Soul King

The is the supposed ruler of Soul Society, whose existence in Soul Society is as symbolic as it is absolute. He resides in the Soul King Palace and is protected by the Royal Guard. The Soul King is the father of Yhwach.

Appearance
The Soul King is humanoid in physique, with slicked-back dark hair, oval eyes and very thin eyebrows. His eyes are very unusual, consisting of four black circles which can change alignment. He does not have any arms or legs beyond short stumps. The Soul King exists within an unusual barrier that is framed on either side by bright white curtains as the focus point of a large, elegant room.

Purpose and Duties
The Soul King's sole purpose is to regulate the flow of souls into and out of Soul Society and keep the flow stable. Without the Soul King, the balance is lost and everything that is linked to Soul Society or made in it, as well as the Dangai, Hueco Mundo and the Human World will fall apart. However, according to Yhwach, the result afterward is the unification of life and death and the creation of a world where people can live without the fear of death.

The Soul King is not involved in governing Soul Society, having given the full control of its government to the Central 46 and thus being uninvolved with the day-to-day affairs of Soul Society.

History
According to Ichibē Hyōsube, the Soul King bestowed him the title of "Monk Who Calls the Real Name".

At some point in history, the Soul King's limbs and organs were severed from his body. After that, he was sealed up and had restraints placed on his powers by the Shinigami.

The Thousand-Year Blood War arc
Shortly after the Royal Guard travel to the Seireitei and retrieve Ichigo Kurosaki and his Shinigami friends so they can heal and train in the Soul King Palace, the Soul King is approached by a retainer, who watches over the Soul King and inquires if he has awoken when the Soul King opens his eyes. A few days later, Yhwach, his son, arrives at the Soul King Palace and proceeds to slaughter many of the Soul King's vassals and subjects before arriving in the Soul King's room and stabbing him through the chest.

Soon afterward, Ichigo and his friends arrive in the room, where Yhwach reveals the Soul King's situation to them before claiming they are too late to do anything. When Ichigo attempts to help the king by pulling out Yhwach's sword, Blut Vene veins spread over his right side and force him to slash the Soul King across the torso. Yhwach explains Ichigo's actions by revealing that Quincy blood cannot tolerate the Soul King's existence.

As the lower half of the Soul King's body and containment pod fall to the ground, Yhwach explains to Ichigo how he forced Ichigo to attack him by giving the Reiatsu still present in his sword to him, which his blood reacted to. When Orihime attempts to revive the Soul King, her Sōten Kisshun shatters, prompting Yhwach to proclaim that the Soul King will never rise again.

However, in the Seireitei below, Jūshirō Ukitake, who was once saved by Mimihagi, the right hand of the Soul King, initiates Kamikake to save the Soul King's life at the cost of his own. Upon doing so, a large black hand bursts out of his orifices and ascends toward the palace, where it grabs the upper half of the Soul King's body. Shocked by this, Yhwach notes that Mimihagi is the one thing that his eyes cannot predict and demands to know if the Soul King is beginning to feel sentimental toward Soul Society after protecting it for all this time as the eye of Mimihagi begins to close.

Yhwach attempts to destroy both the Soul King and Mimihagi, but Ichigo stops him by grabbing his arm and dispelling his attack, allowing Yoruichi to leap past them and create a Kidō barrier around the Soul King with several seals. Yoruichi notes that Mimihagi has stabilized the king before proclaiming that they will have to replace him. However, when Yoruichi momentarily loses her concentration due to Uryū Ishida shooting her in the shoulder, the barrier shatters, sending the top half of the Soul King flying toward Yhwach, who rips Mimihagi off of it. After absorbing Mimihagi, Yhwach completely absorbs the Soul King.

Powers & Abilities
Immense Spiritual Power: The Soul King has an incomparably immense amount of Spiritual Power. When Yhwach, who possesses immense Reiryoku himself, absorbed the Soul King, the Quincy Emperor collapsed from the sheer strain and needed some time for his body to fully acclimate to it. During this period, the Soul King's Reiatsu kept pouring out of Yhwach to such a degree it manifested as countless "shadow creatures" that threatened to destroy the Seireitei. A further testament to the Soul King's power is that even two of his severed body parts retained enough Reiryoku for Yhwach to acknowledge them as members of his personal guard, the Schutzstaffel.

Ōken Bestowment: The Soul King is capable of granting those whom he chooses as members of the Royal Guard with the Ōken, a special tool that allows one to enter the dimension of the Soul King Palace whenever they wish. The king achieves this by literally turning the bones of those he selects as Royal Guard members into this Ōken.

Precognition: Like his son, Yhwach, the Soul King also has the ability to see into the future. Yhwach theorizes that the Soul King has already foreseen his death.

Weaknesses

 * Power Restraints: The Soul King has restraints placed upon him by the Shinigami, which prevents him from moving.

Sentient Body Parts
Various parts of the Soul King have been separated from the main body and attained sentience. They each have their own names, personalities, and abilities.

Trivia

 * In his first appearance in Chapter 519, the Soul King's silhouette appears to have arms and legs. In all subsequent appearances, his arms and legs are removed.
 * The Soul King, his body parts, and his son all have unusual eyes and many of them share an eye motif.
 * Pernida and Gerard both identify as Quincy. When Mayuri Kurotsuchi confronts Pernida about this, the left arm asserts it has always been a Quincy.
 * Despite being the supposed ruler of Soul Society, according to Jugram Haschwalth, the Soul King's true enemy none other than the Shinigami, who had sealed him. This is supported when a torrent of the Soul King's power attacks the Shinigami and ignores the nearby Quincy. Yhwach is perplexed by Mimihagi, who aids the Shinigami, and concludes that the Soul King's "will" is no longer in the right arm.
 * Sōsuke Aizen and Kisuke Urahara refer to the Soul King as a "thing" and an "it".

Appearances in Other Media
In Ryohgo Narita's novel Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, the Soul King's nature and backstory is greatly expanded upon. Read more...

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