Character outline
Ulquiorra is a male arrancar with a melancholic appearance and has green eyes with slit pupils. He has cyan lines descending from his eyes, making it appear as if he is crying, and is almost always frowning. He wears typical arrancar clothes: a white jacket, black sash, and a white hakama; however, his jacket has longer coat-tails than others. Like most other arrancar, he possesses remnants of his former life as a hollow in his appearance. In his first appearance, Ulquiorra's hollow hole is positioned at the base of his neck, but when Ichigo encounters Ulquiorra in Las Noches, it has been moved onto his chest. The remainder of his hollow mask lies on top of his head, forming a broken helmet, much like that of the example silhouette of a vasto lorde. His Espada number, four, signifying his rank amongst the Espada and level of power, is tattooed on the left side of his chest.
Ulquiorra is a very cold and callous figure, hitting his comrade Yammy in the stomach with his arm on one occasion in an effort to get his attention. Furthermore, he displays extreme disinterest in the greater portion of his battle, tending to keep his hands in his pockets while he fights. He also deems anyone he does not find of particular interest to be "trash" and therefore expendable. As noted by Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, Ulquiorra has a habit of stabbing people in the same location as his hollow hole whenever he's particularly interested in a battle. Whether he is consciously aware of this habit or not is unknown.
Ulquiorra is also analytical; during his and Yammy's first visit to the human world, he makes several remarks on the humans who confront them. He theorizes that Orihime Inoue's healing power is a temporal-spatial ability, which Aizen describes as the rejection of fate, and comments on how Ichigo Kurosaki's bankai can easily get through Yammy's defenses. He also notes Ichigo's power fluctuation, which varies between very weak to stronger than his own.
It would appear that Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, the 6th Espada, are not on good terms. While Ulquiorra allowed Yammy to kill anyone he deemed as "trash", which included Ichigo, Ulquiorra allowed him to live based on his belief that Ichigo's power was so turbulent that eventually he would destroy himself. Grimmjow's conflicting viewpoint was that Ichigo should have been destroyed outright, as he could overcome his weakness and grow even stronger. Despite Grimmjow's argument, Aizen trusted Ulquiorra's judgement.
Synopsis
Ulquiorra first appears alongside Yammy when they arrive in Karakura Town to gain information on Ichigo Kurosaki. Ulquiorra retreats with Yammy once he finishes examining Ichigo's abilities, also taking note of Orihime Inoue's fate-manipulation powers. A month later, Ulquiorra sends a second group of arrancar (not counting Grimmjow's rogue actions) consisting of several Espada, meant to distract the shinigami while he captures Orihime. By threatening her friends' lives, he convinces her to come peacefully, allowing her to say goodbye to one person beforehand.
Upon returning to Las Noches, Ulquiorra claims that he has trapped Orihime in a psychological prison from which her loyalty to Aizen is guaranteed, though this proves to be false when Orihime resolves to ruin Aizen's plans. After Chad was cut down by Nnoitra, Ulquiorra appears in Orihime's cell, trying to make her eat her meal. Orihime instead dwells over Chad's defeat. Frustrated, Ulquiorra tells her that her comrades will eventually all be defeated by the Espada, and that she should not find it surprising that one went down already. Orihime responds by slapping him. Ulquiorra then takes his leave.
He reappears later to fight Ichigo, which ends in a sound victory for Ulquiorra. He leaves Ichigo alive but badly injured, suggesting to him that he should retreat if able. After discovering that Grimmjow has freed Orihime, Ulquiorra tracks them down and engages in a short battle with Grimmjow, ending with Grimmjow using a Caja Negación field to temporarily trap Ulquiorra. He escapes shortly after Aizen leaves to destroy Karakura Town, appearing in Aizen's throne room to take care of Las Noches and Orihime Inoue while Aizen is on Earth and is currently awaiting the arrival of Ichigo Kurosaki.
Abilities
Ulquiorra is the Cuatro Espada in Aizen's army, meaning Ulquiorra's abilities are fourth amongst all of the arrancar under Aizen's command. He can use both cero and bala blasts, the former of which is animated as green as opposed to the standard red and fired from his fingertips, and can deflect attacks of similar power barehanded. He is strong enough to fight on equal ground with Ichigo in his vizard form without even unsheathing his sword and blocked Ichigo's most powerful attack, black Getsuga Tenshou, and Kisuke's zanpakuto's blast with his bare-hand. He can also open garganta to move to and from Hueco Mundo.
Ulquiorra has the unusual ability to replay events he has seen to others by removing and crushing his left eye, which then turns into dust and flows around those Ulquiorra intends to use it on. The dust shows images of what Ulquiorra has seen during his missions. This eye apparently can regenerate, as Ulquiorra is seen with two eyes in his next appearance, and Yammy comments on it to that effect.
Zanpakutō
The name and released state of Ulquiorra's zanpakutō have not been revealed, as he has never been shown using it, instead relying on his bare hands and tough skin. The handle is green and the guard has two curved extensions from its shorter sides, giving it an eye-like appearance.
