Bleach: Who Are the Bambies & Why Are They Called Like That?

And while we’ve never had the pleasure to explore the Sternritter in Bleach as we did with the other groups from the series (even villainous ones), Kubo has revealed some details about them, their pasts, and their everyday lives. If you remember the story precisely, you’ll probably know that there were only five female Sternritters (technically four, but more on that later), and they spent a lot of time together. They are collectively known as the Bambies; in this article, we will tell you about them.

The Bambies is an informal name of a Sternritter group consisting of the five female Sternritter who were part of Yhwach’s Wandenreich army. They were named after Bambietta Basterbine, the Sternritter “E” – “The Explode,” who was also their beloved leader. Other members included Giselle Gewelle, the Sternritter “Z” – “The Zombie,” Liltotto Lamperd, the Sternritter “G” – “The Glutton,” Candice Catnipp, the Sternritter “T” – “The Thunderbolt,” and Meninas McAllon, the Sternritter “P” – “The Power.” Save for the fact that it is a female-only group, there is nothing special about them. The name itself has been canonized in the anime.

The rest of this article will contain two segments. The first one is going to explain the group, as well as the origin of its name. The second one will introduce each group member individually, both the story and the skills, so you will know basically everything there is to know about this intriguing female group. Of course, since the article will be diving deep into the Bleach lore, we have to warn you that there will be spoilers present, so if you don’t want to ruin your reading or watching experience, be careful around certain parts of this article.

The Bambies are named after Bambietta Basterbine, who is also the group’s leader

Because of the fact that the final saga was rushed, we never really found out a lot of details about the Sternritters, save for what little Kubo scattered around the manga. We know almost everything about their powers and abilities, but their private and everyday lives remain a mystery (this was not the case with the Espada, for example).

This is why it was nice to see the anime expand on some details from the story, and this article is about that. Namely, we knew from the start that there were only five female Sternritter and they spend a lot of time together, but the anime revealed a more friendly structure there.

Namely, as we found out, this group of Sternritter was collectively known as the Bambies. This is a small yet fun detail to know, as it explains not only the private aspect of the Sternritters’ lives but also their interpersonal relationships. The Bambies were called like that because of their beloved leader, Bambietta Basterbine, but if you look at the group dynamics, you won’t really see that Bambietta was a true leader in that sense.

It seemed that she thought of herself as the leader and that the other four simply let her think that, but they were not shy of calling her an idiot, criticizing her actions, calling her behavior reckless, ignoring her, and even abandoning her while she was talking.

On the other hand, when Giselle “saved” Bambietta, she did say that it was because they all loved her and couldn’t imagine a world without her, which is a phrase that has been repeated more than once, despite the gruesome thing that Giselle did to her.

Be that as it may, the five of them, despite all their discord (Liltotto even said once that it was rare for them to actually agree on something), spent a lot of time together, and it was even implied that some of them were intimate with each other, although this was just implied in the story and nothing else. They were friends, and they did care for each other, as was seen during their battles against Kenpachi and Ichigo when they worked together to defeat their opponents.

The five members are:

• Bambietta Basterbine, Sternritter “E” – “The Explode”
• Liltotto Lamperd, Sternritter “G” – “The Glutton”
• Meninas McAllon, Sternritter “P” – “The Power”
• Candice Catnipp, Sternritter “T” – “The Thunderbolt”
• Giselle Gewelle, Sternritter “Z” – “The Zombie”

Now, we are going to introduce each of the members to you so you know a bit about each of the Bambies.

The Bambies – introduced!

Bambietta Basterbine, Sternritter “E” – “The Explode”

Bambietta Basterbine is the Sternritter with the Schrift “E” – “The Explode”. She has a particularly sadistic personality, as evidenced by her screams with delight when she downright slaughters her opponents. So, she enjoyed killing multiple Shinigami in a row. She also habitually calls soldiers into her room under false pretenses, only to kill them without warning to get herself off.

Bambietta believes that if someone has already given up their life, there is no point in fighting per se. She sees herself as a sort of “leader” to some members of the Sternritter and hates being disregarded and/or left alone by them and considers such situations shameful of herself. Bambietta considers herself to be exceptionally powerful, and due to that, she is the self-proclaimed leader of the group, although she doesn’t really have much authority over the other girls.

Her special ability is called “The Explode,” and it allows her to create special Reichi bombs, which don’t explode by themselves but actually explode once they touch something. So, they themselves are not explosive but rather become explosive upon contact, which is why they are so powerful and difficult to battle.

Liltotto Lamperd, Sternritter “G” – “The Glutton”

Liltotto Lamperd is the Sternritter “G” – “The Glutton”. Despite her age, Liltotto seems to have become quite jaded, so she wasn’t shocked when Bambietta cut one of her men in half in cold blood. She also doesn’t seem to have much respect for her comrades, so she once called Bambietta, as well as Candice, a bitch. Due to Liltotto’s “The Glutton” ability, she describes how her opponents “taste” and demean them if their opponents don’t taste them when she eats them. She is also quite sarcastic but very intelligent, and she is considered a voice of reason within the group.

Her ability, “The Glutton,” allows her to extend her mouth to monstrous proportions and devour her enemies with it. It is a somewhat cartoony ability, but it is nevertheless quite dangerous, as she is able to decapitate a whole group of Shinigami with just one bite, and she was also able to devour her fellow Sternritter, PePe Waccabrada, using her ability against which he was defenseless.

Meninas McAllon, Sternritter “P” – “The Power”

Meninas McAllon is the pink-haired Sternritter with the Schrift “P” – “The Power.” Compared to the other female Strernritter in her group, especially Candice, Meninas seems to have a slightly less violent or brutal attitude. For example, in the fight against Ichigo, she replied to Candice’s statement that Ichigo had to die, that he was getting on her nerves, but that she didn’t have to kill him immediately. Like all Sternritter, Meninas is loyal to Yhwach. She also thinks that PePe Waccabrada is a repulsive and obnoxious man (but, hey, who doesn’t, right?).

Meninas is probably the odd one in this group, as she is the most feminine and delicate of the group. But, exactly because of that, she is the strongest, as her “The Power” provides her with enormous physical powers, which she can use to beat her opponents to a pulp. Although she can change her appearance by making her body bulkier, her normal form is usually strong enough for her opponents.

Candice Catnipp, Sternritter “T” – “The Thunderbolt”

Candice Catnipp is the Sternritter “T” – “The Thunderbolt,” and she can manipulate electricity. Candice seems easily irritable and has a certain propensity for violence. So she quickly fell for a provocation from Giselle Gewelle when she indicated that Candice often has fun with subordinates and angrily asks if Giselle wants to mess with her. She was also the most aggressive when fighting Ichigo.

According to Candice, she gets up earlier every morning than any other Sternritter to style her hair and places a lot of importance on her appearance; if her styling is compromised during a fight, she becomes very upset.

Her ability, “The Thunderbolt,” allows her to manipulate electricity differently. She can use electricity as an object, a proper weapon, fire it at her opponents like an arrow or use it as a sword. She can also launch powerful electric blasts at several opponents at once. These attacks are generally fatal.

Giselle Gewelle, Sternritter “Z” – “The Zombie”

Giselle Gewelle is the group’s final member, the Sternritter with the Schrift “Z” – “The Zombie”. Giselle seems to enjoy teasing others, whether enemy or comrade. Giselle also doesn’t seem to take anything seriously and usually seems like a naive, happy child, no matter what the situation. Biologically, Giselle is male, but in terms of appearance and character, it is more female, and Giselle also describes herself as a girl. Giselle shows no pity or mercy in a fight but says she is not sadistic.

Her ability, “The Zombie,” allows her to turn living people into her pawns (zombies) and turn dying or dead people into her own zombies. She can also use her abilities to hear herself or others, with or without her blood. Her blood is thus toxic to others.