The main character of the manga. He goes one day from being a normal every day kid who can see ghosts, to attacked by a hollow. During this battle, when he is about to parish, a new shinsingami he has just recently met descideds to transfer half of her energy into him. Unfortunately, due to his spiritual awareness already, the moment her sword touches his soul, he takes virtually all of her power, transforming him into a shinigami. After this, he is given the role of a shinigami to protect those who are being attacked by hollows, which usually means protecting/fighting against people he already knows. Over a short period of time, Ichigo has shown that he has been able to do many things that no human should be able to do, such as fight at the level he does, as well as be able to see spiritual aura in a physical form (which allows him to locate people by sensing there aura, even if it is very weak). He is slowly begining to learn how to use and regulate his spiritual power.

Zaraki Kenpachi is the Captain of the 11th Division, which is the strongest of all the Shinigami divisions. Possessing extremely high spiritual pressure, he is among the strongest of the Captains, and killed the previous Captain of the 11th Division in order to become Captain. He is the only Captain to not know the name of his Soul Cutter.

He is the captain of the 6th squad and is also Rukia's older brother. He comes from a very nobel family and is very powerful. He travels from soul society to return Rukia (whom he is not on good terms with) and to kill Ichigo.

He is the vice-captain of the Shinigami Squad 6 - directly under Kuchiki Byakuya. He retunrs with Byakuya to help bring back rukia, whom he seems to personally have something against. He seems somewhat strong but acts very impulsively most of the time.

One of Ichigo's classmates who has a very big crush on him, but is afraid to act on it. She lost her brother in a car accident many years ago, and he came back as a hollow to eat her soul. Just before he did it, he realized that this would not make her happy and that what he was doing was wrong and so he "cleansed himself" by making himself dissapear. After being in contact with Ichigo's shinigami form, her spiritual power was awakened.

He is the last surviving quincy, and has a deep seeded hatred for all Shinigami because his sensei died fighting hollows when the Shinigami were late to show up. He challenges Ichigo by putting out hollow bait and thus attracting alot of hollows, so much that they couldnt not handle them all. Ishida and Ichigo then team up to beat the hollows and save the city.

Chad is Ichigo's very large friend, who seems to be incredibly strong. He is able to even hold a steel beam on his back, as well as endure being hit by a car and many other accidents. He has a parakeet that has a goul's soul in it as well, and this parakeet brings about the death of every one of its owners. After coming in contact with Ichigo's shinigami form, his spiritual powers were awakened and he was able to defeat a hollow.

Shihouin Yoruichi is Yoruichi's true form. She's a former special ops captain, and helped Urahara Kisuke flee Soul Society a long time ago. She hasn't been in Soul Society for a long time, and many are surprised at her reappearance. She's highly powerful and skilled.

Captain of the 10th Division, Hitsugaya Toushirou is often regarded as a kid genius since he became Captain at such a young age. Matsumoto Rangiku is his Vice Captain. Hitsugaya's Soul Cutter is an ice element one. He seems suspicious of Ichimaru Gin.

Kyouraku Shunsui is the Captain of the 8th Division. Shunsui is a girl chaser and a flirt, which can make his Vice Captain angry. His coat is pink, and has flower designs on it. Is one of only two people to wield a dual Soul Cutter.

Jidanbou is one of the four guardians that guard the gates into Soul Society. He possesses Herculean strength, and uses axes as his primary weapons. After being defeated by Ichigo, he lifted the gate he was guarding, only to get his left arm chopped off by Ichimaru Gin.