Kohaku (InuYasha)

Template:IY Character Kohaku is a character in the anime and manga series InuYasha.

Kohaku means "amber." It can also mean "topaz" and the color of his armor is likely meant to reflect this. It is also a type of koi fish.

Overview

Kohaku is Sango's younger brother. When Kohaku turned eleven, his father told him that he must now put his training as a yōkai taijiya (exterminator) to use and help the rest of his family (who are also demon hunters) with their next mission; exterminating a Spider yōkai who is tormenting a castle. Kohaku is scared, but he does not want to disappoint his father. Sango cheers him up by telling him he will be safe with her. However, during the mission something goes horribly wrong. Kohaku becomes a puppet of the Spider yōkai, who has taken the form of the Castle's Lord, and kills his family. Sango sees the spider thread the demon is using to control Kohaku connected to the back of his neck and knows he is not himself. Sango tries to wake her brother up and a battle ensues. They fight until the false Lord orders them killed. Sango is wounded and Kohaku is released from the demon's spell. He rushes to aid Sango, only to be shot dead by the Lord's archers.

Later on in the series, Kohaku is brought back to life by Naraku, and is kept alive by a shard of the Shikon no Tama lodged in his back. He remembers nothing of his past life and so, he becomes Naraku's servant. In episode 29 of the anime (Volume 11 of the manga), Naraku uses Kohaku's life as leverage to try and persuade Sango to steal the Tessaiga for him. Later on in the series, some of Kohaku's memories gradually return to him, but he still serves as a minion under Naraku. It is not until he first defends a noblewoman who has mistaken Akago as her own child from Princess Abi and her bird demons only to be forced to kill all the people he helped defend, to retrieve Akago for Naraku does he begin to regain his own will. Desperate to determine his identity and trying to stop himself from killing the noblewoman, he begins to cry before her. Sango arrives to stop him as Kohaku struggles to accept the surge of memories he is recalling. Kagura arrives to take him away; as they escape, he is able to fully assess his recovered memory, but keeps it a secret and decides that even at the cost of his own life, he will kill Naraku. After recovering his memory, he revisits his abandoned village in episode 163, to give honor to the taijiya that was slain by his own hands. Kohaku also runs into Kirara and remembers his childhood of his father and Sango, who he refers to as Ane-ue, while also battling some rogue demons. At the end of this episode Sango relizes that she has a chance of seeing her brother and shouts his name while running towards the village. Kohaku decides to remain in the shadows and Sango narrowly misses him. After realizing about the secret flower garden, Sango now knows that Kohaku has his memories back.

After he inadvertently reveals he has recovered his memory to Kagura, the two form an alliance of sorts seeing as they are in a similar situation. They will defend each other, given that the other is the only one they can somewhat trust; in Kagura's final battle, she holds off Hakudōshi so Kohaku can escape and as she dies from Naraku's poison, Kohaku runs off in search of her, sensing Kagura is in some sort of danger.

Following Kagura's death, he joins Kikyo as he believes travelling with her will be the only way to redeem himself, full well knowing that she may sacrifice his life to complete the Shikon Jewel to defeat Naraku. He remains by her side until she tells him to separate from her for fear of being unable to keep his shard pure. However, he is nearly captured by Byakuya, and only a timely arrival by Sesshomaru saves him. He is currently traveling with Sesshomaru's party, although how long that will last is unknown.

After Kikyo's defeat, Naraku succeeded in reuniting and corrupting all of the Shikon Jewel, except for the shard in Kohaku's body. Kohaku now follows Sesshomaru's group. Naraku has attempted to decapitate Kohaku to retrieve his shard, however a light from the shard prevents him from taking it. Because of this attempt, he has managed to openly betray Naraku. He has also managed to reestablished communication with his sister. It was recently discovered that using the Tenseiga to bring Kohaku back to life would not work.

Relationships

Family Relations

Sango

Sango and Kohaku hold a relationship different from that of many sisters and brothers (namely that of Kagome and her younger brother Sota's). Kohaku possesses an immense amount of respect for her due to her skill in combat; this is evident by his addressing her as "older sister" (though in the English dub of the anime he calls her Sango). Even so, the two are extremely close. When Kohaku questions Sango about the ferociousness of demons, she assures him that the scariest are the ones that wear a human form. Ironically, it is indeed a demon in human disguise that helps lead to his eventual death.

Parents

It is apparent that Kohaku holds a lot of respect for his father as he does his sister. He even refers to him as master, or at least in front of the other villagers. Kohaku's mother is never mentioned.

Kirara

Their pet feline is indeed considered one of the family. Kohaku appears close to Kirara much in the way that Sango is.

Other Relations

Rin

Rin and Kohaku got off to a rocky start. When Kagura kidnapped Rin in an attempt to lure Sesshomaru into a dangerous trap set by Naraku, Kohaku kept guard of her. Rin and Kohaku formed a slight friendship while she was being held captive, until Naraku took control of Kohaku and tried to make him kill Rin. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha eventually intervened, and Kagura took Kohaku and vanished. Later on in the series when Rin and Kohaku cross paths again, Rin showed no grudge against what Kohaku tried to do to her. In the recent manga chapters, Kohaku has been traveling with Sesshomaru, Jaken and Rin. He is very protective of Rin, guarding her from danger when they are both dragged into Hell by a "Hell Hound". Rin chose to stay at Kohaku's side when Naraku tried to corrupt him.

Kagura

Kagura was another one of Naraku's incarnations. She looked after Kohaku most of the time and she was the first person Kohaku told when he regained his memory. They formed a bit of an alliance and pledged to kill Naraku. However Naraku got wind of this and tried to strike them both down, Kagura created a diversion and let Kohaku escape, but was killed by Naraku soon after.

Kikyo

The priestess that purified Kohaku's jewel shard so Naraku couldn't touch it. He traveled with her for some time before she was also killed by Naraku.

Voice Actors

• Japanese - Akiko Yajima
• English - Alex Doduk(1st), Danny McKinnon(2nd), Rebecca Shoichet (Young Kohaku; Episode 163)
• Spanish - Eduardo Garza