Ichigo Kurosaki

Ichigo Kurosaki is the protagonist of Bleach created by Tite Kubo. The series begins with Ichigo receiving Shinigami powers as a result of a run-in with Rukia Kuchiki, the shinigami assigned to patrol Karakura Town. These powers come at the cost of Rukia's own, and as a result, Ichigo concedes to work as Rukia's stand-in, fighting to protect people from evil spirits called hollows and sending good spirits, pluses, to Soul Society. According to Shonen Jump's character popularity polls, Ichigo is consistently the most popular character in Bleach.

History
Ichigo's mother, Masaki Kurosaki, began taking him to a dojo to learn karate when he was four years old. There, he met and fought with Tatsuki Arisawa, whom he lost to the first few times. Whenever this happened, he would start crying, only to stop instantly when comforted by his mother, to whom he was deeply attached. Tatsuki described Ichigo as a thin child, who looked very happy and always smiled when around his mother.

When Ichigo was nine, Masaki was killed by the hollow Grand Fisher, although Ichigo did not find out the true cause of her death until early in the main Bleach storyline. After her death, Ichigo was distraught and stood on the shore where his mother was killed for days. The entire Kurosaki family transformed at the death of Masaki — Karin became tough and did not cry again, while Yuzu took up the household chores. Prior to learning about Grand Fisher, Ichigo felt guilty for his mother's death, blaming himself for wandering too close to the water and causing her to put herself in harm's way to save him. Even after that, Masaki's death continues to influence Ichigo by causing him to feel guilt for his inability to protect those close to him: because of this guilt, Ichigo developed a resolute will to gain the power to protect his loved ones. This is a recurring theme in many of Ichigo's battles, particularly the assertion that his reasoning is the opposite of what he claims: his opponents often charge that he protects his loved ones in order to fight, not the other way around.

Three years before the main storyline, Orihime Inoue's older brother Sora died in the Kurosaki clinic from injuries acquired in a car accident. Ichigo watched as Orihime cried for her brother, although he did not find out that the crying girl he saw was Orihime until a short time before the main storyline.

While in junior high school, Ichigo met Yasutora Sado, then from Mashiba Junior High, who helped him out of a fight. Ichigo called him Chad because of the nametag he was wearing, which can be read either Sado or Chad, and continued using the name after being corrected. Chad, although extremely strong, was often the target of beatings because he refused to fight for his own sake due to a promise he had made as a child to his grandfather. Upon discovering this, Ichigo made a deal with Chad in which they both agreed to fight and risk their lives for something the other was willing to risk their life for.

Early story
At the beginning of the series, Ichigo sees and confronts Rukia Kuchiki, a shinigami, when she enters his home. During their conversation, a hollow attacks, having tracked Ichigo back to his house. Because of Ichigo's interference with Rukia's work in his personal effort to protect his family from the hollow, Rukia is wounded and forced to transfer her powers to him in a desperate measure to save the Kurosaki family. During the transfer, Ichigo absorbs almost all of Rukia's powers rather than taking half, as she had intended. Having her shinigami abilities and his own immense spiritual power, Ichigo makes short work of the hollow and Rukia leaves.

The next day, Rukia shows up in Ichigo's class, now apparently a normal human as the other students are capable of seeing her. Rukia informs Ichigo that she is using a gigai — an artificial body used by shinigami when they need to recover their powers or stay in the human world for extended periods. While she recovers her abilities, Rukia insists that Ichigo take over her job, battling hollows and performing soul burials in her stead. At this time, he is only able to transform into a shinigami when a special seal on Rukia's glove is used to "knock out" the shinigami portion of his soul, and is dependent on Rukia to transform. Their acquisition of the modsoul Kon removes this dependency.

Ichigo's new duties set off a flurry of activity both in the human and spirit worlds. At one point, the hollow Grand Fisher, who has evaded the shinigami for over fifty years, comes to the human world and attempts to consume Ichigo's sisters, Karin and Yuzu. It is at this point that Ichigo finds out that Grand Fisher killed his mother and seeks revenge. Rukia tries to keep Ichigo from fighting, as she feared the hollow was too strong, but Ichigo orders her to go with Kon and take his sisters home. She is reminded of Kaien Shiba's last fight as a fight for honor, and reluctantly follows his orders. Ichigo greatly wounds Grand Fisher, but the hollow manages to escape.

During a duel with Uryū Ishida, a Quincy, a massive amount of hollows, including a menos grande, are drawn to the human world and defeated in one form or another, mostly by Ichigo and Ishida. Chad and Orihime also have their dormant powers awakened as a result, and each defeat a hollow on their own. Ichigo's victory against the Menos draws the attention of Soul Society, triggering the beginning of the next arc. Meanwhile, Ishida and Ichigo develop an uneasy friendship as shinigami and Quincy, with both of them apparently saving each other's lives.

Soul Society arc
After drawing the attention of Soul Society, Ichigo loses the shinigami powers he gained from Rukia after being swiftly defeated by the shinigami captain Byakuya Kuchiki who, along with Renji Abarai, arrests Rukia and takes her back to Soul Society. The damage Ichigo suffers renders him a powerless human soul, while he discovers that Rukia is guilty of a felony for transferring her powers to a human and remaining in the human world for so long. Desperate to save Rukia, he undergoes intensive training with Kisuke Urahara that nearly costs him his soul, but awakens his own shinigami abilities by doing so. After training with Urahara, he leaves for Soul Society with Urahara's mysterious feline friend Yoruichi, along with Orihime, Chad, and Uryū.

Ichigo battles against many shinigami during his time in Soul Society, managing to tie or defeat numerous lieutenant-level and captain-level shinigami. Much of the time he is seriously wounded, and on several occasions he barely survives, but each time his incredible endurance carries him through until he is able to be healed. A hollow mask, a remnant of his training with Urahara, also consistently appears and reappears on his person to block what would normally be fatal blows. The first fight is with Jidanbō, a Seireitei gatekeeper, which Ichigo wins easily, but he is in turn effortlessly repelled by captain Gin Ichimaru. Ichigo enters Seireitei accompanied by Ganju Shiba after being launched from Kūkaku Shiba's spirit cannon. He then proceeds to fight Ikkaku Madarame. Ichigo beats Ikkaku, even after Ikkaku reveals his zanpakutō's shikai, and learns that he will be hunted down by Kenpachi Zaraki, who will seek out the strongest of the intruders.

Ichigo is then met by Renji Abarai, who seeks revenge for his earlier defeat. Renji injures Ichigo, who becomes stronger during the fight and defeats Renji, after which Renji begs him to rescue Rukia, his childhood friend, upon changing his mind regarding his loyalties. Renji is taken into detention for trying to fight alone and losing, while Ichigo is healed by Hanatarō Yamada in Seireitei's sewage system. Ichigo finally encounters Kenpachi Zaraki on his way to the Shrine of Penitence, where Rukia is held, and at first can hardly injure the powerful captain, who, according to Hanatarō, is immortal. Ichigo finally calls upon the strength of his zanpakutō to defeat Kenpachi. In the aftermath of the fight, both Ichigo and Kenpachi are left incapacitated, Kenpachi being evacuated by his lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi while Ichigo is rescued by Yoruichi.

Yoruichi tells Ichigo that he cannot save Rukia with his present power and asks him to train to achieve the bankai of his zanpakutō. Upon completing the training, he, along with Yoruichi and sympathetic captains Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake, separately converge upon the Sōkyoku to stop Rukia's execution. At the last possible second, Ichigo stops the execution, and proceeds to dispatch three lieutenants — Marechiyo Ōmaeda, Isane Kotetsu and Chōjirō Sasakibe — barehanded. He is then confronted by Byakuya Kuchiki.

During this battle, Ichigo reveals his bankai against Byakuya, and outmaneuvers Byakuya's attacks. Byakuya counters using the second form of his bankai, and after a while Ichigo's endurance runs out, leaving him in critical condition. At this point, Ichigo's inner hollow surfaces and injures Byakuya to the point that both combatants have almost no power left. After regaining control of himself, Ichigo faces off against Byakuya in a final clash, each channeling all their energy into a single attack. After this final clash, neither has the strength to fight, but Byakuya admits his defeat because his blade was destroyed by Ichigo's.

Ichigo then finds out that the events in Soul Society were an elaborate plot masterminded by Sōsuke Aizen and confronts him alongside Renji Abarai, but is unable to defeat him or even buy enough time for the scattered captains to return before Aizen departs for Hueco Mundo.

Prior to leaving Soul Society, Ichigo is given a badge by Ukitake that serves as a license that allows him to hunt hollows in his area officially. It is a multi-purpose artifact that functions like Rukia's glove and alerts him to the presence of hollows.

Bount arc
In the anime, after his adventures in Soul Society, Ichigo finds himself unable to perform bankai outside of Soul Society and undergoes training with three modified souls, initiated by Urahara. Along the way, Chad, Orihime, Ishida, and Renji become involved as well.

After the training, which ends up unsuccessful, he finds out about the Bounts and confronts Yoshino Sōma, who uses a powerful fire-type doll. Ichigo is unable to win, even with the help of Rukia Kuchiki, but is unintentionally saved by another Bount, Ryō Udagawa.

Udagawa appears later to try to eat Ishida's soul, and a battle between him and Ichigo's group ensues. Yoshino then appears and takes Ishida away. While visiting Ishida in the hospital, the group is met by Hō and Ban, Bount twins who use dolls that manipulate water. Ichigo attempts to defeat them, but any damage sustained to the dolls quickly regenerates. He discovers that when the twins are separated, their ability to control their dolls is greatly reduced, and with some assistance from Ganju Shiba, the group succeeds in blowing the weakened dolls up with fireworks, killing the Bount twins in the process. Ichigo and company then infiltrate Jin Kariya's mansion in search of Ishida.

Upon entering Kariya's mansion, Ichigo engages Udagawa in battle, during which he obliterates a large portion of the house. His spiritual power surprises both Udagawa and Maki Ichinose, a shinigami deserter who joined forces with the Bounts. Ichinose confronts Ichigo and the two fight until Kariya takes over and overpowers Ichigo. As Ichigo is at the brink of defeat, Kisuke Urahara and his assistants arrive to rescue them, demolishing the remainder of the mansion in the process.

Later on, Ichigo fights Koga Gō and his doll, Dalk, after the bitto nearly kill Keigo Asano. Ichigo is slowly beaten, allowing his hollow form to appear. Ichigo manages to repel his hollow self and take over, only to succumb to his previous injuries. Izuru Kira soon appears to lend a helping hand, disabling the doll. Koga retreats, unwilling to kill such young men due to an incident in his past with a young Bount.

Ichigo then invades the Bount hideout that Ugaki is defending with Chad, Orihime, Rukia, Renji and the modified souls. Four shinigami lieutenants who had entered the cave earlier and fought Ugaki's doll, Gesell, assist them. Finally, only Renji and Ichigo continue into the depths of the cave to find Ugaki. Renji decides to take on Gesell one on one with his bankai so that Ichigo will have the strength to take on the remaining Bount. Renji's attacks send Gesell on a fury that ends when Ugaki is killed by his own doll (possibly due to the doll being influenced by Kariya). The cave begins to crumble and Yumichika Ayasegawa convinces Ichigo to leave them behind and go further into the cave.

Ichigo finds the remaining Bount and they open a portal to an unknown destination. Ichigo starts a battle with Kariya. Kariya defeats Ichigo's shikai and threatens to kill him using Zangetsu. The threat convinces Ichigo to recover his will to fight and regain his ability to use his bankai. The fight continues, both adversaries now evenly matched. They are interrupted by Ishida, who helps the Bounts reach Soul Society, believing he will get stronger there and defeat the Bounts.

In Soul Society, Ichigo's group uses Kūkaku Shiba's house as their initial base of operations and separate to search for the Bounts. After the Bount Yoshi almost kills Rukia Kuchiki, she is saved by Byakuya. Ichigo asks Byakuya for assistance, but Byakuya refuses, making it clear that he still dislikes Ichigo.

Later, Ichigo comes across Kariya and Byakuya fighting in a forest and joins in. Despite being outnumbered, Kariya is able to hold his own. Rantao, the shinigami that created the Bounts, steps in and takes Ichigo and Uryū Ishida, who arrives soon after, back to her home in Rukongai. Rantao explains to Ishida and Ichigo about how her spirit powers were sealed and she was banished for the creation of the Bounts, among other things.

After departing from Rantao's home, they meet up with Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Rangiku Matsumoto, and Renji Abarai, who are in the middle of a battle with former shinigami Maki Ichinose. This does not last long though as Kenpachi Zaraki arrives and challenges Ichinose, allowing the others to pursue the Bounts.

At the Technological Institute, Ichigo and Chad catch up to Kariya, but are unable to stop him. Their battle inadvertently unearths the Jōkaishō, a massive energy source, which Kariya had been searching for. Kariya absorbs the energy and uses its destructive potential as a threat to keep Ichigo at bay. He then gives the whole of Soul Society a day to think about their impending destruction. With permission from Matsumoto, Ichigo uses the 10th Division as a base of operations during this time.

The next day, Ichigo saves both Ishida and Rantao from Kariya, and the two battle. During this fight, Kariya summons his doll, Jin Messer. After much effort on Ichigo's part, the battle ends in a final power clash, with Ichigo the victor. As he dies, Kariya tells Ichigo that he regrets not being able to watch if Ichigo will walk down the same path he did, because they were both burdened with great powers. This leads Ichigo to wonder whether Kariya's actions were intended to end his own eternal life.

Arrancar arc
After returning from Soul Society with his friends, without Rukia, Ichigo's life briefly returns to the relatively peaceful state at which it was before he left. This serenity is broken with the arrival of new student Shinji Hirako. Shinji, who reveals himself as a recruiter for the vizard, approaches Ichigo and attempts to convince him to join his organization. Ichigo persistently refuses, even after being warned that his inner hollow will eventually take over and destroy everything in sight. Shortly afterwards, two arrancar, Yammy and Ulquiorra Schiffer, appear in Karakura town in order to locate and evaluate Ichigo's strength. Upon seeing Chad injured, Ichigo battles Yammy using his bankai, and manages to cut off the giant's arm. However, Ichigo's inner hollow soon interferes, paralyzing Ichigo, and Yammy injures both him, and Orihime. The arrival of Yoruichi Shihouin and Kisuke Urahara forces Ulquiorra into strategic retreat.

After his failure against the arrancar, Ichigo loses his will as a shinigami since he cannot protect his friends. This mood lasts until the arrival of Gotei 13's expeditionary force: six shinigami sent to the human world under the command of Tōshirō Hitsugaya. Rukia, who is among them, forces Ichigo to defeat a hollow, all the while chastising him. This causes him to regain his spirit and reaffirm his commitment to protect his friends, the first being Orihime Inoue. Later that day, Ichigo discusses the growing arrancar threat with Hitsugaya's force and learns what the arrancar actually are. Rukia is formally accepted into Ichigo's home, sleeping in the same room as his sisters.

That night, six arrancar under the command of Grimmjow Jeagerjaques invade Karakura Town, intending to finish what they view as an incomplete mission on Ulquiorra's part. They split up, seeking targets with spiritual power. Chad's house is targeted, first by D-Roy, who is quickly dispatched by Rukia, and then by the much mightier Grimmjow, who eliminates Rukia in a single strike. Ichigo uses his bankai, but Grimmjow manages to block Ichigo's attacks with his bare hands. Desperate, Ichigo uses his getsuga tenshō to damage Grimmjow. In his bankai form, using the move allows his hollow side to become dominant, and Ichigo remarks that two or three more uses of it would allow his hollow to completely take over. Kaname Tōsen interrupts the fight and takes Grimmjow back to Hueco Mundo, leaving an unsatisfied Ichigo to sulk in his apparent loss and worry over an injured Rukia.

Ichigo, unable to control his inner hollow, accepts Shinji Hirako's offer and seeks out the vizard in order to gain control. During a sparring match with Hiyori Sarugaki, he loses control to his hollow side once more, and nearly kills her. After reverting back to his shinigami state, Ichigo is informed that he cannot simply keep his hollow in check with his body or mind, but must force it into the very core of his soul. After a brief period of unappreciated training, Ichigo is told to confront his hollow side within his inner world. There, Ichigo squares off against his hollow self. Even after several exchanges, Ichigo is unable to damage the hollow, while badly injured and stabbed himself. Finally, Ichigo is defeated, and his sword shatters. After a brief discourse with his hollow, and then another with an inner manifestation of Kenpachi Zaraki (in the anime Byakuya Kuchiki and Jin Kariya appear before this, and force him to refight their battles. Ichigo is defeated by both of them), Ichigo realizes his trouble is that he lacks pure fighting spirit, instead needing reasons to fight his opponents. His spirit rekindled by this revelation, Ichigo is able to make a comeback, seizing the hollow's sword and impaling him on it. His hollow subdued for the moment, Ichigo fades back to reality. When he comes to, he learns that while he was fighting internally, his outer body had transformed into that of a powerful and berserk hollow. The vizard had taken turns battling this monster to keep it in check. Ichigo then trains with Hiyori to increase the amount of time he can stay in masked form.

A month later, the arrancar once again invade Karakura, and Ichigo brashly heads off to fight Grimmjow even though he can only remain in his masked form for eleven seconds. This backfires, as despite using his masked form and Grimmjow's loss of an arm since their last meeting, Ichigo is unable to defeat him within the eleven-second limit. His mask crumbles, and Ichigo is brutally counterattacked. On the brink of defeat and pinned to the ground, Ichigo is granted a short reprieve by Rukia. As Grimmjow recovers from Rukia's attack, Shinji Hirako appears and fights him until the arrancar retreat by order of Ulquiorra. When tending to Ichigo's wounds, the vizard Hachigen Ushōda reveals that Ichigo's spiritual power has been contaminated somewhat by Grimmjow's. As per his instructions, Rukia takes him back to the Kurosaki Clinic to recover. While in a deep sleep, he is visited by Orihime, who has been taken prisoner by the arrancar and given a twelve hour reprieve by Ulquiorra to say good-bye to just one person. Orihime tries to kiss Ichigo while he sleeps, but is unable to. She does, however, confess her love for him.

Later, Ichigo wakes from a bad dream and realizes that the wound from his wrist is healed. Trying to sense by spiritual pressure who has healed him, he is visited by Hitsugaya, who tells him to come immediately for an emergency shinigami meeting. The meeting is held at Orihime's apartment where Hitsugaya and Matsumoto took up residence and done via a live-conference device connecting Soul Society and the human world. Captain Ukitake greets them and informs them Orihime was taken by an arrancar and might have been killed. Ichigo informs them that she visited him to heal him the night before, which leads Yamamoto to believe that Orihime has betrayed them. Renji requests permission to go to Hueco Mundo to rescue her but the request is denied, as Yamamoto believes that the death of one person and the death of the world are weighted on a scale, thus saving Orihime is not important overall. Ichigo asks to go save Orihime by himself, but Yamamoto once again denies the suggestion, stating that Ichigo is a significant asset to Soul Society. The shinigami are ordered to return to Soul Society to fortify their defenses, leaving Ichigo alone.

Despite Yamamoto's decision, Ichigo decides to make preparations with Urahara to single-handedly retrieve Orihime from Hueco Mundo. At school, Tatsuki confronts him about her sightings in which she becomes angry and violent over his reluctance to explain himself. She reveals to him that she is able to sense his and Orihime's spiritual energy, and can see Ichigo and other shinigami. She is restrained by Keigo and Mizuiro while Ichigo walks away coldly telling his friends not to get involved. At Urahara's shop, Ichigo is joined by Ishida with his Quincy powers restored and Chad with a new more powerful right arm. After some convincing, the trio agree to help each other rescue Orihime and Urahara opens a gate to Hueco Mundo. Ichigo leads Chad and Ishida into Hueco Mundo but unknown to him, Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro had followed him and witnessed his departure.

Hueco Mundo arc
As Ichigo, Chad, and Ishida enter Hueco Mundo, they are immediately detected by Aizen and attacked by two arrancar, Demōra and Iceringer. Ichigo is then told to stay back and simply watch as Chad and Ishida engage the two arrancar by themselves. Once they are victorious, the room and passageway collapses around them, forcing the trio to race outside where they see their destination, a castle in the middle of a barren desert.

They see what looks to be a human being chased by three hollows. After Ichigo attacks the three, it is revealed that the 'human' is actually an arrancar named Nell Tu; the hollows are her two brothers and their pet. After becoming friends, the expanded group travels to the wall of Las Noches, where they are attacked by a sand-based hollow, Lunuganga. The hollow is immune to their attacks, but the group is saved by Renji and Rukia, the latter of which freezes Lunaganga in a circle of ice.

Ichigo and his group break into Las Noches and split into five directions, leaving Nell and her brothers behind. The siblings decide to follow Ichigo but get lost. Nell is the only one who catches up to Ichigo, arriving just in time to see Dordonii, a Privaron Espada with a number of #103.

As Ichigo and Dordonii fight, the difference in power between the two quickly becomes apparent. Dordonii suggests that Ichigo use his bankai so he'll at least stand a chance, but Ichigo refuses, noting that it would only be a sign of weakness if he were to use his bankai in every battle. Hoping to force the issue, Dordonii releases his zanpakutō, thus greatly increasing his power. Now commanding two wind elementals, Dordonii is more than a match for Ichigo. When Dordonii tries to fire a cero blast at Ichigo, Nell steps in, absorbing the blast and firing it back. Enraged, Dordonii attacks Nell, who is then saved by Ichigo, now using his bankai.

Dordonii, not satisfied with Ichigo's bankai, wishes to see his hollow form. He even resorts to attacking Nell in an attempt to force Ichigo to transform. Ichigo sets Nell aside and tells Dordonii he will show him his hollow form, but for only a second. Dordonii is pleased at first, but Ichigo severely wounds him with one strike in his hollow form. Nell heals Dordonii and he tries to engage Ichigo again, but is once again defeated. In gratitude for fighting him at his full strength, Dordonii battles the Exequias sent after Ichigo so he can get away. Ichigo flees, and continues his search through Las Noches until he encounters Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra tells Ichigo that Rukia has been killed, which Ichigo denies. Ichigo attempts to leave to save Rukia, reasoning that he and Ulquiorra have no quarrel and thus no reason to fight. Ulquiorra reveals that he was the one who kidnapped Orihime and successfully goads Ichigo into fighting. Though Ichigo starts out well, he proves to be no match for Ulquiorra, who explains that even if Ichigo managed to somehow win, there would be three other Espada who are stronger still, as Ulquiorra is the 4th Espada. Ulquiorra then impales Ichigo's chest with his hand. He leaves after telling Ichigo to leave Hueco Mundo if he's able to.

Grimmjow brings Orihime to heal Ichigo before he can die, wanting to fight him at full strength. Ulquiorra discovers this and attempts to retrieve Orihime, but Grimmjow uses a portable negación field to temporarily imprison him, thus allowing the two to battle unimpeded. Much like Kenpachi before him, Grimmjow insists that Ichigo not battle for his friends, instead just wanting him to focus on killing him, and reveals that he kept the scar from their first battle as a reminder to fight and kill Ichigo to prove that he is stronger. The advantage shifts between the two combatants at random, with Ichigo donning his hollow mask while Grimmjow releases his zanpakutō, eventually ending in Ichigo's favor. Grimmjow, badly injured and reverted back to his unreleased state, tries one more attack, which Ichigo blocks bare-handed. Ichigo tells him to back down, declaring Grimmjow too wounded to continue. Before Grimmjow can respond he is slashed by Nnoitra. Seeing that Grimmjow survived his attack, Nnoitra attempts to finish him off. Ichigo, however, blocks the attack, berating Nnoitra for attacking someone who is so badly wounded. Nnoitra then attacks Ichigo, revealing that he is the fifth Espada, and is thus more powerful than Grimmjow, who Ichigo barely defeated.

Powers
Though he does not possess any formal shinigami rank, Ichigo's overall abilities are great enough that he can fight on the level of an elite shinigami captain. According to Aizen and Urahara, Ichigo's most astounding ability is his growth rate: he grasps the basic control of advanced techniques in days where it might take someone else weeks or years. One example is the bankai of his zanpakutō, which he learns in three days with the assistance of a special device invented by Urahara. For a normal shinigami, this same feat would require hundreds of years of combat experience and at least ten additional years of special training. He also gains mastery of flash steps while training with Yoruichi, which was done over the same period as his bankai.

Physically, Ichigo is in top form even when not in his spiritual body. Ichigo has been trained in martial arts since he was a small child, both professionally and by his father's constant assaults and surprise attacks when at home. He regularly fights with and defeats bullies and gangsters, and is a better martial artist than even Tatsuki, the second-strongest high school girl in all of Japan.

Shinigami powers
When he is in his shinigami body, Ichigo's already impressive strength is greatly enhanced. He can easily wield his giant sword one-handed, leap several stories into the air, and in one case even fought off three shinigami lieutenants and their released zanpakutō bare-handed in rapid succession; he shattered one of their zanpakutō in a single punch. The arrancar Ulquiorra has claimed that Ichigo's spiritual power at its peak is even greater than his own, but that it fluctuates wildly when he is in conflict with his inner hollow. Because he has far more spiritual energy than his body can contain, it leaks out constantly, preventing him from hiding it and effectively making stealth impossible when dealing with other spiritually-aware creatures.

In terms of fighting style, Ichigo relies mostly on his zanpakutō and the use of flash steps, and thus would be considered a swordsmanship specialist. Ichigo has never been formally taught kidō and has trouble controlling his spirit energy in all but the most basic of ways, due in part to the sheer amount of it he has.

Unlike most lieutenant and captain strength shinigami, Ichigo is able to fight with his full power in both the human and spiritual worlds. While captains and lieutenants have their power limited to a fifth of its normal level during trips to the real world in order to avoid unnecessarily influencing those living there, Ichigo holds no position in the Gotei 13 and thus has no such limit.

Hollow powers
Ichigo's spiritual powers are not limited to just shinigami abilities; he possesses hollow powers as a result of his training with Urahara. While attempting to recover his shinigami powers, Ichigo began transforming into a hollow from the corrosion of his severed soul chain. Ichigo succeeds in awakening his shinigami powers, but retains his hollow spirit inside himself from the transformation. The title page of chapter 220 depicts the inner hollow with the mirror writing of Ichigo's name.

Ichigo’s hollow spirit is his evil alter ego, a commonality in humans remade into hollows. The spirit is pretentious (another common trait among hollows), and mocks his counterpart’s inability in a sneering, didactic fashion whenever the chance arises, although he relishes the idea of taking Ichigo’s strength for himself. He is fond of taunting his opponents over their weaknesses, much like he does with Ichigo. The hollow is brutal and sadistic, forever lusting for the next kill, and in his anime and video game adaptations, prone to bouts of maniacal laughter. He also seems to gain any abilities that the original knows, evidenced by his usage of getsuga tensho and his usage of bankai. His most distinguishing feature is the lunatic grin that is constantly present on his face. Unlike Ichigo, the hollow fights like a berserker, and is able to ignore any injuries Ichigo has previously sustained; this, along with the considerable increases to his speed and strength, makes him a fearsome fighter.

At different points in the series, Ichigo's hollow powers have manifested themselves in different ways. Initially, Ichigo's hollow mask would appear on his body to block fatal blows, which Ichigo never noticed until after the fight had ended. During his battle with Byakuya Kuchiki, the mask appeared on his face when he was near death, allowing his inner hollow to take over until Ichigo suppressed it. The same event is repeated multiple times after that. While suppressing his inner hollow, Ichigo is left effectively paralyzed, since his concentration was focused on suppressing it rather than fighting. The hollow claims that it manifests itself to protect Ichigo during near death moments because it is connected to Ichigo, and it would be a great inconvenience to the hollow if Ichigo were to die.

While he was in training with the vizard, Ichigo's soul was completely overcome by his inner hollow for a short period, causing him to physically transform into a hollow. His near-complete hollow form resembles a large, humanoid lizard. In this form, Ichigo demonstrated several high-level abilities, including instantaneous regeneration, enhancement of limbs, and the ability to fire cero blasts from his fingers. However, this form didn't last long as Ichigo emerged from the hollow shell as his standard shinigami self wearing a hollow mask.

After training with the vizard and subjugating his inner hollow, Ichigo can use his hollow mask while retaining his personality, but could originally only wear it for eleven seconds at a time. His limit increases during his third battle with Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, but to what extent is unclear. His overall limit is barely a fraction of the amount other vizard can maintain their masks. After the time limit, the mask breaks and Ichigo loses its benefits. Subsequent attempts to use the mask can only be maintained for an instant. While wearing the mask, Ichigo's hollow powers supplement his shinigami powers, giving him a vast increase in both strength and speed.

Zangetsu
Ichigo's zanpakutō is named Zangetsu (斬月 lit. moon cutter). Unlike most shinigami, who can seal their zanpakutō after releasing it, Ichigo's zanpakutō is always in its shikai form. Yoruichi Shihouin has stated that his zanpakutō is a full-time released form type, implying that it is simply a type of zanpakutō that, once in shikai form, remains in said state.

The spirit of Zangetsu resembles a 30 to 40 year-old man, and Ichigo calls him "old man" (おっさん) as a result. Zangetsu has also been called the "black-clothed man" (黒衣の男). Zangetsu is portrayed as wise and calm in most matters, and fond of testing Ichigo in unusual ways, many of which have a purpose completely contrary to the stated goal. Zangetsu has displayed the ability to temporarily close fatal wounds during combat, though whether or not this is a unique ability is unclear.

When Ichigo first becomes a shinigami, his zanpakutō is simply an oversized version of a regular sealed zanpakutō, complete with an equally oversized sheath on his back. The large size is due to Ichigo's immense spiritual power, which he didn't know how to control. As a result, the sword itself was rather weak, since very little spiritual power was used to create it. Byakuya Kuchiki cuts off most of the blade during his first encounter with Ichigo and Kisuke Urahara subsequently slices it down to the hilt during their training, forcing Ichigo to learn the name of his zanpakutō in order to release its true form.

The shikai form of Zangetsu resembles an over sized, though more elegant, cleaver blade without a hilt guard. The sword is as tall as Ichigo is, 1.74 meters, and has a black blade with a silver edge. Ichigo carries his zanpakutō on his back by the cloth wrapped around the handle. When not in combat, the cloth extends to cover the rest of the sword and falls away when necessary, shrinking back to a manageable size. The cloth can also be used to swing the weapon like a flail and toss it at opponents, but this is rarely done. This was first demonstrated by Ichigo's inner hollow, then again by Ichigo himself while rescuing Rukia.

The bankai of Zangetsu, named Tensa Zangetsu (天鎖斬月, lit. heavenly chains moon cutter), is considered completely out of the ordinary for any zanpakutō. Unlike most bankai forms, which usually create some sort of massive creature or effect, Ichigo's bankai actually shrinks his sword down to a daitō (Japanese long sword) with a black blade, handguard in the shape of the manji (which is the kanji for "ban," meaning "full"). The cloth wrapped around the hilt is replaced by a short chain with a broken link, similar to that of a plus spirit. In addition to his sword, Ichigo's robe is replaced with a long-sleeved, ankle-length black coat with red lining that is closed at his chest, much like that of Zangetsu himself.

As explained by Byakuya Kuchiki, Ichigo's bankai is a compression of his power, rather than a vast expansion as other bankai are. This hugely compressed power enables Ichigo to move at speeds exceeding those of flash steps, and gives him matching agility and reflexes, allowing him to use his natural strength to its limits. With enough usage and acquired height, Ichigo can even appear as though he is flying. Ichigo's initial inexperience with controlling his bankai led to a serious drawback; the force of his compressed spiritual power caused all of his bones to crack as stated by his inner hollow, gradually decreasing his speed and power over time. This drawback has not been mentioned since its introduction, so it has presumably been overcome.

Zangetsu's special ability (in either form) is the getsuga tenshō (月牙天衝, lit. moon sky-piercing fang, Viz: Moon-Fang Piercer of the Heavens), which fires concentrated energy blasts from the tip of the blade in the shape of a crescent moon. Ichigo uses this ability without knowing its name several times, but masters the technique later on when he discovers its name. As stated by Zangetsu, knowing and not knowing the name of an attack makes a difference in the amount of power that it releases. When used with Zangetsu's bankai, these blasts are black with a red outline and their path can be controlled. During Byakuya Kuchiki's fight with Ichigo, he refers to this attack as kuroi getsuga (lit. black moon fang). This term simply refers to the darkened color of the attack, not its actual name. The move was first displayed by Ichigo's inner hollow, and initially carried the risk of causing his inner hollow to surface if used too much. With Ichigo's later control over his inner hollow, this is no longer a problem.