Name:
Eguchi Fukuda (E-goo-chee Foo-koo-dah)

Aliases/ Nicknames:
Big Guy

Theme Song:
Irepress - Diaspora
D'espairaRay - Infection

Seat:
Former: 4th Seat, 13th Squad
Current: 4th Seat, 1st Squad

Physical Description:
6’9”, very muscular, weighing in at a staggering 305lbs. Stone–jawed, but with a very weary look upon his face covered by a small beard. His hair is blonde (as well as his beard) and comes down to about his shoulders. When fighting he usually has it pulled back to keep it from blinding him. His posture is very rigid, never seen slouching even when standing for a long period of time. He also has a rather gruff voice. All over his body, small scars can faintly be seen as well as a much more prominent vertical slash down the right side of his chin to about his trachea from battles long ago.

----------------------THREE YEARS LATER ---------------------

After many sleepless nights, Eguchi's features seem to have taken on the air of an insomniac, suffering symptoms closely related to PTSD. His eyes are a little sunken in, but still show a man who has not given up the will to fight for what he believes in. His hair is a little bit shorter, but he still wears it up in a ponytail. Through the years, he has gained more and more prominent wounds, especially the vertical one above his left eye right through the brow and the almost diagonal one that grazes the bridge of his nose. There is also a deep gash in his right hand where he was impaled by a blade of some sort and broke free of it the hard.

More tattoos cover his body, but remain hidden beneath his hakama, each symbolizing his drive for an end to the chaos that is imposed upon his collegues and friends. The right shoulder is incased by a partial sleeve of tribal designs, as well as both of his sides, where text starts about a half inch from his armpit down to his waist*. Each piece of artwork symbolizes a sense of protection for every aspect of his life still intact. A final tattoo can be seen on his face just below his right temple. So that he remembers that day in his heart forever, the little girl's name in katakana. Yurichima.

* The incantations on both sides are one prayer broken into parts. The full prayer states: From death lead me to life, from falsehood to truth. From despair lead me to hope, from fear to trust. From hate lead me to love, from war to peace. From darkness lead me to light. Let love and compassion eradicate my woes. And let peace fill my heart, my world, my universe. Amen.

Special Accessories:
Has a gilded-clamp for his hair with the symbols for loyalty, family, and honor rotating around the inner band. He also has a Buddhist prayer for protection tattooed to his left pectoral.

Skills:
Very adept in grappling. His fighting style is more along the lines of a brawler than a disciplined martial artist.

Abilities:
Eguchi demonstrates the incredible strength expected from a man of his stature, being able to flatten an opponent (on certain occasions) with just a single punch.

Personality:
Eguchi is a quiet individual, never really expressing any extreme emotions to their fullest extent, and speaking only when he feels it is necessary to make a point to do so. His facial expressions may change minutely, but subtle changes in his reitsu usually expose his current feelings. He does smile sometimes, but this is also on rare occasions.

Eguchi is a man of unswayable loyalty, sticking to whatever or whoever he believes in and never letting anything detour his mind from the will of his cause ,to a fault almost. As such, he would gladly lay down his life to insure that the goals of what he follows become a reality and stay such until the end of time.

In battle he goes through a stage of selective blindness akin to that of bloodlust, feeding off his bloodthirsty emotions. In this state he becomes a single-minded person, only focusing on what he is fighting and completely ignoring most injuries sustained.

----------------------THREE YEARS LATER ---------------------

Eguchi no longer drinks, fearing it would cloud his judgement in very desperate times. The joy and happiness he once felt is now gone, replaced by an even greater urge to protect and defend what little humanity and familiarity he has left. His loyalty will never change, and this is one of the few reasons he went on with his captain and vice captain to squad 1. He feels a sort of bond with Captain Yukimaru that comes from fighting many a battle together, and although she may not share the same sentiments as him, he still would gladly die for her.

Eguchi doesn't really get along with the older members of squad 1, holding a sort of distain for them that could eventually lead to internal conflict. He won't outright speak of his uneasiness with the old guard, but he seems to change in the prescence of of them. Always on edge, very defensive, and often misinterpreting what they say to him.


Biography/History:
Eguchi was an orphan from very early in his life, never really knowing where he’d originally come from. He was raised in a monastery with several other orphaned children who eventually became close to what he understood to be family. As such, he took over the role as the quiet, yet thoughtful big brother. Whenever anyone was hurt or scared he would be there to protect them from whatever it was. Silent defender.

Sadly, it was not long before raiding mercenaries came to destroy their home on orders from an ambitious warlord looking to expand his territory. The mercenaries did not kill the children though. They saw them, especially Eguchi, as potential soldiers, and thus took them back to their camp where they would be trained in the ways of combat.

Eguchi despised them, his anger growing even fierier as they were put under intense training to ready their bodies for their upcoming debut on the field of battle. He eventually came to understand and appreciate why they worked him so hard, immersing himself farther and farther into their culture. He even accepted their formal indoctrination into the rag-tag family of men and women along with his original family from the orphanage. He finally had a family, including a father and a mother, to call his own.

Over the years he honed his skills and continued to fight for whoever paid the most money. He didn’t need to pick sides. As long as he had his friends and family to come home to, he could fight knowing that they were all he needed to trust and love unconditionally.

And then, the day came. The day that would shatter all he ever believed in and trusted without question. He was tasked to be the advanced attack squadron that would go in to “soften up” the rear guard of the enemy in order to cut off their retreat when the main force came to wipe out their front and side flanks. This was all a trap, however, as Eguchi and his men were ambushed on their way to the rendezvous point with another squadron from their clan about a half-mile or so from the rear guard. His men could do nothing against a 20-1 rate and eventually, the ones who were not killed immediately, surrendered. They were stripped of their armor and weapons and bound with their hands to their legs in a kneeling position, bags placed upon their heads. Eguchi could sense the emotions of his subordinates, but could not see their faces; a feeling of detached displeasure being overcame with silent dread.

The bag suddenly lifted from his head, blinding him momentarily as he squinted upwards. That feeling of dread was well place after all, as he was staring back up to an all too familiar face. The tip of a sword pricked his chin lightly, and then pulled back as he continued to stare at the man. It was his blood brother, the one person he was always sure he could trust and believe in who had pointed the sword at him. Tears began to rolls down his eyes as he looked into his brother’s, a single word escaping his lips. “Why?” This was all he could muster, as he was suddenly hit with sharp pains all of his side. His brother had fallen as well, his sword coming down to slice farther down his chin and into his jugular. Eguchi slumped forward, blood pouring in spurts out of him as well as the steady streams cascading down his right side and back from about a dozen arrows. His eyes gazed ground side as he slowly began to fade. And suddenly it all went dark.

When Eguchi came to, he found himself no longer bound, but in almost a standing position. A comrade was helping him to his feet as he awoke and smiled gently at him. “We are dead, brother.” He said to Eguchi. “The afterlife calls to us. See? They have sent messengers to bring us home.” Eguchi looked over as men in black hakamas were directing the others towards some sort of portal. He hesitated a little, but eventually stepped forward to face the alternate dimension. The man that helped him up smiled and slightly nodded at him before stepping into the portal. Eguchi watched for a second then turned to look once more at the world of the living before stepping through the portal into the afterlife.

----------------------THREE YEARS LATER ---------------------

The years that have passed were not easy ones. As hollows and arrancar ravaged the spirit realm Eguchi tried desperately to protect one and all like a member of the seireitei could. Unfortuately, his effort was in vain as many souls were consumed and perished at the hands of those foul creatures. Events continued to spiral downward as their push farther into the seireitei brought them more and more blood to spill. A very unfortunate affair in the minds of those who had survived.

During a mission to recaputre a small portion of the Rukongai distircts, Eguchi stumbled upon a group of children that'd been orphan in the mayhem. Quickly proceeding to evacuate them, he called in for assistance from a neighboring squad, but it was no use. As reinforcements were on their way Eguchi was ambushed by a rather menacing hollow that he had to draw away from the children he had now hidden inside a small hut among the abandoned street vendors. After dispatching of the beast, he returned to find them brutally slain by some sort of bird-like hollow that he quickly struck down in vengeful anger. One of the children was still alive though, and Eguchi sat with her cradled in his arms in her final moments. He held her gently and told her everything would be okay, as relief would be here soon, but the girl slipped away moments before the afore-mentioned reinforcements made it to him. All they found was a rather large man, covered in blood, and weeping with upper half of a young child's body in his hands.

From that moment on, he was changed. Never quite the same Eguchi everyone knew and came to feel comradeship towards. That night, with the little girl dying in his arms, a part of him seemed to die with her. The smiles never returned to the great face. The laughter all, but nonexistent. And the drinking got worse. Eventually he got to a point where he stayedin his room and drank all day until he threw up and then drank some more.

Things changed, and as the year ended, Eguchi was at the lowest of the lows, wallowing in his own vomit and tears. Waking up in the middle of the night screaming at the top of his lungs with the little girl still in his arms. Fortunately, his captain began to bring him back to his senses and beat the living daylights out of him. He continued to hate himself, but eventually saw the self-deterioration of his ways. Things never returned to their former glory, but he stopped drinking from that day on, bearing the weight of the images fed to him at night, and numbing the pain felt with a reslove so strong he seemed to cure himself.

And then he finally got better. Not normal, but better than what he had been months before. With his newfound sense of purpose he gradually found himself training harder and longer, and volunteering for more reclamation missions out into the hollow infested areas until the present day. Where the man that was once Eguchi is no more, and a man that is only the original in name stands.

Zanpaku-to:
Senshi (Warrior)

Zanpaku-to blade type: Nodachi

Zanpaku-to Spirit:
Senshi is a White Akita similar to this, but with more of an air of divinity.

Personality:
Senshi has no gender, therefore speaking in a culmination of both male and female voices. For those less comfortable, Senshi feels it is perfectly normal to be labeled with a gender by them, but has been known to appear more masculine due to always seeking enlightenment and power within itself and Eguchi. Senshi is a rather patient and kind spirit, but will jump at every chance to excel and become more powerful; willing to lend its to Eguchi to strengthen the whole. This assisstant is not handed out freely though, requiring Eguchi to want it even more than Senshi. A task in itself, but usually yeilding much success.

Inner World: Senshi's world is one of silence, hiding all of its mysteries behind a thick wall light blue mist. One must believe in themself to navigate this place, lest they trip over what lurks beneath the fog. When speaking even a whisper seems to echo throughout this world. Senshi can usually be found perched upon a large, carved boulder with lush pillows strewn about it of various feminine colors including shades of blue, red, yellow, purple, and orange.

Callout phrase:
Bay and Emanate

Shikai:

Shikai blade type: Naginata

Usually whipped out over the head with both hands, the sword transforms as it is swept downwards, resulting in Eguchi already holding the 8 foot naginata in fighting stance.
It has the ability to store free-flowing reitsu* and reitsu infused directly from Eguchi. The reitsu stored in the naginata is recycled after each use, returning to the naginata. In return the reitsu recycled becomes weaker over time, eventually depleting to zero. Eguchi can keep forcing reitsu into the naginata, but it is drawn straight from him and can cause him to become fatigued if too much is used on the naginata. The end is pointed and can readily be used as an off hand attack when the time calls for it.

Abilities:

[1] Kizuku (Amass) - The reitsu stored within the naginata can then be manipulated to add more destructive force behind an attack (Shou, "Destroy"), fire off kido without the need to say incantations or waste reitsu outside the staff (Iru, "Fire")**, or replenish Eguchi himself (Juuten, "Replenish").

[2]Tsuku (Breathe) - When no longer needing his zanpaku-to the reitsu within is released back into the air in a brilliant blue mist, revitilizing the Seireitei similar to that of a plant releasing oxygen back into the atmosphere during photosynthesis. Those around Eguchi when this happens seem to feel a little better afterwards, wanting to breathe in the fresh air.

* Reitsu taken in this form is constant, but much slower to build up, requiring Eguchi to endow his own reitsu into the naginata
** Kidos preformed this way exit from the tip of the naginata's blade.


Bankai:
(Not yet accomplished)


Powers:
Bakudo:
1. Restrain - The first, and weakest, of the binding spells. No incantation is needed other than its name, and it is activated with a cross-slash of the Shinigami's pointer and middle fingers. From the torso up is the area that is paralysed, but if used on those with high-spiritual power, it is near worthless.
2. Kabe (Wall) - This spell erects a wall of spiritual energy in front of its target. It is neither high nor wide though, so most spirits, Hollows and Shinigami are just able to jump over it or go around it.
4. Crawling Rope - An energy rope entangles a target's arms.
8. Seal of Patience - When invoked, the seal creates a white mark on the casters right palm. When this mark is touched to a living being, the mark is transferred to it's body and turns black. From that moment, the flesh touched by the mark becomes rooted to that location in space, relative to the earth. What this means is that the part of the body that bears the mark cannot be moved from that location without being forcefully removed from the body. And even if that is done, it will continue to float there until the spell is released. While it's low rank is due to the extremely low amount of spiritual power required to activate, the spell itself is actually quite complicated and difficult to pull off properly. For this reason, most Shingami pass it up for other sealing spells that are just as effective for far less hassle.
9. Hit - The user draws with his or her hand a red light ideogram in the air that vanishes as the cast begins. The bakudou binds the enemy with a red pressure, causing pain and muscle contraction. The torture of the pain is frequently used for making the oponnent give up the battle without any more blood being spilt. The spell can be broken easily if the target has higher spiritual pressure than the caster.
30. Beak-Stab Triple-Shot - fires a triangular beam of reitsu designed to ensare and incapacitate the opponent.

Hado:
1. Sudden Impact - Releases a blast of air from the hands of the user.
2. Beniikazuchi (Crimson Thunder) - A beam of deep red lightning is blasted from the user's pointing finger towards the enemy. It's intention is to make so much noise that breaks the enemy orientation. Its strike is not very strong but the impact can make superficial bruises. It's a good hadou for iniciants.
3. Kuukuu no Akuryoku (Grip of the Void) - This art creates a short-lived bubble of nothingness around its target, causing weak spirits to explode. Stronger beings are not affected at all.
4. White Lightning - Focusing a concentrated amount of spiritual power at the index and middle fingers, the spell releases this energy is a then coherent beam that easily strikes through most targets.
8. Kutsuunomaru (Circle of Pain) - This art creates a shining circle of yellow around the feets of the target, destroying very weak spirits instantly, causing great pain to spirits up to lower medium power and causing light discomfort to anything stronger.
31. Shot of Red Fire - Fires a ball of red energy at a target.
33. Blue Fire Fall - One of the stronger, but more frequently used, Arts by Captains. Blue Fire Fall could be seen as the upgraded version of Blasting Spell #31. The effect of Art #33 is to fire projectiles of blue flame at the target which result in large explosions as well as bursts of bright light capable of blinding said target.

Other:
Silent casting - The ability to fire a kido without literally voicing its name.

[Shall be edited over time.]