Shrieker

Shrieker is a Hollow that was an infamous serial killer in life and a villain from Bleach.

Life
A few years before the storyline of Bleach, Shrieker was a serial killer and murdered 7 or 8 people and was constantly able to escape the police. His last victim would be the mother of a boy named Yuichi Shibata, stabbing her numerous times as she protected her son. Eventually he followed her out onto a balcony where he was about to stab her one last time. But Yuichi grabbed his shoelaces, causing him to trip and fall off the balcony, twenty stories to the ground. Eventually he was reborn as a Hollow with a grudge against Yuichi and decided to use him to make his feeding on souls more enjoyable. Shrieker took the boy’s soul out of his body, placing it inside a cockatiel and told him if he could run from him for 3 months, the Hollow would bring his mother back to life. Shrieker obviously didn’t have any such ability, no creature did, and was only doing this to get more souls to feed on. The Hollow feed on the soul of anyone who came into ownership of the cockatiel and two Shinigami who tried to help Yuichi.

Battle with Ichigo
Eventually the cockatiel came into the possession of Ichigo Kurosaki’s friend, Yasutora “Chad” Sora. Shrieker began stalking Chad and eventually caused a car crash, leaving a wound on Chad’s back that resembled a hand, tipping off Ichigo and Rukia Kuchiki that there was a Hollow involved. After Chad left the Kurosaki family’s clinic, Shrieker caught up with him and Yuichi and began chasing them. Rukia started to pursue Chad, but Shrieker turned his attention to her instead, saying she smelt good and grabbing her leg. However she freed herself of his grasp and the Hollow noted she was tougher than he thought and it was interesting that she could clearly see him. Rukia kneed Shrieker in the chin before leaping over him and trying a kido spell, but as the smoke cleared, he emerged unharmed. The Hollow realized that Rukia was a Shinigami and said her spell had no bite to it, before telling her he’d already devoured two Shinigami that tried to help Yuichi’s soul pass on. Rukia asked Shrieker why he pursued Yuichi, but he just replied that he’d be more inclined to answer if she let him have a bite. She called him Hollow scum, only for him to just laugh and he pinned her to a wall. Shrieker than demanded that Rukia shed her Gigai and fight him for real, when Chad returned, managing to punch the Hollow in the face. However the human was unable to see Shrieker, though he managed to punch him again and the Hollow cursed, before spreading his wings and taking to the air. Shrieker taunted Chad and Rukia for being unable to reach him in the air, but Chad, with directions from Rukia, managed to strike the Hollow with a telephone pole. Shrieker was smashed to the ground and Rukia told him to give up since someone would arrive to finish him soon. However he laughed and said that this was the reason so many Shinigami lost to Hollows, they underestimated the Hollows. Small frog-like creatures leapt out from behind the walls around the street they were in, pinning Rukia and Chad to the ground. Shrieker decided to eat Rukia first, but Chad was able to throw all the frog creatures off of him and tried to punch at the Hollow. However he missed and kept punching at the air as Shrieker noted that he had incredible instincts. Chad was able to kick the frog-like creatures off of Rukia as the Hollow took to the air, this time higher than before so Chad couldn’t reach him at all. But Rukia had Chad throw her at Shrieker and seemed to catch him off guard, only for the Hollow to have one of the frog creatures appear on his shoulder and spit purple leech-like objects at her. They stuck to Rukia’s body, causing her to fall to the ground and Chad managed to catch her, but she found she couldn’t pull the leeches off. Shrieker landed and explained that they were explosives, then used his tuning fork-like tongue to send out a sonic wave, making them go off. The Hollow then revealed he had Yuichi, having bought time to capture him earlier, with three of his frog creatures surrounding the cage with leech bombs in their mouths, ready to blow. Shrieker told them he wanted to hunt Rukia alone and for Chad to stay where he was or he’d blow Yuichi to bits. Rukia told Chad not to worry and began running with Shrieker and the frog creatures in hot pursuit. He managed to get more of his leech bombs on her and set them off, making her start bleeding. Shrieker said he liked the cute blood-stained look and sent more of his frog creatures and leech bombs at Rukia, which she managed to dodge. The Hollow asked her how long she was going to run from him and she could attack him if she wanted. Rukia suddenly stopped and Shrieker asked her if she’d given up, to which she replied that she had no more reason to run and she’d take that counter-attack offer. Ichigo showed up and stepped on Shrieker’s head, before leaping off and introducing himself as a substitute Shinigami, saying if the Hollow wanted to play tag with someone, it should be him. Upon hearing this, Shrieker said that he should’ve gone after Ichigo in the beginning and had his frog creatures fire more leeches. However Rukia was able to get Ichigo out of his body in time and he attacked Shrieker. The Hollow said he smelled the most delicious and they began fighting, until finally Ichigo managed to get his sword on the Hollow’s neck. He managed to get Shrieker to tell him his history and the deal he’d made with Yuichi. Ichigo began to shake in anger, allowing the Hollow to push away his Zanpakuto and leap into the air. Shrieker sent out more of his frog creatures, but Ichigo grabbed them, squashing them and leapt at the Hollow. He punched his hand, which was full of the leech bombs, through Shrieker’s teeth, leaving him unable to detonate them without blowing his own head to bits. Ichigo then ripped out Shrieker’s tongue and then slashed at his face, defeating him, and because he had committed such evils in life, the gates of Hell appeared behind him and pulled him inside.

Return from Hell
Shrieker was reborn as a Togabito and eventually managed to return to the Human World, attacking numerous Shinigami and devouring them. He attacked Zennosuke Kurumadani and managed to easily fight the Shinigami, before asking him if he’d had enough and said he didn’t feel like devouring him. However Rukia showed up, freezing Shrieker with her Zankaputo, but he quickly escaped the ice and his spiritual energy puzzled her. Recognizing Rukia, the Togabito attacked her and eventually took to the air, saying he’d known a rampage in Karakura Town would draw her out. The Shinigami asked Shrieker how he knew her, to which he replied that he was offended and told her to look around. The alley they were in was suddenly lit up by the eyes of small frog-like creatures and Rukia recognized them as Shrieker’s minions. He confirmed that it was him and the Shinigami didn’t believe it, demanding to know how he’d escape Hell. However Shrieker didn’t tell her and sent his minions to attack him, but Rukia managed to avoid it using Shunpo. Kurumadani tried to foolishly help her, but when he slashed at one of the frog creatures, it let loose its leech bombs. Shrieker made them detonate, forcing Rukia to save Kurumadani, before resuming her fight with the Togabito. She found his speed and strength were much greater and eventually he managed to catch her in a large explosion from his leech bombs. However Shrieker was briefly apprehended by the special ability of Kurumadani’s Zanpakuto, Tsuchinamazu. But before they could retreat, the Togabito fired a wave of leech bombs from his arms, managing to hit Kurumadani and freeing himself. The Shinigami told Rukia to run, but Shrieker grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to the wall, saying he was different than before. Rukia looked at his Hell Chain, asking him what he was, and Shrieker explained that the chain was made in Hell and he was now a Togabito. The Shinigami said there was no way a Togabito could escape from Hell and he said he’d done it to get revenge on her. Rukia struggled to escape, eventually kicking at the fasteners of Shrieker’s cloak and he let go of her to quickly refasten it. But before the Togabito could resume his assault, Renji Abarai showed up and Shrieker angrily attacked him for taking away his kill. Renji managed to evade, but couldn’t land a hit on the Togabito and eventually the Shinigami was thrown into a wall that was blown up by leech bombs. But Renji released his Bankai and hit Shrieker with a Hikotsu Taiho, before Rukia slashed his back. This finally defeated the Togabito and as he fell to the ground, a portal to Hell opened and Shrieker fell inside, swearing he’d keep coming back until he had his revenge. However this was all an experiment by Gunjō, a stronger Togabito working with a group of other Togabito determined to escape Hell. He deemed the experiment a success and since Shrieker was of now more use, he was silenced.

Personality
Shrieker is highly intelligent as opposed to most other Hollows, but like most other Hollows, his primary drive is to kill and feed on souls, but he had his love of murder even while alive. He is very manipulative, using Yuichi’s desire to see his mother again to make his killing spree more enjoyable. Shrieker has a habit of using underhanded moves in battle and likes to add sadistic twists to make his hunt for souls more fun.

Powers
Shrieker possesses some level of spiritual power and as a Hollow, feeds on souls to sustain and power himself. He controls small frog-like creatures that he calls his “artillery”, which come from his body and have no sense of pain or will. These creatures have enough strength to hold people down and can spit streams of leech bombs that stick to whatever they hit. Shrieker can then make the leech bombs explode by vibrating his tuning fork-like tongue to send out a wave of sound. The bombs can also go off if the frog creatures are slashed, which causes the leech bombs to spill out of them. Shrieker can also fly with bat wings that are normally sheathed in his arms. As a Togabito, he possesses the same powers, but is more powerful with greater strength and speed. Shrieker can also fire his leech bombs from his own body as well as his frog minions.

Trivia

 * Shrieker appears as a minor enemy and playable character in Bleach: Dark Souls along with his minions, which are called “familiars” in the game. In Bleach: The 3rd Phantom, Shrieker and his minions appear as minor enemies. However his minions are treated as normal Hollows and Shrieker is referred to as “Screamer”.


 * When Rukia was using bounty credit to pay at the Urahara shop, it was stated that Shrieker had a bounty of 5000.


 * Shrieker is one of the few Hollows that is known to remember his life while alive.