Byakuya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article deals with the character Byakuya from InuYasha. For the Bleach character, see Byakuya Kuchiki.
| Byakuya 白夜 |
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| Alternate Name(s) | Mugen no Byakuya
(Byakuya of Illusions) |
| Age | Less than 1 year, but appears to be 17-19 |
| Race | yōkai |
| Weapons | Giant sword, lotus flowers |
| First Appearance (Anime) | Does not appear in anime. |
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Byakuya (白夜, meaning "midnight sun", "white (arctic) night" or "short night") is a character from the popular manga series 'InuYasha'. He is Naraku's latest (ninth) offspring, meant to replace Kagura. He is loyal to Naraku unlike his last few detachments, and has an incredible power of creating illusions. As of chapter 480, he is Naraku's sole living incarnation.
[edit] Character Summary
InuYasha and company first meet Byakuya in chapter 397 of the manga. He introduces himself as "Mugen no Byakuya," directly hinting to his main powers. Unlike the recent offspring of Naraku (i.e., Akago, Hakudōshi, and Mōryōmaru), Byakuya seems to be passive and loyal to Naraku, opting not to fight InuYasha's group in their first encounter. He does almost get InuYasha and his group killed on two separate occasions, using illusions to assist InuYasha's enemy. However, his main purpose is to observe InuYasha and Mōryōmaru's growing powers and report these observations back to Naraku.
The recent manga releases have shown that Byakuya is never given details on his missions, much like Kagura, showing Naraku's natural distrust towards his subordinates. Byakuya also uses an enlarged origami to get around, much like Kagura did with her enlarged feather.
On a side note it is possible that Byakuya's true purpose was to act as a spy and messenger of Naraku. He hasn't shown any frightening offensive abilities and never has directly engaged in combat with any of his enemies. He carries a strange-looking sword on his back but has never used it in combat as he has a tendency to run away rather than fight. However, since Naraku is constantly growing in power as he absorbs more and more powerful demons, so his ability to produce stronger and stronger children increases as well, with each generation stronger than the last. Hence, since Byakuya is the latest of Naraku's incarnations to make an appearance it is a strong possibility that he is the strongest.
After the death of Kanna, he comments that he should be a little more protective of his own life when it comes to Naraku, since he's the last incarnation left.
[edit] Special Items, Powers, and Abilities
- Mystical Sword - This is the eye-catching sword he carries on his back. It is forged from Naraku's bones, much like Kagura's fan, Kanna's mirror, and Princess Abi's halberd (and, indirectly, Sesshomaru's Tōkijin). Its powers are still unknown, as Byakuya has never been seen using it as a weapon. However, in chapter 495, he plunged the scabbard into the ground where Sesshomaru and Shishinki had fought, causing some small demons to rise from the ground and asked them what had happened in this area.
- He can create powerful illusions (such as fog, or sending copies of himself to communicate his thoughts)
- He can fly on a paper crane
- He can detach organs from his body (on more than one occasion he has detached one of his eyes and sent it flying through the use of wings to spy on his enemies)
- He can use his paper soldiers to possess people (he once possessed a soldier and made him remove the salt that was the source of power for one of Miroku's barriers)
- He can create a barrier (possibly equal in power to Naraku, Akago, and Hakudōshi's barriers)
- Origami flower - This is the flower he always carries. He uses it to unleash fire attacks at his opponents.
- Gourd - He carries a gourd at his back that he once used to release a bunch of snakes in order to trap Kohaku.
- He also seems to have an affinity for petals. Once when Inuyasha attacked him he disappeared and petals remained where Inuyasha struck his sword. Also in certain images in the manga we see Byakuya surrounded by petals flowing in the wind.
[edit] Trivia
- In the Brazilian edition of InuYasha's manga there is a slight adaptation of the adjective Byakuya uses when first introducing himself to InuYasha: instead of Mugen no Byakuya, he claims to be The ephemeral Byakuya.
- Byakuya loosely resembles Gatenmaru.
