Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26475399-20160213023528

(Lengthy post warning; please bear with me.)

I have gone through many different speculations and crack theories concerning Ichigo's favorite ramen-eating buddy. Recently i had a random intriguing thought, and took a stab (pun intended; sorry, Ichigo D;) at giving it some expansion. Turns out, it wasn't a theory that i alone had devised.

So this isn't a totally new theory. I'm just chronicling my reasoning and my own points as to why i think it's the most likely speculation concerning a certain aspect of one of my top three favorite characters.

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So, many people wonder why Ginjo could attain Bankai if he never had a Shikai or for the fact that he didn't wield a Zanpakuto, but rather a sword made from a Fullbring ability. Another question i'll address is how he used Bankai while still in human form.

(Abbreviations: "SSB" = Substitute Shinigami Badge, "CoS" = Cross of Scaffold.)

We saw Ginjo attach and then fully fuse his own SSB to his CoS, transforming his CoS into a new form. What if this new look to his CoS is actually the true Shikai form of the Zanpakuto he had from when he was a Substitute Shinigami?

I believe Ginjo has indeed merged his Shinigami powers with his Fullbring.

Recall that the SSB has a strong connection to its user's soul and powers and Reiatsu. Refer to how Ichigo was able to achieve his own Fullbring.

My suggestion is that CoS in its first Fullbring form could be a stripped version of his Shikai that he was able to re-manifest and modify by Fullbring, via his SSB providing access to the unaltered original Shikai.

And with Ginjo storing away his CoS as his necklace pendant, consider this: Ginjo essentially did the same thing with his SSB; first he withdrew the soul of his Zanpakuto, modified it with Fullbring, and then incorporated it into his Fullbring abilities as a weapon; this leaving the aspects he stripped away from the full original, still held within the SSB.

So he has the pendant for his Fullbring half of the two powers (Fullbring-modified re-manifestation of his Zanpakuto blade in Shikai mode), and then the original Shinigami half being held by the SSB.

This hypothesis is an attempt to explain what exactly happened when Ginjo attached his SSB to his CoS: Ginjo's true and unaltered Zanpakuto was unleashed, and now his Shinigami and Fullbring powers were fully combined.

In short, i'm suggesting that Ginjo found a way to use his Fullbring nature to gain access to his Zanpakuto blade from his SSB. Thus his ability to use Bankai while still in human form. It's all due to use of Fullbring.

And just as an additional detail, i theorize that Ginjo went straight to Shikai by affixing his SSB to CoS (this combination being the "release command" as an action), and thus was left with actually verbally calling upon his Bankai.

Now for an ending side note....

Many people wonder if Ginjo's power-stealing/sharing ability was exclusive to him, or something that all Fullbringers could perform. What if it's true that it was only his ability? If such is the case, then maybe that is the power of his Zanpakuto? Which suggests an explanation for why he stole and shared power only after attaching his SSB to his CoS.

This could also explain the reference to when he went rogue in Soul Society and killed other Shinigami to steal their power. Though, if it wasn't his Zanpakuto power, then it would have been (the way i see it) him using his Fullbring powers during his Shinigami days.

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Sorry for such a long post; i like to explain myself thoroughly to get my reasoning fully across. Thank you for reading all the way, to those who did. ;P

Now... what are your thoughts? 