For a time, Tite Kubo's fantasy Shonen series Bleach was considered one of the Big Three, alongside Naruto and One Piece. The anime ended before the manga did, but still, Bleach's anime covered all the major story arcs, including the Arrancar arc. In it, Ichigo and friends take the fight to the traitor Sosuke Aizen and his army of freakish hollow mutants, the Arrancars.
The top ten Arrancars are the Espadas, Spanish for "swords." They are elite fighters with deadly abilities, ranked 1-10 (0-9 when Yammy releases) in order of power. While Ulquiorra and Grimmjow are often the mascots of the Espadas, #5 is also a formidable fighter. Meet Nnoitora Gilga (often spelled Nnoitra), the melee warrior of the Espadas. It took Ichigo, a released Nel, and the almighty Kenpachi combined to slay him. What else should a newcomer to Bleach know about the Quinta Espada?
10 He's merciless
This may sound like a no-brainer at first, but you'd be surprised. Among the Espada, Halibel (#3) won't fight without a good reason, and Coyote Stark (#1) is too lazy to bother at all! And Grimmjow, despite being a whirlwind of destruction, believes in manly honor and fighting fairly.
But not Nnoitora, who is absolutely ruthless, like Aaroniero and Szayleaporro are. Ichigo was still injured from his final Grimmjow duel when Nnoitora arrived and started swinging, prompting Orihime to protest this unfair duel. Nnoitora snapped back that in combat, there is no fairness, and no rules. Kill, or be killed, according to this Espada.
9 His tongue
My Hero Academia's Tsuyu Asui isn't the only shonen fighter who uses a tongue in battle. Nnoitora has a long tongue, and on it is his rank tattoo: 5. He proudly shows it to Ichigo, to prove that he is even more powerful than the formidable Grimmjow (#6).
All Arrancars can fire cero blasts, charging them up in their mouths or on their hands. Nnoitora, meanwhile, sticks out that tongue of his and charges up a gold-colored cero at the tip. He did this once to Nel (it backfired), and again at Kenpachi (who deflected it). What a strategy!
8 He feuded with Nelliel in the old days
Through flashbacks, we learn that Nnoitora and Nelliel were fellow Espadas, being #8 and #3 respectively. But they butted heads nonstop, and Nnoitora resented Nelliel's superiority. He challenged her to duels many times... and lost just as often.
Nnoitora even openly told his fellow Espada that he despised her, and that was his only reason to attack her so much. Nelliel was disgusted and said that Nnoitora was more like a wild animal than an Espada, who fights for poor reasons. This fueled Nnoitora's rage further, which led to the next step...
7 Nnoitora ambushed Nel
This continues the story of the previous entry. Frustrated, Nnoitora turned to Szayelporro Grantz, who agreed to create an off-screen detonation device that injured Nel's head. Nnoitora just had to lure Nel to her palace, taunt her, then let the explosion do the rest.
Nel's spiritual pressure leaked right out of her head, and she reverted to the child form that Ichigo met in the desert. Satisfied with this, Nnoitora dumped Nel and her two fracciones into the desert, certain that he'd never see them again.
6 His toughness
This fact makes itself more and more apparent the longer Nnoitora fights. At first, we see him in a one-sided duel against Chad, and this Espada took a full punch to the gut without flinching. Okay, so he's tough, but there's more.
Ichigo takes a turn to fight Nnoitora, and guess what? Not even Tensa Zangetsu can even make a papercut on this Espada. See him grabbing Ichigo's zanpakuto barehanded? Not just anyone could do that. Even Kenpachi struggled to cut Nnoitora's skin until he was sufficiently warmed up from the fires of battle. Nnoitora's hierro skin, in short, is the hardest of all the Espadas. A fine defense.
5 His odd hollow hole
Nnoitora wears an eyepatch, and at first, we're guessing that he lost an eye in battle, seeing how often he fights people. But like Kenpachi, he wears an eyepatch for an unconventional reason: his hollow hole takes the place of his left eye.
It's like a natural eyepatch of sorts, and Nnoitora surprised Kenpachi with it. The latter tried to stab Nnoitora's hidden eye... only to pass his sword right through the Espada's head without drawing blood. Then Nnoitora took that chance to land a blow in retaliation.
4 He Has A Shaky relationship with Tesla
No, not the real-life Tesla. Rather, Nnoitora has a fraccione (battle companion) named Tesla Lindocruz, a blond boy who follows Nnoitora everywhere. He also wears an eyepatch, but he's much more mild-mannered, and quite loyal.
Nnoitora is a cruel master for the most part, quite willing to intimidate or even hit Tesla whenever he feels displeased. Not even Grimmjow treated his fracciones that way. Just once, Nnoitora showed concern for his minion, warning Tesla to retreat from an advancing Kenpachi. Too late: Tesla took a swing anyway, and Kenpachi butchered him.
3 Only a warrior's death
Nnoitora makes one thing clear to his opponents, especially Nel: he wants to die in battle, a warrior's death. He's not the type to die in bed. Nnoitora is obsessed with battle and proving himself the strongest (and he's not the only one to feel that way), and dying from assassination or poisoning would be humiliating for him.
To this end, Nnoitora stated that he wants to die in combat before his body even hits the ground, and this is why he urged Kenpachi to attack him again even though Nnoitora was near death. Kenpachi finds it distasteful to finish off injured opponents (just ask Ikkaku), but he obliged Nnoitora all the same.
2 He's hostile to women
Pictured is Orihime, one of the people whom Nnoitora treated very badly. For whatever reason, Nnoitora is aggressively hostile toward any women or girl who acts or seems to be his superior, and he'll take action at once. This is partly why he feuded with Nel so often in the past.
Now, in the present, he once mocked Halibel during the Espada meeting, and he refers to Orihime as a mere "pet." This is one of the least savory aspects of a terrible personality, to be sure.
1 He keeps growing arms
Nnoitora handled an injured Ichigo well enough, and he had some trouble against Nel. Then Kenpachi showed up, and the Quinta Espada was pushed to the limit. Kenpachi thought he had won, but then Nnoitora released his sword to turn things around.
Upon releasing his zanpakuto, Santa Teresa, Nnoitora healed himself completely... and grew two more arms. He now holds four scythes with deadly skill, and Kenpachi fought evenly against this power. But there's still more. Nnoitora grew another two, and stabbed Kenpachi with one of the bonus arms. Now he has six, and he's like some freakish insect, with all those chitinous arms.
In the American Shonen Jump translation of the manga, Santa Teresa's name is also shown to be "sacred screaming praying mantis." Seems fitting.