Sosuke Aizen

Appearance & Personality

• Birthday: 29 May
• Hair: Brown
• Eyes: Brown
• Height: 6’1″ (185cm)
• Weight: 163 lbs

Aizen originally showed himself to be a quiet and intelligent man. He wears the tradition black uniform under his captain’s jacket. During the Soul Society story arc Aizen started off wearing glasses and letting his hair hang down in a mess, to give off the appearance of a smart yet unassuming man who would often be overlooked. Aizen does change his appearance later at the end of the Soul Society arc, abandoning his glasses and straightening his hair. He crushed his glasses as if to signify his abandonment of his former life and slicked his hair back, making himself look much more unkind than he use to look. Also, after forming the Arrancars and the Espada, Aizen changes his clothes to resemble those of the other Arrancars, wearing little of his original Soul Reaper outfit. The underneath suit is similar, a black outfit made up of a kimono and a hakama, but the white coat has no symbols or rank on it to identify the person’s rank or abilities. He gives off an air of callousness and detachment from this time forward, often appearing bored.

Sosuke Aizen is a soft spoken and very intelligent man, who hides a dark and treacherous personality beneath his very warm appearance.

Sosuke Aizen served as the captain of the Soul Reaper’s 5th Division. Aizen used this time to gain information, formulate plans and build trust in himself from his peers and followers. He has also used this time to gather and build a team of loyal and willing followers, in particular seeking out a select few trustworthy men, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen.

During the series Aizen admits that he has mastered all of the known Soul Reaper abilities, and felt he had reached a time in his life that he needed to go beyond these limitations.

History

Soul Society Arc

During the Soul Society arc Aizen uses his connections with other captains and lieutenants to maneuver unnoticed behind the scenes of a conspiracy he himself created, playing himself as unassuming but suspected, giving off clues that he was on to some great conspiracy before playing himself as a victim. When Byakuya Kuchiki is sent to retrieve his adoptive sister Rukia Kuchiki, Aizen finds that the object that he was seeking to gain more powers is within Rukia. Aizen uses his knowledge and connections to gain access to the central government’s stronghold, and begins to manipulate the actions taken against the innocent Rukia. Aizen starts his plan by killing the interior government’s ruling members, whom were the government and judges within soul society, a group that held themself apart from the outside, so it was easy for him to mask their deaths and use his hypnotic zanpaktou to become the government of soul socity with the help of those he hypnotized. Aizen keeps himself under the radar by using his Zanpakuto’s powers to hypnotize all on lookers, so that they see the central government like it was. With the central leaders dead Aizen starts passing orders down for the execution to be moved ahead and for it to be the most gruesome of punishments. Aizen realizes that to keep others from realizing that he is involved he must fake his own death, and does so masterfully, using his hypnosis to its fullest potential. It was quite easy for him to do this, he admitted. As everyone was so suspicious of Gin Ichimaru that they would never suspect the poor unassuming Aizen. Additionally Captain Yamamoto, the leader of all the soul reapers had been easily manipulated as he followed the orders of the central command completely blindly, never questioning their orders no matter how bad they were. He is made to look a fool by Aizen, even fighting the Captains he saw as his sons due to his blind loyalty to their orders and the law.

Aizen used his Zanpakuto to hypnotize everyone to think that he is dead, murdered by Toshiro Hitsugaya, thus turning some of those he deceived against the other captains that were trying to stop him.

After Kurosaki Ichigo throws a wrench in his plan by invading soul society, Aizen decides that he needs to retrieve the Orb of Distortion by other means. Aizen calls together the two captains he trusts the most, Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen, and captures Kuckiki Rukia. Even under stiff competition from Ichigo and several Soul Reaper captains, Aizen proves his boasts true by easily fighting his way through all that opposed him. Since the execution platform was destroyed Aizen decides he needs to use a technique he discovered in Kisuke Urahara‘s old notes to extract the orb from Rukia’s body. Aizen proves just how ruthless he can be when he orders Ichimaru to finish off Rukia since she was no longer useful to him. The last time Aizen is seen in the Soul Society is during his escape to the Hueco Mundo, the world that the Hollows exist in. During his escape Aizen reveals his true nature by altering his appearance after removing his glasses and slicking his hair back. Showing that the appearance all knew him for was always a disguise, even from the very start.

Hueco Mundo Arc

After escaping the Soul Society Aizen sets himself up in the Hollow world as it’s new leader. How he did this is unknown, but there are clues that he had had involvement in Hueco Mundo long before he left soul society, perhaps even having followers there before he even became a captain of the soul reapers. With the Orb of distortion, Aizen was able to enhance the powers of stronger Hollows to magnificent proportions, enabling them to break the potentials they had held for a very long time and gain powers normally only held by the strongest Hollows. he also sends out Arrancar and Espada to try and seek out and establish contact with the greatest and most legendary Hollow: the Vastro Lordes (also known as Vast Lords). Whether he found any remains to be seen, as only the strongest Espada remain, however it is unlikely he found any, as even the fifth Espada was not a Vastro Lorde and was sent to find them. Those of Gillian level and above were the only ones he deemed suitable for this process, and they gained powers of a minimum of vice-captain level. However the stronger Hollow became as powerful as Captains and were those who became Espada. These he dubbed the Arrancar, Hollows who gained the powers of a Shinigami (soul reaper) in addition to enhanced Hollow strength and powers. They also manifested their own zanpaktou, a spirit slaying sword that was exclusive to shinigami. Within the Arrancar there were the Espada, and they are his private guard and agents. Each one of them is named one to ten in power, and their numbers slowly change over time, only the top ten Arrancar being accepted, the numbers they hold being their power level, with the number one being the strongest.

At this time, Aizen changes his appearance once more. Shunning the captains uniform he had worn for centuries, and instead wearing the uniform of the Arrancar, which is almost exclusively white. A reference to their old Hollow appearance. At this time, with his grand scheme over he suddenly begins to appear bored and detached. The most emotion he shows being a smirk occasionally when something happens or catches his interest. However his detachment from everything even starts to manifest towards his own followers. He hardly seems to care even when his Arrancar are killed, of even his elites: the Espada. He almost casually begins to play them off against each other, such as when he removed Grimjoww Jaggerjack’s number and gave it instead to Luppi, despite Luppi not being strong enough to hold the position. He later smirked as Grimmjow’s destructive and vengeful nature eventually led to him killing Luppi in front of him in order to gain back his old number and position amongst the Espada.

Karakura Town Town Arc

Aizen eventually goes to what he thinks is Karakura Town. However, it’s revealed that it was just a replica created by the Soul Society. Aizen is trapped by a giant flame wall that surrounds him, Gin Ichimaru, and Kaname Tosen. He stays in this area while the Espada engage the Gotei 13. He is eventually released from the flame wall and declares that the stetch of death is fitting for the current situation. Latter, he declares that he will use his sword against Shinji Hirako. After Shinji’s sword ability fails to give him victory Aizen calls Shinji’s sword “farcry” from his sword’s power. Aizen after this kills Kaname Tosen. Afterwards Ichigo comes through a Garganta and attacks Aizen from behind. The attack gets blocked by Aizen. He reveals he place a kido known as Millon Escudo on his neck which blocks incoming attacks. He did this because the kneck is the weak point for all creatures. Ichigo is then told by the gotei and the Visoreds that they will protect him. They then engage in a battle with Aizen. After beieving they defeated Aizen it’s revealed that he was using his swords power to make them think they won. He proceds to cut them all down after that.

Out of nowhere the head captain Yamamotto shows up with pillars of flames. They incase the area Aizen is in and trap him. Yamamotto proceeds to attack Aizen which Aizen dodges and counter attacks by stabbing him through the chest. This is reveled to be a trap by Yamamotto which he claims allows him to keep Aizen in his grasp. Yamamotto tries to use his pillars of fire to kill him and Aizen. This is stopted by Wonderwiess who seals away his sword’s flames and the current flame pillars. Yamamotto engages into a battle with Wonderwiess which ends in Wonderwiess being killed. Aizen calls Yamamotto cruel but Yamamotto responds by attacking Aizen. However, Yamamotto throws himself in front of Wonderwiess’s corpse becuase as Aizen stated that the flames would be released from the corpse of the now dead Wonderwiess’s body. After succefully blocking the damage Yamamotto is motionless on the ground when Aizen tells him he will kill him. Aizen states Yamamotto is the history of the Soul Society itself. Before Aizen can kill him Yamamotto uses a forbbiden kido on him. This kido costs Yamamotto his arm but it hits Aizen at point blank. Aizen retreats from Yamamotto claiming he underestamted him.

Relationships

Aizen is also a great leader, even if he is evil, for his followers. He is able to dominate them even to the point of suicide. This might be his natural charisma, and it is likely due to how well he has so far manipulated events in soul society, and also caused Hinamori to obsess over him to the point of self destructiveness. However with his illusion and hypnotic abilities, it is also possible that Aizen has or could control others without their realizing it, hypnotizing them into believing in him or his cause without their consent.

The only two whom Aizen shows real belief or trust in are Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen, whom he confides in and whom seemingly follow him either out of true loyalty or friendship, or because they believe in his ideals. Gin Ichimaru however, despite his callous attitude to others, seems enigmatic and untrustworthy even to Aizen, but seems to follow him out of true admiration. Aizen used his air of untrustworthy as a weapon against soul society to manipulate them and lead them astray to his true objectives. However he admits that even to him, Gin seems to have an air of deceit. Gin has shown small scracks in his air only to one other: Rangiku Matsumoto, whom he shares a hidden history with. However, when she stood against him, he backed down. Kaname Tosen however seems to follow Aizen out of respect for both his abilities and his plan. He believes that Aizen’s path is the one of the least bloodshed, and the one that will lead to true justice. he is a man of honor, so it may be a small clue as to Aizen’s ultimate goal, as so far the Soul Reapers have shown some callousness and lack of true justice for all who are not of their ranks, and even callousness to those of their ranks who are not of leadership level, with most non soul reapers forced to spend eternity in squalor. However it may also be due to Aizen’s manipulation and hypnosis, none truly know. The Arrancar on the other hand follow Aizen either because they fear him or because they respect how fearless he is. It may also be because of his strength, or because he created them or elevated them above the level of other hollows and returned them to relative human form, with normal hollows becoming the beast they are on the inside.

Powers & Abilities

Like many the other captains Sosuke Aizen is very proficient at fighting with his Zanpakuto. However he has shown that he is also very proficient in hand- to hand combat with his fists and feet. He has displayed super strength that surpasses most others. He has also shown that he is an expert in kidou, which is also known as demon magic. He was able to block one of the Kidou Captain’s best attacks using a lower level intone’less protective spell, which means it was less powerful than its potential if chanted.

Aizen claims that he is a master of all four forms and even releases one of the highest level kido, divine spells, on another captain. He claims to have mastered all Shinigami abilities, and his feats so far prove this to be true.

Like all Soul Reapers Aizen has strength, speed, and stamina greater than that of all normal humans. His strength in particular seems the most impressive, able to block monstrous attacks with his his fingertips alone.

Aizen can create blasts of energy, barriers and seals using his kido magic (demon magic) and can also short range teleport using shunpo. He also is able to walk and stand on air as if it were ground, as he is a spirit being. Additionally, like all spirits, he does not age.

Aizen also gains Genius Intellect. He is very tactical, a strategist, and knows very alot about the histories on The real world and the Soul Society. He was able to use Kyoka Suigetsu to make his corpse into an illusion. He has created several Hollows in order to avoid any suspicion from the majority of Soul Society. He fooled the entire Gotei 13 and Ichigo into getting the Hogyoku in Rukia’s body. He was able to master the Hogyoku in a short amount of time.

Zanpakuto

Aizen’s Zanpakuto is name Kyouka Suigetsu, or Mirror Flower Moon Water. Kyouka Suigetsu’s first release casts a hypnotic spell over all those who see it, regardless if they are aware of the it’s ability. It is able to control anyone’s five senses which can make them mistaken another person for someone else when. This effect is permanent and forever more enables Aizen to control that someone see’s subtly. It is horrifically powerful in this way, and enabled a manipulative man like Aizen to deceive people in soul society for centuries, even strong willed captains and vice captains. The only way to defend against Kyouka Suigetsu’s ability is to be holding the blade before perfect hypnosis can be initiated or not see it being released in the first place, which would force the opponent to fight Aizen blindly.This is its shikai ability, which is its first power. Such a powerful shikai ability is very rare amongst zanpaktou, as most merely have a form change and minor ability. Kyouka Suigetsu’s second form has not been introduced in the series yet and with the current status of the series, it is less likely to be revealed at all. However its second form would be its Bankai ability, which would be its ultimate power or true form. It is assumed that his Bankai ability would likewise follow the deceptive route, but thus far the power of his shikai and base abilities alone has been enough to defeat every opponent he had faced.

With his Zanpakuto Aizen can cast hypnotic suggestions and slice through his enemies without them being aware of his presence. Aizen made all of the gotei 13 believe that they beat, but Ichigo yelled out what they are doing. Then Shinji and the other captains realized that the Aizen they just killed was in fact Momo Hinamori who was under Aizen’s hypnosis, they were all under his spell during the entire time. This just further proves how powerful Kyōka Suigestsu is and how well Aizen can utilize it.

Hōgyoku Implantation

Unlike the Espada that received Shinigami abilities or his general Tousen who was given Hollowfication through the Hōgyoku, Aizen mastered it as reiatsu which was far beyond that of the 13 court. His mastery over it allow for him to implant it within his chest without being consumed/ absorbed into it. This allowed for him to evolve past “mere hollowfication” into a “Transcendental”, a being that breaks “the ugly boundary between Hollow and Shinigami”. In addition to this, the Hōgyoku “guided” him in combat allowing him to fight on par against Isshin Kurosaki(Ichigo’s Shinigami father), Kisuke Urahara, Yoruichi Shihuoin, and Ichigo all at once by instinctively evolving to adapt for each battle.

Similar to Ichigo’s ability to evolve from human to Shinigami, to awakening Bankai, to unlocking Vazard powers, to performing a subconscious Resurreccion despite life threatening damage to his spirit body. Aizen later explained to Ichigo that it was not mere

coincidence or sheer strength but rather a test subject to the Hōgyoku’s true power the ability to read people’s hearts and grant their desires. For this reason, Aizen’s desire to transcend into a higher being then even the Spirit King was granted by the Hōgyoku.

However, Aizen’s new found power was short lived when he battled against Ichigo’s “Final Getsuga Tenshō ” which has exceeded his own powers. Ichigo was able to easily fend off Aizen’s attacks and even his most powerful Kidō (Hadou #90 Black Coffin). Due to the Hōgyoku’s nature of granting anyone’s desires, it allowed Aizen to evolve once more in an attempt to defeat Ichigo.

At first it appears that he once again gained the upper hand, but Ichigo then revealed his final technique. Ultimately it seriously injured Aizen and removed much of his evolved form, but he still had a lot of power left in him and Ichigo was beginning to lose his Soul Reaper powers. Then all the sudden Aizen was subjected to a kidō , that is when Urahara Kisuke came to the scene to explain to Aizen exactly what is happening. It appears that the Hōgyoku no longer sees Aizen as a worthy host and abandoned him thus making him weak enough to be affected by Urahara’s kidō seal. This has defeated Aizen and led him to captivity.

By the Thousand Year Blood-War arc, Aizen became drastically stronger.

Thousand Year Blood – War arc