Ginkotsu

was a member of the Shichinintai. Most of his body was mechanical; it was built and maintained by his best friend Renkotsu. After his body was damaged during his fight with Inuyasha, Renkotsu rebuilt his tank body with a whole new variety of weapons, making Ginkotsu a walking arsenal.

History
The Shichinintai took a job for a lord, only to be betrayed and forced into the snowy mountains in the north. They were soon captured and executed. Fifteen years later, Ginkotsu and the other Shichinintai members were revived when Naraku gave the leader Bankotsu seven Sacred Jewel shards.

During the story
A monk and his apprentice were walking through the forest, when they spotted a strange light. Ginkotsu appeared from behind a waterfall and scared them away after destroying a bridge with his saws.

Inuyasha took his friends to safety when they were suddenly attacked by flying saws. He chose to flee instead of risking his friends' safety, and entered the forest, but Ginkotsu shot into the sky and a barrage of bombs burned much of it. Inuyasha left Kagome, Miroku and Sango in a cave, along with Shippō and Kirara to care for them, while he faced Ginkotsu. Inuyasha was guided by the glow of metal, but it was a trick to gain time for Ginkotsu to attack the rest of Inuyasha’s group. Ginkotsu faced Kirara, who was trapped by his arm-chain and injured. Inuyasha returned and fought Ginkotsu, who revealed that his friends had only until the sunset until they would die of Mukotsu’s poison. Inuyasha ordered Shippō and Kirara to take the others to safety.

Inuyasha started to fight Ginkotsu again and Tessaiga was caught in Ginkotsu's steel threads. Inuyasha changed Tessaiga back to its katana form and proceeded to attack Ginkotsu at close range and without interference from the wires. Ginkotsu launched a barrage of weapons, but Inuyasha was able to dodge them and attacked from above with the Kaze no Kizu.

Ginkotsu survived the battle and was roused by Myōga who, on his raven, was tracking down Inuyasha’s group. Ginkotsu headed toward the temple that Renkotsu had taken over after killing the monks there. Renkotsu was attempting to extract information about Naraku from Inuyasha when Ginkotsu interrupted him. He attacked Inuyasha with arrows that contained metallic threads, however Inuyasha cut his metal arm and was released from the bondage of the threads.

Renkotsu then revealed himself to Inuyasha, explaining that he burned the temple and stole Kagome’s jewel shards. Inuyasha tried to defeat Renkotsu with his sword, but was stopped by Ginkotsu’s axe-chain, then attacked by the two of them together. Ginkotsu prepared to drill Inuyasha as he was being burned by Renkotsu's threads. Inuyasha threw his sword at Ginkotsu, who was holding the drill with the chain. Both of them were confident that Inuyasha was helpless and let down their guard. Inuyasha managed to escape and regained his sword. He used the Kaze no Kizu to heavily damage Ginkotsu, ignoring Renkotsu to go rescue his group. Some saimyōshō flew in to take what remained of Ginkotsu away from the temple.

Jakotsu and Renkotsu were seen in a cave that Renkotsu used as a forge for making his weapons, where Renkotsu was building a new body for Ginkotsu.

Ginkotsu arrived with Jakotsu and Renkotsu, in his new tank body. The three of them attacked the village where their comrade Suikotsu was residing, in order to retrieve him. Unfortunately for them, he had taken on the persona of the kind man "Dr. Suikotsu", who was being investigated by Kikyō because of his untainted Shikon Jewel shard. Kikyō attacked Ginkotsu, after which he fired at her with his double-barrel cannon. After the awakened evil Suikotsu tries to kill the orphans Yūta and Chiyo, Ginkotsu attacked Kikyō, who was lying on the ground, but with the help of Miroku and Kirara, she was rescued. The mercenaries took advantage of this distraction and fled with Suikotsu (who turned back to his evil persona) to Mount Hakurei so that purifying barrier would prevent Inuyasha from following them.

They then met up with Bankotsu and attacked a castle to recover Banryū, killing the landlord, guards and the samurai general of the castle, who was responsible for their initial execution. The ruins of the castle soon became the site of a battle between Inuyasha’s group, along with Kōga, against the Shichinintai. Renkotsu used Ginkotsu's cannons to fire on Inuyasha's friends while Bankotsu was fighting him. They all managed to dodge the attack and proceeded to battle a member of the Shichinintai each, with Ginkotsu fighting against Kirara. Inuyasha used the Kaze no Kizu against Bankotsu, but was partially stopped when Ginkotsu used his metallic threads, preventing Inuyasha from killing his leader. The saimyōshō appeared afterwards and messaged the Shichinintai that they were ordered to withdraw. They retreated to Mount Hakurei and were greeted by Kohaku and Kanna. The Shichinintai were ordered to kill Sesshōmaru, as well. It was then that Bankotsu forced Renkotsu to surrender the Shikon Jewel shards that he stole from Kagome while she was poisoned. He used them to strengthen Banryū.

The members of the Shichinintai split up in order to take on all Naraku's enemies at once. Ginkotsu and Renkotsu were at Mount Hakurei, where Kōga, who was looking for an opening in the barrier, was also located. Taking advantage of the barrier making them invisible, Ginkotsu and Renkotsu fought Kōga and his companions Ginta and Hakkaku. Kōga's legs were injured by one of Ginkotsu's cannon shots. Ginkotsu and Renkotsu were protected by the mountain's barrier, but Kōga stuck Renkotsu’s armor into one of Ginkotsu’s cannons, destroying his cannon when he tried to fire again. Ginkotsu then activated and fired all of his weapons at Kōga, but the wolf yōkai managed to dodge all of his attacks. Ginkotsu launched his upper body from his tank and attacked Kōga by binding him with wires and with a shot of fire, but then Kōga caught him and threw him to the ground. In order to protect Renkotsu, Ginkotsu self-destructed, killing himself and severely injured Kōga. Renkotsu kept Ginkotsu's shard to heal his own wounds and escaped.

Personality
Like all members of the Shichinintai, Ginkotsu enjoys killing. His favorite way of killing people involves blowing them to bits. He is shown to be merciless going after Inuyasha and his friends, who had recently been exposed to Mukotsu's poison. Ginkotsu seldom talks; he usually just grunts. Ginkotsu is shown to be very loyal to Bankotsu. Out of all the members of the Shichinintai, Ginkotsu seems to be most fond of Renkotsu, and will attack anyone who dares hurt him. It is probably due to the fact that Renkotsu apparently has single-handedly taken care of Ginkotsu from the beginning, treating his injuries and building his mechanized body-parts, so that he may live and fight on. Ginkotsu cares for Renkotsu to the point that when he was injured by Kōga during their confrontation on Mount Hakurei, he sacrificed his shard of Shikon no Tama, which was sustaining his own life, without a second thought, to protect Renkotsu from his final attack.

Physical description
Ginkotsu appears as a tall, powerfully-built, middle-aged man with red hair. His physicality has both organic and biomechatronic elements. A metal plate is covering his right eye, indicating a previous injury. He left eye has a blue marking around it. In place of his ears are two small, yellow cornucopias. There are three metallic spikes on each of his shoulders. He also possesses a metal jaw and samurai armor, with several metal and machined weapons attached to it, as well as a large metal drill, which is stored inside his chest. His entirely robotic left arm consists of a sharp grappling claw and both of his legs also appear to be robotic. He also carries a short uchigatana sword, which is fastened to his left flank.

Powers & Abilities
Ginkotsu has a host of weapons he is able to use, most of which are projectile. After his body was reconstructed into more of a tank-like vehicle, he was the primary mode of transport for the Shichinintai.

Weapons
Original Body:


 * Ginkotsu's new reinforced tank-type body has an armored platform and controls on the top-back, which is used to hold other Shichinintai members and to have Renkotsu help aim at targets.
 * Spider Legs & Saw Wheels: Ginkotsu has five of these on the front-half of his body that dig into the ground to crush immobile/slow targets beneath a large set of saw-like tank wheels. Both are used to help him climb steeper slopes. He also has two in the back to help keep him still.
 * Top Cannons: In his new body, he has two large cannons behind/above him. They can fire either basic explosive cannonballs, or mortar-shells that release a large number of shrapnel-projectiles to destroy a large area. Unlike the original projectiles, these exploded instantly when they hit the ground.
 * Rotating Body: The lower-half of his body is able to rotate 360º for sharp turns and keeping the enemy at a distance.
 * Bottom Cannons: Four telescopic cannons above his 'legs', which are usually hidden in his lower body.
 * Side Cannons: Twelve cannons, six on each side, which are usually hidden in his lower-body horizontally. When they are released, they become vertical.
 * Middle Cannons: Fifteen cannons that are hidden between his upper/back and lower/middle body that are behind his head.
 * Bomb Launchers: Twelve bomb launchers that are located in the back of his platform.
 * Rocket: The upper half of his body is able to separate from the rest and fly around like a rocket.
 * Wire-Rings: Ginkotsu's upper body can shoot two wires with steel rings an the ends from his shoulders to bind his target.
 * Flamethrower: Ginkotsu has a flame thrower on the left side of his upper body.
 * Self-Destruction: Ginkotsu's final resort is a suicide bomb, rigged in the top half of his body, which is activated by 'releasing' his mouth-guard. When activated, it results in a massive explosion with a huge area-of-effect radius, severely damaging everything within it. He eventually uses it, thus sacrificing his own life, in order to protect Renkotsu from being killed by Kōga.

Manga vs. Anime

 * Ginkotsu's appearance in the anime and manga have a number of differences.  For example, his original anime body has three long spikes per shoulder, while in the manga, he has more numerous, shorter spikes. His robotic arm is also much sturdier looking in the manga.
 * In the manga, Ginkotsu is seen carrying a when he is first introduced.
 * The scene in Episode 105 when Ginkotsu scares off Shōji and his master is not in the manga.
 * In the manga, Ginkotsu launches his saws through the forest, instead of across the lake. Furthermore, Ginkotsu does not bomb the forest in order to force Inuyasha out of hiding due to them not hiding in a cave after his first attack.
 * The scene in Episode 107 with Ginkotsu in Renkotsu's forge after his body is destroyed is not in the manga.
 * The scene in Episode 110 when Bankotsu retrieves a butterfly for Ginkotsu after he was under the impression that Ginkotsu wants to eat it is not in the manga.
 * The manner in which Ginkotsu dies is slightly different in the manga than in the anime. In the manga, Ginkotsu is destroyed when Kōga stuffs armor in his cannons, which causes them to backfire and blow his mechanical body to pieces. However, in the anime, the same thing happens, but Ginkotsu survives the explosion. He later then self-destructs to protect Renkotsu after Kōga hurts him and after all of his other attacks fail to work. Also, he gives Renkotsu his jewel shard to defend him with a barrier.

Trivia

 * The mark on Ginkotsu's face means "Protection".
 * Ginkotsu's Theme-Music from the Theme-Music from the InuYasha Official Soundtrack, Vol. 3 is entitled.
 * Ginkotsu is one of the few characters in the series to possess cannons and gunpowder, which are western weapons and had only just been introduced in the feudal era.
 * Ginkotsu's hair is presumably fake, due to its unnatural color and to the fact that it does not disintegrate following his death in the manga.

Media appearances
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Manga

 * Chapter 240
 * Chapter 241
 * Chapter 242
 * Chapter 243
 * Chapter 244
 * Chapter 245
 * Chapter 246
 * Chapter 247
 * Chapter 248
 * Chapter 249
 * Chapter 250
 * Chapter 251
 * Chapter 252
 * Chapter 253
 * Chapter 254
 * Chapter 258
 * Chapter 259
 * Chapter 260
 * Chapter 264
 * Chapter 265
 * Chapter 276

Anime
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 * Episode 103
 * Episode 104
 * Episode 105
 * Episode 106
 * Episode 107
 * Episode 108
 * Episode 109
 * Episode 110
 * Episode 111
 * Episode 112
 * Episode 114
 * Episode 116
 * Episode 117
 * Episode 120
 * Episode 121
 * Episode 122
 * Episode 123
 * Episode 163