Ichigo Kurosaki's Background.
Ichigo possesses the unusual ability to see spirits as a consequence of his innate spiritual power. After the full extent of Ichigo's immense spiritual power is unlocked as a consequence of his meeting with Rukia Kuchiki, as well as his subsequent inability to control it, many of his friends begin to develop spiritual powers due to their proximity with him. Frequent exposure to Ichigo's energy causes several of his classmates to become spiritually aware, and some even develop their own unique powers as a result and we also know that Ichigo lives with his father Isshin Kurosaki and his two younger sisters, Yuzu and Karin. His father runs a small medical clinic in their house, and recruits the entire family in his business. While Ichigo's father is portrayed as a comical, inept character who often challenges his son with mock attacks and berates him for being late for dinner, Karin also has the ability to see spirits and Yuzu acts as the de facto mother of the family.
Ichigo's Powers:
Though he does not possess any formal shinigami rank, Ichigo's overall abilities are great enough that he can fight on the level of an elite shinigami captain. According to Aizen and Urahara, Ichigo's most astounding ability is his growth rate: he grasps the basic control of advanced techniques in days where it might take someone else weeks or years. One example is the bankai of his zanpakutō, which he learns in three days with the assistance of a special device invented by Urahara. For a normal shinigami, this same feat would require hundreds of years of combat experience and at least ten additional years of special training. He also gains mastery of flash steps while training with Yoruichi, which was done over the same period as his bankai.
Physically, Ichigo is in top form even when not in his spiritual body. Ichigo has been trained in martial arts since he was a small child, both professionally and by his father's constant assaults and surprise attacks when at home. He regularly fights with and defeats bullies and gangsters, and is a better martial artist than even Tatsuki, the second-strongest high school girl in all of Japan.
When he is in his shinigami body, Ichigo's already impressive strength is greatly enhanced. He can easily wield his giant sword one-handed, leap several stories into the air, and in one case even fought off three shinigami lieutenants and their released zanpakutō bare-handed in rapid succession; he shattered one of their zanpakutō in a single punch. The arrancar Ulquiorra has claimed that Ichigo's spiritual power at its peak is even greater than his own, but that it fluctuates wildly when he is in conflict with his inner hollow. Because he has far more spiritual energy than his body can contain, it leaks out constantly, preventing him from hiding it and effectively making stealth impossible when dealing with other spiritually-aware creatures.
In terms of fighting style, Ichigo relies mostly on his zanpakutō and the use of flash steps, and thus would be considered a swordsmanship specialist. Ichigo has never been formally taught kidō and has trouble controlling his spirit energy in all but the most basic of ways, due in part to the sheer amount of it he has.
Unlike most lieutenant and captain strength shinigami, Ichigo is able to fight with his full power in both the human and spiritual worlds. While captains and lieutenants have their power limited to a fifth of its normal level during trips to the real world in order to avoid unnecessarily influencing those living there, Ichigo holds no position in the Gotei 13 and thus has no such limit.
My Favorite, Ichigo's Hollow Powers!
Ichigo's spiritual powers are not limited to just shinigami abilities; he possesses hollow powers as a result of his training with Urahara. While attempting to recover his shinigami powers, Ichigo began transforming into a hollow from the corrosion of his severed soul chain. Ichigo succeeds in awakening his shinigami powers, but retains his hollow spirit inside himself from the transformation. The title page of chapter 220 depicts the inner hollow with the mirror writing of Ichigo's name.
Ichigo’s hollow spirit is his evil alter ego. The spirit is pretentious and mocks his counterpart’s inability in a sneering, didactic fashion whenever the chance arises. He relishes the idea of taking Ichigo’s strength for himself, and claims to be the manifestation of Ichigo's instinctive lust for battle and the next kill. He also seems to gain any abilities that Ichigo knows, evidenced by his usage of getsuga tensho and his usage of bankai. Unlike Ichigo, the hollow fights like a berserker, and is able to ignore any injuries Ichigo has previously sustained along with considerable increases to his speed and strength. At different points in the series, Ichigo's hollow powers have manifested themselves in different ways. Initially, Ichigo's hollow mask would appear on his body to block fatal blows, unbenownst to Ichigo until after the fight had ended. During his battle with Byakuya Kuchiki, half of the mask appeared on his face when he was near death, allowing his inner hollow to take over until Ichigo suppressed it. The same event is repeated multiple times after that. While suppressing his inner hollow, Ichigo is left effectively paralyzed, since his concentration was focused on suppressing it rather than fighting. The hollow claims that it manifests itself to protect Ichigo during near death moments because it is connected to Ichigo, and it would be a great inconvenience to the hollow if Ichigo were to die. While he was in training with the vizard, Ichigo's soul was completely overcome by his inner hollow for a short period, causing him to physically transform into a hollow. His near-complete hollow form resembles a large, humanoid lizard. In this form, Ichigo demonstrated several high-level abilities, including instantaneous regeneration, enhancement of limbs, and the ability to fire cero blasts from his fingers. However, this form didn't last long as Ichigo emerged from the hollow shell as his standard shinigami self wearing a hollow mask.
After training with the vizard and subjugating his inner hollow, Ichigo can use his hollow mask while retaining his personality, but could originally only wear it for eleven seconds at a time. His limit increases during his third battle with Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, but to what extent is unclear. His overall limit is barely a fraction of the amount other vizard can maintain their masks. After the time limit, the mask breaks and Ichigo loses its benefits. Subsequent attempts to use the mask can only be maintained for an instant. While wearing the mask, Ichigo's hollow powers supplement his shinigami powers, giving him a vast increase in both strength and speed.
Zangetsu:
Ichigo's zanpakutō is named Zangetsu. Unlike most shinigami, who can seal their zanpakutō after releasing it, Ichigo's zanpakutō is always in its shikai form. Yoruichi Shihouin has stated that his zanpakutō is a full-time released form type, implying that it is simply a type of zanpakutō that, once in shikai form, remains in said state.
The spirit of Zangetsu resembles a 30 to 40 year-old man, and Ichigo calls him "old man" as a result. Zangetsu has also been called the "black-clothed man." Zangetsu is portrayed as wise and calm in most matters, and fond of testing Ichigo in unusual ways, many of which have a purpose completely contrary to the stated goal. Zangetsu has displayed the ability to temporarily close fatal wounds during combat, though whether or not this is a unique ability is unclear.
When Ichigo first becomes a shinigami, his zanpakutō is simply an oversized version of a regular sealed zanpakutō, complete with an equally oversized sheath on his back. The large size is due to Ichigo's immense spiritual power, which he didn't know how to control. As a result, the sword itself was rather weak, since very little spiritual power was used to create it. Byakuya Kuchiki cuts off most of the blade during his first encounter with Ichigo and Kisuke Urahara subsequently slices it down to the hilt during their training, forcing Ichigo to learn the name of his zanpakutō in order to release its true form. Unlike most zanpakutō, Zangetsu has no release command.
The shikai form of Zangetsu resembles an over sized, though more elegant, cleaver blade without a hilt guard. The sword is as tall as Ichigo is, 1.74 meters, and has a black blade with a silver edge. Ichigo carries his zanpakutō on his back by the cloth wrapped around the handle. When not in combat, the cloth extends to cover the rest of the sword and falls away when necessary, shrinking back to a manageable size. The cloth can also be used to swing the weapon like a flail and toss it at opponents, but this is rarely done. This was first demonstrated by Ichigo's inner hollow, then again by Ichigo himself while rescuing Rukia.
The bankai of Zangetsu, named Tensa Zangetsu, is considered completely out of the ordinary for any zanpakutō. Unlike most bankai forms, which usually create some sort of massive creature or effect, Ichigo's bankai actually shrinks his sword down to a daitō with a black blade, handguard in the shape of the manji. The cloth wrapped around the hilt is replaced by a short chain with a broken link, similar to that of a plus spirit. In addition to his sword, Ichigo's robe is replaced with a long-sleeved, ankle-length black coat with red lining that is closed at his chest, much like that of Zangetsu himself.
As explained by Byakuya Kuchiki, Ichigo's bankai is a compression of his power, rather than a vast expansion as other bankai are. This hugely compressed power enables Ichigo to move at speeds exceeding those of flash steps, and gives him matching agility and reflexes, allowing him to use his natural strength to its limits. With enough usage and acquired height, Ichigo can even appear as though he is flying. Ichigo's initial inexperience with controlling his bankai led to a serious drawback; the force of his compressed spiritual power caused all of his bones to crack as stated by his inner hollow, gradually decreasing his speed and power over time. This drawback has not been mentioned since its introduction, so it has presumably been overcome.
Zangetsu's special ability is the getsuga tenshō, which fires concentrated energy blasts from the tip of the blade in the shape of a crescent moon. Ichigo uses this ability without knowing its name several times, but masters the technique later on when he discovers its name. As stated by Zangetsu, "knowing and not knowing the name of an attack makes a difference in the amount of power that it releases". When used with Zangetsu's bankai, these blasts are black with a red outline and their path can be controlled. During Byakuya Kuchiki's fight with Ichigo, he refers to this attack as kuroi getsuga. This term simply refers to the darkened color of the attack, not its actual name. When used with his bankai and hollow mask in combination, Ichigo's extreme speed allows him to move faster than the getsuga tensho itself, allowing him to fire multiple blasts from different directions. The move was first displayed by Ichigo's inner hollow, and initially carried the risk of causing his inner hollow to surface if used too much. With Ichigo's later control over his inner hollow, this is no longer a problem.
The End.
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