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Mizuiro Kojima (小島水色, Kojima Mizuiro?) - Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (Japanese), Tom Fahn (English)

Though he has a boyish face and gentle manner of speaking, Mizuiro has a marked fondness for older women. A typical character trait of male characters in anime, he is apparently very successful with these women and often excuses himself from Asano's activities because of a date with one or more women, the latter being more likely. In an extra chapter in the twelfth volume of Bleach, it is revealed that Mizuiro had very few friends until junior high. He is very distant towards his mother, who is seldom home. Recently, he's been revealed to have been fully endowed with spiritual awareness like Tatsuki and Keigo, and has watched Ichigo, Chad, and Uryū go into Hueco Mundo.

Chizuru Honshō (本匠千鶴, Honshō Chizuru?) – Voiced by: Saki Nakajima (Japanese), Jessica Straus (English)

An open and rather proud lesbian, Chizuru's numerous advances on her school friend Orihime Inoue are usually thwarted by Tatsuki. She calls Orihime "Hime," which means "Princess," though it could also be a simple shortening of Orihime's name. In Chizuru's opinion, Tatsuki is also very pretty, but too boyish for her to crush on since she prefers more feminine girls; she has also oggled Kunieda, Mahana, and Michiru on occasion. She placed 31st in her class on her exams.[1]

Ryō Kunieda (国枝鈴, Kunieda Ryō?) – Voiced by: Stephanie Sheh

Ryō is a cold and bespectacled girl (though she tends to take her glasses off when she doesn't need them) who does extremely well in her studies (2nd best at school) and can often be seen with her nose in a book. As the school's track star, she can run 100 meters in 12 seconds flat.

Michiru Ogawa (小川みちる, Ogawa Michiru?) – Voiced by: Asami Sanada (Japanese), Colleen O'Shaughnessey (English)

Michiru, often seen with Ryō Kunieda, is a member of Ichigo's class who forms a circle of friends with other girls, including Orihime, Tatsuki, and Chizuru. She seems to be more of a follower than a leader, and thinks Ichigo has a scary face.

Mahana Natsui (夏井真花, Natsui Mahana?) – Voiced by: Kayo Noumi (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English)

Mahana, often seen with Ryō Kunieda, is a member of Ichigo's class who forms a circle of friends with other girls, including Orihime, Tatsuki, and Chizuru. Though not shown very often, she's outgoing and talkative.

Mizuho Asano (浅野瑞穂, Asano Mizuho?)

Keigo's formidable older sister, Mizuho seems to regularly sends Keigo on errands (like getting juice from a vending machine) with the usual punishment for lateness being a kick to the crotch. She happily welcomes Ikkaku and Yumichika into the Asano home after Keigo brings them back. While she initially claims that she is welcoming them "because that is the kind of sister" she wants to be, in reality she just has a thing for shaved/bald heads. She has a tendency to speak sexily and show off her figure to men she finds attractive, much to Keigo's chagrin.

Reiichi Ōshima (大島麗一, Ōshima Reiichi?)

Reiichi is a boy with dyed orange hair who challenges Ichigo for stealing his style, evidently on a regular basis. He appears once and is swiftly beaten up in one hit by an already-injured Chad, despite proclaiming to be tough.

Ichirō Nanbuken (南部研一郎, Nanbuken Ichirō?)

Ichirō is 4th student in school in terms of academic achievements.

Misato Ochi (越智美諭, Ochi Misato?) - Voiced by: Dorothy Elias-Fahn

Misato is Ichigo's class teacher. She is very easy going, accepts any excuse (no matter how flimsy and unbelievable, usually involving falling down stairs), and doesn't seem to mind in the slightest when Ichigo and his spiritually-endowed friends suddenly take off from class. She also doesn't seem terribly concerned that her students aren't really learning anything. When Ichigo returned from being absent for several weeks, she punished him very lightly (hitting him on the head with a book a couple times).

Yoruichi Shihouin (四楓院 夜一, Shihōin Yoruichi?) is a character in the manga and anime series Bleach. Yoruichi's last name is Shihōin (四 Shi, 楓 hō, 院 in), the u is pronounced clearly (Shi-ho-u-in).

Occupation: Ex-commander of the shinigami special forces
Birthday: January 1st
Height: 156 cm (5' 1⅜")
Weight: 42 kg (93 lb)
Seiyū: Satsuki Yukino (human form)
Shiro Saito (animal form)
Voice actor: Terrence Stone (animal form)

Character outline

Yoruichi Shihouin is an attractive, dark-skinned woman who can transform into a black cat for long periods of time. Fans widely believe she is Indian, and Ichigo comments on how she sits "Indian-style" while in the hotspring. She is intelligent and witty, and is intimately knowledgeable of Soul Society and its workings, as she was the former leader of the special forces. Although of noble birth, she acts differently from other nobles. For instance, she instructed Soifon to refer to her without using honorific suffixes. She also transforms into her human form directly in front of Ichigo on several occasions just to see his reaction to seeing her naked.

Yoruichi tends to avoid battles, preferring to help after a fight is over, but she will step in if she thinks her side cannot win. She was responsible for training Chad and Orihime Inoue prior to their entrance into Soul Society. She also supervised Ichigo Kurosaki's final release training using the methods developed by Kisuke Urahara.

According to Tite Kubo, the author of Bleach, Yoruichi prefers to drink milk, which fits with her practice of turning into a cat most of the time.

History

Yoruichi was the former head of the special forces. She was also the first female and the 22nd generational head of the Shihouin family (天賜兵装番, tenshisōban?), one of the four noble families, and earned much respect in Soul Society while she was there. While her age has not been revealed, she refers to Byakuya Kuchiki as "Little Byakuya," implying that she is much older than he. About 100 years prior to the Bleach storyline, she helped Kisuke Urahara in his escape from Soul Society and was thus relieved of her high status. Yoruichi and Urahara are close friends, as they played together daily when they were children, although many incorrectly believe them to be family due to an error in some scanlations.

While Yoruichi was the special forces commander, she took in Soifon as a guard and became her mentor. She taught Soifon most of the techniques she knew. As a result, Soifon succeeded her as head of the special forces after Yoruichi's escape from Soul Society.

Since her departure from Soul Society, it has been stated that she "has kept her distance from battle." According to the manga, Yoruichi disappeared over 100 years before the storyline, but did not fight for 100 years. Her segregation from fighting seems to be the main reason for Yoruichi's struggle during her fight with Soifon after she returns to Soul Society.

Synopsis

Soul Society arc

During the Soul Society arc, Yoruichi's role is mainly one of support. After Ichigo's first attempt to defeat Byakuya Kuchiki, she trains him in achieving the final release of his zanpakutō. After Ichigo begins battling Byakuya at the execution grounds, Yoruichi battles Soifon. Despite Soifon's initial success, Yoruichi outmatches her in the use of a technique Soifon thought she had created herself, after which Soifon breaks down into tears about being left behind by Yoruichi. She travels back to the real world after Aizen's betrayal of Soul Society.

Bount arc

It was Yoruichi, with Soifon's help, who discovered the Bount plot to consume human souls. Though she did not play an active role in fighting the Bount, Yoruichi accompanied Ichigo and his friends to Soul Society, and worked with Byakuya Kuchiki to try and prevent Jin Kariya from releasing Joukaishou's power. Yoruichi also rescued the Bount Koga Gou and took him to the home of Ran'Tao, the Bount's creator, where he was nursed back to health.

Arrancar arc

Yoruichi and Urahara rescue Ichigo from death at the hands of the arrancar Yammy. Yoruichi displays considerable strength in being able to throw the large arrancar across the air and injuring him. While tending to the injured Orihime Inoue, Yoruichi is almost hit by one of Yammy's Cero blasts. Though she does suffer injury, she recuperates quickly later that day.

Abilities and items

As a member of a noble family and head of the special forces, Yoruichi has acquired many powerful abilities and artifacts. One of her most important and unique abilities is that she can transform into a black cat at will. It is unknown if this ability possesses any time limit, but it is unlikely considering she has used it for so long that she is unused to her human form and dislikes wearing clothing (much to Ichigo's chagrin). As a cat, Yoruichi is still able to use many of her abilities. Her transformation allows her a complete disguise in multiple ways; in addition to not appearing in a human form, her voice as a cat is deep enough for most to assume that she is male.

Yoruichi is also highly skilled in the use of flash steps (瞬歩, shunpo?), a high speed movement ability. Although this is by no means a unique skill, as most seated officers are capable of performing it to various degrees, Yoruichi holds the title Goddess of Flash (瞬神, shunshin?) because she has mastered this ability to such an extent that she can appear to be in several places at once and wipe out entire special forces squadrons in moments. The full extent of her abilities remain unclear, but she was able to outrun Byakuya Kuchiki while carrying an unconscious Ichigo over her shoulder. She was able to perform around 300 steps before feeling out of breath. Furthermore, she admits that she is out of practice after doing so.

Yoruichi has also mastered flash cry (瞬閧, shunkō?), a technique that combines hand-to-hand combat and demon arts. It concentrates high-pressure kidō energy around the body, allowing it to be fired at opponents. It can also be used to instantly neutralize an opponent's movement.

Two of Yoruichi's unique items are accessories that allow the user to fly. One is a small wand with a skull atop it. By using the command "fly," the wand produces a tentacle that acts as a harness and a single, bat-shaped wing that acts as a hang glider. No skill or previous experience is required to use it. The other, known as a tentōken (天踏絢, lit. heavenly dancing figure), is a brown mantle with a large draw string closure at the collar and a large brooch displaying the Shihouin family crest. Like the wand, the tentōken seems to require no skill or previous experience to use. It also seems to be superior to the wand, since it allows one to hover in mid-air and doesn't immobilize one of the user's hands.

Another item, though not in Yoruichi's possession, is the device used by Jūshirō Ukitake and Shunsui Kyōraku to destroy the Sōkyoku. It is a large, shield-like item with the Shihouin family crest stamped on it and a long cord connected to it. When the cord is wrapped around Sōkyoku and two zanpakutō are stabbed into two vertical slots running from its top, their energy flows through the cord and destroys Sōkyoku. Jūshirō Ukitake had it in his possession under some sort of seal.

Zanpakutō

The name of Yoruichi's zanpakutō is unknown, as she almost never uses it. She uses it during the "Sealed Sword Frenzy" OVA, in which she uses it to dispatch a hollow. She also uses it during Soifon's flashback about becoming Yoruichi's protégé. It's only known form, being it's sealed state, resembles a kodachi or wakizashi short sword.

Quincy

Uryū Ishida (石田雨竜, Ishida Uryū?)

Ryūken Ishida (石田竜弦, Ishida Ryūken?) is a character in the manga and anime series Bleach. Ryūken is the son of Sōken Ishida and father of Uryū Ishida. The Director of Karakura Hospital, he is also known as the last Quincy, a status contested by his son.

Occupation: Hospital director
Birthday: March 14
Height: 178 cm (5'10")
Weight: 68 kg (149.6 lbs)
Seiyū: Ken Narita

Character outline

Ryūken appears to be a cold, work-oriented man, and is apparently estranged from his father and son. He detests his status as a Quincy on the grounds that it does not enable one to make a proper living, and focuses on saving the living rather than the dead. He even goes so far as to state that the Quincy would become extinct once Sōken's generation died out, urging Uryū not to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. Even though Ryūken scorns his status as a Quincy, his tie has crosses all over it, an obvious reference to the Quincy cross. During the anime's Bount arc, there are blue crosses all over the floors and walls of Ryūken's hospital, as well.

Despite his attitude towards being a Quincy, he helps to restore Uryū's lost Quincy powers on the condition that he never associate himself with shinigami again, even if they were his friends. To this end, he constructed a secret chamber underneath Karakura Hospital which hides spiritual energy.

Strangely enough, Ryūken also shares a relationship with Isshin Kurosaki not unlike that of their sons. He comments on Isshin's newly regained powers when the latter pays him a visit, and the two exchange banter about their sons and parenting styles.

Powers

Despite his disavowment of the Quincy lineage, Ryūken is an extremely powerful Quincy with skills surpassing that of his son, who is considered a genius by the avid Quincy researcher Mayuri Kurotsuchi. In fact, he knows all the skills and techniques known to the Quincy, having inherited his father's power. In his debut as a combatant, he defeated two incomplete arrancar with three shots, demonstrating his strength and skill.

Like all Quincy, Ryūken uses a bow as his primary weapon. Unlike other Quincy seen thus far, however, Ryūken is capable of willfully changing its size and can fire multiple shots at once. His bow is also white, rather than blue. In the anime, it has a more metallic look to it. Ryūken uses a pentacle to create his bow, although the artifact is still called the Quincy Cross (滅却十字, mekkyaku jūji?).

Sōken Ishida (石田宗弦, Ishida Sōken?) [Deceased] – Voiced by: Eiji Maruyama (Japanese), Liam O'Brien (English)

The mentor of his son, Ryūken, and grandson, Uryū, Sōken (born March 22) was a kind old man whom Uryū admired. He was killed by hollows when the shinigami did not come in time to save him, and was the last documented Quincy specimen obtained by Mayuri Kurotsuchi for his research. His death is the primary reason Uryū hates the shinigami.

Modified souls

Modified souls are artificial souls created by Soul Society researchers some time ago. They have enhanced speed and strength when compared to normal humans, and often special abilities which set them apart from each other. However, the modified souls were considered a failed experiment and most of them were destroyed. Urahara saved at least one of them, Kon. In the anime's Bount arc, three more are introduced.

Kon (コン) is a fictional character from the manga and anime series Bleach. His name is short for Kaizō Konpaku (改造魂魄, modified soul?). Kon originally wanted the name "Kai" ("Mod" in the official English dub) because it sounded cooler, but Ichigo Kurosaki decided his name was going to be Kon for that very reason. Kon is an artificial soul (modsoul) designed to inhabit Ichigo's body when Ichigo is in his shinigami form; when not serving that purpose, Kon usually inhabits a lion plushie.

Occupation: Modified soul
Birthday: December 30
Height: 27 cm (in plushie form)
Weight: 182 g (in plushie form)
Theme song: "Tanaka-san, Nichiyoubi DANCE", by Kuuki Koudan and "Bushman", by RIP SLYME
Seiyū: Mitsuaki Madono
Voice actor: Quinton Flynn

Character outline

Kon primarily serves as a comedic foil in the series; when not inhabiting Ichigo's body, his normal plushie body is treated with little respect and much disdain. He is constantly stepped on and torn, at which point Ichigo will have Uryū Ishida repair the plushie. Uryū usually adds something unwanted or unnecessary when doing so, such as dressing Kon up like a designer doll. Uryū also sewed a Quincy cross on the back of Kon's head as revenge after Kon attacked Uryū for turning him into a doll. He is quite perverted and often takes advantage of his form to get girls to hug him to their chests. He also appears at the end of every episode during the Soul Society arc, giving a short course on individual members of the shinigami.

During the few times that Kon is in combat, he has proven to be able to hold his own — in addition to possessing all the combat abilities of Ichigo's well-trained body, he was designed to have exceptionally powerful leg strength. He was able to fend Ichigo off in combat by using just kick-attacks and leg-blocks, and is able to kick aside massive hollows. He can run 100 meters in 3.8 seconds while in his plushie form. When in Ichigo's body, he is capable of jumping over 13 meters and 56 cm from standing position.

Synopsis

Early story

Kon's first appearance is shortly after Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo obtain an like item known as gikongan (Soul Candy) from the Urahara Shop, which are candy-like orbs stored in dispensers similar to those Pez come in. The Soul Candy, when ingested, forces Ichigo's soul out of his body and relaces it with an artifical, pre-programmed soul, allowing Ichigo to transform if Rukia is not around.

Unbeknownst to everyone (including the Urahara Shop's employees), the particular Soul Candy dispenser Urahara gives Rukia had been declared defective by Soul Society, as it was made from a batch meant to be turned in for destruction. These pills contained modsouls, artificially created souls designed to combat hollows. Additionally, these souls have personalities, unlike the common artificial souls. Each modified soul was designed to have their own special strengths; in Kon's case, his legs. Upon first testing the item, Ichigo and Rukia leave it to its own devices while they go to fight a hollow.

The modsoul, now free and having no desire to return to its pill form, goes on a mischievous and damaging (to Ichigo's reputation) rampage, diverting Ichigo from the pursuit of a particularly dangerous hollow. The pair clash a few times during the course of the modsoul's spree, and would have continued had not the hollow chosen to appear and attack a group of children nearby. The modsoul acts on its instincts, attacking the hollow and giving Ichigo the time to defeat it.

Afterwards, Ichigo has a talk with the modsoul, who explains that he just wants to be free and experience life, similar to that of a real soul. Taking pity on him, Rukia and Ichigo ignore the standing directive to destroy all modsouls; they instead stick the modsoul into a lion plushie, giving it life. Ichigo gives the modsoul the name of Kon shortly thereafter, despite Kon's protests.

After this point, Ichigo uses Kon in the same manner as regular Soul Candy. When Uryū Ishida challenges Ichigo to a duel, the winner being decided by who could kill the most hollows, Kon is given charge of Ichigo's body. He joins in the fight around Karakura to defeat hollows, saving an ambushed Rukia. He later watches as Ichigo and Uryū team up to defeat a Menos Grande.

Soul Society arc

When Rukia decides to leave Karakura in order to protect Ichigo, Kon tries to stop her, but she ties him to the Kurosaki's toilet and gags him. When Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, and Uryū decide to go after Rukia, Kon tries to join them in Ichigo's body, but Ichigo makes him stay behind.

In the meantime, Kon is recruited by Don Kanonji as Karakura King in his Karakura Superheroes. He serves as a soccer ball for Karin's special attack, the Karin Impact Kick.

Bount arc

After the beginning of the Bount arc in the anime, Kon meets his fellow modified souls, Ririn, Kuroud and Noba. He does not get along well with his new companions. Ririn views him as a fool and they often fight, and Kon is jealous of Kuroud's assignment to guard Orihime. They do work together, however, most notably in episode 80, where they collaborate in the construction of several elaborate, yet useless, anti-doll traps.

When the Bounts infiltrate Soul Society, Kon joins Ichigo and the others to find them (partly due to fear of falling victim to Don Kanonji if he stayed behind in the real world again). Kon gets separated from the group in Rukongai and settles temporarily with a woman who owns a coffee shop. In contrast to Kon's usual lack of luck with women, this woman takes a shine to him. He eventually leaves to help fight the Bount, but continually arrives after the battles. After meeting up with everyone again (which is depicted during the non-sequitor previews for the next episodes), Kon brags about his stay with the woman, only to find out from Jūshirō Ukitake that it was actually a cross-dressing man.

Arrancar arc

With the arrancar invasion beginning, Kon takes over Ichigo's body to have a little fun on the town, only to run into Grand Fisher. He is saved by the timely re-emergence of Isshin Kurosaki, Ichigo's father, as a shinigami. Isshin quickly dispatches Grand Fisher with ease and Kon is forced to keep Isshin's true identity secret. Isshin reveales that he knew about Kon ever since meeting him during Grand Fisher's first attack at the graveyard.

The Bount arc modsouls

In the anime's Bount arc, three more modified souls are introduced. Created by Urahara, they are designed to track and combat the Bount. They originally live in gigai created by Kisuke Urahara, and have the ability to sense the spiritual presence of the Bount. They also possess special abilites like Kon, but their abilities (with the exception of Kuroud) are energy-based rather than physical. Like Kon, they use plushie bodies so they're less conspicuous in several episodes; however, in that form their special powers are severly weakened.

Ririn (りりん, Ririn?) Seiyuu - Yumi Kakazu

Ririn, while in her gigai form, is small girl with short blonde hair wearing a pink fur coat, a purple bird-shaped cape, and red boots. When not in her gigai, she inhabits an anthropomorphic bird plushie. Her special ability is the creation of illusions. She acts as the leader of the trio, and has a fondness for games. She is partnered with Ichigo Kurosaki. At first she disliked Ichigo due to their conflicting personalities, but now she's rather infatuated with him, becoming extremely jealous of Rukia Kuchiki's close relationship with Ichigo. She can be petty and arrogant at times, but she shows real concern for her friends. She often looks down on Kon as inferior, which causes frequent arguments between the two.

Kuroud (蔵人, Kurōdo?) Seiyuu - Nobuo Tobita

Also known as Claude or Cloud, Kuroud is a bespectacled man with a mustache and two-tone hair color (black to the right, yellow to the left). He wears a gray top hat, multi-colored suit and tie, as well as dark brown boots, giving him an appearance similar to a circus manager. His plushie body is a rabbit-esque purse. He is partnered with Orihime Inoue. He has the ability to shapeshift, and can replicate the abilities of others when he does so (although he can't replicate the power levels of said abilities). He is somewhat cowardly and is terrified of snakes. His longwindedness and actions often provide comic relief. He is also somewhat perverted, like Kon, or at the very least is thankful for the opportunity to be held by attractive women (being a purse helps in this regard). Rukia seems to like him because he resembles Chappy the Rabbit in his stuffed animal form.

Nova (之芭, Noba?) Seiyu - Tomokazu Sugita

More commonly known as Nova, Noba is a young man in a fur coat and a zippered mask, with a slim build, red hair, and aqua eyes. He inhabits an anthropomorphic turtle plushie when out of his gigai. He's very quiet, rarely speaking more than a few words and also rather shy, zipping up his hood when he blushes. He is partnered with Yasutora Sado, who is equally quiet. He has the power to teleport himself and others to most any location he's been to. He can also use his spiritual sense to teleport to the location of those with spiritual powers. Additionally, he can create wormholes to redirect ranged attacks, both physical and energy based, back at the enemy. He can also absorb fire. When he is in his plushie, his teleportation range is limited to about two meters.

Jin Kariya (狩矢 神 Kariya Jin) is the leader of the Bounts in the anime series Bleach. His original name is Eugene Currier, but he adopts a Japanese-style name later in his life. He has a scar on his chin caused by a slash from a Hollow when he was young, short white hair, bright red eyes, and is the most powerful member of the Bount group. In a flashback, it is revealed that Kariya had brown hair and brown eyes when he was a young boy. The reason why his hair colour and eye colour changed is that this is what happened when he first merged with his doll. He was defeated by Ichigo Kurosaki.

Occupation: Bount leader
Seiyū: Toru Ohkawa

Character outline

When first introduced, Kariya's goal was to acquire massive numbers of living spirits to increase the power of himself and his followers, most notably through the summoning of the bitto. The techniques used had a 50% chance of ripping open the barrier between the mortal world and Hueco Mundo.

This intial plan, however, has been revealed as merely a means to an end. His ultimate goal is not simply to increase his power, but rather to invade and overthrow Soul Society. To accomplish that, Kariya has obtained a device (Jōkaishō) from the Shinigami Research Institute which he says will allow him to obliterate Seireitei. However this could also be a means to end his eternal existence.

Kariya seems to be very knowledgeable and intelligent as he has great knowledge of Soul Society. He knew who Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo Kurosaki were before even meeting them, he knows about the Four Great Noble Houses of Soul Society, he knows about the existence of the Jōkaishō in the Shinigami Research Institute in Seireitei, and he can speak both German and Japanese.

Kariya is revealed to have no emotional attatchment to any of his subordinates, as he mentions that he sees them only as pawns to achieve his own ends.

History

Kariya was first created by an experimental error which occurred in Seireitei, Soul Society. Later, in the Bounts' Cave in the real world, he was saved by Rantao from some shinigami who were trying to eliminate the Bounts. Right before Rantao told him to run away while she deals with the shinigami, Rantao gave Kariya his Doll, Messer ("knife", in German). Kariya merged with the doll when fighting Hollows, and since then his attitude changed, and he became determined to destroy Soul Society. Later, Kariya was against proposals to use the Quincy to return to Soul Society to live, thinking the shinigami would use the Bount as servants. He witnessed a war between the Bount and the Quincy, when the shinigami from Soul Society suddenly came and started massacreing the Bount.

Kariya was deeply angered by this, and ever since then, he held a strong grudge against the shinigami. He also decided to give up on weak Bounts, forming his plan to gather all the remaining strong Bounts to him to destroy Soul Society. He perfected doll summoning from being hit-or-miss to a method that would sort out the strong Bounts from the weak, failure resulting in death (as with Cain). In that way, the Bounts that were power-hungry stayed with Kariya. Sometime in his life, he learnt that the shinigami were the ones who created the Bount. Knowing that the shinigami created his race just to destroy them, his grudge against the shinigami only became worse. He later married another Bount, Yoshino Sōma after saving her from a suicide, though he never truly loved her. He was merely trying to gather the Bount from all over the world in order for him to be able to achieve his goal of annihilating Seireitei.

Kariya was also close friends with a Bount, Koga Gou for a long time. At some point, Kariya asked Koga to take care of a young Bount, Cain for him. Koga ended up failing when Cain was killed by his doll.

Also, at some point, Kariya and Koga saved a shinigami, Maki Ichinose from a hollow in a desert. Ever since then, Maki became loyal to Kariya.

Upon his defeat, Kariya does not destroy Seireitei even though he has the power to. Instead before he dies he tells Ichigo Kurosaki he was sorry he could not live to see if he would follow the same path as him.

Synopsis

Kariya makes his first appearance after his former right hand man, Ryō Udagawa, takes Kariya's wife, Yoshino, back to his mansion after Yoshino fights against Ichigo against Kariya's will. In the mansion, Kariya reveals that he is not friendly with Yoshino, and he states that Karakura Town is beautiful because it is being absorbed by darkness.

One day later, Kariya is seen ordering two young Bounts, Hō and Ban, to attack Ichigo and his friends.

Later, Kariya tries to persuade Uryū Ishida to join forces with them after Koga captures him. He is planning to use Uryū's Quincy powers in order to enable him and the rest of the Bount to enter Soul Society. Uryū doesn't accept, and Kariya orders him to be kept inside a room in his mansion.

Later, when Ichigo and his friends went to the Bount's mansion to rescue Ishida, Kariya first introduces himself to Ichigo's group, and he reveals that he knows Ichigo's and Rukia's names. Then Kariya's right hand man, Ryō chooses to fight Ichigo, but in the middle of the fight, Ryō tries to steal Kariya's seal, which allows one to control all the other Bounts' powers by being able to disable their ability to unleash their Dolls. Unfortunately for Ryō, the seal was not released when he stole it from Kariya, so Kariya was still able to deflect an attack from Ryō's doll, Fried. Then Maki Ichinose appeared and killed Ryō with his initial release (shikai). After that, Maki became Kariya's new right hand man. Maki then fought with Ichigo until Kariya interrupted and tried to persuade Ichigo into joining the Bount. When Ichigo refused, Kariya beat him up badly until Kisuke Urahara, Jinta, Ururu and Yoruichi Shihouin appeared to rescue Ichigo and destroy the Bount's mansion.

On the next day, Kariya met up with his wife in the ruins of his mansion. They proceeded to fight, but Kariya kills her easily and reincarnated her soul to create new Dolls, called Bitto, which the Bount later to used to collect human souls, which can be absorbed by the Bount to gain power. Kariya then takes his subordinates to an old cave and introduces them to the new Dolls. The Bount are all excited about gaining new powers by drinking the human souls absorbed by the Bitto, except for Mabashi, who insists on not breaking the law of his race, which says that one should not absorb a living human's soul. But Kariya brings him to near death and forces him to drink the human souls.

Later, Ichigo finds Kariya inside his cave and attempts to fight him, but Kariya beat him up badly again. He then tells Ichigo that the Bount's true goal is to destroy Seireitei. Then Ichigo was able to fight with Kariya evenly when he used final release (bankai), until Uryū appears, with his Quincy powers back. Uryu fires an arrow into a dimensional gate, allowing the Bount to enter Soul Society, though Uryū only did that so he could defeat Kariya in Soul Society, as the Quincy are stronger there. Kariya and his subordinates then enter Soul Society.

After Kariya and Koga defeat two shinigami, Tetsuzaemon Iba and Marechiyo Ōmaeda, Kariya enters a gambling place in Kusajishi, the 79th district of Rukongai. He bets his life that he will win a card game, and he wins. Frightened, his opponent tries to kill him with a knife, but Kariya defeats him easily. Then Kariya, Koga and Maki annihilate everyone in the place, and then convinces them to join forces with the Bount to annihilate Seireitei.

Kariya then met up with Byakuya Kuchiki in a forest and attempted to kill him in order to cause an uproar in Seireitei. They began to fight, Ichigo later joined in. Eventually, Rantao, the one of the creators of the Bount appeared and interrupted the fight. He swore that he would kill her after he annihilates Seireitei. Koga then appeared and helped Kariya retreat as he was being overpowered by both Byakuya and Ichigo's final releases.

Kariya, his subordinates and the inhabitants of Kusajishi later appeared before one of Seireitei's 4 gates. The inhabitants of Kusajishi open the gate with their physical strength, as spirit attacks cannot damage the gate. But after opening the gate, Kariya betrays the Kusajishi people and attacks them, saying that they are only needed for opening the gate.

Later, Kariya enters the Shinigami Research Institute in Seireitei and gains immense power from a seal called Jōkaishō. He claims that he currently has the power to destroy Seireitei completely whenever he wants to, but he wants all of Soul Society to fear for their lives for a day before doing so. Some research by Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake later revealed that Kariya lied, and in reality, he needed to wait for one day after first activating the Jōkaishō in order to destroy Seireitei with it.

Startled by his steadfast determination to destroy all of Soul Society and the fact that many of his comrades have died, Koga argues with Kariya, saying he shouldn't go through with his plan, going as far as slamming him into a wall. Kariya stabs him through the stomach and leaves, giving his thanks for all the years of his servitude, and leaves. Koga later heals himself. Then he awaits the next day to blow up Seireitei.

While waiting, Rantao appears to confront him. After a brief fight using a kidō gun, Rantao explains to Kariya that she had always been trying to save the Bounts, especially Kariya, but Kariya does not recall any of that at first. After his wind blast knocks Rantao down onto the ground, Kariya has a flashback of the events during the Bount massacre. When he finished recounting the past, he comments that "for [him] to have forgotten the false hope and endless suffering [Rantao has] caused must be because of Jōkaishō", demonstrating that he viewed Rantao's attempts to save the Bounts as trying to torment the Bount.

Ichinose then turns up and fights Ichigo temporarily. He then turns on Kariya saying his revenge by destroying Seireitei won't help him, and if he doesn't stand down, he'll kill Kariya. Kariya gets annoyed and impales him. As of this moment all Jin's comrades are dead. Ichigo gets angry at seeing Kariya kill his comrade. Kariya replies that Ichinose was just a pawn in his plan, like the others.

Ichigo then defeats Kariya in a powerful and climatic sword collision on the Sōkyoku hill even though Kariya uses some of Jōkaishō's power to boost his own. Before disintegrating into dust Kariya mentions he regrets not being able to watch if Ichigo will choose to take the same path as he did.

Messer

Messer is Kariya's Doll. The first time he was able to use this doll was when he used a device given to him from Rantao, the co-creator of the Bount. It takes the form of a sword in the shape of the Bount crest with a wind blade. It is powerful enough to contend with Zangetsu. "Messer" is German for "knife".

It is originally shown that unreleased, Kariya's doll is a pack of cards. It is later shown that unlike the other Bounts, Kariya can use the abilities of his doll without it being called out, which is what his tattoo (seal) on his upper body indicates; the doll's ability is the manipulation of wind. This would explain why he is able to deflect other dolls' attacks. Kariya also has hidden powers, which allow him to easily defeat hollows and other dolls. He is also able to deflect attacks and immobilize opponents with a single touch. He creates wind barriers using the manipulation of his doll, but the barriers seem to be penetrable after countless attacks from Byakuya using his Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. So far the only people that have been able to cut through his barriers are Ichigo, Byakuya, and Ishida. Some of his wind attacks include Windestanz (German for "Wind Dance"), a chanting attack which allows him to summon tornados, and Wind Licht Schneide ("Wind Light Cutter"), which is Kariya's equivalent of Ichigo's getsuga tenshō. Messer's true form can produce friction of the wind in the atmosphere to create static electricity, which then calls forth lightning seen in the last battle between him and Ichigo.

It is incorrectly suggested that in episode 79, Kariya calls the name of his doll when summoning the bitto, naming it Noin Raven. However, this is an error introduced through the fansubs; given his pronunciation and the situation, he is actually saying "zeigt euch, neue Leben" (show yourselves, new lives) another translation could be "neun Leben" (nine lives), referring to the birth of new dolls mentioned during the same episode.

Mabashi

An effeminate male Bount, Mabashi (馬橋, Mabashi?) (seiyū: Daisuke Ono) wears strange clothing, has a tongue ring, and seems to be quite cocky in his speech and manners. Unlike the other Bounts, Mabashi isn't afraid to speak his own mind even if his opinion and ideas do not correlate with Kariya's. His doll is Ritz, a small, mouse-like creature that can possess others. Mabashi is initially resistent to drinking the purified soul exiler created by the bitto, but is forced to by Kariya, quickly becoming addicted to it. Once the Bounts enter Soul Society, he uses Ritz to turn the shinigami on one-another. While doing so, he finds Soifon and is defeated when she strikes him in the chest twice with her Suzumebachi.

Ritz (リズ, Rizu?, Ritz is the incorrect spelling of the German word for 'crack') is Mabashi's doll. When sealed, she takes the form of a seed that hangs on Mabashi's necklace. When the seed is dropped onto the ground, it sprouts into a small, flower-like, mouse creature that has the ability to possess others. The possession can be resisted to a small degree, as shown when Rukia was able to temporarily regain control over her body while possessed. Ritz is also capable of moving at lightning-fast speed and traveling through the ground. After going to Soul Society, Ritz gained the ability to make clones of herself, which she can use to attack and take control of large groups of people. Ritz speaks like an elevator operator when moving, as she announces her direction before each move.

Ryō Udagawa

A man who looks like the traditional depictions of a vampire, Ryō Udagawa (宇田川稜, Udagawa Ryō?) (seiyū: Shuusuke Sakino) is Kariya's former right hand man and views all humans as food. His doll is Fried, a snake-like creature that can copy itself. He secretly plots to overthrow Kariya as leader by stealing his seal, but is killed by Maki Ichinose.

Fried (フリード, Furīdo?, Friede is German for 'peace') is Ryō Utagawa's doll. When sealed, it takes the form of a small, gold pocket watch that Ryō keeps on his person. When unsealed, it takes the form of a yellow snake and is usually wrapped around Ryo's shoulders. She can be used as a sword, shield, and whip. When Fried is whipped onto a surface, snakes emerge from the crevices. Fried also grants Ryō the power to turn objects such as pipes and powerlines into snakes.

Sawatari

Sawatari (沢渡, Sawatari?) (seiyū: Yuzuru Fujimoto) seems to be the oldest Bount, but this is merely a by-product of his eating habits. He has been consuming living souls for far longer than any other Bount, causing him to age. Like Udagawa, doing so was part of his secret plot to overthrow Kariya as leader of the Bounts. Sawatari is much like the stereotypical "cranky old man," looking down on younger people. He is usually seen sitting in a large chair that appears to be made of rock. This chair is his doll, Baura, which takes the form of a fish that can swallow opponents whole; its stomach is a link to another dimension, and anything caught inside is eventually dissolved, leaving the soul for Sawatari to absorb. After the Bounts invaded Soul Society, Sawatari confronts Mayuri Kurotsuchi. As they fought, it was revealed that Mayuri had been chasing after Sawatari all along with his sensor device. Mayuri initially wanted Sawatari as a research subject, but became annoyed with Sawatari's continued resistance and killed him instead.

Baura (バウラ, Baura?, Baura is the incorrect spelling of the German word for 'stomach', Bäuche) is Sawatari's doll. Unlike other dolls, it is constantly unsealed, though most of the time it remains below ground level aside from a chair-like protrustion from its back that Sawatari sits on casually. When it emerges, it bears a resemblance to a stonefish. Baura's ability is to travel between dimensions, allowing it to "swim" through solid matter while remaining unassailable. It is only vulnerable when attacking. Baura's stomach is also linked to an alternate dimension. Anything that enters its mouth is suspended in an endless, empty world that eventually decomposes the object. Because of his rough, rocky skin, Baura is impervious to basic sword attacks and most other physical damage, although its underbelly seems soft and vulnerable. Sawatari either sits on Baura's back during combat or is submerged within its rocky skin. It is only able to move freely in wide, spacious areas where it can open dimensional rifts to accommodate its body, which is the second largest (after Ugaki's Gesell) of all dolls. Later, after going to Soul Society, Baura gained the ability to move between dimensions anywhere in the atmosphere, not just within solid objects.

Ugaki

Ugaki (宇柿, Ugaki?) (seiyū: Katsumi Suzuki) is a male Bount who had the appearance of a professional middle-aged man. He wears a shirt and tie, glasses, and has his hair combed to one side. Ugaki's doll is Gesell, a large monster summoned from shadows. Ugaki fights using guerilla tactics, using his light-projecting eyes to create shadows for his doll to attack from while he remains away from the fighting. Ugaki helped Kariya to develop the bitto. His doll, in its true form, was severely injured in combat by Renji Abarai's use of the final release and went out of control, which is implied to be at least partially influenced by Kariya.

Gesell (ゲゼル, Gezeru?, Gesell is German for 'pupil' or 'companion') is Ugaki's doll. It is sealed within a pack of cards resembling tarot cards, which Ugaki uses to control the doll's actions. In its normal state, Gesell takes the form of many small, mouth-like eye creatures. Ugaki can see what the eyes see through his glasses, allowing him to control them from a safe distance. The true purpose of the eyes is to project light, which in turn creates shadows. From the shadows, Gesell can manifest its true form, that of a giant, eyeless monster. It can also manifest single limbs and create various melee weapons from them. Gesell's actions are controlled through Ugaki's placement of the cards on a small mat marked with German incantations. The mat bears a resemblance to the of the Sephirotic Tree of Life, as the words on the mat, written by the lines on it, correspond to tarot cards and the "paths to God" found between the Sephiroths. The words written by the lines are also the names of tarot cards in the Major Arcana. The primary card is "Wachter" (Wächter is German for 'Guardian') which allows Gesell's eyes to flash a strong light onto objects and create shadows. After "Wachter" is initialized, other cards are chosen which summon Gesell's limbs or morph them into weapons. The card "Dämon Kraft" (Demon Power) summons a giant purple hand that can capture and injure opponents, one card summons spears to impale, and another summons ropes to immobilize.

Yoshi

Yoshi (ヨシ, Yoshi?) (seiyū: Yoko Soumi), a female Bount, has dark green hair and wears a purple traditional Chinese-style pao with beige pants. She seems to be somewhat masculine and intimidating. Yoshi appears very eager to gain power when Jin offers it to her, but she is also somewhat reluctant to be blindly following him. Her doll, Nieder, is a sword and fan connected by a chain, both of which are capable of speaking independently. Yoshi also utilizes her feet for kicking opponents in movements that suggest she is a wushu fighter. This makes her the only close-combat Bount seen so far. During the Bounts invasion of Soul Society, Yoshi encounters Rukia and Ririn and tries her best to maim Rukia in her weakened state. However, Byakuya Kuchiki stops her from delivering the final blow. While fighting Ishida, she reveals that she likes to risk her life fighting to get what she wants, but seems irritated by the fact that she can't do so in the modern world; thus, she followed the other Bount into Soul Society, where she could fight as she liked. Her overconfidence proves her undoing, as Ishida exploits a weakness in her transforming doll to fire an arrow through her chest at point-blank range. Shortly before dying, Yoshi mentions that she had fun.

Nieder (ニーダー, Nīdā?, Nieder is German for 'low') is Yoshi's doll, a combination of a jian and fan which are connected with an extending chain. Both the fan and sword have separate personalities. The jian end has a male voice (although high pitched) and the fan end has a female voice. The fan acts as a shield while the jian is the main weapon. Nieder can transform itself into two different forms: defense and offense. In its defensive form, the fan part of Nieder becomes dominant, enlarging to a size bigger than Yoshi herself and growing armor over Yoshi's left arm. In its offensive form, called Happonjin, the jian part of Nieder becomes dominant and armor extends over Yoshi's right arm. Several energy swords trail behind the main sword, which can be thrown or used to slash from a distance. In either transformation, however, Yoshi can only use one of the weapons, effectively cripling her defenses when in 'jian form' and cripling her offense in 'fan form'. Also, when changing forms, she has to return to her normal form first, which causes a small lag time in which she is defenseless.

Yoshino Sōma

Yoshino Sōma (相馬芳野, Sōma Yoshino?) (seiyū: Masako Katsuki) is a slim woman. Yoshino claims to oppose her superior/lover, Jin Kariya. She resembles Uryū Ishida's mother in appearance, but it is stated that the Bounts can not produce life. Yoshino seems to be the exception to the rule, as it was stated that she could reproduce. Yoshino also bears a great resemblance to Rantao, the creator of the Bounts. The reason for their resemblance is because Yoshino is a copy of Rantao, since the Bounts are artificial souls that were created based on shinigami souls. She merges with Goethe after Kariya removes her seal, and dies when she is impaled through the chest by Kariya.

Goethe (ゲーテ, Gēte?, named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) is Yoshino Sōma's doll. It takes the form of a claw (on her left hand) and ring (on her right hand) when sealed. To unseal Goethe, Yoshino strikes the two pieces together to create a spark, which releases him. Goethe is a fire elemental, able to create and control flame. While mostly humanoid in appearance, it has no legs. It can't be attacked physically, being made of flame, and reforms if dispersed. In Yoshino's last moments, she and Goethe merge to create a stronger, hybrid being, allowing Yoshino to control fire herself.

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