The Bleach manga and anime series features an extensive cast of characters created by Tite Kubo. The series takes place in a fictional universe in which the characters are divided into various factionalized fictional races. All these races are subdivisions of humanity, but are distinguished by whether they live on earth or in one of the afterlives, by possession of thematically contrasting supernatural powers, and by the use of aesthetics drawn from the artistic traditions of different real-life regions.
The main character of Bleach is a Japanese teenager named Ichigo Kurosaki who has the ability to interact with ghosts. He is visited one day by a spirit named Rukia Kuchiki, who is a Soul Reaper from the Soul Society whose mission is deal with hungering lost souls known as Hollows. When he sees Rukia getting grievously wounded by a Hollow in his presence, Ichigo is granted her powers of exorcism and psychopompy to carry out Rukia's Soul Reaper duties as she recovers. As Ichigo guides the recently deceased to the afterlife while contending with Hollows, he clashes and forms alliances with the other supernaturally powered residents of his city, namely three of his high school classmates.
But when Rukia is arrested for having breached the rigid feudal laws governing Soul Society by giving her powers to a human, Ichigo and his friends infiltrate the Soul Society to save Rukia from being executed while fighting the Thirteen Court Squad's captains and subordinates. But both parties soon learn they were manipulated by Sōsuke Aizen, a Soul Reaper captain who dreams to kill the Soul King and become the universe's new god. This story sets the tone for most of the series, which places Ichigo in conflict with Aizen's Arrancars to protect his friends and city from the crossfire of escalating supernatural warfare. During the final arc of the series, after regaining his powers since he sacrificed them during the final battle with Aizen, Ichigo learns the full nature of his powers while facing the Wandenreich whose leader jeopardizes their reality.