Yachiru Kusajishi

Yachiru Kusajishi (Kusajishi Yachiru) Lieutenant of the 11th Division, under Captain Kenpachi Zaraki.

Character Outline
Yachiru is child-like in most respects, as she is small, cheerful, energetic, and carefree most of the time. She is often seen latched onto the back of her captain, Kenpachi Zaraki, just over his left shoulder, and is somewhat territorial about this position. She is surprisingly intimidating at times, especially when annoyed. Like Kenpachi, she has no sense of direction, even though he relies on her for directions. Yachiru resents being criticized in any way and will often attack the perpetrator. Further reflecting her child-like nature, Yachiru likes to give people nicknames; she has given a total of ten people formal nicknames, the most notable of which is calling her captain "Ken-Chan" or "Kenny" as it is in the dub versions. She often gives random people placeholder names. She shows no special respect for her superiors, calling Byakuya Kuchiki "Byakushi" or "Bya-kun" and Sajin Komamura "Koma-Koma" and trying to draw on his head with a permanent marker. Various omake chapters and character profiles also show that Yachiru has a love for candy, specifically confetti candy, which Byakuya Kuchiki takes advantage of on several occasions. Yachiru is also the president of the Shinigami Women's Association.

History
In North Rukongai, in the 79th district (Kusajishi), the parents of Yachiru (who was then unnamed) were murdered. A highly skilled sword fighter with a name unknown to all, including himself, from Soul Society's 80th District, Zaraki, soon found her. The swordsman named the baby Yachiru after the only person he ever aspired to be. That same day, the swordsman named himself Kenpachi, after the most skilled swordfighter in every generation. From that moment on, the two have been inseparable and have developed a caring, albeit argumentative, father-daughter relationship. There is currently no information on how they entered Seireitei and became shinigami. The anime suggests that Kenpachi simply walked in and killed the former 11th Division captain, thus becoming the current one, so it stands to reason she became a shinigami at the same time. In an interview, Tite Kubo mentioned that he plans on revealing Yachiru's namesake.

Synopsis
Yachiru is first seen directing Zaraki through the Seireitei (albeit badly). She then becomes quite fond of Ichigo and his friends after Ichigo defeats Zaraki. She leads Ganju Shiba, Chad, Orihime, and Uryu Ishida to where Rukia is being executed. Later when Zaraki enters Hueco Mundo, she follows him and stands back while he fights Nnoitra Jiruga.

Shinigami Powers
Enhanced Strength: Despite her child-like appearance, Yachiru is apparently quite strong, since she is the current lieutenant of the combat division within Soul Society. She is strong enough to lift Kenpachi and leap between buildings while carrying him.

Enhanced Speed: Yachiru is also incredibly fast despite her size, running from the ground-level area of Seireitei to the mountain that holds the execution grounds in a fairly short period of time.

Enhanced Spiritual Energy: She is also capable of emitting a large amount of spiritual power when angry, which forms into a large, pink, angry cat face.

Zanpakuto
The name and ability of Yachiru's zanpakutō are both unknown. She carries her zanpakutō around with a loose cord, rather than at the sash of her uniform. Her zanpakutō's scabbard is also unusual in that it has a pair of wheels for transport. According to Yachiru's profile in volume 13, these were installed by Ikkaku, who turns out to be handy with tools, after she continually pestered him to do it. It also has a child-like flower pattern on the crossguard.