The Tsukumo no Gama (九十九の蝦蟇, つくものがま, "Toad of Ninety-ninth") was a toad yōkai that possessed a young lord's body and kidnapped Princess Tsuyu along with many other young women.
History[]
The Tsukumo no Gama first appears in a castle, being poured glasses of sake by Princess Tsuyu, his face completely bandaged so as to conceal his identity; Tsuyu still thought he was her husband at the time. Tsuyu asks about the rumors of the missing village girls, but he angrily says he will not tell her, slamming his fists on the ground.
Sometime later, Amari Nobunaga, Inuyasha and Kagome enter the castle in search of Tsuyu. When they find her, the toad demon soon enters the room and confronts them. Inuyasha slashes off the bandages that were on his face, revealing him to have the appearance of a toad, shocking Tsuyu and the others.
The Tsukumo no Gama soon takes Tsuyu to a room where he has kept the village girls in egg sac-like prisons, confirming the rumors; he puts Tsuyu inside one of the sacs. Inuyasha and the others find him, and Inuyasha injures his shoulder with his Tessaiga. However, the toad demon is able to heal his wound by devouring the souls of the women already in the egg sacs. Nobunaga manages to free Tsuyu from her sac.
The toad demon moves towards Tsuyu to re-capture her, but Inuyasha hits him on top of the head with his sword. This causes the lord to seemingly regain his senses, looking on in horror at the acts he had committed; the lord begs Inuyasha to kill him. Inuyasha moves to do so, but Nobunaga stops him. Not wanting to kill the lord whom the toad had possessed as well, Nobunaga begs Inuyasha not to kill him, and Inuyasha reluctantly agrees. However, the toad attacks Nobunaga and proves that he was deceiving him.
Later, Kagome learns of a toad's weakness of fire, and, using a small flame and hairspray, draws the toad out of the lord's body and Inuyasha kills the demon, taking the jewel shard it had in the process.
Personality[]
The Tsukumo no Gama proved to be a very cold and devious creature; since it was not particularly powerful, it needed to resort to deceit and trickery to survive. After Inuyasha hit it on the head with Tessaiga, the Tsukumo no Gama pretended that the young lord it was possessing had regained his consciousness, which stopped Inuyasha's attack and allowed the toad to gain momentary respite and sympathy from the others, only to attack Nobunaga once his guard was down.[2] The very fact that the Tsukumo no Gama possessed the body of a young lord in the first place showed how calculating the demon could be; no one would question the decision making of a lord, so the Tsukumo no Gama was free to do whatever it chose without fear of interference.
Powers & Abilities[]
- Shikon Jewel Shard: The Tsukumo no Gama possessed a shard of the Shikon no Tama, thus increasing its' powers and abilities exponentially.
- Possession: The demon had the ability to possess the body of others, as seen when he possessed the body of Princess Tsuyu's husband.
- Prehensile Tongue: The Tsukumo no Gama was able to stretch its' tongue out and stab people with it; he impaled Nobunaga in the shoulder on two different occasions.
- Egg Sac Prisons: The Tsukumo no Gama had the ability to capture and hold other beings in an egg sac-like prison, where he would devour their souls in order to heal his injuries and gain more power; the only people he was shown to have captured in these prisons were young women and maidens.
- Toxic Fumes: The Tsukumo no Gama possessed the ability to breath out gaseous, toxic fumes from its' mouth. The poisonous fumes were potent enough to send Inuyasha falling to the ground.[2]
Trivia[]
- The Tsukumo no Gama is identical in appearance to Gamajirō, a toad demon that appears exclusively in the anime in episodes 94 and 95; though they appear identical, they are two completely different characters. They both share the same Japanese and English voices actors as well.
- His seiyū, Fumihiko Tachiki, also voiced The Paper Doll Salesman from Rumiko Takahashi's previous work Ranma ½.
Media appearances[]
Manga
- Chapter 19 (First appearance)
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
Anime
- Episode 8 (First appearance)