If there’s something Bleach got perfectly right, it’s the villains. One of Shonen Jump’s original Big Three boasted not one, but two of the most distinct enemy groups of its time: The Espada (the 10 strongest Hollow ever made) and the Sternritter (the top Quincy of the Wandenreich army chosen by Yhwach himself).
Both groups proved formidable against Ichigo, his friends, and the forces of Soul Society, but only one can be considered the best. After all, there are some things that only each side can do better than the other.
10 ESPADA: Aizen Was A Better Leader
Even today, Aizen is considered one of the greatest anime villains ever conceived. As the Machiavellian leader of the Arrancar and Espada, Aizen used his Hollow pawns (and the Shinigami) effectively on his mission to attain godhood. This showed just how big a mastermind he was and, more terrifyingly, how he was actually kind of right to oppose Soul Society.
Meanwhile, Yhwach is a thinly veiled Aizen clone. From his desire for immortality to randomly killing his soldiers, Yhwach repeats what Aizen did only out of obligation rather than anything interesting. Worse, Yhwach is just a walking plot device who’s retroactively shoehorned into major events (ex. the death of Ichigo’s mother) so that he can feign importance instead of doing something worthwhile in the present.
9 STERNRITTER: They Had A Better Entrance
The Espada take a while to introduce themselves, with each member gradually revealing themselves and their number. In fact, it takes a full arc before all of the Espada are formally introduced, and all 10 don’t even fight as one unit since they split up early on.
In comparison, the Quincy immediately establish how big of a threat they are when they launch a devastating surprise attack on Soul Society. In the final arc’s first few chapters, a few Sternritters effectively cripple the entire Shinigami force, steal four Bankai, and even trap Ichigo in limbo. As far as entrances go, the Quincy easily have the Espada beat.
8 ESPADA: Their Fraccion Are Just As Compelling As They Are
Most of the Espada have a partner or personal army of Fraccion (i.e. their subjects). All in all, this would amount to almost 20 individual Hollows, with Fraccion being as well-designed and characterized as their masters. Additionally, they all have unique personalities and reasons for servitude. This tally doesn’t even include the ex-Espada and other Arrancar working under Aizen.
The Quincy can’t hold a candle to this since all they have are the 26 Sternritters. Of that number, only less than half are developed properly due to the final arc’s rushed nature. The rest of the Quincy army is made up of the faceless Soldat, who are just masked Quincy who die en masse.
7 STERNRITTER: They Can Defeat Bankai
The Quincy don’t have an answer to the Shinigami’s powerful Bankai, so they just create a device that steals it. Additionally, the Sternritter are formidable enough to withstand Bankai attacks, only losing when the Shinigami got last minute upgrades near the war’s end. By default, the Sternritter are already on Bankai level.
In contrast, the Espada lost the moment someone whipped out a Bankai. The Espada’s fights dragged on because they were on equal footing with their Shinigami foes; no one was immediately stronger than the other. But the moment captains like Soi Fon and Kyoraku summoned their Zanpaktou’s strongest forms, the Espada quickly fell after a few hits.
6 ESPADA: They Had Better Fights
Bleach arguably hit its zenith with the Espada fights, as each duel against the Captain-class Hollows was essentially a mini arc, filled with great action and a tense literal clash of beliefs. At their best, each Espada’s fight was a battle of swords and wits, forcing Ichigo and friends to think outside of the box to beat Hollows who were just as strong and determined as they are.
Meanwhile, the Quincy’s power levels were so all over the place that their fights were both rushed and lacking. After wiping out many of Soul Society’s strongest hitters, the Quincy abruptly lose their advantage and are unceremoniously defeated almost as quickly as they arrived. This wasn’t because of a decisive blow, but because the story had to get to the next plot point as soon as possible.
5 STERNRITTER: Their Powers Are More Creative
While all Sternritter have the base ability to fire arrows, their power sets are determined by a letter assigned to them by Yhawch. For example, Bambietta (Strenritter E, The Explode) can make things blow up. This leads to 26 Sternritter with unique abilities and Vollstandigs, all of which are distinct from one another and something fun to discover.
Meanwhile, the Espadas’ abilities are limited by the fact that they’re mockeries of the Shinigami. They’re basically Aizen’s personal Gotei 13, now comprised of humanoid Hollow who mastered Bankai (called Resurreccion). While their Resurreccions are cool and memorable even today, they feel derivative when compared to the Wandenreich’s assortment of powers.
4 ESPADA: They Have Better Motives
The Espada weren’t stereotypical bad guys, but individuals with personal reasons for attaining (ex. Barragan wants to kill Aizen) or keeping (ex. Harribel owes her life to Aizen) power. In fact, some fans hoped the Espada won so they could succeed at least once in their fatalistic lives.
At best, the Sternritter just follow orders, which isn’t a good excuse in real life and an even weaker one in fiction. As a whole, they want vengeance against the Shinigami. Individually, their motivations range from shallow (ex. Robert Accutrone is fiercely loyal to Yhwach) to non-existent (ex. Mask De Masculine likes wrestling). Arguably, only Bazz-B had a semblance of a personal motive (i.e. revenge against Yhwach), but even this was glossed over.
3 STERNRITTER: They Have A More Diverse Line-Up
This is really a case of being spoiled for riches since both the Espada and Sternritter are well-designed rosters of antagonists. That said, the Espada are more uniform than their archer counterparts, with all 10 Arrancar being different shades of warriors who have a bit of skull attached to their person.
In contrast, the Sternritter is where the design philosophy went wild. The only thing the Sternritter have in common is the white in their uniforms, with each elite Quincy looking like they came from a completely different anime. From a walking nightmare like As Nodt to Bambietta’s girl posse to a sentient hand (Pernida Parnkgjas) to whatever BG9 is supposed to be, no two Sternritter look alike and all are hard to forget.
2 ESPADA: They’re More Interesting Characters
Even today, the Espada remain not only Bleach’s best antagonists but one of the most iconic villainous factions in all anime. Each member (especially Grimmjow, who’s become a fan favorite) adds more to what the Espada represent as a group, with it being both Aizen and the Hollows’ one shot at surpassing their unfairly predetermined destinies.
At their best, the Sternritter is a collection of great concept art for anime antagonists. They go through the motions of what typical shonen bad guys do (ex. infighting, condescending the heroes, killing, etc.) but they lack the time and investment that gave the Espada depth. In the end, they were just roadblocks Ichigo and friends had to knock over to get to Yhwach.
1 STERNRITTER: They Inflicted Permanent Damage
For all the hype and legacy surrounding them, the Espada didn’t really do much. Half of them fought in the already barren Hueco Mundo, while the Karakura Town the rest laid waste to wasn’t even the real thing. At the arc’s end, the Espada were vanquished and Soul Society’s status quo in the living world and the next reverted to its usual state, as if nothing happened.
Meanwhile, the Quincy blew up Seireitei, killed half of Soul Society’s army, wiped out the First Division, and cut Captain Commander Yamamoto in half before blowing his corpse up – all in the first wave of their siege. Afterwards, they froze what remained of Soul Society and continued wreaking havoc. Granted, the final arc unwisely undid most of this by resurrecting supposedly dead Shinigami and rebuilding Seireitei, but the Quincy scarred Soul Society in ways Aizen and the Espada could only dream of.