In the pages of Shonen Jump, there have been many absurdly powerful villains over the years, ranging from Buu to Dio. However, there’s no arguing who the strongest villain ever featured in Shonen Jump is: it’s Bleach’s Yhwach, and it’s not even close.

Yhwach is the villain of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc of Bleach, the series’ final story arc. As a Quincy, a type of spiritually aware human, Yhwach had a variety of interesting powers already. However, Yhwach wasn’t just an ordinary Quincy; he was revealed to be the son of the Soul King, Bleach’s God, and has all manner of insane powers from that as well. In fact, Yhwach is special even for a Quincy, possessing a variety of abilities which make him almost completely undefeatable.

Yhwach’s Powers Are Too Strong and Too Numerous

Yhwach Has a Plethora of Powers That Are Phenomenally Tough

Yhwach has a laundry list of powers, ranging from the relatively mundane (for Bleach, anyway) to the absolutely godlike. Firstly, Yhwach’s Quincy powers are well trained; he can perform the Blut Vene, a defensive technique which can block sword slashes. He’s a master at manipulating reishi (spirit particles), and can form swords and bows out of the energy around him. He’s also skilled in Quincy incantations, and the Hirenkyaku technique, which allows him to move faster than can be seen. He’s incredibly resilient, and his spiritual pressure is off the scale.

Yhwach also has special powers as king of the Quincy. Yhwach is able to distribute pieces of his soul to others in the form of a “Schrift,” a special ability unique to each person aligned with a letter. He can later reclaim this power, taking back not only what he gave them, but any growth it may have experienced as well. Yhwach can also perform the Auswahlen, which allows him to strike down other Quincy, no matter where they are in the world, and steal their powers and abilities for himself. He can even use this to heal, and revived his elite soldiers with it when they died.

Then, Yhwach has his own Schrift, “The Almighty.” This ability allows Yhwach to see into all possible futures and subvert the ones where he fails. He can even break causality, such as when he destroyed Ichigo’s sword in the future, breaking it in the present. This makes him basically impossible to actually attack, as he can always see it coming and set up a trap. And all this is before he gains the Soul King’s powers, which allow him to overrun opponents with materialized power and set up barriers that are all but impenetrable.

Yhwach’s Weaknesses Are Far Less Numerous Than His Powers

Yhwach Only Has a Handful of Weaknesses

Normally characters this strong have some sort of Achilles’ heel, and that’s the case for Yhwach as well. Yhwach can only be killed by a substance known as Still Silver, which is formed in the hearts of the victims of his Auswahlen. This material is extremely difficult to obtain, as one would essentially have to extract it from the dead Quincy’s body after an Auswahlen. Yhwach is immune to nearly everything else; even the Quincy’s usual weakness to Hollows doesn’t apply to him.

Yhwach’s Almighty also has one weakness: it can’t predict the actions of aspects of the Soul King, such as its hands or heart. This allowed Ukitake to surprise Yhwach with his attempt at stopping Yhwach from absorbing the Soul King, although it ultimately didn’t amount to much. The Almighty power itself is also only with Yhwach while he’s conscious; when he sleeps, it goes to Jugram Haschwalth, and if Haschwalth were to be killed while in possession of it, it would be destroyed.

So, How Was Yhwach Defeated in the Manga?

Yhwach’s Manga Defeat is Considered Disappointing

In the Bleach manga, Yhwach is defeated when Uryu is given a Still Silver arrowhead by his father. Uryu manages to get a shot off while Yhwach is dealing with Aizen and Ichigo. This gives Ichigo the chance to deal a fatal blow, finally destroying the villain. The Still Silver doesn’t even come up until relatively late, and there’s no indication of where this information came from, so many fans dislike this weakness. Ichigo’s new powers don’t really play any role in Yhwach’s defeat, making them feel pointless.

Yhwach is so absurdly powerful that it took a miracle for Ichigo and friends to defeat him in Bleach, and for that reason, he’ll long hold the title of Shonen Jump’s most powerful villain.