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Personality
Soifon is staunchly loyal, firm, and unbending in her beliefs. She is a hard worker and takes a strong moral stand — she particularly believes in following orders. She is generally reserved and not arrogant like her lieutenant. She will not hesitate in the slightest to strike down even her subordinates if they stand in her way. Soifon, like most female shinigami, is a member of the Shinigami Women's Association.
A running gag in Bleach, mainly in the omake chapters, is Soifon's obsession and admiration for Yoruichi Shihouin, the former leader of the special forces and her mentor, which may extend into romantic feelings.
Appearance
Underneath her standard shinigami captain uniform, Soifon wears the special forces leader's uniform, which has no sleeves or covering for the back. Her hair is worn short with two long braids covered in cloth.
History
Soifon was born Shaolin Fon (蜂 梢綾, Fon Shaolin?) into the Fon house, one of the lower noble houses affiliated with the Shihouin noble house. The Fon house traditionally serves the Shihouin house by joining the special forces. Any member who doesn't pass the test to get into the special forces is immediately exiled from the family. Because of this, Shaolin has felt a lot of pressure to succeed since her youth. Though Shaolin and her five older brothers all got into the special forces, her first two brothers died on their first missions, her next two brothers died on their second missions, and her last brother died on his sixth mission. Upon her joining the special forces, she adopted her grandmother's codename: Soifon. In the anime, she did not adopt the name voluntarily — a family member gave her the name.
Soifon worked hard and was eventually promoted to become the head of the guard for the leader of the special forces at the time, Yoruichi Shihouin. Yoruichi took the young Soifon under her wing as her protégé, and they developed a close relationship. When Yoruichi eventually left Soul Society in disgrace to help her exiled friend Kisuke Urahara, she was stripped of all her titles. Soifon felt betrayed by Yoruichi's abandonment and the circumstances surrounding them. As a result, she trained herself in order to beat Yoruichi and take the titles she lost.
Soifon was promoted to the captaincy roughly 100 years prior to the start of the Bleach storyline, shortly after Yoruichi's departure from Soul Society.
Zanpakuto
Suzumebachi (Hornet): In its sealed form, it resembles a wakizashi with a yellow hilt reminiscent of a Chinese dao. Unlike most shinigami, she wears it horizontally on her lower back.
- Shikai: triggered by the command "Sting all enemies to death!". In its shikai, Suzumebachi shrinks into a stinger that is worn on the middle finger of Soifon's right hand.
- Special Ability:
- Two Hit Kill Shot: When Soifon stabs someone with Suzumebachi, a butterfly symbol called a hornet's crest spreads from the point of contact, its abdomen acting as the center. If Soifon stabs the same location again, her opponent dies, regardless of how powerful they may be. The crests are maintained by Soifon's will and are impossible to remove unless she wills it; when Yoruichi was still running the special forces, Soifon could only maintain the crests for half an hour.
Soifon explains that Suzumebachi's ability is caused by a type of venom it secretes, which also acts as a handy counter-poison as well. The Bount arc also marks the first time she is seen killing someone with Suzumebachi. The Bount Mabashi manages to survive for slightly longer than two minutes when stabbed the second time, which can be attributed to Mabashi's enhanced power due to the large number of spirit particles in Soul Society. In contrast, Suzumebachi's second hit is instantly fatal to one of the "Dark Ones".