Miroku

is a monk and one of the protagonists of the series.

Summary
Miroku is the Buddhist Monk who travels with Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Kirara, and Shippo. He is known for the Wind Tunnel (Kazana) in his right hand, which was passed down from his grandfather because of a curse put on him by Naraku. He is also known for being a pervert, or as Sango says, the "lecherous monk." Miroku's lechery is a recurrent habit, usually manifesting as shameless flattery, semi-surreptitious groping, and asking random women to bear him a child; he learned these bad habits from the monk Mushin who raised him, but he also has the more serious motive of wanting an heir to follow him if he dies without defeating Naraku. Inuyasha and Miroku are good fighters, they are better when they are fighting together.He loses his Wind Tunnel when Naraku is defeated and marries Sango. In the timeskip at the end of the series, it is shown that they have three children together--twin girls and a boy.

Miroku seems to be very intelligent and learns very fast. After witnessing Kagome ride a bicycle in his first meeting with Kagome and Inuyasha, Miroku could ride this same bike with prowess, despite the fact that was the first time he had seen a bike--an invention far subsequent to the current era.

Biography
Miroku was raised and trained by his father's friend named Mushin (夢心，むしん) who became Miroku's guardian when his father was violently swallowed by his Wind Tunnel.

His grandfather was cursed by Naraku, the chief antagonist of the InuYasha series. In the past, the two fought many times, and each time Naraku appeared to Miroku's grandfather in a different form. Though Miroku's grandfather was a powerful monk, he was also a "lecher" (just like his grandson) and Naraku used this to his advantage. Naraku took the form of a beautiful maiden in order to catch Miroku's grandfather off guard. When Naraku revealed himself, the battle between the two foes began. Whilst battling Naraku, Miroku's grandfather was pierced though the hand creating the Wind Tunnel. The Wind Tunnel will grow bigger as time passes, and eventually will over grow the victim's hand, which will suck in the victim (in this case Miroku). This curse has been passed down from father to son, and thus to Miroku. Miroku is able to control the Wind Tunnel by sealing it with prayer beads and his mother is unknown or died when he was younger

Prior to meeting Inuyasha and Kagome, Miroku traveled the countryside performing (as he viewed it) his Buddhist duties towards the people he meets on his Journey. This includes praying for any who ask, comforting the sick and dying, and (his particular specialty) exorcising unwanted spirits and demons (妖怪，ようかい，Youkai), sometimes destroying them in the process. These exorcisms should not be confused with the work done by the "Demon Slayers' (妖怪退治屋，ようかいたいじや，Youkaitaijiya)" such as Sango.

As a Buddhist monk, one of his main concerns is that the spirit or soul of the individual (even demons) should "find rest" and pass peacefully into the "next world". Without this, the spirit is doomed to wander this world, often in a malicious or malevolent form, and further can be taken over by other demons.

In addition to these duties, Miroku is constantly searching for Naraku, the demon that cursed his family with the Wind Tunnel; for if he does not find and destroy Naraku, Miroku will be consumed by the curse as his father and grandfather were before him. Near the end of the series, his wind tunnel reaches it's limit and Naraku plans on having him use it one final time to destroy the demons coming toward them so that way he'll suffer his father and grandfather's fates but as Naraku is defeated, his Wind Tunnel starts to close. At the end of the series, Miroku no longer bears the Wind Tunnel, and marries Sango. They have three children: twin girls and a boy.

Relationships
Inuyasha may not like how the monk approaches life (women, villagers, opportunity), but he does respect the monk for his battle skills, knowledge of yōkai, and other worldly skills. They have saved each other's lives several times, and both know that they can implicitly trust each other to help if they are in trouble. However, Inuyasha often sees him as a pervert, which is really true. Miroku has proven Inuyasha right most of the time.
 * Inuyasha

*Kagome

When they first meet, Miroku asks her to bear his child, and promptly gropes her. He enjoys her mother's home cooking (and Kagome's own when she brings it, such as in the first movie), is respectful of her newfound combat skills, and often sides with her during her arguments with Inuyasha. Though Kagome is disgusted with Miroku's lechery, womanizing, and perverted actions; she respects his knowledge. She is always the first to yell and scold him whenever Sango is upset by his perverted actions and chasing after other women (womanizing). Kagome always brings medicines amd antidotes for Miroku whenever he is injured or poisoned. She always brings foods and presents that he likes from the present world. She knows that Miroku won't hesitate to risk his life for the sake of his friends and comrades, and eventually, Miroku did this. She considers him as a friend or at most, like an older brother. She always takes his advice in any trouble like dealing with the demon or whenever inuyasha transforms to a demon and anything related to spiritual power. She respects his intellegence, spiritual power, and knowledge.

*Shippo

Like Inuyasha, the little kitsune disapproves of the monk's methods, but also recognizes a good ally. Miroku and Shippo are rarely shown to interact directly, but when they do, it is as friends and comrades, or when he "Has to tell him when he's older".

*Hachiemon

Miroku's partner-in-crime before Miroku met Inuyasha and friends. This tanuki jūjin would act as a yōkai and the sneaky monk would pretend to drive him off. The hōshi would then collect from the yōkai's "victims." Hachi is very loyal to Miroku, and their friendship is very solid but Miroku has been known to threaten him with his Wind Tunnel if Hachi doesn't comply at first. In the second movie when Hachi fell from the sky, Miroku worriedly runs over to him. Thinking Hachi was dead Miroku began to mourn his friends loss only find him only sleeping. Due to Hachi's friendly nature, he is very polite and congenial to others.

*Sango

When Miroku and Sango met, Miroku restrained himself out of sympathy. Miroku and Sango are constantly getting into fights. However, Miroku once proposed to Sango and Sango accepted. After the proposal, Miroku still flirts with other women, albeit less than before. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Miroku is falling deeply in love with Sango but since he is unable to come forth with those feelings, he hides it behind inappropriate groping and double entendres. Since Miroku is "technically" a Buddhist priest, Sango usually addresses Miroku with the respectful term houshi-sama (houshi means Buddhist priest, and -sama is a respectful honorific), even when he acts disrespectfully, which is reflected in the dub by dryly calling him "monk".

Despite their "cat and mouse" relationship Sango and Miroku actually make an excellent pair in battle, and whenever the group splits up it's usually split between Inuyasha-Kagome and Sango-Miroku. Ironically, with all his groping and innuendo, Miroku doesn't ask Sango to bear his child (as he does with every woman he meets). It is not until she demonstrates jealousy over his asking other women and finally brings the subject to his attention. Surprised, Miroku naturally asked the question, and Sango gave him a typical response.

Powers, Abilities, and Weapons
Wind Tunnel (風穴，かざあな，Kazaana) The Wind Tunnel is a curse placed upon Miroku's grandfather by Naraku that is passed down through the male line in Miroku's family. The curse pierced the palm of the monk and resulted in a hole or void into another dimension which sucks everything into it creating a terrible sucking wind in the process. While Miroku has leveraged this curse into a formidable weapon, the Wind Tunnel is difficult to control. The Wind Tunnel also supresses some of his Spiritual Powers, as it was Miroku's grandfather's power that Naraku feared. Miroku seals it with a Buddhist rosary until he wishes to unleash its power, but it slowly grows larger with time and will eventually consume him. The potency of the Wind Tunnel is such that Naraku has been forced to use his demonic poison bugs, the Saimyoushou (最猛勝，さいみょうしょう) to counter it. By the time of the final battle against Naraku, the Wind Tunnel has grown too large for Miroku to use at his leisure and only had one last use before the void would consume him. As Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga (爆砕牙，ばくさいが) tears apart Naraku from the inside out, the Wind Tunnel's power begins to fade away. By the time Naraku is reduced to a mere head, the curse has finally been lifted.

Spiritual Powers: As a monk, Miroku has spiritual powers. It was his grandfather's spiritual power that Naraku feared and the reason why Naraku cursed his line. The Wind Tunnel curse weakened his grandfather's spiritual powers. The curse is passed to the next generation of males in Miroku's family until he dies in fear of the spiritual power of Miroku's family. As Naraku was destroyed later in the series and curse of the wind tunnel was broken, Miroku's full spiritual powers were restored. It is likely that he is almost as powerful or equally powerful as Kagome or Kikyo in terms of spiritual power now, due to having already formidable powers when the Wind Tunnel suppressed them.

Spiritual Barrier (結界，けっかい，Kekkai) Miroku has the ability to put up barriers using his spiritual powers. They can vary in size and protect him and others by blocking demons and attacks. Many times he is seen channeling a barrier through his staff, while other times he does it by mere concentration.

Shakujou (錫杖，しゃくじょう) In Japan the Shakujou Staff is still used by monks, pilgrims, and practitioners of Shugendou (a school of Buddhism teaching spiritual practices in the mountains). A yamabushi or mountain priest may use it for magic or exorcism, as does Miroku. In the Shingon and Tendai sects, the Shakujou is used as a ritual object in special ceremonies, much like the Tibetan Dorje. The head of Miroku's is sharpened, while the staff portion is not wood, but a metal pole. Miroku combines his spiritual powers with his staff the slice through demons and often uses the staff as a melee weapon.

Sacred Sutras These "Jufu Talismans" are strips of paper upon which special prayers have been written and prayed over, imbuing them with spiritual power and energy against specific evil. Each Ofuda (お札，おふだ) has a special prayer, and thus is tailored for a specific purpose such as general protection, good luck, safe travel, removing a ghost or spirit, or sealing off a demon or spirit. Miroku uses them in his work to "exorcise" ghosts and demons from homes and people. Similar Ofuda are used by Kagome's Grandfather early in the series after Kagome returns from the Feudal era for the first time. Grandpa (a Shinto Priest (神官，しんかん，Shinkan)) attempts to seal off the "Bone Eaters Well (骨食いの井戸，ほねくいのいど，Honekui no Ido)" with numerous Ofuda but as we saw from InuYasha's arrival, Grandpa's Ofuda were not strong enough to stop him.

Sacred Hiraikotsu: A combined effort, Miroku can place his sutras onto Sango's Hiraikotsu, adding spiritual power to the already potent demon slaying weapon.

Intellegence & knowledge
Miroku is very cunning and intelligent. He learns very quickly. His knowledge about demons, exorcism and holy power is very vast. He learns to ride a bike only upon watching Kagome to ride it, despite this instance being the first time he has ever seen a bike. Although Kagome is from modern times and therefore has scientific and logical reasoning, she also admires his knowledge and always takes advice from him in any situation. Miroku is usually the decision maker of the group. While Inuyasha is the stongest of the group Miroku is perhaps the second strongest with or without his wind tunnel given his spiritual powers post Naraku's defeat.

Outfit
Miroku wears a blue two-piece robe typical of a Japanese Buddhist monk. It appears to be Jikitotsu Susugata. Periodically he appears with leggings, but he always wears woven rice-straw sandals. Occasionally, he wears a conical rice-straw hat typical to the era.

The robes of most wandering monks are actually quite poor and ragged - often stitched together out of whatever pieces of cloth a person might give them on their travels. Miroku's robes are quite extravagant and expensive compared to those of most itinerant monks. However, this is consistent with his tendency to loot the wealth of greedy merchants whose homes he rids of demons and ghosts.

Miroku carries a string of beads used for Buddhist prayer and invocation. They are usually associated with a chant repeating "Amida Nyorai". The most common type has 108 beads. The nenju carried by Japanese Buddhist monks were typically made of 112 wooden beads.
 * Miroku's Rosary:

Originally rare and made of semi-precious stones, the spread of Buddhism brought wider use of nenju from the Heian Period (8th-12th century) through the Kamakura Period (12th-14th century). By the Warring States era, most poor monks carried wooden beads. The number "108" (a sacred number in many Buddhist traditions) represents the number of earthly passions and desires that blind and delude us, entrapping us in the Six States of Existence (the wheel of life, the cycle of samsara, the cycle of suffering and reincarnation).

Miroku makes further use of his nenju to seal off the Wind Tunnel in his hand.

The arm protectors worn by both Miroku and Sango are called Tekko. Miroku normally wraps the Tekko over the Wind Tunnel, then seals it with his Nenju (rosary).
 * Miroku's Tekko:

Trivia

 * Miroku, along with Shippo, Inuyasha, and Kagome make a cameo appearence in Ranma 1/2 OVA Episode 13. During one of Akane's nightmares, Miroku's body is seen behind Akane. The only part that's seen is the bottom part of his robe and his sandals.
 * In Brazilian portuguese dub Miroku's name was changed as Miroki due to the word ku sounds like an offensive pun and Korean Dub renamed him as Mireuk along with Kagome as Yoon Ga-young Kikyo as Geum-kang (River), Kadee as Geumsamae, Naraku as Narak, and Souta as Yoon Tae-young
 * He was victim for thrice by demon who disgued as women