Kirishima Ryouji

Kirishima Ryouji is the Captain of 13th Division in the Gotei 13 and the Commander of the Rukongai Monitor Task Force. The Division and Task Force are geared towards keeping the peace in Rukongai, hunting the occasional Hollow that shows up in Soul Society, and monitoring Rukongai for potential Shinigami recruits.

Appearance
Kirishima Ryouji is a Shinigami of an average height with a wiry build. He has a shaggy mane of black hair that reaches the nape of his neck. His left eye is an ice blue color that seem to pierce everything he sees. His right eye is covered by an eyepatch, but the few who have claimed to seen it say it is the color of fresh blood with flecks of purple. He sports the standard black shihakusho with white obi, although he wears a half-open blue western style jacket with a raised collar over it. He wears his captain haori like an open jacket and the sleeves have been neatly cut off at the shoulders. He also dons the standard tabi and sandals. He always seems to have a neutral expression on his face, giving nothing away. Although if one were to look closely, they'd be able to make out a small smile.

Personality
Ryouji comes off as a polite man, although a bit reserved. He has a special relationship with his division, getting to know all of the shinigami there and speaks with them in a familiar tone of voice. Many of his subordinates respect and flock to him due to his agreeable and nice nature and for his penchant for helping them with many issues, be they large or small. When in the presence of fellow captains, Ryouji is respectful and follows protocol for those who wish it and maintains a familiar tone with those who don't care for protocol. Ryouji is very organized and in fact never seems to have any paperwork or much administrative duties to do, partially this is thanks to his seated officers who insist that they take care most of the load, leaving only the confidential and important matters for him. Ryouji does not believe in needless violence and only draws his blade when things start to get out of hand. Although there have been rumors among the more senior members of the Gotei 13 of Captain Kirishima doing a 180 in personality, going berserk and becoming a 'demon' on the battlefield when his eyepatch is removed....

History
Ryouji grew up in the 69th district of the North Alley of Wandering Spirits of Rukongai. The 69th district, while not as lawless as the higher numbered districts, still saw infrequent bandit incursions and was a poor district. Within this district, Ryouji was found as a child and taken in by an old farmer couple who raised him as if he were their own flesh and blood.

Ryouji had always felt hunger, the sure signs of growing spiritual power, and he began to emit spiritual pressure in his adolescence. His release of spiritual pressure manifested in the form of crystalline powder that glittered like stars and floated around. The old couple he had come to call father and mother described his spiritual pressure's effects as thing of annoyance due to the fact it got everywhere, but other than that they did not mind. Ryouji never really made friends with children seeing as all the children of the 69th district were too busy helping their families with chores or farming duties to play or mingle. One fateful day when Ryouji was of pre-teen age, he was asked to fetch clean water from a nearby river. The ever obedient child, he left with bucket in hand, returneing only to return to a scene etched into his memories forever. The house he had called home was lit on fire and his surrogate mother and father lay dead at the feet of three bandits. An insatiable rage grew inside Ryouji and in the lust for blood, his reiatsu rushed out like a torrential flood and everything went black. When Ryouji came to his senses, he found himself standing over the dead bodies of the bandits with a masterfully created blue katana in his hands and a gash that ran it's length from the top of his upper right eyelid to the bottom of his lower right eyelid. It then began to rain. As the rain fell, the blood from the gash dripped and pooled in his eye, his wild raging reiatsu began to sate, and his rage began to subside. Looking into a puddle, Ryouji found his right iris turned a crimson red in stark contrast to his left's ice blue and felt rage begin to boil again but managed to push it down. Fashioning an eyepatch out of cloth, he covered his right eye and started an endless march with his blade in hand, unknowingly heading towards Seireitei....

Ryouji was found a year later by a shinigami in the 2nd district of the North Alley of Wandering Spirits and after extensive questioning pertaining to his blade, was sent to attend the Shinigami Academy. Surprisingly, Ryouji had no memories of the details of his parent's death, only that they had died. He guessed they had passed due to disease or something like that. The first few years of schooling were a blur for Ryouji, as he kept to himself. This did not inhibit his progress though, it actually served as motivator to become one of the top students at the academy. It was only towards the ending years of schooling that Ryouji began to mingle and make friends. Ryouji was taken in by the 3rd Division and started as one of the 20th seat officers. Years later, Ryouji had taken on the role of Vice Captain. More years passed by until Ryouji was nominated to take the Captain exam as he had learned Bankai recently. He passed with flying colors and became the Captain of 13th Division.

Plot
To be filled as the roleplay progresses.

Powers and Abilities


Immense Reflexes: Ryouji's reflexes are top-notch as he is able to clearly perceive all but the fastest of opponents and his body is able to react accordingly as well. Once he uses his spiritual power to hone his reflexes though, Ryouji is able to perceive everything and sometimes even enters a zen-like state he calls Seishin no Mei (Mind's Eye) where everything seems to slow down proportionally for him due to the boost in reflex and perception. Therefore, a fast opponent would now seem slow, and a blindingly fast opponent that once seemed like a blur would be perceivable, although still quick.

Great Spiritual Pressure: As a Captain, Ryouji has great control over his spiritual pressure. He can use it to cushion the damage of any attack. As he has great spiritual pressure, any human or low level spirits would feel hampered and weighted by it. Therefore he must wear a seal when traversing into the the Human Realm.

Enhanced Strength: Despite possessing a lithe body, Ryouji has a surprising amount of strength in his body, leaving behind unconscious opponents embedded in walls or the ground with multiple broken bones. With the use of spiritual power to augment his strength, Ryouji becomes even more stronger, being able to slash down buildings with air pressure alone and parry attacks that carry the strength of wrecking balls.

Immense Durability: Ryouji's body is a greatly honed and trained weapon. His endurance is very high, and it is unlikely he will tire out before his opponents. He has been able to take on low Arrancar level Ceros and lower level Kido attacks unscathed. With the help of his reiatsu his durability only skyrockets, being able to deflect High Arrancar level Ceros and upper level Kido attacks (under 70).

Defensive Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Ryouji's style of zanjutsu is renowned throughout Soul Society as being one of the best defensive styles as it as been said he has gone into battle and left without ever being wounded in a long time. A core tenant of his style is to place himself in the 'eye of the storm' to maintain a calm center, undisturbed by the conflict around him, thus commanding powerful defensive techniques that seemed to adapt to almost any circumstance at the cost of never reaching past the figurative eye of the storm. In other words, those who study Ryouji's style primarily utilize defensive technique to wear down aggressive opponents by defending against long onslaughts with minimal counter-attacking; enduring rather than overcoming. They wait until their adversary spends most of their energy, then employ an alternate, more aggressive attack to take advantage of inevitable lapses in the opponent's own defense. This means that until their opponent is worn down, their offensive sword attacks would surely fail. A weakness to this style is that it requires immense endurance to maintain, as defense is harder to maintain than attack. This means if an attacker and a defender had the same level of endurance, the attacker would win out. Another weakness is the fact that intense concentration must be held, as a defender must parry and block every single strike to keep even ground with an attacker in terms of damage. Ryouji combats these style weaknesses by keeping his body in top form, turning his mind into a keen weapon, and substituting his lack of offensive abilities with his proficiency in Hado. Ryouji has named his defensive swordsmanship, Serene Chaos Style (Odayakana Konton-ryu 穏やかな混沌).

Defensive Hakuda Specialist: Ryouji admits that Hakuda took a backseat to other subjects in the Shinigami Academy, but this does not mean he is a slouch by any means. His integration of houhou, defensive skills, quick reflexes, and tactical mind makes sure his defensive hand to hand skills are top-notch, using Aikido and it's defensive counter-reversal style to great effect. Although, his skill in offensive hand-to-hand combat is dismal in comparison.

Shunpo Master: Ryouji's houhou technique is very efficient and very fast. While he may not have the finesse in technique of some of the other captains, his bare bones efficiency in shunpo guarantees he is among the fastest.
 * Utsusemi: Gomakashi (Cicada: Deception): The only houhou technique that Ryouji ever bothered to learn other than standard shunpo, Utsusemi allows for a movement at great speed, leaving an afterimage behind, Ryouji's version has him end up behind his opponent and waits for a split-second, allowing the opponent to register the first Utsusemi and turn towards Ryouji for an attack. While the opponent turns, Ryouji will use Utsusemi once more and end up behind the opponent again and this time, stabs immediately with his blade.
 * Utsusemi: Onryou (Cicada: Vengeful Spirit): Against keener opponents, Ryouji will repeat the technique over and over, but this time coming from different angles, like a haunting specter that will not leave its prey alone. He is able to pull off Gomakashi five times in rapid succession, for a number of ten Utsusemi in total.

Kido Master: Proficient and deadly with Kido, Ryouji's skill in the use of Hado is among the best. He can easily using Hado spells up to level 91 without incantation and has knowledge to use up to level 96. His skills in Bakudo are slightly less, only being able to use up to level 77 without incantation and nothing more past that.

Keen Battle Strategist: Through years of meditation, communing with his zanpakutou spirit, and reading the texts of ancient and modern tacticians, Ryouji's sharp mind is yet another weapon at his disposal. Ryouji primarily focuses on small battle tactics, where the outcome is not decided by the efforts of the countless, but by the efforts of the few. In battle, Ryouji's keen mind will nit-pick and file away the moves, styles of opponents, and variable factors and then come up with plans and back-up plans to defeat them, all the while in the heat of combat.

Mind Release: Ryouji's eyepatch covers the right eye that was permanently turned crimson red by his blood and raging spiritual power. The removal of the eyepatch acts as a mental 'trigger' unlocking the memories of his parents' deaths from the depths of his mind and bringing them to the forefront, making it seem to him as if it had just happened then and there. This sends Ryouji into a berserker state where he loses all pretense of defense, strategy, feeling of pain and attacks relentlessly and mindlessly until his opponent is dead, he himself is beaten down close to death's door, or until one of his allies manage to get the eyepatch back on. (Basically his Mind and Kido stats drop to 0 and his Defense stat drops to 50 but his Offense, Body, and Speed stats increases exponentially in return.)

Zanpakuto
Kesshoushin (Crystal Heart): In it's sealed form, Kesshoushin is a highly ornate katana with blue handle and sheathe. Kesshoushin is a female spirit and is considered one of the most majestic and awe-inspiring zanpakutou in Soul Society, in sealed or released form. It is the only crystal zanpakutou in Soul Society and one of the best Kido type.
 * Shikai: Triggered by the release command, "Shine brightly" (Kagayaku) When released, Kesshoushin's non-blue parts let out reiatsu in the form of blinding rays of blueish-white light, purifying weak hollows touched by the rays of light. When the light dies down Kesshoushin's form has grown into a giant crystalline zweihander with a pulsating blue core. Shikai;_Kagayaku,_Kesshoushin.jpg
 * Shikai Special Ability: In this form, Kesshoushin leaves behind a trail of blue light when swung. This trail of light solidifies and can act as a shield (which lasts for five seconds if not attacked) or as a projectile slasher. As long as the blue orb stays intact, any damage done to Kesshoushin can be regenerated with spiritual power.
 * Heartbreaker (Hatoubreaka): The pulsating blue orb in Kesshoushin pulsates even faster before releasing a thin beam of light down the blade to the tip, at this point, depending on how much reiatsu Ryouji puts into the attack, a piercing thin beam of light (which can fired continuously and act as a precision cutter) or a large devestating cannon-like beam will be fired.
 * Bankai: Kesshoushin Jouka-u (Crystal Heart of the Purifying Rain) To activate bankai, Ryouji let's go of Kesshoushin. The zweihander floats and glows, splitting into multiple copies of itself. All of the zweihanders then explode in a cascade of crystal powder made up Bankai;_Kesshoushin_Jouka-u.jpg a countless number of small crystalline orbs, looking like myriad of water droplets in a heavy mist. The countless number of crystal orbs are controlled by Ryouji telekinetically, although using hand motions speed up the movement of the orbs greatly. The orbs, when combined to become bigger, can channel reiryoku and actually amplifies it, much like how a quartz crystal can take light in and amplify it, making spirit power based attacks even stronger. The crystalline powder can come together to form shapes and simple objects, like a circular shield, making it a versatile bankai.
 * Bankai Special Abilities: Ryouji's bankai has a couple of special abilites at it's disposal for use.
 * Ethereal Blade (Eteruburedo): Ryouji always keeps a set amount of crystalline powder rotating around his hand in the shape of blade, which he needs to activate this ability. To activate it, he sends a pulse of spiritual power through the crystalline powder, creating a chain reaction that forms an ever-rotating, blade of spiritual power and diamond hard crystal. The rotating nature of spiritual power makes it act like a chainsaw, increasing it's cutting abilities.
 * Crystal Armor (Kesshou no Yoroi): This ability allows Ryouji to take some of his bankai and forms it to cover his skin in a thin sheet of crystal, protecting himself from attacks. This armor can also aid Ryouji to perform stronger physical attacks. The crystal is transparent and can only be noticed by light reflecting off it.
 * Diamond Armor (Kongou no Yoroi): Ryouji takes a vast majority of his bankai and forms it to cover his skin in layers and layers of thin compressed crystal sheets, the many layers, along with the compression makes the armor harder than the hardest diamond, becoming an almost absolute defense. The armor also aid's Ryouji in performing physical attacks of great strength, crushing through steel and stone alike.
 * Onyx Encampment Wall (Onikisuheki): This ability allows Ryouji to command a large portion of his bankai to form into an almost impenetrable blackish opaque crystal wall as hard as diamond which also mends itself.
 * Onyx Mirror (Miraonikisu): A variation of the Onyx Encampment Wall, where instead of a huge wall of self-regenerating crstyal, polished crystal mirrors are formed. These mirrors can collect energy like a solar panel and reflect them back. Any energy-based attack can be collected and reflected (such as hado, cero, etc.) back, but at the cost of being completely useless against attacks of physical nature (sword strikes, air pressure, sound waves, etc). The nature of these mirrors allows for Ryouji to bounce reflected attacks off of multiple mirrors, therefore if an opponent is surrounded by a dome of these mirrors and fires of an energy attack, the reflected attack could keep on going indefinitely, bouncing off of mirrors until it strikes something that isn't a mirror. Ryouji calls this: Infinite Dome (Mugen no Domu)
 * Jade Prison (Hisui Keimusho): Ryouji completely encases his opponents in a translucent greenish crystal pentagon by either surrounding them with his bankai particles and then flash-freezing the crystals or by stabbing the opponent and uttering the command words, which then crystal fragments start to sprout from the wound until the opponent becomes a crystal statue. When Ryouji utters the command: Shatter (Uchikudaku) the crystal prison shatters and the bodies of the victims disintegrate along with the crystal particles, unless Ryouji wills his bankai to disintegrate through a mental command of Release (Kai), which in this case, his opponent is freed from their prison.
 * Quartz World Order (Sekiei Kaihou): Ryouji takes a vast majority of his bankai and forms it into multiple floating translucent crystal formations of various sizes. While he does this, he pumps his spiritual power into each and every single one of them, manifesting in plumes of spirit power jets leaking out from the crystals. The crystals then proceed to gravitate wherever Ryouji directs them and once an enemy is within proximity, they simply blow up in an explosion of spiritual power and crystal shrapnel. The larger the crystal, the wider the blast radius of the explosion. Ryouji could theoretically make one gigantic crystal formation that could cause a super-massive explosion.
 * Prism of Solitude (Kodoka no Purizumu): This ability allows Ryouji to encases himself in a prism of diamon hard crystal made from all of his bankai. The prism can hover in the air, but seems to be immobile. However, the prism protects him from any attack, regenerating any loss in mere seconds.
 * Arrow of Light (Hishin no Yaro): This technique allows Ryouji to attack by focusing his spiritual power through the prism, allowing powerful arrancar level cero-like blasts to be launched through the prism's tip. Depending on how much spiritual power is used, the Arrow of Light can range anywhere from an Bala-like attacks to even a Cero Oscuras-like attack. Ryouji has shown four variations of the Arrow of Light. Ruby (Rubii): Multiple Bala-like attacks (red-colored), Sapphire (Safaia): Cero-like attack (blue-colored), Emerald (Emerarudo): Gran Rey Cero-like attack (green-colored), Pearl (Pa-ru): Cero Oscuras-like attack (silver colored).
 * Domain of Truth: Heart and Soul (Shinri no ryouiki: Kokoro to Tamashi): This compresses every Shinri_no_ryōiki;_Joo_no_Kokoro.jpge last particle of crystal of Kesshoushin into the form of a single powerful sword, increasing it's cutting power drastically by many times. A single, one-handed lackadaisical swing of the sword is enough to cut through an Arrancar's hierro like butter.The spiritual pressure emitted by the sword is immense and it's brilliance is evident in how the sword seems to be made of pure energy. At Ryouji's command, one single magnificent attack is initiated, releasing all of the spiritual pressure and energy built in the sword in a towering pillar of light. After this attack, the sword loses all of it's power and it's solid form is visible, no longer shining, but just a dull crystal sword with the centerpiece orb's light dying away before it reverts into it's sealed form, leaving behind an exhausted Ryouji. This final attack is called End World (Saigo no Sekai).

Zanpakuto Spirit
Kesshoushin: In her spirit form, Kesshoushin takes on the appearance of a young maiden completely made out of crystal, standing amidst a formation of crystalline rock.

Inner World: Ryouji's inner world takes on the form of a large cavern, brightly lit by glowing crystalline formations of stalagmites and stalactites with Kesshoushin rooted firmly in the middle. If one were to look closely at a dim lit corner though, they would be able to make out a menacing looking black door, padlocked and frozen over by crystalline rock.

Relationships
To be added as plot moves along

Trivia
Theme: "Crusaders of the Light" Globus

Quotes
"The rain...purifies everything..."