| Ulquiorra Cifer | |
| |
| Professional Status | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | Ben Tennyson |
| Previous Affiliation | Aizen's Army |
| Occupation | Private Detective |
| Previous Occupation | Cuartro Espada |
| Team | Ben Tennyson's Group |
| Previous Team | Espada |
| Partner | Kevin Levin |
| Previous Partner | None |
| Base of Operations | Los Soledad |
| Personal Status | |
| Relatives | None |
| Zanpakutō | |
| Resurrección | Murcielago |
- "How can you just stand there and say that? How can you not care?"
- ―Ben Tennyson to Ulquiorra[src]
History[]
Espada[]
Meeting Ben[]
Along with Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, Kaname Tosen, and the other Espada, Ulquiorra was present when Ben Tennyson and his all powerful Omnitrix arrived at Las Noches, and also like them, he was surprised when Ben revealed his unlimited potential. He was particularly intrigued when Ben used Swampfire's regenerative capabilities. He then commented on Ben's strategic and tactical abilities and introduced himself after Aizen had recruited Ben into his forces.
Along with his allies and superiors, Ulquiorra would continue to observe Ben with curiosity, trying to determine the limits of his abilities. A pivotal moment in Ulquiorra's summation of Ben's might was that, after returning from a brief skirmish with Ichigo Kurosaki, he informed Aizen that Ben, if he became an enemy, would be a far greater threat than Ichigo, a statement that Aizen agreed with upon seeing Ben use Way Big to utterly trounce Nnoitra Jiruga in battle.
Ulquiorra initially believed that Ben would eventually serve Aizen regardless of the latter's ambitions, but after a tense battle over Karakura Town, he began to doubt this, going as far as to order Orihime Inoue, whom he had recently abducted on Aizen's orders, not to inform Ben of the circumstances of her presence in Las Noches. When Ben inevitably did turn against Aizen upon learning the truth, the two became enemies.
Conflict with Ben[]
Battle with Harribel[]
Aizen instructed Ulquiorra to capture Ben alive while the former left for Karakura Town. During this particular meeting, Aizen revealed that Tia Harribel, a senior Espada member whom Ulquiorra had apparently respected, had betrayed them as well. When Ulquiorra asked why, Aizen explained that Harribel had fallen in love with Ben, a fact that surprised Ulquiorra.
While attempting to fulfill his mission, Ulquiorra was intercepted by Ichigo Kurosaki, who had come to Hueco Mundo with the intention of rescuing Orihime Inoue. Ulquiorra overpowered him, but was stopped from killing him by none other than Harribel, having been asked by Ben to assist "the person fighting Ulquiorra". After convincing Ichigo that Orihime was safe and to leave (with Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez conveniently arriving at the scene with the intention of fighting Ichigo), Harribel challenged Ulquiorra, and the two went to the roof of Las Noches where they could use their powers without inhibition after a brief sword duel. They then released their respective Resurreccione and battled.
During the course of the fight, Ulquiorra emotionlessly taunted Harribel, calling her a fool for falling in love and pointing out that, even if Harribel defeated him, she would still have two more powerful Espada and Aizen himself to contend with. Unfazed by Ulquiorra's words, Harribel ultimately defeated him and trapped him in a Caja Negacion to keep him out of the way for a while, as per Ben's request not to kill Ulquiorra. Right before disappearing, Ulquiorra told Ben that the latter would regret sparing his life.
Return and Segunda Etapa[]
Ulquiorra broke free of the Caja Negacion sooner than expected, unfortunately. When Orihime was forcibly brought back to Las Noches by Coyote Starrk, Ulquiorra was tasked with guarding her. The heroes came for her, and Ulquiorra challenged them all at once, much to their surprise. Yammy Llargo arrived to assist his fellow Espada, but was disposed of by Ultimate Humongasuar. The group then took the fight to the roof of Las Noches again, where Ulquiorra, Harribel, and Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck released their respective Resurreccions.
However, Ulquiorra revealed that he had a trump card: the Segunda Etapa. With this new, mighty form, he easily overpowered Harribel and Nelliel and--in what was perhaps his most insidious move--killed Ichigo Kurosaki by blasting a hole through his chest with a Cero Oscuras while Ben and Orihime watched in horror.
Fight with Ghostfreak[]
Enraged by his friend's death, Ben transformed into Ghostfreak and attacked Ulquiorra, declaring that he would teach the latter "true despair". Ulquiorra initially managed to brush off Ghostfreak's attacks, forcing the latter to remove his skin and reveal his true form. As the fight progressed, Ulquiorra became aware that Ghostfreak's attacks were getting stronger each time, but could not figure out why. The reason was revealed by Professor Paradox: the Ectonurite was somehow absorbing the raw reiatsu in the atmosphere, making him become stronger by the second, as well as the fact that Hueco Mundo's eternal night allowed him to continually get even stronger due to his power to be empowered in pure darkness. Ulquiorra, realizing that such an ability would allow Ben to defeat him if the fight dragged on, attempted to end it quickly by shooting a Cero Oscuras at the hero at point-blank range, but unfortunately, this had no effect on Ben--as an Ectonurite, anything made up of darkness would only strengthen him.
With one of his strongest techniques now rendered useless, Ulquiorra attempted to skewer Ghostfreak with the Lanza del Relampago, only for the Ectonurite to either dodge it, become intangible, or simply snatch the weapon out of Ulquiorra's hands and try to use it against him. However, due to Ulquiorra's ability to regenerate, Ghostfreak was unable to inflict any decisive damage on the Espada, leaving the two at something of a stalemate, though Ulquiorra knew that if the fight continued, the increasingly powerful Ben would ultimately win. Ben mocked Ulquiorra, noting that the latter had so many powers but could do nothing with them, and that that was "true despair".
Angered by this remark and tired of being made a fool of, Ulquiorra grabbed Nelliel and threatened to kill her if Ben did not surrender. He also took this opportunity to mock Harribel, pointing out that Nelliel's death would leave her with one less obstacle for Ben's affection, and that if Harribel truly wanted Ben, she should have taken him by force, but this only served to enrage Harribel.
Fight with Hollow Ichigo[]
At that moment, Ichigo, fueled by Orihime's cries, suddenly awakened in a new Hollow form, much to everyone's shock. The now fully Hollowfied Ichigo proceeded to attack Ulquiorra, effortlessly overpowering his Cero Oscuras with a Cero of his own (much to his surprise) and slicing his arm off. Ulquiorra simply grew a new one and attempted to kill Ichigo with a Lanza del Relampago, but to his utter shock, Ichigo blocked the weapon with his bare hand and crushed it. His guard completely down, Ulquiorra was unable to stop Ichigo from delivering a powerful blow with his Bankai, causing him to collapse. Ichigo, in a fit of berserk rage, pinned Ulquiorra down with his foot and mercilessly struck him with a powerful Cero at point-blank range, with Ulquiorra encouraging this, showing not an ounce of fear of death.
Death and Resurrection[]
Ulquiorra's body was not completely destroyed by the blast, so Ichigo tried to decapitate him, only to be stopped by Nelliel. Ichigo attacked her, causing the group to attack him en masse, leading him away from Ulquiorra, who is revealed to be still alive, though barely. After the group finally stopped Ichigo's rampage and returned him to normal, a partially healed Ulquiorra approaches him, demanding to continue their fight. As he advances, his body suddenly begins to turn to ash. Ulquiorra laments that he was just starting to get interested in humans and reached out to Orihime, asking her if she was afraid. She said that she wasn't and reached out to him, only for his hand to turn to ash before they could connect.
Ben pleaded with Paradox to do something, and the latter calmly appeared next to a pillar near the group--with a fully restored (and quite surprised) Ulquiorra, much to everyone's amazement. Ulquiorra asked why Paradox resurrected him, and the time-traveller pointed out that since Ulquiorra was becoming so interested in humans, he deserved to sate his curiosity. Before they can talk further, they were distracted by Yammy releasing his Zanpakuto, and the heroes went off to deal with him, leaving Ulquiorra behind to discuss a "deal" he apparently made with Paradox.
New Life[]
Aftermath of Fake Karakura Battle[]
After Aizen's defeat, Ulquiorra arrived at Fake Karakura Town with Orihime and Paradox and reacted with open shock upon seeing Aizen's corpse. Later, after Baraggan Luisenbarn's more loyal Fraccion showed hostility towards Ben and his group, Ulquiorra coldly informed the Arrancar that they were nothing compared to the assembled former Espada and helped bully them into accepting Ben's mercy. When Grimmjow appeared, Ulquiorra told him that the former could rule Hueco Mundo, as the others--Ulquiorra included--intended to stay in the human world. Grimmjow asked if Ulquiorra thought him an idiot, to which Ulquiorra's silence served as an affirmation.
Los Soledad[]
After receiving a gigai from Kisuke Urahara, Ulquiorra relocated to Los Soledad, where he would occasionally serve as a guard/jail warden to Baraggan's former Fraccion, with the exception of Charlotte Cuuhlhourne and Avirama Redder, both of whom were loyal to Ben.
Beach Party[]
Ulquiorra attended the beach party celebrating Aizen's defeat. He largely avoided the festivities, preferring to just sit down and think. Kevin Levin approached him and suggested that Ulquiorra was attracted to Orihime, which the Arrancar denied, though this claim did not keep him from staring at her from time to time, or becoming her partner during the Chicken competition.
Detective Job[]
Ulquiorra, with Kevin's help, got a job as a private detective. Some time after this, he approached Ben and Harribel while they were training with swords and offered to replace Harribel as Ben's instructor, pointing out that Harribel's love for Ben would cause her to hold back. Harribel denied this, but Ulquiorra stood firm in his belief and challenged her to a sword match over the right to be Ben's instructor. Ulquiorra wins, but they are interrupted by the arrival of a group of Hollows who wish for Ben to be the king of Hueco Mundo. Ulquiorra intimidated the Hollows into keeping their distance after Ben suddenly disappeared due to the power of Clockwork and Harribel fell into a coma.
After the fiasco was resolved, Ulquiorra was hired by TV reporter Will Harangue to find information on Ben that could be used to damage his reputation. Ulquiorra seemingly goes along with this, but in reality he intended to misinform the corrupt reporter in order to either get him to leave Ben alone or get Harangue in trouble. Later, he was introduced to a computer and the Internet by Kevin, and began exchanging e-mails with Orihime.
Trivia[]
- He is the only Espada who wasn't defeated by an Ultimate form.