Kenpachi Zaraki

The blood-drunk swordsman

Kenpachi Zaraki is the captain of the Eleventh Division, Soul Society’s combat specialists, and the purest embodiment of the joy of battle in the series. He fights not for duty or justice but for the thrill of a worthy opponent, and he is terrifyingly good at it.

Power held back

For most of the series Kenpachi does not even know his Zanpakuto’s name, relying on raw strength alone. He wears an eyepatch that devours his own spiritual energy and a bell in his hair to warn enemies where he is — deliberate handicaps to make his fights last longer.

Yachiru and a name

Kenpachi came from the lawless Rukongai, taking his surname from the district that raised him and adopting the child Yachiru, whom he found beside the corpse-strewn ground where he learned to kill. Beneath the bloodlust is a strange tenderness for the girl who named his sword.

Unleashed

Kenpachi’s true power emerges only when he finally hears his Zanpakuto speak, unlocking a devastating released form. His arc is the discovery that the strongest swordsman in the Gotei 13 had spent his whole life fighting with the brakes on.