Ryūken Ishida

Ryūken Ishida (石田竜弦, Ishida Ryūken) is a character in the manga and anime series Bleach. Ryūken is the son of Sōken Ishida and father of Uryū Ishida. The Director of Karakura Hospital, he is also known as The Last Quincy, a status contested with his son, Uryū Ishida.

Character outline

Ryūken appears to be a cold, work-oriented man, and is apparently estranged from his father and son. He detests his status as a Quincy on the grounds that it does not enable one to make a proper living, and focuses on saving the living rather than the dead. He even goes so far as to state that the Quincy would become extinct once Sōken's generation died out, heeding Uryū not to follow in his grandfather's footsteps.

However, he later rescued Uryū, who had lost his spiritual energy, and agreed to restore his powers on the condition that he never associates himself with shinigami again, even if they were his friends. To this end, he constructed a secret chamber underneath Karakura Hospital which hides spiritual energy.

Strangely enough, Ryūken also shares a relationship with Isshin Kurosaki not unlike that of their sons. He comments on Isshin's newly regained powers when the latter pays him a visit, and the two exchange banter about their sons and parenting styles. In the Bleach VIBES: Official Animation Book, it is also mentioned that Ryūken and Isshin have some prior history together, and have been acquaintances for some time.

Powers

File:Ryuken bow.PNG

Two different versions of Ryūken's bow

Despite his disavowment of the Quincy lineage, Ryūken is an extremely powerful Quincy, even compared to his son Uryū, who is considered a prodigy by avid Quincy researcher Mayuri Kurotsuchi. In fact, he knows all the skills and techniques known to the Quincy. He once commented that he lacked interest in being a Quincy, while Uryū lacked talent. In his debut as a combatant, he defeated what appeared to be an incomplete arrancar with three shots, demonstrating his strength and skill.

As a Quincy, Ryūken uses a bow as his primary weapon, but is capable of changing its size, and can fire multiple shots at once. His bow is also white, rather than blue. His Quincy cross is in the shape of a pentacle, instead of a cross.

Trivia

• He seems to be obsessed with money, as Uryū assumes it is the thing he wants to protect most.
• Even though Ryūken scorns his status as a Quincy, his tie has crosses all over it, an obvious reference to the Quincy cross.
• Although the manga depicts Ryūken as having very light-coloured hair, the anime appears to show him with dark brown hair during his only appearance so far. However, the dark color could be due to contrast with the bright backdrop of a sundown.
• Kisuke Urahara is also aware of his identity.