Your Guide to Shinigami

[Senroku]

Overview

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 Seireitei.

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:

Longevity: While they can age and die of natural causes or as a result of physical injury as regular humans, Shinigami have extended life-spans and it is not uncommon for one to live for thousands of years.

Enhanced Endurance: While they can be injured and die like regular humans, it takes considerably greater injuries for the latter to occur than it would in regular humans.

Reiryoku: Shinigami also naturally give off Spiritual Energy, which varies greatly in magnitude with the strength of a Shinigami. Additionally, unlike humans, they do not have to eat anything to sustain themselves, though they engage in the act none the less as Shinigami and other spiritual beings only become hungry when they used too much Spiritual Energy within a short amount of time.

Kidō: The technique that Shinigami use to focus their Spiritual Energy into magic spells of various powers.

Hohō: A variety of techniques associated with movement, including jumping and shunpo (flash step).

Zanpakutou: The most prominent supernatural power possessed by a Shinigami is their Zanpakutou, a supernatural sword (commonly in the form of a katana) generated from the Shinigami's soul.

A Zanpakutou is a physical manifestation of this force concentrated into a blade. All Shinigami have a Zanpakutou, but not all of them carry one with them.

Shinigami operations are based out of the Soul Society, where departed human souls reside. Travel between the human world and Soul Society is extremely limited and monitored, but some Shinigami are stationed in the human world to carry out their duties and therefore must often travel between the two.

It is also implied that Shinigami receive salaries, like workers in the real world.

Duties

Soul Burial: the process by which a Shinigami sends wandering Pluses (souls) in the living world and send them to their respective place. Either Soul Society if they are good in life, or to Hell if their life was full of evil acts (such as murders, theft, etc). Soul Burial is performed by using the hilt of the Shinigami's Zanpakutou, tapping the soul on the head and transporting them to the afterlife.

Hollow Cleansing: When a Shinigami slays a Hollow (evil spirit), with their Zanpakutô they cleanse their sins. Once this takes place a Hollow will return to its former state as a Plus and is led into Soul Society. This is called sublimation. Souls that live in the Soul Society are reborn again into the human world. Not all Hollows are sent to the Soul Society. Hollows that committed serious crimes when they were alive are sent to Hell.
Also, if they are destroyed by a Quincy, Hollows are completely vanquished and cannot ever return to the Soul Society.

Soul Governance: Shinigami are responsible for governing the flow of spirits between the human worlds and Soul Society. This is commonly carried out by balancing the total number of souls by moving and managing them in the human world. All of the soul-related jobs are under their authority.

Education

Shinōreijutsuin (Spiritual Arts Academy): sometimes called the Shinigami Academy. The majority of training for individuals (that is, souls residing in the Soul Society) wanting to become Shinigami is done through the Shinigami Academy. It is a six-year academy, during which time its students learn how to use their Spiritual Energy properly, fight Hollows, and perform Soul Burials. While the exact date and details of its foundation are not specified, the academy seems to have been founded by Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai about 2000 years before the Bleach storyline.

Not much is known about the conditions on which a dweller of the Soul Society is admitted to the Academy. One elementary requirement seems to be that the individual has to possess a certain, above-average level of Spiritual Energy, and has to be able to perform some basic feats using that. Becoming hungry seems to be a good sign in Soul Society for hopeful Shinigami candidates, because feeling hunger means that the person in question is capable of using up Spiritual Energy.

It is at the Spiritual Arts Academy where all the military forces of Soul Society are formally taught. While a majority of students are taken into the main force namely the Gotei 13. There are those who have a special affinity for certain forms of combat that get taken in by the two more secretive and selective branches of the military, namely the Kidou Corps (excelling in Kidō) and the Onmitsukidō (excelling in Hohō & Hakuda).

The Shinigami Academy is one of two groups that is not under the jurisdiction of the Central 46 Chambers.

Hierachy

Captain-Commander
Captain-Commander (Sōtaichō; Captain-Commander, Head-Captain in the English dub) is the leader of the Gotei 13 and currently the captain of the 1st Division. They are generally the wisest and strongest of all Shinigami.

Captain
A Captain (Taichō; lit. Unit Commander) is the leader of one of the thirteen divisions (with the special case of the Captain-Commander).

Captains are generally the most respected Shinigami within the Soul Society, with the Kidō Corps, and Onmitsukidō leaders possibly being on equal status. With one exception, all captains are able to utilize the final stage of their Zanpakutou, and are more powerful than even their lieutenants. Knowing Bankai gives captains an average of five-to-ten times the strength of Shinigami who are unable to perform it. They have also extensively-trained, if not mastered, their Bankai, allowing them to actually use the enormous power effectively in battle. Most captains are also skilled in the use of Flash Steps, Kidō, and generally have extensive knowledge of Shinigami history and battle tactics. All of these factors create a huge power-gap between captains and lower-ranked officers.

Lieutenant
A lieutenant (fukutaichō; vice-unit commander, often translated as vice-captain) is the 2nd seated officer in a division.

Lieutenants function as executive officers for their division, taking care of or supervising day-to-day operations. They (along with their captains) are not assigned to one specific squad. They generally only know the Shikai of their Zanpakutou, but are still the second strongest in their division. In the case of a division captain's death, departure, or other circumstances making him unable to perform their duties, the lieutenant acts as the "substitute captain" until another can be assigned.

Seated Officers
Seated officers are the remainder of the officers in the Gotei 13 that hold ranks at or below 3rd Seat. Captains and lieutenants have the ranks of 1st and 2nd Seats, respectively. Next to that, there are 18 more seats (3rd-to-20th). These ranks are somewhat analogous to junior officers or non-commissioned officers in modern military. There seems to be a distinction between senior and junior seated officers, just like in real-life armies. In the Gotei 13, only one person can hold a senior officer rank (such as 3rd or 5th seat), but there are several holders of junior officer ranks (e.g. 20th seat). This may vary from division to division however, as there are two 3rd Seats in the 13th Division.

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[Senroku]

Information copyright Bleach Wikia.