Kyuubei Yagyuu

Yagyuu Kyuubei is the successor to the Yagyuu family name, the daughter of Yagyuu Koshinori and the granddaughter of Yagyuu Binbokusai. She was brought up as a male, following the code of the Yagyuu clan, but in later years decided to follow neither femininity or masculinity, but live as only "Yagyuu Kyuubei". She was the main antagonist of the Yagyuu Arc. Kyuubei has black hair in a ponytail and dark-brown eyes, with an eyepatch covering her left eyesocket due to losing an eye during her childhood. She dresses in a masculine attire, wearing a white coat with a red trim and gray sides, with a blue kimono beneath it. When dressing femininely, she is shown to be a very attractive girl as she wears her hair in twin ponytails, an orange flower covers her left eye, a pink kimono short skirt and black thigh-length socks to go along with it. When Kyuubei was first introduced, she displayed a cold personality; this was likely due to a desire to become stronger, after losing her left eye as a result of saving the young Shimura Tae and her brother Shinpachi, from debt collectors. Due to her father not remarrying again after Kyuubei's mother died, he decided to raise Kyuubei as a man, and, as such, she usually acts in a rather masculine way. She is shown to dislike when men try to touch her, and tend to reflexively throw them over her shoulder. However, when she caught Gintoki's hand when she was about to fall off the spaceship during the Goukon episode, she didn't throw him possibly due to the respect gained for him after the Yagyuu arc. After Kyuubei and her group were defeated by Shinpachi's group in the same arc, Kyuubei is shown to have become softer, and at times, shown to have a feminine side. Kyuubei is in love with Tae. She tried to marry her, but gave up the thought after the Yagyuu arc. Despite this, however, she still holds a special interest in her, and is very protective of her. Despite her attitude, Kyuubei is shown having a case of Androphobia, as she tends to panic and violently fend off men when having physical contact with them. The Dekoboko Arc shows that Kyuubei was not sure whether she should live as a man or as a woman, due to having grown up as a man and struggling with her gender. In the end, she decides to live as "Kyuubei", disregarding femininity and masculinity.