Shinji Hirako

**Shinji Hirako**is the captain of the Fifth Squad in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. His lieutenant is Momo Hinamori. He also served as a recruiter and the de-facto leader of the Visored.

## Physical Appearance

Shinji has fair skin, brown eyes and jaw-length blonde hair with a short, straight-line cut, with the exception of the bang having a more asymmetrical cut with the left side being longer than the right, and many of his facial expressions reveal his upper teeth. Shinji appears to have a long ring pierced in the middle of his tounge.

Shinji wears the standard *Shihakusho*(consiting of a black *kosode*, a white *shitagi*, a black *hakama*, a white *obi*, a pair of white *tabi*, and a pair of *waraji*sandals), and a standard, long-sleeved captain's *haori*, with a pale turquoise coloration on the coat's underside and the Fifth Squad's rhombus symbol on the coat's back with the Thirteen Court Guard Squads symbol, while wearing his white tie tucked under his basic Soul Reaper robes.

## Personality

Shinji is somewhat comical, adding a bit of levity to situations that are otherwise serious. He has a flippant attitude under normal circumstances and seems to like annoying his associate, Hiyori Sarugaki, which usually earns him a slap from one of her sandals. She, in turn, shows him absolutely no respect and frequently insults and attacks him; although he is no better, frequently making faces or glib insults at her expense. He also appears to have a history of referring to cute girls he meets as his 'first love', complete with a deadpan look on his face despite the obvious lie (he apparently never did this with Hiyori, further annoying her). He also apparently enjoys listening to jazz music, as he had a phonograph that played his vinyl records in his days as a captain.

Underneath this, though, he is quite perceptive regarding other people, and during his time as a captain, was one of the few people who appeared suspicious of his then-lieutenant Aizen, and could apparently sense or see through some of his illusions. He also quickly notes parts of Urahara's personality. Aizen even admitted to being somewhat intimidated by him. Whenever angered or in combat, Shinji is fairly calm, serious, and level-headed.

## Powers and Abilities

### Zanjutsu Prowess

* **Master Swordsman Specialist**: Shinji is implied to be a powerful combatant, being the de-facto leader among the Visored and a Soul Reaper captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. At one point, when Shinji begins to fight with Ichigo Kurosaki, the other Visored mention that Ichigo is foolish to battle Shinji proven by the fact that Shinji is not taking the battle seriously (albeit it was also mentioned that Ichigo was holding back, because he was trying to suppress his inner Hollow). Shinji is also shown to be able to hold off Mashiro Kuna during her Hollowfication metamorphosis without releasing his sword, although it took some effort. He was also able to fend off Kaname Tosen while also trying to resist his Hollowfication. Shinji also takes on the Sexta Espada maintaining his calm in the face of the destruction Grimmjow brought to the battle, pushing the Espada back with little effort using only his hollow mask.

### Shunpo Prowess

* **Shunpo Expert**: Shinji highly excels in Shunpo. His skill is shown to be great enough to easily outmaneuver Grimmjow, the Sexta Espada. During his assault on Aizen, he is able to perceive and dodge Tosen's sneak attack while sustaining only a small scratch above his left eye.

### Intelligence

* **Keen Intellect**: Despite his childish attitude at times, Shinji has shown himself to be a very insightful and perceptive man. During his time as captain of the Fifth squad, he was able to see through Aizen's deceptions and some of his illusions. Even Aizen himself admitted to be intimidated by Shinji's cunning.

### Spiritual Power

* **Immense Spiritual Power**: Being a captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, he must have had enormous spiritual pressure. Being a Visored, Shinji possesses a dual-type spiritual energy, part Soul Reaper and part Hollow. He is said to have spiritual pressure that is monstrous. His Reiatsu is light-yellow.

### Zanpakuto

**Sakanade** (*Counter-Stroke*): In its sealed form, it resembles a normal katana. The hilt and sheath are red and its guard is shaped like an hour-glass. His Zanpakuto is an Illusion-Type.

* **Shikai**: The release command is "**Collapse**". In its Shikai its hilt becomes a large ring which Shinji places his hand in the middle of allowing him to freely control its movement without physically holding onto it if he so chooses. The ring is attached to a normal sword hilt with a normal rectangular hand guard. The first few inches of the blade are covered by a extension of the hand guard. Sakanade's blade is straight and slim with the tip ending in a slanted razor-like edge instead of being tapered to a point. There are five holes along the sword's length.

**Shikai Special Ability**: Sakanade's Shikai ability creates an "***Inverted World***". The power is an optical illusion which is caused by the scent the sword gives off upon its release. It inverts an opponents' sense of direction. Shinji describes the release technique as something like a trump card. Up and down, left and right as well as forward and backward are opposite. Though not just the sense of direction is changed. The opponent's eyesight and where they get cut is reversed as well. Shinji claims that countering the damage from the inverted directions simply by processing it all within the mind is not possible. No matter how powerful the opponent even if one is accustomed to fighting in that particular way, their body will not adapt and will continue to fight by reflexes, which causes it to continuously succumb to the powers affect.

### Hollowfication

**Hollow Mask**: Shinji's Hollow mask strongly resembles a pharaoh's mask, with a short, flowing hood hanging down the back of his neck. When donning his Hollow mask, Shinji's sclera turn completely black and his irises become dark grey.

* **Power Augmentation**: While wearing the mask, Shinji's Hollow powers supplement his Shinigami powers, giving him a vast increase in both strength and speed.
	+ **Enhanced Strength**: While wearing his Hollow mask, Shinji has shown that he has greater strength, which he uses to overwhelm Grimmjow.
	+ **Enhanced Speed**: While hollowfied, Shinji's speed increases to where he can overpower Grimmjow in terms of speed, despite the Espada's mastery of Sonido.
	+ **Enhanced Endurance**: While hollowfied, Shinji's endurance is also increased.
* **Cero**: Shinji gathers energy that is displayed in a horizontal line at his fist. He then releases a crimson Cero with an extremely wide arc and devastating force. The power of the Cero from a distance is powerful enough to cause grievous injury to an Espada of at the rank of No. six, even at minimal power.

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* The Visored
	+ Kensei Muguruma
	+ Rojuro Otoribashi
	+ Love Aikawa
	+ Hachigen Ushoda
	+ Lisa Yadomaru
	+ Mashiro Kuna
	+ Hiyori Sarugaki (Close friend)
* Ichigo Kurosaki (Hollowfication student)
* Karin Kurosaki (2nd Hollowfication student)
* Momo Hinamori (Lieutenant)
* Orihime Inoue
* Kisuke Urahara
* Yoruichi Shihoin
* Toshiro Hitsugaya
* Rangiku Matsumoto
* Shunsui Kyoraku
* Jushiro Ukitake

### Enemies/Rivals

* Owari Otsutsuki
* The Kihei
* The Red Lotus (Xin Bau's Group)
* Sosuke Aizen (Arch-enemy)
* Gin Ichimaru
* Kaname Tosen
* The Dark Swords
* Hollows
* The Arrancars
* The Espada
	+ Grimmjow Jaegerjaques
* Xcution
* Kageroza Inaba
* The Reigai
* Oko Yushima