Name:Inuyasha
Age:67 or older
Sex:Male
Species:1/2Dog Demon, 1/2Human
Loves:Kagome, Kikyo

First Appearance Episode 01 - Inuyasha was sealed onto a tree for 50 years with a magic arrow. The story begins in this first episode when Kagome removes the arrow and breaks the seal in hopes that he will rescue her from a demon. She discovers that he is not such a hero and their turbulent relationship begins.

MotivationHis early motivation to steal the Shikon no Tama was to use it to become a full demon. He was ridiculed as a child for being a hanyo or half-demon. His brother, Sesshomaru, (who is a full demon) also despises him for this reason. At one point he intended to use the jewel to become human, but that's another story.

Tragedy Naraku destroyed any chance for Inuyasha to be happy with Kikyo, and he caused Inuyasha to be feared by everyone. This was the first of the reasons Inuyasha chose to go after Naraku. As time goes by, Inuyasha witnesses more and more tragedies that take place as a result of Naraku's meddling. This infuriates him and further motivates him to get stronger so he can destroy Naraku once and for all.

Personality Inuyasha loves and hates with equal force. He is very proud and yet very caring. He is easily convinced to help people in need because deep down he's a good guy. But he won't admit it.

His Other Half Inuyasha had a secret, one that he shared with no one. All hanyou, once a month, will loose their youkai blood for a day. This is a time when they are most vulnerable, most afraid of being discovered. A hanyou would tell no one of the time when this happened, less others find out and have that information to use without them.
For Inuyasha, this time of the month was the 'first day of the month', as it was refered to back then, shingetsu. The Time of the New Moon. During the day, Inuyasha slowly starts to loose his youkai senses, his youkai strength and the scent of his blood fades slowly away. It's a slow process...until the sun sets. Once that happens, his form shifts into that of a human. His once-white hair goes black, his golden eyes turn brown, his claws disappear as well as his fangs. Between sundown and sunset on the next day, he is totally human.
During this time, Inuyasha is much weaker. He doesn't have his usual senses or his usual strength, though he seems to have a considerable amount of strength on his own. (After all, he does run around a lot) The biggest problem, perhaps, is that he can't use Tessaiga, his demon sword. Tessaiga needs a mix of demon and human blood to be used properly. When Inuyasha is human, he is missing the demon blood.
As a human, Inuyasha is failable and he admits that. He never sleeps on the night of the new moon, prefering to keep a look-out for enemies. He even admited to Miroku that he is scared on this one night. He may still try to fight but he knows his limitations.
Most important, even when he is human, Inuyasha never runs from his friends. He'll do anything he has to protect Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Shippo, even if it means putting himself in danger. Even human, Inuyasha never quite looses what makes him Inuyasha.

Name Translation
Inu - Dog, Yasha - Demon
Obviously the name is meant to be insulting. The people in his village didn't like him too much while he was growing up, so they probably gave him this name and it stuck - but his mother does call him this too. Kagome's brother Sota is always calling him "Dog Brother", which is still an insult but shows that he likes Inuyasha.