Byakko

Byakko is a tiger demon who worked under Hoshiyomi to recover the Naginata of Kenkon. Byakko and the other ninjas were eventually killed by Miroku's Kazaana. When he first appeared, he called himself Byakko of the snow.

Appearance
Byakko wears a black shinobi shozoku with a mask before his transformation. He has pale grayish skin, cat-like yellow eyes, tiger-like barbed eyebrows, and pointed ears. He has a noticeably gaunt face, with two of his lowerfangs protruding out of his mouth. After his transformation, the only clothing he wears is a blue-green loincloth, blue shoulder pads, shin guards, and arm guards with one spike on each of them. He has very long, wild-looking blue hair with a dark gray V-shaped headband with three small golden V's on the forehead, and has a tail which looks like it belongs to a white tiger. He also gains black stripes on his body. He has three on each bicep, around his ribs, and around each thigh.

Abilities

 * Shuriken: Byakko had used a shuriken to try to prevent Inuyasha from escaping.
 * Enhanced speed: Byakko moves so quickly that he appears as a shadow while he's running.
 * Demon Ninja Doppleganger Technique: Using their enhanced speed, the ninjas can create shadow-like dopplegangers of themselves. This was seen when they first appeared and began circling Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha.
 * Demon Ninja Darkness Puppets: All the ninjas also have the ability to create an illusion of a person and manipulate it. They created illusions of Kagome's friends from the modern era to try to trick Akitoki into handing over the Ken blade and transporting it, as they couldn't do it themselves. Genbu created and controlled the puppets themselves, while Byakko, Seiryu, and Suzaku indirectly controlled the puppets' dialogue.
 * Transformation: Byakko had changed his appearance in his fight with Miroku. In this form, he has long, light blue hair, a tail, and stripes on various parts of his body.
 * Claws: Byakko has long, sharp claws that he uses for shredding his opponets. He used them on Miroku, and left an X-shaped wound on his back. Although he's always had claws, he didn't use them until he began to fight Miroku.
 * Tiger Fang Attack: Byakko bites his opponents, which renders them paralyzed. He used this on Miroku to prevent him from using his Kazaana.

Personality
Byakko appears to be patient, and almost has a calculating air. This is shown after Seiryu starts getting impatient to kill Kagome and Akitoki and get the blade, and ends up having to remind him that they can't touch the blade, and will have to wait for Hoshiyomi. He also told Genbu to calm down after he got angry at Suzaku again. Unlike Genbu, he doesn't seem to care about Suzaku's attitude. The only time Byakko showed irritation was when Suzaku made Genbu lose his concentration when manipulating the shadow puppets, causing their cover to be blown.

Quotes

 * "Can you not sense it? The aura emanating from the blade is so strong, that we wouldn't be able to control it, let alone hold it."
 * "This is ridiculous."
 * "I'll take you on, monk."
 * "Concerned about that woman? I wouldn't worry; you shall be reunited with her in the netherworld."
 * "Monk, I don't know what it is you're trying to do, but you can't move a muscle now."

Trivia

 * Hoshiyomi's four Ninja underlings are representations of the four Mythical Creatures of Chinese Culture: Dragon, Tiger, Phoenix, and Turtle. The shitoshin (Four war gods) of Horai Island also share this likeness in their appearance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Symbols_(Chinese_constellation).


 * Also, the same four names are used for The Four Beasts, who were villains in the first season of the anime Yu Yu Hakusho.


 * Byakko's voice actor, Michael Kopsa, also voiced Goshinki.