Bleach is one of many action anime with a power system revolving around characters taking on transformations to fight. Naturally, the Shikai and Bankai of the Soul Reapers are the most common examples, but every other faction has its own style of transformations as well, all of which lead to battles filled with creative actions and designs at every turn.
Bleach is no stranger to having its characters go through transformations, and sure enough, series protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki has more transformations than anyone else in the franchise. At the time of writing, Ichigo has had well over a dozen different forms, and with the franchise more alive than ever, that figure is bound to get even larger in due time.
When Ichigo first became a Soul Reaper, he fought with a large white sword that vaguely resembled the sealed form of Rukia’s Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki. This was because Ichigo’s lack of control left him unable to hone his spiritual power at first, resulting in a Zanpakuto that was essentially just Rukia’s raw power in the form of a sword.
As Ichigo’s first Zanpakuto was essentially the sealed form of Zangetsu, it had no powers for him to use, so Ichigo could only fight with his raw power and fighting abilities. That was enough to deal with regular Hollows, but it wasn’t enough for experienced Soul Reapers, thus leading to Ichigo’s devastating loss to Renji in their first fight.
After Rukia was taken to the Soul Society, Ichigo trained with Urahara to unlock his own Zanpakuto so he could be strong enough to rescue her. Eventually, Ichigo unlocked his iconic Zanpakuto, Zangetsu, a sword that resembled a giant knife and, oddly enough, didn’t have a sealed form like a proper Zanpakuto.
Unlike other Zanpakuto, Zangetsu was largely devoid of special powers, and just like before, Ichigo relied on his unnaturally high spiritual power to make Zangetsu a powerful weapon. That being said, Ichigo can use his iconic Getsuga Tensho technique with Zangetsu, but in this form, he lacked the power and control to do it too often.
After learning that there were different levels to Zanpakuto, Ichigo realized he needed to unlock the final form called Bankai to save Rukia. While it normally takes decades for a Soul Reaper to unlock their Bankai, thanks to a special tool from Urahara, Ichigo only needed a few days to unlock his Bankai, a black Japanese longsword called Tensa Zangetsu.
Tensa Zangetsu enhances Ichigo’s powerful abilities even further, the most notable of which being a massive increase in speed due to his power being compressed into a smaller form. It’s also with Tensa Zangetsu that Ichigo can freely use Getsuga Tensho, a powerful energy slash that essentially becomes Ichigo’s signature technique.
After almost turning into a Hollow in the Soul Society arc, Ichigo gained Hollow-like abilities that, with help from the Vizards, he would learn to control without being corrupted. Years after the fact, it would be revealed that Ichigo’s Hollow powers actually stemmed from an incident with his parents, and Urahara’s training simply awakened them after years of lying dormant.
Ichigo manifests his Hollow powers by summoning a Hollow-like mask to his face, giving himself a massive power boost that allowed him to fight on equal footing with Aizen’s strongest Espada. Ichigo could only use his mask a few times in quick succession, though, and after the Fake Karakura Town arc, the power all but fades from the story.
Ichigo’s rematch with Ulquiorra quickly turned south as Ulquiorra overpowered him with his Resurreccion and Segunda Etapa, and it seemed like Ichigo was certainly going to die. However, with his desire to protect Orihime taking over his mind, Ichigo’s Hollow self completely took over Ichigo’s body, transforming him into a monstrous Hollow both physically and mentally.
Ichigo’s full Hollowfication form, nicknamed “Vasto Lorde Ichigo” by fans, pushed his Hollow powers to an even greater extreme, even giving him use of the Hollow attack Cero. Ichigo was more than a match for Ulquiorra, but after returning to normal, Ichigo could only hate himself for taking on such a frightening form and not defeating Ulquiorra on his own.
As Aizen became nigh-invincible after fusing with the Hogyoku, Isshin realized the only way for them to win was for Ichigo to master the Final Getsuga Tensho, the ultimate technique of his Zanpakuto. Doing so would make Ichigo more than a match for Aizen, but in return, Ichigo would be permanently robbed of his spiritual power.
The Final Getsuga Tensho gave Ichigo long, black hair and a body covered in bandages, and his transcendence state far surpassed Aizen, allowing Ichigo to overpower Aizen and defeat him with an enhanced version of Getsuga Tensho called Mugetsu. It’s arguably the strongest version of Ichigo in Bleach, but considering the conditions surrounding it, it’s unlikely to ever appear again.
In Bleach’s Lost Agent arc, 17 months after losing his powers, Ichigo meets Xcution, a group of humans who possess another type of spiritual power called Fullbring. Ichigo apparently had the potential to become a Fullbringer, as well, and by unlocking that power, Ichigo could eventually use it to regain his Soul Reaper abilities.
Ichigo’s Fullbring is concentrated in his Substitute Soul Reaper badge, and it initially manifested as his badge projecting spiritual energy in the shape of Tensa Zangetsu’s hilt. While it lacks cutting power, Ichigo can use it to block powerful attacks and fire off energy blasts, although they have to be charged up significantly to have any effect.
As Ichigo’s training with Xcution progressed, his Fullbring took on a second, more powerful form. Said form covered his body in black spiritual energy that resembled the uniform of his Soul Reaper form, and his arm was even covered in a black energy sword resembling Zangetsu in its original Shikai.
Ichigo’s second Fullbring had all the powers of the original to a higher degree, and the change in form also allowed Ichigo to reuse the sword-based combat he had developed as a Soul Reaper. It was in that form that Ichigo also began using Bringer Light, the high-speed movement technique of Fullbringers, thus symbolizing his newfound growth in his abilities.
With more training under his belt, Ichigo’s Fullbringer abilities continued to evolve until they finally took on their complete form. In said form, Ichigo became clad in white armor and gained a machete-like blade to fight with, with his Substitute Soul Reaper badge now becoming a sheath for storing his blade when not in use.
Just like in its previous form, Ichigo’s final Fullbring essentially mimics his Soul Reaper abilities, even allowing Ichigo to use Getsuga Tensho once more. Unfortunately, Ichigo lost those powers as part of Ginjo’s secret plot, and even if there was a way for Ichigo to regain them, it would be redundant for him to do so.
While Ichigo’s Fullbring powers were stolen by Ginjo, Rukia and many other Soul Reapers were also working together to recharge Ichigo’s spiritual powers, thus allowing him to become a Soul Reaper once more. Physically speaking, Ichigo’s Shikai, Zangetsu, was largely unchanged, but the lingering traces of Ichigo’s Fullbring made it larger and slightly more curved than before.
With a boost in power from his friends’ spiritual energy and his Fullbringer training, Ichigo’s new Zangetsu was far stronger than before, and it was to the point that his spiritual pressure could be mistaken for a Getsuga Tensho. Ichigo had always been powerful, but with his new Zangetsu, that was more apparent than it had ever been before.
Just like his Shikai, Ichigo’s Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, was changed by the events of the Lost Agent arc. While Tensa Zangetsu was originally a regular sword, the new version was much longer with three spikes at the end of it, and his uniform even changed to be sleeker and adorned with Xs in reference to Ichigo’s connection to Xcution.
Tensa Zangetsu’s powers are unchanged from its original form, but with all the growth Ichigo had gone through, those powers are taken to a higher level to make Ichigo stronger than ever. Ichigo only spent a short amount of time with this form of his Zanpakuto, but it was still easy to see just how powerful an upgrade it was.
In Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, Ichigo learned that his Hollow self was actually the true spirit of Zangetsu, corrupted by an experimental Hollow called White, and the one he thought was Zangetsu was actually the manifestation of his Quincy powers. Nevertheless, Ichigo accepted both of them as Zangetsu, resulting in the birth of his true Zanpakuto.
Zangetsu, in its true form, manifests as two swords: a large sword vaguely resembling his original Shikai and a smaller sword resembling a knife. That allows Ichigo to fire two Getsuga Tenshos at once for a technique called Getsuga Jujisho, and when combined with the general massive boost in power, it makes Ichigo a force to be reckoned with.
In the final battle with Yhwach, Ichigo used Yhwach’s power to trigger an upgraded version of his Hollow form that he had full control over. The new form, often called the Horn of Salvation, dyes Zangetsu white and gives Ichigo a horn and black marks on the left half of his body, but his appearance is largely human beyond that.
Just like Ichigo’s Vasto Lorde form, the Horn of Salvation greatly enhances Ichigo’s powers, and not only can he use the powerful Gran Rey Cero, but he can combine it with Getsuga Tensho, as well. In this form, Ichigo could put notable pressure on Yhwach in his final form, and there’s no greater testament to its immense power.
Just like how Ichigo’s Shikai attained its true form in the final arc, his Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, also attained its true form, and it was also vastly different from the original. In its true form, Tensa Zangetsu resembles the original form of Zangetsu, only it now has a white outline with a large chain attached to the blade.
The power of Ichigo’s true Bankai was never seen in the manga, but since Yhwach saw it as a threat, it’s likely one of the most powerful Bankai in Bleach. The final cour of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is adding even more original content to the story, so hopefully, that will include a full look at Tensa Zangetsu’s new abilities.
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