Wolf yōkai (妖狼, Yōrō, "demon wolves") are demons who resemble wolves. The ones that have a humanoid appearance have fangs and pointed ears, and the ones that aren't humanoid look like wolves slightly larger than the regular wolf, and have the ability to speak. They are almost always seen wearing armor and wolf fur. They live in large groups, and inhabit caves in mountain areas. Wolf demons usually never have any sort of demonic power, and attack with weapons or physical strength. They can control actual wolves to do their bidding. They also hunt all animals, including humans except for Kōga's group, later Ayame's group.
For the wolf yōkai, their own pack is very important. Kōga was the main reason for the hunt for Naraku, that Kagura one of Naraku's incarnations had killed so many members of his pack in the Eastern tribe[1] and Ayame's pack in the Northern tribe.[2] And Kai is annoyed when he thinks Kōga would have left his pack in the lurch.
Wolf yōkai also often have a coat color, which corresponds to their pack. The wolves in Kōga's packs have light brown fur. A friendly pack, which is later attacked by Kagura, had black fur. And the wolves in Ayames Rudel have white or ocher fur.
Their strength also seems to vary. Kōga and Ayame are quite strong, but most of the wolf yōkai seem to be rather weak. Some are killed even by "lower yōkai" which looks like huge worms and beetles, although hanyō like Inuyasha and Jinenji can easily destroy them.
While many wolf yōkai who are in human form have narrow pupils, there are also many who have not. However, they have a good sense of hearing and a good sense of smell. They can also speak and understand the language of wolves, and talk to them. Especially strong wolf yōkai can also move very fast, and run so fast that only one cyclone is visible, like Kōga and Ayame.
Known wolf yōkai[]
Trivia[]
- Many fans assume that, like other animal demons in the series, wolf yōkai can change their shape, and that the wolf yōkai look like big wolves also have a human-like shape, while Kōga and other human-like wolf yōkai can look like huge animals. However, such transformations are never shown. Generally, the series follows the premise that only the strongest demons take on human shapes (with notable exceptions such as Ryūkotsusei), though wolf yōkai generally tend to be rather weak, despite many of them having human appearances.
References[]
| Yōkai Wolf Tribes | |
|---|---|
| Eastern Tribe | Ginta • Hakkaku • Kōga • Yawaragi |
| Northern Tribe | Ayame • Kai • Shinta • Rōrō • Wolf elder • Wolf demon graveyard protector |
| Unique Places | Lair of the wolf demon tribe • Wolf demon tribe graveyard |
| Unique Items | Goraishi • Kurikaramaru |
| Enemies | Birds of Paradise (Birds of Paradise leader) • Naraku • Panther tribe (Panther King) • Shichinintai |
| ||||||||||||
- ↑ InuYasha anime; Episode 40
- ↑ InuYasha anime; Episode 83