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Training
The majority of training for individuals wanting to become shinigami is done through the Shinigami Academy. It is a six-year academy, during which time its students learn to fight hollows and perform soul burial duties. While it is not clear, this academy seems to have been founded by Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai about 2000 years before the Bleach storyline.

Kido
A type of sorcery used by shinigami. They can be used for various purposes, such as healing, attacking, and restraining. Healing seems to be a more general skill, while attacking and binding require an incantation to be recited beforehand. Demon arts spells are divided into two major groups: blast spells, hado, used for direct attack, and binding spells, bakudo, which are spells that restrain someone or have other effects. These forms of demon arts spells are performed by calling out a complicated and often long-winded incantation followed by the name of the spell, which causes an effect once the name has been recited. Lesser versions of the spells can be used by calling out the name alone, but their effectiveness is reduced when used in such a fashion.

Hand-to-hand combat
Hand-to-hand combat, hakuda, in Bleach is not elaborated upon. Special forces troops, especially those of higher ranks such as Soifon, are known to be well-trained in this field.

Agility
Agility, hoho, like hand-to-hand combat, is not elaborated upon. Flash steps (shunpo), a movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow, is implied to be part of this category. Another, though not necessarily related, skill is the shinigami ability to walk on air using spiritual power. Though used quite liberally in the human world, shinigami seem to rarely make use of this skill while in Soul Society.

Swordsmanship
Swordsmanship, zanjutsu, is the most used form of combat among shinigami, since their zanpakuto is the most effective way of dispatching any given opponent. As the name suggests, it involves using a zanpakuto and its various special abilities to attack an opponent. In addition to its basic form, each zanpakuto has two enhanced forms: shikai and bankai, which change the sword's form to unlock its potential and that of its user.

Mission aids
To aid in their missions, particularly when said missions involve more than simply dispatching a hollow, shinigami have a number of unique items to assist them in their duties. In addition, it should be noted that all shinigami captains and lieutenants have their spiritual energy reduced by about 80% when they enter the human world by use of a spiritual limit, represented by a seal resembling the symbol unique to their division, in order not to cause unnecessary influence while there. In extreme cases where their full power is needed, they can request a limit release.

Gigai
In certain circumstances, a shinigami will need a way to stay in the human world for long periods of time, interact with the living, and/or recover their powers when the need arises, all of which they can't do in spirit form. Thus, the gigai was developed.

A gigai is an artificial body that allows shinigami to remain in the human world for an extended period, either due to temporary loss of powers or extended missions. While the body is synthetic, it functions and operates exactly like a natural one, including but not limited to blood flow and the like. Unlike the normal shinigami body, a gigai is detectable by humans who are not spiritually aware.

Artificial souls
Artificial souls, as the name suggests, are souls designed by shinigami scientists to separate a shinigami's spirit from a gigai, should they be inhabiting one, or to evict stubborn spirits from their corpses if necessary. When ingested, it forces the soul out of the body and takes control of it, operating in a pre-programmed manner until removed by the shinigami. It is commonly called Soul Candy, as the Shinigami Women Organization complained that the name gikongan wasn't cute and had it changed.[5] To fit with the more informal name, Soul Candy is contained in Pez-like dispensers with cartoony characters on top. The souls themselves apparently have personalities to match the cartoon character in question; for example, Rukia's favorite version, Chappy the Rabbit, is a hyperactive character that tries to hug Ichigo when given control of Rukia's gigai.

Modified souls
Because there are far more hollows than shinigami, the modified soul (modsoul) project was born in an attempt to even the gap. Modified souls are artificial souls designed to enhance regular human physiology, making them capable of battling hollows equally. For example, one modsoul may be able to run many times faster than a regular human while another may be many times stronger than normal. Kon, a recurring modsoul, has enhanced leg-strength. The modsouls are condensed into tiny, candy-like orbs and placed into corpses to achieve their function as soldiers to combat hollows. The modsouls were exterminated after the experiment proved to be a failure. Kon was somehow mixed into a batch of regular artificial souls and shipped to Kisuke Urahara's shop, where Rukia and Ichigo obtained it and unknowingly let it loose. Despite a standing order to dispose of all modified souls, they kept Kon and placed him into the body of a lion plushie. Rukia and Ichigo use Kon to possess Ichigo's body when his soul is expelled from his body to fight as a shinigami.

Memory replacement
In some cases, a human witnesses a shinigami purify a hollow or affect his surroundings in a significant way. To keep the incident a secret, shinigami perform memory replacement with an item called kikanshinki. In function, it operates almost exactly like the neuralizer in the Men in Black films. When used, a bird's head pops from the top of the device and produces a puff of smoke. The human it is used on is knocked unconscious and wakes up a while later with a new memory. However, the new memory that the human acquires is random and often based on the limits of what they themselves will believe. For example, Ichigo's family merely believed they slept through a truck crashing into their house when it was used on them. Conversely, Orihime Inoue, who has a much more active imagination, believed that her house was attacked by a gun-toting sumo wrestler.

Mobile phone
A vital tool for any shinigami stationed in the real world, this variation on a mobile phone functions both as a regular phone and as a communication line with Soul Society. It receives information about the time and exact location of a hollow's emergence via Global Positioning System (GPS). A shinigami's kills are also recorded in the phone and can be used as currenc.

Government and law
The main authority of the shinigami are the Central 46 Chambers, who serve the shinigami royalty. The Central 46 Chambers are made up of 40 wise men and 6 judges. They are sealed into an enclave in Seireitei called seijotokyorin which no one else may enter, regardless of their military or civilian status. The decisions of the 46 Chambers are final and unquestionable, regardless of what the decision may involve.

The only shinigami forces which do not answer to the Central 46 Chambers are the royal guard, which is said to have considerable power and tactical knowledge, and the Shinigami Academy.

It is also implied that shinigami receive salaries, like workers in the real world.

Judiciary
The Central 46 Chambers act as the shinigami judiciary and are responsible for judging and sentencing shinigami who have committed serious crimes, such as murder or treason. Punishments for less serious crimes may be given by other authorities, such as shinigami captains. It is implied that the Central 46 Chambers mostly deal with executions. With their deaths at the hands of Sosuke Aizen during the Soul Society arc, General Yamamoto has taken over their normal duties. There are several forms of executions in Soul Society, although only two have been revealed:

1. Spirit-sealing pit: The spirit-sealing pit is an ancient form of execution in which shinigami criminals are thrown into a pit walled with deathstone – a type of stone that absorbs spiritual power, preventing those nearby from using their powers. Hollows are then thrown into the pit with the criminals as the means of execution. The practice was considered too barbaric and discontinued.
2. Sokyoku: a form of execution usually reserved for those with extremely strong spiritual powers, namely shinigami captains. The Sokyoku is a giant halberd that utterly destroys a soul on contact. When released, Sokyoku takes on the form of a phoenix, its true form, called Kikoo. The Kikoo has the destructive power of one million zanpakuto, and that power is multiplied by a factor of 10 at the moment it pierces its victim.

Army
The shinigami army consists of three unique elements: the Gotei 13, the Kido Corps, and the special forces.

Kido Corps
There is currently little information on the Kido Corps, except that it takes students from the Shinigami Academy that excel in demon arts and that its operations are executed in absolute secrecy.

The Kido Corps is responsible for opening the senkaimon between the human world and Soul Society.

Special forces
Also called the Secret Mobile Unit/Corps or Covert Ops, the onmitsukido has five divisions. The top rank is the Executive Militia, the second is the Patrol Corps, and the fifth division is called the Reversal Counter Force or Correctional Force. The other two division names or functions are unknown. There is little information about the operations of the special forces.

The special forces are currently run by Captain Soifon of the Gotei 13's 2nd Division. She succeeded Yoruichi Shihouin, who departed Soul Society 100 years before the start of the Bleach storyline.

Ranks
The head of the special forces is called commander-in-chief. The leaders of each on the five divisions are ranked as corps commander, the real-life equivalent being Lieutenant General. Although it is unknown how other ranks work in the special forces, like in Gotei 13, the leader of the forces generally also commands its top division, which is the Executive Militia, but unlike in the Gotei 13, the force commander has several bodyguards.

Uniforms
Although the general special forces uniform appears to be the standard shinigami uniform, the Executive Militia uniform is different from the Gotei 13. Overall, it resembles a ninja uniform. It has no visible white undergarments and the sash is dark as opposed to white. A headpiece covers the bottom part of the face and sometimes the top, but not the eyes; they wear no sandals, but only socks, and tight bands are on the legs and arms to keep the clothes from moving too much, which both are presumably for silence of movement. In the anime, members of the Executive Militia also wear their head covering on the top, not just the bottom and wear a black sash instead of a white one.

The leader of the militia wears the same uniform, except that the shoulders and back are exposed. The reason for the empty space is the shunko technique, an advanced technique that combines hand to hand combat and kido and causes high spiritual pressure to accumulate at the shoulders and back, blasting away the fabric at the shoulders and back.

The Correctional Force uniform is radically different. The soldiers wear a white uniform, a long piece of headgear, and a backpack.

Gotei 13
The Gotei 13 is the organization which most shinigami join. It is split into thirteen divisions, with several divisions having certain specializations. The 4th Division is the medical/supply division, the 11th Division is the combat division, and the 12th Division is the research/scientific division. It's unclear if the other divisions are specialized, as the three above are the only ones who receive any significant attention apart from their members.

Ranks
As with any army, the Gotei 13 has ranks. There are 20 ranks for officers but no ranks for non-officers. The ranks and their descriptions are below, from highest to lowest.

Commander-General
The sotaicho is the leader of the Gotei 13 and the captain of the 1st Division; the implication is that this is an ex officio or a primus inter pares position. The current holder of this title is Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai.

Unit Commander
A Taicho, commonly referred to as Captain, are the leaders of the thirteen divisions. While "captain" is not an accurate translation of the rank, it's appropriate considering the size of the unit they lead. A single Gotei 13 'unit' is estimated at about 200-500 troops. Viz renders the units as 'companies' rather than 'divisions' because captains lead companies in real life. However, given that each Captain in Bleach leads a major part of a military wing or corps, they could be division commanders or Generals. Most literally, the name simply means 'unit commander', which could be practically any officer rank.

Captains are generally the most respected shinigami in Soul Society, with the Central 46 Chambers, Demon Art Corps, and special forces leaders possibly being on equal status. With one exception, all captains are able to perform the bankai of their zanpakuto and are generally much more powerful than even their lieutenants. Knowing the bankai gives captains an average of five to ten times the strength of shinigami who are unable to perform it. They have also extensively trained, if not mastered, their bankai, allowing them to actually use the enormous power effectively in battle. Most captains are also skilled in the use of shunpo, kido, and generally have excellent knowledge of shinigami history and battle tactics. All of these factors create a huge power-gap between captains and lower-ranked officers.

There are three different ways to become a Gotei 13 captain:

1. To take the captain proficiency test, which requires the ability to perform the bankai. Presumably, most shinigami become captains using this method. At least three existing captains, including the Commander-General, have to witness the test.
2. To have personal recommendations from at least six captains and approval from at least three of the remaining seven.
3. To defeat a captain one-on-one with at least 200 witnesses from the captain's division. Kenpachi Zaraki is the only known captain to have achieved his rank using this method.

Vice-unit Commander
Fukutaicho, more commonly referred to as Lieutenants, are the 2nd seated officers in each division. Because captain describes the unit commander, vice-captain is the most literally accurate translation some have used. The Viz manga translation renders the rank as the similar but somewhat longer "assistant captain", while the English dub of the anime uses the term "lieutenant". Although this does not apply to modern armies, in historical real-life armies the lieutenant has been the adjutant of the captain, as is the case for fukutaicho and taicho in Bleach. Therefore, lieutenant is a correct real-life equivalent of this rank. Holders of this rank in Gotei 13 have also been called adjutants.

Lieutenants function as executive officers for their division, taking care of or supervising day-to-day operations. They are not assigned to one specific squad. They generally only know the shikai of their zanpakuto, but are still the second strongest in their division. In the case of a division captain's death, departure, or other circumstances making him unable to perform their duties, the lieutenant acts as the substitute captain until another can be assigned.

Seated officers
Seated officers are the remainder of the officers in the Gotei 13 who hold ranks at or below 3rd Seat. Captains have the rank of 1st Seat and lieutenants are 2nd Seat. Next to that, there are 18 more seats. There seems to be a distinction between senior and junior seated officers, just like in real-life armies. In the Gotei 13, only one person can hold a senior officer rank, but there are several holders of junior officer ranks. This may vary from division to division however, as there are two 3rd Seats in the 13th Division.

Uniforms
Most Gotei 13 personnel wear the standard shinigami uniform, called shihakusho - a white kosode, a black kimono and hakama, and a white obi sash. Lieutenants sometimes also wear an armband which carries their division symbol and its number, usually on their left arm. They are required to do this when they are summoned to a meeting but apart from this it seems that it is rarely compulsory.

Captains wear a white haori over the usual black shinigami clothes, with the number of their division on the back, inside the Gotei 13 symbol. Those worn by senior captains have sleeves, while the others don't.

Gotei 13 officers, particularly captains and lieutenants, often customize their personal appearance or that of their uniform.

Hollows are former pluses that lose their hearts to despair or remain in the real world for too long. Any spirit that is not guided to Soul Society by a shinigami may eventually descend into a hollow. The process by which a soul becomes a hollow usually takes months, reflected by the length of the soul's Chain of Destiny, which resides in the same location as their heart would be. The Chain of Destiny slowly corrodes over time, reflecting the degradation of the soul's ties to the living world. The process can be accelerated under certain conditions, such as being attacked by another hollow or through the use of certain spiritual powers. When the chain completely decays, the soul is warped into a unique and monstrous form with a vaguely skeletal mask and a large hole where their chain was once connected.

In Bleach, the majority of ghosts peacefully move on to Soul Society after their deaths. Some, however, stay in the living world to fulfill certain goals, such as looking after a loved one, protecting a particular location, or pursuing a grudge from beyond the grave. However, with only limited abilities to interact with the living, and by definition tied to their goals, many ghosts find they are unable to cope when their loved ones move on or old enemies forget them. At this point, some will become dangerously obsessed with fulfilling those goals, even if the means to fulfill them renders the soul empty: for example, killing anyone who comes near a loved one, in order to keep them from hurting that person. In doing so, the ghost warps into a hollow and, ironically, often makes the focus of their obsession into their first victim, such as Orihime's brother, Sora, does.

Once a soul becomes a hollow, it is driven to devour other souls, living or dead, to fill the void caused by its descent. While their former obsession often becomes their first target, most hollows will eventually become mindless creatures concerned only with finding the most potent souls to devour. Stronger and more evil hollows are often able to retain some of their intelligence in hollow form, making them more dangerous than the average hollow. While most hollows are evil, or at the very least mindless, at least a few are not, as is the case with Nell Tu and her hollow companions.

The most distinctive feature of a hollow, their mask, is formed to protect the naked instinct that is left in a being after the loss of its heart, and in some ways is the tangible form of the hollow's madness. The masks of different hollows can differ greatly in shape and form, but they are always white and skull-like. The masks also obscure the original identity of the hollows, but if shattered, the hollow may be able to temporarily resume its original form and personality.

Hollows have widely varying physical characteristics and powers, and few hollows ever appear the same. In terms of appearance, hollows can range from furry or lizard-like in appearance to outright demonic. A hollow's abilities are often determined by their power. Weaker hollows usually only attack in a melee style, whereas stronger hollows have a wide array of abilities with which to kill their quarry. Hollows also vary in size, though it tends to be fairly consistent amongst the various classifications of hollows. In Hueco Mundo, some hollows are no larger than common pets. Most common hollows are about twice the size of an adult human, though it can vary to a degree. Huge hollows, aptly named for their size, are as large as two-story buildings. Finally, gillian-class menos are even larger than the huge hollows, standing as tall as a common skyscraper.

Hollows are usually killed by splitting their mask and head in two, but any sufficiently damaging wound will effectively dispatch them. When this is done by a shinigami's zanpakutō, the hollow is not truly killed; its spirit is purified of the sins it committed as a hollow. This allows the spirit within to enter the Soul Society as a plus. In cases where a hollow committed great sins as a mortal, its purification will summon the gates of hell, which drag the soul to its punishment. When a hollow is killed by a Quincy, however, it is destroyed, soul and all, which has potentially disastrous effects on the spiritual balance of the worlds. The series doesn't address the effects of other spiritual powers on hollows, such as those of Orihime Inoue or Yasutora Sado, but such occurrences are rare.

Menos
Though most hollows are simply transformed human souls, a sub-group of hollows known as menos exist. Menos are conglomerations of hundreds of normal hollows, resulting in a single composite entity of far greater strength than any normal hollow. Menos-class hollows are considered so dangerous that Soul Society sends only highly trained shinigami teams to handle menos incursions. These incursions seem to be rare, however, as menos rarely leave Hueco Mundo unless attracted by large sources of spiritual power or encouraged to by other forces.

Menos are created when the void within an ordinary hollow's heart becomes so substantial that human souls are incapable of sustaining it, at which point it begins devouring fellow hollows. These cannibal hollows are attracted to one another, and a mass inter-devouring follows, resulting in a gillian. Following this transformation, the gillian can evolve twice more, first into an adjuchas and finally into a vasto lorde, provided certain conditions are met. Menos evolution is not only contingent upon the menos eating other hollows, but also upon the menos' ability to avoid being eaten. If another hollow succeeds in devouring a part of their body, evolution becomes impossible.


Gillian-class menos are the weakest class of menos and the first stage of menos evolution. They are giant in comparison to other hollows, dwarfing even the largest standard hollows by at least the size of a two-story building, but lack agility and intelligence. While a gillian-class menos is quite powerful, they are still much weaker than a shinigami lieutenant. According to Tōshirō Hitsugaya, they are comparable to "foot-soldiers", reflected in their uniform appearance. In Soul Society, gillians are known as menos grande and are shown in textbooks discussing menos. Menos grande literally means "big minus" in Spanish or "less".

Though gillains usually have no personality to speak of, one of the many hollows that comprise it may retain control over the new entity, reflected in the unique mask it wears in comparison to a normal gillian. Only these gillian variants have the potential to evolve into adjuchas-class menos. The evolution is facilitated by the continued cannibalization of fellow hollows, even other gillians.

Adjuchas-class menos are the medium class of menos in terms of power, and the second stage in the menos evolution. Adjuchas can vary radically in appearance, from bulky humanoids to the jaguar-like form of Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. Unlike the gillians, they are roughly human-sized. They are also much smarter than the gillians and have the power to match. It is likely they could fight evenly with at least a shinigami lieutenant. They watch over the many gillian-class menos.

Adjuchas-class menos are much smaller in population compared to the gillian class, due to the rarity of any one hollow being capable of overwhelming the many other hollows that comprise the body of a gillian. Furthermore, the adjuchas must continue to devour hollows, or its mind will be absorbed by the hollows comprising its form and it will revert back into a gillian. The subsequent lack of an individual will also preclude the reverted gillian from becoming an adjuchas again.

Vasto lorde-class menos are the most powerful class of menos, and the final stage in the menos evolutionary line. They appear almost completely humanoid, and each one is stronger than an average shinigami captain; Tōshirō claims that ten of them under Sōsuke Aizen's control would be enough to defeat all of Soul Society. It seems that Aizen has important plans with them, but the details haven't been revealed. The remnants of Ulquiorra's mask resemble that of the example vasto lorde.

Vasto lorde are the least common form of menos, but the exact population is unknown. They are believed to reside within the very depths of Hueco Mundo. Apart from the need to cannibalize even more hollows, any special requirements for the creation of a vasto lorde are unknown.

Arrancar
An arrancar is a hollow that has removed its mask and gained shinigami powers. The name arrancar is a Spanish verb meaning "to remove" or "to rip off," a reference to an arrancar's removal of its hollow mask. In the manga, it is written as arankaru but has no native Japanese pronunciation, instead using the katakana for arankaru.

Few hollows have the potential to remove their masks normally, and even if they manage it the change is not significant. Sōsuke Aizen is able to artificially create arrancar with the Orb of Distortion, which also unlocks much more of their potential than a natural transformation would. The process of turning a hollow into an arrancar is called shinigamification.

Arrancar and ordinary hollows differ in two ways: the location of their holes and the near-total disappearance of their masks. When hollows become arrancar, the chances of them retaining a humanoid form increase with their intelligence; only vasto lorde-class arrancar will definitely assume a humanoid form. If powerful enough, an arrancar can seal his or her excess power into the form of a zanpakutō. Unlike with shinigami, this zanpakutō is by no means sentient. It is simply the hollow's true form sealed into a sword. Therefore, an arrancar's release of their zanpakutō is merely a temporary restoration of their former selves. An arrancar release is called resurrección. Arrancar do not have a known second release.

Those arrancar under Aizen's command also have a standard theme for their clothing. Their uniforms consist of a white jacket, black sash, white hakama, and black socks with white sandals; in essence, the uniforms are basically inverted shinigami uniforms.

Arrancar ranks
The arrancar under Aizen's command are arranged into various ranks based on their strength. Not all of the existing arrancar are under Aizen's command, mostly through lack of interest on Aizen's part.

The Espada are the top-ranked arrancar in Aizen's army. The Espada consist of nine males and one female. Each Espada member is chosen for their superior combat ability and then assigned a number from 1 to 10 that indicates their rank and relative power level, which is tattooed somewhere on their body. The Espada are given control over the Números. The Espada are regarded as the strongest arrancar in existence, and their strength far surpasses the average Número, similar to the power gap between captains and lieutenants in the Gotei 13. As stated by Aaroniero Arleri, he is the only Espada to have been a gillian before becoming an Espada.

The Números are the combat specialists. They are assigned a two digit number at birth from 11 to 99 to indicate their age. The basic Número uniform consists of a white-collared jacket and robes held with a black sash. However, the uniform is customizable, giving each Número a sense of individuality. The fighting ability of Números is thought to be superior to all other arrancar, except for the Espada. The Fracción are a subsection of the Números that directly serve a specific Espada. The number of Fracción for any given Espada varies: Stark would seem to have just one, while Szayel Aporro has at least a dozen.

The Privaron are former Espada who have lost their rank and are assigned a three-digit number. Being former Espada, they are far stronger than the normal Números. They reside in Tres Cifras, which translates literally from Spanish as "three digits". As mentioned by Dordonii, these former "naturally created" Espada were rendered obsolete after Aizen began artificially creating arrancar to meet his own standards.

The Exequias are arrancar that are part of the execution division, apparently charged with termination of intruders and rebels.

Powers
Like shinigami, hollows have a multitude of combat skills and abilities, most of which are usually unique to specific hollows. The more powerful hollows, however, have access to a range similar techniques of greater power or use than their own unique skills. Hollows usually acquire energy to power their abilities by devouring souls, but can also ingest energy from the air when in spiritual realms such as Hueco Mundo.

1. Cero are high-powered energy blasts that can be fired from the mouth or hand. Only menos, arrancar, and vizard have so far been shown to use cero attacks, and it appears that higher classes of hollow can use it more efficiently. It is unknown whether sufficiently strong regular hollows are capable of it, but Ichigo's inner hollow was able to use the attack when it fully took control of him during his training with the vizard. A more powerful version of cero exists called gran rey cero. Only Espada are capable of using this version of the technique. In Hueco Mundo, the power of the technique is such that it warps the space around the point it was fired from.
2. Negación fields are used to rescue fellow hollows. Only the gillian-class menos have shown the ability to use it. Negación fields surround a target in a square beam of light that isolates the target from the dimension they are currently in, making it impossible to harm them. The field then pulls the target towards the menos that created the field. Espada have a special cube-shaped device called Caja Negación meant to simulate negación fields, which are used to punish their subordinates if necessary. The cube, when used on a subject, traps them in an alternate dimension from which there is no escape; however, this assumes it's being used as intended. More powerful arrancar, namely the Espada themselves, can escape given enough time.
3. Gonzui is a technique used by Yammy to absorb the souls from a large number of living people over a very wide area. It is only effective on people with low spiritual power.
4. Pesquisa is the arrancar equivalent of the shinigami ability to sense spiritual pressure. It functions similar to sonar.
5. Hierro refers to the ultratough skin of the arrancar, which is a result of their compressed spiritual power. While their skin is strong enough to block even released zanpakutō bare-handed, it is by no means impenetrable. Stronger arrancar have proportionally stronger skin.
6. Sonido is the arrancar equivalent of the shinigami flash steps; it allows the user to travel at incredibly high speeds for short distances. Use of sonido is punctuated by a brief static sound, in contrast to the "swish" sound used for flash steps.
7. Bala is a weaker but quicker alternative to the regular cero attack. The technique hardens the user's spiritual pressure and fires it at around twenty times the speed of a cero blast.
8. Garganta is how arrancar move to and from Hueco Mundo. Kaname Tōsen has also demonstrated the ability to use the technique. It literally tears open the dimensional fabric separating the worlds, revealing a tunnel of whirling, torrential energy that must be focused and solidified to create a discernible pathway. When used, the technique opens the dimensional fabric like a door.

The Bounts were created as the accidental result of an explosion during an experiment by the predecessor to the Seireitei Technological Institute. The experiment was an attempt to develop eternal life using the already slow-aging shinigami souls as the base, but the materials used in the experiment crossed with the development of souls in the real world and led to the creation of a new spiritually-active human race, the Bount.

The Bount souls were scattered about the world, giving rise to a new race that never aged after reaching their twenties or thirties. They were generally treated as outcasts due to the fact that they did not age. The shinigami scientist responsible for their creation, Rantao, gathered most of the Bount into a small community in a secret cave structure, several centuries before the main storyline. It was her intent to improve the quality of life for the people whose sufferings she felt responsible for.

However, the embarrassment of this accidental creation, as well as the fact that a tenth of Seireitei was destroyed in the resulting explosion and the possible threat they posed to the balance between the worlds, led the Chamber of 46 to rule that the experiment and its failure was to be covered up, and the Bount destroyed. Shinigami were dispatched to kill the Bount community, but a handful survived, including a young boy saved by Rantao herself, to whom she gave a seal that would help unlock the Bounts' true power.

The Bount who survived the massacre wandered nomadically and eventually fell prey to constant attacks by hollows. It was during this time that the boy, who would later become known as Eugene, activated the seal's power and merged with his doll - the Bount equivalent to a shinigami's zanpakuto - and killed off the attacking hollows. The survivors eventually found refuge in another cave and began planning to return to Soul Society, which they saw as more of a home than the real world ever could be. Eugene, now an adult, was against this plan. He had witnessed the massacre and believed the only thing that would await the Bount if they returned to Soul Society would be subservience or death. Regardless, the Bount leadership decided to gain access to Soul Society by means of the Quincy's powers. The Quincy were unwilling to assist, and a battle ensued in which the Quincy and shinigami killed most of the remaining Bount.

Further infuriated by this, Eugene took the last few surviving Bount, all of whom were of a similar mindset to him, and began plotting revenge on Soul Society. These Bounts managed to perfect the control of their dolls, and by the time of the main storyline Eugene, now going by Jin Kariya, was ready for his revenge.

Powers
The Bounts's inability to age is a product of how they survive: consuming human souls. This gives them potentially everlasting youth so long as they can find souls to consume. This also seems to make them infertile, as only one Bount, Yoshino Sōma, had the ability to reproduce out of the entire species. Normally, Bount consume human souls that have already died. Under the leadership of Jin Kariya, however, they began consuming living souls. Consuming living souls causes a Bount to physically age to a small degree; the only person to have consumed enough to have noticeably aged is Sawatari, who appears as if he is well into his eighties while normal Bount retain an appearance of someone in their twenties or thirties.

Dolls
Bount, being created as variations on a shinigami soul, have similar powers to shinigami. The foremost of these powers is the Bount doll, a familiar equivalent to the shinigami zanpakutō. Like a zanpakutō, a doll is its creator's power given physical form. Also like a zanpakutō, a doll's personality is much like its creator's, though the dolls seem to have more personality variation than the zanpakutō spirits seen thus far.

The main difference between a doll and a zanpakutō is how they operate. Unlike a zanpakutō, whose personality is generally dormant except when the shinigami wishes to speak to them, a doll's personality is always dominant. Dolls are self-sufficient when released, though they can easily be resealed. The Bount's ability to control their doll is largely based on their individual power and relationship with the doll. Moreover, if either the doll or its Bount partner sustains severe damage in a battle, the Bount may lose control over his doll, depending on the amount of damage dealt. If a doll is injured, it will simply return itself to its sealed state. However, should its master be injured, the doll may go berserk and kill its master, as Ugaki and Mabashi's dolls did. A doll may also kill a Bount who is not powerful enough to contain it, as was the case with Cain.

Like a zanpakutō, dolls are generally sealed into an object and released as necessary. The object varies greatly from person to person and is often an expression of the doll's abilities. In order to call upon a Bount's doll, the phrase "Zeige Dich" is said, which is a German phrase meaning "Show yourself."

To summon a doll, a Bount needs to undergo a ritual where they chant an incantation. These instructions were first given to young Kariya by Rantao after the shinigami attack. The ritual includes sulfur, phosphorus, carbon, water, fat, magnesium and lime. When a doll is summoned, it is small in size and power, but grows as the Bount's power grows.

Bitto
Jin Kariya and Ugaki were also able to create a unique form of dolls known as the bitto. The bitto are mosquito-like beings which drain the souls from humans and condense the energy into a purified liquid for the Bount to drink. They even produce a useful vial in their sacs to store the elixir. Kariya created the bitto by sacrificing Yoshino Sōma, the only Bount able to reproduce, in an elaborate ritual, producing a large swarm of them.