Ichibē Hyōsube/Expanded Universe

is the commanding Shinigami of the Royal Guard, holding the title.

Personality
Little is known about Ichibē's own motivations, as he appears to be driven solely by an unquestionable loyalty and obedience towards the ancestors of the five Noble Houses. Ichibē seems to be indifferent to the status of the three worlds by themselves and part of the reason the Royal Guard is rarely ever seen in Soul Society, as he only cares about maintaining the status quo as he was ordered to do by the Five Ancestors, to the point of berating Ōetsu Nimaiya for suggesting that the Royal Guard interfere more in the events of Soul Society.

Ichibē is noted to be extremely apathetic, almost to the point of sociopathy, towards the horrifying and degrading existence of the Linchpin. People such as Tier Harribel, Sōsuke Aizen, his fellow members in the Royal Guard, Tokinada Tsunayashiro, and even Yhwach, have all expressed a disgust towards the nature of the Linchpin and the Soul King's inhuman mutilation. Ichibē, meanwhile, is noted to discuss the subject as if he were merely conversing about the weather. Indeed, when Shunsui Kyōraku expressed a genuine relief that Ichigo Kurosaki did not need to be sacrificed as the new Linchpin, Ichibē callously brushed off the subject, noting that he would only have missed conversing with the Human boy.

Regardless, Ichibē has shown a rather enigmatic conviction towards the Soul King, expressing his belief that everything that happens does so only according to the Soul King's wishes.

Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World
Over a million years prior to the Quincy Blood War, Ichibē Hyōsube came into being in a chaotic, primordial world. By his own admission, he was one of the few "exceptional" beings born during that time, alongside the ancestors of the five Noble Houses and the Soul King.

Ichibē was personally present as the Five Ancestors sealed an unresisting Soul King inside a crystal and used his omnipotent powers to split their world into three new ones: Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Human World, and in the process created the cycle of life and death. Ichibē likewised witnessed the Soul King's degrading mutilation at the hands of the Five Ancestors, a process he was unfazed by. For the following millions of years, Ichibē dutifully protected the linchpin and the status quo as he was instructed to do by the Five Ancestors.

At some point in the primeval days of Soul Society, a powerful Hollow attacked Soul Society and even defeated a young Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto before attempting to devour the Soul King himself. However, the Hollow was defeated by Ichibē, who used his Ichimonji to erase the Hollow's name. Since the Hollow contained too many consumed Souls to purify at once, Ōetsu Nimaiya sealed the Hollow inside a Zanpakutō, and Ichibē used Shirafude Ichimonji to rename the Hollow as Ikomikidomoe.

Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World
Shortly after Yhwach's final defeat at the hands of Ichigo Kurosaki, Ichibē is silently staring at the former Soul King's shrine when he is approached by Captain-Commander Shunsui Kyōraku. The two Shinigami have a cryptic conversation about the state of the current Soul King, and Ichibē is confronted by Shunsui about his decision to potentially sacrifice Ichigo to become the new Soul King. While Shunsui makes it clear that such a decision would have weighed heavily on him, as well as Ichigo's companions, Ichibē nonchalantly says that he would merely have missed talking to the young boy.

When Shunsui voices his relief that Ichigo did not have to be cut down, Ichibē responds that it was mere luck. He never expected Ichigo to defeat or even survive against Yhwach, but the latter's decision to absorb the former Soul King's powers was an unexpected fortune. When Shunsui tries to steer the conversation towards the Five Noble Families, the two are interrupted by the arrival of Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, and Tier Harribel. Ichibē assures the Espada that they are free to leave, or even be escorted, back to Hueco Mundo. When Grimmjow remains suspicious, the Royal Guard commander adds that killing three Menos-class Arrancar would be too much trouble due to how disruptive their deaths would be to the balance of Souls.

After Harribel interrupts them by asking if the "thing" enshrined behind them is what they call the Soul King, the core of Soul Society, Ichibē confirms this, asking her if she is able to tolerate such an existence. Harribel refuses to answer, saying only that she understands Sōsuke Aizen's motivations now before departing.

Ichibē then prepares to leave as well, saying that he should revive the remaining Royal Guard members. Ichibē explains that, since their bones are infused with the Ōken, the Royal Guard members' very life essence is fused with the Soul King Palace. As long as the palace remains intact, Ichibē can revive the others by calling their names. While Ichibē mentions that he will not allow the rest of his squad to die easily, as is their fate, he suddenly becomes distracted as he senses someone has entered the palace without permission.

Six months later, Ichibē confronts the revived Ōetsu Nimaiya in the Hōōden to discuss the current events. After the two share some banter, Ichibē asks Nimaiya if Ikomikidomoe is indeed in the Valley of Screams. Nimaiya replies that Ichibē already has seen it all, and Ichibē muses on the strangeness that a monster among Menos has now reached a different evolutionary path. While Nimaiya tries to mention Tokinada Tsunayashiro and Aura Michibane's unsanctioned entrance into the palace, Ichibē interrupts him and says that their purpose is simply to maintain the status quo, for it does not matter who rules over the world as long as the world itself stays the same.

When Nimaiya disagrees, Ichibē merely replies that he will not interfere in the matters of Soul Society because Shunsui is doing an admirable job and there is no reason for them to favor one descendant of the Noble Houses over another. Sitting, Ichibē notes that regardless of the Linchpin's free will, or lack thereof, as long as it maintains the worlds, the "ordinary peace" will remain. A laughing Ichibē turns his gaze towards the greater palace and wonders what the Soul King, Yhwach, has as his opinion.

Sometime later, Ichibē has assembled the remainder of the Royal Guard and the "Divine Soldiers" in front of the sealed remains of Yhwach. Due to the events occurring in the Valley of Screams, as well as the earlier attack on the Hōōden, Ichibē has decided to teach everyone them about their true history, proceeding to narrate his first-hand experience of the "birth" of the Soul King and his subsequent sealing and mutilation at the hands of the Five Ancestors.

While everyone present is aghast at these revelations, Ichibē continues to nonchalantly describe the Soul King's degrading mutilation. Eventually, Senjumaru Shutara notes how convenient it was for the ancestors that the Soul King carried the entire world without having any say in its proceedings. To which Ichibē disagrees and voices his belief that the Soul King did still have a will of his own, even guiding Ichigo towards his fate at the palace, as he asserts that he can feel the Soul King's will inside his Ōken.

Tenjirō Kirinji proceeds to note the interesting events that led to Ichigo, a descendant of Noble Shiba, almost becoming the new Soul King, leading Ichibē to reveal that Shiba originally wanted to rebel against the Tsunayashiro ancestor's plan, even offering himself up as a sacrifice, and comments on the irony of the Shiba bloodline only existing because Tsunayashiro disagreed with him.

While Kirio Hikifune recalls how Kaien Shiba had a similar attitude to his ancestor, Ichibē states that this is why the Tsunayashiro family had disgraced the Shiba family. Lost in thought, Ichibē mutters that when Ichigo appeared, he genuinely believed history was repeating itself and wonders if the world still needed him somehow. As their subordinates struggle to process this shocking revelation, the Royal Guard understands Ichibē's hidden meaning; the history of the world is built on crimes far worse than murder, and they serve to defend those crimes.

Powers & Abilities
True Name Manipulation: Ichibē can manipulate true names - the metaphysical representations of sentient beings - which grants him a certain amount of power over the target.

Clairvoyance: According to Ōetsu Nimaiya, Ichibē has the ability to view events that happen inside the realms outside the Soul King Palace. This clairvoyance even extends to the Valley of Screams.

Immeasurable Spiritual Power: As a captain-class combatant and commander of the Royal Guard, Ichibē has a colossal amount of spiritual power. Ichibē's power is of such a degree that he could defeat the Hollow that would become Ikomikidomoe when even a younger Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto failed to do so. Ichibē himself states he was one of the very few "exceptional" beings born during his time, alongside the ancestors of the five Noble Houses, and admits that the Soul King was the only being stronger than the six of them.

Ōken: As one of the Royal Guards, Ichibē has the Ōken imparted in his bones. According to Ichibē himself, he can feel the Soul King's will inside his Ōken.


 * Royal Guard Resurrection: All members of the Royal Guard have their life force tied to the Reimyaku of the Soul King Palace. Thus, as long as it still exists and any one of them are still alive, they can revive the other members by calling their names, though it takes several minutes for them to recover. Even if all of them are killed, Ichibē can have others call his name to be revived, and steals a bit of power from the person that does so.


 * Eternal Life: The Ōken prevents the Royal Guard from aging, as Ichibē has been able to defend the Soul King for millions of years without growing old or weakening.

Zanpakutō

 * Its sealed form takes the form of a large calligraphy brush which Ichibē uses to write calligraphic characters.


 * Shikai: Its release command is . Upon release, the brush transforms into a form of a somewhat short glaive, with the top portion taking the form of a short, single edged blade reminiscent of a tip of a chokutō, attached to the long brush handle.


 * Shikai Special Ability: Whenever Ichibē swings Ichimonji, its blade releases ink. Anything that this ink covers loses its name, and thus its powers.


 * Shin'uchi: : Uniquely, Ichibē activates his Bankai by calling out instead of Bankai, as Ichimonji was the first Zanpakutō to take on an evolved form long before the term "Bankai" existed. Upon activation, the blade of Ichibē's brush turns white and becomes a long, thick thread that coils in the air around him.


 * Shin'uchi Special Ability: With Shirafude Ichimonji, Ichibē can give and change the name of targets who have been struck by the ink of Ichimonji by writing kanji on their body; doing so gives his target the properties and powers of the name granted. By granting Ikomikidomoe his current name, Ichibē stripped the Hollow of most of his power and bound him into servitude.

Zanpakutō
Soul King: While Ichimonji is an extremely powerful Zanpakutō, it seems to be less effective upon any being with the power of the Soul King in them. Yhwach was able to nullify Ichimonji upon activating The Almighty, and upon consuming a few of the Soul King fragments that composed Hikone Ubuginu, Ikomikidomoe was able to break free of Ichimonji ' s curse.

Trivia

 * Captain-Commander Shunsui Kyōraku respectfully adresses Ichibē as "Your Eminence".

Quotes

 * (To Shunsui Kyōraku) "I'm no Yhwach, after all. I can't see into the future. No, in actuality, Ichigo Kurosaki couldn't have won against him. If anything, we needed him to lose. [...] But luckily for the boy, Yhwach had all of the Soul King's power. That guaranteed that the Soul Society would escape destruction whether or not Ichigo Kurosaki won."


 * (To Ōetsu Nimaiya) "Our role is to strive to make sure the world’s bottom continues on as it ever has. For even if the ones who rule the various gardens change, it is not as though the foundation of all creation will change. [...] While I do not intervene in the matters of the world below, I do like the current Gotei and the world of the living. If we aid anyone, it would be the Kyoraku family’s tender lad. Though we have a connection with the Tsunayashiro ancestors who are part of the Four Great Noble Clans, we have no reason to favor their many descendants we have never met. Whether they have free will or not is one matter, but as long as we have someone who stands atop the heavens to act as a linchpin and continues to center the world as it is now, all is well. All quiet in the world, it might be said."