Most Mysterious Characters In Bleach

Key Takeaways

• Some characters in Bleach hide their identities, adding intrigue and mystery to the series.
• Characters like Ginjo and Mayuri remain enigmatic, leading fans to speculate about their true motives.
• Unresolved mysteries surrounded characters like Yachiru and Gin, keeping fans engaged and guessing.

The world of Bleach is packed full of unique characters all with their motives, goals, and ambitions, though some individuals don’t like to be very open about how they truly feel, or what they strive for. Instead, these kinds of characters tend to keep to themselves, and whenever they do show up on screen, they are shrouded in an aura of mystery that ends up making them all the more intriguing.

While some of these individuals remained mysterious for much of the story, before revealing themselves much later down the line, others have continued to leave fans puzzled, even long after the series reached its final chapter. A character who tries to hide their identity and true motives is always going to have fans talking, as was the case with these Bleach characters below.

1 Ginjo Kugo

Ginjo’s Past As A Substitute Soul Reaper Still Holds Many Unanswered Questions

• First Appearance: Episode 343

Ginjo might be one of the most speculated and theorized characters in all of Bleach. For much of the Fullbring Arc, he acts as a loyal, albeit suspicious companion of Ichigo’s who is seemingly helping him restore his powers out of goodwill. Eventually, it comes out that Ginjo was secretly training Ichigo to steal his Soul Reaper powers, after having lost his own power as a Substitute Shinigami.

While fragments of Ginjo’s backstory have been explained, primarily in the novels, many questions remain, including who decided to give Ginjo Soul Reaper powers in the first place, and what their reasons were for doing so. Another matter of contention has been whether Ginjo’s Soul Reaper powers had actually faded over time, or if he was simply looking to bolster his underlying powers with the addition of Ichigo’s.

2 Mayuri Kurotsuchi

Mayuri Is The Most Unpredictable And Mysterious Captain Of The Gotei 13

• First Appearance: Episode 24

It’s virtually impossible to tell what Mayuri Korutscuhi, the captain of Squad 12, is thinking inside that sick and twisted mind of his. This radical scientist is always acting in his own interest, regularly sacrificing his subordinates and always trying to get his hands on a new corpse he can experiment with.

As a result, he’s an incredibly unpredictable character who is constantly cooking up something weird and sinister behind the scenes. Though he has shown to be dedicated to protecting the Seireitei, there’s an aura of mystery to Mayuri that always indicates that the mad scientist could be striving for something more.

3 Gremmy Thoumeaux

The Origins Of Gremmy’s “Brain” Has Sparked Many Online Fan Debates

• First Appearance: TYBW Episode 20

Gremmy is a rather peculiar villain in Bleach. Unlike many of the other Sternritter in the final arc of the series who hang around for a while, unveiling small tidbits about their characters along the way, Gremmy simply shows up, shows off his absurdly powerful ability “The Visionary,” and ultimately is defeated by Kenpachi after an intense duel.

However, after being bested by the bloodthirsty Soul Reaper captain, Gremmy’s body disappears to reveal a brain locked away in a case. Some in the fanbase theorize that this is a fragment of the Soul King’s brain, similar to how Pernida took the form of his left arm. However, this is yet to be confirmed, leaving much of Gremmy’s backstory a complete mystery.

4 Yachiru Kusajishi

Yachiru’s Status As Lieutenant And Random Disappearance Adds A Lot Of Mystery To Her Character

• First Appearance: Episode 25

Ichigo and his friends come up against a wild range of captains and lieutenants on their mission to save Rukia near the beginning of the series, but never would they have guessed a young and innocent pink-haired girl would be among their ranks. Things only get more surprising once it’s revealed that Yachiru is the lieutenant of Squad 11, only being outranked by Zaraki Kenpachi himself.

How Yachiru earned the position at such a young age, and why Kenpachi took such a liking to her, was up for debate throughout much of the series. Even when Yachiru finally revealed her Shikai in the Thousand Year Blood War, it’s subtly implied that even this ability is different from the other Soul Reapers; clearly, she was more than just Kenpachi’s handy assistant. The way Yachiru randomly vanishes after witnessing Kenpachi’s Bankai has sparked many conversations concerning who the girl really is, with a popular theory being that she was a manifestation of Kenpachi’s zanpakuto all along.

5 Yachiru Unohana

Unohana Does An Excellent Job At Keeping Her True Identity Hidden

• First Appearance: Episode 24

To be honest, Unohana seems rather uninteresting when she debuts in the series. Assuming the role of a healer as part of Squad 4, her gentle, caring persona drew a lot of people’s attention away from Unohana as they focused on some of the seemingly more unique captains and lieutenants. Slowly but surely though, subtle hints were dropped that Unohana was withholding her true identity.

Every time she would look at her squadmates with a condescending grin, they would run away in fear, and at Hueco Mundo when she was confronted by a team of elite Arrancar, they immediately backed off upon hearing her name. In truth, Unohana was once the first ever Kenpachi and is revealed to be among one of the Soul Society’s most notorious killers, finally resolving the mystery that had been pondered by so many fans.

6 Gin Ichimaru

Gin Made It Pretty Clear That He Knew More Than He Was Letting On

• First Appearance: Episode 23

From the moment Gin first shows up in the story to prevent Ichigo and the gang from entering the Soul Society, it becomes evident this captain of the Gotei 13 is a little different from the others. Gin enjoys talking in riddles, and can always be seen with an unnerving smirk slapped across his face, implying he knew much more than he was letting on.

Once Gin betrayed the Soul Society to become the right-hand of Aizen, many fans theorized he was still hiding something, especially after witnessing flashes of his backstory with Rangiku and his unwillingness to kill Ichigo during their brief skirmish. It was eventually revealed that Gin had been biding his time until he could get close enough to intercept Aizen, but he certainly did a remarkable job at hiding this for so long.

7 Soul King

The Being That Governs The Three Worlds Is Shrouded In Mystery

• First Appearance: TYBW Episode 29

The Soul King is a kind of godly being who resides over the entire Bleach universe, keeping the three worlds stable with his immense power and influence. While it’s made clear that the Soul King is incredibly strong, Tite Kubo was very selective with the flashes of information that he would provide audiences with, ensuring the god-like entity remained largely mysterious.

Though the Thousand Year Blood War anime has provided a few drops of extra information concerning the Soul King, especially his relation to Yhwach, fans were still left to wonder where he came from, and how he came to acquire such a prestigious position. The standalone novel, Can’t Fear Your Own World, does shed some light on his background if fans seek it out, but in the original manga, he was by far the most mysterious character in the story, even after it ended.