Jidanbō Ikkanzaka

Jidanbō is a colossal, heavily built man who looms over nearly every Shinigami around him. A ponytail hangs down to his waist, and his long sideburns run onto his neck, extending far enough to be gathered into small tufts of their own. Armor plates his left shoulder and upper arm, a tasseled red cap sits atop his head, and his uniform leaves the left of his chest bare. Two enormous axes serve as his weapons in battle.

Beneath his bulk Jidanbō is emotionally fragile, dissolving into sobs the moment Ichigo shatters his axes. A young Tōshirō Hitsugaya, a friend of his, taught him the customs of the Rukongai, and he dutifully recites those rules to newcomers. Kindhearted at his core, he is seen by the residents near the West Gate as a protector and companion rather than one of the Shinigami they generally resent. His firm sense of honor shows when he concedes his loss to the Ryoka and calls it a regrettable defeat.

When Ichigo Kurosaki and his companions reach Soul Society, Jidanbō blocks their path, musing that no invader has tested his gate in ages. Citing the Seireitei's rule of single combat, he faces Ichigo alone and is stunned when the teen casually halts his opening swing. Thrilled to meet real resistance, Jidanbō throws his best attacks, only for Ichigo to turn them aside and break both of his prized axes. Overcome with tears, he declares that the two may pass, as a defeated guardian must open the way, and heaves the gate upward with the immense strength he has not used in three hundred years.

Captain Gin Ichimaru appears at once, disapproves of a gatekeeper admitting invaders, and slices off Jidanbō's left arm; when the giant keeps the gate raised despite the wound, Gin moves to finish him, but Ichigo steps in to shield him. Gin's Shinsō then flings the whole group back outside, after which the Rukongai residents emerge to reset his severed arm so Orihime Inoue can mend it with Sōten Kisshun. Jidanbō later accompanies Kūkaku Shiba into the Seireitei, and during the Wandenreich's assault he smashes through the walls of the research institute with a vacant stare while the Sternritter PePe Waccabrada laughs at his back.