Iwako

Iwako (岩子 Iwako) was the wife of Medama-Oyaji and the mother of Kitarō who died while she was still pregnant with Kitarō, but he climbed out of her grave.
In most adaptations, she is never referred to by name, only ever as Kitarō's Mother (鬼太郎の母 Kitarō no Haha).
==Appearance==
In the 1985 anime, Iwako was shown to be very beautiful, with long brown or black hair, dark eyes, and wearing a white kimono. In the manga and Hakaba Kitaro however, she takes on a more worn appearance as she's near death. In Hakaba, her hair is more disheveled, her eyes smaller, and she's shown to have a lizard-like tongue. Her appearance in the manga is similar, though she seems to be missing an eye, much like Kitaro himself (albeit the opposite eye).
In the 2023 film The Birth of Kitarō: Mystery of GeGeGe, her appearance is drastically different from previous series, given that she is not in a state of decay. She appears as a beautiful woman with fair skin, short burgundy-colored hair, and notably red marks under her eyes. She wears a yellow dress that has four white buttons and a black belt around her waist, white shoes, and a pair of pearl earrings.
==Personality==
Not much is known about Iwako, personality-wise. She was shown to be very protective over Kitaro and wanted what was best for him. In Hakaba, she appeared to be very hospitable towards Mizuki, welcoming him into her home and offering refreshments. She also was shown to be empathetic towards others, relieving a man she found in a hospital of his pain by turning him into a Yōkai.
==History==
===Hakaba Kitarō===
===1971 anime===
===1985 anime===
===1996 anime===
===2018 anime===
===GeGeGe no Kitarō===
==Powers and Abilities==
In the 2023 film The Birth of Kitarō: Mystery of GeGeGe, Iwako before the incidents of Nagura Village was noted to be a powerful yōkai whose fighting capability surpassed that of her husband. 
Butterfly Form: Although it is not certainly clear, Iwako presumably appeared and helped her husband and son in the form of a butterfly in the 1996 anime.
*Scales: Iwako in the 1996 anime can use scales to stun targets.
*Energy Attack: Iwako in the 1996 anime can create her image and blast it against an opponent as a ranged attack.
Living Dead Transmutation:
Iwako's Power Sharing Hakaba.png|Living Dead Transmutation
Iwako96 EP114.png|Butterfly Form
==Trivia==
*Her name may be based on Oiwa from Yotsuya Kaidan. In the manga, it was noted that Iwako and Oiwa were distant relatives.
* The name Iwako means "rock" (岩 iwa) and "child/lady" (子 ko), corresponding with the etymology of Oiwa's name.
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