Kisuke Urahara/Expanded Universe

is the former captain of the 12th Division, as well as the founder and 1st President of the S.R.D.I.. His lieutenant was Hiyori Sarugaki. He lives in the Human World where he owns a small convenience store which sells Shinigami items. He is assisted by his employees Tessai Tsukabishi, Jinta Hanakari, and Ururu Tsumugiya.

Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World
Shortly after defeating Askin Nakk Le Vaar, Urahara, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Yoruichi Shihōin, and Yūshirō Shihōin are rescued from the Sternritter's Gift Ball Deluxe by Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. After recovering, Urahara proceeds to construct new bindings to imprison Sōsuke Aizen in Muken.

Inventions
Having founded the research institute in Soul Society, Kisuke has developed a number of unique items. The notable ones are below:


 * A small orb which was initially believed to only be capable of dissolving the boundary between a Shinigami and a Hollow and vice-versa. However, according to Aizen, its true ability is materializing the inner desires of the people around it.


 * Gigai Technology: a is an artificial body created to help broken souls to stabilize and restore their energy as well as enable Shinigami stationed in Human World to interact with Humans. Having experimented with Gigai at length, Urahara has created many variations designed for various purposes.
 * Energy-sucking Gigai: An untraceable Gigai which drains the user's spiritual power instead of restoring it, effectively making them Human if used long enough. It was developed for the purpose of hiding the Hōgyoku forever and given to Rukia. Akon noted that this Gigai was so advanced that nobody in the current SRDI would have been able to create it.
 * An inflatable variation used as a decoy in combat. With an adequate level of skill and right timing the user can fool even a high-level combatant like Aizen.
 * Human Shell Gigai: A Gigai created for the purpose of helping Hollowfied Quincy souls. If a Shinigami enters this Gigai, they become a Human-Shinigami hybrid, and with the help of a special Reishi string which binds the souls, they can enter the Quincy's inner world to protect them from the Hollow inside. The side effects are an inability to leave the Gigai or use Shinigami powers at all. There is also a huge risk of losing Shinigami powers entirely.


 * Artificial Soul Creation: Through a similar, but not identical means to Mayuri's Nemuri Project, Urahara created Jinta Hanakari and Ururu Tsumugiya, two Artificial Souls. By his own admission, they are "quite different" from Nemu Kurotsuchi, but have proven capable of easily defeating Hollows and even briefly fending off Arrancar. pages 11-13


 * A device which creates an enormous, one spiritual unit of area radius Senkaimon bound by four linked points. When activated, the device swaps something that it encircles with something else in Soul Society.

Powers & Abilities
Immense Spiritual Power: As a former captain of the 12th Division, Urahara boasts great amounts of spiritual energy. He is capable of fighting evenly with Aura Michibane, a Fullbringer with powers far beyond imagination, and casting the highest level Kidō in succession without tiring. Shūhei Hisagi commented on his immense power as they fought, calling it tremendous and far superior to his own.

Kidō Master: Urahara is a master in the use of Hadō and Bakudō spells. His skill in Kidō allows him to cast '''Hadō #99. Goryūtenmetsu without incantation, just shortly after casting Hadō #91. Senju Kōten Taihō'''.

Genius Intellect: Urahara has proven himself to be the most intelligent being both within and outside of Soul Society. He was entrusted to create bindings for restraining Sōsuke Aizen after he became more powerful than his Hōgyoku-infused forms. Urahara correctly deduced that Mayuri Kurotsuchi celebrated his achievements with his Nemuri Project after he defeated Pernida Parnkgjas, and repeatedly dodged Hisagi's questions during their interview, only answering on his own terms and even turned the interview against him. Kensei Muguruma was confident that in a one-on-one fight, Urahara would eventually find a way to defeat Hikone Ubuginu, despite not being as powerful.

Zanpakutō

 * A blade described by Urahara as "not nice", it is one of the few known Zanpakutō with a female spirit owned by a male. When sealed, Benihime is a beige-colored shikomizue (a blade hidden inside a cane) with a curved handle and silver base. As the blade resides in a cane, the cane's handle is still the hilt and the shaft is the sheath, allowing it to still operate like other Zanpakutō. The shaft's base bears a skull and blue flame mark on the bottom, which can separate souls from bodies by pressing the mark to it. Back when Urahara was still in the Gotei 13, Benihime was sealed in an average-sized katana form, with a black sheath worn under Urahara's sash. It had an oval-shaped tsuba, with a snowflake-design embossed in it, and a black hilt-wrapping.


 * Shikai: Benihime's Shikai command is . Its Shikai takes the form of a sleek, medium-sized sword. The hilt's grip, which has a gentle black-decorative wrapping, bends forward at the end, with a pommel shaped overlap three times, and a crimson tassel dangling from its base. Instead of a tsuba, there is a U-shape guard covering three inches of the blade, with a flower petal design. At the base of the guard is a red string wrapped thrice around the hilt, with a three-loop bow on the back side and a folded paper decoration on the front side. The blades' hamon is straight, colored black with a silver edge, and is somewhat thicker than the cane-sealed state. It remains straight and slim with a somewhat short size, with the tip ending in a slanted razor-like edge instead of tapering to a point.


 * Shikai Special Ability: Benihime is capable of producing and manipulating a crimson-colored energy to perform a variety of techniques. Urahara can use these techniques by declaring the proper verbal command that corresponds to Benihime's different abilities.