the real self

Zangetsu's most distinguishing features are his maniacal laughter and psychotic grins. He is brutal, arrogant, disrespectful, and sadistic. Zangetsu's reason for existence is to take over Ichigo's power and body and use it to kill everything and anything he sees, as opposed to Ichigo's desire to protect. Though he taunts Ichigo as being a weak and unsuitable counterpart of himself,[9] he relishes the idea of Ichigo growing stronger as he also grows stronger as a result.[10] Unlike Ichigo, he battles like a berserker, ignoring injuries and overpowering his enemies with brute strength and force.[11][12] He protects Ichigo's body when he is about to die because if Ichigo dies, he will as well.[13][14] He seems to respect the manifestation of Ichigo's Quincy powers to a certain extent.[15][16] Due to his status as a Zanpakutō spirit, Zangetsu doesn't get much opportunity to fight and gets really excited on the rare occasions he does get to fight.[17][18][19] Zangetsu has declared Ichigo is the "king" of the inner world, and he is the "horse". Zangetsu wishes to "take the crown" from Ichigo so he can have control over his body and become the dominant personality because he refuses to put up with Ichigo's softness of trying to defeat his enemies with reason and logic, which would eventually result on both him and Ichigo getting killed.[10] After his loss, he states he is willing to allow Ichigo to keep the crown for now, but once Ichigo "screws up again", he will make his move once more.[20] Zangetsu made good on this promise when Ichigo was nearly killed against Ulquiorra Cifer, at which point, he took control of Ichigo's body once again.[21] When he is merged with Ichigo's Quincy powers, much of the manifestation's personality seems to be in effect, making the merged spirit much calmer, though he is prone to occasional outbursts similar to Zangetsu. He states he wishes to protect Ichigo, contrary to his frequent earlier statements of wanting Ichigo's body and power for himself.[22]