Bleach Races

Courtesy of Wikipedia


Shinigami are souls that have supernatural powers. As such, their bodies are composed of Spiritrons (spirit particles) instead of atoms. This means that just like most other types of spirits, they can only be seen by other spiritually aware entities, which excludes most humans. Nevertheless, they are quite capable of influencing their environment. When souls with exceptional spiritual energy train their bodies, they reach the level of Shinigami. The most talented of them become affiliated with various organizations like the Thirteen Court Guard Companies and the Stealth Force. Sometimes, a Shinigami is born among the residents of the Rukongai, and in some rare cases from Sereitei.

Shinigami are the personification of death. Their job is to send spirits to the Soul Society (the afterlife) in order to maintain a balance of souls between it and the material world, and to exorcise evil spirits. Because of their duties Shinigami possesses supernatural abilities such as:

• Use of Kido:
  Shinigami are able to conjure versitile spells that both attack and retrain targets depending on the kido used.
  
  
• Shunpo / Flash Step:
  Allows the user to leap a great distance almost instantly as a blur.
  
  
• Shikai State:
  The users zanpakutou alters its shape and form into a secon dstate that bestows peculiar pwoers onto the wielder.
  
  
• Bankai State:
  The users shikai alters once more into its ultimate form with devestating powers but only for a short time.
  

An Arrancar is a Hollow that has removed its mask and has gained Shinigami-like powers. Following the retrieval of the Hōgyoku and Aizen's emergence into Hueco Mundo, they have become the main antagonists of the series, in particular the Espada, Aizen's top ten most powerful Arrancar.

The number that the Arrancar have are not the order of their strength, but rather the order of their birth. Though it only applies to those numbered eleven and above. First, via the Hōgyoku, they are reborn from Hollows into Arrancar. Then, according to the order in which they are born, they were assigned a number, starting with eleven.

Like Shinigami, Arrancar have a multitude of combat skills and abilities, some of which are similar to those of the former, and some of which are variations on ordinary Hollow powers.

• Reitsu Blasts:
  These include the bala, a small ball fo speeding energy, and the cero, a large beam that destroys what it touches. Other versions of these skills do exist but mainyl for those strong enough.
  
  
• Hierro:
  Arrancar have very thick skin that allows them to widthstand heavy attacks with ease
  
  
• Sonido:
  The arrancar flash step, this allows them to leap a great distance almost instantly as a faint blur
  
  
• Resserecion:
  The user alters its body and gains aspects of its past hollow self. This form acts like the bankai and gives devestating power to the user.
  

The Vizard masked army, is a group of Shinigami that have acquired Hollow powers. Following the battle at the Fake Karakura Town, they have become central combatants against Sōsuke Aizen's Espada.

Having begun as Shinigami, the Vizard appear entirely Human and when they are using their powers, are indistinguishable from ordinary Shinigami. To gain access to their Hollow powers, a Vizard dons a Hollow mask. This allows them to augment their Shinigami abilities with Hollow powers, as well as giving them access to some of the more generic Hollow abilities. Their spiritual pressure likewise changes into a mix of Hollow and Shinigami. This process of donning one's Hollow mask is referred to as Hollowfication

• Use of Kido:
  Shinigami are able to conjure versitile spells that both attack and retrain targets depending on the kido used.
  
  
• Shunpo / Flash Step:
  Allows the user to leap a great distance almost instantly as a blur.
  
  
• Shikai State:
  The users zanpakutou alters its shape and form into a secon dstate that bestows peculiar pwoers onto the wielder.
  
  
• Bankai State:
  The users shikai alters once more into its ultimate form with devestating powers but only for a short time.
  
  
• Hollow Mask:
  The user dons a white mask of bone that gives them a boost in power and speed for literally two minutes. Their voice also echoes as their hollow voice backs up their words
  
  
• Cero:
  The user can utilise the arrancar cero and fire their own version. However, this is not as storng as the original.
  

Humans that have been exposed to a lot of reitsu via other bleach related races gain strange properties, much like a radioactive virus. For reasons unknown to them, they begin to see spirits until one day, they powers burst forth. Thats when hollows begin to relocate themselves towards these humans because of their high reitsu. Some don't survive the attacks, others develop and learn to kill spirits.

Much like Sado Yasutora, the humans gain powers in stages which get stronger but are permanent at each interval. However, each permanent change keeps the old powers as well as the new ones.

The powers are usually always unique and always seem to have different properties and types.

• Unique Power Layout:
  Every human has their own way of gaining and distributing their powers around themselves. However, most follow a similar path as the shinigami with two stronger stages than the first.
  

Quincy are spiritually aware humans able to absorb and manipulate Reiryoku into weapons. Unlike the Shinigami, who use a sword as their primary weapon, the Quincy's weapon of choice is a bow or crossbow. It is constructed from spiritual particles drawn from their surroundings, also unlike the Shinigami, who rely on their own innate spiritual energy (as a reflection of this, Quincies have white spirit threads like normal humans, while Shinigami have red spirit threads.) Quincy bows are summoned using an artifact called a Quincy Cross. The only limit to a Quincy's ability to create and fire arrows is their own stamina and ability to absorb ambient spirit particles. Quincies also have various tools and battle aides that can increase their power or serve as secondary weapons.

• Spirit Bow:
  The user generates a bow of reitsu in their hands that fired arrows of energy
  
  
• Silver Tubes:
  The quincy have a variation of different silver tubes that each have different abilities inside
  
  
• Seele Schneider:
  The only bladed quincy weapon that vibrates fast enough to cut any material and can be fired like an arrow
  
  
• Particle Absorbtion:
  The user can absorb reitsu form its surroundings to recharge their energya dn cleanse weak wounds.
  
  
• Great Energy Control:
  One of the onyl races that can actually use their reitsu effectively. SOme can even use ti to build a platform to stand on out of their own reitsu.
  

The Zanpakutō's name is the name of the living spirit that empowers the sword and lends its strength to the Shinigami who wields it. These beings can vary widely in appearance and have their own distinct personalities which match their owner's. The Zanpakutō spirit can normally only be seen by its wielder. Otherwise they dwell in their own "inner world," created within the minds of the Shinigami who wield them, as such each Shinigami's inner world is drastically different from another Shinigami and is unique to them. A Zanpakutō spirit can bring its wielder into its inner world, though Shinigami can voluntarily achieve this by simple meditation.

• Materialisation:
  The zanpakutou spirit can be materialised into the world at any time but the zanpakutou cannot be used whilst they are active. ever since muramasa inflicted this curse onto zanpakutou, spirits have never been able to use their swords whilst materialised and Shinigami cannot either.
  

Modified souls are artificial souls created by Soul Society researchers some time before the start of Bleach's storyline. They were created to reanimate the dead bodies of humans to act as a formidable fighting force, but this was found unethical and they were ordered to be destroyed. Each typically inhabits a plushie with all of their abilities intact but scaled down to fit their size

• Versatile Power:
  Although they can only have one, the mod souls powers seem a lot more oriented to annoy the enemy and hinder their progress rather than actually defeat them
  
  
• Plushie form:
  Inside each mod soul is a small piece of indestructible candy that can be inserted into a Plushie animal to act as a transport body
  

Hollows are the class of spirit that most enemies in Bleach are a part of. They are formerly human spirits that were not sent to Soul Society in due time after death. This makes them lose their sense of being and gives them a craving for human souls. Their main characteristic is a white mask completely covering their face and a hole near their heart. Each hollow's mask has a design unique to that individual.

• Thick Skin:
  Weaker than the Arrancar Hierro, but enough to withstand simple human attacks
  
  
• Shapes and Sizes:
  Although hollows only have one shape between them, there are several kinds of hollow such as the Gillian, Adjuchas, Vasto Lorde and Familiar.
  

[center]Plus

The spirit of a person who has died. A chain, known as the Chain of Fate, protrudes from the chest and binds the plus to a location, object or person that they felt close to in life. The soul can move about freely if the chain is broken, but this also causes the chain to corrode. Normally, pluses are sent to Soul Society by Shinigami in a ritual called soul burial before this corrosion becomes significant. If the Chain of Fate is corroded entirely before a soul burial can be performed, a Hollow hole will form in the chest of the soul where the chain was once anchored. Such souls are driven mad and become Hollows. If the Chain of Fate is torn out deliberately, this hastens the process.