History Bleach / TropesCToD

** The "Turn Back The Pendulum" arc is set over a hundred years in the past where Urahara investigates Aizen's illegal Hollowfication experiments by wearing an InvisibilityCloak to hide his reiatsu from detection. The "Everything but the Rain" arc is set over twenty years in the past where it is revealed that Aizen has stolen that same cloak for his own use, to continue his illegal research in the World of the Living. With it, he is able to watch his experimental hollow, White, fight Isshin without Isshin's knowledge, setting up the events that lead to Isshin's loss of Soul Reaper power.

** During the "Turn Back The Pendulum" arc, Urahara wears an InvisibilityCloak of sorts (which hides his reiatsu, specifically) when investigating what eventually iss revealed to be Aizen's experiment on hollowifying Soul Reapers. This same cloak is later worn by Aizen when secretly observing the fight between his experimental hollow, White, against Isshin.

** When Byakuya sees Ichigo's bankai for the first time, he remarks that it doesn't seem like a real Bankai because it appears to enhance his speed and raw power rather than his reiatsu like a normal Bankai. [[spoiler:This sets up how Ichigo defeats Aizen three hundred chapters later and also the truth about the origin of his powers four hundred chapters later).

* DragonWithAnAgenda: Gin Ichimaru joined Aizen and has worked as his right-hand man for over a century in order to get close to Aizen and kill him. [[spoiler:[[DangerouslyGenreSavvy Yhwach and Haschwalth]] are both utterly convinced Uryu's got some sort of ulterior motive for joining the Vandenreich.]]

* DragonWithAnAgenda: Gin Ichimaru joined Aizen and has worked as his riht-hand man for over a century in order to get close to Aizen and kill him. [[spoiler:[[DangerouslyGenreSavvy Yhwach and Haschwalth]] are both utterly convinced Uryu's got some sort of ulterior motive for joining the Vandenreich.]]

* CatFight:
** Soi Fon and Yoruichi's fight plays straight in the sense that there is a lot of fanservice, including ClothingDamage, but is subverted in that it is also a [[DesignatedGirlFight very serious, very brutal fight]].
** In a bizarre example that starts off [[SillyReasonForWar comedic]] but ends on a [[WhatYouAreInTheDark very serious note]], when [[MachoCamp Charlotte Cuulhorne]] fights [[TheDandy Yumichika Ayasegawa]], he keeps acting like they're having a CatFight. Yumichika is so far from amused by this that it's not even funny (for him, that is; for the reader, it's [[HilarityEnsued hilarious]]... at least until it [[MoodWhiplash gets serious]]).

* DeathByAdaptation:
** [[spoiler: Harribel]] due to the anime being cancelled [[spoiler: without her revealed as alive.]]
** Toyed with and finally averted for [[spoiler:Hinamori]]. In the [[{{Filler}} Reigai Uprising]] arc, [[spoiler:Reigai Hinamori]] implies that [[spoiler:the real Hinamori]] didn't survive her wound by [[spoiler:Hitsugaya]] during the Fake Karakura Town arc. [[spoiler:The Regai]] was lying, because at the ending credits for the final anime episode [[spoiler:the real Hinamori]] is shown and already fully-healed.
---> '''[[spoiler:Reigai Hinamori]]''': ''[To [[spoiler:Hitsugaya]]]'' Are you going to kill me.... ''again'', [[spoiler:Shiro-chan]]?

* DeusExMachina: The series has so many examples it's hard to list, but a couple notorious examples:
** Ulquiorra injures Ichigo to the point of death, resulting in a transformation that powers up Ichigo beyond any of his previous levels.
** Aizen's plans rest on himself being put under threat of death to become even more powerful than he was previously. [[spoiler:His defeat occurs when he underestimates the impact that training has on Ichigo's power level.]]

* ChristmasCake: Although she's never directly called "ChristmasCake" in the [[{{Filler}} anime]], Rangiku's age is a very sore point for her, with one filler episode going so far as to even create a male version for the sole purpose of having one [[BrattyHalfPint kid]] press two [[BerserkButton berserk buttons]] by referring to Rangiku as "oba-san" and Yumichika as "o-san" in the same conversation. The anime later takes Rangiku's age references [[UpToEleven even further]] by making it such a big issue in the Zanpakutou Arc that it's actually one of the reasons why Rangiku's zanpakutou is angry with her. This is an anime-only trope. Neither character has a problem with their ages in the manga.

* CatNinja: Yoruichi was once head of the Onmitsukido (the ninja branch of the Soul Society) and can transform into a cat.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Though Bleach was always one of the darkest inclusions in the ShonenJump lineup, the final arc has really upped the ante. You can find the details in the recap page under "Thousand Year Blood War." For reference, Mayuri's spent most of his time as a quirky, amoral ComedicSociopathy kind of guy. The opening scene of the final arc has Mayuri deadly, deadly serious, returning to form as an amoral MadScientist and not comic relief. Things have turned ''that'' edgy.

** Ichigo arrives just in time to save Orihime's life from Yammy in Chapter 192, and in the next chapter Urahara and Yoruichi arrive to save [[TheWorfEffect Ichigo]].

* DangerouslyShortSkirt: It's almost like AuthorAppeal -- a good portion of female characters have worn a micro skirt at some point.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Shinigami are dressed in black uniforms, off-set by a white obi and a white undergarment which can only just be seen at the edges of the collar and sleeves. Although many are morally ambiguous, or downright evil in a couple of cases, most are decent people who tend to default to the protagonist's side. They are deliberately contrasted by the [[LightIsNotGood white-clad]] [[TheHeartless Arrancar]], the [[BigBad villainous]] Shinigami, and the mostly villainous Quincies due to Creator/TiteKubo wanting the contrast of black and white to be a big thing of the manga[[labelnote:*]]One of the early ideas for the story's name was 'White' but Kubo felt 'Bleach' was cooler.[[/labelnote]] As the main character, Ichigo is so heavily black-themed that his weapon releases into a solid-black form that fires a solid-black attack.

* DevelopmentGag: Chapter 600 of ''Bleach'' is named "Snipe." Given the focus on a gun user in this chapter, it is in no way a coincidence that Kubo used the original name for ''Bleach'', back when he planned for Shinigami to use rifles and other firearms, for the series's 600th chapter, which focuses on a sniper.

** Hisagi has 69 tattooed on his face. It's in honour of the captain who saved him, who has 69 tattooed on his chest. [[WordOfGod Kubo]] has confirmed he wanted Hisagi to have a tattoo on his face that would look cool to younger readers but raise the eyebrows of their parents.
** Yumichika has a "secret power" that makes him a kidou fighter instead of a physical fighter. If his secret came out, he'd be expelled from his division so he'd rather die than reveal it. Some fans replace "secret power" with "sexual orientation" and think he's in the closet. Other fans think that, because Japanese and American straight/gay stereotypes are often reversed, this is a case of UnfortunateImplications or ValuesDissonance instead.

* DarkIsNotEvil / LightIsNotGood:
** The Soul Reapers are technically the good guys and they wear black. The hollows are technically the bad guys and they wear white. Ichigo and his inner hollow follow this theme as well. When Aizen, Gin and Tousen are revealed as bad guys they change from wearing black to wearing white. However, because Japanese and American symbolism on the colors black and white are reversed, ''Bleach'' is probably an example of playing to the stereotype (i.e., if it was a western comic, the bad guys would be in black and the good guys would be in white).
** Quincy uniforms are white but Uryuu is one of the good guys. However, Quincies have a history of threatening the existence of the world itself due to the nature of their power. As a result, Uryuu's family appears to have a different outlook to most Quincies.
%%** Nel and her underlings, who want to be left alone to play. Failing that, they'll support Ichigo and his friends to the death.

** Chapter 1 is called "Death & Strawberry" and involves Rukia stabbing Ichigo to give him Soul Reaper powers. Later on, Urahara instigates a plan to save Ichigo's powers that culminates in Rukia stabbing Ichigo again. This chapter is called "Death & Strawberry 2".
** When Ichigo unveils his second bankai. and his pose is exactly the same as the first time.
** "Dark Side of Universe" followed by "Black & White" appear three times as chapters titles, consecutively numbered. The three "Dark Side of Universe" chapters herald a confrontation between Ichigo and his inner Hollow. The following "Black & White" chapters then explore the conflict between them.
** Chapters 80 & 84 cover the use of Kuukaku's cannon to launch Ichigo's group through Seireitei's barrier. Those two chapters are respectively named "The Shooting Star Project" and "The Shooting Star Project 2 [Tattoo On The Sky]". Chapters that subsequently focus on the Shiba siblings and their technology are also have "Shooting Star Project" titles. [[spoiler:This includes Ichigo being launched to the Royal Realm by Kuukaku's cannon in a chapter called "The Shooting Star Project (ZERO MIX)".]]

** Soi Fon and Yoruichi's fight plays straight in the sense that there was a lot of fanservice, including ClothingDamage, but is subverted in that it is also a [[DesignatedGirlFight very serious, very brutal fight]].

%%* TheCavalry: [[spoiler:The Urahara Shop crew in Chapter 47. The Vizards in Chapter 364. Isshin in Chapter 397, Urahara in Chapter 401, Yoruichi in 403. Rukia, Isshin, Urahara, Kenpachi, Ikkaku, Byakuya, Hitsugaya and Renji in 459-60.]]
* CelestialBureaucracy: Soul Society is run by the judicial Central 46 which also commands the three military organisations, the Gotei 13, the Special Forces unit and the Kidou Corps. The Central 46 is a very traditional, rules-oriented bureaucracy that functions in complete isolation and secrecy. It's this secrecy and isolation that allows Aizen to hide his activities for so long during the Soul Society arc, as it takes a long time for even captains to find a reason to barge into a place they have no permission to either enter or question. [[spoiler:In the wake of Yamamoto's death, Kyouraku's promotion to captain-commander is the organisation's first true shake-up for a thousand years. Unlike the rule-abiding Yamamoto, Kyouraku is will to argue with the Central 46 over their decisions.]]
%%* CensorSteam: Yoruichi, Mayuri, and Rangiku all have scenes involving this device.
* CerebusSyndrome: Although Chapter 1 begins with Ichigo's family almost being killed, the storyline becomes DarkerAndEdgier over time. It ranges from friends being kidnapped by rules-abiding brothers to friends being kidnapped and subjected to psychological torture and physical abuse until they finally break. By the final arc, protagonist injuries include being ripped open to the spine, exposing the entire ribcage, the violation of personhood by non-consensual scientific experimentation and even implied sexual abuse. The anime's openings have also shifted from happy-go-lucky to darker and more pathos-driven to reflect the storyline's direction.

** When Masaki is bitten by a hollow meant to [[TheVirus pass Hollowfication]] to Soul Reapers, Urahara reveals that Hollowfication will [[DeaderThanDead eradicate]] her soul from the inside out. Later on, when Urahara is looking for a solution for returning stolen bankai from the Quincy that stole them, the measure he comes up with is to ''Hollowify the bankai'' and make it [[AssimilationBackfire pure poison]] to a Quincy's soul.

* CommLinks: How Soul Reapers stay in contact with Seireitei even when they're in the human world. Two types have been seen so far: a single-ear radio-headset style that is kept in the uniform, and a phone-style. Rangiku and Yumichika favour the former while Rukia favours the latter.

%%* ConflictBall: Head Captain Yamamoto has been accused of doing this by some fans. It's been debated if that's really the case in the series. The movies on the other hand are a different story.

* CostumePorn: Kubo has expressed interest in becoming a fashion designer. You'd think the series was his portfolio or something.

* CrapsackWorld: When you die you end up as a peasant in a medieval Japanese slum, ruled by a bunch of Soul Reapers who are generally more interested in getting into fights with each other than doing their jobs. And this is the Good Place. Eventually, you die ''again'', and your spiritual body crumbles and becomes part of the reishi that makes up Soul Society, while your actual soul gets reincarnated back on Earth, in an endless cycle. The only known breaks in this cycle occur if you've committed serious sins in life, in which case you go to Hell after you've died, or if your lingering soul corrupts into a hollow -- in which case you can be saved by a zanpakutou, but if you're shot by a Quincy arrow instead, your soul is destroyed. [[spoiler:It's actually absorbed by Yhwach.]]

** Soul Society is an afterlife that resembles Tokugawa-era Japan, with all of the problems and dissonant morality that implies. Even further than that, Soul Society is split between Seireitei, where the rich and powerful live, and Rukongai, a ''massive'' district where everyone else lives. The further from Seireitei you travel in Rukongai, the more impoverished and lawless it becomes. Also, keep in mind that you ''can'' grow old, become sick, feel pain, and die in the afterlife.
** Hueco Mundo is even worse. It's a massive, dull, and lifeless desert inhabited by ravenous spirits called Hollows that seek souls to devour. Most choose to hunt in the Living World, but the most powerful ones can only be sustained by eating ''other Hollow'', which means Hueco Mundo is essentially a Darwinian theme park. This becomes even worse if you manage to evolve to a Hollow's penultimate form, the Adjuchas. Adjuchas must continue to eat others of their type or else permanently devolve back into a weaker, mindless form.
* CrashIntoHello: It's how Hitsugaya and Rangiku first meet.
* CreatorThumbprint: Kubo's a big music geek and has given every character a theme song from a surprisingly large variety of styles and nationalities. If a chapter title isn't an out-and-out song reference, chances are it's probably AGoodNameForARockBand. For instance, Chapter 91's title "King of Frieschutz" is a reference to a 19th century German opera, and the arc in which Aizen is finally defeated is named after the American death metal band Deicide.
* CreatureHunterOrganization: The Gotei 13 portrays itself as an organisation whose duty it is to protect humanity from the threat of hollows, human souls that have turned evil due UnfinishedBusiness literally eating out the heart of their soul. However, the Soul Reapers were originally Balancers, monitoring the flow of souls between the World of the Living and the Soul Society. At some point they fell from their original purpose and became hollow-hunters, although they do retain at least one of their original abilities in the form of Soul Burial. Despite their current path, only the low-ranked Soul Reapers engage in hollow-hunting to obtain the experience necessary for dealing with threats to the Soul Reapers rather than to humanity.

** Anime Episode 28. During the fight between Uryu Ishida and the Soul Reaper Jirobo Ikkanzaka, Uryu fires an arrow into Jirobo in such a way as to prevent him from using spiritual pressure and thus making it impossible to continue as a Soul Reaper.

* CueTheSun: Orihime is used as a sun symbol throughout the manga. When Ulquiorra announces "the sun has already set" it's accompanied by a panel of a bowed Orihime standing before her healing shield which is in the perfect image of a setting sun. Later on, Orihime again has this symbolism when she finally begins cheering on Ichigo in his fight inducing a power-up for him. When Aizen re-kidnaps her, he tells her she should smile more to let the sun shine on [[spoiler: and it happens again after Ichigo defeats Aizen and Urahara seals him away.]]
* CurbStompBattle: Most of the fights are this. A few extend into HowMuchMoreCanHeTake, but this is standard. See trope page for examples.

* DangerouslyShortSkirt: It's almost like AuthorAppeal -- a good portion of {{Action Girl}}s have worn a knee-high micro skirt at some point.
* DarkerAndEdgier: While Bleach was always one of the darkest inclusions in the ShonenJump lineup, the final arc has really upped the ante. You can find the details in the recap page under "Thousand Year Blood War." For reference, Mayuri's spent most of his time as a quirky, amoral ComedicSociopathy kinda guy. The opening scene of the final arc has Mayuri deadly, deadly serious, returning to form as an amoral MadScientist and not comic relief. Things have turned ''that'' edgy.
* DarkIsNotEvil:
** The Soul Reapers are technically the good guys and they wear black. The hollows are technically the bad guys and [[LightIsNotGood they wear white]], and Ichigo and his inner hollow follow this theme as well. When Aizen, Gin and Tousen are revealed as bad guys they change from wearing black to white. However, because Japanese and American symbolism on the colors black and white are reversed, 'Bleach' is probably an example of playing to the stereotype (i.e., if it was a western comic, the bad guys would be in black and the good guys would be in white).

** Nel and her underlings, who want to be left alone to play. Failing that, they'll support Ichigo and his friends to the death.

** For Ichigo, this is reached in Chapters 458 and 459. [[spoiler: All of Ichigo's friends, his sisters, his boss, and the Fullbringers have all been epically mind screwed by Tsukishima -- with Chad and Orihime protecting ''Tsukishima'' from ''Ichigo's'' wrath. Then Ginjo, his only ally, gets hit too. Then Uryu shows up and is actually on Ichigo's side, but it turns out Ginjo was evil all along. Ginjo somehow takes out Ichigo and Uryu with no effort, steals Ichigo's powers...and then Ichigo's stabbed again, from behind, and it appears ''Ichigo's own father'' is holding the sword]]. The text at the end of 458 wasn't kidding when it said "Zero Hope!".

* DeadlyHug: When Aizen is revealed to be still alive, Hinamori hugs him in delight and he returns the hug. A moment later, a sword slides right through Hinamori's body, courtesy of Aizen.

* DeadToBeginWith: A lot of the characters are post-death spirits. They can still die, however, since the story is influenced by the Buddhist wheel of samsara theme.

** Toyed with and finally averted for [[spoiler:Hinamori]]. In Reigai Uprising arc, [[spoiler:Reigai Hinamori]] implied that [[spoiler:real Hinamori]] didn't survive [[spoiler:her]] wound by [[spoiler:Hitsugaya]] during Fake Karakura Town arc. [[spoiler:The Regai]] was lying, because at the ending credits for final anime episode of Lost Agent arc, [[spoiler:real Hinamori]] is shown and already fully-healed.
--> [[spoiler:Reigai Hinamori]] to [[spoiler:Hitsugaya]]: "Are you going to kill me.... ''again'', [[spoiler:Shiro-chan]]?"
* DeathEqualsRedemption: [[spoiler: Tousen.]] He spent much of his adult life [[spoiler: plotting revenge on Soul Society]] as a result [[spoiler: of the death ]]of his [[ImpliedLoveInterest friend]]. One of his deepest fears was [[spoiler: to [[BecomingTheMask die a Soul Reaper,]]]] the thing he hated most. As a result, he hollowfied to escape [[spoiler: being a Soul Reaper]]. At the end, when defeated and dying after his battle [[spoiler: with Komamura and Hisagi]], he returns [[spoiler: to the Soul Reaper form he had once despised, finally understanding the value of the friendships he had forged amongst the Soul Reapers.]] He has just enough time to make his apologies [[spoiler: to Komamura and Hisagi]] absolutely clear before [[BigBad Aizen]] kills him. Of course, he was dying anyway, but Aizen just wanted to prove a point.

* DecompressedComic: shifted into a milder form of this midway through the Arrancar Arc, slowing down and stretching many fights. Most fans disapprove.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Several Soul Reapers after they fought Ichigo, and several Arrancars during the fighting in Hueco Mundo.
* DemonicInvaders: Hollows, Arrancar
* DemotedToExtra: The anime tends to leave Orihime, Uryuu and Chad out of most of their filler arcs and films, choosing to focus the plot lines almost completely on the Soul Reapers and non-living worlds. However, sometimes they even demote Ichigo to extra, too. In the Gotei 13 Invasion filler arc, ''all the canon characters'' suffered this in favor of the anime's filler villains and heroine. Even the canon Soul Reaper characters were demoted in favor of the anime's EvilClone versions of them. ''Kon'' was made the hero of the arc as a result of being PromotedToLoveInterest for the filler heroine.

** Aizen's plans rested on himself being put under threat of death to become even more powerful than previously. [[spoiler:His defeat occurs when he underestimates the impact that training has on Ichigo's power level.]]
* DevelopmentGag: Chapter 600 of BLEACH is named "Snipe". Given the focus on a gun user in this chapter, it is in no way a coincidence that Kubo used the original name for BLEACH, back when he planned for Shinigami to use rifles and other firearms, for the 600th chapter of his series that had a focus on a sniper.

** The final fight with Aizen. [[spoiler: It's revealed that the Hougyoku has left him immortal so he can't be killed. Instead he's imprisoned, which means he has the potential to return.]]

* DisappearsIntoLight: Happens to [[FillerVillain the Bounts]] when they die, Plus spirits when they're purified and sent to Soul Society, and Nozomi and Kagerosa in Episode 341 of the Gotei 13 Invading Army anime season.

** Happened for [[spoiler: Ichigo]] again. [[spoiler: After his fight with Aizen, Ichigo lost his Soul Reaper powers and has moved on to something called Fullbring.]]
** Yet again, [[spoiler: Ichigo lost his powers.]] Not even 7 pages later, [[spoiler: Rukia stabs him with a Zanpakutō, giving him back his Soul Reaper powers.]] You can just see the [[OhCrap look of fear]] on [[spoiler: Ginjō & Tsukishima's faces]] when it happens.
** Now that Quincy Hitler has [[spoiler: broken Ichigo's bankai, it can never be repaired. Fortuitously Squad Zero has a means to make him a different one.]]

** There's an ongoing sexual joke about shinigami and their swords resulting in zanpakutou having the fan nickname "Soul Penis": Ichigo's is as "big as he is tall" and accused of having great power but terrible control. After achieving Bankai, Renji gets treated the same way. Gin's shikai extends instantly and often flops around when doing so. Mayuri's sword is perfectly positioned for all sorts of subtext, especially when he cocks it to draw out the blade, rendering the scabbard flaccid in the process.
** Hisagi has 69 tattooed on his face. It's in honour of the captain who saved him, who has 69 tattooed on his chest. Word Of God has confirmed he wanted Hisagi to have a tattoo on his face that would look cool to younger readers but raise the eyebrows of their parents.
** Yumichika has a "secret power" that makes him a kidou fighter instead of a physical fighter. If his secret came out, he'd be expelled from his division so he'd rather die than reveal it. Some fans replace "secret power" with "sexual orientation" and think he's in the closet. Other fans think that, because Japanese and American straight/gay stereotypes are often reversed, this is a case of Unfortunate Implications or Values Dissonance instead.
** Szayel's Resurrecion occurs in a way that makes him sound like he's having an orgasm. He begins it by swallowing his sword and exploding. A lot of his other abilities are similarly sexual in presentation. His resurrecion is even called "Fornicars".
* DontFearTheReaper: This trope is in force for the most part. The Soul Reapers are just like humans: they can be friendly, moody, supportive, scary, hostile depending on situation or individual personality type. However, the Soul Reapers aren't enemies of humanity even if their focus on the big picture can make them seem aloof at times. Their role is to guide the dead to Soul Society, cleanse hollows of post-death sin so they too can be guided to Soul Society and also to maintain the balance of souls across different worlds. In other words, Soul Reapers are portrayed the same way humans are portrayed: as individuals with their own personalities, worries, fears, foibles, strengths and weaknesses.

* DragonWithAnAgenda: [[spoiler:[[DangerouslyGenreSavvy Yhwach and Haschwalth]] are both utterly convinced Uryu's got some sort of ulterior motive for joining the Vandenreich.]]
* DramaPreservingHandicap: During the first half of the Bount arc, Ichigo is having trouble activating his bankai in the real world. Note that this is not only contradictory to the manga, but also of the OAV that took place around the same period.
* DramaticChaseOpening: A Hollow pursuing a little ghost girl in anime Episode 1 and Shuhei Hisagi being pursued by his zanpakuto spirit Kazeshini in anime Episode 260.

* DramaticSlip: In the very first episode, the ghost of a small girl trips while she and Ichigo are being chased by a hollow.
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: A guy mistakes a warning, and goes for revenge against the wrong people.

* DrowningMySorrows Kira, Hisagi and Matsumoto take up semi-professional drinking after the Soul Society arc to deal with being abandoned by their captains and old friends.
* DyingForSymbolism: Aizen tries to kill Head Captain Yamamoto (regarded as the history of Soul Society), as so to symbolise the defeat of the Gotei 13. He fails. [[spoiler: However, later on, Yhwach succeeds where Aizen failed, and does indeed kill Yamamoto, to symbolise the defeat and destruction of the Gotei 13.]]

* TheCavalry: [[spoiler:The Urahara Shop crew in Chapter 47. The Vizards in Chapter 364. Isshin in Chapter 397, Urahara in Chapter 401, Yoruichi in 403. Rukia, Isshin, Urahara, Kenpachi, Ikkaku, Byakuya, Hitsugaya and Renji in 459-60.]]
* CelestialBureaucracy: Soul Society is run this way, with authority from the (absentee) Soul King delegated to the (civilian) Central 46, which in turn commands the (military) Gotei 13. The bureaucracy has been in place for at least 1000 years and is just about as crusty and hide-bound as you'd expect. It's not an exaggeration to say that a good 75% of all the nonsense that goes down in ''Bleach'' is because of Soul Society being poorly governed. [[spoiler:In the second half of the series, this slowly changes as the Gotei becomes more open, and as Kyouraku makes reforms in the wake of Yamamoto's death.]]
* CensorSteam: Yoruichi, Mayuri, and Rangiku all have scenes involving this device.
* CerebusSyndrome: A more subtle than usual example, particularly since death and ghosts are prevalent throughout the series, but the series gets steadily DarkerAndEdgier from the opening chapters where Ichigo's family are almost killed, through kidnappings of his friends triggering ever darker rescue arcs. By the time the final arc hits its stride, the story reaches a much darker place than where it started. The anime's openings have also shifted from happy-go-lucky to darker and more pathos-driven to reflect the storyline's direction.

** In Chapter 516, while Ichigo is speaking with Mayuri Kon randomly pops up in a hugely muscular body, only to be deflated back to normal size by Mayuri. Five chapters later Kon's buffed up form makes a reappearance to cushion Ichgio and Renji's landing.
** When Masaki is bitten by a hollow meant to [[TheVirus pass Hollowfication to Soul Reapers]], rather than Hollowify her like the Vizard we've met before, Urahara tells us that Hollowfication will [[DeaderThanDead eradicate her soul from the inside out]]. Later on, when Urahara is looking for a solution for returning stolen bankai from the Quincy that stole them, the measure he comes up with is to ''Hollowify the bankai'' [[AssimilationBackfire and make it pure poison to a Quincy's soul]].

** Chapter 56's cover picture shows a dead or unconscious Rukia with strangely shaggy hair. During the chapter, Byakuya tells Rukia he understands her desire to protect Ichigo stems from Ichigo's likeness to "him." It sets up both the Kaien revelation (77 chapters later) and the Hisana revelation (123 chapters later). The Hisana revelation leads to the reinterpretation of the Chapter 56 cover as being Hisana, who was the image of Rukia except for her shaggier hairstyle.
** At the end of the Soul Society arc, Aizen leaves Seireitei via negaçion and the Soul Reapers left behind observe that there's something in the garganta behind the gillians, only visible as a giant eye. Hundreds of chapters later, Wonderweiss brings his giant pet, Fuura, to Karakura Town. Fuura is a huge (as in it-uses-Menos-Grande-masks-for-fingernails huge), misshapen being with one giant eye, can destroy Yamamoto's flames that are trapping Aizen, and is presumably the creature whose eye was visible at the end of the Soul Society arc.
* ChestBurster: Szayel does this to resurrect himself.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Happens to so many important characters, it's not even funny. Some characters get Chucked '''mid-arc'''. Justified after the TimeSkip [[spoiler:as Ichigo lost all of his powers, including the ability to see apparitions, and so would reasonably lose contact with many of his superpowered friends.]] Though this doesn't explain what happened to Kon.

* ClothingDamage: Happens all the time to male characters, especially Ichigo who eventually reveals [[spoiler: that his spiritual pressure is connected to his shikakushou when in bankai, so when in bankai the amount of shikakushou he has remaining is a reflection of how much spiritual pressure he has left]]. Averted for most female characters except for two: Yoruichi and Soi Fon have a special move that causes ClothingDamage in the process of activating it.

* CoDragons: Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen serve as this to Sosuke Aizen, though Gin is the only Dragon in the Soul Society arc and Aizen seems closer to Gin than to Kaname afterwards.
* CombatPragmatist: Very frequently, but most especially with the Vandenreich.
* CommLinks: How Soul Reapers stay in contact with Seireitei even when they're in the human world. Two types have been seen so far: a single-ear radio-headset style, kept in the uniform and not worn on the ear, as used by Rangiku and Yumichika, and a phone style as used by Rukia.
* ComedicSociopathy: Mayuri's antics are ''meant'' to be this, but [[BaseBreaker about half the fans]] find them to be too [[MoralEventHorizon horrific]] to count.
* ConflictBall: Head Captain Yamamoto has been accused of doing this by some fans. It's been debated if that's really the case in the series. The movies on the other hand are a different story.

** "Death & Strawberry," the first chapter of the entire manga, has Ichigo receiving Soul Reaper powers from Rukia. Cue, ''459 chapters later'', [[spoiler: Rukia doing the same thing to restore Ichigo's powers]]. Appropriately enough, the chapter is titled "Death & Strawberry 2."
** Another example is when Ichigo unveils his [[spoiler: second bankai]]. and his pose is exactly the same as the first time.
** "Dark Side of Universe" followed by "Black & White" appear three times as chapters titles, helpfully numbered. The three "Dark Side of Universe" chapters have Hollow Ichigo appear and the following "Black & White" chapters show the struggles with him.
** Chapter 80 & 84 involve Ichigo and his companions preparing and getting launched through Seireitei's barrier by way of Kuukaku Shiba's cannon. Those two chapters are named "The Shooting Star Project" and "The Shooting Star Project 2 [Tattoo On The Sky]," respectively. 434 chapters later, [[spoiler: Ichigo once again gets launched up by Kuukaku Shiba's cannon, this time with the Zero division to the Royal Palace]]. The chapter is totled "The Shooting Star Project (ZERO MIX)."
** The significance of "Rain" as a chapter or mini-arc title is a running theme and usually refers to flashbacks involving some kind of past pain. Ichigo's flashback to his mother's death is the "Memories in the Rain" mini-arc. Rukia's flashback to Kaien's death is the "Memories in the Rain 2" mini-arc. The final chapter of the Soul Society arc (which gives both characters some closure over their past pain) is called "And the Rain Let Off." Then, hundreds of chapters later, the flashback to the events that enable both Ichigo and Uryuu to be born is called the "Everything But the Rain" mini-arc.

** 'Death & Strawberry', the first chapter of the entire manga, has Ichigo receiving Soul Reaper powers from Rukia. Cue, ''459 chapters later'', [[spoiler: Rukia doing the same thing to restore Ichigo's powers]]. Appropriately enough, the chapter was titled 'Death & Strawberry 2'.

** 'Dark Side of Universe' follow by 'Black & White' appeared 3 times as chapters titles, helpfully numbered. The 3 'Dark Side of Universe' chapters had Hollow Ichigo appeared, while the following 'Black & White' chapters showed the struggles with him.
** Chapter 80 & 84 involved Ichigo and his companions prepared and got launched through Seireitei's barrier by way of Kuukaku Shiba's cannon. Those 2 chapters are named 'The Shooting Star Project' and 'The Shooting Star Project 2 [Tattoo On The Sky]'. 434 chapters later, [[spoiler: Ichigo once again gets launched up by Kuukaku Shiba's cannon, this time with the Zero division to the Royal Palace.]] Cue 'The Shooting Star Project (ZERO MIX)'.
** The significance of "Rain" as a chapter or mini-arc title is a running theme and usually refers to flashbacks involving some kind of past pain. Ichigo's flashback to his mother's death is the "Memories in the Rain" mini-arc. Rukia's flashback to Kaien's death is the "Memories in the Rain 2" mini-arc. The final chapter of the Soul Society arc (which gives both characters some closure over their past pain) is called "And the Rain Let Off". Then, hundreds of chapters later, the flashback to the events that enable both Ichigo and Uryuu to be born is called the "Everything But the Rain" mini-arc.
* CallingYourAttacks: Most magical effects require this. Citing the verbal component of kidou, special powers, or zanpakutou releases will ensure full power attacks. It's lampshaded at various times such as when Renji screws up because he skipped the kidou incantation, or Zangetsu mentioning his power is much stronger when his name is called, or Yumichika observing that deliberately calling his zanpakutou by the wrong name means his zanpakutou doesn't release the majority of its power. Aizen also once commented that when he cast a kidou chantless it had misfired and only used a third of its strength, despite the fact it looked like it had succeeded.

* CarryingACake: [[GotVolunteered Yumichika]], [[TheHeart Hanatarou]] and [[SweetTooth Rin]] [[BizarroEpisode make a cake]] on behalf of the [[OneShotCharacter ghost of a dead baker]] who's [[UnfinishedBusiness unable to pass on]] until his mother has tried his cake recipe. After various [[LethalChef mishaps]] during the making of it, it's finally presented to the grieving mother, who promptly rejects it. And then the distressed ghost accidentally knocks the cake onto the floor and a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Menos Grande]] almost fries it with a [[BreathWeapon cero]].

** Soi Fon and Yoruichi's fight played straight in the sense there was a lot of fanservice, including ClothingDamage, but subverted in that it was also a [[DesignatedGirlFight very serious, very brutal fight]].

---> '''Cuulhorne:''' 'Beautiful Charlotte Cuulhorne's final, holy, wonderful, pretty, super-magnum sexy, sexy, glamorous... cero!'
---> '''Yumichika:''' 'That's just a normal cero!'
* CatapultNightmare: Multiple examples
* CatchPhrase: Lots of characters are known for specific phrases, such as Hitsugaya complaining, "It's '''Captain''' Hitsugaya!" or Don Kanonji's "The spirits are always with you!". Other examples can be found on the trope page.
* TheCavalry: [[spoiler: Isshin in Chapter 397, Urahara in Chapter 401, Yoruichi in 403. Rukia, Isshin, Urahara, Kenpachi, Ikkaku, Byakuya, Hitsugaya and Renji in 459-60.]]
* CelestialBureaucracy: Soul Society is run this way, with authority from the (absentee) Soul King delegated to the (civilian) Central 46, which in turn commands the (military) Gotei 13. The bureaucracy has been in place for at least 1000 years and is just about as crusty and hide-bound as you'd expect. It's not an exaggeration to say that a good 75% of all the nonsense that goes down in ''Bleach'' is because of Soul Society being poorly governed. [[spoiler:In the second half of the series, this is slowly changing as the Gotei becomes more open, and as Kyouraku makes reforms in the wake of Yamamoto's death.]]
* CensorSteam: Yoruichi, Mayuri and Rangiku all have scenes involving this device.
* CerebusSyndrome: A more subtle than usual example, particularly since death and ghosts have been prevalent throughout the series, but the series has gotten steadily DarkerAndEdgier from the opening chapters where Ichigo's family was almost killed, through kidnappings of his friends triggering ever darker rescue arcs. By the time the final arc hits its stride, the story reaches a much darker place than where it started. The anime's openings have also shifted from happy-go-lucky to darker and more pathos-driven to reflect the storyline's direction.

** During the Soul Society arc, Mayuri was cold-blooded, murderous and evil. There may have been ham, but he wasn't played for comedy. In the Arrancar Arc, he became a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} JerkAss whose ham was PlayedForLaughs. This polarised the fan base between viewing him as a Karma Houdini that's escaped justice at Ishida's hand and viewing him as pure sociopathic comedy gold. In the Thousand-Year Blood-War Arc, Mayuri's cold-blooded evil and hammy comedy have combined into something that is played for either seriousness or black humour.
** Kon was introduced as a threatening character that was then revealed to be a TechnicalPacifist (even putting himself in danger to protect some ants). However, once he was made Ichigo's 'substitute' 'soul candy' he was relegated to status of JokeCharacter.

** Ichigo's character bio at the end of Volume 1 briefly mentions that one of his favourite foods is chocolate, setting up the "You like chocolate? That's cute" joke ''48 volumes'' later.

** "Reversing things is a talent of mine." Oh yes it is, Shinji, even if it takes about 150 chapters to find out why.

** Remember Urahara [[spoiler: telling Aizen during their fight that he would never in the past have let himself come into physical contact with him twice, and then proceeds to trap him in the column of light? It appears that this was what he was referring to when he says the aforementioned quote, having touched Aizen for a brief second beforehand, but he is also referring to the second Kidou he planted in Aizen, which ultimately defeats Aizen after he survives Ichigo's Mugetsu.]]
** In 516 while Ichigo is speaking with Mayuri, Kon randomly pops up in a hugely muscular body, only to be deflated back to normal size by Mayuri. Come 521 and Kon's buffed up form makes a reappearance to cushion Ichgio and Renji's landing.
** When Masaki is bitten by a hollow meant to [[TheVirus pass hollowification to Soul Reapers]], rather than hollowify her like the Vizard we've met before, Urahara tells us that hollowification will [[DeaderThanDead eradicate her soul from the inside out]]. Later on, when Urahara is looking for a solution for returning stolen bankai from the Quincy that stole them, the measure he comes up with is to ''hollowify the bankai'' [[AssimilationBackfire and make it pure poison to a Quincy's soul.]]

** In Chapter 27, a barely visible character is watching Don Kanoji's show. In Chapter 29, this character looks like he's about to intervene in Don Kanonji's activities but Ichigo gets there first. In Chapter 33, this character is introduced as Uryuu. The anime give Uryuu a brief sewing cameo in Episode 7 to foreshadow his future introduction.
** Chapter 56's cover picture shows a dead or unconscious Rukia with strangely shaggy hair. During the chapter, Byakuya tells Rukia he understands her desire to protect Ichigo stems from Ichigo's likeness to "him". It sets up both the Kaien revelation (77 chapters later) and the Hisana revelation (123 chapters later). The Hisana revelation leads to the reinterpretation of the Chapter 56 cover as being Hisana, who was the image of Rukia except for her shaggier hairstyle.
** At the end of the Soul Society arc, Aizen leaves Seireitei via negaccion and the Soul Reapers left behind observe that there's something in the garganta behind the gillians, only visible as a giant eye. Hundreds of chapters later, Wonderweiss brings with his giant pet, Fuura, to Karakura Town. Fuura is a huge, misshapen being with one giant eye, the ability to destroy Yamamoto's flames that are trapping Aizen, and is revealed to have been the creature whose eye was visible at the end of the Soul Society arc.

* ChildSoldiers: The Soul Reapers permit recruits to join up while still ''biologically'' children so long as they can meet the entrance requirements. Of course, Soul Reapers are all ReallySevenHundredYearsOld, but [[HotLibrarian Ise Nanao]], [[StepfordSmiler Ichimaru Gin]], [[AdorablyPrecociousChild Hitsugaya Toshiro]], and [[CuteBruiser Kusajishi Yachiru]] were VERY young by Soul Society standards and still often acted childish or immature. Yachiru is still a child in the current timeline, as is Toushirou--''and he's the 10th squad captain''.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Happened to so many important characters, it's not even funny. Some characters got Chucked '''Mid-Arc'''. Justified after the TimeSkip [[spoiler:since Ichigo lost all of his powers, including the power to see apparitions, and so would reasonably lose contact with many of his super powered friends.]] Though this doesn't explain what happened to Kon.
* ChunkyUpdraft: A favorite of the anime to show how powerful Soul Reapers or arrancar can be when they start releasing their powers, especially when they enter bankai or a bankai-equivalent level of power.

* ClarkKenting: Aizen, of course. The resemblance to Clark Kent is uncanny (thereby earning him a Fan Nickname of his own) although the reason is much different. Aizen allowed everyone to think of him as gentle and kind to disguise the evil he was perpetrating from the shadows. When he's revealed as the BigBad, he also casts aside the mask: He tosses aside the glasses, slicks back his hair, and from that point on it's goodbye gentle geek, hello EvilIsSexy.
* ClingyMacGuffin: Even the Hougyoku's ''creator'' couldn't destroy that darn orb! Also, Ichigo's Hollow mask earlier on.
* ClothingDamage: Happens all the time to male characters, especially Ichigo who eventually reveals [[spoiler: that his spiritual pressure is connected to his shikakushou, so the amount of shikakushou he has remaining is a reflection of how much spiritual pressure he has left.]] Averted for most female characters except for two: Yoruichi and Soi Fon have a special move that causes ClothingDamage in the process of activating it.

* CoDragons: Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen served as this to Sosuke Aizen.

* CommLinks: How Soul Reapers stay in contact with Seireitei even when they're in the human world. Two types have been seen so far: a single-ear radio-headset style, kept in the uniform and not worn on the ear, as used by Rangiku and Yumichika, and phone style, as used by Rukia.
* ComedicSociopathy: Mayuri's antics are ''meant'' to be this, but [[BaseBreaker about half]] [[SeriousBusiness the fans]] find them to be too [[MoralEventHorizon horrific]] to count.

* CoolKey: [[spoiler:Each member of Squad Zero is upon promotion transformed into an ''oken'', the key to the Palace of the Spirit King. Osho states that had Aizen succeeded in his plan, he would have been made equal to the members of Squad Zero.]]

** Aizen's plans rested on him being able to be put under threat of death to make him even more powerful than he previously was. [[spoiler:His defeat occurs when he underestimates the impact Ichigo's training has on Ichigo's power level.]]

** Aizen's plans rested on him being able to be put under threat of death to make him even more powerful than he previously was. [[spoiler:His defeat occurs when he underestimates the impact Ichigo's training has on Ichigo's power level.]]

** Mayuri, Mayuri, Mayuri. So cartoonishly evil in his first appearance, but in ''every subsequent appearance'', filler included, he's merely been a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} JerkAss. This has made him rather polarizing, as some people hate him and want him to die based on his initial characterization, preferably by Ishida's hand, while his fans think he's crazy awesome, mostly based on his current characterization. Some go so far as to say he's the ''only'' good comic relief in the series. Following the beginning of the Thousand Year Blood War, however, Mayuri is ''much'' more serious than before, and the comic relief he provided is conspicuously absent.