Bleach has a lot of evil / psychopathic characters. Hell, I once did an entire series trying to prove that basically everyone was a psychopath. But in this post, let’s talk about what each psychopath’s major redeeming characteristic is! Because no one in Bleach is 100% evil. No, not even Kurotsuchi.
[Note: I’ve limited myself to those characters, who, at first glance, do more harm than good. So not people like Kyoraku - he is almost certainly a psychopath, but he seems good like 95% of the time.]
1. Hichigo: His need to save Ichigo’s life
I mean…I suppose I could go with “is actually Ichigo’s zanpakuto,” but I’m thinking about before we knew that. Back when we thought Hichigo was just Ichigo’s crazed inner hollow, Hichigo was still extremely useful. Mainly because he kept popping up to save Ichigo’s life when Ichigo got in over his head. That was very helpful of him.
I like Gin a lot, but Gin is a raging psychopath. He was “pretending” to be evil, sure, but he also just liked to hurt people. Like Kira. And Rukia. And everybody else. But on the other hand, Gin did at least love someone - namely Matsumoto. And somehow, that makes up for a lot. Especially when you realize that he joined Aizen just for his love he felt towards her.
It may turn out that Aizen is secretly good like Gin and that his plots against the Soul King are totally justified. But that hasn't been confirmed so let’s ignore it. For now, the thing that redeems Aizen a bit is that he’s just so relentlessly sad. His underlying (psychological) motivation is that he’s tired of being so powerful that he’s all alone. Which doesn't make up for the fact that he’s a shithead, but does make me feel for him a little.
Ulquiora’s death feels strangely redemptive, considering the fact that it really wasn’t. At all. I mean, at the point of his death he was totally on board with Ichigo hacking off some limbs so that they could continue to try to kill each other. So it’s not like he turned. But his clumsy journey toward understanding humanity did come to its tragic climax when he had his heart revelation and tried to grab Orihime’s hand. Which gives his death that weird redemptive feel.
Grimmjow is so Squad 11 in his desire to kill people being balanced by his need to get a good (fair) fight. Unlike, say, Nnoitra, who liked to kill people at a disadvantage, Grimmjow was always trying to make sure that Ichigo was at his peak before they fought. Plus, he paid Orihime back for healing his arm by saving her life, which is a stand-up thing to do. Even if he immediately spoiled the gesture by tying her up and throwing her in a sack.
…maybe? I’m torn about Szayel. He doesn’t really have any good qualities, you know? Interesting sure, but he’s deeply sadistic to his core. But his death does make me feel sorry for him, because it’s over-the-top horrible, even for him. But I dunno.
Oh man. Nnoitra is harder than Szayel. Nnoitra is super hard. Nnoitra is a sexist, violent, cruel, child-attacking bastard. But then you find out that he’s doing it all because he really just wants to be killed and……..actually nope. That doesn’t do it for me. I got nothing.
Yammy isn’t my favorite espada, and he was pretty relentlessly cruel. But he did have a tiny hollow puppy who was sad when he died. So that’s something.
Last time we saw Ginjo, he was working with Ganju. Which presumably means he’s joined Team Good and will get some redemption. This would also count for Giriko and Tsukishima, of course.
Okay, so Kurotsuchi to my mind is a whole lot more evil than most (all?) of the “evil” characters. If he has any redemptive quality, it’s how, well, necessary and useful he is. He figured out that the Quincy were back. He killed a bunch of Rukongai souls to restore the balance. He saved Ishida and Renji from Szayel. He made a room without shadows. Like, his intelligence and ability to clone organs does help Team Good a lot. Plus in recent chapters he just fought that girl who made captains her zombies and even managed to defeat Toshiro. But still I hate him so much!
[Note: I’ve limited myself to those characters, who, at first glance, do more harm than good. So not people like Kyoraku - he is almost certainly a psychopath, but he seems good like 95% of the time.]
1. Hichigo: His need to save Ichigo’s life
I mean…I suppose I could go with “is actually Ichigo’s zanpakuto,” but I’m thinking about before we knew that. Back when we thought Hichigo was just Ichigo’s crazed inner hollow, Hichigo was still extremely useful. Mainly because he kept popping up to save Ichigo’s life when Ichigo got in over his head. That was very helpful of him.
2. Gin: His love for Matsumoto
I like Gin a lot, but Gin is a raging psychopath. He was “pretending” to be evil, sure, but he also just liked to hurt people. Like Kira. And Rukia. And everybody else. But on the other hand, Gin did at least love someone - namely Matsumoto. And somehow, that makes up for a lot. Especially when you realize that he joined Aizen just for his love he felt towards her.
3. Aizen: His loneliness
It may turn out that Aizen is secretly good like Gin and that his plots against the Soul King are totally justified. But that hasn't been confirmed so let’s ignore it. For now, the thing that redeems Aizen a bit is that he’s just so relentlessly sad. His underlying (psychological) motivation is that he’s tired of being so powerful that he’s all alone. Which doesn't make up for the fact that he’s a shithead, but does make me feel for him a little.
4. Ulquiorra: His death
Ulquiora’s death feels strangely redemptive, considering the fact that it really wasn’t. At all. I mean, at the point of his death he was totally on board with Ichigo hacking off some limbs so that they could continue to try to kill each other. So it’s not like he turned. But his clumsy journey toward understanding humanity did come to its tragic climax when he had his heart revelation and tried to grab Orihime’s hand. Which gives his death that weird redemptive feel.
5. Grimmjow: His sense of honor
Grimmjow is so Squad 11 in his desire to kill people being balanced by his need to get a good (fair) fight. Unlike, say, Nnoitra, who liked to kill people at a disadvantage, Grimmjow was always trying to make sure that Ichigo was at his peak before they fought. Plus, he paid Orihime back for healing his arm by saving her life, which is a stand-up thing to do. Even if he immediately spoiled the gesture by tying her up and throwing her in a sack.
6. Szayel: His death
…maybe? I’m torn about Szayel. He doesn’t really have any good qualities, you know? Interesting sure, but he’s deeply sadistic to his core. But his death does make me feel sorry for him, because it’s over-the-top horrible, even for him. But I dunno.
7. Nnoitra: His despair
Oh man. Nnoitra is harder than Szayel. Nnoitra is super hard. Nnoitra is a sexist, violent, cruel, child-attacking bastard. But then you find out that he’s doing it all because he really just wants to be killed and……..actually nope. That doesn’t do it for me. I got nothing.
8. Yammy: His puppy
Yammy isn’t my favorite espada, and he was pretty relentlessly cruel. But he did have a tiny hollow puppy who was sad when he died. So that’s something.
9. Ginjo: His heel-face-turn (presumably)
Last time we saw Ginjo, he was working with Ganju. Which presumably means he’s joined Team Good and will get some redemption. This would also count for Giriko and Tsukishima, of course.
10. Kurotsuchi: His………..usefulness
Okay, so Kurotsuchi to my mind is a whole lot more evil than most (all?) of the “evil” characters. If he has any redemptive quality, it’s how, well, necessary and useful he is. He figured out that the Quincy were back. He killed a bunch of Rukongai souls to restore the balance. He saved Ishida and Renji from Szayel. He made a room without shadows. Like, his intelligence and ability to clone organs does help Team Good a lot. Plus in recent chapters he just fought that girl who made captains her zombies and even managed to defeat Toshiro. But still I hate him so much!
Thanks for reading thanks guys...
