Top 10 Strongest Captains in the Bleach Anime

Bleach is an anime packed with heart-stopping fights and awe-inspiring characters. If there's one group that makes a bigger splash than most, it's the infamous Soul Reaper Captains of the Gotei 13. These elite leaders and warriors aren't just skilled, they're forces of nature.

But among these powerful Captains, who reigns supreme? There are so many unique and devastating powers on display from elemental Zanpakuto to cunning battle strategies. It's the age-old debate: who deserves the title of strongest?
The Top Ten
1 Kenpachi Zaraki - 11th Division Taicho Kenpachi Zaraki is a fictional character and an antihero in the anime and manga series Bleach created by Tite Kubo.

Kenpachi is my favorite Captain. He reminded me of myself when I was the roughest kid. I liked to fight because I thought it made me superhuman if I won. Kenpachi is pure skill, and even with that, he is able to defeat many, including Captains. Even the "judges" were scared to teach him, knowing he could become a huge threat. Not only that, he is never actually trying that much with opponents. To top it off, he doesn't even have Bankai or know the name of his sword. All this can help him increase his power by ten. Yet, sadly, he can't. Kenpachi is truly the strongest Captain, being the only one to beat opponents without the skills every Captain has.

2 Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai - 1st Division Taicho (Captain Commander)

No question. You don't become King Honcho of Honchos by being a pushover. As strong as all the Kenpachis are touted to be (yes, even Unohana), he was still the Big Cheese. You could argue that Shunsui could be stronger if he went all out, but he would be killing himself. Old Man Yama doesn't need a double-suicide-win ability. He'll just ash you and call you an "Insolent Pup." Then he'll drink some tea. Ywach didn't even try to attack until Yamamoto was down an arm, and even then, he went all out. No question.

3 Byakuya Kuchiki - 6th Division Taicho

Byakuya is the best badass character for me in this anime. His character is closer to a samurai than a shinigami. He depicts typical aristocratic behaviors and feels that he is superior to everyone else. He is sometimes proud and arrogant, but that's how nobles behave.

On the whole, he is my reason for watching Bleach.

I think Byakuya really is the strongest captain of all. Aside from showing his power with smoothness, pride, power, honor, and calmness with every battle, he also shows maturity and respect with his opponents. And he's so damn gorgeous too!

4 Sosuke Aizen - 5th Division Taicho Sosuke Aizen is a fictional character in the Bleach manga series and its adaptations created by Tite Kubo.

I'm not voting because he's my favorite character, but if you think about it, he basically beat all the other captains. No captain could match up to him, and the only one who could beat him was Ichigo in his final Getsuga Tensho form, who in the end was on a whole other level of power than Aizen. It just goes to show the difference in power between Aizen and the other captains.

This extremely evil man. For the longest time, it seemed like there was no hope of anyone beating him. He wasn't just strong physically. No, he had to be a genius too. He had the entire divisions turn against each other and killing their own. He gets my vote.

5 Shunsui Kyoraku - 8th Division Taicho

This guy couldn't even release his Bankai in front of the others because of its devastating effects. As of now, this dude is the strongest captain in the Gotei 13. This is further proven by *Spoiler* him later becoming the new head captain after the death of Yamamoto. This guy is a beast, and I don't think he will be trumped by any other captain anytime soon. If Zaraki unlocks his sword's abilities + Bankai, he could give Shunsui a run for his money. As for Toshiro, Shunsui himself admitted that Toshiro has the potential to become stronger than himself. Therefore, as of now, this dude is the best.

6 Toshiro Hitsugaya - 10th Division Taicho Toshiro Hitsugaya is a fictional character in the Bleach manga series and its adaptations created by Tite Kubo.

Personally, I voted for Hitsugaya Taicho (that's how he likes to be referred to) not only because he's cute, intelligent, strong, cool, etc. It's because he has something that other Taichos don't have. He strives to be accurate, has perseverance, and does his duty exactly as it should be done. He also slashes back when things get tough and, what's more, he's mature! He's not some sort of perverted person, he doesn't think himself too high and mighty for other Soul Reapers, and he takes his job seriously.

Hitsugaya Taicho also became a captain not just because of natural talent, though he definitely had that, but because he was a hardworking person who sets their goal and goes straight for it without hesitation.

7 Retsu Unohana - 4th Division Taicho

Dude, her name even means "violent"... And the scariest part is, she looks like a sweet motherly lady, never raises her voice, and then all of a sudden she lets her hair down and BAM - the bloodthirsty and notorious, most-wanted criminal Unohana Yachiru. She even scares the other captains, and the only other ones that induce that kind of fear into their fellow captains are Yamamoto and Kenpachi. She should at least be up there with them, not fifth!

I give her third under Kenpachi. She heals so fast you could never accumulate enough damage to finish her. Plus, who even knows how strong she is in combat.

8 Sajin Komamura - 7th Division Taicho
9 Juushiro Ukitake - 13th Division Taicho
10 Kisuke Urahara - 12th Division Taicho Kisuke Urahara is a fictional character in the Bleach manga series and its adaptations created by Tite Kubo.

He is clearly among the top 5 captains and has so much to show. We don't know his full power yet. He hasn't even shown his full power of Shikai, let alone Bankai. And if he can give Hollow powers to others, I wonder what he can do with himself. And he practically knows everything that's going on and has even gone to the Soul King's palace and copied many things. He is the most intelligent person in Bleach, along with Aizen and a few others. Mayuri pales in front of him.

He seems to be depicted as a wild card, which gives me the impression his full potential won't be revealed until it has to. Other Soul Reapers seem to regard him as some sort of legend among captains.

The Contenders
11 Ichimaru Gin - 3rd Division Taicho

I don't watch any fillers, but there is absolutely NOTHING in the main storyline that suggests Gin is weaker than Shunsui, Unohana, and Ukitake. They all go into the same bin, with Shunsui probably the strongest.

Gin always hid his power. Even Aizen feared him until Gin killed him, but through some magical nonsense, Aizen was resurrected. He only had one goal, and that kept him from greatness.

Gin is stronger than a lot of these captains purely because of his Zanpakuto and experience. I would hate to have to face him, mostly because I would be fangirling too much for me to attack... Same goes for Byakuya and Toshiro...

12 Soifon - 2nd Division Taicho (Omnitsukido Corps Commander)
13 Mayuri Kurotsuchi - 12th Division Taicho (Captain of Research and Development)

His poison from his Bankai would leave anyone but a certain Quincy paralyzed. After that happens, he could pretty much defeat anyone no problem. Let's not forget his science antidote things. One sip and he can't be hurt because he just regenerates.

Creepy but yet awesome guy! I don't think anyone can escape his poison, and his bankai can eat people up and come out as a poisonous blade. The best!

Mayuri is simply the strongest. You simply can't kill him as he will turn to liquid and will reform after some days. Impossible to escape his poison.

14 Shinji Hirako - 5th Division Taicho

I agree that Hirako should be in the top. He was already a captain a hundred years ago, but now he also has hollow abilities. Also, he has not even shown his bankai yet.

I think Shinji should definitely be in at least the top 7. He is clearly up there with the best soul reapers.

15 Isshin Kurosaki - 10th Division Taicho

It seems to me he should be higher on the list considering he was on par with the number five spot. We should also consider that he hadn't fought in over 10 years and he didn't even use his Shikai to be the only one capable of doing any real damage to Aizen in his chrysalis stage, which was already more powerful than he was normally. His Getsuga Tensho with his unreleased Zanpakuto is far more impressive than anything Ichigo performed before he reformed his blade. Probably one of the highest Reiatsu characters we have seen.

16 Yoruichi Shihoin - Former Captain of the 2nd Division Yoruichi Shihoin is a fictional character in the Bleach manga series and its adaptations created by Tite Kubo.

An old lady who can whoop asses without even using a sword. Yoruichi is also the ex-general of Squad 1. She is a very strong and powerful woman who can easily beat Byakuya and other captains. She hasn't even gotten a scratch fighting 3 Squad Captains and 4 Vice Captains.

She's stronger than Soifon for sure. Why is she lower than her anyway?

Cracked Aizen's armor with only her fists. She doesn't even need a sword.

17 Rukia Kuchiki - 13th Division Taicho
18 Kensei Muguruma - 9th Division Taicho

What the hell, why has no one shown him yet! He is undoubtedly in the top 5. You must remember how Aizen said the Hogyoku could activate if given to someone with twice a captain's reiatsu. That's Wonderweiss. And Kensei held his own against Wonderweiss without even using his sword. Talk about essence.

Oh, come on, this guy was badass! My vote goes to this guy as well. Weakest, but still a captain. If he were to hollowfy against Mask, he could've really done some damage.

19 Roujuurou Ootoribashi - 3rd Division Taicho
20 Ginrei Kuchiki - 6th Division Taicho

This captain, even though being mentioned in filler, was a part of the canon. Non-canonically, he sealed Koga, who had Aizen's Zanpakuto, just smaller. Come on, that takes grade A badassery there.

21 Shuusuke Amagai - 3rd Division Taicho
22 Kaname Tosen - 9th Division Taicho
23 Kenpachi Kiganjo - 11th Division Taicho

Little is known about him, and he was killed in a single blow by Zaraki in front of 200 Shinigami. However, since he was a captain of the 11th division, we can assume he was a skilled swordsman, and judging by his massive size, he was likely extremely strong. He was also skilled enough to kill the 9th Kenpachi. Despite this, too little is known about him to rank him higher.

BAdd New Item