Among all the shonen action anime series out there, Bleach is one of the most popular, and this landmark series enjoyed its heyday right alongside other mega-titles like Naruto and One Piece in the pages of Shonen Jump. This anime is all about swords and Soul Reapers and their fierce battles against hollows... or each other.
Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya is the young commander of Squad 10, and he is an expert swordsman with a powerful bankai named Daiguren Hyorinmaru. It forms an ice dragon that grants Toshiro flight and a variety of offensive and defensive moves. He's not the top Bleach character, but he could challenge and defeat a wide variety of anime villains with his swordplay and ice powers. Here are ten of them.
Update November 6th, 2020 by Louis Kemner: The recent release of the anime movie Burn the Witch helped put Tite Kubo and his creative works back in the pop culture mainstream, and that means revisiting his longest work, Bleach. Among that series' many characters, Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya was among the most powerful, being a child prodigy at the sword and having ice powers on top of that. Here are five more anime villains whom Toshiro could vanquish in combat.
15 Lust (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
Lust is one of the seven homunculi who serve the all-powerful Father, and she can rapidly regenerate her wounds with the power of the Philosopher's Stone. On the offensive, she can elongate her fingers into sharpened spears; the Ultimate Spear.
Hitsugaya can handle that. Hacking and slashing won't do much good, but he can activate his bankai and trap Lust inside a pillar of ice and just leave her there. Such a move nearly worked on Tier Halibel, until Wonderweiss broke it with a shout. But Lust won't get that kind of outside help.
14 Muscular (My Hero Academia)
This terrifying man is a member of the League of Villains' vanguard action squad, and he faced off against Izuku Midoriya with his bone-crushing strength. It took a whopping 1,000,000% Smash to defeat Muscular, and even then, only barely.
Hitsugaya will have an easier time against the likes of Muscular. He is much faster thanks to the flash step, and his zanpakuto can just slice off Muscular's arms. And if Muscular's namesake mega-muscles prove too tough to cut after all, Hitsugaya can just stab him in the mouth or eyes.
13 Heathcliff (Sword Art Online)
As one of the first antagonists of Sword Art Online, Heathcliff was a fearsome opponent. He led the Knights of the Blood (the guild Asuna belonged to), and faced and defeated Kirito in honorable combat. His skills are for real.
However, Hitsugaya is also a famed swordsman, and he could at least keep up with Heathcliff's moves. He also has the benefit of kido, the flash step and his shikai, which are weapons that Heathcliff cannot match, meaning Hitsugaya is bound to win sooner or later.
12 Hidan (Naruto)
In a manner of speaking, no one can defeat Hidan permanently, since he is completely immortal and can survive the most grievous injuries. Meanwhile, he is a taijutsu master and can create voodoo dolls if he drinks his enemy's blood.
Hitsugaya cannot kill Hidan, but he can avoid getting cut thanks to his flash step, then activate bankai. Now, he can trap Hidan in a great ice pillar and trap him there for good, rendering Hidan alive but helpless. That's what it takes to stop the likes of Hidan.
11 Yoshikage Kira (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
In the story of Diamond is Unbreakable, Yoshikage Kira was a terrifying serial killer whose stand, Killer Queen, could turn anything into a bomb and thus destroy his enemies. It also has some melee capabilities and can use the Heart Attack remote stand as well.
However, Killer Queen only makes one bomb at a time and has to set them off, and this is far too slow a process to deal with Hitsugaya. Instead, this young Soul Reaper can get up close and personal, and slice Kira in half before he can prepare Bites the Dust or any other countermeasure.
10 Rui (Demon Slayer)
Rui will be a real challenge for Hitsugaya, since he is among the Twelve Demon Moons and has spider-like abilities. He is durable and strong, and he can rapidly spin steely threads to trap his enemies or protect himself.
Hitsugaya may struggle to cut those threads fast enough to reach Rui, but he can avoid Rui's own attacks, then activate his bankai. Daiguren Hyorinmaru will settle this fight the best way it knows how: encasing Rui in a pillar of ice blossoms. No spider webs can do much about that.
9 Ayato Kirishima (Tokyo Ghoul)
Ayato Kirishima is the brother of Touka Kirishima, and he was a minor to moderate antagonist during the original story of Tokyo Ghoul. He has an ukaku-style kagune, allowing him to fly with one wing and fling bullets at his enemies. He is also durable like any other ghoul.
This won't be enough to stop Hitsugaya. Ayato is fast, but Hitsugaya is faster, and he will buy himself time when he slices Ayato and forces him to stop and heal. During that time, Hitsugaya can activate bankai, and win this fight with sheer ice. Ayato can't escape.
8 Kain Hikaru (Fairy Tail)
Kain Hikaru is a member of the Grimoire Heart guild, and against many opponents, he can enjoy a total advantage via his voodoo doll, Mr. Cursey. If he obtains a hair from his enemy, he can control their body with that doll and render them helpless.
But this isn't going to work against Toshiro Hitsugaya, who is too fast to catch. Without a hair sample, Kain can't use the full extent of his magic, and Hitsugaya can take his head clean off with his zanpakuto. There's nothing Kain can do.
7 Askeladd (Vinland Saga)
Askeladd is a Viking warrior of great cunning and skill, and he was able to trick Thors in combat and take him out. He also routinely defeated the skilled Thorfinn in combat and taught him all he knew.
But there are no supernatural elements in the real-world setting of Vinland Saga, and Hitsugaya's flash step alone is enough to take out Askeladd. He doesn't even need kido or shikai to finish the job.
6 Giovanni (Fire Force)
Giovanni is a Fire Soldier captain, but he is not on the same side as Shinra and the heroes of Company Eight. Instead, he is working with the villains and has the skills to match. He can use his pyrokinesis to manipulate his mechanical body.
Hitsugaya is significantly faster, however, and Giovanni will struggle to land a blow on him. With ease, Hitsugaya can slice him apart, and if Giovanni's body parts keep moving, then some kido or ice can finish the job.
5 Moonfish (My Hero Academia)
The League of Villains returns with another powerhouse member: the creepy villain Moonfish. His entire body may be restrained, but his mouth is free, allowing him to extend his sharp teeth with his rather vile Quirk. He can prop himself up with elongated teeth and create a web of cutting blades.
Toshiro can handle that, since his flash step will keep him out of harm's way and his icy zanpakuto can cling to Moonfish's teeth and spread the ice to his entire body. Once Moonfish is encased in ice, he's done for.
4 Sakon & Ukon (Naruto)
These two characters are really two in one, and combined, they rank among Orochimaru's most powerful minions. A member of the Sound Four squad, Sakon can perform powerful melee attacks and allow his twin Ukon to enhance his prowess even more. They can even "invade" the body of their opponent and wreak havoc from within.
However, Toshiro is too quick for these sound twins to handle, and Hitsugaya's ice attacks will quickly put Sakon and Ukon on the defensive, even when the cursed seal comes into play. A mighty bankai attack should be enough to finish Sakon and Ukon for good.
3 *Charon (Fire Force)
In his own world of ignition abilities and Infernals, Charon the cultist is quite powerful, since he can absorb the thermal energy of his opponents' attacks and use it to bolster his own strength. Not even Shinra Kusakabe's flaming kicks could stop him; instead, Shinra's fire fueled him.
Then Toshiro comes along, the total opposite of a Fire Soldier. Charon's ability is ineffective against ice, and Hitsugaya can slice Charon apart with his zanpakuto with ease. He might not even need his bankai's ice powers to win this one.
2 Pesci (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
Against many other Stand users, Pesci the assassin is a scary opponent since his fishing rod Stand (Beach Boy) can hunt them down and snare their hearts with its hook. Beach Boy can also seize an opponent and drag them around with its tough fishing line.
If Pesci snares Toshiro, then the icy Captain can spread his icy power along Beach Boy's line right back to Pesci himself, and freeze him solid or just stab him to death with icicles. Pesci has no defense against Hyorinmaru at all.
1 Kureo Mado (Tokyo Ghoul)
Kureo Mado was a ghoul investigator for the CCG, and a good one at that. He was fixated on collecting quinques, the weapons made from the kagune of fallen ghouls, and he wielded quite a few of them with remarkable skill.
Despite his CCG training, though, Kureo Mado is wholly unprepared for a sword fighter of Toshiro's caliber. Forget bankai; Toshiro can use the flash step and his advanced technique to beat Mado blade to blade, and deliver the final strike to win the match.