Sesshōmaru

Sesshoumaru(殺生丸, Sesshōmaru) is InuYasha's older half-brother. Like their father, he is the Lord of the Western Lands, although Sesshoumaru maintains no permanent home. As a full-blooded Inu-yokai, he is a very powerful demon and nearly unequaled in raw power, but is unable to defeat Naraku in volume twenty-three of the manga. He has no interest in possessing even one shard of the Shikon Jewel to enhance his powers, since he is already supremely confident of his own strength. He is initially ruthless in dealing with InuYasha, whom he despises as a half-demon who consorts with humans, and attempts to take the sword Tessaiga from him.

However, Sesshoumaru gradually changes after receiving Tenseiga, another sword made from one of their father's fangs, and using it to revive the human child Rin. His growing compassion prompts the master sword-smith Tōtōsai to reforge Tenseiga, enabling the Meidou Zangetsuha ("dark path of the dawn's moon blast") attack. After Naraku attempts to manipulate him by using Rin as a hostage, Sesshomaru becomes determined to destroy Naraku.

Appearance
Sesshomaru is often considered slightly bishounen due to his slightly feminine appearance even though his attitude strongly opposes this notion.

His garments and armor have a decidedly mainland influence, including his waist sash and pointed boots. Sesshomaru has a Prussian blue crescent 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. By default this is Sesshomaru's preferred form.

Sesshomaru'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.

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 brandishes 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 acid 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 verses Magatsuhi in order to overwhelm him.

Biography
A very powerful demon lord (daiyōkai, literally great yōkai); Sesshomaru 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 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 despises InuYasha, his half-human/half-demon (hanyō) brother, who wields the powerful Tessaiga, a sword made from one of their father's fangs that can kill 100 yōkai in one strike.

Sesshomaru wields the Tenseiga, another sword carved from his father's fang. However, the Tenseiga, which can bring 100 people back to life with a single swing, is incapable of harming an opponent, thus it is useless in battle; naturally, Sesshomaru desires the destructive power that the Tessaiga holds, in spite the confidence he had in his own abilities. He eventually uses the power of Tenseiga to resurrect the head of Goshinki so that Kaijinbo could forge the evil blade Tokijin from his fangs.

Sesshomaru began his quest for the Tessaiga by searching for the place that a short poem indicated it would be. Sesshomaru's father was a very wise and a great dog demon lord. He hid it well from both brothers for quite some time and prevented it from being misused by casting a barrier around the sword so that a full-blooded yōkai or one without compassion for humans cannot hold or wield the Tessaiga. It is for this reason that Sesshomaru is unable to hold or wield the sword. 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 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 hacked off Sesshomaru's left arm. After he obtained the Tokijin, he seems to have lost interest in the Tessaiga.

He is followed by his minion, a kappa yōkai named Jaken, and later by a human orphan named Rin who Sesshōmaru brought back to life, using Tenseiga, for unknown reasons. (At that time, he claims to be 'testing' the sword, but it is unclear whether that is his true intention.) He is also followed by a pet that looks like a two-headed dragon, named Ah-Un (阿吽) that often accompanies Rin.

Although Sesshomaru 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 Sesshomaru. Naraku's plan failed and Sesshomaru was fired up and wanted to go after Naraku, who was trying to escape, but upon hearing that Rin was in danger, Sesshomaru let him go and came to the aid of Rin. Subsequently he decided to kill Naraku as well. At this point, Sesshomaru largely becomes more of an ally then an enemy.

On his way to Mount Hakurei, Sesshomaru saved Kagome, Miroku, and Sango from the poison user Mukotsu, one of the Shichinintai (七人隊), however when confronted with the fact, he merely says "I only killed someone who got in my way".

Towards the end of the anime series, it is shown that there was a human princess named Sara who loved Sesshomaru. She allowed yōkai to possess her body and stole the Tessaiga from InuYasha, as she was under the illusion that Tessaiga was Sesshomaru's desire. Later she realized her mistake, but the demon won't grant her freedom. Sesshomaru, grasping the Tessaiga despite its barrier, released the princess from the yōkai and quoted: "Go play your flute in the neatherworld". There is speculation on whether he was able to wield the Tessaiga due to his great strength, or simply his apparent compassion for the human Sara.

Sesshomaru once showed compassion for Naraku's incarnation, Kagura, considering to use Tenseiga when she died. He later states that he will make her death worthwhile.

Abilities

 * Poison Claw: Sesshomaru's claws release deadly acidic poison 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: Exclusive to the anime, can generate a thin whiplike 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 to his brothers Bakuryuuha (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.


 * Flight: Ability to hover in the sky or generate a sparkling dust cloud to ride on.


 * Poison Immunity: Sesshomaru is immune to all kinds of poison.


 * 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. 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. He's being physically matched by Inuyasha's full demon state in the finale of the magna.


 * Teleportation: 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 fling skulls at InuYasha and Kagome in the 7th episode of the anime as well as his ability to overwhelm Goshinki's powerful telepathic aura in order to claim Tokijin as his own.


 * Taiyōkai: As the descendant of a great dog demon lord, naturally Sesshōmaru is a far superior yōkai with heightened senses, intelligence and strength. While he appears to be an elf-eared human bearing splendid clothing and armor most of the time; he can transform into his true form at will, which is that of a gigantic acid-breathing flying canine with fluffy white fur (though he's only does so twice).


 * 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 at least a few hundred years.


 * Regeneration: An ability that allows Sesshomaru to seemly replace limbs lost in battle and recover from similar severe damage. This ability was obtained once Sesshomaru found the necessary strength to summon Bakusaiga, he not only regrew his lost limb but healed from severe wounds inflicted earlier.

Equipment

 * Staff of two Heads: Locates his father's grave, can 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.


 * Mokomoko: is the "fur 'sash'" on Sesshomaru's shoulder that can stretch to long distances. He uses every once in a while, he once used its to grab InuYasha. It can be extended to great lengths and used to whip or constrict people.

Weapons

 * Tenseiga: The Tenseiga can revive the dead and heal the living. It does this by letting Sesshomaru see the pall-bearer demons that take away the souls of the dead so that he may destroy them with Tenseiga. It usually does not show this happening. In extreme cases, the Tenseiga also protects Sesshomaru from potential lethal attacks (once saving him from Tetsusaiga's Kaze no Kizu). When in use, the Tenseiga has a blue aura. It was another of the swords fashioned by Totosai from InuYasha's and Sesshomaru's father's fangs. But it doesn't quench Sesshomaru's thirst for power from Tessaiga. After Tokijin is broken during a fight with Moryomaru, Totosai reforged Tenseiga added the Meidou Zangetsuha ability to it, an attack which opens the path the world of the dead and sends whatever the sword is swung at into it. Tenseiga later loses this ability when it's broken over Tessiaga.


 * Tokijin: Sesshomaru also wields the sword Tokijin, crafted by the evil sword smith Kaijin-bō from the fangs of Goshinki. It can fire off extremely powerful blasts of pure hate energy and is thought to be Tetsusaiga's equal. There are two different ways of using it. One is to extend your arm and point it at your opponent to blow them back and injure them with a powerful pinkish-purple aura. The other way is to slash with it releasing a powerful wave of blue energy.


 * Bakusaiga : After the destruction of the Tokijin, Sesshomaru obtained a new sword called Bakusaiga that looks like a Nodachi. It has the power to destroy thousands of demons with one swing and can decompose any organic material the blade cuts. The latter ability stops the regeneration in any demon body part that he cuts off with it. He obtained Bakusaiga after he lost his interest in Tessaiga.

Name Meaning
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 motif 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. It could also be a reference to the Sessho-seki, The Killing stone from the tale of Tamamo-no-Mae.