Gintoki Sakata

**Sakata Gintoki** (坂田 銀時, *Sakata Gintoki)* is the main protagonist of the Gintama series. He is the founder and president of the Yorozuya and as well a highly skilled samurai, having fought in the Joui War in the past. During the war, he became known as the **Shiroyasha** ("White Demon") due to his powerful swordsmanship and demonic white appearance.

## Appearance

Gintoki has a natural perm which causes him no end of distress. His silvery-blue hair is in a perpetually messy state, which is sometimes exaggerated into a frizzy afro when Gintoki's hair is hit by extreme heat. He has indeterminate grey/green (in the manga) or bordeaux-colored (in the anime) "dead fish eyes" (comparison courtesy of Hijikata Toushirou), which are called such because they are nearly always half-lidded.

His standard outfit consists of a white yukata with a blue swirl pattern on the bottom and at the end of the sleeves, worn so that his arm only goes through the left sleeve and the right half droops down over his obi. Over this he wears a black belt buckled so that there is leftover dangling from the buckle, from which his bokutō Lake Toya hangs. Underneath, he wears a black red-lined shirt with a popped collar and black pants. He also wears knee-high black boots, buckled at the top and above his foot, which appear to add about half an inch to his height. It is shown that he has a closet full of replicas of this outfit, so whenever it gets destroyed he can appear in the next episode or chapter with a new one. All in all, his outfit suggests an air of laziness and may be a reflection of Gintoki's own personal sense of style, though it is revealed that his usual attire is actually the school jersey for the Zunborans (episode 292).

During the winter, he will sometimes wear a haori, thicker kimonos, or more layers of vary colors as well as scarves.

During the events of the Dekoboko Arc he switched genders due to a curse and was seen in his female form. In that form he had silvery-blue hair and was wearing Gintoki's normal clothes. Later, he wears a sleeveless white yukata with a blue swirl pattern on the bottom with a blue obi and black boots.

As with most Gintama characters, his outfit and appearance change regularly for the sake of gags.

## Personality

Gintoki is extremely lazy. He is often seen wearing a dumb expression on his face and spends his days lounging around reading Shounen Jump whilst imparting wise and sage-like advice to his younger employees, even though he doesn't actually know what he's talking about most of the time. Due to his poverty and unwillingness to do mostly anything, he is always behind on his rent and often runs away when Otose, his landlady, comes to collect the payment. He often blows all of his savings on Pachinko and other gambling games, which Shinpachi and Kagura often scold him for. However, even though he is lazy, Gintoki is quite dedicated to his job and tries to help people with the best of his abilities (usually in a very strange and twisted way).

Gintoki's past continues to influence who he is and how he acts. He admitted to Umibozu in episode 42 that he believes that having a loving family is all someone really needs in life, due to his lack of a family during his childhood. He is very respectful of the memory of his teacher Yoshida Shouyou due to his actions (the arrest of his teacher is one of the main reasons he joined the Joui War. The other was to protect his friends who also joined the war). When Jiraia called himself Tsukuyo's teacher and yet harmed her both emotionally and physically, his ideal for what a teacher was supposed to be resulted in Gintoki becoming enraged and taking his anger out on Jiraia.

His inability to protect many of his friends in the Joui War still haunts him, especially the crushing guilt and regret that consumed him when the Tendoshu forced him to execute his own teacher in front of Takasugi and Katsura. As a result, he is very protective of his current friends and holds very little value to his own life. This carelessness can be seen in how Gintoki can plow through armies without tiring, apathetic to the serious injuries he sustains whilst cutting down his enemies. He told Kawakami Bansai, during the Shinsengumi Crisis Arc, that the only reason he fought in the Joui War was to protect his friends and not his country or the samurai way.

The more comical stories depict Gintoki as a coward, attempting to leave behind many of his friends to save his own life. However, he is willing to risk his life for anyone and he is shown to be extremely caring towards his friends, and has killed Naraku members, terrorists and Amanto to protect them. He is extremely frightened of ghosts, but will usually deny their existence so that he doesn't look like a coward. His fear for the supernatural is shared by Hijikata and usually results in quite a few comic interactions between the two.

He has many childish personality traits despite his age, and has even called himself a "child in a man's body." One such trait is his insatiable love for sweets, which has placed him at a risk of getting diabetes several times. His favorite food is chocolate parfait and he loves chugging down strawberry milk whenever he gets access to it.

He loves alcohol, but his tolerance for sake is not high. At one point, his tendency to act like a complete idiot while being completely smashed resulted in the major female characters Otose, Shimura Tae, Kyuubei, Sarutobi Ayame and Tsukuyo deciding to teach him a lesson by playing a prank on him along with Zenzouduring the Scandal Arc.

Gintoki seems to dislike his curly perm hair, stating in Episode 5 that his lack of girlfriends is due to his hairstyle.

Though several female characters have shown an interest in Gintoki, such as Shimura Tae, Sarutobi Ayame and Tsukuyo, it is shown that most of their love is unrequited. However, he does have a huge crush on the weather girl, Ketsuno Ana, and once stated he wished to marry her (possibly because of her smile). While Gintoki does not seem to care for any of the women he knows, he still gets excited when he sees random beautiful women, for example, when he was spying on the women in an indoor pool with binoculars and got super excited until he found out the woman he had taken a liking to was Tsukuyo. After realizing this he lost all interest, commenting on how she is a "drunk terminator". He also got excited when he saw a girl with "big jugs" not realizing the girl was actually Kyuubei.

According to Tama, Gintoki is quite a sadist, much like Okita Sougo. This may possibly explain why Sougo feels a certain attachment to him as he addresses Gintoki as "Danna" ("Boss"). This can be showed as he always mistreat Sarutobi, Katsura and Hijikata is various extreme ways and his tendencies on quitting easily on certain moments which can lead to a punishment and someone's death, in which he can handle easily and even enjoy it. He actually has some knowledge on certain sadistic and abusive fore-play showed throughout the series, as he hires prostitutes for Shinpachi and Sarutobi obsession on him. He admits being a sadist, liking to see Ketsuno Ana (who he has a crush on) being abused and his tendency to abuse everyone he is attached to.

Despite or due to all of these traits Gintoki possesses an immense amount of charisma and has amassed a quite large group of friends. When it is needed, he is able to impart words of wisdom and can make those around him feel much more alive even with his inappropriate jokes and deadpan statements. This ability has given him very loyal allies, friends and even former enemies. As Hinowa pointed out, he was able to affect Tsukuyo (who is usually a dead-serious and cold-blooded woman) and even made friends with the Shogun, despite the situation always turning out less than ideal whenever the latter would be around.

## Strength & Abilities

Gintoki's feats are very wide, being a veteran in the Joui War. His powerful swordplay and range of abilities gave him the nickname "Shiroyasha" ("white demon"). He is capable of turning the tide of any battle, being called "The Ace" by Katsura and Takasugi. He defeated strong Amanto and killed many high ranking ones, even those who are in legendary status (like enma and ogre). He's also strong enough to defeat opponents considered the strongest in their respective class. However, his biggest weakness is his rage/anger. Despite becoming faster and stronger, he is a berserker whose only goal is to kill his enemy, leading to enemies that are equal or stronger than him to defeat him or hold him off, as was the case with Oboro, Jirochou, and his later interactions with Utsuro.

**Immense Strength**: Of the Yorozuya trio, Gintoki's physical strength is not as high as Kagura's, given the fact that he is human while Kagura is from the Yato Tribe. However, Gintoki's physical strength is still nothing to scoff at and he is probably the strongest human known so far, strong enough to even be recognized by Kamui, one of the strongest Yato in the series. He can destroy enormous pieces of machinery or drive his blunt bokuto through a man's skull with ease. When fighting Kawakami Bansai, Gintoki was able to break through his strings, which were stated to be as strong as steel, with nothing but brute strength alone. He was also able to pull down Bansai's helicopter just with his power.

**Tremendous Endurance**: One of Gintoki's defining traits is his extreme level of physical endurance. Gintoki fights without consideration for his life, most of the time, and while this gives him the ability to fight without limits, it is also a testament to how little Gintoki values his own life. Coupled with his incredibly high pain tolerance this makes him an incredibly fearsome fighter. A day after having his forearm impaled by Doromizu Jirochou, Gintoki fought evenly alongside him to defeat dozens of Shinra assassins, withstanding countless injuries in the process and losing very high amounts of blood.

**Agility**: Gintoki is incredibly nimble, capable of matching the agility of the renowned shinobi Hattori Zenzou. In addition, his reflexes (while often downplayed for comedic purposes) are great and he is capable of dodging, deflecting or in some instances throw back knives, arrows and similar projectiles. When Gintoki is particularly enraged, his speed and reflexes reach absurd heights, allowing him to perform such feats as shattering a sword in mid-swing with his teeth or closing meters of distance between himself and his target in a fraction of second.

**Master Swordsmanship Specialist**: Gintoki's swordsmanship is rough, but far from unrefined. He tends to wield even full-length katanas one-handed with fair wide but quick chops. His level of skill has been complimented by several esteemed swordmasters, such as Yagyuu Binbokusai, who noted that his style is something not taught but developed by Gintoki himself.

**Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant**: As part of his brawler-like fighting style, Gintoki regularly uses his fists and kicks in combat. As such, he is far less bothered by being caught unarmed than most other swordsmen in the series. While his bokuto is usually used to deliver the final blow against an opponent, many of his most consistent damaging attacks are kicks delivered to the torso.

**Combat Intuition**: Gintoki is noticeably skilled in terms of battlefield tactics, likely due to his extensive experience. He is capable of developing adaptive strategies as he fights, often within seconds, and knows exactly what to look for in an opponent's fighting style to create openings for himself.

**Weapon Expertise**: While Gintoki vastly prefers to make use of his swordsmanship in combat, he is well-versed in the use of many types of weapons, from naginatas and kunai to senbon and explosives, likely due to his training as a samurai and time spent on the battlefield. He is able to incorporate the use of almost anything he finds in a fight and frequently catches his opponents off-guard by using his surroundings against them.

**Spiritual Affinity**: Gintoki can see and communicate with spirits, as shown during the Ghost Ryokan Arc. However, this ability has failed to manifest on a few occasions and simply applies to specific types of spirits.

**Musical Talent**: Gintoki is shown to be a passable singer and is capable of using the Shamisen.

**Charisma and Leadership**: Just like his fellow Heavenly Kings, Gintoki has shown to be a charismatic leader. Though in much of the Joui War flashbacks, unlike the other three, he usually works alone with even Takasugi commenting that his specialty was covert operations. His leadership skills, although underplayed, can be seen when he leads some of his present allies in fights. His charisma is the most notable thing in the series as it is thanks to this that he gained friends and allies by both his actions and words.

## TMNT X Pokemon

Gintoki is one of the strongest in the team. Even though he's lazy and often slacks around, he won't back down from a fight.

## Trivia

* Gintoki's last name & character design are recycled from Sakata Tomiko & Gorouzaemon; characters from a rejected one-shot story Sorachi wrote before Gintama.
* According to Sorachi, Gintoki's name was based on Sakata Kintoki, also known as Kintaro, from a famous folk tale set in the Heian Period.[1] Kintaro became friends with the animals that lived on the mountain where he was raised, and was even capable of battling with them. After certain events, he became a samurai and eventually went under the name **Sakata Kintoki (坂田公時)**. Sorachi-sensei, in one of the question corners explains this, and doesn't intend on making Gin-san a descendant of Kintaro. His robot counterpart actually does take the name of Sakata Kintoki.

* Gintoki likes to order a custom "red beans on rice"(*Uji-Gintoki-don 宇治銀時ドン)* dish at his local restaurant.

* He might not look like it, but Gintoki was noted by Sorachi as a skilled chef. It was said that he was at the "steel man" level when it comes to cooking [2] (mentioned in episode 92's behind the scenes). He is also a capable baker, being able to bake his own strawberry cake at Shinpachi's house as shown in episode 2.

* His design was actually meant for Hijikata when Sorachi lost his first design.

* Until now fans created a 'Shinsengumi' version of him which included Hijikata Toushirou, Shimura Shinpachi, Kondou Isao, and Okita Sougo.

* It is only during the second part of Episode 97 that Gintoki did not assault Sarutobi Ayame. This maybe due to him been sick and feable, or it could be in the way Sarutobi approached him and slept next to him unchantedly that made him unable to beat to her.

* Gintoki bows to the Shinsengumi for the first time in Lesson 406 in order to save Obi Hajime, which caused Sougo to take pictures or record Gintoki on his phone.

* Gintoki's nickname *Shiroyasha* in the Japanese manga meaning *White Demon* is change to *White Knight*in the English translation VIZ media.
* Ketsuno Cristel is the only female character to not really know him well and not to attack him at all.

* In Episode 111, it was shown that Gintoki has at least 3 pairs of his normal attire (consisting of yukata and his black pants and shirt) when Shinpachi was hanging laundry inside their house.

* In Episode 45, Gintoki accidentally revealed his genitals on the national news after forgetting to zip up his pants.

* Whenever he loses after he gambles, he is commonly shown wearing pink boxers with strawberry pattern. In episode 111, some of his undergarments were shown hanging including the strawberry-patterned one.

* Gintoki's dominant hand is his right one.

* Apparently, Gintoki can sleep with his eyes open.

* His favorite drink is strawberry milk.

* In the Yoshiwara Arc, Gintoki stated he dislikes women that are clingy.

* In Episode 175, it is revealed that Gintoki (as well as Hijikata) is afraid of dentists even though they are old enough to be not afraid of them anymore.
* Gintoki shares many traits to the main protagonist of the Gundam anime, Amuro Ray. As they earn the same title - White Devil - after put an end of a great war in it's final moments, however being traumatized through out the war, decided to became a NEET for a decade until they return back to the battlefield to protect The Earth.

* Lu Lingqi, a character from Dynasty Warriors, seems to be based on Gintoki's Gender Bender form.

* Gintoki's voice actor, Sugita Tomokazu, also voices Switch from SKET Dance, another Jump Manga Series. He also did the voice of Gintoki when they had a crossover with Gin Tama due to "Time Slot" Argument.

* He can't swim. (As confirmed by Tama in Lesson 472 and hinted at by him using floaties in/avoiding the water throughout the series)
* Gintoki used to have scooter goggles fastened around his neck during the early stages of the manga, but they soon disappeared due to Sorachi Hideaki stating that they were a pain to draw.

## Quotes

* (To Amanto) "Blah blah blah blah, quit your babbling. Is it mating season already?"
* *(To Hijikata, anime only)*"You can slash away any number of men, but you can never betray a girl's innocence."

* (To Hijikata) "I'm the same way. A long time ago I did something a lot like that. There were two things I wanted to protect. I didn't want to lose either of them. But it ended up where if I didn't throw one of them, I would end up losing both. I tried to protect both, but that was the same throwing both away... Even now, I dream about it... Wondering if there was some better way."

* (To Kagura) "Here we don't call someone who could hold a scooter with one hand a girl, we call them mountain gorilla."

* (To the loan shark Amanto) "The country? The skies? You can have them! I'm busy enough protecting what's in front of me. I don't know how many times I failed to protect what I wanted. I have nothing left, so at least if something has fallen at my feet I'll pick it up."

* (To Terada Tatsugorou grave) "I won't forget this favor, the old lady probably doesn't have much time left. From now on, I'll protect her for you."

* (To Katsura) "What's the use of fighting a futile fights? Do you really intend to lose more of your friends for something like that? I'll pass on that, as long as I'm alive I'll live by my own rules. I'll live how I see beautiful and protect those I hold dear."

* (To Hasegawa) "So what if the government collapses or the country is ruined! I'm not civic-minded! All I want is to stand tall, and live on until the day I collapse and die!"

* (To Katsura) "If you've got enough free time to fantasize about your beautiful death... Why don't you just live your life beautifully to the end?"

* (To Shinpachi) "A samurai doesn't need a reason to take action. If something needs saving, all you have to do is grab your sword. Do you love your sister?"

* (To Katsura) "All of the sudden I'm feeling this weight again. If I threw it away it might be easier, but somehow I don't feel like it. It would be too boring to keep walking without them."

* (To Daraku) "Listen, I don't care what you do around the universe, but this is my sword, and anywhere it reaches is my country!"

* (To Daraku) "Bastards who mess with my things, whether it's a general, space pirates or meteorites, I'll crush them!"

* (To Hasegawa) "Men don't need to speak the same language, they can communicate with their soul."

* (To Sakamoto) "Sorry, but despite how I look, I really love this planet."

* (To Sakamoto) "I'll just relax here and cast my fishing line, I'll catch a shooting star or two and release them to the sky."

* (To Hijikata) "Whether I go or not I'll die anyway, I have an organ more important than my heart. Although you can't see it, I feel it going through my head down to my feet, and I know it exist within me. It lets me stand on my feet, it lets me walk forward without trembling. If I stop here, I feel like it would break.... My soul will break."

* (To Umibouzu ) "Relax. I have no intention on taking that annoying brat back, of course I have no intention on dying here, but I have no intention on letting her die either."

* (To Umibouzu ) "I don't really get the little things, but if you have a caring parent what more would you need? I had always wanted a family like yours."

* (To Nizou) "Those who can easily kill others are shit-heads who can't even see the pain of others, even if your whole body can see, your soul can't see a thing."

* (To Kanshichirou) "Maybe, after you grow a little more and you still remember about me, come and find me again. I'll be glad to do more things with you then."

* (To Kanshichirou) "Oh, it's a promise. A samurai never makes a promise he can't keep. Laugh a lot, cry a lot, and hurry grow to become an adult, I'll be waiting"

* (To Kondo Isao ) "I told you, Mako-chan is your image mascot. Stupidly and barbaricly protecting the peace of Edo"

* (To Katsura) "Zura if you ever change, I'll be the first one to cut you down"

* (To Okuni) "You know, in our lives we are not readers but we are writers, the least we could do is change the ending"

* (To Marinosuke) "If we're unable to climb down the mountain, then we won't know whether there's another mountain to climb up"

* (To Shimura Shinpachi) "We're not here for justice or whatever and not for your sister either, we're here for you"

* (To Yagyuu house 1st head along with Shinmura Shinpachi) "The world that surpasses men and women? I could careless idiot! People who let their love ones cry, doesn't matter if it's man or woman, are all scumbags who needs to be punished!"

* (To Ryuzan) "Hey dad, she's not in rebellious phase, it's time to let your little girl grow up, you can't keep taking baths with her forever you know!"

* (To Tama) "The ability to feel pain, is important for a living thing. We all live our lifes in troublesome meachine in one way or another, sometimes they leak oil. When that happens let it all out, if it doesn't stop then we'll help you clean it"

* (To Bansai) "Then and now, what I protect has never changed."

* (To Bansai) "I'll give you a limb or two. However, no matter how many you cut... this string... this rotten bond... If you think you can cut it, then just try!"

* (To Kyoujirou) "Stop trying to act cool! If you really think the old man as your farther, live on! I don't care if you could only take is a single flower but visit his grave and live on!"

* (To Katsura) "Compared to being young and beautiful, it's a much harder task to live and walk honestly even with a crooked back, when raising our souls beautifully is far more meaningful"

* (To Otohime) "Why did you wait for him for hundreds and thousand of years, why among the hundreds and thousand words you've heard, only his words that you couldn't forget? Isn't because he looked through your soul when he said it? didn't you fall in love with that man's soul? So what if you're covered in wrinkles and your back is bent? whether you wear dentures or you're covered with age spots or you've gone senile, LIVE! Live on and greet him with that wrinkled face of yours"

* (To Shinpachi) "I'm not interested on keeping anyone around who isn't willing to share, even if he's an animal."

* (To Sadaharu) "The Sakata family will always share when times are tough, with food and also pain."

* (To Tsuu's Father) "The best way to live a full life is to be a child, no matter what your age."

* (To Tama) "I didn't forget it.... I couldn't if I tried. Because the colors of all you idiots are mixed into it."

* (To Shachi) "You may be a powerless prisoner locked in a cell, but no man can put a lock on you or anyone else's dream. Release from this cold cell your dream."

* (To criminal pigs) "If it’s a shinigami you want, there’s one right here, you buncha criminal pigs."

* Even if you need to use that sword as a cane, move forward!"

* ( To Kurokono Tasuke) " A shadow won't appear on the ground unless there's at least a little bit of light . If just one person remembered, you won't get any punishment. So, if something happens, come and help us again. Kurokono."

* (To Takasugi Shinsuke) "While you've abandoned a hundred, I've connected with a thousand. While you've destroyed a thousand, I've been saved by ten thousand. So what's an army of a few thousand? We have protected everything as just three people. We're the Yorozuya."

* (To Takasugi Shinsuke) "Even if I......have to use my master's corpse as a stepping stone, Taksugi, even if I have to use your corpse as a stepping stone, I will protect the soul of his diciple, our comrade, Takasugi Shinsuke of Shouka Sonjuku. I am the disciple of Yoshida Shouyou, Sakata Gintoki."
* "Above or below, I follow my own rules."

* (To Jiraia) "You still don't understand? Some of the things you sacrificed were too important. You abandoned your comrades? No. You were afraid of losing your comrades. You fought alone? No! You wouldn't have to feel the pain of solitude if you'd been alone to begin with. You abandoned your sense of self? No. You were running away from the pain you caused and the pain you endured. You're just a coward!"

* (To Jiraia) "You don't have the right to call yourself her master! You don't have the strength to shoulder a student and their pain!"
* (To Tsukuyo) "Hand it [*kiseru*] over. If you want a smoke that badly, come back alive. Make sure you come back alive and have your smoke. If you don't hurry, I'll finish it off."
* (To Tsukuyo) "I won't be dying. Nobody will be dying. I won't let anyone in Yoshiwara die. You see, we aren't gonna leave you all alone."
* (To Tsukuyo) "Don't bother telling me to run again. Trying to shoulder the burden all by yourself ? Don't be such a stranger. Weep and ask for help. Lean on me with your runny nose. Cry when you feel like crying. Laugh when you feel like laughing. When you're tearing up with an ugly face, I'll give you a good cry with an uglier face. When you're laughing so much your stomach hurts, I'll laugh in a louder voice. That's how it should be."
* (To Oboro) "You and I were dating in hell!"
* (To Oboro) "Send my regards to my teacher!"
* (To Tokugawa Sada Sada) "Hell is too good for him, but it seems he was fit to be judged by judge that he made"

### Gintama The Final Chapter: Be Forever Yorozuya

* (To Shimura Tae) " Your future.. Our future.. This world's future.. We'll change it for the better."

* (To Enmi) " No matter how it is, I'll bear the burdens I've earned. And I'll take as many crappy curses as many times it takes."

* (To Enmi) " Can't save anything? No. Even a dirty sword like me, can still protect something!"

* (To Yorozuya) " I know we'll meet again. No matter when or where, I'll be in Kabuki-chou, working under the Yorozuya sign.. Its a promise."