The following contains spoilers for Bleach.

As an action anime series, Bleach is populated with dozens of powerful fighters who boast a stunning variety of weapons, techniques, and fighting styles. Over time, the power scaling of Bleach kept increasing until the main characters could move faster than the eye could see, slice through buildings, and even defy the laws of physics and reality itself. Such characters include Soul Reapers, Arrancars, and Quincy.

In the Substitute Soul Reaper arc, a character was considered powerful if they could slay an ordinary Hollow with one swing of their zanpakuto. In the Soul Society arc, a powerhouse character was anyone who could use bankai, and by the story's end, the strongest Bleach characters could pull off borderline divine feats in battle. Looking back, it's clear who the fifteen strongest characters in Bleach are, and many of them are iconic of the entire series.

Updated on April 18th, 2024 by Louis Kemner: This list of the strongest Bleach characters has been updated to adhere to CBR's current publication standards. By now, the Thousand-Year Blood War anime is well underway, and the characters are stronger and deadlier than ever. In this late phase of Bleach's story, it's the perfect time to review who the strongest warriors are.

15 Yoruichi Shihoin is the Famous Goddess of Flash

Yoruichi was a princess of the Shihoin family, one of the four great noble families in the Soul Society. She relinquished all her titles before departing for the human world. After finding out her friend Kisuke Urahara was being set up, she helped him escape from captivity, where he then headed to the human world. Now a criminal, Yoruichi quickly renounced her titles and settled quickly into life on earth with Urahara.

Yoruichi has consistently shown herself to be a top tier fighter in the Bleach universe. Her speed makes her a threat to any opponent and she might actually be the fastest character in Bleach. She also invented a kido/martial arts hybrid style called Shunko, something that her student Soi Fon can use as well. Still, for all her power, Yoruichi Shihoin only ranks #15 among the strongest Bleach characters, partly because she never used bankai to boost her power further.

14 Toshiro Hitsugaya is a Child Prodigy With an Icy Zanpakuto

Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya is the youngest Soul Reaper Captain in the Gotei, and it's only his relative lack of experience that holds him back. Like Gin Ichimaru before him, Toshiro was hailed as a child prodigy, a gifted Shin'o Academy student who graduated with distinction. He then joined squad 10 and soon became its Captain after Isshin Shiba lost his powers.

Toshiro is an expert swordsman even when compared to his fellow Captains, and he also has a powerful ice-based zanpakuto named Hyorinmaru, with a devastating bankai. It's been noted that for all its strength, Hyorinmaru is still growing, just like its wielder, and Toshiro might even surpass the veteran Shunsui Kyoraku someday.

13 Ulquiorra Cifer Was the Only Espada With Two Released Forms

Sosuke Aizen ranked Ulquiorra Cifer as the #4 Espada, but it's possible he was even stronger than his rank suggested. Unlike all other Arrancars, Ulquiorra had two release modes with his zanpakuto, Murcielago, with the second mode simply being called Segunda Etapa. With that power, Ulquiorra could perform devastating melee attacks with his hands, tail, and various ranged attacks, too.

Aizen didn't know about Segunda Etapa, but if he did, Ulquiorra probably would have been the #3 Espada, possibly #2, depending on how he compared with Baraggan. Regardless of rank, though, Ulquiorra was a ferocious yet cold fighter who would gladly dispatch anyone under Sosuke Aizen's orders.

12 Coyote Starrk Was Powerful But Profoundly Lonely, too

Although he was ranked #1 among the Espadas, Coyote Starrk didn't like fighting, and he was too lazy to fight anyone even when under direct orders to do so. He even tried to talk Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku out of fighting him, then reluctantly crossed swords with them. In battle, Starrk boasted ultra-sharp instincts and insight, able to figure out the rules of Kyoraku's shikai's games with ease.

Starrk's released mode, Los Lobos, turned him into a Hollow gunslinger with two thick pistols that could rapidly fire cero blasts, overwhelming his foes with sheer firepower. He could also summon a large pack of explosive spirit wolves. On defense, Starrk could evade attacks with extreme speed and was much tougher than he looked, too.

11 Baraggan Luisenbairn Tried to Master Time Itself

The black-robed Baraggan Luisenbairn once ruled the bleak desert of Hueco Mundo, but it felt empty, an example of how strength alone cannot overcome despair in Bleach. Still, no matter his woes, Baraggan stood out as a vastly powerful Hollow and Arrancar, ranking #2 among the elite Espadas. In his sealed form, Baraggan could rapidly age anything and anyone around him, rotting them away.

Baraggan's released mode, Arrogante, was even even deadlier avatar of inevitable death, including a ranged attack called Respira and a sharp axe named Gran Caida. He was tough on defense, too, enduring not just one but two direct attacks from Captain Soi Fon's bankai. Baraggan only lost because Hachigen Ushida managed to turn his power against him -- otherwise, Baraggan was seemingly unbeatable.

10 Kenpachi Zaraki Lives For Battle and Nothing Else

As the current holder of the title of Kenpachi, Kenpachi Zaraki stands as the Soul Society's most physically intimidating force. Kenpachi does not rely on tricks or any special kind of ability. Zaraki has always been an all-out brawler, a man absolutely obsessed with winning and coming out on top. For much of the series, Kenpachi suppresses his powers so that he could enjoy his fights but, towards the end, he unleashed his true power.

For a time, Kenpachi Zaraki consciously held back so he could savor fights against weaker foes, hence his energy-devouring eyepatches. Then, in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, it was revealed that Kenpachi was still holding back his true power, but after he fought Captain Unohana to the death, Kenpachi's potential was released at last. Now, he is one of Bleach's very strongest characters who relies on brute force to fight without any tricks. Kenpachi earned a place among the strongest Bleach characters with ease thanks to his immense power and bloodlust.

9 Lille Barro is the Ultimate Sniper

Lille Barro was a loyal member of Yhwach's personal guard, the Schutzstaffel, and was the first Quincy to receive an ability from Yhwach. This went to his head, and he would often proclaim himself to be Yhwach's greatest ever creation. Despite being an experienced and dangerous combatant, Lille is often caught off guard by events he failed to predict.

This makes him weak to adaptable fighters, but his deadly sniping skills means he's still a major threat. His 'Monk of Destruction' form grants him intangibility and this, combined with light beams, makes him a handful. His sniper rifle, meanwhile, is highly precise and can send its bullets through anything whatsoever to hit the intended target, making his shots nearly impossible to block or evade.

8 Byakuya Kuchiki is the Well-Balanced Commander of Squad 6

Captain Byakuya Kuchiki was Ichigo Kurosaki's mortal nemesis back in the fondly-remembered Soul Society arc, where he showed his bankai's multiple modes while fighting Ichigo. Byakuya's shikai creates a small cloud of sharp, petal-like blades, and his bankai is a much bigger version of that. He can even form an arena of energy swords to trap his foe with him.

Aside from his zanpakuto, Byakuya can also use incredible swordplay, advanced kido spells, some martial arts, and his flash steps to take down any foe in battle, making him one of the best-balanced fighters in the Gotei 13 and indeed in all of Bleach. In the TYBW arc, he temporarily lost his bankai, then got it back and had a new appreciation for it, making him stronger than ever.

7 Shunsui Kyoraku May Act Goofy, But He Wields Enormous Power

Even prior to becoming the Captain-Commander of the Soul Reapers, Shunsui Kyoraku was a man famous for his impressive sword skill and massive spiritual power. His attitude is often relaxed and carefree which often annoys his lieutenant, Nanao Ise. But, much like everyone else, she knows that Shunsui is one of the wisest and most experienced warriors in Soul Society.

Shunsui's Zanpakuto can sometimes be moody and childish, and this manifests itself in its abilities. Anything that gets within the range of Shunsui's spiritual power has to play a game, where Shunsui gets to decide the rules. His Bankai takes this to a different level, which makes him a contest for even the most powerful of combatants.

6 Ichigo Kurosaki Overcame His Grief to Master His Final Zanpakuto

Protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki was a weak substitute Soul Reaper with a generic Soul Reaper at first, but that didn't last long. He soon obtained his actual zanpakuto, a blade named Zangetsu, and then he mastered his half-other powers, his inner Hollow. With his bankai and Hollow mask, Ichigo was quite powerful, but he still had a ways to go.

By the TYBW story arc, Ichigo learned the truth of his family tree, and embraced his inner Hollow as his true, final zanpakuto, which maximized his power. Ichigo could also use a fused Hollow form to become an even stronger half-other, allowing him to keep pace with an apocalyptic threat like Yhwach. By Bleach's end, Ichigo Kurosaki was almost peerless in power.

5 Sosuke Aizen Can Fool the Five Senses With His Shikai

The former Captain of squad 5, Sosuke Aizen, wields a formidable zanpakuto named Kyoka Suigetsu. With it, Aizen can hypnotize anyone who looks at his sword, fooling all five senses in the process. Aizen calls it perfect hypnosis, and indeed, that power is nearly foolproof. There aren't even any clear limits on how long the hypnosis lasts or how many people can be hypnotized at once.

Aside from those illusions, Sosuke Aizen is vastly powerful because of his kido mastery, able to use spells in the 90s without even needing their incantations, using kido strong enough to take down other Captains in one blow. He is also a deadly swordsman who can easily fend off other Captains. Thus, Aizen ranks highly among the strongest Bleach characters, with just four being even stronger than him.

4 Ichibe Hyosube Can Reshape Reality With Names

Ichibe Hyosube holds the epithet of "High Priest" and is the current commander of the Royal Guard, a special unit of Soul Reapers tasked with protecting the Soul King and royal family. Ichibei has a range of ridiculously strong abilities, as well as at least a millennium of fighting experience. Ichibei's Zanpakuto releases ink.

Anything that ink covers lose its name and anything without a name loses its power. In his Bankai, Ichibe's ability gets even stronger. He gains the ability to assign names to anything he wants by writing Kanji on his target. Ichibe used this power against Yhwach and temporarily made him as weak as an ant.

3 Gerard Valkyrie Can Miraculously Win Any Fight

Gerard Valkyrie was a part of the Quincy elite forces, known as the Sternritter, where he served as one of Yhwach's personal protective guards. For most of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, Gerard faced off against the combined force of Byakuya, Kenpachi and Toshiro's Bankai.

Gerard's ability, The Miracle, allowed him to make miracles manifest whenever he's in danger. This ability makes him nigh unkillable in most circumstances, because every time his enemies hurt him, he becomes stronger as a self-proclaimed warrior of God. Notably, no one was ever seen defeating Gerard with his The Miracle power activated. Instead, he died when Yhwach used Auswählen to take back his spirit power.

2 Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamto Can Burn Down Entire Worlds With His Bankai

Captain Yamamoto founded the Gotei 13 a millennium ago, and led that organization until his death at Yhwach's hands early in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. Yamamoto's shikai alone was a devastating threat, a fire-based zanpakuto that could dispatch powerful Arrancars and Sternritter with casual ease, or envelop the battlefield in walls of flames.

Yamamoto's bankai, Zanka no Tachi, is capable of burning down the entire Soul Society, thus Yamamoto's reluctance to ever use it. Its power was so great, no Quincy except Yhwach could steal it with their medallions, even when bankai like Senbonzakura Kageyoshi were captured with ease. Yamamoto also boasted great physical strength and could pummel his enemies barehanded.

1 Yhwach is the Almighty King of All Quincy

A thousand years ago, the Soul King's son, Yhwach, was sealed away for 999 years. Legend says he would regain his pulse after 900 years, his intellect would return after a further 9, his power 9 years after that and, in 9 days, he would take back the world. This turned out to be more than a folktale, a true to life retelling of Yhwach's backstory. After returning, the Quincy King reignited his war with the Soul Society.

In the final war arc, Yhwach came up with a plan to defeat Yamamoto using his subordinates, highlighting the fact that Yhwach has considerable brains to go along with his brawn. He also wields The Almighty, allowing him to see all possible futures and use whichever one he desires to manipulat reality and win any fight. It's no wonder Yhwach is the strongest character in Bleach, bar none.