Cast / Weapons
Last updated 10/5/99
I had to make some changes to the names of certain characters because they didn't work in Japanese. A little planning ahead would've helped me enormously, but I get myself all excited about something and jump the gun. Always have, probably always will. Enthusiastic thanks to QP/Diana and Andrew Winkless for their help with Japanese and kanji.
Cast of
Characters
Lord
Nishi's Camp
Lord Yomitora's Camp
The Chinese
Lord Nishi (no Aruji), Great Demon of
the Western Lands
Character by Rumiko Takahashi, name invented by me. Sesshoumaru's father.
Takahashisan doesn't tell us much about him beyond the fact that he had two sons, one a
full demon, the other half human; that he had two magical swords (Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga)
made out of his fangs; and that he was somehow able to get his remains and Tetsusaiga into
a black pearl/vortex and put it into Inuyasha's eye. Lacking information, I invented a
past, name and personality for the Great Demon of the Western Lands. Though Takahashisan
didn't give him an age beyond having Inuyasha say he was very old when he died and imply
that he died of old age, I'm guessing him to be more than five hundred years old at the
time of MBK. Just an arbitrary figure I pulled out of my hat. I wasn't horribly creative
with his name, either, since "Nishi" means "West". His weapon of
choice is a katana, or Japanese sword. Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga are created during the
course of MBK. (In the story, I use the English name "sword" most of the time,
rather than "katana".) However, he's skilled in many kinds of weapons and
martial arts, which were taught to him by his own father and by Yazi, second son of The
Dragon of China. I pulled that bit out of my imagination, too. His second form is a giant
white dog with wolf ears and a fluffy tail. His humanlike form is that of an old, hale
warrior, with wolf ears and long, white hair pulled back in a ponytail.
Sesshoumaru, firstborn son of the
Great Demon of the Western Lands
Lord Nishi's Heir Apparant. Here's another case of Takahashisan not being terribly
specific about a character's past or age. At the time of MBK, I decided Sesshoumaru is in
his eighties, which is quite young for a demon. As MBK begins, he carries a mundane
katana, not Tenseiga, since Lord Nishi hasn't ordered it made yet. I decided, as I did in
Crazy Little Thing Called Love, that Sesshoumaru has refined tastes and is very
intelligent. I have him studying Sun Tsu's "The Art of War" as well as other
Chinese philosophical texts. I imagine if he had access to Machiavelli's "The
Prince" or Plato's "Republic" in translation, he'd read those, too. In his
humanlike form, he has a sickle moon on his forehead, purplish stripes on his face and
arms, long, white hair and a long, fluffy tail. His second form is a giant, white,
flop-eared dog with a long, fluffy tail and a sickle moon on its forhead. (But we know
that, don't we?)
Lady Shinju no Kata(formerly of
Yomitora Clan)
Lord Nishi's human mate. The most Takahashisan does to aquaint us with this
character is to have Inuyasha tell us he was very young when she died (but he doesn't tell
us how she died) and to have Sesshoumaru have a Nothing Woman impersonate her to trick
Inuyasha. Beyond that, we know nothing: Not her name, social status, nor even her age
(though she was young when she died, if the Nothing Woman's illusion is any indication). I
gave her a name and a powerful clan to belong to, including parents, two older sisters and
a handmaiden. She's about sixteen or seventeen and pregnant with Inuyasha when MBK begins.
Her name means "Pearl".
Lord Kontonkaze
First vassal of Lord Nishi, second in rank only to Sesshoumaru and one of Lord
Nishi's oldest friends and vassals. One of twin horse demons, about the same age as Lord
Nishi. His name literally means "Chaos Wind". He loves battle so much that he
stirs up humans to go to war and eggs them on to prolong their strife. His weapon is the
katana.
Lord Samuishi
Lord Kontonkaze's younger twin, second vassal of Lord Nishi. He's like his
brother in everything but age, including his choice of weapon (katana). His name means
"Cold Death". Samuishi and Kontonkaze have black horse's heads in their
"humanlike" form. Their second forms are giant, flame-eyed horses with hooves
like steel and razor-sharp fangs.
Lady Gintsuki
Cat demon, third vassal of Lord Nishi. She's only about three hundred fifty years
old. Her weapon is the halberd, but not the kind with an axe head on the end of it. If
you've ever seen Yotoden (collected as the movie "Wrath of the Ninja"),
Gintsuki's halberd is like the one Ryoma carries: A long pole with two blades on the end
of it, sort of like an open-topped "4" with one arm shorter than the other and
really, really sharp. There's a picture of it in the weapons
section. Gintsuki's "other weapon" is her magical ability to seduce her prey
(male humans) to draw them close enough for her fangs to reach their throats, and her
claws to rend their bellies. Her name means "Silver Moon". Her second form is a
giant, three-tailed cat, sort of like Sango's cat Kirara in the manga. Her humanlike form
has short, touseled white hair, cat ears, three fluffy, grey-striped tails and green cat
eyes.
Lord Ryuuko
Fourth vassal of Lord Nishi, a snake demon, between four hundred and four hundred
fifty years old. His weapon is poison, in his fangs and claws. He can spit poison, too,
which kills on contact. He's also able to mesmerize his opponant with his eyes. His name
means "Dragon Tiger". QP/Diana tells me the kanji for "ko" can be read
in a number of ways, including "tora" or "tiger". In his humanlike
form, he's very pale, with golden snake eyes and long, spiky red hair. In his second form,
he's a monsterous white snake with black and red stripes.
Lord Kedamono
Fifth vassal of Lord Nishi, a wild beast. On the battlefield, he's a bestial
berserker, though he's much calmer in other situations. His only weapon is his brute
strength and chaotic attacks. He's about Ryuuko's age. His name means "Beast".
He looks like a werewolf in his humanlike form. His second form is a rabid wolf with red
eyes.
Lord Ushiyasha
A bull demon, like the Minotaur in appearance, sixth vassal of Lord Nishi. He's
about four hundred years old. His weapons are a katana and his horns, which are clad in
iron. His name means "Bull Demon" (sat up all night thinking of that one, didn't
I?) His second form is (duh) a giant bull.
Lord Jigokuyari
Seventh vassal of Lord Nishi and Sesshoumaru's childhood friend. He's the
youngest vassal and the most human in appearance. Think Hitten the Thunder Brother from
the manga, complete with lightening-shooting spear. He has long, dark hair, golden demon
eyes and pointed ears. He also shares Sesshoumaru's taste in clothes and is a bit
conceited (you'd be full of yourself, too, if you were the guy sleeping with Gintsuki). He
has no second form. His name means "Hell Spear".
Umeko
I didn't give her a family name. She's just Umeko (Plum Blossom Girl), Lady
Shinju's handmaiden. She was raised in the Yomitora household and, so, has always served
that Clan. Umeko has a secret, but you'll have to keep reading the story to find out what
it is.
Jaken
A Takahashi original. He's that little toad-like creature who serves Sesshoumaru
and carries that staff with two heads on it. He's Sesshoumaru's personal servant in MBK,
too.
Shiro
Lord Nishi's valet. A wolf demon with white paws, which is where his name comes
from. It means "white".
Lord Akira Yomitora
Head of Yomitora Clan, which has a long-time vendetta against Lord Nishi. He's
Shinju's father, in his mid-forties. His family name implies a fearsome or ferocious
tiger. The name Akira refers to the rising sun. Thanks to Andrew Winkless for suggesting
Akira to me (one my favorite filmmakers is Akira Kurosawa and one of my favorite anime is
"Akira", so it's a good choice). He has the kanji for "tiger"
("tora") on his standard, black against a gold background.
Yazi
War-loving second son of The Dragon of China. In my mythology he taught Lord
Nishi to fight. He's a real character in Chinese mythology (the second son of The Dragon,
who has nine sons in all). I described him with scales the color of iron, tinged with
emerald green, but I made that bit up, since I have yet to read a description of him
beyond his passion for war. He can also take the form of a human male.
Kuailong
Youngest child of Yazi, she's my own creation. When Lord Nishi meets her in his
youth, she's a hatchling-- twice his size and able to kick his doggy ass, but a hatchling,
nevertheless. She intercedes with Yazi to convince him to take on Nishi as a student. When
Lord Nishi returns to Japan, laden with scrolls and jade statues and paintings of Kuailong
(draw your own conclusions), she decides to become a wandering seeker of knowlege. Think
Cain from the TV show Kung Fu, only female and able to be a big, green dragon at will. She
can also take the form of a human female. Her name means "Swift Dragon".
Roughly.
As promised, here's a picture
of the sort of halberd Lady Gintsuki uses. I'll have more weapons info
later.
