Mariko Kurozaki [APPROVED; 0-3]

Name: Mariko Kurozaki (Elegant Woman, Black Edge)
True Age: 375
Appearance Age: 20
Gender: Female
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 125

Appearance:


Personality: Mariko is a woman who wants her revenge. After watching her mother die, Mariko decided that there was one thing she would do to avenge the suffering her mother was unrightfully forced to experience. Mariko was going to kill the Captain Commander of the group called Gotei Thirteen. Mariko doesn't know what this man looks like or this man's name. She only knows his position and that has given her a target. Her mother explained that he is a very powerful man who had been able to hold his rank for over a thousand years, so Mariko understands that she had a fight on her hands. She doesn't care. She must make this Captain Commander understand the suffering he caused her and her mother for their entire lives. He must pay for his crime and he will.

Mariko is a very one-track-minded woman. Although she can be as normal and fun as the next person, she does not let her own wants and desires get in the way of her overall goals. She keeps herself focused at all times and trains her body in ways that other people are not used to at all. Training has gotten harder and harder for her because of how skilled she's gotten, so she has come up with very creative ways to teach her body. One of these ways is actually pissing off a pack of wolves or a heard of lions just to make them chase her. Why does she do this? Because she's "human" and can make anyone else be "human" as well. She is a very unexpected opponent and she understands this, so training her body as a human is the one way she can get the advantage in battle.

Mariko is surprisingly honor bound. Even with her goal of taking out the leader of one of the most important groups in either realms, she is one of those women who speaks of honor and justice. Mariko is someone who doesn't go back on her word and always tries to do what's right. She's not the "greater good" type of person, but she won't intentionally harm someone. She doesn't find honor in betraying her friends and family because it might save thousands of people from harm. If she could do both, she will, but if she can't, she will protect the people she's already bonded with enough to protect. There is no honor in betrayal. This is a big lesson that she learned from her Mother over the years and had concreted into her mind by the idiotic man she knew as her Father: Sousuke Aizen.

"What is there to think of him beyond 'he was a fool'? He was a man that could have been loved by those who surrounded him, but chose a dark path. He decided he was powerful enough to go up against the Gotei and is now dead. He thought he should be at that top; he's not. Now, when people ask about 'Sousuke Aizen', they become angry and disgusted. If he had not betrayed his friends, his death would have been mourned and people would miss him. And now, with his betrayal, when he died, no one mourned him, no one missed him. Instead, they cheered, partied, and moved on with their lives like nothing happened. My Father, in all of his power, was nothing but a nuisance."

Beneath all of the anger and beneath the need for revenge, what Mariko is like might actually surprise a few people. The fact is, Mariko is downright adorable. She keeps this serious and dangerous act while in battle and suddenly turns into this focused master of the martial arts, but that's not entirely who she is. Out of battle, when she is able to relax, have fun, and just be herself, Mariko has a cheerful personality. She is often a little silly and enjoys joking around, having fun with friends, and being active. Mariko cannot just sit still. She has to be doing something. If she's not doing something, she gets anxious. It's not that she gets bored when relaxing or anything like that. Mariko is just a very active person, with a very active mind, and an even more active body that cannot sit still.

Character Background: Mariko's story doesn't begin with her birth. In fact, it begins over three hundred years ago with her Mother, Father, and two men that greatly wronged them all. Mariko's mother was named Shigure Kurozaki. She was a beautiful, black haired, violet eyed young woman. She was very gentle and kind to everyone that was kind to her, and then some. Shigure was liked by all, loved my many, and in love with one. She was in love with Sousuke Aizen. The two cared very much for each other and soon fell in love. Not long after that, Shigure became pregnant. She thought everything was going well for her, but in falling in love with Aizen, she broke the heart of another.

Otojiro Fujimura had been in love with Shigure for quite some time, but was rejected because her heart belonged to someone else. Anger and bitter over never being given a chance, the two of them stopped talking. When Otojiro found out that Aizen was the man he had been beaten by, he decided to get his revenge. Otojiro had told Aizen many times before that he cared for Shigure, so he felt betrayed and lied to. He was unaware of the fact that Aizen and Shigure had been interested in each other even before then. Either way, after some careful planning, Otojiro began to send rumors throughout the first division about an attempt on Captain Commander Yamamoto's life.

Over time, the rumors did reach Yamamoto's ears and he sent a squad out to investigate. It was easy to plant information for the squad of investigators to find. They reported back that they found evidence of an attempted assassination being planned by Shigure Kozaki. Everything just went very, very wrong. Otojiro could not figure out what happened. Why were they targeting Shigure? They were supposed to target Aizen. Otojiro had not realize that Aizen had been out on mission for the past week and therefore could not have been implicated in the plot. Otojiro was then forced to sit back and watch the woman he loved be chased from the Soul Society after denying the accusations.

Shigure never returned. For years, she was forced to hide in the world of the living to protect her daughter from the constant onslaught of Shinigami who attempted to assassinate her. After her baby was born and she was found again, she pleaded with one of the men who came to kill her to just leave her be and that she would never return. Seeing the newborn baby, the Shinigami agreed and reported her dead. After two years of "searching" for the "criminal" Shigure Kurozaki, they had finally found her and ended her life. Upon hearing this news, Aizen became angrier and more bitter than Otojiro had ever thought. Thinking the woman he loved was dead, he began his plotting.

Unaware of anything going on in the Soul Society, Shigure took care of Mariko to the best of her ability. Once they were no longer being chased, Shigure tried to settle down in a small town, but the fact that she didn't age and wasn't even seen by many became a problem. She took Mariko out into the forest and began raising her there, but that was extremely uncomfortable and unhealthy for a growing child. As Mariko grew, her mother slowly began getting sick. Shigure kept this secret from Mariko, pretending that everything was fine and started training her to be a Shinigami. At first, things were hard and they only got harder. It didn't help that they lived on an island alone.

As Mariko grew, her mother became sicker. As Mariko was trained, her mother became weaker. She asked her Mom to stop the training, but Shigure refused. She was convinced that Mariko would need the training some time in her life. She somehow knew she was dying and didn't want her daughter defenseless. After years of watching it happen, Shigure finally died. Mariko was left alone, angry, and bitter. She moved off of the island and continued her training elsewhere. She started off in Japan, learning the martial art of Jujitsu and beginning her training with a sword. While training, she found something that her mother kept to herself, a book addressed to her.

The letter explained to Mariko quite a few things that she was not expecting. A lot of this stuff she knew, but her mother had never gone into too much detail over it. A few of the things she learned from the book were about the Shinigami, the Captain Commander, and her Father. There was an extra letter in one of the pages that begged Mariko not to seek revenge and just to live her life happy. How could she do such a thing? She would continue living her life in this world alone, watching all the humans that didn't know what she was die off as she stayed the same. This fact drilled at the back of Mariko's mind and only caused more problems. The only people she could relate to, she hated.

Mariko continued her travels and kept her training. She ended up in Korea to learn Taekwondo and then migrated to France to learn Savate. Why was she doing this? Because she had a new goal. She was going to get revenge for her Mother's suffering and take out the Captain Commander of the Gotei Thirteen. She looked through the book for a name or something to help her figure out how to get to the Soul Society, but never found anything. It was obvious that her mother was very careful when she wrote all of this out. Shigure knew how Mariko would react and how to prevent her daughter from starting a war that she'd lose. Too bad she took after her Father in some aspects...

Note: This background will become much more detailed and written out over time. I want this character done and it would drive me absolutely insane to finish the background in full, so I will be writing it out in much more detail on the side.


Unreleased Abilities:

Martial Arts: Mariko is a very flexible person who has trained her body to work in ways that normal humans aren't often able to achieve. She would be considered a master of these martial arts styles: Savate (French), Taekwondo (Korean), and Jujitsu (Japanese). And with these three styles, she has been able to create her own style, combining the devestating strikes of Savate and Taekwondo with the grappling techniques of Jujitsu. She uses this style to destroy her opponent after putting him at a disadvantage, usually by tossing him to the ground. Although this style is not perfect, what she knows and what she uses in battle are sections of the style that she has perfected.

Swordsmanship: It became obvious to Mariko that she was not going to be able to learn any of the Shinigami arts, so there was only one thing she could do. Like her training with human martial arts, she did the same with her swordsmanship. Mariko has become quite masterful with one sword and just as good with the two she calls her Zanpakutō. Mariko usually tries to keep to a single sword, but when she feels that she is at a disadvantage, unlike most people, she is skilled enough with two swords that bringing out the second makes her have an easier time in battle. Mariko's reflexes are way, way above average, so being able to fight with two swords comes easier to her.

Hoho: N/A
Zanjutsu: N/A
Kidō: N/A
Hakuda: N/A

Immunity: This is both a blessing and a curse, depending on the situation that Mariko is in. Because of how her power works and how her Zanpakutō has been shaped, Mariko has become completely immune to any abilities that are made through the use of Reiryoku. Yes, this means she is completely immune to Kidō, cero, bala, and any other energy based attack. This does not mean she can't be harmed by a physical item just because it's filled with Reiryoku. Although this does protect her from attacks made with Reiryoku, this also means 2 very bad things for her. The first is that she cannot be healed through healing Kidō. Any wound she receives has to heal normally. The second thing is that the speedy healing, super speed, super strength, and high durability that Shinigami are able to use is something that is completley out of Mariko's reach. Although she is a Shinigami, because of her abilities she is not much different than a human. The upside is that she can make you no different than a human too.

Zanpakutō: Dual Wielding...


Zanpakutō Release Phrase: Whisper
Other Weapons: None


Zanpakutō Spirit Name: Shizukana (静かな, Quiet)
Zanpakutō Spirit Appearance:


Zanpakutō Spirit Personality: Shizukana is a little strange, often seeming a little twisted and sadistic. She has no problem causing Mariko pain if it means she gets her point across and pushes Mariko to her breaking point. If Mariko wants to beat the best, she needs to be the best. There's only one way to do that and Shizukana can get her there, as long as Mariko does exactly Shizukana says. Unfortunately, both of them are stubborn and often bump heads. The only reason the two of them seem to get along is because neither of them wish to die and have a very strong belief for justice and honor. If either feels someone has been wronged, they'll fight.
Zanpakutō Spirit's World: Mariko's inner world consists of an endless ocean. This ocean has a flat square that is harder than steel and about half a mile long and wide, which is where she always appears when visiting her inner world. This slab of steel land never moves and is seemingly unbreakable. This is where she trains with her Zanpakutō spirit. No powers are ever used here. If it's tried, the energy is negated immediately. If Mariko happens to fall off, she is enveloped by the ocean around. The ocean around is very, very thick. The water is unswimmable because of how thick and heavy the water is and it's waves are always harsh. She has to figure out a way to use her own strength and speed to get out of the water or risk drowning. Upon drowning, she is kicked from her inner world.

Shikai Name: Haiiro no ryōiki (灰色の領域, Gray Area)
Shikai Appearance: Her shikai has no appearance, only an effect. The effect is stated below.
Shikai Abilities: Mariko's shikai is a much smaller version of her bankai, allowing her to create an "arena" of sorts. Mariko's "Gray Area" is an area around herself that completely nullifies and negates people's ability to use their Reiryoku.

When Mariko's shikai is activated, it lays claim to the area that she is standing in, creating an "arena" of sorts, that negates any person's use of Reiryoku, preventing them from using any "inhuman" abilities that their power allows them to access. The area in which Mariko's shikai lays claim to depends on what type of area she is in. If she activates her shikai within a building, she lays claim to that building. If she activates it in a field that is surrounded by forest, than she lays claim to the field and it stops at the edge of the forest. Most of this will be decided within thread, but she is unable to claim an area that is over one mile in diameter. All effects are the same as her bankai, just in a much smaller area. Fight this woman head to head, or not at all: The choice is yours.

Bankai Name: Teiden (停電, Blackout)
Bankai Appearance: There is no change in appearance when bankai is activated. It still has no appearance, only an effect that is stated below.
Bankai Abilities: Blackout is exactly how it sounds: a black out. It doesn't take out electricity though, no. Instead, it completely negates and nullifies the ability to use Reiryoku. To explain exactly how this power works, you need to understand what Reiryoku is.

As it is said on the Bleach Wiki, "Reiryoku (霊力, Spiritual Power) is a power aligned with the spiritual sensitivity and willpower of the user. It is used by Shinigami and other spiritual beings to provide power for their various abilities. Every spiritual being and every Human has a certain amount of Reiryoku. If this amount is higher than a certain degree, it grants the person superhuman abilities. Those with such an above-average level of Reiryoku are very rare among living Humans. It seems to be that the most basic ability that Humans with a higher level of Reiryoku have is the ability to see ghosts. Shinigami are essentially souls in Soul Society with very high levels of Reiryoku who receive special training to utilize their powers. Hollows and other spirits use their Reiryoku to catch their prey."

By this definition, every ability that Shinigami, Hollow, Arrancar, Human, and all other races with spiritual power use (Kidō, shunpo, bala, cero, and even Zanpakutō), are completely dependent on the amount of Reiryoku that they have and are able to use. So what happens when someone completely negates and nullifies the ability to use this? They're all no different than regular humans. Any "inhuman" abilities, such as super strength, speed, and durability, are also negated because the person is no longer able to access what makes them "super human". The ability to use things like Kidō, hoho, bala, cero, magics of any kind, sense other people and their energies, or even activate the Zanpakutō are completely prevented by Mariko's bankai.

There are two ways in which Mariko's bankai can be activated. The first way is after preparation. Mariko can choose to take her time and set up a massive area that she will soon turn into "her zone". She does this by running her Zanpakutō along around the area she wishes to control. The longer she takes, the bigger area she can choose to take control of. The catch is, she always has to connect the two ends. She has to make sure point A connects to point B. She then steps inside the area she has claimed and then activates her bankai.  The second way is instant and all of the same effects that will be stated below are applied The only difference is that she only cover a maximum of three miles in diameter from the activated position. And no, the area does not keep her centered.

Upon the activation of Mariko's bankai, it feels like nothing has happened. There is no energy release to be noted until something happens. Mariko must step into the area that she has designated as "her zone". Once she steps into "her zone", Mariko releases a massive overwhelming blast of her own Reiryoku. This blast is sent out in all directions within "her zone" at a high speed, quickly covering the entire zone within 5 seconds of it's activation; the closer you are to her, the quicker your power will seem to fade. Although this wave of Reiryoku can be felt, it cannot be seen. It does no physical harm to anyone caught in the blast, but people will suddenly feel much weaker. In fact, they will realize that they can't access any part of their power. If a human can't do it, then neither can anyone caught within Mariko's bankai.

Of course, this does not go without sacrifice on Mariko's part. By activating her bankai and preventing anyone else from being able to use their Reiryoku, she has done the same to herself. As she has made everyone within "her zone" normal-human-like, she too is on this level. This is why she has trained herself to fight without these powers for so long. While Shinigami and the rest of the races rely on their power to train and advance their abilities, she has not. Her bankai forces people to fight her on perfectly even ground. No extra power, just the skill they've collected over the years of training. Though, since she's used to moving her own body without the assistance of Reiryoku and most of the people that she fights are not, she knows she's constantly got herself at an advantage. Some people feel that shooting from outside of Mariko's zone might help, but the moment that the attack enters her zoned area, it is eaten/destroyed/negated/nullified by the effects of her bankai. Either fight her face to face, or not at all. The choice is yours.