Hell

Overview

Movie Continuity

Image Gallery

Hell
Kanji	地獄
Government
First Appearance
Manga Debut	Chapter 12
Anime Debut	Episode 5

Hell (地獄, Jigoku; Viz "The Underworld") is a realm where souls such as Hollows and Arrancars are sent if they were wicked while human.

Overview

The Zanpakutō of a Shinigami can only cleanse sins a soul has committed as a Hollow. If the spirit has committed heinous crimes as a Human or not escaped to Hueco Mundo, it will be sent to Hell instead of Soul Society.

When Ichigo Kurosaki defeated Shrieker, he did so by slashing the Hollow's mask. The Gates appear to be formed from energy or light which emerges from the wound. The Gates of Hell (地獄の門, Jigoku no Mon) are chained shut and adorned with the bandaged head and torso of a skeleton on each door. The arms of both skeletons are positioned at an angle to pull the gates open when it is summoned.

On the inside, the Gates appear to be prevented from opening fully by two thick ropes with charms attached to them. The face and left arm of a large demonic creature can be seen behind the Gates. It has armor plating on its upper arm and wields a blade; its left arm and face are covered in tattoos resembling tribal markings. The demon skewers the Hollow entering Hell with its blade and pulls it through the Gates while laughing. The Gates then close and the entire structure cracks and crumbles into nothing.

Szayelaporro Granz after entering Hell.

Hell uniquely affects any Arrancar cast into it after their death by moving their Hollow hole outside of their body and allowing them to gain new powers; the deceased Szayelaporro Granz had his appearance heavily altered by consignment to Hell, including his Hollow hole becoming a ring behind his back, and he gained the ability to manipulate pitch-black chains as well as a certain level of clairvoyance, which he attributes to his new role as the Jailer of Hell (地獄の獄吏, Jigoku no Gokuri; Viz "Gallows of Hell").

Jūshirō Ukitake's Sōgyo no Kotowari becomes gigantic after he is cast into Hell.

Aside from being the final resting place of Sinners, Hell's other primary function is to hold deceased captains of the Gotei 13 due to the Reishi comprising their bodies being too dense with Reiatsu to be reabsorbed by Soul Society and such power being too risky to keep in the realm; this is accomplished by the performance of Konsō Reisai twelve years after a captain's death in battle, though until the usage of this ceremony for Jūshirō Ukitake, the Gotei 13 captains and lieutenants had absolutely no idea it would result in their former comrades being cast into Hell. Captains in Hell also gain epithets befitting their statuses in life: Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto is Founder of the Gotei (護廷開祖, Gotei Kaiso; Viz "Court Guard Founder"), Retsu Unohana is Death Sword (死剣, Shiken) and Ukitake is Kamikake (神掛, Divine Possession; Viz "God Sworn"). Additionally, Hell radically alters these captains just like Arrancar; when he intervened in Ichigo's fight against Szayelaporro by impaling the latter to pull him back into Hell, Ukitake's Shikai Sōgyo no Kotowari was several times larger than it was while he was alive.

Jigoku no Rinki appears around Ukitake's grave as a result of the imbalance in Hell.

Similar to the balance of Souls between the Human World and Soul Society, Hell's integrity is maintained by a balance of Reiatsu between it and the combined realms of the Human World and Soul Society. According to Szayelaporro, the immense Reiatsu of Sousuke Aizen and Yhwach were naturally holding the maw of Hell shut until they disappeared, which coincided with other immensely powerful beings like Yamamoto, Unohana, and Ukitake being sent to Hell, ultimately allowing those within Hell like himself to wrench open the maw and enter the Human World from the other side. During such an imbalance, performance of the Konsō Reisai is accompanied by the appearance of Jigoku no Rinki (地獄の燐気, Hellish Phosphorous Air; Viz "Phosphoplasm from Hell"), black blobs of a non-Reishi substance that floats through the air of Soul Society around the grave of the deceased captain that the ceremony is being performed for as well as in the air of the Human World where a denizen of Hell has entered the realm; this substance is harmless when touched normally, but if a globule is cut by a Zanpakutō its contents become acidic. Individuals who enter the Human World from Hell by taking advantage of this imbalance do so using a portal resembling a circular Garganta lined with teeth, though they can also be pulled back into Hell through the usual Gates.

Notable Residents

Residents of Hell
Name	Epithet	Race	Former Position
Shrieker	N/A	Hollow	N/A
Szayelaporro Granz	"Jailer of Hell" (地獄の獄吏, Jigoku no Gokuri)	Arrancar	Octava Espada
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto	"Founder of the Gotei" (護廷開祖, Gotei Kaiso)	Soul	Gotei 13 Captain-Commander
Retsu Unohana	"Death Sword" (死剣, Shiken)	Soul	4th Division Captain
Jūshirō Ukitake	"Kamikake" (神掛, Divine Possession)	Soul	13th Division Captain

Trivia

• Hell is not considered a part of the Three Worlds, unlike Soul Society or Hueco Mundo.
• Szayelaporro Granz has suggested that the Jigokuchō have a connection to Hell, befitting the fact that they have "Hell" in their names.

Klub Outside Trivia

• According to Q&A #946 by Tite Kubo on his fansite "Klub Outside", the Quincy have their own afterlife separate from Soul Society, but the two realms are connected to each other somewhere close to Hell.

Appearances in Other Media

• In Ryōgo Narita's novel Bleach: Can't Fear Your Own World, it is revealed that Hell predates the separation of Soul Society, the Human world, and Hueco Mundo by the Soul King; one of the reasons the Human World was created was to serve as a "lid" to seal off Hell from the other worlds.
• Hell is the main focus of the fourth movie, Bleach: The Hell Verse. Read more...