Bleach's shonen hero is the punkish Ichigo Kurosaki, who became a sword-slinging Soul Reaper one night when he met Rukia Kuchiki during a battle against the Hollow Fishbone-D. Ever since then, Ichigo has slain Hollows, journeyed to the Soul Society itself, and even visited Hueco Mundo. He has met, befriended, and fought many of Bleach's coolest characters.
But not all of them. Not even Ichigo can cross paths with every single character in Bleach's massive roster, meaning there are some allies he never made and enemies whom he never fought. In some cases, that's actually a good thing, since there are some foes Ichigo couldn't have defeated at the time. Whom has Ichigo never met, spoken to, or fought?
10 Kaien Shiba Died Before Ichigo Became A Soul Reaper
There are several Bleach characters who died before Ichigo became a Soul Reaper, so naturally, Ichigo never got a chance to meet them. Most notable among them is Kaien Shiba, who was once a member of squad 13, serving under Captain Jushiro Ukitake. He appears only in flashbacks, including some of Rukia's.
Kaien even looks like Ichigo, and that is no coincidence. He was Ichigo's cousin through the Shiba family, since Isshin Kurosaki had once been Isshin Shiba, and Kaien was his nephew. Before he died, Kaien gave Rukia an inspiring talk about how an intangible heart can connect two people, even after death.
9 Fortunately, Ichigo Never Tried To Fight Barragan Luisenbarn
Ichigo fought four of the Espadas, with his final Espada battle pitting him against the stone-cold Ulquiorra Schiffer. But three Espadas rank above Ulquiorra, including the former king of Hueco Mundo, Barragan Luisenbarn. He ranks #2 among the Espadas.
Ichigo never even saw Barragan with his own eyes, let alone fight him. If they did clash, Barragan would have enjoyed an overwhelming advantage with his time-accelerating death aura. Instead, Barragan fought Captain Soi Fon and Hachigen Ushoda of the Visoreds.
8 Ichigo Never Fought Tier Halibel, Either
The 3rd Espada is the mighty Tier Halibel, who is arguably the wisest and most mature of the ten Espadas. She's no pacifist, though; Halibel will gladly draw her zanpakuto and slice up anyone who harms her three fracciones; in this case, Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya.
Halibel's big fight scene took place while Ichigo was busy in Hueco Mundo, and Sosuke Aizen himself took her out of the fight before Ichigo had a chance to fight either of them. Halibel survived and went on to become Hueco Mundo's queen before Yhwach captured her.
7 Ichigo Didn't Cross Paths With Ryuken Ishida
Ryuken Ishida is Uryu Ishida's father, though for a time, Ryuken wanted nothing to do with his own Quincy tribe. He decided that the Quincy lifestyle wasn't profitable, so he gave it up and became the director of Karakura Town's general hospital to support his family.
This created a rift between Ryuken and his pro-Quincy son, but they learned to get along later in the story. Ryuken even interacts with Isshin Kurosaki, but he never really had any scenes with Ichigo himself. He wouldn't have much to say to Ichigo, anyway - not even "thanks for being Uryu's friend." He's not very sentimental.
6 Ichigo Didn't Ever Meet Central 46
Strictly speaking, Central 46 is made up of 46 people, as per the name, but Central 46 can be generally considered a single character for most intents and purposes. This organization appeared during the Turn Back the Pendulum arc, delivering twisted justice to then-Captain Kisuke Urahara.
During the Soul Society arc, though, Aizen slaughtered all of Central 46 before Ichigo got a chance to meet them. Ichigo didn't have much need to meet them; they opposed all intruders, and Ichigo was their enemy. They'd just get into an argument with him.
5 Ichigo And Loly Avirrne Never Met
Loly Avirrne and her friend Menoly are two minor Arrancars who serve in Aizen's army, though they are not fracciones for any of the Espadas. They simply wander around Las Noches as they please. Loly, who idolized Aizen, was bitterly jealous when Aizen gave special attention to Orihime Inoue.
At one point, Loly beat up Orihime out of spite, until Grimmjow Jeagerjaques intervened. Early in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, Loly and Menoly faced Quilge Opie and were swiftly defeated. But Ichigo was never involved.
4 Ichigo And Captain Soi Fon Keep Their Distance
Captain Soi Fon is the leader of squad 2 and a skilled martial artist, assassin and infiltrator, just like her legendary mentor, Yoruichi Shihoin. Ichigo did briefly fight Soi Fon's Lieutenant, Marechiyo Omaeda, but Ichigo and Soi Fon never interacted in any meaningful way.
During the Soul Society arc, Soi Fon didn't fight Ichigo, Chad, Orihime or Uryu. She battled Yoruichi herself, and the fight ended in a draw. Soi Fon later fought Barragan, and also clashed with BG9 of the Sternritter. But she never had anything to do with Ichigo in the process.
3 Ichigo & Yumichika Ayasegawa Didn't Formally Meet
Ichigo and Yumichika Ayasegawa only barely crossed paths when the Hitsugaya advance team traveled to Karakura Town while posing as high school students in a reverse-isekai adventure. They all went to Ichigo's school in particular, and Ichigo and Rangiku Matsumoto had some amusing interactions.
However, Ichigo and Yumichika had nothing to say to each other, and Yumichika stayed by Ikakku Madarame's side during this adventure, including when they wandered the streets after dark to search for enemies. Yumichika wouldn't find Ichigo elegant or beautiful enough to make friends with, anyway.
2 Ichigo Never Beheld The Horror Of Aaroniero Arurruerie
Several of the Espadas only had one fight each, and those fights did not involve Ichigo Kurosaki. For example, the 9th Espada, Aaroniero Arurruerie cornered Rukia and applied serious psychological pressure with his Kaien Shiba disguise, and they soon fought to the death.
Rukia had to face an Espada all on her own, and she nearly died until she remembered Kaien's words about the heart and drew strength from them. She used an ice blade to fatally stab Aaroniero's head to win the fight, then she collapsed. Ichigo was too busy with Ulquiorra to lend a hand.
1 Ichigo Didn't Fight Or Talk To Kaname Tosen
On paper, Kaname Tosen was Ichigo's enemy in several different story arcs, but the two of them never came face to face for any reason. Tosen fought Captain Kenpachi Zaraki in the Soul Society arc, and didn't fight anyone during the Hueco Mundo arc. Then the fake Karakura Town arc began.
In that story arc, Tosen showed off his newfound Hollow powers and battled his old friend, Captain Sajin Komamura. Tosen lost, and he died a tragic death as Sajin and Shuhei Hisagi watched. Ichigo was never involved in any of this.