Character: Takasugi Shinsuke 526w4o

A former comrade of Gintoki and Katsura, and a major antagonist. He now leads a radical Joui faction called the Kiheitai and is known amongst the Shinsengumi as 'the most dangerous man in both the Joui faction and amongst the radicals'. He is easily recognisable through his bandaged left eye, his colourful kimono, his eerie smile, and the pipe he is often seen smoking.

He, Gintoki, and Katsura studied in the same temple elementary school when they were children, and he fought with them against the Amanto invasion during the latter part of the Joui war. After the war ended, he vanished, and has since gained a dangerous reputation due to his assassination of many of the Bakufu's main officers and his planning of a large-scale coup d'état. Before his first appearance in both the anime and the manga, he was mentioned to have fled Edo and to have been hiding in Kyoto, although it is unclear how long before this was.