Kensei Muguruma

is a Vizard and a previous Captain of the Gotei 13. He served as the 9th Division Captain with his Lieutenant Mashiro Kuna.

Appearance
Kensei a tall muscular man with sharp features, short light-gray/silver hair and golden eyes (brown in the anime). He has a 69 tattoo on his chest (the "6" for his last name, "Muguruma", which uses the kanji for "6" in it; the "9" for 9th Division), which the young Shūhei Hisagi saw and later copied by tattooing his face with the same number. During his time as a captain, he wore a standard but customized shihakusho with a rope belt and a sleeveless kimono and haori with black gloves.

Currently his attire is a blue and white basketball jersey with green cargo pants as well as black combat boots and orange fingerless gloves. In the manga his shirt is shown slightly differently, as it appears black with a white and orange outline. He has also acquired a series of golden piercings in his time as a vizard, one in his eyebrow and three on his left ear. He bears a small resemblance to Jin Kariya of the Bounts.

Personality
Unlike some of the other Vizard, Kensei is portrayed as a much more serious character, often angry at the others for their immaturity. This anger is seen when Orihime infiltrates the Vizard's hideout, asking "where is the bathroom" and subsequently saying "just kidding," resulting in Lisa and Rose calming him down. A skilled and respected battlefield commander, he has a rather brutal fighting style quite often blasting his opponents apart. When outside of battle he has a blunt and slightly aggressive attitude, trying to cheer up a tearful Hisagi in a manner reminiscent of an army drill sergeant, though he seems more passive as a Vizard. He is most frequently irritated by his former lieutenant Mashiro Kuna due to her childish airheaded manner, and once noted that she had the uncanny ability to aggravate him even when asleep. Kensei is also very keen when watching a fight, noticing just how scared Ichigo was to call out his power.

History
Approximately 110 years ago, Kensei was the captain of the 9th division with Kuna Mashiro serving as his lieutenant, though she easily annoyed him due her childish behavior. He attended the promotion ceremony of the 2nd Division's 3rd Seat Urahara Kisuke to 12th Division Captain. 9 years later during an investigation of mysterious disappearances in Rukongai, Captain Kensei came across a young Hisagi, who's family was apparently killed by a giant hollow. He easily defeated the hollow, and attempted to cheer up the small boy, telling him to "SMILE!" Hisagi would never forget the captain after this event. During the night his entire group was attacked and he was stabbed from behind by Kaname Tōsen. Following this he appeared as a half Hollow and attacked Hiyori Sarugaki, and Shinji Hirako after protecting her. Upon injuring his friend Lisa Yadomaru, another friend of Kensei's, Rōjūrō Otoribashi, stated the Kensei he knew was not the sort of weakling that would attack a woman. He was then restrained by Hachigen Ushōda's Level 99 Kidō Spell. Unfortunately the rest of his friends are cut down by Kaname Tosen, leaving Shinji the only one conscious. He and the others were eventually saved from turning into Hollows by the timely arrival of Kisuke Urahara and Tessai (the current Kido Captain.) Although the Hougyouku stopped the process of Hollowfication, Kensei would be forever changed by this event. Kensei and the rest of the now Vizard escaped to the real world using Gigais created by Urahara, and have been in hiding ever since.

Arrancar Arc
When Ichigo Kurosaki came to the Vizard's hideout in order to learn how to suppress his inner hollow, Kensei noted that during his short fight with Shinji that he was too scared to call out his hollow, even referring to him as a punk. After Kurosaki proved the strength of his hollow, the Vizard agreed to "pound the way to suppressing his hollow into the core of his soul," resulting in Ichigo's full hollow transformation within the underground area of their hideout. He was the second Vizard to keep Ichigo at bay after Lisa Yadomaru's turn was over, protecting her from his last lunge. The two sparred with Kensei clearly having the upper hand, however a Half-hollow Ichigo surprised him by creating a monster-like entity out of his arm, forcing Kensei to use Tachikaze's special ability. Overall he did not have much trouble against the berserker. Kensei, along with the rest of the Vizard oversaw Ichigo's endurance training after Kurosaki's hollow was defeated. Later on Orihime slipped through Hachi's special barrier around the hideout, shocking everyone as she was only a mere human. Kensei was also visibly angry when she joked around, revealing his lack of humor in the situation. Muguruma was last seen reluctantly letting Ichigo go to fight the arrancar invading Karakura under Shinji's order.

Fake Karakura Arc
The "Turn Back the Pendulum" mini-series is a story that takes place over one hundred years ago (see above), but it is told during the Fake Karakura Arc. After the events of the past are seen, Kensei is seen with the rest of the Vizard prepared for battle, about to leave their hideout. Who's side Kensei and the others are on has yet to be seen, as Shinji stated they were "indebted to both Kisuke and Aizen."

Powers & Abilities
Master Swordsmanship: The fact that Kensei can still fight effectively with his blade at close-range when it sealed and shikai forms are smaller than most zanpakutō, as shown that he could take on hollow Ichigo(using his bankai) during the vizard's training is a testament to his skill. Unlike the rest of the vizards, Kensei seems to prefer using the skills and powers he obtained as a Shinigami.

Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Despite the skill and power he has in is zanpakutō. Kensei takes more pride in his hand-to-hand combat prowess, which can be seen in his physique. During Ichigo's transformation into a hollow, Kensei was able to knocked him away a good distance with just an elbow strike. He then dodged all of a transforming Ichigo's attacks, despite his use of Tensa Zangetsu, and manages to kick him. The only times he uses Tachikaze in this fight are when he cuts Ichigo once, and then twice more to fire his spiritual energy. Kensei relies more on his hand-to-hand prowess, and less on his swordplay, making him a very strong combatant.

Zanpakutō

 * When sealed, it is shown as a short katana with a rectangular guard in an 'H' shape and white hilt weaving.


 * Shikai: Kensei's Shikai is triggered by the command ,Send 'em flying during the "turn back the pendulum mini-series, in which air currents swirl around Kensei in a circle up to his Tachikaze. It then transforms into a survival/combat knife with a black guard and small ring on the hilts blunt edge.
 * Shikai Special Ability: While in this form, Kensei demonstrates the ability to manipulate wind while mixing it with his spiritual energy for devastating effects. Making slashes which allows him to release transparent air blades to cut enemies from a distance. It appears to be quite powerful, easily destroying a giant hollow with one blast and blowing off the arm of Ichigo's hollow form. He is also able to charge up spiritual energy with the blade and direct as a blast capable of great damage. In the video games, his fighting style resembles that of Western boxing combined with Tachikaze.


 * Bankai: Not Yet Revealed

Hollowfication
Kensei is unique among the Vizard so far in that he seems to prefer his Shinigami abilities over his Hollow powers. His hollow self is a large bulky humanoid with armored hands and feet and with a number of thick cylindrical protrusions on its back and forearms.

Vizard
Hollow Mask: His hollow mask resembles a flat hockey face guard with six slitted eye holes in two columns and extensions which frame his head.


 * Power Augmentation: During his hollow metamorphosis, Kensei used his zanpakutō's special ability very efficiently. One of his energy blasts was enough to greatly injure Love Aikawa (his fellow captain.) It seems that his hollow powers increase this special ability explosively, creating enormous blasts by comparison to the already large blasts Kensei can fire.

Quotes

 * "I'm Muguruma Kensei, and I'm gonna crush you."
 * "Are we seriously considering accepting this kid?!"
 * "Blow it away, Tachikaze!"