Apperance

Ichigo's most distinguishing feature is his spiky orange hair, a trait he has been ridiculed about for years on end. He is a fairly tall, lean-built young man with peach skin and brown eyes. He likes to wear tight clothes.[6] He has a tendency to wear shirts patterned with the number 15 because his name is a homonym for the number.[7] Since becoming a Shinigami, he has become noticeably more muscular, as noted by his sister Karin.[8] When in his spiritual form, Ichigo wears the standard Shinigami attire, with the addition of a strap across his chest. Initially, it was a thick brown belt to hold his Zanpakutō sheath, but it later became a red rosary-like strap.[9] It is shaped like a kite with a flat top and bottom.[10] Ichigo's appearance has caused several people, including Jūshirō Ukitake, to note a similarity to Kaien Shiba, the former lieutenant of the 13th Division.[11] After training in the Dangai, Ichigo's hair grows considerably, and he is noticeably taller, as stated by his friends.[12] After Ichigo loses his Shinigami powers, his appearance reverts to the way it was before his Dangai training.[13]

Seventeen months after defeating Aizen, Ichigo's overall appearance does not change, but he becomes taller and grows sideburns.[14] After regaining his powers, Ichigo's Shinigami attire consists of a thicker strap across his chest. He has four black vertical lines on his forearms and black, tattoo-like bands crossing over his chest, wrists, and ankles. Similar bands, but with white ends, lie around his neck as collars.[15]

 

Personality

When he was younger, Ichigo considered his mother to be the center of his world, always smiling when he was with Masaki and regularly holding her hand.[16] Despite crying whenever he lost in a match at the dojo he attended, Ichigo started to smile again as soon as he saw Masaki when she came to pick him up.[17] At a very young age, Ichigo heard his father saying his name means "to protect one thing," which instilled in him a desire to protect his mother. When his sisters were born, he began attending a dojo for the sake of protecting them. Since then, the number of people he wishes to protect has continued to grow, causing Ichigo to risk his life to protect both the people close to him and complete strangers.[18][19][20]

As a teenager, Ichigo is stubborn, short-tempered, strong-willed, and impulsive.[21][22] Despite claiming not to care about what other people think about him, he attempts to maintain a detached and "cool" image.[23] He generally keeps his face set in a near-permanent scowl, with his eyebrows drawn together.[24] His outspoken, hot-headed demeanor is a trait Ichigo himself has acknowledged, and if somebody picks a fight with him, he cannot help fighting back. He coldly refers to his teachers as "instructors".[25] He is genuinely compassionate and empathetic towards others, promising to bring a Plus flowers[26] and a toy plane,[27] or soothing others when they become upset.[28]

 

Ichigo is a capable student, ranked 23rd in his year at school, who studies regularly and does not neglect his schoolwork.[29] He works as hard as he does to overcome the misconceptions many have about him based on his hair color and fighting.[30] Ichigo hates fortune telling, horoscopes, feng shui, psychics, and anyone whose trade involves taking money from people for things they cannot see.[31] He has difficulty remembering people's faces and names.[32][33][34] Ichigo becomes extremely shy and uncomfortable around or immodestly dressed women, a fact both Yoruichi Shihōin and Rangiku Matsumoto have for.[35][36][37] Ichigo is often disrespectful when talking to those older than himself, calling Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto "gramps" and referring to several of the Shinigami captains by their given names without using honorifics.[38][39][40][41][42]

 

When it comes to fighting, Ichigo has a complex sense of honor; he regularly seeks to exact revenge for the cruel actions of his opponent, such as instilling the fear of being murdered in Shrieker and cutting off the right arm of Yammy Llargo in retaliation for him ripping Yasutora Sado's right arm off.[43][44] He often taunts and belittles his opponents when fighting, sometimes attacking without warning.[45] Ichigo has a strong desire to win his fights, but in what he views as a legitimate manner.[46] To this end, he has often refused the aid of his inner Hollow, even when knowing it would allow him to win.[47] Ichigo's resolve in battle can waver at times, which can impede his fighting prowess, and goes into a state of depression and self-loathing when he loses a major battle or lets a friend down.[48]

 

Ichigo despises those who mistreat their allies in any way, even if they are his own enemies. He is disgusted when an individual berates his/her own allies, such as when Yammy calls Ulquiorra Cifer, Nnoitra Gilga, and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez "trash".[49] He expresses anger towards those who go as far as attacking their own allies, stating he cannot forgive those who murder their own comrades.[50]

 

History

 

Young Ichigo with Tatsuki Arisawa.

Ichigo was born on July 15th as the son of Isshin Kurosaki and Masaki Kurosaki, 15 years before he became a Shinigami. His sisters Karin Kurosaki and Yuzu Kurosaki were born a few years later. When he was four, Ichigo joined a karate dojo, where he met and befriended Tatsuki Arisawa. Though Tatsuki beat Ichigo in every match they had, she would help Ichigo if he was being picked on by bullies and cheer him up if he was upset.[17]

Ichigo was able to see Pluses for as long as he could remember.[51][52] He could see them so clearly, as a child, he could not tell the living from the dead. This resulted in him appearing to other people to be looking at deserted places and talking to himself. This caused people to say he could see ghosts, though when Tatsuki asked him about this, he denied being able to see them.[53]

 

 

Ichigo wakes up under Masaki as she lies dead.

On June 17th, when Ichigo was nine years old, he and his mother were walking home alongside one of Karakura Town's rivers, which was swollen from heavy rain. Seeing a girl near the river, Ichigo thought she was about to jump into it. Unable to tell the difference between ghosts and living people, Ichigo ran towards her to stop her, unaware the girl was the lure of the Hollow Grand Fisher. Masaki tried to stop him, but he did not listen. After failing to grab hold of the girl, Ichigo lost consciousness for a time. When he awoke, Masaki was lying on top of him, covered in blood.[54] Starting the day after Masaki's death, Ichigo repeatedly skipped school to go to the riverbank where Masaki died. Tatsuki found him there, where he would stay from morning until night, wandering along the bank as if searching for his mother, squatting down if he was tired and then wandering some more.[55]

 

Ichigo risking his life to protect Sado's coin.

One day, when Ichigo was twelve, prior to the Kurosaki Clinic opening, he heard the bell ring and answered the door to find a girl with her brother on her back. He had been in a car accident, and was covered in blood. The clinic did not have the equipment necessary to save him, and he died before an ambulance arrived to transfer him to Karakura Hospital. Sometime later, he learned the girl was Orihime Inoue.[56]

Ichigo later entered Mashiba Junior High School. During this time, Ichigo finally defeated Tatsuki in a karate match, and had not had another match with her since.[57] Ichigo regularly got into fights with thugs, due to the unusual color of his hair.[25] During one of these fights, he received help from Yasutora Sado. Shortly after, Ichigo returned the favor when he rescued Sado from two gang members roughing him up.[58] When the thugs later abducted Sado, Ichigo found them and knocked down their leader, Yokochini. Using Yokochini's phone to ring for an ambulance for each of the five thugs, he beat up all of them. After Sado was freed, they made a pact to protect and fight for each other.[59]

 

Shortly before Ichigo became a Shinigami, he and Sado began attending Karakura High School, and their reputations preceded them. During a fight with a gang led by Reiichi Ōshima, Ichigo and Sado met Keigo Asano and Mizuiro Kojima, saving the former in the process. While Keigo was initially afraid of Ichigo and Sado, both he and Mizuiro later became friends with them.[60]