Bount

Revision as of 05:51, 24 October 2020

The Bount are a species that feature in Bleach.

History

The Bounts (Japanese: バウント, Hepburn: baunto?) were a group of humans with special abilities that were similar to vampires. They were created as the accidental result of an explosion during an experiment by the predecessor to the Seireitei Technological Institute in the Soul Society. The experiment was an attempt to develop eternal life using the already slow-aging Soul Reaper souls as the base but the materials used in the experiment crossed with the development of souls in the real world. This led to the creation of a new spiritually-active human race called the Bounts whose souls were scattered about the world. The event gave rise to a new race that never aged after reaching their twenties or thirties. They were generally treated as outcasts due to the fact that they did not age. The Soul Reaper scientist responsible for their creation, Rantao, gathered most of the Bounts into a small community in a secret cave structure several centuries with the intent to improve the quality of life for the people whose suffering she felt responsible for. However, the embarrassment of this accidental creation, as well as the fact that a tenth of Seireitei was destroyed in the resulting explosion and the possible threat they posed to the balance between the worlds, led the Chamber of 46 to rule that the experiment and its failure was to be covered up, and the Bounts destroyed. Soul Reapers were dispatched to kill the Bount community, but a handful survived, including a young boy saved by Rantao herself, to whom she gave a seal that would help unlock the Bounts' true power.

The Bounts who survived the massacre wandered nomadically and eventually fell prey to constant attacks by Hollows. It was during this time that the boy, who would later become known as Eugene, activated the seal's power and merged with his doll - the Bount equivalent to a Soul Reaper's zanpakuto - and killed off the attacking hollows. The survivors eventually found refuge in another cave and began devising a plan to return to Soul Society, which they saw as more of a home than the real world ever could be. Eugene, now an adult, was against this plan. He had witnessed the massacre and believed the only thing that would await the Bounts if they returned to Soul Society would be subservience or death. Regardless, the Bount leadership decided to gain access to Soul Society by means of the Quincy's powers. The Quincy were unwilling to assist, and a battle ensued, in which the Quincy and Soul Reapers killed most of the surviving Bounts. Further infuriated by this, Eugene took the last few surviving Bounts, all of whom were of a similar mindset to him, and began plotting revenge on Soul Society. These Bounts managed to perfect the control of their dolls where one of their number named Eugene went by the alias of Jin Kariya who was ready for vengeance. The leader of the Bounts masterminded an elaborate plan to invade Soul Society itself with the remaining groups of Bounts but were defeated in the conflict.

Bounts were known to had fought the tribe of the Quincy though they were defeated by their foes.

Hō and Ban were later dispatched to acquire the Quincy Uryū Ishida where they attacked him whilst he was in the hospital. This saw his friends including Ichigo and the others looking to take him to safety but they were pursued by the Bount twins. Eventually, they were able to determine that separating the twins was a way of weakening them with the Shinigami Ganju Shiba throw explosives into their Doll which destroyed it. As a result, the Bount pair aged rapidly and turned to dust as the source of their power had been destroyed. Gō Koga later came to capture the rogue Yoshino and Uryū where they were take to the Bount Mansion to be brought before Jin Kariya himself. Whilst there, Uryū's friends that included Ichigo Kursaki attacked the mansion to save Ishida. This saw Ichigo Kurosaki encountered Kariya but his subordinate Ryō Utagawa battled the Soul Reaper. However, Utagawa used he match to steal Kariya's seal in an effort to take over as leader of the Bounts. This act of rebellion failed as it failed to remove Kariya's power and instead his Soul Reaper servant Maki Ichinose killed Ryō Utawaga.

Seeking to stop Kariya, Yoshino Sōma confronted him again and used the full extent of her Doll's powers. However, this all fell under Jin's plan who defeated her and sacrificed her life force which was used to give birth to a new type of Doll known as the Bitto. This was to enact the next stage of his plans where they were to harvest spiritual energy and deliver it to the Bounts to empower them further.

Jin Kariya himself was killed by Ichigo Kursaki which ended the threat of Bounts to the world.

Overview

In appearance, the Bounts physically resembled humans though had abilities beyond them. They were noted for being similar to the Quincy in that they were humans with extraordinary powers. Each was born human until they reached a certain age whereupon they could only subsist on the consumption of souls. The process was known to extend their lives allowing them to live forever young so long as they had a steady supply of souls to devour. This made them differ from the Quincy whose abilities allowed them to fight the spiritual threats but at the end of their lifespan they died human. Meanwhile, the Bounts simply became immortal creatures so long as they continued to feed where in the past they simply fed on the dying. Their nature of feeding on souls led them to be seen as a race of vampires and spawned the concept in humanity. In time, the Bounts became more bold in their actions and started to steal the souls of living beings rather than the dying which led to them becoming a greater threat to mankind.

Their ability to not age was tied directly to their capacity to feed on the souls of others. This allowed them to live for centuries and even Bounts that appeared to be young children were said to be many decades old. An aspect of Bount biology made them largely infertile with only one of their kind having shown the ability to reproduce. A unique mutation experienced by one of their kind allowed them to have children but since then no further Bounts had ever been born. Thus, they were said to live forever yet always waited until their death. A Bount's life was intrinsically linked to that of their Doll that was the source of their power. The destruction of their Doll had a fatal effect on them as it caused their bodies to rapidly age and turn to dust with only their clothes left behind as a result.

As a people, Bounts were said to individualistic creatures and rarely did they work together. In fact, typically the ways of their tribe was that they lived alone and learnt the use of their powers by themselves. Thus, it was rare for them to train each other or take another Bount under their care.

It took a great strong leader to unite the Bounts into a single group. A prophecy among the Bount forbid them from feeding on the life force of the living. This stated that doing so would tear open the barrier into the afterlife and bring ruin to the world. Thus, this governed their behaviour and led to them feasting only on the dying. This prophecy was in fact true as a by-product of Bount feeding on the living was a spiritual energy that broke the barrier to Hueco Mundo that was home of the Hollows. This would allow those monstrous beings open entry into the mortal world with nothing stopping a full scale invasion by them.

In battle, Bounts made use of special weapons Dolls (ドール, dōru) that were their equivalent of a Shinigami Soul Reaper's zanpakutō. Each took a variety of forms where they embodied an item in their sealed state and another in their unsealed state. Unlike zanpakutō, a Doll took an independent form from their creator and able to operate on their own whereas the Soul Reaper wielded their equivalent as a weapon in the field. Thus, as self-sufficient creatures they were able to operate on their own once they were released. As a result, they served as their masters familiar and embodied their power in physical form. The core of the Doll was its seal which were known as Hankyō Hyuraizā that appeared on an item that empowered the Bount in various ways. It could be used to channel powerful spells that could complete a ritual or even open doorways into the Soul Society. Each Bount's Doll was noted for being different and were unique thus having their own abilities. They even had their own personality and spoke to their masters with each having a different relationship with their Bount. It was said that a certain degree of control was needed to use a Doll and that a person who was imbalanced could lose control over their charge. In some cases, the rampant Doll could absorb the power of their Bount into themselves. Though in rarer cases, a Bount and their Doll could merge where their respective powers became one that greatly increased their abilities.

Bounts, being created as variations on a Soul Reaper soul, have similar powers to Soul Reapers. The foremost of these powers is the Bount doll, a familiar equivalent to the Soul Reaper zanpakutō. Like a zanpakutō, a doll is its creator's power given physical form. Also like a zanpakutō, a doll's personality is much like its creator's, though the dolls seem to have more personality variation than the zanpakutō spirits seen thus far. The main difference between a doll and a zanpakutō is how it operates. Unlike a zanpakutō, whose personality is generally dormant except when the Soul Reaper wishes to speak to it, a doll's personality is always apparent. Dolls are self-sufficient creatures when released, with some exceptions, though they can easily be resealed. A Bount's ability to control their doll is largely based on their individual power and relationship with the doll. Moreover, if either the doll or its Bount partner sustains severe damage in a battle, the Bount may lose control over his doll, depending on the amount of damage dealt. If a doll is injured, it will simply return itself to its sealed state. However, should its master be injured, the doll may go berserk and kill its master, as Ugaki and Mabashi's dolls did. If a doll is destroyed, its Bount will be reduced to dust, as in the case of Hō and Ban; Rukia Kuchiki hypothesizes that a doll's power allows its Bount to live beyond a normal human lifespan and without this power, a Bount does not have the power needed to hold his body together. A doll may also kill a Bount who is not powerful enough to contain it, as was the case with Cain. Bounts with a genuine bond with their dolls can transgress this (but only if their interaction goes well beyond that of between master and slave), however, as shown by Yoshino's doll's loyalty towards his master to the point where he refused to leave her side to fulfill her final wish: for her to be merged with him.

Similar to a zanpakutō, dolls were generally sealed into an object and released as necessary (Koga Gō's doll, for example, is sealed into a metal sphere). The object varies greatly from person to person and is often an expression of the doll's abilities. In order to call upon a Bount's doll, the phrase "Zeige Dich" was called, which was a German phrase meaning "Show yourself." To summon a doll, a Bount needs to undergo a ritual where they chant an incantation. These instructions were first given to young Kariya by Rantao after the Soul Reaper attack. The ritual includes sulfur, phosphorus, carbon, water, fat, magnesium and lime (the ingredients of the human body). When a doll is summoned, it is small in size and power, but grows as the Bount's power grows.

A new more unique form of Doll was created by Kariya and Ukagi with these being the Bitto (ビット). These small flying insectile Dolls were created through the sacrifice of one of their own with the power of a maternal instinct. The death resulted in an enchantment that released the Bitto who were given life. Incredible difficult to destroy, Bitto's were unlike other Dolls in that they were mass manufactured with them not being used simply for combat but rather to gather spiritual energy. This saw them finding targets and using their stingers that they plunged into the body and drained it of life. Once filled with energy, the Bitto left and the body of their victim disintegrated into dust leaving their clothes behind. Meanwhile, the Bitto's returned to the Bounts where they could be opened up to reveal the collected spiritual energy was stored within a vial of purified liquid that could be drunk by their masters. This allowed the Bounts to gather massive amounts of spiritual energy without the need to actively hunt for prey. This energy was said to be 10 times more than standard means of feeding on humans with the Bount experiencing the power instantly with it being shown by their veins popping out from their skin. When facing an enemy, the Bittos were known to use their stingers to rip their opponents to shreds.

Members

• Jin Kariya :
• Sawatari :
• Yoshi :
• 'Gō Koga : a large male with dark skin with a stripe of ginger hair where he served as a loyal servant to Kariya. Her doll was Dalk (ダルク, Daruku) that was a metallic sphere which could form a insectile body that could break up into its constitute parts to strike at enemies.
• Yoshino Sōma : a female Bount with long brown hair who was the former wife of Jin Kariya. Her doll was Goethe (ゲーテ, Gēte) that became a fire elemental who could re-form his body from any damage to it. She was killed by Kariya in order to use her death to give birth to the Bitto's.
• Ugaki :
• Hō and Ban : male twins who shared a psychic connection to one another that helped them fight where they battled as a pair. Their dolls were Guhl (グール, Gūru) and Günther (ギュンター, Gyuntā) whose bodies took the form of bottle camps with them able to control water which formed a variety of constructs.
• Mabashi :
• Ryō Utagawa : a male Bount with short brown hair where he willingly join in Jin Kariya's efforts on openly feeding on humans. His doll was Fried (フリード, Furīdo; Old German for "protection") that when unsealed resembled a snake whose bite was poisonous and through her eyes could animate objects to become more snakes that attacked her masters enemies.
• Cain : a young male Bount taken in by Jin Kariya who had Gō Koga train and look after him. Cain eventually sought a Doll of his own but was too weak to control it where he as consumed by his summoning causing him to turn to dust before his mentor Koga.

Notes

• The Bounts were original creations of the Bleach anime and did not feature in the manga.

Appearances

• Bleach:

External Link

• Bleach Wiki Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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