Mayuri Kurotsuchi

"Researcher with killing intent." - Tite Kubo

is the captain of the 12th Division in the Gotei 13 and 2nd president of the Shinigami Research Institute. His lieutenant is Nemu Kurotsuchi, his artificially-created "daughter".

Appearance
Mayuri's appearance has a skeletal-like look to it with a skull-like visage. His face is painted entirely white with the inner portion of his face painted black with the exception of his nose. His eyes are a golden color and he constantly bares his teeth giving the appearance of him constantly smiling. Both his ears are seemingly replaced with stubbed golden cones. His fingernails are blue and, with the exception of the fingernail on his right middle finger, are all short. The one long fingernail is as long as the finger itself. He also wears a white hat with two ends that point to his right and a large purple scarf around his neck. His whole body, even his face and hands, has been painted black and white. He repaints his make-up every morning, as he always removes it before going to bed.

Without his makeup, Mayuri has blue hair and honey gold eyes. He has small, slatted portcullises with multiple earrings in place of where his ears would be, and his body is covered in scars.

Upon entering Hueco Mundo, Mayuri reveals a new look: his face paint had changed with him creating a black cross upon the center of his face covering everything but his nose and a small portion of his lower chin. His ear attachments have become shorter and rounder but wider, his chin has a long golden attachment reminiscent of an Egyptian Pharaoh beard, his teeth have become a golden color, and he no longer wears a hat as there is a golden frame around his face. His hair is also styled into "horns," that slope down from the top of his head and frame his face, which when viewed from the front looks much like a Pharaoh's crown.

17 months after Aizen's defeat, Mayuri displays another new look. The black face paint covers much of his face, leaving thin white lines going up his face and a white nose. He wears a long, golden headdress which curves back to his mid back. Underneath his chin are two opposite facing strands from the mask. On the backside of the headdress the Twelfth Division symbol is painted.

Following the first invasion by the Wandenreich, Mayuri dons a bright white overcoat with many ridges on the front. The overcoat also has a hood that has many protrusions that give the appearance of a sun. The shoes he wears has changed to be a plain white pair with the shoes splitting into opposite points at the toe.

110 years ago, Mayuri's appearance was similar to his current appearances, but with minimal details. He was still largely painted white except for the black paint which was arranged around his eyes like a large domino mask. He had gold cones covering his ears and blue hair combed back on the top of his head.

Personality
Mayuri Kurotsuchi is a researcher and personifies the stereotype of the mad scientist. By his early actions during the Ryoka Invasion, he is displayed as sadistic and cruel. He sees everyone and everything not as a living being, but as an object to be researched—including himself. He has little respect or regard for most others, and was even willing to turn his own men (who were not aware of his plans) into living bombs in an attempt to capture Uryū Ishida and Orihime Inoue for experimentation. He also withheld vital information about the Bounts from the other Shinigami in order to capture one as a research subject for himself. However, while he usually shows disregard for life, he has been known to warn people of possible dangers when they present themselves. As a scientist, Mayuri despises perfection, as he believes that achieving such a state leaves him with absolutely nothing more to strive for — namely imagination, knowledge and improvements — which would result in nothing but despair; because of this, he derided Szayelaporro Granz for claiming to be a "perfect life form".

It is known that Mayuri's favorite food is pike fish, and that he does not like onion. One of his free-time activities is reading every character published in Seireitei Communication. He himself publishes a serialization in the journal, titled "Effective Medication for the Brain", which apparently contains detailed instructions on preparation of medicine and their application. Surprisingly, it is highly popular among the readers.

In battle, Mayuri likes to toy with his opponent, torturing them little by little until they can hardly stand. This was shown in both the fight with Uryū and his Espada counterpart Szayelaporro. Every time he fights he uses it as an experiment testing himself and his opponent little by little. He also uses it as an opportunity to implant microbes or other things in case they get away. Before engaging, though, he will make extensive research on his possible opponents to tilt the chance of winning in his favor. It is seen that, before the Winter War, he is busy reading in the library with a note on the door saying, "Enter and Die." He's shown to be doing this every time before he fights, against both the Bounts and the Espada.

While Mayuri holds life in disregard in favor of his research, he does believe in his duties as a member of the Gotei 13, and that all members of the organization are to be prepared to give up their lives in order to protect the Seireitei. To this end, he would gladly cut down any former comrades, even if they are under the enemy's control, test many of his experimental drugs on such comrades for the sake of his research which he believes to be the sake of the Seireitei, and even force his zombified fellow captains to become his minions to fight to their last breath for the sake of Gotei 13 and Soul Society, as opposed to killing them out of mercy.

History
Little is known about the early history of Mayuri, except that 110 years ago, he was the only prisoner in the Maggot's Nest who was considered dangerous enough to necessitate confinement in a small prison cell, chained to the wall by his ankle. He would, however, one day be visited by Kisuke Urahara who was seeking his genius to become vice-president in the newly thought-of Shinigami Research and Development Institute, a request that would automatically get him out of there. At first Mayuri refused, until Kisuke began teasing him with the fact that he had nothing to tinker with down there and that, as vice-president, he would inherit everything should something happen to Urahara.

At some point, Mayuri read a book detailing the functions of the arms of the Soul King, where he learned that the right arm is in charge of "stopping" while the left arm is in charge of "advancing".

9 years later, Mayuri was seen with Kisuke Urahara and Hiyori Sarugaki walking through the Seireitei when they were greeted by 5th Division Captain Shinji Hirako and his Lieutenant Sōsuke Aizen. Mayuri showed a distaste for Shinji as he refused to call Mayuri by his full name and only called him by his first, which was too familiar for Mayuri's liking. He seemingly was uninterested in the conversation between Urahara and Aizen who was explaining that the 9th Division had been sent on a special investigation to find out what was happening with the disappearances in the Rukongai.

During her brief time as a member of the institute, Hiyori served as a lab manager, which resulted in clashes with Mayuri, who was then 3rd Seat & Vice-President of the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, over who had more authority under the captain. The two constantly got into an ongoing argument about who was in charge, prompting Hiyori to call in Urahara. He explained to her that with the disappearances occurring he had created a new type of Gigai. Before Hiyori could respond they were interrupted by the arrival of Tōdō Izaemon, the 6th Seat of the 9th Division. Urahara agreed to send a researcher over to the investigation site as per the request of Captain Kensei Muguruma of the 9th Division. Urahara elected Hiyori to go to the site, to which she became irritated and asked why he couldn't send someone less important, referring to lab assistant Akon. He questioned if she should continue being a lieutenant prompting Hiyori to attack him, though he simply dodged her. Though reluctant, Hiyori gave in once Urahara explained that she was the only one that he could trust with the task.

After an incident that got Urahara and Tessai Tsukabishi banished and several captains and seated officers Hollowfied, Mayuri later succeeded Urahara in leading the Research and Development Institute, as well becoming captain of the 12th Division of the Gotei 13.

Years later, after the issue of Shinigami being killed in Naruki City was solved, Mayuri listened to Isshin Shiba's report about his findings in a captains' meeting. Although the Captain-Commander was willing to overlook Isshin's violation of rules, Mayuri expressed his displeasure at how Isshin couldn't bring back the "Mysterious Hollow's" body.

He also experimented on Quincy, including Sōken Ishida, Uryū's master and grandfather, in his studies. He was disappointed to learn that Uryū was a Quincy because he considered his study of the Quincy complete and did not want any further Quincy specimens.

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

Arrancar arc
Mayuri is seen when Yamamoto calls him alongside the other Gotei 13 captains for an emergency meeting.

The New Captain Shūsuke Amagai arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

Hueco Mundo arc
Mayuri later appears in Hueco Mundo to assist Renji Abarai and Uryū Ishida in dealing with Szayelaporro Granz alongside his lieutenant, Nemu.

Szayelaporro attempts to use his Resurrección's voodoo ability and, at first, seemed to have easily beaten Mayuri. Suddenly, Mayuri stands up and taunts Szayelaporro which causes the Espada to continue to destroy organs, but this time it has no effect. As it turns out, Mayuri had taken precautions against this ability by implanting himself with fake organs, having studied the technique beforehand using data from bacteria he implanted within Uryū during their last battle (much to Uryū's annoyance). Szayelaporro then takes Nemu captive, but Mayuri releases his Bankai and devours Szayelaporro with it. Szayelaporro uses the rebirth power of his Resurrección to recreate himself inside Nemu, but in doing so is affected by chemicals contained inside Nemu's body. Mayuri is highly intrigued by this new power, and requests to see what other powers his opponent has. To give him what he asked for, Szayelaporro uses his possession ability to control Mayuri's Bankai, but Mayuri already had countermeasures set in place for just that possibility; his Bankai self-destructs, reverting to its sealed state.

Mayuri, disappointed at Szayelaporro's lack of any further abilities, explains that by recreating himself inside Nemu, Szayelaporro is now dosed with a sense-enhancing chemical that he instantly names a 'superhuman drug', as it were. The drug increases Szayelaporro's senses to the point that his body falls grossly behind and cannot move, paralyzing him as seconds become centuries. Mayuri then berates Szayelaporro for his statement as a scientist that he was the perfect being. He then proceeds to pierce Szayelaporro's hand and continues to slowly thrust his Zanpakutō through to Szayelaporro's heart, wishing him a pleasant eternity, before breaking off the blade as the ultimate torture for Szayelaporro and also as punishment for his Zanpakutō striking at its master.

After searching for Szayelaporro's laboratory throughout the rubble, he realizes that he cannot ask Nemu for help. Musing that she is such a "pain in the ass", he revives Nemu with rather odd and possibly very explicit means and has her dig out Szayelaporro's laboratory, within which are a pair of bodies suspended from the ceiling. After this he continues to heal Uryū and Renji, the latter being healed first so he could go and help in the other concurrent fights. Once he is finished healing Uryū, he gives him an anti-Arrancar mine that he invented.

Fake Karakura Town arc
When Byakuya Kuchiki tells Ichigo Kurosaki to go back to Karakura Town, Ichigo complains that he could not get back that easily on his own, and that Kisuke Urahara was not there to open the Garganta. Mayuri then suddenly appears behind the group with Nemu pushing a loaded wagon behind him and complains about the fact that Ichigo is constantly fixated on Urahara. He then notes how Ichigo used no honorifics to address him, but muses about the fact that he was better than Byakuya and Kenpachi, whom Ichigo would only address using their given names.

Byakuya takes notice of his unusually lenient mood and asks if it has something to do with the wagon behind him. Mayuri confirms this and tells him that he is in a good mood because, not only has he found some "spoils of war", but at the same place he was also able to analyze the structure of the Garganta. When Ichigo questions his statement, Mayuri begins to rant about what he had learned and orders Nemu to make preparations to send the substitute Shinigami to the Human world. When Ichigo further complains, Mayuri explains to Ichigo that this process was an experiment, and that Ichigo is "Test Subject Number 1" and therefore, he has no right to refuse or to accept.

Retsu Unohana then arrives and says she'll accompany Ichigo back. Mayuri is surprised that she'd offer to be a test subject too, but she smiles and says that she has faith in him and that she believes the experiment will be a success. Besides that, if Mayuri failed to make a Garganta, even after analyzing information found in Hueco Mundo, then Urahara would laugh at him. Mayuri reminds her that he could close the Garganta during the transfer, which she merely acknowledges as being true. Unohana only says that she expects no less. He then opens the Garganta to let both Ichigo and Unohana through. Before Ichigo leaves with Unohana, Ichigo tells Mayuri how he is similar to Kisuke, which infuriates him. After Ichigo leaves, Mayuri comments to himself how fascinating Ichigo is and how he will formulate a plan to torment Ichigo. Byakuya then asks Mayuri why he didn't go to the Human World as well. Mayuri merely replies that there are multiple more interesting specimens in Hueco Mundo and will simply use the Garganta after the war to study the Living World more. Byakuya then suggests that Mayuri has faith in Ichigo's abilities to end the war.

Mayuri oversees the checking of the pillars to determine if they are all free of anomalies. As check is completed he initiates the activation of the world shifting bond posts. He is interrupted by one of his subordinates who tells him that he needs to wait as there are Shinigami in the town and a material world transfer without the aid of a Senkai gate is dangerous. Mayuri decides that he will give them time and count to ten as his subordinate calls for every Shinigami to get out of town before they are killed. Later, Mayuri begins doing regular research in Hueco Mundo.

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

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

Gotei 13 Invading Army arc (anime only)
Note: Events occurring in this arc are only in the anime and do not constitute canon material.

The Lost Substitute Shinigami arc
Mayuri is one of two captains who didn't come to the meeting at First Division barracks.

Powers & Abilities


Genius Intellect: Mayuri Kurotsuchi is the most intelligent, scientific, and inventive mind in Soul Society.


 * Master Scientist/Inventor: As the head of the Shinigami Research Institute, Mayuri is a talented inventor and scientist, having created a number of devices and techniques to aid him in battle.


 * Master Chemist: Being the current head of the Research and Development Institute, Mayuri is an adept chemist.


 * Master Strategist: Mayuri has a talent for being well prepared. He takes many precautions before engaging in personal combat with an adversary, usually studying them through his various methods. He always has a contingency plan if something doesn't work out the way he expects.

Body Modification Expert: Mayuri has done extensive research on modifying bodies, and he has upgraded a variety of his own body parts to function as weapons and provide him with useful abilities. In addition, he can also restructure his own body in an extremely short period of time if necessary, such as when he rearranged the contents of his arm in order to prevent Pernida Parnkgjas from controlling it.


 * : When Mayuri stabs himself with his Zanpakutō while in its sealed state, it shifts him into a liquid form. Doing so doesn't kill him, as it is a last resort technique, but instead simply leaves him unable to attack or be attacked, making it an effective escape tool. He can move around and speak in this form. He reforms after a few days, but without any of his previous body modifications. This ability is a result of the extensive amount of experimentation he has performed on himself.


 * : His left arm can extend out like a grappling hook. When the arm is attacked it explodes on impact, but with his regenerative serum, this is not a problem (though it does cause him serious pain).


 * Hidden Kusarigama: He is able to pull part of his ear out to form a scythe, attached to a rope-like ligament, for use as a kusarigama. It is easily as sharp as a standard Zanpakutō, and he is quite skilled in its use.


 * : Another one of Mayuri's abilities, likely achieved scientifically, is his ability to meld with the color and texture of the environment. He used it while attempting to track the Ryoka in Soul Society. When he reveals himself, the topical camouflage flakes away.


 * Organ Replacement Surgery: Most impressively, he has demonstrated the ability to replace functional internal organs with false ones, a feat he performs on himself and his lieutenant to safeguard them from injury. This particular operation is conceived of and carried out in the span of less than an hour.


 * Tracking Expert: He has stated that he merely needs a strand of a person's hair to find them. By using a simple chemical process, he can discern the location of the person in question, using their DNA as a reference.

Expert Swordsman: While not as proficient in swordsmanship as some other captains, Mayuri is skilled enough to hold his own in a fight. His expertise with his Zanpakutō lies in his effective use of its abilities while in either Shikai or Bankai, rather than his swordsmanship skill. He relies on those abilities, or his pre-planned strategies, rather than actually engaging in melee combat with his opponent. Mayuri seems to be ambidextrous, as he wields his Zanpakutō in his right hand and his scythe-ear in his left (often simultaneously). During the Bount Invasion, he briefly wields his Zanpakutō left-handed as well.

Kidō Expert: According to Shunsui Kyōraku, Mayuri is one of the most proficient Kidō users in Soul Society. He can release a destructive form of Kidō silently from the palms of his hands, blasting holes through walls, and instantly create Kidō barriers to protect others.

Shunpo Expert: Mayuri was shown easily outmaneuvering Uryū Ishida's use of the Quincy Hirenkyaku technique to set up a surprise attack. Mayuri points out that Shunpo can counter Hirenkyaku but that it's very tiring for him. He was not fast enough to outmaneuver with Uryū when he entered the Quincy: Letzt Stil, making him at least an expert in the technique. He dodged a close-range attack from Tōshirō Hitsugaya by moving behind him almost instantaneously.

Great Spiritual Power: As the captain of the 12th Division, Mayuri boasts a great amount of spiritual power. He is noted to having amazing spiritual pressure that comes in waves. His Reiatsu is pink.

Enhanced Endurance: Mayuri has a high tolerance towards pain and damage. In his fight against Uryū Ishida, he survived having almost half of his body blown off.

Zanpakutō
Ashisogi Jizō redirects here. For the manifested spirit that appears in the Zanpakutō Unknown Tales arc and the Beast Swords arc see Ashisogi Jizō (Zanpakutō spirit).


 * Mayuri's Zanpakutō's guard is wrapped in cloth, and has several spiky protrusions sticking out right below the blade, which appear to resemble leaves. The hilt is pink. Unlike most Shinigami, his Zanpakutō's sheath hangs directly in front of him, instead of to his side as they are commonly worn, through a visibly modified hook on the end of the hilt of Ashisogi Jizō. At some point during the Quincy Blood War, Mayuri installed a sensor in Ashisogi Jizō that causes it to automatically block all sword attacks within two feet of his body at an angle of sixty degrees or greater.


 * Shikai: Ashisogi Jizō's Shikai command is . Ashisogi Jizō's blade glows and transforms into a deformed trident with curved, serpentine blades. The middle blade is straighter and longer than the side blades, and appears to ascend from the guard, which is shaped like a baby's head with hands clasped in prayer (as Ksitigarbha is depicted), all mounted on his sword's normal hilt, which has more ornate spiky protrusions on either side, which resemble golden leaves right below the guard. The baby's mouth secretes a poisonous vapor in this form at various intervals.


 * Shikai Special Ability: The weapon works like the venom of a spider bite; when an opponent is stabbed by Ashisogi Jizō, it severs the brain signals controlling the neural impulses for movement in the limbs of the victim, regardless of where they were struck. But, unlike regular paralysis, the pain receptors and nerve endings are unaffected by the weapon, so the victim can still feel pain, even in a paralyzed limb. Healing the stab wound does not immediately remove the inflicted paralysis.


 * Mayuri sticks his finger in one eye of the baby's head, causing it to begin leaking a dark fluid while the baby opens its mouth to scream. Anyone not of Mayuri's blood who hears the scream for 4 seconds will be paralyzed. In contrast to Ashisogi Jizō 's initial ability of only stopping the neural impulses of movement, this technique completely paralyzes everything biological.


 * Bankai: : The baby's head on the guard opens its mouth as it produces a giant creature with the body of a caterpillar in a red cape, with a grotesque golden baby's head and arms, and a silver halo hovering around its head. Near the back of the halo are 4 bells, 2 on each side. While in this form, his Zanpakutō returns to its sealed state. It emits its own red Reiatsu upon release. In this state, the creature seems to follow Mayuri's verbal commands. While using his Bankai, Mayuri's Reiatsu turns red.


 * Bankai Special Ability: The creature breathes a poisonous derivative of Mayuri's blood, which is lethal to anyone who breathes it, aside from Mayuri and Nemu. The poison spreads through an area of about 200m around Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō, and it is almost impossible to avoid. The poison of Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō poison is very potent, as Szayelaporro's body started to break down immediately after it was introduced. The poison has an antidote, which Nemu keeps behind her lieutenant's badge, and which Mayuri keeps on his person. Mayuri can change the composition of the poison as well, ensuring that no foolproof antidote can ever be manufactured to cure it, and no immunity is developed against it. Even if the opponent does not breathe, the poison will still enter their body. So far, the only way to remain unaffected by the poison is to repel it with a sufficient amount of Reiatsu. Anyone within the vicinity of the person repelling the poison will also be unaffected.


 * Retractable Blades: Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō can produce numerous blades which extend from its chest, allowing it to run through and skewer opponents. This, when used simultaneously with its poison, makes Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō particularly lethal to anyone that cannot keep a safe distance, which is in turn difficult due to its immense size. In addition to creating blades, it can also apparently devour an opponent after it charges into them, killing them. (Unnamed)


 * Self-Destruct Protocol: Mayuri has also physically modified Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō itself so it will self-destruct and return to its sealed state if it attacks him. (Unnamed)


 * Modified Bankai: : When necessary, Mayuri can unleash a modified form of his Bankai. This takes the form of an enormous, heavyset, dark-skinned baby dressed in a white loincloth and with white fabric covering its pectorals. It has a misshapen head with completely white eyes, which is adorned with two branches of a balancing scale holding up large boxes, and its belly has a large vertical gash in the center with kanji written on either side. The baby rests on a large pile of thick umbilical cords with visible veins.


 * Modified Bankai Special Ability: Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō: Makai Fukuin Shōtai can create modified versions of Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō with the information and data Mayuri sends to it; this allows it to counter specific abilities of Mayuri's opponents. When fighting Pernida Parnkgjas, Mayuri had it create a Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō that had nerves on the surface of its body, which, though causing it intense pain simply by coming into contact with the air and ground, allowed it to effectively resist Pernida's The Compulsory because its nerves were divided into 70000 layers, each one of which would peel off if Pernida's nerves entered it.

Appearance in other media
Mayuri appears in most Bleach games, such newer games like Bleach: Versus Crusade and Bleach: Heat the Soul 7 have him playable in his Hueco Mundo appearance. Some games also have him with Nemu as an assist character.

He is seen in Bleach: The Diamond Dust Rebellion and Bleach: Fade to Black, experimenting as usual. He also has a Bleach Beat Collection, "Not Perfect is Good".

Trivia

 * Mayuri runs a cosmetic surgery clinic called.
 * Kurotsuchi's last name is one of the few Shinigami names in Bleach which uses kanji based on the meaning of the name and not the sound. "Kurotsuchi" means "black soil" (kuro - black; tsuchi - soil), as does the kanji (涅). However, the kanji's reading (pronunciation) is "ne" or "so".
 * Tite Kubo has stated in an interview that Mayuri is his favorite character to draw.
 * Mayuri came 28th place in the third Popularity poll and 48th place on the fourth.
 * In the Bleach best bout poll Mayuri's fight with Uryū came in eighth place.
 * According to the Bleach: Official Character Book SOULs, Mayuri's Zanpakutō has the ability to turn whatever it cuts to liquid. However, this has yet to be shown in the manga or the anime.
 * In its manga debut, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō appeared to be wielding a sword. However any time Mayuri has subsequently activated it, the sword has been missing.
 * He writes a surprisingly popular serial article for the Seireitei Communication titled which has information about the practical uses of medicine as well as detailed reports about nearly every experiment he undertakes.
 * The term Jizō is part of the Japanese name for the bodhisattva, Ksitigarbha.

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