Ikkaku Madarame

Ikkaku Madarame (Madarame Ikkaku). He is the 3rd Seat of the 11th Division in the Gotei 13. His captain is Kenpachi Zaraki.

Character Outline
Ikkaku is bald, a fact that is made fun of by many. The 11th Division lieutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi, calls him either "cue-ball" or "pachinko head", a result of her fondness for giving people nicknames or when he questions her direction skills. As a result of the constant ridicule he gets, Ikkaku is very self-conscious about his baldness, to the point where he will threaten anyone that points it out. Ikkaku's bald scalp is reflective, which causes members of the 8th and 11th Divisions to mistake it as a full moon in one of the anime's omake segments, much to Ikkaku's annoyance. He also has distinctive small red markings near his eyes. Unlike most shinigami, he doesn't wear tabi with his sandals.

Despite being ranked as 3rd seat officer in his division, his rank does not reflect his fighting abilities, which are of captain level. According to Yumichika Ayasegawa, Ikkaku is the 2nd strongest man in the 11th Division. It is unclear whether this explicitly means that he is stronger than any other male in the division (excluding Kenpachi) or whether he is the second strongest person in the division (surpassing Yachiru, its lieutenant). Ikkaku has even achieved the bankai of his zanpakutō, putting him at a level beyond most of Soul Society's lieutenants. Ikkaku intentionally hides this fact from everyone, with the exception of those he trusts to keep it a secret. The reason he does so is to stay in the 11th Division under Kenpachi, since he believes he might be promoted or forced into becoming a captain if anyone else knew.

In terms of attitude, Ikkaku is a stereotypical 11th Division member — violent, fight-loving, and rude; this has been noted by Tetsuzaemon Iba, among others. He loves fighting so much that he is unwilling to travel anywhere without a sword, resorting to carrying a wooden one when posing as a student at Ichigo's school. He does have a sense of loyalty and responsibility, however, unlike many of the lower-ranked 11th Division members. Ikkaku is fiercely loyal to Kenpachi, under whose command he wants to fight and eventually die.

Ikkaku has many personality traits in common with his division's captain Kenpachi Zaraki, which is why they seem to have so much respect for one another. Ikkaku considers fighting fun and tries to get as much "fun" as he can out of his opponents, so much so that he will take deadly risks to drag out the fight for as long as possible. During a fight with a challenging opponent, he is almost constantly smiling, much like Kenpachi does. Like all 11th Division members, he considers the only honorable battles to be those fought one-on-one and even the threat of death is not a reason to ignore this fact, since as a rule the winner is only determined when the other is dead. He does consider surviving an otherwise lost battle good luck, however, he's also sensible enough to carry a blood-clotting ointment in the hilt of his zanpakutō.

Ikkaku is one of the few characters in Bleach that is referred to by their given name instead of their family name, a rarity in Bleach but seemingly more common amongst the 11th Division. Only Makizō Aramaki and Tōshirō Hitsugaya have called him Madarame so far. As an odd side note, Ikkaku appears to be one of only two Bleach characters who are left handed, the other being Uryū Ishida. It's equally possible he's ambidextrous, like Lisa Yadōmaru, as he switches to his right hand during his battle with the arrancar Edrad Leones and uses his sword sheath as a secondary weapon in battle.

History
Not much is known about Ikkaku's history, but it's likely that he has been in the 11th Division since becoming a shinigami. The anime is much clearer about this; Ikkaku becomes a shinigami after hearing that Kenpachi had become the captain of the 11th Division. During Renji Abarai's time in the 11th Division, Ikkaku was Renji's senpai and taught him how to fight.

Like Rukia Kuchiki and Renji, Ikkaku came from Rukongai. At some point, he met Yumichika Ayasegawa and the two became friends. They would later have an encounter with Kenpachi Zaraki and Yachiru Kusajishi before they entered Seireitei. Kenpachi and Ikkaku fought; Kenpachi easily defeated Ikkaku and nearly killed him. When he asked Kenpachi why he didn't kill him, Kenpachi replied that if he killed Ikkaku now, he would never get another opportunity to fight Ikkaku again. He then told him not to seek death, but to consider himself lucky for not having died. The encounter is Ikkaku's main reason for staying in the 11th Division, as he wants to continue serving under Kenpachi and might not get a chance to fight him again otherwise.

Zanpakuto
Hōzukimaru (Demon Light, Winter Cherry): It appears like any regular zanpakutō when sealed, but has a hollow hilt which Ikkaku stores a blood-clotting ointment in.


 * Shikai: Its shikai command is "grow" (nobiro, "extend" in the English version). Hōzukimaru's shikai is unusual in that Ikkaku slams Hōzukimaru's hilt into its sheath to activate it when saying the command phrase. Once activated, Hōzukimaru takes on the form of what initially appears to be a yari (spear) with a wax wood shaft. The pommel also has a red horsehair tassel. While it does technically function as such, it is also a three section staff, which surprises opponents when they first attack. Ikkaku uses the command "split" (sakero, "split apart" in the English dub) to separate the sections, after which the sections can independently reconnect and separate again at will.


 * Bankai: Ryūmon Hōzukimaru (Dragon Crest Demon Light): keeps the three-section theme but loses its yari properties. Instead, it's merely three oversized weapons connected by an equally large chain. To activate it during his battle with Edrad, Ikkaku slams the two broken pieces of his shikai and says bankai. Ikkaku's two main weapons are a Chinese Monk's spade and a standard Guan dao. Both have a traditional horsehair tassel at the hilt and a long cylindrical weight for a pommel. The pommels are connected by a heavy chain to the center section, which resembles an axe-like blade with a parallel handle forged into the blunt end and a dragon crest on one side of the blade. Despite all three weapons being of near-ridiculous proportions, Ikkaku wields them easily. Ikkaku usually holds one blade in each hand and lets the central portion "float" behind him, though he will occasionally spin the entire configuration about using the center handle as a pivot.


 * Ikkaku's bankai, like his shikai, is also quite unusual. Aside from the increase in power, his bankai offers no special abilities and no special defense properties. While quite capable of injuring opponents, the weapons are easily damaged. To make up for this, Ikkaku's bankai gets increasingly more powerful as the fight drags on. After he performs his bankai, the dragon crest will slowly fill in with crimson dye as Ikkaku's spiritual pressure rises. It fills faster when he spins Hōzukimaru with the center handle. Ikkaku comments that his zanpakutō is actually very lazy in battle (in stark contrast to Ikkaku himself) and needs to be woken up through causing or receiving injury. When the crest is completely filled, Hōzukimaru is at its full power. However, the force of unleashing so much power can leave his zanpakutō's edge brittle afterwards.