Koga (InuYasha)
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| Kōga 鋼牙 |
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| Alternate Name(s) | Kouga |
| Age | 18 (notation) |
| Race | Yōrō-Zoku (wolf-yōkai tribe) |
| Weapons | Goraishi ("Five Thunder Fingers") |
| First Appearance (Anime) | The True Owner of the Great Sword |
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Kōga (鋼牙, こうが, "steel fang") is a character in the manga and anime series InuYasha.
Koga is a yōkai-wolf, and he is the leader of his tribe identified in the manga as The Eastern Wolf Pack. He first appeared as a villain in volume 14 of the manga.
He was pursuing a wolf demon who had stolen one of his three shards of the Shikon no Tama, a jewel of great power shattered by Kagome into many shards. (He has one shard in each of his legs.) He reclaimed the shard then slaughtered the thief. He then allowed his wolves to slaughter and feed on the villagers, which (as fate would have it) included Rin, the young girl who would later travel with Sesshomaru. When InuYasha found the ransacked village he attacked the remaining wolves who then called Koga. The two fought briefly. During their fight, Koga noted Kagome's ability to see the shards of the jewel. He ended the battle by running away and plotted Kagome's kidnapping. He managed to get her and Shippo to his pack's den and explained that he needed her to fight his clan's enemies, the harpies or paradise birds as they have been variously translated. Kagome seems to recognize some good properties in Koga or possibly the evil in the siamese twin that leads the harpies. She helps him much to InuYasha's confusion and hurt. Koga gets the information he needs from her then remands her into the safe keeping of his loyal packmates Ginta and Hakkaku. After he defeats his enemy with some unwanted help from InuYasha, he sees that his rival has rescued Kagome. In front of their entire party and his clan he declares that Kagome is "his woman," and vows that he has "fallen in love with her."
After this initial introduction, it appears that Koga undergoes an amazing change in personality and point of view. He ceases to allow his wolves to eat humans as food. He courts Kagome bringing her flowers and protecting her whenever possible and irritating InuYasha as much as possible in the process.
His entire pack except for Ginta and Hakkaku (and in the anime, Ayame) are lured to their death by zombies controlled by Naraku's detachment Kagura. After the slaughter, he vows to destroy her and Naraku at any cost. Since that is also the goal of both InuYasha's party and Sesshomaru's party it is inevitable that their paths will continue to cross in the future and that thanks to Kagome's influence he is now a "good guy."
Koga appears humanoid and has not to date taken any other forms in either the manga or anime. He was the possessor of two of the last four shards not held by Naraku which thus moved him from the status of secondary character in the manga to key player.
Midoriko, the miko (priestess) whose soul exists in the Shikon No Tama has awakened and decided that the only way to destroy the villain Naraku is to rejoin the shards and complete the jewel then destroy it and Naraku at once. To put her plan into play she has added her soul to the stolen souls of dead girls that empower the clay and ash body that houses the vengeance-seeking spirit of the miko Kikyo, who was protector of the Shikon and InuYasha's first love.
Midoriko has used her power to freeze Koga's legs at vital moments in battle, so that his shards can be taken by Naraku in order to complete the jewel. Koga has apparently recognized that he has become a liability to his followers and tricked them into believing he had decided to join InuYasha's party to get them to leave him and seek safety with the other wolf yōkai tribes. He did not however stay with the main party but struck off on his own. The Goraishi, which is more powerful than Midoriko was able to overcome her control over his shards and thus allowed Koga to free himself after Naraku almost devoured him. However, this divine protection could only be used once, and now there is nothing left to protect Koga from Naraku or Midoriko.
Koga recently battled Naraku in his new form after assimilating Mōryōmaru in the manga (Chapters 459-465). The jewels inside Koga are purified during the battle. Koga then attempts to have Naraku touch the shards in order to purify the shard inside Naraku. When Naraku realizes this, he takes the shard he's carrying from his body and places it on the weak Kikyo. Kagome is able to purify the shard on Kikyo and shoot it at Naraku. By the time this is done however, Koga has already been deprived of the shards in his legs.
Very recently in the manga (Chapter 466) Koga makes a surprising and unexpected move by leaving the group. He also lets Kagome stay with InuYasha to help him (InuYasha) to cope with his loss of Kikyo. He claims that he will now be a burden to the group without his shards. This ends a sub plot in the series by him leaving. It is however possible that he may make a cameo appearance later in the series.
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[edit] Lesser Abilities
- Note: most of these abilities have been diminished or in some cases lost with the loss of his shards
Speed - With the jewel shards in his legs Koga can move much faster than other wolf demons, a fact often symbolized in the anime and manga as a whirlwind of dust and debris kicked up as he runs. However, his shards have recently been taken by Naraku, so he can no longer run as fast as he used too.
Agility - Koga is quick and agile using swift moves and high jumps to perform martial arts and brawling style physical attacks.
Swordskill - Koga carries what appears to be an ordinary Katana taken from a human kill that he used once in the manga when all other attacks failed. He states that the sword was only for decoration.
Claws - Koga can use his claws as weapons, though in the anime they are most often drawn as normal fingernails rather than the claws that are present in the manga.
Shard Kick - like a regular kick, except with the help of the Jewel shards' power in his legs, it is a stronger kick that can break a boulder into tiny pieces. (It is no longer valid in the manga.)
[edit] Goraishi ("Five Thunder Fingers")
This claw-like weapon is a relic of the youkai-wolf clans. It lies dormant beneath the flesh of Koga's hand springing forth when he wishes to use it. It was guarded by the spirits of the wolf tribes' ancestors, all of whom are old men wearing demon skulls and fur. They also seem to be able to communicate their thoughts to Koga via the Goraishi. Koga was able to pass the test of the guardians and win it.
It can be used as a slashing weapon and also has a powerful magic attack, which is on par with, if not stronger than InuYasha's Kaze no Kizu, or even Bakuryūha, as Koga did manage to knock down Kongōsōha spears from Mōryōmaru earlier on (before Mōryōmaru's acquirement of Shikon shards). It also seems to emit divine energy, which is different from the spiritual energy used by Miroku or the demonic energy used by InuYasha.
Koga was informed upon receiving the weapon that it would protect him only one time from Midoriko's will over the Jewel shards. The one-time protection was used after Kagome's arrow purified Naraku's aura which was preventing the protection from being activated. This protection was so strong that not only did it overcome Midoriko's power, which was trying to allow Naraku to consume Koga in her plot to complete the Shikon no Tama, but also defeated Naraku's aura as Koga was able to go through Naraku's shoki without being harmed. In the end, Naraku's body erupted, as the divine protection allowed Koga safe passage outside Naraku's flesh.
[edit] Relationships
- InuYasha- Although they are constantly bickering over Kagome, they help each other out. They already have a healthy friendship which neither of them is willing to admit. Koga has also shown some affection for InuYasha's friends such as the time when he told Miroku to keep his Kazaana closed when they fought Naraku. He even tried, in a rather uncouth way, to get InuYasha out of his post-Kikyo-death depression by making him angry.
- Kagome- His relationship with Kagome is often used for comical purposes over which InuYasha and him are constantly fighting over her.
- Hakkaku and Ginta- These two are Koga's faithful companions. They were willing to stay with him in his battle with Naraku, but Koga tricked them into thinking that he would remain with InuYasha so they wouldn't have to worry about him. They then departed to rejoin another wolf demon tribe under Koga's orders. They then meet up with him again as he leaves the hunt for Naraku, and they all depart together.
- Ayame (not in manga; anime and animanga only. "Ayame" Also sometimes spelled "Hiame" or "Iame") - A female yōkai, just like Koga, who lives with the northern part of the wolf demon tribe. She was promised by Koga that they would marry later on, but since he "fell in love" with Kagome, he has yet to keep his promise to her. Ayame also dislikes Kagome at first because their names sound similar, although only the last syllable is the same; later, though, it seems they're more friendly towards each other.
[edit] Voice Actor
- Seiyuu: Taiki Matsuno
- English Actor: Scott McNeil
- Hungarian Actor: Előd Álmos
- Latin American voice actor: Irwin Daayán
- Filipino Actor: Jay De Castro
[edit] Trivia
- Often compared to Ryoga Hibiki from Ranma 1/2 due to their strong similarity.
