Nel's Future

[plotkaislayer]

Nel seems to be an aberration in arrancar canon. She's a hollow, was once an Espada, and still has her fraccion. Yet, she's not evil. Even before Nnoitara's surprise attack, she seemed different from the rest of the Espada, since she demanded reasons to slay hollows while searching for VLs (I might be confusing manga with quasi-filler from the anime here). How is it then she can feel sympathy and genuine affection? How is it that she would sacrifice herself for Ichigo on several occasions? Moreover, we've seen the fraccion try to do the same--both trying to help Renji and Ishida at various points.

So, what happened to Nel? Was she always a "good" arrancar? Was it having her mask cracked? That can't be the case, if she were different beforehand; or perhaps the cracking of her mask led to a further transformation? Come to think of it--where is her hollow hole (no jokes please, dirty boys and girls)?

[He's a Mentalist]

I don't think she is different. Halibel showed some sympathy for her fraccion, Stark didn't want to bring Orihime back to the tower and seemingly cares about his fraccion as well. Even Ulquiorra is like Nel in some cases. HE awaits the order to kill, he just doesn't go out looking for people to fight and kill. Good seems to be subjective in Bleach as well.

[kochito22]

I disagree. The espada were told to avoid conflict in Las Noches. Ulq went out looking for Ichigo. He baited Ichigo into attacking him.

[He's a Mentalist]

Ulquiorra had his reasons for baiting Ichigo. He was curious about his alternative form that looked more like a hollow than a Shinigami, but also because he wanted to gauge his power level. Similar to Nel in some retrospect that he has reasons for actually fighting.

[kochito22]

Even Ulquiorra is like Nel in some cases. HE awaits the order to kill, he just doesn't go out looking for people to fight and kill. Good seems to be subjective in Bleach as well.

Nel hasn't fought someone just to gauge their power. Ulq had his own selfish reasons to fight Ichigo. Nel harbors none of these.

[Yper]

Nel carries the odour of lechery , dunno why (even though she doesn't realizes it)

[He's a Mentalist]

Nel hasn't fought someone just to gauge their power. Ulq had his own selfish reasons to fight Ichigo. Nel harbors none of these.

I concede. Good point. It is quite selfish to disregard Aizen's orders and look for conflict.

[MoonCannon]

So, what happened to Nel? Was she always a "good" arrancar? Was it having her mask cracked? That can't be the case, if she were different beforehand; or perhaps the cracking of her mask led to a further transformation? Come to think of it--where is her hollow hole (no jokes please, dirty boys and girls)?

This is something that I'd like to think, that the cracked mask led to an unknown characteristic change. Of course, that really isn't the case as the various flashbacks shown that before Nel has her mask broken in by Nnoitora that she was already her good o'l self. The location of her hollow hole is not given, and it is not given for some of the other espada too, so it is unknown at this point. We can, however, predict that maybe Nel is unique to other hollows in that she actually found a way to fill in the 'emptiness' of the hollow hole and thus feels satisfied. Naturally, this is a wild theory and is not likely at all since other hollows before becoming arrancar have eaten countless number of other hollows to fill their needs but still have their holes (Grimmjow's crew, for example).

Nel's case for a hollow/arrancar may need a deeper explanation I imagine. Because even as a human she had been a amicable character, that changes as soon as one becomes a hollow (Inoue's brother for example), so either the arrancarisation process or sometime during the hollow phase Nel began to exhibit her peaceful nature. The more one thinks about this, the more confusing it actually gets due to the fact that Nel is the complete opposite of what you'd expect from an arrancar.

Another far fetched possibility is that if Aizen did have the top Espada as Vast Lords (And hollows that are VLs are human-like in nature, which is why they may develop a more human personality). Since Nel was Espada 3, perhaps she was also a VL that developed a personality of sorts as a hollow. It makes sense to a certain extent too. Since the current 3+ espada show that they do care for their fraccion (Maybe not so much Barragan, but we have no idea either he is angry at his fraccion's failure or at how he has to fight), Hailibel and Stark are the examples here. Nnoitora, Grimmjow and Szayle don't seem to care if their fraccion(s) die to the extent that Stark, Hailibel, and Nel seem to care. Given that Nel right now is not at her full potential powers as a VL (assumed) because she was ambushed and thrown out of Las Noches, severly crippling her powers (Maybe even permanent damage that her powers are now equal to that of an adjuchas).

[plotkaislayer]

And she's one of two female Espada we've seen. It seems she and Halibel actually have some things in common (yes, well THOSE, but that's not what I meant). They were high-ranking, extremely powerful, apparently gentler with their fraccion, and very disciplined in their use of force.

I wonder why KT decided to have so few female Espada. There aren't even that many female arrancar. I can only think of five off the top of my head, and we've seen a couple dozen so far.

[Rufix]

I'd rather say that by getting Shinigami powers, Hollows become more human, just as Ichigo told Ulquiorra. With that partial humanity, diffrent feelings come. For example Zommari got some sense of justice, he did not follow his instincts only. Same goes for Stark and Halibel. In Noi's or Nel's (dun remember) flashback we see Nel mentioning it as well. She says something like: arrancarization is a gift you (Noi) can't comprehand, it's opportunity to regain our humanity.

Even Noi had something from human in him, I mean, he fought so hard because he wanted to show everyone he's not weak. I'd call it an interiority complex, I don't think, animals (can't classify Hollows other way) got complexes.

[annsaint]

domestic pets have all sorts of complexes.

as for nell, orihime will eventually have to heal her as a promise to ichigo. but she'll give her a penis to discourage competition. that backfires of course because ichigo prefers nel with a penis. and rukia isn't threathened because hers is even bigger.

[xPyrox]

For one, Nel's not a VL. her release was less human than grimmjows.

But to me it seems more like she doesn't crave power, she said that once aizen had given them the power to think rationally, they should use it. I don't think she's neither good nor bad, I think once again this is one of those times where she, like her fraction, come under a certain amount of discrimination, the captains haven't destroyed the fraction because they're not bad. So Nel is in theory, a good guy.

[annsaint]

that's what ichigo thinks anyway

[Rufix]

domestic pets have all sorts of complexes.

as for nell, orihime will eventually have to heal her as a promise to ichigo. but she'll give her a penis to discourage competition. that backfires of course because ichigo prefers nel with a penis. and rukia isn't threathened because hers is even bigger.


I think Ichigo prefers Grimmjow, as he likes furry penises:P

@xPyrox: Actually that's something that partially makes humanity;P

[Vergil]

For one, Nel's not a VL. her release was less human than grimmjows.

But to me it seems more like she doesn't crave power, she said that once aizen had given them the power to think rationally, they should use it. I don't think she's neither good nor bad, I think once again this is one of those times where she, like her fraction, come under a certain amount of discrimination, the captains haven't destroyed the fraction because they're not bad. So Nel is in theory, a good guy.

Maybe girl ?

And considering Nel's future - it is as unclear as Grimmjow's. They can both sacrifice themselfes for Ichigo and others and well I dunno. I doubt the shinigami will forgive them or else...

[Keiretsu]

This is a nice thread, I'll weigh in a bit too.

We've all seen how similar the espada and even the other arrancar are to shinigami, people are holding to this idea that Noi and Ulq were acting out of their own selfish desires. Well, isn't that the same for some of the shinigami captains? (See: Kenpachi) We've seen some kind espada, Nel is one. Even in her flashbacks with Noi, she doesn't seem too keen on senseless violence. Stark seems to share in this idea from what we have seen of him.

The parallels are there. They are more similar than they are different. I could definitely see Nel trying to turn over a new leaf when all this is said and done, but with how forgiving the SS is? I can't see that ending very well.

[UnadvisedGoose]

This is interesting. What will happen to Nel and Grimmjow? Will SS even consider letting them live? What about Ishida? Has anyone considered that SS may not even want him alive, considering he is actively hunting Hollows/Arrancar, upsetting the balance? Hmmm, should be interesting to see how that is handled.

[mansher]

They won't die cuz they're too popular but I doubt Soul Society will tolerate them. They're probably gonna wait behind the scenes a little and when things got a little too rough on SS and Ichigo and co, they'll probably show up again and help out.

[MoonCannon]

Not too sure about Soul Society and how they will react to some seemingly "friendly" hollows. Sure, we know that the bitterness between Hollows and Shinigami is still intense and there are no plans for peace anytime soon. However, back at the time of the Vaizard's exile, the vitriolic advances and ways of dealing with Hollow beings were all the works of Central 46.

As seen in the Soul Society arc, all members of the Central 46 have been murdered and now the one who has the most authority is most likely Old man Yama (Unless somehow Yama is in contact with SS King off-scene, but seems unlikely with what's happening now. Or that there is a new Central 46 forming). The point is that perhaps Soul Society may not be so keen as to be stubborn about all hollows beings since before C46's decimation, they were all just following orders on what to be done. Now that C46 is gone, perhaps SS would be more open and also think for themselves instead of just going along with orders.

All right, given that Yama himself may have a narrow mind because of his age, but it's not like that Soul Society as a whole always agree to each other as evident by the actions of various Shinigami throughout the SS arc.

Now, as for SS and their look upon Nel and her fraccion... hard to tell really, but knowing Nel as she is right now, she will most likely be hiding in Ichigo's place if anything else. Since throughout the Hueco Mundo arc, Nel seems to have grown attached to Ichigo, and it most likely the only person she trusts. We also know that there is little possibility of Nel being a traitor since she was thrown out of Las Noches (And if Aizen found her during that time, he'd restore her to power and deal with Nnoitra).

One point of thought right now is where and how much power Nel possesses. Nel may have been left where she was after Nnoitra's fight, and if her real powers have returned (Well, seeing as how Inoue's restoration seems to make Ichigo more powerful on successive restorations, maybe... but then again, it could be just Ichigo naturally getting stronger on his own). Nel's role in the future may be unknown, but perhaps if she returns to her adult self again, then perhaps it will be her that opens up the way back into Fake Karakura town, something that Aizen did not predict due to Nel's disapperance during the early Hueco Mundo days.

[plotkaislayer]

My thought lately has been that she'll be part of the group that saves SS and Karakura Town after the Gotei 13 fail at FKT. How Nel can be both hollow and good is still strange to me, though.

It feels like she's a character on the backburner now that we're dealing with Ichigo/Orhime/Ulq. at the moment, yet I've always found her to be quite the contradiction.

Nice post, MoonCannon!

[Rufix]

@UnadvisedGoose: it's war I don't think they care about destroying hollows now, at least not Arrancars..

As for Nel, who knows, maybe we'll get another SS arc xD Ichigo saves Nel! :P

I don't know if we should speak about Grimmjow, it's highly doubtable that he'll ever help Ichigo and company...

[(SIC)NESS]

i think grimmjow will help ichigo just because he wants another fight with ichigo he goes like: hey ichigo i wanna fight u again so we'd better kick the hell out of aizen and co but after that it's you and me baby

[Xel_MK]

I agree with MoonCannon. It's actually funny I had the same idea in this thread:
http://forums.bleachexile.com/showthread.php?t=39908&page=12

Perhaps she's simply trying to find more to her existance than just giving into the cycle of violence. She might be trying to prove that even Hollows / Arrancar can have the right to exist and shouldn't be regarded simply as mindless beasts.
I mean take a look at some of her abilities- her drool can heal wounds and she can devour ceros. Her released form, though seemingly aggressive doesn't have to be. I mean she's got a goat-like form and afaik goats are rather gentle creatures (correct me if I'm wrong). Another thing I recall is that when she threw her lance at Nnoitra it didnt pierce him, merely busted him back, think- "blunt arrow" (though that could've also been simply because Nnoitra's hierro was extra tough).

And her future? I dunno, anything goes here. She might become an Anti-Hero and perhaps be allowed to stay in Hueco Mundo by the captains there. It wouldn't be a bad idea for Seireitei not to leave a power vaccuum in Las Noches if they can "install" a more amiable Espada there instead. I mean it's obvious new hollows would naturally arrancarize themselves and rise to power even after Aizen and his army is overthrown- hence isn't it better to make sure that at least some of the "new" Espada aren't as antagonistic towards Soul Society? this might be a stretch but who knows... Especially that Unohana healed Gantenbeine, even though she couldn't have known he tried to "help" Sado before he got pwned. Unohana being the highest ranking captain in Hueco Mundo atm is another way of supporting it (seeing how she's the more gentle captain).

[plotkaislayer]

She was a centaur or a dryad. Most of us have said Centaur, even though I think Centaurs were exclusively male in Greek mythology. They represented unrestrained sexuality. As much as I would like for (adult!) Nel to be that, it doesn't seem right for her character. So I've always thought of it as a dryad body, where her torso is that of a deer.

Not exactly a vicious release, when you think about it.

[xPyrox]

I agree with MoonCannon. It's actually funny I had the same idea in this thread:
http://forums.bleachexile.com/showthread.php?t=39908&page=12

Perhaps she's simply trying to find more to her existance than just giving into the cycle of violence. She might be trying to prove that even Hollows / Arrancar can have the right to exist and shouldn't be regarded simply as mindless beasts.
I mean take a look at some of her abilities- her drool can heal wounds and she can devour ceros. Her released form, though seemingly aggressive doesn't have to be. I mean she's got a goat-like form and afaik goats are rather gentle creatures (correct me if I'm wrong). Another thing I recall is that when she threw her lance at Nnoitra it didnt pierce him, merely busted him back, think- "blunt arrow" (though that could've also been simply because Nnoitra's hierro was extra tough).

And her future? I dunno, anything goes here. She might become an Anti-Hero and perhaps be allowed to stay in Hueco Mundo by the captains there. It wouldn't be a bad idea for Seireitei not to leave a power vaccuum in Las Noches if they can "install" a more amiable Espada there instead. I mean it's obvious new hollows would naturally arrancarize themselves and rise to power even after Aizen and his army is overthrown- hence isn't it better to make sure that at least some of the "new" Espada aren't as antagonistic towards Soul Society? this might be a stretch but who knows... Especially that Unohana healed Gantenbeine, even though she couldn't have known he tried to "help" Sado before he got pwned. Unohana being the highest ranking captain in Hueco Mundo atm is another way of supporting it (seeing how she's the more gentle captain).

I like this.

[Xel_MK]

She was a centaur or a dryad. Most of us have said Centaur, even though I think Centaurs were exclusively male in Greek mythology. They represented unrestrained sexuality. As much as I would like for (adult!) Nel to be that, it doesn't seem right for her character. So I've always thought of it as a dryad body, where her torso is that of a deer.

Not exactly a vicious release, when you think about it.

Yes, I also vaguely recall Greek Mythology stating that Centaurs were male.
And I agree- unrestrained sexuality + Neliel would be an excellent combo xD Daddy like! Although, as she has proven with Kurosaki that can be dangerous... As fun as it sounds I'm not sure I'd like to be a victim of Boobicide / Titgulation =P

[plotkaislayer]

Well, with any luck, the Yourichi boob attack will become a trend, and Adult Neliel will boob attack Ichigo, or whatever is left of him after Ulq. That actually sounds gross. Maybe she'll boob attack Chad. He looks like he could use some action.

And, yeah, good stuff Xel :D

[VanquishedAngel]

Good question. Off hand a few things come to mind. She either

1. She stays young and follows Ichigo and company to the real world.

2. She is healed by Hime/Unohana and she regains her former arrancar glory.

3. She and her fraccion are purified by Unohana and becomes a shinigami (captain class) on the spot.

Just those come to mind ...

[airyie]

In the future Kubo will probably reveal something about her past. Probably continuing this:
http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/295/03/
In case you're wondering, I am specifically talking about SA's "or else"...I'd like to believe that maybe it’s a helpful evolution of the arrancar, or maybe the acquisition of something greater. Whatever the reason, I wish Kubo would tell.

As for whether or not kubo drops her from active characters, I doubt it; after all, she is pretty popular among fans.

[Xel_MK]

Well, with any luck, the Yourichi boob attack will become a trend, and Adult Neliel will boob attack Ichigo, or whatever is left of him after Ulq. That actually sounds gross. Maybe she'll boob attack Chad. He looks like he could use some action.

And, yeah, good stuff Xel :D

Thanks and yes, there's loads of potential targets for her to choose from xD

Good question. Off hand a few things come to mind. She either

1. She stays young and follows Ichigo and company to the real world.

2. She is healed by Hime/Unohana and she regains her former arrancar glory.

3. She and her fraccion are purified by Unohana and becomes a shinigami (captain class) on the spot.

Just those come to mind ...

1. Plz no, not manga-based mod souls -_-. I mean Nel and Co. can be amusing, but Karakura Town is Kon's comic relief territory so GTFO!

2. I'd lean towards that.

3. You may be on to something here. I mean hollowification can result in a shinigami transforming to a hollow, so conversely couldn't arrancarization (shinigamization?) result in a hollow becoming a shinigami?
On the other hand there's the problem that in complete hollowification we have 1 soul becoming 1 (humongously powerful) hollow. In complete shinigamization we'd have a conglomeration of thousands of hollows (albeit dominated by 1 with a strong personality) becoming 1 soul? The equation doesn't compute unless we consider the dominant hollow completely suppressing/consuming the others who simply become pure reiatsu.

In the future Kubo will probably reveal something about her past. Probably continuing this:
http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/295/03/
In case you're wondering, I am specifically talking about SA's "or else"...I'd like to believe that maybe it’s a helpful evolution of the arrancar, or maybe the acquisition of something greater. Whatever the reason, I wish Kubo would tell.

As for whether or not kubo drops her from active characters, I doubt it; after all, she is pretty popular among fans.

Yes, I've been wondering about that "... or else" myself. I was kinda considering what Vanquished mentions in number 3, but like I stated above- it's kinda murky.

[plotkaislayer]

Later on in that linked chapter, the fraccion observe that Nel is dead. Weird.

[Furret]

It Really seems, that WW won`t be the end of Bleach main storry line... Aizen is plotting something. As the story continues, Nell will get another opportunities to get some pages...

[Xel_MK]

Later on in that linked chapter, the fraccion observe that Nel is dead. Weird.

Nah, I think they were referring to the fact that since she lost all her memories she's no longer the Espada they served. I can only assume they had no clue at that time that she can revert back to her old form.

Then again, all throughout their presence in las Noches in the HM arc they kept saying that if they don't stop her something will happen + when she reverted back to her adult form they weren't particularily surprised. Hmmm...