InuYasha
InuYasha (犬夜叉?) is the titular character and one of the main protagonists of the series. Born to a dog demon father and human mother, InuYasha is a half-demon who initially wants to use the powers of the Shikon Jewel to become a full demon. After falling in love with Kikyo, the miko who guards the Jewel, he changes his mind and wants to become human so he can live with her, but Naraku manipulates both of them into believing they have been betrayed by one another. Kikyo is fatally wounded, but before she dies, she shoots an arrow through InuYasha to seal him onto a sacred tree. InuYasha remains in suspended animation for fifty years until Kagome Higurashi, Kikyo's reincarnation, pulls out the arrow and frees him.[2] After the Shikon Jewel shatters, InuYasha and Kagome travel together to retrieve its shards. At first, he is hostile and uncooperative, but Kikyo's sister Kaede restrains him with a magical necklace that hurls him to the ground whenever Kagome gives the simple command word "Sit!" Initially wary of Kagome's resemblance to Kikyo, InuYasha grows to trust her as a friend and they eventually fall in love with each other. He also forms strong friendships with the other companions they gain. At the end of the series, InuYasha and Kagome acknowledge their love and are living together in the Feudal Era.
Due to his half-human nature, InuYasha loses his demonic powers and becomes human during the night of the new moon: his hair changes from white to black, and his fangs, claws, and dog ears are replaced by the normal human equivalents. As he is at his most vulnerable during this time, InuYasha is secretive about when it occurs, revealing it only to his most trusted companions.
InuYasha's sword, Tetsusaiga, was made from one of his father's fangs. Later in the series, one of InuYasha's fangs is welded into the sword. Tetsusaiga cannot be wielded by full-blooded demons, as its power is only unleashed when InuYasha uses it to protect humans. It also keeps InuYasha's demon blood in check, preventing it from turning him into a mindless killing machine when his life is in danger. Tetsusaiga's sheath can form a barrier to protect InuYasha from most attacks.
In the anime adaptation, InuYasha is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi. In the English dub, he is voiced by Richard Ian Cox.
Kagome Higurashi
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| Kagome Higurashi |
Kagome Higurashi (日暮 かごめ, Higurashi Kagome?) is one of the main protagonists and the narrator of the series. Born in modern Japan as the reincarnation of the priestess Kikyo, Kagome has the Shikon Jewel unknowingly hidden inside her body until 1997, when a demon pulls her into the Bone Eater's Well and 500 years back through time.[2] They emerge in the Feudal Era about 50 years after Kikyo's death, where the demon extracts the jewel from Kagome.[3] When another demon seizes the jewel, Kagome shoots it with a bow and arrow,
While trying to protect the jewel using a bow and arrow, she accidentally shatters it into numerous shards that disperse throughout the country. She agrees to help find them, as she can sense the presence of nearby shards. As the series progresses, she falls in love with InuYasha, and finds herself competing with the revived Kikyo for his affections. During the search for the jewel, Kagome's own spiritual powers and archery skills continue to improve. At the end of the series, Kagome returns to her own time for three years. She is then able to return to the Feudal era where she and InuYasha acknowledge their love for one another and she chooses to remain there with him.
In the anime adaptation, she is voiced by Satsuki Yukino. In the English dub, she is voiced by Moneca Stori.
Miroku
Miroku (弥勒?) is a Buddhist monk who travels the countryside performing spiritual services such as exorcisms and demon exterminations, although sometimes he deliberately falsifies these to earn comfortable rewards. Miroku can attack enemies with his holy staff and sutra scrolls, but his greatest weapon, the Wind Tunnel embedded in the palm of his hand, is also a hereditary curse originally inflicted by Naraku upon Miroku's grandfather Miyatsu. The Wind Tunnel sucks in almost anything in its path and is a powerful weapon against demons. However, it grows larger with increasing use, so that Miroku's grandfather and father were eventually consumed by their own Wind Tunnels. Miroku hopes to break the curse by killing Naraku.
Miroku first meets InuYasha by stealing the Shikon Jewel, causing them to fight one another until Kagome leaps between them. After Miroku explains his situation, InuYasha allows him to join their group as a valuable ally. Miroku's lechery is a recurrent habit, usually manifesting as shameless flattery, semi-surreptitious groping, and asking random women to bear him a child; he learned these bad habits from the monk Mushin who raised him, but he also has the more serious motive of wanting an heir to follow him if he dies without defeating Naraku. At the end of the series, Miroku no longer bears the Wind Tunnel, and marries Sango. They have three children: twin girls and a boy.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kōji Tsujitani. In the English dub, he is voiced by Kirby Morrow.
Sango
Sango (珊瑚?) is a demon slayer who hails from a village of professional demon slayers. Naraku wipes out her entire family and village, then causes Sango to blame InuYasha and try to kill him. When the plot fails, Naraku revives Sango's little brother Kohaku, controlling him as a pawn to manipulate Sango's emotions and attack the rest of InuYasha's group. Sango seeks vengeance against Naraku, but her primary goal is to rescue Kohaku from Naraku's influence and save his life.
Of her broad repertoire of tools and tricks for fighting demons, her most powerful weapon is the Hiraikotsu, a massive boomerang made of purified demon bones. She is accompanied by the demon cat Kirara. Sango is often the victim of Miroku's lecherous tendencies and slaps him for it, but she later confesses her love to him and the two get engaged. After they marry, she allows Kirara to join her brother Kohaku and aid him in his demon slaying.
In the anime adaptation, she is voiced by Hōko Kuwashima. In the English dub, she is voiced by Kelly Sheridan.
Antagonists
Kikyo
Kikyo (桔梗, Kikyō?) is a powerful shrine maiden, or miko, who is given the task of guarding the Shikon Jewel. She falls in love with InuYasha and considers using the jewel to turn him from a half-demon into a full human; this would cause the Shikon Jewel to vanish, allowing her to live as an ordinary woman by his side. However, Naraku disguises himself as InuYasha to attack her village, mortally wounding her. With her last strength, Kikyo shoots a charmed arrow into the real InuYasha to seal him to a sacred tree, then orders the Shikon Jewel to be burned with her on her funeral pyre. The jewel disappears and is apparently destroyed, but is reborn 500 years later in the body of Kagome Higurashi, her spiritual reincarnation.
After Kagome travels back through time and reappears fifty years after Kikyo's death, an ogress tries to pull her reincarnated soul into a clay body made with Kikyo's bones and ashes. Kagome appears to suffer no permanent harm, but a small part of her soul detaches and reanimates the new body with Kikyo's memories, personality, and human appearance. Although Kikyo retains some of her old powers in this form, she remains technically "dead" and must absorb the souls of dead women in order to move. At first, she wants to vengefully drag InuYasha to hell and kill Kagome to recover the rest of her soul. However, Kikyo gradually returns to her former compassionate nature and learns that Naraku caused the real circumstances of her death. She protects Kohaku, saving his life, and finally dies peacefully in InuYasha's arms after Naraku attacks her.
In the anime adaptation, she is voiced by Noriko Hidaka. In the English dub, she is voiced by Willow Johnson.
Sesshomaru
Sesshomaru (殺生丸, Sesshōmaru?) is InuYasha's older half-brother. As a full-blooded demon, he is very powerful, though he too has been unable to completely defeat Naraku. Unlike most demons seen in the series, he shows no interest in possessing any of the Shikon shards, feeling confident of his own strength and seeming to find the use of the gem to enhance one's power distasteful. He is initially ruthless in dealing with InuYasha, whom he despises as a half-demon who consorts with humans, and attempts to take the sword Tetsusaiga from him. However, Sesshomaru gradually changes after using Tenseiga, another sword made from one of their father's fangs, to revive the human child Rin. His growing compassion prompts the master swordsmith Totosai to reforge Tenseiga, enabling the Meidou Zangetsuha ("dark path of the dawn's moon blast") attack. After Naraku attempts to manipulate him by using Rin as a hostage, Sesshomaru becomes determined to destroy Naraku. He eventually gains his own blade that is a manifestation of his own power, the Bakusaiga. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Ken Narita. In the English dub, he is voiced by David Kaye.
Naraku
Naraku (奈落?) is the series' primary antagonist. Naraku is responsible for most of the characters' misfortunes, including the death of Kikyo, the sealing of InuYasha to the sacred tree, Miroku's curse, and the death of Sango's family. Naraku was born from the fusion of Onigumo, a crippled human bandit tended by Kikyo, and a horde of weak demons. Driven by frustrated lust for Kikyo, Onigumo made a bargain with the demons: they could eat his flesh, and the demons would combine into one entity to become part of that new body. However the resulting half-demon promptly caused Kikyo's death in an attempt to corrupt and possess the Shikon Jewel.
Naraku is driven by three goals: To become a full demon, to possess a fully-corrupted Shikon Jewel, and to possess Kikyo. The third goal is rooted in Onigumo's heart as a vital part of Naraku's body, causing an obsession with Kikyo that prevents him from killing her. He attempts to rid himself of Onigumo's heart multiple times, ultimately separating it into The Infant. With his heart freed from his obsession, he is able to later kill Kikyo. Prior to his demise, however, he expressed regret at not being able to have her for his own.
Throughout the series, Naraku creates many subordinate beings from his own body to aid his goal of killing his opponents and reuniting the shards of the Shikon Jewel, whose corrupted form he hopes to use to gain ultimate power.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa. In the English dub, he is voiced by Paul Dobson.
Kagura
Kagura (神楽?) is a creation of Naraku's, his second "detachment" although she is introduced before her "elder sister" Kanna.[7] A wind sorceress, Kagura uses a fan to enhance her powers; she can create a blade-like tornado or use wind to animate dead bodies. She can also use her feather hair-ornaments as transportation, enlarging them to ride in the wind. Kagura hates Naraku and wishes to be free from him, covertly opposing him to the point of offering aid to both InuYasha and Sesshomaru in hopes that they can kill him.
After Kohaku's memories return, Kagura becomes increasingly protective of the boy: she shares information with him about Naraku's weaknesses; she thwarts her fellow "detachment" Hakudōshi from taking the Shikon shard that keeps Kohaku alive; finally, she openly defies Naraku by helping Kohaku escape. Naraku mockingly returns her heart before fatally wounding her and leaving her to die. While tracking Naraku, Sesshomaru finds her dying; she seems happy to see him, although his sword Tenseiga cannot save her. InuYasha's group also arrives, helplessly watching her body dissolve into the wind. Afterwards, InuYasha asks if she suffered; Sesshomaru replies that she was smiling when she died.
In the anime adaptation, she is voiced by Izumi Oogami. In the English dub, she is voiced by Janyse Jaud.
Kanna
Kanna (神無?) is the first detachment of Naraku. She appears to be a ten-year-old girl with white hair and clothing. As a "concealed incarnation" of Naraku, Kanna has no scent and no demonic aura, making her undetectable to InuYasha's senses and immune to demonic aura-related effects such as the Hakurei-zan barrier.. Kanna is the only incarnation that Naraku trusts with important information about his actions, allowing her to give orders in his place.
Kanna carries a demonic mirror that can steal the souls of those reflected in it. Once a soul is trapped by her mirror, Kanna can control that person's body to carry out her bidding. However, the mirror can be overwhelmed by an especially powerful soul such as Kagome's, forcing Kanna to release all of the trapped souls before the glass shatters. The mirror can also create a glass demon to copy the abilities of whatever it reflects, though Kanna herself suffers damage when the glass demon is wounded. In her last battle, Kanna is ordered by Naraku to commit suicide, shattering herself and her glass demon into thousands of tiny shards. Driven by Kanna's final thought, one of the shards hits Kagome's right eye and gives her the knowledge of how to destroy Naraku.
She is voiced by Yukana Nogami. In the English dub, she is voiced by Janyse Jaud.
Muso
Muso (無双, Musō?) is the sixth detachment of Naraku, discarded in an attempt to remove his human core, Onigumo. Naraku cares so little for this incarnation that he gives it no name or face; Muso takes both of those for himself from a wandering monk that he kills. Muso ventures to Kikyo's former village, where he fights InuYasha's group. Naraku's constituent demons attempt to win their freedom, since Onigumo (who made the initial pact with them) is no longer there; to stop them, Naraku finds Muso and reabsorbs him back into his body.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Hiroshi Yanaka. In the English dub, he is voiced by Brian Dobson.
[edit] The Infant
The Infant (赤子, Akago?) is Naraku's heart and seventh detachment. He appears to be a human baby, but can speak fluently and control people with the darkness in their own hearts. His goal is to use Kagome to find the remaining shards of the Shikon Jewel. He finds her jealousy of InuYasha's feelings for Kikyo, but InuYasha saves her before The Infant can control her. Like Hakudoshi and Kagura, the Infant is not loyal to Naraku. Hakudoshi creates the demonic golem Moryomaru to provide the Infant an impenetrable defense, and the Infant adds new demons to further increase his abilities. Both the baby and Moryomaru are killed when Naraku reabsorbs them.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Ai Kobayashi.
Hakudoshi
Hakudoshi (白童子, Hakudōshi?) is the eighth detachment from Naraku. Created from The Infant's body, he takes the form of a young child. Because his heart remains inside The Infant, he can use all of the same powers and his own body can endlessly regenerate from any damage. Both The Infant and Hakudoshi eventually grow tired of Naraku's rule and seek to overthrow him. Hakudoshi creates Moryomaru to protect the infant. Naraku discovers their traitorous intentions and has the Saimyosho (poisonous hell wasps) abandon Hakudoshi in battle, giving him no protection against Miroku's Wind Tunnel. Hakudoshi is subsequently sucked into the tunnel and killed.
He is voiced by Ai Kobayashi. In the English dub, he is voiced by Chiara Zanni.
Byakuya
Byakuya (白夜?) is Naraku's ninth and final detachment, meant to replace Kagura. His main purpose is to observe InuYasha and Moryomaru's growing powers and report back to Naraku. He has an incredible power to create illusions, but has many other powers as well: he can possess people with paper soldiers, summon vines to entrap his enemies, teleport others to different dimensions, detach organs from his body, and erect barriers. He travels on a giant origami paper crane.
After taking the power of one slash of InuYasha's Meidou Zangetsuha, he later slashes Kagome with the blade. However, before he gets a chance at a second strike, InuYasha attacks him with his Meidou Zangetsuha and Byakuya is absorbed into it. When Naraku dies, a Meidou appears behind Kagome, due to Byakuya's Meidou Blade. In the anime television series, Byakuya is voiced by Mitsuaki Madono.
[edit] Band of Seven
The Band of Seven (七人隊, Shichinintai?) are seven mercenaries brought back to life by Naraku using the Shikon Jewel shards. All of their names end in kotsu (骨?), meaning "bone".
Kyokotsu
Kyokotsu (凶骨?) is the largest but weakest of the Band of Seven. His weapon is his size itself, and he proves to be a formidable foe. Against Koga, Kyokotsu also uses a giant iron ball attached to a flail-like long chain, but this is nearly useless against Koga's speed. He terrorizes yōkai-wolf tribes who are defenseless against his size and invulnerability. Despite his massive size and fearsome looks, Kyokotsu is human. Kyokotsu is defeated when he holds Koga too close to his face, allowing Koga to pull out his Shikon jewel shard and kill him instantly.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Daisuke Gōri. In the English dub, he is voiced by Mark Gibbon.
Jakotsu
Jakotsu (蛇骨?) is the second strongest of the Band of Seven and the third in command. He has been a close friend of their leader, Bankotsu, since before the group's formation and is still the only person Bankotsu trusts.Jakotsu's chief weapon, the Snake Sword or Jakotsuto, has segmented retractable blades that curve out across a great distance, making it difficult for an opponent to calculate his next move. Jakotsu is depicted acting in a homosexual manner, such as admiring Koga's loincloth and claiming to have feelings for InuYasha, but because of his sadistic qualities, he basically wants to kill them in what he considers to be an affectionate way.
Jakotsu loses a lengthy battle to InuYasha and is badly wounded, giving Renkotsu the opportunity to steal his Shikon shard. As he dies from the shard's removal, Jakotsu says he is happy because he got to fight the battle he wanted and he had fun with his second chance in life. Bankotsu later avenges his friend's death by killing Renkotsu.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Ai Orikasa. In the English dub, he is voiced by Jenn Forgie.
Mukotsu
Mukotsu (霧骨?) is a short poison master and is the sixth strongest of the Band of Seven. He abducts Kagome; in the anime, he initiates a wedding ceremony with her but becomes angry at her reaction to his facial features, and attacks her when she tries to remove his Shikon Jewel shard. However, in the manga, Mukotsu attempts to harass Kagome until she stabs him, and soon after Miroku and Sango appear. Mukotsu poisons Kagome, Miroku, and Sango, nearly killing them, but is soon killed by Sesshomaru, who is immune to his poisons.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Tetsu Inada. In the English dub, he is voiced by Trevor Devall.
Renkotsu
Renkotsu (煉骨?) is the second in command and is the third strongest member of the Band of Seven. An expert military engineer, he creates explosives and incendiary devices, including a type of flaming oil that he can spew from his mouth, and he reconstructs Ginkotsu into a living artillery weapon that resembles a modern tank. He is also a gifted strategist and has some skill at hand to hand combat, although the only members of the group he surpasses in fighting skills are Mukotsu and Kyokotsu.
He becomes resentful of Bankotsu's power and dares to betray him. After Ginkotsu self-destructs to save Renkotsu from Koga, Renkotsu takes Ginkotsu's shard and inserts it into his own wounded shoulder. Later, he kills the injured Jakotsu after his battle with InuYasha and takes his shard. As punishment for hiding the shards and killing Jakotsu, Bankotsu kills him.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita. In the English dub, he is voiced by Brian Drummond.
Ginkotsu
Ginkotsu (銀骨?), the fifth strongest of the Band of Seven, has metal parts on his body and various weapons built inside it. His speech is rarely intelligible, only changing when angered. In his early, relatively human form, he carries a katana, an axe attached with a chain, a spear, "steel" wires, a grappler that replaced his left arm, disk-blades, a cannon on his shoulder, and a drill in his chest.
He barely survives his first encounter with InuYasha and is reconstructed by Renkotsu into a siege tank with spider-like legs and disk-blade wheels. In tank form, his offense is two main cannons along with the "steel" wires. In the anime, his additional weapons include a larger array of firearms as well as a rocket-like launch of his main body, which contains wire launchers and a flamethrower. His final weapon is a self-destruct mechanism.
He and Renkotsu fight Koga together. In the manga, he explodes when Koga stuffs pieces of Renkotsu's armor into his cannons, causing them to backfire. In the anime, he survives this attack, but goes berserk when Renkotsu receives a heavy wound to his left shoulder; to save Renkotsu, Ginkotsu fruitlessly unleashes his entire arsenal at Koga, then self-destructs in an explosion while shielding Renkotsu with his own jewel shard.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Hisao Egawa. In the English dub, he is voiced by Mark Gibbon.
Suikotsu
Suikotsu (睡骨?) is the fourth strongest of the Band of Seven. He has a split personality: "Doctor Suikotsu" has a normal human appearance and is good, kind, and respected by villagers; "Suikotsu of the Band of Seven" has bristly hair and shaded patterns on his face, and is evil and bloodthirsty. He has phenomenal strength, agility, and savage combat skills, and uses exceptionally long-bladed iron claws as weapons. He returns to his former village with his normal appearance, but still violent and willing to kill. After taking Rin as a hostage, he is beaten by the combined strength of Sesshomaru and Kikyo's sacred arrow, and asks them to remove the Shikon shard from his neck to let him die peacefully. Respecting his wishes, Kikyo reaches for the shard but is stopped by Jakotsu, who takes it to Bankotsu.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Hiroaki Hirata. In the English dub, he is voiced by Michael Donovan.
Bankotsu
Bankotsu (蛮骨?) is the leader of the Band of Seven. Both the youngest and strongest member of the group, he carries the huge Banryu halberd. Bankotsu is a skilled mercenary and has killed many people; he retains a sense of honor and compassion, but only for his six companions.
After his resurrection, Bankotsu uses Banryu to kill everyone in the surrounding area. The scent of blood draws InuYasha's group to engage in battle until Naraku summons the Band of Seven back to him. During the fight, Banryu is damaged by InuYasha's "Wind Scar" attack, but gains the ability to deflect that attack after Bankotsu repairs it with the jewel shards Renkotsu stole from Kagome. After learning that Renkotsu murdered Jakotsu, Bankotsu kills Renkotsu for his betrayal. With seven fragments in his body and two in his halberd, Bankotsu heads off to destroy InuYasha.
In the manga, InuYasha gradually cuts the Shikon shards out of Bankotsu's body as the battle progresses until Bankotsu is cut in two, with Naraku stripping the remaining half of its Shikon shard. In the anime, Bankotsu slays 1,000 yōkai and kills 1,000 warlords with Banryu, transforming it into a demonic weapon that projects its wielder's hatred as powerful demonic energy. However, this proves to be his downfall as InuYasha reflects this attack with the Backlash Wave, crushing Bankotsu and shattering Banryū.And is after completely destroyed when Naraku takes out his last shard turning him back to bones.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Takeshi Kusao. In the English dub, he is voiced by Matt Hill.
Supporting characters
Kaede
Kaede (楓?) is Kikyo's younger sister and assists her with various tasks such as gathering herbs or holding her arrows. After Kikyo's death, Kaede becomes a miko in her own right and defends the village against demons. When Kagome arrives, Kaede recognizes her as the reincarnation of Kikyo. After Kagome frees InuYasha, Kaede puts the "Beads of Subjugation" onto him to give Kagome the power to control him with a spoken word. Kaede is highly respected by the villagers and the members of InuYasha's group, and she often advises them about demons and other spiritual anomalies. Though InuYasha is easily annoyed by her, he listens to her when necessary and doesn't hesitate to protect her from a threat.
Kaede loses an eye sometime during her life. In the manga, her eye appears to be freshly bandaged and bleeding shortly before Kikyo's death, suggesting that the wound occurs when "InuYasha" (really Naraku in disguise) attacks the village to steal the Shikon Jewel; supplementary information states that she "lost her elder sister and her eye in an incident fifty years ago."[1] In the anime, her eye is accidentally injured, and consequently blinded, by Kikyo.
In the anime adaptation, she is voiced by Hisako Kyoda. In the English dub, she is voiced by Pam Hyatt who depicts her with an archaic tone and vocabulary, such as using "ye" even extra-grammatically as an accusative and dative.
Myoga
Myoga (冥加, Myōga?) is a flea demon who appears randomly and gives InuYasha information on current events, foes, and the shards of the Shikon Jewel. Assigned to protect Tetsusaiga's hiding place in the grave of InuYasha's father, he runs away when Sesshomaru comes there in search of the sword. Myoga often flees before or during a battle, which the others recognize as a sign of pending danger; his mere presence in any area is enough to determine its safety. Myoga enjoys drinking demon blood, and actually saves InuYasha's life at one point by drinking a spider demon's venom out of his blood. He can save the others in a similar manner, but often gets slapped for drinking their blood without permission. In the anime series, he is engaged to another flea demon named Shoga, but continually runs from her to avoid the marriage.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kenichi Ogata. In the English dub, he is voiced by Paul Dobson.
Jaken
Jaken (邪見?) is a small green imp-like yōkai who is extremely loyal to Sesshomaru, often praising his master's greatness although Sesshomaru usually ignores him. Jaken himself is not especially powerful, despite bearing a weapon known as the Staff of Two Heads (人頭杖, nintōjō). He seldom engages in battle and is actually killed by Kaijinbo with Tōkijin, but Sesshomaru resurrects him with Tenseiga.
The manga explains little about Jaken's past, but the anime shows that Jaken was once a lord among similar demons. During battle with another yōkai tribe, the enemy leader had Jaken by his neck when Sesshomaru appeared and told the demon to move out of his path. When this was not obeyed, he destroyed the yōkai with this poison whip. Out of a sense of obligation, Jaken followed Sesshomaru, who allowed him to become a servant if he could use the Staff of Two Heads.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Yuichi Nagashima. In the English dub, he is voiced by Don Brown.
Shippo
Shippo (七宝, Shippō?) is an orphaned young fox demon who attempts to steal the Shikon Jewel from Kagome and InuYasha, wanting to become stronger and avenge his father's death. Though his plan fails, Kagome and InuYasha aid him after hearing his story, and he becomes their companion for the rest of the series.
Shippo normally appears to be a young boy with certain fox-like features: his legs, feet, ears, and tail. He can shape-shift, but his other forms (such as a large pink flying balloon) are temporary and often ineffective, usually given away by his lingering fox tail. He can also create illusory duplicates of himself, as well as weak fox-fire magic and toy-based tricks such as his giant spinning top attack. Naively observant, he often directs cheeky comments to InuYasha, earning a smack on the head. InuYasha and Kagome serve as older sibling figures to Shippo. Because of his small size, Shippo often rides on Kirara or the shoulders of others. His actual age is never stated in the series; according to the official InuYasha guide by Rumiko Takahashi, his appearance is equivalent to that of a seven year old boy.[1]
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kumiko Watanabe. In the English dub, he is voiced by Jillian Michaels.
Kirara
Kirara (雲母?) is Sango's faithful demon-cat companion. Kirara usually appears to be a small kitten-sized feline with two tails, but can become large enough to carry several passengers (usually Sango, Miroku, and Shippo). Her full-sized form has more prominent fangs, flames around her feet and tail, and enough power to fly through the air fast enough to keep up with InuYasha's top speed.
At the end of the series after Naraku's defeat, she joins Kohaku as he trains to become a demon slayer while Sango starts her new life with Miroku and their children. The anime series suggests that she was once the companion of Midoriko, the miko who created the Shikon Jewel.
She is voiced by Tarako in both the original Japanese and the English dubbed version of the series.
Kohaku
Kohaku (琥珀?) is Sango's younger brother. Disguised as the young nobleman Kagewaki Hitomi, Naraku summons Sango's family and companions to slay a false demon, then controls Kohaku with a Shikon shard and makes him kill all of the other demon slayers (Sango survives solely by sheer luck). Castle guards also kill Kohaku that night.
Naraku resurrects him as an amnesiac puppet, but after several encounters with Sango and her friends, Kohaku begins to recover his painful memories. Kagura helps him escape from Naraku, who kills her for the defection. Hoping to redeem himself, Kohaku travels with Kikyo until she tells him he must leave her to keep his shard pure. He later joins Sesshomaru's group and becomes Rin's friend and co-protector.
In the last chapter of the manga, Kohaku goes with Kirara and a new demon-slaying weapon which Totosai made for him. When Totosai asks him if he will visit his sister Sango, he replies that he will not, since the house is getting too crowded.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Akiko Yajima. In the English dub, he is initially voiced by Alex Doduk, then later by Danny McKinnon.
Totosai
Totosai (刀々斎, Tōtōsai?) is an elderly blacksmith yōkai who forged Tetsusaiga and Tensaiga from the fangs of his old friend, The Great Dog Demon, who entrusted him to help his two sons. As InuYasha grows stronger and Sesshomaru grows more compassionate, they become more capable of mastering their respective swords, which Totosai strengthens accordingly. He spends most of his time at his forge inside a volcano, but sometimes travels elsewhere on a flying three-eyed ox named Mō-Mō.
Totosai often appears to be a cowardly, absent-minded old man, but he has the strength to pause an attack from Sesshomaru long enough to allow InuYasha to get away; he can breathe fire and his giant forge hammer can open large fire pits in the ground. At the end of the series, he continues his role as a blacksmith as seen when giving Kohaku a new weapon.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Jōji Yanami. In the English dub, he is voiced by Richard Newman.
Rin
Rin (りん?) is an orphan girl who finds Sesshomaru in the woods after he is badly injured by InuYasha. Although Sesshomaru snubs her, she visits him regularly and attempts to take care of him, even stealing fish from the village for him until she learns that he doesn't eat human food. The villagers beat her for the theft, but when Sesshomaru idly inquires about her injuries, she seems strangely happy about his interest in her welfare. During this time, she never speaks, only communicating with hand gestures and smiles.
Later, the wolf-demon Koga chases a thief to her village, then lets his wolves kill and eat the villagers. Rin flees through the forest towards Sesshomaru, but the wolves catch up to her. Recovered from his wounds, Sesshomaru is leaving when he catches Rin's scent and follows it to her mauled corpse. Remembering her smile, he retests Tenseiga by using it to resurrect her. After setting Rin on her feet again, Sesshomaru walks away, leaving the dumbfounded Jaken and a wide-eyed Rin standing on the path. After a moment, they both follow. The next time Rin appears, she is clean, wearing a new, colorful kimono, and talking and acting more like a typical child. Throughout the series, she continues to follow "Lord Sesshomaru", as she calls him; when he is away on dangerous tasks, she waits for him with Jaken and a two-headed dragon which she names "Ah-Un".
Though Sesshomaru never states any feelings for her, he displays a strong protective instinct and Rin is obviously devoted to him. Rin is killed for a second time when she and Kohaku, now also journeying with Sesshomaru, are taken by the "Dog from Hell." When he finds her body, Sesshomaru is visibly disturbed, especially when he learns that Tenseiga can only revive a person once. Rin's lifeless body is taken by the Master of Hell, with Sesshomaru and Kohaku following to retrieve her. When they return from the Land of the Dead, Sesshomaru's mother uses her Meidou stone to revive Rin. Jaken confirms that it made Sesshomaru happy while Sesshomaru puts his hand on Rin's cheek.
In the final chapter of the manga, set three years after the defeat of Naraku, Rin no longer travels with Sesshomaru and Jaken. Instead, she lives with Kaede, which InuYasha comments is "practice" for her to live in a human village as an adult, or whatever life she chooses. Sesshomaru is shown visiting her and bringing her gifts.
In the anime adaptation, Rin is voiced by Mamiko Noto. In the English dub, she is voiced by Brenna O'Brien.
Koga
Koga (鋼牙, Kōga?) is the young leader of the southern yōkai-wolf tribe, which is nearly wiped out by Kagura and Naraku. He first meets InuYasha as an opponent in battle, but becomes a reluctant, occasional ally despite maintaining a strong sense of rivalry with the "useless mutt" about their relative combat strengths as well as Koga's persistent courtship of Kagome.
After suffering serious wounds, Koga is partially restored by three Shikon shards embedded into his legs and right arm. The shards are eventually taken away from him by Naraku, gravely weakening him; he leaves and disappears from the manga, after telling Kagome that she may leave InuYasha and come to him at any time. In the epilogue of the anime, it is revealed that Koga united all of the wolf demon tribes and married Ayame, the wolf demon girl he had long ago promised to marry "on the night of the full moon rainbow" (A promise he had seemingly completely forgotten when she appeared earlier, but evidently eventually decided to keep.)
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Taiki Matsuno. In the English dub, he is voiced by Scott McNeil.
Minor characters
The Great Dog Demon
The Great Dog Demon (犬の大将, Inu no Taishō?) was a powerful yōkai lord who was known throughout Japan. Never formally addressed with a name, he fathered two sons by two different mothers: Sesshomaru from an unnamed dog demoness, and InuYasha from a human woman (unnamed in the manga, but named "Izayoi" in the third movie). The Great Dog Demon is first mentioned in chapter 12 of the manga as InuYasha's father, "a demon dog that prowled the lands of the west".
The Great Dog Demon's major foe in the manga was the dragon Ryūkotsusei, whom he could not kill but sealed onto a cliff face with his claw; Myōga calls this battle the "cause" of his death. In the third InuYasha film, InuYasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler, the Great Dog Demon survives long enough to save Izayoi and their newborn child InuYasha; still weak from his battle with Ryukotsusei, he dies defending them from a human foe.
The gateway to his tomb is hidden in a black pearl (a mystical gem that creates a path between the mortal and spirit worlds) inside InuYasha's right eye. Within the pearl, their father's body is shown as an enormous dog skeleton in a suit of armor: his true form, according to Myoga. The sword Tetsusaiga, forged from the Great Dog Demon's own fang, rests inside this cavernous skeleton, protected by a barrier that repels any non-human with malice toward humans. Because of this, InuYasha inherits the sword rather than Sesshomaru.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Akio Ōtsuka. In the English dub, he is voiced by Don Brown.
InuYasha's mother
InuYasha's mother was a gentle, beautiful human, the daughter of an impoverished noble house.[1] She loved InuYasha's father and was saddened that the young InuYasha was shunned for his half-demon status. Little else is revealed about her family, age, or even how she died, with InuYasha only noting that she died "a long time ago" and that her manner of death "wasn't her fault". Upon her death, InuYasha inherits the Robe of the Fire Rat, which his father gave his mother to protect her on the night InuYasha was born, and a shell containing his mother's favorite lip coloring which he gives to Kikyo.
The third InuYasha film, InuYasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler, which is not directly based on the manga, gives InuYasha's mother the name Izayoi (十六夜?). The film shows her on the night of InuYasha's birth as a captive of Setsuna no Takemaru and his samurai, who plan to lure the Great Dog Demon into coming to rescue her so they can kill him. Izayoi pleads with Takemaru to leave and save his own life, but Takemaru claims he loves her and stabs her through the chest with a spear. Before she dies, she is able to give birth to InuYasha. The Great Dog Demon, already injured by his battle with Ryūkotsusei, fights his way through Takemaru's men and the burning building to reach his dead lover and his newborn child. He uses the Tenseiga sword to restore her to life, then covers her with the Robe of the Fire Rat and orders her to flee. Before she leaves, he names his son InuYasha. The Great Dog Demon remains behind to fight Takemaru to the death as Izayoi flees with their child.
In the anime adaptation, she is voiced by Kikuko Inoue. In the English dub, she is voiced by Alaina Burnett.
Jinenji
Jinenji (地念児?) is a half-human, half-horse demon who lives in a hut with his human mother. Together they grow a variety of medicinal plants, including some known for being powerful against poisons. He is first seen when Kirara is poisoned by Naraku's shōki and Kagome and InuYasha travel to the village to find a cure. Because of his demon blood, the villagers falsely suspect him of killing people, but Jinenji is a gentle giant who is scared of humans because of the way they treat him. He is surprised when Kagome is not frightened by his appearance at all and willingly helps him collect herbs. Shunned and abused by humans during his own childhood as a half-demon, Inuyasha attempts to convince Jinenji that he needs to be more forceful towards the villagers, especially after he rescues them from the demon who really committed the murders. In the end, Jinenji decides to continue his more gentle approach, giving healing herbs to the men injured during the demon attack. Like InuYasha, Jinenji becomes fully human one day a month. During one of these times, Rin visits his home searching for the same cure to heal Jaken, who was poisoned by the wasps while protecting her.
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Hisao Egawa. In the English dub, he is voiced by Michael Dobson.
Ah-Un
Ah- Un (阿吽, A-Un?) is a two-headed dragon demon and Sesshomaru's beast of burden. He is one of two yōkai in the series who is explicitly stated to be an herbivore. Despite traveling with Sesshomaru for centuries, he has no name until Rin gives him one, calling the right head "Ah" and the left head "Un". Ah-Un can fire yōkai energy from both mouths. The right head shoots blue beams of lightning, while the left shoots green lightning that can control clouds and possibly the weather. A grey cloud-like gas trails from his legs in flight, similar to Kirara's flames.
On their journeys, Rin and Jaken often rest on his back to fly over great distances. When Sesshomaru leaves Rin in a safe place, Ah-Un stays with her as her protector. He saves Rin from a group of lesser demons while she is collecting herbs to save Jaken from being poisoned by Naraku's Saimyōshō. Ah-Un also defeats many of Setsuna no Takemaru's zombie warriors in InuYasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler.
Moryomaru
Moryomaru (魍魎丸, Mōryōmaru?) is an enemy of Naraku, despite being indirectly created by his powers via Hakudoshi. He is a 100 foot long demonic golem who can shoot blasts of energy from his arm. At first, he is merely a life force puppet made from yōkai, lacking any true personality, soul or will. Kanna places The Infant inside him, giving Moryomaru Naraku's physical life force. Moryomaru increases in power as he absorbs different yōkai to gain their abilities, and nearly defeats a combined onslaught of most of Naraku's enemies, including Kikyo, Kohaku, Kagome, InuYasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Sesshomaru. He succeeds in breaking Sesshomaru's sword, but flees after nearly losing a shard of the Shikon Jewel. He is killed when he devours Naraku, and Naraku absorbs his power from the inside and uses it to be reborn. In the anime television series, Moryomaru is voiced by Masaki Terasoma.
Hosenki
Hosenki (宝仙鬼, Hōsenki?) is an oyster-demon who cultivates a variety of magical jewels. He created the black pearl in InuYasha's right eye that enabled Sesshomaru to travel to his father's grave and try to steal Tetsusaiga, the sword his father willed to InuYasha. Needing to return to the netherworld later in the series, InuYasha's group seeks out Hosenki, but learn that he has died and his namesake son cannot make the gems yet. They find another path to the netherworld where they find the departed Hosenki sitting among the bones of InuYasha's father's body. However, he has been corrupted by a tainted shard of the Shikon Jewel and attacks InuYasha. After Naraku reclaims his shard, Hosenki returns to normal and gives InuYasha the use of Adamant Barrage; an attack gained by Inuyasha's loyalty to his friends and lack of greed..
In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Ryūzaburō Ōtomo. In the English dub, he is voiced by Dave Pettitt.
