Ginrei Kuchiki

Age shows plainly in Ginrei, whose long hair and mustache have both turned gray and whose eyes hold a cool slate tone. Over the standard captain's attire he drapes a white scarf, woven by the master craftsman Tsujishirō Kuroemon III from the Silks of the Silverwhite Wildflower; the piece is a Kuchiki heirloom passed to each head of the clan and reckoned to be worth ten Seireitei mansions by itself. Completing the look are a short-sleeved haori, fingerless black tekkō that guard the backs of his hands, and dark mala beads looped at his sash.

To Ginrei, a failure to master one's own feelings is a mark of weakness, and he blames his grandson's impulsiveness for holding the young Byakuya back from true leadership. Though troubled by the frail health of his son Sōjun, he remained chiefly concerned with grooming him to one day head the family.

Roughly 110 years ago Ginrei stood among the captains welcoming Kisuke Urahara at the ceremony that marked his rise to lead the 12th Division. He later returned to the Kuchiki estate to watch Byakuya train, praising the boy's swordsmanship before looking on as Yoruichi Shihōin drew him into a Shunpo-fueled game of tag; the old captain sighed at his grandson's hot temper, remarking that mastering it would make him a fine leader. Nine years afterward, when Yamamoto convened an emergency meeting to investigate the vanished 9th Division members, Ginrei was assigned to guard Seireitei alongside Jūshirō Ukitake and Shunsui Kyōraku. As a former clan head and captain he wields great spiritual power, though neither his Shikai nor his Bankai has ever been shown.