27 years old. Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi. Feared within the force as the "Demonic Vice-Commander" and the "Brains of the Shinsengumi." He is the most popular man in the Shinsengumi and has refined looks, though his pupils are always somewhat dilated. He is exceptionally proud, serious, and cool-headed. He is relatively sensible and acts as the straight man. While he has a blunt and stubborn attitude, he is also caring and shows a clumsy kind of kindness. Since he deals with problem children both above and below him, he is skilled at providing support. Unlike most serious characters, he rarely uses polite language even with superiors, maintaining a gruff personality, though he does use honorifics for Shigeshige Tokugawa and students on field trips. He is a heavy smoker to the point that he becomes extremely emotionally unstable and turns into a dangerous person if he runs out of cigarettes. He is an extreme mayonnaise addict (mayora), believing there is nothing more delicious and thinking it should be put on everything. He has a bad habit of forcing his tastes on others. Born as the illegitimate child of the prestigious Hijikata family in Bushu, his existence was discovered after the death of his playboy father. After his mother died, he was taken in by the Hijikata family and doted on by the eldest son, Tamegoro. He adored Tamegoro in return, but when he was 11, the village suffered a great fire. Thugs took advantage of the chaos to attack the Hijikata house; Tamegoro shielded Toshiro and lost his sight due to an eye injury. In a rage, Toshiro cut down the thugs, but the incident forced him to leave home. Later, during his days as a violent youth known as "Baragaki" (Thorny Brat), he met Kondo and became his junior disciple. Tamegoro has already passed away, but even after leaving for Edo, Toshiro regularly sent him letters. When it comes to games, he is a die-hard Bentendo fan and a Mario enthusiast. He is an avid reader of Weekly Shonen Magazine and prefers old-school delinquent manga. He even included a clause in the Shinsengumi Code stating "One must not read any manga other than Magazine within the headquarters," which is clearly a personal bias. He is relatively clean, being the only one in the Shinsengumi who "washes his hands after going to the toilet." He also has a sentimental side; he has cried while watching "My Neighbor Pedro" and "Alien vs. Yakuza" at scenes where the reason for crying is completely unknown. He excels at intellectual warfare. By utilizing the terrain, he can hold his own even against enemies with superior physical strength. His quick thinking earned him the title of "Tactician" from Gintoki, and he is recognized by Kyubei and Sasaki. Compared to Gintoki, he is inferior in physical stamina but superior in intellect, making them evenly matched. He has been loathed by Sogo Okita—his junior disciple from the Bushu days (about 10 years younger)—since they first met, due to Sogo's sister Mitsuba and Sogo's relationship with Kondo. Even as adults, Sogo is constantly aiming for his life. Though their relationship hasn't changed since Mitsuba's death, they actually trust and care for each other, making them important to one another in their own way. According to Yamazaki, he is naive when it comes to women, though he denies this vehemently. He is dense regarding the affection of others. Generally, he is a gentleman toward women. At the same time, he has a soft spot for them; when facing Yagyu Kyubei, he hesitated to attack once he realized she was a woman. He harbored romantic feelings for Mitsuba Okita, but due to his upbringing, he believed that a man living in a world of blood could never make her happy. When she confessed her feelings to him in Bushu, he deliberately pushed her away with cold words. The depth of his feelings for her is evident in the fact that Sogo acknowledges how much Hijikata cherished her. He referred to her as "the woman I loved," but he did not attend her bedside when she passed away from illness. Mitsuba died a few months ago. She used to call him Toshiro-san. He still thinks of her to this day.

Captain of the Shinsengumi's 1st Division. An extreme sadist. Speaks with an Edo dialect. Has a detached, low-energy way of talking. One of the Shinsengumi's best swordsmen. Deeply admires Isao Kondo and constantly aims for Toshiro Hijikata's life, sometimes as a joke and sometimes in earnest. Uses sentence endings like "~desaa" and "~dei."

28 years old. Commander of the Shinsengumi. A stalker of Tae Shimura. A leader with great charisma who is deeply adored by Hijikata and Okita. Often treated like a gorilla.

32 years old. Shinsengumi spy. Plain. Does not wear glasses. Due to his plain appearance and timid personality, he is teased by Hijikata and Okita, making him one of the most unfortunate characters in the series.