InuYasha
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Sarugami (さるがみ, "Monkey God") was a deity who protected a village. He inhabited an orb called the go-shintai from time to time that was housed in his shrine.

History[]

During a war, his three spirit servants took him out of his burning shrine in the go-shintai. They took him to the woods but saw some acorns and followed them leaving him behind. A villager found it and thought it was a it would do well as a pickling stone. He was then left it in a barrel of vegetables in the village. He gave each of his servants a premonition in their dreams in order to find him (Gon saw a place that was dark and damp, Ken saw a place that was cramped and suffocating, and Bun saw a place that smelled like vegetables). They started to ravage the villagers fields in order to find the go-shintai.

Inuyasha and his friends arrived at the village and helped his servants find him. After he was released, he undid the spell his servants put on Inuyasha. He congratulated Kagome for her investigation skills since she was the one who discovered his location. He then said he sensed an evil aura (Naraku) fly over the village and go in the direction of the Ox-Tiger (northeast) and suddenly vanished (because of the barrier at Mount Hakurei where Naraku hid concealed himself while he was healing). Thanks to him, Inuyasha and his friends knew where to find Naraku which led them to Mount Hakurei. He promised the protect the villagers in the future if they build him a new shrine.

Powers & Abilities[]

He is skilled at magic as he was the one who taught his spirit servants how to use their magic though not as well as him. He easily breaks the boulder spell on Inuyasha and is able to sense Naraku's aura even though he was in the go-shintai and followed it all the way to the area close to Mount Hakurei. he is also able to send messages to his servants in their dreams. He does this so they know where to find he when he goes missing, but they misinterpret the messages and look elsewhere.

Trivia[]

  • The depiction of monkey deities is a common occurrence in Japanese mythology. In Shintō religion, Sarugami served as a messenger for the Mountain God Sannō. There are also stories where Sarugami is depicted as a yōkai. In Mimasaka Province (present-day Okayama Prefecture) Saragami would have the villages sacrifice young girls to him. One year, A hunter and his dog posed at the chosen sacrifice and confronted the monkey. It was defeated and vowed never to demand human sacrifices again.
  • His seiyū previously voiced Lum's father from Urusei Yatsura and would also voice Chokyukai .

Media appearances[]

Manga

Anime

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