Tōshirō Hitsugaya
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is a character in the anime and manga series Bleach. He is the captain of the 10th Division in the Gotei 13. His lieutenant is Rangiku Matsumoto.
Character outline
Tōshirō Hitsugaya is very young by Soul Society standards. He is the youngest in generations to have become captain and is thus called a "boy genius" by many.He is short (because of his age) and has white hair, which tends to draw attention in the human world. He wears standard captain's clothing without any accessories. However, he is one of the very few shinigami in the series (other than Ichigo) who carries his zanpakutō on his back instead of waist.
Hitsugaya is generally mature and serious, but is easily annoyed when someone (especially Momo Hinamori) refers to him as anything other than Captain Hitsugaya. Hinamori has gotten away with "Hitsugaya-kun", and both she and Ukitake have used the occasional "Shiro-chan" (シロちゃん) --a nickname meaning "Whitey" in reference to his hair-- without repercussion. Hitsugaya is overly protective of Momo Hinamori, which is mildly ironic given that she was once like an older sister to him.
His intuition is extremely sharp, and he is one of few captains to correctly suspect Gin Ichimaru of foul play. Unfortunately, he did not correctly suspect Sōsuke Aizen of the same.
History
Hitsugaya comes from Junrinan, District 1 of the Rukongai. There he lived with an old woman and Momo Hinamori, and possibly other people. Little else is known about his past, but we know that he became a shinigami after Hinamori. He is also a friend of Jidanbou, the West Gate Keeper, and was the one who taught him the "city rules".
As a child, Hitsugaya was a bit of a brat who liked to eat watermelons and poke fun at Hinamori. She would call him "Shiro-chan" and he would counter by calling her "Bed-wetter Momo". The two were close friends and Hitsugaya, despite being younger and much shorter than his friend, always felt that he needed to protect her.
With Hitsugaya's natural talent, he quickly entered the shinigami institute shortly after Hinamori, despite his age. She continued to call him "Shiro-chan" out of habit and felt she needed to protect him. Because of a promise she had made, she only began to call him "Hitsugaya-kun" after he had achieved his zanpakutō's shikai and was recognized as a shinigami.
Highly capable and knowledgable, he became the youngest of the captains within the Gotei 13.
Note: Much of the above history appears only on the Bleach Drama CD album, and not the manga.
Synopsis
His sharp sense of intuition and keen sense of observation leads him to suspect 3rd Division captain, Gin Ichimaru, of foul play as the circumstances surrounding the coming execution of Rukia Kuchiki become more complicated. Hitsugaya confronts Ichimaru only to be attacked by Hinamori, who believes Hitsugaya is the murderer of the 5th Division captain and her superior, Sōsuke Aizen, who left a note for her. Hitsugaya knocks out Hinamori and places a shield around her, but stops pursuing Ichimaru.
He ends up trying to stop the execution by appealing to the Chamber of 46, the shinigami governing body. Upon finding all 46 members dead, he goes on to find Ichimaru and Aizen in the area (after a short encounter with Izuru Kira). When Kira warns Hitsugaya that Hinamori is likely following him, Hitsugaya rushes to the Court of Pure Souls to discover Hinamori has been gravely wounded. Hitsugaya realizes that Aizen is the true mastermind behind the conspiracy of Rukia's execution; however, when he tries to kill Aizen for his crime and for hurting Hinamori, Aizen seriously wounds him as well.
Fortunately, 4th Division captain, Retsu Unohana and her lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu, discover Aizen's role in the conspiracy. They arrive in time to expose him and Unohana immediately proceeds to save Hitsugaya and Hinamori.
After the events at Soul Society, Hitsugaya is one of the six shinigami who appear in the living world to assist Ichigo with the recent arrancar invasion. He and Rangiku appear to be staying with Orihime Inoue for their duration in the living world.
He was presumably attempting to teach Rangiku Matsumoto and Yumichika Ayasegawa the final release (bankai), but their training was interrupted by the appearance of Yammy, Luppi, Grimmjow Jaggerjack, and Wanderweiss Margera in the human world. Hitsugaya's opponent was originally Yammy, but then switched to Luppi, the 6th Espada. After apparently being beaten down by Luppi, Hitsugaya gains enough time to recover (though he seems practically unscathed from the attack) due to Kisuke Urahara's interruption, and kills Luppi.
Hyourinmaru
Hyourinmaru (氷輪丸 lit. Ice Ring) is Hitsugaya's zanpakutō. Its initial release command is sōten ni zase (霜天に坐せ, sit upon the frozen heavens). The sword itself does not change radically in appearance upon its initial release. Aside from gaining a long chain ending with crescent-shaped hook attached to the tip of the hilt, an immense spirit power overflows from the tip of the blade, creating a larger-than-life Chinese dragon made of ice which makes for a fearsome opponent. Hyōrinmaru allows Hitsugaya to control the weather, specifically over wind and ice. Once the water of the dragon impacts on an object, it freezes instantly and the target is trapped in ice. In addition, the chain can instantly freeze whatever Hitsugaya restrains with it. Hyourinmaru is the strongest of all the ice elemental swords.
Hyourinmaru's final release (bankai) is called Dai Guren Hyourinmaru (大紅蓮氷輪丸 lit. Great Crimson Ice Ring). It's similar to the initial release, only it is made of pure ice and has figures resembling 3 flowers composed of 12 petals (see picture). The dragon latches onto Hitsugaya, granting him a pair of wings, a tail, and also covering his right hand. Additionally, being touched by ice particles or the blade will result in being covered in ice, similarly to the initial release chain's ability.
The twelve ice petals that appear with Hitsugaya's final release have a special significance, and gradually melt away as he uses his final release in battle. Supposedly when the twelve flower petals all disappear, Hitsugaya's entire final release will be gone. It is implied that the reason for this is that Hitsugaya's final release is incomplete, due to his relatively young age. It should be noted that this theory was put forth by the arrancar Shawlong; the ability of an arrancar to fully understand a shinigami's weapon is questionable at best so this theory is only provisional until the true nature of the petals is confirmed. It should additionally be noted that at the time, Hitsugaya was operating under a power limit, which could have affected Shawlong's perception of his strength. According to Hitsugaya, as long as there is water in his immediate surrounding area, his final release form is able to regenerate itself indefinitely. The petals aren't visible at this time, farther casting doubt on Shawlong's theory.
Hyōrinmaru's final release has two known special techniques. First, the , used to kill Shawlong Qufang. In this technique, Hitsugaya stabs the enemy, locking him into an ice cocoon, freezes the opponent to the core, and then shatters his body. Second, the , which forms a multitude of ice pillars using the moisture in the atmosphere. These pillars then envelop and attack the enemy. Bleach manga; chapter 234, page 18.
Trivia
- During his duel with Gin Ichimaru, Ichimaru remarks that Hitsugaya is the embodiment of the heavenly guardian that is born into Soul Society every few centuries. This may explain his extra-ordinarily rapid growth and why he is a respected captain despite his age. Alternately, Gin may have been speaking sarcastically, saying that Hitsugaya did not seem to live up to his title. This event only took place in the anime.
- The first character in Hitsugaya's given name, Tōshirō, means "winter," which is appropriate given his zanpakutō.
- His given name is also a homonym for a casual Japanese term meaning "amateur" (藤四郎), possibly referring to Hitsugaya's young age and inexperience relative to the other captains of the Gotei 13.
- He has recently become the second most popular Bleach character after Ichigo, replacing Rukia, who had previously held the position.
References
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