Shinji Hirako

Shinji Hirako (平子 真子, Hirako Shinji) is a recruiter and semi leader of the Vizard and the previous captain of the 5th division in the Gotei 13.

Personality
Shinji's character is somewhat comical, adding a bit of levity to situations that are otherwise serious. He has a flippent attitude under normal circumstances and seems to like annoying his associate, Hiyori Sarugaki, which usually earns him a slap from one of her sandals. She in turn shows him absolutely no respect and frequently insults and attacks him; although he is no better, frequently making faces or glib insults at her expense. He also appears to have a history of referring to cute girls he meets as his 'first love', complete with a deadpan look on his face despite the obvious lie (he apparently never did this with Hiyori, further annoying her).

Underneath this though he is quite perceptive regarding people and during his time as a captain was one of the few people who appeared suspicious of his lieutenant Aizen Sousuke and could apparently sense or see through some of his illusionary capabilities. Aizen even admitted to being somewhat intimidated by him. He is very serious in combat or when angry. He also appears to be one of the older captains since his captains hioari had overlong sleeves (a trend shared by Ukitake, Kyouraku, Unohana and Yamamoto) and during a conversation with Ukitake implied he had been a captain for a long time.

Appearance
Shinji has jaw length blond hair with a straight cut and many of his facial expressions reveal his upper teeth, a trait also seen in Nnoitra Jiruga. In the past Shinji wore normal captain robes and had considerably longer hair. As a Vizard Shinji has been seen in standard Karakura school uniform though he usually wears a long brown coat, shirt and tie, and some form of hat.

History
Shinji was the captain of the 5th division approximately 100 years before the main storyline. His lieutenant was Sōsuke Aizen. He appears to have a knowledge of Aizen's zanpakutō and possibly his intentions. He left the Gotei 13 for unknown reasons.

Synopsis
One hundred years after Shinji was captain of the 5th division, Shinji appears before Ichigo Kurosaki in an attempt to recruit him to become a Vizard. While his initial attempts fail, he promises that no matter what his decision, Ichigo would eventually need to contain his inner-hollow to prevent it from devouring his own soul. Shiji then departs for the time being, receiving some physical abuse from Hiyori when he tells her that Ichigo refused to join them. Hoping to learn how to contain his inner-hollow, Ichigo eventually comes to Shinji and the other Vizards. While he initially attempts to get the information out of them by force, Shinji halfheartedly battles Ichigo. The other Vizards watch the display, noting that Shinji wasn't even taking him seriously. After Ichigo leaves to go fight Grimmjow, Shinji follows behind him and saves both Rukia and Ichigo from Grimmjow's cero attack. He engages Grimmjow and nearly defeats him with his cero, but Ulquiorra comes and retrieves Grimmjow before he can be killed. Shinji's current standing with the winter war is unknown as is the standing of the rest of the Vizards. He seems quite angry as he realizes Ichigo has left to Hueco Mundo leaving to them only a word : "thanks".

Abilities


Shinji is implied to be a powerful combatant, being the unofficial leader among the group and a former shinigami captain. At one point, when Shinji begins to fight with Ichigo Kurosaki, the other vizard mention that Ichigo is foolish to battle Shinji and that Shinji is not taking the battle seriously.

Shinji's hollow mask strongly resembles a pharoh's mask with a short flowing hood down the back of his neck. Shinji is quite skilled with his hollow powers, using he increased speed and strength to overwhelm Grimmjow Jagearjacques in short order before almost catching him in a powerful cero blast. The video games also depict him being able to split the cero blast into multiple smaller beams.

Not much has been revealed about Shinji's zanpakutō, as he rarely uses or even visibly wears it. The hilt and sheath are red. None of his release states have been shown, and the times that he does seriously fight he seems to rely more on his hollow mask.

Trivia

 * One of Shinji's previous acclaimed crushes was Lisa Yadōmaru, a fellow vizard, and his current is Orihime Inoue.
 * During several points in the anime, Shinji's outfit is depicted to look like Lupin the III, likely as a homage on the part of the animators.