Tessaiga

Tetsusaiga (鉄砕牙) is a fictional sword in the anime and manga series Inuyasha, wielded by half-human, half-yōkai (hanyō) InuYasha. The kanji, directly translated, means "iron-crushing fang". [link]

In the English, and English subtitled version adaptations of Inuyasha, Tessaiga is called Tetsusaiga (or Tetsaiga) due to an error in translation in the early days of the manga when the tiny っ (tsu) kana (which indicates a glottal stop, or a doubling of the consonant that follows it) was misread as a full-sized つ (tsu) kana, altering the romanization and pronunciation of the word. Both Tetsusaiga and Tessaiga can come from the kanji; the proper spelling depends on how the name is pronounced. The proper romanization is Tessaiga. By the time Viz, the company that translates the anime and manga, had realized the error it was too late.

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

The Tessaiga was made from a fang of Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's full-blooded demon father. In its 'docile' form, the sword looks like an ordinary (and rather battered) katana. The sword is enchanted so that no one, human or demon, may wield it unless they have a desire to protect humans. In its active state, it transforms into a weapon roughly the size of a car bumper that somewhat resembles a falchion, and has the power to slay 100 demons in one swing by striking the Wind Scar. In this form the handguard changes into fur and the rest of blade resembles a very sharp fang. This fur is supposed to be white, similar to Sesshomaru's mokomoko sama, since it comes from their father who had silverish white fur. In the anime, however, the coloring for it is inconsistent as sometimes its white and sometimes its brown, but its actual color is supposed to be white. Tessaiga is a sword designed to protect humans, therefore its attacks are extremely deadly to demons in particular. Throughout the anime and manga, Tessaiga's attacks are shown to be most effective against demons. One notable example of this ability was the effects of the Wind Scar on Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru have shown incredible resistance towards holy and divine attacks, yet he was injured seriously by the Wind Scar and had taken whole days to recover, even with Inuyasha having held back and the fact that his sword Tenseiga was shielding him from the blast. Also, Tessaiga's ultimate technique can only be performed on a demon or something with demonic(yokai)energy. Thus, it can be concluded that Tessaiga was created to specifically kill demons.

However, in a confrontation with Goshinki, an incarnation of Naraku, the Tessaiga was broken in half. The sword's creator Totosai was able to repair the Tessaiga, but in doing so he used one of Inuyasha's fangs. The result is that Tessaiga now became dependent on the strength of InuYasha himself - making the weapon heavier and more difficult for Inuyasha to wield. After much training and a battle with the demon Ryuukotsusei (whom Inuyasha's father battled to a standstill shortly before his death), InuYasha learns how to use a greater power created from the convergence of the Wind Scar (Kaze no Kizu) and attacks from a powerful opponent, known as Backlash Wave. Tessaiga can also absorb magical abilities from the blood of a creature that possesses them, for example, barrier shattering (from Shiori's barrier orb) and Kongōsōha (diamond spear attack, from Hosenki (Hōsenki). It is however, interesting to note that he has not ever obtained an upgrade in the fashion that he expected to. The power has only been able to be absorbed after Inuyasha has shown some sort of emotional maturity or personal growth. When Tesaiga became heavy, he ended up losing it when he fought with Ryuukotsusei. He transformed to his full demon form, and started beating Ryuukotsusei but after smashing him into a cliff, Inuyasha recovered enough of his senses to find and take Tessaiga. Upon taking hold of the sword, because of his personal increase in power, it became feather light to him and he was able to use the Kaze no Kizu anytime, along with the Bakuryuha. When he attempted to cut the barrier orb, he could not cut it due to a barrier around the orb. However, when he felt compassion for Shiori and protected her from the orb's power, he was able to obtain the orb's power without ever having cut it. The same thing happened with Hosenki. When he attempted to cut Hosenki, he coudn't even scratch him, and insted ended up being peppered with diamond shrappel that stuck in the wounds like glass. However, he abandoned his attempt to cut Hosenki when he saw that his friends were in danger, and consequently was able to use the Kongosouha technique without cutting Hosenki. As a matter of fact, it appears that the only upgrade that has been directly absorbed by Tessaiga itself was the ability in the next paragraph, which may help to explain the numerous problems he has had using said ability

Recently, Inuyasha shattered a sword made from the scales of a great dragon, which gained power by absorbing the youki of its opponents. In doing so, he gained the Dragon-Scaled Tessaiga, but until he used it to absorb holy power to purify the incoming youki, he risked great harm to himself in using it. After being dressed-down by his older brother, he went to Totosai, who in turn sent him to Yourei-Taisei, who created a phantom world in which Inuyasha was forced to expand his own ability to sense youki. Doing so allowed him to sense Youketsu, swirling pools of youki that surround youkai. With the Dragon-scaled Tessaiga, he can now break youketsu (although he initially does it by hand, this is in the illusion yourei-taisei created, and so he may not be able to repeat this or may simply not be able to destroy a powerful demon that way), and in doing so cripple or even destroy opponents. This may be a more efficient use of the Dragon-scaled Tessaiga, as Totosai posits that Tessaiga is "a sword for cutting." In other words, it is meant to defeat physically, and claim any powers after the fact, not suck them out as Inuyasha had been doing. To do so was holding Inuyasha back from further mastery of the Tessaiga. Also, during the fight to obtain the Dragon-Scale power, Inuyasha proclaimed that Tessaiga could not "die"/break while he himself was still alive, and that he had some sort of spiritual connection to the sword, going so far as to say that they "are as one" (both probably because the sword is connected to his own yokai energy as a result of being forged the second time with one if his own fangs).

Upon Inuyasha's father's death, Myoga acted upon his lord's final instructions and hid Tessaiga within the tomb of Inuyasha's father. The gateway to the tomb was then hidden inside a black pearl that was somehow cast into Inuyasha's eye without his knowledge. Upon receiving Tenseiga after his father's death, Sesshomaru began to seek out the Tessaiga, and was enraged to discover that it was enchanted against his ability to master it. He has wielded the Tessaiga in brief moments, usually when battling an out-of-control Inuyasha, but the barrier around Tessaiga which rejects him burns his flesh and leaves him weakened afterwards. It is obvious that Inuyasha's father intended this from the beginning, so that the brothers could not duel to the death after he was gone: Tenseiga could not kill the living until Totosai reforged it, and it has protected Sesshomaru from the blows of Tessaiga on occasion, although he was still weakened considerably for a time. Tessaiga's sheath similarly protects Inuyasha from attacks by other demonic swords, and is more powerful than any sword besides Tenseiga and Toukijin.

Special attacks

Kaze no Kizu (Wind Scar) : A special attack that can kill 100 yōkai with one strike. Inuyasha first used this attack by accident, but eventually learned to see the Wind Scar. This attack uses the collision of demonic winds between two enemies to create a path (the scar) to unleash an attack of cutting wind. Using his own youki, Inuyasha is able to take 100 lives in one strike of his sword. If he does the Kaze no Kizu too many times it eventually will wear him out since the Kaze no Kizu is from his yōkai energy. It nearly wore Inuyasha out once when he fought Musō. Later on, when fighting Ryuukotsei, he gains the ability to unleash the wind scar whenever he wants without visualizing the rift between the youki auras. Throughout the series he shown to mostly be releasing lesser versions of this attack, and the only time he is using the totality of its power is when he actually calls out it name.
Bakuryūha (Backlash Wave) (Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale (PS): Dragon Twister): The Tessaiga's ōgi (or ultimate technique). Uses the opponent's strong yōki and the Kaze no Kizu to return the attack, magnified hundreds of times. With this movement of the Tessaiga, he forms enormous charging twisters that sucks the foes power into the "Wind Scar" and forces it to flow backwards. The wind and the power twist together into a vortex, pushing it backwards and the enemy is attacked in it's own demonic force and Tessaiga's might combined! But to use it, he must see where to cut the yōkai's aura and have strong enough "chi" himself to overpower his foes. This only works on foes with a demonic power. Foes slain with this attack include Ryuukotsei, Menomaru (movie 1), Kaguya (movie 2), Tsubaki (in the anime only), Taigokumaru, Bankotsu (in the anime only), and the demon horse Entei (in the anime only). In the third movie, the Backlash Wave is used against both Sesshomaru and Sounga, though Sesshomaru overpowers it and Sounga is never destroyed, only banished to Hell. He later uses it against Toshuu and the sword Datsuki (in the manga) during the battle to gain Datsuki's powers, but it fails to destroy them.
Barrier Shatter (Red Tessaiga): Gained indirectly from Shiori's orb. This technique renders barriers (including Naraku's for a while) useless. When being used, Tessaiga glows red. Only the strongest barriers cannot be shattered by this attack.
Kongōsōha (Diamond Spear): Attack gained indirectly from Hōsenki after Naraku had used the shard to make him fight Inuyasha. Hosenki told Inuyasha to cut him, but when Inuyasha physicaly couldn't(which Hosenki probably knew), Inuyasha decided that instead of continuing to try, he would save his friends insted. Thus, Inuyasha obtained the power to combine his Kaze no Kizu with the diamonds to wreck havoc on the foe, or simply to swing Tessaiga and fire off a huge blast of large dimond shards. The Tessaiga turns into a massive diamond, whipping diamond shards from its blade with, if desired, huge demonic explosions to destroy any and foremost Naraku's Barriers.
Kongō-Bakuryūha (Diamond Explosive Flowing Wave): A combination of Kongōsōha & Bakuryūha. This attack is only used in . It is never used in the manga.
Hama-Bakuryūha (Sacred Explosive Flowing Wave): This isn't really an attack as much as it is a combined effort between Inuyasha and Kagome, which is only used in the movies. Basically consists of Kagome firing one of her Hama no Ya in the center of Inuyasha's Bakuryūha before it connects.

Tessaiga's Transformations/Abilities

Rusty Form: Tessaiga's basic form when in Inuyasha's human hands or those of another human. Despite its appearance, it can still be used as any other sword and repel most yōkai with its other forms.
Transform; True form: With Inuyasha's power fused with the Tessaiga, the katana becomes a giant fang with fur flickering at the hilt. This can block and of course use any of his "weapon techniques" It is also known that the Tessaiga can keep Inuyasha's yōkai form from emerging.
Crimson: Defeating a bat yōkai that could put up virtually indestructible barriers with a red orb, Inuyasha broke the orb with his Tessaiga and absorbed the blood from the bat demon, allowing him to break small barriers.
Diamond: An ability granted by the powerful yōkai Hōsenki. Tessaiga transformes into a massive diamond sword that allows him to break though any barrier.
Dragon-Scaled Tessaiga(龍鱗の鉄砕牙, Ryūrin no Tessaiga): Another form of the Tessaiga gained in the manga after the anime ended. This form is gained by destroying "Datsuki" a yōki-absorbing sword. Whenever he used it to absorb yōki it hurt him, and if he absorbed too much of it, the sword let off an enormous explosion of yōki, that nearly killed him once. However, later on Tessaiga absorbed a priest's senki or holy energy which stopped the backflow of yōki from hurting Inuyasha and allowing him to properly use this form of the Tessaiga. The sword doesn't permanently absorb yōki as most of the time the energy lasts only long enough to be used by Inuyasha against his opponents. The only exception to this is the yōki from Yōreitasai and the senki that it absorbed from the priest because he absorbed all their powers rather than just a blast of energy. After being dressed-down by his elder brother, Inuyasha goes for training to a youkai named Yourei-Taisei (who later infuses Tetsusaiga with his power). The youkai teaches Inuyasha to sense and attack youketsu, whirlpools of youki that channel the powers of youkai. Most youkai have one youketsu, but youkai like Moryomaru and Naraku have many youketsu due to the fact that they're composed of many youkai. To destroy a youketsu is to ruin an opponent's ability to channel youki, or totally destroy them. Breaking youketsu does not seem to fill Tessaiga with any additional power. This youketsu cutting technique has recently proven to be much less effective against Naraku however, because the source of his power is the Shikon Jewel. On a side note, Inuyasha was told that there was a final form that the Dragon-scaled Tetsusaiga was capable of achieving. We have yet to discover what this form is. However, Sesshomaru seems to have a vague idea of what it is.

Sheath of Tessaiga (Tessaiga no Saya): Can deflect or resist electrical attacks and demonic energy attacks with the barrier used to contain Tessaiga's power. However it can only withstand a limited number of attacks. It can also summon the Tessaiga to itself. It was made from the freely given wood of Boksuno, an ancient sentient tree and inherits its magical abilities from it. In one episode this tree explains Sesshomaru the meaning of the two swords and what his father the great dog demon intended.

Power of the Transformed Fang

The Tessaiga is a blade that was once originally the fang of Inuyasha's father and is, presumably, reflective of his power (for more information on this refer to Power of the Transformed Fang).

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