Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-3244769-20140219204511/@comment-3244769-20140220233752

Tokentosen wrote: IStoleThePies wrote: That doesn't make any sense. Whether or not the Quincy part "knew" it was a bad thing, it was still damaging his soul. It's like if my body didn't know fire hurts or could kill me. It still would kill me. ok that is very true if, and only if you were two separate entities they have always been one and the same. so yes even if you didn't know fire hurt it would kill you but if from the very moment you were conceived you were already part fire it wouldn't be able to hurt you. Hollow Ichigo wasn’t created until Ichigo first met the old man Zangetsu, although Hollow Ichigo was inherited by Ichigo’s mother. It's like a disease that can be inherited from a mother. The mother's child has a higher chance of getting the disease, but it doesn't exist in the child's body until it actually forms. Hollow Ichigo formed after Ichigo met the old man, so Ichigo already had his Quincyness before he had a Hollow inside of him.

Plus, old man Zangetsu was already created when Ichigo was born. Ichigo only got Shinigami powers of his own when he trained with Urahara. Ichigo didn't have his own Zanpakuto, as he used the power Rukia gave him, but he still had his Quincy side (old man Zangetsu) in him.