Tōshirō Hitsugaya

is the Captain of the 10th Division in the Gotei 13. His Lieutenant is Rangiku Matsumoto.

He was recently voted the most popular Bleach character in the 26 January 2008 Shonen Jump character polls. He won with 8278 votes, exceeding Rukia Kuchiki by 383 votes. In the Bleach-based film Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion, he is the lead character.

Character outline
Tōshirō Hitsugaya is very young by Soul Society standards. Born in the province of Jurin'an in the First District of West Rukongai, he became the youngest ever to graduate from the Shinigami Academy and subsequently rise to captain rank. Thus, many call him a "boy genius". He is short (because of his age) and has white hair, which tends to draw attention in the human world. He wears standard captain's garb, save for a green sash around his shoulders held together by a round clip, and sometimes walks around in his tabi. He is also one of two Shinigami that carry a Zanpakutō on their back, the other being Ichigo Kurosaki. Hitsugaya's short stature and the blade's length (about 120cm long) may explain the similar style. The sheath completely dissolves when he draws his sword.

Hitsugaya is generally mature and serious, in contrast to his free-spirited lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto. Despite their philosophical differences, he and Rangiku seem very close. Hitsugaya is shown to be easily annoyed by others goofing off or drawing unneeded attention to themselves, as he is when he leads a team of Shinigami into Ichigo Kurosaki's school. Hitsugaya hates anything that he deems childish and hates being described as something close to a child, an elementary school child for example, a further contrast to his appearance. This is shown more in the omake chapters of Bleach, such as the short comics in VJump and the sand castle contest chapter released along with chapter 238. He is also mistaken for a kid in several of the omake chapters, much to his annoyance. During the ending credits of the Sealed Sword Frenzy, he is in the human world and dressed in a young boy's school uniform, and Hinamori has to practically drag him out of hiding. He is overly protective of Momo Hinamori, due to the fact that they were old childhood friends. Hitsugaya dislikes summer and warm weather in general.

Hitsugaya gets easily annoyed when anyone (especially Momo Hinamori) refers to him by anything other than "Captain Hitsugaya". Hinamori sometimes calls him "Hitsugaya-kun," just to spike him and both she and Ukitake occasionally use "Shiro-chan" (シロちゃん) — a nickname meaning "Whitey" (Snowy in the English manga) in reference to his hair — in both cases without any repercussion. In the Shinigami Golden Cup sketches (omakes found at the end of episodes of Bleach), Jūshirō Ukitake comically gives Hitsugaya candy and other food because "Jūshirō" and "Tōshirō" sound similar and because they both have white hair, making them both "Shiro-chan." The first character in Hitsugaya's given name, Tōshirō, means "winter," which is appropriate given his white hair and ice type zanpakutō. Ichigo also calls Hitsugaya by his given name despite his protests, much to his annoyance, and making him one of three captains Ichigo refers to in this manner (the others being Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki).

Hitsugaya's intuition is extremely sharp, and he is one of few captains to correctly suspect Gin Ichimaru of foul play, though he understandably did not yet suspect Sōsuke Aizen of the same.

During his duel with Gin Ichimaru in the anime, Ichimaru remarks that Hitsugaya is the embodiment of a heavenly guardian that would be reincarnated once in a while. This is attributed to his given name Tōshirō, which literally means "son of the winter lion (dragon/metaphor for magnificence)".

History
Hitsugaya comes from the province of Junrin'an in the 1st District of West Rukongai. There, he lived with his grandmother and Momo Hinamori. He also meets Rangiku for the first time there.

As a child, Hitsugaya was a bit of a brat who likes to eat watermelons and poke fun at Hinamori. She calls him "Shiro-chan" (Lil' Shiro in the English dub) and he retorts by calling her "Bed-wetter Momo." The two are close friends and Hitsugaya, despite being younger and much shorter than his friend, always feels that he needs to protect her.

In the Bleach special chapter -15, a promotion of the movie The DiamondDust Rebellion, it is revealed that when Hinamori left to become a soul reaper he stays behind despite knowing about his power. Her friends from next door were scared of him though he does nothing to them, and doesn't visit or talk to him at all. "Granny" and Hinamori are the only ones in the district that weren't afraid of him. He was supposedly "cold as ice" or at least thought to be, and he often wondered if it was due to his appearance or attitude. After Momo had been in the academy for 5 years he began to notice how he hadn't grown an inch, while Hinamori's hair grew longer and she visited less often, seeming to have a goal in life now, and "Granny" was getting skinnier.



It was there that he met Rangiku Matsumoto. She yelled at a shop keeper who was being rude to him and them at him for "lying there crying about it and not standing up like a man" although it was her who knocked him down with her large breasts in the first place, but he shook her off and ran away, probably in embarassment. During that night he had a vivid dream of his zanpakutō's spirit not only calling out to him (like in previous nights), but actually materializing in front of him in the form of a large dragon, and trying to tell him its name, which was unfortunately muffled by the strong winds. Soon after, Rangiku was able to track him down and woke him up, telling him that his reiatsu was uncontrolled and leaking all over the place so it was causing Granny to freeze and get sicker, which may also explain why she got thinner. It was possible that if he stayed for too long while his reiatsu was still uncontrolled, he might kill, her and so Rangiku told him to become a shinigami in order to learn how to control his reiatsu.

He is also a friend of Jidanbō, the West Gate Keeper, who taught him the "city rules."

With Hitsugaya's natural talent, he quickly entered the shinigami Academy and graduated early despite his age. Hinamori continued to call him "Shiro-chan" out of habit and felt she needed to protect him. Because of a promise she had made, she only began to call him "Hitsugaya-kun" after he had achieved his zanpakutō's shikai and was recognized as a shinigami. Highly capable and knowledgeable, he quickly became the youngest of the captains within the Gotei 13 in the entire history of Soul Society.

Soul Society arc
Introduced along with the rest of the Gotei 13, Hitsugaya's sharp sense of intuition and keen sense of observation leads him to suspect 3rd Division captain Gin Ichimaru of foul play as the circumstances surrounding the coming execution of Rukia Kuchiki become more complicated. He warns Hinamori of these suspicions, which inspires her to attack Gin following Aizen's murder, leading him to lock both her and Izuru Kira in prison. Hitsugaya also warns Gin that if he causes Hinamori to drop even a single drop of blood he will kill him, culminating in a short battle between the two. Hitsugaya manages to freeze Gin's arm before Matsumoto interrupts and breaks it up. Seeing how destructive Rukia's execution is becoming, Hitsugaya tries to stop the execution by appealing to the Central 46 Chambers, only to discover all 46 members are dead and Aizen is responsible for murdering them, having faked his death. When Hitsugaya discovers Hinamori injured and asks Aizen why he did it, Aizen replies that he was being compassionate and states that admiration is the furthest thing from understanding. Hitsugaya tries to kill him, but ends up just as wounded as Hinamori.

Bount arc
During the anime Bount filler arc, Hitsugaya later sends several shinigami to fend off the Bount in Karakura Town. When the Bount infiltrate Soul Society, he, along with Renji and Matsumoto, investigate reports of Bount activity in a forest in Rukongai. The Bount, however, are gone by the time they reach the forest. Hitsugaya later has a battle with the Bount Gō Koga, whom he easily defeats thanks to the advantages his style of combat holds over Koga's. Though he assumes the Bount to be dead, Koga survives.

Arrancar arc
Hitsugaya later leads a group of shinigami assigned to defend Karakura Town against the arrancar threat. During the first attack, he battles Shawlong Kufang. Though heavily injured, he wins after being allowed to remove his power limit. Hitsugaya then has a conversation with Hinamori through video-conference. Hinamori apologizes to Hitsugaya about pointing her sword at him, Hitsugaya tells not to worry about it. After bickering, they start talking about Aizen. Hinamori, who still cares for her former captain, begs Hitsugaya to save Aizen, thinking that Gin is manipulating him somehow. Angered by the fact that Hinamori is still devoted to Aizen, despite what he did to her, Hitsugaya hopes for revenge. During the second attack, he fends off Luppi. Though initially unable to defend against Luppi's attacks, being knocked to the ground in a single hit, Luppi's inattentiveness gives him ample time to build up a finishing move. Luppi escapes death and promises to kill Hitsugaya in turn; however, he is later murdered by Grimmjow. Upon learning that Orihime has followed the arrancar back to Hueco Mundo, Hitsugaya and his team return to Soul Society to help in the preparation for the war against Aizen.

Fake Karakura arc
When Aizen along with his top three Espada attack the fake Karakura Town, Hitsugaya along with his lieutenant and the rest of the of the Gotei 13 Captains currently not in Hueco Mundo are seen awaiting for Aizen's arrival. He and Matsumoto are currently fighting Halibel and her fracción, then Matsumoto takes on all three Fraccion while Hitsugaya prepares to face Halibel alone.

Zanpakutō
' is the strongest of all water-ice element zanpakutō'' in Soul Society. When sealed, Hyōrinmaru looks like a normal Katana with the exception of the guard, which is in the shape of a four-pointed star. It is about 1.4 meters long, which is as tall as Hitsugaya himself. Its hilt and sheath light blue.




 * Shikai: Hyōrinmaru's release command is '''. In its shikai, Hyōrinmaru extends slightly in length, and gains a crescent-shaped blade attached to its hilt by a long metal chain.


 * Shikai Special Ability: Hyōrinmaru allows Hitsugaya to control water and ice. His slashes create an immense amount of spirit power which overflows from the tip of the blade, creating a flow of ice shaped like a Chinese dragon. The dragon flies at opponents and instantly freezes anything it touches. The chain-blade also freezes anything Hitsugaya traps with it. The power it expels is so overwhelming that in Soul Society (where Hitsugaya is not placed under a limiter), its mere release affects the weather within the immediate vicinity, creating a thunderstorm or a blizzard.


 * Bankai: ''': causes ice to flow from Hyōrinmaru onto Hitsugaya, forming into a long tail, two large wings which enable him to fly, and his 4-pointed star hilt changes into an 8 star one. Ice also forms into a dragon's head around his sword hand, encasing it up to the hilt; which is in the shape of an eight-pointed star. His left arm is covered completely by ice from his shoulders and his hand ends in claws, with his fingers encased inside. Hitsugaya's feet are encased in ice in a similar manner to his left arm. His shoulders are also partly encased in ice sprouting from his back and wings. Three flowers of ice, each consisting of four purple petals shaped like diamonds, are also created behind Hitsugaya, which melt away petal by petal as Hitsugaya's battle progresses, and when he executes powerful attacks. Hyōrinmaru is also the strongest of all the ice type zanpakutō.


 * Bankai Special Ability: Hyōrinmaru's bankai has several special techniques.




 * ''': When Hitsugaya stabs his opponents, a huge burst of ice erupts from the point of contact between Hyōrinmaru and the opponents, encasing and freezing them. Hitsugaya can then proceed to shatter the ice and his opponent with it.


 * ''': Hitsugaya creates many ice pillars which encircle him and his enemy. At his command (when he turns his sword 90 degrees clockwise), these pillars then move towards the enemy, enveloping and crushing it. Though this technique is very powerful, Hitsugaya speculates that it takes a considerable amount of time to prepare, and therefore the distraction his enemy is crucial in successfully completing this attack.


 * Enhanced Ice Dragon: As seen in the movie Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion, Hitsugaya can release a more powerful form of his shikai attack during bankai. Instead of creating just a dragon's head attached to a long serpentine tail of ice, Hitsugaya can create a full-fledged dragon with wings matching his own, which can fly independently and encircle his opponents, constricting and crushing them before biting them.


 * Enhanced Ice Defense: Hitsugaya's wings are capable of wrapping around himself like a sphere to protect him from any attacks.

During a battle with Hitsugaya, where Hitsugaya was fighting under a power limit, the Arrancar Shawlong speculates that Hitsugaya's bankai will fade when all twelve petals disappear, assuming that Hitsugaya's bankai is incomplete due to his young age. During his fight with Luppi, the temporary Sexta Espada, however, Hitsugaya states that as long as there is water in the surrounding area or in the atmosphere, his bankai can regenerate itself indefinitely, during which time the flowers are not visible.

In other media
Hitsugaya appears in the second Bleach movie, Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion, as one of the two main characters. When the "King's Seal," an ancient artifact, is stolen, Hitsugaya goes out in search of the thieves. After crossing paths with and fighting them, he goes missing, leading Seireitei to suspect him of treachery. As Ichigo Kurosaki and others go out in search of Hitsugaya, Hitsugaya himself stumbles across a dark secret concerning a long-dead shinigami.

Hitsugaya has been a playable character in every Bleach-related video game released so far, the only exceptions being Bleach: Heat the Soul. Often times, he's playable in several different forms, such as his shikai and bankai and even in a gigai. In Bleach: Heat the Soul 4, Hitsugaya is also playable in his school uniform.



He is one of only three Bleach characters to appear in two Bleach Beat Collection albums, the others being Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo Kurosaki. The first one was a compilation album with Momo Hinamori and his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto where he sang This Light I See. The second one was also a compilation album, this time with the protagonist, Ichigo Kurosaki where he sang Bleach the Limitation.