Ichirō Yamato

"Learn to recognize when speed is not important. Race when being first is important; move at your own pace at all other times. It is not necessary to always strike the first blow, to provide the first solution, or to reach a goal before anyone else does. In fact, it is sometimes vital to strike the last blow, to give the final answer, or to arrive after everyone else."

- Renge to Ichirō

Ichirō Yamato (大和一郎, Yamato Ichirō) is a Shinigami who also has Hollow powers. He is the adoptive son of Renge Yamato. He considers Haruko Shihōin as the mother figure in his life. He is also a Seijin Apprentice in the Seijin Council, with his adoptive father as his acting master. He is a main supporting character in User:Ten Tailed Fox's narratives.

Appearance
Ichirō appears like a typical teenager with the exception of his long, spiky blue hair. He is extremely tall for his age, is in good shape, with white skin and soft blue eyes. Since his gaining of his Shinigami powers, his appearance has matured, as he now appears much more muscular and fit. He wears standard Shinigami robes with a brown hooded cloak over them, signifying his membership in the Seijin Council. When he first got his powers, he appeared with a huge black cape attached to his regular Shinigami outfit. It has not been seen since that appearance so it's significance is unknown.

He is noted, both by his adoptive father and by several of the Royal Guard captains, to look similar to that of Ichigo Kurosaki and even more so to Kaien Shiba, though his hair is longer than theirs by a short bit.

Personality
When he was younger, he was childishly naive; almost refusing to see evil in anything, even Hollows. He also didn't see "good" or "evil" as a reality, but merely opinions. However, when he was nine, he was attacked by a Hollow in his district of the Rukongai and was nearly eaten by the beast, had it not been for the timely arrival of Renge Yamato. After that, he refused to look on Hollows, or Arrancar for that matter, as sensible or civilized beings. Even these feelings would change as he matured.

In the present day, he doesn't care much for Hollows or Arrancar, but does not look on them with the same disdain as he once did. As Renge took on a fatherly role to him, he eventually became extremely attached to the older Shinigami. He also latched onto Renge's childhood friend, Haruko Shihōin, as a motherly figure due to how often he saw her. Soon after becoming a Shinigami, he began to develop his own moral code. Having no knowledge of his true family, he came to the idea that only friends could fill the void that existed from a true family's absence. There was one issue, he could never make friends. Not even among the other apprentice Shinigami in the Seijin Council did he make friendship bonds. Quickly, he was consumed by lonliness. Renge realized that due to his age, there was little that he could do to give Ichirō the bonds he desired; after all, he had to remain a father figure to Ichirō.

He also has several typical traits of a teenage boy. He is sometimes short tempered, confrontational, and occasionally overconfident in his abilities. One trait he has shown to use both positively and negatively is his will to fight to the very end. No matter how fatigued he may be, he always continues to fight on. This can be good, as it sometimes frightens or deeply confuses his foes, however, it can also be bad as he runs the risk of being killed either by fatigue or a merciless opponent. Ichirō hates politicians such as those that compose the Central 46 as well as extremely cocky foes. He is respectful, however, to his opponents; always using honorifics and refusing to kill an unarmed foe.

He is shown to be very emotionally involved in battles. The best example of this is anytime anyone very close to him is fatally wounded in front of him. This usually triggers one of his dangerous Hollow Transformations that affect the people and surroundings around him devastatingly. He is easily disgusted by those people that berate and even abandon their comrades and friends, even if they are his enemies.

History
At the age of six, he was abandoned by his real parents in the Rukongai and was left for dead. Miraculously, he manages to survive in the rough Rukongai environment until he was nine. At the age of nine, during a stroll towards the inner Rukongai, a large Hollow arrives from Hueco Mundo and begins devouring souls. Ichirō attempts to fight the Hollow, but is fatally wounded. Before he can be eaten by the Hollow, Renge Yamato kills the beast and heals him of his wounds. When Ichirō awakens, he is in Renge's home and Renge explains that he will adopt Ichirō, if the boy so wishes. Ichirō agrees, reluctant at first.

He soon came to love his new adoptive father and became quite fond of his friend, Haruko Shihōin. At the age of twelve, he began to become uncontrollably hungry; eating everything in sight and still feeling the need to eat afterwards. Feeling this, Renge takes Ichirō on as his Shinigami apprentice in the Seijin Council. Due to the immense amount of reiatsu Ichirō was leaking, it became impossible for the boy to gain Shinigami powers on his own. That's when Renge revealed his secret device, the Tensei. Using a great sealing kidō, he combines the spiritual object with Ichirō's soul and adjusts the seal to begin controlling Ichirō's power. The influence of the Tensei activated his Shinigami powers, but inadvertently gave him Hollow powers as well, turning him into a Vizard.

After this incident, Renge tightened the seal on the Tensei, only allowing it to influence Ichirō's growth instead of actually controlling his power.

Powers & Abilities
Master Swordsmanship Specialist: His favorite style of fighting is with his zanpakutō. He has trained extensively with Renge to master his swordsmanship, something that has aided him tremendously in his development as a Shinigami. His overall proficiency with his zanpakutō allows him to compete on even levels with Shinigami captains and lieutenants. Among the Council, he can easily compete with other apprentices and will occasionally spar with the masters to improve his swordsmanship.

Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Occasionally trained by Haruko, he has become an exceptional martial artist. In his early days with the Seijin, he was trained in martial arts almost every day. In addition to his abnormally powerful punches and kicks, he has shown a great proficiency at using forms of wrestling, such as body slams, headlocks, counter attacks, and takedowns, in his combat. He often will catch an opponent's foot, hand, arm, or weapon if that opponent gets too close to landing a hit on him. He can easily dispatch Seated Officers and Lieutenants from the Gotei 13 with his bare hands.

Enormous Spiritual Energy: Even by Seijin standards, Ichirō's reiatsu is enormous. It was one of the reasons, as well as the decisive one, that led his adoptive father, Renge, to submit him for training in the Seijin Order. During his initial swordsmanship training, he was able to take on dozens of Hollows by paralyzing them with the release of his spiritual energy before killing them with only his sealed Zanpakutō. When brought before the Council for the first time by Renge, who was promoting him to Apprentice, the council was stunned at the sheer volume of his spiritual energy. Haruko commented at that time that trying to find the ends to his spiritual power was like trying to find the bottom of a deep ocean trench; it could be done, but you might be crushed by the pressure. The volume of his energy is such that it allows him to fight for far longer periods of time than typical Shinigami, making him a deadly foe. After formal training in reiryoku control, he is able to use his spiritual energy to use powerful kidō and, upon his learning to summon his Hollow mask via his Hollowfication, he is able to increase it to tremendous levels. Like Kenpachi Zaraki, he has learned to harden his spiritual energy around his body, similar to an Arrancar's reiatsu, that protects him from all but the most powerful techniques. Renge once commented that his spiritual power is similar in amounts to Seireitou Kawahiru's, though the feel of it is far different. His regular reiatsu is colored green when manifested.

Enhanced Strength: He is clearly a strong person. He is capable of lifting heavy cinder blocks with one hand, as well as slicing through and Arrancar's hierro with his sealed Zanpakutō.

Flash Steps Master: After being trained as an Initiate in the Order by Haruko, his prowess with Flash Steps became highly noticeable. He could use it with such proficiency, that he could create up to five afterimages with his speed. He can easily keep up with Lieutenant and Captain-level Shinigami and Espada-level Arrancar. When combined with his swordsmanship, his speed makes him a very deadly foe.

Enhanced Durability: As a Shinigami, he already has durability that allows him to be hit with and survive damage that would kill a typical Human. He is shown to sustain multiple enemies while continuing to fight on.

Tensei-Influenced Growth Rate: His abilities, as demonstrated in the descriptions above, have grown far more quickly than a typical Shinigami or for that matter, even a typical Seijin Apprentice. Renge states that this may be due to the Tensei device sealed inside his spirit. The Tensei was created to perfect Shinigami and Hollowfication, thus explaining why his Hollowfication evolves rapidly and why his Shinigami prowess is above that of most Captains. Renge speculates that the Tensei is constantly influencing his growth, and thus is becoming more and more capable of a Vizard. He also speculates that if Ichirō ever were to learn to control the power of the Tenshi, he could possibly become the perfect Shinigami-Hollow hybrid, surpassing all those known to date. He is seen as a treasure by the Seijin Order due to his Growth rate and therefore is one of it's most powerful members.

High Intellect: He is skilled at fixing things, and can easily learn to use certain weapons or devices after having their use explained to him only once. He also seems to catch on to the concepts of the Seijin very quickly, allowing his training to go quicker than other Apprentices.

Kidō Expert: He is able to access kidō to varying degrees. He can use spells up to level eighty five without incantation due to his tremendous spiritual energy and control, however, everything above must have an incantation or it will misfire.

Zanpakutō
Ichirō's Zanpakuto has not yet revealed it's name to him, therefore he cannot yet use Shikai or Bankai; something he says is the only thing left that's keeping him from becoming a Graduate or even a Master in the Order. His sealed zanpakutō takes the form of a standard katana with a black hilt, circular guard, and a black sheathe. He wears it on his hip, like most Order members.
 * Shikai: Not Yet Achieved.
 * Bankai: Not Yet Achieved.

Hollowfication
Hollow Mask: Ichirō's Hollow mask manifests as a white canvas with green markings around the eyes that stretch down to the chin, appearing like a set of wings. When he first gained his Hollow mask, it was simply white with two openings for the eyes and no mouth, but has since mysteriously changed into it's current state. Ichirō suspects that it is due to the Tensei's influence on his Inner Hollow.

The Hollow mask was originally a sign of Ichirō's possession by the Hollow within him, but after his initial training with his Seijin Master, it has become indication that he is merely utilizing his Hollow's powers. To access Hollow Ichirō's power, Ichirō must summon the mask onto his face, which is normally done by placing one of his hands over his face and concentrating spiritual matter on it in order to manifest the mask (previously it had appeared on its own before he mastered the Hollow within him), summoning the mask in a "swiping" fashion. With the mask in place, Ichirō has access to increased physical enhancements. Hollow Possessed Transformation: In times of great anger, stress, or near death, Ichirō has had his body taken over by Hollow Ichirō. In this form, Ichirō has long straight hair which has turned white, reaching down to his waist, and a Hollow hole, decorated with green markings stretching from the hole, across his chest and shoulders. He also has retractable claws on his fingertips and toes, as well as seemingly normal skin. In this new form, he has a different Hollow mask and his face is shaped the same, it covers Ichirō's entire head but its markings remain the same, as it has four wing-shaped marks stretching past the eyes and teeth, going past his chin and joining with the marks on his chest. There are also small marks resembling a heart, but with the top and bottom open, extending from the inner corners of his eyes. The mask features one long forward-pointing horn with a green strip extending from it's center towards the tips.
 * Power Augmentation: While wearing the mask, Ichirō's Hollow powers supplement his Shinigami powers, giving him a vast increase in both strength and speed. The explanation for this is that since Hollows boost their natural abilities by obtaining spirit power around them, either by absorbing it in its ambient form or devouring it directly from another living being, Ichirō attains power from two separate sources: that from himself (drawn using his Shinigami powers), and that from his immediate environment (drawn with the help of his Hollow powers), allowing him to draw power from both sides.
 * Enhanced Spiritual Energy: While in his Hollowfication, Ichirō's spiritual energy leaps to even higher levels. It is enough to frighten Seated Officers and even stun Arrancar. It caries a very dark nature about it, however, unlike most Vizard, his Hollow energy is completely stable. Renge is at first baffled by this, but later suspects it to be a result of Ichirō's Seijin training.
 * Enhanced Strength: With his mask on, Ichirō can effectively block and Espada's Cero Oscuras and even the Cero used by his master, Renge. His kicks can level city blocks and his punches have the destructive power to crush bones. His sword strikes also become much harder, to the point of being able to snap a foe's zanpakutō.
 * Enhanced Speed: With his Hollowfication, he can keep up with even the likes of his Initiate Master, Haruko Shihōin, who was once dubbed the fasted captain in the Old Royal Guard. The amount of afterimages he can create increases to twenty and the speed of his sword strikes also increase tremendously.
 * Mask Regeneration: Ichirō seems to have the ability to repair small amounts of damage that is inflicted upon his mask. He has also been shown to have the ability to call his mask out a second time after it shatters, but with less benefits.
 * Cero: It is a black Cero with a green outline to it, which Renge, who first observed it, states to be similar to an Espada's fully powered Cero Oscuras. This Cero presumably can only be used while he is in his Hollow-Possessed state. The Hollow Form's black Cero is powerful enough to blast a Shinkūmyō mask away and destroy a large part of the city of Karakura Town.
 * Immense Strength: In this form, Ichirō is capable of destroying a large portion of the hard earth behind himself with the wake of a single slash of his sword. He is capable of easily destroying a large building with as single kick. He is capable of crushing Renge's strongest attack, Exhale, Guren Shinibana and force it to collapse before Renge even got a chance to finish charging the attack, much less use it. He is also able to effortlessly throw a large portion of rock with a single hand.
 * High Speed Regeneration: His Hollow form can regenerate at high speeds, making it a very formidable opponent in battle.

Behind the Scenes
Since Kaien Shiba's pictures were the best I could use to describe his appearance, that is who I used. Full credit to Tite Kubo and the animators for those images.