Ran'Tao

is a former Shinigami researcher who oversaw the project responsible for the creation of the Bount.

Appearance
Ran'Tao is a slender and youthful-looking woman with thin gold-rimmed glasses, long brown hair usually done up with a hairpin with a large bang falling to the left over her forehead, and brown eyes. She wears red lipstick and a standard shihakushō underneath a lab coat. In order to seal Ran'Tao's powers away, a seal resembling overlapping kanji was inscribed into her back. Due to the Artificial Soul that was based on Ran'Tao's Soul being the template for Yoshino Sōma, multiple individuals have mistaken her for the latter.

Personality
Ran'Tao is a calm and analytical woman with a somewhat sardonic sense of humor; upon meeting Ichigo Kurosaki and Jin Kariya, she first mocks the former for speaking less formally than most Shinigami do, then observes that Kariya was more short-tempered and emotional than he presents himself to be and politely inquired if he was going to kill her; she is also amused by the idea of Ichigo and Uryū Ishida teaming up as a Shinigami and Quincy since such a thing seemed impossible when she was part of the Gotei 13, and is very terse and unapologetic about the pain her defibrillator-like technology causes when treating Ichigo's wounds.

Despite her slightly caustic demeanor, however, Ran'Tao is ultimately compassionate and empathetic, with a sincere belief in the importance of morality and responsibility: as the lead researcher on the immortality experiment, she disavowed the idea of using Human Souls as experimental subjects regardless of how probable the success of their work would be and instead pushed for her team to use Artificial Souls using their own Souls as templates to maintain ethicacy; upon learning of the inadvertent creation of the Bount, she moved them to a large cave system where they could build a civilization without Humans persecuting them and promised to work toward placing them under the protection of Soul Society; and when Central 46 ruled that the Bount were to be exterminated as part of the overall burying of the experiment, Ran'Tao immediately defied orders and illicitly returned to the Human World to save as many Bount as she could, where she found Eugene Currier and did her best to comfort him while giving him an amulet to awaken his powers so he could protect himself. She also provides Ichigo and Uryū with medical care, food, and shelter for the night after meeting them for the first time, knowing that they are seeking the truth behind the creation of the Bount.

Having worked tirelessly in secret over the centuries following her exile to help the Bount should they ever succeed in coming to Soul Society as a method of repentance, Ran'Tao initially tries to convince Kariya that she could save the Bount due to the changing practices and beliefs of the Gotei 13 and Soul Society since his creation, even insisting that she will save just him if he were really the only Bount left, but upon seeing that Kariya had no interest in abandoning his desire for revenge and destruction, Ran'Tao assists Uryū in fighting him without hesitation, going as far as stabbing him to cut off his Reishi absorption and channeling some of the power of the Jōkaishō that he absorbed through her own body to give Uryū a chance to kill him, knowing full well that she will either die in the process or have her body torn apart by her Reiatsu subsequently going out of control. Following the battle with Kariya, Ran'Tao has Yoruichi Shihōin bring a still-living Gō Koga to her so she can heal him and hear the story of the last Bount, knowing that neither of them want to keep fighting.

History
Over a thousand years ago, Ran'Tao was the head researcher on an experiment designed to create an immortal life. With ethical concerns over the idea of experimenting on Human Souls, Ran'Tao and her team created Artificial Souls using their own Souls as templates and made great progress. Suddenly, one of the Jōkaishō used to power the experiments experienced a meltdown one day and exploded, destroying a tenth of the Seireitei. With her project shut down due to this, Ran'Tao discovered that the explosion had also altered many Souls in the cycle of rebirth, causing them to be reborn in the Human World as Bount with supernatural powers, and resolved to protect them from persecution.

To this end, Ran'Tao gathered the Bount in an elaborate cave system on the outskirts of what would become Karakura Town, where she met Eugene Currier for the first time. Knowing that her goal of placing the Bount under the protection of Soul Society would take many years to accomplish, Ran'Tao instructed the Bount to build a civilization in the caves where they could live away from Humans and wait patiently while she worked on this, which they agreed to do. However, upon returning to Soul Society with her team, Ran'Tao was apprehended and brought before Central 46, where she was horrified to learn the Bount would be exterminated to cover up all traces of the immortality experiment.

In response, Ran'Tao returned to the Human World against orders to save as many Bount as they could, but arrived well after the massacre had begun and only found Eugene hiding from the Shinigami patrolling the caves. Fighting off the Shinigami as she carried Eugene to safety in a side room, Ran'Tao gave him a special amulet to awaken his dormant Bount powers and had him run away to join the other Bount who had escaped while she distracted their pursuers. Following this, Ran'Tao was arrested and had the blame for the Bount placed solely on her, resulting in her Shinigami powers being sealed away and her being exiled from the Seireitei, so Ran'Tao went into hiding to further prepare to help the Bount.

Bount arc (anime only)
The day after Jin Kariya's group of Bount enters Soul Society and the night that Kariya begins fighting Ichigo Kurosaki and 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, Ran'Tao interrupts the battle with a massive blast of energy and reveals herself, shocking both Ichigo and Kariya with her striking resemblance to Yoshino Sōma. Upon learning that Ran'Tao is the creator of the Bount, Ichigo refuses to let Kariya kill her so he can finally learn the truth behind them and protects Ran'Tao from Gō Koga's Doll, Dalk, when the latter arrives to help Kariya retreat. Following this, Uryū Ishida catches up to Ichigo and joins him in following Ran'Tao back to her dwelling.

Once she has healed Ichigo's wounds, Ran'Tao explains how the Bount were created and reveals that her powers being sealed prevented her from returning to the Human World to aid them following their massacre at the hands of the Shinigami, as well as forcing her to sleep for twelve hours every day in order to maintain her youth and part of her power, which results in her falling asleep in the middle of the conversation. After waking up, Ran'Tao prepares food for the group and learns of Yoshino Sōma's distinct resemblance to her, which leads her to deduce that the Artificial Soul that Yoshino was created from used her own Soul as a template and caused her physical features to appear during rebirth.

That evening, Ichigo and Uryū leave Ran'Tao's dwelling after receiving word of the Bount operating out of the Kusajishi forest, where Ran'Tao warns Uryū that his usage of the Quincy Bangle could cause it to detonate in a massive explosion at any moment. The next day, with Kariya having absorbed the power of a Jōkaishō, Ran'Tao manages to enter the Seireitei and the day after that, Ran'Tao confronts Kariya on a rooftop as he plans to begin the destruction of the Seireitei, using a Kidō Gun to effectively injure him, only to be shocked to learn that Kariya is the same boy she rescued from the Bount massacre as he incapacitates her with his Doll, Messer.

Before Kariya can kill Ran'Tao, Uryū arrives and begins fighting him evenly, with Ran'Tao expressing amazement at his mastery over the Quincy Bangle, but begins losing control of it as it begins to break apart, allowing Kariya to gain the upper hand and forcing Ran'Tao to intervene by using a second amulet to channel part of the power of the Jōkaishō within Kariya into her own body. Using this power, Ran'Tao manages to restrain Kariya and stabs him in the side using a knife hidden in her hairpin before urging Uryū to kill him through her. When Uryū restrains the power of his subsequent Heilig Pfeil, allowing both of them to survive, Ran'Tao's Reiatsu begins going out of control.

Though Ran'Tao requests Uryū let her die and use this opportunity to finish off Kariya, Uryū chooses to save her instead by siphoning her power into the Quincy Bangle and releasing it in the form of a massive Heilig Pfeil that causes the Quincy Bangle to finally crumble, leaving him powerless. However, Ichigo intervenes before Kariya can attack them further and begins fighting Kariya, allowing Uryū to help Ran'Tao escape. Upon meeting 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya in the streets below, Ran'Tao gives him a map of the other Jōkaishō so they can be sealed. After Kariya's defeat, Gō Koga wakes up in Ran'Tao's dwelling, where Ran'Tao reveals she had Yoruichi bring him to her so he could be healed and tell her the story of the last Bount.

Inventions

 * While in exile, Ran'Tao designed a shotgun-like weapon that can fire concentrated blasts of Kidō to compensate for her sealed powers. It has a bulky metal barrel with a ridge along the top fastened to a sturdy wooden stock by two metal bands, a metal trigger covered by a rectangular guard, and a detachable metal segment on the top of the stock near the barrel. The blasts of Kidō fired by this weapon are potent enough to injure and intimidate an empowered Jin Kariya.

Hairpin Knife: The hairpin worn by Ran'Tao conceals a long and thin blade, allowing for surgical precision when stabbing an individual.

Bount Amulet: A powerful artifact created by Ran'Tao to awaken dormant Bount powers within an individual. When inactive, the amulet resemble a simple, smooth metal square with rounded edges and corners on a chain, allowing it to be worn around the neck; however, when activated by a Bount, the square separates into four symmetrical triangles that slide apart, revealing a glowing lime-green disc inside that is engraved with a ring of metal around the center, which is inscribed with the Bount emblem. When used by Kariya, the amulet turned his hair white and his eyes red while turning his body into the crest for his newly-summoned Doll, Messer, and greatly empowering his physical abilities. Ran'Tao would later use a second amulet for a much different purpose; by activating it in the proximity of Kariya, who had recently absorbed the power of a Jōkaishō, Ran'Tao managed to channel part of his power into her own body, empowering her to the point where she could physically restrain Kariya in turn, though this came at the near-lethal cost of causing her Reiatsu to go out of control and nearly tore her body apart.

Healing Defibrillators: Ran'Tao has developed a pair of defibrillator-like paddles that can heal wounds by channeling electricity into the body; though painful, this process is fast and effective.

Powers & Abilities
Spiritual Power: As a former Shinigami, Ran'Tao possesses some level of Reiryoku, though much of it was sealed away as punishment for her defiance of Central 46. In combat, she can exert enough Reiatsu to be detected from a significant distance.

Master Scientist & Inventor: As a former lead researcher of the pre-SRDI Soul Society, Ran'Tao is immensely intelligent, having a deep enough understanding of the Bount and their power to develop an amulet to awaken their dormant powers and know how to seal their Reishi-absorption capabilities despite having only created them accidentally. Though she only had limited tools to work with after being exiled, Ran'Tao proved resourceful enough to still create useful and effective devices like her Kidō Gun and healing defibrillation system, as well as performing special surgery on her body to maintain her youth and health despite her sealed powers at the cost of reduced stamina and needing to sleep for twelve hours a day.

Kidō Expert: Before her powers were sealed, Ran'Tao demonstrated considerable skill in Kidō by repeatedly using mid-level spells without incantation.

Quotes

 * "I tried to get close to the Bount, hoping that I might be able to save them. I admit I felt responsible somehow. After all, they were just innocent victims of our experiments."


 * (To Eugene Currier) "Try to do your best. We all need to work together in order to help you and the Bount live a life without worries or fear."


 * (To Eugene) "I'm sorry, little one. You'll be forced to endure much suffering, but I believe one day you will rise again, and to see that day, you must live!"


 * (To Ichigo Kurosaki) "The attitude of the Shinigami seems to have changed a great deal, and not for the better. How vulgar."


 * (To Ichigo and Uryū Ishida) "A Shinigami and a Quincy? That's a very interesting combination."


 * (While healing Ichigo) "Just deal with it, I'm almost done. That's it, you're all healed. Never underestimate science."


 * (To Ichigo and Uryū) "I made a very unpopular prediction: I said it was inevitable that the Bount would use any means they could to return to Soul Society. I came up with a plan. I suggested we publicize everything and accept the Bount into our society...and this was my reward."


 * (To Jin Kariya) "I have lived only to save you! There is not a single Shinigami remaining who remembers the past! Soul Society has changed! Finally, I can save the Bount!"


 * (To Kariya) "Even if you're the last one, I can still save you!"


 * (To Uryū while restraining Kariya) "Do it now! Shoot him! Quickly! Forget about me, shoot now while you have the chance! Don't you dare let this Bount add to his crimes! Yes...that's how it must be."


 * (To Uryū) "You don't have to worry about me! This is no surprise to me, Quincy. I used this power knowing full well what would happen!"


 * (To Gō Koga) "You're free to go, but you should stay here until your wounds have healed. I don't think there's anything left for me to do here anymore. After all this time, I don't plan to return to the Seireitei...but I would like to hear the story of the last Bount."