Ran'Tao

is an anime-only character from the Bount arc.

Appearance
Ran'Tao is a youthful-looking woman with thin yellow-rimmed glasses, long brown hair usually hung up with a hairpin, and has brown eyes. In addition to the standard Shinigami attire, she also wears the a standard lab coat worn by the other Shinigami scientists. It has been stated by several characters that she greatly resembles Yoshino Sōma. It is explained that this is because Yoshino was an accidental partial clone of her from the early experiments that gave birth to the Bounts.

History
Ran'Tao was the leader of the research team that created the Bounts. Out of guilt for creating them, she tried to help the Bounts find a peaceful place to live free of persecution. When the order was made to exterminate the Bounts, she helped them escape to the Human World and later gave Jin Kariya an amulet which had the ability to unlock the Bount's full power.

The Soul Society sealed off her Shinigami powers as punishment, and she has since lived as an exile on its outskirts, carrying out small experiments to better utilize spiritual energy.

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

During the battle between Jin, Ichigo Kurosaki and Byakuya Kuchiki, Ran'Tao appears and leaves with Ichigo and Uryū Ishida. She explains the Bounts' creation to them and also that she had found a way to maintain her youth. While later succeeded somewhat in her goal, she needed to rest for a period of around 12 hours to maintain her appearance. When Ichigo and Uryū leave her hideout, she states that in order to fight she has to make preparations.

She later appears and tries to defeat Jin Kariya with a Kidō gun, but she fails and is saved by Uryū. During the battle between Uryū and Jin, Ran'Tao uses an amulet to attack Jin and temporarily seal off the Jōkaishō crest while instructing Uryū to fire a powerful arrow to kill Jin. Uryū does not use full force when shooting the arrow and fatally wounds Jin (who begins to recover by absorbing spiritual energy). Ran'Tao's spiritual pressure suddenly spirals out of control and nearly causes her death. Uryū again saves her by absorbing the excess pressure and fires it into the sky, causing the Quincy Bangle to disintegrate.

Afterwards Ichigo appears and leads Jin away. Ran'Tao then reveals that Jin plans to explode the Jōkaishō generators spread around the Seireitei which would destroy everything and everyone. She gives Tōshirō Hitsugaya a map to the locations of the generators before she passes out from over extensive use of her powers, she is taken to safety by Yasutora Sado, Orihime Inoue, and Uryū for treatment.

Ran'Tao appears again after the defeat of Jin Kariya. She is shown in her hideout with Yoruichi Shihōin treating the wounds of Gō Koga (the last remaining Bount).

Equipment

 * Kidō Gun: This weapon was developed by Ran'Tao. It functions similarly to a shotgun, the blasts fired are concentrated spheres of spiritual energy that can quite harmful as seen when Kariya had to dodge the attacks for fear of being hit.


 * Knife: The hairpin worn by Ran'Tao conceals a blade, which she uses to stab Kariya.

Powers & Abilities
Master Inventor: As a former head scientist of Soul Society, Ran'Tao is an immensely intelligent person, having created the Bounts by accident yet still having great understanding of their powers and abilities. Despite having limited tools to work with after being exiled, Ran'Tao has shown herself resourceful enough to still create various useful and effective devices including a "Kidō Gun" and a shock system to quickly heal injuries.

Kidō Expert: Before her powers were sealed, Ran'Tao demonstrated considerable skill in Kidō, being able to use at least mid-level Kidō without incantation.

Enhanced Youth: Even by Shinigami standards, Ran'Tao is considerably old. Through an unexplained procedure, she is able to maintain her youthful health and appearance at the cost of reduced stamina and requiring several additional hours of sleep a day.

Trivia

 * The pronunciation of the kanji of Ran'Tao's name is an approximation of the Chinese name Lándǎo rather than a Japanese name. The true Japanese pronunciation of the kanji 蘭島 would be Ranshima. Along with Soifon, this makes Ran'Tao one of the few known characters in Bleach with a non-Japanese name.