"Well, first, you can clean the temple top to bottom for me."
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The Oni's head (鬼の首, おにのくび) was a yōkai who was once buried underneath a castle, and then cursed that castle for many years to come.
History[]
Long ago, a lord buried the head of a yōkai underneath his castle hoping that it would ward off evil spirits.
During the story[]
Inuyasha and his friends meet an elderly exorcist who tells them about a cursed castle that had a demon's head buried underneath it. They go and investigate the castle and find an extremely ominous demonic aura has surrounded the entire castle. They learn that the lord of the castle has been killing anyone who approaches him. The beautiful young princess of the castle approaches them and begs them to save her father, and Miroku vows to do so, no matter how long it might take. Later that night, the castle is attacked by a demon head. Inuyasha and Sango attack the demon, but find that their attacks have no effect. Miroku surmises that the demon head is merely an illusion, and vanquishes it using his sacred sutras. This leads Miroku to believe that the true form of the demon must be hiding somewhere within the castle. Miroku and Inuyasha later go investigate the lord, and Miroku believes that the lord is likely not the source of the demonic aura.
The Oni head's princess form.
Afterwards, the princess asks to speak with Miroku. She takes him down to the basement underneath the castle, where the demon head was buried. She shows him a pit filled with the bones of many deceased monks and priestesses, and tells him that they were the remains of the priests and priestesses who had tried to slay the demon. Miroku then realizes why the princess wanted to bring him down to the basement, because the princess is in fact the oni's head demon and she intends to devour him next. Before completely losing his ability to move due to inhaling the powerful demonic aura, Miroku throws a handful of purification salt into the princess' eyes, revealing her true, demonic appearance.
The Oni's head taunts Miroku, telling him that he will be her one hundredth victim, thus allowing her to regain her full power. As she is about to devour Miroku, Sango and Kirara come down to the basement to save him, but they too are unable to move due to inhaling the demonic aura surrounding the castle. Madame Exorcist follows close behind, but is somehow immune to the demon's aura, and throws all of her purification salt at the Oni's head, and Miroku infuses his spiritual powers into the salt, causing the Oni's head's body to be destroyed. The Oni's head notices that someone has touched the body of the "host", and quickly flies to find it. The Oni's head finds Kagome and Shippō, who have found the corpse of the real princess of the castle. The Oni's head then devours the ninety-nine souls of the priests and priestesses that she had killed, which were stored in the body of the dead princess. She then notices Kagome's Shikon Jewel shards, and tries to kill Kagome. Before she can, Inuyasha bursts into the room and slashes the Oni's head across the face.
The Oni's head reveals that when her head was buried under the castle in the past, she was able to curse the princess to death, and took over her body. She then possessed the lord of the castle, and had him guard the corpse of the princess, while also framing him as the true demon of the castle, should she ever be found out. Miroku then arrives on the scene and asks the Oni's head why she had not revealed herself much sooner, considering her immense power. Oni's head replies that she had to lay low, or else she would be devoured by an even greater evil than she: Naraku. Now that Naraku has disappeared, the Oni's head could do as she likes. The Oni's head then flies out of the castle, intending to wreak havoc on the land. Inuyasha fires a Wind Scar at her, but she somehow survives the blow with only minor damage. Miroku then uses his Wind Tunnel and sucks her up, destroying her for good.
Powers & Abilities[]
She was very powerful, as she was able to withstand a hit from Inuyasha's Wind Scar.
- Dark Magic: She was capable of various forms of powerful dark magic, such as creating illusions, controlling the lord of the castle and turning him into a demon. She was able to store the spiritual energy stolen from the ninety-nine monks and priestesses that tried to kill into the princess' corpse. She was able to cause part of the ceiling to collapse, blocking Kagome and Shippō from escaping. She was able to kill the princess she portrayed with a curse.
- Demonic Aura: She had a powerful demonic aura that can cause paralysis.
- Spiritual Power Consumption: She was able to 'eat' the spiritual power of monks and priestesses she kills to increase her power.
Trivia[]
- Her seiyū, Hiromi Tsuru, also voiced several characters from Rumiko Takahashi's previous series. This includes Ukyo Kuonji from Ranma ½, Asuna Kujō from Maison Ikkoku, Azusa Shiga from Laughing Target, and Sister Angela from One-pound Gospel.
Media appearances[]
Manga
- Chapter 228 (First appearance)
- Chapter 229
- Chapter 230
- Chapter 231
Anime
- Episode 85 (First appearance)
- Episode 86