Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4041418-20140315151044/@comment-8986886-20140322131452

IamTechno wrote: 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.

Looking at the attributes of the top-ranked Espada (0-4): Yammy's giant form, Starrk's Cero Metralleta, Barragan's Respira, Harribel's Cascada, and Ulquiorra's Lanza del Relámpago, they all had massive destructive power.

However, if you look at the bottom-ranked Espada, Zommari, Szayelaporro, and Aaroniero (7-9) then their main attribute is not destructive power, but rather strategy, combined with magic-like abilities.

Finally, when you look at the middle-ranked Espada, Nnoitra, Grimmjow, and the temporary Luppi (5-6), they lacked the destructive power of the top-ranked Espada. However, they also lacked the magic-like abilities of the bottom-ranked Espada, and the reason why Grimmjow still outranked Szayelaporro, was more likely that he had a superior Reiatsu, rather than a superior intellect. ^^