Shichinintai
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The Shichinintai (七人隊), dubbed in English as the band of seven, are 7 assassins in the anime and manga series InuYasha. Naraku brought them back to life as bōrei (亡霊, zombie) with Shikon Shards, in an effort to delay his powerful enemies seeking his destruction, while becoming a full demon.
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Kyokotsu 凶骨
Kyokotsu is the first of the seven to face a major character in the series. He terrorized the wolf tribes, who were defenseless before his size and utter undeath reeking from his very own body. Koga, upon hearing that the northern clan was under siege, hurried back just in time to save some survivors. He engages in a battle with Kyotsu before taking the Shikon Shard out of his forehead, thus ending his unlife. Kyokotsu is the weakest of the seven, despite his massive size and fearsome looks. Before Koga can get a firm grip on the jewel shard, it falls out and is taken up by a Saimyosho and given to Jakotsu.
Jakotsu 蛇骨
Jakotsu.LG.jpg
Wielder of a sneaky retractable sword, Jakotsu is one of the more skilled fighters of the Shichinintai. He seems to be the first of the army of seven to have come into contact with Bankotsu and was with him before the Shichinintai were born. Contrary to him being a male, his voice and dressing is very much like that of a female. Hearing Kohaku telling him about InuYasha, he desperately wants to meet and fight with InuYasha, who he deems as very handsome and cute. Upon meeting InuYasha and even Miroku, he is delighted in having opponents of such fine appearance. Jakotsu always looks for the opportunity to fight with InuYasha, he gets a final chance inside Mount Hakurei when InuYasha is reverted to his human form by the holy barrier. After a lengthy fight Jakotsu loses to InuYasha, who spares his life. Jakotsu happily accepted his fate that he died fighting the battle he wanted and his Shikon Shard is taken by the scheming Renkotsu.
Mukotsu 霧骨
Specializes in the uses of deadly poison, Mukotsu trapped Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara with his poison gas while InuYasha was distracted by Jakotsu. Sesshomaru, who was on his way to Mount Hakurei as well in his pursuit of Naraku, "passes by" Mukotsu's hut and saves InuYasha's companions from the poison gas. Mukotsu challenges Sesshomaru and unleashes all the poisons he carries, though he cannot harm him at all. While buying time "apologizing", he mixed his supposedly most lethal poison yet, which he claims "should kill even the strongest yōkai". He turns around and douses Sesshomaru with his newest creation. After the cloud of gas dissipates, Mukotsu is horrified to see Sesshomaru in perfect condition, and meets his end when Sesshomaru counter-attackes with a single strike. His Shikon Shard is retrieved by a Saimyōsho and later given to Bankotsu.
Ginkotsu 銀骨
A mechanical cyborg, Ginkotsu is a tough opponent even for the Wind Scar to defeat. His head survives the first encounter with InuYasha and is reconstructed into a siege tank with the help of Renkotsu. Koga, later destroyed him while taking heavy wounds himself going against both Ginkotsu and Renkotsu. Renkotsu takes Ginkotsu's Shikon Shard, hoping to defeat Bankotsu and obtain all of his shards as well.
Renkotsu 煉骨
Agile fire and explosive user, Renkotsu has a grudge against their leader for him being too strong and possessing all the Shikon Shards. He is first of the Shichinintai to find out some truth about Naraku and reasons that Naraku is not to be trusted. However, even with three Shards in his possession, he foolishly considers himself strong enough to challenge Bankotsu, only to lose quicky under the strength and the skills of his leader.
Suikotsu 睡骨
A kind doctor respected by villagers, Suikotsu also has a dark second personality, being one of the Shichinintai. His evil counterpart will dominate his mind whenever there is a strong presence of blood. Kikyo meets him after returning from a holy-barriered Mount Hakurei, and senses absolutely no evil within him. Songs of children echo in the background: "Pure is Evil, Evil is Pure...", a parody to the famous opening section of Shakespear's Macbeth: "fair is foul, foul is fair...". In time, Kikyo and the others would face the evil man with an ominous face painting, the dual-claw wielding Suikotsu of the Shichinintai.
Suikotsu's evil personality is subdued when he is struck by a purifying arrow in the neck, where his Shikon Shard was placed. As he lay dying, he reveals his past to Kikyo, while everyone else present on the scene listens intently. He requests that Kikyo remove his Shikon Shard to end his life, as he is able to recall all the terrible deeds he has committed while his evil half was in control, and truly regrets what he has done. Kikyo wishes him to find peace after death, but she is hesitant to remove the Shard. His Shard is retrived by Jakotsu, who flings his retractable sword from a distance and cuts out the Shard, then retreats with Renkotsu and Ginkotsu.
Bankotsu 蛮骨
As the leader of the Shichinintai, Bankotsu is referred to as "big brother" (大兄貴, ō-aniki) by the other 6 assassins. He retrieves his giant blade Banryū (蛮竜) from a castle whose previous lord participated in a plot to put an end to the Shichinintai because they were too strong and stirred great fear among the rogue military leaders. The blade which requires 3 men to carry is wielded by Bankotsu single-handedly, and InuYasha is no match for him in one on one melee combat without his Tessaiga.
Bankotsu also has a close relationship with his comrade, Jakotsu. Prior to Jakotsu's death, they share a sweet moment in which Bankotsu is brought to tears due to Jakotsu's trust and loyalty to him. The young leader then hugs his comrade saying, "You're the only one I can really rely on." This relationship is also part of the cause in his anger towards Renkotsu when he discovers it was due to Renkotsu's scheming that Jakotsu was killed.
By defeating Renkotsu who challenged him, Bankotsu obtains all of the 7 Shikon Shards given to the Shichinintai by Naraku, in addition to the 2 shards he took from Kagome and imbedded in his weapon. A total of 9 shards was in his possession and his strength increased immensely. Altogether, Bankotsu slew 1,000 yōkai including 9 inside Mount Hakurei, and killed 1,000 military soldiers with his blade Banryū. Banryū, in turn, transforms and is able to release powerful demonic energy. However, this proves to be his downfall as InuYasha takes the opportunity and unleashes the Bakuryuha, crushing Bankotsu and shattering Banryū. (This attack and more power-obsessed Bankotsu is the anime-version. These aspects did not appear in the manga and he was defeated just by InuYasha's pure luck)
When Naraku emerges from his transformation into a full-fledged demon, he turns the entire Mount Hakurei to be a part of him, takes up Bankotsu's body and weapon, and removes all 9 shards, leaving only one shard unaccounted for to complete the whole jewel.