Summary
Kenpachi Zaraki is without a doubt one of the most powerful characters inBleach, as the holder of the title of Kenpachi, the strongest in the Soul Society. However, a surprising reveal made duringThousand-Year Blood Waraccidentally threw his right to that title into question, until he finally earned it properly.
The title of “Kenpachi” is a tradition that goes back to the very earliest days of the 13 Court Guard Squads. It is a title belonging to the strongest Soul Reaper, but to attain that title, it’s necessary to defeat and kill the previous holder of the title in one-on-one combat. Kenpachi Zaraki is said to be the 11th person to hold the title of Kenpachi; very few of the others to hold the title of Kenpachi are known, and it’s said that there can only be one Kenpachi per generation of Soul Reapers (which seems to be about 100 years).
Historically, the title is held by the leader of Squad 11, which both Zaraki and his immediate predecessor, Kenpachi Kiganjo, were.
The Title of Kenpachi Was Actually Never Passed On
The Reveal of The First Kenpachi Put All Others In Question
InThousand-Year Blood War, it’s revealed whenRetsu Unohana takes Kenpachi Zaraki for Bankai trainingthat she was, in fact, originally known as Yachiru Unohana, the first to hold the title of Kenpachi. Unohana seems to have retired from her bloodthirsty ways in exchange for the healer’s life in Squad 4, but that’s not how the title works.In order for the next person to inherit the title of Kenpachi, they’re supposed to kill the previous holder… except Unohana is still alive into the present, meaning that the second Kenpachi never actually killed her to take the title away.
The second Kenpachi’s ownership of the title was therefore illegitimate. However, that has a knock-on effect, meaning that everyone to hold the title of Kenpachi since Unohana technically never actually held the title–it was still hers so long as she lived. Unfortunately for Zaraki, that means that Kiganjo never truly held the title either, and killing him didn’t actually pass the title onto him. It’s onlyafter Kenpachi Zaraki battles and eventually kills Unohanain theirThousand-Year Blood Wartraining that the title has been properly passed on, securing Zaraki not as the 11th Kenpachi, as he believed, but actually as the 2nd.
Because the rules surrounding the passing down of Kenpachi are so specific, there doesn’t seem to be a way to relinquish the title without dying in battle. It’s not clear what would happen if the current holder were to die to an enemy; the title might be given to the next strongest, or the next captain of Squad 11, or it might even simply be the end of the tradition of there being a Kenpachi. Since fans know so little about the other Kenpachi, it’s hard to say exactly what happens next in such a scenario. Regardless of the other Kenpachi throughout history, whose claim to the title is now dubious, Zaraki, at least, earned his claim to the title ofBleach’s strongest Soul Reaper fair and square.
Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War
Cast
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is a sequel series to the popular anime from creator Tite Kubo. This anime follows Ichigo and his friends as they investigate why people are disappearing while trouble arises in the Soul Society. The first season was released in 2022 and has been critically acclaimed since its beginning.
