Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4041418-20140315151044/@comment-8986886-20140322002203

IamTechno wrote: On the matter of Yammy's rank. I'm confused. Why was he the Cero Espada? He was defeated more easily than I would have thought the Cero Espada would be. So does this mean that the rank of the Espada was mostly dependent upon how much reiatsu they have or in fighting ability?


 * Only the Espada ranked 4th, or higher, were prohibited from releasing their Zanpakuto within Las Noches. The reason being that the sheer power generated by their Resurrección would cause damage to the city.


 * When Aizen was left unaffected by Sui-Feng's Nigeki Kessatsu, he said that "A battle between Shinigami is a battle between Reiatsu." This indicates that Aizen regards Reiatsu as the most primary proof of strength.


 * When Yammy was conserving and building up Reiatsu, he was only ranked 10th among the Espada, but when he released his Zanpakuto, he rose to the rank of Cero.

These three things combined, lead me to believe that the Espada rank was solely based on Reiatsu level.