Bleach/Tropes H-R

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Tropes used in Bleach include:
  • Hair Colors
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Two of Harribel's fraccions are good examples, flying off the handle at allies and enemies alike to start childish arguments even mid-battle.
    • Mayuri Kurotsuchi has a healthy dose of this as well, especially in his first appearance, where he flew off the handle at the most minute of provocations, and often took it out on his lieutenant/daughter. Since then, he has chilled out a lot, and while he is still callous and easily annoyed, he handles it a lot better. A running fan-joke that the heroes simply broke into Soul Society on one of Mayuri's bad days was recently practically confirmed. When Ichigo calls him by his name without any honorifics, he lets it slide with only a small complaint, causing the other captains present to comment that he must be in a very good mood to be so lenient, only for him to go on another rant about how he would torture Ichigo to death when Ichigo dared to compare him to Urahara Kisuke.
  • Hand or Object Underwear: Ikkaku in anime episode #229.
  • A Handful for an Eye
  • Hands-On Approach: Yoruichi giving Soifon some pointers on how to properly use a sword in combat. Odd, considering Yoruichi is never seen using one...
    • She is seen using one in a flashback. Considering she's a Soul Reaper she probably knows how to use a sword even if she doesn't use one herself.
  • Handwraps of Awesome: Ichigo, see the picture above?
  • Happy Flashback
  • Hard Work Hardly Works: Orihime works incredibly hard, but never gets a chance to do much, either from her allies telling her to Stay in the Kitchen or her enemies being too powerful or keeping her hostage. Ichigo works for his power, too, but the results always amaze beyond expectations.
    • Orihime's problem is that she's basically a Technical Pacifist, but her only attack technique has no non-lethal mode. It either fails entirely or is a One-Hit Kill, with nothing in between.
  • Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Seems to be what Aizen just pulled off in the battle of Fake Karakura Town.
  • Healing Shiv: Hanatarou Yamada's Hisagomaru, which goes from a Healing Katana to a Wounding Scalpel.
  • The Heartless: Hollows, both figuratively and literally.
  • Deadly Change-of-Heart: Poor, poor Kaname Tousen.
    • Gin Ichimaru betrays Aizen. Didn't turn out too well.
  • Hero Antagonist: The Soul Reapers (not counting Aizen and co) in the first arc. From their perspective, they're trying to deliver punishment to a criminal and Ichigo and his team are an armed mob raiding the police station.
  • Hero with an F In Good: Don Kanonji, who thinks he's protecting children throughout the country from the monsters that go bump in the night. Ichigo has to show him that he's actually helping to create those monsters.
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Kenpachi and Mayuri are sometimes this and sometimes Sociopathic Hero.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: In Memories of Nobody, Senna does this to Save Both Worlds.
    • Also Konoka in The 3rd Phantom, in order to try and weaken Arturo. It works, and then she dies.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: Ikkaku and Yumichika and Kyouraku and Ukitake. The fanbase can often be found discussing the true nature of the relationships in these pairings and the anime often likes to add fuel to this debate as well. However, in the manga there's no evidence either of these pairs have any kind of sexual interest in each other which makes them straight examples of this trope.
  • Hidden Villain: Though it's safe to say he isn't exactly hidden anymore.
  • High-Pressure Blood: Everyone manages to lose incredible amounts of blood without dying.
    • Used to a comedic effect in episode 303 with Hisagi's nosebleed.
  • Hime Cut: Tobiume in the Zanpakuto Unknown Tales
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: During the Bount arc, Ugaki is killed by his own doll, albeit with a little help from Kariya.
    • Baraggan.
    • Aizen is defeated after Urahara's Kido weakens him until the Hogyoku no longer recognizes him as its master and takes back all the power and evolutions it granted him when it did.
  • Hollywood Tactics: Despite being a Magnificent Bastard when it comes to conspiracies, and assuming he's not doing it on purpose, Aizen's very bad when it comes to directing his subordinates, considering he's lost basically all of them, with only two of his named subordinates still alive (Gin and Yammy, with the latter on his way out of the picture). Keep in mind Aizen's ability means he could have won the war without losing a single soldier.
  • Hollywood Voodoo: Szayelaporro Grantz's ability to create voodoo dolls of his opponents filled with replicas of their internal organs.
  • Honor Before Reason: During his fight with Ulquiorra, Ichigo, upon regaining his sanity, and seeing how he mutilated his opponent while being turned into a hollow, he asks him to mutilate him back to make it a fair fight. This is made even worse with the fact that the fight was pretty much a Curb Stomp Battle in favor of Ulquiorra until said Hollowfication. According to Byakuya, he had a similar reason for tearing off his forming Hollow mask during their fight in the Soul Society arc.
    • Grimmjow somewhat calls Ichigo out on this during his third fight, stating that if he really wanted to save Orihime, he could've just taken her and ran, instead of just staying around to fight. Of course, that was probably just to provoke Ichigo into using his true power. Still, he could've moved her to a safer location at least, instead of having to take a hit for her later in the battle.
    • Ishida stopping Ichigo's uberhollow from obliterating Ulquiorra also counts; Ishida being a Quincy, who completely and totally kill hollows without mercy (whereas shinigami "cleanse the spirit," and send them off on their merry way), this is a random and idiotic change of persona. And he goes on claiming that Ichigo would be just like Hollows, when he'd really be like a Quincy, since I doubt Ichigo planned on eating Ulquiorra after blasting him to oblivion. , although in the anime, Ishida seemed to assume that Ulquiorra was already dead. He was actually just stopping Ichigo from "chopping up his corpse," which makes more sense from Ishida's POV.
    • Ukitake regarding Kaien. Ukitake seems to be a well-meaning chap, but he was a damn fool to place Kaien's sense of honor above the welfare of his squad and basic common sense. They did not understand the Hollow they were facing, they should not have attacked it. End of story.
    • Rukia does the same to Ichigo while he's fighting Grand Fisher. Even though there was a good chance of his death during his fight with Grand Fisher (as well as the deaths of everyone around him) Rukia still tells Kon not to interfere because it would damage Ichigo's pride.
  • Hope Spot: In several places throughout the series, but the Fake Karakura arc may have just set a new record.
  • Horror Hunger: When souls become Hollows, they are driven by an eternal and insatiable hunger to devour other souls, living or dead. However, when the void within an ordinary hollow's heart becomes so much that human souls are incapable of sustaining it, the hollows are driven to cannibalize other hollows. This usually results in them evolving into much stronger hollows.
  • Hot-Blooded: Ikkaku, Ichigo, Renji, Grimmjow, Yammy, most notably.
  • Hot Mom: Almost every character is fanservice of some format or another. This goes for the mothers as well. Examples include Masaki Kurosaki and Ikumi Unagiya.
  • Human Mom, Nonhuman Dad: Or in Ichigo's case, half-human and half-Shinigami...
  • The Hyena: Nnoitra, who is introduced laughing psychotically before his face is even shown.
  • I Am a Humanitarian: According to Chapter 406, Aizen intends to eventually EAT Ichigo. Um, what.
  • I Am Not Left-Handed: Hardly anyone uses their strongest attack at the beginning of a battle, and often not even for an entire battle when they're losing; this is true even for many of the smarter adversaries. The most extreme examples are Ikkaku and Yumichika but they're certainly not the only ones. See trope page for examples.
  • I Am Your Opponent
  • Identical Panel Gag: Used on occasions, notably when Ichigo realizes he has noway to become a Shinigami, or when Chad and Inoue meet Hiyori and Shinji.
  • Idiot Ball: Ichigo in chapter 392. Ichigo is only shown to react after Hinamori is stabbed. Some fans view him as an idiot for not warning the captains sooner since he wasn't affected by Aizen's shikai. Other fans observe that, since Aizen's shikai blocks all five senses, Aizen wouldn't have let the captains hear Ichigo shouting (if he was shouting) anyway. Yet other fans observe the scene technically happens so fast, and is so shocking to witness, Ichigo simply couldn't have realistically reacted in time.
    • In the same chapter, the captains for thinking that Aizen would actually fight fair knowing what a bastard he is.
    • The Head Captain for the entirety of the Fake Karakura Town battle. Not only does Yamamoto only intervene in fights where certain death for his Lieutenants is upon them, when he could curbstomp any opponent on the battlefield, but he also allows said soldiers to split up and have their own fights, as a training exercise.
    • Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad rushing into Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime from Aizen's lair? Sounds noble. Not waiting for Renji and Rukia to back them up, then deciding to go off by themselves in the middle of enemy territory? Very, very stupid. In fact, the only reason any of them survived was because Yamamoto was going to send Captains there anyway, and had them intervene in the beatdowns that each and every one of Ichigo's friends had winded up in.
  • Ignored Enemy: Yammy for Kenpachi and Byakuya.
  • I Lied: Gin lied about the length and speed of his bankai. Not only that, but he omitted one crucial detail about the mechanism involved in its extension. To Aizen.
  • Image Song: Boy howdy. Important characters with voice actors who can carry a tune get two or three each. Renji has one, And it is badass! Hell, even Nel and Hanatarou have them.
    • there's a three-song album dedicated to only blatantly ship Ichi Ruki, in which they have corresponding solos that are obviously about each other and a sappy duet (their second one after Memories in the Rain).
  • Immortal Hero: Despite the long run and very large cast, no one on the Soul Society's side has died. Generally, even serious wounds are healed quickly by numerous superhealers on good guys side. On the other hand, most (not all) bad guys tend to fall by the wayside, if not immediately then certainly eventually.
    • Not anymore: 1st division lieutenant Chojiro Sasakibe is dead!
  • Important Haircut: Several examples in the story. Played with, played straight and inverted. See trope page for detail.
  • Impossibly Cool Weapon: This manga is full of them.
  • Incendiary Exponent: Yamamoto
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: The theme song given to Ulquiorra by Tite Kubo, Moonshield, contains the lyrics "Hollow ambitions in a hollow mind." If it's a coincidence, it's a weird one. If it's not, shame on you, Tite Kubo.
  • Incurable Cough of Death: Hisana Kuchiki, but only in the third film. Subverted by Ukitake whose terrible (and unrevealed) incurable illness hasn't killed him yet... although it did contribute to his vice-captain's death.
  • Indy Ploy: Let's face it, none of Ichigo's plans are exactly thought out. Goes with his Leeroy Jenkins nature.
    • A particularly funny one is how he planned on defeating the first Gillian he encountered, back before he had even learned shikai. Ichigo planned on cutting chunks out of its feet and body until he had sliced everything away and the mask was low enough for him to hit.
  • Informed Ability: Quite a few characters and this is before we get to the fact we haven't seen all the captains and ex-captains bankai.
    • Yoruichi Shihouin has never been seen using her zanpakutou. In fact her zanpakutou has only ever been seen once in the current storyline (it's been seen twice in flashbacks), in a background shot leaning up against a wall and even then fans aren't sure if it really is her zanpakutou or not. However, when Soifon remember her time serving under Captain Shihouin, she commented on how Yoruichi was unsurpassed at sword-fighting. Considering she's unsurpassed at speed and her preferred fighting style is unarmed combat, fans can only guess how good "unsurpassed at sword-fighting" might be.
    • Yammy (Especially with his Resurrección). When he finally got serious, his fight was completed off-panel... and he lost.
    • Supplementary materials state that Unohana is the third strongest captain, behind Yamamoto and Aizen. We never actually see her do anything except act kind and heal people.
  • Innocent Fanservice Girl: Yoruichi was initially this. She spent so long as a cat that when she took her true form in front of Ichigo, she completely forgot she was naked.
  • Instant Cosplay Surprise: This happens to Ichigo in one of the New Year specials. He's roped into helping Komamura and Unohana make a film about a humanoid dog hero that saves lives, only to find himself forced to wear a badly designed dog costume. He's not amused.
  • Instant Sedation: played with. Shinigami have access to three tranquiliser drugs that they can used as necessary: shinten, gaten and houten. Shinten is used on targets with weak spiritual pressure whereas gaten and houten are used on much stronger opponents. Hanataro has been seen using shinten to knock out low-level guards when rescuing Rukia. Yoruichi uses either gaten or houten to knock out Ichigo and rescue him from Byakuya. Kira uses gaten to knock out Yumichika during the fake Karakura Town battle. All the drugs work instantly but are also fantasy drugs made up for the setting and therefore able to work to whatever rules the author wants.
  • Interface Screw: Shinji's shikai.
  • Internal Reveal: A number of these, most obviously the fact that Ichigo's father is a Shinigami. Ichigo didn't learn that until many chapters later..
  • Intimate Healing...?: What Mayuri does to heal Nemu after his battle with Szayel. Squicks the hell out of Uryu and Renji. Mayuri, however, insists that they must be perverts to think he's doing that.
  • Invisible to Normals: Ghosts, Hollows, Soul Reapers, and their (often oversized and glowy) weapons.
  • I Owe You My Life: In the anime, during the Soul Society arc Ichigo says that the reason he's trying to rescue Rukia is because she saved his life from the Hollow in the first episode. Also, Komamura Sajin to Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni.
  • I Reject Your Reality: Orihime.
  • Irony: While Tousen's Resurrecion gives him sight, it is because of that sight that he was killed. He was so consumed by the new experience that he didn't notice things he would have were he still blind, like Hisagi sneaking up on him.
    • While lieutenant of squad 5, Aizen betrays Captain Hirako and almost kills him. Aizen becomes captain and third-seat Gin Ichimaru becomes lieutenant. Guess who just tried to kill Aizen.
  • Ironic Echo: After Ichigo returned and started laying the smackdown on Aizen, he notes that Aizen is keeping his distance, Aizen having previous to Ichigo's Badass Level Taking asked Ichigo why he was keeping his distance.
  • It Got Worse: Several times throughout the series. The most striking example is Chapter 390, also known as Chapter Aizen-Kicks-The-Shit-Out-Of-Everybody. After the Hope Spot that was Chapter 391, it gets... rather malicious. Generally, any time Chad goes down. Kubo uses his defeat as a turning point in both the Soul Society Arc and the Hueco Mundo Arc.
  • It Always Rains At Funerals: Anime Zanpakuto: The Alternate Tale" arc. In episode 255, after Muramasa's death it starts to rain.
  • It's Personal: Ichigo is incapable of fighting at full power unless someone he cares about is in immediate danger. When he first shows up in Fake Karakura Town, Aizen actually criticizes him for it.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For all he acts constantly as the Blood Knight trope personified, aside from his blood-soaked backstory (including a duel to the death with the former captain of the 11th Division), we've only seen Kenpachi kill two humanoid opponents (Nnoitra and Giriko) after defeating them.
    • Depends whether you accept his "I just want to fight you again" explanation is genuine. It would after all fit his battle mania.
    • I think it's safe to say that every other character in this series caters to this trope. If they're not blatantly a jerk, they're subtly a jerk.
  • Johnny Yong Bosch: Voices Ichigo Kurosaki, and Hollow Ichigo.
  • Just in Time: Too many to count. The show practically thrives off of this for battle turnarounds.
  • Kabuki Sounds
  • Karma Houdini: Mayuri. In his first appearance he uses his subordinates as bombs and was both physically and emotionally abusive of his Lieutenant/daughter/ clone, Nemu. Additionally, he plays into Uryu Ishida's backstory by having arranged the deaths of Ishida's clan so that he could run torturous experiments on them. So far the only one who actually seems to care about any of this is Uryu.
  • Kick the Dog: This manga is incredibly dog-unfriendly. Downright abusive, in fact. See trope page for the proof!
  • Kill It with Fire: Yamamoto, Edorad, Hinamori.
  • Kill It with Ice: Hitsugaya and Rukia.
  • Kill It with Water: Haribel and Findor.
  • Kindhearted Cat Lover: Yuzu has a whole episode devoted to finding a cat (which turns out to be the spirit of a dead cat) and taking care of it, thus when she's in trouble with hollows, it protects her and in so doing can finally pass on.
  • Klingon Promotion: It's how Kiganjo became the 10th Kenpachi of the 11th division. It's also how Zaraki defeated him to become the 11th Kenpachi of the 11th division. They're the only two known examples and both in the 11th division. It's an accepted Gotei 13 method of obtaining a captain's rank, however.
  • Knight Templar Big Brother: Ichigo lives and breathes this trope and he'll convert (by the sword) failing big brothers to his way of thinking if he has to, as both Orihime and Rukia's big brothers discover.
    • Once Byakuya manages to resolve his conflicting vows, he goes from being an Aloof Big Brother to one of these.
    • Hitsugaya has a bad case of this towards Hinamori, although in his case, he's actually the younger of the two (they're adoptive siblings, having been raised by the same old woman that they both regard as their grandmother).
  • Knockback Slide: Happens in virtually every fight scene.
  • Kudzu Plot: Arguably the Soul Society arc, as well as the Arrancar Saga.
  • Lamarck Was Right: Chapter 405 revealed that Isshin can use Getsuga Tenshou.
  • Last-Name Basis: Ichigo with his friends, save for Rukia, Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro. Chad is debatable, as "Chad" is Ichigo's mispronunciation of "Sado" which became a nickname that stuck, though all other characters use Sado. Averted/subverted in the English dub and to a lesser degree in the English manga, as most characters are referred to by first name, while Chad is "Chad" to everyone, when in the original it's only Ichigo who uses the nickname. Also, Hitsugaya, Urahara, Aizen, and a couple more.
    • The English manga doesn't go quite as far with the aversion/subversion, as many of the characters who used last names continue to do so, but some exceptions remain (Ichigo's friends; Renji, Momo and Izuru; and Ukitake and Kyoraku).
    • Taking it further, Ichigo and Ishida both drop honorifics when speaking to one another. Of course Ichigo rarely uses honorifics anyway; Ishida is a more interesting case since normally he has a "well-mannered young man" speaking style from which he only deviates when he's talking to Ichigo (and some enemies, not to mention his father).
    • Ichigo seems to always use given names for the people he met in Soul Society, whether he befriended them or not. This greatly irritates Byakuya and Hitsugaya.
  • Late Arrival Spoiler: Aizen is evil, Gin is a subverted Red Herring, Aizen is evil, Tousen goes with them because he's a Knight Templar, Aizen is evil, Shinji Hirako is a Badass, Aizen is evil, Urahara isn't as nice as he seems, and oh yeah, AIZEN IS EVIL!!!
    • Anything that's aired in the often-delayed American dub. If it's gotten that far, it's been around long enough that it doesn't need spoiler tags.
    • The Fullbring arc is suffering from this as well, what with a magazine cover showing Ichigo fighting fiercely against Ginjou, who was supposed to help him against the arc's Big Bad - and was the Big Bad himself.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In chapter 430 when Karin and Yuzu are talking about Ichigo Karin says "He's just a normal guy, you know? He's not some anime character."
  • Leeroy Jenkins: Yamamoto had a plan to regroup the Gotei 13, give Urahara the time needed to set up a suitable battleground in Karakura Town for the captains to fight Aizen, and stabilise a method of transport for captain-class shinigami to travel to Hueco Mundo. Ichigo, and later Renji and Rukia (with Byakuya's help), throw him a curveball by charging off to Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime, regardless of their plans, responsibilities and orders.

Yamamoto: 'Damn kids!'

  • Left for Dead: Happens a fair bit in this manga. Byakuya in particular has a habit of doing this but he's not the only one.
  • The Lost Lenore: Hisana Kuchiki, of the Type A variety. Without her, much of this manga would never have unfolded the way it did as it's the reason for the Byakuya/Rukia relationship and all the consequences that have come from that. Even Byakuya's conflicting vows stem from the fact he married Hisana in the first place because it was the rebellion he caused to both marry her and then adopt Rukia (on her request) that led to his second vow and the start of all his problems that led to the Soul Society arc unfolding the way it did.
  • Leotard of Power: Yoruichi's latest outfit, in combination with some Zettai Ryouiki.
    • Grimmjow's resurrección.
  • Lethal Chef: In a Filler episode, a ghost needs the help of a couple of shinigami to make a cake for his mother. Unfortunately for the ghost, his helpers, Yumichika, Hanatarou and Rin, are absolutely hopeless chefs and their taste testers (Renji and Sado) end up going into hiding because of the amount of times they were forced to eat vomit-inducing cake.
  • Lethal Harmless Powers: Orihime's powers are technically shields. However, because one repels on both sides of its surface, it can be used to split something in half, and her powers are technically classified as Reality Warper powers. As of Chapter 449, she's found a way to make her defensive shield explode like a bomb against anyone who's attacking her.
  • Let's Get Dangerous: Although it was short lived Pesche and Dondochakka suddenly revealing that they're not bumbling fools was awesome. Too bad their opponent is Crazy Prepared.
    • The quirky father, Isshin Kurosaki, confronts Grand Fisher, and reveals that he was once a Captain level Shinigami. He then kills Grand Fisher with a single attack.
    • Don't forget Captain Shunsui Kyoraku and his barely Evil Counterpart Coyote Starrk. Both of these men are lazy as hell (though Shunsui is more laid back and fun loving, Stark's just apathetic) and both have female subordinates that get away with beating the hell out of them in a very funny fashion. But should you get either one of these lazy bums to get off their asses and fight, well nice knowing you. And Ukitake, who seemed happy to continue sitting around being the Nice Guy until Starrk upped the ante against Kyoraku. Ukitake dispenses with his 'honour' thing to join in the fight. Still smiling, still polite, all whilst playing Catch and Return with the Espada's Beam Spammage.
    • Shinji pulls one on Aizen after Gin cuts Hiyori in half.
    • It's two men fighting over who's the Fairest of Them All and Hilarity Ensues. It's Plucky Comic Relief in the middle of all that serious fighting. It's one Berserk Button too many getting pressed resulting in the villain losing it. It's a villainous Finishing Move activating his opponent's Hidden Depths. It's a fight that switches from funny to serious before the fanbase can say "Curb Stomp Battle". It's Charlotte Cuulhorne being defeated by Yumichika "Let's Get Dangerous" Ayasegawa.
    • Orihime against Ginjou: "Sadistic? I don't mind you calling me that. If you don't want to get hurt, don't attack me when I say not to.
  • Let's Split Up, Gang!. During the Season 7 (Hueco Mundo Sneak Entry) and Season 9 (New Captain Shusuke Amagai).
  • Let Them Die Happy: Right before her execution, Rukia's last wish is for Ichigo and friends to be granted safe passage back home, Yamamoto agrees. Captain Unohana remarks that although he lied, he did it out of kindness so that Rukia may die peacefully.
  • Lies to Children: Some American fans often accuse Rukia of using Blatant Lies when she tells souls that Soul Society is a wonderful place to go to despite the fact she's simply doing her job to expedite the natural cycle of souls passing to Soul Society. Given the length of time between Soul Society's first mention and it's actual appearance in the storyline, fans also debate whether this is simply an example of the evolution of the afterlife's concept in the author's mind.
    • It should also be noted that only the districts with higher numbers are bad—Ddistricts 1-20 should be pretty good, and it doesn't really get BAD until maybe District 50.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Ichigo is already absurdly powerful. His bankai not only condenses his spiritual pressure, making it much stronger and allowing him to fight longer than most, but also makes him faster than the fastest Captain in Soul Society. Of course, this is to be expected from someone with his growth rate.
  • Like Brother and Sister: Ichigo and Rukia partially fit this trope; Word of God states that the two are "more than friends, but less than lovers."
  • Little Miss Snarker: Karin. As seen in this exchange, while Ichigo is with the Vizards trying not to give in to his inner Hollow:

Yuzu: (crying) Brother's goooone!!!
Karin: Stop crying. He's fine. Just give it two or three days 'til he shows up.

  • Load-Bearing Hero
  • Loads and Loads of Characters: The page has a break down of just how many characters this series has by Arc. Wikipedia lists it as having 147 speaking characters, and that isn't including the spirits of the Zanpakuto or the Shun Shun Rikka. Kubo has said that when he has trouble writing plotlines and new materials, he begins to think of new characters, usually en masse, hence new characters usually arriving in large sets (the Soul Reapers, the Vizards, the Espada, and so forth). Heroic characters rarely die, resulting in long periods between seeing various characters and sometimes fights even finishing off-panel.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: The reason Tatsuki once got angry enough to put Ichigo's head through a window.
  • Look What I Can Do Now!: Ichigo has a truly epic example after achieving bankai. Other characters have similar moments after a trainning arc.
  • Loophole Abuse:
    • After the Soul Society arc, Byakuya's vow conflict no longer has such a hold on him and he begins exploring the value of loop-holes to his vow to uphold the law. When Yamamoto orders him to bring Renji and Rukia back from the human world, he notes that Yamamoto failed to give him any orders on what to do with the pair once they'd returned home. As a result, as soon as he gets them home, he promptly helps them get to Hueco Mundo so they can aid Ichigo in the search for Orihime.
    • After the Soul Society arc, Uryu's father agreed to restore his powers on the condition that Uryu never associate with Shinigami or their allies ever again. Uryuu, however, concludes that because Soul Society has withdrawn their support from the mission to rescue Orihime, Ichigo is not an ally of the shinigami and, as a substitute shinigami, he's not even a shinigami himself. Ichigo calls him out on this and Uryuu blatently admits he's thinking of it as a loophole.
    • From the Amagai Arc, when the Gotei 13 is ordered to apprehend Ichigo, Byakuya washes his hands of the entire affair, instead ordering Renji to take full control of the squad's response to those orders. It takes Renji a few moments to realise that what Byakuya is really doing is merely playing lip-service to the order by creating a situation where he can turn a blind eye to any help his rebellious, Ichigo-supporting, vice-captain may give Ichigo.
  • Love Imbues Life: Fullbrings.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Seigen in The 3rd Phantom. He wants revenge on the Soul Society for killing Konoka.
  • Loving Bully: In one FAQ Rukia says that someone was a schmuck towards her in the Shinigami school because he couldn't tell her his feelings. Unsurprisingly, chapter -17 (a bonus chapter) seems to indicate that that someone was Renji.
  • Lower Deck Episode: Chapter 480.
  • Made of Iron: Chad, full stop. He had an iron girder fall on his head and then collided with a motorcycle. Afterwards, he carried the driver to the hospital because he was injured. He was only slightly late for school. This was before he even got his powers.
  • Made of Phlebotinum: Everything in the Soul Society is made of spirit particles.
  • Mad Doctor: When Mayuri Korotsuchi isn't being a Mad Scientist, he's busy "helping" "mend" people. And by "helping" to "mend" people what we really mean is that he's playing Mad Doctor.
  • Mad Scientist: Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Szayel Granz and Ran'Tao. Also, Aizen's experiments on both humans and hollows when developing his version of the Hougyoku and the modern Arrancar actually puts him into this trope as well.
  • Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Nemu Kurotuschi. Mildly subverted in that she hasn't ever even met Ichigo to be attracted to him. Her interactions with Uryuu have created a keen following, however.
  • Magic Is a Monster Magnet—Due to Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious
  • Magic Skirt: Kubo is not at all fond of Panty Shots (although he really LOVES some other features of the female body), even when it should happen according the laws of gravity. Notable examples are Nemu, Lisa and Rukia, the latter being the worst offender. Averted with Harribel, who seems to be Going Commando.
  • Magical Girl: Charlotte Cuuhlhourne is definitely a parody. Even more obvious in the anime.
  • Major Injury Underreaction: More than a few characters react minimally or even barely at all to major injuries. Even before their powers awakened, Sado shrugged off a steel girder falling on him and Orihime laughed off being hit by a car.
  • Male Gaze: No shortage in this manga.
  • Malevolent Masked Men: Yamamoto found himself confronting a group of people so heavily masked and cloaked it was impossible to tell even their gender. And they were definitely not interested in the quality of his tea ceremony lessons.
  • The Man Behind the Monsters
  • Marshmallow Hell: many examples, see trope page for detail.
  • Martial Pacifist: Hisagi, Kyoraku, Tousen (allegedly), and maybe Kira.
  • Mask Power: The trope is played straight by Vizards, who gain power when they put on Hollow masks, and inverted by the Arrancar, who become stronger when they remove their masks.
  • Masquerade: The hollow-hunting activities of shinigami are kept secret from ordinary humans through copious use of memory-erasing devices.
  • Mass Hypnosis: Aizen's shikai ability.
  • Master Actor: Aizen.
  • Meaningful Echo: The Memories of the Rain arc towards the beginning of the manga has Rukia briefly flashback to someone telling her there are two types of fight (for life and for pride). Towards the end of the Soul Society arc we're given both the context of that comment and the identity of the person who said them.
  • Meaningful Name: Ichigo. (No, not strawberry.) It's mentioned during the first Memories in the Rain Arc and he actually hangs a lampshade on this when talking to Jidanbou: "Ichi" means one, "go" means protector. Kurosaki in of itself could be considered a symbol, because it has "kuro" in it, which means "black," which is a color associated with shinigami (which is why fans often refer to Ichigo's Hollow as "Shirosaki," "shiro" meaning "white").
    • Zanpakuto and Resurrección are prone to having these as well.
  • Mega Twintails: In the anime, when Kyouraku's zanpakutou Katen Kyoukatsu takes human form, his tachi's human form includes Mega Twintails.
  • Memory Gambit: Ginjo does this to lead Ichigo into a trap
  • Mental World: Ichigo meets Zangetsu and fights his inner hollow a number of times inside his inner world. It takes the form of a sideways city. When Ichigo's upset, the sky darkens, and when he's especially saddened or angsty, it rains. In a late chapter, Ichigo's been in a bad way for such a long time that the entire city is underwater.
    • This is part of the reason why Zangetsu is so insistent that Ichigo learn how to use him properly during the first several arcs. Zangetsu hates the rain.
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard: Kaien Shiba and Soken Ishida both go out in really ugly ways, in the presence of the ones they were mentoring.
  • Mind Rape: Seems to be something Tsukishima enjoys doing. He does it by apparently either changing people's memories to make them remember him as a longtime friend, or outright rewriting the past to make it so. Not only that, but apparently he's been doing it for a long time, and when his victims start having doubts about their past, he only makes it worse and eventually breaks them. This almost happens to Orihime and Chad before Urahara and Isshin knock them out.
  • Mind Screw: Baura is a fish. And he's able to fly. And he has an entire dimension inside his mouth. He can also shoot lightning, along with regurgitating anything he's previously swallowed - like fire and dust.
    • Chapter 453. All of it. Tsukishima is now apparently Ichigo's COUSIN and an old friend of Keigo and Tatsuki. And apparently he pulled the same thing with Chad and Orihime. When Ichigo tries to get away from this, he finds out that Tsukishima also made fast friends with Ikumi. Basically the only other person that isn't friendly with Tsukishima now is Ginjo. Can't comprehend it? That's OK, you don't have to.
  • Mini-Dress of Power: Nemu's shikakasou is this, showing She's Got Legs. The Turn Back the Pendulum Arc shows us that Lisa was also like this when she was Kyouraku's vice-captain.
  • Minor Injury Overreaction: Happens a few times. Examples include Medezeppi and Charlotte.
  • Mirror Match: During the fight with Kenpachi, Ichigo is forced into a Battle in the Center of the Mind with himself to prove to Zangetsu that he's worthy of wielding him. However, this "other Ichigo" turns out to be Ichigo's inner Hollow. This happens again in Ichigo's Vizard training, only this time the hollow can use Getsuga Tensho and Bankai. One of the filler arc characters can mimic anyone else and Ichigo ends up fighting a "copy" of himself. Also one of Szayel's powers.
  • Mistaken for Masturbating: Ichigo's father jokingly considers this when his son is talking to ghosts in his room.
  • Mixed Archetypes: Ichigo - Messiah/Anti-Hero.
  • Moment Killer: Ichigo throws Rukia at Renji right after his sappy, heroic rescue.
    • Nel smashing into Ichigo's midsection while he's talking to Orihime after the Grimmjow fight.
    • In chapter 228, Rukia and Orihime are veering close to a touching moment, and Hiyori quite literally falls from the sky and drags Orihime off.
    • At the end of the Soul Society arc, Renji visits the bed-ridden Byakuya and things begin to get sentimental (in a manly way). Cue Ichigo bursting through Byakuya's third-floor window, shouting Renji's name practically into a very shocked Byakuya's ear. Renji is not amused.
  • Monster Roommate
  • Monstrosity Equals Weakness: The more powerful a Menos or Arrancar is, the more human-like they appear. The lowest-level Menos are as tall as skyscrapers and are shredded like wet tissue paper by the main character, while the Arrancar Espada all appear to be human and take several episodes to fight.
  • Mood Whiplash: Kubo admits that he injects humor into the story at any point where he just feels bored. This can lead to awkward situations like Arrancar maiming or Aizen slaughtering people one scene, and funny arguments between protagonists the next! Can seem particularly bizarre the many, many times said arguments take place while an extremely powerful villain is right there.
    • In a possible Lampshade hanging, even Aizen gets annoyed at Isshin and Ichigo after their battle, and just says what he plans to do.
    • Nel beating down Nnoitra with a dead serious expression on her face before turning and giving Ichigo a bone-crushing hug.
    • The fight between Yumichika and Charlotte Cuuhlhourne. It starts off as comedy and a Silly Reason for War before suddenly whiplashing into a deadly serious, in-depth character revelation.
    • Chapter 480 has a brutal version. The timid new shinigami, Kyuki, encounters a hollow and immediately runs to try and find his friend, the other shinigami sent with him. The scene is mostly played for comedy, but then he finds Shino, bloody and unconscious, or even dead, in the palm of a gigantic hollow. Just when he goes to save her, another hollow attacks him from behind and practically guts him.
  • Mook Chivalry
  • Mook Maker: Fura
    • Also Rudobon's Resurreccion.
  • Morality Pet: Delightfully subverted with Yachiru Kusajishi, who looks the part, but eagerly enjoys watching Blood Knight Zaraki have his fun, and always tries to see to it that he gets to have more fun.
    • Rangiku to Gin, although it didn't stop him from leaving.
  • The Movie: Four so far.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Almost every male character; this is the reason why this is one of those shonen series that manages to gain a substantial female following.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Happens a lot in this manga.
  • Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The released form of the Espada Arrancar Nnoitra Gilga and Wonderweiss.
  • Multiple Reference Pun: Arrancar is read as the Spanish verb for 'uproot' or 'tear' and written with the kanji for 'tear, violate, smash' and 'face, mask.'
  • Mundane Object Amazement : Rukia is amazed at the way humans drink out of juice boxes, by poking the straw through the foil hole and using it to drink. In the anime she even tells Hanatarou about it as if she'd mastered some difficult skill by being able to do it.
    • When Hitsugaya's advance guard settle into the human world to prepare for the Arrancar invasion, Ikkaku is so amazed at the idea that shops can sell multitudes of neatly wrapped onigiri (and order even more when they run out!) that he's convinced it must be a conspiracy - he can't imagine humans being capable of such a feat without something dodgy going on behind the scenes.
  • Mundane Utility: We've seen that Hitsugaya will use his zanpakutou to create ice for cold drinks on hot days and we've seen that Yamamoto will use his zanpakutou to light fires as needed (ovens, cooking potatos, staying warm). However, apparently this problem is so pervasive amongst the captains of Soul Society that Yamamoto ended up having to issue a blanket ban on the mundane use of bankai.
  • The Musical: The (several) "Bleach Rock Musicals"; live stage adaptations that very loosely follow the plot of the manga but focus on Soul Society and the Soul Reapers: Orihime and Chad only appear once or twice and Ishida doesn't appear at all.
  • Must Make Amends: In the rogue zanpakuto filler arc, Ichigo is tricked into breaking Yamamoto-Genryusai's barrier, allowing Muramasa to find out the location of his master, Kouga. Ichigo, upon learning his mistake, determines that he must go stop Muramasa so that he can fix his mistake.
  • My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours
  • My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Ishida vs. Mayuri. Ichigo vs. Grandfisher. Interestingly enough, neither one succeeds in killing their opponent.
  • Naked First Impression: Ichigo and Yoruichi, the first time she takes her human form.
  • Naked on Arrival: Yoruichi's human form. Also, Wonderweiss.
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Coyote Starrk, the Primera Espada.
    • Kenpachi Zaraki is an in-universe example. "Zaraki" is the name of the most dangerous district in Soul Society, and "Kenpachi" is the title given to the best swordsman in Soul Society. Even Ichigo finds the idea of fighting him too unsettling to pursue a second time.
  • Nazis By Any Other Name: The Vandenreich apparently. Hell, their name alone says it all!
  • Needle in a Stack of Needles
  • Nested Mouths: All Hollows below Menos class have a second set of teeth within the first, indicating the remnant of the human soul inside them.
  • Neutral Female: Orihime 90% of the time. When Orihime tries to break out of this, in a surprisingly effective way, she's promptly told by Ichigo to stay out of the fight.
  • New Powers as the Plot Demands: Ichigo will spontaneously develop a new power quite often right in the middle of an important fight.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the Zanpakuto Unknown Tales Arc, everyone wants to rescue Yamamoto from Muramasa's barrier-cage. Ichigo fights with Muramasa in front of the barrier and the ensuring conflict causes the combined force of his power and Muramasa's to shatter the barrier. At this point, it's revealed Yamamoto had imprisoned himself to prevent Muramasa from gaining control over his zanpakutou. Ichigo didn't rescue Yamamoto, he played right into Muramasa's plan to gain access to Yamamoto and therefore ruined Yamamoto's plan.
    • In Chapter 415, Gin nearly kills Aizen. Unfortunately for him, all this seems to have done is force Aizen into his next One-Winged Angel form.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Aizen, the villain, destroys the Cleaner in the Precipice World. He later reveals that he did this specifically so Ichigo could use the Precipice World's Year Inside, Hour Outside attribute and become more powerful. Unfortunately, Ichigo had a lot more potential than Aizen realized. As a result, things start to go downhill very quickly for Aizen after Ichigo confronts him
  • The Nicknamer: Yachiru, to everyone.
  • Nietzsche Wannabe: Ulquiorra is essentially an avatar of Nihilism (as each of the top ten Espada represent things that cause death, some better than others). Several characters in anime, manga and gaming have fit that classification before, and they are always excruciatingly powerful, but Ulquiorra is positively horrifying with it in the most cold, emotionless way possible.

"Hearts? You humans are always talking about hearts. It's as if you have them in your hand...What is a heart? If I rip open your chest, will I see it? If I crack open your skull, will I find it in there?"

  • Nigh Invulnerable: As one of the strongest characters in the series, Aizen has long been Made of Iron, but his ability to defy attacks and injuries that would kill anyone else reaches epic proportions before the manga finally confirmes that spiritually bonding with the Hougyoku has made him immortal.
  • Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Most of the characters are ghost samurai. Secret mobile corps members like Soifon and Yoruichi are pretty much Ninja as well.
  • No Big Deal: Rukia has a Men in Black-style "flashy-thing" kicking around.
  • No Body Left Behind: When Hollows and Arrancar are destroyed, their bodies disolve into thin air.
  • No Export for You: Every PlayStation 2 or PSP video game of the series (this includes the Blade Battlers, Heat The Soul, and Soul Carnival series).
    • They are finally going to bring over a Play Station 3 game: Bleach: Soul Ressereccion.
  • No Eye in Magic: Kaname Tousen, being blind, is immune to Aizen's Perfect Hypnosis, and when this is brought up, reveals he's been working for Aizen the whole time.
  • No, I Am Behind You: Kubo's favorite trope. Practically every fight involves several examples of this.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh: The unnamed female arrancar that controls Aizen's hollow fortress in anime episodes 213 and 214 has such a laugh. She displays it at the end of episode 213.
  • Nominal Hero: Kenpachi and Mayuri don't care about the greater good or even just the good. Kenpachi is motived solely by the enjoyment of the fight and Mayuri has the opportunity to experiment to his heart's content.
  • Noodle Incident: We never did find out about Elevnth Division Lieutenant Kusajishi Yachiru's namesake, that Kenpachi would aspire to follow in his footsteps.
    • Isshin's backstory is still a completely mystery: he's a shinigami who voluntarily sacrificed his powers, lives a human life, and associates with exiles such as Urahara and quincies such as Ryuuken. On the same topic, Ryuuken's backstory is just as mysterious as Isshin's, including the real reason why he hates being a quincy and why his father gave him the Quincy Cross that symbolises being the "last quincy".
  • No Ontological Inertia: Any effects of a Fullbringer's ability disappear with his death.
  • Normally I Would Be Dead Now: Many, many examples. Ichigo and Aizen are easily the worst abusers in the series, though Hiyori is poised to take the title from him if she survives being chopped in half by Gin. Though Momo may come close if she survives getting stabbed in the chest by Hitsugaya, and there's no need to mention Matsumoto surviving getting a massive chunk of her torso ripped off. She survived it once before, though she was incapacitated for a long time in the anime. Also, Nnoitora after getting stabbed in the eye by Kenpachi.
  • Won't Work On Me: Most enemies are randomly immune to Ichigo's powerful moves.
    • Let alone Szayel who just happens to be immune to whatever Ishida throws at him, making the poor boy useless against him.
    • Inverted gloriously in 417+ -- when Ichigo effortlessly slaps away every superpowerful attack Aizen throws at him, with only a singed arm for his trouble.
  • Not Distracted by the Sexy: With all the fanservice around, it goes without saying that most characters rarely react to it all. Ichigo, in fact, stands out with the way he reacts to such things. Kon and Keigo are also in the minority of those who react, as is Mizuho, who went a little crazy over Ikkaku's shaved head.
  • Not Quite Dead: Too many to list...
  • Not So Harmless:
    • Starrk, the lazy, pacifist Espada who is unconcerned about Aizen's plot, is Espada #1.
    • Yammy, the complete moron who gets outsmarted by every hero he fights and can't even figure out who he's supposed to be killing without Ulquiorra looking over his shoulder and telling him what to do, outranks Starrk, although it doesn't stop him from being defeated off-screen by two captains (reluctantly) working together.
    • Wonderweiss, the happily insane child who easily puts an arm through Ukitake's chest and has a Ressurection that was altered so he could counter Yamamoto's powers.
  • Not So Weak: Chad, who will not fight for his own benefit due to his promise to his grandfather.
  • Not Worth Killing: Often, including to Ichigo. Subverted when Kenpachi attempts to spare Nnoitra, saying that it's not worth his time to finish off someone who can't fight back. This only further enrages him, so he makes a last ditch attack on Kenpachi, who finishes him off.
  • Number Two: The Lieutenants.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity In later chapters of the manga and some of the more recent episodes of the Anime we find out that Ichigo's dad has been playing this since before he met Ichigo, Yuzu and Karin's mom
    • having left the Soul Society 20 years prior to beginning of the series
      • In fact he has been playing this so well that up until Kon discovers this in the Arrancar Arc and Ichigo learns in more recent chapters/episodes the only one who seems to know is Urahara
        • In the arrancar Arc he makes comment about captain class Shinigami/soul reapers, however we never find out what rank he had when he was a part of the Soul Society
  • Oblivious to Love: Subverted: Orihime makes no attempt to get Ichigo to notice and reciprocate her feelings.
  • Ocular Gushers: Multiple characters.
  • Odd Couple: Most of the Captain-Lieutenant sets are this. See trope page for full list of examples.
  • Odd Friendship: Ichigo and Ishida, Ganju and Hanatarou, Urahara and Yoruichi, etc. etc.
  • Odd-Shaped Panel
  • Oh Crap: The manga thrives on these as a multitude of examples on the trope page reveals.
  • Omake: Soul Reaper's Illustrated Picture Book/Golden Cup, in which Kon includes a screen wipe of Kon flying by. For the bad guys' side, we have Arrancar Research Time. Recently, Rukia hosted her Substitute Soul Reaper Diaries to make up for her and Ichigo's severe lack of screentime in the main body of the episodes.
    • The manga side has Colorful Bleach, which primarily focused on the daily lives of the shinigami. New ones aren't currently being made, but Kubo has promised that he might make more some day.
  • Ominous English Chanting: Some pieces from The Diamond Dust Rebellion and Fade To Black, later used in the TV series. Interesting in that Invasion and What can you see in their eyes play when it's two good guys who get dangerous ( while Treachery is classically heard when Noitora releases).
  • Omnicidal Maniac: Nnoitra declares himself to be one.
  • Omniscient Morality License: Urahara, who pretty much caused every conflict in the entire series. Made the Hogyoku which Aizen later stole, released Mayuri (who went on to torture thousands of Quincies and blow up his own men) from prison, tried to strip Rukia of her powers, nearly turned Ichigo into a hollow and succeeded in giving him a Super-Powered Evil Side, got Orihime captured, and so on. Most of his actions are working to fix that first screw up.
  • Once Is Not Enough: Done with Szayel and Kageroza. Ishida has a maddening habit of shooting down baddies once, walking away and monologuing only to get his ass kicked.
  • "On the Next..."
  • One-Handed Zweihander: Several characters do this with their enormous swords. For Kenpachi, this is his default stance. When he decides to use both hands? Run.
  • One Head Taller: Played straight with Ichigo and Rukia, Rukia and Renji, Rukia and Byakuya, Rukia and Orihime... heck, Rukia and EVERYONE.
    • Omaeda, who practically towers over his captain, Soifon.
    • Reversed with Hitsugaya and Matsumoto, often with hilarious results.
  • One-Hit Kill: Yamamoto is damn strong without his Zanpaktou and it's basically suicide to engage him one-on-one, even the series Big Bad Aizen states that giving Yamamoto a fair fight and level playing field is a fight Aizen would likely lose. But if he uses it, you're guaranteed death unless you've been genetically hacked like Wonderwiess to absorb those flames.
    • Komamura's Bankai is designed for this, which proves a critical weakness: if it fails to kill the opponent in a single hit, he inevitably loses.
  • One in A Million Chance: Being born with high enough reiatsu to possess Crazy Awesome powers is rare. Having enough power to become a Shinigami is even more rare. Becoming a seated officer is likewise unlikely. Possessing the power and training to become a Captain is apparently so rare that even within Seireitei's Four Great Noble Families, it only happens once every four generations.[1] This may not be a hard and fast rule, however; Byakuya's grandfather was also a Captain.
  • One-Winged Angel: Arrancar can release their Zanpakuto to grow and gain power. The shikai and bankai of a Soul Reaper's zanpakuto act in much the same way, even if the user stays the same. When fighting Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Ishida's desperation technique forms a single wing made from spirit energy particles on his back.
    • Ulquiorra can apparently transform twice.
    • Ggio Vega has two different modes to his transformation; Tigres Estoque, which makes him fast but not especially strong, and Tigres Estoque El Sable, which makes him much stronger.
    • Yammy apparently has at least one more transformation as well.
    • Tosen has now gotten into the act with his Resurrección...and got his ass kicked.
    • Aizen gets half a dozen of these.
    • Before that, Ichigo has his own Resurreccion used in the fight with Ulquiorra, though not purposely, then there is the Final Getsuga Tenshou, a Desperation move in the same vein as Uryu's.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Kenpachi to Ichigo, probably also Renji to Kuchiki Byakuya. Grimmjow invokes this against Ichigo as well.
  • Only Sane Man: In episode 303, the shinigami decide to have a card game. The reason is bad, the outcome is worse. Hitsugaya is the Only Sane Man.
  • Only Six Faces: By the start of the Hueco Mundo arc, plenty of characters have pretty much the same type of jawline and facial expressions. An easy example is Byakuya and Ichigo; look at them come the Hueco Mundo arc compared to the Soul Society arc, and two characters who looked very different now look almost identical.
    • "Exactly how do I resemble Kurosaki?"
    • Young Zangetsu looks like an amalgamation of Aizen and Byakuya, and both the current manga villain and the Kubo-designed villain for the Hell movie basically look like Aizen with a different haircut and outfit.
    • A perfect example from chapter 481. Your first tought after seeing this guy's face is probably "OMG AIZEN IS BACK,oh wait...that's just Ivan"
  • OOC Is Serious Business: Gin never opens his eyes. When he does, expect the fandom to react. Kyoraku's response to Ukitake being OHKO'd could count, as it's pretty extreme even for one who claims he is simply 'unpredictable'.
  • Opponent Switch: Chad and Uryu do this in their first battles in Hueco Mundo.
  • Orcus on His Throne: Baraggan Luisenbarn, unquestioned God-King of Hueco Mundo. Has an army and an endless kingdom and nothing to do. Before Aizen shows up.
  • Ordinary High School Student: Yet with his orange hair, high grades, and ability to see the dead, Ichigo wasn't really that ordinary to begin with.
    • Best part is, he says he has high grades because he mostly stays home and studies to keep out of trouble. What causes him trouble? His orange hair. People don't believe it's natural and assume he's a punk, so other students pick fights and teachers tend to try to give him crap, which he can't let slide.
  • Orphean Rescue
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: Soul Reapers, natch
  • Our Souls Are Different: A soul is essentially an exact duplicate of the physical body composed of ectoplasmic matter, complete with bones, blood, and organs. Disembodied souls still need air and water. Spiritual power is equivalent to Life Energy, so technically all spells and powers are always Cast from Hit Points. Most major characters have ridiculously high spiritual power, so they don't really need to worry about killing themselves by overcasting.
  • Our Hero Is Dead: Ichigo, once or twice. He Came Back Wrong after the time he got a giant hole blown through his chest, but all's well that ends well.
  • Overly Long Name: Lieutenant of Squad 2, Marechiyo Yoshiayamenosuke Nikkoutarouemon Oomaeda, possibly justified in that his family are fairly well-off nobles who are traditionally prone to overenthusiastic naming.
  • Panty Shot: This manga contains a curious mixture of averting the trope, subverting it and playing it straight. Subversion. Played Straight.
  • Parental Abandonment: The major human cast seem to all be missing at least one parent, a couple at least are missing both. For starters, Uryu's mother is nowhere to be seen, Chad was raised by his grandfather, Mizuiro seems to have a neglectful mother, Ichigo's mother was killed by a hollow, and Sora left with Orihime to live alone from their alcoholic father and prostitute mother.
  • Passing the Torch: Played with in an interesting way. Ichigo is the main character set up from the start to take out Aizen. Simple enough, except it turns out that some characters have a very different view of how the story should be, or is, unfolding. It's only at the end of Gin's life that we ever see the situation with Aizen from his point-of-view and it turns out his interpretation of the story was a little different to everyone else's. He believed he was the only one who was capable or even allowed to defeat Aizen and spent over a century plotting it. When he realised just how successfully Aizen had broken Ichigo's self-belief and resolve, he was even more convinced only he could defeat Aizen. Unfortunately for him, his revenge was part of Aizen's plan so he fails. As Aizen leaves him for dead, he spots the newly arrived and powered-up Ichigo. Upon seeing the strength in Ichigo's eyes, he realises that he is finally free to pass the torch (for defeating Aizen) onto Ichigo and dies. Gin was never the hero of 'Bleach' but apparently, inside his own head, he was, and Ichigo was his successor.
  • Percussive Prevention: A Soul Reaper does this to Orihime during the Soul Society arc in order to prevent her from getting in the middle of Uryu's fight with Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
    • Ganju punches out Ichigo so that he stays out of danger until Hanataro can fully heal him.
  • Perfection Is Impossible: In-Universe example between Mayuri and Szayell Aporro, who claims to be 'the perfect being'.

Mayuri [to Szayel]: There is nothing in this world that is truly "perfect"... To true scientists like you and I, "Perfection" is tantamount to "despair". We aspire to reach greater levels of brilliance than ever before, but never, NEVER, to reach perfection. That is the paradox through which we scientists must struggle. Indeed, it is our duty to find pleasure in that struggle.

  • Personality Powers: The zanpakutou of shinigami, substitutes and Vizards reflect their wielders personalities in way as do Orihime's powers. See trope page for full detail.
  • Pervert Dad: Isshin.
  • Perverted Drooling: Chizuru does this when in the presence of Orihime and Michiru.
  • Permission to Speak Freely?: Captain Unohana to Head Captain Yamamoto in anime episode #210.
  • Petal Power: Byakuya's probably the friggin king of this trope.
    • Although they're not actually petals, they just look like petals in the light.
  • Physical God: Aizen's status as the villain seems to hinge on his quest to break the boundary between shinigami and divinity so he could destroy and replace the Soul King and become a god. Barragan also believed he was this to the denizens of Hueco Mundo and they certainly honoured him as a king and worshipped him as a god. There's no indication that Aizen and Barragan were genuinely gods, but they both wanted to be viewed as such.
  • Pillar of Light: When we finally get there, Ichigo's Cero.
  • Pilot: The manga had one. In it, Rukia was actually shrunk after giving her powers to Ichigo, took baths in his coffee mug, and Orihime was not only Ichigo's secret crush but also Dead All Along.
    • The anime had one at Jump Festa 2004, which covered the majority of volume 3 of the manga. It's better than its later reincarnation as anime episodes 8 and 9.
  • Pinky Swear: In anime episode 247 Captain Ukitake gives this type of promise to his zanpakuto spirit Sogyo no Kotowari.
  • Pitying Perversion: Neliel Tu Oderschvank towards Nnoitra.
  • Playing Against Type - Rie Kugimiya plays Kurotsuchi Nemu. Not exactly what her usual roles are.
  • Playing Pictionary: Rukia is known for loving to draw Chappy the Bunny, being absolutely horrible at drawing and using her bad drawings to explain concepts with people being different colors of bunny. Most of the other characters are never really sure what her drawings are supposed to be.
  • Playing with Fire: Yamamoto and Momo, but especially Yamamoto. Also, from an old filler arc, Amagai
  • Please Put Some Clothes On: Ichigo's reaction to a naked Yoruichi.
  • Please Wake Up: Ichigo to his dead mother in anime episode 178.
  • Plot Armor: All of the good guys have it, but Ichigo is the worst. He has managed to walk away from death at the hands of Ulquiorra twice now.
  • Plot Leveling
  • Politically-Incorrect Villain: Nnoitra gets a mention because his blatant sexism is a huge part of his personality. He openly attacked Nelliel because she was a woman that ranked higher than he did (although she beat him rather soundly every time). Even saying that a woman being of a higher position than a man on the battlefield was a disgrace. He even went into a huge, convoluted plan just to get rid of her that entails some of the most cruel activities done by any of the Espada. He seems to hold this toward Harribel as well, as during their introductions, the first thing he does is piss her off by apparently trying to pick a fight with her. Given that Hollows don't really have sexes, just cosmetic genders, it's actually an utterly bizarre hang-up for an Arrancar.
    • And this is implied to be the case with the final arc's new enemies, the Vandenreich. Just listen to their name, and the implications sink in.
  • Portal Door
  • Posthumous Character: Kaien
  • The Power of Friendship: Multiple examples
  • Power Glows: But of course.
  • Power Limiter: All captain- and lieutenant-level Soul Reapers are limited to one-fifth of their power in the living world to minimize the destruction they leave in their wake and not to have their power affect any souls, like Ichigo's power did with Orihime and Chad. The English dub is lazy about this and doesn't translate the actual word, leaving it as "gentei kaijou." Probably because it's cooler in Japanese. Although gentai kaijou literally means Limit Break, it's not an example of that trope.
  • Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Oh, there are a couple of examples: Ichigo [dead link], Grimmjow, and even Aizen. They all happen to be mullets...
  • Power Palms: Anime episode 197. Espada #7 Zommari Rureaux' magical eyes can appear on the palms of his hands. He uses the one in his right hand to gain control of Byakuya Kuchiki's left leg.
  • Power Trio: Aizen, Gin, and Tousen.
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner: Loads of these, see trope page for examples.
  • Pre Meeting: Ichigo absorbs Rukia's powers when he meets her; the next day she shows up pretending to be a student and tells him he has to take over her job temporarily.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Plenty of these, see trope page for examples.
  • Precision F-Strike: Ichigo on seeing Aizen's Hogyoku-conquered form.

Ichigo: What the fuck is that!?

  • Pride: Byakuya is one of the few people in fiction that can compete with Vegeta when it comes to doing stupid shit for the sake of their pride. It's the reason for his defection to Muramasa's side in the anime's Zanpakuto Unknown Tales filler arc. Mildly subverted when it turns out he defected to Muramasa's side so he could kill Muramasa's master, Koga, because Koga's past misdeeds were a stain upon the name of the Kuchiki family, whom Koga was an honorary member of.
  • Product Displacement: One panel in chapter 413 shows Calorie Mate cookies, but the full name on the boxes is not completely shown. The most you see is "Calorie M".
  • Proof I Am Not Bluffing: In the "Unknown Tales" filler, Byakuya destroys the Zanpakuto of his own sister in an effort to convince all the other Zanpakuto that he's actually on their side.
  • Psycho Supporter: Tousen—whose blindness makes him immune to Aizen's illusions—follows Aizen in the name of "justice", which happens to be nearly the only word in his vocabulary. That and it is "the path of least bloodshed".
  • Pummel Duel:
    • Yoruichi vs. Soifon, at least for the first half of the battle.
    • Played for Laughs with Ichigo and his father, Isshin.
  • Punch Parry: Chad and a hollow in anime episode #12.
  • Puppy Dog Eyes: Nel the Arrancar does this sometimes in the anime.
  • Put Down Your Zanpakuto And Step Away: In anime episode #197, Espada #7 Zommari Rureaux tells this to Byakuya Kuchiki by threatening to have Rukia cut her throat with her own sword.
  • Purple Eyes: Yumichika has wisteria-coloured eyes, a shade of purple very similar to (and often confused with) lavender. This raises interesting questions about him given that zanpakutou are supposed to represent their shinigami's true nature and his zanpakutou hates the colour of wisteria-purple.
  • Putting on the Reich: The newest enemies, the Vandenreich, look to be invoking this trope.
  • Psychoactive Powers: Orihime's powers are linked to her will and her self-belief. Because she has no killing intent, her killing power is weak and her power's limits are restricted by what she herself believes is possible or impossible to achieve.
  • Quickly-Demoted Woman: Rukia was practically the poster girl of this trope, losing all her powers in the first chapter. She finally got better many, many chapters later. And it was awesome.
    • And then vanished. Heh. Granted, she'd get pasted in a second against later opponents, but still Kubo could throw in SOME filler hollow for her to fight.
  • Queer People Are Funny
  • Quit Your Whining: Rukia does the infer version of this trope to Ichigo after he enters a Heroic BSOD as a result of the first Arrancar Invasion. It works rather spectacularly.
  • Race Against the Clock: During the Soul Society arc, Ichigo and the others have to save Rukia before she is executed; during the Bount arc, the Mod Souls force Ichigo and friends to participate in dangerous "games" with strict time limits.
  • Radial Ass-Kicking: Occurs once in a while when a larger number of hollow (or in one Filler Arc, Ninja) turn up.
  • Rain of Arrows: Ishida really likes this trick, and will occasionally brag about his rate of fire.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Ulquiorra calls Nnoitra "disgusting" for toying with the idea of sexually harrasing or potentially raping Orihime, despite being a member of Big Bad Sosuke Aizen's army.
  • Rasputinian Death: Maki Ichinose in the Bount filler arc. He practically gets sliced in half by Zaraki, his Zanpakuto broken, and then shows up later to not only help Jin Kariya fight Ichigo, but attempt to attack said Big Bad when he learns how selfish his goals are. This doesn't work out too well for him. Although one could even argue that he continued in the fight even after his death, as his now planted Zanpakuto (which for some reason was able stick like this upon falling despite Zaraki slicing off its tip) actually saves Ichigo from Kariya's lightning attack.
  • Rated "M" for Manly: Kenpachi.
  • Reality Warper: The best way to describe the power of the Xcution members. Their power, Fullbring, allows them to manipulate the soul of any object, causing it to act according to their will and against the laws of physics. Examples include making concrete bouncy in order to jump higher, increasing the surface tension of water so they can walk on it, and in extreme cases outright changing the form of one object into something else (a simple cross into a BFS, for example).
    • This is possible due to the fact that the Bleachverse follows the concept of Pantheism. From a philosophical view-point, it means that "God is the Universe, and the Universe is God". In Bleachverse, it means that EVERYTHING in existence has a "soul", or a certain amount of reiryoku.
    • Apparently, Orihime's healing weapons are classified as these, so says Aizen and Ulquiorra.
  • Reality Warping Is Not a Toy: The thing Aizen uses to create Arrancar and later power himself up with? Yeah, um... Go check around the above trope spoilers.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old:
    • Basically everyone in the Soul Society., as shinigami age much more slowly than normal humans. Yachiru and Hitsugaya look like kids while being decades old. Adult-looking shinigami often have a century on them, sometimes more than one. Yamamoto is well over a thousand years old.
    • Theoretically the same principle applies to Hollows and Arrancar as well, but there's less information about their backstories so it's harder to say for sure. It definitely applies to Nel, though, in her child form.
    • When Ukitake refuses to fight Lilinette because she is a child she states Arrancars don't age at all. Not that it changes Ukitake's mind though.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Byakuya gives one to Tsukushima in chapter 464.
  • Red Alert: In anime episode 24 when intruders are detected in the Soul Society.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: The anime team invoked this trope when they had to choose an eye colour for Gin. However, Kubo then revealed Gin to have blue eyes.
  • Red Herring: Gin Ichimaru, big time. Sort of subverted when he turns out to be evil anyway (since he's not the Big Bad, he still qualifies somewhat).
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Several character sets, often with explicit color schemes.
    • A few examples are Byakuya (blue Oni) and Renji (red Oni) and Hichigo (red) and Ichigo (blue).
  • Red Shirt: Rudobon. We don't really get much information about him besides his name and what his Zanpakuto does despite the fact that he's implied to be nearly as strong as an Espada. He appears three times, kills off a few extremely minor characters, and in his final appearance, dies at the gigantic, swollen hand of Yammy. It's never explained what his job really was or why Aizen gave him that specific job. It's never even explained why his mask is complete.
  • Reincarnation: When human beings die in the Land of the Living their souls go directly to the Soul Society unless a reason crops up for their souls to go elsewhere (by becoming hollows or committing severe enough crimes in life to be sent to Hell). Eventually they're reincarnated into the living world.
  • Released to Elsewhere: There is no such thing as withdrawing from the Gotei 13. They are really sent to the Maggot's Nest, a prison for those considered to be "dangerous elements".
  • Remote Body: Urahara reveals he has a gigai (an artificial body that spiritual beings can use to interact with the real world) that he can control remotely.
  • The Rest Shall Pass: Anime episode 51, multiple times in episode 185, and in episodes 214 and 215.
  • Retcon: Several. The most easily visible may be Ulquiorra's Hollow hole going from his throat to his upper chest. See the trope page for more.
    • For the fans, we have the amount of time Orihime spent in Las Noches; this could go from weeks to months, maybe a year. Really, it was more like a day or two.
  • The Reveal: Aizen is not dead. He's the Big Bad. Cue the Curb Stomp Battle.
  • Revenge: The whole reason Tousen became a Shinigami in the first place.
    • Also why Gin joined Aizen, because he stole part of Rangiku's soul when they were children.
  • Reverse Mole: Gin
  • Reverse Shrapnel: Captain Kaname Tosen's zanpakuto.
  • Richard Epcar: Voices Zangetsu and Go Koga.
  • The Right Hand of Doom: Chad's armoured right arm, though this later became an arm of protection after his left arm stole the title.
  • The Rival: Ichigo has plenty: Uryuu Ishida, Renji Abarai, Byakuya Kuchiki, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Ulquiorra Cifer, Gin Ichimaru, and Sosuke Aizen. Arguably, his longest-running antagonist may have been his own inner hollow.
    • Oddly enough, almost all are complete opposites of his personality or one of his quirks Up to Eleven or downplayed; Renji can be irritated easily but more often finds openings while Ichigo charges in, Grimmjow and Ichigo's inner Hollow are more wild and more likely to kill where Ichigo refuses to kill unless ,Uryuu and Ulquiorra are calm at all times while Ichigo is prone to outbursts of emotions, Gin is cool but also a Smug Snake while Ichigo never jokes around, and Aizen is... Aizen.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Hitsugaya declares this to be his intent with fighting Aizen.
  • Rule of Cool: Tite Kubo thrives on this. Chapter names are derived from whatever English words he deems interesting and/or fit the current happenings of the manga. The anime mimics this somewhat with lively, completely different each episode title cards. Even the title, Bleach, was chosen because he found his first choice, "Black", to be too bland, along with the contrast of "bleach" relating to the color white.
    • Both the Japanese fandom and Hatedom jokingly refer to Kubo's sense of cool as "osare", the misspelled word for "stylish." Sometimes it just gets out of control, making already slow fight scenes go on for ever.
  • Running Gag: Rukia's art, Ishida's cape obsession, Ikkaku's baldness, Orihime's foods. Ichigo and Rukia arguing after not seeing each other for a while. "That's my line."
  1. ↑ Though since "generation" can also mean "20-30 years", "once every four generations" might rather mean "once every 100 years".
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