Application for Abarai Renji
PLAYER INFO
Name/Nickname: Batty
Age: 18
Journal: batty_chan
AIM/MSN/IM: battypichugirl
Email: battypichugirl@yahoo.com
CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Abarai Renji
Canon: Bleach
Point taken from canon: The Hueco Mundo arc, in the middle of the fight with Szayel Aporro Granz
Age: About 150-ish, looks about 17
Gender: Male
Preferred Village: Hisato
Appearance:
The first thing that instantly stands out upon seeing the lieutenant is the wild, red hair. It is usually tied up, though sometimes the hair tie comes undone in the midst of battle and his hair fall back down over his shoulders, just barely reaching to the small of his back.
Though not quite as prominent, as they are primarily hidden by his shihakusho and his headband/sunglasses, Renji's entire torso is covered in pattered, ornamental tattoo work, as well as his forehead, starting from the eyebrows. Where he got them is unknown, but they appear to be a symbol of personal pride for him, increasing in number and complexity as his accomplishments as a shinigami increase.
He's fond of sunglasses, though it seems that they have a tendency to get broken in fights, so he's more often seen with a white cloth wrapped around his forehead.
The lieutenant is tall as far as shinigami go, at 6'2'' when standing fully upright. However, he's rarely seen so, often slouching against walls and furniture or lounging in a shady spot under a tree. And although he doesn't hold quite as much pride in his appearance as his captain does, the lieutenant does provide a generally well-kept image, his wild and unruly hair clean and generally free of tangles, and despite his sloppiness with paperwork, he usually manages to keep his shinigami uniform clean and not-too-rumpled-looking, reflecting the pride he holds in his position, even if he does not always keep up with some of the menial tasks associated with it.
Background:
Renji's wiki article
Renji Abarai was born in the 78th South district of Rukongai, known as "Inuzuri", Hanging Dog. What happened to his parents is unknown, but it is known that he grew up as an orphan in Inuzuri for a number of years with a couple of other children. Life was hard in the district, as the adults had no care for children, and the prices of those who did sell their goods was predatory--not something an orphaned child could ever hope to afford.
Thus, Renji and his group were forced to steal what they needed to survive. And that was risky, as if they were ever caught, they would assuredly be beaten, possibly even to death--it wasn't as if anyone would step in to stop it if that did happen. It almost did once, when Renji and his group were cornered by an irate street vendor. That was the day he met Rukia. The girl fit in with their group instantly and even joined in on their thieving escapades. They became a makeshift family out of necessity, growing incredibly close in a relatively short period of time, as far as souls went. They became nearly inseparable soon, stealing food as a group and fishing in the river on the days they didn't feel like running. Rukia would always smile at the water lilies and Renji never forgot how the blossoms always shone when the light hit them just right after she picked them up, shining and complementing her petite face. He and Rukia discovered early on that they had spiritual power, yet they decided to remain with their friends and continue their way of life as long as they were able.
That, unfortunately, was not as long as either of them had really hoped, and before long, all of their friends that they had been together with for so many years were gone. It was then that they made a fateful decision. They decided they were tired of the trash life that Inuzuri had for them, and headed for the Seireitei, deciding to become shinigami in the hopes of having a better life.
Once in the Academy, Renji was admitted to the top class, while Rukia was admitted to the second-highest, the beginning of a slight distance forming between them. His senpai was Shuuhei Hisagi, and he soon befriended his classmates Momo Hinamori and Izuru Kira, with whom he at one point went on a practice field mission in the world of the living (gone horribly awry) that gave Shuuhei the three signature scars under his right eye.
About a year or so into their Academy training, Renji and Rukia's lives took another fateful turn. The noble Kuchiki clan offered to adopt Rukia as their daughter. Confused and distressed at the thought of losing the powerful friendship that had formed with her childhood friend, she asked Renji what she should do, and thinking life as a noble would be happier for her, he without hesitation told her to take them up on their offer. The distance between them grew much wider after that as Renji realized, with much bitterness in hindsight, that he was no longer in any position to be a part of her life, now that she was a noble, and for about forty years, they barely had any contact at all.
Renji, Izuru, and Momo all served under Aizen and Ichimaru in the fifth division for a time, after which Izuru was moved to the third division under Ichimaru, and Momo remained in the fifth, under Aizen. Renji was sent to the eleventh under Zaraki, due to his rebelliousness. It was during his time in the eleventh that he met and was trained by Ikkaku Madarame, third seat of the eleventh division, and eventually transferred into the sixth, his sole purpose being one day to surpass the captain of that division, Byakuya Kuchiki.
At some point after that, on the same day that Rukia was sent to Karakura Town for a three-month patrol there, Renji was promoted to lieutenant of the sixth division. Izuru, Momo, and Ikkaku told him to see her off, but he decided he would wait until her return, by which time the promotion ceremony would be complete and he would officially become a lieutenant.
Unfortunately, however, she was at that time being taken back to the Soul Society, a criminal for lending her powers to a human. When he came to retrieve Rukia along with his captain, he was interrupted by the Quincy, Uryu Ishida, whom he quickly defeated. He then was confronted by Ichigo Kurosaki, against whom he initially had the advantage, but when Ichigo draws on some of his latent spiritual power, Byakuya intervenes, severely wounding the substitute shinigami in a mere two strikes, and they return to the Soul Society with Rukia once Byakuya promises not to finish Ichigo off.
After Ichigo and his friends invade the Soul Society to attempt to rescue Rukia, Renji goes out on his own to kill Ichigo, angry at him as he felt that he was the reason that Rukia was in trouble and sentenced to be executed. While he has the upper hand at first, he is eventually defeated and his zanpakutou broken by a use of the as-of-yet unnamed Getsuga Tenshō technique. Before he passes out, he explains the reason behind his actions and begs Ichigo to save Rukia for him.
Izuru and Momo find him and bring him back to the sixth division headquarters, but Byakuya coldly orders Renji to be thrown in prison for going out to fight the enemy on his own and losing. Ichimaru comes in to get a relief division to heal his wounds after Byakuya leaves, though he is still put in prison.
Eventually, his wounds heal, and he talks to Zabimaru, who wants another chance to fight against Ichigo, but he tells his zanpakutou spirit that Ichigo and Zangetsu are no longer their enemies. He breaks out of the prison cell and eventually makes his way to the underground training facility where Yoruichi is training Ichigo for his bankai, and trains there alongside him, achieving it for himself approximately a day before Ichigo.
He then goes off to try to save Rukia on his own, but he is stopped by Byakuya Kuchiki. The two engage in a battle in which Renji impressively manages to hold his own for a while using his bankai, but eventually he is defeated. Byakuya tells him the reason for their defeat is a difference in class, and states that "his fang will never reach him." Renji manages to charge at him one more time by sheer force of will, but his own zanpakutou only shatters against Byakuya's spiritual pressure. Byakuya tosses his scarf over the nearly-unconscious Renji's body, acknowledging as he leaves, that Renji's fang did indeed reach him that time.
He is healed again (the healer is unknown, as Hanatarou stated that Renji's wounds were already very well-bandaged by the time he arrived, but it is implied and likely that it was Unohana or Isane), and this time he heads towards Sokyoku hill, where Ichigo throws Rukia down from the execution stand to him and tells him to run. He gets away from the execution grounds and is heading down the mountain when he is stopped by Kaname Tousen, who teleports them back to Sokyoku hill, where Aizen tells him to leave Rukia. He refuses, and both he and Ichigo attack Aizen and are easily defeated.
Later, after Aizen escapes to Hueco Mundo with Ichimaru and Tousen, Renji is seen visiting Byakuya in the hospital after being injured protecting Rukia from Shinsou's blade, where the sixth captain asks Renji why he is there. While the conversation is interrupted by Ichigo, the scene marks the beginning of a new sense of understanding between the captain and lieutenant.
Some time after Ichigo and his friends return home and Renji’s wounds heal, he gets assigned to Karakura Town in Rukia’s place. He takes up residence at the Urahara shop during his stay there, where Urahara and the others gleefully give him the nickname of “Freeloader” (moocher in the dub) and constantly tease him about it and deny him second helpings of food. When Ichigo feels overwhelmed and disheartened by the amount of power Jin Kariya has, he and Ganju Shiba provoke him into getting into a fight with them, to help him get his fighting spirit back.
He later accompanies Ichigo and his friends to Kariya’s manor, where Uryu Ishida was being held, and it is here that Kariya sacrifices Yoshino Sohma (the only bount capable of reproduction) to create the bitto (mosquito-like beings that drain a soul out of a body and condense it into a liquid). Renji is himself nearly killed defending himself from the onslaught of bitto while protecting a plus of a small child in the city. ((plus = spirit that hasn’t become a hollow yet))
Several other shinigami, in a team put together by Squad Ten captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, find the hideout of the bounts in a cave and enter, but they are all defeated by the doll of the bount Ugaki ((because the bounts were created from the shinigami souls, the dolls are much like zanpakutou, except they have wills of their own and are less stable; for instance, a bount or the doll being injured could drive the doll insane and cause it to attack its master)), Gesell. Ichigo and his friends, including Renji, later enter the cave as well, and are also attacked by Gessell. Watching Yumichika Ayasegawa almost getting killed fighting against the doll, he remembers his own time in the eleventh division and with this boost to his fighting spirit he fights Gessell one-on-one with his bankai. He eventually manages to wound the doll, driving it insane and leading it to attack his master.
As Ichigo and the shinigami debate what to do when the bounts enter Soul Society, Renji (injured from the previous battles and leaning on Yumichika for support) tells the group he will go back to Soul Society as well. He doesn’t return with Ichigo’s group but we later see him when he is visited by Hitsugaya about information he might have on the bounts.
He, Hitsugaya, and Rangiku Matsumoto later go to investigate reports of unusual activity in a Rukongai forest, but when they arrive, the bounts have already left, although Maki Ichinose (who defected from the Soul Society when Kenpachi Zaraki killed his captain to receive his current rank) is waiting for them to slow them down and buy time for the bounts. They fight for a time, at least until Zaraki appears on the scene, and Ichinose abandons the effort for a chance at killing Zaraki.
The next time Renji is seen, he is fighting against the shinigami possessed by the bount Mabashi’s doll Ritz. After Mabashi is killed by Soi Fon, he helps take care of the wounded shinigami. Ichigo and his friends dominate much of the rest of this arc, so Renji doesn’t have any more significant scenes in it.
Once the arrancar created by Aizen begin to attack the human world, Head Captain Yamamoto orders Renji, Rukia, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku, and Hitsugaya to assist Ichigo in fighting against them, and asks Ichigo if he would let them stay in his house. Ichigo refuses, and Renji goes to the Urahara shop (again), Matsumoto and Hitsugaya stay with Orihime Inoue, Yumichika and Ikkaku stay at Keigo Asano’s apartment complex (not at first-this is after Ikkaku’s fight with the arrancar Edorad Leones shortly after their arrival).
When the Sixth Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, leads an assault on the human world with several other arrancar, Renji is faced off against Yylfordt Granz. Even with Bankai, at first he is completely overpowered. The bount-tracking mod souls Lirin, Kurodo, and Noba created by Urahara, that he had come to know from the previous arc try to assist him, but they too are defeated. One of Urahara’s employees (?), Ururu, appears, then, and actually succeeds in wounding Yylfordt, enough that he goes into Resurrecion. She is defeated too, and Renji is near the end of his rope when the authorization for Gentei Kaijou (the removal of the 80% power limiter put on all lieutenant and captain-level shinigami when they go to the world of the living) is given and he defeats Yylfordt.
After this, Urahara gives him permission to stay at his shop indefinitely. However, he continues to dodge around Renji’s questions about him (which were the main reason he had chosen to stay there), and he makes a deal with him to do whatever Urahara asks for the next three months in exchange for answering all his questions later on. Much of this time is spent training Yasutora (Chad) Sado with his bankai.
The arrancar later launch a second assault to distract the shinigami while coercing Orihime Inoue to work for Aizen (under threat of killing everyone she cares about if she refuses). Because of the circumstances (her being given 24 hours and a chance to say goodbye to one person-the evidence of said goodbye being found by Ichigo the next morning), it appears for all intents and purposes to the shinigami that Orihime betrayed the shinigami and the Soul Society of her own free will, but Ichigo (and Rukia and Renji too for that matter) don’t believe it. Renji suggests for his sake that the shinigami form a team to try and get Orihime back to her senses and bring her back, but Yamamoto refuses the request, and all the remaining shinigami that were sent to Karakura are ordered to return, if necessary by means of force by the captains Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki. However, as it turns out, Byakuya’s heart was not in this order, as once they return, he tells him and Rukia that his only orders were to bring them back, and he had nothing to do with what they did afterward, and he even gives Renji and Rukia cloaks for protection from the harsh desert of Hueco Mundo, and the pair later appear to help defeat a giant sand guardian creature that blocks their entrance to Las Noches. Here, they meet the arrancar Nel Tu and her “brothers” Dondochakka and Pesche, who ally themselves with Ichigo’s group despite being arrancar.
However, the guardian monster comes back, and they end up getting sucked into the Menos Forest, underneath the desert on the surface. The eventually reach Las Noches, and after coming upon a room with numerous passageways that necessitates them splitting up five ways (and swearing they will all return alive), mistakenly gets chased by Dondochakka. (This becomes a running gag for a while). He stops when he senses Rukia releasing her zanpakutou, but he and Dondochakka end up falling into a trap set by Szayel Apporo Granz. He reveals to them that the room they’re in is specifically designed to nullify Renji’s bankai, as he had learned about Renji’s spiritual pressure by analyzing the corpse of his brother, Yylfordt Granz. Renji says he will defeat him with just his shikai, although Szayel says he will not be able to injure him with that alone then, but at first it goes pretty badly, with Szayel dodging his every move.
He soon feels Rukia’s spirit pressure disappearing, and when Szayel mentions that the shinigami that was “killed” (really, her spirit pressure disappeared because she passed out) was named “Rukia Kuchiki”, Renji’s temper flares, and he lashes out with his shikai, and actually manages to injure Szayel. He cannot manage to do so again, however, and is saved by Uryu. They team up against the minions Szayel unleashed, and to give Uryu an opening to use one of his most powerful moves, Renji attacks Szayel with Shakkaho (a hado-class kidou spell) at close range and injures them both. Szayel retreats and walks right into Uryu’s trap, a giant, Ginto-triggered explosion. Szayel survives, however, and heals his injuries by eating one of his fraccion, which he had engineered to be medicine for him in the event he is injured. He says that he is going to “change his clothes” which were ruined in the explosion and temporarily leaves the room. ((I’ll be taking him from this point.))
Personality:
A true free spirit, Renji Abarai could be considered everything that his captain and the sixth division is not. Words and appearances have very little substance to the lieutenant, who, while he may be clumsy with his speech and the manner in which he carries himself, always lets his actions and sword speak for him. When Zabimaru is in hand, none can question the loyalty or skill of Renji, though his rash and often impulsive actions in combat do raise a few eyebrows on occasion.
Perhaps it was the hardship of growing up in Inuzuri or his experience in the eleventh, but Renji is a shinigami that can truly be said to enjoy life to its very fullest. He can be rather boisterous around his former academy classmates and senpai, Izuru, Momo, and Shuuhei and doesn't make a secret of enjoying sake and taiyaki and long naps under shady trees.
However, while his paperwork and possessions in his personal space appear to be messy and the man's speech and general manner is coarse, there is something about the eagerness and exuberance of the shinigami in a division full of men whose lives are dominated by protocol that can be seen as refreshing. The lieutenant has learned in time to keep his enthusiasm under control somewhat in official situations, but the overriding air of exuberance remains in the lieutenant. He undertakes tasks (except, of course, paperwork) with excitement, viewing them as more of a pastime than a job.
Again, reflecting his experience with Captain Zaraki, orders in combat are, to him, only absolute in as much as he can follow them while still protecting himself and his friends. Of those two, however, his friends are decidedly the higher priority for the former Rukongai orphan; the lieutenant would not hesitate to jump in and protect a friend in danger, unless of course that person would not appreciate their fight interrupted, such as Ikkaku. He's still likely to step in if the person is likely to be killed, however. To him, a life is more important than pride. A bruised ego can be dealt with only if one is alive, after all.
As for the fight itself, Renji typically relies primarily on his shikai, though he isn't loath to release his bankai as some of the shinigami captains (including his own) are if it seems an opponent is out of the league of merely his shikai.
Abilities/Strengths:
While some doubts might be cast about his fitness to be a lieutenant when interacting with him personally, all such doubts tend to dissolve in a combat situation, where Captain Kuchiki's choice of him as his second in command becomes much clearer.
His skills in combat are unmistakable (even if he is poor with kidou), but unfortunately (to some), any sense of self-restraint he might have picked up in the sixth division dissolves as well when he enters combat. Whereas many might think of fighting as a "dirty job" that has to be done for the protection of Soul Society and the human world, Renji's former membership in the eleventh comes to the forefront in that he actively enjoys battle, whooping and shouting and putting all of his passion and fire into battle.
Perhaps the most notable and admirable of Lieutenant Abarai's traits is his ability to stay true to himself. Even in the approximately forty years he has been a shinigami, he has never once forgotten his origins or what he believes in and fights for. He bears his lieutenant's badge with pride and wields his zanpakutou as if every battle were life or death, even against the most minor of hollows. He will not back down from a fight, nor will he back down from pursuing something important to him, even when ordered, as seen by when he faced down his captain's bankai to have the chance of being able to help Rukia. Loyalty is entrenched into his being, though he is not afraid to challenge his superiors over something that he believes is wrong, fully willing to accept whatever punishment is due for his insubordination in the aftermath, once his friends and his ideals are safe. While his rank is important to him, he knows from a hard life in Rukongai that it means absolutely nothing without being able to share it with those that are close, and will without hesitation defy orders to protect a friend who's life is in danger, even if by joining the battle, he would be likely to accomplish nothing either than getting himself killed as well.
-Zanpakutou-his sword, essentially the physical manifestation/representation of his soul. All zanpakutou have three different states: sealed form, the first release (shikai), and the second release (bankai). The first release is obtained by learning the name of one’s zanpakutou from its zanpakutou spirit which lives deep inside a shinigami’s soul. To release one’s shikai, the shinigami needs to speak the release phrase and then the name of the zanpakutou.Renji’s zanpakutou is Zabimaru, and its release phrase is Hoero ("howl" or "roar") His shikai ability will be described below, with his other abilities.) Renji is a shinigami, literally a “god of death.” However, unlike shinigami in many other fandoms, Bleach shinigami do not control life and death in that they do not dictate when a living being dies (other than…physically stabbing and killing them or something… which would be very much NOT CONDONED). Their primary duties are to assist souls that linger in the world of the living to pass on, and purify hollows-monsters created when a soul loses its heart from lingering too long or being devoured by another hollow-wherever they appear. They are spirit beings composed of spirit particles known as reshi. Because their bodies are different than that of humans, they age far more slowly (as of yet it has been unheard of for a shinigami to die of old age, but it might be possible? Yamamoto, the founder of the shinigami academy is over 2,000 years old himself) and can take far more damage before they are killed according to one early episode. However, most injuries considered fatal to humans (i.e. being stabbed in the heart, etc.) generally will either kill a shinigami as well or at least severely wound them to the point that they will die without immediate attention. At the least, it can be assumed that they fatigue a lot slower than humans.
-Konso-soul burial. The hilt of one’s zanpakutou is pressed to the forehead of a soul lingering in the human world, and the soul gets sent to the Soul Society with a Hell Butterfly. This will be utterly useless in Kannagara, but is worthy of note.
-Kido-Shinigami often focus their spiritual pressure (reiatsu) into spells collectively known as kido. There are two main categories of kido: bakudo (binding spells) and hado (destructive spells), though there are uncategorized spells along with healing kido spells-which, unlike all others, do not have names or numbers. ((Note: while all shinigami can do these spells to some degree, like Rukia, those of the medical fourth division are specifically able to collect reiatsu into their hands for the purpose of healing, an ability known as reiki))
-Reshi platform -all shinigami have the ability to stand/walk/run in midair as if it were a solid surface by collecting and solidifying reshi beneath their feet. They can be knocked out of midair by a powerful attack, however.
-Shunpo/Flash step-the ability to move faster than the eye can see. The objective of this technique is to be able to get from one place to another as fast as possible in the least number of steps. It requires a lot of training to master, though some degree of natural proficiency is needed as well.
-Shikai-Zabimaru, when released, becomes a 6-parted segmented blade with the segments connected by a stretchable thread (the limit Zabimaru can stretch is currently unknown, but in the fight with Szayel it wrapped around the Espada multiple times from across the room). However, Renji has a limit of three consecutive attacks before the segments return to their original position.
Higa Zekkō "Bite of a Broken Baboon's Fang" While used rarely and often as a last resort, Renji can use his spiritual pressure to split apart the segments and surround an opponent with them, giving him one, all-or-nothing chance to utilize an omni-directional attack. However, this is a dangerous technique for him to use, because its use is harmful to Zabimaru and leaves Renji defenseless for a time, as he is unable to re-engage his shikai for an unspecified period (for the purposes of the forum, we'll say that he can do this once per fight thread).
Bankai Name: Hihiō Zabimaru "Baboon King Snake Tail"
Like most bankai, Hihiō Zabimaru is a massive expansion of the shikai release, taking the form of an enormous, skeletal snake. Zabimaru gains many more segments, though they are hollow and resemble vertebrae in a snake's vertebral column, they retain the pick-like protrusions that are in the shikai form. These segments are also controlled by his spiritual pressure, allowing him to separate and reattach the segments at will, which was shown to be an effective defense against a shikai like that of Senbonzakura.
Renji also gains a fur cowl around his shoulders when he releases his bankai--it appears to be the fur of an ape, as an ape skull appears on the fur on his shoulder when he activates his bankai. In this form, Zabimaru does not literally cut anything as in his shikai; the massive jaws of the bankai's snake-head deal damage by biting or ramming/smashing an opponent to the ground.
Bankai Abilities:
Enhanced Higa Zekkō: A powered-up version of Higa Zekkō, Renji can use his spiritual pressure to separate the segments of Hihiō Zabimaru, sharpen them, and surround an opponent with them to execute another omni-directional attack. However, unlike in the shikai form, after use of this attack, Hihiō Zabimaru can reconstitute himself. (Note: for the purposes of the forum, this can only be used a maximum of three times per fight thread, so as not to be able to godmode with this--using the rationale that Renji simply does not have the energy to use it again after the third consecutive use of this attack).
Hikōtsu Taihō "Baboon Bone Cannon": This ability fires a concentrated blast of spiritual energy from Zabimaru's mouth. However, using this ability takes a great deal of energy on Renji's part, and often causes the segments of Zabimaru to fall out of formation. ((Very little is said about this ability, so I will say that it has the approximate speed and accuracy of a level 60 kidou, which factors in his relative inexperience with his bankai along with the fact that he is a lieutenant rather than a captain.))
Weaknesses:
Renji is not without his faults, either. He is known for being quite lazy (a "slacker" would probably the appropriate term), preferring to nap or go drinking with his friends instead of doing the work his captain has assigned for him and very messy--a general lack of neatness in his handwriting and uniform. He is brash and hot-tempered, an ill-thought-out comment easily capable of irking the lieutenant and creating a heated exchange, or at the very least being on the receiving end of a rather intimidating glower. He has a tendency to speak or act first and think later, and his impulsiveness can often get him into trouble, sometimes in the form of a physical brawl--which is very much frowned upon by the other captains (aside from Zaraki, of course).
He lacks skill in kidou, but sometimes employs the use of hado (it's very uncommon for him to be seen using bakudo) to distract his opponent while Zabimaru's manifested bankai form attacks. The interval between every three attacks (as the segments of Zabimaru must return to their original position every three attacks) leaves Renji vulnerable, a weakness he covers using shunpo to evade attacks in the brief recovery period.
Defining Quote(s):
“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.” ~ William James
"But now that I think back, I think I was just scared to lose her, to lose the only family I ever had. Not only that, I didn't want to face the fact that I am nothing more than a stray dog and I am so sick of it. All I do is bark wildly at the moon. I don't actually have the guts to bite. All this time, I've been blaming you. The fact that Rukia's been in prison. Every time I thought of you, it'd make my blood boil. But I was wrong. It wasn't you. It was me from the start. Because I didn't stop Rukia from going to the Kuchikis. I didn't want her to go, but I did't imagine that if she did she'd end up being a condemned criminal. I thought she'd find happiness; I really believed that. How could I have ever known?" ~ Renji, to Ichigo in the Soul Society arc, when he asks her to save Rukia.
“There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.” ~ American proverb
”If one took no chances, one would not fly at all. Safety lies in the judgment of the chances one takes. That judgment, in turn, must rest upon one’s outlook on life. Any coward can sit in his home and criticize a pilot for flying into a mountain in fog. But I would rather, by far, die on a mountainside than in bed.” ~ Charles Lindbergh
”You’re an idiot. You’re alive, aren’t you? That means you won.” ~ Renji, to Ichigo after being defeated by Grimmjow Jeagerjaques
”I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.” ~ Babe Ruth
Other: The bount arc is filler material and not actual Bleach canon. However, I have chosen to include it because there are several filler-only characters that carry over into the non-filler arcs as a continuity nod. Renji also gets a lot of screentime in this arc, and meets several important characters such as Urahara and Tessai.
Action Writing Sample:
[Once he’s woken up and rolled himself off the Hitomi, Renji appears in full view on the screen. There are a number of cuts, scratches, and bruises on his face and his long red hair is down, the hair tie having come loose. The front of his uniform is in tatters, a number of what appear to be burn wounds on his chest, from when he injured both himself and the 8th Espada with his kidou. However, the lieutenant is not yet aware of the device or the fact that it is recording, and has occupied himself with scanning his surroundings]
Eh? The hell is…this ain’t Hueco Mundo.
…
Is it? Could be one of Aizen’s tricks, I guess…
[He turns to start looking around and winces a little] Shit, hurts…
Should’ve paid more attention in kidou class, not let that happen…Least I got the bastard.
Hey, Espada, where the hell are you? Show your goddamn face, you coward! Didn’t you say you were going to come back and “deal” with us? Or did you really just turn tail and run, eh, Szayel Apporo Granz? [A little bit of that cocky grin. Even though he knows it’s not true-after all, he did watch that guy heal his wounds completely by eating one of his fraccion.]
…Huh. [a pause]
Ishida? You here, Quincy? [Another pause. And then another attempt.] Idiots?
[Sigh. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, exactly. Other than this being some sort of illusion and he’d hear them even if he couldn’t see them.]
Guess I might as well start exploring…
[He starts to walk away, and the Hitomi rematerializes in his hand. Of course, he notices now, and confused redhead is confused.]
…What the hell is this thing? And how’d it randomly show up in my hand like that?
Third Person Writing Sample:
((From a private roleplay with my Byakuya-mun :3))
They had come to Seireitei searching for a better life, he and Rukia. Picked themselves up and left a realm that didn't care--that told them to fend for themselves...even if they were children.
They had enrolled in the Shinigami Academy over forty years ago and didn't look back, but while the Seireitei offered them comfort and stability, there was often the distinct feeling of…not belonging. Food and material items came so easily, and without struggle, or the need for theft. Roads-and people-were clean, and water was actually healthier than alcohol for once. And it often felt…off to be surrounded by those who considered that normal and not privilege. Even after forty years, it still felt strange to come to work every day knowing where his next meal was coming from, and knowing that his possessions were his own, and when he went off to a bar to go drinking with his old eleventh division buddies, he wouldn’t have to watch for pickpockets or worry about getting his possessions stolen without there being hell to pay first.
That out-of-place feeling was especially pronounced around the sixth division, particularly Byakuya Kuchiki. One born into nobility just didn’t-couldn’t-understand what it meant to be a street rat. He couldn’t know what his adoptive sister had been through before Seireitei, why Renji had so enthusiastically told her to go when he wanted to hang onto the closest thing to family he had ever had.
Not to be misunderstood-Renji admired Byakuya. He greatly respected the nobleman’s prowess as a warrior and his leadership ability. But Byakuya and he…despite being a mere rank apart…were in different spheres altogether. Byakuya’s world was propriety, etiquette, obedience to authority. Renji had lived in the realm of might being right, of theft being the alternative to starvation, of exploitation by those who had money or supplies or simply superior size. And he just couldn’t erase all the prior events of his life and become a “proper” shinigami and lieutenant like Byakuya was. He-perhaps, with practice-could repair the “ain’t”s and hanging consonants off of his words, but he could not change his laid-back attitude, he couldn’t change the fact that he judged people by what they did rather than what they said or what they said they would do, he couldn’t change the fact…that he enjoyed having fun and he cussed and he drank and lived life to the fullest, because, back in Rukongai, it was never really clear when that second life as a soul would come to an abrupt end.
And sometimes, it was just a bit of a relief to be released from all that-he always enjoyed his missions in Rukongai because they gave him the chance to return to his roots and just for a while be simply “Renji” rather than Lieutenant Abarai. He enjoyed the ability just to be himself without having to concern himself with his image to others or how he carried himself, because frankly, souls being attacked by hollows didn’t really care what the person that saved them looked or sounded like as long as a sword made its way into the monster’s head and purified it. It was one of those things that just didn’t change, even in forty years.
When Byakuya first addressed him as they prepared to return, Renji hadn’t quite registered the words, momentarily lost in his reminiscing-somewhere over the course of the mission, the pair of shinigami had ended up in the 78th district, Inuzuri-Hanging Dog. The district that he had struggled to make his way in with Rukia and their group of friends.
Protocol the furthest thing from his mind at the moment, the lieutenant reached out and caught Byakuya by his sleeve before he could go anywhere and tugged lightly.
“Nah, wait, Captain. This is the district where Rukia‘n I grew up. I wanna see if this place’s just like I ‘member it or if it’s changed much since we enrolled’n the Academy.”
Name/Nickname: Batty
Age: 18
Journal: batty_chan
AIM/MSN/IM: battypichugirl
Email: battypichugirl@yahoo.com
CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Abarai Renji
Canon: Bleach
Point taken from canon: The Hueco Mundo arc, in the middle of the fight with Szayel Aporro Granz
Age: About 150-ish, looks about 17
Gender: Male
Preferred Village: Hisato
Appearance:
The first thing that instantly stands out upon seeing the lieutenant is the wild, red hair. It is usually tied up, though sometimes the hair tie comes undone in the midst of battle and his hair fall back down over his shoulders, just barely reaching to the small of his back.
Though not quite as prominent, as they are primarily hidden by his shihakusho and his headband/sunglasses, Renji's entire torso is covered in pattered, ornamental tattoo work, as well as his forehead, starting from the eyebrows. Where he got them is unknown, but they appear to be a symbol of personal pride for him, increasing in number and complexity as his accomplishments as a shinigami increase.
He's fond of sunglasses, though it seems that they have a tendency to get broken in fights, so he's more often seen with a white cloth wrapped around his forehead.
The lieutenant is tall as far as shinigami go, at 6'2'' when standing fully upright. However, he's rarely seen so, often slouching against walls and furniture or lounging in a shady spot under a tree. And although he doesn't hold quite as much pride in his appearance as his captain does, the lieutenant does provide a generally well-kept image, his wild and unruly hair clean and generally free of tangles, and despite his sloppiness with paperwork, he usually manages to keep his shinigami uniform clean and not-too-rumpled-looking, reflecting the pride he holds in his position, even if he does not always keep up with some of the menial tasks associated with it.
Background:
Renji's wiki article
Renji Abarai was born in the 78th South district of Rukongai, known as "Inuzuri", Hanging Dog. What happened to his parents is unknown, but it is known that he grew up as an orphan in Inuzuri for a number of years with a couple of other children. Life was hard in the district, as the adults had no care for children, and the prices of those who did sell their goods was predatory--not something an orphaned child could ever hope to afford.
Thus, Renji and his group were forced to steal what they needed to survive. And that was risky, as if they were ever caught, they would assuredly be beaten, possibly even to death--it wasn't as if anyone would step in to stop it if that did happen. It almost did once, when Renji and his group were cornered by an irate street vendor. That was the day he met Rukia. The girl fit in with their group instantly and even joined in on their thieving escapades. They became a makeshift family out of necessity, growing incredibly close in a relatively short period of time, as far as souls went. They became nearly inseparable soon, stealing food as a group and fishing in the river on the days they didn't feel like running. Rukia would always smile at the water lilies and Renji never forgot how the blossoms always shone when the light hit them just right after she picked them up, shining and complementing her petite face. He and Rukia discovered early on that they had spiritual power, yet they decided to remain with their friends and continue their way of life as long as they were able.
That, unfortunately, was not as long as either of them had really hoped, and before long, all of their friends that they had been together with for so many years were gone. It was then that they made a fateful decision. They decided they were tired of the trash life that Inuzuri had for them, and headed for the Seireitei, deciding to become shinigami in the hopes of having a better life.
Once in the Academy, Renji was admitted to the top class, while Rukia was admitted to the second-highest, the beginning of a slight distance forming between them. His senpai was Shuuhei Hisagi, and he soon befriended his classmates Momo Hinamori and Izuru Kira, with whom he at one point went on a practice field mission in the world of the living (gone horribly awry) that gave Shuuhei the three signature scars under his right eye.
About a year or so into their Academy training, Renji and Rukia's lives took another fateful turn. The noble Kuchiki clan offered to adopt Rukia as their daughter. Confused and distressed at the thought of losing the powerful friendship that had formed with her childhood friend, she asked Renji what she should do, and thinking life as a noble would be happier for her, he without hesitation told her to take them up on their offer. The distance between them grew much wider after that as Renji realized, with much bitterness in hindsight, that he was no longer in any position to be a part of her life, now that she was a noble, and for about forty years, they barely had any contact at all.
Renji, Izuru, and Momo all served under Aizen and Ichimaru in the fifth division for a time, after which Izuru was moved to the third division under Ichimaru, and Momo remained in the fifth, under Aizen. Renji was sent to the eleventh under Zaraki, due to his rebelliousness. It was during his time in the eleventh that he met and was trained by Ikkaku Madarame, third seat of the eleventh division, and eventually transferred into the sixth, his sole purpose being one day to surpass the captain of that division, Byakuya Kuchiki.
At some point after that, on the same day that Rukia was sent to Karakura Town for a three-month patrol there, Renji was promoted to lieutenant of the sixth division. Izuru, Momo, and Ikkaku told him to see her off, but he decided he would wait until her return, by which time the promotion ceremony would be complete and he would officially become a lieutenant.
Unfortunately, however, she was at that time being taken back to the Soul Society, a criminal for lending her powers to a human. When he came to retrieve Rukia along with his captain, he was interrupted by the Quincy, Uryu Ishida, whom he quickly defeated. He then was confronted by Ichigo Kurosaki, against whom he initially had the advantage, but when Ichigo draws on some of his latent spiritual power, Byakuya intervenes, severely wounding the substitute shinigami in a mere two strikes, and they return to the Soul Society with Rukia once Byakuya promises not to finish Ichigo off.
After Ichigo and his friends invade the Soul Society to attempt to rescue Rukia, Renji goes out on his own to kill Ichigo, angry at him as he felt that he was the reason that Rukia was in trouble and sentenced to be executed. While he has the upper hand at first, he is eventually defeated and his zanpakutou broken by a use of the as-of-yet unnamed Getsuga Tenshō technique. Before he passes out, he explains the reason behind his actions and begs Ichigo to save Rukia for him.
Izuru and Momo find him and bring him back to the sixth division headquarters, but Byakuya coldly orders Renji to be thrown in prison for going out to fight the enemy on his own and losing. Ichimaru comes in to get a relief division to heal his wounds after Byakuya leaves, though he is still put in prison.
Eventually, his wounds heal, and he talks to Zabimaru, who wants another chance to fight against Ichigo, but he tells his zanpakutou spirit that Ichigo and Zangetsu are no longer their enemies. He breaks out of the prison cell and eventually makes his way to the underground training facility where Yoruichi is training Ichigo for his bankai, and trains there alongside him, achieving it for himself approximately a day before Ichigo.
He then goes off to try to save Rukia on his own, but he is stopped by Byakuya Kuchiki. The two engage in a battle in which Renji impressively manages to hold his own for a while using his bankai, but eventually he is defeated. Byakuya tells him the reason for their defeat is a difference in class, and states that "his fang will never reach him." Renji manages to charge at him one more time by sheer force of will, but his own zanpakutou only shatters against Byakuya's spiritual pressure. Byakuya tosses his scarf over the nearly-unconscious Renji's body, acknowledging as he leaves, that Renji's fang did indeed reach him that time.
He is healed again (the healer is unknown, as Hanatarou stated that Renji's wounds were already very well-bandaged by the time he arrived, but it is implied and likely that it was Unohana or Isane), and this time he heads towards Sokyoku hill, where Ichigo throws Rukia down from the execution stand to him and tells him to run. He gets away from the execution grounds and is heading down the mountain when he is stopped by Kaname Tousen, who teleports them back to Sokyoku hill, where Aizen tells him to leave Rukia. He refuses, and both he and Ichigo attack Aizen and are easily defeated.
Later, after Aizen escapes to Hueco Mundo with Ichimaru and Tousen, Renji is seen visiting Byakuya in the hospital after being injured protecting Rukia from Shinsou's blade, where the sixth captain asks Renji why he is there. While the conversation is interrupted by Ichigo, the scene marks the beginning of a new sense of understanding between the captain and lieutenant.
Some time after Ichigo and his friends return home and Renji’s wounds heal, he gets assigned to Karakura Town in Rukia’s place. He takes up residence at the Urahara shop during his stay there, where Urahara and the others gleefully give him the nickname of “Freeloader” (moocher in the dub) and constantly tease him about it and deny him second helpings of food. When Ichigo feels overwhelmed and disheartened by the amount of power Jin Kariya has, he and Ganju Shiba provoke him into getting into a fight with them, to help him get his fighting spirit back.
He later accompanies Ichigo and his friends to Kariya’s manor, where Uryu Ishida was being held, and it is here that Kariya sacrifices Yoshino Sohma (the only bount capable of reproduction) to create the bitto (mosquito-like beings that drain a soul out of a body and condense it into a liquid). Renji is himself nearly killed defending himself from the onslaught of bitto while protecting a plus of a small child in the city. ((plus = spirit that hasn’t become a hollow yet))
Several other shinigami, in a team put together by Squad Ten captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, find the hideout of the bounts in a cave and enter, but they are all defeated by the doll of the bount Ugaki ((because the bounts were created from the shinigami souls, the dolls are much like zanpakutou, except they have wills of their own and are less stable; for instance, a bount or the doll being injured could drive the doll insane and cause it to attack its master)), Gesell. Ichigo and his friends, including Renji, later enter the cave as well, and are also attacked by Gessell. Watching Yumichika Ayasegawa almost getting killed fighting against the doll, he remembers his own time in the eleventh division and with this boost to his fighting spirit he fights Gessell one-on-one with his bankai. He eventually manages to wound the doll, driving it insane and leading it to attack his master.
As Ichigo and the shinigami debate what to do when the bounts enter Soul Society, Renji (injured from the previous battles and leaning on Yumichika for support) tells the group he will go back to Soul Society as well. He doesn’t return with Ichigo’s group but we later see him when he is visited by Hitsugaya about information he might have on the bounts.
He, Hitsugaya, and Rangiku Matsumoto later go to investigate reports of unusual activity in a Rukongai forest, but when they arrive, the bounts have already left, although Maki Ichinose (who defected from the Soul Society when Kenpachi Zaraki killed his captain to receive his current rank) is waiting for them to slow them down and buy time for the bounts. They fight for a time, at least until Zaraki appears on the scene, and Ichinose abandons the effort for a chance at killing Zaraki.
The next time Renji is seen, he is fighting against the shinigami possessed by the bount Mabashi’s doll Ritz. After Mabashi is killed by Soi Fon, he helps take care of the wounded shinigami. Ichigo and his friends dominate much of the rest of this arc, so Renji doesn’t have any more significant scenes in it.
Once the arrancar created by Aizen begin to attack the human world, Head Captain Yamamoto orders Renji, Rukia, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku, and Hitsugaya to assist Ichigo in fighting against them, and asks Ichigo if he would let them stay in his house. Ichigo refuses, and Renji goes to the Urahara shop (again), Matsumoto and Hitsugaya stay with Orihime Inoue, Yumichika and Ikkaku stay at Keigo Asano’s apartment complex (not at first-this is after Ikkaku’s fight with the arrancar Edorad Leones shortly after their arrival).
When the Sixth Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, leads an assault on the human world with several other arrancar, Renji is faced off against Yylfordt Granz. Even with Bankai, at first he is completely overpowered. The bount-tracking mod souls Lirin, Kurodo, and Noba created by Urahara, that he had come to know from the previous arc try to assist him, but they too are defeated. One of Urahara’s employees (?), Ururu, appears, then, and actually succeeds in wounding Yylfordt, enough that he goes into Resurrecion. She is defeated too, and Renji is near the end of his rope when the authorization for Gentei Kaijou (the removal of the 80% power limiter put on all lieutenant and captain-level shinigami when they go to the world of the living) is given and he defeats Yylfordt.
After this, Urahara gives him permission to stay at his shop indefinitely. However, he continues to dodge around Renji’s questions about him (which were the main reason he had chosen to stay there), and he makes a deal with him to do whatever Urahara asks for the next three months in exchange for answering all his questions later on. Much of this time is spent training Yasutora (Chad) Sado with his bankai.
The arrancar later launch a second assault to distract the shinigami while coercing Orihime Inoue to work for Aizen (under threat of killing everyone she cares about if she refuses). Because of the circumstances (her being given 24 hours and a chance to say goodbye to one person-the evidence of said goodbye being found by Ichigo the next morning), it appears for all intents and purposes to the shinigami that Orihime betrayed the shinigami and the Soul Society of her own free will, but Ichigo (and Rukia and Renji too for that matter) don’t believe it. Renji suggests for his sake that the shinigami form a team to try and get Orihime back to her senses and bring her back, but Yamamoto refuses the request, and all the remaining shinigami that were sent to Karakura are ordered to return, if necessary by means of force by the captains Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki. However, as it turns out, Byakuya’s heart was not in this order, as once they return, he tells him and Rukia that his only orders were to bring them back, and he had nothing to do with what they did afterward, and he even gives Renji and Rukia cloaks for protection from the harsh desert of Hueco Mundo, and the pair later appear to help defeat a giant sand guardian creature that blocks their entrance to Las Noches. Here, they meet the arrancar Nel Tu and her “brothers” Dondochakka and Pesche, who ally themselves with Ichigo’s group despite being arrancar.
However, the guardian monster comes back, and they end up getting sucked into the Menos Forest, underneath the desert on the surface. The eventually reach Las Noches, and after coming upon a room with numerous passageways that necessitates them splitting up five ways (and swearing they will all return alive), mistakenly gets chased by Dondochakka. (This becomes a running gag for a while). He stops when he senses Rukia releasing her zanpakutou, but he and Dondochakka end up falling into a trap set by Szayel Apporo Granz. He reveals to them that the room they’re in is specifically designed to nullify Renji’s bankai, as he had learned about Renji’s spiritual pressure by analyzing the corpse of his brother, Yylfordt Granz. Renji says he will defeat him with just his shikai, although Szayel says he will not be able to injure him with that alone then, but at first it goes pretty badly, with Szayel dodging his every move.
He soon feels Rukia’s spirit pressure disappearing, and when Szayel mentions that the shinigami that was “killed” (really, her spirit pressure disappeared because she passed out) was named “Rukia Kuchiki”, Renji’s temper flares, and he lashes out with his shikai, and actually manages to injure Szayel. He cannot manage to do so again, however, and is saved by Uryu. They team up against the minions Szayel unleashed, and to give Uryu an opening to use one of his most powerful moves, Renji attacks Szayel with Shakkaho (a hado-class kidou spell) at close range and injures them both. Szayel retreats and walks right into Uryu’s trap, a giant, Ginto-triggered explosion. Szayel survives, however, and heals his injuries by eating one of his fraccion, which he had engineered to be medicine for him in the event he is injured. He says that he is going to “change his clothes” which were ruined in the explosion and temporarily leaves the room. ((I’ll be taking him from this point.))
Personality:
A true free spirit, Renji Abarai could be considered everything that his captain and the sixth division is not. Words and appearances have very little substance to the lieutenant, who, while he may be clumsy with his speech and the manner in which he carries himself, always lets his actions and sword speak for him. When Zabimaru is in hand, none can question the loyalty or skill of Renji, though his rash and often impulsive actions in combat do raise a few eyebrows on occasion.
Perhaps it was the hardship of growing up in Inuzuri or his experience in the eleventh, but Renji is a shinigami that can truly be said to enjoy life to its very fullest. He can be rather boisterous around his former academy classmates and senpai, Izuru, Momo, and Shuuhei and doesn't make a secret of enjoying sake and taiyaki and long naps under shady trees.
However, while his paperwork and possessions in his personal space appear to be messy and the man's speech and general manner is coarse, there is something about the eagerness and exuberance of the shinigami in a division full of men whose lives are dominated by protocol that can be seen as refreshing. The lieutenant has learned in time to keep his enthusiasm under control somewhat in official situations, but the overriding air of exuberance remains in the lieutenant. He undertakes tasks (except, of course, paperwork) with excitement, viewing them as more of a pastime than a job.
Again, reflecting his experience with Captain Zaraki, orders in combat are, to him, only absolute in as much as he can follow them while still protecting himself and his friends. Of those two, however, his friends are decidedly the higher priority for the former Rukongai orphan; the lieutenant would not hesitate to jump in and protect a friend in danger, unless of course that person would not appreciate their fight interrupted, such as Ikkaku. He's still likely to step in if the person is likely to be killed, however. To him, a life is more important than pride. A bruised ego can be dealt with only if one is alive, after all.
As for the fight itself, Renji typically relies primarily on his shikai, though he isn't loath to release his bankai as some of the shinigami captains (including his own) are if it seems an opponent is out of the league of merely his shikai.
Abilities/Strengths:
While some doubts might be cast about his fitness to be a lieutenant when interacting with him personally, all such doubts tend to dissolve in a combat situation, where Captain Kuchiki's choice of him as his second in command becomes much clearer.
His skills in combat are unmistakable (even if he is poor with kidou), but unfortunately (to some), any sense of self-restraint he might have picked up in the sixth division dissolves as well when he enters combat. Whereas many might think of fighting as a "dirty job" that has to be done for the protection of Soul Society and the human world, Renji's former membership in the eleventh comes to the forefront in that he actively enjoys battle, whooping and shouting and putting all of his passion and fire into battle.
Perhaps the most notable and admirable of Lieutenant Abarai's traits is his ability to stay true to himself. Even in the approximately forty years he has been a shinigami, he has never once forgotten his origins or what he believes in and fights for. He bears his lieutenant's badge with pride and wields his zanpakutou as if every battle were life or death, even against the most minor of hollows. He will not back down from a fight, nor will he back down from pursuing something important to him, even when ordered, as seen by when he faced down his captain's bankai to have the chance of being able to help Rukia. Loyalty is entrenched into his being, though he is not afraid to challenge his superiors over something that he believes is wrong, fully willing to accept whatever punishment is due for his insubordination in the aftermath, once his friends and his ideals are safe. While his rank is important to him, he knows from a hard life in Rukongai that it means absolutely nothing without being able to share it with those that are close, and will without hesitation defy orders to protect a friend who's life is in danger, even if by joining the battle, he would be likely to accomplish nothing either than getting himself killed as well.
-Zanpakutou-his sword, essentially the physical manifestation/representation of his soul. All zanpakutou have three different states: sealed form, the first release (shikai), and the second release (bankai). The first release is obtained by learning the name of one’s zanpakutou from its zanpakutou spirit which lives deep inside a shinigami’s soul. To release one’s shikai, the shinigami needs to speak the release phrase and then the name of the zanpakutou.Renji’s zanpakutou is Zabimaru, and its release phrase is Hoero ("howl" or "roar") His shikai ability will be described below, with his other abilities.) Renji is a shinigami, literally a “god of death.” However, unlike shinigami in many other fandoms, Bleach shinigami do not control life and death in that they do not dictate when a living being dies (other than…physically stabbing and killing them or something… which would be very much NOT CONDONED). Their primary duties are to assist souls that linger in the world of the living to pass on, and purify hollows-monsters created when a soul loses its heart from lingering too long or being devoured by another hollow-wherever they appear. They are spirit beings composed of spirit particles known as reshi. Because their bodies are different than that of humans, they age far more slowly (as of yet it has been unheard of for a shinigami to die of old age, but it might be possible? Yamamoto, the founder of the shinigami academy is over 2,000 years old himself) and can take far more damage before they are killed according to one early episode. However, most injuries considered fatal to humans (i.e. being stabbed in the heart, etc.) generally will either kill a shinigami as well or at least severely wound them to the point that they will die without immediate attention. At the least, it can be assumed that they fatigue a lot slower than humans.
-Konso-soul burial. The hilt of one’s zanpakutou is pressed to the forehead of a soul lingering in the human world, and the soul gets sent to the Soul Society with a Hell Butterfly. This will be utterly useless in Kannagara, but is worthy of note.
-Kido-Shinigami often focus their spiritual pressure (reiatsu) into spells collectively known as kido. There are two main categories of kido: bakudo (binding spells) and hado (destructive spells), though there are uncategorized spells along with healing kido spells-which, unlike all others, do not have names or numbers. ((Note: while all shinigami can do these spells to some degree, like Rukia, those of the medical fourth division are specifically able to collect reiatsu into their hands for the purpose of healing, an ability known as reiki))
-Reshi platform -all shinigami have the ability to stand/walk/run in midair as if it were a solid surface by collecting and solidifying reshi beneath their feet. They can be knocked out of midair by a powerful attack, however.
-Shunpo/Flash step-the ability to move faster than the eye can see. The objective of this technique is to be able to get from one place to another as fast as possible in the least number of steps. It requires a lot of training to master, though some degree of natural proficiency is needed as well.
-Shikai-Zabimaru, when released, becomes a 6-parted segmented blade with the segments connected by a stretchable thread (the limit Zabimaru can stretch is currently unknown, but in the fight with Szayel it wrapped around the Espada multiple times from across the room). However, Renji has a limit of three consecutive attacks before the segments return to their original position.
Higa Zekkō "Bite of a Broken Baboon's Fang" While used rarely and often as a last resort, Renji can use his spiritual pressure to split apart the segments and surround an opponent with them, giving him one, all-or-nothing chance to utilize an omni-directional attack. However, this is a dangerous technique for him to use, because its use is harmful to Zabimaru and leaves Renji defenseless for a time, as he is unable to re-engage his shikai for an unspecified period (for the purposes of the forum, we'll say that he can do this once per fight thread).
Bankai Name: Hihiō Zabimaru "Baboon King Snake Tail"
Like most bankai, Hihiō Zabimaru is a massive expansion of the shikai release, taking the form of an enormous, skeletal snake. Zabimaru gains many more segments, though they are hollow and resemble vertebrae in a snake's vertebral column, they retain the pick-like protrusions that are in the shikai form. These segments are also controlled by his spiritual pressure, allowing him to separate and reattach the segments at will, which was shown to be an effective defense against a shikai like that of Senbonzakura.
Renji also gains a fur cowl around his shoulders when he releases his bankai--it appears to be the fur of an ape, as an ape skull appears on the fur on his shoulder when he activates his bankai. In this form, Zabimaru does not literally cut anything as in his shikai; the massive jaws of the bankai's snake-head deal damage by biting or ramming/smashing an opponent to the ground.
Bankai Abilities:
Enhanced Higa Zekkō: A powered-up version of Higa Zekkō, Renji can use his spiritual pressure to separate the segments of Hihiō Zabimaru, sharpen them, and surround an opponent with them to execute another omni-directional attack. However, unlike in the shikai form, after use of this attack, Hihiō Zabimaru can reconstitute himself. (Note: for the purposes of the forum, this can only be used a maximum of three times per fight thread, so as not to be able to godmode with this--using the rationale that Renji simply does not have the energy to use it again after the third consecutive use of this attack).
Hikōtsu Taihō "Baboon Bone Cannon": This ability fires a concentrated blast of spiritual energy from Zabimaru's mouth. However, using this ability takes a great deal of energy on Renji's part, and often causes the segments of Zabimaru to fall out of formation. ((Very little is said about this ability, so I will say that it has the approximate speed and accuracy of a level 60 kidou, which factors in his relative inexperience with his bankai along with the fact that he is a lieutenant rather than a captain.))
Weaknesses:
Renji is not without his faults, either. He is known for being quite lazy (a "slacker" would probably the appropriate term), preferring to nap or go drinking with his friends instead of doing the work his captain has assigned for him and very messy--a general lack of neatness in his handwriting and uniform. He is brash and hot-tempered, an ill-thought-out comment easily capable of irking the lieutenant and creating a heated exchange, or at the very least being on the receiving end of a rather intimidating glower. He has a tendency to speak or act first and think later, and his impulsiveness can often get him into trouble, sometimes in the form of a physical brawl--which is very much frowned upon by the other captains (aside from Zaraki, of course).
He lacks skill in kidou, but sometimes employs the use of hado (it's very uncommon for him to be seen using bakudo) to distract his opponent while Zabimaru's manifested bankai form attacks. The interval between every three attacks (as the segments of Zabimaru must return to their original position every three attacks) leaves Renji vulnerable, a weakness he covers using shunpo to evade attacks in the brief recovery period.
Defining Quote(s):
“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.” ~ William James
"But now that I think back, I think I was just scared to lose her, to lose the only family I ever had. Not only that, I didn't want to face the fact that I am nothing more than a stray dog and I am so sick of it. All I do is bark wildly at the moon. I don't actually have the guts to bite. All this time, I've been blaming you. The fact that Rukia's been in prison. Every time I thought of you, it'd make my blood boil. But I was wrong. It wasn't you. It was me from the start. Because I didn't stop Rukia from going to the Kuchikis. I didn't want her to go, but I did't imagine that if she did she'd end up being a condemned criminal. I thought she'd find happiness; I really believed that. How could I have ever known?" ~ Renji, to Ichigo in the Soul Society arc, when he asks her to save Rukia.
“There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.” ~ American proverb
”If one took no chances, one would not fly at all. Safety lies in the judgment of the chances one takes. That judgment, in turn, must rest upon one’s outlook on life. Any coward can sit in his home and criticize a pilot for flying into a mountain in fog. But I would rather, by far, die on a mountainside than in bed.” ~ Charles Lindbergh
”You’re an idiot. You’re alive, aren’t you? That means you won.” ~ Renji, to Ichigo after being defeated by Grimmjow Jeagerjaques
”I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.” ~ Babe Ruth
Other: The bount arc is filler material and not actual Bleach canon. However, I have chosen to include it because there are several filler-only characters that carry over into the non-filler arcs as a continuity nod. Renji also gets a lot of screentime in this arc, and meets several important characters such as Urahara and Tessai.
Action Writing Sample:
[Once he’s woken up and rolled himself off the Hitomi, Renji appears in full view on the screen. There are a number of cuts, scratches, and bruises on his face and his long red hair is down, the hair tie having come loose. The front of his uniform is in tatters, a number of what appear to be burn wounds on his chest, from when he injured both himself and the 8th Espada with his kidou. However, the lieutenant is not yet aware of the device or the fact that it is recording, and has occupied himself with scanning his surroundings]
Eh? The hell is…this ain’t Hueco Mundo.
…
Is it? Could be one of Aizen’s tricks, I guess…
[He turns to start looking around and winces a little] Shit, hurts…
Should’ve paid more attention in kidou class, not let that happen…Least I got the bastard.
Hey, Espada, where the hell are you? Show your goddamn face, you coward! Didn’t you say you were going to come back and “deal” with us? Or did you really just turn tail and run, eh, Szayel Apporo Granz? [A little bit of that cocky grin. Even though he knows it’s not true-after all, he did watch that guy heal his wounds completely by eating one of his fraccion.]
…Huh. [a pause]
Ishida? You here, Quincy? [Another pause. And then another attempt.] Idiots?
[Sigh. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, exactly. Other than this being some sort of illusion and he’d hear them even if he couldn’t see them.]
Guess I might as well start exploring…
[He starts to walk away, and the Hitomi rematerializes in his hand. Of course, he notices now, and confused redhead is confused.]
…What the hell is this thing? And how’d it randomly show up in my hand like that?
Third Person Writing Sample:
((From a private roleplay with my Byakuya-mun :3))
They had come to Seireitei searching for a better life, he and Rukia. Picked themselves up and left a realm that didn't care--that told them to fend for themselves...even if they were children.
They had enrolled in the Shinigami Academy over forty years ago and didn't look back, but while the Seireitei offered them comfort and stability, there was often the distinct feeling of…not belonging. Food and material items came so easily, and without struggle, or the need for theft. Roads-and people-were clean, and water was actually healthier than alcohol for once. And it often felt…off to be surrounded by those who considered that normal and not privilege. Even after forty years, it still felt strange to come to work every day knowing where his next meal was coming from, and knowing that his possessions were his own, and when he went off to a bar to go drinking with his old eleventh division buddies, he wouldn’t have to watch for pickpockets or worry about getting his possessions stolen without there being hell to pay first.
That out-of-place feeling was especially pronounced around the sixth division, particularly Byakuya Kuchiki. One born into nobility just didn’t-couldn’t-understand what it meant to be a street rat. He couldn’t know what his adoptive sister had been through before Seireitei, why Renji had so enthusiastically told her to go when he wanted to hang onto the closest thing to family he had ever had.
Not to be misunderstood-Renji admired Byakuya. He greatly respected the nobleman’s prowess as a warrior and his leadership ability. But Byakuya and he…despite being a mere rank apart…were in different spheres altogether. Byakuya’s world was propriety, etiquette, obedience to authority. Renji had lived in the realm of might being right, of theft being the alternative to starvation, of exploitation by those who had money or supplies or simply superior size. And he just couldn’t erase all the prior events of his life and become a “proper” shinigami and lieutenant like Byakuya was. He-perhaps, with practice-could repair the “ain’t”s and hanging consonants off of his words, but he could not change his laid-back attitude, he couldn’t change the fact that he judged people by what they did rather than what they said or what they said they would do, he couldn’t change the fact…that he enjoyed having fun and he cussed and he drank and lived life to the fullest, because, back in Rukongai, it was never really clear when that second life as a soul would come to an abrupt end.
And sometimes, it was just a bit of a relief to be released from all that-he always enjoyed his missions in Rukongai because they gave him the chance to return to his roots and just for a while be simply “Renji” rather than Lieutenant Abarai. He enjoyed the ability just to be himself without having to concern himself with his image to others or how he carried himself, because frankly, souls being attacked by hollows didn’t really care what the person that saved them looked or sounded like as long as a sword made its way into the monster’s head and purified it. It was one of those things that just didn’t change, even in forty years.
When Byakuya first addressed him as they prepared to return, Renji hadn’t quite registered the words, momentarily lost in his reminiscing-somewhere over the course of the mission, the pair of shinigami had ended up in the 78th district, Inuzuri-Hanging Dog. The district that he had struggled to make his way in with Rukia and their group of friends.
Protocol the furthest thing from his mind at the moment, the lieutenant reached out and caught Byakuya by his sleeve before he could go anywhere and tugged lightly.
“Nah, wait, Captain. This is the district where Rukia‘n I grew up. I wanna see if this place’s just like I ‘member it or if it’s changed much since we enrolled’n the Academy.”