Jūshirō Ukitake

"Friendship that embraces all." - Tite Kubo

is the captain of the 13th Division in the Gotei 13. The now-deceased Kaien Shiba once served as his lieutenant.

History
Jūshirō is the eldest son from the low-class aristocratic Ukitake family. He has five brothers and two sisters, whom he essentially supports by himself. He, along with Shunsui Kyōraku, was one of the first graduates of Captain Yamamoto's academy. Furthermore, he was personally trained by Yamamoto. It is implied that he and Kyōraku are the oldest captains amongst the Gotei 13, with the exception of Retsu Unohana and Yamamoto himself. Jūshirō, due to his illness, rarely played his role as captain on a regular basis, instead having Kaien fill the role under his guidance.

When a Hollow possessed Kaien's wife, Miyako Shiba, Jūshirō and Kaien prevented the possessed Miyako from killing Rukia Kuchiki, and then chased her into the forest. The Hollow discards her body before they catch up, and Kaien proceeded to battle the Hollow alone. Jūshirō stopped Rukia from assisting, explaining that Kaien was fighting for his honor. The Hollow's abilities ultimately allow it to possess Kaien, and Jūshirō began to fight it, although his illness got in the way and allowed the Hollow to attack Rukia. To both Jūshirō and Rukia's horror, Kaien took control and               with Rukia's sword. The 13th Division has never been the same following Kaien's death, being without its well-loved lieutenant and Jūshirō having to rely on Kiyone Kotetsu and Sentarō Kotsubaki, which usually ends in disaster. In the manga, Miyako (whose face was never shown) died along with the rest of her team and her dead body was returned to the thirteenth squad's headquarters; instead of following her possessed body, Kaien, Jūshirō and Rukia found the Hollow who killed her by traveling to the place that Miyako was scouting.

Synopsis
Ukitake is first seen in a flashback for Rukia although only half his face is seen, while Ichigo battles Grand Fisher. He is first physically seen when he discovers Aizen's apparent death and then visiting the Shrine of Pertinence, where he stops Byakuya Kuchiki from killing Ganju, and prevents Ganju and Hanatarō Yamada from getting killed for their crimes by locking them up. After hearing of the execution date being moved up, Ukitake decides to help save Rukia and destroys the Sōkyoku along with Shunsui, and the two later have a short battle with Yamamoto. As a thanks for helping save Rukia, Ukitake later gives Ichigo a badge that permits him to legally hunt Hollows in his hometown and allows him to transform into his Shinigami state at will. Ukitake appears in the Bount invasion of the anime to assist in destroying the remaining Jōkaishō with the help of Ran'Tao. He later makes a reappearance alongside Shūhei Hisagi, discussing Rukia's friendship with Orihime and Shūhei's new job as his division's leader. He then appears during the Arrancar battle ready to fight Lilinette and Stark alongside Kyōraku. He appears suprised by Stark's request to "pretend to fight."

Appearance and personality
Jūshirō Ukitake, along with his long-time close friend Shunsui Kyōraku, was one of the first Shinigami to graduate the Shinigami academy and one of the first to become a captain. Ukitake, however, suffers from tuberculosis, which is the cause of his white hair, sickly appearance, and a considerable hunger, and as such could not regularly perform his captain duties. At first his lieutenant, Kaien Shiba, performed them, following his death these were performed by his 3rd Seat officers, Kiyone Kotetsu and Sentarō Kotsubaki. He often spends his time regenerating at Ugendō, his family's estate. His favorite food is ohagi, and in his free time, he feeds the carps in the lake of Ugendō's garden, and also trims the bonsai there, despite lacking the artistic sense necessary for the latter. He also writes a novel series titled, in which the lead character, Sōgyō, is fighting to save villagers from evil. Sōgyō's catch phrase is "I will reject them!" and it is immensely popular among children in Seireitei.

Ukitake is well-respected and highly honorable, and will never let any harm go to either his underlings or those who attempt to protect them. Ukitake will never give up if he believes something is wrong and will break a rule should he must. In various Bleach omake chapters, Jūshirō is fond of giving people strange or unwanted gifts for no apparent reason, particularly Tōshirō Hitsugaya for their similar sounding names and hair color.

Powers and Abilities
Despite his illness, Ukitake is one of the strongest captains, and he and Shunsui are revealed to have power surpassing previous and current generations.

Zanpakutō



 * Shikai: Its Shikai command is "All Waves, Rise now and Become my Shield, Lightning, Strike now and Become my Blade". Once he completes the incantation, he grasps the single blade with two hands. The blade then transforms slowly and begins to form two blades. As the blades peel apart, the large rope-like chain at the base of the blade lengthens and the silver metal squares attached the chain begin to fall until all 5 present themselves. The blade is now somewhat thinner than the normal Zanpakutō and the crossguard is no longer present. About 250cm from where the crossguard used to be, there is a 45 degree cut on the inside of the blade where a second blade is jutting back down and parallel to the main blade. With the edge of the blade facing inward instead of outward, the blade looks very artistic and rather difficult to handle.

In The Bleach games "Bleach: Shattered Blades", "Bleach: The Blade of Fate" or "Bleach: Heat The Soul 4", Ukitake's Zanpakutō attacks using water and electricity.


 * Bankai: Not yet revealed