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Name: Kurosaki Ichigo
Age:15

Ichigo Kurosaki (黒崎 一護, Kurosaki Ichigo) is the protagonist in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. The series begins with Ichigo receiving shinigami powers as a result of a run-in with Rukia Kuchiki, the shinigami assigned to patrol Karakura Town. These powers come at the cost of Rukia's own, and as a result, Ichigo concedes to work as Rukia's stand-in, fighting to protect people from evil spirits called hollows and sending good spirits, pluses, to Soul Society. According to Shonen Jump's character popularity polls, Ichigo is consistently the most popular character in Bleach.

Chartacter Outline
Ichigo is a 15-year-old who attempts to cultivate a detached image, for which he keeps his eyebrows constantly furrowed. Ichigo has natural orange hair, a fact that annoys many upperclassmen in his school, who constantly pick fights with him. Ichigo claims that he does not care what others think (both about his hair and other subjects) and seems to enjoy fighting the bullies.

Ichigo is also a capable student, ranked at 23 of 322 in his school. Ichigo regularly studies and doesn't neglect his schoolwork, due to the fact that he has nothing better to do at home. It is later revealed that Ichigo works so hard only to overcome the misconceptions that many teachers tend to have about him, based on his hair color and interactions with other students.

Ichigo possesses the unusual ability to see spirits as a consequence of his innate spiritual power. After the full extent of Ichigo's immense spiritual power is unlocked as a consequence of his meeting with Rukia Kuchiki, as well as his subsequent inability to control it, many of his friends begin to develop spiritual powers due to their proximity with him. Frequent exposure to Ichigo's energy causes several of his classmates to become spiritually aware, and some even develop their own unique powers as a result.

Ichigo lives with his father Isshin Kurosaki and his two younger sisters, Yuzu and Karin. His father runs a small medical clinic in their house, and recruits the entire family in his business. While Ichigo's father is portrayed as a comical, inept character who often challenges his son with mock attacks and berates him for being late for dinner, Karin also has the ability to see spirits and Yuzu acts as the de facto mother of the family.

Ichigo likes chocolate and spicy food. His favorite celebrities are Al Pacino and Mike Ness and the person he admires most is William Shakespeare. He is uncomfortable around nude or immodestly dressed women despite the "tough guy" image he tries to maintain.

Ichigo's name, written with homophone kanji, means 1 and 5 when separated as ichi (一) and go (五), the reason behind the two numbers' frequent appearances in the series. The word ichigo (イチゴ), written in yet another way, actually means "strawberry" in Japanese, and is normally only used as a girl's name; when the gatekeeper Jidanbō teases Ichigo about this fact, Ichigo proudly states that his name is spelled with ichi (一) as in "one" and go (護) from "guardian". Ichigo's father once told him that his name means "he who protects."

History
Ichigo's mother, Masaki Kurosaki, began taking him to a dojo to learn karate when he was four years old. There, he met and fought with Tatsuki Arisawa, whom he lost to the first few times. Whenever this happened, he would start crying, only to stop instantly when comforted by his mother, to whom he was deeply attached. Tatsuki described Ichigo as a thin child, who looked very happy and always smiled when around his mother.

When Ichigo was nine, Masaki was killed by the hollow Grand Fisher, although Ichigo did not find out the true cause of her death until early in the main Bleach storyline. After her death, Ichigo was distraught and stood on the shore where his mother was killed for days. The entire Kurosaki family transformed at the death of Masaki — Karin became tough and did not cry again, while Yuzu took up the household chores. Prior to learning about Grand Fisher, Ichigo felt guilty for his mother's death, blaming himself for wandering too close to the water and causing her to put herself in harm's way to save him. Even after that, Masaki's death continues to influence Ichigo by causing him to feel guilt for his inability to protect those close to him: because of this guilt, Ichigo developed a resolute will to gain the power to protect his loved ones. This is a recurring theme in many of Ichigo's battles, particularly the assertion that his reasoning is the opposite of what he claims: his opponents often charge that he protects his loved ones in order to fight, not the other way around.

Three years before the main storyline, Orihime Inoue's older brother Sora died in the Kurosaki clinic from injuries acquired in a car accident. Ichigo watched as Orihime cried for her brother, although he did not find out that the crying girl he saw was Orihime until a short time before the main storyline.

While in junior high school, Ichigo met Yasutora Sado, then from Mashiba Junior High, who helped him out of a fight. Ichigo called him Chad because of the nametag he was wearing, which can be read either Sado or Chad, and continued using the name after being corrected. Chad, although extremely strong, was often the target of beatings because he refused to fight for his own sake due to a promise he had made as a child to his grandfather. Upon discovering this, Ichigo made a deal with Chad in which they both agreed to fight and risk their lives for something the other was willing to risk their life for

Early Story
At the beginning of the series, Ichigo sees and confronts Rukia Kuchiki, a shinigami, when she enters his home. During their conversation, a hollow attacks, having tracked Ichigo back to his house. Because of Ichigo's interference with Rukia's work in his personal effort to protect his family from the hollow, Rukia is wounded and forced to transfer her powers to him in a desperate measure to save the Kurosaki family. During the transfer, Ichigo absorbs almost all of Rukia's powers rather than taking half, as she had intended. Having her shinigami abilities and his own immense spiritual power, Ichigo makes short work of the hollow and Rukia leaves.

The next day, Rukia shows up in Ichigo's class, now apparently a normal human as the other students are capable of seeing her. Rukia informs Ichigo that she is using a gigai — an artificial body used by shinigami when they need to recover their powers or stay in the human world for extended periods. While she recovers her abilities, Rukia insists that Ichigo take over her job, battling hollows and performing soul burials in her stead. At this time, he is only able to transform into a shinigami when a special seal on Rukia's glove is used to "knock out" the shinigami portion of his soul, and is dependent on Rukia to transform. Their acquisition of the modsoul Kon removes this dependency.

Ichigo's new duties set off a flurry of activity both in the human and spirit worlds. At one point, the hollow Grand Fisher, who has evaded the shinigami for over fifty years, comes to the human world and attempts to consume Ichigo's sisters, Karin and Yuzu. It is at this point that Ichigo finds out that Grand Fisher killed his mother and seeks revenge. Rukia tries to keep Ichigo from fighting, as she feared the hollow was too strong, but Ichigo orders her to go with Kon and take his sisters home. She is reminded of Kaien Shiba's last fight as a fight for honor, and reluctantly follows his orders. Ichigo greatly wounds Grand Fisher, but the hollow manages to escape.

During a duel with Uryū Ishida, a Quincy, a massive amount of hollows, including a menos grande, are drawn to the human world and defeated in one form or another, mostly by Ichigo and Ishida. Chad and Orihime also have their dormant powers awakened as a result, and each defeat a hollow on their own. Ichigo's victory against the Menos draws the attention of Soul Society, triggering the beginning of the next arc. Meanwhile, Ishida and Ichigo develop an uneasy friendship as shinigami and Quincy, with both of them apparently saving each other's lives.

Soul Society arc
After drawing the attention of Soul Society, Ichigo loses the shinigami powers he gained from Rukia after being swiftly defeated by the shinigami captain Byakuya Kuchiki who, along with Renji Abarai, arrests Rukia and takes her back to Soul Society. The damage Ichigo suffers renders him a powerless human soul, while he discovers that Rukia is guilty of a felony for transferring her powers to a human and remaining in the human world for so long. Desperate to save Rukia, he undergoes intensive training with Kisuke Urahara that nearly costs him his soul, but awakens his own shinigami abilities by doing so. After training with Urahara, he leaves for Soul Society with Urahara's mysterious feline friend Yoruichi, along with Orihime, Chad, and Uryū.

Ichigo battles against many shinigami during his time in Soul Society, managing to tie or defeat numerous lieutenant-level and captain-level shinigami. Much of the time he is seriously wounded, and on several occasions he barely survives, but each time his incredible endurance carries him through until he is able to be healed. A hollow mask, a remnant of his training with Urahara, also consistently appears and reappears on his person to block what would normally be fatal blows. The first fight is with Jidanbō, a Seireitei gatekeeper, which Ichigo wins easily, but he is in turn effortlessly repelled by captain Gin Ichimaru. Ichigo enters Seireitei accompanied by Ganju Shiba after being launched from Kūkaku Shiba's spirit cannon. He then proceeds to fight Ikkaku Madarame. Ichigo beats Ikkaku, even after Ikkaku reveals his zanpakutō's shikai, and learns that he will be hunted down by Kenpachi Zaraki, who will seek out the strongest of the intruders.

Ichigo is then met by Renji Abarai, who seeks revenge for his earlier defeat. Renji injures Ichigo, who becomes stronger during the fight and defeats Renji, after which Renji begs him to rescue Rukia, his childhood friend, upon changing his mind regarding his loyalties. Renji is taken into detention for trying to fight alone and losing, while Ichigo is healed by Hanatarō Yamada in Seireitei's sewage system. Ichigo finally encounters Kenpachi Zaraki on his way to the Shrine of Penitence, where Rukia is held, and at first can hardly injure the powerful captain, who, according to Hanatarō, is immortal. Ichigo finally calls upon the strength of his zanpakutō to defeat Kenpachi. In the aftermath of the fight, both Ichigo and Kenpachi are left incapacitated, Kenpachi being evacuated by his lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi while Ichigo is rescued by Yoruichi.

Yoruichi tells Ichigo that he cannot save Rukia with his present power and asks him to train to achieve the bankai of his zanpakutō. Upon completing the training, he, along with Yoruichi and sympathetic captains Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake, separately converge upon the Sōkyoku to stop Rukia's execution. At the last possible second, Ichigo stops the execution, and proceeds to dispatch three lieutenants — Marechiyo Ōmaeda, Isane Kotetsu and Chōjirō Sasakibe — barehanded. He is then confronted by Byakuya Kuchiki.

During this battle, Ichigo reveals his bankai against Byakuya, and outmaneuvers Byakuya's attacks. Byakuya counters using the second form of his bankai, and after a while Ichigo's endurance runs out, leaving him in critical condition. At this point, Ichigo's inner hollow surfaces and injures Byakuya to the point that both combatants have almost no power left. After regaining control of himself, Ichigo faces off against Byakuya in a final clash, each channeling all their energy into a single attack. After this final clash, neither has the strength to fight, but Byakuya admits his defeat because his blade was destroyed by Ichigo's.

Ichigo then finds out that the events in Soul Society were an elaborate plot masterminded by Sōsuke Aizen and confronts him alongside Renji Abarai, but is unable to defeat him or even buy enough time for the scattered captains to return before Aizen departs for Hueco Mundo.

Prior to leaving Soul Society, Ichigo is given a badge by Ukitake that serves as a license that allows him to hunt hollows in his area officially. It is a multi-purpose artifact that functions like Rukia's glove and alerts him to the presence of hollows.

Bount arc
In the anime, after his adventures in Soul Society, Ichigo finds himself unable to perform bankai outside of Soul Society and undergoes training with three modified souls, initiated by Urahara. Along the way, Chad, Orihime, Ishida, and Renji become involved as well.

After the training, which ends up unsuccessful, he finds out about the Bounts and confronts Yoshino Sōma, who uses a powerful fire-type doll. Ichigo is unable to win, even with the help of Rukia Kuchiki, but is unintentionally saved by another Bount, Ryō Udagawa.

Udagawa appears later to try to eat Ishida's soul, and a battle between him and Ichigo's group ensues. Yoshino then appears and takes Ishida away. While visiting Ishida in the hospital, the group is met by Hō and Ban, Bount twins who use dolls that manipulate water. Ichigo attempts to defeat them, but any damage sustained to the dolls quickly regenerates. He discovers that when the twins are separated, their ability to control their dolls is greatly reduced, and with some assistance from Ganju Shiba, the group succeeds in blowing the weakened dolls up with fireworks, killing the Bount twins in the process. Ichigo and company then infiltrate Jin Kariya's mansion in search of Ishida.

Upon entering Kariya's mansion, Ichigo engages Udagawa in battle, during which he obliterates a large portion of the house. His spiritual power surprises both Udagawa and Maki Ichinose, a shinigami deserter who joined forces with the Bounts. Ichinose confronts Ichigo and the two fight until Kariya takes over and overpowers Ichigo. As Ichigo is at the brink of defeat, Kisuke Urahara and his assistants arrive to rescue them, demolishing the remainder of the mansion in the process.

Later on, Ichigo fights Koga Gō and his doll, Dalk, after the bitto nearly kill Keigo Asano. Ichigo is slowly beaten, allowing his hollow form to appear. Ichigo manages to repel his hollow self and take over, only to succumb to his previous injuries. Izuru Kira soon appears to lend a helping hand, disabling the doll. Koga retreats, unwilling to kill such young men due to an incident in his past with a young Bount.

Ichigo then invades the Bount hideout that Ugaki is defending with Chad, Orihime, Rukia, Renji and the modified souls. Four shinigami lieutenants who had entered the cave earlier and fought Ugaki's doll, Gesell, assist them. Finally, only Renji and Ichigo continue into the depths of the cave to find Ugaki. Renji decides to take on Gesell one on one with his bankai so that Ichigo will have the strength to take on the remaining Bount. Renji's attacks send Gesell on a fury that ends when Ugaki is killed by his own doll (possibly due to the doll being influenced by Kariya). The cave begins to crumble and Yumichika Ayasegawa convinces Ichigo to leave them behind and go further into the cave.

Ichigo finds the remaining Bount and they open a portal to an unknown destination. Ichigo starts a battle with Kariya. Kariya defeats Ichigo's shikai and threatens to kill him using Zangetsu. The threat convinces Ichigo to recover his will to fight and regain his ability to use his bankai. The fight continues, both adversaries now evenly matched. They are interrupted by Ishida, who helps the Bounts reach Soul Society, believing he will get stronger there and defeat the Bounts.

In Soul Society, Ichigo's group uses Kūkaku Shiba's house as their initial base of operations and separate to search for the Bounts. After the Bount Yoshi almost kills Rukia Kuchiki, she is saved by Byakuya. Ichigo asks Byakuya for assistance, but Byakuya refuses, making it clear that he still dislikes Ichigo.

Later, Ichigo comes across Kariya and Byakuya fighting in a forest and joins in. Despite being outnumbered, Kariya is able to hold his own. Rantao, the shinigami that created the Bounts, steps in and takes Ichigo and Uryū Ishida, who arrives soon after, back to her home in Rukongai. Rantao explains to Ishida and Ichigo about how her spirit powers were sealed and she was banished for the creation of the Bounts, among other things.

After departing from Rantao's home, they meet up with Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto, and Renji Abarai, who are in the middle of a battle with former shinigami Maki Ichinose. This does not last long though as Kenpachi Zaraki arrives and challenges Ichinose, allowing the others to pursue the Bounts.

At the Technological Institute, Ichigo and Chad catch up to Kariya, but are unable to stop him. Their battle inadvertently unearths the Jōkaishō, a massive energy source, which Kariya had been searching for. Kariya absorbs the energy and uses its destructive potential as a threat to keep Ichigo at bay. He then gives the whole of Soul Society a day to think about their impending destruction. With permission from Matsumoto, Ichigo uses the 10th Division as a base of operations during this time.

The next day, Ichigo saves both Ishida and Rantao from Kariya, and the two battle. During this fight, Kariya summons his doll, Messer. After much effort on Ichigo's part, the battle ends in a final power clash, with Ichigo the victor. As he dies, Kariya tells Ichigo that he regrets not being able to watch if Ichigo will walk down the same path he did, because they were both burdened with great powers. This leads Ichigo to wonder whether Kariya's actions were intended to end his own eternal life.

Arrancar arc
After returning from Soul Society with his friends, without Rukia, Ichigo's life briefly returns to the relatively peaceful state at which it was before he left. This serenity is broken with the arrival of new student Shinji Hirako. Shinji, who reveals himself as a recruiter for the vizard, approaches Ichigo and attempts to convince him to join his organization. Ichigo persistently refuses, even after being warned that his inner hollow will eventually take over and destroy everything in sight. Shortly afterwards, two arrancar, Yammy and Ulquiorra Schiffer, appear in Karakura town in order to locate and evaluate Ichigo's strength. Upon seeing Chad injured, Ichigo battles Yammy using his bankai, and manages to cut off the giant's arm. However, Ichigo's inner hollow soon interferes, paralyzing Ichigo, and Yammy injures both him, and Orihime. The arrival of Yoruichi Shihouin and Kisuke Urahara forces Ulquiorra into strategic retreat.

After his failure against the arrancar, Ichigo loses his will as a shinigami since he cannot protect his friends. This mood lasts until the arrival of Gotei 13's expeditionary force: six shinigami sent to the human world under the command of Tōshirō Hitsugaya. Rukia, who is among them, forces Ichigo to defeat a hollow, all the while chastising him. This causes him to regain his spirit and reaffirm his commitment to protect his friends, the first being Orihime Inoue. Later that day, Ichigo discusses the growing arrancar threat with Hitsugaya's force and learns what the arrancar actually are. Rukia is formally accepted into Ichigo's home, sleeping in the same room as his sisters.

That night, six arrancar under the command of Grimmjow Jeagerjaques invade Karakura Town, intending to finish what they view as an incomplete mission on Ulquiorra's part. They split up, seeking targets with spiritual power. Chad's house is targeted, first by D-Roy, who is quickly dispatched by Rukia, and then by the much mightier Grimmjow, who eliminates Rukia in a single strike. Ichigo uses his bankai, but Grimmjow manages to block Ichigo's attacks with his bare hands. Desperate, Ichigo uses his getsuga tenshō to damage Grimmjow. In his bankai form, using the move allows his hollow side to become dominant, and Ichigo remarks that two or three more uses of it would allow his hollow to completely take over. Kaname Tōsen interrupts the fight and takes Grimmjow back to Hueco Mundo, leaving an unsatisfied Ichigo to sulk in his apparent loss and worry over an injured Rukia.

Ichigo, unable to control his inner hollow, accepts Shinji Hirako's offer and seeks out the vizard in order to gain control. During a sparring match with Hiyori Sarugaki, he loses control to his hollow side once more, and nearly kills her. After reverting back to his shinigami state, Ichigo is informed that he cannot simply keep his hollow in check with his body or mind, but must force it into the very core of his soul. After a brief period of unappreciated training, Ichigo is told to confront his hollow side within his inner world. There, Ichigo squares off against his hollow self. Even after several exchanges, Ichigo is unable to damage the hollow, while badly injured and stabbed himself. Finally, Ichigo is defeated, and his sword shatters. After a brief discourse with his hollow, and then another with an inner manifestation of Kenpachi Zaraki (in the anime Byakuya Kuchiki and Jin Kariya appear before this, and force him to refight their battles. Ichigo is defeated by both of them), Ichigo realizes his trouble is that he lacks pure fighting spirit, instead needing reasons to fight his opponents. His spirit rekindled by this revelation, Ichigo is able to make a comeback, seizing the hollow's sword and impaling him on it. His hollow subdued for the moment, Ichigo fades back to reality. When he comes to, he learns that while he was fighting internally, his outer body had transformed into that of a powerful and berserk hollow. The vizard had taken turns battling this monster to keep it in check. Ichigo then trains with Hiyori to increase the amount of time he can stay in masked form.

A month later, the arrancar once again invade Karakura, and Ichigo brashly heads off to fight Grimmjow even though he can only remain in his masked form for eleven seconds. This backfires, as despite using his masked form and Grimmjow's loss of an arm since their last meeting, Ichigo is unable to defeat him within the eleven-second limit. His mask crumbles, and Ichigo is brutally counterattacked. On the brink of defeat and pinned to the ground, Ichigo is granted a short reprieve by Rukia. As Grimmjow recovers from Rukia's attack, Shinji Hirako appears and fights him until the arrancar retreat by order of Ulquiorra.

When tending to Ichigo's wounds, the vizard Hachigen Ushōda reveals that Ichigo's spiritual power has been contaminated somewhat by Grimmjow's. As per his instructions, Rukia takes him back to the Kurosaki Clinic to recover. While in a deep sleep, he is visited by Orihime, who has been taken prisoner by the arrancar and given a twelve hour reprieve by Ulquiorra to say good-bye to just one person. Orihime tries to kiss Ichigo while he sleeps, but is unable to. She does, however, confess her love for him.

Later, Ichigo wakes from a bad dream and realizes that the wound from his wrist is healed. Trying to sense by spiritual pressure who has healed him, he is visited by Hitsugaya, who tells him to come immediately for an emergency shinigami meeting. The meeting is held at Orihime's apartment where Hitsugaya and Matsumoto took up residence and done via a live-conference device connecting Soul Society and the human world. Captain Ukitake greets them and informs them Orihime was taken by an arrancar and might have been killed. Ichigo informs them that she visited him to heal him the night before, which leads Yamamoto to believe that Orihime has betrayed them. Renji requests permission to go to Hueco Mundo to rescue her but the request is denied, as Yamamoto believes that the death of one person and the death of the world are weighted on a scale, thus saving Orihime is not important overall. Ichigo asks to go save Orihime by himself, but Yamamoto once again denies the suggestion, stating that Ichigo is a significant asset to Soul Society. The shinigami are ordered to return to Soul Society to fortify their defenses, leaving Ichigo alone.

Despite Yamamoto's decision, Ichigo decides to make preparations with Urahara to single-handedly retrieve Orihime from Hueco Mundo. At school, Tatsuki confronts him about her sightings in which she becomes angry and violent over his reluctance to explain himself. She reveals to him that she is able to sense his and Orihime's spiritual energy, and can see Ichigo and other shinigami. She is restrained by Keigo and Mizuiro while Ichigo walks away coldly telling his friends not to get involved. At Urahara's shop, Ichigo is joined by Ishida with his Quincy powers restored and Chad with a new more powerful right arm. After some convincing, the trio agree to help each other rescue Orihime and Urahara opens a gate to Hueco Mundo. Ichigo leads Chad and Ishida into Hueco Mundo but unknown to him, Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro had followed him and witnessed his departure.

Hueco Mundo arc
As Ichigo, Chad, and Ishida enter Hueco Mundo, they are immediately detected by Aizen and attacked by two arrancar, Demōra and Iceringer. Ichigo is then told to stay back and simply watch as Chad and Ishida engage the two arrancar by themselves. Once they are victorious, the room and passageway collapses around them, forcing the trio to race outside where they see their destination, a castle in the middle of a barren desert.

They see what looks to be a human being chased by three hollows. After Ichigo attacks the three, it is revealed that the 'human' is actually an arrancar named Nel Tu; the hollows are her two brothers and their pet. After becoming friends, the expanded group travels to the wall of Las Noches, where they are attacked by a sand-based hollow, Lunuganga. The hollow is immune to their attacks, but the group is saved by Renji and Rukia, the latter of which freezes Lunaganga in a circle of ice.

Ichigo and his group break into Las Noches and split into five directions, leaving Nel and her brothers behind. The siblings decide to follow Ichigo but get lost. Nel is the only one who catches up to Ichigo, arriving just in time to see Dordonii, a Privaron Espada with a number of #103.

As Ichigo and Dordonii fight, the difference in power between the two quickly becomes apparent. Dordonii suggests that Ichigo use his bankai so he'll at least stand a chance, but Ichigo refuses, noting that it would only be a sign of weakness if he were to use his bankai in every battle. Hoping to force the issue, Dordonii releases his zanpakutō, thus greatly increasing his power. Now commanding two wind elementals, Dordonii is more than a match for Ichigo. When Dordonii tries to fire a cero blast at Ichigo, Nel steps in, absorbing the blast and firing it back. Enraged, Dordonii attacks Nel, who is then saved by Ichigo, now using his bankai.[9]

Dordonii, not satisfied with Ichigo's bankai, wishes to see his hollow form. He even resorts to attacking Nel in an attempt to force Ichigo to transform. Ichigo sets Nel aside and tells Dordonii he will show him his hollow form, but for only a second. Dordonii is pleased at first, but Ichigo severely wounds him with one strike in his hollow form. Nel heals Dordonii and he tries to engage Ichigo again, but is once again defeated. In gratitude for fighting him at his full strength, Dordonii battles the Exequias sent after Ichigo so he can get away. Ichigo flees, and continues his search through Las Noches until he encounters Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra tells Ichigo that Rukia has been killed, which Ichigo denies. Ichigo attempts to leave to save Rukia, reasoning that he and Ulquiorra have no quarrel and thus no reason to fight. Ulquiorra reveals that he was the one who kidnapped Orihime and successfully goads Ichigo into fighting. Though Ichigo starts out well, he proves to be no match for Ulquiorra, who explains that even if Ichigo managed to somehow win, there would be three other Espada who are stronger still, as Ulquiorra is the 4th Espada. Ulquiorra then impales Ichigo's chest with his hand.[10] He leaves after telling Ichigo to leave Hueco Mundo if he's able to.

Grimmjow brings Orihime to heal Ichigo before he can die, wanting to fight him at full strength.[11] Ulquiorra discovers this and attempts to retrieve Orihime, but Grimmjow uses a portable negación field to temporarily imprison him, thus allowing the two to battle unimpeded.[12] Much like Kenpachi before him, Grimmjow insists that Ichigo not battle for his friends, instead just wanting him to focus on killing him, and reveals that he kept the scar from their first battle as a reminder to fight and kill Ichigo to prove that he is stronger.[13] The advantage shifts between the two combatants at random, with Ichigo donning his hollow mask while Grimmjow releases his zanpakutō, eventually ending in Ichigo's favor. Grimmjow, badly injured and reverted back to his unreleased state, tries one more attack, which Ichigo blocks bare-handed. Ichigo tells him to back down, declaring Grimmjow too wounded to continue. Before Grimmjow can respond he is slashed by Nnoitra. Seeing that Grimmjow survived his attack, Nnoitra attempts to finish him off. Ichigo, however, blocks the attack, berating Nnoitra for attacking someone who is so badly wounded. Nnoitra then attacks Ichigo, revealing that he is the fifth Espada, and is thus more powerful than Grimmjow, whom Ichigo barely defeated. Nnoitra, about to deal the finishing blow, notices Nel. Nnoitra informs Ichigo that she was once a former Espada. Nel, after regaining her memories and refusing to see Ichigo die, releases her true form in order to protect him. From here, she goes on to reveal herself as the former 3rd Espada and effortlessly deals with Nnoitra.

Powers
Though he does not possess any formal shinigami rank, Ichigo's overall abilities are great enough that he can fight on the level of an elite shinigami captain. According to Aizen and Urahara, Ichigo's most astounding ability is his growth rate: he grasps the basic control of advanced techniques in days where it might take someone else weeks or years. One example is the bankai of his zanpakutō, which he learns in three days with the assistance of a special device invented by Urahara. For a normal shinigami, this same feat would require hundreds of years of combat experience and at least ten additional years of special training. He also gains mastery of flash steps while training with Yoruichi, which was done over the same period as his bankai.

Physically, Ichigo is in top form even when not in his spiritual body. Ichigo has been trained in martial arts since he was a small child, both professionally and by his father's constant assaults and surprise attacks when at home. He regularly fights with and defeats bullies and gangsters, and is a better martial artist than even Tatsuki, the second-strongest high school girl in all of Japan.

Shinigami powers
When he is in his shinigami body, Ichigo's already impressive strength is greatly enhanced. He can easily wield his giant sword one-handed, leap several stories into the air, and in one case even fought off three shinigami lieutenants and their released zanpakutō bare-handed in rapid succession; he shattered one of their zanpakutō in a single punch. The arrancar Ulquiorra has claimed that Ichigo's spiritual power at its peak is even greater than his own, but that it fluctuates wildly when he is in conflict with his inner hollow. Because he has far more spiritual energy than his body can contain, it leaks out constantly, preventing him from hiding it and effectively making stealth impossible when dealing with other spiritually-aware creatures.

In terms of fighting style, Ichigo relies mostly on his zanpakutō and the use of flash steps, and thus would be considered a swordsmanship specialist. Ichigo has never been formally taught kidō and has trouble controlling his spirit energy in all but the most basic of ways, due in part to the sheer amount of it he has.

Unlike most lieutenant and captain strength shinigami, Ichigo is able to fight with his full power in both the human and spiritual worlds. While captains and lieutenants have their power limited to a fifth of its normal level during trips to the real world in order to avoid unnecessarily influencing those living there, Ichigo holds no position in the Gotei 13 and thus has no such limit.

Hollow powers
Ichigo's spiritual powers are not limited to just shinigami abilities; he possesses hollow powers as a result of his training with Urahara. While attempting to recover his shinigami powers, Ichigo began transforming into a hollow from the corrosion of his severed soul chain. Ichigo succeeds in awakening his shinigami powers, but retains his hollow spirit inside himself from the transformation. The title page of chapter 220 depicts the inner hollow with the mirror writing of Ichigo's name.


Ichigo’s hollow spirit is his evil alter ego. The spirit is pretentious and mocks his counterpart’s inability in a sneering, didactic fashion whenever the chance arises. He relishes the idea of taking Ichigo’s strength for himself, and claims to be the manifestation of Ichigo's instinctive lust for battle and the next kill. He also seems to gain any abilities that Ichigo knows, evidenced by his usage of getsuga tensho and his usage of bankai. Unlike Ichigo, the hollow fights like a berserker, and is able to ignore any injuries Ichigo has previously sustained [citation needed] along with considerable increases to his speed and strength.

At different points in the series, Ichigo's hollow powers have manifested themselves in different ways. Initially, Ichigo's hollow mask would appear on his body to block fatal blows, unbenownst to Ichigo until after the fight had ended. During his battle with Byakuya Kuchiki, the mask appeared on his face when he was near death, allowing his inner hollow to take over until Ichigo suppressed it. The same event is repeated multiple times after that. While suppressing his inner hollow, Ichigo is left effectively paralyzed, since his concentration was focused on suppressing it rather than fighting. The hollow claims that it manifests itself to protect Ichigo during near death moments because it is connected to Ichigo, and it would be a great inconvenience to the hollow if Ichigo were to die.

While he was in training with the vizard, Ichigo's soul was completely overcome by his inner hollow for a short period, causing him to physically transform into a hollow. His near-complete hollow form resembles a large, humanoid lizard. In this form, Ichigo demonstrated several high-level abilities, including instantaneous regeneration, enhancement of limbs, and the ability to fire cero blasts from his fingers. However, this form didn't last long as Ichigo emerged from the hollow shell as his standard shinigami self wearing a hollow mask.

After training with the vizard and subjugating his inner hollow, Ichigo can use his hollow mask while retaining his personality, but could originally only wear it for eleven seconds at a time. His limit increases during his third battle with Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, but to what extent is unclear. His overall limit is barely a fraction of the amount other vizard can maintain their masks. After the time limit, the mask breaks and Ichigo loses its benefits. Subsequent attempts to use the mask can only be maintained for an instant. While wearing the mask, Ichigo's hollow powers supplement his shinigami powers, giving him a vast increase in both strength and speed.

Zangetsu
Ichigo's zanpakutō is named Zangetsu (斬月 lit. cutting moon). Unlike most shinigami, who can seal their zanpakutō after releasing it, Ichigo's zanpakutō is always in its shikai form. Yoruichi Shihouin has stated that his zanpakutō is a full-time released form type, implying that it is simply a type of zanpakutō that, once in shikai form, remains in said state.

The spirit of Zangetsu resembles a 30 to 40 year-old man, and Ichigo calls him "old man" (おっさん, ossan?) as a result. Zangetsu has also been called the "black-clothed man" (黒衣の男, kokui no otoko). Zangetsu is portrayed as wise and calm in most matters, and fond of testing Ichigo in unusual ways, many of which have a purpose completely contrary to the stated goal. Zangetsu has displayed the ability to temporarily close fatal wounds during combat, though whether or not this is a unique ability is unclear.

When Ichigo first becomes a shinigami, his zanpakutō is simply an oversized version of a regular sealed zanpakutō, complete with an equally oversized sheath on his back. The large size is due to Ichigo's immense spiritual power, which he didn't know how to control. As a result, the sword itself was rather weak, since very little spiritual power was used to create it. Byakuya Kuchiki cuts off most of the blade during his first encounter with Ichigo and Kisuke Urahara subsequently slices it down to the hilt during their training, forcing Ichigo to learn the name of his zanpakutō in order to release its true form.

The shikai form of Zangetsu resembles an over sized, though more elegant, cleaver blade without a hilt guard. The sword is as tall as Ichigo is, 1.74 meters, and has a black blade with a silver edge. Ichigo carries his zanpakutō on his back by the cloth wrapped around the handle. When not in combat, the cloth extends to cover the rest of the sword and falls away when necessary, shrinking back to a manageable size. The cloth can also be used to swing the weapon like a flail and toss it at opponents, but this is rarely done. This was first demonstrated by Ichigo's inner hollow, then again by Ichigo himself while rescuing Rukia.

The bankai of Zangetsu, named Tensa Zangetsu (天鎖斬月, lit. heavenly chained cutting moon), is considered completely out of the ordinary for any zanpakutō. Unlike most bankai forms, which usually create some sort of massive creature or effect, Ichigo's bankai actually shrinks his sword down to a daitō (Japanese long sword) with a black blade, handguard in the shape of the manji (which is the kanji for "ban," meaning "full"). The cloth wrapped around the hilt is replaced by a short chain with a broken link, similar to that of a plus spirit. In addition to his sword, Ichigo's robe is replaced with a long-sleeved, ankle-length black coat with red lining that is closed at his chest, much like that of Zangetsu himself.

As explained by Byakuya Kuchiki, Ichigo's bankai is a compression of his power, rather than a vast expansion as other bankai are. This hugely compressed power enables Ichigo to move at speeds exceeding those of flash steps, and gives him matching agility and reflexes, allowing him to use his natural strength to its limits. With enough usage and acquired height, Ichigo can even appear as though he is flying. Ichigo's initial inexperience with controlling his bankai led to a serious drawback; the force of his compressed spiritual power caused all of his bones to crack as stated by his inner hollow, gradually decreasing his speed and power over time. This drawback has not been mentioned since its introduction, so it has presumably been overcome.

Zangetsu's special ability (in either form) is the getsuga tenshō (月牙天衝, lit. moon sky-piercing fang, Viz: Moon-Fang Piercer of the Heavens), which fires concentrated energy blasts from the tip of the blade in the shape of a crescent moon. Ichigo uses this ability without knowing its name several times, but masters the technique later on when he discovers its name. As stated by Zangetsu, knowing and not knowing the name of an attack makes a difference in the amount of power that it releases. When used with Zangetsu's bankai, these blasts are black with a red outline and their path can be controlled. During Byakuya Kuchiki's fight with Ichigo, he refers to this attack as kuroi getsuga (lit. black moon fang). This term simply refers to the darkened color of the attack, not its actual name. The move was first displayed by Ichigo's inner hollow, and initially carried the risk of causing his inner hollow to surface if used too much. With Ichigo's later control over his inner hollow, this is no longer a problem.

Name: Kon
Age: ??

Kon (コン, Kon) is a fictional character from the manga and anime series Bleach. His name is short for Kaizō Konpaku (改造魂魄, Kaizō Konpaku modified soul). Kon originally wanted the name "Kai" ("Mod" in the official English dub) because it sounded cooler, but Ichigo Kurosaki decided his name was going to be Kon for that very reason. Kon is an artificial soul (modsoul) designed to inhabit Ichigo's body when Ichigo is in his shinigami form; when not serving that purpose, Kon usually inhabits a lion plushie.

Character Outline
Kon primarily serves as a comedic foil in the series; when not inhabiting Ichigo's body, his normal plushie body is treated with little respect and much disdain. The humorously cruel treatment he is always subjected to provides the comic relief in Bleach. One of the only people who gives him any respect is Chad; however, Chad ignores him most of the time. His plushie body is a knock-off of the main character of the popular TV show Carnivore Kingdom, named "Ponkichi", which happens to be Chad's favorite show. It was a prize from the shooting game in the Karakura Town Festival. He is constantly stepped on and torn, at which point Ichigo will have Uryū Ishida repair the plushie. Uryū usually adds something unwanted or unnecessary when doing so, such as dressing Kon up like a designer doll. Uryū also sewed a Quincy cross on the back of Kon's head as revenge after Kon attacked Uryū for turning him into a doll.

Kon is quite perverted and often takes advantage of his form to get girls to hug him to their chests, which rarely goes as planned. Once when talking to Ichigo on how he wouldn't mind taking his body for a spin again, he comments that he'd like go peeping, and go around pulling up skirts, because as he put it "It's your reputation that gets sullied". Kon is very fond of Rukia, calling her "sister", though this extends to basically any pretty girl.

Kon also serves as the host of various omake segments in the anime, which are shown after the ending credits of each episode beginning with the Soul Society arc. The first, called the "Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book", has Kon introducing various shinigami by name and rank, followed by a short one-liner about them. These segments run from episodes 14 to 49, after which there is a four-episode break. Starting with episode 54, the ending segment is renamed "Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book: Golden", which shows comical situations with the series characters. Kon does not host these, though he is featured prominently in quite a few, but rather is part of the screen wipe that opens into them. A sub-group of these sketches, running from episode 119 to 124, is called "Kon-sama's Erotic Conquest of Soul Society", where Kon takes over Hanatarō Yamada's gigai in order to move about Soul Society, only to find that his choice is less than helpful for his intended go

Early story
Kon's first appearance is shortly after Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo obtain an item known as gikongan (Soul Candy) from the Urahara Shop, which are candy-like orbs stored in dispensers similar to those PEZ come in. The Soul Candy, when ingested, forces Ichigo's soul out of his body and replaces it with an artificial, pre-programmed soul, allowing Ichigo to transform if Rukia is not around.

Unbeknownst to everyone (including the Urahara Shop's employees), the particular Soul Candy dispenser Urahara gives Rukia had been declared defective by Soul Society, as it was made from a batch meant to be turned in for destruction. These pills contained modsouls, artificially created souls designed to combat hollows. Additionally, these souls have personalities, unlike the common artificial souls. Each modified soul was designed to have their own special strengths; in Kon's case, his legs. Upon first testing the item, Ichigo and Rukia leave it to its own devices while they go to fight a hollow.

The modsoul, now free and having no desire to return to its pill form, goes on a mischievous and damaging (to Ichigo's reputation) rampage, diverting Ichigo from the pursuit of a particularly dangerous hollow. The pair clash a few times during the course of the modsoul's spree, and would have continued had not the hollow chosen to appear and attack a group of children nearby. The modsoul acts on its instincts, attacking the hollow and giving Ichigo the time to defeat it.

Afterwards, Ichigo has a talk with the modsoul, who explains that he just wants to be free and experience life, similar to that of a real soul. Taking pity on him, Rukia and Ichigo ignore the standing directive to destroy all modsouls; they instead stick the modsoul into a lion plushie that they find on the side of the road, giving it life. Ichigo gives the modsoul the name of Kon shortly thereafter, despite Kon's protests.

After this point, Ichigo uses Kon in the same manner as regular Soul Candy. When Uryū Ishida challenges Ichigo to a duel, the winner being decided by who could kill the most hollows, Kon is given charge of Ichigo's body. He joins in the fight around Karakura to defeat hollows, saving an ambushed Rukia. He later watches as Ichigo and Uryū team up to defeat a Menos Grande.

Powers and abilities
During the few times that Kon is in combat, he has proven to be able to hold his own — in addition to possessing all the combat abilities of Ichigo's well-trained body, he was designed to have exceptionally powerful leg strength. He was able to fend Ichigo off in combat by using just kick-attacks and leg-blocks, and is able to kick aside massive hollows. He can run 100 meters in 3.8 seconds while in his plushie form. When in Ichigo's body, he is capable of jumping over 13 meters and 56 cm from standing position.

In Bleach: Blade Battlers 2, Kon carries around a brown bottle of purple liquid. When taken, he towers over other players, growing to the size of a two-story house, and his eyes start to flame. His array of attacks change as well, allowing him to do things he was incapable of doing in his previous state such as shoot rockets from his mouth and beams from his eyes.

Name: Ishida Uryū
Age: 15-16

Uryū Ishida (石田 雨竜, Ishida Uryū) is a fictional character and major figure in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. He is a classmate and companion of Ichigo Kurosaki and is introduced as the last Quincy. He ranked 15th in the most recent Shonen Jump poll.

Character Outline
Uryū Ishida is a black-haired, bespectacled teenager of average height. At school, Uryū wears the school uniform along with a tie, while outside he dons white Quincy clothes with blue stripes representing the Quincy cross, and a mantle.

Uryū is generally shy and quiet, but tries harder to act cool when other people are around. For example, during the Soul Society arc he wears a mantle that serves no purpose other than to make him look cooler, despite the fact that it hinders his movement. He even keeps a spare to that effect. In addition, he also has a tendency to say things with characteristic drama.

Uryū operates on a moral ethic known as the "Pride of the Quincy" and has a strong sense of justice. He has also shown to be very chivalrous, stating that he enacts justice on men who abuse or treat women badly. He demonstrates this at multiple points throughout the series, such as when he tried to defend Rukia Kuchiki from Renji Abarai when he and Byakuya Kuchiki came to the real world to take her, or when he defends Orihime Inoue at multiple points throughout the Soul Society arc. Uryū also has a tendency to not use lethal force in battle, especially if he can win without doing so. Instead, he will simply incapacitate his opponent.

Uryū does not hold his father, Ryūken Ishida, in high respect; he calls his father by his given name which is considered very rude in Japanese society. Despite this, in the anime Uryū seems mildly offended when Rukia commented that the Ishida's hospital (his father being the present director) is falling apart and Renji replies tactlessly that the hospital is only for show.

Uryū has low blood pressure and hates procrastination. The other things he hates are quite odd: buttons (despite being an expert in sewing) and the word "haphazard." His favorite food is homemade mackerel miso stew. The television program he likes is Don Kanonji's "Bura-Rei". The shadow that jumped out of the crowd at Kanonji's first appearance was in fact Uryū.

School
At school, Uryū is the highest scoring student. Fitting with his habit of misreading names, Ichigo misreads Uryū's given name as Ametatsu, likely assuming he is female (雨 can also be read as 'ame' and 竜 as 'tatsu', usually in female names).

Uryū is also captain of the fine crafts club, being a master of sewing and design. He is the most skilled of the members (his nickname is "The Four-Eyed Sewing Machine") and as such the other members of the club often ask him to help them fix their wares. Uryū repeatedly repairs the stuffed lion Kon, though he generally adds something fancy and unwanted, which annoys Kon. After one of Kon's retaliatory beatings, Uryū sewed a Quincy cross on the back of his head as revenge. He also designed dresses for Orihime and Rukia as well as redesigned Chad's shirt to replace the solitary vertical stripe with a Quincy-like cross. Chad comments that he seems to be better at designing women's clothing than men's.

Uryū is an outcast at school, almost never interacting with anyone. He refuses to eat lunch when Ichigo invites him to, but eventually agrees when someone else pays for it. Like some of the other main characters (i.e. Orihime and Chad), he lives alone, and as revealed in the manga, he is not well-off financially.

History
Being only fifteen years old, Uryū doesn't have the same rich history as some of the other characters, especially the long-lived shinigami; however, several details about his past are revealed in the series.

As a child, Uryū mostly interacted and trained with his grandfather, Sōken Ishida. His father, Ryūken Ishida, was less than enthusiastic about being a Quincy, claiming that it wasn't a profitable occupation. They don't appear to be on very good terms as a result, given Uryū's casual use of his father's given name. Sōken understands Ryūken's reasoning, since being a Quincy is more about justice than material rewards and Ryūken has a family to support. Sōken told Uryū that he would someday understand his father's motives, but thus far this isn't the case.

At a fairly young age, Uryū's grandfather was killed by hollows right in front of him, while he wasn't able to do a thing to protect him. This is one of the reasons he hates the shinigami, who didn't come to rescue Sōken in time. It is later revealed that the current captain of the 12th Division was behind the delay so that Sōken's soul could be collected for study.

Early story
Uryū first appears as a student in Ichigo's class who Ichigo does not recognize by name. A few days after Ichigo becomes a shinigami, Rukia's cell phone begins informing her of hollows only for none to be present once they arrive on the scene. In reality, Uryū had been eliminating the hollows before Ichigo could. He formally introduces himself to Ichigo after three false alarms, informing him of his hatred of all shinigami.

Ichigo follows Uryū the next day and Uryū provokes him into a duel to see who can get rid of the most hollows. Using hollow bait, Uryū causes a multitude of hollows to appear in Karakura Town. The bait works much better than expected, causing far more hollows to appear than either fighter is capable of handling alone. The growing number of hollows forces Ichigo and Uryū to fight together. A menos grande is eventually attracted by the fighting, which neither Uryū or Ichigo seem capable of dealing with. Uryū tries a somewhat odd method of enhancing his bow: he ties Ichigo's sword to his own head and tells Ichigo to channel all of his spiritual power through it. Ichigo, ignorant of how to perform such an action, rejects the idea and attacks on his own, injuring the menos grande by releasing a large amount of spiritual energy. The large amount of energy becomes too much for Ichigo to control and Uryū is forced to connect to Ichigo's excess energy and release it using his spirit arrows. Uryū continues shooting out Ichigo's excess energy and vows to keep Ichigo alive so that he can defeat him one day. In doing so, Uryū ends up breaking the promise he made to himself to hate shinigami by saving one.

Powers
Having undergone formal training and possessing prior experience in combat, Uryū is one of the strongest protagonists in the series, with his victories roughly paralleling Ichigo's throughout the story. As a Quincy, Uryū's main weapon is a bow, but he is also able to use many Quincy techniques and items to augment his abilities, including some high-level techniques such as Ransōtengai, which are rare enough that even Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who had studied over 2000 Quincy, had never seen them in person. Aside from his Quincy powers, Uryū is well-trained in both mind and body, having substantial athletic abilities and a genius intellect. He also possesses some knowledge of Spanish, as he understands the Spanish terms used by the arrancar.

Bows
When first introduced, Uryū uses a bow named Lone Sparrow (弧雀, Kojaku), which looks like a bow made from blue energy. Its size is dependent on the amount of energy flowing through it. With this bow, Uryū is able to kill most hollows in a single strike.

As preparation for his travel to Soul Society, Uryū later masters the sanrei glove, greatly increasing his abilities. In this state, Uryū's bow is solid and covered in an intricate pattern. It is attached to his glove by a series of thin struts. This new bow allows Uryū to fire several shots simultaneously. By removing the glove, Uryū attains the Quincy Final Form. The Quincy final form gives him a vast increase in power. All the extra energy collects on his right shoulder, much like how a quiver is worn. As a result of removing the glove, however, the Quincy Final Form uses too much power for Uryū's body to handle, causing his body to block his Quincy powers completely after it wears off.

In the anime's Bount arc, Uryū recovers his powers for a short period through an ancient Quincy artifact which mimics the natural powers of a Quincy. The artifact produces an appropriate Quincy uniform on demand and creates a new metal crossbow mounted on Uryū's wrist. The artifact is unstable, however, firing arrows in odd arcs and with inconsistent power levels when first used. Additionally, it is fragile, eventually breaking after repeated use. Uryū eventually is able to use the artifact at its full efficiency.

After Uryū regains his powers with the aid of his father, he uses a new Quincy cross, this one resembling a pentacle, and a variant of his original bow called Lone Sparrow on a Silver Cliff (銀嶺弧雀, Ginrei Kojaku). Unlike his original bow, this bow is shaped like a spiderweb and can fire up to 1,200 shots consecutively. Uryū also acquires new battle accessories, one of which is a new Quincy arrow called the "Seele Schneider" (魂を切り裂くもの, lit. that which slits the soul; German for "soul cutter", but the grammar is incorrect. "Seelenschneider" would be correct, meaning "cutter of souls") that can double as an energy sword in melee combat.

Name: Hitsugaya Tōshirō
Age: ??

Tōshirō Hitsugaya (日番谷 冬獅郎, Hitsugaya Tōshirō) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. He is the captain of the 10th Division in the Gotei 13. His lieutenant is Rangiku Matsumoto. He was recently voted the 2nd most popular Bleach character in Shonen Jump's polls, replacing Rukia Kuchiki, who had previously held the position. He missed first place by less than 100 votes with a total of 8,321, more than 2,000 votes succeeding Rukia. In the Bleach-based film The DiamondDust Rebellion, he is the lead character.

Character Outline
Tōshirō Hitsugaya is very young by Soul Society standards. He was born in Rukongai and became the youngest ever to become a captain. Thus, he is called a "boy genius" by many. He is short (because of his age) and has white hair, which tends to draw attention in the human world. He wears standard captain's clothing without any accessories; however, he is the only shinigami that carries his zanpakutō on his back aside from Ichigo Kurosaki, whose zanpakutō necessitates such a style. Hitsugaya's short stature and the blade's length may explain the similar style. His sheath dissolves whenever he draws his sword.

Hitsugaya is generally mature and serious, in contrast to his free-spirited lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto. Despite their philosophical differences, he and Rangiku seem to be very close. Hitsugaya hates anything that he deems childish and hates being described as something close to a child, an elementary school child for example, a further contrast to his appearance. This is more shown in the omake chapters of Bleach, such as the short comics in VJump and the sand castle contest chapter released along with chapter 238. He is also mistaken for a kid in several of the omake chapters, much to his annoyance. He is overly protective of Momo Hinamori, due to fact that they were old childhood friends. Hitsugaya dislikes summer and warm weather in general.

Hitsugaya is easily annoyed when anyone (especially Momo Hinamori) refers to him by anything other than his title, Captain Hitsugaya. Hinamori has called him by "Hitsugaya-kun," and both she and Ukitake have occasionally used "Shiro-chan" (シロちゃん) — a nickname meaning "Whitey" (Snowy in the English manga) in reference to his hair — in both cases without repercussion, however. In the Shinigami Golden Cup sketches (omakes found at the end of episodes of Bleach), Jūshirō Ukitake comically gives Hitsugaya candy and other food because "Jūshirō" and "Tōshirō" sound similar and because they both have white hair, making them both "Shiro-chan." The first character in Hitsugaya's given name, Tōshirō, means "winter," which is appropriate given his white hair and ice type zanpakutō. Ichigo also calls Hitsugaya by his given name despite Hitsugaya's protests, making him one of three captains Ichigo refers to in this manner (the others being Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki).

Hitsugaya's intuition is extremely sharp, and he is one of few captains to correctly suspect Gin Ichimaru of foul play, though he understandably didn't suspect Sōsuke Aizen of the same.

During his duel with Gin Ichimaru in the anime, Ichimaru remarks that Hitsugaya is the embodiment of a heavenly guardian. This is more than likely Gin speaking sarcastically, saying that Hitsugaya did not seem to live up to his title. His given name is also a homonym for a casual Japanese term meaning "amateur" (藤四郎), possibly referring to Hitsugaya's young age and inexperience relative to the other captains of the Gotei 13.

History
Hitsugaya comes from Junrinan, District 1 of Rukongai. There, he lived with Momo Hinamori, an old woman, and possibly other people. Little else is known about his past, but it is known that he became a shinigami shortly after Hinamori. He is also a friend of Jidanbō, the West Gate Keeper, and was the one who taught him the "city rules."[3]

As a child, Hitsugaya was a bit of a brat who liked to eat watermelons and poke fun at Hinamori. She would call him "Shiro-chan" (Lil' Shiro in the English dub) and he would counter by calling her "Bed-wetter Momo." The two were close friends and Hitsugaya, despite being younger and much shorter than his friend, always felt that he needed to protect her.

With Hitsugaya's natural talent, he quickly entered the shinigami institute shortly after Hinamori, despite his age. She continued to call him "Shiro-chan" out of habit and felt she needed to protect him. Because of a promise she had made, she only began to call him "Hitsugaya-kun" after he had achieved his zanpakutō's shikai and was recognized as a shinigami. Highly capable and knowledgeable, he quickly became the youngest of the captains within the Gotei 13.

Hyōrinmaru
Hitsugaya's zanpakutō is Hyōrinmaru (氷輪丸, lit. "Ice Ring", idiomatically "Full Moon"). When sealed, Hyōrinmaru looks almost exactly like a normal zanpakutō with the exception of the guard, which is in the shape of a four-pointed star. The hilt and the sheath are also light-blue, which matches Hyōrinmaru's abilities. Hyōrinmaru's shikai command is "sit upon the frosted heavens" (霜天に坐せ, sōten ni zase, Viz: "reign over the frosted heavens," English TV: "reign over the frosted frozen sky"). Hyōrinmaru is the strongest of all water-ice element zanpakutō in Soul Society.

In its shikai, Hyōrinmaru itself remains the same, but gains a crescent-shaped blade attached to the hilt by a chain. Hyōrinmaru allows Hitsugaya to control the weather, specifically water and ice. His slashes create an immense amount of spirit power which overflows from the tip of the blade, creating a flow of ice shaped like a Chinese dragon. The dragon flies at opponents and instantly freezes anything it touches. The chain-blade also freezes anything Hitsugaya traps with it.

Hyōrinmaru's bankai, named Daiguren Hyōrinmaru (大紅蓮氷輪丸, lit. Great Crimson Ice Ring, Viz: Great Roaring Coldly Shining Moon), causes ice to flow from Hyōrinmaru onto Hitsugaya, forming into two large wings and a tail. Ice also forms into a dragon's head around his sword hand, encasing it up to the hilt. His left arm is covered fully until the wrist where it then spans into claws, leaving his hand and fingers free. Hitsugaya's feet are encased in ice in a similar manner to his left hand. Additionally, his wings are capable of folding around him to serve as ice shields. Three "flowers" of ice, shaped similarly to the guard of his zanpakutō, are also created behind Hitsugaya with four petals each, which melt away as Hitsugaya attacks.

Hyōrinmaru's bankai has two known special techniques. The first is "dragon hail flower" (竜霰花, ryūsenka), which freezes any enemy Hitsugaya stabs, locking them into a cocoon of ice and freezing them to the core. Once frozen, Hitsugaya can shatter his opponent. The second is "thousand years ice prison" (千年氷牢, sennen hyōrō), which forms a multitude of ice pillars using the moisture in the atmosphere. These pillars then envelop the enemy.

During a battle with Hitsugaya, where Hisugaya was fighting under a power limit, the arrancar Shawlong states that Hitsugaya's bankai will fade when all twelve petals disappear, observing that Hitsugaya's bankai is incomplete due to his young age. This is akin to how the author used the arrancar Edorad to highlight the brittleness of Ikkaku Madarame's bankai. Yet another similar situation is when it was Byakuya Kuchiki who explained how Ichigo Kurosaki's bankai operates.

Throughout the Shawlong fight, the author drew panels with close-ups of the petals fading until only one was left. A few moments later, Hitsugaya's bankai dramatically disengaged. The provisional assumption is that due to the immense reiatsu needed to remain in bankai and Hitsugaya's relatively young age and inexperience, he will not be able to remain in it indefinitely. If all the petals disappear, it does not mean that Hitsugaya will not be able to use bankai permanently -- merely that he can only use it for a certain period of time. After an interlude, he will be able to use it again. This assumption is consistent with Hitsugaya mentioning during his battle with Luppi that as long as there is water in his immediate surrounding area, his bankai form is able to regenerate itself.

During the Luppi fight, the flowers behind him were not shown. During the Shawlong fight, there were also moments that the flowers were not displayed.