‘Bleach’: Is Bambietta Basterbine a Zombie?

Bleach: Is Bambietta Basterbine a Zombie?

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The Sternritter are 28 of the strongest members of the Wandenreich, which can be compared to the commanders of the Gotei 13 in terms of rank and fighting power. All Sternritter are Quincy inscribed with a Schrift by Yhwach. Thus they now each bear one of the letters of the alphabet, which serves both as their epithet and as the initial of the individual powers bestowed upon them by Yhwach. Their powers are quite diverse, and while some are powerful but conventional, some are completely ludicrous. As far as Bambietta Basterbine, the Sternritter E (“The Explosion”) is concerned, she was a very interesting character whose power was immensely powerful, but in this article, we are going to focus on another question related to her, and that is whether she is a zombie or not in Bleach.

Currently, Bambietta Basterbine is still “alive” as a zombie. She was initially a regular Quincy, but after Sajin Komamura fatally injured her, Giselle Gewelle used her power (The Zombie) to turn Bambietta into a zombie, using her as a pawn and keeping her alive in that form. As far as the Can’t Fear Your Own World sequel light novel confirmed, Bambietta survived the Quincy Blood War along with the other female Sternritter, but she remained a zombie under Giselle’s control.

The rest of this article is going to be about Bambietta Basterbine and the time she was turned into a zombie by Giselle Gewelle, the Sternritter “Z” (“The Zombie”). This was a strange episode during the Quincy Blood War, but it was interesting, and we understand why fans want to know what happened and how Bambietta Basterbine became a zombie. Be careful, though, as the article will be full of spoilers.

Bambietta Basterbine was turned into a zombie, and as far as we know – she is still a zombie in Bleach

Bambietta Basterbine is a Quincy and a member of the Wandenreich as well as its Sternritter. She is called Sternritter “E” – “The Explode,” due to her special ability to create Spirit Balls, which cause an explosion upon impact with the target’s Spiritual Pressure; the bombs themself don’t actually explode, but they cause the target to explode when they make contact.

She is one of only five female Sternritter, alongside Liltotto Lamperd, Meninas McAllon, Candice Catnipp, and Giselle Gewelle (although the latter’s gender is questionable, to say the least, but that’s a wholly different topic).

When we first meet Bambietta, she faces off against Komamura and manages to steal his Bankai but is surprised by the powerful Captain’s resilience. When she returns, she faces Komamura once more, but now in his human form, against which she has absolutely no chance.

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Komamura manages to defeat her easily and leaves her to die, and this is where Giselle Gewelle comes in. But before we actually tell you what happened, we’re obliged to inform you about Giselle Gewelle and her special power.

Giselle Gewelle is the Sternritter Z, “The Zombie,” and her ability is quite special. With this ability, Giselle cannot be truly killed by any attack. Even with the largest cuts, she can continue to talk and walk as if nothing happened. In addition, she gains complete control over another person’s body as soon as they come into contact with her blood.

Those affected then become her “zombies,” which Giselle can command at will and even force them to commit suicide. She used this on numerous dead Shinigami, but also on Bambietta Basterbine, the Sternritter “E” (“The Explosion”), who was almost killed by Komamura. Now, Giselle explained that her effectiveness with her ability depends on the Reiatsu of her target – the stronger the target, the more blood she needs.

This is why, in the case of a Captain- or Sternritter-level target, she has to bathe them in her own blood, which turns their skin darker (like Bambietta, but later also Muguruma and Otoribashi). She also revealed to Mayuri that she could also take control of living people and that her non-dead targets retain most of their strength and reflexes.

So, back to the story. When Bambietta was defeated by Komamura, the dying Sternritter was approached by the other female Sternritter, with Giselle, in the center, telling Bambietta that everything would be fine and that she would continue to be with them because they would be sad without her.

Knowing what Giselle is planning on doing, Bambietta tries to stop her, but Giselle then kills her, although no one really seems to consider it strange, and it would soon be revealed why.

Namely, as the battle continues and Mayuri enters the battlefield, Giselle, feigning to be scared, summons Bambietta’s corpse in zombie form and uses her to continue the fight.

She explains that Bambietta was not fully dead when the transformation occurred, which is why she can use her powers. During this period, Giselle seems to be quite cruel towards Bambietta, declining her pleas to release her from this form, bullying her, and hurting her so she could gain more energy. She also seemingly killed her again, and while it was implied that this was permanent, it was revealed to be different.

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Namely, the manga itself doesn’t tell us much about the fate of the Sternritter, but the sequel light novel, Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World, reveals what happened. Namely, Jugram’s aide, who was also a powerful Quincy, healed some of the injured Sternritter, all female ones.

With Giselle being alive again, Bambietta’s zombified corpse also survived (Mayuri normalized the Captains), and we see them all in the light novel, alive and well, although Bambietta is, officially, still a zombie in the future.

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