using their mind while Nnoitra needs only to put his hand to a grounded surface. His Pesquisa is even able to gauge the amount of spiritual pressure an opponent has, which he uses to identify which opponent is the strongest. He also fires Cero blasts from the tip of his tongue while most other arrancar use either their hands or mouths. Lastly, Nnoitra has the strongest Hierro of all arrancar allowing him to take most attacks without sign of injury.

History
Before he became the 5th espada, Nnoitra held the rank of 8th. During his time as the 8th he'd constantly challenge Nel Tu to fights to prove that men are stronger than women but would lose everytime. Later on Nnoitra teamed up with Szayel Aporro Granz to perform a sneak attack on Nel. Nnoitra brutally attacked her (which left her with her trademark scar) breaking part of her mask and leaving her unconscious as a result. He threw her out of Hueco Muendo so that he could get stronger when they fought again. However when she reverted to child he gave up on that goal.

Synopsis
Nnoitra's 1st appearance was during the meeting of the espada. He later appears right after Chad defeated Gantenbainne Mosqueda. In a short battle Chad underestimated Nnoitra which left Chad critically injured. To his suprise Chad gets up and attempts another attack but is stopped by Tesla, his Fracción. However Nnoitra threatens Tesla for interrupting stating that no soul in the universe could harm him.

His next appearance was during Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow, silently watching the battle; studying Ichigo's attacks until they finished. He immediately "relieved" Grimmjow from the battle opting to finish him off but was saved by Ichigo. After berating Grimmjow from being saved by the enemy, Nnoitra returned his attention back to the weakened Ichigo preparing to finish him off but was stopped by Nel Tu who had reverted back to her former self. She briefly fights in Ichigo's place and almost killed him but reverted back to her child form at the last second. He prepares to finish off Nel but Ichigo steps in to save her however he is still no match for Nnoitra. After getting bored with fighting he commands Tesla to finish off Ichigo even forcing Orihime to watch him die. However at the last second Zaraki Kenpachi steps in to save them killing Tesla in the process.

Nnoitra's lust for battle returned, he does battle with Zaraki although he holds the upper-hand because Kenpachi's sword couldn't cut through his hierro. However after Nnoitra accidently slashes Kenpachi's eyepatch off he is hit with a devastating counterattack resulting in a slash across his chest. Nnoitra responds by finally releasing his zanpakutō and returns the favor by slashing Kenpachi across his chest critically injuring him. To his suprise once again, Zaraki gets up and slashes one of Nnoitra's arms off but reveals his two extra arms an once again turns the tide back in his favor. However Kenpachi rises again to unleash his Kendo technique which Nnoitra underestimates and is critically injured as a result. Kenpachi unwilling to give Nnoitra the finishing blow sparks Nnoitra's anger, and he briefly remembers a similar incident between him and Nel Tu which she was unwilling to finish off Nnoitra. Nnoitra's anger reaching its peak charges at kenpachi only to be cut down. He dies on his two feet before his body touches the ground, the kind of death he had also wanted.

Powers
As stated before, Nnoitra as Cinco Espada, the 5th strongest he holds the record for the strongest Hierro and fires cero blasts from the tip of his tongue. Despite being tall yet skinny, Nnoitra is frighteningly strong as shown when he easily defeated chad with one attack, another hint at his strength is his ability to hold his ridiculously huge zanpakutō easily with one hand.

Santa Teresa
From his introduction, Nnoitra has become famous for being one of the few espada who has taken the longest to release his zanpakutō, the other being Ulquiorra Schiffer but since was warped to another dimension (only recently returning) Nnoitra holds the current title.

Santa Teresa (聖哭螳螂（サンタテレサ）common Spanish term for Mantis religiosa, Japanese for "sacred crying mantis"), Nnoitra's zanpakutō, takes the form of a giant axe-like weapon bearing two crescent moon blades fused together at the backs with a large looped chain connected to the shaft at the end of the handle. The chain is connected to Nnoitra's belt allowing him to perform long rage attacks such as the sneak attack that promptly ended Grimmjow's fight with Ichigo. During flashbacks to Nnoitra's time as the 8th Espada, it had only one cresent moon blade on his zanpakutō as opposed to the two it features now. Despite being extremely huge, Nnoitra is able to wield easily with one hand. Its release command is "pray" (祈れ, inore).

When released he gains two additional arms and he holds 4 half crescent blades shaped like his zanpakutō but reversed. He can later grow two more arms as well. He loses his spoon-like hood but gains a pair of horns, his left horn longer than his right, resembling a crescent moon. His hollow mask also changes, looking torn and featuring jagged teeth. Aside from these changes Nnoitra's wounds heal instantaneously and he can even regrow lost limbs. He can also create more blades from his wrists.