Tite Kubo's popular animated action series Bleach has a wide cast of characters, and some of them are heroic fighters battling the forces of evil. Ichigo, Chad, Uryu, and Orihime will always stand for good. Meanwhile, villains such as Aizen, Grimmjow, and Yhwach want to conquer the world, or even destroy it outright. In between those two extremes is the gray area. A few characters in Bleach seem to skirt the line between hero and villain.
Enter Mayuri Kurotsuchi, one of the thirteen Captains in the Soul Society's Gotei 13. He's an unscrupulous scientist who uses his research and genius to overcome any opponent who gets in his way (aside from Uryu). What is there to know about this diabolical science-slinger and his devious ways? Let's take a closer look and find out!
10 He's power-hungry
While Captain Kurotsuchi is not the scheming villain that Sosuke Aizen is, he definitely has some lust for power in his own right. During the Turn Back the Pendulum arc, set 110 years ago, viewers meet a much younger Mayuri... who is incarcerated!
Kisuke Urahara, the new Captain of Squad 12, recruits him to work in his lab. How does he convince Mayuri to join him? By mentioning that if Kisuke were to die or lose his job, Mayuri would get it all for himself! That did the trick.
9 He created Nemu
Unlike the other captains, Captain Kurotsuchi did not hire his Lieutenant... he created her! While the specifics are glossed over, it is made abundantly clear that Captain Kurotsuchi used his own DNA create a "daughter" of sorts, and the result was Nemu Kurotsuchi.
She has enough spirit power to be his right-hand woman, though Mayuri often takes her for granted. He's willing to use her quite cruelly in combat at first, but in later battles, he shows her a little more compassion. He was fascinated (and slightly troubled) when Szayelaporro emerged from her, and soon after, Mayuri revived her off-screen.
8 He abhorrs perfection
How would you like to be perfect, forever? Szayelaporro worked hard to meet that end, but Mayuri Kutotsuchi dreads the very idea. Why would he reject perfection itself? As he explained out loud, being perfect is a stagnant dead end, since there are no more improvements to be made.
Mayuri understands that science is a paradox between seeking improvement while avoiding perfection, and as far as he's concerned, the quest to become "perfect" doomed Szayelaporro to lose to him.
7 He modifies his own Bankai
The other Captains sometimes unlock new powers with their Bankai, such as Hitsugaya of Squad 10, who is still growing as a Soul Reaper. But Captain Kurotsuchi doesn't have the patience for that. He'd rather modify and tinker with his bankai and make something new!
He alters the composition of its poison gas after every fight, so no one can develop an immunity, and he set it to self-destruct if its power is ever turned against him. This was very helpful when Szayelaporro attempted to control it.
6 He is cruel
Mayuri is quite sadistic, and not just to Nemu (the poor girl). He turned some of his own officers into bombs in an attempt to capture or kill Orihime and Uryu. Then, his idea of a generous offer is to merely limit how many painful and gruesome operations he would conduct on Orihime in his lab!
He seemed to enjoy hurting the powerless Uryu, too. Later, when he subdued Szayelaporro, he pierced his zanpakuto through his opponent's hand and into his heart. Due to a super-drug that Szayelaporro had accidentally ingested, that experience was being drawn out over a century or so.
5 He decorates himself
Why does Mayuri look like that? The answer is actually fairly mundane: he uses face paint and hats to make himself look that way! In reality, he has gold eyes and ordinary blue hair.
But to scare his opponents, he applies face paint every day in various black and white patterns, and he wears wigs or strange hats to complete the effect. He even paints his hands and wrists, and one of his fingernails is unusually long. The result is a Captain who stands out even in a crowd of odd-looking Captains.
4 He modified his own body
If Mayuri is willing to tinker with his Bankai for better effect, why not try that on his own body, too? There is more to him than meets the eye, and his body is loaded with weapons. He can extract a small scythe from his ear, and one of his arms can extend on a cable to reach very far. He can even detach it and grow a new one!
If that weren't enough, Captain Kurotsuchi installed a back-up system in his body. Should he be backed into a corner, he can reduce his body into an indestructible liquid and ooze away, to regenerate later. Always have a Plan B!
3 He's careful
Being a scientist above all, and hardly a brute like Kenpachi, Mayuri has learned to be cautious with every step. For one thing, he likes to implant surveillance spirit bugs into his enemies, so if they survive, he can track their movements later and see everything that they do.
With this, he learned (through Uryu) exactly how Szayelaporro's abilities work, and thus he developed countermeasures before ever setting foot in Hueco Mundo. Interestingly, Szayelaporro did something similar with Ilfort Grantz, allowing him to study Renji's Bankai remotely.
2 He collects many specimens
Every good scientist has specimens to study and experiment with, and some might be very rare or unusual indeed. Mayuri has experimented on hundreds of Quincies over the years, and now he's ready to move on to arrancars, too. Once Szayelaporro was defeated, Mayuri at once dug up the Espada's hidden specimen collection room.
Inside, he found the bodies of several fallen arrancars that Szayelaporro had collected, and he put them to good use. Once the Wandenreich invaded, Mayuri had four modified arrancars ready to fight, courtesy of Szayelaporro's collection.
1 His last name
What's in a name? The Japanese language may be tricky for those learning it, as there are the kanji, hiragana, and katakana writing systems to master. Kanji, being borrowed from Chinese, means that a written character is pronounced in more than one way in some cases.
In Captain Kurotsuchi's case, the kanji in his last name are based on their meaning, and not how they are pronounced, which sets him apart from the other Captains. His last name means "black earth," but if the characters are read a different way, they say something more like "ne" or "so."