Zodiac: Taurus
Shinji Hirako is best known as the former captain of the 5th Division. He promoted his lieutenant Sōsuke Aizen to that position specifically because he didn't trust him—figured he could keep closer tabs on him that way. Turns out that strategy backfired; his distance from Aizen meant he never saw the betrayal coming, and he ended up getting turned into a hollow for his trouble.
His personality leans comedic. He's the type to mess with people just to get a reaction, especially his associate Hiyori Sarugaki, who regularly smacks him with her sandal for it. Fans often note his running gag of calling random cute girls his "first love" with a completely straight face while obviously lying through his teeth—though notably he never pulled that bit on Hiyori, which somehow annoyed her even more. He was actually sketched early enough to appear in cover art from the manga's first chapter, suggesting the creators had him planned well before he showed up in the actual story. The anime occasionally drew him in outfits reminiscent of Lupin the III, a clear homage from the animation team.
His hollow mask has a pharaoh-like appearance, and he's genuinely powerful in that form—he once took down Grimmjow Jeagerjaques with a single cero blast. Video game versions show him capable of splitting his cero attacks into pyramid-shaped projectiles.
His zanpakutō, Sakanade, creates an inverted world through optical illusion. The sword's scent upon release warps the opponent's sense of direction completely—up becomes down, left becomes right, forward flips backward. It doesn't just mess with orientation either; it reverses eyesight and even where cuts actually land on the body. In its sealed state it's a standard katana with a red hilt and sheath, but when released, the hilt transforms into a large ring that Shinji can slip his hand through, letting him control the blade's movement without gripping it physically. The ring connects to a normal sword hilt with a rectangular guard, and the first stretch of the blade is covered by an extension of that guard. The blade itself is straight and slim, ending in a slanted razor edge rather than a point, with five holes running along its length.
He has a tattoo on his tongue, visible in episode 142.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
