Kenpachi Zaraki

Zaraki is a very tall, muscular Shinigami with a wild and aggressive appearance. He has a long face with high cheekbones, enlarged canine teeth, and pronounced, hairless brow ridges. He has gray eyes and stringy black hair reaching past his shoulders.[4] A noticeable trait in his appearance is a long, thin scar running down the left side of his face and across his left eye, inflicted on him by Retsu Unohana while he was still a child.

Since becoming a Shinigami, he wears the standard, black shihakushō, with the addition of white bandages across his midsection and a short-sleeved captain's haori (which he took from the previous captain after defeating him),[5] with ragged ends on the sleeves and back flap. He styles his hair into stiff strands, attaching small bells at its tips, and wears a special black eyepatch over his right eye. During his first battle with Ichigo, the eyepatch is more elegant, having a gold-like lining and a chain as one of the straps. He also wore a black choker necklace.

Although he is known to be a violent man who fights for his own interest, Zaraki's actions tend to be for the best. Zaraki lives for battle, and enjoys a good fight more than anything. He even holds back in an effort to make any fight last longer. He claims injury and death are nothing but the price one pays for a good fight. Despite his tendency to be brutal, Zaraki usually stops a fight if his opponent is too injured to fight back, not interested in fighting "weaklings who can't fight anymore", and he does not feel obligated to deal a death blow to anyone who cannot fight any longer. However, he will unhesitatingly kill his opponent if they refuse to stop fighting, such as during his battles with Kaname Tōsen and Nnoitra Gilga.[8][9] He also takes his title as Kenpachi seriously, telling Gremmy Thoumeaux that there is nothing the latter can create that he cannot cut because the power his title implies is not to be taken lightly.[10]

Zaraki strongly believes fun comes before working. One example is when Zaraki sends his 5th seated officer, Yumichika, to fend off the Bount in Karakura Town, as he is the only high-ranking officer who is not busy, or rather, busy having fun, as Yachiru was snacking and Ikkaku was napping. During his free time, Zaraki always takes his afternoon nap. He does not have a particularly favorite dish, but he particularly hates nattō.

Zaraki regularly shows great respect to those who can push his limits or even defeat him. Ever since Ichigo Kurosaki handed him his first known loss since against Retsu Unohana, Zaraki has considered Ichigo a member of his division. Despite Ichigo's refusal to engage in a rematch with Zaraki as he considers him an ally, Zaraki constantly expresses his desire for it every time they meet. He also aided Ichigo in his fight against the Bount, doing so as it would make Ichigo stronger for "their anticipated fight". He seems to hold his superior Yamamoto in high regard for his power and training he gave him. Zaraki also holds great respect for Unohana, the only person he ever admired, as she was the first person to make him experience the thrill of battle,[11] readily acknowledging they are very much alike,[12] and is brought to tears at the thought of being unable to beat her before he dies.[13] Upon inadvertently killing Unohana, Zaraki was reduced to screaming and begging for her to not die.[14]

Zaraki sometimes contradicts his own logic in fighting. While wishing to grow stronger, he use various methods to restrain his might to make the fight longer and tougher, including fighting with only one hand. Although he thrives for battle, Zaraki is capable of showing complex emotions. Zaraki and his lieutenant, Yachiru, have been close ever since they met, and have a father-daughter-like relationship, making Yachiru one of the few people he cares for. However, he has stated if his subordinates interfere in his fights, he will "cut them up first". Aside from Yachiru, Zaraki deeply gives meaning to his name. Following his fight with Ichigo, Zaraki talks about the pain of not having a name, as he lived his early years without one. This causes him to feel guilty his sword is not acknowledged by its own name.[15] Since then, he has strived to learn its identity.

Specialized Combatant: Zaraki did not attend the Shin'ō Academy, and thus has a limited skillset, especially for a Gotei 13 Captain. Despite that and even before accessing any of his Zanpakutō's power, he more than made up for this fault with his sheer might, resilience, and ingenuity. Training himself into a masterful combatant, he uses basic and direct, but effective methods to overwhelm his opponent. Fighting solely on instinct, reflexes, and present observation, he has no set pattern of attacks and likewise steadily improves with each exchange.[132] From this, he can instantly change his approach and tactics, making it almost impossible for his opponents to anticipate him. Against Tōsen's Bankai, which left him with only a sense of touch, he kept adapting and dodging Tōsen's attacks at the moment the latter's blade touches him to avoid serious injury and counter-attack with increasing accuracy.[133] These traits, combined with his monstrous power, easily make him one of the strongest Shinigami in the Gotei 13's history.[1] His immense fighting prowess is the reason why Zaraki was recognized as one of the 5 Special War Powers by the Wandenreich,[134] proving himself as such by having easily defeated three Sternritters back-to-back, who are said to possess above-Captain level might while he had greatly restrained might.[135]

Master Swordsman: Due to the lawlessness of the Zaraki district, Zaraki's sword-fighting skills were strengthened to essentially a masterful level, letting him strike multiple times with changes of attack type (overhead, sweeps, thrusts, or jabs) without any difficulty. As a child, he easily kill hundreds of adult fighters and wound Retsu Unohana, the 1st Kenpachi, in battle.[136] His unpolished skill, but immense might with his sword allows him to always fight with one hand free, only using both hands when he feels otherwise will lose, such as with Nnoitra and momentarily Ichigo.

As the captain of the 11th Division, which specializes in sword fighting, he is among the most, if not the most, proficient swordsmen in all of Soul Society. Zaraki possesses some knowledge and skill in Shinigami Zanjutsu, which Yamamoto forced him to learn before officially joining the Gotei 13. He is particularly advanced in Kendō, able to defeat several Shinigami at once with it.[139] However, the training only lasted a day as Central 46's feared that Zaraki would become too powerful of a threat to the Seireitei if he ever rebelled while having fully completed and mastered his training.[26] Also, Zaraki despises using skills and techniques learned from another source, only using his formal training as a last resort.[140] Ryōdan (両断, Bisection): A technique which Zaraki uses when he is gripping his sword with two hands. It allows one to split an opponent down the middle, even being able to overcome the powerful Hierro of the fifth Espada.

Immeasurable Spiritual Power: Even by a captain's standards, Zaraki's Reiryoku is monstrous.[144] Even as he subconsciously suppressed the majority of his true power for centuries,[145] his spiritual power was of such a degree that his fighting prowess was never noticeably hindered even with his energy-sealing eyepatch, as Zaraki could challenge two captain-level and Bankai-wielding opponents in succession. Ganju Shiba estimated his sealed power to be close to or at the same level as Byakuya Kuchiki's Reiatsu.[146] Retsu Unohana, one of the most powerful captains of the Gotei 13, stated she was weaker than him even while he was still a child.[147] During the Invasion of Hueco Mundo, he defeated the Fifth Espada, Nnoitra Gilga,[148] and overpowered Yammy Llargo, the strongest of the Espada.[149] After defeating Unohana and removing his mental limits, Zaraki becomes powerful enough to fight on par with and defeat Gremmy Thoumeaux without taking off his eyepatch,[150] and pressure Gerard Valkyrie while the Sternritter was vastly empowered by The Miracle and previously defeated several Shinigami in a single attack.[151] When unleashing a strong enough surge of energy, it becomes visible and yellow in color, sometimes appearing as a skull.[152]

Unruly Reiatsu Control: By his own admission, Zaraki has poor control of his spiritual energy as it constantly remains very potent, forcing him to rely on his eyepatch to keep it at a more manageable level. Despite this, he is able to make liberal use of it in a variety of ways. It can affect large areas, spanning miles, and cause others within that area to enter a state of paralysis and confusion.[153] When exerting his energy, the sheer magnitude of Zaraki's energy can cause considerable damage, destroying the area around him and launching away weaker opponents. Likewise, this can repel or disrupt most enemy attacks and abilities. He can also use his Reiryoku for more basic feats, such as standing in midair like other Shinigami

Damage Resistance: The intensity of Zaraki's Reiryoku also acts as a sort of armor, making it impossible for him to be harmed by anyone not at least at his level of power. This is first demonstrated when he faced Ichigo. At the start of the fight, Zaraki allows Ichigo to strike him, yet despite leaving himself completely unguarded and not resisting, not only did Ichigo fail to cut him, but Ichigo's hands started to bleed because of the recoil from the attempt.

Highly Perceptive Combatant: Despite his seeming disregard for any strategy and self-admitted aversion to thinking, Zaraki has regularly displayed a surprisingly keen understanding of various situations. Even Byakuya was impressed by Zaraki's ability to understand things he has no personal experience with.[158] He is likewise able to quickly see through his opponents' attack patterns and battle methods, finding and exploiting weaknesses in his opponents' techniques, and likewise quickly adjust and alter his own methods to better counter them. Against Gremmy Thoumeaux, Zaraki correctly deduced that Gremmy Thoumeaux's The Visionary was limited by concentration and can have its effects removed if his attention is diverted.[159] He is also insightful to people's nature, able to notice subtle traits in people and see what drives a person's actions; he correctly singled out Kaname Tōsen and Gin Ichimaru as the only captains who are afraid to die.[160] He possesses sharp intuition towards incoming danger, which allowed him to repeatedly dodge Tōsen's assault while still affected by his Bankai.

Immense Durability: As resilient as Zaraki is, he is just as hard to damage. During his battle against Yammy, as Zaraki was focusing his attention on Ichigo, Yammy delivered a powerful blow with his massive fist, launching Zaraki several meters and smashing him into a large pillar. Despite the impact, Zaraki quickly emerged unfazed, unimpressed by the "decent punch" Yammy threw at him.

Immense Speed: Prior to learning how to perform basic Shunpo, Zaraki displayed deceptively degree of speed for his size and build. Thanks to the tremendous raw strength in his legs, Zaraki's natural acceleration more than made up for his lack of Shunpo, allowing him to move fast enough to instantly close a huge gap of space between him and his opponent,[173] and even seemingly disappear from sight. In battle, he can strike with incredible speed in rapid succession, making it highly difficult for his opponents to find an opening and counterattack. During his short battle with Byakuya, Zaraki manages to keep up with his opponent's incredibly fast Shunpo, a feat which shocked and impressed Byakuya. Immense Endurance: His physical prowess is equally displayed by his resilience. Zaraki often ignores most of the injuries he sustains in battle, not suffering any debilitation despite having multiple slash and puncture wounds on his body and rarely any signs of pain much like a berserker. While battling Sajin Komamura and Kaname Tōsen, he took a hit from Komamura's Tenken and stabbed by the projectiles of Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihikō and shrugged it off, claiming it wasn't even enough to wake him up. He allowed himself to be stabbed by Tōsen just to grab Tōsen's sword to dispel his Bankai's effect. During his first battle with Nnoitra, he suffered numerous slash wounds, was even impaled and almost beheaded with no visual impairment of his fighting performance; Nnoitra noting most people would have already been dead by then.[175][176] Even after Zaraki suffered severe organ damage from his battle with Gremmy, it took the combined effort of four Sternritter to finally defeat him, rendered immobile from his injuries but still fully conscious.[177] Despite having his arm mangled by Pernida's The Compulsory, Zaraki still managed to nonchalantly hold his sword with that arm.[178] Even after receiving grievous injuries that left him comatose, he healed enough to return to training.

Nozarashi (野晒, Weather-Beaten One; Viz "Weather Beaten"):[183] As a young boy living in the Rukongai, Zaraki came upon a dead Shinigami. He took the Asauchi, imprinting his soul upon it to become his own Zanpakutō.[184][185] While still a wanderer, he would carry the sword across his back by a rope, over his right shoulder and at the left of his waist under his sash while a Shinigami. The blade is much longer than most Zanpakutō, roughly the size of a nodachi, with a relatively narrow, but long tsuba shaped like a serrated, eliptical bicone. The hilt and braid are both white, though they are mostly wrapped in white bandages, as is his sword's brown saya.[186]

Originally, Zaraki was the only captain in the history of the Gotei 13 to not know the name of his Zanpakutō, nor could he perform either of his blade's releases.[186] Zangetsu noted Zaraki's disharmony with his sword caused the two to damage each other's powers; consequently, Zaraki could not hear the cry of his sword. Their disharmony left it with little spiritual energy and easier to damage; the blade is chipped and worn-down upon its edge. Despite this, Nozarashi can easily cut through most targets like a hot knife through butter.

Nozarashi's lightest feats are: splitting a huge building the size of a city block with the mere air of his sword swing. Break through zanpakutōs as if they were breakable utilities. Create a gigantic crack in the Seireitei with a slash of his own.

He doesn't have one. Kenpachi doesn't know Nozarashi's name, he has no spiritual connection to his sword to even unleash his Shikai, let alone his Bankai.

It's a way to nerf Kenpachi's immense power. The only way to increase his Reiatsu is for him to consciously raise or lower his power.

Combat Kidō: Zaraki has no skill or interest in the use of Kidō, leaving him only with direct-attack methods for battle.

Reiatsu Mental Limiters (Formerly): As noted by Unohana, because of Zaraki's strong desire for a challenging fight, but possessing such overwhelming power that quickly defeats most opponents, he subconsciously began limiting his Reiatsu, even without his eyepatch. Against foes of high power, his power will instinctively be just slightly above said foe. The longer he fights a foe that pressures him, the more he subconsciously removes his limits, steadily increasing his Reiatsu. Zaraki's subconscious limit was the reason he lost his fight with Ichigo, as he could not adjust to Ichigo's increase in power in time.[198] After his death-battle against Unohana, Zaraki's subconscious barriers were permanently removed, granting him constant and instant access to his full power (when not wearing his eyepatch).

Zanpakutō Range: While his Zanpakutō possesses extreme cutting power, it is limited to close-quarters combat.

Melee Only: While powerful in melee combat, his Zanpakutō has no known special abilities.

Name chosen by Yhwach to describe Kenpachi Zaraki's enormous, uncontrollable raw power. He is on the podium with Ichigo Kurosaki, Sōsuke Aizen, Ichibē and Kisuke Urahara among the most important threats in Soul Society.