Ichigo Kurosaki

Personality
Ichigo is a 15-year-old who attempts to cultivate a detached image, for which he keeps his eyebrows constantly furrowed. Ichigo has natural orange hair, a fact that annoys many bullies in his school, who constantly pick fights with him. Ichigo claims that he does not care what others think and seems to enjoy fighting the bullies. While in junior high school, Ichigo met and befriended Yasutora "Chad" Sado, a boy from another school who helped him out of a fight. Chad, although extremely strong, was often the target of beatings because he refused to fight for his own sake due to a promise he had made as a child to his grandfather. Upon discovering this, Ichigo made a pact with Chad in which they both agreed to fight and risk their lives for something the other was willing to risk their life for. Ichigo comments that thanks to Rukia his life changed, and thanks to her he is able to protect the people he cares for.

When Ichigo was nine, his mother, Masaki Kurosaki, was killed by the hollow Grand Fisher, although Ichigo did not find out the true cause of her death until early in the main Bleach storyline. Prior to learning about this, Ichigo felt guilty for his mother's death, blaming himself for wandering too close to the water and causing her to put herself in harm's way to save him. Even after that, Masaki's death continues to influence Ichigo by causing him to feel guilt for his inability to protect those close to him. Since then, Ichigo lives with his father Isshin Kurosaki and his two younger sisters, Yuzu and Karin. His father runs a small medical clinic.

Ichigo's name, written with homophone kanji, means 1 and 5 when separated as ichi (一) and go (五), the reason behind the two numbers' frequent appearances in the series, notably on the sampler hanging on his bedroom door. The word ichigo (苺／イチゴ), written in yet another way, means "strawberry" —one of his nicknames— in Japanese, and is normally only used as a girl's name; when teased about this fact, Ichigo proudly counters that his name is spelled with ichi (一) as in "first" and go (護) from "guardian". Ichigo's father once told him that his name means "he who protects." The name also means 'one's lifetime.'

Abilities
Ichigo is one of the rare living humans in the Bleach universe to possess innate spiritual powers. As he meets Rukia Kuchiki, they turn out to be both massive and contagious, and many of his friends begin to develop spiritual powers. Because Ichigo produces more spiritual energy than his body can contain, it leaks out constantly, preventing him from hiding it and effectively making stealth impossible when dealing with other spiritually aware beings. Though he does not possess any formal Soul Reaper rank, Ichigo's overall abilities are great enough that he can fight on the level of a Soul Reaper captain.

Ichigo's zanpakutō is named Zangetsu (斬月, Zangetsu? literally "cutting moon"). Unlike most Soul Reapers, who can seal their zanpakutō after releasing it, Ichigo's zanpakutō is always in its shikai form. Its sealed form is that of an ordinary zanpakutō, but oversized as a result of Ichigo's uncontrolled spiritual pressure. Zangetsu's spirit takes the form of a middle-aged man, voiced by Takayuki Sugo in the Japanese anime and by Richard Epcar in the English dub. Zangetsu is portrayed as wise and calm in most matters, and fond of testing Ichigo in unusual ways, many of which have a purpose completely contrary to the stated goal. Zangetsu's special ability is the Getsuga Tenshō (月牙天衝, Getsuga Tenshō? literally "moon-fang slices the heavens", translated in the English anime as "piercer of heaven"), a wave of spirit particles released from his blade's edge. Correspondent to the name, the wave is shaped like a crescent moon. Zangetsu's bankai, named Tensa Zangetsu (天鎖斬月, Tensa Zangetsu? literally "heavenly chain cutting the moon") shrinks the sword down to a fully black one while his uniform also changes to an outfit similar to Zangetsu's. Ichigo's bankai is a compression of his spiritual pressure, rather than a vast expansion as is usually the case. By compressing his power, Ichigo can move at incredibly high speeds, though the form puts tremendous strain on his body.

In addition to his Soul Reaper powers, Ichigo partially becomes a hollow while reobtaining his Soul Reaper powers with the help of Kisuke Urahara. This leaves him with an arrogant inner hollow spirit that grows in strength as the series progresses and tries to take the control of his body while ignoring any injury he has to fight. Ichigo is taught to control his hollow by the Visoreds, allowing him to call upon his hollow powers at will and without sacrificing control by donning his hollow mask. Ichigo can initially only maintain this form for eleven seconds, but the limit increases substantially during his fights in Hueco Mundo.