Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Bleach: Soul Society Dwellers

Go To

Characters that appeared in Tite Kubo's Bleach. The various residents of Soul Society from the Rukongai to the Seireitei.


Spoilers ahead.

    open/close all folders 

    Military & Government 

Departments & Division Squads

Soul Reapers, the forces that make up the bulk of Soul Society's defense and offense.

See Thirteen Court Guard Squads

See Soul King & Squad Zero

Central 46 & Noble Houses

The main ruling authority of Soul Society so named for the forty judges and six sages who serve on it; and the various families of Soul Society.

    Kukaku Shiba 

Kukaku Shiba

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kukaku_1601.png
Species: Soul
Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (JP), Cindy Robinson (ENG), Erica Edwards (Latin-American Spanish)

Ganju's older sister and owner of a house with statues of arms on the outside. She owns a large cannon that she lets Ichigo and friends use to get past the barrier of the Seireitei. She's quick to anger and acquainted with Yoruichi.
  • Action Girl: Mainly in the video games, but in canon she's perfectly willing to jump into the fray against Aizen.
  • Angst? What Angst?: Invoked. Unlike Ganju, she never was angry at Rukia for Kaien's death, mainly because she knew the full story from Ukitake. She even punches Rukia when for repeatedly apologizing and tells her it's all right.
  • An Arm and a Leg: She's missing her right arm. The anime depicts her with a prosthetic wooden one.
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Downplayed. She lacks an arm. In the anime she replaces it with a prosthetic one; in the manga she has only her stump. She is still a good-looking woman who acts as a Ms. Fanservice.
  • Cool Big Sis: She's Ganju's spunky and badass older sister, and she also acts as a helpful older sister figure to Ichigo's gang. A more tomboyish example, so this is especially evident when she's calm and relaxed.
  • Handicapped Badass: Losing her right arm don't hinder her in the slightest.
  • Hard-Drinking Party Girl: After Rukia apologizes to her and Ganju over the deal with their older brother, Kukaku throws a party for Rukia on the night before Ichigo and his gang left the Soul Society.
  • Human Cannonball: She has a cannon specifically designed for this effect. She sent Ichigo and co. to the Sereitei this way way back in the Soul Society arc, and it's recently revealed to be the only way to get to the Soul King's palace.
  • The Lad-ette: She's something of an abrasive, short-tempered drill sergeant, but even she can show a softer side, rare as it is.
  • Megaton Punch: Sends Ichigo and Ganju flying with a punch after they break her kiseru while fighting.
  • Ms. Fanservice: From the large boobs and the full legs, to the exposed back and the Panty Shot, to all the camera shots of her bare feet, she's certainly one of the poster women of Eating the Eye Candy for Bleach.
  • Samus Is a Girl: Ichigo, Orihime, Ishida and Sado were all surprised to learn that the one bearing the name "Kukaku" is female.
  • Sexy Backless Outfit: Her back isn't covered by her clothes.
  • Tsundere: In the end she really loves her brother, but don't expect to hear that out loud anytime soon.

    Ganju Shiba 

Ganju Shiba

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ganju_1502.png
Species: Soul
Voiced by: Wataru Takagi (JP), Kyle Hebert (ENG), Bardo Miranda (Latin-American Spanish)

A member of the established Shiba clan. He helps Ichigo and his friends get into the Seireitei with his sister's help. Usually gets into fights with Ichigo. He is also a master of fireworks and can change the ground into sand if he wants. He grew up hating Soul Reapers and his attitude only became worse after his older brother was killed by one. He decides to accompany Ichigo because he wants to understand why his brother loved Soul Reapers so much, and eventually warms up to several of them.

    Yūshirō Sakimune Shihōin 

Yūshirō Sakimune Shihōin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yushiro_7.png
Species: Soul Reaper
Zanpakutou: Unknown
Voiced by Hiromi Igarashi (JP), Zeno Robinson (EN)

Yoruichi's younger brother, and the 23rd head of the Shihōin household.
  • Ambiguously Brown: Yuushirou has very dark skin, but standard features for a manga character (large eyes, small nose, slim build). As a result, the reason for the dark skin is impossible to visually figure out and the ethnicity of the Shihouin family is never discussed.
  • Badass Adorable: He took over as the head of House Shihōin after Yoruichi disappeared. He's emotional, sensitive and very affectionate, especially towards his older sister whom he idolises. However, he mastered Shunkou in a very short space of time and his physical strength is so great he can take on Sternritter-level opponents. A single punch was enough to make Askin take him seriously.
    Askin Naak Le Vaar: "W...Wait... This is insanity! You can't be this strong!"
  • Big Sister Worship: He deeply admires Yoruichi. He expresses great sadness when Yoruichi goes ahead of him in his first appearance, and later expresses great joy when he reunites with her. He abandons the group of Soul Reapers he's with to rush to her side and is willing to fight the Sternritter just for insulting her.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: He is small and slight of build with very feminine facial appearance and hair bound into a pony tail. He looks like a young version of his older sister, Yoruichi. When Askin first sees him, he mistakes Yuushirou for a girl, much to Yuushirou's indignation.
  • Having a Blast: His Shunkou is fire-based. Whenever he uses it, it causes huge explosions akin to a fire bomb.
  • Instant Expert: It took both Yoruichi and Soifon years to master Shunkou. However, Yoruichi only recently taught Yūshirō Shunkou, so she's startled to see he's mastered it so quickly.
  • Keet: He's very talkative and hyperactive, and rushes thoughtlessly around the place whenever he wants to try and catch up to Yoruichi (which is often). He is eager to please and highly emotional, becoming tearful when Yoruichi leaves him behind or extremely excited whenever he sees her or feels he's done something to please her.
  • Sarcasm-Blind: When Yoruichi sarcastically responds to his latest blubbering by observing how much stronger he's become, he's thrilled she's noticed it. She kicks herself at that, having forgotten that he's so naïve he's incapable of recognising sarcasm.
  • Uncanny Family Resemblance: He and his older sister look damn near identical, despite their difference in age and gender. When Yoruichi was younger, she was virtually identical to him.

    Jidanbo Ikkanzaka 

Jidanbo Ikkanzaka

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jidanbo.png
Species: Soul Reaper
Zanpakutou: Unknown
Voiced by: Takashi Nagasako (JP), Peter Lurie (ENG, Episodes 21-62), JB Blanc (ENG, Episodes 97-99), Miguel Ángel Ghigliazza (Latin-American Spanish

The guard to the Seireitei's western gate, a large giant. He's the older brother of Ikkanzaka Jirobo, fourth seat of Squad 7.
  • An Arm and a Leg: His arm got ripped off by Gin. (The anime tones down to a small gash)
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: During their assault on Soul Society, Pepe of the Vandenreich manages to put Jidanbo under his control, after which he is made to attack Squad 12.
  • Dual Wielding: He wields two massive cleavers.
  • Dumb Muscle: When counting a 10-hit combo he clearly shows little knowledge of numbers or counting, especially since it ends up becoming a 13-hit combo.
    Jidanbo: One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven! Seven! Six! Eight! Um... Six! Eight! Time to finish up... Ten!!!
  • Gentle Giant: It turns out he's actually a pretty nice guy and very popular among the people despite being a gatekeeper for the Soul Reapers.
  • Honor Before Reason: He thinks all fights should be honorable one-on-one duels, and believes that he has to open the gate if he loses. Gin isn't wrong when he points out it's his job to keep people out, not let them in.
  • Uncertain Doom: During the first Quincy invasion he gets zombified by Giselle and then mind controlled by Pepe. The last we see of him, is him attacking Squad 12. While Mayuri later develops a counter against Giselle's zombification, that was several days after the initial invasion. Jidanbo is notably the only Shinigami absent in the post-war novels; even when Hitsugaya visits the western gate he protects, Jidanbo is not present.

    Hisana Kuchiki 

Hisana Kuchiki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hisana.png
Species: Soul
Voiced by Fumiko Orikasa (JP), Debi Mae West (ENG), Norma Iturbe (Latin-American Spanish)

Byakuya Kuchiki's late beloved wife. Originally a Rukongai resident who arrived with her baby sister Rukia upon their deaths in the living world to District 78 of Southern Rukongai. She was forced to abandon said sister in order to survive, and could never forgive herself for that.
  • Barefoot Poverty: Before her marriage to Byakuya, she was so overwhelmingly poor that not having a pair of simple straw sandals were literally the least of her worries.
  • Incurable Cough of Death: She passed away from an illness, with one symptom being uncontrollable coughing.
  • The Lost Lenore: Without her, the Soul Society arc would never have unfolded the way it did as she was the root cause of the two conflicting vows that forced Byakuya to be Ichigo's main antagonist.
  • My Greatest Failure: Due to having abandoned Rukia as a baby, Hisana considers herself unworthy of being Rukia's sister and insists to Byakuya that he never reveal the blood relationship to Rukia if he ever manages to find her.
  • Plot-Triggering Death: One of four characters* whose deaths combine to shape the first arcs of the story. Hisana's death was the reason Byakuya made a solemn oath to find and protect Rukia. The interaction of this promise with his earlier promise to always uphold the rule of law (prompted by the upheaval caused by his marriage to a commoner) results in Byakuya being the main antagonist for most of the Soul Society arc and his undying loyalty to Ichigo ever since.
  • Posthumous Character: She died over fifty years before the series begins.
  • Rags to Royalty: Went from a poor peasant who couldn't even afford sandals to the wife of a noble from one of the four most powerful and highly ranked noble houses in Soul Society, as well as 6th Squad Captain of the Gotei 13.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Rukia was told she was adopted because of her strong resemblance to Hisana. It's only later she learns this resemblance is because she and Hisana are sisters.

    Great Old One 

Great Old One

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oldone.png
Species: Soul (Werewolf)
Voiced by: Jin Urayama (JP), Aaron LaPlante (ENG)

Komamura's great-grandfather, who eventually teaches him the clan's secrets.
  • Canis Major: He is a giant dog that even dwarfs a character as large as Komamura.
  • Hate Sink: In addition to laughing off Komamura's request to learn his clan's secret arts, he flat out admits he doesn't care what happens to Soul Society. Later, it's revealed that he knew that the Human Transformation Technique would turn Komamura into an ordinary powerless wolf after it wears off. Not only is he not upset about it, he's thrilled at Komamura succumbing to his clans roots of revenge, and at the prospect that his grandson's life is ruined and his Soul Reaper days are over. There's nothing redeeming about him and he's very clearly written that way because he's lampshaded in-universe as an example of the Buddhist "sin" of ignorance, and only seemingly exists to kick Komamura out of the plot.
  • Jerkass: The first time he ever takes great pride in Komamura is after he falls into the state of a mindless beast fuelled only by the thirst for revenge that has consumed the clan.
  • Monstrous Cannibalism: After Komamura rips out his heart, his grandfather thanks him for the gift of his hatred and then eats it.
  • Our Werewolves Are Different: He is the patriarch of a clan of werewolf-like beings from the Animal Realm of Buddhism.
  • Savage Wolves: He's proud of Komamura when he becomes a bloodthirsty monster.

    Former Residents 

Top