RUKIA

Character Biography

Rukia Kuchiki is a major character in the manga and anime series Bleach. Rukia is an unseated shinigami in the 13th Division under Ju-shiro- Ukitake. She meets Ichigo Kurosaki, a high school student, and through a set of circumstances, he obtains her powers, forcing her to take up residence in his home and him to take her place as a shinigami. Although To-shiro- Hitsugaya recently usurped her position, Rukia had been consistently the second most popular Bleach character in Shonen Jump's polls.

Initially born into a lower class, Rukia retains her modesty even as an adopted member of the nobility: she is graceful and "clean", yet chooses to talk to ordinary people. Although she tells Ichigo that she is nearly ten times older than he, she is endearingly clueless about the ways of the modern living world (since Soul Society resembles Japan's Edo period). She is initially unable to figure out a simple juice box, and learns to speak modern Japanese through the manga she reads. According to Tite Kubo, when (in book five) the semester final exam scores were announced, Rukia's rank was 302 out of 322. With the exception of Japanese, she failed most of her exams.

Rukia is an accomplished actress, being able to act her way through a number of tough situations. Ichigo seems to be the only one to always pick up on it and accuse her of pretending. She also seems to enjoy drawing (rather badly); her drawings of people and hollows seem to resemble rabbits and teddy bears, respectively. Rukia's inability to draw well (and her taking offense when told as much) is a running gag in the series. Rukia loves Chappy the Rabbit (and basically anything rabbit-themed) and is rather put out when she is unable to obtain Chappy Soul Candy because of its popularity in Soul Society (although she is able to obtain it during the Arrancar arc). She also likes to climb to high places and her favorite foods are eggs and cucumbers.

Her attitude towards Ichigo varies throughout the series. At times, she is a bickering adversary, and at other times, she worries about him and dispatches advice like a wise old sage. Most of their scenes together have them yelling and making faces at each other. Despite these quarrels, the two have a deep understanding of each other, often being the only ones able to talk each other out of a funk.

There is a deeply serious side to Rukia as well, best shown during the time she was taken back to Soul Society for giving her powers to Ichigo. In her time in Soul Society, which she spent in various holding cells, she is constantly seen resigned to her fate or in deep thought. She and Ichigo also have similar feelings of loss and guilt. Ichigo thought he was responsible for his mother's death and Rukia's execution. Rukia thought she was responsible for the death of one of her commanding officers, Kaien Shiba, and considered Ichigo's apparent death her fault.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rukia_Kuchiki