Kurosaki, Ichigo

Ichigo is a 15-year-old who attempts to cultivate a detached image, for which he keeps his eyebrows constantly furrowed. Ichigo has natural orange hair, a fact that annoys many upperclassmen in his school, who constantly pick fights with him. Ichigo claims that he does not care what others think (both about his hair and other subjects) and seems to enjoy fighting the bullies.

Ichigo is also a capable student, ranked at 23 of 322 in his school. Ichigo regularly studies and doesn't neglect his schoolwork, due to the fact that he has nothing better to do at home. It is later revealed that Ichigo works so hard only to overcome the misconceptions that many teachers tend to have about him, based on his hair color and interactions with other students.

Ichigo possesses the unusual ability to see spirits as a consequence of his innate spiritual power. After the full extent of Ichigo's immense spiritual power is unlocked as a consequence of his meeting with Rukia Kuchiki, as well as his subsequent inability to control it, many of his friends begin to develop spiritual powers due to their proximity with him. Frequent exposure to Ichigo's energy causes several of his classmates to become spiritually aware, and some even develop their own unique powers as a result.

Ichigo lives with his father Isshin Kurosaki and his two younger sisters, Yuzu and Karin. His father runs a small medical clinic in their house, and recruits the entire family in his business. Ichigo's father is portrayed as a comical, inept character who often challenges his son with mock attacks and berates him for being late for dinner, Karin also has the ability to see spirits and Yuzu acts as the de facto mother of the family.

Ichigo likes chocolate and karashi mentaiko. His favorite celebrities are Al Pacino and Mike Ness and the person he admires most is William Shakespeare. He is uncomfortable around nude or immodestly dressed women despite the "tough guy" image he tries to maintain.

Ichigo's name, written with homophone kanji, means 1 and 5 when separated as ichi (一) and go (五), the reason behind the two numbers' frequent appearances in the series. The word ichigo (苺/イチゴ), written in yet another way, actually means "strawberry" in Japanese, and is normally only used as a girl's name; when the gatekeeper Jidanbō teases Ichigo about this fact, Ichigo proudly states that his name is spelled with ichi (一) as in "one" and go (護) from "guardian". Ichigo's father once told him that his name means "he who protects."