List of Gintama characters
The characters from the anime and manga series Gintama were created by Hideaki Sorachi. The story is set in Edo, the "Land of the Samurai", which has been invaded by aliens named Amanto, who subsequently coexist with humans. Despite the time, there are various advanced technologies and even spaceships which allow people to travel across space. Although the series' story is commonly episodic, there are also a few story arcs which are developed through various chapters.
When creating the series, Sorachi developed various characters based on the historical Shinsengumi, which he is a fan of. Additionally, other characters from the series are also based on real people. The characters from the series have also been features in pieces of merchandise based on their appearances as well as video games. Response to the characters has commonly been mixed, with various publication praising the comedy situations and criticizing the artwork used in the series.
Creation and conception
Before the start from Gintama's serialization, Hideaki Sorachi wrote various one-shot manga. Although he considered the story Samuraider very poor, the setting of such one-shot served as the base for Gintama such as the addition of alien characters. While thinking of the name of a manga, Sorachi's editor commented "Do you think a silver samurai would be cool?" That inspired Sorachi to write the main character from the series after deciding the series should be named Gintama. However, the main character was originally meant to be Hijikata Toushiro as Sorachi was a fan of the Shinsengumi, most notably Hijikata Toshizō, after he saw Burn! Sword!. When Sorachi could not "shake off" Hijikata's initial design, he decided not to use him as the lead character, but added him along with the Shinsengumi to the story. The pilot chapter from the series had a different plot to the one from the serialization: Sorachi kept adding Shinsengumi to the story such as Harada Sanosuke. As all of these characters were older than most of the recurring ones from the series, Sorachi removed them thinking they were not entertaining.When asked by a fan if all the characters from the series were based on Real-Edo life citizens, Sorachi responded he was right and mentioned that Gintoki was roughly based on Sakata Kintoki, but added that he did not mean to make Gintoki a descendant from Sakata. Regarding character designs, Sorachi stated that all the characters' faces are based on Shinpachi as by just making a few changes such as modifying his hair a little and removing his glasses, people will get different characters from the manga. Sorachi has stated that he has liked all the characters he designed and whenever a character has been absent from the manga for various chapters, he tries to make him return. On the other hand, when a character appears too often, he does not want to make him star for the next chapters. However, he states that such "cycle" does not apply to the Yorozuya trio.
In response to comments regarding how the series is full of "losers" Sorachi stated he did not make that intentionally. Moreover, he views them as likable characters and states they are always facing their negative sides which helped them have friends. Before reaching the series' end Sorachi wishes to examine every character within the cast but at the same time there are part he does not want to explore fearing they would become less interesting due to a lack of mystery.
Main characters
The main characters of the series are part of "Yorozuya", known in the Japanese version as ''Yorozuya Gin-Japanese honorifics#Chan is the name of Gintoki Sakata's freelancer business. Gintoki runs his business from a second-floor apartment, which he rents from Otose. As the name implies, such businesses involve performing odd jobs for a fee. Incidentally, he and [|Kagura] also live there, and Shinpachi occasionally stays at the apartment. In later chapters, Gintoki reveals that prior to meeting Shinpachi and Kagura he worked in Yorozuya along with three people of African descent whom he threw to a river when they planned to abandon him or started dating other people.Gintoki Sakata
Gintoki Sakata is a samurai living in an era when samurai are no longer needed. He is recognized by his natural wavy hair and sweet tooth. He often blames his "perm" hair of sorts to be a source of some of his misfortune. Gintoki lives with Kagura and Shinpachi, taking on odd jobs to make the world a better place and to pay their rent. In the Joi war, he was known as the "White Devil" due to his silver hair and white coat he wore in battle, which, combined with his impressive capabilities as a swordsman, made him famous among his comrades and struck fear into Amanto.Shinpachi Shimura
Shinpachi Shimura is a teenager who joins Gintoki's freelancer business to learn the ways of the samurai. He stays at his family's dojo along with his older sister [|Tae Shimura]. Both used to live there with their father who died when they were still children. In order to make their living, Shinpachi started working in a restaurant in which he met Gintoki when the former was being harassed by Amanto officials. Gintoki beats up the Amanto officials, not to stand up for Shinpachi, but to get revenge for his spilled parfait. Gintoki attempts to frame Shinpachi for the crime, and to make up for it, Gintoki helps Shinpachi save his older sister Tae from being coerced into joining a brothel by an Amanto as his father left them with an enormous debt. Although he commonly criticizes Gintoki's lazy behaviour, Shinpachi comes to regard him as a very important person to him in the same fashion as Kagura. Shinpachi also regards himself as the comic relief character from the series, but tends to take that as something important. As the readers' perspective, Sorachi notes that while he can be weak he will take action when necessary resulting in his growth across the series.Shinpachi is easily identified by his glasses which he wears as result of hypnotizing himself to eat Tae's poor meals. When trying to identify Shinpachi, several characters tend to notice first his glasses even though he may not be using them; Gintoki comments that the reason for this is that most of Shinpachi's design are his glasses. Despite his timid appearance, Shinpachi is a more than competent swordsman of his family's Kakidō-Ryu, the type of swordsmanship his dojo teaches. Shinpachi is also the captain of the "Otsu's Imperial Guard," an Otsu's fan club, and takes his role seriously. Other members of the fan club treat him with utmost respect, something he is not usually treated with. His fanaticism for [|Otsu] started prior to her career when he was inspired by the effort she gave in her songs. His character is loosely based on the historical figure Nagakura Shinpachi, who Sorachi had previously used in one of his previous manga. Although he shares his last name with the Japanese comedian Ken Shimura, Sorachi picked that last name to fit his samurai heritage.
Kagura
Kagura is a young Amanto girl who belongs to the Yato Clan, one of the strongest and most bloodthirsty of the Amanto races, although Kagura rejects that part of herself. She came to Earth to earn money for her family, and to escape her violent Yato heritage. She found work fighting for a gang of hoodlums, but when they ordered her to kill her target, she ran away. Not long afterwards, she meets Gintoki and Shinpachi, when they accidentally run over her with Gintoki's scooter. After they help her to make a clean break from the gang, she intimidates Gintoki into hiring her. Kagura and Gintoki have an odd brother-sister-like relationship and she commonly imitates his bad habits.The Yato have "translucent" skin that is highly sensitive to sunlight, so Kagura carries an umbrella at all times. The parasol is also the Yato clan's weapon of choice; Kagura's umbrella is bulletproof and fires bullets from its tip. Because of her Yato blood, she is extremely strong and can stop a speeding motorscooter with one hand. However, she cannot control her strength perfectly; most of her pets, with the exception of Sadaharu, have all met an untimely demise at her hands. Kagura also has an unusually strong appetite, making her capable of consuming large quantity of food within a matter of seconds. Nevertheless, her tastes are endearingly plain.
Kagura is also somewhat of a tomboy, as she speaks in a blunt or perverted way. This is due to Sorachi not finding the too feminine characters believable and instead made Kagura from an anti-female lead perspective resulting in Kagura being the first female lead in manga to throw up. In the absence of Gintoki and Shinpachi, she is often seen partaking in games with various neighborhood boys. She regards Shisengumi's [|Sougo Okita] as a rival and often competes against him. Her speech often ends in -aru, characteristic of the Japanese's impression of a Chinese accent. In Japanese, Kagura speaks in a stereotypical dialect that is associated with Chinese immigrants. In the English-translated manga, she punctuates her sentences with "yup", "uh-huh", "nope", and the like. Her character is based on Princess Kaguya from the story The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter while her name comes from a place on the island of Hokkaido. In a Newtype poll, Kagura ranked #21 for the top 30 most popular female anime character from the 2000s. Kagura was ranked #3 for most cheerful anime character in Animedia magazine's 2010 character awards.