Tōshirō Hitsugaya

Tōshirō Hitsugaya (日番谷 冬獅郎, Hitsugaya Tōshirō) is the former Captain of the 10th Division in the Gotei 13. His lieutenant was Rangiku Matsumoto. He is now the High Marshal of the Ring of Four in the Royal Guard.

Appearance
Tōshirō Hitsugaya is short, has turquoise eyes and short, spiked, white hair, which tends to draw attention in the Human world. During his time in the Gotei 13, he wears a standard sleeveless captain's haori with a green sash around his shoulders, held together by a round clip. The sash holds his Zanpakutō's sheath in place on his back and is tied to it at either end. In the Royal Guard, he ditched his captain's haori and now wears a fur collar jacket. He sometimes walks around in his tabi. He is relatively young by Shinigami standards and has the appearance of a child. In the Human world, he wears a black, short-sleeved, golf shirt and gray pants. He also wore the uniform at Ichigo's high school.

Personality
Hitsugaya is generally mature and serious, in contrast to his free-spirited lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto. Despite their personality differences, he and Rangiku seem very close. Tōshirō is shown to be easily annoyed by others goofing off or drawing unneeded attention to themselves, as shown when he leads a team of Shinigami into Ichigo Kurosaki's school.

Hitsugaya hates anything that he deems childish as well as being described as something close to a child, such as an elementary school child, a further contrast to his appearance. He is also mistaken for a kid in several of the omake chapters, much to his annoyance. During the ending credits of the Sealed Sword Frenzy, he is in the human world and dressed in a young boy's school uniform, and Hinamori has to pull him out of hiding. He is overly protective of Momo Hinamori, due to the fact that they were old childhood friends. Hitsugaya dislikes summer and warm weather in general.

It is also known that Tōshirō's favorite food is amanattō. His grandmother even occasionally sends it to him into the division quarters. He does not like dried persimmons. Back in his childhood in West Rukongai, he was so skilled with spinning tops that he became the local undefeated champion. He works very hard, but his motive seems to be that if he finishes quickly, he can return to his afternoon nap. He believes in the saying "children who sleep well, grow well," and hopes to grow quickly, a wish shared by his subordinates. Naturally, they do not voice this fact in front of him, for even regularly practicing this adage for so long, he didn't really grow in height.

Hitsugaya is usually joked about by many of the other Shinigami in Soul Society as well as by his enemies. Despite these jokes, or perhaps because of them, Hitsugaya has developed a cold attitude toward most people; he tolerates these jokes and goes on with his duties. Although he has shown anger toward jokes, he doesn't take action against whomever insulted him unless they are his enemies, but has never overreacted because of them. The only thing he can't tolerate is not being addressed as "Captain Hitsugaya," or an inappropriate use of his name, as he worked very hard for the title so he gets angry when not addressed as such. Coincidentally, though, he does not address any other officer with their title, only their last names. The only people that actually call him by his given name are Ichigo, who is constantly reminded to address him properly, and Hinamori, who is the only person allowed to get away with it. Hinamori tends to call him "Hitsugaya-kun" and both she and Ukitake occasionally use "Shirō-chan" (シロちゃん) — a nickname meaning "Whitey" in reference to his hair — in both cases without any repercussion. In the Shinigami Golden Cup sketches (omakes found at the end of episodes of Bleach), Jūshirō Ukitake comically gives Hitsugaya candy and other food because "Jūshirō" and "Tōshirō" sound similar and because they both have white hair, making them both "Shirō-chan." The first character in Hitsugaya's given name, Tōshirō, means "winter," which is appropriate given his white hair and ice-type Zanpakutō.

During his duel with Gin Ichimaru in the anime, Ichimaru remarks that Hitsugaya is the embodiment of a heavenly guardian that would be reincarnated every few centuries. This is attributed to his given name Tōshirō, which literally means "son of the winter lion" (dragon/metaphor for magnificence).

Even though he has relatively little amount of interaction with Ichigo, he helps in several potentially disastrous events, whenever ordered to by Yamamoto.

Background
Hitsugaya comes from the province of Junrin'an in the 1st District of West Rukongai. There, he lived with his grandmother and Momo Hinamori. As a young child, Hitsugaya was a bit of a brat who likes to eat watermelons and poke fun at Hinamori. She calls him "Shiro-chan" (Little Shiro in the English dub) and he retorts by calling her "Bed-wetter Momo." The two are close friends and Hitsugaya, despite being younger and much shorter than his friend, always feels that he needs to protect her. Even at a young untrained age, Hitsugaya could hear the calling of his Zanpakutō spirit, Hyōrinmaru. Despite this he never told anyone and couldn't accurately determine what was happening other then to assume it was an ever recurring dream. When Hinamori left to become a Shinigami, he portrayed himself as happy to see her go, though it was more of an act then his true feelings. Her friends from next door were scared of him, although he had never done anything to them. "Granny" and Hinamori are the only ones in the district that weren't afraid of him. He was supposedly "cold as ice" or at least thought to be, and he often wondered if it was due to his appearance or attitude. After Momo had been in the Shinigami Academy for 5 years he began to notice how he hadn't grown an inch, while Hinamori's hair grew longer and she visited less often, seeming to have a goal in life now, and "Granny" was getting skinnier.

While out at the market he meets Rangiku Matsumoto. She yells at a shop keeper who was being rude to him when Hitsugaya turns around he is knocked down by bumping into her bosom. She then yells at him for "lying there crying about it and not standing up like a man", although it was her who knocked him down with her large breasts in the first place, but he shook her off and ran away.

Later that night he has a vivid dream of a gigantic, icy blue, serpentine dragon with large wings and an echoing voice. This dream is markedly different from the previous ones where he only experiences sensations but nothing substantial to what the meaning maybe. This night the reason behind the dreams not only materializes but tries to tell him its name, but Hitsugaya cannot hear him as his voice is muffled by strong winds. Then just like that he wakes up in a cold sweat. Upon waking up he sees Rangiku and is surprised to see her in his home. She immediately tells him to stop leaking his reiatsu everywhere and to get some sleep. She further explains that his grandmother looks pretty cold, which causes Hitsugaya for the first time to notice that the room is exceedingly cold and affecting his grandmother. Rangiku then tells him he should become a Shinigami, stating that kids with power as strong as his need to learn how to bring that power under control. She explains that if he stays the way he is that his power will end up killing his grandmother pretty soon. At first Hitsugaya isn't sure what she is talking about but she calmly places her hand on his chest and asks him if he hears a voice calling out to him. She explains to him that once he has found that voice, he'll understand how to control his power. She notes to him for that to happen he must become a Shinigami.

Soon after, he tells his grandmother of his intentions of becoming a Shinigami. Much to Hitsugaya's surprise she is happy for him. She has always felt that he holds everything in because he didn't want to leave her but doing so was only hurting him and in turn seeing him that way hurt her. Hitsugaya then leaves to follow his own path with his grandmother's blessing. With Hitsugaya's natural talent, he quickly entered the Shinigami Academy and graduated early despite his age. Hinamori continued to call him "Shirō-chan" out of habit and felt she needed to protect him. Because of a promise she had made, she only began to call him "Hitsugaya-kun" after he had achieved his Zanpakutō's Shikai and was recognized as a Shinigami. Highly capable and knowledgeable, he quickly became the youngest of the captains within the Gotei 13 in the entire history of Soul Society.

He is also a friend of Jidanbō Ikkanzaka, the West Gate Keeper, who taught him the "city rules."

Powers & Abilities
Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Hitsugaya is masterful at swordsmanship, capable of utilizing his size to effectively counter and outmaneuver his opponent. His skill in swordsmanship is evident in the fact that he is the youngest Shinigami captain, he is thereby one of the youngest Shinigami to achieve Bankai. His skills in swordsmanship are great enough that he rarely uses even his Shikai in battle, of which he has shown great proficiency with. Instead he relies on Hyōrinmaru's sealed form, only using its Shikai or Bankai when things get tough.

Child Genius: Perhaps the most astonishing trait of Hitsugaya is his brains and natural talent. He is possibly the most gifted Shinigami the Soul Society has ever seen besides the scientist, as shown from him entering the Shinigami Academy on his first try despite his young age, graduating from the academy in a single year with the overall highest scores of his class, joining the Gotei 13 shortly afterwards, and then becoming the youngest Shinigami to ever reach the rank of captain. He has been called many things due to this. Renji and Iba have called him a child genius and Ichimaru has called him the embodiment of the "heavenly white angel that blesses Soul Society once a century". In terms of intellect, Hitsugaya has shown to be equally impressive. He was even the first to suspect Ichimaru of treason and saw that there was more to Rukia's execution than what was being said. Shunsui, one of the strongest Shinigami in history, states that because of his genius, within 100 years, Hitsugaya could surpass him.

Immense Spiritual Power: Tōshirō's spiritual power has the same effect as his Zanpakutō as it is an elemental representative of Ice. His Spiritual Pressure is said to be very large and "cold". Even before he became a Shinigami, his spiritual pressure was immense and uncontrollable, not unlike Ichigo, and caused people around him to freeze, namely his grandmother who lived with him at the time. This cold spiritual power of his reflects his attitude as well. He is also the youngest Shinigami to ever achieve their Bankai. He even had visions of Hyōrinmaru's spirit before he attained it or entered the Shinigami academy. He is able to hide his presence well, on several occasions he manages to surprise Hinamori and Matsumoto with his sudden appearances, which leads them to complain about "sneaking up" upon them.

Enhanced Endurance: Despite his young and lean appearance, Tōshirō has shown himself to be a resilient fighter. He survived the attacks of Shawlong Kūfang while at 20 percent of his actual strength.

Expert Strategist & Tactician: Despite his age, Hitsugaya has repeatedly shown great instincts and intuition in battle. He is generally aware of everything in his presence and also able to see through most deceptions. For example, he discerned that Gin Ichimaru was more than he seemed, although he was not yet sharp enough to realize it was all part of Aizen's plot. As a Captain, he is a great battle strategist. He is given missions from General Yamamoto to lead teams into the human world many times to deal with large threats. For example, Hitsugaya led the team sent by Soul Society which reinforced Ichigo's group against the Arrancar. In battle, he has shown great instincts against incoming danger as shown from his reaction to Harribel's initial attack after releasing.

Flash Steps Expert: Hitsugaya is highly proficient in flash steps. Repeatedly in battle, he has shown himself able to block and dodge dangerous attacks.

Kidō Expert: Hitsugaya is highly proficient in Kidō and is capable of performing high-level Kidō spells without the incantation.

Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Hitsugaya was able to knock out a grief-fuelled Hinamori in a single blow while in mid-air. However, he is seen more using his Zanpakutō so his expertise in this field remains to be seen.

Zanpakutō
Hyōrinmaru (氷輪丸, "Ice Ring", idiomatically "Frozen Full Moon") When sealed, Hyōrinmaru looks like a normal katana with the exception of the guard, which is in the shape of a four-pointed bronze-colored star. Its hilt is light blue and sheath dark blue. The sheath completely dissolves when he draws his sword. The sword is somewhat longer than most Zanpakutō, at about 1.4 meters long, making it taller then Hitsugaya, preventing him from wearing it at the hip. He instead carries it on his back by his green sash over his right shoulder.

The spirit of Hyōrinmaru is that of a gigantic, icy blue, serpentine dragon with large wings and an echoing voice. Like Ichigo, Hitsugaya has had a close connection to his blade since first awakening his Shinigami powers. Before Tōshirō began training to control his Shinigami powers and leaking reiatsu, Hyōrinmaru would constantly appear in his dreams in an icy landscape (most likely Tōshirō's inner world) and call out to him, although Tōshirō was still not able to hear him. Hyōrinmaru is the strongest of all ice-element Zanpakutō in Soul Society. As such, Hitsugaya doesn't need water to be present in order for him to use its abilities. Hitsugaya's control over Hyōrinmaru's power has been shown great enough to unleash some of its ice powers even in its sealed state and use any of its Bankai attacks (with less control) with Shikai.
 * Shikai: Hyōrinmaru's release command is "Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens" (霜天に坐せ, sōten ni zase). In its Shikai, Hyōrinmaru extends slightly in length, and gains a crescent-shaped blade attached to its hilt by a long metal chain, which can extend greatly if necessary by force of will. The chain itself can be used as an attack or to entangle a target.
 * Shikai Special Ability: Hyōrinmaru allows Hitsugaya to control water and ice. His slashes create an immense amount of spiritual power which overflows from the tip of the blade, creating a flow of ice shaped like a Chinese dragon. The dragon flies towards opponents and instantly freezes anything it touches. Hyōrinmaru can create multiple ice dragons to attack an opponent from various angles. Hitsugaya can also direct his slashes towards the ground and form a wave of ice which rushes over his opponents, overwhelming and freezing them. The chain-blade also freezes anything Hitsugaya traps with it. The power it expels is so overwhelming that in Soul Society (where Hitsugaya is not placed under a limiter), its mere release affects the weather within the immediate vicinity, creating a thunderstorm or a blizzard.
 * Tensō Jūrin (天相従臨, Subjagation Of The Heavens): One of Hyōrinmaru's basic powers and its strongest. It allows him to control the weather in the immediate vicinity, or more specifically, control the water in the surrounding atmosphere. Hitsugaya states that this aspect of his powers is not fully mature and that he doesn't like to use it in Bankai mode, as he is unsure of whether he could control it and keep from killing everyone in the vicinity. The ability is usable in both Shikai and Bankai modes.


 * Bankai: Daiguren Hyōrinmaru (大紅蓮 氷輪丸, Great Crimson Lotus Ice Ring): causes ice to flow from Hyōrinmaru onto Hitsugaya, starting at his right arm which ice forms onto in the shape of a dragon's head around sword hand, encasing it up to the hilt; which also changes from the shape of a four-pointed star to that of eight-pointed star. The ice continues forming up over his shoulders with two large wings sprouting from his back and a long tail. The ice forms down his left arm encasing his hand which ends in a claw. Hitsugaya's feet are encased in ice in a similar manner to his left hand which as they to end in claws. These new ice limbs are movable and can be used as an extension of himself to aid in battle. During some appearances of his Bankai, three flowers of ice form floating behind him, each consisting of four purple petals shaped like diamonds. These petals melt away petal by petal as Hitsugaya's battle progresses, leading Shawlong Kūfang to speculate that Hitsugaya's Bankai will fade when all twelve petals disappear, assuming that the captain's Bankai was incomplete due to his young age. During his fight with Luppi, these petals were noticeably absent; however, during his fight with Tia Harribel, they were present once more. He has since completed his Bankai after joining the Royal Guard, and no longer has a time limit on his Bankai.
 * Bankai Special Ability: Hyōrinmaru's Bankai has several additional techniques.
 * Ryūsenka (竜霰花, Dragon Hail Flower): When Hitsugaya stabs his opponents, a huge burst of ice erupts from the point of contact between Hyōrinmaru and the opponents, encasing and freezing them. Hitsugaya can then proceed to shatter the ice and his opponent with it.
 * Sennen Hyōrō (千年氷牢, Thousand Years' Ice Prison): Hitsugaya creates many ice pillars which encircle him and his enemy. At his command (when he turns his sword 90 degrees counter-clockwise), these pillars then move towards the enemy, enveloping and crushing it. Though this technique is very powerful, Hitsugaya infers that it takes a considerable amount of time to prepare, and therefore the distraction of his enemy is crucial in successfully completing this attack.
 * Shield of Ice Wings: Hitsugaya is capable of wrapping his wings around himself like a sphere protecting him from any attacks.
 * Bankai Regeneration: During his battle with Luppi, Hitsugaya's Bankai was damaged. However, it regenerated, and Hitsugaya stated that as long as there is water in the air his Bankai can be revived indefinitely.
 * Ice Clone: Once per activation of his Bankai, Tōshirō is able to create and shape a large amount of ice into his exact likeness. It is very life-like as it can appear to bleed. It has yet to be revealed the exact circumstances that limit the use of this ability to one use.
 * Guncho Tsurara (群鳥氷柱, Icicle Flock): Hitsugaya can transform water into ice and then swing his Zanpakutō in an arc which fires an array of ice daggers at his target.
 * Hyōten Hyakkasō (氷天百華葬, Frozen Heaven Hundred Flower Funeral): This ability is rarely used by Hitsugaya and only is produced under his Tensō Jūrin power. The ability opens up a huge hole in the clouds through which a large amount of snow falls down on to his opponent. Whoever the snow touches begins to sprout ice flowers all over, which instantly freezes them in a pillar of ice. Hitsugaya claimed that when the last of the 100 petals falls, the life of the one who touched it will be over.