Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-31283382-20140611172614/@comment-5553481-20140611215140

Darkhunter said most of it...

1. "Hollow Ichigo" was/is Zangetsu (Ichigo's shinigami-merged-hollow powers), who changed his appearance due to hollowfication, and now looks like Ichigo. No, it is unknown how he looked before, or whether he did, he could exist straight away as a hollowfied zanpakuto spirit, due to White's influence moving from Masaki onto Ichigo during childbirth/pregnancy.

2. "Old Man" is Ichigo's quincy power taking form, and he has become one of the blades (the smaller one), due to Ichigo acknowledging both of the beings as Zangetsu.

3. Asauchi is an "empty" blade that needs to be filled with a zanpakuto spirit, it is NOT a zanpakuto spirit.