Tsukuyo (Gintama)

Tsukuyo is a character from the Gintama anime and manga.

Tsukuyo, also known as the Courtesan of Death, is a highly skilled ninja, specializing in the usage of kunai, having trained under the infamous assassin and then-Leader of the Hyakka, Jiraia. She is the current leader of the Hyakka, Yoshiwara's guardians, an all-female law enforcement squad formerly deployed by Housen.

Appearance
Tsukuyo is an attractive blonde woman of average height and slender figure. She has a scar running horizontally across the left side of her forehead and another vertically down her left cheek.

Her shoulder-length hair is normally tied up at the back of her head, while her parted fringe is done up in a bun, held by two miniature kunai, both with red thread at the end on each side. The part of her hair that isn’t tied is left to run down her cheeks, reaching past her chin.

Tsukuyo’s preferred attire is a black kimono, without a right sleeve and exposing her right leg, decorated with autumn leaves, held by a red obi. On her right arm, she sports a detached sleeve that goes from her mid-bicep to her wrist. She also wears fishnet stockings and black high-heel boots that reach just below the knee. She’s often seen smoking a kiseru, a trait she shares with fellow characters, Takasugi Shinsuke, Doromizu Jirochou and Terada Tatsugorou.

During the events of the Dekoboko Arc, she, along with the majority of characters who appeared in this arc, switched genders due to a curse and was seen in her male form. In that form, she had slightly shorter hair and wore a black kimono around her shoulders, that, just like her original kimono, was decorated with autumn leaves.

Personality
As someone who gave up everything that means to be a woman to protect Hinowa, Tsukuyo is serious at all times, even when making jokes or finding herself in comedic situations. She is usually not very talkative and counteracts all kinds of provocations and threats with a relentless offensive physical reactions, especially when such threats are directed towards Hinowa or her son Seita. An example of this severity can be seen in very first scene Tsukuyo appears in, where she mercilessly cuts off a man's arm and kills him for insulting and physically abusing a prostitute on her watch. As a consequence of this character trait, Tsukuyo doesn't hesitate for a moment to throw her kunai (most of the time directed at Sakata Gintoki). Gintoki is the only person she seems to be able to open up to.

Beyond her tough and stoic exterior, however, Tsukuyo is kind at heart. When she stumbles into a situation where somebody needs her help, she does not hesitate to give it, though her facial expressions do not change even then. For example, in Episode 140, she tries to mend Gintoki's pride by taking the blame. In her first meeting with Shimura Tae, Yagyuu Kyuubei and Sarutobi Ayame in Episode 183, she is willing to go so far as to physically wound herself when she listens to their complaints.

Tsukuyo claims to have killed the woman inside of her a long time ago so that she could protect Yoshiwara. To ensure she could never go back to living as a woman, she scarred her own face at a very young age, leaving two clearly visible scars on her face for the rest of her life. But despite asserting to have entirely abandoned herself as a woman, she admits that being near Gintoki strongly weakens her resolve to do so. This could be due to her romantic feelings for him, which are often implied and hinted by various characters.

A different side of Tsukuyo can be seen when she comes in contact with alcoholic substances. She has a very low alcohol tolerance, needing only a small amount to get drunk. As seen in Episode 204, a single whiskey bonbon contained enough for her to enter an inebriated state. While drunk, she tends to display an extremely aggressive nature, mercilessly beating whoever is near her, with Gintoki normally being on the receiving end. Tsukuyo also tends to reveal a sadistic nature after consuming alcohol. However, after resting, she strangely shows no visible signs of a hangover.

Despite living in Yoshiwara her whole life, Tsukuyo was also shown to have great intellect, a vital requirement and typical for a highly skilled ninja like herself. As seen in Lesson 417, she possesses extensive knowledge about the history of Japan and was, therefore, able to tutor Seita.

Abilities
Tsukuyo was trained by the infamous assassin Jiraia, who taught her a fighting style very similar to that of a ninja. She mastered the Iga arts and possesses lethal assassination skills, making her an extremely powerful combatant. Her talent in throwing kunai is matched equally by her perfect aim, which allows her to throw several kunai in many different directions without missing her targets. As seen during her fight against her own subordinates in Episode 144, she even handles kunai well enough to block other kunai thrown at her with immense speed. During her fight against Abuto, she has also shown to be able to fight with kunai in close combat and also block direct attacks with them. Aside from her skill with kunai, she also has two tantamount attached to the back of her waist belt and is capable of fighting with those as well.

Tsukuyo possesses incredible speed and reflexes, which allowed her to sneak up behind Abuto just moments after the kunai she threw reached him. She also reacts to her opponents' actions immediately, giving them no chance to find an opening. In addition to this, Tsukuyo is very proficient in hand to hand combat and knows where to land critical blows.

Trivia

 * Tsukuyo's name and peronality is based on Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, also known as Tsukuyomi, the moon god in Shinto and Japanese mythology. This makes her one of the few characters in Gintama to be based on mythological characters, with the other notable one being Sakata Gintoki.
 * She speaks with a classic prostitute accent such as wachi, nushi and linsu.
 * She placed 10th in the Second Popularity Poll, 11th on the Third, 12th on the Forth, and 9th on the Fifth, which has caused jealousy among the other female characters, most notably Sarutobi and Otae, as the votes suggest Tsukuyo is the 2nd most popular female character in Gintama, only behind Kagura.
 * Kagura and Sa-chan call her "Tsukki", a nickname Hinowa likes.
 * Tsukuyo, whose name contains tsuki, meaning "Moon", is referred to as Yoshiwara's Moon, just as Hinowa is referred to as its Sun.
 * As seen in Lesson 262, Tsukuyo offered commercial sexual services to Gintoki when he was her suitor, but was immediately rejected by Gintoki as she misunderstood the meaning of “service” Hinowa mentioned.
 * As seen in Courtesan of a Nation Arc, Tsukuyo risked her life to aid Gintoki when Sasaki Isaburo shot him.