Protagonists
Born to a dog demon father and human mother, InuYasha is a half-dog demon who initially wants to use the power of the Sacred Shikon Jewel to become a full-fledged demon like his brother, Sesshomaru. Also due to his half-human nature, Inuyasha loses his demonic powers and becomes pure human during the night of the new moon: his hair changes from silver to black, and his fangs, claws, and dog ears are replaced by the normal human equivalents. As he is at his most vulnerable during this time, Inuyasha is secretive about when it occurs, revealing it only to his most trusted companions.
A 15-year-old middle school student and she is born in modern Japan as the reincarnation of the deceased priestess Kikyo. Kagome has the Sacred Shikon Jewel unknowingly hidden inside her body until her birthday on September 14, 1997,when a demon pulls her into the Well. The demon extracts the jewel from Kagome. When another demon tries to take the Jewel, Kagome shoots it with an arrow. She accidentally shatters it into numerous fragments that disperse throughout Japan. As the series progresses, she begins to fall in love with Inuyasha,and finds herself competing with the revived Kikyo for his affections. During the search for the Shikon Jewel, Kagome's own innate spiritual powers and abilities, and archery skills continue to improve.
Is an immensely strong and powerful shrine maiden, who was given the task of guarding and purifying the Sacred Shikon Jewel. She falls in love with Inuyasha and considers using the Shikon Jewel to turn him from a half-dog demon into a full human; this would cause the Shikon Jewel to vanish, allowing her to live as an ordinary woman by his side.
However, Naraku disguises himself as Inuyasha to attack her village, leaving her seriously wounded. Fooled by Naraku, Kikyo believes Inuyasha has betrayed her and uses her remaining strength to seal Inuyasha to the Sacred Tree, leaving him in a sleeping state for fifty years. Shortly before she dies, she orders that the Shikon Jewel be burned along with her remains on her funeral pyre. The Shikon Jewel disappears and is apparently destroyed, but is reborn five hundred years later in the body of fifteen-year-old Kagome Higurashi, her reincarnation.
Inuyasha's older half-brother.As a full-blooded demon, he is extremely powerful. Unlike most demons seen in the series, he shows no interest in possessing any of the Shikon shards, feeling confident of his own strength. He is initially ruthless in dealing with Inuyasha, whom he hates as a half-demon who consorts with humans.However, Sesshomaru gradually becomes more sympathetic and caring after meeting the human child Rin.
Performs spiritual services such as exorcisms and demon exterminations.Miroku can attack enemies with his holy staff and sutra scrolls, but his greatest weapon, the Wind Tunnel embedded in the palm of his hand. The Wind Tunnel sucks in almost anything in its path and is a powerful weapon against demons. However, it grows larger with increasing use, so that Miroku's grandfather and father were eventually consumed by their own Wind Tunnels. Miroku hopes to break the curse by killing Naraku. Miroku often asks random women to bear him a child. He wants an heir to follow him if he dies without defeating Naraku.
Sango is a demon slayer who hails from a village of professional demon slayers. Her entire family and village are kill by Naraku. Her most powerful weapon is the Hiraikotsu, a massive boomerang made of purified demon bones. She is accompanied by the demon cat Kirara. Sango is often the victim of Miroku's lecherous tendencies and slaps him for it, but she later confesses her love to him.
Antagonists
Naraku:
He is the series' primary antagonist. Naraku is responsible for most of the characters' misfortunes, including the death of Kikyo, the sealing of Inuyasha to the sacred tree, Miroku's curse, and the death of Sango's family. Naraku was born from the fusion of Onigumo, a crippled human bandit tended by Kikyo, and a horde of weak demons. Driven by frustrated lust for Kikyo, Onigumo made a bargain with the demons: they could eat his flesh, and the demons would combine into one entity to become part of that new body. Unlike other Half-Demons, he can choose what time will he lose his powers. Naraku is driven by three goals: To become a full demon, to possess a fully-corrupted Shikon Jewel, and to possess Kikyo. The third goal is rooted in Onigumo's heart as a vital part of Naraku's body, causing an obsession with Kikyo that prevents him from killing her.
Kagura:
Is a creation of Naraku's, his second "detachment."She is a wind sorceress. She can create a blade-like tornado or use wind to animate dead bodies. She can also use her feather hair-ornaments as transportation, enlarging them to ride in the wind. Though initially cold and calculating, her hatred for Naraku increases and she attempts to free herself from his control, covertly opposing him to the point of offering aid to both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru in hopes that they can kill him.
The first detachment ofNaraku. Kanna is the only incarnation that Naraku trusts with important information about his actions, allowing her to give orders in his place.Kanna carries a demonic mirror that can steal the souls of those reflected in it. Once a soul is trapped by her mirror, Kanna can control that person's body to carry out her bidding. However, the mirror can be overwhelmed by an especially powerful soul such as Kagome's, forcing Kanna to release all of the trapped souls before the glass shatters. The mirror can also create a glass demon to copy the abilities of whatever it reflects, though Kanna herself suffers damage when the glass demon is wounded.
Naraku's heart and seventh detachment. He appears to be a human baby, but can speak fluently and control people with the darkness in their own hearts. His goal is to use Kagome to find the remaining shards of the Shikon Jewel. He finds her jealousy of Inuyasha's feelings for Kikyo, but Inuyasha saves her before The Infant can control her. Like Hakudoshi and Kagura, the Infant is not loyal to Naraku. Hakudoshi creates the demonic golem Moryomaru to provide the Infant an impenetrable defense, and the Infant adds new demons to further increase his abilities.
the eighth detachment from Naraku. Created from The Infant's body, he takes the form of a young child. Because his heart remains inside The infant, he can use all of the same powers and his own body can endlessly regenerate from any damage . Both Akago/ The Infant and Hakudoshi eventually grow tired of Naraku's rule and seek to betray him. Hakudoshi creates Moryomaru to protect Naraku's "heart". Naraku discovers their traitorous intentions and has the Saimyosho (poisonous insects) abandon Hakudoshi in battle, giving him no protection against Miroku's Wind Tunnel. Hakudoshi is subsequently sucked into the Tunnel and killed.
