Spoiler:
Espada 9, Aaroniro Allulerie, is Kaien!! FTW!
Don't read further if you don't want the character completely spoiled for you!
When I first encountered this in the manga, I considered a theory of him being a Vizard. After all, he removed his mask [fragment?]. Arrancar can't do that. Also, he has no readily apparent Hollow hole, although he is fully clothed, making this judgement inconclusive.
But wait! Isn't Kaien twice dead? Shouldn't that make him non-existent? When Kaien died, he died while fused to one of Aizen's experimental Hollows. This particular Hollow had three abilities. It could destroy zanpakuto and fuse with a shinigami. Its third ability is upon critical injury, it is automatically recalled to Hueco Mundo to heal. Because Kaien was still fused to it when Rukia slayed him, Kaien appears to have been dragged back to Hueco Mundo with the Hollow. Kaien being a shinigami/hollow hybrid adds credence to the theory that he's a Vizard.
But wait! Vizard are dominantly shinigami. The shinigami portion of their soul has dominance. Why would Kaien work for Aizen? Aaroniro explains that he's "actually" a mole(spy, doublecrosser, etc.) in the Espada. When Vizards' Hollow gains dominance (not used as tools, but are actually in control), the Vizard takes on physical Hollow form, complete with Hollow hole. So, following this logic, Aaroniro must be a Vizard with his Shinigami soul in dominance.
But wait! Aaroniro is in the Espada! Isn't Aizen's army, especially the Espada, supposed to be Arrancar? Not necessarily. Aizen's motivation is to create Shinigami/Hollow hybrids, since hybrid races have greater potential than either one individually. Aizen merely chose to defect to Hueco Mundo because obtaining Hollow powers is one of Soul Society’s greatest taboos. In Soul Society, Aizen would not have been allowed to pursue this topic, would likely have lost his rank, and probably would have been executed for even suggesting it. It is heavily implied that Aizen intends to become a hybrid himself, once the Hogyoku is fully awakened and his experimentation results on hybrid creation has achieved optimal results. Remember how Aizen almost lamented that he had reached his total peak as a shinigami? Aizen would actually be biased towards Aaroniro for being a unique specimen, allowing Aizen to greater understand the nature of hybrid beings. That, and Aaroniro is legimately the 9th strongest being in Hueco Mundo, excluding the 3 rogue captains.
All this making sense? Yeah, it’s a pretty awesome theory. There’s solid evidence to back it up and it’s believable. Now throw it out the window. Here’s what’s really going on:
Notice that I continued to refer to him as “Aaroniro,” although it was revealed that he was Kaien. That’s because he is NOT Kaien. He is in some small part Kaien, but is not himself, Kaien. Kaien is, you guessed it, DEAD. Actually, twice dead, which makes him NONEXISTENT.
Aaroniro is actually an arrancar. Yes, he actually is Espada 9. Kaien was in fact, dragged back to Hueco Mundo with the hollow he was fused to. That Hollow was then consumed by Aaroniro, in accordance with the Menos-level upkeep requirement. Menos class hollows must consume other powerful hollows to: A) Not degenerate into lower, more mindless hollows and B) evolve into the more powerful forms, Adjucha and Vasto Lorde.
Aaroniro is revealed to be the only Gillian (biggest and weakest of Menos classes) in the Espada. He is also the last member of the original Espada in the current Espada. Aaroniro’s innate ability is perhaps the most potent of any Hollow’s. When consuming another spirit being, instead of gaining a portion of the consumed spirit being’s power, he gains ALL of the consumed spirit’s power AND memories IN ADDITION TO the consumed spirit’s abilities. Aaroniro also has the ability to manifest physical characteristics from any spirit being he’s consumed. Oh, by the way, he’s consumed over 34,000 hollows …YEAH. He’s in the Espada because of his literally limitless potential. When Aaroniro consumed Kaien-hollow, he also consumed Kaien. As such, by his ability to (doppelgang?) and his use of Kaien’s memories, he manipulates Rukia.
Aaroniro has the strangest head of any of the Espada. Behind his unusually tall mask is a tall tube filled with a red liquid. In this fluid floats TWO baseball-shaped/sized heads, each with its own mask fragment and rank tattoo. This is why he speaks in two different voices. The front mask is actually not required, and is probably not even part of his body. He wears it because “[he’s] tired of hearing peoples’ comments about [his] face.”
Aaroniro has complete access to all of Kaien’s abilities, including his ZANPAKUTO. “Bwaaaaaaah?” Yeah, we get to see Kaien’s shikai…finally. Aaroniro’s zanpakuto, Glotoneria, can perfectly recreate, in all aspects, any ability he’s acquired, including Kaien’s zanpakuto. When released, Aaroniro becomes a human torso emerging from a gigantic octopus-shaped amalgam of hollow body parts. In this form, Aaroniro can use ANY NUMBER of his acquired abilities at the same time.
Aaroniro’s weakness is direct sunlight. It dispels any physical manifestations and reveals his true face. Fortunately, he’s in Hueco Mundo, right? No sunlight to be had. WRONG. Aizen’s fortress, Las Noches, is actually more akin to a roofed kingdom. Inside the fortress, Aizen has somehow created an artificial daylight-filled sky. How unfortunate, Aaroniro lives surrounded by his weakness.
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