Naraku

**Naraku** (奈落, ならく, "Hell") was a spider hanyō who was born from the human, Onigumo and various other yōkai, and the primary antagonist of the *InuYasha* series. He was directly responsible for the death of Kikyō and the seal placed on Inuyasha. Naraku desired the Shikon no Tama, a jewel that would be able to grant him near-invincibility should he acquire all the pieces of it. He desired the jewel to purge his half-human self from his body, and enhance his strength even further. Close to the end of the story Naraku gained all Shikon Jewel shards and made the Shikon no Tama whole again which resulted in Naraku transformed himself into a full-Spider yōkai shortly before his defeat and death by Inuyasha's hands.

He is responsible for nearly all the other character's misery, something he enjoys. However, Naraku himself has never found happiness. In the epilogue, after his death, the Demon of the Shikon no Tama became the last enemy of Inuyasha inside the jewel, because he had always manipulate him from the inside of the jewel in order to assure his continued existence.

## Physical Description

When Miroku first mentioned Naraku, it was shown in flashbacks that Naraku once had the forms of a courtier, a young noble, an old peasant and a beautiful lady. The later form was used by Naraku to seduce and curse Miroku's grandfather Miyatsu. When Naraku first appeared personally in the series, he wore a white baboon cloak-like outfit that hid his face. He was a shapeshifter and as such, no one knew what he actually looked like. Naraku then possessed the young lord Kagewaki Hitomi, and kept that form for the rest of the series. Because he took over Kagewaki's body, he had Kagewaki's long black hair and pale skin, as well as his build and voice. The only difference between them was their eyes; while Kagewaki's eyes were brown, Naraku's were red with white pupils with blue eyeshadow. Later on, Naraku dressed in a simple, common outfit. It was dark blue with a purple vest on top.

Once he had gained more power during his state of dormancy at Mount Hakurei, Naraku's appearance changed completely. His outfit then turned purple and light blue, but with boned armor. It had three green tail-like tentacle arms coming from his back, sporting several large hoop bones leading to a red-eye on his chest, and two gauntlets with eyes at the wrist & backhand of his arms. After he absorbed Mōryōmaru, Naraku gained a gigantic spike of diamond armor on his right arm with his tentacles and the majority of his bone armor being discarded, leaving only his gauntlets on his arms (minus the four eyes) along with his chest eye remaining. After Kikyō's death, the spike was discarded and his current form became a simpler version of his post-Mount Hakurei outfit, Naraku gained dark spikes arching over his shoulders.

When he absorbed the Jewel, Naraku became a gigantic spider with eight large horizontal "fangs" and an armored abdomen. His core form within the spider however, was his true body with tentacles that connected him to the spider form. During the final battle, Naraku turned into his normal form, but with several diamonds forming the armor and a gigantic armored spider web that replaced the connecting tentacles. Naraku then took on an oni-like appearance and his hair turned white, and he also gained a rib cage on his body, but this form was just a head. After Inuyasha destroyed forever his body, Naraku's soul was reduced to a head with a spine, and after Kagome shot him with her arrow, his face returned to normal. His dead form within the Shikon Jewel was his head and a giant spider web, though it had a more normal appearance.

## Personality

Throughout the series, Naraku was consistently portrayed as incredibly cruel and manipulative, using others to satisfy his own interests and taking great sadistic delight in destroying the bonds and lives of others, such as when he tricked Inuyasha and Kikyō into thinking they had betrayed each other, causing them to fight. He rarely took responsibility for any of his actions, often twisting the details to make it seem like others were to blame, such as when he mocked Inuyasha and Kikyō for not trusting each other enough to see through his deception. While highly intelligent and cunning, he became too much conceited and ostentatious at times, especially when he obtained any new power. His over-confidence got himself cornered many times, such as when Inuyasha's Red Tessaiga broke his barrier for the first time, leaving him entirely shocked. Naraku had a cowardly streak too, and often fled from a battle when his foes had turned the tables on him.

Above all else, Naraku was power-hungry and self-obsessed, desiring only power and sheer dominance over others. He bore nothing but contempt and disgust towards all other beings and considered himself superior in every aspect, which can be noted in almost all of the sarcastic remarks he made; especially towards Inuyasha and the humans, despite being a hanyō himself. It became Naraku's sole occupation to cause as much pain and misery to humans and yōkai alike as possible, such as when he placed the Wind Tunnel curse on Miroku's grandfather, which later passed on to his father and Miroku too, or using a shard of the Shikon Jewel to brainwash Sango's brother Kohaku, forcing him to do his bidding.

Naraku also appeared to lack the ability to understand bonds such as love, best displayed when he was unable to understand why, no matter what he forced the brainwashed Kohaku to do, Sango simply refused to kill him. However, Kagome eventually pointed out that he actually could understand them more than he let on, as he couldn't have done all the horrible things he did if he didn't understand what it was like to have a bond with someone.

## Powers & Abilities

* **High Intellect:** Naraku was very intellectual and knowledgeable of the various individuals and powers that existed within the Feudal Era which he could use to his advantage. Whenever there came a hurdle in his pursuit of obtaining a complete corrupt Shikon Jewel that he himself couldn't overcome on his own, Naraku usually set out to gather information and intelligence in order to use them to his advantage. His knowledge and intelligence gathering was as such that he usually knew about a certain individual and their unique abilities some time before he confronted them to make use of them before they even realized it.
	+ **Master Manipulator:** Naraku was shown to be a master at manipulating demons and humans alike. Throughout the series, he manipulated many people to get what he wanted without getting his own hands dirty. Possibly the most important instance of his manipulation was when he tricked Inuyasha and Kikyō into thinking they had betrayed each other. Naraku transformed into Inuyasha, cut Kikyō down, and fatally wounded her. He then transformed into Kikyō and attacked Inuyasha. This caused Inuyasha to feel resentment toward Kikyō and he went to go steal the Sacred Jewel. Kikyō, in turn, thought that Inuyasha had betrayed her and used the last of her strength and spiritual power to shoot a sealing arrow at Inuyasha, which pinned him to the Sacred Tree for 50 years. This, ultimately, was to make the Sacred Jewel tainted for Naraku and to get rid of both Kikyō and Inuyasha. This one instance put the entire series in motion and set Inuyasha and the others on their quest to destroy him. Though, there were many other instances in the series where Naraku manipulated others. For example, when Naraku offered the Saimyōshō to Sesshōmaru, when he forced a grief-stricken Kōga to confront Inuyasha, and the numerous times that he controlled Kohaku, just to name a few. He even manipulated the Infant and Hakudōshi as unwitting pawns when they rebelled against him, knowing they would from the moment he created the Infant, as an elaborate plan to absorb an extremely powerful Mōryōmaru.
	+ **Master Strategist:** Naraku was also very strategic in his pursuit for the Shikon Jewel shards and for facing off with his enemies. Naraku usually employed the use of Saimyōshō to observe the progress of the various groups in order to effectively delay them as much as possible. There were times when Inuyasha and his group confronted Naraku, however it was often his demon puppets whom the group encountered, and not Naraku himself. Naraku used this as a tactic as a means to gather intelligence about their abilities in order to devise appropriate counter measures.
* **Swordsman:** Naraku had some skills in using a sword as when he manipulated Sango to bring Tessaiga to him at his phantom castle. Naraku was able to easily fend her off by using an ordinary samurai sword and some of his demon powers before Inuyasha and others arrived. Though given that this was the only instance that Naraku had displayed direct combat against his enemies by using his combat skills, it's unknown how proficient he was at swordsmanship.
* **Expert Spell Caster:** Naraku knew many different spells and curses. More often than not Naraku utilizes the power of demonic spells and other magic when combating Inuyasha and his group directly. An example being the Illusionary Death, which was used to distract Inuyasha's group when they tried to rescue Kikyō from him. However while Naraku is proficient in the use dark spells and curses, it's not his primary power to use and thus he required the dark priestess, Tsubaki's help to curse Kagome with an advanced curse.
	+ **Kazaana:** Naraku's most famous curse that he used to inflict upon Miyatsu and his male descendants to eventually destroy his bloodline. The Wind Tunnel is curse that that forms a void within the right palm of the males born in Miyatsu's bloodline that forever swallows anything in its path in a violent wind turret like a black hole. While early the size the Wind Tunnel is small but with time grows larger until it devours the bearer themselves.
	+ **Demon Puppets:** One of Naraku's trademark spells are conjuring demon puppets which resembled him in his baboon pelt. Naraku controlled them from afar and could see through their eyes. They were mostly made of mud and soil, and were able to spring roots in order to attack opponents. They would only disappear if their heart was destroyed, which was a golem with a piece of Naraku's hair that was wrapped around it. Following Mount Hakurei, Naraku no longer employed the usage of demonic puppetry as he could survive attacks that would have killed him in the past.
* **Shikigami Practitioner:** This power was only displayed in the PlayStation 2 RPG InuYasha game, *InuYasha: Secret of the Cursed Mask*. Naraku obtained this power by deceiving Utsugi, a 'hitogata' duplicate of the original Utsugi, who was created by the priest Kakuju to ease his/her suffering when his/her real wife/husband died. Utsugi, the hitogata, required the soul of a relative of the real Utsugi, and a large portion of the Shikon Jewel, which Naraku provided, and helped in retrieving shards from Kōga to become a true, live human. When Naraku supposedly died, with the jewel in hand, at the hands of Inuyasha & co, the leftover jewel was retrieved by Utsugi behind the scenes. When Utsugi finally retrieved the soul she/he needed, which as it turned out was Kakuju's, Naraku's voice began echoing from the Sacred Jewel, and Naraku took over Utsugi's body rather than absorbing her/him to acquire her shikigami-channeling powers. Naraku became able to use the destructive power of an unknown variety of shikigami, and would time-to-time spout out a long verse when he attacked during the fight in the game. Because this only happened in a game that was based on the anime and the events of the game strayed away from the actual ending of the anime/manga, this power was non-canon.

* **Saimyōshō Control:** Naraku's minion wasps from Hell. He kept a hive of them with him at all times. Their most common use for preventing the Wind Tunnel from being used, or for poisoning the descendants of monk Miyatsu, who were unfortunate or foolish enough to suck them in. They were also useful for spying on Naraku's enemies, communicating with his subordinates, and gathering jewel shards. Their stings were fatally toxic to both humans and demons alike, but they were rather weak as far as demons went. Many of them were killed by Inuyasha and his group.
* **Shapeshifting:** Naraku could take the form of anyone or anything that he chose, usually a humanoid, and change his voice along with his physical appearance. He possessed the young lord, Kagewaki, and remained in that standard form for the rest of the series. We're told by Miroku that every time his grandfather battled Naraku, the demon appeared in a different form, being defeated when Naraku took the form of a beautiful young woman. The most important instance of his shapeshifting would be the time that Naraku had disguised himself as Kikyō & Inuyasha and made them hate one another. As his scent didn't change with his form, Naraku ceased using this ability as Inuyasha and Kōga could smell his scent.
* **Enhanced Strength:** Much like Sesshōmaru, Naraku was far stronger than a normal demon being capable of demolishing boulders and the surrounding area though he seldom resorted to combating with physical strength.
* **Enhanced Speed:** Naraku could move faster than the eye could see, both in the air and on the ground. He managed to fight against Inuyasha and his group many times through his natural speed, though he usually retreated after a short time.
* **Flight:** Similarly to Sesshōmaru, Naraku possessed the ability to float midair, and to ride upon a cloud of his own shōki. After his transformation into a full yōkai, Naraku never chose to employ his shōki-sustained flight, but flew only by the strength of his will, while in his barrier.
* **Absorption:** Naraku was able to absorb other demons into his body, adding their powers and their bodies to his own. This was primarily how he gained strength, by seeking out and absorbing strong demons, and giving him access to their powers. The process dissolves and kills the demons he absorbs, as specified when he tries to absorb Kōga. He could even absorb other demons like him from the inside. Naraku could also expel weaker body parts in order to rid himself of them.
	+ **Demon Parts:** As he was made up of multiple demons in one body, Naraku was able to manipulate their body parts at will in order to restructure and strengthen his body, and he could also regenerate himself from injury and reform his body parts if they were cut off. He most commonly used these parts to form tentacles which he used to attack. His possible true form before reconstruction contains many tentacles and demon parts. In his reconstructed form, he primarily attacks by extending the various spikes on his body, and can also manifest teeth on his tails and stretch them to try to bite his opponents.
	+ **Incarnation Creation:** Naraku could make incarnations out of his own body to do his dirty work for him. Most had a spider mark on their back which was a result of being born from Naraku when he still was a hanyō with Onigumo inside him. He often removed their hearts to ensure loyalty with the price of death for disobedience.
	+ **Energy Blast:** Naraku sent out one or more of the horns on his elbows in a zigzag beam attack or extended his fingers into tentacles with a glowing attack at the tip of his fingers to attack his foe(s). In the manga, this attack was of a silverish color, while in the anime it was of a purple color.
	+ **Armor Shell:** Upon absorbing Mōryōmaru, Naraku gained the **Armor Shell** of Meiōjū, being able to change its size for his own purposes. He also gained the ability to cover himself at will with Mōryōmaru's impenetrable shell. It was revealed that Naraku was hiding the Shikon Jewel underneath that shell.
	+ **Live Body Pieces:** After absorbing the Infant/Mōryōmaru, Naraku gained the haku puppet's ability to remotely control his flesh and send them out to scout for other demons whose abilities could prove useful. Naraku used this ability to detach his head while using his Spider Webs, which made it easier for him to flee. It was also used when Naraku had several of his tentacles and other excessive appendages attack Kohaku for his shard. It was presumably what allowed his armored copies to move without being directly connected to him.
	+ **Spider Webs:** Following his re-absorption of Onigumo's heart a second time, Naraku gained the ability to create threads of spider silk. Only those of high spiritual power, such as Kikyō and Kagome could see them at all times; Naraku could make the webs visible at will if he wanted. Anyone whose heart was corrupt would easily be caught in the webbing, which allowed Naraku to further defile their hearts if he wished. He could also show them illusions. The appearance of this ability further nodded toward his nature as a spider half-demon. In his final transformation, Naraku created a giant body in the shape of a spider, which could, obviously send out threads of spider web to ensnare other demons to add to his body. Naraku used these spider webs to further poison Kikyō, who had not fully recovered from his attempt on her life at Mount Hakurei, which ultimately led to her final death.
* **Psionics:** Naraku was shown using various psychic powers and capabilities; including levitation, telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, mind control, illusion-casting, and astral projection.
* **Immense Demonic Power:** As Naraku started off as a spider hanyō who came into existence from the merging of many demons with a human, he didn't have much demonic power. Throughout the course of the series, as he continued collecting more Shikon Jewel shards and absorb many demons whether they be ordinary or powerful, Naraku's own demonic powers in turn increased significantly. This was demonstrated on the fact that after he had obtained his new body in Mt. Hakurei, Naraku was able to overpower the strength of the Kaze no Kizu which in turn allowed him to take control of it and managed to evenly combat against Sesshōmaru alone while in the Border to the Netherworld for some time though it was only because of his barrier that he was able to last that long against the older Daiyokai. After feeding his soul to the complete corrupt Shikon Jewel in the final battle against all of his enemies, Naraku gained the ability to combat against all of them at the same time with little effort which included Inuyasha with his new power in Tessaiga and Sesshōmaru using Bakusaiga for a prolonged period time so that his severed body could destroy Kaede's Village.
	+ **Barrier:** The most well known and signature ability of Naraku was his barrier which prevented the foe from finding and/or attacking him. At first his barrier was only useful in hiding his presence. As he gathered more shards of the jewel, Naraku became powerful enough to erect a barrier strong enough to survive the Kaze no Kizu. After Naraku had purged his human heart, the barrier became so powerful that nothing but the Kongōsōha and Kikyō's Sacred Arrow was able to penetrate it.
		- **Deflection:** Whenever someone sent an attack of yōki into Naraku's barrier, he could channel the flow of the attack into his own jaki and then attack his opponents with it. However, this could only be done with attacks that could not penetrate his barrier, which meant that it was useless against Inuyasha's Kongōsōha.
	+ **High-Speed Regeneration:** Naraku could quickly heal his own wounds and also put back together severed pieces of his body. He could control 100% of his body all the time, even when his body parts or even head were severed, which came in handy when he was trying to absorb someone. However, there was a limit to how much he could regenerate. The more damage that he took, the more time he would need later on to recover. Too much damage could kill him, which was why he had to flee from his enemies in the beginning of the series. Usually, he would absorb demons to speed up his regeneration process.
	+ **Immortality:** After he created his new body and removed his heart, which came out as the Infant, Naraku was able to regenerate no matter how much damage his body had taken since his life force wasn't in his body. In fact, this new form of regeneration that Naraku gained caused Kikyō to believe that the only way to destroy him was to utterly destroy his very being and that was by purifying his soul through purifying the last corrupt Shikon Jewel Shard that he had harbored in his body. After Naraku detached himself from his body and merged with the complete corrupt Shikon Jewel, he was able to recover from nearly any damage that was dealt to him including direct hits from Inuyasha's new Meidō Zangetsuha and Sesshōmaru's new Bakusaiga (that had the special property of spreading damage and thus was the bane of Naraku). In this final form, Naraku was only vanquished when Kagome, with her full spiritual powers, purified him by shooting a final sacred arrow through the Shikon Jewel.
	+ **Human/Demon Shift:** Unlike Inuyasha, who was forced to become fully human on the night of the new moon every month, Naraku, as a half-demon with Onigumo inside him, could choose what time of the month that he lost all of his powers. Unlike Inuyasha who became a normal human, Naraku was merely a human head that was attached to a mass of yōkai parts during this time, which he used to experiment with his body and rid himself of any unnecessary parts. Since the events that transpired on Mt. Hakurei, Naraku no longer had to become human at any time.
	+ **Miasma Manipulation:** Naraku's trademark, a poison which killed anything that touched it. It's what made his poisonous gas. Naraku used it to cover his entrances and exits, and could surround himself with the gas while flying. He created a "false Shikon shard" for Kōga with this substance. It was able to power Kōga in the manga and anime for a while until it backfired, poisoned him, and ultimately lead him to remove it with the help of Kagome. Naraku's body was filled with it, which was why when a foe bit him or even touched him he/she got poisoned. Later on, as his power grew upon his transition to full demon, Naraku's shōki was able to take on a liquid form and acted like a river of acid. His shōki was so strong that it allowed him to break away pieces of the nearly completed Shikon no Tama to use in his schemes. In the current manga, he could melt entire mountains. Over time, his shōki had become so dangerous that after he infected Kikyō with it, neither Kagome nor Kikyō's purification powers seemed to be able to purify it. Kikyō absorbed Midoriko's soul in order to protect herself, but she commented that she didn't know how long Midoriko's power could last against Naraku's venom in the regard that she and Midoriko remained at the same strength while Naraku continued to increase in power. Eventually, even the influence of Midoriko was nullified with Naraku's absorption of the tree demon and Mōryōmaru.
	+ **Phantom Castle:** Naraku was seen having the ability to create various "Phantom Castles" as temporary headquarters throughout the series. After being nearly killed by the Red Tessaiga, Naraku abandoned the usage of these castles, and decided to be constantly on the move to avoid being found.
	+ **Dormancy/Pseudocidal Ability:** Naraku had the ability to hide himself within one of his servants and make it appear as though he had disappeared, or have been killed. A simple task; he got himself "killed" and hid within the body of a servant of his choice. The only instance we saw this was in the second movie, *InuYasha: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass*. During the first battle, Naraku was shattered by Sango's Hiraikotsu, which was embedded with Miroku's shakujō, and received a direct hit in the chest with both Inuyasha's Wind Scar and Kagome's arrow simultaneously, blowing him to pieces. In reality, he was purposely faking his "death", so that he could lure Kaguya out, and hid himself inside of Kohaku. To further this scheme, Naraku also made Miroku's Kazaana disappear and returned Kagura's heart to her. To everyone's surprise, he eventually emerged out from Kohaku's shoulder in order to absorb Kaguya and her demonic energy to strengthen his own powers.

## Quotes

"*Jealousy? Is this, too, part of Onigumo's grubby heart?*"
―Naraku[src]
"*Your time has come Kikyō. Now, Naraku returns you to the underworld forevermore.*"
―Naraku[src]
"*I will not kill you... I will break you.*"
―Naraku[src]
"*The slayer and the monk... let them spend their final moments together in private, won't you Inuyasha? Heh heh heh... Their sorrow feeds the darkness of the jewel nicely. How ironic. The more they love each other, the darker their despair...*"
―Naraku[src]
"*How touching... betraying your companions for your little brother's sake.*"
―Naraku[src]
"*Can't you see? To taint Kikyō's heart with spite, so that the Shikon jewel would absorb the blood of malice. Two who had trusted each other would now despise and kill one another. What purer evil could be found to taint the jewel? And the more profound the love had once been, the more powerful the resulting hatred, and the more evil the jewel. Magnificent.*"
―Naraku[src]
"*You have served me well, Princess Abi. Here is your reward: You shall not suffer when I kill you.*"
―Naraku[src]
"*Foolish creature... it never realized that it was being consumed from within...*"
―Naraku[src]
"*Now do you understand, Kikyō? You did not come here of your own accord... I **lured** you here.*"
―Naraku[src]
**Inuyasha**: "*You Monster!! Always toying with people's emotions!!*"
**Naraku**: "*What do you mean, Inuyasha? Are you remembering Kikyō, perhaps?*"
―Naraku's cruelty.[src]
"*You bother to worry about a comrade during a time like this? Your unfailing stupidity never ceases to amaze me.*"
―Naraku[src]
"*Try as you might, your efforts are in vain. I shall never die!!*"
―Naraku[src]
"*Kikyō, even in death you continue to haunt me...*"
―Naraku[src]
"*Fools. Do they pity Kanna? But Kanna cannot feel a thing, be it pain, fear or sorrow. She cannot even understand the reason for your pity.*"
―Naraku[src]
"*My actual wish, you say? That's right. All I wanted... was Kikyō's heart. It looks like I won't even be able to... join her in death either.*"
―Naraku[src]
"*So this how it feels to be in peace, it feels so warm.*"
―Naraku[src]
## TMNT X Pokemon

Naraku is one of the many villains you'll face throughout the game. He's one of the most powerful and most difficult on the difficulty scale even though he often let his minions do the work while he sits around Foot HQ.

## Trivia

* Naraku's "true form" - a giant horned spider - did appear twice in the series.
	+ This form also looked like the same yōkai spider that made a deal with Onigumo which ultimately lead to the creation of Naraku.
* Naraku retained Onigumo's voice when not trying to deceive someone with his shapeshifting.
* In many ways, Naraku was responsible for his own demise as when he attacked Kikyō fifty years ago, he gained the Shikon no Tama and could have achieved his desires easily but chose to resort to unorthodox plans.
* In a certain flashback, it was revealed that Naraku had the spider mark on his back prior to being burned.
* His seiyū, Toshiyuki Morikawa, later provided the voice for Otobe from Rumiko Takahashi's newest series *Rin-ne*.
* Naraku has different names in some specific regions:
	+ In the Korean dub he was renamed as 'Narak' to the term 'Naraku' being pronounced as 'Narak' in Korean.
	+ In the German dub, his name was changed to 'Narake', which was supposed to make the name sound similar as it was pronounced in the Japanese Anime version.
	+ In the Brazilian Portuguese dub his name was changed to 'Naraki' because the word 'ku' sounds similar to an offensive pun which means 'anus'.
* The word *Naraku* is derived from Sanskrit language, "Naraka", which bears the same meaning as Naraku.
* On the special information section at the end of volume 30 of the Wide Ban edition of the InuYasha manga, Rumiko Takahashi stated that in her opinion, Naraku was the most tragical character of the entire plot, who did actually suffer the most pain from all characters despite he being responsible for misery of quite a lot characters throughout the main plot.