Shinji Hirako

Shinji has brown eyes and chin-length, light-colored, straight hair. He often shows his upper teeth when expressing his emotions. He sometimes wears the standard Karakura High School uniform, though he usually dons a long gray trench coat, a shirt with a tie, and a paperboy cap (though he is sometimes seen without the cap and trench coat). He also has a piercing ring on his tongue. Before Shinji left Soul Society, his hair was very long (reaching his lower back). He wore the standard Shinigami uniform and a captain's long-sleeved haori. Sometime after his defeat of Aizen, Shinji reverts to this attire, adding a tie that he tucks into his uniform.

Shinji is somewhat comical, being frivolous in situations where others are serious. He is quite cheeky and seems to enjoy teasing others. Shinji also calls every cute girl he meets his "first love" with a straight face, even though this is an obvious lie. He also enjoys listening to jazz music, and back in his days as a captain a hundred years ago, Shinji had a gramophone to play vinyl records. However, despite this, he is quite perceptive towards other people. Whenever he is angry or fighting, Shinji remains serious and level-headed. At first meeting, however, Hirako seems like a harmless young man sporting different shirts and ties. He likes to turn everything upside down.

Shinji is naturally a strong fighter, being the captain of the 5th Division and the unofficial leader of the Visored. Despite his childish behavior at times, Shinji is a very perceptive person. As a captain, he has a huge amount of spiritual power. Being a Visored as well, Shinji has dual spiritual energy: part Shinigami and part Hollow. His Zanpakutō, Sakanade, in its released form has the ability to create the illusion of an upside-down world for a living being in close proximity.

Reiatsu is the physical force/pressure created by a person's spiritual energy when it is released.

Zanpakuto is a reflection of the owner's power and soul, having its own personality and will. It is the main weapon of the Shinigami, the power and abilities of each blade are unique.

Shikai is the second form available to a Zanpakutō, which requires the Shinigami to be able to communicate with the spirit of their weapon and learn its true name in order to activate it.

Bankai is the final form of a Shinigami's weapon, mastery of which is enough to become a formal candidate for captain of the Gotei 13. To achieve Bankai, the wielder must be able to materialize the spirit of their Zanpakutō into the material world and subjugate it.

Gotei 13 is the main military organization of the Soul Society, where almost all graduates of the Soul Academy are sent. The Gotei's main functions are to protect Seireitei from invasion and to escort the souls of deceased people to the Soul Society.

In Gotei 13, as in any army, there is a table of ranks. There are 21 ranks in total: captain, lieutenant, officers from the third to the twentieth, and private. The ranks are in accordance: the lower the number, the higher the rank. The most important person in the Gotei 13 is the commander-in-chief. Then there are the 13 captains, then the lieutenants, then the officers, and finally the ordinary Shinigami.

Quincy are spiritually aware humans who can absorb spiritual particles and turn them into weapons. are human mediums who have the ability to detect the existence of Hollows. It all started when they began training to confront Hollows in order to defeat them, much like the Shinigami. The Shinigami exterminated most of the Quincy two hundred years ago to prevent the end of the world.

Arancar are Hollows who have removed their masks and gained powers similar to those of Shinigami.

Captain of the 5th Squad, Pseudo Leader of the Visored. Around a hundred years before the start of the main series, he served in the Gotei 13 as the captain of the 5th Division. Several years later, strange deaths began to occur in Rukongai, and the 9th Division of the Gotei 13 was assigned to investigate. That same day, an entire squad, including the captain, disappeared without a trace. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Shinji, Love Aikawa, Rojuro Otoribashi, Lisa Yadomaru, and Hachigen Ushoda were sent to help. Upon arriving at the scene, the group noticed someone resembling the captain of the 9th Division, Kensei Muguruma, wearing a Hollow mask. Out of nowhere, the lieutenant of the 5th Division, Sosuke Aizen, appeared and explained that he had subjected the entire squad to the Hollowfication process in order to experiment with the souls of Shinigami. Shinji was not surprised by his lieutenant's betrayal, as he had always been suspicious of him. He and his comrades engaged in a futile battle with Sosuke, who decided to turn all the remaining Shinigami into Hollows for fun. Having gained the power of Hollows, Captain Hirako and all the Hollowfied Shinigami involved in the incident were banished from Soul Society.