http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/BleachVisoredsAndExiledSoulReapers

Characters that appeared in Tite Kubo's Bleach. This page deals with exiled Soul Reapers, and Visoreds. Their origins are explained in the mini arc "Turn Back The Pendulum" apart from Isshin Kurosaki, whose origins remained unrevealed until the "Everything but the Rain" mini arc.

Contains spoilers

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Soul Reapers

Kisuke Urahara

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_urahara.png

"You're making too much of me. All I am these days is the poor owner of a small time candy store."

Species: Soul Reaper

Zanpakuto: Benihime (Shikai) / Kannon Biraki Benihime Aratame (Bankai)

Voiced by: Shin-ichiro Miki (JP), Michael Lindsay (US, Episodes 1-231), Doug Erholtz (US, Episodes 231 onwards, live-action movie), Manuel Campuzano (Latin America)

Played by: Seiichi Tanabe (live-action movie)

Ichigo's mentor, at first. Known for usually wearing sandals and hats (so he's called Geta-Boshi or Hat & Clogs), and runs a very weird store. His personality may be a bit eccentric and playful, but he's the real deal. Urahara is later revealed as the founder and former President of the Soul Society Research & Technology Center as well as a Gotei 13 Captain.

His Zanpakuto is Benihime, a hidden-cane-sword that can create blood-based structures and launch energy blasts. His Bankai is Kannon Biraki Benihime Aratame, which summons a giant princess capable of 'restructuring' anything within its range. This allows both healing and remodelling limbs to optimise strength at the same time. It can also tear the flesh off of any foes foolish enough to get close to it.

Actually a Doombot: Or rather, a blow-up doll that he can swap out in the middle of battle. It's one of his many, many inventions.
Adaptive Ability: His Bankai has the ability to dissect and modify anything it wishes. When used defensively, it can take something damaged and make it stronger, and help it recover from or even resist whatever damaged it in the first place. Combined with his analytical mind, which enables him to counter any ability he's adjusted to, this makes him an extremely adaptable opponent and nigh-impossible to beat if you fail to do so in your first attempt.
Anti-Hero: Of the Pragmatic Hero variety. He manipulated Rukia into slowly losing her powers in an attempt to destroy the Hogyoku, risked Ichigo's life to use him as a weapon against Aizen, often fails to give his allies crucial information, and breaks the laws of Soul Society and the human world with impunity. To his credit, Kisuke shows legitimate remorse when his deceptions are discovered, even apologizing to Ichigo, once he and his friends returned from Soul Society.
Artificial Outdoors Display: Urahara has a habit of creating huge, elaborate, secret underground training rooms. The ground often has the look of rocky, mountainous terrain and the ceiling appears to be sunny, blue skies. When Ichigo comments on it, Urahara explains that he feels the airy, outdoor atmosphere makes for a better feeling when underground. Ichigo cynically retorts that's the sort of thing a gaoler would say. Hundreds of chapters later, it's confirmed that, until a century ago, Urahara did actually have a gaoler's job.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Standard for any Soul Reaper Captain, but it's actually in effect twice. His duties as the 3rd Seat of the 2nd Division included being the warden of what was essentially an insane asylum, and it was actually a requirement of the job that he be able to kick the ass of every single person committed to it with his bare hands. Most notably, one of them was Mayuri.
Awesomeness by Analysis: As a former captain, and former member of the Onmitsukido, he boasts some impressive power. But far greater is his genius for analysis that allows him to do things like turn the Arrancar Bala technique into a No-Sell via perfect cancellation. His capacity for this is so great, in combination with his planning ability, that the Wandenreich have him marked as one of the Five Special War Powers of Soul Society.'
Awesome, but Impractical: According to himself, his Bankai is not something that can be used to help train others, which is why he requests Renji train Chad. The final arc later reveals why; his Bankai isn't one that is really meant for combat due to its focus on dissecting and modifying things. The one time he uses it he focuses on buffing or repairing himself to attack, and the only real "offensive" power it has is to just outright try to kill his target, something Chad can in no way benefit from.
Badass Bookworm: He looks unimposing and prefers being a scientist over a warrior, but he's also a highly effective combatant. He designed a method of achieving Bankai, a formidable power that takes years to achieve, in three days and was the only one capable of this until Ichigo. He has also been known to pitch his numerous inventions in the midst of battle. Aizen, a frightfully villainous version of the badass bookworm, acknowledged Urahara as the most intelligent person in the story.
Badass in Distress: Went through a Kangaroo Court and was immediately sentenced to be stripped of all his spiritual power and exile. Yoruichi rescued him and the others. Yukio kidnaps him in ''Can't Fear Your Own World" to a Valley of Screams and traps him inside one of his digital rooms, forcing Hisagi to rescue him. Except it turns out the whole thing was staged by Yukio and himself, and he was Captured on Purpose.
Balls of Steel: Hiyori thinks they're made of brass after she kicks him there—or he could just be hiding something in his pants.
Barrier Warrior: Benihime has a defensive ability that can block attacks from Espada-class fighters with ease.
Beam Spam: Urahara can use Benihime to neutralize the speed-based Bala technique by throwing equal and opposite energy back at the original attack.
Benevolent Boss: Appeared to be one when he was still the Captain of the 12th Squad (with the exception of maybe Mayuri). Urahara was especially tolerant of his lieutenant Hiyori, despite the latter's complete lack of respect for him. As the owner of Urahara Shoten, he is also a nice boss to Ururu.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's extremely eccentric and has got a lot of personal quirks, like sending messages in blood just to mess with someone, that drive people (mostly Ichigo) up the wall. Despite this, everyone is fully aware that they can depend on him to get the job done because he's just that smart and just that good at what he does.
Calling Your Attacks: Benihime has even more named techniques than most zanpakuto. "Nake - Benihime!" ("Scream" or "Cry" in the English dub), "Chikisume no Tate!", "Kamisori - Benihime!", "Tsuppane - Benihime!", "Shibari - Benihime!", "Hiasobi - Benihime - Juzutsunagi!", various Kido spells.
Character Development: During the "Turn Back The Pendulum" mini arc where Urahara was just promoted to the rank of Captain, he was less confident, less certain about himself, and more prone to show or even share his emotions. He was more easily to be caught by surprises. He also appeared to be genuinely nice to others. Fast forward eighty years or so, by the time he met Isshin, he had become significantly hardened. Present-day Urahara is much more manipulative, surrounded himself with secrecy, and becomes Crazy-Prepared in order not to be caught off guard. While he does do things for the greater good, you always suspect him of having some hidden agenda instead of just being nice whenever he offers to help. Betrayal and exile can do that to you.
The Chessmaster: One of Urahara's defining traits is his tactical and strategic genius; coming up with long, circuitous plans that he can revise on the fly and are matched only by Aizen's own. Aizen perceives himself as Urahara's archrival, but the feeling is onesided. The Wandenreich even considers him one of the '5 war potentials' of Soul Society due to just how adaptable and effective his planning tends to be.
Crazy-Prepared: Even though Urahara lost to Aizen when they went one-on-one, he shot a Kido spell into Aizen during their fight in the off chance Ichigo would weaken him enough for it to activate. It was a risky gambit that paid off. Even preparing that trap inside Aizen required him to layer spell after spell inside each other. This was in addition to him preparing at the same time to place two other seal rings on Aizen in the off chance that the rings could make Aizen burn from the inside. Aizen didn't even notice until it was too late. He later admits to Askin that he always comes prepared with a "thousand what-if scenarios" to ensure he's never caught off-guard; even when something does surprise him, he'll have contingency plans.
Cynicism Catalyst: Before being exiled, he appeared to be a genuinely Nice Guy who cared for his division members, although there were hints of his assassin background from time to time. After going through a Kangaroo Court that branded him a monster who performed inhumane experiments and being subjected to a century of exile, Kisuke has become a ruthless, manipulative, secretive chessmaster who doesn't seem to have limits on what he'll do to accomplish his goal (namely, defeating Aizen). Kisuke's not heartless; he does care about others and expresses remorse for his actions, but nonetheless does not hesitate to do what he thinks he has to in order to take Aizen down.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: Urahara's method of reactivating Ichigo's Soul Reaper powers involved removing his soul from his body, severing his Chain of Fate, having Ururu attack him with her Super-Strength in order to build up his spiritual power, and then drop him in a pit to Hollowfy — an agonizing process that left Ichigo enraged when he survived.
Eccentric Mentor: Don't let his goofy, childlike behavior fool you; he can kick all kinds of ass. And despite the fact that he's goofy, shifty, creepy, and believes fully in Training from Hell, Ichigo and his companions rely on him probably more than any other authority figure because, at the end of the day, he does help them.
Expy: Tite Kubo has stated that Kisuke's design and personality was inspired by Snufkin of Tove Jansson's Moomins series.
Eye-Obscuring Hat: His bucket hat almost always hides his eyes in shadow, making him look more sinister than he actually is.
Eye Scream: Askin busts his eyes with an organ-destroying poison ring. His Bankai then reconstructs them.
Famed In-Story: When Ichigo first arrives in Soul Society, he discovers that just mentioning he was trained by someone called Urahara sends shock-waves through his listeners. Not only was Urahara someone who was infamous for being an exiled captain (later proven to have been framed by Aizen), but his long conflict with Aizen and his status as the most intelligent person "alive" means that not only has everyone heard of him, but everyone relies on him - even the people who don't want anything to do with him need his help. He's even a legend among the Royal Guard.
Urahara: "Hello, everyone! Calling all Captains of the Gotei 13! And their respective Lieutenants, of course! This is Urahara Kisuke! Some of you may not have met me or be familiar with my name but I hope you'll forgive me if I skip the introductions..."
Shinji: "Heh. As if anyone wouldn't know your name, dumbass!"
Fantastic Science: He used to be the head of Research and Technology for the Soul Society.
Gadgeteer Genius: As the former president of the Soul Society Research & Technology Center, Kisuke is an exceptional inventor who can create seemingly any device he puts his mind to. He's responsible for a number of Soul Society's inventions including the untraceable gigai.
Hat Damage: Ichigo's first use of Getsuga Tensho blasts his hat in half.
Kisuke: "I do believe you've killed my hat."
High-Class Fan: Parodied. He carries around a carries a hand fan with him, which he occasionally uses to hide his face or make gags, such as doing his own version of Noblewoman's Laugh with a fan pressed to his face. But despite his rank, he's hardly regal or classy, so seeing him use a fan in a fancy manner is Played for Laughs and illustrates him as a Bunny-Ears Lawyer.
I Did What I Had to Do: His reasoning for allowing Ichigo to fight Renji and Byakuya while still a mere substitute. Ichigo loses his powers as a result, and it almost ended his life, but it granted the opportunity for Urahara to properly train Ichigo in the ways of the Soul Reapers, and he had quickly realised that Ichigo learned fastest when in real battle. Given how short on time they were, Urahara took the fastest, most efficient option.
Informed Ability: As is every former and current member of the stealth force, Urahara is very likely to have been trained as an assassin. Hiyori even despises him for coming from the squad of assassins. The story never shows him operating as one.
It Amused Me: During Ichigo's initial training with him, he pits the substitute against Ururu and gives Ichigo a Martial Arts Headband and instructs him to equip it while shouting "AMAZING HEADBAND OF JUSTICE!!" to activate it's power. The headband didn't require Ichigo to say anything, Kisuke just wanted to see if he would actually do it. Later on, he sends messages to Ichigo and his friend's houses that appears as a bloodstain on the wall specifically because he knew it would freak them out.
Jack of All Stats: While most characters in Bleach tend to pick a fighting style and stick with it, Kisuke shows the ability to fluidly switch between swordsmanship to hand-to-hand to Kido as needed. At the same time, he doesn't appear to have the raw power that characters like Ichigo and Aizen do. Despite that, his skill and great intellect means he can go toe-to-toe with just about anyone, and he's only ever outright defeated by Aizen.
Kangaroo Court: Went through one during the "Turn Back The Pendulum" mini arc.
Last-Name Basis: With just about everybody, regardless of how close their relationship. It's rare when he uses someone's given name. While he does call Yoruichi and Tessai by their first names, it's never without respectful honorifics even then. He tends to overplay the part of an extremely humble person, of which, the respectful terms of address are a part.
Loves Secrecy: Deconstructed. Everything that Kisuke does in the series is worsened by his assumption that the Unspoken Plan Guarantee is in place. Unfortunately, his vagueness always leads to things going against his plan. He hides the Hōgyoku inside Rukia's soul and puts her in a Gigai that would eventually turn her human to protect it, but Aizen finds out and steals it because he never told Rukia. He tries to protect Orihime from battle by sidelining her rather cruelly because he knows Aizen would take interest in her power and try to capture/subvert her, but he's such an ass about it Rukia takes her to train and gets her kidnapped. The list goes on.
Major Injury Underreaction: His response to having both of his eyes destroyed, which leaves thick blood trails running down from the empty sockets like tears, is to lament that he actually has to get serious because his opponent is honestly trying to kill him.
Manipulative Bastard: A heroic example. He only lets people know as much as he wants them to so that they'll fulfill his plans accordingly. He is not prone to finding limits to what he'll do to see an over-arching plan through to the end, and nearly gets both Ichigo and Rukia killed in the process.
Master of Threads: Urahara's Bankai can seal up wounds by creating threads to stitch them up.
Meaningful Name: His name is a pun. While Urahara is an actual Japanese word, it is not a name; the kanji used here are "bank" and "meadow", but it's a play on the Japanese word for "reverse". The kanji used to write Kisuke's given name mean "fond" and "assistance". So the name sounds like "reverse fond assistant".
Mentor Occupational Hazard: Averted. He is Ichigo's mentor. The last time we saw him fight, he was heavily poisoned, injured, lost an eye and unable to escape Askin's Gift Ball Deluxe with his own strength. He collapsed while murmuring the names of Ichigo and Rukia, saying he would leave the rest to them - a typical fashion a mentor would go out. Official light novel sequels co-authored by Tito Kibe reveal that he and Yoruichi were rescued.
Mirror Character: Urahara and Aizen share many similarities, like great intellect, their willingness to do anything to achieve their goals or how both created the Hogyoku, so they could build someone into a replacement for the Soul King. Both also at some point stripped their allies of their intelligence to better fight an opponent. Aizen mentally handicapped Wonderweiss, so that he could contain the flames of Yamamoto's Zanpakto, while Urahara turned Yoruichi into a mindless beast, so that she could gain an immunity to Askin's poison. In both cases the opponent found a way around the counter. The way Urahara comforts Ururu is also scarily similar to how Aizen treats Momo Hinamori when Aizen is pretending to be a nice guy.
Mysterious Backer: Urahara opposes Aizen, but his methods are frequently quite harsh and his reasons for it are rather murky.
Mysterious Past: Although we've had substantial flashbacks to his past, there's an awful lot we still don't know. We don't know how he came to be raised alongside Yoruichi and Tessai. We don't know what motivated him to research Hollowfication and the Hogyoku or what he was after by doing so. We don't know why he's met the Soul King when even captains can't do that. We don't even fully understand the origin of his conflict with Aizen or what their ultimate goals really were. While his past with Yoruichi and Tessai remains unknown, we do know he is responsible for Yoruichi's Thunder-cat transformation and that Yoruichi once suffered greatly because of his actions. The novel "Can't Fear Your Own World" goes into his motivations to create the Hogyoku.
Never Bareheaded: After his exile from Soul Society, he wears his green-and-white-striped hat constantly. The brim usually keeps his eyes in shadow, and he frequently uses it to help obscure the rest of his face. When someone knocks his hat off, he is quick to put it back on, even if it has been damaged.
Nice Guy: During his tenure with the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, towards his then subordinates, especially a very aggressive Hiyori. However, this tended to make people think he was a pushover. Even after he is exiled from Soul Society, and becomes more shady, manipulative, as well as gaining a habit of screwing with people for his own amusement, Urahara remains the most consistent ally of Ichigo's group, and gladly helps them out whenever they're in need.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Guessing Orihime's unique power is valuable to Aizen, Urahara takes her off the front line to prevent her being targeted but doesn't admit why he's doing it. Rukia takes Orihime to Soul Society to train her for front line battle takes her away from Urahara's watchful eye, and allows Aizen to stage a kidnapping within the Dangai. To his credit, the Dangai is supposed to be impossible to break into, so people traveling there are normally not in danger. However, the person who figured out how to break into the Dangai was Urahara himself, the only man capable of predicting and countering everything Aizen does, which Aizen uses to intercept this and take Orihime. Urahara ends up kicking himself for his mistake.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: In the last part of the Turn Back the Pendulum arc, Kisuke was deeply worried about the mission Hiyori had been sent on, and considered the circumstances suspicious. Concerned for her safety as well as the safety of the rest of the team, he sneaked after her and arrived Just in Time to keep Aizen from murdering what remained of the team. Kisuke then spent a sleepless week rushing to find a way to cure their Hollowification and finally managed to stabilize the transformation so they'd keep their human minds and bodies — which he considered a failure on his part, because it wasn't an outright cure. In doing this, he strained himself to the point that he collapsed from exhaustion. Not long after he woke up, he was arrested on false charges, put through a Kangaroo Court, sentenced to being stripped of his powers and exiled from his dimension, and was branded a traitor, murderer, and Mad Scientist who was Playing with Syringes. Aizen went on to be considered essentially a saint for the next century.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Urahara claims to just be a simple candy store owner, but his somewhat-lecherous and lackadaisical behavior belie that he's hands-down the smartest Soul Reaper around, and is especially skilled at tactics and strategy.
Oh, Crap!: Has an epic one when he realises the Zero Division has failed and the Soul King has been killed.
Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Urahara has no narrow scientific specialty, and is equally good in scientific theories and their applications. He has been shown creating medicinal serums and pills, constructing gateways, building and using unique computers, and his greatest invention is an Artifact of Doom of seemingly limitless potential. His expertise even extends into physical sciences, such as developing unique physical training methods, understanding particle physics enough to negate attacks, and creating unique weapons and armor to combat specific opponents. Also, since magic and science overlap in this story, Urahara is a capable spell-caster and has created his own unique spells, too. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find any subject that Urahara isn't knowledgeable about.
Omniscient Morality License: He's rather secretive about his culpability in the shadier aspects of the story, and his solutions always carry an incredible risk for everyone involved. Very often characters don't even find out about the risks involved until after they're already deeply involved. He's usually apologetic and forgiven, but people know better than to trust him too far.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: During his fight with Askin, Urahara acts fairly witty and laidback. When Askin reveals why he follows the Quincy king though, Urahara goes silent before attacking Askin without warning in a way that Askin even points out seems odd of him, an act motivated by an understated anger at Askin's motivations for doing what he does.
Open Secret: Despite having been exiled from Soul Society and being a wanted criminal — having been framed by Aizen for illicit Hollowfication experiments, as well as having helped the Visored escape execution, Urahara isn't exactly in-hiding since he sells Hollow-hunting supplies and gigai to Soul Reapers stationed in Karakura Town.
Parental Substitute: He appears to be one of the parent figures Jinta and Ururu have. The post-war novels reveal that he created them.
Perma-Stubble: He's pretty lax about cleanliness and appearances, making him look like a perpetually unshaven bum.
Playing with Fire: One of Benihime's techniques causes a net of fire to appear.
Professor Guinea Pig: He invented a device that allows a Soul Reaper to achieve Bankai (the final stage of their zanpakuto), which normally takes decades if not centuries, in no more than three days. "No more" because if Bankai isn't achieved within that time, the user of the device will die. The first test subject was Urahara himself.
Reality Warper: It turns out that his Bankai, Kannon Biraki Benihime Aratame, is capable of restructuring anything within its range, including unweaving enemies, creating tunnels through reality, healing ludicrous injuries, and even reassembling anatomy to grant enhanced fighting ability... and that's just what's been shown so far.
Retired Badass: Urahara was once the Captain of Squad 12, founder of the Technological Development Department, warden of the Maggots Nest prison, and the lieutenant of the Onmitsukidō before fleeing Soul Society following Aizen's betrayal; posing as a "simple candy-shop owner" while maintaining an uneasy truce with Soul Society by selling equipment to Soul Reapers stationed in the World of the Living.
The Rival: Aizen, Mayuri, and Sui-Feng, who may or may not be a romantic rival for Yoruichi. Urahara himself seems to care only about Aizen.
Running Gag: His dimensional gates always force people to exit high in the sky, causing them to start tumbling to their deaths unless someone has the power, or a magical gadget, to catch them all and help them to the ground safely.
Nel: "Aaah!! The sky! We're up in the sky!"
Ichigo: "Yeah, this is par for the course with Urahara-san's entrances!
Urahara: "Why, I'm flattered you noticed!"
Scale of Scientific Sins: His sin is somewhere between "creating life" and "usurping God". His greatest creation, the Hogyoku, is a nigh-omnipotent, reality-altering MacGuffin that has its own sentience and is purportedly capable of granting the desires of those who possess it.^note The moment he created it, he realized that it was a bad idea and tried to destroy it, but found that it was impossible to do so. This is what led to the events with it included, and Urahara has been trying very hard to make up for it ever since.
Science Hero: Responsible for turning the 12th Division into a science bureau and was the developer of a special undetectable gigai, as well as a gigai that turns Soul Reapers fully human, and other powerful artifacts.
Science Wizard: Aizen and Urahara both separately created the Hogyoku, a device that allowed Shinigami and Hollows to acquire the powers of the other race and they oppose each other because of their different attitudes towards how the Hogyoku should be used, or even if it should be used at all. They are also both skilled Kido masters.
Shipper on Deck: He designs and makes an incredibly stripperiffic dress for Orihime to wear, and easily gets her to do so by saying it'd help cheer up Ichigo. As Yoruichi calls Ichigo a coward for trying to hide how he does appreciate Orihime's dress, Urahara himself is all "Yeah, that was Worth It."
Sink or Swim Mentor: To help Ichigo regain his spiritual powers, Kisuke just severs his chain of fate and chucks him into a pit. If he can't get out after three days, he'll turn into a Hollow and have to be put down. Ururu implies that they would have rescued him if the deadline had arrived with no hope of progress, but Ichigo didn't know that and Jinta kept making snide remarks about how long he had to live.
The Strategist: Urahara was named one of the Wandenreich's Five Special War Powers due to his ability to pull off complex tactics and adjust his plans on the fly to account for unforeseen circumstances.
Strong and Skilled: Urahara has enormous Reiatsu, being able to hurt Aizen after his initial Transformation, as well as use level 90's Kido, having speed comparable to the "Goddess of Flash" and strength to block a punch from a man thrice his size with an open palm. He also has the greatest mind in the entire series.
Sucksessor: For Hiyori as the replacement for Kirio Hikifune as the captain of squad 12. Hiyori initially viewed him as much less than Hikifune due to his laid-back attitude until she got to know him.
Supernatural Sealing: Urahara uses the Kido Kyujurokkei Kakafumetsu to seal the now immortal Aizen after he merges with the Hogyoku, piercing him from the inside out with cross-shaped beams which merge into a barrier that seals him inside with his powers weakened.
Sword Beam: With the command "Sing/Scream", Benihime can launch blood-red energy blasts powerful enough to counter an Espada's Cero.
Uncertain Doom: He clearly no longer had the strength to escape from Askin's Gift Ball Deluxe, and while Nel seems to be getting ready to save him, we don't hear a peep about him in the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, despite him being a pretty important character. Official light novel sequels co-authored by Tite Kubo reveal that he and Yoruichi were rescued.
Underestimating Badassery: Urahara, of all folks, got shot in the back for seriously underestimating Quilge Opie. The only reason Quilge was able to strike back with his injuries was because he used an extremely rare technique that had also caught Mayuri completely off-guard in the Soul Society arc when Uryu used it. As soon as he has a chance to study their techniques and equipment, Urahara's back in business.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Yoruichi. She constantly gives him a hard time, he pretends to be hurt, and both of them think it's funny.
We Sell Everything: Owns a store that does that.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Urahara, for most part of the main story arcs, are Out of Focus. But the final arc took the trope to the next level: Urahara, along with Yoruichi and some others, were simply never mentioned in the ending of the story, leaving readers wonder whether they survived or not. Official light novel sequels co-authored by Tite Kubo reveal that he and Yoruichi were rescued, but still, no mentions of the Urahara Shoten were given in the original Manga ending.
The Wonka: In friggin' spades. He acts childish, eccentric, and more than a little crazy but he also has one of, if not the, most brilliant mind in the series and is a Captain-class Soul Reaper that both Aizen and the Wandenreich are wary of.
The Worf Effect: When Aizen enters his chrysalis stage, Urahara is one of the three powerful Soul Reapers he effortlessly defeats as a reveal for his new power level.

Yoruichi Shihoin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_yoruichi.png

^{Shunkō: Raiju Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senkei}

"Heart and Soul are connected, what is important is where is the heart."

Species: Soul Reaper

Zanpakuto: Unknown

Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (JP), Shiro Saito (as a cat) JP, Wendee Lee (US) Anairis Quiñones (US, Episode 388 only), Terrence Stone (as a cat) (US), Rebeca Gómez (Latin America), Pedro D'Aguillón Jr. (as a cat) (Latin America)

One of the most beloved female characters in Bleach. Yoruichi is the dark-skinned Soul Reaper who acts as a mentor/guide or sorts for Ichigo and friends in Soul Society and later revealed as one of the more powerful Soul Reapers. She was once a member of the Shihoin noble family, and mentored both Byakuya and Sui-Feng. She has the ability to turn herself into a black cat, complete with masculine voice. Also, later chapters reveal her to be the former Captain of the 2nd squad of Gotei 13, preceding Sui-Feng. Her ultimate form is Shunkō: Raiju Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senkei, which turns her into a human-cat-thunder goddess hybrid, granting her tremendous speed and strength at the (temporary) cost of her human intelligence and forcing her to behave like a cat.

The Ace: Very intelligent, and one of, if not the, best hand-to-hand combatants and Flash Step masters in the Soul Society. Her students Byakuya Kuchiki and Soi-Fon were never able to surpass her skills even after a hundred years of trying.
Action Girl: Yoruichi is an excellent hand to hand fighter and developed a special technique to combine hand to hand combat with Kido.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Her hair is black with a purple sheen in the manga. The anime took the manga's purple sheen and made an entire hair colour out of it for the anime.
Ambiguously Brown: She's dark-skinned but has a Japanese name. Since she was born in Soul Society into a family that is older than the world itself, it is not supposed to be indicative of any ethnicity. She provides the trope image, and, as noted there, was the subject of an absolutely massive Edit War on The Other Wiki, to the point the final say was that she was "dark skinned".
Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: This is weaponized with Shunkō: Raiju Senkei. Her mood becomes akin to a feral cat, with interests and whims that change moment to moment. This affects her Reiatsu as well, meaning that any Adaptive Ability which has adjusted to her Reiatsu has to try and keep up with changes that occur dozens of times in one second.
Bare-Fisted Monk: Yoruichi's zanpakuto is only shown in a flashback. She always fights without weapons and only ever uses armour once, when protecting her arms and legs to fight a supernaturally empowered Aizen. Although Sui-Feng has basically the same fighting style as Yoruichi, she relies more on her zanpakuto than Yoruichi does. Yoruichi can empower her unarmed combat style with a unique Ki Manipulation called Shunko to strengthen her physical attacks beyond the physical limit, a technique that Sui-Feng can also use. In Chapter 11 of the light novel Can't Fear Your Own World, Yourichi briefly notes that she has to spend time every day appeasing her zanpakuto for not using it.
Benevolent Boss: She does not approve of the class system that put her above dozens of suffering people, and did her best to break Soifon of the guilt and dehumanization conditioned into her.
Big Eater: Her table manners are disastrous: the most notable example of this happens after her battle with Yammy, where she eats giant-sized portions of everything.
Boob-Based Gag: Subjects a teenaged Byakuya to Marshmallow Hell as a way of greeting him in the Turn Back The Pendulum arc, and while her chest isn't as big as Matsumoto's or Orihime's it's still big enough to warrant Yachiru nicknaming her "Boobies".
Cat Girl: In addition to being able to shift between feline and human form, she has her ultimate Super Mode, Shunkō: Raiju Senkei. It causes her to grow a cat's tail and pointed ears, and gives her clawed paws made of lightning reiatsu. She detests using it, calling it "disgusting, half-cocked, [and] undignified", presumably due to the transformation stripping her naked and reducing her to a feral psychological state.
Colon Cancer: Shunkō: Raiju Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senkei, yeah.... that's her ultimate form's name, doubles as an Overly Long Name as well.
Even the Girls Want Her: When Yoruichi was a mentor to Sui-Feng, the latter developed a Bodyguard Crush on her.
Everyone Has Standards: Though Yoruichi is extremely casual and perverted by Soul Society's puritan standards, she (much like Soifon) hates the mindlessness of her werecat form.
Fallen Princess: Heiress to a powerful clan and Soul Reaper captain who abandoned everything to join Urahara in exile in order to see through his mysterious end-game.
Flash Step: Considered to be the most proficient in the art in all of Soul Society. Possibly ever.
The Gadfly: Yoruichi enjoys teasing people who are easily angered or embarrassed, getting a laugh out a young Byakuya's reaction to her giving him a Marshmallow Hell and Ichigo's reaction to seeing her naked.
I Did What I Had to Do: When Ichigo tries to confront Ukitake and Byakuya at Rukia's prison, Yoruichi intervenes and stabs her hand into Ichigo's wounds to insert a tranquilliser into his body so she can carry him away from the location as quickly as possible. When Ichigo comes round and demands to know why she did that and why she didn't try to save Rukia, Ganju or Hanatarou, she explains that she had to do it this way because Byakuya was too strong for Ichigo to fight and too fast for Yoruichi to be able to escape if carrying more than one person. She also knew Ukitake would protect the others from any consequences of being associated with Ichigo.
Informed Ability: She is a former captain and should, in fact, have bankai. However, we have yet to even see her sword. She fights exclusively bare handed and nobody has commented on her lack of a sword. Also, by nature of her being the former commander of the stealth force, Yoruichi is very likely to have been trained as an assassin. The story never shows her operating as one.
Ironic Echo: When Byakuya sneers at her Flash Step, she makes it clear he just hit a body double, sneers back at him and runs off.
Kung-Fu Wizard: Yoruichi's special technique fuses the mystical principles of Kido with Shinigami hand-to-hand combat.
Last-Name Basis: She's on a First-Name Basis with Byakuya (Kuchiki), whom she mentored when he was a child. However, she's on a Last-Name Basis with Rukia (Kuchiki) who was adopted into the Kuchiki clan as an adult, long after Yoruichi was officially gone.
Leotard of Power: Urahara's anti-Arrancar armour consists of a black leotard with gauntlets and greaves intended to augment her punches and kicks, and it's powerful enough to damage Aizen's chrysalis form.
Lightning Bruiser: She's not called the "Goddess of Flash" for nothing. She is also strong enough to trounce Yammy Llargo, who is exceptionally strong even with his zanpakuto sealed. With Shunkou powering her speed and strength, only a specially powered-up Aizen can stop her.
Ms. Fanservice: Yoruichi is a busty woman who is very exhibitionist when it comes to human form. She teases Ichigo about his bashfulness during his Naked First Impression of her human form, and in general wears backless clothing and leotards. Chapter 662 places a particular emphasis on her backside.^note
Naked First Impression: When she first reveals she's human rather than a cat, her transformation leaves her naked. Ichigo almost has a stroke when she sits down in front of him, cross-legged, as though nothing's wrong.
Ninja: In addition to being the Captain of Squad 2 of the samurai-based Gotei-13, she was the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidō, the ninja-based covert operations organization.
Of Corsets Sexy: She wears a white corset and underwear while eating a huge amount of food. The point of the scene is to reveal how badly injured her body was after the fight with Yammy as her arm and leg are completely covered in bandages and food consumption is related to how Reiatsu-depleted a shinigami has become.
Pervert Revenge Mode: She kicks Urahara in the face when he gropes her butt during her fight with Askin Nakk Le Vaar, then berates him for making vulgar comments.
Power Fist: Combined with Armed Legs when Urahara equips her with Anti-Hierro armor that augments her punches and kicks. While she successfully cracks Aizen's "chrysalis", she fails to do any significant damage to him.
Private Tutor: A century before the story begins, the adolescent Byakuya was privately tutored by Yoruichi to improve his Shunpo. It's implied that she was also teaching him to rein in his Hair-Trigger Temper and learn how to relax.
Rebellious Princess: The first time Soifon saw Yoruichi, she was inching straight-backed along a path, practically drowning in the thick multilayered robes of a Heian aristocrat. Knowing what we know about her, it is almost certain she hated such rigidity.
Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Yoruichi's more powerful Shunkō abilities are named and themed after the Shinto god of thunder, Raijin, and the lightning yōkai Raijū.
Samus Is a Girl: When she's a cat, it's common for people to think she's male due to her masculine speech.
Sexy Backless Outfit: Because of how Shunko will rip away the sleeves and back of her outfit, she usually ends up wearing this in every fight, albeit with the manga favoring a plunge that nearly reaches her butt.
Sexy Mentor: She's played this role towards both Ichigo and Byakuya, neither of whom were thrilled with her style of mentoring. In Ichigo's case, it's because of his sexual modesty (she liked to be naked around him), and in Byakuya's, it's because she used to force him into silly games while he was seriously training (although those silly games were a form of training in their own way).
Shameless Fanservice Girl: If she spends long periods in cat form, she forgets that her transformations leave her naked upon returning to human form. However, she's proud of her physique and enjoys teasing men so it doesn't embarrass her when it does happen.
Shipper on Deck: She bluntly and lewdly told Ichigo how rude it was to hide that he was very Distracted by the Sexy after Orihime went through the trouble of wearing an outfit with a large Cleavage Window for him.
Shock and Awe: Unlike Suì-Fēng's wind-based perfected Shunkō, Yoruichi's utilizes electricity and its advanced forms are even named after the Shinto gods of thunder, Raijin and Raijū.
Stripperific: In her fight against Askin Nakk Le Vaar, she starts the fight in some stockings and a leotard that leaves most of her butt and the sides of her boobs exposed. Somehow gets worse when she's forced to use Shunryū Kokubyō Senki, where she basically gets a G-string and some electrified straps that cover the bare minimum of her boobs and nipples.
Supernatural Gold Eyes: Yoruichi has golden eyes in all forms, whether human or cat. The shapeshifting ability is an extremely unusual power even for the magical Shinigami.
Super Mode: Her Shunkō combines kidō with the Hakuda martial art and greatly augments her speed, offence, and defence, while wreathing her body in electricity.
The Tease: The first time she appeared naked in front of Ichigo was her genuinely forgetting that she probably shouldn't be doing that. His reaction led to her flaunting herself at him just to make him embarrassed.
Thanks for the Mammary: Sticks her hand between Orihime's breasts while holding it up to stop her from apologizing for her new outfit's Cleavage Window.
Thong of Shielding: Her ultimate transformation leaves her backside bare except a thong made of pure Reiatsu.
Tomboyish Ponytail: As a rather unladylike hand to hand fighter, she has an appropriate hairstyle for not getting in the way.
Uncertain Doom: Like Urahara, she was heavily poisoned by Askin and likely didn't have the strength to escape his Gift Ball Deluxe. Nel is shown getting ready to save them, but she isn't even mentioned during the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue. Official light novel sequels co-authored by Tite Kubo reveal that she and Urahara were rescued.
Vitriolic Best Buds: With Urahara. She constantly gives him a hard time, he pretends to be hurt, and both of them think it's funny.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Can transform into a cat. No other Soul Reaper (or other character, period) demonstrates any similar ability, and it's never explained how she does it.
Waif-Fu: According to the databook, she's 156cm (5ft 2in something) and 42kg (92 lb). Despite her short stature, she packs a punch and was the former head of the Onmitsukidō, an organization of Soul Reaper ninja.
The Worf Effect: When Aizen enters his chrysalis stage, she is one of the three powerful Soul Reapers he effortlessly defeats as a reveal for his new power level.

Tessai Tsukabishi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_tessai_5.png

Species: Soul Reaper

Zanpakuto: N/A

Voiced by: Kiyoyuki Yanada (JP), Michael Sorich (US), Martín Soto (Latin America)

General assistant to Urahara around the store who has to occasionally strong arm his boss into looking after himself.

As the former captain of the Kido Corps, he is extremely adept at casting Kido spells, even forbidden ones.

Almighty Janitor: He is the former captain of the Kido Corps, and is a very powerful magic user. However, in the current timeline of the series he is an assistant at a convenience store run by his childhood friend Kisuke, where he is seen doing grunt work despite his former high rank and amazing powers.
The Archmage: While he never gets to show off too much, he is the former leader of the Kido Corps, which would make him one of, if not the greatest magic practitioner in all of Soul Society.
Bare-Fisted Monk: When Kisuke and his associates arrive to help exterminate the Hollows that were drawn to Karakura by Uryu's bait, he's seen knocking a Hollow's head off with a single palm strike.
Literal Ass-Kicking: Was the receiver of one when Rukia kicked him in the behind. However, his behind being harder than Rukia's foot resulted in Rukia being in pain instead.
Magic Knight: Used to be the captain of the Kido Corps division and is one of only two characters to date to have used the highest level of Kido (bakudou number 99) known to be possible.
Manly Facial Hair: He has a big, bushy mustache. He is the former commander of the elite Kido Corps, has performed some of the highest level spells to date, and is incredibly physically powerful hand-to-hand and weapons-fighter as well.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: In the last part of the Turn Back the Pendulum arc, he insists on following Kisuke, who was in turn going after Hiyori and her team out of concern for their safety. Upon discovering the Hollowfied group, he uses two forbidden spells to first instantly teleport Kisuke and the team to Kisuke's lab (they wouldn't have survived being physically moved) and then to stop time for a week (in order to give Kisuke time to figure out how to save them). For doing this, Tessai is arrested, goes through a Kangaroo Court, and is sentenced to life in prison — and considering Shinigami are The Ageless, that 'life sentence' could have turned out to be effectively forever.
No Sense of Personal Space: When Ichigo wakes up in a futon at Urahara's shop after his first encounter with Renji and Byakuya, he's greeted with the sight of Tessai, who had been watching over him while he slept. While laying on top of him. Under the blanket.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Urahara's shop and its employees as a whole go Out of Focus after the Arrancar arc, including Tessai. This is especially jarring with Tessai specifically because he is the only exiled Soul Reaper who does not come Back for the Finale in any capacity.

Isshin Kurosaki

Isshin Kurosaki, né Shiba

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_isshin.png

"Silence! No matter what reason, to he who disrupts this household’s iron harmony, only a punishment of blood can be rendered!"

Species: Soul Reaper

Zanpakuto: Engetsu (Shikai)

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (JP), Patrick Seitz (EN, anime), Keith Silverstein (EN, live-action movie) Roberto Mendiola (Latin America)

Played by: Yosuke Eguchu (live-action movie)

A doctor at a small clinic and the father of Ichigo, Yuzu and Karin. Despite his questionable parenting techniques and an extremely convincing portrayal of coming across as a complete moron, he is in fact a Soul Reaper and the former Captain of Squad 10, as well as the former head of the Noble House Shiba.

His Zanpakuto is Engetsu, which shares some abilities with his son's sword Zangetsu - namely the signature technique Getsuga Tenshou.

Action Dad: He pretends to be a Supernatural-Proof Father, but in reality he's an extremely powerful Soul Reaper, to the point that he proved capable of pushing Aizen to his limits without releasing his Zanpakuto. In general, he lets his son handle the Hollows that intrude into Karakura Town due to being powerless for the first half of the series, and being a fugitive from Soul Society.
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Isshin is a master at Obfuscating Stupidity, to the point where as far as Ichigo and (to some extent) Karin are concerned he's an embarrassment to the family.
As You Know: Isshin and Urahara have a conversation about the Visoreds and the Arrancar in which they inform each other of much information they both already know, for Kon's (and, in the anime, the Bount modsouls') benefit... which fortuitously also brings the readers up to date. Later on, the "Turn Back the Pendulum" and "Everything but the Rain" arcs reveal that the version of events they shared was only part of the story.
Brilliant, but Lazy: When he was still the Captain of Squad 10, he had a reputation for being extremely lazy. It was a constant competition with his equally lazy Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto to see who could foist the most work onto the other or onto the hard-working Third Seat Toshiro Hitsugaya so they could escape responsibility.
Bumbling Dad: He's normally quite goofy around his children and often picks play fights with his son as well as engaging in a lot of physical humor.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Isshin's goofball behaviour belies his talent as a doctor and as a Soul Reaper, and he can be deadly serious when the need calls for it.
Calling Your Attacks: Like his son, he calls out the name of his signature attack when he uses it. "Getsuga Tensho."
Carpet of Virility: He has an extremely hairy chest underneath that shirt.
Chivalrous Pervert: Back when he was a captain, he would ogle his lieutenant Matsumoto's huge breasts and got smacked for it. However, he was very competent and serious whenever he was on duty, and when Masaki (the woman who saved him) desperately needed help, he immediately decided to return the favor at the cost of his powers.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He's a crazy, perverted father who is regarded as useless by his children, who are constantly sick of being embarrassed by his goofy behavior, such as walking up a hill on his hands to try and get his daughters to race towards the cemetery. However, when he reveals he is a captain-class Soul Reaper, it's while saving Kon's life from the Grand Fisher - by killing the Arrancar with a single strike of his sword and stern, solemn lecture about the difference in power between them. Notably when he fights Aizen alone, he more or less was winning the fight were it not for the Hogyoku stepping in and starting to change Aizen.
De-power: In order to save Masaki from being consumed by White, Isshin enters a special gigai that suppresses the Hollow with Reishi strings but seals his Soul Reaper powers and essentially turns him into a human. It wasn't until a combination of Masaki's death, and White—in the form of Ichigo's Inner Hollow—being unleashed from the strings that his powers began to return. He only gets his powers back by the start of the Arrancar arc, and doesn't resume fighting until much later.
Dynamic Entry: He likes waking up Ichigo in the morning by exploding through the bedroom door with a flying leap. Ichigo doesn't like this and is usually ready for him.
Finger Poke of Doom: Points his middle finger at a transforming Aizen and sends him flying through several buildings.
Flaming Sword: His Shikai engulfs his sword in flaming reiatsu.
Foil: For Ryuken, in the same way that Ichigo is for Uryu. Their stories parallel each other—aloof father with mysterious past who at first seems oblivious to son's paranormal activities then turns up to fix things when he loses his powers—but they are as different as night and day. Lampshaded in chapter 241 when Isshin and Ryuken debate whose parenting is worse.
Foreshadowing:
- Isshin once lamented how it's rare for Ryuken to call him "Kurosaki". That's because Kurosaki is Masaki's family name. Isshin changed his surname to hers when he married her.
- Urahara makes a passing mention that it's been 20 years since Isshin "became human" and that Isshin gave up his powers. That's because Isshin volunteered for a process whereby he'd enter a special gigai that would turn him mostly human, which would seal his ability to use his power. Rukia's own gigai experience at the beginning of the story — which was rigged to gradually seal her powers and turn her into a human — also foreshadows Isshin's past.
- When Urahara asked if he felt any satisfaction at killing Grand Fisher, Isshin points out it isn't the Grand Fisher he hates. That's because the Grand Fisher isn't the true cause of Masaki's death; the blame lies with Yhwach, who stole her power while she was fighting the Grand Fisher. She only died because she was left suddenly powerless against a Hollow she should have curb-stomped.
Generation Xerox: His interactions with Ryuken are much like a less energetic version of Ichigo and Uryu's own, with their conversations full of just as much snark leveled at each other.
Hot-Blooded: He's an emotional mess as a human, flying into emotional reactions at almost everything his children do or say. When he puts on his Soul Reaper uniform, however, that act drops to reveal someone who is focussed, measured, calm and very deliberate.
I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Blames himself for Masaki's death at the hands of Grand Fisher and — by association — Yhwach, even though he couldn't have actually done anything to prevent it from happening even if he had been there without his Soul Reaper powers.
Large Ham: When he's in goofy dad mode he speaks loudly and dramatically and enjoys making wild gestures, much to his children's chagrin.
The Lost Lenore: Even years after her death, the reason why Ichigo, Karin, and Yuzu never had a stepmother is because he still loves Masaki too much to ever remarry. He even dramatically bawls in front of a massive poster of her as part of his "idiot dad" façade.
Meet Cute: Isshin and Masaki's plotline in "Everything but the Rain" is this trope played straight. However, the storyline itself is that their meeting inadvertently breaks Masaki's fiancé/cousin Ryuken in the process.
My Greatest Failure: Masaki's death. Not only does he feel sad that she died, but because he had lost his powers as a Soul Reaper, he couldn't do anything to save her. When Urahara asks Isshin if he has any regrets, Isshin says his only regret is that he couldn't save Masaki "that night".
Mysterious Past: It took over 500 chapters to finally answer most of the questions about him and his origins and connections to other major figures in the story. This first came into question just after the Soul Society arc when it was revealed he had Soul Reaper powers. Even now, there are some significant unanswered questions about his relationship with Ryuuken and Kisuke over the last 20 years.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Isshin pretends to be a bumbling idiot of a father, but he's far more intelligent and observant than he lets on. He tells Kon that he's been able to tell when the Mod Soul was replacing Ichigo all along and that's why Isshin never called his son by name during those periods.
Odd Friendship: With Ryuken, rooted in his Mysterious Past. This finally begins to be explained in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc: they met around the same time Isshin came to Earth and was rescued by Masaki, and Ryuken also witnessed how Isshin and Urahara saved Masaki from the Hollow that almost consumed her. However, in addition to disliking Isshin by default just for being a Soul Reaper, Ryuken blamed Isshin for Masaki's Hollowfication and exile from the Quincy community, and was left mortified and embittered when Isshin selflessly sacrificed his powers to save Masaki while he was powerless to do anything.
Open Secret: Having gone AWOL from Soul Society, something that disgraced his clan to the point of them being stripped of their noble status, Isshin is nominally in hiding — having taken his wife's name when they got married and only participating in fights out of view of his former colleagues. However, according to Kubo, his former subordinates Toshiro and Matsumoto recognized him immediately when they came to the World of the Living, and by the time of Can't Fear Your Own World it's relatively common knowledge that he's Ichigo's father and staying in the World of the Living.
Papa Wolf: He's embarrassingly protective of his daughters, who don't appreciate how over the top he is about it. Slapstick ensues, generally in the form of physical abuse from Karin. In a more serious example, he personally takes on Aizen in defense of Ichigo.
Perma-Stubble: He has a perpetual five'o'clock shadow. The only time he's shown completely shaven is when he was still the captain of Squad 10.
Pervert Dad: On one occasion he perves over Yuzu's underwear, with Karin reacting violently to his behavior.
Playing with Fire: Isshin's command to release Engetsu's Shikai is 'Burn' and it causes the blade to be surrounded by flame energy.
Rescue Romance: His relationship with Masaki began when she used her Quincy powers to save him from a powerful Hollow, and then he bonded his soul to hers to stop her from Hollowfying.
Retired Badass: He's a former Thirteen Court Guard Captain who is officially AWOL from the Soul Society. Unlike fellow Retired Badass and Heroic Neutral Ryuken, Isshin is quite willing to start using his abilities as soon as he regains his powers. However, he's only there to support Ichigo's battles and elects to not return to Soul Society following Aizen and Yhwach's defeats.
Shrine to the Fallen: Isshin Kurosaki keeps a wall-sized poster of his deceased wife and often makes a show of crying to her over his children. It irritates them and they wish he'd take the poster down.
Spell Blade: In its shikai, Engetsu becomes wreathed in fiery Spiritual Energy, which according to Kubo forms the basis of Isshin's version of Getsuga Tenshō.
Smoking Is Cool: Masaki told him the only time he looked cool was when he was smoking. He only smokes once a year - in front of her grave, on the anniversary of her death.
Sword Beam: Like Ichigo's Zangetsu, his Zanpakuto can fire a powerful blast of reiatsu. More notably, he can use it while his Zanpakuto is in its unreleased state, suggesting it was a technique of some kind. With his Shikai active, he can unleash huge blasts of flames powerful enough to sever and immolate one of White's arms.
Took the Wife's Name: He took the family name of his wife, Masaki Kurosaki. Given how obsessed he is with Masaki even a decade after her death (such as mounting a huge photo of her in the family's living room), it's seemingly just because he loved her so much. Eventually, it's revealed that there's far more to it than this. Isshin is not only a former Captain of the Gotei 13, his family name was Shiba, one of the most powerful noble clans in Soul Society and an equal of the Kuchiki's. Since he had deserted from the Gotei 13 in order to save Masaki's life, keeping such a famous last name would've been a potentially huge red flag had anybody come looking for him.
The Unreveal: While Isshin has a Bankai, he never gets the chance to use it since Aizen stopped him the one time he attempted to do so against White. Whatever it was, it seemed strong enough that he was confident it would have allowed him to defeat White, but the injury sustained to his back by a sneak attack by Aizen prevents him from using it.
Vengeance Feels Empty: After he easily slays Grand Fisher, Urahara asks if he's happy to avenge his wife, only for Isshin to respond with ambivalence. He admits that he didn't really hold much of a grudge against Grand Fisher anyway compared to guilt over his impotence at the time. It also partially stems from the fact that Masaki's death happened because she'd been Brought Down to Normal at the worst possible time.
The Worf Effect: When Aizen enters his chrysalis stage, Isshin is one of the three powerful Soul Reapers he effortlessly defeats as a reveal for his new power level.

Visoreds

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/107cover.png

L-R: Hachigan Ushoda, Love Aikawa, Kensei Muguruma, Hiyori Sarugaki, Shinji Hirako, Lisa Yadomaru, Rojuro Otoribashi, and Mashiro Kuna

Asskicking Leads to Leadership: They are former captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13.
Badass Crew: They are a team of Shinigami-Hollow hybrids and each gets to show why they were captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13 before their exile.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Shinji, Kensei, Hiyori, Lisa, Mashiro and Rose have some pretty hilarious quirks but are still tough fighters.
Cool Mask: As they are part-Hollow, they can manifest Hollow masks to show they are channeling their Hollow powers.
- Shinji's mask resembles a pharaoh's mask likely referencing how he is the de facto leader of the Visoreds.
- Rose's mask looks like that of a medieval doctor's plague mask.
- Mashiro's mask resembles a hornet or bee showing the Kamen Rider influence of her design.
- Love's mask looks like a Japanese Oni. His Zanpakuto's name, Tengumaru, translates to "Long-Nosed Goblin".
- Hiyori's mask sports a prominent horn centered on the forehead and a row of diamond-shaped markings over the eyebrows.
- Lisa's mask is lozenge-shaped with a cross-shaped opening, instead of a mouth and eye slits. However, the horizontal opening allows her to see in front of her.
- Hacchi's mask strongly resembles a traditional Balinese demon mask, with tusks and protrusions from the top. A row of feather-like spikes also stick out from the top of the mask, similar to a Native American headdress.
- Kensei's mask resembles a flat hockey face guard, with six slitted eye holes arranged in two columns. It has three extensions on either side which cover the sides and back of his head, as well as his ears.
Dark Is Not Evil: They are half-Hollow yet are still good guys.
Enemy Mine: As Shinji pointedly tells Yamamoto, they are not allies of Soul Society; they are enemies of Aizen and friends of Ichigo.
Good Counterpart: To the Espada. While the Espada are the most powerful Arrancar in Aizen's army and have Shingami like powers, the Visored are Shinigami who gained Hollow powers and are former captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13 before their Hollowfication.
Good Is Not Nice: Hiyori, Kensei, Rose and Shinji would qualify.
- Hiyori is short-tempered, aggressive and rude to everyone, especially to Shinji who is the most frequent victim of her physical abuse. Back when she was a lieutenant of the 12th Division she was particularly nasty towards Urahara for replacing her former captain whom she saw as a motherly figure.
- Kensei is abrasive, temperamental and very easily annoyed. By his own admission, he isn't mature enough to hold back even against a child. He spoke disrespectfully of Hisagi's former captain and Kensei's own successor Kaname Tousen, though in Kensei's defense, Tousen did play a part in the Visored being Hollowfied and exiled from Soul Society.
- Shinji has been shown to have a rather sadistic side in battle; he sports a rather disturbing Slasher Smile when using his Zanpakuto's special ability on the enemy. He also tends to be very flippant and often annoys Hiyori.
- Rose can be damn ruthless in battle as seen by him killing Mask de Masculine's friend James despite him not being a combatant as this was the only way to kill Mask. He also sports a Slasher Smile when fighting.
Mask of Power: As they are part-Hollow, they can manifest Hollow masks.
Sixth Ranger: Ichigo is considered a member and ally of the group as well, though he joined them long after they settled on Earth.
Those Two Guys: In the Arrancar arc, Love and Rose are almost always together and share most of their screentime interacting with each other, including battling Starrk in a two vs one fight. This dynamic is broken after Rose regains his position as captain following Aizen's defeat, where he separates from Love (who remains in the human world) and gets some moments for himself alone.

Shinji Hirako

^{Turn Back The Pendulum appearance}

^{The Lost Agent appearance}

^{Thousand Year Blood War appearance}

"I swear. I really don't like gettin' involved in Soul Reaper fights. Oh well. When you hear the sound of fighting so close by you can't just ignore it."

Species: Soul Reaper-Hollow hybrid

Zanpakuto: Sakanade (Shikai), Sakashima Yokoshima Happo Fusagari (Bankai)

Voiced by: Masaya Onosaka (JP), Roger Craig Smith (US, Original Series), Aleks Le (US, Thousand Year Blood War), Arturo Cataño and Carlo Vázquez (Latin-American Spanish)

The unofficial leader of the Visoreds, he was the one that tried to recruit Ichigo into their little band. He was the former captain of the 5th Division, with Aizen as his lieutenant, prior to his Hollowfication. He is goofy, carefree and tends to get abused by Hiyori, but he is in fact an extremely effective combatant.

His zanpakuto is Sakanade, an unusually-shaped sword that releases a sweet mist when called upon. Any foes who catch onto the scent have all of their senses flipped and inverted. Sakanade's Bankai is named Sakashima Yokoshima Happō Fusagari ('Reversed Evil Eight-Treasure Barrier'), and it takes the appearance of a platform possessing flame-shaped extensions, with Shinji standing in the center. It also reverses the blade and the ring's appearance on the weapon. Its abilities are an extension of the perception-altering abilities of Sakanade's shikai; however, instead of changing the perception of the senses themselves, it alters mental perception. Chiefly, it causes the perception between ally and enemy to be reversed, causing former allies to become hostile to one another.

All There in the Manual: His Bankai, Sakashima Yokoshima Happō Fusagari, is first revealed in the novel Can't Fear Your Own World. It gets an Adaptational Early Appearance in the anime, where he uses it on a group of Wandenreich footsoldiers.
Awesome, but Impractical: His aforementioned Bankai. The ability to reverse the perceptions of friend/foe of everybody within his range might sound overpowered on paper, but since Shinji is a Gotei 13 captain, he doesn't have many chances to use it without running the risk of causing his own 5th Division from attacking each other, thus turning the power into a liability unless he's by his sole self and surrounded by enemies for whatever reason. This Bankai is also noted to be useless in one-on-one fights.
Badass Boast: When Aizen asks Shinji how long he'd known Aizen was spying on his conversation with Urahara, Shinji retorts he's known since Aizen was in his mother's womb.
Badass in a Nice Suit: He utterly wiped the floor with Grimmjow in their first meeting, while wearing a snazzy suit and tie, with a Badass Longcoat flapping around him to accentuate his attack moves.
Batman Gambit: He "reveals" his reversing ability to Aizen, without revealing that he can pick and choose which of the three dimensions he reverses, who then counters because his own abilities are a more complex version of Shinji's. This causes Aizen to think he has him figured out. Cut to him reversing front and back on Hitsugaya's attack, and Aizen never suspecting a thing because Hitsugaya is otherwise unaffected. He also uses said ability to deliver what could have been a One-Hit KO to Bambietta. She only survives because her type of explosive attack is area-effect, so it doesn't matter that her senses are screwed up.
Blatant Lies: He refers to any pretty girl he meets as his "first love", including Lisa but not Hiyori.
Borrowed Catch Phrase: In the post-war novels, while fighting a horde of Hollows, Shinji tends to talk a lot about despair, hope and miracles, just like Gerard, his last opponent in the Quincy war, did. Before Shinji activates his Bankai, he even says that it is time for a miracle.
Butt-Monkey: Hiyori keeps giving him sandal-beatdowns, but he's not gonna leave it at that and take it like a punching bag - just don't expect him to actually punch her back as many times as she's done to him.
Ceiling Cling: At the beginning of the Arrancar Arc, Ichigo, Sado and Orihime escape from school to kill a Hollow. While they're discussing why Uryuu didn't join them, they fail to realise they're being watched by a man standing in the air above them. Shinji, however, is inverted compared to the kids on the ground: he is standing upside-down, casually drinking a bottle of water. It's an early hint of his Zanpakuto power: the ability to confuse an opponent by inverting the senses and destroying the ability to tell what's up, down, right, left, etc.
Chekhov's Gun: Remember, a long while back, when Shinji introduced himself in class by writing his name backwards and claiming he's very good at reversing things? Turns out that his Zanpakuto's released power is to reverse his opponent's sense of direction. Down is up, left is right, a cut on the right arm will show up on the left, and so forth. This ability made him the first character to injure Aizen.
Combat Pragmatist:
- When fighting Aizen along with the other heroes, Shinji stayed far away from the actual skirmish until he saw the right moment. Then, he used his shikai ability to reverse Aizen's perception so that an attack that seemed to be ahead of him was actually behind. It would have worked, if that had been the real Aizen.
- Against Gerard of the Wandenreich, he and Byakuya order their lieutenants to behead the enemy and finish him off before he can activate his Super Mode. This shocks Momo, but Shinji points that he's had enough of enemies that get back up after a beating and state that now they've analyzed all the heroes' moves. This doesn't work, but Shinji was definitely thinking pragmatically.
Confusion Fu: The basis of his Zanpakuto's power. One whiff of his shikai's mist flips and inverts the target's sense of direction, and his bankai takes it a step further by reversing one's mental perception of friend and foe. Can't Fear Your Own World depicts Shinji taking this a step further by deactivating his shikai's power at times, in case his enemies are beginning to adjust to the inversions.
Curb-Stomp Battle: After years of being a victim of The Worf Effect, and not really doing anything notable beyond trouncing Grimmjow (which was also arguably a Curb Stomp Battle) and being the first person to wound Aizen, Shinji gets a glorious one in the light novel, Can't Fear Your Own World, when, after faking a retreat from an army of large, self-replicating hollows in order to get a safe distance from his allies, he activates his long-concealed Bankai and immediately causes them to slaughter each other to death within seconds.
Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Weaponized by his Shikai. When activated, it flips and inverts the targets senses, making it harder for the affected person to fight since they basically are fighting completely at odds with what they can see or feel. For example: when Toshiro charges Aizen to attack him, it looks like an attack from the front, but in truth was from behind due to Sakanade's effects. So even if someone can see the attack coming and adjusts to try and stop it, their effectively fighting against their own senses to do so, and only exceptionally strong characters like Aizen, or characters who can attack everywhere at once, can effectively counter it.
Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Many fans had wondered the exact reason why Shinji never used his Bankai against world-ending threats such as Aizen or the Wandenreich in the manga. The light novel Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World eventually begins explaining that Shinji's Bankai, Sakashima Yokoshima Happō Fusagari, affects every nearby ally and foe alike (only Shinji himself remains unaffected). It is eventually explained that his Bankai causes anyone around him to have their perception of 'ally' and 'enemy' reversed, thus the caution is certainly warranted. In episode 16 of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, Shinji notes the deaths of his fellow Soul Reapers allows him to use his Bankai without worrying about Friendly Fire, right before activating it to make an entire Soldat platoon kill each other.
Deadpan Snarker: He's got a dry sense of humor and isn't afraid to snark at others, especially Hiyori. When Bambietta says Komamura should confront her after she's destroyed more of the Seireitei for the sake of a dramatic entrance, Shinji makes his presence behind her known.
Shinji: Oh yeah? I guess we can't be heroes then. We're not patient enough to wait around till the Seireitei is torn apart. Sorry.
Death by Pragmatism: Downplayed as he doesn't really dies, but his Combat Pragmatism tendencies bite him in the ass when he encourages Byakuya to finish Gerard off quickly, as he deduces that for the way the Quincy was behaving, he possessed a trump card he would use as soon as he had the chance, and killing him off before he could use it was the most sensible option. Unfortunately, Byakuya’s action activates Gerard’s Schrift, which promptly grows to gigantic proportions after being killed so brutally and crushes Shinji (along with Hinamori) with his new titanic size.
Didn't See That Coming: Sakanade would've actually impaired Bambietta significantly... if her Vollstandig wasn't omnidirectional.
Early-Bird Cameo: His actual debut is on the Volume 1 cover. His design is re-worked for his eventual appearance as a transfer student to try and lure Ichigo to his organisation.
Explaining Your Power to the Enemy: He explains his shikai's inversion ability to Aizen, though Aizen had already figured most of it out and Shinji neglected to explain some key points of his ability.
Expository Hairstyle Change: As a Captain, he had long hair. After being exiled he kept it in a pageboy style. Now, after being reinstated as a captain, his bangs over his left eye are shorter than his right.
Fashionable Asymmetry: After the time-skip, he wears his fringe in an asymmetryical design.
Good Is Not Nice: When using his zanpakuto's ability to reverse the senses of his enemies, Shinji usually sports a sadistic grin. Notable in that he is one of the most unequivocally good characters in the series, so the look is rather jarring. The light novel takes it further in the art for his bankai, with his face being shadowed to make him look even more sinister.
- In the light novel Can't Fear Your Own World, after Shinji uses his bankai to cause an army of enemy hollows to brutally slaughter each other, he casually comments that he would have preferred if the two main antagonists of the novel were present (one of which is a naive child being manipulated by the other, and who arguably isn't even evil), as it would have allowed him to use his bankai and have them kill each other.
Gut Feeling: When fighting Gerard, Shinji mentions that he seemed like the type of guy who can get up after a beating and now have "analyzed" all the opponent's moves to counter them. Because of this, he and Byakuya try to finish him off immediately.
Heel–Face Brainwashing: His Bankai allows him to reverse the concept of allies and enemies. Essentially his opponents begin to see him as an ally and fight on his side.
Informed Ability: Shinji claims the effects of his zanpakuto are impossible to get used to. Aizen, however, immediately adapts because his own ability is a more complicated version of Shinji's. Bambietta never adapts to his ability because her power, being omni-directional, can ignore her senses being screwed up.
Interface Screw: A non-video game example in how his shikai works. The target's visual perception is inverted, either in whole or in part. He later trains himself to alter audio perception as well, meaning he can simultaneously explain his powers to the enemy while not actually telling them anything because they can't understand it.
Keeping the Enemy Close: He distrusted Aizen so made him his lieutenant so he could keep an eye on him. This massively backfired as Aizen used his position to perform evil experiments and eventually turn Hirako and a number of other high level Soul Reapers into hollows.
Logical Weakness:
- His Shikai makes it all but impossible to properly aim attacks, but any attack that doesn't need to be aimed (i.e. Bambietta's area-of-effect explosions) can still hurt him.
- His Bankai is extremely dangerous against groups, as it flips the perception of "ally" and "enemy" for everyone affected. As such, he can't use it when other allies are nearby, as they turn into enemies. Likewise, his Bankai is useless against those who have no qualms to attack their allies or are in a situation where the objective is more important than the safety of ones allies. Additionally? His Bankai is useless in one-on-one fights.
Obfuscating Stupidity: At first, we think he's just some doofus who gets abused by Hiyori. Then we not only learn that he's the unofficial leader of the Visored, but we see him kick the crap out of Grimmjow seconds after the Espada uses Ichigo's body as a soccer ball. Not to mention, back when almost everyone was fooled by Aizen's Bitch in Sheep's Clothing act, he never fell for it.
Personality Powers: Shinji shows a habit of standing upside down midair and writing his name backwards long before his powers are revealed to reverse his opponent's sense of direction.
Power Incontinence: As stated, his extremely dangerous Bankai doesn't care about friend or foe; everyone is affected.
Properly Paranoid: Back when he was Captain of the Fifth Division, Shinji suspected Aizen was dangerous from the start and appointed him as his lieutenant precisely to keep an eye on him. Shinji was hence not surprised to learn of Aizen's Hollowfication experiments. However, Aizen taunted him by revealing this same paranoia allowed him to fool Shinji with a double; if Shinji had tried to get to know him, he might've seen through the ruse.
Sdrawkcab Speech: Training with Sakanade during the Time Skip allows him to invert the words he says, further confusing his opponents.
Tombstone Teeth: Shinji's teeth are unusually uniform and rectangular in shape, which serves to add to his overall creepiness when he's first introduced. Furthermore, despite him being revealed to be a good guy, he never truly loses the creepy venire as a result of his grin.
Volleying Insults: He and Hiyori are constantly insulting each other and fighting, which frequently ends with Hiyori using her sandal on him.
Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing: When his Bankai is shown against a group of enemies (Hollows in the light novel, Wandenreich soldiers in the anime), all he does is sit back and watch them slaughter each other.
Would Hit a Girl: Although he says he'd rather not, he had no qualms at all striking Bambietta when she was unable to adjust to Sakanade's power.

Hiyori Sarugaki

^{Turn Back The Pendulum appearance}

"I really, really hate humans. I really hate Soul Reapers too."

Species: Soul Reaper-Hollow hybrid

Zanpakuto: Kubikiri Orochi (Shikai)

Voiced by: Reiko Takagi (JP), Lara Cody (US, Episodes 110-130), Laura Bailey (US, Episodes 206-366), Anairis Quiñones (US, Thousand-year blood war), Betzabé Jara (Latin-American Spanish)

Highly short-tempered, irritable and tomboyish, she's arguably the closest to Shinji out of all the other Visoreds. Once attempted to kill Orihime and Chad to keep them from learning of hers and Shinji's identities. She was once the lieutenant of the 12th division under Urahara, whom she absolutely loathed at first due to replacing her mother figure.

Her Zanpakuto is Kubikiri Orochi, an enormous cleaver.

A-Cup Angst: Hiyori is self-conscious of her small bust size and becomes jealous of Orihime when they first meet.
Action Girl: She's self reliant and aggressive to the point of being a brash Leeroy Jenkins, but she's more capable of taking care of herself than she looks.
Animal Motifs: She has a monkey motif going on, with her small stature, young appearance, rowdy and rude personality and even her surname alluding to the most unpleasant stereotypes associated with the animal.
Be Careful What You Wish For: When Ichigo approaches the Visoreds to learn how to control his inner Hollow, she repeatedly goads him into tapping into its powers, which he refuses to do out of fear that he'll lose control. After she beats him around enough, his Hollow side involuntarily takes over and immediately starts strangling her, forcing the other Visoreds to step in to save her. Afterwards, Shinji sarcastically asks if she's satisfied while she sheds Tears of Fear.
BFS: Her Kubikiri Orochi is a massive cleaver with quite the impractical design.
Bratty Half-Pint: Hiyori resembles a girl in her early teens and is around the same height as Toshiro Hitsugaya, making her the shortest of the Visored. She is also the most abrasive and aggressive of the Visored, constantly bickering with Shinji and picking fights with others.
Catchphrase: Her favourite insult for enemies or people who are annoying her is to repeatedly call them "Baldy", regardless of whether or not they're actually bald.
Curb-Stomp Battle: When she first challenges Ichigo to bring out his inner hollow, she fights and insults him until he's pushed into releasing it. The transformation almost kills her before the rest of the Visoreds can intervene and bring him down.
Cute Little Fangs: Hiyori has a single protruding canine tooth and invokes this trope when she says it's her "charm point". She's also teasingly called "Snaggletooth" as a result of it.
Enemy Within: Like the other Visored, she has an Inner Hollow that tried to take over her. What makes her notable is that she took the longest of them to defeat hers, and her time is used as a benchmark when Ichigo is fighting his own Inner Hollow.
Fantastic Racism: Privately told Hirako that she hates Soul Reapers, as well as humans in general. When Shinji, Kensei, Rose and Mashiro rejoin the Gotei 13, she remains in the World of the Living.
Girlish Pigtails: She's childish and keeps her hair in two pigtails.
Groin Attack: She boots Urahara between the legs once he's appointed as her captain and hurts her foot. Apparently, he's quite hard.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Hiyori is easily angered and quick to pick fights with everyone. Gin uses this against her by provoking her into rushing blindly in, then bisecting her.
Half the Man He Used to Be: Gin slices her in half when her back is turned. It was so fast that the poor girl only noticed when she saw her lower body fly past her. The censored version in the anime has her Impaled with Extreme Prejudice instead.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As bratty as she is, she ultimately has a good heart. She worries about Kensei and is unwilling to hurt him even though he turned into a Hollow and attacked them.
Lady Swears-a-Lot: Seriously, you'd be hard-pressed to wonder who is more foul-mouthed; Nnoitra, or her.
Leeroy Jenkins: She has a tendency to pick fights with people whether she's really strong enough or not, which is seen as early as her baiting Ichigo into using his Hollow form, which nearly kills her. Even more seriously, running straight at the most powerful villain in the series without regard for tactics or bothering to keep an eye on his The Dragon gets her cut down and cleaved in half... literally.
Meaningful Name: Sarugaki means "monkey brat", perfectly embodying her foul temper and immature behavior.
The Napoleon: Hiyori is the shortest of the Visored and has an even shorter temper, to the point where she frequently picks fights with opponents who greatly outclass her — namely Urahara, Shinji, Ichigo, and Aizen. This nearly gets her killed a few times, and even after the time-skip, she yells at Kazui when she catches him snooping around her place.
Older Than They Look: At least by Soul standards. Hiyori still looks the same little shit as she was 100 years ago, whereas other young child characters from that period, like Nanao and Akon, already look like fully developed adults.
Perpetual Frowner: Hiyori is enraged with the world in general, and is an aggressive, angry personality at the best of times.
The Resenter: Feels this way towards the Sereitei as a whole for exiling her and the other Visoreds after becoming Unwitting Pawns in Aizen's plans. Even after being exonerated she's the only one of the group that has yet to put it behind her, as she was shown to immiediately take offense to putting on one of their shihakushos.
Shoe Slap: Every time Shinji does or says something to annoy her, she pulls off her sandal and slaps him with it.
Tiny Tyrannical Girl: She's the youngest of the Visoreds, yet incredibly bossy and ill-tempered toward almost everyone, including the Visored leader Shinji and her former captain Urahara.
Token Mini-Moe: Hiyori is the shortest and youngest looking of the Visored, something that she is not very happy about.
Youthful Freckles: As the youngest looking member of the Visoreds, she's depicted with freckles. They also help emphasizing her immature, bratty personality.

Kensei Muguruma

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_kensei.png

^{TBTP appearance}

^{Thousand-Year Blood War appearance}

"You're alive, be happy! SMILE!"

Species: Soul Reaper-Hollow hybrid

Zanpakuto: Tachikaze (Shikai) / Tekken Tachikaze (Bankai)

Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (JP), Dave Mallow (US, Original Series), Aaron LaPlante (US, Thousand Year Blood War), Carlos Íñigo (Latin-American Spanish)

A more serious and decisive member of the Visored, though is easily annoyed and temperamental. He was once the captain of the 9th Division with both Mashiro and Tousen under his wing. In addition, he's the first one to be Hollowfied, which technically makes him the oldest Visored. He saved a much younger Shuhei Hisagi from a Hollow, who became a Soul Reaper to try and be like him.

His Zanpakuto is Tachikaze, a trench combat knife that can launch wind-based attacks. His Bankai is Tekken Tachikaze, a pair of armored spiked knuckles which can remodel themselves, and are perpetually emitting shockwaves.

The Big Guy: Though he's not the tallest Visored (Hachi is), Kensei nonetheless is the most muscular and physically oriented member of the group, preferring to use his strength and fighting in close range combat than relying on flashy abilities or Kido.
Blade Below the Shoulder: Kensei's Bankai grants him blades shaped like knuckle dusters.
Blow You Away: His Tachikaze has the ability to control wind. With it, he's able to produce Razor Wind capable of slicing clean through a gigantic hollow. For bonus points, Tachikaze's release command translates to "blow it away".
Combat Pragmatist: After having witnessed the speed at which Wonderweiss brings down Mashiro's normally 15-hour Hollowfication mask, he states that he's not the kind to go easy on kids and whips out his bankai immediately, rather than holding back as per the usual Soul Reaper custom.
The Comically Serious: Unlike just about everyone else in his group, he takes almost everything way too seriously.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: His attempt to make Hisagi strong enough to use Bankai consists of siccing a Hollowfied Mashiro on him. When Hisagi complains about it, Kensei retorts that he's not as soft as Tousen.
Good Old Fisticuffs: While not a boxer per se, he primarily fights with his fists. More or less makes sense, since his shikai takes the form of a trench combat knife, and his bankai something akin to spiked knuckles and armor. The way Tachikaze works is that he sends shockwaves through your body, even if it's just a love tap. Tekken Tachikaze amplifies that to an absurd degree; when punched, it'll feel like your organs are imploding.
The Heartless: Neither he nor Rose can be controlled with Pepe's The Love because they no longer have any understanding of such a concept, due to being zombified by Mayuri.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's normally pretty abrasive, but in the past he tried to cheer up a terrified and grieving Hisagi after saving his life from a giant hollow that killed the boy's family. Unfortunately, he was pretty terrible in going about it and just wound up scaring Hisagi even more with how forceful he was.
Kensei: SMILE!
Mr. Fanservice: In contrast to a lot of the other men in Bleach who fit this trope, Kensei sticks out as being aligned more closely with Western ideas of hunkiness. Hello arms, hey there pecs, and hello improbably military-style outfit and haircut.
Perpetual Frowner: Maybe he doesn't because he can't smile to begin with? His smile during an attempt to cheer up Hisagi ends up being an unintentional evil grin. He does a little better later, but that's it.
Pet the Dog: As irritating as Kensei finds Mashiro, he still allows her to kill Hooler, knowing that it would cheer her up.
Real Men Cook: Within the Visoreds group, Kensei is the loud-mouthed, aggressive close-combat fighter and Knife expert. He is also the group's best cook and their chef of choice for large gatherings. Ichigo once complains that Kensei has a tendency to cook too many carbs but the food itself is cooked to a very high standard.
Sleeves Are for Wimps: Presumably to show off his more muscle-based physique than is normal for the series he wears no sleeves.
Super-Strength: Kensei's raw physical power is a little scary. When hollowfied, he broke out of a level 63 Bakudo binding from Hachigen Ushoda, aka the second-strongest kido practitioner in all of Soul Society. It took going all the way to Level 99 to actually stop him in his tracks.
Team Chef: He can be seen cooking for the Visoreds as early as Ichigo's original Hollow mask training and the databooks indicate he's a really good cook.
Tsundere: Towards Mashiro. The prime example when he saves her from Wonderweiss and then denies that's what he was doing. Then he proceeds to release his bankai to kick Wonderweiss' ass.
Walking Shirtless Scene: Back when he was a Captain, his shirt was constantly open.
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: For reasons unknown, he fails to use his Hollow Mask to take on Wonderweiss or Mask de Masculine, and is defeated both times.
The Worf Effect: As both a captain-class shinigami and a visored, Kensei is extremely powerful. However the two times he goes all out with his bankai against Wonderweiss and Mask De Masculine respectively, he's handily defeated to further establish just how dangerous his opponent is. Wonderweiss even defeats him off-page.
Would Hurt a Child: After he rescues Mashiro, he tells Wonderweiss that he doesn't care if he's a kid, he's still beating him down.
Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Interestingly, the Pendulum arc shows his Squad having to hold him back while Mashiro bugs him constantly on a mission...but when he's on his own with her and she, sleeping, accuses him of being a pervert, Kensei blushes and half-heartedly tells her, "Don't make me smack you!"

Mashiro Kuna

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_mashiro.png

^{TBTP appearance}

"How dare you. You ripped my scarf. I'll never forgive you."

Species: Soul Reaper-Hollow hybrid

Zanpakuto: N/A

Voiced by: Akemi Kanda (JP), Laura Bailey (US, Original Series), Jeannie Tirado (US, Thousand-Year Blood War), María Fernanda Morales (Latin-American Spanish)

A youthful Visored noted for her rather childish behaviour at most points. She was Kensei's lieutenant, and the second to be Hollowfied. Unlike the others she doesn't wield a zanpakuto, relying primarily on her powerful kicks. She can hold her Hollow form much longer than the rest of the group.

Action Girl: It's almost unreal how much raw, brute strength she possesses given how much of an absolute putz she can be. That being said, credit where credit is due - in her Hollowfied state, she can go toe-to-toe with one of Aizen's custom-engineered Arrancars.
Animal Motifs: Her Hollow mask resembles a Grasshopper's face, tying into her Kamen Rider theming.
Beware the Silly Ones: Oh yes. Her scenes are usually comical, but she's still extremely powerful and was capable of laying a complete beatdown on Wonderweiss before her hollow mask broke.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Okay, so Kensei chose her to be the Ninth Division lieutenant... why, exactly? Well, if nothing else, she's really good at tearing apart Hollows.
Badass Adorable: She's undeniably adorable and is fully capable of tearing apart hordes of Gillians and manhandling an Espada level arrancar like Wonderweiss by herself.
Genius Ditz: Was able to keep her Hollow mask for 15 hours during her first try. To put it into perspective, during his first try, Ichigo could manage four seconds, tops, and after a month of training he only got it to eleven seconds. The other Visoreds can only last a few minutes with it as well even now.
Hidden Buxom: Her jumpsuit doesn't show off her cleavage, but during the Pendulum arc she looks a lot bustier in her Soul Reaper robes.
Kick Chick: Her preferred method of fighting, but she does have a zanpakuto that she never uses. All part of her being a confirmed Kamen Rider Shout-Out. She can even fires Cero, named 'Mashiro Super Cero', just from her kick!
Leeroy Jenkins: Yeah she's strong, but has a total lack of common sense on the battlefield. So much so that when told by Kensei to watch her time limit on her mask. She disregarded the warning, thinking her managing 15 hours was enough to keep fighting. She didn't take into account that her powers will still drain during fighting and, since she was against Wonderweiss, a particularly powerful Arrancar. She wound up exceeding her mask's power and it broke off her face. Mashiro got severely beaten for her trouble, needing Kensei to bail her out.
Ms. Fanservice: She wears a skin-tight unitard, gropes her breast when she sleeps and gets several shots accentuating her rather shapely ass.
Odd Friendship: With the gentle, calm, sensible Hachi, getting rather jealous (in a comical way) when Hachi and Orihime bond over their healing powers.
Satellite Character: Whereas the other Visoreds all have relations with each other, Ichigo, or other members of the Gotei 13, Mashiro's characterization is largely reliant on Kensei and, to a lesser extent, Hachi, mainly annoying him most of the time but demonstrating he does care about her.
Scarf Of Ass Kicking: Wears a short red or orange scarf as part of her Kamen Rider shoutout design. Ripping it will irritate her.
Shout-Out: To Kamen Rider; Kubo was influenced by Kamen Rider when designing her jumpsuit, kick attacks, scarf, and hollowfied form and mask.
Sweet Tooth: According to the databooks, Kensei once became enraged when Mashiro gave the Visoreds candy when it was her turn to cook dinner.
Unskilled, but Strong: Unlike the other Visoreds, Mashiro could naturally use her Hollow Mask for well over an hour without training, which combined with her exceptional physical skills made her very strong. However, her lack of refinement with her Hollow Mask combined with her reliance on raw power results in the mask breaking during her fight with Wonderweiss due to being too unstable, and before she can recover he easily overpowers her.
Womanchild: Ditzy, oblivious, tantrum-prone and spacey, even though she looks about 18.

Rojuro "Rose" Otoribashi

Rose Otoribashi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rojuro_otoribashi_5.png

^{Turn Back The Pendulum appearance}

^{The Lost Agent appearance}

"What sort of guitar could fail to cry when faced with the deaths of so many? My guitar is already weeping."

Species: Soul Reaper-Hollow hybrid

Zanpakuto: Kinshara (Shikai) / Kinshara Butodan (Bankai)

Voiced by: Shouto Kashi (JP), Christopher Corey Smith (EN, Original Series), Kirk Thornton (EN, Thousand Year Blood War), Moisés Palacios (Latin-American Spanish)

A comparatively calm, easy-going Visored, with a seemingly disinterested flair and a thing for music. Former captain of the 3rd Division.

His Zanpakuto is Kinshara a sound-based whip capable of enveloping his opponents in powerful explosions. His bankai is Kinshara Butōdan, which uses music to create illusions to harm the enemy.

Animal Motifs: His Hollow mask resembles a bird.
Badass in a Nice Suit: During his time as one of the Visored, he wore a sleek black casual suit with an untucked frilly shirt.
Berserk Button: The man has a serious love for music, and the arts in general. When NaNaNa insults him and his guitar, the usually carefree Rose is pissed.
Calling Your Attacks: "Kinshara Sokyoku Dai Juichiban - Izayoi Bara!", "Arpeggio!"
Didn't See That Coming: When he explains his power depends on sound, his opponent goes to the extreme length of deliberately destroying his own ear-drums so that deafness will grant him immunity to Rose's power.
Explaining Your Powers to the Enemy: Once he enters Bankai, he explains how his power works and the relevance of it being sound-based. As a result, Mask takes the extreme and shocking measure of destroying his own ear-drums to protect himself from Rose's power.
Flower Motifs: Aside from his name, his zanpakuto^note and his attacks calls^note, Rose also packs a hollow mask that resembles a Plague Doctor mask. These masks, in Renaissance era, were filled with flowers because it was believed the scent of them would repel illness.
Good Is Not Nice: Butchers Mask's compatriot and fanboy James, who is unarmed and is a cheering fan rather than a fighter, in order to gain an advantage over the Stern Ritter. He shows zero remorse or hesitance regarding the affair.
The Heartless: Neither he nor Kensei can be controlled with Pepe's The Love because they no longer have any understanding of such a concept, due to being zombified by Mayuri.
I Did What I Had to Do: His justification of bifurcating James. It's supposed to be the only way of defeating Mask, who cannot be killed until James is.
Logical Weakness: His bankai requires his target to be able to hear sounds, thus it will not work on the deaf. Normally this wouldn't be something that can countered easily outside of someone being deaf to begin with, but since he can be healed thanks to James, Mask simply destroys his ear-drums and then defeats Rose.
Musical Assassin: His Zanpakuto abilities are based around music.
Oh, Crap!:
- When he realises he and Love are surrounded by Starrk's wolves, which he assumes are Ceroes, and discovers they're actually bombs.
- When Mask de Masculine crushes his eardrums to avoid Rose's sound-based power, Rose is shocked.
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Love's Manly Man.
Shout-Out: His Bankai's techniques are named after actual pieces of orchestral music.
Slasher Smile: He shows one off while using his bankai on Mask de Masculine. It was eerily reminiscent of the ones given by Szayelaporro.
Super Power Lottery: Rose is actually right up there with Shinji and Aizen in terms of his Zanpakuto's power. Rose's Bankai, Kinshara Butōdan, has the ability to generate illusions through sound. As such, so long as the target can hear Rose's music, they will fall prey to the illusions generated by his Zanpakutō. The added perk, however, is these illusions are convincing enough they the target believes they are real, and thus, cause actual, physical damage. Due to controlling sound, these illusions are unblockable unless the user is rendered deaf. The only reason this didn't work on Mask was that, due to James influence, Mask has no issue rendering himself deaf for a moment to defeat Rose, and then having James undo the damage.
Torso with a View: Mask de Masculine shoots his star beam through Rose's stomach.
Warrior Poet: Given his whole obsession about art in everything he does - his Bankai's abilities are even named after real modern-day songs - he's probably the biggest one in the series.
What the Hell, Hero?: Mask de Masculine calls him out on slaughtering an innocent and unarmed fan after he tears James into half. Rose attacked James in response to the discovery that Mask won't die unless James first does. However, Mask also viewed himself as the hero and the Soul Reapers as the villains.
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: For reasons unknown, he fails to use his Hollow Mask to take on Mask de Masculine, and is defeated.
Would Hurt a Child: Rose isn't above tearing a young boy in half if it means weakening his opponent. Admittedly the "boy" is an enemy combatant and the source of someone else's power.
Your Mind Makes It Real: His bankai uses sound to create illusions of elemental attacks. As long as the victim can hear the sound, the illusions cause actual harm.

Hachigen "Hachi" Ushoda

Hachi Ushoda

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_hachi.png

^{TBTP appearance}

"In Soul Society, there is no being with 'God' in its name other than the Soul Reaper^note. That is why we cannot understand the significance of your words... Please forgive our impiety, oh God of Hueco Mundo."

Species: Soul Reaper-Hollow hybrid

Zanpakuto: N/A

Voiced by: Takashi Nagasako (JP), Joe Ochman (US), Guillermo Rojas (Latin-American Spanish)

The largest and friendliest of the Visoreds, quite kind-hearted and subservient to the more authoritative members. He was the lieutenant of the Kido corps, under Tessai's wing. Despite his gentle appearance and demeanor, he is an exceptionally capable and powerful combatant, more than able to hold his own without a Zanpakuto.

The Archmage: He was, at one point, Tessai's lieutenant in the Kido Corps of Soul Society, and is an incredibly powerful magician as a result. While he's admittedly loathe to use more offensive spells, this doesn't limit his effectiveness as a mage, and one of his most notable accomplishments is taking down the incredibly deadly Baraggan Louisenbairn while barely moving, using only his mastery of magic and barriers to do it.
An Arm and a Leg: Lost an arm during his battle with Baraggan...which he then used to defeat Baraggan.
Barrier Warrior: His speciality is Bakudou (Binding Spells). He explains to Orihime that he doesn't have the mentality for battle so had to learn how to be useful in war. His barriers are his way of fighting.
Beware the Nice Ones: He's one of the sweetest characters in the entire series. He's also an amazing spellcaster capable of feats so far unparalleled, having defeated the once reigning God-King of Hueco Mundo.
Calling Your Attacks: Does it with various Kido spells. It's actually justified in-series in that Kido spells are at their most powerful when called by name and accompanied by an incantation. The extremely high-level techniques Hachi uses likely need to be called out to be as effective as they are.
Deadly Force Field: His "Standing Ovation Spell" creates kido barriers around the opponent's head to decapitate them. He was able to defeat Baraggan by transferring a barrier containing his right arm into the Arrancar's body.
Gentle Giant: Within the Visored band, he's the largest and nicest one you'll likely ever meet. He's too gentle for war and apologises whenever he kills.
Let's Get Dangerous!: As stated above, Hachi is just too good-natured to be cut out for battle, or especially war. However, he makes the one exception with the ruthless Baraggan and goes all-out against him. And wins.
Martial Pacifist: He's the least willing to get into direct combat of all of the Visoreds, which is why he forms such a quick friendship with Orihime, who's similarly gentle. That said, the phrase here is direct combat. He's lethal using normally passive barrier spells, and is the only Visored who actually lands the killing blow against an Espada in the White War.
Only Sane Man: Hachi and Love are easily the most likable and normal of the Visoreds.

Lisa Yadomaru

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_lisa.png

^{TBTP appearance}

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend! That should be a good enough reason to fight together."

Species: Soul Reaper-Hollow hybrid

Zanpakuto: Haguro Tonbo (Shikai)

Voiced by: Kanako Hatori (JP), Tara Platt (US), Angélica Villa (Latin-American Spanish)

The calmest of the female Visoreds, a bit secretive, aloof and detached, but around as irritable and tomboyish as Hiyori from above. Was the ex-lieutenant of the 8th Division. She seemed to be very caring for Nanao when she was just a child.

Her zanpakuto is Haguro Tonbo, a lengthy Shaolin spade.

Action Girl: She favors direct combat and is pretty self reliant.
Ambiguously Related: The series never goes in depth on what her connection to Nanao is, only showing that they knew each other when Lisa was still a Soul Reaper part of Soul Society. Due to the similar physical details, it isn't clear if they just happen to look similar, or if they are at all related in some form, but the series never really returns to their connection again.
Badass Bookworm: She's an impressive combatant, and an avid reader. Though...it's not exactly classic literature she prefers. Her past-self is played a bit straighter, at least in that she seemed to enjoy teaching Nanao to read.
Braids of Action: Her hair is fairly long, but it's tightly braided, and she's the eventual Captain of the 8th Division, showing she's a capable combatant.
Cool Big Sis: To Nanao, back when Lisa was Shunsui's lieutenant and Nanao was a very young child. She used to help Nanao with reading, and Nanao used to look forward to her time with Lisa.
Covert Pervert:
- She tries to hide it, but she's terrible at it. Especially since she's (allegedly) very liberal with sharing her porn magazines and adult manga with the others.
  "The more hidden something is, the more you want to see it".
- Lisa throws the covert part when after she returned to Seiretei , one of things Lisa did was to open a bookstore near Kuukaku's house and starts to import dirty mags and porn books from Earth, and is a big hit for the male Shinigami. The money she earned was enough for her to build a house.
Joshikousei: She wears a sailor uniform despite not even being a student.
Lovable Sex Maniac:
- Openly reads pornographic Josei manga and swimsuit magazines, even sharing them with Love and, she claims, Ichigo.
  Lisa: I-I'm not a pervert! I-I'm just really curious!
  Kensei: (in the background eating cereal) Isn't that the definition of a pervert?
- The house Lisa built that she earned by selling dirty books imported from Earth? She named it as "Shunga Goden" or roughly meaning "Porn Temple."
Magic Skirt: Even when she's upside down◊ and spinning her legs around like a helicopter, we don't see anything underneath her skirt.
Ms. Fanservice: She has a thing for showing off her legs, her midriff and the curves on her back, due to the sailor uniform she struts around with a lot of the time. Even in her time as a lieutenant, she wore a miniskirt.
Perpetual Frowner: Lisa almost never smiles.
Rank Up: When Kyouraku is promoted to captain-commander, the eighth division is left without a captain. The epilogue takes place ten years after the defeat of Yhwach, where it is revealed that Lisa has been promoted to Eighth Division Captain somewhere during the Time Skip.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Her resemblance to Nanao both in terms of looks, personality and the fact that she is Nanao's direct predecessor as Kyoraku's Lieutenant might even push her into Generation Xerox territory. She is a lot more outgoing and less uptight than Nanao. It's also very strongly implied that it's because of Lisa's fate that Kyouraku is so over-protective of Nanao.
Tsundere: She breaks ranks with the other Visoreds to make sure her former Captain, Shunsui is okay... and after seeing he is, kicks him in the head a few times, calls him an idiot, and tells him to stay back and watch while she shows off how strong she's become.

Love Aikawa

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bbs_love_2.png

"There isn't anyone that doesn't feel something when their buddy goes down. If they get demoralized, then you exploit that. If they get enraged then you beat them before they can go crazy. Either way... victory comes to those that strike first!"

Species: Soul Reaper-Hollow hybrid

Zanpakuto: Tengumaru (Shikai)

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (JP), Travis Willingham (US, Episodes 122-366), Bill Butts (US, Thousand-Year Blood War), Ricardo Méndez (Latin-American Spanish)

A laid-back, easy-going manga reader, somewhat carefree with a slight tough-guy feel. Was the ex-captain of the 7th Division.

His zanpakuto is Tengumaru, a gargantuan spiked club capable of dealing fire-based attacks.

Afro Asskicker: Used to sport a standard afro when he was still a Captain. These days he styles it into a spiked variant.
Alternate Character Reading: The characters in his name mean "net" and "military", but their On'yomi (Chinese) readings are "ra" and "bu" - and love is often approximated in Japanese as "rabu", which is presumably why their pronunciation is in katakana rather than hiragana.
Carry a Big Stick: His zanpakuto, Tengumaru, takes the form of an enormous spiked club.
Cool Shades: He almost always has a pair of large sunglasses on.
Honor Before Reason: He objects to Kyoraku interfering with his battle against Starrk even though he and Rose were about to be killed.
Matchstick Weapon: In Shikai form, Love's Zanpakuto becomes a large spiked kanabō that can create massive fireballs.
Only Sane Man: He and Hachi share this role, being the most normal and friendly of the Visoreds.
Playing with Fire: One of Tengumaru's special attacks is Hifuki no Koduchi, which produces a massive fireball that explodes on impact.
Sunglasses at Night: He almost always has a pair of large sunglasses on.
Super-Strength: His Hollowfication enhances his physical strength to the point that he can rip a Gillian in half, vertically, with nothing but his bare hands.

Ichigo Kurosaki

Ichigo unofficially joins the Visored in a desperate move after Shinji persistantly asked him to so, in the hopes of gaining control over his Inner Hollow. For details, see here.

Characters / Bleach: Visored & Exiled Soul Reapers

Contains spoilers

Soul Reapers

Kisuke Urahara

Yoruichi Shihoin

Tessai Tsukabishi

Isshin Kurosaki, né Shiba

Visoreds

Shinji Hirako

Hiyori Sarugaki

Kensei Muguruma

Mashiro Kuna

Rose Otoribashi

Hachi Ushoda

Lisa Yadomaru

Love Aikawa

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Characters / Bleach: Visored & Exiled Soul Reapers

Edit Locked

Contains spoilers

Soul Reapers

Kisuke Urahara

Yoruichi Shihoin

Tessai Tsukabishi

Isshin Kurosaki, né Shiba

Visoreds

Shinji Hirako

Hiyori Sarugaki

Kensei Muguruma

Mashiro Kuna

Rose Otoribashi

Hachi Ushoda

Lisa Yadomaru

Love Aikawa

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Index

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