What is Squad 0 in Bleach? The strongest Shinigami Squad in Soul Society, explained

Modified Sep 19, 2024 01:30 GMT

Bleach and what is Squad 0 (Image via Studio Pierrot).

Bleach fans often wonder "What is Squad 0?" because it has a very peculiar and unique place in the series' lore. First name-dropped during the Turn Back the Pendulum arc by Kyoraku Shunsui, this legendary division of Soul Society is in charge of protecting the Soul King's palace, and their strength is said to be the stuff of legends within that realm.

Moreover, the members of Squad 0 often have a pivotal role to play in some key element of Soul Society, which is something that makes them stand out from the vast majority of characters in Bleach. There is also the fact that author Tite Kubo, due to health issues, never fulfilled his vision with them in the manga, although the recent anime adaptation of the Thounsand-Year Blood War arc has helped in that regard.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

Squad 0's purpose in Bleach

Four members of Squad 0 (Image via Studio Pierrot).

The reason why many Bleach fans wonder "What is Squad 0?" is because they don't have a clear idea of what this division is supposed to do in the Gotei 13. Their main duty is to protect the Soul King and its palace, so they could be regarded as the last line of defense when it comes to that area.

Moreover, each member of Squad 0 is often credited for coming up with something that helped in the development of Soul Society as a whole. For example, the division's leader, Ichibe Hyosube, is the one responsible for naming everything in this realm and Ōetsu Nimaiya is credited as the creator of the Zanpakuto.

Squad 0's members

Senjumaru as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot).

The five members of Squad 0 include Kirio Hikifune, who was the Captain of Squad 12 and has gained the title of "Divine General of the South", reaching this status because she was the creator of the Gikon, which are the souls designed by the Shinigami. As mentioned earlier, there is also the example of Oetsu Nimaiya, the happy-go-lucky member of the Squad and is also the creator of the Zanpakuto.

Then there is Tenjiro Kirinji, who is also known as the "Divine General of the East" and is the creator of the techniques of healing Kido, which have been pivotal for Soul Society as a whole. Senjumaru Shutara, on the other hand, gained her promotion because she was the one who created the shihakushō, which are the clothes worn by the Shinigami.

Finally, the leader of Squad 0 is Ichibē Hyōsube, who was already there before even the creation of Soul Society. He was one of the individuals who contributed to the dismembering of the Soul King long before the beginning of Bleach and at some moment, according to the Thousand-Year Blood Warc anime adaptation, had the latter's powers of one of his arms.

Squad 0's overall strength

Ichibei as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot).

Another reason why the question "What is Squad 0?" is so prevalent is because they didn't have the best showing during the Thousand-Year Blood War arc in the anime. While author Tite Kubo established that these five Shinigami were stronger than the entirety of the Gotei 13 combined, the truth of the matter is that wasn't displayed when they fought Yhwach and his elite guard, the Schutzstaffel.

The only member whose power lived up to the expectation was Ichibei, who managed to overpower the Quincy King until the latter recovered his most powerful technique, The Almighty. That proved to be Ichibei's doom as the rest of Squad 0 were dismantled by the Schutzstaffel without much problem, although the anime adaptation seems to be fixing those issues.

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Edited by Bharath S