Sosuke Aizen

**Sosuke Aizen** was the leader of the Arrancar army and the former captain of Squad Five before betraying the Soul Society with his followers, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen. His lieutenant is Momo Hinamori. After waging war against the Soul Society with his army, Aizen was defeated by Ichigo Kurosaki and sealed away by Kisuke Urahara, and then imprisoned for his crimes.

## Statistics

* **Name**: Sosuke Aizen
* **Origin**: Bleach
* **Gender**: Male
* **Age**: Unknown (At least one hundred and ten years old, most probably several hundred years old)
* **Birthday**: May 29
* **Classification**: Soul Reaper, Former Captain of the 5th Division
* **Blood Type**:
* **Height**: 186 cm (6'1.2")
* **Weight**: 74 kg (163 lbs)
* **Skin Color**: Light
* **Eye Color**: Brown
* **Hair Color**: Brown
* **Alignment**: Bad
* **Status**: Active
* **Class**: **SSS-Class**. **Transcendent** with Hogyoku Forms.
* **Powers and Abilities**: Zanjutsu Master, Kido Master, Shunpo Master, Hakuda Master
* **Standard Equipment**: Kyoka Suigetsu, The Hogyoku
* **Weaknesses**: His Zanpakuto's special ability can be overcome by touching its blade before it is released, and he is somewhat overconfident. He can only use his Reality Warping when possessing the Hyogoku.
* **Notable Attacks/Techniques**: Kanzen Saimin, El Escudo, Millión Escudo, Hado #63: Raikoho, Bakudo #81: Danku, Hado #90: Kurohitsugi
* **Voice Actor**: Shō Hayami

### Power Stats

* **Attack Potency**:
* **Speed**:
* **Lifting Strength**:
* **Striking Strength**:
* **Durability**:
* **Stamina**:
* **Range**:
* **Intelligence**:
* **Key**:

## Appearance

Aizen is a tall, mild-featured man with short brown hair that is swept back with a single strand to hang down in front of his eyes, and matching brown, menacing eyes. Aizen generally wears a white vest, and on top of this, a white long, long-sleeved robe, reminiscent of his old captain's haori, with an extended collar and no insignia on the back, as well as a pink sash around his waist, along with white *hakama*, black *tabi*, and white *zori*.

## Personality

Aizen is a polite, soft-spoken intellectual, often addressing his subordinates by their given names. He rarely shows any sign of alarm or distress, and often has entire situations planned out well in advance. Whenever confronted, Aizen is casual and uncaring, attempting to draw out a conversation and make small talk, which often infuriates those he is talking to.

Aizen initially appeared to be a very kind, well-respected captain and was looked up to by many, especially his lieutenant, Momo Hinamori. However, this was just a mask to disguise his manipulative, corrupt, calculating, cruel, and very dangerous, nature. In truth, he cares very little for his underlings, and is willing to use almost everyone around him as pawns to achieve his goals. He is willing to stop at nothing to further his selfish ambitions, including manipulating or killing anyone if he deems it to be necessary, showing his more cold-hearted and callous nature. He frequently toys with his underlings for amusement, and states that he doesn’t have any morals, saying they just restrict his capabilities.

During his time as a Captain, Aizen liked tofu, but he disliked boiled eggs. In his free time, he often read, and he gave a special lecture of calligraphy at the Shinigami Academy because he excelled in this branch of arts. This optional course was immensely popular among the Shinigami students, and many of them felt great sorrow at Aizen's sudden departure.

As the commander of his army of Arrancar, Aizen controls his minions through acquired respect or fear. Ulquiorra Schiffer revealed to Orihime Inoue that they are all there to further Aizen's ambitions. Aizen keeps more rowdy individuals like Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez in line through intimidation and mind games. The Arrancar, Aisslinger Wernarr claims the Arrancar follow him because he has no fear, something which beings born from fear and despair find inspiring.

Gin Ichimaru has some sense of Aizen's emotions and feelings, correctly pointing out Aizen was enjoying the invasion by Ichigo and his friends and their successes within Las Noches, which Aizen himself confirmed, and noting Aizen was surprised by the arrival of Momo during the battle of Fake Karakura Town. In contrast, Kaname Tosen has shown no such understanding, and has fallen victim to one of Aizen's more minor mind games when Aizen subtly manipulated him into punishing Grimmjow for him while Aizen himself kept up his appearance of benevolence.

Aizen's true objective was to overthrow the king of Soul Society. As he and his fellow traitor captains were departing from the Soul Society, he told 13th Division Captain Jūshirō Ukitake "*no one has stood on the top of the world", not even the gods, but he aspires to "stand on the heavens and end the unbearable vacancy on the world's throne*".

According to Kisuke Urahara, since mastering the Hogyoku, Aizen has become less cautious in battle, for Aizen would not have allowed Urahara to use level 90 Kido before he subdued the Hogyoku. Aizen admits his new powers allow him to let his guard down. Due to this newfound power, Aizen has developed an arrogant and overconfident attitude, often not even thinking his attacks or defense through any longer like he used to, or even bothering to find out the effects of his opponents' and his own attacks. In his newest form, he has developed a severe superiority complex, believing he is now above both Shinigami and Hollows. Because of his superior attitude and high intelligence, Aizen is easily enraged when facing something or someone which he does not understand; for example, when witnessing Ichigo Kurosaki use **Final Getsuga Tensho**, Aizen becomes furious because he is unable to comprehend how a Human has surpassed him.

## Main Skills and Equipment

**Kyoka Suigetsu** (*Moon Mirror, Water Flower*): In it's sealed form, it resembles a normal katana. The only decoration is the cross-guard, which is shaped like a hexagon instead of a rectangle. The two sides parallel to the blade are long, whereas the four sides above and below the blade are shortened, making it into almost a diamond or prism-like shape. It has a green handle and a white sheath.

* **Shikai**: The Shikai release command is "**Shatter**".

**Shikai Special Ability**: The special ability of **Kyoka Suigetsu** is **Kanzen Saimin** (*Complete Hypnosis*). It controls the five senses to the point that it can make the target misinterpret another person's form, shape, mass, feel and smell to be that of the enemy. The initiation condition for the hypnosis is to show the enemy the release of Kyoka Suigetsu. After seeing it just once, that person will completely succumb to the hypnosis. After that, every time it is released, that person will become Aizen's unwilling slave. Since the spell works when you see the ritual, those who can not see are consequently immune to the hypnosis. When he turns off the hypnosis by force of will, the image shown melts away/shatters. Kyoka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis is absolutely flawless; even if the target is aware that they are under the hypnosis, they cannot resist its influence. Kyoka Suigetsu's hypnotic abilities make it a highly useful tool in combat, as Aizen can quickly create simple or complex illusions to deceive opponents. By creating a decoy of himself, or other illusions to distract his opponents, Aizen can hide his own movements and attack with impunity; his opponent, meanwhile, will remain focused on the illusion until it's too late to react in time.

While the illusions Kyoka Suigetsu creates are quite powerful, those with considerable power and skill themselves may be able to note slight differences in the illusions compared to the real thing, even if they are not able to determine what, precisely, is different. Captain Retsu Unohana was able to detect something was amiss with Aizen's fake corpse, even though she did not realize what until seeing Aizen alive. This is how Aizen has deceived many people and killed them, including one of his own allies, the Tercera Espada, Tier Harribel. Gin reveals that the sole way to escape Kyoka Suigetsu's ability is by touching the blade itself before complete hypnosis is activated.
**Hogyoku First Fusion**: Aizen embeds the Hogyoku into the center of his chest.

* **Protective Regeneration**: By being embedded into Aizen's chest, the Hogyoku actively protects Aizen by healing his injuries almost instantly. Aizen withstood a point-blank Hado #96. Ittō Kasō and only suffered slight burns. Immediately afterwards, he took a point-blank Bankai and Hollow mask-enhanced Getsuga Tensho and survived the attack. He emerged unfazed after being hurled into several buildings by Isshin Kurosaki.
* **Strength Augmentation**: Aizen's already considerable strength is further enhanced by the Hōgyoku's evolution of his body. He can strike through a target's flesh with a single, nonchalant sweep of his bare hands.
* **Durability Augmentation**: Aizen's durability is further enhanced by the Hōgyoku's evolution of his body. Because of this, he can withstand Hadō #91: Senjū Kōten Taihō without suffering any damage.

**Hogyoku Third Fusion**: After completing his "chrysalis" stage, Aizen sheds his sleek phantom-like form to reveal a form similar to his original one, with the addition of long hair and gray eyes with purple sclera aside from the white, cross-cutted cloak and his Zanpakutō fused onto his right arm. He is later capable of entering this form with ease due to a shard of the Hogyoku implanted within his body that is also synchronized with his monstrous spiritual energy.

* **Enhanced Durability**: Aizen's durability has been further enhanced. He willingly lets the Kōtotsu collide with him, destroying it, while remaining unharmed.
* **Enhanced Spiritual Power**: Aizen's already enormous Reiryoku is further enhanced. Aizen causes a Human soul to collapse and fade away by standing a few feet away from it. By his own claim, if Don Kanonji had come into contact with Aizen, the former would have ceased to exist. When Aizen touched Gin Ichimaru's arm, his Reiryoku caused the area touched to dissolve.

**Immense Spiritual Power**: Even by captain standards, Aizen possesses a tremendous amount of Reiryoku. A hint of Aizen's level of Reiryoku is given when he turns Wonderweiss Margela into an Arrancar before activating the Hōgyoku; Aizen states in spite of its half-awakened state, the Hōgyoku can be fully activated when temporarily fusing with someone with twice as much spiritual power as an average captain-level Shinigami, referring to himself. He claims he is more powerful than all of the Espada. His Reiatsu is violet.

* **Masterful Reiatsu Control**: Squad Two Lieutenant Marechiyo Ōmaeda stated Aizen's mere presence is monstrously overwhelming. The force of Aizen's Reiatsu is great enough to, without any visible effort from Aizen, bring Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the Sexta Espada, to his knees. He has stated it takes a lot for him not to "crush an ant" (referring to Renji) in his path. Aizen's Reiatsu is powerful enough to nullify abilities, such as when he negated Soi-Fon's *Nigeki Kessatsu*.

**Genius Intellect**: Arguably, the most fearsome trait of Aizen is his tremendous intellect. He is well-versed in the history, strategy, and tactics of Soul Society, and is privy to knowledge unknown to many, such as the existence of the **Ōken**, as well as the obscure method in which to create one. He has created several Hollows and Arrancar while avoiding arousing any suspicion from the majority of his fellow Shinigami. For over 110 years, he had been engaging in experiments which involved unique and highly dangerous manipulations of Reiryoku and Reishi, including experiments involving the Hollowfication of Shinigami, something which had never been done before. He has an innate knowledge of the Hogyoku, rivaling that of its creator, Kisuke Urahara; he even knows how to destroy it. He figured out the true nature of Shinji Hirako's **Shikai** and deduced it produces an optical illusion, allowing him to counter its effect. He effectively deduces the true nature of the Hōgyoku via trial and error of the situations which revolve around it.

* **Master Manipulator**: Aizen has proven himself very crafty and a cunning man since his public betrayal of Soul Society. He can deceive and manipulate others around him in different ways for a variety of purposes. For years, he convinced everyone around him he was a kind-hearted man with the best intentions for Soul Society while performing horrific actions. He has a great talent for analyzing and observing everything in his presence, allowing him to understand a person's pattern of thinking and better manipulate them. He is a master strategist, formulating well thought out plans several steps ahead of others. These plans are incredibly involved and detailed, and are planned out with the long term in mind. His most well-known plan spans over 110 years, a great accomplishment which involved moving people around like pieces on a chessboard and making sure they played the role he had planned out for them. He is masterful when it comes to plans within plans, such as kidnapping Orihime, allowing him to use her abilities to extend the shelf life of the Hōgyoku, and, after the departure of Gin Ichimaru, Kaname Tōsen, and himself, trapping Ichigo Kurosaki, Yasutora Sado, Uryu Ishida, Rukia Kuchiki, Lieutenant Renji Abarai, and four captains in Hueco Mundo, making it easier for him to accomplish the goal of his first plan: creating the **Ōken** and gaining access to the Royal Palace.
* **Master Strategist & Tactician**: Aizen is a beyond-able tactician, able to adjust his plans to almost any situation presented to him at a moment's notice. He is a master of psychological warfare, being the center of his entire battle strategy, being able to completely break down the will and resolve of his opponents, as well as provoking them to attack him prematurely, leaving openings in their form for Aizen to exploit and strike. He has also made it a personal goal of his to familiarize himself with the strengths, weaknesses, and mannerisms of his opponents, allowing him to devise elaborate strategies for defeating them.

**Kidō Master**: Aizen has great proficiency in using Kidō spells. He is skilled enough to use Kidō without the use of their incantation; he used Hadō #90. Kurohitsugi, and even though he did not utter its incantation, it was sufficient enough to disable 7th Division Captain Sajin Komamura. He has used Bakudō #81. Dankū to block Hadō #88. Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō from Tessai Tsukabishi, who was captain of the Kidō Corps and logically the most proficient Kidō master in Soul Society at the time, while Aizen himself was only a lieutenant. Moreover, he can use Hadō #99. Goryūtenmetsu, the most powerful offensive spell of all, to great effect without an incantation. He can produce powerful protection spells while in battle.

* **El Escudo** (Spanish for "The Shield"): As the practitioner raises their arm, a light green barrier is summoned to block an incoming attack.
* **Millón Escudo** (Spanish for "Million Shield"): A light green hexagonal barrier which is normally fixed to one central area and, when inactive, remains invisible. Upon contact with an outside force, the barrier enlarges to fully protect whatever it is affixed to. The barrier keeps the attack away from the target, gathers the energy in one area, and momentarily absorbs the energy from the attack before forcing the attack outward and away from the shield, dispersing the attack altogether. It blocked a point-blank Getsuga Tenshō from Ichigo Kurosaki in his Bankai.
* **Bakudō #26: Kyokkō** (*Bent Light*): A Bakudō that hides the physical form and Reiatsu of the caster by bending light.
* **Hadō #63: Raikōhō** (*Thunder Roar Sear*): Generating an orb of yellow lighting above the palm of his/her hand, the practitioner fires the built-up energy at his/her target as a massive concentration of energy which resembles a lightning strike. The effect has devastatingly destructive results.
* **Bakudō #81: Dankū** (*Splitting Void*): A defensive wall created to protect against an enemy's attack. The practitioner creates a translucent barrier in the form of a large rectangular wall. It is capable of stopping Kidō-based attacks with power up to level 89.
* **Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi** (*Black Coffin*): A high-level Kidō which seals its target in a black spiritual coffin. The practitioner generates a purple/black spiritual energy which, enveloping the target with a powerful torrent of gravity, takes the form of a box of black energy, covered in several spear-like protrusions. The spears, piercing the box, lacerate the one inside from head to toe. Aizen claims that, at least with the incantation, it has the power to distort space and time.

**Zanjutsu Master**: While the full extent of his prowess has yet to be known, he has demonstrated the ability to effortlessly fight back an opponent's Shikai or Bankai with his own blade still sealed. Fully capable of warding off nearly a dozen attackers, he parries off most of them with feigns and subtle gestures, rarely expending any real energy against his opponents unless its to invoke a feigning intimidating projection towards his target of choice. He has also demonstrated the ability to perform tremendously powerful and precise strikes, capable of striking through very sturdy targets, such as Renji's Shikai, Harribel's Hierro, and Komamura's Bankai. He was also able to easily cut down four captains (two which used their Bankai) and four Visored (with three being former captains of the Gotei 13) with ease, as well as overwhelm three exiled Shinigami (all three who were former Gotei 13 captains hundreds of years ago), who are all extremely powerful in their own right, and easily overpower a Bankai- and Hollow Mask-enhanced Ichigo Kurosaki.

**Shunpo Master**: Aizen is so fast, one cannot discern even being attacked by him until after it has taken place. Aizen can easily outmaneuver Ichigo's Bankai and Hollow mask-enhanced speed, to the point where he could casually lay a hand on Ichigo's chest and still dodge a point-blank attack. Aizen can dodge simultaneous attacks at close range and evade Bankai-level techniques. Opponents commonly do not know his movements until after he has made them, and Aizen is skilled enough in his movements to evade at high speeds, even when being attacked from behind.

**Hakuda Master**: While preferring to finish his fights quickly with his Zanpakutō or Kidō, Aizen is a highly capable fighter unarmed as well. Repeatedly, Aizen has shown himself able to effortlessly catch his opponent's weapons barehanded. While fighting offensively, he has shown tremendous agility and dexterity, able to combine both sword and barehanded skills to simultaneously strike with his sword and kick opponents with great force.

**Immense Strength**: Aizen is strong enough to stop the blade of Ichigo's Bankai with just one index finger (albeit Ichigo was already battle-worn from fighting Byakuya Kuchiki) and almost cut him in half with a single sword strike. He can stop the Shikai of both Renji Abarai and Sajin Komamura with just one hand and destroy the former's with a single swing, proving his strength is more than enough to combat a captain-level opponent. Aizen further displays his strength by cutting through the sword and wrist of Komamura's Bankai.

**Immortality**: Due to his interaction and subsequent fusion with the Hōgyoku, he has gained some degree of immortality, allowing him to regenerate from the damage caused by Ichigo's Mugetsu (albeit at the cost of his new Hōgyoku powers) and live past his 20,000 year sentence in Muken.

## Relationships

* Gin Ichimaru
* Kaname Tosen
* Momo Hinamori
* Toshiro Hitsugaya
* Ichigo Kurosaki