Ryūken Ishida

is the son of Sōken Ishida and father of Uryū Ishida. The Director of Karakura Hospital, he is also known as the last Quincy, a status contested by his son.

Appearance
Ryūken appears well for a man of his age. He wears a plain grey suit with a light blue shirt and a a tie that, even though Ryūken scorns his status as a Quincy, has blue crosses all over it, an obvious reference to the Quincy cross. He has silvery hair although in a flashback he is seen with brown hair, and he wears glasses. In the Quincy Encyclopedia Isshin Kurosaki implies that Ryūken once wore a Quincy Uniform just like his son, but Ryūken shot an arrow after the image Isshin was about to show, leaving the appearance of his uniform unknown.

Personality
Ryūken appears to be a cold, work-oriented man, and is apparently estranged from his father and son. He detests his status as a Quincy on the grounds that it does not enable one to make a proper living, and would rather focus on saving the living instead of the dead. He even goes so far as to state that the Quincy would become extinct once Sōken's generation died out, urging Uryū not to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. . Despite this, there are blue crosses all over his tie and during the anime's Bount arc, there are blue crosses all over the floors and walls of Ryūken's hospital, as well, both resembling the Quincy cross.

His actual feelings towards his son are hard to place - despite his attitude towards being a Quincy, he helps to restore Uryū's lost Quincy powers on the condition that he never associate himself with Shinigami again, even if they were his friends. To this end, he constructed a secret chamber underneath Karakura Hospital which hides Spiritual Energy. During their fight, Uryū tries to finish the fight with an attack meant to capture rather than kill, perhaps indicating feelings for his father that made him stay a final blow. Thus Ryūken was able to escape and shoot Uryū, but his somewhat tender tone as he talks to his unconscious son suggests that deep down he also loves Uryū.

Strangely enough, Ryūken also shares a relationship with Isshin Kurosaki not unlike that of their sons (though seemingly friendlier; Isshin comments that Ryūken never called him "Kurosaki" before in a slightly hurt tone). Their friendship was briefly mentioned when Chad was injured with Isshin telling a hospital worker to tell his boss that Kurosaki needed them and some beds would clear up (though it may have seemed at the time like this was more a threat than a favor).

Arrancar arc
When his son is about to be killed by two incomplete Arrancar, Ryūken suddenly appears and saves him with a single arrow. Uryū is shocked to see him but still calls him by his first name instead of dad causing Ryūken to scold him. As they are attacked by the other hollow, Ryūken easily kills it with one shot and tells his to kill the Arrancar before they can regenerate. As Uryū question how he can have Quincy powers Ryūken notes that his exact words were only that he had No Interest not that he did not have them and explains how he, against his wishes inherited the tittle of the Last Quincy by revealing his father Quincy Cross.

He then reveals that he can give Uryū his powers back but on the condition that he never associate with Shinigami again.

His training is very difficult and Ryūken mocks his son's abilities throughout the training. Despite Uryū tries his best to avoid being struck by Ryūken's attacks until Ryūken asks him if he has reached his limit. Uryū uses Gritz to seal Ryūken's movements, but he quickly breaks out and shoots Uryū in the chest. He then reveals that the only way to restore the Quincy powers lost to the Quincy Final Form is to exhaust the body to its limits and then pierce the body 19mm to the right of the heart with a single spiritual arrow. Ryūken laments that Uryū's last Gintō technique should have been Heizen instead of Gritz despite the fact that it would not have defeated him, it would still have allowed his son to hurt him. He explains to his unconscious son that this is the reason why he calls him an idiot, although he decides that this time he would it slip.

Hueco Mundo arc
Ryūken is briefly seen finding his sons goodbye letter within their training room and having a suddenly having a surprise visit from Ichigo's father, Isshin Kurosaki. Ryūken question him asking how he got in and calling him Kurosaki much to the dismay of Isshin although Ryūken is quick to change the subject when he sees Isshin's powers had returned.

When Isshin tells him that his son escaped, he replies that whether or not Uryū allows his powers to live or die is completely up to him, and that it is also his choice whether to live or die, seeing that he only gave him his powers back. Isshin calls him a bad father, althought Ryūken retorts by saying that he is still a better father than Isshin, and Isshin notices that Ryūken still smokes despite being in a hospital, ignoring the "No Smoking" sign right next to him.

Powers & Abilities


Quincy Bow &amp; Arrows: Like all Quincy, Ryūken uses a bow as his primary weapon, but unlike other Quincy seen thus far, Ryūken is capable of willfully changing its size and can fire multiple shots at once. He can also fire arrows one-handed and at rapid-speed. His bow is white, rather than blue. In the anime, it has a more metallic look to it and is solid, compared to most Quincy bows.

Reiryoku Absorption: All Quincy primarily absorb spiritual energy from the atmosphere, and have an easier time collecting this energy in environments with higher concentrations of spiritual particles, such as Soul Society or Hueco Mundo. To a sufficiently powerful Quincy, there is no difference between spiritual particles and spiritual energy as a source of power.

Reiryoku Manipulation: He can manipulate spiritual energy for offensive purposes. He most commonly reshapes spiritual particles into various types of bow and arrows, but can also concentrate spiritual energy into the form of silver tubes. Ryūken uses a pentacle to create his bow, and although the artifact is not cross-shaped, it is still called a Quincy cross.

Gintō Master: Ryūken is able to use the spiritual energy stored in silver tubes to create effects similar to Kidō. He can also use his own energy rather than the energy stored in a silver tube, as seen during the training session between him and his son.

Seele Schneider Master: Ryūken is presumably highly capable of using the soul cutting sword with great proficiency, as he excels over his son in all Quincy techniques.

Genius Intellect & Athletic: Aside from his Quincy powers, Ryūken is well-trained in both mind and body, having substantial athletic abilities and a genius intellect which surpasses his son, who is considered a Quincy prodigy. Due to keeping his physical prowess at it's peak, Ryūken can easily hold out against all but the most resilient opponents during a battle.

In terms of intellect, Ryūken has shown himself to be a very intuitive and perceptive man. Much to Uryū's dismay, Ryūken has repeatedly shown himself easily able to see through his son's antics. When Uryū left to aid Ichigo and Sado in rescuing Orihime Inoue, Ryūken immediately determined what his son was doing without looking at the note his son left.


 * A high level technique, known to be quite rare to ever be encountered. Ryūken is presumably well versed in the use of this ability, since he knows all Quincy techniques.


 * Ryūken is highly skilled in the use of the Hirenkyaku, as he is with all Quincy techniques.

Great Spiritual Power: As a Quincy and master of his people's spiritual arts, Ryūken Ishida has a huge amount of spiritual energy.

Last Quincy Status
Ryūken is able to use many Quincy techniques and items to augment his abilities, including presumably high-level techniques, which are rare in comparison to his son. This is caused by the fact that regardless of his personal wishes and intent, he has inherited all Quincy abilities and techniques from his father, Sōken; after his passing, he has claimed the title of Last Quincy. Apparently he is now using the same, or a similar, pentacle to Sōken's, although whether this has something to do with the title of Last Quincy remains to be seen.

Anime Omake Segment: Quincy Encyclopedia
Ryūken is the host of the Quincy Encyclopedia, an omake segment that airs at the end of a few episodes. Like the Arrancar Encyclopedia hosted by Gin Ichimaru, here Ryūken recites several facts about Quincies. After he is done, Isshin, who is also present, usually makes a humorous comment, which usually calls for Ryūken to comically shoot several arrows at him. Where despite his obvious intent to shoot Isshin, he always defends himself by stating "my finger slipped".

Other Appearances
Ryūken appears as a playable character in Bleach: Heat the Soul 6.

Trivia

 * In the English version of Bleach Official Character Book Souls, he is called Ryūgen Ishida.
 * Despite his cold nature and distant relation to his son, Ryūken still cares very much for his son Uryū, as shown from him in the omake chapter of episode 235 looking deeply at a picture of his son as a child and then attacking Isshin who teased Uryū about being in a "rebellious stage", blaming Isshin for Ichigo's influence on Uryū. In the omake of episode 272, Ryūken shows even greater rage at both Isshin and Ichigo for the injuries Uryū sustained because of Ichigo's Hollow transformation.

Quotes

 * (To Uryū Ishida) "How many times do I have to tell you, there is no point in saving the dead. That's a Shinigami's job. You should learn how to save the people who are alive. I have no interest in it and you have no talent in it. The Quincy will become extinct with your grandfather's generation, understand?"


 * (To Uryū Ishida, when asked why he hates being a Quincy) "Because you can't make a living from it."


 * (To Isshin Kurosaki, about Uryū) "I have restored his Quincy powers. It is up to him whether they live or die. As well as whether he lives or dies."