‘Bleach’: Why Was Gremmy Unable to Defeat Kenpachi?

Gremmy Thoumeaux is known as Sternritter V – “The Visionary,” and his unique ability allows him to manifest anything he imagines in Bleach. And although he has his weaknesses, Gremmy calls himself the strongest Sternritter of them all, and his power is truly an example of how ludicrous and ridiculous the powers of the Sternritter can become. But nonetheless, Gremmy Thoumeaux was a very interesting character, and while we did not see much of him in the series – he had only one fight, and that was that – he made a big impact. In this article, we will be dealing with Gremmy’s fight against Kenpachi Zaraki during the second invasion of the Seireitei, which happened not long after Kenpachi learned the name of his zanpakuto. Gremmy thought himself to be invincible, but he ultimately lost to Zaraki. How? Keep reading to find out!

During the fight, Gremmy was surprised to observe how Kenpachi handled everything Gremmy shot at him. Kenpachi’s power was so great that Gremmy could not defeat him, whatever he imagined, which is why he called Kenpachi a monster. In the end, he decided to imagine himself being as powerful as Kenpachi, hoping that he could defeat him like that, but his body simply couldn’t handle that much power, and he died, revealing his True Form before disappearing completely.

The rest of this article will be dedicated to Gremmy Thoumeaux and his powers and abilities. We are going to give you a brief insight into Gremmy’s powers and abilities while, at the same time, detailing his fight against Kenpachi. The goal is not to describe the fight in detail but to provide you with a proper answer that will help you understand how Kenpachi’s raw strength was enough to defeat Gremmy’s seemingly limitless imagination. This article will contain a lot of major spoilers, so be careful if you haven’t actually read the Bleach manga, as this article will reveal a lot.

Even Gremmy’s imagination did not create enough to solve the enigma of Kenpachi’s raw power

Gremmy first appeared to terrorize Isane and Yachiru, who were healing the injured Shinigami in secret (although his creation, Shaz Domino, was seen attacking Akon earlier but was defeated by Ichigo, supposedly).

He first manifested Guenael Lee, a creepy old guy, but then revealed himself before a shocked Isane, telling her that he had just killed the wounded Captains Muguruma and Otoribashi. Yachiru tried to fight him, but he turned her bones into cookies upon contact, but Kenpachi’s arrival saved her.

Kenpachi had no clue who Gremmy was and immediately began fighting him, tempting him – as he does all of his opponents – to use his full powers because only then would their fight become meaningful.

And while Gremmy initially wondered how Kenpachi was so self-confident, he would soon observe the extent of his raw power. We know that Gremmy’s ability is called The Visionary, and it is an amazing skill, really, as it allows Gremmy to manifest anything he imagines.

Given how vivid and detailed Gremmy’s imagination was, the power seemed to have no end. His impact also extends to everyone he comes into contact with (such as when he transformed Yachiru’s bones into cookies) and the surrounding area (such as when he altered the Seireitei to prepare for his fight against Kenpachi). This power also allowed him to heal himself and increase his defense and Reiatsu.

Kenpachi was initially able to cut him, but Gremmy soon healed himself, and Kenpachi had trouble fighting him later on. Gremmy hurled Kenpachi into outer space, hoping it would kill him, but he was unsuccessful.

After Kenpachi was able to endure all of his attacks, he even copied himself and then summoned a gigantic meteor that was supposed to destroy the Seireitei as well, but Kenpachi simply cut it in two with Nozarashi, which scared Gremmy majorly. Gremmy realized that Kenpachi was a monster, and this is also where the limitations of his powers came into the spotlight.

Kenpachi made him lose his focus, so some of these visions actually disappeared (this is how Yachiru was saved). Kenpachi also made Gremmy doubt himself, so for a moment, he almost envisioned himself dying, which would have been fatal for him in the most literal sense of the word; namely, Kenpachi was the only one ever to actually engage him in a fight and before being mauled by Kenpachi’s power, Gremmy never really understood the meaning of a fight, so when he was finally faced with the possibility of a loss, he almost imagined himself dying.

But, these two weaknesses of his The Visionary are not the issue. They are not what caused his ultimate downfall. It was the third major limitation, which also had to do a lot with Kenpachi’s power.

As we have said, Gremmy’s The Visionary allowed him to increase his Spiritual Pressure as well. All he needed to do was imagine himself being as strong as his opponent, but he wasn’t the best judge of an opponent’s power in that aspect. He could decipher it in absolute terms but not in relative ones in relation to his own limitations. So, after realizing that Kenpachi was too powerful for his imagination, he simply imagined himself being as powerful as Kenpachi, which was his fatal blunder.

Kenpachi Zaraki has one of the strongest Reiatsu in the series, so his power had to be restrained by the Central 46. The limits of his power are unknown. And while Gremmy managed to imagine himself being as strong as Kenpachi, he did not realize that his body couldn’t handle it.

Kenpachi’s raw power was so strong that Gremmy’s body simply broke apart, and he realized, as his True Form was revealed, that he could mimic Kenpachi’s power, but his body simply couldn’t control that much power – only Kenpachi’s could. And that is why he was unable to defeat him.