Inuyasha

Inuyasha is the titular main protagonist from the InuYasha anime and manga.

Inuyasha is the half-demon son of a great demon father, known as the Inu no Taishō, and a human mother named Izayoi, he was bound to a sacred tree by a magical arrow from the priestess Kikyō's bow while attempting to capture the Shikon Jewel. Inuyasha sought the Jewel, thinking it could transform him into a full-fledged demon. Kagome Higurashi, Kikyō's reincarnation, released him from this spell, but soon after, she accidentally shattered the Shikon no Tama into hundreds of fragments. They reluctantly agreed to work together as a team on Kaede's behalf to recover all of the fragments that had scattered across Feudal Japan before they fell into the wrong hands, though overtime they develop a close bond and eventually fall in love.

Appearance
Inuyasha is of average height, standing at 175 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 white hair, golden eyes with slit like pupils, claws on each digit, and short fangs in his mouth. His ears are furry and pointed like those of a dog and feel like "five uncooked Chinese dumpling shells atop one another." His nose, despite appearing normal, is always damp unless he caught a cold, in which case it dries out.

When he assumes human form, Inuyasha's demonic claws and fangs, as well as his dog ears, disappear. His silver hair also changes to black and his golden eye color changes to brown. In his more demonic form, Inuyasha's dog-demon features resemble that of his brother Sesshōmaru. When transformed as such, Inuyasha's sclera turned deep red, his irises became blue slits with white pupils, jagged purple stripes appeared on the sides of his face, and his fangs and claws lengthened.

Personality
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 kept the fact that he lost his demon power on the night of the new moon a secret. He believed, having lived through a cruel past, that he might be killed if he relaxed or let his guard down. However, since meeting Kagome and gaining friends who knew of his secret, he opened his heart to others and forged bonds that allowed him to entrust his life to others. Even with his friends beside him, however, he never truly let go of this worry, and his friends quietly accepted this.

However, in coherence with his archetype of Byronic Hero, despite how cynical and asocial he outwardly behaved, Inuyasha exposed his good inner nature in casual moments. He could not hide his true feelings. Although his friends described him as "easily deceived and honest to a fault" and "unable to understand the subtleties of the human spirit", his personality was difficult to dislike. Inuyasha was extremely susceptible to spells and trickery, and has a blunt, almost brutal honesty about most things, which was why he often seemed to be rude and disrespectful to others. For example, he blatantly told Kagome her food was horrible when she made it all to impress him. This was mostly due to the fact that, having been ostracized from both human and demonic communities, Inuyasha had very little experience in how to properly react in social situations. Despite his tough and insensitive exterior, he truly cared about his friends who acted as family to him; each of them, in their own way, saved him from his loneliness, and vice-versa.

Inuyasha hated those that killed for fun, and gladly rescued people in torment. He believed that all life was equally important. He had a strong distaste for people who ostracized others just for being different, carried over from his own lonely childhood.

Inuyasha valued power more than fighting tactics, and fighting spirit more than wisdom. He fought multitudes of powerful enemies and suppressed them with raw power and instinct. Rather than analyze matters, Inuyasha ran on reckless emotion, and, even if seriously injured in battle, he eventually achieved favorable results in the end. Inuyasha's instinct and experience was a product of daily training. When he saw something new, his eyes lit up and he tried to interact with it. Additionally, he is capable of incredible cunning. In his first battle battle with Kagura, she was able to prevent him from using his Kaze no Kizu. However, he was able to direct Kagome into using her arrows to disperse Kagura's wind magic. This way, when she used her magic again, he would be able to momentarily use the Kaze no Kizu, and he did. In his battle with Ginkotsu, Ginkotsu was using his wires to prevent Inuyasha from using his sword, and by transforming his sword into its sealed state, he was able to avoid the wires. Finally, Inuyasha defeated Ryūjin by using his Kaze no Kizu several times so the dragon demon could absorb his energy and fire the energy back at Inuyasha, allowing him to use the Bakuryūha, and defeat Ryūjin. However, he is not a perfect strategist, as he has been repeatedly outmaneuvered by Naraku. Inuyasha was dense and rather slow to catch on; for example, he didn't know of Sango's strong romantic feelings for Miroku until much later than the rest of the group.

Fifty years before his awakening, Inuyasha met Kikyō, and began to develop intensely pure romantic feelings for her. By meeting Kikyō, he learned the warmth of the human heart and became romantically attracted to her. Through a conspiracy, however, they were torn apart. When he learned that Kikyō had given her life to follow him in death, Inuyasha vowed to never let another woman die again. Those feelings carried over for Kikyō's reincarnation, Kagome. The concept of Kikyō being reincarnated was utterly confusing to Inuyasha, and all he ever saw when he looked at Kagome initially was Kikyō; however, this eventually faded with time. Although scorned by a resurrected Kikyō in the beginning, feelings of romantic affection and remorse resurfaced inside of him over time. He felt guilt for causing Kikyō's death and offered to die for her for this reason, but Kagome stopped him.

Inuyasha often saw Kagome's tears during their journey. Whenever tears were shed for him, with their gentle scent bringing relief, he felt that he had found his place as a protector above all else. Contact with Kagome healed the deep loneliness in his soul. In the beginning, Inuyasha didn't think there was anyone in the world who would grieve over his death. He found a different kind of comfort in Kagome than he found with Kikyō. This different comfort was based on Kagome's similar and like-minded spirited approach to life, sharing in Inuyasha's own never-give-up attitude as well as her kindness and warmth towards him, which slowly opened him up to a world less lonely. This is opposed to Kikyō's connection to Inuyasha, which was based on two distant and lonely souls finding comfort in each other's arms.

Although his heart was wounded deeply from Kikyō's "betrayal", Kagome was able to quickly mend Inuyasha's heart, enabling him to trust others again. He quickly changed his goals from obtaining the jewel to obtain more powers for himself to wanting more power to protect Kagome, as pointed out by Miroku shortly before Sangō joined the party.

Conflicting Spirit
At the root of the hanyō, Inuyasha was in conflict between his human and yōkai halves. The fear or anger at his lack of belonging caused him to feel intense loneliness. However, Kagome and his allies comforted him, and he was able to develop a strong and gentle disposition over time.

Immediately after being released from his fifty-year seal, Inuyasha sought to become a full demon and acquire power quickly by using the Shikon Jewel. In the rage of battle, he ceased to have concerns for the lives of others. However, after meeting Kagome and other gentle humans, he came to understand his human half, and began to search for true strength of spirit instead of raw demonic power. His intention to become a yōkai wavered as he encountered more of them bent on using the Jewel for evil purposes. He realized over time that he had no desire to lose his human spirit, which becoming a full yōkai would have done. As his bond with Kagome and his other companions strengthened, Inuyasha's goal to become a demon faded, and he became content remaining a hanyō.

Abilities
Inuyasha is a hanyō, born from a powerful Inu-Daiyōkai and a human mother. His father, the Inu no Taishō, 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's with no auxiliary skill. A testament to his powers as a half-demon was that he was able to easily kill Mistress Centipede, who had absorbed the entire Shikon Jewel, with one attack at the beginning of the series when his powers were at their weakest and most untrained which is much more impressive considering that he had done so in mere moments after being unsealed by Kagome. Regardless, Inuyasha was one of the most powerful demons seen thus far and throughout his journey he was able to take on many powerful supernatural beings (e.g., Shikon Jewel-empowered opponents, deities, and legendary figures like Magatsuhi and Demon of the Shikon no Tama).
 * Enhanced Strength: 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 low-tier demons. Only powerful daiyōkai (e.g. Sesshōmaru) were ever able to overpower Inuyasha in terms of raw physical strength.
 * Enhanced Speed: Inuyasha can run and move at speeds which 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.
 * Enhanced Agility and Reflexes: Inuyasha has inhuman reflexes and a 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.
 * Enhanced Stamina: Inuyasha's stamina far exceeded human standards and most demons, another result of receiving his father's powerful demon blood. He was able to run and leap vast distances at great speeds, and often complained how his comparatively weaker human companions always slowed him down by needing to rest so much every day.
 * Enhanced Endurance: Inuyasha has a very sturdy body and can endure a great deal of physical pain, as was once demonstrated in an early battle with Sesshōmaru, when he continued fighting even after being impaled in the stomach. He was also capable of surviving considerable blunt force trauma, a direct blow from a solid wooden log that broke on contact, falling several stories into a crevasse in his fight with Ryūkotsusei, and being thrown hard enough to shatter solid rock. His skin was thick enough for him to survive being tangled by Yura's wire-thin hair strands, which were capable of cutting through solid tree trunks.
 * Accelerated Healing: Inuyasha is capable of rapid recovery from even the most grievous of injuries (i.e. impalement) and can do so without any visible scarring. When Tōtōsai yanked out one of Inuyasha's fangs to repair the Tessaiga, he mentioned that Inuyasha would grow a replacement canine in just half a day. Regardless, the extent of his healing abilities are not unconditional and it has been implied he could not regenerate lost limbs.
 * Enhanced Senses: While not quite as sensitive as those of the Inu no Taishō and Sesshōmaru, Inuyasha's senses of smell and hearing are nonetheless remarkably acute. He is able to hear what people were whispering from great distances away, as was the case when, while perched on a tree, he overheard Akitoki Hōjō hiding in a bush, quietly praising Kagome under his breath. Likewise, his sense of smell is extremely keen; he could smell hints of blood from kilometers away and could detect the presence of people by smell long before they could be seen. His sense of smell was also his method of detecting yōki, and thus was used in locating the Kaze no Kizu, the striking point of the Bakuryūha and yōketsu auras, and, once, sniffing out the path of the outside world to pierce Sesshōmaru's Meidō Zangetsuha. He could catch a whiff of Naraku's power from many miles away as soon as he let down his barrier with at least as much accuracy as Kōga, despite the later being a full yōkai.


 * Claws: Inuyasha has sharp, blade-like claws and he can use them to easily slice ordinary foes to ribbons. Normally, he uses these claws in his Sankon Tessō attack. His full-powered Sankon Tessō is at least strong enough to break steel frames and destroy numerous roof tiles.
 * Blood Solidification: By using his demonic power, Inuyasha can harden his own blood and throw them like bladed projectiles in an attack he refers to as Hijin Kessō. While he typically used blood from an already open wound, Inuyasha could draw the necessary blood to use the attack by digging his nails into his palms. He would often use this tactic as a surprise counterattack after being wounded, when his opponents would assume he was weakened by his wounds and lower their guard.
 * Longevity: Inuyasha's mixed heritage and him being the son of a powerful daiyōkai, afforded him supernatural longevity. Inuyasha noticeably aged slower than normal humans; he was over 150 years old at the time of his sealing, but looked to be the physical equivalent of a 15-year-old human.
 * Limited Time Travel: By jumping down the Bone Eater's Well, Inuyasha could travel back and forth five hundred years to and from the future. Inuyasha has repeatedly traveled to Kagome's time without the aid of a Sacred Jewel Shard. Others, besides Kagome and Inuyasha, were unable to travel through the well, as shown when Shippō attempted to go through the well but failed, and when Sōta attempted to go down the well to call Inuyasha for help during the attack of the Noh Mask, but was unable to get through either.
 * Transformation: Due to his half-demon heritage, Inuyasha transforms against his will when certain conditions are met. Thus this attribute can fluctuate between a strength and a weakness making it an unreliable ability. Most notably during the night of the new moon he is temporarily rendered human for the duration of the event. In another case, Inuyasha transforms into a full-fledged demon when his life is in mortal danger. He is also susceptible to being corrupted by an impure Sacred Jewel, turning into a savage demon. This was first seen when he and his friends were trapped in the Stone Ogre's belly, Inuyasha used a shard of the Sacred Jewel to strengthen Tessaiga's power, an effort which backfired when the impure powers of the shard flowed through Tessaiga, causing Inuyasha to transform. After Kagome purified the shard, Inuyasha regressed into a more tamed version of his yōkai form. His yōki increased exponentially, allowing him to enhance the Tessaiga's Kongōsōha's barrier-piercing effect with an intensity far superior to its previous uses, as well as being able to combine the Kaze no Kizu with the Kongōsōha. After the shard was removed from Tessaiga, Inuyasha reverted to his hanyō self. He entered this state a second time while inside Naraku, having been corrupted into his yōkai form by the presence of the black Shikon no Tama and possessed by Magatsuhi, though he entered the purified form after smelling Kagome's blood, freeing himself from Magatsuhi's control. After Magatsuhi's demise, Kagome's spiritual powers returned him to his hanyō state.
 * Experienced Combatant: Due to being born a hanyō in a time of great strife between humans and demons, Inuyasha was very experienced in unarmed combat. However, unlike the technical skills displayed by Sesshōmaru, Inuyasha generally relied more on brute force than any type of martial arts. His conventional combat strategy was centered around attacking his opponents quickly and beating them into submission, leaving him at a disadvantage when faced with more sophisticated combatants.
 * Adept Swordsman: After obtaining Tessaiga as his signature weapon, Inuyasha used it as his main form of combat. Since Inuyasha never had used a sword before, and because he often relied solely on Tessaiga's demonic powers, skilled swordsmen normally pointed out how reckless he was when fighting them, using his lack of experience to their benefit. Sesshōmaru remarked early on that the Tessaiga was no different than a wooden club in Inuyasha's hands. However, as he continued to face great challenges from skilled opponents, Inuyasha developed his swordsmanship with Tessaiga to the point of being able to contend against Sesshōmaru in battle, though he still remained inferior in overall skills.
 * Minor Medicinal Knowledge: Inuyasha had a limited knowledge of medicine and minor illnesses; for example, he was taught by his mother how to concoct an herbal medicine that could easily cure colds in an instant, which he made for Kagome when she was sick.

Equipment

 * Robe of the Fire-Rat: The robe Inuyasha normally wears is woven from the hair of the Fire-Rat. It serves as a fireproof armor and can has the ability to regenerate itself; for example, in the fourth InuYasha movie, Inuyasha was able to shrug off the fire of the Cauldron of Resonance, which would have otherwise completely burned and evaporated a hanyō's soul instantly.
 * Tessaiga: Inuyasha wields Tessaiga, a powerful yōkai sword forged from one of his father's fangs by the bladesmith Tōtōsai. The sword can absorb demonic powers and energy, and is useful in preventing Inuyasha from falling victim to his demonic nature, which turns him into a berserker. In its sealed state, Tessaiga resembled a rusty katana with a nicked and dented blade and torn hilt-wrap. When wielded by a user with demon blood, the blade transformed into a five-foot-long fang capable of immense damage. Over the course of his journey, Inuyasha develops Tessaiga's signature Wind Scar (Kaze no Kizu), Backlash Wave (Bakuryūha) and Adamant Barrage (Kongōsōha, Adamant Destroying Spears) techniques. Eventually, Inuyasha gains a new ability in Meidou Zangetsuha (Meidō Zangetsuha, "Dark Path of the Dawn Moon's Wave) that Sesshōmaruprepared for him as part of their father's design.
 * Sheath of Tessaiga: Tessaiga's sheath could deflect energy attacks with the barrier used to contain Tessaiga's power. These barriers, though powerful, could only withstand a certain amount of damage before breaking. The sheath also possessed the power to recall the Tessaiga. During Inuyasha's final battle against Sesshōmaru regarding the Tessaiga, the sheath possessed enough power to block the Kongōsōha but not the Red Tessaiga's barrier shattering ability.

Trivia

 * Although the official translation of his name is "Dog Forest Spirit" or "Wild Dog Spirit", a less profound, albeit more faithful, translation of "Inuyasha" is "Dog Yaksha". A yaksha is a race of creatures, or spirits, in Hinduism and Buddhism that traditionally live in forests, which is most likely the intent behind the "official" translation of "Dog Forest Spirit", since, while inaccurate, it is the one translation least likely to generate confusion among fans.
 * "Yasha” (yasha) is the Japanese reading of the Sanskrit word "yaksha" (yakṣa). Interestingly, a yaksha is a close equivalent in Indian culture of the class of creatures in Japanese folklore known as yōkai, featured throughout the series. Because the characters for yasha (loaned from China) were almost certainly chosen by the Chinese to approximate the original phonetic pronunciation of the Sanskrit word, their literal meaning ("night fork") is purely coincidental, and therefore irrelevant.
 * In Hinduism, the yaksha (male) and yakshini (female) represent a variety of supernatural creatures. Some of them are good, and serve the gods or protect nature, and some of them are evil, and are instead called “rakshasa” (male) or “rakshasi” (female). The yaksha were adopted into Buddhist mythology, and in Japanese the word became “yasha”. The yasha became part of the Eight Legions that defend righteousness, serving the Heavenly King Bishamonten, who defends the northerly direction. Yasha are typically depicted as having long, fluffy hair and horns. In Inuyasha's case, instead of horns he has dog ears. Thus, “Inu” Yasha.
 * Ironically, the nomenclature of Inuyasha closely parallels Onigumo (type of demon + name of animal; i.e. "ogre spider").
 * Inuyasha's canine features (his pointed dogs-ears) are modeled after those of the Japanese native Spitzdogs breeds; such as the Akita Inu, the Shiba Inu, the Shikoku Inu, Kishu Ken, and the Hokkaido Inu.
 * In the unofficial live action series Holy Pearl, Inuyasha was renamed as Wen Tian, who was half-dragon and half-human.
 * He was played by Atsuhiro Sato in a live action stage play and by Yutaka Kyan in the 2016 adaption.
 * Inuyasha, along with Shippō, Miroku, Tessaiga, and Kagome, makes a cameo appearance in Ranma ½OVA Episode 13. During one of Akane's nightmares, Inuyasha is seen face down, dead, with Shippō's body on top of his and Tessaiga stuck in the floor.
 * Coincidentally, both Kappei Yamaguchi and Richard Ian Cox have also voiced Ranma Saotome'smale half in Ranma ½.
 * Kappei Yamaguchi later voiced for Rinne Rokudō's father Sabato Rokudō from Takahashi's latest series. Rin-ne.
 * Inuyasha was once considered for a guest fighter for the Mortal Kombat X game.[citation needed]
 * In "The Last Banquet of Miroku's Master," Inuyasha revealed that he could still talk in between Kagome's "Sit!" commands.


 * Inuyasha and Sesshōmaru were parodied by Wataru and Hayate in the series Hayate the Combat Butler. Wataru even imitates Inuyasha's Wind Scar attack. The "Kaze" part of "Kaze no Kizu" was bleeped, most likely to avoid copyright infringement.
 * In some episodes, Inuyasha's toenails were shaped just like a human's, while in others, they were sharpened like his claws.
 * In the two episodes when Inuyasha fights Naraku at Mt. Hakurei, Inuyasha called his Tessaiga to him when it was out of his reach.
 * In InuYasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler, Inuyasha was shown to have been born with a full head of silver hair, unlike regular human babies, who are born bald or have small tufts of hair on their heads.
 * Occasionally, Inuyasha would perform dog-like actions, though mostly for comic relief. Inuyasha would sometimes get down on his hands and knees with his nose to the ground, or use his foot to scratch his ear, much like how a real dog does. It usually attracted quite a bit of attention, though Inuyasha usually didn't care, because his mind was on other things. He would also sometimes sit down and scratch his ears with his feet. He did growl from time to time, and usually did this when he was angry, annoyed, or frustrated. Also, like a real dog, he sometimes shook himself dry or played fetch (much to his annoyance).
 * Inuyasha's favorite food from the modern world was instant noodles/Ramen, although this could be annoying to Kagome, such as in Episode 9 and the first movie.
 * In the Final Act's first ending theme song, the theme shows Inuyasha and Kagome with the red string of fateattached to their pinky since they were destined to meet. In Japanese culture, it is thought to be so by tying around the little finger/pinky finger.
 * Inuyasha is the second character in Rumiko Takahashi's works voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi who played Ranma Saotome in Ranma ½ and Sabato Rokudō in Rin-ne.
 * Based on the information provided in both the anime and movies, it could be concluded that InuYasha was born roughly around the year 1296 in Winter on a Full Moon, which would be during the Kamakura period.
 * Inuyasha wearing the Beads of Subjugation is hinted to be referencing Sun Wukong being forced into subjugation by wearing a headpiece blessed by the gods for him to obey Tripitaka in ancient legend of The Journey to the West. Both cannot go against the "word sayer" (Kagome and Tripitaka) nor can they remove the item themselves. It is also similar to a shock collar used to train dogs.