The Shinigami a
In Bleach, there is an afterlife also known as the Soul Society. Travel between the human world and this Soul Society is extremely limited, but since some Shinigami carry out their duties in the human world, travel for them must be permitted. The Shinigami are given a time limit that they are allowed to stay in the human world for, and if they surpass this, it is a crime. Shinigami are comprised of ectoplasm and can only be seen by spiritually aware entities, excluding most human beings. However, when they take affect on physical objects they can be detected by humans. The most well-known power of the Shinigami is the Zanpakuto also known as a soul cutting sword. It looks similar to a Katana, but is actually a living part of the Shinigami’s soul. Concentrated into the blade of the sword, is a spiritual force emitted by the Shinigami. This force varies from one to another based on each beings strength. This sword is used to enforce duties of which they are given, such as leading Pluses (ghosts) to Soul Society and also cleansing the hollows (evil spirits).
The Central 46 Chambers
The Central 46 Chambers is the main authority of the Shinigami. It is created from 6 judges and 40 wise men. Regardless of the military status or civilian status of others, nobody else can enter the enclave that the 46 Chambers are sealed in. Any decision made by the 46 chambers must be carried out and cannot be questioned by any person, regardless of status. The Royal Guard and the Shinigami Academy are the only forces who do not answer to the 46 Chambers. The 46 Chambers are responsible of sentencing and judging Shinigami who have committed crimes that are very serious such as treason and murder. The Shinigami Captain’s sentence crimes of which are less serious. Although not specifically stated, it strongly implied that the Central 46 Chambers mostly deal with executions.
The Gotei 13
The Shinigami consists of three separate corps’. The Gotei 13, Demon Arts Corps and the Special Forces. The Demon Arts Corps operates under complete secrecy and its missions remain untold. The Special Forces has not yet revealed much thus far in the series, except the current leader of the Special Forces is Captain Soifon of the Gotei 13’s Second Division. The Special Forces consists of five division. The leader of the Special Forces is called the commander-in-chief, which is the equivalent to the real-life Lieutenant General. The Special Forces is similar to the Gotei 13, except the force commander has several bodyguards. The Gotei 13 has 13 divisions, which all have different things they specialize in. They all wear uniforms of which resemble ninjas. The higher rankings, however, can be recognized because of distinct features which set them apart, such as a dark sash as opposed to a white one.
The Gotei 13 has 13 divisions as stated. They are as follows:
The antithesis to the Arrancar are called the Vizard. Their dominant species is Shinigami and their subordinate species is Hollow. The Vizard tries to master the art of controlling their inner hollow. In battle, they release their inner hollows while maintaining control of themselves. This allows full power, but has a limited amount of time which it can be performed for. The Vizard appear human, and carry a Zanpakuto like a normal Shinigami. A Vizard can materialize a full mask on their face on demand, but do not have it on a regular basis. It is thought that the fusion of the two spiritual entities allows these shinigami to reach levels of spiritual power far surpassing that of any ordinary shinigami or hollow.
The Vizard are considered criminals by the Soul Society for committing the ultimate taboo of acquiring the powers of a hollow. The Vizard are on their own team as they are rejected by Hollows because of their former status as a Shinigami. A Vizard starts out as a Shinigami and his Shinigami powers remain more powerful then his Hollow ones, but only because of the fact that they actively repress their inner hollows.
Shinigami Uniforms
The Shinigami have four different forms of combat. Zanjutsu (Swordsmanship), Hakuda (Hand-to-hand), Hoho (Foot Combat) and Kido (Demon Arts). The most common fighting technique however, is Zanjutsu, which involves fighting with the Zanpakuto. The Special Forces troops higher ranking soldiers are known to be very skilled in Hakuda. Hoho is not explained too clearly, but is inferred to be stepping faster than the eye can see, resembling teleportation. Kido is a type of combat or healing sourcery. Demon art spells are called either blast spells, used for direct attack, or blinding spells, which restrain someone or have other similar effects. To perform a spell, you must use similar techniques as releasing a Zanpakuto; you must call out the incantation for the spell.
Most operations and missions are undergone in the human world. When the Captains and Lieutenants enter the human world they have their spiritual energy reduced by around eighty-percent. A Faux body is an artificial body that allows Shinigami to remain in the human world for long periods of time, since they are not able to in their spirit form. This enables the Shinigami to do missions in the form of a perfectly mimicked human body. Since there are more hollows then Shinigami, they required assistance. Thus, they developed the Modified Souls. This allows the Shinigami to create souls specialized in combat that could possess dead human bodies to be used as soldiers. Since sometimes Shinigami affect the physical surroundings of a hollow significantly, when they purify it, they use Memory Replacement. This is a technique used to blank out the memory of a human so nothing is remembered. When the Shinigami travel to the human world, they are given a mobile phone which is essential. He receives information via text message about the time and exact location of a hollow’s emergence. A bounty is placed on each Hollow, and it can be used as a currency when one is killed. The kills are also recorded in the phone.
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The Shinigami
The Central 46 Chambers is the main authority of the Shinigami. It is created from 6 judges and 40 wise men. Regardless of the military status or civilian status of others, nobody else can enter the enclave that the 46 Chambers are sealed in. Any decision made by the 46 chambers must be carried out and cannot be questioned by any person, regardless of status. The Royal Guard and the Shinigami Academy are the only forces who do not answer to the 46 Chambers. The 46 Chambers are responsible of sentencing and judging Shinigami who have committed crimes that are very serious such as treason and murder. The Shinigami Captain’s sentence crimes of which are less serious. Although not specifically stated, it strongly implied that the Central 46 Chambers mostly deal with executions.
The Shinigami consists of three separate corps’. The Gotei 13, Demon Arts Corps and the Special Forces. The Demon Arts Corps operates under complete secrecy and its missions remain untold. The Special Forces has not yet revealed much thus far in the series, except the current leader of the Special Forces is Captain Soifon of the Gotei 13’s Second Division. The Special Forces consists of five division. The leader of the Special Forces is called the commander-in-chief, which is the equivalent to the real-life Lieutenant General. The Special Forces is similar to the Gotei 13, except the force commander has several bodyguards. The Gotei 13 has 13 divisions, which all have different things they specialize in. They all wear uniforms of which resemble ninjas. The higher rankings, however, can be recognized because of distinct features which set them apart, such as a dark sash as opposed to a white one.
The antithesis to the Arrancar are called the Vizard. Their dominant species is Shinigami and their subordinate species is Hollow. The Vizard tries to master the art of controlling their inner hollow. In battle, they release their inner hollows while maintaining control of themselves. This allows full power, but has a limited amount of time which it can be performed for. The Vizard appear human, and carry a Zanpakuto like a normal Shinigami. A Vizard can materialize a full mask on their face on demand, but do not have it on a regular basis. It is thought that the fusion of the two spiritual entities allows these shinigami to reach levels of spiritual power far surpassing that of any ordinary shinigami or hollow.
The Shinigami have four different forms of combat. Zanjutsu (Swordsmanship), Hakuda (Hand-to-hand), Hoho (Foot Combat) and Kido (Demon Arts). The most common fighting technique however, is Zanjutsu, which involves fighting with the Zanpakuto. The Special Forces troops higher ranking soldiers are known to be very skilled in Hakuda. Hoho is not explained too clearly, but is inferred to be stepping faster than the eye can see, resembling teleportation. Kido is a type of combat or healing sourcery. Demon art spells are called either blast spells, used for direct attack, or blinding spells, which restrain someone or have other similar effects. To perform a spell, you must use similar techniques as releasing a Zanpakuto; you must call out the incantation for the spell.
