Character outline
Kenpachi has a wild and aggressive appearance, fitting with his personality. He wears his captain's jacket without sleeves, and with a more ragged look to it. He acquired his Haori from the previous 11th Division captain, whom he defeated and killed in a duel in order to become captain. He styles his hair intoHistory
Prior to entering the Soul Reaper ranks, Zaraki resided in District 80, the most lawless district surrounding the Soul Society. He became very proficient with swordsmanship, or at least fighting, while he was there, and eventually adopted the district's name, "Zaraki", as his surname. He also took a ''Zanpakutō'' still in its "Asauchi" state from a corpse and made the weapon his own, though unable to hear its spiritual embodiment. During that time, he met a kindred spirit in Squad 4's Retsu "Yachiru" Unohana, both leaving their opponent with a scar during their duel. After leaving the district he found a small girl who, despite her young age, did not fear his sword. Since she had no name, unaware that she is actually a manifestation of his ''Zanpakutō'', Zaraki named her "Yachiru" after Unohana while christening himself "Kenpachi", Unohana's title which has been associated with one who has killed many. Yachiru became inseparable from Zaraki from that point further, following him wherever he went, usually clinging to his back. After some time had passed, Kenpachi found his way into Soul Society and killed the previous captain of the 11th Division, thus gaining his seat in the Gotei 13. As a new captain, Zaraki was begrudgingly forced to learn Kendo, something he hated because it personified his skills, although he did agree on one point: a blade swung with both arms is more powerful than with one arm. such as he made it a point to avoid using it in battle in order to prolong the experience of fighting as long as possible. In an interview, Tite Kubo noted that he would like to go into more depth about Zaraki.Plot overview
After Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends arrive in Soul Society, Zaraki begins to hunt for the strongest fighter in their group before finding Ichigo. After a short skirmish, Zaraki stabs Ichigo's sword while stabbing him in the chest, seemingly killing him. as Kenpachi begins to walk away, when Ichigo stands up again, healed by the power of Zangetsu. During the fight, Ichigo becomes enough of a challenge that Zaraki removes his eyepatch, thus releasing the extra power it has been devouring. As they rush at each other, the exchange itself ends in a draw, with Ichigo falling first and Zaraki shortly after, both admitting defeat (though Zaraki's sword breaks in the end, after it is deflected by the sudden manifestation of Ichigo's hollow mask, which spared the latter from death). Zaraki later admits that he lost, but he needs to get stronger and pay Ichigo back. He finds himself happy he found someone strong to fight, before falling unconscious. He then decides to help Ichigo and frees his friends from imprisonment. Much later on, while searching for Ichigo with his friends in tow, they are headed off by 7th and 9th Division members. Zaraki battles their captains Sajin Komamura and Kaname Tōsen respectively, defeating Tōsen and fighting off Komamura before Komamura runs away to find Shigekuni Yamamoto Genryūsai. He does not see Ichigo and his friends off when they leave the Soul Society. He tells Yachiru that he and Ichigo will certainly meet again because they are the only ones who are what they seem to be. Kenpachi also helps fight off the Bount invasion and successfully defeats Maki Ichinose, a former member of his own squad who left after Kenpachi killed the former captain. During the Arrancar arc, Zaraki appears to Ichigo as his instinct and desire to win, explaining to him that they were both the type of people who live to fight (or fight to live) battle after battle. After Orihime is taken to Hueco Mundo, Zaraki arrives with Byakuya Kuchiki to retrieve Tōshirō Hitsugaya's group and bring them back to Soul Society. Later, in Hueco Mundo, Kenpachi comes to Ichigo's aid during his battle with Nnoitra's Fracción Tesla, dealing the Arrancar a mortal blow with a single strike and then engaging the Espada Nnoitra in battle. Despite having "''more fun than he has had in a long time,''" he suffers enough injuries to realize that he may die if the fight continues. Kenpachi begins to have a few flashbacks to his Kendo training as he would grip his sword with two hands to deal Nnoitra a vicious, incapacitating blow. Unfortunately for Nnoitra during the ensuing fight Zaraki's eye-patch, which is a special seal that strongly 'consumes' his Spirit Pressure (this way battles will last longer allowing him to have more fun), is cut off allowing Kenpachi to fight at full power. When Nnoitra refuses to accept defeat and charges Kenpachi , the latter kills him with another strike. Zaraki then stands over Nnoitra's corpse, telling him their battle "was a blast". He later appears to save Ichigo from the Cero Espada Yammy by cutting off one of his legs, and further engaging him in combat with Byakuya Kuchiki. When it seems that Kenpachi and Byakuya are about to defeat him, Yammy undergoes a new transformation. as Byakuya and Zaraki ultimately defeat their opponent, though Kenpachi thought the fight was quite "boring". He is last seen being reprimanded by the Captain-Commander for losing his captain's haori in battle. Seventeen months after the fight with Sōsuke Aizen, Kenpachi, along with all the other high-ranking members of the Gotei 13, are ordered to restore Ichigo's reiatsu. as he arrives with Byakuya, Hitsugaya, Ikkaku, Rukia, and Renji to aid in fighting Xcution. Kenpachi is engaged by Giriko Kutsuzawa and quickly slices the Fullbringer in half, finding him "boring". After these events, a group of Quincy called the Wandenreich to appear and send their invading force of Sternritter to take over Soul Society. Zaraki manages to single-handedly kill Berenice Gabrielli, Jerome Quizbatt, and Loyd Lloyd without much difficulty. Kenpachi then confronts Yhwach, revealed to be Loyd's twin brother Royd Lloyd in disguise, and is defeated. After the Wandenreich leaves, Zaraki recovers and engages Unohana in what both expect to be a fight to the death, in order to train him in dealing with the Wandenreich. Despite being brought to the brink of death several times, and Captain Unohana finally releasing her Bankai, Zaraki ultimately cuts down Unohana, subsequently hearing his ''Zanpakutō'' and learning its name: . During the Wandenreich's second invasion, Zaraki uses Nozarashi's ax-like Shikai form against the Sternritter Gremmy Thoumeaux in an exhausting flight that leaves at the mercy of a quartet of female Sternritters before Ichigo saves him. After being healed twice, the second time being a consequence of being incapacitated while fighting Pernida, Zaraki joins Hitsugaya and Byakuya against Gerard. During the fight, as Yachiru reveals her true identity and sacrifices herself to awaken his full power, Zaraki manifests his ''Zanpakutōs Bankai form to overwhelm the Sternritter before his body begins to suffer from the strain caused by using the Bankai. He later helps in holding down Gerard for Hitsugaya and Byakuya to land the death blow. Ten years after the war, having become more composed with Ikkaku as his new vice-captain, Zaraki is last seen getting himself lost while attempting to attend Rukia's captain ceremony.Appearances in other media
Zaraki appears in the second session of ''Bleach: Beat Collection'', together with Yachiru, Ikkaku, and Yumichika. He has a minor role in the ''Bleach'' OVA, and also appears briefly in '' Bleach: Memories of Nobody'', making sport of one of the Dark Ones. He also appears in the second movie, being the first to charge in and attack Sōjirō's new dragon form; he helps out in the final battle as well. In the third movie, he fought an alteredReception
Kenpachi's likes for battles has made the fights he appears in enjoyable for various critics. Calling him the "toughest Soul Reaper in business,"References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaraki, Kenpachi Bleach characters Anime and manga characters with superhuman strength Anime and manga characters who can move at superhuman speeds Fictional characters with disfigurements Fictional kenjutsuka Fictional military captains Fictional swordfighters in anime and manga Fictional mass murderers Comics characters introduced in 2003 Male characters in anime and manga fi:Luettelo Bleachin sivuhahmoista#Kenpachi Zaraki