Bleach: Rukia's Zanpakuto and Bankai, Explained

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Rukia is not only one of the main characters in Bleach, but eventually one of its strongest as well. While her powers as a Soul Reaper were hidden for a while thanks to her transferring her powers to Ichigo, she eventually gains them back and proves herself to be an extremely proficient fighter. Eventually, she becomes the Lieutenant of Squad 13, and at the end of the story, its Captain.

While Rukia is an expert user of Kido, her main strength lies in her Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki. Sode no Shirayuki takes the form of a long, snow-white blade, and is often called the most beautiful sword in the Soul Society. As might be surmised based on its color, Sode no Shirayuki is one of a few Zanpakuto whose abilities revolve around ice.

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While it initially appears similar (though less powerful) to the other major Ice-Type Zanpakuto inBleach, Toshiro Hitsugaya's Hyorinmaru, the mechanism for how Sode no Shirayuki freezes opponents is quite different. While Hyorinmaru freezes water, including the moisture in the air, and then controls the resulting ice, Sode no Shirayuki drastically lowers Rukia's body temperature, allowing her to freeze anything she or her blade comes in contact with.

Rukia only figures out the true nature of this power after extensive training. Initially, she doesn't seem to have any control over the extent to which her body temperature drops, or even the ability to notice it. Instead, she erroneously believed it was the blade itself that froze opponents. The attacks she uses for most of the series reflect this misconception. Some no Mai, Tsukishiro involves Rukia drawing a circle on the ground with Sode no Shirayuki. Any target unlucky to find themselves in that