Kirinmaru

"Half-Demons. There exists a prophecy that a half-demon shall be the one to kill me. I must find out whether this is true or else my conscience will not be at ease. Regardless, you half-demons should not be allowed to exist in this world at all."

- Kirinmaru

was a qilin daiyōkai that ruled over the eastern lands and the main antagonist of Hanyō no Yashahime. After the death of Tōga, the ruler of the west, as well as his eldest son Sesshōmaru refusing to inherit his title, Kirinmaru, according to the Tree of Ages, plans to distort time itself and swallow the world into a dark age with the assistance of his most trusted servants, the Shikyō, and their own underlings.

History
Kirinmaru had traversed the globe leading the army of the Eastern Demons as the Lord of the Eastern Lands, defeating many enemies while having his daughter Rion watch as he overpowered them without endangering her. He was undefeated until he met Tōga, the Lord of the Western Lands. Despite his best efforts, Tōga bested him in battle as he cut his left horn and right forearm off but spared him. Kirinmaru returned to his ship with Rion, and was infuriated upon suffering his first defeat, Kirinmaru decided to train himself once more for a rematch, his cut-off horn creating Riku. Not too long after, Kirinmaru came to the kingdom accompanied by Rion and Zero, as the samurai tried to kill him by the orders of Emperor Daigo, but they were no match for him as he broke the katana, until his daughter is captured by a vengeful hanyō named Sakasa who tried to avenge his master's death, so he beheaded him but was shocked to see his body kill his own daughter and slashes his head. Kirinmaru blamed himself for her death, realizing that Tōga was right not to bring her in the battlefield. Unable to accept it, he used magic to bind her soul to the living world and used the Dream Butterfly to allow them to see each other through dreams, along with placing the barrier on Mount Musubi to keep her safe, even preparing a host body in the form of a doll for her soul should she be revived. In 1005 AD during the Heian period, Kirinmaru alongside Tōga joined forces to repel the Grim Comet and protect their respective lands. Afterward, they came to a truce, leaving one another to rule their respective lands.

In 1297, Kirinmaru was informed by Konton and Kyūki that Tōga had been spotted in the land of Kamakura and gravely injured from his battle with Shishinki and Ryūkotsusei. The two suggested they use this opportunity to kill Tōga, but this angered Kirinmaru, who violently refused his subordinates suggestion and told them such underhanded approach that involved no honor would mean nothing to him, as unless Tōga was in his prime, defeating him is pointless, believing "a true battle must be one with honor and dignity". He then summoned Riku and instructed him to gather medicinal herbs for Tōga to heal his injuries from the battle with Ryūkotsusei.

Alas, Riku did not make it in time and the Great Dog Demon died of his injuries. Kirinmaru was known to have been disappointed with Riku, causing the reincarnation of his severed horn to leave. Zero's grief over his rival's death also resulted in the creation of the Rainbow Pearls. While disdainful of his sister's moment of weakness, Kirinmaru could not allow them to be in the wrong hands and entrusted them to the Four Perils.

Upon being awakened by Zero, his older sister to learn Tōga's sons had taken care of the Grim Comet, he was shocked that Sesshōmaru had married a human girl just like Tōga married Izayoi 208 years ago. Zero also told him that Sesshōmaru had sired daughters as Rin had given birth to twin hanyō daughters. Then the Shikon Jewel is already gone 7 years ago, (which they didn't know that Naraku is what he wanted) and that Inuyasha had also already married a human woman 4 years ago who had given birth to a quarter-yōkai daughter. With the prophecy that he would be defeated by a being neither human nor yōkai, Kirinmaru was about to kill Inuyasha, but Sesshōmaru showed up and offered help. Kirinmaru accepted, and the two confronted Inuyasha and Kagome. This forced Inuyasha's wife, Kagome Higurashi the reincarnation of Kikyō, to send away their newborn daughter for her own safety with Hachiemon while she and Inuyasha faced the two daiyōkai. Before Kirinmaru could fight the married couple, Sesshōmaru removed the Black Pearl from Inuyasha's right eye and used it to seal him and Kagome into their father's grave at the Border of the Afterlife under the reason that Inuyasha's Meidō Zangetsuha would be needed by Jaken. Kirinmaru accepted this reasoning and left.

The Sacred Tree of Ages itself deems Kirinmaru a grave threat for wishing to warp time itself, which it fully controls and manipulates as the unsurpassed entity sees fit.

During the story
Fourteen years later, he is visited by Kyūki, who informs him that one of the Shikyō, Tōkotsu, has been slain and the Red Rainbow Pearl entrusted to him stolen by one of the three hanyō Princesses. Kirinmaru was apathetic, only praising the strength of Sesshōmaru's daughters as they defeated someone who must have been a mighty warrior. He shows no interest in hunting them down, as Kyūki leaves to take care of them instead.

Even with Kyūki and Tōkotsu having been defeated, Kirinmaru still wouldn't personally act against Sesshōmaru's daughters even as Zero calls him out on this. Instead, he was more interested in Riku's movements and choosing to entrust matters to him since he is his most trusted retainer.

Kirinmaru was eventually forced to take action personally, however, when the hanyō Princesses had all battled and killed Konton and Tōtetsu, forcing the latter to escape and drive them to the sea, intending to have Kirinmaru dispatch them. With his enemies lured into his ship, Kirinmaru went to the mainland. After admonishing the last surviving member of the Four Perils send him on his way and blasted Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha off Takechiyo and introduced himself to them. After remaining silent as they ponder on whether to engage him or not and on his connection to the Yume no Kochō. Kirinmaru challenged them to try to kill him and fulfill the prophecy that hanyō would be the one to destroy him. He quickly proved himself to be much stronger than their combined might as he effortlessly handled their assaults while easily overwhelming them without even using any special technique. He simply used his sword and demonic energy, mocking them for their poor effort.

Even as Moroha tapped into some of the strong power of her quarter demonic blood, Kirinmaru swiftly overpowered her as she passed out from exhaustion before proceeding to decisively overpower Setsuna in battle. Despite taking a slight injury from Towa soon knocked her down with an energy blast. However, before he could kill them, Sesshōmaru threw Bakusaiga at him before landing down to engage him. Sarcastically commenting on how even Sesshōmaru did care for his daughters, he fought Sesshōmaru to a draw. Their clash causing tremendous shockwaves that rose the tide of the oceans and eventually began to affect the weather, releasing thunderclaps that knocked out Towa and Setsuna. Deciding to respect Sesshōmaru's wish to keep his daughters safe as they clearly couldn't kill him, Kirinmaru reminded him that they still need to work together before leaving.

Kirinmaru was later seen in the office of his ship as he touches the scar Towa had inflicted on him when Zero entered the room. He admitted it was the hanyō princesses who gave him that wound but stated it was hardly any entertainment for him. Kirinmaru called them pups who have yet to grow their fangs fully and requested her to not attack the hanyō Princesses, wishing to wait for them to grow more and telling her not to get too carried away. However, his sister was not convinced and revealed that not only the quarter demon Moroha, but the hanyō sisters' powers have also been sealed away when Kirinmaru tried to dismiss it as Moroha was only using the power of the Great Dog Demon to go wild and hadn't mastered it, believing at their full power even Kirinmaru wouldn't be able to get away unscathed, before leaving. During the night of the same day, Kirinmaru looked up as the Grim Comet approaches while Osamu Kirin also noticed it appearing in the modern era (unseen through the eyes of ordinary mortal beings; such as the fully grown younger brother of a time-traveler), and admitted that he could not let the Grim Comet ravage any more eras of time; past or future.

The next day, Kirinmaru visited Sesshōmaru's mother and asked if the Windmill of Time had moved yet, learning that it has not and she hasn't seen Akuru for several years. She comments that Sesshōmaru was also having trouble finding Akuru's pinwheel, while expressing his disapproval that Zero continued to hunt her granddaughters. Furthermore, she states that he can't let them go unharmed if they try to attack him once more. When the Windmill of Time began to move, Kirinmaru felt and commented on it in his ship.

He, later on, appeared before his sister, Riku, Sesshōmaru, and the hanyō Princesses as Zero had been killed by Setsuna but was resurrected and Zero destroyed Tenseiga in a rage. Expressing remorse and regret that Zero destroyed Tenseiga, Kirinmaru offered his apologies and coldly told Zero that she had gone too far when she demanded he not interfere. Stopping Sesshōmaru from killing Zero, Kirinmaru tried to make him back off by reminding him he didn't find Akuru's pinwheel but he refused. As Sesshōmaru commented on how pitiful his sister had become, Kirinmaru decided to scatter the Rainbow Pearls through the land to prevent her from regaining her demonic power as punishment for her repeated disobedience of his order to leave the hanyō Princesses alone and grow and destruction of Tenseiga. This infuriated Zero to where she disowned Kirinmaru as her brother and left. Before Kirinmaru could pursue her, Riku stabbed him to weaken Kirinmaru so Towa could have a chance to survive before going after Zero and Sesshōmaru also went after her, but not before Kirinmaru asked him about the girls.

With Sesshōmaru telling him to fight them as he wished, Kirinmaru mused on how hanyōs were always meant to fight to prove their worth to survive before descending down and throwing away his mask as he revealed that he had been holding back in their previous fight but now that he had been injured, he could not spare such measures. Still proving to be more than a match for them despite his injury and their growth in strength and experience in fighting him before, he effortlessly countered Towa's sword attacks before proceeding to easily deflect Setsuna's attacks. Even as Moroha unleashed her new Crimson Backlash Wave and her spiritual power attack Tenkū no Yabusuma, Kirinmaru still easily withstood the newly strengthened demonic attacks while lecturing them on being unable to properly come into their own latent dog-demon abilities due to relying on their red and silver Rainbow Pearls so much, and praising Moroha's natural potential in utilizing her innate spiritual powers finally starting to further develop properly, if only gradually, while mocking on how the red Rainbow Pearl only limited what her respective spiritual abilities were truly capable; and soon knocked her out and flung her to Kirara.

Proceeding to fight Towa and Setsuna personally, he easily pressured Towa while commenting on how she was much weaker than when she injured him and easily parried Setsuna's attack with two fingers while stating her form may be excellent but her blade is subpar and not sufficient to damage him. Realizing that Towa must-see Setsuna is in danger to tap into her power, he flung her aside and commented on how she was a good older sister before going after Setsuna. He was stopped mid-way as Towa stabbed him in the same spot Riku stabbed him and as Setsuna charged in, Kirinmaru, further injured, blasted Towa aside and blocked Setsuna's attack but she managed to use her blooming Blood Blade to scratch him close to where Towa had earlier injured him, causing him to mortally injure her. As Setsuna seemingly succumbed to her injuries, Kirinmaru lamented the loss of the young woman and that Tenseiga had been broken by Zero so she, unfortunately, couldn't be brought back to life, before Moroha engaged him with her evolved Beniyasha form.

Initially dismissive, he was soon impressed when he saw Moroha manifest a huge flaming dragon and commented how it was natural as it was where her grandfather died and as such she could unlock her full potential there and even more so when Towa also unlocked her full power and furiously promised to kill Kirinmaru to avenge Setsuna. Challenging them to attack him at once, he blocked Towa's amplified Sōryūha and Moroha's amplified Crimson Dragon Wave and named Towa's stronger, larger attack Twin Azure Dragon Wave as it had two dragon heads and clearly showed she had refined her father's technique while he also praised Moroha's Crimson Dragon for being able to use it to where he can't force it away from him.

Deciding to take the attack with his demonic energy shield head-on, destroying much of the landscape, he was left injured and praised them for their magnificent capabilities and being capable of controlling and harnessing such a massive demonic energy before summoning his sword back. He was even more impressed and entertained when the landscape changed into a galaxy-like field, stating it was the battle he had always wished for. After a lengthy struggle, Kirinmaru eventually defeated them and knocked them down and unconscious whereas Towa woke up he praised the hanyō Princesses for giving him such a battle and lamented how it ended that way and expressed his wish to meet them again while promising to remember Setsuna's name before leaving, injured but alive and triumphant still.

Some days later, Kirinmaru has since healed but the additional scar he had received from Setsuna remains with that made by Towa some time ago. Eating purple grapes, he remains self-confident in his objectives if ambiguous. He learned via his intimate and personal connection to Riku, the former being originally one of his horns that had been cut by Tōga six centuries previously, he was surprised to hear that Setsuna had returned to life. This discovery of his recent murder victim being very much alive intrigues him, being certain that Tenseiga had indeed broken in half when he had last encountered Setsuna. He concludes Towa's role in this development, and how that Riku has expressed his interest in the elder twin daughter of Sesshōmaru. In the evening, Kirinmaru received word from none other than a triumphant Zero, who informs of her success in gathering her Rainbow Pearls after he himself had dispersed all seven throughout the various lands. He just smiled, stating that he knew that nothing he had done or not done would never get by his own sister.

Not long after, Kirinmaru reminisces of how Tōga was the only one to ever defeat him and comments that while his granddaughters have proven remarkable, they do not come close to his level. He then sleeps as he muses over his daughter. While sleeping, Kirinmaru's consciousness travels to the spiritual/sacred mountain of Musubi, where he manipulates the barrier to force Towa and Setsuna to answer if they have someone to protect or if they have to let something go by trapping them in illusions. After they pass, Kirinmaru allows them to see Rion.

Displeased as Rion intends to leave Mount Musubi, Kirinmaru uses some kind of projection magic to bind her to the doll host he had created in case she were to awake, attempting to keep her confined but she succeeded in breaking free of the barrier. Kirinmaru listens as Towa defiantly proclaims she will fight him if he wants to with amusement and admits it's interesting.

Kirinmaru later on teleports to Towa and Rion's location and admits to being pleased to see his daughter again but was dismayed to see her anger towards him for binding her soul and keeping her alive in such a way. He refused to allow her to intervene with his plans to travel beyond space and time. Impressed to see Towa has acquired the Zanseiken, Kirinmaru decided to engage her but before they can fight, Towa suddenly showed unusual behavior as she seemed to be able to see something invisible. Realizing that she can see Akuru, Kirinmaru rebuked Rion's claims that it meant the Windmill of Time no longer favored him and that his time was over, stating they can try to end it. Deciding to spare them, Kirinmaru attacked them with a powerful attack that blinded Riku and teleported away, stating they'll meet again.

He angrily berates the Windmill of Time, demanding to know why it rejects him despite his status as the strongest demon. Hearing the sound of a pinwheel that could only be Akuru, he flies in pursuit of the child-like Spirit of Time. He sensed his elder sister's death and was confused by what she meant with Rion's freedom, wondering what was it that is causing his daughter suffering, but follows Akuru to the Bone-Eater's Well. He then uses this opportunity to snatch the Black Pearl from Moroha, and gives her an ultimatum: Give him Akuru or never see her parents again!

He is amused at how Moroha challenges him to a duel since she reminded herself from Rion back at Mount Musubi warns them about Akuru and the Windmill of Time and she refuse to get Akuru, reminding the quarter-demon of how he had thoroughly crushed her before. He expresses interest in Moroha's spiritual powers having increased along with her demonic abilities. He is unaffected by her sacred arrows and Iron Reaver Soul Stealer move. Grabbing her by the face, he knocks her to the ground and notices Sesshōmaru.

He casually greeted Sesshōmaru, questioning on Rin's state as Zero has passed away, but was challenged to a duel. Kirinmaru at first wanted to finish defeating Moroha but when he is mocked for picking on an opponent he had defeated before, Kirinmaru honorably tosses the Black Pearl to him and accepted the challenge in exchange for Akuru being brought to him. As the fight began to escalate, Kirinmaru starting to employ techniques as he enjoyed the trilling fight he was having with Sesshōmaru, Kirinmaru was suddenly attacked by the hanyō Princesses and they were able to successfully damage him by working together.

Infuriated by the dishonor showed by his rival's granddaughters, Kirinmaru ranted on how the Great Dog Demon of the West had insisted on never involving women and children in the battlefield as he activated his full demonic form and unleashed the giant demonic fireball that he used while fighting his rival 500 years ago. However, to his shock, Sesshōmaru withstood it to protect them and sent them to the Underworld with the Black Pearl. Knowing his opponent would not have died so easily, Kirinmaru demanded him to finish their duel and when he did not appear, decided to consider it his victory.

Continuing his search for the Black Pearl, Kirinmaru located it with Takechiyo and offered to spare his life if he handed it over. He was interrupted by Rin and formally greeted her, stating that she should be with her husband after he was defeated and refusing to fight her as she was too weak. Impressed by her will, though, Kirinmaru prepared to attack when Sesshōmaru revealed himself. Commenting on how he would soon die, Kirinmaru decided to tell him why he intended to transcend the ages: The Grim Comet that Inuyasha and Sesshōmaru destroyed was only a prelude to what would soon happen as the true form of the Grim Comet would descend upon the Reiwa era and that he intends to travel to the future and destroy it to save mankind. He admits to also enjoying that he would be hailed as the strongest entity and also reveals that the hand that was thrown to the Well had become Osamu Kirin. He then prepared to kill Sesshōmaru when he suddenly pointed Tenseiga at him. Despite being dismissive as it is a healing sword, to his shock, the sword manifested the power of his rival to repel him away.

Infuriated, Kirinmaru found himself faced with Inuyasha, Kagome and Moroha as they had returned. Uninterested in facing them, he was frustrated as they insisted on fighting him as he effortlessly repelled their attacks and decided to finally exterminate the Dog Demon Clan. As he continued to effortlessly dispel all their attacks, even Inuyasha's Backlash Wave, he had enough and prepared to defeat them with a giant burst of demonic energy and was even more frustrated when they used Tessaiga's sheath to survive.

Much to his surprise, Towa and Setsuna came in revealing they intend to use the Windmill of Time to time-travel along with Moroha. He was prevented from pursuing them by Inuyasha and as he continued to easily hold him back, he sensed Rion on the verge of death and brushed off Inuyasha and Kagome's attempts to contain him and teleported to his daughter's location. He then provided Rion's artificial body with the energy to keep it sustained and told her that he intended to travel to the other period soon and he wanted her to come with him.

Kirinmaru then revealed how his intentions for traveling into the future were to save humanity in the Reiwa era as the Grim Comet is coming at full strength to Earth in the future and also revealed that the Zanseiken was cursed so that Towa would lose her kon and eventually become a lifeless husk so Rion can possess her body instead. With their refusal, Kirinmaru easily fended off Riku and Rion as he tried to convince his daughter to stop resisting and accept that he truly loved her. Eventually, he managed to guide Rion's hand to stab Riku with Zero's staff and then sedated her. He quickly flew to the Windmill of Time and used the Bakuseiken to slice it in order to prevent the hanyō Princesses to go through, but it was too late since they got it through first and managed to make it just in time as the portal was about to close. He nonetheless makes his way through and enters in contact with Osamu ordering him to bring him to the Reiwa era but Osamu refuses for he doesn't want to allow him to bring upon the degenerate age. His anger further increases as Riku suddenly arrives and uses Zero's staff to retrieve Rion from him. While still trying to reach the Reiwa era, he orders Osamu to kill the hanyō Princesses, only to be ignored twice, and much to his surprise, Osamu eventually brings the Grim Comet to the Feudal era for him to destroy.

Osamu ultimately betrayed Kirinmaru by drugging him and then releasing the Grim Butterfly. He kidnapped Rion and Kirinmaru fought his way into the Grim Butterfly where he clashed with Osamu, who lambasted Kirinmaru for not listening to the Great Dog Demon's warnings and causing Rion's death. Kirinamru wondered if Osamu was right. Osamu then told Kirinmaru to destroy Sesshōmaru as it is something both he and his daughter wanted, with the fact that the Great Dog Demon's elder son was the only person capable of contesting him for the title of the strongest. Kirinmaru arrived just as Sesshōmaru finally recovered from his attack. They fought for the last time, but as Sesshōmaru had fully recovered while Kirinmaru had barely rested from the stress of his previous battles, Kirinmaru was slowly but surely overpowered by his rival's elder son, who also noticed that he was in an emotional state and mocked him, saying he was no longer a worthy opponent and seemed more like a human. As the fight turned to Sesshōmaru's favor, his enemy was able to land multiple hits on him, slashing through his armour. Though initially angry, Kirinamru agreed with Sesshōmaru and apologized, realizing the truth that he was lost in his past. He and Sesshōmaru then launched one final blast that clashed, but the injuries he had suffered steadily worn him down and he was overpowered and critically wounded. He was then taken into the interior of the Grim Butterfly where he apologized to Rion and they reconciled. Rion then requested Setsuna to sever the red thread of fate between her and her father. Kirinmaru nodded in agreement, and apologized to the half-demon princesses. Setsuna cut the thread and Kirinmaru died. Rion told her father that they will join aunt Zero now as the Zanseiken and Bakuseiken recombined into one sword. The sword then shined a light on Kirinmaru and Rion that disintegrated them and their energy went into the sword. They then restored Towa, and Riku, who had been fatally wounded and returned to his original form.

Personality
Kirinmaru appears as a resolute and detached individual, speaking the bare minimum. He seems to be distant to even his closest followers as he did not remember Tōkotsu, who was one of his four central lieutenants, much less that he even gifted Tōkotsu the Red Rainbow Pearl in the first place. Upon learning of his demise, Kirinmaru showed apathy, merely giving some praise to Sesshōmaru's twin daughters, who terminated him as he reasoned that anybody serving under him must have been quite a powerful fighter. He was also apathetic to the deaths of the other Four Perils. Likewise, when Zero woke him up, Kirinmaru treated his sister with a to-the-business attitude.

When he and Sesshōmaru joined forces to kill Inuyasha and Moroha, he immediately engaged them while responding to Kagome's defiant refusal to hand Moroha over to him with a cold rebuttal. He also could show an authoritarian side, remaining unmoved by Zero's wishes to kill Sesshōmaru's twin daughters. Despite the Tree of Ages stating that Kirinmaru was power-hungry by wishing to warp time itself to his will, it was noted by Myōga that Kirinmaru was content in only ruling the Eastern Lands, which was supported by the fact that he left Tōga to govern the Western Lands in peace for years, with him expressing shock that Kirinmaru would be trying to rule the Western Lands and desires to warp time to his will and stating that he isn't the type to go this far. However, he does have a dark sense of humor as he chuckled at Jaken's claim that Inuyasha and Kagome would be paying their respects to his rival's tomb and sarcastically commented Sesshōmaru when he saved Towa and Setsuna from him that even someone like him still cares for his children.

In battle, Kirinmaru is shown to be capable of being mocking and condescending while remaining focused and composed, remarking on the lack of strength shown by his foes and criticizing their flaws, as shown when he mocked Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha for their lack of skill and technique. He seems to hold spirit, skill, mind, and heart as important aspects in battle, repeatedly mocking the hanyō Princesses for showing a lack of those. At the same time, he was capable of enjoying a good fight and admitting it, as shown by how he showed sincere respect towards Towa and Moroha for their efforts in forcing him to fight seriously to keep up and later on commenting he had long since wanted to engage in such a fierce battle.

According to Riku, Kirinmaru hates humans and hanyōs. Still, it's unclear to what extent he really resents them: Though Zero indicated he shared Sesshōmaru's initial views of such creatures, with Kirinmaru expressing shock that his rival's older son would marry a human, and he did scoff at Kagome's defiance and vow to stop him from killing Moroha, when he was first woken up, he acknowledged Inuyasha as having the strength to alongside his half-brother destroy the Grim Comet and showed no inclination to slay him until he learned Kagome had given birth to a quarter demon daughter and even then when he and Kagome were instead sealed into the Black Pearl, Kirinmaru accepted it when Jaken reasoned that Inuyasha's Meidō Zangetsuha would be needed in the future with no protest at all. It is later revealed by Zero, Kirinmaru hates humans and hanyōs because Rion was killed by a hanyō. However, he played a part in it for not heeding to Tōga's warning of "never bringing a child to the battlefield."

Likewise, he proved disinterested in going after Towa and Setsuna and freely acknowledged that he expected them to be powerful due to having such a mighty demon as their father. Even when Zero had specifically demanded Kirinmaru kill them, he still chose not to act personally just for that. He only decided to fight them when they were about to reach his ship and despite showing his belief that hanyōs should not exist and repeatedly mocking them, he freely admitted that Towa truly was his rival's granddaughter after she managed to land a blow on him. Towa, Moroha, and Setsuna would later successfully earn his full respect in his second fight with them to where he promised to carve Setsuna's name into his heart and repeatedly praised the two sisters for unleashing and controlling their full power and giving him such a good fight. Overall, while Kirinmaru seems to consider himself superior and has disdain towards them, it doesn't seem to prevent him from acknowledging hanyōs when they prove formidable. Although he dislikes humans, even he did not wish to have them completely exterminated, his goals to travel to the Reiwa era being driven not out of malice but out of well-intentions to stop the Grim Comet from exterminating them in that time.

For all his self-importance and justified belief in his own might, Kirinmaru is also an honorable fighter who firmly believes in proving oneself in combat through rightful means. He refused to take advantage of Tōga's weakened state to have him killed and take Japan for himself, even chastising Kyūki and Konton forever so much as suggest it, and even ordered Riku to aid on Tōga's healing, as he thinks an underhanded victory would never leave one truly satisfied. Even Zero believes he is a bit too uncompromising which causes problems for their crew. Like with Sesshōmaru, Kirinmaru believes firmly that any power one wields must be their own and holds the Rainbow Pearls and Shikon Jewel both in contempt over the fact many demons desire their power, to where he refers to the Shikon Jewel as a worthless orb and though he entrusted the Pearls to the Shikyō, it was clearly more out of a desire to keep it in safe hands instead of enhancing their abilities, being uninterested in their deaths and the fact that the Pearls were removed from them and he scoffed at the hanyō Princesses for having relied on the Rainbow Pearls for so long they aren't able to naturally manifest their powers while never trying to recover the Pearls while they still had it. Considering Zero's wish that brought the Rainbow Pearls to existence as being a grave dishonor, Kirinmaru also shows his standards and honor extends to his own sister, as he has repeatedly shown himself to be unnerved by her malice and sinking into new lows to fulfill her dark desires to where he eventually decided to put a stop to it by scattering the Rainbow Pearls through the land, showing his contempt towards the Pearls as a whole.

He could also show sincere respect and reason towards those who had earned it, as shown by how he treated Sesshōmaru's mother with the formal title of your ladyship even when she no longer ruled the Western Land and showed respect towards Sesshōmaru despite his failure of finding Akuru's pinwheel and apparent desire to take care of his daughters, going as far as to bow to him and sincerely apologize for Zero breaking Tenseiga and agree to prevent Zero from unleashing her wrath upon his daughters. Likewise, he seemed to genuinely regret dispatching Setsuna and even lamented she couldn't be resurrected as the Tenseiga was broken. When he had defeated Towa and Moroha, instead of killing them, he instead patiently waited and watched over them until Towa woke and sincerely praised her for the good fight and expressed hope to meet her again in the future and he even showed the fallen Setsuna genuine respect by promising to remember her always.

Physical description
Kirinmaru appears as a tall and muscular man. He has tan skin with pointed ears, green eyes, and bulbous, long, red hair. He seems to have dragon scales filled his forehead and right cheek, two blue stripes on his left cheek, and later a minor scar on his left cheek that he eventually gets after his encounter with Towa. Expectedly from a bestial daiyōkai, he has sharpened nails of a greyish-purple coloration. Kirinmaru's appearance has many characteristics of Qilin, Chinese Unicorn, than Dragon's. In Resonance, it has blue symbol on his right arm, similar to Osamu Kirin's glowing symbol as he going to communicate the Sacred Tree of Ages in Episode 28, and he comes out of the Bone-Eater's Well in Episode 42.

He wears a grayish violet and black suit armor with a golden plate on his left shoulder, a golden thin trim with a small ribbon, and a red belt across his waist with two golden plates as a buckle. He also wears a purple and lavender long-sleeved top, a black hadagi undershirt, darkened reddish baggy pants, and black battle boots with beige cuffs and golden adornments.

He wears a pair of black-armored gauntlets decorated with the same adornments as his boots and a white dragon-shaped mask with several red markings and two golden plates on each side leaving only his left eye visible along with the stripes on his left cheek.

On his true demonic form, Kirinmaru's face becomes more monstrous with two horns emerging from his forehead (the left one being shorter, because it has been cut by Tōga), long fangs, and more feral eyes with purple marks on his eyelids and longer messier darker eyebrows. His left arm drastically changes into a draconian green with several spiked protrusions during the fight, but 600 years ago, it was normal during the fight, and in the present in the feudal era, it was normal without the fight in Episode 28.

Powers & Abilities

 * Immense Demonic Power: Being the Ruler of the Eastern Lands and the rival of Tōga, the Lord of the Western Lands, who was regarded to be the strongest demon, in terms of strength, Kirinmaru is an extraordinarily powerful daiyōkai. Even many centuries before, he was already strong enough that he stated he had defeated many powerful enemies through the globe unchallenged and only ever lost to his would-be rival, before growing to match him as the strongest demon in history. He was confident he could kill Inuyasha, an extremely powerful hanyō who had defeated other powerful daiyōkai, and Sesshōmaru even went as far as to banish Inuyasha and Kagome into the Border of the Afterlife rather than allow Kirinmaru to fight them, suggesting he believed Kirinmaru could indeed kill both Inuyasha and Kagome despite their own incredible powers. This was proven to be true when he finally fought them directly, as he was able to effortlessly neutralize their attacks with his terrifying strength, leaving Shippō astounded by his mighty powers, and would have killed them had circumstances not forced him to abandon the fight. During his battles with Sesshōmaru, Kirinmaru proved to be equally matched with his rival's elder son, fighting him to a stalemate twice and even managing to deliver him a mortal injury when he was off-guard at the end of their second fight, and it was only because he was weakened both physically and emotionally in their final fight that Sesshōmaru defeats him, the clash of their powers being such that it caused massive shockwaves and even shifted the weather, causing storm clouds and thunder strikes. During his battles with the hanyō Princesses, Kirinmaru repeatedly proved to be more than a match for their combined strength, easily defeating Towa, Setsuna and Moroha, despite their incredible demonic powers, even when Moroha was using the full extent of her demonic power which rivaled Inuyasha's base strength, simultaneously, and even still defeating them after suffering a noteworthy injury from Riku, killing Setsuna and ultimately besting Towa and Moroha accessing their full powers simultaneously, although not without serious effort and considerable injuries. It has also been shown that his power exceeds that of his sister Zero's, as he was able to overpower her demonic energies contained in the Rainbow Pearls to scatter them across the land despite Zero willing them to return her demonic powers to her. He has displayed excellent control over his demonic energy, capable of manifesting it in various ways and varying intensity, and his power appears to be strong enough to affect the weather and surroundings, as simply his presence was able to cause storm clouds, completely shifting the atmosphere.
 * Telekinesis: Kirinmaru is able to use his demonic energy for potent telekinesis, as shown by how he levitated and then scattered the Rainbow Pearls across the land by surrounding it with demonic energy with a clench of his fist before waving it wildly, and he could remove a sword impaled on his person by Riku with no gestures and control it to land on his hand and later on summoned his sword back with a meager hand wave. He even casually telekinetically tossed aside Towa. In Episode 37, he uses his hand to steal the Black Pearl from Moroha with a meager telekinetic wave as he tells her to find Akuru's pinwheel or she'll never see her parents again.
 * Demonic Energy Blasts: Kirinmaru is shown to be capable of releasing powerful energy blasts from his bare hands that were strong enough to easily pressure Setsuna's defenses and even cancel Towa's ability to absorb demonic energy. He could also release a barrage of demonic energy blasts strong enough to injure Riku's eyes. He could also channel demonic energy into his sword without any special technique to release powerful slashes of energy easily able to batter Setsuna and Moroha, even forcing her back to her human form when she was using her full demonic power. He was even able to cut through Setsuna's weapon and critically harm her with a single demonic-energy enhanced slash. He could even dissipate Inuyasha's Backlash Wave with a crescent-like slash and when enraged released such a powerful shockwave of demonic energy that it would have killed Inuyasha, Kagome, and Moroha had Tessaiga's sheath not protected them. He used the same shockwave to get rid of demons in front of the Windmill of Time. While fighting Sesshōmaru the last time, Kirinmaru released a cyclone of demonic energy that forced Sesshōmaru to use his Light Whip to break it.
 * Demonic Energy Barriers: Kirinmaru could create powerful circular barriers, even when using a normal sword, able to easily negate Moroha's Tenkū no Yabusuma and he also displayed a reflective variant that could reflect her Crimson Backlash Wave. He could manifest such barriers swiftly, as he was able to create one quick enough to block Setsuna's attack moments after knocking aside Towa. Upon tapping into his full power, he displayed the ability to create from his bare hands' powerful demonic shields that were able to stop Towa's Twin Azure Dragon Wave and Moroha's Crimson Dragon Wave and also seemingly use it to lessen the damage when he couldn't dissipate it as well manifest from his sword a large barrier strong enough to eventually repel the slash of Moroha's giant fiery dragon projection.
 * Aerokinesis: Kirinmaru is capable of manifesting his demonic energy in the form of powerful waves of wind-like demonic energy without even having to move his hands at all, which he can control the intensity of, ranging from simply intimidating the hanyō Princesses and Kyūki and Konton while also opening the door behind them (after hearing them to strike Tōga down from his battle with Ryūkotsusei), to easily dispersing Tōtetsu's demonic smoke and knock him down, as well as shoot down Takechiyo and repeatedly easily ground the hanyō Princesses. He could also release a powerful tornado of wind that were able to easily launch Moroha off the ground and to a considerable distance and knock her out. He was also able to conjure a powerful tornado to carry and lift him into the air.
 * Pyrokinesis: Like Karan of the Panther Devas of the Panther tribe, Kirinmaru uses his bare hand to incinerate both the Azusa no Yumihari and the Windmill of Time.
 * Teleportation: Through unknown means, Kirinmaru has displayed the ability to teleport to another location.
 * Flight: Kirinmaru is capable of levitating himself off the ground and remaining suspended as well as flying through the air at incredible speeds with ease. In Episode 29, Kirinmaru is capable of flight as he took his daughter Rion around the world. He can enhance his flight speed by surrounding himself in demonic energy, to where he was able to reach the time portal when it was moments from closing despite being a noticeable distance away.
 * Psychic Link: Kirinmaru has a telepathic connection with Osamu Kirin, as he realized that the Grim Comet appeared in the modern era.
 * Master Swordsman: Kirinmaru proved to be an incredibly skilled swordsman, casually fighting off the assault of Moroha, even when she was using the full power of her demonic heritage to execute powerful melee blows, and easily overwhelming Setsuna and Moroha using their weapons, going as far as to mock them for their inferior combat skill, as well as going toe-to-toe with Sesshōmaru repeatedly in sword fights. He even displayed the ability to use a normal sword with great skill, able to effortlessly defend himself from Towa, despite having been injured by Riku before, and he was able to use his own sword to still outfight Towa with ease. He later easily fought off and pushed back Inuyasha and even casually neutralized a combined attack from him and Kagome by spinning his sword. He also easily outdueled Riku upon drawing his sword.
 * Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Although preferring swordsmanship, Kirinmaru is also an excellent unarmed fighter. He has displayed a noteworthy amount of dexterity and precision in defensive techniques, being able to stop weapons with just two fingers completely and able to use his armored wrists to intercept attacks. He was able to effortlessly overcome Moroha's sword attacks without drawing his sword and even effectively fight off Riku and Rion attacking together solely with his bare-handed skills while holding back to not harm his daughter, repeatedly tossing Riku aside.
 * Immense Strength: Kirinmaru possessed an enormous amount of physical strength, being able to easily counter Moroha's Sankon Tessō even while only using his armored hand with enough force to toss her aside, and casually block Towa's sword attacks and even easily bruise her with a simple light blow from his sword. He also repeatedly clashed equally with Sesshōmaru, unleashing such force that their sword fight released great shockwaves that rose the tide of the ocean and left considerable pressure on Towa, Setsuna, and Jaken and even shattered the ground with a single blow from his sword. Even in a weakened state, he remained able to effortlessly block attacks from Towa with one hand and was still able to easily overwhelm Towa in a sword lock without really trying to overpower her and even go as far as to comfortably maintain the struggle with one hand while using only two fingers of the other hand to stop Setsuna's Kanemitsu no Tomoe and knock her aside simply by flicking those fingers before tossing Towa aside even as she tried to intensify her demonic power. He even managed to slice through Setsuna's weapon and fatally injure her. Kirinmaru later casually used two fingers from his left hand to catch Moroha's Kurikaramaru while while his right hand holds the Black Pearl as he warned her if she wants it badly, then bring him Akuru and was able to not only still easily deflect Moroha's attacks just by impacting his wrist into her sword but even casually stop her attack by grabbing her in the face and easily throwing her with enough force to injure and somewhat daze her. His strength is able to even neutralize Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu and Kongōsōha, even with the latter augmented by Kagome's arrow, with pure strength alone and just by swinging his sword.
 * Immense Speed: Kirinmaru showed vast levels of superhuman speed, being able to move fast enough to form afterimages while easily reacting to and outpacing the attacks of Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha and even go toe-to-toe with Sesshōmaru, also an extremely fast individual.
 * Immense Agility and Reflexes: Kirinmaru possesses extremely fast superhuman reflexes and agility, being able to easily react to and overcome attacks from highly fast and agile individuals like Inuyasha, Towa, Setsuna, Moroha, and even Sesshōmaru. He repeatedly easily avoided Moroha's sacred arrows, even when his back was turned. Kirinmaru even reacted to Riku and Rion's attacks simultaneously without much effort.
 * Immense Stamina: He possesses tremendous levels of superhuman stamina to exert himself at full capacity for prolonged periods of time with little strain, being totally unfazed from his fight with Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha and then Sesshōmaru and even remaining fully conscious and able to leave his second fight with them even after fighting Towa and Moroha at their full power despite suffering remarkable injuries whereas they were left unconscious and struggled to walk afterward. Later on, Kirinmaru was shown to be able to easily defeat Moroha, then go on to fight Sesshōmaru, unleash a powerful attack on the girls that left Sesshōmaru near-death, and afterwards was still at peak condition and perfectly able to keep searching for the Black Pearl and later on even fight a fresh Inuyasha, Kagome, and Moroha, all while showing no signs of fatigue despite being pressured noticeably through it all. After having just slightly recovered from his battles, with little rest, Kirinmaru was shown to still retain enough strength to put up a well-matched fight with a fully-healed Sesshōmaru.
 * Immense Durability and Endurance: Kirinmaru displayed massive levels of superhuman endurance and durability, as he showed little pain and only suffered a slight scratch from Towa's full-strength sword slash to his face. He was even able to survive being stabbed in the side by Riku with only minimum pain, going as far as to casually walk down the stairs with it still embedded in his body while able to talk normally, and still retain more than enough power to effectively fight, even being able to take having it worsened by Towa stabbing him in the same place without much pain, going as far as to be able to still talk and even blast her aside even when she had intensified her attack and took an attack from Setsuna's Blood Blade that broke through his barrier with only a scratch. He was even able to astonishingly take Towa's Twin Azure Dragon Wave and Moroha's amplified Crimson Dragon Wave and survive and still continue to fight until he eventually overwhelmed his opponent. Even his past self was resilient enough to keep fighting after having his left antler cut by his would-be rival and remain conscious after having his hand also cut off and able to fly to his ship only hours later. He also withstood Setsuna's full-force Vermilion Bird Ambush even after being weakened by Moroha's sacred power and Towa's Kyūyōkon-amplified Twin Azure Dragon Wave with only mediocre burn injuries and little pain. Even in a weakened state, he managed to withstand multiple harsh sword attacks from Sesshōmaru and still engage in a final clash of power despite the vicious injuries he suffered, surviving being defeated and blasted by all of Sesshōmaru's demonic energy, though Sesshomaru himself decided not to kill Kirinmaru so as not to hurt the feelings of his twin daughters and require Setsuna to do the job to cut his red thread of fate to finally end him once and for all.
 * Regenerative Healing Factor: Kirinmaru appears to possess some regenerative factor. Within a matter of days, he was shown to be able to heal from all the damage he suffered from his fight with Towa, Setsuna and Moroha, although some of them remained as scars. He also managed to regrow the hand that was cut off but could not restore his left antler. He also quickly regenerated all the injuries he suffered from the attacks of the hanyō Princesses upon assuming his true form.
 * Demonic Magic: Kirinmaru is shown to be an accomplished sorcerer capable of making use of rather complicated forms of magic.
 * Necromancy: He was able to bind Rion's soul to the living world and even forcefully resurrect her by placing her soul into a clay doll to serve as a host body.
 * Demonic Barrier: Kirinmaru was responsible for the powerful barrier placed on Mount Musubi.
 * Reality Warping: Kirinmaru was able to manipulate the barrier so as to place Setsuna and Towa in separate pocket dimensions that can only be exited by discovering the right answer.
 * Vocal Projection: Kirinmaru can project his will through great distances, as shown when he projected his voice to test Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha, and later on appeared in the form of purple shadow to force Rion to her clay doll host.
 * Zanseiken's curse: Kirinmaru was able to place a powerful curse on the Zanseiken so that anyone who wields it would have their kon sapped away from them until they became lifeless husk in order to prepare the wielder to be Rion's host body.
 * Natural Leadership: He has great power and authority over dozens of demons from the mainland but especially his top minions, the Four Perils.
 * Kirinmaru like Tōga, Sesshōmaru, and Sesshōmaru's mother has the ability to shapeshift between the form of a human and his true demonic form, manifesting horns in his foreheads and transforming his left hand into a green spiky arm.
 * Longevity: Like many yōkai, Kirinmaru is capable of living for many centuries and remains unchanged even after the birth of Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha.
 * Spiritual Sight : Kirinmaru is seen to have the ability to see the spirit of the Windmill of Time, Akuru.

Equipment

 * Bakuseiken: One of the two swords given by the god of stars, Amatsumikaboshi. It is powerful enough to clash evenly with Sesshōmaru's Bakusaiga and durable enough to easily block Moroha's Kōryūha and Hijin Kessō.
 * Supreme Demonic & Stellar Energy Storing: Originating from the infinite cosmos itself, it possess nearly infinite amount of stellar power as well as that of demonic energy, being created by the almighty God of the Stars himself. However, such abilities are negative and quite destructive as they are lethal. These powers are equal to its positive counterpart.
 * Kirinmaru slashes his sword and releases a large slash of energy that fires multiple powerful energy projectiles capable of destroying the Grim Comet and easily overpowering Moroha's Crimson Backlash Wave even when using a normal weapon, however an explosive yōki wave from sesshomaru's Bakusaiga was capable to easily destroy this attack.
 * Wind Blast: Kirinmaru blast the wind on Moroha, similar to Tsubaki's wind blast from her right eye, Ryūra's Wind Blast from Fūjinga, and Setsuna's Senpū-jin.
 * Unnamed Black Hole Technique: Kirinmaru fires from his sword a powerful black hole that was strong enough to plow through Towa's gigantic demonic dog projection of her father and overwhelm her ability to absorb demonic energy to where she was knocked unconscious.
 * Demon Fireball: Kirinmaru made a huge demonic fireball that gradually absorbs one's very haku (the vital life energy that allows the physical self to move) from them until they perish. This powerful demonic energy ball shown to be able to neutralize a powerful energy slash from Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga after his Blasting Barrage technique was unable to deflect it.
 * Life-Force Replenishment: Since his daughter Rion can't move her body, he use the haku from the blade to replenish her, so she could move again, aware that his daughter would soon be able to have enough haku energy to sustain her artificial body on her own.

Temporary

 * Riku's Sword: Kirinmaru used Riku's sword with two silver point on the top as the sharp blade goes. After Riku stabbed him, and during the battle with the hanyō Princesses at the ruin of Izayoi's mansion, it broke while protecting it with the barrier by Moroha's enhanced Crimson Backlash Wave.

Formerly

 * Mask: Kirinmaru used to wear a mask sometimes into battle. It is unknown when or why he wore the mask at times and other times he didn't. He permanently discarded it just before his second battle with the half-demon princesses.

Relationships
Zero is his older sister and also the one that warned him about the prophecy of his downfall, showing great loyalty to him. Kirinmaru clearly trusts her as well, taking the news that she brought over his rival's sons giving birth to more hanyō seriously and deciding to kill Inuyasha when she heeds him to act. Still, he doesn't seem to be emotionally close to her, referring to her with a formal attitude, though acknowledges her as his older sister and refers to her with the formal term あねうえ (Aneue). While it seemed at first they were closer when Tōga was still alive, after Zero removed her demonic powers and created the Rainbow Pearls, it seemed their relationship became distant, as Kirinmaru later stated he considered her wish as vain. He is quite aware of his sister's power and took precautions to prevent it from being spread out of hand by giving it to the Shikyō. Having known her for years and likely experienced her grief over Tōga's death, Kirinmaru was fully aware that despite her insistence that she was targeting the hanyō Princesses to protect him, she was also doing this out of irrational jealousy and anger at Tōga for not returning her love and dying for the family he had with Izayoi and the hanyōs that came from his blood afterward and clearly disapproves of it: While at first he only refuses to act against Towa and Setsuna even when she outright demanded him to kill the hanyōs, as she continues to target them, Kirinmaru started to become more and more uneasy over the lows she sunk to fulfill her malice towards Tōga's descendants, expressing dismay that she continues to seek the destruction of the hanyō Princesses. He eventually lost all tolerance when she broke Tenseiga, furiously stating she had gone too far, and though he protected her from Sesshōmaru, as she insisted on killing the hanyō Princesses and Sesshōmaru drove the fact that Zero had only continued to dishonor herself, he decided to punish her by scattering the Rainbow Pearls through the land to prevent her from regaining her demonic power. Still, he did refer to her respectfully even when Zero furiously declared Kirinmaru was no longer her brother for doing so and even worried about her, when Sesshōmaru going after her.
 * Zero

Kirinmaru first met the then Lord of the Western Lands in battle, where his younger self's level proved insufficient to defeat the Great Dog Demon and suffered his first defeat. While infuriated that he was bested for the first and only time, Kirinmaru nevertheless acknowledged his immense strength and trained himself to eventually become on par with him as the strongest demon in existence. The two worked together to deal with the Grim Comet when it first landed and made a truce with one another, leaving the other to rule their respective lands peacefully. Before Tōga's death, Kirinmaru clearly respected his rival as he was offended when Kyūki and Konton asked him to kill the Great Dog of the West in his weakened state and stated he would only challenge him when he was at his full power and even ordered Riku to find and give the most potent herbs to help him recover. Even after his death, Kirinmaru retained considerable respect for him, as he was confident that both his sons, even including his hanyō son, would be enough to destroy the Grim Comet. He seemed amused when Jaken commented that Inuyasha and Kagome would be trapped in Tōga's tomb and "pay respects" to his grave and decided to leave it be. He even admitted when the hanyō Towa managed to injure him lightly that he expected no less from his rival's granddaughter. He also was enraged when Zero broke Tenseiga, despite it being a healing sword, simply because Tenseiga was made of Tōga's fang, and punished Zero for such a deed by scattering the Rainbow Pearls through the land, which also ensured Tōga's granddaughters would remain safe from her wrath. He showed the full extent of his respect for his rival's power when he commented how his granddaughters were able to use the place where he died to gain their full power and give him such a fierce fight, stating that he had never been able to go all out ever since their last fight.
 * Tōga

Kirinmaru's daughter. They once had a good relationship, Kirinmaru being fatherly caring and traveling the world alongside her, but him openly fighting in front of her eventually drove a wedge in their relationship. When she died, he was unable to accept it and thus put his daughter's soul into a doll and placed her in Mount Musubi. He continued to interact with her using the Dream Butterfly through their dreams.
 * Rion

Even in the present, Kirinmaru still loved Rion dearly. When they met with Rion having been resurrected, Kirinmaru was pleased to see that she could enjoy walking the ground once more, but dismayed to see her bitterness towards him. Though remaining steadfast in his desire to travel through time, he not only would not use force against her despite her refusal, but actually intended to ensure she could have a real body by placing her soul in Towa's. He even prioritized saving her first before going to the Windmill of Time and simply sedated her despite her attempts to kill him.

As Sesshōmaru took Kirinmaru up to the Grim Butterfly's interior to see his daughter one last time, Kirinmaru apologized to Rion as they both restored their bonds as father and daughter before Setsuna cut his red thread of fate and then died along with Rion as well.

Kirinmaru and Sesshōmaru's mother have a good relationship with one another, being a fellow collaborator in keeping the peace of the lands, and even after she no longer ruled the Western Land, he continued to work with her and respectfully referred to her with the formal title of your ladyship. She also supports Kirinmaru's motives to travel beyond space and time and when he finally arrived, she did nothing to stop him, nor did Kirinmaru attempt to engage her.
 * Sesshōmaru's mother

Kirinmaru seems to hold Kyūki to a higher standard than most of his subordinates, as he remembers her name and trusts her with handling Sesshōmaru's daughters after they had killed Tōkotsu even Inuyasha's daughter killed his son Jakotsumaru. He is unaware that Kyūki wanted to overthrow him, and even when she was dead, Kirinmaru showed detached feelings.
 * Kyūki

Kirinmaru has heard from him with Kyūki that Tōga has been spotted in Kamakura as he told his master that Tōga has sustained grave injuries from Shishinki and Ryūkotsusei, and plan to strike him down.
 * Konton


 * Riku

Kirinmaru refers to Riku as his most trusted retainer, expressing confidence he could defeat Towa and Setsuna. Interestingly enough, even though Riku serves Kirinmaru, he hates the Four Perils that work under him. He was shocked and angered when Riku betrayed and stabbed him. And yet despite this, he still maintains his connection with the retainer as he was originally Kirinmaru's antler. To a degree, he sees himself as Riku's father, calling himself so in an attempt to coerce Riku's cooperation during his confrontation with Riku and Rion.

Kirinmaru seemed to hold Tōkotsu in little regard as he didn't remember his name until Kyūki reminded him that he has bestowed the Red Rainbow Pearl to him.
 * Tōkotsu

Kirinmaru seems to dislike Tōtetsu, having no qualms knocking him down for bringing the hanyō Princesses to his ship and coldly dismissing his apology and telling him to leave his presence.
 * Tōtetsu

Enemies
Inuyasha is his old rival's hanyō youngest son. Although Riku claimed that Kirinmaru would naturally despise him as he is a hanyō, it appears that Kirinmaru doesn't actually have much of a grudge towards him: When he was woken up by his older sister, Kirinmaru openly acknowledged Inuyasha's worth as Tōga's son and that his strength along with his brother would have sufficed to destroy the Grim Comet, showing an initial lack of inclination to kill Inuyasha. Only opting to exterminate Inuyasha when he learned Inuyasha had married Kagome and gave birth to Moroha, even when Sesshōmaru instead sealed them away to the Border of the Afterlife, Kirinmaru showed no eagerness to kill Inuyasha and accepted when Jaken noted Inuyasha's Meidō Zangetsuha will be needed, showing Kirinmaru doesn't really have any personal spite towards Inuyasha or at least not enough to actively wish for his death until he was pushed into doing so. Once the hanyō son of his dead rival returns from the Border of the Afterlife, Kirinmaru is uninterested with fighting him and resolves to just dispatch him quickly, but grew angry by his repeated defiance even as he proved himself to be far too powerful as he effortlessly cancels Inuyasha's Wind Scar and Adamant Barrage attacks with ease and even his Backlash Wave proved to be utterly useless against him, even more so when Inuyasha shielded his family with Tessaiga's sheath from an attack that would have otherwise defeated if not killed them. He is later stopped at sword point, to Inuyasha's assurance that he would never lay one finger on his daughter Moroha, but refused to prolong their fight and easily tossed him aside before leaving.
 * Inuyasha


 * Kagome Higurashi

Being that Kagome the reincarnation of Kikyō as Inuyasha's wife, had married Inuyasha and gave birth to a quarter demon girl, Kirinmaru wanted to kill her and her husband. Still, like with Inuyasha, he showed no personal enmity towards her and calmly accepted Sesshōmaru's decision to instead trap them in Tōga's tomb. However, as he attempted to attack her, he did scoff at her statement that Kirinmaru won't be able to get through her and Inuyasha to kill Moroha, calling her a mere human. Fourteen years later, he was angry enough to be willing to kill her and her family but while he is able to casually repel her sacred arrow even combined with that of her daughter's, he gets increasingly frustrated with his inability to crush them and eventually abandons the fight.

With Sesshōmaru being as his rival's first and pure demon son and the viable heir to the title of the Lord of the Western Lands, Kirinmaru seems to acknowledge and respect him. Zero noted that Kirinmaru was very well aware that Sesshōmaru hated humans and hanyōs. He would be shocked to hear that he had married a human and sired two hanyō daughters, which was confirmed by the shock Kirinmaru showed upon learning it. Despite this, Kirinmaru still showed respect towards Sesshōmaru, being willing to let him kill Inuyasha and even accept his decision to seal him and Kagome away instead. Indeed, he even acknowledged that despite being hanyōs, he had expected Sesshōmaru's daughters to be very powerful and was not surprised when he learned they had managed to kill one of his Shikyō. He seemed to be more amused than annoyed when Sesshōmaru came to save his daughters and as they fought to a stalemate, Kirinmaru decided to respect Sesshōmaru's willingness to protect his daughters and told him they would continue to work together before leaving. Despite Sesshōmaru acting out of character by prioritizing his daughters and not being fully focused on finding Akuru's pinwheel, he still treated him with respect and even bowed to show his regret that Tenseiga was broken by Zero. He also tried to reason with him when he tried to kill Zero by reminding him of his failure in a respectful manner instead of mockery and decided to heed his desire to keep his daughters safe from Zero by scattering the Rainbow Pearls through the land. He even asked him what to do with his daughters and Moroha.
 * Sesshōmaru

When they meet again, Kirinmaru still remained respectful towards the older son of his rival, attempting to have him get Akuru's pinwheel by defeating him in a duel, but was more than willing to just let him die when he took the attack that would slowly drain his Haku. However, he appeared unsatisfied with how he could not truly defeat Sesshōmaru and pitying him, decided to tell him about his goals.

During their third confrontation, Sesshōmaru told Kirinmaru that he was sounding more like a human because he was letting his emotions get the best of him. Just before Kirinmaru was about to land a hit on Sesshōmaru, Sesshōmaru slashes him extremely deep as Kirinmaru was easily outclassed by him and was left severely injured. Sesshōmaru then took him into the interior of the Grim Butterfly as Kirinmaru rebonded with his daughter, Rion.

Kirinmaru was shocked when he learned that Rin had become Sesshōmaru's wife just like his old rival Tōga married Izayoi and that she gave birth to twin hanyō daughters. Still, it appears that he isn't after her daughters herself, showing disinterest in doing so even after they had killed one of his foremost generals, with the separation of the twins being ordered seemingly solely by Zero with no order from Kirinmaru, making it seem unlikely that he has anything to do with her current condition. Indeed, although he was aware of Zero's link to Rin, Kirinmaru seemed to have literately no interest in it. After the silver-scale curse have been broken and free from the Sacred Tree, and the battle between him and Moroha, they finally meet as Rin saved Takechiyo from giving the second Black Pearl to Kirinmaru since Sesshōmaru's haku has been taken. Kirinmaru showed surprising formal respect, referring to Rin as "Your Ladyship" and offering her a chance to just leave unharmed. He only decided to fight her when she declared her defiance and never let his preparation of the Degenerate Age.
 * Rin


 * Towa and Setsuna

Although Kirinmaru showed shock that Sesshōmaru's daughters were hanyō, unlike Zero, he showed no inclination to kill them, even when he was willing to act to kill Inuyasha and Moroha, likely as he seemed to have genuine respect for Sesshōmaru. Even though Zero ordered Homura to burn down the forest they were in, it appeared that it was out of Zero's own volition. Kirinmaru had nothing to do with it, as he showed disinterest in hunting down Towa and Setsuna when they had killed not only Tōtetsu but even Kyūki as well and would not oblige to Zero's demands to kill them himself, even showing them some respect by admitting he had expected them to be powerful considering the immense power their father had.

He only finally decided to kill the hanyō twins and their half-cousin once Konton was killed and Tōtetsu escaped to his ship. While fighting them, he effortlessly overwhelmed them while criticizing them for their lack of skill, easily nullifying even Towa's ability to absorb demonic energy and sense his demonic energy and flaunting the fact he wasn't even using any technique to handle them before proceeding to swiftly batter Setsuna to submission with a casual sword technique. However, he acknowledged Towa's demonic abilities when she managed to actually land a single blow on him, stating he expected that from Tōga's granddaughter and Sesshōmaru's daughter. When Sesshōmaru appeared to save them, Kirinmaru showed a lack of desire to kill the hanyō twins as they proved to be quite powerless before him and decided to stop fighting and leave.

He refers to them as pups who have yet to grow their fangs and stated that he cannot allow them to leave unharmed if they challenged him but seemed disapproving of Zero's relentless desire to kill them and he even allowed them to remain safe from his sister's wrath by scattering the Rainbow Pearls through the land. During his final battle with the two, Kirinmaru was finally impressed by their skills as they gave him a harder time and referring to them by their names, showed more respect towards Setsuna as he fought her and her sister after knocking out Moroha, admitting her skills were remarkable but her weapon was too weak, and retained his interest in Towa, wondering why she couldn't fight him like before. He was willing to attack Setsuna to bring out Towa's full potential but when he accidentally killed her without knowing his own strength, he appeared to feel utterly guilty of her death, lamenting it couldn't be undone as Tenseiga was destroyed. He was visibly impressed when Towa unveiled her full power and hatefully vowed to avenge her beloved sister's death and even more so when she created the Twin Azure Dragon Wave, naming the attack and commenting her for perfecting her father's technique. After finally defeating her, he not only decided to spare Towa but also patiently waited for her to wake up and respectfully admitted she and Moroha had given him a fierce battle that he thought he would never experience again since his battle with the Great Dog Demon and expressed regret he had to end the fight prematurely and looked forward to their next meeting. He even showed sincere respect and condolences to Setsuna by promising to never forget her and carve her name into his heart.

He showed a further interest in Towa after seeing that Setsuna was among the living once more, believing she was the one to have used the broken Tenseiga. When they went to Mount Musubi, Kirinmaru decided to test them rather than personally fight them and when they answered his questions truthfully, he was pleased and allowed them to see and talk to Rion, not doing anything to stop them from acquiring the Kyūyōkon Root. He was even more impressed and amused when Towa challenged him to face her and the others any time he liked as they are not afraid of him.

It turns out that the reason why he allowed the girls to retrieve the Root was so that the Zanseiken would prepare a vessel for Rion to inhabit. Rion in turn was shocked to learn of what would happen to Towa.

As a quarter-demon, Kirinmaru considered her a threat to him and attempted to slay her, but was unable to when Inuyasha and Kagome sent her to safety. In the present, he seems to have abandoned his interest in killing her, as she did not yet know of his existence, whereas she knew of her grandfather's, indicating that he probably made no further attempt on her life.
 * Moroha

He only finally decided to kill her and her hanyō cousins once they kill Konton and force Tōtetsu to escape to his ship. Kirinmaru easily overpowered Moroha while mocking her for her lack of skill and casually shrugged off her Crimson Dragon Wave and even remained fully dominant as Moroha tapped into the full extent of her demonic blood, easily forcing her back to her normal form and battering her to exhaustion with a single attack after completely blocking her Blades of Blood while mocking her for not being conditioned to remain in that form for long, although he did praise her somewhat increase in strength she acquired when applying the blood of her paternal grandfather to her lips, showing her minor respect for her being the mighty Tōga's granddaughter. He seemed to scorn her for being unable to master her grandfather's power, stating she was only going berserk under its influence.

However, in their second battle, Moroha finally gained Kirinmaru's respect when she revealed her ability to use spiritual power and even more so when she achieved full mastery over the power of her blood and perfected her Crimson Dragon Wave, outright praising her for being able to use it to where even he cannot fully block it and acknowledging her as worthy of being called the Beniyasha.

Moroha penetrated the barrier at Mount Musubi and enabled Towa and Setsuna to enter as well. Kirinmaru tried to stop them. Rather than risk a battle with them, he put them to a test that they easily passed. He conceded and let them meet Rion and did not interfere when she gave them a Kyūyōkon Root.

Once snatching the Black Pearl from her to use as leverage to get her to bring him Akuru's pinwheel, he faced the furious quarter-demon a third time as she evolved into her new-and-improved Beniyasha form and challenged him to a duel. He showed respect and acknowledgement towards not only her increased abilities but also her courage, acknowledging her as a worthy opponent.

He expressed fear when she had supercharged stronger spiritual power into her arrow with assistance from her recently received longbow and instinctively dodged it. He immediately berated himself for resorting such cowardly tactics, and still remained capable of overcoming her even with her family helping her, no longer hesitating to kill her.


 * Osamu Kirin

As with Riku, he has a strong telepathic connection with Towa's homeroom teacher, his second incarnation born of the rogue beast king's right arm and hand as it transcended five centuries of eras in the Bone-Eater's Well's time-traveling properties. Through his eyes alone, he is able see just how far mere humans have come as the dominant species on Earth ever since the mysterious extinction of demons. This fuels his desire to go to the future and save humankind from its own nonexistence from both the Grim Comet and becoming fresh fodder to new generations of reemerging demons, which will also allow him to be worshipped and respected by them all.

Upon abducting his own daughter, Kirinmaru rushes in pursuit of the hanyō Princesses to follow them through the time doorway created by Towa using Akuru's pinwheel. Upon entering the rift in between space and time, he calls upon his additional incarnation to lead him to the modern era to carry out his dream.

Trivia

 * The Shikon Jewel prophesied that hanyōs would be Kirinmaru's downfall. Hence why he desired Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha's deaths along with Inuyasha. However, this may have lead to a "self-fulfilling prophecy" where Kirinmaru may have started the chain of events that leads to his doom, very similar to the Empress Dowager of China from The Twins of Destiny, and Lord Voldemort from the hit Harry Potter novels. All desired the destruction of their enemy as infants but were ultimately felled or destroyed by them as preteens or teenagers.
 * Kirinmaru's Japanese voice actor (Yoshimasa Hosoya) and English voice actor (Crispin Freeman) both voiced Osamu Kirin.
 * When Kirinmaru was connected to Osamu Kirin, given a name, that they saw a Grim Comet between two eras which it appeared in the Reiwa Era, as in Episode 23 that Kirinmaru states that the Grim Comet "does appear in that other era as well".
 * Kirinmaru is the first opponent to defeat all three hanyō Princesses with ease.
 * During his first battle with the three hanyō Princesses, he criticizes them for lacking mastery of their hearts or minds, skills or techniques and bodies (心, 技, 體) the three most important aspects of martial arts, implying he himself has fully mastered these aspects.
 * Kirinmaru has the Wind Blast in Episode 24 just like Tsubaki's, Ryūra's Fūjinga of the Shitōshin and the Wind Lion's.
 * Kirinmaru's personality, actions, and skills heavily contrast with that of the previous main antagonist Naraku:
 * Kirinmaru is a full-demon while Naraku was a hanyō.
 * Naraku saw himself as superior to all beings, human and demon alike, and especially despised hanyōs while Kirinmaru is at best apathetic to most beings. While he does hates humans and hanyōs, he still acknowledges the ones who gain his respect, such as the likes of Inuyasha, Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha.
 * Naraku was cowardly and preferred to trick and manipulate others to fight his battles for him whereas Kirinmaru would openly face his opponents in combat.
 * Whereas Naraku is a sadist who enjoys inflicting emotional pain on others, Kirinmaru seems to prefer granting swift and quick deaths to his enemies. The emotional pain that Kirinmaru causes others comes more out of a failure to account for collateral damage or consider the emotional well-being of those around him in his drive to fight the strongest foes he can.
 * Naraku would often take advantage when his enemies were weakened whereas Kirinmaru was insulted by this notion, preferring his enemies be at their strongest when he fights them as seen when he orders Riku to take medicinal herbs to his arch-rival Tōga.
 * Whereas Naraku sought the Shikon Jewel and its power for himself Kirinmaru gave the Rainbow Pearls he had to his lieutenants and seemingly had no desire to retrieve the ones that were taken or the ones in possession of Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha.
 * Naraku would often bring the fight to Inuyasha and his friends through allies, people he had tricked, or his incarnations, whereas Kirinmaru only acted when provoked such as when he was told the prophecy of his death or when the hanyō Princesses were close to his ship. His lieutenants battled against the hanyō Princesses on their own initiative, not under orders to kill them from above.
 * Those under Naraku’s command were often incarnations whose hearts he removed and threatened with death to ensure their obedience while the demons under Kirinmaru’s command are completely loyal to him with the exception of Kyūki. While Naraku never cared about the lives of his incarnations and was willing to threaten and abuse them and would kill them if they failed or tried to betray him, Kirinmaru is apathetic towards his subordinates but he does at least acknowledge that anyone who serves under him must be a powerful warrior and while not above disciplining them himself, he was never shown to outright abuse his followers.
 * Naraku would seldom resort to physical combat, relying on his barrier to protect him and his miasma to kill his foes. Kirinmaru not only fights directly in combat but lives to give his all against worthy foes.
 * While Naraku would flee from battle if the tables were turned Kirinmaru would stand, fight and fall even when fighting opponents stronger than himself, like Tōga and Sesshōmaru.
 * According to the May 2021 Animage issue, Kirinmaru is not from Japan.
 * Kirinmaru is the only other being so far besides Naraku that seems to be capable of creating incarnations--demons spawned from the flesh or body parts of other demons or hanyōs. However, while Naraku produced a number of incarnations to help him with his goals, Kirinmaru only produced two known incarnations, Riku and Osamu Kirin, from the body parts he had lost during his duel with Tōga.
 * The question he asked Towa and Setsuna was identical to what Tōga asked Sesshōmaru before they parted ways for the last time.
 * Kirinmaru has the necromancy abilities to raise the dead by infusing their very essence within a false body, similar to Urasue.