Character page for Ichigo's ragtag group of friends.
Click here to return to the main index page.
open/close all folders
Present Day
Ichigo Kurosaki
Ichigo Kurosaki
"Have you ever tried just, taking a Hollow, sitting down with it, and trying to understand each other?"
Voiced by: Logan Laidlaw
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Ichigo is a lot more visibly torn up about his mother's death here, going berserk upon meeting Grand Fisher, repeatedly yelling at people just for assuming they are laughing at his dead mother, and entering a bout of PTSD when Senna suggests she be the "mom" to a Plus.
- Adaptational Badass: Much more mature about relationships and nudity, and much less vulnerable to Mind Fuck.
- Adaptational Intelligence: Immediately notes that Substitute Shinigami is a little underwhelming of a title considering that he has Bankai.
- Badass Pacifist: Zig-Zagged. When it comes to Hollows, his first instinct is to talk down Hollows rather than kill them, and actually avoids his canon fight with Ikkaku by pretending to be from the Soul Society. Most of the time, however, he's not this towards non-hollows and is gleefully willing to mock/hack them to pieces. Especially when they hurt his friends. In Byakuya's case, he threatened to skewer him twice and leave him alive to bleed on the ground.
- Catchphrase:
- "I'm a non-union Soul Reaper."
- "Looks like the tables have turned to my side, where they will stay."
- "DON'T TOY WITH ME, (whoever he's fighting)!"
- "Nani?"
- "Why is that a thing?! That should not be a thing!"
- Calling Your Attacks: Parodied. A running gag with him is where he almost yells "Getsuga Tensho" as a finisher before he actually learned the technique. He always stops himself from finishing it at the last second and replaces it with "Sword slash".
- Character Development:
- While Ichigo was still willing to fight when necessary, he was more of a Badass Pacifist who preferred to talk things out with his enemies. As the series goes on though, he grows to adapt a Violence Really Is the Answer mindset.
- During his training in the Arrancar Arc, Ichigo was visited by three spirits that he needed to overcome in order to get his Hollow powers. The Spirit of Battles with Kenpachinote points out that Ichigo is reactive and tends to run to others for help when things get too tough. Ichigo takes this criticism to heart and works to become someone who takes action rather than wait for things to happen.
- Cultured Badass: Demonstrates his capacity for Haiku while fighting Byakuya.
- Deadpan Snarker: Just like the original Ichigo. When fighting Baishin, who rips off his Final Battle with Byakuya."Fighting a million projectiles with my Bankai? What a new concept!"
- Good Is Not Dumb: He may prefer talking to his enemies first, but he will resort to killing them if that isn't an option. He's also pretty good at Haiku.
- Gratuitous Japanese: Occasionally spouts out common Japanese phrases, like "Nani?".
- Meta Guy: Lampshades Filler and Canon, Shipping, theme songs, Superpower Lottery, and Mythology Gags.
- Leitmotif: "Sugar Skulls" by Envy on the Closet. His actual theme "Number One" from the anime sometimes plays.
- No Time to Explain: When he uses his Hollow mask against Grimmjow, the 11-second time limit is not subjected to the Magic Countdown and is instead real-time, so he yells this when Grimmjow starts asking what the hell is going on and Ichigo starts knocking him around.
- Official Couple: Started dating Rukia after the Soul Society Arc and during the Memories of Nobody movie. However, the two apparently broke up at some point, and Ichigo is now dating Orihime as of The Diamond Dust Rebellion movie.
- Oblivious to Love: Despite his being more mature about relationships, he's still horribly dense when it comes to actual romance.
- He is asked to go to the movies by Orihime and responds with a slow 'why' of not understanding.
- He invites Orihime out to share a meal, then suggests bringing along Chad and Tatsuki.
- Hiyori flat out tells him that Orihime wants to jump his bones. His response?
"I'm too busy training to know what that means!" - Only Sane Man: The "Soul Reaper way" is needlessly violent and destructive and his friends are all weirdos, leaving Ichigo as the relative outsider who sees them all as drama-filled maniacs.Ichigo: (while training for his bankai) Chad was captured. Ishida lost his power. Orihime is Orihime. The cat has no Zanpakuto. And my sword spirit's a sadist. Everyone around me... is absolutely insane!
- Pinball Protagonist: Called out on here. During his clash with White where he's forced to face three "Spirits", the final Spirit, "Spirit of Battles with Kenpachi", proceeds to brutally deconstruct Ichigo and how he's this, before asking him what he'll do when there's no one around to help him. Ichigo tells both the Spirit and White that he's not gonna let himself be caught off guard anymore and try to be more proactive, but it remains to be seen if this will stick.
- Refusal of the Call: Ichigo feels like he has no obligation to kill Hollows, and would rather talk things out with them instead. This does not apply if his friends are hurt or if his mother is insulted.
- Relative Button: As Yammy learned, he will not try to talk to you if you hurt his friends. He'll just kill you without mercy.
- His mother coming up in any capacity is enough to set him off. Hiyori just mentioning her during their fight, not even making fun of her directly, is enough make Ichigo willingly let his Inner Hollow takeover.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: With Rukia.
- Selective Obliviousness: He keeps failing to comprehend that his inner Hollow is Zangetsu, and the old man is something else entirely, no matter how incredibly direct White is about it.
- Talking the Monster to Death: He has a habit of wanting to talk things out with Hollows instead of killing them on sight, much to Rukia's irritation. He's successful with Orihime's brother Sora, but less so with everything else. Usually because they're just genuinely evil.
- Trauma Button: Just mentioning his mother is enough to either send him into a blind rage or cause PSTD.
- Senna saying “mom” makes him hallucinate the day his mother died.
Ichigo: Mom…!? Not the river! RUN, MOM!- To goad him into killing a Hollow, Rukia tells him that it said “his mother deserved it”. Against all logical reasoning, this works.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Inverted. As Hollow Ichigo notes, he's more likely to talk to Hollows before fighting them than actual people.
Hollow Ichigo/White
"Have you ever noticed, by the way, Ichigo, that you keep trying to make friends with Hollows, but violently threaten actual people?"
Voiced by: Logan Laidlaw
- Affably Evil: He's a bloodthirsty maniac, sure, but he's always trying to help Ichigo.
- Cryptic Conversation: Subverted/Played With. He's not cryptic at all and is quite blunt when he's not getting hilariously off topic, but the effect is the same because Ichigo never listens to him, and the Old Man is forcing him to play along with Ichigo's misconception about the Old Man being his Zanpakuto spirit.
- The Dreaded: Ichigo's first meeting with him understandably creeps him out. Even Byakuya admits that he's terrifying and doesn't want to risk fighting Ichigo any longer than he has to.
- Foreshadowing: All over the place regarding the fact he's Ichigo's actual Zanpakuto Spirit, to the point it would be an Open Secret if Ichigo didn't have Selective Obliviousness about it. It gets particularly blatant in his fight with Hiyori where he yells about how "that bitch just chipped me!" and Shinji notes he's unusually articulate for a simple "inner Hollow", albeit that he's chattier than his canon self as well.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Willingly relinquishes control over Ichigo when all the V-club step in with swords drawn.White: This seems like a good time to calm down and reset our tempers.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: In canon, The Reveal that he was the actual Zangetsu and only ever helped Ichigo didn't happen until fairly late into the series, and was a significant moment for Ichigo and his Character Development. Here, he doesn't even try to hide the fact he's the real Zangetsu, only giving a token effort by claiming he'll do a Split-Personality Takeover, but then immediately undermining it by establishing he'd do so only to help Ichigo. He even outright yells his identity during Ichigo's rematch with Byakuya.White: You idiot, I'm legitimately trying to help you! If you'd just listen for a second, you'd get that I'm not trying to hurt you! I'M ZANGETSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!
- Leitmotif: His fights are underscored by Megalovania.
- Metaphorgotten: His "king, horse, and instinct" quote gets hilariously derailed when he tries to use it.
- The Nameless: Calls himself this "for the sake of continuity" during his fight with Byakuya, as his real name is "the spoiler answer".
- Split-Personality Takeover: If Ichigo is in trouble, White takes over and ruins his opponent's day.
- Superpowered Evil Side: Pushing Ichigo's buttons is an easy way to put this guy in control of Ichigo's body, which bodes poorly for whoever did.
- Trickster Mentor: He and Old Man Zangetsu are usually trying to teach Ichigo a lesson whenever they appear. Of course, Ichigo sees White as an enemy, forcing him to play along to get his lesson across.
Old Man Zangetsu
"Alright, you want a test? Here's a test!"
Voiced by: Aaron Robert Parnell
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Ichigo's biggest complaint about him is how random and brutal his training methods are. Of course, he tried to give Ichigo his canon training, but Ichigo wasn't playing along.Zangetsu: Master, for the next three days your my bitch GO!
Ichigo: I don't get it, is it just random violence-
Zangetsu: SHUT UP BITCH. (Back hands Ichigo into a wall) - Foreshadowing: From his first line, when Ichigo mistook him for his Zanpakuto Spirit, the old man has hinted that he's actually a different aspect of Ichigo. In an unrelated topic, Soul Reapers who go into Ichigo's room usually comment on his Quincy sheets.
- The Mentor: He's usually Ichigo's greatest source of wisdom.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: Upon entering his mindscape, Ichigo saw the old man and concluded that he was his Zanpakuto Spirit. After a moment of shock, the old man rolled with it and took measures to prevent Ichigo from learning otherwise.
Rukia Kuchiki
"You see that Hollow minding its own business there? ...Well, GO KILL IT!"
Voiced by: Cassandra Cavalli
- Adaptational Jerkass: Rukia is more inconsiderate than her canon depiction. For instance, she unashamedly claims that Ichigo's mother was killed by a Hollow, then makes a pun at the expense of her death. While in canon she feels guilty for bringing up the possibility, Rukia here makes no attempt to apologize.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Ichigo and Rukia are stated to share a bond above friendship but less than lovers in the manga. Here she started dating Ichigo after the Soul Society Arc and during the Memories of Nobody movie. However, the two apparently broke up at some point during Season 2. Afterwards, Rukia refers to Ichigo as her "backup boyfriend".
- Break the Cutie: Like her canon counterpart, after hearing from Gin that pretty much everybody who ever cared about her is dying because they wanted to rescue her.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: Imminent death... doesn't have much of an effect on her."Death by fire chicken. That's what my grave stone is gonna say."
- The Cynic: Ichigo's successful reform of Orihime's hollowfied brother Sora, right in front of her no less, had done nothing to change her "kill on sight" mindset whatsoever.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: She doesn't believe that the Soul King exists, even though the Shinigamis' main mission is to protect Soul Society, which is ruled by the Soul King. She says she works for the money, not for the figurehead.
- Forgot About His Powers: She has no answer for Ichigo on why she didn't use her Shikai to save his family on their first meeting.
- Fantastic Racism: She flat out doesn't think of Hollows or Arrancars as people or believe that they have feelings or individuality. Even after Ichigo talked things out with Orihime's Hollowfied brother.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Ichigo would much prefer to talk out his differences with Hollows than kill them. Rukia would rather just kill them.
- Heroic Comedic Sociopath: She has a heart, but otherwise she's more ruthless, manipulative and dispassionate than her original counterpart.
- Repressed Memories: It's revealed in Episode 29 that she repressed her memories of Kaien because his death traumatized her so severely that, and that was only after years of therapy.
- Sweet Tooth: When they first met, Ichigo (falsely) promised her with chocolate for an explanation on Soul Reapers. Four episodes later to the point where Byakuya and Renji capture her, Ichigo never followed through and she still remembers.
- Trickster Girlfriend: Her reason for dating Ichigo is to manipulate him into killing Hollows. Though she does have genuine feelings for him on some level, she's aware that this ruins any functional romance they could have, which is why she doesn't begrudge him for paying attention to Orihime or Senna.
Renji Abarai
"Hi-ho, Zabi-kills-some-butts-no-matter-how-often-they-come-back-MARU!"
Voiced by: Aaron Robert Parnell
Rukia's childhood friend, cursed to never actually win important battles.
- Accidental Misnaming: He can't remember Yylfordt Granz's name, so he just calls him Ford Fiesta.
- Adaptational Heroism: He fights against Ichigo to keep him from saving Rukia in the original series. Here he makes a Heel–Face Turn early and fake-fights Ichigo, only receiving wounds to make it believable.
- Adaptational Dumbass: The actual Renji isn't a genius, but he isn't a moron either.
- Badass Boast: Parodied, as he tries to list opponents he's defeated... only to realize he actually hasn't won against anyone (not counting the Bount arc, which this series skipped).Renji: I'm a failure!
- Butt-Monkey: The least respected of the people in this page, and he knows it too.
- Character Exaggeration: He and everyone else are made far more aware of his track record in fights. And it eats through him so much.
- Mad Libs Catchphrase: Character's first name, a description of that character from Renji's point of view, then character's last name.
- Malicious Misnaming: He calls Szayellaporro Granz "Toyota 'I totally remember your name but I'm pretending I don't' Camry".
- The Nicknamer: He'll come up with multiple worded middle names for everyone he talks to for a quick gag.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: He gets a legitimate win against Yylfordt Granz/'Ford Fiesta'.
- The Worf Effect: Bankai or not, he'll always be defeated by serious threats and everyone knows it. Including himself, he even complains about getting beaten by a non-canon fireball when he actually tanked it.
Orihime Inoue
"We can't interfere with the final battle or the audience will feel cheated!"
Voiced by: Katrina Salisbury
Ichigo's friend and nurturing support character.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Downplayed; her reaction to Ichigo not noticing her feelings or paying attention to other girls is gritted teeth at worst.
- Fourth-Wall Observer: While she's not the only character who can do this, she's the one who operates on the level of knowing how a story like the one she's in is supposed to go.
- Genre Savvy: She knows exactly what kind of story she's in, and knows that she's a supporting character.
- Official Couple: With Ichigo during The Diamond Dust Rebellion movie and onwards.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: When Ulquiorra and Yammy show up for the first time she thinks that since the first story arc is over and Ichigo isn't nearby, she must be the star of the sequel. She's initially very disappointed to be proven wrong but quickly gets over it.
Yasutora "Chad" Sado
"We are trying to not be killed by Malsumis. He is the God of Chaos."
Voiced by: Logan Laidlaw
Ichigo's Abenaki/Japanese/Mexican friend, who draws upon the power of Malsumis to enhance his arms.
- Adaptational Nationality: In addition to being Japanese-Mexican, he's also Abenaki (Northeastern Native American), hence the Malsumis. None of the other characters know how this is possible.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: Subverted. Chad thinks that his powers come from the malevolent Abenaki God of Chaos Malsumis and later Gluskab. When Jimmy Lightning Fist points out that his powers come from Hollows just like canon, Chad dismisses it as ridiculous.
- Character Exaggeration: In canon his nationality rarely comes up. Here being a Funny Foreigner is his primary character trait.
- Entertainingly Wrong: He's well aware that he's fighting evil spirits and that his powers come from them. But thinks that Arrancars are deities from Abenaki mythology.
- Large Ham: He's much more bombastic and talkative than his canon counterpart.
- Leitmotif: “Breakdown” by Breaking Benjamin. When he first awakens his powers and during his Heroic Second Wind against Jimmy Lightning Fist note .
- Never Split the Party: He argues against splitting the party in Las Noches. Unfortunately, they overrule him.Renji: Hear me out; we split the party.
Chad: Hear ME out; NO.
Rukia: Each of us came here because we knew Ichigo wouldn't be able to face the Espada alone.
Chad: Exactly!
Rukia: So yeah! I'm up for it!
Chad: NO!
Ichigo: If we do this, we'll all be vulnerable to individual attacks. Especially Chad and Ishida.
Chad: EXACTLY! - Sealed Evil in a Can: He seems to have a less-dangerous Inner Hollow dwelling within him. Thankfully, it doesn't amount to anything more than occasionally spouting bloodlust through Chad.
- The Worf Effect: Explicitly a victim of it. When Kisuke tells him about it, he thinks that they're talking about Renji. He doesn't realize what Kisuke means until he's about to get his ass kicked by Nnoitra.
- You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry!: Chad's powers, which apparently come from Malsumis, make him more violent and bloodthirsty. He's aware of this, and is trying to curb it before it becomes a problem.
Uryuu Ishida
"Soul Reapers, Titanic, Wal-Mart, Jack the Ripper, David Tennant! Surely you didn't think that I would not piece together the secret connection!"
Voiced by: Joe Johnson
A conspiracy theorist and the last Quincy... supposedly.
- Adaptation Personality Change: He's a Conspiracy Theorist who thinks that Hollows are robots and that the Shinigami are a secret Illuminati group.
- Crazy-Prepared: Though what he prepares for probably doesn't exist.
- Dramatic Irony: Despite all his theories, he doesn't suspect that it's the Quincies that he should watch out for.
- Insane Troll Logic: It starts with claiming that Hollows are robots made by the American government in the 1600s (before America as a country existed) and only gets worse from there.
- Last of His Kind: Parodied. He regularly calls himself the last of the Quincies, with other characters, namely Yamamoto, pointing out how the Quincies were killed "forever ago". Not only is this ignoring that Ishida's father Ryuken is still a Quincy, but viewers will already know that there are hundreds of Quincy still alive, just in hiding and waiting to declare war, and that Ichigo is part Quincy via his mother.*
- The Paranoiac: He's convinced that Soul Society is part of the Illuminati, and plans to subvert the remaining Quincies, especially himself.
- Shout-Out: He bluntly refers to Seele Schneider as a lightsaber.
Keigo Asano
"Y'ALL CANT HANDLE THE MOTHERFUCKIN' CHAAAAAD-SUUUUMISSSSS!"
Voiced by: Evan Moyer
Ichigo and Chad's friend, who somehow always knows when to contact Chad over a phone to hype him up whenever he's in a fight.
- Catchphrase: See the above quote. Also "Chad (Or Ikkaku) is so X, that X."
- Character Shilling: It seems an actual power of his. Both Chad and Ikkaku were powered up by his praises during their respective fights with the Arrancar.
- Chekhov's Gag: His ability to randomly pop up anywhere to begin boasting about Chad despite how seemingly impossible it would be for him initially seems to be just a Running Gag. Come Chad's fight with "Jimmy Lightning Fist" though, and it becomes a lot more meaningful: Keigo is an unknowing agent of the God Gluskab tasked with sharing his positive vibes to allow Chad to counterbalance the influence of Malsumis.
- Phrase Catcher: "Your praise fills me with joy".
- Running Gag: Him calling up Chad to hype him during his fights. Despite having no idea where he is, calling through someone's else's phone, calling through a different dimension, and even manifesting as a spirit.
Future
Kazui and Giko Kurosaki
Played by: Ken Tynan (Kazui) and Carrie Johnston (Giko)
- Dawson Casting: Subverted. Kazui and Giko are played by adults, and are adults who are missing work because of their father's long-winded story.
- Medium-Shift Gag: They're played in live-action, with their actors wearing colorful wigs.
- Only Sane Man: Ichigo apparently has a few screws loose in the future.
- Shout-Out: They're basically the kids from How I Met Your Mother, having to sit through their father's recollection of entire Arrancar Arc.
