Ishida Ryuuken

Ryūken is the son of Sōken Ishida and father of Uryū Ishida. The Director of Karakura Hospital, he is also known as the last Quincy, a status contested by his son. He appears to be a cold, work-oriented man, and is estranged from both his father and son. Ryūken detests being a Quincy on the grounds that it does not enable one to make a proper living, and would rather focus on saving the living instead of the dead. He even goes so far as to state that the Quincy would become extinct once Sōken's generation died out, urging Uryū not to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. This makes him relatively unusual among the Bleach characters aware of the spiritual world, who generally give it higher priority than the living world.

Strangely enough, Ryūken also shares a relationship with Isshin Kurosaki not unlike that of their sons. He comments on Isshin's newly regained powers when the latter pays him a visit, and the two exchange banter about their sons and parenting styles. Isshin notices that Ryūken still smokes, despite being in a hospital. Kisuke Urahara also appears to know who and what he is.

Even though Ryūken scorns his status as a Quincy, he dresses in white and his tie has blue crosses all over it, an obvious reference to the Quincy cross. During the anime's Bount arc, there are blue crosses all over the floors and walls of Ryūken's hospital, as well. Sōken suggests to Uryū in flashback that he has hidden motives the boy does not understand yet. Ryūken also helps to restore Uryū's lost Quincy powers on the condition that he never associate himself with shinigami again, even if they were his friends.

To Uryū's surprise, despite his lack of enthusiasm for the Quincy Clan, Ryūken is extremely powerful. His skill level as a Quincy surpasses that of his son, who is considered a genius by the avid Quincy researcher Mayuri Kurotsuchi. In fact, he possesses all the skills and techniques known to the Quincy, having inherited his father's power and his Quincy Cross. When he first appeared as a combatant during the Arrancar arc, Ryūken defeated two incomplete arrancar with three shots: one to rescue Uryū, and one to kill each arrancar. He has also constructed a secret training chamber underneath Karakura Hospital which hides spiritual energy.

Like all Quincy, Ryūken uses a bow as his primary weapon. He also has detailed knowledge about Hollows and their abilities, such as high speed regeneration. Unlike other Quincy seen thus far, however, Ryūken is capable of willfully changing the size of his bow and can fire multiple shots at once. He can also fire arrows one-handed and at rapid-speed. His bow is white, rather than blue. In the anime, it has a more metallic look to it and is solid, compared to most Quincy bows. Ryūken uses a pentacle to create his bow, although the artifact is still called the Quincy Cross (滅却十字, mekkyaku jūji?).