Izumo

“	Kagome, am I going to die.. as a human?	„
	~ Izumo's last words.

Izumo is a half-demon, and an antagonist in the anime Inuyasha.

He was voiced by Dai Matsumoto in Japanese and Lee Tockar in English.

Biography

Izumo/Gyu-oh was a half-demon born between a male templemonk and a female bull-demon. In contrast to all other half-demons in the series, he was a pure human during the day, and a pure demon at night. He took the name Izumo for his human form.

He sought a way to become a full human, because he found his existence as a half-demon bad. After visiting many countries, he learned about the "Shikon no Tama", a sacred jewel that could transform a half-demon into a pure demon or a pure human being. This, however, was broken. Thereupon, Gyu-oh teamed up with a group of demons who also sought this jewel to become more powerful.

He created several false jewels, which the demons they used to make stronger, but were not even as powerful as the real jewel. In order to create a new jewel, he finally kidnapped Kagome and wanted to use and sacrifice her friends. But his plans failed, and the demons which has been allied with him were defeated. Finally, he tried to strengthen himself with the false jewels. When, however, he turned into a human at daybreak, the false jewels killed him.

Powers and Abilities

• High Intellect: Izumo is very intelligent and want to see the deeper meaning of some things. Kagome even said to Shippō that Izumo seems to be a scholar. His intellect allows great knowledge about the feudal era and the denizens in it that allows him to know how to make use of them.
  • Expert Manipulator: Izumo is very cunning and skilled at separating his human and demonic persona from each other during the day and night that allows him to deceive others to lure them into traps as he appears as two different people as shown when he lured Inuyasha and his group into an elaborate trap by taking advantage of human self and none of them realized it until he deliberately revealed himself.
  • Expert Jewel Craftsman: He is also a skilled craftsman of jewelry as he created multiple faux Shikon Jewels that while pales in comparison to the real one, has the ability to greatly enhance the strength of lesser demons though is highly toxic with miasma and the effects are only temporarily. He also has a plausible theory on how to create another real Shikon Jewel after extensively studying Midoriko's legend.
• Nocturnal Transformation: Unlike other naturally born half-demons, whose normal appearance are a mix of human and demon features, he seems fully human during day time and fully demon at night time. Izumo's personality changes whenever he transforms. Since he loses all his demonic powers every sunrise, it is possible that his nocturnal form is his half-demon form, albeit an 'ugly' one like Jinenji. (Nonetheless it should be noted that Inuyasha did not smell a half-demon when Izumo was in either form.)
  • Enhanced Strength: In his demonic form as Gyu-Oh, he displays impressive strength as he was capable of contending against the likes of Inuyasha in pure strength. He has also previously triggered a landslide with a single blow of his club.
  • Enhanced Speed: When Sango has thrown her Hiraikotsu, he could react quickly enough to defend him with his club. Later he was able to catch up the fast-fleeing Kagome.
  • Enhanced Durability: He has proved to be very durable as he was able to defend well against Inuyasha's attacks head on while the demons under his command were defeated fairly easily.
  • Enhanced Endurance: Gyu-Oh has heightened stamina as he managed to fight against Inuyasha for a considerable amount of time while the lesser demons under his command were quickly dispatched even with the faux Shikon Jewels. The sun rose at the end which implies that their fight lasted several hours with neither tiring at all.
  • Miasma Generation & Manipulation: He has the ability to generate miasma from his very breath and manipulate it how he sees fit. Also he can resist the toxin of the faux Shikon Jewels after swallowing many of them to increase his power to overcome Inuyasha though only in his demon form as he died from the poisoning after becoming human at sunrise.
  • Great Demonic Power: Gyu-Oh is rather powerful for a half-demon as during his full transformation he is capable of visibly intimidating lesser but full blooded demons into doing his bidding and through the enhancement of his faux Shikon Jewels proved to be considerable challenge for Inuyasha.
    • Barrier: When he was attacked by Inuyasha, Gyu-Oh was protected by a barrier that was capable of warding off even the Tessaiga though it was unknown whether this was his own power or that of the faux jewels.
• High Spiritual Power: He possesses high spiritual energy and purity significantly more so than ordinary humans as even wild birds settle down an his hands and shoulders.

Weapons

• Club: As Gyu-Oh, he wields a large wooden club when needing to engage in combat himself and through the enhancement of the faux jewels was capable of contending against the Tessaiga itself.
• Faux Shikon Jewels: Like his demon underlings, he uses multiple fake Shikon Jewels to enhance his power to overcome his opponent if they proved stronger than he thought.

Trivia

• Gyu-oh is the only half-demon in the series where the father was a human and the mother a demon.
• Cows, oxen and bulls are often considered as dumb or stupid in fiction. Gyu-oh is very clever, and thus an exception to this stereotype.
• In the original dub it becomes clear that Izumo is a tragic villain because he has gone mad by his nocturnal transformations. But in the English dub he has become a full-fledged villain.