The story of Bleach is far from over as the anime returns this summer with the continuation of the Thousand Year Blood War arc and with its return, we are back with more content for you to read in your free time as we also attempt to clear any concepts that might be difficult to grasp. For starters, let’s talk about the strongest ability of a Quincy i.e. the Vollstandig.

What is this mysterious yet powerful ability used by the Quincy and how different is it from their traditional abilities? This ability has been used many times by the most powerful of the Quincy and we are going to talk about everything from its working and history. Let’s go!

Spoiler Warning: Major spoilers for the TYBW arc are mentioned ahead, read with your own caution!

What is Vollstandig? How is it different from Letzt Stil?

Most Bleach fans should be familiar with the ability known as Letzt Stil which can be activated by removing the Sanrei Glove in order to collect Reishi beyond their default limit.

Despite granting immense strength, Quincy’s powers are sealed once Letzt Stil is used as shown when Uryu used it as a last resort against Mayuri, almost defeating him.

This is why this technique was deemed obsolete 200 years ago and the Quincy had to come up with something new.

With Quincy stronger than ever, they present to us the ability known as Vollstandig. In Japanese, it is called クインシー・フォルシュテンディッヒ, which translates to Monk of Destruction: Complete Holy Form.

In German, it roughly translates to ‘Complete’.

Similar to a Bankai, this is the ultimate ability that a Quincy can use in order to amplify their powers to the highest of levels. The user does not have to worry about their powers being sealed and it can be used from time to time without needing to gather lots of Reishi over time.

Vollstandig is a direct upgrade to its predecessor Letzt Stil. It allows the Quincy to use their powers which were lost 200 years ago.

On top of the abilities granted by Letzt Stil, users can fly at high speeds, form spirit weapons to shoot Heilig Pfeil and have their Schrifts enhanced to higher levels.

Their spiritual energy sensory skills also surpass normal limits as they are now able to sense any amount of energy despite the opponent’s attempt to hide their presence.

It was an answer to the drawbacks of Letzt Stil as the greatest advantage of Vollständig is easy usage. There is by default no restriction on the user. Their powers are not sealed unlike the use of Letzt Stil but it does come with its own set of disadvantages.

Although Vollstandig users can activate their abilities multiple times, they need to train themselves in order to use it efficiently. Vollstandig requires a lot of stamina and a Quincy with a Bankai in their possession cannot use their Vollstandig.

If their leader Yhwach decides to use Auswahlen on them, they cannot evade and their schrift will be absorbed and if the Heiligenschein (Reishi Halo around their head) is destroyed, the Quincy loses the power. Also, a certain Zanpakuto has to power to deflect Vollstandig as well.

Is Vollständig the Quincy version of Bankai?

Vollständig is the most powerful ability of a Quincy, similar to that of a Shinigami’s Bankai in power comparison, or even an Arrancar’s Resurrección.

We know from before that the standard Letzt Stil is capable of defeating an average-level Shinigami captain and in the thousand year blood war arc, we have seen multiple Quincy from the Sternritter taking over and overwhelming stronger captains by using Vollstandig so it is quite easy to deduce that Vollstandig is what a Bankai is to a Shinigami.

As mentioned before, the power of the Schrift is enhanced immensely upon the usage of Vollstandig. Even the standard Sternritter end up being so powerful that the captains were left in vain after their Bankai was stolen.

Members of the Schutzstaffel show even more prowess and mastery of Vollstandig as Quincy like Lille Barro and Gerard Valkyrie were able to evolve into a second form after taking enough damage.

They turned into godlike beings and they proved to be so powerful that it took the combined strength of multiple strong captains and their Bankai in order to just subdue them.

They were literally unstoppable had it not been for the special Zanpakuto of the Ise clan and Yhwach’s Auswahlen.

Askin Nakk Le Vaar was able to subdue multiple captain-level Shinigami on his own, even forcing Urahara to use his Bankai.

If this is what we had to see from the likes of these Quincy, it is pretty hard to imagine what characters like Gremmy Thoumeaux or Jugram Haschwalth would have had to offer, considering their extreme power levels.

Also, what would Uryu’s Vollstandig be like if he had trained to use it?

Maybe we could have witnessed Yhwach use Vollstandig himself, had he not absorbed Yamamoto’s Bankai!

Conclusion

Vollstandig is the ultimate ability used by the Quincy which doesn’t have the drawbacks of their traditional Letzt Stil. Granting immense strength and Reishi domination, the Sternritter were able to overwhelm some of the strongest Shinigami even when they used Bankai.

Vollstandig users also have their own set of disadvantages but none of them are severe as losing your powers forever.

The powers granted by Vollstandig are equivalent to that of a Shinigami’s Bankai, both being their ultimate ability respectively.

Vollstandig users with their enhanced Reshi manipulation and Schrift powers can completely overwhelm captain-level Shinigami as seen in the arc and Schutzstaffel Quincy were able to evolve into more potent forms once defeated who proved to be some of the most destructive characters even witnessed in Bleach.

What are your thoughts on this powerful ability? Whose Vollstandig is your favorite and which other Quincy would you want to see use it? Write down in the comments below and engage in healthy discussion!

Reference is taken from VIZ, Bleach Subreddit, Bleach Fandom