Inuyasha met and fell in love with the priestess Kikyo, who was tasked with protecting the Shikon no Tama (Sacred Jewel), a powerful jewel that could grant a wish and that Inuyasha believed could make him a full demon. Although the usual way to reverse the transformation is to give Inuyasha Tetsusaiga and wait for him to calm down, Kagome's purifying abilities have also been shown to clear Inuyasha's mind when she touches him. The disadvantage of his demon blood (at least when he does not possess Tetsusaiga) is that it overtakes his human soul in near-death situations, making him stronger but also causing him to turn into a mindless killing machine. His durability and regenerative abilities are similar to those of yōkai and allow him to endure severe pain and recover quickly from wounds as well as extending his lifespan by hundreds of years. His physical prowess combined with willpower and swordsmanship allows him to challenge even the stronger higher-level yōkai.

Although a half-breed, a hanyō, Inuyasha's strong demon heritage inherited from his father affords him supernatural physical attributes and resilience he possesses raw strength as well as speed and reflexes considerably superior to that of all lower-level and the majority of middle or even higher-level yōkai. As a dog demon, Inuyasha has claws he uses to fight with, utilized mainly in his Sankon Tessō ( 散魂鉄爪, 'Iron Reaper Soul Stealer' in dub) attack. Inuyasha's appearance is a mixture of his dog demon father and human mother: he has his father's long silver hair, yellow eyes, and claws, but does not exhibit facial markings in his half-breed form, or pointed humanoid ears, instead he has a unique pair of furry silver Akita dog ears on top his head.

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