Schutzstaffel

Schutzstaffel
Kanji	親衛隊 (シュッツシュタッフェル)
Romaji	Shuttsushutafferu
Organization
Founder(s)	Yhwach
Headquarters	Silbern, Wahrwelt
Leader(s)	Lille Barro[1]
Other Members	Gerard Valkyrie, Pernida Parnkgjas, Askin Nakk Le Vaar (promoted),[2] Uryū Ishida (newest appointee)[3]
Affiliation	Sternritter, Wandenreich
Purpose	Protecting Yhwach, defeating the Royal Guard[2] & later crushing all remaining enemies in Wahrwelt[4][3]

The Schutzstaffel (親衛隊 (シュッツシュタッフェル), Shuttsushutafferu; German for "Protective Echelon/Squadron", Japanese for "Elite/Imperial Guards")^[5] are Yhwach's elite personal guard, comprised of the strongest Sternritter of the Wandenreich.^[2][3]

Overview[]

When the Schutzstaffel was formed is unknown. While Yhwach founded the Sternritter order as a whole 1,000+ years ago in preparation for the Lichtreich's invasion of Soul Society,^[6] if the Schutzstaffel already existed by then or played a role during said invasion is unclear; at least some time prior to 1,000 years ago, Yhwach already had a coterie of Quincy bodyguards serving him, at least three of whom participated in (but did not survive) the invasion.^[7]

Among the present-day Sternritter, the five (originally three) strongest and most elite ones form the Schutzstaffel: Yhwach's elite guard (親衛隊 (しんえいたい), Shin'eitai).^[8] Thus, they enjoy the most elevated status among Yhwach's army, first displayed when they were permitted to stand at Yhwach's side during his public naming of Uryū Ishida as his successor;^[9] the Schutzstaffel also do not attend meetings with the lower-ranking Sternritter.^[10] Though Jugram Haschwalth appears to outrank the elite guard as the Sternritter Grandmaster and stands closest to Yhwach as his second-in-command, adviser, and "other half",^[11] he never explicitly issues orders to the Schutzstaffel, who answer directly to Yhwach, nor was Haschwalth aware of their every action in Wahrwelt.^[3]

Sternritter "X", Lille Barro, is the Leader (リーダー, Rīdā) of the Schutzstaffel; as the first Sternritter ever bestowed a Schrift by Yhwach, his status is uncontested.^[12][1] The other two pre-established Schutzstaffel members are Sternritter "M" Gerard Valkyrie and Sternritter "C" Pernida Parnkgjas, the Soul King's heart and left arm respectively.^[13][14] While Pernida came into Yhwach's service 1,000+ years ago, before the Lichtreich's fall,^[7] when and how Gerard came to follow Yhwach is unknown. Out of all the Sternritter, Gerard and Pernida are the only Quincy whom Yhwach never gave power via a proper Schrift, instead assigning them letters in recognition of abilities that they have innately held since they came into existence. Thus, rumors as to Gerard's and Pernida's true identities were always abound among lower-ranked Sternritter,^[14] yet both of them, despite their status as incarnated parts of the Soul King, have firmly self-identified as Quincy.^[15][16]

Lille, Gerard, and Pernida were not seen participating in either the first or second invasion of the Seireitei. In preparation for Yhwach's assault on the Soul King Palace and the battle against the Royal Guard in which the Schutzstaffel were to aid him, Sternritter "D" Askin Nakk Le Vaar was selected as the fourth Schutzstaffel member, being the sole Sternritter promoted from among the lower ranks^[17][18] and thus spared from Yhwach's eventual second Auswählen, which stripped all Sternritter left in the Seireitei of their power in order to revive and power up the Schutzstaffel during their battle against the Royal Guard.^[19][20] Following the Royal Guard's defeat by the Schutzstaffel, Yhwach's absorption of the Soul King, and the formation of Wahrwelt, Uryū as Sternritter "A" was accepted as the Schutzstaffel's fifth and final member at Yhwach's behest.^[3]

As with some lower-ranking Sternritter, there appears to be a sense of mutual respect and camaraderie present among the Schutzstaffel, with the original members seeming to share a history together in their service to Yhwach.^[21] As the only Sternritter "brought up from below", Askin stated that he was going to have to make a good showing to earn respect, with Gerard agreeing and promising to personally cut him down if he fell behind in battle.^[22] At the same time, Gerard was willing to aid fellow Schutzstaffel member Pernida when it was in danger of falling off the Soul King Palace,^[23] gleefully acknowledged Uryū as part of their group when the latter explained his method of protecting Yhwach,^[24] and was also not above berating his leader Lille or teasing him about his abilities failing.^[25] Lille, in turn, seems to acknowledge Gerard's strength and so was shocked at the sight of him being defeated by Ōetsu Nimaiya with a single sword stroke.^[26]

Like the lower-ranking Sternrtter, they are all loyal (with the exception of one) to their emperor Yhwach, and hold him in high regard. Due to their status as Yhwach's elite guards, they take great pride as his closet followers, even referring him as "God".^[27][28] Also, like the other Sternritter, there is a different display of loyalty with each individual of the Schutzstaffel; its leader, Lille, is the first Sternritter to receive a Schrift and consequently believes he is the closest to Yhwach, holding great confidence in his power and stating to Senjumaru Shutara that the Soul King Palace was doomed as soon as he arrived.^[29][30] Gerard holds Yhwach in very high regard, as he loudly berated Lille for killing and leaving Senjumaru's "corpse" in Yhwach's path and even ordered him to clear it up immediately, and believes it would take an army to stop him.^[31][32] When Yoruichi Shihōin was attacking Yhwach, Pernida appeared instantly on Yhwach's command and warped Yoruichi's arm with The Compulsory.^[33] Askin's loyalty appears to be less fanatic compared to the other Sternritter, explaining to Kisuke Urahara that he follows Yhwach due to knowing that he would be one of very few people to change the world and wanting to see the kind of world he would create.^[34] The only Schutzstaffel who never was loyal to Yhwach was Uryū, due to the Quincy King being responsible for the death of his mother, so he joined the Wandenreich in order to get close and find a way to kill him.^[35]

As with the rest of his followers, Yhwach sees even the Schutzstaffel as expendable, ultimately proven once he successfully absorbed Ichigo Kurosaki's Quincy and Hollow powers, where he proceeded to use Auswählen for a third time on the sole surviving Schutzstaffel member Gerard (Uryū was spared due to his immunity to Auswählen) to strip him of his power and life, declaring that he had no further use for any of his subordinates.^[36]

The Schutzstaffel members all started out wearing a distinctive Hooded Coat (フーデッドコート, Fūdeddo Kōto)^[37] over their uniforms; this white, ankle-length, sleeveless cloak is fastened at the front with three buttons bearing the Wandenreich insignia and features a large, red Hagal rune on the left side.^[38]

Members[]

Trivia[]

• General Trivia
• Klub Outside Trivia

• The Schutzstaffel (SS, German for "Protective Echelon/Squadron", Shin'eitai (親衛隊) in Japanese) was a paramilitary under Germany's Nazi Party, originally founded by Hitler in April 1925 as a personal guard unit and later, under Heinrich Himmler's leadership, expanded into an elite national corps that was active throughout German-occupied Europe during WWII. This fits into the Wandenreich's overarching German motif.
• According to Tite Kubo, the Schutzstaffel's motif is "war" across different eras: ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary (古代・中世・近代・現代の各時代の「戦争」, kodai, chūsei, kindai, gendai no kaku jidai no "sensō").^[46] While Kubo has not specified which Schutzstaffel member embodies which era, based on their ways of fighting one might extrapolate as follows:
  • Pernida Parnkgjas — represents the ancient era, i.e. fighting with one's bare hands.
  • Gerard Valkyrie — represents medieval sword-and-shield combat.
  • Lille Barro — represents modern warfare with firearms, since the gunpowder revolution.
  • Askin Nakk Le Vaar — represents contemporary chemical warfare (i.e. poison).

• In the manga, the Schutzstaffel's existence is first alluded to by Askin wondering if he will have the luck to be "chosen" while watching Yhwach prepare to ascend to the Soul King Palace,^[17] with the group's proper introduction coming once Yhwach summons them to the palace via his shadow.^[2] In the anime, the group (then only Lille, Gerard, and Pernida) are introduced much earlier following the Wandenreich's first invasion of Soul Society, standing beside Yhwach on a stage as the latter makes his announcement that Uryū is to become his successor.^[9]
• All four Schutzstaffel members (beside Uryū) have proven themselves immortal and/or nigh-unkillable one way or another:
  • Askin has alluded to his innate inability to die from normally fatal injuries,^[47] even surviving the loss of his heart for some time.^[48] His The Deathdealing allows him to acquire immunity to abilities, even to someone's Reiatsu itself, making it all but impossible to kill him in a fight if he is given enough time to adapt to his enemies' powers.^[49][50]
  • Pernida, being able to regenerate, managed to reform itself even after its entire body had been blown to pieces.^[51]
  • Lille has claimed that no weapon in the world can kill him as long as he renders himself intangible via The X-Axis.^[52] Eventually, he survived even Shunsui Kyōraku's Bankai, losing his head while in his Vollständig form yet recovering,^[53][54] and was ultimately defeated only upon having his godlike power reflected back onto him, which destroyed most of his body yet still failed to end his life.^[55][56]
  • With The Miracle, Gerard can convert all physical damage he sustains into increases of his size and strength, allowing him to even revive upon being killed.^{[57][58][59][60]}
• In Ryōgo Narita's novel Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, Haschwalth's aide confirmed the deaths of the entire Schutzstaffel (minus Uryū)^[61] at the end of the war, with the confirmation of Lille's weakened form being eliminated during his confrontation with Izuru Kira.^[62]

In his comments from Sep. 25 on his fansite "Klub Outside" (about Ep. 24–26 of the final arc), Kubo mentioned that he personally added a new character to the elite guard (親衛隊), indicating that Yhwach's bodyguards seen during his meeting with Ichibē Hyōsube 1,000+ years ago were indeed the precursor to the current Schutzstaffel.^[63]

References[]

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