Weapon: The weapon of choice for this member of the Shichinin-tai happens to be a pair of steel claws, worn like gloves with steel blades sticking off from on top of the knuckles. They seem to be based of two forms of weapons -- the Tekagi and the Nekote. The Tekagi (gloves with small claws inside the palm and on the back of the hand) was used in ninjutsu not only for gripping things while climbing, but for slicing and clawing into the enemy's face and vital areas. The Nekote (or cats claws) was used by mostly female ninjas and consisted of small sharp claws worn on the fingertips themselves. Suikotsu's claws merge the claw-concept with the gloves making them a formidable weapon that rivals Inuyasha's own claws in strength.

Special Features: Fierce, wants blood on his claws

Description: Suikotsu took a long time to be re-awakened. When he was brought back to life, he didn't remember his evil history with the Shichinintai tribe and became a kind of male nurse for orphan children. However, the Shichinintai tribe found him and awoke his evil spirit. All hope of him becoming an innocent man was gone.

Suikotsu has two personalities: a kind doctor and a cold-blooded murderer. But unlike most people with two seperate personalities, Suikotsu also has two seperate bodies to go with those two personalities. The "good doctor" personality has medium-length brown hair, kind eyes, and wears a brown chanchanko over his shoulders. His other personality has short, black, spiked hair with streaks of white, cruel eyes, thick armor, and wields clawed gloves. Suikotsu turns into this other personality whenever he sees blood and or violence, which can be a problem, since he is supposed to be a doctor. It is this other evil side that belongs with the Shichinin-tai, his kind doctor side would rather work as a village doctor and care for orphaned children.

His Story: At first, Suikotsu was just a doctor who worked in villages during wars. Then, one day, his village was attacked, and one of the attackers killed an injured young girl Suikotsu had been trying to save. Suikotsu slit the man's throat with a scalpel, and then, having killed someone (he was a person who saved lives, not a person who took them), something snapped. Inside his head, a voice told him that he really didn't want to save people, but to kill them. This voice was Suikotsu's other personality, which gradually began to take control of Suikotsu's body. Bankotsu and Jakotsu, the first two members of the Shichinin-tai, noticed this cold-blooded killer and asked him to join them, and he agreed. Suikotsu, Bankotsu, Jakotsu, and four new members of the Shichinin-tai, were reputed to be stronger than a thousand men. The daimyou (feudal lords) feared their strength, so they united and led the Shichinin-tai into a trap, where they were outnumbered and beheaded. Their bones were laid to rest in the Shichinin Grave.

Ten years later, Suikotsu was ressurected by Naraku, along with the rest of the Shichinin-tai, but he had regained his kind doctor personality. He stayed in a village near the base of Mt. Hakurei, treating the people as their village doctor and taking in children orphaned due to famine and disease. Kikyou, who was also staying in the village, noticed the shard Naraku had used to revive Suikotsu, but she also noticed that it was pure and not tainted. Later, Inuyasha passed by the village and picked a fight with Suikotsu, claiming that Suikotsu was part of the Shichinin-tai. Suikotsu said that he didn't know what the Shichinin-tai said and didn't remember being part of it. Renkotsu, Jakotsu, and Ginkotsu, three of the members of the Shichinin-tai, also came to the village and claimed that Suikotsu was part of them, but Suikotsu still said that he didn't know who they were. To provoke him into realizing who he was, Jakotsu tried to kill two of Suikotsu's orphaned children, but Suikotsu stood in front of them to protect them. Jakotsu ended up slicing Suikotsu's shoulder, and with this act of violence, his other personality, the one that knew what the Shichinin-tai were and belonged with them, came out. He left the village with Jakotsu, Renkotsu, and Ginkotsu.

Bankotsu, the leader of the Shichinin-tai, sent Suikotsu and Jakotsu to find Sesshoumaru. Sometime later they found him, and as Jakotsu started to fight with Sesshoumaru, Suikotsu went to a bridge, where Jaken and Rin were standing, and tried to kill them. Jaken defended himself and Rin until the bridge broke, and Suikotsu and Rin tumbled off. Rin woke up to find herself in Suikotsu's arms and she panicked, but Suikotsu had changed back into his good doctor personality. Rin didn't recongnize him, for both his personalities have different bodies, so she let him take her back to his village. But when they got there, the villagers told him to leave, because they thought that he had something to do with the Shichinin-tai attacking their village. Suikotsu killed some of the villagers and kidnapped Rin.

He took Rin back and tried to kill her again while Jakotsu was still fighting with Sesshoumaru. Somewhere in the middle of the fight, Sesshoumaru threw Toukajin over his shoulder, and it stabbed Suikotsu in the shoulder. He was already dead, so it didn't affect him; he just tried to kill Rin a third time. This time, though, he was interrupted by Kikyou, who shot an arrow into his neck and purified his shard, which had become tainted by his evil personality. He told Kikyou to take the shard out before his other personality takes over again and kills more people, but before Kikyou could do it, Jakotsu struck Suikotsu and retrieves the shard using Jakotsutou. The removal of the shard caused Suikotsu to return to bones, thus ending his second chance at life.

Relationships:
The Shichinin-tai: While his "doctor" side looks at these six other men as but a bad memory, his other side calls these men his companions and friends. From what little time he is with the others, we pick up that he respects Bankotsu as their leader and is on fairly friendly terms with him. Also, based on the team up with Jakotsu, we notice that he seems to be fourth in command (below Bankotsu, Renkotsu, and Jakotsu). From what we know of his past, Bankotsu and Jakotsu were the only two members of the group when he joined, so it's presumed that he would be closer to those two than the others. Kikyou: Of all the people we see Suikotsu interact with, one of the closest bonds he forms is with none other than the tragic miko, Kikyou. After she meets him, she questions the purity of his shard and wonders about his shakiness over the sight of blood. It seems that she somewhat trusted him (which for her, is a big deal considering the lack of trust is what caused the downfall of her and Inuyasha in the past) and she cared for him more than just an average friend would. This is especially apparent when Suikotsu requests that she remove his shard so he can't kill again. Unlike in the past when Kikyou took it upon herself to help rid the world of anything evil, she hesitates in taking Suikotsu's shard because she wants to desperately find a way to save him. She comforts him in saying that all humans have good and evil in their hearts, and in that, he's no different. Ultimately though, their relationship met its tragic end when Jakotsu is forced to take Suikotsu's shard before Kikyou can take it. Kikyou seems somewhat upset at this, but Suikotsu assures her it's for the best. As he turns to bones again, Kikyou wishes him to "rest in peace."

Chiyo and Yuuta: During his time as a doctor in the small village, Suikotsu took it upon himself to take care of the orphaned children there. Two of which, are around him the most and hold a dear affection for the doctor. Chiyo is the small little girl, who's often seen carrying a small baby on her back. She seems to worry about him and explains to Kikyou about Suikotsu's issue with blood. Yuuta is the small boy, who almost became a victim when Suikotsu first reverted to his other side. Like Chiyo, he cares a lot about the doctor, and even kicked Inuyasha for trying to attack Suikotsu. When he returns to the village later, he's unable to bring himself to kill them, even when in his killer-side.

The Inuyasha-tachi: Following the orders from Naraku via Bankotsu, this group is some of Suikotsu's enemies in the series. He faces off against Inuyasha in claw-to-claw combat after his evil side is first revealed. After that, he faces off against them yet again when the battle at the daimyou's fort occurs.

Sesshoumaru and Rin: Sesshoumaru is yet another Suikotsu is ordered to fight against, but he's mainly there to kidnap and finish off Rin. While Jakotsu battles with Sesshoumaru, Suikotsu tries to kill Rin, but the bridge breaks, sending them both into the river below. When Rin wakes up, she panics when discovering Suikotsu is carrying her, but yet, Suikotsu's hair is down and he seems like the calm doctor again. He takes her to the village and introduces her to the other children there. During their introductions, the village elders come up and tell Suikotsu to leave, blaming him for the attack on the town. Suikotsu, seemingly unfazed, kills them all off, revealing that he wasn't completely in his other side. He takes Rin, and tries to bring himself to kill her, but is stopped by the arrow Kikyou shoots into his throat.


First Appearances
Anime: Episode 107, "Inuyasha's Tears Shown for the First Time"
Manga: Volume 25, Chapter 245, "The Shichinin Grave"
Voice Actors
Japanese: Hirata Hiroaki
English: None