Wolfman Clan

The Wolfman Clan is a bloodline of souls branded as sinners, condemned in life for transgressions of unknown kind and punished by being reshaped into beastlike wolfmen and cast into the Animal Realm. That sentence apparently proved insufficient, for the clan later returned to Soul Society and settled in the hidden corners of Rukongai, choosing exile there to stay beyond the eyes of outsiders.

Only two members are known: the towering wolf addressed as the Great Elder, and Sajin Komamura. Refusing to endure a life spent in hiding, Sajin walked away from his kin long ago and was taken in by Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, who let him enter the Gotei 13 despite his not being truly human; in time he climbed to the rank of captain. When Yamamoto fell to the Quincy and the Wandenreich readied a second invasion, Sajin sought out the Great Elder in a remote cave to be taught the clan's guarded secrets so he could avenge his benefactor.

That secret is the Humanization Technique, a ritual that lets a clan member shed the wolfman shape and briefly turn fully human by tearing out and offering up their own heart. In this state the body is a hollow, immortal shell: no wound lingers and injuries knit shut almost at once. The gift carries a steep price, however. Once the member surrenders completely to vengeance, the curse takes hold and they collapse permanently into an ordinary wolf. Tite Kubo later clarified that this ending stems from the curse's nature rather than any time limit. That fate befell Sajin, who lost himself to his hatred, went fully lupine, and had his heart devoured by the elder, an outcome the clan regards as a return to their true form.

The clan's only documented figures are Sajin Komamura, the Gotei 13 captain who forsook his people before returning to them, and the Wolfman Clan Elder, the giant wolf known as the Great Elder who guards and passes down their secrets. How many others might still survive is never revealed.