Were Stark and Baraggan Arrancar before joining Aizen?


In both Baraggan's and Stark's flashbacks, they look the same as in present.

Did they become Arrancar on their own? However, if they did then how could
Aizen promise Baraggan more power?




We have to disambiguate normal Hollow from Arrancar. Normal Hollow don't
retain much in the way of a human-like form and are relatively mindless beasts
consumed with the hunger for powerful souls. Arrancar evolve Soul Reaper-like
powers and remove their mask, allowing for a human-like appearance. The higher
in rank the Arrancar, the more human-like they appear.

It is perfectly possible for a Hollow to evolve _on their own_ into an
Arrancar of varying rank. That is to say, there are natural Arrancar in Hueco
Mundo who were at a specific power level before Aizen approached them. Several
of Aizen's court were at _Adjuchas_ and _Vasto Lorde_ levels before he
arrived.

In the case of Barragan Louisenbairn and Coyote Starrk, not _only_ were they
already Arrancar, but given that they are the _Secundo_ and _Primero_ Espada
respectively, it is more than likely that they were already _Vasto Lorde_.

