Naraku

Biodata

Power Progression

The “first playthrough” depicts an earlier course of fate; Naraku’s later return to the Hell Lord’s body occurs much sooner in the renewed timeline 185.

Background / History

Origins

Naraku’s creation begins with Onigumo, a severely injured bandit whom Kikyo saves and shelters in a cave. His desire to possess Kikyo and obtain a powerful body attracts monsters, to whom he willingly offers his flesh and soul 90 96.

Their fusion does not simply transform Onigumo or preserve one dominant monster. Instead, it creates Naraku as a distinct individual. The human soul supplies the completeness and reason that the resentment-born monsters lack, while their competing consciousnesses are suppressed within the new being 96 136.

The spider behind the bargain is subsequently revealed to be the Hell Lord’s discarded evil avatar. The deity separated this embodiment of malice from himself to administer Hell more impartially. After reaching the human world, the spider feared Kikyo’s ability to disperse the malice on which its existence depended 136 142.

The betrayal fifty years earlier

Influenced by both the monsters’ hostility toward Kikyo and Onigumo’s jealousy of Inuyasha, Naraku impersonates each lover to attack the other. Kikyo dies believing Inuyasha betrayed her, while Inuyasha is sealed for fifty years believing she deceived him 90 96.

Naraku then wanders under changing identities and strengthens himself by devouring monsters. His concealment is effective enough that only a few perceptive miko and spellcasters can detect him, although his reputation spreads among demons 96.

First-playthrough fate

In the earlier course of events, Sesshomaru kills Naraku’s half-demon body, but the Shikon Jewel retains his soul as the price of his wish. Rather than disappearing under Kagome’s purification, the jewel escapes into Hell with him. The Hell Lord seals it in Hell’s deepest reaches after discovering that he cannot safely reclaim his avatar 136 138.

A hundred years of confinement changes Naraku’s understanding of his attachment to Kikyo. He acknowledges that his feelings are his own, not merely Onigumo’s influence, and longs to see her happy again even if her smile is not meant for him 136 137.

Naraku eventually agrees to reunite with the Hell Lord, trusting his conviction to overcome the original body’s stronger power. He wins, but Midoriko reveals that Magatsuhi has used the jewel’s hold over his soul to gain access to the deity’s power. His wish to return to Kikyo resonates with Nanase Ori’s wish to meet Sesshomaru, helping set the reversal of time in motion 140 141 142.

Appearance

• Hair: Long, black hair with a purple cast, curling like seaweed; tied back in his miniature form 137 185.
• Eyes: Described as blood-red or dark red in his half-demon appearances. The first-playthrough Hell Lord has scarlet eyes, which turn black after Lotus’s spirit arrow strikes him 86 107 141.
• Spider-shaped burn scar: Onigumo’s mark remains across his back regardless of how often he replaces his body or removes the scarred skin 108 115 116.
• Clothing: Commonly conceals his face and body beneath a white baboon pelt. Other clothing includes a white cloud-patterned haori, dark blue garments, and a deep-purple outer robe 97 116 137.
• Miniature form: After confinement and an unsuccessful attack on Lotus, he becomes smaller than her palm and rides on a Saimyosho 137.
• Divine form: In the renewed timeline, becoming the Hell Lord leaves his recognizable features and build unchanged, but removes much of his former gloomy expression 185.

Personality

Naraku is calculating, secretive, and unusually cautious. He relies on concealed identities, puppet doubles, surveillance, and emotional manipulation rather than unnecessary direct confrontation. When Han’s purification threatens him, he abandons a valuable shard and retreats; when pursuers approach his castle, he prepares to leave despite trusting its barrier 98 100 129.

His pride conceals deep resentment of his half-demon limitations. Kikyo’s use of the term “half-demon” breaks his composure, while his repeated attempts to cut away Onigumo’s scar expose his hatred of the human influence he cannot escape 108 116.

His feelings for Kikyo combine possessiveness, jealousy, admiration, and destructive impulses. He initially blames Onigumo for them, but eventually recognizes that his own desire to possess an unattainable woman drove him to destroy her. After becoming the Hell Lord in the renewed timeline, his former mixture of inferiority and arrogance gives way to confidence and composure; he acknowledges his crimes without concealing his responsibility 136 149 185.

Abilities & Skills

Devouring and Body Reconstruction

Naraku strengthens himself by absorbing captured monsters and incorporating their power into his composite body 96.

• Can devour any monster while Onigumo’s heart remains within him, but must first capture it 96.
• Uses sealed Witchcraft to produce a powerful surviving monster for absorption 107 108.
• Refines his body during monthly destabilization by retaining stronger components and discarding weaker ones 129.
• Cannot freely remove Onigumo’s heart at the early stage of his development: doing so would dismantle his body and destroy his devouring ability 96.

Regeneration and Bodily Transformation

• Rapidly heals the skin he cuts from his back, although the spider-shaped scar returns with it 116.
• Transforms his right hand into a giant scythe to sever Iron Rooster’s head 176.
• Can survive bodily destruction unless his soul is also purified, according to Kikyo 149.
• Suffers a monthly period in which his component monsters become unstable. He can advance or postpone its timing, unlike ordinary half-demons, but cannot eliminate it 129.

Miasma, Barriers, and Concealment

• Produces poisonous miasma to injure opponents, surround groups, and cover his escape 86 98 100.
• Uses barriers to repel attacks and exclude Kikyo’s Soul Collectors, preventing her from replenishing the souls needed to move 107 108.
• Maintains an illusory castle that disappears after he withdraws his demonic aura 101.
• Remains vulnerable to powerful purification: Han’s arrow removes an entire arm despite only grazing it 98.
• In the renewed timeline, forgoes the Mount Hakurei reconstruction that would have strengthened his barrier against Red Tessaiga 175 176.

Puppet Doubles and Incarnations

• Puppet doubles: Allow him to test enemies without exposing his true body. One destroyed double reveals a wooden puppet wrapped in his black hair 100 101 108.
• Kagura and Kanna: Independently acting incarnations associated with wind and nothingness 115 116.
• Control over Kagura: Keeps her heart outside her body and can incapacitate her by squeezing it 113 115.
• Reabsorption: Previously takes the amnesiac Onigumo incarnation, Muso, back into his body 137.
• Limitation: Incarnations possess their own wills and may resist him; Kagura openly rebels against his control 115 175.

Curses, Jewel Control, and Illusions

• Wind Tunnel: Curses Miroku’s grandfather with a growing void in his right hand that passes to subsequent generations and eventually consumes its bearer 1 63 105.
• Shard manipulation: Controls Zitan through a Shikon Jewel fragment and sustains the already-dead Kohaku with another shard 97 100.
• Jewel corruption: Exploits human resentment and despair to blacken the jewel 100.
• Phantom Slaying Sorcery: Separates victims and confronts them with their greatest fears, including Miroku’s death by his own Wind Tunnel 108.
• Failed domination of Kikyo: A shard embedded in a dead soul cannot compel her obedience 108.

Saimyosho Surveillance

• Uses highly poisonous insects to observe enemies and monitor Kagura 105 113.
• Understands their buzzing reports 115.
• Uses their eyes to learn Hell’s geography during his confinement; the insects are native to Hell 137.
• Supplies them to Akuni to prevent Miroku’s Wind Tunnel from disrupting her collection of human blood 175.

Divine Authority

After replacing the Hell Lord’s original self, Naraku becomes a true deity rather than a stronger half-demon 185.

• Controls the dead’s return to the Underworld and closes Sōunga’s Road to the Underworld 185.
• Restores the damaged ground and disperses the dark clouds covering the sky 185.
• Reclaims Sōunga and the Underworld Armor 185.
• Is not supposed to interfere in the mortal world, but chooses to act when Magatsuhi threatens Kikyo and her allies 192.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• White baboon pelt — Conceals his face and figure during encounters and schemes 97 175.
• Shikon Jewel and shards — Pursued as a means of escaping his half-demon limitations; also used for control, life support, bargains, and incarnation creation. A wish on the jewel imprisons his soul within it 100 108 116 123 138.
• Wooden puppets — Cores of his expendable doubles, wrapped in his hair 108.
• Waist sword — Described as more ornamental than practical; used to remove the scarred skin from his back 116.
• Sōunga — Reclaimed as Hell’s lord and later drawn against Magatsuhi 185 192.
• Underworld Armor — Recovered when he stops Sōunga’s attempt to merge the mortal world with the Underworld 185.

Relationships

• Kikyo — The central object of his attachment. He engineers her separation from Inuyasha, repeatedly abducts her, and eventually admits that his love is his own. As Hell’s lord, he catches her during the final battle and intervenes to protect her 96 111 136 189 192.
• Onigumo — Human foundation of his composite existence, not simply his former identity. Onigumo’s heart enables his devouring power, preserves his humanity, and restrains his ability to harm Kikyo 96 108.
• Inuyasha — Longstanding enemy and rival for Kikyo. Naraku exploits his anger, targets Tessaiga, and manipulates his companions; later apologizes for his past actions 100 116 185.
• Kagome Higurashi — Enemy whose purification threatens him. He regards Kikyo’s reincarnation as an offensive imitation and hires Tsubaki to eliminate her 100 123.
• Miya / Mi Bao and Miroku — Victims of the hereditary Wind Tunnel curse. Naraku exploits Miya’s love by taking the appearance of the woman he loves; after becoming Hell’s lord, he says he has arranged for Miroku’s curse to end 63 185.
• Sango and Kohaku — Victims of his massacre and coercion. He controls Kohaku, sustains him with a shard, and uses his life to force Sango to steal Tessaiga. Later says he has arranged for Sango’s family to be reincarnated 100 185.
• Kagura and Kanna — His incarnations and agents. Kagura seeks freedom from his possession of her heart, while Kanna’s mirror assists his surveillance and attacks 113 115 116 129.
• Yan Luo — A mutually exploitative ally. He accepts her resources while intending to devour her; their partnership deteriorates, and he attacks her after believing she killed Kikyo 95 149 175.
• Han / Lotus — Initially a dangerous purification-wielding opponent. In first-playthrough memories, he bargains with Lotus to escape Hell and becomes someone she nearly regards as a friend; the renewed timeline does not reproduce that relationship 98 137 185.
• Sesshomaru — Enemy whose flawless demon power Naraku covets but cannot easily obtain. Their former conflict loses its purpose after Naraku becomes Hell’s lord 129 138 185.
• The original Hell Lord — Source of the discarded evil avatar from which Naraku develops. Naraku returns to his body and defeats its original consciousness in a struggle of wills 136 140 185.
• Magatsuhi — The jewel’s evil spirit exploits Naraku’s imprisoned soul and divine power in the first playthrough. In the renewed final battle, Naraku attacks it directly 141 192.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Jewel Corruption and the Demon Slayers

Naraku and Yan Luo confirm that human despair can corrupt a Shikon Jewel shard. Han forces him to abandon their experimental shard, and a later purification attack leaves him badly damaged despite his decision to confront Inuyasha’s party through a double 98 100 101.

His plot against the demon slayers combines a massacre, false accusations against Inuyasha, and Kohaku’s shard-supported survival. He forces Sango to surrender Tessaiga and tries to use the siblings’ suffering to further taint the jewel 100.

Kikyo’s Captivity and Tsubaki’s Curse

After reconstructing his body, Naraku carries Kikyo away and attempts to manipulate her with a shard-bearing dead soul. She defeats his double, breaks his barrier, and returns Kagome’s shards to him as part of her own plan to destroy him together with the completed jewel 107 108.

He later abducts the soul-deprived Kikyo again and hires Tsubaki to kill Kagome. When Tsubaki turns against his scheme and helps guide his pursuers, Naraku faces both an approaching attack and the instability of his monthly transformation 111 123 129.

Believing Yan Luo has killed Kikyo, he interrupts that transformation and attacks his former ally with an incomplete body. Realizing that he acted from his own attachment, he retreats to confront the feelings he has exposed 148 149.

Pursuit of the Hell Lord’s Body

Naraku abandons his intended Mount Hakurei reconstruction and stops cooperating with Yan Luo. Instead, he helps Akuni restore Iron Rooster, then kills and decapitates the bird demon to open the River of Blood leading toward the Otherworld 175 176.

His destination is not the final jewel shard but the Underworld and his original divine body. He considers physical reconstruction irrelevant to the coming contest, which depends on individual will rather than demon strength 176 185.

Sōunga and the Final Battle

Naraku returns as Hell’s lord during Sōunga’s attempt to merge the worlds. He acknowledges his former crimes, apologizes to Kikyo and Inuyasha, reclaims the sword and armor, and closes the Road to the Underworld 185.

During the battle against Magatsuhi, he initially limits himself to catching Kikyo because a being of the Otherworld should not interfere. When Sesshomaru is occupied restraining the transformed Inuyasha, Naraku draws Sōunga and severs Magatsuhi’s fox tail, supporting the three women’s purification attack 189 192.

Notable Quotes

“Don't forget, Kagura. Your heart is always in my hands.” 115

“I, Naraku, will never accept such a fate!” 174

“However, I am not Naraku the half-demon, but Naraku, Lord of Hell.” 185

Trivia

• The author links Naraku’s name—meaning Hell or an endless abyss—to the decision to make him the Hell Lord’s evil avatar 142.
• His expanded origin combines elements of Inuyasha, Hell Girl, and the Taoist idea of attaining sagehood by severing the Three Corpses 142.
• Chapter 1 summarizes the original Inuyasha ending; Naraku’s survival through the jewel and later divine identity belong to this novel’s expanded storyline 1 136 185.
• The author’s explanatory chapter attributes the time reversal to Nanase Ori’s power, rather than to an independent time-reversing ability of the Shikon Jewel 142.