Kenpachi Zaraki
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Kenpachi Zaraki (更木 剣八 [Zaraki Kenpachi][[Help:Japanese|?]]) is a character from the anime and manga series Bleach. He is the captain of the 11th Division within the Gotei 13. His lieutenant is Yachiru Kusajishi.
Character outline
Zaraki has an unusual-looking appearance. He wears his captain's jacket sans sleeves, and with a more ragged look to it (it is possible that Zaraki had acquired his captain's jacket from the previous 11th squad captain, whom he defeated and killed in a duel). He styles his hair into spikes with bells at the tips and he wears a special eyepatch, which is later revealed to be an energy-sucking creature, created by the 12th Division, used to contain his immense spiritual pressure. Both of these are meant to give enemies an advantage so that he can have even fights with weaker opponents. He enjoys a good fight more than anything and weakens himself in an effort to make the fight last longer.He is one of the tallest characters in Bleach, towering at 202 cm (approx. 6 ft 6 in). This is slightly taller than the giant Chad and almost double the height of his lieutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi (furthermore, in the anime, he appears to be more than twice her height).
His appearance makes him look wild and aggressive, which is exactly the case. Zaraki lives to fight, and tries to drag out each fight as long as possible and make it as even as possible. He claims that injury and death are nothing but the price one pays for a good fight.
He has absolutely no sense of direction, relying on his lieutenant to lead him to places. Unfortunately, the lieutenant doesn't have a sense of direction either. Every time he sees Ichigo, he gives him chase because he wants to fight him. Also, he gets creeped out by Yumichika Ayasegawa, especially when the latter preaches about beauty.
Many could look upon Zaraki as a comical anti-hero despite his frightening appearance and his disregard for justice and righteousness, only living for the fight; his team is made up of unusual characters and he responds to them rather comically, like a father who raised oddball children. Despite his group being the most bloodthirsty of the Gotei 13, they have a code of ethics, though different from the set rules of Soul Society. His fight with Ichigo served as a look into his character.
While he admits to having no sanity or common sense, Zaraki is actually very perceptive and notices traits in people that others wouldn't notice. For example, he correctly singles out Kaname Tōsen and Gin Ichimaru as the only captains who are afraid to die. He is also extremely adept at figuring fighting strategies on the fly (i.e. in the fight against Tōsen). Despite his talent at discerning fighting strategies, it should be noted that Zaraki hates having to think in battle (as he said to himself in the same fight).
Though he literally lives for battle, Kenpachi has shown human emotion and caring for two things: His lieutenant Yachiru (who is possibly the only person he cares for) and his name. Following his battle with Ichigo, in a rare moment of sorrow, Kenpachi talks about the pain of not having a name (as he lived his childhood and early adult years without one), and feels guilty that his sword isn't acknowledged by its name.
History
Zaraki's last name comes from the district he once resided in, Zaraki, which is the #80 district of the North Alley of Rukongai. Area #80 is the worst, most lawless region of Rukongai, full of thieves and murderers (whereas area #1 is the most orderly and law-abiding). While residing in Zaraki, Kenpachi was nameless. During that time, he became proficient in swordsmanship and killed numerous enemies.At some point during his travels outside of Zaraki, he found a small girl and named her Yachiru (八千流). The girl came from area #79, Kusajishi (草鹿), where her parents were murdered. On that day, he also took on a name, Kenpachi, the title bestowed upon the strongest swordsman, the one who has killed the most. The two developed a father-daughter-like relationship.
After some time had passed, Zaraki found his way to the Court of Pure Souls (Seireitei). He defeated and killed the previous captain of the 11th Division (currently unknown) and gained his seat in the Gotei 13 in this manner. In the anime, his assumption of the captain's seat caused Maki Ichinose to leave Soul Society.
Notable battles
- Ichigo Kurosaki - Zaraki set out to look for Ichigo after realizing Ichigo's potential strength, after Ichigo's fight with Ikkaku. During their fight, Zaraki removed his eye patch, which was actually a creature that constantly consumed spiritual power, thus releasing the extra power it had been devouring. In order to match up with Kenpachi's strength, Ichigo borrowed as much power as he could from his zanpakutō, Zangetsu, to compensate (it is also implied that he received help from his inner hollow). The battle ended in a climatic clash between Ichigo and Zaraki with their overwhelming auras manifesting themselves during their charge. This scene is often regarded as the most intense battle in the series to date. Ichigo's aura was that of his hollow mask while Zaraki's was that of a skull. The battle ended in a draw, with Ichigo falling first and Zaraki shortly after, both admitting defeat. The consequences of the battle include Zaraki beginning his search for his zanpakutō's name, so that he can once again challenge Ichigo. He also began to search for Ichigo after he recovered from this battle, leading to the following conflicts. Zaraki has not been forced to remove his eyepatch in any of his later fights so far. This battle transformed Kenpachi's character from antagonist to protagonist as after the fight he began working with Ichigo's friends to rescue Rukia Kuchiki (although it is implied that the sole reason for this is to be able to fight Ichigo once again).
- Kaname Tōsen - When Zaraki was searching for Ichigo, he came into conflict with Kaname Tōsen and Sajin Komamura. Zaraki started off by taking on both captains at once, kicking Tōsen into a wall and throwing Komamura to the ground. However after that exchange, Tōsen asked Komamura to move away and then used his bankai, which caused a large dome to cover their battlefield, removing the senses of his enemy. Zaraki couldn't see, hear, smell or sense spiritual pressure. However, he retained the sense of touch. Thinking quickly, he allowed himself to get stabbed by the sword in order to regain his senses in the battle. He eventually defeated Tōsen by letting Tōsen stab him, then grabbing Tōsens sword and slashing him across his chest, destroying his bankai.
- Sajin Komamura - Before the final blow could be landed on Tōsen, Komamura appeared and blocked the attack with his helmet and continued to challenge Zaraki. He believed that Zaraki was a "demon" who loved fighting far too much and that he had to be stopped. Komamura then summoned his bankai, much to Zaraki's delight. The battle ended quickly, however, when Komamura left to see why Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai was fighting.
Zanpakutō
Kenpachi Zaraki is the only captain of the Gotei 13 who is not able to perform the final release (bankai) of his zanpakutō. During his battle with Ichigo, Zaraki states that his spiritual power is so great that his zanpakutō is constantly released, though he does not know its name. This can be taken to mean that he has involuntarily achieved the initial release (shikai), but could also be an incorrect statement owing to Zaraki's lack of understanding of zanpakutō. Zaraki always relies on his own strength to fight and does not believe in fighting alongside an ally (a zanpakutō would qualify as one). However, his own sheer power was enough for him to challenge the previous captain of the 11th Division and defeat him.It appears that after his fight with Ichigo Kurosaki, Zaraki wishes to learn at least the name of his zanpakutō, because he wants to become stronger and can identify with the pain of not having a name. However, even then, he is not yet capable of communicating with his zanpakutō, and continually tries to learn from his zanpakutō so that he can achieve a new tier of power.
Subordinates
Kenpachi Zaraki's 11th Division has been explored more in-depth than any other, and we know many of its current and former officers.- Tetsuzaemon Iba left the division to become the lieutenant of the 7th, under Sajin Komamura. It's not certain that he served under Kenpachi at all, but as he is friends with Ikkaku and Yumichika it's quite likely
- Renji Abarai came from the 5th division into the 11th and went on to become the 6th Division lieutenant under Byakuya Kuchiki.
- Yachiru Kusajishi - the lieutenant.
- Ikkaku Madarame - 3rd seat, very good friends with Yumichika and Renji.
- Yumichika Ayasegawa - 5th seat, very good friends with Ikkaku.
- Makizō Aramaki - 11th seat. He is fairly weak. Yachiru likes to call him "Maki Maki" or "Moustache Face".
Trivia
- Bleach creator Tite Kubo assigned several characters theme songs which are used to give insight to characters that might not normally appear in the run of the manga or anime. Kenpachi's theme is Superpredators, by Massive Attack.
- Zaraki hates natto, or fermented soy bean curd. There is nothing in particular that he likes to eat.
- Apparently he needs to get up fairly early in the morning to style his hair; the bells are particularly difficult to attach. This was illustrated in a recent extra after episode 71, with Kenpachi struggling for hours to reach the top of his hair to attach one last bell. Occasionally, Yumichika will offer to do it, but Zaraki usually refuses because he thinks that it is weird for someone else to style his hair. Tite Kubo has remarked that Zaraki's hair is as difficult to draw as Kaname Tōsen's.
- During Ichigo's fight with his inner hollow, Zaraki was the form that Ichigo's instinct and desire to win manifested themselves in, explaining to him that they were both the type of people who lived to fight battle after battle.
- It has been noted by Tite Kubo in an interview that he would like to go more into depth about Zaraki.
References
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