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Name: Miroku
Age: 19
Race: Human
Weapons: Kazona, Staff, Ofuda Scrolls
He is a hoshi (a Buddhist monk), who possesses a rather unusual curse. His right hand has a slowly expanding Kaz��na ("wind void"; "Wind Tunnel" in the English dub) that sucks in anything nearby if it's not kept covered by a cloth and strand of japa mala beads. This curse was placed on Miroku's grandfather by Naraku and passed down to him. Eventually, the curse will cause him to be sucked in as well, unless Naraku is defeated.
Miroku meets InuYasha and his friends after walking away from a town after cheating a rich man there out of some money. While bathing in a hot spring, he sees Kagome naked, also taking a bath. He discovers she has shards of the Shikon no Tama (The Jewel of the Four Souls) while staring at her breasts and takes them (the jewel shards) and her bike (which he somehow knows how to ride) with the help of his tanuki (raccoon dog spirit) friend, Hachi. InuYasha and Kagome catch up to him and InuYasha attacks him, but Miroku uses his Kaz��na in return. Kagome, realizing that the monk will not harm humans, stands in its path and causes Miroku to quickly cover it with his prayer beads. Miroku explains his situation, and InuYasha reluctantly allows him to join them.
Despite his good looks and temperament, Miroku's worst vice (and best running joke) is lechery, specifically shameless flattery and occasional groping with varying subtlety. Miroku must have a child in order to have an heir by the time he may be killed by the curse, and thus finds it perfectly fine to offer the chance to many young women to bear his child. This later puts some strain on his blossoming relationship (which eventually culminates in a marriage proposal) with Sango, often ruining small romantic moods between them.
In fact, it was lechery that got Miroku's bloodline into trouble in the first place. His grandfather was fooled into "caring" for a young woman, who turned out to be Naraku in disguise. It was then that he received the Kaz��na curse. Despite knowing this, Miroku continues his ways. As an ironic twist of fate, one episode of the anime lands Miroku in a similar situation where he woos a young woman who turns into an insectoid demon. His Kaz��na suffers a dangerous rip before he destroys the demon, forcing him to seek medical attention.
Nonetheless, the monk mellows out as time goes on and proves to be a very valuable ally. He is very knowledgeable about yokai, and is the secondary fighter of the team after InuYasha. Though quite possibly the most intelligent of the group, he often uses humor or lechery to lighten serious situations, especially if anyone is worried about him. Despite his lighthearted and lecherous exterior, it is clear he has an inner darkness (Shippo has been heard to comment that he 'never bought that holy man routine') and worries over his curse and the resulting death sentence that hangs over his head.
Miroku and Sango
When Miroku and Sango first meet, Miroku restrains himself out of sympathy. But once she recovers, he becomes his lecherous self again and pursues her for a cheap thrill. He frequently gropes her when the opportunity arises (generally while injured or when no one is paying attention), though she usually slaps or punches him for it in return, which is one of the show's running gags. Despite this, Sango displays varying degrees of jealousy when Miroku pays attenton to other women, which is one of the series' main sources of humor.
As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Miroku is falling deeply in love with Sango but since he is unable to come forth with those feelings, he hides it behind inappropriate groping and double entendres. Since Miroku is "technically" a Buddhist priest, Sango usually addresses Miroku with the respectful term houshi-sama (houshi means Buddhist priest, and -sama is a respectful honorific), even when he acts disrespectfully.
Despite their "cat and mouse" relationship Sango and Miroku actually make an excellent pair in battle, and whenever the group splits up it's usually split between InuYasha-Kagome and Sango-Miroku. Curiously enough, with all his groping and innuendo, Miroku doesn't ask Sango to bear his child (as he does with every woman he meets) until she demonstrates jealousy over his asking other women and finally brings the subject to his attention. Surprised, Miroku naturally asked the question, and Sango gave him a typical response.
Sango accepts Miroku's marriage proposalIn episode 118, when Miroku and Sango were battling on Mt. Hakurei, Sango was struck unconscious by Hirakotsu. Miroku then cries out, and picks up Sango and Hiraikotsu while running. Kagura then taunts Miroku, saying that he would have lived a little longer if he had run immediately, and sends a horde of demons after the pair. With the Saimyoushou nearby, Kagura assumed that Miroku would not open his Kazaana as that would endanger his life. Miroku then confesses out loud that Sango is the woman he loves, and he would even sacrifice his very life for her. With that, he opens his Kazaana and sucks in all the youkai.
Near the end of the anime series (Episode #132) Miroku saves Sango from a demonic salamander egg she was forced to swallow, which was causing 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, he was guilty over his actions (his neglegence led to her possession; he was required to hurt her to save her) Miroku gets Sango alone with him and asks her forgiveness. She replies that it wasn't his fault since she let her guard down. Mustering his courage, Miroku then lets his heart out to Sango and tells her that she's the only woman he's ever loved. He then promptly proposes marriage to Sango (also asking her to have at least ten to twenty children with him), and she tearfully accepts. However, she follows up her "Yes" with the request that he stop asking other girls to "bear his child". His failure to directly answer her receives a dirty look from her, but nothing else.
(Note that, after this point in the manga, Miroku's womanizing comes up only once more, while in the anime, it only occurs two more times, one of which is 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.)
It becomes evident that Miroku holds a jealous streak of his own on several occasions, including episodes 78 and 161. However episode 78 is a part of the anime only. Though the prince Kuranosuke has shown intrest in Sango for around six years (since he first saw her), and declares he will wait for her for as long as it takes, his love is unrequited. In the closing scene of the episode, Sango shares an umbrella with Miroku (an act that often has romantic implications in japanese culture). The moment is spoiled as usual by a grope and slap exchange. In ep. 161, Miroku makes it blatantly clear he will not have others pursuing Sango. There is another one of these instances in the manga only, when the group confronts a mysterious medicine man that has a medicine that can "cure all" (manga chapters 358 and 359, "Medicine Vendor" and "Illusion"). The medicine man sees Sango's beauty and decides she can aid him. Though he plans to suck her blood so that he can return to his original form (a mosquito), Miroku is unaware of this. Upon seeing them huddled together on a lily pad, he rushes in and promptly places 100 or so strikes on his head (according to Shippou).
In the third movie, he also says the following line to Sango:"...besides, what's the point of living with this cursed hand...when I can't even use it to protect the woman I love?"
As of the fourth film, Miroku and Sango are still engaged to be married after Naraku's defeat, although there are episodes which have shown their wedding day (Kagome's imagination in ep. 78)
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