The Name
In Japanese, 'Kikyou' refers to the Chinese Bellflower (Platycodon grandiflorus), the roots of the plant are used to make cough medicine.
For those who have read 'Maison Ikkoku' (another series by Rumiko Takahashi), remember the chapter "Saying it with Flowers"? I found some interesting information about 'Kikyou':
In Japan, every calendar day has a flower assigned to it. Also, almost all of the flowers have certain 'meanings' that are associated with them.
Kikyou (Chinese Bellflower)
Language - gentle passion, sincerity, unchanging love, obedience, kind warmness
Dates - April 23, August 28, September 1
Perhaps Rumiko Takahashi was trying to 'say something in flowers' when she chose Kikyou's name?
Biography
Beware ~ Spoilers Ahead!
Life
Death
Resurrection
Unfinished Business
Rising From Defeat
Kikyou was a miko (shrine maiden) who lived with her younger sister, Kaede. She protected the villagers from youkai using a combination of her magic powers and archery. The demon exterminators came across the Shikon jewel, but it was corrupted so Kikyou was given the responsibility of purifying the Shikon jewel and protecting it from anything that seeks to use its power for evil purposes.
Later, Kikyou met Inuyasha when he came to steal the jewel. But no matter how many times Inuyasha came after the jewel, Kikyou did not kill him, instead she would immobilise him by pinning him down with arrows. As time went by, the two began to feel less threatened by one another, for Kikyou would not kill Inuyasha, and Inuyasha was unable to even put one scratch on Kikyou. This lead the two to have more trust in one another and their loneliness drew them together.
Inuyasha desired the jewel to become a full youkai because being a hanyou meant that he didn't belong anywhere, and would prefer to be a youkai because he thought of humans as weak. It was impossible for Kikyou to hand over the jewel to someone who would use it for evil purposes, so she suggested that Inuyasha use the jewel to become human, and speculated that if the jewel were used for that purpose, it would be purified and be no more. Kikyou then wouldn't have to constantly fight to protect the jewel, and could then lead the life of an ordinary woman, and Inuyasha would have a place to belong. Inuyasha agreed with Kikyou's plan, so they agreed to meet later and Kikyou would bring the jewel.
During that time, Kikyou was caring for an injured bandit named Onigumo in a cave. Kikyou knew that Onigumo was unable to move on his own and would probably die soon. Onigumo harboured feelings for Kikyou and longed to see her purity tainted with evil. As he lay in the cave, he was approached by youkai who offered him the chance to see him fantasy come true in exchange for his soul. Using Onigumo's soul, a horde of youkai merged together to form Naraku.
Just like many other youkai, Naraku wanted the Shikon jewel. He created a plan to tear Kikyou and Inuyasha apart, and steal the jewel. On the day Inuyasha and Kikyou were to meet, Naraku disguised himself as Inuyasha and attacked Kikyou, and acting as Inuyasha, he told her that he never had any intention of using the jewel to become human, and he would then go to the village to taint the jewel with the blood of the villagers. Naraku also disguised himself as Kikyou and attacked Inuyasha, acting as Kikyou saying that she would never give the jewel to him and that this was all a plan to make him drop his guard.
Kikyou and Inuyasha were unaware that it was Naraku in disguise, so each believed that they were betrayed by the other. Kikyou then headed to the village to stop Inuyasha from attacking the village, and Inuyasha headed to the village to steal the jewel for himself. Being injured, Kikyou arrived at the village after Inuyasha and saw him taking the jewel. She then fired a sealing arrow at Inuyasha and pinned him to the sacred tree, Goshinboku.
Even then, Kikyou could not bring herself to kill Inuyasha; he would be sealed to the tree in an eternal sleep until the sealing arrow is removed. Naraku had hoped that Kikyou would despise Inuyasha to the point where she would ensure her survival by using the Shikon jewel to heal her wounds. That would have resulted in the jewel becoming tainted, and would go against Kikyou's responsibility. Kikyou's injuries were fatal, so before her death, she instructed Kaede to burn the jewel with her remains to prevent it from being used for evil.
Fifty years have passed, upon the return of the Shikon jewel, youkai are once again after its power. A witch named Urasue seeks the shards of the jewel, and to do that, she needed the help of someone who could sense the shards' presence. Therefore she headed to the village to take Kikyou's ashes and grave soil to bring her back to life. Urasue created a new body using the ashes and grave soil, but the soul was missing for it had apparently been reincarnated in the form of Kagome. She then kidnapped Kagome and attempted to force her soul into Kikyou's body.
Kagome fought hard to retain her soul, but then Inuyasha arrives to save Kagome and then sees Kikyou. Kagome then hears Kikyou's voice say "Don't say my name", but Inuyasha was surprised to see Kikyou and nevertheless uttered her name. This caused turmoil in Kagome's heart and caused her to lose the battle for her soul, which was then drawn into Kikyou, bringing her back to life.
Urasue assumed that she would be able to control Kikyou after resurrecting her, but Kikyou was not happy about being brought back from the dead, so she destroyed Urasue. Kikyou then turned her attention to Inuyasha and asked him why he betrayed her, which caused Inuyasha confusion because he believed that she betrayed him. Kikyou recounts her side of the story while Inuyasha thinks to himself that there must be some mistake. She the proceeds to attack Inuyasha but Inuyasha refuses to hurt her. Suddenly Kagome's soul begins to escape from Kikyou, returning to Kagome.
Kikyou attempts to distance herself from Kagome, she reaches a cliff and is about to fall, but Inuyasha manages to grab her arm. Inuyasha asks her to return inside Kagome, but Kikyou interpreted it as wanting her to die. She attempts to take Inuyasha down with her but ends up falling alone. Inuyasha assumes that she died in the fall, however Kikyou somehow managed to survive.
Despite a 50 year gap between he death and her resurrection, to Kikyou, the events of the past was like it happened yesterday. Before her death, Kikyou thought Inuyasha had betrayed her and wanted the power of the Shikon jewel, so Kikyou sealed Inuyasha to the Goshinboku as part of her duty to protect the villagers and the jewel. Now that she had been resurrected, she still thought Inuyasha was a malicious being intent on harm; therefore as part of her duty, she had to do something about him.
Sealing Inuyasha to a tree seemed to be a failure, so Kikyou made a plan to drag him to hell. Kikyou's plan was unsuccessful because Kagome intervened and raised doubts about who the real enemy was. Again, Kikyou's soul was threatening to leave her so she retreated and went to see Kaede to learn the truth about what happened.
Ever since learning the truth from her younger sister Kaede, Kikyou returned to her responsibility of keeping the Shikon jewel permanently out of the wrong hands. Kikyou's ultimate plan is to allow Naraku to gather the entire Shikon jewel, and at that moment, she will purify the jewel along with Naraku and erase them both. While many might disapprove of the means she uses to carry out her plan, in the end, Kikyou is doing it for the greater good.
Kikyou's one advantage over Naraku was that he still carried Onigumo's heart which prevented him from killing Kikyou. However, Naraku created a plan to rid himself of this handicap so that he could eliminate the threat of Kikyou. When Naraku succeeded in detaching himself from his heart, Kikyou approached him unaware that her advantage was gone. Naraku then took the opportunity to pierce Kikyou and cause her to fall into a river of miasma.
Kikyou was severely injured and poisoned by the miasma, only Kagome could save her. The shinigami told Kagome that it was her choice whether or not to save Kikyou. Kagome naturally chose to save her and used Kikyou's grave soil to purify and seal up the wound inflicted by Naraku. Kikyou asked Kagome why she saved her, and she responded saying that if she were the only one who could do it, then of course she would. Kikyou considers her answer and decides that it was unnecessary to thank Kagome. Kikyou then leaves to build up her strength.
Although Kagome initially managed to seal up the wound, it was still causing problems. Kikyou used part of Midoriko's soul to completely seal the wound and erase the miasma; however it is unknown how long she will remain healed. Kohaku learns of Kikyou's plan and agrees to help despite knowing that her plan would mean taking the Shikon shard that sustains his life. Kikyou regrets that she is unable to do anything to help Kohaku, but she remains intent on her mission to get rid of Naraku.
The manga is still ongoing, and at this stage, it looks like Kikyou is carefully watching the efforts of Inuyasha and the others to see if they can defeat Naraku. But if things get worse, she will be forced to carry out her plans.
Now that Kagome had sorted out her issues and obtained the bow from Mount Asuza, she and Inuyasha chase after Naraku who has captured Kikyou, Kouga and the rest of the gang. As Naraku hold Kikyou, Kouga attacks Naraku, and Kikyou sees that Kouga's shards have been purified by Midoriko's will.
Kikyou thought it would be possible to purify Naraku using Kouga's purified shards instead of Kohaku's. However, when Naraku touches the purified shards, he quickly realises the danger and transfered the tainted jewel into Kikyou's body.
Inuyasha and Kagome then arrive on the scene, and using the bow she recently aquired, Kagome fires a purifying arrow at Kikyou where the tainted jewel is. The arrow hits the jewel and Kikyou purifies it. The arrow embedded in the jewel is then redirected at Naraku in an attempt to purify him. As a countermeasure, Naraku sends shouki at the jewel and arrow in order to try to nullify jewel.
In the process, Naraku's grip on Kouga loosened, but Naraku still managed to take Kouga's shards as Inuyasha pulled him away. The spiritual powers of Kikyou and Kagome are now battling Naraku's shouki inside the jewel.
Download the latest Inuyasha manga chapter at Stop Tazmo.