Ichigo Kurosaki

is the protagonist of the Bleach series. The series begins with Ichigo receiving Shinigami powers as a result of a run-in with Rukia Kuchiki, the Shinigami assigned to patrol Karakura Town. These powers come at the cost of Rukia's own and, as a result, Ichigo concedes to work as Rukia's stand-in, fighting to protect people from evil spirits called Hollows and sending good spirits, Pluses, to Soul Society. Zangetsu, Ichigo's Zanpakutō, was voted the 3rd most popular Zanpakutō in a recent Bleach Poll.

Appearance
For the most part, Ichigo appears like a normal teenage boy; the one exception to that is his spiky orange hair, a trait that he has been ridiculed about for years. He is a fairly tall person with peach skin and brown eyes. Also, since becoming a Shinigami, he has become noticeably more muscular, as noted by his sister Karin.

Personality
Personality-wise, Ichigo is a stubborn, short-tempered, occasionally confrontational, spontaneous, determined, outspoken, strong-willed, witty, cynical, impulsive young man, and is extremely protective of his friends and family. This latter trait is the driving force behind most of his actions and almost all of the story arcs have stemmed from him rushing off to save someone, usually females.

He attempts to maintain a detached and "cool" image, despite claiming to not care about what other people think about him. For this reason, he generally keeps his face set in a permanent scowl. However, despite this "tough guy" image he tries to maintain, he becomes extremely shy and uncomfortable around nude or immodestly dressed women, a fact both Rangiku Matsumoto and Yoruichi Shihōin have teased him for. It is also noted by Lisa Yadōmaru that Ichigo enjoys to read her erotic mangas though he denies it. He is also rather cocky and has been known to taunt and belittle his opponents when fighting. Conversely, he can also go into a state of deep depression when he loses a major battle or lets a friend down. Ichigo has a habit of misreading other people's names, such as Uryū Ishida and Yasutora Sado (the latter case results in Sado's nickname, Chad). One of the series running gags is that he keeps forgetting his classmate's faces and names, with his friends claiming he only knows half the class. However, he seems to remember names much easier later on in the series.

Although his cocky, hot-headed, and spontaneous nature (as opposed to his true personality) makes him appear rather dimwitted to more composed and calculating individuals (particularly Uryū), Ichigo is a capable analyst when required, and can instinctively catch on to some things much quicker than those around him. His natural orange hair and rebellious disposition tend to annoy many bullies in his school, who constantly pick fights with him. Ichigo claims that he does not care about other people's opinions about him (both in regards to his hair and other subjects), and seems to enjoy fighting people. Similarly, he is also a capable student, ranked 23rd in his school, studies regularly and doesn't neglect his schoolwork; he claims that he has "nothing better to do at home". It is later revealed that he works as hard as he does simply to overcome the misconceptions many teachers have about him, based on his hair color and interactions with other students. It is shown in a recent omake that even with his Shinigami status he is still able to pass exams, though his teacher gave him remedial exams because of his constant disappearances.

Due to his constant fights with bullies, many students are rather afraid of him. Despite this, he has a warm and kind heart, defiantly looks out for those placed in his charge, and is, to a degree, quite compassionate once he understands another's point of view. Rukia even states in the first movie that "he only looks scary". This trait makes him quite likable to children. As such, he has never threatened or raised his voice to his younger sisters, Karin and Yuzu. However, he has some trouble with authority and traditional respect, and is often quite rude and disrespectful when talking to those older than himself; he tends to call General Yamamoto "gramps" and refers to some captains (particularly Kenpachi, Byakuya, and Hitsugaya) by their given names, despite verbal protests from Byakuya and Hitsugaya (Hitsugaya suggests at one point that Ichigo does so on purpose). However, he does give Japanese honorifics towards those who've earned his respect, such as Urahara, Yoruichi and Ukitake.

Interestingly enough, several female characters in the series have possibly developed romantic feelings for him, often due to his inwardly compassionate nature, namely Orihime Inoue, Nelliel Tu Oderschvank, Ririn, and possibly, Rukia Kuchiki and Senna (in the first movie).

History
Ichigo was born as the son of Isshin Kurosaki and Masaki Kurosaki 15 years before the main storyline. His sisters, Karin Kurosaki and Yuzu Kurosaki were born a few years later. During his childhood, Ichigo was signed into a karate class by his mother. In the class, Ichigo met and eventually was befriended by Tatsuki Arisawa, who would beat Ichigo in every match they had. Tatsuki would also help Ichigo if he was being picked on by bullies and cheer him up if he was upset.

On June 17, when Ichigo was nine years old, he was taken home from his karate class by his mother. He saw a girl near the river and saw her falling into it. Concerned, Ichigo ran after to save her, not aware that the girl was really a lure from the Hollow Grand Fisher. Masaki, concerned about her son's safety, ran after Ichigo to protect him, but she was killed by Grand Fisher as a result. Because everyone loved Masaki very much, Ichigo blamed himself for his mother's death and went missing for some time before being found by a very concerned Tatsuki. With the death of their mother, Ichigo, Yuzu, and Karin all changed drastically. Ichigo still blamed himself for his mother's death as time went on.

Three years before the main storyline, Sora Inoue was brought to the Kurosaki Clinic from a car accident. Ichigo met Orihime Inoue, Sora's younger sister during this time. However, Sora died in the Kurosaki Clinic.

Ichigo eventually entered Mashiba Junior High School. During this time, Ichigo had finally defeated Tatsuki in a karate match and left the class soon afterwards. Ichigo regularly got into fights with thugs, due to the unusual color of his hair. During one of these fights, he met Yasutora Sado. He mispronounced his name on his name tag as "Chad", and continued to call him as such from that day. They made a pact to protect each other and have remained good friends since. Because of the amount of fights they got into, Ichigo and Chad were given reputations of being gangsters themselves.

Ichigo and Chad eventually went to Karakura High School, and their reputations followed them as well, causing a few classmates (namely Keigo Asano) to be nervous about their presence there. During a fight with a gang led by Reiichi Ōshima, Ichigo and Chad met Mizuiro Kojima and Keigo Asano, the latter of which they saved. While Keigo was initially afraid of Ichigo and Chad, both he and Mizuiro eventually became friends with them.

Agent of the Shinigami arc
At the beginning of the series, Ichigo sees and confronts Rukia Kuchiki, a Shinigami, when she enters his home for a soul. During their conversation, a Hollow attacks, having tracked Ichigo back to his house. Because of Ichigo's interference with Rukia's work in his personal effort to protect his family from the Hollow, Rukia is wounded and forced to transfer her powers to him in a desperate measure to save the Kurosaki family. During the transfer, Ichigo absorbs almost all of Rukia's powers rather than taking half, as she had intended. Having her Shinigami abilities and his own immense spiritual power, Ichigo makes short work of the Hollow and Rukia leaves.

The next day Rukia shows up in Ichigo's class, now apparently a normal Human as the other students are capable of seeing her. Rukia informs Ichigo that she is using a Gigai — an artificial body used by Shinigami when they need to recover their powers or stay in the Human World for extended periods. While she recovers her abilities, Rukia insists that Ichigo takes over her job, battling Hollows and performing Konsō in her stead. At this time, he is only able to transform into a Shinigami when a special seal on Rukia's glove is used to separate his soul from his body, and therefore cannot become a Shinigami without her present. Their acquisition of the Mod Soul (Kon) removes this dependency.

Ichigo's new duties set off a flurry of activity both in the Human World and Soul Society. While visiting the grave of his deceased mother, the Hollow Grand Fisher, who has evaded the Shinigami for over fifty years, comes to the Human World and attempts to consume Ichigo's sisters, Karin and Yuzu. It is at this point that Ichigo finds out that Grand Fisher killed his mother and seeks revenge. Rukia tries to keep Ichigo from fighting, as she feared the Hollow was too strong, but Ichigo orders her to go with Kon and take his sisters home. She is reminded of Kaien Shiba's last fight as a fight for honor, and reluctantly follows his orders. Ichigo greatly wounds Grand Fisher, but the Hollow manages to escape.

During a duel with Uryū Ishida, a Quincy, a massive amount of Hollows, including a Menos Grande, are drawn to the Human World and defeated in one form or another, mostly by Ichigo and Uryū. Chad and Orihime also have their dormant powers awakened as a result, and each defeat a Hollow on their own. Ichigo's victory against the Menos draws the attention of Soul Society, triggering an unexpected chain of events. Meanwhile, Uryū and Ichigo develop an uneasy friendship as Shinigami and Quincy, with both of them apparently saving each other's lives.

Soul Society arc
After drawing the attention of Soul Society, Ichigo loses the Shinigami powers he gained from Rukia after being swiftly defeated by the Shinigami captain Byakuya Kuchiki who, along with Renji Abarai, arrests Rukia and takes her back to Soul Society. The damage Ichigo suffers renders him a powerless Human soul, while he discovers that Rukia is guilty of a felony for transferring her powers to a Human and remaining in the Human World for so long. Desperate to save Rukia, he undergoes intensive training with Kisuke Urahara that nearly costs him his soul, but awakens his own Shinigami abilities by doing so as well as creating a Hollow inside himself. After training with Urahara, he leaves for Soul Society with Urahara's mysterious feline friend Yoruichi Shihōin, along with Orihime, Chad, and Uryū. Even though Rukia had told him not to go after her, he decides to not listen to her and return the favor of saving his life.

Ichigo battles against many Shinigami during his time in Soul Society, managing to tie or defeat numerous lieutenant-level and captain-level Shinigami. Much of the time he is seriously wounded, and on several occasions he barely survives, but each time his incredible endurance carries him through until he is able to be healed. A Hollow mask, a remnant of his training with Urahara, also consistently appears and reappears on his person to block what would normally be fatal blows. The first fight is with Jidanbō, a Seireitei gatekeeper, which Ichigo wins easily, but he is in turn effortlessly repelled by captain Gin Ichimaru. Ichigo enters Seireitei accompanied by Ganju Shiba after being launched from Kūkaku Shiba's spirit cannon. He then proceeds to fight Ikkaku Madarame. Ichigo beats Ikkaku, even after Ikkaku reveals his Zanpakutō's Shikai, and learns that he will be hunted down by Kenpachi Zaraki, who will seek out the strongest of the intruders.

Ichigo is then met by Renji Abarai, who seeks revenge for his earlier defeat. Renji gravely injures Ichigo, who becomes stronger during the fight and manages to barely defeat Renji using a direct Getsuga Tenshō; after which Renji begs him to rescue Rukia, his childhood friend, upon changing his mind regarding his loyalties. Renji is taken into detention for trying to fight alone and losing, while Ichigo is healed by Hanatarō Yamada in Seireitei's sewage system. It is revealed here that Ichigo's hollow mask was able to lessen the damage from what would have been fatal blows by Renji, causing Hanatarō to discard the mask in fear. Ichigo finally encounters Kenpachi Zaraki on his way to the Shrine of Penitence, where Rukia is held, and at first can hardly injure the powerful captain, who, according to Hanatarō, is immortal. Ichigo finally calls upon the strength of his Zanpakutō and perhaps his inner Hollow (his spiritual power manifests into his Hollow mask during the clash - whereas Kenpachi's is a Golden Skull) to defeat Kenpachi. In the aftermath of the fight, both Ichigo and Kenpachi are left incapacitated after admitting defeat from the other, Kenpachi being evacuated by his lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi while Ichigo is rescued by Yoruichi. Since that, Ichigo thinks that Kenpachi seeks revenge and Ichigo is highly frightened of him, running away from him when he asked for another fight, even feeling his will to kill him from far away. When in reality, Ichigo is simply one of the most challenging fighters that Kenpachi has ever faced; added with the fact Kenpachi loves to fight only fuels this misconception. Yachiru has also stated in the Japanese dub that "Ichi is Ken-chan's best friend".

Before his Bankai training and after his fight with Kenpachi, Ichigo goes to the tower where Rukia is being held to save both Hanatarō and Ganju from Byakuya Kuchiki. Upon his arrival he confronts Byakuya, even though he is not at full strength. The fight goes better than his first confrontation with Byakuya but this time Yoruichi stops the fight and insinuates on Yoruichi and Byakuya having a past together. Yoruichi then takes Ichigo to the secret training ground for his Bankai training.

Yoruichi tells Ichigo that he cannot save Rukia with his present power and asks him to train to achieve the Bankai of his Zanpakutō. Upon completing the training, he, along with Yoruichi and sympathetic captains Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake, separately converge upon the Sōkyoku to stop Rukia's execution. At the last possible second, Ichigo stops the execution, and proceeds to dispatch three lieutenants — Marechiyo Ōmaeda, Isane Kotetsu and Chōjirō Sasakibe — barehanded. Along with being able to stop the Sōkyoku, a blade with the power of 1 million Zanpakutō, he proves that he has truly become more powerful within three days. He is then confronted by Byakuya Kuchiki.

At first they fight without releasing their Zanpakutō, Byakuya casually analyzing Ichigo as he fights, noticing an impressive difference. Ichigo eventually coerces Byakuya to use Bankai. Ichigo is unable to keep up just using his Shikai, and he reveals his Bankai against Byakuya, using his speed to outmaneuver Senbonzakura and eventually injure him for the first time. Byakuya counters using the second form of his own Bankai, and after a while Ichigo's bones begin to break under his Bankai's spiritual compression, giving Byakuya the chance to paralyze him with a single Kidō attack (shot through his shoulder). This leaves him in critical condition. At this point, Ichigo's inner Hollow surfaces and injures Byakuya to the point that both combatants have almost no power left. After regaining control of himself, Ichigo faces off against Byakuya in a final clash, each channeling all their energy into a single attack. After this final clash, neither has the strength to fight, but Byakuya admits his defeat because his blade was destroyed by Ichigo's. Byakuya then uses Flash Steps to depart, leaving Ichigo barely standing, the only thing supporting him being his Zanpakutō.

Through a message relayed through Kidō by Isane Kotetsu, Ichigo then finds out that the events in Soul Society were an elaborate plot masterminded by Sōsuke Aizen and confronts him alongside Renji Abarai. Unable to defeat Aizen, Ichigo is left struggling to stay conscious with his spinal column almost completely severed (according to Aizen), and Rukia is taken from the group, while the Hōgyoku is removed from her soul. He is unable to do much of anything without the help of the remaining captains before Aizen departs for Hueco Mundo.

Prior to leaving Soul Society, Ichigo is given a badge by Ukitake that serves as a license that allows him to hunt Hollows in his area officially. It is a multipurpose artifact that functions like Rukia's glove for the task of removing souls from bodies. Unlike her glove, but similar to her cellphone, it alerts him to the presence of Hollows. He also speaks to Rukia who has decided to stay in the soul society even after they had tried to kill her. He leaves with an understanding for her and his Shinigami powers.

Bount arc
In the anime, after his adventures in Soul Society, Ichigo not aware he is unable to perform Bankai outside of Soul Society and faces off against three mod souls in a series of games set by Urahara which involved kidnapping Ichigo's friends, unbeknown to Ichigo. When Ichigo attempts Bankai he is unable to, and undergoes training with three Modified Souls (Ririn, Kurōdo and Noba).

After the training, which ends up unsuccessful, he finds out about the Bounts and confronts Yoshino Sōma, who uses a powerful fire-type Doll. Ichigo is unable to win, even with the help of Rukia Kuchiki. However, he is unintentionally saved by another Bount, Ryō Utagawa. Utagawa appears later to try to eat Uryū's soul, and a battle between him and Ichigo's group ensues. Yoshino then appears and takes Uryū away. While visiting Uryū in the hospital, the group is met by Hō and Ban, Bount twins who use Dolls that manipulate water. Ichigo attempts to defeat them, but any damage sustained to the Dolls quickly regenerates. He discovers that when the twins are separated, their ability to control their Dolls is greatly reduced, and with some assistance from Ganju Shiba, the group succeeds in blowing the weakened Dolls up with fireworks, killing the Bount twins in the process. Ichigo and company then infiltrate Jin Kariya's mansion in search of Uryū.

Upon entering Kariya's mansion, Ichigo engages Utagawa in battle, during which he obliterates a large portion of the house. His spiritual power surprises both Utagawa and Maki Ichinose, a Shinigami deserter who joined forces with the Bounts. Ichinose confronts Ichigo and the two fight until Kariya takes over and overpowers Ichigo. As Ichigo is at the brink of defeat, Kisuke Urahara and his assistants arrive to rescue them, demolishing the remainder of the mansion in the process.

Later on, Ichigo fights Gō Koga and his Doll, Dalk, after the Bitto nearly killed Keigo Asano. Ichigo is slowly beaten, allowing his Hollow form to appear. Ichigo manages to repel his Hollow self and take over, only to succumb to his previous injuries. Izuru Kira soon appears to lend a helping hand, disabling the Doll. Koga retreats, unwilling to kill such young men due to an incident in his past with a young Bount.

Ichigo then invades the Bount hideout that Ugaki is defending with Chad, Orihime, Rukia, Renji and the modified souls. Four Shinigami lieutenants who had entered the cave earlier and fought Ugaki's Doll, Gesell, assist them. Finally, only Renji and Ichigo continue into the depths of the cave to find Ugaki. Renji decides to take on Gesell one on one with his bankai so that Ichigo will have the strength to take on the remaining Bounts. Renji's attacks send Gesell on a fury that ends when Ugaki is killed by his own Doll (possibly due to the Doll being influenced by Kariya). The cave begins to crumble and Yumichika Ayasegawa convinces Ichigo to leave them behind and go further into the cave.

Ichigo finds the remaining Bounts and they open a portal to an unknown destination. Ichigo starts a battle with Kariya. Kariya defeats Ichigo's Shikai and threatens to kill him using Zangetsu. The threat convinces Ichigo to recover his will to fight and regain his ability to use his Bankai. The fight continues, with both adversaries now evenly matched. They are interrupted by Uryū Ishida, who helps the Bounts reach Soul Society, believing he will get stronger there and defeat the Bounts.

In Soul Society, Ichigo's group uses Kūkaku Shiba's house as their initial base of operations and separate to search for the Bounts. After the Bount Yoshi almost kills Rukia Kuchiki, she is saved by Byakuya. Ichigo asks Byakuya for assistance, but Byakuya refuses, making it clear that he still dislikes Ichigo.

Later, Ichigo comes across Kariya and Byakuya fighting in a forest and joins in. Despite being outnumbered, Kariya is able to hold his own. Ran'Tao, the Shinigami who created the Bounts, steps in and takes Ichigo and Uryū Ishida (who arrive soon after) back to her home in Rukongai. Ran'Tao explains to Uryū and Ichigo about how her spirit powers were sealed and how she was banished for creating the of the Bounts, among other things.

After departing from Ran'Tao's home, they meet up with Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto, and Renji Abarai, who are in the middle of a battle with former Shinigami Maki Ichinose. This does not last long though as Kenpachi Zaraki arrives and challenges Ichinose, allowing the others to pursue the Bounts.

At the Technological Institute, Ichigo and Chad catch up to Kariya, but are unable to stop him. Their battle inadvertently unearths the Jōkaishō, a massive energy source, which Kariya had been searching for. Kariya absorbs the energy and uses its destructive potential as a threat to keep Ichigo at bay. He then gives the whole of Soul Society a day to think about their impending destruction. With permission from Matsumoto, Ichigo uses the 10th Division as a base of operations during this time.

The next day, Ichigo saves both Uryū and Ran'Tao from Kariya, and the two battle. During this fight, Kariya summons his Doll, Messer. After much effort on Ichigo's part, the battle ends in a final power clash, with Ichigo the victor. As he dies, Kariya tells Ichigo that he regrets not being able to watch if he will walk down the same path he did, because they were both burdened with great powers. This leads Ichigo to wonder whether Kariya's actions were intended to end his own eternal life.

Arrancar arc
After returning from Soul Society with his friends but without Rukia, Ichigo's life briefly returns to the relatively peaceful state at which it was before he left. This serenity is broken with the arrival of new student Shinji Hirako. Shinji, who reveals himself as a recruiter for the Vizards, approaches Ichigo and attempts to convince him to join his organization. Ichigo persistently refuses, even after being warned that his inner Hollow will eventually take over and destroy everything in sight. Shortly afterwards, two Arrancar, Yammy Rialgo and Ulquiorra Cifer, appear in Karakura Town in order to locate and evaluate Ichigo's strength. Upon seeing Chad injured, Ichigo battles Yammy using his Bankai, and manages to cut off the giant's right arm. Before he could progress, however, Ichigo's inner Hollow soon interferes, paralysing Ichigo, and Yammy injures both him, and Orihime. The arrival of Yoruichi Shihōin and Kisuke Urahara forces Ulquiorra into strategic retreat. Ulquiorra returns to Aizen believing that Ichigo is a waste of his and Aizen's time.

After his failure against the Arrancar, Ichigo loses his will as a Shinigami since he cannot protect his friends. This mood lasts until the arrival of Gotei 13's expeditionary force: six Shinigami sent to the Human World under the command of Tōshirō Hitsugaya. Rukia, who is among them, forces Ichigo to defeat a Hollow, all the while chastising him. This causes him to regain his spirit and reaffirm his commitment to protect his friends, the first being Orihime Inoue. Later that day, Ichigo discusses the growing Arrancar threat with Hitsugaya's force and learns what the Arrancar actually are. Rukia is formally accepted into Ichigo's home, sleeping in the same room as his sisters, ops for sleeping in his closet again.

That night, six Arrancar under the command of Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez invade Karakura Town, intending to finish what they view as an incomplete mission on Ulquiorra's part. They split up, seeking targets with spiritual power. Chad's house is targeted, first by Di Roy Linker, who is quickly dispatched by Rukia, and then by the much mightier Grimmjow, who eliminates Rukia in a single strike. Ichigo uses his Bankai, but Grimmjow manages to block Ichigo's attacks with his bare hands. Desperate, Ichigo uses his Getsuga Tenshō to damage Grimmjow. In his Bankai form, using the move allows his Hollow side to become dominant, and Ichigo remarks that two or three more uses of it would allow his Hollow to completely take over. Kaname Tōsen interrupts the fight and takes Grimmjow back to Hueco Mundo, leaving an unsatisfied Ichigo to sulk in his apparent loss and worry over an injured Rukia.

Ichigo, unable to control his inner Hollow, accepts Shinji Hirako's offer and seeks out the Vizards in order to gain control. During a sparring match with Hiyori Sarugaki, he loses control to his Hollow side once more and nearly kills her. After reverting back to his Shinigami state, Ichigo is informed that he cannot simply keep his Hollow in check with his body or mind, but must force it into the very core of his soul. After a brief period of unappreciated training, Ichigo is told to confront his Hollow side within his inner world. There, Ichigo squares off against his Hollow self. Even after several exchanges, Ichigo is unable to damage the Hollow, while badly injured and stabbed himself. Finally, Ichigo is defeated, and his sword shatters. After a brief discourse with his Hollow, and then another with an inner manifestation of Kenpachi Zaraki (in the anime, Byakuya Kuchiki and Jin Kariya appear before this, and force him to fight their battles again. Ichigo is defeated by both of them), Ichigo realizes his trouble is that he lacks pure fighting spirit, instead needing reasons to fight his opponents. His spirit rekindled by this revelation, Ichigo is able to make a comeback, seizing the Hollow's sword and impaling him on it. With his Hollow subdued for the moment, Ichigo fades back to reality. When he comes to, he learns that while he was fighting internally, his outer body had transformed into that of a powerful and berserk Hollow. The Vizards had taken turns battling this monster to keep it in check. Ichigo then trains with Hiyori to increase the amount of time he can stay in masked form.

A month later, the Arrancar once again invade Karakura, and Ichigo brashly heads off to fight Grimmjow even though he can only remain in his masked form for eleven seconds. This backfires, as despite using his masked form and Grimmjow's loss of an arm since their last meeting, Ichigo is unable to defeat him within the eleven-second limit. His mask crumbles, and Ichigo is brutally counterattacked. On the brink of defeat and pinned to the ground, Ichigo is granted a short reprieve by Rukia. As Grimmjow recovers from Rukia's attack, Shinji Hirako appears and fights him until the Arrancar retreat by order of Ulquiorra.

When tending to Ichigo's wounds, the Vizard Hachigen Ushōda reveals that Ichigo's spiritual power has been contaminated somewhat by Grimmjow's. As per his instructions, Rukia takes him back to the Kurosaki Clinic to recover. While in a deep sleep, he is visited by Orihime, who has been taken prisoner by the Arrancar and given a twelve hour reprieve by Ulquiorra to say good-bye to just one person. Orihime tries to kiss Ichigo while he sleeps, but is unable to. She does, however, confess her love for him.

Later, Ichigo wakes from a bad dream and realizes that the wound from his wrist is healed. Trying to sense by spiritual pressure who has healed him, he is visited by Hitsugaya, who tells him to come immediately for an emergency Shinigami meeting. The meeting is held at Orihime's apartment where Hitsugaya and Matsumoto took up residence and done via a live-conference device connecting Soul Society and the Human World. Captain Ukitake greets them and informs them Orihime was taken by an Arrancar and might have been killed. Ichigo informs them that she visited him to heal him the night before, which leads Yamamoto to believe that Orihime has betrayed them. Renji requests permission to go to Hueco Mundo to rescue her but the request is denied, as Yamamoto believes that the death of one person and the death of the world are weighted on a scale, thus saving Orihime is not important overall. Ichigo asks to go save Orihime by himself, but Yamamoto once again denies the suggestion, stating that Ichigo is a significant asset to Soul Society. The Shinigami are ordered to return to Soul Society to fortify their defenses, leaving Ichigo alone.

Despite Yamamoto's decision, Ichigo decides to make preparations with Urahara to single-handedly retrieve Orihime from Hueco Mundo. At school, Tatsuki Arisawa confronts him about her sightings in which she becomes angry and violent over his reluctance to explain himself. She reveals to him that she is able to sense his and Orihime's spiritual energy, and can see Ichigo and other Shinigami. She is restrained by Keigo and Mizuiro while Ichigo walks away coldly telling his friends not to get involved. At Urahara's shop, Ichigo is joined by Uryū with his Quincy powers restored and Chad with a new more powerful right arm. After some convincing, the trio agree to help each other rescue Orihime and Urahara opens a gate to Hueco Mundo. Ichigo leads Chad and Uryū into Hueco Mundo but unknown to him, Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro had followed him and witnessed his departure.

Hueco Mundo arc
As Ichigo, Chad, and Uryū enter Hueco Mundo, they are immediately detected by Aizen and attacked by two Arrancar, Demōra and Iceringer. Ichigo is then told to stay back and simply watch as Chad and Uryū engage the two Arrancar by themselves. Once they are victorious, the room and passageway collapses around them, forcing the trio to race outside where they see their destination, a castle in the middle of a barren desert.

They see what looks to be a Human child being chased by three Hollows. After Ichigo attacks the three, it is revealed that the "Human" is actually an Arrancar named Nel Tu; the Hollows are her two "brothers" and their pet. After becoming friends, the expanded group travels to the wall of Las Noches, where they are attacked by a sand-based Hollow, Lunuganga. The Hollow is immune to their attacks, but the group is saved by Renji and Rukia, the latter of which freezes Lunuganga in a circle of ice.

Ichigo and his group break into Las Noches and split into five directions, leaving Nel and her brothers behind. The siblings decide to follow Ichigo but get lost. Nel is the only one who catches up to Ichigo, arriving just in time to see Dordonii Alessandro Del Socacchio, a Privaron Espada with the number 103.

As Ichigo and Dordonii fight, the difference in power between the two quickly becomes apparent. Dordonii suggests that Ichigo use his Bankai, so he will at least stand a chance, but Ichigo refuses, noting that it would only be a sign of weakness if he were to use his Bankai in every battle. Hoping to force the issue, Dordonii releases his Zanpakutō, thus greatly increasing his power. Now commanding two wind elementals, Dordonii is more than a match for Ichigo. When Dordonii tries to fire a Cero blast at Ichigo, Nel steps in, absorbing the blast and firing it back. Enraged, Dordonii attacks Nel, who is then saved by Ichigo, now using his Bankai.

Dordonii, not satisfied with Ichigo's Bankai, wishes to see his Hollow form. He even resorts to attacking Nel in an attempt to force Ichigo to transform. Ichigo sets Nel aside and tells Dordonii he will show him his Hollow form, but for only a second. Dordonii is pleased at first, but Ichigo defeats him in one blow. Dordonii is healed a bit by Nel, and unexpectedly attacks Ichigo again, who blocks the attack and runs away with Nel, and finally encounters Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra tells Ichigo that Rukia has been killed, which Ichigo denies. Ichigo attempts to leave to save Rukia, reasoning that he and Ulquiorra have no quarrel and thus no reason to fight. Ulquiorra reveals that he was the one who kidnapped Orihime and successfully goads Ichigo into fighting. Though Ichigo starts out well, he proves to be no match for Ulquiorra, who explains that even if Ichigo managed to somehow win, there would be three other Espada who are stronger still, as Ulquiorra reveals himself to be the 4th Espada. Ulquiorra then impales Ichigo's chest with his hand. He leaves after telling Ichigo to leave Hueco Mundo if he is able to.

Grimmjow brings Orihime to heal Ichigo before he can die, wanting to fight him at full strength. Ulquiorra discovers this and attempts to retrieve Orihime, but Grimmjow uses a portable Negación field to temporarily imprison him, thus allowing the two to battle unimpeded. Much like Kenpachi before him, Grimmjow insists that Ichigo not battle for his friends, instead just wanting him to focus on killing him, and reveals that he kept the scar from their first battle as a reminder to fight and kill Ichigo to prove that he is stronger.

The advantage shifts between the two combatants at random, with Ichigo donning his Hollow mask while Grimmjow releases his Zanpakutō, eventually ending in Ichigo's favor. Grimmjow, badly injured and reverted back to his unreleased state, tries one more attack, which Ichigo blocks bare-handed. Suddenly, Nnoitra Jiruga appears, incapacitates Grimmjow, then attacks Ichigo, revealing that he is the 5th Espada and is thus more powerful than Grimmjow, whom Ichigo barely defeated.

As they fight, Nnoitra notices Nel, recognizes her as the former third Espada, Nelliel Tu Oderschvank, and explains to Ichigo that he gave Nel the crack in her mask. Nel denies this accusation heavily as Nnoitra attacks Ichigo again, eventually snapping his wrist. Seeing Ichigo hurt triggers Nel's transformation into her adult form. Nel attacks Nnoitra after revealing her ex-Espada status and easily matches him. She releases her Zanpakutō and overwhelms Nnoitra; but, just before finishing him, reverts to her child form. Nnoitra kicks Nel and the enraged Ichigo attacks again, only to be slammed into the ground. Nnoitra then orders his Fracción, Tesla, to switch with him and kill Ichigo and takes hold of Orihime. Tesla also releases, but just as he is about to kill Ichigo, Ichigo is once again saved at the last moment by Kenpachi, who defeats Tesla in one strike and briefly explains that along with him, Byakuya, Retsu Unohana, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi have come to perform an intrusion on Las Noches before engaging in combat with Nnoitra. As Kenpachi and Nnoitra fight, Orihime heals Ichigo and Nel to full health. When Nnoitra, thinking for a moment that Kenpachi is dead, attacks Yachiru Kusajishi, Orihime rushes to defend her, while Ichigo, trying to stop Orihime, is stunned that he cannot break through her healing shield.

Kenpachi kills Nnoitra, and as he orders Orihime to heal him, Starrk appears, apparently reluctant as he snatches Orihime away to bring her to Aizen. Aizen makes an announcement to all of Hueco Mundo, stating that Orihime is in the fifth tower, should anyone want to retrieve her, and that he has closed the gargantas that the captains used for entry into Hueco Mundo. He informs them that he is leaving to destroy Karakura and orders Ulquiorra to take charge of Las Noches. Ichigo tells Kenpachi that his duty is not to defend his town, but to protect his friends, and flies to rescue Orihime as Ulquiorra declares his challenge to Ichigo. Before he gets far though he is attacked by the Exequias, but is assisted by Renji, Chad, and Rukia who start fighting them while he continues on. Before Ulquiorra can interrogate Orihime's mind further, Ichigo reaches them. In order to protect Las Noches, Ulquiorra brandishes his sword and begins dueling with Ichigo.

The New Captain Syūsuke Amagai arc
While resting at home, Ichigo awoke from the sound of moving trucks to discover he had new neighbors. Rather than looking into it, he instead went about his usual business, which included protecting the town from hollows with Rukia's assistance. While doing so against dozens of them, he came across a young, seemingly spoiled, girl dressed in a formal kimono who talked like royalty. She was then taken away by a soft-spoken Shinigami and a well-muscled Shinigami, leaving Ichigo to destroy the rest of the hollows. Later at home, Ichigo discovered that his new neighbors were the three from earlier. The soft-spoken and well-muscled Shinigami were revealed as Kenryū and Enryū, who were the personal bodyguards of the child, Princess Rurichiyo Kasumiōji. Later, the three strangers were attacked in their house by an unknown assailant armed with an unusual sword equipped with a hypnotic mirror. After some initial struggle, Ichigo was able to defeat the man. Surprisingly, the man then chose suicide as opposed to being captured.

Afterwards, Kenryū explained that Rurichiyo is the heir to the Kasumiōji clan, the highest noble clan under the Four Great Noble Clans. Despite Rurichiyo's young age to taken on the role of leader so young, it was unavoidable as Rurichiyo's parents back when she was still an infant. They came to the living world to protect Rurichiyo after several suspected assassination attempt on her from one of the leader members of the Kasumiōji clan, Gyōkaku Kumoi, who strongly desires to become the leader of the clan. Kenryū then quickly explained his true reason for coming to Karakura Town; to ask for Ichigo to lend his great Shinigami might as Rurichiyo's bodyguard and help stop Gyokaku as they could not ask the Gotei 13 for help. With some prompting from Rukia, Ichigo agreed. During which, Ichigo began helping Rurichiyo see life outside of royalty, to which allowed her to feel like a normal child through an arcade. Rurichiyo also began seeing how much work is really put into everything, helping her to realize what she has been taking for granted when eating dinner with Ichigo's family.

During an argument Ichigo had with Kenryū and Enryū about how to care for Rurichiyo, she finally expressed how she despised being overly cared for and ran away. Ichigo and the others soon found Rurichiyo with Orihime, being attacked by another assassin. This time, the assassin was armed with a unique bladed-pole weapon that was connected by the arm with the power to transformed energy blasts into solid rock. Unfortunately like the last assassin, this one was also defeated and chose suicide over capture. Despite the danger Rurichiyo went through, it help her to see how much Kenryū and Enryū truly cared for her.

Later, yet another attack came on Rurichiyo; this time with a large group of assassins. The leader of the group, Hanza Nukui desired to face off against Ichiog, surprisingly with the same strange mirror-sword the first assailant had, only this time the sword was connected to the wielder's arm While initially Ichigo had a considerable advantage, Hanza was able to gain the advantage by somehow allowing his sword to cover more of his arm. He then used this sword's mirror to use a paralyzing technique on Ichigo. Hanza explained that his sword, Saiga, evolves in power by consuming spiritual energy from its wielder. But to his shock, Ichigo began breaking free from the technique by unleashing vast amounts of spiritual energy. Before Hanza could deliver the final blow, Yoruichi intervened. Seeing the fight was hopeless, Hanza retreated while his subordinates blew themselves up.

Deciding to further their defenses, Kenryū places powerful barriers around the house. During the night, Ichigo began to better understand Rurichiyo's tough life as princess; that she wasn't as spoiled as she first seemed. Rurichiyo explained that she actually preferred when people wouldn't hound her over everything she did and felt bad when other people got punished for her carelessness. She also explained how much Kenryū and Enryū truly cared for her, even trying to bend certain rules to allow her some fun and happiness. Before Ichigo could get Rurichiyo to open up on what was really bothering her, Hanza returned with new subordinates, each armed with unique parasitic weapon, which were revealed to be called Bakkōtō. While Chad and Uryū went to lure some of the enemies away, Ichigo went to face Hanza, who broke through the barrier.

During the fight, Ichigo was able to break the mirror of Saiga, unfortunately this triggered another ability; causing Ichigo to become bathed in light which then entrapped him in an orb. Inside, Ichigo was subjected to Saiga's true power, of hypnotizing a target into seeing visions of their darkest nightmares. Ichigo began seeing visions of losing his mother. After much grief, the vision changed into one of Masaki choking him to death. While initially Ichigo had no will to fight back, pleasant memories with his mother helped him to fight back the illusion. Ichigo summons tremendous spiritual energy to take control of the illusion and then embraces the image of Masaki. As Ichigo's power begins to crush the nightmare world, he tells his mother how much everybody misses her, and they're managing somehow without her. Before she vanishes, she smiles at him.

After regaining consciousness, Ichigo stared in fury at Hanza, who was completely in envy at Ichigo's power. As the fight continued, Hanza's entire upper body was consumed by Saiga. Ichigo was horrified at the idea of someone willingly going through a slow death for more power. Hanza however was still convinced he could control his Bakkōtō and only grow stronger. He also revealed his disdain for Ichigo who without giving up anything had such great power. He explained how for centuries his clan has served as a secret guard to Rurichiyo's clan. Hanza eventually decided after all he has sacrificed for the clan, he refused to serve a weak child like Rurichiyo. Shocked by Hanza's views, Ichigo shouted his disgust for the man. He then unleashed his Vizard mask and took complete control of the battle. Refusing to lose, Hanza poured all his energy into Saiga. Unfortunately, it finally pushed Hanza over the edge and was completely consumed by Saiga, ending the battle.

Later, it was learned from Urahara and Yoruichi that Rurichiyo was expected to be marrying Shū Kannogi soon despite her absents. It was also discovered that despite past customs, Kumoi had convinced the clan to name Kannogi as the clan's first male head. As Rurichiyo was currently in the real world, it was assumed that Kumoi would be using a look-alike in his plan to take over the clan. With only a day to take care of things, it was clear that Ichigo and his friends were running low on options. Later while talking to Rurichiyo, she revealed to Ichigo she was aware of the attempts on her life by Kumoi. After thanking Ichigo for his help, she snuck back to Soul Society as she couldn't stand seeing people get hurt for her sake anymore after seeing what happened to Chad and Uryū. Shortly after, Ichigo went after her to with Rukia, Kenryū, and Enryū while Orihime stayed behind to heal Chad and Uryū.

Upon arriving, they tried to use Kenryū and Enryū's high status in the clan to gain entrance to the manor, but Kumoi had already convinced the clan they were responsible for kidnapping Rurichiyo. Instead, Ichigo suggested they find her at the wedding and allow Rurichiyo to follow with her decision of taking her position as head of the clan, and have faith she would use her new power wisely. Later after the wedding was officially done, Ichigo and the others appeared. Unfortunately, the 2nd Division, including Captain Soifon, appeared and surrounded them. To make matters worse, Rurichiyo for some reason completely ignored Ichigo and claimed to have no idea who he was. Seeing how bad the situation was getting, Enryū released his Zanpakutō, which took the form of giant metal fists, and demolished the manor's main roof to give his allies a chance to act.

During the commotion Ichigo got to Rurichiyo, where he discovered that Rurichiyo was not herself. While trying to sort it out, Ichigo was stabbed in the stomach, by Rurichiyo herself, it was then revealed that the girl was another soldier working for Kumoi in disguise. Soon after but before the truth could be seen, Soifon appeared and faced off against Ichigo. Because of his recent injury, Soifon took complete control of the battle. Before she could finish off Ichigo, Rukia intervened with an ice wall. Surprisingly, Kannogi who saw the fake Ricihiyo reveal himself helped Ichigo and Rukia escape. Unfortunately, Kenryū and Enryū were captured to allow Ichigo and Rukia to escape.

Kannogi revealed his deep feelings for Rurichiyo despite their marriage being arrange and wanted badly to help her. Realizing the situation, he decided to help find and save the real Rurichiyo and convinced Ichigo and Rukia to seemingly take him hostage so they could escape. After escaping to an underground path, Rukia healed his wound. Upon returning to the surface however, they were cut off by the 3rd Division, which was being lead by its recently appointed new captain Syūsuke Amagai. Interested in how skilled Ichigo really was after hearing so much about him, Amagai decided to face Ichigo personally. Both fighters quickly became impressed with the other's abilities. Amagai then decided to unleash his Zanpakutō's fire-element shikai. As the fight began to heat up, Kannogi decided to drop the hostage façade and confronted Amagai, begging the man to listen to their story. Surprisingly, Amaga decided to do so.

After hearing the story, Amagai seemed to believe them, but noted that the Kasumiōji was unfortunately out of the Gotei 13's jurisdiction, meaning they needed some kind of proof to the story. Rukia noted that the Bakkōtō swords they've seen are clearly illegal from how dangerous and powerful they are, suggesting one of those could be their proof. After everything was said, Amagai decided he would help them put an end to this conspiracy. Not wanting his division to be blamed for his actions, he sent his men off to handle things alone with Ichigo with the exception of three officers. Unbeknownst to them, members of the 9th Division spotted them and reported. The other squads then began looking for Ichigo and Amagai. Fortunately, they all began fighting amongst themselves over where who was allowed to search where.

When Ichigo asked why Amagai was willing to help, Amagai explained that his 3rd Seat officer, Makoto Kifune has been suspected of secret ties with Kasumiōji clan, and the current situation suggests that they may be related. Later, Kira contacted then via a Hell Butterfly that he followed Kifune to the 3rd Division's stadium where he located Rurichiyo. Soon, they caught up with a bunch of Kasumiōji clan soldiers caring what appeared to be a person. Ichigo and Amagai split up from the team to follow. Unfortunately after stopping them, it the person was revealed to be only a doll. After regrouping with the team and being joined by Izuru, who confirmed the now dead Kifune was indeed in league with Kumoi, Renji appeared. Despite orders from Yamamoto, Renji chose to aid Ichigo and the others. Amagai then instructed Renji go to Yamamoto to tell him about Kumoi's treacherous actions and to deliver the the remains of Kifune's Bakkōtō as proof Ichigo, along with Rukia and Amagai then went to the Kasumiōji manor in the belief Rurichiyo was being held there.

Unfortunately, it was now guarded by the 10th Division, including Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Rangiku. Amagai held off Hitsugaya and Rukia went up against Rangiku while Ichiog and Kannogi went on ahead. Once inside, Kannogi guided Ichigo to the most likely place to hold Rurichiyo. While doing so, Yamamato received the message from Renji and ordered all divisions of the Gotei 13 to enter the Kasumiōji manor and find further evidence of the treason. To retaliate, Kumoi fitted each of his soldiers with Bakkōtō of their own and attacked Ichigo and the Gotei 13. After much effort, Ichigo and Rukia managed to catch up to Kumoi, who unfortunately had Rurichiyo as a hostage. Suddenly, Amagai appeared and without hesitation struck down Kumoi. Even more surprising, he then grabbed Rurichiyo and removed the each eyeball of the four Bakkōtō Ichigo and his friends fought in the living world and teleported away with an unusual kido not even Rukia was familiar with. Kumoi, who was moments away from dying, revealed that Amagai was the true brains behind this conspiracy.

While Amagai managed to conceal his presence completely with his kido, Kenryū and Enryū, who recently escaped imprisonment, were able to follow Amagai through Rurichiyo and contacted Ichigo and Rukia through a Hell Butterfly. Ichigo and Rukia quickly caught up to Amagai at Yamamato's headquarters, where Amagai, armed with bankai, was facing off against Yamamoto and vowed to destroy both Yamamoto and the entire Kasumiōji clan. Amagai also revealed to have a special Bakkōtō that not only wouldn't devour his being by instead growing stronger through devouring the energy from other Bakkōtō, via devouring their eyeball-like nucleus, but also had the power to negate all Shinigami and Zanpakutō powers other than his own in the area. Amagai explained his reason for wanting to destroy both Yamamoto and the entire Kasumiōji clan was because together, they killed Amagai's father, Shin'etsu Kisaragi.

Before his father died, Amagai was told by him of the Bakkōtō. Amagai later changed his name and trained hard to enter the Gotei 13, vowing to learn the truth and avenge his father. He discovered that Shin'etsu discovered the illegal manufacturing of the Bakkōtō and sought to stop it, but was then killed by Yamamoto. Amagai knew that Yamamoto was well aware of the Kasumiōji clan's illegal actions but refused to do anything, eventually prompting Amagai to the conclusion that he was in league with the Kasumiōji clan. Amagai then spent countless years honing his skills and rising through the ranks until he felt he was close enough to Yamamoto to strike. He also gained the trust of the Kasumiōji clan to acquire a Bakkōtō and use the clan to through off Yamamato's suspicions.

Despite hearing these horrible allegations against Yamamoto, Ichigo was determined to stop Amagai, stating that regardless of what Yamamoto did, Amagai has selfishly caused innocent people to suffer for his own goals. Surprisingly, Ichigo was still able to use his spiritual energy for Shinigami combat and unleash his bankai despite Amagai's Bakkōtō but was still drastically weakened. Amagai quickly began overpowering Ichigo with the combined power of his Bakkōtō and his bankai's powerful fire attacks. But as the battle progressed, Ichigo's power level continued to quickly grow stronger, a fact that Amagai was aware of. Eventually, Ichigo revealed his Vizard mask and quickly took advantage in the battle. Amagai then realized that while his Bakkōtō can seal away Shinigami power, it cannot to the same for hollow powers. Rukia surmised that Amagai cannot properly seal away Ichigo's power because his spiritual energy is so unusual compared to other Shinigami, and when combined with hollow powers, Ichigo is actually weakening Amagai's Bakkōtō from the struggle.

As the two fighters stopped for a minute, Ichigo asked Amagai why he was so determined to killed everyone who had any remote connection to his father's death. When Amagai simply stated that he cannot move on until he has channeled his anger through revenge, Ichiog stated his pity in Amagai for not using his power and talents for something more positive. As the battle continued, Amagai soon discovered Ichigo's weakness; that being Ichigo's mask. He then began targeting his attacks on the mask, slowly managing to break away pieces of it. Fortunately, Ichigo also realized his opponent's weakness; his Bakkōtō attached to his right arm. As Ichigo began having a clear advantage again, Amagai decided to feed his own spiritual energy into his Bakkōtō. Doing so gave him the advantage in the battle again, both overpowering and outmaneuvering Ichigo. Rukia was amazed that despite how much energy Amagai put into his Bakkōtō, his life didn't seem to be endangered. Amagai explained that his spiritual energy and control of it is so great, that he can suppress the Bakkōtō's desire to feed.

Knowing there was good in this man, Ichigo desperately tried to make Amagai see reason that through his endeavor for revenge, he has become as bad as the people he claims wronged him, that all he is really doing making innocent people miserable, and that he was even going after people who had no true involvement in Amagai's pain. Ichigo even pointed out that while Rurichiyo was just a child, she was showing more resolve to take control of her life and responsibilities than Amagai. While Amagai momentarily considered all this, he quickly brushed those thoughts aside. Amagai simply reminded Ichigo that he is incapable of fighting at full strength because of his Bakkōtō, which Ichigo ignored and resumed the fight. Ichigo began seeing through Amagai's attacks and easily countering them. With some well-timed speed maneuvers and a double Getsuga Tensho attack, Ichiog was finally able to strike and destroy the Bakkōtō power-negation ability. Then in a final clash, Ichigo was able to defeat Amagai.

Despite Amagai crippled state, he without hesitation attacked Yamamoto, who surprisingly allowed Amagai to stab him in the stomach. Seeing that Amagai calmed down somewhat from his successful strike, Yuroichi, who arrived with captain, explained that Yamamoto did not betray Amagai's father. Rather, Shin'etsu was another victim of the Bakkōtō. After Yamamoto discovered that Kumoi was abusing the clan's secret sword forging techniques to create the Bakkōtō, Yamamoto tried to get permission from Central 46 to investigate, but they refused. Sensing his captain and former sensei's grief of the situation, Shin'etsu volunteered to by himself investigate. Unfortunately, he was captured by Kumoi's men and used as a test subject for the Bakkōtō development. Losing his mind to the Bakkōtō, Shin'etsu attacked Yamamoto, forcing captain to regretfully strike down his former student, to which Shin'etsu thanked Yamamoto for freeing him. All evidence of this was covered up, which was obviously what lead Amagai to misunderstanding what really happened.

Horrified by this realization that he has caused such trouble because of giving into his anger, Amagai fell into complete shame and despair, now realizing what his father meant by say to beware the Bakkōtō. He apologized with all his sincerity for the sins he committed, to which Yamamoto apologized for not being able to save Shin'etsu. Wishing to make up for his mistakes, he unleashed his Zanpakutō's power on himself, deciding to take his own life as payment. Ichigo was about to stop him, but Byakuya acted first, making Ichigo understand that Amagai has too much pride go on knowing the pain he has caused, and should at least be allowed to end it all the way he sees fit. Before disappearing into the flames, he stated he truly did enjoy his time as captain of the 3rd Division.

Later the following day before Ichigo and Rukia returned to the living world, Rurichiyo thanked Ichiog and Rukia for eveyrthing they did for her and promised to rule her clan justly. Ichigo swore he would be willing to help whenever needed, but Rurichiyo said she would try as the head of her clan to handle it with her own power from now on.

Fake Karakura Town arc
Later on, Ichigo is seen with a wound on his right shoulder done by Ulquiorra during the battle. As his fight with Ulquiorra continued, Ichigo was shown to be capable of fighting on equal footing with the Espada though he could not gain the advantage either. Between blows, Ulquiorra taunts Ichigo, telling him that even if he were to defeat him and rescue Orihime, it would be meaningless as she was already one of them, to which Ichigo retorted that that isn't his decision to make. Ulquiorra agreed, replying that it was Aizen's decision before resuming their battle. Later, Ichigo notices that he can keep up with Ulquiorra and understand his movements better than their first encounter. He thinks that it is either because he has become more like a Hollow or Ulquiorra has become more Human within the period between their two battles. At one point, Ichigo manages to catch Ulquiorra's wrist, much to Ulquiorra's surprise, and cut through his Hierro leaving a small nick. When Ichigo reveals his inference about him becoming more capable of following Ulquiorra's movements and the possibility of Ulquiorra becoming more Human, Ulquiorra responds by increasing his reiatsu. He begins to attack more fiercely, catching Ichigo off guard, and he is saved by Orihime's shield.

As Ulquiorra attempts to taunt Orihime, Ichigo stops him by stating how he always thought he was more the silent type; Ichigo then uses Getsuga Tenshō in his blade to attack Ulquiorra. While fighting, Orihime is ambushed by Loly and Menoly, who overheard Aizen's message to the intruders. Ichigo notices this and tries to save Orihime from them, ignoring Loly's threat of ripping out Orihime's eye. However, Ulquiorra stops Ichigo from reaching them (but he states that he's not helping them). Their fight is interrupted when Yammy arrives in the throne room. Yammy notices that Ichigo has gotten stronger since their first meeting and offers Ulquiorra help, but Ulquiorra denies his assistance. Afterwards, Yammy notices Loly and Menoly and defeats them both and sets his sights on Orihime. He asks Ulquiorra if he could kill her and Ichigo once again tries to help her, but Ulquiorra still prevents him from leaving their battle. Orihime is ultimately saved by the timely arrival of Uryū Ishida, who uses a special landmine (developed by Mayuri Kurotsuchi and specifically designed for Arrancar) to injure Yammy.

After Uryū sends Yammy falling to the bottom of Las Noches, he explains that Mayuri healed Renji first, then healed him. Ichigo then orders him to protect Orihime, so she wouldn't be injured during his fight with Ulquiorra. Ichigo dons his Hollow mask and manages to gain the upper hand against Ulquiorra, even managing to begin piercing his blade, as well as fully repulsing a Cero blast. Realizing how strong Ichigo has become, Ulquiorra heads to the top of Las Noches as Ichigo chases him. After reaching the top himself, Ichigo realizes that they are above the dome of Las Noches. Ulquiorra explains to him that within Las Noches, two actions are forbidden: the first is that the Espada must never use the Gran Rey Cero, while the second is that the top four Espada are forbidden from releasing their Zanpakutō. This is because both actions have the power to destroy the fortress. He then proceeds to release his own Zanpakutō, Murciélago, with the command "Bind". As Ichigo stares up at Ulquiorra, he warns Ichigo to not let his guard down and fight with all his might. He then attacks Ichigo with a powerful spiked weapon, that breaks off the upper-right portion of Ichigo's mask. Ulquiorra notes that Ichigo had reflexively defended himself with a Getsuga Tenshō, and if he had not the attack would have decapitated him. Ichigo then starts to realize how much more powerful and faster Ulquiorra is. He then regenerates his mask and uses Getsuga Tenshō on Ulquiorra's request and sees nothing happens.

Ichigo then prepares for Ulquiorra's "Black Cero", but is completely overwhelmed by the attack and has his entire mask destroyed in the process, becoming critically injured. The Cero itself takes out about half of the dome of Las Noches. Ulquiorra then proceeds to attack Ichigo, further damaging him while proclaiming Hollow's superiority to Humans. When Ichigo prepares to fire another Getsuga, Ulquiorra surprisingly loses his cool and launches another devastating series of attacks. Ulquiorra asks Ichigo why he will not put down his sword, noting the large gap in power between them. He explains that he always knew that Ulquiorra was strong, but nothing he sees him do will stop him from fighting. Ulquiorra then states that Ichigo has still not realized the meaning of despair, and transforms into a new form.

Ulquiorra explains to the stunned Ichigo that only he among the Espada has a second release form, which not even Aizen has witnessed. Ichigo still tries to fight the Espada and show no fear, and attempts to defend himself from attacks but is too slow. Ulquiorra expresses his inability to understand Ichigo's resolve, believing it is a Human's "heart" which causes them pain and will eventually result in their deaths. When Ichigo explains he has no choice but to win the fight, Ulquiorra calls him a fool. After he whips Ichigo with his tail, Ichigo reforms his Hollow mask, however this time his eyes remain Human; his mask is broken apart easily shortly after, and Ulquiorra lifts him by the neck again with his tail. Orihime arrives to the top of the dome just in time to see Ulquiorra send an Instantaneous Cero Oscuras through Ichigo's chest, seemingly killing him.

Orihime is devastated by Ichigo's supposed death and attempts to aid him, but Ulquiorra appears before her and tells her that she is not powerful enough to save him. Uryū intervenes and fights Ulquiorra while Orihime tries to heal Ichigo, but there seems to be no change in his condition. Noticing that Uryū is losing his battle with Ulquiorra, Orihime begins to panic and pleads Ichigo to help her. Ichigo slowly begins to move as his hair grows longer, almost resembling a mane.

Hearing Orihime's desperate cry for help, Ichigo's inner Hollow takes over in a transformation completely different then the previous one he had.

With the defeat of his Hollow self at the hands of Ulquiorra, Ichigo regains control of his body with no memory of what has transpired, only to find a half beaten Ulquiorra and his Zanpakutō embedded in Uryū's body. Ulquiorra retrieves Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu, hands it back to Ichigo, and tells him that they will finish their fight. Seeing the damage inflicted on his opponent, Ichigo tells him to cut his limbs so that they may have a fair fight, however, as the Espada prepares to do so, he begins to disintegrate. Ulquiorra tells Ichigo to finish him off, however Ichigo refuses stating that, that was not the way he wanted to win. The 4th Espada, slightly surprised, then admits his interest in the trio as Ichigo, Uryū, and Orihime watch as Ulquiorra fades into the wind.

Zanpakutō Unknown Tales arc
While sleeping, Ichigo is taken into his inner world by Zangetsu wakes him up. There, Zangetsu asks if Ichigo can hear him. Zangetsu says that he has to hear him. Ichigo responds by asking why he sounds gloomy. Zangetsu responds by saying that it is not his voice. Ichigo is surprised and after a moment, he says that he can hear Zangetsu and asks what is going on. Zangetsu responds by saying "Well then, that's fine.". Ichigo says that it's not.

Later while patroling Karakura Town, he discovers Rukia just arriving in the real world with serious injuries. Shortly after her arrival, young all-white woman appears and demands for Rukia. After managing to fend the woman off and force her to retreat, he learns from Rukia that the woman was actually the spirit of her Zanpakutō Sode no Shirakyuki. After having Orihime heal her wounds, Rukia explains that a strange man named Muramasa has somehow released all the Zanpakutō spirits in the Soul Society from their ties with the Shinigami and had them throw the Soul Society into chaos. After discovering Rukia went back to the Soul Society, Ichigo decides to follow her.

After arriving, he finds Rukia fighting Sode no Shirakyuki again. While stepping in for Rukia and easily able to outmaneuver, he hesitates to strike down Rukia's Zanpakutō. Ichigo then watches to his horror Rukia willing sacrificing herself to free Sode no Shirakyuki from her anger. Before Ichigo can check on Rukia's condition, Muramasa arrives, who reveals to Ichigo that he is a Zanpakutō as well. Muramasa reminded Ichigo that Zanpakutō are more than just a source of power for Shinigami in the form of swords, that they have a life and will of their own. Convinced that all Shinigami mistreated their Zanpakutō, Muramasa stated his goal was to “free” all of them from their control of Shinigami, which is why he let Rukia escape to the living world and bring Ichigo back.

Ichigo then began fighting Muramasa, only to fall victim to Muramasa's unusual powers. After pinning Ichigo with an unknown force, Muramasa removed Zangetsu's spirit from Ichigo's being and materialized Ichigo's partner. Immediately afterwards, Zangetsu manifested his own sword and attacked Ichigo. While initially overpowered, taking advantage of Zangetsu's power and influence leaving Ichigo, Ichigo's inner hollow took over the battle. While Muramasa was confused as to what was going on, Zangetsu explained that Ichigo's power has a second side to it. As the battle progressed, Ichigo transformed into his full hollow form. This tipped the battle to Hollow Ichigo's favor, completely overpowering and defeating Zangetsu. This prompted Muramasa to engage in the battle, only to be forced back as well. Before the outcome could be decided, Ichigo regained control and returned to normal. Doing so however drained him of his strength and caused him to pass out while calling for Zangetsu.

Powers & Abilities
Despite having very little official training as a Shinigami, Ichigo's fighting abilities have come to be powerful enough to rival those of captain-level Shinigami, Menos-class Hollow, and Espada-ranked Arrancar, capable of fighting on equal footing against all but the strongest and the most powerful of foes.

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: In terms of fighting style while in his Shinigami form, Ichigo relies mainly on swordplay, and thus would be considered a swordsmanship specialist. Despite his Zanpakutō's large size, Ichigo has shown able himself able to use it with great speed and accuracy. While right-handed, Ichigo has shown capable skill wielding Zangetsu in his left. His overall skill has been shown capable of competing on equal grounds against sword masters of Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki's caliber. Aside from his initial training with Urahara, he is basically on a "learn as you go" training regimen thus his skill has developed by fighting rather than formal instruction, becoming even more capable with every fight.

Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Physically, Ichigo is in top form even when not in his spiritual body. Ichigo has been trained in martial arts since he was a small child both professionally and by his father. He has repeatedly shown great agility and coordination in his attacks. In addition to having powerful kicks and punches, Ichigo has also shown proficiency in counterattacks, takedowns, and bodylocks. He also regularly defeats multiple bullies and gangsters, and is a better martial artist than Tatsuki Arisawa, the second-strongest girl in all of Japan, despite fighting with a broken arm in the last few matches of the competition. While he stopped training officially after defeating her, his constant attacks from bullies and his father help keep his skills fresh. It should be noted that he was able to effortlessly dispatch three lieutenants with Shikai released Zanpakutō merely bare-handed.

Flash Steps Expert: Though not particularly versed in its various techniques, Ichigo has become proficient enough of the technique itself to keep up with and even surprise captain-level Shinigami with his speed. Even Byakuya Kuchiki, one of the most proficient users of Flash Steps in Soul Society, complimented Ichigo's might and proficiency in it. During his first demonstration of this skill, he was able to knock out three lieutenants before any of them hit the ground. Despite this, his inexperience with Flash Step has been seen various times as with his battles against Grimmjow and Ulquiorra who were both initially able to outmaneuver him.

Vast Spiritual Power: Ichigo has been noted on several occasions to have tremendously vast levels of spiritual energy, even by captain-level Shinigami standards. It is capable of paralyzing with fear lieutenant-level Shinigami (e.i. Renji), and even intimidate captain-level Shinigami (e.i. Byakuya and Jushiro). It is so overwhelming that even when worn-out in battle, he can continue fighting effectively while still capable of unleashing Getsuga Tenshō. Yet as noted by Uryū, with Ichigo's spiritual energy constantly being so high even at its base level without him consciously being aware of it, he rarely becomes exhausted in battle, thereby meaning the sheer resilience and amounts of energy Ichigo has is monstrous. The best example of the sheer amount and strength of Ichigo's spiritual energy was when shown at its peak equaling if not surpassing that of Kenpachi Zaraki, another Shinigami well-known for his exceedingly high energy levels, even when at full strength. Despite all this, Ichigo's spiritual energy is still rather difficult for him to control and is known to fluctuate wildly, as stated by the 4th Espada Ulquiorra Cifer. Due to this and that he has far more spiritual energy than his body can contain, it leaks out constantly, preventing him from hiding it and effectively making stealth impossible when dealing with other spiritually-aware creatures. However, he has learned how to harden his spiritual energy and enhance the strength of his attacks or act as a barrier to reduce the impact of attacks on him, if not block them completely. Even before this, his spiritual energy was so great he was able to withstand a Menos Gillian-class Cero and subsequently wound the same Gillian, forcing it back into Hueco Mundo while using only his sealed Zanpakutō.

High Strength: Even without his Shinigami powers, Ichigo has shown himself to be deceptively strong, as shown from his ability to smash a man's head through a concrete floor. When he is in his Shinigami body, Ichigo's already impressive strength is greatly enhanced, most commonly shown from his ability to effortlessly wield his large Zanpakutō with a single-hand. His overall abilities are great enough that he was able to fight off three Shinigami lieutenants and their released Zanpakutō bare-handed in rapid succession with a single punch each; one of which shattered one of their Zanpakutō at the same time.

High Endurance: While only a teenage Human, Ichigo has shown himself to be a highly resilient man, as shown from his ability to safely break free from a binding spell (albiet a low-level one) and withstand an assault from a large hollow. When in Shinigami form Ichigo's physical endurance is strengthened to the point he can continue fighting effectively after most injuries and can survive attacks that would easily kill normal Humans effortlessly. It was stated by Rukia that a Shinigami's life force is their spiritual power. As such, Ichigo is able to withstand attacks that would be fatal to most Shinigami. He could even withstand a point-blank Cero blast from Ulquiorra Cifer. Even Aizen, who once nearly cut Ichigo all the way in two, was amazed at Ichigo's ability to survive such a blow. Uryū once stated that Ichigo was a monster in this regard.

Advanced Growth Rate: According to both Aizen and Urahara, Ichigo's most astounding ability is his growth rate: he grasps the basic control of advanced techniques in days where it would take several years for even the most gifted Shinigami. Shortly after getting Shinigami powers and with no previous training, began learning advanced spiritual energy sensing techniques by sheer instinct, as he proved he can use a spirit ribbon to find Yuichi Shibata (in bird form). Another example of his growth rate is the amount of time he took to learn the Bankai of his Zanpakutō, which he learns in two days (albeit with the assistance of a special device invented by Urahara that was originally intended for three days). For a normal Shinigami, this same feat would require several years of combat experience and at least ten additional years of special training. He also gains mastery of Flash Steps while training with Yoruichi, which was done over the same period as his Bankai. Besides his improvements in his Shinigami abilities, Ichigo was also shown able to greatly increase the time he could maintain his hollow mask from eleven seconds to considerably longer amounts of time. In the Hueco Mundo arc, during his first fight with Ulquiorra, he is instantly incapacitated by one Cero blast even with his Hollow mask (which broke within a second), but only a few hours later, he is able to withstand another Cero from Ulquiorra without undergoing Hollowfication and can analyze Ulquiorra's movements much better than before, whereas he "felt like [he] was fighting a machine or a statue", and failed to predict and counter his attacks. This feat, as Ichigo explains, was done either by experience, because Ichigo has become more of a Hollow, or because Ulquiorra has become more of a Human.

High-Level Intellect: Despite his somewhat punkish attitude, Ichigo has shown himself to be analytical, perceptive, and deductive. In his high school, Ichigo's grades are almost always near the top, despite his work as a substitute Shinigami. Aside from that, Ichigo appears to be able to determine the pattern of his opponent's battle methods and correctly deduce a proper counter-strategy to defeat his opponents attacks; such as in his battles with both Ikkaku Madarame and Renji Abarai, where he would have been successful in dodging their weapons, if not for unforeseen abilities. He is also fairly charismatic, and while some of his monologues aren't entirely inspirational and philosophical, he's able to gain the trust, respect, and friendship of even his greatest adversaries, often due to his inwardly compassionate nature and remarkable combat prowess. Additionally, it's worth noting that Ichigo has impressive leadership skills, and will sometimes act as the de facto leader of the Ryoka, despite the fact that Uryū and Renji occasionally compete with him over leadership responsibility (often due to their proud natures, equally-impressive intellect, combat prowess, and leadership skills), as seen in the Soul Society and Arrancar arcs respectively. Ichigo does exert some amount of power and authority over Urahara at times, likely due to Ichigo's aforementioned charisma, coupled with Urahara's respect for him. He will also devise and execute strategies with high speed and precision (although not nearly as much, and not in the same league, as people like Aizen and Urahara), and will personally lead rescue missions and large-scale assaults against his enemies.

Determination: It seems that Ichigo's power, both in terms of how much spiritual energy he can access and his actual fighting abilities, is tied to his determination or will to win. It's shown that when he focuses on victory, his strength is enhanced. In the anime, this is depicted by his eyes glowing bright blue and occasionally his being engulfed a bright blue aura. The same is included when he is in his Vizard form, in which case his glowing is yellow. This effect has been shown while he was battling Renji for a second time, and when he defeated his inner hollow. In his last battle against Grimmjow, Ichigo had most of his mask beaten off and was on the verge of collapse as Grimmjow prepared his finishing blow. However after noticing Orihime, who was saddened by watching him get hurt, Ichigo managed to catch Grimmjow's hand without effort or looking, and gripped tight enough to prevent him from moving away. Ichigo then managed to make a clean slash into Grimmjow (despite the fact he had lost most of the benefits from his hollow mask), whereas before most of the damage that he had inflicted that actually made Grimmjow bleed was from Getsuga Tenshō attacks. In his second battle with Ulquiorra, even after taking a direct hit from Ulquiorra's Cero Oscura and nearly incinerated, he is seen to be able to continue to fight and even use Getsuga Tensho.

Zanpakutō

 * When Ichigo first becomes a Shinigami, his Zanpakutō is a standard looking katana, but oversized with an equally-oversized brown sheathe hung by a strap over his right shoulder. It has a rectangular bronze handguard with inward-curved edges, a stylized flame pattern on the long sides, and a simple decorative slit on the short ones. The handle is red with two light blue tassels on the end of the handle. The large size is due to the unfocused but immense amount of Ichigo's spiritual power, which he didn't know how to control. As a result, the sword itself was rather weak, since very little spiritual power was used to create it. Nevertheless, it was powerful enough to subdue a Gillian-class Menos and lesser Hollows, completely blocking a Cero from the former. Byakuya Kuchiki cuts off most of the blade during his first encounter with Ichigo and Kisuke Urahara subsequently slices it down to the hilt during their training, forcing Ichigo to learn the name of his zanpakutō in order to release its true form.

The spirit of Zangetsu resembles a tall (about the height of Kenpachi Zaraki) 30 to 40-year-old man with unkempt facial hair and long ragged black hair. He dresses in tattered all black garbs with narrow sunglasses and a long flowing overcoat that flares out into ragged ends. Because of the spirit's appearance, Ichigo calls him as a result. Zangetsu has also been called the. Zangetsu is portrayed as wise and calm in most matters, and fond of testing Ichigo in unusual ways, many of which have a purpose completely contrary to the stated goal. While the inner world is one of tall skyscrapers, Zangetsu has stated to prefer more lush, natural surroundings like bright sunny skies and green forests. Zangetsu has displayed the ability to temporarily close fatal wounds during combat, though whether or not this is a unique ability is unclear, as it could be due to the massive amounts of spiritual energy, as demonstrated by Nnoitra Jiruga. Since first awakening his own Shinigami powers, Ichigo has had a strong connection to his Zanpakutō, as shown from how Zangetsu would regularly come to aid him with words of wisdom when Ichigo is in a difficult situation.

However, since Ichigo developed an inner Hollow (as a result from nearly becoming one while having his Shinigami powers restored), Zangetsu and the Hollow are both the source of Ichigo's power and share the same spirit body in Ichigo's inner world, the stronger presence retaining more control (and overall appearance) of their body; in which case, the spirit of Zangetsu takes the form of an all-white (clothes and being), somewhat deranged version of Shinigami Ichigo with a strong desire take control of Ichigo's body and power for himself.


 * Shikai: The Shikai form of Zangetsu looks like an oversized elegant cleaver than a formal "katana". He has no crossguard and no proper hilt; what Ichigo holds is the cloth-wrapped tang. The sword is as tall as Ichigo is, 1.75 meters, and has a black blade with a silver edge. The cloth wrapping on the tang seems to react to Ichigo's will, changing length at a thought or twining about the blade in an impromptu sheath. When in combat, the cloth falls away when necessary, shrinking back to a manageable size. The cloth can also be used to swing the weapon like a flail and toss it at opponents for mid-range combat, but this is rarely done. The cloth also can be done to wrap up wounds, as Ichigo does during his fight with Ikkaku Madarame, but this is also done rarely. Ichigo has also on more than one occasion used Zangetsu's wide blade as a shield from incoming attacks. Unlike most Zanpakutō, which can be sealed into their original form, Zangetsu is always in its Shikai form. Yoruichi Shihōin has stated that his Zanpakutō is a full-time released form type because of Ichigo's vast but uncontrollable spiritual energy upon generation of it, implying that it is simply a type of Zanpakutō that without proper control of his spiritual energy, once in Shikai form, it remains in its said state.


 * Shikai Special Ability: Zangetsu's special ability is the, which fires concentrated energy blasts from the tip of the blade in the shape of a crescent moon or in a shape of a wave. Ichigo uses this ability without knowing its name several times, but masters the technique later on when he discovers its name. As stated by Zangetsu, knowing the name of an attack increases its power greater than not knowing its name. The Getsuga Tenshō is a powerful technique with great force. While it is currently the only attack Ichigo knows from Zangetsu, Ichigo has used this technique in several different manners, such as striking the ground to create an omnidirectional blast to knock away incoming attacks or slashing at the ground to upturn it and crush everything in its path. Ichigo can also keep Getsuga Tenshō within Zangetsu to augment his sword swings.


 * Bankai: : It is considered completely out of the ordinary for any Zanpakutō. Unlike most Bankai forms, which usually create some sort of massive creature or effect, Ichigo's Bankai actually shrinks his sword down to a daitō (Japanese long sword) with a black blade. The crossguard has four prongs bent out to form the shape of the manji (which is the kanji for "ban," meaning "full", as in "full moon"). Instead of the cloth his Shikai form had, a short length of chain with a broken link at the end dangles from the base of the hilt. In addition to his sword, Ichigo's robe is replaced with a long-sleeved, ankle-length black coat with red lining that is closed at his chest, then left to flare out into ragged ends, much like that of Zangetsu himself. Ichigo's initial inexperience with controlling his Bankai led to a serious drawback; the force of his compressed spiritual power caused all of his bones to crack, as stated by his inner Hollow, gradually decreasing his speed and power over time. This drawback has not been mentioned since its introduction, so it has (presumably) been overcome.


 * Bankai Special Ability: Zangetsu's special attack remains Getsuga Tenshō and can be used in the same manners, but can be used in an enhanced form. When used with Zangetsu's Bankai, these potent blasts can become black with a red outline and their path can be controlled, with explosively augmented power and speed. During Byakuya Kuchiki's fight with Ichigo, he refers to this attack as a . This term simply refers to the darkened color of the attack, not its actual name. When used with his Bankai and Hollow mask in combination, Ichigo's tremendous speed allows him to move faster than the Getsuga Tenshō itself, allowing him to fire multiple blasts from different directions. The Kuroi Getsuga was first displayed by Ichigo's inner Hollow, and initially carried the risk of causing his inner Hollow to surface if used too much. With Ichigo's later control over his inner Hollow, this is no longer a problem. In fact it has come to a point where the red-outlined black energy of the Kuroi Getsuga emanates of Ichigo's body when his spiritual pressure is exerted, replacing his blue aura. It should also be noted that ever since Ichigo mastered his Vizard form, he produces a black aura with a red outline that surrounds him as he initiates Bankai, rather than a white aura that shoots high into the sky.


 * Physical Enhancement: As explained by Byakuya Kuchiki, Ichigo's Bankai is a compression of his remarkable power, rather than a vast expansion as other Bankai are. This vastly compressed power enables to reach levels of physical and spiritual prowess most Shinigami would have their bodies give out at and cannot handle. It allows Ichigo to move at very high speeds exceeding those of flash steps, and gives him matching agility and reflexes, possibly equaling if not, surpassing Yoruichi's speed, allowing him to be undetectable to unfocused eyes. Ichigo's Bankai also allows him to use his natural strength to its limits as shown from how effortlessly he blocked a punch from Yammy, an Espada known primarily for his immense strength. The Shunpo's speeds are also enhanced in this state, allowing him to use Flash Steps at a speed much greater than Byakuya Kuchiki's. His new speed is so great, that it also allows him to create dozens of tangible clones to confuse his opponent. In addition, his already immense spiritual energy has grandly and explosively increased, and now has a deep black spiritual energy with a crimson outline.


 * Enhanced Bankai Duration: Furthermore, the fact that all of his energy is "compressed" means that usage of his Bankai doesn't expel as much spiritual power as other Bankai from the point of activation; thus allowing him to use Tensa Zangetsu at a much longer duration than any other Bankai users of his level. With enough usage and acquired height, Ichigo can even appear as though he is flying.

Hollowfication
Ichigo's spiritual powers are not limited to just Shinigami abilities; he also possesses Hollow powers as a result of his training with Urahara. While attempting to recover his Shinigami powers, Ichigo began transforming into a Hollow from the corrosion of his severed soul chain. Ichigo succeeds in awakening his Shinigami powers, but retains his Hollow spirit inside himself from the transformation. The title page of Chapter 220 depicts the inner Hollow with the mirror writing, spelling backwards, of Ichigo's name.

At different points in the series, Ichigo's Hollow powers have manifested themselves in different ways. Initially, Ichigo's Hollow mask would appear on his body to block fatal blows, which Ichigo never noticed until after the fight had ended. During his battle with Byakuya Kuchiki, the mask appeared on his face when he was near death, allowing his inner Hollow to take over until Ichigo suppressed it. The same event is repeated multiple times after that such as when Ichigo fought Gō Koga in the Bount Arc. While suppressing his inner Hollow, Ichigo is left effectively paralyzed, since his concentration was focused on suppressing it rather than fighting. The Hollow claims that it manifests itself to protect Ichigo during near death moments because it is connected to Ichigo, and it would be a great inconvenience to the Hollow if Ichigo were to die.

While he was training with the Vizards, Ichigo's soul was completely overcome by his inner Hollow for a short period, causing him to physically transform into a Hollow. His near-complete hollow form resembles a large, humanoid lizard. In this form, Ichigo demonstrated several high-level Menos abilities, including: rapid regeneration, enhanced strength, and Cero.

In this form, Ichigo also demonstrates being able to generate other bizarre Hollow-like appendages from his body, like the large, eyeless, worm-like entity that he used against the Vizard Kensei Muguruma in retaliation to Kensei blasting him with energy gathered and fired from his released Zanpakutō. However, this form didn't last long as Ichigo emerged from the Hollow shell as his standard Shinigami self wearing a Hollow mask.

Vizard
Vizards are Shinigami who have obtained the power of a Hollow through a process known as Hollowfication. In order to use this power, they must don the mask of the Hollow within them. Because he began to turn into a hollow while attempting to recover his Shinigami powers, Ichigo was turned into a Vizard.

Ichigo's Hollow mask manifests in the appearance of what could best be described as a menacing skull. While pure white on the right side, the mask possesses a total of ten red stripes (a total of ten can be seen during his latest fight with Ulquiorra) spread across three spots on the left side of his mask. The mask began with only three stripes, and has since increased. The red/black stripes on Ichigo's Hollow mask changed in thickness after he subjugated his Hollow, covering almost the entirety of the mask's left half during his third battle with Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. The significance of this has yet to be revealed, although the prevailing theories are that it represents Ichigo's control over Hollow Ichigo, or the continued usage of his Hollow powers.

During Ichigo's fight with Ulquiorra, it changed to a mask that resembles a Human skull with two horns. Two stripes begin on the back of his mask and go to the front, resulting in a shape that resembles a broken outline of a heart. The eye holes also widen from their slit shapes, becoming more open.

When donning his Hollow mask Ichigo's sclera turns completely black and his irises become golden-yellow, just like his inner Hollow.

After training with the Vizards and subjugating his inner Hollow, Ichigo can use his Hollow mask while retaining his personality, but could originally only wear it for eleven seconds at a time. His limit and Hollow powers greatly increases during his third battle with Grimmjow and he was even able to reform it after being destroyed during his fight with Ulquiorra Cifer, but to what extent is unclear. His Hollow powers became strong enough (comparable to the times when he was possessed) to block Grimmjow's Gran Rey Cero without any effort and has shown the capacity to "repair" his mask when it has begun to crack during this fight.

Despite the Vizards' disappointment of Ichigo's initial time limit, most of the Vizards also showed a relatively short time frame of three minutes. The reasons, behind Ichigo now being capable of fighting entire battles with his mask, currently remains unknown. While Grimmjow speculated that Ichigo's improvements came from a subconscious need, it's also possible that his time limit increased due to him fighting with it in Hueco Mundo similar to Chad's own powers becoming stronger there.

Below is a list of the effects of Ichigo's Hollowfication:

Hollow Mask: The Hollow mask was originally a sign of Ichigo's possession by the Hollow within him, but after his training with the Vizards it has become indication that he is merely utilizing his Hollow powers. To access Hollow Ichigo's power, Ichigo must summon Hollow Ichigo's mask onto his face, which is normally done by placing one of his hands over his face and concentrating spiritual matter on it in order to manifest the mask (previously it had appeared on its own before he mastered the Hollow within him), summoning the mask in a "ripping" fashion. With the mask in place, Ichigo has access to most if not all the abilities of a Hollow (although most of the other Vizards have been able to shift the position of the mask while apparently still retaining the abilities of their hollowfied state) even subconsciously using a Cero during his training with the Vizards. Apparently, Ichigo can sustain his Hollow powers even if portions of his mask have been broken off without restoring them, as seen during the end of his fight with Grimmjow.


 * Vast Spiritual Power: While wearing the mask, the spiritual power Ichigo possesses becomes even greater than before. His spiritual power is so great, that he was considered equal to a released Espada by the 3rd Espada, Tia Harribel.


 * Hollow Combat: When Ichigo fights with his mask on his fighting style becomes more instinctive than practiced. The Hollow mask also makes Ichigo more ruthless, akin to the battle style of Hollow Ichigo. Throughout the duration of the Hollowfication, Ichigo has shown less concern for injuries to his person, even going so far as to ignore grievous wounds to continue fighting.


 * Mask Shielding: The mask has also shown the ability to block attacks on Ichigo's body from within his robe, serving as a shield to stop or lessen attacks on him, sometimes saving his life. One example is when the mask blocked several hits from Renji's Zanpakutō during their fight, Hanatarō Yamada notes the hits could have been fatal.


 * Enhanced Strength: While using the Hollow mask, Ichigo gains a substantial increase in strength. As evident when he instinctively block an attack from Grimmjow in his released state and after unleashing his Hollowfication state in his battle with Ulquiorra, even was able to slightly pierce his sword.


 * Enhanced Durability: As in his third fight with Grimmjow, Ichigo shielded Orihime from a barrage of Grimmjow's dart bullets which have enough destructive force to destroy a large building. Even after taking this barrage, he was still able to fight and defeat Grimmjow, even destroying one of his Desgarrón claws, which was Grimmjow's most powerful technique. Apparently, using the Vizard form makes him much more pain resistant, Ichigo even states at the beginning of his Vizard training that "wearing the mask feels like being in control of someone else's body".


 * Power Augmentation: While wearing the mask, Ichigo's Hollow powers supplement his Shinigami powers, giving him a vast increase in both strength and speed. The explanation for this is that since Hollows boost their natural abilities by obtaining spirit power around them, either by absorbing it in its ambient form or devouring it directly from another living being, Ichigo attains power from two separate sources: that from himself (drawn using his Shinigami powers), and that from his immediate environment (drawn with the help of his Hollow powers), allowing him to draw power from both sides. It could even be suggested that the Hollow mask allows Ichigo to recapture the energy he constantly leaks into the environment, making him more efficient.


 * Getsuga Tenshō: When Ichigo wears his mask, the power, speed, blast area, force, and size of the Getsuga Tenshō becomes drastically augmented to the point of seriously harming a foe to a certain degree.


 * Mask Regeneration: Ichigo seems to have the ability to repair small amounts of damage that is inflicted upon his mask. This is seen during his 3rd fight with Grimmjow and during his most recent fight with Ulquiorra. This "repairing" of his Hollow mask manifests in a similar manner to the Hollow regeneration he exhibited when he was subconsciously transformed into a Hollow while being trained by the Vizards to contain his inner Hollow. It is currently unknown to what extent the damage can be to his mask before he is unable to repair it. He has also been shown to have the ability to call his mask out a second time after it shatters, but with less benefits. Also his sclera do not change, and remain Human. This was first used against his first fight with Ulquiorra, although unseen, it was used to help defend against Ulquiorra's Cero, and again with his most recent confrontation with him, after he went into his released form.

Affiliation
While aligned with the Soul Society, mainly due to the threat of Aizen and the Arrancar, Ichigo is not an official member of the Gotei 13, being a substitute Shinigami, and is allowed to act on his own accord (so long as he does not threaten to disrupt the peace), such as mounting a rescue attempt on Hueco Mundo, protecting a then-fugitive of the Soul Society during the second movie, and occasionally disobeying and fighting them whenever they endanger one of his friends, as seen during the Soul Society and Amagai arcs, and the three feature-length films. This is also somewhat true for the Vizards, as he refused to join their group and continues to refer to himself as a Shinigami instead of a Vizard, possibly due to his stubborn pride. His friends are quite loyal to him, and will follow his every move, regardless of whatever their current situation is, though there are occasional leadership arguments between himself, Renji, and Uryū. Others, such as Urahara and Yoruichi, he respects and considers them as his mentors, though, again, is more than likely to fight them should they endanger his friends' lives or his own, or prevent him from saving anyone he considers important to himself, and occasionally argues with them over their actions and/or decisions regarding a situation (training or otherwise), though mainly due to pride and his own reckless 'logic'.

Status as A Shinigami
Ichigo is unlike any other Shinigami seen. For one thing, he's still a living Human. His Zanpakutō, along with his other abilities, were given to him from Rukia and 'depleted' by Byakuya. His powers were regained through Urahara's training/forced encroachment, which simultaneously gave him Hollow powers. Both methods of gaining Shinigami abilities have only been shown once, and the second has yet to be elaborated upon. Due to his Hollow powers, Ichigo should be classified as a Vizard, but he thinks of himself as nothing more or less of a Shinigami, having no interest in joining their group.

Substitute Shinigami Status: Although Ichigo has become a Shinigami, he is still a living Human being and resides in Karakura Town. Not a full-fledged Shinigami, yet also not an ordinary Human, Ichigo carrys a heavy burden as he is split between protecting two worlds. This lets him relate to the Bounts, as they are also out of the ordinary, not fitting in with regular society. His status in the Soul Society remains ambiguous. His "rank" as substitute Shinigami was accepted by the others so he can continue to fight Hollows and properly defend his hometown. Ichigo seems to get orders from the Soul Society by Rukia's cellular phone, but he ignored the only real order he ever received by General Yamamoto, which was to not go after Orihime. It is still unknown where he is really situated in the Soul Society's order, since he can act by himself and go on his own missions. Ichigo and his friends have been welcome in the Soul Society ever since Aizen escaped, even when they are not with him, and can even explore the division quarters.

However, this might stem from the fact that the Soul Society needs as many allies as they can get in the war against Aizen and the Arrancar, and will likely turn on them after Aizen's defeat. Ichigo is perhaps best-treated and best-respected by Captain Shunsui Kyōraku of the 8th Division, Captain Kenpachi Zaraki of the 11th Division, and Captain Jūshirō Ukitake of the 13th Division, who often assist him in his missions, and willingly disobey their orders so as to ensure his survival. Captain Soifon of the 2nd Division and Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya of the 10th Division occasionally help Ichigo in his assignments (whenever they are ordered to by Yamamoto); however, they are quick to turn against him should the need ever arise, as seen during Orihime's capture, The Kasumiōji Crisis, the Shinenju Affair, and the Kusaka Incident. Captain Sajin Komamura of the 7th Division has never been shown with either Ichigo or his friends.

Hybrid Shinigami: When Grand Fisher learns that Isshin Kurosaki was a Shinigami, he said Ichigo was a "pure-blood" Shinigami. It seems to be an explanation for his strength although it is strange since Isshin had lost his power for twenty years and Ichigo and his sisters are Humans. Ichigo did say his mother could not see Grand Fisher so he is half-Shinigami, half-human effectively making him a hybrid of sorts as well as explaining his high Reiryoku levels. This can mean his sisters have latent Shinigami powers. An example of this is they can see spirits. Karin can fully see spirits such as small Hollows. Yuzu however seems to only be able to see the outline of spirits.

Relationships
Ichigo himself hasn't shown any romantic feelings towards any females in the series, with the possible exception of Senna. This is likely due to the fact that the two spent some quality time together.

There is also a strong bond between him and Rukia Kuchiki, and their love-hate relationship has been interpreted as romantic by fans and even characters (starting very early in the story). Orihime confessed her love for Ichigo while he was unconscious, and like Rukia, has had characters from early in the series interpreting their relationship as romantic. She has been shown being jealous of Rukia and Ichigo's close relationship and familiarity with each other, which brought her to tears due to her love (platonic or otherwise) for both of them. However, as with the other possible pairings at this time, it is unknown whether or not Ichigo even knows of her feelings at this time, much less returns them.

Finally, while in her adult form, Nelliel Tu Oderschvank unexpectedly embraced a heavily-injured Ichigo and accidentally knocked him out, much to both her and Orihime Inoue's distress. Her adult form was, in fact, originally restored due in part to her desire to protect him from his then-current espada opponent. Like Ririn and Orihime, she has displayed jealousy over the bond between Ichigo and Rukia.

Quotes

 * (To his father) "Come on! Is that any way you greet your own son after he just risked his life to help a spirit find peace!?"


 * (To Orihime's brother as a Hollow) "Big brothers...you know why they're born first? To protect the little ones the come after them!! What kind of brother says that he'll KILL his own sister?! Even a MONSTER shouldn't say that!!"


 * (To Byakuya) "You said, miracles happen only once. So what's the second one?"


 * "You said I think too highly of myself? I saw every single step, Byakuya Kuchiki!"


 * "Stop telling me to leave you here and run away...it's so annoying! I told you, I don't care what you say. Heh...this is the second time now...I've come to save you, Rukia."


 * (To himself about the Arrancars Yammy and Ulquiorra) "Who are these guys? Are they Vizards?! Like Shinji and I!?"


 * "Bankai! Tensa Zangetsu."


 * "'Our pride', you said? So that pride you're saying to be so precious, is that connected to killing Rukia? Is it? Then I should stomp on it as you said. 'Cause that's why I obtained this Bankai!"
 * "...If fate is a millstone, then we are the grist. There is nothing we can do. So I wish for strength. If I cannot protect them from the wheel, then give me a strong blade, and enough strength... to shatter fate."


 * "Sorry, Grimmjow...but...I'm not gonna hold back anymore."


 * (To Nel in her child form, when Nnoitra reveals Nel's identity as the former Espada) "Of course you haven't! There's no reason for you to trick us!"

(from Ulquiorra) "At the very least, I see you as someone who must be destroyed."
 * (To Ulquiorra) "...I'm surprised. I didn't think you'd unsheathe your sword right away. I thought I'd have to get you to unsheathe it. So, does that mean you see me as a worthy opponent now?"

(To Ulquiorra)"Works for me!"


 * (To Ulquiorra, who is taunting Orihime Inoue) "...Shut up. I don't need to hear you go on about hesitation or whatever...none of that matters." (To Orihime Inoue) "Thank you for protecting me, Inoue. But it's dangerous, so stay back."


 * (To Ulquiorra) "The difference...in strength...what about it? Do you think I should give up...just because you're stronger than me...? I've always known you were strong. Nothing I see now will change my mind. I will defeat you Ulquiorra."


 * "I...must...help...her..


 * (To Ulquiorra) I won't do it...I said no! This...This isn't the way I wanted to win!!

Trivia

 * According to Shonen Jump's character popularity polls, Ichigo was consistently the most popular character in Bleach in the first three polls, but ranked 3rd in the fourth, most recent poll.


 * His Zanpakutō, Zangetsu, was voted the 3rd most popular Zanpakutō in a recent Bleach Poll.


 * As credited by Tite Kubo in Ichigo's character page in the 1st Manga Volume, his theme music is "News from the front" by Bad Religion.


 * Near the beginning of the series, Uryū asked Ichigo how he had managed to fight and beat Hollows since becoming a Shinigami to which he answered "Spur of the moment".


 * During his fight to subjugate his Hollow, Ichigo's soul was overtaken by his inner Hollow. In that state, Ichigo had shown the ability to use Cero but it is unknown if this ability is usable yet in his Vizard form.


 * After the fight with Jidanbō who said that Ichigo´s name was "cute", Ichigo claims that his name comes from: ichi for first prize and go for guardian angel.


 * Ichigo has battled the most Espada, but never killed any of them. The first Espada he battled, and met, was Yammy, the 10th Espada. Ichigo, with his Bankai, easily gained the upper hand but when his Inner Hollow tried to take control, Yammy took advantage of his distraction and gave him a sound beating. The next Espada he fought was Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the 6th Espada, and he was clearly no match for him but still able to leave a scar on Grimmjow's chest. The next time Ichigo fought Grimmjow, his Hollow mask allowed him to overwhelm Grimmjow but when he reached his limit of eleven seconds, Grimmjow would've killed him had Rukia not intervened, then with the help of Shinji Hirako. The next Espada he fought was the Privaron Espada #103, Dordonii Alessandro Del Socacchio. Although he defeated him, he had Nel heal him, and it is assumed Dordonii was killed by the Exequias. Ichigo then fought the 4th Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer, and even with his Hollow Mask, he was beaten to within an inch of his life, if not, was killed. The next time Ichigo fought Grimmjow, despite the long and hard battle he won, but refused to kill him. Ichigo was then forced to fight the 5th Espada, Nnoitra Jiruga, and was easily overpowered due to having just barely beaten Grimmjow. Ichigo had a rematch with Ulquiorra and fought a battle that led to him transforming into a new Hollow Form and slit Ulquiorra in half, this time emerging victorious by Ulquiorra succumbing to his wounds, so he felt it was a hollow victory. So all in all, while Ichigo fought several Espada, he was never the one who brought down the final blow.


 * Ichigo does not know how to use any kind of Kidō, be it Bakudō or Hadō. This is due to the fact that he has never received a proper Shinigami education at the Shinigami Academy; it is unknown how much talent he has for this skill as his only training in the art was the use of Kūkaku Shiba's orb, where he had a great difficulty with learning until Ganju gave him some pointers, to which Ichigo got a handle on quickly.


 * Ichigo can be controlled by his inner Hollow without wearing the mask. In the final fight with Jin Kariya during the anime-exclusive Bount Arc, Ichigo momentarily succumbs to Hollow Ichigo and wounds Kariya badly without so much of an effort.


 * The number "15" on Ichigo's bedroom door is both a reference to his age and a pun on his name: ichi-go in Japanese means "one-five".


 * The remains of Ichigo's robes when he was critically injured by Ulquiorra's black Cero almost perfectly mirrors what they looked like when he was transformed into a Hollow during his Vizard training, with one of his legs showing out completely.


 * Ichigo Kurosaki has been heavily injured thanks to some of his greatest battles: He has been impaled through the chest twice, and by Ulquiorra Cifer, each time making Ichigo appear to have a Hollow hole, was also shot through the shoulder by a Byakurai via Byakuya Kuchiki, and in the foot by a Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi blade. He was also impaled in the right arm by Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez in their second fight to keep Ichigo from dodging a point blank Cero. After Ichigo's fight against Grand Fisher, Rukia implies that he had a "gaping hole in his chest," caused by on of the Hollow's long claws. Total, he's been impaled at least six times, three times through the chest.


 * Ichigo has been in his Bankai state longer than any other Shinigami in the series, since he used it last in his third fight with Grimmjow in Chapter 279, he has yet to disengage it.
 * Ichigo is technically the youngest ever to achieve the Bankai stage, as he achieved Bankai at the age of 16 (whereas the captains would likely be centuries old). He is also the only Human to achieve Bankai.
 * In the english anime, Ichigo is noted to call someone captain three times: Ichigo called Jūshirō Ukitake captain twice, both at the end of The Bount arc and when they meet up in the Human World in Bleach: Memories of Nobody. Ichigo also called Byakuya Kuchiki captain at the end of The Bount Arc when Byakuya glared at Ichigo and Renji for arguing outside of Rukia's room while she was resting. As opposed to calling Ukitake captain out of respect, Ichigo called Byakuya captain out of fear.
 * He holds the record (with Kisuke Urahara) of shortest time for achieving the Bankai stage. He also holds the record (with Hiyori Sarugaki) for the longest time of fighting the inner hollow. Coincidentally, Urahara and Hiyori are both former high officers of the 12th squad.


 * He was one of the Vizards, along with Kensei Muguruma and Mashiro Kuna, to be shown in a fully hollowfied state.

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