For all Soi Fon fans.
Soifon (砕蜂, pinyin: Sùifeng) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo. She is the leader of the special forces (隠密機動, onmitsukidō?) and the captain of the 2nd Division in the Gotei 13. Her lieutenant is Marechiyo Ōmaeda. She placed 16th in the 3rd popularity poll, trailing Uryu Ishida with nearly 120 votes and surpassing Rangiku Matsumoto by more than 250 votes.
Character outline
Soifon is staunchly loyal, firm, and unbending in her beliefs. She is a hard worker and takes a strong moral stand — she particularly believes in following orders. She is generally reserved and not arrogant like her lieutenant. She will not hesitate in the slightest to strike down even her subordinates if they stand in her way. Soifon, like most female shinigami, is a member of the Shinigami Women's Association. In a V-Jump comic, she and Kiyone Kotetsu manage to pin Jūshirō Ukitake to a post in order to snap pictures of him for the association's calendar and Kiyone later accompanies her to take pictures of Yoruichi (see below).
Underneath her standard shinigami captain uniform, Soifon wears the special forces leader's uniform, which has no sleeves or covering for the back. The reason the shoulders and the back are exposed is because of Soifon's ability to use shunkō (flash cry), an advanced technique that combines hand to hand combat and kidō and causes high spiritual pressure to accumulate at the shoulders and back, blasting away the fabric at the shoulders and back. Her hair is worn short with two long braids covered in cloth.
A running gag in Bleach, mainly in the omake chapters, is Soifon's obsession and admiration for Yoruichi Shihouin, the former leader of the special forces and her mentor, which may extend into romantic feelings, but could also be seen as intense hero/heroine worship. She also seems to like anything that resembles a black cat, which is Yoruichi's preferred form to the extent of collecting cat-related items. During a Valentine's Day omake, Soifon tries to give Yoruichi a heart-shaped box of chocolate, but fails to when Yoruichi switches to her feline form. In another omake chapter, the Gotei 13 are asked to give ideas for a shinigami video game. Soifon suggests a game with herself and Yoruichi as the main characters. During a meeting of the Shinigami's Woman Association, Soifon suggests that they start using a cellphone that has a direct single line to Yoruichi so she can "talk to Yoruichi-sama as much as she wants." During Soifon's momentary visit to the real world, she expresses dismay at Yoruichi's living conditions at the Urahara Shop and comments to Kisuke Urahara that if anything happens to Yoruichi she will make him pay. In episode 117, Soifon is seen fawning over pictures of Yoruichi - even one where she's eating like a glutton.
Suzumebachi
The released form of Soifon's zanpakutō, Suzumebachi.
The released form of Soifon's zanpakutō, Suzumebachi.
Soifon's zanpakutō is Suzumebachi (雀蜂, lit. Hornet). In its sealed form, it resembles a wakizashi with a yellow hilt reminiscent of a Chinese dao. Unlike most shinigami, she wears it horizontally on her lower back. Its shikai is triggered by the command "Sting all enemies to death!" (尽敵螫殺, jinteki shakusetsu?, Viz: "Spider enemy's killing strike", earlier translations: "Finish the enemy with your deadly sting!", "Kill instantly, exhaust quickly").[1]
In its shikai, Suzumebachi shrinks into a stinger that is worn on the middle finger of Soifon's right hand. When Soifon stabs someone with Suzumebachi, a butterfly symbol called a hornet's crest (蜂紋華, hōmonka?) spreads from the point of contact, its abdomen acting as the center. If Soifon stabs the same location again, her opponent dies, regardless of how powerful they may be. The crests are maintained by Soifon's will and are impossible to remove unless she wills it; when Yoruichi was still running the special forces, Soifon could only maintain the crests for half an hour.
In the anime's Bount arc, Soifon explains that Suzumebachi's ability is caused by a type of venom it secretes, which also acts as a handy counter-poison as well; however, in using it this way, she must stab herself with her weapon, making her as susceptible to its original effect as her enemies. The Bount arc also marks the first time she is seen killing someone with Suzumebachi. The Bount Mabashi manages to survive for slightly longer than two minutes when stabbed the second time, which can be attributed to Mabashi's enhanced power due to the large number of spirit particles in Soul Society. In contrast, Suzumebachi's second hit is instantly fatal to one of the "Dark Ones" in Bleach: Memories of Nobody.
