Kikyo

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Village Protector and Tsubaki’s Curse

Kikyo was born a miko and protected Kaede’s Village and the surrounding settlements from demons. She also helped villagers endure disease and famine. Before becoming responsible for the Shikon Jewel’s purification, she traveled to other lands to slay demons; afterward, hundreds of demons seeking the jewel fell to her arrows, including powerful three- and four-star opponents 28.

During her travels, Black Miko Tsubaki cursed her: falling in love would strip away her power and lead to an unnatural death. Kikyo initially dismissed the curse, but it took effect as her relationship with Inuyasha deepened. Her spiritual power, perception, reflexes, and other attributes declined 33.

During a demon attack, Kaede saved the distracted Kikyo by shooting an attacker. Kikyo destroyed it, but her weakened Sacred Arrow failed to purify its remains completely. Fragments struck Kaede’s right eye, leaving Kikyo with lasting guilt 33.

Betrayal and Death

Kikyo and Inuyasha planned to meet with the Shikon Jewel after he promised to become human and live with her. Naraku exploited their fragile trust by impersonating each of them, making both believe the other had betrayed them. Kikyo suffered a mortal shoulder wound, while the deceived Inuyasha stole the jewel from the village shrine 28 31 33.

Kikyo returned and sealed Inuyasha to the Sacred Tree with a Sealing Arrow rather than killing him. Before dying, she asked Kaede and the villagers to burn her body with the Shikon Jewel, carrying it out of that world at the cost of her life and spiritual power. Her grave remained a source of comfort for the villagers during the following fifty years 26 27 28.

Urasue’s Resurrection

Urasue attacked the village, injured Kaede, and stole Kikyo’s remains. She fashioned a Clay Body from Kikyo’s Spirit Bones and tomb soil, intending to enslave the revived miko and use her to collect every Shikon Shard. The soul-summoning failed because Kikyo had reincarnated as Kagome 26 28 29.

After abducting Kagome, Urasue used a medicinal pool to extract Kikyo’s reincarnated souls. Inuyasha’s call of Kikyo’s name disrupted Kagome’s resistance, allowing those souls to enter the Clay Body. Kikyo then killed Urasue with spiritual flames, proving too powerful for the demoness to control 29 31.

Still convinced that Inuyasha had betrayed her, Kikyo rejected his explanation of the deception. His demand that she return her soul to Kagome sounded to her like a demand that she disappear. She severely burned his shoulders, then fired a homing Sacred Arrow that nearly killed him 31 32 33.

Li Xia awakened Kagome by reminding her of an upcoming mathematics exam. Most of the souls returned to Kagome, draining Kikyo’s power and weakening the arrow enough to save Inuyasha. Kikyo fled, fearing that proximity to Kagome would draw away even the souls she retained 34.

Recovery and Departure

Li Xia caught Kikyo when she nearly fell from a cliff, then left her and Inuyasha alone to discuss their past and the person responsible for their suffering 35.

Kikyo stayed at the kiln cave while Enju repaired her shoulder and replenished her strength with stored souls. She remained distant toward Li Xia, despite his attempts to speak with her and his quiet company at sunset. Before leaving alone on the fourth day, she helped Enju gain Soul Collectors. Inuyasha arrived two days too late to see her; Li Xia assured him that her resentment had become less overwhelming 36 37.

Appearance

• Resemblance to Kagome: Their faces are so alike that Inuyasha describes them as seemingly cast from the same mold 26.
• Humanlike Clay Body: Her resurrected body has flesh, blood, soft limbs, and expressive features rather than the rigidity of Urasue’s ordinary pottery soldiers 35.
• Cold skin: Her body is cold to the touch, despite its lifelike texture 35.
• Shoulder wound: The wound that killed her reopens after resurrection; Enju later repairs it 31 36.

Personality

During her lifetime, Kikyo was compassionate and protective, encouraging villagers to continue living through hardship. Her bond with Inuyasha grew from their sympathy for one another as outcasts, but neither had fully overcome their mistrust before Naraku manipulated them 28 31 33.

Immediately after resurrection, resentment dominates her. She refuses to believe Inuyasha’s explanation and interprets his concern for Kagome as rejection of her own existence. Her anger briefly softens when she recognizes the elderly Kaede, particularly upon seeing her damaged eye 31 32.

Kikyo becomes calmer during her recovery but remains emotionally guarded. She ignores Li Xia’s questions about Inuyasha and Kagome, yet helps Enju secure Soul Collectors before departing—a concrete act of kindness despite her lingering resentment 36 37.

Abilities & Skills

Sacred Arrows and Archery

Kikyo is a master archer whose Sacred Arrows purify demonic power 28 33.

• Slays large numbers of demons seeking the Shikon Jewel, including upper-rank opponents 28.
• Forces the transformed Tessaiga to revert to its rusty-blade form on impact 33.
• Fires a homing arrow that changes direction to pursue Inuyasha even after Tessaiga weakens it 33.
• Her arrows depend on soul power: when most of her souls return to Kagome, the pursuing arrow rapidly loses strength 34.

Sealing Arrows

• Seals Inuyasha to the Sacred Tree for fifty years 26 28.
• Li Xia identifies her choice of a Sealing Arrow over a lethal Sacred Arrow as evidence that she may have shown mercy 28.

Spiritual Power

• Kills Urasue with azure spiritual flames after placing her hands on the demoness’s shoulders 31.
• Channels spiritual power and lightning through direct contact, burning Inuyasha and blasting holes through his Fire-Rat Robe 32.
• Possesses keen spiritual senses, although Tsubaki’s curse severely reduces them during her lifetime 28 33.
• Resists Urasue’s enslavement; Kaede attributes the failed control to Kikyo’s overwhelming power 31.

Shikon Jewel Sensing and Purification

• Can sense the precise location of Shikon Shards, an ability originally associated with Kikyo, Kagome, and Naraku 16.
• Undertakes the Shikon Jewel’s purification and protects it from demons during her lifetime 28 33.

Resurrected Clay Body

• Retains her identity, memories, and miko abilities through Advanced Demon Art 35.
• Requires additional dead souls to keep her weakened body moving 36.
• Initially remains animated by resentment; Kikyo believes that relinquishing it would cause her to fade away 35.
• Is vulnerable to losing soul power through resonance with Kagome 34.
• The precise cause of her reopened shoulder wound remains uncertain; the narration considers anger, soul overload, and the body’s limited capacity 31.

Soul Collectors

• Uses spiritual prowess to tame loyal servant demons that gather dead souls to sustain Clay Bodies 36.
• Soul Collectors can carry objects, deliver messages, guide people, and transport their master through the air over short distances by working together 36.
• Helps Enju gain the allegiance of five collectors 36.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Bow and arrows — Her principal ranged weapons. After resurrection, she takes Kaede’s longbow and arrows to attack Inuyasha; Li Xia and Kaede subsequently reclaim them 33.
• Shikon Jewel — The sacred jewel she guarded and sought to purify, not a possession she retains after resurrection 27 28.
• Soul-Summoning Tree branch — Placed in her clay figure’s hand by Urasue to strengthen the summoning ritual. The unfinished figure instinctively refuses to release it; Li Xia later retrieves it 29 34.
• Subjugation Beads — Kikyo had considered placing these on Inuyasha, reflecting the mistrust that remained within their relationship 31 33.

Relationships

• Inuyasha — Former lover and fellow victim of Naraku’s deception. She seals him before her death and initially seeks to kill him after resurrection; he continues to long for her and tries to explain their shared betrayal 26 28 31 33.
• Kaede — Younger sister and successor as the village’s protector. Kikyo regrets her part in Kaede’s eye injury, and recognizing her sister softens her post-resurrection anger 28 32 33.
• Kagome Higurashi — Her reincarnation, but also an individual with her own True Spirit. Their shared souls make Kikyo’s resurrection possible and subsequently leave her vulnerable to Kagome reclaiming most of that power 29 30 34.
• Li Xia — Challenges her attacks on Inuyasha, proposes a peaceful division of their shared soul, and saves her from a cliff fall. His interest in her does not overcome her emotional distance during their time at the kiln cave 32 33 35 36.
• Enju — Repairs her Clay Body and supplies souls for her recovery. Kikyo reciprocates by helping Enju obtain Soul Collectors 36.
• Urasue — Steals her remains and resurrects her as an intended servant. Kikyo kills her instead 26 28 31.
• Black Miko Tsubaki — Former traveling companion who curses her to lose power upon falling in love 33.
• Naraku — Engineers the deception that destroys her relationship with Inuyasha and leads to her death 31 33.

Original-Timeline References

The following deeds appear in Li Xia’s recollections of the original story, rather than as completed events in the novel’s current storyline.

• Barrier-breaking: A severely weakened Kikyo uses a Shikigami Puppet to fire an arrow that shatters Hakudoshi’s high-level barrier, which even Red Tessaiga cannot breach 7 32.
• Kagome’s guidance: She tests and guides Kagome through later incidents and leaves behind her Miko’s Longbow during the Mount Penglai events 30.
• Kohaku’s survival: Her own light transforms Kohaku’s dead soul into a living soul, allowing him to survive without the Shikon Shard sustaining him 45.
• Strategy against Naraku: She plans to let Naraku gather the scattered shards, then purify him together with the completed jewel. Li Xia criticizes the plan for overestimating her Clay Body’s limits and underestimating Naraku’s growth 47.

Notable Quotes

“Don’t you know that if my entire soul returns to her, I will no longer be myself?” 32

“As I am now, I was born of resentment. If I refuse to let go of it, I will keep hating Inuyasha! If I do let go, I will simply fade away...” 35