Yura

Yūra (遊, Yūra) is a minor character in Inuyasha. She is an oni yōkai, as well as the first demon to appear as a serious threat to Inuyasha.

Biography
Yūra was one of the first demons to give Inuyasha and Kagome Higurashi the fight of their lives. Residing in an invisible cocoon made up entirely of hair while hiding her true form in a red comb, which she hid in a skull, Yūra manipulated the townspeople via her hair so that Inuyasha may succumb and she may obtain their Shikon shards.

During their fight, while she had Inuyasha cornered, Kagome was wearing his fire rat robe, and was thus protected from her razor-sharp hair. After she found her true form, the comb hidden away in a red skull, Kagome grabbed one of her arrows and smashed it until Yūra was no more.

While Yūra relatively short-lived, she had the distinct honor of being the first true tough battle for Inuyasha.

Appearance
Despite being a demon, Yūra has a very human appearance, with few distinguishing traits. She has long, black hair, which she has tied up in a fan-like and violet colored eyes. Unlike most of the demons who appeared in the series, Yūra was by far the most human-like, taking the apperance of a young girl wearing traditional kunoichi (くノ一, female ninja) garb. Her ninja tunic is black, cutoff midway at her thighs, and sleeveless with straps on her shoulders like a tank-top. Yūra also wears a bright yellow sash which ties at the front of her outfit. On her arms, she wears thin, tight and dark arm guards on both of her hands which is holstered by her middle finger and extends beyond her wrists. They are more decorative in nature, than serving as actual "guards", as per most ninja wore at the time. Lastly, Yūra wears thin, tight, dark leg/foot guards on both of her legs which start midway from her shins down to her middle toes, held by thin straps at her arches. Leaving her practically barefoot, they are more decorative in nature, than serving as actual "guards", as per most ninja wore at the time.

Abilities

 * Razor-Sharp Hair: Yūra's trademark weapon are her razor-sharp strands of her which are apparently capable of cutting through anything except Inuyasha's kimono, which was woven from the hair of the fire rat. She is also able to control people as puppets via her hair. Kagome noticed that there seem to be strands of Yūra's hair that glow, signifying that that strand is controlling a large group of the hair. These glowing strands can be traced right back to Yūra's location. The hair is made up of the hair of her victims, as she stated that once she killed Inuyasha, all his hair would be a "pleasure to control". It seems as though she can use these hairs to tie back amputated limbs, as shown when Inuyasha cut off her sword hand and soon after, it was shown reattached to her arm, after she called it back with the hair.


 * Oni-Bi Gushi (鬼火毛, Ogre-Fire Hair): Using her red comb, she will make a sweeping motion, unleashing a torrent of flames which can be channeled down her hair for a better attack. Yūra first uses this attack on Kagome, claiming that it would incinerate her body, and that "not even her bones would be left", however, because Kagome was wearing Inuyasha's kimono, she was undamaged from the attack.


 * Kushi no Ori (櫛乃檻, Comb of Hair): Yūra directs a large mass of hair upward, forming a massive cage made of her hair, in which she can attack her enemies in without them being able to escape.

Equipment

 * Wakizashi: During close-range combat, Yura uses a wakizashi (a Japanese short-sword) called Benigasumi (紅霞, Crimson Mist), which she claims to be a treasure among the oni. It has the ability to cut flesh and bone without cutting her specialized hair.

Trivia

 * Some translators translate Kushi no Ori as "Cage of Hair". However, Kushi (櫛) uses the kanji for the word "comb", while Ori (檻) refers to hair. Making the actual translation, Comb of Hair.