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Bleach is one of the most popular and beloved anime series for a good reason. This inspirational show has great world-building, unique creatures, a great battle system, epic fights, and some of the coolest final forms in anime history. However, the reason why most fans love this show is its well-crafted characters, who are powerful, motivational, and even relatable.

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While Bleach has characters with superhuman powers, their stories are still emotional, and fans can easily relate to many of their stories and the struggles they have to overcome. Some of these brilliant characters are captains in the series with fascinating powers. Fans can meet some of the most powerful anime characters with ice powers and other mighty magical physical and mental abilities that help these warriors and villains win their battles.

Updated December 20, 2022, by Via Erhard: The anime world has many strong leaders, but only a few are as powerful as Bleach captains. Over the many years, fans could meet some of the wisest and strongest captains in Bleach who bravely faced their enemies and provided guidance to their lieutenants and all squad members. Captains are the most respected Soul Reapers in Soul Society and are the most powerful characters in the anime. While Bleach captains have a wide variety of powers and maturity levels, they all worked hard to prove themselves and eventually became proud and great leaders of the Soul Society.

12 Yoruichi Shihoin

Yoruichi Shihoin in Bleach

Yoruichi Shihoin was one of the fastest captains in Bleach who bravely faced even the most ruthless Bleach Characters. She was one of Soul Society's most skilled hand-to-hand combatants who also had powerful forms that made her even more feared and respected by all.

Yoruichi Shihoin was not only a martial arts master but the respected and mysterious captain of the Gotei 13's 2nd division. She was also one of the most intelligent Bleach captains who faced all problems calmly and treated everyone around her kindly. Even though Yoruichi was born a princess, she never wanted special treatment and was respectful towards all no matter their rank.

11 Kisuke Urahara

Kisuke Urahara in Bleach

Kisuke Urahara is one of the most popular Bleach captains who was the captain of the 12th division. He was one of the strongest characters in Bleach, thanks to his exceptional intellect and martial arts skills. However, Kisuke became fan-favorite thanks to his positive and often mischievous side.

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He was also great at manipulating others and taking control in all situations. Kisuke is the coolest ex-Soul Reaper captain who uses his cunning mind to trick his enemies and plan the twistiest schemes. While he was always the smartest Soul Society member, he stayed humble and treated everyone with kindness.

10 Shinji Hirako

Shinji Hirako in Bleach

Shinji Hirako is one of the funniest and strongest Gotei 13 captains and is the proud captain of the 5th division. He is Bleach's most hilarious character who managed to annoy most people around him.

Shinji is a powerful, brave, and surprisingly insightful character who prefers to keep his life and thoughts private. However, he was a loyal and calm leader who always found time to provide guidance for others. Despite being seemingly childlike and even aloof, Shinji was always able to keep his cool in battles and face enemies with a clear mind.

9 Sui-Feng

Sui Feng in Bleach

Sui-Feng is one of the most hard-working captains in Bleach who proudly follows all orders. She is the respected captain of the 2nd division and is one of the most skilled hand-to-hand combatants in the anime. Thanks to her speed, power, and sincere personality, she became one of the most popular Bleach captains.

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Sui-Feng is also one of the most morally righteous characters in Bleach, who always takes a firm stance on all Soul Society matters and provides a clear guidance for everyone around her. Even though Sui-Feng believes in following orders, she's still a charismatic and powerful captain who proved her special skills during many battles.

8 Toshiro Hitsugaya

Toshiro Hitsugaya in Bleach

Toshiro Hitsugaya is one of the strongest and most recognizable anime characters with white hair and is also one of Bleach's most iconic captains. He is the youngest and one of the most powerful captains, and since he's only a boy, his Soul Reaper is just growing, which means that his strength is even more admirable.

Hitsugaya is capable of skillfully controlling both ice and water, and his powers increase to an even higher degree when he's in his Bankai form. Despite his young age, he's one of the most serious and mature characters in the series and is highly intelligent with great strategic skills.

7 Mayuri Kurotsuchi

Mayuri Kurotsuchi in Bleach

Mayuri Kurotsuchi is not only a powerful and evil captain in Bleach but also one of the most recognizable and dangerous anime scientists in anime history. This mad scientist has extremely high intelligence and an equally sadistic and cruel nature.

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He's completely distanced himself from others and sees everyone and everything only as guinea pigs he can use to experiment. While he's a master of Kido and Reiatsu, his exceptional scientific intellect is what makes him a truly dangerous enemy since he's able to plan surprising attacks, plan many steps ahead, and was able to invent powerful tools and aids that help him during many battles.

6 Jushiro Ukitake

Jushiro Ukitake in Bleach

Jushiro Ukitake was one of Bleach's most honorable and respected captains who always treated others well no matter how powerful they were and what their rank was. He has always given his support and sought-after wisdom to anyone who reached out to him. Despite his illness that caused him to cough up blood, he was still one of the strongest characters in the entire series.

He was one of the most powerful characters who was able to absorb his enemies' attacks and even make them damage themselves. However, he was also a highly intelligent character who was excellent at planning battles. His death during the Final War was one of the most emotional and saddest death in the series.

5 Byakuya Kuchiki

Byakuya Kuchiki in Bleach

Byakuya Kuchiki was one of the coolest captains in Bleach and is also one of the strongest kido users. Despite being seemingly cold and sometimes uninterested in others, he was actually a deeply feeling and thinking character which made him a fan-favorite. He was able to stay elegant, disciplined, and calm even during battles which were rare traits that many anime fans admired.

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His cold-mindedness certainly helped him during battles, but he was also a character with strong spiritual power, impressive battle skills, and one of the most flexible Soul Reapers in the entire series.

4 Kenpachi Zaraki

Kenpachi Zaraki in Bleach

Kenpachi Zaraki is the only captain in Bleach who achieved his rank without being able to master Bankai or Shikai. His mighty and raw powers, as well as his violence and love for fighting and blood, helped him win his battles. Despite his considerably villainous look and violent personality, he was an honorable character.

He eventually had one of the strongest Bankai in the show and was an almost unstoppable monster once activated. He was able to cause earthquakes and destroy multiple buildings. Zaraki was also one of the most feared fighters in the series, thanks to his immense strength and brutal skills.

3 Retsu Unohana

Captain Unohana Having A Chat With Captain Kyoraku and Ukitake

Retsu Unohana was a warm and polite character and the oldest captain in Bleach. Many fans grew to love her because of her well-mannered and kind personality; however, surprisingly, Unohana had a dark secret. In the past, she was known as one of the most sadistic and violent serial killers in Soul Society.

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However, Unohana became one of the most honorable characters in the series, who perfected her skills to the highest degree. She became a master of anatomy and the most powerful healer in Bleach, who was even able to heal not only her own melted flash but others' too.

2 Shunsui Kyoraku

Shunsui Kyoraku in Bleach

Many fans believe that Shunsui Kyoraku is had of the strongest Bankai in the series and was most fans' favorite captain. Despite being one of the strongest fighters, he always kept his cool and laid-back personality and was never disrespectful or arrogant with others. He was also one of the oldest Captians who preferred chasing after women and drinking a nice sake over fighting violent battles.

However, he was also a brave and highly skilled fighter with admirable speed, skills, and immense physical strength. He was able to manipulate shadows and could hide and attack his opponents through the shadow they were standing on.

1 Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto

Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto in Bleach

Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto is one of the strongest anime old men of all time who was one of the most honorable, respected, and loyal members of Soul Society. He was the most dutiful captain in Bleach, who was always serious about his responsibilities and inspired others to do the same.

Since he lived thousands of years, he became an extremely powerful Reiryoku user with almost unmatched strength. He was able to easily defeat multiple opponents at the same time, as well as break free from even high-level Bakudo spells.

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