Tite Kubo's Bleach is one of the most popular shōnen anime ever created. With the adaptation of its final arc approaching, there is still a considerable amount of anticipation surrounding the series. It features a young teenager named Ichigo Kurosaki, tasked with dealing with corrupted souls called hollows. However, he is consequently embroiled in a larger conflict involving far more powerful supernatural beings, spanning multiple story arcs.

To gain the upper hand against many of his opponents, Ichigo has undergone numerous transformations throughout the series. This is mainly possible due to the fact that he has multiple backgrounds and can also complete rigorous amounts of special training in relatively short periods. This list features Ichigo's strongest forms and ranks them according to their strength.

10 Hollowfied Ichigo

 

This form made its first appearance during the final battle between Ichigo and the Captain of the Gotei 13 Sixth Division, Byakuya Kuchiki. After the ruthless captain overpowered him, Ichigo desperately wanted to continue, but unfortunately, he didn't have enough strength to do so. As Byakuya was about to deliver the final blow, however, his blade was stopped by the hands of a rejuvenated Hollowfied Ichigo.

In this form, Ichigo's inner hollow takes over, while his outer appearance changes to match this. His eyes darken, and a significant portion of his face is covered in a mask that resembles a hollow. Shortly after his first appearance, Ichigo was able to use his Bankai much more efficiently, following Byakuya's movements with impressive precision and dealing considerable amounts of damage to the famous captain.

9 Ichigo Hollow Complete

While trying to control his inner hollow, Ichigo was aided by special training from the Vizards, a group of individuals who share hollow-like traits. However, during the process, Ichigo is temporarily overpowered by the White Ichigo within him, causing him to undergo a completely hollow transformation in the real world.

This is Ichigo's most monstrous form, as he more closely resembles a hollow. He is covered in completely white fur, with a ferocious animal appearance and a hollow mask covering an even greater portion of his face. While in this form, he can fire powerful energy blasts from his fingertips and fight different Vizards for extended periods.

8 Ichigo with Hollow Mask

Depois de derrotar White Ichigo, Ichigo emergiu da batalha com uma nova aparência e controle adequado sobre sua poderosa transformação de hollow. Essa nova forma dá a Ichigo uma máscara de hollow que cobre todo o seu rosto, geralmente ostentando um design com um padrão distinto correndo pelo lado esquerdo de seu rosto.

Essa forma é usada principalmente para apoiar a forma Bankai de Ichigo, pois possui um poder extremo que nem mesmo sua forma Shikai pode conter. Usando essa forma, ele finalmente conseguiu se igualar ao poderoso Arrancar Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez após um encontro humilhante inicial, e durante a batalha final deles, ele até conseguiu derrotá-lo.

7 Bankai com Fullbring

Depois de perder seus poderes de shinigami na luta contra Aizen, Ichigo passou dezessete meses vivendo como um humano comum, completamente separado do restante da sociedade das almas. No entanto, depois de se envolver com um grupo de humanos especiais conhecidos como Fullbringers, ele consegue manifestar um novo tipo de poder. Infelizmente, esse poder eventualmente é roubado dele, mas seu velho amigo Rukia Kuchiki chega a tempo de restaurar seus poderes originais de shinigami.

Ao recuperar seus poderes de shinigami, ele também recuperou a capacidade de usar seu Fullbring, aumentando seus poderes regulares e alterando a aparência de seu Shihakusho um pouco. Após a ativação de seu Bankai, essa forma se tornou uma das mais fortes de Ichigo na série e foi usada para derrotar o poderoso Fullbringer Kūgo Ginjō.

6 Ichigo Vasto Lorde

During the Fake City arc of Fake Karakura, Ichigo faced one of the most powerful Arrancar, Ulquiorra Cifer. Unfortunately, this deadly opponent turned out to be too much for the orange-haired protagonist. However, after apparently dying after a fatal blow to his chest, Ichigo was reborn in his menacing Vasto Lorde form.

This serves as Ichigo's true hollow form and belongs to the category of the strongest hollows in the series. While at it, he bested Ulquiorra with ease, using immense speed to outrun his opponent and deliver one powerful blow after another. He was even able to block and destroy one of Ulqiorra's spear throws, the Lanza del Relámpago, an attack so powerful it rivals the force of a nuclear explosion.

5 Hollow Fusion Ichigo

This form debuted in the Thousand Year Blood War arc, while Ichigo was in combat with the Father of the Quincy, Yhwach. It is one of Ichigo's final forms, appearing in the last chapters of the manga series, and was created by incorporating all the sources of power he inherited from his parents.

In this form, he gained significantly greater speed and strength, which allowed him to go on the attack against Ywach. However, the final antagonist remained unmoved as his power still far surpassed Ichigo's. Ywach's opinion changed, however, after Ichigo hit him with a Getsuga Tensho mixed with a Gran Rey Cero, an extremely powerful combination of attacks made possible only by his new form.

4 Dangai Form

After Aizen defeated several of Ichigo's comrades, Ichigo's father, Isshin Kurosaki, advised his son to flee to the Dangai, a dimension that lies between the Society of Souls and the Human World. In Dangai, the flow of time is very different from the flow of time in the real world, so, taking advantage of Aizen's elimination of Kōtotsu, Ichigo trained relentlessly in that space for nearly three months.

Due to the density of time within the Dangai, Ichigo returned to the Human World just an hour after departing Soul Society. He appeared with longer hair, a slightly taller stature, and a seemingly stronger connection to his Bankai. Shortly after arriving, he was able to immediately overwhelm Aizen, carrying him a considerable distance, stopping his Zanpakutō with his bare hands, and countering his Hado 90: Kurohitsugi, all with little to no effort.

3 Final Getsuga Tenshō

In the last stages of his battle against Aizen, Ichigo activated Final Getsuga Tensho with the intention of defeating Aizen once and for all. While training at Dangai for a little less than three months, Ichigo constantly battled with the spirit-fused Tensa Zangetsu. After being stabbed and accepting the spirit blade, Ichigo finally manages to achieve the Final Getsuga Tensho, which he revealed to Aizen to be the transformation into Getsuga itself.

In this form, Ichigo's hair grows even longer and is dyed black. He is surrounded by black Reiatsu, and most of his body is covered in bandages-like clothing from the waist up. This form allowed him to perform the mighty Mugetsu, an ability potent enough to turn the sky black and attack Aizen with tremendous force, weakening him enough that Kisuke Urahara could finish the job.

2 True Shikai Form

After Ywach's subordinate, Jugram Haschwalth broke Ichigo's Zanpakutō, Ichigo went to the Soul King's Palace in hopes of getting his broken Bankai fixed. At some point during this process, it is revealed that the hollow inside him was his true Zanpakutō and not Zangetsu, who was repressing it. After Zangetsu releases his influence, Ichigo is exposed to Zanpakutō's true form.

Unlike the single blade Ichigo wielded in his original Shikai form, this true form consists of two separate blades, one smaller than the other but with different types of grips. In this form, he was able to more effectively hold his own against Yhwach and his subordinates, proving that he had become stronger than he was previously without his true Shikai.

1 True Bankai Form

During Ichigo's final battle against Yhwach, the protagonist of the series was overpowered by Yhwach's "The Almighty" ability, which allowed him to alter the events of the future as he wished. Furthermore, Ywach has also shown his own ability to wield two swords, putting Ichigo at an even greater disadvantage. As a result, Ichigo fused their two blades together and summoned his true Bankai.

By merging their two blades, Ichigo basically turns the larger one into a scabbard, while the smaller one represents the blade, both essential parts of a Shinigami Zanpakutō. This form was so powerful that Yhwach recognized it as a genuine threat, which, unfortunately for Ichigo, meant that the powerful villain would alter the future and break his Bankai. However, it was later restored and served its purpose in Ichigo's final attack on Yhwach, ultimately killing the final antagonist of the series.

Bleach is a manga and anime created by Tite Kubo, having been published between 2001 and 2016, ending its story in 366 chapters.

In the world of Bleach, we know the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki, a young man who gains Soul Reaper powers after saving Rukia Kuchiki.

With his newfound powers, Ichigo is forced to take on the duty of guiding good souls to the afterlife of Soul Society and defeating the Hollows (evil spirit monsters) that try to devour them.

Currently, the final arc of Bleach is being produced and shown in parts in Japan. In Brazil, it is possible to watch anime on Star Plus.