Ichigo from Bleach is an incredibly gifted Soul Reaper. From the very moment Rukia gives him her power, he can do things no amateur swordsman can do. The fact that he takes down a Hollow with no previous training is a testament to his strength, but it also shows how critical it is for him to protect people. After all, he takes on the challenge in order to defend his sisters.
Although Ichigo takes full advantage of his Soul Reaper abilities at the beginning of the series, there are some aspects of his powers that have fallen out of use. Even if there are abilities he doesn't or can't use, that certainly doesn't make him any less of a gifted fighter.
10 Ichigo Forgets To Learn Kido
Every Soul Reaper is able to perform Kido, which are combat spells that utilize a person's spiritual pressure. Even characters like Renji, who admits he isn't the best at using Kido, have used it on occasion. But Ichigo, who has an excessive amount of spiritual pressure, never even attempts it.
It makes sense considering Ichigo is never properly trained to be a Soul Reaper, unlike the other characters who actually go to school for it. However, it's a shame that an ability he clearly has is completely wasted, especially with how useful Kido can be.
9 Ichigo Doesn't Use His Full Strength On His Enemies
When it comes to Ichigo's enhanced strength, he doesn't really utilize it like the other characters. In fact, Ichigo seems to use just enough strength to compete with everyone, but never enough to overpower them. The only instance of him throwing around his strength is when he grabs Aizen by the face and throws him during the Fake Karakura Town Arc.
He isn't like Kenpachi, who likes to throw his weight around by destroying walls and overpowering his opponents. Ichigo tends to overly rely on his swordsmanship and spiritual pressure, which leaves his enhanced strength completely forgotten.
8 Smashing Swords Is More Useful Than Throwing Fists
When the series begins, Ichigo is a bit of a delinquent. During his introduction, he beats up a group of skateboarders, which makes sense considering they destroyed flowers someone left for a dead girl, but it's still a bit harsh.
After he becomes a Soul Reaper, he never uses hand-to-hand combat again. It certainly could have helped him take his opponents by surprise, especially villains like the Arrancar who aren't trained in hand-to-hand combat. However, it appears Ichigo doesn't find hand-to-hand necessarily for fighting sword-wielding opponents, which makes a degree of sense.
7 Orihime Isn't The Only One Who Can Heal
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Unohana and the members of Squad 4 may specialize in healing, but every Soul Reaper has some talent in it — except for Ichigo, that is. Even Rukia is shown to heal Ichigo at the beginning of the series, but it's never a skill he picks up.
He has the spiritual pressure necessary to heal others just like he has the energy needed to perform Kido, but he is never taught how to do so. Healing could have been incredibly useful to him considering all the times he's been injured, but with Orihime around, it makes sense that he didn't make healing a priority.
6 Ichigo's Shikai Gets Put On The Back Burner
When Ichigo gets his Shikai, it's the only thing he uses for fighting, which makes sense considering he doesn't know any other sword techniques. This changes when he develops a powerful Bankai, which makes him far more nimble and strong.
Ichigo also gains the ability to perform range attacks with his Getsuga Tenshou. With how powerful his new sword ability is, his Shikai is practically forgotten. He may start a fight with it a few times, but considering how much stronger his Bankai is, it makes sense that he fights with it more often.
5 Ichigo Has Smarts But Never Uses Them
Most fans wouldn't expect Ichigo to be all that intelligent. It's a common trope for shonen protagonists to be rather stupid and Ichigo doesn't show off how smart he is all that often. However, he's shown that he's incredibly smart when it comes to school by scoring at the top of the class early in the series.
Despite how intelligent he is, his intelligence doesn't translate over to his fighting. Unlike other Soul Reapers such as Hitsugaya, who relies heavily on strategy to win, Ichigo is the type to act first and think later. Ichigo has the intelligence to be a brilliant strategist, but he never uses it.
4 Ichigo Stops Needing Artificial Souls
When Ichigo is first learning how to be a Soul Reaper, Rukia's various Soul Reaper tools are incredibly useful to him. This includes the soul candies, which Ichigo uses to separate his soul from his body and place an artificial soul in its place.
The soul candies are useful when he doesn't have Rukia guiding him, but they also prevent random citizens from thinking he died when his soul isn't in his body. As he grows in strength, the soul candies lose their usefulness. Not to mention, he's able to use his Soul Reaper badge to transform, making the soul candies irrelevant.
3 Ichigo Doesn't Have Enough Control To Rely On Speed
Ichigo is fast in a fight when he needs to be, but compared to characters like Yoruichi, who are trained in the art of Shunpo, Ichigo is a novice. He can surprise enemies with his speed on occasion, but because he hasn't trained his footwork like other Soul Reapers, speed isn't his go-to when it comes to fighting.
It also doesn't help that Ichigo doesn't have the best control of his spiritual pressure, which tends to leak out of him constantly. If he could control the spiritual pressure in his feet like Byakuya and Yoruichi can, he'd probably be a much faster fighter. Since he can't, it's impossible for him to rely on speed.
2 A Temporary Body Is Useless To Ichigo
A Gigai is an artificial body that Soul Reapers use to disguise themselves in the living world. Since they are souls without bodies, it is much easier for them to pass as humans, especially if they want to conceal their spiritual pressure from their enemies.
As a Soul Reaper, Ichigo can easily use a Gigai, but since he is a human with a human body, he doesn't need to use it. There is always a chance a Gigai could come in handy, like the time the artificial soul Kon decided to take over his body and harass his friends with it. However, these instances are few and far between, which makes the ability pretty useless to him.
1 Ichigo Never Sends Souls To The Afterlife
Despite Ichigo being a Soul Reaper, he doesn't really help souls pass on to Soul Society all that much. Other Soul Reapers, like Rukia, are seen doing it on occasion, but the characters seem far more concerned with purifying Hollows, which makes sense.
When villains like the Arrancar and Aizen are trying to destroy the world, sending souls to the afterlife is the last thing on Ichigo's mind. Then again, Ichigo probably wouldn't have to deal with so many Hollows if he actually did his job.