New Traitor/Enemy???

[crono]

There are currently 7 characters who can be considered the "bad guys" in Bleach. They are the 3 traitorous captains, and the 4 remaining espada (yes, there are some others, but they are very weak/defeated).

On the other side, you have 23 captains & lieutenants, ichigo and his high school gang, urahara and his shop gang, yoruichi, isshin and ryuuken. There are also the Vaizards who seem to be on Ichigo's side.

Judging from this major imbalance of numbers, there has to be some traitors on the "good guy" side. I'm not sure what direction Kubo is going to go. The easy bet would be the vaizards, but I'm not sure if Kubo would make the obvious choice. What do you all think?

[Tsukisama]

It depends on how long Kubo is planning to go with the manga. If Kubo is only planning about two more arcs, then he is fine with the characters he has. If he wants a longer run for Bleach, then he will need to introduce more villains.

I like Bleach, but I don't want it it to be dragged out too much. Aizen is already tremendously powerful and to introduce more villains, they would need to be as powerful as (if not more powerful than) Aizen.

None of the current good guys seem like they would turn traitor. The only wild card current is the vizard group, and their position is being defined with this gaiden. They could turn out to be a threat, lengthening the plot, but I don't think that they will at this point.

[Silhouette]

You forgot that there are characters that have not been introduced yet like the King and the royal family.Nothing is known about their identity, capability and their views and so I think they make a good choice for new opponents. For example, what if Aizen is defeated and then one of the Royal family or the King himself goes crazy for letting Aizen get too close to him? What if the King decides to take things into his hands instead of leaving them to the 13 divisions?
I am thinking things like conflicts, schemes, mysteries...you know the good stuff.

[Tsukisama]

You forgot that there are characters that have not been introduced yet like the King and the royal family.Nothing is known about their identity, capability and their views and so I think they make a good choice for new opponents. For example, what if Aizen is defeated and then one of the Royal family or the King himself goes crazy for letting Aizen get too close to him? What if the King decides to take things into his hands instead of leaving them to the 13 divisions?
I am thinking things like conflicts, schemes, mysteries...you know the good stuff.

If this comment is in response to mine, then I was only discussing characters that have been introduced into the story thus far. A new character (including characters who have only been mentioned and not yet appeared in the story) is a blank slate and can be written to be anything including being a traitor. That would go without saying. I believe that the person who created this topic was focusing on currently introduced characters becoming traitors and not new characters being introduced to be antagonists.

[crono]

If this comment is in response to mine, then I was only discussing characters that have been introduced into the story thus far. A new character (including characters who have only been mentioned and not yet appeared in the story) is a blank slate and can be written to be anything including being a traitor. That would go without saying. I believe that the person who created this topic was focusing on currently introduced characters becoming traitors and not new characters being introduced to be antagonists.

Yes, I was talking about the current characters. I just feel like there are too many good guys and not enough bad guys. I don't imagine that the royal guard will be bad guys either, but who knows.

I am excited to see some new Shikai's/bankai's of the vaizards though. I think that is why Bleach was so addicting in the SS arc. Everyone was waiting to see what kind of powers the various shinigami had.

I also thought about if aizen replaces the current espada with a new set that are all vastolorde, but that would also just be introducting new characters. That sounds somewhat boring though. Kind of like if Naruto introduced a new set of Akakstuki.

[gigantor21]

Tsuki, I'm gonna have to disagree with you here.

I think things are way imbalanced, too. The captains on Earth are the best ones around, so they should be able to take on the remaining HM forces, and the Vaizards could get involved if they get overwhelmed. I don't see why they'd need anyone else unless more villains are introduced--especially if Ichigo and Co. manage to leave HM before the fighting ends.

We still have viable options for more enemies IMO. The King being evil is a bit much, but the VL issue going under the radar leaves room for them to emerge at some point. Also, Aizen never said there weren't more traitors in SS; given how the Aizen thing came out of nowhere, I could imagine seeing more spies among the Gotei 13. But those are just random ideas.

Without new villains, Ulquiorra would be the strongest opponent not on Earth right now, and he's bound to lose to Ichigo this time. That just leaves Wonderweiss and Yammi in HM and no enemies in SS at all. How Kubo spins something worthy of being called a war out of that is anyone's guess.

[Razh]

Now that I think about it... Do you guys think that Hinamori could be working for Aizen all this time? After all, she was his lieutenant for some time. There was plenty of time for him to manipulate her or convince her to join him. And I don't think anyone is suspicious of her after she had "died". I don't think that would be the case if she was left alive.
I can't remeber every moment with her in the time before and just after Aizen's death, and I don't feel like reading it again now, so I can't really say if this is really possible.
Maybe one of you remembers more clearly.

[gigantor21]

^ I highly doubt that.

For one, she's just a Vice Captain. Unless she was a Vaizard like Hiyori or Lisa, she'd have no use to Aizen as a fighter. What's more, she went ape shit after seeing his "corpse", tried to kill her best friend because of a fake will, and looked genuinely horrified when Aizen stabbed her. Nothing in the story suggests that she's a co-conspirator, or that she'd even have the strength to help him if she was (since she's still recovering from the hole in her chest).

[patedecarne]

New traitors, from what I can see, only if they're from the 3 people introduced in chapter -104; and to remain a traitor until the present days is a great task, even when Aizen already proved to be the great menace, and such person wouldn't fit so well in the present plot;

I wouldn't call Vaizard traitors, though, because they won't betray any side, they're in their own after the gaiden, but something else must happen in the series, because the forces are too unbalanced now: Ichigo vs Ulquiorra in HM and the remaining captains in fake Karakura vs Aizen and the top 3 espadas, so Aizen and co. are terrible outnumbered right now

I don't think that new traitors will show up, but instead, I would risk to say that Vaizards could be a new threat: They aren't with SS, they aren't with Aizen, then they must have another reason to fight for, and ths reason will guide the plot after Aizen, I believe;

[Razh]

^ I highly doubt that.

For one, she's just a Vice Captain. Unless she was a Vaizard like Hiyori or Lisa, she'd have no use to Aizen as a fighter. What's more, she went ape shit after seeing his "corpse", tried to kill her best friend because of a fake will, and looked genuinely horrified when Aizen stabbed her. Nothing in the story suggests that she's a co-conspirator, or that she'd even have the strength to help him if she was (since she's still recovering from the hole in her chest).

It all stands. But it could just as well all be an act. You have to remeber that we thought that Aizen is dead and it turned out he wasn't.
I'm not saying that he needs her strenght or something like it. Maybe she needs to do something inside SS.
I just have a feeling that Aizen's plot in SS had more layers, which we aren't even aware of.

[gigantor21]

It all stands. But it could just as well all be an act. You have to remeber that we thought that Aizen is dead and it turned out he wasn't.
I'm not saying that he needs her strenght or something like it. Maybe she needs to do something inside SS.
I just have a feeling that Aizen's plot in SS had more layers, which we aren't even aware of.

Not only do I agree, but I think deeper layers to the conspiracy are desperately needed to make the next arc work. As it stands, the "War" will just be a succession of Espada-Captain fights, followed by a treck to the Royal Palace for a final showdown with Aizen. That alone won't amount to very much, given how mixed the last fights were in terms of quality, and because it'll be so shallow. The story needs more depth than what we have.

[Tsukisama]

Tsuki, I'm gonna have to disagree with you here.

I think things are way imbalanced, too. The captains on Earth are the best ones around, so they should be able to take on the remaining HM forces, and the Vaizards could get involved if they get overwhelmed. I don't see why they'd need anyone else unless more villains are introduced--especially if Ichigo and Co. manage to leave HM before the fighting ends.

We still have viable options for more enemies IMO. The King being evil is a bit much, but the VL issue going under the radar leaves room for them to emerge at some point. Also, Aizen never said there weren't more traitors in SS; given how the Aizen thing came out of nowhere, I could imagine seeing more spies among the Gotei 13. But those are just random ideas.

Without new villains, Ulquiorra would be the strongest opponent not on Earth right now, and he's bound to lose to Ichigo this time. That just leaves Wonderweiss and Yammi in HM and no enemies in SS at all. How Kubo spins something worthy of being called a war out of that is anyone's guess.

I don't exactly see how you are disagreeing with me. I am only saying that none of the current good guys seem like they would become evil. I am not saying that no new villains can appear on the scene.

I also think that the balance of power is heavily stacked on the side of good right now, and more villains are needed to ensure the longevity of Bleach, but I don't think those villains will come from one of the current good guys turning evil. Spies among the ranks of SS are not included in my statement, but characters that have been previously named and identified as good characters (Ichigo's friends/family, Urahara's group, SS captains/lieutenants, the named other SS shinigami like Hanatarou, the Shiba Clan & associates, etc.) are not likely to be made villains at this point.

[gigantor21]

^ LOL I thought you meant we wouldn't be seeing any new villains AT ALL. Sorry about that.

So where do you think the new villains would come from?

[Tsukisama]

I have no clue.

It would have to be either from HM (like the emergence of a VL faction or something like that) or the King's dimension (since it is filled with powerful beings and nothing about them is known). I honestly have no idea where Kubo is going to find new villains.

The most logical idea would be if there were extremely powerful VL arrancar that had formed their own group in seclusion from Aizen's forces that could appear later.

[patedecarne]

IMO, from Hell itself!

Ok, then let's take a look in the situation after AizenI'm considering that Ichigo will be the one responsible for defeat Aizen) Ichigo will be the stronger, not even Vastolordes won't be able to touch him; Let's suppose that Hougyoku will be destroyed, or retrieved, then now arrancars won't be a option; then let's take off HM from the list;


Earth as well, because I cannot believe that someone even stronger than Aizen could be raised in earth, then only two options left: SS and Hell;

A possibility could be what Gig said, the King going crazy and so the RG( if they still exist), but at this point, Ichigo would be more than enough to take them down;

So, the only one remaining is Hell; We don't know anything about hell nor what kind of humans(?) live there, and a new type of enemy would be a good thing right now;