Miroku (Inuyasha)
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- This article is about a character from an anime series; see Maitreya for the future Buddha known as Miroku in Japanese
is a fictional character in the anime and manga series InuYasha.
Introduction
He is a hōshi (法師, ほうし, a Buddhist monk), who possesses a rather unusual curse. His right hand has a slowly expanding Kazāna (風穴, かざあな, "wind void"; "Wind Tunnel" in the English dub) that sucks in anything nearby if it's not kept covered by a cloth and strand of mala beads. This curse was placed on Miroku's grandfather by Naraku and passed down to him. Eventually, the curse will cause him to be sucked in as well, unless Naraku is defeated.Miroku meets InuYasha and his friends after walking away from a town after cheating a rich man there out of some money. While bathing in a hot spring, he sees Kagome naked and discovers she has shards of the Shikon no Tama (The Jewel of the Four Souls) and takes them and her bike with the help of his tanuki (raccoon dog spirit) friend, Hachi. InuYasha and Kagome catch up to him and InuYasha attacks him, but Miroku uses his Kazāna in return. Kagome, realizing that the monk will not harm humans, stands in its path and causes Miroku to quickly cover it with his prayer beads. Miroku explains his situation, and InuYasha reluctantly allows him to join them.
Despite his good looks and temperament, Miroku's worst vice (and best running joke) is lechery, specifically shameless flattery and occasional groping with varying subtlety. Miroku must have a child in order to have an heir by the time he may be killed by the curse, and thus finds it perfectly fine to offer the chance to many young women to bear his child. This later puts some strain on his blossoming relationship (which eventually culminates in a marriage proposal) with Sango, often ruining small romantic moods between them.
In fact, it was lechery that got Miroku's bloodline into trouble in the first place. His grandfather was fooled into "caring" for a young woman, who turned out to be Naraku in disguise. It was then that he received the Kazāna curse. Despite knowing this, Miroku continues his ways.
Nonetheless, the monk mellows out as time goes on and proves to be a very valuable ally. He is very knowledgeable about yōkai, and is the secondary fighter of the team after InuYasha. Though quite possibly the most intelligent of the group, he often uses humor or lechery to lighten serious situations, especially if anyone is worried about him. Despite his lighthearted and lecherous exterior, it is clear he has an inner darkness (Shippō has been heard to comment that he 'never bought that holy man routine') and worries over his curse and the resulting death sentence that hangs over his head.
Name
- The character is named for the predicted Buddha of the future, Maitreya Bodhisattva, who is called Miroku in Japanese.
Friends
- Sango - He restrains himself out of sympathy at first, but becomes his lecherous self after she recovers. He frequently gropes her when the opportunity arises (generally while injured), though she usually punishes him for it (often with a slap or pummels him down with fists). Despite this, Sango displays varying degrees of jealousy when Miroku pays attenton to other women, which is one of the series' main sources of humor. As the story progresses, it becomes clearer that he is in love with her, and they actually make good teammates and whenever the group splits up it's usually split between InuYasha-Kagome and Sango-Miroku. Curiously enough, Miroku never asked her to bear his child (as he does with every woman he meets) until she demonstrated jealousy and finally brought the subject to his attention (after which Miroku naturally asked, with the normal consequences). Later in the series Miroku proposes to Sango, and she accepts. However, she then shoots him down by asking if he would stop asking other girls to "bear his child", but his failure to answer her question had no effect and they are both still engaged.
- Hachiemon - His partner-in-crime before Miroku met InuYasha and friends. This tanuki (raccoon dog) jūjin would act as a yōkai and the sneaky monk would pretend to drive him off. The hōshi would then collect from the yōkai's "victims." Hachi is very loyal to Miroku, and their friendship is very solid. Due to Hachi's friendly nature, he is very polite and congenial to others.
- InuYasha - InuYasha may not like how the monk does things, but he does respect the monk for his good skills, talents, and his knowledge of yōkai. They have saved each other's lives several times, and both know that they can trust the other to help if there is a need.
- Shippō - The critical kitsune disapproves of the monk's methods, but he also recognizes a good ally.
- Kagome Higurashi - They don't really interact very much. He seems more interested in Sango. However he does enjoy her home cooking and often sides with her during her arguments with InuYasha.
Demonic Power
Kazāna (Japanese: 風穴, Hiragana: かざあな, English: Wind Tunnel) Acts as a mini-black hole that can suck anything in. Miroku's grandfather was cursed by Naraku with the void in his right hand, and it has passed on to his father and now him. As time passes the hole grows in size, and thus increases in power. If Naraku is not destroyed in time, Miroku will be drawn in sharing the fate of his father and grandfather. One advantage of this curse is that it gives Miroku a deadly weapon which puts him on level ground with hordes of yōkai, as there are many enemies throughout the series that can't be destroyed by any of his friends and thus he must use his Wind Tunnel to suck them in.There are two main weaknesses of this attack; if he absorbs something with demonic poison (such as Naraku's insects known as the Saimyosho, or cursed zombies, or anything with a tainted aura such as the water from the god Numawatari) the poison will be spread to Miroku. Because of his holy powers Miroku has a strong resistance to demonic poisons but too much of it can kill him; the other weakness is that if some sharp object such as a knife is sucked into the hole and manages to pierce a side of the hole, then this injury must be repaired otherwise the hole will begin to grow at a much faster rate and thus eventually kill him sooner than his time.
During chapter 448 of the manga, Miroku attempted to use the Kazaana on the merged Naraku and Mouryoumaru, but absorbed the Fuyouheki in their place, thus allowing Naraku/Mouryoumaru's youki to be detected once more. However, he also absorbed a large amount of shouki (miasma); though he was purified by Kikyo, the shouki had cut wounds deep into his body. Now, continued use of the Kazaana will increase these wounds as well, until they reach his heart and kill him.
Holy Powers
- Super Speed: In short bursts, Miroku can run swiftly enough to keep pace with InuYasha; even if carrying extra weight (i.e., another person) on his back. Whether this speed is granted by spell or by innate ability is unclear.
- Spell Scrolls (): Can be used to paralyze yōkai and create barriers. Most are thrown and then bind to the yōkai. See also: O-fuda
- Invisibility: Miroku can mask objects (both living and inanimate) from the eyes of evildoers, by going into a state of intense meditation.
- Force Field (): With the assistance of his staff, Miroku can create and temporarily sustain small protective force fields of reasonable strength.
- Holy Staff: Miroku's staff, known as a Shakujo, is a wooden staff with a circular golden charm on the top. The charm is a circle with a pattern through the center of spheres and double crescents. On each side of the circle, there are three thin gold rings. It is effective in destroying yokai due to its holy properties. His grandfather, Miatsu, originally wielded it when he fought Naraku. This staff was able to stand up to the original Tessaiga, indicating that it is a very powerful weapon on a similar level to the sword.
Voice Actor
- Japanese Seiyū: Kouji Tsujitani
- English Voice Actor: Kirby Morrow
- Brazilian Voice Actor: Fábio Lucindo
- Spanish Voice Actor: Gabriel Gama
- Hungarian Voice Actor: Markovics Tamás
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Listed in approximate order of appearance.
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