Ichimaru Gin

Gin's most distinguishing characteristic is his expression; with his slitted eyes and ever-present grin, his face looks like that of a fox. Ichigo derisively nicknames him "fox-face" in their first meeting because of this. He also has unusual silver hair, which has a purple tint to it in the anime; his name refers to his hair color, gin ("silver"). Gin rarely removes his smile or opens his eyes; in the case of the latter, such moments serve to identify when he is significantly annoyed or angry. There are only a few times when he opens his eyes: once in a flashback when he and Aizen rescued Momo Hinamori and other students from hollows, and the other during a battle with 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya. His eyes are alternately portrayed as light green/blue, blood red, and yellow. By contrast, there are far more moments when he stops smiling, those usually being lesser degrees of annoyance, genuinely apologetic moments, or in deep thought of a sudden epiphany.



Gin's constant happy façade tends to have the opposite effect on those he meets, making them instantly distrust him. His use of sarcasm only further encourages this, especially in those who have known him for a long time. Rukia comments on how she felt like snakes were wrapping around her neck whenever Gin spoke, despite the fact that he was speaking to her brother at the time. Kaname Tōsen notes that Gin has a similar effect on just about everyone when explaining Wonderweiss Margera's frightened reaction to Gin. In the anime, Gin speaks with a distinct Osaka dialect, which is indirect and polite. His English dubbed voice is also formal and polite, but with a rather mocking and facetious undertone.

After betraying Soul Society, Gin switches his captain's attire for a similar but unmarked garment. He now wears a long, white robe over his normal Soul Reaper hakama. The hilt of his zanpakutō is visible sticking out from under the robe through the opening down to his waist. Later, Ichimaru is seen wearing a white hakama like the arrancar, instead of the black one he first appears in. Gin wears his robe open in a narrow 'V' down to his waist, closed to below the hips, 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.

Gin saved Rangiku Matsumoto from starvation when they were children, and the two have been good friends since then. Rangiku is the only person Gin seems to truly care about, although he seems to "disappear" often, as Rangiku puts it. He also never tells her where he's going. Gin was considered a child prodigy since he graduated from the academy within a year and was assigned to a seated position in the 5th Division. Gin killed the 3rd seat of the division with ease, which aroused Aizen's interest in him. Before he became captain of the 3rd Division, he served under Captain Sōsuke Aizen as the lieutenant of 5th Division. A lesser point is his constant talks with Byakuya Kuchiki, which Rukia believes he did specifically to unsettle her since she was afraid of him.
Gin's first major appearance is at the gates leading into the Seireitei, following Jidanbō's defeat by Ichigo Kurosaki. He easily repels the two without killing them, simultaneously closing the gate which Jidanbō was holding open (it is later revealed by Aizen that he ordered Gin to do so). The other captains question his failure to kill opponents whom he should have had no trouble killing, but a second intrusion by Ichigo's group, followed by the supposed death of Aizen, leaves them with bigger concerns. Aizen, having faked his death, has Gin deliberately cast suspicion on himself, thereby drawing attention away from Aizen's activities. After Aizen's plot is revealed and they retreat to Hueco Mundo, Gin bids Rangiku Matsumoto goodbye and apologizes to her, one of the rare moments in which he doesn't smile.

In Hueco Mundo, Gin jokingly chides Aizen over his habit of playing around with his subordinates. When Ichigo's group breaks into Las Noches, he observes them, even altering the position of the halls when no one is around. When Ulquiorra Schiffer catches him in the act, Gin denies changing anything, saying that he wouldn't do that to "those kids" and that he does not like "sad stories". He later appears alongside Aizen and Tosen in Karakura Town, commenting on Kira's sudden change in emotion to Tōsen and remarks that Kira is 'doing well'.

Gin's zanpakutō is Shinso. It takes the form of a wakizashi when sealed. The guard is shaped like an 'S'. Shinsō's shikai is triggered by the phrase "shoot to kill" (ikorose?); in the anime, this was slightly changed to the declarative ikorosu. In the English equivalents of the series, the phrase is inconsistent between uses, but mostly uses terms describing stabbing (slay, impale, pierce, etc) coupled with a direct object, i.e. "Slay them." Its first rendering in the Viz translation was "skewer that punk".



In its shikai, Shinsō's blade glows white and extends at high speed to impale Gin's opponents. In addition to making it a deadly long-range weapon, the extending blade also carries tremendous force without affecting Gin, making it useful for dislodging heavy objects, 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. Once extended, Gin can maintain the blade's length and swing Shinsō in wide arcs, attacking multiple targets quickly and simultaneously.

It works! Yay! Anyways, I figured I'd make an Ichimaru topic for the heck of it. Info and pictures are from Wikipedia.

Thanks for creating a topic. Anyway, I like his zanpakutou :)

I... kinda voted for the last option. I used to have a really good thing with Gin, but it sadly died. *shrugs* Sometimes that happens. I still like him but... he's just kind a there now. And he hasn't been in the series for a long while.

The Arrancar beat the Shinigami for me since their great arrival.

You love him or hate him is not the point... I think

*giggle* Well, making a long story short... he's just okay. :D

Agree

*high fives you*

We're balanced! One vote for each option. I, for some reason, find that funny.

Yes, I do too! XD All we need is another one...

If my brother was voting, he'd say hate him for sure.

Hate!? What happened to spreading the love?

no hating allowed!

Thats what I think. Well, actually I asked him about Gin yesterday and he said he just doesn't care. So he's like most of us. No point in hating people when you can just not think about them. XD

Naw, but my brother usually teases me about things like that and says he hates the characters I like, or ships pairs I don't like. Its just a joke of course, but he knows how to twist my thoughts. Gah! He'll say he likes Granzcest or hates Szayel just to make me mad, even though he doesn't.

Siblings are a pain in the butt. He's 14 and I'm 17, and yet he's like the older sibling. He looks out for me, he's bigger then me, and he seems to get more freedom.

Why hate when apathy works just as well? I have a friend who is 15 and he calls another friend and myself his "little big sisters" because he's already 6 feet tall, I'm just 5'4'', and my the other friend is 19 and 5' 2''.

So your brother watches Bleach too?

Exacta! :D Of man, I get that too. I'm 5'3"... The shortest in my house. Mom is taller then me, and Derek - my brother - is even taller! *faint*

Yes, my brohter watches Bleach as well. :D

At least I have my sister who is shorter than me. But then she's 9 and growing fast.

I beat you both! I'm 5'5"

The last time I went to the doctor I was 5'4''(which was just a few days ago), the time before that I was 5'5''. I think I'm shrinking!

That's not good! You're too young to be shrinking!

Oh noes, I'm the shortest amoung the three of us!

Then again... I'm really used to being smaller then mostly everyone...

You are not short... You are travel size, or vertially challenged, if you prefer. Don't feel bad. I have a friend who is 5' even.

We are like steps! 5'3'', 5'4'', and 5'5''!

Travel sized. I like it. XD

Oh, just we are! Sweetness!

Just two more and we would have a Cingular commercial.

Travel sized.. That's cute xP Um.. My gramma's actually 5'6" o.o

Wow! That's weird because mine is too. One one of them. The other one is 5'1''. Well she used to be. She has diabetes and she didn't take care of herself (McDonalds apple pies are not for diabetics) very well as the doctors had to remove both legs. But now she has a motorized wheelchair that she runs over people with. The neighbors go in their yards when they see her coming down the road. It's cute, she calls it her 'car'.