Zanpakuto Smith

1. #1Zanpakuto Explanationconstantselective

   Keys: Zanpakuto

   Zanpakuto

   Zanpakuto are the main weapon of the Shinigami, the Arrancar, and the Visored. The term Zanpakuto refers to both the Zanpakuto blade and Zanpakuto spirit at the same time. Capable of cutting spiritual bodies, they are among the few weapons which can be used to properly combat and release Hollows' souls rather than erasing them from existence. Each Zanpakuto Spirit is unique and born alongside the soul of the owner, both reflecting their owner's spiritual power and the nature of their soul, while remaining independently thinking sentient beings. The Zanpakuto is born with a name, the name empowers the blade and lends the Zanpakuto spirit's strength to the owner who wields it. However, a Zanpakuto's name must be discovered by meeting the Zanpakuto spirit within the owner's own soul's inner world to even begin cultivating it's strength.

   Zanpakuto forms:

   • "Asauchi" (Shallow Hit) is the base form all Zanpakuto blades begin as, resembling a generic black katana with bronze fittings, a silver blade, black hilt wraps, and a red hilt tassel. Zanpakuto blades, and thus Asauchi, are forged by Ōetsu Nimaiya, but some manifest alongside the spirit of the owner upon death. The Asauchi label literally means "shallow hit", referring to the grossly reduced power of a Zanpakuto blade that hasn't channeled the user's Zanpakuto spirit.

   • The first step in cultivating a Zanpakuto, and thus growing past the Asauchi stage, is learning your Zanpakuto spirit's name and establishing a personal connection. From the moment the Zanpakuto spirit's name is first spoken, the blade channels the Spirit, becoming an extension of the Spirit in a process called "manifestation".

   • A Zanpakuto's "Sealed" form replaces their "Asauchi" form upon manifestation. A manifested Zanpakuto becomes a unique blade matched to their user, known as it's "Sealed" form. While most Zanpakuto remain a katana and simply gain a unique appearance to match their user's inner personality, a rare few Zanpakuto become entirely different bladed weapons like bastard swords, rapiers, segmented blades, claw blades, naginata, a pole arm, or even blunt weapons like clubs, poles, or num-chuks. An extremely rare few Zanpakuto become twin blades or something else entirely.

   • In extremely rare cases, the first manifestation may also permanently alter the owner's spiritual body as well. The spiritual body alterations are always one of the following:
     1. Gaining two or more features of a beast, typically reflecting the Zanpakuto spirit or the owner's personality.
     2. Outright becoming a humanoid beast version of the Zanpakuto spirit, or swapping spiritual bodies with their Zanpakuto spirit. (This may result in permanent gender swapping, depending on the spirit's own gender.)
     3. The formation of permanent, symbolic body markings associated with the Zanpakuto spirit, typically in unnatural colors like purple facial chevrons, red eye highlights, or blue tattoos resembling an associated animal, element, or just eldrich line patterns.
   • As long as the Zanpakuto blade remains in the Zanpakuto spirit owner's possession, it will not revert to being an Asauchi. Any loose Asauchi can be used to manifest the Zanpakuto once again, as the blade is simply a vessel to manifest the spirit, while the spirit itself remains within the owner.

   • "Shikai", also referred to as the "released form", results from speaking a "Kaigai", or "release phrase", containing the Zanpakuto's name. The Kaigai is created at the birth of the Zanpakuto Spirit and is typically a verb followed by the spirit's name, but can be much longer. While the Kaigai is typically learned at the same time as the Zanpakuto's name, a Zanpakuto Spirit may choose withhold the Kaigai for personal reasons. Those with particularly ridiculous amounts of spiritual power may have their Zanpakuto get stuck in their Shikai form, unable to revert through normal means.

   • Zanpakuto in their Shikai form often becomes a more fantastical version of their sealed form, both gaining a unique effect and changing shape further, typically the shape change makes for a more effective form for the owner's fighting style or integrates the owner's spiritual energy into it's form. In extremely rare cases, a Zanpakuto's Shikai can be as powerful or reality-bending as others' Bankai.

   • Examples of Shikai forms:

     • A claw developing a spiritual energy powered booster rocket to dramatically accelerate it's owner's movement.
     • A pole arm changing materials and gaining the ability to extend indefinitely, or swappimg it's blade tip for a big drill.
     • A hammer gaining a booster rocket to smash foes with more kinetic energy.
     • A chain blade replacing it's chain with the owner's spiritual energy, and gaining the ability for it's tip to be controlled remotely.
     • A short sword develops teeth and becomes a chainsaw sword that cuts through both spirits and matter.
     • A katana becoming an execution claw that doubles the weight of anything struck with it.
     • A katana becoming a water-like wave of razor-sharp sakura petals controlled telepathically by the owner.
     • A bastard sword becoming an even larger dragom killer sword capable of hacking through even the toughest enemy.
     • Any weapon gaining the ability to heal rather than kill, control an element, or manifest a weakened form of the Zanpakuto spirit into the world.

   • Examples of Shikai release commands:

     • "Roar, Zabimaru!"
     • "Dance, Sode no Shiroyuki!"
     • "Scatter, Senbonzakura!"
     • "Turm black, Ichimonji!"
     • "Sit atop the heavens, Hourinmaru!"
     • "When the flower wind rages, the Flower God roars; when the wind of heaven rages, the God of the Underworld sneers, Katen Kyōkotsu!"

   • "Bankai" is the second released form of a Zanpakuto, while the release comes in the form of just the command word "Bankai!" Bankai requires forming a strong bond of some description with the Zanpakuto, such as earning their respect, or forging a healthy friendship. The result of attaining Bankai is entirely different between Zanpakuto and requires further elaboration. The effect of reaching Bankai varies dramatically between individuals, and is wildly unpredictable. There are only 3 steadfast rules for the result of a Bankai:

   1. Bankai are always a manifestation of some element of the Zanpakuto spirit itself.
   2. Bankai always follows the rule of cool. Even if it's not terribly useful, it will always do something awesome or terrifying.
   3. Bankai cannot be maintained permanently, the more powerful the Bankai, the quicker it will exhaust the Zanpakuto's owner.

   • For example, a Bankai might do one of the following:

   • Manifest the Zanpakuto Spirit itself at it's full power to fight alongside their owner, potentially the form of a grand beast, a massive dragon, or a giant person.
   • Manifest a single, incredibly powerful, often reality-altering attack before reverting the Zanpakuto to Sealed form.
   • Temporarily grant an abnormal/supernatural power beyond any norm at the cost of not having a weapon, powers including but not limited to: super strength, super healing, telekinesis, mind control, body hijacking/switching, spiritual energy manipulation, or pyrokinesis.
   • Temporarily alter an element of reality or perception, typically with a limiting factor like only affecting a certain area, a single target, or multiple targets under certain conditions; it may also simply restrained by the scale of the owner's spiritual power.
   • Some Bankai may alter or even override the boundaries between Zanpakuto Spirit and owner to become a form of spiritual hybrid between the two. Either weaving elements of the two together, or replacing the owner's body with that of the Zanpakuto Spirit outright.
   • Wrapping a direct manifestation of the Zanpakuto Spirit around their owner like a suit of spiritual clothes or armor (This is common when the Zanpakuto spirit's greatest desire is to protect their owner.)

   Zanpakuto Spirits

   Zanpakuto spirits are their own individual entities mirroring aspects of their owner, can can take on an incredibly wide birth of shapes and bodies from animal people to grand beasts, and may even be embodied by multiple forms at the same time. Unless manifested through external means, a Zanpakuto Spirit typically resides in it's owner's inner world at the core of their spiritual existence, a realm symbolically reflecting the owner's state of mind and view of the world they've lived in.

   Zanpakuto spirits naturally recognize a degree of need to protect their owner's life, as that protects their own survival by proxy. This dynamic typically results in the Zanpakuto spirit considering themselves a guardian of some description to their owner. However, a rare few Zanpakuto spirits, typically influenced by external factors or toxic elements of their owner's personality seeping into them, may seek to manipulate or possess their owner, seeing the subservient role they were born into an intolerable injustice. A Zanpakuto spirit and their owner both become stronger with their bond, but this must be maintained in a careful balance lest one unintentionally erase or eclipse the other and collapse their shared spiritual composition.

   Zanpakuto Spirit examples:

   • Renji Abarai's Zabimaru has 3 distinct shapes it embodies all at the same time, all of which are linked mentally but bare slightly different personalities. The first of Zabimaru's bodies resembles a tall busty woman in a revealing, fur covered one-piece suit with a big ego matching Renji's own disguised ego, this embodimentnof Zabimaru behaves like she is Renji's tomboy big sister and enjoys both teasing and protecting Renji. The second resembles a small bratty child with a monkey tail, her behavior mirrors Renji's more childish tendencies. The third is also the form his Zanpakuto takes when manifesting it's Bankai, resembling a giant snake with a bone skull for a head and a body made of wooden segments, all conjoined by a musculature of his own spiritual energy.
   • Ichigo Kurosaki's Zangetsu is actually a more violent and showy mirror of himself, often wearing the same clothes Ichigo wears, and wielding his own blade form as a weapon to challenge Ichigo for progressively more access to his power through combat trials. Zangetsu is a rare instance of a Zanpakuto spirit dissatisfied with it's place, and tried to subsume Ichigo's spiritual body on multiple occasions, only stopping once Ichigo earned Zangetsu's respect.
   • Rukia Kuchiki's Sode no Shirayuki (literally translating to "sleeved white snow") is a stereotypical Yuki-Onna, or snow woman spirit, with direct control over snow and cold. She is typically dressed in a snow white kimono with a light purple obi. Much like her owner, Shirayuki's cold exterior hides a warm, friendly, and playful personality, but lacks her owner's tomboyish tendencies.
2. #2Shinigamiselective

   Keys: Shinigami, Soul Reaper, Death God, Visored, Vizard, Shinigami-Hollow Hybrid, Soul Reaper-Hollow Hybrid

   Shinigami, Soul Reapers

   Some Souls who make it to the Soul Society have enough spiritual power to enter the Shin'ō Academy and train to become Shinigami, Soul Reapers. Shinigami are souls that are responsible for regulating the balance of Souls between the Human World and Soul Society. They act by sending Pluses (The souls of the dead who haven't yet become hollows) to the Soul Society through the process of Konso, or Soul Burial (The ritual release of a soul, performed by pressing the hilt of a Zanpakuto to their forehead). They are also responsible for fighting and purifying Hollows (Corrupted souls, usually the result of an unpurified Plus having their soul chain severed before being left to deteriorate) with their Zanpakuto.

3. #3Visoredselective

   Keys: Visored, Vizard, Shinigami-Hollow Hybrid, Soul Reaper-Hollow Hybrid

   Visored, Vizard, Shinigami-Hollow Hybrid, Soul Reaper-Hollow Hybrid

   Visored, also known as Shinigami-Hollow Hybrids, are Shinigami who have gained Hollow abilities through partial Hollowfication. This Hollowfication process trades the stable relationship a Shinigami may have with their Zanpakuto spirit for power far exceeding that of a normal Shinigami or Hollow, becoming Visored. The signature trademarks of a Visored is their ability to manifest a "Hollow Mask" and potentially greater power.

   Visored Zanpakuto Spirits

   The process of becoming a Visored partially corrupts the Zanpakuto spirit, as the part of a Shinigami that becomes Hollow is their Zanpakuto spirit. This Hollow Zanpakuto spirit is often emotionally and mentally unstable, aggressive, animalistic, or even outright violent. While some lucky Visored Zanpakuto spirits become aggressive Yanderes for their owner, most others become aggressive, violent, and destructive, often seeking to consume their owner.

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