Naraku

Naraku (奈落) is the main villain of the anime/manga series InuYasha.

He is voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa in the Japanese version of the anime and Paul Dobson in the English version.

Physical description
When Naraku first appeared in the series, he wore a white baboon cloak-like outfit that hid his face. He was a shape-shifter and as such, no one knew what he actually looked like. Naraku then possessed the young lord Kagewaki Hitomi, and kept that form for the rest of the series. Because he took over Kagewaki's body, he has Kagewaki's long black hair and pale skin, as well as his build and voice. The only difference between them is their eyes; while Kagewaki's eyes are brown, Naraku's are red with white pupils with blue eyeshadow. Later on, he dresses in a simple, common outfit. It was dark blue with a purple vest on top.

Once he had gained more power during his state of dormancy at Mount Hakurei, his appearance changed completely. His outfit then turned purple and light blue, but with boned armor. It has three green tail-like tentacle arms coming from his back, sporting several large hoop bones leading to a red-eye on his chest, and two gauntlets with eyes at the wrist & backhand of his arms. After he absorbed Mōryōmaru, he gained a gigantic spike of diamond armor on his right arm with his tentacles and the majority of his bone armor being discarded, leaving only his gauntlets on his arms (minus the four eyes) along with his chest eye remaining. After Kikyō's death, the spike was discarded and his current form became a simpler version of his post-Mount Hakurei outfit, though he gains dark spikes arching over his shoulders.

When he absorbed the Jewel, he became a gigantic spider with eight large horizontal "fangs" and an armored abdomen, his core form within the spider however, was his true body with tentacles connecting him to the spider form. During the final battle, he turned into his normal form but with several diamonds forming the armor and a gigantic armored spider web that replaced the connecting tentacles, he then took on an oni-like appearance and his hair turned white, he also gained a rib cage on his body, but this form was just a head. After Kagome shot him with her arrow, he was reduced to a head with a spine and his face returned to normal. His dead form within the Shikon Jewel was his head and a giant spider web, though it had a more normal appearance.

History
Naraku is responsible for most of the characters' misfortunes, including the death of Kikyo, the sealing of Inuyasha to the sacred tree, Miroku's curse, and the death of Sango's family. Naraku was born from the fusion of Onigumo, a crippled human bandit tended by Kikyo, and a horde of weak demons. Driven by frustrated lust for Kikyo, Onigumo made a bargain with the demons: they could eat his flesh, and the demons would combine into one entity to become part of that new body. However the resulting half-demon promptly caused Kikyo's death in an attempt to corrupt and possess the Shikon Jewel-his intent being that she would use the jewel to save herself and thus both would be corrupted and be his. Unlike other Half-Demons, he can choose what time will he lose his powers, however he reverts to a head attached to multiple demons. During this time he discards the weaker demons that he's attached to.

Naraku is driven by three goals: To become a full demon, to possess a fully-corrupted Shikon Jewel, and to possess Kikyo. The third goal is rooted in Onigumo's heart as a vital part of Naraku's body, causing an obsession with Kikyo that prevents him from killing her. He attempts to rid himself of Onigumo's heart multiple times, ultimately separating it into globs of flesh he leaves in Mount Hakurei. With his heart freed from his obsession, he is able to later kill Kikyo. On his final death, he faintly remembered why he made the bargain in the first place and expressed regret at not being able to have Kikyo for his own. When Kagome was able to wish the Shikon Jewel out of existence, the purifying light hit Naraku's soul, cleansing him of all evil. He then understood the true essence of peace and recovered himself from his sins as he faded away.

Throughout the series, Naraku creates many subordinate beings from his own body to aid his goal of killing his opponents and reuniting the shards of the Shikon Jewel, whose corrupted form he hopes to use to gain ultimate power.