Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27392440-20160214172258/@comment-27565137-20160220235636

Shambankai wrote: Lots of good points from each person on this thread. I like all of them, and the comment by Wri-El just above this one of mine, i think sums things up quite well, and may be the best one so far. Although i do follow along with the rest of everyone's thought process and points noted.

Reading along, i too am curious of three facts that have happened in the story:

· Sora Inoue and his Hollow transformation situation

· Pesche and Dondochakka and their masks and power regression

· Nel and her situation of broken mask and regressing to child form

Sora Inoue broke his mask, yet was simply in constant battle with the Hollow nature trying to take over. Who does that sound like to you? Yep, Ichigo. Hollows by nature are like that; to consume and take over. Which made it especially difficult on Ichigo having a Hollow as a Zanpakuto Spirit; but lucky for him, his situation was very similar to the Visored, so he was able to apply their method of controlling the inner Hollow in order to keep from being taken over by his Hollow's overzealous nature. So what happened with Sora was a part of the natural way of how things work. As for why he didn't become an Arrancar when breaking his mask, this can be explained with two suggestions:

1) Mainly his fight with becoming a Hollow, thus not fully being a Hollow yet (and still a Jibakurei... or was he more of a Tsukirei?).

2) It's not just the single simple action of breaking the mask that makes a Hollow an Arrancar. It starts with this, but the transformation requires training and certain techniques (mostly avid training) following this action. Also, i believe it was mentioned that the Hogyoku had a big part in boosting the growth of the Arrancars and greatly helped the Hollows to progress to become more Shinigami-like in their power. (Unless i'm mistaken; if so, please correct me.) And considering the limits to the power the Hogyoku has, this means that all Hollows are technically capable of becoming Arrancar, but it may be much more unlikely without the guidance of Aizen and his use of the Hogyoku to aid them by awakening and stimulating their abilities and pushing them to the surface of the host of said powers.

So in short, Sora not having turned into an Arrancar was because he hadn't fully turned into a Hollow, and because he didn't train himself upon breaking his mask.

Now, for Pesche and Dondochakka... any suggestions as to what exactly went on with them? Their masks were said to have been torn off by Nnoitra, yet they somehow have re-formed their full masks, and they've seemingly lost some powers (though we don't know for sure, as they may have never been great in power in the first place... or they were still just in training), yet they retain use of their Zanpakuto-like blades. I'm open for opinions and suggestions of explanation for these guys, and i'll add more of my own later.

Same with Nel. She seems to be a special case, as well. Having lost powers, memory, and regressing to a child form. Not much was said when Nnoitra and Szayel Aporro witnessed it happen, but still i wonder... would it happen to anyone else?

The Hogyoku situation I believe was quite well explained by Aizen. The Hogyoku is an object that grants the person's greatest desire as long as that person as the potential in him/her to achieve that power. And to me that explanation says it all about why some original Espadas were able to evolve, like Nnoitra and even non Espadas. While others were left behind. Also Aizen's evolution of power due to the Hogyoku. In Aizen's mind he always believed that the key to surpass his shinigami limitations depended upon the ability to hollowfy. And as such the Hogyoku started to turn him more and more like a hollow, until he reached that final form where he actually looked more hollow than anything.

Pesche and Dondochakka. If memory serves me well, when Nel looked upon what had been done to them, she said that their masks had been forcibly removed. With that I assumed that she meant, that their masks had been entirely removed. That could explain why their powers regressed but they were still able to maintain some of their Arrancar abilities, mainly because their bodies were able to regenerate, only not enough so they could return their old selves.

As for Nel. Her case is equally complicated. Her mask was damaged by Nnoitra attack, but not destroyed or forcibly removed. That cut on her mask is what keeps her from returning permanently to her old self. Maybe just like a bankai can't be fixed once it's broken, only reforged. So to Arrancars masks work in a similar fashion. Because Nel damage was not nearly as severe as the one's done to Pesche and Dondochakka, she only transformed into a child like version of herself, that was shown that she could access that power once again. But maybe like all things hollow, it activated at the time as a form of instinct. And now with Urahara help, and that thing he created for her, maybe it acts like a cast on a broken arm.

Has for why she lost her memories. Maybe it was because of the form her body took. Maybe that crack on her mask messes with her reiatsu, leaking it out constantly, stopping her from truly permanently returning to her true adult form. And while she was stock in her child form her memories remained lost. But ever since she temporarely regain her power, it seems that the memory issues are gone. Only her personality shifts from child to adult depending on her body.

These are my thoughts on the matter.