Shinji Hirako

is a recruiter and the unofficial leader of the Vizards, and was also the previous captain of the 5th Division in the Gotei 13.

Appearance
Shinji has jaw length blond hair with a straight cut and many of his facial expressions reveal his upper teeth, a trait also seen in Nnoitra Jiruga. In the past, Shinji wore normal captain robes and had considerably longer hair. As a Vizard, Shinji has been seen in standard Karakura school uniform, though he usually wears a long brown coat, shirt and tie, some form of hat, and shorter hair. Shinji appears to have a pierced round ring in the middle of his tongue.

Personality
Shinji is somewhat comical, adding a bit of levity to situations that are otherwise serious. He has a flippant attitude under normal circumstances and seems to like annoying his associate, Hiyori Sarugaki, which usually earns him a slap from one of her sandals. She, in turn, shows him absolutely no respect and frequently insults and attacks him; although he is no better, frequently making faces or glib insults at her expense. He also appears to have a history of referring to cute girls he meets as his 'first love', complete with a deadpan look on his face despite the obvious lie (he apparently never did this with Hiyori, further annoying her).

Underneath this, though, he is quite perceptive regarding other people, and during his time as a captain, was one of the few people who appeared suspicious of his then-lieutenant Aizen, and could apparently sense or see through some of his illusions. He also quickly notes parts of Urahara's personality. Aizen even admitted to being somewhat intimidated by him. Whenever angered or in combat, Shinji is fairly calm, serious, and level-headed. During a conversation with Ukitake, it was implied that he had been a long-running captain. However, he is not included in Shunsui Kyōraku's list of captains from 100 years before (now 200 years before, because that was said during the Pendulum arc).

History
Shinji was the captain of the 5th division approximately 100 years before the main storyline, with Sōsuke Aizen serving as his lieutenant. Unlike the other members of the Gotei 13, Shinji was aware of Aizen's immoral nature and appeared to have some knowledge of the true abilities of his subordinate's Zanpakutō. Believing the seemingly friendly, soft-spoken intellectual was a threat to Soul Society, Shinji decided to choose Aizen as his lieutenant so he could monitor him closely. One night, approximately 99 years before the main storyline, a group of Shinigami out on patrol mysteriously disappeared. Kensei Muguruma and Mashiro Kuna who were respectively captain and lieutenant of the 9th division at the time were sent, along with other members of the division to investigate the disappearance. Yamamoto decided to send Captains Love Aikawa, Rōjūrō Otoribashi, Hirako and Lieutenants Lisa Yadōmaru and Hachigen Ushōda to the site with Hiyori Sarugaki already heading there.

At the site of the disappearances, Shinji and the others are forced to fight Kensei and Mashiro who are unable to control their new hollow abilities. Heavily injured by the fight, the remaining members are easily subdued by Kaname Tōsen and unwillingly subjected to hollowification by Aizen, who used some sort of infectious agent to trigger the change. This agent caused Shinji and others to rapidly transform into hollows. Shinji then fights Tōsen despite his state of hollowfication getting worse, but keeping his cool at the same time as he remembered Aizen's words that hollowfication progresses faster if the victim is agitated. He easily overwhelms him, to his surprise. Shinji realizes then why the hollow Kensei managed to overpower his team, it was due to his transformation into a hollow.

However, before Shinji could attack Aizen, his hollowfication progresses even more, paralyzing him. Gloating over his now helpless captain, Aizen states that although it was wise of Hirako to keep an eye on him, he made a critical error; he refused to socialize and get to know his lieutenant, which made it easy for Aizen to deceive him. Satisfied with the results of his experiment, Aizen prepares to kill the high ranking Shinigami, but is forced to retreat after the arrival of Kisuke Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi.

Urahara quickly takes them to his lab and tries to use the Hōgyoku to reverse the damage, but fails. After they are sentenced to be executed as Hollow's, Urahara gives them untraceable Gigai's for their escape to the Human World.

Bount arc
Shinji makes a minor appearence and has the last line of the arc, he appears in Karakura Town in a similar fashion as Rukia did the night before she first met Ichigo.

Arrancar arc
One hundred years after Shinji was captain of the 5th division, Shinji appears before Ichigo Kurosaki in an attempt to recruit him to become a Vizard. While his initial attempts fail, he promises that no matter what his decision, Ichigo would eventually need to contain his inner Hollow to prevent it from devouring his own soul. Shinji then departs for the time being, receiving some physical abuse from Hiyori when he tells her that Ichigo refused to join them. Hoping to learn how to contain his inner Hollow, Ichigo eventually comes to Shinji and the other Vizards. While he initially attempts to get the information out of them by force, Shinji halfheartedly battles Ichigo. The other Vizards watch the display, noting that Shinji was not even taking him seriously.

After Ichigo suddenly leaves to go fight Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Shinji follows behind him and saves both Rukia and Ichigo from Grimmjow's cero attack. Claiming that he otherwise hates to interfere in such fights, he justifies his coming by saying that he can't ignore it when one hears the sound of fighting so close by. Having a small discussion with Grimmjow, he is then suddenly attacked by the Espada, who declares his intentions of killing him. Dodging all of the attacks, Shinji realizes how violent Grimmjow is and the fight is destroying everything around them. Thus, Shinji dons his hollow mask and engages Grimmjow in a short fight where he nearly defeats him with his cero, but Ulquiorra Cifer comes and retrieves Grimmjow before he can be killed.

Hueco Mundo arc
He seems quite angry as he realizes Ichigo has left to Hueco Mundo leaving to them only a word : "thanks". Ichigo calls him "Hirako".

Fake Karakura Town arc
Around the same time when Sosuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, Kaname Tōsen and the top three Espada invade the fake Karakura Town, Shinji reminisces about how Kisuke Urahara became a captain and how they would be subjected by Aizen's hollowfication experiments. He then claims that they are in debt to Urahara and, surprisingly, to Aizen. Afterwards, Shinji and the rest of the Vizards leave their compound, armed and ready for battle, simply saying : "Let's Go".

Shinji and the rest of the Vizards later arrive at the fake Karakura Town, just when Aizen and his forces begin to gain the upper hand and confronts the latter with his usual grin.

Powers & Abilities
Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Shinji is implied to be a powerful combatant, being the unofficial leader among the group and a former shinigami captain. At one point, when Shinji begins to fight with Ichigo Kurosaki, the other Vizards mention that Ichigo is foolish to battle Shinji and that Shinji is not taking the battle seriously (albeit it was also mentioned that Ichigo was holding back, because he was trying to suppress his inner hollow). Shinji was shown able to hold off Mashiro Kuna during her Hollowification metamorphosis without releasing his sword, although it took some effort. He was also able to fight off Kaname Tōsen while also trying to resist his Hollowification.

Flash Steps Expert: Shinji excels in shunpō of the same level of the average captain-level shinigami. His skill at it is shown great enough to easily outmanuever Grimmjow, the Sixth Espada.

Keen Intellect: Despite his childish attitude at times, Shinji has shown himself to be a very insightful and perceptive man. During his time as captain of the 5th division, he was able to see through Aizen's deceptions and some of his illusions. Even Aizen himself admitted to be intimidated by Shinji's cunning.

Immense Spiritual Pressure: Being a captain, he must have had enormous spiritual pressure. Since becoming a Vizard, he now has the dual type spiritual pressure, similar to the Espada.

Zanpakutō
Not much has been revealed about Shinji's Zanpakutō, as he rarely uses or even visibly wears it. The hilt and sheath are red and its guard is shaped like an hour-glass. None of his release states have been shown, and the times that he does seriously fight he seems to rely more on his Hollow mask.


 * Shikai: Not Yet Revealed


 * Bankai: Not Yet Revealed

Vizard
Hollow Mask: Shinji's Hollow mask strongly resembles a pharaoh's mask with a short flowing hood down the back of his neck. When doning his hollow mask Shinji's sclera turns completly black and his irises become golden-yellow. Shinji is quite skilled with his Hollow powers, using the increased speed and strength to overwhelm Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez in short order before catching him in a powerful Cero blast, which the Espada barely defends against with a Cero of his own, though it was hasty and not very powerful.


 * Cero: In the Anime, Shinji gathers energy that is displayed in a horizontal line. Then he releases his Crimson Cero in an extremely wide arc with devastating force. The video games also depict him being able to split the Cero blast into multiple smaller beams or a real Yellow/Golden Cero in a few games while he uses a large crimson Cero in anime. . It was said to be so powerful that Grimmjow would have died if he didn't use his Cero to partially neutralize Shinjis' Cero.

Quotes

 * "I will give you advice as someone who has been a Captain before you; The feelings of those below should not be considered by the one who stands on top, even if the one on top understands those feelings. You can do whatever you like, then if no one follows you, it means you're just not qualified." (To newly appointed Captain Urahara)

Trivia

 * An early drawing of Shinji can be seen in the art of the first chapter.
 * One of Shinji's previous acclaimed crushes was Lisa Yadōmaru, a fellow Vizard; his current is Orihime Inoue.
 * During several points in the anime, Shinji's outfit is depicted to look like Lupin the III, likely as a homage on the part of the animators.
 * In the Turn Back the Pendulum miniseries, Shinji tells Aizen about a (then) new thing called jazz that Aizen would not understand because he is "not hip." This implies that even as a captain, Shinji was just as youth-orientated as he is now.
 * Shinji is the only original Vizard to appear in a filler arc: at the end of the Bount Arc, but for less than a minute. He was on top of a pole and jumped off in a way like Rukia did before her introduction.
 * Shinji is one of the few characters to be featured in more than one Bleach manga volume cover (volume 21 and volume 36), the others being Ichigo Kurosaki, Orihime Inoue, and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.
 * He is also, until now, the only Vizard that has been featured in a Bleach manga volume cover (with the exception of Ichigo).
 * In some translations he has an English accent. This is not present in the anime.