Musō (monk)

was a priest who was killed by a faceless, unnamed man. The man stole Musō's face and his name.

History
Musō had no back-story, appearing solely as a hapless monk who happened upon Naraku's most recent detachment/experiment.

Role in the Story
The monk Musō was traveling the countryside with his young disciple when he detected a potent jaki in the area. Following his senses led him to a river bank where, as it appeared from behind, a nude man was playing in the water and inspecting his reflection. Knowing the creature before him wasn't a man, Musō stopped a considerable distance away from the demon, and asked aloud if it was the source of the jaki he sensed.

When the "man" turned around to reveal that he had no face, Musō was completely unphased, although his disciple was put very much on edge. After telling his disciple to back away, Musō addressed the demon and asked it where it came from. When the demon replied simply that it did not know, the monk asked why it had done such a cruel thing.

The demon then stood and staggered its way slowly toward him, mumbling, "Give me your face." From this the monk divined that the demon had killed the men because it desired a face of its own. Musō then decided to destroy the evil demon and stepped forward, struck it in the "face" with head of his shakujō, and delivered his "seibai" (成敗, "divine punishment/judgement").

Though his spiritual powers were considerable, Musō only served to stun the creature for a brief instant. It then reached forward, latched on to the sides of his face and pulled them closer together, shattering the staff with its brute strength in the process. Though shocked and afraid, he did not cry out as the demon took hold of him and, off screen, repeated its foul act upon him.

A moment later, Musō's visage appeared in the water, cropped by the demon's black hair. His mouth then began to laugh heartily, having clearly pleased its new owner.

Personality
Though his appearance was short-lived, Musō seemed like a calm and collected young man (around the same age as Miroku). Even when the demon showed its empty face, he remained unwaivered, and evinced no emotion until the demon overpowered him.

Although he repeatedly called the demon evil when speaking to it, the gravity of Musō's voice indicated no hatred toward the creature, only pity. Indeed, it seemed that he had decided to kill the demon not only to protect other humans, but to put it out of its misery as well.

Appearance
Musō was fair-skinned, and appeared to be bald beneath his hat. He had green eyes and small mole beneath his his left one. He wore the traditional robes worn by priests, like those of Miroku.

Powers & Abilities
As a wandering priest, Musō possessed considerable spiritual powers, given his confidence and the way his attack created light. The fact that he was unsurprised by the demon's "face" would indicate that he was rather experienced in dealing with things of that nature.

Weapons
Musō carried a shakujō that had what appeared to be drift wood on its tip. It had three prongs on it, which were somewhat floral in shape/design.

Relationships
His only known relationship was with his disciple, whom he spoke to only once, just to command him to stay back. However, when his disciple later told Kikyō about what had happened, his behavior indicated that he respected his teacher and was just as distraught over his death as he was the circumstances surrounding it.

Trivia

 * Though the light generated by attacks from monks and priests is almost always blue or white, Musō's powers generated pink light, like that of a miko of Kikyō and Kagome's stature.
 * Musō addressed Naraku's detachment as "mononoke", rather than "yōkai", which is the more prevalent term in the series.
 * Musō was probably a plot device to give viewers an idea of how strong the demon Musō was.