Sakata Gintoki is a samurai living in an era when samurai are no longer needed. To add to his troubles, oppressive aliens have moved in to invade. Gintoki works taking on odd jobs alongside two kids: Kagura and Shinpachi. In the Joui war, he was known as the “White Devil” (Shiroyasha) due to his silver hair and white clothing he wore in battle, which, combined with his impressive capabilities as a swordsman, made him famous among his comrades and struck fear into Amanto.Gintoki has naturally permed silver hair, which he blames for his lacking love-life. He has a big crush on the TV’s news weather girl, Ketsuno. In fact, to date, the only time he is seen to have blushed is when he tries to make use of Sadaharu and Ketsuno’s dog to get a chance to talk to her. Though several female characters have shown an interest in Gintoki, he usually does not show any response back and merely puts up with them as annoyances.

Gintoki has two major obsessions in life. He is obsessed with sweet food such as parfaits, ice cream and cakes. His second obsession is reading the manga anthology magazine Weekly Shounen Jump. (Which, not coincidentally, is where Gintama is published in). Gintoki will go to great lengths to get the latest Jump issue, to the point of reckless behavior. His Jump obsession makes him easily dream of being like other Jump heroes, including wishing that he had a “Bankai” similar to the hero characters of Bleach.

Despite his appearance and initial behavior, Gintoki has a great amount of pride for the old bushido code. He takes it upon himself to rescue or avenge not only his comrades and friends but also people he barely got acquainted to, be it a pit-fighter who was taking care of abandoned orphans or an Amanto who resembles a kappa.

Despite being a fearsome fighter with nearly unmatched skills, he avoids needless bloodshed after suffering the loss of most of his friends and allies during the Joui war.
(Source: MyAnimeList)

Okita is the best swordsman in the Shinsengumi. Personality-wise, he tends to be light-hearted and somewhat childish though his speech is heavily deadpan.He outwardly displays annoyance and dislike for Hijikata, and continuously tries to kill (or at least badly wound) Hijikata whenever he has the chance so that he can become the Vice-Commander.

Okita has great affection and fondness for Kondo, who took him under his wings when he was little. He still regards Hijikata as one of his three friends (the other two being Kondo and Gintoki).

He enjoys seeing women fight, finding the ugly looks on their faces as they grab each other being hilarious. He wears a distinctive eye mask when taking a nap during duty, which is a frequent occurrence. At one point, he refers to himself as the best sniper in the Shinsengumi. Although he is a master of kenjutsu, he uses a bazooka more often.

He also regards Kagura as a rival after an unfinished rock-paper-scissors duel during a sakura-blossom party. He states that he’ll “be the only one to defeat her”, and usually calls her “China”.
(Source: MyAnimeList)

Kagura, meaning “god-entertainment” is a member of the Yorozuya alongside Sakata Gintoki and Shinpachi Shimura and the main female protagonist of Gintama.Although she appears to be a normal, cute, human girl in Chinese-style clothing, she actually belongs to the Yato Clan, one of the strongest and most bloodthirsty of the Amanto races. The Yato are said to have “transparent” skin that is highly sensitive to sunlight, so Kagura carries a purple parasol at all times. The parasol is also the Yato clan’s weapon of choice; Kagura’s is bulletproof and fires bullets from its tip. Because of her Yato blood, she is super-strong and can stop a speeding motor-scooter with one hand. Although stronger than most humans, she cannot control her strength perfectly. Her super-human strength makes her extremely bad with pets. Most of her pets, with the exception of Sadaharu, have met with an untimely demise by her hands.

She is also extremely flexible and fast; capable of catching multiple speeding bullets between her teeth and fingers. During battle, she’s often seen flipping through the air and performing various acrobatic feats. Due to her Yato blood, she is capable of rapid regeneration. During the Benizakura arc, she is seen healing from a gunshot wound almost overnight.

Kagura also have an unusually strong appetite. She is able to consume large quantity of food within a matter of seconds. Nevertheless, her tastes are endearingly plain. Sukonbu, rice, and eggs are among her favorite foods.

Her immediate family consists of her father, Umibouzu, a widely recognized alien hunter, her mother, who is deceased, and her older brother Kamui, once presumed missing who is now involved with the space pirates Harusame.

She came to Earth to earn money for her family. She found work fighting for a gang, but when they ordered her to kill her target, she ran away. Not long afterwards, she met Gintoki and Shinpachi when Gintoki accidentally ran her down with his scooter. After they helped her to make a clean break from the gang, she intimidated Gintoki into hiring her. She now lives at the Yorozuya and sleeps in Gintoki’s closet, like Doraemon.

Kagura and Gintoki share an odd brother-younger sister-like relationship. Together with Shinpachi, the three of them makes for a strange, dysfunctional, yet tightly knit family. Kagura is very protective of Gintoki. Although, she herself has gotten into many fights with him, rarely does she let anyone else pick on him. She seems to trust wholeheartedly in Gintoki’s ability and strength. Even in sticky situations, she has no doubt that Gin-chan would come save her. She has a tendency to imitate Gintoki’s bad habits (like picking her nose or swear, hence her unladylike behavior) and would often quote the bad advices he gives her. Some of her lines starts with “Gin-chan says…” or “Gin-chan told me…”

Kagura is also somewhat of a tomboy. She is often seen partaking in games with various neighborhood boys. Although her candid manner of speech often cause them to shun her, she doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, she has no problem at all with forcing her way into their game. In battle, she has proven to be bull-headed and a sore loser. Like Gintoki, and probably because of his influence, she is not above resorting to petty tricks and manipulation to get the better of her adversary. Unlike many conventional manga heroine, she doesn’t display the same consciousness toward decorum, table manners and physical appearance. Puking, cussing, picking her nose, spitting, fighting, and scratching herself are common behavior for Kagura.

She regards Okita, captain of the Shinsengumi, as a rival. She detests him, and appeared to be disgusted when she previously mentioned (about Okita), that “he definitely likes me”, but as that hasn’t been brought up since, it is uncertain on if it should be considered canon, that he apparently likes her.

Although Kagura usually teases Shinpachi, she deeply cares for him and thinks of him as a brother. She also shows great respect toward his older sister, Shimura Tae, often calling her “Anego” (a term gangster women use to show respect).

Her super-human strength makes her extremely bad with pets. Most of her pets, with the exception of Sadaharu (being her 27th pet), have met with an untimely demise by her hands (with the exception of Safdaharu 28′, a beetle killed by Sougo). She cuddles with Sadaharu when feeling down. Kagura also seems to be the only one (aside from Ane, Mone and Komako) who Sadaharu listens to.

According to the OVA, Kagura is the first and only Weekly Shonen Jump girl to vomit on-screen. To date, she has induced herself to vomit on several occasions. She also has an uncanny knack for seeming calm or detached during high-tension situations; in episode 5, she slept through a car-chase. Her appetite knows no bounds, and she is especially fond of sukonbu.

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 (aru), nope, and the like.
(Source: MyAnimeList)

Kamui is a member of the Yato Tribe, the son of Umibouzu and older brother of Kagura. His excellent fighting skills helped him become Captain of the 7th Division of Harusame’s Thunder Guns, the most powerful combat unit within the Harusame group and Overlord of Yoshiwara. Since defecting from the Harusame, he no longer holds these positions.Kamui firmly believes that the Yato are to remain on the battlefield and shows his disapproval of Housen staying locked up in Yoshiwara. Because of this belief, he shows no pity towards family or subordinates as a sign of weakness is unacceptable. He tried to revive the abandoned tradition of Yato clan’s men killing their own parent to prove their strength, although failed to successfully execute it and only cut his father’s arm off.

Despite this, he pays respect to the opponents he kills by sending them off with a smile. He doesn’t kill children, and dislikes killing women because they may give birth to strong children.
(Source: MyAnimeList)

Kyuubei is the sole heir to the Yagyuu family, being the daughter of Yagyuu Koshinori and granddaughter of Yagyuu Binbokusai. She is brought up as a male, following the code of a samurai. She is a genius swordsman; surpassing average swordsmen in skills, and is able to hold herself against veteran swordsmen, like Hijikata Toushirou and Sakata Gintoki.During her introduction, she tried to take Shimura Tae as her fiancee, though Shimura Shinpachi and the rest stopped her from doing it. She still has feelings for Tae, though they remained in friendly ties. She usually follows wherever Tae goes and does the same thins that Tae is doing. She also protects Tae from the stalker Kondou Isao.

She is always being guarded by Toujou Ayumu, to the point of him being overprotective towards her. Ayumu also tries to convince her to wear gothic lolita outfits, which cause irritation to her, blasting/beating him up because of it.

In recent Gintama chapters, she became the target of jealousy of Katsura Kotarou, as he felt that she is recently becoming more active in the manga spotlight than him.

Kyuubei has a bit of a cold personality, probably due to how she trained herself to become strong. However, Tae’s influence is currently shaping a more softer Kyuubei, as they share more time together during their free time.

She also has an automatic reflex against men who touch her or she touches (though she did rescue Gin one time by catching his hand).

In episode 190 it’s revealed that, apparently, she really likes Otae’s cooking.

Her name is probably referring to the famous samurai Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi, due to “Ju” meaning “Ten” and “Kyu” meaning “Nine.”
(Source: MyAnimeList)