| “ | I seek nothing more than to battle the most powerful beings alive, which excludes the lowly likes of you. | „ |
| ~ Sesshomaru. |
Sesshomaru is an antagonist turned anti hero in the anime/manga series Inuyasha. He is Inuyasha's older half-brother, an extremely powerful full-blooded demon. Unlike most demons seen in the series, he shows no interest in possessing any of the Shikon Jewel shards, feeling confident of his own strength and seeming to find the use of the gem to enhance one's power distasteful.
He is voiced by Ken Narita in the Japanese version of the anime and David Kaye in the English version, the former of whom also voices Jeremiah Gottwald, Dr. Stylish and Shalba Beelzebub. In the English version of The Final Act, he is voiced by Michael Dangerfield.
Appearance
Sesshomaru appears handsome and frail-looking and at the same time, appearing as a tall and slender young man. He has fair skin with pointy ears, golden eyes with slit pupils, and waist-length white hair with short bangs. He has a crescent moon on his forehead that can be seen beneath his bangs, two stripes on each cheek, and a magenta stripe on each eyelid. When he uses his Dakkoso three stripes appear on his wrists.
Sesshomaru's true form is a giant white dog with markings similar to the ones he has in his human form. His eyes become red with blue irises; the yokai marks on his body widen and become more apparent the stripes on his cheeks which are usually smooth become jagged and change into a somewhat fiercer color while his mokomoko wraps around his body and extends into his tail.
Personality
Sesshomaru's aloofness and indifference is a product of dignity that only one of such rare demonic power may possess. Sesshomaru is more or less emotionless; only anger, annoyance, and dissatisfaction showing on his face. Whenever Sesshomaru would encounter an enemy he would kill them without hesitation. He also considered humans to be nothing more than trash, but his views would later change after meeting Rin.
After Inuyasha sub-consciously used the wind scar on Sesshomaru, the tenseiga prevented a possible fatality and transported his body. Sesshomaru quickly rested for the time-being in a forest near a village, where he first met the orphan girl, Rin. He was cared for by Rin during his rehabilitation from injury. He was initially hostile to the mute girl, who offered him food, by refusing to eat and telling her to "mind her own business." However, the little girl continued to serve him. Once he recovered, he set off with Jaken, but he sensed Rin's blood scent when she was attacked and mauled by Koga's wolves; he was initially going to ignore her but when Tenseiga pulsated and told him to save her, he used Tenseiga to resurrect her, where upon she began to follow him. This incident proved to be the turning point in his life as it dramatically transformed his attitude towards everyone else. This was apparent when Rin was seen wearing new and colorful kimono later.
When Rin falls off to the cliff in the process of getting life-saving herbs for Jaken, Sesshomaru comes in a bolt of light to save her after she called out his name. In Forever With Lord Sesshomaru, after Sesshomaru saves Rin, he asks Rin to do what she wishes. This is not at all typical of Sesshomaru, as he was usually shown to leave Jaken at times before he met Rin. Jaken is even shown to be mumbling that "Lord Sesshomaru will kill him if something happens to Rin," obviously showing his concern for the girl's safety. Sesshomaru, while fighting Jakotsu, rushes off to rescue Rin, who fell when the bridge broke. Jakotsu notes that Rin is Sesshomaru's weakness. Exploiting this fact, Suikotsu and Jakotsu threatens to kill Rin when they are cornered. Sesshomaru even saves Kohaku, Rin's best friend and protector, who was under Naraku's control, under the behest of Inuyasha and his friends. These are some of the many traces of compassion that Sesshomaru displays.
Sesshomaru's compassion for Rin is evident, but he prefers to disguise it, because it would taint his pride. However, he shows his love and concern for Rin when she appears to be dead due to her time in Hell. Sesshomaru enters Hell for the purpose of rescuing her, but upon learning that he cannot save her life, he is crushed. When he realizes that it was his urge to strengthen Tenseiga which brought them to Hell and ultimately killed her, he casts the sword aside and says that for the sword to gain power at the expense of Rin's life means nothing. However, when Sesshomaru's mother revives Rin, he is seems to be relieved. Finally the will of his father, who cared for humans, has been passed to his son.
When Kagura was injured, Sesshomaru originally intended to leave her in the river she was drowning in, but when Rin falls in trying to save her and Jaken follows Rin, Sesshomaru pulls all three from the river. He stayed there afterwards and warned her not to do anything that would get her killed. Later however, before Kagura's death, Sesshomaru seeks her out and considers using the Tenseiga, only to conclude that Tenseiga cannot save her.
He has also been shown saving Inuyasha's friends on several occasions. On his way to Mount Hakurei, Sesshomaru saves Kagome, Miroku, and Sango from the poison master Mukotsu, one of the Band of Seven but only claims that he killed Mukotsu because he would not answer his questions. He also revives a young otter yokai's father, claiming that it was the will of Tenseiga. Another example is when Inuyasha and his companions are involved in a fight with the "water god" Numawatari: when Sesshomaru arrives, he insults Inuyasha's inability to kill a "low life demon," and then easily dispatches Numawatari using his Meido Zangetsuha, leaving straight after.
It is his compassion that caused the Tenseiga to be reforged as a weapon. Its offensive powers were locked until Sesshomaru was able to show true compassion. In his battle with Moryomaru, the villain insulted the dying Kagura, which angered Sesshomaru and he shatters Moryomaru's indestructible shell (and his only weapon in the process). Acknowledging that he cared about Kagura to some degree.
History
Origin
He is the son of the Great Dog Demon and another dog demon. He saw his father as the ultimate opponent, wishing to defeat him in combat and take his two legendary swords, Tessaiga and So'unga. He talked with his father following the battle with Ryukotsusei, demanding the two swords be handed over to him. However, when questioned if he had anyone to protect, Sesshomaru told his father that he did not. After his father died to protect his half-brother, Inuyasha, and his human mother, Sesshomaru began hating them. He was given the Tenseiga instead of the other two swords to eventually teach him compassion.
Seeking Out The Tessaiga
Sesshomaru began his quest for the Tessaiga by searching for the place that a short poem indicated it would be. "Seen yet never seen, protected, but never known to its protector." This was the only known clue as to Tessaiga's location. His kappa servant, Jaken, suggested they go to his younger brother, Inuyasha, to ask where his father's grave located. Sesshomaru and Jaken are then next seen riding on a huge ogre looking demon and attacks a woman in a flying carriage. Inuyasha tries to save the woman but Jaken tries to fry Inuyasha, gaining Inuyasha's attention. Sesshomaru praised Inuyasha for him and taunts him for being a half demon. He then asked him where their father grave was, but Inuyasha told him that he doesn't know. Sesshomaru proceeds to tell Inuyasha that if he doesn't answer, he will kill the woman in the carriage, Inuyasha's mother. Inuyasha at first doesn't believe that the woman is his mother. However, after hearing from the woman that she is truly his mother brought back from the dead, Inuyasha attempts to attack the demon and save her. Sesshomaru ordered the demon to attack them, but before they could get hurt, Inuyasha's Mother transported them to a different place. Sesshomaru was annoyed by Jaken's bothersome plan and tells him that if it should fail, he would kill him.
Jaken goes to where Inuyasha was located and it's revealed that the woman was not Inuyasha's mother, but a demon called the Unmother. The Unmother was a spirit of women who had their children killed by war. To lure Inuyasha into revealing the secret to the whereabouts of the Tessaiga, Sesshomaru then appeared and gloated that he knew where their father's tomb was. He grabs Inuyasha and pulled a black pearl from Inuyasha's eye. He then used the Nintojo Jaken carries to open a portal from the black pearl. He and the others jumped in, traveling to the world between the living and the afterlife.
Sesshomaru enters the skeleton of his late father and attempts to pull out the Tessaiga but, he is unable to pull out the sword due to a spell on the sword which prevents full demons from touching it. Inuyasha arrives and tries but fails to pull it out. Sesshomaru then attacks Inuyasha. Kagome, who was knocked back by Jaken, with the sword in her hand pulls it out by accident. Sesshomaru, enraged by the fact that a lowly human could pull out the Tessaiga, demanded Kagome that she must submit the sword to him. However, Kagome refused, and threatened that she'd cut him with the sword. Inuyasha warned Sesshomaru to stay away from Kagome for good. Sesshomaru, who hated humans and half-demons alike, then sprayed toxic sludge upon Kagome, covering her alive. He also remarked to Inuyasha that Inuyasha's love for human was what made him weak, just like his mother. Inuyasha is furious and attacks him not only because of what he did to Kagome but also because Sesshomaru insulted the memory of Inuyasha's human mother saying that she has dirty blood. Kagome pops out of the goo and is unharmed because the Tessaiga protected her. She gives it to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru tests him and the sword by transforming into his demon form which is and giant white dog with all his distinguished markings.
Sesshomaru and Inuyasha start to battle. Inuyasha uses the Tessaiga, which looks like a useless scrap of metal, and it doesn't work. Sesshomaru begins to poison up the inside of his father, forcing Inuyasha and Kagome to escape outside. Inuyasha tells Kagome that she's crazy to think that he needs to believe in the sword to make it work. Kagome starts crying, asking if she should give up hope and Inuyasha tells her to shut up so he can protect her. As Inuyasha approaches Sesshomaru to get the fight over with, the sword starts pulsing and suddenly transforms into a huge fang-like sword. Inuyasha then slices off Sesshomaru's left arm, so he is forced to flee.
Naraku Lends A Hand
A band of outlaws, who had just raided a poor village, are riding through a land where demons supposedly come out at night. They see someone ahead and assume that it is merely a human and they start to attack. The man kills them all with one stroke of his arm. The man is Sesshomaru. Jaken walks up to him through the grass and congratulates his master on destroying the men so quickly. Sesshomaru throws his arm, that he used to defeat the men, on the ground. He had defeated a demon and had stolen it from him. Sesshomaru cannot find a permanent arm to use after Inuyasha had cut off his arm. Naraku appears behind Sesshomaru and offers him a human arm. He says that Sesshomaru could not touch the Tessaiga because he's a demon, but if he used a human arm he could. He also gives him a hive that would be used to block the hole in Miroku's hand. Naraku asks Sesshomaru to use his gifts to defeat Inuyasha for him.
A huge shadowy claw then zooms across the sky and starts wreaking havoc on a town. It turns out to be another of Sesshomaru's shadow beasts, and the villagers fled in fear. Sesshomaru is releasing poison from his hand and Inuyasha covers his nose with his sleeve and coughs while Kagome, Miroku, and Shippo back away. Sesshomaru says that he came to claim the Tessaiga. They go outside to find Sesshomaru, Jaken, and their big ogre demon. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru fight for a while and Sesshomaru uses his human arm to take the Tessaiga. He shows Inuyasha how to slay a hundred demons with one stroke of the blade. They fight for a while before Miroku steps in and uses his wind tunnel. Sesshomaru releases the hive and the insects from hell fly into Miroku's hand. Miroku is poisoned and he cannot fight. Kagome runs to get him an antidote. Inuyasha continues to fight with Sesshomaru while Miroku and Shippo fight Jaken, who uses his Nintojo, tossing fire at them.
Sesshomaru is about to kill Inuyasha with the Tessaiga when an arrow comes flying at it and reverts its transformation. Kagome is seen standing on a hill with her bow and arrow out. She says the next one will go in his heart and warns Inuyasha to move away. Sesshomaru charges at Kagome but Inuyasha jumps in front of him and takes the blow for her. Later on in the battle, Inuyasha manages to tear off Sesshomaru's arm, but gets stabbed by Sesshomaru's poison claws in the process. Sesshomaru and Jaken leave, and the insects retrieve the jewel shard in Sesshomaru's arm.
Tessaiga vs. Tenseiga
Sesshomaru, dissatisfied with his sword, Tenseiga, wishes to have the old, absent-minded sword smith Totosai make him a new one. The unwilling Totosai has Inuyasha defend him, causing the brothers to fight. Totosai reveals the heritage of Sesshomaru's sword before creating a diversion to allow Inuyasha and the rest of his companions to escape. Soon after leaving Inuyasha and his companions, Totosai is attacked by Sesshomaru. Once again, Inuyasha battles his brother as Totosai's protector, but must now face Sesshomaru's newest defense: a dragon's arm. As Inuyasha and Sesshomaru continue to duel for possession of Tessaiga, both brothers discover the unexpected power of their respective inheritances, as Inuyasha discovers the true power of his sword, and Sesshomaru, who called his sword useless, is saved by his Tenseiga, which teleports him to another location.
After the fight, an orphaned human child, Rin, attempts to nurse the injured Sesshomaru back to health. Though he initially tries to scare her off, she returns to him, heartened at the smallest show of interest. After being healed up he leaves, but ends up smelling her blood so he goes to see her only to learn she's been mauled to death by some of Koga's wolves, while trying to return to him. Sesshōmaru was initially going to ignore her, but moved by curiosity and prompted by Tenseiga's pulsing, tests the blade on her, cutting down the minions of hell that have come to collect her soul and restoring her to life. He walks off and Rin follows him, becoming his traveling companion for the duration of the series.
Sesshomaru's New Sword
After finding the corpse of the fallen Goshinki and detecting Inuyasha's scent on it, Sesshomaru takes the demon's head to Kaijinbo, the rogue swordsmith and former disciple of Totosai, in order to commission a sword made from Goshinki's head. On the same day Kaijinbo arrives, possessed and wielding his newest creation Tokijin, Inuyasha has transformed into his human form being defenseless. Then luckily Totosai appears and gives Inuyasha his sword which is too heavy for him to lift. Kaijinbo is destroyed by his own creation, the sword Tōkijin, because it is too evil for its maker to wield. Kagura directs Sesshomaru to Tokijin and watches as the demon claims his sword and wields it against his brother. While Inuyasha and his friends escape before they feel the full brunt of Sesshomaru's new sword, Kagura decides that Sesshomaru may be strong enough to kill Naraku.
Inuyasha's True Nature
Inuyasha's demonic transformation gives him great power, but no sense of control over himself as he kills indiscriminately, which Sesshomaru discovers after listening to the wisdom of Bokuseno, a demon-tree and friend of his father. When he arrives he learns that Inuyasha cannot control the demon blood in him, but he decides not to kill him.
The Panther Demons
A group of panther demons come after Kagome for her Shikon Jewel shards, but seem more interested in attacking Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. Seeking revenge for the defeat of their master at the hands of Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's father, they kidnap Kagome. Inuyasha breaks into the Panther demon's barrier using Tessaiga's new ability. After Myoga reveals why the demons are seeking revenge, everyone splits up to confront the panthers separately.
To resurrect their master, the Panther demons have captured entire villages to sacrifice. However, when the master is revived, he unexpectedly kills three of them to return to life and Inuyasha and Sesshomaru end up cooperating to defeat the Panther demon leader. To defeat the panther demon's master, Sesshomaru uses the Tenseiga to bring the rest of the panther demons back to life. Sesshomaru understood that the other three panther demons lives were taken by the master in order for the master to heal, and thus the master died when they were resurrected.
Rin is Kidnapped
Kagura kidnaps Rin, and threatens Lord Sesshomaru with her life unless he kills Inuyasha, an ultimatum Sesshomaru ignores. Inuyasha breaks through Naraku's Barrier with his newly gained power, the red Tessaiga. Meanwhile, Kagome and the others pursue the lone Shikon shard Kagome senses, which is Kohaku, who has been charged with guarding Rin.
Naraku is forced to fight both Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, who work together to seriously wound Naraku until their sibling rivalry gets the better of them. The fight is halted when Naraku remotely orders Kohaku to kill Rin before vanishing, which forces Sesshomaru to leave and save the girl's life. When he arrives he is about to kill the boy by strangling him, but decides to spare him, because he knew that Kohaku wanted to die. He then leaves together with Rin.
Koga Meets Sesshomaru
Sesshomaru and Koga are both still looking for Naraku. Ginta and Hakkaku are fishing on a stream when Rin and Jaken run across them. Rin is scared because she was attacked by Koga's wolf clan. They are scared off by Sesshomaru and they flee to find Koga. They come upon Koga and Inuyasha fighting. After finding out about Sesshomaru from Kagome, Ginta and Hakkaku decid to keep Koga away from Sesshomaru (they think Koga will want to defeat Inuyasha's brother). Of course this does not work out and Sesshomaru and Koga meet but don't fight each other. Instead, they each help each other out by saving the others respective parties and go their separate ways.
Mount Hakurei
When Sesshomaru arrives on Mt. Hakurei, he saves Kagome, Miroku and Sango from the poison user Mukotsu, one of the Band of Seven, however when confronted with the fact that he saved Kagome and the others, he merely states, "I only killed him because he wouldn't answer my questions."
Later on, Shippo tells Inuyasha that Kagome, Miroku and Sango stopped breathing due to the poison. Inuyasha goes off to be alone, and starts cutting down trees and yelling in frustration, seeking vengeance on the Band of Seven and on Naraku. In his rage, Sesshomaru appears and asks him why he's so inconsolable. Inuyasha explains, and Sesshomaru tells him that half demons can barely protect themselves, let alone others. Inuyasha, tired of being mocked, says that if he kills Sesshomaru, he would have the Tenseiga and could revive his friends, to which his brother says a half demon could never master the sword. Inuyasha starts to strike Sesshomaru but the illusion disappears, suggesting it was all in Inuyasha's head to begin with.
After Mukotsu's death, Naraku orders the five remaining Band of Seven to kill Sesshomaru as well. So, Jakotsu and Suikotsu go after him, former noting that protecting Rin is Sesshomaru's weakness. Later on, Suikotsu and Jakotsu had Sesshomaru cornered and they threatened to kill Rin if Sesshomaru made a move. Sesshomaru pulls an impressive maneuver, tossing away his sword behind him and impaling Suikotsu with it, then dashing ahead into the path of Jakotsu's snake-sword and plunging his claws into Jakotsu's heart. However, Sesshomaru, thinking that was enough to kill them, lets his guard down, and as Rin runs away from her captors, Suikotsu grabs her and gets ready to kill her. Jakotsu tells Sesshomaru he'll be too late to save her, but suddenly Kikyo arrives and manages to stop Suikotsu with her sacred arrow.
He later watched as Naraku's miasma destroyed the vegetation on Mt. Hakurei and several demons escaped from the destroyed barrier. Possibly watching Naraku's attempt to kill Kikyo, Sesshomaru appeared before him; he believed that since he's emerged from hiding, he has grown stronger. Testing his theory, Sesshomaru destroyed Naraku's body, but the force of Tokijin was sent back by Naraku's barrier. He made one final slash that ripped Naraku's head in half. However, he had no success in destroying him for good, watching as he fled once more. When Inuyasha arrived to see Kikyo's broken bow, Sesshomaru berated his brother for not being able to save her, telling him to chase Naraku instead of yelling at him.
The woman who loved Sesshomaru
Sesshomaru came across Sara Asano, a woman who had been watching him recover following his first attempt to take Tessaiga. She offered to grant his wish (to possess Tessaiga), not knowing that his main desire now was to find and kill Naraku for using him. Sesshomaru told her to do as she wished, believing she may be useful. When Jaken questioned him as to who she was, Sesshomaru told him that Sara was human once, but never fully became a demon. He later appears when Sara successfully stole Tessaiga, destroying the crow demon she used for transport. Sesshomaru refused to accept Tessaiga from Sara as he does not need help in defeating Inuyasha especially from her and fled into the forest. Sara followed him and found him at the same tree where he laid injured from his first battle from Inuyasha and where Sara came upon him. Listening to her tale of how she came to know him, Sesshomaru noticed the demonic side of her had emerged. Inuyasha arrives to reclaim the Tessaiga. Sara attempted to restrain and kill him, but Sesshomaru steps in the way and strikes her and revealed that the demons she made a pact with were using her spiritual powers as a bridge so they can absorb him. Learning Tokijin's hatred feeds the demons, he temporarily managed to wield Tessaiga and destroy her. As Sara faded into golden dust, he listened to her declare her love for him. Once she passed away, Sesshomaru placed Sara's flute in her remains and then said "Go play your flute in the netherworld."
Battle in The Afterlife
Sesshomaru followed the scent of a flood of blood to the decapitated Tekkei and wondered what had happened. Kagura appeared and informed him Naraku had gone to the Border Between the Living and the Dead to retrieve the final jewel shard. She leads him to the Gate in the Land of Fire; there, he drew Tenseiga, pacifying Gozu and Mezu, and allowing him to enter the gate without being turned to stone. He flew to his father's grave once more and tried repeatedly to break Naraku's barrier; Naraku taunted him by allowing superfluous limbs to be destroyed. However, once Inuyasha gained and used the Diamond Spears that broke Naraku's barrier, Sesshomaru's attack tore him to pieces. Seeing Naraku had fled back to the World of the Living, Sesshomaru headed back to the gate with Inuyasha's group.
Forever With Lord Sesshomaru
While searching for Naraku, Sesshomaru came across a village under attack by bandits, killing them once they attack him. Monks arrived shortly after and questioned if he was responsible for attacking the village, Sesshomaru created distraction and left. During his absence, Rin was kidnapped by Ongokuki. Sesshomaru tracks him down, but finds the very same monks he encountered earlier having rescued her and several other children. Knowing that Rin should live with humans, Sesshomaru was willing to allow her to leave, but intervened when Rin called out for his help. Holding back, Sesshomaru destroyed their charms and told Rin to follow him if she chooses; she did. Sesshomaru is later taken off guard by a question from Rin: "When I die, will you always remember me?" Though masking his true feelings, Sesshomaru says "don't say such silly things."
Kagura's death
Kagura, one of Naraku's incarnations, later betrays Naraku to obtain her freedom. She believes that only Sesshomaru can defeat him; she also was hinted to have romantic feelings for him, just like Sara. After trying to attack Gorymaru's temple and getting injured, she fell into a river near Sesshomaru's group. Recovering, she explains Naraku is using an orb known as the Fuyoheki to hide his heart; Sesshomaru is given crystal shards of demonic energy to help him find Naraku's heart. Sesshomaru entrusts Jaken to look after the crystals.
During a battle with Moryomaru, Sesshomaru catches the scent of Kagura's blood and Naraku's miasma. Moryomaru insults her, which angers Sesshomaru and he manages to break through Moryomaru's defenses, breaking Tokijin in the process. He leaves the sword behind, choosing to obtain a new one instead of reforging Tokijin.
Just as Kagura thinks she'll die alone in the field of flowers, Sesshomaru appears before her, much to the wind sorceress' surprise. Sesshomaru tells Kagura that he picked up the scent of blood and miasma. Kagura replies, "I see, you thought I was Naraku. Are you disappointed that I'm not Naraku?" Sesshomaru replies to her, "I knew it was you." He reaches for Tenseiga but then realizes at that moment that she can't be saved. Kagura is happy she got to see Sesshomaru one last time. She looks up at him and smiles as she dies, she then turns into the wind and disappears. When Inuyasha comes right after Kagura dies, he asks Sesshomaru if she suffered. Sesshomaru simply looks toward the sky and says, "She was smiling," and then walks away.
Meido Zangetsuha
Tenseiga called out to Totosai at this time and he later states that the sword told him that Sesshomaru's heart had felt something it had not before: rage and sorrow, which he had felt fir another person and not just himself. Because a technique that sends ones foes directly to the Netherworld is so potent and dangerous in the wrong hands, Sesshomaru's heart had to be mature enough to wield it responsibly. In this way, Kagura's death helped Sesshomaru to mature and become a more powerful, responsible individual.
When Sesshomaru learns how to perform Meido Zangetsuha, he reflects on Kagura's death, and how Moryomaru told him that she had died for nothing. He then thinks to himself, "I, Sesshomaru, will be the one to decide if she died for nothing." The wind then blows, which Rin points out, and the group of three leave Totosai. The wind is meant to represent Kagura's spirit.
Rin's Second Death
In an effort to strengthen and enhance Tenseiga's powers even further, Sesshomaru visits his mother in search of answers to make his Meido complete. He ventures into Hell after a demon from the underworld grabs Rin and Kohaku; the latter is sill alive due to the jewel shard in his back, but Rin did not regain consciousness. Sesshomaru felt regret, believing he should never have brought her along and should had left her in a human village; he felt frustration and blamed himself for her death. Sesshomaru's mother offers him a way out of the underworld, which he declines; this offends her. Sesshomaru finds Rin in the grasp of the master of Hell. After he slays the demon he realizes Rin isn't reviving, he later learns that he can't resurrect her and states that enhancing and strengthening his sword is not worth the price of Rin's life. Dead bodies in Hell surround them, and with his grief for Rin he uses Tenseiga to purify them. When he returns to the living world with Rin's body, his mother scolds him for thinking he was a god who could control life and death, and tells him Tenseiga can only revive the same person once, and she tells him that when his heart wishes to save his "loved one" (in reference to Rin), he must also at that moment feel both sadness and fear; this is what it means for him to have "a compassionate heart."
Sesshomaru could only learn to understand the worth of a life and gain a truly compassionate heart when he lost the life that meant the most to him, and "a compassionate heart" which is what is necessary for one to wield the Tenseiga's destructive power, which can dispatch enemies to the Meido. His mother tells him not to expect her to do this twice, placing the Meido Stone around Rin's neck. Much to his relief and happiness, Rin is resurrected once more. His mother asks Jaken if Sesshomaru is happy when she revived Rin, and Jaken responds that it most likely he is "extremely so."
Bakusaiga and The Final Battle With Naraku
Sesshomaru realizes his true potential as a greater demon after Tenseiga's fighting technique, Meido Zangetsuha, is given to Inuyasha. Sesshomaru lets go of his obsession with Tessaiga in a battle with Magatsuhi, and regains not only his left arm, but also his own sword, Bakusaiga. Sesshomaru demonstrates his new swords devistating power. Later he uses this sword while fighting Naraku along with Inuyasha's group in the final battle, aiding in the final destruction of the evil demon by destroying large amounts of Naraku's body.
The Epilogue
Three years after the defeat of Naraku, Kaede has convinced Sesshomaru to let Rin grow up in a human village, and when she is older, she will be able to choose whether to stay with humans or go back to travelling with Sesshomaru. He often returns to the village to give Rin gifts. Sesshomaru was also quite annoyed when Kagome called him "big brother."
Powers and Abilities
Master Swordsman: As Sesshomaru wields a total of three demon swords in battle, he possesses a high caliber of swordsmanship where in several occasions he was able to easily overwhelm his younger brother when they clashed their demonic swords. Even in the rare chance that Inuyasha manages to win against Sesshomaru, it was only after Sesshomaru had consistently held the upper hand and Inuyasha getting used to Sesshomaru's skills. Despite Inuyasha developing his skills with Tessaiga to eventually match Sesshomaru, the older demon is still superior since he practiced his skills more so and longer than Inuyasha.
Immense Demonic Power: As the full blooded son of the Great Dog Demon, Sesshomaru is overwhelmingly powerful, being a match for any opponent he encounters. He has a plethora of powerful techniques at his disposal. Even the arrogant Naraku, who became famous amongst demons through his collection of the Shikon Jewel Shards, acknowledged Sesshomaru to be far more powerful than himself and stated that Sesshomaru is the perfect demon.
Immense Speed: Sesshomaru can move faster than the eye can see, both on land and in the air. He can decapitate an entire army of samurai before they can react. Although, Sesshomaru's top speed is never disclosed in the anime or manga it is known that he can move incredibly fast without using much effort; appearing to be in a frictionless motion upon movement.
Immense Strength: Sesshomaru possesses physical strength far beyond that of a normal demon. His strength with only one arm is equal to Inuyasha’s full strength; Inuyasha’s strength allows him to lift a 9 to 10 ton boulder using one arm with little effort, so Sesshomaru would naturally be capable of lifting double that or far more with the same amount of effort.
Immense Durability: Despite rarely being heavily injured, Sesshomaru displays an incredible amount of durability for attacks that do manage to wound him. This was demonstrated when he was able to easily kill an entire army even after having his left arm cut off.
Enhanced Senses: Due to his lineage, Sesshomaru exhibits extremely heightened senses, particularly his sense of smell. He can discern characteristics of most objects through scent, such as the undead Band of Seven through the scent of graveyard soil and pure-demon blood from half-demon blood (such as when Inuyasha's demon blood takes over).
Full-Demon Transformation: He can transform into his true dog demon form. While this form grants him incredible brute strength and the ability to fly and run through the air, his large size, possible lack of agility (though he has moved incredibly quickly in his true form), and lack of ability to use his swords renders this form of limited usefulness.
- Flight: Sesshomaru is capable of flying during his transformation, he can also do this while he isn't transformed.
Immortality: Being a dog demon Sesshomaru has a longer lifespan, possibly even longer than those of normal yokai. Sesshomaru does not suffer from old age the way humans do. He appears to be 19 despite being over two hundred years old. He can, however, still receive near-fatal injuries as shown when he gets stabbed in the chest by Magatsuhi.
High-Speed Regeneration: During his battle with Magatsuhi, Sesshomaru's demonstrated the ability to heal the burns and gashes on his right arm, as well as several large holes stabbed right through his body. In the same battle, he was able to restore his left arm, which was cut off by Inuyasha at the beginning of the series. Although, Sesshomaru regenerates his left arm after several periods of time this is not considered to be the full extent of his regeneration ability. It's regarded that the reason Sesshomaru took a lengthy amount of time to regrow his left arm was because it was to come with Bakusaiga. Having being dependent on his father's swords it is thought that Sesshomaru had a psychological barrier preventing him from getting his Bakusaiga and being independent thus averting the restoration of his left arm much sooner. This is supported by the fact that Inuyasha, a half-demon takes a matter of hours to restore a hole in his stomach that was made by Sesshomaru himself. Sesshomaru being more powerful than Inuyasha would regenerate at a much faster rate.
Dokkasou (毒華爪, Toxic Luster Claw): Sesshomaru can release an acidic poison from his claws that can liquify flesh and bone upon contact. Though he normally applies it through his claw strikes, he can also spray the acid from his claws or transfer it into his punches. The acidic effect also has the ability to blind his targets temporarily if they manage to resist it.
- Poison Resistance: A sub-effect of his poison claws is that he is virtually immune to most if not all other poisons though only if they are weaker than his in comparison. This has been proven when Naraku's miasma in his new body created in Mt. Hakurei which can melt mountains had no effect on Sesshomaru.
Mokomoko-sama (モコモコ様, lit. Lord Fluff-Fluff): The fur on Sesshomaru's shoulder can be extended to great lengths and used to whip, constrict and fling his opponents or carry himself through the air. However, because it is a part of his body, the mokomoko-sama is capable of bleeding and is highly sensitive to pain, to the point that injuring it can render Sesshomaru temporarily immobilized. There is also the possibility that the blood was from his shoulder underneath, and that the pain was caused by the large wound dealt there.
Teleportation: In "Showdown: Inuyasha vs Sesshomaru," Sesshomaru morphed into a ball of energy to escape his father's grave. He later uses this form in the episode Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga to pursue a fleeing Totosai, materializing upon impacting with the ground and producing an explosion.
Telekinesis: In "Showdown: Inuyasha vs Sesshomaru," he was able to levitate and hurl skulls at Inuyasha and Kagome via telekinesis.
Poison Whip: Sesshomaru can generate a thin, whip-like strand of yellow-green energy from his fingertips to aid him in place of his missing arm. It has shown to be able to puncture armor and flesh with ease and can burn flesh upon contact, similar to his poison.
Weapons
Tenseiga: The Tenseiga is the second sword created by Totosai using the Great Dog Demon's fang. This sword is created for the purpose of healing and resurrection and was given to Sesshomaru in an attempt to teach him compassion and empathy. The sword is the first weapon Sesshomaru received and eventually he came to value it as even after obtaining Bakusaiga, which is his own signature weapon with greater power than the Tessaiga, he still kept this sword. The sword emits a blue aura when in use and possesses its own will that Sesshomaru can sense.
Tessaiga: The Tessaiga is the first sword created by Totosai using the Great Dog Demon's fang and is also the sword that Sesshomaru is obsessed with possessing. He believes his father is the greatest demon and thus wished to defeat him to claim Tessaiga for himself one day. However his father placed a barrier on the sword to prevent Sesshomaru from being able to wield it. Despite this during the rare occasion that Sesshomaru manages to get a hold of Tessaiga, he was able to wield its powers quite proficiently while ignoring the damage caused to his hands. Eventually he abandoned his obsession for Tessaiga which in turn allowed him to obtain Bakusaiga.
Tokijin: Tokijin was a sword crafted by the evil sword smith Kaijinbō from the fangs of Goshinki as part of Sesshomaru's continued efforts to obtain Tessaiga or a sword matching it in power. It is shown to capable of matching Tessaiga in power as the fangs of Goshinki were capable of breaking the original Tessaiga before being reforged by Totosai using Inuyasha's fang. Eventually in Sesshomaru's battle against Moryomaru, he broke it when attempting to penetrate the demon's absorbed shell. Sesshomaru refused to repair it because it did not have the power to defeat Moryomaru and resolved to find a replacement sword which is found in Tenseiga's Meido Zangetsuha and eventually Bakusaiga.
Bakusaiga: This sword manifested itself in the hand of Sesshomaru's fully regenerated, and longtime-severed, left arm during his battle with Magatsuhi. Totosai comments that his ability to manifest his own blade suggests his strength and power has far surpassed that of his father's. Bakusaiga is the polar opposite of the Tenseiga, as it has an immensely strong power with the ability to eradicate and decompose any organic material that its blade comes in contact with, nullifying any regenerative capabilities while doing so.
Gallery
Trivia
- According to Rumiko Takahashi, Sesshomaru's name means "killing perfection", though it can also be translated as "the perfect killer/assassin", "circle of destruction" or "destruction of life".
- Sesshomaru makes an appearance as a concept art in the front pages of Chapter 9, before he was introduced as a character.
- Sesshomaru started out as an antagonist, but as the series progressed he became a protagonist and became one of the most important key players in beating Naraku (his Tenseiga being the only thing to be able to kill Magatsuhi and his Bakusaiga for preventing Naraku from regenerating his body).
- Sesshomaru's appearance changes as the story progresses. Comparing his first appearance in Chapter 13 with the last in Chapter 558, he appears very young and effeminate in the beginning, but by the end, appears more mature and masculine; the armor and clothes he wears changes slightly overall compared in Chapter 13, page 5 with chapter 468, page 1).
- His mokomoko-sama grows considerably over the course of the manga, going from a relatively small band of fur to a massive bunch of fur that drags behind him as he walks.
- Sesshomaru only transforms into his true appearance three times in the series: Once when fighting Inuyasha over the Tessaiga for the first time, once when greeting his mother, and once when fighting Magatsuhi.
- Early in the manga he was shown smiling a lot. But as the manga goes on, he hides his emotions and rarely smiles, becoming more like his character is portrayed in the anime.
- The pattern on Sesshomaru's kimono is based upon an actual crest of a samurai clan known as the Azai.
- In The Holy Pearl, a Chinese live action loosely based on InuYasha, Sesshomaru is paralleled by a character named Wu Dao.
- In the Inuyasha profiles book, Sesshomaru is described as, "Beautifully chilling. The strongest demon in the Warring States era."