The Mirror of Life (
Powers & Abilities[]
- Connection to Lake Motosu: The Mirror of Life helps facilitate Kaguya's connection to Lake Motosu in several interesting ways.
- Dream of the Pentacle Mirror: When Kaguya first awakens after Naraku's "death," she raises the Dream Castle of the Pentacle Mirror from the bottom of Lake Motosu. However, this castle is only an illusion. The real castle lies within another dimension inside the "Realm of the Night." This realm is connected in a parallel fashion to the surface of the lake. Only Kaguya can traverse the dimensions at will. Inuyasha was able to break through to the other side of the dimensional barrier with his Red Tessaiga. Kaguya did not allow either Kagura or Kanna to enter this realm, leaving them behind in the false castle in the real world. Despite this, Kaguya was still able to use her Mirror of Stillness spell from the other realm. Even after the illusion was dispelled, the castle's reflection in the Lake's surface is still visible.
- Castle Beyond the Looking Glass: This is the aforementioned castle of Kaguya's that lies within its own dimension. Kaguya's mirror appears to be connected with Lake Motosu, and by which she accesses and controls it. Before finding the Five Lakes objects, only the lower levels are visible, but after her powers are unsealed, the rock behind the castle extends into a small mountain, on top of which is Kaguya's main halls. Within this "Realm of the Night," Kaguya's powers over the dark desires of the heart are amplified, and she is apparently able to grant wishes to a certain extent, sealing Inuyasha's human blood inside her mirror, allowing him to become a full-blooded demon. However, Kagome broke the spell, resulting in the Mirror of Life being fractured. The Mirror apparently also acts as a portal from the "Realm of the Night" and the Castle Beyond the Looking Glass to the real world. Inuyasha and his friends, as well as Naraku and Kohaku, are able to use the Mirror to escape Kaguya's collapsing castle and get back to Earth.
- Clairvoyance: Kaguya is able to look into her mirror and see things that are far away, similar to Kanna. However, Kaguya's sight appears to be limited to the periphery of her castle and Lake Motosu.
- Orochi: A large six-headed dragon resides permanently at the bottom of the lake, and Kaguya uses it to guard her castle. She is able to control it telepathically. It is extremely large and can shoot blasts of fire from each of its six mouths. All six heads are connected at the base to a large crystalline structure, from which the creature draws its power. It is its only vulnerable spot, and apparently is otherwise invulnerable, as the Kaze no Kizu had no affect on it. Once destroyed by Kikyō and Inuyasha, Orochi dies.
- Black Hole: Arguably Kaguya's greatest defensive and offensive spell. It summons a large black sphere that resembles a black hole. It absorbs any attack that is thrown at her, provided it is powered by yōki. Once absorbed, Kaguya amplifies the attack with her own energy and then fires the enhanced blast back at her opponent, in five directions. It is triggered when the Mirror of Life's glass darkens suddenly, the releases flash of bright light. This causes a reverse reaction in the area in front of Kaguya, where a white circle appears, which then shifts to black, revealing the "black hole." After the Mirror is fractured, small black spheres emerge from the cracks, which then coalesce into the "black hole."
- Barrier: This is Kaguya's most basic defensive move. Any yōki-powered attack is merely blocked, sometimes causing its course to be split, going around the circular perimeter of the defensive barrier. When an attack comes into contact with the barrier, it releases a stream of light in a cylindrical shape around Kaguya. Otherwise it is invisible. Kaguya can also use this technique in conjunction with her hairpin sword to disperse the energy of her opponent's attack altogether. Unlike Kanna, her barrier does not reflect the enemies attack; for this effect, she would require the "Black Hole" technique mentioned above.
- Light Whip (光の鞭, Hikari no Muchi, "Whip of Light"): The Mirror's glass flashes pink, the light spiraling beyond the Mirror's surface itself, forming five whip-like tendrils of light. Kaguya uses this to easily neutralize Inuyasha during their second encounter, the first where she takes physical form.
- Reversing Mirror: Kaguya was able to absorb Kagome's sacred arrow physically into the glass of her mirror, able to then fire it in any direction she chooses.
- Light Blast: Arguably Kaguya's strongest stand-alone spell, in this technique, the Mirror of Life begins to glow extremely brightly with a blinding light. Any caught near this blast of light will be instantly incinerated. Even Naraku's body, which can withstand even the extremely hot flames of Jaken's Nintōjō, was almost completely obliterated.
- Wish Granting: Kaguya is apparently able to grant wishes. She promises that she can grant Kagura "true freedom" in return for her cooperation in obtaining Kaguya's freedom and also promises Inuyasha to transform him into a fully-fledged demon. While it is uncertain how Kaguya might have granted the first wish, she is able to chant a spell that seals Inuyasha's human blood into her mirror, which allows Inuyasha to be a pure-blooded demon, though this only lasts a short time before Kagome breaks the spell, resulting in the Mirror of Life becoming fractured.
- Pentagram Seal: Reminiscent of the seal on her Mirror which kept her confined to its pocket dimension, Kaguya's power is represented in a pink pentagram, evoking the Wuxing of Chinese philosophy, representing a union of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. She unites the elements in some way by drawing on the power of the Five Lakes of Mount Fuji, combining them into her seal. By channeling her own power and that of the Celestial Robe into the seal, Kaguya is able to enact her Power of the Mirror of Stillness spell. Kaguya is also able to create a miniature of this seal to bind Kagome.
- Pocket Dimension: In addition to the "Realm of the Night" connected to Lake Motosu, Kaguya also has a small pocket dimension inside her Mirror. This is where she remained sealed for fifty years, but was also able to store Kagome's body for ease of transport following her kidnapping of the young miko.
- Hairpin Sword: Kaguya is able to enlarge her hairpins into large swords. Similar to the Celestial Robe, Kaguya's hairpin swords have no innate abilities of their own, but merely act as a medium for Kaguya's power, allowing her to deflect attacks and fire her energy blast technique.
- Armor Coils: The two red coils on Kaguya forearms can be extended to impale her enemies. She can also use them to bind her enemies. When this happens, their color changes from red to brown, forming branch-like structures which then pin her opponents to various nearby surfaces.
Verse[]
Kanna spoke this verse when she obtained the mirror:
Trivia[]
- The Light Whip have the same powers as Sesshōmaru, and Kyūki.
References[]
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