Sakata Gintoki is a samurai living in an era when samurai are no longer needed. He is recognized by his natural curly hair and sweet tooth. He often blames his "perm" hair of sorts to be a source of some of his misfortune. Gintoki lives with Kagura and Shinpachi, taking on odd jobs to make the world a better place and to pay their rent. In the Joi war, he was known as the "White Demon" due to his silver hair and white coat he wore in battle, which, combined with his impressive capabilities as a swordsman, made him famous among his comrades and struck fear into Amanto.

Ophelia was ranked #4 in her time and widely known among her fellow warriors as a sadistic and sociopathic warrior. Despite the law among warriors that killing humans is strictly forbidden under pain of death, it is hinted that she murdered humans to sate her bloodlust. Her crimes remain undiscovered or unproven. Her self-invented nickname is "Rippling Ophelia", after her trademark sword movement. though in the anime version she used the title "Ophelia of the Ripples"