How to Hollow-Breed.

Foreword: As playing a Hollow is my favourite race, I decided to write up a guide on how to assist in playing them. This can also be known as "How to suck at Hollow" and "A Hollow's Guide for Not Being Universally Hated". Also assume if I mention Hollow, I'm talking about normal Hollows and their cousins Arrancar for the sake of simplicity. The plural of Hollow is Hollow. As of this guide I've ran a Prestige Arrancar and a Hollow (soon to be Prestige). I'm probably qualified? Maybe? To be honest the further I get in this guide the more I come to the conclusion that anybody could read some of the sections and still get something out of it. I imagine it's some essential Bleach Gotei reading Volume One for the player who wants to get an edge on the competition.

Last Updated: 14/06/2016 
                  -> Should always be relevant though

Table of Contents

Things To Do Before Reading This Guide.

Make a Coming and Going Thread
    -> Say Hi to the community.
Read the Rules
    -> A lot of the content discussed in this guide assumes you've read the rules. Sometimes I include things within the rules but that's more for a logical process of reasoning than anything.
Join the Chatbox
    -> Make some friends, experience the culture!
Contact Kionchi about a Big Brother or Sister
    -> The best way to get a head start and the best start possible for you on Bleach Gotei.

Handy Tools To Use In General.

Lazarus
    -> I don't know what the Firefox equivalent is, but it probably exists. Use this!!! Save your apps and posts from awkward deletion.

Link
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Difficulty

Hard
To begin this guide, I might as well start by saying that being a Hollow-breed is hard. Do not expect a walk in the park, do not expect people to want to actively thread with you. Do not expect any of these things. Being a Hollow Breed is not only about being active IN CHARACTER but also actively looking for threads OUT OF CHARACTER. Unlike a Shinigami who can literally waltz into any thread anywhere (bar Hueco Mundo) and be treated positively. A Hollow is always treated negatively, this of course leads to the common misconception that your Hollow-breed clearly wants to kill somebody; when in reality most Hollows only want to kill somebody if they are A. Hungry or B. If You've given them a valid reason to be hungry.

Hollow are without a doubt the hardest race to play but on the upside, they are the most "free" race to play and that is why I enjoy playing them.

Humans are restricted to the Human World and a story arc that is completely up to the authors interpretation.
Shinigami are restricted by Hierarchy and Law attempting to build a relationship with a spirit.
Hollow only need to worry about themselves and sometimes things that happen in the world the affect their eating habits or Aspect of Death. 

Now the question I have for you, is will you find the experience of playing a Hollow satisfying? Hell yes, you're playing a monster. Just don't expect playing a monster to be easy, you'll have to play outside of your comfort zone. Be dominated by forces that you as a human have never experienced and most of all struggle to survive in a world that wants to kill you. Overall it's a great time and it's the most satisfactory experience that Bleach Gotei has to offer. 

It's here that I quote one of our prestige Hollow players, Nazomi. He has a great quote that sums up why being a Hollow breed sucks: "I do NOT KILL unless you cross big red lines that you are warned not to cross in character". Take this quote as your first big piece of advice from me when you are playing a Hollow and I'll go into this more later. Do not make a Hollow to kill. Make a Hollow to enjoy the process of going to kill.

Hollow are objectively harder than Arrancar to play. Hollow end game is objectively more satisfying however. 

Planning Your Character:
"Describe, don't define" - Me.

Before we start on the Application, most of the writers on Bleach Gotei suggest brainstorming as a valid way of first establishing what you want your character to be. As a Hollow Breed there are a few things to consider, these things will help establish a foundation as you flesh our your character and will form the skeleton of what they are.

Hollow or Arrancar: Both are different, Hollow are Humans that have become Animals and Arrancar are Animals pretending to be Humans. Wait, hold on Iko! Aren't all Hollow Breeds the same, shouldn't their definitions be similar? No. Because like most the content in this guide, a Hollow Breed is strongly defined by interpretation and interpreting your Hollow Breed in a certain way makes all the difference. Arrancar are Hollow who have broken their masks and discarded their bestial nature to be Human again, what this means is that everything that they are hides a monster. They can't run away from what they once were, the hunger is gone - sure. But they are still seen as monsters and that becomes a defining point for an Arrancar character, at some point they need to confront the beast within.

Hollows however are slightly different, unlike Arrancar who were once Hollow, Hollow were once humans. Behind all of their actions is the intent of the person they once were amplified by the hunger that gnaws at their bellies. Hollows are the monsters of man, the worst aspects of society taken to an extreme. Their cousins the Arrancar are shying away from these extremes whilst the Hollow? They are embracing it! Revelling in it! Consuming all that get in their path to sate their hunger. Hollow are true monsters whilst Arrancar are monsters playing as men. ALWAYS remember this when writing your character as the fine nuances that differ between Arrancar and Hollow can make the character more enjoyable for you.

Mask and Hollow Hole: A mask can help solidify your characters theme. Most Arrancar use their mask fragments as a symbol of what they once were (perhaps what they are running away from). Hollow use it as a symbol of what they are. Remember, underneath a Hollows mask is naked instinct, the Hollows soul revealed to the world. Arrancar have freed their naked instinct to hide from the monster they were. Their mask or fragment should reflect this. Hollow Holes on the other hand when brainstorming are more minor but it is relevant to discuss them, a Hollow Hole should almost always be located on over their heart, however if as a Human another part of their body was more relevant; it is sometimes warranted to put a hole there. Do not be the special snowflake who puts his hollow hole through his left eye because he thinks it's cool and badass. Nnoitora was corrupted by his own ego, so his Hollow Hole reflects how his perspective of the world was skewed.

Aspect of Death and Traits:  Be brave or be meek. Be smart or be dumb. Be cunning or be obnoxious. Do not be defined by your Aspect of Death. An Aspect of Death is a facet of your characters personality that drives them, it provides justification to their actions because that was what they were how or how they came to be. An Aspect of Death does not define WHAT your character is but rather WHY they are the way they are. An Arrancar of Lust might enjoy sex and being attracted to people but they are a three dimensional character, not a two dimensional one. An Arrancar of Lust is allowed to love and is allowed to hate, not every situation and encounter must revolve around their lust. Nor must an Arrancar of Rage end every encounter with them flipping a table and smashing faces. An Aspect of Death is a fundamental limitation of the character but not what defines them. 

Let's talk about two dimensionality for a moment, it's extremely relevant when creating characters of any race. If your character is so defined by their "Aspect of Death" then it's inevitable. You will create a flat, boring character. When imagining Hollow or Arrancar we see a terrible monster that is inherently evil and only exists to kill. But that monster has feelings, that monster has friends and perhaps a family. They changed who that Hollow was more than their Aspect of Death ever did. Think about the impact your two dimensional character will have on others, do you really want to be known as the "Evil Edgy Arrancar" who nobody wants to thread with because that threat of death has been amplified ten fold? Or do you want to be known as the "Well rounded misunderstood character who is running from what he actually doesn't want to be" now some would argue that this is objectively worse. However, great role playing and a well thought out character will quickly nullify those opinions.

Hollow I'm calling you out for a moment here. Your overall hunger that drives your actions? It is not the same as an Aspect of Death but in regards to planning your character consider it. I will talk more about hunger later, but it's roleplay significance is greater than an Aspect of Death. When planning your character consider hunger as being MORE relevant than an Aspect of Death and have your A.O.D fuel your hunger.

Super Cool Tip: Use this site and have a scroll through for ideas on your personality traits. Aim for about seven positive ones and seven negative ones that all relate and do not clash. For example sophisticated and suave are exactly the same fucking thing and nobody has heard of a wise but ignorant scholar. u dumb. Unless you have reasoning. Reasoning! Reasoning is your best weapon if you have traits that clash, always remember this!

If you're struggling on Aspects of Death. Try the seven deadly sins. Nobody gon judge you on if you have a bland Aspect of Death. Quality not Commonality. (ha).

Intelligence versus Intelligence: This can also come under "How to be a mindless monster without the mindless part". Now a common problem I see with Hollow and Arrancar is that people distinguish the two between the level of intelligence. Wrong. Never do this, Hollow are inherently more child-like and part of being a Hollow is becoming more "mature". Do not assume you are playing an animal with fundamental instinct. Especially if you want to be playing a Hollow that cannot speak (this'll be boring for you and boring for your roleplay partners) It's easier to assume that your Hollow is one of the special few who can form words and sentences. Just like if you play an Arrancar who doesn't know anything about the world, there's a solid difference between being dumb and being ignorant. Ignorance can be cured with reason and examples. Stupidity is simply your character being unable to function in any real life scenario and to be quite honest if your character can't reason as to how a "Las Noches" exists, then quite frankly I don't know how they made it so far along as a Hollow.

Which brings us to our next section.

How you came to be: Aight. Listen here. If you're a Hollow and you want to start as an Adjuchas. SERIOUSLY consider this. I'd advise starting as a basic Hollow and using the Gillian transformation as a means to become an Adjuchas. Likewise if you're an Arrancar and you think you're cool because you broke your mask as a Vasto Lorde? Then you must have been a special snowflake to do so. I would SERIOUSLY recommend starting at basic Hollow if you are a Hollow and breaking your mask as an Adjuchas or below. Mainly because Vasto Lorde are prestige and the massive power decrease requires ALOT of reasoning as to why your character thought it was a good idea (really just more effort in the long run).

Furthermore, pay really close attention to your subtle themes when writing your history. Integrate something that caused your Aspect of Death to come to be, also make sure you have a legitimate reason as to why your character stuck around and became a Hollow and why they eventually broke their mask. Usually I go for the whole "Lil Jimmy dies from _____ that is related to his Aspect of Death ____" and then "His Aspect of Death and/or inferiority make him break his mask". The inferiority is a big reason why Arrancar come to be and why being a Vasto Lorde never made quite that much sense to me. BUT Iko! It happened in Bleach. Yes, well this is Bleach Gotei and there's no Hogyoku. So go away.

Powers: Honestly this is the hardest section for me to write. I suck at powers. Consider how your character came to be and how you want to impact other characters. Do you want a support type character? Ranged or Melee? Combat or Social? A power should reflect how you want your character to be in the roleplaying setting. A power that impacts their combat prowess should relate to a character that fights a lot. A power that relates to impacting characters directly should relate to a character that is fairly social. It is however important to note that Arrancar and Hollow EVOLVED their power to SURVIVE, so keep that in mind. A power that makes fluffy unicorns despite being very cool, doesn't make sense for a Hollow. I'd advise scrolling down to the "Mechanics" section and having a read on character builds if you are really considering the combat implementations of your power.


So basically your progression of your powers should be something like

Hollow -> Start as Basic Hollow -> Go Gillian and become Adjuchas (Bankai Equivalent) -> Become Vasto (Prestige Equivalent).

OR

Arrancar -> Get Russureccion (Bankai Equivalent)  -> Get Segunda Etapa (Prestige Equivalent).


Stuck on Power?: Do the rest of your application first! A power is the essence of the character made manifest!

Lore: Uh BG's lore is long. So scroll down to the section on this and have a read, it's usually advised to incorporate a wee bit in your history just to add some HEY I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT ASPECT. But if you don't want to. Don't. I know the pain of trying to write something you weren't apart of, so just give a good reason as to why your character didn't care but make it real good, y'hear?

Names and Hollow Names: Remember, a title like "Fishhook" is a Hollow Name an actual name is "Kurosaki Ichigo". This is a pretty important difference considering Kurosaki Ichigo could become the Hollow known as Fishhook.

Application: Now write your application. I won't write too much here about how you should go about it. Just apply the advice above where it counts. Write well, carry your metaphors through your character and have a non-boring history. Also don't worry about grade, your grade doesn't matter. Any GP you get from your app is easily earned back via milestones ANYWAY and that's the biggest loop hole I know for not caring about your grade. Shit, my first character got nine hundred growth points. You kids have it lucky. Hur hurr.