Togabito

Inside Hell the Togabito usually wear white garments streaked with thin black stripes, though a handful dress more distinctively. When they venture out they adopt a near-uniform disguise: a full black cloak fastened with white rectangular buttons, along with a shared, light-bulb-shaped mask split diagonally into black and white halves, plus white gloves and boots. The covering hides them from the Kushanada but also dampens their power, and stripping away too much of it alerts the guardians, who drag the escapee back to Hell's deepest levels. Most also trail chains that look short but reach far, form part of the force imprisoning them, and can double as shields or weapons.

An ordinary human soul is guided to the Soul Society by a Soul Reaper, but a soul steeped in sin, including some that became Hollows, cannot enter and is cast instead into Hell, chained there for eternity. Within that prison the Togabito live through a ceaseless cycle: when one is killed, its body is wrapped in chains and reborn, with the individual's strength deciding how fast it recovers. Powerful examples such as Shuren can revive fallen comrades, and Kokuto restored himself moments after a fatal act of self-sacrifice. The Kushanada normally keep them confined, yet certain Togabito can reach the Human World if they conceal their faces, and a number rival or surpass the strength of an Espada.

A Togabito's powers exceed those of its earlier form; the reborn Shrieker, for instance, was faster and stronger than he had been as a Hollow, wielding sharpened versions of his old tricks. Their gifts vary widely from one to the next. Shuren conjures fire and flame-made copies of himself, Taikon spits purple energy blasts and devours incoming attacks, Gunjo regrows tentacles at will, Garogai detaches and launches his arm like a grappling hook that fires green pulses, and Kokuto raises an energy shield able to turn aside a powerful Cero. Many also share a form of enhanced high-speed movement.