Yoshi/Nieder

is the Doll of Yoshi.

Appearance
Uniquely, Nieder consists of two separate but linked entities, both manifesting as traditional weapons; a Chinese jian with a dark hilt and a semi-circle crossguard curving upward with gold trim, as well as a dark blue fuller, connected by a chain of variable length to a dark pink war fan with gray blades at the top of each of its folds. Each weapon has a mouth with a tongue sporting a single eyeball near the tip; the jian has this mouth on its crossguard and speaks with a male voice, while the war fan has its mouth in the middle of the front fold and speaks with a female voice. Its crest takes the form of a folded gold paper fan with a dark pink trimming, where the Bount emblem is located; to release Nieder, Yoshi separates the fan into the jian and war fan.

Personality
The jian and fan of Nieder have separate personalities and consciousnesses; unlike Yoshi, they are not overtly aggressive or bloodthirsty, instead focusing on the aesthetic and performance of their various techniques. Furthermore, they will often criticize Yoshi herself for failing to land attacks, using techniques before they have been perfected, or summoning them while they are resting, in one case forcing Yoshi to pause in the middle of combat and meditate in order to properly use them, only to proceed to not harm their opponents when Yoshi attacked with them afterward, demonstrating their occasionally capricious nature.

However, they are happy to serve Yoshi when given the opportunity to kill someone, which they like to make a spectacle out of, and will frequently comment on battles they are participating in with derision and amusement, mirroring Yoshi's own feelings on the situation. They are also highly proud of and confident in the increased abilities offered by the forms they take when fusing with Yoshi and get along with each other quite well in battle.

Bount arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material. When Yoshi is sent out by Jin Kariya to test her Bitto-enhanced powers, she summons Nieder to attack Rukia Kuchiki, Orihime Inoue, and Kurōdo with the fan, who chastises for not aiming well enough while the sword reminds her that it does not matter what method she uses so long as she kills them. Continuing to attack with both halves of Nieder, Yoshi shifts to using the jian exclusively against Kurōdo when the latter copies the skill and appearance of 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai before making use of the fused form of the fan when Rukia fires '''Hadō #33. Sōkatsui''' at her, allowing Yoshi to emerge from the blast unscathed.

However, as she continues fighting, Yoshi finds herself unable to hit Rukia and Orihime with the needles fired by the fan of Nieder, who warns her that this technique is not yet ready and advises her to take a break and meditate to restore confidence, which the jian echoes. Despite ordering them to shut up and follow her orders, Yoshi acquiesces and assumes a meditative stance, giving Rukia and Orihime a chance to flee. Upon being alerted to this by the jian, Yoshi leaps into the air and throws both halves of Nieder at Orihime, but despite them reveling in the correct timing, they do not harm Orihime on impact. Shortly afterward, Yoshi returns Nieder to their sealed state when Mabashi arrives.

Days later, after Yoshi enters Soul Society alongside the other Bount, she is tasked by Kariya with attacking Rukia and finds her in the Rukongai, where she summons Nieder. Though the jian protests about being called out during his break, he and the fan delight in attacking Rukia, who is forced to defend herself with a cracked sword and sustains multiple injuries from them despite managing to outmaneuver Nieder several times. Eventually, Yoshi uses Nieder to grievously injure Rukia, to their delight, only to be incapacitated by 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. However, Yoshi heals herself with Reishi and fuses with the fan to protect herself further.

Upon entering the Seireitei, Yoshi uses Nieder to cut down several Shinigami prior to Uryū Ishida confronting her, where she begins using the Happonjin form of Nieder to unleash powerful attacks and match Uryū's ranged abilities while Nieder observes the varying power of Uryū's Heilig Pfeil. When Uryū begins firing more powerful Heilig Pfeil, Yoshi defends herself by fusing with the fan and making use of the durable shield before shifting back to Happonjin and delivering a powerful slash to Uryū's shoulder, leaving him seemingly incapacitated as the fan of Nieder criticizes him for not bringing a powerful enough weapon.

Suddenly, Uryū fires another Heilig Pfeil, to the surprise of both Nieder and Yoshi, who manages to armor herself by fusing with the fan right before the Heilig Pfeil hits her and is amused alongside Nieder when Uryū's next two Heilig Pfeil completely miss her altogether. With Uryū refusing to give up, which impresses the jian, Yoshi sees his power seemingly falter and decides it is safe to shift back to Happonjin as she attacks him, but Uryū manages to fire another Heilig Pfeil during the gap between transformations, lethally wounding Yoshi, who is shocked by the flaw in Nieder that she had never noticed before as she passes away alongside her Doll.

Powers & Abilities
Flail Form: The base form of Nieder is generally utilized as a flail-like weapon by Yoshi, complimenting her agility and acrobatic fighting style. In this form, the chain connecting the jian and fan can extend considerably at will, allowing Yoshi to both attack from afar with either the jian or the fan and restrain opponents with the chain itself, though the jian is generally used for offense while the fan is used to block and deflect attacks. Through precise maneuvering, the fan can also be used to disarm opponents by knocking their weapons away, since it is smaller than conventional weapons used by Shinigami.


 * Needle Blades: The fan of Nieder can fire blade-sized needles from the hooked tips with enough speed, force, and sharpness to embed themselves in concrete. These needles are difficult to dodge when fired rapidly, as Nieder can unleash dozens at once.

Fused Forms: While the base form of Nieder balances offense and defense, Yoshi can fuse with either weapon to focus its power on one of these two aspects at the expense of the other.


 * The offensive form of Nieder. When Yoshi fuses with the jian, it covers Yoshi's right shoulder with light blue armor trimmed in dark blue and a dark green section with dark red trim on her right shoulder, where the mouth of the jian reappears, while the jian itself elongates and glows yellow while creating multiple energy copies of itself that trail behind the main blade by replicating its movements through the air.


 * Whip Form: Due to the energy swords following the movement of the original blade, when Yoshi slashes her sword, each blade slashes through the same area, allowing for whip-like attacks that can deal grave injuries to enemies by slicing through them several times in a row, with Yoshi able to increase or decrease the number of swords at any time to alter the range of each strike; a single attack from this version of the weapon nearly incapacitated Uryū Ishida. These joined blades can also be used for a limited form of defense by deflecting projectile attacks headed for Yoshi, though the effort taxes her due to her body taking the brunt of the impact.


 * Throwing Form: Yoshi can also fire the energy swords away from herself and toward her enemy in the wake of each swing, allowing Yoshi to perform long-range attacks similar to the needle blades of the fan's base form; when fired, the energy blades move at high speeds and can penetrate solid stone with ease.


 * Defensive Form: When Yoshi fuses with the fan, gray armor with blue trim extends from the fan and up Yoshi's left arm until it covers her lower face, with the armor on her left shoulder being green with a red trim and containing the fan's mouth, while the fan itself drastically enlarges and gains additional folds, allowing it to spread into a full circle, though it can also be held in its retracted form. In this form, Nieder can block powerful attacks like a Hadō #33. Sōkatsui with its incantation fully recited and a Heilig Pfeil with enough force to create a shockwave on impact. The shield floats in the air next to Yoshi while she holds onto the chain, protecting her from the impact of attacks in addition to their damage.

Weaknesses
Unreliability: Due to the fickle nature of both halves of Nieder, they will occasionally fail to hit or even harm Yoshi's enemies when she attacks despite her efforts to accommodate them.

Transformation Gap: When Yoshi transitions between the offensive and defensive fused forms of Nieder, there is a brief period of time between one deactivating and the other activating where she is wielding the base form of Nieder and is thus left completely unarmored and defenseless, exacerbated by Yoshi's aggressive nature.

Quotes

 * (Jian, to Yoshi) "It really shouldn't matter what your methods are, so long as you destroy them."


 * (Fan, to Yoshi) "Fighting Humans requires patience. Maybe you should take a break."


 * (Jian, to Yoshi) "She has a point. Just take a deep breath, meditate for a moment, and gather all the power inside you!"


 * (Jian and Fan, to each other) "Oh, that's it! Such timing! This is what I was waiting for! Am I as beautiful as I feel? You're gorgeous!"


 * (Fan, to Yoshi) "Oh my my, do you mean another fight? And I was right in the middle of my teatime!"


 * (Jian, to Yoshi) "And I distinctly remember telling you never to call for me when I'm in the middle of my nap!"


 * (Fan and Jian, to Yoshi) "Ugh, why didn't you defend yourself?! You're still not worthy!"


 * (Fan and Jian, to Yoshi) "Was that on purpose? It would seem you have a death wish!"


 * (Fan and Jian, regarding Rukia Kuchiki) "Let's end this fight beautifully, then end her life perfectly!"


 * (Fan and Jian) "Finally, it's almost over! I prefer a quick, bloody finish!"


 * (Fan and Jian, to Rukia) "Ah, I feel so beautiful right now! Witness the perfection of this technique!"


 * (Fan, to Uryū Ishida) "Honestly, if you wanted to have a chance against us, then you should've brought a better weapon!"


 * (Fan, to Uryū) "Awfully confident, aren't you? Do you really think that you can defeat us with that tacky little bow?"


 * (Jian, to Uryū) "And here I thought you just looked like an obnoxious little brat! But I hadn't noticed that stern look of determination!"