Sesshoumaru

Sesshoumaru is a character from the InuYasha anime and manga.

Sesshoumaru was a powerful Inu Daiyōkai, feared throughout the Feudal Era. He was the half-brother of the hanyō Inuyasha and the first son of the Tōga, their father. Unlike many other yōkai, he had no interest in possessing even a single shard of the Shikon no Tama to enhance his powers and considered yōkai who sought its abilities only to strengthen themselves as pathetic and weak. Despite the lack of interest towards the Shikon no Tama, he longed to end Naraku's life due to personal reasons. On his journey, he was accompanied by a two-headed dragon named A-Un, a demon imp named Jaken, an orphaned human girl named Rin, and eventually Sango's younger brother Kohaku. On several occasions throughout the series Sesshōmaru's group happened to encounter Inuyasha's group while both teams were hounding down Naraku and Sesshōmaru more or less willingly helped out Inuyasha and his friends which he always claimed as not have been his actual intentions in any of such situation.

Appearance
Sesshōmaru appears as a handsome, tall and slender young man. He has fair skin with pointed ears, slanted golden eyes with slit pupils, and knee-length silver hair with short bangs. He has a purple crescent moon on his forehead that could be seen beneath his bangs, two magenta stripes on each cheek, and a magenta stripe on each eyelid. When he used his Dakkoso, three magenta stripes appeared on his wrists. Like Inuyasha, his canines are fangs (although they usually weren't visible unless he transformed) and his fingers are tipped with claws, although unlike Inuyasha his could secrete a corrosive poison. Sesshōmaru's true form is a giant silver dog with markings similar to the ones he had in his human form. His eyes become red with blue irises, the yōkai marks on his body widened and becomes more apparent, the stripes on his cheeks which are usually smooth became jagged and changed into a somewhat fiercer color, and his mokomoko wrapped around his body and extended into his tail. He only fully transformed to his yōkai form three times: once during a battle with Inuyasha, resulting in the loss of his left arm, again when he met his mother, and during the battle against Magatsuhi.
 * Humanoid form
 * Yōkai Form

Sesshōmaru's armor included a spiked pauldron that covered his left shoulder attached to the upper section of his cuirass and "lotus petal" faulds. When damaged, the armor automatically regenerated itself using yōki. Both his armor and his long flowing sash had a decided Chinese influence, as opposed to the customary Japanese armor and obi. His kimono was mostly white with a red and white cherry blossom flower crest at the collar and sleeves, showing that he was of royal birth. He wore sashinuki hakama which were gathered at the ankles, producing a "ballooning" effect. His footwear consisted of black ankle-high boots, also reminiscent of Chinese influence. On his right shoulder was his mokomoko-sama, the fur and tail of his true form which he retained in his humanoid form.

In the third movie, it was seen in his younger years, Sesshōmaru wore a slightly different outfit. His kimono was cream colored and had purple leaf patterns, and he wore a blue sash belt. His face too had a more feminine edge to it.

Personality
Sesshōmaru, born of a great demon bloodline, possessed the perfect power that many demons desired. Because of this, he was always composed and confident in his power, displaying a calm, calculating personality at almost all times. The only trait he inherited from his father was fondness towards humans, which didn't manifest until later on in his life. His calmness often kept his thoughts clear of emotional influence.

His air of aloofness and indifference was a product of dignity that only one of such rare demonic power could possess. Sesshōmaru was more or less emotionless, with only anger, annoyance, and dissatisfaction showing on his face. Because both his heart and body were so strong, he had no desire whatsoever to own the Sacred Jewel, nor to conspire with allies. Sesshōmaru even responded sarcastically towards Naraku, who had assumed an air of impudence due to his increased demonic power.

In battle, he judged his enemy's power level and attacked with the minimum power necessary. Anyone in his way was considered an enemy he would exterminate without hesitation. He did not hold back his power, even against women. He rationalized that all his prey was the same, and defeated them accordingly. For one with such pride in his power, cooperation was proof of weakness, and being alone was a condition for the strong. Once he judged someone as an obstacle, he was quick to kill without hesitation. Sesshōmaru had a very inquiring mind when there was something he cared about, but at the same time, he had almost no tenacity of purpose. If he became interested in something else, he would arbitrarily turn his back on what he was doing, even during battle. Just like his fighting style, he was quick to make decisions and act on them immediately.

Sesshōmaru was obsessively proud of his father, Tōga, of whom the whole demon world was in awe. Because he respected his bloodline so much, he despised Inuyasha as well as Inuyasha's human mother Izayoi. He insulted Naraku, who tried to take advantage of Sesshōmaru's power. Anger welled up in his heart for not being able to use Tessaiga, the sword that could cut a hundred demons in one sweep which was left by his father, whom he highly respected. Sesshōmaru held resentment towards his father for having left Tessaiga to Inuyasha, whose power was weaker than his own. However, over time, Sesshōmaru came to grasp why his father gave him Tenseiga, and let go of his disgust towards his half-brother, even showing strong concern for him in rare moments. He refused to use Bakusaiga on Inuyasha when even Magatsuhi noted it was the obvious choice to make, and in the third movie, it was hinted that he actually did care about Inuyasha but refused to admit it when he was protecting him from Sō’unga's "Dragon Twister" attack. Sesshōmaru had stated that he sought only to fight the strongest beings alive and how he had wanted to fight his father and defeat him. Sesshōmaru's love for his father was so great that even though he inherited the (at the time) worthless Tenseiga, he kept it around him for sentimental value. During the brief period Tenseiga was stolen from him in the third movie, he stated Tenseiga was not a sword he would miss if he lost it, if not for his father.

He used to feel nothing for anyone, but meeting various people, such as the ever-changing Inuyasha, Naraku with his numerous proposals, and Rin, had brought change to his heart. After he saved Rin and became a true owner of Tenseiga, he started to show feelings behind his heartless and cruel words. He stopped the demonic Inuyasha's wildness by controlling his power, and he looked at him like an older brother reprimanding a younger brother, though he claimed he would kill Inuyasha, despite his actions showing the opposite. There was even a time when Sesshōmaru was angry at Inuyasha for rampaging around their father's grave, but he set his sword aside, before striking him with only his fist. By setting his sword aside, Sesshōmaru showed he was merely reprimanding Inuyasha for desecrating their father's grave, instead of actually trying to injure or kill his younger brother. Sesshōmaru did not even hit him all that hard, or Inuyasha would have been injured. He even refrained from killing Kohaku when he could easily do so, when he looked in his eyes and saw emptiness and that he had given up everything.

Sesshōmaru genuinely cared about Rin and Jaken, and while he rarely showed it, he did appreciate their loyalty. Sesshōmaru originally held much contempt towards protecting the weak, seeing it as a ridiculous waste of time. Unlike Tōga and Inuyasha, Sesshōmaru had trouble admitting he had people to protect (Rin and Jaken), and out of pride, would never admit that he did. Sesshōmaru's compassion for Rin was evident, but he preferred to disguise it, because it would taint his pride. However, he showed his love and concern for Rin when she appeared to be dead due to her time in Hell. Sesshōmaru entered Hell for the purpose of rescuing her, but upon learning that he couldn't save her life, he was crushed. When he realized that it was his urge to strengthen Tenseiga which brought them to Hell and ultimately killed her, he cast the sword aside, saying that for the sword to gain power at the expense of Rin's life meant nothing. However, when Sesshōmaru's mother revived Rin, he was very relieved. Although he cares for her, he does not pamper her, making her fend for herself when she is hungry, but keeps a close enough distance to come to her aid when need be. Apart from Rin, he's become more caring towards Jaken, whom he used to threaten to kill on a regular basis and treated like a slave if he failed to accomplish a certain task. Afterwards, while he would still strike Jaken whenever he annoyed him and would force Jaken to accompany him even during dangerous situations, he would tell Jaken to stay back when facing an enemy that would endanger Jaken if he was too close.

When Kagura was injured, Sesshōmaru originally intended to leave her in the river she was drowning in, but when Rin fell in trying to save her and Jaken followed Rin, Sesshōmaru pulled all three from the river. He stayed there afterwards, and warned Kagura not to do anything that would get her killed. Later however, before Kagura's death, Sesshōmaru sought her out and considered using Tenseiga, only to conclude that Tenseiga couldn't save her.

He had also been shown saving Inuyasha's friends on several occasions. On his way to Mount Hakurei, Sesshōmaru saved Kagome, Miroku, and Sango from the poison master Mukotsu, one of the Shichinintai, but only claimed that he killed Mukotsu because he would not answer his questions. He also revived a young otter yōkai's father, claiming that it was the will of Tenseiga. Another example was when Inuyasha and his companions were involved in a fight with the "water god" Numawatari; when Sesshōmaru arrived, he insulted Inuyasha's inability to kill a "low life demon", and then easily dispatched Numawatari using his Meidō Zangetsuha ability, leaving straight after.

Also, when Byakuya, Naraku's newest incarnation, was about to take Kohaku, who had one of the last three shards of the Shikon no Tama, back to Naraku, Sesshōmaru appeared and launched a ranged Meidō Zangetsuha (still in the crescent moon shape), barely missing him. Byakuya fled, claiming that he did not want to die, and commented on how it was so unlike Sesshōmaru to save someone. Thereafter, Sesshōmaru seemed to have taken Kohaku under his protection, albeit in his typical grudging demon-slayer fashion. Later, when Kohaku's shard was tainted by Magatsuhi, Sesshōmaru attempted to save Kohaku at the expense of great injury to his arm.

It was his deep compassion that caused Tenseiga to be reforged as a weapon. Its offensive powers were locked until Sesshōmaru was able to show true compassion. In his battle with Mōryōmaru, the villain insulted the dying Kagura, which angered Sesshōmaru, and he shattered Mōryōmaru's indestructible shell (and his only weapon in the process). Acknowledging the yōkai's growth because he was defending a dead person, Tenseiga called to its creator to reforge it as a weapon. However, he still retains traces of his former ruthlessness, having entered a mountain belonging to ogres and killing all of them mercilessly to practice and develop Meidō Zangetsuha. Later, to show his compassion and respect for his father, he gave the offensive powers of his sword to Inuyasha (albeit in his typical fashion), in accordance with his father's wishes, recognizing his brother's worth as the heir to the sword.

Despite his growing compassion, he, like his brother, used impolite Japanese. He addressed strangers or people he does not like with "kisama", which, like "temee", was an offensive form of "you", though still more formal. He addressed himself with either the polite "watashi", or "kono Sesshōmaru" (lit. this Sesshōmaru) a manner in which powerful lords referred to themselves, denoting his high nobility and station. Other than "kisama", he used "omae", either to Jaken or to Inuyasha, the latter being occasionally and not rarely. Thus, he could be insulting while retaining the dignified speech pattern of a lord, as opposed to the rougher speech used by Inuyasha. Sesshōmaru also shares another trait with his younger brother: having a temper and being very easy to annoy (Inuyasha being loud in his anger, Sesshōmaru being subtle), as he had been known to hit Jaken when he said something that displeased him, similar to how Inuyasha was with Shippō.

Sesshōmaru, while still merciless, completely despised brutality as shown in the fourth movie, when Kyōrarepeatedly suggest that they are similar in finding sadistic enjoyment in ending people's lives, Sesshōmaru replied with extreme scorn and disdain. In fact, when Sesshōmaru did kill enemies, he did it in a quick and efficient manner, disregarding any form of unnecessary violence.

Abilities
Whereas his half-brother Inuyasha is a half-demon, Sesshōmaru is a pure-blooded demon, having inherited his demon father's abilities more completely than his brother. The level of his demonic powers are such that he is can nullify demonic auras in an instant by touching the object that has been possessed. For example, even though it remained corrupted after Kaijinbō's death, Sesshōmaru exterminated Tōkijin's demonic aura effortlessly with his bare hands. It was also presumed that, apart from the Inu no Taishō himself, Sesshōmaru was the only known demon who could possibly control Sō'unga, something which Inuyasha couldn't.
 * Superhuman Strength: Sesshōmaru possesses Herculean strength, even with one arm. He has repeatedly overpowered and powerfully thrown aside Inuyasha. He can even use his claws to easily tear through solid rock, and through the bodies of most demons. His physical strength with only one arm was equal to Inuyasha's maximum strength.
 * Superhuman Speed: Sesshōmaru can close distances quickly and without warning. His speed far exceeded that of Inuyasha's own considerable speed, as in their fights, Inuyasha was not capable of landing a single hit on Sesshōmaru even with Tessaiga in hand until he learned the Wind Scar. He even got behind the cautious Naraku with ease.
 * Superhuman Durability: Sesshōmaru's tremendous demonic powers have granted him great resistance to injury. On the fairly rare occasion that he receives serious injuries, Sesshōmaru can often continue fighting in spite of them, showing tremendous resilience. This was demonstrated when he was able to easily kill an army of human samurai just after losing his left arm and initial battle over the Tessaiga to Inuyasha. Later on Sesshōmaru managed to withstand the Kaze no Kizu head-on long enough for Tenseiga to use its barrier ability to protect Sesshōmaru from the lethal damage level of the attack. Despite being heavily wounded during his battle with Magatsuhi, Sesshōmaru was able to continue fighting until his powers coalesced into Bakusaiga. Sesshōmaru is also shown to be able to withstand the shock of the Anti-Demon Barrier placed on Tessaiga in order to use occasionally when need be with little reaction, though not without suffering potentially debilitating injuries. Since he holds strong poison in his own body, he is able to resist or nullify most poisonous attacks (e.g. Naraku's Shōki or Mukotsu's anti-demon poisons).
 * Accelerated Healing: During his battle with Magatsuhi, Sesshōmaru demonstrated the ability to rapidly heal the burns and gashes on his right arm, as well as several large holes stabbed right through his body. This ability seems not to be a passive bodily function however, as he evidently needed to focus his energies in order to heal himself. In the same battle, he also showed regenerative powers, able to fully grow back his left arm, which was cut off by Inuyasha at the beginning of the series. It is unknown why it took so long, however, it is possibly because his left arm housed his Bakusaiga, and was subconsciously suppressed until letting go of his desire for Tessaiga, as Bakusaiga emerged with his new left arm.
 * Superhuman Olfactory Senses: Sesshōmaru has excellent olfaction and is able to determine circumstances by scents on the wind. Even for things far away, he can learn what's going on and obtain information by smell alone. He can discern certain characteristics about an individual through scent alone; for example, the scent of graveyard soil allowed him to identify the undead nature of the Band of Seven.


 * Dokkasō (Poison Claws, "Poison Luster Claw"): Sesshōmaru has claw-like fingernails, and can injure — or even kill — an entire group of thieves using his claws. He can also scratch with his claws and release a potent poison at the same time to melt his enemies. Though he normally applies it through his claw strikes, he can also spray the acid from his claws or transfer it into his punches. His poison is strong enough to melt rock or bone; a mere human will melt in an instant. If his poison is taken in internally, it will remain inside and be in effect for a long period of time — even in those with demonic power.
 * Mokomoko-sama ("Lord Fluff-Fluff"): The rich fur on Sesshōmaru's shoulder is a part of his body and can stretch to great lengths, giving him defensive capabilities and some means of attack.
 * Light Whip (Hikari no Muchi, "Whip of Light"): Sesshōmaru can generate a thin, whip-like strand of yellow-green energy from his fingertips to aid him in place of his missing arm. It has shown to be able to puncture armor and flesh with ease and can burn flesh upon contact, similar to his poison. He appears to be capable of manifesting this energy without its destructive properties, allowing him to use it to catch falling allies or yank someone out of danger without damaging them.
 * Longevity: As a daiyōkai, Sesshōmaru has supernatural longevity. He appears to be physically around 19 years old despite being chronologically over 900 years old.


 * Flight: Sesshōmaru is capable of independent flight in his humanoid form and giant dog demon form, and can also hover motionlessly above the ground. He occasionally permits other individuals to accompany him by carrying them on his mokomoko-sama. While in this light orb form, Sesshōmaru can fly even faster than either his human or true form, and this can be used for a quick escape or quick pursuit.
 * Transformation: As a Daiyōkai, Sesshōmaru possesses the ability to transform into either an orb of light or a huge silver furred dog anytime he wants, and although he possesses tremendous destructive power in the latter form, he rarely uses it. While his gigantic dog form appears to grant him a great deal of physical strength, it seems to lack the agility of his humanoid form. Additionally, it was speculated by Jaken that Sesshōmaru loses some of his reasoning abilities while in dog form; there is no substantial evidence to support this theory however. When transforming back and forth, his clothing, weapons, and other accoutrements seem to simply vanish and then re-appear on his person.
 * Poisoned Fangs: While in his giant dog form, the toxins of Sesshōmaru's poison claws are transferred into his fangs. This caused his bite to have extremely caustic effects, an ability which is also transferred to his saliva. Additionally, his saliva can be turned into a poisonous, mist-like gas.
 * Teleportation: Sesshōmaru's orb of light form gives him the ability to quickly teleport away if necessary, as seen when Sesshōmaru morphed into a ball of energy to escape his father's grave.[19]He later used this form to pursue a fleeing Tōtōsai, materializing upon impacting with the ground and producing an explosion.
 * Master Swordsman: Sesshōmaru is an extremely skilled in swordsman, having wielded several demon swords in battle. In the several occasions when he and Inuyasha clashed with their demonic swords, Sesshōmaru was able to easily and consistently overwhelm his younger brother. Even in the rare chance that Inuyasha managed to defeat Sesshōmaru, it was only after Sesshōmaru had held the upper hand and Inuyasha became accustomed to Sesshōmaru's skills. Sesshōmaru's overall skill was such that he could wield the Tessaiga with at least the same level of efficiency as Inuyasha using both hands with just one hand, if not even superior.
 * Experienced Combatant: Along with his swordsmanship, Sesshōmaru is also a highly accomplished unarmed fighter and even with only one arm, his skill was still formidable. Unlike Inuyasha, Sesshōmaru normally attacks with swiftness and elegance.
 * Expert Tactician: Due to his keen instincts and great power, Sesshōmaru is experienced in analyzing any given situation, finding the best route towards his success.

Equipment
Tenseiga: Sesshōmaru wields the Tenseiga, a powerful yōkai sword forged from one of his father's fangs by the bladesmith Tōtōsai. This sword was revealed to have been cast off of Tessaiga after Tōga acquired the Meidō Zangetsuha (Meidō Zangetsuha, "Dark Path of the Dawn Moon's Wave) technique, which Sesshōmaru later developed and passed on to Inuyasha. Tōga passed the sword on to Sesshōmaru in the hope that it would help him to develop compassion, as Sesshōmaru had formerly been concerned solely with acquiring more power. Tenseiga cannot harm the living, but is allegedly capable of saving a hundred lives in a single stroke and was able to bring back someone from the dead, albeit once. The sword can also cut spiritual entities (ghosts, spirits, and messengers of the Underworld). In extreme cases, the Tenseiga can also protect Sesshōmaru from potentially lethal attacks by emitting a black mist-like barrier. The protective barrier is capable of blocking the Kaze no Kizu from the Tessaiga and the Gokuryūha from the Sō'unga. However, in neither case was the barrier completely effective, as both attacks still managed to harm Sesshōmaru to a certain extent. The sword normally emits a blue aura when in use and possesses a will of its own that Sesshōmaru can sense. Tōkijin: Tōkijin was a sword crafted by the evil sword smith Kaijinbō from the fangs of Goshinki as part of Sesshōmaru's continued efforts to obtain Tessaiga or a sword matching it in power. It is shown to capable of matching Tessaiga in power as the fangs of Goshinki were capable of breaking the original Tessaiga before being reforged by Tōtōsai using Inuyasha's fang. Eventually in Sesshōmaru's battle against Mōryōmaru, he broke it while attempting to penetrate the demon's absorbed shell. Sesshōmaru did not bother to have it repaired because it did not have the power to defeat Mōryōmaru and he resolved to find a replacement sword. Although a powerful sword in its own right, the Tōkijin is apparently capable of drawing power from Sesshōmaru himself, which makes it all the more formidable. However, just as Sesshōmaru mocks Mōryōmaru for not being able to contain all of his demonic energy, the same problem exists with the Tōkijin, which is sometimes strained by all of Sesshōmaru's power coursing through it. This frustration towards Tōkijin's limitations sets up Sesshōmaru's eventual achievement of creating a sword of his own power, the Bakusaiga. Bakusaiga: Bakusaiga is Sesshōmaru's current signature weapon. Bakusaiga manifested itself in the hand of Sesshōmaru's fully regenerated left arm during his battle with Magatsuhi. Its creation signified Sesshōmaru's graduation into a full-fledged Daiyōkai, which had long been compromised by his obsession with Tessaiga. Tōtōsai commented that his ability to manifest his own blade suggested that his strength and power had surpassed that of his father and connoted his growth through the many trials he endured to emerge as a Daiyōkai. Bakusaiga ultimately served as the product of this "rite of passage."
 * Demonic Armor: Sesshōmaru wears a form of armor over his kimono that can supposedly regenerate itself over time if it was ever damaged in battle. This is shown when Inuyasha broke it during their initial battle over Tessaiga within their father's corpse and after the battle, Sesshōmaru is shown wearing the armor perfectly intact when he faced against the samurai army despite not having made any attempts at repairing or replacing the damaged portion.
 * Tessaiga Replication: By crushing a fragment of Kanna's mirror obtained from Byakuya under Naraku's order onto Tenseiga's blade, Sesshōmaru was able to copy and steal the forms and abilities of Tessaiga. This ability seemed to be somewhat transient, as Inuyasha was able to reclaim the stolen powers from Tenseiga simply by clashing against it with Tessaiga. Naraku was able to possess this form of the Tenseiga due to having Kanna's mirror fragment spread over the blade. Despite knowing that Naraku was playing him, Sesshōmaru conceded to Naraku's plot for the purpose of seeing if Inuyasha could handle the Meidō Zangetsuha. Once he did, Sesshōmaru passed the technique on to his brother.
 * Immense Demonic Aura: Due to Sesshōmaru having to revive Goshinki's head before Kaijinbō forged the fangs into Tōkijin, the demon sword possesses an intense demonic aura of hatred from Goshinki. The aura was strong enough to possess Kaijinbō and eventually consume him because he wasn't strong enough to withstand it. When Sesshōmaru claimed that Tōkijin himself, he was able to subdue the aura with his own.
 * Energy Attacks: It can fire off extremely powerful blasts of pure evil energy, but because it is filled with Goshinki's malice, only someone with a very powerful demonic presence can wield it without being controlled by it. The energy blasts created by Tōkijin takes on multiple forms due to Sesshōmaru developing it further on his quest for power.
 * Protective Barrier: When struck into the ground, Tōkijin can create barrier that would eradicate anything that comes into contact with it.
 * Needle energy Blast: Originally the energy blasts of Tōkijin took the form of small, needle-like energy shards that Sesshōmaru fires off the tip of the sword without having to slash it.
 * Blue Energy Wave: Sesshōmaru later developed the ability to fire energy blasts from the sword that were comparable to the Kaze no Kizu in size and power.
 * Green Energy Sphere: Sesshōmaru also demonstrated the ability to fire energy spheres from the blade, which were green in color and traveled very quickly.
 * Sōryūha (Dragon Strike, "Blue Dragon Blast"): This is the most powerful technique of the Tōkijin. The first form of the attack when used by Tōkijin are blue streams of lightning and eventually form the shape of a dragon. Sesshōmaru can even channel the energy into the ground to circumvent his opponent's defenses.
 * Decomposition: The energy produced by Bakusaiga has an extremely corrosive effect on organic matter, which lingers even after a blast from the weapon. For instance, Miroku commented at one point that, should Naraku attempt to absorb something that had been killed by Bakusaiga, the caustic decomposition conferred by the Bakusaiga would be transferred from the corpse of whatever had been absorbed to Naraku himself.
 * Explosive Corrosion Wave: Sesshōmaru can fire off the decomposition ability of Bakusaiga as an explosive energy wave that can slay thousands of demons in one slash. Though similar to the Kaze no Kizu, Rumiko Takahashi stated that Bakusaiga's yōki wave attack possesses much more energy than a full power blast from Inuyasha's Bakuryūha.

Trivia

 * According to Rumiko Takahashi, Sesshōmaru's name means "killing perfection", though it can also be translated as "the perfect killer/assassin", "circle of destruction" or "complete destruction of life."
 * Sesshōmaru makes an appearance as a concept art in the front pages of Chapter 9, before he was introduced as a character.
 * Sesshōmaru's first handful of appearances in the manga have a somewhat childish illustration, and he is shown smiling and mocking his enemies frequently. This part of his personality starts to fade little by little after he has his arm severed by Inuyasha. His clothes and armor also change as the manga progresses. However, in the anime he is cold and rarely shows emotion from his very first appearance.
 * His mokomoko-sama grows considerably over the course of the manga, going from a relatively small band of fur to a massive bunch of fur that drags behind him as he walks.
 * The energy whip of light is exclusive to the anime. In most of the scenes where Sesshōmaru uses the whip of light in the anime, in the manga he instead used his Mokomoko.
 * Sesshōmaru only transforms into his true appearance three times in the series:
 * When fighting Inuyasha over the Tessaiga for the first time.
 * When greeting his mother.
 * When fighting Magatsuhi.
 * It is stated in Episode 162, Sesshōmaru doesn't know when Inuyasha loses his powers as a half-demon and becomes a human.
 * The pattern on Sesshōmaru's kimono is based upon an actual crest of a samurai clan known as the Azai.
 * In The Holy Pearl, a Chinese live action loosely based on InuYasha, Sesshōmaru is paralleled by a character named Wu Dao.
 * In Zusetsutaizan Ōgikaiden, Sesshōmaru is described as, "Beautifully chilling. The strongest demon in the Warring States era."
 * Sesshomaru has stated to Rin that he doesn't eat human food.