inuyasha characters

inuyasha characters

Inuyasha
The namesake of the series, Inuyasha is an angsty half demon. The product of a union between his human mother Izayoi and his Demon Lord father Inutaisho*, his father is killed while he is resurrecting and rescuing Izayoi and infant Inuyasha from Setsunano Takemaru. There's very little canon information available that I've seen about Inuyasha's childhood other than the nebulous description of it being "Unpleasant" and that he was shunned by both demons and humans alike. There are apparently portions of the manga that show him and Sesshoumaru growing up together and getting along well, but I haven't seen them. Probably because I haven't read the manga ;;(^o^);;. Anyway, I'll make a trip to the comic shop and fix that soon and let you know what I find. 

Fast forward to a grown up Inuyasha. Embittered with the way life's treating him, Inuyasha decides he'll do whatever it takes to become a full-fledged demon. His search for the Shikon Jewel puts him in the path of Kikyo, who rather than kill him, disables him by pinning him to a tree with her arrows. She continues to kill demons that come to the area looking for the Shikon Jewels and Inuyasha hangs around the area and hides in the shrubbery. Kikyo kept talking to him even though he was concealed and eventually they would come to have longer conversations, and later fall in love. 

Eventually they decided to use the Shikon Jewel to make Inuyasha fully human and since the jewel would be gone, Kikyo would no longer have to guard it and she'd be free to live with Inuyasha. Having talked it over the two agreed to meet the next day and Kikyo would bring the jewel for Inuyasha. 

Unfortunately, a crippled bandit named Onigumo who Kikyo had been caring for was lusted after her and wanted to corrupt her and the jewel. He made a deal with a bunch of demons to give them his body to devour in exchange for a new body with which to corrupt Kikyo and the Jewel. The demons ate his old body and formed themselves into a new one for him. The result was the demon Naraku. 

Naraku changed his shape to take the form of Inuyasha and attacked Kikyo. Mortally wounding her, he taunted her by saying it was all an act to get the Shikon Jewel and that he never loved he. He took the Jewel from her and returned it to the shrine before starting the second part of his plan. That taken care of, he then attacked Inuyasha while in the form of Kikyo. Angered, Inuyasha went to the shrine and took the jewel. While he was escaping, the real Kikyo found him and pinned him to a tree with an arrow just before she died. 

He stayed pinned to the tree for fifty years, unconscious. Kagome revives him in the first episode to save her from Lady Centipede. After Lady Centipede's defeat the then turns on Kagome to get the Shikon Jewel, but is put under control by a magic rosary that Kaede put around his neck. Whenever Inuyasha acted up, all Kagome has to do is tell him to sit and it plants him face-first onto the ground. 


Kagome
Kagome Higurashi is a 15 year old student from modern day Japan and the reincarnation of the priestess Kikyo. She lives on the grounds of her family's shrine with her grandfather, mother, little brother, and her cat Buyo. There are also two important landmarks at the shrine which are common to both the present day and the Sengoku period in which most of her adventures take place. The first is the Sacred Tree, which is the same tree Inuyasha was pinned to by Kikyo. The second is The Bone Eater's Well, which Kagome uses to travel back and forth through time. 

Kagome is smart, headstrong, and courageous. She is very protective of her traveling companions, and even though not an episode goes by where she doesn't plant him on the ground with a "Sit!", she's especially fond of Inuyasha. In fact, even though he tries to kill her in the first episode, the two quickly develop strong, though dysfunctional feelings for each other. 

Kagome starts the series as an average Junior High student heading off to school. She happens across her brother standing at the old wellhouse calling for their cat. Her brother was afraid to go into the creepy old wellhouse, so Kagome went in for him. She quickly encountered the cat Buyo, but moments later the demon Lady Centipede burst though the well cover and drug Kagome into the well. In a moment of panic, Kagome instinctively uses the power of the Shikon Jewel embedded in her to blast of a couple of Lady Centipede's arms and repel her. 

That problem solved, Kagome climbs out of the Bone Eater's well to discover that her surroundings have completely changed. She explores a bit and finds an Unconscious Inuyasha pinned to the Sacred Tree, but is soon captured by the local villagers. They at first believe she's a demon, but after questioning, Kiyo's younger sister Kaede takes her in. 

During the night, Lady Centipede attacks the village intent on getting Kagome. In order to lure her away from the village Kagome takes off running for the forest. Her cries for help awaken Inuyasha who tries to pull out the arrow that's keeping him trapped, but it's got some sort of magic on it that prevents him from touching it. At first Inuyasha mistakes her for Kikyo, but a few sniffs and angry words late he realizes Kagome is not Kikyo. 

About this time Lady Centipede catches up to her and grabs Kagome. Kagome blasts Lady Centipede again and something in the side of her torso starts to glow. Lady Centipede attacks Kagome again, this time sending her flying through the air with a wound in her side. While she's flying through the air the Shikon Jewel comes out of the wound, falls to the ground, and lands next to Kagome. Inuyasha yells for the Shikon Jewel, but Lady Centipede pins Kagome to the Sacred Tree along with Inuyasha with her coils. Using her long tongue, Lady Centipede grabs the Shikon Jewel and swallows it. All her limbs return to her and she transforms into a much, much more powerful demon. 

Inuyasha quickly convinces Kagome to free him by pulling the arrow out in order to save them both. Inuyasha quickly destroys her since it's his series and it wouldn't make much sense if they all died in the first episode. Kaede asks her if she can see the glowing Shikon Jewel in the remains of Lady Centipede. She does, they extract it, and the flesh melts away from the chunks of Lady Centipede. 


Shippou
Shippou is a young Fox Demon and was the first traveling companion to join Inuyasha and Kagome. Shippou is stubborn, smart mouthed, and has a gigantic sweet tooth. All in all he's a anchtypical kid - except when it comes to Inuyasha. In just about anything involving Inuyasha, Shippou is the adult between the two of them. 

Shippou was first seen in episode 9 in his giant pink balloon form trying to intimidate Inuyasha and Kagome out of their Shikon jewel shards. He does manage to steal their Shikon jewel shards, but is quickly caught. Shippou then tells them that he needs the jewel shards to avenge his parents who were killed by the Thunder Brothers, Hiten and Manten. Although they got off on a rough start with Kagome getting kidnapped and Inuyasha being trapped, they eventually kill the Thunder Brothers and exact justice. With his parents gone, Shippou joins Inuyasha and Kagome and they become his surrogate family. 

Shippou tries to help with fighting whenever he can, but is usually taking shelter by the endo tf the fight. Not suprising since he's really still a child and his abilities have yet to fully mature. Despite being a child, Shippou is far from defenseless though. His Fox demon heritage grants him a wide array of powers, though most are strictly defensive or illusory. They include the following: 

Weeping Mushrooms (Naki Kinoko) : Leaves a trail of weeping mushrooms that can be followed. 

Smashing Top (Tsubushi Goma) : Illusionary Fox magic that creates a gigantic top that causes enemies to feel crushed or pinned to the ground. Uses a small toy top as a material component. 

Divide (Bunshin) : Uses special leaves to create many illusionary clones of Shippou to confuse and distract the enemy. 

Fox Fire (Kitsune-bi) : A cloud of green fire used for defense and also as an attack against weak opponents. 

Transformation : Transforms Shippou into a variety of forms. The most common is a gigantic pink balloon, though he's also transformed mimself into a bow, a bird, and a variety of other things over the course of the show. 


Sango
Sango is a demon exterminator and has been trained in the art of killing demons from a very young age. She is the daughter of the chief of Taijiya village; a town that earned it's living by exterminating demons that attacked other villages and the surrounding countryside. Letting nothing go to waste, the village collected the bones, hides, shells of the demons they defeated to make their weapons and armor, including Sango's gigantic boomerang Hiraikotsu. 

One day a local lord called for the village's best exterminators to come to his castle and exterminate a demon that had been attacking every night. Sango's father went, along with Sango, her little brother Kohaku, and two other exterminators. They easily defeat the spider demon, but Sango senses that something isn't quite right. Sure enough, Naraku, who has been masquerading as young lord Kagewaki, takes control of Kohaku. Kohaku turns on his companions, quickly killing his father and the other two exterminators in the confusion. Kohaku then turns on Sango, but she blocks his kusari-gama - heavy-bladed sickle on the end of a long chain. Sango sees the web attached to Kohaku that's being used to control him and follows it back to the lord of the castle. She charges the lord in an attempt to free her brother, but Kohaku hits her in the back with his kusari, stopping her charge. Naraku releases his control over Kohaku, who realizing what he's done runs to help Sango. The lord orders his guards to shoot the two. Kohaku is hit with multiple arrows and falls to the ground. The wounded Sango shields him from further arrows and finally collapses as well. 

Just then, Naraku masquerading as Kagewaki kills the lord and says that it wasn't really his father; it was the spider demon in disguise. He then orders that the demon exterminators are to be properly buried in the castle. Miraculously, Sango survives and digs herself out of her grave. She is found by Naraku/Kagewaki and has her wounds tended. While Sango is recovering, Naraku uses one of his puppets to tell himself that Taijiya village has been wiped out by Inuyasha and the village's Shikon jewel shards stolen while, making sure that Sango can overhear. Devastated, Sango demands her weapons and armor in order to avenge her family and village. Being the great guy he is, Naraku gives her a Shikon jewel shard so she can fight without feeling pain from her wounds. Not heal them or anything mind you, just blank out the pain. 

Despite Inuyasha and the gang's wishes, Sango attacks and is quickly defeated despite Naraku helping in the form of his wasps. The wasps grab the Shikon jewel shard and beat feet, causing Sango to pass out from pain and blood loss. Kagome tends her wounds and she regains consciousness to find that Inuyasha and the gang had already paid proper respects to the villagers. She learns that Naraku was the one behind the whole thing and she decides to join the group to exact revenge and free Kohaku, who she learns has become one of Naraku's puppets. 


Kirara
Kirara is a nekomata yokai and long time friend of the demon hunter Sango. Kirara has two forms she can take. Both of Kirara's forms are the same cream color with black stripes around the lower legs and tail, and solid black paws and tail tips. Kirara also has a thin black diamond on the forehead, and large red eyes. The first form is a cuddly, two tailed cat, really not much larger than a kitten. Her second form, which is her true shape, is that of a massive saber-toothed cat as big as a car. While in her true saber-toothed form, her legs and tails are covered with fire and she can fly. While traveling, Kirara usually carries Sango, Miroku, and Shippo in order to allow everyone to keep up with the fast pace that Inuyasha sets with his running and leaping. 

Kirara's friendship with Sango predates their joining Inuyasha's gang; in fact, Kirara has been friends with Sango's family in the taijiya village for generations. In the anime, but not the manga version of Inuyasha, we learn an interesting piece of information, though it turns out not to have been developed past that point. It's revealed that one of Kirara's ancestors, if not Kirara herself was a companion of Midoriko, the priestess who created the Shikon no Tama. If it was Kirara herself who was a companion to Midoriko, it would stand to reason that Kirara would befriend the people of taijiya village. Regardless, Kirara is incredibly loyal and protective of not only Sango but the rest of the people traveling with Inuyasha as well. She has even helped to show Inuyasha how to better use the Tetsusaiga. 

Despite being a nekomata demon, Kirara has none of their tendencies. In fact, she exhibits almost the opposite traits that they're believed to have. 


Miroku
Miroku is an itinerant monk and colossal pervert. Despite the drubbings he gets from Sango, he's probably the most powerful member of the "gang". 

First off he's got the Wind Tunnel (aka Kazaana, 風穴) in his right hand. The Wind Tunnel is the result of a curse placed on his family by Naraku. Miroku's grandfather, who was also a monk, was one of Naraku's early enemies. Though Naraku always took a different form, Miroku's grandfather was able to identify him and fight him to an apparent stalemate. For their last fight however, Naraku adopted the form of a beautiful young maiden. Miroku's grandfather being lecher as well was distracted by Naraku's facade long enough for Naraku to pierce his hand and inflict the curse on Miroku's paternal line. Miraku's grandfather's wind tunnel grew each year until it engulfed him, as the wind tunnel in Miroku's father's hand. Miroku then inherited the Wind Tunnel himself and the only way to stop it from growing each year until it engulfs him is to kill Naraku. In the mean time, the Wind Tunnel is an insanely powerful weapon. Like a black hole it sucks in anything and everything to be destroyed unless it's covered by Miroku's Buddhist Sutra beads. The only thing that seems to have any effect when it's sucked in are Naraku's Hell Wasps (Saimyoushou) , which sting and poison Miroku on their way in. Aside from those, he's sucked in trees, cows, and buildings with no ill effect. 

Aside from the Wind Tunnel he has a fairly varied arsenal of priestly powers, including force barriers, super-speed, and the ability to make "bubbles" of invisibility to evil creatures. 

And none of that works, he can just hit stuff with his Shakujou (monks's staff), which is what ends up doing about half the time anyway. 

In our first exposure to him we find him exercising a weasel demon from a statue to free a nobleman's daughter from its influence, only to use that as a cover to clear out the nobleman's house of treasures. He then laments the low price he got for pawning all that stuff. 


Kaede
Kaede is Kikyo's little sister and the Sengoku period's villiage priestess. 

After her sister's death, she assumed the position of shrine maiden/village priestess and took over the responsibility of leadership and protecting the village from demons. She seems to serve as the Sengoku period's version of Grandpa Higurashi, except considerably more competent and serious. She is a font of knowledge and lore, and her powers actually work. One of the first examples is in the second episode when she summons the Kotodama no Nenju (Spirit Command Rosary) around Inuyasha's neck to get him under control. Later in the series she creates a barrier of invisibility along with Miroku in order to give Inuyasha time to rest and heal. 

Kaede is originally introduced to us in the first episode/act as a small girl rushing to aid Kikyo, wearing a bandage over her right eye. Although it's not explained at that point, her eye was damaged during Inuyasha's rampage through the village. Just before her death, Kikyo tells Kaede to burn the Shikon jewel along with her body to keep it from falling into evil hands. 

The next time we see Kaede is in the village after Kagome is captured at the Sacred Tree. Fifty years have passed and she's now an old woman. She originally believes Kagome is another demon and throws some sort of exorcising powder on her, but soon realizes that Kagome is fact a reincarnation of her older sister Kikyo. 


Myoga
Myoga is a flea demon, Inuyasha's retainer, and the former guardian of Inuyasha's father's tomb. Four armed and the size of a regular flea, Myoga spends a considerable amount of his time being crushed or swatted. He resembles a bald old man with round eyes and droopy mustache, but with a carrot-like feeding tube instead of a mouth. 

Being a flea demon, Myoga loves the taste of blood. In fact, most of his appearances start off with him sucking on Inuyasha until he's swatted off. Despite constant swatting, crushing, and flattening he appears to be indestructible to permanent physical harm. Despite being smushed paper thin, he's always back to normal after a few seconds. 

That doesn't stop him from disappearing whenever there's trouble though. The minute there's even a hint of danger, Myoga either heads for the hills or gets behind whoever's the strongest fighter. Really though, his cowardice shouldn't surprise anyone. He's the size of a flea and he has no method to attack or defend. Why would he want to fight? His strength isn't fighting; it's information 

Myoga knows everything, or at least seems too. Aside from being able to identify demons from the smallest clues and an extensive knowledge of lore, he seems to know everything that's going on in the Sengoku period. I guess he has some sort of information network with normal fleas who report to him. It's never really addressed that I'm aware of, but it would make sense. 

The only other ability Myoga seems to have is that he can filter poisons and even harmful magic out of people by sucking their blood. 


Hojo
Hojo is a schoolmate of Kagome's from B class who has a crush on her and is the descendant of another character from the Inuyasha series, Hojo Akitoki.Apparently he's either cute, fairly popular, or both since Kagome's friends keep trying to get them together. I don't really know though, because I'm all man. I dig chicks and chicks dig me. So anyway, lets go with a combination of cute and popular. 

Hojo is a nice guy. He apparently believes every lame excuse Grandpa Higurashi comes up with for Kagome missing school. To try and help her health improve, he's constantly bringing Kagome theraputic devices or remedies from his family's store. He has ulterior motives of course; he's got a giant crush on Kagome and is trying to get a date with her. 

He does eventually get his date with Kagome while she's mad at Inuyasha, but she's so concerned about Inuyasha she winds up leaving the date early. That would have been the end of it for me, but he's vowed not to give up on her. Probably because he doesn't know about Inuyasha. 

Hojo is another one of those Inuyasha characters we see frequently, but never really learn much about. We never even learn what his given name is since he's always referred to by his family name. He mostly repeats his role of bringing Kagome gifts and trying to get a date with her. 


Grandpa Higurashi
Grandpa Higurashi is Kagome's grandfather and the current caretaker of the Higurashi family shrine. The father figure in her life in the apparent absence of her actual father, he covers for Kagome while she's gone by saying she's got one exotic disease after another. As a priest he also excels at making spell scrolls that don't actually work and recounting ponderous legends about whatever plot device happens to be important in that particular episode or movie. 

Although he doesn't deem to have a lot of talent in the execution, he seems to have first rate knowledge of mythology, demons, and magic. It's also been hinted at that he has some knowledge about Kagome's quest to recover the jewel that he's keeping to himself. 


Mama Higurashi
Mama Higurashi is the insanely permissive and understanding mother of Souta and Kagome Higurashi. There's no information on what her actual name is, so she's just going to stay "Mama" until it's revealed in canon - if ever. 

It's not just her name that there's been little made know about. We also don't know what she does all day. Does she work at the shrine? Does she work outside the home? Does she not work at all and does stuff around the house all day? My guess is that she either works at the shrine or does stuff around the house. She's always around whenever Kagome comes back and she's always unshakably nice and cheerful. No working single mom can stay that cheerful for that long. Regardless, that's still just a guess. 

If there's been little information available about Mama Higurashi, there's been even less made known about her husband. The only information ever offered about her husband is that he proposed to her under the The Go-Shin-Boku. There hasn't even been a hint as to whether he's dead or simply works a job that keeps him away for extremely long periods of time. 

Still, the complete lack of information about her or her husband doesn't change her role. She's an unflappable source of support for Kagome while she's in the modern era. When she found out that Kagome was traveling back in time to fight demons, she didn't bat an eye, ground her, or even lecture her. Instead, she gave her a bike to take with her so Kagome could get around easier. How great is that ? 


Souta Higurashi
Souta is 8 years old Kagome's little brother. He's occasionally jealous of her time-travelling adventures and would like nothing better than to accompany her on them. Despite his desires, Kagome thinks it's too dangerous for him and refuses to let him come. He doesn't seem to resent her for it and worries about her, especially when she's away for extended periods of time 

Souta still helps though in the limited ways he can. Souta biggest contribution is talking to Kagome's teachers, passing on school notes and reminding her of tests so she won't fall too far behind. He also spends a considerable amount of time enduring grandpa's stories, though he seems to put little belief in them. 

Souta admires Inuyasha like a combination of hero and big brother, and never misses a chance to spend time with him when he's in the modern age. Although Inuyasha's advice seems a bit spotty in some cases (like when Souta wants to confess his love to a classmate), it doesn't seem to affect his admiration at all. Souta also does what he can to get Kagome and Inuyasha to make up when they're fighting for extended periods of time. 


Hachi
Hachimon is a Tanuki demon who is the friend, servant, and accomplice of Miroku. Named after the Japanese god of war, Hachimon usually acts quite cowardly and is reluctant to put himself in danger. Despite that, he often seems to arrive just in time to save people or provide transportation at a critical time. Referred to by his nickname Hachi in Inuyasha, he appears infrequently throughout the storyline. His main role is comic relief, transportation, and most often as a plot device. Although it's never implicitly stated, Hachi lives either in or near the temple of Mushin, Miroku's Foster father and mentor. In his first appearance along with Miroku, the two are pulling a scam where Hachi pretends to be a marauding yokai that Miroku drives off. Having "saved" people in distress, Miroku would then collect his reward. 

Hachi's only exhibited power is transformation. Like Shippo, Hachimon can use a leaf to transform himself into a variety of things. His first transformation shown was to become a giant yellow rock on Miroku's orders so that he could snatch Kagome and her bike while Inuyasha was distracted. Hachi is also able to transform into a giant yellow blimpish tadpole sort of thing, a form which he uses to transport people by having them ride on his back. Hachi is not limited to transforming into objects though. We've seen him transform into Miroku in order to pull a scam selling fake seals and getting girls. He's also transformed into Kagome to drunkenly sing along with a drunk, transformed Shippo and Kagome. 


Mistress Centipede
Mistress centipede has the distinction of being the first full-fledged demon appearing in the series. It's Mistress Centipede who bursts out of the Bone-Eater's well and pulls Kagome back to the Sengoku period. Apparently, her remains in the Bone Eater's well were brought back to life by Kagome's proximity because the Shikon Jewel. 

Her initial appearance is that of a multi-armed woman with the (regenerating) lower body of a gigantic centipede. While she was pulling Kagome down the well, the Shikon Jewel activates and Mistress Centipede is repelled by Kagome's hand. As a result, Mistress Centipede lost one of her human arms. For the time being, Mistress Centipede disappears and Kagome is captured by the people of Kade's village. 

Later that night, Mistress Centipede attacks the village in a second attempt to get the Shikon Jewel. In order to lure her away from the village, Kagome runs into the forrest towards the Sacred Tree. Mistress Centipede pursues her and after biting Kagome and tossing her into the air, the Shikon Jewel falls out of Kagome's side to the ground. 

Mistress Centipede swallows the Shikon Jewel and sheds her human skin, transforming into a much more formidable demon. She starts crushing Inuyasha and Kagome, and in order to save their lives, Kagome releases Inuyasha. Despite the added power of the Shikon Jewel Inuyasha easily destroys her. Despite being shred into little pieces, she starts to regenerate because of the Shikon Jewel in her body. However, Kagome spots the glowing jewel shard and Kaede removes it from Mistress Centipede's remains. Once that's done the flesh dissolves from Mistress Centipede's remains, leaving only a skeleton. 


Carrion Crow
The Carrion Crow was the second demon that Inuyasha and Kagome faced, and is the catalyst for the Shikon Jewel being shattered. To be perfectly honest, the Carrion Crow is pretty underwhelming. In its natural state, it's no bigger than a normal crow. The only real difference between it and a normal crow is that it has three red, slitted eyes and a boney reptilian tail. 

It does have one special power that makes it a little dangerous; it's able to burrow into corpses and control them. In episode two, that's exactly what this particular Carrion Crow does. It shows up at Kaede's village after being attracted to the Shikon Jewel. Inuyasha drives it away along with a flock of regular crows, but apparently it went and found a large bandit leader to kill and inhabit. 

Later when Kagome is headed to the Bone-Eater's well she's jumped and kidnapped by the bandits. They take her back to their lair and present her to the bandit leader. The bandit leader promptly goes berserk and attacks everyone, his own bandits included. To distract the leader and buy time, Kagome throws the Shikon Jewel outside the hideout. Shortly after that Inuyasha arrives and drives the Carrion Crow out of the bandit leader's corpse, which promptly turns into a skeleton. The Carrion Crow escapes however and makes off with the Shikon Jewel. It swallows the jewel and grows quite a bit, but still manages to be very unimpressive. Kagome and Inuyasha continue to pursue it and Inuyasha slices it into little chunks after it picks up a young boy and carries him off. The Shikon Jewel causes the Carrion Crow to regenerate though and mostly whole it starts to fly away again. Kagome comes up with a plan to make a 'homing' arrow by taking the Crow's foot that was still clutching the boy and tying it to one of her arrows. Since part of the Carrion Crow is attached to it, the arrow is pulled straight to the Shikon Jewel inside the fleeing Crow. Unfortunately, the arrow strikes the Shikon Jewel dead on, shattering it and spreading the shards all over the countryside. The upside to all that is the Carrion Crow was destroyed. 


Yura
Yura of the Hair is either a Hair Demon or a Comb Demon, I'm not real clear on exactly which. Maybe she's a Hair Comb Demon. Whatever. Regardless, she manifests herself as a hot young woman in a skimpy outfit and looks almost exactly like Nabiki from Ranma. She's the very first bad guy of "note" to appear, the previous villains being a crow (o_O) and Mistress Centipede. Over the course of her fight with Inuyasha she appears to be invulnerable and feels no pain, even surviving her heart being torn out. 

Yura originally show up wanting the Shikon Jewel shards that Inuyasha and Kagome possess, but then also decides she has to have Inuyasha's hair as well. Her desire isn't limited to just Inuyasha's head, it's pretty much everyone's head that she wants. In fact her lair is a giant ball of hair and skulls that she's collected. 

Yura has a Wakizashi named 'Crimson Mist' that she uses, but her primary offense and defense comes from the hair that she can control. She has two different types: The first looks like regular hair and is visible. This is the hair she uses to attack and use to make shields. The other type is invisible to most people and is used to make traps and control people. In fact, she uses this type of hair to control the people of Kaede's village on multiple occasions. 

Yura is finally defeated when Kagome figures out Yura's secret. Kagome figured out that the hairs controlling Yura were coming out of one peculiar red skull. Kagome climbed the gigantic pile of hair and pulled out the red skull. She used a sacred arrow to break open the skull while Yura was busy fighting Inuyasha. The force of cracking open the red skull allowed the arrow to follow through and smash the comb inside and destroy Yura's soul, causing her body to turn to dust. 


Hiten
Hiten is a Thunder Demon and the older brother of Manten. While Manten looks like a monster, Hiten appears to be a handsome human. The reason Hiten looks human and Manten looks like some kind of shark-man is that their parents were two different types of demons. Hiten looks like their father and Manten looks like their mother. While he may be the better looking of the two, he's also the more psychotically violent as well. 

Hiten is the smarter and more powerful of the two Thunder Brothers and he initially possesses three of the five Shikon Jewel shards that the brothers have managed to gather. Hiten is able to fly by using fiery wheels that hover just below and to the side of his feet. In addition, he uses the polearm Raigekijin that allows him to fire balls of lightning. 

After Manten kidnaps Kagome to make hair tonic out of her, Hiten comes home to discover her. In his rage over the Shikon Jewel shards getting away, he kills the scantily clad woman he's with. In the manga he punches a hole through her head, but in the anime he just sets her on fire. Eh, either way she's dead. Kagome convinces them that Inuyasha is in love with her and will trade the Shikon Jewel shards for her. 

Inuyasha and Shippou show up at their lair and after some generic pre-fight banter they get down to fighting. During the fight, Inuyasha throws Tetsusaiga through Manten, killing him. After Manten dies in his arms, Hiten takes his brother's two jewel shards and gains his ability to shoot lightning (thunder) out of his mouth. Because of his ability to fly, he's about invulnerable. Inuyasha is down to using Tetsusaiga's scabbard to block Hiten's attacks. Luckily, Kagome grabs the arrow she'd shot Manten with and shoots one of his fiery wheels, destroying it. Once he lands, Inuyasha is able to punch him, which makes him pretty mad. The fight is still going against Inuyasha until he believes that Kagome and Shippou are killed. At that point, Tetsusaiga's scabbard calls Tetsusaiga to it. Inuyasha uses Tetsusaiga to break Raigekijin and slice through Hiten. As he dies, Hiten expresses disbelief that a half demon could defeat him and his five Shikon Jewel shards fall to the ground. 


Manten
Manten is a Thunder Demon and the younger brother of Hiten. Manten's head resembled a cross between a shark and a seal, and for some reason his lack of hair really bothered him. You'd think when you're a mutant sheal demon you'd have bigger appearance issues to deal with. Apparently the reason why Hiten looks human and Manten looks like sea life is that their parents were two different types of demon. Hiten took after their father and Manten too after their mother. 

Despite his ridiculous appearance, Manten is a very powerful demon. As half of the Thunder Brothers, he and Hiten kill an entire army. With the two Shikon Jewel shards Manten possesses, he's able to fly via a cloud and also breathe lightning. He and Hiten are also responsible for killing Shippou's parents in order to get the jewel shard they possessed. In fact, Manten wore Shippou's father's pelt as an ornament and used it to taunt him. 

It's right about then that Kagome saves Shippou from Manten by shooting Manten with her blessed arrows. One of her arrows cuts off two of his hairs. In order to set things right, he kidnaps her to make hair tonic out of her. Hiten decides a better use for her would be to use her to get Inuyasha to come fight them. 

At that fight Kagome shoves Manten off his flying cloud and lots of fighting happens. Shippou uses his Crushing Top on Manten along with other things. Manten eventually gets his hands on Kagome though and starts choking her. Inuyasha notices this and throws the Tetsusaiga through Manten's spine to save her from being choked to death. That pretty much kills Manten. Hiten then takes Manten's shards and tries to avenge his dead brother. 


Kanna
Kanna is the first, and oldest, and longest-lived of the demons formed from Naraku's detachments. Although she makes her appearance after Kagura in both the manga and anime, she was the first “child” Naraku spawned. Despite being oldest, she takes the form of a young girl. Appearing as a girl of about ten years of age, she has a blank, expressionless face and empty, black eyes. Kanna has long, straight white hair which she keeps white lilies in. She always wears a plain white kimono and matching sandals, and carries a small mirror which we'll come back too. The total lack of color is supposed to be symbolic of her utter internal emptiness. 

Formed from mu (無, む, nothingness) Kanna has almost no sense of self, no emotions, no real interest in self determination, and no yoki or jaki. She also has almost no physical presence, makes little noise, and gives of no scent. As a result, characters such as Miroku, Inuyasha, or Koga who can detect enemies from their energy or scent have a very hard time detecting her. 

As Naraku's oldest and least independent offspring, she seems to be the one that he comes the closest to having any sort of trust or attachment too, though I use those words in the loosest terms possible. She seems to be the only one that he will share important information with, and he never seems to put her in much danger. Although she is used frequently by Naraku, it is almost always as a messenger or when there is such overwhelming force on his side it would be hard for her to come to harm. All the more surprising since she's arguably his most powerful offspring. Many people would say that the only reason Naraku shares information with Kanna is because she's an existential void and there's no danger in it, but I would argue that she is in fact an individual and that Naraku has a subconscious need to trust in someone, even if it is just Kanna. Anyway, I guess it's really a moot point. 

On to what makes Kanna so powerful: her mirror. Created from Naraku's bones, it has several very powerful abilities. First off, it's a scrying device that lets Kanna see what's going on anyplace else. Secondly, it lets Kanna steal the soul of anyone looking into it. While a person's soul is trapped in the mirror, Kanna is able to control them, as is Kagura using her “dance of the dead”. If the souls are released from the mirror they will return to their bodies, as was shown when Kagome forced Kanna to purge the mirror of souls to prevent it from shattering when she shot a Hama no Ya (spiritual purifying arrow) into it. The last ability that Kanna has shown with the mirror is the ability to reflect any attack back at her attacker. How long these abilities remain useful is questionable though, as pretty much everyone in the Inuyasha story keeps gaining power, while Kanna seems to remain at the same level. 


Jaken
Jaken is the a Kappa demon who is the senior member of Sesshomaru's retinue. Wielding the Staff of Heads (人頭杖, nintojo) and dressed like a member of the Japanese Imperial Court, Jaken puts all his effort into being the indespensible right hand of Sesshomaru. Roughly the equivalent of Myoga in Sesshomaru's retinue, Jaken wears many, many hats in the show. Aside from aspiring to be a good servant, Jaken fills the roles of caretaker to Rin, comic relief, and most importantly a source of information for viewers. Coming up waist high to a little girl and having a head the looks like an odd cross between a frog and a turtle, Jaken is quite a character. 

Jaken's first appearance in Inuyasha paints him to be a formidable character when he burns an army to nothingness with the Staff of Heads, but that was really pretty much it for him. Once the story arc of finding Inutaiso!!!!!! Tomb, Jaken became what he is now - comic relief and an exposition device. 

Despite being an excellent servant, though a somewhat whiney one, Jaken never receives a kind word, and in fact usually seems to end up trampled, threatened, or simply being used a guinea pig. Regardless of what he is asked to do, no matter how dangerous or seemingly pointless, Jaken does it. Not only will he do things he's told, he will often try to anticipate tasks and perform them so that Sesshomaru doesn't have to waste time concerning himself. Unfortunately, things don't always work out in Jaken's favor. 

One of the duties that Jaken seems to truly resent is taking care of Rin. In fact, he seems to resent the fact that she accompanies them at all. Regardless, when she's hungry, it's his job to help her find food, and when they're left behind while Sesshomaru goes to take care of business, it's his job to make sure she stays safe. For Rin's part, aside from occasionally picking on Jaken, she's fond of him and has even saved his life at peril to herself. As time and the manga wear on, Jaken seems to be coming around and is becoming fond of her as well. 


Ah-Un
Ah-Un is the two-headed dragon yokai that travels with Sesshomaru and often protects Rin when she is left alone. Ah-Un is sort of hard to describe, but I'd say he's covered in brown scales with a body sort of like an ox with two horse-like necks and heads. As far as I know, he's the only herbivorous yokai in the series and is non-aggressive except in the course protecting Rin. Both of those traits I find interesting since he's a dragon yokai, and I'd think they would eat meat and be violent. Ah well. Ah-Un does not communicate verbally, but is obviously intelligent and has an individual personality in the same way as Kirara. 

Very little is known about Ah-Un, his origins, or when he became part of Sesshomaru's retinue. His primary role seems to have been that of a pack animal. Despite having been with Sesshomaru for what may have been centuries, no one bothered to ever give him a name until Rin came along. When traveling long distances, Rin and Jaken usually ride on Ah-Un's back.Despite not speaking and being used as a beast of burden, Rin treats Ah-Un as a friend and equal. Ah-Un seems to be very fond of Rin and is protective of her, always taking her side in the many disagreements with Jaken. Ah-Un has saved Rin on a multiple occasions. The two most memorable examples are when he her from some lesser yokai while she is collecting herbs to save Jaken when he is poisoned by Naraku's miasma and when he protected her from the zombie warriors in the third Inuyasha movie, Swords of an Honorable Ruler. 

Ah-Un can project yokai energy from both of his mouths. From the right head, which is Ah, he fires beams of blue lightning. His left head, Un, fires green lightening which allow him to control clouds and probably the weather. However, he's never used his green lightening to directly attack anything and it's possible that it isn't harmful. 


Rin
Rin is a human girl of about 8 years of age who was brought back to life by Sesshoumaru and is part of his traveling retinue. She has shoulder length black hair that she wears down, except for a little spot she wears up in a little pig tail of the top right side of her head. Her original, pre-death appearance was fairly shabby, which is not too surprising all things considered. She wore soiled and worn peasant tunic. After her resurrection and subsequent joining of Sesshoumaru's retinue, she now wears an orange and tan checkered kimono tied with a lime green obi. Pretty much, she looks exactly like what she is, a young, overly-cheerful human girl. 

Despite being a lowly human and hardly receiving any encouragement from Sesshoumaru, Rin is every bit as devoted and loyal to him as Jaken. Perhaps even more so since she seems to realize that being mortal, she will probably never live to see Sesshoumaru rule over the empire he plans to build. That doesn't seem to bother her though, being eternally cheerful, she simply smiles and does what Sesshoumaru tells her to. Which to his credit, is usually stay put under the care of Ah-Un when things are going to get dangerous. Even still, Rin's primary role seems to be someone to capture, causing Sesshoumaru to come to her rescue. She also occasionally serves to demonstrate the evolving sense of compassion and affection that Sesshoumaru has developed for her, no matter how well he conceals it. 

As much as Rin seems oddly out of place in Sesshoumaru's retinue, I consider her to be its most important member. Through her influence and involvement, I think Sesshoumaru has gained a considerable amount of compassion and understanding. Taking her on has given him something to protect and care for, and a human girl at that. Contrasting Sesshoumaru's opinions in his early appearances of the storyline with his attitudes towards Rin as the story progresses it's hard to deny that his involvement with her hasn't had a beneficial effect in his gaining mastery over Tenseiga.