Kirinmaru

"Ah, yes... If Tōkotsu served under me, then he must have been quite the formidable warrior indeed. Sesshōmaru's daughters defeating him is quite the accomplishment."

- Kirinmaru

is a Daiyōkai that rules over the eastern lands. After the death of Tōga, the ruler of the west, as well as his eldest son Sesshōmaru refusing to inherit his title, Lord Kirinmaru plans to distort time and swallow the world into a dark age with the assistance of his most trusted servants, the Shikyō, and their own underlings.

History
The equal of Tōga, the Lord of the Western Lands, as the Lord of the Eastern Lands, Kirinmaru alongside Tōga joined forces to repel the Grim Comet and protect their respective lands and afterward came to a truce, leaving one another to rule their respective lands.

Kirinmaru was informed by Konton and Kyūki that Tōga had been gravely injured from battling Shishinki and Ryūkotsusei and they suggested they use this opportunity to kill Tōga. Kirinmaru was angered by this as it used an underhanded approached that involved no honor, stating unless Tōga was in his prime, defeating him is pointless, which means he refused. He then instructed Riku to gather medicinal herbs for Tōga to heal his injuries.

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 209 years ago. Zero also told him that Sesshōmaru had sired daughters as Rin had given birth to twin half-demon daughters, then the Shikon no Tama 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 his father's grave at the Border of the Afterlife under the reason that Inuyasha's Meidō Zangetsuha would be needed by Jaken. Lord Kirinmaru accepted this reasoning and left.

The Sacred Tree of Ages itself deems Lord Kirinmaru a grave threat for wishing to warp time itself, which it controls.

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 Moroha. Kirinmaru was apathetic, only praising the strength of Sesshōmaru's daughters as they defeated someone who must have been a mighty warrior, and 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 would not personally act against Sesshōmaru's daughters even as Zero calls him out on this, being 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, however, when the Half-Demon Princesses had killed Konton and overwhelmed 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 and 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, simply using his sword and demonic energy, mocking them for their poor effort. Even as Moroha tapped into the full power of her demonic blood, Kirinmaru swiftly overpowered her as she passed out from exhaustion before proceeding to decisively overpower Setsuna in battle and 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 thunder claps 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.

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. 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 showed by his foes and criticizing their flaws, as shown when he mocked Towa, Setsuna and Moroha for their lack of skill and technique. He is shown to have a sense of honor, believing strongly that any fight he won must be fair to where he even ordered Riku to help his old rival recover and showed anger and disgust at his subordinates for suggesting he kill Tōga unfairly in his injured state.

According to Riku, Kirinmaru hates humans and half-demons. 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.

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 half-demons 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. Overall, while Kirinmaru seems to consider himself superior and has a disdain towards them, it doesn't seem to prevent him from acknowledging half-demons when they prove formidable.

For all his self-importance and justified belief on 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 for ever 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 uncomprimising which causes problems for their crew.

Physical Description
Kirinmaru appears as a young man with a violet suit of armor, a red belt across his waist, and a golden plate on his left shoulder. He wears lavender clothes underneath, darkened reddish pants, and black battle boots, with golden adornments.

He wears a pair of armored gauntlets decorated with the same adornments as his boots and a white dog-shaped mask with several markings leaving only his left green eye visible and a blue marking beneath. The mask concealed his right eye for an unknown reason, however it is seen that the right side of his face seems to be filled with a scale-like pattern. He has bulbous, long, red hair. Expectedly from a bestial Daiyōkai, he has sharpened nails of a greyish-purple coloration.

He eventually gets a minor scar on his left cheek after his encounter with Towa.

Powers & Abilities

 * Immense Demonic Power: Kirinmaru is said to rival Tōga in terms of strength. He was confident he could kill Inuyasha, an extremely powerful half-demon 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. He was able to easily overwhelm Towa Higurashi, Setsuna and Moroha, all three of them holding incredible demonic powers, even when Moroha was using the full extent of her demonic power which rivaled Inuyasha's base strength, and fight Sesshōmaru to a stalemate, the clash of their powers being such that it caused massive shockwaves and even shifted the weather, causing storm clouds and thunder strikes. He has shown to be 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 that could easily disperse Tōtetsu's demonic smoke and knock him down as well as shoot down Takechiyo and repeatedly easily ground the Half-Demon Princesses. He could also control it to only be enough to pressure but not repel others, as shown when he intimidated the Half-Demon Princesses when they refused to fight him. He could also fire powerful purple demonic energy even without his sword, a single one of which being powerful enough to overwhelm Setsuna's defenses and even cancel Towa's ability to absorb demonic energy.
 * Levitation: Kirinmaru is capable of levitating himself off the ground and remaining suspended as well as flying through the air at incredible speeds with ease.
 * 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 in a sword fight.
 * 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 could also clash equally with Sesshōmaru with such force that their sword fight released 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.
 * 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.
 * Spellcasting: By his own accord, Kirinmaru is able to use spells, although he has not been seen using any.
 * Natural Leadership: He has great power and authority over dozens of demons from the mainland but especially his top minions, the Four Perils.
 * Shapeshifting: It is unknown that Kirinmaru can change his appearance to resemble a human's, like Tōga, Sesshōmaru, and Sesshōmaru's mother.
 * Longevity: Like many Yōkai, Kirinmaru is capable of living for many centuries and remains unchanged even after the birth of Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha.

Equipment

 * Sword: Kirinmaru owned an unnamed sword with a golden hilt. It is powerful enough to clash evenly with Sesshōmaru's Bakusaiga and durable enough to easily block Moroha's Kōryūha and Hijin Kessō. He can casually release smaller and swift slashes of purple energy still strong enough to batter Moroha using her full demonic power into exhaustion and Setsuna and Towa into submission.
 * Blasting Barrage: He could channel his demonic energy from the sword to release powerful purple waves of purple energy capable of destroying parts of the Grim Comet.

Relationships

 * Zero

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. Likewise, he shows no inclination to follow her desires, as he would not act against Towa and Setsuna even when she outright demanded him to kill the half-demons.

The former Lord of the Western Lands and an old-rival of Kirinmaru, 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 and seems to actually care for him, to where 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 half-demon 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 half-demon Towa managed to injure him lightly that he expected no less from his rival's granddaughter.
 * Tōga

Kirinmaru seems to hold Kyūki in 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 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.
 * Riku

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

Enemies

 * Inuyasha

Inuyasha is his old rival's half-demon youngest son. Although Riku claimed that Lord Kirinmaru would naturally despise him as he is a half-demon, it appears that Kirinmaru doesn't actually have much of a grudge towards him: When he was woken up by his older half 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.

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.
 * Kagome Higurashi

Being Sesshōmaru is 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 and sired two half-demon 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 half-demons, 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.
 * Sesshōmaru

They probably had never met before, but 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. It remains unknown if he has anything to do with Rin's current slumber. 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.
 * Rin

Although Kirinmaru showed shock that Sesshōmaru's daughters were half-demon, 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.
 * Towa and Setsuna

He only finally decided to kill the half-demon twins and their 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 half-demon 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.

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 half-demon 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 Kōryūha 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 Hijin Kessō 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.

Five Hundred and Fourteen Years Ago

 * "Blasting Barrage!"

Two Hundred and Twenty Three Years Ago

 * "Fools! If I am to challenge him to battle, it cannot be when he is wounded and weak. A battle must be won with honor is that too much for you fools to understand?"
 * "Riku! Riku, are you here?"
 * "Gather the finest medical herbs you can find and go deliver to him. Hurry!"
 * "Battle is meaningless unless you poor your all into it. Winning with underhanded tactics will only leave you empty."

Fourteen Years Ago

 * "Why have you awoken me? The Great Dog Demon's sons must have taken care of the comet's fragments by now."
 * "He did what?"
 * "That is what I had in mind."
 * "Very well. Come with me, Sesshōmaru."
 * "Quit your prattling, Human."
 * "You helped them?"
 * "I suppose that is fine."

Present Day

 * "Sesshōmaru's daughters, you say."
 * "Remind me, Kyūki. Who is this Tōkotsu again?"
 * "Ah, yes. If Tōkotsu served under me, then he must have been quite the formidable warrior indeed. Sesshōmaru's daughters defeating him is quite the accomplishment."
 * "It doesn't suit my taste."
 * "Riku is making his move. He is my most trusted retainer."
 * "Was I?"
 * "Fool. Do you intend to invite unnecessary guests to my ship?"
 * "Be gone."
 * "I am Kirinmaru."
 * "Listen, Half-Demons. You want my head? Then go ahead and try."
 * "Destroy me, and the Dream Butterfly will vanish."
 * "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."
 * "Not even a skill or spell to behold. "
 * "I see. You can absorb demonic energy."
 * "However, you are lacking in strength."
 * "My demonic energy cannot be sensed by the likes of you. Heart, skill, strength all so lacking. Was the prophecy false? Or perhaps you are not the half-demons destined to take my life?"
 * "Of course the Heavens and Earth resound when we clash."
 * "You have gotten a bit stronger."
 * "But your skills still cannot catch up. You cannot even maintain that form."
 * "I still have not used any skills or spells. But here, have a glimpse."
 * "Disappointing."
 * "As expected of his granddaughter. Sesshōmaru's daughter."
 * "However...I tire of you."
 * "Sesshōmaru, so you have compassion as a father, after all."
 * "Have you come to stop me out of concern for your daughters' lives?"
 * "Of course the Heavens and Earth would resound whenever we cross each other. It seems your daughters' are not sufficient enough to threaten my life. However, I will have you work for what I desire you to do."

Trivia

 * The Shikon Jewel prophesied that half-demons 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.
 * Kirinmaru is the first opponent to defeat all three Half-Demon Princesses with ease
 * During his first battle with the three Half-Demon 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.
 * While he is considered as possibly the main antagonist Kirinmaru's personality, actions and skills heavily contrasts with that of previous antagonist Naraku:
 * Kirinmaru is a full-demon while Naraku was a half-demon.
 * Naraku saw himself as superior to all beings, human and demon alike and especially despised half demons while Kirinmaru is at best apathetic to most beings and supposedly hates humans and half demons but still gives praise to those who gain his respect which even includes humans and half demons like 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 open combat.
 * Whereas Naraku would enjoy seeing people suffer Kirinmaru seems to prefer granting swift and quick deaths to his enemies.
 * Naraku would often take advantage when his enemies were weakened but Kirinmaru is insulted by the idea, preferring his enemies be at their best when he fights them as seen when he orders Riku to take medicinal herbs to his arch-rival the Great Dog Demon.
 * Whereas Naraku sought the Shikon Jewel and its power for himself Kirinmaru gave the Rainbow Pearls he had to his lieutenants and seemingly has 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 in form or another through allies, people he had tricked or his incarnations but Kirinmaru only acted when provoked such as when he was told the prophecy of his death or when the Half-Demon Princesses were close to his ship. His lieutenants often battled against the Half-Demon Princesses on their own, not under orders to kill them by their master.
 * Those under Naraku’s command were often incarnations whose hearts he removed and threatened with death to ensure their obedience 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 Kirinmaru at least acknowledges that anyone who serves under him must be a powerful warrior.
 * 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 even enjoys it against worthy foes.
 * While Naraku would flee from battle if the tables were turned Kirinmaru would stand and fight but would stand down if he gained nothing from victory such as when he decided to let Sesshōmaru's daughters live after seeing they were no threat to him and because of his respect for Sesshōmaru.