InuYasha (character)

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Inuyasha (犬夜叉, Inu dog + Yasha demon) is the main character of the manga and anime series Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi. His name is punctuated/capitalized multiple ways: Inuyasha, Inu-Yasha, InuYasha, & Inu Yasha

Inuyasha is a han'yō (half-demon - 'yō' is derived from yōkai, which also means demon), the result of a relationship between a powerful yōkai-dog lord and a beautiful human princess. Despised and looked down on by both yōkai and humans, Inuyasha apparently had a very sad childhood. He is rejected by humans because of his yōkai side, and looked down upon by demons as a 'filthy han'yō', because of his human blood supposedly tainting his superior yōkai blood. Thus, before Inuyasha met Kikyō, he found it very difficult to trust anyone, and even more to find anyone who accepted him as a han'yō.

He was originally going to use the Shikon no Tama (Jewel of the Four Souls) to become a yōkai. The high priestess who guarded the jewel, Kikyō, whom Inuyasha developed feelings for, talked him into becoming human (he wished to gain acceptance, and she wished to be a normal woman.) Another han'yō, formerly a human known only as Onigumo, but now called Naraku, made them believe they betrayed each other. Because of Naraku's schemes, and their own lack of faith in each other, their relationship ended when Inuyasha broke into Kikyō's village and stole the Shikon no Tama. In defense of the village, and to keep him from escaping with the jewel, Kikyō fired a Fūin no Ya at Inuyasha, sealing him to the Goshinboku (Time Tree) in an eternal enchanted sleep. Moments afterward, Kikyō collapses from a wound she received from Naraku -- though at first the viewer is lead to believe that Inuyasha wounded her -- and dies within a few short moments. Part of her final instructions to her sister Kaede was to have the jewel burned with her body so that it would travel to Hell with her.

50 years later, Inuyasha was released from the tree by Kagome, the reincarnation of Kikyo from 500 years in the future, who unknowingly carried the Shikon no Tama inside her body (this is due to Kikyō being burned with the Jewel, but also makes reference to Midoriko, the creator of the Jewel). When he was finished with Kumade Jōrō (Mistress Centipede), he tried to steal the Jewel but ends up with the Beads of Subjugation around his neck. When Kagome says "Sit!" ("Osuwari!" in Japanese) his head plunges to the ground. Kagome accidentally shattered the jewel when shooting at a yōkai trying to flee with it, and the shards were scattered around Japan. Inuyasha, Kagome, and their friends (Inuyasha-tachi) then began the search for the shards of the Shikon no Tama).

Inuyasha has very clearly come to love Kagome. He calls her 'the first person he has ever trusted.' Due to the fact that it is stated in the series that the reason Naraku was able to break Inuyasha and Kikyō apart was due to their mistrust, this is significant. He is often seen touching or holding her, blushes when in contact with her, and it's her near death that causes him to shed his first tears. Due to his shy nature, and obligations to Kikyō, Inuyasha finds it difficult to directly display his feelings. However, his actions towards her are romantic. In Japanese culture, romantic gestures include the hug, but also to hold one's hand and touch a woman below the shoulders. He does this continually.

Image:Human Inuyasha Manga.jpg

Inuyasha is offended when someone calls him a dog or suggests that he is inferior to yōkai, due to his human parentage.

Relationships

• Myoga - This flea demon was a loyal friend of Inuyasha's father. He now acts as Inuyasha's retainer. He often provides Inuyasha with information on his enemies and on ways to upgrade his sword in order to defeat them.

• Totosai - This is the sword smith who forged Inuyasha's Tessaiga and Sesshomaru's Tenseiga. He often gives Inuyasha advice on how to better upgrade his sword. Indeed all of Inuyasha's achievements in strength can be credited to Totosai. He was also a servant of Inuyasha's father, like Myoga. Him, Myoga and Saya seem to have been best friends all serving under the great general.

• Sota Higurashi - Sōta sees Inuyasha as a role model, due to his father being deceased, and tries to spend time with him when he is in the modern age. Sōta even calls Inuyasha "Inu no nii-chan" (犬の兄ちゃん, dog brother). Sota and Inuyasha seem to be getting closer and closer as once him and Inuyasha even took a bath together; the deal being that Sota will wash Inuyasha's back if he does the same for him. Unfortunately, this ended with Inuyasha running out of the bath tub naked with Sota and landed in front of a horrified Kagome.

• Kagome Higurashi - Being the reincarnation of Kikyō, Kagome's relationship with Inuyasha hardly is an ordinary one. They fight often, their quarrels sometimes ending with Kagome using the rosary around Inuyasha's neck to make him fall to the ground. Inuyasha clearly cares for her very deeply, even loves her, and their developing romantic relationship is one of the focal points of his character.

• Miroku - Even though Miroku is a perverted and lecherous monk, Inuyasha clearly respects Miroku for his skills, powers, and knowledge. They both know that they can trust the other with their life if need be. Also Miroku is the only male companion of Inuyasha who he doesn't always bicker with. Whenever Miroku is sucking Naraku's poisonous wasps into his Kazāna or otherwise putting himself in danger to help his friends, Inuyasha forces him to stop these dangerous acts. Once he even promised to break Miroku's arm if he tried to open it again; Inuyasha's way of saying that he cares. More recently in the manga Miroku almost got himself killed trying to suck in Naraku, but was stopped by Inuyasha.

• Shippō - Inuyasha is continuously annoyed by this yōkai-fox, who is rather smart for his age. Mostly their interaction consists of Shippō annoying Inuyasha and the han'yō then hitting him and being scolded by Kagome for it. Inuyasha does care for Shippō and encourages him when really necessary. Shippo once cried when he thought Inuyasha had been killed, and then hugged him while still in tears when he found out that he was still alive.

• Sango - Inuyasha and Sango don't interact often. He doesn't pay much attention to her in any romantic sense, being more centered on Kagome, but he does care for Sango, like for all his friends -- not that he'd ever admit that. However, he has admitted that she is an excellent and formidable foe in combat.

• Koga - Inuyasha and Koga have a very complex relationship. They are often seen bickering over Kagome, something that is often used for comical purposes in the series. However, they have aided each other in the battlefield on more than one occasion; Inuyasha even saved him from Kagura by using his Kaze no Kizu attack which would have destroyed her had Naraku not intervened, and managed to bring him back to safety after he was almost melted by Naraku's shoki in liquid form. Koga has also never revealed to Naraku that Inuyasha loses his powers once a month, because during that time it would be easy for Naraku to dispatch him since he is in human form and can't use the Tessaiga.

• Kikyō - Inuyasha's relationship with Kikyō is a very troublesome one. He clearly cared for her, and was once ready to become a human in order to free her of her obligation as guardian of the Shikon no Tama. However, Naraku betrayed them both, making them hate each other. After learning the truth, Inuyasha feels greatly indebted to Kikyō, even to the point of being willing to die together with Kikyō to appease her soul. It is important to note that the reason Naraku was able to deceive them so easily was because they never trusted each other the way Inuyasha does with Kagome.

• Sesshōmaru - Inuyasha's older brother and also son of the Great Yōkai-Dog. He doesn't like the fact that Inuyasha wields Tessaiga and he was stuck with the Tenseiga. Although signs of brotherly affection are one of the focal points of series with neither brother admitting to them.

• Bankotsu - Even though he was his enemy, Inuyasha understood Bankotsu's desire to be strong. After Inuyasha kills him he tells Bankotsu that he was "too greedy" and that "his bare hands would have been enough" to beat him. Later when Naraku insults Bankotsu, Inuyasha who angered by the way he used Bankotsu, tells Naraku that even though he was evil Bankotsu had more honor than Naraku ever had.

• Guyo/Izumo - This half demon, was just like Inuyasha; trying to become human using the Shikon jewel. However, he made attempts at creating other Shikon Jewels (using live humans) and would probably have been successful in that endeavor if Inuyasha and his friends hadn't stopped him. In the end he was destroyed by the poison of the fake Shikon Jewels he had ingested. Inuyasha understood how Guyo felt when he said that neither demons nor humans accepted his existence. If anything he felt some amount of compassion for him.

• Jinenji - He is the polar opposite of Inuyasha, in that he is able to show compassion to both friends and enemies, even though he too has been badly mistreated by humans and demons alike. Inuyasha felt a need to encourage Jinenji to stand up to his oppressors, and in the end managed to get the villagers to stop abusing him.

• Bunza - This cute young demon boy came to Totosai to help him train in order to defeat the demon that was terrorizing his father and his people. Since Inuyasha was there at the time he went along him, without the Miroku, Shippo, Kagome, Sango and Kirara. It is interesting to note that Inuyasha was able to overcome this demon's barrier without the use of any of his barrier shattering abilities, as he hadn't obtained any of them at this point. Surprisingly him and Inuyasha quickly became friends and didn't have the usual constant bickering that accompanies his relationship with his other friends

• Kinka and Ginka - These two demon brothers wielded the power of fire and lightening. Their relationship was very similar to the relationship that Inuyasha has with Sesshomaru. In the end, their contempt of each other lead to their deaths at the hands of Moryomaru. Inuyasha apologized for having them dragged into his struggle with Moryomaru, and perhaps even got a glimpse of what future awaits him and Sesshomaru, if they continue despising each other.

Inuyasha's Special Traits

Physical Abilities

• Strength: Inuyasha's yōkai blood gives him superhuman strength. No upper limit has yet been shown in the canon, but, according to the Zusetsutaizen Ougikaiden official character data book, he is at least strong enough to easily lift a boulder with a diameter greater than the height of his body over his head with one hand.

• Speed: While not as fast as Entei the yokai horse that served as Hakudōshi's steed, Inuyasha's speed has been shown to easily exceed that of a normal horse. He is able to cross great distances with a single jump, sometimes creating the illusion that he is flying. The Ougikaiden says he can reach the top of tall cliffs with a single leap as well.

• Defensive Ability: His fire-rat robe provides added protection, but Inuyasha's body is capable of taking a lot of damage. He has also been seen to be unaffected by severe blunt force attacks - he was hit on the head with a log hard enough for the log to break in two without any effect. He appears weak against strong smells (like ink from the episode The Cursed Hell Painter) because of his sensitive nose, but has shown the ability to withstand direct contact with fire and tremendous heat (for example, against Renkotsu's flame attacks and in many other situations - the fire-rat robe may be partly responsible for this, but parts of his body not covered by the robe appear equally invulnerable), and appears resistant to acid (as when trapped by Naraku in the Ogre's Belly). He is susceptible to some yokai and holy weapons, but appears to be invulnerable to most human weapons, able to catch arrows out of the air and break swords with his hands. However, being the son of Inu no Taisho gives him a strong resistance to holy powers. And while he doesn’t have the stronger resistance that Sesshomaru has, mainly due to his human lineage weakening his demonic powers, he still has an impressive ability to stay alive. Even when injured, his recovery rate is much faster than that of a human's. Similarly, attacks powerful enough to severely injure him are rarely fatal - he recovered quickly from numerous serious attacks, including a fist-sized hole punched through his gut.

Physical Techniques

• Sankon Tessō (Japanese: 散魂鉄爪, Hiragana: さんこんてっそう English: Exorcising Claws of Steel, Dub: Iron Reaver Soul Stealer): Inuyasha's basic claw attack is powerful enough to tear apart iron making it easy for him to rip his enemies in half.

• Hijin Kessō (Japanese: 飛刃血爪, Hiragana: ひじんけっそう, English: Blades of Blood): Inuyasha's blood, when combined with the "Sankon Tessō", does damage when thrown -With this he is able to attack his enemies from afar instead of in close combat. Inuyasha splashes his own blood on the end of his claws and flings them boomerang-like to cleave his foes in two.

• Time Travel: This technique basically involves Inuyasha jumping down the “Bone Eater’s Well” and traveling back and forth 500 years from the future. Though it is never explicitly stated, it is obvious that this ability has something to do with his father as the black pearl that connected to his father's grave created a somewhat similar portal as to the one created from the well. Thus in the manga it is assumed that Inuyasha inherited this ability directly from his father, or that it was a side effect of having Housenki's black pearl inside his eye. In the anime his father's sword,So'unga, and his sheath Saya both were able to use the bone eater's well to travel through time thus leading to the conclusion that it was an ability inherited from his father. This has lead some to believe that perhaps Sesshomaru can use the well as well.

Tetsusaiga's Techniques specific to the manga

• Kaze no Kizu (Wind Scar) : A special attack that can kill 100 yōkai with one strike. Inuyasha first used this attack by accident, but eventually learned to see the Wind Scar. This attack uses the collision of demonic winds between two enemies to create a path ("the scar") to unleash an attack of cutting wind. Once he has mastered this, he is able to take 100 lives in one strike of his sword. If he does the Kaze no Kizu too many times it eventually will wear him out since the Kaze no Kizu is from his yōkai energy. It nearly wore Inuyasha out once when he fought Musō. Later on after he stabs the heart of the demon, Ryuukotsei, he gains the ability to unleash the wind scar whenever he wants.

• Bakuryūha (Explosive Flowing Wave) (Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale (PS): Dragon Twister) (Dub: Backlash Wave): The Tetsusaiga's ōgi (or ultimate technique). Uses the opponent's strong yōki and the Kaze no Kizu to return the attack, magnified hundreds of times. With this movement of the Tetsusaiga, he forms enormous charging twisters that sucks the foes power into the "Wind Scar" and forces it to flow backwards. The wind and the power twist together into a vortex, pushing it backwards and the enemy is attacked in it's own demonic force and Tetsusaiga's might combined! But to use it, he must see where to cut the yōkai's aura and have strong enough "chi" himself to overpower his foes. This mostly/only works on foes with a demonic power.

• Barrier Shatter (Red-colored Tetsusaiga): Gained from the blood of Taigokumaru which was absorbed into Shiori's orb. This technique renders barriers (including Naraku's for a while) useless. When being used, Tetsusaiga glows red. Only the strongest barriers cannot be shattered by this attack.

• Kongōsōha (Diamond Spear Wave): Attack gained from Hōsenki after Naraku had used the shard to make him fight Inuyasha. After defeating the diamond yōkai with the power to obliterate any type of barrier, Inuyasha absorbed his power to combine his Kaze no Kizu with the diamonds to wreck havoc on the foe. The Tetsusaiga turns into a massive diamond, whipping diamond shards from its blade with huge demonic explosions to destroy any and foremost Naraku's Barriers.

Tetsusaiga’s Techniques revealed in the movies and the games (these aren’t considered canon by some fans)

• Kongō-Bakuryūha (Diamond Explosive Flowing Wave): A combination of Kongōsōha & Bakuryūha. This attack is only used in Inuyasha The Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island. It is never used in the manga or in the anime.

• Hama-Bakuryūha (Sacred Explosive Flowing Wave): This isn't really an attack as much as it is a combined effort between Inuyasha and Kagome, which is only used in the first and fourth movies, episode 140 and the 5th Inuyasha opening. Basically consists of Kagome firing one of her Hama no Ya in the center of Inuyasha's Bakuryūha before it connects. This isn't the most powerful combo attack in the series as Sesshōmaru's Sōryūha and Meidō Zangetsuha attacks and Miroku's Kazāna can overwhelm it. In the first movie when Menomaru shot a beam of light from his forehead Kagome first shot her Hama no Ya and then Inuyasha countered Menomaru’s beam by unleashing his backlash wave (Bakuryūha) on his beam. This resulted in the Hama no Ya destroying the jewel in Menomaru’s head thus eliminating his power, and the backlash wave then destroying Menomaru himself. In the fourth movie this attack came in the form of the opponent, who was a combination of the movie’s four main antagonists, unleashing a barrage of lightening which was then countered by Kagome shooting her Hama no Ya attack which was then followed by Inuyasha who combined his Bakuryūha with his Kongōsōha. The attack resulted in a dispersion of the Hama no Ya and the opponents’ energy in the Bakuryūha as all that was left were a trail on Kongōsōha diamonds connecting the Tetsusaiga with the enemy, after which the Kaze no Kizu portion which was left from the Bakuryūha then attacked the opponent following the trail of diamonds and subsequently destroying them as they were combined in the attack as well. Thus in the end the entire attack resulted in the Kaze no Kizu being combined with the Kongōsōha, which was what unleashed the deathblow on the opponent. Thus there was no need for Kagome to have shot her Hama no Ya at all as it was dispersed along with the enemy’s energy because of the Kongōsōha.

• Ultimate Backlash Wave: This is Inuyasha's backlash wave without countering his foe’s attack and adding his or her demonic energy into the Kaze no Kizu (Wind Scar) to unleash the traditional Backlash Wave or Bakuryūha. This only appears in InuYasha: Secret of the Cursed Mask. This attack isn't canon because it exterminates the main reason Inuyasha is able to release the backlash wave which is by combining his power with that of his enemy.

Tetsusaiga's Transformations/Abilities

• Rusty Form: Tetsusaiga's basic form when in Inuyasha's human hands or those of another human. Despite its appearance, it can still be used as any other sword and repel most yōkai with its other forms. This form as well as all the other forms carries a barrier that protects humans holding the sword and hurts full demons trying to wield it.

• Transform; True form: With Inuyasha's demonic power (yoki) fused with the Tetsusaiga, the katana becomes a giant fang with fur flickering at the hilt. This can block and of course use any of his "weapon techniques" It is also known that the Tetsusaiga can keep Inuyasha's yōkai form from emerging. However, some attacks can purify the yoki such as the Hama no Ya or destroy it such as the hatred from the Tokijin, during which Inuyasha has to send in more of his yoki into the blade to transform it again. It is in this form that the blade can unleash the Kaze no Kizu and the Bakuryūha in the manga and the anime, but in the movies this rule doesn’t seem to apply.

• Crimson: After the bat yokai king Taigokumeru was defeated his blood was absorbed into a red orb used by each son of his family to set up a powerful barrier. By destroying the orb and bathing the Tetsusaiga in his blood the sword was able to assume a crimson form capable of destroying all but the strongest barriers in the series.

• Diamond: An ability granted by the powerful yōkai Hōsenki. Tetsusaiga transforms into a massive silverish diamond sword that allows him to break though any barrier, which is useful when Inuyasha needs to overcome a barrier that his crimson Tetsusaiga can’t. It is in this form that the blade can unleash the Kongōsōha.

• Dragon-Scaled Tetsusaiga(龍鱗の鉄砕牙, Ryūrin no Tetsusaiga): Another form of the Tetsusaiga gained in the manga after the anime ended. This form is gained by destroying "Datsuki" a yōki-absorbing sword. Whenever he used it to absorb yōki it hurt him, and if he absorbed too much of it, the sword let off an enormous explosion of yōki, that nearly killed him once. However, later on Tetsusaiga absorbed a priest's senki or holy energy which stopped the backflow of yōki from hurting Inuyasha and allowing him to properly use this form of the Tetsusaiga. Later on this form of the Tetsusaiga is saturated with the yōki of yōkai named Yōretasai which gives it the ability to destroy yōketsu (whirlpools of demonic energies) that channel the powers of yōkai. Most yōkai have one yōketsu but yōkai like Mōryōmaru and Naraku have many yōketsu due to the fact that they're composed of many yōkai. This is potentially one of the series' most effective techniques as it can totally disempower his opponent. The sword doesn't permanently absorb yōki as most of the time the energy lasts only long enough to be used by Inuyasha against his opponents. The only exception to this is the yōki from Yōretasai and the senki that it absorbed from the priest because he absorbed all their powers rather than just a blast of energy. On a side note, Inuyasha was told that there was a final form that the Dragon-scaled Tessaiga was capable of achieving. We have yet to discover what this form is, however, Sesshōmaru seems to have a vague idea of what it is.

Misc.

• Sheath of Tetsusaiga(Tetsusaiga no Saya): Can deflect energy attacks with the barrier used to contain Tetsusaiga's power. It is also capable of returning the Tetsusaiga to Inuyasha's hands when they become separated. The sheath is capable of resisting any amount of offensive force; however, if that force is used continuously then the sheath will crack. This why it was able to hold off Sesshomaru’s Soryuha since it was an attack that was only unleashed once, but couldn’t hold off Hiten’s thunder attacks which were of weaker power than the Soryuha, since he was unleashing them constantly.

• Robe of the Fire Rat: Inuyasha's kimono, or haori (jacket) and hakama (pants) set, allows him to resist fire (it also works on others to whom he lends it). The robes came from his mother, who got it from Inuyasha's father, Inu no Taishō.

• Beads of Subjugation (Kotodama no Nenju): The beads around Inuyasha's neck are activated if Kagome says to Inuyasha, "Osuwari!" (Japanese for "Sit!" or "Sit boy!" as one would say to a dog as a command.) The beads of subjugation are forced upon Inuyasha by Kaede so he would no longer pose a threat to Kagome. When activated, the beads slam Inuyasha head-first into the ground. Kagome tends to activate them whenever she and Inuyasha are in heated arguments and such, although she's also activated them unintentionally. These serve mainly for comic relief in the series.

Image:Demon Inu-Yasha.jpg

Transformation

• Human: Once a month he turns human due to his half human, half demon biology. During this time he loses all his powers. This only happens during a time when the moon is'nt visible at night(new moon)which makes sense since the moon seems to be an important symbol of his family; Sesshomaru has a crescent moon on his forehead and his Meidou Zangetsuha attack originally takes on the form of a crescent moon. His hair turns black and he loses his superhuman strength, speed and defensive abilities, as well as his dog ears, claws, fangs, etc. In this form, basically all of his yokai powers are gone and he can only use Tetsusaiga in its rusty form. He prefers to keep it a secret because on that night he is vulnerable. Only his friends and a few others know his secret.

• Yōkai: This is when Inuyasha transforms into a full demon. At a point that Inuyasha can't take anymore of what he is seeing or if his life is in danger, he will transform. The first time it happened was when his Tetsusaiga broke in Episode 43. When transformed, Inuyasha's appearance also changes (see the picture to the right). Inuyasha will remain in this state if he does not have Tetsusaiga within reach or on him (i.e. episode 52 when he was with Miroku). As revealed by Myoga; that reason that Inuyasha's father had the Tetsusaiga forged was to prevent his son's yokai blood from taking him over, as since he's a hanyou his body can't fully handle the power he inherited from his father the way Sesshomaru can. This is why there are many abilities that Sesshomaru can perform that Inuyasha can't, since his body doesn't have what it takes to handle the full yokai power. If Inuyasha is in yokai form, he cannot remember himself and his yokai blood takes over his human heart. He will continue to fight until he is defeated or his yokai blood eventually destroys him.

Voice Actor

• Japanese Seiyū: Kappei Yamaguchi
• English Voice Actor: Richard Ian Cox

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