Royal Guard

"Division Zero doesn't have any ordinary soldiers. It has only five members, all of them Captains. And what's more... The combined power of those five is greater than that of the entire Gotei 13." — Shunsui Kyōraku in "THE FIRE"

Royal Guard
Kanji	王属特務
English	Royal Special Task Force
Romaji	Ōzokutokumu
Organization
Founder(s)	Unknown
Headquarters	Soul King Palace
Leader(s)	Ichibē Hyōsube
Senior Member(s)	Kirio Hikifune, Senjumaru Shutara, Tenjirō Kirinji, Ōetsu Nimaiya
Affiliation	Soul King, Soul Society
Purpose	Protecting the Soul King, the Royal Family and the Royal Palace

The Royal Guard (王 (おう)属 (ぞく)特 (とく)務 (む), Ōzokutokumu; translated as "Royal Special Task Force" in the English dub, literally translated as "King Subordinate Secret Service") also known as the Zero Division (零 (ゼロ)番 (ばん)隊 (たい), Zerobantai; "Squad 0" in the English dub), is an organization that is dedicated to the protection of the Soul King, the Royal Family, and the Soul King Palace.

Overview

The Royal Guard is a special organization that performs services for the Royal Family. It has a considerable amount of fighting, organizational, and executive power compared to other organizations.

They are also charged with slaying Menos, though the circumstances under which they do so are unknown.

Since serving the royal family is the primary purpose of the Royal Guard, they do not interfere in Gotei 13's affairs and the defense of Soul Society, even against major threats like Aizen and his Arrancar. They are known to do whatever is required by order of the Soul King.

The Royal Guard's authority supersedes the authority of all within Soul Society. Each member of the Royal Guard also has the Ōken imparted into their bones by the Soul King and a city of their own at the Soul King Palace.

Blood Oath's Seal

Because each individual member of the Royal Guard possesses exceedingly vast amounts of Reiryoku, they can destabilize the three worlds by themselves should they unleash it all without restraint. Therefore, Kirio Hikifune, Senjumaru Shutara, Tenjirō Kirinji, and Ōetsu Nimaiya normally use each other's lives as seals to prevent their true power from being released; this also prevents them from being able to use their Bankai. To unlock this "Blood Oath's Seal" (血 (けつ)盟 (めい)の封 (ふう)印 (いん), Ketsumei no Fūin), three of the members have to take their own lives in order to enable the lone survivor to use their full power.

History

Due to their status as a secret organization, the history and very existence of the Royal Guard is not commonly known.

Mission

The Royal Guard serves as guardians with the primary responsibilities of:

• Protecting the Soul King.
• Protecting the Royal Family.
• Protecting the Royal Palace.
• Slaying Menos class Hollows.

Transportation

The Royal Guard commonly stays within the Soul King Palace, but when they do travel, their preferred method of transportation is a huge pillar called the Tenchūren (天 (てん)柱 (ちゅう)輦 (れん), Heavenly Pillar-Palanquin). This pillar enters from the inner dimension and lands with significant force upon its arrival. The Tenchūren, however, does not have the ability to return to the palace on its own, and relies on Kūkaku Shiba's cannon to launch it back. Ōetsu Nimaiya also has the ability to open a portal within the Soul King Palace that can send someone directly to the Human World. Someone can be returned to the Soul King Palace if the Chōkaimon (超 (ちょう)界 (かい)門 (もん), Super World Gate) is opened, but it can only be opened by syncing the arrival and departure times. They are able to take stairs down to the Seireitei, though it will take anywhere from half a day to a week of travel to get there.

Organization

The Royal Guard is known to promote former captains of the Gotei 13 to their ranks. The Royal Guard has no soldiers, and it only has 5 members, one of whom is confirmed to be a former captain. Their total power far surpasses the power of all the 13 Divisions together. Ichibē Hyōsube is the commanding officer of the Royal Guard.

Admittance

All the members of the Royal Guard are Shinigami acknowledged by the Soul King to have made significant contributions to the history of Soul Society.

Notable Members

Royal Guard
Name	Rank	Title	Creation
Ichibē Hyōsube	Leader of the Zero Division	Monk Who Calls the Real Name	Names
Tenjirō Kirinji	Divine General of the East / Zero Division 1st Officer	Hot Spring Demon	Kaidō
Kirio Hikifune	Divine General of the South / Zero Division 2nd Officer	Ruler of Grain	Artificial Soul
Ōetsu Nimaiya	Divine General of the West / Zero Division 3rd Officer	God of the Sword	Zanpakutō
Senjumaru Shutara	Divine General of the North / Zero Division 4th Officer	Great Weave Guard	Unknown

Insignia

Like the divisions of the Gotei 13, the Royal Guard has a unique symbol that represents the division's primary role, which is in its case based upon the Winter Daphne (沈 (ジン)丁 (チョウ)花 (ゲ), Jinchōge). This symbol is placed inside the Gotei 13 symbol of a rhombus to form the division's complete insignia, which is displayed upon each member's haori.

Appearances in Other Media

• In Bleach: Spirits Are Forever With You, Kenpachi Kuruyashiki was offered to be a member of the Royal Guard, which he declined due to his self-proclaimed laziness.
• In Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, it is revealed that thanks to their Ōken, the Royal Guards' lives are tied to the Soul King Palace, and so long as it exists and any one of the Guards remain alive, they can revive any fallen members by calling out their names, though it takes several minutes for them to recover. The novel also infers that the Royal Guard slay Menos in order to maintain the balance of the three worlds, and opt not to kill Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, Tier Harribel, or Ikomikidomoe because their deaths would upset that balance.

Trivia

• According to Q&A #586 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", there can only be a maximum of 5 Royal Guard members at any given time.
• According to Q&A #149 and Q&A #389 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", Senjumaru was promoted to the Royal Guard for inventing the shihakushō.
• According to Q&A #706 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", the reason why Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto was never even considered to be recruited into the Royal Guard despite founding the Gotei 13 was because there had actually existed several organized groups of soldiers in Soul Society before the Gotei 13 were founded.