Sesshomaru
From Inuyasha
Sesshomaru is a major supporting character in the anime Inuyasha, the full-demon lord who is Inuyasha's older brother and sometime enemy, sometime ally. He is voiced by Ken Narita in Japanese and by David Kaye in the English dub of the original series.
About Sesshomaru
Sesshomaru is Inuyasha's older brother in Inuyasha, a full-blooded dog demon lord of immense power and icy pride. He begins the story despising his half-brother's human blood and hunting the sword Tessaiga, which their father left to Inuyasha instead of him. Over the series, his protection of the human girl Rin and his own hard lessons about compassion turn him into one of the story's most quietly changed characters.
Appearance
Sesshomaru is tall and elegant, with long silver hair falling to his legs, golden eyes, and the markings of his rank: a violet crescent moon on his forehead and two magenta stripes on each cheek. He wears white silk clothing with red patterned trim and a black and yellow sash, black armour on one shoulder, and a huge fluffy white fur, his mokomoko, draped over his right shoulder. Early in the story he loses his left arm to Inuyasha's Tessaiga and fights one-armed for most of the series, never looking less than composed while doing it.
Personality
Sesshomaru speaks rarely, moves slowly and treats almost everyone as beneath his notice. He values power, pride and purity of blood, and openly scorns humans and half-demons, including his own brother. Yet his actions keep betraying a code of honour: he keeps his word, despises cowardice and trickery, and protects those he considers his own. Taking in the orphan Rin cracks his worldview open. He never becomes warm, and he would deny caring at all, but his choices change from conquest to protection, and by the end he is the rare demon lord who fights for others rather than for gain. His dry, cutting remarks hide one of the driest senses of humour in the series.
Background & Story
Sesshomaru is the elder son of the Great Dog Demon, who ruled the western lands, and he inherited his father's power, lands and pride, but not the sword he wanted. His father left him Tenseiga, a sword that cannot cut the living, and gave the mighty Tessaiga to Inuyasha, the half-human son. Sesshomaru spent years trying to take Tessaiga and understand his father's will, clashing with Inuyasha again and again. After a battle left him gravely wounded, a human orphan named Rin fed him and stayed by him, and when wolves killed her, Sesshomaru used Tenseiga to revive her, the first time the sword's mercy moved him. Rin and the imp Jaken became his travelling party. Through battles with Naraku and the search for his own sword, Bakusaiga, Sesshomaru slowly learned what his father intended: that true strength grows from having something to protect.
Powers & Abilities
- Tenseiga: The sword of heaven left by his father. It cannot harm the living, but it can revive the dead by cutting the messengers of the underworld, and later opens a path to strike enemies through the Meido technique.
- Bakusaiga: A sword born from Sesshomaru himself in the final battles. Whatever it cuts keeps disintegrating, spreading destruction through the enemy's body even across separate pieces.
- Poison and claws: His claws drip with poison strong enough to melt flesh and bone, and he can form a whip of light energy to strike from a distance.
- True form: He can transform into his true shape, a gigantic white dog demon of overwhelming power, though he rarely bothers against lesser enemies.
- Flight and endurance: Sesshomaru flies freely, travels as a ball of light, and endures wounds that would kill most demons, fighting on one-armed for most of the story.
Key Relationships
- Inuyasha: His half-brother, whom he despises at first for his human blood and for inheriting Tessaiga. Their rivalry slowly becomes a grudging respect, and they fight side by side against Naraku by the end.
- Rin: The human orphan who cared for him when he was wounded, and whom he revived with Tenseiga. Protecting Rin changes the course of his life more than any battle.
- Jaken: His loyal imp retainer, forever squawking and forever forgiven. Jaken's devotion, and his care for Rin, are constants Sesshomaru quietly relies on.
- His father, the Great Dog Demon: The father whose will Sesshomaru spends the series trying to understand. His inheritance, two swords and a lesson about protection, shapes Sesshomaru's whole arc.
Quick Answers
Are Sesshomaru and Inuyasha full brothers?
They are half-brothers. Both are sons of the Great Dog Demon, but Sesshomaru's mother is a demon while Inuyasha's mother, Izayoi, was human. That difference drives much of Sesshomaru's early contempt.
Why did Sesshomaru save Rin?
Rin cared for him while he recovered from a battle, expecting nothing back. When she was killed by wolves, he used Tenseiga to bring her back, surprising himself. It is the first selfless act of his life in the story.
Who voices Sesshomaru in English?
David Kaye voices Sesshomaru in the English dub of the original series. In The Final Act's English dub, recorded years later, the role went to Michael Daingerfield. In Japanese he is voiced throughout by Ken Narita.
Does Sesshomaru get his arm back?
His left arm is cut off by Inuyasha early in the story. He fights one-armed for most of the series, and only in the final battles, when his own sword Bakusaiga is born, is a new arm restored with it.