So far

The Anime Bleach is symbolic of, or a close follower of the Bible and Christianity, especially Catholocism.

Specific Allusions

Manga Chapters that mention Biblical or Christian Allusions
156 – Welcome to Purgatory
176 – End of Hypnosis 8 – The Transfixion (Extremely similar to the word Transfiguration)
190 – 194 – All have the word Conquistador in them
214 – Immanent God Blues
215 – Tug your God out
267 – Legion of Reglets

Characters that Allude specifically to the Bible and/or Christianity

7th Espada Zomari Le Roux
Chapter 302 – Pride of the Sword
“So you see fit to Crucify me? Me!? Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!!! This air of smugness…Pompousness…Shinigami slay us as if it were their birthright! They pass judgment on us as if lead by Providence! On what grounds are you permitted to Persecute Hollows?! If it’s because we satiate ourselves with the flesh of mortals…Then I say you have no right sticking your wretched noses in their affairs! None! You’re overstepping your bounds! Shinigami’s choose to see our cup as half empty…blinded by antiquated dogma…reeking of self importance and infallibility”

John 8:7 - “So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.’"

5th Espada Nnoitora
Chapter 309 – Pray for Mantis
“Pray Santa Teresa” (Pray Saint Teresa)

9th Espada Arroniro Arurueri
Chapter 267 – Legion of Reglets
“The number of Hollows I have eaten is 33,650”
“My ‘Hollow Eater’ can call forth the powers of all the hollows I have eaten at once!”
“I’m the only Gillian of the Espada..Generally a Gillian wouldn’t have enough power to make it in…I’m the only one that can evolve myself without end!”

Mark 5:7-10 - He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name don't torture me!" 8 For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!" Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
"My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
*Interesting to note Mathew doesn’t report the name Legion, but he acclaims that there were two men at this spot where Jesus defeated the demon (Luke and Mark do name Legion). This is interesting because 9th Espada Arroniro Arurueri had two skulls floating in his head when his true face was revealed, and yet, this was never given any real explanation.

Shinigami Connection

Shinigami are based off the Biblical interpretation of angels, or have been influenced by this. The most spectacular examples of this are the roles the different Captains serve and how their personalities match that of the archangels. (Note: Many of the Angels are Catholic based and would not be found in the average Protestant Bible except for those that I left Quotes too)

Archangel Michael – Hitsugaya

- Both are very powerful and are Commanders in the field of Battle

Joshua 5:13-14a - Once when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, 'Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?' He replied, 'Neither; but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.

Remember that Hitsugaya was sent to Earth with the small army there early to help deal with the growing Arrancar threat

- Both are protectors. Michael is viewed as the protector of Israel by Daniel during the Tribulation. And Hitsugaya is extremely protective of Hinamori threatening to kill Gin if he lays a hand on her.

- Both are examples of Chivalry

- Hitsugaya’s Bankai is a pair of Frozen wings and is one of the youngest Shinigami with a Bankai. Michael is viewed with wings and he is young as well

Archangel Gabriel – General Yamamoto

- Both are messengers

Daniel 8:17 - Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.' So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was terrified, and fell upon my face; but he said to me: 'Understand, son of man; for the vision belongs to the time of the end..."

Gabriel is a Messenger of God, while General Yamamoto serves as the messenger between the Chambers 46 and the Shinigami Captains. He also knows the resting place of the King’s Key. And, he calls all the meetings.

- Each are associated with fire, as Yamamoto’s Shikai is Firebased

- Gabriel is chief of the Angels, and Yamamoto head of the Shinigami 13 captains

Archangel Raphael – Unohana

- An angel of healing, protection, and love

- Unohana is head of the healing division of Shinigami, and she protected Chad from being eaten by the Arrancar Hollows in Hueco Mundo

Archangel Uriel – Byakuya

- Uriel is commonly noted with the Earth. Byakuya’s Zenpaktou is named after a tree on Earth, and to release his Sword he drops it into the Earth.

- When Byakuya releases his Bankai he gains wings and a glow around his head similar to a Halo

- Uriel is the Angel of Repentance and is pitiless. Byakuya was depicted as emotionally unmoved when Rukia was nearly executed, and he was also exemplified as emotionless during his fight with 7th Espada Zomari Le Roux

Archangel Selaphiel – Ukitake

- Selaphiel is compared to Fish, while Ukitake’s sword is similar to fishing javelins

- Selaphiel is an attitude of Humble prayer. Ukitake is ill is often denoted as weak and in a position of great humility.

Fallen Archangel Lucifer – Aizen

- Lucifer was an Angel of Light. Aizen’s zenpkatou involves hypnosis which is the manipulation of light
- Lucifer thought himself the supreme angel of all and clever. Aizen in “Turning back the pendulum” was often revealed to believe he was smarter then the other Shinigami with a very arrogant attitude after tricking his captain.
- Aizen leads an army and a fight against the king of Soul Society much like Lucifer lead a war against the King of Kings
- Lucifer fought and dropped 1/3 of the Angels from Heaven. Aizen was able to take 3 out of the thirteen Shinigami from Soul Society and he killed one, and was the cause of Urahara’s leaving captain status. This is 38% of the Captains.
- Lucifer works with demons to corrupt the pure. Aizen works with Hollows, especially the Arrancar and Espada
- Common names for the Devil are: Most Wise, Most perfect, Most Powerful, Most Knowledgeable, Most intelligent. All these are also synonymous for the character that Aizen Represents

Shinigami’s in general connection to Angels

2 Peter 2:4 - For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment

Urahara was originally the one who was meant to oversee those who were tossed into his dungeon, many of which were crazy and menacing.

The name Shinigami means Death God. Many of the aforementioned Arch Angels were also called ‘Angels of Death’.

Angels and Shinigami are both seen as far superior in strength to humans. In the Bible when Humans see Angels they always fall on their face in terror. Shinigami and Angels are also both seen as protectors and fighters in spiritual warfare against demons or Hollows.

Both also have supernatural power over mortals. Rukia originally changed the memories of Ichigo’s family to make them believe they had a truck crash into their house. When Gabriel told Zacharius that Elizabeth was having a child and he was to help her he was struck blind.

Other Shinigami to Bible Comparisons

1 Cortinthians 15:40 - There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another

When Ichigo becomes a Shinigami he must leave his physical/earthly body but instead take on a new spiritual one. The rapture also is expected to be a taking of the Spiritual bodies of believers and leaving behind their Physical bodies.

You can also see a parallel to how Ichigo made others gain powers. Because Orihime and Chad spent a lot of time with Ichigo they were able to gain spiritual powers themselves. This is curiously similar to the call of all Christians to Spread the Gospel to others. Christian's great faith allows people to see Christ through them and also believe.

The Armageddon Battle

In the most recent chapters the strong of Hueco Mundo and the Shinigami of Soul Society have set themselves up to fight against each other. This will also happen at the end of times with the greatest battle for the fate of the Earth. This is interesting because this battle in Bleach too will determine the fate of the Entire Earth, and that the battle of Armageddon will also be fought over a very narrow scope of land (The battle in bleach being fought over Karakura town and only a couple miles long).

4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse

There are 4 pillars that in recent chapters have been of essential importance. These 4 pillars are being fought as a preclude to the Battle between Hueco Mundo and Shinigami. This is similar to the role the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse serve, though very damaging, they are a forerunner to the cataclysm to follow.

Revelation 6:2-5 - These four horses and horsemen represent the four major world conditions Jesus said would exist at the end of this age (Matthew 24)—all increasing in severity and overlapping in their effects on the entire world!

This mirrors the Pillars in the Battle which serve as the Pillars of the East, North, South, and West as said by Halibel. These 4 Arrancar were representatives of the 4 Horsemen.

Yumichika fought the First Arrancar (Cool Horn). When he fought him he attacked with a wide cero. This is significant because the First Horsemen carries a bow (And to say it was a coincidence is weird because no other Arrancar attacked with a cero). The First horsemen is also one who teaches false doctrines and deceives. The First Arrancar tries to deceive Yumichika many times. For starters when he used the Cero above mentioned it was a trick. He also attempted to convince Yumichika he was beautiful despite that he was hideous in all forms. He also tries kill Yumichika using an attack by a Rose, a Rose which would otherwise mean Pure Beauty and even that of love was in this case a symbol of death.

Kira faces the second Arrancar. This Arrancar demands a long and strange childlike ritual of yelling "fight fight fight" till they got their “Battle Face” on. The second horseman of the apocalypse demonstrates war and is the era of “Wars and Rumors of Wars” and also is seen as wild and chaotic. After this strange exercise he activates his zenpaktou gaining wings. Also, though rare, the writer of bleach colored a page and colored the Arrancar red. This is the color that is associated with the second horsemen and is of extreme importance if the Author was willing to highlight the color because he obviously was trying to point it out to us. The second horsemen uses a small, dagger like weapon, and the man Kira fought used feathers to attack that were as heavy as steel but, like the second Horsemen's weapon, it was small.

Revelations 6:6 - a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, 'A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine'

Hisagi Shuhei fights the 3rd Arrancar. Findor. When they first start he says he will match his opponent and then calculates the strength of him slowly matching him with speed and power. The Third Horseman of the apocalypse is the one who will create famines and it carefully balances the prices of the markets to cause scarcity. The goal of the Third horsemen is while the first two horsemen ravage this one keeps man weak. When he first started talking he asked “Why, why are you exhausted?” twice. Also, he says “Sorry, I am not used to introducing myself”. This is significant due to the quote from above where a voice introduced the Third Horsemen on it’s own (the only horseman that this occurred for). The Voice of Revelation was actually leaving a law, that said you would have to be careful in what you bought because you could get 2 days food for a denarius or 1 days but it would taste better. You had to make the correct choice in buying food or you would starve. Findor made it a practice to repeatedly say "exacta" And that life was about "getting as many correct answers" as you could.

Revelations 6:8 - And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

The 4th Pillar fell. Ikkaku was defeated by this Arrancar. The 4th Horsemen signifies disease. We know the least about the 4th Horsemen he was described by a pale horse and followed by Death and Hell but nothing else was explained. This is also the Arrancar we know the least about since we were not shown the fight but instead that Ikkaku had been beaten. However, it would be noteworthy to mention that in revelations it says that ¼ of the world’s population will fall. This is completely in the scope of this battle as the 4th Pillar that they were to protect did indeed fall with Ikkaku.

This is the end of the initial part of the Battle of Armageddon. Since the rest has yet to be revealed to us, we can not judge much. But we have analyzed the 4 pillars that were set out to be protected and they do indeed in nearly every way represent and symbolically stand for the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse. It leaves little doubt that this could mean anything else.

Sources:
http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/3322/Four-Horsemen-of-Apocalypse.htm

I like it a lot Q :D

Thanks ^_^

I didn't get through It all you forgot Archangel micheal for the first one, but it seems really good

Thank you. I put Archangel but forgot the Michael part

I read it all not, very good

That's a matter of opinion I suppose. I like it myself.

dam o_O wow

Thanks!

Next time, I'll just ask you for a summary, haha..

But I liked ^^

Now that I re-read this, I'm not so sure of a couple of your manga chapter references...

Post your concerns, duh.

Silly me.

Alright, the whole tranfixion thing. The word trasnfix means to hold motionless with awe. Or in some cases it can mean to impale... Now, I don't have my book handy to look and see what that particular chapter is about, but the word used could mean what it actually means - it doesn't have to allude to the word transfiguration.

214 and 215 - Both would make more sense if they had more to do with shinigami (gods of death) than the god of the christians. And I can't agree with you when you say that shinigami are based off of the biblical interpretation of angels because the Japanese had shinigami before christianity came along.

The archangels section and the four horsemen sections seem quite solid!!

Um, boy I run into this everytime I explain the theory, it seems.

I am not saying Shinigami are based off angels. No, I am not. I am saying the Shinigami in Bleach are based off Angels from Christianity. I don't personally care which religion had them first.

I am saying the guy who wrote Bleach based these shinigami off Angels. These Shinigami, the ones in the series. The real life Shinigami, the ones Japanese people believe in, probably look a lot more like the ones in Deathnote. Does that make sense? If not I can repeat it. ^_^

As for Transfixion, it might be a stretch. But also, read the chapter that I got it from. If I am under the right assumption, it was the same chapter Rukia was being "crucified" and Ichigo came out to protect her. That kind of goes along with it.

The point of chapters 214-215 was to refer to the fact that they were implying spiritual ideas, aka God's, moreso then say God of Heaven, God of Earth.

Wow, I am surprised you said my Four Horseman Section was solid. That was one of the areas I thought might be too shaky.

And also, the quotes seem solid too.
Any other questions? (Wants to know my theories weak spots)

Glad you cleared up the shinigami thing for me.

If that is the right chapter then my definition also makes sense. Whe Rukia was taken back to S.S. the level Ichigo was at was nowhere near where he was when she saw him again. She would be in awe of his new power...

Really? I was under the impression it was the one where she got Crucified. The one where he came flying in and stopped the giant Sword.

For the world, the fact she got Crucified is another proof of mine.

I was saying in the chapter where he saved her... Ya know, she would be in awe...

Well, I think I am a little confused.

And I was probably off on that one chapter. I did this project fairly late at night (the chapter part).

Still, I think the rest of it speaks for itself.

Confused?? What sort of confusion can there be?? In that particular chapter - the word tranfixion could refer to awe (rukia's - at learning about Ichigo's power) as opposed to your theory of transfiguration.

No excuses. I typed that answer at 1 in the morning.

Oh okay! I see now.

Okay, when Ichigo returned to Rukia on the mountain, yes, she was Transfixed. But also Transfiguration refers directly to the time that Jesus showed himself on the Mountain (just like Ichigo did) and glowed radiantly with his power (Just like Ichigo did).

You actually just made me see another Biblical proof. ^_^

I know transfiguration refers to jesus, but the word used wasn't that.

Yes, it was the closest word one could use to that.
^_^

Just let it go. It makes about .1% difference and is give or take anyway. I just put it up there because it was unique.

I was just making sure I wasn't still confusing you.

But, actually, I must go home now - all this family is getting to me...

Aw! Bye Toth.

EDIT: Okay. I have some new interesting random ideas to add here. I've let them bounce around my head and now I am putting them on paper.

In heaven all the Angels worked with God and did his bidding. Then Satan, the most beautiful of all the angels, grew enormously prideful and attempted to take down God on his own accord. This plan lead to a battle across heaven and a third of the Angels falling to Earth. Still, the battle ended with Satan being defeated and accursed to Earth. Lucifer was accepted among the ranks of the demons as their leader as he prompted their beliefs that they could win the battle against God in Heaven.

Now to how this relates to Bleach.

Aizen, as I already stated, comes across a lot like Lucifer. Now I am basically drawing this approximation even closer together. Summarizing it. For starters, did Aizen see himself as more lovely? Yes. Hinamori was completely head over heels in love with this guy. Also, remember his power is one of illusions. This allowed him the ability to make himself look better than he already did, persay. If he wished to. That power of his is also like that of Satan's. The ability to change or create an illusion of a situation is very much the power of the Devil. As the devil tricked Eve and Adam into eating the Apple, so Hinamori was fooled into believing, along with all of Soul society that Aizen was a good guy who had been murdered.

Aizen is also prideful, just as was Satan. His enormous intellect has made himself believe he is incredibly amazing. This is viewed by the way he acted in Soul Society both when Ichigo was there and when Kisuke was. Hubris is without a doubt one of his problems. And this leads us to another aspect he shares in common with Satan. Powerful. He stopped Renji's entire bankai with one hand. And he stopped Ichigo's Bankai with his FINGER TIP. That is enormous power. And do not think for a second that Satan is not powerful, for he is.

Like Satan Aizen also waged a battle. Aizen fought across Soul Society and the captains there. And because of that 3 of the Captains of Soul Society left/were banished from Soul Society. Their plans also failed, at least in the same means that they had hoped to accomplish them. 3 out of thirteen captains fell from Soul Society. Yes, not a third. Still, it's a rather large percentage. Also notice the means he was defeated.

Rukia, innocent, was in a human body taken back to Soul Society, put onto a giant wooden (cough cough Cross cough) structure on top of a mountain (cough calvary cough) and planned to be murdered through a giant spear like Sword (The Romans stabbed the crucified victim with a giant spear to make sure they died and gutted them till Water came out, in case you were wondering how we know Jesus died on the Cross). Also, notice that Rukia was not murdered but Survived, and her surviving foiled Aizen's plans. Just like Jesus surviving foiled Satan's plans. Another aspect of this worth mentioning is that Ichigo had 3 days to learn Bankai, and Jesus died and rose again in 3 days.

Like Satan, Aizen was sent to the Earth. He quickly was excepted by the menos grande and used their powers. He then took over and became the self satisfied king of Hueco Mundo and even the Espada. By this way, he also learned of some way to control the Espada. This is seen when Grimmjaw was told to sit down and fell under pain when he refused. One of the things everyone says of Aizen, is that he will lead them into crushing the Shinigami, their embittered foes. Zomari of all was one of the greatest villains of Shinigami.

Curiously Shinigami and the Espada do share some unknown strand of connection. It is completely meaningless to try and understand 99% of it. However, the brother scientists (the one Ishida fought in Soul Society and the one he fought in Hueco Mundo), both were brothers or related in some way. This shows that some how Hueco Mundo and Soul Society has a connection.

Now Aizen hopes to destroy Karakura town so that he may create a key to the "King" of Soul Society. Very much like Satan wishes to destroy Earth in the battle of Armaggedon, claim it, and fight with God. Their ability to persuade others, especially women (noffense to women but Satan and Aizen have a history of tricking girls [Hinamori-Inoue]), shows also their strength in comparison of each other. Notice also Karakura Town. They battle over a relatively small part of the Earth. Not disimilar to the way that Satan wishes to destroy Jerusalem.

Anyway, I am sure I can think of more. This is all I have for now, or at least am saying.

By the way, some puzzles I have yet to figure out are:
Gin. How does he work out? I do have a rough theory on him and Tousen, but I am curious for anything else out there.
The other is Kisuke and the Vaizard. I am thinking as we learn more about how exactly they work we might get a better understanding. Still, right now I am relatively uncertain.
Also, the different levels of Bankai, Shikai, and regular. Confusing, just a tad.