Rukia Kuchiki

Rukia Kuchiki
Bleach character
Rukia Kuchiki as seen in the manga
First appearance	Bleach manga chapter 1
Created by	Tite Kubo
Voiced by	Japanese Fumiko Orikasa English Michelle Ruff
Profile
Species	Soul Reaper
Relatives	Hisana Kuchiki (sister, deceased) Byakuya Kuchiki (brother-in-law, adoptive brother) Renji Abarai (spouse) Ichika Abarai (daughter)

Rukia Kuchiki (Japanese: 朽木 ルキア, Hepburn: Kuchiki Rukia^?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. In the series, Rukia Kuchiki is a Soul Reaper in charge of slaying evil spirits known as Hollows. At the beginning, after a brief meeting with the protagonist of the series, Ichigo Kurosaki, who can see supernatural beings such as Soul Reapers, she is forced to give him her powers in order to fulfill her duties as a Soul Reaper. Rukia has appeared in several other pieces of Bleach media, including the four featured films in the series, the two original video animations, and several video games.

Rukia was the first character of the series created by Kubo, her design being the one he decided to use for all the other Soul Reapers. Reaction to her character is generally positive. Her differences from typical shōnen heroines is praised, as is her interaction with other characters. Additionally, she usually ranks second in Weekly Shōnen Jump's Bleach popularity polls, and is consistently the most popular female character in those polls. Several pieces of merchandise have been released in Rukia's likeness, including a plush doll and several figurines.

Bleach was first conceived from Tite Kubo's desire to draw a shinigami in a kimono, which formed the basis for the design of the Soul Reapers. Because of this, Kuchiki was one of the first characters of the series to be created. Before deciding that every Soul Reaper had swords, Kubo thought that they all should use guns, while only Rukia used a scythe. However, this was changed as he created the Soul Reaper kimono. Kubo also mentioned that Rukia did not seem like a lead character, so he created Ichigo Kurosaki to be the series protagonist. Ichigo's initial design had black hair like Rukia; Kubo had to modify Ichigo's appearance to contrast with hers, giving Ichigo orange hair and a trademark scowl.