The Snow leopard (雪豹, ゆきひょう, "Yuki hyō") was a yōkai that was under the command of the Yuki-on'na.
History[]
Inuyasha and his friends were searching for Miroku after he was taken by the Yuki-on'na. They found him at an abandoned house and saw him taking care of piles of snow that he believed were his children. They realized that he was under a spell and tried to rescue him, but they were stopped by the Yuki-on'na. She warned them to turn back. She then sensed the Sacred Jewel shards that Kagome was carrying. She summoned her snow leopard in order the take the jewel shards. Kirara tried to confront it, but she was unable to use her full power due to the cold weather. Inuyasha sliced it in half with Tessaiga. He thought he had destroyed it, but it regenerated while his back was turned. It was about to attack Inuyasha from behind when Kagome temporarily ceased it by shooting her sacred arrow at its fang. Inuyasha was able to escape the beast's attack. It once again regenerated and continued its attack.
The Snow leopard threw Inuyasha into the roof of the house. He came crashing down near Miroku. The hole on the roof let in sunlight that broke the spell placed on Miroku. He saw that all the children he was tending to were actually just piles of snow. The Yuki-on'na suddenly shot a burst of ice from her mouth at Miroku and claimed they he would not escape from her. He threw one of his sacred sutras at her. This revealed her true appearance. Inuyasha returned to fight the Snow leopard. Miroku shattered the Yuki-on'na's body with his staff and it turned to snow. Her soul and other souls left the piles of snow. They all entered the body of the Snow leopard. It grew a lot after absorbing the souls. Miroku explained that the Snow leopard's weakness was fire. Shippō tried to use his Foxfire on it, but it had no effect. Kagome then rode Kirara until she was high enough to launch a gourd at the Snow leopard. It contained medicine for hypothermia. Sango shattered the gourd with Hiraikotsu so the medicine would be doused on the beast. Kagome then fired her sacred arrow with one of her fireworks attached to it. That combined with the medicine caused the beast's body to be caught on fire. Inuyasha finished off with the Kaze no Kizu.
After the beast was destroyed, the spirit of a woman appeared before them. Inuyasha was prepared to destroy it, but Miroku told him not to since the spirit was now free to rest in peace. They all gathered around the grave of the woman who's spirit was possessed by the yōkai to pay their respects.
Powers & Abilities[]
- Flight: The snow leopard is able to fly.
- Regeneration: It is able to regenerate its body if it is wounded. It is even able to recover after being sliced in half by Inuyasha's Tessaiga. If it is caught on fire, however, then it is unable to heal itself.
Media appearances[]
- Episode 101 (First appearance)
- Episode 148 (Appears in a flashback)
Trivia[]
- His design was reused for the beast Un'Ei in episode 48 of Yashahime.