Soul King/Expanded Universe

This article contains information from light novel sources that were not written by Tite Kubo and therefore are not considered canon material by the wiki.

"Before the world took on its current form... In a chaotic place where there was no border between life and death, there was an original protector who stood between the Hollows and humans for the first time. The Quincy, the Shinigami, and also the Fullbringers... it could be said that he is the ancestor of them all. He was a Quincy and also at the same time a Shinigami, and also just a normal person bearing countless abilities like a Fullbringer. He was the symbol of hope who ruled over all in the chaotic world." — Tokinada Tsunayashiro in Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World; Volume 3

Overview

Expanded Universe

Image Gallery

Soul King
Race	God
Age	1,000,000+
Gender	Male
Professional Status
Affiliation	Soul Society
Profession	Linchpin of Existence
Position	Figurehead
Base of Operations	Soul King Palace, Soul Society
Personal Status
Relatives	Yhwach (son) Gerard Valkyrie (animate heart) Mimihagi (animate right arm) Pernida Parnkgjas (animate left arm)
Abilities
Unique Power	The Almighty Soul Regulation Stagnation Governance Evolution Governance Miracle Manifestation
First Appearance
Novel	Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World

The Soul King (霊王, Reiō) is the creator of Soul Society, the Human World and Hueco Mundo, and served as the very linchpin that sustains the three worlds until he was absorbed by his son, Yhwach. The Soul King is the very source of the power used by the Quincy. Likewise, his severed body fragments are what allow Humans to become Fullbringers.

Personality

A highly enigmatic being, very little is known about the Soul King's personality and motivations, even to the likes of Ichibē Hyōsube and Yhwach. Indeed, despite fully having the power to do so, the Soul King strangely never resisted his sealing and subsequent mutilation, much to the confusion of the culprits. Presumably, this is due to the Soul King's ability to see the future to an extent nobody else could.

Regardless, the Soul King seemed to greatly care about the original inhabitants of his world, killing countless Hollows to protect them regardless of the consequences.

History

Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World

According to Ichibē Hyōsube, over a million years prior to the Soul King's ultimate demise, all of existence was a single, chaotic, primordial world overrun by Hollows that preyed upon the world's denizens. When said Hollows started to evolve into the first Menos, the being that became known as the Soul King first emerged, "born" as if the world itself rejected the Menos. To protect the inhabitants of that world, the Soul King proceeded to annihilate the Menos that preyed upon them and turned them into sands of reishi, temporarily stabilizing the world's decline.

However, five powerful beings from that time were not content with the status quo, and decided to work together to create what they believed was a better world. Thus, for their own respective reasons, the five sealed an unresisting Soul King inside a crystal and used his omnipotent powers to split their world into three new ones: Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Human World, and in the process created the cycle of life and death.

Despite the Soul King's lack of resistance, the five beings were unconvinced of the Soul King's cooperation and feared his immense power, and proceeded to first tear off the Right Arm of Stillness and the Left Arm of Progress, before taking their time to carve out his heart, whittle away his legs, and mutilate and tear out his organs, leaving the Soul King trapped in an agonizing state between life and death for millions of years.

Powers & Abilities

Immeasurable Spiritual Power: Being the progenitor of the Quincy, Shinigami, and Fullbringers, the Soul King is stated to be immensely powerful, such that even Ichibē Hyōsube admitted that the Soul King was a nigh-omnipotent being with no equals. The Soul King's power allowed him to effortlessly destroy numerous Menos-class Hollows, reducing them to mere sand.

The Almighty (全知全能 (ジ・オールマイティ), Ji Ōrumaiti; Japanese for "All-Knowing and All-Powerful"): The Soul King's signature power, which granted him nigh-omnipotence and nigh-omniscience, allowing the Soul King to see all futures. Ichibē Hyōsube speculates that the Soul King had foreseen everything that happened up until his death and even allowed for it to happen.

World Splitting: When the 5 Great Noble Families utilized the Soul King's power alone, the original world that existed millions of years before his death was split into three new ones and the cycle of life and death was created. Had Yhwach been victorious in the Quincy Blood War, he would have merged them back together with the same power.

Undying State: The Soul King is a being that was stated to be "neither alive nor dead", and existed in a state between Stagnation and Progress. Due to this, the Soul King could not die even while his body was mutilated and sealed away by the Five Ancestors. After Yhwach fully assimilated the Soul King and was later cut down by Ichigo Kurosaki, the Quincy's corpse remained in the same undead state, allowing his reiatsu to keep maintaining the three realms.

Ōken Bestowment: The ability to turn the bones of other beings into an Ōken. Ichibē Hyōsube believes that the Soul King's very will exists, and can be felt, in every Ōken, citing his own Ōken as proof.

Detached Body Fragments

When the Soul King was sealed and dismembered by the Five Ancestors, numerous parts of his body were separated and ended up in various parts of the three worlds. Some of these smaller fragments ended up in the Souls of Humans, granting them the potential to become Fullbringers; while other, larger parts attained sentience of their own.

• The Right Arm of the Soul King - Ended up in Soul Society where it was worshiped as a deity in the Rukongai. Eventually bonded with Jūshirō Ukitake.

• The Left Arm of the Soul King - Ended up in Soul Society. Eventually returned to the Quincy and came to serve Yhwach.

• The Heart of the Soul King - Returned to the Quincy and bonded with the Sternritter Gerard Valkyrie.

• The Saketsu (鎖結; Japanese for "Binding Chain") of the Soul King - Eventually bonded with the Fullbringer Aura Michibane.

• The "Nails" (爪; Japanese for "paws") of the Soul King - Various fragments that bonded with Humans, turning them into Fullbringers. Most of them were collected and used by Sōsuke Aizen to feed his incomplete Hōgyoku, or by Tokinada Tsunayashiro to aid in the creation of Hikone Ubuginu. Rangiku Matsumoto was bonded to one such fragment until it was forcibly extracted by Aizen; this was the inciting force for Gin Ichimaru to eventually betray Aizen.

Trivia

• Although never outright confirmed, it is repeatedly implied to varying degrees in Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World that Gremmy Thoumeaux may have been an aspect of the Soul King, like Gerard Valkyrie or Pernida Parnkgjas were.
• Tokinada Tsunayashiro calls the Soul King a "sacrificial lamb" that was "both a devil and a savior".
• The Soul King was the first being to wield the powers of Quincy, Shinigami, and Fullbringers.