WMG / Bleach

Bleach

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there is a page specifically for theories related to the Thousand Year Blood War arc put those theories on that page.

Orihime's not really in love with Ichigo

I'm not trying to start a shipping-flame war here, so hear me out. When we first meet her, Orihime has a crush on him because his face is funny. Okay. Nothing wrong with that. Then, after limited interaction with him during the Soul Society arc, she's at his bedside declaring that she'd love him for five lifetimes.

...What? She barely knows him (her friend Tatsuki has to tell her about Ichigo's mom), she didn't get much time to get to know him, and now she's in love with him? How can you go from "I like him because he's funny" to, a few months later, after limited interaction, "I love you so much that I'd love you in any life after this one"?

Simple: she's in love with her version of Ichigo, not the real Ichigo.

She sees him as a hero. He saved her from the monster her brother became, he saved Rukia from certain death, he saves people. We all know Orihime has a wild imagination, so she probably saw him as a Knight in Shining Armor. A man who could do no wrongs, who was noble and kind, who slew dragons and saved damsels. That's why, when she first saw him with his mask on, she was scared of him: because it didn't match her fantasy. Because heroes don't become monsters, because they're noble and good and kind and save the princess because they love her, not because they want to fight the dragon guarding her.

She wasn't afraid of her brother, who was an eleven-foot-long Hollow that spat acid and tried to eat her soul, even though she had no idea what was going on. She wasn't afraid of Ulquiorra, whose second release form looked like the devil incarnate and who blew a hole through the man she claimed to love. Heck, she even tried to hold his hand while he died! She wasn't scared of actual Hollows, just Ichigo-with-his-Hollow-mask-on. And that says a lot.

That's why she freezes up on the dome: because her fantasy was shattered. Because the dragon isn't supposed to kill the hero, because the hero isn't supposed to Come Back Wrong, because the princess is supposed to be a Damsel in Distress (which is also why she steps back and doesn't interfere with Ichigo's fights, because she's supposed to be rescued, not the other way around).

If she really were in love with Ichigo, she would not have sat there bawling after Ulquiorra killed him. She would have gotten mad, thrown everything she had at him, again and again, even if it doesn't work.

All she does is put up one half-assed shield. No Tsubaki, no healing fairies for Uryu, nor yelling or karate (which she's a black belt in). Just one shield.

And she certainly would not have forgiven the man who killed her soul-mate and injured another friend. Eventually, maybe, but right then and there? She may have cared about Ulquiorra, but that just means it's even less likely she'd forgive him for "betraying" her.

Conclusion: Orihime is infatuated with Ichigo, not in love with him, because you can't love someone you don't know. She doesn't know him, she's built up a fantasy with him as the knight and her as the princess, she humbly does everything he says even when it would be more beneficial to help him. That's not love. That's just fooling yourself into thinking it's love.

Going off the above, Ichigo wants to conform himself to Orihime's idea of who he is.

Because he likes that personality better than his old one, and he wants to be Orihime's hero.

• Not just Orihime's hero, everyone's hero. He does say he wants to protect as many people as he can.
  • Orihime wouldn't be crying when Ichigo cries if it was a shallow type of love.
• Fridge Brilliance: This is why his inner world is underwater with despair when he next visits it. He saw himself as that hero, and the fight with Ulquiorra showed him, like Orihime, that he wasn't.

It's Yachiru, not Kenpachi, who is the demon

She's absurdly powerful, is afraid of nothing and nobody - and apparently never has been - shows some distinctly sadistic impulses, loves watching mayhem, creates a demon-faced aura when annoyed...
She is in fact the daughter of a Lord of Hell, kidnapped and sent into exile by minor demons as a result of some sort of power-struggle in Hell. (Or maybe Aizen was involved somehow: an actual scion of the Lords of Hell would make an... interesting experimental subject. But he worked through subordinates, and Bad Things happened to those who were supposed to deliver her to him.)

Kenpachi is not a Demon. Demons do not have Zanpakutos.

Demon Lords, on the other hand, do have the ability to summon spiritual creations like the Bount's "dolls" to fight enemies they consider not worthy to personally dirty their hands on. Unlike Bount dolls, a Demon's summons are quite variable in shape or power depending on the will of the Demon Lord, and a powerful enough Lord can create multiple ones.
Yachiru is among the few known cases of a young Demon doing this unconsciously, and the only one to remain ignorant of the nature of the bond betweem herself and her creation.

Yachiru does not remember it, but her "familiar's" form is based on her dim mental image of a what a protector should be.
Kenpachi's somewhat demonic appearance is no accident. He's a chibi, "cutesy" version of Yachiru's dad.

Kenpachi's power levels vary, since Yachiru unconsciously empowers him more or less depending on whether he's having fun and what she thinks of the opponent (she didn't want the funny Ryoka smeared all over the landscape, whereas she didn't like Nnoitra at all.)

Kenpachi has a Zanpakuto because Yachiru thinks he should have one.
Kenpachi has never achieved Bankai partly because as powerful as Yachiru is, she's still not powerful enough to create a familiar with his own Bankai spirit power.
Not yet, anyway.

Yachiru's dad has never spent much effort looking for her; being a Demon Lord, he's inevitably kind of a Jerkass.
One of these days, however, she or Kenpachi will manifest power on such a level that it will be felt in Hell, and then the fewmets will really hit the windmill.

• Kenpachi's got his own Zanpakuto (name and everything after the training with Unohana), not to mention the reason for why Kenpachi's power fluctuated was because of the psychological limiters he placed upon himself to allow himself to adjust his power to the enemy's.

• It's later jossed as it's revealed that Yachiru is Kenpachi's zanpakuto.

In the living world, Sajin Komamura was a real canine

When he died, he was given a sacred burial by the people native to his area, and that's how he got to the Soul Society. In Japan there's a famous story of a dog that died while waiting faithfully for its master in a train station for a good number of years and now is a national symbol there. There are also stories about animals becoming spirits under certain conditions. Sajin has a father and talks about visiting the family grave in a small section of Color Bleach+. There could be an entire race of anthropomophic animals in the Soul Society, hidden away somewhere.

• Judging by Komamura's metting with his great-grandfather, he was born is SS. And yes, there are an entire clan of wolf/dog creatures.

Tensa Zangetsu's final attack is "Za Warudo"

Makes some sense, given how his Bankai works.

Alternatively, Orihime can do this when her fairies pull an All Your Powers Combined.

Aizen is Sylar.

Perhaps an alternate future universe Sylar who has gained shinigami powers, perhaps by obtaining an ability to see ghosts—and who sliced open a random shinigami's brain and stole his powers. This would explain why Aizen is so unbeatable.

Besides, they sorta look alike.

Orihime isn't too powerful

She can't even reduce all the arrancar in the world to LCL (original form, right?). Maybe everybody (including Aizen) lied about everything, and that was just an exaggeration since Orihime can make the ones doing the actual work (arrancar, Soul Reapers) more impenetrable.

• There are examples of Orihime literally reversing death. That's pretty damned powerful.

Aizen is the In-universe equivalent of Gendo Ikari

No, no steepling. He wants to become God, remeber? Maybe he just wants to replace the King of Soul Society so he can escape soul burial procedures and sucessfully unite with a loved one.

As of this writing, this is how the current power levels break down.

Hollow

Aizen

Ichigo

Shinji

Ulquiorra

Urahara = Isshin

Kensei = Wonderweiss

Grimmjow

Rose = Love

Kukaku

Old Man Genocide / Yamamoto

Ryuuken Ishida

Allon

Mashiro

Unohana

Yammy

Shunsui = Yoruchi = Lisa = Stark

Ukitake

Byakuya

Kenpachi

Hitsugaya

Hachi = Tessai = Ikkaku

Barrigan

Ishida = Gin

Sui-Feng

Harribel

Nel = Noitra

Hiyori

Ururu

Renji

Ginrei

Kaname

Sajin

Zonmari

Mayuri

Soken Ishida

Sayazal

Kaein = Dordonii

Aaroneiro

Yumichika

Hisagi

Rangiku

Momo = Izuru

Sun-Sun = Cirucci

Apache = Mila Rose

Rukia

Chad = Iba = Pesche = Gentenbainne

Rudobon

Nemu

Isane

Nanao

Ganju

Dondochakka

Hanatarou

Omeada

Yama's Vice Captain

Jidanbou

Jinta

Afro-San

Kon

Luppi

Abuelo

• Note that the variation in power levels, as in a character exceeding or not matching up to their rank, is because I did this based on their performances in fights and it's assumed all here would be using their full power level even, those that have yet to be revealed, and this list is subject to change. Ulqi and Grimmjaw are so high due a second transformation and being able to fight Shinji one-armed, respectively, and Stark is so low due to being killed by a Shikai.
• Also Yachiru and Orihime were not listed, due to Orihime having a diffrent type of power that could potentially destroy the world, and Yachiru being either the strongest or weakest character on the show.
• Old Man Genocide is #14? If this is true then he should die before this all ends. Especially since he's hardly done anything that mattered. (Yes that includes sealing off Aizen. Like he was going to fight before his mooks were destroyed...)
  • Awkward moment when you realize Old Man Genocide does indeed kick the bucket in the current arc...
• Considering Shunsui managed to solo Stark with only his shikai while Love and Rose got their asses kicked while teaming up against Stark, I'd have to say Shunsui is being criminally underrated here.
  • No all the normal captains are all roughly equal in power shunsui is no different starrk was just not as strong as expected, Ulquiorra is the most powerful of the espada and second to aizen in his intire army. Also Ichigo in mugetsu is technically stronger than aizen (or "on a higher level").
  • I'd put Aizen as number 2. Old man genocide is according to 393 stronger than even Aizen.
    • Not quite; Aizen states that, if his and Yamamoto's zanpakutous' respective offensive abilities are taken into account along with their "personal combat prowess" (i.e., The Official Battle Data), Yamamoto would come out on top.
• This seems wildly inaccurate. Some of the people here are obviously more powerful than some above them. This drawn from either reading the manga thoroughly or from personal opinion, not logically drawn conclusions.
• Okay, as of chapter 394, so very, very wrong about Old Man Genocide!
• I'm now wondering where you got this info from.
• How in the hell is Kuukaku stronger than freakin' Old Man Genocide?

Yamamoto's soul is worth 100,000 ordinary souls

Just putting this out there.

• And if you feed it to Frampt, he gives you 200,000 souls.

The King of Soul Society

The "king" of Soul Society is really the greatest villain. My reasons are as follows:

• Why doesn't the king possess the key? Why is a key so hard to procure? Simple, he is locked in a prison, not a palace. The freakish soul transfiguration is in place to keep said prison from ever opening.
• Why does the king need guards? Seeing as how the soul society works, the real king would be leaps and bounds beyond any of the other shinigami, meaning that guards would only get in his way. As such, the only reason the guards are there is to keep the king from escaping.
• Why hasn't he left to help stop the Hollows? Simple, the Hollows are working to free him.

The last point leads to the fact that it is highly possible that Aizen is the king's servant/heir/student. This is why he is so hell-bent on getting into the "palace."

• This troper would like to put forth the theory that, if this is the case, Gin is following Aizen around in order to stop him from succeeding in freeing the king. Aizen gets SO close—and gets stabbed in the back.
  • Alternatively, Aizen doesn't know it's a prison, but Gin does. Aizen plans to kill the king and take over. Gin will betray him, and instead free the King.
• Jossed entirely. The king is needed to maintain Soul Society's balance, it's not a case of Asskicking Leads to Leadership, Aizen hates it, and Gin had other reasons.

The Gates to Hell in the early chapters, anyone?

This troper strongly believes that Yhwach and the Soul King are brothers.

• As of Chapter 611, Juha Bach claims they are father and son.

Isshin's good luck charm is from the royal guard

The theory of Isshin being from the royal guard is a popular one, and the charm explicitly says "protect." The kanji looks similar to those on the insignias of the 13 divisions. Even if this WMG is wrong I have a feeling it's important, especially considering all the foreshadowing with Shinji in that part of the manga.

The key to Ichigo mastering his Resurreccion isn't dominating his Hollow side, it's accepting it

The reason that "Hichigo/Ogichi/Whitey" doesn't have a real name is because Ichigo can't truly accept that he's part-Hollow. After accepting it would be admitting that a part of him is the same as the thing that killed his mother. The reason that Ichigo's training with the Vizard only had limited success (11 seconds after one month of training) is because Ichigo has set up a mental block. He's not holding back out of fear of being consumed, he's rejecting the power because he hates where it comes from. The reason Ichigo was able to access his Super-Hollow mode against Ulquiorra was because the only thought in his head was "Protect my friends", the mental block was temporarily non-existent. Ichigo offering to wound himself at the end of the battle isn't a matter of honor, it's self-mutilation; Ichigo hates his inner Hollow that much. In order to power up Ichigo must decide that turning into that monster is worth it if it gives him the power to protect his friends. Only then will his Hollow side get a name, which will just happen to be the name of Ichigo's Resurreccion.

• Also, when you think about it, this is especially true in respect to his full-Hollow form, because that could possibly be the key to defeating Captain Broken. Think about it, in his new super-powerful Hollow form which he used to defeat Ulquiorra, he was (presumably) fighting purely with instinct. Aizen's power controls the five senses, and last I checked, instinct wasn't one of them. Also, if you remember his fight with his inner Hollow way back when, Ichigo won THAT battle with his killer instinct. Perhaps this was a way to foreshadow how Aizen possibly could be defeated. (Then again, this is Captain Broken we're talking about, so who knows?)

• Jossed. His inner Hollow is actually the real Zangetsu.

Kenpachi is the spirit of a sword.

Not the spirit of anyone's zanpakuto... Just a normal sword. Some beliefs say that inanimate, man-made objects can happen to get a soul after awhile. Sword-san (let's call him that for now) was all fine and dandy, until for some strange reason, his "body" was destroyed, and he went on Soul Society, without ever knowing his name (his owner probably died before he could know his hame). Sword-san, being a sword spirit, went on the worst region, Zaraki. Since he was the spirit of a weapon, he didn't hold regrets when killing warriors. But since his owner probably was a noble and kind man, he spared the innocent. And here's the catch: Kenpachi will only figure out his zanpakuto's name after he figures out his own name, because the spirit of a sword could probably only have himself as his sword spirit. He'll probably either find his original owner, or just make up a name for himself that isn't Kenpachi, because he's that badass.

• Considering how Fullbring revealed that inanimate objects have souls too, this suddenly became slightly more likely than it was before.
• Well the sword was known as "the Soul of the Samurai" so it makes sense...
• Jossed. Kenpachi learns his sword's name in the Blood War arc.

Ichigo is literally incapable of surrender.

Recall when Ichigo beat his inner Hollow to control his Vizard powers, Hollow!Ichigo told him the 'King and the Horse' metaphor. He pretty much said the moment Ichigo's resolve wavers, he's going to take control... And unfortunately giving up is a visible demonstration of losing resolve. You'd think Zangetsu would be of some help, but in the Kenpachi fight Zangetsu made clear that he values winning more than anything, so if Ichigo quits, Zangetsu probably won't have his back.The ramifications of this are dire, because no matter how outmatched he is, Ichigo knows that the moment he surrenders he'll lose control over his body. He literally cannot back down. In his fight with Ulquiorra, when he said that he had to win, Orihime was rescued and it was clear that until he got pissed off, Ulquiorra was going out of his way not to kill Ichigo. Ichigo had no idea of what the stakes were for this match, and yet, he had no choice but to fight on, unless he wanted his inner Hollow to pull an involuntary tag team.

• That... actually makes sense! Congratulations, you have just turned one of the series' biggest Wall Bangers into a moment of Fridge Brilliance for me.
• What is this doing in WMG? WMGs are allowed to make sense, but this much makes this a Fridge Brilliance entry at least! The reason for that is, Ichigo's being incapable of surrender is a direct result of the nature of BOTH his powers, Hollow power will go berserk and completely level all planes of existance, and Shinigami power will just say "Fuck you, I quit," and basically die out, since the Shinigami power is tied to his resolve and he just quit, which is DEFINED as a loss of resolve.
• No really, this actually IS Fridge Brilliance, I'm with the ones above me. This makes you look at the fight between Ulquiorra and Ichigo in an entirely different light!! Honestly, this could be a very good personal view of how that fight went down, its officially headcanon for this troper personally.

If Aizen uses the King's Key he'll unleash Nekron

It would make sense that the King of the afterlife is an incarnation of Death. Albeit a very menacing one that would wipe out all life upon release. Nekron would probably turn Aizen into his first Black Lantern and attempt to turn the other Hollows and Shinigami who are already dead, all in all leading to a Blackes Night Bleach scenario.

The warriors of Hell will have environment-based weaponry

As far as we've seen, each of the spiritual fronts in Bleach vary wildly in method, but stick to a theme—the Soul Society is all big fancy swords, the Hollows/Arrancar are effectively barehanded fighters, the Quincies are all ranged specialists, the Bounts are beastmasters—which leaves little room for innovation combat-wise if Kubo Tite wants to eventually have a Hell arc. Hence, the Devils (or whatever the hellish Shinigami/Arrancar/Quincy/Bount equivalents will be called) will wield weapons that, when released, become entire arenas designed for maximum effectiveness in toying with and eventually destroying opponents. Tying in with the Dante's Hell theory, each Devil's weapon will have nine releases of increasing deadliness, each representing the warrior's own personal nine circles of hell.

• The Hell Verse movie was for the purpose of exploring Hell. The residents there are called Togabito, and Arrancar's souls go there when they die if they were evil in life, just like regular Hollows, and apparently keep all their powers.

Hell is where Shinigami go when they die

What better reward for their services can you give a Shinigami than an eternity of tormenting the most evil, reprehensible Hollows the afterlife has to offer?

• They get reincarnated in the living world. Also, they purify Hollows, they don't torture them (except for Mayuri at some point, but he's lost interest in them at this point).

Tosen's murdered friend was the original Yachiru whom Kenpachi admired.

If Kubo-san bothers at all with filling in these background gaps, it seems natural to tie a couple of loose threads together.

• Kenpachi. Fucking. Zaraki respected this woman. This is how the scene where her husband tries to kill her would go: Yachiru blows his fucking head off. Not with her sword. With her reiatsu alone.
  • Whoever said the original Yachiru was a woman? Just putting that out there.
  • I got it: Isshin was actually born [somelastname] Yachiru. And that's why his son has a girl's name.
  • Now we know Yachiru IS a girl. She's Unohana, the First Kenpachi. No wonder everyone was so afraid of her...

Aizen is going to "Bleach" Ichigo.

Basically Aizen will use the Hougyoku to make Ichigo the perfect fusion of Shinigami and Hollow, changing his appearance to that of his inner Hollow. With himself in control, of course.

• Perfect fusion of Shinigami, Hollow, and human. Otherwise, Aizen could use any other Vizard.
• As it turns out, Ichigo is the All Your Powers Combined of the Bleach-verse's supernatural powers.

The Hogyoku can make water

Which gives the only rational explanation I've seen so far for how they made tea. There's no water in Hueco Mundo. Either that, or one of his arrancar is Lala Ru.

• It's not inconceivable that one of the Arrancar would be a water elemental. That or they aren't really drinking tea, it's just an illusion that Aizen made.
  • This is the real reason he recruited Harribel.
• Well, pretty much confirmed, seeing how the Hogyoku can bend reality to the will of the person with the most influence over it.

Not even the fourth wall can save humanity now.

Aizen, like Deadpool, is aware of his comic-book character status.UNLIKE Deadpool, however, Aizen sure as hell isn't happy about it.Kubo Tite does not exist. He is merely one of Aizen's illusions. Aizen's true power was the realization that there was another reality and the ability to affect it. Aizen realizes this, and directs the plot of Bleach so that it will end in him getting the King's Key. Recently, it's become more incoherent due to the fact that he's in a battle, and couldn't spend as much time subtly influencing the manga. So, then, what is the King? A portal to our realm. Aizen will then promptly conquer the world.

• And it will all occur on Chapter 400. Four is death.... times a hundred!
  • And the only way to stop Aizen from completely conquering the real world is to summon another hero to combat him. In relation to the "No More Holding Back" Speech WMG above, we send help from another dimension. Aizen will never know what he got into when Simon shows up. And, in turn, Aizen will summon other villains from different realms... to have an epic Final Battle in the real world!
    • In addition, due to Simon and presumably Ichigo coming to the real world, Ichigo's leaking spiritual energy will combine with Simon's Spiral Power to grant the denizens of the real world super powers to fight against the armies of minions the villains are sure to bring with them.
    • And Ichigo will turn into a chainsaw-wieldin', motorcycle-ridin', babe!Orihime-and-Rukia-gettin' supreme form of Gurren Lagann. That uses the universe as a chainsaw-shuriken to turn Aizen into antimatter, causing him to explode 100 times in the most awesme fireworks show ever seen (because he's still in contact with the atmosphere).

Urahara's work.

Urahara has been actively planting the seeds of the "fourth wall" theories into our heads so that we will be able to defend against Aizen.

Ichigo and Aizen are one and the same.

Regardless of what kind of hybrid Ichigo ends up being (Shinigami/Hollow seems most likely at this point), Aizen will reveal that he's one too. Thus, Aizen's interest in Ichigo will be due to the former trying to learn more about himself by experimenting on the latter. Also, when Ichigo inevitably gets Aizen on the ropes, someone (possibly even Aizen himself) will claim that If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!.

• Jossed by the Deicide arc.

Aizen will be revealed to be directly responsible for Grand Fisher attacking and killing Ichigo's mother.

Ichigo will not be happy to discover this.

• Looks that way since he knew about Isshin...
• Wasn't that pretty much confirmed long before the HM arc began?
  • Er....no it wasn't. The one responsible for Masaki's death is Ywahch anyhow.
    • Masaki would have lost her powers but might have survived if she hadn't been attacked by a Hollow at that very moment. And Grand Fisher being sent by Aizen was kind of implied, although AFAIK not confirmed—at least not in the manga. Ultimately, it probably was Aizen and Yhwach unknowingly(?) cooperating.

It's standard practice for Shinigami who've recently attained Bankai to use it much more frequently until they grow more attuned to their Zanpakuto.

Most of the people we've seen using their Bankais have all attained them relatively recently, such as Ichigo and Renji who've done it during the series storyline, or the captains who weren't captains during the Turn Back the Pendulum arc a hundred years ago (which is not a terribly long time for the Shinigami) such as Hitsugaya and Byakuya. They're also the ones that tend to break out their Bankais sooner during a fight rather than later. This is because they're still learning to commune and cooperate with their Zanpakuto, and being in Bankai state somehow subconsciously nourishes that process, thus they instinctively activate their Bankai more often. Conversely, as Shinigami grow more experienced and are better attuned to their Zanpakuto they use their Bankais less because they no longer need it to foster that growth.

• More possibly, people who just recently attained Bankai are pretty much beginners compared to the veteran captains, so they need to rely on their Bankai when fighting a serious opponent.

Ururu was created to nullify the effects of Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu

There's just always been something about that girl that makes me wonder what's her whole deal. She never seems to blink (although I could be wrong) and seems almost robotic to me. And what with Wonderweiss turning out to be created for the sole purpose of nullifying Yamamoto's zanpakuto, We will just have to see just how much of a Chessmaster Urahara really is.

• Well, we know she has automated anti-intruder programs—remember how she bugged out and robotically assaulted the enemy that one time? Its pretty damn obvious that she was made for this war, it only makes sense for her to have a specific purpose rather than be a minor footsoldier...
  • Yes, I do remember that. Perhaps that's what started me thinking me about it. She's got some sort of berserk mode, it's weird.
• Jossed.

Ichigo's real father is the king of soul society

This means that Isshin is a royal guard who was assigned to guard or (if the king is evil theory pains out) watch him (keep him from the darker paths). The ability to release his inner Hollow is a power unique to that of the royal family, and thus Aizen's inspiration for creating the vizards (probably to have someone to train Ichigo).

• Jossed by Anything But the Rain arc.

Ichigo's sisters are a part of Aizen's plan in some way.

Whatever it is about Ichigo that makes him the "perfect raw materials" in Aizen's view, remember that Ichigo has two full-blooded sisters. If Aizen has known about Ichigo since the day he was born, it stands to reason that the same goes for his sisters. So why does Ichigo get to be the guinea pig for this? Because Ichigo is a hot-blooded, hormone-driven young man, and the testing involves life-or-death situations that only the most bullheaded individuals will attempt of their own volition.

• Yuzu would be easier to kidnap, but Karin seems to be the most useful. Karin is basically a Distaff Counterpart to Ichigo; just three years younger (so her shinigami powers haven't fully awoken yet). If Aizen can't get Ichigo, he'll go after Karin, train her into a powerful shinigami, and then use her for whatever it is he's planning.

The whole series is all going Just As Planned by...

That Shinigami that Ichigo and Rukia met back when they were fighting Grand Fisher. He is biding his time for now, but he will reveal himself when least expected and show that he is the REAL Big Bad.

• One problem with that—he's a character original to the anime, and not part of the actual plot of the series, but rather filler made to pad that particular story out a bit.
  • Which is all exactly as he has planned! How else to get people to doubt your plot if you only appear in one medium?

Ichigo resembles Kaien for a reason.

Whether he's really the key put into a convenient humanoid form, or is actually related to the Shiba family, there is some reason why he looks like Kaien. Because everything in Bleach is part of Aizen's plan. Because...

• Confirmed. Kaien is his cousin.

Aizen is Tite Kubo

He controls what everybody does, or thinks they should do. He controls everything the characters see, hear, smell, touch, or taste. He created the Arrancar and the Vizard. He's behind the entire series. He is the author of Bleach.

• And nobody likes him! IT'S A PERFECT MATCH!
• Alternatively, Kubo is Aizen, and Bleach itself is Aizen's Evil Plan to show all of the world the Release of Kyoka Suigetsu. Only after Aizen finally releases it onscreen will Kubo/Aizen's true plan be revealed, once we are all powerless to stop it.

Ichigo misunderstood Aizen's sentence about his parents

The first page of chapter 398 is from Ichigo's POV. He already believed to know what is so special about him—having a shinigami as a dad! But that alone wouldn't make Aizen interested in him, because it wouldn't give Ichigo any special powers or skills.

• This may just be the translation, but remember when Aizen said "you're the child of a Shinigami and a-" *boom! Isshin shows up*? Ichigo was so shocked by Aizen saying the first part, then by having Isshin confirm it literally a millisecond later, that he didn't even care about Aizen's unfinished statement. Ishhin clearly wanted to leave the "Quincy" part out for the time being, and the distraction worked! If he hadn't interrupted, then Aizen would have spoiled that revelation over a YEAR before he finds out in canon!

The King's Key isn't its actual name

It's really called the Kingdom Key.

The reason the last page vanished without a trace is...

Aizen sacrificed it to make the King's Key.

Aizen isn’t after the King’s Key, at least not yet.

Consider for a moment what Aizen could possibly gain by going after the King at this point. He would be fighting a squad filled with former captains, many of whom are probably so old they haven’t seen his shikai and are likely well aware that he’s coming, either all by himself or with only Gin on his side. Even for as strong as he is, that’s pretty suicidal. All the indications that he was going after the King’s Key were a clever ruse to distract everyone so that he could prepare Ichigo for his REAL plan.

Ichigo has suffered from more and more depression and failure since he entered Hueco Mundo because he's been away from his family, especially his dad.

Why, you ask? He's suffered from intense emotional trauma for a long time. His family has kept him afloat and ready to kick the ass of anyone who's stupid enough to mess with what he stands for. His papa Isshin always made him stand on his own two feet, reminding him of just who he was. Whooping the fail out of their kid is part of a parent's job.

Ichigo has saiyan blood.

His strength rises exponentially every time he gets beaten to within an inch of his life. His mother was a fifth- or sixth-generation saiyan: the blood gives him all the powers, but it's too diluted to make his hair black or enable Super Saiyan.

• Although Super Saiyan (Vasto Lorde) Ichigo would detonate the Universe.
• Alternatively, that's a result of Shounen Syndrome.

Kitsune is Gin and Rangiku's kid

Come on, I can't be the only one to see the resemblence. Hell, she could even be product of science gone wrong, a horrible blending akin to a Fusion Dance.

• That would actually explain a lot.

Seikon No Qwaser's Aleksandr Nikolaevich Her is Toshirou Hitsugaya's past self

White-haired cute kid? Check. Supernatural powers? Check. A past pertaining to ice and snow? Hell yeah check, Sasha's most likely tested in a distant corner of Russia, and it doesn't get much more distant than Siberia. Another factor is that Olja ( Sasha's past soma donor, who looks similar to Tomo) dies before he does... and who will this set up to? Rangiku, who some say found Toushirou and recruited him into The Academy.

The various Menos stages are a natural progression of Hollows designed to create a coherent soul-package that can then return to the cycle of rebirth after achieving Arrancarism

Hollows are obsessed with consuming souls, indicating a degree of incompleteness which fits their name—a Hollow is a "broken" soul. However, at a certain point, a Hollow subconsciously realizes that no amount of healthy souls will ever manage to "fix" them, and, as such, turn on other Hollows—entities much richer in Reishi than ordinary souls—in an attempt to find something that will. This leads to the Menos Grande, as we all know. Most Menos Grande stop here, having become too unstable a mix of souls to retain sapience—however, those that do manage to keep mental cohesion end up eating these mindless Menos, adding the souls contained therein to the semi-functional whole. These sapient Menos eventually become Adjuchas, who continue to consume other hollows who likely would never attain transcendence themselves, adding them to the whole once again. Adjuchas eventually become Vasto Lordes, which no longer feel the need to consume souls, presumably having attained a sort of equilibrium with itself. The only step beyond this is the Arrancar state, which involves removing the mask, symbolically removing the last vestige of Hollow-ness they posses. A natural Arrancar has the potential to rejoin the normal flow of souls on its own, even in the absence of the Soul Reapers—in other words, there is a natural mechanism in place that clumps Hollows together in ever-greater packages, and then returns them to the cycle of reincarnation. Equilibrium could be maintained without human intervention (though not on a timescale most humans would be cognizant of), explaining how things worked before the Soul Society got started (presumably, the 13 Court Guard Squads haven't been around forever—what with them being based on a medieval Japanese model which is relatively recent on the historical timescale).

I base most of this WMG on two factors: 1) Arrancar don't seem to need to eat souls anymore (they don't mention the desire, certainly) except in unusual cases like with Syzayel's Fracciones, and 2) Nel and her Fracciones are positively gentle by the standards of every other Hollow we've ever seen, suggesting that Arrancar do not fit the Always Chaotic Evil mold of Hollows in general. For that matter, Arrancar seem as a whole more sympathetic and honorable than ordinary Hollows, even if they tend to be evil by human standards (e.g., Grimmjow's flashback, the Privarrone Espadas that Sado and Ichigo fight early on in the Hueco Mundo arc, and so on)—the tendency towards ill could be explained by simple familiarity: they've been cruel and callous long enough to consume the number of souls they need to in order to reach the Menos state at least, and this mindset is not one that is easily dispelled. Types like Syzayel and Ulquiora could be explained simply by variant character types—there are people who are gonna be bastards no matter what race you look at.

Hichigo wasn't created in the shaft

Think about it. If Ichigo's father is a shinigami and his mother was a human (ignoring the rest of the theories right now), how come that he was born 'alive'? Actually he was born both dead and alive, sort of like identical twins. Because no shinigami came to perfom konso for the dead part of Ichigo he became a Hollow; Hichigo is acutally a completly individual character who just struggles to be free!

If we take this prospective, then we can also infer why he insists that he doesn't have a name. His parents didn't give him one so he has no idea what to call himself.

• The reasoning is jossed but the theory is true. Whitey's backstory explained in Anything But the Rain arc.

Fura is an Adjuchas that reverted to a Gillian, and continued feeding

Due to the fact that Adjuchas that revert to Gillian can't evolve again, it doesn't mean that they can't contine feeding on other Hollows. A result of this "alternate evolution" is Fura.

The Soukyoku will make a reappearance

As an Anthropomorphic Personification of some sort. After all, the Hougyoku was there, so if some tiny fragment of the Soukyoku was conscious don't you think it would be desperately wishing for, oh... LIFE?

• But according to Aizen's explanation of how the Hougyoku works, the Soukyoku would have already been capable of becoming an anthropomorphic personification.

Tensa Zangetsu's true power

This is partially an extension of an entry on the 'Shikai' page entitled "Zangetsu and Hollow Ichigo's form/true power". It suggests that Zangetsu's power is based on its ability to choose its own form. I suggest that the true power of Tensa Zangetsu is to allow Ichigo to change the form of his Getsuga Tenshou, effectively turning it into a shapshifting weapon made of pure Reiatsu. This is most noticeable in the Ulquiorra fights. In the first fight, Ichigo's Getsuga is less like a projectile and more like a tidal wave of energy, and in the second fight Ichigo learns how to "hold" the Getsuga within his sword to power up his slashes. The reason Ichigo injures himself the first few times he uses bankai/Getsuga is because it never occurred to him that he had to control the energy, and he ended up being wrecked by the feedback. It was only after he learned self-control (via his Hollowfication training) that he could use Getsuga without hurting himself.

When you think about it, a weapon whose true power is its level of control is the perfect complement to Ichigo's Hollow abilities, which rely on unbridled raw power. Considering that Ichigo gained both Zangetsu and his Hollow side at the exact same time, it's possible that Zangetsu's entire purpose is to give Ichigo a means to control his own strength, in Hollow form or otherwise. It could also explain Zangetsu's appearance. He represents what Ichigo could be: a wise and experienced swordsman in control of his power and his emotions, as opposed to a Hot-Blooded kid with Power Incontinence and a Superpowered Evil Side.

• I have another theory to complement yours; One of Tensa Zangetsu's main attributes is compressing Ichigo's massive spiritual power in order to use it effectively. I noticed that Ichigo doesn't actually have a sheath for his sword. So when he's ready, Zangetsu will give it to him, saving Ichigo's power for the right moment. This will be key to defeating Aizen. The sheath allows him to perform battojutsu which gives extra power and speed. Combine that with Getsuga Tenshou and you have a deadly technique (I've been reading Rurouni Kenshin).
  • The reason Ichigo's bankai seems so weak is because it's only half-powered. I highly doubt Zangetsu would be so easily beaten by Ichigo; he was probably satisfied with him and gave him his current bankai. Does anybody think it's weird that after Soul Society, Zangetsu disappears? I think it's because Zangetsu wants Ichigo to master his inner Hollow so as to stop relying on Zangetsu's power. When all is said and done, Ichigo will have his "uber-Hollow form" plus Tensa Zangetsu's full power.

Bleach is an alternate universe of Final Fantasy XIII.

The Hogyoku as a parallel of Orphan was a fal'Cie that was charged upon its creation to help humans (or human-like beings) by turning their desires into reality, provided it's actually possible. Since it has a will of its own, however, it realized that no matter what happened it was really getting the short end of the stick as it could never actually fulfill its own desires. What it wants throughout the duration of the entire series is to die to escape having to serve everything else but itself and to that end, sought out people it believed most capable of destroying it: The main six people being Urahara, Rukia, Ichigo, Ishida, Orihime, and Chad, in that order. The other characters just happen to get swept in by association.

The Hogyoku found Urahara first (during Turn Back the Pendulum) and tried to turn him into a l'Cie. Since the Focus it would have given Urahara went directly against what the Maker made it for, instead it gave Urahara a vague glimpse of Shinji and the other shinigami turning into "Vizards". When Urahara actually witnessed it happening and tried to reverse the process using the Hogyoku, instead it carried out its own Focus and fulfilled Urahara's desire, which was apparently "fuck things up worse". The story The Hogyoku's plan spun out of control from there, as Urahara "discovered" what he thought was its true power, thinking that the Hogyoku itself was responsible for the "Hollowification" process.

Urahara hid the Hogyoku in a gigai, got exiled, then handed the gigai to Rukia after Episode 1. The Hogyoku didn't actually try turning Rukia into a l'Cie but it was still compelled to carry out its Focus to fulfill her desire, which was to lose her powers permanently. Passing on her powers to Ichigo was a total accident, but staying powerless was the Hogyoku's doing since Rukia felt herself undeserving of staying as a shinigami. (Which means that Urahara didn't naturally make a gigai to strip a shinigami of their powers; that'd just be silly.)

Rukia's being close to Ichigo during the beginning of the series in an effort to train him worked somewhat to the benefit of the Hogyoku, as Ichigo wanted to become stronger to be able to protect his friends and the Hogyoku granted it, thinking Ichigo would be able to destroy it with brute strength. That... didn't work. Ishida (as Hope) showed up in the "Quincy Archer Hates You" volume, blaming all shinigami including Ichigo (who would be this universe's version of Snow) for the extermination of his clan and challenging Ichigo to get his revenge. All of the events happened the way they did, including Orihime and Chad getting their powers. Contrary to the explanation of the Hogyoku having worked on their desires to become stronger, the Hogyoku's Focus working on Ichigo. As hollows invaded Karakura Town, Ichigo wished somewhere in his subconscious for the two to gain the power to protect themselves (and others) so that he wouldn't have to, as he had his hands tied in the meanwhile. The Hogyoku made it reality by causing his already abnormally large reiatsu to leak out towards them, and BAM! powers.

Somewhere in Soul Society, Aizen as Barthandelus (and therefore also a fal'Cie) had already caught wind of the Hogyoku and its wish-granting ability and wanted to use it to destroy Cocoon Karakura Town. The spiritual energy released by the deaths of millions would create the King's Key, which would open Heaven and allow him to meet the fabled "Spirit King"/"Maker" that left the throne long ago. For that, Aizen spent the entire Soul Society arc getting the Hogyoku in his possession. And it wouldn't be much of a surprise if it turned out he created Karakura Town specifically for the purpose of killing off everyone living there.

NOTE: As for Menrva: as an aspect of the Big Bad, Menrva would have to have been something inconspicuous, capable of being Aizen's eyes and ears to monitor things while he hid in the shadows. If/When found, Menrva would need to deflect suspicion by doing something that could redirect the protagonists' attention. Say, delivering messages back and forth, like the Hell Butterfly. Come on. When's the last time we've seen one of those things guiding a shinigami or sending messages after the Soul Society arc? It was a guise, most definitely. Also, just because it isn't necessarily getting any panel time doesn't mean it's not there, so it could still continue monitoring things in Hueco Mundo, with no one the wiser because they're busy fighting.

OF COURSE: The "Hollowification" process mentioned earlier was really Aizen's plot to create Sacrifices out of Hiyori, Shinji, etc. etc. by making them l'Cie/Arrancar without a Focus. As the Captains and Vice Captains didn't know what to do, their increasing panic and distress increased the rate at which they were turning into Hollows, this version of Cie'th/Undying. Luckily they didn't actually turn into full-blown mindless monsters, and the brands that they were given (their Hollow masks) were rendered somewhat ineffective. They still get the benefits of extra ATB gauges— er, I mean...

After the arc, the Hogyoku and Aizen had an absurdly short battle of wills. What with the Hogyoku being a Death Seeker whereas Aizen wanted everything else to die instead, Aizen just needed to subdue the thing. The Hogyoku obviously could not deny its Focus to help whoever came near enough to it (provided they want to accomplish their goal badly enough), so it lost. That in no way meant that Aizen won completely; the Hogyoku still worked under the constraint of "do what is possible", and destroying Karakura Town in a heartbeat was not possible with Aizen's power. What was possible, was all the stuff that ended up happening afterwards up to and including the Fake Karakura Town arc: the Arrancar, the Mind Screw(s), all of that was do-able somehow. This WMG will skip the explanations for all of that (and forego some mention about Chad getting his Hollow-like powers as he's slowly becoming a Cie'th, and that lying in a pool of his own blood is what's best for the show) and head straight to the key player in the endgame: Orihime.

Orihime (by complete luck on the Hogyoku's part) attained the Godlike powers to reject reality, but as the story has it, Aizen broke her psyche to stop her from destroying the Hogyoku and wreck his plans. Eventually she'll leave Hueco Mundo and use her powers to wreck his plan anyway, and that will be relatively easy. Rejecting the Hogyoku's existence is within her power, and given that her will outclasses Aizen's at that point, the Hogyoku will do as she wants, put itself out of existence, and end the story.

Aizen is in league with Freddy Krueger.

Once Aizen finally dies, he will come back to torture our heroes in their dreams. Not only will this give the series even more Nightmare Fuel, Kubo will get to do the Hell Arc he once mentioned. It will also continue the Trauma Conga Line, make Bleach an even longer Long Runner, and perhaps resolve the Shipping issue since only couples survive horror movies.

• I thought only virgins survived horror movies. Wait, they're not mutually exclusive. So Ichigo's definitely surviving anyway. Carry on then.

Grimmjow will end up in Urahara's basement.

So obvious its retarded. If the series goes on will be seeing him working with Ichigo and where else would they keep him?

• I SO hope this happens.

Loly will become the series' longest-running Brick Joke.

The battles will finally be over, everybody's finally home again, and Orihime finally gets to sleep in her own bed, again. She'll have said "good night" to her friends, burned the Uniform, and will be settling down with a cup of human world tea, when... "Orihime-chan... Let's pla~ay..." And the audience will either stare or groan, as Loly has returned. And some of us will have expected it, as she appeared not once, not twice, but three times, already, and will STILL have that grudge.This in turn will probably lead to someone saving her, a Rescue Romance, possibly a Love Confession, and two opposing chorusses of Squeeeeeeeeeee! and NOOOOOOOO!!!!. The degree of resulting Die for Our Ship will probably be determined by who is closest to the appartment, who detects the bad reiatsu, and who Kubo feels like teasing us with in that particular chapter.

• I'm willing to bet that Loly and Menoly will end up having the last laugh by the end of the series somehow.

The Hougyoku is the seed of all evil

Keeping with the king is evil theory, the Hougyoku is secretly just a portion of his power he imbued into a sphere that was sent into soul society. It is actually corrupting Aizen and turning him into a key so that the true villain may be released. And if this is so, his powers will look much like Chad's (a sword and shield in release state). And if he possess the hollow state, his mask will look like the devil, thus explaining the diablo thing chad said.

What we've been seeing now is Aizen's bankai

We all pretty much know that Aizen is a lying bastard. Coupled together with this we have Isane explaining what Aizen's shikai does just after he had stabbed Hinamori. According to her, his shikai is water based and uses the reflections in the water to make enemies fight themselves (As you can see, this fits him perfectly). But Aizen then tells her it was a lie when actually that was his true shikai, and complete hypnosis is his bankai. It would explain why it is so broken.

If not, then due to recent circumstances, we will never find out what his bankai was.

Don is a Shinigami

There's almost no other way of explaining why he has the power to fight Hollows. Maybe he was Isshin's lieutenant?

That would explain why, as a shinigami who should hate the show, Isshin watches it to support his old lieutenant.

It's taking all Aizen has to keep the Hougyoku contained.

See Fullmetal Alchemist for more details. If he gets hit hard enough from an unexpected direction, he'll go boom. Permanently.

Aizen is Ichigo's evil uncle.

Has anyone noticed the similarities between Aizen's and Isshin's handguards? Isshin uses Getsuga and Aizen has known about Ichigo since he was born?

• Alterantely, his brother. Or his real father. Or his mother.

In chapter 409, Isshin's sword has been named "Engetsu". That makes a Zangetsu, an Engetsu and a Ky?ka Suigetsu. And no other swords have 'Getsu' (?) in their name.

Aizen is the master of Brain Bleach.

Please don't kill me.

Kenpachi is the King of Soul Society. He just has some convenient Laser-Guided Amnesia.

Think about it: despite knowing literally nothing about who he is, he was able to defeat countless opponents in battle, with no apparent difficulty. He took in Yachiru and raised her as his daughter, showing compassion (a necessity for a good king). He achieved Shikai without knowing his zanpaktou's name, meaning he has immense spiritual power; as a matter of fact, he's so powerful that even without who knows how much of his power being constantly drained by that eyepatch, he can keep his zanpaku-tô in a constant Shikai state. Don't forget how crushing his reiatsu is; on that note, notice how Yachiru is unaffected by it? That means that either she is very, very powerful, or he can control his reiatsu instinctively, and is preventing it from affecting her without knowing it. It stands to reason that if he were the true king, he would be able to do these things, and more. He likely has enough power for Bankai, although it might be sealed. When he remembers the name of his zanpaku-tô, he will get his Bankai back; upon using it, his memories will awaken, and the king will be reborn.

Kon is the King of Soul Society.

Because why the hell not?

Aizen is a space alien. From "Mars" (actually, Mundus Magicus)

.He has the Code of the Lifemaker, and has learned game breaking from Jack Rakan. Who has somehow found a way to go to Soul Society, but became a bloodthirsty warrior in the process, turning into Kenpachi Zaraki. Yachiru follows him because he stole the panties of some girls who were mean to her before she left Mundus Magicus.

All the different advanced forms of Hollows have the same amount of power.

It's not that the smaller, more compact ones are stronger, it's that their power is concentrated into a smaller area, making it more intense, and thus more damaging. A variation of this also explains why Yachiru is so powerful.

Aizen's zanpaku-tô affects everyone who has seen it being released.

Including the audience.

When Keigo manifests his powers, it will have to do with fire...

BECAUSE HE IS SO Hot-Blooded!!

• You horrible, horrible person.
  • ...It just came upon me when I found out that Keigo's voice actor played a guy called Kamina in another anime/manga. Besides, Keigo's even listed under Hot-Blooded in the tropes.
    • I was referring to the pun, or play on words, from Hot-Blooded and fire. You see?
• Keigo is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal in the dubs. Meaning his power could also involve drills, transforming into superpowered alien life-forms, or super-powered Anti-Hero-villain...thing with eye-based powers.
  • So in short, Keigo will develop the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Don Kanonji is King of the Soul Society

• Because Obfuscating yourself by acting stupid is something Ichigo's dad has already done. Kanonji has already encountered hollows without trouble too, he just acted like he had trouble in order to not give himself away to Ichigo, who he knew had to either be a new recruit, or not someone he recognized as a Soul Reaper, so he acted in trouble to see if his actions were noble in motive. He decided Ichigo had much to learn, and let him on his way.
  • Now on Ichigo's father watching his show: He's not doing it for entertainment, he's doing it to make sure no Vasto Lords appear to take him out.
  • OH EM GEE YES! THIS MUST BE TRUE! FANGASM ALL THE WAY TO THE MOON!
  • Seems shockingly possible given that he was able to block one of Aizen's attacks.

Aizen is well aware that the King of Soul Society is an Eldritch Abomination.

Rather than accidentally freeing it, he plans to replace it. And then eat Ichigo, according to the last chapter.

• This person called it. Well, at least the WMG did, even if the explanation is wrong.

The anime will have a Gecko Ending

According to the spoiler page of the Bleach Wiki, in an announcement made around the time the Sword Fiend arc was planned to follow the Zanpakuto arc, the Fake Karakura Arc (not the series) will end in mid-2010, then be followed by a short arc, and then a longer arc. It's entirely possible that if the studio doesn't want to do another filler arc, they can make a few changes to the plot, which would make killing off Aizen and Gin and ending the series a fairly simple matter.

Aizen is the reincarnation of Cid Highwind

Because Sit Down And Drink Your Damn Tea!

Aizen did all of this just to get his mullet and the mullet is a weakpoint.

Mullets are the source of the greatest power in the Bleach universe as such Aizen will be defeated when his mullet is destroyed.

There was no Masaki Kurosaki. Masaki was fem!Aizen.

Aizen can make illusions to make anyone believe anything. So, why couldn't she make an illusion to make herself appear as a man? This would also explain the obsession with Ichigo (Ichigo isn't the son of a shinigami and a human, but two shinigami given a human form via Aizen's gigai), why Ichigo and Aizen look so alike (they're related), and why Aizen's hair keeps getting longer and longer (she's making her illusion look more like her until she can eventually reveal herself).This would also show why it was Ichigo who was chosen, and not one of his sisters: Aizen-as-Masaki was watching Ichigo the entire time to see whether he would have the proper potential, while having Karin and Yuzu as backups. As soon as she realized Ichigo was the one she would use, she called the Grand Fisher over to kill her. Ichigo being lured in was his own doing.spAlso, for the issue of being in Soul Society: he just has an illusion there acting like him, and has Gin cover for him in terms of work. It would also explain why Gin always has that creepy smile when he sees Ichigo: he is one of the only two to know that Aizen is Ichigo's mother.

• What A Twist!
  • It's a plot point that Ichigo isn't under Kyoka Suigetsu's control. I think he, or his friends, would have commented on how everyone uses male identifiers when referring to Aizen. Especially because the Japanese has gender-ized...alot of different words.

Kenpachi's is the zanpakuto that will pierce the heavens.

Who the hell do you think he is?

Urahara and Tessai are vaizards.

Aizen states that the Hougyoku was defined as "the ability to remove the boundary between Shinigamis and Hollows" because that's what Urahara wanted. In the Pendulum arc, Urahara also states that he created the Hougyoku "to strengthen souls". He seals it again at the beginning of the story but not before he's fully aware of its power. When he first uses it on Shinji, he's first convinced that it failed. Before Rukia shows up he would've had to have used it on someone to come to this realization. Like Aizen, he would use it on a subordinate first, and Tessai volunteers. Then Urahara uses it on himself in preparation for the battle with Aizen. It suggests that he made Ichigo a Vaizard on purpose, or decided to run with it when Ichigo's Hollow mask formed first.

Since we've seen Urahara already battle Aizen once, it would make sense that he would avoid revealing his mask in front of non-Vaizards to prevent long explanations, etc. It would also allow him to replace Hiyori and it would be a (potentially) great asspull.

Isshin is responsible for Aizen's rise to power.

They clearly have some history. It'll eventually be revealed that because Isshin deserted the SS and abandoned his duty, Aizen was able to infiltrate and manipulate the Gotei 13. It's a classic moral.

Yoshino is Uryu's mother.

She married Ryuken, then he divorced her after Uryu was born, and then she met Kariya. This means that Uryu is half-Bount, and will gain her powers (or something similar). There has to be a reason as to why Yoshino was being so protective of him while he was in custody, and that reason is that she wants to protect Uryu from her second ex.

• Jossed. No matter that this doesn't show in the anime, his mother is Quincy.

Unohana's Bankai has the ability to control other's power.

And will show up again and boost Ichigo's power and he will reach an unheard of third release.

Think about it. All of the major players, or anyone with a significant backstory, are still in Hueco Mundo waiting to come join the fight. And when they do... Granted, she already helped Ichigo escape from HM but after that we haven't seen anything of her. This would also explain why everyone is scared of her: She can totally shut off any other persons power, taking them down to normal levels. It also fits with her position as the captain of the healing squad, as she would help others without getting involved herself.

• And, if you ask this troper, it will be called... Tenkai.
  • Jossed. Her Bankai has something to do more with death, considering she was the original Kenpachi.

Kenpachi's bankai will.

Control the very fabric of space because nothing else but infinitly sharp blades through portal cuts would be enough.

Ichigo is actually Lina Inverse.

In a fight with Ulquiorra 'Getsuga-in-a-sword' looks like Ragna Blade.

• If he ever tells Kira that there's something familiar about his hairstyle, I'll consider this canon.

Kenpachi's Zanpaktou spirit's true form is actually...

Cthulhu. It'd explain a lot.

• Amazed not one theory on this page stated this, so I'll call it: Yachiru is the manifestation of Kenpachi's zanpakuto. It/She's pretty much a mix of Zangetsu and Katen Kyokatsu. Probably he got his amnesia and became the strongest shinigami the same day he spontanously achieved bankai and <?> Yachiru. I'm thinking some Stark/Lilynette-wise story, but waiting for a big plot twist.

The King is a White Prince.

Given what the filler arcs did with Rurichiyo Kasumi?ji it wouldn't be beyond reason to suggest that the majority of the nobles act this way. The exceptions would be the the nobles who are shinigami and know the world doesn't revolve around them. It would add some comic relief after the very action and drama heavy FKT arc. Ichigo would naturally treat the King as a servant of Royal Palace or something similar.

Gin is Naoya who is also the first Soul Reaper who is also the King.

A continuation from the Shikai page, where it's said that Cain was the first Soul Reaper and his brother he killed was the first Hollow. Now, both Gin and Naoya incredibly look alike with they're being both two white haired villains and constantly use Slasher Smile as their main facial expression. Coincidences? I think not. So, in his first life, Cain died and became the first Soul Reaper, thus making him the King, but a problem rose and he died (with the Zero Division shutting their mouth about this), and got reincarnated as Naoya and died again, then became a Soul Reaper again, now using the name of Ichimaru Gin. All in all, The King Aizen is searching for is JUST RIGHT beside him ALL THE TIME. In the end, Gin is just waiting for the right moment to kill Aizen, who by that time had just realized that he had been fooled all the time by his 'loyal subordinate' Gin.

Again with the hypothesis' on Ichigo's mother

It's either -A. The realized form of Kyoka Suigetsu in a gigai ( Aizen would've been able to go without for a piddling few years)B. The 9th espada Aaroniero after a quick change of form and a gigai. He's eaten how many people after all? And that line about infinite evolution? And Kaien was already part of his reptoire by then...

Kenpachi is the protagonist of his own series

That series takes place offscreen. this explains the radical power changes he goes through: he's going through shonen training.

• If so, Tite Kubo must make this series, for the sake of humanity itself!

Aizen's Bankai sucks

That's why he's never used it, it just isn't better when compared to this Shikai and it would use to much energy. And it'd be hilarious if he eventually had to use and it did nothing.

• A side effect of Yamamoto releasing his bankai is that it extinguishes all the flames his shikai has released. Maybe Aizen's bankai releases everyone from the hypnosis, so he would never use it unless he were truly desperate. By the time he gets that desperate fighting Ichigo, his sword has already broken and he CAN'T use it.
• Possibility: Aizen's Shikai controls the senses. Since Bankai is supposed to be similar, but 5-10 times stronger, my idea is that his Bankai controls PERCEPTION. So he releases his Bankai, and everyone immediately lowers their guards because they no longer perceive him as a threat, even as they watch him cut them down one by one. It's a SEP (Someone Else's Problem) field, among other things. Moreover, fitting with the enemies-fight-eachother theme, it can make them perceive each other other as dangerous enemies.
  Aizen: Bankai
  Ichigo: Nothing happened...?
  Aizen: No don't you see, my sword is now slightly longer, and bent, like a corkscrew.
  Ichigo: What is this, I don't even...
  Aizen: It's cause I've got a screw loose.

Alternatively...

Aizen never achieved Bankai.

We know his Shikai has the ability of perfect hypnosis. He was able to trick the entirety of the Gotei 13 into thinking his released form had running-water type abilities, so why wouldn't he be able to trick them into thinking he had achieved Bankai when he hadn't? We never once see Aizen try to use his Bankai. It's possible that Aizen never achieved Bankai, or even possibly never could in the first place. (Byakuya does say that not every Shinigami can achieve it, and even though Aizen is incredible, it's still possible he wasn't ever able to achieve it). His goals revolve around surpassing the limits of a Shinigami, and eventually becoming an immortal being just short of a god. It's possible that Aizen was either never bothered by his lack of a Bankai, or part of his motivation for obtaining the Hougyoku was to compensate for this.

The discrepancies between the appearances of certain Zanpakuto spirits in the Muramasa filler arc was simply caused by the difference between their sealed state and bankai state, as seen with Zangetsu's recent appearance.

Rather obvious. Includes likely Hitsugaya's Hyourinmaru and possibly Renji's Zabimaru.

Urahara's Zanpaktou Copies Everyones' Abilities

It can copy the soul abilities of anyone Urahara has ever seen. It can generate a blast of energy (Ichigo, Chad, etc.) It can generate a shield (Orihime). And in the Fade to Black movie its ability 'Rend it Asunder' is basically a knock off of Ginrei Kojaku. That said, it's probably irrelevant now Urahara's gone, but it would be fitting. And then his final ability is using them all at once or something, thus making it useless for training, because either you die or you don't, no middle ground. The reason he hasn't used Aizen's ability is because he has some grand plot overlaying all of Aizen's grand plots.

The Hougyoku's true power is to turn everyone into blood relatives.

Over the course of the series, everyone's faces start to look more and more similar. Aizen is just doing all that crazy stuff by himself and claiming that it is because of the Hougyoku's power.

Aizen and the Spirit King are Diary Holders.

Aizen previously won a past Survival Game, but as it turns out, there's an even bigger Survival Game that the Spirit King is involved in, and that is to become the God of the whole universe. Aizen's Diary is the "Ichigo Kurosaki Diary", which enters predictions based on Ichigo and his friends' actions. This is precisely what Aizen used to orchestrate his Gambit Pileup, all for the sake of killing the Spirit King. His Diary is either:A) Kyoka Suigetsu itself. Using Jinzen, Aizen constantly relayed his actions to Kyoka Suigetsu. Some time after Ichigo was born, Aizen became a Diary Holder and Kyoka Suigetsu became a Future Diary.orB) His glasses. We know that Aizen really didn't need the glasses, but while he say things through the glasses, he memorized them in his head. Once he became a Diary Holder, his glasses were converted into a Future Diary. Once he gained the Hogyoku, he somehow transferred his glasses' abilities and status as a Future Diary to the Hogyoku.For the Spirit King, his Future Diary is simply his Zanpakuto. The reason he hasn't directly taken yet is because he can't leave the Royal Palace, and so his Diary records the actions of Shinigami Captains, even if they were former Captains. Thus, he has been watching Aizen's plans and is currently formulating his own counter-gambit.

Once Aizen and the Arancar have been dealt with, Mayuri better watch his back...

Ishida may have deferred his grudge against Mayuri for the time being since there are more important matters to attend to, but once Aizen and his flunkies are defeated, Captain Freakshow may suddenly take a well-deserved Seele Schneider through the chest.

It is required that certain members of different squads spend time with the Fourth Division so that they can tend to their comrades' injuries if no Fourth Division members are present.

Aizen states that he kept Hinamori, Renji and Kira all under his supervision the moment they joined the Gotei 13, and that Renji was the only one he really let go. Yet when Kira goes to heal Rangiku, Hisagi points out that he's a former member of the Fourth Division. Instead of that being a Retcon, there could instead be an explanation: a sort of temporary training program in healing kido, and since Kira is stated to be good with kido, he would be a prime candidate for training with healing kido.

Kyoraku's bankai allows him to play adult games with his opponent.

This is why he never uses it because his only opponents so far have been male.

• This gels nicely with the notion that he "shouldn't use it where people can see." It's NSFW!

Kyoraku's Bankai...

Makes real the nightmares of anyone who sees it, explaining why Ukitake said he shouldn't use it. And it doesn't even make real nightmares the person has had. It gets into their minds, finding all their deepest darkest fears and rolling 'em up into one uber-fear monster thing they then have to fight. The result of going up against a collection of their absolute worst fears would likely cause most of those who see Kyoraku's Bankai to have a complete mental meltdown.

It's all just a dream

Or rather it's all just a delusion of a deeply disturbed teenage boy.

Ichigo Kurosaki, after losing his mother, began to claim he could see ghosts. His remaining family decided it would be easier on him if they just believed him. His father claimed he could not see ghosts at all, and his sister Yuzu claimed she could only kinda see them, but his other sister Karin claimed she could see them but didn't believe in them.

Whenever his sister Yuzu pointed out that he had "another one" his mind would conform to the delusion and he would "see" the ghost his sister had "seen."

However, on the day he saw his first Hollow it was in fact the day he lost his mind. The following night his family bore witness to his complete breakdown and were forced to place Ichigo into an insane asylum. Thus EVERYTHING that has happened since then is merely the deeply disturbing delusions of a deeply disturbed boy who feels guilty over his mother's death.

As such Bleach will end with Ichigo finally coming to terms with his mother's death and returning to a normal life.

Hitsugaya is Rangiku and Gin's love child

Approximately 65-80 years ago Rangiku and Gin in a night of passionate love making conceived a child. Rangiku upon realizing this was devastated as neither she nor Gin (Especially Gin) was ready for the responsibility of parenthood. Eventually Rangiku makes the decision to have the child in secret with the help of Unohana and Unohana alone. During a freak blizzard that hit the seireitei Rangiku goes into labor and Unohana just barely gets to her in time. After many hours pass and the child is born. Rangiku then decides to take her newborn son to the first district of the western rukongai. Upon arriving in the rukongai she seeks out a kind old woman who she had become friendly with. The old woman agrees to raise the boy as her own grandson along with the very young girl she is all ready raising. Rangiku thanks her and before leaving gives the child the name Toshiro Hitsugaya.

Further proof that Aizen and Ichigo are related.

Ichigo and his father have swords with similar names, Zangetsu and Engetsu respectively. What is the name of Aizen's Zanpaktou? Kyoka Suigetsu.

• This was all ready pointed out.
  • The more I think on it, the more it seems that Kyoka Suigetsu might actually be Aizen's Bankai, not his Shikai. Therefore, the names could be zangetsu, engetsu and Suigetsu.
  • So Aizen has been trolling with his Bankai not his Shikai...that makes him slightly less broken.
  • Mentioned in a previous WMG already.

Yachiru's shikai are claws.

Yachiru has a cat-shaped reiatsu. She was also seen wearing a cat costume from time to time. All this is probably hinting that her Shikai probably involves a cat-like weapon.

Kenpachi will not achieve Bankai, because...

He already has. His spiritual pressure is so massive that his Zanpakuto automatically assumes Shikai form (canon) and then jumps automatically to Bankai, without need for a hundred years of training. Yes, he's just that badass. The shape his sword is in now is his Bankai. Remember when Ichigo (before finding out about Bankai) asked Kenpachi "So your sword doesn't get stronger than this?" Kenpachi did not deny this.

Aizen's plan is actually an Assimilation Plot.

Alternate Character Interpretation ahead.

Aizen wants to become God so he can link everyone together and dispel what he perceives as 'loneliness'. If we see his backstory, he'll probably have a Freudian Excuse about this. It also explains why he's left Gin alive. In Gin's backstory, we see he was lonely until he met Rangiku, but still feels pain from the experience, especially since Rangiku almost died. Gin probably told Kira this, and that's why Gin doesn't believe Kira thinks he betrayed him. In Chapter 412, him attacking Rangiku is so that Aizen doesn't kill her in a worse way.

So in short, Aizen wants to unite everyone, Gin wants to stop being lonely, Kira is unsure what to do and Matsumoto is still where Gin shanked her.

• Does this mean they're all going to get hugged and turn into Tang?
• ...Tite Kubo... STOP READING THIS PAGE. OR CONTINUE TO DO SO! You Magnificent Bastard.

Shunsui's bankai.

The reason why Ukitake doesn't want Shunsui to use in a place where there are lots of people is because it's actually a Japanese Game show. Everyone gets forced to participate and the loser dies. Only one person can remain standing making it dangerous if there are allies playing.

Just fits Shunsui.

• The show is actually MXC: Extreme Elimination.
• Was actually hoping for the 'if you get a limerick wrong, get smacked in the nuts by a flyswatter. Facepalm's for everyone!

Ulquiorra is an expy of Shego.

Okay, so maybe it's pushing it but, seriously, a pale-skinned, black-haired, evil dude who is color-coded with green, and whose Fan-Preferred Couple is with a hot red-head? Nah, probably not... But, hey! Anything goes for these WMGs, right? *shot*

All sense-manipulating zanpakutou can be negated if you touch the sword

Tousen's sense manipulating Bankai couldn't affect those touching the sword, and apparently Aizen's sword shares the same weakness, so why shouldn't Shinji's? Or all Zanpaktou that manipulate others' senses?

Aizen is really...

• Hypnotoad. It makes perfect sense.

Gin finding out Aizen's weakness

In Chapter 414, the one who is seen meeting with Gin (Hidden by the speech bubble, conveniently enough) was the old captain of Squad 12. This would be Kiro Hikifune, who got promoted to the Royal Guard. Just because she is the only named character in Bleach that hasn't shown up yet. Everyone that has been talked about has been accounted for except her.

Hell, maybe Gin is the son of a Squad 0 member (Perhaps even Kirio herself). As to why he just sliced Hiyori in half in this case, well... we already know he's a heartless emotionless bastard.

• Nope, and Kirio gets seen in the final arc. It's called a Call-Back.

Gin is giving Ichigo time to achieve the final form of Getsuga Tenshou when he attacks Aizen.

Why not?

The King's Realm is somewhere in the Dangai ("Precipice World").

What better place to rule than somewhere where time passes at 2000 times less the speed of normal time? You would have maximum time to deal with problems! Exponentially great time to plan!

• The reason Isshin knew about the time warping effect was because he used to be in the king's guard.
  • Then the 'janitor' being is some kind of advance guard, meant so that no-one stays long enough to figure it out.
• Infinite space to build, too.

Gin will be reincarnated in the Naruto-verse...

Around the time of the Kyubi's field trip through Konoha, and will somehow be related to said Kyuubi. He will meet up with Naruto, and together they will unleash an age of pranks to make all Kage (plus Madara) scream and call a peace treaty just to end it all. Then, when all hope seems lost back in the world of Bleach, Gin will show up at the last minute with an army of Shinobi for an in-verse (sorta) Deus ex Machina in the most epic Crossover ever.

• YOU! ARE! AWESOME!!! This is the best WMG I have seen. Tite Kubo, if you are reading this, and we all know you are, please make this one come true!
  • Don't forget Kishimotowould need to sign off on this... and I would actually pay to see Ichigo vs Kaguya

Those people that Aizen watched Gin kill (5th seat of 3rd squad, I believe it was?) were actually part of Aizen's posse that beat/defiled Matsumoto as a child.

It would certainly help explain why he was killing people before joining Aizen.

• Gin is a sadist. He LIKES killing people. He likes hurting people. He doesn't need a reason.
  • Or does he? Gin had been following Aizen for over a century in order to take revenge for Matsumoto. To stay by Aizen's side, Gin probably created a false persona and did things he otherwise would not have done.

Aizen's actually a Pokémon.

• He has a similar personality to Mewtwo, and his Evolutionary Tree is Aizen-(via Hogyoku Stone)->Mulletaizen—>Butterflaizen. Butterflaizen's moves consist of Confusion, Hypnosis, Taunt, and Focus Blast, and he has an infinite supply of Full Restores.

When Findor shatters his mask, he goes steadily insane.

• It's somewhat obvious; Findor is an Evil Genius normally, but it's only when he shatters his mask that he goes mad from the power his mask gives him. It does explain a good bit if you think about it; the more powerful he becomes, the less sane he gets.

Aizen's goons in the flashback raped Matsumoto

• She didn't look too beaten up, at least not bad enough to inspire Gin to set off on a 100-year grunge plot, so it's not too far of a stretch to think something worse must have happened. Plus, her clothes looked loose.

The King of Soul Society is actually

• Theodore Roosevelt. The only reason I can think of as to why was because that Teddy was fed up how Soul Society and the afterlife was run and decided to take charge. This would mean he just succeeded in becoming King if Aizen manages to break in, which means that Aizen is in for a brutal asskicking.

Aizen's Shikai is...

"activate Bankai without saying 'Bankai!'."

• Jossed. We never saw it before the Hogyoku took it away.

Butterflaizen is the scariest thing ever.

Apparently people thought he just looked silly. However, let's look at the facts:

• 1. He says he wants to become God.
• 2. He says Orihime's powers are like that of God.
• 3. Orihime makes energy shields.
• 4. Aizen inexplicably had a shield set up on his biggest blind spot/weak point.
• 5. Orihime can bring the dead back to life, in a way that is similar to but different than healing.
• 6. Suddenly Aizen has healing capabilities (because of the Hogyouku, sure).
• 7. Orihime has six fairies that are the manifestation of her powers.
• 8. Aizen has six sets of butterfly (or fairy) wings.
• 9. "He wants to touch Ichigo's heart and eat him."

Basically, he's becoming Orihime. Evil, no-problem-with-slicing-people Orihime.

• Also, butterflies symbolize death in Japanese mythology.
• Next thing we know, Aizen will develop an insatiable appetite and develop a crush on Ichigo. Before growing jibblies.

The rate at which shinigami grow has something to do with when they achieve Bankai.

Notice that while souls and regular shinigami have a much longer lifespan than humans, perhaps Bankai extends their lifespan or slows down the aging process even further, thereby negating all the apparent craziness. A similar occurrance may happen upon achieving hollowfication, explaining why the lieutenants among the Vizards haven't changed appearances much, assuming they didn't achieve Bankai.

Ichigo is functionally immortal, due to being trapped in the boundary between Life and Death.

Despite being a human and having a human body, Ichigo is a Vizard - both shinigami and hollow at the same time. This means that Ichigo is both alive and dead at the same time. Now, consider the following:Humans who die go to either the Soul Society, become Hollows, or go to Hell.Vanquished Hollows, people who are killed in the Soul Society (and also, presumably, Hell), and Shinigami killed in action are reborn as humans.Ichigo, who is already a spiritual being, can't be sent to one of any of those planes by death. As Ichigo is already a human being, he can't be resurrected as a human. Therefore, any situation which would result in death has only one of two outcomes:

• Ichigo regenerates due to his two halves (human and shinigami) switching places.
• Ichigo, being disqualified from resurrecting in either soul society or the human plane, is consumed by the universe.

Now, which one of these two options seems more likely for a show like Bleach?

• Kubo rewrites the ending to the myth so that instead of being separated from her husband, the goddess Orihime spends eternity with him. One of them has powers over time, space and all creation, while the other has powers over life and death. The result is that they both wind up immortal, perhaps with the caveat that they must lock themselves away together in the Royal Realm.

Ichigo's new hollow form isn't as much of an Ass Pull as we thought; just like Chad, being in Hueco Mundo significantly increases his affinity towards his Hollow side.

• The rest of his power ups is because he's in puberty or something.
• Similarly, Kenpachi was a hollow — perhaps even a natural Espada — that was purified and sent to Soul Society and still has a link to Hueco Mundo, which is why he's so ridiculously more powerful in the Hueco Mundo battles than he had been shown to be in the Soul Society arc. Hell, that trick of his that made him uncuttable to anyone with reiatsu weaker than his seems oddly similar to the hierro used by the arrancar.

Ichigo was in full control the whole time he was fighting Ulquiora.

His amnesia was faked. The entire purpose of this deception was so he could stab Ishida in the chest without being called out on it.

Izuru Kira's Bankai is(everybody lies)/will be the ability to create a black hole up to or beyond the size of a basketball with every sweep of his sword.

With the occasional Story-Breaker Power Bankai we've seen, this could be just what they need to get through the impenetrable shields and Aizen's impenetrable illusions, or even make a certain area permenently unusable - a law of physics stronger than reality itself. His power is to exponentially increase the effect of gravity on what he strikes, and despite his personality, his Shikai's power and physical form are respectively made for subjugating and executing the subjugated, nothing more, nothing less. A big ball o' death or a Rocks Fall Everybody Dies-o-matic would be the (il)logical extension of his abilities.

Ichigo's real and/or new Bankai ability is 100% efficiency.

In other words, instead of leaking spiritual pressure like everyone else does to some degree, all of his spiritual energy is perfectly contained within himself or his Zanpaktou. This is why no one can sense any power from him. This also means that he won't become weak due to exhaustion unless he starts firing Getsuga Tenshou everywhere. Plus, this probably gives him Hierro.

• I was thinking this too. After all, Tensa Zangetsu's ability is supposedly the compression of reiatsu (which makes him faster and stronger) so it's not too much of a stretch to think that Ichigo's new bankai can compress his reiatsu so well even Aizen can't sense it.
• great call!

Wabisuke not only increases the weight of whatever it strikes...

If the object having it's weight being increased is a weapon like a Zanpakuto, it makes the wielder incapable of letting go. Even if Wabisuke doubles, quadruple, or octuples (eight times) the weapon's weight, the wielder would just be able to let go, and fight bare-handed. So Wabisuke prevents the enemy from letting go as it strikes the weapon the opponent is holding. In that sense, it is like a gravity effect.

• I think its more likely that their fingers just end up stuck between the ground and the hilt of their sword, it'd be kinda tricky to get your fingers out from underneath something that weighed a few tons.
• Rangiku dropped her wabisuked zanpakuto in the invasion army arc but who knows if that counts

The Hougyoku's power is based on fear.

Aizen basically says that when he kills Gin, that Gin's fear helped him become Captain Butterfly. When Gin was fighting Ichigo, he kept commenting on Ichigo's fear of Aizen. And when Ichigo came back to take on Aizen, Gin saw that his eyes no longer showed fear. It stands to reason that everyone has been slightly afraid of Aizen due to knowledge of his sword's power and how it could mess with them, as well as his many skills. Ichigo reached a level where he no longer has fear, and that's going to throw Aizen for a loop.

Ichigo's Mother was/is the King's Key.

First, it could explain why Ichigo's Reiatsu is so high and why Isshin was married to her. Alternatively, Isshin and Ichigo's Mom could have had an affair and ran away. Either way, the Soul Society wasn't too worried about her because of Isshin's power as a soul reaper. Second, She could see/knew about the Grand Fisher and was able stop Ichigo before he was killed. Third, it justifies the Hell arc because she died and went to Hell/is hidden away in Hell and Aizen will go after her, and Ichigo and co. will follow to save her.

Orihime had her abilities the entire time.

Fat doesn't go to her boobs because she "rejects" it.

• Really? because judging by her figure, all her fat is located in her boobs.

The final evolution isn't Ichigo or Aizen... It's Kenpachi.

He just forgot how to do that "evolution thingy" because it'd be too unfair to his opponents.

• Ichigo and aizen are both going to evolve at least one more time- when the smoke clears, all that will be left is two Kenpachi's. At this point, Kenpachi prime will show up, and an eternal 3 way battle will begin.
  • Why the fuck didn't this happen!?

Miyako Shiba was a grown up Chiyo-chan

A friendly woman who cannot forgive the evil Hollows who disturb peace (congruent with her earlier irritation at people not following rules). Really, though, all the evidence you need is that ponytail. Just as she was finally getting taller, poor Chiyo was seriously injured in one of Tomo's pranks, then finished off in a tragic car crash. Over time, she made new friends in Soul Society, secured an important position, and even found love ^note Logically, it would take decades for Chiyo to mature to Miyako's age, but time in Soul Society doesn't necessarily follow time in the World of Humans, so Chiyo's death could have occurred just a few years before the current storyline. Then she died. Again. Which led to her husband's death. Hey, maybe those Dark Fics were on to something.

Aizen's zanpakuto does not only affect the readers/viewers of Bleach. It affects Tite Kubo himself.

Thus, while Ichigo appears to have gained an edge over Aizen (as of chapter 418) he's actually light years behind him. Our Big Bad is fooling Kubo into thinking he's building up the plot so that Ichigo can finally become stronger than Aizen, but Aizen's actual plots are barely hinted at in the manga. In short, the mangaka of this series has no idea what he's actually drawing. Aizen is also redrawing all of Kubo's character designs with mullets.

• Before Aizen was introduced, the story followed a standard story: Guy gets powers, inherits the responsibility of fighting off enemies, and protecting the weakened Rukia. Only when Aizen appeared and hypnotized Tite Kubo did the plot start to get Aizen-centric. Now suddenly, everything that happened is because Aizen planned it. Aizen makes himself more handsome, Aizen gathers a team to make him look charismatic but kills them all later so they don't steal his thunder, Aizen ends up making the Hogyoku before Urahara, Aizen ditches the story of the Quincy because they have nothing to do with him, and you'll notice since he left Soul Society, Aizen NEVER LOSES. Then one day, an editor not under his influence snaps Tite Kubo out of it. Tite Kubo seals him away as soon as he can and starts an entirely new arc with entirely new enemies: The way he wanted Bleach to be before Aizen hypnotized him!

Tite Kubo went off his meds because it was the only way he could write good manga.

As crazy as Bleach is, I have a hard time believing it's the product of a healthy mind (see above WMG that Kubo never actually recovered from his nervous breakdown). Nevertheless, it seems good writing is a Disability Superpower.

Ichigo's Hollow side is what allowed for him to become so powerful so quickly.

tl;dr version at the bottom. Shinigami and Hollow are basically polar opposites, right?

Shinigami require formal training, they need to train in reiatsu control, they need to discover and master the powers of their Shikai and Bankai. They should learn and understand kido, fighting techniques, shunpo and so on and so forth. Being a Shinigami is all about learning to understand your own powers—and it's a looong, looooooong process.

What about Hollows? I don't think we've ever actually seen a Hollow training anything, ever. Arrancar, maybe. But a Hollow? I don't think so. Hollows are also confirmed to be creatures of pure instinct.

But how does this work, exactly? I think that all Hollows innately know everything about the powers they possess, they perfectly know how to use their bodies to the utmost limit, they instantly know any and all means about how to channel reiatsu. This is why an average human being that has no reiatsu whatsoever can become a threat when he transforms into a Hollow - they instantly become the equivalent of a tenth-dan black belt in utilizing their own bodies and what little reiatsu they have.

Ichigo possessed immense spiritual pressure from the very beginning which is why he appeared to be so powerful to Rukia when we were still pre-SS arc. He wasn't actually learning anything quickly. He simply had so much power that any of the challenges he faced were small potatoes in comparison. He also had at least some martial arts training and therefore, he already could fight efficiently.

At that time, he wasn't confronted with any challenges that could not be solved through brute force. When he was, for the first time, he simply got killed(Byakuya). After the Shattered Shaft training, Ichigo's sheer, raw power was simply not enough anymore. It's not enough to have immense reiatsu if you're going to be confronting lieutenants and captains. But this is also where Ichigo gains his Hollow.

Ichigo is not fully Hollow and therefore, he can't instantaneously know absolutely everything about his powers. But he's part-Hollow. This means that he can learn with a terrifying speed. This is what Hollow!Ichigo was talking about when he said that Ichigo lacks instinct. If Ichigo tapped into his instinct, he'd learn far, far more quickly. We've also seen that Hichigo is generally the one who grasps techniques quicker and learns more quickly which also supports this theory.

Urahara probably used the risky Shattered Shaft training precisely for this reason. He knew that if Ichigo was a Vizard then he'd be able to learn how to use reiatsu extremely quickly. If he wasn't part-Hollow then he'd need decades or centuries to learn how to use his Shinigami powers. On the other hand, as a Vizard his extremely quick progress was basically guaranteed.

This theory is also supported by the fact that Tousen, when using his Resurrecion form for the very first time ever is able to utilize it fairly well(not perfectly, but he's quite good at it). Also, at least some of the Arrancar(like Wonderweiss) are recently created but we've never really seen them complaining that they lack training, they never really seem to discover any new abilities, they seem to know basically everything there is to know about their own powers. They can advance - Nnoitra shows this - but it's probably due to their Shinigami power.

Also, notice the progression of Hollows. Why do Hollows need to devour other Hollows to progress at all? Why can't they simply train? This theory neatly explains this - it's because all Hollows innately know everything about their own powers. Training is useless for them and they need to devour other Hollows to become more powerful.

tl;dr Hollows instinctively know everything about using their own powers/bodies. They require no training whatsoever to know how to use them and from the moment of creation they're the equivalent of a martial arts master. This explains why the part-Hollow Ichigo has such a rapid power/skill growth.

Reiatsu is generated entirely by a person's hair.

Every time ichigo gets a power increase, it is accompanied by longer hair. Same deal with Aizen. I propose that hair growth is more than an indicator of power; it actually increases a person's riatsu directly. This would also explain several mysteries: why Kenpachi is so powerful, why Byakuya wears armour on his hair, and exactly what's going on with Yamamoto's eyebrows and beard.

• Probably a Shout-Out to SSJ3.
• Then how do you explain Ikkaku's strength? Since he's bald, by your logic he should be completely powerless.
  • No one ever said it's only hair on a person's head that generates power...

Aizen is corrupted by the Hogyoku, and has been for a long time.

This is kind of an extension of the WMG above that says Aizen isn't actually in control of the Hogyoku. If you think back to when Aizen created Wonderweiss, he said that the Hogyoku was not "awake", but that it could temporarily be brought to its full potential by fusing with a being with twice the Reiatsu of a Shinigami Captain. If the Hogyoku is indeed sentient, then the first time Aizen fused with it to use its abilities, it corrupted him. That would explain why he's become increasingly irrational and downright stupid ever since fleeing from Soul Society, going from a guy who manipulated the whole of Soul Society for a hundred years to the guy who's helping his enemies by killing off his own subordinates, and why he's not using his completely broken power to sweep through the Shinigami. There's literally a war going on inside his head between Aizen and the Hogyoku-induced corruption, and given that everything he's done lately has not helped him one iota towards his originally stated goal, the conquering of the Royal Dimension and becoming king, and is instead focused on the Hogyoku, it looks like the corruption is winning, and has now started corrupting his body as well, turning it into something that the Hogyoku can control in order to do whatever it wants to do.

There's more to Quincy Genocide than we know.

Well, Aizen took the 100,000 souls for his "Beta" Hougyoku from somewhere. Also, he'd be pretty capable of disguising as Yamamoto and ordering people (or convince Yamamoto to do so somehow) to kill the Quincies just so he could get their souls for the Hougyoku without anybody knowing it. It has never been completely proven that Quincies, you know, absolutely destroy souls (they could just wind up in Hell instead). He could very well be lying about that all along. It was killing two birds with a stone; he got rid of the pests who were eliminating/weakening his soldiers and getting souls at the same time, without even need to work for it. Or maybe there was an even deeper reason for all the Quincy Hunt Season...

• Ah, Hell. This is truly scary. It was bad enough, even when there was a valid reason, to think that the Shinigami, even if the Quincy really did give them no other choice, couldn't think of any better solution to their problem than what essentially amounted to genocide. But if there was really no other reason for the massacre two hundred years ago than that Aizen manipulated it all, then this really opens up a can of worms, since all those people (upwards of ten thousand, I'm pretty sure) died for nothing.
  • Well, something that could complete the theory is that when Aizen got all the souls he needed (Quincy or not), he just let it continue; Mayuri did experiments on many Quincies, but he never told how many, or even if their souls were there since the massacre started, which could make a brief opening for this theory. The question that doesn't stop buzzing my mind is: "why killing them all instead of just turning their strongest members into substitute Shinigami or, I dunno, teaching them all some goshdarned kido?" Traditions and taboos be damned, there are Hollows eating souls.

Ichigo will remain a Shinigami.

Just like the above, a spoiler. We know that Isshin lost his shinigami powers long ago, and only recovered them recently. He is also the one who taught Ichigo about the Final Getsuga Tensho in the first place, implying that he knows how to do it himself. This, in turn, means that he did it himself long ago, lost his powers, and somehow recovered them recently. Given that we already have an in-story precedent of a character losing their powers in a One-Winged Angel final attack, then getting them back as strong as ever, and Isshin's zanpakuto shows that recovery might indeed be possible...

Kisuke Urahara is The Man Behind the Man.

And the only thing keeping him from making his move is actually Aizen. After Aizen's gone, Urahara's going to reveal some batshit crazy thing he has done to make himself even more powerful than Aizen was. I only say this because with the way the story has gone, this is the only thing that seems even remotely interesting.

• Doubtful considering that Kubo has said that Urahara was originally going to be the Big Bad that Gin was working for, back when Aizen was going to stay dead.

Isshin killed the previous King of the Heavens.

What other opponent would have warranted the use of the Final Getsuga Tensho?

Urahara's Shinigami-power-sucking gigai was originally created for Isshin

The story of how Isshin met Ichigo's mom is much like how Ichigo met Rukia, but Gender Flipped. She could see ghosts and shinigmai and voila! there he was (or he saw her from afar and instantly fell in love, or something). Anyway, he wanted to stay with her, but wanted to leave this shinigami business behind, so Urarhara made the gigai for him.

• Confirmed, without the last part.

Ichigo will die.

But in his body. Oh, you forgot he had one of those? He'll get hit by a bus, or something equally anti-climactic, and go in his spirit body, bid farewell to his mortal friends, and stay in Soul Society.

Hollows really do die when killed via Zanpakuto

To be more precise, when a Zanpakuto purges a Hollow soul of sin and makes it whole again, it also completely wipes their memory of the time that they were Hollow. This could be anything from a few days, in newly created Hollows, to centuries or millennia, in sentient Gillians and Adjuchas. After all, a soul isn't likely to wander around Soul Society, remembering all the horrifying things they did as a Hollow.

Aizen was always in his Bankai

That's why he never uses it and the word "shatter" commands it to shatter people's perception of reality

One of these days, someone will say "It's over" and it will be.

It's gonna happen. Right? RIGHT?
OWARI DA!

Isshin Kurosaki lost his Shinigami powers thanks to the Final Getsuga Tensho.

If anyone uses it, you lose your shinigami powers. Ichigo is on his way to losing them, after all of those powerups.

• Jossed, though it makes you wonder how he knows about the FGT in that case.

Ashizogi Jizo

This troper was watching the Zanpakuto filler arc, and started thinking. All zanpakuto are a reflection of a shinigami's soul, right? For the most part, they make sense: Yumichika's is vain, Rangiku's is lazy, Hitsugaya's is icey, Senbonzakura is... well, pretty much a somewhat more emotional Byuakua.

And then there's Mayuri's Ashizogi Jizo. My reaction for the longest time was "What the heck? It's got nothing to do with Mayuri." I mean seriously, look at it. It's an Ugly Cute little baby head with butterfly wings that can barely utter the word bankai, if even that. Mayuri is a jerk Mad Scientist. There's also the fact that the bankai is a giant catapiller with the same baby head, which may indeed be way bigger and more powerful, but still is sort of a regression from a butterfly. WHAT THE HECK.

So here's the theory I created. Mayuri has been mentally reverted and mode-locked as a very young child. Though he kept all of his science-based intelligence, he lost... pretty much everything else, especially social skills. So he's mentally a toddler running around with the body and vocabulary of a scientist who's been studying/working for who knows how many years. If nothing else, it would explain his complete inability to relate to someone else; really young kids are egocentric with no concern for others. As for how this could happen, I have no idea. I don't even know if this is psychologically plossible, but since when has that been important for Hollywood Insanity?

TL;DR version: Mayuri's zanpakuto is a little butterfly baby thing, which means at least some part of him is mentally locked in little-kid mode. Comments?

Aizen is actually dead this time.

Wishful thinking?

• Since when has sealing an evil in a can ever stopped any Big Bad? At best, this is keeping base Aizen at bay until Ichigo gets his powers back. At worst, this is saving the problem for Ichigo's grandchildren to deal with.

Aizen trying to kill the Spirit King was a case of Evil vs. Evil

Aizen referred to the Spirit King as a "thing"—and Urahara responded with a downbeaten expression and a justification that the King was "required" and that without "it" everything would fall apart. Despite being a complete jackass who lied, murdered, and betrayed to get to where he was, Aizen was ultimately less of a monster than the current "King". Also, the Royal Guard/Zero Divison aren't guarding the King from anyone. They're either there to keep it contained, or they're food to keep it complacent.

• Unquestionably true.
• Well since no one outside Squad 0 has seen the Spirit King it may be as simple as a man OR woman can become the Spirit King and no one outside of Squad 0 knows when a new Spirit King has taken the throne or whether they're male or female. At the very least the gender of the new Spirit King isn't revealed when they take the throne so they're always referred to as "it"
  • Aizen has seen the Spirit King, and it's implied that Urahara has, too.
  • It's worth noting that we're working from a Japanese manga here, where gendered words are the exception rather than the rule. By the same token, Japanese has no "it" for referring to people, only for referring to things. In short, the "it" almost certainly refers to thingdom rather than gender neutrality, if only for linguistic reasons.

Ichigo is going to take up Aizen's crusade.

Despite all the evil Aizen has done, he's got what seems to be a pretty decent goal. Do something to destroy the Eldritch Abomination that is the King of Soul Society. And his whole 'A Winner Always Think not of how the world is, but how the world should be' is pretty much everything Ichigo (and every other shounen protagonist ever) stands for. There's no way Ichigo will let that go, even without knowing just what the King is.Further more, this choice is what's being alluded to in the 'Decide' subtitle of the recent issues, since he'll have to make the serious choice between everything he's been fighting for, and stopping the 'real threat' of the King.

• Except the title is "Deicide," not "Decide." It's still potentially relevant to what you're saying, just not in the way you're thinking. The problem is, the god in question is almost without a doubt Aizen.

Urahara created the Hogyku to as a way to create a better alternative to the King.

Why else would you create such a powerful but ultimately pointless artifact and do so little to protect it? Everything he's done has been to create someone who can beat the King.

The Spirit King will be the final Big Bad.

Someone had to outright say it.

The Mugetsu attacks the victims' Reiatsu

Ichigo was far stronger than Aizen without using that final Getsuga. So if it would simply attack Aizen's body, Ichigo would not have needed to use Mugetsu. So in Order to destroy Aizen's Reiatsu, he used the final Getsuga.That, or Ichigo is holding the Idiot Ball.

Aizen has obtained both the fruit of life and the fruit of knowledge and is now God.

The final page of 421 looks eerily similar to the Tree from the End of Evangelion, and all the crosses in that chapter...

Kisuke and Aizen are in this together.

When Aizen's zanpakuto was disappearing, Kisuke's kido "decided" to kick in. It has been shown earlier that when a shinigami is dying, or close to death (not that anyone dies in Bleach) their zanpakuto will crack and break. It seems that Aizen's sword was doing that more than combining with him, shattering into tiny pieces, and Kisuke sealed Aizen away so he could recover. Also, while it has been shown that they do not nessecarily know the same things, their goals seem to be some what parallel to each other.

• This could also be an Evil Plan on Kisuke/Aizen's part to get Ichigo to continue the work they were doing while Aizen regroups.
  • It could have been a You Have Failed Me moment on Urahara's part. He is, after all, The Chessmaster, so conceivably, even Aizen could have been a pawn, and his expression did look disappointed more than anything else.

Ichigo's inner Hollow is about to pop out of him like something straight outta Alien.

Just look at him on the final page of the latest chapter. He lost his 'Shinigami' powers, but the Hollow ones are still there. Goodbye, Ichigo, HELLO SUPER DEATH.

• Which means he dies-which means he can attain his Shinigami powers all over again!
• Already guessed nineteen guesses up.
• And no, he lost his Hollow powers with his Shinigami powers. They were merged together, which is part of why Ichigo was so much stronger post-Dangai.

Aizen is Saix

Both are dispassionate but determined in completing their goals. Saix starts out quiet and restrained but when his plans begin to fall apart at the hands of the good guy, he goes berserk. Aizen reacts to defeat in the same way. The most damning evidence, they both have mullets, albeit of a different color. Back when Aizen was still researching hollowfication, he made a nobody of himself and sent it to the Kingdom Hearts-verse to learn about Kingdom Hearts, then abandoning the nobody when he learned of the hogyokou.

Everything Is Going According To Plan!

Aizen is fine, apparently, and still immortal. And now he's being locked away in the "deepest cells." This whole thing sounds oddly like the sort of inordinately complex and incredibly stupid but somehow still totally effective plan that Aizen loves.

• Yeah, I have a feeling Aizen is just waiting for some idiot to stumble upon his cell and relese him.

Aizen's going to be unsealed

The sealed dude (be he good or bad) ALWAYS breaks free. Sources: FernGully, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Supernatural, Aladdin, etc. So, yeah. It's gonna happen sooner or later.

• Taking in consideration how ironic things can be, the unsealer will probably be Hinamori Momo.
• Nooooooooooooooooooo! That would be the most annoying thing ever.
• It IS entirely possible that the Central 46 will decide to let him free so he could aid SS against the Vandenreich, and he will be an ally long enough for everybody else to trust him, then turn on them at a crucial moment.

The next arc will center around the problems caused by the ton of souls that just crossed over into the Soul Society.

With the Espada being mostly Adjuchas and (possibly) a few Vasto Lordes, all of which are comprised of massive amounts of Hollows merged together, their deaths must have purified an unbelievable amount of souls, barring the possibility that they're permanently stuck together. With the already problematic overcrowding of the rukongai districts, possibly a result of the annihilation of the Quincies, this huge group of souls are going to be a mess of trouble and a goldmine for Kubo's favored approach to planning arcs.

• Eeeeeee-Nope

Bleach will turn into a Slice of Life anime

Nuff said.

Isshin will give Ichigo his Shinigami powers

Mirroring what happened at the begining of the series, Isshin and Ichigo will be forced into a situation that requires Isshin to transfer his shinigami powers to Ichigo, restoring Ichigo to captain level strength.

• Isshin? Frickin' EVERYBODY!

Izuru's Bankai will be the Death Note

Because 1.) He's a literal death god, 2.) It's the only weapon emo enough for him, and 3.) He is Kira.

• He's also dead, now...

The Soukyoku and the Hougyoku are female...

And will gain Anthropomorphic Personifications and join Ichigo's harem.

Ichigo is actually an Alternate Universe version of both Naruto and Inuyasha

He will eventually learn the Rasengan and the Wind Scar and create a third version of the Getsuga Tensho to own Aizen completely.

• Wind Release: Getsuga Rasentensho no Kizu? We're going to have to deal with that?

Ichigo's dream is to become the Soulkage.

Believe it.

Ichigo will learn the Blacklash Wave

Given the first Getsuga Tensho's visible similarties to the Wind Scar, it's only a matter of time.

• Oh, please God, yes.

Ichigo is half-human, half-Shinigami...

Half-Hollow, half-demon, half-kyuubi..fox...thing, half-Quincy, half-Bount, half-Mod Soul, half-Pokemon, half-sea cucumber, half-Tite Kubo Avatar, half-Zanpakto, half-vampire, half-orange, and two-fourths emo. He's 15 halves of a normal person, which is why he always has new things to pull out of his ass.

Kenpachi Zaraki's Bankai is...

Another Kenpachi.

• Or just a slightly bigger sword with a purely cosmetic aura, and a permanently visible skull above his head.

Aizen is genocidal because he can't get Ye Flask

Ichigo will turn into Nero and gain the power of the Devil Bringer

They're both voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch.

We have yet to actually see Byakuya's Bankai

What we call Senbonzakura Kageyoshi is merely the full power of his Shikai, which he has minute-level control over (enough to only produce a few petals when dealing with a single opponent).

• Alternatively, Senbonzakura was his initial Shikai (back when he first learned it), and Senbonzakura Kageyoshi is Senbonzakura taken up to eleven (but still falling within his Shikai ability).
• Nah. Senbonzakura Kageyoshi is a lot more than just Senbonzakura taken up to eleven. That's it's most basic form, but it can also do that Rain Of Blades attack, and that angel form that he used against Ichigo.

The reason Kubo hasn't given Kenpachi a Bankai is because he is already awesome enough

Kubo does indeed troll fansites (it's how he is able to continue to please fans), and this site is no exception. After seeing how much speculation on what the full extent of Kenpachi's power would be, Kubo has come to the above conclusion; choosing any one thing (fan-speculated or otherwise) would cause a fair deal of backlash, which he probably wants to avoid. Also, he finds reading mass-guessing pages, such as this one, amusing, and doesn't want to stifle our creative instincts.

Ichigo's harem is going to grow so large that he will be forced to open a dormitory just to house them all

With Urahara's help, of course. Then half of the show will become reminiscent of Love Hina (but, y'know, with less Romantic Comedy more Shounen-style action. Oh yeah, and male characters.)

Kenpachi can already achieve bankai.

It's just that it's kido-based. But since he's Kenpachi, he thinks that's lame, and so he'll never use it.

• This. Absolutely has to happen!

Ichigo's fight with Aizen and everything after didn't actually happen.

Think about it; didn't everything during and after Ichigo's fight with Aizen seemed to go too perfectly? Aizen was completely overwhelmed, lost all of his powers granted by the Hogyoku, and is sealed away and locked up for 20,000 years, Yammy was easily defeated offscreen, and nobody important died. What really happened was that the entire thing; the fight, Urahara showing up, everything returning to normal, was an elaborate illusion created by Aizen to distract Ichigo while he finished creating the King's key and whatever else he wanted to do. This illusion was triggered right after Ichigo showed up to fight Aizen, and at the moment he is standing in that crater with a blank look on his face.

You may be asking when Aizen got Ichigo under Kyoka Suigetsu? Simple; he was always under Kyoka Suigetsu. During the Fake Karakura Town arc Aizen said that he had been keeping an eye on Ichigo due to his unique abilitys. Since nothing came of this we assumed it to be a lie. But what if it wasn't? Heres what I think happened. Aizen knew about Ichigo's abilities and that's why he set everything in motion to build Ichigo up. He planned on manipulating ichigo and to make it simpler he made sure Ichigo was always under Kyoka Suigetsu. What would have stopped him from walking up to Ichigo as a kid one day at school, and showing him the release silently and quickly, and leaving. Ichigo would simply stare at it and there would be nothing anyone could do about it. From that point onward Aizen simply allowed Ichigo to see what was really going on so it would give him the illusion that he wasn't under an illusion. The result Aizen tricks everyone into throwing Ichigo at him thinking it's the key to victory. Aizen then gets a free opportunity to do whatever he wants while everyone else sits there believing Ichigo is winning.

Kenpachi's bankai is based on what his opponent thinks it might be.

His Calling Your Attacks phrase is some form of the phrase "Guess what my bankai is?" Yes, this means that his power is literally based on Wild Mass Guessing, and if he ever went up against TV Tropes, he'd fuse with both Yachirus and become omnipotent.

• His activation phrase is "Who the Hell Do You Think I Am?!"

Unohana's power is Nuclear Physics!

Her shikai is nuclear medicine, which promotes growth and kills off anything that shouldn't be there, as well as allowing for detailed health scans if she ever figures out how to read the manta ray's stomach solution on an MRI machine. For her Bankai, the manta ray loses the pectoral fins, gains four tail fins, and explodes with the force of a multi-megaton nuclear bomb. ...And gives anyone who survives pika.

Karakura Town is a domain in Ravenloft.

It would explain why it does not seem to have much contact with the outside world. Anyone from outside of Karakura Town was pulled in by the mists, such as Chad. It is said that the Dark Powers can alter people's memories, so that is how no one knows that they are in the Demiplane of Dread. Soul Society and Hueco Mundo are actually demiplanes (Yes, a demiplane inside a demiplane) within Karakura Town. The Dark Lord that rules over all three is the Spirit King. He has shut off all travel to other domains in Ravenlot, which is why no one can get out. Aizen and Urahara are the only ones aware of the true nature of the world they live in. Aizen wants to escape from Ravenlot by any means necessary, and maybe free Karakura Town as well. Urahara believes it to be impossible to do so, so he has chosen to live his life the best he can.

The Time skip will be to the end of Ichigo's life, and when he dies he'll get to go to the Soul Society the real way.

And things will be totally different, to the point of Genre Shift making him really confused.

Asexual Reproduction

Ichigo will split in two, forming a perfect clone of himself. Like an amoeba. Because he's asexual. Actually, this applies to pretty much every single character.

Ichigo is already dead.

For that matter, You Are Already Dead.

No need to weep about Starrk or Ulquiorra or etc.

Starrk, Ulquiorra, in fact most of the Arrancar were slain by zanpakuto. Arrancar are hollows. And what happens to hollows slain by zanpakuto? They get purified and go to Soul Society (or Hell, but lets not dwell on that possibility).And if you're worried that the personality will be lost, keep in mind that the personality of the Arrancar had to come from somewhere. If they used to be menos, their personality was that of the hollow that managed to take hold of the menos. As seen from Orihime's brother, the hollow's personality is just a skewed version of the original (before you correct me, I consider memories to be part of personality). So someone had to have been Coyote Starrk (minus the name and loneliness) in life. And their soul just got purified.

• Thinking on this, I got the image in my head of Starrk as a shinigami with Lilynette as his Zanpakuto.
• This. I was half expecting for Grimmjow to show up in a Big Damn Heroes during the final battle, wearing black Shinigami robes and without that jawbone thing stuck to his face.

The Hogyoku is why Ichigo lost his powers.

It's said that it has the power to make its controller's desires a reality. Well, the last chapter (424) makes a big deal about how Ichigo has always dreamed of a normal life.

• This may be so, though I doubt it. Isshin taught Ichigo the move, sort of, and Zangetsu was the one who broke the news. The Hogyoku would have had to overwrite reality for at least two people, and to me it seemed that the Hogyoku only effects people by proximity.

The Lost Shinigami Representative Badge Arc is Filler

I mean, while the thief looks sorta like Aizen, it's possible this is just an interlude of some sort.

• Not mutually exclusive.
• It gave ichigo his powers back, and he had a run-in with his predecessor, so no.

Karin is a Shinigami.

Now that the Time Skip has elapsed, Karin's Shinigami powers have awoken. This will be an important plot point in the new arc. If Ichigo's powers are not restored, Karin will act as his replacement until they return. Yuzu, however, is still a normal human.

Unohana's bankai is Unit 01.

Also, it will turn out that Kenpachi's bankai is just going to be him growing some extra arms to swing his sword with.

Kenpachi's bankai will negates other shikai/bankai ability.

Well, I think it would suit him well, considering he doesn't like all that fancy/wussy shikai abilities.

• One of the recommended fics gives something similar for his shikai (when he finally learns its name): it renders Kenpachi invulnerable to everthing except straight physical damage (cutting, piercing, crushing, etc).

Komamura is the spirit of Tobimaru from Sword of the Stranger.

Or Tobimaru was his father. The colouring of the fur is similar as is their strong sense of loyalty in the face of danger. He probably learned his sword skills in part from watching Nanashi, similar to how Splinter learned his martial arts.

Zaraki Kenpachi is the reincarnation of Andrew Jackson.

Look at it this way, Both Kenpachi and Jackson are Blood Knights. Jackson fought in dozens of duels in his life. Both Kenpachi and Jackson give their opponent an advantage in their fights, or other wise limited their effectivness. Jackson always allowed his opponents to fire first in a duel, so he could take his time to shoot. Jackson also led his outnumbered army to victory at New Orleans, after the War of 1812 was over. Clearly Kenpachi is Jackson's spirit hungering for more blood.

• I wonder how many scars and injuries Kenpachi has.
• Close but if Kenpachi were a former U.S. president he'ed be Teddy Roosevelt a man so badass that the countries alien invasion plan is quite likely clone teddy roosevelt.

Urahara was the big bad

Dont look at me like that, I mean in early drafts Urahara was planed as the big bad.

The reason Orihime's hairpins don't appear in chapter 425 is because Ichigo can't 'sense' them.

He's blind to spiritual things now, remember?

• Best. Explanation. Ever.

The current arc takes place in episode 26 of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Ichigo is obviously in instrumentality. Because of his alienating and introverted personality, everyone else still retains their spirit powers.

Lisa, Nanao and Ishida are all related somehow.

Even taking Only Six Faces into account, they do look uncannily alike. The way the three wear their hair and that they all wear glasses doesn't help in convincing this troper that they aren't related.

• I always thought Nanao's resemblance to Lisa was a case of imitation, aided by having the same hair color and the need for glasses. As for Uryu, if you look closely at the anime, his skin is a different color (less pink, more beige).

Rukia is the real source of everyone's power

It's been said a couple times that the macguffin grants wishes of those around it, which has been inside Rukia the entire time until the SS arc. With the very similar appearance to Kaien, she didn't want Ichigo to die, and between that and her apparent self-worth issues, gave her powers to save him. While she may have intended to only give him some of her powers, her heart isn't really there as a shinigami, and as a result gave all her power instead. An extension of this relating to Sado and Orihime would be something along the lines of either wanting to protect everybody ( as reflected in Renji's memory ) or just wanting Ichigo to not lose people he cares about, like how the Shiba clan lost one of their own, due to her by her beliefs.

The Royal Key will awaken the missing God.

• The reason a million souls is needed is because it takes that much spiritual energy to awaken/revive the God that Aizen believed was missing, thus throwing Aizen's plans into total disarray which could lead to...

Aizen planned the destruction of Soukyoku.

He has a backup plan for everything. In the event that he was captured, they can't execute him without Soukyoku. No prison could hold him for long.

Aizen really is dead after all.

And he was evil, and insane. And, he was right. The fact that god is missing is going to be a major problem, one that it will be up to powerless!Ichigo to fix because for whatever reason people with Reitasu can't do it.

• Jossed.

Giriko Kutsuzaawa is actually Wrath

The eyepatch and mustache are enough of an excuse!

Ichigo winning on Kenpachi wasn't an Asspull

It may be possible that other than his eyepatch, the rest of his clothing also drains his reiatsu. How this works? On the fight against Ichigo he had this collar thing, on his neck. On his fight against Nnoitra, he didn't. When he was going to fight Yammy, who was supposedly stronger than the rest of the Espada, he didn't have the whole top of his clothes, so he was insanely more powerful by then.Another possibility is that while his eyepatch drains his reiatsu, the rest drains other parts of power. That being why he doesn't glow without his haori.

Kenpachi's shikai power has already been (indirectly) revealed

In chapter 309 (12), during his fight with Nnoitra, Kenpachi says:

Kenpachi: It's been quite a while... Such a feeling... Like the reiatsu itself is sharpening my blade.

This is a hint about his zanpakuto's power. Whenever Kenpachi faces an opponent stronger than himself, his own reiatsu increases to match his opponent's. This explains why he was unable to defeat Ichigo (who, at the time, was too weak to trigger Kenpachi's power), yet managed to beat both Nnoitra and Yammy. It also fits his personality, as it allows him to fight every opponent equally.

The 'wierd fantasies' that Karin claims Yuzu has about Ichigo are of the less wholesome kind.

• A couple of lines in chapter 430 really got me thinking; "You'd better stop thinking of those wierd fantasies concering your brother. He's a normal guy, you know? He's not some anime character, so..." "I'm not thinking about anything like that!" Also, if this is true, then the first post-timeskip chapter suddenly took a turn for the creepier. Yuzu showing off her school uniform to Ichigo, acting like a Tsundere when he doesn't compliment her... That said, would even trollmeister Kubo really do this?
  • Sure, IIRC, it's not as taboo in Japan as it is in the west. Over here, it's a felony, over there... meh.
    • Yeah, I realize now that I probably made it sound worse than it is. In retrospect, I used a very poor choice of words.

Kubo is NEVER RESOLVING the RukiIchiHime Love Triangle.

• Why? Simple, same reason he killed Gin. Too complicated, with guaranteed audience backlash no matter what the pairings are. Good grief, Ichigo and Orihime are were officially the picture for Oblivious to Love, it has been over 400 chapters since the triangle was started, and there is still no resolution. Nor will there be, until Kubo ends the series, if even then. He's been rather ambiguous about it in interviews, to boot. After all, where would he be if the Ichi Ruki, Ichi Hime, or worse, shippers of BOTH were suddenly Jossed? He's fall further than number 5.
  • Or: Kubo gets pissed off and takes it out on the shippers by canonizing Ruki Hime instead.

As of Chapter 430, Ichigo has unknowingly begun making a Deal with the Devil.

• Seriously. He can't protect his friends anymore, he calls the number on the card this guy has left him... and they've been expecting him to call. Hopefully I'm not the only one whose BAD-IDEA-YOU-MORON sense was tingling. They're all hiding things from each other, he's run off on his own and is desperate to help... yeah, this won't end well.

Aizen destroyed the cleaner in the precipice world because he knew it would get Isshin to train Ichigo.

Either because he (either consciously or subconsciously) wanted to lose, or because (more likely) he wanted to defeat Ichigo at the latter's strongest, either because it was personal or because he wanted to make an example of him.

• Remember that Aizen wanted to "eat" Ichigo to further his own evolution. That may be why Aizen was making Ichigo stronger and stronger.
  • Yes, it's possible his plan (which he apparently came up with on the spot) was:

1. Destroy Cleaner.2. This will get Isshin to train Ichigo3. Ichigo will get strong(er)4. Devour Ichigo5. Profit!

• It's much more likely he was just showing off how unbeatable he is.

The first Quincies were German.

If they were, it would make sense to give their techniques and equipment German names, like Letzt Stil and Seele Schneider.Quincies showed up in the latest arc and they are quite blatantly nazis. One of their leaders even looks like Himler.

The reason why the older captains never use their bankai's is because it would cause psychological damage to themselves.

Assuming a bankai is the state of full power, then it would make sense that you have to fully accept your sword in order to go into bankai mode. The problem is that your zanpakuto is the manifestation of yourself, and as you get older and older, you'll get more and more things about yourself that you dont like. Essentially, using your bankai means you have to accept that there is something wrong with yourself. Conversely, newer bankai users are younger, and thus have less emotional conflict within themselves, so they can just use it all the time without having to worry about it at all.

• I always presumed that Bankai were either straight upgrades in power(Renji, Ichigo) or something that is way too specific to unleash at random (Sui-Feng, Ikkaku, Tosen)heck, just look at Tosen's you cannot unleash that in a group fight without causing as many problems for your allies as you do your foes.
• Alternatively they don't need to use Bankai as much because they understand their powers/themselves well enough not to resort to the Super Mode unless necessary. That sort of decision comes down to the personalities of the users; Ukitake and Kyoraku in particular have no interest in fighting unless they must, let alone with any degree of force, Yamamoto rarely gets directly involved in the canon timeline (though its unlikely someone with that kind of fire-power and history was always a bystander). What's more when we're talking about the older ones, their holding back can be justified by the nature of said Modes. Yamamoto's is very clearly one of mass destruction, and Kyoraku's is suggested to cause massive damage of a different order. They've had to learn to be patient and hold back, because the alternatives are too dangerous. In Ukitake's case, his health also makes him a potential liability to his allies, and pushing himself too far (i.e Bankai) would only make things worse. Unohana's shikai alone seems to handle multiple casualties at once, so perhaps again no need for her bankai has yet arisen.
  • They're also all from a (presumably) very different time. The majority of Soul Reapers we see are young ones, growing up and fighting when the gotei 13 appears to be pretty established. If Yamamoto founded the Academy to train Soul Reapers 2000 years ago, it's not unreasonable to think that the Gotei 13 as a formal organisation is itself not much older than that; the training from one provided skilled officers for the other. The differences in approach and lack of Super Mode-ing could have as much to to with their shared history as anything else. Times change, and they're not the kids who throw around 'power', 'honour' and 'bankai!' everywhere on the occasions when they do turn up. Not that age necessarily works to their advantage - just look at Yamamoto's notion of 'justice' and Ukitake's of 'honour'.

Ichigo is Urahara's experiment

He is intended as step beyond Hogyoku. Experiment was a success.

Aizen planned his loss.

We know how Aizen's been boasting about planning every battle in Ichigo's life. He's been making Ichigo fight stronger and stronger enemies to boost his power for unknown reasons, probably to use his power to topple the King. Actually Ichigo defeating Aizen with Mugetsu was also orchestrated by him. Now Aizen's sitting safely in his cell, as planned, and waiting for the Xcutioners to restore Ichigo's power. Ichigo's powers will probably increase exponentially due to them returning from nothing. Then Aizen will throw even more powerful opponents at Ichigo. Cycle repeat.

Aizen is only the first person of quite a few to pull off a Gambit Roulette.

This is how the plot goes in my head: The amount of time Aizen is imprisoned is for Soul Society to stall for time until the Sokyoku is restored. Sokyoku is pretty much a public use zanpakuto that requires a giant load of reiatsu, and zanpakuto can regenerate if given enough time. The new group of people are from the Royal Guard, and Urahara is their secret agent. The Spirit King learned that Aizen wanted to destroy him and told the Royal Guard to go after Ichigo so they could use him to convince Orihime to fully restore the Sokyoku. After that, Urahara will make a device to sync Ichigo, who regains his shinigami powers but can't communicate with Zangetsu anymore, with the Sokyoku. Ichigo learns Bankai in two days again, gains a Final skill, and destroys Aizen. Ichigo loses his powers again.

Then after a timeskip Yamamoto dies because a group of Vasto Lordes comes. Ichigo gets his powers back, this time syncing with Zangetsu again. The not yet shown Spirit King appears with the rest of the major Soul Society and living world characters and storms Hueco Mundo. They find out that the new king of Hueco Mundo is Keigo. He does what Aizen did, and ends up killed. Then the king reveals himself as a fake. The real one is unaware of anything that's happened in the story yet. The fake runs off while everyone is dumbstruck. The Gotei 13, which loses half its lieutenants and a captain or two in the Hueco Mundo raid, goes back to recover and think of a plan. They also bring back Ichigo, who is going through Heroic BSoD from the shock of killing Keigo.

The real Spirit King learns of everything and joins the protagonist group. He tells Ichigo that he can stay out of the situation if he wants. Ichigo gets his spirit back and says he'll go with Soul Society. The Spirit King starts devising a plan. The protagonists chase after the imposter, who ran away to the dimsension where zanpakuto reside when not called on. The real king goes Chessmaster on the fake, resulting in the death of the fake. Soul Society regains order and Ichigo goes back to his friends. The story ends at this point.

The afterlife works like in The Order of the Stick, and Komamura was a furry.

To clarify: In Order Of The Stick, your physical appearance in the afterlife is dependent on how you view yourself. Unfortunately, novelty wore off quickly for Komamura.

• Then what did Hitsugaya veiw himeself as? Same for Gin, Renji, Rangiku and Hisagi? And why did that parkeet kid show up in Soul Socity looking exactly the same as he was shown when he "died"? Does it not affect children under a certain age? Does this mean those listed above looked like that when they died because were children?
• Their mental images of themselves at the time they entered Soul Society were, as is the norm, identical to their physical appearance (at the time of their death). And until Kubo explains how exactly stuff like growing/aging, eating, getting sick and procreation works for souls and Soul Reapers we'll simply have to theorize.

Ichigos mom was a Fullbringer

Someone was bound to say it, why not me - Otakukun.

• Jossed. She was a Quincy, the reason Ichigo got Fullbringer powers is because she was attacked by a Hollow.

Ichigo would be incapable of beating a mute Big Bad one on one

Let's face it, this is the guy who's completely incapable of going full power unless the bad guy threatens his friends.

Yammy was never really the strongest, the Espada numbers really do go from 1 to 10

• Think about it, Yammy was curb stomped by Byakuya and Kenpachi when they had more trouble with #7 and 5 respectively. Solution to this that is actually pretty funny: Aizen trolled Yammy. He merely told him that he was really the strongest so that he can watch with glee as Yammy gets his ass kicked even after he transformed. That's also why his power is to get stronger as he gets angrier. What's another way of getting angry? by crying like a little baby who can't have his way. Yammy is just comic relief for the espada.
  • Still doesn't explain why Nel would say there are no double digit Espada.
    • That's only if you use a Base Ten system. In a Base Eleven or greater, the symbol for 'ten' WOULD be single digit. Although, Espada tattoos are arabic numbers rather than the kanji of the Gotei 13 numbers.
• Espada numbers only measure spirit power. Yammy going from 10 to 0 only means he's got more physical strength after his release.

Chad had already partially awakened his Fullbringer powers before meeting Ichigo

Simply put, there is no way in hell a human being should be able to lift a telephone pole with nothing but brute strength. But if you were to, say, ask the soul of the telephone pole for a little help, then that's a different matter entirely.

Chad will get a weapon

The reason Chad always gets his ass kicked is because he keeps bring a knife to a gunfight, or rather a fist to a swordfight. Now that he understands the true nature of his powers he should be able to do like Ginjou and take an object of great importance to him (likely a memento from his abuelo) and turn it into B-F-Something-or-other.

• It'll probably be the coin he wears around his neck. I mean, after all, he said that coin is "maybe even more important than my life," and yet Kubo hasn't mentioned the coin again in the 300 or so chapters from then till now.

Bleachverse humans only have one growth spurt

In the real world, you have a large growth spurt at the start and end of puberty, and maybe a few small growth spurts in the middle. In the Bleachverse, you get all of it at once, which is why none of the main cast looks like teenagers by real world standards, and why the presumably full grown Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika and especially Rangiku can so easily meld into a high school class. And that's why someone like Hitsugaya is thought of like a little kid, even though its not unheard of for a fifteen year old to be that short. Which means that Rukia is either doomed to be pettanko forever, or she's still pretty early in her ghost-puberty.

Aizen will return...with his glasses

His mind will have completely warped from the combination of the Hogyuku and his imprisonment causing the mild mannered, glasses wearing persona to becomme his real personality. In that form he cannot even use his sword's absolute hypnosis ability. But at times of extreme stress, the glasses-less, megalomaniac Aizen will come out.

Ichigo will gain a ressurection

I doubt it will happen in this arc, but, especially with Hichigo stating "I have no name!", it is a reasonable assumption that when Ichigo inevitably accepts his hollow side (and learns its name?), he will gain a ressurection. I mean, considering we've already seen two 'stages' of hollow transformation for Ichigo, Kubo already has a shikai/bankai-style upgrade device he can use later.

We're nowhere near done exploring Ichigo's powers

There are still so many things about spiritual powers and bodies that we don't know yet. The process of Ichigo regaining his powers is the perfect time for some explanations, particularly what made Urahara go through using the method he did to awaken Ichigo's own non-borrowed powers way back when. This isn't counting the whole power oppurtunity thing and trusting Ichigo to keep Hichigo in check. I mean, it's risky, and did Isshin know Kisuke was going to risk his son's heart so haphazardly to hollowfication? In this perspective, the whole nature of Ichigo's power as a conglomerate being is up in the air.

There's also the inherent risks of taking in more powers than he already had before training for the FGT. The way I see it, Ichigo's form with the TZ chain around his arm, is the release of all the limits on all his powers and consolidating them into one spiritual form. Not Reaper, not Hollow, not Visored nor Arrancar, perhaps not even Transcendental, but the very essence of the attack he's used all this time: Getsuga. The only remnant of his former powers is his zanpakuto, and even then, up until he becomes The Getsuga, Ichigo is only using the sword like a sword; as if, in some way, all that we see about Ichigo at that point, from his hair to his glove and chain-arm-sword, his very being is simply the sealed form of his new Getsuga powers. Once that power is amplified through the release, it is unleashed as an attack, taking with it the entirety of its essence, like formerly frozen water now leaving a glass, rendering our hero powerless.

As a seperate state from his normal power set-up and the fact that Hichigo was pretty much subsumed by Tensa Zangetsu for the training, there still seems to be more unfinished business with Hichigo, especially concerning the way he manifests in the real world compared to the inner world. It is for this reason that I predict Hichigo's return along with Ichigo's Reaper powers, and since Fullbring powers are Hollow-derived, they'll go straight to Hichigo, necessitating another inner world battle, but one in which, hopefully, Ichigo fights alongside Tensa Zangetsu against Hollow Ichigo. Maybe we can finally figure out the mechanics behind a Visored Resurreccion. For instance, do you have to release your Zanpakuto at all before triggering it (after putting on your mask of course). Given that an Arrancar Zanpakuto just contains the nucleus of their Hollow powers, what does that mean for Visored Zanpakuto, which already have a consciousness connected but distinct to the hollow self of the wielder? Protection is an instinct Ichigo and both Zangetsus have in common, while Hichigo's instinct is to dominate and conquer. Therefore, since Zanpakuto are reflections of their owners, or indeed, what they could become, Inner Hollows are what they'd never want themselves to be, hence the inherent conflict. Accessing what you don't want yourself to be but finding some way to temper it into at least something you can use for your own is the impression I get from Visored powers. The deeper you go into that power, the more profound and impactful the lessons become.

This leads to my next point. Based on Tousen, a Visored Resurreccion requires a name. Gaining a mask seems to require acknowledging that the Inner Hollow is there, finding out that it has a name that it tries to hide, likely out of fear of being hurt (that whole (hehe!) hollows lose their hearts, their identities, their names thing), that has got to shake your view (and your Zanpakuto's) of the situation. Also, given the depths of Ichigo's power, I'd say he has more than just a Visored Resurreccion, I'd say he takes it up to at least Segunda Etapa. Every Visored developed a mindless Hollow state very similar to the time when Ichigo was doing his mask training and his body transformed during the inner battle. However, Ichigo then evolves a much different form, even worse and not restrained by an inner conflict causing his power to fluctuate as in training. The despair caused by not being able to fulfill his instinct to protect to the point of lethal injury allowed Hollow Ichigo's instinct to take control deeper than it ever had before that point, creating another link on the power chain, something that's been referenced somewhat on here before, but I don't think has been addressed so specifically. I believe it would look something like this, with Reaper powers seguing into Hollow powers:

Sealed > Shikai > Bankai > Masked Form > Resurreccion > Segunda Etapa

That's it so far. At least, those are some of my projections and theories. Toodles!

Extra: As an example for the hollows losing their name thing, Sora Inoue became known as Acidwire.

Ichigo's final power up will be Shinkai, as in God Release

Of course afterward he'll be forced to become the new king and unable to return to the mortal realm without fear of destroying it.

• Not to nitpick, but Shinkai would be Death Release, and Kamikai would be God Release. Or something along those lines. I actually don't know how it would be congugated, but I do know kami is the word for deity, and shin comes from (or is) the word for death.

Grand unifying "Arrancar X is the Hollow of character Y" guessing.

Now, this is just for teh lulz, but post your theories here about who you think the Arrancars are Hollows of. As You Know, Ulquiorra is the Hollow of L^*  and/or possibly Koiwai and/or Hayate and, as established on The Shikai Page, Harribel is the Hollow of Bella Swan. Now, who else can we come up with?

• Nel's child form bears more than a passing resemblance to Koiwai Yotsuba (green hair, Genki Girl...). Whch would make Nel's adult form... adult!Yotsuba. Great, the trolls were right.
• Szayelaporro could be Batman Begins!Scarecrow. They're both somewhat Bishounen (YMMV), have Stoic Spectacles with a side of Four Eyes, Zero Soul, and do it For Science!.
• Grimmjow is the hollow form of Kamina. Think about it: They're both complete badasses, both have brilliant blue hair, and if you squint, it sorta looks like they have the same style. They both have tattoos, they both have Walking Shirtless Scene, they're both hot-headed, and they both take full advantage of the screentime they have to basically show off how manly and awesome they are.
• Starrk is the Hollow form of Max Payne. A lifetime of using Valkyr painkillers is what gave him his abnormally high reiatsu (either that, or he ate all the people he killed). He is the Espada of loneliness because everyone around him dies, wether he wants them to or not. Lilynette could be a representation of his unnamed daughter. Also, Starrk's Resurrección has him go Guns Akimbo, which Max does as well.

Aizen Has No Bankai

Aizen's Shikai was so obviously broken that he had no real need to master Bankai, possibly seeing it as too time consuming. As a result, he stuck with his Shikai, figuring (correctly) that he could attain ultimate power without it. That's why he never releases his Bankai in his fight with Ichigo. The Bankai that he showed the other Captains was an obvious fake designed to gain Captain rank.

• Already mentioned on the shikai page.

Nemu's Zanpakuto is...

... both a) artificial and b) immensely overpowered. Nemu has been stated to be the result of Mayuri's experiments with modsouls and gigais. Now, why would an artificial soul have a (real) zanpakuto spirit? More likely, Mayuri created an artificial Zanpakuto (perhaps from the 'blank' zanpakuto academy students use, or something similar) for Nemu to use. If that is the case, why would he just give her an ordinary Zanpakuto and not something ridiculously broken? My guess is, it's something that can get him more test subjects, like something that causes instantaneous mass death without harming the bodies.

Rukia's bankai is a scythe

Kubo said that she had one in the first designs. of course, it will be an ice-scythe.

Orihime is a Fullbringer

Or maybe it's just a coincidence that her unique powers are entirely contained within a special item to which she has a deep emotional connection.

• Also, the chick with the dollhouse shows that 1) they don't have to take the form of a sword and 2) there is no restriction to the type of power it can have.

The Espada weren't aspects of death, they were aspects of Aizen's Psyche.

That sounds really stupid, but bear with me here.

• Yammy is Aizen's rage and an expression of brute force; for most of his life, Aizen's crushed that down and used his intellect instead of his overwhelming power, so Yammy seemed like the weakest and most ignored of the Espada. But at the end of his campaign, Aizen gave up on subtle plans for overwhelming power and when THAT didn't work, descended into barely coherent rage, which in turn shows Yammy grow explosively. Just as Aizen's anger and brute-force tactics were ultimately much less effective than his intelligence, Yammy was defeated easily by Byakuya and Kenpachi despite his power.
• Aaroniero was Aizen's greedy and manipulative nature made manifest; Aaroniero's desire for power and endless evolution is a mirror of Aizen's own agenda, and playing The Good Captain to manipulate others is a trick right out of Aizen's book.
• Szayel was Aizen's Mad Scientist tendencies manifested, but also his cowardly, slimy side. Szayel shared Aizen's tendency to use science to try and render himself perfect and experimenting on others mostly because he could, but Szayel also relied a lot on underhanded tactics and sacrificing others to keep himself in the game, a trait Aizen shared but did not rely on to the same degree. Being an incomplete fragment of Aizen's intelligence was the reason Szayel was always a Smug Snake while Aizen gradually devolved into one.
• Zommari was the part of Aizen prone to becoming Drunk with Power, initially purged to try and keep Aizen from becoming Drunk on the Dark Side before his master-stroke and to avoid letting his victories go to his head. Aizen did a good job at this for a little while, but ultimately he wasn't able to resist the intoxication of the Hogyoku's power and wound up becoming drunk on his own power anyway.
• Grimmjow is Aizen's destructive and predatory side made flesh; the part of Aizen that reveled in using his power to devastate anything around him. Aizen again manages to repress this for a while, but his obvious glee as he takes on the Gotei 13 by himself makes it hard to hide.
• Nnoitra is the personification of Aizen's self-loathing and despair. Aizen knew on some level he was a monster and couldn't help but hate himself on some level as his more vile deeds kept piling up. Eventually, this part of Aizen that knew he would never really be anything but a monster was purged and formed Nnoitra, who sought oblivion.
• Ulquiorra was Aizen's nihilism and Evil Cannot Comprehend Good tendencies. Aizen saw himself as an Übermensch, and the thought patterns of lesser shinigami were ultimately alien to him. Given what Ichigo thinks of Aizen's deeds and desires, one could assume that he chose to cross the Moral Event Horizon so many times on a basis no more complex than "why not?"
• Harribel was the last vestige of Aizen's inner goodness and nobility that he used to craft the "Captain Aizen" persona. She held the morals Aizen gave lip service to but had never really believed in and had genuine concern for her followers while Aizen couldn't care less. Aizen judged this aspect of his nature weak and useless despite abundant evidence to the contrary and pointlessly sacrificed it with his equally pointless murder of Harribel.
• Barragan was Aizen's arrogance and god complex, but also a manifestation of Aizen's fears of his own mortality. Aizen pretended to have no fear, but one of the reasons he was so elated when he merged with the Hogyoku was that he no longer needed to be afraid to die; when it seemed like he might be killed even with all that power, Aizen completely lost his composure in fear and impotent rage. Barragan's immense power derives from Aizen's immense arrogance and plans of godhood being such an integral part of his being, and for his fear of death being his strongest, perhaps his only fear.
• Starrk/Lilinette was the manifestation of Aizen's loneliness and resentment of his own power, the side that Ichigo claimed to see but Aizen never really demonstrated. Starrk was incredibly powerful but not evil because, like Harribel, he was manifested from an ignored element of Aizen's psyche unrelated to his nature. If Aizen at his core wanted to be normal, Starrk carried that to its extreme; Starrk wanted to be weak and surrounded by friends and had nothing but resentment and apathy for his immense power. Since this wish to be normal was even stronger than Aizen's desire to be god, Starrk was more powerful than even Barragan.
  • The only one to get a confirmation by Word of God. The primary difference between Starrk and Aizen was that Starrk lacked Aizen's ambition.
  • Besides the fact that we saw some of the espada's backstories, I absolutely must call Fridge Brilliance on this particular topic.
    • I second that motion. This kind of makes the Deicide parts easier to swallow for me.

Arrancar have an Inner Hollow and Zanpakuto spirit

Just like Vizard have both, so do Arrancar. Their inner hollow is a representation of their hollow abilities, similar to Zanpakuto are a representation of a shinigami's inner abilities. A Zanpakuto spirit is the result of Shinigamification and is a side of them they don't like like with Ichigo and his inner hollow. I believe that Zanpakuto spirits are a manifestation of ones inner strength used with ration and thought while an inner hollow is a representation of ones inner strength used with pure animalistic instinct. I believe that all Vizard and Arrancar have the potential to obtain Shikai, Bankai, Ressurection, and Segunda Etapa.

Teppenkai

I believe Teppenkai(Apex Release, my Fan Nickname for the Final Getsuga Tensho thing.) can be divided into two parts; the form and weapon, for the Hollow and Zanpakuto side respectively. For Ichigo, this was Getsuga, for his hollow side and Mugetsu, for his Zanpakuto side.

P.S: Like my Fan Nickname?

Bleach is an alternate universe from Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Very silly theory, but where to start? Oh, yes. Uryuu was a nerd who loved to design silly frilly clothes, just like always. Then, Kyubey decided that he was too girly to not be a mahou shoujo and contracted him, making Uryuu's dream become true and make him a mahou shoujo in a girly, frilly dress (not without being tortured with equally girly designs). Then, Orihime went to save her friend, on the verge of becoming a witch, and asked to change reality back to how it normally was. But since Orihime's definition of normal is just as trustful as Kyubey, the Bleachverse as we know and love was created. Hollows are remnants of how witches in the old Universe were, since Orihime was being stalked by Kyubey to be contracted. Which means that she might be a witch waiting to happen. Or maybe not, since Kyubey might have been afraid that reality-changing powers (that, somehow, weren't completely gone in that "new" world she created) could destroy the whole Universe instead of saving it. Also, Uryuu would look fabulous in a frilly dress.

There will be several more Big Bads after this arc.

Aizen was first for the Soul Society, Turn Back The Pendulum, Arrancar Invasion, Hueco Mundo, Fake Karakura and Deicide arcs. The latest arc seems to be tied between Ginjou and Tsukishima. Since Kubo did say the next arc will be 'much longer' than the current one, I think there'll be several more characters competing for the title of Bleach's next Big Bad.

• Kubo said the last arc will be much longer than the Arrancar arc. He also said there will be a shorter arc before that. That said, it's not out of the question that the 1000 Year blood war will involve a three way battle and Enemy Mine in some form.

Ikumi and Tatsuki will be more prevalent later on.

Mostly likely Ikumi; Tatsuki hasn't appeared in a while.

We'll see more races appear in Bleach's later arcs

We have the Fullbringers from Xcution, so we might get to see more races or groups like that later.

The next Arc after the Fullbringer Arc will deal with a group of Quincies.

They will be Quincies who managed to hide from Soul Society's pogrom. Their goal will be to kill all of the Gotei Thirteen Captains and replace them with Quincies, as they feel they can do a better job of running Soul Society than the Shinigami can.

There is a second group of captains in the Gotei 13.

They will operate in other countries. Because the world is a big place, Seireitei is afraid of losing track of low-ranked shinigami, so they send out thirteen captain-level shinigami to destroy hollows and send souls to Soul Society in places outside of Japan. Each of these captains has some relation to another current captain, and three of them will come back to help Seireitei recover.

• Kubo apparently loves adding new characters, and we already have a bunch - the Fullbring...people - in the Living World. Perhaps his addition to the Soul Society side will expand on how the afterlife works in other countries. A clash between the Gotei 13 with any opposite numbers could be interesting, although given the sheer number of potential ones it could get tricky.
  • Let us expand on this, there just isn't a second group of Gotei 13..there are a whole lot of them each themed on a different religion's afterlife.

Ōmaeda bought his position as lieutenant.

Either that, or he 'inherited' the position from his old man. Point is, when has he ever done anything to indicate he is worthy of being a lieuteant?

• Aside from the fact plenty of the massive cast have no evidence backing up their ranks (Nanao Ise, Kiyone and Sentarou?), Sui-Feng doesn't seem the type to keep genuinely incompotent people around, much less as her lieutenant. It'd be ineffective and especially detrimental to what's meant to be the Stealth Force. Would she let money or influence jeopardise that? Omaeda also hung around to try and protect his captain against Barragan, and under those circumstances his efforts - though futile - counted for something. Sui-Feng seemed close to actually admitting he'd helped her (when he stops her from crashing into a building) at one point.
  • While it's true he likes his rich status symbols, he's proven that when the chips are down he's actually somewhat competent.
  • Lieutenants are chosen by their captains, seemingly without any oversight or prerequisites. Many of the lieutenants seem to be almost opposites of their captains. Maybe it is about getting an alternate viewpoint, maybe it is just tradition.

Tsukishima is a temporary Big Bad.

If he is the main villain for the Lost Agent arc, I predict that he'll only be the villain for that arc alone.

• That goes without saying.

Senna will return in another filler arc.

Crack theory, I know, but a fanboy can hope, right?

Senior Captains don't really need to use Shikai or Bankai

We've heard from Yoruichi that Bankai increases someone's power 5-10 times, right? We've also seen that the older and more powerful the captain is, the less often they use their releases. Starrk was crushed by Shunsui in Shikai, while Ichigo - despite being theoretically at above-captain level - needed both his Bankai and his mask to defeat Grimmjow.
So, perhaps, the older captains don't really need to release to access more of their power. Think of their power as being structured in layers. Shikai lets you access a deeper layer of your power, while Bankai lets you reach further still. It's not that Shikai or Bankai make you more powerful - you can just access more of your energy. The older, more experienced captains have learned to access more and more of their energy even if their Zanpakuto is in the sealed state.
Thus, Byakuya, Hitsugaya, Ichigo and so on still need to release their bankai to fight on par with, say, an Espada. Even if they are powerful and ostensibly captain-level, they still need to use their releases to fight at full power. On the other hand, someone like Shunsui or Yamamoto don't need to release - or maybe they only need to release their Shikai - to fight on par with them. This could also explain why Zaraki is a captain despite lacking the supposedly crushing boost of Bankai - perhaps, he simply learned how to access the entirety of his power.

Grimmjow is the hollow form of Kamina.

Think about it: They're both complete badasses, both have brilliant blue hair, and if you squint, it sorta looks like they have the same style, they both have tattoos, they both have Walking Shirtless Scene, they're both Hot Headed, and they both take full advantage of the screentime they have to basically show off how manly and awesome they are.

• Ooh, I like. Can we move this to the Grand Unifying Hollow Form WMG further up the page?
  • Done and done.

Ukitake's zanpakuto redirects and manipulates any spiritual energy

That's what ceros are, right? He said to Kyoraku that his skills were more suited to a cero-slinging gunman like Starrk, and he was right because it was a straight-forward matter of being fast enough to collect and redirect the Espada's shots. Ukitake was using Starrk's own spiritual power against him, at no noticeable (granted, Wonderweiss interrupted) effect to himself. Which given his varying degrees of ill-health would make sense; he is well aware he cannot rely on his own physical strength because his inconvenient illness can quickly get in the way. So, instead, he turns opponent's powers against themselves and by refusing to play ball by explaining his powers is quite likely to leave anyone less observant than Starrk confused for a dangerous amount of time. Ukitake seems pretty quick at flash-step and not the sort to hang about - mocking Espada excepted - once he does pitch in. Being able to alter the power, speed, and direction of spiritual energy in general - as he did with Starrk's cero metralleta - would be kind of in line with his evasive behaviour in that fight. He was giving very little away, and subtlety (or flagrant attempts at misdirection, thanks Kyoraku) has its uses. If any attack from a spiritual strong being involves said energy, then it's a tricky opponent who can effectively duplicate it with added power. Physical strength? Kido? Completely Missing The Point?

The reason Aizen is so overpowered and his powers so broken is because...

A Hogyouku existed before Urahara or Aizen even thought about it. Maybe someone had created one earlier, but somehow it was in an area close to where Aizen lived before he became a shinigami.

Now bear with me here, because this probably won't make much sense. Considering Aizen's personality, he feels like the world should revolve around him- but his powers at that point are completely insubstantial compared to this view. He wishes that he were more powerful, since he can't bear to live in a world where his existence is meaningless. The Hogyouku grants his wish, and makes him so overpowered that the world is there for the taking.

Because of this however, the major downside is that his powers isolate him from the people around him and leave him alone and pretty much friendless. This loneliness causes him to start hating the shinigami and wish he was normal instead, which triggers his start of darkness, but he's outside the range of the original Hogyouku so it can't grant his wish at this point. It isn't until he creates his own that he's stripped of his powers and his wish is granted. (sorry that doesn't make much sense)

• Well he did make a Hougyoku before Urahara did. He stole Urahara's to perfect his own.

Grimmjow will reappear in the new anime filler arc

Since Tite Kubo seems to have forgotten about him, the way to appease his fans is to bring him back for a filler. He will somehow have managed to open a garganta offscreen and appeared outside Urahara's Shoten, where Urahara will heal his injuries and make him work for him to repay his debt. The villain of this arc has control of the Precipice World, so to get back to Soul Society, the stranded Shinigami will have to use a garganta to get back to Hueco Mundo, and then go from there straight to SS. Somehow Urahara will have broken his garganta machine, so Grimmjow will have to reveal himself and reluctantly help them instead. Even if he desn't appear in the manga again, a filler arc wouldn't be so bad,*sigh* a fangirl can dream I guess.

Some random guessing

• We will see Ichigo master Kido to a level comparable of 90+ prayers/spells without incantation. Prolly' spontaneously or in the same revelation style we've seen other powers appear.
• There will be a fight between Ichigo and Yamamoto.
• Aizen's bankai is mass-control (puppeteering) or alter reality. He's already out, Central 46 don't even know they've released him somewhere after the sentencing, or even before.
  • Jossed - Aizen lost his Zanpakuto before we ever saw its bankai.
    • Is it, really? Aizen fused with his zanpakuto, just like Ichigo. This not taking into account Aizen's perfect hypnosis might be his bankai.
• Ichigo's gonna become the Spirit King. After beating the shit out of him in an epic end game battle. I don't think it's probably, but it'd be fun if Gotei 13 + Urahara + Vizored + Aizen teamed up against The Spirit King + The Court Guards.
• Ichigo's powers aren't gone forever. He will remember that the Tensa Zangetsu is part of him and that reiatsu is all around him (think Neo/the Matrix) and Mugetsu will be an attack he can use frequently.

We will see more Fullbringer characters

Either new ones, or the ones that Tsukishima killed, we will see more.

Di Roy Rinker was in his Resurrección in his first appearance.

Di Roy has a cameo appearance◊ after Grand Fisher is defeated by Ichigo. His lower body resembles his Hollow form◊ and his Hollow hole is larger than it was when he was as an Arrancar, being more similar in size to the hole he had as a Hollow.

Two ideas for a Tournament Arc.

1. The soul king is retiring and holds a Tournament to choose his successor, anyone can enter (even the bad guys)

• It would be the final arc in the manga. Ichigo only enters the Tournament to make sure that no bad guys win, but he wins and the manga ends with him being the new soul king

2. The soul king holds a Tournament, the winner gets a wish (or he brings back one person from the dead of the winner's choice) anyone can enter (even the bad guys)

• This idea is more flexible in whether it's the final arc or not. If it's the final arc, Ichigo wins and brings back his mother (or Orihime's bro and for something really crazy Kaien) But if there is going to be more arcs after it, a background character who was introduced in the arc should win to avoid fan wank of introducing a new main character.
  • Crazy I know (mainly the first idea)

Kyoraku's shikai wouldn't work in complete darkness

Lacking light to cast a shadow or to see colours by, two of Katen Kyokotsu's games which were of most use in the Starrk fight would be rendered useless. That said, she has at least two more and and if it comes down to it Kyoraku clearly has no problem with brute force. Frankly, wouldn't be surprised if one of the games needed darkness to work.

Aizen's Bankai works like Silent Hill.

Kyōka Suigetsu = Mirror Flower, Water Moon. Water becomes mist and mirrors reflect. Aizen's Bankai creates illusion mist that forces its victims into a Battle in the Center of the Mind.

Ichigo never used his Super-Speed to its fullest after fighting Byakuya

His bones breaking was actually a direct result of overusing the Super-Speed. After fighting Byakuya and learning of this drawback he held back his Super-Speed enough that it didn't break his bones. When he got stronger, his top speed never really increased, he just became able to tap more of his Super-Speed reserves, thus increasing his overall battle speed.

Grimmjow is Greebo's Hollow.

Grimmjow used to be Greebo of the Discworld universe. Animal Hollows are known to exist, and Greebo is strong-willed and smart enough to function in a human form (which grins a lot and favours not covering the chest). So Greebo dies, becomes a cat Hollow like Yammy's dog, and gains self-awareness and the power of speech as he eats other Hollowed souls and absorbs their ability to reason. A little quote shamelessly stolen from the Cats Are Mean page: " [Greebo] has complicated Schrodinger's Cat by having three determinant states that he could be in when you open the box; Alive, Dead, and Bloody Furious. That implies that when shut in the box, he is a zombie cat made out of pure rage."

Mayuri is a Vizard.

What's the best way to hide the fact that you're wearing a mask? Don't take it off. Knowing Mayuri's affinity for self-experimenting, it's a good bet that he had Hollowfied himself at one time after Urahara's exile, using some obscure technology to extend the mask duration to 12-14 hours. His Soul Society Arc persona is in fact his inner Hollow, suppressing his ethics while the mask's on. During the recovery period after battle against Ishida he has somehow came to terms with his Hollow side and returned to Jerkass personality we all know and love. He may even hold some gratitude to Ishida for snapping him out of Hollow-dominated condition.

Aizen's bankai is Tsukishima.

More accurately Tsukishima is Aizen,using his shikai to disguise himself,and his bankai to take over the mind of Ichigo's friends.There are 3 possible options for Aizen's true bankai power: 1)Complete mind control 2)Complete memory control 3)It somehow makes the victim think that the user is his/her friend(it would be really fitting with his personality ). Moreover Tsukisihma never existed to begin with. It was Aizen who gathered the fullbringers then butcherd the shinigami substitute.

There are a number of evidences that supports this theory

• In chapter 446 Tsukishima said to Ichigo:'Your powe right now...I like it.It's become so much closer to the heights your previous powers reached'. How does he know anything about Ichigo's powers,when they never even fought\ before?
• When Chad and Orihime got cut it seemed like nobody else noticed it. Smells like mind controll.
• The way Orihime and Chand got cut...well,they didn't got cut at all. We saw in chapter 429 that he can easily slice people in half if he wants,but what happend to Orihime and Chad then? It was an illusion Tsukishima/Aizen created when he released his bankai to confuse them.

• yeah, no.

Orihime is part of a special subset of Fullbringer...

To be more specific, the Hollow which attacked her mother wasn't just a Hollow. It was a Hollowfied Hachi in the berserk-training state. He's the barrier expert. If it was his turn, then who could properly contain him? More importantly, Mrs. Inoue being exposed to a Vizard explains the missing link connecting the Shun Shun Rikka in the hairpins to the concept of Fullbring. The similarities between Hachi and Orihime's powers are also duly explained. Many Fullbring abilities are notable for having localized reality warping traits, typically limited by a specific focus. Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka are basically the Zanpakuto Spirits for her hairpins and their powers take a lot more effort to understand than normal Fullbring, because the Rikka have independent consciousnesses and it's more than simply a matter of pride or fondness for something you have. Orihime is thus a special class of Fullbringer: a Human whose powers have been sourced from a Vizard.

Ginjo's wound in Ch. 446 hasn't effected him.

With the revelation about Tsukishima's Book of the End's ability, lots of people have been pointing out that Ginjo was cut by it in Ch.446. But his cut was a physical wound, not a stab or slash which left no wound as it appears to work with on others. Whether Tsukishima purposely didn't use its power on Ginjo is unknown, but it might be a key to a weakness in the power, some flaw Ichigo can use to defeated it and fix things.

Tsukishima's Book of the End has to replace someone.

A narrative makes no sense if you suddenly shove someone in there for absolutely no good reason, and Tsukishima, being an apparent bibliophile, would likely know this. Therefore, Book of the End doesn't just insert Tsukishima into a person's "story" - it replaces someone else. It doesn't necessarily have to be a uniform thing. Each person's story is different. However, Tsukishima basically replaces someone from their past, and encourages the "reader" to go along with someone else's story as it relates to them. This is how Tsukishima is the cousin of Ichigo, Karin, and Yuzu, an old flame of Riruka, the battle partner of Chad and Orihime, so on and so forth with each person's story. This is also why Uryu is so far shown to be unaffected, and why he was wounded. He has to remove the old character before he can replace the new one, otherwise a logical fallacy starts kicking in. In the case of a long-lost cousin or an old flame, this isn't hard, but in the case of Chad and Orihime, he had to replace someone who they'd have plenty of loyalty to, and Uryu is a friend, but not directly in the Xcution circle, making him an easy target.

• That would mean Ginjo really does have an enemy out there since Tsukishima had to insert himself as this enemy. That would make a great ally for Ichigo.

Uryu will end up being the keystone in taking down Tsukishima. Since the ability has to be activated, he probably did not see Orihime heading to the hospital and healing up Uryu's wounds as quickly as she did and as such didn't activate the "memories" before this.

Chizuru will somehow be able to help.

She didn't seem to be in the group who Tsukishima managed to affect with Book of the End. Either Kubo has forgotten about her, or she could be able to help Ichigo fight against Tsukishima later.

Tsukishima is a Mary Sue parody taken seriously as a horror story.

Imagine your world as a story. For example let us take the Hobbit. Bilbo is in Bag End enjoying retirement when Gandalf comes to his door and explains the One Ring must be destroyed. Okay, Bilbo is reluctant at first. Then this stranger appears, Elrondo Baggins. Wait, Bilbo doesn't recall him. Nobody else does either, and he seems interested in the ring. Only bit by bit the Shire begins to talk like he was always there. Small stuff gradually, but then Frodo claims it was Elrondo that talked Bilbo into adopting him. No, that seems off. Wait, now Elrondo is claiming to have gone on the adventure with the Dwarves as well. Wait, now Gandalf remembers him going on the quest? Not only did he go on the quest, but he dragged Bilbo's comatose body back to the dwarves after the introduction to Smaug went wrong. It was really A.B. who tricked Gollum, but gave Bilbo the ring for safe keeping. Oh, and Elrondo the Dragon Conner, Genocider of Mirkwood Spiders, peerless victor of the Six Army War (he was so good he was considered his own army) happens to be the bestest friend of the Eagles and asks Bilbo for the One Ring in order to fly it into Mordor. All the while Bilbo and this human who calls himself strider that came to town after thinking something seemed off about Gandalf lately seem to be the only ones not affected. Oh, Elrondo just made friends with that rider in Black. "Yes, Bilbo, just hand over the ring and we can fix your little memory problems. Don't you remember your bestest friend ever and dear ol' half-brother?," Elrondo.

Tsukishima is the "Eldrondo" of Bleach. He's inserting himself into the past of everyone around Ichigo as the very popular, good looking and key person in defeating every threat them came across. Heck, looking at Tsukishima's behavior he'd be the Ishida/Renji/GJ of his introduction arc if he were a good guy. Who did he try to kill off first in order to make room for himself? Coincidentally, the person who seems not to have been affected by Tsukishima's powers? This is the closest way to explore the concept without involving reality warping or meta-humor.

Acidwire comes back....

....as a benevolent Arrancar (remember that he tore off his mask) who will help Ichigo save Orihime as thanks for helping him see the truth of why Orihime prayed to him less and stopping him from killing her.

• Sora never tore off his mask. The fact that part of his face was revealed was because Ichigo cut that part of his mask off. In other words, Sora didn't do it himself, so he was still a hollow. On top of that, he was already purified and sent to Soul Society, so this won't happen.

There is a form of Soul Reaper-ified Arrancar

For now, lets call it "Hontoichi" (from "Honto", meaning "True" and "Ichi", meaning "One". So, True Ones.) Hontoichis are Arrancars are the most perfect form of Arrancar, attained by ripping off their bony armor. This is only possible with the Oken, but Aizen doesn't want anyone to know that so he lies about his motive for making a replica of the Oken. Hontos would be so insanely powerful they could rip apart a half dozen captains in the blink of an eye, requiring Ichigo to do the Ass Pull of the century just to stand a chance. If this is not jossed.....I might've just screwed over the entire Bleach universe....

• Yeah, no.

Ichigo's mom made a deal with a demon

• The deal was that every night at the exact same time a demon, or Hollow will sneak in un aware to the soul reaper already living there, and drop some of his blood into oddler Ichigo's mouth. the plan was to turn Ichigo into the strongest hollow, so he wouldn't become the strongest Shinigami, but that plan was torn asunder when Rukia stumbled into the town to protect Ichigo.
• Then there is the matter of Karin's abilities, Over all evilness to a detained level, and can see ghosts. The hollow gave her some blood too, unbeknownst to Ichigo's mom.
• Over thinking it you two are. You can justify both's abilities from their dad alone. Considering that Ichigo's dad and Urahara both knew about Arrancar far in advance of anyone else that Ichigo's mom may have been an Arrancar who was "good" in the way Nell was.
• All in good fun as a way to connect "Bleach" to "Supernatural"

Bleach and Nabari no Ou exist on the same universe

The ninjas are just a lesser example of soul reapers

Aizen was never Lonely at the Top

The behaviour just doesn't match up. Zanpakuto contact works because the sword's are connected to the wielder's power. The sword even has its own soul, part of the owner's, yet still distinct. Yamamoto confirmed this with the gut-trick. Gin was basically able to conceal who he was even through his sword. I postulate that since zanpakuto have their own wills, that their thoughts and desires can take the place of their owners' when using the sword-clash-mind-reading method. When both sword and reaper are on the same page feelings are obviously true, but when they're not... I think Shinso didn't necessarily like what Gin was doing, but just didn't let anything slip out of loyalty. This brings me to the case of Aizen. I think Kyouka Suigetsu was the true one to feel solitude, because, let's face it, Aizen was, and still is, insane. Aizen abandoned his zanpakuto and its powers for the Hogyoku, only relying on KS as a simple cutting tool, like Kenpachi used to. KS didn't want to be stuck with Aizen, so when his master was suitably humiliated by Ichigo and Urahara's seal began to disrupt his power and concentration, Kyouka Suigetsu wished to be stripped from Aizen's soul, removing the Power of the Reaper and basically screwing over his power base.

Tsukishima was lying about the full extent of his Fullbring's powers.

To be exact, he is able to not only insert himself into others' pasts, he can put someone else in his place or make them think they did what he does and share his goal. Bring them 'onto the same page', so to speak. Ginjo was thus affected, making him Ichigo's enemy by Tsukishima making him think he's the bad guy. Which fits in the horrifying effect Tsukishima has. Not only can he take your place in that Mary Sue way but he can make an ally think he's a villain.

• Seemingly Jossed in 462, not only is he limited to implanting memories, there are limits as to how much he can alter someones past.

Ikumi Unagiya's son Kaoru is a Fullbringer.

Ikumi's not there just to be hot and cool, she and her son are actually important plot points. It is about time we got an Action Mom in the series, but Unagiya's not a token character; when she was pregnant with her son, she was attacked by a hollow. Also, with his Fullbring, her son will either be an Anti-Villain, or an Anti-Hero. Or a Bratty Half-Pint sidekick.

Tsukishima and Ginjo are each part of Aizen.

Remember way back when they first showed up and everyone accused them of being Aizen? And now we've discovered that Tsukushima can "manipulate peoples memories of the past" with his Fulbring which sounds shockingly like a more bullshit-based explanation of Kyōka Suigetsu's powers. Plus the previously mentioned lines about liking Ichigo's power and how much closer it is to what he used to have. They're each parts of Aizen trying to stage a comeback.

All Zanpakuto have a "Final Getsuga Tenshou"-esque ability of some sort

Question: Why would a substitute shinigami go through all this trouble just to steal a fullbring infused with remnants of shinigami power? What if it was because he had lost his shinigami powers a long time ago, and was trying desperately to find a way to get them back?And it kinda makes sense; while each zanpakuto is inherently unique with their abilities, their evolution is identical across the board: Sealed state -> Shikai -> Bankai. The final stage, of merging zanpakuto and shinigami into one god-like being for but a few moments, should logically follow the same pattern and be the final stage of normal shinigami evolution.

The Espada will make a return as soul reapers

The series made a point to explain how hollows purified by zanpakuto cross over into the soul society, it's possible the more sympathetic Espada (Ulqiorra, Starkk, possibly Grimmjow) will return in the soul society and become soul reapers (with or without memories of their hollow life). Kubo's hinting he was unexpected by the fan reaction to Ulquirra and considering reviving him would be a perfectly sensible way to go about this.

• Jossed on Grimmjow. He returns in the Thousand Year Blood War arc as one of Kisuke's special recruits, still an Arrancar, and confirming what was initially only shown in an omake: he didn't die after Nnoitra attacked him, he was just injured and eventually recovered.

Fullbring fills the gap between Shinigami and Hollows

A Visored is a Shinigami with a Hollow mask; an Arrancar is a Hollow with a Zanpakuto, but they're merges of either species - hybrids. Although a lot of fans disparage Fullbring as a plot device with no real impact onto the plot, I think Fullbring is Kubo's way of filling in the gap between Hollow and Shinigami powers without explicitly being either of the two, like the Visoreds and Arrancar were. Fullbring is 'developed' when traces of a Hollows' reiatsu were left onto you or your pregnant mother, so it resembles a Hollows' abilities, but as Ginjo demonstrated, Fullbringers seem to be power parasites, absorbing the abilities of other Fullbringers (particularly those of ex-Substitutes) and achieving upgrades. Like the Visoreds and Arrancars, Fullbring is a merge of the two, but without leaning more towards the other, unlike the others.

Some random guessing

• Urahara will cross the Moral Event Horizon.
• The leader of the Soul Society is either Yamamato (just cuz) or the true Big Bad of the series.
  • Jossed. It's actually the Spirit King.
• The true Big Bad is a Chessmaster and is secretly pulling off an Evil Plan.
  • Jossed. We already had that with Aizen.
• Don Kanonji was a retired shinigami, just like Isshin.
• Isshin was definitely an ex-captain.
• Tite Kubo will create another series in the future that takes place in the same universe as Bleach (and the main character of the former will be an Ichigo Expy).

Fullbringers vs Shinigami

• Ginjo will get his motives revealed in a last-second flashback before the end of the fight.
• Tsukishima won't "fight" Byakuya, but he'll certainly try to Mind Rape him with a bookmark.
  • Jossed. Tsukushima put up a decent fight with Byakuya, and didn't attempt to alter his memories at all.
    • No, he did. Tsukishima made himself into Byakuya's past teacher and close friend. Except it didn't change the fact that Byakuya still percieved him as an enemy.
• Shishigawara won't get killed by Ikkaku.
• Kutsuzawa will revive himself with his Time Master ability.
  • Jossed. Zaraki cut him in half far too quickly for that to have occurred.
• Riruka won't get killed by Rukia, but she won't pull a Heel–Face Turn during the fight.
• Yukio will get defeated once his full name is revealed.
  • He will, no, must encounter Kyoraku.
• Jackie will give Renji a run for his money (ala Yylfordt), but she'll ultimately lose.
  • Jossed. She was soundly defeated without any difficulties from Abarai.

Ikumi will become more prominent later on

Doesn't appear to be the case, but a fan could hope for the best.

The fullbringers' powers are all based on types of games.

• Yukio's power is kind of obvious.
• Riruka's is playing with dolls.
• Kutsuzawa's is basically "finish x before the timer runs out not to die." Sounds like a ridiculous number of video games to me.
• Jackie's is a game of a more figurative nature.
• Shishigawara's power is basically a slot machine he can wear.
• Tsukishima: mind games? Or an RPG.
• Ginjo is harder to categorize: barring RPG (his training with Ichigo), the only other one that really seems to fit would be Hack'n Slash.
  • Both Ginjo and Ichigo look like characters from fighting games in their fullbring forms.

There will be another counterpart to Substitute Shinigamis and/or Fullbringers

Alternatively, they are counterparts to each other.

• There are two kinds of Shinigami-Hollow hybrid, Vizards and Arrancar. It stands to reason that there might be two kinds of hollow-human(Fullbringers and something else) and shinigami-human(Substitute Shinigami and something else).
• One of the reasons why Ichigo is so powerful is because he has all three parts: Human, Shinigami AND Hollow powers. He defeated Aizen beacuse Aizen was only Hollow and Shinigami, and lacked the 'human' component.

New Shinigami abilities

• Rukia will have a new ice-type attack.
• Renji will have a new way to use his Bankai, but no Kido-based powers.
• Byakuya has a new move, but he won't use it against Tsukishima.
• Hitsugaya will use a technique never shown before even though he always had it (Ryusenka against Shawlong; Sennen Hyōrō against Luppi; Hyōten Hyakkasō against Harribel; Hyōryū Senbi against Aizen).

The Invading Army arc will end in a massive cop-out

• Currently the Captains have been fully healed and are fighting the reigai along with the Vice Captains. Byakuya and Mayuri have been defeated by regiais without even doing anything yet. After the reigais defeat the Gotei 13 (with the reigai of Yumichika defeating one of the captains with his incomplete shikai), and after Nozomi forces Ouka to commit suicide, the reigais immediately die and disintegrate. Leaving massive rage from fans for the cop-out and how overall terrible the arc was.
  • Well to be fair it did end in a cop-out.

The Shinigami are using Ichigo as a tool

Having Yamamoto order everyone to restore his powers is fishy, especially since the bureaucrats at Central 46 apparently haven't objected.

• Possible, but it would be nice (if unlikely) to think that whatever his 'bosses' said, Yamamoto ordered the restoration of Ichigo's powers at least in part because he wanted to do the 'right' thing rather than the 'lawful' one. Other than that, he seems too pragmatic to dismiss someone like Ichigo - powerful, a helpful anomaly - entirely. Not when Aizen is highly unlikely to be out of the way, and Yamamoto's wise enough to know this. He may not want Ichigo involved, but he and the Central 46 will need him.
  • It seemed Ukitake intended to use him, but that was long before he lost his powers.

The whole purpose of the current arc is to show-off how much stronger the characters become

The shinigami will UTTERLY curbstomp the fullbringers

• It seems to be going this way. From the looks of it Kenpachi cut his opponent in half and Renji has apparently been non-stop training for the entire Time Skip.

The Fullbring fights will be shown from weakest to strongest.

Giriko Kutsuzawa was the obvious weakest, having traded time manipulation for raw power. Jackie Tristan was stronger than Kutsuzawa, but just as weak in durability. Yukio had a powerful ability, but wasn't suited for an actual fight. Moe Shishigawara has the strongest combat-oriented ability, but the punches get weaker over time if he keeps using them on the same opponent. Riruka Dokugamine has that Love Gun as her main weapon for a fight, but her Dollhouse can be used to trap people inside. Shukuro Tsukishima has a powerful ability, and while he is fast and quick at defense, he's got weak durability. Kugo Ginjo is the strongest, with Visored-like abilities resembling Ichigo's.

All Fullbringers will be Killed Off For Real

You read that right, and I'll double-down on it - even Riruka will get killed by the time the arc ends, since Kubo seems to have recognized that there isn't much of a point to leave a character alive if they won't get brought back until some years later.

• Nope. Most of the Fullbringers survive, with Giriko, Tsukishima, and Ginjo being the only ones who were killed off.

The King of Soul Society is Kubo

Seriously. They open up the doors to see the king on the very last arc...the doors swing open...a blinding light engulfs the whole room...then just as their eyes adjust to the glory of the King- It's Kubo, shades and all. And he will be all: "LOL YOU THOUGHT SOMEONE ELSE?" AND THE MANGA WILL JUST END THERE.

Kukaku lost her arm in a fight with Ginjo

No way a random Hollow did that.

Ginjo killed the previous 10th Squad captain

Since so much as attacking a captain is considered treason, and Ginjo going AWOL prompted the anti-substitute law, I'm guessing he killed Hitsugaya's predecessor in a fight.

• Then that would make him a captain, I doubt they'd let a treacherous deputy become a fellow member.
  • The Klingon Promotion only applies if there are at least 200 witnesses from the killed captain's squad witnessing the battle.
    • Jossed. The Ex-Captain was Isshin.

Tsukishima doesn't really have the power to change the memories of inanimate objects

They're fighting in Yukio's videogame, right? He changed the game's memories to alter the floor. If he really could change objects, he would have changed Senbonzakura instead of just reading its memories.

• Tsukishima and Byakuya were fighting in the game? I don't think so. Besidesm he didn't read Senbonzakura's memories, he simply made it so that he fought against it before.

There were more Fullbringers in Xcution

All of them are dead, by now, most likely since Kutsuzawa burned them or Tsukishima broke them.

Another War Arc will occur

Between the Shinigami and whomsoever the next villains will be.

• "War" is in the arc's title, so duh...

Tsukishima is an orphan

He is basically the human equivalent to Kenpachi, and another example of how a person can cope with loneliness. He had no real name, nor did he have any family to speak of. He had to make his own name. The reason why his Fullbring is "Book of the End" is because of a "desire" that Tsukishima had since he was young: to "go back in time" and have a "new life". However, he realized he could never truly have a family, because the memories were still false, and "reality" never changed. Because of this, he eventually became who he is.

• This seems to be very likely and at least partially confirmed.

Bankai guesses

A whole bunch of random guesses about Bankais that currently Bankailess Shinigami characters might recieve or yet unrevealed Bankais of Captains and ex-Captains.

• Hisagi: His Bankai takes the form of two huge scythes connected by a chain, á la Ikkaku's Bankai. It's special ability will be associated with using Razor Wind.
• Matsumoto: A giant cat made of ash that can scatter and reform on will and can use her trademark Death of a Thousand Cuts on a much larger scale.
• Kira: Gravity manipulation with Area of Effect.
• Rukia: Ice attacks up to eleven á la Hitsugaya. Like Ichigo, her clothes will change when she goes Bankai, most likely turning into something white.
• Rose: A weaponized musical instrument with powerful and varied Area of Effect attacks ranging from hypnosis by sound to killing anyone in range.
• Kyoraku: His Shikai makes games into reality, his Bankai will turn reality into a game. How the hell that works in practice is anyone's guess.
• Yamamoto: What's his release phrase again? "All things in the universe turn to ashes, Ryuujin Jakka!" Yeah, his Bankai will do just that, seeing what his Shikai does.
• Kenpachi: Ends the series the instant he says "Bankai".

The Adult Swim series of Bleach will never make it to the current episode.

At the rate it's progressing, and at the frequency that shows get canceled or replace on adult swim, their is just NO WAY. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to jinx it or hope it doesn't. I would prefer to watch Bleach, in bed at, night than on the computer, during odd hours of the day, but it's just not going to happen.

Kenpachi is Actually Alucard

Think about it: The mass of power, the appearance, the thirst for battle and the willingness to let his opponents get in as many hits as possible before he goes all out on them. These are all traits of Alucard, and the fact that Alucard Disappeared for over thirty years due to being erased from reality all points to the fact that Kenpachi is Indeed Alucard having been transplanted from the Hellsing verse and into bleach.

This also explains why he can't release his zanpakutou: Because he doesn't actually have one, he just has a sword.

The concept of the Bounts might reappear in the manga...

But their nature will be that of Fullbring-Shinigami hybrids. They would not be hybrids in the way Ichigo and Ginjou are, but they would be hybrids like Inoue, with a reiatsu that is similar to the Vizards. We know that Inoue's Rikka fairies are sentient, similar to the Bount Dolls, so Manga!Bounts could be made as a result of Fullbringers creating figures, like dolls, and then using Fullbring, channel their soul into the doll, which then comes to life.

The concept is based off of something I heard about why there are no graven images of God: if you carve the image of a god, you are able to use that god's power. In other words, a Manga!Bount's carved image would draw on the power of the Manga!Bount's "god", or Zanpakuto spirit. Such a creation would make a Fullbring a Shinigami-Fullbring hybrid, possessing normal Fullbring abilities, as well as the added abiliites of a Shinigami through the Doll.

Isshin is the Soul King

...Or at least one half of who was originally the Soul King. For a long time, he resided in the Royal Realm, but the burden of whatever crimes he committed in the past that earned Aizen's hatred became too much for him. Eventually, he decided to split his soul in two: one is the Kurosaki Isshin we know, who possesses Shinigami powers, while the other half was his Hollow powers. The 'Other Isshin' was either imprisoned in the Royal Realm, or Isshin then fled the Royal Realm, leaving the 'Other Isshin' in the Royal Realm, and being the 'thing' and 'it' that Urahara and Aizen know as the Soul King.

This WMG was inspired by two things: 1) Stark and Lilynette originally being one soul, and the Kami/Piccolo Daimao dynamic.

• I would agree with this. However, I think that the reason Aizen hates The Soul King (Isshin in this situation) is that he abandonded his power for love. Ichigo's Mom (Why do I forget her name!) was in his mind the most wonderful woman in the world, so he was williing to abandon the throne and is stuck in the mortal world. Maybe it's even an Izanami/Izanagi situation and she is her reincarnation.

The Quincy Hirenkyaku really is faster than Shunpo

Uryu makes a comment in the Soul Society arc about how Hirenkyaku is faster than Shunpo. While Mayuri mentions he does not think this is the case when fighting Uryu, it could very well be that a fully-mastered hirenkyaku is faster than a fully-mastered shunpo. Maybe once Ryuuken gets around to fighting we will see him being faster than even Yoruichi.

Uryuu will betray Ichigo.

It probably won't be permanent, though. He'll probably be working as a double agent in favor of his friends. But I have a feeling we're going to hear "I hate Shinigami" at least twice in this arc.

• Which means that if that happens Uryuu will be the equivalent to Byakuya from the Zanpakuto Unkonwn Tales/Beast Swords Arc.

Aizen is related to Isshin (and therefore Ichigo)

They all have anomalous and completely unexplained power. Additionally, their zanpakutou are called "Zan GETSU," "En GETSU," and "Kyoka Sui GETSU."

Ichigo IS the Soul King

Aizen's attempting to seal him off because he's a reality warper, but Isshin and Urahara disagree that that's necessary.

About the last arcs title

The last arc titled 'Thousand year blood war' which at first I thought was reference to the Shinigami-Quincy conflict but that conflict happend about 200 years ago,so I started thinking what else could it mean,and I deduced two possibilities

• 1:It really is about the old Shinigami-Quincy conflict and it's only their fall that happend 200 years ago,the conflict really went on for a thousand years.
• 2:The more intresting alternative is that the title is about the war that starts NOW! Meaning that this last arc going to last ONE THOUSAND YEARS! It would certainly allow some intresting twists.
  • The latest chapter does indeed say "The Bloody 1000 Years War Starts!!".
    • Then we can now start theoryzing about how Kubo will achive this. In the end it's probably going to be some kind of epic ass-pullery and several craptons of plotkai, but because I'm an optimist I'll throw in my theory: the main human cast or even the entirety of Karakura town is going to be annihilated (because of obvious reasons), but the main characters powers will remain/evolve and continue their afterlife fighting off the Vanderreich in Soul Society. It would be pretty anticlimatic if the war really ended in five days.

Aizen's Bankai is permanently active, and independent of his Shikai.

Its effect is to drain the intelligence of everyone in the vicinity. This would explain most of the series.

Toshiro is the soul of Kamina.

Because his bankai is Dai-Gurren Hyorinmaru.

Orihime and Uryu will end up together

Hear me out on this. For a long time, there's been conflict between fans about who Ichigo's gonna end up with, right? And in chapter 486 (I do believe) Orihime says something along the lines of, "Nothing. Ishida-kun. I was just thinking about how you really became friends with Kurosaki-kun. And I like that side of you."Cut to Uryu looking flustered and telling her if she's going to make fun of him, to at least do it in a way he'll understand. Plus, Kubo said he had big plans for Tatsuki, right? So maybe that's where this comes into play... Maybe. It's always seemed to me like Rukia would end up with Renji, anyway... if anybody does end up getting together.

• How about you provide evidence that states that Kubo has said he has big plans for Tatsuki first, instead of just making that assumption and trying to pass it off as truth? It's okay to make WMGs on who will end up with who, but don't bring shipping preferences into this, or try to fabricate evidence.
• Fabricate evidence? I'm sorry if I offended you. It's just a theory, althought now it seems silly that you've brought that to my attention.

Ikkaku will eventually be killed.

With Sasakibe's death, I think the Vandenreich intends to cripple the Gotei 13 by destroying their captains from the inside. They seem to get a kick out of doing it the same way with the Espada. If that's the case, Ikkaku's Undying Loyalty makes him a huge target not to mention his death would cause a disturbance all over the Bleach universe. This could cause any number of things, even Yumichika completely losing his shit or exposing his zanpakuto.

Mayuri will get the chance to experiment on Uryuu after all.

Honestly, there's no telling what Yamamoto might allow in his obviously grief stricken state. Now that everyone is in Hueco Mundo, Mayuri being the creepy bastard he is will most likely jump at the chance to capture and "question" Uryuu.

• Since the Vandenreich are now heading to Soul Society, this could lead to them rescuing and recruiting Ishida.

More characters will be Killed Off For Real

Since the Vandenreich aren't pulling any punches when it concerns murder, I'll make a laundry list of characters that are likely to die.

• Emilou Apacci, Cyan Sung-Sun and Franceska Mila'Rose - they survived worse, but their opponent was a Quincy this time. Last time we saw dead Arrancars (when Ichigo's group showed up in Hueco Mundo with Urahara), it was made clear that Inoue couldn't revive them.
• Menoly Mallia and Loly Aivirrne - In a Redeption Equals Death fashion.
• Kirge Opie - Killed by Ichigo, Chad or Urahara, during their confrontation.
• Dondochakka Birstanne - Following the One Piece example of killing off the captured good guy, so Pesche and Nel could get more character development (like Yamamoto when Sasakibe died).
• Tier Harribel - If Dondochakka lives, she'll be the one to die, to give more development for her fraccion (if they survive).
• Dordoni Socacchio and Cirucci Sanderwicci - Will be confirmed dead in this arc, to remove all doubt.
• Gantenbainne Mosqueda - For refusing to join the Vandenreich.
• Yasutora Sado - Every time he loses a fight in the middle of a Rescue Arc, things go sour for Ichigo's gang. Here, I think Kubo will take it up a notch by actually killing Chad off, in order to make it clear that the Vandenreich are not playing around.
• Ikkaku Madarame - If Yumichika will reveal his power, it will take Ikkaku dying in order for that to happen. Likewise, Kenpachi wull find out that Ikkaku has bankai (or say that he already knew) before Ikkaku gets killed.
• Nanao Ise - Since Shunsui will use his bankai in this arc, I think it'll take something as big as Nanao dying in order for him to use it.
  • Her or Ukitake, whose Incurable Cough of Death might get the better of him, fatally, in battle, or just give an opponent a lucky shot.
• If Opie fails in getting Ichigo to use Bankai, that unnamed Quincy (who baited the Hollows) will do so by killing someone close to Ichigo.
• Marechiyo Omaeda - Will die protecting his captain.
• One, two or three Visoreds.
• Genryusai Yamamoto - The Captain-Commander dying at the hands of the Vandenreich would force the Royal Guard to show up.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi - Ishida will kill him, solidifying a Face–Heel Turn in the eyes of the Soul Society.
  • How about all of the older captains (Yamamoto, Unohana, Kyoraku and Ukitake) dying? It would be horrible, even for a secondary cast, but apparently Ichigo's experience in Soul Society has begun to change things there. Perhaps the Vandenriech wiping out the 'old guard' would cause the Gotei 13 to change even further, and faster? Progress...yay.

The Arrancar killed in the war with Aizen will have a Big Damn Heroes moment

Most, if not all, of them were killed by zanpakuto. What happens to a hollow killed by a zanpakuto? It gets purified and sent to Soul Society. They'll either have become Soul Reapers for a chance at power, or will turn out to have become a gang in Soul Society, retaining some level of power but refusing to ally with the Soul Reapers. Either way, they'll eventually all show up en masse when the heroes seem to be about to face a Bolivian Army Ending just like the Visored did in the battle against Aizen's forces.

• We already know that Arrancar go to Hell. There's also the simple fact that we have way too many characters as it is. It seems that if Kubo really wanted to use them, he would have given them an out like Halibel.
  • We had too many characters a long, long time ago. Since when has that stopped him?
  • Somewhat wishful thinking, but it's still a bad idea. Kubo has enough to wrap up with the 'Reich, Squad Zero, the Soul King, etc. He would have left more of the Arrancar alive if he really wanted to reuse them (doubly true now that we know they're burning in Hell). They have no reason to save the heroes. They're a bunch of one-note sub-bosses with no real value. It's pandering of the worst kind.
  • two of the Espada went to Hell, that doesn't mean being an Arrancar results in going to Hell. it means that those two Espada sinned as humans. there is no reason to think that the rest wouldn't have been purified and sent to Soul Society like every other hollow. they might not help or even show up at all but they are probably there unless they are shown to be somewhere else.

History repeats itself

Orihime will eventually choose Ichigo/-'s side, hinting that Ishida and Ichigo's relationship and background will mirror that of their fathers. Also, Kurotsuchi is probably gonna die and Nemu will go mental and inherit his mad scientist legacy. Akon could also be revealed as a relative of Kurotsuchi and rise to the same occasion, being he is the single person Mayuri doesn't disdain.

Harribel and/or her Fraccion will make Heroic Sacrifices

Due to Harribel being chained up currently and her Fraccion are apparently going to try and rescue her, and will possibly join Ichigo's team, this will lead to them sacrificing themselves to save Harribel who in turn either does the same for Ichigo, completing her role in death as "Sacrifice".

The shinigami are just lying about the Quincy

The Quincy don't actually disrupt the balance at all and it was all propaganda made up by the oldest members of the Soul Society so shinigami would fight the Quincy without asking too many questions. I mean think about it, in Chapter 492 the 6th seat says that talks with the Quincy were refused but didn't Ishida say that his grandfather was the one being refused. Someones lying here and my bet is on the shinigami.

• And what happens if Ichigo finds out about this? He'd probably say 'screw this I'm outa here' and let the Vandereich do whatever they want.

Meta WMG - Bleach will get a follow up anime once the manga is over.

Just like Inuyasha: The Final Act.

• I fully expect this.
• And hey, since there wouldn't be a manga to overtake this time around, we wouldn't have to worry about filler episodes of the same quality as the Gotei 13 Invasion Army arc.
• As of March 2020, about four years out from the ending of the manga, consider this one finally confirmed.

Kenpachi's stomach bandages aren't just part of his clothing style

They're there to hide *something*. Probably a hollow hole. Or worse.

• Maybe he has more of those sucker things like on his eye-patch to nerf him more.
  • Due to being even stronger, crossing into Story-Breaker Power territory.

There will be time travel.

Soul Society will be completely destroyed and Ichigo will have to travel 1000 years into the past and kill the leader of the Vandereich.

• Putting my money on Isshin being -as old as 1000 years- and him (, Ruyken Ishida and Yamamoto) being key reasons behind this war. Though I like your WMG. Time manipulation has already been introduced, so why not.

There will be another time skip

The war will actually last 100 years (shinigami time) and Ichigo and some friends will stay in the soul society and age according to the magic there. However; some of his friends will stay in the human world and age accordingly. Maybe they'll be middle age when we see those who stayed behind again...

The series will have a Downer Ending

.At the rate things are going, Soul Society is getting oblitherated by the Vandereich. If Ichigo is still fighting Kirge; he may not know until its too late to help, ending with a possible end to reality itself due to the uneven mix of souls thanks to the Vandereich causing a complete destruction of souls. Unless a cop-out happens or Soul Society requests help from Arrancar, any possibly remaining Fullbringers, Aizen etc. than the Vandereich may succeed and screw up unless this was the Leader's plan all-along.

• Of course, there's always the Royal Guard.

Soul Society will be destroyed and the few surviving Shinigami will be scattered

This may humble the surviving Shinigami into learning from their mistakes,make amends with all those they have wronged over the centuries and reform their society while they regain their forces to take back the Seretei from the Vandenreich and start over on the right foot. At least it will be more interesing to see Soul Society change drastically which might redeem them from being Designated Heroes.

Ichigo is also a Quincy.

Ichigo's already a Soul Reaper, a Visored, and a Fullbring. If Tite Kubo is going to power the heck out of Ichigo, he might as well go all the way and reveal that Ichigo's mother was a Quincy (don't forget that Ichigo's father is a Soul Reaper), Ichigo inherited Quincy blood and their techniques, and he will be the strongest Quincy there is.

• BAM! Chapter 514. Pretty much word for word.

Yumichika is the soul of one of the Quincy's killed during the genocide

I mean, think about it. Ruri'iro Kujaku can drain (or collect) spirit energy - it almost completely negates the Ransōtengai technique, which consists of collecting spirit for ones own use. They're two very similar powers.

Also - he's related to Uryuu, hence the fashion obsession.

• Why would he be working with the Shinigami at all, then?
• I sort of assume not all souls remember their human lives.

Nel will regain her adult form

This will happen either via Orihime potentially healing her broken Hollow mask, or like with Nnoitra, stress in a heated moment will alow her to transform. I doubt she'll maintain the form permanently, for comedic value.

Orihime will bring Aizen back

The battle in the Seireitei will go really really badly, and because of his subtle mind control thing that was never touched on again, she'll decide he's the only person who can save everyone and bring him back with her powers.

• Scary part? She may be RIGHT.
• F'ing beautiful. Even more so if it is planned by Aizen-sama himself.
• He'll probably claim that this was his plan all along.

Squad 0 is rumored to have already been drawn

By rules of awesomeness and job importance, I speculate Squad 0 doesn't entirely consist of Shinigami. Bases on this, I propose Squad 0 inhabits at least one Vasto Lorde and at least one being with more evolved powers as Inoue. The latter would be a fitting mentor for Inoue Orihime in the final arc, though that's besides the point. Squad 0 also has at least one quincy, and I bet you it's Ruyken Ishida.

Starrk and Lilynette's as Adjucha

Their "combined" arrancar self is a gunman with a wolf theme. But before that, when they were both Adjucha, Lilynette was the gunner, and Starrk was the wolf. This actually work both in regards to name and abilities. A Coyote is a close relative of the wolf, and a buckaroo (Ginger BUCK) is a cowboy. Now consider that Lilynette is the gun part of the equation in their resurreccion, and that the wolves needs part of Starrk to work. The only thing that goes against this is the anime where the wolves were all Lilynette- which goes directly against the claim that they are part of the spirit of both.Lilynette was essentially a female Lone Ranger (but without a horse and sidekick) and Starrk was the eponymous lone wolf.

Ichigo is slowly losing his Bankai

He is slowly losing his Bankai. In the last chapters, the Xs were missing from his Bankai in literally three various panels.

• Jossed, It was just an art mistake, they're back in the next chapter.

Soul Society created the hollows

Not by action but rather inaction. It's a rather shitty afterlife. Way back when, the ancient nobles of SS probably didn't want to share the afterlife and decided to leave the souls on earth to rot. And they became hollows, or eaten by hollows. It was only when hollows managed to invade SS that they decided to do kill hollows and send souls to the afterlife. But by that point they'd never be able to perform a hollow genocide, unlike with the other races they had a hand in creating

The King's Key is being held in Hell

And the release of it is a release command of old man Yama's zanpakuto. He's not the first wielder of Ruyjin Jakka, in fact, this is also something that is bequeathed between the captain commanders, as it indeed holds the powers of hell and the ability to bring the key up from the tougher guardians down there.

I realize the Hell Verse wasn't really canon, but Hell in Bleach is. This makes me think the Ouken will indeed be presented by Hell upon Yamamoto's words. Possibly the contender for the key needs to fight them cosy guardians from the movie as well.

Mayuri likes or respects Akon

In the latest chapter he suggests that Akon takes action without his orders quite often and without serious punishment for it.

• Wrote a theory 'bout them being related under "History repeats itself" WMG a bit up. Remember 100 years ago? Akon is Mayuri's favorite, no doubt.

What will happen when Aizen escapes?

We all know it's going to happen. So how will it happen and what will he do? Personally, I think he's going to launch some psychological warfare against Ichigo and co. (And if he plays the capture-the-innocent-maiden card again, I will be PISSED.)

Ichigo's Hollow Powers are returning, either in mask form, or in a method completely different

Looking carefully at this page of the Bleach manga, that line on Ichigo's eye is not blood, blood doesn't flow like that. It's shaped alot more like a combination of his mask marking, and the face plate of his Fullbring, it's even extending from his forehead down. And he didn't have that earlier in the panels, and unless he's been cutting himself, assuming that'd help, those have to be markings, which are a sign that his Hollow powers are returning. The theory goes that they are returning either as the mask we know and love, or in a unique method, with his Hollow abilities merged into his Shinigami state, making them easier to control and probably eliminating the risk of his Superpowered Evil Side and With Great Power Comes Great Insanity, which can only be a plus, eh?

• Confirmed. Hichigo is still there, and this time his powers are manifested in a different form ( Ichigo's new zanpakuto).

Aizen's hypnosis was a lot less gamebreaking than we thought

Specifically, he can only make illusions of himself (and make himself disappear). Seriously, we've never seen him do anything else. Yes, he can 'blank' out sound or sight, but to actually make something appear, he has to know it inside and out. What's more, the illusion cannot move by itself if he's not in visual range. Back during the 'Turn Back the Pendulum' arc, he had to get a prisoner to act like him, and then attached the illusion to him. He never sets up an illusion and leaves, except for the 'corpse doll' when he faked his death- which obviously didn't need to do anything.

Kenpachi is going to die.

Simply to highlight the new 'characters actually dying' direction the manga seems to be taking, just after we've seen him victorious seemingly against all odds and we're all cheering for him he'll get beaten and killed.And Yachiru will bring doom upon all.

All powers in the Bleach universe are related to fullbring

Think about it. Excluding kido, everything is object-based. Zanpakuto and Quincy crosses, like fullbrought (fullbringed?) objects, have specific powers based on and only usable by a certain person. Take, say... Riruka's dollhouse. Anyone could have played with it, but only she could unlock its abilities. Just like the fullbringers in Xcution had powers multiple powers at varying levels of strength, so also do shinigami have shikai and bankai, while the Quincy have Letzt Stil and Vollständig.

Alternatively, only the Quincy, not the shinigami, are the fullbringers. The reason Ichigo is such a threat to them is that Zangetsu is not a normal zanpakuto anymore, but a fullbring, which they, at least at this point, don't know how to seal. The other shinigami will have to become capable of fullbring to defeat the Vandenreich.

The Captain Commander's Bankai is so powerful, it kills whoever uses it.

The way I see the battle going is, Yamamoto uses his Bankai, and the Juha Bach steals it, not knowing it'll kill him, and he uses it to finish off Yamamoto, who is injured from using his Bankai, even if only for a few seconds. This way, Ichigo could still be the hero, taking out some of the super strong Vandenreich members, without having to get another upgrade to take down the leader, and Yamamoto wouldn't have to die for nothing.

• This could also explain why the older captains haven't used their Bankai until now. It would kill them!
  • ...Sorta confirmed, Yamamoto hints that using his Bankai for too long will kill him...and pretty much everyone.

None of the deceased Shinigami are going to stay that way

Orihime is going to revive them all once they reach the next lull and get an opportunity to present her with the bodies.

Orihime will invent a technique that uses all six of her fairies.

The result will be a shield that reflects attacks back on the attacker AND heals the target for as much as the attack would have injured.

• Orihime will get Crazy diamond from Jojo's bizarre adveture?

Yamamoto has killed so many people because he has killed them more than once.

After he realized he could raise the dead he started killing people like crazy, and then when they came as spirits in Soul Society he killed them again. And when they where reincarnated he killed then again and so on, and so on.

Another one on Aizen's Bankai

Well, we all know his Shikai has the power to seize control of all five senses of its victims. His Bankai could be one stage further.Instead of simply seizing control of the others' senses, it would take total control of the body and personality of it's victim. I don't imagine it like a simple Mind Control . Rather, something like a "Body Snatcher".

Unohana is atoning for her violent past.

According to Juhabach in Chapter 511, the original 13 divisions were made up of bloodthirsty killers. Unohana has been around as long as anyone can remember; perhaps she chose to become a healer as a way to temper or make up for her violent tendencies. It'd also explain why everyone is terrified of her.

• Possibly confirmed as of Chapter 520. Her real name is Yachiru Unohana, and she was the first Kenpachi! The implications of that title - and the fact that she's going to train the current Kenpachi in swordsmanship - explains a lot.
  • To tag onto that, her first name, 'Retsu', literally means 'violent', and since Retsu is NOT her original name, this looks to be solidly confirmed.
  • Chapter 523 seems to be laying this one on thick. Lapsing back into Battousai mode in preparation for her duel with Kenpachi, Unohana is downright terrifying to behold. The site of their battle, Muken, is the lowest floor of the Central Underground Prison and is normally restricted to those who aren't criminals. Kenpachi even remarks that he and Unohana would be criminals had it not been for their strength being deemed useful by the Gotei 13.

Orihime's healing powers will be rendered useless by a Diabolus ex Machina

When she steps up to the plate to heal someone, they'll find out something shocking. The wounds left by Quincy Heileg Pfiel can't be healed. Going further, the reason why is because the arrows destroy part of soul, Orihime's Santen Kisshun reverses time on a body part requires the soul of the person, So a wound left by an arrow can't be healed because a piece of the soul is gone...or whatever, this is just a guess.

• Actually, Kubo has already stated he basically cut her out of the story because he wrote himself into a corner with her powers. If no wound is permanent, and even Death Is a Slap on the Wrist while Orihime is around, and it would completely destroy any kind of tension in the story. Hence the reason she was imprisoned in Heco Mundo forEVER, why she didn't show up for the fight against Aizen, and why now she's just kind of been unceremoniously stranded in Heco Mundo again.

Lt. Yachiru is the biological daughter of Kenpachi and the Yachiru she was named after.

Because where else would a child stronger than Hitsugaiya and half his age come from? One day, he fought this woman named Yachiru who was able to fight him to a draw. That's why she's the only person he ever admired. So naturally they decide to have sex, and Lt. Yachiru was born. Kenpachi never knew this, of course, and neither does Lt. Yachiru.

• Suddenly this possibility is a whole lot more likely with the reveal that Unohana was not only Yachiru, but the first Kenpachi.

Isshin was Masaki's bodyguard to begin with

Since Isshin seems to just be a soul reaper, his wife must be where Ichigo's ability to obtain any species powers comes from. She would've attracted the attention of Squad Zero and required protection from someone on the level of Ichigo or stronger, which explains why Isshin lost his powers and didn't show up against Aizen while anyone still part of Soul Society was awake.

• Confirmed, but for different reasons. Isshin stayed in human world to guard Masaki from her inner Hollow.

Ichigo isn't a shinigami, a human or anything.

He is actually a unique existence whose ability is to develop the abilities of whoever he fights. So in the SS arc he developed shinigami powers, the Arrancar arc he developed hollow powers, Fullbring arc he developed fullbring, and now he's developing quincy powers. Also, Urahara planned all of this.

• Maybe in the Bleach verse, Humans Are Special because they all operate on the same basic principle that Quincies do: breaking down and manipulating reishi for their own use. Whether or not they're consciously aware of this is unknown and perhaps a push of sorts is necessary for certain humans to recognize said abilities, hence the very small number of spiritually-aware humans. Ichigo being the son of a former Captain probably helped, at least in the case of his Shinigami powers.

Ichigo unconsciously mimics the power of whoever he's fighting.

Throughout the Soul Society arc his Shinigami powers evolved, in Hueco Mundo his Hollow side developed, and now that he's fighting Quincies? Blut Vene!

• Making him a heroic version of He Who Fights Monsters

Quincy were stated to be a group, therefor their powers are not hereditary.

• Maybe Ishida (perhaps even recognizing the above) taught it to him at some unspecified point? The two theories are not mutually exclusive.

A somewhat more likely theory is that Ichigo was able to piece together the basics of the technique through the explanation Urahara gave him while he was battling Kirge Opie. Or his ability to use blut is related to him escaping the jail.

• Jossed. Ichigo could use Blut Vene specifically because his mother Masaki was a Quincy, and it was noted she was extremely gifted in the use of the Blut branch of techniques. As for all his other abilities, all a result of eugenics basically. His Shinigami powers came from his father being the former captain of Squad 10, his Hollow Side was an experimental Hollow that attacked Masaki before he was born and was sealed away by Isshin, then passed to him when he was born and merged with his Shinigami powers, becoming his true Zanpakuto. Every time he was exposed to a similar power set, it drew out his own latent abilities and allowed them to fully manifest.

Ichigo's entire life has been an experiment by Urahara to create the most powerful spiritual being

With the reveal that Masaki was a Quincy; Urahara set up Isshin and Masaki, he arranged for Ichigo to gain Hollow powers and let both Rukia and Orihime be kidnapped so Ichigo would fight strong enemies to save them. Then, when he lost his powers he allowed Ginjou to contact Ichigo so he would gain a Fullbring, and arranged for SS to restore Ichigo's powers. Now, he's steering Ichigo into fighting the Quincy to awaken his Quincy powers.

• Jossed, Ichigo got the Hollow from Masaki. Either since the moment he was born, or when she died.

Bleach's afterlife worlds are the six realms of samsara

In Bleach world, reincarnations seems to be the norm for the dead, though you can go to different worlds. There's a Hell, and Hollows qualify for the Hungry Ghosts, making Hueco Mundo the Preta realm. Soul Society is the world where Asura's realm and Deva's realm coexist, since they can perceive each other just like humans and animals. Devas are shinigamis (they have a lot of characteristics of gods, without being really gods) and Asuras are the most normal souls (they have a life longer and more pleasurable than humans and seem to be less attached to material needs, but they're constantly envying the Devas).

Aizen never had a bankai

I know this one is a little late, but who says Aizen ever had a bankai? he was so arrogant that he may have thought bankai would just be a waste of his time and passed the captain's test using his shikai.

• Alternatively: Kyoka Suigetsu was his bankai, and he's just that powerful as to keep it active all the time.

Sui-Feng is Muhammed Ali after he died.

She floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee. She likes women. She also intensely dislikes using her bankai, which is a bazooka. Ali refused to go to 'nam where the soldiers were fighting with bazookas and RPGs.

Kyōraku Shunsui is Big Boss.

From the recent events and chapters leading up to the latest one, this seems to be adding up in many ways, evidence includes:

• Both have a very cynical and jaded outlook on war and how it must be strategized.
• Their right eye was shot off during a fight.
• Their closest mentor was killed in battle (though, in Kyōraku's case, not by his hands).
• Then they were given their positions, they were not too pleased about it.
• And in a meta example, both share the same seiyuu.
  • In that case, who's EVA/Big Mama? Lisa? Nanao? Some currently unknown Lieutenant who predates those two? The idea of Shunsui forming The Patriots with the remainder of Gotei 13 and trying to create Outer Heaven in the Soul Society doesn't exactly seem far-fetched. Come to think of it, given what we know about Unohana, she does sound a bit like Para-Medic/Dr. Clark...

The book on creating the King's key was a decoy

There is no reason for it to exist given the secrecy surrounding the location of the key itself, and it wouldn't have been stored in soul society. The method in it was actually a trap which sends the user to hell or alerts the zero squad who kill whoever tries using it.

Not only does Aizen have No Fourth Wall, but he's personally antagonising us.

Why? At some point Aizen found out that he's a fictional character, and was infuriated at such. Deep down, knowing he can never escaped Bleach and has no real effect on Real Life, he decided to take down Bleach's quality and reputation to make Tite Kubo pay. His true source of power is the disgust and hatred of the audience-he's The Scrappy because the more hate we feel for him, the more power he gets. That, or he simply despises us out of envy for being real. He's already managed to get Kubo to reel in the hate. Plain and simple, Aizen wants you(especially the person reading this) and me to have our enjoyment of fiction be spoiled and a bit of our joy to die-all out of spite and envy for not existing. And his happiest dreams see you feeling nothing but disgust and despair for all time. SWEET DREAMS. And yes, Aizen planned for this comment too.

Ulquiorra was a Quincy while alive

In the backstory that Kubo gave for Ulquiorra, it is indicated that he was "born in darkness" in Hueco Mundo, and as a Vasto Lordes at that. This alone already makes him unique as a Hollow, but his abilities as an Arrancar are very interesting all on their own, especially his Resurreccion. When compared to all the other Vasto Lordes level Arrancar, he is the only one who materializes a weapon in the form of a lance of energy, while they all have solid weapons. Also, his Resurreccion itself looks like the dark counterpart to the Quincy: Vollstandig, with the wings and demonic look.

• Ulquiorra was never stated to be a Vasto Lorde class Hollow. The only two that were confirmed as Vasto Lordes were Starrk and Harribel. While it is an interesting theory, almost certainly not possible. Quincy's powers have been stated to totally destroy Hollows when used - in order for a Hollow to grow in power they have to consume other Hollows. If Ulquiorra had Quincy powers, he would have starved to death, being unable to consume Hollows he defeated.
• He's not stated to be a Vasto Lorde, but it seems pretty likely. Plus, his mask didn't have a mouth, which either means a), he was so powerful he didn't need to eat Hollows anymore, or b), he had some other way of eating them, like absorbing them through his skin. In the former case, it wouldn't matter if his Quincy powers destroyed them, and in the latter case, he'd possibly be able to take in the reishi in the atmosphere in the same manner to sustain himself.
• Actually, didn't Harribel mention that she chose not to eat other Hollows, and that the only reprecussion was that she was weaker? If Ulquiorra was born a Vasto Lorde, he could theoretically survive in the same manner. He'd be really hungry by the time that mask came off, but he could survive.
• That would explain his appearance, at least.
• So if that's true, then Ichigo only fought a WEAKENED Ulquiorra?
• Jossed outright. The databooks confirmed that Ulquiorra was a rare case of a natural born Vasto Lorde level Hollow born in Hueco Mundo, and was never human to begin with. Cases like his were a lot more common before the creation of the Soul King, but with the Soul King existing, Hollows being born as Vasto Lorde became a rarity, the few that did exist going underground when Aizen arrived in Hueco Mundo, wanting nothing to do with him. Ulquiorra was just one that didn't go underground and became loyal to Aizen.

Harribel is Ichigo's mother, hollowfied then Arrancar-fied

• Early on it is said that a soul devoured by a Hollow becomes a Hollow. The grand fisher would have eaten her due to her having a high spiritual pressure which would logically make her one badass hollow. After devouring any hollow that dared to mess with her, she evolved into a Vasto Lorde and became the Harribel we know. So when Juhabach talks about Ichigo's mother, he's refering to Harribel.
  • Retroactively Jossed. Harribel existed as a Vasto Lorde years ago, and years before that, she was a shark-adjuchas, and before that a Gillian, and before that, a shark-hollow, and so on and so forth. Grand Fisher existed as a hollow, and subsequently an Arrancar, years later... Not to mention we know what Masaki looked like. She and Harribel have absolutely nothing in common- face, skin tone, voice, hair color, name...

Ginjo's broken Bankai will become a plot point

• Not a major one mind you...just it'll be brought up and repaired

the true Big Bad of Bleach is none other than...

... The Central 46! They take the Obstructive Bureaucrat trope over the line from incompetence to sheer malice. Off the top of my head, that judicial chamber is either directly or indirectly responsible for:

• Banishing Urahara Kisuke in an obscene mockery of a "trial" during which no evidence or testimony was even listened to
• Sentencing Tessai for the crime of using forbidden techniques in an attempt to rescue a full third of the entire shinigami military leadership
• Causing Tosen's revenge quest by pardoning or refusing to punish the shinigami who murdered Tosen's friend
• Allowing Kurotsuchi Mayuri to inflict absolutely heinous war crimes and abominations on his own squad, not to mention members of a dying culture, on literally a daily basis
• Condoning "Project Spearhead," and then genociding the results after they soured to the idea
• Ordering the genocide of the Quincy, leading to a revenge-fueled invasion

And in the Anime, they have:

• Started the whole Bount debacle, then ordered their extermination, ultimately leading to the Bounts' revenge-fueled invasion
• Made the whole "Spearhead" thing even more morally bankrupt than before, LEADING TO A REVENGE-FUELED INVASION.

... And the list goes on. Honestly, how does anyone tolerate such an unjust and destabilizing judicial body? Tite Kubo has practically turned Bleach into an Author Tract against the court system!

• While I agree with you on how stupid they have behaved at a number of points, keep in mind that we have no REAL idea exactly how long Aizen was in total control of the Central 46. Ignoring the Anime points, which are non-canon, let me break down your points:
  • The banishing of Urahara and Tessai was exactly what Aizen had been counting on when he pinned the crimes on them. I'd be surprised if Aizen HADN'T been manipulating them into that decision. They wouldn't even need to be dead. With his Zanpakuto, Aizen could make the report or testimony say WHATEVER HE WANTED. Say Yamamoto got up there to brief the Central 46 on the problem and say that he thought that Urahara was not the one to blame, and that he should be released. Well, with Aizen there, Yamamoto just told the Central 46 that as Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, he was totally convinced of their guilt, and that they deserved the death penalty.
  • For Tousen's friend, we have no real idea exactly when the incident took place - but since it was before he even became a Shinagami, we can reasonably assume it was at least a couple hundred years. Values Dissonance is a trope for a reason - and the Gotei 13 have heavily changed over time.
  • As for Mayuri blowing up his squad - I got nothing, I never understood that, but for his extermination of the Quincies, I think it's more a case of as long as he was killing acceptable targets (whose very existence and ability to 'destroy' Hollows threatened the fabric of the world), they really didn't care.

Unohana will likely die.

The latest chapter is essentially setting this up with Unohana vs. Kenpachi. She's the first Kenpachi; he's the current. They fought once before and are responsible for each other's Achey Scars. Although Kenpachi respected Unohana enough to name Yachiru after her, they still seem to hate each other's guts. They're both Ax-Crazy Blood Knights like nobody's business. Shunsui even fears that one of them won't come out of this fight alive, and with a large portion of Shunsui's attack plan involving getting rid of the "unskilled" part of Kenpachi's Unskilled, but Strong status, it seems a bit far-fetched that Kenpachi would be the one to bite it. The best way to teach Kenpachi formal sword techniques is a lesson in murder. The only other feasible alternative is that the two and are merely injured when all's said and done (and maybe "work out" all those years of hostility), but the way the current arc has been killing off the supporting cast left and right, you never know. At any rate, the ensuing battle should finally (outside of fillers, at least) triumphantly do away with Unohana's longstanding Informed Ability label.

• I think you greatly overestimate Kenny's capacity for murder. Yes, he's crass. Yes, he's a sadomasochist. But the one thing he has consistently shown his respected enemies- whether they want it or not- is mercy. He'll carve them up into unrecognizable red goo, and he expects the same for himself, but he won't actually finish the job.
• I concede your point (it admittedly slipped my mind, so my bad, that's on me). Guess we'll have to wait and see; given the shock value of this arc in general, who knows what Kubo has up his sleeves and, more importantly, when he's going to show his hand.
• I think Shunsui is referring to their titles rather than them theirselves.
• On a related note, is it just me or does Murderous Unohana scare the piss out of everyone else too? I mean, dear God, at first she was all polite and motherly, with a Played for Laughs reputation. The scariest thing she ever did was smile, and the angriest we've seen her is when she called Aizen... A reprobate. Yeah. Hardly Nightmare Fuel. BUT THIS?! I want to start screaming, and never stop.
  • Well let's face it, Unohana is basically a cross between Tsunade and Kenshin Himura.
• This seems to be the case as of 526 and 527. Seems. Given that Byakuya survived his injuries and merely fell into a coma when all else beforehand implied his wounds were fatal, only time will tell if my hunch was correct or if Kubo's just baiting us.
• In 573, Kenny wastes no time in telling Isane when she asks about Unohana's status that she's dead and he killed her. What's more, Isane, while clearly distraught, is accepting of the fact Kenpachi (as Unohana's only "legitimate" successor) inherited the title, implying she knew about Unohana's past (though that could be because of the letter Unohana left her before her duel with Kenpachi). So, until further notice, consider this one confirmed.

Unohana is the best healer in Soul Society because she was its best killer.

• Okay, hear me out a little on this one, even though most people seem to guess the other way round. My guess is that, Unohana has learned every method of killing Soul Society has to teach... when she transferred to the Captain's Chair of Squad 4, she was able to heal wounds so efficiently because she knows exactly how they would've been caused in the first place. Simply put: Unohana simply learned how to reverse the damage she was capable of inflicting on people.
  • It could always be worse (although what you'll read next seems unlikely, so bear with me as well). Maybe Unohana was similar to Dr. Baldhead/Faust: gifted healer, snapped and went completely off of the deep end, used her medicinal and healing knowledge to great effect in battle (and perhaps used healing Kido to actually prolong her fights in a cruel and sadistic manner), became a ruthless killer who is perhaps the worst in Soul Society's history. When she finally repents, her old murderous persona still lies beneath the surface, something she's well aware of. Now that Unohana's drawing on that aspect of her self once more... Welp.

Ichigo is a Bizzaro universe version of Vash The Stampede

I'm sure you know where I get this theory from.

Urahara is the creator of Final Getsuga Tensho.

Urahara has shown he is capable of inventing new Kido. Why not invent an ultimate zanpakuto technique specifically for Isshin? It doesn't seem like FGT is widely known among Soul Reapers - considering that Aizen didn't know about it, FGT might not have actually existed before recently.

Ichigo is -or has in him- the Hogyoku Aizen made.

Which is why he has powers from his dad, his mom, and possibly that hollow in Chapter Chapter 530, who seemed to 'cut' the moon on page 3 of that chapter.

• Jossed. The Hōgyoku Aizen was "presented" to Kisuke's Hōgyoku, which formed the singular Hōgyoku we know and loathe. The Hōgyoku made is still merged within him, it merely rejects him as it's master.

Unohana dosen't get angry because Squad 11 is beating up her subordinates it's because they're making too much noise.

She did imply that she'd be annoyed if someone other than Kenpachi were to get chatty so her anger towards Kenpachi's subordinates is likely to be because they're making such a ruckus.

When Kyoraku goes bankai, his zanpakuto spirits become a robot and a zombie.

Because normally, they are a pirate and a ninja. See the pattern?

Uryuu is a Heroic Bastard.

Just starting to get the suspicion.

• Jossed. While his father was initially engaged to Masaki Kurosaki, once the engagement was broken off, Ryuken married his childhood friend and servant Kanae Katagiri, and they had Uryu. She died a few months after Masaki died to Gran Fisher due to the Auswahlen putting her into a fatal coma, Uryu having the unfortunate luck of accidentally witnessing Ryuken performing an autopsy on her.

The Spirit King is completely powerless.

An alternative to the theories that the King needs guards because he's actually evil.

Due to the usual Asskicking Leads to Leadership way Soul Society is run, we would presume that the Spirit King, the very top of the top, would be so ridiculously powerful that if Aizen actually managed to make it past Squad Zero, an idea that seems more unlikely all the time, then the Spirit King would surely be able to swat him away with a spare thought. Why would something like that need guards? Why does God, in this universe, need guards? Why does Aizen think it is possible to kill the king? Why does Urahara think he needs protecting?

Simple. Just because the King is the lynchpin doesn't mean he's powerful. He's king in the same manner as the chess piece: both the most important and yet least powerful entity in the game.

• This seems quite believable. Aizen, Urahara et. all had zero compunctions whatsoever as to his ability to depose the spirit king once he created the Ouken, implying he isn't the godly powerful entity people assume he is, his actual IMPORTANCE to the functioning of the dimensions notwithstanding. Not to mention, what little we know of him indicates he spends the overwhelming majority of his time absorbed in his duties and/or in some sort of sleep or stasis. And although looks aren't everything, he seems to be a young man akin to the young age which the emperors of old Japan sometimes took power at. Or it simply could be that the overwhelming majority of his divine power is dedicated towards keeping the dimensions in check, leaving him weak and vulnerable.

Senka was originally developed to kill/neutralize Quincies.

The technique Byakuya used when he first fought Ichigo, which was designed to cut off his Soul Chain and Soul Sleep, doesn't make sense in terms of fighting Hollows, because it is supposed to work by striking precisely at the place to break these things. Since regular Hollows can vary a lot in shape and size, and it is established that the usual way of dispatching Hollows is by slicing their mask, it cannot be used to kill Hollows. As for Arrancars and Vasto Lords/Adjuchas, they were pretty rare before Aizen came along, and presumably the responsibility of Zero Division or something. That leaves two likely candidates: other Shinigami and the Quincy.

Renegade Shinigami have been seen in the series, and it has been said that they fight amongst themselves. However, Mayuri, who was determined to be dangerous and locked up, still has spiritual powers and a zanpakuto, meaning it wasn't used on him. Also, when fighting another Shinigami, most seem to prefer using their swords or hand-to-hand combat, with a bit of kido in between. This makes sense, as most Shinigami are close range fighters, and if you can get in range for senka, you might as well lop their head off. More powerful Shinigami are usually faster anyway, so weak enemies can be killed with conventional techniques and strong Shinigami probably won't fall for it, as shown when Ichigo blocks Byakuya during their second fight.

But the Quincies are ranged fighters, and their reiatsu absorbing powers might make kido less effective. Unless they have a specifically ranged zanpakuto or a part of the Kido Corps, Shinigami would be disadvantaged in a ranged battle. The best way to dispatch them would be to strike them down quickly, and a technique was developed for this during the Quincy extermination - senka. A quick shunpo and precise strike that would get rid of those pesky Quincy powers, while letting the victim live long enough for Mayuri to swoop in and preserve his subjects for further experimentation. As for why it wasn't used against the Vandenreich, maybe they're just too powerful/quick/experienced to fall for it. And since it's an advanced shunpo technique, maybe only a few captains/former captains can pull it off, so it wasn't used against the Mooks.

Loly is a rapist

Her domineering demeanor, her short skirt, her exposed cleavage, her long boots, her pigtails, her penchant for brutality, her sneaking up on people from behind, her clasping her hand over her victims' mouth... seems pretty obvious.

Mizuiro is the child of a Shinigami and a human.

His relationship with his parents is very distant, possibly because he's the son of one parent and a non-human being from another world. Maybe his parents rejected him for not being entirely human and forced him to attempt to suppress his spiritual powers, explaining why he can clearly see spirits but practically goes out of his way to avoid interacting with them, as demonstrated when he refuses to be part of the Karakura Raizer team. It would also explain why he knows how to make a freakin' bomb. Not allowed to develop spirit powers, Mizuiro had to come up with normal ways of defending himself against Hollows should he be attacked by them. Having seen spirits all his life like Ichigo, though not sticking out nearly so much, he isn't fazed by them or any other weirdness.

Gin Ichimaru will be reincarnated into our world and become a Used Car Salesman

Partly because we need a lulz WMG and because he would fit in so well as one.

Ichigo was conceived out of wedlock.

Isshin was enough of a pervert to annoy Rangiku. Masaki was quite comfortable being naked in front of a man she didn't know. Ichigo was born not very long after this incident. All of these together suggest that Ichigo was conceived out of wedlock, and Isshin and Masaki married soon after.

The Kido Corps is responsible for ambassadorial duties.

Squad 0 has done squat in the major battles, and the Kido Corps has been completely absent from them. We only know of two people who were in the Kido Corps so maybe they're at different Soul Societies avoiding the massive war back at home.

Ulquiorra and Starrk/Lilynette are not dead...

Because Hueco Mundo will not let them die. Based on Ulquiorra's backstory, it is likely that he was not a Plus that became a Hollow, but was born a Hollow from the essence of Hueco Mundo itself along with his clan. Perhaps this is the same with Starrk/Lilynette, whose power was so great that other Hollows would die just by being around them. He wanted to be weak, which does not really sound like the mood of a Hollow who became that powerful through devouring others.

So because they were not "born" as Human souls initially, they exist eternally outside of the cycle of souls the Shinigami maintain, so a Zanpakuto cannot "purify" them like it would a normal Hollows, but "death" instead returns them to Hueco Mundo where they are reborn again and again, unable to die.

The Central 46 are deliberately mismanaging the Gotei 13 to limit their power.

So that they have less to fear in case of a rebellion. The original Gotei 13 were a bunch of thugs and murderers, and the current still counts a bunch of monsters. They don't want to let them get more powerful than the minimum needed for them to do their job.

Mayuri has a special hatred for Quincy because he's a victim of a previous balancing massacre.

We know that when the worlds are imbalanced, the Shinigami will massacre soul society residents to restore it. Mayuri survived one of those, and has wanted revenge on them ever since. He's not fond of Shiningami either, but he knows that they aren't at fault. He still implants bombs in red shirt shinigami for their part in it.

• But then why would he order such a massacre himself?
  • Not OP and not necessarily agreeing with this WMG, but... Because he knows it's necessary? Like, it's the Quincy's fault for destroying souls - the shinigami have no choice but to kill innocent soul society residents in order to keep the balance, and he understands that, therefore, if necessary, he'd even order such a thing himself. Or, alternatively... he's Mayuri. There's a reason the guy was locked away.

Soul Society is artificial

Continuing the theory of the Soul King being the Big Bad. Quincies were the first to fight hollows, the came the King and created the SS to get his hands on all the souls in the world. They said that quincies kill hollows and prevent them from reincarnating, but the world population grows over time, balancing that issue. More importantly, quincies killing hollows prevented them from getting into the King's hands. So he ordered to kill them off. Furthermore, if SS were a natural part of the reincarnation cycle, shinigami wouldn't be needed, the souls would automatically go where they belong.

• Souls do automatically go to SS, unless they are anchored by Unfinished Business.
• No they don't. Remember all the souls Ichigo could see before becoming a shinigami? And english translation for shinigami is "soul reaper", which Kubo approved. What does a soul reaper do if not reaping souls?
  • Some souls get stuck in the human world because they have Unfinished Business, like stalking their loved one. They are the ones who get "reaped." Those who don't have such stupid ideas can go to SS as soon as they die.

Tatsuki is really Thalia Grace

And she is on a mission from Lady Artemis to keep an eye on Orohime and recruit for the Hunters of Artemis. (What, when I saw Tatsuki the first thought that came to me was [[Percy Jackson and the Olympians Thalia)

Only Six Faces does not apply.

Rather, the Stern Ritter are a group of Psycho Rangers deliberately modeled on the heroes. On that note...

Ichigo and Orihime will become Star-Crossed Lovers.

Remember the myth that is Orihime's namesake? Princess Orihime can only see her husband once a year. Now combine that with Kyoraku saying everyone has to say goodbye to Ichigo suggests that Ichigo and Orihime might wind up being the Official Couple but they won't be able to spend much time together.

Aizen Souske is God.

I don't just mean that he's like God or has become God, I mean that Aizen is literally God, Creator of the Bleach Universe. This is the reason why he's such an Invincible Villain-he's God, and thus infallible. No real backstory? God always was. Such a confident, almost bored demeanour-being God, everything is going according to his plan. In reality, Aizen is merely playing with people, seeing if he can reach his throne with skill instead of the inherent position he gets for creating the universe. Of course, this is Aizen we're talking about, so he doesn't abandon his all-knowing nature and just curb-stomps everyone. Aizen could automatically escape from his 20 millennium-imprisonment, but he doesn't because he's curious about what its like to be punished. This would explain why Bleach has such Crapsack World implications. Plus if Bleach's metaficitional god loves to troll, why wouldn't its in-universe God?

There is a Royal Family in Soul Society, who founded Seireitei itself, thousands of years ago.

The Gotei 13 were set up to govern the place and to generally deal with all the run-of-the-mill Hollows, Pluses, etc. The Royal Family are likely powerful, so they're only needed in extreme emergencies. Soul Society doesn't like to risk the family's safety, however, which is why they needed a Zero Division to be the Royal Guard.

Uryuu is actually a Fullbringer.

Uryuu is not a true Quincy but instead, unknown even to himself is a Fullbringer who uses his Quincy Cross as a focus for his emulating of Quincy Powers. Similar to how Ichigo's Fullbring mimicked his Shinigami powers.

• Jossed by recent revelations in the manga, Quincy can't be Fullbringers because Hollow reiatsu is essentially the Quincies Kryptonite.

Brother–Sister Incest was, if not common, at least not taboo among the Quincies.

They have an obsession with genetic purity, fed by their patriarch, who regards mixed-bloods as subhuman, to be disposed of at his convenience. They practice inbreeding to preserve this genetic purity. It follows then, that they would tolerate or even encourage sexual relationships between siblings.

• Confirmed. Ryuken's initial fiance was Masaki Kurosaki, his cousin and a member of a branch family, having been all but adopted into the Ishida family for the sake of marrying Ryuken due to both being "Echt Quincy", otherwise known as purebreds, as Ryuken's mother wanted to keep the bloodline pure. Ryuken's actual love, later wife and Uryu's mother, Kanae Katagiri, was overlooked by Ryuken's mother due to being a "Gemischt Quincy", or mixed breed. Gemischt Quincy tend to also be the first targets of Yhwach's Auswählen, due to his desiring to purge the impure, Uryu only escaping due to Kanae taking the brunt of it, and Masaki being targetted despite being an Echt Quincy due to being "tainted" after being attacked by the Hollow White.

Kyoraku was a Sidereal Exalt in a past life.

Kyoraku's zanpakuto defeats opponents via killing them with children's games. Tell me that's not weird enough to be something a [[Exalted Sidereal]] might do.

Mayuri doesn't know the meaning of the word Perfect.

He makes it quite clear he sees the word Perfect as meaning Ultimate(final) and Supreme(the best) instead of it's true meaning(complete). His incompetence in not knowing the meaning of the word Perfect will eventually backfire on him completely/perfectly.

• the literal meaning of the english word perfect is something more along the lines of flawless, it doesn't mean complete (although it was derived from the latin word perfectus which does mean complete and something that is perfect would have to be complete because not being complete would be a flaw but something can be complete but imperfect) and Mayuri's speech was about how being without flaws would make science pointless because there would be nothing left to improve. but none of this really matters the question is if the japanese word that was translated as perfect matches the definition Mayuri thought it did. (if it didn't they probably would have translated the word as something else)

Urahara was considered for The Royal Guard

• It occured to me that Urahara was, at some point invited to (or considered for) The Royal Guard. Granted, there is absolutely zero evidence of this, but it makes sense when you consider:
  • Urahara's healing hot spring in his & Yoruichi's underground playground were created through analyzing Tenjirō Kirinji's White Bone Hell and Blood Pond Hell springs, meaning Urahara has visited the Royal Palace at some point.
    • This is further evidenced by the fact that he knows just what the Spirit King is.
  • He mastered Bankai within three freaking days and even invented the artifact that would allow anyone else to do it - provided they had the needed potential. This would make him more than adequate, ability-wise.
  • The main requirement for entering The Royal Guard is to make a significant contribution to the history of Soul Society, or in other words, something that never before existed within Soul Society. Kisuke established the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, not to mention created half the Hougyoku.
• Of course, his eventual exile would have ended all talks of his promotion.
  • Remember that Yoruichi said that he made the training ground in soul society when they were kids, meaning the pool was probably made at the same time, I'd say that he's originally from the royal dimension given that he was allowed to copy Tenjiro's pool and we still haven't been told why him, Yoruichi and Tessai grew up together at the Shihoin mansion.

Aizen's goal was to make either himself OR Ichigo into the King's Key.

Confirmed when the head Squad Zero captain(?) explains what Aizen was trying to create in the first place. It was the blood and bone of a Squad Zero which had access to the king's palace. Note however that in a flashback when Aizen was still a lieutenant, we overhear him listen as he learns of a captain that was promoted to Squad Zero. We mistake his shocked expression for a ploy on his part, but what if he was genuine?

He would know that she was the authority on mod souls and implanting a faux intelligence or being inside humans. TV Tropes has this on her page.

"The "Ruler of Grain." Former captain of Squad 12, preceding Kisuke Urahara. Hiyori Sarugaki, her lieutenant at the time, regarded her as a mother figure. She's a cheery lady, but she has no qualms about striking people if they don't recognize her (like Shinji).

As the "Ruler of Grain", Hikifune's specialty is making food so souls can beef up their physical and spiritual energy. She's the one who created artificial souls via Reishi transference (hence Soul Candy and Modsouls)."

'Via. Reishi. Transference.

This sounds eerily familiar to Aizen implanting hollows into soul reapers. We have no idea how he did it, but he did it so well that even Shinji couldn't detect it. Note that when a Mod Soul enters a soul reaper, the reaper is evicted from the body and the mod soul hijacks it.

What happens when a mod soul with hollow infusion tries to evict a soul reaper from his spiritual form?

Aizen was never actually captured, or at least could escape easily.

There's a huge point made about how Ichigo never saw Aizen's shikai release. But if he has bankai, and he's certainly strong enough that he almost certainly does, he also has the ability to use his shikai without saying anything (Byakuya mentions this to Renji when he first learns bankai, and that's a point that's never been brought up since). How do we know that Aizen didn't use his shikai on Ichigo without anyone noticing and hid away when he realised he couldn't actually defeat Ichigo, and is simply using his shikai ability to fool everyone to thinking he's imprisoned.Either that, or he let himself be captured but could escape whenever he wants and is just waiting around and has been planning to hijack Yhwach's plan to invade king's palace.

Urahara is Kubo's Author Avatar.

After all, he's the biggest troll in the series, which makes him perfect for being the voice of the Trolling Creator.

Kenpachi's new eyepatch is now representative of his sword.

During their fight, Unohana chastizes Kenpachi for holding back in fights. However, when he reappears in battle, he's still wearing it. Nozarashi has a tassel and cloth covering the edge of the sword, rather than the hilt. When Kenpachi removes his eyepatch, the cloth and tassel come of.f the sword, giving him more power.

The Quincy with Glasses is Stern Ritter "N".

With all other letters now having been officially distributed, N is the only one left. Shaz Domino's letter must thus have also been redistributed among the Ritters. The only question that poses itself now is what the N stands for.

• The "Never Miss" maybe considering he has a gun.
• Confirmed, Robert Accutrone is N, but the name/power is still unknown.

Shaz Domino was one of Gremmy's imaginations.

We know that Gremmy can think up other Stern Ritters. Shaz doesn't fit into the Stern Ritter alphabet. Hence, he is the imaginary construct Gremmy created before switching to Guenael. His letter being V, he is most likely "the Vector" or "the Vindicator".

Shaz Domino is actually the REAL K, and BG 9 is his creation.

and the K would be the Knowledge. Would nicely resolve the Shaz Domino Letter issue. He also looks very mad-scientist-y plus it would explain why he attacked the 12th Division; it only makes sense a scientist would want to take out the enemy scientists division.

Shaz Domino is Sternritter ß.

The Quincy are clearly Germanic in origin, so why not include a near-obsolete German letter?

Mayuri Kurotsuchi is a Mod Soul in, possibly the most advanced Gigai known to the Soul Society.

This explains several, several things about the abomination that is Mayuri Kurotsuchi

• How he was able to survive a hole through his chest and regrow his body.
• How he was able to replace and make a solid copy of his identity and memories as a back up.
• How he was able to replace every single one of his organs and limbs with fakes.
• How he never looks the same way twice, if he's been experimenting on his own body for centuries.
  • This implies that Nemu might be something akin to Mayuri.V.2.0

Ichigo will die and become a shinigami because it's been foreshadowed already since the beginning of the story.

Hear me out, yo. Let's contrast light and dark, and how they're comparatively balanced in the series, and in relation to Ichigo. This isn't a 'light is good, dark is evil' or vice-versa scenario - we're not talking about good and evil here. Just the balance of light (which seems to be associated more with Quincies) and dark (which associates more with Shinigami).

• Isshin - dark hair, shinigami. Masaki - Light hair, quincy.
• Karin - dark hair, sees spirits and is somewhat closer to Ichigo; Yuzu - light hair, can't see spirits.
• Uryū - Quincy, of course; pale-skinned male friend and combatant. Chad - "Fullbringer"; dark-skinned male friend and combatant.
• Rukia - dark-haired shinigami with a small build. Orihime - light-haired shinigami with a big build.
• Yourichi - dark-skinned master of melee combat. Urahara - pale-skinned master of melee combat.
• Hichigo - Self-explanatory. "Zangetsu" - his counterpart. This is a notable reversal of the light quincy motif.

This list could go on forever. Now, of course there's the obvious concept of light vs. dark (which surprisingly doesn't have a trope page!) but let's look at what's happened with these pairs (and some others).

• Isshin is alive. Masaki is not. Dark 'wins'.
• Karin can see spirits. Yuzu cannot. Dark 'wins'. Minor example; still applies.
• Uryū appears to be an enemy now. Chad remains an ally. Dark 'wins'.
• Forgive me for starting a shipping-war here, but Ichigo has a closer connection to Rukia - she did, after all, unlock his powers. Dark 'wins'.
• Urahara is no doubt a major aspect of Ichigo's development and training, but it was Yourichi who assaulted Soul Society to help rescue Rukia. Dark 'wins'.
• In the end, it was "Zangetsu" who unlocked Ichigo's full power. Dark 'wins'.

Dark -always- wins. Starrk, a light example, was killed by Shunsui, the dark, while he was calling the color "black". Which means, in the end, he will choose the side of dark to protect everyone. The only way he can choose dark and his shinigami side is to die, connecting him forever with Shinigami, Soul Society and Rukia (which is really the only light-dark balance above that lacks closure). Which leads to…

Orihime is the Bigger Bad of the Bleach universe.

If Orihime loses Ichigo to Rukia, then she has absolutely nothing else to lose and her true 'form' can be revealed. She has no more familial connections, the target of her love chooses another and although her power has been described in different ways by different people, it remains one of the most curious and inexplicable powers in the series. Yes, Hachi said they were similar to his own powers, but he never said they are the same. Additionally, Aizen suggested that they were awaked by the Hogyoku… but they weren't created by it. Further, Only a godlike being could reject reality (including death) which suggests that she's something far more than human. Additionally, the events in her life can be looked at very differently.She

• … has no more family. Her parents aren't mentioned and, considering her brother is dead, we have zero verification that they even existed.
• … cannot prove she was actually related to her brother. A random mortal she possessed?
• … is built with a famously attractive body. What better way to draw the attention of mortals?
• … is Obfuscating Stupidity and/or Weakness.
• … can reject reality.
• … has never really been in serious danger, so she's never had to reveal herself.
• … has never had to display the full extent of her powers.

Oh, and of course, Aizen knew. Why else would he not try to harm her?

Rukia will become the next captain of squad 13th.

With Ukitake probably dead, there will be a vacant captain position for squad 13th. Since Rukia now have Bankai, she would be a natural choice.

• Confirmed. As of chapter 685 and after a ten year Time Skip.

The series will have a Bitter Sweet Ending

With the soul king dead, none but Ichigo will have the power to take his place. Ichigo makes the final Heroic Sacrifice. Or rather, Ichigo is rather out of it from beating the Big Bad and isn't in a position to protest. And so Ichigo is strapped into the kings spot for the next several thousand years to keep the balance between the three worlds until the entire cycle repeats. Whether he likes it or not.

• I always figured that's why Kubo actually kept Aizen around - that it would have to be someone who is "transcendent" and Aizen actually planned to use Ichigo for replacing the Soul King (that's why Aizen was actually consistently trying to make Ichigo more powerful) but instead, Aizen will get to be the new "linchpin" (but because it takes so much power essentially be a vegetable, like the old King was).

Time Travel will play a part in Yhwach's defeat

• With no idea how to stop Yhwach's ultimate trump card, I feel a little traveling through time to turn the situation into a more fair fight may be required.

It wasn't Ichigo that defeated Yhwach

It was Chuck Norris, pretending to be Ichigo. Evidence to support this: Under Tensa Zangetsu, there is no hilt. There is only another Zangetsu.

Kazui and Ichika will be an item when they grow up

The last panels of the manga all but set this up.

Bankai-guessing time

A pity that when the series end, we still have so many Soul Reapers who has yet to have their bankai (and sometimes full-shikai powers) revealed. That will not do.

• Aizen - Given his illusory theme, his bankai probably would be reminiscent of Tsukuyomi, something like a mass Mind Rape.
• Ukitake - Interestingly his ability can be somehow compared to the Quincys: Absorb energy, then blast it back. His bankai probably would have been something similar to Uryuu's first Letz Still. Maybe.
• Isane - Now this is tricky; her shikai's ability hasn't even been fully shown yet, and now she's captain. Maybe her bankai would be something a healing fountain of sorts, given that she's a medic?
• Hisagi - Maybe his bankai would be similar to Sasakibe's bankai, except that where Sasakibe's bankai turns his Zanpakuto into a lightning storm, Hisagi's turn his into a hurricane.

The events of Bleach are at least part of what was described in the Book of Revelation

(Feel free to add to this if you think I missed anything)

Of course, the Soul King is God, and the Shinigami/Soul Reapers are His angels (and, on a side note, "Kenpachi" is the title of the Angel of Death). Obviously, as an extension of the above, Aizen is Satan, with his powers perfectly fitting the part of a great deciever. The Hollows are the locusts, with the humanlike faces of the locusts being analogous to Hollow masks, and one of the Espada, probably Yammy, is the "Angel of the Bottomless Pit who leads them. Ichigo's mother is the woman pregnant with the child the dragon (Satan/Aizen) was poised to devour at birth (representing Aizen's plans for Ichigo, which may or may not have included literally eating him) and Ichigo is the new Messiah (who is described as suspiciously resembling the Inner Hollow). The Eyeball Monk is, as befits his power, a manifestation of God's word ("In the beginning, there was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God.") and the rest of Zero Division are four "heavenly creatures" surrounding the throne of God. Yhwach is the Antichrist, and the Scrifts (or possibly distributed fragments of his soul in general) are the Mark of the Beast.

Some of the Anime Filler Characters will take part in the War.

Characters who were only in the Anime, who are connected enough to Soul Society and Still alive (Gou, The Mod Souls, Ran Tao, Kasumioji Clan, and a few surviving Filler Arrancars.) might take part in the war in some shape or form, even if only a scene here or there.

Haschwalth saw the awakening of Hell.

• As revealed in No Breathes From Hell, the gates of Hell have opened and could easily be the cruel future Haschwalth saw when he held Yhwach's power.

Shinigami are just a refined version of Fullbring

Fullbring is described as tapping into the souls of objects, and Zanpakto very prominantly have spirits of there own, from which all Shinigami powers are ultimately derived(except Kido, but we see non-Shinigami use similar spells so it seems its not actually tied to being a shinigami) Zanpakto were designed to be easier and more consistent to draw on, allowing the soul society to produce a relatively large number of these warriors rather then needing to rely on the rarer talent of those who can pull from other items, its also why shinigami powers can merge with a fullbring, there ultimately the same thing

Not only did Aizen sleep with Momo the night before he faked his death...

...But unbeknowst to him, he got her pregnant! Her pregnancy and the birth of "Sosuke Junior" were kept a secret from nearly everyone by order of Head Captain Yamamoto and Captain Unahana.

Ichigo, and possibly Renji and Rukia, will die and be sent to Hell so that Kazui, and maybe Ichika, can take center stage.

• No Breaths From Hell opens with someone, heavily implied to be Kazui, reminiscing about a pair of goldfish they owned when they were younger and how, when the larger one died, the smaller goldfish that they had thought had finished growing began to increase in size once more. Prompting the speaker to state that they're glad the bigger fish died.
• This situation fits the narrative eerily well, with Kazui, much like his fellow child of a Shonen Big Three protagonist Boruto, unable to grow into his full potential as a protagonist so long as his dad is there to handle things. With the implication that Kazui's story can't be properly told until Ichigo's either comes to an end or gets sidelined.