Shiyōsha Clan

The Shiyōsha Clan (使用者家, lit. "Consumer Clan") is a former aristocratic noble family that was of great significance in Soul Society more than 1,000 years ago, with prestige and status just beneath that of the then five great noble houses. The clan was ultimately banished to the Beast Realm to atone for their "sins".

Overview
The Shiyōsha Clan are perhaps most notable for their distinct physical appearance. Similarly to the Wolfman Clan, members of the Shiyōsha Clan possess a number of beast-like characteristics, closely resembling bats in humanoid form. They are normally seen to have longer snouts, larger eye sockets, and pronounced canines. Other common characteristics shared between most if not all members of the clan include extremely pale skin, pointed ears, and red sclera.

Members of the clan, especially those whom are pure blooded, biologically possess advanced bodily systems, granting them superior cardiovascularity and a stronger sense of immunity toward infectious diseases. However this advanced health network costs a very generous amount of energy to sustain; without an adequate supply of reiryoku, the Shiyōsha in question will be forced into a state of severe homeostatic imbalance and eventually die.

In order to acquire enough reiryoku to sustain their complex healing factors, members of the Shiyōsha Clan must prey and feast on other souls --those whom do not weaken over time until perishing completely. Because they feast so regularly on souls, a Shiyōsha Clan member's body is a culmination of several souls as opposed to one, much like a Gillian class Hollow. Due to having so many souls, it is incredibly difficult for members of the clan to imprint their souls into an Asauchi. Thus, it is extremely rare for members of the Shiyōsha Clan to possess an ordinary Zanpakutō.

Because most members of the clan do not commonly forge their own Zanpakutō, there is a single Zanpakutō named "Nari no Doujin" that is passed down from generation to generation and is wielded by the clan's head. Not having Zanpakutō led the Shiyōsha to explore alternatives for combat, with most specializing in Kidō. It became the tradition of the Shiyōsha Clan to serve and enlist in the Kidō Corps, to the extent that those whom were not accepted into the Kidō Corps' militia were shunned by the rest of their kin.

Naturally, the Shiyōsha Clan's expertise in Kidō saw them become quite formidable in battle. This amounted in prestige that was on par with that of the then five great noble houses. However no amount of prestige was enough to justify the clan's soul feeding tendencies in the eyes of the Central 46, especially when it began greatly disturbing the balance of souls in the world. Eventually the Shiyōsha Clan was seen as nothing more than a danger to the entirety of the Soul Society, leading to their banishment into the Beast Realm.

The Shiyōsha Clan's existence is responsible for giving rise to the mythology of "vampirism".

, requiring one to consume other souls in order to maintain an adequate enough amount of energy simply to live.

unruly practice in consuming other souls to further empower themselves.

It was the tradition of the Shiyōsha Clan to serve and enlist in the Kidō Corps, to the extent that those whom were not accepted into the Kidō Corps' militia were shunned by the rest of their kin.