Sōsuke Aizen

Sōsuke Aizen (藍染 惣右介, Aizen Sōsuke) is a major character from the anime and manga series BLEACH. He is the former captain of the 5th Division and currently the primary antagonist of the series.

Character outline

Aizen is a soft-spoken man and apparently an intellectual. He appears to be very kind to his subordinates, but in truth cares very little for them. According to Aizen himself, he is not bound by morals and will therefore stop at nothing to achieve his goals. In addition to that, he manipulates many, including his enemies, into helping him achieve these goals.

He wears the standard shinigami captain clothes, as well as glasses.

Aizen is extremely adept at combat. While it is not clear, it's implied that he has reached the limit of shinigami power in all four forms of shinigami combat: swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, footwork and demon arts. It is implied that since he can't advance any further as far as shinigami powers are concerned, he desires to continue his growth by mastering hollow powers. Such is his mastery that he is able to stop shikai and even bankai, such as Ichigo's, with his bare hands. He can effortlessly defeat several captain-level opponents at once, and is one of the strongest characters in the series.

It has been revealed his true objective is to kill the king of Soul Society. To do this, he needs the royal key (王鍵, ōken) to enter the dimension that the king resides in. In order to use the key, Aizen needs to gather 100,000 souls in the Karakura Town.

History

Little is known of Aizen's past except that he was once the lieutenant of the 5th Division. At that time, he met Kaname Tōsen and likely lured him to his side.

Aizen became captain of the 5th Division, and saw great potential in Gin Ichimaru. According to Aizen, he thought of no one but Gin to be his subordinate (and lieutenant). Aizen then trained Gin, who became captain of the 3rd Division.

At some point, he also saw the potential of Momo Hinamori, Izuru Kira and Renji Abarai, and took them all into his division. While Hinamori and Kira were obedient and loyal, Renji proved to be too rebellious and was moved to the 11th Division.

When Rukia Kuchiki is brought back to Soul Society with the Orb of Distortion concealed within her body, Aizen quickly manipulates everyone into to an elaborate conspiracy. He uses his zanpakutō's ability to trick everyone into believing that he has been killed and has Gin leading everyone to believe Gin himself is the murderer. He also sets his lieutenant, Hinamori, up to believe that he was likely killed by Captain Hitsugaya rather than Gin Ichimaru to get her out of the way. Aizen kills all 46 members of the Central 46 Chambers and moves Rukia's execution date up 13 days.

Because of the nature of Rukia's harsh sentence and execution method, most captains end up fighting each other. During the turmoil, Gin executes the overt aspects of the plan, which are all revealed when 4th Division Captain Retsu Unohana begins to suspect that there is something wrong with Aizen's supposedly dead body.

After impaling his loyal lieutenant, Momo Hinamori, and Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya of the 10th Division, Aizen and Gin go after their true goal: the Orb of Distortion. After fellow conspirator, Kaname Tōsen, brings Renji and Rukia to Aizen, Aizen attempts to kill Renji and Ichigo Kurosaki, who are both determined to defend Rukia at all costs. Aizen displays his prowess by quickly disposing of Renji and Ichigo, and later finishing off 7th Division Captain Sajin Komamura with a single Destructive Art spell. Afterward he removes the Orb of Distortion from Rukia's body by using information researched by Kisuke Urahara. Although Rukia's soul was not harmed during the extraction, Aizen coldly orders Gin to kill her anyway, but Byakuya Kuchiki shields his sister with his body, proving that he does care for Rukia after all. Then Aizen was soon thwarted by all the able captains of the Gotei 13, including 2nd Division Captain Soi Fong, 6th Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, along with Yoruichi Shihouin. Just when everything seemed under control, Aizen manages to escape with the help of Menos Grande, hinting at Aizen's possible alliance or control with the Hollow world.

During his and his subordinates' ascent, Aizen removes his glasses and sweeps a hand through his hair, revealing menacing golden eyes and a very different hairstyle, as if to provide visual proof that he is a different person. He had previously revealed to Abarai Renji that the Aizen that they all knew never existed, and so this act can be seen as Aizen revealing his true self to his fellow shinigami. Before he leaves he tells his former fellow shinigami captain, Ukitake, that no one starts at the top of the world (not God, not Ukitake and not himself). Then he says that he will be the one to stand at the top and end the unbearable vacancy on the world's throne.

Before truly leaving, Aizen tells Ichigo that he is an 'interesting human'. It is with these words that Soul Society seem to suddenly regard Ichigo as of greater importance, and indicates that Aizen will return for him. He has also taken an interest in Orihime Inoue's powers (meaning she's the second human he's known to be curious about), more specifically her Sōten Kisshun

Kyōka Suigetsu

Kyōka Suigetsu (鏡花水月, lit. mirror flower water moon) is Aizen's zanpakutō. It looks like a normal katana.

Initially Aizen lied, claiming his swords power was the ability to use a mist to create illusions; however, in actuality Kyōka Suigetsu's shikai is arguably one of the most powerful in BLEACH. It can put anyone who sees it into complete hypnosis, forcing them to believe whatever Aizen wants and deceiving every one of their senses. The name itself suggests its illusory properties; the moon reflected in water and a flower in a mirror are things that can be seen but not grasped - the phrase itself appears as a Chinese saying. Interestingly enough, this phrase is often used in Chinese fortune telling at temples, warning the person that what he or she is praying for is often just an illusion.

Even if victims are aware of this ability, they cannot avoid it. At some point in the past, Aizen hypnotized most or all of Court of Pure Souls by having them watch a ceremonial release of his sword. Because of his blindness, Kaname Tōsen is the only one so far who can in no way be affected by Kyōka Suigetsu's shikai, due to the fact the release has to actually be seen to work. Aizen's deceptions are not perfect, however, and some shinigami have been able to detect that something was not as it seemed even when hypnotized, most notably 4th Division Captain Retsu Unohana.

Aizen uses this ability during combat as well. It was used on Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Sajin Komamura. It may seem that Ichigo Kurosaki was under Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnosis, but that is not possible due to the fact that Ichigo has not seen the release of Kyōka Suigetsu.

Kyōka Suigetsu's bankai is not yet known.