Mistress Centipede

was a yōkai that is first encountered by Kagome Higurashi in the modern world when she was looking for her cat Buyo. The demon emerged from the well in the Higurashi shrine and pulled Kagome in, transporting her to the Sengoku jidai. She was the first yōkai that Kagome encountered from the feudal era.

History
Fifty years ago, before the creation of Naraku, Mistress Centipede was one of the most powerful yōkai in that era. She defeated various other yōkai and obtained the Shikon no Tama until she was slain by a group of Yōkai taijiya. It was removed by Sango's grandfather the day after she was killed but she was still able to regenerate thanks to the jewel being near her corpse, but ultimately she was driven away by the demon slayers. She later attempted to take the young Kaede hostage and use her as a bargaining tool to obtain the Shikon no Tama from Kikyō. The demon's plan was cut short when she was killed by Inuyasha for the first time.

Kikyō acknowledged that as long as Mistress Centipede's body was near the jewel she would resurrect to no end. Kikyō had her followers collect all remains of this fearsome demon and throw it down the Bone-Eater's Well, so that the power of the Shikon no Tama would not be able to revive her again.

During the story
In the present era she was able to resurrect herself and attempted to take the Shikon no Tama from Kagome Higurashi's body, dragging Kagome from the modern world to the feudal era in the process. In self-defense, Kagome was able to use spiritual power to destroy one of Mistress Centipede's arm which forced her to retreat into the time hole. She resurfaced later that night to take the jewel again and followed Kagome when she ran toward the Goshinboku which Inuyasha was sealed to. The demoness attempted a second time to take the jewel but Kagome was again able to blast off the rest of her arms.

Enraged, she bites Kagome, tearing the Shikon no Tama out of her body. The demon then binds Kagome along with Inuyasha to the tree while she swallowed the Shikon no Tama. With the power of the Shikon no Tama, Mistress reattached her five arms and transformed into much more formidable demon. Despite being powered-up by the jewel, she was easily defeated by Inuyasha once he was freed from the Goshinboku. The Shikon no Tama inside her flesh was removed (in the manga by Kagome, while in the anime by Kaede) and her body turned into bones once more.

Physical description
Mistress Centipede's initial appearance is that of a pale woman with long black hair and small pupils and eyebrows like Japanese princesses. She has six arms and wears no clothing to cover her breasts. Her lower torso is that of a centipede, thus giving her least one hundred feet.

After using the Shikon no Tama, her appearance changes slightly; the Shikon no Tama tears away any human-like features Mistress Centipede might have had beforehand, giving her a far more monstrous appearance. Her "human" skin is shed off, revealing purple-pink skin underneath which later turns grayish black. She no longer has any lip or eyebrows and also her eyes turned bright red.

Powers & Abilities



 * Tornado Twister: She rapidly spins her body in a tornado-like motion, which turns it into a weapon. Because she is spinning around so rapidly, she can do a great deal of damage to humans.
 * Enhanced Speed & Agility: Despite her large size Mistress Centipede was rather agile and quick, so she was capable of catching up with most other demons. She usually combines her speed with her large body to entrap her enemies.
 * Regeneration: As long as there is the Shikon no Tama nearby, Mistress Centipede cannot be truly killed.
 * Time Travel: Mistress Centipede is unique that, like Inuyasha, she can travel between the feudal era and the present.

Manga vs. Anime



 * In the manga, Mistress Centipede often has exaggerated breasts. Due to the censorship, she is drawn without nipples in the anime. Additionally, her breasts are edited out in the television broadcast version of the English dub.
 * Scenes featuring her mouth smeared with Kagome's blood (after she bit her stomach to take out the Shikon no Tama) in the manga are likewise changed to remove the blood.

Trivia

 * Mistress Centipede could be based off Yukiki's demon from the series , which was also made by Rumiko Takahashi.
 * The marking on Mistress Centipede head is similar to the marking on Japanese princesses and alike, suggesting she is royalty or at least high ranked in Centipede Demon Tribe.
 * Her appearance is similar to the 's, as her mouth stretches from ear to ear.
 * Mistress Centipede, along with the Infant, are one of the few characters to have their names changed in the English dub instead of using the Japanese name.
 * This makes her among a few characters to have different names across various dub languages.
 * Mistress Centipede, along with Shibugarasu and Naraku, are the only characters who successfully used the complete Shikon no Tama.
 * In the Latin American and Brazilian TV broadcast (licensed by Televix) she is heavily censored, with scenes slowed down to avoid showing her breasts and even digitally adding a bikini to cover them. This broadcast is known for censoring blood among other objectionable content.
 * In the Arabic Dub, most of the frames featuring her breasts are cut while in the remaining ones she is given a pink bodysuit to cover up her nudity. Additionally, scenes are either rearranged or repeated to cover the missing time frame.
 * Despite being based on a centipede, Mistress Centipede is shown to possess skeletal structure similar to those of a snake. Oddly enough, her arms seem to have no skeleton (as shown when Kagome blasted at them).
 * In InuYasha: Journey to Seek the Jade she is given a green bikini to cover her breasts in her field sprite.
 * Mistress Centipede has 30 fangs pre-transformation and 26 post-transformation. However, episode 147 shows that she has 32 fangs, the same number as human's teeth.
 * In the stage play version of Inuyasha, Mistress Centipede is only depicted with 2-4 arms due to limitation.

Media appearances
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Manga

 * Chapter 1
 * Chapter 2
 * Chapter 3
 * Chapter 6
 * Chapter 512
 * Chapter 558

Anime
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 * Episode 1
 * Episode 2
 * Episode 3
 * Episode 4
 * Episode 11
 * Episode 56
 * Episode 82
 * Episode 145
 * Episode 147
 * Episode 16 (FA)
 * Episode 18 (FA)
 * Episode 24 (FA)
 * Episode 26 (FA)