Menōmaru

Menōmaru was a moth demon from the Asian continent who invaded Japan with his father Hyōga 200 years ago. They were opposed by the Inu no Taishō and, consequently, Hyōga's power and Menōmaru both were sealed to the ancient Tree of Ages. When the Shikon no Tama was shattered, one of the shards revived Menōmaru and he embarked on a quest to obtain his father's power. After discovering that one of the Great Dog Demon's swords, the Tenseiga, did not possess the destructive aura required to remove the seal on Hyōga, Menōmaru and his servents planned to steal the other sword, the Tetsusaiga, which did have the power.

Upon discovering that the fang had a barrier which prevented demons from using it, Menōmaru lured the sword's owner, Inuyasha, to his hide out under the Tree of Ages. In an effort to save Kagome Higurashi, Inuyasha was tricked into destroying his father's fang, breaking the seal on Hyōga's power. Menōmaru then absorbed his father to become the new Lord Hyōga. Menōmaru then began absorbing souls to complete his transformation. Despite his success, Menōmaru was unable to destroy the half-demon and the priestess Kagome before he emerged from his chrysalis, and squared off against them for a final confrontation.

Invasion of Japan
200 years before the shattering of the Shikon no Tama, a large Mongol army crossed the sea from China and Korea to attack Japan. Far more foreboding was the horde of demons that followed the invasion fleet, led by a giant moth demon and Menōmaru's father, Hyōga, who planned on stealing the souls of those who died in battle. Menōmaru accompanied his father, along with his servents, Ruri and Hari. The Inu no Taishō, however, who was the Lord of the Western lands at that time, opposed him and a great battle ensued. The swirling demonic auras of both daiyōkai created a massive storm that ended up destroying the Mongol invasion fleet altogether. Eventually, Hyōga was defeated and his power sealed by one of the Inu no Taishō's fangs, along with Menōmaru himself, to the Tree of Ages.

Revival
Two centuries later, the Shikon no Tama was struck by a sacred arrow and shattered. Shards of the jewel flew in every direction, and one such shard landed in the Forest of No Return. The Sacred Jewel shard struck Menōmaru in the chest, reversing the spell laid on him by the Inu no Taishō, awakening him. From his new base beneath the Tree of Ages, Menōmaru recalled his agents Ruri and Hari and plotted to unlock his father's power by breaking the seal placed on it by the Great Dog Demon's fang. To this end he sought out one of the Dog Demon's famous swords, the Tenseiga, which was passed to his eldest son, Sesshōmaru. He sent Ruri and Hari to ambush Sesshōmaru and steal the Tenseiga.

Despite their skill, Menōmaru's servants were no match for Sesshōmaru, and the two women were quickly dispatched by the dog demon's light whip. Menōmaru observed the clash via his link with one of his small demon moths, and sensed that Sesshōmaru's sword lacked an aura of destruction. Menōmaru therefore deduced that the Great Dog Demon's other sword, the Tetsusaiga, must have the power to break the seal on Hyōga.

Stealing Tetsusaiga
Menōmaru eventually tracked the Tetsusaiga to the Great Dog Demon's hanyō son, Inuyasha. The half-demon was travelling with several companions and rather than fight them all at once, Menōmaru decided to split them up and trap them. At some point Menōmaru obtained a second Jewel shard and bequethed it to a giant scorpion summoned by Hari. The demon insect then set off to attack Inuyasha's group. Despite its size, the demon was defeated and the Jewel shard purified by Inuyasha's priestess companion, Kagome Higurashi. During the fight, however, the two-tailed demon cat Kirara was exposed to the insect's poison, which slowly put her under Hari's mind-control spell. As Menōmaru had planned, Kirara ran off to find Hari and Ruri, forcing the monk Miroku and the demon-slayer Sango to run after her. This left Inuyasha open to attack.

While Sango and Miroku fell into Ruri and Hari's trap, Menōmaru revealed himself to Inuyasha at the Sacred Tree. Menōmaru immediately attacked Inuyasha and disarmed him shortly thereafter. While Inuyasha attempted to continue fighting without his sword, he was soon stabbed through the chest by Menōmaru's sword, rendering him unconscious. Menōmaru was unable to take the Tetsusaiga, however, for, as he soon discovered, it was surrounded by a barrier that prevented full-blooded demons from touching it. Menōmaru became frustrated at this obstacle to his otherwise flawless plan. Deciding to spare Inuyasha's life for the moment, he abducted Kagome who had also been rendered unconscious, due to her inability as a human to resist the poison powder of his swarm of demon moths. Menōmaru knew that Inuyasha's father had fallen in love with a human, and assumed that if he kidnapped Kagome, Inuyasha would follow him to his hide-out in the Forest of No Return, where he could be tricked into breaking the seal on Hyōga's power.

Breaking the Seal
Menōmaru returned to the Tree of Ages and linked back up with Ruri and Hari. The girls did not understand why Kagome would be sufficient bait to lure Inuyasha into Menōmaru's trap, nor indeed why he needed to be lured to the hide-out in general. Menōmaru explained to them the barrier on Tetsusaiga and the fact that Inuyasha's father had fallen in love with a human, and that it appeared Inuyasha had done so as well. Assuming this was true, in Menōmaru's view, it would only be a matter of time before Inuyasha came to the Forest of No Return to rescue Kagome.

Menōmaru had also thought of a way to get rid of Inuyasha altogether, by controlling Kagome's body and using her to attack and kill Inuyasha. To this end, Hari attempted to use one of the shells from her forehead which she used for her mind-control magic. In her attempt to put it on Kagome, however, it was rejected, and flew from her hands. Menōmaru was just as surprised as his servants, though he was more intrigued than dismayed by this display of the girl's latent spiritual powers. To overcome them he gave Hari the Sacred Jewel shard which had revived him, tainting the shard with his blood to ensure it would not be purified by Kagome's presence. Although loathe to use it, after Menōmaru explained to her that he had no need of it (as his powers were already so advanced), Hari combined her shell with the Jewel and was then able to put it in Kagome's forehead. By doing so however, Kagome regained consciousness and broke free of the vines keeping her bound.

Enraged by Ruri and Hari's possession of Kirara, Kagome demanded that the two women release her, menacing them with a nearby bow and arrow that had lain as refuse on the floor of the hide-out. Hari commanded the swarm of moths within the tree to attack Kagome, simply for her own amusement, though they were suddenly dispersed by the Hiraikotsu. Sango and Miroku had appeared, having followed Ruri and Hari back to the Tree of Ages to rescue Kirara. Menōmaru allowed Ruri and Hari to deal with the intruders, not bothering to get involved, content to merely watch the skirmish to allay his boredom. While his servants engaged the mortal duo, Kagome fired a shot at the distracted Menōmaru, barely, but predictably, missing his head. Displeased that Kagome was not staying put like polite bait, Menōmaru drew his sword and commanded Kagome to be more compliant. She came back, telling him rather immaturely, "Why don't you make me?" Menōmaru, however, realized that force would be the only way to get her to stop pestering him, and rushed towards the miscalculating priestess, frightening her with his speed. Just as he reached her, though, Inuyasha fired off a blast of his Kaze no Kizu, which Menōmaru was nevertheless able to easily block.

With the target of his trap having arrived, Menōmaru ignored Kagome and turned his attention completely to dueling Inuyasha, with the intention of tricking him into destroying the seal with the Wind Scar. During the course however, Menōmaru was struck in the chest by the Wind Scar and fell to the ground dead. Naïvely, Inuyasha believed that this meant that he had one. However, the fight was nowhere near over, as Menōmaru's body absorbed surplus energy from Hyōga, healing his wound instantly and bringing him back to life. Menōmaru was, of course, aware that this would happen, and pleased by Inuyasha's shock and surprise, explaining to the half-demon that he was immortal. Inuyasha's vassal, Myōga, explained that Menōmaru could use the virtually limitless power from his father to such ends. In response, Menōmaru casually noted his surprise that Myōga had not already run away in the face of danger. While Menōmaru carefully positioned himself in front of the seal, Inuyasha defiantly claimed that he didn't care what kind of demonic powers Menōmaru possessed, and that he would strike him down nonetheless. Allowing himself to be impressed by Inuyasha's audacity, he dared the hanyō to attempt such bold action. The more astute members of Inuyasha's group realized that Menōmaru was up to something, the half-demon himself recklessly ignored his friends' warnings and attacked the moth demon with his Wind Scar. The attack hit Menōmaru accurately, but carried him with it as it also hit the seal, greatly damaging it.

The seal was now too weak to contain the flow of demonic power coming from the gelatinous sphere, and shattered. With the seal undone, the Tree of Ages began to collapse, as Menōmaru shouted triumphantly and Inuyasha's group fled the weakened structure. Eventually, the entire Tree of Ages fell over, uprooted, and Menōmaru and his inheritance raised up on a single root. Menōmaru cheekily thanked Inuyasha for undoing the seal and cut open the Hyōga clan's power sphere, beginning the clan succession ritual and descending into the ooze.

"Bring me your offerings"
After absorbing his father's power, Menōmaru watched with amusement as a naïve Inuyasha continually tried to break through his chrysalis and attack him; a backflow of energy sending Inuyasha flying each time, without the moth demon lord so much as lifting a finger. Disappointed that Inuyasha was still clueless as to just how powerful Menōmaru had become, he fired a massive blast of energy at the half-demon, sending both him and his friends flying several kilometers away.

Having dealt with the nuisances, Menōmaru loudly proclaimed for all the world to kneel before him and bring him offerings of souls. He proceeded to create a larger, more powerful Tree of Ages; the trunk of the old one having fallen when Menōmaru's power sphere ascended from beneath the tree's roots. Drawing on Menōmaru's demonic power, the roots of the Tree of Ages expanded considerably and several rose together to for a new trunk, with countless branches reaching outward, new leaves sprouting instantaneously. The new tree, with Menōmaru's power orb glowing brightly at the top, could be seen by many villages from miles away, due to its great height.

Menōmaru would use this tree to absorb energy from future generations, stealing it with other tree of ages, such as the Sacred Tree, that it now controlled. This would allow him to further augment his power. However, to complete his transformation and become Lord Hyōga, Menōmaru sent out swarms of demon moths in every direction, dispersing their poison powder and rendering human villages unconscious. In their weakened state, the humans' souls could not resist Menōmaru's power, and their souls left their bodies to be absorbed by Menōmaru. Menōmaru rejoiced triumphantly as streams of souls poured into his chrysalis.

Manipulating Kagome
Despite his great successes thus far, Inuyasha and his friends were not dead, though they had been separated. Menōmaru sensed Inuyasha's presence the next day, curious as to whether or not Inuyasha's persistence was a trait he inherited from his human blood. Menōmaru decided to initiate the contingency Hari had helped him set up prior to the breaking of the seal. Pulling out a leaf, Menōmaru used the Flute of Manipulation, blowing into the leaf and producing a high-pitched song audible only to Kagome. This activated the mind-control shell augmented by the Sacred Jewel shard that Hari had placed in the young priestess' forehead. Kagome's mind was now in Menōmaru's hands, and he gave her special abilities beyond those of humans, and was able to levitate and produce poison. Her first victim was the old sage Kaede, though she quickly turned her sights on Inuyasha.

Kagome intercepted Inuyasha on a bridge, drawing him into a hug. While Kagome was able to force out a warning to Inuyasha, it was too late, and she stabbed through him with poison claws. Inuyasha tried to stop her from doing more harm, but several poison bolts had eaten through the ropes of the bridge, causing it, and Inuyasha, to fall into a river below. Kagome merely flew after him.

After eventually catching up to him, Kagome pinned Inuyasha to the Sacred Tree with her poison bolts, and transformed a leaf into a bow and arrow. Just as she was about to shoot, however, Sango cut a gash into Menōmaru's chrysalis with her Hiraikotsu, breaking Menōmaru's interference. Menōmaru was once again impressed by the resistance put forth by Inuyasha's group despite his immense power, commenting on how strange he found humans. As it turned out, though, Menōmaru did not need to face Sango or Miroku, as Hari and Ruri quickly came to oppose them, leaving Menōmaru free to continue his tormenting of Inuyasha. With his concentration restored, he shot Inuyasha using the helpless Kagome. Shortly thereafter, due to Kagome's severe emotional distress, she broke through the mind-control spell, much to Menōmaru's chagrin.

Metamorphosis
While Inuyasha lay unconscious and Kagome was trapped by the priestess Kikyō in the future, Ruri was consumed by the Wind Tunnel she had copied from Miroku, and Hari was cut in half by the Hiraikotsu. While Hari could have rejuvenated, Menōmaru was so eager for souls to complete his transformation that he absorbed hers, in spite of her long service and loyalty, and much to her dismay.

With both of his servants defeated and Kagome returned from her time, all of Menōmaru's enemies regrouped, by which time Menōmaru's metamorphosis into Hyōga was complete. As Hyōga, Menōmaru had become an enormous demon of tremendous height. Proclaiming that "size ain't everything, Kagome!", Inuyasha rushed forward to attack Hyōga. However, Hyōga effortlessly blasted him away with his powerful breath. Disdaining a direct confrontation with his diminutive foes, Hyōga generated small branch-like structures from his back to form two giant moth wings. Out of these he summoned an army of demons from the continent, ordering them to devour every creature in the world.

While Miroku arrived to distract the demon horde with his Wind Tunnel, Inuyasha attempted to strike at Hyōga with his Wind Scar. Hyōga's demonic aura was far greater than that of Inuyasha, and the demon lord simply dispersed the Wind Scar with a wave of his hand, generating enough excess force to also send Inuyasha flying yet again. All further attempts to use the Wind Scar by itself would be thwarted by the swirling vortex of Hyōga's power, so great in its scope that it virtually swallowed Inuyasha's own. To circumvent this fact, Kagome shot a sacred arrow at Hyōga, which, while being deflected harmlessly by his aura, nevertheless created a fissure in the aura which allowed the Wind Scar to be employed once more. The resulting attack of Inuyasha's damaged a large area on the lower part of Hyōga's right wing. Dismissive of the attack's relative ineffectiveness, Hyōga concentrated his demonic aura at the point of a taijitu symbol on his forehead, from which he fired an immensely powerful beam of demonic energy at Inuyasha and his friends. While the attack, as a demonstration of Hyōga's power, disheartened the humans, it failed to kill off his enemies, and stengthened Inuyasha's resolve.

Inuyasha attempted the same tactic to do greater damage to Hyōga, but the daiyokai was quick to prevent Inuyasha from firing the Wind Scar again in the same fashion. Kagome's arrow did, however, manage to penetrate Hyōga's aura long enough to cut through his left wing, separating it totally from his body. Infuriated by her insolence, he fired off another blast of his powerful breath to destroy Kagome. Despite her being flung from the Tree of Ages, Kagome was saved by Sango and Kirara. Frustrated by his inability thus far to deliver a lethal blow to his adversaries, Hyōga began to generate a more powerful beam of energy to kill them. Knowing that his aura was too weak to utilize the Backlash wave on his own, Inuyasha had Kagome fire one last arrow toward Hyōga, this time aimed at the taijitu on his forehead. When Hyōga fired his beam of demonic energy, Inuyasha was able to use the Backlash wave, augmented by the spiritual power of Kagome's arrow, to reverse the flow of the enormous moth demon's attack and destroy him. As his body disintegrated, Lord Hyōga was unable to understand how his awesome power could have been defeated by a mere mortal and a half-demon.

Personality
Menōmaru was an extremely intelligent demon. He proves himself to be a shrewd and devious manipulator, rivaling even Naraku (perhaps even surpassing him, as Menōmaru is generally more successful than the hated half-demon). He is cautious, sending intermediaries to steal the Tenseiga from the dangerous Sesshōmaru, and takes his time in implementing his plan to steal the Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha. He prefers to use his servants, Ruri and Hari, to do his bidding, but often he will directly confront a foe (such as Inuyasha) if he believes that only he has sufficient power to defeat that foe.

Being the son of a powerful demon and the heir to his clan's tremendous power, Menōmaru has an aristocratic manner, being extremely confidant in his own abilities, yet reserved in his temperament, speaking with even his enemies with a taste of courtesy. He displays a consistant levity in dealing with Inuyasha and his friends, often teasing Inuyasha to the point of playfulness. It is unclear if this is how Menōmaru acts towards all his enemies, just Inuyasha, or just those he views as so weak that he sees any attempt to attack him as an amusing diversion and nothing more.

While it is unknown how ambitious Menōmaru was prior to his transformation (his only goal at the time being to simply inherit his father's position), upon becoming Lord Hyōga he initiates a plan to conquer the entire world, populating it with his demon minions. Menōmaru is by no means delusional in this endeavor, as he has every possible means to accomplish this feat.

Menōmaru is disdainful of humans, like most demons, but also considers them "strange" and is consistently confused by their perseverance in attempts to defeat him. Menōmaru notices this trait in his enemy, Inuyasha, and attributes it to his partial human lineage. Despite his low opinion of mortals, however, he does not express contempt of demons who consort with humans. This is perhaps due to the fact that he respects their power, as the Great Dog Demon was capable of defeating his father. Nevertheless, Menōmaru and his servants consider such behavior "eccentric". He does not display any overt hatred of humans, even taking interest in Kagome's spiritual powers at one point. However, when he becomes Hyōga, Menōmaru is more open in his contempt (perhaps because in proportion to his new powers, humans seem even weaker to him than they did before), and warns Inuyasha that his kind were brought down by those "disgusting creatures."

Menōmaru bears a striking resemblence in many of his attitudes to the dog-demon Sesshōmaru. Both demons are remarkably confident, perhaps to the point of arrogance, and believe that their powers surpass all others. To this end, Menōmaru, like Sesshōmaru, disdains the use of Sacred Jewel shards, believing, like the dog-demon does, that his powers are so great that the jewel shards are unnecessary. Menōmaru is also descended from a powerful daiyōkai, Hyōga; Sesshōmaru from the Inu no Taishō. Both also attempt to obtain their fathers' former power, Menōmaru by directly absorbing the demonic energy of his father, and Sesshōmaru by acquiring the famed sword Tetsusaiga. They are also the only demons who have never had any trouble defeating Inuyasha in contests of swordsmanship.

Power & Abilities
Being a type of moth demon, Menōmaru has the following abilites:
 * Flight:
 * Speed:
 * Nature Manipulation:
 * Insect Control:
 * Self Resurrection:

Possessing Kagome

 * Poison Wave:
 * Poison Darts:
 * Poison Claws:
 * Flight:

Lord Hyōga

 * Strong Breath:
 * Enhanced Strength:
 * Strong Beam Attack:
 * Finger Extensions:
 * Demon Summoning:

Triva

 * Both Menōmaru's and Kagome's seiyus, Tomokazu Seki and Satsuki Yukio, respectively, also voice Fullmetal Panic characters Sousuke Sagara and Kaname Chidori, respectively.