With the Bleach anime to return in October 2022 with Thousand-Year Blood War, as well as Tite Kubo back at work with the recent 20th-anniversary one-shot, the eventual release of the Jaws of Hell arc, and the second season of Bleach’s spinoff manga, Burn the Witch coming in late 2022, Bleach, its characters, and their fight against corrupted souls are experiencing a well-deserved renaissance. And with a premise like Bleach’s, its characters need a considerable amount of bravery to achieve victory.
Bravery is often marked by overcoming fear and/or adversity to do what’s right. While this is still true in Bleach, what unifies the bravery in its characters is their desire to protect their loved ones or uphold their ideals. The bravery in Bleach is almost always selfless, and while sometimes characters are more hesitant to act than others, they always come through, even if they begin as ordinary or powerless.
Kon
The comic-relief-pervert and often cowardly Kon, being a modified soul, lacks any fighting skills or special powers, inhabiting either the body of a stuffed lion or Ichigo’s living body when Ichigo fights. However, it’s his perceived artificial existence that allows his bravery to manifest, driving him to save people and prevent civilian casualties.
Though an “artificial being,” Kon is still a person with free will. Kon’s bravery, particularly without any substantial fighting skills, comes from his belief that all living creatures, organic, artificial, or otherwise, are entitled to their own lives. While it may take some reminding to spring him to action, Kon proves himself a valuable member of the team when he pulls through.
Kenpachi Zaraki
Kenpachi’s (sometimes villainous) lust for violence drives him to seek out opponents that can provide a proper challenge, prompting him to even give himself disadvantages such as his power-suppressing eyepatch or the bells fastened in his hair, alerting his opponents to each of his movements.
While initially presented as a horrifying brute, Kenpachi’s bravery is prominent whenever he holds back on an opponent who can no longer fight, or when he defies the Soul Society to help Ichigo rescue Rukia. If he didn’t, it’s doubtful Ichigo and his friends would have succeeded in saving her. Even if there is no fear for him to overcome, Kenpachi’s willingness to dive head-first into a fight is a sure mark of bravery.
Toshiro Hitsugaya
Much more of a team player than Kenpachi, Toshiro will still call truth to power and fight injustice when necessary. While Toshiro doesn’t join Ichigo’s invasion and while he is quite the stickler for ranks and honorifics, he does seek the truth when he discovers discrepancies regarding Rukia’s impending execution.
Toshiro’s bravery comes from a sense of justice, as well as an unwavering loyalty to his friends and comrades. Unlike other Soul Society captains, he doesn’t blindly follow if he senses corruption within that system, and that willingness to root out corruption leads him to uncover a major series antagonist within his own ranks. Being able to call truth to power, even when you’re a part of that power, takes courage and heart, and Toshiro has plenty of both.
Uryu Ishida
An intelligent young man with a chip on his shoulder, Uryu begins as a minor antagonist to Ichigo but soon becomes a trusted ally. Inheriting the family mantle of Quincy, Uryu fights hollows and other threats to contribute to his family’s legacy and even assists Ichigo to rescue Rukia from her wrongful death.
While initially his bravery is driven more by vengeance against the cunning Shinigami, rather than any sense of altruism, his time with Ichigo and his friends shifts him into a more selfless hero. Even without Ichigo, and even being raised with his family’s legacy in mind, it takes a lot of bravery for a teenager to fight the supernatural threats Uryu does. Motivations aside, the courage Uryu displays is to be commended.
Renji Abarai
The surprisingly likable Renji Abarai doesn’t make a great first impression, introduced in the story by arresting his childhood friend, Rukia. However, after seeing how far Ichigo would go to save her, Renji’s loyalty to Rukia reignites, giving him the bravery to defect to Ichigo’s side to do the right thing and rescue her.
Unlike the humans, Renji knows how the Soul Society works and his place within it and is well aware of his defection’s consequences. While his hesitancy into doing what’s right keeps him from placing higher, acting to save his friend with those consequences in mind is a true mark of bravery all the same, and develops him into more of a hero.
Yasutora Sado (Chad)
This gentle giant’s bravery is more restrained, choosing not to employ his strength to hurt others unless it will protect innocents, leading him to be a target of bullies. His considerable size and strength make him a formidable fighter, though, allowing him to become the tank in Ichigo’s team once his spiritual powers manifest.
As a human teenage fighter (albeit an extremely powerful one), Chad’s bravery fighting alongside Ichigo alone earns him a spot here, but it’s his restraint as a civilian that places him higher than others. His bravery allows him to endure and maintain peace rather than escalate and hurt. Bravery is often characterized by the actions one takes, but sometimes inaction is its own form of bravery.
Yoruichi Shihoin
Once destined to be the leader of the Shihoin clan, Yoruichi renounced her titles in order to save two of her friends (including co-mentor Kisuke Urahara) from wrongful execution. Yoruichi also helps the human characters hone their spiritual powers and helps them and Ichigo invade the Soul Society to rescue Rukia.
There’s something to be said about renouncing your privileges and status in order to do the right thing. Having come from a rich and noble family, one she was destined to lead, Yoruichi throwing that all away to save her friends without hesitation, as well as her willingness to help her human allies against the Soul Society’s injustice, is a stunning display of bravery fueled by justice and friendship that should be looked to as an example.
Orihime Inoue
The love for her family as well as her unrequited love for Ichigo is what motivates Orihime. Even when she is initially powerless, she faces down her deceased brother’s hollow, overcoming his fearful image simply because he was in pain and help. Along with her imprisonment by Aizen, Orihime may face the most challenges in Bleach.
Orihime’s bravery develops her into a powerful fighter, unable to stand idly by when Ichigo jumps into action. Easily the most innocent of the cast, Orihime is also the most out of her depth in this world but she still pulls her weight in the fights. For how much adversity she has to overcome, Orihime deserves to be placed as high as she is.
Ichigo Kurosaki
After losing his mother in a hollow attack, a deep desire to protect the people he cares about is instilled within Ichigo. While his Shinigami journey only begins so he can protect his family, he soon finds true heroism to be unavoidable because of his morality, unable to ignore the suffering of innocents.
Time and time again, from the manga and the anime filler to the movies, Ichigo bravely risks his life, not for a title or the love of fighting, but because he refuses to let innocents get hurt. Be it standing up for a bullied kid or invading another world to save a friend from an unjust execution, Ichigo’s bravery comes as easy as breathing, inspiring friends and even many enemies into doing what’s right.
Rukia Kuchiki
Bleach begins with Rukia protecting Ichigo from a hollow attack, saving him but taking her out of the fight. She then gives Ichigo her powers, allowing him to save himself and his family. But this gift came at a great cost, forfeiting her life according to the Soul Society’s laws. Though she knows she did the right thing, she values the Soul Society’s customs and faces her punishment willingly.
While it’s certainly debatable if Rukia should have done more to fight the law, she holds to her beliefs and values, even when death is certain. This bravery is what inspires so much of the cast into action. The Soul Society arc, even the story of Bleach as a whole, is dependent on Rukia’s bravery. As such, Rukia definitely earns the top spot.
