Hollows

Soul-eating monsters born from the souls of the dead.

Hollows are monstrous lost souls in Bleach that can harm both spirits and humans, and many of the series' antagonists are hollows. Every hollow has a mask on its face and a hole somewhere in its body.

Quick Facts

Advanced form: Arrancar

Lore & Background

A hollow forms when a dead soul is consumed by negative emotions or is forcibly converted by other hollows. Hollows tend to attack the people they were close to in life, though they seem not to remember them, and they grow stronger by devouring souls. Tite Kubo gave hollow-related elements Spanish motifs.

Reader's Guide

Soul Reapers purify hollows, while Quincy destroy their souls outright, which upsets the balance between life and death. Hollow attacks include the Cero blast.

Hollows that survive by eating others can become Menos, in three stages: mindless giant Gillian, smaller animal-like Adjuchas, and the rare, near-human Vasto Lorde. A hollow that removes its mask gains Soul Reaper-like traits and becomes an Arrancar; Sōsuke Aizen's Arrancar army, led by the ten Espada, is a main enemy of the series.