WMG / Bleach Shikai Confirmed

These are Wild Mass Guesses for the series Bleach Shikai Edition which have been confirmed by the series or by Word of God. If a WMG on one of the open pages is confirmed, please move it here.

Please add new confirmed entries to the bottom of the page.

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Ichigo becoming even more crazy powerful was just as planned

People are talking about how it was stupid of Ulquiorra to let Ichigo live because of his "garbage" status instead of simply killing him. But recall back in the story, after Ulquiorra returns from his survey of Ichigo, he says something along the lines of "If he doesn't self-destruct, he may prove useful to us in the future." Unless I'm incorrect, we still haven't seen what he meant by that. Perhaps Aizen is planning on using Ichigo's new form as a sort of sleeper agent power, waiting for the right moment and then either causing his Hollow side to flip out and try to destroy everyone or activating some sort of control, causing Ichigo to pull a Face–Heel Turn against his will.And following in that vein...

• It was.

Aizen has already Hollowfied himself

The apparent climax of the Fake Karakura Town arc will involve Aizen on the ropes, scorched half to death by Yamamoto's Bankai. While he snarls something like, "*** you, old man!", the Captain-General will say something terribly wise and get ready to finish him off. As he moves in for the kill, Aizen will smirk villainously and say, "Only joking," then proceed to don his Hollow mask and absolutely destroy Yamamoto (then fight against Shinji).

• Well, they did say the Hogokyu 'broke down the barriers between Shinigami and Hollow', so it makes sense it could make Vizards as well as Arrancar. I'd bet good money he's probably Hollowfied Gin and Tousen too.
  • This may very well be confirmed (for Tosen, at least) if his boasting about a "higher power" proves true◊.
    • Housten, we have proof. Now, what about Gin?
  • What Aizen's done with the Hogokyu up to this point makes sense from the perspective that he's testing it on others before trying it himself.

The top four Espada are Vasto Lordes

Aside from the fact that Ulquiorra's released form looks almost identical to the silhouette shown when Hitsugaya is explaining the different Menos classes to Ichigo (sans the wings), Aizen seems (or seemed; we've not seen him for a while) pretty confident that the Espada he's brought to the false Karakura town with him will be enough to beat the crap out of the captains and lieutenants who've shown up to stop him. Ulquiorra's demonstrated that he has two release stages, and in spite of what he says, there's every possibility that the three Espada in front of him can do the same thing.

• Don't forget, Four Is Death. So, it would make a lot of sense.
• Wonderweiss Margera is also likely to be a Vasto Lorde.
  • Another point in favour: when Arrancar release their weapons, they take their original Hollow form. Of the releases we've seen, only Ulquiorra and Halibel have humanoid releases, which is a characteristic of the Vasto Lordes (Szayel was really more of a helicopter-octopus-thing).
    • Barragan and Stark are also humanoid in their release states, especially Stark. More evidence to support the theory.
• It would also explain why the top four are so powerful than they're forbidden to release inside of Las Noches.
• I'll repost what I said on the Headscratchers page about this:
  What we know about the Vasto Lorde is that they are "stronger than an average captain". We know that Ichigo is captain strength. He got utterly curb-stomped by Ulquiorra (before Uber-Hollow form)—so Ulquiorra fits the bill of being more powerful than a captain (if we assume that Ichigo's Hollowification and Ulquiorra's Shinigamification essentially cancel each other out, then what we're left with is a comparison of Ichigo's Shinigami power and Ulquiorra's Hollow power). The ones above them fit the bill as well: Barragan couldn't be brute-force killed by a captain AND a vizard kido master put together. Hitsugaya landed, at best, a few scratches on Harribel and ice clone aside, he'd be dead. Starrk is doing pretty well against TWO captain-class Vizards. Really, how powerful do they have to be for people to believe that those guys are VL?
  So yeah, I think there's a strong case to be made that the top four Espada are Vasto Lorde.
  • it's pretty much confirmed they were. According to the anime Halibel was a Vasto Lorde. So were Barragan and Starrk. Also, the databook says they are.
  • Where does it say this? I know about the anime episode about Harribel's past which confirms her VL status, but I've just looked on The Other Wiki, and in their articles on the Databooks, the characters in question make no mention of them being VL. Do you have a link to where this is stated?

The Hogyoku continued to have effects even while sealed in Rukia

Ichigo first became a shinigami by absorbing Rukia's powers; his Hollow side might be the result of him accidentally absorbing some of the Hogyoku's energy as well. Also note that Chad's Hollow powers awakened when he was with Rukia.

• But IIRC Rukia didn't have the Hougyoku when she gave her power to Ichigo. And Ichigo's Hollow side is likely the result of Urahara cutting his soul chain or whatever it's called. Urahara said Ichigo would either become a Hollow or a Shinigami. He first emerged with a mask, then tore it off—but apparently it stuck.
  • Sort-of confirmed.

Yammy and Ulquiorra are more powerful than their ranks suggest.

Ulquiorra claims that he's never let anyone else, even Aizen, see his second release form, which is not only much stronger than his initial release, but also inflicts crushing despair on his enemies (Necron pariah anyone?). Yammy, despite losing an arm to Ichigo in their first encounter, doesn't seem the least bit afraid of him after he took several levels in Badass. Ulquiorra even said that Yammy's biggest weakness is his brutish nature, implying that his low rank is due more to his low intelligence than his lack of strength.

• While I certainly suspect this is true for good ol' emocar, I don't think it's true for Yammy. The brutish, ridiculously overconfident bad guy who gets owned in 2 seconds is almost mandatory in Shonen. And I had thought that the "crushing despair" was Ulquiorra shooting a big ol' hole in Ichigo's chest.
  • Actually, this could be true to Yammy as well. Otherwise, how else would anyone explain him shoving off Hitsugaya's shikai without even using his sword? And no, any arguments about 'Hitsugaya is a weakling who should just die' will not be accepted to the argument. Likewise, when snapping Lolly and Menoly, he wasn't even trying. And IIRC, during his fight against Urahara, he didn't receive any serious wounds, unlike that one incident when Ichigo suddenly released his Hollow form. Ulquiorra was right, though, Yammy was ranked the lowest because of his idiocy; had he been a Genius Bruiser instead, he might be the '0 Espada' as all those fans hyped or theorized jokingly.
    • Wow. Yammy might be the 0 Espada. I couldn't make this up if I tried.
    • No kidding. This has been confirmed. Yammy is the 0 Espada, thus validating one Hell of an Epileptic Tree theory. Many cannot decide whether this is Crazy Is Cool or not. Regardless, some take this as a sign that Kubo does, indeed, read the fan forums.
    • Kubo could very well be a troper, and be writing some of the theories for people to be bemused and surprised it actually happened, as I proposed below. Not completely impossible, he does write rather well in English, as chapter titles with Engrish in it are rather rare.
    • For those who don't believe (or don't want to believe), here's a link. Obviously, MASSIVE SPOILERS on Chapter 354.
    • This (spoiler warning)◊
    • This troper thinks that this was planned all along, for the simple reason that, with the exception of Grimmjow, the Espada are killed off in order 9-8-7-5-4-3-2...
    • And Aaroniero, Número 9, was the only Gillian among the Espadas. For an Adjuchas to be lower-ranked than a Gillian, something was really, really off...
    • AND (a thing that bugged this troper, but he put it down to Fridge Logic): the more powerful an Arrancar is, the more human it looks. Aaroniero has a pair of faces in a jar as his head, so if Yammy really was less powerful, he should've looked even more freaky.
• Note that just because Ulquiorra thought Aizen was unaware of his 2nd release form doesn't mean it's true. I doubt there's very much at all that Aizen is unaware of.
  Well, I sincerely doubt Yammy is the strongest espada now that we've seen him in action. Kenpachi has cut off his leg and his fingers without much effort. Yammy's attacks haven't done jack shit to Kenpachi, either. Next chapter I can see Yammy getting his arm cut off or killed.
  • We're talking about Zaraki here. He'd probably be able to slice up the soutaichou himself if not for that pesky burning of all creation to ashes bit.

Isshin knew Ichigo was going to get involved sooner or later

Note his constant attacking his son. The morning after the first episode, what did Issin say? "I have nothing left to teach you", indicating that his "eccentricity" was obfuscation to hide preparing his son so he'd survive the upcoming battles. This is also why he is so much more protective of his daughters—any training they've picked up is unintentional.

• This one has essentially been confirmed since Isshin's conversation with Ishida Ryuuken in chapter 241. In fact, canon's gone one step beyond the guess by suggesting that Ryuuken's aware of this as well (and takes a very different stance on Uryuu's involvement).
• More supporting evidence: Ichigo's name. I know that you can read it as "Firstborn Guardian", and it is possible that Isshin thought that was a good name for his eldest son. But it's more likely that Isshin took his cues from Johnny Cash songs and named his son "Strawberry" on purpose...so that he'd become a good fighter by kicking the rear of anyone who points out that he's got a girl's name. Hey, if it worked for Sue...
  • Didn't work really well for Ichigo, though. Seems like he's so used to it that he practically shrugs it off.

Aizen found the Vasto Lorde after all

At the moment, Aizen's acting far too smug for a guy in his position. After planning his assault for a year, he brings only three Espada, two traitor captains, and a handful of mediocre fracciones to a fight with six captains, eight lieutenants, and ultimately seven vengeful vizard? Even if Ichigo's father or Urahara and his companions don't get involved, Captain Broken's going to get his ass handed him to him, hypnosword or no. Unless, of course, he's holding something back...

• The reason Aizen is so smug could be because the secret weapon has been staring us in the face for so long. Speculation has said that the top three Espada (and possibly Ulquiorra as well) used to be Vasto Lorde. And now they're Arrancar, which means they would logically be even stronger. If it only takes ten Vasto Lorde to walk all over Soul Society, then I'm sure three former Lorde-now-turned-Arrancar could do some serious damage. Besides, we've yet to really see the top three Espada even do anything...
• What if the Vizard are on his side? Remember, they were supposed to be sentenced to death, so maybe they aren't with SS after all. Plus, he hasn't used his bankai yet.
  • Unless some extremely complicated mindfuck is going on, the vizard are probably no way in Aizen's side... after all, he experimented on them, wanted to kill them, got them banished from Soul Society, and basically ruined their lives. I suppose the vizard are, if anything, on Urahara's side, whichever side that may be.
• Well, this is Aizen we're talking about. At the most dramatically appropriate time, he'll emerge from the curtain of fire and reveal that he finally found and recruited the Vasto Lorde colony alluded to since the beginning of the Arrancar arcs and granted hybrid powers to one or more entities that were already above captain-class.
  • And then he'll step aside to reveal...Wonderweiss Margera.
    • ...which actually makes sense if you think about it. The shinigami have stated that he's strong enough to be an Espada and he looked human before Aizen used the Hogyoku on him, meaning he had to have been a Vasto Lorde and therefore he's at least as strong as Ulquiorra, if not stronger.
    • Confirmed. Wonderweiss just wandered in and started slamming people.
    • It's confirmed that the top 4 were Vasto Lordes all along. Harribel was weakest because she refused to consume other Hollows.

In the next filler arc, Ichigo's Hollow is gonna appear.

As stated above, the next arc is about the Soul Reapers' Zanpakutos rebelling—but in Ichigo's case there's a catch, since his Zanpakuto was already taken over by his inner Hollow.

• I doubt it. The whole "being fused with Hichigo" thing didn't stop him from showing up in Ichigo's subconscious in the first episode. Hichigo wasn't even there. I have a feeling they'll ignore him this season.
  • Both will be released, with Zangetsu remaining on Ichigo's side rather than going rogue. It would be a fun moment when Muramasa sees the unexpected result of his actions being the release an insane captain-class Hollow.
• Confirmed, but with a slight difference. When Muramasa makes Zangetsu turn on Ichigo he doesn't do to well in the fight and his Hollow reappears, taking control of his body (nearly full control from the looks of it). Ichigo eventually gets control back and collapses, but the original theory is correct in results (just not reason).

Aizen is even stronger than we think.

Scary thought, but it could be true. Aizen claims that it takes someone with twice the reiatsu of an average captain to temporarily awaken the sleeping Hogyoku, and then proceeds to do it himself. Why couldn't Gin or Tousen whip out their bankai (which multiplies your reiatsu 5 to 10 times) and use the Hogyoku themselves in order to give Aizen a mask? Because it takes twice the reiatsu level of an average captain while in bankai and Aizen has that much power with a sealed Zanpaktou.

• Who says Aizen couldn't just give himself a mask using the Hogyoku? Most likely, Tousen (as the most disposable of the rogue captains) was used as a prototype of sorts, to make sure the procedure had truly been perfected. Aizen might have already given himself and Gin masks, or he might have been waiting to see how it worked out for Tousen in an actual battle (in which case, it might be back to the drawing board). Also, we don't know that Gin isn't strong enough to awaken the Hogyoku himself. He's strong enough to effortlessly oneshot a masked Vizard, after all.
  • Vaizard don't have Hierro like Arrancar do. That's the only reason the Arrancar are so hard to cut. In order for a shinigami (or Vaizard) to block a blade with any part of their body, they have to be a lot stronger than the person they're blocking. The only shinigami we've ever seen do it are Kenpachi (to Ichigo's shikai) and Aizen (to pre-mask Ichigo and Komamura).
  • Confirmed to a capital T: Throughout the second-to-last battle of the fake Karakura Town, Aizen basically one-shots Komamura, Hitsugaya, Otoribashi, Hitsugaya, Yadomaru, Aikawa, Hirako, and Kyoraku.

Lilynette's last name is not Gingerback.

It's really Gingerbaques. And then Tite Kubo is gonna change it to Gingerbaquez.

• It could be Lilynetter Gingerbach or Rlirlynettoh Djinjarebackah, as the pronunciation doesn't change in Japanese.
• Confirmed. The latest databook spells it "Lilynette Gingerbuck".

The Shonen Plot is Just as Planned.

Yeah. All that train-fight-lose-fight-New Powers as the Plot Demands-win pattern? Aizen had planned that from the beginning to get Ichigo stronger in the quickest way possible.

• If that's true... Tite Kubo, you Magnificent Bastard!
  • Confirmed.

Ichigo's battle with Hichigo/Zangetsu

will be an Offscreen Moment of Awesome.

• It was.

Gin is going to die.

First of all, Redemption Equals Death. Second, keeping him alive is going to be a very messy endeavor. If we assume that even Yamamoto didn't know about this, then Gin's suddenly saying "I'm a good guy!" will be anything but well-received. The moral dilemma alone would be a bitch to write, to say nothing of the aftermath and the fact that nobody saw him do the deed of 414. Worst-case scenario, Gin could turn into another Base-Breaking Character via the Unpleasable Fanbase—if he hasn't, already. Third, and most importantly of all, Gin is arguably one of the last interesting characters left, to say nothing of his oddly high fanbase. In the tradition of Kubo's previous likable villans, be he actually evil or not, he must be killed. Besides, why would any sane author pass up a Died in Your Arms Tonight moment with him and Rangiku?

• And if that happens, he will reincarnate as a game show host or a used car salesman. Because can't you see him as an evil Bob Barker? "Control the pet population, or I will."
• Sad as it is, this has been confirmed. Sniff...

Gin did not actually kill Matsumoto.

He just hid her reiatsu somehow, making Aizen believe he had. We haven't seen Matsumoto be truly kickass yet, so I doubt she's actually dead.

• After all, he just betrayed Aizen. Why would he obey Aizen and kill his childhood friend if he planned to immediately betray him?
  • Because he's a Magnificent Bastard?
• Remember before Soul Society when Byakuya stabbed Ichigo and he had to relearn how to release? Gin did the same thing. With the recent reveal about his bankai, this wouldn't be at all hard for him.
• Confirmed, but he used Kido to knock her out instead of cutting her soul chain.

Aizen isn't as in control of the Hougyokou as he thought.

It's just been in the back of my head, but I can't seem to get rid of the theory that the Hougyokou's trying to take over his body. Yes, I realize that Aizen SAID he was in control, but he's an arrogant prick, and I find it much more likely that the Hougyokou decided to make him its host, take over, and do who-knows-what. We've seen that it's at least somewhat sentient. That's why he keeps going through all those transformations, it's turning him into something it can control.

• I was thinking the exact same thing. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that that was the Hougyokou's plan all along. Admit it, the idea that Aizen might have been the Hougyokou's Unwitting Pawn all along is just too absolutely perfect to not be true.
• Confirmed. It took away his powers once it got fed up with him.

Ichigo will get his power back.

Duh. He has to. He can no longer see the other main-main character Rukia? His White Moon, who dries the rain?◊ Oh, come on. I know Kubo likes to troll the fandom, but this? AND we wouldn't have a series without Ichigo fighting bad guys! The Hougyoku is going to choose him or something is going to happen. (Something troll-worthy of course, that Kubo, but definitely SOMETHING). Oh, and Rukia's going to get a gigai (before his powers come rushing back, that is). No way is she going to stand for Ichigo not being able to see and/or talk to her (though I wouldn't doubt it if she decided to have fun with stalking him, at least a little bit).

• Confirmed, but only in the sense that he regained his powers.

In the end, Aizen will suffer a major breakdown on par with Light Yagami.

Let's face it, Aizen has always planned for just about every contingency that can occur, just like Light, and like Light, Aizen believes that nothing can happen that he cannot turn to his favor, so when something throws Aizen's plans off so completely that he cannot hope to regain control, Aizen will Freak Out BIG TIME, possibly creating all sorts of new memes in the process.

• Confirmed, though it was somewhat less of a Freak Out than Light's.

The anime will get filler when it reaches the Time Skip.

What? Canon has already declared Canon Discontinuity on all filler except maybe the Bount arc (haven't seen it, is it integratable into canon?), so a time skip will seem the perfect spot to insert another Filler Arc.

• Confirmed. At least the first episode before "part 2" will be filler.

Orihime has gotten stronger combat-wise.

The look in her eyes when talking to a character whom she thinks injured Ishida says it all.

• I'd say this is confirmed. Over the time-skip, she's developed new combat techniques, and she's lost most of her timid, pacifist attitude.

Gin will betray Aizen.

Think about it: The chapters lately are called Deicide (Which means "The killing of a god"), Gin has a bankai that's called God-killing spear, and Aizen lately is slowly turning into a true god with the Hougyoku. Plus, Gin never really seemed to care about helping Aizen, so that might also be a hint that Gin's working for an as-of-now unknown third side.

• That would explain the Breaking Speech that he, of all people, just tossed at Ichigo. However... (see next)
• KON-firmed as of 414, but Aizen was revived by the Hogyoku and killed Gin in turn.

Soul Society will save the day, sort of.

Well, Urahara and Isshin have to be doing something important, right? They've probably noticed Tsukishima and requested help from the Soul Society. Obviously, they'll end up sending Rukia and Renji, since they're Ichigo's Shinigami BF Fs. Probably a couple of other fan favourites will be thrown in as well. Urahara, (probably) Isshin and (hopefully) Yoruichi will help them to save Ichigo from Tsukishima. As for whether they'll arrive before Ichigo gets brainwashed by Tsukishima is an entirely different WMG altogether...

• Confirmed: Urahara got the Shinigami captains, lieutenants, and a few others to restore Ichigo's powers, and Ginjo's getting his ass kicked.

Ginjou really is the Big Bad of this story arc.

Because after Lampshade Hanging it that strongly, how could he not be?

• Confirmed, but he shares it with Tsukishima.

The day will be saved by Kisuke Urahara.

Does anyone else find it rather odd that not one, but TWO very powerful shinigami (Urahara and Yoruichi) are inexplicably missing from the major battle going on to protect the town THAT THEY LIVE IN!!! It seems as if Yoruichi, whom we already saw pretty much own Soifon and beat the crap out of Yammy (Ulquiorra even ordered a retreat, apparently fully aware of her and Urahara's level of badass) has completely dropped off the face of the Earth. And Urahara hasn't been seen since sending Ichigo and co. to Hueco Mundo, although he has been mentioned, mostly for building the pillars supporting the Fake Karakura Town. I find it hard to believe that he did all that and decided to sit out of this battle. Besides, I'm sure he has some words for Aizen. At first I thought Shinji would surely beat him for betraying him but it seems that will not happen. So who else has a major grudge against Aizen? Urahara, who actually invented the Hogyoku and was researching Hollow powers even before Aizen. Also, he was framed for Aizen's crimes. Also, Aizen may be completely aware of his coming opponent, and perhaps Gin too. It would explain what the hell he's doing standing on a building playing with himself. Maybe Yoruichi vs. Gin?

• Well, It's not like the remaining group at Fake Karakura Town can possibly beat Aizen unaided. Some form of Big Damn Heroes will need to be pulled off. The problem with said hero being Urahara is that he has probably seen Aizen's Shikai.
• I just assume Yoruichi, Urahara, and Tessai are off trying to find the two people with Captain-class ability who have yet to see Aizen's Shikai, Isshin Kurosaki and Ryuuken Ishida.
  • Indeed, I also thought of that, and it was meant to be included in this, but I somehow forgot to type it by the time I finished. I'm almost completely positive that Isshin has SOMETHING to do with this...
  • Supporting the Isshin Solution (as I called it) is that Aizen was obviously unable or didn't bother keeping track of him. If he had he would have known about Ichigo a lot sooner, and it's even more unlikely that he knows about Ryuuken.
    • Oh, but he did know about Ichigo a lot sooner, as soon as possible in fact: he knew about Ichigo from the moment he was born. Ichigo's whole life went according to Aizen's plan.
  • The only problem is Ryuuken clearly has no interest in fighting anyone or helping the shinigami.
  • Ryuuken remaining in concealment makes more sense in the 1000 Year Blood War arc: he may be the only captain-level non-Shinigami left to surprise the Vandenreich with.
    • Which is why Kisuke will need to do a lot of persuading.
  • So this is like a full blown WMG now? Awesome. ^_^
  • Confirmed. Urahara sealed Aizen, but he gave Ichigo credit for holding Aizen off.

Uryuu is as vulnerable to Tsukishima's Fullbring as the next guy. It's just that Tsukishima hasn't used it on him.

And the reason for that is because he was trying to kill him instead. It might have been a simple case of He Knows Too Much. It could be that Tsukishima knows something about the Quincy and figured, "Hey, this guy can attack me without ever getting close; if something goes wrong he could be a serious threat, so I'd better take him out now." And as of right now he's realized that what he did before didn't do the trick so he's either going to try to finish the job or use his Fullbring on Uryuu.

• Confirmed. It was apparently Ginjo who cut him that time, not Tsukishima.

"Superchunky" isn't the real threat; Wonderweiss is.

Size seems to be inversely proportionate to power in the Bleach universe, with larger enemies often dying easily in Curb Stomp battles (Tesla gets killed in one hit by Kenpachi, Grand Fisher gets killed in one hit by Isshin, Poww gets killed in one hit by Komamura and Allon gets killed easily by Yamamoto—albeit after defeating four lieutenants, and granted, the last one is to Yamamoto) and the Gillian being the largest and weakest kind of Menos. Additionally, the story seems to be setting up Wonderweiss as being a Not-So-Harmless Villain, especially since he seems like the least threatening Arrancar, but has been shown to have Espada-level power readings.

• Not to mention: have you seen the size of Wonderweiss's sword? I mean, I know Isshin said that you can't judge a Shinigami / Arrancar's power by the size of their sword, but seriously, that's like a frikkin' Zweihander.
• The kid just one-shotted Ukitake, so this seems more likely than ever.
• And destroyed Hitsugaya's Ice-Prison by shouting at it.
• Apparently, this is also how he summons a horde of Gillians.
• All the more likely now that Mashiro appears to have killed it.
  • Overall, Confirmed.

Muramasa will be a Fillergami's sword spirit.

And this Fillergami will be shown to have a sword with illusion powers, and that everything he or she did was just a trick to show how vulnerable the Shinigami are, in case Aizen attacks the group.

• It probably is a Fillergami's Zanpakuto but I doubt that the owner will make an appearance, except for flashbacks maybe. Muramasa said that he killed his owner. Unless he's lying of course.
• He lied. His owner is named Kouga—Kuchiki Kouga, the adopted son of Kuchiki Ginrei, Byakuya's grandfather. Considering how odd Byakuya's been acting, it's very likely that a Luke, I Am Your Father moment isn't too far behind.
• Confirmed: Muramasa is a Fillergami's Zanpakutou, but his powers are real, not illusionary, and his master does eventually appear in the present.

Whoever defeats Yammy will do so with considerable ease.

The larger villains tend to go down fairly quickly when they're defeated; Ichigo forced the first Menos Grande to retreat with a single (very powerful) slash, Kenpachi killed Tesla in seconds, and Mashiro destroyed Fura (aka Superchunky) in one kick. This may be the result of their battles being contests of raw power as opposed to having lengthy struggles of agility in battles with smaller combatants. It's most likely that Yammy will dominate Chad, Rukia and Renji at first while they have difficulty even making a scratch on him, but then when help arrives (most likely Unohana), the reinforcements will bring Yammy down in a single extremely powerful attack that somehow instantly takes him from perfect health to death or near death.

• Not a bad theory. It'll be incredibly anticlimatic if it turns out to be true, though.
• Might still happen, since Unohana isn't there yet, but at the moment he is dominating everyone.
• Confirmed: Kenpachi and Byakuya get off with only minor injuries, and Kenapchi calls it a boring fight.

Inner Hollows aren't actually fused with the zanpakutou spirits, its just another part like them.

I'm under the impression that the only source of information regarding the whole "inner Hollows are fused with Zanpakutou" thing is Ichigo's inner Hollow. I'm sorry, but doesn't it seem like the insane, bloodthirsty Hollow might be, you know, lying. Trying to demoralize Ichigo, since that monster certainly won't hesitate to use any weapon he can, not when dominance of the entirety of their soul is at stake. Because it looks like the Hollow is like Zangetsu, a seperate mind which is made from a part of Ichigo's soul.

• Confirmed, at least for Zangetsu to Ichigo.

Tsukishima's powers don't give the same memories to everyone.

His abilities let him change the past of someone, but each person has a different "new past", and, if he tries to brainwash two people who lived the same experiences, the new memories for each will be different. So Ichigo could convince Orihime and Chad/Sado, that the memories are fake if, for example, in Orihime's memories, he was fighting against Yammy the first time Yammyand Ulquiorra appeared, but Chad "remembers" him fighting Ulquiorra

• Confirmed. Then again, it was never stated his powers gave the same memories to multiple people.

Ichigo's mother was a Quincy.

It would explain better how Isshin knew Masaki. She was Ryuuken's older sister, and had Quincy powers as well, but like Ryuuken himself, wasn't interested at using them. She'll appear as a (supposedly) low-level Arrancar to Ichigo and teach a bit more about his inner Hollow, as well as how to incorporate Quincy techniques into his own to defeat Aizen, since, much to her chagrin, Ichigo got involved too much into the battle. Also, it would add even more Squick to IchiIshi and IshiKarin shippings, as they would be cousins.

• Confirmed in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. She was Ryuuken's cousin, not his sister.

Unohana Retsu is not as nice as one may think.

First things first, she's the only one in the 4th Division strong enough to kick serious asses. Then again, Four Is Death, this number just can't be hers by accident. Then, being in the Medical Division can give one a lot of useful info. And when I say a lot, I mean things compromising enough to put the whole Shinigami Academy at check. Then, Aizen could not have forged his own death so perfectly, but she could have given a helping hand. The last thing that bugs me is how the MD can cure many injuries and diseases, and yet, can't cure Ukitake's. He probably knows her secret, and she might be slightly poisoning him, pretending to others she didn't find the cure; if he tells anybody, he dies. So, he doesn't tell anybody, to not make his division short of a powerful captain, and to not worry anybody else, probably not knowing the importance of that (also, it'd be a Take That! to UkiRetsu shippers). It should be noticed that if the King's Key is in Hanatarou's soul, according to above theories, she pretends to pull pranks to make him suffer (possibly mortal) dangers, and take it off from him in an easier manner. Perhaps she might be the Big Bad even behind Aizen, or everything else, and has the perfect disguise for now. Why? I don't know, but she has too much knowledge to be just a nice Team Mom, and Tite Kubo already pulled a Beware the Nice Ones with two treacherous captains. (I bet she has something similar to Aizen when she takes her bad side, but with releasing her hair from the motherly braid instead, of course. But it would make people at the Fetish Fuel go nuts to her new evil, long-black-wavy hair looks.) You can hate me now.

• You might have a point there. There's something in the meaning of her name that I don't remember right now that has to do with red or being bloodthirsty as all hell...
  • "Retsu" means "fervent"... A word with the same character, "retsujo" means a woman with fiery temper and strong sense of justice. Hm.....
  • Her first name is a funny meaning, refuse from tofu. Perhaps she is an evil mastermind because she got refused from a greater position...
• {{Confirmed.}} She happens to be the First Kenpachi.
• Furthermore, she does NOT seem happy to have her dark history dredged up again.Look at her expression here.◊ ABSOLUTELY. TERRIFYING. That one look explains why senior captains like Kyoraku and Ukitake are freaked out when she suddenly appears behind them, it explains why she is the one person Kenpachi respects(read: fears), it explains why even Captain Aizen refused to fight her, it explains why the entire Blood Knight eleventh division pisses themselves if she so much as smiles at them.
• Up until now, all of her smiles could be seen as slightly threatening... And now, we finally know what really lies behind her mask: THIS. Also, the "release her hair from the motherly braid and get a new evil, long-black-wavy hair looks" part was completly spot-on, revealing a class A psycho.

Isshin is a Shiba.

Specifically, he's Ganju, Kuukaku, and Kaien's eldest brother, and the one who disgraced the family, which he did by running off with a human woman. He has Shiba hair, his daughter Karin has Shiba hair, and Kaien, of course, looks exactly like Ichigo. What if he's his uncle?

• While I'm pretty sure this has been guessed before, it would explain why neither Ganju or Kukkaku never thought Icihgo's resemblance to Kaien was weird. They knew Ishhin ran off with a redhead and chose the fake name Kurosaki.
• Confirmed, as of chapter 529! Isshin was the head of the Shiba family, as well as the Captain of the 10th division! Matsumoto was his Vice Captain and Hitsugaya was the 3rd seat.

Unohana's Bankai could be pure Nightmare Fuel

.Her Zanpakuto is said to be second only to Orihime's in healing power. Her offence, according to the databooks, is 100. But if it's a healing zanpakuto with offence of 100... My guess is that it has the power to heal ANY wounds. Not just physical, but anything from bad memories to All the happy moments in their life to any kind of imperfection-including the breaking of a soul chain.

• Or it heals you so hard that it gives you cancer. Nothing like exploding into a lumpy pile of weeping, furry, fanged tumors to take the fight out of someone. And that's just what can happen in some real life cancers; I dunno what would happen when you take into account Ghost Cancer... And a training "accident" with this could also explain why Ukitake is so ill and how come he and Kyoraku are so worried about her temper.
  • Maybe they keep Mayuri around because he's the only guy who might be able to survive after being hit by that kind of attack.
• Confirmed. Skin-melting acid vapor that keeps you alive the whole time.

Isshin is the former 10th squad captain.

The identity of the tenth squad captain prior to Hitsugaya was never determined, and he/she was never shown during Turn Back the Pendulum, so it could have easily been Isshin.

• According to Unohana the former 10th squad captain died on the battlefield. It COULD have been an elaborate scheme by him and Urahara, though.
  • Or, Isshin became captain of squad 10, after the TBTP arc.
    • Makes even more sense in that Hitsugaya's young age and obvious newness to the position. Say Isshin left Soul Society twenty years ago because he "died" and was replaced by Hitsugaya. He quickly found Masaki and had Ichigo within three years of coming to the living world. Isshin doesn't seem like the type who would wait around for fifty years, assuming he still ages as a Soul Reaper and not a human.
• Confirmed! Isshin was the previous Squad 10 captain; he's the one who gave Rangiku the vice-captaincy (likely because he's a big ol' perv).

At some point towards the end, Yamamoto will die and be replaced

Just because it would be rather amusing to see how things would work if - even temporarily - control of the Gotei 13 fell to the next most experienced serving captains. That is, Unohana, Ukitake and Kyoraku. Three under Neutral Good and Beware The Nice Ones in contrast to the old man's Lawful Goodness and harsh effectiveness. At least with Yamamoto, you know where you stand, inside the law or against it.

• Confirmed. He was killed by Yhwach, and the new Captain-Commander is Kyoraku Shunsui.

All of Xcution is part of the same Memory Gambit as Ginjo

They, as a whole, are the real bad guys. Just like Ginjo, they have currently been reset to their normal, evil selves.

Alternatively...

They were never bookmarked to begin with; they've been on it the entire time, and only Ginjou was bookmarked.

• Confirmed. Ginjo had to be bookmarked, because he couldnt've acted in a sufficiently convincing manner otherwise.

There will be a huge Genocide Backfire for the next arc

If Ishida and his family slipped through the nets, perhaps there are others in far away locations who also survived. Only they might hold a much bigger grudge against Shinigami. Enough to dabble in dangerous forbidden techniques just so they can return the favour. When Ishida removed his restrictor glove in Soul Society he was able to curb stomp Mayuri and his bankai, think what a large group with that sort of hidden trick could do.

• Confirmed. The villains in the most recent story arc are Quincies. They've acquired far more advanced techniques than what the Ishida family have shown, and their grudge has decimated the Soul Society.

Harribel and her Fraccion will reappear

Kubo mentioned Tsukishima was reading a book labeled "The Return of Aion", the same name as the creature summoned by Apachi, Mila-Rose, and Sungsun. Whose to say its not a subtle hint that they will return in the near future?

• Confirmed.

The Big Bads of the incoming final arc will be the Quincy.

Kubo has stated that the new villain group won't have many members — there could have been some survivors from the massacre. Survivors that bear a deep-seated grudge against the Shinigami, and were preparing to start a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against them.

From the pictures we already have: Mayuri speaks to the Central 46 about the disappearance of Hollows, and that "they" must be behind it. The last time this very situation happened, it was the Quincy's doing, and it led to them being wiped out. Moreover, in the teaser picture with the new villains, their outfits look a lot like Ishida's wacky Quincy clothes.

And furthermore, it's a nice and fitting way to give the series a Bookend.

• To give more credit to this theory in the first chapter of the new arc Mayuri specifically says that "they" remove Hollows from existance itself, something only the Quincy can do. Also the shadowy figure from the chapter looks like he is doing something with a coin, aka the Hollow bait, just before a large number of Hollows suddenly appear. And just to top it all off the name of the new arc is The Thousand Year Blood War.
  • Confirmed.

Arrancars shall return in the new arc

Because it looks like shit's really starting to hit the fan. They'll have to get involved eventually.

• Confirmed: we've seen Nel, her friends, Harribel and her fraccion.

This final arc will last ten years.

Because Kubo is a troll.

• Wasn't this already confirmed? Kubo still has a ten year contract left and he's already said that this is to be the last arc.
  • This may not actually be confirmed yet. Shonen Jump has an exclusive contract to publish Kubo's work but before Bleach that included one-shots and Zombie Powder. Kubo said back in 2010 he would continue Bleach for another 10 years but that was in answer to a question about whether he was going to keep it up for 30 more years so it may well have been tongue-in-cheek. And with the pace of the arc thus far, I seriously doubt even Kubo could stall long enough to drag the series out until 2022.

The 'Yachiru' that Kenpachi (Zaraki) respected and named Yachiru (Kusajishi) after was a Kenpachi.

Because Kenpachis seem to be the only kind of people that he would respect.

• Confirmed - Unohana Yachiru, the first Kenpachi.

Captains must die for the Royal Guard to arrive

If a couple of lieutenants, red shirts and seated officers die, along with colossal damage, then that would'be be as impactful. Hell, the Royal Guard didn't even intervene when Aizen took out four captains on his own, without breaking a sweat. I see the Royal Guard intervening only if a couple of captains die, particularly Yamamoto and Byakuya.

• Confirmed: It takes Old Man Yama kicking the bucket from them to show up

Yamamoto's Bankai will be stolen and he will die

Kubo promised to deliver so much in this arc, including the Royal Guard. Yamamoto has to lose his battle with Yhwach, because there is no other way to make this arc instill the despair Kubo promised to deliver if Yamamoto lives.

• Unless Yhwach isn't the true Big Bad, he really doesn't scream Big Bad. Yamamoto will win, but that's Just as Planned
  • ...Well played.
• If his Bankai doesn't get stolen, the Old Man has just compared himself to the sun. And what do stars eventually do, but burn out? Yamamoto did have a speech about Soul Reapers putting their lives on the line, and this time ( ignoring that 'fatal' 90-something kido) he'll...lead by example.
  • Confirmed. Yhwach takes the Bankai and kills Yamamoto.

Ichigo using Blut Vene

...is because his mother was a Quincy.While in Quilge Opie's cage, Ichigo somehow discovered an ability to use Quincy powers, and he's going to start combining them with his Soul Reaper powers to fight more diversely.

• Confirmed. His mother was a Quincy. Opie's Jail couldn't contain him anymore because it recognized Ichigo as a Quincy and it's only designed to contain the enemies of Quincies.

Ichigo and Renji will pass the test in the Phoenix Palace in entirely different ways

• Ichigo never had an Asauchi, Zangetsu formed from a part of his soul causing him to produce Zangetsu from within himself once again, while Renji presumably did start with an Asauchi, needing to call out to the external being that is Zabimaru.
  • Half confirmed. Renji passed, Ichigo didn't. If he's getting Zangetsu repaired, he's on his own. Later clarified that it just couldn't be repaired the same way as Zabimaru for just this reason - it was never an Asauchi, so the guy who makes Asauchis can't do anything with it.
    • I just realized something... This makes it so that Ichigo's loss of Zangetsu, back when he used Final Getsuga Tensho—the scene in which Tensa Zangetsu bids Ichigo farewell — a lot more significant than after he got his powers back...

Hollow Ichigo is the Real Zangetsu while the Old Man is Yhwach. Tensa Zangetsu is Ulquiorra.

After the Old Man removed Ichigo's inner Hollow from his body during Ichigo's battle with Kenpachi, he never once called himself by the name Zangetsu. It's possible that the Hollow was controlling the Old Man's body when he Ichigo gained his so-called Shinigami powers. It's also possible that not only was the Hollow that possessed Masaki sealed inside Ichigo's body but Yhwach too, explaining why he called Ichigo his son born in Darkness. Ulquiorra's pre-Arrancar form was stated to be White instead of Black like the Vasto Lordes around him and White is what the Hollow that possessed Masaki was on the inside as well as it's name. It's possible Ulquiorra is half of White while Hollow Ichigo is the other half. When Ulquiorra disintegrated, he may have entered the host of his other half and became Tensa Zangetsu, replacing Yhwach as the other half of Zangetsu who had ditched Ichigo's body once Ichigo obtained Bankai (he had manifested in the human world thanks to Urahara's invention. So if he's Yhwach then, why wouldn't he take the chance and ditch Ichigo when he's not looking)?

• Confirmed for Zangetsu and Hollow Ichigo. I can't say the same for Ulquiorra, though.

Katagiri is Uryu's mother

I'm posting this simply because I want to be right for once...

• And you just might be. That scene with her and Ryuuken from Chapter 536 was pretty much hammering the reader upside the head with that possibility...
• Confirmed! As if it wasn't obvious enough.

Tatsuki will be important after the time skip

She grew a mullet. We all know what having a mullet means in Bleach.

• JOSSED. The only role she has played is being part of the mind-rape of Ichigo, courtesy of Tsukishima and "Book of the End". If she was never given importance in Part I, what makes you think that Part II of Bleach will be different?
• And suddenly confirmed. You know she is going to be important if the new Captain Commander decides to meet with her personally.

A Quincy will help to defeat Aizen.

By shooting right on the Hougyoku and making it break, just when it's in its more unstable phase, possibly making Aizen pretty... Broken. If it's going to be Uryuu or Ryuuken, it's unknown (could be probably Uryuu, after Ryuuken sacrifices himself to give him an extra power or something). The final blow will obviously be Ichigo's, but it'd be interesting to see his very first rival helping him in this one.

• Well, the hogyoku is currently shaped like a cross.
• Alterntatively, a Quincy will shoot it, it'll shatter into countless shards that scatter all over the world, Hueco Mundo, and Spirit World, Ichigo and company will have to gather them back up.
• If that happens, then we'll have an eternal Inuyasha plot that Will. Never. End.
• Confirmed, bizarrely so. Ichigo turned out to have Quincy powers.

The Fullbringers have an English/European style motif

The terms 'Fullbring' and 'Xcution' are based off of the English words 'full', 'bring', and 'execution' (I know, I know, Captain Obvious, but stay with me). If they follow the precedent set by other groups, then all terminology and techniques associated with Fullbring will be in English, or at least Engrish. The fact that Ginjou's weapon is a clearly Christian cross that transforms into a Western-style broadsword supports the 'European' motif.

• Jossed. Fullbringers don't seem to have any special terminology or techniques, beyond the catch-all term fullbring. Their unique power has it's own name, and everything else falls under the umbrella of Fullbringing.
• I don't see how it is jossed, the name of every Fullbring is in English.

Ichigo will become a Quincy.

WARNING: This whole WMG is a spoiler. After the Final Getsuga gets rid of Ichigo's Shinigami powers, he still has a keen understanding of how to manipulate reiatsu, right? Why couldn't Uryu teach him how to gather spirit particles from the air?

• Not likely. There was the disagreement in the early episodes about how Ichigo doesn't approve of the way Quincy methods erase Hollows from the cycle of life altogether.
• ((Jossed}}. He's back as a Shinigami.
• Confirmed. He inherited Quincy powers from his mother.

Giselle Gewelle is Stern Ritter Z, The Zombie

We've received her letter, which is "Z". There aren't a great many Z words that could be used for a power, however, not only that, when Bambietta was defeated and Giselle and the rest of the Quincy Clique loomed over her, saying they'd be sad if she wasn't with them, Bambietta specifically looked at Giselle, terrified as all hell, and begged her not to do "it". Her power could very well allow her to turn people into mindless puppets, and this is what she is about to do to Bambietta.

• Following this, her Vollständig would most likely be Abdiel � Servant of God. Or, for added irony, depending on how she views of the above power, Elisha � Salvation of God.
  • Not as ironic as it sounds. Elisha's bones revived a dead man.
    • OP here to say my theory is CONFIRMED! She is the Zombie; she can't be killed, and when victims are splashed with her blood, they become corpses who do whatever she says.

Bambietta's epithet is "The Explosion"

She has an explosion of rage in chapter 554.

• Confirmed, essentially. Her E is "The Explode", but that's close enough.