Highlights
- Each Soul Reaper’s Zanpakutou is a unique entity embodying a part of their soul, affecting power, appearance, and personality.
- Ichigo’s Zanpakutou, Zangetsu, has a complex origin story involving a Quincy, Soul Reaper, and Hollow hybrid creation.
- Zangetsu manifests as Old Man and Hollow forms, uniquely trained and protected Ichigo, granting powerful Shikai and Bankai abilities.
One of the most famous and unique elements in Bleach is the Zanpakutou. Every Soul Reaper is equipped with a Zanpakutou, a katana that holds their power and a manifestation of a part of their soul as a living spirit they can communicate with. The weight of a Soul Reaper is often determined by how they interact with their Zanpakutou. Getting along with it and having a close and respectful relationship with it, Soul Reapers unlock the true extent of their power.
Every single Zanpakutou is different from each other, as each Soul Reaper’s soul forges them, and this goes into their power, appearance, and even personality. Sometimes a Zanpakutou is at odds with its master, such is the case for Ichigo Kurosaki, the protagonist of Bleach. Zangetsu is a unique entity; here’s everything you need to know about him.
Zangetsu’s Origins
A standard Zanpakutou starts as an Asauchi, a blank slate sword. Then the Soul Reaper slowly pours their soul into it, and eventually, the Asauchi becomes an extension of the master, with their power, appearance, and personality. This is the standard for every Soul Reaper, but Ichigo is not standard. He’s a substitute Soul Reaper, a human that gained powers and became an ally of the Gotei 13 and Soul Society.
Since Ichigo didn’t go through the usual process, how did Zangetsu come to be? Years ago, the former captain of Squad 10, Isshin Shiba encountered a special Hollow called White. White was created by Sousuke Aizen by fusing the souls of many Soul Reapers and going through Hollowfication, essentially making him a Soul Reaper and Hollow hybrid. Right before being killed by Masaki Kurosaki, he bit and infected her with Hollow reiatsu, causing her to undergo Hollowfication. As Masaki was a pure-blood Quincy, the reiatsu quickly began killing her, and the only way to save her life was to have Isshin become human and forfeit his powers to suppress the remnants of White in her soul.
Masaki and Isshin later married and had Ichigo, and he immediately became infused with dormant Quincy, Soul Reaper, and Hollow powers. When Ichigo obtained his Soul Reaper powers, his Zanpakutou spirits manifested as two beings in his inner world, an old man wearing a black cloak and sunglasses, and a hostile hollow version of Ichigo.
Old Man Zangetsu
The old man guiding Ichigo in his inner world is the manifestation of Ichigo’s dormant Quincy powers, taking the form of a younger Yhwach, the Quincy King. The old man gave Ichigo merely a fraction of his true power to prevent him from getting in harm’s way and the conflict between Soul Reapers and Quincies.
Old Man Zangetsu pretended to be his Zanpakutou for years, while also protecting Ichigo. Old Man Zangetsu seems to have manifested the will of Ichigo’s late mother Masaki, dedicating himself to saving Ichigo from harm like a parental figure.
Hollow/White Zangetsu
Hollow Ichigo is the true form of Zangetsu, as he is the manifestation of Ichigo’s Soul Reaper and Hollow powers. Every time Ichigo needed to train, it was the Hollow who trained him in his violent ways, and every time Ichigo was near death, it was the Hollow’s powers that saved him, as seen whenever the Hollow mask would appear to save Ichigo from mortal wounds or the Hollow high-speed regeneration would quickly heal him.
Zangetsu always behaved incredibly hostile towards Ichigo, but at the same time, he always trained him, making him stronger, and saved him from death while also defeating some of his enemies for him. Hollow Zangetsu manifested Isshin’s will, always training Ichigo in unconventional ways while looking out for the boy in subtle ways.
Zangetsu’s Shikai and Bankai
Zangetsu, being a unique Zanpakutou and being so powerful, is unable to attain a sealed form like all other Soul Reapers. Hence, Zangetsu is in perpetual Shikai form, which manifests as a massive silver and black sword Ichigo carries on his back. Once Ichigo accepts Zangetsu and attains his true power, Zangetsu takes the form of dual black blades, one larger representing Hollow Zangetsu, and a shorter one representing the Old Man.
Zangetsu’s main ability is the Getsuga Tenshou (Moon Fang Heaven Piercer), a massive wave of energy expelled from the blade. The Getsuga is incredibly powerful and can seriously harm most of Ichigo’s enemies. Ichigo can also engulf the blade in the Getsuga Tenshou, dealing an incredibly powerful strike. Once Ichigo obtains his true Shikai, he can use the Getsuga Juujishou (Moon Fang Cross-Shaped Piercer), a cross-shaped blast much more powerful than a Getsuga Tenshou.
Zangetsu’s Bankai is called Tensa Zangetsu (Heaven Chain Slaying Moon). Zangetsu takes the form of a completely black Katana with an attached chain and a manji-shaped guard. Tensa Zangetsu grants Ichigo extreme speed and an even more powerful Getsuga Tenshou called Kuroi (Black) Getsuga. Ichigo’s true bankai’s powers are still unknown, but it takes the form of a massive butcher knife hiding the old Zangetsu Shikai form underneath.
Zangetsu’s Hollow Powers
As Zangetsu was originally a Vasto Lorde-like Hollow, he possesses elite-level Hollow powers. Zangetsu can use high-level regeneration to quickly heal Ichigo, as well as Hierro (Iron) to grant Ichigo protection and Sonido (Sound), giving Ichigo even greater movement in battle.
During his Full Hollow form used against Ulquiorra Cifer, Zangetsu used an extremely powerful Cero, the common energy blast used by Hollows. Zangetsu’s Cero was so powerful it has sometimes been mistaken for Gran Rey Cero (Great King Zero), used by Grimmjoww.
Zangetsu is an extremely powerful Zanpakutou with unique origins and by far the most iconic seen in Bleach.