History Manga / Inuyasha

** The first three movies have a different character designer from the anime, resulting in this. This is averted for the fourth movie, however.

* NunTooHoly: Miroku is a Buddhist monk... who chases after women, has tried to peep on women bathing at least once, is willing to use violence to make others agree with him (he's beaten up the [[{{Obake}} Tanuki]] Hatchi at least once, and then threatened to use the Wind Tunnel on him a different time) and is quite willing to fake exorcisms in order to get food, money, lodgings or any combination of the aforemention. Of course, this kind of plays on real-world stereotypes of ''actual'' monkish behavior from that time period.
%%* ObfuscatingStupidity: Totosai.
%%* OcularGushers: Kagome's grandfather, particularly.

%%* OddlyVisibleEyebrows: Everyone, but especially Inuyasha.
* OfficialCouple: Miroku and Sango become official in the middle of the story, [[spoiler:Inuyasha and Kagome stay not-quite official until the very last second]], that said [[spoiler:Kagome refers to him as her boyfriend]] about mid-way through the story and there are no objections.
* OffingTheOffspring: Naraku loves doing this: [[spoiler:He abandons Hakudoshi to be killed, impales and poisons Kagura, and makes Kanna explode.]]

** Naraku has several, like when Kagome blew up his body realizing she's Kikyo's reincarnation or when Kohaku tried to purify him with the light in his shard. In those instances he's always quick to run.
** His servants likewise get more than a few, especially Byakuya who thought he could handle [[spoiler:Sesshomaru with an army of a few thousand youkai to back him up.]] [[OhCrap He was wrong]].
* OldRetainer: Myoga and Jaken, to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru respectively. Myoga was a also former retainer of their mutual father.
* OnTheNextEpisodeOfCatchphrase: Kagome's 'See ya soon!'

* OneManArmy: Despite the back-up his friends give him, Inuyasha is more than capable of this. His sword can slay a hundred youkai with a single swing... and that's its weakest ability. Then there's Miroku, who can take out many youkai with his Wind Tunnel (when he's allowed to use it). [[spoiler:And Sesshomaru's sword can slay thousands of youkai with a single swing.]]
* OneWingedAngel: Naraku has ''5'' of them in the final battle.
* OnlyGoodPeopleMayPass: In the anime, Midoriko's cave has a spiritual barrier that prevents anyone with selfish reasons or callousness for the dead from entering. Myoga is initially unable to enter due to his eagerness at seeing the Shikon Jewel's origins. Once he lit some incense and prayed for the recently slaughtered demon slayers, he was able to pass through the barrier.

* OnlyGoodPeopleMayPass: The title character once had to enter a cave that was protected by an enchantment that prevented anyone from going in for selfish reasons. Needless to say, this presented some difficulty for him.
* OnlyICanKillHim: Everyone wants to kill Naraku, but Kikyo puts special emphasis on how she is the only one who can really do it. [[spoiler:She doesn't, although her efforts prove integral to his eventual defeat.]] Her help would not even be required if she hadn't given him the jewel shards and made him stronger to begin with.

* OnlyOneName: All of the characters in the Sengoku era have only one name. Justified since throughout most of Japanese history, the only people who had family names were those who came from noble families, until a law passed during the Meiji Restoration made family names compulsory for everyone regardless of class.

* OpenMindedParent: Nobody in her family minds that Kagome is gone for days or weeks at a time adventuring in a past era full of {{Youkai}} and missing a lot of school to do it, or that she's falling for a guy who's only half human; on the contrary, they cheerfully make up excuses for her to explain her absences and very much support her relationship with Inuyasha, her mother inviting him over for family meals and her brother was confused that they hadn't already admitted their feelings for each other.
%%* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Kagome
* OrnamentalWeapon: Koga carries a sword he never uses. He even admitted he just had it for decoration after having to use it to free himself from Moryomaru.
%%* OrpheanRescue

** Ryoukotsusei is a giant elder Dragon who's NighInvulnerable and speaks through what looks like a Noh mask in the middle of his forehead. Inuyasha's father is fatally wounded fighting and sealing him.
%%* OurTimeTravelIsDifferent: Wormhole Time Travel through the well.
%%* OurZombiesAreDifferent Type R: Kikyo, Kohaku and the Band of Seven.
%%* OutdoorBathPeeping: With Miroku around, it was inevitable.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: Kagome, Shippo, Sango, Miroku, and Kirara all routinely fall victim to this trope whenever they go into battle teamed up with Inuyasha. Despite the fact that all of them have at least a few skills that could contribute to victory, Inuyasha usually does almost all or all of the heavy lifting in combat, and he virtually always is the one to deliver the final killing blow. Sometimes Inuyasha's companions will just stand in the background and make commentary about the fight, even though they have no valid reason not to participate.

* PapaWolf: Sesshomaru dives into hell in order to save Rin and kicks the King of Hell's ass in order to save her [[spoiler:and was very clearly in pain about her death]].

* PaperTalisman: Miroku uses paper talismans to exorcise demons, create seals, and rip-off wealthy people.

* ParentalFavoritism: Sesshomaru's believes that his father preferred the half-human Inuyasha over his first born, full demon son (i.e. himself). He thinks this mainly because his father left the incredibly powerful Tessaiga to Inuyasha and the seemingly useless Tenseiga to him.
* ParrotPetPosition: Kirara while in her small form will sometimes hitch a ride on Sango's shoulder. Shippo will also ride on one of his companion's shoulders.
* PastelChalkedFreezeFrame: The anime will sometimes take a still frame from a scene and render it in pastel chalk colors.

* PersonalHorror: It's possible for Inuyasha's demon blood to take over whenever his life is in danger and he doesn't have the Tessaiga with him. However, he also turns into a merciless killing machine, only concerned with satiating his own bloodlust. With each successive transformation, Inuyasha's sense of self will errod until his true personality is fully gone. Once he learns about this, Inuyasha is scared to lose himself to his demonic side.

* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: In the Tokajin arc, Inuyasha comes to rescue Kagome just to find her naked. After a few awkward seconds, he throws her his haori.
* PointyEars: Some of the humanoid demons have human ears with pointed tips. For example, Sesshomaru in his human form has pointy ears.

* PoisonIsEvil: Poison is used a lot by villains on the show. Possibly even veers into Evil Is Poison, as it's implied that demonic aura itself is inherently poisonous. Naraku is especially toxic due to being created from fused demons. Subverted by Sango and the demon slayers who commonly use specialized poisons against demons.

* PortalToThePast: The Bone Eater's Well lets Kagome and Inuyasha travel between the present and the warring states era.

* PosthumousCharacter: Midoriko lived centuries before the start of the story, but her presense is felt all those years later in the form of the Shikon Jewel and her crystilized statue. She was responsible for the creation of the jewel, [[spoiler:and her soul and the soul of the giant youkai she fought at the time are locked in a battle within the jewel itself]].
* PowerAtAPrice: Sesshomaru's quest for power results in the loss of his arm and, later, the death [[spoiler:of Rin]]. He achieves his true potential only thanks to this and the death of [[spoiler:Kagura]]; the latter moves him to feel compassion for others and the former forces him to understand the irreplaceable value of life and the role that fear and sorrow must play in a warrior's life.

* PowerFloats: Naraku is able to float after aquiring enough of the Shikon Jewel shards.
* PowerGlows: Anyone or anything with some sort of supernatural or spiritual power will glow: Kagome and Kikyo's sacred arrows glow pink or purple, Inuyasha's Tessaiga will glow different colors depending on the power he's using, Sesshomaru's hands will glow green when he intends to use his poison claws, and so on and so forth.
* PowerIncontinence: The Wind Tunnel is like a miniature black hole in Miroku's palm that sucks everything in front of it unless it's sealed by special prayer beads. Eventually, it will grow big enough to break the seal and consume Miroku and everything around him.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Inuyasha's desire to protect Kagome and his friends is what lets him master Tessaiga, a sword that was specifically created to defend humans: Inuyasha says he will protect Kagome, Tessaiga transforms for the first time. When he protects Miroku, it unleashes the Wind Scar for the first time. When he goes to protect his friends instead of getting a new technique, he gets the Diamond Spears. Says he won't let Naraku keep hurting Miroku and Sango, [[spoiler:he makes the Meido Zangetsuha his]].

* PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: Sango's Hiraikotsu will always return to her unless its purposefully knocked or grabbed out of the air.

* PsychoticSmirk: Naraku will often flash his oppenants a malicious smirk before, during, or after his evil gloating.

* PutOnABus: In the anime, Koga disappears completely from the story after the Band of Seven arc. He makes a brief appearance in ''The Final Act'' before leaving for good after Naraku steals his shards. [[spoiler:The epilogue does check in on him for a bit.]]

* QuietingTheUnquietDead: Chapters 35 to 38/Episode 12 has Kagome and Inyasha dealing with a VengefulGhost named Mayu, who was the late older sister of Sota's friend Satoru. Mayu died beliving that her mother abonded her to perish in the fire that took their home. Because of this, she causes accidents to anyone who gets too close to the apartment she lived in, and is also trying to kill her brother. However, if she continues to feed her hatred, the Tatarimokke will drag her to Hell. Fortunately, with help from Kagome, Mayu is able to make up with her mother and depart for heaven, now finally at peace.

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The main group of travelers consist of a hotblooded [[HalfHumanHybrid half-youkai]], a 1990s girl with {{miko}} powers who also happens to be the reincarnation of a famous priestess, a mischevious young [[AsianFoxSpirit kitsune]], a cursed lecherous monk, a female [[DemonSlaying youkai exterminator]], and her [[BakenekoAndNekomata nekomata]] companion who can [[{{Sizeshifter}} change size at will]].
* RainOfBlood: This happens in the manga when Inuyasha attacks a group of bandits while in his youkai form; he slices the bandits while leaping, making their blood rain from above.
* RazorFloss: Yura can manipulate strings of razor-sharp hair. Kagome used this sharpness to cut her hand and bleed on the hair, letting Inuyasha see where the hair is.

** After Tessaiga is broken by Goshinki, Totosai reforged it with Inuyasha's own fang. This made the sword heavier, since Inuyasha now has to rely on his own strength instead of his father's.
** [[spoiler:Tenseiga is also reforged in order to activate Meidou Zangetsuha, triggered by Sesshomaru's emotionally bruised heart because of Kagura rather than the blade breaking.]]
* {{Reincarnation}}: Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyo, a priestess who died during the warring states era. She had been burned with the Shikon Jewel with the intention of taking the jewel with her to the afterlife. [[spoiler:Instead, the jewel granted her true wish of seeing Inuyasha again.]]
* ReincarnationRomance: Inuyasha falls in love with Kagome, the reincarnation of his last love, Kikyo. Kagome, for her part, also develops a crush on Inuyasha.

* RelationshipUpgrade: [[spoiler:Inuysasha and Kagome become husband and wife after she returns to the feudal era for good.]]
* ReReleaseSoundtrack: Netflix replaced the first opening, "CHANGE THE WORLD" by V6, with an original track called "Hanyou Inuyasha". In certain territories, "Shippuu no Gotoku" (疾風の如く, "Like A Storm") is used for the opening instead.

* ResurrectedForAJob: An ogre sourcess named Urasue resurrected Kikyo so she could use the priestess's spiritual powers to hunt down shikon shards for her. Kikyo kills Urasue shortly after her revival.
* ResurrectedRomance: Kikyo is resurrected after fifty years, and she and Inuyasha have to deal with their relationship issues where they were abruptly left off.
* ResurrectionRevenge: After getting resurrected against her will, Kikyo swears vengeance against Inuyasha, blaming him for causing her death. Her anger is turned to Naraku once she learns the truth about her death.

In 2000, an anime adaptation titled ''Inuyasha'' or ''Inuyasha: A Fuedal Fairytale'' (戦国御伽草子 犬夜叉, ''Sengoku Otogizōshi Inuyasha'') began airing on October 16th. It was produced by Creator/{{Sunrise}} and stopped at 167 episodes. Five years later, a continuation titled ''Inuyasha: The Final Act'' (犬夜叉 完結編, ''Inuyasha Kanketsu-hen'') began airing on October 4th, 2009. ''Final Act'' ran for 26 episodes, adapting the volumes of manga that its initial run didn't cover. Both seasons received an English dub and home release by Viz Media.

A light novel simply titled ''[=InuYasha=] Novel'' (小説犬夜叉, ''Shousetsu [=InuYasha=]'') was written by Tomoko Komparu and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was published in Decemeber 2004 and adapts the first ten chapters of the manga (equal to the first four episodes of the anime).

* ReviveKillsZombie:
** More like [[InvertedTrope "Killing 'Zombies' Revives"]]. Tenseiga has the ability to cut the undead and the spirits from the underworld. By slaying the spirits that come to collect the soul of a dead person it revives said person.
** This is played straight by being [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman one of the only contexts where Tenseiga is actually effective as a weapon.]] As a sword of healing and life, it's lethal when used to fight un-dead beings and demons and spirits originating from the underworld. Which is especially important since such creatures are usually able to NoSell or otherwise regenerate from anything else due to already being dead.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Kirara in her untransformed state looks like an adorable yellow-and-black kitten who just happened to have an extra tail. The anime even gives her a tiny "meow" too.
* RivalsTeamup: In order to finally kill Naraku, Inuyasha and the gang team up with Sesshomaru and Koga, who both hate/dislike Inuyasha, and Kikyo, who Kagome has conflicting feelings about.
* RomanticFalseLead: Kuranosuke Takeda is an anime original character, a young nobleman who proposes marriage Sango. By this point, Sango is already in love with Miroku, so Kuranosuke has no chance.
* RoofHopping: Inuyasha will often hope from roof to roof in order to get to his destination faster, regardless of whether he's in the feudal era or modern age.
* RopeBridge: Jaken and Rin are confronted by a villain in the middle of a rope bridge. In a subversion, the bridge breaks because Jaken's attempt to defend himself and Rin relies on fire which burns the ropes and breaks the bridge causing all three of them to plunge into the gorge below.
* RunningGag: The series includes several running gags:

** Miroku, whenever he sees an atractive woman, will flirt with them before asking if she would like to bear him children.

* SadisticChoice: In the final battle, Naraku creates an illusion of himself holding a very much real Rin while in front of Sango. He taunts Sango about Miroku's impending demise via his Wind Tunnel, pointing out that she's got two options: she can use her Hiraikotsu to take a shot at him which would most likely kill an innocent girl at the same time or let Miroku die. [[spoiler:Sango, not realizing that the Naraku she was speaking to was just an illusion, goes for the kill.]]

* SanDimasTime: Spending three days in feudal Japan is about the same as spending three days away from 90s Japan, which is why Kagome misses so much school. She can't change how the well works, so she will spend a few days between the past and her present so she can still help with the shard collection efforts and still get through middle school.

* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's hightened senses of smell make it easy for them to track basically anything and everything.

** No matter his form, Naraku has a giant spider-shaped scar permanently on his back. In attempt to be rid of it, he cut the flesh off of his back to remove the scar only for the scar to'immediately grow back in place.
* SchizoTech: Ginkotsu from the Band of Seven is a cyborg-tank during an era of Japan in which gunpowder-based weapons weren't around.

* ScrewYouElves: After Sesshomaru's constant belittling of humans and half-demons, Inuyasha not only slices Sesshomaru's arm off, he also mocks Sesshomaru on how a mere half-youkai got to inherit the powerful Tessaiga.

** After having brutally slaughtered a gang of bandits while berserk (including some who attempted to surrender, and all in front of his shocked companions and some traumatized villagers), Inuyasha attempts to wash the blood from his claws, only to lament that with his hyper-sensitive nose, there's nothing he can do about the smell.

* SealedEvilInACan: A composite demon is housed inside the Shikon Jewel.
* SealedEvilInADuel: The Shikon Jewel contains the souls of Midoriko and a powerful composite demon locked in an eternal duel.
* SecondLove:
** Inuyasha's first love was Kikyo, [[spoiler:but he ultimately falls in love with and marries Kagome]].
** In the anime, Koga initially chases after Kagome [[spoiler:but marries Ayame]].

* SecretTestOfCharacter: [[spoiler:Sesshomaru's entire character arc throughout the story turns out to have been a test given to him by his father. Once he finally passes it, he obtains Bakusaiga, a sword that's more powerful than Tessaiga.]]
* SelfGuardingPhlebotinum: Tessaiga has a barrier around it that prevents demons from touching it. Humans and half-demons can touch it without pain, however.
* SelfMadeOrphan: Kohaku killed his own father while being possessed by Naraku.
* SelflessWish: Naraku expected Kikyo to use the Shikon Jewel to save her own life after having been mortally wounded by a disguised Naraku. She takes it with her into the afterlife instead. [[spoiler:This sets up the ending, where Kagome and Inuyasha are trapped in the jewel. Like Kikyo before her, Kagome doesn't make the selfish wish- to return her home- but instead wished for the jewel to cease to exist.]]
* SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains: The two female heroes dress modestly while the first two villainess, [[FullFrontalAssault Mistress Centipede]] and [[{{Stripperiffic}} Yura]], dressed rather scantily.

* SexySurfacingShot: In Chapter 79/Episode 57, after being captured by [[MonsterOfTheWeek Tokajin]], Kagome wakes up naked in a [[BathtubScene sake bath]] with Ninmenka fruits. When Inuyasha bursts into the room, Kagome leaps out of the water, excited to see him. The audience sees her ToplessnessFromTheBack and ShouldersUpNudity while Inuyasha gets the full eyeful. After an awkward pause, she suddenly realizes she is naked in front of him and [[NakedFreakOut squats back into the water shrieking]].

* ShapeshifterDefaultForm: Even though we know Naraku can take any form since that's the way he tricked Inuyasha, Kikyo and Miroku's grandfather, once he took a nobleman son's identity he sticks with that appearance for the rest of the series.

* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Whenever someone mistakes Inuyasha and Kagome as being a couple or just generally in love, one or both of them will get flustered. Soon after permanantly joining Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo, Miroku states this assumption out loud, to which Inuyasha- in his haste to deny it- calls Kagome a jewel detector. Kagome doesn't take this well.
* SheWillComeForMe: [[spoiler:While inside the Shikon Jewel, Kagome grows afraid that she'll be stuck in its dark emptiness forever. She almost succombs to her fear and wishes on the jewel to return home. However, upon hearing Inuyasha's voice, she gathers her courge and chooses to believe that he will come for her.]]
* ShipperOnDeck: Kagome tries to get Miroku and Sango together at times. Kagome's family, Miroku, Sango and Shippo to Inuyasha and Kagome. In Chapter 343 (animated in Episode 167), Rin is quite up-beat and happy upon realizing that Kagura is in love with Sesshomaru, to the extent where that realization cures her fear of Kagura (earned as a result of Kagura having once kidnapped her on Naraku's orders).
* ShockCollar: Inuyasha has a collar of enchanted prayer beads (or rosary) designed to make him hit the ground whenever Kagome says "sit" or "sit, boy".

** In the English dub, after being dragged through her family's well, Kagome has just landed in some strange forest she does not recognize. Upon seeing this different scenery, she thinks to herself "[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Toto, I don't think we're in Tokyo anymore!]]".

* SickEpisode: The Jinenji story is borne from Inuyasha and Kagome searching for a cure for Kirara, laid up after biting Naraku.
* SidewaysSmile: Sesshomaru sports a smile that goes from ear to ear and keeps growing as he transforms into his true form.
* SignificantNameShift: Inuyasha initially refers to Kagome as some constant variation of the word "you", punctuating their strained relationship. After she helps him kill their first dangerous enemy, however, he switches to using her name.

* SinsOfOurFathers: Miroku inherited the Wind Tunnel because his grandfather wanted to destroy Naraku. A lot of enemies Inuyasha and Sesshomaru encounter were enemies of their father.
* SituationalSword: Tenseiga has the power to protect Sesshomaru from death, but it only kicks in if Sesshomaru sustains an injury that might potentially kill him without that protection. More specifically, Tenseiga's protection will ''always'' work on reflex when it senses that Sesshomaru is about to take a mortal blow from ''Tessaiga''. This was something his father had placed as a failsafe just in case the latter blade is turned on Sesshomaru, ensuring Sesshomaru and Inuyasha can't maim each other using their heirlooms at the very least. Under extreme conditions it can trigger a barrier on its own. It's also [[HealingShiv incapable]] of killing the living, but turns out to be capable of killing spirits, [[spoiler:though later, it's shown to have one of the most power offensive abilities in the series - this was eventually meant to be passed on to Tessaiga and Inuyasha after Sesshomaru mastered the skill. After Sesshomaru passes the move on, Tenseiga is back to being a pure HealingShiv]].
* {{Sizeshifter}}: Kirara can shift from a small, kittenlike form to a large, saber-toothed tigerlike form.
* SlipknotPonytail: In the final battle, Sango's hair falls down when she and Kirara are bathed in Naraku's miasma and it eats away her hair tie.

* SmellsOfDeath: Kagome and Inuyasha find themselves fighting a group of bandits. Kagome gets kidnapped and taken to the bandit leader, who she can sense has a shard of the Shikon Jewel. She mentions that the bandit leader smells of rotting flesh, indicating that the jewel shard was reanimating a corpse.

* SoLastSeason: As Naraku and other antagonists become more powerful, Inuyasha and the gang gain new upgrades in the form of new weapons. Inuyasha in particular is able to add new powers to his Tessaiga. While none of the powers Inuyasha adds to his sword becomes completely obsolete, their usefulness does degenerate as the series went on.
* SoulCuttingBlade: Tenseiga can only harm beings that don't belong to the living world, able to cut thorugh the souls of the undead.

** Each time Inuyasha's youkai blood takes over, he becomes more kill happy and cruel.
* SpoiledBrat: Jaken seems to think of Rin as an selfish kid who monoplizes Sesshomaru's attentions.

** ''The Final Act''[='=]s opening, "Kimi ga Inai Mirai", spoils that [[spoiler:Sesshomaru gets him arm back and a new sword, and that Inuyasha inherits Meido Zengetsuha]], all of which happens well over halfway through the season.

* StableTimeLoop: Kagome meets the possessed Noh mask in her present day and brings its shard back to the past to complete the Shikon Jewel, meaning that the original shard is still in the past, where it will become part of the Noh mask, which Kagome will bring to the past, and so on and so forth.
* StarCrossedLovers: The half-youkai Inuyasha wanted to use the Shikon Jewel to become a full youkai. The jewel was under the protection of the human priestess Kikyo at the time, leading the two of them to meet. Despite their differences, Inuyasha and Kikyo fell in love, so much so that Inuyasha did a 180 on his inital goal, wanting instead to be turned fully human so he and Kikyo could form a life together. However, Naraku manipulated Kikyo and Inuyasha into thinking they betrayed one another, leading Inuyasha to attempting to steal the Shikon Jewel and Kikyo to pin him to a tree before he could get away and dying shortly thereafter. Fifty years later, Kikyo is brought back to life, but as an animated clay puppet that looks like her instead of a flesh-and-blood human. As such, there's no way Kikyo and Inuyasha can truly be together.
* TheStarscream: Hakudoushi, the [[EnfanteTerrible Infant]] and Mouryoumaru are all incarnations of Naraku and all three schemed to eventually kill and supplant Naraku.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Once the main players are introduced, the story settles into a monster of the week format with the overarching antagonist, Naraku, popping in every now and then to cause trouble for everyone either as himself or having one of his incarnations doing it for him. Character dynamics tend to stay the same for a long time, and while there is character development for most of the cast, the length of the series makes it hard to see at first, leaving one to feel like there's a lack of progression.

* StormOfBlades: Tessaiga's diamond form has an attack called Diamond Barage. When activated, a swing from Tessaiga will shower the area with diamond spears.

** The Wind Tunnel could easily solve many of the troubles Inuyasha and the group find themselves in since it can suck in anything and everything. Naraku is well aware of this, having been the one to curse Miroku's grandfather with it himself. In order to keep Miroku down for the count, he uses Saimyoushou, poisoned wasps that could kill Miroku if he sucks up too many.
** Sesshomaru's Bakusaiga is introduced before the final battle, and it's an increibbly powerful weapon: one swing unleashes a destructive beam that goes on raviging its target until the target is completely destroyed. Once the final battle against Naraku comenances, however, Sesshomaru is unable to use the sword for much of the fight.
* StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred: Naraku urges Sango to kill him while he's holding Rin in his arms. Of course this being Naraku, he's not really going to die since he's only an illusion, but Rin is real and if Sango strikes the girl ''will'' die, filling the Shikon Jewel with darkness.
* SuckOutThePoison: Myoga, being a flea youkai, sucked out spider venom from Inuyasha after getting bitten while in his human form. On another occasion, he managed to save Kagome, Sango and Miroku from almost dying from Mukotsu's poison.
* SummonToHand: By using its scabbard, Inuyasha can summon Tessaiga back to him.
* SupernaturalSensitivity: Since all youkai and half-youkai emit some level of demonic energy, it's possible to detect where they are through these auras. This includes the Shikon Jewel, which emits its own special aura that only Kagome can sense.
* SuperPowerMeltdown: The Wind Tunnel will eventually consume Miroku and anything in his surrounding area. Miroku had to watch his father get swallowed by his own Wind Tunnel, which left a crater in the ground.
* SuperToughness: Beings with youkai blood can take more damage than an ordinary human thanks to a quicker healing time.

** When his life is in danger and the Tessaiga isn't nearby, Inuyasha's demon blood takes over, vastly increasing his speed and strength and lessens his ability to feel pain. However, when in this state, he also becomes a killing machine, focused only on murdering who or whatever is in the vacinity, be they friend or for.
** Suikotsu of the Band of Seven has two personalities: a gentle, beneign doctor and a ruthless, murder happy killer.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Byakuya, the last of Naraku's incarnations, is introduced after Kagura's exit from the story. He resembles and acts similiarly to Kagura, has similiar powers, and plays much the same role that she did, mainly observing Naraku's opponents and getting involved only when ordered to.

* SwordBeam: Tessaiga's Wind Scar is a move that emits three beams of clawlike marks, able to cut down hundrends of opponents in one swing.
* TakeOffYourClothes: When he sees Kagome dressed as a priestess, Inuyasha asks her to take off the outfit. Kagome responds with a rock to his head and calls him a pervert. Inuyasha clarifies, saying that doesn't want to see her naked, she looks too much like Kikyo wearing that outfit, and that makes him uncomfortable.

** [[spoiler:Miroku decides to take Naraku with him via the Wind Tunnel when it's about to consume him. Unfortunately, the Naraku he's trying to kill is only an illusion.]]

-->'''Magatsuhi:''' Hmpf. It seems that you've put on quite a show for me. However, this is still a borrowed body. I feel neither pain nor...\\

** Combatants in this series often like to chat during their fights or exposit about their powers, manaevours, and so on. For a printed format like manga, it can be annoying, but not nessasrily emersion breaking. For format with a time componant like anime, though, it can be distracting.

* {{Tanuki}}: Hachiemon, Miroku's supernatural friend, is a tanuki who utilizes illusion magic much like Shippo.

* TearOffYourFace: During Naraku's initial attempt to expel his human heart, it takes the form of naked faceless man. The man goes on to slay a whole bunch of bandits and cut off their faces, trying them like one would shirts in a store.

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Inuyasha and Kagome's early relationship consisted of them spending just as much time bickering with and insulting one another as they did fighting demons and collecting jewel shards, if not more so. After one argument too many, Kagome gets so fed up with Inuyasha's attitude that she promptly [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leaves to go home]].
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler:Naraku plans to take Kagome with him and replace the dueling souls inside the Shikon Jewel.]]
* ThatDidntHappen: Sango goes into complete denial after declaring that she'd prefer to die with Miroku than leave him and save herself: "Did I say something? What did I say?"
* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Sango's father often told her that the most dangerous kinds of youkai are those that can take human form.

** In Chapter 523/Episode 19 of ''The Final Act'', Byakuya summons thousands of demons in an attempt to kill Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru kills all them with one swing of Bakusaiga.

* TimeTravel: The well at the Higurashi shrine acts as a portal between modern day Japan and 15th century Japan, an era already filled with war and strife compounded by the existance of youkai. Kagome uses the well to travel between the 1990s she grew up in and the Sengoku era.
* TimeTravelRomance: Kagome is from 90s contemparary Japan while Inuyasha has always lived in the Sengoku era of Japan. Throughout their adventures, they slowly fall in love with each other despite their very different backgrounds.

* TimeyWimeyBall: Kagome finds a jewel shard in the present. So that means it's also back in the Sengoku period, meaning the Shikon Jewel eventually comes up to complete plus one extra shard stuck in a tree somewhere. Souls also seem to transcend time in that Kikyo can't be reborn with her soul because it's already been reincarnated in someone else- someone else from the far future who hasn't been born yet, even if she happens to [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble have will have]] travelled back in time.

* TookALevelInBadass: Since Kagome grew up in a peaceful era, she lacks any battle experience and being Kikyo's reincarnation does not mean she knows archery right off the bat. As she, she often has to really on Inuyasha's superior strength in order to help them out during the beginning of their adventures. Over time, Kagome becomes a skilled archer, able to one shot youkai with little trouble.
* TookALevelInKindness: Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, Koga, and Kagura all experience this at varying speeds and to varying degrees:
** Inuyasha starts out selfish and overly combative, being more concerned about the Shikon shards they manage to get ahold of than Kagome's wellfare. Over time, he begins to care a lot more about Kagome and his fellow traveling companions.
** Sesshomaru detests humans, finding them all weak, inferior creatures and finds his half-youkai brother, Inuyasha, especially loathesome. After getting beaten by Inuyasha, Sesshomaru is wounded badly and a human girl named Rin helps nurse him back to health in what little ways she can. Some time after that, Sesshomaru stumbles across a recently deceased Rin and uses his Tenseiga to revive her. Instead of dropping her off at the nearest human village, Sesshomaru lets her tag along with him and Jaken. While he'll never admit it, he does come to genuinely care about her life.

%%* TrappedInThePast: [[spoiler:In the end, it seems that Kagome can't use the well but that's okay because [[IChooseToStay she'd rather be in the past with Inuyasha]].]]

** When Kikyo was reincarnated into Kagome, the Shikon Jewel hitched a ride as well, residing inside of Kagome's body, specifically the left side of her torso.
** Inuyasha's father had a portal to his grave hidden inside a black pearl and the pearl hidden inside Inuyasha's right eye.
* TroubleFollowsYouHome: After three days stuck in 15th centry Japan, Kagome finally returns home having fallen down the well thanks to an attack by Yura. Kagome thinks that this means that she can put the time traveling, shard collecting shenanigans behind her... up until Inuyasha himself travels through the well to retrive her and the hair Yura's manipulating follows suit.
* TroubledButCute: Inuyasha is a handsome young man despite his half-youkai features (or even because of them). However, it's thanks to his half-youkai blood that Inuyasha's childhood was anything but pleasant: while his mother cared for him deeply, he was the target of ridicule and harrasment from both humans and youkai alike. Thanks to this hostile enviroment, he had to grow a gruff, violent exterior in order to survive. And that's not even getting into his and Kikyo's situation.

* TrueCompanions: Throughout the course of their travels, Inuyasha, Kagome, and the rest of their group form a close bond. They each look out for each other and are willing to do anything to keep one another alive.
* TsuchigumoAndJorogumo: The Spider Heads were a group of spider yokai. Their leader posed himself as a monk as part of a plan of luring Inuyasha to him and stealing his shards of the Shikon Jewel.
* {{Tsundere}}: Inuyasha and Kagome are both tsunderes of different kinds; Inuyasha is antisocial and is quick to resort to violence, but manage to befriend him and he'll be loyal and even kind. Kagome is outgoing, friendly, and generally sweet, but becomes something of a terror when angered.

* TheUnfairSex: Kagome gets [[ClingyJealousGirl extremely jealous]] when Inuyasha has any kind of interaction with Kikyo- even if said interaction is nothing more than discussing about how to kill Naraku- and everyone showers her with sympathy. Inuyasha, on the other hand, gets jealous of Koga for flirting with Kagome, only to have everyone berate him for it.
* UnfazedEveryman: If Kagome's mother, brother, and grandfather are surprised to learn that the well in their shrine is a time portal to the 15th century, then they never let on to that fact. Nor do they seem surprised or concered by Kagome skipping tons of school in order to take trips to an already volatile period that includes all manner of dangerous creatures.
* UnholyHolySword: The Shikon Jewel is a spherical gem that can imbue its owner with immense power(s) and even grant one wish. However, while its nature is neutral, it's more often for malicious purposes.
* {{Unnamed Parent}}s: In the manga, none of the parents for the main characters are given names, instead being referred to by how they are related to them.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: Sango and Miroku develop a mutual attraction, but it takes both of them awhile to recognize it. And after they do, there's the threat of Miroku's Wind Tunnel swallowing him up at an uncertain time hanging over their heads. Sango would rather die with Miroku than be left without him, but Miroku doesn't want to take her down with him. [[spoiler:Once Naraku is killed off for good, they marry and have three children together.]]
* UnwantedRevival: Kikyo had chosen to follow Inuyasha in death and take the Shikon Jewel with her to the afterlife, but things didn't quite go her way. Not only was she reincarnated along with the jewel, an ogre sourceress successfully revived Kikyo into a clay body.

** The anime only character, Ungai, is a monk who is firmly convinced that ''all'' demons are bad to the extent that he openly declares Kagome, Miroku, and Sango- a {{miko}}, a monk, and a [[DemonSlaying professional demon slayer]] respectively- hypocrites for even bothering to associate with Inuyasha, Shippo, and Kirara.
* VictimOfTheWeek: During their travels, Inuyasha and the gang meet many villages and human who are plagued by a particular youkai.
* VictorGainsLosersPowers: It's possible for Tessaiga to steal a youkai's power but only if Inuyasha is able to defeat whoever possess that power.
* ViewersAreGoldfish: Both the manga and the anime have a habit of reiterating information that the audience already knows or can plainly see for themselves. The reason for the former is likely due to the series being released one chapter/episode per week; the recaps help for those who might not have caught the previous chapter/episode or for any late comers when the manga and anime were still being produced. For the bingers, though, it can get ''very'' annoying being reminded about Inuyasha and Kikyo's previous history or how Naraku came about.
* VillainExitStageLeft: Just when it seems like our heroes may be able to kill Naraku, Naraku uses his miasma, saimyosho, or something else to force Inuyasha and the gang back so he can beat a hasty retreat.
* VillainTeamUp: Naraku uses the recent loss of an arm and the Tessaiga to manipulate Sesshomaru into attacking Inuyasha. He gives Sesshomaru a human arm with a jewel shard embedded in it to replace the one he lost, allowing Sesshomaru to potentially wield the Tessaiga against Inuyasha. Of course, this team up only lasts for as long as the fight that follows; after its over, Sesshomaru vows to kill Naraku for using him in his battle against Inuyasha.

* VisibleSigh: Sometimes when a character sighs, a little white cloud moving away from their mouth will show up.

** Shippo's fox magic lets him shift into a variety of forms, including other people.
** Hachiemon, Miroku's tanuki friend, can also shift from his normal tanuki form to a large comet-like form.
** Since Naraku is an amalgamation of youkai, he can shapeshift into other beings. He used this ability to make it seem like Inuyasha and Kikyo had betrayed each other by taking on each of their forms.
* WalkingTheEarth: Since Kagome and Inuyasha don't know exactly where the Shikon shards landed, they travel across Japan searching for anything or anyone who may have them. Kagome's ability to detect where they are is certainly useful, but it only helps narrow down any one shard's location. Along the way, they pick up Sango and her companion Kirara, Shippo, and Miroku, the later of whom introduces the threat of Naraku.
* WardingGestures: Sometimes when Kagome or Inuyasha are surprised or frightened, their fingers form the shape of the ''mano cornuta'' gesture.

* WeaponTombstone: The youkai slayers' graves are marked by their weapons.
* WeaponsThatSuck: Miroku's right hand has hole that, when uncovered or sealed, will suck up anything and anyone unfortunate enough to get within its range. He calls it his Wind Tunnel and he generally isn't adversely affected by the things it sucks up, but poison wasps and miasma can do a number on him if he isn't careful.
* WeaponWieldsYou: Sesshomaru takes the Goshinki's decapitated head to the swordsmith Kaijinbo, and commissions him to make a sword from the fangs. He complies, but the resulting sword, Tokijin, takes over the mind of anyone trying to wield it, filling their head with hate and murderous intent. Anyone who isn't Sesshomaru that is; when he finally grips its handle, the sword tries to work its mojo on him, and he {{No Sell}}s it with barely a glance.
* WelcomeBackTraitor: Upon learning that her bother, Kohaku, was raised from the dead, Sango is given an ultimatum by Naraku: steal Inuyasha's sword and bring it to him or he'll take the Shikon shard sustaining Kohaku's life. Sango snatches Tessaiga and brings it to Naraku. After this latest kerfuffle is dealt with, Sango explains why she betrayed them and that she'd do it again if it meant saving Kohaku. Inuyasha and the rest are understanding of her plight and let her continue journeying with them.
* WhatAPieceOfJunk: The Tessaiga takes the form of a battered, rusty katana when not in use. Inuyasha even calls it a piece of junk when he first sets eyes on it.

* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: It's explained that the reason Midoriko was so powerful was because her heart bore a balanced and pure spirit of the "four souls": Aramitama (Courage), Nigimitama (Friendship), Kushimitaka (Wisdom), and Sakamitama (Love). This was exceptionally helpful when came to battling youkai, but not in many other circumstances.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After finishing off a possessed Noh mask animated by a Shikon shard, Kagome theorizes that other shards may have survived into the present day, setting up similar conflicts. While there is another youkai encounter, no Shikon shards were involved and any excursions into the present afterwards are mainly comedic affairs.
* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway:
** It's explained that the reason Midoriko, the {{Miko}} sealed in the Shikon Jewel, was so powerful was because her heart bore a balanced and pure spirit of the "four souls": Aramitama, Nigimitama, Kushimitaka, and Sakamitama. That is, Courage, Friendship, Wisdom and Love.
** Sesshomaru's character arc is him learning that caring for others' lives isn't a weakness.
** An anime VillainOfTheWeek reveals to Inuyasha and friends that other Shikon Jewels can be made if you can find four souls that strongly embody each of these four characteristics and seal them into a single gem with a Miko as the center. In fact, he attempts to defeat the group because Kagome (the Miko), Inuyasha (Courage), Shippo (Friendship), Miroku (Wisdom) and Sango (Love) are perfect candidates for this process.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman:
** Everyone kills youkai without batting an eye, but Kagome and her group always try not to kill humans no matter how evil or despicable they are. In Episode 51, Inuyasha succumbs to his SuperpoweredEvilSide and personally hunts down and slaughters Gatenmaru's henchmen. Despite the fact that they were knowingly serving a youkai and that they had personally fed innocent villagers to their demon boss ForTheEvulz while [[ForcedToWatch making him watch]], Inuyasha undergoes a complete MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment as soon as he snaps out of it.
** The anime will edit the more graphic deaths of humans from the manga while leaving gory youkai deaths intact. One example of this is Bankotsu, who is ultimately defeated when Inuyasha [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe cuts him in half]], but the anime creates a backstory for Bankotsu's BFS that gave it demonic powers when it had slain 1,000 humans and 1,000 youkai just so Inuyasha could [[HoistByHisOwnPetard send back his attack with the Bakuryuuha]]. Bankotsu loses the same amount of his body, but the attack allows for an explosion to conceal the damage with rubble. During this same battle in the manga, Inuyasha had realized in frustration that he couldn't use the Bakuryuuha because Bankotsu was a human with no demonic aura.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: During Kagome's vision at Mount Azusa, she has to choose whether [[MurderTheHypotenuse or not]] to save fake Kikyo. The SpiritAdvisor points out that Inuyasha would never know if she decided to let Kikyo die. Kagome [[ShutUpHannibal tells the fake Kikyo off]] and realizes that she has nothing to be jealous over.
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Inuyasha's main attack becomes the Wind Scar, using it against practically every opponent. He does add other moves to his repertoire, but the Wind Scar remains his go to.
* WhenItAllBegan: The events of ''Inuyasha'' happen due to actions that took place 50 years ago: a severely injured bandit named Onigumo wanted Kikyo for himself, but he needed a working body to do it. He made a pact with a bunch of youkai, offering up his soul and body. This had the unintended side effect of transforming him into Naraku, a half-youkai who was more concerned with tainting the Shikon Jewel than winning over Kikyo. He even goes so far as to manipulate both Kikyo and Inuyasha into thinking they each betrayed the other, with Kikyo putting an enchanted arrow through Inuyasha before dying herself. She requested the jewel be burned alongside her, intending to take it with her to the afterlife. This proves successful for five hundred years until she and the jewel are reincarnated into Kagome.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: [[spoiler:The final chapter, "Tomorrow", checks in with Inuyasha and the gang three years after Naraku's defeat. Sango are expecting her third child; Rin lives in the village with Kaede, Sesshomaru visiting briefly by every so often. Miroku and Inuyasha keep up their youkai hunting so Miroku can support Sango and their children. Inuyasha himself has been visiting the well every three days in the hopes that Kagome will come back. In the modern day, Kagome has graduated from high school and misses Inuyasha greatly, which proves to be thing that gets the well working again, letting her reunite with Inuyasha.]]

** The silver-haired Sesshomaru starts out cold and cruel to everyone who crosses him. After Rin joins him and Jaken, Sesshomaru's heart begins to thaw a bit. He'll still kill without hesitation, but he becomes more concerned about lives other than his own.
** Hakudoushi possess white hair and is just as manipulative as his progenitor, Naraku. Killing dozens of human live in pursuit of his goals means nothing to him.

* {{Wishplosion}}: [[spoiler:The only way to destroy the Shikon Jewel for good is by making the correct wish. Said wish is to demand the jewel to make itself disappear, which it grants.]]
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: When Inuyasha transforms into a full youkai, he gets incredible strength and resistance, but it's too much power for his half-human body to handle. With each transformation, he'll lose his sanity bit by bit until he'll end up being a mindless killing machine that will keep fighting until he destroys everyone around him or gets himself killed.

* WombLevel: [[spoiler:Once the Shikon Jewel is completed, Naraku has enough power to create a giant spider form to hide himself inside of. Kagome and her group alongside Sesshomaru and his group all enter the giant spider to seek and destroy Naraku once and for all.]]

** [[spoiler:Honoring a promise to Inuyasha, Sesshomaru sacrifices his claim to both swords by deliberately shattering Tenseiga's blade against Tessaiga to pass on the [[CruelAndUnusualDeath Meidou Zangetsuha]]. The broken Tenseiga responds to this by guiding the pair out of the danger they're in and promptly reforges itself.]]

* {{Yandere}}: Onigumo was a bandit who was so severely burned and injured that he couldn't move at all. Kikyo took care of him, and her beauty and kindness fomented a possessive desire in Onigumo. This desire is what led Onigumo to giving over his soul and body to a horde of youkai, giving birth to the half-youkai Naraku. Onigumo's feelings for Kikyo carried over into Naraku, who despises them and goes to great lengths to get rid of them.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: For the early episodes of the anime, the English dub attempted to have the villagers and Kaede speak in an archaic English syntax in order to fit the older time period. This was dropped eventually, with only Kaede keeping this specific speaking style and everyone else talking in regular modern-day English.
* YouAreNotAlone: After failing miserably at defeating Naraku and saving her brother plus having just betrayed her new companions, Sango tries to leave the group but the others don't let her, telling her that being alone is not a solution and it's best if they all stay together.

* {{Youkai}}: The Sengoku period is- almost literally- crawling with youkai everywhere, and many of them want the jewel to make themselves unbeatable. In half-youkai Inuyasha's case, he wants the jewel to turn himself into a full youkai.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Miroku's Wind Tunnel will eventually grow to the point where it will consume him unless he kills Naraku first.
* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: There are multiple times where Inuyasha or another character seemingly kills Naraku only for the Naraku they killed to be revealed as a puppet or that he's severly wounded, but still alive and thus able to beat a hasty retreat.

* YourUniverseOrMine: Kagome was born and raised in 90s Japan while Inuyasha was born and raised in the Sengoku era. This temporal difference doesn't stop them from slowly falling in love with one another, and the question of how they'll stay together eventually rears its head. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Kagome decides to stay with Inuyasha in the Sengoku era.]]

** More generally, ''shimenawa'' are occasionally seen being used by monks or miko to set up a magical barrier or seal, such as the seal on the cave where Entei was trapped.

A light novel simply titled ''[=InuYasha=] Novel'' (小説犬夜叉, ''Shousetsu [=InuYasha=]'') was written by Tomoko Komparu and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was published in Decemeber 2004 and adapts the first ten chapters of the manga (equal to the first four episodes of the manga).

A light novel simply titled ''InuYasha Novel'' (小説犬夜叉, ''Shousetsu InuYasha'') was written by Tomoko Komparu and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was published in Decemeber 2004 and adapts the first ten chapters of the manga (equal to the first four episodes of the manga).

Following the jewel's reappearance comes youkai of all shapes and sizes vying for ownership. This will be easier than expected when Kagome accidentally shatters the jewel into thousands of tiny shards. With youkai becoming more powerful left and right, Kagome and Inuyasha set out on a journey to collect them all. During their travels, they pick up the fox youkai child Shippo, the handsy monk Miroku, the youkai exterminator Sango, and her nekomata companion, Kirara.

* PapaWolf: Sesshomaru, who dives into hell in order to save his MoralityPet Rin and kicks the King of Hell's ass in order to save her and was very clearly in pain about her death.

* PaperTalisman: Miroku uses his ofudas to exorcise demons ''and'' rip-off wealthy people.
* ParentalAbandonment: Every major character:
** Inuyasha: His father died after his fight with Ryukotsusei shortly after he was born, his mother died when he was a kid.
** Kagome: Her father is barely mentioned. [[spoiler:In a novel it's revealed that he died in an accident when she was younger.]]
** Shippo: His father was killed by the Thunder Brothers soon before his introduction. His mother is never mentioned.
** Miroku: His father was consumed by the Wind Tunnel when he was little, his mother is never mentioned.
** Sango: Her father was killed by Kohaku during their introduction, her mother is never mentioned.
** Kikyo and Kaede lost both their parents in their early childhood
* ParentalFavoritism: Sesshomaru’s ego has a real problem with this, thinking his father preferred the half-human Inuyasha who was also the son of their father's true love.
* ParrotPetPosition: Kirara (while in her small form) and Shippo normally travel on someone's shoulder.
%%* PastelChalkedFreezeFrame

* PersonalHorror: Inuyasha goes through this after his evil side takes over.

** Naraku has a burn scar in the shape of a spider on his back reminding him of his despised human core.
** Kagura has the same scar as Naraku, a symbol of her enslavement.
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: Sango offered her life to Sesshomaru [[spoiler:after she tried to kill Rin to save Miroku but Sesshomaru just seemed to forgive her. While his thoughts and feelings about the situation are left ambiguous, it probably helped Sango's case that she apologize to Rin while giving the girl her mask to protect her from Naraku's miasma.]]

* PointyEars: Usually to help identify who the human-looking demons are. Not all of them have it but still...
* PoisonIsCorrosive: Sesshomaru's poison claws emit a green gas that destroys anything it comes into contact with.

* {{Revenge}}: Most of the main cast want Naraku dead due to his schemes ruining their lives, the lives of their loved ones, or just because he's a general threat to their livelihoods. Inuyasha in particular swore revenge against Narkau upon learning about his manipulations that irrevocably turned Kikyo and Inuyasha himself against each other, leading to Kikyo's demise.

* BlessedWithSuck / CursedWithAwesome:
** Miroku. The Wind Tunnel in his right hand, a curse placed on his grandfather and passed down onto him, is basically a one-way dimensional gateway with the force of a minute black hole. Even the most powerful of demons seem to be unable to escape it if drawn inside -- witness the spirit of Kaguya, an entity stated to be truly immortal, being banished forever by being drawn inside the Wind Tunnel. However, Miroku can only control it by wrapping his hand in certain special beads, and as Naraku created it, he has also created a counter for it: a rapidly-breeding wasp-like creature called Saimyosho contain a poison that will cause Miroku intense pain and eventually death if he draws them in. Oh, and the Wind Tunnel, even if not used, is slowly growing ever larger, until the day when it consumes Miroku and everything around him in a fair-sized SphereOfDestruction, just as it has already devoured his father and grandfather.
** Inuyasha's youkai form. Insanely high levels of strength and speed, a much improved healing factor, enough youki to make even ''Sesshomaru'' [[NotSoStoic feel one, brief moment of fear]] and have a youketsu capable of holding the evil spirit of the [[spoiler:''Shikon Jewel'']] immobile against its will and decay a frggin' portal to hell when its sliced by the Dragon-Scale Tessaiga. Of course, there's the little matter of him being a bloodthirsty monster that has barely any of Inuyasha's restraint, and each time it gets even less controllable and less intelligent. Of course, he does get to occasionally take advantage of it and Tessaiga at the same time, whenever someone starts stealing some of Tessaiga's forms, or he boosts Tessaiga with purified Shikon shards.

* AffablyEvil[=/=]FauxAffablyEvil: Several villains fit one or the other.
** Even while fighting and talking about killing people, Yura is playful and flirty.
** Naraku himself [[FauxAffablyEvil acts refined and regal even while talking about how he killed or is about to kill someone]]. After his upgrade at Mount Hakurei, he drops it completely in favor of being a SmugSuper.
** Bankotsu is laidback, illiterate and treasures loyalty, he also finds killing to be his calling.
** Jakotsu is a murdering psychopath, but he's also incredibly bubbly about his "crushes", is loyal to Bankotsu and is genuinely one of his few friends.

* PoisonousPerson: Naraku, whose body constantly oozes toxic miasma. It's implied that demonic power itself is inherently poisonous, but Naraku's is exceptionally so due to him being created from so many demons fused together.
* PortalSlam: The Bone Eater's Well stops working [[spoiler:for three years after the final battle leaving Kagome "trapped" in her own time, only to work one last time to let her return to Inuyasha]].
* PortalStatuePairs: Two giant statues (Gozu and Mezu) guard the gate to the demon's netherworld and come to life whenever approached. They state that if anyone wants entry to the netherworld, [[SuicideByCop they must first be slain]], as Kagura found this out the hard way. The statues however, let Sesshomaru pass through freely due to him owning the Tenseiga, a sword that has the ability to cut down anything that's not technically "alive".
* PortalToThePast: The Bone Eater's Well lets Kagome and Inuyasha travel from the present to the Sengoku Jidai and back.
* PossessingADeadBody: One species of demon known as Shibugarasu (or Dancing Corpse Crow), are able to bury into a victim's chest, devour their heart, and then possess the corpse to make it look like the victim is still alive.
* PosthumousCharacter: Midoriko, the priestess who created the Shikon Jewel in the first place, by pushing her own soul out of her body.
* PowerAtAPrice: Sesshomaru's quest for power results in the loss of his arm and, later, the death of [[spoiler:Rin (again)]]. He achieves his true potential only thanks to this and the death of [[spoiler:Kagura]]; the latter moves him to feel compassion for others and the former forces him to understand the irreplaceable value of life and the role that fear and sorrow must play in a warrior's life.
* PowerDyesYourHair: Inuyasha's hair turns black when he turns human. Of course, the disappearance of his doggy ears is a much bigger marker.
%%* PowerFloats: Sesshomaru and Naraku.
%%* PowerGlows
* PowerIncontinence: The Wind Tunnel it's like a miniature black hole in the palm of the bearer that sucks everything in front of it unless it's sealed by special prayer beads. Eventually, it will grow big enough to break the seal and consume the bearer and everything around him.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Tessaiga is fueled by this it seems: Inuyasha says he will protect Kagome, Tessaiga transforms for the first time. He protects Miroku, it unleashes the Wind Scar for the first time. Prefers to protect his friends instead of getting a new technique, he gets the Kongousouha. Says he won't let Naraku keep hurting Miroku and Sango, [[spoiler:he makes the Meidou Zangetsuha his]].
%%* PowerOfTheVoid: The Wind Tunnel and Meidou Zangetsuha.
%%* PowerParasite: Naraku and Moryomaru.
%%* PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: Sango's Hiraikotsu.
* PrecociousCrush: 14 year-old Koharu developed a crush on Miroku after he helped her when she was 11.
* PsychoForHire: The Band of Seven were mercenaries who sold their services to lords.
%%* PsychoticSmirk: Naraku is fond of this..
* PullingThemselvesTogether: Youkai with a Shikon shard can do this infinitely. And so can Naraku.
* PuppeteerParasite: A salamander youkai had a whole village of women controlled by making them ingest its eggs.
%%* PuppyDogEyes
* PutOnABus: Koga, twice. In the original anime, he disappears completely from the story after the Band of Seven arc. Oddly, he is featured in the opening of the last season, despite never appearing in the show itself. Then he leaves for good in Final Act, after Naraku steals his shards. He appears briefly in the epilogue, though.

* TheQuest: Travel through Japan to find all the Shikon shards and destroy Naraku.
* QuietingTheUnquietDead: Chapter 35 (Episode 12 of the anime) has Kagome and Inyasha dealing with a VengefulGhost named Mayu Ikeda, who was the late older sister of Sota's friend Satoru. The duo is informed that if Mayu is unable to quell her hatred of her mother and brother, believing they purposely left her to die in the fire that killed her, she will be DraggedOffToHell by the Soul Piper. Fortunately, with help from Kagome, Mayu is able to make up with her mother and depart for heaven, now finally at peace.
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: A number of these, including The Band of Seven, and Kanna and Kagura, sometimes with Kohaku, Hakudoshi, and / or Akago.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Inuyasha's group, especially for the setting and time period. Let's see, an outcast violent [[HalfHumanHybrid hanyou]], a cursed lecherous monk, a broken female [[DemonSlaying youkai exterminator]], a bratty young [[AsianFoxSpirit kitsune]], a [[BakenekoAndNekomata nekomata]] who can [[{{Sizeshifter}} change size at will]], and a girl from far in the future with {{miko}} powers she doesn't really know how to use.
* {{Raiju}}: The Raiju Brothers Hiten and Manten. They're both humanoid (with Hiten being totally human-like while Manten has a monstrous head) and they do care for each other. The anime filler also introduces their little sister Soten.
* RainOfBlood: This happens in the manga when Inuyasha attacks a group of bandits while in his youkai form, he slices the bandits while leaping making their blood rain from above.
%%* RazorFloss: Yura of the Hair.
%%* RazorSharpHand: A lot of youkais, mainly Inuyasha and Sesshomaru.
* RazorWind: Kagura's 'Dance of Blades' is, of course, with blades made of air.
%% RealWomenNeverWearDresses was moved to the YMMV tab. Please don't add it back here.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Any given youkai is potentially much older than they appear, and this can possibly extend to their half-breed offspring as well. Some specific cases:
** Sesshomaru confirms that Bokusenou is a two-thousand year old youkai magnolia tree.
** Kirara, being a nekomata, falls under this as well; the anime even implies that she was Midoriko's companion, although she's much younger in the manga.
** Inuyasha himself is a cipher - the third movie establishes him as about 200 years old, not counting his fifty-year-stasis, but the movies are not considered canon to the series - but even if he was just a teenager when Kikyo put him on ice, Sesshomaru's appearance has not changed even ''slightly'' during the fifty years that Inuyasha was sealed. (And the same movie that gives Inuyasha's age as 200 shows Sesshomaru looking only very slightly younger when Inuyasha was ''born,'' two hundred fifty years before the action of the series.) By extension, we may assume that Inu no Taisho and Sesshomaru's mother age at a similar rate.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: When the eyes of Sesshomaru and Inuyasha turn red it means they're going to transform into a giant dog and full demon respectively. Either way you should be running... ''fast''.
* RedOniBlueOni: Inuyasha and Sesshomaru have this relationship going big time. Inuyasha and Miroku as well. Also, Jaken and Sesshomaru as well.
* RedemptionEarnsLife: [[spoiler:Kohaku. Also possibly Sango after she gives Rin her gas mask]]
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Most notably, [[spoiler:Kikyo. Also, Kagura, who [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices]] everything to save Kohaku only to be killed by Naraku shortly afterwards.]]

** After Tessaiga broke, Totosai reforged it with Inuyasha's own fang, which made the sword heavier. According to Totosai it means that Inuyasha now has to rely in his own strength instead of his father's.
** Tenseiga is also reforged in order to activate [[spoiler:Meidou Zangetsuha, triggered by Sesshomaru's emotionally bruised heart because of Kagura rather than the blade breaking. Later on, Tenseiga does break in battle but ''reforges itself'']].
* {{Reincarnation}}: Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyo.
* ReincarnationRomance: Inuyasha fell in love with Kagome, the reincarnation of his last love, Kikyo.

* RelationshipUpgrade: [[spoiler:In the GrandFinale, Inuyasha and Kagome become the OfficialCouple and share a TrueLovesKiss - although the kiss only occurs in the anime]].
* ReReleaseSoundtrack: While V6's "Change The World" is retained as the first opening on TV and DVD, Netflix replaces it with "Hanyou Inuyasha".
* RescueRomance: Inuyasha rescues Kagome almost too many times to count. Also happens between Miroku and Sango, though this can go in either direction.
* RestrainingBolt: Tessaiga prevents Inuyasha from becoming full demon and losing his mind in the process.
* ResurrectedForAJob: Kikyo was resurrected to go hunting for shikon shards for Urasue but she killed Urasue instead.
* ResurrectedRomance: After 50 years, Kikyo is resurrected and she and Inuyasha had to deal with their relationship issues where they were left off.
* ResurrectionRevenge: After getting resurrected against her will, Kikyo swears vengeance against Inuyasha, blaming him for causing her death.
* {{Revenge}}: The reason why most of the characters hunt for Naraku.
* ReviveKillsZombie: More like [[InvertedTrope "Killing 'Zombies' Revives"]]. Tenseiga has the ability to cut the undead and the spirits from the underworld. By slaying the spirits that come to collect the soul of a dead person it revives said person.
** This is played straight by being [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman one of the only contexts where Tenseiga is actually effective as a weapon.]] As a sword of healing and life, it's lethal when used to fight un-dead beings and demons and spirits originating from the underworld. Which is especially important since such creatures are usually able to NoSell or otherwise regenerate from anything else due to already being "Dead."
%%* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Kirara. Until she transforms that is.
* RivalsTeamup: Inuyasha/Sesshomaru, Inuyasha/Koga and Kagome/Kikyo, all to destroy Naraku.
* RomanticFalseLead: Kuranosuke Takeda, a young nobleman who proposes marriage to Sango.
* RoofHopping: There goes Inuyasha now, look at him go; boing boing boing. Heck, he roof hops without roofs, somehow managing to double jump his way across the country side, way above the height of most roofs.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The small "っ tsu" kana (which emphasizes the consonant that follows it) was mistaken as a full sized "つ (tsu)" kana by the translation team behind the manga and anime. The team didn't realize their mistake until it was already too late, leading Tessaiga to being called "Tetsusaiga" in all the official English translations. (For comparison, Sesshomaru's name also contains the small "tsu," but is never romanized as "Setsushoumaru.")

* RoofHopping: There goes Inuyasha now, look at him go; boing boing boing. Heck, he roof hops without roofs, somehow managing to double jump his way across the country side, way above the height of most roofs. To quote Kagome's friends, "Kagome's boyfriend runs like he's flying."

* RunningGag:
** "Inuyasha... SIT!". [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] more than once in the [=OVAs=]. In the 2nd, [[spoiler:the command forces Inuyasha out of the path of Kaguya's attack.]] In the 3rd, [[spoiler:just when it seems no force in the world can get Sou'unga to release him, he gets Sat with so much force that ''[[ExplosiveOverclocking the beads explode!]]'' ]]
** "Would you like to bear my children?"
** Myoga always makes his appearance known by sucking blood off Inuyasha's nose and getting squashed for it.

* SadisticChoice: Kill an innocent little girl or the person you love the most will die. So, what are you going to choose Sango?
%%* SailorFuku
* SanDimasTime: Why Kagome misses so much school while she's having her adventures in the past. A result of the series' PortalToThePast.
* SayMyName: Behold Adult Swim's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsNv4JN4BXg view]] on the matter, by the way that is barely a fraction of the actual number of times the two say each others names, which when combined is easily in the four digits.
* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Inuyasha and Sesshomaru with their heightened sense of smell. Jaken may also be this as, no matter how often Sesshomaru leaves Jaken behind, Jaken ''always'' finds him again. How, is anyone's guess.

** No matter his form, Naraku has a giant spider-shaped scar permanently on his back. In one episode he ''cuts off the flesh of his back'' to remove the scar only for the scar to ''immediately grow back in place.''
* SchizoTech: Ginkotsu from the Band of Seven, is somehow a cyborg/tank in Feudal Japan.
* SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack: Kagome frequently strolls around in modern-day school outfit in feudal Japan.
* ScrewDestiny: One big theme in the series. Specially in the last battle [[spoiler:which is against ''the Shikon Jewel itself'']].
* ScrewYouElves: Inuyasha delivers a rather impressive one to Sesshomaru; after the latter spends two or three episodes going off on how humans and half-demons are worthless, Inu not only slices Sesshomaru's arm off, but he also mocks Sesshomaru on how a mere half-demon got to inherit the Tessaiga.

** Inuyasha, having brutally slaughtered a gang of bandits while berserk (including some who attempted to surrender, and all in front of his shocked companions and some traumatized villagers), attempts to wash the blood from his claws, only to lament that with his hyper-sensitive nose, there's nothing he can do about the ''smell''.

* SealedEvilInACan:
** The youkai Midoriko fought, the ancient composite demon inside the Shikon Jewel.
** The Inu no Taisho and Kikyo have a fondness of just sealing their enemies instead of killing them.
* SealedEvilInADuel: Turns out the Shikon Jewel is really a container for an eternal struggle between a powerful Miko and a composite demon.

** Sesshomaru starts off as a villain, but subsequent CharacterDevelopment shifts him from there to AntiVillain and from there arguably to AntiHero; exactly where he falls tends to vary depending on your perspective.

** Sango. She's completely human and the only protagonist who doesn't have any kind of supernatural or magical power, but she's able to throw around the huge boomerang as if it were a toy, and is just about as good of a fighter as Inuyasha himself.

** Jaken arguably also fits this trope, but with somewhat less "battle".

%%* DisappearedDad: Just about everybody is missing at least a dad.

%%* FirstLawOfResurrection: [[spoiler:Kikyo]], and arguably [[spoiler:Rin]]. And ''definitely'' [[spoiler:Kohaku]]

* OnlySixFaces: There are in fact Only Four Faces - Young Woman, Young Man, Old Woman, and Old Man. The difference between the first two and last is also debatable. Kikyo and Kagome are the only two characters that have [[{{Reincarnation}} any business looking alike]], but they look like just about every other young woman, and [[{{Bishonen}} even some of the men]]. Ironically, Kikyo and Kagome are two of the more distinct comparisons, given the differences in hairstyle, skin tone, and default facial expressions in the anime. The manga has a few exceptions... all of whom are used for gags (i.e. the servant boy who was acting as a replacement sacrifice, Youreitaisei, etc.).

* SecretTestOfCharacter: [[spoiler:Sesshomaru's entire character arc throughout the story turns out to have been a test given to him by his father. Once he finally passes it, he obtains Bakusaiga, a sword that's arguably more powerful than Tessaiga.]]

** Inuyasha's first love was Kikyo, [[spoiler:but he ultimately falls in love with and marries Kagome, PlayedWith in that Kagome is also Kikyo's reincarnation so in a way are basically two versions of the same person]].
** In the anime, Koga initially chases after Kagome [[spoiler:but marries Ayame, again PlayedWith as he had given Ayame a ChildhoodMarriagePromise long before he ever met Kagome]].
* SecretKeeper:
** Kagome's family.
** [[UltimateBlacksmith Totosai]]. He knew from the start the truth about not only Tessaiga and Tenseiga, but Bakusaiga too.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: Occurs so often to be a running gag. Furthermore, the test is almost always to see whether you give a dang about your companions, and the hero will pass it halfway through a pitched battle:
** At least half the time when Inuyasha gains a new ability.
** Whenever Kikyo gets within eyeshot of Kagome.
** Sango and Miroku when the former was getting Hiraikotsu repaired.
** Koga when getting his claw weapon.
** Sesshomaru's entire journey through the story [[spoiler:turns out to have been this, a test he finally passes when he obtains Bakusaiga.]]
%%* SelectiveObliviousness: Inuyasha.
* SelfGuardingPhlebotinum: The sword Tessaiga has a barrier around it that prevents demons from touching it. Humans and half-demons can touch it without pain, however.
* SelfMadeOrphan: Kohaku, while being possessed, killed his own father.
* SelflessWish: Subverted in the backstory, where Naraku expects Kikyo to use the Jewel of Four Souls to save her life (she takes it with her into the afterlife instead). This sets up the ending, where Kagome and Inuyasha [[spoiler:are trapped in the Jewel. Like Kikyo before her, Kagome doesn't make the selfish wish, but wished for the Jewel to cease to exist. She and Inuyasha get home safely anyway.]]
* SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains: While the two female heroes dress modestly, first two villainess [[FullFrontalAssault Mistress Centipede]] and [[{{Stripperiffic}} Yura]] dressed rather scantily.
%%* SentientPhlebotinum: The Shikon Jewel.
* SexySurfacingShot: In "Fateful Night in Togenkyo Part II", after being captured by [[MonsterOfTheWeek Tokajin]], Kagome wakes up naked in a [[BathtubScene sake bath]] with Ninmenka fruits. When Inuyasha bursts into the room, Kagome leaps out of the water, excited to see him. The audience sees her ToplessnessFromTheBack and ShouldersUpNudity while Inuyasha gets the full eyeful. After an awkward pause, she suddenly realizes she is naked in front of him and [[NakedFreakOut and squats back into the water shrieking]].
* ShamefulStrip: Kagome is knocked unconscious by the [[MonsterOfTheWeek villain-of-the-week]] and wakes up naked in a big cooking pot. From the time Inuyasha rescues her until she retrieves her clothes, she wears his fire-rat-hair kimono.
* ShapeshifterDefaultForm: Even though we know Naraku can take any form since that's the way he tricked Inuyasha, Kikyo and Miroku's grandfather, once he took Kagewaki Hitomi's identity he stayed with that appearance for the rest of the series.
%%* ShapeShifterMashup: Naraku and Moryomaru.
%%* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: "She's a shard detector!"
* SheWillComeForMe: Kagome [[spoiler:while inside the Shikon Jewel]]: "Inuyasha will come... I believe in him."
%% ShipToShipCombat was moved to the YMMV tab. Please don't add it back here.
* ShipSinking: Both the anime and manga [[spoiler:end with Kagome and Inuyasha as (finally) a clear OfficialCouple]]. Hasn't stopped the fans one bit.
* ShipperOnDeck: Kagome, who tries to get Miroku and Sango together at times. Kagome's family, Miroku, Sango and Shippo to Inuyasha and Kagome. In Chapter 343 (animated in Episode 167), Rin is quite up-beat and happy upon realizing that Kagura is in love with Sesshomaru, to the extent where that realization cures her fear of Kagura (earned as a result of Kagura having once kidnapped her on Naraku's orders).
* ShockCollar: Inuyasha has a collar of enchanted prayer beads (or rosary) designed to make him hit the ground whenever Kagome says "Osuwari" or "Sit" / "Sit, boy". Kagome is an easily pissed off {{Tsundere}} Type B. Bad day for Inuyasha.
* ShoutOut: In the first episode, after dropping the cat she went looking for, being sucked into a whirlwind (through the trap door at the bottom of the well), Kagome has just landed in some strange forest she does not recognize, and although she is alone, says out loud, "[[Film/TheWizardOfOz Toto, I don't think we're in Tokyo anymore!]]"
** Also one to ''Film/TheThing1982'', of all, er, things. During the incident where Kohaku is brainwashed and slays the entire demon hunter clan save for Sango, the daimyo who hired them is decapitated by Naraku (who was posing as his son) and his head turns into a spider - although Naraku kills it, too, before it can skitter away.
* ShrinesAndTemples: Kagome lives in a Shrine.
* ShutUpHannibal:
** In "Hitomiko's Barrier"
--->'''Naraku:''' Blah, blah, blah your soul will be corrupted. Blah, blah, blah.\\
'''Kagome:''' You are rather talkative!
** In the last battle:
--->'''Naraku:''' [[spoiler:If you kill me, my shouki-stained body will rain upon the village.]]\\

* SiblingRivalry: It's a ding-dong battle with Inuyasha and his older brother Sesshomaru who has [[TheUnfavourite daddy issues]]. It eventually gets resolved but not before it descends into a temporary period of CainAndAbel. Lampshaded in the manga itself when Inuyasha complains about two fighting brothers causing trouble for everyone and realises his TrueCompanions are thinking he's talking about himself and Sesshomaru. When he claims it's all Sesshomaru's fault, Miroku observes that's exactly what a troublemaker would say.
* SickEpisode:
** Actually two of them, while Kagome is sick with a severe cold.
** Also, another episode involved Jaken being poisoned and Rin having to find a cure.
** The Jinenji story is borne from Inuyasha and Kagome searching for a cure for Kirara, laid up after biting Naraku.

* SingleTargetSexuality: The only women Inuyasha shows any interest in are Kikyo and Kagome. Since they are technically the same person, that makes it even more so.
%%* SinisterScythe: Kohaku's kusarigama.
* SinsOfOurFathers: Miroku inherited the Wind Tunnel because his grandfather wanted to destroy Naraku. Also a lot of enemies Inuyasha and Sesshomaru encounter were enemies of their father.
* SituationalSword: Tenseiga has the power to protect Sesshomaru from death - but it only kicks in if Sesshomaru sustains an injury that might potentially kill him without that protection. More specifically, Tenseiga's protection will ''always'' work on reflex when it senses that Sesshomaru is about to take a mortal blow from ''Tessaiga'', this was naturally something his father had placed as a failsafe just in case the latter blade is turned on Sesshomaru (ensuring his two children can't maim each other using their heirlooms at the very least); or under extreme conditions it can trigger a barrier on its own (these activations are most definitely situational). It's also [[HealingShiv incapable]] of killing the living, but turns out to be capable of killing spirits, [[spoiler:though later, it's shown to have one of the most power offensive abilities in the series - this was eventually meant to be passed on to Tessaiga and Inuyasha after Sesshomaru mastered the skill. After Sesshomaru passes the move on, Tenseiga is back to being a pure HealingShiv.]]
%%* {{Sizeshifter}}: Kirara.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Jaken tries so, so hard to convince people to pay him the respect he believes he's due. It almost never works.

* SmellsOfDeath: Early on, Kagome and Inuyasha find themselves fighting a group of bandits. Kagome gets kidnapped and taken to the bandit leader, who she can sense has a shard of the Shikon Jewel. She mentions that the bandit leader smells of rotting flesh, indicating that the jewel shard was reanimating a corpse.

* SoLastSeason: Inuyasha's numerous upgrades to Tessaiga generally quickly diminish in usefulness.
%%* SoulCuttingBlade: Tenseiga.
%%* SoullessShell: Moryomaru.

%%* {{BFS}}: The Tesseiga and Bankotsu's Banryu.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Due to confusion regarding the small "tsu" character (which emphasizes the consonant that follows it), the official manga translation printed the name of Inuyasha's sword as "Tetsusaiga" instead of "Tessaiga." The error was perpetuated in the official subtitles and English dub (albeit pronounced as "Tetsaiga"), and the fandom continues to argue over which spelling is more correct. (For comparison, Sesshomaru's name also contains the small "tsu," but is never romanized as "Setsushoumaru.")
* SphereOfDestruction: Meidou Zangetsuha's perfect initial form.
* SpinOffspring: ''Yashahime'' will star Sesshomaru's half-demon daughters Towa and Setsuna, along with Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter Moroha.
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Manga/KamisamaKiss'' has a lot in common with this series. Both plots revolve around an ordinary teenage girl being given control over a supernatural JerkAss with a temper on a short fuse, who is subsequently forced to help and protect her. Tomoe, the male lead, looks almost exactly like an older and mature version of Inuyasha and their respective personalities are very similar to boot. Nanami, the female lead, also has most of Kagome's personality traits.

** Suikotsu from the Band of Seven. One personality is a kind and gentle doctor; the other one is a bloodlust killer.
** Inuyasha and his SuperpoweredEvilSide, at times.
* SpoiledBrat: Jaken seems to think of Rin as this, though it's hard to consider Sesshomaru as even being capable of spoiling anyone.

** The first opening sequence featured Shippo, Miroku, and Sango, long before any of them appeared.
** Not just the opening, but the first ending as well. The first ending focused on the main three female characters, Kagome, Kikyo and Sango. The problem is that Sango doesn't enter the story until episode 24, after the show has already moved to the second ending.
** The Final Act opening spoils that [[spoiler:Sesshomaru gets him arm back and gets a new sword, and that Inuyasha inherits Meido Zengetsuha,]] all of which happens well over halfway through the season.
* SpotlightStealingSquad: The Band of Seven are accused of this, seeing how their quirkiness and competence is far more memorable, so much, that you forget Naraku is the real BigBad
%%* SqueakyEyes
* StableTimeLoop: Implicitly the case with the Cursed Noh Mask. Kagome meets it in the present day, and brings its shard back to the past to complete the Shikon Jewel... meaning that the original shard is still in the past, where it will become the Noh Mask, which Kagome will bring to the past, etc.
%%* StarCrossedLovers: Inuyasha and Kikyo.
* TheStarscream: Hakudoushi, also the [[EnfanteTerrible baby]] and Mouryoumaru. All three tried to take over from [[BigBad Naraku]] by betraying and defeating him.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Sort of. Just remove the 540 chapters of filler. Joking aside, there was a ''ton'' of character development over the course of the story, but it just took its sweet time, and many times it felt like the story wasn't moving. Other parts didn't seem to add much: for example, considering how they both basically ended up disappearing by the end of the manga, and didn't really have much of a serious impact on the plot after their initial appearances, Takahashi could have probably ignored Houjo and killed off Koga and not really changed the story notably. Hell, killing off Koga would have made a lot more sense than sparing him and it would have removed what is arguably Kagome's biggest scrappy moment in the series (which even she realizes was her fault).
* StealthHiBye: Happens sometimes. One example is when Byakuya is messing with Inuyasha's group and they don't even know he's in the area. He decides to leave while he's ahead and suddenly discovers Sesshomaru looming out of nowhere behind him.

* TheStoic: Inuyasha at times because he's a brood machine. Although Sesshomaru's stoicism is somewhat exaggerated by the fanbase, he's still one of the most stoic of any manga or anime characters and is certainly the most stoic of this manga's cast. He is not unemotional, however, and there are plenty of occasions where he proves that he's actually NotSoStoic after all.
%% StoicWoobie was moved to the YMMV tab. Please don't add them back here.
* StormOfBlades: Tessaiga's Kongosoha, that throws a storm of sharp diamonds to the enemy.

** The Wind Tunnel, but thanks to FuelMeterOfPower and KryptoniteIsEverywhere, Miroku can't use it too much. To elaborate: Miroku has what amounts to his own personal black hole in his hand, which he can use to suck any foe into oblivion. Early on in the series, Naraku begins using some poison bees that would kill Miroku if he sucked them in. This leads to nearly every episode having a scene where Miroku tries to use his world-breaking power, only for the bees to show up out of nowhere, forcing him to back off.
** Also, one of the last powers to be introduced before the FinalBattle, [[spoiler:Bakusaiga]]. As soon as it's introduced, characters begin observing that Naraku doesn't stand a chance against it. As a result, the plot almost immediately ensures that it can't be used even for most of the final battle. At the end, when it's finally unleashed, it's unstoppable. [[spoiler:[[NighInvulnerability It still doesn't even scratch the Shikon Jewel though due to the fact the Shikon Jewel is a soul-based creation that cannot be defeated by any sword]].]]
* StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred: Naraku urges Sango to kill him while he's holding Rin in his arms. Of course this being [[MagnificentBastard Naraku]], he's not really going to die since he's only an illusion, but Rin is real and if Sango strikes the girl ''will'' die, filling the Shikon Jewel with darkness.
* SuckOutThePoison: Myoga, being a flea youkai, did this twice. Once when Inuyasha was poisoned during his human night, and once barely saving Kagome, Sango and Miroku, when they almost died from Mukotsu's poison.
* SummonToHand: Tessaiga has done this for Inuyasha a few times, although is more ''Summon to Scabbard''.
%%* SupernaturalSensitivity
%%* SuperPowerMeltdown: Miroku's black hole palm.
* SuperToughness: Yokai and Hanyou can take more damage than a human can.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: Suikotsu of the Shichinintai, Inuyasha as a full demon.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Byakuya, who comes in after Kagura's death, not only resembles her and acts like her and has similar powers, but plays the same role that she played.
* TheSweatDrop: An extremely common trope in this manga. Most of the characters experiences this on a regular basis except for the more serious ones.

%%* SwissArmyWeapon: Tessaiga, oh so very much.
* SwordBeam: Inuyasha's Wind Scar/Kaze no Kizu. Tessaiga's and especially Tokijin's "sword pressure". Also, Sesshomaru's anime-only Souryuha.

* TakeOffYourClothes: When he sees Kagome dressed as a miko, Inuyasha soon asks her to take off the outfit. To which Kagome respond with a rock to the head and calling him a pervert. But Inuyasha doesn't want to see her naked (yet); it's just that with the priestess garb, she looks too much like Kikyo and that makes him uncomfortable.
* TakenForGranite: Miroku, Sango and Kirara were turned into glass in a filler episode.

** In the anime, Ginkotsu tries this to save Renkotsu from Koga by exploding himself, but fails to kill the wolf youkai.
** Miroku also decides to take Naraku with him with the Wind Tunnel [[spoiler:when it's about to consume him. Unfortunately, the Naraku he's trying to kill is only an illusion.]]
** [[spoiler:Naraku attempts this on Inuyasha and co, as well as Kaede's whole village.]]
* TalkToTheFist: In Chapter 518, Sesshomaru delivers a resounding [[spoiler:[[TalkToTheFist talk to the sword]] to Magatsuhi, slicing]] his head in half during mid-gloat.
-->'''Magatsuhi:''' [[spoiler:Hmpf. It seems that you've put on quite a show for me. However, this is still a borrowed body. I feel neither pain nor...]]\\
'''Sesshomaru:''' [[spoiler:''[Slice]'']]

** In the manga: "You think you can defeat me with that lightning-fast attack you're doing right now? Fool! I am going to dodge it as soon as I finish explaining what's going on in this battle!"
** The anime also features its fair share of exposition dumping during supposedly intense fights, which is either this or MookChivalry.
** The Final Act anime also includes a lampshade hanging subversion. In her first battle after having the Hiraikotsu restored, Sango launches it at Naraku, who goes into a whole speech about how useless her weapon is on him...Only to be [[TalkTotheFist cut off mid-sentence]] by his upper-torso being turned into figgy pudding by the new aura-shattering powers of the Hiraikotsu.

%%* {{Tanuki}}: Hachi.

%% TearJerker was moved to the YMMV tab. please don't add it back here.
* TearOffYourFace: In one arc, Naraku expels his heart, which takes the form of a naked faceless man, who proceeds to slay a whole bunch of bandits and rip off their faces, looking for a suitable one for him. Without them he's shown to be TheBlank.
* TearsOfBlood: Happens to victims of the Flower Prince in Episode Ten of ''The Final Act''.
* TechnicolorToxin: Naraku's purple miasma and Sesshomaru's green Dokkaso poison.
* TeenPregnancy: [[spoiler:By the end of the story, Sango is about 19/20 years-old and already has three kids (two of them twins); however, this is justified since the setting is Feudal Japan]].
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Inuyasha and Kagome's early relationship. They spent just as much, if not even more, time, bickering with and insulting one another as they did fighting demons and collecting jewel shards, and by the time of the third episode, Kagome got so fed up with him that she promptly [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere left to go home]].

* ThatDidntHappen: Sango goes into complete denial after declaring that she prefers to die with Miroku than leave him and save herself: "Did I say something? What did I say?"
* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: On one occasion, Sango reflects that her father often told her that ''the'' most dangerous kinds of youkai are those than can take human form.

** The "army of seven" undead characters have all names ending ith "kotsu" for bone.

** Using the Wind Scar on an ordinary cockroach.
** Attempted by Byakuya against Sesshomaru in chapter 523. It doesn't work.

%%* TimeTravel
%%* TimeTravelRomance: Between Kagome and Inuyasha.
* TimeTravelersAreSpies: Kagome was suspected to be one when she first arrived at Kaede’s village.
* TimeyWimeyBall: Not a big problem, since the "fighting bad guys" matter more than the time traveling, but for example, Kagome finds a jewel shard in the present. So that means it's also back in the Sengoku period, meaning the Shikon Jewel eventually comes up to complete plus one extra shard stuck in a tree somewhere. Souls also seem to transcend time in that Kikyo can't be reborn with her soul because it's already been reincarnated in someone else -- someone else from the far future who hasn't been born yet, even if she happens to [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble have will have]] travelled back in time.
* TokenHuman: Rin is the ''only'' human in Sesshomaru's entourage until Kohaku starts traveling with him as well.
* TookALevelInBadass: Kagome ''does'' manage to catch up and become a true ActionGirl. She also develops from barely being able to fire a bow to making shots that are borderline impossible for trained archers in the real world.
* TookALevelInKindness: Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, Koga, and Kagura all experience this at varying speeds and to varying degrees.
* ToServeMan: Several Youkai feeds on humans/humans innards, but Tokajin the sennin takes the cake. Seriously toned down in the anime.
* ToplessnessFromTheBack: All main female characters. Subverted by Sango and Kagura since it's done to show the large scars they have on their backs.
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* TrappedInThePast: [[spoiler:In the end, it seems that Kagome can't use the well but that's okay because [[IChooseToStay she'd rather be in the past with Inuyasha]].]]
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: After first being sent to the past, Kagome first becomes aware of the Shikon jewel inside her when attacked by a demon. Though the jewel is expelled, this incident results in her learning of her other latent powers.
* TricksterTwins: [[spoiler:Miroku and Sango's]] twins seem to be growing up to be this. With that father it really isn't a surprise.
* TreacherousSpiritChase: Inuyasha nearly gets killed by a youkai disguised as his mother who has been dead since he was very young. If Kagome hadn't seen through the illusion and managed to convince Inuyasha that things weren't what they seemed to be, he would have died.
* TreasureChestCavity: Inuyasha's father's grave is inside his pupil, and Kagome kept the Shikon jewel inside her soul.
* TroubleFollowsYouHome: In this case Inuyasha. Along with Yura.

* TaremeEyes: Kagome, Shippo, Kohaku and Miroku. Everyone else is TsurimeEyes.

* TroubledbutCute: Inuyasha is really handsome,. but GOD did he have a crappy life!

* TrueCompanions: Inuyasha's group becomes as such over the course of the series.
* TsuchigumoAndJorogumo:
** The Kumogashira were a group of spider yokai. Their leader posed himself as a monk as part of a plan of luring Inuyasha to him and stealing his shards of the Shikon no Tama.
** The BigBad Onigumo/Naraku is strictly associated with spiders.
** One of the demons that works under Orochidayu is a tsuchigumo.
* {{Tsundere}}: Kagome, though being a Tybe B aka more deredere she later mellows a bit. Inuyasha could count a bit as a male example, and Sango also has some flashes of Tsundere-ness despite being kind of a YamatoNadeshiko.
%%* TsurimeEyes: See TaremeEyes.
%%* TwoGirlsToATeam
* UglyGuyHotWife: An inversion that is ''not'' PlayedForLaughs with Manten's and Hiten's parents.
%%* UltimateBlackSmith: Totosai, also Kajinbo and Toshu.
* UmbrellaOfTogetherness: Miroku and Sango share one in the anime.

In 2000, an anime adaptation titled ''Inuyasha'' or ''Inuyasha: A Fuedal Fairytale'' (戦国御伽草子 犬夜叉, ''Sengoku Otogizōshi Inuyasha'') began airing on October 16th. It was produced by Creator/{{Sunrise}}, and it ran for 167 episodes. Five years later, a continuation titled ''Inuyasha: The Final Act'' (犬夜叉 完結編, ''Inuyasha Kanketsu-hen'') began airing on October 4th, 2009. ''Final Act'' ran for 26 episodes and adapted the rest of the manga that its initial run didn't cover. Both seasons received an English dub and home release by Viz Media.

!!This series provides examples of:

* UndeathAlwaysEnds: [[spoiler:The Band of Seven all die, Kikyo dies and [[DisneyDeath Kohaku dies]]... [[FirstLawOfResurrection and then recovers]], this time for good.]]
* UndressingTheUnconscious: In "Fateful Night in Togenkyo Part II", Kagome is captured by [[MonsterOfTheWeek Tokajin]] who undresses her and puts her in a big cooking pot bath to [[BatheHerAndBringHerToMe clean her]], since he plans to feed her to a man-eating tree (or in the original manga, [[ImAHumanitarian he just planned to eat her himself]]). When she wakes up, she has little time to consider her situation before Inuyasha barges in and sees her naked, and she has a NakedFreakOut due to ''that'' instead. He later gives her his fire-rat-hair kimono for her to wear, which she does for the rest of the episode.
* TheUnfairSex: Kagome gets [[ClingyJealousGirl extremely jealous]] when Inuyasha has any kind of interaction with Kikyo, even if said interaction is nothing more than discussing about how to kill Naraku, and everyone showers her with sympathy. Inuyasha, on the other hand, gets jealous of Koga for flirting with Kagome, only to have everyone berate him for it. The difference is not ''entirely'' without basis - Inuyasha is genuinely torn between his feelings for Kikyo and Kagome, while Kagome has no romantic interest in Koga whatsoever - but it nevertheless comes across as an unfair DoubleStandard to many fans.
* UnfazedEveryman: Kagome's mother, brother, and grandfather are totally unsurprised when they learn the well in their shrine is a time portal to the 15th century, as well as learning that supernatural demons exist and that Kagome has fallen in love with one. They also don't seem to be concerned about Kagome skipping school to go to a place where she nearly gets killed on a regular basis.
* UnholyHolySword: The Shikon Jewel is a spherical gem that can imbue its owner with immense power(s) and even grant one wish. However, while its nature is neutral, it's more often used by those with malicious intent.

** [[CreepyCentipedes Mistress Centipede]] has BarbieDollAnatomy in the anime. Not so much in the manga (though the Creator/AdultSwim version flip-flopped between erasing Mistress Centipede's breast lines[[note]]because, apparently, breasts with no nipples are still offensive to American audiences, even when said show that has them airs when kids wouldn't be awake[[/note]] and keeping them in).

In 2000, an anime adaptation titled ''Inuyasha'' or ''Inuyasha: A Fuedal Fairytale'' began airing on October 16th. It was produced by Creator/{{Sunrise}}, and it ran for 167 episodes. Five years later, a continuation titled ''Inuyasha: The Final Act'' began airing on October 4th, 2009. ''Final Act'' ran for 26 episodes and adapted the rest of the manga that its initial run didn't cover. Both seasons received an English dub and home release by Viz Media.

* UnholyHolySword: [[spoiler:The Shikon Jewel.]]
* {{Unnamed Parent}}s: All the main characters' parents go unnamed in both the anime and manga; Inuyasha's mother is named in the third movie, but that's it.
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* UnresolvedSexualTension: Sango and Miroku with the whole blush-grope-slap routine, at least until they agreed to marry.
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* UnwantedRevival: Kikyo. She had chosen to die to follow Inuyasha and to take the Shikon Jewel with her to the afterlife, but things didn't quite go her way. She was not only reincarnated (along with the Shikon Jewel) but she was revived into a clay body.
%%* UrbanFantasy: When the stories are set in the present.

** The general public's treament of youkai and half-youkai often borders on "hate on sight". For one example, Jinenji is automatically accused of attacking and eating people simply because he's a half-youkai, and the villagers only discover the real culprit after they've formed an angry mob and burn his hut to the ground.
** Ungai is a monk who is firmly convinced that ''all'' demons are bad to the extent that he openly declares Kagome, Miroku, and Sango- a {{miko}}, a monk, and a [[DemonSlaying professional demon slayer]] respectively- hypocrites for even bothering to associate with Inuyasha, Shippo, and Kirara.

* ViewersAreGoldfish: Both the manga and the anime have a habit of irrideriting information that the audience already knows or can plainly see for themselves. The reason for the former is likely due to the series being released on chapter/episode per week; the recaps help for those who might not've caught the previous chapter/episode or for any late comers when the manga and anime were still being produces. For the bingers, though, it can get ''very'' annoying being reminded about Inuyasha and Kikyo's previous history or how Naraku came about.
* VillainExitStageLeft: Just when it seems like our heros may be able to kill Naraku, Naraku uses his miasma, saimyosho, or something else to force Inuyasha and the gang back so he can beat a hasty retreat.
* VillainTeamUp: Naraku uses the recent loss of an arm and the Tessaiga to manipulate Sesshomaru into attacking Inuyasha. He gives Sesshomaru a human arm with a jewel shard embedded in it to replace the one he lost, allowing Sesshomaru to potentially weild the Tessaiga against Inuyasha. Of course, this team up only lasts for as long as the fight that follows; after its over, Sesshomaru vows to kill Naraku for using him in his battle against Inuyasha.

** Since Naraku is an almagimation of youkai, he can shapeshift into other beings. He used this ability to make it seem like Inuyasha and Kikyo had betrayed each other by taking on each of their forms.

* WardingGestures: Sometimes when Kagome or Inuyasha are surpised or frightened, their fingers form the shape of the ''mano cornuta'' gesture.
* WarringNatures: Half-youkai are generally hated by both youkai and humans. Being half-youkai himself, Inuyasha was an outcast who grew to hate his human side. He initally wanted the Shikon Jewel to become a full youkai so he'd finally fit in somewhere.

** An anime VillainOfTheWeek reveals to Inuyasha and friends that other Shikon Jewels can be made if you can find four souls that strongly embody each of these four characteristics and seal them into a single gem with a Miko as the center. In fact, he attempts to defeat the group because Kagome (the Miko), Inuyasha (Courage), Shippo (Friendship), Miroku (Wisdom) and Sango (Love) are pefect candidates for this process.

* WhenItAllBegan: The events of ''Inuyasha'' happen due to actions that took place 50 years ago: a severly injured bandit named Onigumo wanted Kikyo for himself, but he needed a working body to do it. He made a pact with a bunch of youkai, offering up his soul and body. This had the unintended side effect of transforming him into Naraku, a half-youkai who was more concerned with tainting the Shikon Jewel than winning over Kikyo. He even goes so far as to manipulate both Kikyo and Inuyasha into thinking they each betrayed the other, with Kikyo putting an enchanted arrow through Inuyasha before dying herself. She requested the jewel be burned alongside her, intending to take it with her to the afterlife. This proves successful for five hundred years until she and the jewel are reincarnated into Kagome.

''Inuyasha'' (犬夜叉) is a historical fantasy {{shonen}} {{manga}} by Creator/RumikoTakahashi. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from November 1996 to June 2008, finishing with a total of 558 chapters compiled into 56 volumes. Creator/VizMedia holds the license to translate and print the series in America. The format of the English release has changed a couple times, with it currently being available as a collection of 18 omnibus volumes. Volumes one to 16 contain three volumes each and volumes 17 and 18 contain four.

In 2000, an anime adaptation of the same name and produced by Creator/{{Sunrise}} began airing on October 16th. It's initial run stopped at 167 episodes on September 13th, 2004, since it had caught up with the manga at the time. Five years later, a continuation titled ''Inuyasha: The Final Act'' began airing on October 4th, 2009. ''Final Act'' ran for 26 episodes and adapted the rest of the manga. Both seasons received an English dub and home release by Viz Media.

** The general public's treatment of demons and [[HalfBreedDiscrimination half-demons]] often borders on this. Case in point: in Jinenji's debut episode, he is automatically accused of attacking and eating people simply because he's a half-demon, and the villagers only discover the real culprit ''after'' they form an angry mob and burn his hut to the ground.
** Another good example is in episode 162 with Ungai, a monk who is firmly convinced that ''all'' demons are bad to the extent that he openly declares Kagome, Miroku, and Sango, a {{miko}}, a monk, and a [[DemonSlaying professional demon slayer]] respectively, {{hypocrite}}s for even bothering to associate with Inuyasha, Shippo, and Kirara.
* VictimOfTheWeek: As with other fantasy stories, the main purpose of the villagers are to be either held hostage or brutally killed ten ways to Tuesday in order for the heroes to know just how bad the MonsterOfTheWeek is.
* VictorGainsLosersPowers: Tessaiga works like this. Any time Tessaiga slays a powerful demon it acquires a new ability.
* ViewersAreGoldfish:
** The recaps can get pretty ridiculous; in particular, it sometimes feels like you can't go three episodes without rewatching the scene in which Kikyo kills Inuyasha.
** The Japanese version also reminds you who ''every single character'' outside of the main group is, every episode, by showing their name over the entire lower half of the screen.
** Even the main group wasn't immune to this, with their names being verbally announced along with onscreen captions during the opening credits.
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%%* VillainExitStageLeft: Naraku.
%%* VillainTeamUp: Naraku and Sesshomaru.
* VillainsActHeroesReact: Constantly. Inuyasha's group are always a step behind Naraku and persistently keep falling into his traps rather then plan out anything ahead of time.
* VillainousCrossdresser: Jakotsu. He gets HiddenDepths and becomes more AffablyEvil, getting an AlasPoorVillain death.
%%* VisibleSigh
%%* VitriolicBestBuds:
%%** Inuyasha and Shippo. Sometimes, Inuyasha and Miroku too.
%%** Let's not forget Inuyasha and Koga.
%%* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Shippo, Hachi and Naraku.
%%* WalkingTheEarth: The Inu-tachi and their quest. Sesshomaru as well.
%%* WardingGestures