Miroku

"My name is Miroku, I'm a monk who always helps people in need."

- Miroku

was a monk who traveled with Inuyasha, Kagome and Sango. His grandfather was cursed fifty years ago by Naraku, leading to the creation of the Kazaana (Wind Tunnel in the English version) which was destined to be passed down to all male descendants of his, including Miroku.

History
Miroku was raised and trained by his father's friend named Mushin who became Miroku's guardian when his father was violently swallowed by his Kazaana.

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 would 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 Kazaana by sealing it with prayer beads. His mother is unknown as she was never mentioned in the manga or the anime.

During the Story
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 yōkai, sometimes destroying them in the process. These exorcisms should not be confused with the work done by the yōkai taijiya 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 Kazaana; 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 Kazaana 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.

Finding Allies
After pawning off the spoils of one of his exorsim/robberies, Miroku decide to relax in a hot spring. He spied on Kagome at the time, noticing she carried a large shard of the Shikon jewel with her. Because of Inuyasha's presence, Miroku saw he had no chance of stealing the jewel. He forced Hachiemon into helping him create a distraction the next day, successfuly stealing the shard. When Inuyasha followed him to take it back, Miroku threatened him with the Wind Tunnel. However, Kagome forced him to close it by throwing herself at him. Regaining conciousness, Miroku groped Kagome, making her order Inuyasha to kill him. He explained his situation to Inuyasha, at the same time revealing the truth of the trap Naraku had succesfuly sprung Kikyo and Inuyasha. He decided to travel with them, but not before trying to persaude Kagome into having his child to carry on his family mission to destroy Naraku.

Soon afterwards, Miroku collected three more shards of the jewel when he temporarily left the group. He reunited with Inuyasha and Kagome when he was, to his surprise, actauly performing an exorcism. Learning of a painter who drew the demons of Hell as his personal minions, Miroku accompanied his friends to battle the painter and sucked into all the demons at the cost of being severely weakened. He watched as Inuyasha destroyed the ink pot with a jewel shard in it and the painter be consumed by the very paint he desired. Knowing the shard was tainted by the painter's evil, Miroku watched in amazement as Kagome purified it with a simple touch.

First Encounter with Naraku
During one of his fake exorcisms, Miroku joined Inuyasha in a fight against Sesshomaru. Using the Wind Tunnel to suck in Sesshomaru's minion, Miroku was poisoned for the first time by Saimyosho. Suffering from the poison, Miroku beat Jaken to a pulp to learn Naraku gave Sesshomaru the insects to seal the Wind Tunnel. Kagome gave him modern medicine to counteract the poison.

After Inuyasha won the battle, Miroku team up with Lady Kaede to seal him in hut until he recovered after he forced Kagome back to her era. At the same time, Royukon had become violent thanks to Naraku implanting shards in him. Miroku was forced to break concerntration on a barrier hiding Inuyasha's hut to keep Kaede from being harmed by a spear Naraku sent flying at them. Without the use of his Wind Tunnel, Miroku had a hard time fighting until Inuyasha regained strength and easily knocked Royukon out. He watched his amazement as Kagome returned. She told them of someone near by with several jewel shards. It was at this time, Miroku encounted Naraku, his family enemy and the one who cursed him with the Wind Tunnel. Naraku released a Cloud of Destruction, forcing him to evacuate Kagome and Kaede from the area. After Inuyasha failed to kill Naraku, Miroku learned of a spider-shaped burn mark on Naraku's back that would serve as his calling card.

Soon afterwards, the group heard about the souls of deceased maidens that were being stolen by demons. This was later revealed to have been caused by the still-alive Kikyo, who needed souls of the dead to sustain herself. Miroku questioned Inuyasha whether he cared for Kagome or Kikyo more; however, Inuyasha didn't know himself and wondered if he could care about both of them. Miroku sympathised with Inuyasha as it was a typical male problem with choosing which girl they love; however, he did warn that if either Kagome or Kikyo found out, Inuyasha would get a "Sit" command. No sooner had he said this, Inuyasha received an angry "Sit" command from Kagome.

Falling in Love
Upon hearing of a village of Demon Slayers who were also collecting shards of the Shikon Jewel from demons that they felled, the group traveled to find their village. However, they found the village completely destroyed and all the residents dead. At that time, Miroku met Myoga the flea demon. It was also revealed some of the slayers had been called away to the Hitomi clan castle to slay a demon. Hoping to find them, they encountered Sango, the sole survivor of the group that had been slaughtered by a demon manipulating her younger brother. She mistook Inuyasha for the village's attacker due to Naraku manipulating her. Miroku tricked him into revealing he told the demons that the village lacked the best demon slayers at the time, and thus was vulnerable to attack. However, upon Naraku's defeat, they discovered that he was no more than a Demon Puppet, controlled by the real Naraku.

As Sango recovered from her wounds, Miroku restained himself and kept all lecherous actions from occuring, showing even he has self-restraint when it comes to be a lecher. During Sango's recooperation, the group learned of the Shikon Jewel's origin in a cave in the village. When Sango recovered from her injuries, Miroku resumed his lecherous attitude and continouesly tried groping her. However, he received painful slaps and other beatings for doing such; he didn't seem to mind.

Arriving at a village home to a Water God demanding human sacrifices, the group exposed the Water God as a fake that stole the Trident of Amakoi from the real Water Goddess. Miroku helped rescue her and resist his natural lecherous tedencies out of fear of divine punishment. When the fake Water God was destroyed, Miroku sucked its remains into the Wind Tunnel.

While the group was slaying a rat demon, Miroku pursued a beautiful woman to the outside of a village. The woman revealed herself to be a mantis demon, who wished to eat him. Miroku quickly sucked it into the Wind Tunnel, but the mantis nicked the sides on the way in, making the Wind Tunnel dangerous to use again as it could spread from the nicks and shorten his life more. Seeking help, Miroku went to Master Mushin's temple to get the old drunk's help in repairing the damage. While waiting for him to mend his wound, Miroku didn't notice a Demon Worm Charmer's presence as he possessed Mushin; Naraku hired this demon to kill Miroku with a jewel shard as payment for the demon. Miroku escaped to his father's grave and put up a barrier. When the barrier fell, Inuyasha and the others showed up to save him. However, the possessed Mushin prevented Inuyasha from slaying the demons, forcing Miroku to use his Wind Tunnel; it spread from the nicks, shortening his life. The demons were destroyed for the first time by the Wind Scar, unknown to Inuyasha, and Mushin was freed from the charmer's control. Upon awakening after Mushin mending his Wind Tunnel, Miroku couldn't help but fake out Sango to grope her.

Upon being accused of visiting villages and performing fake exocisims, Miroku ended up being chased out of them; however, he claimed to be innocent of all wrong-doing (this time...). When the next village revealed that "he" had given sutras that turned into leaves, Miroku immediately realised Hachi had been posing as him; he rescued him from a weasel demon by threatening to suck the weasel into the Wind Tunnel. When questioning Hachi about how he got girls to go crazy for him while in disguise, Miroku learned indifference is the key. When Sango got angry at them for whispering to each other, Hachi turned into Miroku, both ran in a circle to confuse everyone and ran off. Sango gave chase, but both pretended not to be him. Hachi remind Miroku of his advice, but Miroku knew it wouldn't work for him.

Mount Hakurei
Following the clue that Naraku had fled in the direction of the Ox-Tiger, Miroku and his companions arrived at Mount Hakurei, a mountain with a purifying barrier so strong, it knocked out weak demons and turned half-demons mortal. After encountering the Band of Seven, Miroku came to believe that Naraku was hiding inside of Mount Hakurei as it was the perfect place to recover as most of those after him could not get inside without consequence; only he, Sango and Kagome could enter the barrier without trouble, while Inuyasha, Shippo, Kirara, Sesshomaru, Koga and Kikyo would be attacked by the barrier.

He and Sango decide to explore the mountain, finding Kagura and a horde of Naraku's demons inside. Sango was knocked unconcious by her own weapon, forcing Miroku to carry it and her to safety. Though Kagure taunted him by saying he could live longer by adandoning her, Miroku opened the Wind Tunnel, ready to die for the woman he loves. Managing to, unknowingly, reenter the barrier after getting poisoned badly, Miroku had the Saimyosho venom purified from his body. While thinking they were going to die, Miroku heard Sango confess her feelings to him, but was shocked she forgot moments later. They meet the reanimated Hakushin, and Miroku decides to suck him into the Wind Tunnel as he would not let the barrier down. Unknown to him, Kikyo later helped Hakushin's soul ascend.

With the barrier gone, Inuyasha, Shippo, Kirara and Kagome could enter Mount Hakurei. Miroku and Sango succeed in finding Naraku temporarily, but lose sight of him when Kagura attacks. Sent plummenting below into a pit thanks to Kagura's Dance of Blades destroying their footing, Miroku and Sango discover the remains of demons Naraku tossed out to make himself stronger. More strange still, the remains began turning into infant-like clumps of flesh. Hearing Kagome and Shippo's voices below them, Miroku and Sango cleared some of the clumps away to see them in an abyss below. Suddenly all the clumps of flesh began falling down into the darkness with Miroku and Sango following, but Kirara caught them.

To their shock, Naraku reappeared, albiet just a head, with Inuyasha captured in his tentacles; Mount Hakurei had become the half-demon's own body. After Naraku stole all the jewel shards, then united them to allow a more powerful body to be constructed. Miroku warned Inuyasha that Naraku's power had grown signifigantly since their last battle, but was ignored. Naraku escaped to the outside while making Mount Hakurei begin collapsing; Miroku sucked the resulting miasma into the Wind Tunnel to save them while Inuyasha went to save Koga. Once outside, Miroku watched as the mountain crumbled into nothing.

Following the discovery Kikyo had been slain by Naraku, Miroku explained to Koga that her spirtiual powers were what Naraku feared the most, hence why he went to all the trouble of taking control of Mount Hakurei. While passing by a village that had been devestated by demons Naraku allowed to escape the mountain, a wandering priest mentioned he came accross a wounded priestess one mountain over who may have died of her wounds. When Inuyasha took off to investigate, Miroku, Sango and Kagome were captured by soldiers under the orders of a Lady; Kagome was taken to see her while her, Sango and other captives were ordered to be executed. As they did not wish to kill humans, Miroku and Sango found themselves having trouble knocking them out.

They later discovered that the Lady and the priest where in fact being controlled by Kagura's Dance of the Dead. Rescuing Kagome from Naraku's latest trap, Miroku quickly deduced Naraku's newest incarnation, an Infant, was born of Onigumo's heart; however, it was NOT Onigumo himself, he was left behind in Mount Hakurei. Kagura and the Infant were forced to retreat, but not before warning that they would keep trying to use Kagome's eyes to find the remaining Shikon jewel Shards.

The Most Dangerous Confession
Hearing about a village of demon women who skinned their victims, Miroku was dilighted to come accross a village of women who had lost their loved ones in war. Having not sensed any demonic aura, Miroku began flirting with any woman he could find; however, he instantly detected the "scent of death" from Sango, who wanted to leave an continue the search. However, they were invited to stay the night; Miroku happily agreed, but found himself rooming solely with Inuyasha and Shippo. Much to his joy, a woman offered to spend her time with him, leading Miroku to a hall with a Kwanon hanging scroll. Noticing a demonic vapor coming out of the woman's mouth, Miroku lamented that his luck sucks when it comes to this and turned his attention to the scroll, which held the spirit of demon in it. It has a Salamander demon that ruled the marsh, but was exorcised and skinned; it ate the skin of men to prepare for its ressurection.

Miroku delt damage to the demon, forcing it to flee. Realising something was in the woman's stomach, Miroku punched it with a sutra over his fist, making her spit up a baby salamander. He headed for the marsh, where the demon had partialy ressurected itself, and was facing Inuyasha while Kagome and Shippo fought the other possessed women. Inuyasha destroyed the demon with ease, but the women remained possessed so long as the  baby demons remained in their stomachs. He then learned Sango had vanished after going after the women on her own; he found Kirara, completely soaked. Miroku gave sutras to Kagome, tasking her with saving the other women and rode Kirara into the marsh. Much to his surprise, he was attacked by Hiraikotsu; Sango had been forced to swallow a salamander egg. Miroku fought the possessed Sango, getting lightly injured in his successful attempt to purge the demon from her belly. When everyone else learned what happened to Sango, they scolded him as it was his own fault.

Miroku later told Sango of is feelings; he valued her as the companion he fights with, but because of that he can't love her as a woman. Though a tearful Sango was ready to leave, Miroku asks her to be bear his children if they live through their battle with Naraku and the curse of the Wind Tunnel is broken. Sango tearful agrees, but asks Miroku to promise not to flirt with other women. Miroku could only laugh nervously; it takes a lot to break bad habits.

Battle for the Final Shikon Shard
Upon hearing Mushin is dying, Miroku and the others fullfilled his final requests, even getting a special brew from the Sake Sages. However, he later learns Mushin believed he was going to be one of the priests of high spiritual power slain; many others had been felled, leading to the release of demons under seals. Coming accross a temple that had recently been attacked, the attacker's identity was revealed to be Kagura and the Infant; however, the Infant had been split in half. Miroku quickly deduced that the Infant was vital to Naraku, meaning its dying was too easy. Chasing the horse demon Entei, which had escaped its seal thanks to the death of the priest who sealed it, they came face to face with Hakudoshi the child form of the Infant.

Hakudoshi taunted them, revealing the final shard of the Shikon jewel lay in the Borderland between this world and the next. Soon afterwards, they were lead to the Land of Fire, where the only gate to the Next World existed; however, it was a trap set by Hakudoshi: one would need to be killed by the gatekeeps Mezu and Gozu in order to pass. Miroku helped save Inuyasha by using the Wind Tunnel to pull their weapons off target. Inuyasha forced the gate open, allowing them to discover the light from behind it will petrify anything it touches; Kagome confirmed the shikon shard WAS in the next world.

Soon afterward, word spread of villagers being drained of their blood by demons; Miroku offered to protect a village in exchange for food and boarding. No sooner had he finished his usual line, demon birds decended upon the village and they met Princess Abi, the bird demons' master. She fled soon after escaping the Wind Scar. Because of the demon birds' attacks, word soon spread of Saint Hijiri, who could protect others from the birds. Hijiri's arrow proved powerful enough to break Hakudoshi's barrier, leading to speculation that Kikyo may have survived Naraku's attack at Mount Hakurei. This was proven true; Kikyo was alive, but needed Kagome to purify the miasma in her body.

When Princess Abi attacked a castle, it was revealed Kohaku had been there under Naraku's orders. Sango also revealed she saw Kohaku trying to take a Lady's baby, which looked just like Hakudoshi; this meant Hakudoshi was a distraction to keep attention away from his other half, which must be more important.

Eventually, Naraku behead Abi's mother, Tekkei, creating a River of Blood that took them all to the Borderland. There, Hosenki, the demon in possession of the last shard, warned them away because the shard did not want to be reassembled into the jewel. After corruping Hosekni's shard to make him fight and become weakened, Naraku took his prize; Miroku was prevented from sucking him in by the threat of Saimyosho hive. With Sesshomaru's arrival, the battle took a turn for the better as Inuyasha gained the Adamant Barrage from Hosenki, successfuly crippling Naraku; Naraku vanished back to the World of the Living, along with an arrow from Kikyo Kagome fired. The shard was retrieved and taken back with them.

The Nulling Stone
Upon meeting Gakusanjin, a mountain demon, it is revealed Naraku stole his Fuyoheki, an item that hides demonic auras; no doubt it was for hiding the Infant from them and the rest of Naraku's enemies. The Mountain Man gave them shards of his demonic energy to find and retrieve the Nulling Stone. During the search for the Fuyoheki, they came accross demons, patched-together from corpses and animated by haku; these were experiments created by Hakudoshi, to create his masterpeice, Moryomaru. Miroku was attacked by Moryomaru, losing the shards of demonic energy, and thus their only lead to Naraku.

Mistakes of the Past
Lamenting his losing of the shards of demonic energy, Miroku happily embraced Sango when she tried cheering him up; she even didn't protest to him groping her. Feeling an earthquake and demonic presence, they raced to a near by lake, offering assitance. However, Miroku, much to his own surprise, was recognised by one of the men, who asked if he had come back to honor his promise to marry his daughter. Questioned persistantly, Miroku immediately recognised Shima, who, three years ago, agreed to marry him once she recovered from her illness. Miroku was pummeled by Sango and contiued to fear her wrath when Shima got close to him. Learning the Master of the Lake wants Shima as his bride, Miroku offered to help prevent it; however, this was misinturpeted as his willingness to marry Shima. Shima's father explained the Master of the Lake wants a virgin as his bride, so if she is married to someone else, he'll give up. When the Master of the Lake arrived, Shima lied, saying she slept with Miroku when they met. Miroku, having trouble remembering what exactly happened, was shocked at this accussation; at the same time, this only angered Sango further. Enraged at being tricked, the Master of the Lake transformed and prepared to destroy Shima's house.

Miroku tried getting Sango to help, but she was too hurt by what Shima had said to listen to him, and she ran off. Feeling equaly hurt, Miroku said she didn't even give him time to explain the truth; Shippo was confused as Miroku is usualy guilty when it comes to something perverted. The Master of the Lake kidnapped Shima, deciding to take her after all; Miroku chased them to the lake, where Sango saved Shima at the cost of being captured in her place. Enraged that the demon would try taking "his woman", Miroku drained the lake with his Wind Tunnel and gave the Master of the Former Lake a sound beating. Sango was now relieved that he had proven his love; Miroku knew she understood his feelings now and playfully chased her around. When Shima revealed she lied, Miroku explained to Sango that he was foolish to think she would trust him and not what someone else said. While walking on to their next adventure, Miroku was questioned as to why he didn't speak up sooner; Shippo acurately guesses he took a while to remember the truth. Miroku then faced a possible beating from Sango for lying again.

In Search of Naraku's Heart
Upon hearing Gakusanjin ad been slain by Acyulites, Inuyasha's sense of smell was used to take them to a temple run by a priest named Goryomaru; Goryomaru had a demonic arm thanks to a demon trying to eat him, but he turned the tables and sealed him into his body. Kagura attacked the temple, believing the Infant was hidden inside; unknown to Miroku and the others, it WAS. Come daybreak, they investigated the near by cave, where the corpses of demons where put under a spell that turned them into statues that attracted other demons. Kagura returned to the temple, but with Hakudoshi this time; Goryomaru was decapitated while Hakudoshi picked up the Infant and Kanna, taking them away. The group was then lead to a stone ogre by Kagura, where the Infant supposedly was; however, it was another of Naraku's traps as he, himself, was there in place of his own heart. Miroku ended up poisoned by Saimyosho while Inuyasha managed to free them from the ogre, which was brought to life by Naraku's shikon jewel.

A Second Enemy
Soon afterwards, Moryomaru betrayed Naraku, having become the vessel for the Infant, along with Hakudoshi and Kagura. They stole the shikon shard from Kagome while trying take Koga and Kohaku's; both attempts ended in failure. Miroku attempted to suck Hakudoshi into his Wind Tunnel after Naraku disabled Hakudoshi's barrier, but Saimyosho prevented him from doing so. Much to everyone's surprise, the Saimyosho abandoned Hakudoshi, allowing him to be sucked in. Kagura was offered a place in their group, but took off. Kohaku was rescued from Moryomaru, who was forced to flee due to lacking enough power to fight on his own; Kohaku took off on his own again, fearing bringing harm to others. They soon followed after Kagura when Inuyasha caught the scent of blood and miasma. They arrived in a field of flowers just as Kagura died, learning from Sesshomaru that she was smiling. Moryomaru continued growing in power, becoming just as much as a threat as Naraku. At the same time, a new incarnation named Byakuya of the Dreams appeared to replace Naraku's fallen minions; he observed as both Inuyasha and Moryomaru grew stronger, never fighting the other once. Naraku made a sudden move by bringng a demonic tree able to break through barriers back life and ate it.

A Foolish Tactic
Eventually, Naraku and Moryomaru faced off in a bid to absorb the other; Moryomaru succeeded and ate Naraku. However, it was later revealed to be a farce, Naraku needed to get in Moryomaru to use the demon tree's ability to break through barriers in order to reclaim and absorb the Infant back into himself. When Naraku attemped to flee, Miroku opened the Wind Tunnel, sucking in tons of Naraku's miasma to the point of bleeding out his eyes and mouth; however, he managed to succeed in sucking in the Nulling Stone before Inuyasha forced him to close it. As Naraku taunted Miroku for almost getting him, the villan fled. An examination revealed Naraku's miasma had left a scar on Miroku's body that almost reached his heart; the scar resembled spider legs. Kikyo healed Miroku by pouring her own life energy into him to reverse the damage; however, if Miroku sucks in too much poison, the scars will reappear and spread until they reach his heart and kill him.

The Master of Potions
After being saved from Bone Demons by Sango, Miroku found that his sucking in Naraku's miasma had left him extremely vulnerable to poison, not even being able to handle weaker versions of miasma. When Sango took her Hiraikotsu to be fixed by the Master of Potions, Miroku was offered a poisonous elixer that would prevent him from feeling pain from sucking in miasma, but it would not actualy heal him. To fight by Sango's side, Miroku took the potion, allowing the demon spirits that formed Hiraikotsu to be quelled and reforged.

The Final Battle
As the fight over Kohaku's shard to complete the jewel continued, Miroku found using the Wind Tunnel did not hurt anymore thanks to the Master of Potions' medicine; however, the scar began the sprear from his hand again. When Magatsuhi tried to take a possesed Kohaku to Naraku, Miroku sucked in his main spirtiual body, becoming badly poisoned by its evil spirit; however, he has also pushed the Wind Tunnel to the point of tearing, only have two usages before being killed by it. Magatsuhi later leaves his body to possess Rin and take her to Naraku as a hostage.

Heading into Naraku's body, Miroku watches as Naraku presents an illusion of the day his father was sucked into the Wind Tunnel; seeing this unnerves Sango, who doesn't want him to share the same fate. However, Miroku is forced to use his Wind Tunnel to protect Sango; he then distances himself from her to avoid sucking her in. When light returns to the Shikon jewel thanks to Magatsuhi's death, Miroku follows the light to an illusion of Naraku, who goads him into using the Wind Tunnel. However, Inuyasha and Kagome prevent him from doing so.

When Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga begins destroying Naraku, the Wind Tunnel cruse begins fading, allowing Miroku to suck in all of the poisonous miasma spilling out of it. Escaping Naraku's body, Miroku watches as the Meido Zangetsuha sends Naraku's remains to Hell; however, Naraku's head gets to the Bone Eater's Well before vanishing with the shikon jewel. To confirm Naraku's death, Miroku discovers the hole in his palm is gone, thus the Wind Tunnel curse has been lifted. At that time, Kagome is sucked into a Meido and Inuyasha goes after her in another. Three days later, the Well reappears with just Inuyasha; Kagome is safe on the other side of the well.

Later Life
At the end of the series, Miroku no longer bears the Kazaana, and marries Sango. They have three children: twin girls and a boy. He supports his family by exorcising demons with Inuyasha. However, he hasn't given up on swindeling people; he takes three bales of rice, claiming that he has a family to provide for, as an excuse.

Personality
If he failed to defeat Naraku, his life would by cut short by the Kazaana curse set upon by Naraku in his right hand. The threat of dying on his head, he forged under heaven's command in the face of his cruel destiny which was later reverted due to Naraku's death. He has a strong spirit that allows him to conduct himself in an easygoing manner, not showing his weaknesses and hiding his true feelings. As his body is in the service of Buddha, his soul is well-balanced.

Miroku is very brave, willingly a participate in self-sacrifice for others. Rather than die, he does everything he can to get out of a bad situation. While he is no coward, running away from someone if he feels he's no match against them is not something he's shameful about if he feels it's the most reasonable option (Unlike that of Inuyasha, whose pride and stubbornness often causes him to still fight even if the odds are against him). However, when it comes to protecting his friends and loved ones, he will risk his life without a second thought. Repeating such acts (which he had done many times over to almost all of his companions, especially to his wife Sango) caused Miroku's life to be threatened even more so than usual. But he is not just being reckless, rather he's demonstrating his bravery and sense of justice.

Basically, he is kind and friendly, but he does not have a lot of patience and can be somewhat short-tempered if others think ill of him. He sometimes shows a completely different facial expression than his usual calm one. When he meets someone who is adverse in his advice or questions, he becomes a bad monk, verbally criticizing and becoming violent without hesitation. He'll punish anyone with his foul language, even if it's the first time he's met the person. Miroku's temper has been shown to arose in both the anime and manga, towards Inuyasha, especially Hachiemon, and on one occasion, he even violently beat up Jaken (An event that left Jaken being terrified of the monk).

He will not harm innocent people for his own convenience and dislikes pointless fighting. Miroku is a pacifist, and even if someone challenges him (Like Inuyasha did when he first met him), he'll run like a rabbit if there is no need to fight. Even during battle, he thinks about the people around him first and has much compassion towards innocent people. Often, when simple villagers are put against him in battle, Miroku, though he defends himself, he restrains his counterattacks and refuses to kill other people when he easily could. He treats even enemies with respect and consideration (excluding Naraku). When enemies lose their hostility (Like Royakan for example), he believed it unnecessary and cruel to attack any further. His Buddhist heart is open to everyone.

Miroku has a open heart and thinks more about others than himself, naturally being very unselfish. He is sensitive to people's feelings and can be attentive on an individual basis. To make things well, he treats people gently or, occasionally, severely. He never adopts a pushy attitude, but instead is nonchalantly attentive such as he acted towards Sango over Kohaku. Being warmhearted by nature, he cannot stand by and see innocent people suffer or grieve when he knew he could do something about it. His sympathy and consideration of others feelings are always seen.

Miroku was constantly up against the memory of death and avoided relationships with people for in the back of his mind, he always had an image of his father, who died by being sucked into the Wind Tunnel. He was forced into a lonely, merciless life because of Naraku's curse. Even once he began to journey with Inuyasha's party, he could not relieve his torment and tried to solve things on his own. However, his heart began to heal through the strong bonds he formed with his companions, healing his loneliness as time passed. Despite having friends, Miroku still anguished over his Kazaana and condemned fate to die, his greatest fear being his Wind Tunnel sucking up his companions and then himself along with them. He often hid his true feelings with a carefree and easygoing exterior, but his fear of dying still showed through on occasion. Though once the Wind Tunnel was gone, Miroku was free to live his life.

In addition to his intense curiosity, he takes an objective view on things. Should a question arose, he would investigate it, even in the midst of battle. When suspicions or ambiguities arose, he would actively investigate, even if he was in a dangerous place. He tried to see clearly the actual conditions or truth in things. He also has a great ability for understanding and an excellent memory. Miroku also has knowledge of a variety of things, all of which he understands deeply. He has particular knowledge of gods, spirits and other such entities. From these things he gained clues to deciphering Naraku's actions and deceptions. Miroku is obviously the tactician of Inuyasha's party, due to being the most intelligent and wise out of all of them.

As he is capable of calm judgment in a variety of situations, he was able to fight and act cleverly. He can also perform analysis based on only scant information and make accurate guesses that become solid information. Miroku analyzes matters on the basis of his experience and leads with conviction. He is insightful and can sense changes in enemy movements. He speculated all possibilities and comes to the most likely answer. What's more, there are many cases in Miroku's analysis of tactical situation gave his companions a strategic advantage.

Because nobody could predict the outcome of their journey, their daily life depended on unplanned circumstances. When there was no place to stay, Miroku finds the most magnificent premises around and performed fake purifications, thereby getting a place to sleep and eat by taking advantage of his position as a monk. Miroku employed blackmail and theft, making him manipulative and resourceful, but means no harm by it. He even believes it to be just dues(much to the annoyance of his companions). He has gotten used to telling lies without very little remorse, not above lying to simple and honest villagers or spirit monkeys.

Miroku, much like his father and grandfather, is a peerless womanizer. As soon as he saw a beautiful woman, he wasted no time in pursuing her. No matter where he is, he takes pleasure in the company of a beautiful women. He often staged palm readings to meet women. And once, an entire town of women found themselves captivated by his palm-reading skills. He took pleasure in shameless flirting with women during his journeys, but not just any women. If a woman was old or unattractive, he has been known to run away from these types of women out of fear (especially when these particular women were infatuated with him).

He has asked scores of women to have his child and often tried to connect with them heart-to-heart through physical contact. His desire to have children was very serious but people around him did not seem to understand this. Women often viewed him with hostility or mistrust, thinking he was joking, but it is human instinct to want to leave descendants when one feels his life is growing shorter, like Miroku did. Given an opening and opportunity, he would touch any women's behind. He has an obsession for women and has fondled them in even when in the middle of serious conversation or suffering from injuries or poison. Miroku touches women in front of him almost as if it was an unconscious reflex, at one point when he is called possesed by the white and red priestesses he states that the hand is possesed by a demon. Being a true lecher, he is unconcerned by being verbally insulted, slapped, or receiving scornful glares. Miroku has consistently perverted thoughts. However, he cared about Sango and thus left her alone when she was distressed. He did eventually touch her breasts and butt, though once Sango stopped being so sad.

Although he continued in his flirtatious ways toward women, his feelings for Sango are not like that. She is shown to be very important to him and a reliable companion while pursuing Naraku. Though the attitude he showed Sango under normal circumstances was the same as he showed towards other women: lecherous. Even when he plied her with kindness, he showed no sense of romantic love which is shown to somewhat annoy Sango. He looked as if he had no feelings towards her as a woman. (Miroku stating in his confession to her that was the problem; his inability to see her as an ordinary woman and more of a comrade, a woman he fought along side with). Despite this issue however, Miroku fell deeply in love with Sango, protecting her with his life when Kagura almost killed her, admitting he loved her. He eventually proposed to Sango, who tearfully accepted, becoming his fiancee. Three years after Naraku was killed, it shows Miroku and Sango had started a family together. The couple had twin girls and a newborn boy.

Appearance
Miroku has black hair, tied in a small ponytail on the back of his neck, dark blue eyes and wears golden earrings. He is called handsome by some people (usually women).

Outfit
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.
 * 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). However, he abandons it following the removal of the Wind Tunnel.
 * Tekko:

Powers and Abilities

 * 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 extremely powerful as with the wind tunnel he was able to fight well against those with high spiritual power.


 * Spiritual Barrier: 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.

Weapons

 * Kazaana: Miroku's Wind Tunnel.png 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 suppresses some of his Spiritual Powers, as it was Miroku's grandfather's power that Naraku feared. Miroku InuYasha-TheFinalAct-06-Large30.png 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 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 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.


 * Shakujō: In Japan the Shakujō 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 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 Higurashi attempts to seal off the "Bone Eaters Well" 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.

Inuyasha
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 others 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. Often, he will try to act as the voice of reason following one of Inuyasha's reunions with Kikyo to get him to behave properly. However, this always fails without question. Eventually, they became best friends. Following the time skip, Inuyasha helps Miroku with exorcisms, although still loathing Miroku continues to rip off his clients.

Kagome Higurashi
When they first meet, Miroku asks her to bear his child, and promptly gropes her. He enjoys Kagome's and her mother's home cooking, is respectful of her new found 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. Kagome always brings medicines and 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. 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 intelligence, spiritual power, and knowledge.

Shippō
Like Inuyasha, the little fox demon heavily disapproves of Miroku's bad habits, such as his swindling and womanizing, even scolding him as well. However, Miroku takes this in stride as he knows Shippō should learn how to properly behave; however, he is more than willing to explain "certain things" Shippo doesn't know about. They are often seen talking amongst themselves, usually about Inuyasha and Kagome. Shippo often calls him an "idiot" whenever he gets hit by Sango. Despite Shippo disliking his womanizing, it seems some of Miroku's habits rubbed off on the little fox demon as he, as Sango puts it, constantly meets girls in all the villages the pass through on their journey.

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 friend's loss only to find him sleeping. Due to Hachi's friendly nature, he is very polite and congenial to others. Miroku is also not above giving him a sound beating to get his point across.

Sango
Miroku and Sango are constantly at odds, mostly on her end, due to his womanizing. 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".

Sango respects Miroku's spiritual abilities and knowledge and utilizes them in battle. The two usually help one another and fight together when facing an enemy. While Miroku uses his knowledge to discern how to fight, Sango uses her brawn to help Miroku with his plans and execute them and vice versa. Sango and Miroku make an excellent pair in battle, and whenever the group splits up it's usually split between Inuyasha-Kagome and Sango-Miroku.

When Miroku and Sango met, Miroku restrained himself out of sympathy for the fact that she had lost her family. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Miroku falls deeply in love with Sango but is unable to come forth with those feelings. He hides it by groping or caressing her at random or inappropriate times. After an unfortunate mishap in battle with a Salamander demon, where Sango gets possessed and Miroku gets hurt by Sango, the two sit down for a talk. They apologized to one another and Miroku admits that Sango is not like other women and that she is very special to him. He asks Sango, if he is still alive after the battle with Naraku, if she would live with him and bear his children. Sango tearfully accepts his proposal and the two are engaged. After the proposal, Miroku still flirts with other women, albeit less than before, at which Sango still becomes exceedingly jealous, even more than before the proposal, since they are now technically together.

Miroku's love grows for Sango to such an extent in Inuyasha the Final Act that he is willing to sacrifice his life to save Kohaku, Sango's beloved brother, from being killed by Naraku. His attempts to protect Kohaku nearly kill Miroku several times, however Miroku never regrets his actions.

Near the end of the Final Act, Miroku's Wind Tunnel tears from constant use and threatens to consume him should he use it anymore. Miroku becomes so terrified of swallowing Sango along with him, he abandons her and travels on his own when he feared the Wind Tunnel would tear open. When Sango caught up with him, begging to die with him, Miroku is loathe to grant her wish and instead plans to ensure Sango survives.

After Naraku is defeated and Miroku's curse broken, Miroku and Sango settle in Kaede's village and start a family of two twin girls and a newborn baby boy.

Mushin
Mushin was one who had raised Miroku after his father's death and consequently had passed down his lecherous tendencies to Miroku. Mushin had always lied to Miroku about his father's death. Because Mushin is usually drunk and passed out, Miroku is disgusted by this and openly berates his mentor whenever possible. Mushin is well-versed in the Wind Tunnel curse and can mend nicks in them, but only if the Wind Tunnel remains covered until he can repair it.

Quotes

 * "Will you bear my child?"
 * "You have it wrong! I was merely standing guard to protect you from danger, nothing more!"
 * Miroku: "I must say, Kagome looked upset. What went on between you and Kikyo?" Inuyasha: "The same thing that goes on with you and a woman." Miroku: "GAHHH! You did that in front of Kagome?!?!" Inuyasha: "MAYBE YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN WHAT YOU DO WITH WOMEN?!" Miroku: "Nothing!"
 * "Wait Sango! Don't be rash!" (screams) (hit by a rock/boulder)
 * "Resist all temptation...."
 * "You don't know who you're dealing with! What meaning does my life have without the woman I deeply care for?! I would sacrifice my life for hers!"
 * "What good is this cursed hand if I can't protect the woman I love?"
 * Miroku: "Sango would you consider bearing my- " Sango: "SPARE ME WILL YA?"
 * "If this is indeed a trap, I will gladly fall into it!"
 * "You're not like the others Sango, you're a very special woman to me."
 * "Somehow it's different with us. You see, Sango, I never had such strong feelings for a woman as I do for you."
 * "You're my comrade, the woman I fight alongside."
 * "I'm just getting started. If this battle with Naraku ever comes to an end, and the curse of my wind tunnel is broken... if I make it out alive... If we made it that far, would you come live with me? Would you bear my children Sango?"
 * "Oh, how I longed for this." (Sango slaps him) "This pain brings back fond memories. It has been far, far too long Sango."
 * "Forgive me, it's hard to control myself around such beauties."
 * "I was too naive... I thought you'd understand even without me saying anything. It's because I'm always such a cad, I'm sorry I hurt you, Sango."
 * "Her eyes were shouting to me, "Drop dead, you idiot"."
 * "Sango, don't be so kind to me. I can't forgive myself for being so careless..."
 * (To Inuyasha) "If the demon is truly big, then we are no match for it. It's irrational. It's impossible. It's against my religion."
 * "Koharu, you're starting a new life in a new village. I know you're scared. To survive is scary, for everyone. In my right hand is a hole that will suck up everything and anything. A Wind Tunnel, a curse was to put upon us during my grandfather's time. And that grandfather, and then my father were sucked up by the Wind Tunnels in their hands. In time, I, too, will be sucked up by this hole. But I made the decision to live with this curse as my strength. One human taking on demons with the Wind Tunnel. This Wind Tunnel is a weapon given to me. That's what I decided."
 * "To live strong is very difficult, to overcome uncertainty is an enormous task..."
 * "Don't blame me, she was practically begging me to fondle her."

Trivia

 * Naraku was the one who put the curse on Miroku's grandfather. The Wind Tunnel was only passed down to the male generations. The curse was broken when they killed Naraku.
 * Miroku and Sango always stand up for Kagome when she and Inuyasha get into a fight. When Kagome leaves to go back into the Modern Era they tell Inuyasha to go over there and apologize to her since Inuyasha and Kagome are the only ones who can go through the Bone‐Eaters Well.
 * While Sango addresses Miroku as "Hōshi-sama", InuYasha's semi-useral address for Miroku is "Bonzō", (凡僧 (ぼんぞう)), a ordinary, lowly-rank monk.
 * During his early appearances in the manga, his hairstyle strongly resembles that of Hiten.
 * Miroku, along with Shippo, Inuyasha, and Kagome make a cameo appearance 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 the Brazilian Portuguese dub Miroku's name was changed to Miroki because the word ku sounds similar to an offensive pun; in the Korean dub his name was changed to Mireuk and in the German dub his name was changed to Miroke.
 * He was three times a victim by demons who disguised themselves as women.
 * Miroku's voice actor Kirby Morrow was also the voice of Dr. Tofu Ono in last two seasons of the anime series, Ranma 1/2, which is another Takahashi work.
 * Miroku's seiyū Kōji Tsujitani also voiced Tatewaki Kuno of Ranma 1/2.
 * According to Shippo, Miroku runs fast.
 * Miroku seems to know exactly how to ride Kagome's bicycle from the first moment he saw it.