Kaguya

was a yōkai who absorbed a celestial being, known from the popular Japanese classic The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter as "Princess Kaguya". Kaguya took on both the maiden's name and her physical appearance and even began referring to herself as a celestial being, even though she was technically still a demon. She also gained the celestial maiden's powers, increasing Kaguya's own strength greatly. However, the cornerstone of her power, the Celestial Robe, was stolen by a passerby while she was bathing in a spring. Enraged, Kaguya began to revenge herself by killing nearby villagers. This attracted the attention of the monk Miyatsu. Miyatsu sealed Kaguya within her own mirror and placed it in a shrine in the Forest of Illusion.

Kaguya remained sealed for 50 years until she was discovered by two yōkai, Kagura and Kanna. Kaguya enlisted the duo in setting her free and sent them to find all the requisite objects for the ritual. Eventually, however, this quest and her search for the Celestial Robe set Kaguya on a collision course with the hanyō Inuyasha. She eventually succeeded in obtaining all of the objects, but when Kaguya kidnapped Kagome Higurashi, Inuyasha set out to find and defeat Kaguya, with the help of his allies, monk Miyatsu's grandson, Miroku, and a demon slayer named Sango.

Legend of the Celestial Maiden
Over one thousand years ago, a tale entered the Japanese folk culture of a beautiful woman who had descended from the moon and lived among mortal humans for a period as the daughter of a bamboo cutter and his wife. In this, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, was described the celestial maiden's radiant beauty; so legendary did her appearance become, that men came from all over Japan just to try and gaze at her. Eventually, the maiden, whose name was Kaguya, was asked by her father, out of politeness, to choose one of the many suitors who came to call on her daily. Unwilling to wed, Kaguya came up with five clever tasks to test each of the men. If one of her potential suitors truly loved her, she argued, than they would be both willing and able to obtain the object she requested. Each of the quests, however, was so impossible that Kaguya hoped all of her suitors would fail and she would be free. The tests prescribed that each of the men find a very specifc, rare item: the begging bowl of Buddha, a jeweled sprig from Hōraijima, the Robe of the Fire-rat, a jewel from the neck of a dragon, and a swallow's cowrie shell. Whosoever found the requisite item she assigned would be able to marry Kaguya. Fortunately, Kaguya was correct in evaluating the difficulty of her tasks, and none of her potential suitors were able to succeed in their quests. Though some either were publically humiliated, lost all their wealth, or even died in the process. Nevertheless, these objects would play a much more important role several centuries later and would be successfully obtained by two yōkai.

Eventually, Kaguya's true family from the moon returned for her, and though the Emperor had sent troops to protect her, they were unable to impede the moon delegation. Kaguya reluctantly paid her respects and bid farewell to all of her friends and two lunar attendants put a feathered robe around her body which caused her to forget her troubles and be at ease.

Kaguya, the Ruler of Eternal Night
However, Kaguya would have had to have returned to the Earth once more, at which point she was attacked and absorbed by a female demon. This event, certainly, was never mentioned in the fairy tale. The demon took on the maiden's beautiful appearance and even her identity, coming to call herself an "immortal heavenly being" and the "Princess of the Heavens, Kaguya". Kaguya also retained the princess' association with the moon. Whenever Kaguya was active in the world, a full moon would shine continuously, never waxing or waning. The moon would also give off a pale purple light the longer she exerted her power. More important than her appearance or her effect on the moon, though, was the feathered Celestial Robe she acquired from the celestial maiden. More than simply making its wearer forget their troubles and only experience happiness, the demon Kaguya was able to use the garment's untapped powers with profound and disastrous effects. In addition to increasing her own powers, Kaguya was able to use the Celestial Robe to stop the flow of time. Kaguya intended to use this ability to freeze the world in "eternal night" and reign as its queen. It is unclear as to why Kaguya was so intent on freezing time and ruling this "eternal night", though she claims that only mortals would find the passage of time an attractive prospect. So, perhaps, by contrast, only immortals could truly understand her motivation.

At some point, Kaguya encountered the half-demon Naraku. It is unclear what transpired between the two, but Naraku was of a like nature to Kaguya; namely, he absorbed demons just like she did, in order to gain their powers. It is likely that Naraku either attempted to do so, or made plain his intention to do so. Either way, Kaguya knew of Naraku's existence and hated him; her fears of being absorbed would play a role in her captivity later in life.

Despite her intention to stop the flow of time, Kaguya did not act on her plans immediately, and ultimately was prevented from doing so altogether. While bathing in a spring, Kaguya's Celestial Robe was stolen by a passerby. When Kaguya realized this she became consumed by an unspeakable rage. In her fury, she attacked a nearby village, blaming them for the theft of her robe, killing one villager after another to satiate her anger. Luckily for the villagers, a monk by the name of Miyatsu happened to be passing by and confronted Kaguya. As this man, like his son and grandson after him, was a notorious womanizer, he could not bear to destroy Kaguya outright with his kazaana. So, instead, the monk sealed Kaguya to her own mirror, the Mirror of Life, and hid her in the Shrine of the Mirror of Life in the Forest of Illusion, so that she could not be easily located and unsealed. The only way to break the seal was to find each of the five items from the earlier tale of Princess Kaguya, and drop them each in one of five separate lakes in the vicinity of Mount Fuji.

Kaguya's Celestial Robe eventually fell into the possession of the Hōjō Clan; knowing this, monk Miyatsu warned the family that if a full moon persisted for many nights (a sign of Kaguya's influence in the world), to throw the robe into Mt. Fuji without delay. Miyatsu knew that if Kaguya were ever freed and reacquired her robe that it would be the end of mankind.

Forging an Alliance
While trapped in the Mirror of Life, Kaguya was not rendered completely dormant. She was still able to speak and look out of the mirror like a window. Kaguya might have been able to influence a passerby into helping her, yet even so, she did not. This was most likely because Kaguya feared being confronted by Naraku. Without the powers of her Celestial Robe, she risked being absorbed. Therefore, Kaguya bided her time for 50 years waiting for the most opportune moment to rise again. That time came after the death of Naraku. Two of Naraku's incarnations, Kagura and Kanna, arrived at her altar in the Forest of Illusion. Kanna used her own mirror to reflect moonlight onto Kaguya's mirror. This awakened Kaguya and also cause a reaction in the moon itself, which immediately waxed to fullness, and remained so for the rest of Kaguya's campaign against the mortal realm. However, since she was still trapped in the mirror, the moon still shown white and not purple. As time went by, though, the moon began to change into a pale green and finally yellow, before Kaguya reemerged.

Sensing that Naraku had died, Kaguya proclaimed that the time had come for all life to be eliminated. She introduced herself to Kagura and Kanna, and raised her Dream Castle of the Pentacle Mirror from the depths of Lake Motosu. Despite the fact that these two demons were the former servants of her most hated enemy, Kaguya was eager to obtain their help and bore no ill-will towards them. Kaguya was even able to discern Kagura's wish for freedom, and she told her that the freedom she had gained from Naraku's death was only an illusion. Kaguya tempted Kagura with the promise of showing her true and everlasting freedom; if she helped free Kaguya from the mirror, then Kaguya would grant this burning wish. Intrigued, Kaguya acquiesced; however, she explained that she was only doing it to "pass the time."

Obtaining the Five Items
Kaguya was already in possession one of the five items, the jeweled sprig, which was originally placed on the altar with her mirror. Therefore, Kagura and Kanna set out to find the second item, the jewel from the dragon's neck. They located it within a canyon and brought it back so that both items could be dropped in one of the lakes surrounding Mount Fuji. As each was dropped into the water, a poem from the Tale was recited by either Kaguya or Kanna. First, the jewel was dropped into Lake Yamanaka and then the jeweled sprig was dropped into Lake Shōji. Next, Kanna instructed Kagura to head towards the Robe of the Fire-rat, which the two yōkai knew to be in possession of their old adversary, the half-demon Inuyasha.

The trio soon found Inuyasha and Kagura engaged him in combat. Kagura fought furiously and with a combination of her Dance of Blades and Dance of the Dragon techniques, she sliced off a sleeve of Inuyasha's robe. Elated, Kaguya decided to reveal herself to Inuyasha. The clouds immediately parted to unveil the full light of the moon, which glew with an eerily beautiful green light. As cherry blossoms began to fall from the sky, Kaguya began to recite a haiku connected with the Robe of the Fire-rat. Inuyasha demanded an introduction, and Kaguya introduced herself as the "Ruler of Eternal Night." Inuyasha's keen senses picked up on Kaguya's strong demonic aura and later described her as "reek[ing] of disaster." Kaguya's ability to discern the desires of others' hearts allowed her to peer inside Inuyasha's soul, and she discovered his wish to become a full-fledged demon. Kaguya mocked Inuyasha, telling him that at heart he was little more than a "despicable beast". As she did so, she displayed images on her mirror of Inuyasha completely overtaken by his demon instincts, and incoherent monster. This goaded Inuyasha into attacking Kaguya with his Kaze no Kizu. Kanna, the Mirror of Life in hand, was easily able to deflect this.

Seeing that his attack had failed, Inuyasha elected for a direct charge to strike at Kaguya herself. Kagura headed him off, unleashing the violent gales of her Dance of the Dragon. Inuyasha countered with his Bakuryūha, reversing the flow of Kagura's demonic energy back at her. Kaguya rebukes Inuyasha, calling him a fool. She then proceeded to summon a warp hole via her mirror which absorbed both Kagura's Dance of the Dragon and Inuyasha's own energies. Adding her own aura to the accumulated energy, Kaguya fired the combined force back at Inuyasha with immense force, effectively augmenting it five-fold. The attack was so destructive that it completely leveled the surrounding landscape. Inuyasha was only saved from annihilation thanks to the timely usage by Kagome of her osuwari command. As Kaguya and her allies ascended on Kagura's feather, Kaguya noticed that the flow of time around Kagome was different than normal. Although intrigued, Kaguya's ruminations were interrupted by Kagura, who asked Kaguya if she was okay with letting the duo live. Kaguya replied that she got what she came for&mdash;namely, the Robe of the Fire-rat&mdash;and so the fate of Inuyasha and Kagome were no longer her concern. With that, Kaguya and the others flew off, dropping the sleeve of the robe into Lake Motosu, accompanied by a verse.

The next two items were the swallow's cowrie shell and the begging bowl of Buddha. Kaguya went to retrieve these items by herself, and succeeded in quickly gaining possession of both. She returned triumphant after confronting several dangerous foes; the objects were summarily dropped into Lakes Sai and Kawaguchi, respectively, accompanied by more verses.

With the objects all in place, the five elemental seals within the Mirror of Life shown brightly with color. As Kagura and Kanna looked on, the pentagram on the face of the mirror dissolved and the glass began to glow. Cherry blossoms poured out of the mirror, whirling in a quick, circular fashion. As they did so, Kaguya's form suddenly appeared in the midst of the flower petals. Gazing upon the moon, now turned purple by her release, Kaguya remarked upon its beauty, commenting that it is much better when viewed with a physical body, as opposed from within the confines of her mirror. With her tasks completed, Kagura demanded that Princess Kaguya revealed the "true freedom" she had spoken of earlier. Kaguya, however, said that she had one final task left to complete.

Recovering the Celestial Robe
Kaguya used her powers of clairvoyance to detect the location of the Celestial Robe, and set off by herself to reclaim it. By connecting herself to a nearby cherry tree, Kaguya teleported, with her mirror appearing first as she recited yet another poetic verse. The tree she had connected with was at first barren, due to the season; yet in Kaguya's presence it bloomed fully and glowed with a brilliant light, petals falling softly on the surface of the adjacent stream. Upon arriving, however, Kaguya noticed that she had run into Inuyasha and Kagome again; the robe was in the possession of a man in their company. Annoyed, Kaguya lamented her poor luck in running across "such fools" for a second time.

Putting aside her grief, Kaguya inquired to know where the Celestial Robe could be found. Inuyasha and Kagome claimed not to know what she was talking about; however, Kaguya sensed the Robe in the arms of the man behind them, Akitoki Hōjō. Inuyasha immediately leapt into action, menacing Kaguya with his Tessaiga and telling her that she would not lay her hands on the Robe. Kaguya began chanting and dissipated the Kaze no Kizu with her mirror. Proclaiming that she would not allow the hanyō to interfere, Kaguya raised her mirror and sent out six whip-like beams of light to strike at Inuyasha. Failing to block all of the blows, the hanyō was knocked up against the cherry tree, at which point Kaguya manipulated the roots to envelop him. Upon closer inspection, Kaguya realized that the reason Inuyasha was so "weak" was because he was, in fact, a half-demon.

At that moment, Hōjō tripped and dropped the bundle in his arms, exposing the Celestial Robe. Excited at having found it, Kaguya began chanting, in preparation for an attack. Moving to stop her, Kagome shot a sacred arrow which badly damaged the sleeve of Kaguya's kimono. Kaguya found this very interesting; since the girl not only had a strange flow of time, but also spiritual powers, she could be quite useful if her powers were absorbed. Kagome prepared a second arrow, demanding that Kaguya release Inuyasha from the tree's hold. In response, however, Kaguya merely scoffed, daring Kagome to attack her. When Kagome fired her arrow in retaliation, Kaguya absorbed the arrow into her mirror and fired it back, but at Inuyasha, not Kagome. This panicked Kagome into jumping into shielding Inuyasha with her body, while Hōjō threw the Celestial Robe in an attempt to stop the arrow. In effect, though, the Robe was caught by the sacred arrow and pinned into Kagome's back. Inuyasha became furious, lashing out at Kaguya. The princess, however, had no intention of allowing Kagome to die (having already made designs to absorb the young priestess' powers into her own being), and tried to allay the hanyō's fears. Nevertheless, he demanded to be released. Kaguya told him that if he agreed to become her servant, she would grant his wish to become a full-fledged demon. Inuyasha blatantly refused, so, with her business concluded, Kaguya took Kagome and the Celestial Robe with her as she departed. As she ascended into the sky, Princess Kaguya told Inuyasha that if he still wished to win back Kagome, then he could come to her Dream Castle, if he so desired.

Power of the Mirror of Stillness
Coming soon...

Personality
Kaguya despises all living beings because they seem to rely too much on the flow of time. She is arrogant, condescending, manipulative and uses archaic Japanese terminology (Japanese "sonata (wo/ni, no)" = "thou, (thee, thy)"). Kaguya is extremely confident in her own abilities; her ultimate goal is to freeze time and cover the world in darkness.

Like most demons, Kaguya finds half-demons unseemly and repugnant, but bears a particular disgust for Naraku, which is somewhat ironic given that they both gain power through the same means.

Appearance
Kaguya is a very beautiful, young woman, with long dark hair and teal eyes.She is a celestial maiden or "tennyo". While she dresses in a traditional kimono at the beginning, she then changes to wearing a more revealing outfit after obtaining the five special items and the "Feathered Robe of the Heavens". She wears a fan-like hair ornament with her kimono, but large gold hairpins in her armoured outfit.

Powers and Abilities

 * Absorption: This is essential to Kaguya's nature; just as Naraku, Kaguya has the power to devour other beings and steal their powers. She devoured the real celestial maiden to gain her powers, her body and her immortality. She intended to devour Kagome to get both her holy powers and her ability to erect "time barriers".
 * Immortality: Kaguya is a celestial maiden and hence is immortal. She also has an eternally young body. It is hinted that regular weapons have no effect on her body. Kaguya called Kagome a pretentious girl and she seemed confident to be able to deflect her arrow just with the sleeve of her kimono (not knowing about Kagome's sacred powers). Kaguya could also regenerate her arm after receiving a blow of InuYasha's Wind Scar.
 * The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass: After being awakened, Kaguya summons a celestial castle that appears on the surface of Lake Motosu, Mount Fuji.The castle's actual location is inside the mirror and can be accessed through the mirror or the lake.
 * Nature Manipulation:KaguyaNature.jpg Kaguya has the ability to summon a continuous full moon. She appears to have a connection with cherry blossoms. This is specially observed when she retrieves the Feathered Robe of the Heavens from InuYasha's group. Instants before making her appearance, the cherry tree located where InuYasha's group was resting, suddenly bloomed. As Akitoki Hojo pointed, it was not natural to have cherry blossoms in that time of the year and so suddenly.
 * Teleportation:Kaguya can teleport from location to location, along with at least one additional person, as seen when she kidnaps Kagome. She can also visibly teleport by fading into a breeze of cherry blossoms.
 * Telekinesis:Kaguya has been shown to be able to levitate objects and even people, such as her mirror, her Feathered Robe of the Heavens and Kagome.
 * Flight:Kaguya has the ability to fly and hover in mid air.
 * Wish Granting: After pointing out that Kagura's freedom (after Naraku's supposed death) is no more than an illusion, Kaguya promises to grant her real freedom. Kaguya was also about to grant InuYasha's wish to become a full-fledged demon, in exchange of making him her servant.
 * The Mirror of Life : The Mirror of Life acts as a medium for many of Kaguya's abilities.
 * The Black Hole: Kaguya can use the mirror to summon a "black hole" that absorbs InuYasha's Wind Scar power and throws it back in many directions. This power is particularly destructive as it uses the enemy's power, augments it and redirects it.
 * Deflecting Attacks: Kaguya used the mirror, along with her mystic chants, to deviate InuYasha's Wind Scar when she was fetching the Feathered Robe of the Heavens. She also throws Sango's Hiraikotsu back at her and Kohaku.
 * The Whips of Light: Kaguya makes these whips come out of the mirror. They have the power to thrust people away.
 * Reversing Mirror: After noticing Kagome's sacred powers, she receives Kagome's arrow with the Life Mirror and reverses the attack, pointing the arrow at InuYasha.


 * Pentagram SealKaguyaPentagram.jpg: As a reminiscence of her own broken seal, Kaguya traps Kagome with a pink-colored pentagram. Kagome is only able to break the seal with the power of the Sacred Jewel along with her own sacred powers.
 * The Six-Headed Dragon: When InuYasha, Miroku and Sango try to access Kaguya's castle, she summons forth a six-headed dragon that shoots blasts of fire and thunder. Although its formidable appearance; as Kagura points, it was relatively easy beaten by InuYasha's Windscar along with Kikyo's sacred arrow.
 * The Feathered Robe of the Heavens: Although having multiple functions that overlap with other of Kaguya's abilities, the celestial robe was specifically to cast eternal night in the world and giving her infinite regenerative abilities . It also prevents her soul from getting stolen.
 * Meikyoshisui no Hou: Translated as "The Clarity and Serenity Spell, it is probably Kaguya's most fearsome technique. Its ultimate use is to freeze time and to bring the world into "eternal night". This spell is ineffective against Kagome, her items, and anyone wearing them (i. e. InuYasha worn the pendant given to him by Kagome) because, as Kaguya herself stated, the flow of time around her is different.


 * The Illusion of Parallel Mirrors: After InuYasha gets into the castle and manages to keep moving after the time was frozen, Kaguya used this power. InuYasha had not really gotten into the real castle, but into a parallel illusion. InuYasha then discovers that the real castle is the one in the reflexion of water; the world within the mirror.
 * Scarlet Tendrils: Scarlet-colored tendrils grow out of Kaguya's armor. She can use them to pierce her enemies, as she did with InuYasha.
 * Golden Hairpins:KaguyaHairpinSword.jpg The golden hairpins Kaguya wears can be enlarged and used as swords.
 * Light Reflexion: After Naraku wakes up from his stasis and reincarnates from Kohaku's body, Kaguya uses the mirror to cast a light that disintegrates Naraku's body. Kaguya was about to use the same spell on InuYasha but Miroku saved him using his Wind Tunnel.
 * Burning Sphere Attack: While fighting InuYasha, Kaguya conjures a Burning Sphere with her golden hairpin sword. This final spell was turn back at her when InuYasha used his Backlash Wave.
 * Enhanced strength:Kaguya was able to stop Sango's weapon as well able to grasp Inuyasha's sword and throw it across the room with one hand while attacking nimbly.
 * Immunity:When Kaguya holds and throws Inuyasha's sword she is unaffected by its demonic barrier that prevents demons from holding it. (This could be due to the absorption of the celestial maiden as well as possessing the celestial robe giving her a immunity to the Tetsaiga's barrier or just the shear size of her demonic power).

The Five Items
Five items are required to break Kaguya's Mirror seal and to grant her the power to summon eternal night. With the help of Kagura and Kanna, Kaguya recovers each of these items. Each item is cast in a corresponding lake of Fujigoko (The Five Lakes of Mount Fuji) and then a poem stanza is recited alternately by either Kaguya or Kanna. It is unclear if these haiku are needed as a part of the ritual that releases the seal. Since Kaguya and Kanna always recite them while dropping an object into one of the lakes, it may be that there is a connection. However, there are other times when they recite poems, apparently to no effect; therefore, the question remains up in the air.
 * Jeweled Branch of Hourai: Literally, a jewel branch; this item was enshrined along with the Mirror of Life in the cave inside the Forest of Bewilderment; it represents color green. The Jeweled Branch of Hourai was cast in Lake Shouji with the verses: "I ventured to see if what I had heard was true, with this jeweled branch with leaves so real. T'was nothing more than an empty promise.".
 * Jewel of the Dragon's Neck: Obtained in a unknown-location river; this item is a yellow spherical jewel with markings on it. This jewel was cast in Lake Yamanaka with the verses: "Oh arrow of mine with power pure and immense to slay the dragon, do your good deed fast and swift; grasp the crystal in its neck.'"
 * The Robe of the Fire Rat:TheRobeoftheFireRat.jpg Naturally, this item corresponds with InuYasha's red robe. Lake Motosu was the place where this item was tossed with the verses: "Could you have but known that it would burn so swiftly this raiment of fur, you would not then have set which was such little show of concern".
 * Swallow's Cowrie Shell: This item was a necklace with a crafted shell, originally carried by Kohaku but stolen from him on an ambush by Kagura.. Its color is blue and it was tossed in Lake Sai with the following words: "Time has passed swiftly as I've waited to see the shell you promised: they say I wait in vain, could this be so?"
 * The Stone Bowl of Buddha:Stone-bowl-of-buddha.JPG The last of the five items, it was Buddha's stone cup and it was enshrined in a unknown village. It was first recovered by Kikyo, but then she gave it on her own accord to Kagura. Its color is purple and it was cast in Lake Kawaguchi, with this words: "I hope to find the gleam of the fallen dew but nothing can I see, why did you coyodew to Mt. Ogura?".

Trivia

 * After using the Parallel Mirrors Illusion, everything in Kaguya undergoes a "reflection effect". When she changes to the armored outfit, Kaguya originally wears two golden hairpins in her head's right side and one in the right side. After using the spell, she appears wearing them the other way around. Even Kaguya's laterality changes; in the world of the mirror she used her left hand to cast spells (previously, she had used her right hand).