Rukia Kuchiki [Trial until 10/28]

n/a || female || heterosexual || non-rogue || squad thirteen
twenties || unknown || unknown (at least 150)

APPEARANCE

PERSONALITY

Initially born into a lower class, Rukia retains her modesty even as an adopted member of the nobility. She is graceful and "clean", yet chooses to talk to ordinary people. As a child in the Rukongai and in one of the more hardened districts at that, Rukia learned early on that it is every man or woman for himself, but chose not to live that way and to help others like Renji and their friends survive. She knew the ways of the hard streets and was easily able to get what she needed to live whether it was stealing or outsmarting someone else for personal gain. There was no room to be soft hearted in a place like that. She tends to speak very roughly and like a man or boy might speak when in a relaxed setting, but around nobles or people of higher stature she can be very formal.

In the beginning arcs it is blatantly apparent that her relationship with her adopted brother, Byakuya is rather distant. She is grateful to be taken in and yet his very presence seems to intimidate her as he often times displayed a cold attitude towards her, never acknowledging her achievements the way a normal brother might. This has since changed and the two have become closer due to the influence of Ichigo on both Kuchikis. Rukia was found to be the younger sister of Byakuya's late wife, causing problems in the family as she had been a commoner like Rukia and he'd married her against his clan's wishes. This is the set up for a lot of emotional strife to come in the Soul Society arc.

Rukia is the type of person who readily puts burdens upon herself and accepts things as they are presented to her – such as her execution and her feelings of guilt for the death of Kaien Shiba. She was ready to lay down and die, not knowing Ichigo had come to save her, and when she first met Kaien's siblings she tries to apologize and openly grovel to them which angers his sister, Kukaku Shiba. When she learns of this she initially is upset and concerned for his safety and that of their friends, however reluctantly she made them in her time in the world of the living. She tries on several occasions to tell him to go back to his world and to leave her to her fate, only to be roughly shot down. She later recalls this experience and the feeling of hope she was given by being rescued, during her fight with Aaroniero as she had come there to save Orihime Inoue from being captured the way she had been.

However caring she is of her friends, her cool and lone demeanor often forces her to hide her personal troubles from them more often than not. When they were first accepted to the Academy, Rukia found it hard to relate to others, the same as Renji. She took solace in that they still had each other. That changed when Byakuya Kuchiki adopted her into his family. Renji expressed his enjoyment, while masking his true feelings, and dismissed her discontent. Ever since then Rukia takes her feelings and hides them away, not wanting to burden others, most likely knowing how he truly felt. This incident puts a distance between them for at least 40 years up until the main story line and is resolved after her almost execution. Rukia, in the past, has had trouble opening up her heart and had difficulty making friends. We see a bit of this in the early story arc when she interacts with Orihime and the other girls at the high school that she meets while in the human world. She does not want to form attachments, learning first hand from her brother at that point that it was a foolish endeavor to try and would only result in disappointment, or in this case her leaving them behind. This is something Kaien Shiba, the former lieutenant of Squad 13 tried to help her over come.

When she first joined her Squad, she felt nervous and insecure at how much farther ahead everyone was than her and worried about making attachments due to her sometimes cold nature. She was taught to be formal and distant, much like her brother is when we first meet him. Kaien forces her to drop that, giving her a normal greeting as a lieutenant to his subordinate. This sort of thing baffles but delights her, though she still felt unable to measure up to being someone her brother could be proud of. Her one greatest regret was the death of Kaien Shiba, even a hundred or so years later. It affected her so deeply that she willingly gives herself up for execution, thinking that the only option to help Ichigo escape death when Renji and Byakuya come for her and the only way she can atone for this great regret.

Rukia is clueless about the ways of the modern Human World. Silly things like TV shows baffle and delight her and the food and culture often times is seen as strange to her. Rukia's favorite foods are noted to be cucumber, eggs and rice dumplings. She is an accomplished actress, being able to act her way through a number of tough situations, such as getting out of trouble with school teachers or convincing the Kurosaki family to let her stay at their house. She tends to dress very conservatively and wear nice long dresses, presumably made by Ishida, when not in her school uniform. Over time her relationship has grown from mentor to friend to Ichigo, Orihime, and the others. Though, she is still the first one to jump in and give any of them advice when they have doubts or are in a difficult situation.

In a normal setting, Rukia can be very brash often times scolding Ichigo with a kick or a punch and sometimes even Renji or someone else in rarer cases. She is often times instinctively able to know when something is wrong with a loved one, for example after the fight with Yhwach, Rukia can tell Ichigo has something huge on his mind whereas Shinji does not sense this distinction in his demeanor. There are several other instances of this with Ichigo and probably several with Renji, as children and in later years. She is shown to be able to sense each other's reiatsu and discern a location and if one of them has released their Zanpakutou. This is shown several times, most notably during the Soul Society arc when Renji fights Ichigo and again in the Hueco Mundo arc when Rukia is fighting Aaroniero. She was also able to sense by fluctuations in Byakuya's reiatsu that he was gravely injured during his fight as well, during the Quincy's invasion of Soul Society.

Rukia always has trouble finding clothes that fit her, when inhabiting a Gigai in the Human World and this often wound up leading to her stealing clothes from Ichigo's sister, Yuzu. As far back as her days in the Rukongai, Rukia likes to climb to high places. Rukia also likes everything that is rabbit-themed or resembles a rabbit. She becomes quite sensitive when someone insults her obsession with rabbits. This obsession is exploited by Riruka during their fight in the Xcution arc as a weakness of hers. I find this personally to be one of Rukia's weaker battles, as a trained soldier should be able to over come such a minor weakness. That is probably one thing I can disagree on in her characterization, but Kubo's the god of his own world I suppose. People often have difficulty understanding her drawings, which are typically rabbit-like. Byakuya seems to share this taste in art with her, often times giving her tips in omakes on how to properly draw something. Neither is actually very good at it. She also doesn't like when someone complains about their quality. In summary – while Rukia tends to be insecure about herself and her choices, she is generally one of the strongest female characters in Bleach for her ability to kick ass and always pull Ichigo out of a funk if he gets into one. While she isn't always strong about herself she is always there for a friend in need.

HISTORY