Sesshōmaru

Sesshōmaru (殺生丸, Sesshōmaru), feared throughout the world as "Lord Sesshōmaru, Warlord of the Western Lands", is Inuyasha's half-brother and the successor to the Great Dog Demon. Unlike many other demons, he has no interest in possessing even one shard of the Jewel of Four Souls to enhance his powers, since he is already supremely confident of his own strength and he only relies on his sword to aid him. Accompaning him, is a small human child named Rin, and a demon by the name Jaken. After Naraku attempts to manipulate him by using Rin as a hostage, Sesshomaru becomes determined to destroy Naraku.

Appearance
Sesshōmaru is often considered bishōnen due to his slightly feminine appearance even though his calm and collected masculine attitude strongly opposes this notion. His garments and armor have a decidedly mainland influence, including his waist sash and pointed boots. Sesshōmaru has a Prussian blue crescent moon on his forehead. He also has two red markings on each cheek and on the sides of his wrists as well as one red stripe on each of his eye lids. By default this is Sesshōmaru's preferred form.

Sesshōmaru's armor includes a spiked pauldron that covers his left shoulder attached to the upper section of his cuirass. When damaged, his armor automatically regenerates itself using youki. Both his armor and his long flowing sash have a decided "Mainland" influence, as opposed to the customary Japanese armor and Obi. His Kimono is mostly white with a red honeycomb and flower crest at the collar and sleeves. He wears Sashinuki Hakama, which are gathered at the ankles producing the "ballooning" effect. His footwear consists of flat pointed ankle-high boots. In the colored manga, the markings on his face and the flower pattern on his kimono are a purple-blue colour, however, these features are red in the anime.

His true form is that of a giant white dog with markings similar to those he has in his human form. Several times during the anime and manga when he becomes furious or badly injured his features can be observed shifting slightly into resembling his true form. At that time, the whites of his eyes become red and the pupils and irises purple. The features and markings on his face begin to elongate and become fierce in detail. In the anime, a reddish pink vapor swirls around him to signal his transformation. In this form, he displays white fur and long ears. The moko-sama "worn" around his neck becomes part of his fur as a large, billowing collection of fur. Also, he is often seen snarling whilst drooling highly acidic saliva. He has taken on this form at least almost twice during the anime, the second time being when he was ambushed by a band of priests and shows off a burst of transformation to ward off a purifying incantation. In the manga however, he has taken on this form full 3 times. The second time is when he encounters his unnamed mother and the last time is when he verses Magatsuhi in order to overwhelm him.

Personality
A very powerful demon lord (daiyōkai, literally great yōkai); Sesshōmaru often appears aloof and indifferent, and rarely shows any emotions other than slight annoyance or dissatisfaction. He thinks highly of himself and is cruel to others, though he is protective of his minions. He cares little for others, and thinks that humans, while at times amusing, are merely mortal and ultimately expendable. He believes that struggle is the only way for survival. He especially despises InuYasha, his half-human/half-demon (hanyō) half-brother, who wields the powerful Tetsusaiga (pronounced tet-SAI-ga), a sword made from one of their father's fangs that can kill 100 yōkai in one strike. Although as the series progresses and he abandons his desire for Tetsusagai, he gradually beings showing less anger and willingness to fight side-by-side, and even at time seemingly concern for Inuyasha (he refused to use Bakusaiga on Inuyasha when even Midoriko noted it was the obvious choice to make and in the 3rd movie it is hinted that he actually does care about Inuyasha but refuses to admit it when he is protecting him from the Sounga's Dragon Twister).

Although Sesshōmaru maintains a cool, uncaring, at times even heartless, exterior, the presence of Rin at his heels is proof of his growing compassion. He not only tolerates a human, but also acts in an extremely protective manner towards her and rushes to her aid when she gets in trouble. Naraku later had Kagura kidnap Rin as a get-away plan in his attempt to absorb the body and the full yōkai power of Sesshōmaru. Naraku's plan failed and Sesshōmaru was fired up and wanted to go after Naraku, who was trying to escape, but upon hearing that Rin was in danger, Sesshōmaru let him go and came to the aid of Rin. Subsequently he decided to kill Naraku as well. At this point, Sesshōmaru largely becomes more of an ally than an enemy.

His growing compassion prompts the master sword-smith Totosai to reforge Tenseiga, enabling the Meidō Zangetsuha attack. After Naraku attempts to manipulate him by using Rin as a hostage, Sesshōmaru becomes determined to destroy Naraku.

Biography
Sesshomaru began his quest for the Tessaiga by searching for the place that a short poem indicated it would be. Sesshomaru had inherited Tessaiga's counterpart called Tenseiga from his father, which he deemed worthless because it could not hurt his enemies. Sesshomaru desired the fare more powerful Tessaiga, which could kill a thousand demons in a single sweep. Sesshomaru's father was a very wise and a great dog demon lord, who had fallen in love with a human woman and had a child with her named Inuyasha. Sesshomaru's father kept Tessaiga a secret for a long time to prevent it from being misused by demons or people without compassion, and casted a barrier around the sword so that a full-blooded yōkai or one without compassion for humans cannot hold or wield Tessaiga, which Sesshomaru's younger half brother Inuyasha could weild. However, even knowing that he cannot touch the sword, Sesshomaru initially desired to take it from InuYasha, as he felt it rightfully belonged to him and not his hanyō (half-demon) sibling. For this reason he fought with InuYasha in their father's burial grounds and by chance, InuYasha transformed the blade for the first time and severed Sesshomaru's left arm. Sesshomaru fixed the problem of not being able to wield Tesseiga by using a non-demon arm in place of his severed one. However, after he obtained a powerful sword called Tokijin, he seems to have lost interest in the Tessaiga.

Sesshomaru is followed by his minion, a kappa yōkai named Jaken, and later by an abused human orphan named Rin who had found him injured in the forest after he'd fought Inuyasha, and attempted to nurse him back to health. After healing, Sesshomaru found Rin in the forest, where she had killed by wolves, and realized Tenseiga's true power, which was ressurrection. Sesshomaru used Tenseiga to ressurrect Rin, for unclear reasons. Even though Sesshomaru stated that he ressurected Rin to simply test Tenseiga's power, his antagonistic demeanor is seen to almost immediately begin to deminish as Rin accompanies him. Along with Rin and Jaken, Sesshomaru is also accompanied by a two-headed dragon named Ah-Un (阿吽), who mostly provides Rin with protection and long-distance transportation.

Although Sesshomaru maintains a stern, and at times even heartless exterior, his companionship with Rin is proof of his growing compassion. He not only tolerates a human, but also acts in an extremely protective manner towards her and rushes to her aid when she gets in trouble. Naraku later had Kagura kidnap Rin as a get-away plan in his attempt to absorb the body and the full yōkai power of Sesshomaru. Naraku's plan failed as Inuyasha showed up to join the fight, the two brothers attacked Naraku, injuring him severely. Naraku prepared to escape, and Sesshomaru was intent on transforming an pursuing him, but upon hearing from Naraku that he was going to have Rin killed, Sesshomaru opted to rush to Rin's aid, and Naraku escaped. After rescuing Rin, he subsequently decided to do everything he could to kill Naraku. At this point, Sesshomaru's status becomes that of an anti-hero instead of an enemy to Inuyasha and friends, both parties placing aside their differences to oppose the greater threat.

On his way to Mount Hakurei, Sesshomaru saves Kagome, Miroku and Sango from the poison user Mukotsu, one of the Shichinintai (七人隊), however when confronted with the fact, he merely says,"'I only killed someone who got in my way."

Kagura, one of Naraku's incarnations, later betrays Naraku to obtain her freedom. She belives that only Sesshomaru can defeat him. In an attempt to escape from Naraku, she is caught and given her heart back, at a price. At the moment she heard her heart beat Naraku stabbed her and injected her with miasma. She flees to a nearby meadow and the flowers she sits upon turn red and get picked up by the wind. A petal reaches Sesshomaru in the midst of a battle with Moryomaru. Smelling her blood and miasma he is infuriated and quickly concludes the quarrel. Then, he turns up in front of her. Sesshomaru tells Kagura that he picked up the scent of blood and miasma. Sadly, Kagura says,"I see, you thought I was Naraku. Are you disappointed that I'm not Naraku?" Sesshomaru replies to her,"I knew it was you." He reaches for Tenseiga but then realizes at that moment that she can't be saved. Kagura is happy she got to see Sesshomaru one last time. She looks up at him and smiles as she dies before him dissolving into the wind. In the final episode, he and Jaken were last seen flying to Kaede's village to visit Rin.

Powers & Abilities

 * Poison Claw: Sesshomaru's claws release deadly acid which can melt flesh. Sometimes he uses it like InuYasha uses his Sankon Tessō (Soul-Shattering Iron Claw or Iron Reaver Soul Stealer) attack, but he can also use it to spray venomous acid from his fingertips.
 * Whip of Light: Exclusive to the anime, can generate a thin whiplike strand of energy from his fingertips that can slice through almost anything.
 * Dragon Strike: It is his signature move but it is mainly seen in the movies (three times in the third and twice in the fourth). Its strength is comparable to his brother's Bakuryuuha (Backlash Wave). The Dragon Strike takes on the form of a dragon-like lighting by Sesshomaru waving his sword in the air and from there it takes form. He can also put in the ground which allows him break an enemy's barrier. Unlike the Wind Scar or Backlash Wave, however, this attack is born of Sesshomaru's own power rather than that of a sword, as he is seen using it with both the Tokijin and Tenseiga in the third movie. In the second episode of Inuyasha: The Final Act, Sesshomaru used the Dragon Strike on Mouryoumaru with the tokijin
 * Flight: Ability to hover in the sky or generate a sparkling dust cloud to ride on.
 * Poison Immunity: Sesshomaru is immune to all kinds of poison.
 * Super Endurance: Sesshomaru is able to resist pain better than most demons.
 * Super Speed: Ability to move at blinding speed in short bursts, Sesshomaru can move faster than the eye can see, both on land and through the air. When he does this in the anime, he leaves behind a fast-moving blur and in some cases, after-images. He can also instantaneously close long distances without being detected by others.
 * Super Strength: Sesshomaru possesses physical strength far beyond that of a normal demon; he was able to easily lift InuYasha by the throat into the air with one hand in one of their earlier encounters. In addition, Sesshomaru was seen carrying the boulder-sized demon head of Goshinki in one hand with little to no effort. In the InuYasha profiles manga, Rumiko stated that Sesshomaru has Herculean strength, even with only one arm; his strength with only one arm is double that of InuYasha's full strength; InuYasha's strength allows him to lift a 9 to 10 ton boulder using one arm with little effort, so Sesshomaru would naturally be capable of lifting double that or far more with the same amount of effort.
 * Teleportation: He has the ability to morph into a ball of energy and move over great distances over a short amount of time.
 * Psionics: Though Sesshomaru's psionic capabilities have never been specifically quantified, he has demonstrated powerful feats of both telepathy and telekinesis in both the anime and manga. Examples of such being his ability to mentally levitate and fling skulls at InuYasha and Kagome in the 7th episode of the anime as well as his ability to overwhelm Goshinki's powerful telepathic aura in order to claim Tokijin as his own.
 * Daiyōkai: As the son of a great dog demon lord, naturally Sesshomaru is a far superior yōkai with heightened senses, intelligence and strength. While he appears to be an elf-eared human bearing splendid clothing and armour most of the time; he can transform into his true form at will, which is that of a gigantic acid-breathing flying canine with white fur (though he's only done this three times).
 * Immortality: Being a demon, Sesshomaru does not suffer from old age the way humans do. He appears to be a young man in his 20s. However, he has been around for at least a few hundred years.
 * Regeneration: An ability that allows Sesshomaru to seemly replace limbs lost in battle and recover from similar severe damage. This ability was obtained once Sesshomaru found the necessary strength to summon Bakusaiga, he not only regrew his lost limb but healed from severe wounds inflicted earlier.

Tenseiga
Tenseiga (天生牙, "heavenly life fang" or "fang born out of heaven") is one of the Swords of Supreme Conquest, once held by Inu no Taishō; now in possession of Sesshōmaru. The sword has a special property in that it cannot harm any living beings, which is ironic for a sword. However its power lies in the fact that it can bring the recently dead back to life as well as healing the wounded. Tenseiga allows a powerful wielder to see and slay the beings from the underworld, as well as bringing up to 100 beings back to life in one swing. And it should be noted, that the Tenseiga has a mind of its own, as at various points, it has been seen talking to Sesshōmaru by telling him things like wishing to be drawn or giving him advice. It can restore the life of the dead by cutting the pale-bearers who take the souls of the dead. It was also able to cut Magatsuhi, the manifestation of the evil yōkai with whom Midoriko battles inside the jewel. It can cut anything that is not of the living world. The sword also acts on its own when his life is in serious danger, and grants Sesshōmaru access into the Netherworld through the Border of the Afterlife as Tenseiga isn't a sword of earth.


 * Sōryūha (龍スト, dragon strike); When Sesshōmaru charges yoki into Tokijin or the Tenseiga and then releases, a massive amount of yoki in the form of blue arcs of lightning. In the fourth movie, the Sōryūha became stronger and manifested in the form of a blue dragon made of energy. Sōryūha is at first shown to be equal in power to the Bakuryūha but when Sesshōmaru channeled his anger into the Tenseiga to strengthen the attack further, it eventually overpowered the Bakuryūha.
 * Meidō Zangetsuha (冥道斬月波, "dark path of the dawn's moon blast") is a technique that creates a path that sends anyone who is hit with it directly to hell, killing them without actually harming them. The technique originally belonged to Shishinki, one of Inu no Taishō's past enemies. He stole the technique from him and had it in the Tessaiga. However, he thought it was too dangerous for InuYasha (since he planned to pass the Tessaiga on to him), so he cast it off to Tenseiga, because he knew Sesshōmaru would be able to master it, and to give him the power to protect, not just to kill. The Meidō Zangetsuha creates a massive black circle that will send a entire body into hell, leaving no trace left behind. However, when Sesshōmaru was first learning to use the technique, the Meidō will take the form of a black cresent moon that only sent a part of a person into hell along with their soul; stronger opponents may be uneffected by the cresent Meidou. As Sesshōmaru gained strength, the Meidō grew until it became a perfect circle.

Tokijin
Tokijin (「闘鬼神」; Literally meaning "Demon Fighting God") was a sword forged by Kaijimbo form the fangs of Goshinki upon Sesshomaru's request. Originally Tokijin fired needle kenatsu that cut through the enemy without actually touching them. Sesshomaru developed a stronger kenatsu that release a powerfull energy wave made of yoki, this attack is similar to the kaze no kizu. He can also channel a large amount of his yoki into the tokijin in order to releas the soryuuha wich rivals the bakuryuha. Because tokijin was forged from an Oni fang it limits the amount of yoki Sesshomaru can release. The sword was destroyed in his battle with Moryomaru. Sesshomaru refused to reforge Tokijin stating that it has not enough power to defeat him and instead finds a replacement sword.

Bakusaiga
Bakusaiga (爆砕牙, Explosive Crushing Fang) was created from Sesshōmaru's own body, once he abandoned his lust for Tessaiga. The Bakusaiga came from Sesshōmaru's body attached to his finally regenerated arm. It is nearly unique in that it is one of two yōkai swords in the InuYasha universe not forged from a yōkai's fang. It is Sesshōmaru's final signature sword. It's power and ability is a powerful energy wave capable of annihilating thousands of demons with one strike. The relentless nature of the energy wave results in a widespread chain of destruction that reduces anything caught in its wake to crumbling remains, to where the destructive effect persists and transfer to anything said remains come into with, destroying them in return.

Equipment

 * Staff of two Heads: This can locate his father's grave, fire streams of flame and generate floods of water. The staff is usually held by his assistant Jaken. It features an old man's and a woman's head. They can speak when the staff is used.


 * Mokomoko: is the "fur 'sash'" on Sesshomaru's shoulder that can stretch to long distances. He uses it every once in a while, he once used it to grab InuYasha. It can be extended to great lengths and used to whip or constrict people.

Quotes

 * "Just because you have Tessaiga, it doesn't mean a low-life like you can master it."
 * "All that for a memory and a dead mortal girl? If I'd have known that's what it would have taken for you to fight, I would have killed her sooner."
 * "You're truly stupid, aren't you? You know, you could just hide and run away...For you, the image of that wouldn't be disgraceful. Because, after all, your living soul in itself is already the pinnacle of disgrace."
 * "You haven't even released the full power of the Tessaiga. Watch as I destroy 100 demons with one blow."
 * "Well, Totosai... don't you think it's a pity for Tessaiga? All Inuyasha can do is wave about a sword with all his strength... it's the same whether it's a famous sword or a log." 

Trivia

 * The kanji of "Sesshō" means "killing or destruction.". The suffix "Maru" is usually a suffix that is often added at the end of a Japanese name for young males in samurai families. They would use this name until they were recognized as adults, whereupon they would adopt a new name. However, it is said that "maru" can also translate as the word for "circle or perfection", which is a common Japanese motiff for what in the West is called "the circle of life." It is revealed in one of Rumiko Takahashi's InuYasha Guides, that his name means "killing perfection," Which best discribes his usual personality.
 * Many fans have nicknamed Sesshomaru, "Fluffy", referring to the white fluff on his shoulder.
 * He makes an appearance as a concept art in the front pages of Chapter 9, before he was introduced as a character.
 * Sesshomaru started out as an atagonist, but as the series progressed he became a protagonist and became one of the most of not the most important key points to beating Naraku (his Tenseiga being the only thing to be able to kill Magatsuhi and his Bakusaiga for preventing Naraku from regenerating his body)