The Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime arc has brought back most of the franchise's best characters, like Ichigo Kurosaki's squad of friends, and introduced many new heroes and villains. That includes the Wandenreich, the hidden Quincy empire, whose members are hellbent on destroying the Soul Society once and for all to usher in a new age. Only the strongest and coolest Bleach characters will survive and thrive in a war arc like this.
Some of Bleach's coolest characters got written out of the story back in the TYBW anime's first cour, including Head Captain Yamamoto and Captain Retsu/Yachiru Unohana of squad 4. Now, there's ample room for the rest of Bleach's best and most compelling characters to stand in the spotlight and keep the story moving in true style. Some are familiar anime heroes, and others are making their big flashy debut with a strong first impression.
10 Askin Nakk Le Vaar
Askin Nakk Le Vaar is Sternritter D, who uses the power of The Death Dealing to poison his enemies with anything he can think of. Askin can alter his enemy's tolerance for substances, even making blood poisonous at certain dosages. Askin can force his opponent to either die of poisonous blood or bleed out to get below the lethal dosage, for example.
Askin isn't that deep compared to previous villains like Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, but he was still a star in the newest season thanks to his creative abilities and his casual personality. Some anime villains are compelling not because they're intense and scary, but because they amuse viewers with their laid-back, humorous ways, like Askin.
9 Renji Abarai
Lieutenant Renji Abarai struggled against the Sternritter during the Wandenreich's initial invasion of the Soul Society back in the first cour, but cour 2 changed all that. Renji trained hard with squad 0 to enhance his bankai even further, and he unleashed it on Sternritter S in mortal combat.
Renji was an all-star when he used his new bankai, So'o Zabimaru, to incinerate his Sternritter opponent, Mask de Masculine, in a brutal showdown. Renji's new bankai was further evidence that the power of friendship with zanpakuto is what sets the Soul Reapers apart from their Sternritter opponents.
8 Gremmy Thoumeaux
Sternritter V, Gremmy Thoumeaux, made his debut in Bleach: TYBW's second anime cour as a villain who uses his imagination to fight. Gremmy can alter reality with his mind alone, such as creating weapons, reshaping the landscape, or even making clones of himself or trapping his foes in the vacuum of outer space.
Gremmy's astonishing power made him one of the most flexible and unpredictable Bleach characters of all, and that made him a joy to watch in combat. He also had a fascinating theme about self-confidence, since Gremmy relied too heavily on imagining himself being the strongest rather than having the confidence to actually be the best. Hence his loss to Kenpachi.
7 Ichigo Kurosaki
In other story arcs and fights, protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki was the very best Bleach character, but the Thousand-Year Blood War arc is a different case. This story is a full-scale war that gives all Soul Reapers a chance to shine, so Ichigo actually doesn't appear that often. His diminished role meant he wasn't cour 2's best character after all.
Still, Ichigo did well when he crash-landed from heaven itself to bail out an injured Kenpachi Zaraki. Ichigo confidently unveiled his new bankai and used it to easily fend off Candice Catnipp's squad of magical girl-style Sternritter, and then Ichigo led a team up to heaven to save the Soul King – or else.
6 Senjumaru Shutara
Senjumaru Shutara was one of squad 0's two biggest stars in the recent Bleach anime cour. She used her unique tailoring-themed powers to fight off the Schutzstaffel and even defeated Sternritter W with ease, and she never let the elite Quincy rattle her during their intense fight.
Senjumaru took things to the next level with her weaving-style bankai, which overwhelmed the four Schutzstaffel single-handedly. Bleach fans had never seen a bankai so easily vanquish four powerful foes, but Senjumaru made it look easy as she trapped each of her enemies in unique ways.
5 Ichibe Hyosube
Ichibe Hyosube was the other star player of squad 0, and he didn't even need any backup to fight off his enemy, King Yhwach. Ichibe asserted his dominance as the giver of names, dueling the arc's strongest villain with the unique ability to change or remove names. Fans had never seen anything like it in Bleach before.
Ichibe's eye-popping abilities, unshakable confidence, and impressive dialogue made him an incredible hero any Bleach fan could cheer on, especially with the stakes so high. It was thanks to Ichibe that cour 2 ended on such a high note, with Ichibe pummeling Yhwach and seemingly winning the fight.
4 Rukia Kuchiki
Even if Rukia Kuchiki isn't nearly as strong as squad 0's members, she still outshone them in Bleach's newest anime season because of her personal growth and the fact that she's a fan-favorite character who's iconic of the series. She once glowed up by regaining her Soul Reaper powers and using her shikai, and now it's time for more.
Rukia took on Sternritter F, Äs Nödt, in a fierce duel and showed off her new ice-based powers to even the odds. Then, Rukia unleashed her brand-new bankai, Hakka no Togame, to finish off Äs and feel more validated than ever with her foster brother Byakuya supporting her the entire time.
3 Giselle Gewelle
Sternritter Z, Giselle Gewelle, stole the show with her incredible ability to bleed on people from her injuries and turn them into zombie puppets under her command. Giselle's power, The Zombie, has unlimited potential to raise an undead zombie and turn her foes against each other. She can even take control of dead Quincy, like Bambietta.
Giselle's playful but twisted personality made her a fun villain to watch, and that, combined with The Zombie, made her a fearsome sight to behold. Eventually, though, Giselle was checkmated when Mayuri used his own technique to make even stronger zombies and nullify Giselle's own.
2 Mayuri Kurotsuchi
Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi didn't do much in this anime arc's first cour, but he made up for it in cour 2. Mayuri personally joined the battle when Giselle Gewelle went on a rampage, and Mayuri shocked everyone when he introduced his zombified Arrancar squad to fight Giselle's own zombies.
From there, Mayuri negated The Zombie by seizing control of Giselle's Soul Reaper zombie minions, and he even undid Giselle's zombification of Toshiro Hitsugaya. Without Mayuri around to counter Giselle, the battle would have spiraled out of control for sure. Mayuri also did well in his solo fight against the zombified Toshiro Hitsugaya using science to fight.
1 Kenpachi Zaraki
Captain Kenpachi Zaraki took out three Sternritter and defeated Captain Unohana in a training battle to the death back in cour 1, but he still outdid himself in cour 2 despite those achievements. Kenpachi faced off against Gremmy Thoumeaux's imagination with his usual brute force and unshakable confidence, and he won.
Kenpachi used his new shikai, Nozarashi, to destroy a giant meteor, but that wasn't his only achievement in that brutal fight. Kenpachi's power and bloodlust were both so intense, Gremmy failed to imagine himself being stronger, and that made Gremmy's power backfire with lethal results. Of all things, Kenpachi actually won a mental battle against a Sternritter who had a weaponized mind.
