Shako

was a demon slayer who was Sango and Kohaku's grandfather. He is also the slayer that sent the Shikon no Tama to Kikyō 50 years before Kagome Higurashi traveled to the feudal era.

History
One day when Shako was overseeing the harvesting of dead yōkai remains at his village, two villagers suddenly approached him to tell him that something strange was happening at the nearby limestone cave. When they arrived, Shako saw that the cave was glowing ominously, and immediately came to the conclusion that it was caused by the spirit of the dead priestess Midoriko. Shako then turned his attention to a nearby corpse of the demon Mistress Centipede that the villagers were previously harvesting. He immediately impaled the corpse with Hiraikotsu and had managed to to pull out a jewel from it. He and the other villagers concluded that it was the legendary Shikon no Tama that had been forged from the combined souls of Midoriko and the countless yōkai she was battling against. In was then that Mistress Centipede suddenly revived in order to reclaim the jewel. She managed to ensnare him and then bite his shoulder. A moment later, Kirara bit her along the metameres of her enlongated legs, thus freeing Shako. He then threw Hiraikotsu at her and managed to severe her below her waist and killed her once again. Afterwards, Shako had to kneel down from the pain of his shoulder wound. He immediately realized that was the jewel that was responsible for her revival, and that she would continue to revive as long as she was near it. Just then, Mistress Centipede revived once more and attempted to escape. Shako ordered Kirara to pursue her, then ordered the villagers to find a priestess with the power to purify the jewel.

Physical description
Shako is a human male with black hair that is styles in Japanese topknot, brown eyes and tanned skin. He has a small scar along the edge of his left eye.

Outfit
Shako wears a beige kosode with brown stripes along the cuffs and collar, a pair of black tekkou arm guards, a brown haori vest and matching brown hakama leggings, and a pair of waraji straw sandals.

Weapons

 * Hiraikotsu: A gigantic boomerang that was carried by Shako, made up of various kinds of demon bones. While using Hiraikotsu to attack or exterminate enemies, it needed a lot of strength to toss off from owner's hand in order to reach effective destruction.

Relationships
Shako was Kirara's partner, much like her granddaughter Sango (and later her son Hisui) were decades later.
 * Kirara

Manga vs. Anime

 * In the manga, it is revealed by Sango that her grandfather died from injuries he sustained from battling a yōkai that was in possession of the Shikon no Tama before he obtained it.