Several outlets have ranked the strongest characters in the bleach series, with some focusing on the beginning of the thousand-year blood war part 4 and others considering the series as a whole or at its end. The number of characters ranked varies, with lists including 8, 10, 20, and 35 characters. The rankings appear to be based on the characters' strength at different points in the series, with some outlets considering their power at a specific moment and others evaluating them over a broader period.