Sango
Sango
Nihongo	珊瑚
Rōmaji	Sango
Name meaning	coral
Biographical information
Birth	c. 1477
Age	16 → 19
Status	Married to Miroku
Occupation	Yōkai Taijiya
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Height	160 cm (5'3")
Eye color	Brown
Hair color	Brown
Family
Kohaku (brother) Miroku (husband) Sango and Kohaku's father †(father) Shako †(grandfather) The twins (daughters) Newborn (son) Kirara (family companion) Miroku's father †(father-in-law)
Skills information
Weapons	Hiraikotsu, Sword
Affiliation
Team	Kirara, Kagome, Inuyasha, Shippō, Miroku Kōhaku (previously), Father (previously)
Loyalty	Yōkai Taijiya village
Debut
Manga Debut	Chapter 86
InuYasha Anime	Episode 24
Voice Actors
Japanese Seiyū	Houko Kuwashima
English VA	Candace Moore, Kelly Sheridan

Sango (珊瑚，さんご, Coral) is an only female teenage demon slayer^[1] from the village of the demon slayers, which, before being destroyed, consisted of humans that had learned to master the techniques of yōkai extermination and frequently helped others remove yōkai from their villages. She lived in the village with her younger brother Kohaku and their father, the head of the village.

Contents 1 History 1.1 During the story 1.2 Later life 2 Personality 3 Appearance 3.1 Outfit 4 Powers and Abilities 5 Weapons 6 Relationships 7 Quotes 8 Trivia 9 References

HistoryEdit

All that is known about Sango's grandfather is that he was once the head of the slayer's village, and it was he who entrusted the Shikon jewel to Kikyo for her to purify. When we first meet Sango she is living at the village with her father, who is now the village leader, and her younger brother Kohaku. It is assumed that Sango's mother died when she was young. Although Kohaku is five years younger than Sango, she has a very close relationship with him and has always looked after and protected him, but with a very mature respect. She takes her role as his older sister very seriously and throughout the entire story constantly goes out of her way and puts herself in danger to try to rescue him from Naraku, and make him remember her. It is also clearly shown how much Kohaku means to her by her intense emotional distress each time she leaves an encounter with him. Sango's relationship with her father could also be called a very loving one, and one filled with great amounts of respect. Sango was just 11 she and her clan when Kuranosuke Takeda caught eye on Sango he want married her caused his father ordered not burn of demon. Because he was the village leader, Sango had to address him as the rest of the villagers did, but it was clear how much she and her father love,care and mutually respected each other. He was extremely proud of her strength, courage, and fighting ability, and considered her the best slayer in the village. She was devastated by his murder, along with the temporary death of her brother.

During the storyEdit

On one occasion, the village’s best slayers are summoned to a castle to slay a spider demon. The demon possesses Sango’s brother, Kohaku, forcing him to kill all the slayers but Sango, who is badly injured by her brother’s hand. The guards of the castle then kill Kohaku and nearly kill Sango. The two are then buried. Sango pulls herself out of the ground and Naraku, an evil half-demon, takes her in. Naraku, who set up the whole ordeal, fools her into attacking Inuyasha, giving her a Shikon jewel shard to prevent her from feeling pain. Sango then attacks Inuyasha but Inuyasha is able to convince her that Naraku was lying. When the plot fails, Naraku revives Sango's little brother Kohaku,which Sango has no idea about because she is convinced he is dead, controlling him to manipulate Sango's emotions and attack the rest of Inuyasha's group. Sango later joins Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippo, and Miroku in order to defeat Naraku and save her brother. Like the others Sango seeks vengeance against Naraku, but unlike them her primary goal is to rescue Kohaku from Naraku's influence and save his life. Of her broad repertoire of tools and tricks for fighting demons, her most powerful weapon is the Hiraikotsu, a massive boomerang made of purified demon bones. She is accompanied by the demon cat Kirara. Sango is often the victim of Miroku's lecherous tendencies and slaps him for it.

Later lifeEdit

Three years after the death of Naraku,. Sango marries Miroku and retires as a demon slayer to become a housewife and the mother of three children (Twin Girls and a newborn son). She was happy to see Kagome when she came back to the feudal era. She allows Kirara to be taken care of by her younger brother Kohaku.

PersonalityEdit

Because she worked as a slayer, she has a strong sense of responsibilty along with a brave heart. On the other hand, she has feminine emotions, weaknesses, and many human aspects. Consequently, her personality wavers depending on her feelings.

Sango has great pride in being a Slayer. Being independant and tough by nature, she does not like people helping her. Sango takes pride in her fighting skills and never let an enemy escape once she had it in her sights. She fights aggressively and will confront any enemy bravely. She shows no mercy and has a very strong sense of obligation towards fulfilling her duties. Sango's fighting will is very strong, and once a fire is lit under her it is not easily doused. Even if, for example, she is seriously injured, she will continue to advance on her enemy until she defeats it. She fearlessy battled enemies with no regard for her own life. This was seen when she had thought Inuyasha had murdered her family and village, even though she was on the brink of death, she fought valiantly.

Sango has great selfless love towards her little brother Kohaku. She gave her cowardly brother Kohaku encouragment and continously shows support towards her brother's decisions. Even when Kohaku was under the influence of Naraku, her love for him never changed. She remained positive, believing that someday the real Kohaku would come back to her which in the end, despite going through many trials and errors, her hopes were realized. Sango's love for her brother was seen many times, examples of this being she had protected Kohaku from being shot by arrows right after he had killed their father and fellow slayers, which in turn caused Kohaku to die anyway and Sango getting fatally injured. It was also shown when Naraku had attempted to manipulate her into killing her brother at his castle but she had refused, loving her brother more than her own life. When Kohaku's shikon Jewel shard was taken out, Sango was incredibly grief-stricken, crying her eyes out for his loss and was extremely grateful that Kikyo saved her brother's life, despite once hating her.

All her comrades from the Demon Slayer's Village were killed and her only relative, Kohaku, was under the control of Naraku. After all this tragedy, Sango was consumed with loneliness and despair, resolving to do everything alone and seemingly losing trust in others. Thankfully, she was healed of her sadness by the gentleness and kindness of Kagome and her other friends. Sango developed a deep sense of fondness and gratitude towards her companions as time passed, due to how they had still decided to stand by her and give her hope that Kohaku could be saved. She had caused so much trouble with Kohaku and yet they still decided to stay with her. Since, Sango's loyalty and devotion towards her closest friends were seen time and time again, feeling protective towards all of them, and finally feeling a sense of happiness since the misery she had went through because of Naraku.

Sango thought each matter through calmly and grasped situations logically. Her words and actions were efficent and accurate and she always came up with quick solutions. However, once she came to a certain conclusion, she would not doubt or rethink it. One of her faults were dashing into things recklessly. Sango's intellect were high battle-wise. In addition to knowledge of her ancestors, she had experience battling numerous demons. She knew how to dominate a battle by finding a demon's weak points based on their characteristics. Love for her brother, responsiblity as a sister, and feelings of guilt for her companions. She was usually calm, but when it came to Kohaku she could be distracted and was quick to become emotional. While Kohaku was under control of Naraku, these mixed feelings sometimes manifested themselves as rage towards his actions. Due to her various emotions concerning Kohaku, she had at one point decided to kill her brother and then herself so she could take responsiblity for his actions. She couldn't bear to see Kohaku, her kind cowardly brother, kill innocent people because of Naraku, knowing that the real Kohaku would never be able to do such things, stating that it "would go against his very soul." She felt responsiblity and a brutal love and gentleness towards him as his sister.

As time passed, Sango developed affection and later love to her companion Miroku which is ironic as she had believed in pure love and held a great deal of distain and disrespect towards perverts which included her love. Everytime she saw him womanizing, she was consumed by jealousy and anger towards his shameless flirting. However, these was in part due to irritation towards herself for not being able to confess her true feelings to him which resulted in a conflicted heart. Sango had trouble dealing with feelings of love and affection towards another, which she still had until Miroku finally revealed his true feelings to her. She was overjoyed at him finally admitting that he loved her and accepted his purposal without hesitation. Though Sango geninuely loved Miroku, like Kagome with Inuyasha, she was often furious with his behavior though for different reasons. Sango hated Miroku's lecherous aspects which was directed at herself and other women, since she believed that he was showing little respect towards her as a woman. It is likely that this aspect of herself followed her into her marriage with Miroku, though she probably is slightly more tolerable of it now then she was in the past.

AppearanceEdit

Sango is a teenager of average height with brown eyes and long dark brown hair. She wears pink eyeshadow, and her long hair is usually tied with a ribbon, though it is tied in a ponytail when Sango is in combat. She is considered extremely pretty by many boys she encounters throughout the story, many of which attempt to capture her for her beauty.

OutfitEdit

There are 2 types of outfits that Sango often wear throughout InuYasha series.

• Sango normally travels wearing a traditional woman's Kimono. Over this she wears a long skirt, most likely "Mo-bakama". She completes her outfit with traditional woman's arm guards and leg guards, and straw sandals.
• Her Demon Slayer outfit consists of a black skin-tight suit that has a decided mainland flavor and armor plates made of demon parts. She carries her Hiraikotsu and a wakizashi, a short sword.

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

• Strength/Abilities - Sango is very strong, stronger than most humans and was the strongest demon slayer in her village, being superior to even her father, the leader of the demon slayers despite the fact that she was the second youngest and a girl. She uses the hiraikotsu effortlessly and has mastered the weapon which she uses in a lot of different ways even though it's really heavy, as stated by Miroku in the first movie, as he was suprised by how heavy it was and was baffled how she made handling it look so easy. Sango is also a very skilled hand to hand combatant, from using her hiraikotsu as a melee weapon, to using her sword. Even without either of her weapons, Sango is clearly skilled at fighting in hand to hand combat, as she has been shown in dozens of episodes fighting without using her weapons with great skill, although it was usually lower ranking demons and humans she used hand to hand combat on as well as in combination with her weapons. However, in the episode "Only you Sango," she was shown taking on a large bear demon and sending it flying with punches and kicks alone, as well as jumping very high in the air, a feat which everyone was suprised/intimidated by, as Inuyasha said "there isn't anyone in this world that can defeat Sango right now," which clearly shows just how strong Sango can be when she puts her mind to it. Sango has also been seen using a lot of poisons, different powders, mists, and liquids which she uses to their full potential.

WeaponsEdit

• Hiraikotsu - A gigantic boomerang that carried by Sango, made up of various kinds of demon bones. While using Hiraikotsu to attack or exterminate enemies, it needed a lot of strength to toss off from owner's hand in order to reach effective destruction.
• Sword - Refer as wakizashi, often carried by each demon exterminators. Since sometimes they lost their main weapon, they could draw it for fight or protect against demons.
• Iron chain - Another weapon of choice for demon exterminators, used to hit or stumble opponents in distance.
• Hidden weapon - Sango's hidden weapon will be a short mini sword, which buried within her left arm guards (or can be refer as tekko). It can be used to attack enemies surreptitiously.

RelationshipsEdit

• Miroku

When Miroku and Sango first met, Miroku restrained himself out of sympathy. But once she recovered, he became his lecherous self again and pursued her for a cheap thrill. He frequently groped her when the opportunity arose and consequently got hit by her as a result, and this was often played off as a running gag.

Sango is known to become jealous and display varying degrees of the emotion whenever Miroku paid attention to other women and asked them to bear his children which was one of the show's recurring sources of humor. Although she is constantly frustrated by his lecherous, womanizing antics, her romantic feelings for Miroku soon became apparent early on in the story and it becomes obvious she has fallen in love with him.

As the story progressed further, it became clear that Miroku himself had also fallen deeply in love with Sango, but was unable to express those feelings for her, as he felt he could not love her as an ordinary woman, also with the fear that the wind tunnel would consume Sango after consuming him. Since Miroku was technically a Buddhist monk, Sango usually addressed him with the respectful term houshi-sama (houshi means 'Buddhist priest,' and '-sama' is a respectful honorific), even when he acted disrespectfully. Despite their "cat and mouse" relationship, Sango and Miroku actually made an excellent pair in battle, and whenever the group split up the two of them often accompanied each-other while Inuyasha and Kagome formed their own separate pair. Curiously enough, with all his of groping and innuendo, Miroku hadn't asked of Sango to bear his children upon meeting her, as he typically did with other women until she demonstrated jealousy over this fact and finally brought the subject to his attention. Surprised, Miroku naturally asked the question, and Sango gave him a typical response by telling him to "spare" her. She also feared that Miroku would leave her for another girl, which is possibly why she had resorted to anger.

Near the end of the anime series (Episode 132) Miroku had saved Sango from a demonic salamander egg she was forced to swallow, which caused her to repeatedly attack him. Unfortunately to save her, Miroku was required to defeat Sango in combat, having to punch her hard in the stomach with an ofuda scroll connected to his fist. He was injured during this fighting, but nevertheless was guilty over his actions (his neglegence led to her possession which lead to him being required to physically hurt her to save her). Miroku then gets Sango alone with him to ask of her forgiveness. She replies however that it wasn't his fault since she had let her guard down. Mustering his courage, Miroku then confessed that she was the only woman he has ever truly loved, however, he also said that he could not love her as an ordinary woman but as a comrade and a friend. Heartbroken, Sango almost left him, however, he then promised that he would live with Sango and raise children with her after Naraku was defeated and if his wind-tunnel did not consume him and was gone; pratically proposing marriage to Sango (and asking her to have at least ten to twenty children with him), which she tearfully accepted, much to happiness of Kagome and the skepticism of Inuyasha, who both were observing the couple from the bushes with Shippo. However, she followed up her "Yes" with the request that he would stop asking other girls to "bear his child." His failure to respond elicted a dirty look from her, and she thought this silence had been a 'no.' (after this point in the manga, Miroku's womanizing came up only once more, while in the anime, it only occured three more times, and one of which was related to a previous incident from years before Miroku met Sango; whether his womanizing does not come up due to Miroku's own choice or because he had not had the opportunity is not stated).

In the 3 year time-skip they had settled down in Kaede's village, marrying and raising two young daughters and and an infant son. Miroku had finacially supported the family through exorcising demons with the help of Inuyasha.

It was evident that Miroku held a jealous streak of his own on several occasions, including episodes 78 and 161. However, episode 78 was only present in the anime. The prince Kuranosuke had shown interest in Sango for about six years, declaring he would wait until she fell in love with him, and although this provoked jealousy from Miroku, the prince's love remained unrequited. In the closing scene of the episode, Sango shared an umbrella with Miroku (an act that often has romantic implications in japanese culture). The moment was spoiled as usual by a grope and slap exchange. In ep. 161, Miroku had made it blatantly clear he would not have others pursuing Sango even calling her "his woman." In another instance solely present in manga chapters 353 and 359; "Medicine Vendor" and "Illusion respectively, the group confronted a mysterious medicine man that had a medicine that could "cure all" The medicine man saw Sango's beauty and decided that she could aid him; planning to suck her blood so that he could return to his original form (a mosquito). Miroku was unaware of this plan, yet upon seeing them huddled together on a lily pad, he rushed in and promptly assaulted him in a jealous fury, placing about a 100 strikes on his head (according to Shippo).

• Inuyasha

Originally, Sango was tricked by Naraku, into getting her to trust him. He had been impersonating Kagewaki Hitomi, the young lord of a castle. "Kagewaki", trusted Naraku, and Sango trusted "Kagewaki", so when a puppet of Naraku told "Kagewaki" that Inuyasha was the one who destroyed her village, she fought Inuyasha, intending to kill him. When she later learned Naraku destroyed her village, she felt bad and joined the group. Inuyasha and Sango's relationship is somewhat strained and later on become very great trusting friends. As Sango will get mad at Inuyasha for many a time. And may be the first to yell and scold him whenever Kagome goes back to her time (because Inuyasha was seeing Kikyo). In The Light that Leads to the Saint, Sango was talking about what she would do to Inuyasha, saying horrible things, which began to scare Shippo and Kirara. In The Last Banquet of Miroku's Master, after becoming intoxicated by the sake mist, she showed some kind of infatuation toward Inuyasha and even tried to kiss him. Also, in The Red and White Priestesses, when two mikos create their own versions of Inuyasha and Kagome, Sango states that she wouldn't mind fighting Inuyasha and that she could fight him all day (much to his annoyance and the fact they call the copy by his name). Also, when Sango was just about to kill Kohaku (who was possesed at the time) and then herself, Inuyasha came in the nick of time and promised her that they would get Kohaku back. This also played a part in a later episode. And when Inuyasha first pointed out that Sango may be jealous of the attention Miroku is giving the others girls, she glared at him, stating that it was his imagination. She would later glare at him whenever he insults Miroku and his lechery much to Inuyasha's confusion (and fear).

• Kagome Higurashi

Sango starts out as aloof and distant from the rest of the group, though she warms to Kagome first. The two act like sisters toward each other,Sango seems to have somewhat of a sisterly relationship with Kagome and discuss secrets and feelings amongst themselves as well. Eventually Kagome in the manga says "Sango is my best friend, I will do anything to save her." As whenever the two are bathing, they'll talk about what problems they have. She is also usually the first to speak up for Kagome whenever Inuyasha hurts her by being with Kikyo. And whenever Sango is upset by Miroku's womanizing, Kagome always tries to comfort her. In The Last Banquet of Miroku's Master, while intoxicated by the mist of sake, Sango comments that "three Kagomes is definitely a crowd." (the other two Kagomes are Shippo and Hachi).Coincidentally, both are the eldest child in their family, both are older sisters who love their younger brothers, both are married and both own a cat. Sango is very close to Kagome and sympathizes with her because of Inuyasha still having feelings for Kikyo. She even said that Kagome is incredibly brave to speak up about Kikyo to Inuyasha.

• Kohaku

Kohaku is Sango's younger brother. He was killed by a demon posing to be a castle's lord during one of the Demon Slayers' missions and was controlled to kill every Demon Slayer that was there including their father. He also stabs Sango on the back with his weapon before regaining consciousness.He is later revived by Naraku as a human puppet and has a Jewel of Four Souls shard embedded in his back to keep him alive and under the control of Naraku without memory of what he had done. Before knowing his revivation Sango was always seen to think about him and felt lonely. When Sango realized that Kohaku is revived and still alive she was manipulated by Naraku using Kohaku. Naraku tried to get Sango to hate her brother and kill him but she couldn't. Though Kohaku is committing more crimes and unforgivable thing, Sango still worries about him.(see episode 49). Sango and Kirara fight off demons in the woods, while Inuyasha and Miroku face off against Kagura. Meanwhile, an injured Kagome runs away from Kohaku. Before Kohaku can strike Kagome again (he already got her once in the arm), Sango arrives. Kohaku runs off, but not before she apologizes to Kagome. Inuyasha and Miroku fight of the demons and try to make it seem like Kohaku is still in their hut.

After Kagura decides to take off. Inuyasha finds Kagome, who tells him to stop Sango from killing Kohaku because despite having the opportunity to kill her he didn't so Kohaku has some of his heart left! Sango catches up to Kohaku and the two fight. Sango eventually pins Kohaku down and prepares to move in for the kill. Sango wants to kill Kohaku so he can be free from Naraku's control, but she tells him that he won't die alone because she will be joining him soon. Before the tearful Sango can finish off Kohaku, Inuyasha arrives and knocks her sword away. Kohaku jumps back and Kagura appears to take him away. Kagura explains that Kohaku doesn't want to remember his past since it's too painful (see episode 24), and his blank mind makes him the perfect puppet. After the two take off on Kagura's feather, Inuyasha tells Sango that because Kohaku still has a heart he will bring him back from Naraku alive.

Elsewhere, Naraku asks Kohaku why he didn't kill Kagome like ordered. Naraku wonders if Kohaku still wants to remember, so Naraku then returns Kohaku's memory. Kohaku immediately goes into shock, so Naraku takes them away. However, there's one thing that Kohaku cannot forget, Sango's crying face.Though Kohaku tried to kill & hurt Sango because of Narakus manipulation but Sango wasn't able to hurt him. (In Inuyasha The Final Act episode 20 Completing the Shikon Jewel) Kohaku tells everyone that he always thought it would have better if he died back then but the courage of both Inuyasha and Sango changed him and that he is ready to forget his sins and move on. But Naraku's tentacles pierce Kohaku's neck and take the final jewel shard, killing him. Elsewhere Naraku reassembles the Shikon Jewel and gloats over his victory and is ready to use the fully restored jewel to complete his transformation into a full-fledged demon. A devastated Sango weeps over her brother's lifeless body. Enraged, Inuyasha demands that Kagome tell him where Naraku is. Kagome looks around and sees the fully restored fully defiled Shikon Jewel and fires her sacred arrow, knowing how powerless it is, and it shows Inuyasha where he is causing him to angrily draw out Tessaiga and uses Meido Zangestsuha but Naraku, laughing, escapes. He tells Inuyasha how weak he is: that he was unable to save Kohaku just as he was unable to save Kikyo. He also responds that Kikyo's light has also died out and escapes into the clouds. As the sun rises Sango, Kagome and Inuyasha are soon surprised to see Kohaku enveloped in pure white light. Kagome realizes that Kikyo's light had left the Shikon Jewel and transfered to Kohaku, thus saving his life. Sango was very happy after realizing that her only relative & bloodline is still alive. The love between the two siblings has always been reflected throughout the whole series. After Sango got married & started a new family with Miroku & her three kids, she allows Kirara to train Kohaku to become a strong demon slayer and to help the people troubled by demons, but she still loves her brother and Kirara very much while eagerly waiting for them. Miroku once said even though Sango loves Miroku more than her own life, no one can replace Kohaku in her heart.

• Kirara

Sango's two tailed demon cat partner and friend, Kirara orginal belonged to the priestess Midoriko then found her way to Sango's grandfather and then her father. When Sango was young, Kirara was given to her by her father as a gift. Both care alot about each other and are always willing to battle along side each other. In episode 97, when Sango thought Kirara was dead she was heart broken. At the end of the series, Kirara often travels with Kohaku as he tries to become a more talented Demon Slayer.

• Sesshomaru

Although they have met several times in their travels, there was not alot of interaction between them. However in episode 20 (FA), she was the one to tell Sesshomaru that Rin was poisoned by Magatsuhi which made Sesshomaru rush back to Rin. But when she confronted Naraku inside of the large jewel-like battlefield during Naraku and the group's final fight, she was willing to sacrifice Rin's life to destroy Naraku once and for all and to save Miroku. When Sesshomaru saw this, Sango said that if he must, he can kill her but only once Naraku is slained and Miroku was saved.

QuotesEdit

• "Even though the same thing may be repeated...being together...is it okay?"
• "Please, body, hold fast until I can complete my final task."
• "As long as Kohaku is in Naraku's hands...I know I'll end up betraying you again!"
• "No way. You're not leaving me again. You're my only little brother."
• "Kill you? What makes him think I can kill you? I...can't. "
• "No! If you can't go on...then we'll die here together!"
• "Kohaku, I'm so glad."
• "You can't be serious Kagome! Me love that pervert!?"
• "Oh, I knew that. You don't have to tell me. Its not as if...as if I hoped you would love me. I never thought that."
• "No! Kohaku is still my brother!"

TriviaEdit

• Both her and Kagome's seiyū Houko Kuwashima (2003 anime) and Satsuki Yukino (2009 anime), voiced Rose Thomas from Fullmetal Alchemist and worked together in Bleach when Kuwashima played Soi-fon and Yukino played Yoruichi respectively.
• In many fanfiction stories, she is given the surname 'Taijiya'
• Sango is a demon slayer but she also has a demon companion
• Sango's English voice actor Kelly Sheridan, also voiced Ukyo Kuonji in Takahashi's other work, Ranma 1/2.
• In The Holy Pearl, Sango was renamed as Mu Liang.

ReferencesEdit