Katen Kyōkotsu (Seireitou)

This article, Katen Kyōkotsu (Seireitou), was added by Seireitou who determines its usage on this wiki.

Katen Kyōkotsu
Name	Katen Kyōkotsu
Kanji	花天狂骨
Romaji	Katen Kyoukotsu
Characteristics
Race	Zanpakutō Spirit (Onryō)
Gender	Female
Height	5'10"
Weight	149 lbs.
Professional Status
Affiliation	Herself
Occupation	Zanpakutō
Team	None
Partner	Shunsui Kyōraku
Zanpakutō
Shikai	Katen Kyōkotsu
Bankai	Situational

Katen Kyōkotsu (花天狂骨, "Bones of Heavenly Blooming Madness") is a stray female Zanpakutō spirit. She was once the katana of Shunsui Kyōraku, prior to his death. The sword had consisted of two separate entities, the original spirit that adorns the name of "Sakuranosuke" (桜乃助, Sakuranosuke) and a younger spirit that was created by her to conceal the Shinken Hakkyōken of the Ise Clan. When her master had died, the second spirit had passed away along with him, leaving the original entity known as Katen Kyōkotsu by her lonesome. With no partner to call her own, she was destined to roam the spiritual realm as a stray, a blade belonging to nobody but herself.

Appearance

The original spirit of Katen Kyōkotsu, "Sakuranosuke".

Sakuranosuke in the manga.

Personality

Katen Kyōkotsu's general expression.

Katen Kyōkotsu responding to an annoyance.

Powers & Abilities

Possession: During the battle against Lille Barro, when Kyōraku was forced into a corner, Katen Kyōkotsu suggested that he retreat from the battlefield so as to preserve their lives. She requested that he allow her to take control so that she could take them both away, suggesting that she is capable of possessing her master in the same manner as Zangetsu.

Shikai

While serving as the Zanpakutō of Shunsui Kyōraku, her release state took the form of a two black and heavily-curved Chinese scimitars with silver edges. The crossguards are rectangular, with the corners cut off, decorated by a pattern of cherry petals and lines while each sporting a dark-blue handle.

Her power as Katen Kyōkotsu is to "make children's games real". She is able to determine a set of rules in the form of a game and all those within the boundaries of her spiritual pressure are forced to abide by those rules. As such, it becomes possible for her abilities to take on all kinds of forms, even displaying different elemental affinities, leaving others to believe that Katen Kyōkotsu's power violates the standard for all Zanpakutō in that they all share one central power. The winner of the game lives and the loser dies, it's as simple as that, and due to her fickle nature, even her master is not exempt from the penalties that will result from losing the game. According to Seireitou Kawahiru, her power can be summed up as one that dominates the flow of battle by forcing both her master and the opponent into a game of life and death. However, due to her temperamental personality, these powers only manifest in such a way depending on her preferences, with whatever game being in effect based on what she happens to be in the mood to play.

Bushōgoma (不精独楽, "Lazy Spinning Top")

Takaoni (嶄鬼, "Mountain Demon")

Kageoni (影鬼, "Shadow Demon")

Irooni (色鬼, "Colorful Demon")

Soraoni (空鬼, "Sky Demon")

Daruma-san ga Koronda (だるまさん が ころんだ, "The Dharma Doll Fell Down")

Kageokuri (影送り, "Shadow Sending")

Bankai

Perhaps unique only to her, Katen Kyōkotsu does not possess a single Bankai release. In the same manner as the games that she chooses with her Shikai powers, the Bankai manifests as a reflection of her emotional state of mind. There is no Zanpakutō with a Shikai and Bankai that wield completely unrelated abilities, and as such, Katen Kyōkotsu's powers in this state are of a similar nature to her previous release form. In simple terms, if her Shikai is one that makes that which children enjoy — games, in other words — a reality, then her Bankai power is to make real the sort of poetic activity that can only be appreciated by an adult: the theater. Katen Kyōkotsu's Bankai takes on the name of whatever theatrical play she intends to perform, subjecting both her master and the opponent to the progression of events in the story of that play, designated as "acts" (段目, danme; literally "stage"). Anyone within the vicinity of her power is subject to the play, making it extremely dangerous to use within range of innocent bystanders. What transpires to those in her play often depends on the story she has chosen, with any sort of circumstance being a possibility. Given that Katen Kyōkotsu has a fondness for tragedies, the final act of her plays typically end with either her master or her opponent dead. Without question, she is truly a malicious yet elegant Zanpakutō spirit.

Katen Kyōkotsu: Karamatsu Shinjū (花天狂骨枯松心中, "Bones of Heavenly Blooming Madness: Withering Pine Lovers' Suicide")

Quotes

• (To Nanao Ise) "You say you want to throw a party, but why have a party underneath a cherry tree that hasn't even blossomed yet? It seems to me you don't know how to appreciate the beauty of things."
• (To Shunsui Kyōraku) "Mean I may be, but I am your sword, your companion, choking back her own desires, sworn to be by your side until the end."
• (To Kyōraku) "Would you want me to be anything less than what I am? When I stand before you for the last time?"
• (To Kyōraku, in his final moments) "I enjoyed our game. It was fun, from start to finish. As I said when we first met, I will serve as your blade. Even when the world crumbles away, the skies turn black and the ground is naught but fire and ash... Until you can no longer stand. Beside you as you lay, softly down, I will be. Until your final words reach my ears, and the end of the game finally comes."