Hontomaru Ryōdoji

Hontomaru Ryōdoji (現実) is the last surviving member of the Ryōdoji clan, also known as the Dark Ones that Ganryū lead years ago during the Memory Rosary Incident and also the main antagonist of Search the Dangai arc. He seeks to create an artificial Memory Rosary to complete revenge on Soul Society.

Appearance
Hontomaru wears the same form of armor the other Dark One's wear, only with white bordering on his as opposed to red or gold. He also wears a long black cape, with a red interior, and what looks like a brown belt from his waist, connected to his red belt-like sash. He also has red eyes and very pointed ears, giving him an almost vampiric-look to him. Interestingly, his eyes are unique to the other Dark Ones.

Personality
Hontomaru exhibits a very calm and serious personality. He speaks with less formal diction, such as not using honorifics. He spoke down to the Blanks (going so far as to refer to them as "minions"). He has great faith in his own abilities, to the point of acting arrogant on occasion, only acting polite to Matthew Toshiro, as he is to be the host of Hontomaru's grand scheme. He is also well-versed in rhetoric and is capable of gaining others' trust without revealing his goals to them.

Hontomaru has shown great ability in manipulating others to do his work for him. Ryan believed that he was using the Blanks hunger for memories against them in order to control them. He possessed an extreme hatred towards his own clan and the Soul Society, as he is a descendant of the Dark Ones clan, but was also cast out by his own brethren for possessing shinigami talents. Furthermore, as Soul Society has stripped the Dark Ones of their powers and subdued them after the casting them out of the Dangai, Hontomaru felt more humiliated when his clansmen, who hated the shinigami due to this crime, cast him out for having latent shinigami powers. This hatred led Hontomaru to a life dedicated to revenge.

History
All of the Dark Ones were once a part of the Fallen House of Ryōdoji, exiled 1000 years ago to the Dangai Precipice World. Amazingly, the group somehow managed to avoid the deadly current flowing through the entire Dangai, and resided there for many years. It was in this world that Hontomaru, along with the rest of the clan, discovered the souls that evaded transmigration and turned into wandering ghosts: The Blanks. The Dark Ones learned to harness the Blanks as an energy source for their own power learning all the information there is about Blanks, and formulated a plan for revenge against Soul Society. Ganryū, the clan leader, lead his clan to the Valley of Screams where they continued to reside.

During their exile in the Valley of Screams, Hontomaru was discovered to have shinigami powers. After much debate his clan exiled him from the valley and he was cast back into the Dangai where he was forced to learn to survive on his own.

Powers & Abilities
Blank Manipulation: Like all of the Dark Ones, Hontomaru can manipulate the Blanks for various purposes. His most prominent use of Blanks was to recharge his reiatsu or as minions. He also learned how to recreate the Valley of Screams by using their powers. He can also turn Blanks into weapons to hurl at his opponents.

Vast Spiritual Power: Hontomaru has an immense amount of spiritual power, being able to equal a Xiāochú's speed and power using Bankai- so basically he is as powerful as a captain. His reiatsu is colored transparent maroon.

Odd Form of Teleportation: He uses a strange form of teleportation to take him to the Dangai or to Hueco Mundo, but oddly, he cannot go to Soul Society with this technique. Hontomaru also shows the ability to travel long distances within relatively short time spans, escaping the final explosion created by Ryan's bankai and reappearing in the Dangai within a very short period. It was speculated by Seireitou Kawahiru that he uses time/space to instantly send himself or even parts of his body to different locations or some sort of void and then instantly bring them back. It is revealed that Hontomaru can find the exact location of a person and warp himself to that place, stating that it is in his power.

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: Hontomaru is a highly proficient combatant with a sword. His battle style is shown to be swift and graceful with constant shifting in his body stance, similar to a male gymnast. Through this, he has able to keep up a continuous attack that leaves little time for countering.

Flash Steps Expert: Hontomaru is helpful and effective because of his high speed. During his brief battle against the Adjuchas of the Menos Forest, he skillfully dodged multiple attacks from several enemies.

Zanpakuto
Makotobenda (現実のベンダー, Reality Bender) is a double-edged katana with a amethyst-colored hilt, a spiked guard, resembling bat wings and a dull gem in the center of the guard and the hilt.
 * Shikai: It's shikai command is "Call forth Existence.'''", which, upon being said, turns Makotobenda into an ordinary katana with a maroon hilt.
 * ''Shikai Special Ability: It has the power to erase the memories of those it cuts. Once their memories are gone, the person cut, slowly begins transforming into a Blank. The process of turning into a Blank can be reversed in a similar manner to a Soul Burial, by tapping the transforming soul with the hilt of his zanpakuto.
 * Bankai: Not revealed yet.