Shinji Hirako

Shinji has brown eyes and jaw-length blonde hair with a straight cut and many of his facial expressions reveal his upper teeth. He usually wears trousers, shirt and tie, often supplemented by a newsboy cap and long-coat. Shinji has a round ring pierced in the middle of his tongue. During his first tenure as a captain, before he left the Soul Society, his hair was very long, reaching down to the lower part of his back. He wore the standard Shinigami shihakushō with a standard, long-sleeved, captain's haori.

Shinji is somewhat comical, adding a bit of levity to situations that are otherwise serious, normally speaking in a Kansai dialect. He has a flippant attitude under normal circumstances. He also has a history of referring to cute girls he meets as his 'first love', complete with a deadpan look on his face. He is incredibly perceptive of other people, able to quickly sense and see through lies despite his laid-back nature.

Approximately 110 years ago Shinji was the Captain of the 5th Division of the Gotei 13, his lieutenant was Sosuke Aizen of whom he was highly suspicious of and heavily distrusted. Shinji was there when Kisuke Urahara was promoted to Captain of the 12th Division, giving him advice and befriending him and his ill-tempered lieutenant Hiyori. Shinji felt Urahara was the same kind of man as like him, so he should just meddle in his own business. Nine years go by without incident, until people began disappearing one by one, the 9th Division being sent to investigate. They too soon disappeared, prompting Shinji and several others to go and investigate. Sosuke Aizen turned out to be behind the disappearence, turning them into Hollows and experimenting on them. Shinji starts the hollowfication process, almost being consumed and transformed into one along with the people he investigated with. However he is rescued by Kisuke Urahara, resulting in them all being banished from the Soul Society. From there they learn to control their hollow powers, now gaining the ability to transform into one for a limited time. Shinji's goal is to take revenge on Sosuke Aizen for what he did to him and his friends, now known as Visored.

As a captain, Shinji is a highly skilled swordsman. As a captain of the Gotei 13 and the unofficial leader among the Visored, Shinji possesses a tremendous amount of spiritual power which is said to be monstrous. Being a Visored, he has a dual-type spiritual energy, part Soul Reaper and part Hollow. Despite his childish attitude at times, Shinji has proven to be a very insightful and perceptive man. Shinji has incredible physical strength and endurance, able to block and deliber incredibly powerful attacks. Sakanade, Shinji's Zanpakto, in its sealed form, it resembles a normal katana. The hilt and sheath are red, and its guard is shaped like an hourglass. Sakanade's Shikai ability creates an Inverted World. When spun, the sword creates a pink mist. Those who smell its pleasant aroma fall subject to an optical illusion. Their movements and senses are all reversed.