‘Bleach’: What Is Aizen’s Final Form? Explained!

Despite not being the series’ only and final villain, Sōsuke Aizen will, despite everything, remain Bleach‘s most notable antagonist. The former Captain of the 5th Division, Aizen, betrayed the Gotei 13 in search of more power to become the most powerful individual in the known world. That is why he conducted experiments with Hollows in secret and why he yearned to get his hands on the Hogyoku, believing that the Hogyoku was the key to him becoming invincible. He managed to get his hands on Urahara’s invention at one point, and after letting it evolve for a while in Hueco Mundo, Aizen finally merged with it, and in the series, he showed five distinct forms after fusing with the Hogyoku. This article will explain these fused forms, focusing specifically on his final fusion, also known as the Saishū Yūgō.

After merging with the Hogyoku, Aizen was able to gain new forms and also new forms. He looked almost the same in his first fused form, but the Hogyoku was visible inside his chest. His second form was fully covered with a white canvas, which disappeared in his third form; his hair also became longer in this form. His fourth form gave him wings, while in his Saishū Yūgō, his final fusion form, Aizen, turned almost into a Hollow, retaining very little of his original humanity.

The rest of this article will be about Sosuke Aizen and his powers and abilities in Kubo’s Bleach series. We will, of course, focus on his Hogoyku-related powers and abilities, not his Shinigami ones, as the former are the central point of this article, especially the fusions Aizen achieved after fusing with the Hogyoku. This article will contain some spoilers, so if you’re not fully up-to-date with everything, you have been warned.

Aizen’s Hogyoku fusion had five distinct forms

Aizen’s goal from the beginning was to use the Hogyoku to merge with it and gain immense power; he wanted to use that power to become the most powerful being in existence and surpass even the Soul King. The Hogoyku was actually an invention by Kisuke Urahara that was hidden in the Gigai that Rukia Kuchiki received to hide it from everyone else because Urahara himself realized how dangerous it was.

The Hogyoku is an item that possesses incredible power. The Hogyoku can dissolve the boundaries between a Hollow and a Shinigami. So, it can give Hollows Shinigami powers and let them become Arrancar. Furthermore, it can turn Shinigami into a Visored through Hollowfication. Among other things, you need twice as much Reiatsu as a normal Captain of the Gotei 13 to be able to transform a Hollow into an Arrancar.

Chapter 401 provided us with more details about the true power of the Hogyoku. It cannot actually stabilize the bond between a Shinigami and a Hollow, but it is, rather, capable of capturing and materializing the deepest desires in the hearts of all the living beings that surround it.

So it was only due to the wish of its creator, Kisuke Urahara, that it stabilized the boundaries between a Hollow and a Shinigami, which allowed him to create the Visoreds and thus save the lives of Shinji Hirako and the others. This is what Aizen deduced after observing the Hogyoku in Hueco Mundo.

Furthermore, as Aizen explained later in the story, it is mentioned that some of the past events we’ve seen in the series (those related to Ichigo, Rukia, and, especially, Orihime and Chad developing their powers) were not accidental, but that they were the will of Hogyoku, which was hidden inside Rukia’s Gigai.

Ichigo only gained his shinigami powers because Rukia still couldn’t get over the painful death of Kaien Shiba, which is why, deep down, she wished she wasn’t a Shinigami anymore and wanted to break free from that obligation.

Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado also got their abilities from the Hogyoku because they cursed their helplessness from the bottom of their hearts. The Hogyoku can also dissolve the horizon between the divine and the earth, which can mean that it can create a godlike being, just as Aizen desired.

Now that you know about the Hogyoku, we can actually explain Aizen’s powers and abilities. As Aizen merged with the Hogyoku, the Hogyoku accepted him as his master and gradually gave him more powers. The forms created through this fusion are known as the fusion forms.

The first fusion form did not change much on Aizen, except that the Hogyoku was visible inside his chest. He gained exceptional regenerative abilities, and his strength and durability increased further. The second form was described as Aizen’s “Chrysalis” Stage, and in it, he was covered in white cloth from top to bottom (face included), resembling a phantom. He did not gain any special powers in this form, but his strength, speed, regeneration, durability, and Spiritual Pressure increased significantly, making him even stronger than before.

The third fusion saw Aizen break out of his previous form. His face is now visible, and his hair is significantly longer. This form also did not give him any special powers, but we’ve seen that Aizen’s durability and Spiritual Pressure increased once more. The fourth form brought another big change: Aizen sprouted wings, lost his irises, and received a diamond-shaped object embedded in his forehead. Alongside an increase in all his general stats, Aizen also received the power of teleportation in this form.

His final form, the Saishū Yūgō, saw Aizen become a monster. He finally turned into a Hollow, although he rained some traits of his former human self. His wings received eyes and Hollow-like skulls that he used to attack Ichigo. His face also became demonic and completely black, making Aizen look like a real monster; his hair remained intact, on the other hand. His left hand became demonic and black, while his right hand was merged with his Zanpakuto and was also black.

As for his powers and abilities, Aizen could now use his Fragor and Ultrafragor techniques, a series of very powerful attacks that could wipe out an entire area in a moment’s time. Had Ichigo not also activated his final form, he would have died from these attacks, but he managed to withstand them and survive.

These attacks prove just how powerful Aizen became, but this was ultimately useless against Ichigo’s Final Getsuga Tensho, which weakened Aizen enough for him to be sealed by Urahara’s secret technique. Although it wasn’t explicitly confirmed, we assume his other abilities were also enhanced.

We know for sure that his regeneration skills were increased, as in this form, even after being hit by the final Getsuga Tensho, Aizen was able to commence his regeneration, and had Urahara’s Kido not been there, he would have gained his powers back, and he would have probably defeated Ichigo, as Ichigo gave it all – literally – for that final attack.