Gin Ichimaru

**Gin Ichimaru**was the former captain of the 3rd Division of the Gotei 13 after he betrayed the Soul Society, alongside Sōsuke Aizen and Kaname Tōsen. His former lieutenant was Izuru Kira. During his time in Hueco Mundo, Gin became one of the two generals of the Arrancar army alongside Tosen.

## Physical Appearance

Gin is fairly ordinary in terms of clothing, and doesn't wear any unique items. His overall appearance, however, is not as normal. He keeps his eyes constantly narrowed to slits (earning him the nickname "fox-face"), rarely ever opening his eyes. Although he appears to be an early to mid twenty-year-old person, he is unusually thin and tall with very sharp features giving him a skeletal appearance. He bears unusual silver hair which has a purple tint to it (his name refers to his hair color; *gin*is Japanese for silver). He also keeps his face set in a wide mocking smile, which he only wipes off on rare occasions of annoyance, surprise, confusion, or even sadness.

In Hueco Mundo, his outfit, like Aizen's and Tosen's, has been modified since the three abandoned Soul Society; he wears a white long-sleeved vest and a long, white robe over the white *hakama*that Arrancars wear, instead of his basic black hakama. The hilt of his Zanpakuto is visible sticking out from under the robe through the opening down to his waist. Gin wears his robe open in a narrow 'V' down to his waist, closed to below the hips, and then open again to the hem, which falls about mid-calf. His robe has long bell sleeves, into which he hides his hands like one does with kimono sleeves. The lining of the robe and edges or layers of the under-robe(s) appear to be black. From other examples, it is likely he is also wearing black tabi with white waraji. His Zanpakutō is not visible with this outfit.

## Personality

Gin is one of the most mysterious Shinigami in the *Bleach* series, since his almost constant smile and slitted eyes, combined with his heavy use of sarcasm and mocking politeness, make it very difficult to discern his thoughts. Many find his mysterious demeanor and appearance rather unsettling and there are very few who were willing to trust him even before he was revealed as a traitor. Gin seems to be fully aware of the effect he has on others and more than once has been seen toying with people's emotional states for his own amusement. Both Rukia Kuchiki and Wonderweiss Margera have shown to be rather frightened of him, Rukia noting to herself that she felt like she was being strangled by snakes whenever he spoke, even if he was not speaking to her directly. He explained to Sōsuke Aizen that he is "*as unfeeling and cold as a snake*", a claim that was proven in both his attack on Rangiku Matsumoto, someone that was considered very close to Gin, and his sudden betrayal of Aizen. In the *Bleach* anime, Gin speaks with a distinct Kyoto dialect, which is polite but indirect. His English dubbed voice is also formal and polite, but with a rather mocking and facetious undertone.

Ever since he was a child, dried persimmons have been his absolute favorite food. Gin planted and raised many persimmon trees around the 3rd Division offices, and makes the dried persimmons himself, then distributes them to other divisions. Once he wound up eating a dried sweet potato, thinking, "Oh, it's a dried persimmon!" and he hated it. When he has free time, Captain Ichimaru goes on walks around Seireitei. Although his hobby is people-watching, it seems like he is possibly hunting around and searching for an opportunity to create mischief with some poor victim. The gentlemen of the 3rd Division are contrary, and they have the kind of attitude that enjoys that mean-spiritedness. He also has incredible skill at needle threading.

## Abilities

**Genius Intellect**: When Gin was younger, he was hailed as a child genius. He was highly proficient in his classes at the Shinigami Academy and he graduated in one year. His skill was already evident at a young age when he gained a seated position in the 5th Division shortly after graduating, ultimately surpassing the previous child prodigy Kaien Shiba who was already an adult and had taken five years to become a seated officer. Gin has shown himself to be highly manipulative and deceptive even when it's evident. He comes out unscathed due to the calm confusion he plays at, which is a testament to his overall strategy. In his battle with Hitsugaya, Gin was able to manipulate the positions of three people so Hitsugaya would have to choose between saving his own life or Hinamori's without any visible effort. He has shown capable of simple deception by having his opponent focus on one thing to hide the true threat. Gin's ingenious mind allowed him to elaborately plot his attempt to assassinate Aizen for over 100 years, managing to be the sole person to persuade Aizen in revealing **Kyōka Suigetsu'**s weakness, hiding his Bankai's true aspect and appearing to betray Soul Society simply for this one goal, and would have succeeded were it not for the unexpected factor of the Hōgyoku returning to Aizen.

**Master Swordsman Specialist**: Gin is a highly proficient combatant. In combat, he doesn't seem the least bit taken back by the abilities of his opponent, even when they seemingly have an advantage. He fights with seemingly no effort behind his attacks. His ability to wield his combat skills was evident even when he was a child. He easily defeated and killed the former third seat of the 5th Division, who by rank and age should have been more powerful and skilled than him. He is commonly seen using his Zanpakutō's special ability, allowing him to be quite deadly at a distance, which is capable of killing multiple targets in one shot. He has shown the ability to use extreme speed mixed with a calm composure and precise attacks. His masterful skill in swordplay is quite unique as to when he got the upper hand against Tōshirō Hitsugaya, a Shinigami captain known for his child intellect and mastery of Zanjutsu twice on two separate encounters, as well as overpowering a Bankai-wielding Ichigo Kurosaki, even before the latter had a chance to defend.

**Shunpo Expert**: After his battle with Hitsugaya, Ichimaru used an imprssive Shunpo to escape. He is also very proficient with this skill, as seen when he was able to keep up with Ichigo's Bankai-enhanced speed during the battle at the Fake Karakura Town, as well as Hitsugaya, a Shunpo expert without any trouble at all.

**Kidō Practitioner**: Gin's actual skill level in Kidō is unknown, but he was able to teleport himself and Aizen a considerable distance using "**Sentan Hakuja**". He was also able to cast "**Hakufuku**" on Rangiku Matsumoto, preventing Sōsuke Aizen from perceiving her Reiatsu.

**Enhanced Durability**: Gin's durability is strong enough to withstand a direct hit from Ichigo Kurosaki's Bankai-enhanced Getsuga Tenshō, only suffering a light wound to his forehead as a result. He also withstood Hitsugaya's **Ice Dragon's Claw** with little damage to his forehead.

**Great Spiritual Power**: Even by captain standards, Ichimaru possesses great amounts of spiritual energy, mostly at the level of a captain-class Shinigami. He can even use his Reiatsu to paralyze Orihime, Uryu, Chad, Ganju, and Makizo without visible effort just by facing in their general direction. His Reiatsu is light-purple.

### Zanpakuto

'*Shinsō'*(*God Spear*): It looks like an ordinary *wakizashi*. The hilt is light-blue with a *tsuba* made of two slim swirls of metal looping around the blade to make an open oval, resembling an *"S"*. Originally, Gin kept his Zanpakutō on his left hip, but now wears it on his back hip after he gains new clothing.

* **Shikai**: The release command is "**Shoot to Kill**".

**Shikai Special Ability**: In its Shikai, Shinsō's blade glows white and extends at high speed to impale Gin's opponents from a distance. The blade also carries tremendous force when extending, as seen when Gin pushes both Ichigo Kurosaki and the giant Jidanbō out from under the Seireitei gate, despite the latter being firmly braced under it. In addition, Gin can maintain the extension and swing the activated **Shinsō** in wide arcs, attacking multiple targets quickly and simultaneously. Shinsō is capable of reaching a maximum length equivalent to one hundred times its original length, earning it the nickname **Hyapponzashi** (*One-Hundred Swords*) when Gin was younger.
* **Yarisazame** (*Spear Rain*): Activated with the command "**Rain**", Gin performs Yarisazame by extending Shinsō into the air, causing swords to rain down on his opponent. Gin has also shown an underground method to this technique as well. By stabbing the ground, Gin can form several blades to stab from the ground, surrounding an opponent as they are cut at all angles.
* **Yudokuke** (*Poisonous Touch*): Gin explains that the poison of his Zanpakuto isn't just for his Bankai, but exists in Shikai as well. He explains that when cuts are made by Shinsō, this poison is released into the foe's blood stream. Then, with the command "**Pierce**", the poison is activated and begins shutting down the nervous system of his target until they finally die as a result of the poisoning.
* **Bankai**: **Kamishini no Yari**(*God-Killing Spear*): In its Bankai state, Gin's Zanpakuto does not change in appearance at all, retaining its small *wakizashi* form.

**Bankai Special Ability**: Gin's Bankai essentially possesses the exact same abilities as his Shikai, but its power, length and speed are vastly amplified. The blade's tremendous cutting power is significantly increased, to the point where Gin is capable of swiftly cutting an entire town in half with a single stroke while standing a great distance away.
* **Hypersonic Blade Extension and Contraction**: The deadliest aspect of **Kamishini no Yari** is not within its destructive potential, great length, or wide sweeping range, but rather within the speed with which it can extend and contract its blade. Gin's Bankai can achieve its full length at 500 times the speed of sound: exactly 171,500 meters per second in order to arrive at its full length of 13km in under 0.08 seconds, which makes **Kamishini no Yari** not the longest Zanpakutō, but the fastest. Because the blade's extension and contraction speed is his Bankai's greatest ability, Gin tends to downplay its speed whenever he talks about his Zanpakutō, and instead focuses on the length and range of the blade in order to gain a psychological advantage over his opponent.
* **Butō** (*Dance (Step)*): By adopting a stance where he firmly grips **Kamishini no Yari** with both hands and places the Zanpakutō's hilt squarely to the center of his chest, Gin is able to unleash the tremendous extension and contraction properties of his Bankai to an even more terrifying extent than its normal state. This occurs in the form of a piercing maneuver where the extension and contraction of the blade becomes almost completely-unseen to even the most-diligent of observers.
	+ **Butō: Renjin** (*Dance (Step) Serial Blade*): This ability repeats the action of extending and subsequently contracting **Kamishini no Yari**, as observed within the technique **Butō**, multiple times in rapid succession. The entirety of this process is completed in a mere moment, resulting in the individual steps involved in this technique becoming virtually indistinguishable from each other, generating an apparent mass of blades that leave little opportunity for the intended victim to evade successfully.
* **Korose, Kamishini no Yari** (*Kill, God Killing Spear*): Kamishini no Yari's true ability as well as its deadliest aspect is not based on its length or speed but rather its ability to turn into dust for just a second when it expands out and contracts. There is a deadly poison inside the blade that dissolves and breaks down cells. He can leave a sliver of his Zanpakutō in an opponent when he retracts Kamishini no Yari allowing him to kill an opponent at any time when he chooses to utter the release command **"Kill, Kamishini no Yari"** for the technique while placing his hand up to the target. The result causes the target to completely break down and dissolve at the cellular level from the inside out.

## Relationships

### Allies

* Sosuke Aizen
* Kaname Tōsen
* The Espada
* Izuru Kira (Former lieutenant)

### Enemies

* Team Karakura
	+ Ichigo Kurosaki
	+ Rukia Kuchiki
	+ Uryū Ishida
	+ Orihime Inoue
	+ Yasutora Sado
	+ Renji Abarai
* Karin Kurosaki
* Momo Hinamori
* Tōshirō Hitsugaya
* Rangiku Matsumoto (Love interest)
* Byakuya Kuchiki
* Shinji Hirako