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Character: Orihime Inoue
Series: Bleach
Timeline: Episode 163


PERSONALITY
The biggest mistake others make when it comes to Orihime is assuming that because she outwardly acts lighthearted, that she possesses a weak spirit and is a pushover. Her perky nature always makes others underestimate her, which is something that Orihime uses to her advantage. She possesses an iron will and refuses to back down from any situation she thinks she needs to be involved in. Her heart is her most valuable asset, and her inner strength has provided her friends and allies with incredible resolve time and time again. Her spirit and faith are things Orihime thinks very highly of, and things that she refuses to ever compromise. Like all other teenagers her age, she is prone to bouts of sadness or depression, but always manages to pull herself out of them. She seems to others to be very one-note and not having much depth to her personality, but Orihime is quite complex. She possesses quite a few insecurities that she doesn't voice aloud, and doesn't like speaking to others about. She is jealous of the relationship that Rukia and Ichigo share, but refuses to allow herself to become deeply depressed over it. She accepts the fact that the two are close, and moves on with her life, and learns how to cope with the fact that she and Ichigo will most likely never be together.

Her schoolgirl crush on Ichigo is what originally was her driving force to learn to fight, and learn to properly control her spiritual energy, so she could follow him into Soul Society and rescue Rukia. But over time, her motivation to continue improving her abilities is her own desire to become stronger. She wants very much to be viewed as useful, and to be looked at as something other than a simple minded and ditzy schoolgirl. She doesn't like fighting, and is a pacifist at large. But she will fight as it is needed, in order to protect the innocent and those she cares about. Her friends are Orihime's greatest resource and also her biggest weakness. While her closest friend Tatsuki can be credited for assisting Orihime's spiritual powers to awaken, Tatsuki and the others Orihime cares for are also the ones her enemies go to in order to manipulate the girl. Not wanting anyone she cares for to be harmed, the best way to obtain Orihime's attention and the use of her powers is by threatening to harm her friends. She always complies, in order to protect those that she loves. Having lost her brother at only twelve years old, she is terrified of losing any others who she cherishes in her heart.

Things quite easily go over Orihime's head, and because she is naive, she often appears as a ditz in order to cover up the fact that she is hiding that she doesn't understand something. Many of her classmates think Orihime is a bit strange, as she takes things very literally. When asked what she thinks will happen to her in the future, she responds by drawing an image of herself as a robot, complete with eye lasers. Sarcasm is sometimes lost on Orihime, especially since she is someone who almost always answers things very up front and honestly. She wears her heart on her sleeve, which leaves room for her heart to be trampled on time and time again. But all of the heart trampling has made Orihime quite strong, and no one ever expects her to display the academic brilliance or the usefulness in battle that she always does. She is third in her tenth grade class, and is good at playing sports with her peers.

It is very easy to forget that Orihime is only fifteen years old. She has developed through the series, starting as a clumsy and giggly ditz, into a collected and capable young woman. She is fiercely determined to make a difference in the world, and protect those that she cares about, and refuses to back down from her goal of doing so. Despite the fact she can't remember her own mother, and doesn't really have a mother figure in her own life, Orihime is nurturing to others, and often goes out of her way in order to take care of them. She goes without so others can have, and does so without complaining. She does what is best for the needs of the many, instead of what she wants. She started out as a hyper high school girl and has become a force to be reckoned with, due to the fact that her personality maturing has led to better control over her ability as well as a newfound sense of self-confidence. While she tries to remain a pacifist, she is a realistic optimist; and has learned to look beyond what she sees and accept reality, but never gives up hope that bleak situations will end up all right.

APPEARANCE
Orihime is shown as being slightly shorter than other girls in her grade at school, but of average weight. Her hair is an unusual shade of orange-brown, which is quite long and usually worn down. No matter what her outfit, Orihime always wears two hairpins in her hair, a gift from her older brother who died. Her most defining feature is her incredibly large chest, which everyone takes notice of upon first meeting her.

ABILITIES
The hairpins Orihime wears have the ability to become six flower-themed fairies, all with separate identities and personalities.


Ayame - Female, used for Orihime's healing technique.

Shuno - Female, used along with Ayame for Orihime's healing technique.

Tsubaki - Male, only spirit capable of direct attack. Used for Orihime's offensive technique.

Lily - Female, used in Orihime's defensive technique.

Hinagiku - Male, used in Orihime's defensive technique.

Baigon- Male, the third party used in Orihime's defensive technique.</i>

These spirits are used in combination (or in Tsubaki's case, alone) to create three different techniques. Orihime's power is that of rejecting fate. She can deny and undo events, and it has been said by several that Orihime's power violates the realm of the gods. Her power is weakened or strengthened, determined on her mood. Doubt or worry make her ability weak and less accurate, and conviction and confidence make them highly powerful. Although she does possess an offensive technique, Orihime prefers to only use it if absolutely neccessary, and functions mainly as a healer.

In order for Orihime's abilities to be activated and used, she must recite an incantation. However, due to the increase in her strength as the series has progressed, Orihime no longer always has to recite the incantation, although she usually does so out of habit. In order to summon foward the techniques, she must:

Voice the name(s) of the spirits involved, the technique name, and lastly the words "I reject.".

As stated before, Orihime has three techniques. Healing, defensive, and offensive. These are her only three abilities, but the potential of her healing technique is believed to not have reached full potential or power as of yet.



Santen Kesshun - Defensive technique. Lily, Hinagiku, and Baigon all form together to form a triangular shield that rejects negative events. It repels anything on the outside of the barrier, and can be used as an airbag when falling from great heights. Orihime most often uses this technique to protect herself and others from attacks, and has used this technique in order to repel one individual away from another.

Souten Kisshun - Healing technique. Ayame and Shuno are summoned, and create an oval barrier around any object or being that Orihime wishes. Whatever is inside the barrier will be restored to its original working order, no matter how great the damage is. It makes it as if the person or object was never damaged in the first place. It can even be used in order to bring the dead back to life. This ability works for both living and inaminate objects. There are a couple of factors that contribute to the success of this technique. If there is unknown and strong spiritual pressure in the area, healing is made more difficult, requiring Orihime's full and unbroken concentration. If Orihime herself is drained of energy, healing takes longer. The larger the injury, the longer it will always take to heal.

Koten Zanshun - Offensive technique. Orihime's one and only attack, but it is all that she needs. Tsubaki is summoned, and forms a barrier on both sides of himself. Flying full speed at a target, the barrier rejects anything on either side, which in turn slices through any object or person like a large sword. Tsubaki can cut through anything, but because Orihime is hesitant to attack others and dislikes fighting in general, this technique is not always effective. Unless Orihime uses this technique with conviction and fire in her spirit, Tsubaki is easy for an enemy to counter and is very easily injured.

RELATIONSHIPS
Although Orihime comes into contact with many others during the course of the series, there are a few individuals that are more important to her character development than others.

Sora Inoue- Her older brother. He is fifteen years older than Orihime, and has taken care of her from the time that she was three years old. As soon as he turned eighteen, Sora removed both himself and Orihime from the abusive home they had grown up in. They lived together and Sora was more like Orihime's father than her brother. He was killed in an accident when Orihime was twelve. In his memory, Orihime wears his last gift to her (two flower hairpins) everyday, and refuses to take them off. They are her most prized possession. When Orihime was fifteen, she was encountered by the spirit of her brother, who had been turned into a Hollow. Attacked and nearly killed, Orihime's spirit was able to see what her brother had become. Although Rukia and Ichigo believe that Orihime's memories of the event had been removed, she reveals in secret that she remembers every little detail. This encounter with the dark spirit of her brother is one of the driving forces to motivate Orihime to fight and master the use of her Shun Shun Rikka.

Tatsuki Arisawa- Orihime and Tatsuki met one year after her brother died. Tatsuki protected and defended Orihime from bullies who were pulling on her hair, because it was too long and a strange color. Orihime and Tatsuki became fast and close friends, and over the years, Tatsuki has watched over Orihime like a sister. They are best friends, and it is because of a desire to protect Tatsuki that Orihime's spiritual powers were awakened, giving her control over the Shun Shun Rikka. The two are very close, and most always seen with one another at school and even after school. As the series progresses, and Orihime leaves Karakura Town in order to go to the Soul Society and fight/train, Tatsuki and Orihime grow apart. Tatsuki begins to take part in afterschool activities, while Orihime spends more time with Ichigo, Chad, and Uryuu.

Ichigo Kurosaki- Orihime and Ichigo have been classmates for quite some time, but never really got to know one another until their ninth grade year. It is when Ichigo comes to save Orihime from the evil spirit of her brother that she becomes more curious about Ichigo, and makes steps in order to become friends. When her spiritual powers awaken, she journeys with Ichigo and the others in order to rescue Rukia from the Soul Society, and over time, the two come to be close friends. At the start of the series, it is quite obvious that Orihime has a crush on Ichigo, and her crush continued through the series. However, Orihime cannot bring herself to outright say or accept her feelings for Ichigo, due to the fact that he and Rukia are very close. When she was allowed only one person to say goodbye to by Ulquiorra, before traveling to Hueco Mundo, Orihime chose Ichigo. After a heartfelt and tear ridden goodbye, she couldn't bring herself to kiss Ichigo, and left without him ever knowing she was there. Since her time in Las Noches, Orihime has learned to not feel so dependant upon Ichigo or her other friends, and although she hopes that Ichigo will come and rescue her, a large part of her wants him to stay back home so that she can fight and bring down Aizen on her own. She views Ichigo as a dear friend, and during her time in Las Noches, she has made steps in order to become stronger and more independant, so she can become stronger.

Rukia Kuchiki - Orihime and Rukia were always friendly to one another when Rukia first began classes at school. Orihime thought it was very curious that Rukia and Ichigo seemed to spend a great deal of time together, and said from the beginning that they were indeed very close. When Orihime was attacked by the Hollow that was once her brother, Rukia helped save Orihime and healed her spirit so that she wouldn't die. And although Rukia believes that she wiped out Orihime's memories of the event, Orihime actually remembers everything, and feels a great deal of gratitude toward Rukia. When Rukia was taken back to the Soul Society in order to be executed, Orihime insisted to go along and help. After returning home, Orihime took more and more notice of the bond that Ichigo and Rukia share. Often times, she is jealous of it, due to the fact that she has a crush on Ichigo. While she is jealous of the fact that Rukia gets to be close to Ichigo and can make him happy, she also greatly respects Rukia as a Shinigami.

Uryu Ishida - A classmate that Orihime views as a friend, even before she became involved with fighting alongside him and improving her spiritual powers. Uryu ranks number one in their class, while Orihime is ranked third. He is a member of the crafts club along with Orihime, and she is one of the only people that he will speak with. As a Quincy, he possesses spiritual powers as well, and travels with Orihime and the others to Soul Society in order to rescue Rukia. When the group is split, he and Orihime are together, and he does a very good job of protecting her when they are discovered and attacked. Orihime feels that she owes him a great deal for protecting her so well, and admires the fact that he is a gentleman. She also appreciates that he does not prefer to kill in battle, due to the fact that she is a pacifist at heart. Because she has seen him fight so often, she greatly respects him as a fighter, and for being able to keep his morals while in a battle situation. The two get along very well, and Orihime views him as a good friend.

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