Bleach: What Prevented Rukia’s Descent to the Dark Side?

Tite Kubo’s Bleach has one of the best character development in the anime/manga. Most of the characters undergo personal tragedy and tough childhood that fundamentally shaped their personalities. Among all these characters, Ruki Kuchiki was unique who faced many tragedies but got over them to become a powerful warrior. Byakuya Kuchiki adopted her because it was her wife’s last wish, and he did not want to let her down. Captain Kuchiki was a law-abiding commander who was so dedicated to ensuring that the law was upheld that he would even sacrifice his loved ones for the sake of proper protocol. However, he later had a heart change, and he learned from Ichigo that family and loved ones mattered more than laws. It was an important moment in Rukia’s life, and it radically changed her fate.

Rukia’s journey included various moments in which she had to keep believing in her principles; otherwise, she might have descended down the wrong path. It is not surprising that many of these moments that later defined her could have been a point in her life when she might have considered fighting for the evil forces. Rukia had all the ingredients that often created a villain, but she was no ordinary woman. It was her strong conviction that prevented her from doing anything that can be considered evil. She fought like a warrior for the greater good until she ensured the safety of her loved ones.

Rukia had to live her early childhood on the Rukongai district’s streets, where she had to steal food to feed herself. She avoided the law and somehow protected herself. Even when she had barely started understanding the world, she lost her big sister Hisana, who chose to abandon her younger sister on the road. Rukia had to face the worst of Soul Society as a child, and her life was steeped with injustice and hardship ever since she was little. It is shocking how similar her early life was to some villains like Dio Brando of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. If she had turned out to be a villain, it would have been hard to criticize her for her choice keeping in mind the conditions that she had to face.

Even when Byakuya Kuchiki adopted Rukia, she still had to live a life where she got little emotional support from her brother-in-law. She trained as a Soul Reaper in the Kuchiki family, but then another tragedy struck. She had to kill her friend Kaien Shiba who was infested with a modified Hollow. It was a tough decision, and she regretted it for a long time. It took her years to come to terms with her friend’s death before she finally found peace.

Moreover, she had to face an unfair execution for transferring her powers to Ichigo. She was dragged to the Soul Society to be executed by her own adoptive brother Byakuya. Her punishment was too severe for her crime, and she only survived because of Ichigo, who intervened and fought for her.

Rukia’s adoptive brother, Byakuya, is stuck with the decision to execute her for a long time because she had violated Soul Society law. It was terrible that she got no emotional support from Byakuya, who should have at least protested the unjust decision of her execution. But unfortunately, he did not stand up for her. Most villains often go to the dark side when they experience such tragedies, and they realize that society didn’t care for them anymore. Rukia could have made the same choice.

Rukia had the strength of spirit to reject any of her negative emotions. It was because of her early life and the hardships that she had to face as a child. Even when she was so young, she would always stand up for the people around her and fight for them. So, when she was faced with injustice in the Soul Society Arc, Rukia was strong enough to accept the injustice. The injustice that she had to face was no different from the injustices she faced as a child. Rukia was strong enough to face them when she was just a child, so now that she was a strong woman, they were not bad enough to break her. She was true to her beliefs to the very end, and it was her strong conviction that helped her in this journey and prevented her descent to the dark side.

Source: Bleach: What Prevented Rukia’s Descent to the Dark Side?