Inuyasha (character)
Inuyasha is a male anime and manga character who features in InuYasha.
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Biography
Inuyasha (Japanese: 犬夜叉, Translation: "Dog Demon") was born to a human noblewoman named Izayoi, and her dog demon lover, Tōga. Angered by her fraternization with a demon, Izayoi's own guardsman, Takemaru, pierced her with a spear on the very night of the lunar eclipse for Inuyasha's birth. Izayoi had just enough strength to give birth to Inuyasha before succumbing to her mortal wounds, though she was soon resurrected by Tōga's sword of healing, the Tenseiga. Tōga, suffering mortal wounds from a climactic battle with Ryūkotsusei at Kamakura, had just enough time left to name the newborn Inuyasha and say goodbye to his infant son and Izayoi before encouraging them to run away. He perished that night, using the last of his strength to prevent Takemaru from pursuing them, leaving Inuyasha to be raised by his mortal mother.
Inuyasha planned to steal the Jewel from Kikyō; the miko tasked with purifying and protecting it. After several unsuccessful attempts to even approach Kikyō, Inuyasha began to develop intense romantic feelings for her, and she for him. After Inuyasha mentioned she reeked with the smell of blood, Kikyō began to take baths every day, and Inuyasha would watch from afar. Their subsequent encounters lead to a close relationship after Inuyasha saved Kaede from Mistress Centipede, who was planning on taking her hostage to take the Shikon Jewel back from Kikyō. Inuyasha and Kikyō met in a non-violent meeting for the first time after this and quickly fell for each other. After this, Kikyō became more human, displaying more emotions and playing with children while Inuyasha gave up his quest for the Shikon Jewel, deciding it wasn't worth losing Kikyō. He lived in the village for a while and assisted Kikyō whenever she needed it. After Kikyō's powers became weakened from falling in love with Inuyasha, resulting in Kaede losing her right eye, Kikyō pondered what to do. Eventually, Kikyō had the idea of using the Jewel to make Inuyasha a full human, as this would purify the Shikon no Tama and liberate Kikyō from the task of protecting it. The idea of leading normal lives together appealed to them both. Another hanyō named Naraku, born from a human criminal that was pitied by Kikyō had been observing the pair and hoped to steal the Shikon no Tama for himself. He subsequently tricked Kikyō and Inuyasha into betraying one another. Inuyasha broke into Kikyō's village and stole the Shikon no Tama, convinced that Kikyō had never planned to turn him human, to begin with. In defense of the village, and to keep him from escaping with the jewel, Kikyō shot Inuyasha with a sacred arrow and sealed him to the Sacred Tree of Ages with a spell of eternal sleep. Moments afterward, Kikyō collapsed from a fatal wound she had received from Naraku, who was disguised as Inuyasha at the time of the attack. She instructed her younger sister Kaede to burn the Jewel along with her body so that demons and evil men could never again use it for evil deeds. She died soon after, and she wishes to burn the Jewel was fulfilled. Despite how things went, Inuyasha still loved Kikyō.
Fifty years later, Kikyō's modern-day reincarnation, fifteen-year-old Kagome Higurashi, entered the feudal era through the Bone-Eater's Well, unknowingly bringing the Shikon no Tama with her. The jewel's presence awakened nearby demons, but it was the scent of Kagome's blood when she was attacked by a reanimated Mistress Centipede that roused Inuyasha from his spell. Upon first seeing her, Inuyasha mistook Kagome for Kikyō, due to their similar appearances, but his sense of smell proved they were indeed different people. Inuyasha was subsequently freed by Kagome in order to help fight off Mistress Centipede. After killing Mistress Centipede, Inuyasha attacked Kagome to get the Shikon Jewel for himself, but was thwarted by an elderly Kaede. She put her deceased sister's Beads of Subjugation around the hanyō's neck, which allowed Kagome to subdue him simply by saying the word "Sit!". Being unable to remove the necklace, Inuyasha was effectively rendered powerless in Kagome's presence. Soon after, Kagome accidentally shattered the Sacred Jewel while shooting at a crow demon that was attempting to escape with it, and the shards were scattered around Japan. Inuyasha reluctantly agreed to team up with her to find and collect all of the fragments. Inuyasha and Kagome began their journey to collect the shards of the Sacred Jewel, their tolerance for one another growing after defeating their first major enemy, Yura of the Demon Hair. Afterward, Inuyasha's half-brother, the full demon Sesshōmaru, came asking the whereabouts of the Tōga's tomb, seeking the treasure that was endowed there. The two brothers' encounter allowed Inuyasha to obtain the Tessaiga, a fang-sword that originally belonged to his father, which Sesshōmaru had sought. After obtaining the sword and temporarily defeating his brother, Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship deepened, and they began to care for one another. As time passed, they started to gain allies in their quest for the shards, notably Shippō, Miroku, and Sango. A demon ogre sorceress named Urasue brought Kikyō back to life and thereafter Inuyasha learned of the existence of the nefarious shape-shifting demon known as Naraku also looking for the shards from Miroku whose grandfather Miyatsu had been cursed to create the Kazaana and upon learning that Naraku must have set a trap for Kikyō 50 years ago and tricked them both into betraying one another, vowed to destroy him and avenge Kikyō.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Inuyasha was a male of average height, standing at 168 cm, with a lean, wiry frame that belies his massive strength. Like his half-brother Sesshōmaru, he has a thick mane of waist-length silver hair with short bangs, gold eyes with slit-like pupils, sharp claws on each digit, and short fangs in his mouth. His ears are soft, furry and pointed with pink canals like those of certain dog breeds and feel like "five uncooked Chinese dumpling shells atop one another." He also has slightly tanned skin, and his nose, despite appearing normal, is always damp unless he caught a cold, in which case it dried out.
Even when his life was in danger, Inuyasha refused to back down. Enemies were taken aback by his unorthodox fighting style, and he achieved victories greater than his abilities would suggest. Inuyasha was driven by a fierce, persistent determination to win, and his guts in battle have proven to work in his favor. However, his volatile emotions could often drive him to behave childishly and became tiresome to his friends at times. Inuyasha himself could not control his tumultuous soul. Even if seriously wounded, he would completely forget about his pain the moment someone he was trying to protect was in danger. Because of this, his emotions often pushed his body past its limits. This was especially true when Kagome was involved. Inuyasha was incredibly hotheaded and easy to upset, often striking out with his fists toward the source of his annoyance. He even occasionally struck young kids if they bothered him, which was often the case with Shippō. He was impatient by nature and could be very prideful, having much difficulty admitting he was wrong about something.
Inuyasha speaks in a rather harsh Japanese. He never uses honorifics to address other characters, and when speaking to someone he doesn't like, he casually uses the term "temee", a highly aggressive way of saying "you" to an opponent, which can be also translated as "bastard". His respect for the elderly is almost non-existent, in fact he often calls them "-baba" or "-jiji", which can be translated as "old witch" and "old", respectively. When referring to himself he uses the masculine pronoun "ore", which suits his personality and strength.
Powers and abilities
Inuyasha was a hanyō, born from a powerful inu-daiyōkai and a human mother. His father, Tōga, was a powerful and respected demon who governed the Western Country of Japan. Despite being a half-demon, his demonic power level is the same as a normal demon with no auxiliary skill.
Inuyasha can run and move at speeds that easily exceeded that of a conventional horse, but he was considerably slower than Entei, the yōkai horse that served as Hakudōshi's steed. While not capable of true flight, having inherited a lesser version of his father's more rudimentary powers, Inuyasha could manipulate his own yōki to an extent when he jumped, allowing him to glide over long distances and slow his falls as he lands. Inuyasha has inhuman reflexes and remarkable reaction time. He has swiped arrows fired at him out the air with his claws. He has also been able to combine his reflexes with his enhanced senses to catch objects thrown at him midair without turning around. Inuyasha's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are similarly enhanced.
Inuyasha's yōkai blood gave him intensified physical strength exceeding that of even the strongest human. He was able to uproot trees, lift boulders, break through walls and fortress gates, and was even able to punch through solid steel. In fact, the powerful demon blood inherited from his father gave him greater strength than most demons. Only surpassed by powerful daiyōkai were ever able to overpower Inuyasha in terms of raw physical strength.
Notes
- Inuyasha was created by Rumiko Takahashi where he featured in the setting of the InuYasha universe.
In other media
Television
Appearances
- InuYasha:
External Links
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