Iba Tetsuzaemon

Iba Tetsuzaemon

Rank: Vice-Captain
Zanpakutou info:

Not much is known about Iba’s zanpakutou. Because we didn’t see him legitimately fighting with it, it is difficult to gauge his strength. But, judging how hard he worked to become a bannougata to achieve the rank of vice-captain, we can assume that he is very strong, or at the very least, very suspicious.

Shi-Kai: When his zanpakutou is released, it widens at the end and splits into two points to create a negative shape of a “v”, as well as creating a third, smaller branch coming off before the tips.

Ban-Kai: None

Biography:
Iba is the vice captain of the Seventh Division. His captain is Komamura Sajin, who until recently wore a mask to hide his identity as a giant fox. Iba is very loyal to his captain, though in the week after Tousen Kaname’s betrayal he spent a lot of time at the Eleventh Division headquarters in order to give his captain some space. Preceding their fight, Ikkaku mentions that Iba has become cockier since he left the Eleventh Division to become a vice captain.

Iba wears the standard shinigami robes, and first wore his vice captain insignia at the emergency vice captain meeting after Ichigo and company infiltrated Soul Society and were kept out of Seireitei by Ichimaru Gin. We know this because when Sixth Division Vice Captain Abarai Renji was entering the room he mentioned that it was the first time he had ever needed to wear it, and Iba admitted it was the first time he had to wear his vice captain insignia as well. Because none of the other vice captains make any comments on needing to wear the badge, it should be assumed that Iba is a new vice captain, like Renji.

Iba has a very distinctive appearance as a character. His hair is cut short and he has a thin mustache. He also wears oval shaped sunglasses at all times and has a thick upper lip.

Though Iba has been seen infrequently throughout the series, we do know that he will try to do the right thing. He tells a dumb lie to his captain directly before Rukia’s execution because he knows Komamura is unsure of the decision, and wants to give him time to decide. Komamura sees right through this, but lets it go, understanding it as an act of compassion.

Soon after that Komamura and Tousen take their vice captains, Iba and Hisagi Shuuhei, to challenge Zaraki Kenpachi because he has freed Ishida, Chad, and Ganju from their cell with Orihime’s direction and is leading them to Soukyoku to stop the execution. Yachiru takes control and starts to lead the group ahead to Soukyoku when the four shinigami confront them. After Kenpachi claims he can take on all four, Ayasegawa Yumichika and Madarame Ikkaku complain that they want some action, and so Kenpachi lets them have Shuuhei and Iba. We see little of Ikkaku and Iba’s fight. Most of the scene we see is the two of them sharing a bottle of sake. While they are resting from their fight, Ikkaku unwittingly reveals that Iba mastered all elements of shinigami-hood in order to become vice captain. When Ikkaku mentions that he sounds unhappy, Iba denies it. When Ikkaku goes on to say that Iba has become vice captain for his mother, Iba denies it again. Iba abruptly changes the subject by pointing out that they’ve run out of sake. After that they play rock-paper-scissors to see who gets the higher ground. Iba wins the rock-paper-scissors match, and before they begin both of them wonder who Byakuya is fighting on Soukyoku Hill. Ikkaku guesses (correctly) that it’s Ichigo. Iba admits that he’d like to fight Ichigo, and Ikkaku tells him he has the spirit of the Eleventh Division. They decide that the loser of the match gets more sake while the winner rests, but remind each other that if either lets up, the other will die. However, the match is interrupted by Isane’s report on Aizen, Tousen, and Gin’s betrayal.

Later, when Iba is at the Eleventh Division headquarters, he’s hanging out with Yumichika, who notes, with some irritation, that it’s awfully loud because of Ikkaku, Ichigo, and Kenpachi. Iba says it’s been like that since Ichigo started hanging out with the Eleventh, but it’s better than quiet. Yumichika asks why he’s hanging out there, and Iba says that Komamura wants to be alone. Because his last division assignment was the Eleventh, it was the place that he felt most welcome at that time. There is a current theory floating that Iba was the fourth seat of the Eleventh Division until recently, when he was promoted to vice captain of the Seventh. On a side note, Yumichika calls Iba “Tetsu-san.”

Not much is known about Iba’s zanpakutou, strength, or general personality. However he does have a crush on Matsumoto Rangiku, the rather busty vice captain of the Tenth Division. In the color omake Iba is seen frequently in the company of the other male vice captains and seated shinigami. He seems to share their pension for perverted things related to the female shinigami of the Gotei 13.

Overall, Iba is a good shinigami. In the current Arrankar situation, Iba has remained in Soul Society. Kubo Tite has yet to really flesh this character out, if he plans to. However, there is the mystery of why Iba became a vice captain, and what his mother has to do with it.