Character Analysis: Sosuke Aizen(Feat Felicia)

 

Background

• Name: Sōsuke Aizen (藍染 惣右介)

• Age: Several hundred years old

• Gender: Male

• Species: Shinigami

• Height: 1.86 m (6'1")

• Weight: 74 kg (163 lbs)

• Occupation: Prisoner (currently), Leader of the Arrancar Army (formerly), Captain of the 5th Division of the Gotei 13 (formerly).

• Backstory: Aizen is a Shinigami whose past prior to becoming a member of the Gotei 13 (Soul Society’s top Shinigami) is mostly unknown. The earliest we see of him is when he was the lieutenant of the 5th Division of the Gotei 13, where he served under Shinji Hirako. At that point in time, Aizen began researching the boundaries between Shinigami and Hollows, seeking to dissolve those boundaries in order to obtain greater power. To achieve that end, Aizen looked into the Hogyoku, an invention by Kisuke Urahara that sought the same goal.

The Lieutenant’s research allowed him to create his own Hogyoku, but no matter how many souls it consumed, it failed to achieve anything significant. Once he realized both Urahara’s and his Hogyoku were not truly complete, he made it his goal to obtain Urahara’s and merge it with his.

And this is where his galaxy-level brain play began. Firstly, he lured various members of Soul Society to an isolated place in order to use the unfinished Hogyoku on them, which affected them negatively and started turning them into Hollows, but this was a trick to get Urahara to aid them by using his own Hogyoku to stop the transformation, which failed and left the other Shinigami (including Captain Shinji) as a bizarre hybrid with Hollows. When the authorities in Soul Society found out that Urahara had used the Hogyoku to experiment on other Shinigami, he was exiled from Soul Society and fled to the Living World.

Being the sneaky boy he is, Aizen found out that Urahara was planning to inject his incomplete Hogyoku into an artificial Shinigami body, but this wouldn’t come into play until 110 years later, when Rukia Kuchiki was assigned to handle some Hollows in Karakura Town, where Ichigo lived. During her visit to Karakura, Rukia was forced to relinquish her Shinigami powers to Ichigo and make use of Urahara’s artificial body, which nurtured the Hogyoku for some time. But there was still a need for something else, a gigantic source of heat, such as the Sokyoku, a massive fire Zanpakuto used in executions. Aizen pulled some strings in order to get Rukia labeled as a traitor and create uncertainty among the Gotei 13, which included faking his own death, which pushed Rukia’s execution up.

Once the conditions were all met, Aizen revealed himself and pried the Hogyoku right out of Rukia’s chest, only to skedaddle to Hueco Mundo, the world of the Hollows, where he created his own army of Arrancars and perfected his Hogyoku with the unwilling help of Orihime, Ichigo’s friend, whose temporal regression powers prevented the Hogyoku from ever deteriorating.

With the Hogyoku’s power, Aizen intended to obtain godlike powers and forge the King’s Key, which would allow him to enter the Soul King’s Palace. Once there, he would’ve become the next Soul King and taken control of all the balance of the souls that cross the Living World, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo, essentially leaving the fate of the world at his whim.

Of course, this is a Shonen manga, so even if his plan was flawless, and the Hogyoku made him far stronger than any Shinigami, he still lost to Ichigo Kurosaki, and lost the Hogyoku’s power, thus ending up getting thrown into the deepest prison in Soul Society for the rest of eternity.

Powers, Equipment, & Techniques

• Shinigami Biology: As a Shinigami, Aizen possesses various attributes that differentiates him from humans.

• Invisibility: Given that Shinigami are souls, they can only be perceived by those with spiritual awareness. However, they are still tangible.

• Resistance to Soul Manipulation: Given that their bodies are souls made of spiritual particles, their durability is directly linked to their souls, and they can endure attacks from soul-targeting weapons, such as the Zanpakuto.

• Pseudo-Levitation: What’s typically seen as Shinigami being able to levitate is actually just them standing on invisible platforms of Reishi (spirit particles). [Bleach, Chapter 63]

• Reiryoku: The spiritual energy that exists within every living being (and even some objects). High levels of Reiryoku are what grant humans the ability to perceive spirits, as well as other powers. This is the energy that forms the constructs and blasts used by Shinigami.

• Reiatsu: The energy that is emitted when Reiryoku is released. Also known as Spiritual Pressure, it has several functions, such as enhancing the Shinigami’s durability, or stunning and causing fear upon weaker enemies. In Aizen’s case, his Reiatsu is so overwhelming that it can disintegrate weaker foes just by coming close to them. Aizen’s Reiatsu is powerful enough to override Sui-Feng’s instant death-instilling abilities.

• Zankensoki: The four main disciplines of combat for Shinigami.

• Zanjutsu: The art of sword fighting by using a Zanpakuto. Aizen is considered an expert in this art.

• Hakuda: Martial arts that make use of the enhanced strength of the Shinigami’s body. Aizen’s skill with it is great enough to intercept sword attacks with his feet.

• Hohou (Shunpo): A series of high-speed movements that appear as if the user was teleporting. His Shunpo is great enough to easily overwhelm other Shinigami and appear too fast for them.

• Kidou: A series of spells that can be categorized into Destruction Arts (Hadou) and Binding Arts (Bakudou). Aizen is an expert user of Kidou.

• El Escudo: Aizen creates a small forcefield. [Chapter 389]

• Millón Escudo: Aizen creates a stronger and larger forcefield. It was able to block a Kuroi Getsuga from Bankai Ichigo.[Chapter 388]

• Bakudou #26 - Kyokkou: By bending the light around him, Aizen becomes completely impossible to detect, even to those with spiritual awareness. [Chapter 315.02]

• Bakudou #61 - Rikujoukourou [GAME ONLY]: Aizen shoots a beam out of his fingers that traps the opponent inside of six bindings. [J-Stars VS]

• Hadou #63 - Raikouhou: Aizen charges up concentrated electricity in his hand and detonates it at point-blank range upon the enemy’s body. [Chapter 399]

• Bakudou #81 - Dankuu: A highly-potent translucent barrier that can block some of the strongest Kidou that exist. [Chapter -98]

• Hadou #90 - Kurohitsugi: One of Aizen’s strongest attacks. Aizen encases the enemy in a gigantic coffin that can distort space and time. [Chapter 418]

• Hadou #99 - Goryuutenmetsu: The strongest of all Hadou spells. It creates five pillars of light that absorb energy from its surroundings, which power a giant Reiatsu dragon. [Chapter 683]

• Zanpakutou: The signature weapon of the Shinigami. In Aizen’s case, it takes the form of a katana. These weapons are able to cut through souls and spiritual bodies. Zanpakutou wielded by high-ranking Shinigami are sentient spirits. By calling the weapon’s true name, the Shinigami can release their true power. Usually, Zanpakutou possess two release states: Shikai and Bankai. Captains are required to have unlocked their Bankai state, but Aizen’s Bankai has never been seen.

• Shikai - Kyouka Suigetsu: Aizen’s Shikai allows him to make use of an ability called Complete Hypnosis. As the name implies, it fully alters the target’s perception through all of their senses, allowing him to control what the witness perceives. It is activated if the target witnesses the Zanpakutou’s release. The effects of Kyoka Suigetsu can be ended if the target is killed and then revived, or if one touches its blade with their hands. Those who are blind will not be affected by Aizen’s illusions.

Several examples of his illusions can be seen in the Skill feats section.

• Hougyoku: An artifact crafted by Aizen based on Urahara’s research. It has the power to “materialize the user’s wishes”. In Aizen’s case, we see that by merging it with his body, he can effectively evolve mid-fight and overcome old weaknesses. This is because Aizen’s wish is to transcend the barriers between Hollows and Shinigami.

• First Evolution: The Hogyoku is embedded in Aizen’s chest. His appearance does not change particularly, but he gains high speed regeneration.

• Second Evolution - Chrysalis: Aizen is covered by a chrysalis-like coat and his abilities are enhanced. At this point, he has evolved beyond the physical weaknesses of Shinigami. As such, his Reiatsu is no longer detectable. During this state, he is implied to not even be using his eyes.

• Third Evolution - Post-Chrysalis: Aizen hatches from the cocoon with greater power. At this stage, his Reiatsu is enough to reduce humans and objects to nothingness solely by getting close to them.

• Poison Resistance: In this stage, he was affected by a powerful poison that destroyed all of his cells and separated him from the Hougyoku, but given that the Hougyoku was already a part of him, he was able to regenerate from it with ease.

• Fourth Evolution - Transcendent Aizen: At this stage, Aizen has successfully transcended the limits of Shinigami and Hollows, increasing his power to unprecedented levels. He gains a massive set of wings.

• Final Evolution - God Aizen: The peak of Aizen’s power. In this stage, he gains new abilities, as well as a set of tentacles that sprout from his wings.

• Fragor: Aizen shoots a small ball of energy from one of his tentacle-mouths, which detonates with tremendous power.

• Ultrafragor: Aizen surrounds the target with his wings and blasts them with a ring of Fragor with each mouth in his wings.

Strength & Attack Potency

For the feats, whenever the modifier 1E is present, it represents the fact that Aizen was in his First Evolution during the feat. Naturally, 2E, 3E, and so on all correlate to the state of Aizen’s fusion at the time. FE would mean Final evolution, and EoS refers to Aizen at the end of the series, without the Hogyoku.

• One-shot Hitsugaya’s Bankai. (170)

• Easily destroyed Renji’s Zabimaru. (173)

• Stopped Ichigo’s Bankai with a single finger. (174)

• Stopped Komamura’s Zanpakuto with his bare hand. (176)

• One-shot Komamura with a basic Kurohitsugi. (176)

• Casually stopped a high-level Kidou from Tessai, the most skilled Kidou user. (315.11)

• Killed Tier Harribel in one shot. (375)

• One-shot Komamura’s giant Bankai blade and Komamura himself. (390)

• One-shot four captains at the same time. (392)

• Stabbed Yamamoto, the strongest Shinigami at the time. (393)

• Casually blocked Ichigo’s Bankai with his bare hand. (397) 1E

• One-shot the Cleaner, an immortal being that is immune to Reiatsu attacks. (407) 3E

• One-shot Gin, and casually ripped his arm off. (416) 4E

• With a single swing of his sword, he caused the top of a mountain to be reduced to nothing as a side effect. (418) 4E

• The pressure from his sword swing destroys a large part of the ground. (418) 4E

• With a single Fragor, caused a massive explosion that left behind an even deeper crater. (419) FE (Good shot of the crater)

• Crushed an army of eye monsters with nothing but his Reiatsu. (621) EoS

• Destroyed a massive amount of monsters using Kurohitsugi while greatly restrained. (622) EoS

Speed & Reactions

• Blitzed Hitsugaya’s Bankai. (170)

• Casually blocked Renji’s attacks. (173)

• Blitzed Renji so fast he couldn’t even see him moving. (174)

• Blocked a sneak attack from Ichigo. (388)

• Dodged a Kuroi Getsuga from Masked Ichigo. (388)

• Closed a large gap between him and Ichigo in an instant. (388)

• Reacted to a surprise attack from Kyoraku. (389)

• Dodged several wide-area ice attacks from Hitsugaya. (390)

• Caught Rojuro’s whip-blade in midair. (390)

• Dodged and slashed Lisa’s spear in half before one-shotting her. (390)

• Blocked a sneak attack from Isshin with his foot. (403) 2E

• Stopped a slash from Urahara with his foot. (403) 2E

• Casually blocked a Kidou from Urahara. (405) 2E

Durability & Stamina

• Tanked a large attack from Hitsugaya. (170)

• Took hits from NaNaNa Najahkoop, whose ability targets the holes in the enemy’s Reiatsu. (623)

• Survived a massive explosion caused by Yhwach’s Almighty. (682)

• Endured attacks from Yhwach after he had absorbed the Soul King. (683)

• Survived a high-level Hadou from Yamamoto at point-blank. (395)

• Endured a Kuroi Getsuga immediately after. (396)

• Endured a flick from Isshin that sent him flying through several buildings. (398)

• Survived a shot that pierced his chest. (401) 1E

• Endured getting bombarded by several high-level Kidou from Urahara without a scratch. (402) 2E

• Survived getting incinerated by his own Reiatsu. Which caused a massive explosion. (402-3) 2E

• Endured attacks from Yoruichi that were easily toppling buildings as an aftereffect. In fact, just hitting him broke Yoruichi’s weapons, which were made specifically to destroy ultra-hard skin. (403) 2E

• Endured a beatdown from Yoruichi. (405) 2E 

• Followed by several consecutive explosions.

• And a point-blank Getsuga Tenshou from Isshin.

• Which caused a massive crater. (406)

• Survived getting stabbed through the chest by Gin’s Bankai. (414) 3E

• This Bankai inflicts the victim with poison that breaks down the target’s cells.

• Survived getting his chest destroyed and having the Hogyoku separated from him. (414) 3E

• Endured getting smashed into a hill by Post-Dangai Ichigo. (417) 4E

• Took slashes from Post-Dangai Ichigo. (419) 4E

• Survived Ichigo’s Final Getsuga Tenshou. (420) FE

• Tanked a large blast from Soul King Yhwach without a scratch. (682) EoS

• Survived attacks from Soul King Yhwach. (683) EoS

Skill, Intelligence & Others

• Faked his own death. (100)

• Stabbed Hinamori through the chest. (169)

• Had Hinamori become his lieutenant because he knew she’d be easy to manipulate. (170)

• Assassinated the 46 chambers of Seireitei. (176)

• Extracted the Hogyoku from Rukia. (176)

• His ploy to kidnap Orihime was a distraction to divert Soul Society’s forces from the Human World. (314)

• Sealed the Garganta off and trapped several people in Hueco Mundo. (314)

• Used his hypnosis for more than a month to make him believe he was someone else. (315.10)

• Turned numerous high-level Shinigami into Hollow-Hybrids. (315.10)

• Framed Urahara for the crimes he had committed for his research. (315.12)

• Humiliated the God of Hueco Mundo and took over it. (371)

• Tricked Tier into thinking she had impaled him. (376)

• Everyone in the Gotei 13 and Hueco Mundo had witnessed Kyoka Suigetsu’s release. (381)

• Overcame Shinji’s illusionary powers in a matter of seconds. (387)

• Tricked everyone into thinking that Hitsugaya had killed him, when in reality, the true victim was someone else. (392)

• Created Wonderweiss as a way to specifically oppose the flames used by Yamamoto, which would’ve been too much for base Aizen. (393)

• Planned out literally everything that gave Ichigo his powers. (396)

• Defeated Urahara, Yoruichi, and Isshin. (406) 2E

• His crimes were so great that his sentence was 18,800 (later 20,000) years in the deepest prison in the Muken, the prison for unkillable criminals. (423)

• He was deemed necessary to defeat Yhwach by Kyoraku. (622) EoS

• His strength only grew even further while he was in the Muken. (622) EoS

• Tricked Yhwach into believing that he had nullified Absolute Hypnosis. (683) EoS

Scaling

Yhwach/Soul King: The Soul King’s feat of maintaining the three worlds is a potential strength feat. In the manga that the Soul King’s existence serves to keep the worlds from collapsing. In the brief moments where SK was dead, the Living World, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo were affected by massive earthquakes, and would’ve been destroyed if the SK hadn’t been replaced. Once Yhwach took the Soul King’s powers, he became just as powerful as him. Aizen took hits from Yhwach at the peak of his power with the Soul King, so at the very least, his durability should be on that same level.

• Hitsugaya’s Bankai storm. (358)

• Gin’s Bankai can extend 500 times faster than sound. This is often discarded as a lie because of the true nature of his Bankai, but it’s verifiable by Ichigo’s own observations about his speed and statements from guidebooks.

• Even in early mentions of the Soul King, he is stated to be maintaining the world physically.

Weaknesses

• The evolution progress is somewhat slow.

• His evolutions can be stopped if his connection to the Hogyoku is severed, but this is very difficult to do, as even destroying the Hogyoku on his body during an evolution failed to achieve anything.

• Alternatively, it’s possible for the Hogyoku to reject him and undo his transformations, but this is also pretty much impossible to do without prep time.

• Kyouka Suigetsu requires visual contact in order to affect people with illusions.

• If the Reiatsu vents located in his wrists get sealed, his whole Reiatsu will implode within him. Although he has survived this before.