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| Balancers of Souls | |
| |
| Kanji | 護団四帝 |
| English | 4 Imperial Guard Regiments |
| Romaji | Godanshitei |
| Organization | |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Soul King |
| Headquarters | Soul Society |
| Leader(s) | Force-Marshal |
| Senior Member(s) | Marshal of the North Marshal of the East Marshal of the South Marshal of the West |
| Other Members | Interdiction Corps Detention Corps Execution Corps Observation Corps |
| Affiliation | Soul King |
| Purpose | Keeping the balance of souls amongst the worlds |
The Balancers of Souls (護団四帝, Godanshitei; 4 Imperial Guard Regiments) is the former military arm of Soul Society which was comprised of Shinigami and Sōzōshin. It was replaced by the Gotei 13, Kidō Corps, and, Onmitsukidō with the former taking over most of its previous duties.
History[]
Much of the history of the Balancers is unknown, though it is said that the organization was founded at the hands of the Soul King several thousand years ago, if not more.
Despite being sworn to defend the balance of souls between the Human World and Soul Society, the Balancers were little more than hardened killers who brought chaos with them wherever they went, such that though the original Gotei 13 were thought of in much the same light, they were still considered an improvement over their predecessors.
During their lifetime, the Balancers committed a string of atrocities that were initially tolerated but soon drew the ire of the Soul King and the Royal Guard resulting in conflict between the two parties. Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto drew an end to the conflict with his newly founded Gotei 13 through a series of drawn out and chaotic battles across the Soul Society, the Human World, and even Hueco Mundo.
In spite of the animosity they generated, they were still honoured after their destruction for upholding their duties if nothing else. A series of gravemarkers known as Yüshítou (隅石头, "Corner Stone") were placed across sites in the various worlds.
Several prominent Shinigami had their beginnings amongst the ranks of the Balancers, such as Ōetsu Nimaiya who invented the Zanpakutō that the Gotei used to defeat them.
Duties[]
The Balancers of Souls were the sole military force of Soul Society during their time, and, as such filled all of the roles that the three succeeding branches of military forces would perform. Alongside this they also had much more power and authority than their counterparts, though they operated under Central 46, they also accepted orders from the Soul King directly, who, at that time, was more active in the affairs of Soul Society.
They had jurisdiction to operate in all of the known worlds, including Hueco Mundo and Hell. While they defended the Human World from Hollow attacks and carried out the responsibility of ferrying souls to Soul Society, they took to policing those worlds by exterminating "undesirables" at their own discretion, this included Hollows, Togabito, Quincy and their predecessors, the Magic Hunters.
Organization[]
Structure[]
The Balancers of Souls is made up of four branches, or brigades, that each operate under different specializations and authorities.
The Balancers are led by the Force-Marshal (高大将, Kōtaisho; "High-General") who has the authority to conduct all of the affairs of the organization, though typically meetings were conducted with the highest officers of the four branches of the organization before making important decisions. Like its successors, in matters regarding Soul Society, the Balancers deferred to the judgement of Central 46 and the Soul King.
As with any military force, the Balancers have a hierarchy of ranks applied to its membership. There are several general ranks that can apply to its troops regardless of their division, but many of them operate under specialized titles supplied by the branch they serve under. During its founding the organization operated on a seniority-based system but eventually changed to a merit-based one as the organization grew and deviated from its origins.
Ranks[]
- The Force-Marshal (高大将, Kōtaishō; "High General") is the supreme commander of the Balancers of Souls. The position requires the oversight of all operations performed by the Balancers across any and all spiritual realms and the Human World. The only powers the Force-Marshal answers to are Central 46 and the Soul King, though it is customary to put important decisions to a vote with the captains of each brigade. There have only been two known holders of this position, the first being among the original founders of the orginization and their successor, who claimed the seat after killing the former holder.
- The Marshals (大将, Taishō; "General") are one step below the Force-Marshal and the leaders of each of one of the four branches of the orginization. They are generally the most powerful members amongst the Balancers of Souls and were once afforded the highest level of respect from the citizens of the Rukongai and others. Each rank is considered to be unique by way of each being named after one of the cardinal directions (Marshal of the North, Marshal of the East, etc.). In this situation the Force-Marshal could be referred to as the Marshal of the Center.
- The Colonels (中将, Chujō; "Lieutenant General"): Equivelant to the Shinigami Lieutenants, a Colonel serves as the executive officer for one of the four brigades under a Marshal. There can be up to two Colonels in each division, allowing for a total of eight at any one time, though it is more common for a Marshal to only appoint one individual as their Colonel. They are typically seen as the second strongest members of any part of the Balancers though they can be appointed for a variety of reasons of which martial prowess is only one. In the event that a Marshal is unavailable, the Colonel serves as the commanding officer until such a time that the Marshal returns or is replaced.
- The Majors (准尉, Jun-i; "Warrant Officer"): Considered to be of equal seating as a 3rd seat officer in the Gotei 13, the Majors serve as specialist officers within the divisions, typically they lead a unit that fulfills a specialized purpose as dictated by the duties of their division. As a result they are typically the best at what they do in a particular field, as while the Marshals and Colonels oversee the overall duties of a brigade, the Majors handle all aspects of its more specific duties.
- The Corporals (少尉, Shōi; "Ensign"): A "blanket rank" applied to the general membership amongst the Balancers of Souls. While it is officially the lowest rank a Balancer can have, each brigade is known to apply specialized ranks for its own purposes that typically supercedes this rank.
Branches[]
| The Four Branches | |||
| Brigade | Marshal | Brigade Function | |
| Interdiction Corps (阻止隊, kinshitai; "Obstruction Unit") | Marshal of the North | The largest of the four divisions and the one most geared towards military affairs. As the branch with jurisdiction over Soul Society and the Dangai, their typical duties included defending and monitoring the various organizations that maintained the Soul Society, even Central 46 who typically had jurisdiction over the Balancers themselves. In certain circumstances, they could invade any of the spiritual realms with a full military force to wipe out whatever potential threat they were mustered against and were, as such, the best equipped of the four branches. | |
| Observation Corps (監視隊, kanshitai; "Surveillance Unit") | Marshal of the East | This branch has jurisdiction over the Human World, as such they are responsible for defending Humans from the threat of Hollows, though they also eliminate anyone that they consider a threat, among them Quincy and Magic Hunters, they have the authority to kill Humans if they believe they could be dangerous to the overall balance of souls, which they take to mean anyone with above average spiritual energy such as Fullbringers or High-Spec Humans. Their specialist duties include conducting covert operations and reconnaissance through out the spiritual realms. | |
| Detention Corps (勾引隊, kōintai; "Imprisonment Unit") | Marshal of the South | This branch is responsible for running and maintaining each and every prison under Soul Society's governance, including the Great Central Underground Prison beneath the Seireitei, the Nest of Maggots, and the penal colony located within the Dangai. They have jurisdiction over Hell and had a special prison located deep within. This prison was used to subject those who had earned the ire of the Balancers to a fate worse than death, they would be trapped in this prison and subjected to Hell miasma which would slowly bind them to Hell for eternity. The Detention Corps had access to equipment that made them immune to this process and were known to be capable of fighting off the Kushanāda. | |
| Execution Corps (施行隊, shikōtai; "Enforcement Unit") | Marshal of the West | With jurisdiction over Hueco Mundo, the Execution Corps is charged with keeping the Hollows in check, the prevention of any Hollow evolving into a Vasto Lorde taking priority. In addition to their regular uniform, they are also commonly found wearing hooded cloaks. Their special duties are much in line with assassination, eliminating beings designated as undesirables by Central 46 or the Force-Marshal. | |
Notable Members[]
| Notable Members | ||||
| Rank | Name | Branch | Jiūkǔndao | Status |
| Force-Marshal | Xiang Yu | None | Kǔtòng | Active |
| Marshal of the North | Hyo Seung | Interdiction Corps | Jīngshénbìng | Active |
| Marshal of the East | Naoko Murakami | Observation Corps | Shǎndiàn | Active |
| Marshal of the South | Mamoru Nakatani | Detention Corps | Mugilyeog | Active |
| Marshal of the West | Sun Zhong | Execution Corps | Wēnyì | Active |
| Colonel | Ksenija Gregorovich | Interdiction Corps | Zhōngsī | Active |
| Colonel | Han Fang | Execution Corps | Lìliàng | Active |
| Colonel | Ren Nakatani | Detention Corps | Hyeongi | Active |
| Colonel | Daisuke Takeda | Observation Corps | Jiǎké | Active |
| Major | Dan Tai Sin | Execution Corps | Xū | Active |
| Major | Han Zhang | Execution Corps | Lièkāi | Active |
| Major | Altan Kartal | Detention Corps | Unknown | Left Group |
| Major | Máo Yǒng | Detention Corps | Bēngdài | Active |
| Major | Wú Lanfên | Detention Corps | Qīng Zhàng Chē | Active |
| Unknown | Ōetsu Nimaiya | Observation Corps | Unknown | Left Group |
| Corporal | Seia Tulia Honoria | Interdiction Corps | Unknown | Left Group |
Combat[]
The Balancers of Souls fight using much of what would become the Zankensoki, though Kidō was not invented until after their collapse.
- Zanjutsu: Sword fighting techniques for the Jiūkǔndao and later Zanpakutō. The most basic fighting technique.
- Hakuda: An unarmed fighting technique that makes use of one's own body in a fight.
- Hohō: The name for all high-speed fighting movements based on the art of Shunpo.
- Kadō (力道, Energy Way): Also referred to as Magic (魔法, Mahō), it is the art of spellcasting used by the Balancers.
Uniforms[]
The uniform of the Balancers of Souls consists of a long-sleeved tunic with rolled back cuffs on the end. They have huling (護領, lit. "protect collar") sewn into the collars for protection. They adorn both belts and sashes together across the waist with either a double folded robe or half kilt hanging down from the waist. They also adorn a set of baggy trousers that are either worn over or tucked into a pair of hard-cuffed boots. On top of this uniform, members wear a jeonbok, which later become the inspiration for the Shinigami Haori worn by Captains.
Equipment[]
Jiūkǔndao (阄捆刀, "Fate-Binding Sword"): As they predated its existence, the Shinigami that served the Balancers of Souls did not wield Zanpakutō. Instead they wielded the blade known as Jiūkǔndao, which would serve as inspiration for the later weapon. While the forging process is unknown, the swords are somehow granted power that serves as a representation of its wielders fate when they were Human, in other words the event that ended their life before they entered Soul Society as souls. The power has no requirements for its manifestation naturally, and all Balancers are capable of unleashing the power of their respective Jiūkǔndao. As such, a basic Jiūkǔndao could be considered the equivelant of a constant release-type Shikai. Like Zanpakutō, these swords do have a release state known as Shìfàng (釋放, "Release"). This state is connected to the physical health of its wielder and can only be activated when they are in critical condition, making it rare that anyone ever sees a use of Shìfàng more than once.
Yüshítou (隅石头, Corner Stone): Gravemarkers in the form of crudely shaped headstones engraved with the names of those supposedly buried underneath them. They are largely symbolic in nature, representing the casualties on both sides of the Balancer/Shinigami conflict. They were tampered with by Dan Tai Sin in order to penetrate the Muken within Soul Society's strongest prison. Over the course of thousands of years, the gravemarkers amassed spiritual energy before "drilling" into the Muken once they had become capable of breaching its defenses. In the process they would claim whoever's spiritual energy was used as its initial catalyst, which happened to be the Marshals of the order.
Trivia[]
The concept used for the Balancer uniform.
- The ranking structure of the organization is partially based upon the Imperial Japanese Army.
- Members of the organization are known as Balancers (霊任平衡, Reinin Heikō; "Those Responsible for the Balance").
Behind the Scenes[]
Though the name of the organization, and its ranks, are rendered in Japanese, the theme decided for them is primarily Chinese as decided by the authors. This was done in part to differentiate them from their successors, but also to show that they were the preceeding organization by using a language that preceeded and helped developed Japanese. Latin was also considered. The uniform of the organization is based upon illustrated representations of Song Dynasty-era military clothing with the addition of a Korean jeonbok.