Miroku (InuYasha)
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- This article is about a character from an anime series; see Maitreya for the future Buddha known as Miroku in Japanese
Miroku (弥勒) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series InuYasha.
He is a Buddhist monk, called hōshi (法師) in Japanese, who possesses a rather unusual curse. His right hand has a slowly expanding "Kazāna" that sucks in anything nearby if it's not kept covered by a cloth and strand of mala beads. This curse was placed on Miroku's grandfather by Naraku and passed down to him. Eventually, the curse will cause him to be sucked in as well, unless Naraku is defeated.
Miroku meets Inuyasha and his friends while walking away from a town after cheating a rich man there out of some money. He discovers that Kagome has shards of the Shikon no Tama (The Jewel of the Four Souls) and takes them and her bike with the help of his tanuki (raccoon dog spirit) friend, Hachi. Inuyasha and Kagome catch up to him and Inuyasha attacks him, but Miroku uses his Kazāna in return. Kagome, realizing that the monk will not harm humans, stands in its path and causes Miroku to quickly cover it with his prayer beads. Miroku explains his situation, and Inuyasha reluctantly allows him to join them.
Despite his good looks and temperament, Miroku's worst vice (and best running joke) is lechery, specifically shameless flattery and occasional groping with varying subtlety. Miroku apparently feels that he must have a child in order to have an heir by the time he may be killed by the curse, and thus finds it perfectly fine to offer the chance to many young women to bear his child. This later puts some strain on his blossoming relationship (which eventually culminates in a marriage proposal) with Sango, often ruining small romantic moods between them.
Nonetheless, the monk mellows out as time goes on and proves to be a very valuable--if perverted--ally. He is very knowledgeable about yōkai, and is the secondary fighter of the team after Inuyasha. Though quite possibly the most intelligent of the group, he often uses humor or lechery to lighten serious situations, especially if anyone is worried about him. Despite his lighthearted and lecherous exterior, it is clear he has an inner darkness (Shippō has been heard to comment that he 'never bought that holy man routine') and worries over his curse and the resulting death sentence that hangs over his head.
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Name
- The character is named for the predicted Buddha of the future, Maitreya, who is called Miroku in Japanese.
Voice Actor
- Japanese Seiyū: Kouji Tsujitani
- English Voice Actor: Kirby Morrow
- Brazilian Voice Actor: Fábio Lucindo
- Spanish Voice Actor: Gabriel Gama
Friends
- Hachiemon - His partner-in-crime before Miroku met Inuyasha and friends. This tanuki (raccoon dog) jūjin would act as a yōkai and the sneaky monk would pretend to drive him off. The hōshi would then collect from the yōkai's "victims." Hachi is very loyal to Miroku, though sometimes he would use his shape-shifting abilities to his own advantage and pose as Miroku to 'cast out yōkai' in exchange for food and other necessities, but their friendship is very solid. Due to Hachi's friendly nature, he is very polite and congenial to others.
- Inuyasha - Inuyasha may not like how the monk does things, but he does respect the monk for his good skills, talents, and his knowledge of yōkai. They have saved each other's lives several times, and both know that they can trust the other to help if there is a need.
- Shippō - The critical kitsune disapproves of the monk's methods, but he also recognizes a good ally.
- Kagome Higurashi - They don't really interact very much. He seems more interested in Sango, though when he first joined the group he asked Kagome if she would bear his child -- like he asks every girl.
- Sango - He restrains himself out of sympathy at first, but becomes his lecherous self after she recovers. He acts especially perverted around her when he is injured and she is in a convenient spot. As the story progresses, it becomes clearer that he is in love with her. In a much later episode, he actually asks her to marry him once Naraku is defeated. In fact he does not ask her to marry him, he asks her to live with him and bear him 20 children. Interestingly, despite Miroku's continuous questioning of pretty girls to bear his child, he never asked Sango this question until she brought it up in a fit of jealousy.
Demonic Power
Kazāna (Japanese: 風穴, Hiragana: かざあな, English: Wind Tunnel: Acts as a mini-black hole that can suck anything in. Miroku's grandfather was cursed by Naraku with the Hole in his right hand, and it has passed on to his father and now him. As time passes the hole grows in size, and thus increases in power. If Naraku is not destroyed in time, Miroku will be drawn in sharing the fate of his father and grandfather. One advantage of this curse is that it gives Miroku a deadly weapon which puts him on level ground with hordes of yōkai, as there are many enemies throughout the series that can't be destroyed by any of friends and thus he must use his Wind Tunnel to suck them in.
There are two main weaknesses of this attack; if he absorbs something with demonic poison (such as Naraku's insects known as the Saimyosho, or cursed zombies, or anything with a tainted aura such as the water from the god Numawatari) the poison will be spread to Miroku. Because of his holy powers Miroku has a strong resistance to demonic poisons but too much of it can kill him; the other weakness is that if some sharp object such as a knife is sucked into the hole and manages to pierce a side of the hole, then this injury must be repaired other the hole will begin to grow at a much faster rate and thus eventually kill him sooner than his time.
During chapter 448 of the manga, Miroku attempted to use the Kazaana on the merged Naraku and Mouryoumaru, but absorbed the Fuyouheki in their place, thus allowing Naraku/Mouryoumaru's youki to be detected once more. He also absorbed much shouki, which was soon purified by Kikyo. However, the shouki had cut wounds deep into his body. Now, continued use of the Kazaana will increase these wounds as well, until they reach his heart and kill him.
There has been some speculation by fans of how such a curse was laid on Miroku and family. Some have speculated that his grandfather's, who was the series' most powerful priest since he single-handedly defeated the demon/angel/tenyo Kaguya, holy powers reacted in some way with the hole Naraku put in his hand to create this curse. This mainly because the Kazaana is a powerful weapon which Naraku himself has never employed against his enemies even though he is said to have created the curse.
Holy Powers
- Super Speed: In short bursts, Miroku can run swiftly enough to keep pace with Inuyasha; even if carrying extra weight (i.e., another person) on his back. Whether this speed is granted by spell or by innate ability is unclear.
- Spell Scrolls (札 fuda): Can be used to paralyze yōkai and create barriers. Most are thrown and then bind to the yōkai. See also: O-fuda
- Invisibility: Miroku can mask objects (both living and inanimate) from the eyes of evildoers, by going into a state of intense meditation.
- Force Field (結界 kekkai): With the assistance of his staff, Miroku can create and temporarily sustain small protective force fields of reasonable strength.
- Holy Staff: Miroku's staff, known as a Shakujo, is a wooden staff with a circular golden charm on the top. The charm is a circle with a pattern through the center of spheres and double crescents. On each side of the circle, there are three thin gold rings. It is effective in destroying yokai due to its holy properties. His grandfather, Miatsu, originally wielded it when he fought Naraku. This staff was able to stand up to the original Tessaiga, indicating that it is a very powerful weapon on a similar level to the sword.
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