Allegorical Bleach

Characters: Nnoitra Gilga, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, Tesra Lindocruz
Spoilers: through ch 313
A/n: Title is a reference to the last line of the vol 33 poem (“We lift our heads/Higher than the moon/Your pity/Can no longer be seen”). All panels quoted are from Ju-Ni scanlations due to their overall excellent translations. Comments are welcome and appreciated!

Nnoitra’s panel-time is intricately bound up with those he interacts with. Although he spends a great deal of his panel-time focusing on the fact that he is stronger than his opponents, his two primary character ties are with Tesra (his Fraccion) and Nelliel (the former Third Espada). These two characters are designed to contrast each other in both their treatment of Nnoitra and how he reacts to them. The two characters are similar in type and colouring, the same use of green for both, similar uniforms, similar Hollow forms. From their stats, they are virtual twins:

Tesra
birthday: 13 May
height: 178cm (5′10″)
weight: 65kg (143 lbs)
zanpakuto: 牙鎧士 (“Verruga”, read “tusked armoured samurai”)

Nelliel
Birthday: 24 April
height: 176cm (5′9″)
weight: 63kg (139 lbs)
zanpakuto: 羚騎士 (“Gamusa”, read “antelope knight”)

However, each of them treats Nnoitra differently and he responds accordingly.

To begin with, given just what Nnoitra’s Hollow form is, we should take a look at what Nnoitra might find attractive in a companion. It’s superficial, so let’s get it over with:

• Nelliel’s painfully obvious attributes might generally be considered every man’s desire. However, Nnoitra simply pays no heed. In current-time, Nelliel’s garb in adult form cannot be called an outfit, it’s just a few scraps of fabric. There are several panels in which we readers can clearly see up her skirt, so from the amount of shadowing we know just what Nnoitra can see when she kicks his blade away. His response: ignore the view and keep talking about how weak she is. Sexual tension: zero.
  
  

  One should also note that Gamusa comes complete with her own armour.

  
• On the other hand, Nnoitra seems delighted as he explains to Orihime that Ichigo will now die at Tesra’s hands. The fact that Tesra in his Hollow form is naked may or may not be a contributing factor here. We do know, however, what value Nnoitra places on strength, and Tesra is visibly strong in this form. Nnoitra would not want someone around who could be considered weak, and he would never allow Tesra to fight Ichigo if he wasn’t certain that Tesra could defeat him.
  

  Despite “Verruga” being written to imply he has armour, none is present. Nnoitra however is known for his Hierro …

We also see in one of Nnoitra’s flashbacks that he is annoyed that Nelliel is following him around. He does not want her around and her very presence is an irritation.

By contrast, when Tesra chose to tag along after Nnoitra, Nnoitra merely instructed him that he would be showing no mercy to his nakama. He may never state what his feelings for Tesra are, but he also never states that he hates Tesra or doesn’t want him around. More importantly, he allows Tesra to stay.

This is particularly interesting in that despite telling Tesra that he would show no mercy, what do we see when Nnoitra removed Nelliel from Las Noches and later with Chad? Nnoitra shows mercy; he allows both to live because they are weaker than he is. That’s quite a curious change of heart over the years Tesra has been with him. To be merciful is to be human.

During one of Nnoitra’s flashbacks, he makes a comment about how a Vasto Lorde would be be unaffected by his attack. As we know, the female praying mantis beheads her male companion during procreation. This provides an interesting point of contrast when he has hit each of them:

• When Nelliel was hit, her mask was cracked, her head split open, and her form became that of a child. Nnoitra holds back from striking her a second time when they fight in current-time, but she reverts to child form anyway after attempting to hit him with her lance.
  
  
  
• Tesra has been struck twice, once in a flashback, once in current-time. He is unaffected by Santa Teresa’s touch and in both cases continues to argue with Nnoitra. It seems Nnoitra has found the one person he cannot behead, something that would delight any female mantis.
  
  

Each of them has had an occasion to protect Nnoitra. To each of them, Nnoitra poses the question of why they protected him:

• Tesra threw himself between Nnoitra and an attacker. His response is that he didn’t want anything to happen to Nnoitra; his concern is for Nnoitra personally, and he would not do this for just anyone. Nnoitra accepts Tesra’s explanation and lowers his blade.
  
  
• We do not see precisely what Nelliel did, only the aftermath. Nelliel’s response is that she merely wished to prevent the loss of an Espada. She would have done the same had any of the other Espada misbehaved. Nnoitra is understandably upset about this response.
  

Tesra and Nelliel have each been presented with two occasions in which Nnoitra is injured:

• The first time is the same incident for both. Nelliel’s response after berating Nnoitra is to turn her back on him so she can go have lunch. Tesra’s response to the situation is to offer a hand to help Nnoitra up.
  
  
• When Nnoitra is blasted with Nelliel’s cero, Tesra drops what he should be doing and runs straight to Nnoitra to help him. For an interesting parallel, when Tesra is in danger later, Nnoitra repeats Tesra’s earlier actions.
  
  
• After protecting Nnoitra from rogue Hollows, Nelliel sits and reads a book until Nnoitra regains consciousness. She makes no move to assist him after the initial protection.
  

Each of them has a question for him which requires an answer. Their questions concern the reason he fights:

• When Nelliel asks him the question, she insists that to fight with no reason is the act of a beast. To fight based on the fact that he hates her is the wrong reason.
  
  
• After Nelliel leaves for lunch, Tesra appears. His question to Nnoitra is focused on why Nnoitra wishes to fight with Nelliel instead of the other Espada. Again, Nnoitra repeats that he hates Nelliel for being ranked above him.
  
  

The correct answer to such a question should be that he wishes to protect his heart. He is not quite there yet, however. As Nnoitra is about to throw Nelliel from the dome, he observes that she would find this act to be that of a beast, and he no longer cares what she thinks. Without knowing precisely what prompted this action, we can perhaps speculate that Nnoitra has taken a tiny step forward in figuring out why he fights. It is noteworthy that Tesra is not present during this scene whereas he would normally be nearby.

This brings us to the next point of contrast. Nnoitra responds differently to each of them when they address him:

• When Nelliel speaks to him, she says he’s weak, she says he’s acting like a child or a beast who needs to find a reason to fight, she tells him he is not a warrior worth the time it would take to kill him. This infuriates him and he inevitably ends up screaming at her. He has no need of pity from anyone. In his behaviour he acts the part of the child she sees him to be.
  
  
  
  
  
• Tesra seems to constantly question what Nnoitra does. Is he going to finish killing Chad, why is he fighting Nelliel, why did he kill that Arrancar? Herein lies the difference: Nnoitra answers him, explains his actions, even plans with him how to handle an upcoming battle as we discover after Nnoitra attacks Ichigo. If he didn’t devise a battle plan with Tesra, how would Tesra know what to do with Orihime when Nnoitra calls for him? How would he know to show up once Chad was down? Despite Nnoitra’s admonishment in the flashback that Tesra should not act as though he is Nnoitra’s equal, they speak very casually to each other. There is nothing close to the deference other Fraccion give to the Espada they serve. Nnoitra treats Tesra as a companion, an equal, the same as Tesra treats him. It seems being treated with respect goes further with Nnoitra than being looked down upon.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Finally, there is the issue of Nelliel’s removal versus Tesra remaining at Nnoitra’s side:

• Nnoitra was so annoyed by Nelliel’s companionship that he threw her from the dome and left her for dead with scarcely a backward glance. If he had any concern for her well-being on any level, he never would have left her there to heal or die of her own accord.
  
• Tesra has been with Nnoitra since before Nelliel’s removal. Since Nnoitra has no qualms about removing those whose company he does not desire, it can be safely assumed that Tesra remains with him because he wishes Tesla to be there. Furthermore, when Zaraki cuts Tesra down, Nnoitra leaps at Zaraki, determined to kill him for what he did. The same person who gravely injured Neliel and threw her from the dome will not allow another to get away with hurting Tesra. This is the same response Kaien had when Miyako was killed, the same response Momo had when she thought her beloved Aizen had been killed: deal with the one who did it.
  
  

As we have seen, we have two characters here whose primary role in the storyline is defined by their relationship to Nnoitra. Nnoitra does not have to make a choice between them; their treatment of him makes the choice for him.

Tesra has through his actions proven himself to be a loyal and trusted companion to Nnoitra. His every action shows his concern for Nnoitra’s well-being and his determination to protect Nnoitra at all costs. He is willing to risk his own life to ensure Nnoitra’s safety. Nelliel is Nnoitra’s rival, the one Nnoitra has finally managed to surpass in power. To her, Nnoitra is no more than a child who requires her care. In current-time, Nnoitra’s role with Nelliel has been filled by Ichigo, showing that the person filling the role is interchangeable as far as she is concerned. She would do the same for all those who cannot take care of themselves. As it stands at time of writing, her current child form necessitates that others take care of her. She has been forced into the role she once tried to push Nnoitra into: that of a child who needs care.

By removing Nelliel from Las Noches, Nnoitra was able to grow beyond the child Neliel saw him as. She may have set the wheels in motion, but it is only without her presence that he has been able to become an adult in a relationship of equals. In the infinite second before Zaraki defeated him, he finally realised that Nelliel never treated him as an equal. As he has no desire to be pitied, it is natural and expected to cast aside such a person in favour of someone who has always treated him as an equal. This finally answers the question of why Tesla was allowed to stay: because Nnoitra found the equal he was looking for.