Inuyasha is the main character of the series. Aged at 15 in appearance and mindset. Born to a dog demon father and human mother, Inuyasha is a half-dog demon who initially wants to use the power of the Sacred Shikon Jewel to become a full-fledged demon like his brother, Sesshomaru. InuYasha was sealed to the sacred tree 500 years before the start of the series by the priestess Kikyo, and released by Kagome who turns out to be Kikyo's reincarnation.
Later on, Kagome shot a sacred arrow at a demon who was escaping with the jewel. The arrow slew the demon, but it also hit the Shikon Jewel and shattered it. InuYasha and Kagome travel together to retrieve its fragments.At first, he is hostile and uncooperative, but Kikyo's sister, Kaede restrains him with a magical necklace that hurls him to the ground whenever Kagome gives the simple command word "Sit!" Initially wary of Kagome's resemblance to Kikyo. Inuyasha grows to trust her as a friends that tang along. Soon after, Inuyasha begins to have feelings for Kagome.
Due to his half-human nature, Inuyasha loses his demonic powers and becomes pure human during the night of the new moon: his hair changes from silver to black, and his fangs, claws, and dog ears are replaced by the normal human equivalents.
Inuyasha in human form....
Kagome Higurashi is a fifteen-year-old middle school student, and she is born in modern Japan as the reincarnation of the deceased priestess Kikyo. Kagome has the Sacred Shikon Jewel unknowingly hidden inside her body until 1997, when a demon pulls her into the Bone Eater's Well and five hundred years back through time. They emerge in the Feudal Era about fifty years after Kikyo's death, where the demon extracts the jewel from Kagome.While trying to protect the Sacred Shikon Jewel using a longbow and arrow, she accidentally shatters it into numerous fragments that disperse throughout Japan. She agrees to help find them, as she can sense the presence of nearby shards.
As the series progresses, she has a crush with Inuyasha since he was with him a long time fighting demons, and finds herself competing with the revived Kikyo for his affections. During the search for the Shikon Jewel, Kagome's own innate spiritual powers and abilities, and archery skills continue to improve, and has unlocked her true powers and full potential.
Miroku....
Miroku is a Buddhist monk who traveled the countryside performing (mostly fictitious) services such as exorcisms and demon exterminations to earn his living. He suffers from a hereditary curse originally inflicted upon his grandfather Miyatsu by Naraku. The hole in his hand became a Wind Tunnel, which sucks in almost anything in its path.
Miroku's lechery is a recurrent habit, usually manifesting as shameless flattery, semi-surreptitious groping, and asking random women to bear him a child; he learned these bad habits from the monk Mushin who raised him, but he also has the more serious motive of wanting an heir to follow him if he dies without defeating Naraku. At the end of the series, Miroku no longer bears the Wind Tunnel, and marries Sango. They have three children: twin girls and a boy.
Sango....
Sango is a demon slayer who hails from a village of professional demon slayers.She is naturally very pretty and wears pink eyeshadow. Naraku wipes out her entire family and village, then causes Sango to blame InuYasha and try to kill him.Sango wields the Hiraikotsu, a massive boomerang made of purified demon bones, along with a broad repertoire of tools and tricks, which are used for fighting demons.
She is constantly seen with her companion Kirara, a demon cat. She seeks vengeance against Naraku, but her primary goal is to rescue Kohaku from Naraku's influence and save his life.Sango is often the victim of Miroku's lecherous tendencies, and proceeds to slap him for it.
Shippo....
Shippo is an orphaned young fox- demon whose father was killed by the Thunder Brothers. Shippo appears as a young boy with fox legs, feet, ears, and a tail. He can also shape-shift into many different forms, but his forms are temporary. His other noteworthy abilities are turning into a large pink flying balloon, illusionary tricks with toys like his giant spinning top attack, weak fox fire magic, and making things multiply.
He tends to be naively observant and often makes pointed and cheeky comments directed towards InuYasha. InuYasha and Kagome serve as older sibling figures to Shippo. Due to his size, Shippo is often seen riding on Kirara or the shoulders of others.
Kirara....
Kirara is Sango's faithful demon-cat companion. Kirara usually appears in the form of a small feline no larger than a kitten with two tails. When necessary, she can transform into full demon with larger saber-teeth, flames around her feet and tail, and at a size large enough to carry 2-3 humans on her back.
In her full demon form, Kirara is capable of flying, an ability InuYasha's group find useful for transporting Sango, Miroku, and Shippo when InuYasha is running quickly or jumping to greater heights than they would normally be able to keep up with. For most of the series, Kirara stays primarily with Sango and aids InuYasha's group in battles.
Kikyo....
Kikyo is an immensely strong and powerful shrine maiden, or miko, who was given the task of guarding and purifying the Sacred Shikon Jewel. She falls in love with InuYasha and considers using the Shikon Jewel to turn him from a half-dog demon into a full human; this would cause the Shikon Jewel to vanish, allowing her to live as an ordinary woman by his side.However, Naraku disguises himself as InuYasha to attack her village, leaving her seriously wounded. Fooled by Naraku, Kikyo believes InuYasha has betrayed her and uses her remaining strength to seal Inuyasha to the God Tree, leaving him in a comatose state for fifty years. Shortly before she dies, she orders that the Shikon Jewel be burned along with her remains on her funeral pyre. The Shikon Jewel disappears and is apparently destroyed, but is reborn five hundred years later in the body of fifteen-year-old Kagome Higurashi, her spiritual reincarnation.
he is brought back to life by the ogress Urasue, using soil from her grave and a part of Kagome's soul. Although she is initially driven by hate, trying to drag InuYasha to hell and to kill Kagome, Kikyo gradually returns to the love-motivated and caring personality she possessed while alive. Later on, she is attacked by Naraku trying to protect Kohaku's life and the last shard of the Jewel and dies peacefully in Inuyasha's arms.
Kikyo is an immensely strong and powerful shrine maiden, or miko, who was given the task of guarding and purifying the Sacred Shikon Jewel. She falls in love with InuYasha and considers using the Shikon Jewel to turn him from a half-dog demon into a full human; this would cause the Shikon Jewel to vanish, allowing her to live as an ordinary woman by his side.However, Naraku disguises himself as InuYasha to attack her village, leaving her seriously wounded. Fooled by Naraku, Kikyo believes InuYasha has betrayed her and uses her remaining strength to seal Inuyasha to the God Tree, leaving him in a comatose state for fifty years. Shortly before she dies, she orders that the Shikon Jewel be burned along with her remains on her funeral pyre. The Shikon Jewel disappears and is apparently destroyed, but is reborn five hundred years later in the body of fifteen-year-old Kagome Higurashi, her spiritual reincarnation.
he is brought back to life by the ogress Urasue, using soil from her grave and a part of Kagome's soul. Although she is initially driven by hate, trying to drag InuYasha to hell and to kill Kagome, Kikyo gradually returns to the love-motivated and caring personality she possessed while alive. Later on, she is attacked by Naraku trying to protect Kohaku's life and the last shard of the Jewel and dies peacefully in Inuyasha's arms.
Sesshomaru....
Sesshomaru is InuYasha's older half-brother. (Aged at 19 in appearance and mindset) As a full-blooded demon, he is extremely powerful, though he too has been unable to completely defeat Naraku. Unlike most demons seen in the series, he shows no interest in possessing any of the Shikon shards, feeling confident of his own strength and seeming to find the use of the gem to enhance one's power distasteful. He is initially ruthless in dealing with InuYasha, whom he hates as a half-demon who consorts with humans, and attempts to steal the sword Tetsusaiga from him. He even had a sword forged from the fangs of Goshinki, an incarnation of Naraku, that sliced the Tetsusaiga into two, knowing that this will match the Tetsusaiga's power.
Sesshomaru gradually becomes more sympathetic and caring after meeting the human child Rin, even going as far as using Tenseiga to revive her.After Naraku attempts to manipulate him by using Rin as a hostage, Sesshomaru becomes determined to destroy Naraku. He eventually gains his own blade that is a manifestation of his own power, the Bakusaiga.
Kohaku....
Koga courts Kagome, protects her whenever possible, and professes love to, which irritates InuYasha, though Kagome doesn't share his affections. Later, his entire pack, with the exception of Ginta and Hakkaku, are destroyed by Naraku. Koga vows to destroy Naraku after this he is joined by two young wolf demons named Ginta and Hakkaku.
Sesshomaru is InuYasha's older half-brother. (Aged at 19 in appearance and mindset) As a full-blooded demon, he is extremely powerful, though he too has been unable to completely defeat Naraku. Unlike most demons seen in the series, he shows no interest in possessing any of the Shikon shards, feeling confident of his own strength and seeming to find the use of the gem to enhance one's power distasteful. He is initially ruthless in dealing with InuYasha, whom he hates as a half-demon who consorts with humans, and attempts to steal the sword Tetsusaiga from him. He even had a sword forged from the fangs of Goshinki, an incarnation of Naraku, that sliced the Tetsusaiga into two, knowing that this will match the Tetsusaiga's power.
Sesshomaru gradually becomes more sympathetic and caring after meeting the human child Rin, even going as far as using Tenseiga to revive her.After Naraku attempts to manipulate him by using Rin as a hostage, Sesshomaru becomes determined to destroy Naraku. He eventually gains his own blade that is a manifestation of his own power, the Bakusaiga.
Kohaku is Sango's younger brother. Disguised as the young nobleman Kagewaki Hitomi, Naraku summons Sango's family and companions to slay a false demon, then controls Kohaku with a Shikon shard and makes him kill all of the other demon slayers (Sango survives solely by sheer luck). Castle guards have also been killed by Kohaku that night
Naraku resurrects him as an amnesiac puppet, but after several encounters with Sango and her friends, Kohaku begins to recover his painful memories. Kagura helps him escape from Naraku, who kills her for her betrayal. Hoping to redeem himself, Kohaku travels with Kikyo until she tells him he must leave her to keep his shard pure. He later joins Sesshomaru's group and becomes Rin's friend and co-protector.
Koga....
Koga (鋼牙 Kōga) is the young leader of the eastern yōkai-wolf tribe, (who is aged at 16 in appearance and mindset) which is nearly wiped out by Kagura and Naraku. He first meets InuYasha as an opponent in battle, but becomes a reluctant, occasional ally despite maintaining a strong sense of rivalry with the "useless mutt" about their relative combat strengths as well as Koga's persistent courtship of Kagome.
Kaede....
Kaede is Kikyo's younger sister and assists her with various tasks such as gathering herbs or holding her arrows. After Kikyo's death, Kaede becomes a miko in her own right and defends the village against demons. When Kagome arrives, Kaede recognizes her as the reincarnation of Kikyo. After Kagome frees InuYasha, Kaede puts the "Beads of Subjugation" onto him to give Kagome the power to control him with a spoken word. Kaede is highly respected by the villagers and the members of InuYasha's group, and she often advises them about demons and other spiritual anomalies. Though InuYasha is easily annoyed by her, he listens to her when necessary and doesn't hesitate to protect her from a threat.
Rin....
Rin is an orphan girl who finds Sesshomaru in the woods after he is badly injured by Inuyasha's sword. Although Sesshomaru snubs her, she visits him regularly and attempts to take care of him, even stealing fish from the village for him until she learns that he doesn't eat human food. The villagers beat her for the theft, but when Sesshomaru idly inquires about her injuries, she seems strangely happy about his interest in her welfare. During this time, she never speaks, only communicating with hand gestures and smiles.Throughout the series, she continues to follow "Lord Sesshomaru", as she calls him; when he is away on dangerous tasks, she waits for him with Jaken and a two-headed dragon which she names "Ah-Un".
Though Sesshomaru never states any feelings for her, he displays a strong protective and paternal instinct, and Rin is obviously devoted to him. Rin is killed for a second time when she and Kohaku, now also journeying with Sesshomaru, are taken by the "Dog from Hell." When he finds her body, Sesshomaru is visibly disturbed, especially when he learns that Tenseiga can only revive a person once. Rin's lifeless body is taken by the Master of Hell, with Sesshomaru and Kohaku following to retrieve her. When they return from the Land of the Dead, Sesshomaru's mother uses her Meidou stone to revive Rin. Jaken confirms that it made Sesshomaru happy while Sesshomaru puts his hand on Rin's cheek.
Naraku....
Naraku is the series' primary antagonist. Naraku is responsible for most of the characters' misfortunes, including the death of Kikyo, the sealing of InuYasha to the sacred tree, Miroku's curse, and the death of Sango's family. Naraku was born from the fusion of Onigumo, a crippled human bandit tended by Kikyo, and a horde of weak demons. Driven by frustrated lust for Kikyo, Onigumo made a bargain with the demons: they could eat his flesh, and the demons would combine into one entity to become part of that new body. However the resulting half-demon promptly caused Kikyo's death in an attempt to corrupt and possess the Shikon Jewel-his intent being that she would use the jewel to save herself and thus both would be corrupted and be his. Unlike other Half-Demons, he can choose what time will he lose his powers, however he reverts to a head attached to multiple demons. During this time he discards the weaker demons that he's attached.
Naraku is driven by three goals: To become a full demon, to possess a fully-corrupted Shikon Jewel, and to possess Kikyo. The third goal is rooted in Onigumo's heart as a vital part of Naraku's body, causing an obsession with Kikyo that prevents him from killing her. He attempts to rid himself of Onigumo's heart multiple times, ultimately separating it into globs of flesh he leaves in a mountain. With his heart freed from his obsession, he is able to later kill Kikyo. On his final death, he faintly remembered why he made the bargain in the first place and expressed regret at not being able to have Kikyo for his own. He then understood the true essence of peace and recovered himself from his sins.
