Tier Harribel

, pronounced 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, blonde eyelashes, and messy short blonde hair which has three braided locks. She wears a 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 large breasts. The jacket, unlike that of other Arrancar, has 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 marking 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, resembling the appearance of a cat's paw. Harribel carries her Zanpakutō horizontally across her back (similar to Suì-Fēng). The sword itself is notably broad and short compared to others, completely hollow in the middle, 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. Harribel's mask fragment gives 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.

Her appearance from the time before she became an Arrancar mostly resembled her released state, but most of her body and face was covered by white hollow-bones. Her hair and eyes were, however, exposed.

Personality
In contrast to the majority of her fellow Espada, Harribel is calm, taciturn, level-headed and analytical, preferring not to engage in combat; she is content with silently observing both parties until the fighting reaches its conclusion, and refuses to fight unless she or her Fracción are challenged or ordered by her superiors (excluding Baraggan, sharing her history with him). She strongly opposes the notion of killing others, especially if done to gain power. However, when she is betrayed by Aizen, Harribel angrily attacks him, showing that, while rare, Harribel can be quite aggressive and brutal. Unlike most of her comrades, Harribel does care for her Fracción, as she is noticeably upset when she senses their presences fading and angrily assaults Hitsugaya seconds after their defeat at the hands of Captain-Commander Yamamoto.

She views Aizen and his powers in high regard, which appears to be 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. Whenever she is present, Aizen usually greets the group with words such as "ladies and gentlemen of the Espada" or "brothers and sisters", presumably for her exclusive benefit, as she is the only female.

Harribel's gender and associated rank in the Espada occasionally draws the unwanted attention of other people; Nnoitra Gilga 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, to the point of him mentioning his (rather positive) opinion of her abilities to his opponent.

History
Prior to becoming an Arrancar, Harribel was a near-humanoid shark-like Vasto Lorde-class Menos. Some time ago she saved a female Adjuchas-class Hollow, Apacci, from another, male Adjuchas. Harribel took her back to her lair, where she introduced her to two other female Adjuchas, Sung-Sun and Mila Rose, as a new comrade. After Harribel broke up a small altercation between the other three Hollows, she explained that as female Hollows tend to be easy prey for the male ones, she brought Apacci and the other two Hollows there as she thought they would be better if they worked as a group, rather than working alone. They later fought a Hollow who fled, Harribel having allowed him to get away. When they decided to rest, Apacci asked her why they should allow him to escape instead of devouring him. She explained the law of Las Noches and asked Harribel why she doesn't follow it. Harribel explained that she didn't want to become stronger by devouring and sacrificing others. She resolved that if she couldn't win alone she would win in a group. At some point Harribel and her group came face to face with the King of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan Luisenbarn and his court. The two revealed they had previous dealings with each other and upon meeting again Baraggan made note that he was tired of her rebellious attitude. He gave her a choice: either join his army or run off to an area he could not see, noting that there is no place in Las Noches he couldn't see. One of his servants attempted to persuade Harribel but ended up receiving a slash to his Hollow mask for his trouble, for which Baraggan scolded her for being so bold, but allowed her to leave unharmed.

Sometime later the group is attacked in their lair by a stranger. Harribel, who remembered him as the Hollow she attacked at her confrontation with Baraggan and his court, tried to fend him off. He proved his reiatsu to have been stronger then a Vasto Lorde-class Hollow such as Harribel and he quickly gained the upper hand. Harribel refused to give up and asked her subordinates to run away. Though they complied at first, they eventually came back as they resolved to die fighting for Harribel. The assailant quickly defeated the Adjuchas Hollows and then took out Harribel. He then stated his intention to kill her and join the upper ranks of Hueco Mundo. They were interrupted by the arrival of Sōsuke Aizen, who blocked the attack and stated that such power was only natural for an Arrancar as he dispatched him personally. He then noted that the power of sacrifice allowed for many impossible things and apologized to Harribel stating that he gave the assailant Arrancar powers, but not a brain to control it. He then explained the concept of the sacrifice and asked Harribel to join him if she wanted to be strong enough to protect her subordinates.

Arrancar arc
Harribel initially appears as one of several Arrancar who attend the return of Ulquiorra Cifer and Yammy Llargo 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 Margela.

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 Gilga makes a comment stating that they look weak. She tells him 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 says that is not what he meant and tells her not to get testy before asking her if she is scared. Harribel only 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, Apacci, ask her what they should do about his death.

During Ichigo'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 she says it is understandable for them to be frightened, as that is their primal fear and they should value it. Harribel wonders whether or not the one that he is fighting 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', stating that the battle seems to be more like one between two Espada than anything else.

Fake Karakura Town arc
After Aizen travels to Karakura Town, he 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.

Captain-Commander Yamamoto then 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 while Harribel and the others stand around and watch.

After the pillars that keep the real Karakura Town in Soul Society are successfully defended, Harribel enters into battle with Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya. Harribel draws her sword and she and Hitsugaya clash. As the they battle she tells Hitsugaya that she felt a disturbance in his spiritual energy, in reference to the arrival of Momo Hinamori. He tells her that he has no idea what she is talking about.

When her Fracción, Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun, are defeated, she ups her tactics against Hitsugaya. Harribel condenses energy in the hollow portion of her sword and slashes at him. She then unzips her jacket, revealing her rank as the Tres Espada. Hitsugaya finds it difficult to believe she is only the third strongest Espada, but Harribel starkly warns him she has not 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.

The two continue to fight as Hitsugaya crashes into a building below, questioning if this is a captain's strength and wondering how Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun could have lost. Harribel then releases her Zanpakutō. She is enveloped in a cocoon of water which she cuts herself out of, emerging in her Resurrección form, equipped with a dangerously large sword-like weapon. As Hitsugaya looks on, Harribel raises her sword and delivers a seemingly fatal blow. Believing her enemy defeated, she says that 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, Hitsugaya appears behind her and nearly lands a blow but she ducks and counters. Wondering how her opponent survived unharmed, Hitsugaya explains he made an illusion in his image out of ice as a precaution once she released, this ice clone being what she struck down. Hitsugaya then tells Harribel not to underestimate their strength.

As their fight ensues, Harribel reveals her release form has the ability to create and manipulate water, which she uses to fire at Hitsugaya from afar. Hitsugaya freezes the water and says water is useless against his ice. Harribel defiantly states that it isn't useless and that she will soon show him. The two continue to banter as Hitsugaya sends an ice dragon towards her, against which Harribel reveals 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 to attack Hitsugaya.

Hitsugaya, however, freezes most of the water before it can crush him. The two continue fighting, using each other’s weapons against them. Hitsugaya manages to freeze Harribel but she quickly breaks free. He tells her another law of battle, that one faces the greatest danger when one uses their best attack. Their attacks continue as Hitsugaya concludes 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 they’re 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: as 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, asking what this is. Hitsugaya explains the ability and asks for 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 whoever 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.

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

As Hitsugaya contemplates the words of Sajin Komamura about fighting alongside the newly arrived Visored, Harribel goes to attack him while his back is turned, although he still notices her. However, before she can strike Hitsugaya, the Visored Lisa Yadōmaru suddenly appears above her and blocks her sword while another Visored, Hiyori Sarugaki, appears next to her and pushes her back. Lisa Yadōmaru suddenly charges 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 and Hiyori who have now summoned their hollow masks and alongside Hitsugaya all three release their Shikai. 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. Before she can react, Aizen 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 swings down his sword, sending 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 a 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 Visored simultaneously.

Immense Spiritual Power: Even before becoming an Arrancar, Tia Harribel demonstrated tremendous spiritual power. As an Arrancar and 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 Perceptive 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 the two were similar, 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 abilities counter to her own, taking advantage of his attacks for her own purposes.

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 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.

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 sheath. 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 with 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 blue lightning bolt markings on both sides of her face.


 * Resurrección Special Ability: In this form, Harribel's speed and strength increase immensely.


 * 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 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.


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

Fracción
Harribel's Fracción consists of three female Arrancar. They were assembled during their time as Hollows in support of strength in numbers due to the fact that female Hollows are made easier targets by the male ones. She holds them in high regard.


 * is a tomboyish Arrancar with heterochromia, one sky blue and one amber eye; the latter having a red ring around it. Apacci's mask fragment is on the top of her head with a horn in the middle much like that of a unicorn. Apacci'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. Sung-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 Apacci 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 and her pants reveal less of her thighs. 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. Furthermore, in her released form, her nipple coverings are extended to cover the undersides of her breasts as well as extending around back like a bra. Her 'skirt' is also extended with triangular points at the end and the area of darkness underneath is expanded.

Trivia

 * Harribel's aspect of death is Sacrifice.
 * Harribel introduces herself as Tres (three) Espada, instead of Tercera (third).
 * Harribel's Zanpakutō technique, Ola Azul, was originally called before the release of Volume 41.

Quotes

 * (To Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun) "Don't worry about it. This is the battle of an Espada in his Resurrección form. It's not unreasonable for you to be frightened. That's your primal fear. Value it."


 * (About Ichigo Kurosaki and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's battle) "However, is the one he's fighting truly Human? I'd never think that this volume, concentration and catastrophic nature of his reiatsu would be that of a Human's. It seems more like I'm watching a fight between two Espada."


 * (To Tōshirō Hitsugaya) "How underwhelming. So this is all a captain amounts to."


 * "You stood no chance. With the bite of a shark, a dragon of ice shall sink beneath the waves."


 * (To Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto) "You are next. I will avenge my subordinates."


 * (To Tōshirō Hitsugaya) "If it's the case that my water can become your weapon, then the instant you arrive at that thought, you must also arrive at the thought that the opposite is also possible. That is an inviolable law of battle."


 * (To Tōshirō Hitsugaya) "Our existence is built upon the noble sacrifices made. Instead, you fall in battle from trying to protect your subordinates. My subordinates were not simply defeated. They left behind markers for me, on how to carry on the fight. If I had lost, my subordinates' sacrifices would have all been for nothing. I hold within me the resolve of those who sacrificed their lives."


 * (To Apacci) "We women are easy prey for the males. I brought you here because I thought that it would be better if we worked in a group, rather than working alone."


 * (To Apacci) "I don't want to become stronger through the power I gain by killing and sacrificing another. If I can't win alone, then I'll win as a group."


 * "No world is without sacrifices. But if we produce casualties, we would also sustain casualties of our own."

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