In Bleach, Ichigo Kurosaki was born with the ability to see ghosts, and when Hollows attack his family, he becomes a Soul Reaper determined to protect the world and help lost spirits find their way to the afterlife. With its incredible mix of action, adventure and supernatural, Bleach is loved by fans all over the world.

As the star of the series, Ichigo Kurosaki is one of the strongest anime characters of all time, and he goes through many transformations to increase his power to exciting new levels throughout the series. No matter what terrifying spirits or other supernatural enemies he may face, Ichigo always trains harder and pushes his powers to the limit, and by the end of the series, he proves himself to be stronger than he ever imagined possible.

Ichigo's Shinigami form marked the beginning of his incredible journey.

At the beginning of Bleachthe story, Ichigo experiences his first transformation when he goes from a mere human to a powerful Soul Reaper. thanks to Rukia Kuchiki transferring half of her powers to him. As a result, one of the BleachIchigo's best Zanpakuto weapons manifest for him to use, with Ichigo now wielding Zangetsu.

Thanks to his Zanpakuto, Ichigo is able to take on Hollows as well as other formidable opponents. After unlocking his Soul Reaper abilities, Ichigo is still quite weak compared to some of the other characters in the series, but he works hard and trains every day to become stronger.

Ichigo unlocked his legendary Bankai extremely quickly

To prepare Ichigo to face serious opponents, he quickly undergoes Bankai training after gaining his Soul Reaper abilities. By all standards, Ichigo acquired his Bankai in record time, unlocking it in just two and a half days..

With Ichigo's incredible Bankai transformation, he is able to condense his massive Zanpakuto into a small blade, with his Bankai granting him impressive super speed. However, his Bankai and Zanpakuto alone are not enough to make him a serious threat, and Ichigo had to endure even more training before he was truly able to hold his own in battle.

Ichigo's hollow transformation saved the day

The voids in Bleach are some of the earliest and most terrifying enemies in the series, and Ichigo harnessed their power when his fight with Byakuya left him on the brink of death. This is one of the first times Ichigo is seen as extremely strong, with the Hollow inside granting him power increases when he took control of his body to prevent him from losing the battle and dying.

The downside to Ichigo's Hollow transformation is that he loses control and gives in to the evil spirit. However, the Hollow version of Ichigo is a skilled fighter, able to use Ichigo's powers to their fullest capacity with much greater ease than Ichigo when he is in control of himself. That being said, the risks of using his Hollow transformation are typically too great for Ichigo to consider this transformation worthwhile in most fights.

Vasto Lorde Ichigo was a terrifying transformation

The Vasto Lorde are BleachIchigo's most terrifying Hollows took on their form in an intense battle against the evil Ulquiorra. Ichigo found himself defeated and overwhelmed in the fight, with the villainous Espada ripping a hole through his chest that should have killed him if not for the intervention of Vasto Lorde.

Instead of dying, Ichigo awakened his Vasto Lorde form., completely transforming into an unrecognizable demon. Like his previous Hollow transformation, Ichigo seemed to have no control whatsoever when in his Vasto Lorde form, with the demon taking control and making quick work of Ulquiorra. This form only appeared once in the entire series, but it easily showed the immense power Ichigo had within him.

Ichigo's final Getsuga Tenshou came with a major drawback

After training hard in the Dangai, Ichigo finally leveled up and knew he was strong enough to face the mighty Aizen using his Final Getsuga Tenshou form. With this transformation, Ichigo teamed up with Zangetsu, taking on a striking new appearance that included long, black hair. In his Final Getsuga Tenshou form, Ichigo gains access to the Mugetsu ability., which creates a blade of deep black Reiatsu in his hand. Ichigo was able to hit Aizen, damaging anything caught in its blast.

Mugetsu was the only thing capable of finishing off Sosuke Aizen, proving how far Ichigo had come since his early days as a Soul Reaper. The only problem with this form was the fact that unleashing Mugetsu left Ichigo completely powerless – weaker than before the show even started.

Fullbring Ichigo was surprisingly weak

With his battle against Aizen leaving him powerless, Ichigo finds himself weaker than ever. With Mugetsu giving Ichigo his strongest form yet in Bleach, it makes sense that this powerful ability came at a great cost. Knowing that he needed some sort of protection against the enemies he would face in the future, BleachThe now powerless protagonist decided to train even harder. He soon learned more about his hybrid status, which helped him unlock his Fullbring form. In addition to his Soul Reaper and Hollow powers, Ichigo learned about his status as a Fullbringer; it was thanks to his mother, who was attacked by a Hollow while pregnant.

Ichigo trained with Ginjo, learning more about these powers and transforming into his Fullbring form, but still left him relatively weaker than he was at the beginning of his journeyEventually, Ginjo betrayed Ichigo and stole his Fullbring powers, making this form relatively short-lived. It all worked out, as Ichigo was then able to work with Rukia to regain his Soul Reaper powers, returning stronger than ever.

Ichigo's Shikai has returned with increased power

Ichigo has one of the most powerful Shikai in the series, and after reawakening his Soul Reaper abilities, he is able to empower Zangetsu in a new and exciting way. Under the tutelage of master swordsman Oetsu Nimaiya, Ichigo learned to communicate with Zangetsuleading him to learn more about his hybrid nature as both a Quincy and a Hollow.

Nimaiya gave Ichigo not one, but two Zanpakutos, essentially doubling Zangetsu's power. His designs appear to be a reference to his Quincy and Hollow roots, with one of the swords being long and hollow inside. In his dual-wielding form, Ichigo is able to perform exciting new techniques that help him prepare for the Thousand-Year Blood War.

Ichigo's final Bankai form is one of his most powerful.

Now able to wield two Zanpakuto blades, Ichigo unlocks a Bankai form even more powerful than in his early days as a Soul Reaper. He can place both blades side by side, causing a massive wave of energy to transform him and the swords. The two swords merge into one, similar to his original massive Zanpakuto..

In this transformation, Ichigo also changes physically, with his eyes glowing yellow and black markings appearing on his face. Ichigo assumes this form during his final battle with Yhwach, proving powerful enough to take down one of the Bleachof the most irredeemable villains.

The Last Zapakuto Pays Tribute to Ichigo's Early Days

Ichigo finds himself in a desperate situation when he inevitably faces Yhwach, who has the power of the Almighty, giving him the ability to see the future and alter it to his liking. This makes Yhwach the most difficult villain to take down in the entire series – but luckily fate remained on Ichigo's side.

Ichigo managed to cut Yhwach in half, but the antagonist simply reversed his own death. Yhwach managed to destroy Ichigo's augmented Zanpakuto but when it began to disintegrate Ichigo's prized original Zanpakuto has appeared in his place. All of Yhwach's meddling in the future comes back to bite him, with his destiny finally catching up with him, allowing Ichigo to use his original Zanpakuto to save the world.

Having Ichigo's original Zangetsu as the weapon he used to save the day at the end of the series was a nice homage. to all the powerful forms and transformations Ichigo has experienced throughout Bleach. By taking things back to the series' roots, Ichigo's final battle offered a satisfying conclusion and also showed that he had an impressive amount of strength within him from the start.