Ise Clan

Ise Clan
Family Head	Nanao Ise
Family Seat	Unknown
Affiliation	Soul Society
Specialty	Shinto Rites & Rituals

The Ise Clan (伊勢家, Ise-ke; lit. "Ise family") is a clan of Shinto Priests from Soul Society.

Overview

The Ise Clan is a long line of matrilineal Shinto Priests, who oversaw and carried out rituals and rites.

As far as the records show, only females have ever been born into the clan, so they have always brought in husbands from other families into the clan. However, it is said that any man who joins the Ise Clan will die an early death, and this phenomenon is called the Ise Curse (伊勢の呪, Ise no Noro). This happened even if a family member left the family and married into another.

The Ise Clan do not possess individual Zanpakutō. Instead, the head of the family in every generation inherits a single Zanpakutō. This Zanpakutō is considered a sacred treasure and is called Shinken Hakkyōken and was used for rituals and rites; because all members are being spiritually bound to Shinken Hakkyoken, it is impossible for the members of the Ise Clan to imprint their essence into an Asauchi. It came into Shunsui Kyōraku's possession after Nanao Ise's mother tried breaking the curse by casting it away. The loss of a sacred treasure was a crime, and the Central 46 had Nanao's mother executed for it. However, during the Quincy Blood War, Shunsui returned the Zanpakutō to Nanao.

Relics

Zanpakutō

Shinken Hakkyōken as wielded by Nanao Ise.

Shinken Hakkyōken (神剣・八鏡剣, Divine Sword, Eight Mirror Sword; Viz "Divine Eight Mirror Sword"): Shinken Hakkyōken is a Sacred Ceremonial Sword held by the Ise family. Because they are in charge of rites and rituals, the members of the family do not have their own individual Zanpakutō, instead, the head of the house inherited and used Shinken Hakkyōken, which is passed down from generation to generation.

• Shikai: Shinken Hakkyōken takes the form of an ornate medium-sized bladeless sword with a flat end. Its "blade" is decorated with four inlaid diamonds, resembling the design commonly found on the wrapped hilt of a katana, and its forte possesses a tassel on either side. Instead of a tsuba, there is an ornate band guard covering an inch of the blade with tassels hanging from either side of it. The handle of Shinken Hakkyōken is only somewhat shorter than the "blade", and possesses two tassels attached to the ring at its end.

Nanao severs Lille's hand with Shinken Hakkyōken.

Shikai Special Ability: Purportedly, Shinken Hakkyōken has the ability to take the power of a god into itself and disperse it in all directions. The blade itself reflects the power of the godly opponent that its wielder is facing. When confronted by the sword while in the true form of his Quincy: Vollständig, Lille Barro was unable to even see it due to how bright it appeared to be. Lille lost his left hand to a blow from the sword, despite having been able to phase through most of Shunsui Kyōraku's attacks prior to this. A blow from the sword results in energy being dispersed in multiple directions at once. Nanao can also reflect attacks back at their users by holding the blade in front of her. When she did this against Lille's Trompete, a large blast of energy that destroyed most of the area in its path, Shinken Hakkyōken protected a thin strip of land while erasing a vertical section of Lille's body, causing him to disintegrate into energy shards. However, the energy dispersed by the sword can harm Nanao herself if she is not careful.

Family Members

(† = confirmed death)

Ise Clan
Name	Title	Relation	Status
Nanao Ise	Head of the Ise Clan	Niece of Shunsui Kyōraku	Active
Former Members
Unnamed Ise	Head of the Ise Clan	Mother of Nanao Ise Wife of Unnamed Kyōraku	Deceased †

Trivia

• According to Q&A #574 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", the Ise clan has poor eyesight.