About

Mayuri Kurotsuchi is Captain of the 12th Division in the Gotei 13 and 2nd president of the Shinigami Research Institute. He gained his position after Kisuke Urahara, the former captain and president, was sentenced into exile by Soul Society. His lieutenant is Nemu Kurotsuchi, his artificially-created "daughter". He is often considered to be Uryu Ishida's nemesis due to their conflicting views on life and the fact that Mayuri vivisected and killed Uryu's grandfather, Soken Ishida.

Mayuri's appearance has a very skeletal look to it with a skull-like visage. His fingernails are blue and, with the exception of the fingernail on his right middle finger, are all short. The one long fingernail is as long as the finger itself. Mayuri is revealed to have blue hair and golden brown eyes when without make-up. He also wears a white hat with two ends that point to his right and a large purple scarf around his neck. His whole body, even his face and hands, has been painted black and white. He repaints his make-up every morning, as he always removes it before going to bed.

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. To escape situations in which he risks defeat, Mayuri uses a technique in which he stabs himself with his Zanpakuto, transforming his body into a liquid blob-like entity, which is incapable of fighting but impervious to harm. He is later able to reconstitute himself, at which point his wounds are healed. His physical modifications also appear to be undone each time he reconstitutes himself, although he is heavily scarred and his ears appear to be permanently removed. Reconstituting himself from a liquid also requires him to repaint his make-up.

Zanpakuto

*Ashisogi Jizo (Leg-Cutting Jizo): Ksitigarbha is a bodhisattva that watches over children and the underworld. In Japan, where he is known as Jizo, he looks rather like a baby dressed as a Buddhist monk. Mayuri's Zanpakuto's guard is wrapped in a cloth, and has several spiky protrusions sticking out right below the blade, which appear to resemble leaves. The hilt is pink. Unlike most Shinigami, his Zanpakuto's sheath hangs directly in front of him, instead of to his side as they are commonly worn, through a visibly modified hook on the end of the hilt of Ashisogi Jizo.

*Liquid Form: When Mayuri's stabs himself with his Zanpakuto while in its sealed state, it has the ability to transform Mayuri into a liquid form. Doing so doesn't kill him, as it is a last resort technique, but instead simply leaves him unable to attack or be attacked, making it an effective escape tool. He commonly can move around in this form and speak as well. He reforms after a few days but without any of his previous body modifications. It's uncertain whether this ability is entirely the product of Ashisogi Jizo, since he specifically relates the ability to himself, not opponents. His various physical modifications may have something to do with the effect or it could be an effect of Zanpakuto modification.


* Shikai: Ashisogi Jizo's Shikai command is "Rip" (kakimushire; "Claw out" in the English dub). Ashisogi Jizo's blade glows and transforms into a deformed trident with curved, serpentine blades, the middle blade is straighter and longer then the side blades and appear to ascend from the guard which is shaped like a baby's head with hands clasped in prayer (as Ksitigarbha is depicted), all mounted on his sword's normal hilt which has more ornate spiky protrusions on either side, which resemble golden leaves right below the guard. The baby's mouth secretes a poisonous vapor in this form at various intervals.

*Shikai Special Ability: The weapon works like the venom of a spider bite; when an opponent is stabbed by Ashisogi Jizo, it severs the brain signals controlling the neural impulses for movement in the limb's of the victim, regardless of where they were struck. But unlike regular paralysis, the pain receptors and nerve endings are unaffected by the weapon, so the victim can still feel pain, even in a paralyzed limb. During the Bount arc, it is shown that healing the stab wound does not immediately remove the inflicted paralysis.


* Bankai: Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo (Golden Leg-Cutting Jizo): The Baby's head on the guard opens its mouth as it produces a giant creature with the body of a caterpillar in a red cape with a grotesque golden baby's head and arms with a silver halo hovering around its head. It emits its own individual, red reiatsu upon release. When in this form his Zanpakuto returns to its sealed state. In this state the creature seems to follows Mayuri's verbal commands.

*Bankai Special Ability: The creature breathes a poisonous derivative of Mayuri's blood which is lethal to anyone who breathes it, aside from Mayuri and Nemu. The poison spreads through such a wide area, and it is almost impossible to avoid it. Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo's poison is very potent, as Szayel Aporro's body started to break down immediately after it was introduced. The poison has an antidote, which Nemu keeps behind her lieutenant's badge, and which Mayuri keeps on his person. Mayuri can change the composition of the poison as well, ensuring that no foolproof antidote can ever be manufactured to cure it, and no immunity is developed against it.


* Retractable Blades: Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo can produce numerous blades which can also extend from its chest, allowing it to run through and skewer opponents. This, used simultaneously with its poison makes Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo particularly lethal to anyone that cannot keep a safe distance, which is also difficult due to its immense size. Instead of the blades, it can also apparently devour an opponent after it charges into them, killing them.

* Self-Destruct Protocol: Mayuri has also physically modified Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo itself so that it will self-destruct and return to its sealed state if it were to attack him, implying that it is sentient as well as organic, reminiscent of Captain Retsu Unohana's Minazuki.