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Bleach was once part of shonen anime’s famed “big three,” and it’s easy to see why. Tite Kubo’s venerated series has an outstanding combat system, memorable and fun characters, classic fight scenes, exotic settings, and more. By the series’ end, many Bleach characters are immensely powerful, but not all of them started off that way.
Some Bleach characters were always powerful in the story and in their personal lives, such as Kisuke Urahara, Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, and Yoruichi Shihoin, but other characters had to train and grow up before they could realize their full potential.
10 Ichigo Kurosaki Covered A Lot Of Ground In A Few Years
The star himself, Ichigo Kurosaki, always had some latent spiritual powers, but he wasn’t exactly born with Bankai. In fact, he had no awareness of Soul Reapers at all until he met Rukia Kuchiki one fateful night, and he gained the powers of a Soul Reaper at last.
But Ichigo still wasn’t a powerhouse. He had little training and a weak, nameless zanpakuto, so he underwent one training session after another to power up. He obtained Zangetsu, his shikai, his bankai, his Hollow mask, and more over the course of Bleach until he was finally ready to take on Aizen and then Yhwach.
9 Rukia Kuchiki Has Also Come A Long Way
Unlike her human friend Ichigo, Rukia had the benefit of always knowing what Soul Reapers are, and she attended the Shin’o Academy after Miyako Shiba inspired her to become a Reaper herself. Rukia earned her rank as a seated officer, but as of Bleach‘s first season, she was hardly a juggernaut.
Rukia couldn’t even defeat Fishbone-D, an ordinary Hollow. She then lost her powers. She regained her abilities after the Soul Society arc, including her frosty shikai, and in later story arcs, she also had her own Bankai, named Hakka no Togame.
8 Renji Abarai Made Big Strides As A Lieutenant
Compared to Rukia and Ichigo, Lieutenant Renji Abarai started off fairly strong, but by later Bleach standards, he was little more than a token Soul Reaper during his early fights. It didn’t help that his shikai, Zabimaru, was a forgettable melee type, a far cry from other shikai the series had in store.
Renji broke even against Ichigo while the latter was using his nameless zanpakuto, which didn’t flatter Renji at all. Fortunately, Renji expanded his skills and obtained Bankai, and started using more kido spells, too. Later on, he unlocked the true form of his Bankai, granting him the strength to take on Stenritter and win.
7 Shuhei Hisagi Started Off Meekly
Shuhei Hisagi’s power levels remained largely static during the events of Bleach, and he fell behind as other characters such as Rukia and Renji powered up. But Shuhei used to be even weaker than that. In his first chronological appearance, he was just a helpless child.
Shuhei was introduced as a crybaby little boy in a flashback, and then-Captain Kensei Muguruma demanded that Shuhei cheer up and be a real man. Shuhei took those words to heart and became a Soul Reaper officer and put his crybaby days totally behind him.
6 Chad Didn’t Always Have His Spiritual Gifts
By human standards, Yasutora “Chad” Sado was always strong, and he learned from his grandfather, Oscar, to be responsible and kind with his strength. But by spirit standard, Chad was an ordinary human, completely incapable of fighting Soul Reapers, Hollows, or Quincy.
That changed in Bleach‘s first season when Chad obtained spiritual gifts and became a melee warrior who could take on Soul Reaper officers. He trained in subsequent story arcs to power up, and he began using moves such as El Directo and El Muerte to deal impressive damage. His younger self would be astonished.
5 Aaroniero Arurruerie Had To Eat 33,650 Hollows To Gain Strength
Nothing is known of Aaroniero Arurruerie’s early days, but it can be inferred that he used to be an unremarkable Gillian-class Menos with a huge appetite. He earned the rank of #9 among the Espadas by eating 33,650 Hollows and absorbing their power, so before that, he must have been much weaker.
In addition, Aaroniero ate Metastacia, which had fused with Kaien Shiba, meaning Aaroniero gained access to Kaien’s shikai, spirit energy, and face, which was definitely a huge asset for him. All this allowed him to challenge Rukia and very nearly win.
4 Captain Jushiro Ukitake Was Once A Sickly Kid
Captain Jushiro Ukitake ranks among the most powerful and experienced of all Soul Reaper Captains, but he had a shockingly humble origin story. The Thousand-Year Blood War arc revealed his early childhood, when he was dying of an illness. He nearly lost his life until Mimihagi saved him.
Jushiro recovered thanks to this extension of the Soul King, and he was healthy enough to train as an early-generation Soul Reaper along with his old friend, Shunsui Kyoraku. He eventually gave his very life to help restore the Soul King and thus repay him for saving his life.
3 As Nodt Once Lay Dying Until Yhwach Arrived
It’s tempting to think that the terrifying Sternritter As Nodt was always a monster, but a very brief flashback in the manga proved otherwise. As Nodt was once a mortal man who lay dying in a hospital, until king Yhwach arrived and granted him power, saving his life.
As Nodt once feared death, but now he is the master of fear and inflicts mind-bending terror on all his foes with his thorn-like arrows. He’s come a long way since then, and he’s terrified of disappointing his king and savior. He’d rather die strong than live weak.
2 Orihime Inoue Didn’t Always Have Her Six Fairies
Ichigo’s dear friend Orihime is in a similar position as Chad in that she obtained spiritual gifts as an adolescent rather than being born wildly talented. Orihime met the six fairies who granted her her abilities, and she has never looked back.
Orihime learned on the fly how to create protective barriers and heal her allies, and she later obtained a new shield that could reflect an enemy’s attack right back at them during the Xcution arc. If Sora were alive, he would be immensely proud of his baby sister.
1 Ryuken Ishida Is A Confident Quincy Archer
Ryuken Ishida appeared as an adolecent during a flashback, and, while he was already an archer at the time, he seemed rather indecisive and played a minimal role in that flashback’s events combat-wise. As a grown man, though, things are completely different.
Ryuken is an incredibly skilled archer now, being able to effortlessly shoot arrows with surgical precision at his targets, such as when he shot an arrow at Uryu’s heart to restore the latter’s Quincy powers. There’s no sign that he could have done that in his youth.
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