Ichigo Kurosaki/Affiliation

Racial Status
Ichigo's species is an extremely rare composition.

Human: Ichigo has always recognized himself as a Human. This is mainly because unlike most spiritual beings, he still has an actual human body and resides in the Human World.


 * Quincy: A sub-classification of human. His father is a "pure-blood" soul (member of a noble clan, born in soul society) with captain-class Shinigami status, and his mother was a pure-blood Quincy. This makes Ichigo rare, for he is a mixed-blood Quincy with Shinigami powers. Due to the uniqueness of his mother's Hollowfication and the steps taken to stabilize her condition, Ichigo ended up possessing the inner hollow which once inhabited his mother upon his birth.

Previous Classifications

 * Shinigami: While at various times Ichigo has been called a Shinigami. This has proven to be an inaccurate assessment. Shinigami are souls that train in the use of their Reiryoku to develop supernatural abilities. While due to his heritage Ichigo had a natural affinity to develop supernatural spiritual abilities, he is not a Shinigami in the traditional sense as determined by Ōetsu Nimaiya and his own father Isshin Kurosaki. Rather Ichigo is considered a human with Shinigami powers. This is due to Ichigo having a human body, not being a "resident" soul of Soul Society and not being properly trained as a Shinigami.


 * Visored: Due to the Shattered Shaft Training/forced encroachment, Ichigo attained access to his Shinigami powers, but he also underwent a form of Hollowfication. Through subsequent battles in Soul Society, he awakened the Hollow inside of him. He would later train to control his inner Hollow and don a Hollow mask. Since the events of the Invasion of Hueco Mundo, Ichigo has shown no signs of Hollowfication''': Ichigo has always recognized himself as a Human. This is mainly because unlike most spiritual beings, he still has an actual human body and resides in the Human World.


 * Fullbringer: At one point, Ichigo was classified as a Fullbringer due to the traces of Hollow Reiryoku passed on to him from birth by his mother, who had been a victim of Hollowfication. Since the events of the Tale of the Lost Agent, Ichigo no longer has any Fullbringer capabilities.

Substitute Shinigami Status
Ichigo is not and has never been a formal member of the Gotei 13 or any of the organizations of Soul Society. He holds the designation of the rarely used and little known classification of. This classification gives him the authority to fight hollows and defend his home town.


 * It is revealed Zennosuke Kurumadani was not informed of Ichigo's status, as upon their first meeting, Kurumadani admits to never having heard of Ichigo's status or his "Seal of Approval."


 * Ichigo is alerted to the presence of Hollows by his Substitute Badge, an artifact given to him by Ukitake, who claims it symbolizes the formalizing of Ichigo's Substitute Shinigami position.


 * His duty, as far as the Shinigami are concerned, is protecting Karakura Town, though Ichigo views it more as protecting his friends.


 * Ichigo ignored the only real order he ever received from Captain-Commander Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, which was to not go after Orihime when she was abducted.


 * Ichigo mentions giving up the position after losing his Shinigami powers.


 * Once Ichigo regained his Shinigami powers and visited Soul Society, he resumed his position as the Substitute Shinigami.

Visored
Initially, he refused to join their group, but eventually comes to see himself as one of them species-wise, though he continues to refer to himself as a Shinigami instead of a Visored. He associates himself more with Soul Society, regardless of his loose association with them. He maintains a distance from them as a group, and considers them somewhat friends and allies.

Ichigo's Group & Karakura Town
His friends are quite loyal to him and follow his every move, regardless of whatever their current situation is, though there are occasional leadership arguments between himself, Renji Abarai, and Uryū Ishida. His loyalty to his friends, family, and town are far above that of any of the other groups he has come into contact with over the past months.

Urahara's Group
Ichigo thinks of Urahara and Yoruichi as his mentors, and he respects them greatly, though he occasionally argues with them over their actions and/or decisions regarding a situation (training or otherwise), though mainly due to pride and his own reckless 'logic'.