Casilda Selestino

Casilda Selestino, or better known as Cortez Selestino (ヘブンリートライアンフ, Korutes Selestino) is an Arrancar, Primera Espada of the Espada Afilado and head of the Operaciones Especiales. She is also a spy inserted within the cult Ahijados, serving as a double agent in order to investigate the cult's activities within Hueco Mundo. She serves as one of the central antagonists of the Bleach: The Children of Izanami arc.

Personality
Socially, Casilda can prove to be lazy, unenthusiastic, and extremely easily bored. Other than in situations where she has to brief and command her fellow Espada, she is rarely known to communicate with anyone, and spends much of her time sleeping, often to the point that she will not awaken for days. She is commonly indifferent to most of what happens behind her, though she will remember information that is needed for further use. The reason for this is because of her own power and intelligence; to her, there has never been a challenge or a new puzzle that she hasn't solved (which indicates a certain extent of arrogance). Despite her immense strength, she is not violent or arrogant, and is aware of the people that are above even her. She will never show hatred even for her enemies, only seeing them as opponents who she has to get by in order to achieve her goals.

Even in combat, Casilda does not change her bored attitude, easily shrugging off taunts and insults made towards her way with a bored remark of her own (which can infuriate some). However, she can fight aggressively when needed, and is not afraid of brutal methods in order to take her opponent down. In an effort to bring up entertainment and a bit of challenge for herself, she will point out what the enemy is doing wrong so that he/she would be prepared to fight against her. In fights that do prove to be more of a surprise and obstacle to her, she will comment on the effect to her opponent in a complimentary manner.

Within her status as a military commander, Casilda's views take on a democratic approach while still taking on the nationalistic pride of the Afilado. While attempting to expand and promote civilization within Hueco Mundo, she appeals to the people and gives them indirect say in how they work. She advocates cooperation between other organized groups within Hueco Mundo in order to keep stability and maintain power between governments. At the same time, she aims to carry out the goals of the Primer Consejo and expand power and influence throughout the dimension wherever possible. She does not aim for trust and dependance on another, as she believes it would effectively weaken the power of both parties involved. However, she commonly adopts a position of mediation when it comes to internal issues in order to keep balance and equality rather than aim to completely dominate the other side. These beliefs were prominent in the Espada Afilado's internal conflicts with the Red Devils.

Early Life
Little about Casilda's history is unknown, aside from her life and evolution to Vasto Lorde. It is known that due to her close connection with the Primer Consejo, she was one of the Arrancar at the dawn of the Great Schism who survived the onslaught of the corrupt rebel forces and the Shinigami raid. She was the founder of the Espada Afilado, leaders selected in order to assist in the Hueco Mundo Reconstruction Movement as well as lead the growing Hollow military forces into combat effectively. Because of her veteran's status and despite her lazy personality, she was the main link that held the Espada Afilado together and led them to victories against their opposition.

It is rumored that Casilda had personally found and recruited 666 into the Operaciones Especiales as her personal assassin.

After the Espada Afilado's rise to power, they would begin their campaign in order to promote their cause across the dimension. They appealed to Hollows with the desire to cease the meaningless combat between sentient and more civilized beings. They kept influence from interfering with the Adjuchas's need to evolve by consuming each other, deeming this process to be necessary for the sake of producing valuable members of society. These "survivors" were sought out and informed by the propaganda of the Espada Afilado, and therefore could join under their banner. As Hollows were invited to become part of the growing oligarchic empire, buildings from long ago were re-erected, fixed, and rebuilt in order to accomodate the status of modern times. Within the expansion of several years, Casilda and the rest of the Afilado possessed considerable control over a little more than half of the dimension.

Soon, however, other groups came to challenge Casilda's rule. The Ahijados, a year-long enemy, was resurfacing themselves in order for their own personal initiation of the Red Sun's Reconstruction. The more recent group was Herrera's Red Devils, another military group which had expanded its own influence within Hueco Mundo. Wishing to avoid conflict while keeping an eye on the terrorist Ahijados, Casilda sent an offering of truce to the leader Hererra, only for him to immediately reject the proposal. Following this, men independant of his armies but loyal to his cause started attacking Afilado-pocketed bases, resulting in moderate casualties on both sides. In order to keep balance and take advantage of Herrera's lack of watch over his shoulders, Casilda only focused internal divisions of the Espada Afilado to deal with the attacks, so that she could also focus hitting the Ahijados simultaneously without worry of stretching lines too far.

Children of Izanami Arc

 * Los Niños de Izanami: Confirmación
 * Los Niños de Izanami: Despertar del Infierno (mentioned)
 * Los Niños de Izanami: Territorio del Gato
 * Los Niños de Izanami: Contención (mentioned)

Powers & Abilities
Immense Spiritual Power: As the strongest Espada and a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar, Casilda possesses tremendous spiritual energy that exceeds a Captain-level opponent's, her presence dangerously overwhelming when active. She is capable of bringing down any of the Espada below them to their knees with just the use of her spiritual pressure without any visible effort (with the majority of them being Captain-level). There have been few to truly rival her power and prowess, as she has been a veteran of the Great Schism as well as several other battles. She herself explains that the reason her reiatsu is so monstrous is because of her acceptance of the "heart" of Hueco Mundo as well as "who she truly is".


 * Explosive Wires: Casilda can wrap her own spiritual energy around her blade, manipulate, condense it, and swing it in the form of thin wires. At first, they seem to be harmless, invisible to the naked eye and near-impossible to detect by sense. However, they can prove to be quite a deadly weapon in terms of ambush and surprise tactics. When one touches the wires, they are subject to a powerful explosion of varying size and degree. Casilda can control when the trigger occurs, and can set these wires up in order to cage her opponents, or simply wrap them in the strings in order to finish them off quickly.
 * Sixth Sense (第六感, Dairokkan): The Sixth Sense is an ability used exclusively by Casilda. It is considered to be the pinnacle of the spiritual senses that other superpowers possess, exceeding abilities such as Pesquisa. It is a heightened state of mental awareness and enhanced perception within the mind. As one of the few who has practiced it to its maximum potential, Casilda is able to achieve feats of psychic nature such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and retrocognition.
 * Enhanced Hierro: Casilda's Hierro is highly formidable, her skin being able to withstand strikes from a Bankai-level opponent with minimal damage. The common Captain's Bankai is only capable of doing such, and in her released form, such attacks are non-existant to her. She can only be cut by opponents of equal calibre, and even then it takes effort in order to do so. Her Hierro is capable of withstanding fighting abilities
 * Tornado Alley (颶風路地, Gufū Roji): This ability is known to be Casilda's signature destruction move. The strength and potency of it is capable of destroying everything within four kilometers of its starting point and punching through anything that dares to stand in its way. Its size is several times that of skyscrapers Because of its power, Casilda can only use it for a total of four times.

Sonído Master: Casilda's Sonído speed is so great it is often mistaken for teleportation - the method of simply moving from one place to another. She takes great pride in this skill, using it commonly to catch opponents off-guard (particularly ones with confident and/or arrogant attitudes towards him). She is skilled at evading various attacks made by her enemies, keeping herself a steady defensive pace against an aggressor.

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Casilda possesses tremendous skill in swordsmanship, being able to fight on even ground with masters of swordsmanship. She is ambidextrous, capable of fighting with a sword in her left hand in her right. When fighting with both of his swords, she can prove to be a dangerous threat and can easily overwhelm her opponent if they're not careful enough. Her attacks are swift and precise, enabling her to land lethal blows to her opponent. A testament to her skill is being able to fight evenly with Kukkyōna Hayate, a Captain-level opponent and a noble of the Royal Hayate Family, while hinting that she had not been fighting at full strength. It is also stated by Col that her status as a fighter is legendary and unrivaled, a further testament to her skill.

Cero: Casilda's Cero is rose-colored. While initially standard, Casilda's way of using it prove to be quite unique. She is able to fire off a Cero without warning, as well as from various body parts such as the forehead, palm, and finger without a pose. The speed of her Cero is instantaneous, leaving little time for targets to react. It is not only limited to simple single fire - Casilda can fire a volley of Cero at her enemy for much more damage.
 * Cero Ametralladora (機関銃, Machine Gun Zero): This technique allows Casilda to unleash several Cero in a rapid-fire fashion. Individually, their power is somewhat weaker than her regular Cero, and it is somewhat draining if it is used for extended periods of time.
 * Cero El Fuego Salvaje (野生の火災ゼロ, Wildfire Cero): Casilda plunges her sword into the ground. A multitude of massive Cero pillars erupt from the ground and shoot to the sky. Their numbers and with are enough to consume a forth of a city. After a certain period of time, these pillars collapse and convert into the form of flames that fall down to earth. These flames are capable of incinerating everything and anything within their path.

Bala: Casilda's Bala can not only be just used for projectile blasts, but she has also formed the ability to use its hardening trait as a means to enhance other attacks. By molding her reiatsu around her sword, she can increase its cutting power and even extend the blade for longer-range attacks. She can even mold a Bala into different shapes in order to suit the situation.

Garganta: Garganta is how Arrancar move to and from Hueco Mundo. Casilda has the ability to use the technique. It literally tears open the dimensional fabric separating the worlds, revealing a tunnel of whirling, torrential energy that must be focused and solidified to create a discernible pathway.

Genius Intellect: Casilda possesses a great amount of observance, intellect, and analyzation when in combat. Through a calm exterior, she can easily keep track of her opponent and note out even the small details of their attack pattern. She has a habit of analyzing her enemy first before commensing her own attacks in order to counter them. Because of her status as a long-running veteran, she is a gifted tactician and strategist, able to handle situations on the battlefield like a natural.

Zanpakutō
Verdugo (死刑執行人, Beredugo; Spanish for Executioner, Japanese for Innocent Man's Killer): Cortez's swords take the form of cutlasses. Its blade size is the same as a katana's, though wider. The blade is slightly curved outward, and the tip of it is pointed like a claw.
 * Resurrección: Verdugo's release command is "Punish" (処罰, shobatsu). Upon the statement of the command, her spiritual energy is expulsed in the form of a massive sky-scraping pillar. Then, it collapses into a demi-sphere shockwave massive enough to consume a city before dissipating. In her released form, Casilda's appearance takes on a more drastic change, though she still retains a humanoid form over anything else. She grows massive, bat-like wings from her back. The majority of her clothing disappears, snake-like tattoos covering the entirety of her body. The remnants of her mask shift to the top of her head and form sharp, protruding horns. Her feet convert into what appears to be a fin-shaped, wispy material.


 * Immense Spiritual Power: The tremendous amount of spiritual energy Casilda has is increased to higher levels. The power she exudes can ultimately kill weaker opponents and make it difficult for others with high levels of energy to move around or even breathe without struggle. The release of Casilda's Resurrección is enough to disrupt the very atmosphere within Yūrei's capital city, summoning lightning storm over the region.
 * Enhanced Sonído: Casilda's speed is greatly enhanced to the point of being able to re-appear from one point to another, crossing a long distance within seconds.

In Progress....

Trivia/Behind The Scenes

 * Cortez's theme song is Grace by Apocalyptica.
 * The beginning letters in Casilda's first and last name are a play off of the former Primera's, Coyote Starrk - a reference to him, to be exact.
 * Casilda's personality seems to be somewhat of a mirror of 6th Division Captain Kukkyōna Hayate. Their nature as Hollow and Shinigami can be seen as an underlying theme to the warfare that has been waged between them and indicating how similar the two races can really be.