Kurayami Shiki

"A good fighter knows his mental and physical limitations, but a great fighter will figure a way around them"

- Kurayami Shiki

Kurayami Shiki (Shiki Kurayami) is a Shinigami and a seated officer in the 6th division.

Appearance
Kurayami Shiki has spikey, black colored hair and black eyes and wears glasses. He wears standard shinigami uniform.

Personality
As far as his personality goes, Shiki is about as eccentric as any other Shinigami, he is usually seen as a laid-back, jovial fellow, Shiki also shows a deceptively-different, cunning, and serious side of his personality when the situation demands for it. Despite his care-free attitude, he always speaks politely, but is sometimes sarcastic. He tends to go over the top with whatever he becomes passionate about and he usually takes responsibility and tends to avoid violence when possible.

History
Shiki was born to a family of lesser nobility, his parents having been dead since he was young. On the day he first enters into the Shinigami Academy he visits his parents grave. He passed the entrance exam on his first try and was shortly recognized as a prodigy, as he completed the six-year curriculum of the Shinigami Academy after only three years

Abilities
Kurayami Shiki is a lieutenant-level combatant, capable of felling all but the toughest of enemies effortlessly.

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Although avoids using his zanpaktou in battle, Shiki is a highy proficient swordsmen. He is masterful at swordsmanship, capable of flawless precision and lethal attacks without much effort and can take on multiple high level opponents at once. Reluctant of using his Zanpakutō's Shikai form, Shiki has trained to become especially skilled at swordsmanship so he wouldn't have to rely on it. He has shown to be very crafty with his Zanpakutō as his skills are great enough to regularly fight opponents with released Zanpakutō while his remains sealed.

Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Shiki has shown to rely mostly on hand-to-hand combat, rarely drawing his sword at all, he has shown to be highly proficient in this area of skill. His skills are great enough to effortlessly take down several high level opponents unarmed.

Flash Step Expert: Shiki is proficient enough in flash steps to keep up with lieutenant-level Shinigami. His skill allows him to move fast enough to dodge a vast majority of multiple blasts that are fired at him.

Kidō Expert: Shiki's having been a Shinigami for a long time, seems to be well-versed enough in Kidō to have an understanding of at least fairly high-level Kidō spells without incantation. He has been seen using them in conjunction with his released Zanpakutō to deliver more damage to his opponents.

Master Strategist & Tactician: With his years of experience as a warrior, Shiki has also shown himself to be a powerful and flexible tactician. He is capable of adjusting seamlessly to any given combat situation and making quick decisions accordingly. He has shown himself to be a very insightful and cunning man with a talent for thinking things well in advance as well and able to perceive any situation at hand, he can deceive both allies and enemies very easily.

Immense Spiritual Power: Shiki possesses an exceedingly powerful Reiatsu even by lieutenant-level standards, he has shown to have tremendous spiritual energy.

Zanpakutō
Zaraikou (The Lightning): A regular katana with a circular guard and black hilt with golden design.


 * Shikai: It is released by the command "Ride". The blade changes from its sealed form into a form into a jian a double-edged straight sword.The shape of the guard can be described as short wings pointing either forward or backward.

Shikai Special Ability: Zaraikou allows Shiki to control electricity, Lightning and thunder and can also be used to paralyze opponents. When released, Zaraikou's blade is surrounded by static electricity and when fully charged the blade is engulfed in agolden like energy. Even in its Shikai, Zaraikou's power is enough to fight against the Shikai of two other Lieutenant simultaneously, Unlike other Zanpakutō, resealing Zaraikou does not deactivate any ability already used against an opponent. It has several additional techniques.


 * Tenjin Raiga (Heavenly God's Lightning Fang): Shoots out a very powerfull bolt of lightning blasts very similar to ichigo's getsuga tensho.Can control these blasts, and can even change the intensity of them.


 * Torunedo Raitoningu (Tornado Lightning): By charging the blade with Reiryoku(Sprit Energy) and then releasing it as massive amount of energy in the form of a tornado surrounded by blue arcs of lightning.


 * Kaminari Shibari (Thunder Binding): By charging the blade and striking it into the ground the engegy travels through the ground towards the opponent and create a three-sided wall of electricity to bind their opponent.Furthermore, once the enemy is inside, if they come into contact with the wall they will be electrocuted.


 * Hirameku no Tate (Thunder Flash Sheild): Zaraikou's defensive ability forms an oval-shaped sheild made of lightning. The barrier is able to block incoming attacks from opponents.The sheild can also be used to blind an opponent for certain amount of time by creating a flash of light and can also fire energy bullets from within the sheild.

Trivia
Shiki's appearance is based off Nozomu Itoshiki from the Anime/Manga Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei.