Rukia Kuchiki (Ten Tails)

Rukia Kuchiki (朽木 ルキア, Kuchiki Rukia) is the lieutenant of the, previously under Captain. Rukia is the younger sister of, the adoptive sister of , and a friend of.

Appearance
Short and petite, Rukia has pale skin, violet-colored eyes and black hair, with one strand of hair always hanging between her eyes. Byakuya has said to Rukia that she strongly resembles Hisana Kuchiki. As a Shinigami of the Gotei 13, Rukia wears a standard Shihakushō. As a lieutenant, Rukia has her hair cropped into a bob that hangs about her face, and wears the same type of gloves as Byakuya, as well as a lieutenant's badge on her arm.

Personality
Initially born into a lower class, Rukia retains her modesty even as an adopted member of the nobility. She is graceful and "clean", yet chooses to talk to ordinary people. However, her cool and lone demeanor often forces her to hide her personal troubles even from her friends. According to Ukitake, Rukia never opens up her heart and has difficulty making friends. Rukia is clueless about the ways of the modern Human World. She is an accomplished actress, being able to act her way through a number of tough situations, such as getting out of trouble with school teachers or convincing the Kurosakis to let her stay at their house.

Rukia always has trouble finding clothes that fit her, especially when inhabiting a Gigai in the Human World, leading to her stealing clothes from Ichigo's sister, Yuzu. She likes to climb to high places. Rukia also likes everything that is rabbit-themed or resembles a rabbit People often have difficulty understanding her drawings, which are typically rabbit-like. Rukia's favorite foods are cucumber, eggs and rice dumplings.

History

 * Note: The history section of this page only pertains to fanon events, not canon ones.

After the events of 's campaign, Rukia was made the lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division. By her own admission, she did not fight directly in the Akujin Crisis; being ordered to protect the instead. After five judges were killed in Rider City by its new Substitute Shinigami, Raian Getsueikirite, formerly Captain of the, Rukia was sent to investigate. She uncovered that they were allied with the Shinigami criminal, Setsuna Kōmei, but was assigned to become Rider City's Shinigami protector, as she was briefly for, indefinitely.

Powers & Abilities
By her own admission, she has less talent in swordsmanship than Kidō. However after much training by her former mentor,, her skill drastically improved. She has shown herself to be capable enough to hold her own in a battle, most notably defending herself from attacks from the 9th Espada, while he was using the expert swordsmanship skill of Kaien Shiba.

However, as she said herself, while her Kidō skill at the Shinō Academy were the highest of her class, the sheer power of them were just average when she joined the 13th Division. Through continuous training, she has greatly developed this skill. She is able to switch from Zanjutsu to Kidō without delay upon losing her Zanpakutō. She has shown she is able to use several high-level Kidō in rapid succession without incantations and still have considerable control and power. She has also shown great skill for using various spells in unique combinations, even using multiple spells simultaneously. Rukia has shown that she is capable of using a level 61 Bakudō spell and a level 73 Hadō spell consecutively, though she needs to chant the incantations for both to perform them.

Enhanced Durability: Rukia has a great amount of durability. She was able to withstand being impaled by Aaroniero's, in conjunction with his and finish him off before losing consciousness.

Enhanced Strength: Despite her size, she is actually powerful enough to defeat a superior opponent. Even without the aid of her Zanpakutō, she is still a considerable opponent. Her strength is displayed when is controlling her and she picks up Orihime with her own two hands, able to throw her in the air, despite her size.

She is also capable of having hand-to-hand combat while in her Shinigami state, with augmented strength. During the Bount invasion, she showed herself capable of countering the swift and accurate attacks of.

Keen Intellect: Repeatedly in missions, Rukia has shown herself to be very intelligent, as seen from her ability to compensate against stronger opponents with combination attacks. During her forced stay in the living world after losing her powers, Rukia proved herself very resourceful in assisting Ichigo with his new Shinigami duties. Rukia is also very knowledgeable, as shown from her knowledge of the Soul Society's history.



During her battle against the Adjuchas of the Menos Forest, she skillfully dodged multiple attacks from several enemies.

Zanpakutō
Sode no Shirayuki (袖白雪, Sleeved White Snow): In its sealed form, Sode no Shirayuki is a normal katana with a rectangular tsuba with inward-curved corners with curved slits above and below the blade and a series of curved lines embossed on either side of the blade. It has a reddish-brown hilt.
 * Shikai: Its Shikai command is "Dance" (舞え, mae). Rukia holds her Zanpakutō out in front of her and turns it in a circle counter-clockwise. While she is turning it, the blade, hilt and tsuba turn completely white. The tsuba becomes a hollow snowflake-like circle and a white ribbon forms from the pommel. Sode no Shirayuki is regarded as one of the most beautiful in the Soul Society. The transformation comes along with a rush of cold air in all directions.


 * Shikai Special Ability: Sode no Shirayuki has control over ice, much like 's, but uses it in a different manner. Like 's Suzumushi and 's Benihime, Sode no Shirayuki possesses more than one ability in Shikai. Sode no Shirayuki's abilities are labeled as "dances" by Rukia.
 * Some no mai, Tsukishiro (初の舞・月白, First Dance, White Moon): Rukia calls out the name of the dance while holding her Zanpakutō upside down. The blade glows and then she makes a slashing motion when her target is in position. When she does this, a large ice circle forms around her intended target which freezes everything that touches it. The circle not only freezes the ground but everything within the circle's influence including anything above it up in the air, creating an extending pillar of light that then freezes all within in the circle. Shortly after being frozen, the victim then shatters along with the ice.
 * Tsugi no mai, Hakuren (次の舞・白漣, Next Dance, White Ripple): Rukia calls out the name of the dance and punctures the ground once creating a large ice circle similar to the first dance, then she punctures the ground in front of her four times in a semi circle. She takes a battle stance as the ice particles begin to flow up from the punctures she made in the ground. They build up and then fire toward the target in a massive, powerful pure-white wave of ice from Sode no Shirayuki's blade, in turn encasing the target in a block of ice.
 * San no mai, Shirafune (参の舞・白刀, Third Dance, White Sword): Rukia calls out the name of the dance, which allows her to reforge her Zanpakutō with ice particles if it is broken, piercing through objects in its path. After piercing its target, it continues to freeze any surrounding objects, including the battlefield.
 * Juhaku (樹白, White Tree): Rukia stabs the ground which creates a trail of ice in the direction of her intended target. The ice then freezes the target from the base up in a continuing freezing process, as it transforms the target into ice.


 * : Not Yet Achieved.