Yhwach

Yhwach carries himself as a tall, imposing man of middle years, his long face set with heavy cheekbones, a broad chin, and reddish-brown eyes beneath thin brows. Black hair spills to his lower back, and connected mutton chops and a mustache frame an otherwise clean-shaven face. He wears a double-breasted white trench coat bearing the Wandenreich crest, draped over with a ragged cloak of maroon-black that falls to the ankles.

A millennium earlier his features were softer and more youthful, closely resembling the spirit that embodies Ichigo's Quincy powers. As he absorbs first Mimihagi and then the Soul King, black eye-patterns creep across his face and body, and darkness begins to pour from him.

Yhwach is a warped, self-contradicting figure whose words tend to carry a hidden second meaning. He paints himself as a peace-loving soul who detests conflict, yet he readily makes war and simply wants every battle finished fast, and his towering megalomania surfaces in his conviction that all that exists is simply his to take.

He reserves respect for those he sees as reflections of himself, honoring the founding Gotei 13 and a young Yamamoto for their ruthlessness while sneering at the modern Soul Society's talk of justice and honor as weakness. Though said to despise lies, he hypocritically floods his own ranks with propaganda. Toward his Quincy he is warmer, naming favored followers his sons and going to great lengths to recruit new ones, and he can show genuine mercy and gratitude when one of them dies in his service.

As the Soul King's son, Yhwach commands spiritual power beyond any other Quincy, dwarfing even the Espada and pinning crowds to the ground with his mere presence. His life began with the Soul Distribution Power: as an infant he shared fragments of his own soul with those who touched him, healing them while absorbing their knowledge and talents once they died. From that root he learned to engrave a Schrift, a lettered ability, directly onto others, and he claimed the letter A for himself to designate The Almighty.

That power splits his pupils and lets him perceive every possible future at once, acting on foreknowledge to counter any foe and even reaching out to reshape what is to come. After ninety-nine decades sealed away he restored his stolen strength through Auswaehlen, a holy selection that fatally drains the powers of Quincy he judges impure. He defends himself with Blut, hardening his blood for offense or defense, and manipulates ambient Reishi with ease, shaping thrones and staircases, conjuring blue flames that burn even spiritual stone, and blitzing across the field with Hirenkyaku. He is also a formidable swordsman and physical fighter, strong enough to halt Sado's devil arm with a single hand.