Zabimaru (Zanpakutō spirit)

Zabimaru's spirit takes the shape of a creature with two minds sharing one body. The forward head belongs to a hulking white baboon streaked with long purple markings down its arms and spine, while a white snake sprouts from its back in place of a tail, its own head capping the end. Each head thinks and speaks for itself, though the snake relies on the baboon to move it about, and together they call to mind the chimeric nue of legend.

Fiercely competitive, both heads burn to repay any defeat the moment it happens. The baboon voices that drive with relative composure, whereas the snake is cheeky and sharp-tongued, mocking Renji whenever it disapproves of him.

Its guardedness ran deep. Because the spirit only partly recognized Renji's strength after their Bankai training, it deliberately fed him a bogus Bankai title in place of the real one.

After the weapon shattered during Renji's duel with Ichigo Kurosaki and its wielder was jailed for defying orders, the spirit began recovering alongside him. Impatient in the cell, Zabimaru materialized at Renji's side, the baboon declaring itself mended and eager to fight while the snake berated him for lying around injured. Renji had to explain that Ichigo was no longer their foe.

Once he broke out and sought a way to attain Bankai, Renji fully manifested the spirit, a required step toward that power, and Zabimaru's towering form appeared beside him as he went off to train alone. In the anime's Zanpakutō rebellion storyline the pair receive a substantial redesign, appearing there as two wholly separate beings.