Miroku (InuYasha)

Miroku, also known as Houshi and Monk, is one of the main characters from the InuYasha series.
== Charactah Account ==
A young, low-ranking, nomadic Buddhist monk, Miroku possesses a Kazanna ("wind tunnel" or "air void") in his hand, a miniature black hole which sucks in anything if it's not kept magically sealed. The wind tunnel is the product of a curse originally put on Miroku's grandfather by Naraku that dooms Miroku's family to an early death unless it can be removed by killing Naraku first. To that end and after an awkward first encounter, Miroku joins forces with Kagome and Inuyasha.
Although Miroku has considerable spiritual power, he is not a very devout Buddhist (he usually uses his religion as an excuse when it's convenient for him) and frequently uses his status to manipulate people into giving him food, money, clothing, shelter etc. He is a skilled con artist and a handsome lech who habitually flirts and fondles any pretty girl he meets, usually asking them to "bear his children" so that they can carry on the mission to kill Naraku if he doesn't succeed.
== Appearance ==
=== Anime ===
* InuYasha
* InuYasha Movie 1: Affections Touching Across Time
* InuYasha Movie 2: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass
* InuYasha Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler
* InuYasha Movie 4: Fire on the Mystic Island
* InuYasha: The Final Act
* Ranma ½: Nightmare! Incense of Spring Sleep
* Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon
* Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - The Second Act
=== Manga ===
* Heroes Come Back
* InuYasha
* Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon
=== Video Games ===
* InuYasha
* InuYasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale
* InuYasha: Feudal Combat
* InuYasha: Kagome no Sengoku Nikki
* InuYasha: Kagome no Yume Nikki
* InuYasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel
* InuYasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask
== Trivia ==
* Naraku was the one who put the curse on Miroku's grandfather. The Wind Tunnel was only passed down to the male generations. The curse was broken when they killed Naraku.
* Miroku and Sango always stand up for Kagome when she and Inuyasha get into a fight. When Kagome leaves to go back into the Modern Era they tell Inuyasha to go over there and apologize to her since Inuyasha and Kagome are the only ones who can go through the Bone‐Eater's Well.
* Sango's address of Miroku is "Houshi-sama". InuYasha sometimes addresses Miroku as "Bonzou", a ordinary lowly-rank Buddhist monk. Kagome's address of Miroku is "Miroku-sama". Kaede addresses Miroku as "Hoshi-dono". Shippo simply addresses Miroku as "Miroku."
* While Miroku's behavior is depicted in the series as odd for a monk, it was not unheard of for some monks to act that way. The monks of Mount Hiei influenced Japanese political and religious life until the arrival of Oda Nobunaga. He believed that these monks could not do their duty since they were living a blasphemous lifestyle. Nobunaga invaded the mountain, burned every temple there, and executed all the monks.
* During his early appearances in the manga, his hairstyle strongly resembles that of Hiten.
* In the Rumic World opening for Shonen Sunday's 50th anniversary, Kagome suspects that Ataru Moroboshi may be a descendant of Miroku.
* Miroku, along with Shippo, Inuyasha, and Kagome make a cameo appearance in Rumiko Takahashi's series Ranma ½ OVA Episode 13. During one of Akane's nightmares, Miroku's body is seen behind Akane. The only part that's seen is the bottom part of his robe and his sandals.
** Miroku also bares some similarities with Densuke from the same series.
*** His seiyuu, Koji Tsujitani, voiced Hiroshi, who was Ranma's friend and fill role of Tatewaki Kuno in Ranma ½ OVA after Hirotaka Suzuoki's death.
* His young self's seiyuu later voiced Rubber Boat Ghost from Takahashi's fifth major manga Rin-ne.
* Both Miroku's original Japanese and English voice actors have passed away. Koji Tsujitani died on October 17th, 2018, while Kirby Morrow passed away on November 18th, 2020. Tsujitani was succeeded by Makoto Yasumura for Hanyo no Yashahime, while Morrow recorded Miroku's dialogue for the show's first episode prior to his passing and was succeeded by Ian James Corlett.
** Koji Tsujitani was married to Shippō's Japanese seiyuu Kumiko Watanabe from 2012, until his death.
** Kirby Morrow also voiced Van Fanel from The Vision of Escaflowne, whose love interest is Hitomi Kanzaki - voiced by Kelly Sheridan (who also voiced Sango). The two also voiced Jay (Kirby) and Theresa (Kelly) from Class of the Titans who were also romantically involved.
** Ironically, Kirby Morrow had replaced Ian James Corlett as the voice of Doctor Tofu Ono in Ranma ½ (in Seasons 6 and 7).
** Miroku would be Kirby’s final role before his passing.
* In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, Miroku's name was changed to Miroki because the word "Ku" sounds similar to an offensive pun; in the Korean dub, his name was changed to Mireuk; and in the German dub, his name was changed to Miroke.
* He was three times a victim by youkai who disguised themselves as women: Naraku, the Coyote youkai, and the Yuki-on'na.
** Interestingly, when his grandfather fought Naraku, who cursed him with the Wind Tunnel, Naraku was disguised as a woman.
* According to Shippo, Miroku runs fast (which is true, since he's fast enough to keep pace with Inuyasha).
** In addition to this, Miroku can be considered the fastest human character in the series.
* Miroku seems to know exactly how to ride Kagome's bicycle from the first moment he saw it, even though it wouldn't be invented for another 300 years. He probably observed the way Kagome rode her bike in order to learn.
== Gallery ==
File:Miroku (InuYasha) Render 01.png
File:Miroku (InuYasha) Render 02.png
File:Miroku (InuYasha) 01.png
File:Miroku (InuYasha) 02.png
File:Miroku (InuYasha) 03.png
File:Miroku (InuYasha) 04.png
== External Links ==
* Miroku at InuYasha
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:InuYasha