Okita Sougo



Okita Sougo ( 沖田 総悟, Okita Sōgo ) is the 1st Division Captain of the Shinsengumi, and was a trainee at Kondou Isao's dojo in his youth. He is the younger brother of Okita Mitsuba who raised him after their parents passed away. He is recognized as the best swordsman in the Shinsengumi and takes pride in his job to lead the vanguard as to open a path for the Shinsengumi. ==Background== During his childhood, Sougo's parents passed away, leaving his older sister, Okita Mitsuba, to raise him by herself in their home village. She herself admits later that she spoiled him because of their parents' death, which caused him to be aloof and distant. Because of this, he never had many friends, until he caught the eye of Kondou Isao who took him in as a trainee into his dojo. He grew fond of Kondou 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 favouring Hijikata over him. Sougo noticed that Hijikata had grown a close friendship with Kondou and Mitsuba, and 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 to follow him (out of knowledge that the path he chose could cause him to lose his life at any time), Sougo has held a grudge against him. This grudge is additionally fueled by his goal to take over as vice-commander of the Shinsengumi.

Personality
Sougo's most prominent trait is his sadistic nature, an example of this being his collaring and chaining up Urara with a metal leash for an "S&M" (sadistic & masochistic) play. Hijikata even goes as far as calling him the King of the Planet of Sadists in episode 20. Although he is known as a sadist, he is extremely submissive to his sister, Okita Mitsuba, shown in his respectful way of speaking to her and the way he kneels before his sister to apologize. In episode 35, however, Sougo fell of a roller-coaster and admitted in his panic that his sadism stems from his insecurity.

He is shown to have evil intentions behind any good thing he does, and is very blunt about his dislike towards other people, especially to Hijikata. Despite this, Sougo is usually protective of the ones he cares for, such as his sister, Okita Mitsuba, and his commander, Kondou Isao (although Sougo repeatedly calls him Gorilla); when an official insults Kondou, Sougo draws his sword to kill him before being stopped by Hijikata. Additionally, he is unexpectedly sensitive to others' feelings when it truly counts, often saving his comrades' lives in battles and even taking on burdens for other people.

Sougo's ambition is to become the vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, and as such, he regularly attempts to usurp Hijikata of the position through various methods, ranging from framing him for murder (when he shoots Matsudaira and places the gun in Hijikata's hand with the intention of making it look like the vice-commander had been the one to shoot), to harming or even "killing" Hijikata. His attempts appear real enough that Hijikata was afraid he would get killed during the Shinsengumi Death Game arc. In spite of this, Sougo has respect for Hijikata and even considers him to be one of his 'three rotten friends' (the other two being Kondo and Sakata Gintoki). He also has a similar rivalry with Kagura of the Yorozuya, and the two often get in meaningless competitions over the smallest of situations.

In general, Sougo acts aloof and disinterested most of the time and is most often seen with a blank, deadpan expression on his face. Though he often acts lazy and slacks off on his jobs, he is very attentive when needed and does not hesitate to kill or cut down his enemies. He is also very observant and aware of political movements, as he is often the one explaining situations to the Yorozuya. Both Nobume and Kamui have stated that Sougo has the eyes of a killer, yet he doesn't wish for innocent people to walk the path he has taken and be stained by blood. This is particularly evident in the Rokkaku arc, where he would rather take the blame and hatred of the daughter of the Rokkaku owner than let her know the cruel truth of her father's death. Additionally, in Episode 27, he shows distaste towards the Rengokukan fighting ring and enlists the Yorozuya to help him shut it down.