Tōga



The was a very powerful daiyokai. He is also the father of both Sesshomaru and InuYasha. The Inu no Taisho is not his name, but a title, his true name is never revealed.

History
Much of the Inu no Taisho's histroy is unknown. He was roamed the lands of the west and was a famous yokai through out Japan. At some unknown point in time he met the flea Myoga, a fellow daiyokai Hosenki, and the sword smith Totosai. Myoga would serve under him until his death, while Totosai would forge two powerful swords for the powerful demon lord. Eventually he would mate with a another dog yokai, she would bore him one son Sesshomaru. The Inu no Taishou would give Totosai one of his fangs so that the sword smith would create him a poweful yokai sword. Totosai would create the Tessaiga from the dog lord's fang, a sword with the power to kill 100 yokai in a single swing. Tessaiga would become the Inu no Taishou's signture weapon. He used the Tessaiga to battle the yokai Shishinki. When the Inu no Taishou defeated Shishinki he used the Tessaiga to absorb the defeated demon's unique technique Meidou Zangetsuha; a technique that cuts open a path to hell, sending anyone who is hit with it to hell. He deemed the Meidou to dangerous of a technique, so he had Totisai create the Tenseiga another sword to bear the technique. The Tenseiga also had the abiltiy to revive the dead, but cannot cut living beings.

The dog demon was separated from Sesshomaru's mother for unknown reasons. Eventually he met Izayoi a human woman whom he would fall in love with. Izayoi returned his feelings and two began a relationship that would lead to InuYasha's birth. It is unknown if the two ever offically mated or married.

Death
The Ino no Taishou would battle the dragon yokai Ryukotsusei. Ryukotsusei was a powerful foe who was able to match the dog demon, he was unable to defeat the dragon yokai and was forced to use one of his claws to seal Ryukotsusei to a cliff. According to Myoga the injuries that the dog demon recieved from this battle is what lead to his death. The third InuYasha movie, Inuyasha the Movie 3- Swords of an Honorable Ruler elaborated on this. The dog demon had just come back from his battle with Ryukotsusei when he discovers Izayoi is giving birth, which causes him rush to her side. He has minor battles with human forces(who are trying to keep him away from Izayoi) before he makes it to her, only to discover that she is dead and the building on fire. He used Tenseiga to revive Izayoi and save their new born son InuYasha, unfortunatly Takemaru the man who killed Izayoi (out jealousy for choosing a yokai lover over him) appears before them to battle the dog demon. The Inu no Taishou gives Izayoi the robe of the fire rat(to protect her from the fire) then tells her to flee, but not before he names their son InuYasha. He battles Takemaru the building falls on them killing both of them.

Had the Inu no Taishou not been injuired he could have easily defeated Takemaru and survived the fire, so while the palace crashing on him is what kills the dog demon it was his wounds that he recieved from Ryukotsusei that weakened him to that point. It should be noted that the events of the third movie are not mentioned in the manga and thus not cannon to the story.

Legacy
Despite being dead the Inu no Taishou is one of the forces in the series through his swords the Tessaiga and Tenseiga. Before his death the Inu no Taishou went to Hosenki and asked him to create the black pearl, that would create a portal to the world between the living and the dead, the spot the dog demon choose to for his final resting place. The Inu no Taishou or one of his servents would put the black pearl into the right eye of his youngest son InuYasha. After the dog demon's death he left instuctions that Sesshomaru was to inheirit the Tenseiga, while InuYasha would inheirit the Tessaiga. The Tessaiga was hidden with in the dog demon's body after his death, supposedly until InuYasha was ready for. Sesshomaru would recieve the Tenseiga but only after Totosai locked the Meidou Zangetsuha(the swords only offensive technique), because he felt Sesshomaru was not ready for such a destructive technique.

Sesshomaru wanted the Tessaiga his father's offensive sword rather then his healing sword the Tenseiga, and would spend a unknown amount of time looking for the Tessaiga. Ironicly it was because of Sesshomaru's desire for Tessaiga that lead to InuYasha to discovering the Tessaiga and claim his inheiritence, which he used to defeat Sesshomaru. According to Totosai there is a reason why the Inu no Taishou gave Sesshomaru his eldest son the Tenseiga and InuYasha his youngest son the Tessaiga. In order to protect InuYasha a hanyou from powerful enemies he left him the Tessaiga, a sword meant for battle. The Tessaiga also binded and supressed InuYasha's yokai blood, which threatend to transform his son into a wild and mindless yokai if his(InuYasha's) life was in danger. Sesshomaru was given the Tenseiga in order to teach him compassion for others. Since the Tenseiga could only be used by someone with compassion for others it would be powerless to Sesshomaru until he learned compassion. The Inu no Taishou set up a test for Sesshomaru should his son prove ready to unlock the Tenseiga's offensive technique, that would strengthen the Tenseiga.

Totosai reveals that InuYasha's Tessaiga was powerful enough to defeat Sesshomaru, while Sesshomaru's Tenseiga could protect him from the Tessaiga, but not be used to harm InuYasha. In other words the brothers could not kill each other with their respective swords, perhaps to instill some kind of kinship between them. Of course this may no longer have applied once his sons started to strenghten their swords by adding or unlocking new techniques to them.

Anime
The anime goes into more detail into the Inu no Taishou's histroy, but because the events are never mentioned in the manga they are not cannon. He defeated the Chinese yokai, Hyoga by sealeing his power away. He led the dog demons in battle against a tribe of cat demon(panthers in the dub) from the eastern lands and killed their leader, Tykota. The third InuYasha movie reveals that the dog demon possessed a third sword the Sounga. What made the Sounga different from Tessaiga and Tenseiga was that it was not forged from one of the Inu no Taishou's fangs or created by Totosai. The Sounga being the most powerful of his swords but was evil in nature and was said to be able to take control of the user, but the dog demon was strong enough to supress the swords will, thus allowing him to wield it. The movie suggest that the Tessaiga and Tenseiga were created to destroy the Sounga, when both swords are used together they can destroy the sword.

Sesshomaru desired both Tessaiga and Sounga and demanded both swords from his father on the eve of his death, but the Inu no Taishou refused because Sesshomaru did not have anyone to protect. At the end of the Honorable Ruler the Inu no Taishou appears briefly after InuYasha and Sesshomaru destroyed the Sounga with the combined powers of Tessaiga and Tenseiga, to thank both his sons.

Abilities
Much of the Inu no Taishou's abilties are unknown, but it is known that he could change his appearance into a human looking form similar to Sesshomaru and his former mate. His true form was that of gigantic dog which far larger then both Sesshomaru's and Sesshomaru's mother's true yokai form. He has been stated to be one of the most powerful yokai in the series by Myoga and Totosai. Despite his great power he was unable to kill Ryukotsusei and was only able to defeat him by sealing his powers away. The after math of the battle lead to the dog demon's death. Both of his sons Sesshomaru and InuYasha surpass him. Sesshomaru surpasses him by realizing his true power creating his own sword the Bakusaiga. InuYasha surpassed him by mastering the Backlash Wave and killing Ryukotsuei the demon who the dog demon himself could not kill.