Kagura (InuYasha)

Kagura (神楽) is a fictional character from the InuYasha comic book (manga), anime, and movie series.

She is a yōkai that is a detachment of Naraku. Her powers include controlling the movement of the wind up to a certain distance from her, creating wind blades that can pierce skin and other things (fuujin no mai, 風刃の舞, "Dance of the Wind Blades"), spawning tornadoes (ryūja no mai, 竜蛇の舞, "Dance of the Dragon Snakes"), and controlling corpses (shikabane no mai, 屍の舞, "Dance of the Corpses"). She has black hair tied up in a pony tail by feathers, which she can grow big to fly.

Her eyes are scarlet, but have pupils. Her dress is traditionally Japanese and resembles that of the sacred Shinto dances, otherwise known as Kagura, her namesake. Because she is a detachment of Naraku, and he holds her heart in his hands, she is bound to his service, and her betrayal would mean certain death.

Despite such impediments, she resents Naraku and covertly works toward his death, mostly by manipulating the two camps opposed to Naraku, those of InuYasha and Sesshōmaru (whom she has been speculated to have deeper feelings for). She works as a sort of double agent between the former and the latter. Slight arrogance and foolhardiness define her personality, and she likes to make wise cracks. (Judging from her personality, Aries should be her sign of the Zodiac.)

She has an older sister, who appears younger, named Kanna who is loyal to Naraku. She also has or had other younger siblings: Jūrōmaru and Kagerōmaru, Goshinki, Musō, and Hakudoushi. As of late in the manga, Naraku has charged her with her final job, which is to guard Goryoumaru at a prison. Hakudoushi convinced her to release him secretly, because he was secretly plotting with Akago to destroy Naraku.

After Hakudoushi's death, she fears that Naraku will kill her also, but ironically Naraku offers to give her freedom instead. It turns out that "freedom" had a catch. Naraku puts Kagura's heart back inside her but pierces her chest and inserts miasma. Right now, she does not have much longer to live, but it appears that something may come to save her....