Renji Abarai
From Bleach
Renji Abarai is a supporting character in Bleach, the red-haired, tattooed lieutenant of Squad 6 and Rukia's childhood friend from the Rukongai. He wields the segmented blade Zabimaru and spends the series chasing the strength of his captain, Byakuya. He is voiced by Kentaro Ito in Japanese and Wally Wingert in English.
About Renji Abarai
Renji Abarai is the loud, tattooed lieutenant of Squad 6 and Rukia's childhood friend from the rough streets of the Rukongai. He once fought Ichigo as an enemy, then risked everything to help rescue Rukia beside him. Renji wields the segmented blade Zabimaru and chases the strength of his captain, Byakuya, training relentlessly until his bankai finally earns the respect he always wanted.
Appearance
Renji is tall and muscular at 188 cm, with long crimson hair usually tied in a high ponytail and tribal black tattoos that spread from his forehead and eyebrows across much of his upper body, the marks grew as his career did. He wears the standard shihakusho, often with a bandana or goggles pushed up on his head, and carries Zabimaru, a blade of linked segments. His look is pure street fighter dressed in a uniform he only half respects.
Personality
Renji talks like a street fight waiting to happen. He's touchy, he's cocky, and the tattoos don't help the impression. Underneath, though, the guy is almost embarrassingly earnest. Nobody trains harder, nobody takes a loss more personally, and nobody is quicker to put himself between a friend and the hit meant for them. His whole life bends around one goal: catching up to Byakuya Kuchiki. He resents his captain and worships him in roughly equal measure, and he'd rather die than say either part out loud.
Background & Story
Renji grew up in the Inuzuri district of the Rukongai, one of the roughest corners of the Soul Society, where he and Rukia ran with a gang of orphan thieves. When both showed spiritual power they entered the academy together, but Rukia's adoption into the Kuchiki clan split them: Renji threw himself into training, climbing to lieutenant of Squad 6 under Byakuya himself. Ordered to retrieve Rukia for her execution, he fought Ichigo twice, and the second defeat convinced him the law was wrong. He begged Ichigo to save her, then turned his blade against his own captain to help. From there he became one of Ichigo's steadiest allies in every war that followed.
Powers & Abilities
- Zabimaru: His Zanpakuto, a blade of six linked segments joined by a spine that can stretch, whip and bite like a serpent.
- Higa Zekko: A desperate technique that fires Zabimaru's separated segments at the enemy all at once, powerful, but it leaves the blade broken afterwards.
- Bankai: Soo Zabimaru: His true Bankai, a huge skeletal serpent of bone and fur with a smaller blade in his hand, finally learned after a century of incomplete training.
Key Relationships
- Rukia Kuchiki: His childhood friend from the slums; their bond, strained by her adoption, becomes one of the series' most enduring partnerships.
- Byakuya Kuchiki: His captain and the standard he chases, Renji's life goal is to surpass the man he serves.
- Ichigo Kurosaki: First an enemy sent to arrest him, then a rival and trusted comrade who saved Rukia when Renji could not.
Quick Answers
What is Renji Abarai's Bankai?
Renji's true Bankai is Soo Zabimaru. For most of the series he used an incomplete form, Hihio Zabimaru, because his blade's spirit had not judged him ready.
Who voices Renji Abarai?
Kentaro Ito voices Renji in Japanese, and Wally Wingert voices him in the English dub.
How tall is Renji Abarai?
Renji is 188 cm tall (about 6 ft 2 in), one of the taller lieutenants in the Gotei 13.
