Gin Ichimaru (HB, Dino)



Gin Ichimaru (市丸 ギン, Ichimaru Gin) was the Captain of the 3rd Division of the Gotei 13 until he betrayed Soul Society, alongside Sōsuke Aizen and Kaname Tōsen. His lieutenant was Izuru Kira. Following the events of his betrayal on Aizen and his grevious injuries. Gin was taken into the Soul Society for treating and in hopes of saving his life, as requested by Rangiku Matsumoto and further assissted with the approval of Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

During the Invasion, Gin was in a coma until the war was over. After waking up he suffered from an amnesia, losing memories concerning his betrayal of both the Soul Society and Aizen, as a result of that, he was given a chance to start over from scratch as an unseated member of the, but quickly rose up in rank and evantually became the Captain of the 3rd Division once again.

Appearance
Gin is fairly ordinary in terms of clothing, and he doesn't wear any unique items. His overall appearance, however, is not as normal. He keeps his eyes constantly narrowed to slits, rarely ever opening his eyes enough to visibly reveal their bright sky blue-color. Although he appears to be an early to mid twenty-year-old person, he is unusually thin and tall with very sharp features giving him a skeletal appearance. He bears unusual silver hair (his name refers to his hair color; gin [銀] is Japanese for silver). He also keeps his face set in a wide mocking smile, which he only wipes off on rare occasions of annoyance, surprise, confusion, or even sadness.

In Hueco Mundo, his outfit, like Aizen and Tōsen's, has been modified since the three abandoned the Soul Society. He now wears a long, white robe over his normal Shinigami hakama. The hilt of his Zanpakutō is visible sticking out from under the robe through the opening down to his waist. Later Gin is seen wearing a white hakama like the Arrancar, instead of the black ones he was last seen in. Gin wears his robe open in a narrow 'V' down to his waist, closed to below the hips, and then open again to the hem, which falls about mid-calf. His robe has long bell sleeves, into which he hides his hands like some do with kimono sleeves. The lining of the robe and edges or layers of the under-robe(s) appear to be black. From other examples, it is likely he is also wearing black tabi with white waraji. His Zanpakutō is not visible with this outfit.

Gin now wears the standart Captain outfit of the 3rd Division, and his right arm, that was severed by Aizen, has been replaced with an artificial limb made by Mayuri Kurotsuchi as a "welcoming gift" for Gin, knowing how Gin's right arm is an important asset in battle.

Personality
Gin is one of the most mysterious Shinigami in the series, since his almost constant smile and slitted eyes, combined with his heavy use of sarcasm and mocking politeness, make it very difficult to discern his thoughts. Many find his demeanor and appearance rather unsettling and there are very few who were willing to trust him even before he was revealed as a traitor. Gin seems to be fully aware of the effect he has on others and more than once has been seen toying with people's emotional states for his own amusement. Both Rukia Kuchiki and Wonderweiss Margela have shown to be rather frightened of him; Rukia noted to herself that she felt like she was being strangled by snakes whenever he spoke, even if he was not speaking to her directly. Gin speaks with a distinct Kyoto dialect, which is polite but indirect.

Ever since he was a child, dried persimmons had been his favorite food. Planting and raising many persimmon trees around the Third Division offices, Gin would make the dried persimmons himself before distributing them to other divisions. Due to mistaking a dried sweet potato for a dried persimmon he developed a dislike for the former. During his free time, while still a captain, Gin would often go out for walks around Seireitei. Despite his hobby supposedly being people-watching, it would seem as though he also enjoyed hunting around and searching for an opportunity to create mischief with some poor victim.

His amnesia didn't affect his old personality traits, only minor details are notable, such as being more loyal to the Soul Society and taking his duty as Captain seriously. After knowing of his lost memories, told by Matsumoto, Gin questioned his actions and didn't see himself fit to return to the Gotei 13 at first, but has decided to start fresh all over again.

History
For the original history of Gin Ichimaru please head to 

Plot
For the original plot of Gin Ichimaru please head to 

Powers & Abilities
Gin's amnesia and his severed right arm has severely hindered Gin's fighting prowess, yet after gaining an artificial arm and rising back to rank of captain after a long time period of trainning, Gin has become just as powerful as he previously was, or maybe even more.

Genius Intellect: When Gin was younger, he was hailed as a child genius. He was highly proficient in his classes at the Shinigami Academy, and he graduated in one year. His skill was already evident at a young age when he gained a seated position in the 5th Division shortly after graduating, ultimately surpassing the previous child prodigy Kaien Shiba, who was already an adult and had taken five years to become a seated officer. Gin has shown himself to be highly manipulative and deceptive. He comes out unscathed due to the calm confusion he plays at, which is a testament to his overall strategy. In his battle with Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Gin was able to manipulate the positions of three people so Hitsugaya would have to choose between saving his own life or Hinamori's without any visible effort. He has been shown to be capable of simple deception by having his opponent focus on one thing to hide the true threat. Since his amnesia only affected small bits of his memory, Gin's intelligent was not affected one bit.

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Gin is a highly proficient combatant. In combat, he doesn't seem the least bit taken back by the abilities of his opponent, even when they seemingly have an advantage. He fights with seemingly no effort behind his attacks, as he always wields his sword with one hand. His ability to wield his combat skills was evident even when he was a child. He easily defeated and killed the former third seat of the 5th division, who by rank and age should have been more powerful and skilled than him. Gin was able to effortlessly keep the upper hand against Tōshirō Hitsugaya during their battle. He is commonly seen using his Zanpakutō's special ability, allowing him to be quite deadly at a distance, which is capable of killing multiple targets in one shot. He has shown the ability to use extreme speed mixed with a calm composure and precise attacks.

Immense Spiritual Power: Gin, without putting out any effort, easily incapacitated Chad, Orihime, Uryū, Makizō, and Ganju with his Reiatsu just by facing the direction they were coming from.

Shunpo Expert: Though never actually shown using this in combat, after his battle with Tōshirō Hitsugaya, he used an impressive Flash Step to retreat. He is also able to fight on even grounds and speeds with Ichigo using Tensa Zangetsu.

Enhanced Durability: Gin's durability is strong enough to withstand a direct hit from Ichigo Kurosaki's Bankai-enhanced Getsuga Tenshō, only suffering a light wound to his forehead as a result.

Kidō Practitioner: Gin's actual ability is unknown but he was able to teleport himself and Aizen a considerable distance using "Sentan Hakuja". He was also able to cast "Hakufuku" on Rangiku Matsumoto, preventing Sōsuke Aizen from perceiving her reiatsu.

Zanpakutō
Shinsō (神鎗, God Spear; Viz "Sacred Spear"): It looks like an ordinary wakizashi. The hilt is light-blue with a tsuba made of two slim swirls of metal looping around the blade to make an open oval, resembling an "S".
 * Shikai: It is triggered by the phrase "Shoot to kill" (射殺せ, Ikorose). In the English Dub, however, he uses a command related to piercing/stabbing and ends the phrase with a personal pronoun (him, her, it) defining who he wants to hit.
 * Bankai: Kamishini no Yari (神殺鎗, God-Killing Spear): In its Bankai state, Gin's Zanpakutō does not change in appearance at all, retaining its small wakizashi form.
 * Shikai Special Ability: In its Shikai, Shinsō's blade glows white and extends at high speed to impale Gin's opponents from a distance. The blade also carries tremendous force when extending, as seen when Gin pushes both Ichigo Kurosaki and the giant Jidanbō out from under the Seireitei gate, despite the latter being firmly braced under it. In addition, Gin can maintain the extension and swing the activated Shinsō in wide arcs, attacking multiple targets quickly and simultaneously. Shinsō is capable of reaching a maximum length equivalent to one hundred times its original length, earning it the nickname Hyapponzashi (百本差し, Hundred-span) when Gin was younger.
 * Bankai Special Ability: Gin's Bankai's main basic abilities are essentially the same possessed by his Shikai, but it's force, cutting power, length and speed are vastly amplified to the point where Gin is capable of swiftly cutting an entire town in half with a single swipe while standing a great distance away. As Kamishini no Yari, Gin has made a claim that his sword can extend itself up to 13 km (8.1 miles) at 500 times the speed of sound: exactly 171,500 meters per second in order to arrive at its full length in under 0.08 seconds, which would make it not the longest Zanpakutō, but the fastest. The blade can also retract to its normal size at the same rate. Because the blade's extension and contraction speed is a highly dangerous ability, Gin tends to downplay its speed whenever he talks about his Zanpakutō, and instead focuses on the length and power of the blade in order to gain a psychological advantage over his opponent. However Gin has also stated that his Bankai is not as fast or as long as he originally claimed but he hasn't elaborated on this statement further to determine what he is specifically referring to.
 * Korose, Kamishini no Yari (殺せ, 神殺鎗, Kill, God-Killing Spear): Kamishini no Yari's true ability as well as its deadliest aspect is not based on its length or speed but rather its ability to turn into dust for just a second when it expands out and contracts. There is a deadly poison inside the blade that dissolves and breaks down cells. He can leave a sliver of his Zanpakuto in an opponent when he retracts Kamishini no Yari, allowing him to kill an opponent at any time when he chooses to by uttering the technique name, while placing his hand up to the target. The result causes the target to completely break down and dissolve at the cellular level from the inside out.
 * Butō (無踏, No/Null Step): By adopting a stance where he firmly grips Kamishini no Yari with both hands and places the Zanpakutō's hilt squarely to the center of his chest, Gin is able to unleash the tremendous extension and contraction properties of his Bankai to an even more terrifying extent than its normal state. This occurs in the form of a piercing maneuver where the extension and contraction of the blade becomes almost completely unseen to even the most-diligent of observers.


 * Butō: Renjin (無踏連刃, No/Null Step: Serial Blade): This ability repeats the action of extending and subsequently contracting Kamishini no Yari, as observed within the technique Butō, multiple times in rapid succession. The entirety of this process is completed in a mere moment, resulting in the individual steps involved in this technique becoming virtually indistinguishable from each other, generating an apparent mass of numerous blades that leaves little opportunity for the intended victim to evade successfully.