Character Profile: Yukino Hojo

Yukino Houjou is the oldest Gate Keeper in Japan, having been born in 1169. However, she has stopped aging and appears in 1969 as a young girl in a white kimono (and again in Gate Keepers 21 without any trace of aging).

Like her name Yukino suggests, she commands the Gate of Ice and Snow, being able to summon blizzards and hail. She is one of the most powerful Gate Keepers in the series, being referred to as a 'top-secret, High-Level Gate Keeper' by Reiji Kageyama. One of her unique traits is the fact that she converses in Tanka poetry.

Though she does help the A.E.G.I.S. members, she is not an official member of A.E.G.I.S.. She also has with her her pet ermine Hisame. She returns and dies in Gate Keepers 21. She was voiced by Masami Suzuki (Japanese) and Lia Sargent (English).

The very mysterious Yukino Hojo makes the acquaintance of the Gatekeepers when they explore the north in search of a crashed AEGIS plane. She speaks very poetically and cryptically and is always with her white ermine, Hisame, but seems to understand the purpose of the Gatekeepers as well as the fact that she is herself keeper of the Gate of Ice. Though not officially among the ranks, she comes to the Gatekeepers' aid when the need arises.

Gate Keepers 21 explains her unique situation. It turns out that Gates tend to have adverse side effects if overused. In the case of Yukino, her time has been stopped, condemning her to an eternity of loneliness.