Shinigami? Hollows? whats all this about?bleach is set in an alternate reality to our own. when people die they become souls. in the real world souls have a chain of fate attached to their chest, this represents a sort of life line. these souls are called pluses or wholes.
a plus is essentially just a normal human, albeit a dead one. and being dead isn't all that fun, eventually over time they get depressed, through loneliness, hatred, just plain negative emotions. eventually their chain of fate shortens, till it disappears completely, (it can also be cut off.) when this happens the plus transforms into a hollow.
What is a hollow?a hollow is the eventual fate of all unsaved pluses, it is essentially a monster. they always have a mask hiding their human face, and a hole in their chest. they are consumed by negative emotions and their instinct is to feed on other souls, to try to fill the hole within them, (metaphorically.)
What is a shinigami?The
good guys. they weild weapons called zanpakuto, and are another type of soul. humans with exceptional power may one day ebcome shinigami. they go to the real world, and there they prefomr soul burials on pluses, sending them to soul society. and they cleanse hollows. a hollow killed by a zanpakuto is cured of it's sins done as a hollow. and is then sent to soul society as a human soul. if however the soul was evil before becoming a hollow he is sent to sent.
Soul society?since bad souls go to hell, you could consider this heaven. most souls are part of the rugonkai, randomly sent to a district the number of the district determines how good it is, (higher is worse.) in the center of soul society is sertei, where shinigami reside.
Gotei 13?the thirteen squads of the shinigami. in the show they are one faction of shinigami military. kido corps, and the stealth and punishment division being the other parts. in this rp, the kido corps, and stealth and punishment divisons have been completely compiled into gotei 13
Central 46?the governing body, in charge of the military force that is the shinigami, and in charge of general well being of soul society. they run everything.
Menos grande?hollows eat all souls, shinigami, pluses, other hollows. a hollow that eats enouogh hollows of it's level evolves. first step is the menos grande, gillian class. they are huge dumb beats. as tall as skyscrapers. they have alot of power, but also are idiots with little self conciousness.
adjucha is the next level, smaller and smarter than gillian they are truly dangerous. they are more than a match for a shinigami lieutenant. (apparently)
vasto lord. human sized, and truly powerful. even captains should fear them.
Arrancar?hollows that gain shinigami powers by forcefully removing their masks. they obtain immense power. and are seperate to hollows completely. this level of power isn't gained through simple eating of souls. no one really knows how they come into being, but they can be forcefully made. by a device called a hogyoku. or by ripping a hollows maks of.
Hueco Mundo?the space inbetween worlds. a dimension of night over an infinite desert. this is where hollows reside.
Shikai and bankai?a zanpakuto is a shinigami's source of power. unlike other beings they get powers from within completely. inside a zanpakuto is a spirt, normally a reflection of the user in some way, they are a representation of the zanpakuto to the user. the user can visit the spirit within their own inner world, and must befriend it to gain power.
after learning it's name they can release shikai. the first stage in shinigami power. it changes the zanpakuto form, and unleashes it's true powers.
bankai is gained after externilising the spirit in the world. it is the final release of power, and is alot larger than it's shikai form, and alot stronger.
Ressurectionarrancar also have a znpakuto. it however seals their original hollow form and powers. when released it reunites them with their old body, increasing their power.
Shinigami talk to their zanpakuto to learn powers, do arrancar?only shinigami have a zanpakuto spirit, for arrancar it is just a spiritual weapon. like hollows, arrancar abilities seem to be on instinct, they just know how to use them. it's like a part of them, and as such they don't have to go through the process of learning about it.
Do hollows know everything on instinct?no, when theey become menos, they suddenly use cero, without learning to, so this is instinct, but ordinary hollows can't use it, so its not instinct for them. and sonido is a taught technique.
reiatsu?bleach has a set of energy all to itself. those of you who are in the know about real world physics know we have energy and molecules. in bleach molecules of real world matter is called kishi. moleculse of spiritual matter is reishi, and is bound not by energy in the conventional sense, but reiatsu, or spiritual energy. also used to descirbe spiritual pressure. this means whille we have oxygen made up of electrons, protons and neutrons, spiritual beings may have spiritual oxygen, with spiritual electrons protons and neutrons, but our real world stuff is kishi, and bleacs stuff is mainly reishi.
Spiritual pressureall beings even souls have some, (albeit it a tiny amount.) shinigami and arrancar have enough to make a normal soul seem like nothing. the more reiatsu you have the stronger you are. (not in this rp, but in bleach.) it is still a pressure though, and if you dont have alot, beings with high amounts can crush you with theirs.
Why don't shinigami, even those cut in half, die?Shinigami are spirits, and as such are sustained by their spirit energy. any shinigami can avoid death depending on their level of spirit energy. so even a stab through the heart may not kill them instantly. although if they are stabbed in such a way they will slowly weaken in energy until they die, and beheading one will kill one.
rukia giving a point on this.
http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/24/19/Di roy saying beheading is the best option
http://www.onemanga.com/Bleach/25/18/ 
