Rin

is a young orphaned girl who becomes one of Sesshōmaru’s travelling companions.

History
At an unspecified time in the past, Rin's family was murdered by bandits who raided the village in which they lived. After witnessing such a traumatizing event, she lost her voice. Rin became a ward of the village, living alone in a small shack on the outskirts of village. The villagers were not particularly kind to her, seeing her as more of a nuisance than anything, beating her when she did wrong. Despite the harsh treatment, she makes not a sound, causing the villagers to dislike her even more.

During the Story
After Sesshōmaru is nearly killed in a battle with InuYasha, he is transported to safety by Tenseiga to a forest near Rin's village. Unable to move, Sesshōmaru has no choice but to lie there while Rin attempts to care for him (she begins by dumping water on his face). Rin arrives with mushrooms and fish for him to eat, though he refuses, telling her he does not eat human food. She leaves, but is later caught by the other villagers taking fish from the pond. The group of men beat her severely, telling her never to take fish again. Rin returns to Sesshōmaru later, this time with dead mice, as well as very noticeable bruises on her face from her beating. Her injuries spark Sesshōmaru’s curiosity, and he inquires about them, bringing about a beaming smile on Rin's face. Sesshōmaru scoffs it off and wonders why she was suddenly so happy.

Rin hops happily back to her shack only to find it has become a hiding place for an intruder, stealing whatever meager stores she may have. Koga’s wolves suddenly appear in pursuit of the man, and, after killing him, they are allowed to attack the town. Seeing the slaughter unfold in front of her, Rin runs into the forest to escape the wolves. Unfortunately she trips and is killed by the wolves.

Elsewhere Sesshōmaru and Jaken are about to leave the area, when Sesshōmaru catches the scent of Rin's blood. The two find her body covered in blood, the wolves nearby. Sesshōmaru is indifferent to the girl's death until an image of her smile flashes thorugh his mind. With no particular reason to save her sans his own morbid curiosity, Sesshōmaru decides to test the power of the Tenseiga and revives her. From that point on, Rin joins Jaken and Ah-Un as Sesshōmaru’s travelling companions.

The next time Rin appears in the series, she is clean and wearing a new, colorful kimono. She is talking and acting more like a typical child, having somehow overcome her silence since being revived. Throughout the series, she continues to follow Sesshōmaru, though waits with either Jaken or Ah-Un if he must go into something more dangerous.

Later life
Three years after the defeat of Naraku, Rin lives with Kaede in her village. Inuyasha commented that this was “practice” for her to live in a human village as an adult, but that she may also choose to rejoin Sesshōmaru and his other companions. Sesshōmaru is shown visiting her, bringing her a new kimono. Kaede asks what he brought her “this time”, implying that he visits her often and brings her presents.

Powers and Abilities
Rin does not have any special powers or abilities, but it can be said that she brings out Sesshōmaru's more compassionate side, allowing him to pass one of his father's later tests. Her youth and vulnerability seem to bring out the best in everyone she meets, and even Sesshōmaru and Jaken seem to warm up to her and become very protective of her.

Personality
Rin is a very kind and innocent little girl and shows little fear. This is evident when she is first introduced, trying to nurse Sesshōmaru back to health despite his attempts to run her off. She is also quite curious, including what Sesshōmaru's motives are, and typically asks a lot of questions (much to the annoyance of Jaken). Rin appears to be less afraid of demons than most other people, stating that bandits are much scarier than demons. She is also a very loyal child, sticking by Sesshōmaru through thick and thin, and trusting him to always come back to her.

Rin, being an orphan, was independant and knew how to get food for herself by rummaging through fields and stealing food; good skills to have in the Feudal Era. Rin, ever since she was first killed by wolves and resurrected, she treasures life every single day and counts herself lucky to be alive. Because of her innocence, she will approach anyone, be they friend or foe. Rin has the strength to trust in people's good intentions and has a gentle heart. She also doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that Sesshōmaru has killed countless demons in front of her as she seems to be aware that he does it to protect her and/or their group.

Appearance
Rin is a very small child who has long black hair, pale skin, and bright brown eyes. Her hair has bangs, but the bangs on the right side are tied up into a small ponytail jutting out in front of her face. This was her trademark: her long dark hair with a single, short pigtail on her right. Rin's appearance is that of a typically young, barefoot peasant girl commonly found during the Sengoku period. Despite changing her appearance on a few occasions, her overall most common style does not change.

Outfits
Rin wore a common kosode that extended just below her knees. Her initial design was that of an ordinary, tarred red color, which she wore the first time she appeared. When she began to accompany Sesshomaru, she wore a white/orange checker patterned kosode. During Part III, she was seen wearing kimonos that Sesshomaru brings her. In every instance, Rin wore an ordinary green sash which tied at her back. Rin was one of the few non-minor characters, and one of only two female characters, to spend her time perpetually barefoot throughout the series (the other female is Kagura). Despite being only a human child, she remained in her bare feet on any terrain or situation, and this habit continued through to Part III as well.

Sesshōmaru
After first meeting Rin, Sesshōmaru wanted nothing to do with her kindness as she tried to aid him back to health after his battle with Inuyasha. Despite the beatings she received from the villagers, she cared only to help Sesshōmaru recover. Shortly after Rin was killed by Koga's wolves, he wanted to "test" Tensegia once more. So Sesshōmaru used it on Rin, bringing her back to life. Since then, she has joined him and Jaken on their various journies. It is clear Sesshōmaru cared deeply for Rin. He is often seen protecting and rescuing her when she is in danger. The most clear display of his feelings for her is shown to be when she died a second time (this time in the Underworld) and he realized that he could not bring her back with Tenseiga. He says that nothing was worth the cost of Rin's life. Rin is eventually revived a second time by Sesshōmaru's mother when she sensed her son's pain over the loss of Rin. Sesshōmaru, in result, decides to leave her in the care of Kaede feeling she was most safe there and needed to live among humans. He is shown to pay regular visits to Rin as she lives with Kaede and often brings her presents each time.

Jaken
Often, Jaken gets jealous of Rin and didn't seem to understand why Sesshōmaru keeps her around due to his openly disgusted opinion of humans. He is usually sent to watch over Rin whenever she gathered food or if she simply wanted to play. Jaken sometimes acts as though he hates her, but in truth he simply doesn't want Rin to get hurt. Though his greatest worry is that if Rin gets hurt while under his care, that Sesshōmaru would kill him because of it (which is shown to be very likely). When Rin dies in the Underworld, Jaken can be shown crying for her loss, though when asked about it he insists the tears were just for Sesshōmaru's sake. Though whether this was true or not, it is obvious he personally was sad about Rin's death because he also had grown to be close to her.

A–Un
Rin was the first to actually name the two-headed beast known as A-Un. She named one head A and the other head Un, and she had no difficulty being able to distinguish between the two heads. Both he and Jaken were Rin's two companions when Sesshōmaru would go off on dangerous matters. A-Un often came in handy for making a quick escape as he had no problems with her and Jaken riding on his back and treat them like a pet. A-Un is shown to be much closer to Rin than Jaken, often obeying her more than Jaken and even protecting her whenever he could.

Kohaku
After being kidnapped by Kagura, Rin met Kohaku in a shrine. They soon befriended each other. In fact, Rin lost her entire family who were slaughtered by thieves and Kohaku struggled to recall his memories when Naraku controlled him. At first their relationship started out bad when Naraku ordered Kohaku to kill Rin in front of Inuyasha, Kagome and Sesshomaru, but he refused to. They encounter each other again in a cave in Mt. Hakurei, Kohaku protected Rin from the demons, but also urged her to escape before she was killed. Kohaku became caring and protective towards Rin, thus having their relationship going well.

Other
She is kind and friendly with Inuyasha's group, seeing as they try and protect her as well.

Manga vs. Anime
There are no truly significant differences between Rin as she was portrayed in the anime and how she was portrayed in the manga. Both her appearance and personality were very much the same in both.

Quotes

 * “Lord Sesshōmaru!”
 * “Sesshōmaru, come back for me!”
 * "Lord Sesshōmaru, are you going to rescue me...?"

Trivia

 * In the manga, it was stated that “she brings out the best in him”.
 * Rin usually means "dignified, severe, cold", but it can also mean "companion", which in her case suits her as she travels with Sesshōmaru.
 * The only time Rin is not seen barefoot is during the second ending of InuYasha: The Final Act where she has on a pair of boots.
 * "Rin" also means "phosphorus," which is a chemical element in the periodic table.
 * Her name is shared with a character from Mermaid Saga, another manga by Rumiko Takahashi.
 * In Latin American dub her name was misspelled as Lin.
 * In the Chinese live action The Holy Pearl, the character Yudie is loosely based off of Rin. She is featured as as an adult who was rescued by a dragon known as Wu Dao, who is loosely based off of Sesshōmaru.