Theory on the dark haired guy

[sharingan360]

This is just a weird theory but i have a feeling the guy ichigo helped get his bag back is the prince in line for the throne of soul society rather than just a random shinigami. I said prince because am sure the king wouldn't come from where ever he is just to see or test ichigo. what do u guys think? Besides the guy seem like the prince type of character.

[Afro Thunda]

One would wonder why he has substitute Shinigami badge if he were from the King's Realm. It clearly isn't Ichigo's. And prince type of character? I don't get that vibe right now.

[Jaiden]

Who knows who the new kid on the block is. You really can't say at this point but if you want me to throw something out there am gonna say this, since he kind of reminds me of a younger Isshin am gonna say he's related to him somehow. I just have that feeling.

[sharingan360]

True about what afro thunder said about him needing a shinigami badge, but u never knw, there might be some sort of weird, clever explanation to it. looking at him more closely he does sort of resemble isshin.....long lost relative maybe haha. But i still sort of feel something royal like from him, maybe not kings realm royal but something higher than a normal shinigami.

[SquadZero]

for now I am going with some kind of rogue shinigami representative from a long time ago, or perhaps kin of one that went rogue way back when. I am not buying into the idea that this guy is related to anyone or has any connections to anyone at all besides him perhaps being a shinigami representative.

[hikonami]

what about ishiin's lost nemesis???? just theorizing.......

[Maximo]

This is my theory ... he is a lost shinigami representative o/ .. Cool theory huh ?

[kiduka]

What if it was a shinigami sent to take back the substitute badge, maybe soul society couldn't send a familiar face because it would look disrespectful on their part since Ichigo did so much for them.

[Zero Phoenix]

It's possible that he is Ichigo's replacement in this story. I know that might seem outlandish but it doesn't seem that Ichigo can do anything possibly significant at this point in the story anymore. I'm sensing something of a Yu-Gi-Oh! switch where the torch was passed to Jaden. Or Record of Lodoss War where Parn the Free Knight was the main character in the original series and for the first half in the sequel. Then the torch was passed to Spark who became the new main character. Something like that would not be unexpected even for a work like Bleach.

It's not uncommon.

[Afro Thunda]

What if it was a shinigami sent to take back the substitute badge, maybe soul society couldn't send a familiar face because it would look disrespectful on their part since Ichigo did so much for them.

It wouldn't make any sense to send another substitute shinigami to take back Ichigo's badge. They'd just send a regular shinigami to take care of it if they really wanted Ichigo to return his badge. It isn't like SS to beat around the bush like that.

It's possible that he is Ichigo's replacement in this story. I know that might seem outlandish but it doesn't seem that Ichigo can do anything possibly significant at this point in the story anymore. I'm sensing something of a Yu-Gi-Oh! switch where the torch was passed to Jaden. Or Record of Lodoss War where Parn the Free Knight was the main character in the original series and for the first half in the sequel. Then the torch was passed to Spark who became the new main character. Something like that would not be unexpected even for a work like Bleach.

It's not uncommon.

Maybe, but I'm not getting this vibe. I know Ichigo wouldn't be completely phased out of the story (Kubo wouldn't do that), but I don't really think he's gonna be replaced either. We should all know it's inevitable that he'll get his powers back. The only question is when. And considering that this yet unnamed character's target seems to be Ichigo, we know Ichigo is going to remain a main character with some significance for some time to come.