One of the most interesting characters in Bleach is Rukia Kuchiki. There is a lot more going on with this seemingly young and innocent girl than meets the eye. When viewers were first introduced to the world of Bleach, Rukia was only a secondary character.
It was only later, as the series unfolded, that fans were informed of the character's vast and bewildering backstory. Here are 10 facts about Rukia you need to know!
10 Looks Can Be Deceiving
Despite looking like a high schooler, Rukia is actually extremely old. She herself claims that she is more than a century and a half old. In all that time, she has learned to fight for her survival. Rukia has also been training to become a soldier for most of her life.
It is thanks to this kind of a past that Rukia wields such immense power. Even before she was promoted to captain, she was already showing a skill set that equaled and sometimes exceeded those of her superiors.
9 Down The Rabbit Hole
Rukia has a strong fondness for rabbits. A very strong fondness. In fact, Ichigo has had to call her out in the past for being too obsessed with Rabbits to the point of being distracted from the actual work they were supposed to be doing.
For her part, while Rukia adores rabbits, one thing she does not adore is people pointing out her rabbit-themed obsession. In fact, the Shinigami tends to get very defensive when she finds anyone remarking on the strangeness of her hobby of collecting rabbit-themed toys.
8 An Impossible Choice
Rukia has seen a thing or two during her long life. One of the most traumatic incidents from her past life had to do with her mentor, Kaien Shiba. Rukia worshipped Kaien, who taught her how to fight the hollows. But one time, an experimentally designed hollow managed to infect Kaien.
Rukia had no choice but to kill Kaien. This necessary action haunted Rukia for decades until she had the chance to apologize to Kaien's family. This managed to bring her some form of closure.
7 Rukia Dies All The Time
Rukia is shown to wield extraordinary control over her body, which is part of what makes her such a powerful warrior and so effective against the hollows. For one of her techniques, she is able to reduce her body to such low temperatures that she technically becomes dead for the duration of the technique.
During this time, Rukia moves by using her Reiatsu to control her movements. She also keeps her nerve cells active so her death does not become permanent.
6 A Graceful Warrior
One thing that fans love about Rukia is the grace with which she fights. This is not a coincidence but something that she has worked long and hard to learn. Rukia's fighting style is inspired by Chinese water and ribbon dancing.
Rukia's activation commands are also dance-based, which add another layer of grace and fluidity to her movements while in combat.
5 Rukia & Ichigo Are Just Friends
Ichigo and Rukia share one of the most unique relationships in all of anime. They are very close friends and lived in the same room for a long time before Rukia moved out. Nevertheless, their friendship carries no hint of physical attraction.
The two can go to any lengths to protect each other and have confessed their deepest fears and anxieties to each other. Yet, despite knowing each other so intimately and both being considered conventionally attractive, the two have never felt any desire to take their relationship to the next level.
4 Queen Of Fanservice
Rukia spent most of her early days in the anime running around fighting the hollows in a short skirt. This allowed the camera to focus on her surprisingly long and shapely legs. This became a trend with the anime and manga, with a lot of shots focusing on Rukia's physical attractions.
Not that anyone is complaining. Especially when she became Dark Rukia, with a new kimono seemingly modified specifically to show off her legs. Or the number of outfits that she has worn over the years highlighting her ample curves (in some areas).
3 Rukia & Renji Have A Very Sweet Love Story
Renji knew Rukia from when they were both growing up in the Rukongai slums. Then Rukia got adopted by the high society Rukichi clan. The two were torn apart, but Renji never forgot about her. He vowed to become a lieutenant one day so he could also join the high society and reunite with Rukia.
For forty years, Renji labored at his task until he finally achieved his dream and was once again allowed to be near Rukia. The series has a happy ending for the love birds, with the two eventually getting married and even having a daughter.
2 Rukia's Brother Kept Her Down
Rukia's brother Byakuya is not known to be very emotionally demonstrative. However, he did care for his little sister a great deal. One way that he tried to ensure her safety was by pulling strings to make sure she was never promoted beyond soldier. Like that, Rukia would be kept out of harm's way.
As we see, this does not stop Rukia from going after the hollows and partaking in many dangerous battles. Rukia goes on to prove that, despite her brother's worries, she is a powerful warrior and is finally promoted to the rank of Captain.
1 Rukia Was The First
The creator of the show Bleach, Tite Kubo, conceived the idea for the series as a telling of the legend of the Shinigami. With this concept in mind, Kubo drew the image of a young woman in a kimono, who would later become the character called Rukia Kuchiki.
Thus, Rukia was the very first character in the series to be created. She is also one of the most popular, frequently coming in second after Ichigo in polls taken to determine the most popular Bleach characters.