Function: Kanzen YouKai [Perfect Demon]
Origin: Unknown
Relatives: InuYasha
Love Interests: None
Retainer/Follower: Jaken, Rin & Ah-Un
Sesshoumaru is Inuyasha's older half-brother. Their father, also a demon lord, had Inuyasha with a human female, but we don't know about Sesshoumaru's mother (yet). Sesshoumaru hates Inuyasha for having human blood (at least, that's the reason he gives everyone), and feels insulted that their father gave Tessaiga to Inuyasha while giving Tenseiga to Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru can't even steal Tessaiga from InuYasha--only a HanYou [Half-Demon] can hold and wield Tessaiga (showing that the father did indeed intend the sword to be for Inuyasha only). He now also has it in for Naraku, who tried to use one of his followers to force his hand (so for a while, he and the Yasha gang have the same goal).
Personality:
Sesshoumaru is cold-hearted, but we have seen signs of compassion. In episode 35, he saves the life of a human child, Rin, and then is seen taking care of her, even guarding her, in later episodes. He still has a lot of ambition, of course, and he still hates Inuyasha's guts, but perhaps someday he'll come to tolerate his little half-brother.
Skills:
In his human form, Sesshoumaru can use many poison attacks (Dokkasou [Toxic Flower Claw] and Dokumukou [Paralyzing Poison]). He can move very fast, and he has excellent senses. In his demonic form, he's a very large dog with sharp, strong, poisonous teeth, who can breath out very toxic, acidic air (Jakimukou [Paralyzing Miasma]). He primarily uses a sword named Toukijin, useful for when Tenseiga isn't helpful in battle, and Toukijin's attacks include Kenatsu [Sword Blast]. A "special attack" listed in the official character guide is Kegawa no Riyou [Pelt User], which refers to the strange ways in which he uses the pelt over his shoulder throughout the series. His poison whip is not mentioned in the character guide, but it just might be an extension of Dokkasou.
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Jaken
Name: Jaken
Occupation: Retainer to Sesshoumaru
Age: Unknown
Gender: Male
Race: Some Reptilian Demon
Function: Servant
Origin: Unknown
Relatives: None
Love Interests: None
Hate: Inuyasha & Naraku
Retainer/Follower: None
Jaken is Sesshoumaru's retainer. Why Sesshoumaru keeps around such a groveling, annoying guy, no one can tell, but Jaken is good comic relief, and later in the series, you can tell that he and Rin are becoming closer friends. He constantly yearns for Sesshoumaru's approval, and appears often in the series. We even see a cute filler episode that shows how Jaken and Sesshoumaru meet, affirming that Jaken, too, is a fangirl.
Personality:
Jaken has a firm faith in the abilities of his master, Sesshoumaru. He knows that to see Sesshoumaru smiling is a scary thing, that when Sesshoumaru saves a human (Rin) it is a shocking thing to behold, and that his master is a powerful demon, able to destroy any enemy (or so he hopes). Jaken's sucking up can make him look like a brown-noser, but he's otherwise a good, well-developed character.
Skills:
Jaken does have a few magical abilities, granted to him by the Nintoujou [Staff of Heads]. The heads shoot energy out of their mouths if Jaken points the right head in the right direction and taps the staff on the ground. He also used this staff in episode 79 to create water. He rarely uses this staff, though, so I'm not sure what all of its powers are.
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Rin
Name: Rin
Occupation: None
Age: ~8 (estimated)
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Ability: Being Cute
Origin: Unknown
Relatives: None
Love Interests: None
Hate: None
Pet: Ah-Un
Rin is a human female child, who lost her parents and siblings to group of murderous raiders, and who went mute after their deaths. She stole food to survive, and got herself beat up by the local villagers a lot since she was a burden to them. She found Sesshoumaru after he was attacked full frontal by Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu [Wound of the Wind], and decides to try to take care of him, but he does not accept her caretaking. However, after she's beaten up for stealing food on his behalf, he cool-headedly inquires about the bruises on her face. Even Rin knows then that he's not completely cold, and gives him a big smile. However, he leaves her to her own devices once he is healed up, and this is when Kouga's tribe first enters the series. Though you think of Kouga as a nice guy, don't forget that he let his wolves murder everyone in Rin's village, including Rin! Thankfully, though, Sesshoumaru revived her using Tenseiga, and everything was happy again.
Personality:
Rin is absolutely adhered to Sesshoumaru. She does exactly what he says, no matter what. She even makes fun of Jaken when he annoys Sesshoumaru in order to help out her savior. She's otherwise a happy child, and pretty likeable.
Skills:
She's a human child...she can't really do anything. She can at least beat up on Jaken. That's a plus any day.
