"Farewell, Ichigo. From this moment on I no longer have any need for you or my children, the Sternritters. Just sit back and watch from there as I bring ruin to it all, Soul Society and the Human World. It's rather insulting, having these insignificant pests come after me in droves. With your bodies on the brink of exhaustion, I be amazed if you could take even one more step from there. But if you truly wish to come for my head, then by all means, please do. I shall leave this gate open for all of you, and if any of you do wish to pass through, then in light of your exceptional spirit and fortitude, I shall bestow upon you a most extravagant and luxurious death. For I shall find the future, that one moment where each of you feel the greatest amount of joy and happiness, and it is there, I shall slaughter you. So from this point forward, every time you indulge in your own happiness, you shall think of my words. And in that moment, when you do, you will remember my looming shadow, the terror of death I now promise you. For all eternity."
We fear that which we cannot see. Though in some cases, we should fear those we DO see.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Original Anime & Manga
- Sōsuke Aizen is a sociopathic Übermensch with a desire for godhood who considers himself above the notions of morality and decency adopted by "lesser beings." Uncaring for anyone but himself, Aizen has a habit of using and betraying anyone close to him. Examples of this include testing out an experiment by turning his former captain, Shinji Hirako, into a monstrous abomination along with seven other Shinigami officers, trying to kill his subordinate Harribel once she had outlived her usefulness, and impaling his devoutly loyal lieutenant, Momo Hinamori, while hugging her, leaving her traumatized for months. Later, Aizen would outdo himself by creating illusions that tricked Momo's best friend, Hitsugaya, into nearly killing her. Aizen also used Wonderweiss Margela as a tool, stripping him of his speech, intelligence, memory retention, and rationality in order to turn him into a Power Nullifier against one man's weapon. Once Wonderweiss had successfully absorbed the flames of this person's weapon, Aizen had arranged it so that Wonderweiss self-destructed, nearly taking out a city with him in the process. Finally, when Aizen had achieved Physical Godhood, he tested out his abilities by calmly walking through a human city, knowing that his powers caused anyone who came into close proximity with him to blow up. In the end Aizen ended up killing over a dozen civilians, and planned on doing the same to Ichigo Kurosaki's human friends just so he could mock Ichigo by hanging up their corpses on display.
- Substitute Shinigami arc: Shrieker was a sadistic Serial Killer in life who died shortly after murdering a woman named Shibata when, while he was walking to land the final stab, her infant son Youichi grabbed his shoelaces, causing him to fall out of a window. Stealing Youichi's soul and putting it inside of a parakeet, the Hollowfied Shrieker promises that if Youichi can escape him for three months at a time, he'll bring the child's mother back to life—something he can't do. Able to track Youichi's soul, Shrieker kills and devours anybody who tries to help Youichi, feeding off the psychological torment it causes, as much as the actual souls.
- Hueco Mundo arc & Howl From the Jaws of Hell arc: Szayelaporro Granz is the Octava Espada. When he was human, Granz was an unhinged alchemist who performed torturous experiments on prisoners captured by his brother. A sadistic player of games, Granz creates voodoo dolls out of his victims, and then proceeds to torture them to death, rupturing one organ at a time, as he cheerfully does to Renji Abarai and Uryu Ishida. He's also the worst boss of any of the Espada, modifying the bodies of his subordinates so that in a pinch he can convert them to raw energy and devour them with ease, using their lives to fuel his own. A sickening scientist, who regards himself as the ultimate life form, Granz takes pride in his unique brand of depravity, and regards everyone, including his late brother Ylfordt Granz, as beneath him, and, ultimately, disposable.
- The Thousand-Year Blood War arc:
- Yhwach is The Emperor of the Vandenreich, the King of all Quincies, and the Greater-Scope Villain of the entire work. Yhwach attacks the Soul Society, killing numerous Soul Reapers, while personally slaying the Gotei 13's commander Genryusai Yamamoto. It is then revealed Yhwach was responsible for the Auswählen nine years prior—stealing the power from Quincies he deemed "impure"—for all intents and purposes killing them—to restore his own power, which led to the deaths of Ichigo and Uryu Ishida's mothers. Furthermore, Yhwach maintains his power and life by harvesting the souls of those slain in the war, on both sides. On his second invasion, Yhwach callously uses the Auswählen on his elite Sternritter forces, save his own personal guard, when he deems them useless to the coming battle. Finding the Soul King, Yhwach destroys him, nearly sundering the separate worlds, while not caring about the innocents or even his own soldiers caught up in the destruction. Said soldiers offer their aid to the Shinigami once they understand the extent of Yhwach's threat to existence; this Enemy Mine also includes various other factions, demonstrating how dangerous Yhwach is. Absorbing the Soul King's power, Yhwach later uses Auswählen a third time on his Royal Guard, including his trusted second-in-command Haschwalth, before defeating Ichigo himself, stealing his powers and declaring his intent to bring ruin to Soul Society and the human world, while threatening to kill Ichigo's friends in their happiest moments should they interfere, all to create a world where he won't have to die. Brutal, callous and unrelenting in his selfish belief that everything exists to benefit and empower him, Yhwach stands as Bleach's cruelest and most dangerous villain.
- Pepe Waccabrada is Sternritter "L", the Love. One of the most depraved of all the Quincies, Pepe is considered a disgusting monster by his peers for his power of tearing apart someone's soul and mind, before reconstructing them to love only Pepe to the point of trying to kill their allies. Pepe initiates a massacre at the research facility with his power, and later surfaces to turn Shuhei Hisagi into one of his dolls to try to kill Byakuya Kuchiki. Pepe also catches his own allies in his power, openly stating his intent to murder them all so the glory can be his and his alone.
Anime Filler
- New Captain arc: Gyōkaku Kumoi is the traitorous and seemingly kind stewart of the Kasumioji Clan who aims to take it over. Plotting to kill the clan's heir Rurichiyo Kasumioji—a mere child—Kumoi sends multiple assassins after her. To advance research on the Bakkōtō swords—forbidden weapons that gradually eat its user's mind until death ensues—Kumoi uses several human subjects, with several dying as a result. When Shin'etsu Kisaragi investigates Kumoi, the latter discovers him, forcibly gives him a Bakkōtō, brainwashes him with it, and forces him to go kill the one who sent him, Genryusai Yamamoto. When cornered by Ichigo and his allies, Kumoi has no problem using Rurichiyo as a hostage before trying to kill her.
Others
- Can't Fear Your Own World: Tokinada Tsunayashiro is a sadistic Soul Reaper and the head of the Tsunayashiro family. Possessed of a vicious cruelty innate to him, Tokinada killed his own best friend when he tried to duel him, killing his own wife Kakyo in the process before finding her best friend Kaname Tosen and savagely beating him after revealing the truth for kicks. Seeking to remake the cosmos himself, he develops the Artificial Human Hikone with the intent on giving them a Fate Worse than Death as the new Soul King, killing many or having them killed while attempting to slaughter or mentally destroy everyone he faces, even threatening to kill Yoruichi Shihoin with the technique of Suì-Fēng, the woman who loves her. Upon his loss, Tokinada even attempts to drop his simulated world upon Karakura Town, meeting his end with declarations that he regrets not a single evil deed.
- 2018 film: The monstrous Grand Fisher is an intelligent and evil Hollow who uses the form of a lost little girl to lure in other children so he may devour their souls. When Ichigo Kurosaki was a child, Grand Fisher attempted to prey on him, with Ichigo's beloved mother Masaki dying to save him. In the present, Grand Fisher attempts to eat Ichigo's younger twin sisters, and when Ichigo interferes, Grand Fisher uses an illusion of Masaki to torment him before bringing their fight to a crowded metropolitan area where it shows zero concern for trying to cause collateral damage, boasting that it had been waiting for Ichigo so it could finish the job it began years ago.
