History Characters / GoldenKamuySugimotosGroup

* AgonyOfTheFeet: Jnjures his feet by playing with a pair of ''sey-pirakka'', a children's toy made out of seashells that works as pretend shoes, which obviously break into sharp shards that slice his feet open, putting him in utter agony and desperately calling for Huci's help.

* ButNowIMustGo: Twice. First, when years before the story he left Asirpa's side after hearing howling calling for him, devastating her. After he and his mate save Asirpa from Nihei, Asirpa realises Retar had left her that night becaus he had a mate and a family to go to, and so they both part ways once more, this time forever.

* HorseOfADifferentColor: His large size, combine with her small build, enables Asirpa to ride him like a horse.

* AmbiguouslyBi: His eagerness to get close to Shiraishi aside, both of his flashbacks leave little doubt about his orientation, with one showing him naked in bed with [[{{}Gayngster}} Wakayama the Yakuza]] looking over him, and the other one shows him getting his driving lessons in Eddie Dun's car, once again alongside Wakayama, with the American pantless, the yakuza boss only wearing a choker, and Boutarou naked. Still expresses that his dream involves having as many children as he can with as many women as he's able to.

* WeUsedToBeFriends: [[spoiler:His friendship with Wilk got ruined beyond repair shortly after Asirpa's birth, because Wilk changed his mind and abandoned their plans about revolution and independence in favour of building a world that his daughter could live in instead, something that enraged Kiroranke over all the sacrifices he and Sofia had made for a cause that his friend no longer cared for. A conflict ensued, and Wilk got the upper hand in their brief fight, and they'd never be in good terms ever again, with Kiroranke even assisting Wilk's murder at Abasihri years later.]]

* BadassAdorable: Has a sweet personality around Asirpa and Asirpa alone, and is still a proud, dangerous wolf.
* BigDamnHeroes: Regularly appears to save Asirpa.
%%* CanineCompanion: To Asirpa.
* ButNowIMustGo: Twice. First, when years before the story he left Asirpa's side after hearing howling calling for him, devastating her. After he and his mate save Asirpa from Nihei, Asirpa realises Retar had left her that night since he had a mate and a family to go to, and so they both part ways once more, this time forever.

* DemotedToExtra: His prominence in the story greatly decreases following the group's struggle with Nihei. Understandably, Asirpa doesn't want to endanger Retar's life any further or risk him kiling a human so she deliberately keeps her distance from him, which marks his exit from the story.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: His size enables Asirpa to ride him like a horse.

%%* NobleWolf

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: [[spoiler: Sofia, the love of his life, only ever saw him as a younger brother, and even after decades had passed and Wilk, the man Sofia longed for, was no longer alive, she didn't see Kiroranke any differently than she always did.]]

* BombThrowingAnarchists: [[spoiler: He was a member of the "People's Will" revolutionary movement in late 19th century Russia and assassinated Czar Alexander II alongside Wilk via grenade.]]

* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Once he manages to separate Asirpa from Sugimoto, Kiroranke wastes no time in manipulating her into sympathizing for the plight of the indigenous populations of Karafuto, in order to turn her against the Japanese and Russian governments. It works, but not in the way Kiroranke expected, as Asirpa's resolve to help her people strengthens now that her view broadened, but she still doesn't show any interest in starting the violent revolution Kiroranke had hoped for.]]

* AmbiguouslyBi: His eagerness to get close to Shiraishi aside, both of his flashbacks leave little doubt about his orientation, with one showing him naked in bed with [[Gayngster Wakayama the Yakuza]] looking over him, and the other one shows him getting his driving lessons in Eddie Dun's car, once again alongside Wakayama, with the American pantless, the yakuza boss only wearing a choker, and Boutarou naked. Still expresses that his dream involves having as many children as he can with as many women as he's able to.

* AgonyOfTheFeet: He injures his feet by playing with a pair of ''sey-pirakka'', a children's toy made out of seashells that works as pretend shoes, which obviously break into sharp shards that slice his feet open, putting him in utter agony and desperately calling for Huci's help.

* ColdSniper: He is handy with a rifle, and can handle himself in snipe fight in spite of having an equipment disavantage and being injured. Moreover, Tanigaki, as an experienced hunter, puts his knowledge to good use, gaining an advantage over purely military sharpshooters.

* GoingNative: Downplayed. He starts wearing customary Hokkaido Ainu clothing after Asirpa's grandmother shelters him, but remains faithful to his Matagi heritage and doesn't act like an Ainu.

* HeelFaceTurn: He quickly deserts from the 7th Division, refusing to kill innocent people.[[spoiler: Justified as he never intended to become a soldier in the first place.]] He's unique in being the only member of Sugimoto's party who has zero interest in the gold.

* LifeOrLimbDecision: A big chunk of his leg had to be removed to extract the deadly poison the Ainu use.

* AmbiguouslyBi: His eagerness to get close to Shiraishi aside, both his flashbacks leave little doubt about his orientation, one showing him naked in bed with Wakayama the Yakuza looking over him, and the other one shows him getting his driving lessons in Eddie Dun's car, once again alongside Wakayama, with the American pantless, the yakuza boss only wearing a choker, and Boutarou naked. Still expresses that his dream involves having as many children as he can with as many women as he's able to.

* CapeSnag: At the climax of his fight with Sugimoto's group, Boutarou's hair gets caught on a riverboat wheel. He survives by Sugimoto cutting off the tangled hair with his bayonet, defying the usual outcome.

* LastRequest: [[spoiler: Uses his last breath of life to leave his grandiose dream of buiding his own kingdom in the South East Asia using the Ainu gold to his good friend Shiraishi, asking him to make sure that he'll never be forgotten. The last chapter proves Shiraishi fulfilled his request, against all odds. Doubles as a humorous moment when it concerns Boutarou's name.]]

* ShipperOnDeck: The biggest one in the series by far, for Sugimoto and Asirpa. Neither of them are willing to entretain his questions for long, but Boutarou quickly figures out that Sugimoto [[SelectiveObliviousness cares way more about Asirpa than he realizes]], and that Asirpa [[CannotSpitItOut is in love with Sugimoto, but isn't ready to tell him yet.]] To Asirpa's [[LuminescentBlush embarrassment]], Boutarou simply refuses to drop the issue during the entire arc, often bringing it up within earshot of Sugimoto. [[spoiler: It's a deliberate ploy by Boutarou, who's counting on Asirpa giving up on finding the gold to go back to her village to live with Sugimoto.]]

* VisionaryVillain: His goal is to get the Ainu gold to found a kingdom in a Southeast Asian island, and to have lots of children so that his exploits will live in eternity. [[spoiler:His motivation for this is surprisingly sympathetic, his entire family died of smallpox when he was young, so Boutarou will build a new family that's so big that, no matter what happens, he won't ever be lonely again. His death at the hands of the 7th Division prevents him from fulilling this dream, but the very last page of the manga reveals that Shiraishi honoured his last wish and used the remaining half of the Ainu gold to make Boutarou's dream a reality.]]

* AmbiguouslyBi: His eagerness to get close to Shiraishi aside, both his flashbacks leave little doubt about his orientation, one showing him naked in bed with [[BadassGay Wakayama the Yakuza]] looking over him, and the other one shows him getting his driving lessons in Eddie Dun's car, once again alongside Wakayama, with the American pantless, the yakuza boss only wearing a choker, and Boutarou naked. Still expresses that his dream involves having as many children as he can with as many women as he's able to.

* AgonyOfTheFeet: He injures his feet by playing with a pair of ''sey-pirakka'', a children's toy made out of seashells that works as pretend shoes, which obviously break into sharp shards that slice his feet open, putting him utter agony and desperately calling for Huci's help.

* SelectiveObliviousness: It's pointed out to him more than once and by different people, but Sugimoto started caring about Asirpa a lot more than he's willing to admit. [[spoiler: In the end, he decides to go live with her.]]

* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: [[spoiler: Boutarou, up to that point little more than an eccentric, nosey convict who died not too long after his introduction, manages to live long enough to tell Shiraishi he cannot escape all his life and should settle down at some point, asking him to inherit his dream of using the Ainu gold to become king of a South Asian island, and incessantly tells Asirpa to pursue her love for Sugimoto, to forget about the gold and go back to her village to live with him. The ending shows that all those thing went things '''exactly''' as Boutarou wanted them to. This was alluded to in the fanbook by Noda, long time before the ending:]]

* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: [[spoiler: Boutarou, up to that point little more than an eccentric, nosey convict who died not too long after his introduction, manages to live long enough to tell Shiraishi he should cannot escape all his life and should settle down, asking him to inherit his dream of using the Ainu gold to become king of a South Asian island, and tells Asirpa to pursue her love for Sugimoto, to forget about the gold and go back to her village to live with him. The ending shows that all those thing went things '''exactly''' as Boutarou wanted them to. This was alluded to in the fanbook by Noda, long time before the ending:]]

* WouldntHurtAChild: His missed anchor strike on Asirpa was entirely due to not being aware of her being in the ship. [spoiler:In fact, while he takes Asirpa from Sugimoto when both are suffering from smoke inhalation, he ends up saving her life by taking her away from the burning building.]]

One of the 24 escaped Abashiri convicts. A convicted murderer and robber, espceially of ships, known to have at least killed 55 people, he's an exceptional swimmer who can hold his breath underwater for about 30 minutes, which allows him to pull people underwater to drown them, robbing them of all their belongings. His modus operandi, swimming prowess and knack for robbing ships earned him his sobriquet "The Pirate". During a heist, he meets Sugimoto's group by chance, and by force of circumstance, becomes a party member. His dream is to get the Ainu gold, conquer a South Asian island, and build his own kingdom.

* AmbiguouslyBi: His eagerness to get close to Shiraishi aside, both his flashbacks leave little doubt to his orientation, one showing him naked in bed with [[BadassGay Wakayama the Yakuza]] looking over him, and the other one shows him getting his driving lessons in Eddie Dun's car, once again alongside Wakayama, with the American pantless, the yakuza boss only wearing a choker, and Boutarou naked. Still expresses that his dream involves having as many children as he can with as many women as he's able to.

* CapeSnag: At the climax of his fight with Sugimoto's group, Boutarou's hair gets caught on a riverboat wheel. He somehow survives, defying the usual outcome.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: A lifetime spent diving has increased his lung capacity to the point where he can hold his breath for 30 minutes, due to his mastery of lung packing. He's also an exceptionally good swimmer, with his large hands and webbed feet assisting him in the task, and is shown to be very strong and durable in spite of his lanky build. [[spoiler:He gets the best out of Sugimoto in both of their fights, and only a hail of bullets while he's already heavily wounded from the 7th Division takes him out for good.]]
* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: Delivers one to Ueji Keiji in Abashiri after Keiji lied to him for months about a supposed aunt who came to visit him. Boutarou is only stopped from killing him when [[BloodKnight Gansoku]] shows up wanting to join in, forcing him to stop.

* LastRequest: [[spoiler: Uses his last breath of life to leave his grandiose dream of buiding his own kingdom in the South East Asia using the Ainu gold to his good friend Shiraishi, so that he'll never be forgotten. The last chapter proves Shiraishi fulfilled his request, against all odds. Doubles as a humorous moment when it concerns Boutarou's name.]]

* LeanAndMean: Partially. While he's lanky and tall, and his actions are unequivocally evil, he's a fairly pleasant person, provided he's not trying to rob you or questioning you incessantly about your dreams, your family or your personal relationships.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: He simply has no concept of it, be it physically, as shown by both of his flashbacks and him constantly getting to kissing distance with Shiraishi, or when it comes to people's private lives and relationships, a topic Boutarou is simply fascinated by and cannot let go of, [[TheyreCalledPersonalIssuesForAReason much to Sugimoto and Asirpa's annoyance.]]

* ShipperOnDeck: The biggest one in the series by far, and for Sugimoto and Asirpa.
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: [[spoiler: Boutarou, up to that point little more than an eccentric, nosey convict who died not too long after his introduction, manages to live long enough to tell Shiraishi he should cannot escape all his life and should settle down, asking him to inherit his dream of using the Ainu gold to become king of a South Asian island, and tells Asirpa to pursue her love for Sugimoto, to forget about the gold and go back to her village to live with him. The ending shows that things '''exactly''' as Boutarou wanted them to. This was alluded to in the fanbook by Noda, long time before the ending:]]

[[folder:Boutarou the Pirate]]

One of the 24 escaped Abashiri convicts. A convicted murderer and robber, espceially of ships, known to have at least killed 55 people, he's an exceptional swimmer who can hold his breath underwater for about 30 minutes, which allows him to pull people underwater to drown them, robbing them of all their belongings. His modus operandi, swimming prowess and knack for robbing ships earned him his sobriquet "The Pirate". During a heist, he meets Sugimoto's group by chance, and by force of circumstance, becomes a party member. His dream is to get the Ainu gold, conquer a South Asian island, and build his own kingdom there. His real name is Fusatarō Ōsawa.

* AFatherToHisMen: For all his eccentricities, he truly cherishes his crew and his friends, considering them "part of his kingdom" and is willing to lie down his life for their sake. [[spoiler: It's how he dies, taking the bullets for Shiraishi, entrusting him his dream with his final breath.]]
* AmbiguouslyBi: His eagerness to get close to Shiraishi aside, both his flashbacks leave little doubt to his orientation, one showing him in naked on bed with [[BadassGay Wakayama the Yakuza]] looking over him, and the other one shows him getting his driving lessons in Eddie Dun's car, once again alongside Wakayama, with the American pantless, the yakuza boss only wearing a choker, and Boutarou naked. Still expresses that his dream involves having as many children as he can with as many women as he's able to.
* AnchorsAway: Throws an anchor around in his introductory fight, wrecking a part of the ship, and by pure luck avoids clocking Asirpa with it. [[BerserkButton Sugimoto immediately punches the wind out of him in rage.]]
* BadassDriver: Boutarou is able to chase down the 7th Division in the Sapporo beer car, of all things.

* CapeSnag: At the climax of his fight with Sugimoto's group, Boutarou's hair gets caught on a riverboat wheel. He somehow survives, defying the usual outcome,

* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: Delivers one to Ueji Keiji in Abashiri after Keiji lied to him for months about a family member who came to visit him. Boutarou is only stopped from killing him when [[BloodKnight Gansoku]] shows up wanting to join in, frocing him to stop.

* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: [[spoiler: Boutarou, up to that point little more than an eccentric, nosey convict who died not too long after his introduction, manages to live long enough to tell Shiraishi he should stop escaping and settle down, inheriting his dream of using the Ainu gold to become king of a South Asian island, and tell Asirpa to pursue her love for Sugimoto, to forget about the gold and go back to her village to live with him. The ending shows that things '''exactly''' as Boutarou wanted them to. This was alluded to in the fanbook by Noda, long time before the ending:]]

* VisionaryVillain: His goal is to use the gold to begin a kingdom in southeast Asia and have lots of kids so his exploits will live for eternity. [[spoiler:His motivation for this is surprisingly sympathetic: it's revealed that his entire family died of smallpox when he was young, so he wants to build a new one that's so big he won't ever have to be lonely again. His death fighting the 7th Division cuts this short, but the last page of the manga reveals that Shiraishi used the remaining half of the gold to fulfill his dream in his place.]]

One of the 24 escaped Abashiri convicts. A convicted murderer and robber, espceially of ships, known to have at least killed 55 people, he's an exceptional swimmer who can hold his breath underwater for about 30 minutes, which allows him to pull people underwater to drown them, robbing them of all their belongings. His modus operandi, swimming prowess and knack for robbing ships earned him his sobriquet "The Pirate". During a heist, he meets Sugimoto's group by chance, and by force of circumstance, becomes a party member. His dream is to get the Ainu gold, conquer an island, and build his own kingdom. His real name is Fusatarō Ōsawa.

* LeanAndMean: Partially. While he's lanky and tall, he's a fairly pleasant person, provided he's not trying to rob you or questioning you incessantly about your personal life and relationships.

* AnchorsAway: Throws an anchor around in his introductory fight, wrecking a part of the ship, and barely avoiding clocking Asirpa with it. Sugimoto punches the wind out of him in rage.

* LeanAndMean: Partially. While he's lanky and tall, he's a fairly pleasant person, provided he's not trying to rob you.

* ShipperOnDeck: Notices and encourages Asirpa's crush on Sugimoto. [[spoiler:This is so he can try to convince Asirpa to give up on uniting the Ainu (and getting the gold) in favor of being able to spend more time with Sugimoto.]]

One of the 24 escaped Abashiri convicts. A convicted robber and murderer, known to have at least killed 55 people, he's an exceptional swimmer who can hold his breath underwater for about 30 minutes, which allows him to pull people into the water and drown them, robbing them of all their belongings. His modus operandi, swimming prowess and knack for robbing ships earned him his sobriquet "The Pirate". During a heist, he meets Sugimoto's group by chance, and by force of circumstance, becomes a party member. His dream is to get the Ainu gold, conquer an island, and become it's king. His real name is Fusatarō Ōsawa.

* AnchorsAway: Throws an anchor around in his introductory fight.

* CapeSnag: At the climax of his fight with Sugimoto's group, Boutarou's hair gets caught on a riverboat wheel.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: A lifetime spent diving has increased his lung capacity to the point where he can hold his breath for 30 minutes. He's also an excellent swimmer.
* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: Delivers one to Ueji Keiji in Abashiri after Keiji lied to him for months about a family member who came to visit him. Boutarou is only stopped from killing him when [[BloodKnight Gansoku]] shows up wanting to join in.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Throws himself in front of a hail of bullets to save Shiraishi. Downplayed, though, as he was already lethally wounded.]]
* IJustWanttoBeLoved: His plan to use the gold to build a kingdom in southeast Asia and have lots of kids is revealed to be motived by [[spoiler:his entire family dying of smallpox when he was a child; he simply wants to build a new family that'll be so large he won't ever be lonely again.]]

* RuthlessModernPirates: Leads a band of these, and is described as particularly ruthless before his introduction.

* AgonyOfTheFeet: He injures his foot by playing with a pair of ''sey-pirakka'' a children's toy made out of seashells that works as pretend shoes, which obviously break into sharp shards that slice his feet open, putting him utter agony.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: An poisoned arrow designed to take out deers pierces his leg. He barely survives thanks to the quick actions of Asirpa and later by Huci's medical care.

* ManlyTears: [[spoiler:Twice.]]
** [[spoiler: Tanigaki shed some during the war as he listened to his brother-in-law Kenkichi, who finally told him the truth about Fumi, Tanigaki's beloved late sister, and how her demise really occured.]]

* ScarilyCompetentTracker: He comes from the Matagi tribe, which lives similarly to the Ainus.
* SignatureItemClue: [[spoiler:Tanigaki meets Kenkichi in the middle of a battlefield. Kenichi is blind and deaf because of a grenade blast, and Tanigaki eases his pain by offering him some of his ''kane mochis'' only the two know the recipe of. The taste of walnut allows Kenkichi to recognize Tanigaki despite having no eyes or ears, and he passes on with no regrets, knowing Fumi's family will finally know the truth about their beloved daughter's death.]]

* TohokuRegionalAccent: He’s from a Matagi village in Akita, and during flashbacks to his time in the village he speaks in a mild Tōhoku dialect. However, in the main events of the story he mostly speaks standard Japanese, with only occasional Tōhoku mannerisms.

* [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Sister]]: [[spoiler:Tanigaki lived a traditional life as Matagi hunter in Ani, Akita, until news arrived that Fumi, his beloved sister, was murdered by her husband, Kenkichi, a friend of Tangaki and his family. Consumed by rage, Tanigaki searched through the region for the killer, and even severed ties with his hometown and his people in order to continue his search despite being repatedly begged to stop. He wound up joining the army after hearing that the killer had enlisted, and thanks to a casual conversation with Sugimoto, finally managed to locate his sister's murderer. As it turns out, Kenkichi, who was on the verge of death, only killed Fumi [[MercyKill out of her own request due to her not wishing to suffer the ravages of smallpox any longer.]] The revelation brings Tanigaki to bitter tears over how much they all lost in the process.]]

Boutarou the Pirate (real name Oosawa Fusatarou) is one of the 24 Abashiri Convicts. Guilty of 55 robberies and murders, he's an exceptional swimmer who can hold his breath underwater for about 30 minutes, which allowed him to pull unsuspecting people into the water and drown them. He meets Sugimoto's group and becomes an ally of a sort to them. His goal is to use the gold to found his own kingdom on an island down south.

** [[spoiler:At the end, he comes up with the most basic, yet most effective way to get the Ainu gold, by simply returning to Goryōkaku and digging up the gold from inside the well.]]
* StealthHiBye: A constant with him, as he usually pops out of nowhere to say hi and vanishes just as suddenly. [[spoiler:Does it in the very last chapter twice, when he walks away unnoticed from Sugimoto and Asirpa, wishing them luck in the future before they realize he's gone, and in the very last page where he sends them a letter 3 years later revealing he took the gold and became king of a Burmese island.]]

* SweetTooth: Shiraishi [[FridgeHorror always]] has some candy on him. In chapter 92, when he's captured by a platoon of soldiers, the only way Hijitaka has found to catch his attention while the soldiers kept on being distracted was to disguise himself as a sweet merchant.

* TunnelKing: Shiraishi can dig through snow very easily.

* LastOfHisKind: One of, maybe the last Hokkaido wolf on the island. It turns out Retar has a mate and cubs.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: [[spoiler: Sophia, the love of his life, only saw him as a younger brother, and even after decades had passed and Wilk, the man Sohia longed for, was no longer alive, she still didn't see Kiroranke any differently.]]
* ArcVillain: [[spoiler:Takes over as the main antagonist alongside with Ogata during the Russia arc, after he abducts Asirpa to take her to her father's homeland in an attempt to make her remember the key to finding the goal.]]
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Can predict the outcome of a horserace just by observing the horses, also accurately explaining how Inkarmat could predict the results of the race too. [[spoiler: His analytical abilities help him derail the Abashiri assault, splintering the party so that no one capable of stopping his actions would be around him, silencing Inkarmat, successfully murdering Wilk and abducting Asirpa in the chaos.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: When Asirpa, Sugimoto, and Shiraishi first meet him, Kiroranke comes across a genuinely kind and friendly man, yet Sugimoto isn't fully convinced of his demeanour. [[spoiler:As it turns out, Kiroranke is a ruthless, murderous partisan who inflicts far more damage to the party than anyone they had met before, assisting in Asirpa's father's murder, and Sugimoto's near fatal shooting by Ogata.]]

* ChubbyChaser: He prefers his women big and plump, with his wife's stocky build being an example of his preferences. [[spoiler:Sophia's plump appearance in her midde age delights him immensely.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Tanigaki stabs him the same way he stabbed Inkarmat in Abashiri, with the exact same blade to boot. [[BadassBoast He makes sure to make Kiroranke aware of this.]]]]
-->'''Tanigaki:''' You left '''this''' at Abashiri prison...and I came to return it.

--> [[spoiler: '''Kiroranke:''' Sophia!!]]
* LoveTriangle: [[spoiler: Was involved in one that ultimately only had losers. Kiroranke was instantly smitten with Sophia during their youth as revolutionaries in Russia, but she only had eyes for Wilk, who in turn had no romantic interest on her.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:Once he manages to separate Asirpa from Sugimoto, Kiroranke wastes no time in manipulating her into sympathizing for the plight of the indigenous populations of Sakhalin, in order to turn her against the Japanese and Russian governments. It works, but not in the way Kiroranke expected, as Asirpa's resolve to help her people strengthens now that her view broadened, but she doesn't show any interest in initiating the violent revolution Kiroranke hoped.]]

* UnrequitedLoveLastsForever: [[spoiler:Neither the decades that passed, nor marrying a different woman and having several children with her helped Kiroranke move on from his feelings towards Sophia. His last words and thoughts as he dies in Russia are about her.]]

A Matagi soldier who serves in the 7th Division, and a veteran of the Russo-Japanese war. Initially, he's shown pursuing Asirpa in their hunt for the skins, until Retar attacks him savagely, leaving him at death's door and unable to fight. His recovery and a chance encounter with the legendary hunter Nihei Tetsuzou leads him to reevaluate who he wishes to be, as he's torn between his Matagi heritage and his duty as a soldier.

* BadassDecay: Zig-zagged. His combat role decreases as the story advances. He goes from being able to defeat Ogata in a sniping duel to an almost [[ButtMonkey comedic role]] and barely sees any combat. [[spoiler: His subsequent fight with Kiroranke, which ends up with Kiroranke dying, plus his escape from and deathly struggle with Tsukishima brings him back up to speed.]]

* ButtMonkey: He injures his foot by playing with a pair of ''sey-pirakka'', gets mistaken for [[BestialityIsDepraved Anehata]] by the local Ainu, and is kicked off the sled of Enonoka's grandfather by Sugimoto for being too heavy.
* TheCavalry: [[spoiler:Returns during the final battle to help, just in time to rescue Asirpa from falling and losing the land grant. He gets a bullet to the abdomen from Tsurumi to for his troubles.]]
* ClearMyName: Because Anehata stole his rifle and used it to kill a doe the scholar had raped, local Ainu think Tanigaki's the culprit and want to punish him by crippling him, forcing the soldier to flee.
* ColdSniper: He is handy with a rifle, and can out snipe a dedicated sniper team. Moreover, Tanigaki, as an experienced hunter, puts his knowledge to good use, gaining an advantage over purely military sharpshooters.
* ConflictingLoyalties: Between his unit, his Matagi heritage, and his deeply rooted morals. [[spoiler: He also feels indebted to the Ainu and particularly Huci for nursing him back to health, and later his love for Inkarmat is thrown into the mix.]] Although he deserts from the 7th Division early on, Tanigaki doesn't really want to fight them and mostly stays neutral in the gold hunt due to his complicated loyalties.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:After being thrown around by all parties involved and put in mortal danger multiple times because of a treasure hunt he doesn't really care about, Tanigaki is able to leave Hokkaido alive, returning to Ani with Inkarmat and their daughter. They go on to build a large, happy family, having 15 children together, all sons barring his eldest daughter.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Tanigaki is a ruthless hunter and war veteran, but killing innocent people is something he won't do.

* {{Foil}}: To all other soldiers or former soldier characters. A major theme in the series is how war irremediably changes people and [[ShellShockedVeteran not everyone can change back to who they used to be]]. By spending time in Asirpa's loving village, Tanigaki managed to put his past as a soldier behind him, in contrast to people like Tsurumi, Ogata and Sugimoto, who remain anchored to their pasts and what they've done and lost due to war.
* GoingNative: Downplayed. He starts wearing customary Hokkaido Ainu clothing after Asirpa's grandmother shelters him, but remains faithful to his Matagi heritage and doesn't act Ainu.
* HandicappedBadass: Even if he needs crutches to walk, he is perfectly capable of killing his enemies.
* HeelFaceTurn: He quickly deserts from the 7th Division, refusing to kill innocent people.[[spoiler: Justified as he never intended to become a soldier in the first place.]] He's unique in being the only member of Sugimoto's party who has no real interest in the gold.

* PleaseDontLeaveMe: She begged Retar to stay with her when he heard the howl of another wolf, to no avail. Her anguish leads her to cry for her deceased father, the root of her abandonment issues. [[spoiler:She later fears at various points that Sugimoto will abandon her as well, but in the end her fears are eased since Sugimoto not only stayed until the gold hunt was done, but even ''chose'' to remain by her side after the gold hunt ended.]]

* AmusingInjuries: Various animals bite Shiraishi on the head, to his dismay. He's prone to get smacked, but unlike Sugimoto's severe injuries, Shiraishi is never shown seriously hurt.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: He is generally an incompetent idiot most of the time, but he's an invaluable information source for the party, and his ability for breaking in and out of places is undeniable, and comes in handy several times. [[spoiler: In a cast filled to be brim with with combat monsters, genius masterminds and various powerful parties attempting to acquire the famed gold, it's ''' Shiraishi''' who gets the Ainu gold in the end.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler: After suffering humiliating misfortune after humiliating misfortune throughout Sugimoto and Asirpa’s adventure, it’s Shiraishi that manages to get away with most of the Ainu gold, eventually becoming the king of an island somewhere off the coast of Burma.]]

* EscapeArtist: Shiraishi's specialty. He's not only nimble or knows his way around locks, but exploits the organization of the prisons themselves to his advantage. It goes beyond that, as he has such an understanding of prison life that he pays a prisoner to snitch on him on purpouse to '''aid''' his own escape.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Shiraishi proves so annoying at times that no one from either Sugimoto or Hijikata's group wishes to put in the effort of saving him when he's captured by the 7th Division. Only Sugimoto volunteers to save him.

* TheMillstone: Shiraishi screws up a lot. One notable instance is tripping and dropping a bag of bombs into a fire in a building, not only putting the whole group in danger but forcing them to stop their hunt for the gold to replenish their supplies. The other is Hijikata providing him with countless chances to escape for the 7th Division through various ruses and disguises, only for Shiraishi to miss every single one of them. Hijikata ultimately ends up cutting off the ropes holding up the bridge Shiraishi and the soldiers were in, which finally allows Shiraishi to escape.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: When he first meets Sugimoto and Asirpa, he asks the war veteran if she is his pet Ainu "dog" and if she knows any tricks, a clearly racist insult based on Ainu sounding phonetically similar to dog (inu) in Japanese. Sugimoto, [[BigBrotherInstinct outraged]], threatens to make him unable to speak and is about to break his jaw before Asirpa stops him, saying she's used to being hearing things like that and worse because of her Ainu heritage. Sugimoto internally laments in anger that no one should need to get used to hear such things. Shiraishi wisely decides to never have such an attitude with Asirpa from that point on, and to his credit, he never does again.

** In Chapter 91, Shiraishi tries to run away from his companions because he knows Sugimoto will learn of his status as TheMole for Hijikata and thus fears his vengeance. However, Sugimoto later puts it behind him, as he checked the skins Shiraishi gave to Hijakata and saw that they were fakes.
** Subverted later in Karafuto. Kiroranke and Ogata say tell him he doesn't need to accompany them anymore as their next travels will be very dangerous, and Shiraishi has convinced Asirpa to try to leave with him and leave them behind, but Asirpa decides to stay with the two. The group parts ways, but immediately after, Shiraishi recalls the many times Sugimoto entrusted Asirpa's safety to him, and can't bring himself to leave her alone with the two, especially knowing how dangerous they are.
* ShaggyDogStory: Shiraishi's flashback involves him endlessly looking after a nun based of a lousy portrait of her, breaking out of various prisons before inevitably getting recaptured by the police. In the end, said sister [[spoiler:ends up looking exactly like how the "lousy" portrait depicted her.]]
* StatingTheSimpleSolution: He has a knack for finding simple solutions to aid Sugimoto and Asirpa. Firstly, he said that rather than locate the convicts bearing tattoos, they should locate the ''author'' of the codes, which kicks off the Abashiri prison arc.
** Later on, [[spoiler:he brings up the event of Noppera-Bo taking part of the gold and his ship capsizing as a reference that that specific gold could be used to trace where the majority's location, thus removing the need for the tattooed skins.]]

* LossOfIdentity: When he came back from the war, the nearly blind Umeko couldn't truly recognize him, perceiving him as a completely different man than the one she grew up with and used to love. [[spoiler:Sugimoto adresses this in the last chapter, after Umeko recognizes him even in his battered state, due to a combination of him having made peace with himself after the end of the gold hunt, and her eyesight improving.]]

* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:With Asirpa after the timeskip in the epilogue, which shows they've been cohabiting for years, with Sugimoto having long moved on his first love, and Asirpa, now older, still in love with him.]]

* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:With Sugimoto after the timeskip in the epilogue, which shows they've been cohabiting for years, with Sugimoto having long moved on his first love, and Asirpa, now older, still in love with him.]]

* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:With Asirpa after the timeskip in the epilogue, which shows they've been cohabiting for years.]]

* {{Protectorate}}: Develops a mutual one with Asirpa, as protecting each other's lives ends up being just as important, if not more, as finding the gold is to them, and they will to go any lengths, no matter how extreme, to make sure the other survives. [[spoiler:Their efforts ultimately succeed as both survive the gold hunt.]]

* AlreadyDoneForYou: [[spoiler: In the lead-up to finding the buried gold, the improbability of Asirpa being able to ''use'' the gold for her people is highlighted quite a few times, as she's a young child in the company of trained killers, who vastly outstrip her in combat experience, being they the ones who would have the final word in what happens to the gold once, not to mention how difficult it would be to transport that amount of gold around without it being stolen. Once the party finds where the gold is buried, the group digs up what turns out to be a buried and preserved land deed, that certifies that half of the gold had already been used to buy vast swaths of land for the Ainu people, leaving Asirpa relieved and thankful that her father did find a way to turn the hateful 'Golden Kamuy' into a benevolent one for the sake of the Ainu. Everyone except Asirpa [[FaceFault collapses in disappointment from the revelation]] that the gold had already been spent. Slightly subverted as the remaining half of the gold is still buried in Goryōkaku, and thus is still usable, and that Asirpa decides to see the hunt through to the end alongside her companions, even though she already has what she wanted from it.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: [[spoiler:After watching a cinematograph (early film), that has footage of both of her parents living happily and peacefully in her village decades before the gold hunt, she finally understands the significance that finding the gold and putting it to good use would have for her people and the survival of their culture, resolving to use it and easing her doubts on the matter.]]

* [[TheChiefsDaughter The Chiefs Granddaughter]]: Her late grandfather in her mother's side was the most important man in her village, and her maternal grandmother (Huci) is still revered as a vital authority figure in their village. [[spoiler: Her father Wilk was also seen as the would be leader of the united Ainu peoples in their push for independence, at least until it all fell apart due to Tsurumi's machinations.]]

** When Inkarmat expressed her fondness towards handsome men with scars during their first meeting, making Sugimoto feel shy, Asirpa interrupted them by telling Inkarmat that Sugimoto puts poop in his food and eats it, causing Inkarmat to immediately lose interest. Sugimoto, after months of listening to the Ainu language, figured out what was said, and confronted Asirpa about it, which she denied with a calm expression and evidently [[LuminescentBlush red ears,]] much to Kiroranke's amusement.
** When a group of Ainu women showed interest in Sugimoto, Asirpa once again told all of them that Sugimoto puts poop in his food and eats it, adding that he'll do the same to their food, turning them off him instantly.

* DisappearedDad: Her father was murdered 6 or 7 years before the story began, and finding out who killed him is her reason to join the gold hunt. [[spoiler: As it turns out, Wilk wasn't murdered, but instead had spent all those years as an inmate in Abashiri prison after falsely admitting to the killing of the Ainu chiefs who had gathered the gold. Wilk never informs Asirpa of this, making her believe he had died, in order to both spare her the shame of living as the daughter of a murderer, and to keep Asirpa's existence a secret from Tsurumi, [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou protecting her from the lieutenant's revenge.]]]]

* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:With Sugimoto after the timeskip in the epilogue, which shows they've been cohabiting for years.]]

* {{Protectorate}}: Develops a mutual one with Asirpa, as protecting each other's lives ends up being just as important as finding the gold to them, and they will to go any lengths, no matter how extreme, to make sure the other survives. [[spoiler:Their efforts ultimately succeed as both survive the gold hunt.]]

* PleaseDontLeaveMe: She begged Retar to stay with her when he heard the howl of another wolf, to no avail. Her anguish leads her to cry for her deceased father, the root of her abandonment issues. [[spoiler:She later fears that Sugimoto will eventually abandon her as well, but in the end her fears are eased since Sugimoto not only stayed, but ''chose'' to remain by her side even after the gold hunt ended.]]

* JustAKid: For many reasons

* InsistentTerminology: Asirpa is his '''partner,''' and they refer to each other by that way and no other for the entire story. The relationship chart in the fanbook further drives this point home by expressing that Sugimoto sees her as "his one and only partner".

* GenderIsNoObject: Surprisingly, most of the cast doesn't call attention to her gender, even though the series takes place during early 20th century Japan/Russia and Ainu culture expects women to [[StayInTheKitchen be traditional homemakers]]. The only exception is Asirpa's grandmother, who worries that her granddaughter's lack of traditionally feminine skills will prevent her from getting married.
* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: She asks why Anehata would [[SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny kill the animals with whom he's made love if he knew how wrong his actions were]].
* GoodIsOldFashioned: Downplayed. Asirpa follows and cherishes her Ainu culture, but ignores some of it's customs such as getting her mouth tattooed, as she's around the age to do so and steadily refuses to get one, and believing in divination, which goes against her belief that fate is not predetermined and can be changed. Her initial dislike for Inkarmat stems from this.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Asirpa has a rule against eating man-killing animals but finds excuses to eat them anyway because she's hungry. While she refuses to kill anyone, she aides several murders by her actions during combat,[[spoiler: and delays teling Sugimoto she's remembered the key to finding the gold, even while being fully aware of how urgently he needs the gold and the danger it puts everyone in, just so he'd have to remain by her side longer, fearing Sugimoto would abandon her for Umeko.]]

* InsistentTerminology: Sugimoto is her '''partner,''' and they refer to each other that way and no other for the entire story. However, her relationship chart in the fanbook has Sugimoto listed as her "Partner?", questioning if she [[PrecociousCrush "secretly harbors some feelings deeper than that"]]. [[spoiler:As it turns out, she's in love with him.]]

* MasterPoisoner: Asirpa can cook deadly poison able to take down bears quickly, and that would kill humans with ease.

* MeaningfulName: Asirpa means "new year" but can also mean "future" in Ainu, reflecting why she calls herself an Ainu woman for a new era, while she respects the Ainu tradition, she doesn't follow all of them blindly. [[spoiler:Meanwhile, her Japanese name, Asuko Kochoube, comes from the Japanese word for tomorrow (''asu'') and a locational surname derived from Kochōbetsu in Tōbuchi, Sakhalin. The first name roughly corresponds to her Ainu name, while the surname {{foreshadow|ing}}s that her father is a half-Polish half-Sakhalin Ainu settler. As her father wanted her to become a figurehead for an eventual Ainu uprising, her names take on a much darker meaning, since she was meant to kickstart the Ainu future through revolution and martyrdom.]]

* PhenotypeStereotype: Hijikata speculates early on that Asirpa has Russian ancestry upon seeing hints of green in her blue pupils. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that her father, Wilk, is indeed a Russian born Ainu-Polish man.]]

* PrecociousCrush: She has an increasing one on her [[InsistentTerminology partner]] Sugimoto, who's roughly twice her age. [[spoiler: It ends up causing trouble for her in many ocassions, since her feelings cause her to delay telling Sugimoto the key to find the gold so he stays by her side longer, and both Ogata and Boutarou exploit this in order to gain an advantage in the gold hunt in different ways. Ogata does it by heavily suggesting that Sugimoto died while still in love with Umeko, something Asirpa had been dreading since the very moment she heard of Sugimoto's past, and Boutarou by constantly encouraging her to pursue and be bolder with her feelings, so that she gives up the gold hunt in order to be with Sugimoto.]]
* {{Protectorate}}: Develops a mutual one with Sugimoto, as protecting each other's lives ends up being just as important as finding the gold to them, and they will to go any lengths, no matter how extreme, to make sure the other survives. [[spoiler:Their efforts ultimately succeed as both survive the gold hunt.]]

* SecretKeeper: [[spoiler:A non-private situation; once she remembers the key to solve the gold hunt, she initially decides to not pass the code to her partner Sugimoto, due to her fears that he'd abandon her, that he'd put himself in increasing and possibly mortal danger with no one around to help him, and because she's in love with him.]]

* SupremeChef: In spite of being repeatedly stated to be poor at typically femenine skills, and the unusual (for the Japanese) ingredients and [[TastesBetterThanItLooks appearance of her traditonal Ainu dishes]], there's no doubt that Asirpa is a fantastic cook. Sugimoto certainly thinks so, [[spoiler: telling Asirpa he enjoys her cooking more than the luxury food available in Tokyo, and lists this as one of the reasons why he wishes to stay with her, much to her joy.]]
* SurprisinglyGoodForeignLanguage: She speaks standard Japanese fluently and without any noticeable accent or stumbles, unlike most of the Ainu-Japanese speakers in the series. [[spoiler: This is because she was taught the language by her father Wilk, who in turn had learnt Japanese while in Russia from a man called Hasegawa, in reality Lieutenuant Tsurumi, who, working as a spy, had diguised his native Niigata accent the entire time and spoke without any traces of it.]]

* ThankYourPrey: Asirpa thanks her prey by making use of anything possible from them, following the Ainu belief that it honours their lives to do so.

* {{Tykebomb}}: [[spoiler:Wilk trained her for hunting and survival since her early childhood as a pretext to [turn her into a freedom fighter for the Ainu against the Japanese government. Sugimoto, [[ShellShockedVeteran knowing the horrors of war]], calls him out on going to such extreme lengths for the cause of independence and putting Asirpa in such danger, figuring out that Asirpa would need to die a martyr for the cause.]]

* WeaponOfChoice: A wooden bow with a string made of a whale's dorsal muscle, and [[PoisonedWeapon equipped with deadly poisoned arrows]].

* SurprisinglyGoodForeignLanguage: Surprisingly, she speaks standard Japanese fluently and without any noticeable accent or stumbles, unlike most of the Ainu-Japanese speakers in the series. [[spoiler: This is because she was taught the language by her father Wilk, who in turn had learnt Japanese while in Russia from a man called Hasegawa, in reality Lieutenuant Tsurumi, who, working as a spy, had diguised his native Niigata accent the entire time and spoke without any traces of it.]]

* LossOfIdentity: When he came back from the war, the nearly blind Umeko couldn't truly recognize him, perceiving him as a completely different man than the one she knows and used to love. [[spoiler:Sugimoto adresses this in the last chapter, after Umeko recognizes him even in his battered state, due to a combination of him having made peace with himself after the end of the gold hunt, and her eyesight improving.]]

** His favorite food growing up was dried persimmons, a staple of his hometown and a reminder of the peaceful times he had before disease and war tore his life to shreds. Asirpa wants him to take her to his hometown so they can taste some persimmons together in the hopes it will help him return to who he used to be before the war. [[spoiler:They do have said persimmons in the last chapter, and Sugimoto states that it didn't change anything, because he didn't need it, as he finally accepted himself and did not need to return to his past self.]]
* UnfriendlyFire: Sugimoto admits to having almost killed an officer who pissed him off, which cost him any medals his service had earned him and his military pension. The boots he always wears are a memento from that fight.
* UsedToBeMoreSocial: Went from a popular, cheerful man in his youth, to a solitary vagrant after he ran away from his hometown. His return from war as a traumatized veteran only isolated him further and further, until his chance metting with Asirpa.

* ActionGirl: Asirpa doesn't kill people, but still participates in the action and can put up a surprisingly tough fight for someone so young and small. Her well timed arrow shots save Sugimoto's life many times.
* AncestralWeapon: Her ''menokomakiri'', a dagger made for women that was crafted for her by her late father. She refuses to use guns either for fighting or hunting, citing that they are too heavy for her small build, and favours her bow instead.

* AlreadyDoneForYou: [[spoiler: In the lead-up to finding the buried gold, the improbability of Asirpa being able to ''use'' the gold for her people is highlighted quite a few times, as she is a young child in the company of trained killers who vastly outstrip her in combat experience, and they would have the final word in what happens to the gold once they dig it up, not to mention how difficult it would be to transport the gold around without it being stolen. Once the party actually finds where the gold is buried, the group digs up what turns out to be a buried and preserved land deed, that certifies that half the gold was used to buy vast swaths of land for the Ainu, leaving Asirpa relieved and thankful that her father found a way to turn the hateful 'Golden Kamuy' into a benevolent one for the Ainu, even as everyone else [[FaceFault collapses in disappointment from the revelation]] that the gold had already been spent. Slightly subverted as the remaining half of the gold is still buried in Goryōkaku, and that Asirpa decides to stay and see the hunt through to the end alongside her companions, even though she already has what she needs from it]].
* ArcherArchetype: She uses her bow with great accuracy to hunt bears and other animals, and is just as proficient with her arrows when it comes to fighting. She's a usually calm and serious person, her stoic attitude being born out of the tragedies she experienced early in her life with both her father's murder, and Retar's departure.

* DisappearedDad: Her father was murdered 6 or 7 years before the story began, and finding out who killed him is her reason to join the gold hunt. [[spoiler: As it turns out, Wilk wasn't murdered, but had spent all those years as an inmate in Abashiri prison after falsely admitting to the killing of the Ainu chiefs who had gathered the gold. Wilk never informs Asirpa of this, making her believe he had died, in order to both spare her the shame of living as the daughter of a murderer, and to keep Asirpa's existence a secret from Tsurumi, [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou protecting her from the lieutenant's revenge.]]]]

* EveryonesBabySister: Asirpa is well beloved by almost the entire recurring cast, even those that are working against her. This is due to a mix of her nice, magnetic personality, her reliability in and out of battle, being central to solving the code within the tattoos, and her status as everyone's beacon of morality. Even the sociopathic Ogata is somewhat nice to her, even if it's just out of pragmatism. [[spoiler: It ends up playing a crucial role in his death, as he associates her virtue and refusal to compromise it with the one his late brother Yuusaku had, whom he had murdered after failing to corrupt him. It causes Ogata to start feeling guilt over his actions for the first time in his life, and unable to shoot her, he shoots himself instead.]]

* FriendlessBackground: While Asirpa is shown to be well liked in her village, her grandmother informs Sugimoto that Asirpa has never had a friend before. Justified by Asirpa when she explains her refusal to interact with the bear cub Sugimoto found, knowing the bear would end up being sacrificed. Since Asirpa has had both her father and her companion Retar dissapear from her life, [[NeverBeHurtAgain she protects herself from experiencing the pain of separation again by keeping her distance and not forming bonds with anyone.]]