List of Bleach characters

This is a list of characters in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. In the anime, the characters are adapted by Masashi Kudō.

Bounts

Main article: List of Bounts in Bleach

The Bounts are a clan of humans with supernatural powers that serve as the primary antagonists during the anime's Bount arc. Bounts consume spirits in place of food, which allows them to live longer; theoretically, a Bount could live forever given steady access to spirits. According to Kisuke Urahara, the Bounts are called vampires in certain parts of the world. Bounts can seal their power in dolls with various special abilities. The dolls have active personalities and can operate independently, turning on the owners when they are near death or otherwise weakened.

Hollows

Main articles: List of hollows in Bleach and List of Espada in Bleach

Hollows are the classification that many enemies in Bleach receive. They are human spirits that were not sent to Soul Society in due time. This led to their corruption, robbing them of their sense of being and giving them a craving for human souls. Arrancar, a form of hollow that have acquired a personality as well as powers on par with Soul Reapers, become the primary antagonists later in the series.

Humans

The humans featured in Bleach are residents of a modern Japan. Most are unable to interact with spirits in any way. In rare cases a human is born with the ability to speak and interact with spirits, with the degree of interaction growing with time. Many of the humans introduced in the series have only become spiritually aware through their interaction with series protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki and, by extension, his friends.

Don Kanonji

• Voiced by: Shigeru Chiba (Japanese); Michael Sorich (English)

Don Kanonji (ドン・観音寺, Don Kan'onji) is a popular spirit medium who has a television show called Ghost Bust (English: "Spirit Hunter") that is watched by 25% of Japan's population. His catch phrase is "Smells like bad spirits!" His show consists of getting rid of ghosts and sending their spirits to heaven. Kanonji's initial method of doing so forcefully turns souls into hollows, though he never realizes this. Ichigo Kurosaki informs him of his mistake, earning the title of "#1 Disciple" for his help. Since then Kanonji has appeared almost exclusively in omake chapters, where he is shown to have formed a hollow-fighting group called the Karakura Superheroes, which consists of the Kurosaki sisters and the children at the Urahara Shop, to get the show's declining ratings up. With their help and his "Golden Kanonball" (a tiny ball of golden light that moves slowly and explodes with surprising power), they have succeeded in keeping the hollow presence in Karakura Town to a minimum.

Keigo Asano

• Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese); Yuri Lowenthal (English)

Keigo Asano (浅野 啓吾, Asano Keigo) is a classmate of Ichigo Kurosaki. He is an extremely hyperactive character and often uses overly-dramatic movements and words to act out his feelings. As such, he is primarily comic relief, acting as an antithesis to his usually calm friend Mizuiro Kōjima. Keigo appears to be a shallow character at first glance, with a passion for slacking off. Indeed, he takes great pride in not making it to the honors roster (higher than the 50th ranking) in his class and labels those who do so "traitors" (including Ichigo and Chad). Like many of Ichigo's friends, Keigo is spiritually aware, though he dismisses many of the peculiar things he sees as shootings for a TV show. He has yet to display any unique abilities.

Mizuiro Kojima

• Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (Japanese); Tom Fahn (English)

Mizuiro Kojima (小島 水色, Kojima Mizuiro) is a classmate of Ichigo Kurosaki. He has a boyish face and gentle manner of speaking, with a marked fondness for older women. He is apparently very successful with these women, once going on a vacation to Hawaii with ten girls. In an omake chapter of Bleach, Mizuiro is revealed to have had very few friends prior to entering junior high school. He then has a change of fortunes and has since found a niche of people to hang out with, most commonly Keigo Asano. He is very distant towards his mother, who is seldom home. Like many of Ichigo's friends, Mizuiro is spiritually aware, though he has yet to display any unique abilities.

Orihime Inoue

Orihime Inoue (井上 織姫, Inoue Orihime) is a classmate of Ichigo Kurosaki and best friend of Tatsuki Arisawa. She is one of the first of Ichigo's friends to gain spiritual powers, hers coming in the form of six spirits that inhabit her hairpins.

Tatsuki Arisawa

• Voiced by: Junko Noda (Japanese); Wendee Lee (English)

Tatsuki Arisawa (有沢 竜貴, Arisawa Tatsuki) is a classmate of Ichigo Kurosaki and the best friend of Orihime Inoue. She has known both since she was young, sparring with Ichigo in their karate classes and defending Orihime whenever people picked on or bothered her. Tatsuki is very tomboyish, displaying few feminine traits and even ranking as the second strongest student in her age group in all of Japan. In her friendship with Orihime, Tatsuki can sense Orihime from almost anywhere, even across dimensions; she is able to sense Orihime when she travels to Soul Society, but remarks that she can't sense her presence after Orihime is taken to Hueco Mundo. Throughout the series she slowly develops a spiritual awareness, though typically refrains from commenting on any of the peculiar things she sees.

Yasutora Sado

Yasutora "Chad" Sado (茶渡 泰虎, Sado Yasutora) is a classmate of Ichigo Kurosaki. He is one of the first of Ichigo's friends to gain spiritual powers, his being the ability to transform his arm into more powerful forms.

Kurosaki family

File:KarinYuzu.jpg

Yuzu, Ichigo, and Karin

The Kurosakis are the family of series protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki. They are composed of former Soul Reaper, Isshin, his human wife, Masaki, and their three children. As the child of a Soul Reaper, Ichigo is a "true blood" (真血, Shinketsu).

Ichigo Kurosaki

Ichigo Kurosaki (黒崎 一護, Kurosaki Ichigo) is the main protagonist of Bleach and the only male child of the Kurosaki family. He has been spiritually aware since his childhood, and gains the powers of a Soul Reaper after meeting Rukia Kuchiki.

Isshin Kurosaki

• Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese); Patrick Seitz (English)

Isshin Kurosaki (黒崎 一心, Kurosaki Isshin) is the father of the Kurosaki family. He is initially portrayed as a silly, fight-loving father who takes a keen interest in what his children are doing. He shows them affection either offensively or with an all-too-happy tone, which elicits comical reactions from his kids, usually in the form of a kick. Later in the series he reveals himself as a former Soul Reaper, regaining his powers after twenty years so that he can avenge his wife's death by killing Grand Fisher. While in the form of a Soul Reaper, Isshin is generally more serious than usual, only breaking character to defend his eccentric parenting methods. It is unclear what he did while he was a Soul Reaper or why he left, it only being implied that he was captain-level by the piece of captain's robe worn over his shoulder. He seems to be aware of the goings on in the spiritual community through Kisuke Urahara, knowing of Sōsuke Aizen's actions and having known for some time that Ichigo has become a Soul Reaper.

Karin Kurosaki

• Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Japanese); Kate Higgins (English)

Karin Kurosaki (黒崎 夏梨, Kurosaki Karin) is the fraternal twin of Yuzu. She is typically cynical and sarcastic, and is significantly more assertive and aggressive than Yuzu. Karin is a sensible person and will not hesitate to kick her father in the head when she thinks he is acting unreasonable. Karin's tough exterior results from her mother's death; because she could not be useful around the house like Yuzu, she resolved never to cry so that she would not burden her family with her personal troubles. Like Ichigo, Karin is spiritually aware, though she initially chooses to ignore the spirits she sees. Once Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper and starts combating hollows on a regular basis, she takes a greater interest in the spiritual world out of concern for him. When dealing with hollows herself (typically in omake chapters) she uses her prodigious soccer talents to deliver powerful blows to weak hollows.

Masaki Kurosaki

• Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (Japanese); Ellyn Stern (English)

Masaki Kurosaki (黒崎 真咲, Kurosaki Masaki) was Isshin Kurosaki's wife and the mother of their three children. She had the innate ability to make her family happy by just being around them; if ever Ichigo was crying he would instantly cheer up the moment he saw her. She was killed by Grand Fisher when he tried to eat Ichigo. As such, Ichigo grows up feeling responsible for her death, though is absolved of his guilt once learning of Grand Fisher's role in her death. Isshin also takes responsibility, believing he could have saved her had he still been a Soul Reaper. In general, her family becomes generally more pessimistic after her death in an effort to fill the void her absence created.

Yuzu Kurosaki

• Voiced by: Tomoe Sakuragawa (Japanese); Janice Kawaye (English)

Yuzu Kurosaki (黒崎 遊子, Kurosaki Yuzu) is the fraternal twin of Karin. She is more soft-spoken, empathetic, and emotional in comparison to her sister. She takes care of the housework, such as cooking meals and tidying up the living space, on a daily basis. She has a deep affection for Kon, calling him "Bostov". She is unaware of the fact that he is alive, and much to his chagrin frequently dresses him in feminine clothes and glues unwanted accessories onto his body. Yuzu has a weak level of spiritual awareness, only being able to see faint outlines of spirits. As such she tends to get upset when her Soul Reaper brother, Ichigo, disappears, being unaware of where he is going or what he is doing.

Modified souls

Noba, Kurōdo, and Lirin with Kisuke Urahara

Modified souls are artificial souls created by Soul Society researchers some time ago. They have enhanced speed and strength when compared to normal humans, and often special abilities which set them apart from each other. However, the modified souls were considered an unethical experiment and most of them were destroyed. Four have been introduced in the series thus far, each having been saved from destruction. Each typically inhabits a plushie with all of their abilities intact (albeit scaled down to fit their size). The three introduced in the anime's Bount arc also possess a gigai that they can use to avoid attention and otherwise regain complete use of their abilities.

Kon

Kon (コン) is the first modsoul to appear in Bleach. His area of expertise are his legs, and thus he can run faster and jump higher than any human. Kon typically inhabits a lion plushie, but also resides in Ichigo Kurosaki's body whenever he is away.

Kurōdo

• Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (Japanese); Michael McConnohie (English)

Kurōdo (蔵人) is a somewhat cowardly modsoul. His longwindedness and actions often provide comic relief. He has the ability to shapeshift, and can replicate the abilities of others when he does so (although he can't replicate the potency of said abilities). His plushie body is a rabbit-esque purse. Kurōdo's gigai is of a bespectacled man with a mustache and two-tone hair color (black to the right, blond to the left). He wears a gray top hat, multi-colored suit and tie, as well as dark brown boots.

Noba

• Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese); Roger Craig Smith (English)

Noba (之芭) is very quiet, rarely speaking more than a few words. He is fairly shy, hiding his head when he wishes to show emotion. Despite this, he is somewhat analytical and adept at strategic combat. Noba has the power to teleport himself and others to almost any location he's been to. He can also create wormholes to redirect ranged attacks, both physical and energy based, back at the enemy. Noba's plushie body is an anthropomorphic turtle in gray dress trousers and a white ruffled shirt with a red bow tie. His gigai is of a young man in a fur coat with a shield on his back and a zippered mask, with a slim build, red hair, and aqua eyes.

Lirin

• Voiced by: Yumi Kakazu (Japanese); Julie Ann Taylor (English)

Lirin (りりん, Ririn) acts as the leader of the modsouls introduced in the Bount arc. At time she is petty and arrogant, resulting in her initial dislike of Ichigo Kurosaki. Other times she shows real concern for others, eventually developing a fondness for Ichigo where in she will put herself in harm's way to protect him. She often looks down on Kon as inferior, which causes frequent arguments between the two. Her special ability is the creation of illusions. Lirin's plushie body is an anthropomorphic bird that wears a blue coat and boots. She doesn't like the plushie at all, and claims that she cannot change to another. Lirin's gigai is a small girl with short blonde hair wearing a pink, fur-trimmed coat, a purple bird-shaped cape, and red boots.

Quincy

Main article: Quincy

The Quincy are a clan of spiritually aware humans who once fought against the hollows using weapons composed of spiritual energy to slay them. They were almost completely exterminated by the Soul Reapers due to the threat they posed to the balance of the universe. Only two survive into the current Bleach storyline.

Soul Reapers

Main article: List of Soul Reapers in Bleach

Soul Reapers are the protectors of souls, granting them access to Soul Society and keeping them safe from hollows. Many of the protagonists introduced in the series are Soul Reapers, either in profession, origin, or abilities. Each Soul Reaper possesses a zanpakutō, a sword that doubles as both a weapon and a physical manifestation of the owner's soul. Each zanpakutō has its own personality, which is at times at odds with its owner's.

Soul Society dwellers

Though Soul Reapers make up the bulk of the characters from Soul Society that have been introduced in the series, a far greater number of souls occupy its outskirts. While many are simply departed humans' souls, a few have abilities resembling those of Soul Reapers.

Kūkaku Shiba

File:KukakuGanju.jpg

Kūkaku and Ganju

• Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (Japanese); Jessica Straus (English)

Kūkaku Shiba (志波 空鶴, Shiba Kūkaku) is an ill-tempered fireworks expert and the somewhat authoritative older sister of Ganju. She lives with her family in ridiculously-themed houses (which she changes in design and location regularly) on the outskirts of Soul Society. She is missing her right arm, which in the anime is replaced with a prosthetic. Kūkaku is the head of the Shiba family, which fell from the status of nobility after her brother, Kaien, died. Because they knew only that Kaien was killed by a Soul Reaper, both Kūkaku and Ganju are distrustful of Soul Reapers when first introduced. After Kaien's killer, Rukia Kuchiki, explains how he died and apologizes, the Shiba make amends. Kūkaku seems to have some kind of relationship with the Urahara Shop, knowing Yoruichi Shihōin and claiming to have worked with Kisuke Urahara in the past. She can perform high level kidō spells, and she carries a short-bladed sword on her back.

Ganju Shiba

• Voiced by: Wataru Takagi (Japanese); Kyle Hebert (English)

Ganju Shiba (志波 岩鷲, Shiba Ganju) wears a vest, scarf, bandana, and pair of goggles. He is often found with his gang, who all ride large boars. Ganju possesses a hot temper and a strong ego, though has shown a softer side, easily being cowed by his older sister, Kūkaku. He and his sister initially hate Soul Reapers due to the death of their brother, Kaien, though after his interactions with Ichigo Kurosaki he overcomes this. Ganju is not particularly attractive, something that has become a running joke in the series. He does not deny this fact and instead tries to talk around the subject. He has a dagger which resembles a meat cleaver or a Chinese Dadao, though his skills are limited and he instead relies on his arsenal of fireworks and his earth magic. Ganju's earth magic doesn't seem to operate on the same principals as standard Soul Reaper kidō spells; the one technique he uses, Stone Wave (石波, seppa), doesn't need an incantation to work and is unnumbered. The spell can reduce whatever it is aimed at to sand or quicksand, useful when making holes in walls to escape pursuers.

Hisana Kuchiki

Hisana Kuchiki (朽木 緋真, Kuchiki Hisana) was Byakuya Kuchiki's wife who died fifty years before the start of the series. She first arrived in Soul Society with her almost identical baby sister, Rukia, though had to abandon her to ensure her own survival. After marrying Byakuya she searched endlessly for Rukia to repent for abandoning her own family. She passed on this task to her husband upon dying, though requested that Rukia never know they were related, too ashamed to be called her sister.

Rurichiyo Kasumiōji

• Voiced by: Reiko Takagi

Rurichiyo Kasumiōji (霞大路 瑠璃千代, Kasumiōji Rurichiyo), introduced during The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc , is the princess of the Kasumiōji noble family. Her family, according to Yoruichi Shihouin, is just below the four great noble families in status, commenting that their circumstances are a bit "special". She appears to be a small child and has an attitude typical of a princess, expecting her demands to be met quickly and throwing tantrums when ignored. She also has a peculiar habit of referring to herself with the royal we. Her mother died giving birth to her, while her father recently passed away due to illness. She takes up residence next door to Ichigo and begins attending his school with her two bodyguards, Kenryū and Enryū. Kenryū and Enryū have refrained from telling her that she is being targeted for assassination by one of her clan leaders, Kumoi Gyōkaku, due to fear of her worrying. While traveling, she is made to wear a veil-like hat that suppresses her spiritual pressure (even though it falls off quite frequently), to prevent others from sensing her presence.

Shu Kannogi

• Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga

Shu Kannogi (菅ノ木　愁, Kannogi Shu) is Rurichiyo's fiancé. His appearance seems to be that of a young teenager. He is often seen with a melancholic face whenever he appears (which matches the meaning of his first name in kanji, "Shu"). Also introduced during the events of The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc, he is first seen in Seireitei worrying about Rurichiyo's whereabouts. He is appointed as the head of the Kasumiōji household while Rurichiyo is away in the real world as part of Kumoi's scheme to take over the Kasumiōji family.

Gyōkaku Kumoi

• Voiced by: Masaharu Satou

Gyōkaku Kumoi (雲井 尭覚, Kumoi Gyōkaku), introduced during The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc, is one of the clan leaders serving the Kasumiōji noble family. He is also the steward who handles most of the family affairs. However, when Rurichiyo's father passed away due to illness, he has planned to usurp the head family seat, gathering supporters and creating an assassination squad for his own purposes. He often adopts a smiling and benevolent expression in front of public appearances, which belies his evil and cunning nature. He has his assassins kill off the clan leaders in the noble family who disagree with his views or discover his plans. His main goal is to kill Rurichiyo, the last true descendant of the Kasumiōji family, which he has failed to on several occasions back in Seireitei. He has his assassins pursue her and her bodyguards to the real world.

Hanza Nukui

• Voiced by: Yoshikazu Nagano

Hanza Nukui (貫井 半左, Nukui Hanza), also introduced during The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc, is the leader of the assassination squad under Gyōkaku Kumoi's orders. He does not seem to possess a zanpakutō; he and his assassins instead wield interchangeable organic weapons that bond to their arms. One of these is the mirror weapon "Saiga", which evolves by devouring the spiritual power of its user. It has the ability to momentarily paralyze opponents by reflecting moonlight into their eyes and can create an alternate dimension in which the opponent is left conscious but unable to move.

Urahara Shop

File:TessaiUruruJinta.jpg

Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta

The Urahara Shop (浦原商店, Urahara Shōten) is a convenience store that predominately deals in snacks and small household goods. It also caters to a more select crowd of spiritually-aware beings, providing them with merchandise it has acquired from Soul Society. Three of its regulars (owner Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihōin, and Tessai Tsukabishi) are former high-ranking Soul Reapers that are now fugitives of Soul Society.

Kisuke Urahara

Kisuke Urahara (浦原 喜助, Urahara Kisuke) is the owner of the Urahara Shop. He has a number of peculiar business practices, such as leaving the store unattended so that he can train other spiritually aware beings in his cave-like basement.

Yoruichi Shihōin

Yoruichi Shihōin (四楓院 夜一, Shihōin Yoruichi) does not work at the Urahara Shop in any official capacity, instead using it as a place of residence when she is not abroad.

Tessai Tsukabishi

• Voiced by: Kiyoyuki Yanada (Japanese); Michael Sorich (English)

Tessai Tsukabishi (握菱 テッサイ, Tsukabishi Tessai) is Urahara's personal assistant in both business and other matters. He is a large, muscular man with a thick mustache who always wears an apron. He is shown to have great physical strength, made apparent by his ability to smash a hollow's head to pieces with a single, open-palmed thrust. During the Turn Back the Pendulum miniseries, he is the captain of the Kidō Corps in Soul Society. As a result, Tessai is extremely skilled in kidō, demonstrated by his ability to use a level 99 binding spell while skipping its incantation. He has not been shown to carry a zanpakutō, but he did carry a shakujo during his time in Soul Society. For aiding Kisuke Urahara in his attempts to help the vizard, Tessai was sentenced to imprisonment by the Central 46 and was forced to flee to the human world.

Jinta Hanakari

• Voiced by: Takako Honda (Japanese); Jeannie Elias (English)

Jinta Hanakari (花刈 ジン太, Hanakari Jinta) is a small, red-haired boy who is supposed to do manual labor for the shop, such as cleaning. Instead he usually slacks off and forces Ururu to do all the work. Though he frequently bullies her, he does care for Ururu as he recovers her body after she is injured by an arrancar. Though he is more knowledgeable than one might expect given his young appearance, he is still childish, calling Renji Abarai a "moocher" (居候, isōrō). Jinta seems to have a crush on Yuzu Kurosaki, calling her "The Goddess" and regarding anything she gives to him as sacred. His primary weapon is an oversized iron rod, similar to a Tetsubo, which he can use to beat others to a bloody pulp.

Ururu Tsumugiya

• Voiced by: Noriko Shitaya (Japanese); Wendee Lee (English)

Ururu Tsumugiya (紬屋 雨, Tsumugiya Ururu) is a meek, black-haired girl who mostly does manual labor for the shop. She uses a multi-barreled shoulder cannon as her weapon, which can turn into a rocket launcher to deal with powerful opponents. Ururu's meek attitude is somewhat at odds with her fighting ability, which is undefined, but quite high (Urahara vaguely mentions that her fighting ability is at an "anti-Soul Reaper" level). Her punches and kicks have a lethal amount of force and far surpass what is capable of most characters. She seems to respond robotically when injured or when hollows are nearby. During such times, Ururu seems to take on a rather simplistic view of right and wrong; she considers those that cause harm (relative to her) as enemies, and believes that enemies must be eliminated.

Vizard

Main article: Vizard

The vizard are Soul Reapers who have gained hollow powers. The eight vizard that have been introduced in the series (excluding Ichigo Kurosaki) are former captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13. They have no particular allegiance to Soul Society or to hollow-kind, stating on one occasion their dislike of both.

Other

Senna

• Voiced by: Chiwa Saito (Japanese); G.K. Bowes (English)

Senna (茜雫) is exclusively introduced in the movie Bleach: Memories of Nobody. She is made completely of memories, created when souls were ejected from the circle of life, and is called the Memory Rosary. Despite her spunky, upbeat, and carefree personality, she is also haunted by the many memories that reside in her. In her gigai form she is dressed in a school uniform. When she transforms into a Shinigami, she wears the standard shinigami uniform with a large red ribbon tied around her waist. Her Zanpakuto, called Mirokumaru (弥勒丸, lit. Maitreya circle), can summon and freely control small tornadoes adorned with many fall leaves swirling about. Its release command is "Call forth the twilight" (夕闇に誘え, Yūyami ni izanae), and takes the form of a staff with a spear point when released.