Katen Kyōkotsu (Zanpakutō spirit)

This article is about the manifested spirit of Shunsui Kyōraku's Zanpakutō. For his Zanpakutō and its abilities see Katen Kyōkotsu.

is the manifested spirit of Shunsui Kyōraku's Zanpakutō that is seen during the Zanpakutō Unknown Tales and Beast Swords arcs.

Appearance
Katen Kyōkotsu's spirit takes the form of two women. One is a tall, purple-haired woman with a red ribbon around her neck and an eye patch covering her right eye. Her left is turquoise. She wears an indigo cape with a skull imprint on it and a long, dark dress with a significantly low-cut neckline exposing her well-endowed bust. Her clothing resembles that of an oiran, a high-class Japanese courtesan. She also wears a golden bone headdress.

The second half of the spirit is shorter and younger in appearance. She has turquoise eyes and chin length purple hair with a skull decorating it. She wears a dark top that covers her lower face, neck and arms, close-fitting shorts and knee length socks. Over this she wears a purple, hip-length coat fastened at the front by a dark purple sash. The middle of her chest and abdomen, as well as the top of her thighs, are left exposed.

Personality
The taller half of Katen Kyōkotsu is shown to be soft-spoken and composed individual. At the same time, she is shown to have a slight mischievous side, enjoying to humiliate Shunsui. Similar to her partner, she enjoys sake and prefers not to do work whenever possible. However, she can play the shamisen (a Japanese three stringed instrument - similiar to a banjo). The masked half is shown to be a silent and serious individual, who only focuses on the situation at hand. She enters a state of battle readiness whenever somebody calls out from behind her. Despite her aggressive nature in battle, she can be rather timid and shy in daily life, preferring to keep to herself. According to her taller half, she is very childish in her interest, having a slight sadistic nature in the games she plays. She is also shown to have an interest in flowers. The taller half of Katen Kyōkotsu states that she finds Shunsui a very dull man. This is what originally made Katen Kyōkotsu betray Shunsui after being brainwashed by Muramasa.

Zanpakutō Unknown Tales arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

She first appears when several Zanpakutō spirits are in a cave waiting for Muramasa's return. She is later seen in Soul Society along with Sōgyo no Kotowari and Minazuki as they approach the main office of the 1st Division. They are then confronted by Chōjirō Sasakibe and apparently take Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto as their hostage, with Muramasa later stating that her power along with Sōgyo no Kotowari's and Minazuki's power were the necessary forces in order to seal Yamamoto. She is later seen along with the rest of the Zanpakutō spirits appearing before the Shinigami that have gathered at the Sōkyoku Hill.

Katen Kyōkotsu is later seen with Sōgyo no Kotowari and Minazuki, using their powers the barrier Yamamoto was sealed in. When the Shinigami find their hideout, Katen Kyōkotsu intercepts her former partner Shunsui. There it is revealed that Katen Kyōkotsu is one of two entities, as a masked female appears behind Shunsui with one of their Shikai blades. It soon became clear that their battle was merely to stall for time. Unfortunately, their mission succeeded as Muramasa was able to use Ichigo's power to break through Yamamoto's barrier and take control of Ryūjin Jakka. With his plan finally a success, Muramasa revealed that he merely used the other Zanpakutō spirits in his goal to take control of Yamamoto's Zanpakutō. Angered by this, Katen Kyōkotsu attacked Muramasa, only to be incinerated by Ryūjin Jakka's flames.

Beast Swords arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Later, Captain Kurotsuchi is able to restore Katen Kyōkotsu to normal, but she is still able to freely manifest herself whenever she wishes. Making the most of it, Katen Kyōkotsu spends her time playing card games with Shunsui, repeatedly beating him and forcing him to perform humiliating penalties. During this time, the 8th Division is also assigned to help in catching and defeating the Tōjū. Instead of doing any work, the taller half of Katen Kyōkotsu suggests to Kyōraku that Nanao Ise should work together with her smaller half, due to the fact that she is bored. While walking Nanao tries to get Katen Kyōkotsu's attention, but almost loses a hand, as the masked Zanpakutō spirit will attack anyone or thing that approaches her from behind. Katen Kyōkotsu quickly senses a Tōjū and rushes to fight it. However, she does not kill it, but "plays" with it, hurting it with minor attacks that don't kill it. Seeing this, Nanao interrupts the fight, which gives the Tōjū a chance to escape. Nanao, unable to get Katen Kyōkotsu to talk, tries to get Rangiku Matsumoto's help in trying to communicate with her. Rangiku gets the Zanpakutō to try on new outfits, introduces her to some guys, and tries to use sweets and chocolates, but she shows no interest in anything. Nanao begins to notice that Katen Kyōkotsu likes flowers and decides to have a party under the budding cherry tree. During the party, however, Katen Kyōkotsu gets up and walks away, and Nanao finds her staring at the dwindling plum tree. When the last plum blossom falls off the tree, Nanao pins it to the Zanpakutō spirit's hair as a present. After showing her a blooming peach tree, Nanao then explains that when the cherry blossoms wilt, the peach blossoms bloom. Suddenly, the Tōjū from earlier attacks them. Separated from her weapon, Katen Kyōkotsu is quickly beaten. However, Kyōraku arrives and almost immediately kills the Tōjū. That night, while at another party, Katen Kyōkotsu pins a flower in Nanao's hair, showing that they are friends.

Katen Kyōkotsu later appears with many of the other manifested Zanpakutō to defeat the final Tōjū: Kirikaze. Although they combine their strengths, they struggle against the powerful Tōjū. They attack, but Kirikaze turns to mist again and creates a burst of wind that blows even the heaviest among them in all directions. The Zanpakutō spirits surround the Tōjū at a distance, following his gust of wind. As things begin to look hopeless, they are saved by the timely appearance of Renji Abarai, Izuru Kira, Momo Hinamori, Rangiku Matsumoto, Shūhei Hisagi, Nanao Ise and Rukia Kuchiki. As the battle goes on, Zabimaru (spirit) merges back with Renji's sword. He then performs Bankai. Along with the remaining Zanpakutō spirits, Katen Kyōkotsu decides to give what remaining reiryoku she has left to Renji Abarai so that he can use his Bankai's Hitotsu Taihō on Kirikaze. With the Tōjū threat over and the energy that allowed their manifestation gone, Katen Kyōkotsu and all the other Zanpakutō spirits reunite with each of their respective Shinigami's sword.

Powers & Abilities
Master Swordsmanship Specialist: As despite fighting only to stall for time, Katen Kyōkotsu demonstrated considerable sword skill against their former master, one of the greatest swordsmen in Soul Society. As Shunsui explained, the masked half, who was originally Shunsui's wakizashi, specializes in speedy attacks, while the taller woman, who was originally Shunsui's tachi, specializes in power attacks.

Immense Spiritual Energy: As the Zanpakutō spirits of one of the oldest captains, Katen Kyōkotsu has considerable spiritual power.

Stealth Master: The masked half of Katen Kyōkotsu is shown to be very stealthy, able to mask her presence until finally showing herself, however their former master was able to detect the spiritual pressure of "someone else".

Enhanced Speed: The masked half is also shown to be highly fast, able to easily slip away from people undetected.

Zanpakutō
At any time, Katen Kyōkotsu are able to manifest the Shikai of their former self. It takes the form of a pair of huge, heavily-curved, black Chinese scimitars with silver edges, one for each of them. The cross guards are rectangles, with the corners cut off, decorated by a pattern of cherry petals and lines, and each sports a dark-blue handle with long red tassels dangling from the end.