Royal Soul

A  was a special class of created by  to primarily serve as his personal guardians and soldiers. Royal Souls were responsible for the protection of the and the body of  during his times of dormancy, later becoming the first incarnation of the Royal Guard to fulfill that duty.

A Rogue Tenjin known as The Outsider killed the majority of the Royal Souls after it infiltrated the Soul King Palace to steal a powerful artifact called the Kyūtai. Although the Rogue Tenjin was successfully repulsed, the surviving Royal Souls only numbered in the dozens, forcing the Royal Guard to recruit from the Shinigami Ranks of Soul Society to replenish their numbers. Officially displaced from active duty, the surviving Royal Souls either kept to themselves within the Soul King's Inner Sanctum or moved to Tougenkyou to serve as The One's Personal Attendants.

History
After they were nearly brought to extinction, the remaining Royal Souls removed themselves from active duty within the Royal Guard.

Powers and Abilities
Modified Spiritual Power: In order to fulfill their role as Protectors of the Soul King Palace and as Personal Guards to, Royal Souls were modified to possess an abnormal amount of Spiritual Power. Even the weakest amongst the Royal Souls easily rivaled the power of a Captain-class Shinigami. As a result, Royal Souls were generally forbidden from leaving the Soul King Palace unless given permission. Despite their high power levels, Royal Souls stood no chance against a Lesser Tenjin, as evidenced in their near annihilation by The Outsider.

Enhanced Strength and Durability: Royal Souls were created by The Soul King to practically serve as his personal weapons, personally tuning them to suit his needs. As a result, Royal Souls possessed extreme amounts of strength and durability that exceeded the capabilities of a Shinigami. Even with severe injuries and dismemberment, Royal Souls would continue to fight at full power until they could no longer function. At one point in time, Royal Souls were dispatched to Hueco Mundo to hunt down Vasto-Lorde type Hollow in order to keep the population from going rampant with no reported casualties. In their battles with the Vasto-Lorde, the Royal Souls purportedly changed the landscape of Hueco Mundo with strength alone.

Enhanced Speed: The raw speed of a Royal Soul was remarkable, enough of a degree that the majority had actually forgone the use of high-speed movement techniques in favor of their natural speed.

Decelerated Aging: Royal Souls age significantly slower than Humans and Shinigami. Despite being thousands of years old, a Royal Soul could possess the appearance of a teenager or that of a young child. However, Royal Souls can willingly age themselves to better suit their personality.

Gift of the Soul King: To better protect his creations, The Soul King bestowed a number of unique gifts to the Royal Souls to make them into Pseudo Tenjin. Pseudo Tenjin were beings who possessed the abilities of a Tenjin but were not Tenjin themselves.
 * Immortality: For all intents and purposes, Royal Souls were practically rendered immortal due to their close connection to, having been borne from his own flesh and bones. Although immortal, Royal Souls can choose to die and return to The Soul King once they tire of life.
 * Kamishini (神殺, God-Killing): As beings connected to, Royal Souls possessed the ability to slay Divine Beings and Tenjin permanently. However, this ability applied to themselves as well and became their weakness. This weakness was made heavily apparent when The Outsider nearly brought the Royal Souls to extinction.

List of Royal Souls

 * Hitotoki Itoshii
 * Hanbei Shirogane
 * Janna Raikiri

Trivia

 * Royal Souls were not subject to the Reincarnation Cycle created by . Instead, deceased Royal Souls were reabsorbed into.
 * Rather than employ Zanpakuto, the majority of the Royal Souls preferred to use the Gift bestowed to them by.
 * A total number of 5 Royal Souls immigrated to Tougenkyou to serve as The One's personal attendants. However, those 5 Royal Souls had never been outside their point of arrival, the Well of Awakenings.