Kohaku (InuYasha)

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Not to be confused with Kōhaku Uta Gassen.

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

1 Character

1.1 Clothes

2 Voice
3 Name
4 Other uses

Character

Kohaku is the younger brother of Sango. When Kohaku turned eleven, he was told by his father that he must now put his training as a yōkai taijiya (exterminator) to use and help the rest of his family (who are also demon hunters) with their next mission; exterminating a Spider yōkai who is tormenting a small village. Kohaku is scared, but he does not want to disappoint his father. Sango cheers him up by telling him he will be safe with her. However, during the mission something goes horribly wrong. Kohaku becomes a puppet of the Spider yōkai, who has taken the form of the Castle's Lord, and kills his family. Sango sees the spider thread the demon is using to control Kohaku connected to the back of his neck and knows he is not himself. Sango tries to wake her brother up and a battle ensues. They fight until the false Lord orders them killed. Sango is wounded and Kohaku is released from the demon's spell. He rushes to aid Sango, only to be shot dead by the Lord's archers.

Later on in the series, Kohaku is brought back to life by Naraku, and is kept alive by a shard of the Shikon no Tama lodged in his back. He remembers nothing of his past life and so, he becomes Naraku's servant. In episode 29 of the anime (Volume 11 of the manga), Naraku uses Kohaku's life as leverage to try and persuade Sango to steal the Tessaiga for him. Later on in the series, some of Kohaku's memories gradually return to him, but he still mostly serves as a minion under Naraku. It is not until he first defends a noblewoman who has mistaken Akago as her own child from Princess Abi and her bird demons only to be forced to kill all the people he help defend to retrieve for Akago for Naraku does he begin to regain his own will. Desperate to determine his identity and trying to stop himself from killing the noblewoman, he begins to cry before her. Sango arrives to stop him as Kohaku struggles to accept the surge of memories he is recalling. Kagura arrives to take him away; as they escape, he is able to fully assess his recovered memory, but keeps it a secret and decides that even at the cost of his own life, he will kill Naraku.

After he inadvertently reveals he has recovered his memory to Kagura, the two form an alliance of sorts seeing as they are in a similar situation. They will defend each other, given that the other is the only one they can somewhat trust; in Kagura's final battle, she holds off Hakudoshi so Kohaku can escape and as she dies from Naraku's poison, Kohaku runs off in search of her, sensing Kagura is in some sort of danger.

Following Kagura's death, he joins Kikyo as he believes travelling with her will be the only way to redeem himself, full well knowing that she may sacrifice his life to complete the Shikon Jewel to defeat Naraku. He remains by her side until she tells him to separate from her for fear of being unable to keep his shard pure. However, he is nearly captured by Byakuya, and only a timely arrival by Sesshōmaru saves him. He is currently traveling with Sesshōmaru's party, although how long that will last is unknown.

After Kikyo's defeat, Naraku succeed in reuniting and corrupt all of the Shikon Jewel, except for the shard in Kohaku's body. Now Inuyasha and co. must protect him at any cost as his purified shard is all that stands between Naraku and his ultimate victory.

Clothes

Kohaku has two outfits, which he wears throughout the series. One is a short type of kimono, bound by a black sash, with cloth around his bare feet and wrists. This outfit mostly serves the purpose of satisfying fans who wish for a Shotacon like character. The second is a suit of taijiya armor. His main weapon is a version of a kusarigama known as a "Chain-Blade", however when dressed in his taijiya armor, he carries a katana on his obi as well.

Voice

Japanese - Akiko Yajima
English - Alex Doduk(1st), Danny McKinnon(2nd)

Name

Kohaku means "amber." It can also mean "topaz."

Other uses

Kohaku is a type of koi fish.