Kambei
Kambei is the leader of the seven samurai. He is a ronin, or a samurai without a master. We are introduced to him as he cuts off his hair to pose as a priest in order to save a child from a thief. Kambei is gentle, serious, and reserved, but has a good sense of humor. He has a tactical mind and is very experienced in warfare, and leads the samurai and farmers to fortify the village and battle the bandits. Perhaps most importantly, he cares more about his own internal moral compass than any socially ingrained values or hierarchies, and is shown to be incredibly compassionate towards others. He bonds with all of the other samurai to some degree, but most closely with Gorobei, his second in command, and Katsushiro, his young apprentice.
Gorōbei
Gorōbei is the first samurai to join Kambei and Katushiro, and becomes fast friends with Kambei. They share a similar worldview and value system, and Gorōbei tells Kambei that the main reason he agrees to join them is that he finds Kambei’s character compelling. He also has a great sense of humor, which allows him to quickly bond with Heihachi, and convince him to join their team as well. He serves as second in command to Kambei during the preparation and battle against the bandits, and is killed the day before the final battle by the bandits. He has gained great respect amongst both the farmers and the samurai at this point, and his death is felt deeply in the village.
Kyūzō
Kyūzō is a master swordsman and we are introduced to him while he duels another samurai in a field. He is quiet, serious, and seems to care almost solely about his skills as a swordsman, but also follows his own value system that opposes gratuitous violence, and is not interested in typical samurai ‘rules.’ He is a man of few words, and at first rejects Kambei's offer, but he shows up later that same night and agrees to help. He trains the villagers with their spears and is always the first to volunteer to go on dangerous missions. His fearlessness and skill make Katsushirō look up to him as a great man and samurai, and they share a connection. He also does not tell the other samurai about Katsushirō’s relationship with Shino, as he does not see who it would benefit and thinks it will only cause harm; he also may do this because of a connection he feels to Katsushirō. Kyūzō is shot in the final battle by the bandit leader, and dies.
Heihachi
Heihachi is recruited to the samurai team by Gorobei, mostly because of his attitude and personality. He is the comedian of the group, often making fun of Kikuchiyo, various villagers, and himself. He and Gorobei become friends because of their shared sense of humor, and though he incessantly mocks Kikuchiyo, Kikuchiyo develops an affinity for him because he knows it is meant well. He is the first samurai to die, and is killed while trying to save Rikichi, a villager, from getting himself killed during a mission to the bandit hideout.
Katsushirō
Katsushirō is a young man born into the samurai class. He has left home to make his own way, and when he sees Kambei cut his top knot, an important status symbol of samurai, in order to save a child from a bandit, he insists on being his apprentice. Though he lacks skill or experience, he is deeply compassionate, cares about the plight of the farmers, and shares a similar sense of morality as Kambei. These traits are particularly interesting because Katsushirō comes from a particularly well-off family, but still seems to disregard rules of the social hierarchy. He eventually falls in love with one of the girls from the farming village, and sleeps with her the night before the final battle. They are both shamed when her father finds out, and the young woman buries her feelings for him once the battle is won.
Kikuchiyo
Kikuchiyo was born a farmer, and poses as a samurai. He carries a fake ancestry scroll that states he was born into a samurai family, but does not realize that it also says he's only 13 years old. At the start of the film, he is excessively proud, arrogant, and disrespectful toward others, and this causes many problems for the samurai and villagers over the course of the film and the battle. However, he is the one who finally brings together the villagers and the samurai, as he is the bridge between the two classes and understands the merits and problems of both groups. We later find out that he was orphaned after bandits destroyed his family's farming village and he has wandered the rest of his life without even knowing his birth name. He makes up for his earlier mistakes in the final battle, fighting courageously and passionately for the friends he has lost in earlier attacks. In the end, he dies right after heroically killing the bandit leader.
Shichirōji
Shichirōji is an old friend of Kambei’s, and the two used to fight together but Kambei had thought that Shichirōji died in their last battle. When Kambei finds him as they look for more samurai to join their team, Shichirōji immediately agrees to help his old friend without asking any question about the fight. He is typically quiet and serious, but plays an important role in the argument over the villagers’ stolen samurai armor, when he explodes in anger at Kikuchiyo. He also forms an important relationship with Manzo, and often has to convince the tense villager to relax about various things (his gunshot wound, his daughter’s fling with Katsushiro). He survives the final battle with Kambei and Katsushiro.
Rikichi
Rikichi is a villager who is first introduced when he passionately argues that the villagers need to fight the bandits instead of just giving in to them. He and Manzo disagree strongly on this matter, fighting verbally and physically, and it will later turn out that this disagreement stems from the fact that Rikichi has nothing left to lose and Manzo still fears for the safety of his daughter. Rikichi’s wife was kidnapped and his horse was stolen by the bandits, and he harbors particular resentment toward them. He fights with anger, killing many bandits himself. He gets Heihachi killed during a mission to the bandit hideout, when Heihachi tries to pull him back to safety as he tries to follow his wife into a burning building.
Shino
Shino is a young woman in the village, and the daughter of Manzo. Her father is fiercely protective and domineering, and he forces her to cut her hair and pretend to be a boy because he fears that the samurai will try to take advantage of her. However, she still forms a relationship with Katsushiro and eventually has sex with him. She is beaten by her father at several points in the film.
Manzo
Manzo is a villager who is particularly on edge because he fears that someone will ‘ruin’ his daughter, by which he means have sex with her. This causes him to abuse her repeatedly. He fears this of the bandits, but also of the samurai, who are meant to protect them from the bandits. His fears often throw the other villagers into panic, which puts him at odds with Mosuke and the Old Man, who often try to keep the peace. He also often fights with Rikichi, because they disagree on how to deal with the bandits.
Yohei
Yohei is a middle-aged villager who is characterized as particularly fearful and weak, and is the first villager we meet. Over the course of the film, however, he gradually learns to have more courage, and this newfound courage is used as a foil to Kikuchiyo’s selfishness when he abandons his post to Yohei. Yohei eventually dies after defending his post heroically, which throws Kikuchiyo into a rage, because the two have become friends and Kikuchiyo feels responsible for his death.
