Bleach Characters

Rukia Kuchiki

Soul Reaper, Squad 13

Rukia is the Soul Reaper whose crime starts the story. She's sharp, stubborn and terrible at drawing, and she was adopted into the noble Kuchiki family from the slums. Her sword, Sode no Shirayuki, is said to be the most beautiful ice-type blade in the Soul Society. She reaches Bankai in the final arc and becomes captain of Squad 13.

Voice

Fumiko Orikasa (JP) · Michelle Ruff (EN)

Orihime Inoue

Ichigo's classmate · Healer

Orihime is cheerful, dreamy and kinder than anyone around her. Her Shun Shun Rikka hairpins hold six small spirits that can "reject" events, undoing injuries as if they never happened. Aizen kidnaps her for that power, setting off the Hueco Mundo arc. She has loved Ichigo since before the story begins.

Voice

Yuki Matsuoka (JP) · Stephanie Sheh (EN)

Uryu Ishida

Quincy

Uryu is a proud, precise archer from a line of Quincy, human spirit-hunters the Soul Reapers wiped out two centuries ago. He starts out as Ichigo's rival and ends up as one of his most loyal friends. In the final arc he defects to Yhwach's side, and his real reason is one of the arc's twists.

Voice

Noriaki Sugiyama (JP) · Derek Stephen Prince (EN)

Yasutora "Chad" Sado

Ichigo's friend · Fullbringer

Chad is a huge, quiet teenager who grew up in Mexico and promised his grandfather he'd only ever fight for others. His arms transform into armour that hits with enormous force. He's rarely the focus, but he's always there.

Voice

Hiroki Yasumoto (JP) · Jamieson Price (EN)

Renji Abarai

Lieutenant, Squad 6

Renji grew up with Rukia in the Rukongai slums and became a Soul Reaper to stay close to her, then watched her get adopted into a world above him. He's loud and tattooed, with a whip-sword called Zabimaru. He starts as Ichigo's enemy and becomes his closest friend in the Soul Society, and later Rukia's husband.

Voice

Kentarō Itō (JP) · Wally Wingert (EN)

Kon

Mod soul in a plush lion

Kon is an artificial soul who takes over Ichigo's body while he's out fighting, and lives in a stuffed lion the rest of the time. He's loud, lecherous and mostly comic relief. Ichigo's sister Yuzu dresses him up.

Kisuke Urahara

Shop owner · Exiled captain

Urahara runs a candy shop in Karakura Town that sells Soul Reaper gear out the back. He's actually the former captain of Squad 12 and founder of its research institute, exiled after being framed by Aizen. He invented the Hogyoku, the object Aizen wants, and he trains Ichigo. He's always several plans ahead.

Voice

Shin-ichiro Miki (JP) · Michael Lindsay (EN)

Yoruichi Shihoin

Former captain of Squad 2

Yoruichi spends most of the early story as a black cat with a man's voice, then reveals herself as a woman and the "Flash Goddess," the fastest fighter in the Soul Society. She was Squad 2's captain and head of the stealth force. Soi Fon was once her devoted protégée.

Isshin Kurosaki

Ichigo's father

Isshin runs a small clinic and greets his son with flying kicks. He was once Isshin Shiba, captain of Squad 10. He gave up his powers to save Ichigo's mother Masaki, a Quincy, and the story of how they met explains Ichigo's mixed heritage.

Byakuya Kuchiki

Captain of Squad 6 · Head of the Kuchiki clan

Byakuya is Rukia's adoptive older brother, and he seems prepared to let her be executed for the sake of the law. His sword scatters into a thousand cherry-blossom blades. His cold manner hides a promise to his late wife, Rukia's sister, and his change of heart after losing to Ichigo is quiet but real.

Voice

Ryōtarō Okiayu (JP) · Dan Woren (EN)

Toshiro Hitsugaya

Captain of Squad 10

Hitsugaya is a white-haired prodigy who became a captain while still looking like a child, which he hates being reminded of. His ice dragon, Hyorinmaru, is the strongest ice-type Zanpakuto. He's fiercely protective of his childhood friend Momo, whom Aizen manipulates.

Voice

Romi Park (JP) · Steve Staley (EN)

Kenpachi Zaraki

Captain of Squad 11

Kenpachi took his captaincy by killing the last captain and lives purely for good fights. He wears bells in his hair so opponents can find him, and an eyepatch that eats his own spiritual power to keep fights interesting. For most of the series he doesn't even know his sword's name. His bond with his tiny lieutenant Yachiru is the gentlest thing about him.

Gin Ichimaru

Captain of Squad 3

Gin is always smiling and always unsettling, with a sword that extends to impossible lengths. He follows Aizen out of the Soul Society. His real loyalty, and his reason for it, is revealed in his final scene with Rangiku.

Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto

Captain-Commander, Squad 1

Yamamoto founded the Gotei 13 a thousand years ago and has led it ever since. His fire Zanpakuto is said to be the strongest in existence. He's stern and ruthless about the law, and his final arc shows how much of the Soul Society was built on violence.

Shunsui Kyoraku

Captain of Squad 8

Shunsui is a lazy, sake-drinking captain in a pink flowered kimono who is much more dangerous than he lets on. His sword turns children's games into deadly rules. He becomes Captain-Commander in the final arc.

Jushiro Ukitake

Captain of Squad 13

Ukitake is kind, chronically ill and Rukia's beloved captain. He and Shunsui are among the oldest captains. His illness, and the secret behind it, matters in the final arc.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi

Captain of Squad 12

Mayuri is a mad scientist who experiments on enemies, allies and his own lieutenant, Nemu, whom he created. He's repellent and brilliant, and his preparation wins several fights in the final war.

Soi Fon

Captain of Squad 2

Soi Fon commands the Soul Society's stealth force. Her Zanpakuto kills with two stings in the same spot. She's ruthless and efficient, and still bitter about her old mentor Yoruichi leaving without her.

Retsu Unohana

Captain of Squad 4

Unohana is the gentle head of the medical squad. Everyone is afraid of her and nobody knows why, until the final arc reveals her past as the first Kenpachi.

Sajin Komamura

Captain of Squad 7

Komamura is a wolf-headed captain who hid his face under a helmet until Kenpachi broke it. He owes everything to Yamamoto, and his loyalty is total.

Kaname Tosen

Captain of Squad 9

Tosen is a blind captain who preaches "the path of least bloodshed" while secretly serving Aizen. His sense of justice comes from the death of a friend.

Ulquiorra Cifer

Espada No. 4

Ulquiorra is a pale, emotionless Arrancar who guards Orihime in Hueco Mundo and tries to convince her that "heart" is a fiction. His battle with Ichigo is one of the darkest in the series, and his final moments answer the question he kept asking.

Voice

Daisuke Namikawa (JP) · Tony Oliver (EN)

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

Espada No. 6

Grimmjow is a panther-like Arrancar who wants to crush anyone who looks down on him, especially Ichigo. Their running feud spans Karakura Town and Hueco Mundo. He's an unexpected help in the final war.

Voice

Junichi Suwabe (JP) · Troy Baker (EN)

Coyote Starrk

Espada No. 1

Starrk is a lazy, lonely Arrancar who split his soul in two so he would have company, creating Lilynette. He's so powerful that weaker souls die just being near him. He fights only because Aizen gave him comrades.

Tier Harribel

Espada No. 3

Harribel is a quiet, water-wielding Arrancar who protects her three subordinates and fights out of a sense of sacrifice. Aizen betrays her, and she later rules Hueco Mundo.

Nnoitra Gilga

Espada No. 5

Nnoitra is a lanky, brutal fighter who wants to be the strongest and hates being looked down on by women. His fight with Kenpachi is a pure slugfest.

Barragan Louisenbairn

Espada No. 2

Barragan was Hueco Mundo's king before Aizen arrived and resents serving him. His power rots and ages anything it touches.

Jugram Haschwalth

Yhwach's right hand

Haschwalth is the Sternritter Grandmaster who holds Yhwach's power while the king sleeps. He's calm and loyal, and his tragic friendship with Bazz-B runs through the arc.

Bazz-B

Sternritter "H"

Bazz-B has a mohawk and a burning hatred of Yhwach for killing his family. His fire powers come in numbered "fingers." He's Haschwalth's childhood friend.

As Nodt

Sternritter "F"

As Nodt weaponises fear itself and steals Byakuya's Bankai in the first invasion. He's one of the arc's most unsettling designs.

Ryuken Ishida

Uryu's father

Ryuken is a cold hospital director who rejected the Quincy life and keeps his son at a distance. He knows far more about Ichigo's mother than he lets on, and the final arc explains why.

Ichibe Hyosube

Head of Squad Zero

Ichibe is the leader of the Royal Guard, who gave every Soul Reaper's sword its name and claims power over names themselves. He's a jovial, bearded monk who becomes deeply frightening in the fight with Yhwach.