Toushirou Hijikata (Gintama)

Toushirou Hijikata is a character from the Gintama anime and manga.

Toushirou is the former Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi. Introduced as the brains of the Shinsengumi, he is commonly known as the Demonic Vice-Commander, striking fear into his enemies and subordinates (with the exceptions of Kondou Isao and Okita Sougo).

He had a split personality named "Tosshi," an otaku identity which developed as a result of buying a cursed sword. This incarnation first appeared during the Shinsengumi Crisis Arc and again later in the Otsu Arc, where this personality dies by exhausting himself in a final match against fellow otaku, Shinpachi.

Appearance
Toushirou appears as a very handsome and attractive man. He has short, dark green hair (black in the manga) and gun-metal blue eyes (red in the manga). His usual attire is a Shinsengumi uniform, and on his days off he can be seen with a dark yukata & sandals.

As his otaku alter-ego, Tosshi, he wears a light-blue, ragged vest, a red shirt underneath, a red headband and black pants.

During the events of the Dekoboko Arc, he switched genders due to a curse and was seen in his female form. As a woman, he had long black hair tied in twin braids and was overweight due to eating too much mayonnaise while in his normal form. Later he wore a purple kimono with a pig design on it.

Personality
Due to having to endure being hated by his other family members for being an illegitimate son, being indebted to his older brother, and having no place to belong, Hijikata was an outsider. Despite this, he never stopped moving forward and aimed to become stronger because of the deep regret stemming from his being unable to save his brother, and protect the ones he loves.

Feared by both his enemies and his underlings, Hijikata, typically known as the Demonic Vice-Commander (Oni no Fukucho) is very strict and dedicated to his work. He formulated the Kyokuchou Hatto (Kyokuchō Hatto), the 45 Regulations that form the disciplinary framework for all Shinsengumi members, and he implements them firmly. He is also fiercely loyal to the Commander of the Shinsengumi, Kondou Isao, as seen in the Shinsengumi Mutiny Arc when he (with help from the Yorozuya) went to save Kondou from Itou Kamotarou. Hijikata has a strong sense of pride, as seen in the Yagyuu Arc, when he claimed that his injuries (received from his fight with Kitaooji Itsuki) were actually from getting caught in an automatic door at the Marui Department Store. This is also evident in his going after Sakata Gintoki in order to avenge Kondou and the Shinsengumi's honour after Kondou lost a challenge to the silver-haired samurai for the right to date Shimura Tae. Hijikata puts on a tough attitude, but is willing to help those in need, as seen in the Yagyuu Arc and the Shinsengumi Crisis Arc. He has a stubborn streak and does not like to reveal his weaknesses. He also veils his good or kind actions with exaggerated annoyance and agitation.

Hijikata is a very short-tempered individual, always getting annoyed by other characters' antics and reprimanding them for it. He also threatens his subordinates with seppuku if they do not follow orders or fool around.

Hijikata is a rabid lover of mayonnaise; in fact, he drowns almost all of his food in a ridiculous amount of the condiment before eating it, including desserts and coffee. He is also a chain-smoker, and once went to great lengths, in fact to other planets, to get his smoking fix when Matsudaira declared a city-wide smoking ban with immediate effect, though it is revealed during the Silver Soul Arc that he quit smoking. He does not lust for women and does not like cabaret clubs (when he was on leave, he went to the sauna and cinema). This is probably due to him being unable to forget Mitsuba, the one girl he truly loved.

His personality is very similar to that of Gintoki's, as Mitsuba once remarked, resulting in the two frequently clashing as rivals. The two share similar fears, such as being terrified of ghosts and dentists, but they can also reach an unbelievable synchronization when fighting together. In the Baragaki arc, Hijikata claims that he and Gintoki are the same due to the fact that they don't seek or expect forgiveness to those they kill, but rather aim to stop those from making the same mistakes they once did.

After he bought the cursed sword Muramasha, he developed a split personality named Tosshi (Tōshi). Tosshi's personality is similar to an otaku who was slain by Muramasha, the cursed soul from the sword: he watches anime in the Shinsengumi Headquarters, reads mangas that Hijikata used to hate and cares a lot about his anime figurines. He is also weak and afraid of fighting. This personality died by sacrificing his life in a final battle boxing match against Shinpachi in Terakado Tsuu's Fan Club Voting Competition Arc.

Abilities
Hijikata's weapon of choice is a samurai sword, which would later be the Muramasha sword. He is very talented in his sword fighting skills and has also shown incredible strength in many episodes (such as in Mitsuba arc where he killed almost an entire enemy force by himself). His strength was also mentioned by Shinpachi in episode 163 where Shinpachi realized that he was boxing with the weak coward Toshi and not Hijikata himself; Shinpachi admitted he would not be standing if he had taken a punch from Hijikata. Although his sword skills might not be at Gintoki's level, he was able to defeat Sougo in the Mitsuba arc. Hijikata is also exceptionally skilled in writing follow ups, as seen when he was helping Shinpachi with his penpal.

Trivia

 * Based on the historical Hijikata Toshizō, he was the Shinsengumi's vice-commander, and was known as the demon of the Shinsengumi. Hijikata strictly enforced rules in the Shinsengumi, leading to the creation of the Kyokuchu Hatto (the clauses or regulations for the Shinsengumi) to control the members, but it also caused many to lose their lives.
 * Hijikata was originally meant to be Gintama's main character, but with his appearance being identical to the one of Gintoki.
 * His seiyuu, Nakai Kazuya, coincidentally voices several swordsmen, including Roronoa Zoro in the anime and manga series, One Piece, Mugen from Samurai Champloo, and Date Masamune from Sengoku Basara. Nakai also voices Sainglain from Ixion Saga DT, Shizuka Doumeki from xxx-Holic, Ryuuji Suguro from Ao no Exorcist, and Shoichi Imayoshi from Kuroko no Basket.
 * He also has a tendency to cry after watching movies that are not particularly emotional (as seen in Episode 40 after he watched Alien vs. Yakuza.)
 * Hijikata disappeared somehow in Lesson 466.
 * The Kamen Rider character Kosuke Nitoh (Kamen Rider Beast) from Kamen Rider Wizard is inspired from Hijikata, sharing his liking of mayonnaise.
 * Hijikata and Monkey D. Luffy from the anime One Piece, share the same birthday. They also love eating a certain type of food (Hijikata likes mayonnaise and Luffy likes meat).