Characters

Below are the various categories all characters of the Bleach universe fall under. All characters are placed based on what type of soul they currently possess, as well as their distinct themes, abilities, and their general approach to combat.

Humans
Humans are the dominant soul type in the human world, the majority of them have little spiritual energy and are largely unaware of the existence of other souls. Sometimes, though rarely, a human is born with a higher concentration of spiritual energy, giving them the ability see and interact with other souls. Humans can increase their spiritual energy and thus their ability to influence other souls through time, training, or being exposed to a person or location with high concentrations of spiritual energy.

Bount
Bount are humans with the ability to consume human souls, which potentially gives them immortality and everlasting youth; according to Kisuke Urahara, they have historically been known as vampires. Like Soul Reapers, they each have a unique weapon known as a Doll, a familiar equivalent to the Soul Reaper zanpakutō. Like a zanpakutō, a doll is its creator's power given physical form. However, instead of taking the form of actual weapons like zanpakutō do, dolls are mostly self-sufficient creatures when released, although they tend to be used as weapons in various ways such as a large battle axe or a snake, as a sword and whip.

Quincy
Quincy are a clan of humans who, over many centuries, became spiritually aware. In doing so they devised their own brand of spiritual powers; they can absorb spiritual energy and then manipulate for offensive purposes. They most commonly reshape spiritual particles into various types of bow and arrows, but can also concentrate spiritual energy into the form of swords or explosives.

Plus
Pluses (or Wholes in the English translation) are humans that have died and are waiting to either pass on to Soul Society or transform into a hollow. They are essentially the Bleach universe's equivalent of the ghost. Pluses possess spiritual energy but seem to be unable to use it or do not live long enough to learn how to control it. The life cycle of a plus is short, at its maximum only a couple of years, because of this there are no reputable pluses.

Ryoka
Ryoka is the term the Gotei 13 use to identify those who are not aligned with Soul Society, either allies, rebels, intruders, deserters, or invaders.

Soul Society Dwellers
Dwellers (they have no official name at this time) make up the majority of the inhabitants in the Soul Society and are the most similar to normal humans. Average dwellers possess higher levels of spiritual energy than their human counterparts, which gives them full spiritual awareness. More spiritually gifted citizens are capable of enrolling at the Academy where they learn how to control their spiritual powers, the ones who graduate become shinigami.

Shinigami
Also known as balancers or protectors of the spiritual world, the Shinigami are the primary focus of the Bleach universe. The shinigami have two very important roles. The first is to perform soul burials on all pluses they encounter, allowing the plus to enter the Soul Society. The second role (and arguably the most important) is to purify hollows using their zanpakutō and eliminate anything that may jeopardize the safety and security of the Soul Society. The Vizard are a hand full of shinigami that have (with or without their consent) acquired hollow powers, an act which is punishable by death.
 * Vizard

Hollow
Hollows are the class of spirit that most enemies in Bleach are a part of. They are born when pluses that have refused to move on to Soul Society are overwhelmed by loneliness or their chain of fate is fully removed. This makes them lose their sense of being and gives them a craving for human souls. Their main characteristic is a white mask completely covering their face. Each hollow's mask has a design unique to that individual.

Arrancar
Arrancar are hollows that have had their masks almost completely removed and have gained the powers of a shinigami. In the process, they gain a human appearance and strength, speed and intelligence beyond the level of a simple hollow and a normal shinigami.