The Demi-Hollow

The Demi-Hollow
Race	Hollow
Gender	Male
Professional Status
Affiliation	Himself
Powers
Special Ability	Sticker Phlegm
First Appearance
Manga	Volume 4, Chapter 28
Anime	Episode 10
Voices
Japanese	Susumu Chiba
English	Wally Wingert

The Demi-Hollow (半虚 (デミ・ホロウ), Demi-Horō) is a Hollow that first appeared as a Jibakurei (地縛霊, Earthbound Spirit) that was chained to an abandoned hospital in Karakura Town.

Appearance

While still in his Jibakurei form, the Demi-Hollow looked like a man in his early to middle thirties with short spiky dark hair and sideburns, wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt. After his transformation he turns into a medium-sized bipedal Hollow with a mask resembling the face of a frog and two long extensions coming out the sides of its mask, resembling pigtails.

History

Before his death, the Demi-Hollow was the older son and heir of a rich hospital owner. He had planned to live the good life once he inherited the hospital and started raking in money from its profits. When his father died, he left the hospital to his younger brother instead, which caused his spirit to be bound to the hospital after death.

Plot

Agent of the Shinigami arc

As a Jibakurei, the Demi-Hollow became bound to the hospital.

When the famous medium Don Kanonji, host of Japan's best known ghost hunting show, "Ghost Bust," announces he intends to do a live special from Karakura Town, the whole town gathers in front of the abandoned hospital where the show is going to take place. When the crew begins to trespass into the Demi-Hollow's territory, he starts howling out in anger to try to drive the Humans away. Since the howling and roaring doesn't have the desired effect, the Demi-Hollow comes out of the hospital and starts shouting at the crowd, telling them to back off of his territory. However, the Humans are undeterred, as most of them cannot see or hear him.

Don Kanonji attacks the Demi-Hollow.

The situation changes when Don Kanonji enters the picture. He fearlessly approaches the Demi-Hollow and inspects him closely. The Demi-Hollow tries to intimidate Kanonji, but the experienced ghost hunter is clearly unfazed. He picks up his "Super Spirit Stick" and shoves it into the Demi-Hollow's half-opened Hollow hole, hastening his Hollow transformation and causing him excruciating pain. Kanonji tries to calm the suffering Demi-Hollow, saying the pain will soon pass while twisting the stick inside the hole. He promises to free the Demi-Hollow from what he calls the chain of nightmares, for which he uses a gibberish incantation, intended to finish the job with a single blow. After a few seconds the chains tying the Demi-Hollow to the building begin to snap.

The Demi-Hollow transforming into a Hollow.

When Ichigo manages to reach Kanonji and the Demi-Hollow and push Kanonji away he finds that he's come too late, as the Demi-Hollow's plus form disintegrates before their eyes. A couple of minutes later the Demi-Hollow recomposes himself as a proper Hollow right above Ichigo and Kanonji. He instantly begins feeling the hunger of the Hollows and lunges from the top of the building onto his two opponents. Kanonji pushes Ichigo back, telling him to run so he can face the Hollow himself, and then stands in the Hollow's path armed with nothing except his Spirit Stick. The Hollow attacks but is blocked by Ichigo, who then pushes him back, away from Kanonji. The Hollow seizes the chance, while Ichigo and Kanonji are arguing, to try a sneak attack on Ichigo, but the substitute Shinigami catches on and blocks him.

Ichigo injures the Demi-Hollow.

Kanonji tries to lunge at the Hollow, but Ichigo grabs him again and throws him out of harm's way. The Hollow crashes through the hospital wall and becomes stuck. Kanonji thinks he has spotted a "golden chance" to strike, but the Hollow breaks free and Ichigo makes a hasty retreat, dragging Kanonji with him, with the Hollow close behind them. Ichigo leads the Hollow into the hospital. The Hollow manages to surprise Ichigo and Kanonji in the middle of a discussion, coming up through the floor. Ichigo tries to draw his Zanpakutō, but it is far too long and bulky to fight with in the narrow corridor. The situation goes from bad to dire when the Hollow spits a glob of paste at Ichigo's hands, gluing them to the sword's handle. Ichigo challenges the Hollow to attack, saying he will defeat him by using only his legs. The Hollow attacks, but is blocked by Kanonji, who jams his Spirit Stick into the Hollow's mouth.

The Demi-Hollow reverts to his original form.

Kanonji pushes the enraged Hollow away from Ichigo and then uses his ultimate attack to free Ichigo's sword that was lodged in the corridor's ceiling. Kanonji gets out of the way, leaving Ichigo to finish the job, as the Hollow lunges forwards. Ichigo manages to pierce the Hollow through his shoulder, but the wound is nowhere near fatal. The Hollow breaks through a window and climbs on the side of the building to the roof, with the sword and Ichigo still clinging from his shoulder. On the roof the Hollow manages to loosen the large sword sticking out of him and immediately tries to attack Ichigo, who dodges. When Kanonji arrives the Hollow focuses his attack on him, forcing Ichigo to protect him. Ichigo shoves the Hollow against a wall and with his next strike cuts through his mask, purifying him. Before making the transition into Soul Society, he sheds his Hollow form, returning to his previous appearance of a young man, now at peace.

Powers and Abilities

The Demi-Hollow uses his Sticker Phlegm ability.

Spiritual Power: As a Hollow, the Demi-Hollow possesses at least some amount of spiritual power.

Sticker Phlegm (スティッカー・フレム, Sutikkā Furemu): The Demi-Hollow is able to spit an adhesive powerful enough to instantaneously glue two surfaces together.

Appearances in Other Media

The Demi-Hollow appears in Bleach: The 3rd Phantom and Bleach: Flame Bringer as a common enemy. In Bleach: The 3rd Phantom, he is renamed Frog Head.

Trivia

• The Demi-Hollow is dubbed as such in the SOULs databook, even though he becomes a full Hollow shortly after his debut and retains this form for the remainder of his story.
• The two extensions on his mask were omitted in the anime.