Hyōga clan

This article is about clan of moth yōkai. You may be looking for Hyōga, a one-time user of that title, his son, or the title of the clan's leader.

Menōmaru, Ruri and Hari.

The Hyōga clan (飛妖蛾氏) was a powerful clan of moth demons which passed their power from one generation to another, building it up accumulatively. Their leader was called Hyōga, an apparently hereditary title passed from father to son. The last Lord Hyōga was Menōmaru, who was defeated and killed by the hanyō Inuyasha.

History

Centuries ago, the Hyōga clan was a power clan of moth yōkai led by Lord Hyōga of the Mongol empire. Roughly 200 years before the shattering of the Shikon no Tama, Lord Hyōga led a Mongol invasion of Japan and eventually came into conflict with Tōga, the Lord of the Western Lands.

After the battle, the Mongol invasion was thwarted and Hyōga was killed, with his son Menōmaru becoming the last remaining member of the clan. 200 years later, the Shikon no Tama was struck by a sacred arrow and shattered, since it was swallowed by Shibugarasu. Shards of the jewel flew in every direction, and one such shard landed in the Forest of No Return. The jewel shard struck Menōmaru in the chest, reversing the spell laid on him by the Tōga, and 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.

Ruri and Hari encountered Sesshōmaru that has the Tenseiga and they hit by his light whip, but Menōmaru sensed that the fang is for healing, but he needs to find another fang for destruction: the Tessaiga. They sent a Scorpion demon to find it, as the scorpion demon killed by Miroku, Menōmaru chuckled as he sent them to orders to execute their plans. Ruri have copied Miroku's Kazaana, and Hari stole Sango's pet Kirara. All of the yōkai moths are the Goshinboku to summon Menōmaru to fight Inuyasha and kidnap Kagome.

At the Hyōga's Tree of Ages, at the Forest of No Return, Menōmaru has Kagome as a prisoner to lure Inuyasha to the same place. As he tells his servants Hari and Ruri that the Fang of destruction has barrier, which means only Inuyasha can wield it as he can't inherit his father's legacy until the spell of the fang of Tōga is broken. Hari don't understand to use Kagome to lure Inuyasha in their hideout. But Menōmaru said, "He'll come. Dog demons seem to fond with humans. Inuyasha's father fell in love with a mortal human. And Inuyasha with his partial human blood, has also fell in love with a mortal." Ruri said, "Indeed. Such eccentric." He tells Hari to watch over Kagome, which means he have a plan to get rid of Inuyasha. So, Hari took another taijitu from her forehead and on Kagome's forehead.

But then, it did not realized that, she has protected herself from the evil by her spiritual powers. So Menōmaru gave Hari the Sacred Jewel shard which had revived him while 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 shard 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. As Kagome about to use her bow to shoot the sacred arrow to free Kirara, Hari summoned the yōkai moths to stop her, until they were stopped by Sango's Hiraikotsu as she and Miroku arrived.

While Sango fights Hari and Miroku fights with Ruri, Kagome shot the sacred arrow once near Menōmaru, because she was serious before she about to get a second shot, Menōmaru was so fast as he tells her to "start acting like bait", as when he was nearly killed her, Inuyasha has arrived and Hari and Ruri leaves. As he got one shot, Inuyasha was surprised that Hyōga healed Menōmaru as he tells Inuyasha that he's immortal. According to Myōga, Menōmaru is absorbs demonic power from Hyōga, who lies dormant behind him. Hyōga's body perished long ago, but his near limitless power remains sealed inside. Menōmaru was surprised to see Myōga not to flee in the face of danger. As the fang is glowing, Inuyasha use the Kaze no Kizu on Menōmaru and the seal has been broken.

As the Hyōga's Tree of Ages is getting bigger with the enormous cocoon where Menōmaru is standing on it, he tells Inuyasha to thank him as he reveals that his father lost the battle to his father Tōga, and was sealed away at this very spot. Then Inuyasha's brother Sesshōmaru wield the fang Tenseiga did not have the power to break the spell, but the fang that does possess the power is on that pass on to him: the Tessaiga. Inuyasha was shocked that Menōmaru use him to break the seal. So Menōmaru has been prepared for the inheritance ritual to his father's powers to become the new Lord Hyōga inside the cocoon. When he's inside the cocoon, he's invincible and no match from Inuyasha. After that, he sent the yōkai moths to collect souls to render thousands of human villagers unconscious.

While the captured souls are gathered, Menōmaru prepare to use the Flute of Manipulation to possess Kagome to end Inuyasha. 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 normal humans, such as being 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.

Ruri was consumed by the Kazaana 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. When he gets closer he needs few more souls and he'll be complete. Which is the souls of the dead that Kikyō and her Shinidamachūs have been carried, only four souls: two from Kikyō and two from her Shinidamachūs.

He emerges from his cocoon as the new Lord Hyōga, a moth god with far more power than his father ever had, and out of his wings he summoned his armies of yōkai from the continent. Only with the power of his Backlash Wave attack and Kagome's sacred arrow do Inuyasha manage to find a way to destroy Hyōga for good.

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, now 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. After the defeat of Menōmaru, his and his father's Tree of Ages have fallen apart.

Flea Yōkai Yōkai Myōga  •  Shōga  •  Unnamed Stray Allies Inuyasha  •  Tōga  •  Tōtōsai  •  Mō-Mō  •  Bokusenō  •  Hōsenki I  •  Saya  •  Yakurōdokusen  •  Moroha  •  Setsuna  •  Towa Higurashi