Magatsuhi (
History[]
Origins[]
Naohi vs. Magatsuhi inside the jewel.
Magatsuhi and his good half counterpart called Naohi endless battled inside the jewel since its creation. As seen in the final scene, since she is the jewel's bright light, the ancient human priestess Midoriko can freely move even in the darkness, while his origin she was fighting can't do the same thing in the goodness, since he would be instantly purified as not longer protected by the darkness born from his soul.
During the story[]
Magatsuhi's demonic entity.
Naraku helps an impatient Magatsuhi to manifest in physical form so that he can help him to complete the darkened Shikon Jewel and to eliminate the sacred light. He fears Kagome's spiritual power and seals away her true strengths to prevent her from purifying him since birth, as he was connected to her though the jewel that once existed within her body. The jewel is now briming with Naraku's darkness, to the point that he no longer has room to return to it.
His first mission after coming to life is to defile and obtain Kohaku's shard, but he is obstructed by Sesshōmaru, whose sword Tenseiga can kill him and reveals his true form as a spirit from the jewel. He flees after being injured by Bakusaiga in the fight, having completely lost the flesh which Naraku lent him, and along with Byakuya tricks Sesshōmaru into leaving Kohaku alone using an illusion of itself.
He succeeds in kidnapping Kohaku, made unconscious by his defilement of his shard, and severely injures Miroku and Sango who tried to stop the major demon. He remained in control of Kohaku, tormenting the boy with visions of his past, until Kohaku managed to awaken and break free of him.
Kohaku then attempted to drive the demon from his body, even at the cost of his own life. He curses him and fights back until being slashed by Sesshōmaru, who has returned after realizing he was tricked. Sesshōmaru attempts to kill him, but he escapes at the last moment, having hidden his essence in Miroku, who he poisoned.
He then appears inside Naraku's enormous spider body in the final battle, possessing Inuyasha and trying to kill Rin and Kagome. Sesshōmaru mocks him, taunting Inuyasha was the worst person to possess, and he finds Inuyasha fighting back at his control through his love for Kagome.
He is driven from Inuyasha's body and after tries to take over Kagome, but Inuyasha stops him with Dragon-Scaled Tessaiga's Yōketsu which causes him to get stuck, as Sesshōmaru told him to regret who he'd possessed, and is destroyed by Sesshōmaru with Tenseiga. His death breaks the seal on Kagome's spiritual power, but of course the jewel's evil was already replaced by Naraku's darkness itself as pure hatred for Inuyasha.
Personality[]
As the embodiment of the darkness of the Shikon Jewel, Magatsuhi is pure evil incarnate, perhaps even more so than Naraku himself. Just like his origin inside the jewel, he is a fierce demon who views every other single being, living or not, as inferior to him, repeatedly calling Sesshōmaru weak and disliking any Inuyasha's comparisons of him to Naraku. He sneers at courage and self-sacrifice as seen when badly injuring Miroku and Sango, taunting Miroku for absorbing his deathly poison to save Kohaku from him and sneering that he will die. He is also sadistic, promising Sango he will return her brother as a corpse once he is through with him. However, that boast of being invincible and his general arrogance ultimately proves to be the cause of his downfall against an half-demon, Inuyasha.
Physical description[]
- Byakuya: "Naraku, was that a new incarnation, or something?"
- Naraku: "No, not quite. It came from the Shikon Jewel. It is the evil will of the demons that have been sealed within it for many years."
- ―Byakuya and Naraku[src]
His incorporeal form is that of a disembodied pale face with red eyes and sclera and blue stripes on his cheeks. After he escaped the jewel and manifested in the living world through Naraku's flesh, he assumed the form of an adult male with long, shaggy white hair similar to Inuyasha's, smaller facial markings, blue lips and wore a set of dark armor. His temporary human-like body resembles to Jūrōmaru and Kagerōmaru. His arms were of a pale purple colored and most of the time, were a set of three sharp tendrils. As the body did not truly belong to him, he could deconstruct it back into the parts he borrowed from Naraku, keeping only the head in its form so he can speak. Just like his dragon origin's inside the jewel, even if not resembling at all, it was formed by many minor demons.
Powers and abilities[]
The jewel's dark side.
- Non-corporeal: Being the embodiment of the jewel's evil will, Magatsuhi lacks a physical body. Therefore, he can't be hurt by normal means such as Bakusaiga, or Tessaiga. Only spiritual or holy weapons can affect him.
- Expert strategist: Magatsuhi's very cunning where he immediately recognizes any advantage he so has during a battle to further achieve his victory. This is shown when he specifically possessed Kohaku in order to take advantage of Sango's familial ties with him and possessed Inuyasha while he was nearby Rin in order to take advantage of Sesshōmaru's connection to her. Finally he had Inuyasha send Kagome falling down to her death so that he may possess her when Inuyasha jumps to rescue her. However Magatsuhi's sadistic arrogance was his undoing as he underestimated the strength of Inuyasha's willpower and demonic powers that led to his destruction by Sesshōmaru's Tenseiga.
- Immense demonic power: Representing the evil of the Shikon Jewel, Magatsuhi is extremely powerful, having backed both Inuyasha and Sesshōmaru in demon form into a corner. His power appears to exceed even Naraku's, calling himself a league far beyond his.
- Immense corruption: The darkness of Magatsuhi's demonic powers is so vast and dense that a simple stare corrupted and temporarily knocked out Kagome and simultaneously sealed away her spiritual powers. In fact, he even managed to corrupt the Shikon Jewel shard within Kohaku's neck with a mere touch while Naraku can't even touch it without risk getting purified by Kikyō's light imbued within it.
- Transformation (変化, へんげ, "Henge"): Magatsuhi has the ability to transform a part or his entire body into a plethora of large, thick tentacles capable of deadly constriction as well as used for impaling enemies. Magatsuhi has no definite form. Like Naraku, he, too, is born from the soul of an amalgamation of demons, briefly borrowing flesh from Naraku to assume a physical form in the material world.
- Immortality: As Magatsuhi is born from the demon soul residing within the Shikon Jewel, he is virtually immune to all forms of physical damage as since the form he was in during his initial battle against Sesshōmaru is borrowed flesh from Naraku, he was able to survive a decapitation like nothing. This also extends to his spirit form where being a mere spirit left him unable to be harmed by physical attacks and only Sesshōmaru's Tenseiga was able to vanquish him. The presence of a corrupted jewel shard enhances his immortality to the point that he can survive being sucked into Miroku's Wind Tunnel, something previously unseen in any other invincible enemy such as Kaguya or Hakudōshi.
- Possession: Magatsuhi can possess another's body. He did this to Kohaku, Rin, Inuyasha, and narrowly done so to Kagome as well. However his possession is not absolute as his spirit can be drawn out of another's body by a strong enough yōki such as Inuyasha's yōkai form's Yōketsu.
- Demon bone possession: During his possession of Kohaku, Magatsuhi was able to possess the demon bones used to create the demon slayer's kusarigama to cause it grow and extend itself to attack at unsuspecting angles.
- Enhanced miasma: Magatsuhi's miasma is one of the strongest if not the strongest in the entire series. His miasma is strong enough to seriously injure Sesshōmaru who is very much immune to poison and is of course fatal to humans. His miasma almost killed Miroku who, if not for Magatsuhi fleeing from Sesshōmaru through Miroku, would have certainly died.
Weaknesses[]
- Spiritual powers: Kikyō's light helped purge Magatsuhi out of Kohaku's body. Magatsuhi was fearful of Kagome's powers, hence he sealed them the moment he saw her.
- Yōketsu (妖穴, "Vortex of Demonic Energy"): When Inuyasha uses the demon vortex, Magatsuhi has banished as he cannot return to possess nor leave, which means there's no escape for him.
Quotes[]
- "You're weak, demon."
- ―Magatsuhi to Sesshōmaru.
- "No! Damn you! You'll pay!"
- ―Magatsuhi, shows of his true form as a spirit from the jewel, after being cut by Sesshōmaru's Tenseiga.
- "As long the Tainted Piece of Shikon no Tama existed, my power is limitless."
- ―Magatsuhi
- "Stupid woman, you still didn't realize that your spiritual power is sealed within me."
- ―Magatsuhi to Kagome.
- "It is useless, I won't let you go to her."
- ―Magatsuhi
- "Impossible, how could I lose to a mere hanyō's yōki?"
- ―Magatsuhi's last words.
Trivia[]
- If the Jewel of Four Souls is tainted being held by an evil/greedy human or yōkai it turns a lurid black-violet, whom is represented by Magatsuhi/Evil within the jewel, means the powerful yōkai's soul is winning over Midoriko, Naohi/Good.
- Since he sealed Kagome's spiritual powers completely even more powerful than the Panther King from episode 77 that he briefly sealed Miroku's spiritual powers from sucking his Wind Tunnel.
- His seiyū also voiced Bankotsu, Jūra, and Mayonaka. He also voiced Shinnosuke from Rumiko Takahashi's previous work Ranma ½.
- In the first movie's introduction, his true spiritual form within the jewel's blue dimension contrasting Naohi with stars and lightning is that of a giant black dragon. It is a reference to the four evil Taotie of Chinese legend, themselves represented by the Four Perils.
Media appearances[]
Manga
- Chapter 513 (First appearance)
- Chapter 514
- Chapter 515
- Chapter 516
- Chapter 517
- Chapter 518
- Chapter 519 (Appears in a flashback)
- Chapter 521
- Chapter 522
- Chapter 523
- Chapter 524 (possessed Kohaku)
- Chapter 525
- Chapter 526
- Chapter 531
- Chapter 536
- Chapter 537
- Chapter 538
- Chapter 539
- Chapter 540 (death)
Anime
- InuYasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time (First appearance)
- Episode 184
- Episode 185 (Appears in a flashback)
- Episode 186
- Episode 187
- Episode 188
- Episode 189
- Episode 190 (death)
- Episode 193 (Credits only)
References[]
| Naraku | |
|---|---|
| Incarnations | Kanna • Kagura • Goshinki • Kagerōmaru • Jūrōmaru • Musō • Infant • Hakudōshi • Byakuya • Akagane |
| Rejected parts | Unnamed incarnation • Hair monster • Eye monster • Onigumo (reabsorbed) • Kugutsu • Kodoku |
| Allies | Saimyōshō • Tsubo Tsukai • Sesshōmaru (formerly) • Jaken (formerly) • Ryūkotsusei • Tsubaki • Hakushin • Shichinintai • Salamander • Entei • Abi • Tekkei • Mōryōmaru (formerly) • Gorai • Mirror demon • Magatsuhi • Demon of the Shikon no Tama |
| Enemies | Inuyasha • Kagome Higurashi • Kikyō • Miyatsu • Miroku's father • Miroku • Sango • Kirara • Kohaku • Kōga • Ginta • Hakkaku • Kai • Shinta • Sesshōmaru (currently) • Kaguya • Mōryōmaru (currently) • Hōsenki I • Hitomiko • Kansuke • Kaede • Midoriko • Shippō • Jaken (currently) • Rin • A-Un • Janis |
| Locations | Onigumo's cave • Naraku's castle • Mount Hakurei • Naraku's cave |
| Miscellaneous | Shikon no Tama • Kazaana • Onigumo's cave • Naraku's castle • Mount Hakurei |