Mayuri Kurotsuchi is a researcher and personifies the stereotype of the mad scientist. In the earlier episodes of the anime, he is displayed as one of the most sadistic and cruel characters in the series. He sees everyone and everything not as a living being, but as an object to be researched—including himself. He has little respect or regard for most others, and was even willing to turn his own men (who were not aware of his plans) into human bombs in an attempt to capture Uryū Ishida and Orihime Inoue for experimentation. He also withheld vital information about the Bount from the other shinigami in order to capture one as a research subject for himself.
Mayuri's appearance has a very skeletal look to it with a skull-like visage. His fingernails are blue and, with the exception of the fingernail on his right middle finger, are all short. The one long fingernail is as long as the finger itself. In the anime, Mayuri is revealed to have blue hair and yellow eyes when unmasked. He also wears a white hat with two ends that point to his right and a bloated purple cravat around his neck. It appears his physical modifications become undone each time he reconstitutes himself, although he is heavily scarred and his ears appear to be permanently removed.
Mayuri's new appearance.Mayuri has performed various experiments on himself, some of which include upgrading certain body parts to function as weapons or giving him otherwise useful abilities. His left arm can extend out like a grappling hook and he is able to pull part of his ear out to form a scythe attached to a rope-like ligament for use as a kusarigama. He can also blend into his environment with some sort of covering that flakes away once he reveals himself.
In case he is defeated, Mayuri is able to transform into a liquid blob-like entity, unable to be attacked or attack, by stabbing himself with his zanpakutō. He is later able to reconstitute himself, at which point his wounds are healed. This ability is related to the bankai of his zanpakutō.
Mayuri seems to be one of the few characters in Bleach that is ambidextrous, as he wields his zanpakutō in his right hand and his scythe-ear in his left (often simultaneously). In the anime's Bount arc, he briefly wields his zanpakutō left-handed, as well.
Kurotsuchi's last name is one of the few shinigami names in Bleach which uses kanji based on the meaning of the name and not the sound. 'Kurotsuchi' means black soil (kuro - black; tsuchi - soil), as does the kanji (涅). However, the kanji's reading (pronunciation) is ne or so.
History
Little is known about the history of Mayuri, except that he succeeded Kisuke Urahara in leading the research institute as well as becoming captain of the 12th Division of the Gotei 13. He also experimented on Quincy, including Sōken Ishida, Uryū's master and grandfather, in his studies.
Research and inventions
Bleach does not go in-depth about Mayuri's inventions, unlike Kisuke's. However, one major invention is present, which is Mayuri's lieutenant and so-called "daughter," Nemu Kurotsuchi, who is the ultimate result of his gigai and modified soul research. It is implied that Mayuri has done extensive research on modifying bodies, as shown by his own modifications, including the ability to regenerate bodyparts by means of a "regenerative serum" and an extendable arm. Another one of Mayuri's abilities likely achieved scientifically is his ability to meld with the color and texture of the environment. He also creates a simple Bount sensor in the Bount arc of the anime. Though not as powerful as Kisuke's equivalent modsoul versions, it is far more effective once properly calibrated.
During the Hueco Mundo arc, Mayuri is able to counter Szayel Aporro Granz' ability to destroy the internal organs of his opponents by replacing his organs with artificial ones. Moreover, he is able to accomplish this not only with himself, but also his lieutenant, and does so less than an hour after first witnessing the ability. He also reveals that bacteria implanted in Uryū Ishida allowed him to gather the data.
Most recently, he has created a drug that slows one's perception of time. It is able to make one second seem like 100 years to the unfortunate victim. An undiluted dose of the drug causes the senses to speed up trillions of times while the relatively "slow" body fails to keep up causing the victim to become paralyzed; on the other hand, it is implied that a diluted dose of the drug can greatly enhance the user's reaction speed.
Synopsis
During the ryoka invasion of Soul Society, Mayuri attempts to search for the ryoka and use them as test subjects. During the search Mayuri meets Uryū Ishida, the grandson of Sōken Ishida, and Uryū is angered by the truth of his grandfather's death. Uryū then fights Mayuri, and, although at first unsuccessful, manages to defeat Mayuri through his ransōtengai and the removal of his sanrei glove, though Mayuri escapes with his zanpakutō's final ability. Shortly after he uses this particular ability, Nemu thanks Uryū for not shooting him through the head (a chest wound being the prompt for its use), implying that anything less would be incapable of killing him. Alternatively, she may have simply been referring to the quickest method of death he could inflict, as any wound preventing him from stabbing himself would prevent use of the ability.
Mayuri again reappears during the Bount invasion of Karakura Town, and, wanting a Bount test subject, sends Nemu to give Uryū an artifact that will give him his Quincy powers back temporarily, though this later proves unsuccessful in allowing the Bount to invade the Seireitei, leading the other captains to suspect him of treason. Mayuri proves his loyalty by defeating one of the Bount, Sawatari, though he is left severely injured (mostly due to the fact that he was trying to capture Sawatari alive at first).
Mayuri later appears in Hueco Mundo to assist Renji Abarai and Uryū in dealing with Szayel Aporro Granz alongside his lieutenant Nemu. Mayuri's looks have changed since his last appearance; his ear attachments have become shorter and rounder, his chin has a longer attachment (much like the beard of an Egyptian pharaoh), and he no longer wears a hat. The hair beneath is styled into "horns", which when viewed from the front looks much like a pharaoh's crown, and his face paint has a different style as well.
Szayel attempts to use his zanpakutō's voodoo ability, but Mayuri negates it by using fake organs, having studied the technique beforehand using data from bacteria he implanted within Uryū during their last battle. Szayel takes Nemu captive, but Mayuri releases his bankai and devours Szayel with it. Szayel uses the rebirth power of his zanpakutō to recreate himself inside Nemu, but in doing so is affected by poisons contained in Nemu's body. Mayuri, disappointed at Szayel's lack of any further abilities, explains that by recreating himself inside Nemu, he is now dosed with a sense-enhancing poison. The poison increases Szayel's senses to the point that his body falls grossly behind and cannot move, and Mayuri stabs Szayel's heart with his zanpakutō, breaking off the blade as the ultimate torture. He revives Nemu and has her dig out Szayel's laboratory, within which are a pair of bodies suspended from the ceiling.
Ashisogi Jizō
Mayuri Kurotsuchi's shikai.Mayuri Kurotsuchi's zanpakutō is Ashisogi Jizō (疋殺地蔵, lit. Ksitigarbha's Killer Head, though it has been translated differently, Viz: Leg-Cutting Jizo). Ksitigarbha is a bodhisattva that watches over children and the underworld. In Japan, where he is known as Jizō, he looks rather like a baby dressed as a Buddhist monk. Mayuri's zanpakutō hilt, which appears to be made of folds of metal, is wrapped in cloth, and has several spiky protrusions sticking out right below the blade, which appear to resemble leaves. Unlike most shinigami, his zanpakutō's sheath hangs directly in front of him, instead of to his side as they are commonly worn. Ashisogi Jizō's shikai command is "rip" (掻き毟れ, kakimushire?, can also be translated as "scratch out", Viz: "go get him", English TV: "claw out").
In its shikai, Ashisogi Jizō transforms into a deformed trident with curved, serpentine blades and a guard shaped like a baby's head (as Ksitigarbha is depicted), all mounted on his sword's normal hilt. The weapon spews a poisonous vapor and when Ashisogi Jizō stabs an opponent, the poison cuts off the nerve signals that control limb movement, effectively causing paralysis while allowing the victim to still feel pain. During the Bount arc, it is shown that healing the stab wound doesn't immediately remove the inflicted paralysis.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi's bankai.Ashisogi Jizō's bankai, named Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō (金色疋殺地蔵, lit. Golden Ksitigarbha's Killer Head; Viz: Divine Leg-Cutting Jizō), returns Mayuri's zanpakutō to its sealed state and produces a giant caterpillar in a red cape with a grotesque baby's head and a silver halo. The creature breathes a poisonous derivative of Mayuri's blood which is lethal to anyone who breathes it, aside from Mayuri and Nemu. Mayuri can change the composition of the poison, making any potential cures only viable in one instance. Mayuri has physically modified Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō itself so that it would change into a liquid and return to its sealed state if it were to attack him, implying that it is sentient as well as organic, reminiscent of Captain Retsu Unohana's Minazuki. Numerous blades can also extend from its chest, allowing it to run through opponents.
Mayuri's zanpakutō also has the ability to transform him into a liquid when he stabs himself with its blade. Doing so doesn't kill him, but instead simply leaves him unable to attack or be attacked, making it an effective escape tool. He reforms after a few days. It's uncertain whether this ability is entirely the product of Ashisogi Jizō, since he specifically relates the ability to himself, not opponents. His various physical modifications may have something to do with the effect.
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