Bambies

Bambies
Kanji	バンビーズ
English	Bambies
Romaji	Banbīzu
Organization
Headquarters	Silbern, Schatten Bereich
Leader(s)	Bambietta Basterbine (formerly)
Affiliation	Wandenreich

The Bambies (バンビーズ, Banbīzu)^[1] are a group of five Quincy women serving as Sternritter of the Wandenreich who hang out and fight together as friends. Bambietta Basterbine is the namesake of the group and previously acted as its leader, though the Bambies are capable of operating together without her.

Overview

As soldiers of the Wandenreich and members of the Sternritter, the Bambies each have Schrifts bestowed upon them by Yhwach; Bambietta Basterbine's Schrift is The Explode, Liltotto Lamperd's Schrift is The Glutton, Meninas McAllon's Schrift is The Power, Candice Catnipp's Schrift is The Thunderbolt, and Giselle Gewelle's Schrift is The Zombie. They also all have the ability to use Quincy: Vollständig. Each one of the Bambies has a personal nickname for the other; Bambietta is known as Bambi,^[2] Liltotto is known as Lil,^[3] Meninas is known as Meni,^[4] Candice is known as Candi,^[5] and Giselle is known as Gigi.^[6]

As Sternritters, the Bambies possess spiritual power equal to or greater than a captain-class Shinigami.^[7] They were easily capable of killing several members of the Eleventh Division of the Gotei 13, and were also able to injure the No. 2 Special War Power Kenpachi Zaraki and nearly kill him,^[8] although this was due to Kenpachi being worn out and wounded from his fight with Gremmy Thoumeaux moments prior.^[9] However, they struggled to cause significant damage to the No. 1 Special War Power Ichigo Kurosaki, who easily shrugged off their combined assaults during their battle, even in their Vollständig-enhanced states.^[10] Yhwach also easily dispatched the Bambies when they attempted to enact their revenge against him.^[11] Despite their great power, they are rather dysfunctional while working together; as they were clashing with Ichigo, the girls were not shown to have the best teamwork and even ended up attacking each other by accident on occasion.^[12] They were, however, effective in cooperating to slaughter the Soldat opposing them on their way to kill Yhwach.^[13]

The Bambies are never seen without at least one other member of their group, implying that they're quite close. However, they're prone to insulting, making fun of,^[14] or lashing out at each other.^[15] According to Liltotto, the Bambies are frequently in disagreement with each other, and was surprised to see that everyone agreed to kill Ichigo.^[15] They are also not above using each other for their own gain, as Giselle would go on to kill and zombify an injured and terrified Bambietta against her will after her confrontation with Sajin Komamura, all the while the other Bambies watched without objecting to Giselle's behavior.^[16] They don't lack a sense of camaraderie, however, as they have been shown to assist each other in cases of emergency; examples include Giselle regenerating Candice's missing arm with her Schrift after it was accidentally blasted off by Ichigo's Getsuga Jūjishō,^[17] or Meninas carrying Candice to safety following her defeat by Byakuya Kuchiki.^[18]

Members

Bambies
Name	Nickname	Designation/Schrift	Spirit Weapon	Quincy: Vollständig
Bambietta Basterbine	Bambi	E: The Explode	Reishi Sword	Zofiel
Liltotto Lamperd	Lil	G: The Glutton	Heilig Bogen	Gagael
Meninas McAllon	Meni	P: The Power	Heilig Bogen	Pornipora
Candice Catnipp	Candi	T: The Thunderbolt	Heilig Bogen	Barbarriel
Giselle Gewelle	Gigi	Z: The Zombie	Heilig Bogen	Azhalbiora

Plot

The Thousand-Year Blood War arc

Per Yhwach's orders, the Sternritter gather at the Gate of the Sun before traveling to the Seireitei in order to participate in the conquest of Soul Society.^[19] There, both Bambietta Basterbine and Meninas McAllon confront Sajin Komamura and Rukia Kuchiki, with Bambietta medalizing the former's Bankai, Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō, while Meninas critically injures the latter.^[20] The two proceed to leave along with the rest of the Wandenreich in a Shadow portal.^[21]

Later, the Bambies were present during Yhwach's announcement of Uryū Ishida as his successor.^[22] After Bambietta Basterbine ivites Marcel Halpmann to her room and kills him in frustration, the group visits her and chastise her for her habit of killing attractive men when she is annoyed. As the group bickers among themselves, Bambietta blasts a hole through trough the wall and tells them to be quite, for she is worried about the Wandenreich's future.^[23] Afterwards, the Bambies attend a meeting with Jugram Haschwalth and the other Sternritter, where Haschwalth instructs them to kill the captains of the Gotei 13 whose Bankai they stole.^[24]

During the second invasion of Soul Society, Candice Catnipp's Quincy: Vollständig activated against her will, prompting complaints from Giselle Gewelle about its drawbacks. When Meninas pointed out that Bambietta had also activated her Vollständig, Giselle ominously stated that she was the last person who should have it.^[25] Meanwhile, Bambietta attacks a group of Shinigami with her Schrift, The Explode, but realizes that the other Bambies are missing and destroys the area around her in a fit of rage. She is confronted by Shinji Hirako, who uses his Zanpakutō, Sakanade, to invert Bambietta's senses before attacking her. However, she counters this by activating her Quincy: Vollständig^[26] and using an omnidirectional attack against Shinji.^[27] She is then confronted by Momo Hinamori and Komamura,^[28] with the latter engaging her in battle and defeating him with his reclaimed Bankai.^[29] As she laments her loss, the remaining Bambies find her gravely wounded, with Giselle abruptly killing her before using her Schrift, The Zombie, to reanimate her corpse.^[30][31]

Following Gremmy Thoumeaux's defeat by Kenpachi Zaraki, the Bambies (minus Bambietta) take advantage of Kenpachi's wounded and weakened state to attack him and kill several Shinigami of the Eleventh Division before debating among themselves who should land the killing blow.^[32] However, when Ichigo Kurosaki arrived, he quickly overwhelmed them, even when they attempted to even the odds using Quincy: Vollständig.^[10] After Candice lost her arm in battle, Giselle used The Zombie to regenerate it, but soon after, Bazz-B attacked them, shooting them all in the stomach using Burner Finger 1. Though severely burned, the Bambies managed to recover and prepared to fight Ichigo alongside the remaining Sternritter before Yhwach departed, unleashing a powerful blast that sent them flying.^[33]

Later, Giselle encountered Yumichika Ayasegawa and Ikkaku Madarame. Giselle attempted to good them into attacking her, but the pair saw through her tactics and deduced that attacking her must be to her advantage. When Yumichika accused Giselle of pretending to be a man, an enraged Bambietta summoned Giselle's corpse to blast them away.^[34] However, her fight was interrupted by the arrival of Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who used countermeasures to neutralize The Zombie, causing Giselle to lose control of her undead army. As a result, she was impaled by the zombified Kensei Muguruma and left to die.^[35] Despite this, she survived, drinking Bambietta's blood to recover while violently lashing out at her.^[36] She was later found by Liltotto Lamperd, who informed her that PePe Waccabrada had been killed and that Meninas had been incapacitated.^[37]

Previously, after Byakuya Kuchiki swiftly defeated NaNaNa Najahkoop, Robert Accutrone, and Candice, only Liltotto Lamperd and Meninas remained standing. While eating an apple, Liltotto acknowledged Byakuya's skill before wondering where PePe had gone.^[38] Soon after, Shūhei Hisagi, under PePe's control due to PePe's Schrift, The Love, attacked Byakuya as Liltotto and Meninas looked on. PePe then attempted to take control of them as well, launching a Love Kiss that Liltotto avoided, but Meninas was hit instead. Under PePe's influence, Meninas used her Schrift, The Power to enlarge her muscles and strike Liltotto, sending her flying.^[39] Liltotto, however, survived and later confronted PePe after Byakuya repelled him. As PePe desperately tried to plead for his life, Liltotto activated her Quincy: Vollständig, stating that he should take responsibility for his actions before devouring him with her Schrift, The Glutton.^[40][41] Later, Giselle asked Liltotto what happened to Meninas, to which Liltotto responded that she had dealt with her, though she likely wasn't dead. Shortly afterwards, the Bambies, along with most of the Wandenreich, are struck by Yhwach's Auswählen, much to their horror.^[42]

After surviving the Auswählen, Giselle and Liltotto sided with Bazz-B in an attempt to kill Yhwach as revenge for treating them as expendable pawns.^[43] Soon afterward, Bazz-B, Giselle, and Liltotto are given orbs to charge with their Reishi, and begin constructing the doorway alongside the Shinigami.^[44] Later, in Wahrwelt, the Bambies, who were all zombified by Giselle (save for Liltotto) and proceeded to massacre Yhwach's Soldat.^[13] However, when they confronted Yhwach himself, he effortlessly defeated them.^[11]

Trivia

• The Bambies were never given their name in the Bleach manga or anime series. Rather, Tite Kubo gave the group that name after the manga had already finished serialization.

Klub Outside Trivia

• According to Q&A #525 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside":^[45]
  • The overall ranking of the Bambies in regards to hand-to-hand combat is as follows: Liltotto > Meninas > Candice > Giselle > Bambietta.
  • The overall ranking of the Bambies in regards to Blut proficiency is as follows: Liltotto > Giselle > Meninas > Bambietta > Candice.

References