Spoiler Alert!

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Welcome to my third entry for the #Historical2020 catalog event! This time I'll be talking about one of my oldest favorites, Sesshomaru, from the Inuyasha series. Inuyasha was one of the earliest series I had gotten into when I had first started my anime journey, and to this day remains one of my favorites. Centering on the adventures of a girl named Kagome Higurashi, the series follows our main character and her newfound friends as she suddenly finds herself able to travel back to the feudal era. The main anime series focuses on Kagome's struggle with a rising demon called Naraku, though multiple side stories are explored in the various movies that accompany the series. Sesshomaru is a side character that appears here and there as he deems fit, wandering the lands and gaining a few companions of his own along the way. For some reason, even with his appearances being rather rare, he seems to steal the show every time he shows. I think that's a good enough of an introduction to the series, so let's delve into Sesshomaru's character now!

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Appearance-wise, Sesshomaru is very eye catching. He has long silver hair that is usually let loose, and contrasting golden eyes. While many of the other characters were drawn to look a bit younger and more friendly, Sesshomaru is the definition of a bishounen, in my opinion. He typically has a blank face, only rarely breaking his character with an annoyed look or two. Notably, he also has a couple of markings as his face and sharp fingernails, which are traits ed down to him by his father. For his clothes, he wears a white kimono with red patterns and an armor plate on his left shoulder. Sesshomaru also has a huge moko moko fluff on his opposite shoulder, which I believe is actually his tail. He usually appears in his humanoid form, but sometimes in battle will transform to be a giant white dog. As a full-blooded dog demon, and the current Lord of the Western Lands, Sesshomaru's appearance seems to cast him as a refined and elegant man, but truthfully he is a much more complex character.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

His personality both complements and contradicts his lovely appearance. He's usually quite cold, like his face would suggest. When I first encountered his character in the series, I wasn't sure if I would like him all that much because of how cold he was. Sure, he was a pretty face, but as a child, I really did appreciate more dynamic characters instead. As I delved deeper into the series, I found that Sesshomaru actually was quite ionate about a few things, the most noticeable one being his father's legacy. I'm not sure if it was an insecurity or simply flat out anger, but Sesshomaru seems to despise Inuyasha, and was very adamant about retrieving the Tessaiga sword. However, there was yet another layer to Sesshomaru's character that became clearer even later on. He may have devoted himself to disliking humans and anything related to them, but he himself took in a human girl and cared for her well, perhaps not offering parental warmth, but instead providing freedom and safety. I like to think inside that he's secretly a softie deep at heart, but to get past his guarded walls is something immeasurably difficult indeed.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Just as Kagome picked up a group of travel companions, Sesshomaru did the same in his journeys. First, he had come across Jaken, a little goblin demon gremlin thing that had become absolutely devoted to serving him. These two have arguably what is the most hilarious relation in the entire series, Sesshomaru generally giving Jaken the cold shoulder, with the latter desperately chasing the former around. However, sometimes we can see Sesshomaru's sadistic humor come out a bit, resulting in him bullying his tiny companion. The best part of it is that you can never tell if Sesshomaru seriously intended to hurt Jaken, or he's simply poking fun and taking advantage of the regenerative powers of being a yokai.

Now, as I've mentioned before, Sesshomaru also met a young human girl in his travels, named Rin. I'm not quite sure how old she is, perhaps around ten? In any case, she bears the naive and innocent happiness of a child, and brightens up Sesshomaru's character immensely. I believe that there were two times that Rin ed away, the first of which, Sesshomaru simply used his tensaiga sword to bring her back. The second time was much more heartfelt, and that was the moment that I realized that Sesshomaru truly did care for his companions deep down. This care was shown more obviously towards Rin, who was human and therefore more fragile, but in some small moments it could still be seen for Jaken. In their own strange way, these three had formed a pretty tightly knit family, and no matter how many times Sesshomaru left to tend to his own matters, he did always seem to come back.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

As a daiyokai, Sesshomaru possesses power that finds little rivalry even in the realm of demons. He is already quicker and stronger than any human in his humanoid form, and also has quite a bit of combat experience. In fighting weaker opponents, his swordsmanship is fair enough to carry him through without breaking so much as a sweat. When facing more difficult fights, he has many options and powers to tap into, making him quite the versatile opponent. I'm sure there are a lot more powers that I simply cannot , but I'll do my best to bring up the most powerful. Sesshomaru sometimes can generate something almost like a yellow whip from his fingers, which can be used to nab at an opponent that's a bit farther away. His mobility in battle is increased with his ability to fly, though he seems to prefer staying on the ground to duke it out. Lastly, as I believe I've mentioned before, Sesshomaru has the ability to transform into different forms. His dog form is huge and allows him to deal a devastating amount of damage to the area around him. He also has a smaller transformation in the form of a light orb, which I believe allows him to teleport as well. Overall, he's clearly very scary demon to fight, especially when his personal feelings are involved.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Strangely, I would consider Sesshomaru to be one of my comfort characters though he doesn't really seem like the type. In a way, I'd compare him to the stars in the sky. He's so beautiful and irable, but there's always that rift of understanding. His character is still as hard as ever to read, and even with my little exposure to the sequel series, his story becomes even more convoluted than ever. One thing however, is very clear to me. I really appreciate the character growth he went through during that 200 some episode journey, and his slow-burn development, despite not being exactly evident when watching, became something glaringly obvious when stepping away from the screen a bit. Inuyasha as a whole isn't my favorite series, just because I felt like there were so many twists and turns that it was hard for me to keep up, but Sesshomaru is one part of the series that I think was written quite well. So, thank you Sesshomaru, for being one of my guiding lights to the anime world.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

That's all I have for today. Thank you for reading through my wiki, and have a nice day!

#AimtoWin

#TheArtofEspionage