General Bio
Full name: 四楓院 夜一
Romanji: Shihouin Yoruichi (*1)
Anime series: Bleach
Age: Unknown; at least 100
Birthday: 1st January
Type: Shinigami (Death God)
Height: 156cm (roughly 5′1″)
Weight: 42 kg (roughly 90 pounds)
Anime Related Information
Nickname: 瞬神 (Shunshin; literally Flash Goddess/God, or the Goddess/God of Flash)
Former Ranks: Supreme Commander of the Secret Mobile Corps; Corps Commander of the 1st Squad, Correction Corps
Current Rank: N/A
Other: 22nd Head of the Shihouin clan (nobility)
Seiyuu: Yukino Satsuki (human); Saito Shiro (cat)
Anime/Manga History
*Warning: This part contains spoilers.
Shihouin Yoruichi first appears as a cat in episode 15 of the anime, a black cat that mysteriously roams around town and ends up at Urahara Kisuke’s store. When she is first introduced, she is noted to be the closest friend of Urahara by Tessai, and no hint is given to her gender.
She is noted to be able to speak at the end of the episode, but with a male voice. Her manner of speaking is rough, and does not fit with the image of a female, hence the mistaken identity of her gender until she decides to reveal her true self.
When Ichigo is learning from Urahara to gain back his Shinigami powers, Yoruichi in turn takes Sado Yasutora and Inoue Orihime for training. She manages to get them to call forth their powers and control them within a short time, and then leads the group of them, including Ishida Uryuu, into Soul Society. She is shown to be very knowledgeable on the ways of Soul Society, including the explanations of the Capturing Thrust during their run from the real world to Soul Society, their location upon reaching Soul Society, Jidanbou’s identity and reputation, as well as recognizing the 3rd Squad’s Captain, Ichimaru Gin.
Later she devises a plan to enter the Court of Pure Souls (hereafter referred to as Seireitei, its Romanized name) using Shiba Kuukaku’s gigantic Kakaku Cannon. Upon entering Soul Society and splitting up, Yoruichi avoids detection by the 13 Squads by traveling around in cat form, yet being able to sense everyone’s reiatsu (spirit power). After Ichigo’s fight with Zaraki, she rescues him and reveals her true form for the first time. She also tells him she was able to save him using a precious object that is one of its kind. When Ichigo asks her exactly who she is, she does not get the chance to reply before they sense Kuchiki Byakuya’s reiatsu, and Ichigo immediately sets off for his location.
She stops Byakuya from releasing his sword at the peak of the fight, coming in between Ichigo and Byakuya. Byakuya then relates her former ranks, and goes on to say that he has not seen her in a century. Yoruichi then punches a strong drug into Ichigo to force him unconscious, and escapes from Byakuya’s clutches using her patented Shunpo (Flash Step) techniques. At the end, she asks Byakuya to catch up with her if he can, but that “Shunshin Yoruichi is still far from being caught from the likes of you.” Here, Shunshin refers to her nickname as the Goddess of Flash, implying that she is the fastest of all in Soul Society. The relation previously shared between Yoruichi and Byakuya is still unknown at this point but it can be reckoned that she was once his teacher in the art of stepping (step here refers to the fast movement techniques employed by higher level Shinigami, normally of at least a seated rank and higher in a squad).
She then brings Ichigo to a special training place to start his Ban Kai training, revealing her information of Soul Society, Shinigami ways and other related matters to be really deep. Bringing Ichigo through his training successfully, she then lends him a Sky Walker cloak to allow him to save Kuchiki Rukia, and engages Soi Fon, her previous closest subordinate and the current 2nd Squad Captain, in mortal combat. During the battle, Soi Fon reveals that Yoruichi comes from a noble clan, that of the armorer Shihouin. Though initially gaining the upper hand in the battle, Soi Fon comes to a point where she releases a technique that is so new, “I have yet to give it a name”. Yoruichi then says, “No, it has a name.”
It turns out Yoruichi had already developed the technique even before she left the 13 Squads. The technique is called Shunkou (Flash Cry), and is a combination of kidou (demon magic) and hand combat arts. She proves to be far better than Soi Fon in the art, despite saying that she is still unable to control it very well. In Soi Fon’s flashback of their history, she idolized Yoruichi to the point of worship, but is devastated to find Yoruichi gone one day without asking her along. Yoruichi wins the fight as Soi Fon collapses into an emotional breakdown.
Upon receiving the message that Aizen Sousuke had betrayed the 13 Squads, Yoruichi and Soi Fon arrive in time to stop Aizen from unsheathing his sword and doing his patented Complete Hypnosis (Kanzen Sainin in Romanized version). They fail to stop Aizen as the Menos Grande brings down Negation. Yoruichi first recognizes Negation was coming and asks Soi Fon to get away, further proof of her long experience.
When the Espada Ulquiorra Schiffer and Yami first appear in Karakura Town, Yoruichi turns up at the last moment to save Ichigo by defeating Yami, but takes damage from Yami simply by hitting him, due to his steel hard skin. She then later eats a lot of food to make up for her injuries, and informs Urahara that the Arrancar were far stronger than they previously thought.
To this point Yoruichi has yet to appear further in the manga or anime, but a reference to her art is made when Byakuya faces off with Septima Espada, Zommari Leroux. Byakuya uses the technique called Cicada, which he mentions is taught to him by Yoruichi. Cicada is the same technique Yoruichi used to escape Byakuya’s last slash when she rescued Ichigo.
Description
Despite her noble background, Yoruichi does not act like one, preferring to be rough and rowdy in behavior most of the time. She reveals her manner in her speech and actions, and also her confidence in her own abilities is expressed, for she is still able to fight well despite not having been in combat for a hundred years. She is also rather down-to-earth.
Her prowess is revealed aptly by referring to her nickname, Shunshin, and her godlike abilities in the stepping arts. She is also a master at hand-to-hand combat, and during a flashback of the explanation of the secret training grounds that she brought Ichigo to, she is shown to be holding a Zanpakutou during the time she was training with Urahara in the 13 Squads. She does not seem to have one now though only time can tell.
According to Kubo Taito, the series creator, Yoruichi likes to drink milk, which is in accordance with her transformation into a cat. Yoruichi’s original hair color as quoted in the manga was dark blue. This can also be seen in episode 31’s ED animation, where they show Yoruichi fighting against Soi Fong. It is unknown why her hair color was changed to purple in the final anime rendition.
Yoruichi is a beloved character to many male readers, for her unabashed personality and friendliness. In a sense, she can be considered essential to the Bleach series in terms of appeal, unique charm, knowledge, and power.
Miscellaneous Information
There is one known figure of Yoruichi, that of the Excellent Model series of Bleach, Part 3, by Mega House, a 1/8 scale PVC figure. Unfortunately Mega House did not do a good job on the face and her overall pose in this only known human figure of Yoruichi. The face does not look like her, while even though her top is removable, there is no real reason to get this figure of Yoruichi. The finishing was not well done, and the figure is fragile for a PVC-type.
Other Links
BleachExile Shihouin Yoruichi Profile (written as well by me)
Wikipedia’s Shihouin Yoruichi Article
*1: Another Romanized version, that appears to be the official, is Shihoin, without a “u”.
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She soo friggin hot!!
soifon’s better
LORD UIRUU’s last post: Ookami Kakushi
Yoruichi Shihouin is the hotest womem ever drown
wow.