Ueda Nagata

== Summary ==
Ueda Nagata was a human who became a Substitute Shinigami, and then became a full Shinigami. He used to live in Karakura Town, and now lives in an apartment in the Seireitei. He is one of the main protagonists in Bleach.
== Appearance ==
Ueda has two distinguishing features about him: the short, spiked brown hair (now reaching shoulder height) and the vertical scars going down the left-side of his face. He also seems somewhat muscular, which is most likely a result of the vigorous martial arts training he has undergone. He is also above average height for a sixteen year-old.
In this Spirit form, he dons a sleeveless Shihakusho. When he is in this form, as well, onyx black chains form and wrap around his bare shoulders, coming from his Zanpakuto - the chains attach themselves to either side of it.
== Personality ==
Ueda, despite how lazy and unreliable he may seem to be, actually is quite dependable. This is mainly due to his care for his comrades and the honour that he believes he must upkeep, no matter what situation it is - this is his main principle.
As a result of those two things, Ueda can appear quite stubborn sometimes. He doesn't give up easily, which also means that losing can be something incredibly difficult for him to bear. And when he does experience loss, he tries his best not to let it get to him, even if it does.
The stubbornness rooted from when he lost his siblings in a house fire, and was too powerless to save them. The scars that linger on the left side of his face always remind him never to give up, even if the times are rough. Which is the main reason why he keeps thinking about his parents, and why they disappeared, and tries to constantly find them, or at least worry deeply about them.
== History ==
Not much is known about his history apart from how his siblings died in a house-fire and he has been living alone since then, as, on the date of that house-fire, his parents miraculously disappeared.
== Plot ==
=== Broken Sword arc ===
The arc begins with Ueda reminiscing, as it is his sixteenth birthday. This also reminds him that he must use the key his dad gave him, only to be used on his sixteenth birthday, to open the basement, which he has never ventured in, before. And so he does, entering the basement. He finds a dusty blade, in an open, glass case. Ueda picks it up, which triggers bizarre energy (later to be found out as reiatsu) to be unleashed. This results in a beam of energy shooting through the house's roof, and shattering the blade in the process. Ueda then realises that the blade is the aforementioned family possession, and prompts him to visit Tetsuryu Forging Company Ltd., a small-time business that reforges and forges weapons and armour.
Soon after reaching there, he meets a peculiar man (later known as Kouki) who happens to be the shopkeeper and lead forger of the shop. Ueda waits an hour for it to be reforged, and it is. Then a loud noise is made, prompting Ueda to rush out into the distance. Ueda then gets a call from that same man, telling him what the source of that sound was and how to defeat it. Ueda eventually reaches the scene, seeing two people hurt (Isamu Kahaya and Murkami Shunsho). Ueda then takes the initiative, charging at the Hollow.
With one slice to the mask, the Hollow is already damaged. However, Ueda is punched away. A rippling shockwave then vibrates throughout the ground, caused by the Hollow, which prompts Ueda to leap away from the shockwave and onto the Hollow, jamming the blade into the Hollow's skull. This is unsuccessful, however: Ueda is thrown back onto the hard ground. But, as he is thrown onto the ground, a few projectiles hit the Hollow's mask, successfully ending its life. But, with it collapsing backwards, only a building's debris was left, as well as the once again shattered blade.
Ueda then gets a phone call from that same man who reforged the sword (Kouki), asking for him to return for a favour, which makes Ueda want to retrieve his sword back, despite the caller explicitly stating that it is unnecessary for his favour. But Ueda being stubborn, he wants to do it. But when he tries to get the sword back, one of the two - Isamu Kahaya - has taken it from him. He then passes it to Murkami Shunsho, stating that he wants to test out how strong Ueda is, witnessing that he is no normal human. This results in a short brawl between the two, which eventually ends at a stalemate. At the end of the stalemate, the caller appears before them, jumping down from a roof. He introduces himself as Kouki, and gives them an offer: to train with them, to get stronger. The others, Isamu Kahaya and Murkami Shunsho, both agree to this offer, as they were blackmailing Ueda with training, either way.
That night then ends. Ueda goes to school, not forgetting this time, and the day passes by quickly. This then results in the three heading to Kouki's forgery. They then talk about what a Shinigami is for a bit, before heading down the hole behind the counter. This leads to an expansive room that has a grid patterned all over it: every wall and floor, as well as the ceiling, all have grids on them. Kouki then explains how this training is going to work, prompting a chain to dangle down from the hole above. He presses his down, a black whole expanding and dropping Ueda, Isamu and Murkami below.
The 'Chains of Fate' are then explained, along with how 'Encroachment' works. Then, the Chains of Fate form themselves on all three as their spiritual bodies are detached from their physical ones. Kouki then snaps his finger, the Chains of Fate of each person snapping, causing the process of Encroachment to begin for all three, them all slowly becoming Hollows. And if they fight didn't the steady Hollowfication, they would become Hollowed souls.
The first one to beat it is Isamu. His reiatsu dramatically increases, his spiritual form changing: his shirt is replaced by a long, silver overcoat with black outlinings, his pants, silver hakama. He also had black combat boots. This resulted in the Chain of Fate's encroachment failing, the Chain of Fate receding back into his spiritual body and the mouths disappearing from each chain link.
The next one to beat it was Murkami. He defeated it in a similar manner to Isamu: his clothing changed into a black, skintight long-sleeved shirt with a black exoskeleton pattern, he donned a black hakama, his belt became grey, gloves forming that had a similar pattern to the shirt, a neckguard forming and geta (Japanese footwear that resembles clogs and flip-flops) forming at his feet.
And, finally, there was Ueda. He was struggling the most. However, at the moment when the encroachment process was 3/4 complete, the world itself changed around him. Buildings were everywhere. In fact, he was on a building himself. However, each and single every one of the buildings, except for one, were enveloped in pure darkness. Even the sun itself was covered in a shell of darkness. Ueda, however, was lucky: he was on the only building that wasn't covered in that oh-so almighty darkness. Furthermore, his Chain of Fate was gone, the encroachment process no longer taking place. He rose, knowing and sensing no pain. And that moment he raised himself was the moment he met eye-to-eye him a shadowy figure, one with bright yellow pupils and onyx black sclera. As well as this, bright, rippling energy was expanding, back-and-forth. This resulted in the very place he was standing in becoming extremely hot, it melting just with his very presence.
-WIP-
== Equipment ==
Broken family sword - Once a family possession passed down from each generation to next, the broken family sword was known as a legendary blade in the Edo period. However, this is long void: Ueda has broken this once ancient and valuable relic, twice. It seems that it can never be repaired again.
Kuratsurai - Ueda's zanpakuto. It is an element-type, manipulating darkness and light. Shikai allows you to manipulate through either pointing the blade or just focusing on one point. Bankai improves on this: instead of darkness having to be created, a shihakusho made of darkness forms around Ueda's body, allowing for him to more easily manipulate and utilise darkness. As well as this, he can also manipulate light, hence the appearance of the zanpakuto. However, in order to manipulate and utilise the light, unlike the darkness, a constant supply of solar energy is required and it can only be used when the blade is being held, otherwise light will cease to function. Also notably, if the blade is broken, you can restore its original form by bathing it in light, pointing it at the sun. Light alternatives such as lampshades and fires are also possible sources for restoration, but they are less efficient and take almost double the time to regenerate, depending on the source - it is a general rule that it takes at least double the time of the sun to restore the blade. The main advantage of this, however, is that the Bankai can only be broken when the entire blade is destroyed. But even if the blade is destroyed, Ueda's darkness shihakusho will remain, allowing for him to manipulate the last of the darkness until it runs out, as, with the Bankai broken, he cannot constantly manifest more darkness.
Currently, Shikai and Bankai have been acquired for it. True Shikai and True Bankai have not yet been reached. 
.The Shikai comes in the appearance of a large, cleaver-like shape with two unequally sized prongs curving off the base of the metal of the blade, forming something likened to a crossguard, but not actually a crossguard. It also has purple tape wrapped around (besides the pale part of the hilt, with a red eye) the hilt which then join into the blade, the crossguard being almost non-existent. As well as this, there is also a right-angle triangle shape near the tip of the blade, which can be assumed to be a chip in the blade that is permanently there. 
The Bankai changes the shape considerably. It changes into a pure white sword with a 20-pointed ring crossguard, an optional white tassel at the pommel, and, most notably, becomes a smaller, more slender blade. It appears more like a sealed zanpakuto in this form, and is constantly compared to Rukia Kuchiki's Shikai for Sode no Shirayuki, as they both appear extremely white and have an uncanny similarity in terms of appearance.
== Powers and Abilities ==
Expert martial arts practitioner - It has been shown that Ueda is an expert martial artist. He can easily bend an arm or leg with just a palm, or can shatter the lower jaw with just his fist. He is also fairly quick when it comes to it, making him a force to be reckon to with, as well as someone who can more than easily defend himself. Furthermore, the martial arts he has learned has resulted in him being quite athletic. This was shown when he fought the Hollow at the beginning, as he more than easily leapt and attacked it.
Category:Characters