Xiuhcoatl

Xiuhcoatl (シュコトル, Shukotiru) is a and the former Captain of the  having served as one of its earliest Captains due to an experiment on the  that caused him to end up in  hundreds of years earlier than when he entered. Following the War of Eight Seasons, he abandoned his position as Captain and took up residence in the, he is the caretaker of a small graveyard.

Appearance
Xiuhcoatl is a tall man with gaunt features, dark skin and a bald head, lacking hair. The ridges of his brow are elongated, extending slightly further than normal, which cast shadows over his eyes in the right conditions. He is affected by complete heterochromia with his left eye being brown and his right being a faint yellow. His ears are large and somewhat rounded and both lobes have holes in them from previous ear piercings. A small horizontal scar rests on his chin. He wears a headress shaped like a birds head with long torquise-painted feathers extending from the back, signifying his standing as an eagle warrior of Mexica. He wears the standard shihakushō of the Shinigami excluding the tabi and waraji. Instead a single hoop ankle bracelet made of gold hangs onto his right ankle. He wears a slightly modified Captain haori that comes with a stiff lapel and collar with a golden chain attached to the collar, the haori is worn like a cloak over his shoulders and using the chain to ensure it doesn't fall from his body, the haori also came with long sleeves and a steel blue underside. A gold armband with a single jade inset wraps around the right arm.

Personality
Xiuhcoatl is a very solemn individual, often looking very intense if not at least straight faced. He has trouble expressing his emotions outwardly instead opting to express himself through deeds and actions to get a point across though he has no such trouble reading the emotions of others. He is a hard working and dedicated individual believing that things as trivial as class or caste have no bearing on the work one should be doing as such he is often found in the company of his subordinates doing the more menial tasks of his division while also keeping up with the monumental responsibilities that captains are shouldered. This has afforded Xiuhcoatl a great amount of respect and loyalty from his men in the Fifth Division as he knows each of his men personally. Those very same traits are some things that Xiuhcoatl values very highly, believing that loyalty and respect for others is the greatest foundation for trust, something that is sorely needed in an organization such as the Gotei 13. He is a dutiful person, with an underlying philosophy to how he approaches his duties. Such was the case when Frithigern slew Corinna, whether by accident or not, Xiuhcoatl believed it was Frithigern's duty to honour her last wishes and take her place.

Xiuhcoatl loves potatoes in all forms and in a variety of meals, especially potato stew and sweet potato soup. He also quite likes fried rice. He enjoys learning about Mysticism both as a hobby and as a way of inspiration for his Kidō spells, this has led to some misunderstanding with Johnny Law and his Lieutenant, Tōdō Yamato, that Xiuhcoatl is some kind of insane wizard that'll hex them if they look at him funny, causing him some concern for the way others perceive him. When not studying mysticism, Xiuhcoatl looks to his work for a modicum of enjoyment or takes to playing ōllamaliztli with his division.

In combat Xiuhcoatl is extremely cautious, preferring protracted battles for the sake of the time it allows him to study an opponent in order to take the most effective route against them, though if forced he can press the attack just as well. He mainly uses Kidō when fighting, having mastered the art and even developed his own spells, when not using Kidō he aims to utilize Hakuda instead and only uses his Zanpakutō when he has no other options available to him, this is caused by the requirements that his Zanpakutō must have sated in order to be released making him refrain from using it out of distaste.

Powers & Abilities

 * : Though shown rarely Xiuhcoatl is just as much a master swordsman as his fellow captains, easily capable of dominating numerous opponents single handedly. During their respective battles he continually pressed Peter Leary and Arthur Callaghan onto the defensive with his Zanpakutō remaining sealed despite being subject to both of their Fullbring abilities. He preferred the use of wide open arcs when attacking in order to grant his blade the greatest surface for cutting through. His fighting style was primarily defensive, lacking any particular weight when pushed into defense.
 * : Xiuhcoatl is one of the foremost experts of Kidō amongst his generation, having mastered most if not all spells known of the era. He has a vast understanding of the flow and application of spiritual energy and much exprience in putting it to use. He can very easily fire off low-to-mid level spells without incantation, or even gestures to indicate which spell he's using, a devastating technique he taught himself in order to better hide his attacks from others. He can fire many spells in rapid succession, though he has trouble with the spells in the 80-to-90 range. After mastering most known Kidō spells, Xiuhcoatl began devising his own such as Jasō, a massive serpent that could ensnare an opponent before triggering a powerful explosion, or Kokushibyō a spell that traps the target in place after undergoing intense pain. He also invented the Danganjun and Ishisen spells.
 * : Xiuhcoatl, in spite of his lumbering build, is very fast in combat, using his speed and tactical acumen in order to stay several steps ahead of an opponent in battle, such was the case in his battle with Peter and Arthur where his superior speed kept both Fullbringers from actively fighting him as a team, as he made sure to keep them seperated from each other as often as possible. His speed is one of his most understated qualities as he likes to downplay it himself through mannerisms and actions.
 * : Xiuhcoatl utilizes Hakuda in favour of his Zanpakutō when he can't use Kidō, and is competent enough with it to keep minor Hollows at pay with little issue though he is easily outmatched by stronger opponents.
 * Enhanced Endurance: Xiuhcoatl has intense endurance, especially in the face of blood loss. He could withstand a point-blank Cero from Armidinium and emerge with only a few burns and scars, while utilizing his Bankai he constantly lost blood to his own Zanpakutō's abilities but staved off a fading consciousness and stiffening motor function through out his battle.

Zanpakutō
Gisei Shin'nen (犠牲信念, Sacrificing Faith) is a macuahuitl, with a light brown shaded wooden blade and hilt and soul-synthesized steel rather than obsidian for the edges. Xiuhcoatl dislikes the powers of his Zanpakutō and often attempts to forego using it so as to avoid its abilities, this reluctance to use his Zanpakutō to its full extent causes a gap between the two that the Spirit of his blade alludes to being the cause of such a dark requirement to wielding it.
 * : Its release command is "Regret" (後悔, kōkai): Gisei Shin'nen is unique in that it has pre-requisites in order to activate its Shikai despite having been mastered by its wielder. In order to be released, the Zanpakutō requires several sacrifices, the minimum being six, though there is no observed maximum. These sacrifices are accumulated upon release of the Zanpakutō and therefore must be within a thin radius of a few feet to be properly counted. If done correctly Gisei Shin'nen creates an intensely strong tornado around itself that consumes the bodies of the sacrificed and shreds them into pieces, the blade then consumes the blood and shredded flesh and bone of its victims.
 * Shikai Special Ability: Gisei Shin'nen has the ability to use the bodies of those sacrificed to release it as weapons, this allows it to strike at farther distances than one would expect while also making the attacks much harder to predict, it can conjure anything that made up the wielder's physical form, to bones, limbs, and even a s mask. The body parts emerge from the blade itself as if they were trapped inside the steel and return when Xiuhcoatl stops using it, even if damaged the body parts can re-enter the blade and re-emerge as if nothing had happened to them. By absorbing Xiuhcoatl's spiritual power it could also manipulate things contained within it for more abnormal purposes such as using blood as if it were a chain and conjuring the imitation of a sacrificed Shinigami's Zanpakutō.


 * : Jiko no Gisei Shin'nen (自己の犠牲信念, Self-Sacrificing Faith): Like its Shikai, the Bankai also has a pre-requisite this time in the form of self sacrifice. However, instead of claiming the life of its wielder it instead absorbs his blood in order to release. The Bankai does not change the form of the Zanpakutō and instead it retains its normal appearance.
 * Bankai Special Ability: In Bankai Xiuhcoatl's sword allows its wielder to absorb the bodies of its victims like Shikai, it can then remake them and spew them out from its blade as patchwork zombies of a kind. Linking them to Xiuhcoatl through small links of blood allows him to control them as if they were extensions of himself. He can make several of these patchwork zombies, relying only on the number of opponents he is facing as they are the fuel for the ability. The Bankai is capable of utilizing the abilities of those it has absorbed into its shell, depending on how they work, and can replicate those technique in whatever its controlling, as best demonstrated when Xiuhcoatl used it to fire a at Armidinium.


 * Kyojin (巨人, Goliath): Xiuhcoatl can combine all of the beings consumed by his Bankai into one massive creature made up of the sum of their collective parts attached directly to Xiuhcoatl by the same blood threads that connect the creatures the Zanpakutō generates allowing Xiuhcoatl to control the chimera-like being as if it was his own body.

Trivia

 * Xiuhcoatl means "torquise serpent" in a literal form and carries the meaning "fire serpent" in a symbolic meaning, it can also be interpreted as "weapon of destruction".
 * Xiuhcoatl is the name of several things in Aztec mythology, most prominently as a fire snake or a weapon shaped like a snake.
 * The image(s) used on this page were done on commission by ev1ct on DeviantArt for Zf6hellion.