Takeshi Shinjo

Takeshi Shinjo is a quiet individual who serves as Yoshiro Kazuki's Lieutenant among the Ryu Order. Deceptively skilled, Takeshi has no memory of his past and as a result, is not as powerful as he once was. The only memories he did retain was how to wield a sword effectively, how to control his spiritual energy and that his Shikai is dangerous. Takeshi also suffers from dual personality disorder, possessing a quiet personality that refers to itself as Takeshi and a much more forward one that simply calls itself Shinjo. He is the main supporting character in User:Kenji Hiroshi's stories, alongside Jinta Kano.

Character Outline
"Takeshi's a man who lost everything to protect his friends and family; sacrificing his memories, his goals, dreams and hopes for them. All that Takeshi recieved in the aftermath was questions and a tattoo he doesn't recall receiving. The only blessing was that he didn't lose his life..." Maki explaining what happened to Takeshi when asked by Zieg Yoso.

Takeshi is a lean-built young man, whose most distinguishing feature is a large tattoo on his body, covering his chest, stomach and parts of his arm. The tattoo is actually a protective seal that preserves Takashi’s memories when using his Shikai. The tattoo was created by Takeshi's father, Garian Shinjo after Takeshi lost almost all of his memories in order to protect his son from such a fate again. Takeshi bears some resemblance to his fellow Lieutenant Sojiro Kori, because the two both have silver hair, though Takeshi’s hair has some blackened areas. His actual eye colour is unknown, because his hair shadows his eyes. Most among the Ryu Order consider him strange, mysterious and freaky.

Takeshi has two distinct personalities because of his dual personality disorder. The first is that of a quiet man who rarely allows others to know what he is thinking about because he has no recollection of his past and thus, spends his time trying to remember his past. However, despite his quietness, Takeshi is a man with a strong sense of duty and justice, believing strongly that those with great power should use it for more noble causes than just self-satisfaction, and isn’t afraid to speak his mind regarding the subject. This Takashi also describes himself as “the Order’s self proclaimed but universally acknowledged lazy man”. Takeshi can often be found sleeping, playing cards, talking with fellow members and has never been seen working. Yoshiro claims he gained the Lieutenant spot because of his skills in battle, when he actually decides to take part. He normally says “how troublesome” or “not interested” at the end of most sentences. The other personality, however, is almost the direct opposite of the “quiet" Takashi. This personality is incredibly loud, rude and forward, embodying all the darker aspects of Takashi’s being. This personality came about when Takashi gained his hollow powers and seems to prevail more easily when Takashi accesses his zanpakuto. This personality is not to be confused with Takeshi's Inner Hollow, who takes aspects from both personalities. The "loud" personality has a deep hatred for Takashi’s Inner Hollow, calling him “A weakling, and unfit to share his mind.” Takashi admitted that it was this personality that actually overcame the hollow when he confronted him in his Inner World after "quiet" Takeshi failed. The "quiet" Takeshi is on good terms with Yoshiro, Sojiro, Jinta Kano and Anko Tayuya. The "loud" Takeshi get's on well with Kenji Hiroshi, Kusaka Kori and Zieg Yoso.

Background
Takeshi is the son of Garian Shinjo, the Shinigami responsible for training Koichi Hiroshi, Jiro Kazuki and the current 5th Squad Captain, Ryouta Hachirou in the ways of Shinigami combat. After fifty years as a Shinigami himself, Takeshi was relaxing at his father's getaway house in the Rukon District when he heard a commotion outside. Rushing out to see what was going on, Takeshi came face to face with a Shinigami he had never seen before. Expecting a friendly response, Takeshi was instead attacked. Puzzled as to why a fellow Shinigami would attack him, Takeshi drew his zanpakuto and engaged the mysterious fellow in one of Takeshi's most difficult and grueling battles, all the while asking who the man was. Finally, the man seemed to waver and Takeshi struck, only for the man to reappear behind him and strike. As Takeshi slowly lost consciousness, he glimpsed a second man with a large, mocking grin...

When Takeshi next woke, he was resting upon a cold, metal table. The two men put him through what Takeshi could only describe as the most grueling torture ever experienced, until they eventually reached their goal; creating a Shinigami-Hollow hybrid. To ease his mind and preserve himself throughout the torture, Takeshi created a whole new persona, one that could bear and withstand the harsh rigours being forced upon him who simply called himself Shinjo. And thus, Takeshi developed a dual personality. Shortly thereafter, Takeshi watched eagerly as his father, Garian Shinjo, and three other Shinigami he recognised as Koichi Hiroshi, Jiro Kazuki and Ryouta Hachirou burst through the doors and forced the two men to retreat. The four Shinigami watched over Takeshi for days, but the two men never returned.

Takeshi's troubles weren't finished, however, because he still had the hollow those two men had managed to create within his consciousness and Shinjo to deal with. Asking his father's advice, Garian urged Takeshi to confront the entity, which he did immediantly. Upon entering his Inner World, Takeshi found an individual that looked exactly like himself, only with a colour swap, who held the exact same zanpakuto as himself. The two soon fought, and Takeshi could barely understand why this hollow was so devilishly powerful. Asking the hollow why it held his zanpakuto, he simply received a laugh. Then his hollow done something Takeshi wasn't expecting, it unleashed Hakai's true power and transformed. Unable to stand against the hollows might as he was currently, Takeshi surrendered himself to the persona he created during his torture, the persona that hated everything to do with the two men that had so brutually tortured him, and by extension, the very thing they had spawned within his mind; his Inner Hollow and awoke as Shinjo. With renewed hate and resolve coursing through his body, Shinjo quickly followed the hollow's lead and activated Hakai's true form and fought on even grounds with his hollow. The battle came down to a final, desperate blow and Shinjo emerged as the exhausted victor.

It was after this that Takeshi became an instructor at the Shino Academy, by hiding his new hollow powers. He was a field instructor who helped the students battle hollow. Takeshi soon began dating fellow Instructor, Karin Masaki, but fate wasn't with Takeshi and he soon found himself in a desperate situation to save her and some students from an Arrancar that wished to destroy the Soul Society. Fighting desperately, Takeshi was forced to use his Shikai's transformation, but the battle cost him his memories, and he soon left the Soul Society behind. He was found by Kenji Hiroshi wandering the Human World, who saved him in a weakened state from a group of hollow. Since that day, Takeshi has been a prominent member of the Ryu Order, acting as a Lieutenant among the Vizard.

Powers and Abilities
Since Takeshi is so lazy, there is very little known about his abilities, but it is reasonable to assume that they would have to be higher than his fellow members to have achieved the position of Lieutenant.

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Although his full level of skill has yet to be shown, Yoshiro has implied that Takashi is extremely skilled in swordsmanship, the one thing he seemed to retain when he lost his memories.

Flash Step Expert: Takashi’s full prowess has yet to be revealed, but being a Lieutenant among the Ryu Order, it is reasonable to assume that Takashi possesses advanced skill in Flash Steps.

Immense Spiritual Energy: Being a Lieutenant in the Ryu Order, and a Vizard, Takashi boasts an impressive spiritual energy and is known as the second strongest Vizard in Squad 2, second only to his Captain, Yoshiro Kazuki in overall strength and ability. His power is comparable to a Shinigami Captain, although he has yet to achieve his Bankai. Because he is a Vizard, Takeshi possesses a dual type spiritual energy, part shinigami and part hollow.

Kido Master: Although Takashi has lost the majority of his skill in Kido through the loss of his memories, and thus all his incantations, he is still able to utilize advanced kido without the incantation, and still keep the majority of their strength. He is able to use these incantations because he re-learned them all afterwards, but simply couldn't be bothered to re-learn the incantations. When hollows and Arrancar attacked the Order’s headquarters, Takashi simply sat upon a stone and killed anything that came into his field of vision with kido, using a large variety of spells, both offensive and binding.

Zanpakuto


"When you wield a strong enough flame, you will eventually get burned." Takeshi describing his zanpakuto, Hakai.

Takashi’s zanpakuto is called Hakai (Destruction) and is sealed in the form of a cane which Takashi carries with him like a walking stick of sorts. In a manner similar to Urahara Kisuke, Takeshi’s zanpakuto takes the form of a shikomizue (sword within a cane). Because it resides in a cane, its hilt is still the handle of the cane, so it looks different from most sealed Zanpakutō.

Shikai: Hakai (Destruction) is released with the command Let me Rage. Hakai takes the appearance of a straight-edged sword, with a black and white colour scheme. The guard looks like two small wings curving upwards, with a small green gem in the centre that acts as the focus for Takashi’s spiritual energy. Unlike other zanpakuto, Hakai has no special attacks to aid the wielder in combat.


 * Takeshi's_Shikai_Ability.jpgi Special Ability: Hakai absorbs spiritual energy continually from those it strikes, the area around it and from Takashi himself and stores the accumulated energy within the green gem on the weapons guard. After the gem has been filled with enough spiritual energy, Takashi can access his Shikai’s true power, his ascension.


 * Hakai no Keshin (Destruction Incarnate): Hakai forces the absorbed spiritual energy into Takashi’s own body, mixing it in with his own spiritual energy. This ability allows him access to tremendous powers that surpasses even that of a Bankai, but at a terrible cost. If used for too long, Takashi begins to lose his memories and his body is wracked with continual pain until he exits the form. While transformed, Takashi’s hair grows longer and stands up; he becomes surrounded in an aura of spiritual energy and he begins to lose his rationality, being barely able to discern friend from foe. Yoshiro claims that Hakai’s power goes beyond the normal amount of what a Shinigami can safely use without their body giving out, and speculates that continual usage of the ability could shorten Takashi’s lifespan. Takeshi hates this ability and will only use it as a last resort to save his own life, or that of his friends.

Bankai: Not yet achieved/revealed. Takeshi doesn’t recall if he was able to perform his Bankai or not, because he lost all his memories in a past battle. His zanpakuto suffered the same fate and doesn’t recall either. If he has obtained it, It is unknown if he will ever be able to perform his Bankai without first regaining his memories.

Resurrección: Not yet Revealed, but Takeshi has stated he cannot use Hakai no Keshin while using his Resurrección and for that, he is grateful because he doesn't think he would be able to control himself.

Hollowfication
Takeshi obtained hollow powers when two unknown Shinigami experimented on him. The extreme stress caused by these experiments is what also caused Takeshi to have a dual personality. Takeshi has yet to use his hollow mask, but he is at least skilled enough with his hollow powers to have access to his Resurrección. He is described as the second strongest Vizard among Squad 2 of the Ryu Order.