Royal Guard

The also known as the, is an organization that is dedicated to the protection of the Soul King, the Royal Family, and the Soul King Palace.

Overview
The Royal Guard is a special organization that performs services for the Royal Family. It has a considerable amount of fighting, organizational, and executive power compared to other organizations.

They are also charged with slaying Menos, though the circumstances under which they do so are unknown.

Since serving the royal family is the primary purpose of the Royal Guard, they do not interfere in Gotei 13's affairs and the defense of Soul Society, even against major threats like Aizen and his Arrancar. They are known to do whatever is required by order of the Soul King.

The Royal Guard's authority supersedes the authority of all within Soul Society. Each member of the Royal Guard have had the power of the Ōken imparted onto their bones by the Soul King. They also each have a city of their own at the Soul King Palace.

Blood Oath's Seal
Because each individual member of the Royal Guard possesses vast levels of Reiatsu, they can destabilize the three worlds by themselves should they unleash it all without restraint. Hence, Kirio Hikifune, Senjumaru Shutara, Tenjirō Kirinji, and Ōetsu Nimaiya normally use each other's lives as seals to prevent their true power from being released; this also seems to prevent them from being able to use their Bankai. To unlock this, three of the members have to take their own lives in order to enable the lone survivor to use their full power.

History
Due to their status as a secret organization, the history and very existence of the Royal Guard is not commonly known.

Mission
The Royal Guard serves as guardians with the primary responsibilities of:
 * Protecting the Soul King.
 * Protecting the Royal Family.
 * Protecting the Royal Palace.
 * Slaying Menos class Hollows.

Transportation
The Royal Guard commonly stays within the Soul King Palace, but when they do travel, their preferred method of transportation is a huge pillar called the. This pillar enters from the inner dimension and lands with significant force upon its arrival. The Tenchūren, however, does not have the ability to return to the palace on its own, and relies on Kūkaku Shiba's cannon to launch it back. Ōetsu Nimaiya also has the ability to open a portal within the Soul King Palace that can send someone directly to the Human World. Someone can be returned to the Soul King Palace if the is opened, but it can only be opened by syncing the arrival and departure times. They are able to take stairs down to the Seireitei, though it will take anywhere from half a day to a week of travel to get there.

Organization
The Royal Guard is known to promote former captains of the Gotei 13 to their ranks. The Royal Guard has no soldiers, and it only has 5 members, all of which are former captains. Their total power far surpasses the power of all the 13 Divisions together. Ichibē Hyōsube is the commanding Shinigami of the Royal Guard.

Admittance
All the members of the Royal Guard were Shinigami acknowledged by the Soul King to have made significant contributions to the history of Soul Society.

Insignia
Like the divisions of the Gotei 13, the Royal Guard has a unique symbol that represents the division's primary role, which is in its case based upon the. This symbol is placed inside the Gotei 13 symbol of a rhombus to form the division's complete insignia, which is displayed upon each member's haori.

Appearances in Other Media

 * In Bleach: Spirits Are Forever With You, Kenpachi Kuruyashiki was offered to be a member of the Royal Guard, which he declined due to his self-proclaimed laziness.
 * In Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, it is revealed that thanks to their Ōken, the Royal Guards' lives are tied to the Soul King Palace, and so long as it exists and any one of the Guards remain alive, they can revive any fallen members by calling out their names, though it takes several minutes for them to recover. The novel also infers that the Royal Guard slay Menos in order to maintain the balance of the three worlds, and opt not to kill Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, Tier Harribel, or Ikomikidomoe because their deaths would upset that balance.