Characters / The Vasto of White

Hueco Mundo

Shirou Emiya

The Vasto of White, the Lone King of the High Sands, the True God of Hueco Mundo

• Adaptational Badass: Hollow powers aside, this Shirou can Trace flawless copies of weapons he's seen, imbue mundane weapons he Traces with the abilities of any weapon in his arsenal, and create entirely new weapons with any specific ability he chooses, though the latter takes time and a lot of energy to pull off. This is how he kills Yhwach.
• Always Someone Better: For Baraggan and Grimmjow.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: A staple of Hollowkind. As their ruler, Shirou is powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with Yhwach.
• Badass Finger Snap: Does this before destroying all four pillars maintaining Fake Karakura Town at the same time.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's the nicest guy you'll ever meet, but don't think that means he's weak.
• Big Brother Instinct: Towards Lilynette Gingerbuck.
• Brought Down to Badass: Sure, he's a force to be reckoned with as he leads the assault against the Seireitei, but he admits it's quite beneath the sheer godlike might he has at his fingertips when he's inside Hueco Mundo.
• Chick Magnet: But of course. Many of his female subordinates are pining after him, even if they cannot accurately peg what they're feeling towards the King.
• Distressed Dude: When he suffers his Heroic RRoD from fighting and annihilating Yhwach, the Royal Guard immediately start preparations to make him the new Soul King, forcing the Hollows to rally in order to rescue the Vasto of White.
• Domain Holder: As Hueco Mundo is actually Unlimited Blade Works, his control over the dimension is absolute.
• The Dreaded: A Vasto Lorde is enough for the Seireitei to worry, but Shirou quickly escalates the fear as he unveils himself as the commander of an army of several thousand elite fighters and able to copy Zanpakutos when he sees them.
• A Father to His Men: He stubbornly refuses to consider anyone under his banner as expendable and will invade the Soul Society in order to rescue a single subordinate from imprisonment and execution. While bringing his army along seems contradictory to this (as it exposes them to danger, too), it must be kept in mind that he intended to go in alone specifically because he knew many of the weaker ones might die, but they insisted on following him anyway.
• God-Emperor: Even more than Baraggan — every Hollow in existence knows of the Vasto of White and accordingly fears or reveres him, with his subordinates' devotion having strong religious undertones. Since Shirou created Hueco Mundo in order to gave Hollows a safe haven, he can be considered as their closest approximation of a savior deity.
• The Good King: The Hollows decided he would be their King because he cared for them.
• Healing Factor: He possesses high-speed regeneration, not that he needs to use it very often.
• Heroic RRoD: He falls down after killing Yhwach, courtesy of forging a blade to this specific goal.
• Legacy Character: The Royal Guard believe he's the most fitting candidate to be turned into the new Soul King. Shirou's followers very much disagree and act to save him from this fate.
• Man of Kryptonite: As the weapons he wields in battle grow stronger with age instead of breaking down, he's the worst possible match for Baraggan's Respira. However, it's limited to his blades, thus Shirou needs to be careful and not let the Respira hit his body if he doesn't want to grow older.
• No-Sell:
  • He's completely immune to Aizen's illusions, to the mastermind's utter bafflement.
  • Ichibei's Zanpakuto has no effect on him, either.
• Only Friend: To Aizen, of all people — since the mastermind is unable to manipulate him as everyone else he meets, their relationship is weirdly amiable.
• Physical God: By and large the most powerful character in the setting, with only his morals keeping him from simply crushing anyone around him like an ant.
• Rerouted from Heaven: He died in the Fate universe and was ascending to the Throne of Heroes to be reunited with Saber, but was stranded in the Bleach world for unknown reasons.
• The Stoic: Shirou is unflinching. The only time he ever loses his cool is when it comes to dealing with woman being attracted to him.
• Story-Breaker Power: The Shinigami collectively shit their pants hard when they learn the Vasto of White will copy their Zanpakuto if he's allowed to see them. Still, the ability has a drawback as Shirou can't use a Zanpakuto when he doesn't know its name, or when the blade refuses to work with him (like Kyoka Suigetsu, initially).
• Supreme Chef: It's not explored often, but his cooking is excellent, as Coyote Gingerbuck can attest.
• What the Hell, Hero?: He bluntly tells Yamamoto that he wouldn't have invaded the Seireitei if the Shinigami had been ready to hear his grievances and leave the Hollows alone.
• White and Red and Eerie All Over: His skin is pasty white because of cinders covering his body, his hair and loincloth are red and his sheer power very much unsettles the Soul Society.
• Willfully Weak: Inside Hueco Mundo/Unlimited Blade Works, his reiatsu is so massive that he could effortlessly kill Yhwach if he simply flared it. The problem is that this would also kill everybody else, so he always holds back.
• You Remind Me of X: Aizen comments on Shirou basically being a Hollow version of Jushirou Ukitake — compassionate, understanding and warm yet gifted with a bladed edge, especially when his subordinates are threatened.

Coyote Gingerbuck

The First Vasto Lorde, The Lone Wolf of the Appalachian Mountains

• Action Girl: She is the strongest being in Hueco Mundo after Shirou, and the only Shinigami who can hope to face her in combat is Yamamoto, who had to use his Bankai in order to match her.
• Animal Motif: The wolf. She can summon an army of wolves made out of reishi that explode on contact, and the animal suits her viciousness and pack mentality.
• Berserk Button: So great is her hatred for Yamamoto that the mere sight of him will prompt her to reach for her gun.
• Character Development: She started off as aloof and preferring solitude, but her time with Shirou made her willing to interact with others, even care about them.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Her strength is so great that she can hold a sniper rifle and a shotgun in one hand each.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She's rather possessive of Shirou.
• Cold Sniper: In her Segunda Etapa, one of her primary weapons is a sniper rifle. The other is a shotgun.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Any fight she participates in will be this unless you're one of the really heavy-hitters. Even most Captains and Vasto Lordes cannot hope to stand against her.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: She has the audacity to push Aizen aside before grabbing Shirou and dragging him away so they can talk.
• The Dreaded: She is one of the scariest characters in the series, and no one but the strongest of the strong dares to face her. Anyone else who tries will die gruesomely.
• Dynamic Entry: When she appears in the present, she kicks things off by decimating the Vizards single-handedly, and then attacking Yamamoto directly as everyone else makes a run for it.
• The Gunslinger: She prefers using guns over swords, unlike most characters in the story.
• Literal Split Personality: She is reborn when Starrk and Lilynette truly combine into one being, but she eventually manages to give the two their own bodies.
• Original Character: She was created as the being that Starrk and Lilynette originated from.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "You bite one wolf, you fight the pack."
• Statuesque Stunner: She's taller than Shirou (to her slight annoyance), and is quite a knockout.
• Undying Loyalty: Shirou is everything to her, and she will obliterate anything that poses a threat to him.

Baraggan Luisenbairn

God-King of Hueco Mundo, Primera Espada

^{Resurrección}  

^{Segunda Etapa} 

• Adaptational Badass: He achieves Segunda Etapa in this story.
• Batman Grabs a Gun: He utterly refuses to use the sword that Shirou gave him out of pride. Until he faces off against the Royal Guard.
• Break the Haughty: After being thoroughly defeated by the Vasto of White, Baraggan lost a huge deal of pride and self-confidence. It forces him to grow more cautious and respectful towards his foes. He later gains a habit of inflicting this trope upon others, especially the Vandenreich.
• God-Emperor: He blatantly lays claim to the title, and is powerful enough to deserve it. He starts doubting about deserving the trappings of godhood after failing to beat Shirou, though.
• Superpower Lottery: He can control time, which includes creating a deadly smog that can rot anything it touches. His habit of surrounding himself with it makes close-quarters combat with him suicidal, it can destroy barriers, and he can spread it over vast areas. The only reason Shirou bested him is because his Noble Phantasms get stronger with age rather than disintegrate.
• Walking the Earth: The epilogue reveals that he and the more belligerent Arrancar are pursuing Urahara for the latter's attempt to backstab Shirou.
• Walking Wasteland: His Respira can rot and destroy anything it touches, and since he surrounds himself with it, just being near him can be fatal.
• Worthy Opponent: Regards Shirou as this, even acknowledging him as the true God of Hueco Mundo.

Tier Harribel

Tres Espada

^{Resurrección}  

^{Segunda Etapa} 

• Adaptational Badass: She achieves Segunda Etapa in this story.
• Animal Motif: Sharks. Her Zanpakuto is called Tiburon (Spanish for "shark"), and her weapon is shaped like a giant shark tooth.
• Betty and Veronica: The stoic, serious Veronica to Nelliel's Betty, with Shirou being Archie.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: It's more subdued than most examples, but she gets rather angry when she catches her subordinates staring dreamily at Shirou. She also silently competes with the other female Espada for his attention.
• Making a Splash: Her powers are water-based.
• A Mother to Her Men: She regards Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun as her daughters, and is very protective towards them.
• Not So Stoic: She's usually good at keeping her composure, unless Shirou is put in danger.
• Ship Tease: Of all the women who are attracted to Shirou, Harribel seems to have the best chance at winning him over due to her reminding him so much of Saber.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: What drove her to grant her allegiance to Shirou was the fact that he watched over the Hollows stumbling on his grounds, defending them and allowing them to feed on his reishi to grow stronger without having to devour each other.
• Statuesque Stunner: She's the same height as Shirou (maybe even a little taller), has large breasts, and carries a regal aura about her.
• Stripperific: The more powerful Harribel gets, the less clothing she seems to wear.
• Underestimating Badassery: She completely underestimates Askin, and would have been killed had Szayel not intervened.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Not quite girlfriend, but her loyalty to Shirou is more motivated by love than anything else, and if he is put in danger, she gets openly vicious.
• What Is This Feeling?: She falls in love with Shirou, but, being a Hollow, she doesn't fully comprehend this. She even tells him that her impulses are telling her to "fight" (fuck) him in private.
• You Remind Me of X: Shirou internally notes that she reminds him of Saber.

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck

Cuarto Espada

^{Resurrección}  

^{Segunda Etapa} 

• Adaptational Badass: She achieves Segunda Etapa.
• Adaptational Personality Change: She's less childish and goofy than she is in canon.
• Adapted Out: Her period as an amnesia-ridden child doesn't occur.
• Animal Motif: The antelope and the centaur, given the appearance of her released state. Also the goat, as the horns on her mask fragment resemble goat horns.
• Betty and Veronica: The (comparatively) casual and friendly Betty to Harribel's Veronica, with Shirou being Archie.
• Catch and Return: Her "Cero Doble" technique is retained, namely when she swallows a Gran Rey Cero made by Coyote so she can amplify its power to destroy a barrier created by the Royal Guard.
• Cool Teacher: To Ichigo. She teaches him how to control his Hollow powers.
• Deadpan Snarker: In her second confrontation with Soifon, she mocks the captain's Shikai for failing to kill her and also bluntly points out that Yoruichi isn't there to bail her former student out.
• Martial Pacifist: She may not like violence, but she's every bit as brutal as her colleagues when it comes to life-or-death combat.
• A Mother to Her Men: She's very close to her subordinates, who call her "Big Sister".
• No-Sell: She's able to survive the effect of Soifon's Shikai.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Is every bit as in love with Shirou as Harribel, which causes the two to develop a rivalry.
• Statuesque Stunner: Like Harribel, she's tall and well-built.
• Super-Speed: Is fast enough to hold her own against Soifon (and this was when she was just a Vasto Lorde), and would have defeated her had Yoruichi not intervened.
• Understatement: She describes Shirou as "a friend" when she introduces him to the Karakura residents. Ichigo is absolutely stunned that he's being introduced to Nelliel's boss.

Tres Bestias

All Three

• Adaptational Badass: They've all become Vasto Lordes by the time Aizen turns them into Arrancar.
• Amazon Brigade: While technically Espada this time around (their number are unknown), they still tend to fight as a group.
• An Arm and a Leg: They can each sacrifice an arm and combine the severed limbs to form a powerful chimera they call Ayon.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Their antics are comedic and their win-loss record is spotty, but they are Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar who can be a problem to any opponent when they bother to get serious. And then there's Ayon.
• Bullying a Dragon:
  • Picking a fight with Vasto Lorde Grimmjow. While they're Vasto Lordes too, he's far more experienced and is able to overpower them.
  • They later challenge Shunsui Kyoraku, one of the Gotei 13's most powerful and experienced captains. They once again have to be bailed out.
• Crush Blush: They each get one when Shirou rescues them from being surrounded by an army of Shinigami.
• Fusion Dance: They can each sever an arm and combine it with that of the other two to create Ayon.
• Freudian Trio: Apacci is the raging Id, Mila Rose is the somewhat more composed Ego, and Sung-Sun is the stoic Superego.
• Ignored Enamored Underling: They're all in love with Shirou, with him being none the wiser due to his status as a Clueless Chick-Magnet. Though to be fair, they don't understand it, either.
• Shipper on Deck: Despite being attracted to Shirou themselves, they egg Harribel on to knab him for herself.
• So Proud of You: They feel this way towards Ayon when the latter starts thrashing Pernida.
• Taught by Experience: Their exposure to Byakuya's Shikai makes Rangiku's even less effective against them than it was in canon, in addition to their being a lot stronger this time around, too.
• Undying Loyalty: To Harribel, their surrogate mother. To Shirou as well, though their feelings for him go beyond that.
• Unskilled, but Strong: They're certainly powerful, but their lack of training and tendency to argue in the midst of combat can allow experienced opponents like Grimmjow, Byakuya and Shunsui to hold them off all at once.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: They butt heads all the time, but their teamwork is excellent and they are genuinely devoted to each other.

Emilou Apacci

Resurrección (left), Unreleased State (left)

• Bambification: Averted. Her Resurrección does nothing to cool her fierce temper.
• Berserk Button: She's easily answered, but she has a few particular pet peeves.
  • Disrespecting Harribel.
  • Getting between Harribel and Shirou.
  • Flirting with her.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: She's viciously confrontational and quick to lose her cool.
• The McCoy: She's the most emotional and hot-headed member of the trio.

Franceska Mila Rose

Unreleased State (left), Resurrección (right)

• Amazonian Beauty: She's tall, muscular, buxom, and utterly gorgeous.
• Big-Breast Pride: Seems very proud of her large bosom, especially compared to a "flatty" like Sung-Sun.
• The Kirk: Downplayed, in that she's more composed than Apacci, but not by much.
• Not So Stoic: She has a longer fuse than Apacci, but not much longer.
• Statuesque Stunner: She's half-an-inch short of 6 feet tall (making her a little taller than Harribel and maybe even Shirou), and very beautiful.

Cyan Sung-Sun

Resurrección (left), Unreleased State (left)

• A-Cup Angst: She's utterly flustered when Apacci and Mila Rose come down on her for being less developed than them.
• Deadpan Snarker: Is very sarcastic, with her two colleagues being her most frequent targets.
• Not So Above It All: She's normally the most composed member of the trio, but when Ayon is battling Pernidas, Sung-Sun reveals that she can be just as foul-mouthed as her two compatriots, to their utter surprise.
• Snake People: She's initially a boa-type Adjuchas. After feasting on enough reishi weapons, she becomes a Naga-esque Vasto Lorde.
• The Spock: Always composed, even when dishing out insults, in comparison to her more temperamental teammates.
• The Stoic: Much more composed than her two colleagues.

Ayon

• Attack! Attack! Attack!: He's all offense, no defense.
• The Berserker: His fighting "style" consists of charging like a bull and wreaking everything in his path. Is it any wonder the Sword-Axe of Heracles found him worthy of it?
• Bigger Is Better: Averted. His second form is closer to a human in height, but is much stronger than his first form.
• BFS: Obtains the Sword-Axe of Heracles, and uses it to kill Pernidas.
• Healing Factor: He can regenerate, and this trope is strengthened after he is found worthy of wielding Heracles' Noble Phantasm.
• It Only Works Once: Thanks to possessing Heracles' Noble Phantasm, if he tanks an attack and regenerates from it, the same attack won't affect him again.
• Momma's Boy: He deeply cares for his three mothers.

Brans

• Animal Motifs: Crows — he has feathered wings and his name means raven in Welsh.
• Cassandra Truth: When Urahara assaults him for being in the Human world, Brans protests he has no evil intentions and merely wants to find a friend before departing for the Hueco Mundo but the former Captain refuses to believe him and also disregards Brans' warning that hurting him will bring Shirou's wrath upon the responsible one.
• I Owe You My Life: One of many weaker Hollows, he would have been devoured long ago without the Vasto of White's protection. It caused Brans to become fanatically devoted to his King.
• Original Character: He was created for the story.

Silent

Masaki Kurosaki

• Awesome Moment of Crowning: When Yhwach is defeated, since she turns out to have a similar power level, the surviving Vandenreich declare her their new ruler.
• Damsel in Distress: She gets abducted by the Seireitei when they come to arrest Rukia, and is taken back to Mayuri's labs for vivisection. Shirou decides to invade the Soul Society to rescue her.
• The Lost Lenore: For the Kurosaki family. When she reappears in their lives, it causes a great deal of upheaval.
• Mama Bear: She cannot even remember she had children at this point, yet she intervenes to prevent Byakuya from killing Ichigo.
• Spared by the Adaptation: What happened to her soul after she got eaten by Grand Fisher in canon is extremely vague. Here, she unambiguously becomes a Hollow.
• The Speechless: She's unable to talk after being turned into a Hollow, leading her comrades to christen her "Silent".
• Superpower Lottery: She still has her Quincy powers after becoming a Hollow, plus Shirou inadvertently gave her the ability Zero - The Origin, which gives her a connection to the Root and lets her drain others of their energy, making her a Man of Kryptonite to other Quincies.

Aaroniero Arruruerie

• Becoming the Mask: He followed Rukia into the Soul Society by shapeshifting into Kaien Shiba. To his great disgust, the longer he bears Kaien's face and draws upon his memories, the more he feels protective and fond towards Kukaku and Ganju. The epilogue even shows him visiting the Kurosaki Clinic.
• Last Request: As he impersonates Kaien, he begs for Yamamoto to hide his "survival" from Kukaku and Ganju — pragmatically, it serves to hide Aaroniero from the people more liable to blow his cover and it helps to reinforce his act as the loving brother who wants to spare his siblings the trauma of his execution.
• Master Actor: He fools Rukia, Yamamoto and the Shiba siblings into believing he's Kaien, "miraculously" alive but tainted with Hollow essence.

Szayelaporro Granz

• Cold-Blooded Torture: Implied to have inflicted this fate upon Giselle.
• Combat Pragmatist: He prefers ambushes and studying potential opponents before attacking them.
• Spared By Adaptation: He survives in this story, though it's unknown what he did after Shirou created Avalon.
• Token Evil Teammate: He's certainly one of the more openly insidious Arrancar. He does seem to be loyal to Shirou, nevertheless, calling him "[his] king".
• Unfriendly Fire: He hits Harribel with a cero during her fight with Askinn, though he notes that she's strong enough to tank it and the whole point was to prevent the Quincy from killing her.
• Weak, but Skilled: He's not very powerful and he knows it, though given how Shirou strengthens his followers, he's probably stronger than in canon. Regardless, he manages to take on a Schutzstaffel via rigging the game and observing him from a distance. It works long enough for Shirou to kill Yhwach, which was Szayel's plan all along.

Shinigami

Sosuke Aizen

Former Captain of the Fifth Division

• Affably Evil: To Shirou — and only Shirou. To everyone else, he's the opposite.
• The Chessmaster: He can't manipulate Shirou, but he can get the Vasto of White to help him with his plans by being honest with him. He's much better at stringing the Gotei 13 and Royal Guard along, though, culminating in his managing to successfully absorb the Soul King's power right under their noses.
• Didn't See That Coming: He's utterly bamboozled when the Vasto of White doesn't fall under Kyoka Suigetsu's thrall — doesn't even notice her activation.
• Honesty Is the Best Policy: As Shirou cannot be fooled by Kyoka Suigetsu's illusions, Aizen decides his best bet is to be blunt with the ruler of Hollowkind.
• I Just Want to Be Free: Ultimately, his goal is to break the current world order to ensure there won't be any kind of restriction upon people, be they Human, Shinigami or Hollow.
• I Love You Because I Can't Control You: A platonic example with Shirou. Aizen is forced to downplay his usual manipulations because the Vasto of White utterly No-Sell Kyoka Suigetsu's illusions and has a firmly rooted mindset protecting him from being easily persuaded, so the shinigami finds himself being more honest with the Hollow — and earnestly considering him a friend.
• Not Quite Dead: Yhwach seemingly rips out his heart and disintegrates him. The epilogue implies that he was able to use an illusion to escape.
• Not So Stoic: He freaks with everybody else — if in a more subdued manner — when Lilynette accidentally triggers his portal device and gets teleported in the Human world.
• Oh, Crap!: He nearly freaks out when Shirou is revealed to be immune to his Shikai.
• Only the Chosen May Wield: Kyoka Suigetsu stubbornly refuses to allow another man than Aizen to wield her. Shirou manages to produce a copy of her, anyway.
• Reality Warper: His Bankai upgrades his illusions into reality. However, it uses up so much energy that it strains him and he cannot maintain it for long.
• Sophisticated as Hell: "Heroes are bullshit." It's the only time he openly swears throughout the entire story.
• Tranquil Fury: He tortures Giselle with his reishi, all without breaking his calm expression, while being inwardly enraged that the Vandenreich's actions forced him to withdraw from Karakura Town just when victory was within his grasp.
• You Remind Me of X: A man who's hiding sinister motives behind an amiable facade? Shirou immediately thinks of Kirei Kotomine, even when he's an amnesiac.

Genryusei Shigekuni Yamamoto

Captain of the First Division, Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13

• Forgotten First Meeting: He and Shirou had a confrontation when Shirou still was a newcomer to the Bleach universe and Yamamoto had barely organized the Genji School that would later become the Seireitei. As it was a thousand years ago and Shirou underwent physical changes in the meantime, Yamamoto doesn't identify him when the Vasto of White invades the Soul Society.
• Knight Templar
• Man of Kryptonite: As his Zanpakuto's flames are eternal, Baraggan's Respira cannot quench the inferno unleashed by the Head-Captain.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: For a certain definition of hero, but Yamamoto genuinely wishes to protect humans. Unfortunately, his grievously injuring Coyote Gingerbuck motivated Shirou to open his Reality Marble to the Hollows wishing for a safe haven, allowing them to survive and engage in a thousand-years feud against the Soul Society.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He's normally unflappable in his loyalty to Soul Society. So it really says something when he doesn't react to Shunsui turning on the Royal Guard after they backstab Excalibur.
• Papa Wolf: He's very unhappy when the Hollows invade the Soul Society and start slaughtering Shinigamis in drove. His anger gets ramped up even further when Shirou reveals he has taken Jushirou Ukitake — one of Yamamoto's personal students — as his hostage.
• Pet the Dog: When "Kaien" begs for his siblings to be kept in the dark about his survival and execution, Yamamoto grants his wish and later is seen genuinely pained when Kukaku and Genju nonetheless learn their brother apparently is alive yet will be killed for being tainted with Hollow essence.
• Spared by the Adaptation: He does suffer his canon fate of being torn into halves by Yhwach, but the Quincy ruler has to flee before fully killing the Captain-Commander and it allows Unohana to keep him alive until Orihime fully heals him.
• You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: He laments that Shirou would have been an exceptional Shinigami if only he hadn't been turned into a Hollow.

Jushiro Ukitake

Captain of the Thirteenth Division

• Always Someone Better: Shirou admits the Captain is far above him in swordsmanship, giving him very high odds to slay the Vasto of White in a purely physical battle.
• A Father to His Men: He enters into Tranquil Fury when he sees how many Shinigamis the Vasto of White has wounded and slaughtered.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Shunsui Kyouraku, who was infuriated when he saw Ukitake as the Vasto of White's hostage.
• I Have Your Wife: The "wife" — when he faints from exhaustion as he's fighting Shirou, the Vasto of White refuses to kill him and instead dangles him in front of Yamamoto to stall for time and find Silent.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In spite of losing Mimihagi — the only thing keeping him alive — to prevent the looming dimensional collapse, he's saved by Excalibur using Avalon to regrow his lungs.
• This Is Unforgivable!: His reaction when he stumbles upon Shirou surrounded by many Shinigami corpses.
• Worf Had the Flu: He probably would have beaten Shirou if he didn't suffer a coughing fit from his chronic illness.

Toshiro Hitsugaya

Captain of the Tenth Division

• Awesomeness by Analysis: He's the first to understand the Vasto of White can copy any Zanpakuto he sees when Shirou draws Zaraki's sword.
• Oh, Crap!: He almost verges on a Freak Out when he realizes Shirou can draw any Zanpakuto he saw used in front of him.
• Older Than They Look: He looks like a child, but is over a century old.
• Wound That Will Not Heal: He gets a nasty injury from Gae Bolg, and even Unohana's healing kido can do little more than prevent it from being fatal.

Kenpachi Zaraki

Captain of the Eleventh Division

• Blood Knight: He's the only one to not panic when Hitsugaya blurts the Vasto of White just copied his Zanpakuto and is about to release it against him — he's actually excited by the prospect.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He believed he had no need to bond with his Zanpakuto and learn its name, as he already was stronger than almost everyone in the Soul Society. Nozarashi felt so deeply infuriated and betrayed by his refusal to care that the Zanpakuto willingly allowed Shirou to use it against Zaraki.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He's noted to be unusually thoughtful after being vanquished by the Vasto of White, as he considers learning his Zanpakuto's name instead of fighting alone as he always did.
• Unskilled Yet Strong: He became a Captain without even knowing his Zanpakuto's name.

Kisuke Urahara

Former Captain of the 12th Division

• Easily Forgiven: Averted. His attempt to backstab Shirou is not swept under the rug, and he is forced to go into hiding.
• Laser-Guided Karma: He isn't killed, but he is barred from the paradise Excalibur created and hunted relentlessly by Baraggan for his treachery.
• Living on Borrowed Time: The epilogue reveals Baraggan's Respira hit him in the chest, so he is devoting energy to keeping the rot from spreading to his heart, and he knows he can't keep it up forever.
• Manipulative Bastard: He plays to Masaki's status as a mother to try to get her to betray Shirou.
• Smug Snake: A downplayed example, but he's not as smart as he thinks. His first plan to defeat Shirou backfires horribly, and his second one has too many variables that he can't control.
• Van Helsing Hate Crimes: He assaults Brans for wandering in the Human world and refuses to apologize or even consider the Hollow might be genuine in only wanting to find a friend and immediately leave.

Kukaku Shiba

Head of the Shiba Clan

• Ascended Extra: She gets more focus here than she did in the manga.
• Berserk Button: She's extremely sensitive about her older brother's demise. When Ichigo comes to her claiming Kaien isn't dead but locked away in the Seireitei and waiting for execution, she almost kicks the shit out of him and even when she relents, she makes it very clear that there will be hell to pay for Ichigo if this isn't true.
• Big Sister Instinct: Inverted — when "Kaien" insists her and Ganju cannot rescue him from execution because he's tainted with Hollow essence and it would make them enemy to the Seireitei, Kukaku actually screams "fuck the Seireitei" and proceeds with the rescue anyway.
• Strong Family Resemblance: She looks a lot like Karin.
• Too Dumb to Live: She insulted and threatened the Vasto of White — Ruler of Hueco Mundo, Sovereign of all Hollows — in front of his fanatically devoted subordinates. If Shirou wasn't a laid back individual who's used to forceful women, Kukaku would have been turned into red mist on the spot.

Royal Guard

The Zero Division: Ichibe Hyosube, Tenjiro Kirinji, Kirio Hikifune, Oetsu Nimaiya, Senjumaru Shutara

• Asshole Victim: Their deaths are well-deserved.
• Big "NO!": They all use this trope in Chapter 82 as their plan to turn Shirou into the next Soul King turns to shit.
• Broken Pedestal: The Gotei 13 initially see them as the Big Good of Soul Society. Their obnoxious behavior, blunders, and their backstabbing Excalibur ultimately destroy their credentials.
• Cessation of Existence: In the end, Shirou uses the light of Excalibur to completely erase them.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The Gotei 13 are sorely tempted to let Tosen execute them after they are rendered powerless by Aizen, but decide they're more valuable alive. They deeply regret this later.
• Decapitated Army: When Ichibe is slain by Shirou, the rest of them die, too.
• Fatal Flaw: They dedicated everything they are to tradition and the world order as it stands, and they will do anything to ensure the status quo is preserved. Even when Excalibur offers to fix the crumbling barriers between dimensions by creating Heaven, they backstab her and insist to condemn the Vasto of White to a Fate Worse than Death by making him the new Soul King.
• Hated by All: Their backstabbing of Excalibur unites everybody against them.
• Holier Than Thou: They are utterly convinced that they know what's best, and no amount of objective evidence to the contrary can persuade them otherwise.
• Manipulative Bastard: They certainly try, but they lack subtlety and charisma, so nobody trusts them.
• Man of Kryptonite: Ichibe is this to everyone since he can erase anything's name, depowering it since I Know Your True Name is needed to release one's power. So far, the only things immune to his ability are Noble Phantasms and Shirou himself.
• The Older Immortal: Ichibe is acknowledged by the narrative as older than any current soul dwelling in the Seireitei. He's old enough to have participated in the Soul King's sealing, and he remembers enough of it to try and repeat the feat with Shirou.
• So Proud of You: Oetsu Nimaiya, who creates any and every Zanpakuto, blubbers with joy when he beholds Shinsô in his Final evolution, the Bleach equivalent of a Broken Phantasm.
• Ungrateful Bastard: They try to force Shirou to become the new Soul King after he defeats Yhwach, and backstab Excalibur when she tries to offer a solution that would benefit everybody.
• Unwitting Pawn: Aizen plays them like a fiddle.

Vandenreich

Yhwach

A - The Almighty, Emperor of the Vandenreich

• Bad Boss: He casually sacrifices most of his army after they are rendered incapable of harming Aizen. He even takes the time to openly call them useless before doing so.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Immediately after he dies, the Royal Guard become the last obstacle to be dealt with.
• Entertainingly Wrong: He concludes Shirou is his brother and another son of the Soul King because of his weirdly eclectic array of powers and his godlike might.
• Even Evil Has Standards: As he's disintegrating, he sneers at the Gotei 13 moving to seal a weakened and helpless Shirou, calling them rats.
• Face Death with Dignity: He is calm and gives Shirou respect when he is mortally wounded.
• The Omniscient: Subverted. He tries to be this, but he's not as knowledgeable as he thinks he is.
• Villain Has a Point: He warns Shirou about the Royal Guard only wanting to use him and potentially betray him later. Shirou concedes he's likely right, but Yhwach's utter Lack of Empathy means his warning falls rather flat.
• Villain's Dying Grace: When he is mortally wounded, the surviving members of the Vandenreich try to finish the weakened Shirou off, but he tells them to stop and to make their own choices from now on.

Kurosaki Family

Ichigo Kurosaki

The Substitute Shinigami

• Conflicting Loyalty: After being taken under Nel's wing and making friends with Lilynette, Ichigo cannot see Hollows as pure evil anymore, but his family and human comrades still are fighting with the Shinigamis. It drives him to have a messy breakdown on the Fake Karakura battlefield.
• Healing Factor: He can regenerate, to the point of regrowing his flesh as quickly as Yamamoto can incinerate it.
• Heroic Neutral: For all his protective instincts and inner kindness, Ichigo doesn't care a whit about higher politics or the tempestuous relationship between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, he only wishes to keep his family safe.
• Momma's Boy: He was very close with Masaki and her demise heavily impacted him. So when he learns she turned into a Hollow, he's ready to do anything to see her again.
• "Not So Different" Remark: He's rather wary when introduced to the Vasto of White, Sovereign of Hollows, but after talking with him, he muses the King is just another guy who wants to protect people he cares about, just like Ichigo himself.
• Unskilled, but Strong: He barely knows how to fight, to the point that Nelliel always beats him when they spar. He is so powerful he can bruise a Hollow even through their Hierro, tank the all-destroying flames of Yamamoto, and even briefly restrain Yamamoto.

Karin Kurosaki

Karin Kurosaki

• Big Sister Instinct: Inverted as she's younger than Ichigo — Karin agrees to become a shinigami substitute in order to follow the Gotei 13 as they invade Hueco Mundo, the place in which her brother had been taken.
• Fragile Speedster: She's not too squishy, but she focuses more on speed than her brother, who's a Lightning Bruiser.
• Strong Family Resemblance: She's noted to bear a huge likeness to a young Kukaku Shiba — who happens to be her paternal cousin.

Yuzu Kurosaki

Yuzu Kurosaki

• Break the Cutie: Poor girl gets a glimpse of her Hollowfied mother, then her brother disappears, then she learns her family is caught between three worlds' politics.
• The Glomp: Her reaction when Silent visits the Kurosaki clinic is jumping on her mother and hugging the breath out of her. It's hard to blame her for that, after all the trauma she lived through.
• Non-Action Guy: Unlike her parents and siblings, Yuzu has no fighting ability whatsoever. In the epilogue, Masaki and Uryuu start teaching her to harness her Quincy powers.

Isshin Kurosaki

Former Head of the Shiba Clan and Former Captain of the 10th Division

• Drowning My Sorrows: Karin mentions he starts to drink after Ichigo's disappearance into Hueco Mundo.
• Henpecked Husband: When he reunites with Masaki, she quickly takes charge despite not being able to speak. When he tries to make her abandon the Hollows, she gives him a "you're sleeping on the couch" look and he quickly caves.
• Like Father, Like Son: Both Isshin and Ichigo couldn't care less about Seireitei politics when their family is threatened.
• Papa Wolf: Dude was ready to storm Hueco Mundo when he heard his son and wife were abducted by Hollows.

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