Characters / Soul Chess - Ichigo's Nakama

Okay so we've seen Lelouch's support group, but what about Ichigo's? These are the characters that, regardless of what other affiliations they might have, are strongly correlated to his friendship.

Hope you had a nice lunch. Be sure to go to the bathroom before starting this page.For more information on these characters use these and these pages.

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Tatsuki Arisawa

Ichigo's childhood friend. Changes in the timestream have brought her and Ichigo closer than in canon. These changes have impacted Tatsuki greatly in numerous ways. Because her powers came from Soifon rather than Ichigo, Tatsuki’s powers developed very closely akin to that of a Soul Reaper, but because she isn’t an actual Soul Reaper her body could not naturally store all the extra energy and manifested itself in Kaibun, who is to Tatsuki what Zanpakuto spirits are to their owners. It also explains why her growth rate and strength are higher than Chad’s since Soifon was stronger than Ichigo when he first started out.

• Animal Motifs: A dragon.
• Ascended Extra
• Broken Bird: Not as much as Orihime, but still qualifies. Because of Ichigo’s death and because Orihime dropped off the map she sunk into a deep depression. The Reveal to her that Orihime is alive helps her cope and stand up on her own again, but it’s clear that Tatsuki is still struggling with what happened to Ichigo.
• Cast From Hp: Her Healing Flame ability
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Her occupation by the time of Wish Fulfillment
• Freudian Trio: with Kaibun and Arisa. She’s The Ego.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Delivers this to Ichigo during the Reapers and Heralds arc while he is in his ultimate hollow form
• Glass Cannon
• Howl of Sorrow: Produces one when Ichigo is turned to stone
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: By Mayuri in chapter 44
• Implacable Woman: Becomes something of a terminator when Kaibun takes over her.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Almost states this word for word to Ichigo when she finds out that he and Orihime are a couple
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: She punches Emperor Charles in the face. Go Tatsuki.
• Kung-Fu Wizard: She can not only fight with fire imbued martial arts, but she can create rampaging infernos, blasts of concentrated fire, and fire of energy blasts as well.
• Leeroy Jenkins: You just have to facepalm when Tatsuki attacks Starrk's Segunda Etapa head on like that. Ironically, Lelouch anticipated she would do this and calibrated it as part of his plan
• Meaningful Name: Her nickname as part of the Karakura gang battles is Noble Dragon, which is one particular way of translating the characters used to spell Tatsuki’s name.
• Playing with Fire: Her powers.
• Power Gives You Wings
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: With her parents, Ichigo, and believing Orihime to also be dead^note she’s with Lelouch Tatsuki tears towards Britannia and attempts to assassinate Charles. Status quo sees to it that she fails of course.
• Superpowered Morally Ambiguous Side: Kaibun
• Survivor Guilt: She and Lisa are the only ones to survive Daraclu’s onslaught, though Tatsuki thinks Lisa is dead until Rita tells her otherwise. Even so she still felt the effects of this trope.
• The Berserker
• The Determinator: Exaggerated when Orihime is nearby.
• The Lancer: To Ichigo's Five-Man Band.
• Took a Level in Badass: Upon obtaining her powers.
  • Upon fusing with Arisa Tatsuki is now as powerful as her alter ego Kaibun.
    • Actually according to Word of God Kaibun is still stronger, but Tatsuki now has the willpower to supress her. It's very possible that we haven't seen the last of Kaibun.
    • She's taken yet another one in ch 96. Kaibun finally accepts Tatsuki as her master and Tatsuki has unleashed her final form.
• Waif-Fu: while fighting Jirobo who is over 7 feet tall.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gave a huge one to Ichigo for his role in Faking the Dead for nine years.
• You Will Be Assimilated: Does this to Arisa.

Yasutora "Chad" Sado

Ichigo's best friend since Middle School. Chad's as large and quiet as always.

Rukia Kuchiki/Shiba

The reason Ichigo was involved in the affairs of the Soul Society in the first place, if you don't count that she was a part of Aizen's plan of course. Thanks to her sister still being alive and other factors as well Rukia is currently the vice-captain of Squad 3 (under her sister) and is married to Kaien Shiba.

• Be Careful What You Wish For: In chapter 38, during her mission to Karakura Town Rukia starts wishing that Kaien or Hisana would come to help her. Both wind up showing up, but they're not exactly there to make the situation better for her.
• Demoted to Extra: Rukia is pretty much Ichigo’s sidekick in the main series. Here we certainly don’t see her as often. Though for her it’s not as bad as say Renji.
• Relationship Upgrade: In chapter 74, Rukia marries and is deflowered by Kaien.
• Took a Level in Badass: Four words: Yottsu no mai, Byakuren.
  • By the end, has made significant progress in materialising her zanpakuto; ie she has nearly acquired Bankai.
  • Which happens in canon in 569, yet another example of author foresight.

Orihime/Naomi Inoue/Kurosaki

The naive, well endowed, classmate of Ichigo's. She has an obvious crush on said protagonist. She and Ichigo are currently dating. In the Lelouch and the Law, she becomes the JUDGE that decides the FATE of Soul Society. After the war with Britannia she is in denial of Ichigo’s death and seeks out to find him because he promised he would come back to her. She dyes her hair blue and crosses paths with Naoto Kozuki and joins his resistance group under the name Inoue Naomi. Culminating in a huge What the Hell, Hero? moment to Lelouch for letting it all happen. As of 2021, she's married to Ichigo and expecting his baby. At the end of the year Masaki is born and is a cheerful child as shown in 2026.

• Beware the Nice Ones: Chapter 124 shows that Orihime can be an extremely competent foe when forced to be so.
  • In chapter 160 Orihime goes from passive to maniacal in seconds when she finds that Chizuru had been captured and sold into slave labor. Those Britannian nobles never stood a chance.
• Break the Cutie: Sheesh if you thought the Hueco Mundo kidnapping was bad wait until you see how she handles coping with Ichigo’s death.
• Broken Bird: Oh good god where to start? After Ichigo buys it, against Cornelia, Orihime seems like she’s going to be okay and faithfully believes that Ichigo is out there. However, in the chapter where Naoto dies, we are given an insight and possibility that Orihime is mentally ill and that her coping mechanism of dealing with Ichigo’s death is to believe that he’s still out there and to take revenge on Britannia in the process.
• Brought Down to Badass: As a freedom fighter once she loses her hairpins and therefore can’t use her powers. However, she can still fight with conventional weaponry rather effectively.
  • She's since had them returned to her, and learned A LOT more in the meantime.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: In chapter 93 she is tasked with being the judge for a case that will completely revolutionize the Soul Society. The very notion is lampshaded by The Central Forty Six.
• *Click* Hello: On the giving end of this trope. And her target is Lelouch.
• Cool Big Sis: Towards Kallen.
• Faking the Dead: After the Black Rebellion which originally kills off Naomi, she completely discards her Naomi name and returns to her original name of Orihime Inoue.
• Happily Married: To Ichigo.
• He's Just Hiding: Her mentality about Ichigo since she Never Found the Body and wants to either locate him or find proof of his demise - turns out she's right after all.
• Her Heart Will Go On: She’s taking Ichigo’s death…sort of okay. At least she’s not breaking down into a big busty ball of tears - good thing too; he's not dead.
• Heroic BSoD: Suffers this when she sees Ichigo sealed up and Lelouch tells her that she shouldn’t unseal him.
• Identical Stranger: To Shirley.
• "I Know You Are in There Somewhere" Fight: Subverted in that Orihime wasn’t the one actually the one doing the fight, but she was the one who appealed to Ichigo's heart when he lost control of himself during the first Battle of Karakura Town.
• The Medic
• Mirror Character: Her Sanity Slippage is compared to the same slow path of self-destruction Cornelia is going through in the narration.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In her desire to help Tatsuki, Orihime only succeeds in getting the girl thrown off Acidwire's back.
• Relationship Upgrade: With Ichigo in chapter 69. They're now dating.
  • In chapter 74 they have sex.
  • In chapter 149, they get engaged, and by 182 are married.
• Restraining Bolt: Her voice is capable of keeping Ichigo from letting his Superpowered Evil Side take over.
• Sanity Slippage: How others view her coping mechanism at times. Now proven by using Refrain.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: She knew that Zero was Lelouch she only didn’t say anything because the reason she knows would make everyone think she’s mental. Even more so than she already is.
• Stepford Smiler: Oh so much in the Within Zero’s Shadow arc. Poor Hime-chan.
• Talking to the Dead: Talks to Ichigo’s statue and promises she’ll come by every day until he returns.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: When talking about why Soifon isn't around, among other, absurd, guesses, she almost correctly guesses exactly what Soifon is. Also the stuff regarding Ichigo
• Took a Level in Badass: She cuts off Mayuri's arm for attacking Tatsuki.
  • Orihime shows us just what happens when she’s serious in chapter 124. She is unafraid to kill the togabito she fights, though she does close her eyes when she kills it.
  • Orihime is forced to toughen up since she loses her special hairpins and fight with conventional weapons as a freedom fighter. Her resolve and fierce eyes are a result of her determination to make Britannia pay for what they did to Ichigo.
  • Orihime's Geass can allow to scan the name of her target (and their lifespan according to Word of God), she also gains a fullbring known as Tenshi no Nihon (Angel of Japan), obtains her hairpins back, and can somehow do the Kamehameha Wave.
    • According to Word of God The Kamehameha Wave is made possible by the fact that Orihime is able to utilize any energy-based attack she can think of within the limitations of her reiatsu. Her wings act as a Mana Meter for this effect.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Poor Orihime, she is developing hatred with Britannia because of Ichigo's supposed death. She even acknowledges it with her What the Hell, Hero? moment below. This seems to have subsided now that we war is over, and the gang is back together
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gives a big one to Lelouch. One line says it all.
  Orihime: I know how to hate.

Uryu Ishida

A quincy and the smartest student of the freshman class at Karakura High School. Thanks to Lelouch, the Quincies instead of being driven to near extinction are now a first response force in the face of a hollow threat making Uryu a much nicer person what with his aging grandfather alive and all.

• Character Tic: Uryu pushes up his glasses like almost every other scene he’s in if not more. Usually it’s to say something smart.
• Disc-One Nuke: Obtains Ginrei Kojaku, the bow that let him contend with low level espada before the fic's version of the Soul Society arc.
• Took a Level in Kindness: As a result of the endangered quincies being left alive.

Shinji Hirako

The former captain of Squad 5 now is one of Ichigo's closest companions thanks to some meddling from those around him. He's still the same wisecracking perverted overbite blonde everyone remembers. He also oversaw Lelouch's entrance exam into the Shino Academy. His Bankai is Gyakuten Sakanade (Reversing Counter Stroke). Killed by Daraclu.

• Interface Screw: The Shikai itself can screw up your perception very badly. The Bankai is even WORSE, Shinji can CHOOSE which perception he can screw up on his opponent, at ANY TIME, and it doesn't affect him or his chosen allies AT ALL.
• Killed Off for Real
  • Boom, Headshot!
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Leaving Cirucci alive with a pierced soul chain allowed Talbumosuke to use her powerless body to revive Mia.
• Parting-Words Regret: "Look if you want to go and get yourself killed that's fine by me. Don't expect me to be at your funeral." This was the last thing he told Hiyori the morning of the upcoming battle.
• Sixth Ranger: To Ichigo's Five-Man Band
• Spanner in the Works: Lelouch's plan against Talbumosuke would've worked flawlessly in the Battle of Karakura Town arc if Shinji hadn't gone into to Hueco Mundo
• What the Hell, Hero?: Lisa lays into him by saying that he told them that he was failing to recruit Ichigo, but didn't tell the other Visoreds that Aizen is dead.

Keigo Asano

Ichigo's hyperactive dumbass of a friend. Ever since Tatsuki obtained her powers he is the only one shown to have spiritual power and not be able to do anything with it and not know what's going on around him. It seems he would like to know though. He gets the chance to do something about it in the Fullbringer arc where Kendra enlists his help in tracking them down and allowing him to obtain a fullbring of his own. It is a guitar called Greatest Guitar Ever. Keigo eventually comes to sympathize with his supposed to be enemies and turns on the Soul Society and Ichigo. After Ginjo's defeat though, he pleads for forgiveness and to make it up to his friends. Ichigo accepts.

• Ascended Extra: As of the Fullbringer arc.
• Beware the Silly Ones: When you look at Keigo pre-Fullbringer arc and then see what he’s capable of after he’s cut by Tsukishima, you wonder if you’re reading about the same character.
• Crash-Into Hello: How he meets Riruka.
• Did Not Get the Girl: Riruka leaves on an airplane along with the rest of the surviving Fullbringers and the last Keigo saw of her she was shot by Yolanda.
  • Subverted as of Chapter 201.
• Easily Forgiven/Welcome Back, Traitor: Isn’t given a single bit of punishment for his actions. Although really the ultimate decision is left up to Ichigo since Keigo was simply an accomplice and it seems his choice to be The Atoner is enough for the guy.
• Face–Heel Turn
  • He came back after Ginjo's defeat.
• Jumped at the Call: Not that we'd expect anything less. Just the fact that the opportunity is given is why there is a spoiler tag.
• Locked Out of the Loop: CONSTANTLY! And he’s none too happy about it. Poor kid. This is another motivation for his Face–Heel Turn, at least until the Fullbringer arc.
• Mundane Made Awesome: Keigo is the first person to beat the arcade game Demons and Devils. If he wasn't surrounded by awesomeness it might have a bigger efect.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Kendra and Soifon know that something is up with Keigo because he’s actually paying attention in class for once.
• Reality Warper: With the combination of Improvised Weapon. When Keigo gets into a rhythm he can distort the space around him and manipulate it with his mind.
• Redemption Demotion: No one seems to take him seriously after he’s back on the good guys’ side. Or at least Tatsuki doesn’t as she’s the one poking fun at him most often.
• The Mole: He’s supposed to function as this for Kendra so that she can get a drop on the Fullbringers, though mostly Ginjo.
  • Unfortunately due to Kendra's thoughtless actions (she is not working with a trained soldier, she is working with a high school student), it leads to (solidifies) his Face–Heel Turn.
• Shock and Awe: Part of his fullbring.
• Sinister Scythe: His fullbring can transform into one.
• The Atoner: After coming back to Ichigo’s side.
• The Power of Rock: Also a part of his Fullbring.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: In chapter 52 he gets to spend quality time with Ichigo.
  • In the Fullbringer arc his plot importance is increased heavily.
• Took a Level in Badass: Upon getting his Greatest Guitar Ever.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets one from Ichigo for brainwashing all of their friends.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Keigo! Honestly, did you really think that Ichigo would help you without fuss if you betrayed the lieutenant of the Onmitsukido and then helped Tsukishima brainwash everyone in Karakura Town?
  • Keigo also seems to constantly think reality works like a video game or a manga seeing how he thinks eating a lot will give him lots of strength.

Yoshino Soma

A Bount. She was spared from the genocide of her race at the hands of the senior officers of the Second Division. Her doll is Goethe. She is killed by Cornelia in the Ichigo Vs Britannia arc.

• Dying Moment of Awesome: She goes up against 300 of Cornelia’s soldiers. She only fails to take out 49.
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Heading in this direction
• Last of Her Kind
• Redemption Equals Life: She is a Defector from Decadence and has sworn never to kill another innocent human. So far so good as even the Onmitsukido have let her go.
  • Redemption Equals Death: She may have been spared by the Onmitsukido, but her karma meter catches up and she dies protecting Japan from Britannia.