Aaroniero Arruruerie

is an Arrancar in Sōsuke Aizen's army, and the noveno (9th) Espada.

Appearance
He usually covers his face with an elongated white mask covered with eight holes while in the light. In place of a normal head, he has a large, glass cylindrical capsule filled with red liquid and two small, floating Hollow heads. The two heads are both tattooed with the number 9 and tend to talk in tandem when revealed, giving the effect of two people speaking in turn. The upper head speaks with a deep voice while the other speaks in a high-pitched, child-like voice. The heads appear to have a level of individuality. His outfit, like that of most Espada, is customized; he wears a dress garb that covers his entire body as opposed to the normal jacket and hakama. He also wears a frilly nobles' coat that acts as his replacement jacket and a single white gentleman's glove. The remains of his Hollow mask fragments are on both of his heads, the upper head having three-quarters of his head covered with the mask, and the lower head covering only half of it.

Personality
Little can be said of Aaroniero's true personality, since he was imitating Lieutenant Kaien Shiba (albeit in a twisted, erratic fashion) for the majority of his appearance. He does express some amount of pride in his ability to 'continue evolving' and his position as an Espada, despite his Gillian status. Somewhat cruel and sadistic, Aaroniero enjoys toying with his opponents, particularly those he has information on from his absorbed memories, as seen when he asked Rukia to kill her comrades to make up for Kaien's death. Interestingly, his two heads appear to have a degree of individuality, since they refer to themselves in plural when exposed, and each reacted differently to the idea of death (the bottom head panicked and screamed for Aizen's aid while the top one merely cursed Rukia).

History
Aaroniero was a Gillian, the weakest class of Menos, before becoming an Arrancar, and the last of the first-generation Espada.

At some point in the past, Aaroniero gained the powers of former Shinigami lieutenant Kaien Shiba by absorbing Metastacia, the Hollow who killed and fused with Kaien. By doing this, Aaroniero was able to gain not only Metastacia's power to fuse with others but Kaien Shiba's powers and abilities as well as his Zanpakutō.

Arrancar arc
Aaroniero is seen for the first time when Sōsuke Aizen is creating Wonderweiss Margela. He is just seen standing there but this time only the upper half of his body is covered in shadow.

Hueco Mundo arc
He next appears, this time with his white mask on, when the Espada are gathered by Aizen about Ichigo Kurosaki, Yasutora Sado, and Uryū Ishida entering Hueco Mundo to save Orihime Inoue. He sits between Tia Harribel and Yammy Llargo and complains about the intruders along with Baraggan Luisenbarn, Szayel Aporro Granz, Yammy and Nnoitra Gilga. He is also heard talking for the first time and he has two voices: one for each head.

After Rukia is separated from her companions, she encounters Aaroniero and follows him into a dark tower. Once inside, he explains that he cannot stand sunlight and takes off his mask while introducing himself as the 9th Espada Aaroniero Arruruerie, who, upon removing his mask, is immediately recognized by Rukia as Kaien Shiba, her former mentor. At first, Rukia is confused and can't believe her eyes as the appearance is unmistakable. But she also remembers that Kaien is dead and that she was the one who killed him and hence, can't be alive. But once he addresses her, the mannerisms and voice is unmistakably Kaien's. He then pulls out a cushion and tells her to sit as they have much to discuss.

Aaroniero then explains to her that the night he was possessed his spirit began to crumble after the battle, and by time she had brought his lifeless body back to the Shiba house, it had completely shattered and from there, it was thrown into Hueco Mundo. He explains that the Hollow he fought was one of Aizen's experiments and that every time it was destroyed it would come back to Hueco Mundo and regenerate. However, since the Hollow had fused with him, the regeneration restored his body, but instead of the Hollow being in control, he was. At first, Rukia has a hard time believing such a thing, but Aaroniero assured her that he was serious. He then went on to explain that as he ended up taking control of his body again, he went on to become an Espada to aid in his revenge against Aizen. Aaroniero states that outside the sky is blue, that the blue sky is the dome of Las Noches created by Aizen, and that the light of the blue sky allows Aizen to see anywhere he wishes.

He then tells her there is a mission of great importance that only she can carry out and they will talk further in a different location. He then takes out his Zanpakutō and attacks her. Rukia becomes confused and listens to him speak so coldly about her involvement in his death, and resigns herself to be a just sacrifice for what she did to him and willingly offers her life to him. But she relents and states that she has come there to save Orihime and that until she does, she cannot give her life to him. He tells her that he was only joking, but there is something only she can do for him if she is to truly repent for what she did. He asks her to kill her friends, and Rukia quickly realizes something is wrong and that this cannot be who he claims to be, as Kaien would never ask her to do such a thing. She releases her Zanpakutō, Sode no Shirayuki, and begins to attack him. The two engage in battle for a brief period with Aaroniero goading her with his knowledge of her fighting style. He then releases Kaien's Zanpakutō, Nejibana, and begins to relentlessly attack Rukia. As such, Aaroniero uses Kaien's Zanpakutō to easily overpower her in the course of their battle. Rukia eventually concludes that everything Aaroniero said was a lie, and notices him running from the sunlight. She uses Kidō combination to restrain him and then blows a hole in the wall, forcing him to remain in the sunlight; thus revealing Aaroniero's true face. - a cylinder filled with liquid and two, small, floating heads inside.

Aaroniero then reveals that had she used her Kidō to attack him directly she might have actually hurt him. With this, Rukia is finally given definitive evidence that Aaroniero is not Kaien. Assured that she won't have to hold back anymore. Aaroniero questions her if she thanks that holding back was really what kept her from actually harming him. He then explains that although he can't use his powers in sunlight all he needs is the shadows and he can use it again as many times as he wants, as he resumes Kaien's form. He then comments on the annoyance of the sun under the dome of Las Noches as only his powers work in the darkness. Aaroniero then corrects her previous assumption that his power was transformation, as he is the only Gillian-class Menos Hollow out of all the Espada as in general no Gillian would be powerful enough to join the ranks of the Espada. Yet he is an Espada and the reason why is because he is the only Arrancar in existence that has limitless potential for evolution. Rukia then learns that the original story he gave her about what happened after Kaien's spirit died was partially true. In fact, Aaroniero consumed the Hollow Metastacia and absorbed its ability. It was through eating that Hollow and gaining its abilities that he gained access to Kaien Shiba's body. He then reveals his Zanpakutō, Glotonería, as he explains that he, in fact, is using the spirit body of Kaien Shiba and all his experiences and memories are in still intact. Aaroniero was using them to impersonate Kaien and manipulate Rukia in turn. Rukia noticeably gives up her will to fight upon seeing his form and realizing the ramifications of his words. Aaroniero releases his Zanpakutō showing her his true form and impales Rukia on the end of Nejibana.

Aaroniero notices that Rukia is still conscious and states the she is admirable that she fights for survival but its pointless as she can never strike him down. Rukia grabs Nejibana and states that she just remembered as she lifts her sword to his face. Aaroniero makes fun of her asking if she remembered how to pretend to fight with a broken sword. Rukia then revels her newly acquired technique, San no mai, Shirafune, which impales Aaroniero through his head, killing him. The bottom face dies screaming in agony while feeling betrayed by Aizen's promise that he would never be in pain again, while the top face curses one last time before splitting in half.

Powers & Abilities
Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: By absorbing Kaien Shiba (albeit indirectly), Aaroniero was a highly skilled swordsman fighting Rukia based on Kaien's memories. Kaien's techniques and form are revealed during the battle, and are described by Rukia as "His upper-body stance. Spear technique reminiscent of a dance, using one wrist as the center of its rotation. Then crushing the opponent between the spears thrust and the rising waves".

Sonído Expert: After Rukia's Kidō spells wore off, Aaroniero used Sonído to appear behind Rukia almost instantly, surprising her.

Broadcasted Sight (Synchronized Awareness in the English version): Aaroniero also has the ability to broadcast information of whatever he is currently seeing or experiencing to other Arrancar, which he does prior to his death at the hands of Rukia.

Great Spiritual Power: Having absorbed thousands of Hollows and indirectly absorbing the fairly powerful Shinigami Kaien Shiba, Aaroniero has accumulated a rather large amount of spiritual energy. He has enough spiritual power to mimic the levels possessed of Kaien Shiba, going as far as to being able to use Kaien's Zanpakutō with presumably the exact amount of spiritual energy required to wield and use its abilities.

Zanpakutō
. Aaroniero's Zanpakutō takes the form of a deformed arm-like appendage with many sprouting tentacles that is concealed in his left hand under his glove. Because he indirectly absorbed Kaien Shiba, Aaroniero also possesses his Zanpakutō, Nejibana.


 * Resurrección: It is activated by the command . When released, it turns Aaroniero's lower body into a huge, blob-like mass resembling an incredibly bloated cartoon-style octopus, with dozens of stubby tentacles and mouth-like mask pieces. In the anime, the blob mass is colored purple.


 * Resurrección Special Ability:
 * Hollow Absorption: While all Hollows can cannibalize each other to gain power, Aaroniero has the ability to completely absorb other hollows, merging not only their extra power with his own but also gaining their individual abilities. The ability allows him to evolve without limit, unlike normal Espada. Though not used, Aaroniero gained all of the powers of Metastacia, including:


 * Body Possession: It allows Aaroniero to merge his spirit body with other beings, including Shinigami. This was originally Metastacia's ability.


 * Aspect Manifestation: Once a Hollow is absorbed in this fashion, Aaroniero can manifest any aspect of them at will, including their physical form. According to Aaroniero, he has consumed an approximate total of 33,650 Hollows. It is for this reason that Aaroniero, despite his Gillian status, was able to become an Espada. Through an unusual series of events, he also absorbs the Shinigami abilities of Kaien Shiba by eating Metastacia. The weakness of this power is sunlight, which nullifies it on contact and reveals Aaroniero's true form.


 * Manifest Absorbed Power: When sealed it allows Aaroniero to manifest any power he has absorbed through his Zanpakutō, morphing it into a perfect approximation of the one he absorbed, as he does with Kaien's Nejibana. When released it allows Aaroniero full access of his absorbed abilities. He can still manifest the powers of those he has absorbed in this form, but has no limit to the total number.


 * Mimic Knowledge: His absorption ability also allows him to perfectly mimic the accompanying battle styles of those powers, due to the muscle experience and the memories in the brain.

Appearances in Other Media
He appears in the video games Bleach: Heat the Soul 5, Bleach: Heat the Soul 6, Bleach: Heat the Soul 7, and Bleach: Versus Crusade. These games have taking the appearance of Kaien Shiba, plus being able to perform his Resurrección. In the Bleach: Heat the Soul series, his tentacles are a golden color, rather than the dark purple color shown in the anime. In the videogame Bleach: Versus Crusade (only in his released form), he can shoot a light-blue Cero from his tentacles.

Trivia

 * Aaroniero's aspect of death is Greed.
 * Aaroniero wears a set of white gloves during the Espada meeting, but wears only a single glove when in his own chambers.
 * In the Bleach best bout poll Aaroniero's fight with Rukia came in seventh place.

Quotes

 * (To Rukia Kuchiki) "Sorry, but I simply can't stand the sunlight, and the sunlight can't make it in here."
 * (To Rukia Kuchiki) "''If it's about our faces, keep it to yourself. We got tired of hearing people's thoughts about them a very long time ago.

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