Gintama Characters

A silver-haired samurai with naturally wavy hair who runs the Yorozuya, an odd-jobs business, and is nearly always behind on his rent to his landlady, Otose. He is lazy, loves sweets and never misses Weekly Shōnen Jump. In the war against the Amanto he was the feared swordsman known as Shiroyasha, the White Demon, and as a boy he was taught by Shoyo Yoshida alongside Katsura and Takasugi. He hides it under jokes, but he will fight anyone to protect the people around him.

A teenager working odd jobs with his older sister, Tae, to keep their late father's dojo going. He meets Gintoki when Amanto harassing him at work knock over Gintoki's parfait, and after Gintoki helps save Tae, he joins the Yorozuya to learn the samurai way. He is the series' straight man, forever pointing out the absurdity around him, and so closely tied to his glasses that other characters treat them as his defining feature. He is also the very serious captain of pop idol Otsu's fan club.

A girl from the Yato, one of the strongest and most warlike Amanto clans, who came to Earth to earn money for her family. She fought for a gang until they ordered her to kill, ran away, and was knocked down by Gintoki's scooter, then pushed her way into a job at the Yorozuya. She is blunt, enormously hungry and never without her umbrella, since Yato skin is very sensitive to sunlight. She looks after Sadaharu, picks up Gintoki's worst habits and has a running rivalry with Sogo Okita, who calls her 'China'.

The vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, known as the Demon Vice-Chief, and the brains of the force. He is strict, hot-tempered, a chain-smoker and devoted to Kondo, and he smothers almost everything he eats in mayonnaise. He treats Gintoki as a rival in everything, though the two are alike in more ways than either admits, including their fear of ghosts and dentists. In the Shinsengumi Crisis arc a cursed sword keeps turning him into a cowardly otaku called Tosshi.

The captain of the Shinsengumi's First Division and the best swordsman in the force. He looks young, speaks in a deadpan way, naps when he should be working and enjoys tormenting people, Hijikata most of all, whose job as vice-commander he openly wants. His older sister, Mitsuba, raised him after their parents died, and he adores her. He calls Gintoki 'Boss' and bickers with Kagura at every chance.

The commander of the Shinsengumi: goofy, good-natured and honourable, and ready to give his life to protect people. His men are fiercely loyal because he gave them back their swords after the sword ban, and Hijikata and Okita both trained at his family's dojo. Others call him a gorilla, a nickname he has half accepted. He has fallen hard for Shinpachi's sister, Tae, follows her everywhere and is beaten for it every time.

Gintoki's childhood friend and comrade from the war, now the leader of a rebel Joi faction and a wanted man. He began with bombings against the Amanto and the shogunate but comes to believe Edo can be changed without sacrifices. He takes himself entirely seriously, wears disguises that rarely fool anyone and always answers the nickname 'Zura' with 'It's not Zura, it's Katsura!'. His constant companion is Elizabeth, a white, duck-like creature that talks with signboards and was a present from Sakamoto.

Shinpachi's older sister, usually called Otae, who works at a hostess bar to pay for the upkeep of the family dojo. She smiles sweetly and hits hard, especially when Kondo is following her. Her cooking is famously inedible, above all her egg dishes. Her childhood friend Kyubei Yagyu returns in the Yagyu arc determined to keep a promise to marry her.

Another of Gintoki's comrades from the war, cheerful and optimistic to the point of being ridiculous, who insists on calling Gintoki 'Kintoki'. He left Earth to trade among the stars, believing business was his way to protect his country, and now leads the Kaientai, a trading fleet with its own defences. Space sickness means his second-in-command, Mutsu, does most of the actual running of it. It was Sakamoto who gave Katsura his companion, Elizabeth.

The head of the Hyakka, the all-female guards of Yoshiwara, an underground district sealed under a metal ceiling. Orphaned as a child and trained by the assassin Jiraia, she is serious, guarded and fiercely loyal to Hinowa, the woman who helped raise her. She first meets the Yorozuya in the Yoshiwara in Flames arc and becomes a close ally. She is quietly fond of Gintoki, though she will not admit it.

Gintoki and Katsura's former classmate and comrade, who now leads the Kiheitai, a radical rebel group feared even by the Shinsengumi. He wears a bandage over his left eye, a bright kimono and an unsettling smile. Unlike Katsura, he has no wish to save the country: he blames the world after the war for taking away their teacher, Shoyo Yoshida, and means to destroy it, dealing with the Harusame space pirates to do so. He is Gintoki's equal with a sword.

Kagura's older brother, a Yato who left his family after fighting his father, Umibozu. He is the captain of the Harusame space pirates' 7th Division and later teams up with Takasugi. He nearly always wears a cheerful smile, but he lives for fighting strong opponents, and after Gintoki defeats Housen in Yoshiwara, Kamui marks him as prey for the future.