What could Yoruichi's zanpakuto be? Do you like any of my ideas? How do you design a zanpakuto that's right for a character...but also wrong? Let me know in the comments!
The last idea you had was closest to what I had thought might be the case--Yoruichi creating a clone of herself, the Zanpakuto being a whole person that's a copy of her. To take things further, it would work similar to Komamura's in that any damage it takes would be shared with Yoruichi. It'd play into the whole deceptive ninja element but would be at odds with Yoruichi's preference for taking things head on by herself.
As someone who can transform into a cat and seemingly because of her bloodline. Is it out of the realms of possibility to suggest she could be either part of or related to the Beast Clan? Maybe the Shihoin clan have some kind of relation to them and thus have this transformational power. In which case her ability could show some similarities to a Zanpakuto like Kommamura. Together with the fact she has to go 'soothe her Zanpakuto because it sulks because she doesn't use it' much like a cat sulking if you don't play with it or give it attention sometimes, I feel like her Zanpakuto could be some kind of construction, some other being that's physically brought out upon release. And maybe that's one reason she doesn't' like using it, maybe much like Kommamura, this big beast that's a large target for most could also share wounds with her, and suddenly all her ability to avoid attacks and act with speed are useless when someone can target this giant beast to fight with instead. Maybe the beast is practically immortal, but all the damage it suffers applies to her body instead, so it just stays alive as long as she can withstand it.
My headcannon has always been that her zanpakutou turned into some sort of armor, which would explain why she avoided using it so much. Then, when she fought Aizen wearing those heavy looking implements Urahara made for her, I was sure that was her shikai. It would have made so much sense. A cumbersome armor type of power would be the perfect reason for her to forgo her zanpakutou. Anyway, awesome video. I always love watching these because I enjoy seeing your drawings, it's the exact type of thing that I used to draw in highschool during class, thinking about Bleach instead of quadratic equations.
As a fan of Yoruichi, I would like to note that the main reason for dissatisfaction with her cat form is not her appearance, as everyone might think, because she is not embarrassed even to walk naked. But it is her lack of freedom, Urahara can manipulate her LITERALLY with the help of a cat toy. Her escape from the clan is similarly caused by the “chains”, “manipulations”, the shackles of the fate that she had to live at the behest of someone. She MUST be the head of the clan. She SHOULD dress decently like a princess. She MUST wear a Zanpakuto since she is a Shinigami. She MUST act as directed (Urahara Moment). Her nature, on the contrary, strives for freedom, for inconstancy and expression of will. From which I made a small conclusion that her zanpakutō has a similar principle of influence directly on Yoruichi’s soul, which is why she does not even carry an ordinary asauchi (ordinary katana). At least that's how I see the current situation.
Her Zanpakuto is visible in flash back panels of both Urahara and Soifon. The biggest evidence that Tomo missed was that the young clan head, her little brother, doesn't have a Zanpakuto either, and has trained/ mastered Shunko already. Theory: The Zanpakuto is an inherited Zanpakuto, just like the Ise Clan. Considering that the Shihouin Clan is one of the Four Great Noble Houses, since ancient times, it is reasonable to assume that it is a Zanpakuto that serves a specific function of the Soul Society. Ex: Sokyoku (Execution Zanpakuto) If it is a functional Zanpakuto, then that explains why she doesn't have it with her anymore and why her brother doesn't have one, as he isn't the Head of the Clan yet. Most likely, the Steward of the family Head, or the previous Head retook the position when Yoruichi left the Soul Society.
You never had a Cat had you? Cats are incredible easy to distract and maipulate with about everything. And they also defently have they're favorite toy wich they respond even more to, the same goes for dogs honestly. I think it really fits the whole Cat theme.
So what you MUST be saying is that she is a symbol of rebellion like how they make black women in this world? Its crazy because they only use blacks to prove some social or political point, they can't just be a cool character... sadly
@@killerv135 bro what ? Where did you pull that conclusion from ? There are a lot of rebellious characters in Bleach. Urahara, Zaraki, Aizen, Ichigo….etc.
The fact Yoruichi is this powerful without a zanpakuto is a testament of just how powerful she is. Anyway her zanpakuto definitely has to be related to why she is the captain of the 2nd division. And her Bankai is probably somewhere on the line of being quick but devastating
I quite like that we never saw Yoruichi's Zanpakuto to be honest. It is one of the things that helps makes her very memorable, being the only Soul Reaper to focus pretty much exclusively on hand-to-hand fighting. As for the actual reason, I like to think her Zanpakuto is something that focuses exclusively on killing or controlling others. Both of which are things that Yoruichi was raised to be a master of, yet she always held a strong distaste for. Therefor, her refusing to use her sword, would be symbolic of her abandoning her duties as a Soul Reaper and instead living a life of freedom and being a mentor rather then a Assassin/Noble.
I love this idea. That her Zanpakuto is too lethal for Yoruichi's personality. She considers herself stronger without using it because it takes a lot of effort to not kill someone when using her Shikai and/or Bankai, meanwhile her Hakuda and Shunko have a lot more control in how she outputs power.
She couldn't have possibly thought it was a good idea to take on Aizen with that hypothetical 'creed'. That would make her quite foolish in fact despite how strong she could potentially be.
She's also a very staunch defender, so her Zanpakuto could be something very bulky like an AOE shield or suit of armor. Essentially, she would absorb blows/attacks and after absorbing enough energy, create a shock wave. It makes a lot of sense. You most often see her coming to the rescue of others/defending them. It would also explain her appreciating her Zanpakuto and constantly showing it love, but not using it. I feel as tho the heavy gauntlets and boots are Kubo hinting to this.
I feel like Yorurichi's case is like Nanao's, in which she uses a noble family house zanpaktou instead of her own. Because noble house swords are passed down, there's a chance that Yorurichi simply doesnt want to bother with or use a sword thats not her own. A theory that lends to this is that her Beyond Bankai form uses the Noble House zanpaktou that has her family crest on it.
We know that is not the case because we seen that guy from the original gotei 13 who is from her clan and he has his own zanpakuto, unless the one he has is the one of her family
@@Maxjuliann could be. There's alot that kubo needs to tie together. Also her Beyond Bankai form was shown before the original gotei so Kubo could of changed his mind on noble family zanpaktou
@@dinolover oh okay that's true . I just hope Kubo plans to give yurouchi, aizen and ukitake a chance to show their bankai in the anime or the hell arc 🤭
but she said she has to soothe her zanpakuto every night due to it wanting to be used if it was the noble clans she would have left it at home and the new head would use it
I don't know why,When people get to ask Kubo questions and he answers,Why noone hasn't asked what's her swords name,What does it do,And why doesn't she use it?
The names can be red rerrings, and the powers on itself arent as carved in rock as one may think. But the power, or at least an general direction of why she hates her own power is probably something he already has an answer for.
I'd like to think that her zanpakuto has a degree of sentience. A creature type, probably a cat like entity, that has the capacity to disregard commands. As it can't be relied on it makes her weaker.
Also if it is in some way Feline related it fits perfectly with her saying that since she doesn’t fight with it (or thinks she’s stronger without) it sulks and she has to spend time everyday “pacifying” it, I mean that sounds like how a house cat acts if you don’t play with it. If it was more house cat based than wildcat her not wanting to use it could mean it functions similarly to shunsui Katen Kyoketsu in the way if Katen doesn’t abide by Shunsui ‘s will to play a certain game - she’s “moody” like Yoruichi. Plus does Yoruichi lightning cat form get stronger SE wise based on her mood swings from being part cat? That’s why she can only use it with kisuke controller her otherwise she goes through like 4 emotions a second or attacks teammates - what if increase was cause she’s tapping into her Zanpakuto
I always thought her zanpakuto would be a support type. She is either a front line combatant or a trainer, coatch, support, etc. She has trained herself to be axcelent combatent, but her nature is to bring up or amplify others. Her zanpakuto would reflect her nature.
Personally I think she would be the first to make it an offensive power anyway. Something like To Aru's Junko or MadoMagi Sayaka that can use healing in a offensive way by "taking the hits, healing instantly and keeps charging".
I remember a very well written fanfic just gave her a cat themed Shikai and the Bankai only cat thee was SUNFLAME PANTHERS (TezCATlipoca) XD hilarious curveball, but an awesome read. And since I am awful at names I haven't remembered the title so far writing this...
I really hope that if we do get a Hell arc Yoruichi will be allowed/forced to use her zanpakuto. Really the only way she would ever use it imo is if she was forced into a life or death situation where her hand to hand & speed don't offer anything and the abilities of her zanpakuto are a direct counter to whoever she's up against. I also feel like she would have to be in a position like Ikkau with his Bankai or Yumichika with his true shikai to really be pressed into breaking it out. If she has Kisuke with her, it always seems like she leaves things in his hands or in the hands of his inventons. It's always been a bit weird to me that she never brought it out against Aizen or Nakk Le Vaar where it couldn't hurt to try catching the enemy off guard with an unknown ability. With that in mind I really think she'd have to be all by herself with no one and nothing else around to offer potential backup to be forced into unleashing it.
The problem with Hell Arc, if she has a fight ... it will be likely that she will fight Chika Shihōin. And i wont be surprise if he is Shunko Creator or at least the best Shunko user ever in the top of being years in Hell and being the original captain of Squad 2.
I was always under the impression of, She never used her Zanpaktou because of it's power. Whether it was dangerous to use or conflicting with herself similar to Soi Fon but then once the small detail of her Zanpaktou got revealed in Cfyow I got the idea of maybe her Zanpaktou was a hinderance to her when fighting. Not necessarily weak but more of she has to use a fighting style that is blatantly different to hand to hand combat and with this idea I thought that maybe her Zanpaktou reflects the lazy part of her personality. Not a bad part of her personality but something that directly counteracts how she would normally fight, Again similar to Soi Fon but still a good bit different. I feel like no matter what a hand to hand combat specialist shinigami would probably always have a part of thier Zanpaktou that they didn't like. So perhaps her Shikai and Bankai deal with being patient in some way, Whether it's waiting for a dot effect to fully activate or maybe even a really powerful single blast. This would make it so she'd have to occupy a hand with her Zanpaktou and have to take damage or run from a oppponent instead of fighting them head on kind of like a lazy cat
It's an interesting design challenge to make a zanpakutou that doesn't compliment its wielder and still make sense. In Yoruichi's case, I think it's more thematic. She could've ultimately directed her genius towards using her zanpakutou if she really wanted to, I'd imagine. However, her most prominent trait is her independent nature -- she left being a Captain, head of the secret police, and a very high-ranking noblewoman to be a literal cat in the Human World after all. That she'd want to be independent from her very zanpakutou - and master a complicated form of martial art to do so - is pretty on brand.
She operates far better at hand to hand combat and it fits with her personality doing so. She'd much rather leave someone tripped over with a bruised ego, only going for hard hits when things get serious. It's humorous and worrying how Soifon was immensely jealous at Yoruichi soothing her Zanpakuto in CFYOW. It shows how unhinged her obsession has made her. Over a Zanpakuto. Ah Soifon.
@@jrgenvellesen7800 True that. Then again Yoruichi was certainly the first person to treat her as a human being other than extensive indoctrination and brutal training, it snowballed from there. It shows the psychological effect of the nobles turning their offspring into little more than tools/weapons and continuations.
@@manuelacosta9463 Indeed. It adds to the idea that Soifon is very emotionally immature and has repressed her true self. Which is why when she expresses herself, she nearly always comes across as extreme. Whether it be her obsession with Yoruichi or her petty dislike towards Kisuke. It also makes her being left behind in terms of power and understanding herself compared to her contemporaries, very noticeable. Still, at least her relationship with Omaeda has improved somewhat, with her allowing him to take time off to work at his families business.
@@jrgenvellesen7800 That's quite the silver lining given her less than stellar relations with Omaeda. Yes her being reduced by her family into a weapon stunted her emotional growth and maturity. There still is some light shining through with her. Remember when she slew Ggio at Fake Karakura she did not look happy, something tells me that deep down she does not like killing despite her bluster and reputation as Soul Society's top assassin. That expression on her face was telling. She's only a killer because of her family.
@@jrgenvellesen7800I disagree with her being left behind in terms of power and understanding herself. Problem is Kubo giving her terrible match ups putting her at terrible disadvantage. I mean she doesn’t get as much page time either so that doesn’t help. She just has a shitty bankai, same can be said for Komamura who had to sacrifice his own heart to make it useful.
I like 3 different ideas for her zanpakuto: 1. During her younger years she was very playful and with the cat nature it could be that her zanpakuto is just too playful to deliver the killing blow effectively and inherently prolongs the fight 2. She's very much about speed so what if her zanpakuto is like Sloth from FMA:B? It's too fast to control and thus unreliable. 3. What if her zanpakuto is again, very unpredictable, going also with your idea, and thus it would be similar to Kite from HxH. There's no knowing what power up or weapon she receives and so it's impossible to rely on a power like that when trying to actually finish a fight fast and efficiently
My own idea of Yoruichi's zanpakuto lines up with your No. 1, that the form it takes is not one suited for battle because of a cat's nature to toy with their prey, with the extra line of thinking that as a former head of what is basically the Gotei 13's spy agency, the zanpakuto would instead be a tool intended for "enhanced interrogation techniques."
@@DoctorWortspieler I quite like that as it still plays into the role she's in, although the utter subversion of that, while keeping with the trope of her character is a bit funnier to me
@@jackoall9236 glad you like it! This is why I love the concept of the zanpakuto as a whole, since they can easily play into the duality of a character and make what is their biggest asset into an issue, or something that they need to work around. For example Kyoraku being this cheerful guy that holds a lot of pain in his heart. His zanpakuto plays children's games but at a very morbid level and his bankai just takes it up a noch. It's a constant reminder of all the tragedy.
I'd like to see a Part 2 where you instead focus on her royal image instead of stealth. I think the reason she doesn't use her zanpakuto is that it deals with her royal side that she is embarrassed about. If you did here are some ideas... Funny Idea: Her zanpakuto is a healing weapon that does no damage. Her speed and stealth can still play a role but her job would be to quickly heal rather than damage. She is always saving people in the series so this also plays to her personality but not her fighting style. Her Bankai could be a huge gold Maneki-neko that heals and gives boons to all comrades, but also does no damage :D Princess Idea: Her Zanpakuto would be a flute. This flute allows her to summon electric cats to do her bidding similar to Stark. She had to learn the flute as a royal activity which is why she hates it. She takes care of her zanpakuto by practicing on it everyday to cull its anger. The flute goes against her style of fighting because it is loud and hands off. Her Bankai would summon "The Five Wisdom Cats", a set of powerful cats. This is limit of her bloodline and is what is passed down through generations and is as strong as Zanka no Tachi NESW when summoned as each cat is a literal god. They can be annoying though. I took inspiration from this but changed them to cats: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_King#:~:text=The%20Five%20Wisdom%20Kings%5Bedit%5D
I've always thought Yourichi's zanpakuto release is some kind of ranged attack. It makes sense then that as someone who much prefers to get up close and personal, she would not like having to stay back to fire off attacks.
The difficulty with determining her zanpakuto is the fact that I feel like if it was actually powerful or useful in any way, she would have almost no excuse to not utilize it at some point in the series. The ideas and concepts you made are intriguing, but it's so hard to pinpoint a truly concrete concept since we have no inclination to what it could actually be. Hopefully in the Hell Arc we get some answers about it, even if just in reference and not actual showing. Personally I'd put this as my number 1 mystery of the series, its always confounded me
Yeah like she didn't use it even against Aizen which was a threat so big it could destroy Seretei, instead she just used some weak ass gauntlets. It's really strange. Maybe she doesn't have access to it, must be in possession of the noble family.
This challenge is.... I would say epic but that would fall short. Thank you Primal for entertaining us with these sorts of videos and I hope you had at least some fun with it ^^ You are amazing!!
Running with the randomness idea - I could see her zanpakto being something similar to Kite's from HxH. A bunch of powerful and useful weapon/ability options but random which she gets and maybe even changes at random too. As amazing as the abilities & power can be, most of them just conflict with her preferences too much and are difficult to be proficient in all, thus she can be a stronger fighter by focusing on her preferred fighting style instead.
My bet is it’s a support type not meant for combat. Something similar to Unohana’s shikai. Her shikai isn’t really meant to be used for fighting and her bankai might be similar to Soi Fon’s in that it’s too loud for stealth. Think about it, Yoruichi isn’t shy at all. Hell she will walk around naked in front of others and laugh about it. So her bankai might be related to that side of her.
I dont think Yoruichi would discard her Zanpakuto. She often plays the role of support during the story, i dont think she would dislike for that. I think it's a huge drawback from using it. I personally i would retcon that her zanpakuto is family legacy weapon. That is why she never uses in the present timeline. Her Zanpakuto is currently being used by Yūshirō Shihōin. I personally i dont think Yoruichi should be similiar to Sui-feng for two reasons. 1- Kisuke and Omeda never had similiar weapons to them and it would make Squad 2 being too similiar. The squad where captains get useless stages.
@@ghostrouxinol6169 I don’t necessarily like it either. But nothing we can do about it because Kubo seem to like the idea of parallels between Soi Fon and Yoruichi.
I could also see Yoruichi not wanting to use it for other reasons than she lets on. It is Yoruichi after all, and she tends to plays things off, despite normally being straight forward.
I could see her shikai being a Fūma Shuriken or a blow darts. Then her bankai be something large and destructive weapon that will slow her down for a short period of time and use a lot of her power to use it.
For idea 5, maybe the bankai plays off of the stealth, shadows, and even flash. With the ability to instantly move between shadows, amd even bring people into these shadows where she could kill or seal them, in my opinion could be cool. I don't know of a reason why she wouldn't use this tho, maybe everytime she does the sword chips abit.
I like the "erratic cat"-idea since even though cats want to help,that doesn't make them any less erratic/unpredictable :D (I've lived with 7 different cats in my time,I have some experience). Another idea I got was that the Zanpakuto is a traditional lazy/grumpy cat (think Ryumon Houzukimaru but much worse :D)
No the fickle cat like wanting to play but on its terms fits too well. My cat often wants to play and have attention but when he is done HE IS DONE. He gets lonely once in a while and bats us for attention screaming and being sad so we do play with him but then he just wonders off done with chasing the laser or the tassle or rolling a ball around or whatever. Personal I always felt her blade actual hurt her. As in using it does harm to her body. I pictured something like barb wire to reflect her nature to throw barbs at people to sass. Her release coats her in wires that yes tear up her foes but do just as much harm if not more to herself. And the Bankai being an area of raw damage that traps who she is fighting with her but really evens the playing field or makes it so if she moves around too fast she'd harm herself missing the traps it lays down. Kinda like when a cat lays down to have you pet it only to act like a bear trap and latch on to you. But I do love your final idea for a Bankai. While she likes her cat form and it sounds super cool, powerful and dangerous I can see being far to limiting for her fighting. Thumbs help alot.
As we have no idea of Kisuke Urahara's past and origin, and the lack of any information about Lady Yoruichi's Zanpakutō has been going on for years, I have a very radical idea. The connection and entanglement of the two characters Urahara and Yoruichi is very obvious, but the past of this connection is not clear and stated. Is it possible that Kisuke Urahara, the founder and former captain of the 12th Guard Research Laboratory, is the Zanpakutō of Lady Yoruichi?
Her bankai probably doesn't slow her or immobilize her.. instead I'd like to think her bankai gives her a rage buff like a beast berserker same with Kenpachi a demon berserker, when she activates her bankai she gets stronger, faster and increase stamina but her mind wont be working while she's in rage mode.. she'll lose her focus and she'll just be just swinging wildly in a battle which makes her easy to anticipate if the opponents are smart. which would probably explain why she didn't use her bankai against askin because she knows askin is a tricky opponent and if she uses her bankai, she's surely be easily fallen from askin's poison traps..
From a writers point a view there is a very key piece of information we are missing here, that is exactly WHEN she first discovered her Shikai. Timing with this is everything. Obviously most top ranked shinigami in all their squads are expected to have that ability at the very least. We don't know that much about her rise through the ranks, plus her squad is fundamentally different from all the others in the first place. When she discovers that ability however is key because one of two situations could be true. Either she developed shunko BECAUSE she couldn't fight with her shikai properly, OR she developed shunko first and found her shikai undesirable when compared to what shunko gave her. It might seem like a very small difference but considering her part in the story of Aizen and how she left the shinigami world entirely in order to prepare and defeat him it shows that compared to the other captains her pursuit of strength had far more urgency to it than they did for a great many years. It would have had a much greater influence on all of her decisions, namely the decision to never use her zanpaktou. I don't think it makes any sense to suggest that she would shun the weapon entirely just because it didn't fit with her style, she is not so stubborn I feel that she would do that. Especially if she feels bad about not using her zanpaktou, going so far as to console it daily. I think she is far too practical a person to not use every weapon at her disposal. Given what kind of fighter she is I think the most likely scenario of what you brought up would be the weapon that randomly changes from lethal to harmless. Even though she is very strong that strength is not from raw muscle, it is her agility, speed, technique and her great skill with kidou that augments all of those things. The very fact that she didn't die when fighting Soi Fon (if you dismiss the idea that Soi Fon never would have or could have emotionally gone through with killing her mentor) emphasizes just how much everything about her fighting style is based on speed and precision, that is where all of her power comes from. If your entire methodology for fighting relies on such precision then the last thing you want thrown into the works is something you can't rely on to be consistent. Another thought is that she rose to Captain level and (forgive me if I'm wrong because I haven't followed bleach in nearly a decade now but unless she was one of the exceptions) that generally means she must have shown off her Bankai at some point to earn the qualification to be a Captain. That seems to indicate that despite the fact that she never used her zanpaktou in battle she continued training with it to the point that she eventually became capable of using Bankai. In which case she never abandoned her zanpaktou during that time period at least and didn't come to the conclusion to exclusively fight hand to hand and with kidou/shunko until after that point. So when she became a captain or when she became capable of Bankai is also a very crucial time for this situation, we don't know what was going on at that point in the story and what kind of decisions she was facing.
I subscribe to the idea that in her Bankai, Yoruichi becomes a Shrine Maiden. This idea comes from her royal lineage, while also being the head of the familly. She summons a shrine, where she must make an intricate dance and ritual, and that essentially summons a god like figure (which would be her Zanpaktou spirit). The problem is, that the ritual takes so incredibly long to cast, the fight might as well had been over before the creature even shows up, causing it to sulk, because Yoruichi preffers to go in and rush down her opponent's, rather than to go through the pain in the ass ritual to summon a giant Kaiju.
Her Shikai could follow a similar theme. Rather than a weapon, it's some type of lightning rod that activates while she's still. The lightning called down creates shadows behind all players on the field, which allow a paw of the kaiju to attack thru the shadows. It plays on her lightning energy and sneaky aspects while also being unwieldy
Like always great video, I'll take a couple of the ideas brought here and suggest some alterations to evolve them a little. The shikai perhaps could tap on the feline side of her. This would mean that the more she use the shikai it overheats her like a cheetah overheats when it runs at tops speed and needs to stop at a certain moment in time to cool off. This would force a limited use of the shikai otherwise she would turn to ash. Like you mentioned about her shikai like claws appearing over her hands, also on pair with large felines protractile claws. The release would be something "painted like the grass, hidden from the prey's eyes. Lunge (or pounce) ''Kakushi tsume' (hidden claw)" Then her bankai would be like an armor too heavy and too draining to use but on par with her fighting up close, like a medieval knight. The release would be like: "Harden like a diamond" and this would evolve the name to "Sōkō tsume" (armored claw). Another flaw with this bankai could be that if the diamond armored version of her gets cracked could be fatal for her or the reflectiveness of the armor could tell her enemies where she is at any moment making her an easy target. Just a thought.
I feel like I remember reading/hearing somewhere that her Zanpaktō was destroyed or confiscated, and it is not a case of her not wanting wield it. So maybe after when Uruhara went on the run, being labled a criminal with the Vizards after Aizen Hollowfied, she maybe tried vouching for him. But Yamato or Central 46 saw this as disrespectful, unruly and suspicious and placed her under arrest, thinking maybe she could be a collaborator. So her sword was taken from her. And as an act of rebellion she escaped the Soul Society to look for Uruhara leaving her Zanpaktō behind
I really liked the 5th idea. It seems complex and super interesting and a fitting design and reason as to why she chooses not to use it. I really hope Kubo shows us what hers truly is
Since she love to use shunko i will say her sword is a per of wings or something that connect to her back and therefore weaken her since she cant use shunko on top of it. Because a mid range weapon wouldnt inconvenience her with her speed. Throw, run, punch, catch, repeat.
I had the idea that Yorichi's shika could be a whip, but a very fickle one that could be somewhat controlled by the zanpakto spirit with the temperament of a cat. And her Bankai could be an enormous, Kaiju-sized Panther-monster with no capability for stealth.
i would think the biggest reason for her would be something like komomaru... summoning some kind of bulky avatar that shares damage and greatly reduces the agility and power she can deliver on her own... aside from that is some kind of super armor that makes her take greatly reduced damage but makes her super immobile... and the 3rd being something similar to momo where it turns into a long range casting type zanpakto...
I'm so glad you made this video! I've been waiting for you to make this for a while. Love your ideas! I always thought it could be an illusion type or one that seduces people cause of her playful personality. Either that or a utility type one that is highly situational
Idea for a video... How would you rank all captains in order to be the next head captain. Not considering only strength, but personality and temper. For example I would probably choose Iba over Zaraki or Mayuri 😂😂
Excellent video as usual. I do love your ideas and premises. In considering what Lady Yoruichi's Zanpakuto might be I actually look to Sui Feng's abilities for guidance, clarity, and inspiration. Given their close history and Sui Fengs idolisation of Lady Yoruichi I believe that Suzumebachi is as close an imitation of Lady Yoruichi's Zanpakuto as Sui Feng could manage. Specifically that Suzumebachi in Shikai imitates Yoruichi's Zapakuto, but that Jakuho Raikoben is the truer reflection of Sui Feng's self. How Sui Feng wants to be vs how she really is in a sense. Anyway, running with this premise and looping back to Lady Yoruichi's Zapakuto, I think it is: Mitsubachi (Honey bee) whose sealed form resembles a Wakizashi. We saw in a flashback that Lady Yoruichi used to carry her Zanpakuto on her right hip. This and other subtleties in the ways she uses her hands indicate that she is left handed. Mitsubachi is a Kido type Zanpakuto that heavily relies on the speed and strength of its user for its effective use. Shikiai: Triggerd by the command "Sting all enemies to death." With a raise of left her arm to the heavens and the utterance of her release command, she and the blade ooze an amber glow and the blade seems to melt down onto and into her arm. Glowing rivers of amber flow like veins down her arm to her chest and indeed into her heart. Upon completion of release Mitsubachi looks alot like Suzumebachi in shikai albeit with small barbs on the goden stinger extending from her left middle finger and the same amber glow to its design. Mitsubachi envelops more of Yoruichi's hand than Suzumebachi does. Shikai abailities: 1. Sting: Puncture wounds from Mitsubachi contain venom, much like Suzumebachi but rip flesh more due to the different stinger. It's venom is made from Lady Yoruichi's blood and Reiryoku, taken directly from her heart. It causes compounding almost paralyzing pain the more venom is injected. While a large number of stings can certainly kill, releasing large quantities of venom drains Lady Yoruichi and requires time for her to recooperate after battle. Sting thus is mostly used to incapacitate and immobilize. 2. Swarm: A technique heavily realiant on shunpo. While advanced shunpo practicioners may appear to be in many places at once but actually arent, swarm allows her abilities to take effect from multiple places at once, whether they be kido, hakuda, or Zanpakuto based, or some combination thereof. Seemingly like cloning of herself but more exactly brief scattering of her reiryoku mixed with shunpo. This of course when used with sting drains Lady Yoruichi even faster. 3. Honey: A healing technique that converts her blood and Reiryoku into a sweet honey. It is secreted from salivary glands. When consumed by an ally it heals and reviatalizes their strengh and Rieryoku. Of course, given the awkwardness and intimacy involved in using this ability, Lady Yoruichi would be very very very hesitant to use it at all and not many know of its existence in the first place. I headcanon that she gave Sui Feng some of her honey one time in during a particularly dangerous situation and poor Sui aint been the same since. Bankai: Sacrifice of the Honeybee Mitsubachi transforms again, this time from a worn gauntlet to small tanto with barbs, larger than in shikai, on the sides of the blade. No other phsyical change occurs and no range, speed or AOE ability is gained. This transformation allows her more versatility in zanjustu as she can hold Mitsubachi with either hand now and can cut again instead of only pierce with a stinger. Indeed Lady Yoruichi can cut and slice indefinitely with Mitsubachi, The Swarm and Honey abilities are even more powerful as well, but her Sting can only be used once. One final Sting, to one target. Bankai Special Ability: Final Sting. Upon a successful sting, the blade latches deep into the flesh of the opponent. The vast majority of Lady Yoruichi's blood and Rieryoku is forcefully ripped from her body to power one final killing sting causing an instant loss of consciousness to Lady Yoruichi. Mitsubachi remains lodged in the opponent, unable to be removed as it kills in a manner similar to Suzumebachi's Death in two steps and Shinso's Korose, Kamishini no Yari (the technique Ichimaru used to attempt to kill Aizen with.) This techinique while extrememly powerful takes days to awaken from using and longer to recover from. Analysis: This zanpakuto I think fits Lady Yoruichi appropriately. Mitsubachi, both in Shikai and in Bankai handle the same way Suzumebachi does. Both Zanpakuto offer a sort of tradeoff. Physically by being very close ranged in nature (and so almost useless against an opponent like Barragan) and biomechanically, by severely limiting the usage of the Zanpakuto weilding hand to just piercing by virtue of enveloping the hand and through the shape of the stinger itself which lack a cutting edge. While rewarding the weilder unique and powerful abilities if a sting can be achieved. As such by virtue of their size and and abilities both require a certain level of shunpo and to an extent hakuda proficiency to be used effectively in the first place. I envision Mitsubachi as an all in, super high risk vs reward implementation of this approach. A zanpakuto that is almost as dangerous to Lady Yoruichi as it is to her opponent. A zanpakuto that while it suits her and would be lethal in her hands, ultimately fails her in how limiting it is. Much like Jakuho Raikoben, which can only be fired once every three days, Mitsubachi can sting only so many times, in shikai and especially in bankai, thus limiting how many opponents Lady Yoruichi can fight and for how long. Overall it would make sense given her existing abilities, the risks, and the limitations of Mitsubachi, for her to simply forgo using Mitsubachi completely and instead rely on being fast and hitting real hard. It's simple but it works.
In the anime we do get to see yourichi’s zanpakuto in the flashbacks soifon has, she used it to cut down a hollow saving soifon from the hollow about to attack her. Still it’s never seen again after that
Yoruichi is a big-sisterly, almost motherly figure throughout the story. Despite her rough manners and playful attitude, she is responsible, caring and nurturing. My idea is that her zanpakutō isn't a weapon at all, but a support tool that forces her to stay out of the actual fighting and uses her energy to protect and empower her allies. It could be that she turns into a cat and her blade into a tiny temple, the size of a doghouse, and she falls asleep inside it and radiates an aura that increases her allies' strength, speed, perception and reflexes. Her Bankai could be a full-size temple with maneki neko figurines that shields others from harm and gives them good luck, but again, Yoruichi herself is asleep at the altar in cat form. The release command is "Nap!".
Just a random thought do you think maybe Yoruichi could have possibly handed down her zanpakuto to soifon as head of the stealth force because if i remember zanpakuto can be passed on like Kenpachi or even Tosen didn't originally own their zanpakuto
In Soi Fon’s flash back in the Soul Society arc, Yoruichi is seen in a golden robe that looks almost identical to what she wears in her Beyond Bankai form in Bleach Brave Souls. I know that BBS original forms aren’t canon, but maybe the sword she has in that form is what her Zanpakuto is supposed to be.
Actually bbs is half cannon most things are run by kubo before being released into the game and for the beyond bankai event kubo told them to do her clans ceremony weapon
There is always another option for her Bankai... it is irreparably damaged so she cant use it or at least not without risk to herself And absent a way to repair it just found a different skill set to focus on rather than the finite resource
I thought the same, but backed away from this after seeing it on the person in the flashback and the comments she made in the light novel. Otherwise, I would be there with you.
Awesome video as always. My own headcanon on the matter is that maybe her zanpaktuo has a cowardly nature with her outward demeanor being hardened and battle ready when in reality a part of her is fearful of losing kisuke or those close to her resulting in a zanpakuto with predominantly defensive or evasive abilities that caters to fleeing from battle or escaping an enemy which she doesn’t think or ever want to do. If her zanpakuto has the ability to relatively harmlessly and passively push enemies away in a non-lethal telekinesis sort of way then it’d make sense that she’d ditch it in most fights seen in the series in favor of rushing in to hit her enemies directly. A meek pacifist zanpakuto spirit seems to me like something she’d hate and avoid communing with at any opportunity. In many ways it’d be the inverse of Shuhei’s situation with Yoruichi being aggressive but her zanpakuto wanting to show restraint and a Bankai that’s at odds with both their desires in finishing a fight.
I think it being big and slow is the simplest, best thing to explain hindering her abilities. Out of all the other attributes these other ideas have to limit her, the idea to slow her down, completely opposing or even negating her strongest trait is my favorite with the gauntlet. All other ideas are great and Kubo does like to go into his complex things sometimes but for this I do think the simplest answer is best here. I do love the idea though of her having a more traditional weapon. Something with a blade for it's Shikai, dull colors like a realistic weapon (or with like one stand out color like Hozukimaru's), something classic for a classic Captain that even back when she'd have been a wee Shinigami first learning her Shikai would have been like 'I literally can't use this' to where even at her youngest we ever see her she's already been practicing without her Zanpakuto for ages. To that end I'd suggest some kind of huge naginata. Huge pole weapon with like a third of it being a long, probably fun shaped but otherwise regular dark and silver blade, and huge pole. Maybe something with a grip in the middle, like a dumbbell with a hold and then sudden thick ends, one a huge monkey king staff-like pole on one end, huge ornately shaped blade on the other. Or even one with no middle grip and she has to just hold this huge sized grown monkey king staff-like weapon with the open palm of her hand (that could stick to it or what have you for what swinging it around she *can* do) making it cumbersome and hard to swing around. If not a regular (if not big for a person) sized naginata but one that's heavy. Which in either case could lead to this idea for it's ability - gravity. Something that perhaps can increase it's own mass or even her own (with it's lowest point still being big and heavy and cumbersome) in relation to others without increasing it for Yoruichi beyond it being initially heavy for her. Not something that can gravity onto others like Izuru or anything, but a self focused heavy hitter gravity powered oversized naginata. Even with this power that would completely cancel out her skill with Hakuda, Hoho, everything she can do would be rendered hindered despite this powerful Zanpakuto which doesn't have to be oh so special and impossibly heavy for her, but something just unwieldly. A Bankai could then present something huge that can strike - my idea being a battery ram. A huge, ancient style, more ornate battery ram. In any case the Bankai should be large and stationary, obvious and not sneaky at all. And I think taking that pole and making it a huge several tree sized battery ram on a hefty stand would be neat an again, more classic in style. It's ability could then be something as great as whatever it hits will be taken out. Whatever door or wall or opponent it hits, it auto hits with enough gravity to launch it forward to death/crumbling/wide open, it's gravity power manipulates to just going through whatever the target is - like an X-Axis type thing but blunt instead of a bullet. Which while OP, would be very specific and hard to even guide an enemy into when they see the battery ram rear back first and notice her trying to stay by it/fight them into it. Perfect thing to all of explain it completely negating her main skill, why even the Shikai is a problem so why even carry the sword at all if all she can do is basic swordplay? And anyone could be better at hand to hand combat than with a sword. This all while keeping it a more classic style weapon befitting a Captain of old. Imagine if the hell chapter comes around, the gates of hell are sealed and can't be opened... They can't get in or are stuck inside, oh no! Only for Yoruichi to finally reveal her Zanpakuto who's Bankai is the only thing that can bust open the gates of hell itself with a huge ass battery ram. How cool would that be? The spirit could also flat out be lazy, heavy in itself, in reflection of her own subtle cat-like trait of how we see her every time she's lounging out which in of itself is more than a couple times. I'd hate to have it be something so on the nose as a cat itself, but it could be a huge amalgam cat-like beast like the thing from The Last Guardian. Because lets think about this angle; of all the things Yoruichi has to console on the daily, what if it was this huge lounging cute feline-beast that gets all sad after it's owner hasn't come back from work in a while and is just the heart tugging-est thing you ever did see. Being why she's so willing to every day console the spirit of her Zanpakuto. We should ask, what would Yoruichi herself really put up with consoling ever day? Not a human I don't think, man or woman. Not something too humanoid either I don't think. Beast thing it might have to be and while trying to avoid entirely just being a cat, some weird cute big beasty thing with fur is one of the only options I can think of. As it's usual Shikai appearance of course. Maybe it's Bankai makes the Spirit small despite it's physical size? Cute as hell. Side note speaking of the scene from CFYOW drawn we saw on screen, I'd love to see a theory video of what the other noble family Zanpakuto were. Like Muramasa being cited in the novel as the Kuchiki family Zanpakuto that can subjugate other Zanpakuto, and Enrakyoten that can copy other Zanpakuto. Makes me think maybe the others also all effect other Zanpakuto, like if the Shiba Clan's *buffed* other Zanpakuto, and maybe another clan's *destroys* Zanpakuto, and the last of the 5 does some *other* thing to Zanpakuto lol.
Great video and cool ideas for her zanpaktuo, I love these kind of videos of yours when you theorycraft abilities. As to why she does not use it I can only think of two reasons: 1: It is so destructive that she might have hurt, or even killed, on of her allies once and hence sworn to never use it again. (Maybe it makes her so fast that she cannot control her attacks) 2: It has been permanently damaged sowehow lowering its power to an extent that she deems her fist stronger than her weapon. Both of these ideas could give her a cool story when she either have to recover from some past trauma or repair her zanpankuto to raise her powerlevel. To be fair however, I don't think Kubo have a "set in stone" reason for it as if he did it would have been hinted at even more than what we are given. She is one of my favorite characters so nothing would make me more happy to see a story when she uses her mysterius zanpakuto to take down a big bad.
Mr. Tommo I think her Bankai and Shikai are so broken that if she were to use them regularly that they would take her to represent the soul king, and she doesn't want to do that, so she's afraid to use it, which might be part of the reason she left the soul society with Kiske and why they have such a bound since he helps her fight without her sword and knows why she prefers not to use it. Just a thought.
I don't know if it'll work but I could see Yoruichi's Bankai being similar to Sajin, where she summons a giant monster cat that she controls, and maybe the reason she won't use it is due to how big it is, and how it's impossible to not destroy the area around you.
Considering her clan lineage, maybe she has a zanpakuto is one passed down through the generations? And since she left the clan, maybe her brother has it as the new head of her clan.
I can see the last one with shadows, letting her attack multiple targets at once and surprising them. But the bankai draping the battlefield in draining shadow to slow her opponents. But with her blitzing fast attacks and bright shunko it would make hiding and slowly picking them off bad for her chosen style.
I always liked the idea of her zanpakuto being nobel related. Like her shikai being a knights two handed sword and then something along the lines of full knight armor infused with electricity as a bankai. It would make sense with her not wanting to use it, and her having to deal with it sulking as it wants to do what's right fight evil
It’s crazy if you really think about it. Yoruchi is powerful AF without her zankapatou, definitely in the high tiered captain class. Literally just hand to hand and kido. I can imagine just how much stronger she is with a shikai and bankai.
Honestly the simplest answer is probably the correct one. Raikō Neko (Lightning Cat) Is the name of her Zanpakutō. It's shikai command is likely 'Hiss'. Turning it into a lightning spewing ornate Naginata. And her Bankai would likely be a far more ornate yet unwilding version of her anti arancar armor she used vs Aizen. That basically fires EL Thors, on command but it's too heavy for Yoruichi's fighting style. Similer to in DnD when you put so much into dexterity in you character that anything more than a bikini armor slows you down.
Matsumoto already has a cat themed zanpakutõ with the release command Hiss. But I guess Yoruichi's zanpakutõ has something to do with lightning, I guess?
I think her shikai and Bankai are a long distance ability, I’m thinking something like shikamaru’s shadow jutsu but more cat and noble like, I think the reason she doesn’t really use it is because it wouldn’t allow her to use shunko and that it reminds her of her noble status which she left to be free.
I love the throwing blades idea. Forcing her to fight at a distance is something I could see her not wanting to do. Since her hands would be full all she could do is keep her distance and throw, not being able to fight how she wants to.
Yoruichi seems to have an affinity for lightning so I'm guessing her zanpakuto is a lighting type, assuming she has one of course. If not then maybe she's like Nanao where they have heirloom zanpakutos.
Here’s my idea Kanji may be off sorry Bankai 全部切り裂く猫 > I tried Zenbu kirisaku neko All cleaving cat Has 2 modes one that slashes everthing that comes in contact with user or everything in a 120 foot sphere. Shekai キラー猫 > I tried Kirā neko Killer cat Summon Command Hide Ability makes scratches appear on a target by pointing at them and swinging the shorten sword.
Forgot to include flaws so here they are now For Bankai it requires her to destroy the environment making a ton of noise and likely removing anything she could hide behind or jump off of , which is not ideal for a stealth fighter, it Also attacks indiscriminately and thus it’s not great for team ups. Additionally in its more defensive form it would require her to take damage in order dish it out. In either state it keeps enemies at a distance, In shikai it has the same issue of keeping enemies from her but is otherwise better at sneak attacks.
It was actually explained that Yoruichi has an inherited Zanpakuto of the Shihoin family, but when she left the Soul Society she gave it to her brother as it was supposed to only be used by the shihoin family head. The zampakuto messes with time, making time move slower around the user while the user himself, while affected, it is not nearly by as.much. that is also why the family practices shumpo so much as they need to be much faster to not be as hampered by the zampakuto and also be able to run away in case its ability becomes a liability.
I loved this video I really want to see her Zanpakuto abilities myself That would be really cool It may have to do with something like dual-wielding or taking a weapon form that greatly reduces her unarmed skills (making her overall a weaker fighter as she would not be able to express her CQC with her armed Bankai to their fullest extent simultaneously)
I was thinking the sword she was shown using for Beyond Bankai could have possibly been her’s. Like one of those family zanpakuto that gets passed down. Buuut that might not be the case. That last one you came up with would be so amusing though XD Itty bitty deep voiced cat dashing around the battle field flinging lightling claws, it’s fantastic
My idea for her zanpakto is that in shikai the blade vibrates to boost the cutting power, but she dislikes it due to the noise. Her bankai generates thunderclaps that double the impact of her attacks, but this puts alot of strain on her body, also VERY loud.
I think it would interesting if Yourichi's Zanpakuto was the same deal as Nanao. Maybe she only can use her Zanpakuto when she is the head of her clan. That why we never see her using in first place during present timeline. Maybe her Zanpakuto forces her to play the princess angle that she often seems to hate.
I think it's most likely that her bankai and shikai are ones that transform her. Think about it, Yoruichi is often portrayed cat like in her attitude as well, so what if she doesn't use it for the same reasons she doesn't like using her cat form, maybe the energy required to use it messes with her sanity and she can't control how she acts. Idk what the actual ability would be, but that might be a reason as to why it's impractical, because she has to literally be like a cat every time she needs to fight.
Honestly I always thought the lightning cat form was akin to a Bankai to some degree considering how much she seemed to hate the idea of it. But these are all some pretty interesting ideas.
I always say , I still believe Yoruichi and a few other characters are still hiding their true powers. That’s probably why she doesn’t feel the need for her zanpakuto. Such a shame ❤ but my favorite bleach character for sure .
I figured it out. Her Shikai is a razor sharp clawed gauntlet similar to Soifong's but on every finger, indeed inspiring the Shikai of her 'friend' later on. Her Bankai on the other hand gives her two gauntlets, but they take on the form of to oversized and adorable plush kitty paws. In pastel pink. Her Zanpakuto took this form entirely out of spite after they had another disagreement over something petty, she threw it over a cliff in a blind rage and didn't retrieve it for 3 days and the two have refused to cooperate ever since
Yoruichi's Zanpakuto could be situational like Shinji and Kyoraku's Bankai, and even Unohana's Shikai. it could be a hindrance like Soi Fon's Bankai. maybe it is a family Zanpakuto like Nanao's
What if her Zanpakuto is claws? and hates them because she can't make a proper fist to punch and do her Tai Jutsu the way she'd like? And her Bankai it having the ferocious power, Strength and speek of the ultimate black cat a Panther. Just my mind thinking of what would fit.
My personal theory is that her zanpakto is some kind of fist weapon that requires her to close her fist to use. Most of her hand to hand combat that we see is open handed so it’d make sense a closed fist weapon would completely go against all her muscle memory
One thing I think that you’re overlooking is that she mastered her zanpakto to even become a captain to begin with. There had to have been a point where she actively used it and built up enough of a bond with it to get the bankai. Then there’s one more trait of hers that got overlooked. To protect those close to her she is willing to abandon everything els. She left everything to save kiske. She wouldn’t even really harm soi fon when she was trying to kill her and just dragged her away from the battle. So what if her zanpakto represents a more young and naive yoruichi. One who won’t let any harm at all come to her companions. So she gets a giant come at me bro shield. Then as she grows and matures as a captain she realizes it’s doing more harm than good. Either through she can’t be everywhere and her companions need strength to stand on their own or that the threats a captain has to deal with are so strong that it’s better for the rank and file to just not be on the battle field and she has to personally head out and deal with it
I honestly think the first idea is the best, cept its like a rocket fist. Highly powerful but easy to dodge or avoid if the enemy is fast. Also the idea that the bankai is like s morter that can cover s battlefield feels right on point.
Yoruichi has always felt kinda like a Big Sister character to me, even before it was revealed that she had a younger brother she was always this enigmatic, experienced character that filled the role of a superior peer that was always on your side. I think this could be due to her relationship with her zanpakuto, it would make a lot of sense to me if her zanpakuto was essentially a young girl or younger sibling esque character, and she didnt want to use her zanpakuto to fight because it would put that child in the line of fire. This pushes her to go so far as to intentionally place herself in harms way, because shes not willing to put them forth after she has matured. This would also explain why she used to use it, but doesn't now, when she was younger it would be more like two friends fighting side by side, but as yoruichi gets older the zanpakuto spirit doesn't and therefore she has to grow up quickly to compensate, which mirrors her need to leave soul society with kisuke during the turn back the pendulum arc. There are other simpler explanations, but i think this really fits her character.
This video gave me the idea that the reason yoruichi might not like her zanpakuto is the power of it is somewhat random like what games kyoraku has access to with his shikai. This could explain why she feels stronger without as then she isn't subject to chance and possibly ending up in a bad position due to getting unlucky.
I always like the idea that her shikai would make her sort of likea werecat, where she's more animalistic. Her bankai would absolutely just turn her into a giant cat monster that is very slow but highly damaging.
When I think of Yuroichi, I think of her shikai being a sword of unpredictability. Specifically the Sword of India, the Urumi (aka the whip sword). Very difficult to control, but it can give her quick attacks and unpredictable attacks. Similar to renjis shikai. The bankai idea I have is it becomes a one on one match. Where the hilt dissolves and the whip sword becomes an iron ribbon that binds her left hand with an opponents left hand. Aka the Helena Duel, and no one can run away. Basically becoming a beat down restricting their movements until one is killed
Not actually revealing your true abilities to others seems like something a stealth assassin would be likely to do, as well as Yoruichi being coy about herself so it wouldn't surprise me if her saying "I have to take it out once a day or it pouts" is just her joking about it because she doesn't actually want to disclose what it really is. I could see her zanpakto being something that is always out, something that is actually quite useful all the time for her so she never bothers to sheath it because it would then get in the way for someone who fights with her fists (no need to have a blade hanging on your waist if you aren't going to use it). This could be part of her clothing/armor, something like Haineco just floating around, or an invisible thing. It could be that we've seen her zanpakto all along but never knew it, and maybe turning into the lightning cat she doesn't like not only because she loses control but because it also limits her use of her zanpakto. Or maybe like other families she doesn't have one of her own but it is passed down and she just doesn't like it. We do see her brother bringing her weapons, it could be that not having her own she is able to use quite a few other special weapons if she wanted, but only her family can use.
Kubo TOTALLY forgot about it let's be honest, or else he would had adressed it. A zanpakuto is more than a tool for a shinigami and someone versed like Yoruichi would know better, really trully a waste of character, not to mention that she's injuried for the entire serie, while the progatonists and many, maaaaaaaaaaaany other characters receive fatal blows and walk way like if it was nothing.
My theory from the information that we have is that her Shikai creates a fitting bubble around her. It heals her a bit but also everyone who touches it. That would go against her going into close combat. The Bankai could also give her great boosts for speed, strength, intelligence and so on. But she prevers to not use it because these boosts could also be used by her enemies. maybe it takes the form of an alchemy shelf with a load of drinks and things like that.
She seems extremely protective of anyone she feels loyal to. I feel like a giant shield could be possible. With her in your face attitude, hiding behind a shield isn't something she could easily accept.
Building off the shadow shikai for her, a good Bankai would be her Zanpakuto taking the form of a single copy of herself capable of everything she is to double her overall threat. At the cost of it splitting her power in half. Even at half strength, facing 2 of her at once would be trouble for most opponents considering her sheer speed paired with shunko. These feel like they match her style while also being a significant hindrance to her in combat versus powerful opponents.
There's a cartoon back then where the protagonist and his team are on a race against their enemy on hunting legendary martial art artifacts. There is an artifact that can be wore like a normal robe but, when activated it turns into a bulky cuirass. Your defense increases exponentially but it decreases your mobility cause of how bulky it is. Maybe that's similar with youriichi
What could Yoruichi's zanpakuto be? Do you like any of my ideas? How do you design a zanpakuto that's right for a character...but also wrong? Let me know in the comments!
Incredible how you keep innovating on a single anime. Great video topic!
well her shikai might be extremely cumbersome
The last idea you had was closest to what I had thought might be the case--Yoruichi creating a clone of herself, the Zanpakuto being a whole person that's a copy of her. To take things further, it would work similar to Komamura's in that any damage it takes would be shared with Yoruichi. It'd play into the whole deceptive ninja element but would be at odds with Yoruichi's preference for taking things head on by herself.
As someone who can transform into a cat and seemingly because of her bloodline. Is it out of the realms of possibility to suggest she could be either part of or related to the Beast Clan? Maybe the Shihoin clan have some kind of relation to them and thus have this transformational power. In which case her ability could show some similarities to a Zanpakuto like Kommamura.
Together with the fact she has to go 'soothe her Zanpakuto because it sulks because she doesn't use it' much like a cat sulking if you don't play with it or give it attention sometimes, I feel like her Zanpakuto could be some kind of construction, some other being that's physically brought out upon release.
And maybe that's one reason she doesn't' like using it, maybe much like Kommamura, this big beast that's a large target for most could also share wounds with her, and suddenly all her ability to avoid attacks and act with speed are useless when someone can target this giant beast to fight with instead. Maybe the beast is practically immortal, but all the damage it suffers applies to her body instead, so it just stays alive as long as she can withstand it.
My headcannon has always been that her zanpakutou turned into some sort of armor, which would explain why she avoided using it so much. Then, when she fought Aizen wearing those heavy looking implements Urahara made for her, I was sure that was her shikai. It would have made so much sense. A cumbersome armor type of power would be the perfect reason for her to forgo her zanpakutou. Anyway, awesome video. I always love watching these because I enjoy seeing your drawings, it's the exact type of thing that I used to draw in highschool during class, thinking about Bleach instead of quadratic equations.
As a fan of Yoruichi, I would like to note that the main reason for dissatisfaction with her cat form is not her appearance, as everyone might think, because she is not embarrassed even to walk naked. But it is her lack of freedom, Urahara can manipulate her LITERALLY with the help of a cat toy.
Her escape from the clan is similarly caused by the “chains”, “manipulations”, the shackles of the fate that she had to live at the behest of someone.
She MUST be the head of the clan.
She SHOULD dress decently like a princess.
She MUST wear a Zanpakuto since she is a Shinigami.
She MUST act as directed (Urahara Moment).
Her nature, on the contrary, strives for freedom, for inconstancy and expression of will.
From which I made a small conclusion that her zanpakutō has a similar principle of influence directly on Yoruichi’s soul, which is why she does not even carry an ordinary asauchi (ordinary katana).
At least that's how I see the current situation.
That's a great point.
Her Zanpakuto is visible in flash back panels of both Urahara and Soifon. The biggest evidence that Tomo missed was that the young clan head, her little brother, doesn't have a Zanpakuto either, and has trained/ mastered Shunko already.
Theory: The Zanpakuto is an inherited Zanpakuto, just like the Ise Clan. Considering that the Shihouin Clan is one of the Four Great Noble Houses, since ancient times, it is reasonable to assume that it is a Zanpakuto that serves a specific function of the Soul Society.
Ex: Sokyoku (Execution Zanpakuto)
If it is a functional Zanpakuto, then that explains why she doesn't have it with her anymore and why her brother doesn't have one, as he isn't the Head of the Clan yet. Most likely, the Steward of the family Head, or the previous Head retook the position when Yoruichi left the Soul Society.
You never had a Cat had you? Cats are incredible easy to distract and maipulate with about everything. And they also defently have they're favorite toy wich they respond even more to, the same goes for dogs honestly.
I think it really fits the whole Cat theme.
So what you MUST be saying is that she is a symbol of rebellion like how they make black women in this world? Its crazy because they only use blacks to prove some social or political point, they can't just be a cool character... sadly
@@killerv135 bro what ? Where did you pull that conclusion from ? There are a lot of rebellious characters in Bleach. Urahara, Zaraki, Aizen, Ichigo….etc.
The fact Yoruichi is this powerful without a zanpakuto is a testament of just how powerful she is.
Anyway her zanpakuto definitely has to be related to why she is the captain of the 2nd division. And her Bankai is probably somewhere on the line of being quick but devastating
Or the exact opposite and not her style while shes been reluctant to show it
Read a fanfic where her zanpakuto controlled attractive and repulsive forces by marking things with cat paw marks.
Unlikely if it was then she would have use it
@@kdamprae4236no because certain characters prefer to fight without it
@@Maxjuliann give me an example except soifon
I quite like that we never saw Yoruichi's Zanpakuto to be honest. It is one of the things that helps makes her very memorable, being the only Soul Reaper to focus pretty much exclusively on hand-to-hand fighting.
As for the actual reason, I like to think her Zanpakuto is something that focuses exclusively on killing or controlling others. Both of which are things that Yoruichi was raised to be a master of, yet she always held a strong distaste for. Therefor, her refusing to use her sword, would be symbolic of her abandoning her duties as a Soul Reaper and instead living a life of freedom and being a mentor rather then a Assassin/Noble.
I love this idea. That her Zanpakuto is too lethal for Yoruichi's personality. She considers herself stronger without using it because it takes a lot of effort to not kill someone when using her Shikai and/or Bankai, meanwhile her Hakuda and Shunko have a lot more control in how she outputs power.
This!
She's never felt like a Soul Reaper to me exactly because she didn't show or have a Zanpakuto
Think her Shikai and Bankai are Rajin related or that to mythical.
She couldn't have possibly thought it was a good idea to take on Aizen with that hypothetical 'creed'. That would make her quite foolish in fact despite how strong she could potentially be.
She's also a very staunch defender, so her Zanpakuto could be something very bulky like an AOE shield or suit of armor. Essentially, she would absorb blows/attacks and after absorbing enough energy, create a shock wave. It makes a lot of sense. You most often see her coming to the rescue of others/defending them. It would also explain her appreciating her Zanpakuto and constantly showing it love, but not using it. I feel as tho the heavy gauntlets and boots are Kubo hinting to this.
I feel like Yorurichi's case is like Nanao's, in which she uses a noble family house zanpaktou instead of her own. Because noble house swords are passed down, there's a chance that Yorurichi simply doesnt want to bother with or use a sword thats not her own. A theory that lends to this is that her Beyond Bankai form uses the Noble House zanpaktou that has her family crest on it.
We know that is not the case because we seen that guy from the original gotei 13 who is from her clan and he has his own zanpakuto, unless the one he has is the one of her family
@@Maxjuliann could be. There's alot that kubo needs to tie together. Also her Beyond Bankai form was shown before the original gotei so Kubo could of changed his mind on noble family zanpaktou
@@dinolover oh okay that's true . I just hope Kubo plans to give yurouchi, aizen and ukitake a chance to show their bankai in the anime or the hell arc 🤭
This is by far the most plausible theory.
but she said she has to soothe her zanpakuto every night due to it wanting to be used if it was the noble clans she would have left it at home and the new head would use it
I don't know why,When people get to ask Kubo questions and he answers,Why noone hasn't asked what's her swords name,What does it do,And why doesn't she use it?
The names can be red rerrings, and the powers on itself arent as carved in rock as one may think.
But the power, or at least an general direction of why she hates her own power is probably something he already has an answer for.
You know he’s been asked hundreds of times, he just doesn’t answer.
Think about it, she was SO STRONG when Yuhabah disabled the "fast travel" skills inside his rebuilt soul king castle
Not how you spell Yhwach Bach
I'd like to think that her zanpakuto has a degree of sentience. A creature type, probably a cat like entity, that has the capacity to disregard commands. As it can't be relied on it makes her weaker.
Like 🤔 a lion ♌🦁🦁♌ Tiger or 🐅🐯🐯🐅 or both.
@@AJ-kt5zopanther or leopard, they’re the most popular variety of big cat in their black coats
Also if it is in some way Feline related it fits perfectly with her saying that since she doesn’t fight with it (or thinks she’s stronger without) it sulks and she has to spend time everyday “pacifying” it, I mean that sounds like how a house cat acts if you don’t play with it.
If it was more house cat based than wildcat her not wanting to use it could mean it functions similarly to shunsui Katen Kyoketsu in the way if Katen doesn’t abide by Shunsui ‘s will to play a certain game - she’s “moody” like Yoruichi. Plus does Yoruichi lightning cat form get stronger SE wise based on her mood swings from being part cat? That’s why she can only use it with kisuke controller her otherwise she goes through like 4 emotions a second or attacks teammates - what if increase was cause she’s tapping into her Zanpakuto
I always thought her zanpakuto would be a support type. She is either a front line combatant or a trainer, coatch, support, etc. She has trained herself to be axcelent combatent, but her nature is to bring up or amplify others. Her zanpakuto would reflect her nature.
Personally I think she would be the first to make it an offensive power anyway. Something like To Aru's Junko or MadoMagi Sayaka that can use healing in a offensive way by "taking the hits, healing instantly and keeps charging".
I remember a very well written fanfic just gave her a cat themed Shikai and the Bankai only cat thee was SUNFLAME PANTHERS (TezCATlipoca)
XD hilarious curveball, but an awesome read.
And since I am awful at names I haven't remembered the title so far writing this...
I really hope that if we do get a Hell arc Yoruichi will be allowed/forced to use her zanpakuto.
Really the only way she would ever use it imo is if she was forced into a life or death situation where her hand to hand & speed don't offer anything and the abilities of her zanpakuto are a direct counter to whoever she's up against. I also feel like she would have to be in a position like Ikkau with his Bankai or Yumichika with his true shikai to really be pressed into breaking it out. If she has Kisuke with her, it always seems like she leaves things in his hands or in the hands of his inventons. It's always been a bit weird to me that she never brought it out against Aizen or Nakk Le Vaar where it couldn't hurt to try catching the enemy off guard with an unknown ability. With that in mind I really think she'd have to be all by herself with no one and nothing else around to offer potential backup to be forced into unleashing it.
The problem with Hell Arc, if she has a fight ... it will be likely that she will fight Chika Shihōin. And i wont be surprise if he is Shunko Creator or at least the best Shunko user ever in the top of being years in Hell and being the original captain of Squad 2.
@@ghostrouxinol6169Think she'll fight somebody her parallel or her mentor of Shunko creator.
I feel like the only thing that she would perfer not to use at all is a "creature" type Zanpaktou like Mayuri's.
I was always under the impression of, She never used her Zanpaktou because of it's power. Whether it was dangerous to use or conflicting with herself similar to Soi Fon but then once the small detail of her Zanpaktou got revealed in Cfyow I got the idea of maybe her Zanpaktou was a hinderance to her when fighting. Not necessarily weak but more of she has to use a fighting style that is blatantly different to hand to hand combat and with this idea I thought that maybe her Zanpaktou reflects the lazy part of her personality. Not a bad part of her personality but something that directly counteracts how she would normally fight, Again similar to Soi Fon but still a good bit different. I feel like no matter what a hand to hand combat specialist shinigami would probably always have a part of thier Zanpaktou that they didn't like.
So perhaps her Shikai and Bankai deal with being patient in some way, Whether it's waiting for a dot effect to fully activate or maybe even a really powerful single blast. This would make it so she'd have to occupy a hand with her Zanpaktou and have to take damage or run from a oppponent instead of fighting them head on kind of like a lazy cat
It's an interesting design challenge to make a zanpakutou that doesn't compliment its wielder and still make sense. In Yoruichi's case, I think it's more thematic. She could've ultimately directed her genius towards using her zanpakutou if she really wanted to, I'd imagine. However, her most prominent trait is her independent nature -- she left being a Captain, head of the secret police, and a very high-ranking noblewoman to be a literal cat in the Human World after all. That she'd want to be independent from her very zanpakutou - and master a complicated form of martial art to do so - is pretty on brand.
She operates far better at hand to hand combat and it fits with her personality doing so. She'd much rather leave someone tripped over with a bruised ego, only going for hard hits when things get serious. It's humorous and worrying how Soifon was immensely jealous at Yoruichi soothing her Zanpakuto in CFYOW. It shows how unhinged her obsession has made her. Over a Zanpakuto. Ah Soifon.
Truly the proof that Soifon is the ultimate Yoruichi simp. It is both sad and kind of hilarious how down bad she comes across, haha!
@@jrgenvellesen7800 True that. Then again Yoruichi was certainly the first person to treat her as a human being other than extensive indoctrination and brutal training, it snowballed from there. It shows the psychological effect of the nobles turning their offspring into little more than tools/weapons and continuations.
@@manuelacosta9463 Indeed. It adds to the idea that Soifon is very emotionally immature and has repressed her true self. Which is why when she expresses herself, she nearly always comes across as extreme. Whether it be her obsession with Yoruichi or her petty dislike towards Kisuke. It also makes her being left behind in terms of power and understanding herself compared to her contemporaries, very noticeable. Still, at least her relationship with Omaeda has improved somewhat, with her allowing him to take time off to work at his families business.
@@jrgenvellesen7800 That's quite the silver lining given her less than stellar relations with Omaeda. Yes her being reduced by her family into a weapon stunted her emotional growth and maturity. There still is some light shining through with her. Remember when she slew Ggio at Fake Karakura she did not look happy, something tells me that deep down she does not like killing despite her bluster and reputation as Soul Society's top assassin. That expression on her face was telling. She's only a killer because of her family.
@@jrgenvellesen7800I disagree with her being left behind in terms of power and understanding herself. Problem is Kubo giving her terrible match ups putting her at terrible disadvantage. I mean she doesn’t get as much page time either so that doesn’t help. She just has a shitty bankai, same can be said for Komamura who had to sacrifice his own heart to make it useful.
I like 3 different ideas for her zanpakuto:
1. During her younger years she was very playful and with the cat nature it could be that her zanpakuto is just too playful to deliver the killing blow effectively and inherently prolongs the fight
2. She's very much about speed so what if her zanpakuto is like Sloth from FMA:B? It's too fast to control and thus unreliable.
3. What if her zanpakuto is again, very unpredictable, going also with your idea, and thus it would be similar to Kite from HxH. There's no knowing what power up or weapon she receives and so it's impossible to rely on a power like that when trying to actually finish a fight fast and efficiently
My own idea of Yoruichi's zanpakuto lines up with your No. 1, that the form it takes is not one suited for battle because of a cat's nature to toy with their prey, with the extra line of thinking that as a former head of what is basically the Gotei 13's spy agency, the zanpakuto would instead be a tool intended for "enhanced interrogation techniques."
@@DoctorWortspieler I quite like that as it still plays into the role she's in, although the utter subversion of that, while keeping with the trope of her character is a bit funnier to me
I really like your first idea as it perfectly fits with Yoruichi's playful nature while adequately explaining why she would have to avoid using it.
@@jackoall9236 glad you like it!
This is why I love the concept of the zanpakuto as a whole, since they can easily play into the duality of a character and make what is their biggest asset into an issue, or something that they need to work around.
For example Kyoraku being this cheerful guy that holds a lot of pain in his heart. His zanpakuto plays children's games but at a very morbid level and his bankai just takes it up a noch. It's a constant reminder of all the tragedy.
I'd like to see a Part 2 where you instead focus on her royal image instead of stealth. I think the reason she doesn't use her zanpakuto is that it deals with her royal side that she is embarrassed about. If you did here are some ideas...
Funny Idea: Her zanpakuto is a healing weapon that does no damage. Her speed and stealth can still play a role but her job would be to quickly heal rather than damage. She is always saving people in the series so this also plays to her personality but not her fighting style. Her Bankai could be a huge gold Maneki-neko that heals and gives boons to all comrades, but also does no damage :D
Princess Idea: Her Zanpakuto would be a flute. This flute allows her to summon electric cats to do her bidding similar to Stark. She had to learn the flute as a royal activity which is why she hates it. She takes care of her zanpakuto by practicing on it everyday to cull its anger. The flute goes against her style of fighting because it is loud and hands off. Her Bankai would summon "The Five Wisdom Cats", a set of powerful cats. This is limit of her bloodline and is what is passed down through generations and is as strong as Zanka no Tachi NESW when summoned as each cat is a literal god. They can be annoying though. I took inspiration from this but changed them to cats:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_King#:~:text=The%20Five%20Wisdom%20Kings%5Bedit%5D
I've always thought Yourichi's zanpakuto release is some kind of ranged attack. It makes sense then that as someone who much prefers to get up close and personal, she would not like having to stay back to fire off attacks.
The difficulty with determining her zanpakuto is the fact that I feel like if it was actually powerful or useful in any way, she would have almost no excuse to not utilize it at some point in the series. The ideas and concepts you made are intriguing, but it's so hard to pinpoint a truly concrete concept since we have no inclination to what it could actually be. Hopefully in the Hell Arc we get some answers about it, even if just in reference and not actual showing. Personally I'd put this as my number 1 mystery of the series, its always confounded me
Yeah like she didn't use it even against Aizen which was a threat so big it could destroy Seretei, instead she just used some weak ass gauntlets. It's really strange. Maybe she doesn't have access to it, must be in possession of the noble family.
This challenge is.... I would say epic but that would fall short.
Thank you Primal for entertaining us with these sorts of videos and I hope you had at least some fun with it ^^ You are amazing!!
Running with the randomness idea - I could see her zanpakto being something similar to Kite's from HxH. A bunch of powerful and useful weapon/ability options but random which she gets and maybe even changes at random too. As amazing as the abilities & power can be, most of them just conflict with her preferences too much and are difficult to be proficient in all, thus she can be a stronger fighter by focusing on her preferred fighting style instead.
My bet is it’s a support type not meant for combat. Something similar to Unohana’s shikai. Her shikai isn’t really meant to be used for fighting and her bankai might be similar to Soi Fon’s in that it’s too loud for stealth. Think about it, Yoruichi isn’t shy at all. Hell she will walk around naked in front of others and laugh about it. So her bankai might be related to that side of her.
I quite like this, it's very fitting with how she's a Stealthy assassin but she's also extremely outgoing, boastful, etc.
I dont think Yoruichi would discard her Zanpakuto. She often plays the role of support during the story, i dont think she would dislike for that. I think it's a huge drawback from using it. I personally i would retcon that her zanpakuto is family legacy weapon. That is why she never uses in the present timeline. Her Zanpakuto is currently being used by Yūshirō Shihōin.
I personally i dont think Yoruichi should be similiar to Sui-feng for two reasons. 1- Kisuke and Omeda never had similiar weapons to them and it would make Squad 2 being too similiar. The squad where captains get useless stages.
@@ghostrouxinol6169 I don’t necessarily like it either. But nothing we can do about it because Kubo seem to like the idea of parallels between Soi Fon and Yoruichi.
@@ghostrouxinol6169yes it's probably just a family zanpakutõ
@@doginababyseat5127 Something to distance herself from Sui-Feng.
I could also see Yoruichi not wanting to use it for other reasons than she lets on. It is Yoruichi after all, and she tends to plays things off, despite normally being straight forward.
I could see her shikai being a Fūma Shuriken or a blow darts. Then her bankai be something large and destructive weapon that will slow her down for a short period of time and use a lot of her power to use it.
For idea 5, maybe the bankai plays off of the stealth, shadows, and even flash. With the ability to instantly move between shadows, amd even bring people into these shadows where she could kill or seal them, in my opinion could be cool.
I don't know of a reason why she wouldn't use this tho, maybe everytime she does the sword chips abit.
I like the "erratic cat"-idea since even though cats want to help,that doesn't make them any less erratic/unpredictable :D (I've lived with 7 different cats in my time,I have some experience).
Another idea I got was that the Zanpakuto is a traditional lazy/grumpy cat (think Ryumon Houzukimaru but much worse :D)
No the fickle cat like wanting to play but on its terms fits too well. My cat often wants to play and have attention but when he is done HE IS DONE. He gets lonely once in a while and bats us for attention screaming and being sad so we do play with him but then he just wonders off done with chasing the laser or the tassle or rolling a ball around or whatever. Personal I always felt her blade actual hurt her. As in using it does harm to her body. I pictured something like barb wire to reflect her nature to throw barbs at people to sass. Her release coats her in wires that yes tear up her foes but do just as much harm if not more to herself. And the Bankai being an area of raw damage that traps who she is fighting with her but really evens the playing field or makes it so if she moves around too fast she'd harm herself missing the traps it lays down. Kinda like when a cat lays down to have you pet it only to act like a bear trap and latch on to you. But I do love your final idea for a Bankai. While she likes her cat form and it sounds super cool, powerful and dangerous I can see being far to limiting for her fighting. Thumbs help alot.
As we have no idea of Kisuke Urahara's past and origin, and the lack of any information about Lady Yoruichi's Zanpakutō has been going on for years, I have a very radical idea. The connection and entanglement of the two characters Urahara and Yoruichi is very obvious, but the past of this connection is not clear and stated. Is it possible that Kisuke Urahara, the founder and former captain of the 12th Guard Research Laboratory, is the Zanpakutō of Lady Yoruichi?
Weird of Kubo to give her a Beyond Bankai in the app game *before* revealing her normal Bankai.
Definitely think her shape shifting has a great deal to do with her bankai. At the very least her shikai
Her bankai probably doesn't slow her or immobilize her..
instead
I'd like to think her bankai gives her a rage buff like a beast berserker same with Kenpachi a demon berserker, when she activates her bankai she gets stronger, faster and increase stamina but her mind wont be working while she's in rage mode..
she'll lose her focus and
she'll just be just swinging wildly in a battle which makes her easy to anticipate if the opponents are smart.
which would probably explain why she didn't use her bankai against askin because she knows askin is a tricky opponent and if she uses her bankai, she's surely be easily fallen from askin's poison traps..
Thunderous Grimalkin...
From a writers point a view there is a very key piece of information we are missing here, that is exactly WHEN she first discovered her Shikai. Timing with this is everything. Obviously most top ranked shinigami in all their squads are expected to have that ability at the very least. We don't know that much about her rise through the ranks, plus her squad is fundamentally different from all the others in the first place. When she discovers that ability however is key because one of two situations could be true.
Either she developed shunko BECAUSE she couldn't fight with her shikai properly, OR she developed shunko first and found her shikai undesirable when compared to what shunko gave her. It might seem like a very small difference but considering her part in the story of Aizen and how she left the shinigami world entirely in order to prepare and defeat him it shows that compared to the other captains her pursuit of strength had far more urgency to it than they did for a great many years. It would have had a much greater influence on all of her decisions, namely the decision to never use her zanpaktou.
I don't think it makes any sense to suggest that she would shun the weapon entirely just because it didn't fit with her style, she is not so stubborn I feel that she would do that. Especially if she feels bad about not using her zanpaktou, going so far as to console it daily. I think she is far too practical a person to not use every weapon at her disposal. Given what kind of fighter she is I think the most likely scenario of what you brought up would be the weapon that randomly changes from lethal to harmless. Even though she is very strong that strength is not from raw muscle, it is her agility, speed, technique and her great skill with kidou that augments all of those things. The very fact that she didn't die when fighting Soi Fon (if you dismiss the idea that Soi Fon never would have or could have emotionally gone through with killing her mentor) emphasizes just how much everything about her fighting style is based on speed and precision, that is where all of her power comes from. If your entire methodology for fighting relies on such precision then the last thing you want thrown into the works is something you can't rely on to be consistent.
Another thought is that she rose to Captain level and (forgive me if I'm wrong because I haven't followed bleach in nearly a decade now but unless she was one of the exceptions) that generally means she must have shown off her Bankai at some point to earn the qualification to be a Captain. That seems to indicate that despite the fact that she never used her zanpaktou in battle she continued training with it to the point that she eventually became capable of using Bankai. In which case she never abandoned her zanpaktou during that time period at least and didn't come to the conclusion to exclusively fight hand to hand and with kidou/shunko until after that point. So when she became a captain or when she became capable of Bankai is also a very crucial time for this situation, we don't know what was going on at that point in the story and what kind of decisions she was facing.
I subscribe to the idea that in her Bankai, Yoruichi becomes a Shrine Maiden. This idea comes from her royal lineage, while also being the head of the familly. She summons a shrine, where she must make an intricate dance and ritual, and that essentially summons a god like figure (which would be her Zanpaktou spirit). The problem is, that the ritual takes so incredibly long to cast, the fight might as well had been over before the creature even shows up, causing it to sulk, because Yoruichi preffers to go in and rush down her opponent's, rather than to go through the pain in the ass ritual to summon a giant Kaiju.
Her Shikai could follow a similar theme. Rather than a weapon, it's some type of lightning rod that activates while she's still. The lightning called down creates shadows behind all players on the field, which allow a paw of the kaiju to attack thru the shadows. It plays on her lightning energy and sneaky aspects while also being unwieldy
@@emmittdurkaj1991Think Shikai Karin Bankai Rajin god or that to mythical.
Like always great video, I'll take a couple of the ideas brought here and suggest some alterations to evolve them a little.
The shikai perhaps could tap on the feline side of her. This would mean that the more she use the shikai it overheats her like a cheetah overheats when it runs at tops speed and needs to stop at a certain moment in time to cool off. This would force a limited use of the shikai otherwise she would turn to ash. Like you mentioned about her shikai like claws appearing over her hands, also on pair with large felines protractile claws. The release would be something "painted like the grass, hidden from the prey's eyes. Lunge (or pounce) ''Kakushi tsume' (hidden claw)"
Then her bankai would be like an armor too heavy and too draining to use but on par with her fighting up close, like a medieval knight. The release would be like: "Harden like a diamond" and this would evolve the name to "Sōkō tsume" (armored claw). Another flaw with this bankai could be that if the diamond armored version of her gets cracked could be fatal for her or the reflectiveness of the armor could tell her enemies where she is at any moment making her an easy target.
Just a thought.
I feel like I remember reading/hearing somewhere that her Zanpaktō was destroyed or confiscated, and it is not a case of her not wanting wield it.
So maybe after when Uruhara went on the run, being labled a criminal with the Vizards after Aizen Hollowfied, she maybe tried vouching for him.
But Yamato or Central 46 saw this as disrespectful, unruly and suspicious and placed her under arrest, thinking maybe she could be a collaborator. So her sword was taken from her.
And as an act of rebellion she escaped the Soul Society to look for Uruhara leaving her Zanpaktō behind
I really liked the 5th idea. It seems complex and super interesting and a fitting design and reason as to why she chooses not to use it. I really hope Kubo shows us what hers truly is
Since she love to use shunko i will say her sword is a per of wings or something that connect to her back and therefore weaken her since she cant use shunko on top of it. Because a mid range weapon wouldnt inconvenience her with her speed. Throw, run, punch, catch, repeat.
I had the idea that Yorichi's shika could be a whip, but a very fickle one that could be somewhat controlled by the zanpakto spirit with the temperament of a cat. And her Bankai could be an enormous, Kaiju-sized Panther-monster with no capability for stealth.
i would think the biggest reason for her would be something like komomaru... summoning some kind of bulky avatar that shares damage and greatly reduces the agility and power she can deliver on her own... aside from that is some kind of super armor that makes her take greatly reduced damage but makes her super immobile... and the 3rd being something similar to momo where it turns into a long range casting type zanpakto...
I'm so glad you made this video! I've been waiting for you to make this for a while. Love your ideas! I always thought it could be an illusion type or one that seduces people cause of her playful personality. Either that or a utility type one that is highly situational
Idea for a video... How would you rank all captains in order to be the next head captain.
Not considering only strength, but personality and temper. For example I would probably choose Iba over Zaraki or Mayuri 😂😂
The lack of info of her Zanpakto continues to drive me crazy and I beg Kubo will eventually give us SOMETHING
Excellent video as usual. I do love your ideas and premises. In considering what Lady Yoruichi's Zanpakuto might be I actually look to Sui Feng's abilities for guidance, clarity, and inspiration. Given their close history and Sui Fengs idolisation of Lady Yoruichi I believe that Suzumebachi is as close an imitation of Lady Yoruichi's Zanpakuto as Sui Feng could manage. Specifically that Suzumebachi in Shikai imitates Yoruichi's Zapakuto, but that Jakuho Raikoben is the truer reflection of Sui Feng's self. How Sui Feng wants to be vs how she really is in a sense.
Anyway, running with this premise and looping back to Lady Yoruichi's Zapakuto, I think it is:
Mitsubachi (Honey bee) whose sealed form resembles a Wakizashi. We saw in a flashback that Lady Yoruichi used to carry her Zanpakuto on her right hip. This and other subtleties in the ways she uses her hands indicate that she is left handed. Mitsubachi is a Kido type Zanpakuto that heavily relies on the speed and strength of its user for its effective use.
Shikiai: Triggerd by the command "Sting all enemies to death." With a raise of left her arm to the heavens and the utterance of her release command, she and the blade ooze an amber glow and the blade seems to melt down onto and into her arm. Glowing rivers of amber flow like veins down her arm to her chest and indeed into her heart. Upon completion of release Mitsubachi looks alot like Suzumebachi in shikai albeit with small barbs on the goden stinger extending from her left middle finger and the same amber glow to its design. Mitsubachi envelops more of Yoruichi's hand than Suzumebachi does.
Shikai abailities:
1. Sting: Puncture wounds from Mitsubachi contain venom, much like Suzumebachi but rip flesh more due to the different stinger. It's venom is made from Lady Yoruichi's blood and Reiryoku, taken directly from her heart. It causes compounding almost paralyzing pain the more venom is injected. While a large number of stings can certainly kill, releasing large quantities of venom drains Lady Yoruichi and requires time for her to recooperate after battle. Sting thus is mostly used to incapacitate and immobilize.
2. Swarm: A technique heavily realiant on shunpo. While advanced shunpo practicioners may appear to be in many places at once but actually arent, swarm allows her abilities to take effect from multiple places at once, whether they be kido, hakuda, or Zanpakuto based, or some combination thereof. Seemingly like cloning of herself but more exactly brief scattering of her reiryoku mixed with shunpo. This of course when used with sting drains Lady Yoruichi even faster.
3. Honey: A healing technique that converts her blood and Reiryoku into a sweet honey. It is secreted from salivary glands. When consumed by an ally it heals and reviatalizes their strengh and Rieryoku. Of course, given the awkwardness and intimacy involved in using this ability, Lady Yoruichi would be very very very hesitant to use it at all and not many know of its existence in the first place. I headcanon that she gave Sui Feng some of her honey one time in during a particularly dangerous situation and poor Sui aint been the same since.
Bankai: Sacrifice of the Honeybee
Mitsubachi transforms again, this time from a worn gauntlet to small tanto with barbs, larger than in shikai, on the sides of the blade. No other phsyical change occurs and no range, speed or AOE ability is gained. This transformation allows her more versatility in zanjustu as she can hold Mitsubachi with either hand now and can cut again instead of only pierce with a stinger. Indeed Lady Yoruichi can cut and slice indefinitely with Mitsubachi, The Swarm and Honey abilities are even more powerful as well, but her Sting can only be used once. One final Sting, to one target.
Bankai Special Ability: Final Sting.
Upon a successful sting, the blade latches deep into the flesh of the opponent. The vast majority of Lady Yoruichi's blood and Rieryoku is forcefully ripped from her body to power one final killing sting causing an instant loss of consciousness to Lady Yoruichi. Mitsubachi remains lodged in the opponent, unable to be removed as it kills in a manner similar to Suzumebachi's Death in two steps and Shinso's Korose, Kamishini no Yari (the technique Ichimaru used to attempt to kill Aizen with.) This techinique while extrememly powerful takes days to awaken from using and longer to recover from.
Analysis: This zanpakuto I think fits Lady Yoruichi appropriately. Mitsubachi, both in Shikai and in Bankai handle the same way Suzumebachi does. Both Zanpakuto offer a sort of tradeoff. Physically by being very close ranged in nature (and so almost useless against an opponent like Barragan) and biomechanically, by severely limiting the usage of the Zanpakuto weilding hand to just piercing by virtue of enveloping the hand and through the shape of the stinger itself which lack a cutting edge. While rewarding the weilder unique and powerful abilities if a sting can be achieved. As such by virtue of their size and and abilities both require a certain level of shunpo and to an extent hakuda proficiency to be used effectively in the first place.
I envision Mitsubachi as an all in, super high risk vs reward implementation of this approach. A zanpakuto that is almost as dangerous to Lady Yoruichi as it is to her opponent. A zanpakuto that while it suits her and would be lethal in her hands, ultimately fails her in how limiting it is. Much like Jakuho Raikoben, which can only be fired once every three days, Mitsubachi can sting only so many times, in shikai and especially in bankai, thus limiting how many opponents Lady Yoruichi can fight and for how long. Overall it would make sense given her existing abilities, the risks, and the limitations of Mitsubachi, for her to simply forgo using Mitsubachi completely and instead rely on being fast and hitting real hard. It's simple but it works.
In the anime we do get to see yourichi’s zanpakuto in the flashbacks soifon has, she used it to cut down a hollow saving soifon from the hollow about to attack her. Still it’s never seen again after that
Her zanpakuto probably gives her a turtle shell or something like that lol
Yoruichi is a big-sisterly, almost motherly figure throughout the story. Despite her rough manners and playful attitude, she is responsible, caring and nurturing. My idea is that her zanpakutō isn't a weapon at all, but a support tool that forces her to stay out of the actual fighting and uses her energy to protect and empower her allies. It could be that she turns into a cat and her blade into a tiny temple, the size of a doghouse, and she falls asleep inside it and radiates an aura that increases her allies' strength, speed, perception and reflexes. Her Bankai could be a full-size temple with maneki neko figurines that shields others from harm and gives them good luck, but again, Yoruichi herself is asleep at the altar in cat form. The release command is "Nap!".
That's cute
Just a random thought do you think maybe Yoruichi could have possibly handed down her zanpakuto to soifon as head of the stealth force because if i remember zanpakuto can be passed on like Kenpachi or even Tosen didn't originally own their zanpakuto
In Soi Fon’s flash back in the Soul Society arc, Yoruichi is seen in a golden robe that looks almost identical to what she wears in her Beyond Bankai form in Bleach Brave Souls. I know that BBS original forms aren’t canon, but maybe the sword she has in that form is what her Zanpakuto is supposed to be.
That's a Shihoin clan relic.
@@varsoonhks3211 didn’t know that
Actually bbs is half cannon most things are run by kubo before being released into the game and for the beyond bankai event kubo told them to do her clans ceremony weapon
@@naiko8412 that’s pretty cool
I think she literally is somebody's zanpaktou lol. Maybe Kisuke's second sword? Lol. That would be wild
There is always another option for her Bankai... it is irreparably damaged so she cant use it or at least not without risk to herself
And absent a way to repair it just found a different skill set to focus on rather than the finite resource
I thought the same, but backed away from this after seeing it on the person in the flashback and the comments she made in the light novel. Otherwise, I would be there with you.
I was just thinking about you making a video on Yoruichi this morning and Boom! Delivered!
bro speaking facts indeed (i havent even finished the video)
Awesome video as always. My own headcanon on the matter is that maybe her zanpaktuo has a cowardly nature with her outward demeanor being hardened and battle ready when in reality a part of her is fearful of losing kisuke or those close to her resulting in a zanpakuto with predominantly defensive or evasive abilities that caters to fleeing from battle or escaping an enemy which she doesn’t think or ever want to do.
If her zanpakuto has the ability to relatively harmlessly and passively push enemies away in a non-lethal telekinesis sort of way then it’d make sense that she’d ditch it in most fights seen in the series in favor of rushing in to hit her enemies directly. A meek pacifist zanpakuto spirit seems to me like something she’d hate and avoid communing with at any opportunity. In many ways it’d be the inverse of Shuhei’s situation with Yoruichi being aggressive but her zanpakuto wanting to show restraint and a Bankai that’s at odds with both their desires in finishing a fight.
I think it being big and slow is the simplest, best thing to explain hindering her abilities. Out of all the other attributes these other ideas have to limit her, the idea to slow her down, completely opposing or even negating her strongest trait is my favorite with the gauntlet. All other ideas are great and Kubo does like to go into his complex things sometimes but for this I do think the simplest answer is best here.
I do love the idea though of her having a more traditional weapon. Something with a blade for it's Shikai, dull colors like a realistic weapon (or with like one stand out color like Hozukimaru's), something classic for a classic Captain that even back when she'd have been a wee Shinigami first learning her Shikai would have been like 'I literally can't use this' to where even at her youngest we ever see her she's already been practicing without her Zanpakuto for ages.
To that end I'd suggest some kind of huge naginata. Huge pole weapon with like a third of it being a long, probably fun shaped but otherwise regular dark and silver blade, and huge pole. Maybe something with a grip in the middle, like a dumbbell with a hold and then sudden thick ends, one a huge monkey king staff-like pole on one end, huge ornately shaped blade on the other. Or even one with no middle grip and she has to just hold this huge sized grown monkey king staff-like weapon with the open palm of her hand (that could stick to it or what have you for what swinging it around she *can* do) making it cumbersome and hard to swing around. If not a regular (if not big for a person) sized naginata but one that's heavy.
Which in either case could lead to this idea for it's ability - gravity. Something that perhaps can increase it's own mass or even her own (with it's lowest point still being big and heavy and cumbersome) in relation to others without increasing it for Yoruichi beyond it being initially heavy for her. Not something that can gravity onto others like Izuru or anything, but a self focused heavy hitter gravity powered oversized naginata. Even with this power that would completely cancel out her skill with Hakuda, Hoho, everything she can do would be rendered hindered despite this powerful Zanpakuto which doesn't have to be oh so special and impossibly heavy for her, but something just unwieldly.
A Bankai could then present something huge that can strike - my idea being a battery ram. A huge, ancient style, more ornate battery ram. In any case the Bankai should be large and stationary, obvious and not sneaky at all. And I think taking that pole and making it a huge several tree sized battery ram on a hefty stand would be neat an again, more classic in style. It's ability could then be something as great as whatever it hits will be taken out. Whatever door or wall or opponent it hits, it auto hits with enough gravity to launch it forward to death/crumbling/wide open, it's gravity power manipulates to just going through whatever the target is - like an X-Axis type thing but blunt instead of a bullet. Which while OP, would be very specific and hard to even guide an enemy into when they see the battery ram rear back first and notice her trying to stay by it/fight them into it.
Perfect thing to all of explain it completely negating her main skill, why even the Shikai is a problem so why even carry the sword at all if all she can do is basic swordplay? And anyone could be better at hand to hand combat than with a sword. This all while keeping it a more classic style weapon befitting a Captain of old.
Imagine if the hell chapter comes around, the gates of hell are sealed and can't be opened... They can't get in or are stuck inside, oh no! Only for Yoruichi to finally reveal her Zanpakuto who's Bankai is the only thing that can bust open the gates of hell itself with a huge ass battery ram. How cool would that be?
The spirit could also flat out be lazy, heavy in itself, in reflection of her own subtle cat-like trait of how we see her every time she's lounging out which in of itself is more than a couple times. I'd hate to have it be something so on the nose as a cat itself, but it could be a huge amalgam cat-like beast like the thing from The Last Guardian. Because lets think about this angle; of all the things Yoruichi has to console on the daily, what if it was this huge lounging cute feline-beast that gets all sad after it's owner hasn't come back from work in a while and is just the heart tugging-est thing you ever did see. Being why she's so willing to every day console the spirit of her Zanpakuto. We should ask, what would Yoruichi herself really put up with consoling ever day? Not a human I don't think, man or woman. Not something too humanoid either I don't think. Beast thing it might have to be and while trying to avoid entirely just being a cat, some weird cute big beasty thing with fur is one of the only options I can think of. As it's usual Shikai appearance of course. Maybe it's Bankai makes the Spirit small despite it's physical size? Cute as hell.
Side note speaking of the scene from CFYOW drawn we saw on screen, I'd love to see a theory video of what the other noble family Zanpakuto were. Like Muramasa being cited in the novel as the Kuchiki family Zanpakuto that can subjugate other Zanpakuto, and Enrakyoten that can copy other Zanpakuto. Makes me think maybe the others also all effect other Zanpakuto, like if the Shiba Clan's *buffed* other Zanpakuto, and maybe another clan's *destroys* Zanpakuto, and the last of the 5 does some *other* thing to Zanpakuto lol.
Great video and cool ideas for her zanpaktuo, I love these kind of videos of yours when you theorycraft abilities.
As to why she does not use it I can only think of two reasons:
1: It is so destructive that she might have hurt, or even killed, on of her allies once and hence sworn to never use it again. (Maybe it makes her so fast that she cannot control her attacks)
2: It has been permanently damaged sowehow lowering its power to an extent that she deems her fist stronger than her weapon.
Both of these ideas could give her a cool story when she either have to recover from some past trauma or repair her zanpankuto to raise her powerlevel.
To be fair however, I don't think Kubo have a "set in stone" reason for it as if he did it would have been hinted at even more than what we are given. She is one of my favorite characters so nothing would make me more happy to see a story when she uses her mysterius zanpakuto to take down a big bad.
Just a theory here but maybe her bankai is a double edged sword like Kokyo tengen myo oh like she takes DMG from it
Mr. Tommo I think her Bankai and Shikai are so broken that if she were to use them regularly that they would take her to represent the soul king, and she doesn't want to do that, so she's afraid to use it, which might be part of the reason she left the soul society with Kiske and why they have such a bound since he helps her fight without her sword and knows why she prefers not to use it. Just a thought.
I don't know if it'll work but I could see Yoruichi's Bankai being similar to Sajin, where she summons a giant monster cat that she controls, and maybe the reason she won't use it is due to how big it is, and how it's impossible to not destroy the area around you.
Considering her clan lineage, maybe she has a zanpakuto is one passed down through the generations? And since she left the clan, maybe her brother has it as the new head of her clan.
I can see the last one with shadows, letting her attack multiple targets at once and surprising them. But the bankai draping the battlefield in draining shadow to slow her opponents. But with her blitzing fast attacks and bright shunko it would make hiding and slowly picking them off bad for her chosen style.
I always liked the idea of her zanpakuto being nobel related. Like her shikai being a knights two handed sword and then something along the lines of full knight armor infused with electricity as a bankai. It would make sense with her not wanting to use it, and her having to deal with it sulking as it wants to do what's right fight evil
I think it would be funny if her zanpakto is totally unsuited to her like soi fons and it's just a curse of the stealth corps 😂
It’s crazy if you really think about it. Yoruchi is powerful AF without her zankapatou, definitely in the high tiered captain class. Literally just hand to hand and kido. I can imagine just how much stronger she is with a shikai and bankai.
Honestly the simplest answer is probably the correct one.
Raikō Neko (Lightning Cat) Is the name of her Zanpakutō.
It's shikai command is likely 'Hiss'. Turning it into a lightning spewing ornate Naginata.
And her Bankai would likely be a far more ornate yet unwilding version of her anti arancar armor she used vs Aizen.
That basically fires EL Thors, on command but it's too heavy for Yoruichi's fighting style.
Similer to in DnD when you put so much into dexterity in you character that anything more than a bikini armor slows you down.
Matsumoto already has a cat themed zanpakutõ with the release command Hiss.
But I guess Yoruichi's zanpakutõ has something to do with lightning, I guess?
I think her shikai and Bankai are a long distance ability, I’m thinking something like shikamaru’s shadow jutsu but more cat and noble like, I think the reason she doesn’t really use it is because it wouldn’t allow her to use shunko and that it reminds her of her noble status which she left to be free.
I love the throwing blades idea.
Forcing her to fight at a distance is something I could see her not wanting to do.
Since her hands would be full all she could do is keep her distance and throw, not being able to fight how she wants to.
Yoruichi seems to have an affinity for lightning so I'm guessing her zanpakuto is a lighting type, assuming she has one of course. If not then maybe she's like Nanao where they have heirloom zanpakutos.
Here’s my idea
Kanji may be off sorry Bankai 全部切り裂く猫 > I tried
Zenbu kirisaku neko
All cleaving cat
Has 2 modes one that slashes everthing that comes in contact with user or everything in a 120 foot sphere.
Shekai キラー猫 > I tried
Kirā neko
Killer cat
Summon Command Hide
Ability makes scratches appear on a target by pointing at them and swinging the shorten sword.
Forgot to include flaws so here they are now
For Bankai it requires her to destroy the environment making a ton of noise and likely removing anything she could hide behind or jump off of , which is not ideal for a stealth fighter, it Also attacks indiscriminately and thus it’s not great for team ups. Additionally in its more defensive form it would require her to take damage in order dish it out. In either state it keeps enemies at a distance,
In shikai it has the same issue of keeping enemies from her but is otherwise better at sneak attacks.
It was actually explained that Yoruichi has an inherited Zanpakuto of the Shihoin family, but when she left the Soul Society she gave it to her brother as it was supposed to only be used by the shihoin family head. The zampakuto messes with time, making time move slower around the user while the user himself, while affected, it is not nearly by as.much. that is also why the family practices shumpo so much as they need to be much faster to not be as hampered by the zampakuto and also be able to run away in case its ability becomes a liability.
Where was that explained?
@@corruptangel6793it wasn't
I loved this video
I really want to see her Zanpakuto abilities myself
That would be really cool
It may have to do with something like dual-wielding or taking a weapon form that greatly reduces her unarmed skills (making her overall a weaker fighter as she would not be able to express her CQC with her armed Bankai to their fullest extent simultaneously)
I always wondered if her lightning cat form was similar to what he zanpakuto would do for her
I was thinking the sword she was shown using for Beyond Bankai could have possibly been her’s. Like one of those family zanpakuto that gets passed down. Buuut that might not be the case.
That last one you came up with would be so amusing though XD Itty bitty deep voiced cat dashing around the battle field flinging lightling claws, it’s fantastic
My favorite Bleach waifu its Yoruichi definitely.
My idea for her zanpakto is that in shikai the blade vibrates to boost the cutting power, but she dislikes it due to the noise. Her bankai generates thunderclaps that double the impact of her attacks, but this puts alot of strain on her body, also VERY loud.
I think it would interesting if Yourichi's Zanpakuto was the same deal as Nanao. Maybe she only can use her Zanpakuto when she is the head of her clan. That why we never see her using in first place during present timeline. Maybe her Zanpakuto forces her to play the princess angle that she often seems to hate.
I think it's most likely that her bankai and shikai are ones that transform her. Think about it, Yoruichi is often portrayed cat like in her attitude as well, so what if she doesn't use it for the same reasons she doesn't like using her cat form, maybe the energy required to use it messes with her sanity and she can't control how she acts. Idk what the actual ability would be, but that might be a reason as to why it's impractical, because she has to literally be like a cat every time she needs to fight.
Honestly I always thought the lightning cat form was akin to a Bankai to some degree considering how much she seemed to hate the idea of it. But these are all some pretty interesting ideas.
I always say , I still believe Yoruichi and a few other characters are still hiding their true powers. That’s probably why she doesn’t feel the need for her zanpakuto. Such a shame ❤ but my favorite bleach character for sure .
I figured it out. Her Shikai is a razor sharp clawed gauntlet similar to Soifong's but on every finger, indeed inspiring the Shikai of her 'friend' later on.
Her Bankai on the other hand gives her two gauntlets, but they take on the form of to oversized and adorable plush kitty paws. In pastel pink. Her Zanpakuto took this form entirely out of spite after they had another disagreement over something petty, she threw it over a cliff in a blind rage and didn't retrieve it for 3 days and the two have refused to cooperate ever since
I like the 5th Zanpakuto idea both in concept of what it does as well as reasoning why not to use it.
Yoruichi's Zanpakuto could be situational like Shinji and Kyoraku's Bankai, and even Unohana's Shikai.
it could be a hindrance like Soi Fon's Bankai. maybe it is a family Zanpakuto like Nanao's
All the above for sure
I actually really do like the last idea, very creative and fitting
What if her Zanpakuto is claws? and hates them because she can't make a proper fist to punch and do her Tai Jutsu the way she'd like? And her Bankai it having the ferocious power, Strength and speek of the ultimate black cat a Panther. Just my mind thinking of what would fit.
My personal theory is that her zanpakto is some kind of fist weapon that requires her to close her fist to use. Most of her hand to hand combat that we see is open handed so it’d make sense a closed fist weapon would completely go against all her muscle memory
Maybe its something that goes completely against her lighting, maybe the zanpaktou release is something to do with insulation or like heavy armor
One thing I think that you’re overlooking is that she mastered her zanpakto to even become a captain to begin with. There had to have been a point where she actively used it and built up enough of a bond with it to get the bankai.
Then there’s one more trait of hers that got overlooked. To protect those close to her she is willing to abandon everything els. She left everything to save kiske. She wouldn’t even really harm soi fon when she was trying to kill her and just dragged her away from the battle.
So what if her zanpakto represents a more young and naive yoruichi. One who won’t let any harm at all come to her companions. So she gets a giant come at me bro shield.
Then as she grows and matures as a captain she realizes it’s doing more harm than good. Either through she can’t be everywhere and her companions need strength to stand on their own or that the threats a captain has to deal with are so strong that it’s better for the rank and file to just not be on the battle field and she has to personally head out and deal with it
I honestly think the first idea is the best, cept its like a rocket fist. Highly powerful but easy to dodge or avoid if the enemy is fast. Also the idea that the bankai is like s morter that can cover s battlefield feels right on point.
Her Zanpakuto is so powerful that Kubo won’t let her use it.
Yoruichi has always felt kinda like a Big Sister character to me, even before it was revealed that she had a younger brother she was always this enigmatic, experienced character that filled the role of a superior peer that was always on your side. I think this could be due to her relationship with her zanpakuto, it would make a lot of sense to me if her zanpakuto was essentially a young girl or younger sibling esque character, and she didnt want to use her zanpakuto to fight because it would put that child in the line of fire.
This pushes her to go so far as to intentionally place herself in harms way, because shes not willing to put them forth after she has matured. This would also explain why she used to use it, but doesn't now, when she was younger it would be more like two friends fighting side by side, but as yoruichi gets older the zanpakuto spirit doesn't and therefore she has to grow up quickly to compensate, which mirrors her need to leave soul society with kisuke during the turn back the pendulum arc.
There are other simpler explanations, but i think this really fits her character.
This video gave me the idea that the reason yoruichi might not like her zanpakuto is the power of it is somewhat random like what games kyoraku has access to with his shikai. This could explain why she feels stronger without as then she isn't subject to chance and possibly ending up in a bad position due to getting unlucky.
Or its goes directly against or opposite to Yoruichi's fightstyle
I always like the idea that her shikai would make her sort of likea werecat, where she's more animalistic. Her bankai would absolutely just turn her into a giant cat monster that is very slow but highly damaging.
Nekomata
When I think of Yuroichi, I think of her shikai being a sword of unpredictability. Specifically the Sword of India, the Urumi (aka the whip sword). Very difficult to control, but it can give her quick attacks and unpredictable attacks. Similar to renjis shikai. The bankai idea I have is it becomes a one on one match. Where the hilt dissolves and the whip sword becomes an iron ribbon that binds her left hand with an opponents left hand. Aka the Helena Duel, and no one can run away. Basically becoming a beat down restricting their movements until one is killed
Not actually revealing your true abilities to others seems like something a stealth assassin would be likely to do, as well as Yoruichi being coy about herself so it wouldn't surprise me if her saying "I have to take it out once a day or it pouts" is just her joking about it because she doesn't actually want to disclose what it really is. I could see her zanpakto being something that is always out, something that is actually quite useful all the time for her so she never bothers to sheath it because it would then get in the way for someone who fights with her fists (no need to have a blade hanging on your waist if you aren't going to use it). This could be part of her clothing/armor, something like Haineco just floating around, or an invisible thing. It could be that we've seen her zanpakto all along but never knew it, and maybe turning into the lightning cat she doesn't like not only because she loses control but because it also limits her use of her zanpakto.
Or maybe like other families she doesn't have one of her own but it is passed down and she just doesn't like it. We do see her brother bringing her weapons, it could be that not having her own she is able to use quite a few other special weapons if she wanted, but only her family can use.
Kubo TOTALLY forgot about it let's be honest, or else he would had adressed it. A zanpakuto is more than a tool for a shinigami and someone versed like Yoruichi would know better, really trully a waste of character, not to mention that she's injuried for the entire serie, while the progatonists and many, maaaaaaaaaaaany other characters receive fatal blows and walk way like if it was nothing.
My theory from the information that we have is that her Shikai creates a fitting bubble around her. It heals her a bit but also everyone who touches it. That would go against her going into close combat. The Bankai could also give her great boosts for speed, strength, intelligence and so on. But she prevers to not use it because these boosts could also be used by her enemies. maybe it takes the form of an alchemy shelf with a load of drinks and things like that.
She seems extremely protective of anyone she feels loyal to. I feel like a giant shield could be possible. With her in your face attitude, hiding behind a shield isn't something she could easily accept.
I think she doesn’t like how her zampakto can be tracked
Building off the shadow shikai for her, a good Bankai would be her Zanpakuto taking the form of a single copy of herself capable of everything she is to double her overall threat. At the cost of it splitting her power in half.
Even at half strength, facing 2 of her at once would be trouble for most opponents considering her sheer speed paired with shunko.
These feel like they match her style while also being a significant hindrance to her in combat versus powerful opponents.
There's a cartoon back then where the protagonist and his team are on a race against their enemy on hunting legendary martial art artifacts.
There is an artifact that can be wore like a normal robe but, when activated it turns into a bulky cuirass. Your defense increases exponentially but it decreases your mobility cause of how bulky it is.
Maybe that's similar with youriichi