Tier Harribel

, called Tia Hallibel in the English dub, is an Arrancar in Sōsuke Aizen's army, and is Espada Tres (Three). She is currently the only female Espada.

Appearance
Harribel has dark skin, green eyes, and messy short blonde hair which has three braided locks. She wears an oddly-cut variation of the Arrancar jacket that covers the lower part of her face downward, while baring a good portion of the lower half of her breasts; this jacket, unlike that of other Arrancar, is provided with a zipper running along its entire length that is opened from the bottom upwards (in the anime, this outfit is extended to fully cover her breasts, a black stripe showing where the original cut of the jacket was). The jacket's sleeves completely envelop her arms, terminating in black glove-like extensions at her extremities, which slightly gives her fingers the appearance of a cat's paws. Physically, she appears to be just as well-endowed as Rangiku Matsumoto. Harribel carries her Zanpakutō horizontally across her back (similar to Soifon). The sword itself is notably broad and short compared to others, and has a western-style guard.

The remnants of her Hollow mask consist of the sides of her face and her mouth, as well as an extensive area below and around her neck extending down to, and also covering, her nipples; she usually hides these Hollow remnants from view with her jacket (in the anime, the remnants are extended to cover the underside of her breasts due to censorship). Harribel's mask fragment give her a similar appearance to Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, at least in regards to the teeth. To date she has the most intact mask of any Arrancar not including the incomplete Grand Fisher (though the mask is removed upon her Zanpakutō's release). Her Espada tattoo is oddly placed on the left side of her right breast. The location of her Hollow hole is currently unknown, despite the fact that her release form reveals most of her body.

Personality
Harribel rarely speaks, and when she does, she's fairly serious. An example would be when she tells her Fracción that being afraid of an Espada's released form is a natural reaction. She calculated the battle between Ichigo Kurosaki and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was more of a fight between two Espada than anything else. She tends to cross her arms when not engaged in combat.

Compared to her fellow Espada, who are usually arrogant, boastful, impulsive, battle-hungry, bloodthirsty, and egotistical, Harribel is composed, receptive, analytical, and prefers not to engage in combat; she is content on silently observing both parties until the fighting reaches its conclusion, and actually fights only when she is challenged and attacked by an opponent or commanded to fight by her superiors (though she appears reluctant to take orders from a higher-ranked Espada). However, when she is betrayed by Aizen, Harribel angrily attacks him, showing that, when provoked, Harribel is quite aggressive and brutal, something that wasn't present during her previous fights with Hitsugaya, Lisa, and Hiyori. Harribel's gender and associated rank in the Espada often draws the unwanted attention of other people; Nnoitra Jiruga attempts to provoke her into attacking him with a sharply-worded comment during the Espada meeting. She also catches the eye of Captain Shunsui Kyōraku, even to the point of him mentioning his (rather positive) opinion of her abilities to his opponent.

Before Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends broke into Las Noches, Harribel is seen in the company of Aizen and her fellow Espada - in Aizen's throne room, the debriefing room, and the room which houses the Hōgyoku. However, she, like the other Espada, has her own quarters. Whenever she is present, Aizen usually greets the group with words such as "ladies and gentlemen of the Espada" or "brothers and sisters", apparently for her exclusive benefit, as she is the only female. She views Aizen and his powers in high regard, which is reciprocated by Aizen to a certain extent, as he seems unconcerned with the prospect of his top three Espada fighting a numerically-superior force led by six Shinigami captains without his aid.

Strangely, Harribel seems to show some concern for her enemies. This was hinted when she observed Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow and was finalized when she asked Hitsugaya about his fluctuating reiatsu during their fight. Unlike most of her comrades, Harribel does care for her Fracción, as she is noticeably upset when she senses their presences fading, and later angrily assaulting Hitsugaya seconds after their defeat at the hands of Captain-Commander Yamamoto.

Arrancar arc
Harribel initially appears as one of several Arrancar who attend the return of Ulquiorra Cifer and Yammy Riyalgo after their initial intrusion in the human world. Both she and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez are the only Espada seen attending the meeting.

She is later also seen with several other Espada (including Grimmjow's replacement Luppi) during the creation of Wonderweiss Margera.

Hueco Mundo arc
Harribel appears again during Aizen's meeting about Ichigo Kurosaki, Yasutora Sado and Uryū Ishida entering Hueco Mundo to save Orihime Inoue. After Aizen warns the Espada to treat the intruders with caution, Nnoitra Jiruga makes a comment stating that they look weak. She warns him to that if he had listened to what Aizen just said he would have heard him state that they shouldn't take the intruders lightly. Nnoitra tells her that is not what he meant and tells her not to get testy before asking her if she is scared. Harribel just gives him a cold stare. Grimmjow interrupts the brewing confrontation by attempting to walk out against Aizen's orders. She alongside the other Espada sit silently while Aizen subdues Grimmjow with his Spiritual Pressure to keep him in line.

She is later seen just after Aaroniero Arruruerie is killed, observing the atmosphere of Hueco Mundo, when one of her Fracción, Apache, ask her what they should do about his death.

During Ichigo Kurosaki's fight with Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, she and her Fracción watch from afar talking about the battle. When her Fracción begin to question what is going on in the battle Harribel tells them not to worry about it. As they are witnessing the battle of an Espada in his Resurrección form, it is understandable for them to be frightened, as that is their primal fear and they should value it. Harribel then notes to herself whether or not the one that he fights is truly a Human, as she would never think that the volume, concentration, and catastrophic nature of his reiatsu would be that of a humans' as she states that the battle seems to be more of one between two Espada, than anything else.

Fake Karakura Town arc
After Aizen travels to Karakura Town, he is met with resistance by the other Gotei 13 captains currently not in Hueco Mundo. Aizen summons Harribel, along with her Fracción and the two other strongest Espada and their Fracción, to the fake Karakura Town in order to do battle with the forces from the Gotei 13.

When Captain Commander Yamamoto uses his Shikai to trap the opposing captains (Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tōsen). As Baraggan notes this, Harribel says he is underestimating Aizen. He simply retorts that she is underestimating him. Baraggan then decides to take control of the situation himself, telling Starrk he'd "better not have a problem with that." He lazily agrees, which earns him a kick from Lilynette while Harribel and the others stand around and watch.

After the pillars that keep the real Karakura Town in Soul Society are successfully defended and four of Baraggan's Fracción are killed, all of the other Arrancar pair up against the Shinigami and begin to battle. Harribel enters into battle with Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya, while his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto fights all three of her Fracción.

Harribel draws her sword and her and Hitsugaya clash. As the two continue to battle she tells Hitsugaya that she felt a disturbance in his spiritual energy (in reference to the arrival of Momo Hinamori). He tells her he has no idea what she is talking about. She then asks what it was and he responds that he doesn't know and uses an ice attack against her causing Harribel to back off.

When her Fracción, Apache, Mila-Rose, and Sun-Sun, are effortlessly defeated at the hands of Captain-Commander Yamamoto, she ups her tactics against Hitsugaya. Harribel condenses energy in the hollow portion of her sword and slashes at him, sending Hitsugaya back as he blocks the attack. She says of her fallen subordinates that they fought a good battle. She then unzips her jacket, revealing her rank as the Tres Espada, third most powerful in Aizen's army. Hitsugaya finds it difficult to believe someone so strong happens only to be the third strongest of the Espada, but Harribel starkly warns him she has yet begun to show him the extent of her power. She unzips the rest of her jacket to reveal the frightening remains of her mask covering the lower half of her face. Acknowledging the seriousness of this fight against such a powerful opponent, Hitsugaya activates his Bankai, as Harribel directly charges at him forcing him to block her attack with his ice wings.

The two opponents continue to attack each other and Harribel uses he Proyectil Azul attack. Hitsugaya is injured by the attack and crashes into a building below, prompting Harribel to ask if that is the best he can do, questing if this is a captain's strength and wondering how Apache, Mila-Rose, and Sun-Sun could have lost. Harribel decides to put a quick end to the battle and releases her Zanpakutō. She is enveloped in a cocoon of water to which she cuts herself out of and emerges in her Resurrección form, equipped with a dangerously large sword-like weapon. As Hitsugaya looks on Harribel raises her sword and before he can even react she delivers a seemingly fatal blow by slicing off the right side of his body from his shoulder. Believing her enemy defeated, she says ''He is no match for her. One blow from the Shark, and the Ice Dragon sinks into the sea."''

Seeing Yamamoto on the side of battle, she approaches him and threatens to exact her revenge against him for taking the lives of her subordinates. Suddenly however, Hitsugaya appears behind her and nearly lands a fatal blow to her head, but she ducks and manages to slice off his ice tail. Wondering how her opponent survived unharmed, Hitsugaya explains he made an illusion of his image out of ice as a precaution once she released, this ice clone being what she struck down. Hitsugaya then tells Harribel to not underestimate their strength.

As their fight ensues, Harribel reveals her release form has the ability to create and manipulate water, which she uses as a long-range weapon by sending raging torrents at Hitsugaya, but he simply freezes them with his sword before they strike. As she shatters the ice he tells her not underestimate him and that she must have realized already with his ice-based Zanpakutō, water simply becomes another weapon for him. Even if that water is her weapon. He then plainly states that her ability to control water will never get her anywhere with him. Harribel defiantly states that it will and she will soon show him, Hitsugaya unimpressed tells the Espada he told her not to underestimate him and sends an ice dragon flying at her. Harribel states that he is the one doing the underestimating and uses her Hirviendo technique boiling away the water as it is deflected around her. Harribel then states that if her water can become Hitsugaya's weapon, the moment he realized that, he must have realized the opposite was true as well. Those are the rules of battle. She then uses her Cascada technique to send Hitsugaya's melted attack back at him in a massive torrent of crushing water.

Hitsugaya, however, freezes most of the water before it can crush him. He tells her that he is well aware of the rules of battle and doesn't need her to lecture him about it. He then uses his Guncho Tsurara technique sending shards of ice at Harribel, but she quickly melts them with Hirviendo. Hitsugaya appears behind her and converts the water into ice, which manages to freeze her, though she breaks free quickly. He tells her another law of battle, that one faces the greatest danger when one uses their best attack. Harribel builds up water from her sword and uses her La Gota technique but Hitsugaya dodges the attack. She releases a Cero from her sword, but it only nicks one of his ice wings. Histugaya states that it was a weak attack but he was not surprised, concluding that Harribel is waiting for the same thing as him, waiting for the battlefield to be filled with condensation so she can finish him off in one blow. He states that neither will ever get anywhere if their both after the same thing. Hitsugaya then says to her that he has never tried this in Bankai mode, prompting Harribel to ask what he is talking about. He explains that he doesn't have to wait for water. Hyōrinmaru is the most powerful ice-based Zanpakutō. All water is his weapon and all of heaven is under his command. Hitsugaya then activates his Hyoten Hyakkaso technique.

Harribel stares up at the sky in amazement as it becomes filled with dark storm clouds, as she asks what is this. Hitsugaya explains that the Tenso Jurin technique, is one of Hyorinmaru's basic powers and the strongest. He explains further that his powers aren't fully mature and he is unsure of his ability to control the technique. Hitsugaya asks her name, to which she replies: Tres Espada, Tia Harribel. Hitsugaya then states his name and rank before attacking. A hole in the sky opens much to Harribel's surprise, and snow begins to fall. Harribel attempts to melt the snow with her sword, but the moment her sword touches the snow, ice flowers begin to bloom on her body, causing her to become alarmed. Hitsugaya tells her that the Hyoten Hyakkaso technique makes whomever touches the snow instantly freezes like a flower. As she is quickly encased in ice, Hitsugaya calmly tells her that once all one hundred ice flowers have bloomed, she will die. He then states that she won't be able to avenge her underlings after all. The one hundred ice flowers encase Harribel in a gigantic ice-flower obelisk.

Once Wonderweiss Margera arrives, he lets out a high pitched scream which shatters the ice holding her. She rises from the ice obelisk without any noticeable sign of injury and gives a cold stare to the shocked Hitsugaya.

As Hitsugaya is contemplating the words of Sajin Komamura about fighting alongside the newly arrived Vizard, Harribel goes to attack him while his back is turned, although he still notices her. However, before she can strike Hitsugaya, the Vizard Lisa Yadōmaru suddenly appears above her and blocks her sword while another Vizard, Hiyori Sarugaki, appears next to her and pushes her back. While Hiyori and Hitsugaya were arguing about who was shorter, Lisa Yadōmaru suddenly charged at Harribel. She is then seen blocking an attack from Lisa and states that she thought that the three of them would come at her at once. .

After Starrk's death, she is seen still fighting Lisa who has now summoned her hollow mask and activates her Shikai followed by Hiyori and Hitsugaya. The four all clash causing an explosion. However, Aizen, who notices their fight, suddenly appears behind Harribel. She turns, noticing his presence as he approaches her and before she can react, he slashes Harribel across her midsection. She is shocked as Aizen only responds that he is done with her as it appears that she is not strong enough to fight for him.

Aizen further states that he never thought after all the trouble he went through to gather the Espada, that he alone would be more powerful than the lot of them. Harribel looks at Aizen with rage and retaliates by stabbing him through the chest with her sword. Aizen's expression does not change as he says dealing with her is such a pain, surprising Harribel. She then realizes that she attacked an illusion and that she has been stabbed from the back of her left shoulder by the real Aizen. He then states that he will never allow her to raise her sword against him again and withdraws his sword, which sends Harribel plummeting into the city below.

Powers & Abilities
Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Harribel has demonstrated tremendous skill in swordsmanship, being able to fight on even grounds with Hitsugaya, a captain-level Shinigami as well as famous prodigy of swordsmanship. Harribel is ambidextrous and can switch her sword from her right to left. She is even capable of defending herself from a Shinigami captain and two Vizard simultaneously. Worthy of note also is that a great deal of her overall abilities seen to stem from her sword, including her Cero, Projectil Azul, and her various Resurreccion abilities.

Cero: Harribel has been shown to charge her Cero using her sword and being able to fire it in a very wide ranging form, following the arc of her subsequent sword swing.

Sonído Master: Harribel has demonstrated incredible speed in battle, initially able to outmaneuver Hitsugaya to the point of forcing him almost completely on the defensive.

Garganta: Garganta is how Arrancar move to and from Hueco Mundo. Harribel has the ability to use this technique. It literally tears open the dimensional fabric separating the worlds, revealing a tunnel of whirling, torrential energy that must be focused and solidified to create a discernible pathway. She is seen using one to travel to the Fake Karakura Town.

Immense Spiritual Power: Being one of the top four members of the Espada, Harribel is forbidden to release her Zanpakutō while inside the dome of Las Noches. If she were to do so, her immense spiritual power would be enough to demolish the fortress. Her spiritual power is yellow.

Highly Perceptible Combatant: While a person of few words, Harribel has shown herself to be an intuitive person. She is easily able to see through a person's demeanor to determine what they are thinking about. During the battle between Ichigo and Grimmjow, she noted how similar the two were, especially in terms of energy signatures. Her keen intellect and intuition is later seen in the initial fight with Hitsugaya, being able to see through his icy demeanor and identify his concern for his Lieutenant. She was able to sense a small wavering in Hitsugaya's Spiritual Pressure after the arrival of Hinamori concerned him.

Master Tactician: Harribel was able to hold her own in a fight against Hitsugaya who used counter abilities to her own, taking advantage of his attacks to use for her own purposes.

Zanpakutō
. In its sealed state, Harribel's Zanpakutō, while not particularly long, is unusually wide and has the distinction of being completely hollow in the middle, essentially consisting of nothing more than the edges of what would otherwise be a normal sword. Its handle is purple and its guard is as wide as its blade, with three small holes on either end that Harribel uses to unsheathe it. Oddly, the sword is longer than its sheathe. It is worn horizontally on her upper back.


 * A technique in which Harribel pulls her sword back as it gathers yellow spiritual energy within the hollow portion of her blade and launches it towards her opponent, in the form of an energy blade projectile. She has also demonstrated the ability to keep the energy concentrated within the hollowed out portion of the blade and unleash it in the form of a ribbon when attacking.


 * Resurrección: Its release command is . When releasing her Zanpakutō, she holds it in an outstretched arm in front of her with the blade pointing down and declares the release command. She is then completely enveloped by a heart-shaped surge of water that closes around her to form a cocoon-like cyclone which Harribel then cuts herself out of. In this form, all of her clothes are gone, as well as her Espada tattoo. The Hollow fragments she has in her sealed state become a collar with extensions that cover her nipples, in addition to spaulders on her shoulders with two ribbon-like protrusions on her back that bare a resemblance to shark fins. A thin, spine-like structure also forms on her stomach, spanning from her waist to the underside of her breasts. Harribel now wears a mini-skirt consisting of bones that appear to surround a dark undergarment. She wears a pair of knee-length boots and elbow-length gloves as well. Her weapon takes the form of a broad pata, which resembles an elongated shark tooth, featuring an unusual hilt with a hand guard that completely covers her hand. The sword also possesses what appear to be gill markings along either side of the blade. Harribel loses her three braids, making her hair become messy, and gains two lightning bolt markings on both sides of her face.


 * Resurrección Special Ability: In this form, Harribel gains immense speed and strength. The increase in strength is so great that a simple swing of her sword is strong enough to easily cut an opponent, even at a longer distance. Her speed is greatly enhanced in this form and her motions become hard to predict until the very last moment.


 * Water Manipulation: Her primary ability in this form is the creation and manipulation of water. The water used for her attacks is generated by the gill-markings on her blade.


 * Harribel points her blade out and instantly boils any form of water that comes close to it, including ice, and deflects it around her.


 * Harribel launches a rushing surge of water at her enemy. The torrent of high pressure water is large enough to cover several town blocks.


 * Harribel is able to condense large amounts of water around her blade before firing it as a blast that resembles a shark tooth. She has also demonstrated the ability to fire multiple blasts in rapid succession with relative ease. The blasts strike with enough force to demolish houses.

Fracción
Harribel's Fracción consists of three female Arrancar, all presumed dead or incapacitated at this time. She seemingly holds them in high regard as she wishes to avenge them.


 * is a tomboyish Arrancar with heterochromia, one sky blue and one amber eye; the latter has a red ring around it. Apache's mask fragment is on the top of her head with a horn in the middle much like that of a unicorn. Apache's Zanpakutō are the bracelets strapped to her arms.


 * is a dark-skinned Arrancar who dresses like an Amazon warrior. Her mask fragments form a three-sectioned crown around her head and a thick necklace. Her Hollow hole is positioned midway between her navel and breasts. Her Zanpakutō is a western style longsword.


 * wears a long white dress, with sleeves that extend well past her hands. She also has two belts criss-crossing each other on her waist. Sun-Sun has long, flowing green hair and three dots below her right eye. Her mask remnants create three hair clip-like extensions on the right side of her hair. Her Hollow hole isn't visible. She seems to be the most mature of Harribel's Fracción, advising Apache and Mila-Rose to stop arguing, as it makes them look weak, then chiding their angry responses. Her Zanpakutō resembles a sai.

Censorship
Due to censorship, Harribel's design was modified slightly between the anime and manga. Firstly, in the anime, Harribel's outfit is extended to fully cover her breasts. Secondly, during the revealing of her Espada rank tattoo in the anime, the remnants of Harribel's hollow mask are extended to cover the underside of her breasts. Notice the black stripe on the jacket that shows where the original bottom of the jacket was, as well as where her original mask fragments ended.

Trivia

 * Harribel's aspect of death is Sacrifice.
 * Harribel introduces herself as Tres (three) Espada, instead of Tercera (third).

Quotes

 * (To Apache, Mila-Rose, and Sun-Sun) "Ladies, despite their appearances, they are captain level...don't let your guard down and attack them at full strength from the start."
 * (To Tōshirō Hitsugaya) "This is a captain's strength? Apache and the others lost to this?"
 * (To Tōshirō Hitsugaya) "You are no match for me."
 * "One blow from the shark and the ice dragon sinks into the sea."
 * (To Genryūsai Yamamoto Shigekuni) "You're next. I'll make you pay for taking their lives."
 * (To Tōshirō Hitsugaya) "The moment you arrive at the idea that my water will become your weapon, you must also realize that the opposite may be possible as well. That is the iron law of battle."
 * (To Apache, Mila-Rose, and Sun-Sun) "Try to relax. This battle is being fought by an Espada in his Resurección form. Your fear is understandable. But it is primordial fear... relish it."
 * (About Ichigo Kurosaki and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's battle) "The question is... is the person he's fighting really human? It's hard to believe that any human could possess spirit energy as dense and darkly powerful as his. It's almost as if... I'm watching a battle between two Espada."

Navigation
Tia Harribel Tia Harribel