The characters of the Inuyasha manga series were created by Rumiko Takahashi. Most of the series takes place in a fictional version of Japan's Warring States period with occasional time-travel/flashback elements to modern Tokyo or the Heisei period. The setting and plot incorporate many elements of traditional Japanese folklore and religion. Its main characters (both protagonists and antagonists) include a Shintō priestess, a Buddhist monk and several types of , usually rendered as "demon" in English-language translations of the series. The anime adaptation of Inuyasha is followed by a sequel titled Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon where its characters are also listed here.
Inuyasha main characters
Inuyasha
was born of a dog-demon father and a human mother. He is an arrogant, prideful and stubborn half-demon, but has a soft side to him. He also has an older half brother, Sesshomaru, who is a full-demon with a full-demon mother. He has the appearance of a fifteen-year-old boy. As a half-demon, he had a difficult and lonely childhood, as demons and humans despised him for his mixed bloodline.
Kagome Higurashi
is a brave and kind girl, the reincarnation of the Sengoku period priestess Kikyo, who believes in never turning her back on someone in trouble. Although physically weak, she is not lacking in courage. She becomes highly skilled in archery as the series progresses, and eventually learns to master her immensely strong spiritual powers. Of all characters in the series, she has the most emotional strength, never allowing anger or jealousy to commit acts of evil. By the start of Yashahime she is spiritually as strong as Kikyo, and possibly stronger given that she developed her own powers of arrow disappearance. Despite her inexperience, Naraku greatly fears Kagome's purifying powers, causing him to target her even more often than Inuyasha.
Miroku
is an eighteen-year-old lecherous and intelligent Buddhist monk who travels the countryside performing spiritual services, such as exorcisms and demon exterminations, though he has a habit of either ripping off or outright robbing wealthy clients. Miroku can attack enemies with his khakkhara and sutra scrolls. But Miroku's greatest weapon is the , a blackhole embedded in his right palm which is actually a hereditary curse originally inflicted upon his paternal grandfather by Naraku. Due to the curse's nature to eventually kill him, Miroku sought to find himself a wife to sire children before eventually falling in love with Sango. In the sequel series, after starting a family with Sango after his curse was lifted, Miroku left his family to train himself to fight demons without his Wind Tunnel.
Sango
is a sixteen-year-old . She hails from a village that practices the act as their profession and is also the original home of the Shikon Jewel; she is described by her father as the most skilled exterminator in the village. While travelling, she wears a traditional woman's kimono, over which she wears long skirt, most likely "mo-bakama", and traditional woman's arm guards and leg guards, and straw sandals. As a demon slayer, Sango dresses in a black skin-tight jumpsuit, and pink armor plates made of demon parts, and a red sash. Of her broad repertoire of tools and tricks for fighting demons, Sango usually wields her most powerful weapon called the , a human-sized boomerang made of purified demon bones, which she can throw using her enhanced strength.
Shippo
is a young orphaned kitsune, who attempts to steal the Shikon Jewel from Inuyasha and Kagome, wanting to become stronger and avenge his father's death. Though his plan fails, Inuyasha and Kagome aid him after hearing his story, and he becomes their companion. Deeply loyal to Kagome, he often calls Inuyasha out on his bad behavior toward her. He is frequently clobbered by Inuyasha for playing tricks on him, and for blurting out uncomfortable or embarrassing facts. Despite this, he views the entire group as his surrogate family.
Kirara
is Sango's faithful companion who usually appears to be a small kitten-sized feline with two tails, but can become large enough to carry several passengers across the air whenever the need arises. She is a spiritual entity and traveled with Midoriko in the past. In the sequel series, Kirara becomes Hisui's companion while occasionally aiding Setsuna.