Shinigami Information

Shinigami are guardians of the souls who are going through the circle of transmigration. Namely, they are "balancers." They exterminate Hollows who do evil in the World of the living; they ensure the safe crossing of souls - the Pluses who have lost their way after death - by giving them a soul burial.

Overview

Shinigami are unearthly beings living in a world ruled by a different logic than the World of the Living. They possess high Reiryoku and a body of Reishi. They are invisible to those without spiritual powers.
When souls with exceptional spiritual energy train their bodies, they reach the level of Shinigami. The most talented of them become affiliated with various organizations like the Gotei 13 and the Onmitsukidō. Sometimes, a Shinigami is born among the residents of the Rukongai, and in some rare cases from Seireitei.

Shinigami receive salaries, like workers in the living world and also earn bounties for defeating Hollows.

Shinigami have a number of supernatural abilities:

• Longevity: Shinigami do not visibly age at the same rate as Humans and tend to maintain a youthful appearance for centuries. Shinigami can live for much longer than Humans.

• Enhanced Durability: While Shinigami can be injured and "die" like regular Humans, it takes considerably greater injuries to kill a Shinigami than it would to kill Humans. Decapitation is the only guaranteed method of killing a Shinigami.

• Reiryoku: Shinigami naturally possess high levels of Spiritual Power, which varies greatly in magnitude with the strength of a Shinigami. The more power a Shinigami has, the sharper their movements will be. A consequence of having Spiritual Power is that unlike powerless spirits, Shinigami need to eat.

Zanpakutō: A Shinigami weapon, its shape is typically similar to a Japanese katana. Low ranking officers are issued an Asauchi sword, but high-ranking officers arm themselves with unique swords generated from their own souls. A Zanpakutō is a physical manifestation of this force concentrated into a blade. All Shinigami have a Zanpakutō, but not all of them carry one with them. Its shape differs depending on its owner.

Appearance

Most Shinigami appear like average Humans. There are, however, a few Shinigami who are less Human-like in appearance. For example there are much greater variations in body-sizes between Shinigami than between Humans, with small child-like Shinigami such as the 109cm tall Yachiru Kusajishi and giant Shinigami such as Sajin Komamura, who is 288cm tall. Variations do not just occur in size but in overall appearance, too, the most notable example being Captain Komamura, who is an anthropomorphic wolf.

• Shihakusho: The black kimono worn by Shinigami. It is customary to wear a white undergarment underneath. Some wear bright colored scarves with it or shorten the sleeves. They commonly carry their Zanpakutō which is in most cases tied to their obi sash.

Duties

• Konsō: The process by which a Shinigami sends wandering Plus' (souls) in the living world and send them to their respective place. Either Soul Society if they are good in life, or to Hell if their life was full of evil acts (such as murders, theft, etc). Konsō is performed by using the hilt of the Shinigami's Zanpakutō, tapping the soul on their forehead and transporting them to the afterlife.

• Hollow Cleansing: When a Shinigami slays a Hollow (evil spirit) with their Zanpakutō, they cleanse their sins. Once this takes place, a Hollow will return to its former state as a Plus and is led into Soul Society. This is called sublimation. Souls that live in Soul Society are reborn again into the Human World. Not all Hollows are sent to the Soul Society. Since Zanpakutō are only capable of cleansing sins committed after becoming a Hollow, Hollows that committed serious crimes when they were still Human are sent to Hell when they are slain.

• Soul Governance: Shinigami are responsible for governing the flow of spirits between the Human World and Soul Society. This is commonly carried out by balancing the total number of souls by moving and managing them in the Human world. All of the soul-related jobs are under their authority.

Training

Shin'ōreijutsuin (Spiritual Arts Academy): An educational organization with a 2,000-year-old history, founded by Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. It was once called the Shinigami Academy. It changed to Spiritual Arts Academy when it developed into an institute for the next generation of the Kidō Corps and Onmitsukidō as well the Gotei 13. In the Rukongai, it is still referred to as the Shinigami Academy. The Shinigami Academy is one of two groups that is not under the jurisdiction of the Central 46 Chambers.

Combat

Zankensoki: Basic Shinigami fighting techniques. Zan refers to sword fighting techniques. Ken refers to unarmed fighting techniques. So refers to moving techniques. Ki refers to Kidō.

• Zanjutsu: Sword fighting techniques for the Zanpakutō. The most basic fighting technique.

• Hakuda: An unarmed fighting technique that makes use of one's own body in a fight.

• Hohō: The name for all high-speed fighting movements based on the art of Shunpo.

• Kidō: Advanced spells that require strong spiritual power: Hadō and Bakudō.

Mission Aids

To aid in their missions, particularly when said missions involve more than simply dispatching a Hollow, Shinigami have a number of unique items to assist them in their duties.

• Gigai: The temporary bodies that Shinigami use in the world of the living. They were created by the Shinigami Research and Development Institute.

• Jigokuchō: the butterflies that Shinigami use to lead them to the world of the living. they are also used as messengers in the soul society.

• Spiritual Limiter: All Shinigami captains and lieutenants have their spiritual energy reduced by about 80% when they enter the Human World by use of a spiritual limit, represented by a seal called the Gentei Reiin, which resembles the symbol unique to their Division, in order not to cause unnecessarily high damage while there. In extreme cases, where their full power is needed, they can request a limit release. The command to release the seal is Gentei Kaijo.

• Denreishinki: A vital tool for any Shinigami stationed in the real world, this variation on a cell phone functions both as a regular phone and as a communication line with the Soul Society. It receives information about the time and exact location of a Hollow's emergence via a Global Positioning System (GPS). A Shinigami's kills are also recorded in the phone and can be used as currency (according to the bounty placed on each Hollow).

• Gokon Tekkō: a glove which has a skull symbol on it, which can be used to force the soul out of a body.

• Artificial souls: As the name suggests, are souls designed by Shinigami scientists to separate a Shinigami's spirit from a Gigai, should they be inhabiting one, or to evict stubborn spirits from their corpses if necessary. It is commonly called Soul Candy.

• Kikanshinki: a memory substitution device used on humans who have seen Shinigami or Hollows. Also called Kiokuchikan. When used, a bird's head pops from the top of the device and produces a puff of smoke. The Human it is used on is knocked unconscious and wakes up a while later with a new memory. However, the new memory that the Human acquires is random and often based on the limits of what they will believe.