GOTEI 13

Considered to be the strongest captain in the Gotei 13, Yamamoto is depicted as an old man with a long beard. There are many scars on his torso and head, suggesting numerous battles in his past. He wears the standard shinigami captain uniform, but its size is greatly exaggerated. He also drapes his haori over his back instead of actually wearing it. Despite his old age, he has a very muscular body.

As the general of Gotei 13, Yamamoto is highly respected by many shinigami, most notably Sajin Komamura, who views Yamamoto as a benefactor who saved his life. Like fellow captains Byakuya Kuchiki and Soifon, he believes that orders must be executed without question and despises those who break the rules.

His abilities as a shinigami are no doubt powerful, as he was able to bring 8th Division Lieutenant Nanao Ise to her knees and immobilize her by looking at her and releasing his spiritual pressure. He was also able to fight on par with two of the most powerful captains, Shunsui Ky¨­raku and J¨±shir¨­ Ukitake, for a decent period of time without any sign of injury, while they both came away with minor wounds.

2ND CAPTAIN SOIFON

Soifon is staunchly loyal, firm, and unbending in her beliefs. She is a hard worker and takes a strong moral stand — she particularly believes in following orders. She is generally reserved and not arrogant like her lieutenant. She will not hesitate in the slightest to strike down even her subordinates if they stand in her way. Soifon, like most female shinigami, is a member of the Shinigami Women's Association. In a V-Jump comic, she and Kiyone Kotetsu manage to pin J¨±shir¨­ Ukitake to a post in order to snap pictures of him for the association's calendar.

Underneath her standard shinigami captain uniform, Soifon wears the special forces leader's uniform, which has no sleeves or covering for the back. Her hair is worn short with two long braids covered in cloth.

A running gag in Bleach, mainly in the omake chapters, is Soifon's obsession with Yoruichi Shihouin, the former leader of the special forces, which borders on romantic feeling. She also seems to like anything that resembles a black cat, which is Yoruichi's preferred form. This is also evidenced in the Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book (comedic skits at the end of an episode) segment in episode 97, where Rangiku Matsumoto gives her a "Yoruichi" (black cat) stuffed toy as a present from the human world. During the animation of the 7th ending theme she is holding her tenderly. Soifon also tries to give a heart-shaped box of chocolate to Yoruichi in one of the omake chapters that aired on Valentine's Day, but fails to when Yoruichi switches to her feline form. In a VJump omake chapter, the Gotei 13 were asked to give ideas to the Commander-General for a shinigami video game. Soifon suggested a game with herself and Yoruichi as the main characters. In another VJump omake chapter, the Shinigami's Woman Association presents the idea of shinigami cellphones. Soifon suggests one that has a direct single line to Yoruichi so she can "talk to Yoruichi-sama as much as she wants." After seeing Kisuke Urahara's shop, she expresses dismay at Yoruichi's living conditions since leaving Soul Society and comments to Urahara that if anything happens to Yoruichi she will make him pay. Recently, the Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book for episode 117 shows Soifon fawning over pictures of Yoruichi - even one where she's eating like a glutton.

3RD CAPTAIN Ichimaru Gin

Gin is fairly ordinary in terms of clothing, and doesn't wear any unique items. His overall appearance, however, is not as normal: his eyes are constantly slitted (earning him the nickname "foxface"), he is unusually thin, and he bears unusual silver hair which has a purple tint to it in the anime (his name refers to his hair color; gin [ãy] is Japanese for silver). He also keeps a wide smile most of the time, which he has only been known to wipe off on rare occasions. He has also been known to open his eyes only twice, once in a flashback when he and Aizen rescued Momo Hinamori and other students from hollows and again during a battle with 10th Division Captain T¨­shir¨­ Hitsugaya (he also opens them during the ending theme for episode 27 and the opening theme for episode 91). His eyes are light green/blue in the manga, as seen on the cover for volume 20; however, in the anime they are shown as blood red, because that volume wasn't out at the time and the true color was not yet revealed.

As Gin doesn't display any emotion while speaking combined with his use of sarcasm, he is distrusted by many, most notably T¨­shir¨­ Hitsugaya and Rukia Kuchiki. Rukia once commented on how she felt like snakes were wrapping around her neck whenever Gin spoke. Kaname T¨­sen notes that Gin has a similar effect on just about everyone when explaining Wonderwice Margera's frightened reaction to Gin. In the anime, Gin speaks with a distinct Kyoto dialect, which is indirect and polite. His English dubbed voice is also formal and polite, but with a rather mocking and facetious undertone.

4TH CAPTAIN Unohana Retsu

Unohana is a soft-spoken, polite, and caring woman. She uses honorifics when addressing everyone, including her subordinates, and rarely shows panic or distress. She is even polite when angry (for instance, when members of other divisions bully her division), maintaining her smiling demeanor while radiating a dangerous aura that immediately scares others away. She wears the standard shinigami captain uniform, but wears an obi instead of the normal one, and her hair is worn braided over her chest. She has a close relationship with her lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu.

Unohana also seems to let her squad members go on leave to the real world from time to time; in the anime she gives Hanatar¨­ Yamada permission to take a break in the real world shortly after the events in Soul Society. Additionally, in a V-Jump comic, she is the director of the Shinigami Women's Association, making her the superior of Yachiru Kusajishi (president) and Nanao Ise (vice president).

Retsu is the Japanese word for "cold", "line", or "a row", but the kanji used in her name means "fierce". However, when combined with the character for woman, her name means "womanly strength", which appears to represent her nature. Her surname, Unohana, means "Rabbit Flower" - this may refer to her hairstyle, which resembles a reclining pair of rabbit's ears when seen from the side. Unohana is also the name of a Japanese dish made from okara.

5TH CAPTAIN Aizen Sousuke

Aizen is a soft-spoken intellectual, accented by glasses during his time as a shinigami captain. While he appears to be very kind to his subordinates, he cares very little for them in truth. According to Aizen himself, he is not bound by morals and will therefore stop at nothing to further his ambitions, including manipulating or killing anyone if he deems it necessary. According to the arrancar, Aizen is fearless, which is why they follow him.

Aizen is an extremely potent combatant, well above most captain-level shinigami. While the full extent of his power remains unclear, he implies that he has reached the limit of his shinigami power in all four forms of shinigami combat: swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, footwork, and kid¨­. He goes on to state that the only way for him to advance beyond that would be to gain and master hollow powers. His mastery of the regular skills are such that he is able to stop released zanpakut¨­, including Ichigo Kurosaki's bankai, with one finger, and he can near-effortlessly defeat several captain-level opponents at once. A hint to his actual level of spirit power is given when he turns Wonderwice Margera into an arrancar. When preparing to activate the Orb of Distortion, he states that despite its half-awakened state, it can be fully activated when temporarily fusing with someone with twice as much spirit power as a captain-level shinigami, referring to himself. The force of Aizen's spiritual power is also great enough to bring Grimmjow Jeagerjaques to his knees, even though Grimmjow is the 6th Espada.

Aizen's true objective is to overthrow the king of Soul Society. To do this, he needs the royal key (ÍõæI, ¨­ken^?), a tri-pronged golden key that opens a portal to the dimension that the king resides in. While the location of the key is known only to General Yamamoto, Aizen knows how the original was created and how to manufacture another. In order to create the key, Aizen needs to gather 100,000 souls in Karakura Town, which has an unusually large concentration of spirit particles. Aside from killing the many souls used in its creation, creating the key will also vaporize most of Karakura Town.

6TH CAPTAIN Kuchiki Byakuya

Byakuya Kuchiki is the 28th head of the noble Kuchiki clan, one of the four noble families in Soul Society. As such, Byakuya acts in an aristocratic manner — he is always serene and apathetic towards other people. In the ending of the second OVA, Sealed Sword Frenzy, he is even seen stepping out of a horse driven coach dressed in a suit, cane and top hat. Furthermore, the door is opened by a butler, showing his aristocratic status even when visiting the material world. He claims that life in general isn't supposed to be entertaining, and in one of the omake chapters, he even makes up an idea for a game that isn't meant to be amusing. In spite of his icy and regal manner, Byakuya cares for and protects those important to him.

Byakuya is popular among the female shinigami of Soul Society, and was voted number one in the "captain we desire to release a photo book for" poll taken by the Shinigami Women's Association. He likes Chinese bellflowers, night time walks, and spicy food.

Byakuya wears the standard captain uniform along with a white headpiece called a kenseikan (symbolizing his noble rank as the head of the Kuchiki family) and a white scarf made by the master weaver, Tsujishir¨­ Kuroemon III. The scarf is made from silver-white windflower light silk (ginpaku kazahana no uzuginu) and is a family heirloom handed down through the generations to the head of the Kuchiki family. Ten large houses can be built for the cost of just one such scarf.

7TH CAPTAIN Komamura Sajin

Komamura is the largest normal character in Bleach, being 57 cm taller than Jir¨­b¨­ (the runner-up) and even more physically imposing. The only larger human characters are the Seireitei gatekeepers, who are each roughly thirty feet tall. He is also quite unusual in that he is an anthropomorphic canine; the specific animal is unclear, as he has characteristics of both foxes and wolves. He has been called a "bastard wolf" on occasion by Kenpachi Zaraki, but has red fur like a fox.

Komamura was initially very self-conscious about his appearance. While he has since removed the bamboo helmet (cloth headgear before he became a captain) that once covered his face, the rest of his clothing is designed to hide all but the smallest hints of his animal nature. His large gloves are the prime example of this, as they entirely cover his hands and go well up his arms.

Before meeting Kaname T¨­sen, he also hid his spiritual pressure whenever possible so that others wouldn't pay attention to his appearance. After his fight with Kenpachi Zaraki (during which his helmet was destroyed) in midst of the invasion of Soul Society, he gained enough confidence to go without the helmet.

Being an anthropomorphic canine, Komamura's condition is made the subject of jokes in the omake chapters of Bleach. During one such sketch, he suggests making a game about owning a cat. In the special of episode 96, Sh¨±hei Hisagi gives Komamura a "special comb" which Komamura likes. In reality, the "special comb" is a pet brush that Sh¨±hei purchased from the human world with the help of Orihime Inoue. In another sketch, when Komamura mentions that he has a gigai prepared if it becomes necessary for him to enter the real world, his lieutenant pictures it as a brown-haired dog. Furthermore, in another omake chapter, when Komamura is asked by his lieutenant where the restroom is, he points in the direction of a pole where another dog was urinating at the time; Iba doesn't notice that the men's room is actually to the right of the pole.

8TH CAPTAIN Kyouraku Shunsui

He is a laid back and flamboyant man, evident in his style of dress and general attitude. He wears a straw hat and a pink flowered haori over his captain's uniform. Although his haori and obi sash are cheap, his pinwheel hairpin is very expensive.In his off time, he can be seen drinking sake and napping. Other times, he likes to chase after women, which is noted by Yasochika Iemura of the 4th Squad when commenting in his diary. In particular, he often flirts with his lieutenant, Nanao Ise, whom he calls 'my Nanao-chan' (little Nanao). In one of the omake outtakes he told Rangiku Matsumoto to buy Nanao Ise a sexy outfit while in the human world. Matsumoto brings back a skimpy two piece bathing suit which Nanao refuses to try on. He is close friends with 13th division captain J迂shir身 Ukitake, with whom he graduated from the shinigami academy and works with often.

Ky身raku tends to use a more familiar speech style than most other characters in Bleach. He generally refers to his fellow captains and shinigami by their first name followed by an honorific, and is the only character who dispenses with honorifics when addressing General Yamamoto, calling him old Yama (Yama-j貝). Even Ukitake, who was also taught by Yamamoto, does not do this.

Ky身raku is a peace-loving man who will always try to talk his way out of a fight. However, he does not wish to insult his opponents by not fighting, either, as he explains to Chad. Since he has achieved the rank of captain, it is implied that he must be a powerful fighter, but the true extent of his abilities has not been seen in the series. General Yamamoto states that Ky身raku and J迂shir身 Ukitake, both of whom he trained himself, possess "greater powers on the battlefield than any younger generation, or old," suggesting that the two are more powerful than any other captains, with the possible exception of Yamamoto himself.

The slightly eccentric Ky身raku also seems to like making an impression on opponents. In the Soul Society arc, when Ky身raku confronts Chad who had invaded the 8th division area, he has Nanao Ise scatter rose petals over him to make a dramatic entrance. It creates this effect at first, but when Nanao doesn't stop dropping the petals and Ky身raku begins to exhort her to stop in an embarrassing manner, she dumps the whole basket on him, burying him and ruining his entrance.

9TH CAPTAIN Tousen Kaname

T身sen has dark skin and dark brown hair (purple in the anime). He wears the traditional shinigami uniform with the sleeves rolled up to the shoulder and his captain's haori over it; the uniform is tied with a purple obi sash. He also wears an orange scarf around his neck, white boots, and black, fingerless gloves. He has been blind since birth. He usually wears a clear visor, although this was not always the case.

T身sen's creed in life is to "take the path with the least bloodshed."

10TH CAPTAIN Hitsugaya Toushiro

T身shir身 Hitsugaya is very young by Soul Society standards. He is the youngest in generations to have become a captain and is thus called a "boy genius" by many. He is short (because of his age) and has white hair, which tends to draw attention in the human world. He wears standard captain's clothing without any accessories; however, he is the only shinigami that carries his zanpakut身 on his back aside from Ichigo Kurosaki, whose zanpakut身 necessitates such a style. Hitsugaya's short stature and the blade's length may explain the similar style. His sheath dissolves whenever he draws his sword.

Hitsugaya is generally mature and serious, in contrast to his free-spirited lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto. Despite their philosophical differences, he and Rangiku seem to be very close. Hitsugaya hates anything that he deems childish and hates being described as something close to a child an elementary school child for example, a further contrast to his appearance. This is more shown in the omake chapters of Bleach, such as the short comics in VJump and the sand castle contest chapter released along with chapter 238. He is also mistaken for a kid in several of the omake chapters, much to his annoyance. He is overly protective of Momo Hinamori, due to fact that they were old childhood friends. Hitsugaya dislikes summer and warm weather in general.

Hitsugaya is easily annoyed when anyone (especially Momo Hinamori) refers to him by anything other than his title, Captain Hitsugaya. Hinamori has called him by "Hitsugaya-kun," and both she and Ukitake have occasionally used "Shiro-chan" (扑伕切扎氏) — a nickname meaning "Whitey" (Snowy in the English manga) in reference to his hair — in both cases without repercussion, however. In the Shinigami Golden Cup sketches (omakes found at the end of episodes of Bleach), J迂shir身 Ukitake comically gives Hitsugaya candy and other food because "J迂shir身" and "T身shir身" sound similar and because they both have white hair, making them both "Shiro-chan." The first character in Hitsugaya's given name, T身shir身, means "winter," which is appropriate given his white hair and ice type zanpakut身. Ichigo also calls Hitsugaya by his given name despite Hitsugaya's protests, making him one of three captains Ichigo refers to in this manner (the others being Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki).

Hitsugaya's intuition is extremely sharp, and he is one of few captains to correctly suspect Gin Ichimaru of foul play, though he understandably didn't suspect S身suke Aizen of the same.

During his duel with Gin Ichimaru in the anime, Ichimaru remarks that Hitsugaya is the embodiment of the heavenly guardian that is born into Soul Society every few centuries. This may explain his rapid growth and why he is a respected captain despite his age. Alternatively, Gin may have been speaking sarcastically, saying that Hitsugaya did not seem to live up to his title. His given name is also a homonym for a casual Japanese term meaning "amateur" (枘侐檔), possibly referring to Hitsugaya's young age and inexperience relative to the other captains of the Gotei 13.

11TH CAPTAIN Zaraki Kenpachi

Kenpachi has a wild and aggressive appearance, fitting with his personality. He wears his captain's jacket without sleeves, and with a more ragged look to it (he acquired his captain's jacket from the previous 11th Division captain, whom he defeated and killed in a duel). He styles his hair into spikes with bells at the tips and wears a special eye patch created by the 12th Division to absorb the bulk of his power. Both of these are meant to give enemies an advantage so that he can have even fights with weaker opponents. He is also one of the tallest characters in Bleach, towering at 202 cm (approx. 6 ft 7½ in). This is slightly taller than the giant Chad and almost double the height of his lieutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi. His stature is often exaggerated even more for dramatic purposes, especially in contrast with Yachiru's.

In one of the "Shinigami Cup" specials after Bleach episodes, Kenpachi is shown attaching the bells to his hair, which apparently takes quite a while to accomplish. The highest bell in particular takes him several hours to attach, as the tip of his hair is just beyond his reach. Occasionally, Yumichika will offer to do it, but Zaraki usually refuses because he thinks that it is weird for someone else to style his hair. Tite Kubo has remarked that Zaraki's hair is the most difficult to draw, tied with Kaname T身sen's.

Despite his initial introduction as a lethal foe, Kenpachi later begins to play the role of the comical anti-hero in Bleach: though still self-centered and violent, his actions tend to be for the best and his relationship with his division and others is always portrayed comically. Zaraki hates natto, or fermented soybeans. He can never eat it because he can't cut the sticky threads. There is nothing in particular that he likes to eat.

Kenpachi lives for battle (evidenced by his method of attaining his rank) and enjoys a good fight more than anything. He even weakens himself in an effort to make any fight last longer. He also claims that injury and death are nothing but the price one pays for a good fight. Despite his group being the most bloodthirsty of the Gotei 13, they have a code of ethics, though different from the set rules of Soul Society.

Despite his seeming disregard for any strategy in his fights and his self-admitted aversion to thinking during battle, Kenpachi is adept at finding and exploiting weaknesses in his opponents' techniques, such as in his battle with Kaname T身sen. Apart from his sword skills, he has shown no overt talent in any other forms of shinigami combat; even flash steps, a common skill among most shinigami, are never used by him. While he admits to having no sanity or common sense, Kenpachi is actually very perceptive and notices traits in people that others wouldn't notice. For example, he correctly singles out Kaname T身sen and Gin Ichimaru as the only captains who are afraid to die.

Though he literally lives for battle, Kenpachi has shown human emotion and caring for two things: his lieutenant Yachiru (who is possibly the only person he cares for) and his name, which he gave himself. Following his battle with Ichigo, in a rare moment of sorrow, Kenpachi talks about the pain of not having a name (as he lived his childhood and early adult years without one), and feels guilty that his sword isn't acknowledged by its name.

12TH CAPTAIN Kurotsuchi Mayuri

Mayuri Kurotsuchi is a researcher and personifies the stereotype of the mad scientist. In the earlier episodes of the anime, he is displayed as one of the most sadistic and cruel characters in the series. He sees everyone and everything not as a living being, but as an object to be researched — including himself. He has little respect or regard for most others, and was even willing to turn his own men (who were not aware of his plans) into inadvertent human bombs in an attempt to capture Ury迂 Ishida and Orihime Inoue for experimentation.

Mayuri's appearance has a very skeletal look to it with a skull-like visage, giving him the most inhuman appearance of any human character to fit with his research experiments. His fingernails are blue, and except for the fingernail on his right middle finger, are all short. The one long fingernail is as long as the finger itself. In the anime, Mayuri is revealed to have blue hair and yellow eyes when unmasked; It appears his physical modifications become undone each time he reconstitutes himself, although he is heavily scarred and his ears appear to be permanently removed.

Mayuri has performed various experiments on himself, some of which include upgrading certain body parts to function as weapons or giving him otherwise useful abilities. His left arm can extend out like a grappling hook and he is able to pull part of his ear out to form a scythe attached to a rope-like ligament for use as a kusarigama. He can also blend into his environment with some sort of covering that flakes away once he reveals himself.

In case he is defeated, Mayuri is able to transform into a liquid blob-like entity, unable to be attacked or attack, until he is able to reconstitute himself, at which point his wounds are healed. This ability is related to the bankai of his zanpakut身. Shortly after he uses this particular ability, Nemu thanks Ury迂 for not shooting him through the head (a chest wound being the prompt for its use), implying that anything less would be incapable of killing him. Alternatively, she may have simply been referring to the quickest method of death he could inflict, as any wound preventing him from stabbing himself would prevent use of the ability.

Mayuri seems to be one of the few characters in Bleach that is ambidextrous, as he wields his zanpakut身 in his right hand and his scythe-ear in his left (often simultaneously). In the anime's Bount arc, he briefly wields his zanpakut身 left-handed, as well.

Kurotsuchi's last name is one of the few shinigami names in Bleach which uses kanji based on the meaning of the name and not the sound. 'Kurotsuchi' means black soil (kuro - black; tsuchi - soil), as does the kanji (蠡). However, the kanji's reading (pronunciation) is ne or so.

13TH CAPTAIN Ukitake Juushiro

J迂shir身 is a sickly looking man with long white hair. In volume 18 of the manga, it is revealed that the illness he suffers from is tuberculosis and his hair turned white three days after his illness surfaced. Although his body is weak, he often ingests a considerable amount of food, a classic symptom of tuberculosis. J迂shir身's favorite food is umeboshi-chazuke. He doesn't have any food that he dislikes.

Before the demise of Kaien Shiba, J迂shir身 often left the daily operations of the 13th Division to Kaien because of his illness; this responsibility is now taken care of by his two current 3rd Seat officers, Kiyone Kotetsu and Sentar身 Kotsubaki. To J迂shir身's chagrin, the two constantly compete over which is the better assistant. J迂shir身 is the only captain who currently has no lieutenant.

J迂shir身 is respected by many, especially by his subordinates, for his honesty, loyalty, and personal sense of justice. The extent of his honor and respect is such that Yoruichi Shihouin leaves Rukia Kuchiki, Hanatar身 Yamada, and Ganju Shiba behind when she rescues Ichigo Kurosaki from Byakuya Kuchiki, knowing that J迂shir身 would not let any harm come to the three. Like Kaien, J迂shir身 does not give up when he believes something is wrong and will break the rules if he must. He has been close friends with 8th division captain Shunsui Ky身raku since his youth. The two frequently work together.

In various Bleach omake chapters, J迂shir身 is fond of giving people, especially T身shir身 Hitsugaya, strange or unwanted gifts for no apparent reason. In one sketch, J迂shir身 gives Hitsugaya a comically oversized stocking full of candy and other such treats because "J迂shir身" and "T身shir身" sound similar and they both have white hair, making them both Shiro-chan (扑伕切扎氏, a nickname meaning "whitey," in reference to their hair). In a V-Jump sketch, Hitsugaya is given a life-size figurine of himself in a fighting pose by J迂shir身 as a birthday present.

It is implied that, since he has achieved the rank of captain, J迂shir身 must be a powerful fighter. He is considered to be the one of strongest captains beside Yamamoto, Ky身raku, and Aizen. However, he is limited by his illness to fighting only for short periods of time; excessive action triggers fits of bloody coughing (another classic symptom of tuberculosis). The true extent of his abilities has not been seen in the series; however, he and Ky身raku both held their own against General Yamamoto for a prolonged period, and Yamamoto states that J迂shir身 and Shunsui, both of whom he trained himself, possess "greater powers on the battlefield than any younger generation, or old."