Setsuna Murakami

Setsuna Murakami (ムラカミ=刹那, Murakami Setsuna) is a Reikon Kyuuban. Most of her past is hazy, though Setsuna met Sayaka Yabunmusan as a child. The two became fast friends due to their compatible personalities and similar views. Setsuna remained oblivious to the fact that Sayaka had developed feelings towards her. After leaving Sayaka, She also forges a rocky alliance with Gai Nagareboshi, despite the two starting out as fierce rivals. Setsuna's idealism is put to the test against Gai's cynicism in the story. At the beginning of Part II, Gai's words, in addition to her insecurities due to being one of the weakest of her clan begin to get to Setsuna, and she becomes obsessed with being a "knight of justice". To uphold her own notion of justice, Setsuna becomes convinced of her own righteousness, becoming a major antagonist. After being mercy killed by Sayaka sacrificing herself, Setsuna's soul merged with Sayaka's, giving the latter her Reikon Kyuuban blood, and later influencing her Fullbring.

Appearance
Setsuna is a tall, yet petite young woman. Her long, crimson hair is parted in the middle, framing both sides of her face, with a few strands in the gap of her forehead. On both sides, her hair reaches down to her collar bones. The rest of her hair is held up in a large ponytail that reaches down to her thighs. At the end of the ponytail, her hair curves out, and after the black ribbon, she has clumps of hair sticking out to the sides of it if facing towards others. Setsuna has piercing pale blue eyes. Setsuna's clothes consist of a white shirt with a high collar and half-arm length sleeves. She wears a blue coat over her shirt. The coat's shoulder parts are puffy and ruffled on their ends, and a red ribbon and a gold bell rest above her chest. Her skirt has two layers, and it is cyan in colour. She also wears black tights and a pair of white boots, which are knee-length.

After her 'realization', Setsuna changes drastically, especially in her facial features. Her eyes are now constantly wide open, and her irises and pupils are always shrunken to minimum, during her fight with Gai, they are absent as her sanity slips further and further from her grasp. Setsuna has bags under her eyes, giving her a tired/exhausted look. She also has black and red teardrop shaped markings above and underneath her eyes. Her hair is messier, there is no longer a ribbon in her hair, which is tangled around the ends and juts out everywhere. Her the looks plastered upon her face vary from apathy to a wide grin which shows no emotion, only teeth. Setsuna wears a black two-tailed sleeveless trenchcoat that is always open. Underneath this, she wears a dark red, shoulderless top that is split to reveal some of her cleavage. Her black sleeves are deattached, and are tattered, barely hanging onto her arms by threads. In addition, she wears a somewhat ripped black mini-skirt with a blood-red pattern around the hem, and torn black thigh-high boots.

Personality and Traits
Setsuna is proud of her heritage, and enjoys flaunting the fact that she is a Reikon Kyuuban at every oppertunity, despite the fact that Misaki always cautions her that she "would be killed" by someone if she continued to show off. She holds an admiration for her teacher, Misaki, and ususally listens to her instructions. Setsuna has an unwavering sense of justice, and will not stand others weaker than herself being pushed around. She fancies herself a "knight of justice", a hero to the defenseless. Setsuna exudes the desire to become a role model to others. Similar to Misaki's hatred for Ayano Kisaragi, Setsuna has a fierce rivalry with Gai Nagareboshi, and two never miss an oppertunity to have at each other; these times are some of the scarce moments where Gai will display emotion other than icy silence. Setsuna is also an idealist and often talks about changing the world for the better. In spite of her "paladin-esque" behavior, she often embellishes the truth for her own convenience and will try to stretch the truth until she can no longer keep up the facade, this was shown where she lies to Misaki that she can cook curry wherein fact she didn't know how. However, Setsuna has incredible insecurities, mostly stemming from the fact that she is one of the weakest of her clan, especially when compared to her older brother, who is noted to be perhaps the most intelligent man in all of Soul Society. Despite this, Setsuna continues to train rigorously every day, in the hopes that she could catch up to his level of power. Setsuna has taken a vow of celibacy; due to her commitment to upholding order, she has stated that she has "no time for such trivial matters". She is an honorable and decent young woman who looks out for her friends, is kind to children (which is, ironically, one of the few redeeming traits Gai has), and is willing to help people in need. This is displayed when she helps Shion after she was defeated by Kaori Shishagazō. She comes to her student's aid a second time later on and fought by Gai's side to buy Shion time to help Reina save her Arrancar friends. During this battle, she and Gai come to grudgingly respect each other as warriors. She also tends to warn her opponents by reminding them who she is and is confident of her own abilities. At times, Setsuna underestimates her opponents, and will always spare them in the hopes that they will "open their eyes to justice". Setsuna has a large appetite, and is often seen stuffing her face whenever she gets the chance. Unlike Gai, this is not intended for comedic effect- after the Kawahiru clan massacre, Setsuna almost starved to death.

During her downwards spiral of depression in Part II, Setsuna begins to change significantly- with her courage becoming foolhardiness, as she realizes that Soul Society isn't what she believes it is; instead, it is a rather dark and horrible place. Her hot-headedness becomes grim determination, as she fights to prove that her idealism is right and Gai is wrong. In addition, she begins to realize that the gap in power between her and her brother becomes wider and wider each day, and she becomes rather bitter. Contributing to her breakdown is her vow of celibacy; she felt that she has no-one to ask to "embrace this scar-ridden body", and this yearning for a significant other is one of the major reasons Setsuna slowly begins to lose trust in everything but her "justice". At the mid-point of Part II, no matter how deep in despair she is, Setsuna never let go of the thought that she is a "knight of justice"; eventually being blinded by herself, her loneliness, her jealousy, and her ideals, becoming convinced of her own righteousness. As a result, to uphold her own notion of justice, she had become crueler and more ruthless, attempting to kill anyone who disrupted her notion of order, in addition to killing criminals regardless of whether or not their crimes are justified, experiencing neither shame, guilt, or remorse for her actions. She shows great rage whenever someone points out to her that she is "no better than a criminal", to the point she 'killed' Shion for mentioning so. During her fight with Gai, Setsuna mentioned that killing Shion made her feel an exhiliration that she never felt before, and sees killing those who are "unjust" as a high. During battle, Setsuna gives up on sparing her foes, this is noted by Gai as possibly being the most terrifying thing about the 'new' Setsuna: she always uses exactly how much force she needs to in order to defeat her enemy: no more and no less. At this point, Setsuna has past the point of redemption; leading to most of the other main characters to lose hope in her. The only person who still has faith in Setsuna is Sayaka, her former best friend.

Powers and Abilities
Setsuna is powerful enough to be recognized and recieve a teaching position the Shinō Academy. While she is hailed as incredibly skilled for her age, Setsuna is a sort of 'jack-of-all-trades', having no specific area that she is particularly knowledgable in, which irritates her to no end.

Swordsmanship Expert: While not as proficient in Zanjutsu as the rest of her clan members, Setsuna is still incredibly skilled with her blade, able to effortlessly defeat Kaori in their first encounter. Setsuna focuses on quick, precise strikes, always aiming to hit her opponent's vital points in battle. She uses misdirection in her attacks and even though doing so allows for holes in her defense she is more than capable of making it up with surprise attacks. After her 'realization', Setsuna had become far more competent with Zanjutsu, though she has a habit of letting her guard down to rant at her opponents about the concept of "justice". She now uses heavy, lightning-quick blows which aim to inflict immense damage upon her opponents, and can even splatter limbs if enough force is poured into the strike. In addition, Setsuna had learnt the Kūjin (空陣 lit. "Shunya Formation") style, extremely powerful Zanjutsu techniques that were banned from being taught at the Shinō Acadamy due to their fearsome power and their life-threatening side-effects from an exiled Shinigami. Shunpo Expert: Setsuna is highly knowledgable in Shunpo, able to move huge distances in the blink of an eye. She often moves in zig-zagging motions, making it hard for her opponents to predict her movements. She has shown great enough reflexes to dodge point-blank sword attacks unscathed. She uses many acrobatic rolls and flips, further enhanced by Shunpo. After her 'realization', Setsuna becomes more erratic with her movement, as appearing before striking her opponent and dissapearing once again on the other side of them becomes a major part of her strategy. Incredible Strength: Despite her small size, Setsuna is highly powerful, able to lift and drag items many times her height and weight.
 * Hitotsume: Nadegiri (一つ目・撫で斬り, "The First: Killing Stroke"): This basic technique allows for a precision cut of extreme force and speed, it can casually slice through large, multi-story high opponents. The opponent can be killed with one swift slash so precise, that they aren't even aware of until after it has taken place.
 * Zantetsu (斬鉄, "Slashing Iron"): Setsuna performs a massive overhead slash, followed by a low, sweeping slash.
 * Saimitama (三位弾, "Trinity Shot"): Setsuna slashes her opponent in a delta formation.
 * Kōshi no Ken (光子の剣, "Photon Slicer"): Setsuna swings her weapon at her opponent, holding it in a reverse grip. At the instant of the slash, a blast of light is fired from the tip of the blade towards her opponent.
 * Narensa Akarikenmai (七連鎖灯剣舞, "Seven Chain Gleaming Sword Dance"): An extremely powerful Zanjutsu attack, executed with Hantonghaeng in it's Shikai form. Setsuna launches the chains around her opponent, pulling them in. As soon as the opponent is within reach, Setsuna ignites the tip of her halberd with light, and unleashes a flurry of slashes and thrusts from all directions at breakneck speeds, before finishing up with a spinning thrust that blasts through her opponent with incredible force. This technique is often reserved for Setsuna's finishing blow, due to its incredible power.
 * Kūjin: Gensō (空陣・幻想, "Shunya Formation: Fantasy"): Not Yet Revealed.
 * Kūjin: Sukuinushi no Hikari (空陣・救い主の光, "Shunya Formation: Savior of Light"): Not Yet Revealed.
 * Kūjin: Jōzai (空陣・浄罪, "Shunya Formation: Cleansing of Sins"): Not Yet Revealed.
 * Kūjin: Seisei (空陣・精製, "Shunya Formation: Purification"): Not Yet Revealed.
 * Kūjin: Aku no Hakai (空陣・悪の破壊, "Shunya Formation: Destruction of Evil"): Not Yet Revealed.
 * Kūjin: Meibatsu (空陣・冥罰, "Shunya Formation: Retribution/Divine Punishment"): Not Yet Revealed.
 * Kūjin Ōgi: Tenbatsutekimen (空陣義・天罰覿面, "Shunya Formation Secret Art: Swift is Heaven's Vengance"): Not Yet Revealed.
 * Utsusemi (空蝉; Cicada, referencing their molting): Way of Onmitsu, 3rd of the Shihou. It allows for a movement at great speed, leaving at least one tangible after-image behind.
 * Mohō Arashi (モホ嵐, "Imitation Storm"): Setsuna rapidly appears and dissapears around her opponent, creating thousands of illusions of herself that surround her opponent.

Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Setsuna has repeatedly shown great agility and coordination in her attacks. In addition to having powerful punches, Setsuna has also shown proficiency in counterattacks, takedowns, and body locks. She has repeatedly been able to catch an opponent's weapon strikes with a single hand. Setsuna favors right-crosses into the face and brutal kicks to the midesection, which is usually more than enough to incapacitate her foes. Despite her dismissal of Ayano Kisaragi, Setsuna has learned the "Haja" (破邪 lit. "Empyrean") style of Hakuda from her. After her 'realization', Setsuna begins to use staggeringly powerful kicks that sweep in random directions, using a close-quarters fighting style that is unpredictable. Incredible Speed: Setsuna has repeatedly shown herself to be a very agile fighter. Setsuna has demonstrated great reflexes in battle, able to quickly dodge a strike with no wasted effort and she can instantly counterattack right after. She is able to strike quickly without warning and in rapid succession.
 * Haja: Kensē Itten (破邪・顕正一天, "Empyrean: Crushing Evil and Spreading the Truth"): With a thrust of her hand, Setsuna can break her opponents' Kidō, before blowing her opponent into the sky with a powerful uppercut imbued with reishi.
 * Haja: Meigokushamon (破邪・迷獄沙門, "Empryean: Lost Prison Shramana"): Setsuna kicks the ground, forming a massive crater, before dashing foward, unleashing a multitude of devastating kicks from all angles. She moves so fast that the opponent feels that they are trapped in a prison.
 * Haja: Batan o Kaiten (破邪・バタンを回転, "Empryean: Spinning Slam"): In the air, Setsuna restrains her opponent with her bare hands before piledriving them into the ground head-first with devastating speed, while rotating extremely fast.

Kidō Expert: Setsuna is skilled enough in the use of the level 31 Shakkahō spell that she can fire it without much trouble half of the time but in other instances it has exploded indiscriminately. Setsuna also has enough knowledge of Kidō to manipulate it for purposes other than fighting, such as using her Shakkahō spell to illuminate dark alleyways. However, she is only able to create a small light without reciting the full chant. Like other members of her clan, Setsuna also knows the Hadō 88: Hiryugekizokushintenraiho, as it is a coming-of-age technique within the royal family, but only uses it as a last resort, due to it being taxing on her body. Her highest Hadō spell, minus Hadō #88, is Gaki Rekkō. After her 'realization', Setsuna's skill has slightly deterred in Kidō, though she had learnt even more powerful techniques in exchange. Intelligence: Setsuna has a 'black-and-white' outlook when it comes to life, and as such, can be incredibly naive when it comes to certain subjects, such as morality. Academically, Setsuna is rather lacking; she had some of the lowest marks when taking an exam, though her skill in other areas were noticable enough to allow her to graduate. This is best represented when she is asked questions that are difficult for her; Setsuna will stare blankly at person who asked her the question for several seconds or minutes. Her somewhat low intelligence makes Setsuna feel insecure and embarrassed. After her 'realization', Setsuna's mental state had deteriorated slightly, as she is prone to making animalistic movements in battle and has become single-minded in her attempts to lash out at everyone who was "unjust" and the one who had always made her felt pathetic.
 * Kyōbōna Ryūkō (凶暴な流行, "Berserker Rage"): Using this unique Kidō, Setsuna can detatch her senses and block all forms of pain, becoming a nearly unstoppable berserker.
 * Tsunugui (ツヌグイ, "Origins"): Setsuna forms an azure, diamond-shaped barrier around her body. This barrier is incredibly durable; however, those with significant power are able to shatter it easily.
 * Yata no Kagami (ヤタノカガミ, "Blessed Mirror"): Setsuna creates a mirror in front of herself, capable of reflecting Kidō. However, Setsuna must be in possession of the particular spell used by her opponent, or else, Yata no Kagami will not work.

Enormous Spiritual Power: Setsuna possesses a immense amount of reiatsu. When released in a potent aura, Setsuna's reiatsu takes the form of a torrent of blazing white light, which has the potential to burn and set her surroundings on fire. As she becomes more and more corrupted by Gai's cynicism and learning that the world isn't what she believes it is, the light becomes darker and darker, culminating in it turning a horrific pitch black at the end of Part II, where Setsuna claims to have "given up on the world".
 * Telekinesis: Setsuna is able to use telekinesis with her reiatsu to levitate her Zanpakutō and use it to strike her opponents from afar, as well as call her weapon back to her hand.

Zanpakutō
Hantonghaeng (한통행, "One Way Road") is the name of Setsuna's Zanpakutō. When sealed, it takes the form of a black, fierce-looking and jagged katana. It is roughly 1.3 meters long, and the guard is white. Around the guard, there are numerous crimson flame-like designs, and the pommel of Hantonghaeng is shaped like a emerald. After her 'realization', Setsuna is shown to briefly morph her weapon into a menacing revolver, which she uses to hold Shion at gunpoint before subsequently firing it.

Bara no Kanmuri (薔薇の冠, "Crown of Roses"): Setsuna's signature technique, and the most used of her techniques. Setsuna creates giant roses and spiked branches made from light that surround and bind the opponent.

Shikai: Hantonghaeng's Shikai is activated with the command, "Appear from the depths of the spinning galaxy!" (銀河の渦の中より現れよ, "Ginga no uzu no naka yori arawareyo!"). When questioned about the meaning of the release command by Gai, Setsuna responded "It sounds cool". When released, Hantonghaeng takes the form of a crimson halberd whose shaft can split into chained-together segments, giving it dangerous flexibility and reach, allowing her to attack or defend over a wide area, in addition to being able to extend at high speeds to impale her opponents from a distance, and it carries tremendous force while extending. The chain runs along the handle, ending in a heavy ball at the blunt side. The ball's weight is used to easily wrap the chain around opponents, restricting them. In addition, with the command "Flip" (めくる, "Mekuru"), the tip of the halberd can move to the side, becoming a scythe. As well as this, the spearhead can transform into a chainsaw.

Shikai Special Abilities: In Shikai, Setsuna gains manipulation based around astronomical objects, such as meteors, stars and black holes. Setsuna can generate and manipulate the energy of the stars from her body and use it against her opponent. For example, starlight attacks, starchains or starbeams. Setsuna can only use each technique once per battle, as the strain on her body is often too much for her to bear. Bankai: Bichnaneun Hantonghaeng (빛나는한통행, "Shining One Way Road"): In Bankai, Hantonghaeng remains mostly the same, except for the entirety of it turning golden, though Setsuna's attire recieves a drastic change. Setsuna wears a leopard-print long, revealing dress that is cut to show the entirety of her cleavage and the top part of her stomach. The sleeves of her dress are detached, and she has a giant black ribbon wrapped around her waist. The back of her dress is cut off. Her dress has a slit that goes all the way up to her hip. She wears black stilettos.
 * Ryūsei (流星, "Meteor"): After calling the technique's name, Setsuna's body becomes surrounded by light, allowing her to move through the air at incredible speeds. Even if someone could detect her trajectory, it is near impossible to catch her. With her speed, Setsuna assaults her opponents with quick but powerful melee attacks.
 * Hokutoshichisei (北斗七星, "Big Dipper"): Setsuna summons seven pillars of light from the sky and strikes her opponents with all of them at once. According to Setsuna, this technique's destruction capability rivals a meteor.
 * Omo Shūkai (重集塊, "Double Cluster"): Setsuna thrusts in the opponent's direct location, and the opponent is struck with a blast of light that strikes them in their exact location. In return for striking the opponent with little chances of dodging, this attack is fairly weak.
 * Idana Giyaman (偉大なギヤマン, "Great Diamond"): Setsuna thrusts her halberd upwards, and several pillars of light erupt out of the ground in a diamond formation, trapping her opponent.
 * Ko-Mitsu-Boshi (小三星, "Little Three Stars"): Setsuna creates several light copies of her halberd, which float around her. With a hand motion, she orders them to extend at high speeds towards her opponent. Alternatively, Setsuna can cause them to shoot against her opponent at high speed in a powerful barrage.

Bankai Special Abilities: In Bankai, Setsuna's parameters are vastly increased, as has her ability.
 * Minami no Sankaku (南の三角, "Southern Triangle"): Setsuna conjures multiple seals in front of herself and uses them to fire powerful beams of light. Once the beams reach a designated area, their reishi compacts itself and explodes. This technique can be used to take down multiple opponents in different and distant locations.
 * Mizu Hebi (水蛇, "Water Serpent"): Setsuna sends out several whips made out of light to batter the opponent.
 * Tobuio (飛魚, "Flying Fish"): Setsuna points at her opponent with her halberd, and she fires a beam of light at them, capable of inflicting piercing damage.
 * Minami no Kanmuri (南の冠, "Southern Crown"): Setsuna creates a dark-coloured globe of concentrated reishi that progressively expands, thus destroying everything in its way.
 * Ankoku no Rakuen (暗黒の楽園, "Dark Paradise"): Setsuna crosses her arms above her head to begin initiate the attack. As she prepares to release the attack, all nearby shadows are drawn towards her. Setsuna then unleashes a black orb with small white lights, similar to the night sky. The orb is incredibly dense, and holds a tremendous amount of gravity to crush its opponents.
 * Mugen no Kaze (無限の風, "Infinity Winds"): Setsuna's most powerful technique, by punching the ground, Setsuna unleashes an enormous tornado formed from light around her person. This technique has enough power decimate a large section of Seireitei, and almost kill Shion and Tsubame in the process.

Quotes

 * "I will become a hero, a knight of justice!" -Repeatedly, to others
 * "Seireitou? Ah, that's that son of the Soul King...But I'm going to become stronger than him, than anyone else. So that no-one will have to cry." -To Itoku Kawahiru
 * "Someone like you...Is the worst of them all. You're no crusader. You're just a plain ol' villain!" -To Gai Nagareboshi
 * "Don't touch me! I shall not be tainted by such vile hands!" -To Gai Nagareboshi, after he rescues her and carries her bridal-style
 * "Even so...Even so...! My justice is right!" -To Gai Nagareboshi, during an argument over morality
 * "It's not a lie...It's not a lie...It's not a lie..." -During her breakdown
 * "I was always in the right! The ones who are in the wrong are everyone else in this wretched existence! My justice is absolute!" -After going insane, to Sayaka, Shion, and Tsubame
 * "Me? Evil? I am righteous! I'm the hero who's liberating people from fear! I'm the savior, the god of justice! And you...All of you...Everyone in Soul Society...You're the evil ones!" -To Gai, Hizashi, and Shion
 * "There is only one justice, and it is obviously on my side."
 * "You too, Sayaka!? ...Out of all of them...I thought that you would understand, understand the need for change. ...No matter. Looks like...I don't need...anything." -To Sayaka, after she refused to join her
 * "S-Shut up! None of that...It meant nothing to me!" -To Sayaka, upon being reminded about their past.
 * "You never understood! None of you never understood!" -To Sayaka
 * "...I'm sorry, Sayaka..." -Last words

Trivia

 * Setsuna's birthday falls on Valentine's Day. In contrast to her birthday, Sayaka's is White Day (14th of March). This reflects their close relationship.
 * All of Hantonghaeng's techniques are named after constellations.
 * According to the author, Setsuna's:
 * Hobbies include: training and helping the less fortunate.
 * Favorite food is tofu and her favorite drink is orange juice.
 * Dislikes: Slackers, evil, and those who have no justice.
 * Setsuna's favorite phrase is "Justice always prevails" (正義は必ず勝つ, "Seigi wa kanarazu katsu").
 * Setsuna wishes to fight Gai Nagareboshi.