Kagura (InuYasha)
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Kagura.gif
Kagura (神楽) is a character in the anime and manga series InuYasha.
She is a yōkai that is a detachment of Naraku. Her powers include controlling the movement of the wind up to a certain distance from her, creating wind blades that can pierce skin and other things (fūjin no mai, 風刃の舞, "Dance of the Wind Blades"), spawning tornadoes (ryūja no mai, 竜蛇の舞, "Dance of the Dragon Snakes"), and controlling corpses (shikabane no mai, 屍の舞, "Dance of the Dead"). She has black hair tied up in a pony tail by feathers that she can grow big to fly on. She can also suppress the formation of the Kaze no Kizu (Wind Scar). Unlike probably any other yōkai, she can control the various fluid movements of her aura (yōki). Her aura also has a much wider radius than that of probably any other yōkai.
Her eyes are scarlet, but have pupils. Her dress is traditionally Japanese and resembles that of the sacred Shinto dances, otherwise known as Kagura, her namesake. Because she is a detachment of Naraku, and he holds her heart in his hands, she is bound to his service, and her betrayal would mean certain death.
Despite such impediments, she resents Naraku and covertly works toward his death, mostly by manipulating the two camps opposed to Naraku, those of InuYasha (She finds out about his time period weakness, but chose to keep it a secret so Inuyasha can defeat Naraku) and Sesshomaru (Sesshōmaru) (for whom she has been speculated to have had deeper feelings). She works as a sort of double agent between the former and the latter. Slight arrogance and foolhardiness define her personality, and she likes to make wisecracks.
She has an older sister, who appears younger, named Kanna who is loyal to Naraku. She also has other younger siblings: Juromaru (Jūrōmaru) and Kageromaru (Kagerōmaru), Goshinki, Muso (Musō), and Hakudoshi (Hakudōshi).
In the manga, Naraku charges her with her final job, which is to guard Goryomaru (Goryōmaru) at a prison. Hakudoshi convinces her to release him secretly, because he is secretly plotting with Akago to destroy Naraku.
After Hakudoshi's death, she fears that Naraku would kill her too. Suspiciously, Naraku offers to give her freedom instead, but it has a fatal catch. Naraku returns Kagura's heart, granting her freedom, but pierces her chest and poisons her with his shōki (miasma). Though she is found by Sesshomaru, whom she has been hinted to have romantic interests, he is unable to use Tenseiga to save her life (likely because she had no soul to begin with) and she succumbs to the poison.
At the moment of her death, Kagura's body disintegrates and becomes a gust of wind. Her last thoughts are that she was happy she could see Sesshomaru before she died and that she was "free as the wind."