There exist many races outside the living Human beings. Below is a brief explanation of them.
Character types[]
- Human (人間, Ningen): Humans are normal, living people, most of whom cannot see or sense disembodied spirits in any way. One in 50,000 Humans is a medium with some awareness of nearby ghosts, but only a third of these are able to see them clearly and only the strongest of mediums are able to speak with or touch ghosts. Certain unique Humans naturally have both the power to sense and the strength to fight with spirits. Ordinary Humans can gain the ability to interact with spirits by spending time around a large source of spirit energy.
- Shinigami (死神, death god; Viz "Soul Reaper): Shinigami are souls with inner spiritual power, recruited from the ranks of the residents and nobility of Soul Society. Like all spirits, they cannot be detected by normal Humans. Shinigami use their Zanpakutō, supernatural swords that are the manifestation of their owners' power, to perform soul burials on Pluses.Shinigami also use Zanpakutō and magic known asKido to fight Hollows.
- Vizard (ヴァイザード, vaizādo): A group of Shinigami who have also obtained Hollow powers through "illegal" means, gaining removable masks and access to certain Hollow abilities.
- Hollow (虚, horō): The Hollows are evil ghosts who reside in Hueco Mundo but travel to the living world to feed on the souls of the living and dead alike. Like Shinigami, Hollows are made of spiritual matter and cannot be detected by ordinary Humans. While the majority of Hollows can be overcome by the average Shinigami, there are some which surpass even the most elite Shinigami in strength. All normal Hollows wear white masks and have a hole where their heart used to be.
- Arrancar (破面 (アランカル), arankaru; Spanish for "To Tear Off"): Arrancar are Hollows that have broken off part of their Hollow mask. By shattering their masks, these Hollows regain the ability to reason, sometimes obtain a Humanoid form, and gain access to Shinigami powers.
- Quincy (滅却師, Monk of Destruction): The Quincy are a clan of spiritually aware Humans who once fought against the Hollows, using weapons composed of spiritual energy to slay them. As opposed to Shinigami, Quincy absorb and channel energy from their surroundings to fight. Unlike the Shinigami method of killing Hollows which allows the Hollow to enter Soul Society, the Quincy technique simply obliterates the Hollow's soul entirely. This method has the propensity to shatter the balance of the universe, because when souls are destroyed, the number of souls entering and leaving Soul Society cannot remain equal. This issue prompted the Shinigami to conduct a campaign to exterminate the Quincy about 200 years ago, leaving very few survivors.
- Togabito (咎人, Offenders): The Togabito are the inhabitants of Hell. These beings are equipped with numerous chains spanning the entire length of their bodies, which imprisons them in Hell.