Kōga

Koga (&#37628;&#29273; K&#333;ga) is a character in the anime and manga series InuYasha.

Koga is a wolf y&#333;kai, and he is the leader of his tribe. His tribesmen, along with those from the northern clans, were brutally slaughtered by the wind sorceress Kagura, when they were misinformed about a castle that held a huge piece of the Shikon Jewel.

When Koga arrives at the scene, he sees InuYasha covered in his tribemen's blood, and due to their previous hostile encounters, he naturally assumed InuYasha was the killer and charged at InuYasha, determined to kill him or die together. The battle between them was cut short when InuYasha gets knocked out by Koga and Kagura appears to reveal the truth to Koga. However, he was unable to fight back because Koga had taken a fake, yet deadly, poisonous shard of the Jewel of Four Souls from a dead tribesman who was controlled by Kagura.

InuYasha regains his consciousness just in time to stop Kagura from ending Koga's life, and with Kagome's purifying arrow he releases the Wind Scar attack, all but destroying Kagura. She barely escapes.

Subsequently Koga and InuYasha meet a few more times, including the time when they "co-operate" and destroy Naraku's fourth and fifth detachments, Juromaru and Kageromaru.

Koga, being a full demon, is relatively weak without the two shards of the Jewel of Four Souls that are embedded in his legs, as his speed, agility and power very much depend on them. Koga hardly ever transforms into his true wolf form. The reason for that is unknown. A few times in the series he has to be saved by InuYasha, however due to his pride he does not actually thank InuYasha, but their relationship has changed from pure enemies to just neutral. While they might call each other names whenver they meet, both seem to respect one another as Koga is a good demon at heart once he meets Kagome, and with the jewel shards he is a great fighter.

As the series progresses, Koga realizes somewhat that Kagome does not feel the same way about him as he does for her, but he is not one to back down easily. He has been in love with her since he found out that she can see the shards of the Jewel of Four Souls. In the anime version, a slight difference occurs as he promised to marry Ayame, a female wolf demon of the northern tribes, whom Koga rescued when she was young. Koga promised this the night of the lunar rainbow, and he claims he doesn't remember the night (though a flashback scene proves otherwise). Ayame only appears in the anime version.

Koga is always followed by a pack of wolves and two lieutenants from his tribe, Ginta and Hakkaku. Ginta and Hakkaku's names only appear in the anime, while in the manga they are unnamed.

Name Meaning

 * K&#333;ga &#37628;&#29273; means "steel fang".

Abilities

 * Whirlwind' - Koga's method of transportation. Whenever on the go, he is enveloped in a high-speed tornado. Despite its effectiveness, Koga never actually uses it in battle.


 * Goraishi - A claw that Koga earns from his ancestor spirits so that he can avenge the deaths of his comrades and destroy Naraku. He can only use it once. The claw shields him, barely, from Naraku's corruption of the jewel. This attack is not in the anime series, which ends before this point in the manga.


 * Wolf-tribe leader - Koga is the leader of the wolf y&#333;kai and can call them to help.