Quote Originally Posted by Frozen_Feet View Post
Not always the case. Zangetsu, for example, is/was quite a ****. He flat out said to Ichigo that if he'd fall back, Zangetsu wouldn't have his back. Achieving Shikai is contingent on having the acceptance of the sword spirit; achieving Bankai, as far as I can remember, requires beating the manifestation of your sword spirit in single combat, much like subjugating an Inner Hollow does.

And if we take the fillers into consideration, then there's always Muramasa.

Besides, we aren't limited to canon in this matter anyway. Both the old RP and this one have examples of Zanpakutou spirits who disrespect their owners or are otherwise troublesome.
That's funny considering what he does in... every fight leading up to the Byakuya fight.. which is help Ichigo, and in the Zanpaktou arc.

Also, Muramasa WAS trying to help his master...