Wonderweiss Margela (ワンダーワイス・マルジェラ, Wandāwaisu Marujera) is the 77th Arrancar in Sōsuke Aizen's army and the only modified Arrancar under Aizen's command. Though not an Espada, the Soul Society ranks his Spiritual Energy in the same class as theirs.
Appearance[]
Wonderweiss has a thin and somewhat childlike body. He has light blond hair, parted to one side, with the tips fanning out from his face. The remains of his Hollow mask consist of a three-point tiara on the top of his head. He only has two teeth visible when smiling, freckles and bright purple eyes. He wears the Arrancar jacket with a hole in the middle of his chest, revealing his Hollow hole and the tip of a mark on his chest. The outfit also has large arm cuffs on the sleeves.
As a Hollow, he was roughly humanoid in both size and shape. Even though his body was wrapped in bandages during his birth, several protrusions could be seen throughout his body.
Personality[]
According to Aizen, all forms of rationality, memory retention, speech, and intelligence were purposely removed to enhance his power. Because of this, Wonderweiss' personality is very childlike. For example, when sent on a mission to kill, he instead played around with a dragonfly. He shows some hostility, firing a defensive Bala blast at one point, but quickly reverts to his usual childlike state after doing so. In a later confrontation, Wonderweiss displays a higher level of hostility by stabbing Captain Jūshirō Ukitake through the chest without any warning or provocation.
Wonderweiss does not speak in sentences due to his modifications, only saying a few drawling syllables at a time such as an infant would. The only coherent phrase he has ever spoken is his own name, immediately after being "reborn" as an Arrancar. Kaname Tōsen remarks that Wonderweiss, like himself, is a pure being (though he remarks he doesn't quite know what exactly is pure about him) who often tend to stick together. He claims this is why Wonderweiss follows him everywhere. It is implied that he tried to restrain Gin Ichimaru from approaching Tōsen because Wonderweiss was wary of him. According to Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, Aizen did not strip Wonderweiss of his ability to fear, as the Arrancar became afraid just before Yamamoto dealt the death blow to him.
Plot[]
Arrancar arc[]
Wonderweiss is transformated into an Arrancar by Sōsuke Aizen with the use of the Hōgyoku. His original form is wrapped in bandages while a barrier surrounds his body. Numerous Espada are present at his "birth", including Coyote Starrk, Tier Harribel, Ulquiorra Cifer, Nnoitra Gilga, Luppi Antenor (still instated as an Espada at the time), Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Aaroniero Arruruerie, and Yammy Llargo.
Wonderweiss is among the Arrancar present during the third invasion of Karakura Town. He is yelled at by a bored Yammy for playing with a dragonfly instead of paying attention to the battle. This was until Kisuke Urahara intervened in Luppi's fight, as Wonderweiss tries to grab Urahara's hat from behind. Urahara senses his presence and counterattacks, but Wonderweiss dodges the attack and fires a Bala. Urahara dodges the attack and confronts Wonderweiss asking him what was the technique he just used as he had never seen it before. Urahara is then attacked from behind by Yammy, who explains that it was a Bala blast as he fires a multitude at the fallen body of Urahara. Wonderweiss once again loses interest and just sits there. He is shortly pulled back to Hueco Mundo via Negación once Ulquiorra Cifer completes his mission.
Ulquiorra brings the Human Orihime Inoue to Hueco Mundo, and she is greeted by Aizen, who has her restore Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's arm as a demonstration of her power. Wonderweiss serves as a witness to this and Grimmjow subsequently impaling Luppi with his restored arm (and power), simultaneously killing him and regaining his former rank.
Hueco Mundo arc[]
When Ichigo Kurosaki, Uryū Ishida, Yasutora Sado, Lieutenant Renji Abarai, and Rukia Kuchiki invade Hueco Mundo, Wonderweiss is with Kaname Tōsen, who is monitoring the intruders' activities. When Gin Ichimaru walks in, Wonderweiss stops him, due to feeling uneasy about him.
Fake Karakura Town arc[]
Wonderweiss arrives in the Fake Karakura Town along with Hooleer through an extremely large Garganta, interrupting the battle between the Primera Espada Coyote Starrk and Captains Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake, which surprises Starrk.
Immediately after arriving, Wonderweiss suddenly appears behind Jūshirō and impales him with his own hand, injuring the captain and causing him to fall towards the buildings below. Shunsui attempts to attack Wonderweiss, but is hit in the back by an opportunistic Cero from Starrk sending him towards the ground with Jūshirō. Starrk comments that the arrival of Wonderweiss means that Aizen has grown tired of the battle. Wonderweiss then lets out a battlecry which causes a shockwave to break Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya's ice obelisk, freeing Harribel. The cry also seems to "blow" away the smoke left after Captain Suì-Fēng's Bankai attack on Baraggan Louisenbairn, revealing that the attack had no effect on him. Wonderweiss continued to scream and Hooleer vomited many Gillian-class Menos from its mouth. When the Visored Mashiro Kuna attacks his companion killing the creature, Wonderweiss simply stares at her. Shocked at seeing his companion die, Wonderweiss then charges his Cero from his mouth, but before he can fire it, Mashiro kicks him in the face. He later lies on the ground with Mashiro shouting "Yay! Victory!"
Wonderweiss proves not easily defeated and attempts to attack Mashiro from the ground, but his attack is blocked and he is kicked away. He launches himself directly at her, but she grabs him by the face and slams his head into the ground. Wonderweiss gets up and lets out a battlecry as he grabs Mashiro by her scarf and uses it to throw her blocks away crashing into various buildings. They both launch at each other with Mashiro firing off her Mashiro Super Cero, which Wonderweiss successfully counters with his battlecry. Mashiro immediately attacks him, punching him until suddenly her mask shatters. Taking advantage of her confusion, Wonderweiss punches her in the face, injuring her severely and rendering her unconscious. Before he can hit her again, his fist is blocked by Kensei Muguruma, who states that he is not mature enough to show restraint when it comes to kids. Kensei throws Wonderweiss, sending him flying into the buildings below. He goes to lay Mashiro down in a safe place and proceeds to talk to her for being so reckless. Wonderweiss recovers and moves to attack Kensei who then releases his Bankai, the two face off resulting in a huge explosion.
Wonderweiss later appears behind Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto in his Resurrección state, while he was engaged in combat with Aizen. Yamamoto senses his presence and moves to attack, but to his surprise Wonderweiss catches the blade with his bare hand and throws the Captain-Commander into the cityscape below. Yamamoto quickly recovers and begins to wonder why the flames of Ryūjin Jakka have been extinguished. Aizen then explains that he knew that he could never face Yamamoto in a one on one battle as his strength is far greater than his own. He then explains that he specifically created Wonderweiss to be the only modified Arrancar in existence. He was created for the specific purpose of nullifying the abilities of Yamamoto's Zanpakutō.
Despite the loss of his Zanpakutō, Yamamoto is easily able to compensate by switching to hand-to-hand combat. Yamamoto punches Wonderweiss, creating a hole in his abdomen and sending him flying into a building. When the Captain-Commander attacks Aizen, Wonderweiss stops the attack. While his abdomen regenerates, he attacks Yamamoto with multiple arms that emerge from his shoulders. However, Yamamoto survives the attack with little injury and rips his arms off. The captain says that he is thankful that Wonderweiss is no longer in his child form, and strikes him with the hand-to-hand technique, "Sōkotsu". The blow utterly destroys Wonderweiss as the Arrancar screams in agony and then shatters into pieces, falling to the ground below. His body later explodes, releasing the flames he had absorbed from Yamamoto's previous attack.
Powers & Abilities[]
Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: During battle, Wonderweiss relies primarily on his hand-to-hand combat. He possesses no formalized skill and simply uses instinctual force, punching and grabbing at his opponents offensively. He commonly launches directly into battle with no care for any physical attack he may receive, with no physical defensive technique other than dodging, which he has some skill in.
Cero: Wonderweiss generates a purple Cero from his mouth. Before its full potential could be unleashed, Mashiro extinguishes his Cero while he is charging it.
Immense Spiritual Power: All of the Arrancar invading Karakura during Ulquiorra's mission to capture Orihime Inoue were stated by 12th Division observers (using Reiryoku-measuring sensors) to be Espada level. Wonderweiss' Reiryoku is high enough to allow him to emerge victorious from a fight with a former Captain who was using his Bankai.
Descorrer (解空(デスコレール), Desukorēru; Spanish for "Drawing Back/Opening", Japanese for "Loosed Void"): A technique used by Espada-level Arrancar, and sometimes others, to open a portal to the Garganta between the Human World and Hueco Mundo. Wonderweiss used this ability during the second Arrancar invasion of Karakura Town. It tears open the dimensional fabric separating the worlds, revealing a tunnel of whirling, torrential energy which must be focused and solidified to create a discernible pathway.
Hierro (鋼皮 (イエロ), Iero; Spanish for "Iron", Japanese for "Steel Skin";Viz "Iron Skin"): Wonderweiss' Hierro is strong enough to resist taking a beating and being thrown into buildings with extreme force without being fazed by Mashiro, who had eliminated Hooleer and some Gillians with a single kick.
Enhanced Strength: He is strong enough to pierce Ukitake's chest with ease and to critically injure Mashiro with a single punch.
Bala (虚弾 (バラ), bara; Spanish for "Bullet", Japanese for "Hollow Bullet"): This technique hardens the user's spiritual pressure and fires it from their fist like a bullet. The power emanating from his hand after his attack was pink and static-like, signifying his Bala is pink.
Sonído: While he rarely uses Sonído, Wonderweiss can move fast enough to keep up with and surprise captain-level opponents.
Vagido (ヴァヒード, vahīdo; Spanish for "Child's Wail"): Wonderweiss can emit a loud, banshee-like battle cry that shattered Hitsugaya's ice obelisk. With his battle cries he seems to be able to control Hooleer; as Tōsen said, "his words have meaning".
- I Bu (イ・ブー, i bū): While this technique differs slightly in effect to Vagido, the short, piercing cry involved is still potent enough to counter an incoming hostile Cero, by using the produced shockwave to both dissipate and nullify it.
Zanpakutō[]
Extinguir (滅火皇子 (エスティンギル), esutingiru; Spanish for "To Extinguish", Japanese for "Imperial Prince of Perished Flames"; Viz "Flame Extinguishing Prince"): In its sealed state, Wonderweiss' Zanpakutō is a large purple sword strapped to his back, about as tall as he is. The hilt resembles a European long sword rather than the more common katana, although the familiar hilt weaving is present, whilst the guard resembles an Egyptian eye. From a back view the sheath represents a zweihander or claymore.
- Resurrección: The release command is unknown. After releasing, Wonderweiss becomes a somewhat mutated version of himself. His shoulders and thighs grow significantly larger, with the shoulders popping out upwards. His arms and legs are also altered in size, being much skinnier than before. There are four additional holes in his abdomen, with two or three lines within each hole. His face is covered from the upper half by a tall mask with three small horns, which seems to make his eye sockets hollow.
- Resurrección Special Ability: As the only Modified Arrancar (改造・破面 (かいぞう・アランカル), Kaizō Arankaru; lit. "Restructured Ripped Mask") in existence, Wonderweiss was made with the sole purpose of nullifying Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto's Zanpakutō abilities.
- Ryūjin Jakka Seal: The main ability of Wonderweiss is to "Seal" the power of Ryūjin Jakka, so that all new flames would be sealed within the blade and all the flames already produced are sealed within Wonderweiss himself, so long as he lives. Should he die, the flames he sealed within himself burst out in an explosion. In exchange for this ability, his speech, memory, intelligence, and reason were discarded.
- Enhanced Hierro: He is capable of grabbing hold of Yamamoto's Zanpakutō's blade as it is swung at him while sustaining no injury.
- Enhanced Strength: He is capable of throwing Yamamoto with relative ease.
- High-Speed Regeneration: Even after having half of his mid-section destroyed, Wonderweiss is able to easily regenerate from the damage.
- Centurion (百奇皇手(センチュリオン), senchurion; Spanish for "Centurion", Japanese for "Hundred Wondrous Imperial Hands"): From his back and shoulder, Wonderweiss is able to produce multiple large arms that can stretch to long lengths. He can manipulate the arms individually or all at once.
Trivia[]
- Wonderweiss' name stems from that of Marcel Wanders, a Dutch designer and architect.
- The theme song that Kubo chose for Wonderweiss is "RE:VOLUTION (Radio Edit)" by the band Coldcut on their album Cold-Cut-Outs.
- In the VIZ publishing of Bleach; Wonderweiss' last name Margela is written as Margara.
- In the second best bout poll, Wonderweiss's fight with Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto ranked 77th and his fight with Kisuke Urahara ranked 83rd.
- When Wonderweiss impaled Jūshirō Ukitake, he stabbed him with his left hand but his right hand was shown being removed from his back and covered with blood.