Ichigo Kurosaki
Character Profile
Age: 15
Height: 174cm
Weight: 61kg
Birthday: July 7
Race: Human, Shinigami, Vizard
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Orange
First Seen: Chapter 1 Episode 1
Information
Ichigo is the main character & hero of the story and the title "Bleach" refers to his bleached looking coloured hair. Ichigo has a strong ambition to make and keep an image of himself and acts tough. He normally has problems with people picking on his bleached hair but Ichigo time and time again claims that it is his natural colour. He also tries to protect his younger sisters as much as he can. Ichigo for as long as he can remember is a Hi-Spec meaning he can see spirits. With this ability he finds himself sometimes pestered with Spirits who stalk him. Ichigo likes to talk to his sisters about problems he has but not telling his father due to his childish-ness, and Ichigo fights with his father alot of the time over meaningless things like getting home late or just waking up in the morning. Though the battles he has with his father are in good spirits and Isshin claims he is training him. In school, his life is pretty normal hanging around with his friends and attending lessons. But once he became a Shinigami, he often has to ditch class to fight a Hollow or other disturbances.
Characteristics
Approximately five feet eight and a half inches, Ichigo is (in comparison to most of his classmates anyway) tall, and slightly lanky, but with reasonable muscle strength and build. His most notable features are his short, scruffy, and bright but naturally orange hair which sticks out in all directions, his permanent scowl, usual lack of a smile, and brown eyes. Unless unusually happy, amused, embarrassed, or frightened, he keeps his expression intense and relatively neutral. While human he wears solid coloured t-shirts with various text slogans and beige cargo pants, and as a shinigami appears in the standard shinigami uniform of a black haori (waist-length kimono), divided hakama, white obi sash, white tabi socks and waraji (straw sandals).
Indifferent, bored, and borderline annoyed is usually how Ichigo acts, alternating with cocky and confrontational when fights are involved, and occasionally extremely irate. He has a tendency to lash out physically at annoyances and would like it believed that he doesn't really care about what people think, or overly much about people, and although in some cases he doesn't, a large amount of the latter is a front. He is, in his own way, quite caring about people, but not likely to reveal that unless needed. He will go places he doesn't like for the sake of people he does, check on them if they need it, and go to enormous ends to repay what he believes is a worthwhile debt. His language in general, matching his behavior, is rough, impolite and usually insulting, even at times when he's being nice. Likewise his respect for anyone is rare and generally has to be earned. Even then getting him to call anyone by their title or politely by their last name if he doesn't want to is a minor miracle. Those who do earn Ichigo's respect or friendship however, earn it entirely. There are people who he respects greatly, and if he considers them a friend, will fight to protect them.
Abilities
Ichigo has unheard of levels of spirit energy for a human even prior to his training or obtaining shinigami powers. The extent of Ichigo’s abilities is a complete umlimited mystery as he keeps growing at alarming rates. He had always been able to see ghosts as well as the living (and when he was young would even mistake the dead with those alive) which hints at his surprising amount of spiritual power. He also has considerable martial arts training that carries over into his shinigami form, and makes him a capable brawler even as a human against multiple human opponents.
He first borrowed Rukia Kuchiki's shinigami powers when he first met her but after loosing these Shinigami powers given to him by Rukia as a result of being defeated and having his zanpakutou broken by, Kuchiki Byakuya. He discovered his own unique shinigami powers. These powers may have also been extended by Urahara when a hollow was born inside of him and has developed and built upon his skills becoming at least the equivalent of a captain level shinigami. Ichigo is also very careless with his reiatsu and lets it flow out in abundance.
Like all shinigami, Ichigo carries a zanpaktou called Zangetsu. Ichigos fighting style can be considered a "swordsman specialist" due to the fact he only attacks with his sword and uses Shunpo (flash step). He has never used or yet alone learned kidou (demon arts). Unlike most shinigami with as little experience as he has, Ichigo has already achieved Bankai which is called Tensa Zangetsu (translates into “Chains of Heaven – Cutting Moon”) which allows him to move with lightning speed and gives him tremendous power.
As a result of his abnormal training Ichigo seems to have become a shinigami and a hollow at the same time, a perfect hybrid. His hollow side resides within him and remains dormant. This side of Ichigo has a much more aggressive personality, and has shown himself to be a much more superior and better fighter than Ichigo, commenting that Ichigo only mimics his use of Getsuga Tenshou, and maintains that he can take control of Ichigo whenever he shows weakness.
When which his inner hollow takes over it imbues ichigo with incredible speed and power at the price of complete loss of control and a high risk of damaging people he cares about.
His inner hollow appeared during Ichigo's fight against Kuchiki Byakuya, when Ichigo was hit with Byakuya's Kido and Byakuya was going for the final blow. The Hollow half took control and caught Byakuya's blade, and taking complete control of the fight. With some effort, Ichigo was able to forcible remove the mask which was forming over his face by regaining control of one of his hands.
During the Arrancar/Vizard Arc, Ichigo went to the Vizards to train to control his Hollow side, at which point he was able to fight against his inner hollow inside his mental realm. His inner hollow took control of the battle, revealing that he too can use Tensa Zangetsu. He told Ichigo that was he was lacking was "instinct", which Ichigo then relied upon to defeat his inner hollow, once again maintaining control. After gaining control of this side, for a few seconds he is able to obtain a hollow mask and combine both shinigami and hollow traits and burst with powers that excel to enormous levels. He can only, however, use this power once until he recovers. Ichigo became able to control his Vizard form for 11 seconds, although it is assumed he has surpassed this; his fight with Grimmjow during the Hueco Mundo Arc appears to be much longer.
Ichigo is currently on his second Zanpakuto. His first one spawned when he became a Shinigami by Rukia. It was nameless and didn't show any kind of special abilities, though that the size of the Zanpakuto was abnormal. His second Zanpakuto, named Zangetsu awakened when Ichigo managed to become a Shinigami again after he lost his Shinigami powers.
Zangetsu (Cutting Moon) is never sealed as a simple katana, and is always present in its released form. It is still debated as to whether this is due to Ichigo not knowing how to seal him or if it's because it just can't be done. This may be due to Ichigo's constant flow of Spiritual energy, but Zangetsu has never been sealed away into it's base form. Zangetsu thinks he's so cool as a sword he doesn't even have a hilt or guard, just a cloth wrapped around the handle. Zangetsu is also about as long as Ichigo is tall.
Zangetsu is able to drag Ichigo into his own reality when Ichigo is getting schooled and either give him advice or teach him something he didn't know about his zanpakuto. In this world, Zangetsu looks like a 40 something year old man wearing shades, a ragged suit complete with white upturned collar and a ragged black cloak that would make batman look underdressed. However, it also looks like despite Zangetsu's constant help in making Ichigo stronger, he also seems to have something to hide.
History
When Ichigo was 4 years old, he started to attend Karate lessons. There he met Tatsuki Arisawa and became friends with her but lost to her in countless sparring fights and cried but was always happy again when he was with his mother Masaki. Ichigo loved his mother more than anything and was always attached to her. At the age of 9, Ichigo was with his mother and was returning from the dojo. It was a rainy day and they were heading for home, along the way, Ichigo noticed something by the shore line, a person who looked as though it was going to jump in the water. Ichigo ran to save this person but Masaki couldn't understand what Ichigo was doing and ran after him as he approached the water. Masaki grabbed Ichigo and saved him only to be left as a dead corpse. Ichigo was afraid and didn't know why his mother was bleeding and lieing dead. As the years went by the family greatly missed her and began to change. Ichigo took the blame for her death and wonders why no one blames him. Later, Ichigo met Orihime Inoue through her brother Sora in an accident. As Ichigo's dad runs a at home clinic, Sora was in a car crash and reported back to the Kurosaki Clinic. There Ichigo met Orihime as she cried for her brother. When he entered Karakura high school he met Yasutora Sado and called him Chad. As his friend, Ichigo helped Yasutora out when he was in a fight. Ichigo took everyone down and he and Chad made a agreement that they will always help each other out when needed.
Ichigo's whole life turned around one day when he meet Rukia Kuchiki in his room while she was in search of a hollow that soon attacked the Kurosaki clinic. While fighting the hollow she got injured trying to protect Ichigo and in a brave attempt to save Ichigo and his now wounded family she lent the Ichigo her shinigami powers but, unintended, she lost all her powers. With no way to return to the Soul Society, she had Ichigo take up her shinigami duties until her powers returned. Unwillingly he agreed, at least until he found himself face to face with Grand Fisher yet again and this time was bent on killing him. Kurosaki was not as fortunate though and the hollow escaped. Grand Fisher, however, did leave something with Ichigo: the will to remain a shinigami and protect everyone from the threat of the hollows.
Ichigo continued to do so until late one night Rukia was placed under arrest by two shinigami from the soul society, Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Byakuya. Try as he did, Ichigo was no match for the more experienced shinigami and Rukia was taken away. The boy was left to die until Urahara Kisuke took him in and healed his wounds. Ichigo then decided that he would save Rukia… but not after training from Urahara. It was then that Ichigo learned of his own shinigami powers and learned the name of his zanpaktou, Zangetsu.
A week after the training was complete Ichigo, Orihime, Ishida, Chad, and Yoruichi entered the Soul Society in order to save Rukia from the death sentence. The group was soon split up, however, and Ichigo had to make due on his own, until he found friends of his own to help him through the shinigami headquarters. He fought many long and hard battles and even trained with Yoruichi in order to achieve Bankai.
While battling, though, Rukia’s execution date continued to be pushed up further and further making things even more difficult on Ichigo. He finally arrived at the last minute to save Rukia. During an attempt to escape, however, the truth of Aizen Sosuke’s trickery was revealed and his plots to take the Hyougoku from within Rukia’s soul. Both Ichigo and Renji attempted to save Rukia from whatever despicable fate Aizen had planned for her, they both ended in vain. Aizen was able to take his precious Hyougoku from within Rukia but turned to his colleague, Ichimaru Gin, and ordered her death. Byakuya arrived just in time to save Rukia along with many of Soul Society’s best warriors, though not nearly early enough to stop Aizen, Gin, and Tousen Kaname from escaping to Hueco Mundo. It was then that Aizen labeled himself as an enemy to Ichigo.
Soon the group returned to Earth (without Rukia) and continued their lives as ordinarily as possible and in high honor in the Soul Society. Soon though Aizen’s plans began to unfold when his minions, the Arrancar and Espada began to appear on Earth. These hollow turned shinigami were far above Ichigo’s limits in battle and thus he swore to become stronger.
Luckily, the Vizard Hirako Shinji arrived, and tried to convince Ichigo to join the ranks of Vizards. It took a battle with the arrancar Grimmjow to convince Ichigo to, not join the Vizards, but have them train him and teach him how to control the hollow within him. Ichigo continues to train in order to keep Aizen Sosuke and his war at bay and protect those around him.
