Summary
While Yhwach is an incredibly captivating and menacing character in his own right during the events of the Thousand Year Blood War, Sosuke Aizen has long been the most recognizable villain in all ofBleachandan iconic anime villain in general. He’s a charismatic, snarky, and severely overpowered character who is ruthlessly determined to carry out his mission to become the new Soul King.
Aizen had been planning this objective for many years before fans actually saw him appear in the series, and in the process, he committed some downright heinous acts to get one step closer to his dream of creating a new world. In fact, many fans online have gone on to call himdownright evil for his actions, so for anyone curious why exactly he’s seen as such an unforgivable villain, these are all of the major crimes he committed in the series.
7Turning On The Espada
While themembers of the Espadawere immensely powerful Arrancar who were made generals in Aizen’s army, it turns out that in the end, even they were seen as disposable by their leader. This disregard is shown during Harribel’s fight with Hitsugaya where, after struggling to take down the kid prodigy, Aizen teleports in front of the Espada, slashing her across the chest.
He even goes as far as to state that he was disappointed by how weak the Espada turned out to be, all before Harribel falls to the ground in an embarrassing defeat. The fact that Aizen essentially raised these high-level soldiers and gave them a purpose in life, only to kill them without a second thought is a true demonstration of just how ruthless he is.
6Taking Over Hueco Mundo
Despite eventually becoming one of Aizen’s Espada, it’s revealed during a flashback thatBaraggan was once the king of all Hueco Mundo. That is until Aizen, Gin, and Tosen showed up. Hueco Mundo was a desolate hollow-filled wasteland which was the perfect base of operations for Aizen to conduct his experiments, so to take control, he fooled Baraggan with the hypnotic power of his Kyoka Suigetsu Zanapkuto.
In an instant, Baraggan’s forces were annihilated, leaving him no choice but to leave behind everything he had built to become another husk in Aizen’s army. Just before Baraggan disintegrates duringthe Fake Karakuro Town arc, he even throws his scythe at Aizen in a last attempt to kill his master, showing just how deeply his hatred for him ran after losing everything. Baraggan isn’t exactly the nicest guy, but the fact that Aizen didn’t even hesitate before forcing him into submission is a heinous act that he would also commit with other characters in the story.
5Kidnapping Orihime
Aizen uses his clever way with words to manipulate Orihime’s feelings for Ichigo so that she would have no choice but to join him and assist with his plan at the beginning of the Arrancar Arc. Orihime has an incredibly unique ability that can essentially “Reject” a phenomenon, meaning she could heal anyone on the battlefield no matter how devastating their injuries were.
This is only a part of the reason why he captured her as Aizen also knew that Ichigo and a few of the captains would race to Hueco Mundo to find her, which meant he could then trap them when his plan was ready to take action in Karakura Town. In fact, he evenallowed Orihime to say her goodbyes to Ichigo while he was sleepingjust before she was taken because Aizen knew Ichigo would be able to detect that she had been there, and in turn, would then come after her.
4Assassinating The Central 46
Throughout the Soul Society Arc, many of the lieutenants and captains begin to get a little suspicious as to why Rukia’s execution date is constantly being moved forward. It’s not until much later that Hitsugaya and Rangiku discover that the Central 46, essentially the government of the Soul Society, have actually all been dead for a long time and that Aizen was using body doubles throughhis Zanpakutoto influence the decisions going on within the Soul Society.
All Aizen wanted at this time was to get his hands onthe Hogyokuand to do so, he needed full control of the events going on around him, and if wiping out every law-maker in the Soul Society was necessary, he made sure to do it. The true power of his sword, Kyouka Suigestu, is expanded upon later on in the story, but this was fans' first glimpse at just how immensely overpowered it really was.
3Manipulating Momo
Before Aizen truly reveals himself to be a master manipulator who has essentially been guiding every single event within the Soul Society to his liking, and even in the world of the living, he comes across as a prettycompassionate captain. During this time, no one had more respect and admiration for Aizen than his lieutenant, Momo, and after he fakes his death, Momo even puts her life on the line to lash out at anyone who might be suspected of killing him.
Momo goes a long way to protect Aizen, but when she receives a letter asking to visit him in the Central 46 Compound, her surprise at his mortality is cut short when he plunges his Zanpakuto into her chest. He later says to Renji that he had to kill Momo because she could no longer live without him because of their relationship, meaning he manipulated the young girl the whole time to cover his own back, before then disposing of her when she had fulfilled her duty.
2Creating The Vizored
As part of Aizen’s mission to successfully combineHollow and Shinigami powers, he decided to test his newfound methods out on a small team which included Shinji Hirako, his partner. After luring them into the woods, each member of the group is cut down by Tosen, and all then slowly begin the horrifying hollowficiation process, similar to what Ichigo goes through during his training with Urahara.
This sick “experiment” could most definitely have killed each member of the group if they hadn’t persevered, and since this automatically made them outcasts from the Soul Society, it essentially forced them into hiding. Whilethe now-called Vizoreddo begin to embrace their powers later on, it’s clear during their encounter with Aizen that they still have an undying hatred for the man who has stripped them of their humanity.
1Unleashing His Kyoka Suigetsu
As mentioned briefly before, Aizen’s Kyoka Suigetsu can completely hypnotize anyone who has laid eyes on it, meaning that once someone sees it for the first time, they’re essentially living in Aizen’s world from then on. He uses this plenty of times throughout the series to influence the course of events, but by far the most ruthless use of this is during his confrontation with the Gotei 13 above Karakura Town.
As the fight draws to an end after each of Aizen’s Espada members fall,Hitsugaya leads the chargeto attack a now seemingly vulnerable Aizen by stabbing him from behind. However, he and the other captains soon realize that Aizen had changed places with Momo as part of his illusion, causing Hitsugaya to fatally wound and almost kill his childhood friend. In a fit of rage, each captain, lieutenant, and Vizored member hurls themselves at Aizen, only to be sliced down to size without even laying a scratch on him. Aizen has used this ability before, but never to such a violent scale, with this event showing more than any other scene in the series that he has no regard for human life or even those who were once considered his close allies during his time in the Soul Society.
