Ikkaku Madarame

Ikkaku Madarame is a character from the Bleach anime and manga.

Ikkaku is the lieutenant and former 3rd Seat officer in the 11th Division of the Gotei 13, under Captain Kenpachi Zaraki.

In the AWA fics, Ikkaku is a student at the AWA Academy and is part of Class 4.

Appearance
Ikkaku is a tall and muscular man. He is bald, a fact made fun of by many people, especially 11th Division Lieutenant Yachiru Kusajishi, who calls him "cue ball", "chrome dome", or "pachinko-head" (as a result of her fondness for giving people nicknames or when he questions her direction skills). Ikkaku's bald scalp is very reflective while under the sun, causing the members of the 8th and 11th Divisions to mistake it for a full moon at one point, much to his chagrin. His eyes each have a small red marking at the outer corner. Ikkaku has a scar, which he gained while fighting Ichigo Kurosaki during the Ryoka Invasion, running down the left side of his chest. He wears the standard Shinigami robes, with the exception of no tabi with his sandals. Seventeen months after Aizen's defeat, Ikkaku sports a gold-plated shoulder plate on his right arm with the kanji for dragon printed on it. Ten years after the defeat of Yhwach, as a lieutenant, Ikkaku now wears a lieutenant's badge on his left arm.

Personality
Ikkaku is violent, fight-loving, and rude, which has been noted by Tetsuzaemon Iba, among others. He is also quite stubborn and cocky at times. He loves fighting so much, he is unwilling to travel anywhere without a sword, resorting to carrying a wooden one when posing as a student at Karakura High School. Ikkaku is very self-conscious about his baldness, often insisting he is not bald, but that his head is "shaven", and will threaten anyone who points this out.

Ikkaku considers fighting fun, and tries to get as much fun as he can, even taking deadly risks to drag out fights for as long as possible. He limits his skills in order to make fights last longer, using his Bankai, or even his Shikai, as a last resort against his opponents. Ikkaku constantly smiles when engaging in a fight with a formidable opponent.

Ikkaku considers the only honorable battles to be those fought one-on-one. Even the threat of death is not a reason to ignore this fact, for he believes the winner is only determined when the other dies. In his fight with the Arrancar Choe Neng Poww, Ikkaku was losing badly, yet refused to surrender or use his Bankai.

Ikkaku has a sense of loyalty and responsibility; refusing to take the position as captain of either the 3rd, 5th, or 9th Divisions, when Aizen and his cohorts defected from Soul Society. He is fiercely loyal to his captain, under whose command he wishes to die. He considers surviving an otherwise lost battle good luck, which his captain taught him, and carries a blood-clotting ointment in the hilt of his Zanpakutō.

Abilities
Master Swordsman: Despite being ranked as the lieutenant of his division, his rank does not reflect his fighting abilities, which are of near-captain level. According to Yumichika Ayasegawa, Ikkaku was the 2nd strongest man in the 11th Division when he was the 3rd Seat. He uses a fighting style noted to be rough, but powerful, and complex movements which allow him to lunge with his sword from the left and defend with his sheath at the right, though he is ambidextrous and can switch between the two techniques. Ikkaku commonly fights with his sword held in a normal grip and the sheath held in reverse grip, showing his mastery of the two variations of sword-fighting. He uses misdirection in his attacks, and even though doing so allows for holes in his defense, he can make up for it with surprise attacks. His mastery of this skill is great enough for Renji Abarai to beg Ikkaku to train him.
 * Naginatajutsu Master: Ikkaku's Zanpakutō is a naginata-type weapon while in Shikai. Ikkaku uses it perfectly against other sword-type weapons.

Hakuda Expert: Before he became a Shinigami, Ikkaku was always roaming around looking for fights. Most opponents did not have swords, so he frequently fought barehanded. He won against everyone he fought, and upon seeing his strength, most people fled from him. When Moe broke his Zanpakutō, Ikkaku resorted to fighting unarmed, and swiftly defeated the Fullbringer.
 * Bōjutsu Master: Though Ikkaku's Zanpakutō is a naginata-type weapon while in Shikai, it can split apart into a three-sectioned staff and back into a naginata. While in its split form, he is highly proficient in the use of techniques similar in use to that of bo to take advantage of its versatility.

Shunpo Practitioner: Ikkaku uses Shunpo frequently, though he only uses it to keep up with stronger opponents so he can fight more.

High Spiritual Power: As a lieutenant and former 3rd seat of the Gotei 13, Ikkaku boasts a high level of spiritual power. His spiritual energy is red.

Enhanced Strength: Ikkaku possesses a high level of strength. He blocked a punch from the Arrancar Edrad Liones in his released state, even while severely injured. Ikkaku sent Hōzukimaru flying several meters away and through solid rock with a single attack. Several of his opponents have commented on the strength of his blows. His muscle control is highly developed, for after having a shoulder dislocated, he reset it by flexing his muscles. He is strong enough to shatter the ground with a single attack.

Enhanced Endurance: Ikkaku has an incredibly high level of endurance, able to ignore most injuries without noticeably affecting his performance. During his fight against Edrad, despite taking great injuries, he still fought on, used his Bankai, and ultimately defeated the Arrancar. During his fight against Moe Shishigawara, even after taking several critical hits to the point of coughing up blood, he still fought on and defeated Moe.

Zanpakutō
Hōzukimaru: Though Hōzukimaru resembles an ordinary katana, its hilt is hollow to store a small vial of healing ointment, which Ikkaku can access by removing the hilt's pommel. Its tsuba is an oval, with what look like three small teardrops in relief on both the top and bottom end. Rarely wearing it at his side like most Shinigami, Ikkaku usually carries Hōzukimaru's sealed form in his hand to enable him to quickly access it in battle, and wields its sheath in his other hand to serve as a secondary weapon.
 * Shikai: Its Shikai command is "Grow". The Shikai of Hōzukimaru is unusual in that Ikkaku slams its hilt (and sometimes its pommel) into its sheath to activate it when saying the command phrase. Once released, Hōzukimaru takes on the form of what initially appears to be a Kikuchi Yari (spear) with a wax wood shaft. The pommel has a red horsehair tassel.
 * Shikai Special Ability: Ikkaku uses the command "Split" to separate his naginata into its true form, which is a Sansetsukon, after which the sections can independently reconnect and separate again at will. This special ability surprises his opponents when they first attack. These chains can extend a fair length, allowing Ikkaku to swing his weapon like a flail for mid-range attacks.


 * Bankai: Ryūmon Hōzukimaru: To activate it during his battle with Edrad, Ikkaku slams the two broken pieces of his Shikai back into the spear-form and says Bankai. Its two main weapons are a Chinese Monk's spade and a standard guandao. Both have a traditional horsehair tassel at the hilt, and a long, cylindrical weight for a pommel. The pommels are connected by a heavy chain to the center section, which resembles an axe blade, with a parallel handle forged into the blunt end and a dragon crest on one side of the blade. Ikkaku usually holds one blade in each hand and lets the central portion float behind him, though he will occasionally spin the entire configuration about using the center handle as a pivot.


 * Bankai Special Ability: Ikkaku's Bankai, like his Shikai, is quite unusual. Aside from the increase in power, his Bankai does not offer any special abilities or special defensive properties, but releases some Reiatsu, which starts to grow in strength. Ikkaku treats Hōzukimaru different than other Bankai users treat their Zanpakutō, for they just let theirs slumber and use it when they want to do Bankai. If he forces it to awaken suddenly, cutting the enemy and not getting cut becomes a lot harder to handle than it should be, so his Bankai gets increasingly more powerful as the fight drags on. After he activates his Bankai, Ikkaku's Reiatsurises as the dragon crest slowly fills with crimson dye. It fills faster when he spins Ryūmon Hōzukimaru with the center handle. Ikkaku states his Zanpakutō is very lazy in battle and needs to be woken up through causing or receiving injury. When the crest is completely filled, Ryūmon Hōzukimaru is at its full power.

Trivia

 * In the last character popularity poll, Ikkaku came in 22nd. In the 2nd, he placed 22nd, and in the 3rd, 27th.
 * Ikkaku's Hōzukimaru came 13th in the Zanpakutō poll. His Bankai, Ryūmon Hōzukimaru, came in at 27th.
 * He co-authors Manly Silence with Tetsuzaemon Iba, and has his own column titled You're In Luck, You're On A Roll, both in the Seireitei Communication.
 * While Ikkaku's Reiatsu color is red, in Episode 119, it's depicted as orange instead.