Kenpachi Zaraki

"Consume everything, demon of the blood-thirsty sword." - Tite Kubo

is the current captain of the 11th Division in the Gotei 13. He is the eleventh Kenpachi to hold the position. His lieutenant is Yachiru Kusajishi.

Appearance
Kenpachi is a tall, muscular Shinigami with a wild and aggressive appearance, which fits his personality. He has a long face with pronounced cheekbones, and pronounced, hairless eyebrow ridges. He has green eyes and long, stringy black hair. A noticeable trait in his appearance is a long, thin scar running down the left side of his face, which he gained before finding his future lieutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi; it is later revealed to have been inflicted by Retsu Unohana. He is one of the tallest Shinigami, towering at 202 centimeters (approximately 6 feet 6 inches), making him almost double the height of his lieutenant.

He wears a sleeveless captain's haori (which belonged to the previous captain and was taken after his defeat), which has a ragged look to it. He styles his hair into stiff strands during his baths, attaching small bells at its tips, and wears a special eyepatch on his right eye. During his first fight with Ichigo, the eyepatch is more elegant, having a gold-like lining and a chain as one of the straps. It later becomes a normal black eyepatch with normal straps.

17 months after Aizen's defeat, Kenpachi's hair has grown out past his shoulders. He no longer has the bells in his hair. His eyepatch's design has changed again, as it is now, but a single piece covering his right eye. The eyepatch is black with a grey outline.

Personality
Although he is known to be a violent fighter, Kenpachi's actions tend to be for the best. He has a very poor sense of direction, at times asking Yachiru for help (even though her sense of direction is just as bad). Kenpachi lives for battle, and enjoys a good fight more than anything. He even holds back in an effort to make any fight last longer. He claims injury and death are nothing but the price one pays for a good fight. Despite his division being the most blood-thirsty squad of the Gotei 13, the 11th Division has its own code of ethics, which is different from the rules and regulation of Soul Society. Despite his tendency to be brutal, Kenpachi usually stops a fight if his opponent is too injured to fight back, claiming he is not interested in fighting "weaklings who can't fight anymore", and he does not feel obligated to deal a death blow to anyone who cannot fight any longer. However, he will unhesitatingly kill his opponent if they refuse to end their fight, as seen during his battles with Kaname Tōsen and Nnoitra Gilga.

On multiple occasions, Kenpachi has shown to greatly respect those who can defeat him in a fight and those who can push him to his limit. Ever since Ichigo handed him his first known loss (though Ichigo considers their fight a loss for him), Kenpachi has considered the latter a member of his Division. He expresses his willingness to engage him in a rematch every time they meet, only to be turned down, as Ichigo already considers themselves as friends. Nevertheless, Kenpachi still challenges him to a duel, as evidenced when he aided Ichigo in his fight against the Bount (where he gave "his blessing," stating doing so would make Ichigo stronger for "their anticipated fight").

Kenpachi sometimes contradicts his own logic in fighting. On the one hand, Kenpachi wishes to increase his own personal power. On the other hand, he conceals his strength to enjoy a fight for as long as possible. Although he thrives for battle, Kenpachi does have emotions. Kenpachi and his lieutenant, Yachiru, have been close ever since they met, and have a father-daughter-like relationship, making Yachiru one of the few people he cares for, along with 11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame and 11th Division 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa. However, he has stated if his subordinates interfere in his fights, he will "cut them up first". Aside from Yachiru, Kenpachi deeply gives meaning to his name. Following his fight with Ichigo Kurosaki, Kenpachi talks about the pain of not having a name, as he lived his early years without one. This causes him to feel guilty his sword is not acknowledged by its own name. Since then, he has strived to learn its identity.

Kenpachi strongly believes fun comes before working. In every battle, he tries to get as much enjoyment out of it as possible. One example is when Kenpachi sends his 5th seated officer, Yumichika, to fend off the Bount in Karakura Town, as he is the only high-ranking officer who is not busy, or rather, busy having fun, as Yachiru was snacking and Ikkaku was napping. During his free time, Kenpachi always takes his afternoon nap. He does not have a particularly favorite dish, but he particularly hates nattō.

Kenpachi's unique hairstyle is partly due to his habit of taking a bath everyday before going to sleep, which is a necessity to him due to his strong perspiration. During these baths, he usually washes his hair with soap, making it stiff. He enjoys doing so because it is easy for him to set his hair to his preferred style. He once tried a hair treatment recommended by 1st Division Lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe, but his hair became too silky and was impossible to set for a while. Since then, Kenpachi has greatly disliked the lieutenant. Kenpachi is once shown attaching the bells to his hair, which apparently takes a while to accomplish. The highest bell in particular takes him several hours to attach, as the tip of his hair is just beyond his reach. Occasionally, 11th Division 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa offers to do it for him, only to be turned down by Kenpachi, who thinks it is weird for someone else to style his hair.

Agent of the Shinigami arc
Kenpachi and Gin Ichimaru both tease Byakuya Kuchiki about his sister Rukia Kuchiki being sentenced to death, saying he is depressed, as a noble family would not stand to have a criminal as a member. Byakuya, retaliating, says lower-class people do not understand the feelings of nobles. Kenpachi, admitting he does not really, says he is very bright, and since he is so bright, Byakuya should allow him to finish Rukia off before she is executed. When Byakuya states he did not know Kenpachi, at his level, could actually kill people, Kenpachi tells him to try him, and before the two can engage in combat, Gin, stopping Kenpachi, ties him up and drags him away.

Bount arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Arrancar arc
When Yamamoto calls him and the other captains for an emergency meeting, Kenpachi complains.

Kenpachi appears to Ichigo as his instinct and desire to win, explaining to him they are both the type of people who lived to fight battle after battle. After Orihime is taken to Hueco Mundo, Kenpachi arrives with Byakuya Kuchiki to retrieve Hitsugaya's group and bring them back to Soul Society.

The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Zanpakutō Unknown Tales arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Gotei 13 Invading Army arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

The Lost Substitute Shinigami arc
After Rukia stabs Ichigo with Urahara's specially designed sword, Kūgo Ginjō states he has already taken all of Ichigo's powers, and her power isn't enough to restore them. However, Renji, interrupting him, reveals himself and other Shinigami, including Kenpachi, who all continue to watch the situation. Renji reveals they all, including Kenpachi, donated their Reiatsu to Urahara's sword to ensure Ichigo's powers were restored to him.

As Yukio brings each of the duels into different chat rooms, Kenpachi asks Byakuya to wait and trade with him, since his opponent, Shūkurō Tsukishima, looks stronger, but he cannot. When Giriko Kutsuzawa questions him, saying Kenpachi must think he is weaker, Kenpachi, telling him to stop talking, says it is boring to kill small fry. Giriko, calling him an imbecile, says he will teach Kenpachi with brute force. As Giriko transforms into a larger, muscular form, he states his Fullbring allows him to do this. He, explaining his Fullbring as a contract with the gods of time, states the simpler the clause of this contract, the stronger he becomes. As he, saying his current contract allows him more power than ever before, claims he is unmatched, he is interrupted by Kenpachi, who, cutting Giriko in half, says it was boring.

Having defeated Giriko, Kenpachi looks around to see if anyone else is done with their match yet. Seeing no one is, he, getting bored, decides to go back home. However, Yachiru Kusajishi, popping up, smacks him, saying they all came together and promised to go home together, so if they leave, Yamamoto will have their heads. She continues to pull on his ears as he walks. When Kenpachi greets Ikkaku as the dimension he was in disappears, Ikkaku is surprised Kenpachi is out of his dimension so early, only for him to say Ikkaku is late. Kenpachi, Yachiru, and Ikkaku notice Renji coming out of some bushes. When Ikkaku scolds Renji for his condition, Renji reveals he got out of his dimension a while ago, but could not move for a while, which surprises Kenpachi. When Kenpachi asks how Ikkaku did, Ikkaku says he lectured him for a bit and took off. Kenpachi, frustrated to hear this, scolds his subordinate. He, along with the other captains, looks on as Ichigo breaks apart the last pocket dimension with his Bankai.

As Kenpachi and the others turn to leave, when Byakuya reminds Rukia they were only tasked with observing Ichigo and his decision, Kenpachi, interjecting, states he only came because he was bored. Later, when Ichigo, seeking the return of Kūgo's body, goes to Soul Society, Kenpachi, informed of his arrival, is among the captains present to hear Ichigo's request.

Equipment
Eyepatch Power Seal: Kenpachi wears an eyepatch, created by the Shinigami Research and Development Institute just for him, which seals the bulk of his reiryoku. Since he has so much power, however, it does not noticeably hinder him in battle; in fact, he remains just ahead of most other captains. His reason for wearing it is since he loves fighting so much, he cannot fight most opponents at full strength without defeating them quickly. Seventeen months after Aizen's defeat, Kenpachi wears a new eyepatch.

Reiatsu Bells: In order to further give the enemy an advantage, Kenpachi wears bells on each spike of his hair. These bells can only be heard by enemies whose Reiatsu is concentrated to the point where it can actually defeat Kenpachi. Seventeen months after Aizen's defeat, Kenpachi reveals he does not wear the bells anymore.

Powers & Abilities


Kenpachi did not attend the Shin'ō Academy, cannot use Bankai, and has no apparent skill (or interest) in Kidō and Shunpo. However, he more than makes up for his faults with his sheer power and endurance, easily making him one of the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Master Swordsman: Due to the lawlessness of the Zaraki district, Kenpachi's skill with his sword has been honed to a masterful level, letting him strike multiple times with changes of attack type (from slash to pierce) without any difficulty. While still a child, his prowess was great enough to single-handedly produce a huge pile of adult corpses and wound Retsu Unohana, the 1st Kenpachi, in battle. His unpolished skills, but immense might with his sword allow him to always fight with one hand free, only using both hands when facing opponents he feels will beat him otherwise, as shown with Nnoitra and momentarily Ichigo. As the captain of the 11th Division, which specializes in sword fighting, he is among the most, if not the most, proficient swordsmen in all of Soul Society.


 * Kendō: Kenpachi possesses considerable knowledge and skill in Kendō, which Yamamoto forced him to learn before officially joining the Gotei 13, though the training only lasted a day out of fear that Zaraki would become too powerful. However, Kenpachi, who despises using skills and techniques learned from another source, only uses Kendō as a last resort.


 * A technique which Kenpachi uses when he is gripping his sword with two hands. It allows one to split an opponent down the middle.

Hand-to-Hand Combat Expert: While preferring to use his blade in battle, Kenpachi has proven several times to be very dangerous while barehanded. He can easily catch an opponent's attack with a single hand, perform powerful punches and kicks, and easily subdue opponents with throws and take-downs. Kenpachi easily overwhelmed several members of the Onmitsukidō, a corp of Hakuda-specialists, despite being battle-worn.

Immense Spiritual Power: Even by a captain's standards, his Reiryoku is absolutely monstrous. Kenpachi has fought on par with two other captain-level opponents while still wearing his energy-sealing eye patch and his opponents releasing their Zanpakutō's Bankai. Ganju Shiba estimated his sealed power to be close or at the same level as Byakuya Kuchiki's Reiatsu. Retsu Unohana, one of the most powerful captains of the Gotei 13, stated she was weaker than him even while he was still a child. Similar to Ichigo, when unleashing a strong enough surge of energy, it becomes visible and yellow in color, sometimes with the appearance of a skull.


 * Unruly Reiatsu Control: His spiritual energy can affect entire areas to the point of disrupting energy attacks from enemies, and cause others from seemingly miles away to enter a state of paralysis and confusion. Kenpachi can exert enough Reiatsu to repel the poison of Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō.


 * Damage Resistance: He can use it as a sort of armor, making it impossible for him to be harmed by anyone not at his level of power. This is first demonstrated when Ichigo tries to cut Kenpachi at the start of their fight. Kenpachi allows Ichigo to strike him, yet not only does he fail to cut him, but Ichigo's hands start to bleed because of it. This can be compared to an Arrancar's Hierro.


 * Shock Wave: He possesses enough control to focus and unleash his spiritual pressure in the form of a powerful shock wave. When using both hands, his shock wave can have a huge radius of destruction.


 * Energy Wave: By striking at the ground, Kenpachi can create an overflowing wave of yellow spiritual energy, which surges forward before crashing into Kenpachi's target.

Highly Perceptive Combatant: Despite his seeming disregard for any strategy in his fights and his self-admitted aversion to thinking during battle, Kenpachi is a very insightful man, regularly showing more understanding than one would expect. Even Byakuya was impressed by Kenpachi's ability to understand things he has no personal experience with. He is very adept at finding and exploiting weaknesses in his opponents' techniques, such as in his battle with Kaname Tōsen, where he subdued the latter's Bankai while armed only with a Zanpakutō and the one sense left accessible by Tōsen's Bankai at the time - touch. He is adept at adjusting to his opponent's attack patterns and battle methods to better counter them. While he admits to having no sanity or common sense, Kenpachi is very perceptive, noticing traits in people others would not notice, and seeing what drives a person's actions. He correctly singles out Kaname Tōsen and Gin Ichimaru as the only captains who are afraid to die. He possesses sharp intuition towards incoming danger, as shown by his ability to repeatedly dodge Tōsen's assault while still affected by his Bankai. Zaraki also theorized during his battle with Gremmy Thoumeaux that if the concentration of his "The Visionary" shifts towards himself instead of others, the effects that his ability had on Yachiru, making her bones into cookies, would disappear.

Immense Strength: Kenpachi possesses a very large degree of physical strength, most commonly displayed by his ability to fight back his opponent's attacks with a single arm. He has repeatedly displayed his strength with acts like kicking Tōsen through a building and slamming Komamura over his shoulder with one hand during their battle, as well as when he grabbed Ichigo's giant sword barehanded and reeled both him and the sword in for an attack. While fighting Ichigo Kurosaki, he rammed his sword through a building. With just his bare hand, Kenpachi deflected the Cero of the fifth Espada, Nnoitra Gilga. His sword attacks can cut through Yammy Llargo's released state Hierro, removing his limbs in a single strike and knocking the giant Arrancar off his feet. He can fend off an opponent's gigantic sword with a single hand. His extreme cutting strength is evident in his ability to easily cut through an Espada's Hierro, which is harder than steel, as well as slice apart a skyscraper with a mere flick of his wrist;   he even claims that nothing Gremmy Thoumeaux's imagination powers can come up with that he cannot cut, proving so by slicing through Gremmy's self-proclaimed harder-than-steel body. He can carry three corpses on his shoulders without any apparent effort.

Immense Speed: While he possesses no known skill in Shunpo, Kenpachi is deceptively fast for his size and build. Thanks to his tremendous raw power, Kenpachi's leg strength allows him to more than make up for his lack of Shunpo, allowing him to move fast enough to instantly close a huge gap of space between him and his opponent, and even seemingly disappear from sight. In battle, he can strike with incredible speed in rapid succession, making it highly difficult for his opponents to find an opening and counterattack.

Immense Endurance: His physical strength and speed is matched by his resilience. Kenpachi often ignores most of the injuries he sustains in battle (much like a berserker), not suffering any debilitation despite having multiple slash wounds in his body. He allowed himself to be stabbed during his fight with Tōsen just to grab Tōsen's blade to dispel his Bankai's effect. During his battle with Nnoitra, he suffered numerous slash wounds and was even impaled and almost beheaded with no visual impairment of his fighting abilities, Nnoitra noting most people would have already been dead by then. Even after receiving grievous injuries which left him in a comatose state, he recovered only days later, well enough to resume training.

Immense Durability: As resilient as Kenpachi is, he is just as hard to damage. During his battle against Yammy, while Kenpachi was focusing his attention on Ichigo, Yammy delivered a powerful blow with his massive fist, launching Kenpachi several meters and smashing him into a large pillar. Despite the impact, Kenpachi quickly emerged unfazed, claiming it was only a "decent punch" and Yammy needed to "put some effort in it".

Zanpakutō

 * Kenpachi does not originally know the name of his Zanpakutō, and is the only captain of the Gotei 13 who cannot perform Bankai. After his fight with Ichigo, Kenpachi wishes to learn more about his Zanpakutō because he wants to become stronger, and can identify with the pain of not having a name to be called by. However, he cannot yet communicate with his Zanpakutō, and it is implied he continually tries to learn from it just so he can achieve a new level of power. Zangetsu notes Kenpachi's disharmony with his sword causes the two to damage each other's powers. Consequently, he cannot hear the cry of his sword. Later, upon defeating Retsu Unohana in battle and awakening his true strength, Kenpachi finally was able to hear his Zanpakutō's voice call out to him.


 * Shikai: Even before Kenpachi knew its name, Nozarashi was constantly in its released state, due instead to Kenpachi's overwhelming reiatsu forcing the release. He obtained this state while still a child. The blade is much longer than a standard Zanpakutō's, roughly the size of a nodachi, with a guard which extends inward from its center, similar to a shinai. The hilt is white, though most of it is wrapped in bandages, as is his sword's sheath. Despite constantly being in Shikai, Kenpachi's Zanpakutō does not grant him any additional abilities, due to their lack of communication. Their disharmony leaves his Zanpakutō with little spiritual energy and lets it become easier to damage, ironically making its appearance a reflection of Kenpachi's own practice of weakening himself to fight others on an even level; it is a chipped and seemingly worn-down blade. Despite its appearance, it can easily cut through most objects: with it, Kenpachi stabs straight through Ichigo's Zanpakutō, and later slices a building in half with no apparent effort after releasing his full power.


 * Shikai Special Ability: Unknown


 * Bankai: Not Yet Achieved.

Appearances in Other Media
Kenpachi appears in the second session of Bleach: Beat Collection, together with Yachiru, Ikkaku, and Yumichika.

He has a minor role in the Bleach OVA, where he vacations in the Human world with Yachiru. He briefly appears in Bleach: Memories of Nobody, making sport of one of the Dark Ones. He also appears in the second movie, Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion, charging in and attack Sōjirō's new dragon form, and later helping out in the final battle. On the third movie, Bleach: Fade to Black, he appears in Mayuri's lab to stop Mayuri's madness. After being pushed back by Mayuri's Bankai, he freezes for a while because of Mayuri's weapon, and later wakes up to fight the monster from Mayuri's weapon with the rest of the Shinigami.

Kenpachi appears in most of the Bleach video games. He is very powerful in the Bleach DS series, where his strongest attack is a big shockwave (his full spiritual power after removing his eyepatch), and Heat the Soul (including Soul Carnival) for PSP. He is playable in Bleach: Versus Crusade. Contrary to the series, Kenpachi can freely do Shunpo any time like other Shinigami in Bleach: The Blade of Fate, Bleach: Dark Souls, and Bleach: Soul Resurrección. In some Bleach games, Kenpachi's unnamed sword leaves a trail of black dimensional matter every time he swings it. Anyone who walks into it suffers damage.

He appears in four of the Rock Musical Bleach performances: Dark of the Bleeding Moon, No Clouds in the Blue Heavens, The All, and Live Bankai Show Code 002. He is portrayed by Shōgo Suzuki.

Trivia

 * His theme song, as chosen by Tite Kubo, is Massive Attack's "Superpredators."
 * In the latest popularity poll, Kenpachi came 15th (in previous ones he came 27th and 9th), and in the Zanpakutō poll, his unnamed Zanpakutō came 29th.
 * In the Bleach best bout poll, Kenpachi's fight with Nnoitra came in tenth place.

Quotes

 * (To Ichigo Kurosaki) "You want a reason...for fighting? Why don't you just accept it already, Ichigo?! You seek out fights. You desire power. Isn't that right, Ichigo? Everyone who searches for power, without exception, searches for battle! Do you fight in order to become more powerful? Or do you want more power so you can fight? I can't tell you that. The only thing I know for sure is guys like us were born this way! We were born to fight, Ichigo! Your instincts will keep leading you toward new battles. It's the only way you have. The only way to become stronger. Fight, Ichigo! If you want the power to control your enemy, take that sword in your hand and cut him down! That's your only option! That's the road that continues in front of you and remains behind you, Ichigo!"


 * "This Reiatsu... Even though I don't know who it's from, they seem to be deep in the heat of battle. Not bad. It sure makes your blood boil, doesn't it?"


 * (To Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa) "So you want to fight too? Fine, you can have them, but fight elsewhere. If you get in my way, I'll chop you up first."


 * (To Sajin Komamura and Kaname Tōsen) "You are shameless to sneak around like that, guys. Cowardly hiding spiritual pressure and stalking others isn't something that captains should do."


 * (To Sajin Komamura, Kaname Tōsen, Tetsuzaemon Iba, and Shūhei Hisagi) "Blah blah blah! You're noisy! Just come on and fight already. It's best if all four of you come together. If you four surround me and attack at once, maybe one of you will actually wound me."


 * (To Kaname Tōsen) "Sanity? Worthless things like that, I never had them for as long as I can remember!"


 * (To his sword) "It's been so long that I forgot the pain of not having a name. Everyone had a name that friends use to call them, but I didn't. That pain."


 * (To Yachiru Kusajishi) "I named you Yachiru, in memory of the only person I ever admired."


 * "I want to get stronger. I've finally found a worthy opponent. I can get stronger. I want to fight. I want to get stronger. It sure has been a while. To feel this desire again. I want to get stronger."


 * (To Ikkaku Madarame) "Never admit defeat and ask for a quick death! Die first, then admit defeat! If you are defeated but didn't die, it just means you were lucky! At those times, think only about survival! Survive and think only about killing the one who failed to kill you!"


 * (To Ikkaku Madarame) "Sorry but I'm not interested in weaklings who can't fight any more. Besides, I don't have any obligation to finish you off."


 * (To Maki Ichinose) "Loyalty to someone is different from depending on them. It isn't even interesting fighting against someone who doesn't have his own goals."


 * (To Maki Ichinose) "If you really wanted to help that Kariya reach his goals, then you would have taken care of Ichigo first. But you chose to come after me. Wasn't that a display of your own will? The power that you have gained was all in order to defeat me. That power comes from your own grudge! Why not try giving all your strength to that end?"


 * (To Retsu Unohana) "Not criminals? That's rich, coming from you. You know damn well that if we weren't so damn powerful petty criminals is all the both of us would be!"

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