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This Villain was proposed and approved by Villains Wiki's Pure Evil Proposals Thread. Any act of removing this villain from the category without a Removal Proposal shall be considered vandalism (or a futile "heroic" attempt of redemption) and the user will have high chances of being | ||
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| “ | Heh... Onigumo. Now that brings me back. Fifty years ago, you saved me, took pity on me... and sheltered that fugitive in a cave. Onigumo offered his body to the demons, who latched onto his evil soul. And thus was born... Naraku. | „ |
| ~ Naraku narrating his origin. |
| “ | I have often heard you humans refer to this as fate or destiny. Only the weak utter such nonsense. It is different for the truly powerful: they create this so-called fate or destiny with their own hands. | „ |
| ~ Naraku taunting Kikyō right before her death. |
Naraku is the main antagonist of the manga/anime series Inuyasha. He is a spider hanyō who was born from the human bandit named Onigumo, and various other yōkai, directly responsible for almost every atrocity and misfortune in the series such as the death of Kikyō, the seal placed on Inuyasha to the sacred tree, Miroku's family curse and the death of Sango's family.
Naraku desired the Shikon Jewel, a jewel that would be able to grant him near-invincibility should he acquire all the pieces of it. He desired the jewel to purge his half-human self from his body, and enhance his strength even further and he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
He is voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa in the original Japanese version of the anime, and Paul Dobson in the English version. The former whom had also voiced Yoshikage Kira in JoJo's Bizzare Adventure, Lord Boros in One Punch Man, Mard Geer Tartaros in Fairy Tail, Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII, Stu Macher in Japanese dub of Scream and Griffith in Berserk while the latter of whom also voices Graham Aker in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and Happosai in Ranma ½, and Hong Shi Hoo in the Korean dubbed 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 shapeshifter and as such, no one knew what he actually looked like. As Naraku wanted a temporary body, he then killed and 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.
Personality[]
| “ | You and I may be nothing alike, but we are both half-demons! That means that in both of us, there is a human heart and a demon heart, Naraku! But you have betrayed that! We were both given the freedom to choose: to follow our human heart or our demon heart. And you chose to live as a demon, ignoring all that was human in you. You chose to hurt others, and curse them with misery and suffering, but your days of hurting my friends are over you miserable bastard! | „ |
| ~ Inuyasha to Naraku, about the differences between the two Half-Demons. |
Throughout the series, Naraku was consistently portrayed as incredibly cruel and manipulative, using others to satisfy his own interests and taking great sadistic delight in destroying the bonds and lives of others, such as when he tricked Inuyasha and Kikyō into thinking they had betrayed each other, causing them to fight. He rarely took responsibility for any of his actions, often twisting the details to make it seem like others were to blame, such as when he mocked Inuyasha and Kikyō for not trusting each other enough to see through his deception. While highly intelligent and cunning, he became too conceited and ostentatious at times, especially when he obtained any new power. His overconfidence got himself cornered many times, such as when Inuyasha's Red Tessaiga broke his barrier for the first time, leaving him entirely shocked. Naraku had a cowardly streak too and often fled from a battle when his foes had turned the tables on him.
Above all else, Naraku was power-hungry and self-obsessed, desiring only power and sheer dominance over others. He bore nothing but contempt and disgust towards all other beings and considered himself superior in every aspect, which can be noted in almost all of the sarcastic remarks he made; especially towards Inuyasha and his friends, as well as the humans, despite being a hanyō himself. It became Naraku's sole occupation to cause as much pain and misery to humans and yōkai alike as possible, such as when he also placed the Wind Tunnel curse on Miroku's grandfather, which later passed on to his father and Miroku himself too, and destroying Sango's family and entire village, even using a shard of the Shikon Jewel to brainwash her brother Kohaku, forcing him to do his bidding.
Naraku also appeared to lack the ability to understand bonds such as love, best displayed when he was unable to understand why, no matter what he forced the brainwashed Kohaku to do, Sango simply refused to kill him, as she loved her brother and wanted to embrace him. Naraku frequently sought to get rid of his human emotions under the belief that they only held him back.
However, Kagome eventually pointed out that he actually could understand human bonds more than he let on, as he couldn't have done all the horrible things he did if he didn't understand what it was like to have a bond with someone and the pain of seeing love broken. Furthermore, Naraku's hatred was motivated by his own jealousy; Naraku couldn't bear to see people indulge in mutual loving relationships while he himself had no-one and thus sought to destroy the happiness of others to feel better about his own loveless existence.
That critical quality of Naraku's was what differentiated him from a true psychopath, as psychopaths have no emotional attachments to others whatsoever, while it was the human Onigumo's lust and love for Kikyō that was at the core of his motivations for his actions from the beginning of his existence as a hanyō.
History[]
Naraku's origin lays in the human, Onigumo, who was a selfish bandit living a life full of sin and void of love. When Onigumo was disfigured and crippled, Kikyō found him and felt pity for him and continued to take care of him, even when he tried to push her away. Over time, Onigumo secretly fell for her, but was pained with the belief that a pure priestess would never love a wicked man like him. Driven by frustrated lust for Kikyō, Onigumo desired his mobility to win her over and also obtain the Shikon Jewal that Kikyo guarded. He then drew a horde of weak demons that loathed Kikyō and made a bargain with them: they could eat his flesh, and the demons would combine into one entity to become part of that new body. With this, Onigumo became Naraku so he could capture Kikyō until she agreed to return his love and also possess the Shikon Jewel.
However, the resulting half-demon Naraku bore deep hatred for Kikyo due to the demons who composed his new body. Most of these demons wanted the Shikon Jewel like Onigumo did, but unlike Onigumo, they wanted to get rid of Kikyo. As a result, when Naraku found out that Kikyo intended to use the Shikon Jewel to turn her half-demon lover, Inuyasha, into a human, he devised a plan to turn them against each other and corrupt the Shikon Jewel with their grudge. Naraku disguised himself as both Kikyo and Inuyasha and attacked them, tricking them into believing they had betrayed each other. During this, Naraku fatally wounded Kikyo and caused her death, going against Onigumo's original wish.
Unlike other half-demons, Naraku can choose what time will he lose his powers, however, he reverts to a head attached to multiple demons. From time to time, he discards the weaker demons that he's attached to. 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. To prevent these offshoots from ever betraying or even separating him, Naraku held the hearts of his creations and would squeeze their hearts to keep them in line.
Naraku in his casual clothing.
Naraku is driven by three goals: To become a full demon, to possess a fully corrupted Shikon Jewel, and to kill Kikyō for good. The third goal is prevented by Onigumo's heart, a vital part of Naraku's body, causing an obsession with Kikyō 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 Kikyō.
On his final death, he faintly remembered why he made the bargain in the first place and expressed regret at never being able to have Kikyō for his own in life and even in the afterlife. Naraku then wishes for Kagome to be sealed within the jewel and to be trapped with him.
His post death fate differs in the manga and anime. In the manga, Inuyasha chooses to destroy the Jewel's evil forever, also causing the spirits of Naraku and the Demon of the Jewel, sealed within the Jewel, to cease existing, preventing them from even going to the afterlife.
In the anime, Kagome was able to wish the Shikon Jewel out of existence and freeing all the spirits trapped within it to go their resting place, when the purifying light hit Naraku's soul, cleansing him of all evil, he felt at peace for the first time as he faded away into the afterlife.
Relationships[]
Inuyasha[]
Naraku was naturally, in all aspects, a foil to Inuyasha. Both of them were outcast half-demons that selfishly sought to become full demons and both fell in love with the same human priestess, but their choices determined who they became. When they first met, Inuyasha wasted no time in voicing his intentions to kill him to avenge Kikyō but questioned why he framed him in the first place before being disgusted by his reason.
While Inuyasha established bonds with other people to stave off his loneliness and ultimately abandoned the goal of becoming a full yōkai when he found being a full demon meant losing his human feelings. In a contrast, Naraku ruthlessly destroyed the bonds of others to take joy in their sadness and ultimately alienated himself from everything, even in his own creations, who he abused and used as slaves. Naraku welcomed losing his human feelings and had always despised them for holding him back.
When Inuyasha thought Kikyō, the woman he loved, hated him, he continued to better himself and to wish for her happiness. On the other hand, despite still carrying Onigumo's love for Kikyō inside his heart, Naraku never tried to improve himself as a person and chose to become even worse instead. He felt jealous of Inuyasha and Kikyo's relationship since the wish to possess Kikyo for himself was still within him and this desire made him hate Inuyasha. Naraku despised his own human feelings and devoted himself to ridding himself of his last vestiges of humanity along with his heart and killing his beloved Kikyō.
In the final battle, Inuyasha outright said that a reason he hates Naraku was that he reflected himself if he had chosen the path of hatred and evil over love and good.
Quotes[]
| “ | Small Spider Demon: Onigumo. Onigumo. Your evil thoughts have brought us here. Onigumo: A demon. Small Spider Demon: Tell me, what is that you want? Onigumo: I must possess my former mobility, then the jewel will be mine, not to the mention the lovely maiden Kikyō. Small Spider Demon: Done. But in return, we will take your soul. Onigumo: (laughs) My soul is rancid to the core, yet it still holds value. Feast on my flesh. Feast on me, demons. Devour me! And in exchange, bestow me with your mobility and strength! |
„ |
| ~ Onigumo meets a small spider demon, grants a wish, and calling upon demons leading to Naraku's birth. |
| “ | Jealousy? Is this, too, part of Onigumo's grubby heart? | „ |
| ~ Naraku. |
| “ | Your time has come Kikyō. Now, Naraku returns you to the underworld forevermore. | „ |
| ~ Naraku. |
| “ | I will not kill you... I will break you. | „ |
| ~ Naraku. |
| “ | The slayer and the monk... let them spend their final moments together in private, won't you Inuyasha? Heh heh heh... Their sorrow feeds the darkness of the jewel nicely. How ironic. The more they love each other, the darker their despair... | „ |
| ~ Naraku. |
| “ | How touching... betraying your companions for your little brother's sake. | „ |
| ~ Naraku. |
| “ | Can't you see? To taint Kikyō's heart with spite, so that the Shikon jewel would absorb the blood of malice. Two who had trusted each other would now despise and kill one another. What purer evil could be found to taint the jewel? And the more profound the love had once been, the more powerful the resulting hatred, and the more evil the jewel. Magnificent. | „ |
| ~ Naraku. |
| “ | Ryūkotsusei, over yonder stands the son of the demon who hurled you into dormancy. Do with him as you please. | „ |
| ~ Naraku to Ryūkotsusei in order to kill Tōga's son Inuyasha. |
| “ | You have performed very well for me, Princess Abi. Here is your reward: You shall not suffer when I kill you. | „ |
| ~ Naraku. |
| “ | Foolish creature... it never realized that it was being consumed from within... | „ |
| ~ Naraku. |
| “ | Now do you understand, Kikyō? You did not come here of your own accord... I lured you here. | „ |
| ~ Naraku. |
| “ | You bother to worry about a comrade during a time like this? Your unfailing stupidity never ceases to amaze me. | „ |
| ~ Naraku |
| “ | Try as you might, your efforts are in vain. I shall never die!! | „ |
| ~ Naraku |
| “ | Kikyō, even in death you continue to haunt me... | „ |
| ~ Naraku |
| “ | Fools. Do they pity Kanna? But Kanna cannot feel a thing, be it pain, fear or sorrow. She cannot even understand the reason for your pity. | „ |
| ~ Naraku |
| “ | My real wish, you say? That's right. Now I remember. All I wanted was Kikyō's heart. It seems I won't be joining Kikyō in this or the next world. | „ |
| ~ Naraku |
| “ | I feel so warm. So this is how it feels to be at peace. | „ |
| ~ Naraku's last words in the anime. |
Theme[]
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Sound Files |
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| File | Description |
| Naraku. | |
| Naraku. |
Trivia[]
- "Naraku" is derived from the Sanskrit word "Naraka", which means the realm of hell in Indian religions. In Buddhism, Naraka is afterlife similar to Hell although it is never an eternal punishment for sinners within it, but very evil souls would spend thousands or even millions years there to suffer for their sins.
External Links[]
- Naraku on the Inuyasha Wiki
- Naraku on the Pure Evil Wiki
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 Villains
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Main Villains Naraku's Incarnations The Band of Seven Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon Four Perils Demons Hyōga clan Demon ninjas Four War Gods Humans | ||