Nnoitra Gilga

Character outline
Nnoitra Jiruga {ノイトラ・ジルガ (Noitora Jiruga) first name is sometimes romanized as Nnoitora} is the 5th espada Aizen Sosuke's Army. (Before his named was officially dubbed as Nnoitra he was called Noitora many times in the manga in which like many of the Espada's naming sounded much better to fans than Nnoitra and has become a huge subject of debate like Grimmjow's last name Jaggerjack being changed to Jeagerjaques.)

Nnoitra is arguably one of the tallest characters in the series, dwarfing even Chad by at least a foot. His height is emphasized by his very thin and lanky body. His face is frequently set in a huge smile which reveals his upper-teeth. His black hair hangs past his shoulders concealing the left side of his face along with a large white eyepatch. The eyepatch hides his hollow hole and mask fragments which consists of a small set of jawbones and teeth surrounding his hollow hole. His tattoo signifying his rank as the 5th espada is located on his tongue. His clothing consists of a modified arrancar jacket with an overblown spoon-like hood and an opening starting at the neckline showing most of his midsection and closes at his waist. His wears the standard hakama but the ends of his pant-legs close inside what looks to be socks and his sandals are extended and curved at the end making it look like he is wearing wicked-witch boots.

Personality-wise; he is an extremely rude and lecherous, accented by his snake-like eye and attitude towards Orihime calling her "pet-sama". He even went as far to ask Ulquiorra how well he "taught" her. He is also a firm believer in male chauvinism and openly insults and regularly attacks female arrancar who holds a higher rank than himself, particularly the former 3rd espada Nel Tu. His overall goal is prove himself the strongest of the Espada and does not want to waste his time killing those he dubs weak. However he has no problem attacking stronger opponents who are already injured, a trait both Ichigo and Grimmjow berate him for.

In his later moments during his battle with Kenpachi he begins to show signs of weakness and is increasingly angry by his inability to overcome the powerful captain. This stems from an inferiority complex he developed while serving as 8th espada with Nel Tu when she was still 3rd espada. Flashbacks to his past with Nel when she refused to kill him, anger him further since Kenpachi also refuses to finish him off after his victory. Nnoitra sees this as a direct affront to his pride, because in his mind neither Nel or Kenpachi seemed to think of him as their equal or superior. This shows a more honorable side of him as even he wishes to be treated as equally as every other opponent he has treated, but also ironic as he has never actually engaged in a fair fight.

History
Before he became the 5th, Nnoitra held the rank of 8th Espada and was later promoted possibly because his power had grown. During his time as the 8th he'd constantly challenge Nel Tu to fights to prove that males are stronger than females but would lose everytime. Later he teamed up with Szayel Aporro Granz (who was not an espada at the time) to perform a sneak attack on Nel. Szayel reverted both Nel's Fracción Pesche, and Dondo Chakka back into hollows to distract Nel so Nnoitra could perform his attack. The attack itself (from Nnoitra) broke off part of her mask, scaring her forehead and left her unconscious. He threw her out of Hueco Muendo so that he could increase his power by the time she returned. However when she reverted to child due to the damage he inflicted he gave up on that goal until she returned many years later with Ichigo.

Synopsis
Nnoitra's first appearance was during the meeting of the espada. He later appears right after Chad defeated Gantenbainne Mosqueda. In a short battle Chad underestimated Nnoitra which left Chad critically injured. To his suprise Chad gets up and attempts another attack but is stopped by Tesla, his Fracción. However Nnoitra threatens Tesla for interrupting stating that no soul in the universe could harm him.

His next appearance was during Ichigo's fight with Grimmjow, silently watching the battle; studying Ichigo's attacks until they finished. He immediately "relieved" Grimmjow from the battle opting to finish him off but was saved by Ichigo. After berating Grimmjow from being saved by the enemy, Nnoitra returned his attention back to the weakened Ichigo preparing to finish him off but was stopped by Nel Tu who had reverted back to her former self. She briefly fought in Ichigo's place and almost killed him but reverted back to her child form at the last second. He prepares to finish off Nel but Ichigo steps in to save her, however he is still no match for Nnoitra. After getting bored with fighting Ichigo he commands Tesla to finish him off even forcing Orihime to watch him die. However at the last second Zaraki Kenpachi steps in to save them killing Tesla in the process.

Nnoitra's lust for battle returned, he does battle with Zaraki although he holds the upper-hand because Kenpachi's sword couldn't cut through his hierro. However after Nnoitra accidentally slashes Kenpachi's eyepatch off he is hit with a devastating counterattack resulting in a slash across his chest. Nnoitra responds by finally releasing his zanpakutō and returns the favor by slashing Kenpachi across his chest critically injuring him. To his surprise once again, Zaraki gets up and slashes one of Nnoitra's arms off but reveals his two extra arms an once again turns the tide back in his favor. However Kenpachi rises again to unleash his Kendo technique which Nnoitra underestimates and is critically injured as a result. Kenpachi unwilling to give Nnoitra the finishing blow sparks Nnoitra's anger, and he briefly remembers a similar incident between him and Nel Tu which she was unwilling to finish off Nnoitra. Nnoitra's anger reaching its peak charges at Kenpachi only to be cut down. He dies on his two feet before his body touches the ground, the kind of death he always wanted.

Powers
As Cinco Espada, the 5th strongest in Aizen's army. He has normal hollow powers like the other arrancar. However Nnoitra holds the title for the strongest Hierro of all arrancar (including the espada past and present) allowing him to withstand most attacks with no sign of injury. Despite his arrogant claim his skin does not, by far make him impervious to attacks or is impenetrable as he claims it is; as Nel Tu in her adult form cut through his chest with no obvious difficultly (likely due to prior combat experiance with him) and Kenpachi Zaraki eventually found the necessary force and power to harm him after a brief trial and error duel.

Nnoitra is also very different when it comes to using his hollow powers as an arrancar. For example, most Arrancar's Pesquisa (ability to sense people with spiritual pressure) works by using a meditative state and functions like sonar, while Nnoitra needs only to put his hand to a grounded surface. His Pesquisa is even able to gauge the amount of spiritual pressure an opponent has, which he uses to identify potentially strong opponents. He also fires cero blasts from the tip of his tongue, as opposed to using his hands, mouth or fingers like most Espada do. Despite his thin and fragile appearance, Nnoitra is frighteningly strong and can easily wield his ridiculously huge zanpakutō with one hand.

Santa Teresa
From his introduction into the series, Nnoitra soon held the record for the longest time to release his zanpakutō. The only other Espada so far with significant parts was Ulquiorra Schiffer but having been warped to another dimension and only recently returned, Nnoitra still holds the record.

Nnoitra's zanpakutō is Santa Teresa (聖哭螳螂（サンタテレサ）common Spanish term for Mantis religiosa, Japanese for "sacred crying mantis"), Nnoitra's zanpakutō, takes the form of a giant axe-like weapon bearing two crescent moon blades fused together at the backs with a large looped chain connected to the shaft at the end of the handle. The chain is connected to Nnoitra's belt allowing him to perform long rage attacks such as the sneak attack which promptly ended Grimmjow's fight with Ichigo. During flashbacks to Nnoitra's time as the 8th Espada, it had only one crescent moon blade on his zanpakutō as opposed to the two it features now, possibly reflecting his increased power and subsequent rise in rank since then. Despite its huge size, Nnoitra is able to wield easily with one hand. Its release command is "pray" (祈れ, inore).

When released he gains two additional sets of arms each of which wields a scythe like his unreleased form but the design is reversed. These weapons can be 'grown' out of the folds of his wrists allowing it to replace lost or damaged weapons easily. He keeps one of his arm sets hidden within his body to perform surprise attacks. He gains a pair of horns, his left horn longer than his right, resembling a crescent moon. His hollow mask also changes, becoming torn and featuring jagged teeth. In this state his strength is enhanced even further temporarily overwhelming Kenpachi before the latter unleashed his kendo. Though his hierro appears diminished in this state, Nnoitra is the only arrancar who seems to have retained the Menos ability of Instantaneous Regeneration and can easily regrow severed limbs.