Gin Ichimaru

Gin Ichimaru (市丸 ギン, Ichimaru Gin) was the Captain of the 3rd Division of the Gotei 13 until he betrayed Soul Society, alongside Sōsuke Aizen and Kaname Tōsen. His lieutenant was Izuru Kira.

Appearance
Gin is fairly ordinary in terms of clothing, and doesn't wear any unique items. His overall appearance, however, is not as normal. He keeps his eyes constantly narrowed to slits (earning him the nickname "fox-face"), rarely ever opening his eyes which are found to be a bright sky blue.[2] Although he appears to be an early to mid twenty-year-old person, he is unusually thin and tall with very sharp features giving him a skeletal appearance. He bears unusual silver hair (his name refers to his hair color; gin [銀] is Japanese for silver).[2] He also keeps his face set in a wide mocking smile, which he only wipes off on rare occasions of annoyance, surprise, confusion, or even sadness.

In Hueco Mundo, his outfit, like Aizen's and Tōsen's, has been modified since the three abandoned Soul Society. He now wears a long, white robe over his normal Shinigami hakama. The hilt of his Zanpakutō is visible sticking out from under the robe through the opening down to his waist. Later Gin is seen wearing a white hakama like the Arrancar, instead of the black ones he was last seen in. Gin wears his robe open in a narrow 'V' down to his waist, closed to below the hips, and then open again to the hem, which falls about mid-calf. His robe has long bell sleeves, into which he hides his hands like one does with kimono sleeves. The lining of the robe and edges or layers of the under-robe(s) appear to be black. From other examples, it is likely he is also wearing black tabi with white waraji. His Zanpakutō is not visible with this outfit.

Personality
Gin is one of the most mysterious Shinigami in the series, since his almost constant smile and slitted eyes, combined with his heavy use of sarcasm and mocking politeness, make it very difficult to discern his thoughts. Many find his demeanor and appearance rather unsettling and there are very few who were willing to trust him even before he was revealed as a traitor. Gin seems to be fully aware of the effect he has on others and more than once has been seen toying with people's emotional states for his own amusement. Both Rukia Kuchiki and Wonderweiss Margera have shown to be rather frightened of him, Rukia noting to herself that she felt like she was being strangled by snakes whenever he spoke, even if he was not speaking to her directly. In the anime, Gin speaks with a distinct Kyoto dialect, which is polite but indirect. His English dubbed voice is also formal and polite, but with a rather mocking and facetious undertone.

Ever since he was a child, dried persimmons have been his absolute favorite food. Gin planted and raised many persimmon trees around the 3rd division offices, and makes the dried persimmons himself, then distributes them to other divisions. Once he wound up eating a dried sweet potato, thinking, "Oh, it's a dried persimmon!" and he hated it. When he has free time, Captain Ichimaru goes on walks around Seireitei. Although his hobby is people-watching, it seems like he is possibly hunting around and searching for an opportunity to create mischief with some poor victim. The gentlemen of the 3rd Division are contrary, and they have the kind of attitude that enjoys that mean-spiritedness. He also has incredible skill at needle threading.[3

Powers & Abilities
Genius Intellect: When Gin was younger, he was hailed as a child genius. He was highly proficient in his classes at the Shinigami Academy and he graduated in one year. His skill was already evident at a young age when he gained a seated position in the 5th Division shortly after graduating, ultimately surpassing the previous child prodigy Kaien Shiba, who was already an adult and had taken five years to become a seated officer.[84] Gin has shown himself to be highly manipulative and deceptive even when it's evident. He comes out unscathed due to the calm confusion he plays at, which is a testament to his overall strategy. In his battle with Hitsugaya, Gin was able to manipulate the positions of three people so Hitsugaya would have to choose between saving his own life or Hinamori's without any visible effort. He has shown capable of simple deception by having his opponent focus on one thing to hide the true threat.[85]

Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Gin is a highly proficient combatant. In combat, he doesn't seem the least bit taken back by the abilities of his opponent, even when they seemingly have an advantage. He fights with seemingly no effort behind his attacks. His ability to wield his combat skills was evident even when he was a child. He easily defeated and killed the former third seat of the 5th division, who by rank and age should have been more powerful and skilled than him. He is commonly seen using his Zanpakutō's special ability, allowing him to be quite deadly at a distance, which is capable of killing multiple targets in one shot.[86] [87] He has shown the ability to use extreme speed mixed with a calm composure and precise attacks.[88]

Immense Spiritual Power: Gin, without putting out any effort, easily incapacitated Chad, Orihime, Uryū, Makizō, and Ganju with his Reiatsu just by facing the direction they were coming from.[89]

Shunpo Expert: Though never actually shown using this in combat, after his battle with Tōshirō Hitsugaya, he used an impressive Flash Step to retreat.[90] He is also able to fight on even grounds and speeds with Ichigo using Tensa Zangetsu.[91]

Enhanced Durability: Gin's durability is strong enough to withstand a direct hit from Ichigo Kurosaki's Getsuga Tensho, only suffering a light wound to his forehead as a result.[92]

Kidō Practitioner: Gin's actual ability is unknown but he cast Hakufuku on Rangiku Matsumoto, preventing Sōsuke Aizen from perceiving her reiatsu.[93]

Zanpakutō
Shinsō (神鎗, God Spear; Viz "Sacred Spear"): It looks like an ordinary wakizashi. The hilt is light-blue with a tsuba made of two slim swirls of metal looping around the blade to make an open oval, resembling an "S".
 * Shikai: It is triggered by the phrase "Shoot to kill" (射殺せ, Ikorose). In the English Dub, however, he uses a command related to piercing/stabbing and ends the phrase with a personal pronoun (him, her, it) defining who he wants to hit.[94] [95] [96]
 * Shikai Special Ability: In its Shikai, Shinsō's blade glows white and extends at high speed to impale Gin's opponents from a distance. The blade also carries tremendous force when extending, as seen when Gin pushes both Ichigo Kurosaki and the giant Jidanbō out from under the Seireitei gate, despite the latter being firmly braced under it. In addition, Gin can maintain the extension and swing the activated Shinsō in wide arcs, attacking multiple targets quickly and simultaneously.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-96">[97] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-97">[98] Shinsō is capable of reaching a maximum length equivalent to one hundred times its original length, earning it the nickname Hyapponzashi (百本差し, Hundred-span) when Gin was younger.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-98">[99]


 * Bankai: Kamishini no Yari (神殺鎗, God-Killing Spear): In its Bankai state, Gin's Zanpakutō does not change in appearance at all, retaining its small wakizashi form. However, as Kamishini no Yari, the blade is capable of reaching lengths equivalent to 13 kilometers (roughly 8.1 miles) at 500 times the speed of sound. The blade can also retract to its normal size at the same rate.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-99">[100] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-100">[101] Gin has also stated his bankai is not as fast or as long as he claims but he hasn't elaborated on this statement further to determine what he is specifically referring to.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-101">[102]
 * Bankai Special Ability: Gin's Bankai's main basic abilities are essentially the same possessed by his Shikai, but its power, length and speed are vastly amplified. The blade's tremendous cutting power is significantly increased, to the point where Gin is capable of swiftly cutting an entire town in half with a single stroke while standing a great distance away.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-102">[103]
 * Poison: Kamishini no Yari's true ability as well as its deadliest aspect is not based on its length or speed but rather its ability to turn into dust for just a second when it expands out and contracts. There is a deadly poison inside the blade that dissolves and breaks down cells. He can leave a sliver of his Zanpakuto in an opponent when he retracts Kamishini no Yari, allowing him to kill an opponent at any time when he chooses to by uttering the release command "Kill, Kamishini no Yari" (殺せ, 神殺鎗, Korose, Kamishini no Yari) for the technique, while placing his hand up to the target. The result causes the target to completely break down and dissolve at the cellular level from the inside out.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-103">[104]
 * Blade Extension & Contraction: Gin has made claim that his Bankai can achieve its full length at 500 times the speed of sound: exactly 171,500 meters per second in order to arrive at its full length of 13km in under 0.08 seconds, which would make Kamishini no Yari not the longest Zanpakutō, but the fastest. Because the blade's extension and contraction speed is a highly dangerous ability, Gin tends to downplay its speed whenever he talks about his Zanpakutō, and instead focuses on the length and power of the blade in order to gain a psychological advantage over his opponent.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-104">[105]
 * Butō (舞踏, Dance (Step)): By adopting a stance where he firmly grips Kamishini no Yari with both hands and places the Zanpakutō's hilt squarely to the center of his chest, Gin is able to unleash the tremendous extension and contraction properties of his Bankai to an even more terrifying extent than its normal state. This occurs in the form of a piercing maneuver where the extension and contraction of the blade becomes almost completely-unseen to even the most-diligent of observers.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-105">[106]
 * Butō: Renjin (舞踏連刃, Dance (Step) Serial Blade): This ability repeats the action of extending and subsequently contracting Kamishini no Yari, as observed within the technique Butō, multiple times in rapid succession. The entirety of this process is completed in a mere moment, resulting in the individual steps involved in this technique becoming virtually indistinguishable from each other, generating an apparent mass of numerous blades that leaves little opportunity for the intended victim to evade successfully.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-106">[107]