Sesshomaru (殺生丸 ,Sesshōmaru)

Sesshomaru is the yōkai son of the powerful Inu no Taishou and InuYasha's half-brother. Sesshomaru believes that struggle is the only way to survive, and throughout most of the series, he shows his contempt for InuYasha. Although Sesshomaru inherited his father's Tenseiga, which can bring a hundred people back to life with a single swing, he originally coveted InuYasha's inheritance, a powerful sword. However, a spell was cast on the sword so that a full yōkai cannot touch it without burning his flesh. Despite knowing that he cannot touch the sword, Sesshomaru still desires to take it from InuYasha. Throughout the series, Sesshomaru's compassion gradually grows as his rivalry with InuYasha decreases.

InuYasha (犬夜叉 )

InuYasha is a hanyō (half-demon), the product of an inu-yōkai (犬妖怪 , dog demon) and a human. He wields Tetsusaiga, a supernatural sword made from one of his deceased father's fangs. When properly wielded, the sword can destroy one hundred demons with a single swing. InuYasha can quickly recover from injuries that would be fatal to a human, largely due to his demonic blood. During the first night of each lunar month (new moon), InuYasha changes into a normal human with black hair and black eyes and loses his demonic powers. InuYasha was bound to Goshinboku by Kikyo's arrow for fifty years until Kagome freed him. InuYasha wears a special bead necklace that forces him to respond to Kagome's command "Osuwari!", which translates to "Sit!" in English. In the English-dubbed version, "InuYasha, sit!" or "Sit, boy!" are sometimes used instead. Following the command, InuYasha is thrown to the ground. Kaede had placed the necklace upon InuYasha because he had threatened to kill Kagome if she refused to give the Jewel of Four Souls to him.^[2] As the series goes on, he begins to like Kagome more and more, shown when he will leave a battle to save her from being hurt.

Kagome Higurashi (日暮 かごめ ,Higurashi Kagome)

Kagome is a fifteen-year-old ninth grade student. She is the reincarnation of Kikyo, a miko (priestess) who died fifty years before the time Kagome first emerged from the Bone Eater's Well in the Sengoku period. Because of this, Kagome has powerful spiritual powers and can sense the shards of the Shikon Jewel, an item that is said to balance the forces of good and evil, and resembles Kikyo. Later in the series, she admits that she loves InuYasha, which is also shown when she stays with him at the end of the series.

InuYasha (犬夜叉 )

The story begins in Feudal Japan, when the half-demon InuYasha steals the Jewel of Four Souls—a magical jewel that enhances the power of and can grant a single wish to the one who wields it—from a village. InuYasha desires the gem in order to turn himself into a full blooded demon. InuYasha does not get far before Kikyo, the young miko of the village, shoots him with a sacred arrow that indefinitely seals him onto Goshinboku, a sacred tree in the nearby forest. After being mortally wounded, Kikyo tells her younger sister, Kaede, to burn the jewel with her body to prevent it from falling into the hands of evil.

In modern Tokyo, a junior high school girl named Kagome Higurashi is on her way to school. She stops in the well house of her family's Shinto shrine to retrieve her cat, Buyo, when a centipede demon emerges from the well and pulls her into the Sengoku period of Japan.

Not knowing where she is, Kagome wanders around a forest near the Bone Eater's Well. She spots Goshinboku off in the distance and proceeds towards it. On the tree, she finds InuYasha, who is still sealed in an enchanted sleep. Villagers seize her and take her to the old priestess, Kaede. Recognizing that Kagome is the reincarnation of her sister Kikyo, Kaede tells her the story of Kikyo and InuYasha.

The centipede attacks again, and Kagome is forced to release InuYasha from his enchantment so he can kill it. After defeating the centipede, InuYasha tries to take the Jewel of Four Souls from Kagome. In order to thwart InuYasha and to save Kagome's life, Kaede places magical prayer beads around InuYasha's neck so that Kagome can subdue him.

The Jewel of Four Souls attracts more demons, and in a battle against a carrion crow demon, the jewel is shattered into numerous shards that spread all across Japan. As the individual shards are capable of granting those who embed it in their bodies with great power, it is sought after by many demons as well as some humans.

Kagome and InuYasha set out to collect the shards and restore the Jewel of Four Souls. Along the way, they befriend Shippo, a fox demon; Miroku, a cursed monk; and Sango, a demon-slayer whose brother was possessed and forced to slaughter their father and the other demon slayers. The group encounters many friends and foes during the adventure, including InuYasha's older half-brother Sesshomaru; Kikyo, who died 50 years ago but, was resurrected with part of Kagome's soul; Naraku, who tricked Kikyo and InuYasha into turning against each other; and a wolf demon named Koga, who is in love with Kagome and whenever he and InuYasha meet they constantly bicker.

Eventually, the Shikon jewel is reassembled by Naraku, who is then defeated by InuYasha. Before he dies, Naraku makes a wish on the jewel that Kagome would replace the soul of Midoriko, the jewel's original creator, within the jewel and that his soul would also enter the jewel so he could survive inside as her enemy. This would only work if Kagome made a selfish wish, which Naraku tries to trick her into doing, but confident that InuYasha would rescue her, she refuses to do so. InuYasha rescues her and Kagome wishes for the jewel to disappear forever.

Kagome is thrown back into her own time, and InuYasha is no longer able to see her. However, after three years when Kagome has graduated high school, a portal opens allowing her to return to InuYasha's time. They acknowledge their love for one another and she chooses to remain in the past with him.

Nana (ナナ )

is a bat-like +Anima. Nana is capable of sprouting wings much like Cooro; however, they are bat wings. With them, she is capable of flight. Nana's ears can grow very large, gifting her with superior hearing that is capable of detecting sound in the ultrasound frequency. In addition, she has uniquely-developed vocal cords, making her capable of emitting ultrasound waves from her mouth, which she may use either to navigate when her eyesight is useless or as a powerful area-effect weapon. Her personality is kind, albeit immature, and quite feminine. Nana does not like violence and does not use any weapons. Nana reveals that her drunken father beat her and her mother and, one night, she accidentally stabbed him with her stitching scissors and ran away out of fear. While hiding from her enraged father, she became a bat +Anima. Afterwards, she joined a group of all-girl orphans in the city of Octopus. However, she ran away from them, thinking she was hated because of her powers, which actually the leader of the all-girl orphans told Nana that she was jealous of her. In Mukai's original short story, Nana appears older and has small notches in her ears in her bat form. She also dresses differently and scolds Cooro often.

Senri (センリ ,Senri)

s a bear-like +Anima. He is capable of transforming his right arm into a bear-like arm, giving him sharp claws and great strength. He is the strongest melee combatant from the group; due to his +Anima, he does not need any melee weapons, although he does have a falchion-like sword which he uses when he does not want to reveal his +Anima identity. Senri met Cooro and Husky at a village called Abon where Senri is protecting the village from a gang, when Cooro and Husky helped get rid of them Senri joined them.Senri very rarely says anything and usually doesn't speak in complete sentences. Senri carries a book, in which he stores various items and flowers. It is later revealed that it is the only key to his memories, as he suffered major trauma from when his father died and had severe problems accessing memories. With the eyepatch that he has it keeps his +ANIMA under control without it he will go crazy an fight anyone he sees. In the Mukai's original short story, Senri has no book in the last chapter, armor plates on his bear arm, and appears to be slightly more talkative.

Husky (ハスキー ,Huskī)

is a merman like +Anima, whose legs completely transform into a fish tail when jumping into water. He also grows gills, allowing him to breathe underwater and stay submerged indefinitely. Husky has a small fear of water because Lady Dylana, a rival queen and the mother of Keane (who used to tease and bully Husky), attempted to drown him, from which he gained his +Anima. He wields a long staff for a weapon that he took from the Beehive Manor. Husky is revealed to be a wealthy prince who had been teased because of his effeminate appearance. Due to his mother being from the North, children also teased him for his "husky" voice. Also, Husky does not like girls because, as he quotes, they are foolish. Although, others think it is because he looks like a girl. In Mukai's original short story, the belt around the collar of his cape is slightly smaller and his staff is different. Husky is also more brash and looks older.