Post by ADMIN! on Apr 1, 2009 22:53:31 GMT -5
--- about shinigami .
Shinigami are enforcers who all share similar supernatural powers. Shinigami are purely spiritual beings. As such, their bodies are composed of ectoplasm (reishi), and they can only be seen by other spiritually aware entities, which excludes most humans.
The most prominent supernatural power possessed by a shinigami is their zanpakutou, or soul-cutting sword, which is generated from the shinigami's soul. Shinigami naturally give off spiritual force, which varies greatly in magnitude with the strength of the shinigami. Their zanpakutou consist of this force concentrated into a blade.
Their operations are based out of Soul Society. Travel between the human world and Soul Society is extremely limited and monitored, but some shinigami are stationed in the human world to carry out their duties, and therefore must often travel between the two. In addition, it is a crime for a shinigami to remain in the human world longer than a certain time limit.
A shinigami's duties include leading Pluses (ghosts) to Soul Society in a practice called soul burial, and the cleansing of Hollows or Minuses (evil spirits). They are also responsible for governing the flow of spirits between the human world and Soul Society.
--- government & law .
The main authority of the shinigami is the Central 46 Chambers (chuuou yonjouroku nutssu), who serve the shinigami royalty (the ruling class of all Soul Society). The Central 46 Chambers are made up of 40 wise men and 6 judges. They are sealed into an enclave in Seireitei called seijoutoukyorin and no one else may enter it, regardless of their military or civilian status.
The decisions of the 46 Chambers are final, must be carried out, and may not be questioned by any person, regardless of status, even if they require the mobilization of the shinigami army. The only shinigami force that does not answer to the Central 46 Chambers is the royal guard (ouzokutokumu), which is said to have considerable power and tactical knowledge. The Shinigami Academy also does not answer to the Central 46 Chambers.
The Central 46 Chambers also act as the shinigami judiciary and are responsible for judging and sentencing shinigami who have committed serious crimes such as murder or treason. Other authorities, such as shinigami captains, may give punishments for less serious crimes.
--- the demon arts corps .
There is currently little information on the demon arts corps (kidoushuu), except that it takes students from the Shinigami Academy that excel in demon arts, and that its operations are absolute secrecy.
The demon arts corps is responsible for opening the senkaimon (world penetration gate) between the human world and Soul Society.
--- the special forces .
Also called Secret Mobile Unit/Corps and Covert Ops, the onmitsukidou (secret tactics) has five divisions. The top rank is the Executive Militia (keigun) and the fifth division is called the Reversal Counter Force or Correctional Force (riteitai).
Formerly headed by Shihouin Yoruichi, the current leader of the Special Forces is Captain Soi Fong of the Gotei 13's 2nd Division.
The head of the Special Forces is called commander-in-chief (soushireikan). The leaders of each on the five divisions are ranked as corps commander (gundanchou), the real-life equivalent being Lieutenant General.
Although it is unknown how other ranks work in the Special Forces, like in Gotei 13, the leader of the forces generally also commands its top division, which is the Executive Militia, but unlike in the Gotei 13, the force commander has several bodyguards.
Although the general Special Forces uniform appears to be the standard shinigami uniform, the Executive Militia uniform is different from the Gotei 13. Overall, it resembles a ninja uniform. It has no visible white undergarments and the sash is dark as opposed to white. A headpiece covers the bottom part of the face and sometimes the top, but not the eyes; they wear no sandals, but only socks, and tight bands are on the legs and arms to keep the clothes from moving too much, which both are presumably for silence of movement. Also, the sash is black.
The leader of the militia wears the same uniform, except that the shoulders and back are exposed, because they can use shunkou (flash cry), an advanced technique that combines hand to hand combat and demon arts, which causes high spiritual pressure to accumulate at the shoulders and back, blasting away fabric at the shoulders and back.
The Correctional Force uniform is radically different. The soldiers wear a white uniform, a long piece of headgear, and a backpack.
--- gotei 13 .
The Gotei 13 (goteijuusantai) has 13 divisions (hence the name). Although each of the division could have a specialization, there is too little information to reveal most of them. Notably, the 4th Division is the medic/supply division, the 11th Division is the battle division (specialization in swordsmanship), and the 12th Division is the research/scientific division. Players who apply for the captain of the divisions with unnamed specialization may make one up.
As with any other army, the Gotei 13 has ranks. There are 21 ranks for officers but no ranks for non-officers. The ranks and their descriptions are below, from highest to lowest.
Soutaichou (General-Commander) - this rank is the leader of the Gotei 13 and the Captain of the 1st Division; the implication is that this is an ex officio. The current holder of this title is Yamamoto-Genryuusai Shigekuni.
Taichou (captain) - this rank is the leader of each division.
Captains are the most respected shinigami (with the Central 46 Chambers, Demon Art Corps, and Special Forces leaders possibly being on equal status), and are some of the most prominent shinigami. Every captain in Gotei 13 history has been able to use the final release of the zanpakutou (bankai), except Zaraki Kenpachi, who won his status through sheer strength. Knowing the final release gives captains a default strength advantage of 5 to 10 times over shinigami who are not able to perform it. However, knowing it is only a fraction (although a large one) of a captain's power.
They have also extensively trained, if not mastered, their final releases, allowing them to actually use the enormous power and size of their final releases effectively in battle. Most captains are also skilled in the use of flash steps, demon arts, and generally have excellent knowledge of shinigami history and battle tactics. All of these factors create a huge power-gap between captains and the next highest level; a captain can generally defeat several vice-captains at once without even needing to perform his final release.
There are three ways to become a Gotei 13 captain:
* To take the captain proficiency test (taishu), which requires the knowledge of the final release (bankai). Presumably, most shinigami become captains using this method. At least three existing captains, including the Commander-General, have to witness the test.
* To have personal recommendations from at least 6 captains, and approval from at least 3 of the remaining 7.
* To defeat a current captain one-on-one with at least 200 witnesses from that captain’s division.
Fuku-Taichou (vice-captain) - this is the rank attributed to the 2nd Seat of each division.
Vice-captains function as executive officers for their division and take care of day-to-day operations as well as supervise them. They (along with their captain) are not assigned to one specific squad.
They generally only know the initial release, but are the second strongest in their division. Some are able to perform the final release; this is natural seeing as they would be the most seasoned and skilled initial release users. However, these vice-captains are still not fully at the level of a captain for previously mentioned reasons, namely their relative lack of battle experience. In the case of a division captain's death, departure, or other circumstances making him unable to perform his duties, the vice-captain acts as the substitute captain in his place, until another can be assigned.
Seated Officers - all Gotei 13 officers who hold lower ranks than the above, are referred to as seated officers. Captains have the rank of 1st Seat and vice-captains are 2nd Seat. Next to that, there are 18 more seats (3rd to 20th). 3rd seat officers are ranked higher than 4th seat, etc. There seems to be a distinction between senior and junior seated officers, just like in real-life armies. In Gotei 13, only one person can hold a senior officer rank (such as 3rd or 5th seat), but there are several holders of junior officer ranks (e.g. 20th seat).
In Japanese, the rank is usually spelled using the seat number followed by the word 'seat' (seki), e.g. sanzeki (3rd Seat), although sometimes the word 'No.' (dai) is used, e.g. daisanzek (3rd Seat).
Most Gotei 13 personnel wear the standard shinigami uniform, called shihakushou - a white yukata (undershirt), a black kimono and hakama with a white sash. To that they wear white tabi socks and straw waraji.
Vice-captains sometimes also wear an armband, which carries their division symbol and its number. They are required to do this when they are summoned to a meeting.
Captains wear a white haori over the usual black shinigami clothes, with the number of their division on the back, inside the Gotei 13 symbol (a rhombus).
Gotei 13 officers, particularly captains and vice-captains, often customize their personal appearance or that of their uniform.
Each of the 13 divisions in Gotei 13 has their own symbol that represents the division's primary role, and in turn, each symbol has a meaning. For instance, the 11th Division symbol is a rhombus with 7 stars and means 'fight' while the camellia symbol of the 6th Division means 'noble reasoning'. All vice-captains wear the insignias on their badge. All of them are based on flowers.
--- the shinigami academy .
The academy was founded about two millennia ago by Yamamoto-Genryuusai as a place to train future shinigami. This is a 6-year academy, training its students to fight hollows and do soul burial duties. Only adults are admitted to the school and must be able to use reiatsu.
--- shinigami missions .
The shinigami undertake a multitude of operations, which include soul burial, battling hollows, etc. Most of these occur in the human world (outside of Soul Society). It should be noted that all shinigami captains and vice-captains have their spiritual energy reduced by about 80% when they enter the human world by use of a spiritual limit, represented by a seal resembling the symbol of their division, in order not to cause unnecessary influence on humans who are susceptible to spiritual power. In extreme cases in which their full power is needed, however, they can request a limit release.
Because some operations may take a long time, shinigami need a way to stay in the human world for long periods of time (which they can't do in spirit form), interact with the living, or recover their powers when need arises. Thus, the faux body was developed.
A faux body (gigai) is an artificial body that allows shinigami to remain in the human world for an extended period (either due to temporary loss of powers or extended missions). While the body is synthetic, it appears and operates in every way to a natural one and is designed to perfectly mimic a living human body. Unlike the normal shinigami body, a faux body is detectable by humans who are not spiritually aware.
In some cases, humans witnesses a shinigami purify a hollow or affect his surroundings in a significant way. To keep the incident a secret, shinigami perform memory replacement with an item called kikanshinki (similar to the neuralizer in Men in Black). However, the new memory that the human acquires is random and often far-fetched.
A vital tool for any shinigami stationed in the real world is an object similar to a mobile phone, by which he receives information about the time and exact location of a hollow's emergence via text messages. A shinigami's kills are also recorded in the phone and can be used as currency (according to the bounty placed on each hollow). Before the invention of the mobile phone, hell butterflies were commonly used for this task.
--- shinigami uniform .
Most Gotei 13 personnel wear the standard shinigami uniform, called shihakush¨ - a white undershirt, a black kimono and hakama, and a white sash. Lieutenants sometimes also wear an armband, which carries their division symbol and its number. They are required to do this when they are summoned to a meeting.
Captains wear a white haori over the usual black shinigami clothes, with the number of their division on the back, inside the Gotei 13 symbol (a rhombus).
Gotei 13 officers, particularly captains and Vice-Captains, often customize their personal appearance or that of their uniform.