User:Nekura Wabizumai

"Fully aware of his power, he accepts the madness as a part of himself. Otherwise he could destroy everything around him."

is a Shinigami in the Gotei 13 who had served 2nd Division Captain Soifon as Lieutenant and Head Interrogator of the Onmitsukido 100 years before the main storyline. He is currently the 3rd Seated Officer in the 2nd Division and primary candidate for the Captaincy of the 5th Division.

Appearance
Nekura has the appearance of a caucasian male in his mid to late 20's with a broad, muscular build. He has brown eyes dark brown hair that is slicked back, tied in a ponytail that is braided into four seperate braids and reaches halfway down his back. His attire consists of a sleeveless Shihakusho with a black belt with a silver buckle depicting the Cross of Confusion, and spiked leather armbands on his forearms. He also has a tattoo of the Cross of Confusion on his left bicep, he occaisionally wears black half-framed reading glasses when fulfilling his administrative duties for his respective Division, and he has dark bags under his eyes due to insomnia and past habits of exhaustion.

Personality
Nekura is an extremely introverted and serious individual, as he tends to spend his time fulfilling all administrative duties in his Division and often those of other Divisions (namely Shuhei Hisagi and Kenpachi Zaraki) due partially to his own excessive work ethic and often turns down drinking invitations from Rangiku Matsumoto to get more work done. While being largely silent and seemingly indifferent to everything around him, he is actually very shy and timid, often worrying about his disposition with others in an extremely over-exaggerated fear of being ridiculed and hated. He is also shy around women in particular, such as when meeting Nanao Ise for the first time, as he was unable to look her in the eyes and accidentally told her that he was attracted to her when he was trying to compliment her glasses, and he ended up repeatedly punching himself in the face until she stopped him. Also, when he tried to give his then-Captain Soifon a souvenir from the human world from his last mission (a stuffed black cat) when he was still her lieutenant, he passed out, and all subsequent attempts resulted in him getting a peptic ulcer of which he still suffers from to the present day.

While being the quiet and brooding individual he is, he also contiuously shows deep empathy and understanding towards many of his colleagues. Such as when he offers Hisagi help with his duties as temporary captain, saying that he knows what it's like to be "screwed over" by someone who he looked up to and to "clean up someone else's mess", and when he talks with Momo Hinamori about his sudden candidacy for Captain, telling her that he would refuse the Captain position if she wanted, and saying that he wanted to give her a decision of whether she wanted to be forced to work under a Captain she didn't necessarily like. Conversations like this also show Nekura's near non-existent self esteem that stems from his feelings of inadequacy, and he has great difficulty opening up when probed by Matsumoto and Hinamori, and often demeans himself when talking to other people in everyday situations, sometimes as simple of a scenario as a greeting or compliment.

Nekura has also shown great interest in heavy metal music, going as far as to cover one of the walls in his room with a bookshelf filled with CDs of various heavy metal bands and eventually obtaining an MP3 player to better store his collection. He has been seen to be quoting and listening to Behemoth, Devildriver, Coal Chamber, Korn, Slayer, and Cannibal Corpse. In his spare time, he often reads, writes poetry and short stories, plays bass guitar and listens to his music. He has been shown playing with Hisagi, writing songs together and giving Hisagi tips to refine his playing technique. His poems and short stories are also published in the Seireitei Communication on a regular basis because of strong encouragement from Ise and Hinamori. His poem and short story "Heart over Hubris" and "Of Water and Love", respectively, are considered his best by all readers, and his other works are also very well received by women readers in particular. He also has a near obsessive work ethic, often skipping meals and sleep to get more paperwork done not only for his Division, but of Divisions 9 and 11 as well. His favorite foods are cajun-spiced shrimp and other seafoods, and strongly dislikes certain meats because of their textures.

History
Nekura was Lieutenant in the 2nd Division serving under Captain Soifon 100 years before the main storyline and had held his position for about 50 years, due to his work ethic and thourough and precise methods as an interrogator for the Onmitsukido. Over the years, he began to suffer from insomnia and severe exhaustion. Though he refused any and all treatments and did not change his lifestyle, due to wanting to impress Soifon, who he was (and still is) infatuated with. 50 years before the main storyline, his Zanpakuto visited him in his dreams one night, mocking him for his weakness. That same night, an alert was sent out to the 2nd Division of an incoming Hollow attack in the Seireitei, and Nekura was the first to respond. When he released his Zanpakuto and began to cut down the horde of Gillians, he became disoriented because of his Zanpakuto's influence, and was hit with a collective Cero blast while incapacitated in front of the whole of the 2nd Division when they arrived.

He survived the blast by releasing his Bankai, which he had learned several months prior, much to the 2nd Division's surprise, especially that of Captain Soifon's. But when he defeated the Hollows, Nekura became deathly ill because of his Zanpakuto's corrupting reiatsu; his vision was distorted beyond use, his hearing was plagued by piercing ringings, and he felt as though his body was "dripping away" from him. Because of this, he was demoted as Lieutenant of the 2nd Division and an Officer of the Gotei 13, and spent the next 30 years being treated by 4th Division Captain Retsu Unohana while going in and out of mild comatose states.

20 years before the main storyline, Nekura made amends with his Zanpakuto by accepting madness as a part of human nature, and so made a full recovery. And when he rejoined the 2nd Division as the 3rd Seated Officer, Soifon recommended Nekura to Head Captain Yamamoto as a candidate for Captain if a position was ever available, and was officially recogized for acheiving Bankai. He spent the next 20 years working and refining his now corrupting reiatsu, but due to making a promise to Rangiku Matsumoto to relax more (by relax, she meant treating her to drinks), Nekura was often forced to cut his work and training short, but he never fell behind work or lost control of his power thanks to her friendship.

Powers &amp; Abilities
Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Nekura is masterful at swordsmanship, capable of flawless precision and lethal attacks without much effort. Nekura's fighting involves a mainly defensive fighting style, often remaining stationary throughout a fight while counterattacking and evading an opponent's strikes. His offensive strategy involves evasion and attacking an opponent either in the front or back using the element of surprise to overwhelm them, as well as releasing his Zanpakuto.

Master Hand-to-Hand Combat: As the former Head Interrogator of the Onmitsukido and former lieutenant of the 2nd Division, Nekura's skill in hand-to-hand combat is enough to warrant the praise of fellow Hakuda master Soifon. As with his skill in swordsmanship, he also has skill in hand-to-hand combat, as evident from his ability to evade a series of attacks from two high-ranking Arrancars at once with his Zanpakuto sheathed and without any visible difficulty.

Flash Steps Master: Nekura is highly proficient in flash steps. As the former lieutenant of the 2nd Division and Head Interrogator in the Onmitskido, his skill in flash steps is extremely high.

Kidō Expert: Nekura is highly proficient in Kidō and is capable of performing high-level Kidō spells without the incantation.

Enhanced Strength: Due to his muscular build, Nekura has great physical strength. He was able lift and hold the weight of a multi-story building as it collapsed on top of him and several other Shinigami and threw it back, albeit with some difficulty.

Enhanced Durability: Nekura has been shown to be capable of taking considerable amounts of damage and still continue on despite the severity of his injuries, as shown when he willingly took a sword thrust to his chest to protect several critically injured Shinigami and retaliated by head-butting the attacker, while showing little sign of injury when fighting later on.

Immense Spiritual Power: Nekura's spiritual power has the same effect as his Zanpakutō, as it is a physical embodiment of madness. He tends to eminate with a black aura which has the potential to corrupt and destroy the reiatsu of his surroundings and opponents even without the use of his Zanpakutō. Nekura possesses an exceedingly powerful Reiatsu, capable of making high-ranking Espada and Kaname Tosen in particular succumb to anxiety and hallucinations of self-injury. His reiatsu has been shown to be black.

Perceptive Combatant: Nekura has demonstrated an ability to be very detail oriented when it comes to fighting. He notices his opponent's mannerisms and discerns with ease the reasons behind those actions and the weaknesses and strengths of his opponents. In battle, Nekura has proven to be very adept at noticing and understanding details in an opponent's skills or attack patterns.

Zanpakuto
When sealed, Kyoujin takes the form of a western claymore with a single-edged blade and hilt-weaving present in most traditional Zanpakuto. It is 5 ft. long (1.524 meters) and is worn on the back on the right side, even though Nekura is dominantly left-handed. Its hilt and sheath are jet black and the sheath has a large imprint of the cross of confusion on it.

Kyouijn's spirit is a middle-aged man with long, messy black hair that reaches past his knees, wears a ragged and dirty straitjacket and what appears to be black denim jeans, and is always seen with a strange and morbid smile, even when angered or irritated.


 * Shikai: Kyoujin's release command is . In its released form, Kyoujin's blade becomes double-edged, its hilt and tsuba transform into the Cross of Confusion, the whole sword turns jet black and gains a smoother texture, and a black buckled strap is attached to the end of the hilt.
 * Shikai Special Ability: Kyoujin's power is to bring out the "inner madness" of Nekura's opponents. Kyoujin allows Nekura to bring out an aspect of his opponent's past that serves as a figure of emotional trauma or conflict while feeding on their spiritual energy, gradually weakening them. As his opponent's spiritual energy is absorbed, Nekura's own abilites are enhanced and his opponent begins to suffer from hallucinations and exaggerated anxiety
 * A condensed sphere of corrupted spirit energy that is charged from Kyoujin's point. It is launched as a projectile and can be used in both Shikai and Bankai forms.
 * A wall made from torrential corrupted spirit energy used to stop spirit-based attacks. It has been seen to easily stop a pair of fully charged Ceros from high-level Arrancar.
 * Nekura and Kyoujin's corrupting spiritual pressure not only destroys the spirit energy around them, but also instils hallucinations and feelings of anxiet in his opponents. The effects grow stronger as the opponent's spiritual energy deteriorates.


 * Bankai: . In Bankai form, the immediate area is transformed into a nightmarish insane asylum where Nekura's powers are amplified and his opponents are gradually drained of their spiritual energy. Nekura gains jet black straitjacket that seemingly has a lucid, liquid-like texture that gives him an apperance similar to Kyoujin's spirit, and he also gains a black facial restraint device on his face, giving him an appearance mirroring the meaning and power of his Zanpakuto. In this form, Nekura goes into a brief "berserker" like mentality; attacking with previously unseen ferocity and bloodlust, as well as laughing with joy and pleasure as he attacks and is attacked. Taihen Kyoujin also maintains its Shikai form as well, and all of its previous powers still usable.
 * Bankai Special Ability: When released, Taihen Kyoujin transforms the immediate area into a nightmarish insane asylum, even when outside. The environment turns into a vast, hallway inside an insane asylum; rust and age in every detail of the structure, remnants and remains of past detainees are present, doors and walls are in disrepair, the sounds of previous madmen are constantly heard, and the shadows all around move even though there is no light to make them. Taihen Kyoujin's main ability is to bring past memories to life, whether they be supressed or not, and to use them against Nekura's opponents with the environment created by Taihen Kyoujin.
 * The environment is transformed into a hallway in an insane asylum. In this environment, any memories that have emotional significance to the current opponents are brought to life and used to fight them, as a means to break their spirit. As they fight on, their spirit energy is drained at an increasing rate and the enivironment also becomes a part of the fight (chains being whipped, gurneys being thrown, walls collapsing, shadows taking physical form).