Kondou Isao



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

Even though the Shinsengumi are fiercely loyal to Kondou, he often has to use the Shinsengumi Vice-Commander Hijikata Toushirou 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 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 Okita Sougo and Hijikata Toushirou, 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.

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 Okita Sougo often remarks that Kondou's nice-guy attitude is also his weakness as he never notices negative points about other people. According to Itou Kamotarou during the Shinsengumi Crisis Arc, Kondou is honest and pure (清廉, seiren) and unsullied (無垢, muku) In the same Chapter, Hijikata Toushirou 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.