Sesshōmaru

Sesshōmaru, feared throughout the world also known as "Lord Sesshōmaru, Demon Lord of the Western Lands", is Inuyasha's half-brother and the successor to the Great Dog Demon. Unlike many other demons, he has no interest in possessing even one shard of the Jewel of Four Souls to enhance his powers, since he is already supremely confident of his own strength and he only relies on his sword to aid him. Accompaning him is a young human girl named Rin, and a demon by the name Jaken. After Naraku attempts to manipulate him by using Rin as a hostage, Sesshomaru becomes determined to destroy Naraku.

Appearance
His garments and armor have a decidedly mainland influence, including his waist sash and pointed boots. Sesshōmaru has a Purple crescent moon on his forehead. He also has two red markings on each cheek and on the sides of his wrists as well as one red stripe on each of his eye lids. His eyes are golden yellow like his half-brother InuYasha. By default this is Sesshōmaru's preferred form. Sesshōmaru's armor includes a spiked pauldron that covers his left shoulder attached to the upper section of his cuirass. When damaged, his armor automatically regenerates itself using youki. Both his armor and his long flowing sash have a decided "Mainland" influence, as opposed to the customary Japanese armor and Obi. His Kimono is mostly white with a red honeycomb and flower crest at the collar and sleeves. He wears Sashinuki Hakama, which are gathered at the ankles producing the "ballooning" effect. His footwear consists of flat pointed ankle-high boots. In the colored manga, the markings on his face and the flower pattern on his kimono are a purple-blue colour, however, these features are red in the anime.

His true form is that of a giant white dog with markings similar to those he has in his human form.

Several times during the anime and manga when he becomes furious or badly injured his features can be observed shifting slightly into resembling his true form. At that time, the whites of his eyes become red and the pupils and irises purple.

The features and markings on his face begin to elongate and become fierce in detail. In the anime, a reddish pink vapor swirls around him to signal his transformation. In this form, he displays white fur and long ears. The moko-sama "worn" around his neck becomes part of his fur as a large, billowing collection of fur. Also, he is often seen snarling whilst drooling highly acidic saliva. He has taken on this form at least almost twice during the anime, the second time being when he was ambushed by a band of priests and shows off a burst of transformation to ward off a purifying incantation. In the manga however, he has taken on this form full 3 times. The second time is when he encounters his unnamed mother and the last time is when he battles Magatsuhi in order to overwhelm him.

Personality
A very powerful demon lord (daiyōkai, literally great yōkai); Sesshōmaru often appears aloof and indifferent, and rarely shows any emotions other than slight annoyance or dissatisfaction. He thinks highly of himself and is cruel to others, though he is protective of his minions. He cares very little for others, and thinks that humans, while at times amusing, are merely mortal and ultimately expendable. He believes that struggle is the only way for survival. He especially shows great hate in InuYasha, his half-human/half-demon (hanyou) half-brother, who wields the powerful Tetsusaiga (pronounced tes-sai-ga), a sword made from one of their father's fangs that can kill 100 yōkai in one strike. Their father was unfair to Sesshomaru because he wields the weak Tensaiga while InuYasha wields Tetsusaiga. He was also angry when InuYasha as an infant and his human mother Izayoi were the reason for their father's death. Although as the series progresses and he abandons his desire for Tetsusaiga, he gradually start showing less anger and a willingness to fight side-by-side, and even at time seemingly concern for Inuyasha (he refused to use Bakusaiga on Inuyasha when even Magatsuhi noted it was the obvious choice to make and in the 3rd movie it is hinted that he actually does care about Inuyasha but refuses to admit it when he is protecting him from the Sounga's Dragon Twister.

Although Sesshōmaru maintains a cool, uncaring, at times even heartless, exterior, the presence of Rin at his heels is proof of his growing compassion. He not only tolerates a human, but also acts in an extremely protective manner towards her and rushes to her aid when she gets in trouble. Naraku later had Kagura kidnap Rin as a get-away plan in his attempt to absorb the body and the full yōkai power of Sesshōmaru. Naraku's plan failed, Sesshōmaru ended up being very angry and wanted to go after Naraku, who was trying to escape, but upon hearing that Rin was in danger, Sesshōmaru let him go and came to the aid of Rin. Subsequently, he decided to kill Naraku as well. At this point, Sesshōmaru largely becomes more of an ally than an enemy.

His growing compassion prompts the master sword-smith Totosai to reforge Tenseiga, enabling the Meidō Zangetsuha attack. After Naraku attempt to manipulate him by using Rin as a hostage, Sesshōmaru becomes determined to destroy Naraku.

Biography
Sesshomaru began his quest for the Tetsusaiga by searching for the place that a short poem indicated it would be. Sesshomaru had inherited Tetsusaiga's counterpart called Tenseiga from his father, which he deemed worthless because it could not hurt his enemies. Sesshomaru desired the far more powerful Tetsusaiga, which could kill a hundred demons in a single sweep. Sesshomaru's father was a very wise and a great dog demon lord, who had fallen in love with a human woman and had a child with her named Inuyasha. Sesshomaru's father kept Tetsusaiga a secret for a long time to prevent it from being misused by demons or people without compassion, and casted a barrier around the sword so that a full-blooded yōkai or one without compassion for humans cannot hold or wield Tetsusaiga, which Sesshomaru's younger half brother Inuyasha could wield. However, even knowing that he cannot touch the sword, Sesshomaru initially desired to take it from InuYasha, as he felt it rightfully belonged to him and not his hanyō (half-demon) sibling. For this reason he fought with InuYasha in their father's burial grounds and by chance, InuYasha transformed the blade for the first time and severed Sesshomaru's left arm. Sesshomaru fixed the problem of not being able to wield Tetsusaiga by using a non-demon arm in place of his severed one. However, after he obtained a powerful sword called Tokijin, he seems to have lost interest in the Tetsusaiga.

Sesshomaru is followed by his minion, a kappa yōkai named Jaken, and later by an abused human orphan named Rin who had found him injured in the forest after he'd fought Inuyasha, and attempted to nurse him back to health. After healing, Sesshomaru found Rin in the forest, where she had been killed by wolves, and realized Tenseiga's true power, which was ressurrection. Sesshomaru used Tenseiga to ressurrect Rin, for unclear reasons. Even though Sesshomaru stated that he ressurected Rin to simply test Tenseiga's power, his antagonistic demeanor is seen to almost immediately begin to diminish as Rin accompanies him. Along with Rin and Jaken, Sesshomaru is also accompanied by a two-headed dragon named Ah-Un (阿吽), who mostly provides Rin with protection and long-distance transportation.

Although Sesshomaru maintains a stern, and at times even heartless exterior, his companionship with Rin is proof of his growing compassion. He not only tolerates a human, but also acts in an extremely protective manner towards her and rushes to her aid when she gets in trouble. Naraku later had Kagura kidnap Rin as a get-away plan in his attempt to absorb the body and the full yōkai power of Sesshomaru. Naraku's plan failed as Inuyasha showed up to join the fight, the two brothers attacked Naraku, injuring him severely. Naraku prepared to escape, and Sesshomaru was intent on transforming an pursuing him, but upon hearing from Naraku that he was going to have Rin killed, Sesshomaru opted to rush to Rin's aid, and Naraku escaped. After rescuing Rin, he subsequently decided to do everything he could to kill Naraku. At this point, Sesshomaru's status becomes that of an anti-hero instead of an enemy to Inuyasha and friends, both parties placing aside their differences to oppose the greater threat.

On his way to Mount Hakurei, Sesshomaru saves Kagome, Miroku and Sango from the poison user Mukotsu, one of the Shichinintai, however when confronted with the fact, he merely says, "I only killed someone who got in my way."

It is stated that around this time that Sesshoumaru's reasons for going after Naraku so feircely and helping his brother's group were because Naraku insulted his honor when he kidnapped Rin and then insulted him by openly stating that Sesshoumaru had come to his castle merely to protect a human. (However when it came down to deciding if he would transform and chase after Naraku or if he would go to Rin's side when she was in danger, he chose to go and save Rin.

Rin: "So all this... is because of me?"

Jaken: "Don't be so arrogant! Sesshoumaru-sama's honor was insulted when that Naraku kidnapped you."

Later on in the same arc, Suikotsu holds Rin hostage yet again, while Sesshoumaru is battling Jakotsu, and Sesshoumaru is unable to defeat both foes on his own. It is only with Kikyou's assistance that Rin is saved from Suikotsu, thus insulting Sesshoumaru's honor further in having to accept help from a "mere woman".

Kagura, one of Naraku's incarnations, later betrays Naraku to obtain her freedom. She believes that only Sesshomaru can defeat him. In an attempt to escape from Naraku, she is caught and given her heart back, at a price. At the moment she heard her heart beat Naraku stabbed her and injected her with miasma. She flees to a nearby meadow, a petal reaches Sesshomaru in the midst of a battle with Moryomaru. Smelling her blood and miasma he is infuriated and quickly concludes the quarrel. Then, he turns up in front of her. Sesshomaru tells Kagura that he picked up the scent of blood and miasma. Kagura replies, "I see, you thought I was Naraku. Are you disappointed that I'm not Naraku?" Sesshomaru replies to her, "I knew it was you." He reaches for Tenseiga but then realizes at that moment that she can't be saved. Kagura is happy she got to see Sesshomaru one last time. She looks up at him and smiles as she dies before him dissolving into the wind.

Tenseiga calls out to Totosai at that time and he states that the sword told him that Sesshoumaru's heart had felt never before felt compassion, and that meant Sesshoumaru was ready to learn how to weild Tenseiga as a weapon. In this way it was Kagura who taught Sesshoumaru how to have compassion, and thus to move beyond his own selfishness in caring for only those whose deaths would hurt him, personally.

When Sesshomaru learns how to perform Meidō Zangetsuha, he reflects on Kagura's death, and how Moryomaru told him that she died for nothing. He then thinks to himself, "I, Sesshomaru, will be the one to decide if she died for nothing," suggesting he now also wants to defeat Naraku for killing Kagura. The wind then blows, which Rin points out, and the group of three leave Totosai. This suggests that Kagura's spirit is watching over him.

In effort to strengthen his sword, Sesshomaru visits his mother in search of answers to make a complete Meido. He ventures into Hell after a demon from the underworld grabs Rin and Kohaku. Sesshomaru's Mother offers him a way out which he declines, this offends her. Sesshoumaru finds Rin in the grasp of the master of Hell. After he slays the demon he realizes Rin isn't reviving, and states that strengthening his sword isn't worth the price of Rin's life. Dead bodies in Hell surround them, and with his grief for Rin he uses Tenseiga to purify them. When he returns to the living world with Rin's body, his mother scolds him for thinking he was a god who could control life and death, and tells him Tenseiga can only revive the same person once, and tells him that when his heart wishes to save his "beloved life" (in referance to Rin), he must also at that moment feel both sadness and fear; this is what it means for him to have "a compassionate heart".

Sesshoumaru could only learn to understand the worth of a life and gain a truely compassionate heart when lost the life that was worth the most to him, and "a compassionate heart" is what is necessary for the one who weilds a destructive Tenseiga, which can dispatch enemies to the meidou.. Then his mother used the jewel around her neck to revive Rin, much to Sesshomaru's relief and happiness. (His mother asks Jaken if Sesshoumaru is happy when she revives Rin, and Jaken responds that it most likely he is "extremely so".)

Sesshomaru realizes his true potential as a greater demon after Tenseiga's fighting technique, Meidō Zangetsuha is given to InuYasha. Sesshomaru lets go of his obsession with Tetsusaiga in a battle with Magatsuhi, and regains not only his left arm, but his own sword, Bakusaiga.

He later uses this sword battling Naraku along with the Inutachi in the final standoff, aiding in the final destruction of the dark-hanyou as best he can.

Powers & Abilities

 * Strikes: Striking is a simple skill but is extremley powerful. He can injure- or even kill- an entire group of thieves using his claws.
 * Poison Claw: Sesshomaru's claws release deadly acid which can melt flesh. Sometimes he uses it like InuYasha uses his Sankon Tessō (Soul-Shattering Iron Claw or Iron Reaver Soul Stealer) attack, but he can also use it to spray venomous acid from his fingertips.
 * Whip of Light: In both anime and manga, Sesshomaru can generate a thin whip-like strand of energy from his fingertips that can slice through almost anything.
 * Dragon Strike: It is his signature move but it is mainly seen in the movies (three times in the third and twice in the fourth). Its strength is comparable, if not greater, to his brother's Bakuryūha (Backlash Wave). The Dragon Strike takes on the form of a dragon-like lighting by Sesshomaru waving his sword in the air and from there it takes form. He can also put in the ground which allows him break an enemy's barrier. Unlike the Wind Scar or Backlash Wave, however, this attack is born of Sesshomaru's own power rather than that of a sword, as he is seen using it with both the Tokijin and Tenseiga in the third movie. In the second episode of Inuyasha: The Final Act, Sesshomaru used the Dragon Strike on Mouryoumaru with the Tōkijin.
 * Flight: Ability to hover in the sky or generate a sparkling dust cloud to ride on.
 * Nullify Poison: Because he holds strong poison in his own body, he is able to nullify most poison attacks, as shown when he battles Mukotsu.
 * Nullify Demonic Aura: Sesshomaru can nullify demonic auras in an instant. All he has to do is touch the object that has been possessed, using his own demonic power to overcome the object.
 * Super Endurance: Sesshomaru is able to resist pain better than most demons.
 * Super Speed: Ability to move at blinding speed in short bursts, Sesshomaru can move faster than the eye can see, both on land and through the air. When he does this in the anime, he leaves behind a fast-moving blur and in some cases, after-images. He can also instantaneously close long distances without being detected by others.
 * Super Strength: Sesshomaru possesses physical strength far beyond that of a normal demon; he was able to easily lift InuYasha by the throat into the air with one hand in one of their earlier encounters. In addition, Sesshomaru was seen carrying the boulder-sized demon head of Goshinki in one hand with little to no effort. In the InuYasha profiles manga, Rumiko stated that Sesshomaru has Herculean strength, even with only one arm; his strength with only one arm is double that of InuYasha's full strength; InuYasha's strength allows him to lift a 9 to 10 ton boulder using one arm with little effort, so Sesshomaru would naturally be capable of lifting double that or far more with the same amount of effort.
 * Teleportation: He has the ability to morph into a ball of energy and move over great distances over a short amount of time.
 * Psionics: Though Sesshomaru's psionic capabilities have never been specifically quantified, he has demonstrated powerful feats of both telepathy and telekinesis in both the anime and manga. Examples of such being his ability to mentally levitate and flying skulls at InuYasha and Kagome in the 7th episode of the anime.
 * Daiyōkai: As the son of a great dog demon lord, naturally Sesshomaru is a far superior yōkai with heightened senses, intelligence and strength. Sesshomaru_Dog_form.jpg he appears to be an elf-eared human bearing splendid clothing and armour most of the time; he can transform into his true form at will, which is that of a gigantic acid-breathing flying canine with white fur (though he's only done this three times in the manga, and three times in the anime). This is his true form, he gets this ability from both his mother and father.
 * Immortality: Being a demon, Sesshomaru does not suffer from old age the way humans do. He appears to be a young man in his 20s. However, he has been around for over 200 years.
 * Healing Factor: Sesshomaru can heal faster then others but can not replace limbs as it is shown in the anime where he only has one arm because of Inuyasha cutting it off. Later on the anime, once Sesshomaru found the necessary strength to summon Bakusaiga, he gained the ability to regenerate. He not only regrew his lost arm but healed from severe wounds inflicted earlier.
 * Fur: The fur on his shoulder is actually his tail, and can stretch, giving him defense and some means of attack.

Tenseiga
Tenseiga (天生牙, "heavenly life fang" or "fang born out of heaven") is one of the Swords of Supreme Conquest, once held by Inu no Taishō; now in possession of Sesshōmaru. The sword has a special property in that it cannot harm any living beings, which is ironic for a sword. However its power lies in the fact that it can bring the recently dead back to life as well as healing the wounded. Tenseiga allows a powerful wielder to see and slay the beings from the underworld, as well as bringing up to 100 beings back to life in one swing. And it should be noted, that the Tenseiga has a mind of its own, as at various points, it has been seen talking to Sesshōmaru by telling him things like wishing to be drawn or giving him advice. It can restore the life of the dead by cutting the pale-bearers who take the souls of the dead, though it may only be done once for any one soul. The Tenseiga is able to cut beings that are not "of this world" and so it was able to cut Magatsuhi, the manifestation of the evil yōkai with whom Midoriko battles inside the Shikon jewel. The sword also acts on its own when his life is in serious danger, and grants Sesshōmaru access into the Netherworld through the Border of the Afterlife as Tenseiga isn't a sword of earth.


 * Dragon Strike When Sesshōmaru charges yoki into Tokijin or the Tenseiga and then releases, a massive amount of yoki in the form of blue arcs of lightning. In the fourth movie, the Sōryūha became stronger and manifested in the form of a blue dragon made of energy. Sōryūha is at first shown to be equal in power to the Bakuryūha but when Sesshōmaru channeled his anger into the Tenseiga to strengthen the attack further, it eventually overpowered the Bakuryūha.
 * Meidō Zangetsuha (冥道斬月波, "dark path of the dawn's moon blast") is a technique that creates a path that sends anyone who is hit with it directly to hell, killing them without actually harming them. The technique originally belonged to Shishinki, one of Inu no Taishō's past enemies. He stole the technique from him and had it in the Tetusaiga. However, he thought it was too dangerous for InuYasha (since he planned to pass the Tetusaiga on to him), so he cast it off to Tenseiga, because he knew Sesshōmaru would be able to master it, and to give him the power to protect, not just to kill. The Meidō Zangetsuha creates a massive black circle that will send a entire body into hell, leaving no trace left behind. However, when Sesshōmaru was first learning to use the technique, the Meidō will take the form of a black cresent moon that only sent a part of a person into hell along with their soul; stronger opponents may be uneffected by the cresent Meidou. As Sesshōmaru gained strength, the Meidō grew until it became a perfect circle. Though when this technique was returned to the Tetusaiga, Inuyasha had to master it in his own way which eventually was many different Meidos in the shape of a blade.

Tokijin
Tokijin was a sword forged by Kaijimbo form the fangs of Goshinki upon Sesshomaru's request. Originally Tokijin fired needle kenatsu that cut through the enemy without actually touching them. Sesshomaru developed a stronger kenatsu that release a powerfull energy wave made of yoki, this attack is similar to the kaze no kizu. He can also channel a large amount of his yoki into the tokijin in order to releas the soryuuha wich rivals the bakuryuha. Because tokijin was forged from an Oni fang it limits the amount of yoki Sesshomaru can release. The sword was destroyed in his battle with Moryomaru. Sesshomaru refused to reforge Tokijin stating that it has not enough power to defeat him and instead finds a replacement sword.

Bakusaiga
Bakusaiga was created from Sesshōmaru's own body, once he abandoned his lust for Tetsusaiga. The Bakusaiga came from Sesshōmaru's body attached to his finally regenerated arm. It is nearly unique in that it is one of two yōkai swords in the InuYasha universe not forged from a yōkai's fang. It is Sesshōmaru's final signature sword. Its power and ability is a powerful energy wave capable of annihilating thousands of demons with one strike. The relentless nature of the energy wave results in a widespread chain of destruction that reduces anything caught in its wake to crumbling remains, to where the destructive effect persists and transfer to anything said remains come into contact with, destroying them in return. It is with this weapon that Sesshomaru was able to deal a decisive blow to Naraku, destroying all but his head.

Tetsusaiga
Tetsusaiga is a sword once wielded by Sesshomaru and Inuyasha's father. Although it now belongs to Inuyasha, Sesshomaru has the ability to wield the Tetsusaiga at times. If he connects a human's arm to himself he can control Tetsusaiga with ease. Because of his excellent sense of smell, which is more acute than Inuyasha's, he was able to detect the boundaries of demonic aura correctly and release an extremley strong Wind Scar. When Sesshomaru tries to wield Tetsusaiga, and does not have a human arm, he is strong enough to withstand the barrier for a short amount of time, and even perform the Wind Scar.

Equipment

 * Staff of two Heads: This can locate his father's grave, fire streams of flame and generate floods of water. The staff is usually held by his assistant Jaken. It features an old man's and a woman's head. They can speak when the staff is used.When attempting to find his father's grave, if the woman cried, that meant he had to keep searching. If the old man laughed, that meant he had found the grave.


 * Mokomoko: The Mokomoko, the odd pelt which is slung/wrapped around Lord Sesshomaru's shoulder constantly is actually his tail. It should be noted though, that the Mokomoko can be removed as one whole piece while Lord Sesshomaru assumes his humanoid form (as displayed during his initial encounter with Rin where he rested on it). As it is part of him, the Mokomoko can bleed if pierced or cut, and he can also use it offensively to wrap around enemies (this is a function rarely used however). Upon transforming, the Mokomoko can still be seen as a massive mane-like wrap of fur going across his body.

Quotes

 * "Just because you have Tetusaiga, it doesn't mean a low-life like you can master it."
 * "All that for a memory and a dead mortal girl? If I'd have known that's what it would have taken for you to fight, I would have killed her sooner."
 * "You're truly stupid, aren't you? You know, you could just hide and run away...For you, the image of that wouldn't be disgraceful. Because, after all, your living soul in itself is already the pinnacle of disgrace."
 * "You haven't even released the full power of the Tetusaiga. Watch as I destroy 100 demons with one blow."
 * "Well, Totosai... don't you think it's a pity for Tetusaiga? All Inuyasha can do is wave about a sword with all his strength... it's the same whether it's a famous sword or a log." 
 * "Do you think you can escape from me?"
 * "Draw it, Inuyasha. I shall at least allow you a token resistance."
 * "You and I are simply not in the same class."
 * "You came to die with him? How sweet."
 * "It was Naraku who killed Kikyo. And... it was you, Inuyasha, who could not save her."
 * "What's there to be so happy about? All I did was ask about her."
 * "Your primitive concoction's are no match for my supriure powers"
 * "We will discuss your intentions later. If you're still alive that is."
 * "To fend off that kid's weapon...Inuyasha, I didn't know you thought so well of me."
 * "You now are not a perfect demon. In the end, you're nothing but a Half-demon."
 * "I'll kill him eventually...but at the moment...for someone who doesn't realize anything at all, killing him has no value."

Trivia

 * The kanji of "Sesshō" means "killing or destruction.". The suffix "Maru" is usually a suffix that is often added at the end of a Japanese name for young males in samurai families. They would use this name until they were recognized as adults, whereupon they would adopt a new name. However, it is said that "maru" can also translate as the word for "circle or perfection", which is a common Japanese motiff for what in the West is called "the circle of life." It is revealed in one of Rumiko Takahashi's InuYasha Guides that his name means "killing perfection," which best describes his usual personality.
 * Many fans have nicknamed Sesshomaru "Fluffy," referring to the white fluff on his shoulder.
 * Another name given to him by fans is "Sesshy," a shorter version of his name.
 * He makes an appearance as a concept art in the front pages of Chapter 9, before he was introduced as a character.
 * Sesshomaru started out as an antagonist, but as the series progressed he became a protagonist and became one of the most, if not the most important key point to beating Naraku (his Tenseiga being the only thing to be able to kill Magatsuhi and his Bakusaiga for preventing Naraku from regenerating his body)
 * Throughout his life, he has only saved two humans.