Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4041418-20140315151044/@comment-24718144-20140322061108

Stefan (Shikai - "Rust & Shatter") wrote: 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. You make a good point. Though I have another question. Doesn't that seem a bit un-Aizenlike (lol totally not a word, but should be)? I mean Aizen is quite arguably the smartest person in Bleach (next to Urahara, plus before he went all superiority complex) so it seems a little odd that he rank the Espada, his elite Arrancar, by their Reiatsu level and not their fighting ability, seriously Halibel was kind of disappointing (no offense but it's kinda true). As was Stark, though his defeat was way more acceptable due to his opponents being Kyoraku and Ukitake. Ichigo's primary opponent of the Arrancar Arc, Ulquiorra, was shown to be quite capable, even having achieved a second stage of resureccion. It seems unlike Aizen to not notice something that major about his subordinates (though Gin, the skillfull actor that he is, also managed to deceive him). Barragan could have been No. 1 but his arrogance is what ultimately kept him from that decision and got him killed. It just kinda seems off about how the Espada were ranked, you know? Though it could just be my imagination.