“ | No, master! I can never accept this! Why did you entrust the Sacred Jewel to Kikyō and not to me? Why couldn't you choose me instead? I refuse to take second place to Kikyō. | „ |
~ Tsubaki |
Tsubaki is a villainess in Inuyasha and was once the rival of Kikyō, seeing as she was the only one who matched her with power. As a dark priestess, Tsubaki makes deals with demons, and made one such deal for eternal youth at some point. Even as she aged, she was able to maintain a youthful appearance under her elderly disguise.
She was voiced by Arima Mizuka in her old form and Miho Yamada in her young form in Japanese Kathy Morse in her old form and Sharon Alexander in her young form in English.
Personality[]
Tsubaki has an exceedingly large amount of self-pride, which is reflected by her vanity that makes her yearn for the Shikon Jewel so that she can have eternal youth. While she was once a respected priestess, her immediate face-heel turn from Kikyō's bestowment of the Shikon Jewel shows the level of obsession she has for herself. Even in death, she proclaims herself to be the greatest priestess to ever live, showing no remorse for her crimes, blaming Naraku for her downfall. True to her arrogant self, when Kagome is cursed by her and is able to be killed at any moment by Tsubaki, she keeps Kagome alive just to watch her suffer, carelessly discarding caution because of her sadism. When Kagome reflects her shikigami back at her, her pride is damaged; however, she still maintains some of her ego due to possessing the Shikon Jewel. After absorbing the power of a powerful ogre, she makes it known to everyone that she intends to swallow more demons so she can gain unlimited power. She is ultimately defeated, and she shows regret for underestimating Kagome and Inuyasha.
Biography[]
Tsubaki was a powerful priestess who rivaled even Kikyō in power, and was well-respected before her turn towards darkness. One day, Tsubaki cursed Kikyō, saying that she must abandon human feelings to retain her power, and that if she falls in love with a man she would die a horrible death. Kikyō knew she was cursed, but wasn't concerned, and scoffed at the idea of love. Tsubaki wished for the Sacred Jewel to retain her youth for fear of fading beauty, which is why the jewel was entrusted to Kikyō.
Soon after, Kikyō began to fall for Inuyasha, and Tsubaki desired the jewel for her wish to be granted, so she arranged to curse and kill her rival using her familiar, a Shikigami. Unfortunately for her, Kikyō fired the curse back upon its caster, giving her a scar on her right eye making Tsubaki vow revenge on her rival. As it turned out, the dark priestess was correct, and Kikyō died a violent death at the hands of (inadvertently) Naraku. Even 50 years later, Tsubaki's hatred for her held, and Naraku used this to his advantage. He asked for her services in turning Kagome on Inuyasha and kill him vicariously through her. Kagura was also surprised when the dark priestess revealed that despite her biological age, she could regress to her former youth.
Tsubaki succeeded in cursing Kagome through tainted shards of the Shikon Jewel, and maintained control over her body, although not over her mind, leaving her with enough strength to tell Inuyasha to flee. He refuses, however, and Kikyō later confronts the dark priestess. Tsubaki notices that she literally has not aged in the 50 years since her passing, and Kikyō acknowledges Kagome's power, saying that if she did manage to kill Inuyasha she would avenge him. Kagome snaps out of her trance and she and her group track Tsubaki down, engaging in a battle with her. Kagome ends the battle by firing the priestess' Shikigami back at her, thus breaking the curse that was placed upon her. Tsubaki disappears in the manga after this instance.
The anime shows what happened to Tsubaki after she fled the battle. She began to hate Naraku when she realized that she was just another one of his tools, and took the Shikon Jewel for herself, fleeing to the shrine where she once trained. She tricks two of the initiates standing guard, Momiji and Botan, into assisting her with eliminating Inuyasha and Kagome. Meanwhile, while Momiji and Botan deal with Inuyasha's group, the priestess planned to awaken a sealed demon and obtain its power via her cursed eye. As Inuyasha desperately tries to convince the initiates that Tsubaki is the evil one, Kagura stops by to retrieve the jewel, but the priestess refuses to part with it.
She succeeds in absorbing the sealed demon's powers, and turns into a massive half-demon. Inuyasha deals a fatal blow with his Backlash Wave. The sacred jewel is returned to Naraku as Tsubaki ages and fades away, regretting underestimating Inuyasha and Kagome's power.
Quotes[]
“ | Kagura: The old hag transformed herself?! Tsubaki: Watch your tongue, you wench! Because this is my true form! |
„ |
~ Kagura's shock at witnessing Tsubaki's younger true form |
External links[]
- Tsubaki in InuYasha Wiki
[]
![]() | ||
Main Villains Naraku's Incarnations The Band of Seven Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon Four Perils Demons Hyōga clan Demon ninjas Four War Gods Humans |