(About Hijikata) He's always been like that. Without any warning, he appears and... Takes away with him all the persons who are dear to me...
That's why I hate him. That's why I want to kill him.
Okita Sougo
Okita Sougo (沖田 総悟 Okita Sōgo ) is currently the 1st Division Captain of the Shinsengumi, and was a trainee at Kondou's dojo in his youth. He is younger brother of Okita Mitsuba who raised him after their parents passed away. He was one of the best swordsmen there before joining the force where he is also recognized as one of the best, if not the best, swordsman in the Shinsengumi. Fiercely loyal to Commander Kondou, he pretended to defect to Itou Kamotarou's camp in order to stay by his commander to ensure his safety.
During his childhood Sougo's parents had passed away leaving his older sister, Okita Mitsuba, to raise him by herself in their home village. She herself admits later to spoiling him because of their parents' death, which causes him to be aloof and distant.
Because of this personality trait he never had many friends, but that was until he caught the eye of Kondou Isao who took him in as a trainee into his Dojo. He grew fond of Kondou and the dojo and still highly respects him.
However, after a new student, Hijikata Toushirou joined the dojo, Sougo became more distant, feeling that Hijikata was taking over Kondo's attention and favoring Hijikata over him. Sougo noticed that Hijikata had grown a close friendship with Kondou and Mitsuba, this accompanied by his arrogant attitude at the dojo caused Sougo to hate Hijikata with a great passion.
A few years later Sougo along with the other Dojo students set off for Edo and subsequently set up the Shinsengumi. Okita Mitsuba wanted to go with Sougo to watch over him and to be with Hijikata. However after Hijikata rejected Mitsuba's request that she wanted to follow him (out of knowledge that the path he has chosen may cause him to lose his life at any time) This just fueled the fire for the hatred Sougo has for Hijikata and ever since he has undergone numerous murder attempts on Hijikata, from Voodooism, slashing with a sword, to shooting him with a bazooka. He always misses though so it's unknown if he truly wants him dead or just likes threatening him and getting him hurt every so often. He fully understands Hijikata's feeling towards his sister and the reason why Hijikata rejects his sister, but hates him none the less.
Appearance
Okita Sougo appears to be a mild-featured young man with light brown hair and reddish brown eyes. He wears the standard Shinsengumi uniform, and is barely seen without it. When resting he wears a distinctive red sleep mask with eye markings.
Sougo in Gin-pachi sensei
Sougo as Bakaiser in Timeskip Arc
Sougo in his childhood
Sougo Standard
Sougo Standard Chibi
Sougo with his sleeping mask
Sougo with a Shinsengumi bazooka
Sougo as a male host
Sougo disguised as a beetle
1/9
Personality
Sadistic streak, as seen, for example, when he collared and chained up Urara on a metal leash in a 'M' playing role (aka masochistic). He is extremely sadistic. Any relationship he has with a girl, she would immediately become "submissive". He usually has an evil intention to any "good" he does, and he is very blunt about his hatred, especially to Hijikata. Sougo usually is protective of the ones he cherishes, though, such as his older sister and his commander, Kondo Isao (although Sougo repeatedly calls him Gorilla).
Eyes the Vice-Commander position. He always tries to 'kill' Hijikata or frame him for other misdemeanors in order to take his place.
His attempts on Hijikata appear real enough that Hijikata was genuinely fearful that he would be killed off during the 'Saw' parody in Episode 148 & Episode 149.
Hijikata mentioned in Episode 20 that Okita is the King of the Planet of Sadists.
Strength & Abililties
Kondou mentions that Sougo has the most most potential in the dojou.
Shinpachi mention that Sougo is the genius swordsman sung as the strongest in Shinsengumi. He has shown incredible strength with his sword in the Rokaku Arc. He blocked Sniper with two swords, destroying an entire concrete building in the Baragaki Arc.
Sougo also carries around a Shinsengumi bazooka.
Relationships
Family
Okita Mitsuba: Very attached to his older sister Okita Mitsuba, who brought him up from a young age when both were orphaned. He speaks with courtesy in her presence instead of his usual slang peppered with scatological references. For example, he kneels and begs for her forgiveness when she gently tells him off for bullying Yamazaki on her arrival at the Shinsengumi HQ.
Friends & Allies
Kondou Isao: Kondou is the only one who he is loyal to. Very loyal to the point where he sees himself as only one fitting to the position of vice-commander's position. This admiration stems from when he was a child as Kondou made friends with him and has been a brotherly figure to him.
Hijikata Toushirou: He commits every act of violence toward Hijikata in a deadpan manner or in a sarcastic smarmy attitude which leaves the audience wondering if he really wants to kill Hijikata or not. For now, he just seems to play dangerous jokes that could, but don't cause Hijikata to lose his life. Besides Okita hating him for the past and for coldly rejecting his sister, Sougo's ambition is to become Vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, the same position Hijikata has currently which is why he's always making him look bad or upstaging him any chance he gets. However, events in Episodes 86 & 87 hint that he may perhaps be jealous that Hijikata always appeared to usurp the attention of those near and dear to him. A list of his 'attacks' on Hijikata Toushirou can be found here. Despite the fact that he always tries to kill him, Sougo considers Hijikata as a important figure and a friend.
Sakata Gintoki: Known as "Boss", Okita seems to get along rather well with Gintoki. After a rough beginning, the two find common grounds in their love of torturing and humiliating Hijikata. After witnessing the fight between Gintoki and Hijikata, Okita said he would love to clash swords with Gintoki one day. Although a hit from Hijikata would often result in a violent retribution from Okita, he doesn't seem to have a problem with taking a lecture or a knock on the head from Gintoki. When his sister came to visit, Okita bribed Gintoki (with a chocolate parfait) to pretend to be his best friend. Later when Okita left, Gintoki acknowledges the friendship to Mitsuba. He arrested Gintoki in the latest chapter of the manga when Okita failed to arrest a man with samurai. Since Hijikata would blow his head for failing his assignment, he decided that Gintoki would be a good replacement for the man and arrested him instead.
He calls her 'China'. After the Cherry Blossom party, they would fight whenever they had a chance. They always try to insult each other, even when they aren't actually arguing. He saves her in two different occasions: When Kagura had some trouble in the Yagyuu arc, Okita saved her as he said only he was allowed to beat her, and when Kagura was shot on the leg while being chased by a group of terrorist in the Rokkaku arc, he helped her escaped as he covered up for her. The two of them can be called rivals, but are really friends deep down inside. Kagura is one of the only female characters in the entire series whom he has apologized to. The first one is his sister, Okita Mitsuba.
Enemies
Imai Nobume: They've fought against each in the Mimawagumi arc. They could be considered rivals because of them being sadists, but Sougo doesnt kill her because she is not his target . Nobume also commented that Okita shares the same eyes as hers: the eyes of a killer.
Story
The first appearance was when Katsura Kotarou tried to recruit Gintoki but the Shinsengumi followed them, Hijikata Toushirou and Okita Sougo witness Gintoki throwing an explosive bomb outside to save lives. This causes the Shinsengumi on high suspicion, expecially Hijikata Toushirou who wonders whats the connection between Katsura and Gintoki.
The second appearence was when Hijikata Toushirou in place of Kondo Isao (he was stalking Shimura Tae 志村 妙at the time) lead an attack against Joui Patroits.
After learning that a silver hair samurai beat Kondo Isao at a duel, the whole Shinsengumi went seeking Sakata Gintoki. In the end Hijitaka lost against Gintoki, although Sougo wants to challenge but Kondo claimed better not to.
Gengai Arc
Sougo turned up at the night festival, challenging Kagura to a game of shooting. Later, both Sougo and Kagura got upset that the festival was interrupted and fought against the robots that were running wild in the festival.
Rengokukan Arc
Sougo had been investigating an underground arena but was unable to make a move since it was secretly being controlled by the government. Sougo then asked the Yorozuya to investigate the case in his place.
Nearing the end, the Shinsengumi showed up to capture those running the illegal arena but the head managed to escape. Hijikata then said to Sougo that should the Shinsegumi get into trouble becuase of the commotion that they had caused, Sougo should take responsiblity and commit seppuku.
Memory Loss Arc
Together with the Shinsegumi, Sougo appeared at the factory that was manufacturing Justaways. Sougo later fired a canon saying that Kondou once said "to kill him should he be captured by the enemy". Together with the Yorozuya and Shinsegumi, Sougo stood by Gintoki (who had lost his memories then) and the sight of his friends protecting him caused Gintoki's memories to return.
Umibozu Arc
Inugami Arc
Sougo was seen briefly in the Shinsengumi police car telling Kagura to "stop walking". Kagura answers back, stating that, "She isn't taking a walk. If I could stop, I would have." Sougo then takes out his bazooka, aims and says,"Bye bye", but Sadaharu smashes the car. Kagura laughs, but stops when she sees Sougo hanging on to Sadaharu. Hijikata then says he sould look out and orders his men to shoot. He is later seen fighting with Hijikata.
Infant Strife Arc
Sougo made a brief appearance, with Gintoki wanting to put an infant in the care of the police. Sougo who was on "official duties", remarked that the infant was a spitting image of Gintoki and that "you reap what you sow", showing no interest to help out at all.
Train Samurai Arc
Sougo made a brief appearance together with Hijikata, laughing at Matsudaira who was conned by Aitorishi(who was attempting a similar trick on Shinpachi) when they found him being charged of sexual harassment.
Yagyu Arc
Kondou was forced into an arranged marriage with a gorilla. In order to save Kondou out of his distress, the Shinsegumi together with the Yorozuya joined forces in order to save Otae from Kyubei, who claimed Otae to be his(her) bride. During the battle at the Yagyu household, Sougo faced off with Minamito Sui, with Sougo easily defeating the latter. Before Sougo could finish off Minamito however, the battle was stopped when Kagura was sent crashing into Sougo by Kagura's opponent, Nishino. Kagura then broke Sougo's leg when he tried to help Kagura by twisting her broken wrist in the wrong way instead. The two later worked together to defeat Nishino. In the final clash against the Yagyu clan, Sougo rode on Hijikata's shoulder to fight off the enemies.
Okita Mitsuba Arc
Sougo's sister, Mitsuba, visited Edo in preparation of her marriage. Sougo showed an expected side of him to the rest of Shinsegumi as his personality took on a 180 degree change in front of his sister. Showing his sister around Edo, Sougo "bribed" Gintoki to pretend to be his friend to assure his sister that he was doing fine.
Weak in health, Mitsuba's conditions worsened as time went by and at the same time, Hijikata discovered that her fiance, Toma Kuraba, was making arms deals with the Joui. Knowing his sister's condition,Sougo pleaded with Hijikata to allow his sister to experience happiness with what's little time she had left despite knowing that Kuraba was a criminal. Hijikata however, was firm that Kuraba was to be arrested. Angered by his stand, Sougo attacked Hijikata but lost.
While looking over his sister in the hospital, Sougo was later informed by Yamazaki that Hijikata was planning to stop the arms trade all by himself as revealing the truth that Sougo's brother-in-law-to-be was a criminal would threaten Sougo's position in the Shinsegumi. After hearing Hijikata's true intention, Sougo went on to the battlefield, taking out Kuraba himself. After a brief conversation with his sister, Sougo was later seen mourning for his sister that had passed away.
Fuyo Arc
Owee Arc
Accompanying Kondou to purchase Owee for the cabaret girls at the request of Otae, Sougo took part in the final stage of the contest for Owee together with Hijikata. After being transported to the Dragon Hunter lll world, Sougo left a dead Hijikata for the casino, claiming to want to earn enough money to buy the antidote for Hijikata. It was shown later that Sougo won enough money to purchase the King as his weapon.
Shinsengumi Crisis Arc
While Hijikata was being possessed by the Demonic Sword, Sougo pretended to defect to Itou's camp in order to stay close to Kondou and keep him safe. Stranded on a train with just Kondou and the rest being their enemies, Sougo impressively took out an entire train of enemies all on his own.
Monkey Hunter Arc
Correspondence Arc
Sougo, who dropped by the Shimura's house in search for Kondou, was made to participate in the attempt to reply a mysterious letter in a bottle that Shinpachi picked up at the beach. Sougo's picture was later used for the reply, with Gintoki believing that his bishounen outlook will be of used. On the day of the actual meeting, Sougo turned up in place of Shinpachi, and within hours, was able to turn Urara (the actual correspondent's sister) into his slave. Urara was made to wear a metal leash while the group moved around looking for Urara's sister that went missing.
Shinsengumi Death Game Arc
Sougo and Hijikata were forced to play a game akin to the movie SAW after being held imprisoned by Jiguzou. The death game turned out to be a collaboration between Sougo and Jiguzou at the very end, with Sougo considering Gintoki as his next target.
Otsu Arc
Sougo took part in the Otsu fanclub battle together with Hijikata, Kondou and Yamazaki in order put to rest the otaku counterpart of Hijikata that possessed him after he took possession of the demonic sword. In the battle of stamina, the race to the TV station, Sougo was seen cheating by taking a cab instead of running by foot. Sougo was later in charge of narration during the 2nd round of battle against the Terakado Tsuu's Imperial Guards.
Character Poll Arc
Sougo came in 2nd in the Gintama character poll and faced the wrath of those that ranked below him. Pretending to team up with the Yorozuya to fend off their common enemies, the battle of popularity begun.
Rokkaku Arc
Sougo was attacked by a girl, Kirie, who claimed that her father was murdered by him during the Rokkaku massacre years ago. Sougo brought Kirie to the Yorozuya to have them deal with her instead. It later turned out that Kirie was being made use of by Soukaitou, the organisation that took part in the Rokkaku massacre, in an attempt to take revenge against Sougo. Sougo, Kagura and Kirie ended up being kinapped by Soukaitou.
On the other hand, through the Yorozuya's investigation, it was revealed that Sougo was not the one that murdered Kirie's father. He was merely keeping the truth from Kirie that her father was part of Soukaitou, saying that he did not want to taint the image of her father in Kirie's heart. Sougo then fought singlehandedly against Soukaitou. With the Soukaitou armed with guns, Sougo was eventually forced into a corner but the Yorozuya and Shinsegumi turned up just in time to help.
At the end, on his way to purchase a cake for his prank, Sougo received a letter from Kirie, implying that she had moved on with her life and understood Sougo's kindness.
Kabukicho Stray Cat Arc
Sougo made a brief appearance, baiting Gintoki and Katsura who were turned into cats and Kondou into a gorilla, with food but ended up eating the food himself, once again displaying his sadistic nature.
Timeskip Arc
Two years after the break, Sougo was shown taking over Shinsegumi after Koundo retired. Shinsegumi, now under Sougo, was known as the Shinsegumi Empire while Sougo himself took on the title of Kaiser.
Vacation Arc
Shinsegumi went on a vacation on the request of Matsudaira, but it turned out that it was actually a job of babysitting the shogun that wanted to try snowboarding. Chancing upon the Yorozuya while carrying out his duties, Sougo ended up clashing with Kagura, disregarding his duties. Sougo was later seen rolling in a snowball together with Kagura, in an attempt to stop the shogun's human snowboard. The Shinsegumi together with Yorozuya later worked together in search of the stranded Shogun.
Love Choriss Arc
Sougo unexpectedly turned up at the love choriss event. It turned out that Sayaka (whom was originally Kondou's love in the love choriss game) was actually Sougo's right from the start but was forced to pretend to be Kondou's love due to Sougo's sadistic nature of wanting Sayaka to understand how it was to serve someone she didnt fancy.
Sougo's Sayaka emerged as the winner for the stage featuring Sayaka and proceeded to the last stage of the contest, competing with Shinpachi and Gintoki. Things took on an unexpected turn when Sayaka turned against him before the competitors entered the love hotel (final setting of the last stage). Sougo was made to take the place of the slave while Sayaka became the master.
Host Club Arc
Sougo was scouted by Kyoshiro to replace the hosts that left due to rumors surrounding Madame Yagami's arrival at the host club. Sougo proved to be a natural host, entertaining the customers with ease.
Baragaki Arc
Sougo joined in the rescue of Sasaki Tetsunosuke who was captured by the Check it Out gang. There, Sougo faced off Imai Nobume, who claimed that Sougo shared the same killer eyes as she did. The two fought and later engaged in a battle of S&M, using the gang members as their targets. Resuming their fight, Sougo cut down the pillars supporting the building and won the battle with Nobume buried under the rubbles.
Sougo placed his foot on Kagura's head in Episode 260
The Yorozuya was made to take the blame of recently murdered bakufu chief vassals and the supposedly death of the Mimawarigumi leader and the Shinsegumi was sent to investigate the case. Sougo displayed his sadistic nature by eating in front of the imprisoned Kagura and Nobume and was played in by the both of them for his attempt. Later, together with the Shinsegumi, Sougo fought against the underlings of Sada Sada.
Beam Sword Style Arc
Trivia
Based on Okita Soji 沖田総司, the captain of the first unit of the Shinsengumi. Soji was a prodigy and was seen as one of best swordsmen of the Shinsengumi. Though just a rumor (but at least true in Ryotaro Shiba's novels), he may have owned a katana called Kiku-ichimonji. In Gintama, he bought the Kiku-ichimonji RX-78.
In the Japanese version he likes to end his sentences in '~desaa' and "~desuzee'.
Sorachi originally designed Okita as a female (which is the appearance of otsu), and wielding an umbrella. This ended up given to Kagura.
But had to change it to a male since only men are allowed in the Shinsengumi, this idea went to Mimawarigumi Imai Nobume.
Acknowledged as the bishounen (美少年, aka 'beautiful youth') of the series, Gintoki took a mug-shot of him attempting to slice up Shinpachi and sent it off as Shinpachi's photo in the Pen-pal Chapter, explaining that he 'looked better' than Shinpachi. Belying the innocent-looking good looks however is an insanely sadistic person who delights in chaos and is always trying to 'kill' his Vice-Commander Hijikata Toushirou.
Gintoki intentionally mispronounced his name to "Soichiro", "Sofa" (manga only), Yagami Soichiro (Light Yagami's father) and even Kaga Takeshi, an actor who played the role Light Yagami's father in live action (anime only) and always corrected by Sougo as he said "Sougo desu" (it's Sougo). In episode 51, 166 and 186, Gintoki calls him 'Okita-kun'. Gintoki also called him 'Okita-kun' during their battle while Okita was possessed by the demon sword Maganagi.
Okita's Sadist personality might be due to him being insecure inside. This is confirmed during the time they had to split Matsudaira Katakuriko's daughter (Matsudaira Kuriko) from Shichibei.
the S on Okita's shirt in "Teach Us Ginpachi-sensei" is standing for sadist and not superman.
Just like Kagura, he names his pets Sadomaru X.
Battles
Quotes
(ToHijikata Toushirou ) "When have I taken light of my job? The only thing I've been making light of is you Hijikata!"
(To Sakata Gintoki) "Boss, friendship is not something decided in one day, but it's something formed before you know it."
