Sawatari

is a Bount under the service of Jin Kariya.

Appearance
Due to his consumption of many living Souls, Sawatari takes the form of an elderly, light-skinned man with heavily wrinkled skin and prominent cheekbones. He has short, swept-back gray-brown hair, narrow brown eyes with tapering eyebrows, a large forehead, and a prominent jaw. He wears a black suit with metallic buttons and a white handkerchief tucked into its left breast pocket over a white dress shirt with a violet ascot around his neck fastened at the front with a large red brooch, as well as a ring with a black stone on his right middle finger and rectangular metallic cufflinks on his sleeves, and black pants with black dress shoes. When not sitting on the back of Baura as a makeshift throne, Sawatari uses a hooked wooden cane to walk around.

Prior to being aged by his consumption of living Souls, Sawatari had a youthful complexion with smooth skin and brown hair. He wore a puffy dress shirt with cylindrical fasteners at the wrists under a light brown vest with black pants and shoes.

Personality
Though generally quiet and soft-spoken, Sawatari is an arrogant man with a callous disregard for Human life; of the remaining Bount, he is the only one other than Kariya and Yoshino Sōma to have ever consumed living Souls, killing several thousand people in the process simply to increase his own power, with his only regret being that it immensely aged his own body. To this end, he was visibly enticed by Jin Kariya's promise that drinking the serum created by the Bitto would increase his power to over ten times its current level. When given the opportunity to test his new level of power after consuming Souls concentrated by the Bitto, Sawatari opted to track down Yasutora Sado to consume his strong Soul, which he eagerly anticipated doing, and openly admitted that he wanted to strengthen himself with it, though he refused to reveal why. He can be affable when talking to enemies, such as when he casually discussed the uncertain status of Maki Ichinose with Mayuri Kurotsuchi when the latter asked about it, but this is usually punctuated by his vanity nonetheless, as during the same conversation he made clear how he did not care for Mayuri underestimating him. He also has a slight sadistic streak, having been amused alongside the rest of the Bount at the news of Hō and Ban's deaths.

This prideful nature extends to battle, where Sawatari will often gloat about the spatial manipulation abilities of Baura and how difficult it is to overcome them; in turn, he is easily angered by this power being mocked or by his opponents outmaneuvering him, though he is also willing to praise foes who display a keen understanding of the danger posed by Baura. He is highly confident in his own strategical abilities as well, frequently ridiculing his foes for not anticipating his maneuvers and believing that he can overcome any plan they devise, which can leave him shocked and unable to respond in time to protect himself or Baura when he is caught off-guard. Despite this smug nature, Sawatari is not above fleeing from a battle if he is able to and there is no clear path to victory. Furthermore, when brought to Soul Society and introduced to its high concentration of Reishi that allowed him to heal all physical injuries to his body, Sawatari came to believe that he was now invincible and had no reason to flee from any fights, leading him to willingly engage Mayuri in combat under the assumption that the latter could not inflict any lasting harm to him. However, when overwhelmed by Mayuri's poisonous attacks and realizing that he was going to die without access to an antidote, Sawatari frantically begged Mayuri to spare his life and agreed to become his test subject, in direct contrast to his refusal to do so earlier when Mayuri made the offer.

Though largely on good terms with the other Bount, as demonstrated when he genially recounted his own experiences with consuming living Souls at Mabashi's inquiry, Sawatari longs to lead the group himself and gain enough power to overthrow Jin Kariya, though he wisely avoided trying to do so when discussing the idea with the others due to Kariya still being vastly more powerful than he was at the time. However, he shares Kariya's desire to destroy the Seireitei and is happy to carry out his orders to dispatch the captains of the Gotei 13 to this end. Ultimately, Sawatari is loyal to no one other than himself and Baura, having offered to give Mayuri critical information on the Bount in exchange for his own life.

Sawatari has a more positive and mutually respectful relationship with Baura than most Bount do with their Dolls: he is vocally proud of and confident in the latter's abilities, believing that they are unbeatable and an extension of his own power, and is unfailingly friendly and courteous when calling him out or giving him orders. When making his last stand against Mayuri, Sawatari chose to channel all of his remaining Reiryoku into Baura, fully believing that the latter could overcome Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō with it despite his injuries. However, he also relies on Baura to do all the fighting for him, leaving him helpless when Baura was incapacitated by Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō.

History
Many years ago, Sawatari consumed tens of thousands of living Human Souls in an effort to drastically increase his own power, which led to his body rapidly aging to resemble that of an elderly man.

Bount arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are in the anime only and do not constitute canon material. When Jin Kariya begins putting his plan to eradicate the Seireitei into motion, he calls Sawatari and all the other remaining Bount to the Bount Mansion, where they learn that Hō and Ban have just been killed and are amused by it. Sawatari and the others proceed to listen as Kariya promises that they will soon be able to emerge from the shadows of history which they have lived in for so long. Two days later, Sawatari joins Kariya and his fellow Bount in the main hall of the mansion when Gō Koga captures Uryū Ishida, where he watches Ryō Utagawa's battle against Ichigo Kurosaki and rejects his attempt to overthrow Kariya.

Escaping from the mansion as an assault by Jinta Hanakari and Ururu Tsumugiya burns it down, Sawatari regroups with the other Bount in the cave system formerly lived in by their clan. Some time later, having created the Bitto, Kariya joins Sawatari and the others in the cave system and reveals that drinking the concentrated living Souls collected by the Bitto will increase their current abilities to over ten times their current level. Intrigued by this, Sawatari drinks the serum alongside the other Bount and is enraptured by the increase in power that it grants him, leading him to claim that he feels over a hundred years younger and openly express a desire for more.

When Kariya sends him and the other Bount out to test their new level of power, Sawatari confronts Yasutora Sado and his friends in a park in Karakura Town. After 10th Division Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto arrives to help them, Sawatari begins attacking them with Baura and explains the latter's spatial manipulation abilities. Once the group moves to a nearby rooftop to formulate a plan, Sawatari catches up to them and has Baura devour Ururu Tsumugiya, though he reveals that the latter is still alive. Outmaneuvered by Rangiku, Sawatari tracks the group to another park and is seemingly absorbed by Noba's Wormhole, but overpowers it with Baura.

With Noba managing to teleport Sado and Rangiku away from him and Baura, Sawatari begins searching for them through Karakura Town and is shocked when Sado successfully counterattacks Baura due to the latter being tracked with '''Bakudō #58. Kakushitsuijaku''', forcing Sawatari to retreat. The following day, Sawatari joins the other Bount in the cave system and watches as Kariya effortlessly overpowers and physically dominates him. Once Uryū arrives and uses his newly-regained Quincy powers to modify the Senkaimon created by the Bount so they can enter Soul Society, Sawatari grins alongside his comrades and passes through the portal with them.

A few days later, having monitored the activity and movements of the Gotei 13 alongside Yoshi and Mabashi, Sawatari plays a crucial role in Kariya's plan to enter the Seireitei by transporting the siege engines created by the villagers of Kusajishi within Baura. Once he, Kariya, and Koga are inside, Sawatari is told to take out the captains alongside Koga while Kariya searches for the artifact needed to complete his plan. Upon sensing Mabashi's death, Sawatari, who had been followed by 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi until that point and knew he was there due to Mayuri's bloodlust, has the latter reveal himself and decides to fight him since Kariya tasked him with doing so.

Sawatari initially overwhelms Mayuri with the new ability of Baura to vanish and reappear in the Reishi-rich air of Soul Society, but is stabbed with Mayuri's Shikai, Ashisogi Jizō, and is shocked when healing the wound with Reishi does not remove the paralysis inflicted by the poison within. Attempting to gain distance, Sawatari learns that Mayuri has developed a method to track him even in the dimension of Baura and resolves to finish him off, first with Kidō absorbed by Baura prior and then by channeling his Reiryoku into Baura for a final attack. However, Mayuri's Bankai, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō, fatally poisons Sawatari, who dies begging for his life.

Powers & Abilities
Great Spiritual Power: After consuming tens of thousands of living Souls, Sawatari possesses a considerable amount of Reiryoku, enough that Jin Kariya entrusted dispatching Gotei 13 captains to him alongside Gō Koga; when battling 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi, he displayed the ability to channel it directly into Baura, doubling the latter's size and nearly allowing him to overcome Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō, with his release of Reiatsu rivaling Mayuri's own in size. Like the other Bount who have consumed the purified Souls collected by the Bitto, his Reiatsu is light teal.

Reishi Absorption: Like all Bount, Sawatari can absorb Reishi in his vicinity; though nearly useless in the Human World world due to its low concentration of Reishi in the atmosphere, this ability is immensely strengthened in Soul Society where everything is composed of Reishi. By absorbing Reishi, Sawatari can heal all physical damage to his body and clothing, which breaks down the structures that the Reishi is absorbed from in the process, but he cannot expel or even mitigate the effects of any poison in his system.

Doll
is Sawatari's Doll. A giant whale-like creature composed of hardened rock-like scales that Sawatari generally sits on like a chair and who is unfailingly loyal to Sawatari, Baura possesses potent spatial manipulation abilities; the inside of his mouth leads to an endless void, allowing him to consume attacks without harm, and he can move through an alternate dimension by sinking into solid surfaces and reemerging elsewhere, allowing him to perform effective surprise attacks on opponents.

Quotes

 * (To Yasutora Sado) "It's nice to be young, don't you agree? It's been so long, I'd almost forgotten how good it feels."


 * (To Noba) "You're awfully arrogant for one so young! Perhaps we ought to show him just how different our powers really are!"


 * (To Sado, Noba, and Rangiku Matsumoto) "You nasty little brats! Your puny minds can't comprehend what it takes to gain this kind of power! The number of Souls I've consumed! I will not lose to you!"


 * (To Sado, Noba, and Rangiku) "You've all been very entertaining, but I'm afraid you're about one hundred years too early. I won't be sealed away yet! I think it's time we brought this fight to its natural conclusion."


 * (To Mayuri Kurotsuchi) "Why don't you quit playing these hide-and-seek games and come out? I much prefer talking face-to-face."


 * (To Mayuri wanting to fight him) "If I must, I must! But don't make the mistake of underestimating me. For I have been given a very specific task: to send all the captains to their grave!"


 * (To Mayuri) "You call yourself a captain and this is all you have to offer? What a wretch you are."


 * (To Mayuri) "No, this cannot be the end! I refuse to go out this way! I broke the laws of my tribe. I devoured tens of thousands of Human Souls! I watched as my body aged prematurely as a result! Despite all of that, I never stopped trying to consume Souls! I did it to increase my power! I did all of these things for the goal of becoming the Bount leader! Me! Not Kariya! I am the one most worthy of leading them! It should always have been my role!"


 * (To Mayuri) "Spare me, and I will tell you everything! Help me!"