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A leader doesn't need the strength to subdue a comrade. All he needs is the strength to protect one.

Isao Kondou
Qotd


Isao Kondou (近藤 勲 Kondō Isao?), also known as Gorilla (latin name, Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla), is the former commander of the Shinsengumi. When he was not working (which was often the case, the vice-commander, Toushirou Hijikata, being the one covering for him most of the time), he was busy stalking Shinpachi's sister Tae Shimura, earning him the nickname Gorilla-stalker.

Even though the Shinsengumi are fiercely loyal to Kondou, he often has to use the Shinsengumi Vice-Commander Toushirou Hijikata to settle them down before giving instructions. During Nobu Nobu's reign when he and Matsudaira were about to be beheaded, he entrusted Gintoki with a message to pass on to his fellow former Shinsengumi police-mates (most of all to Hijikata) to keep moving forward and to not be stupid as Edo still needed someone to protect it, even if the Shinsengumi disbanded.

Background[]

In his childhood, Kondou attended a temple school that worships a monkey god. He had been a troublesome kid, uprooting neighbors' daikon and stealing them. Because of his behavior, rumors spread that he was raised by monkeys. The chief priest of the monkey god-worshipping temple took Kondou in and let him attend the temple school, even going as far as wanting him to be his successor, so long as Kondou never stole anything again. One day loan sharks took some kids from the temple school as a hostage as they wanted the land. Kondou went alone and saved the kids, but when they returned the temple had been burned down. He was forbidden by the chief priest to return to the temple's site, and eventually, Kondou left. From Episode 293.

Kondou became a member of a dojo run by Kanchou in Bushuu. There, he met Sougo Okita and Toushirou Hijikata, recruiting both of them to join his dojo. Kondou would later take all the members of the dojo with him and move from Bushuu to Edo to establish a career for himself, and create what is now the Shinsengumi.

Appearance[]

Kondou is a tall, muscular man with tan skin, spiky brown hair and a goatee. He usually wears a Shinsengumi uniform, though in many situations he is found naked, believing that being naked is a show of big heart. It is a running gag that his normal appearance resembles that of a gorilla, and the other characters often "mistake" him for one; although he often gets angry with them for using that nickname, he sometimes uses the same word to identify himself. Later during the Farewell, Shinsengumi Arc, he receives a scar on face from Sasaki.

During the events of the Dekoboko Arc, he temporarily switched genders, receiving the most drastic appearance change out of all the gender-swapped cast. In female form, he has blonde hair, pale skin, and a slender figure with large boobs.

Isao Kondou's Gallery[]

Personality[]

Kondou is kind-hearted and trusting with his subordinates. Most of the members of the Shinsengumi are fiercely loyal to him, as seen in the Shinsengumi Crisis Arc. Shinsengumi's 1st Division Captain Sougo Okita often remarks that Kondou's nice-guy attitude is also his weakness as he never notices negative points about other people. According to Kamotarou Itou during the Shinsengumi Crisis Arc, Kondou is honest and pure (清廉, seiren) and unsullied (無垢, muku) In the same Chapter, Toushirou Hijikata described him as the soul of the Shinsengumi, and the rest of the members being the sword that protect him. Hijikata also mentioned that everybody joined the Shinsengumi so that they could be with Kondou, and that as long as he was there, the Shinsengumi would not be finished. Kondou tells Itou on one occasion that he felt that he wasn't suitable to take the role of the commander of the Shinsengumi but to take the role of a comrade that couldn't stand seeing the sight of losing friends.

Strength & Abilites[]

He was trained in his dojo in Bushuu, although not much is known about his skills as a swordsman as he is the commander of the Shinsengumi that must always be protected. He was able to beat (although comically) Toujou Ayumu, the leader of the Yagyuu Clan's Four Ace (四天王, Shitennou), who is the most skilled amongst the Four Devas, and the other three members can't even compare to him. It can be assumed he is better than the average human, as he can easily take out bandits and other enemy soldiers.

Kondou wields a katana known as Kotetsu, he nicknamed Kotetsu-chan which he accidentally breaks before paying off the loans. Later purchases Kotetsu Z-II which easily (and purposely) gets broken by Sougo.

Relationships[]

Mentor[]

Friends & Allies[]

  • Sougo Okita:
    Little okita

    Episode 86

    As a child, Sougo had trouble fitting in, Kondou found him playing by himself joined in and invited him to the Dojo. Sougo was noted to have the most potential in the dojo. In the Mitsuba Chapter, Kondou said to Sougo that if one of them (Toushirou or Sougo) ever strayed, then the other two would punch him back to where he belongs. Kondou explains that having terrible friends in your life isn't a bad thing. When he's about to be executed during Nobu Nobu's reign, Sougo is one of the few remaining former Shinsengumi members to be entrusted to look over Edo, seemingly trying to prevent from what will happen if he'll become like Takasugi Shinsuke.
  • Toushirou Hijikata: One of the students he taught at his family dojo, Toushiro is greatly loyal to Koundo and is his right-hand man. Kondou found Toushirou after being beaten by groups of samurai he challenged. Finding him to be a very interesting character, he saved him and gave him a home within the dojo. Before being beheaded along with Matsudaira during Nobu Nobu's reign, he entrusted Toushirou to pass on his footsteps to carry the Shinsengumi's honor to look over the Edo, even though they're not in the Shinsengumi anymore, by requesting Gintoki to message his words to them.
  • Yagyuu Kyuubei: He was her enemy and love rival at first, but in time they became friends. The relationship between them is pretty weird (Gintoki noted this due to them standing at the area where Tae was) but strong.
  • Matsudaira Katakuriko: Kondou answers to his superior Matsudaira Katakuriko, a high-ranking government officer under the direct control of the Bakufu. Matsudaira Katakuriko usually sets up politically arranged marriages for Kondo.
  • Matsudaira Kuriko: Kondo said that Kuriko is like a little sister to him. He tried to help in assassinating Shichibei when Katakuriko told him about her new boyfriend.
  • Shinpachi Shimura: In the Yagyuu Chapter, Kondou had his mindset on being Shinpachi Shimura's brother-in-law, even going as far as saying Shinpachi was the only one he could entrust the Shinsengumi to, much to Shinpachi's annoyance and response that he doesn't give a damn about the Shinsengumi. Kondou even added a new Regulation to the Shinsengumi code: "Yorozuya is to be hated, but treat Shinpachi well".
  • Gintoki Sakata: After his duel with Gintoki, he and Kondo usually got along well, since their desire to watch over Edo until they die is very similar. Although he wrote down a new Regulation that Yorozuya is to be hated, Kondo actually greatly respects Gintoki, as Yamazaki stated in episode 32. During Nobu Nobu's reign after Shige Shige got assassinated by one of Nobu Nobu's assassins, and he and Matsudaira were about to be beheaded, he entrusted Gintoki to message the other former Shinsengumi police-mates to carry out the force's honor, to not be stupid as the Edo needs them, even though they're not in the Shinsengumi anymore, this also caused Gintoki to remember how his master, Yoshida Shouyou needed to be beheaded by Gintoki himself in order to save Katsura and Takasugi.
  • Katsura Kotarou: When Kondo was the commander of the Shinsengumi, Katsura was his rival because of the latter being a Jouishishi faction leader. Back then they bickered due to the similarity between their online nicknames, and Kondo was always shown chasing after Katsura in order to arrest him. They later become friends after Shige Shige's death and during Nobu Nobu's reign. They fight together during the Farewell, Shinsengumi Arc against the enemy forces, and when Isaburo Sasaki arrived on the island, he tries to shoot Kondo, but Katsura protects him and gets shot instead.

Love Interest[]

  • Tae Shimura: He is desperately in love with her. Kondou once asked Tae whether she would still love her boyfriend if he had a hairy butt. When she replied that she would love her boyfriend no matter what, Kondou instantly fell for her and began stalking her while asking for her hand in marriage. Because of this, Kondou is often seen showing up in strange places around her and is always getting beaten up or threatened by her, as she highly disapproves of his stalking and affection towards her. During the events of the Farewell Shinsengumi Arc, Tae is visibly saddened at his absence and is one of the people on the rescue team to bring him back. Afterward, their relationship has gotten better although Tae will beat him up if he does something ridiculous such as when he mistook an alien roach that had her face as being her. As of the Post Silver Arc, they are on a friend basis as Kondo cooks for her and Shinpachi in their home during his bridegroom preparation to Princess Bubbles. She also seems to have no issue eating with him alone showing how much more comfortable she is around him.
  • Princess Bubbles: Matsudaira Katakuriko arranged a wedding meeting with Kondou, but Kondou was terrified when he saw the large gorilla. After he pooped and kicked the Princess, she fell in love with Kondou. When they're about to consummate in their wedding, Otae interrupted their wedding ceremony. In Issue 670 it is revealed he married Bubbles, had a child with her and is now her house husband. In Issue 693 it is revealed that he is still in the process of getting married to the Princess as weddings on the planet Gorilla are three months long. He expresses his extreme displeasure of his fate to Matsudaira via phone call, questioning why he is yet again being forced to marry her.
  • Princess Screw: When Kondou became a screwdriver, Matsudaira Katakuriko once again tried to set up a political wedding for Kondou with Princess Screw.
  • Otakai Sayaka: A game character from Love Choris, Kondou chose her as his love interest. They appealed to be in love, but it turned out that Sougo made her into his slave.

Story[]

When the Shinsengumi first appeared, Toushirou Hijikata replaced Isao Kondou (he was stalking Tae Shimura at the time) and leads an attack against the Joui Patriots. After learning that a silver-haired samurai has beaten Isao Kondou in a duel, the whole Shinsengumi went seeking Gintoki Sakata. In the end, Hijitaka lost against Gintoki. Sougo was eager to try his luck against Gintoki, but Kondou suggested that he would beat Sougo in a duel too.

Gengai Arc[]

Sakata
This section is a stub.
Please help to expand it, thank you.



Memory Loss Arc[]

He lost his memories when Tae struck him on the head and moved away with Gintoki to work in a factory together.

Umibozu Arc[]

Yagyu Arc[]

He accompanied Shinpachi in assaulting the Yagyu Clan to bring back Tae, although he ended up in the bathroom for most of the arc. Afterward, it was revealed that a marriage was being arranged between him and a Gorilla princess, though the wedding was crashed by Tae in the end.

Okita Mitsuba Arc[]

Owee Arc[]

He fought and lost against Katsura in disguise in the video game battle to win the chance to buy the Owee.

Shinsengumi Crisis Arc[]

Isao Kondou was targeted by Kamotarou Itou, supported by Kiheitai's Bansai Kawakami whose plans were to destroy entire Shinsengumi along with Itou himself. Although he fired Hijikata on the suggestion of Itou, he was very regretful when he learned the truth of the situation and was saved from assassination by Okita. Later, Hijikata backed him up against the rest of the insurgents.

Ryugujo Arc[]

GintamaEP118

Episode 118

Otohime opened a snack house. Hijikata and Kondou become its regular costumers and Otohime gave advice to the drunk Kondo for every time he got dumped by a woman. Kondou, drunk, asked to marry with Otohime, but she said that she already has someone, making Hijikata curious. A man came to the shop and called Otohime beautiful, making Kondou laugh.

Monkey Hunter Arc[]

He, along with Okita and Hijikata are turned into screwdrivers though his transformation was due to a self-caused accident. Along with the rest of the cast, he tries to track down the alien perpetrators by playing the Monkey Hunter game.

Barber Arc[]

He was rejected by the new popular Haircut Saloon, so he winds up in the Yorozuya-controlled barbershop. He was still rejected by the Yorozuya, but they couldn't help but let him inside because they felt bad for him.

When Katsura arrived with no disguise, the Yorozuya barbers covered Kondo's face in order to keep both him and Katsura from noticing each other.

After something terrible happened to the Shogun's mage (the Shogun arrived after Katsura, and didn't notice who were at the barbershop), Barber Gintoki took some of Kondo's pubic hair to fix the Shogun's mage, telling Shinpachi that the hair he took to make a new mage was "growing on the bush aside".

Otsu Arc[]

To help Hijikata get rid of his Otaku alter ego, Kondou, along with Okita and Yamazaki, participate in the contest for Terakada Tsu's Official Fan Club

Character Poll Arc[]

Rokkaku Arc[]

Kabukicho Stray Cat Arc[]

Kondo claimed that he was bitten by a stray gorilla, which turned him into one. He helped Katsura and Gintoki, who were turned into cats to save Hoichi from the hands (or paws if you prefer) of Planet Catnip's king.

Santa Arc[]

He was one of the many who disguised themselves, Santa Claus, however with only intentions to get closer Otae.

Timeskip Arc[]

Two years later, he retires as a Shinsengumi Commander and marries Otae.

Love Choriss Arc[]

He is revealed to be a player of Love Choriss with his girlfriend as Sayaka, though it turns out she was merely following her master, Okita's orders to love a man she was disgusted by. Later on, he becomes a judge for the candidates, deciding the 'erotic' factor.

Vacation Arc[]

Host Club Arc[]

Played the role of Host car. Later stripped and knocked out by Tae and Kagura.

Baragaki Arc[]

Kondo and other Shinsengumi members saved Sasaki Tetsunosuke from both Check It Out Gang and Mimawarigumi.

Courtesan of a Nation Arc[]

After the Yorozuya got imprisoned inside Edo's Castle along with Tsukuyo and Imai Nobume, the Shinsengumi was asked to guard the castle, since the actions of Nobume (along with the Yorozuya and Tsukuyo) and Isaburo Sasaki, principal members of the Mimawarigumi, were considered as a betrayal to the Bakufu. Kondo said that it was a matter of time for the Mimawarigumi to be disbanded. In the end, Kondo sided with the Yorozuya and freed them, and helped them to get inside the castle.

Beam Sword Style Arc[]

He is distraught with Obi Hajime, Tae's first love, returning. Later on, he aids in fighting against the aliens responsible for modifying Hajime into a cyborg to destroy the earth.

Frozen Time Arc[]

Dekoboko Arc[]

Kondo appears in his female form, which happens to be a good looking blonde, much to Otae's annoyance. After defeating the Dekoboko cult's base underground, everyone on earth got their original gender back, using this opportunity, he opened a hostess club and attracts many customers. Later he was seen fighting against the cult with the Shinsengumi on an unknown planet.

Soul Switch Arc[]

In Episode 289 Kondou like the rest of the Shinsengumi becomes a biker delinquent under Gintoki's rules. Later on, he switches souls with Shinpachi and attempts to save Otae from Dozaemon, though with his own stalker motives in mind.

Afro Arc[]

Feigned Illness Arc[]

In Episode 297 he and Hijikata, and later Otae, grabbed a big rock to smash Kagura's coffin, in a wrong belief that smashing the corpses under boulders was a way to mourn the dead among the Yato tribe.

Love Potion Arc[]

During his task of stalking Otae (which ended with Kondo following her to Yoshiwara), he ended under the effects of the Aizen Kou, which at the beginning didn't make much of a difference except the fact that Kondo was naked with a chastity belt, but when Otae was also drugged, the roles between both of them changed, and Otae was now chasing Kondo with hearts on her eyes. For no reason, Gintoki joined them running behind them.

When Hotaru gathered all of her drugged followers, Kondo was among them, along with Gintoki, Tsukuyo, Kyuubei and Otae. But this just turned out to be some sort of decoy and all the before mentioned, with Shinpachi and Kagura, turned against Hotaru.

During the battle, Otae grabbed the chain that Kondo's chastity belt had, and started spinning him to hit some enemies, and this action stole Kondo's manhood for a while. After Otae released him, he was with a dead-serious gaze, which turned out to be just a very feminine gaze watching men's buttocks.

After everything ended, Kondo was not drugged anymore, but his manhood didn't come back at the time. He was punched by Otae again, and he started crying and said that he just wanted to chat with her and go shopping as good friends.

After Kyuubei chased both Gintoki and Kondo, both of them ended in a very shameful scene.

Excalibur Arc[]

Guardian Spirits Arc[]

Shogun Assassination Arc[]

Together with the Yorozuya and he Oniwabanshuu, the Shinsengumi gets hired by the Shogun to transport him outside the country and protect him from an attempt assassination. Hijikata and Kondo later in the Ninja village fight together with the Yorozuya to protect the Shogun from countless of Yatos. Later on, while fleeing from the Yatos, Hijikata and Kondo let the Yorozuya together with the Shogun cross a bridge as they both offer themselves to stay behind to hold back the Yatos for them. Kondo and Hijikata then give their very first and last request to the Yorozuya to protect the Shogun to the very end. Later on, after being almost at the brink of death from fighting the enemies Kondo and Hijikata get saved by reinforcement from the Shinsengumi. 

Farewell, Shinsengumi Arc[]

After the Shogun got assassinated by one of his own friends Matsudaira and the Shinsengumi gets the blame for being unable to protect Shige Shige. Nobu Nobu the new shogun sentenced Matsudaira to be decapitated and disbanded the Shinsengumi. At the same time, Kondou is having a cup of sake with Gintoki As a way to pay the for their work, the two exchanged sake cups together, with the third one dedicated to the deceased Shogun. Discussing the battles they had gone through, both of them believed that war is meaningless, and nothing was left after it but corpses and sins. Shortly after Kondo gets arrested by The Mimawaragumi as both he and Matsudaira gets sent to the prison island Kokujou to await their punishment.

Silver Soul Arc[]

He, Sougo and Hijikata returned to Edo with their new uniforms, right on time to fight the Altana Liberation Army. He and the Shinsengumi made some strategies to take down the huge army, since the Liberation Army was on a number advantage. Their strategies worked out and the Liberation Army was finally disabled, and so they fled.

During a flashback we see that, during the "hiatus" that the Shinsengumi had after being disbanded because of Shigeshige's death, everyone trained really hard. Kondo kept training with more weight all over his body, and thus, he became much stronger and faster than before. As an example, when the Shinsengumi made their hero-like returning, Kondo detailed his training and took off his headband, which had a special super heavy material, and then he proceeds to take off all of his clothes, which had more of the same material, and in this way, he could move incredibly fast, and being naked, though.

The Shinsengumi stayed until the night. When everyone was resting and recovering from injuries, Kondo finally saw Shimura Otae, and he was flirty until a Pandemonium Otae jumped to him (the Pandemonium can cause hallucinations, and Kondo was watching Otae's face on a Pandemonium's face). Otae, angrily, also jumped and kicked the Pandemonium to Kondo's face. He still mistook Otae with the Pandemonium.

When full night came, the Shinsengumi discussed their plan with some other groups, including the Hyakka, the Oniwabanshuu, and the Yorozuya. The Shinsengumi ended patrolling the area, but Kondo ended in a weird party full of drunkards, and he was half-naked and hanging from the wall with a target plate on his chest, awaiting for Otae's puncture.

When Hijikata realized that Hiraga Gengai, who disabled all technology with his "bees", was missing (abducted, to be exact), he summoned everyone to go find him. Suddenly, Sougo saw a poop trace, and concluded it might be Gengai's trace (he was abducted while he was behind a wrecked wall taking a dump, asking for some paper to clean himself), but the trace ended with Kondo washing his underwear. He was so happy to find everyone and asked if someone was willing to give him clean underwear. Before he could end his sentence, everyone was gone.

When he went out, he saw some trouble, so he went and helped everyone. Suddenly, some earthquakes occurred all over Edo, and Kondo almost fell into a huge crack made by the earthquake, which turned out to be a small Dragon Hole. Kondo escaped from the hole and some wrecked boulders.

After he was treated for some injuries, he again aided in the fight against the immortal Naraku and Utsuro. Actually, he faced Utsuro and struck his heart with his sword, and also saw the Altana leaking from Utsuro's heart. But then, Utsuro stabbed himself right to his own heart, broke Kondo's sword, and wounded him, all in one move. Kondo heavily fell on the floor, and for a while, he seemed like the dead, but he wasn't.

Kondo finally got up and joined to the final battle against Utsuro, and he sided with Hijikata and Sougo from the Shinsengumi, Umibozu, and Kamui from the Yato tribe, and Shinpachi, Kagura and Gintoki from the Yorozuya. He survived the battle.

Two years after the end of the war, we find out that he resigned from the Shinsengumi. It is unknown who was the new chief. He left his hair a little bit longer and now he's a house husband. It seems that he married the Princess Bubbles (a gorilla, remember) and had a child with her. But he also cooks for Otae, who gained some weight because of this.

After an incident Shinpachi had with the Shinsengumi, he was told that Kondo actually was obligated to resign due to some orders that came from the Prime Minister, who turned out to be Katsura Kotarou (which makes a lot of sense).

Gintama: Be Forever Yorozuya[]

This section is currently updating.

Kondou is one of the characters appearing in the Second movie.

5 years after Gintoki's apparent death, Kondou eventually turned against the government and joined the Joushishi. 

At one point, Kondou disguised as Colonel Sander outside the bar, which his disguise is "upgraded" into "Sander Liger" by Gengai and "Sander Shinsuke" by the madness-driven Katsura. As Kondou/Sander-in-disguise unexpectedly took possession of Gengai's bomb, he exploded along with the bar, but surviving with his disguise torn, and later arrested by the government.

In the next morning, Kondou (which is locked inside the cage) is present in the execution along with Katsura and (the fake) Gengai, which is called as a "gorilla" by the villagers, much to the extreme chagrin of Gintoki, who is expecting that the Shinsengumi is still active. Before the execution, Gintoki thought that Kondou would give any last words, and however like Katsura; Kondou repeats him" It turns me on" line on the paper, which also forces a disappointed Gintoki to almost execute his penis instead of cutting off his head until the arrival of the backup Joishishi led by Sougo, Hijikata, & a buffed Elizabeth.

Trivia[]

  • Based on Isami Kondo 近藤勇, commander of the Shinsengumi and close friend to Toshizo Hijikata.
    • Isami Kondo was known to own a katana named Kotetsu but rumors say its a fake which ironically in Gintama he breaks.
  • Gintoki was the first person to give the nickname or call him Gorilla.
  • He has a weak anal sphincter, as confirmed by Sougo Okita, causing him to often take dumps in uncomfortable situations even at his age.
  • His female form in Dekoboko Arc resembles Mori Yuki from Space Battleship Yamato.
  • His left scar same as Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy (franchise).
  • In Tales of the Rays, in the collaboration event with Gin Tama, Ludger Will Kresnik from Tales of Xillia 2 gains a costume of Kondou through the mirrage arte Kondousanda.

Battles[]

 
Fight Outcome Time it Occurred
Isao Kondou vs. Gintoki Sakata Loss Lesson 8
Episode 8
Isao Kondou and Toushirou Hijikata vs Oboro Win Episode 315

Quotes[]

  • (To Sougo Okita) "We were picked up by the bakufu, if the bakufu didn't exist we would not be here today a warrior always returns the favors with the utmost devotion"
  • (To Kiira) "Monkeys we maybe, but we're monkey with nerves of steel and hearts of samurai!"
  • (To Tsuu Terakado) "No matter how much people hate us, no matter how much we're ridiculed, but we'll definitely not become men who can't protect the things that need to be protected."
  • (To Shinsengumi) "Draw your swords! Even if you have to step over my dead body, you have things you need to protect, now come at me!"
  • (To Sougo Okita) "I don't care about that gap you created on your own. I'll jump across it as many times as it takes, and punch some sense into you."
  • "If someone went the wrong way, the other two would beat him up until he got back on track. That's how it always been. That's why we'll always stay on the right path!"
  • (To Shinpachi Shimura ) ''When I think about your sister... I get turned on.''
  • (To Isaburo Sasaki ) "A leader's crown doesn't rest on his head. It rests on the ideals of all his men!"
  • (To Gintoki Sakata ) "Things like funerals and words of farewell... we don't need'em."
  • (To Shinsengumi ) "I think that lost, troubled posture you have when you're trying to find your place, is what a samurai is. So keep searching. Keep struggling. In this maze-like era flooded with all kinds of things, choose your own true, honest path and push forward. Yes.. our name is..."
  • (To MountainZaki ) "Careful now... my bumpkin faction's practice swings can kill."
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