Soul Reapers

are a race of spiritual beings that act as enforcers and psychopomps who all share similar supernatural powers.

Overview
Shinji Nanahra

Basically, Shinigami are departed human souls that have gained supernatural powers. As such, their bodies are composed of spiritrons (spirit particles) instead of atoms. This means that just like most other types of spirits, they can only be seen by other spiritually aware entities, which excludes most humans. Nevertheless, they are quite capable of influencing their environment. Additionally, they can be injured and die like regular humans, though it takes considerably greater injuries for the latter to occur than it would in regular humans. Additionally, unlike humans, they do not have to eat anything to sustain themselves. Shinigami and other spiritual beings (Pluses and dwellers of Soul Society) only become hungry when they used too much Spiritual Energy within a short amount of time.

The most prominent supernatural power possessed by a Shinigami is their zanpakutō, a supernatural sword generated from the Shinigami's soul. Shinigami also naturally give off spiritual energy, which varies greatly in magnitude with the strength of a Shinigami. A zanpakutō is a physical manifestation of this force concentrated into a blade.

Shinigami operations are based out of Soul Society, where departed human souls reside. Travel between the human world and Soul Society is extremely limited and monitored, but some Shinigami are stationed in the human world to carry out their duties and therefore must often travel between the two. In addition, it is a crime for a Shinigami to remain in the human world longer than a certain time limit.

Appearance
Most Shinigami appear like Humans, a notable difference being their mostly old-fashioned garments by 20th-21th century standards (see uniforms below), and their zanpakutō which is in most cases tied to their obi sash.

There are, however, a few Shinigami who are less Human-like in appearance. For example it seems that between Shinigami there are much greater variations in body-sizes than between Humans, as there are real giant-like entities (e. g. the four guards of the four gates to Seireitei) and also ones with extremely small stature among them (e. g. Yachiru Kusajishi). This variation seems to occur not just between Shinigami, but also between regular dwellers of Soul Society, too.

Variations do not just occur in size but in overall appearance, too, the most notable example being Captain Sajin Komamura, who appears like an anthropomorphic canine.

Duties
A Shinigami's duties include leading Pluses (ghosts) to Soul Society in a practice called Soul Burial (konsō), and the cleansing of Hollows (evil spirits). Later in the series, Shinigami duties are clarified further, and it is revealed that they are also responsible for governing the flow of spirits between the human world and Soul Society.

Training
The majority of training for individuals (that is, souls residing in Soul Society) wanting to become shinigami is done through the Shinigami Academy. It is a six-year academy, during which time its students learn how to use their Spiritual Energy properly, fight hollows, and perform soul burial duties. While the exact date and details of its foundation are not specified, the academy seems to have been founded by Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai about 2000 years before the Bleach storyline.

Not much is known about the conditions on which a dweller of Soul Society is admitted to the Academy. One elementary requirement seems to be that the individual has to possess a certain, above-average level of Spiritual Energy, and has to be able to perform some basic feats using that. Becoming hungry seems to be a good sign in Soul Society for hopeful Shinigami candidates, because feeling hunger means that the person in question is capable of using up Spiritual Energy.

Combat
The cleansing of hollows is very dangerous task, as most hollows are no more than mindless monsters thirsty for devouring more and more souls, be it a Plus, a Human soul still in its body, or a Shinigami. Moreover, hollows who have some of their human consciousness remaining are even more dangerous, as they can be swift, strong and cunning adversaries, utilizing various tricks to avoid purification and catch their prey.

Taking these facts into consideration, Shinigami have to be highly trained in defending themselves and other spirits from being devoured, while being able to land a critical strike on the hollow itself with their zanpakutō.

Shinigami have four skills utilized in combat: kidō, hand-to-hand combat, superhuman agility (footwork), and swordsmanship, all of which require the controlled usage of a varying amount of Spirit Energy.

Kidō
Kidō are a type of sorcery used by Shinigami. They can be used for various purposes, such as healing, attacking, and restraining. Healing seems to be a more general skill, while attacking and binding require an incantation to be recited beforehand. Demon arts spells are divided into two major groups: (destructive spells in the Viz. translation), used for direct attack, and, which are spells that restrain someone or have other effects. These forms of demon arts spells are performed by calling out a complicated and often long-winded incantation followed by the name of the spell, which causes an effect once the name has been recited. Lesser versions of the spells can be used by calling out the name alone, but their effectiveness is reduced when used in such a fashion.

Hand-to-hand combat
Hand-to-hand combat is not elaborated upon by the majority of Shinigami. The special forces troops, however, especially those of higher ranks such as Soifon, are known to be well-trained in this field.

Agility
Hohō, like hand-to-hand combat, is not elaborated upon by every Shinigami. Flash steps (shunpo), a movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow, is implied to be part of this category, and most (though not all) Shinigami are able to perform it to some degree. Another skill, though not necessarily related, is the ability of some Shinigami to walk on air using spiritual power. By collecting and solidifying spiritual particles beneath their feet, Shinigami can gain traction on thin air to either freely move about or to stop themselves from falling.

Swordsmanship
is the most used form of combat among Shinigami, since their zanpakutō is the most effective way of dispatching any given opponent. As the name suggests, it involves using a zanpakutō and its various special abilities to attack an opponent. In addition to its basic form, each zanpakutō has two enhanced forms: shikai ("initial release") and bankai ("final release"), which change the sword's form to unlock its potential and that of its user.

Mission aids
To aid in their missions, particularly when said missions involve more than simply dispatching a hollow, Shinigami have a number of unique items to assist them in their duties. In addition, it should be noted that all Shinigami captains and lieutenants have their spiritual energy reduced by about 80% when they enter the human world by use of a spiritual limit, represented by a seal resembling the symbol unique to their division, in order not to cause unnecessary damage while there. In extreme cases where their full power is needed, they can request a limit release.

Hell Butterfly
are completely black butterflies that serve various purposes. They guide the Shinigami through the Senkaimon when travelling between Soul Society and the Human World, thereby saving them from the inconvenience of passing through dangai. Hell Butterflies are also used as messengers between Shinigami, often carrying important orders. It is implied that Hell Butterflies are bred and taken care of by Shinigami in Seireitei, the latter task being carried out usually by new and inexperienced members of the Gotei 13. Hell Butterflies, like the Shinigami themselves, are only visible to spiritually aware beings.

Gigai
In certain circumstances, a Shinigami will need a way to stay in the human world for long periods of time, interact with the living, and/or recover their powers when the need arises, all of which they can't do in spirit form. Thus, the gigai was developed.

A is an artificial body that allows Shinigami to remain in the human world for an extended period, either due to temporary loss of powers or extended missions. While the body is synthetic, it functions and operates exactly like a natural one, including but not limited to blood flow and the like. Unlike the normal Shinigami body, a gigai is detectable by humans who are not at all spiritually aware, thereby allowing the Shinigami to interact with them. This also means that a Shinigami in a gigai has to behave like a normal Human, this task can prove to be somewhat challenging to inexperienced Shinigami, due to the cultural and technical differences between the Human World and Soul Society.

Artificial souls
Artificial souls, as the name suggests, are souls designed by Shinigami scientists to separate a Shinigami's spirit from a gigai, should they be inhabiting one, or to evict stubborn spirits from their corpses if necessary. It is commonly called Soul Candy, as the Shinigami Women's Association complained that the name gikongan wasn't cute and had it changed.

Modified souls
are artificial souls designed to enhance regular human physiology, making them capable of battling hollows equally. The modsouls are condensed into tiny, candy-like orbs and placed into corpses to achieve their function as soldiers to combat hollows. They are also more independent to fit with their purpose. The modsouls were exterminated after the experiment was halted due to ethical reasons, since they were intended to be used to reanimate human corpses to use as weapons against the hollows.

Memory replacement
In some cases, a human witnesses a Shinigami purify a hollow or affect his surroundings in a significant way. To keep the incident a secret, Shinigami perform memory replacement with an item called kikanshinki. When used, a bird's head pops from the top of the device and produces a puff of smoke. The human it is used on is knocked unconscious and wakes up a while later with a new memory. However, the new memory that the human acquires is random and often based on the limits of what they themselves will believe. For example, Ichigo's family merely believed they slept through a truck crashing into their house when it was used on them. Conversely, Orihime Inoue, who has a much more active imagination, believed that her house was attacked by a gun-toting sumo wrestler (a Yakuza gunman in the manga).

Soul phone
A vital tool for any Shinigami stationed in the real world, this variation on a cell phone functions both as a regular phone and as a communication line with Soul Society. It receives information about the time and exact location of a hollow's emergence via a Global Positioning System (GPS). A Shinigami's kills are also recorded in the phone and can be used as currency (according to the bounty placed on each hollow).

Government and law
The main authority of the Shinigami are the, who serve the Shinigami royalty (the ruling class of all Soul Society). The Central 46 Chambers are made up of 40 wise men and 6 judges, selected from not just Shinigami, but a much broader circle of people from Soul Society. They are sealed into an enclave in Seireitei called which no one else may enter, regardless of their military or civilian status. The decisions of the 46 Chambers are final and unquestionable, regardless of what the decision may involve.

The only Shinigami forces which do not answer to the Central 46 Chambers are the, also called the Zero Division (Squad Zero in English), which is said to have considerable power and tactical knowledge, and the Shinigami Academy.

It is also implied that Shinigami receive salaries, like workers in the real world.

Judiciary
The Central 46 Chambers act as the Shinigami judiciary and are responsible for judging and sentencing Shinigami who have committed serious crimes, such as murder or treason. Punishments for less serious crimes may be given by other authorities, such as Shinigami captains. It is implied that the Central 46 Chambers mostly deal with capital offenses. With their deaths at the hands of Sōsuke Aizen during the Soul Society arc, General Yamamoto has taken over their normal duties. There are several forms of executions in Soul Society, although only two have been revealed:
 * Spirit-sealing pit: The spirit-sealing pit is an ancient form of execution in which Shinigami criminals are thrown into a pit walled with deathstone – a type of stone that absorbs spiritual power, preventing those nearby from using their powers. Hollows are then thrown into the pit with the criminals as the means of execution. The practice was considered too barbaric and discontinued.
 * Sōkyoku is a form of execution usually reserved for those with extremely strong spiritual powers, namely shinigami captains. The Sōkyoku is a giant halberd that utterly destroys a soul on contact. When released, Sōkyoku takes on the form of a phoenix, its true form, called Kikōō. The Kikōō has the destructive power of one million zanpakutō, and that power is multiplied by a factor of 10 at the moment it pierces its victim.

Army
The armed forces of Shinigami consist of three more or less independent main branches: the Gotei 13 (Thirteen Court Divisions), the Kidō Corps, and the special forces.

Kidō Corps
There is currently little information on the, except that it takes students from the Shinigami Academy that excel in the Demon Arts and that its operations are executed in absolute secrecy.

The Kidō Corps is responsible for opening the between the human world and Soul Society.

It has been revealed that the leader of Kidō Corps also has the title of Captain, and is treated on equal terms with the Gotei 13 Captains. Just like the mentioned Captains, he or she also has a Lieutenant as a second-in-command. 100 years before the main storyline, Tessai Tsukabishi was the Captain of the Kidō Corps, with Hachigen Ushōda as his Lieutenant, until both of them were forced into exile.

Special forces
Also called the Secret Mobile Unit/Corps or Covert Ops, the has five divisions, from which the first one has top authority, and the fifth has the least one. The top rank is the, the second is the , the fourth is the Detention Unit, and the fifth division is called the Reversal Counter Force or. The third division's name or function is unknown. There is little information about the operations of the special forces.

The special forces are currently lead by Captain Soifon, who is also the Captain of the Gotei 13's Second Division. She succeeded Yoruichi Shihōin on both posts, who departed Soul Society 100 years before the start of the Bleach storyline.

Special forces Ranks
The head of the special forces is called. The leaders of each of the five divisions are ranked as. Although it is unknown how other ranks work in the special forces, like in Gotei 13, the leader of the forces generally also commands its top division, which is the Executive Militia, but unlike the Gotei 13 Captains, the Commander-in-chief has several bodyguards.

Special forces Uniforms
Although the general special forces uniform appears to be the standard Shinigami uniform, the Executive Militia uniform is different from the Gotei 13. Overall, it resembles a ninja uniform. It has no visible white undergarments and the sash is dark as opposed to white. A headpiece covers the bottom part of the face and sometimes the top, but not the eyes; they wear no sandals, but long jika-tabi, and tight bands are on the legs and arms to keep the clothes from moving too much, which both are presumably for silence of movement. In the anime, members of the Executive Militia also wear their head covering on the top, not just the bottom and wear a black sash instead of a white one.

The leader of the militia wears the same uniform, except that the shoulders and back are exposed. The reason for the empty space is the eventual usage of, an advanced technique that combines hand to hand combat and kidō, causing high spiritual pressure to accumulate at the shoulders and back, blasting away the fabric at said places.

The Correctional Force uniform is radically different. The soldiers wear a white uniform, a long piece of headgear, and a backpack. 

Gotei 13
The is the organization which most Shinigami join. It is split into thirteen divisions (hence the name), with several divisions having certain specializations. The 4th Division is the medical/supply division, the 11th Division is the combat division (specialization in swordsmanship), and the 12th Division is the research/scientific division. The 9th Division was shown, in a Shinigami Cup extra, to be in charge of newspaper and magazine-related duties. It's unclear if the other divisions are specialized, as the four above are the only ones who receive any significant attention apart from their members. Additionally, it should be noted that Soifon is in charge of both the 2nd Division and the "Secret Mobile Corps." It is unknown if the 2nd Division has any official ties to the corps, or if Soifon is mearly the leader of both.