Lady Eboshi

"Watch closely everyone. I'm going to show you how to kill a god. A god of life and death.
 * —Eboshi, preparing to kill the Forest Spirit."

Lady Eboshi is the main antagonist of Princess Mononoke. She was voiced by Yūko Tanaka in Japanese and Minnie Driver in English.

Personality
Eboshi is a tough and arrogant woman who wants to positively influence the world. As the leader of Iron Town, the townspeople love her, giving her the highest influence as she was the one who freed them from their oppressive environments by bringing them all to Irontown. She has the girls work the forge and the lepers make guns for her, making her a grey character.

In pressing situations, she's shown as calm and collected, attributing to her status as a leader. She has a definite authoritative air about her, which Ashitaka inevitably sees and provokes. She's also a very strong female who understands the injustice of a woman's position in society. Despite her ambitious agenda, in the end when Irontown is destroyed, she is shown to be remorseful.

Physical Appearance
She has black hair that she ties up in some sort of traditional style, finishing off with a pink ribbon. She's the only female in the film who wears lipstick. She wears Hakama, a dark red male kimono, and a huge cloak that she hangs on her shoulders. This outfit is reminiscent of 'Shirabyoushi', which hints at her backstory. And it is her unexplained difficult past, which provokes her high opinion of herself, and her low opinion of others problems. When she's in her 'battle attire' she wears a shorter cloak and a red 'eboshi cap' which gave her name.

Past
She was a slave sold to pirates. Later on she became the wife of a pirate, who lead the first pirates of Japan. Then the leader was murdered in his hometown and Eboshi was on her own. Soon she saw Ishibiya, the Chinese guns. She used them to conquer the area of the Cedar Forest.

Plot
Lady Eboshi is first seen when she is with her army transporting rice to Irontown where they are attacked by San and the wolves but survive. When Ashitaka comes to Irontown he meets Eboshi. Ashitaka learns that Eboshi is the one responsible for turning Nago into a demon. Then San comes to Irontown to fight her. Later she cuts off the head of the Forest Spirit and has her right arm bitten off by Moro. After the land is healed, she promises to rebuild a better town and leave the forest alone.

Trivia

 * Irony: Eboshi offered to cut off Ashitaka's arm to be rid if his curse, and Moro later bit her arm off.
 * Her name Gozen is likely in reference to the various women in Japanese history and myth, many of which were famous and noteworthy in one manner or the next such as being a female samurai warrior/general or in one case being the mother of a conqueror (Oda Nobunaga).