Tarōmaru

is the son of a village headman who needed help from Inuyasha's crew after his friend Suekichi takes the place as a sacrifice of its water god.

History
Tarōmaru's village had been plagued by severe floods that were caused by a yōkai posing as their Water God. He demanded that the children of his village were to be sacrificed to him to cease the floods. The child would be chose when a white arrow landed on roof of their home. When the arrow landed on Tarōmaru's house, his father told him to hide and had his friend Suekichi pose as him to be sacrificed instead.

When Inuyasha and his friends discovered that the village was sacrificing their children to the Water God, they offered to aid them in their time of need. The headman of the village refused their offer under the pretence that he did not trust them, but it was actually to hid the fact that replaced his son with Suekichi to be sacrificed. Tarōmaru soon came out of hiding to asked Inuyasha and the others to save Suekitchi. He presented them with many valuable items as payment for their services. He immediately proclaimed they they now worked for him. This caused Inuyasha to hit him on the head multiples times for his arrogant statements. Tarōmaru lead Inuyasha and the others to a bunch of reeds near the lake in order to spy on the boat that would take the human sacrifice to the Shrine of the Water God, but they were too focused on wether the goods he provided them as payment were stolen or not (much to his annoyance). They began asking his who's child he was. He refused to tell them anything, but they quickly realized that he was the real son of the Headman due to their similar physical traits and personalities. Tarōmaru explained how the sacrifices took place in the village and the circumstances that lead him to be replaced as one.

They soon reached this shrine by boat. They came across two shrine guards. They were quickly subdued, however, by Inuyasha and he then broke down the shrine door to get in. Tarōmaru was immediately impressed with Inuyasha's strength. When Suekitchi arrived at the shrine of the Water God, he realized that he was not the son of the village headman due to the poor condition of his hands. Suekitchu begged him to be the chosen sacrifice instead of Tarōmaru. The fake Water God grabbed Suekitchi by his face, and promised to send him back to the village in pieces during the next flood. Inuyasha and the others arrived in time to save him. The fake Water God immedialty recogned Tarōmaru as the real chosen sacrifice despite his dirty appearance. Tarōmaru offered to fulfill his role as the chosen sacrifice to save Suekitchi, but was stopped By Inuyasha. He used the Trident of Amakoi to transport them underneath the lake outside the shrine. He transported Suekichi, Tarōmaru, Shippō, and Kaome back to his shrine chambers. He was prepared to eat Tarōmaru. Suekichi tried to hit him with a lamp, but was subdued by his elongated arms. Kagome fired her sacred arrow to rescue him. They escaped the shrine and hid in a shed nearby. The fake Water God destroyed the shed, and was about the kill them when Inuyasha arrived to save him.

Miroku and Sango were able to rescue the real Water Goddess and met up with the others. Inuyasha and Sango the fought the Fake Water God. Then used the Trident of Amakoi the create a group of twisters that would soon reach the villag and destroy it. The Water Goddess claimed that she could easily stop the twisters. Tarōmaru demanded that she do so, but she claimed she could only do it one she had her trident back. Inuyasha managed to take back the trident and threw it towars the Water Goddess, but it fell in the lake after it was intercepted by the fake Water God's tail. Tarōmaru jumped into the late to retrieve it, but he was flung by the fake Water God. Inuyasha dove in to slice the fake Water God with Tessaiga. It was then sucked in by Miroku's Kazaana. Inuyasha then immediately Tarōmaru trident from the lake. The Water Goddess regained her powers after she obtained the trident. She was able to stopp the twisters and return everything in the lake to normal.

Tarōmaru and Suekichi returned to the village. They looked of at the distance as they were grateful for what Inuyasha and the others did for them and their village. Tarōmaru decided to grow up to be as a brave man just like Inuyasha.

Personality
Tarōmaru is shown to have a lot of arrogance like his father. Despite that, he cares greatly for his friend Suekichi. He is willing to sacrifice himself to save him. After witnessing the feats of heroism of Inuyasha and his friends, he aspires to become a great person like them when he grows up.

Manga vs. Anime

 * In the manga, Tarōmaru states that Suikichi is the son of one of his father's servants. In the anime, Tarōmaru simply states that he and Suikichi grew up together

Media appearances
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Manga

 * Chapter 95
 * Chapter 96
 * Chapter 97
 * Chapter 98
 * Chapter 99
 * Chapter 100

Anime
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 * Episode 27

Tarōmaru Taromaru 太郎丸