Sesshomaru

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Background

Powers & Abilities

Strength Level

Sesshōmaru possesses superhuman strength that’s limits have not been revealed. What is known is that even though he has but a single arm, he is capable of overwhelming his younger brother (InuYasha) through sheer strength alone.

Known Superhuman Powers, part 1

As a Daiyōkai, Sesshōmaru is an overwhelmingly powerful being. Like other beings of demonic origins, he possesses superhuman strength, reflexes, endurance and resistance to harm.

However, due to the purity of his blood and the unusually potent blood of his father, he possesses these attributes in quantities that far surpass those of virtually any other demon that walks Feudal Japan. Perhaps it is due to this fact that Sesshōmaru is often referred to as the “perfect” demon.

Sesshōmaru’s “perfection” extends itself to his resistance to harm. He is seemingly impervious to disease, poison, gases, most magics and purification arts. No weapon forged by man can harm him, and in the event that he is actually wounded he doesn’t display fatigue or pain.

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Throughout his entire existence, Sesshōmaru has been severely wounded twice. Both wounds were received at the hands of his younger brother using the Tessaiga. He recovered from both incidents within days of receiving the wounds (with the exception being when he lost his arm to the Tessaiga).
Outside of his remarkable resistance to harm, Sesshōmaru is a living, breathing killing machine. In addition to his raw strength, he moves at speeds faster than the mortal eye can perceive allowing him to casually murder most opponents before they even know he is present.

His speed is so great, that in the majority of his battles, his opponents rarely get close enough to strike him before he strikes and darts away.

Known Superhuman Powers, part 2

Like his younger brother, Sesshōmaru’s fingers are tipped with unusually sharp and durable claws. They are capable of easily slicing through all terrestrial substances including fabric, soil, wood, bone, flesh, and steel.

To make matters worse, Sesshōmaru’s claws naturally exude a caustic and acidic residue that is left behind in the tracks his claws leave in his targets. This residue is fully capable of eating through steel, flesh or stone alike.

Sesshōmaru can fling droplets of the acid through the air, and even a near miss will render an opponent blind due to the caustic nature of the substance.

Finally, Sesshōmaru’s senses are supernaturally acute, making them vastly superior to those found in the best canines. He can smell the approach of individuals from hundreds of feet away or trail the spoor of his prey across nearly any terrain. His hearing is sensitive enough to detect the sound of a beating heart at a distance of at least 30 feet away.

Abilities

Though Sesshōmaru has obviously never had formal training, he is a devastatingly efficient hand to hand combatant and swordsman. In combat, he glides about the field of battle like a ballerina on a stage while his blade darts and weaves in delicate yet deadly arcs.

Only another supernatural being (like his younger brother) stands a chance of defeating Sesshōmaru in one on one combat.

Weapons

Sesshōmaru carries a pair of blades but generally only wields one in combat. He always wears the blade Tenseiga at his side. It was the only gift his father ever gave him.

He never wields the blade in combat though, since the sword itself was created to preserve life rather than take it. The Tenseiga cannot harm any living beings, rather when swung over the body of one recently deceased it brings them back to life.

Instead Sesshōmaru relies on Tōkijin, a malevolent sentient blade forged from the fang of an evil oni (ogre) named Goshinki. Tōkijin’s only purpose is destruction, which fits well with Sesshōmaru’s needs, which tries to infect its wielder with its own insanity.

Fortunately for those that surround him, Sesshōmaru’s will is far stronger than that of the blade.

Tōkijin is razor sharp and nearly indestructible. But moreover, it acts as a focus for Sesshōmaru’s own yokai energy and allows him to project it at a distance.

With the sword as a focus and his own raw power, Sesshōmaru can fire waves of destructive power nearly as powerful as the full power “Kaze no Kizu” projected from the Tessaiga.

History

Sesshōmaru was the first born son of the “Great Dog Demon” and his chosen mate. Even from a young age, Sesshōmaru had but one desire; to be the strongest demon of all. He not so secretly yearned to surpass the strength and the achievements of his father and actively searched for a way to achieve his goal.

When his father died, Sesshōmaru assumed that he would inherit his heirlooms and finally get his chance to surpass the Great Dog Demon. Imagine his disappointment when the only thing his father gave him was the blade Tenseiga, a sword that couldn’t even be used in battle.

His disappointment turned into cold anger when he realized that before his death, Inu no Taishō had debased their own perfection by fathering a whelp with a mortal woman.

Weapon of choice

Sesshōmaru spent the next 15 years searching for his father’s most powerful weapon, the Tessaiga, in the hopes that with it in hand he would finally surpass the power of his once legendary father.

During that time he was approached by a young hanyo (half-demon) named InuYasha, who claimed to be his younger brother. Though Sesshōmaru initially denied any familial bond between the two, his nose told him the truth of the matter.

Despite this, he was unable to hide the disgust he felt at the fact that his father had sullied his own perfection to create such a creature. Unable to reconcile his father’s actions, Sesshōmaru pointedly ignored the young hanyo until he left to fend for himself.

Left to his own devices, InuYasha led an angry and violent life, until eventually he was laid low by the arrow of a village priestess. Tales of InuYasha’s untimely death eventually reached Sesshōmaru’s ears, and he considered the matter closed.

Sibling Rivalry

The next 50 years past relatively uneventfully for the young Daiyokai. He encountered many demons who could not stand before his power, and casually murdered dozens if not hundreds of humans that crossed his path.

But no matter how hard he looked, he simply could not find the Tessaiga. He had all but abandoned hope when his vassal, Jaken, returned to his side with a perplexing riddle and the news that his younger brother had miraculously returned to the land of the living.

The wording of the riddle was a simple; “Seen yet never seen, protected, but never known to its protector”. Try as he might, the young Daiyokai couldn’t discern the location of the great sword without more information.

Demon wolf form

Frustration boiled up within Sesshōmaru’s heart. It was made even worse when Jaken suggested that perhaps InuYasha knew the location of the blade. With his return to the land of the living, they could simply question the hanyo.

Desire warred with pride within Sesshōmaru’s heart, but eventually his need to possess the Tessaiga won out. But instead of simply asking his younger brother the location of the blade, he resorted to trickery.

Nothing but a hound dog

Sesshōmaru sought out a Mu-onna (a demon formed from the sorrows of mothers who had lost their children) to play the part of InuYasha’s mortal mother. And he thought a great Oni to play the part of her attacker and then went to seek out his younger brother.

Sesshōmaru’s plot played out exactly as he planned it. He was able to convince InuYasha that he had restored the life of the young hanyo’s mother in order to find the sword. InuYasha rushed to her aid, and in doing so he fell under the sway of the powerful Mu-onna.

The motherly demon sorted through InuYasha’s unconscious mind. In short order she discovered the secret that Sesshōmaru had been desperately searching for: the location of the entrance to their father’s tomb.

The entrance took the form of a mystical black pearl that was hidden within InuYasha’s right eye all along. Without pause or pity, Sesshōmaru approached his helpless brother and drove a cruel clawed finger directly into his right eye and removed the pearl.

With no further use for InuYasha, Sesshōmaru impulsively decided to remove his father’s only sin. Sesshōmaru unleashed a single contemptuous blow of his clawed hand, fully intending to end InuYasha’s life.

His father’s grave

At the last moment though, Sesshōmaru discovered that a mother’s love is stronger than any spell. The Mu-onna, composed of the unhappy regrets of mothers, interposed her own body between his claws and InuYasha’s body and sacrificed her own existence for his.

With the demon’s death, InuYasha broke out of his haze and in a fit of rage, hurled himself at Sesshōmaru. Amused at his younger brother’s anger, Sesshōmaru casually avoided his feeble attack and used the pearl to open the gateway to their father’s grave.

In a blink of an eye, he plunged into the darkness of the doorway.

Sesshōmaru found himself (along of Jaken who had clung to his robes) floating before the massive remains of his long dead father. The skeletal remains filled the entirety of his vision and he felt himself inexplicably drawn to them.

Sesshōmaru flew into the remain’s chest cavity and found the Tessaiga driven into what passed as a floor in the centre of the chamber. Without pause, Sesshōmaru strode directly to the sword, placed a confident hand around the hilt and pulled.

The Tessaiga sword at last

As soon as his flesh touched the blade, a searing pain tore through his hand. The hilt had burned him; the sword refused his touch. Perplexed and confused, Sesshōmaru stood for many moments staring at the blade until he heard footsteps approaching him from behind.

His nose instantly recognized his younger brother, who must have followed him through the portal, as he charged towards him. InuYasha, always impulsive and already furious, leapt at Sesshōmaru determined to gain a measure of vengeance for his early actions. But Sesshōmaru fended off InuYasha’s best attacks with contemptuous ease.

Sesshōmaru’s amusement at his brother’s attempts to harm him eventually came to an end when the human girl that travelled with him suggested that take up the Tessaiga and strike Sesshōmaru down with it.

Miouga (who also travelled with InuYasha), suggested that his father wanted InuYasha, not his half-brother, to possess the Tessaiga. Sesshōmaru froze at the suggestion. The idea that his father might gift his ultimate weapon to his half-bred son was inconceivable, but he the sword had refused Sesshōmaru’s touch.

Inheritance

When his younger brother saw the immediate and visceral way that Sesshōmaru reacted to his allies’ suggestion, he smirked and attempted to grasp the sword. Pure rage flooded through Sesshōmaru at his younger brother’s insolence, even when his attempt to draw Tessaiga from the floor of the tomb failed.

In a flash, he crossed the distance that separated him from the young hanyo and attacked him in earnest. He only stopped when Kagome herself drew the ancient blade from its resting place.  Shock froze Sesshōmaru in place as she handed his father’s prize possession to his half-bred little brother.

No longer entertained and barely coherent, Sesshōmaru reverted to his true form (that of a great dog demon) and rampaged throughout the grave with murderous intent in his heart. He would have succeeded in killing them all if he had only not threatened Kagome’s life.

In that moment, the blade within InuYasha’s hand transformed from its ancient battered form into a razor sharp fang. Sesshōmaru’s shock at the blade’s transformation held him stationary just long enough for InuYasha to score two decisive blows against him. One against his chest while the other sliced clean through his left arm.

Driven by the pain of both the blows and his perceived rejection from his father, Sesshōmaru retreated from InuYasha and the one thing he wanted more than anything else in the world.

If at first you don’t succeed…

Over the next several months, Sesshōmaru returned multiple times, each time attempting to take the Tessaiga from InuYasha.

Each time he appeared, he had a new and different arm affixed to the stump of his arm that was severed in their first encounter. No matter what type of arm he acquired though, none were enough to conquer InuYasha and the unrelenting strength of the Tessaiga.

When his impatience grew to the point of anger, Sesshōmaru encountered a suspicious hanyo who identified himself as Naraku. Naraku claimed that he had reasons of his own to see the Tessaiga striped from InuYasha, and that he had just the arm for Sesshōmaru to use.

To Sesshōmaru’s surprise, the arm Naraku offered him was a human one. He nearly scoffed at the offer but hesitated when Naraku explained that by using a human arm, he would be able to actually wield the enchanted blade.

Better armed

Greed warred with any feelings of caution that Sesshōmaru felt at Naraku’s offer. He eventually accepted the arm along with a hive of bee-like demons to use against InuYasha’s allies.

After affixing his new arm, Sesshōmaru set out immediately to attack InuYasha and his allies. He found them taking refuge in a small border town, and assaulted them group with anger and vigour. In short order, he defeated InuYasha and using his new arm, stole the Tessaiga.

Even as he did, a hundred flying demons converged on the town and started to drop from the sky. With a destructive glee in his soul, Sesshōmaru finally unleashed the power that he coveted for decades on the oncoming demon horde.

With a single slice of the blade, he unleashed the “Wind Scar” and obliterated the swarm of demons.

While he did so, InuYasha recovered from his previous defeat and threw himself back into battle with his older brother. Sesshōmaru easily beat his younger brother down again, even going so far as to drive his clawed hand directly through InuYasha’s torso.

He would have murdered the young hanyo, if Kagome hadn’t distracted him with an enchanted arrow. InuYasha used the diversion to tear his human arm off and regain the Tessaiga. Between the combined strength of Kagome’s arrows and the threat of the Tessaiga, Sesshōmaru chose to withdraw once more and await a better chance to regain the blade.

Tensaiga’s secret

Sesshōmaru decided to try another tactic at that point. Rather than claiming Tessaiga, he approached Totosai, the demon blacksmith that forged both the Tessaiga and Tensaiga. He did so in the hopes that he could forge an edge for the Tensaiga, making it into a weapon of death.

Totosai refused and revealed to Sesshōmaru that Tensaiga’s true power was to preserve life. Disgusted and angered, Sesshōmaru resorted to threatening Totosai’s life if he didn’t reforge the blade.

Using a distraction, Totosai escaped from Sesshōmaru and ran directly to InuYasha for protection. Tired and frustrated at the young hanyo’s continuous interference, Sesshōmaru finally attacked him with his full strength.

InuYasha battled back as fiercely as he could, and in doing so finally unleashed the Tessaiga’s true power; “The Wind Scar.”

Hit by the Wind Scar

Unprepared for his brother’s attack, Sesshōmaru took the Wind Scar full on, and was horribly wounded by its power. The power of the Wind Scar would have killed him. The only thing that saved him was a shield that was thrown up by the Tensaiga at the last minute. For whatever reason, the sword decided to save him.

Sesshōmaru spent the next week recuperating from the vicious wounds he received. While he was healing, a young mute human girl found him. To his surprise she attempted to feed and wash him. She came daily and offered him whatever she could scrounge.

Despite himself, Sesshōmaru found himself amused by her attempts at ministering to his wounds. he came to look forward to her visits. When she abruptly stopped coming, he set out to find her.

It didn’t take him long to find her dead body, he could smell her blood from a mile away. He found her limp form in the woods. She clearly had been savaged by some form of animal.

As he gazed upon her corpse, the Tensaiga rustled at his side. Remembering Totosai’s words, Sesshōmaru drew the blade slowly and looked at her body. In seconds, he saw the spirits of the dead attempting to collect her soul.

Blade of life

Curiosity overwhelmed him and after a second’s pause, he slashed at the spirits with Tensaiga. The spirits fell away from the blade, and in doing so her body miraculously returned to life. In seconds, she opened her eyes and smiled widely at the daiyokai.

Even more incredulously all of her wounds and ailments had disappeared. She awoke and introduced herself as Rin.

While he didn’t outwardly show any emotion, Sesshōmaru was pleased at her well-being. With that he turned and wandered off with the young girl in tow.

It didn’t take him long to find Jakken once more, and unintentionally, his circle had grown by one.

Target Naraku

From that point forward, something had unknowingly changed within Sesshōmaru. While he still desired the Tessaiga, it wasn’t his only focus.

After discovering the corpse of an intensely powerful oni, Sesshōmaru took the corpse to one of Totosai’s former apprentices. The goal was to have him craft a new blade out of one of the Oni’s powerful teeth. The blacksmith did so, but was unwittingly overwhelmed by the Oni’s evil and killed when he encountered InuYasha.

Sesshōmaru appeared at the conclusion of the battle and claimed the evil sword, Tokiljin for his own. To everyone’s surprise he left without conflict when he sensed the growing darkness in his younger brother.

Sesshōmaru’s wanderings continued until Naraku sent one of his minions, Kagura, to kidnap Rin. Naraku’s demands were simple. He would return the human whelp to Sesshōmaru if he murdered InuYasha for him.

Unfortunately for Naraku, he underestimated Sesshōmaru’s callousness. Though he “cared” for Rin, he would not tolerate such an affront to his person. Sesshōmaru casually ignored Naraku’s threats and began to track him down.

Naraku found

He eventually found him hiding within an abandoned estate. The two battled vigorously. During their battle, Naraku attempted to devour the powerful daiyokai’s body in order to acquire his power for his own.

He was ultimately unsuccessful, as InuYasha interrupted their battle. With InuYasha’s arrival, Naraku retreated rather than face the combined assault of Inu No Taisho’s offspring. During his retreat he ordered Kohaku, the ensorcelled brother of one of InuYasha’s allies, to murder Rin.

In that moment, Sesshōmaru revealed his true feelings and he flashed skywards to Rin’s location. He arrived in time to save her life, and uncharacteristically left Kohaku alive instead of murdering him for his actions. He rationalized his mercy with the simple statement that he would be no one’s pawn.

From that point forward, Sesshōmaru’s goals have altered drastically. Tessaiga, while still something that he desperately, became his secondary focus. Instead Naraku became the main focus of his enmity.

Description

Sesshōmaru normally appears to be a tall and lean built human, with pale white skin, knee length silver hair, pointed elfin ears and golden eyes. He has a blue half-moon crescent mark on his forehead and two purple stripes on each cheek and down the side of his wrists.

Sesshōmaru normally sports such a rigid countenance and severe expression that one would be hard-pressed to call him handsome. But his elf-like beauty is undeniable. At the time of this writing, Sesshōmaru is missing his left arm from just above his left elbow.

Sesshōmaru’s clothing is made up of a white and red kimono, a long flowing white sash and pieces of greyish spiked armour. A white and red cherry blossom flower crest can be found on the collar and sleeves of his Kimono. Sesshōmaru’s pants are white and appear to be loose and billowy.

He wears ankle high boots. Hanging loosely off his right should is a long white and fluffy object that is similar to appearance of a boa . While it initially seemed to be purely cosmetic, in future appearances it has actually been seen to be bleeding.

With that in mind, it may actually be a part of his physical body.

In his true form, Sesshōmaru appears to be a gigantic white dog with markings similar to the ones he has in his human form. In this form, his eyes turn blood red with blue pupils and the jagged marks that could be found on his face and wrists widen and become more prominent in appearance and colour.

Personality

Perhaps it is due to his eternal nature, or the purity of his form, but Sesshōmaru is an uncomplicated being. He is nearly always composed; by his very nature he exudes stillness and stoicism. Throughout his entire existence, very little has moved him to display any emotion.

When confronted by the demon Naraku, he barely showed annoyance. Human bandits barely amuse him. If anything, he seems bored by the events of everyday life. The only thing that has moved him to show something other than casual indifference is InuYasha, the Tessaiga and Rin (and not necessarily in that order).

Sesshōmaru is obsessively proud of the purity of his bloodline, and the power that it bequeaths upon him. But moreover, he has an obsessive desire to surpass his father and to possess the Tessaiga (which he perceives as the ultimate expression of said power).

With that in mind, it is easy to understand why he despised his younger brother so much. InuYasha’s very existence sullied his father’s memory and moreover he was given the one thing that Sesshōmaru desired above all else.

Overconfidence ?

Sesshōmaru is supremely confident in his own power, to the point where he is arrogant. There is no one alive that could convince him to think otherwise, and no one who can command him. Because of this confidence, he is the only demon in the entirety of feudal Japan that has no desire to possess the Shikon Jewel.

He doesn’t seek allies or aid in battle, to him there is no need for them. Make no mistake, he may make use of minions for distractions or fodder, but in the end he will rely only upon himself and his own power. Like any dog (or cat) Sesshōmaru does derive some pleasure in playing with his prey.

With that in mind, he will often hold back and use the barest minimum of power that he needs to defeat his enemy rather than overwhelming the immediately with his power.

Rin-chan

All of this though has started to change due to the presence of the young girl Rin. Somehow, someway, she has done the one thing no one would have thought possible. She has put a small crack in Sesshōmaru’s armour.

After he met her, the once unfeeling and emotionless demon began to show mercy upon his foes and met out terrible vengeance on any that would threaten her. In her own way, Rin has seemingly “infected” Sesshōmaru with her own humanity and seemingly boundless joy for life itself.

Of course, Sesshōmaru will not in any way outwardly display his new found emotion. That would only serve to taint his pride in front of others and he simply cannot allow that to occur.

But even more so, as time passes Sesshōmaru grows more and more compassionate towards InuYasha and his allies. Twice he has arrived in time to save their lives when necessary. Both times he murdered their assailants with brutal efficiency and both times he declared he was doing so only out of annoyance or convenience.

Quotes

(To InuYasha) “You dirty little half-demon, you and I are simply not in the same class.”

(When Sesshōmaru attempts to claim the evil blade Tokijin for himself)
Totosai: “ Sesshōmaru, you must not come in contact with Tōkijin ! Even you, if you are touched by Tōkijin’s evil aura, will be possessed just like Kaijin-bo !”
Sesshōmaru: (while he casually picks up the sword and overwhelms its evil aura with the sheer strength of his will) “Feh. Who do you think I am ?”

Bokusen’o: “In battle, no matter how hard you are pushed … does your heart stay calm ? Have you ever lost control ?”
Sesshōmaru: “Feh. No one could push me hard enough.”

Miroku: “Why did you hold back ? You’ve always hated InuYasha. And I find it hard to imagine that you’ve suddenly discovered the joys of brotherly love.”
Sesshōmaru: “Oh, I’ll kill him eventually. But just now… there’s no virtue in killing a beast that doesn’t know who or even what it is.”

(Regarding InuYasha) “I have never considered that half-demon my brother !”

“Going to absorb all of my demonic power, are you ? What a joke ; you are too small a vessel to hold a power like mine !”

“I seek nothing more than to battle the most powerful beings alive ; which excludes the lowly likes of you.”

DC Universe History

With its historical setting, time-travelling aspects and the fact that DC’s Japanese setting is woefully underdeveloped, Sesshōmaru can be inserted wholesale into the DC universe.

By Bryan Gittens.

Source of Character: Shōnen Manga Series – InuYasha, a Feudal Fairy Tail (Volumes 1-33), created by Rumiko Takahashi (author and illustrator).

Writeup completed on the 3^rd of January, 2013.