Sango
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Sango (珊瑚, "coral") is a character in the anime and manga series InuYasha.
Sango is a demon exterminator (退治屋, yōkai taijiya). She is a member of a group of taijiyas trained to kill demons. Sango, like all other children's of the village, had been training to master the art of a taijiya from a very young age. Her preferred weapon is a gigantic boomerang made of the bones of demons, and it is called the Hiraikotsu (飛来骨, literally, the bone that flies back).
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Tragedy struck
Once, a lord of a castle called the demon exterminators on a mission to eliminate a spider demon. Sango's father, the lord of the taijiya village, selects in total of 5 best exterminators to go on the mission, including himself, Sango, Sango's younger brother Kohaku, and two other exterminators. When the demon appears, they make quick work of it. Sango, however, instinctively senses that there was something more to this demon, for it is defeated too easily.
Just as she suspects, the unthinkable happens. Kohaku, who is about to chop off the legs of the spider demon, for some reason turns on his father and their exterminator comrades. In one swift motion he dispatches the unsuspecting men. To Sango's horror, Kohaku prepares to attack her. She fends off his ninja-like kusari-gama weapon, which is a very flexible metal-chain with a sharp sickle on one end, just as he flings the weapon towards her, and notices that a hair is attached to Kohaku's neck, thereby controlling his actions. She traces the hair and finds out that the lord of the castle is the one behind the foul play.
Furious, she charges at the lord, completely forgetting about the controlled Kohaku. Kohaku, under total manipulation, throws the kusari-gama blade into Sango's back, effectively stopping Sango in her tracks. Just about this time, the lord releases his control over Kohaku, who comes around, realizing what he has done, rushes to Sango's aid. However, the lord then orders the human guards of his castle to shoot the 'crazed siblings'. Kohaku is struck by multiple arrows and fell, while Sango, with her last strength, protects Kohaku from more arrows by shielding him from them, finally collapses as well.
The young lord Kagewaki of the castle then appears, killing his 'father', revealing that he was the actual spider demon in disguise. He comments that this is indeed a tragedy and that the exterminators are to be properly buried in his castle.
Truth finding
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Sango, who miraculously survived, digs her way out of the grave, only to be found by the young lord Kagewaki who briefly tends her wounds. Naraku comes to the young lord and tells him about how Sango's village was raided by a demon named InuYasha while they were here fighting the false demon. Sango overhears this "news" and is heart-broken. She demands her weapon and swears to kill InuYasha at all costs. Naraku appears to be kind and "lends" her a piece of the Shikon Jewel to suppress the pain from her wounds.
Sango meets InuYasha and the group not long after she left the castle. Immediately she engages in a battle that InuYasha does not want to fight in. Naraku was watching closely with a remote-controlled puppet and sends the Saimyōsho wasps to deter Miroku from using his Wind Tunnel. Sango is soon subdued due to her severe wounds and she is puzzled as to why InuYasha, Kagome and Miroku did not seem very hostile, contrasting to what Naraku had described.
Naraku's wasps escape with the Shard of the Jewel he lent Sango and she loses consciousness due to blood loss. When she wakes up, they make it back to her village, where Sango finds out that they had already paid proper respects to all the villagers, who died defending the village without their strongest warriors from the onslaught of demons.
The group learns from Sango that the Shikon Jewel has close ties with her village, and Sango in turn realized the true nature of Naraku and joins the group.
She is a valiant warrior in battle as she is the best demon exterminator from the village, and with her Hiraikotsu she is not an opponent to be taken lightly. She hopes to defeat Naraku and be reunited with Kohaku, who was resurrected by Naraku with a Shikon Shard to do his biddings.
She develops deep feelings towards Miroku and accepts his proposal that they should get married if they ever defeat Naraku, even though his lecherous behavior is not likely to change.
Names
- Sango means "coral".
- Kirara (雲母, literally 'cloud mother') means either "mica" or "sparkles". The English dubbed version of the anime reads her name as "Kilala".
Voice Actor
Japanese Seiyū: Houko Kuwashima
English Voice Actor: Kelly Sheridan
Special Attacks
- Hiraikotsu (飛来骨) - The name of Sango's giant boomerang, and also the name of the attack using it. It was made from the bone of a yōkai, and this makes it nearly unbreakable and powerful. 'Hi-' means 'flying', 'rai-' means 'come' and '-kotsu' means 'a bone'.
- Yōkai Paralyzing Poisons (毒分, dokufun) - Sango's knowledge of various poisons (particularly ones that affect only yōkai) is extensive, and she employs a few different kinds throughout the series. She wears a custom-fit gas mask to protect herself from some of the more potent ones.
- Dagger gauntlet - Hidden in the sleeve of her kimono is a retractable dagger, but she rarely uses it.
- Katana - A weapon that she sometimes uses in close combat or if she loses Hiraikotsu, but she prefers her main weapon.
Friends
- InuYasha - He feels sorry for her first, but comes to greatly respect her skill as a fighter.
- Kagome - She and Sango quickly become friends, particularly because they are the only females in the group.
- Shippo (Shippō) - One of her good friends and travelling companions, but Shippo is generally much closer to Kagome and Kirara.
- Miroku - A lecherous young monk. He tries to move in on Sango frequently, but gets shot down each time, due to his groping and his attention to every other young woman the group meets. They actually make good partners. In a later episode, he proposes to Sango, which she accepts. However, she then has to shoot him down just like any other day by asking if he would stop asking other girls to "bear his child".
- Kirara (Spelled "Kilala" in the English anime) - Sango's "pet", who looks like a small cat and can transform to a huge flying fire cat. Kirara is fiercely loyal to Sango and it is strongly hinted at in the anime that Kirara was also once the companion of Midoriko, creator of the Jewel of Four Souls, which means Kirara is very old.