Ichigo Kurosaki (黒崎 一護 Kurosaki Ichigo?) is the primary protagonist of Bleach and main hero. An orange-haired high school student, Ichigo becomes a "substitute Shinigami (Soul Reaper)" after unintentionally absorbing most of Rukia Kuchiki's powers.[9] His cynical nature at first makes him ill-disposed towards the duty, but, with the passage of time, he accepts and welcomes the strength his Soul Reaper powers given to him.[10] When creating the manga series, Kubo commented that Rukia Kuchiki, the first character he created, did not seem like a lead character, so he created Ichigo to be the series protagonist.[6] In the Japanese series, he is voiced by Masakazu Morita while in the English adaptation he is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch and in the Filipino adaptation by Marky Cielo.
Rukia Kuchiki (朽木 ルキア Kuchiki Rukia?) is a Soul Reaper who is assigned hollow extermination duties in Ichigo's hometown (Karakura Town) and is the main heroine (though her role is downplayed later on). Though her physical appearance is that of a teenage girl, in reality she is ten times older than Ichigo. At the opening of the story, Rukia is forced to transfer her powers to Ichigo and assume a temporary lifestyle as a regular human.[9] She registers at the local high school and takes up residence in Ichigo's closet, while teaching him how to be a substitute Soul Reaper in her place.[10] She is shown many times kicking Ichigo in the face and using similar, slightly comical tactics to "wake him up." Orihime stated once that Rukia seemed to be the only one that is able to cheer Ichigo up, as she seems to have a lot of faith in him. Rukia was the first character of the series created by Kubo, her design being the one he decided to use for all the other Soul Reapers.[5] She is voiced by Fumiko Orikasa in Japanese and byMichelle Ruff in English.
Orihime Inoue (井上 織姫 Inoue Orihime?) is a long-time classmate of Ichigo Kurosaki who gains a crush on him later on in the series, linked to him by mutual friend Tatsuki Arisawa. She is effectively an orphan, as when she was 3, her older brother Sora left their abusive parents' home with Orihime and raised her on his own. Later on, when Orihime was in middle school, he died in an accident.[13] Though initially devoid of spiritual powers, she develops spiritual awareness early in the plot and later obtains the God-like ability to warp reality through rejecting past phenomena.[14] She is voiced by Yuki Matsuokain the Japanese series and by Stephanie Sheh in the English dub.
Yasutora Sado (茶渡 泰虎 Sado Yasutora?), better known as Chad (チャド Chado?), is one of Ichigo's friends at school. He is a biracial Japanese/Mexican student who towers over his classmates at 7 feet 2 inches.[17] Despite his imposing appearance he is quite meek, and refuses to fight unless it is for the sake of another. Chad does not have awareness of ghosts at first, but this changes when he attempts to protect Ichigo's sister, Karin,and her friends from a hollow. He discovers a unique ability that strengthens and armors his right arm, enabling him to fight hollows. Eventually as his power develops, Chad learns that he is very similar to a Fullbringer and joins Xcution to help Ichigo regain his Soul Reaper powers. Hiroki Yasumoto voices him in the Japanese series,[15] while voices Marc Worden (2-85)[16] and Jamieson Price (86-onwards)[18] play him in the English adaptation.
Uryū Ishida (石田 雨竜 Ishida Uryū?) is a Quincy, descendant of a line of priest-like hollow-hunting archers who were historical enemies of the Soul Reapers.[n 1] He bears a deep grudge against all Soul Reapers, including Ichigo, and is an early antagonist in the series.[19] He comes to view Ichigo differently over time, and eventually becomes a valuable ally and a friendly rival. Uryu's powers as a quincy are used by gatheing spirt particles called reshi. He uses them to create a beam or 'arrow'. He shoots these beams with a bow and arrow. [20] He is voiced by Noriaki Sugiyama in Japanese and Derek Stephen Prince in English.
Jin Kariya (狩矢 神 Kariya Jin?) planned to destroy the entire Soul Society through the Jōkaishō that created the Bounts. He was originally Eugene Currier, a boy who was befriended by the Soul Society scientist Rantao before being forced to leave his home when Soul Reapers are dispatched to kill the Bounts. He eventually fused his Doll Messer into him, increasing his power and seeing the Bounts' existence as meaningless. Centuries later, Kariya gathers all the remaining strong Bounts to serve as pawns in his plan to destroy not only the Soul Society but themselves as well. Kidnapping Uryū Ishida, Kariya intended to use Quincy powers to create a special gate which will allow him and the rest of the Bounts to enter the Soul Society. He then kills the turncoat Bount Yoshino Sōma and uses her soul to create the Bitto to collect and distill human souls so the Bounts can increase their powers upon consumption.
Upon entering the Soul Society, Kariya tricks the residents of Kusajishi, the 79th district of Rukongai, to aid him in his cause before having them killed upon outliving their usefulness. While having the other Bounts fight the Soul Reapers, Kariya finds the Jōkaishō and activates it. After leaving his comrade Koga for dead, Kariya is confronted by Rantao and overwhelms her before Uryū appears. After killing his Soul Reaper aide Maki, Kariya battles Ichigo one-on-one in a powerful and climatic sword fight. Before turning into dust upon being defeated, Kariya mentions his one regret is that he won't get to see if Ichigo, a being of two worlds like himself, will choose to take the same path as he did. Kariya is voiced by Tōru Ōkawa in Japanese and Troy Baker in English.
Keigo Asano (浅野 啓吾 Asano Keigo?) is a classmate of Ichigo Kurosaki. He is an extremely hyperactive character and often uses overly dramatic movements and words to act out his feelings. As such, he is primarily comedic foil, acting as an antithesis to his usually calm friend Mizuiro Kōjima. Keigo appears to be a shallow character at first glance, with a passion for slacking off. Indeed, he takes great pride in not making it to the honors roster in his class and labels those who do so "traitors" (including Ichigo and Chad).[26] Like many of Ichigo's friends, Keigo is spiritually aware, though he dismisses many of the peculiar things he sees as shootings for a TV show. He has yet to display any unique abilities, save blocking one of Rangiku Matsumoto's attacks. His parents are referred to at least once as authority figures in his home but never seen; however, his older sister, Mizuho (瑞穂?) does appear.[27] In the Japanese version he is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi, while in the English adaptation Yuri Lowenthal is his voice actor.
Mizuiro Kojima (小島 水色 Kojima Mizuiro?) is a classmate of Ichigo Kurosaki. He has a boyish face and gentle manner of speaking, with a marked fondness for older women. He is shown to be spiritually aware, but has yet to display any unique abilities. In an omake chapter of Bleach, Mizuiro is revealed to have had very few friends prior to entering junior high school. After meeting Ichigo and his friends, he has since found a niche of people to hang out with, most commonly Keigo Asano.[28]Jun Fukuyama voices him in the Japanese series, while in the English version he is voiced by Tom Fahn
Tatsuki Arisawa (有沢 立木 Arisawa Tatsuki?) is a good friend of Ichigo Kurosaki and the best friend of Orihime Inoue. She has known both since she was young, sparring with Ichigo in their karate classes and defending Orihime whenever people picked on or bothered her.[29][30] Tatsuki is very tomboyish, displaying few feminine traits and even ranking as the second strongest student in her age group in all of Japan, despite having a broken arm during the tournament. Apart from being spiritually aware, Tatsuki can sense Orihime from almost anywhere, even across dimensions; she is able to sense Orihime when she travels to Soul Society, but remarks that she can not sense her presence after Orihime is taken to Hueco Mundo. Despite her aggressive manner, she worries about Ichigo when she sees him fighting the Espada Grimmjow.[31] She is voiced by Junko Noda in the Japanese version and Wendee Lee in the English dub
Kon (コン?) is the first modsoul to appear in Bleach. He primarily serves as a comedic foil in the series, receiving little respect and much disdain from other characters. He is not completely undeserving of this treatment as he is highly perverted in nature; he is drawn to girls with big breasts (and displays attraction towards Rukia despite her lack thereof, but more because he believes she saved his life) and, when inhabiting another's body, spends his time trying to look up skirts since "it will not be [his] reputation that gets sullied".[39] However, from the beginning he displayed a much more serious side to himself, believing that a life should not be taken on purpose after he witnessed the destruction of other mod souls.[40] Kon's area of expertise are his legs, and thus he can run faster and jump higher than any human, even in his plush form. He typically inhabits a lion plushie that he is very fond of, referring to it as his "sexy body". Kon also inhabits Ichigo Kurosaki's body whenever he is away, playing the part of Ichigo so that his family does not miss him.[41] Although Kon makes only sporadic appearances in the Bleach storyline, he frequently hosts and/or stars in omake specials for the series, self-proclaiming himself the series' mascot. He is voiced by Mitsuaki Madono in the Japanese series and by Quinton Flynn in the English version.
Kurōdo (蔵人?) is a somewhat cowardly modsoul. He has the ability to shapeshift, and can replicate the abilities of others when he does so (although he can not replicate the potency of said abilities). His plushie body is a rabbit-esque purse. Kurōdo's gigai is of a bespectacled man with a mustache and two-tone hair color (black to the left, blond to the right). He wears a gray top hat, multi-colored suit and tie, as well as dark brown boots. He is often told he talks too much. Nobuo Tobita voices him in the Japanese series and Michael McConnohie in the English dub.
Noba (之芭?) is very quiet, rarely speaking more than a few words. He is fairly shy, hiding his face when he wishes to show no emotion. Despite this, he is somewhat analytical and adept at strategic combat. Noba has the power to teleport himself and others to almost any location he has been to, using inter-dimensional portals. The dimension inside the portals appears to be red. He can also create wormholes to redirect ranged attacks, both physical and energy based, back at the enemy. Noba's plushie body is an anthropomorphic turtle in gray dress trousers and a white ruffled shirt with a red bow tie. He retreats into his shell when embarrassed or feeling shy. His gigai is of a young slim built, red haired man with aqua eyes wearing a ninja-esque outfit: a fur coat with a shield on his back and a zippered mask. Tomokazu Sugita is his Japanese voice actor and Roger Craig Smith his English voice actor.
Lirin (りりん Ririn?) acts as the leader of the modsouls introduced in the Bount arc. At times she is petty and arrogant, resulting in her initial dislike of Ichigo Kurosaki. She can sense Bount reishi, along with their dolls. Other times she shows real concern for others, eventually developing a fondness for Ichigo where in she will put herself in harm's way to protect him. She often looks down on Kon as inferior, which causes frequent arguments between the two. Her special ability is the creation of illusions. Lirin's plushie body is an anthropomorphic bird that wears a blue coat, red bow, and blue boots. She does not like the plushie at all, and claims that she cannot change to another. Lirin's gigai is a small girl with short blonde hair wearing a pink, fur-trimmed coat, a purple bird-shaped cape, and red boots. She, Kurōdo, and Noba all live at Urahara's shop while not in action. She is voiced by Yumi Kakazu in the Japanese version and by Julie Ann Taylor in the English dub.