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Name: Kouga
Age: 15 (notation)
Race: Yoro-Zoku (wolf-yokai tribe)
Weapons: Goraishi ("Five Thunder Fingers")
Kouga is a yokai-wolf, and he is the leader of his tribe identified in the manga as The Eastern Wolf Pack. He first appeared as a villain in volume 14 of the manga.
He was pursuing a wolf demon who had stolen one of his three shards of the Shikon no Tama, a jewel of great power shattered by Kagome into many shards. (He has one shard in each of his legs.) He reclaimed the shard then slaughtered the thief. He then allowed his wolves to slaughter and feed on the villagers, which (as fate would have it) included Rin, the young girl who would later travel with Sesshomaru. When Inuyasha found the ransacked village he attacked the remaining wolves who then called Kouga. The two fought briefly. During their fight, Kouga noted Kagome's ability to see the shards of the jewel. He ended the battle by running away and plotted Kagome's kidnapping. He managed to get her and Shippou to his pack's den and explained that he needed her to fight his clan's enemies, the harpies or paradise birds as they have been variously translated. Kagome seems to recognize some good properties in Kouga or possibly the evil in the siamese twin that leads the harpies. She helps him much to Inuyasha's confusion and hurt. Kouga gets the information he needs from her then remands her into the safe keeping of his loyal packmates Ginta and Hakkaku. After he defeats his enemy with some unwanted help from Inuyasha, he sees that his rival has rescued Kagome. In front of their entire party and his clan he declares that Kagome is "his woman," and vows that he has "fallen in love with her."
After this initial introduction, it appears that Kouga undergoes an amazing change in personality and point of view. He ceases to allow his wolves to eat humans as food. He courts Kagome bringing her flowers and protecting her whenever possible and irritating Inuyasha as much as possible in the process.
His entire pack except for Ginta and Hakkaku (and in the anime, Ayame) are lured to their death by zombies controlled by Naraku's detachment Kagura. After the slaughter, he vows to destroy her and Naraku at any cost. Since that is also the goal of both Inuyasha's party and Sesshoumaru's party it is inevitable that their paths will continue to cross in the future and that thanks to Kagome's influence he is now a "good guy."
Kouga appears humanoid and has not to date taken any other forms in either the manga or anime. He was the possessor of two of the last four shards not held by Naraku which thus moved him from the status of secondary character in the manga to key player.
Midoriko, the miko (priestess) whose soul exists in the Shikon No Tama has awakened and decided that the only way to destroy the villain Naraku is to rejoin the shards and complete the jewel then destroy it and Naraku at once. To put her plan into play she has added her soul to the stolen souls of dead girls that empower the clay and ash body that houses the vengeance-seeking spirit of the miko Kikyo, who was protector of the Shikon and Inuyasha's first love.
Midoriko has used her power to freeze Kouga's legs at vital moments in battle, so that his shards can be taken by Naraku in order to complete the jewel. Kouga has apparently recognized that he has become a liability to his followers and tricked them into believing he had decided to join Inuyasha's party to get them to leave him and seek safety with the other wolf yokai tribes. He did not however stay with the main party but struck off on his own. The Goraishi, which is more powerful than Midoriko was able to overcome her control over his shards and thus allowed Koga to free himself after Naraku almost devoured him. However, this divine protection could only be used once, and now there is nothing left to protect Koga from Naraku or Midoriko.
Koga recently battled Naraku in his new form after assimilating Moryomaru in the manga (Chapters 459-465). The jewels inside Koga are purified during the battle. Koga then attempts to have Naraku touch the shards in order to purify the shard inside Naraku. When Naraku realizes this, he takes the shard he's carrying from his body and places it on the weak Kikyo. Kagome is able to purify the shard on Kikyo and shoot it at Naraku. By the time this is done however, Koga has already been deprived of the shards in his legs.
Very recently in the manga (Chapter 466) Koga makes a surprising and unexpected move by leaving the group. He also lets Kagome to stay with Inuyasha to help him (Inuyasha) to cope with his loss of Kikyou. He claims that he will now be a burden to the group without his shards. This ends a sub plot in the series by him leaving. It is however possible that he may make a cameo appearance later in the series.
Lesser Abilities
Speed - With the jewel shards in his legs Koga can move much faster than other wolf demons, a fact often symbolized in the anime and manga as a whirlwind of dust and debris kicked up as he runs. However, his shards have recently been taken by Naraku, so he can no longer run as fast as he used too.
Agility - Koga is quick and agile using swift moves and high jumps to perform martial arts and brawling style physical attacks.
Swordskill - Koga carries what appears to be an ordinary Katana taken from a human kill that he used once in the manga when all other attacks failed. He states that the sword was only for decoration.
Claws - Koga can use his claws as weapons, though in the anime they are most often drawn as normal fingernails rather than the claws that are present in the manga.
Shard Kick - like a regular kick, except with the help of the Jewel shards' power in his legs, it is a stronger kick that can break a boulder into tiny pieces. (It is no longer valid in the manga.)
This claw-like weapon is a relic of the youkai-wolf clans. It lies dormant beneath the flesh of Koga's hand springing forth when he wishes to use it. It was guarded by the spirits of the wolf tribes' ancestors, all of whom are old men wearing demon skulls and fur. They also seem to be able to communicate their thoughts to Koga via the Goraishi. Koga was able to pass the test of the guardians and win it.
It can be used as a slashing weapon and also has a powerful magic attack, which is on par with, if not stronger than Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu, or even Bakury��ha, as Koga did manage to knock down adamant spears from Mouryoumaru earlier on (before Mouryoumaru's aquirement of Shikon shards). Also it seems to emit divine energy, which is different from the holy energy used by Miroku or the demonic energy used by Inuyasha.
Koga was informed upon receiving the weapon that it would protect him only one time from Midoriko's will over the Jewel shards. The one-time protection was used after Kagome's arrow purified Naraku's aura which was preventing the protection from being activated. This protection was so strong that not only did it overcome Midoriko's power, which was trying to allow Naraku to consume Koga in her plot to complete the Shikon no Tama, but also defeated Naraku's aura as Koga was able to go through Naraku's shoki without being harmed. In the end, Naraku's body erupted, as the divine protection allowed Koga safe passage outside Naraku's flesh.
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