Name: Miroku
Name: Miroku
Alias(es): Houshi, Houshi-sama (in the Japanese naturally)
Birthday:
Age: 20
Hair: Black
Eyes: Purple
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 152 lbs
Blood Type:
Family: Father (deceased), Mushin (foster father)
Status: Buddhist Monk, con artist, member of Inuyasha's group
Quote: Will you bear my child?
Anime: Inuyasha
Voice: (English) Kirby Morrow (Japanese) Kouji Tsujitani
History and Personality:
He is a houshi, or Buddhist monk, who possesses a rather unusual curse. His right hand has a slowly expanding Kazana ("Wind Tunnel" in the English dub) that sucks in anything nearby if it's not kept covered by a cloth and strand of 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 and discovers she has shards of the Shikon no Tama (The Jewel of the Four Souls) and takes them and her bike 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 Kazana 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 easy 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 Kazana curse. Despite knowing this, Miroku continues his ways.
Miroku is also a conman. Even after he joins the group he often acquires lodging by exorcising the wealthiest house/inn in a village -generally when no exorcism is actually needed. He has been known, on occasion, to rob a wealthy Lord blind after offering his assistance, and is rarely adverse to payment, especially in pawn-able goods. Ironically the few times Miroku has refused compensation are times when he actually did render services and/or perform a rescue. This hints that he may be a more compassionate and honorable person than he seems at first glance.
Despite his many flaws, the monk mellows out as time goes on and proves to be a very valuable ally. He is very knowledgeable about youkai, 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's behavior can be quite contradictory. So much so that we wonder which man is the real Miroku - is the perverted con-artist hiding behind the guise of a holy man, or is the lecherous thief the mask behind which a thoughtful and deeply feeling man hides?
Miroku's goal in life is to hunt down and destroy Naraku.
Relationships:
InuYasha - InuYasha may not like how the monk approaches life (women, villagers, opportunity...), but he does respect the monk for his battle skills, knowledge of youkai, and other worldly skills. They have saved each other's lives several times, and both know that they can implicitly trust each other to help if they are in trouble.
Kagome Higurashi - When they first meet, Miroku asks her to bear his child, and promptly gropes her. But once Sango joins the team, Miroku loses interest in Kagome and no longer pursues her. However he enjoys her mother's home cooking, is respectful of her newfound combat skills, and often sides with her during her arguments with InuYasha.
Shippo - Like InuYasha the little kitsune disapproves of the monk's methods, but also recognizes a good ally. Miroku and Shippo rarely interact directly, but when they do, it is as friends and comrades.
Hachiemon (Hachi) - Miroku's partner-in-crime before Miroku met InuYasha and friends. This tanuki jojin (raccoon dog) would act as the youkai and the sneaky monk would pretend to drive him off. The houshi would then collect from the youkai's "victims." Hachi is very loyal to Miroku (if a bit cowardly), and their friendship is very solid. Due to Hachi's friendly nature, he is very polite and congenial to others.
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 he is injured), though she usually slaps or punches him for it. Despite this, Sango displays varying degrees of jealousy when Miroku pays attention 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.
Near the end of the anime series (Episode #132) Miroku saves Sango from a poisoned egg which was causing her to repeatedly attack him. Unfortunately to do so, Miroku was required to defeat Sango in combat, causing physical injury to her. Guilty over his actions (his negligence 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 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. As of the fourth film, Miroku and Sango are still engaged to be married.
Techniques: Miroku possess a fair amount of holy powers as well as great physical skill and his unique "cursed" hand, all of which he uses in battle
Demonic Power- Kazana (Wind Tunnel) Acts as a mini-black hole that can suck anything in. Miroku's grandfather was cursed by Naraku with the void in his right hand, and it has passed on to his father and now him. As time passes the hole grows in size, and thus increases in power. If Naraku is not destroyed in time, Miroku will be drawn in sharing the fate of his father and grandfather. One advantage of this curse is that it gives Miroku a deadly weapon which puts him on level ground with hordes of youkai, as there are many enemies throughout the series that can't be destroyed by any of his friends and thus he must use his Wind Tunnel to suck them in.
There are two main weaknesses of this attack; if he absorbs something with demonic poison (such as Naraku's insects known as the Saimyosho, or cursed zombies, or anything with a tainted aura such as the water from the god Numawatari) the poison will be spread to Miroku. Because of his holy powers Miroku has a strong resistance to demonic poisons but too much of it can kill him; the other weakness is that if some sharp object such as a knife is sucked into the hole and manages to pierce a side of the hole, then this injury must be repaired otherwise the hole will begin to grow at a much faster rate and thus eventually kill him sooner than his time.
During chapter 448 of the manga, Miroku attempted to use the Kazaana on the merged Naraku and Mouryoumaru, but absorbed the Fuyouheki in their place, thus allowing Naraku/Mouryoumaru's youki to be detected once more. However, he also absorbed a large amount of shouki (miasma); though he was purified by Kikyo, the shouki had cut wounds deep into his body. Now, continued use of the Kazaana will increase these wounds as well, until they reach his heart and kill him.
Holy Powers-
Trivia: Evidently the name Miroku is the name for the predicted Buddah of the future (the Buddhistavva)
Why we love him: He's funny, he's charming, he's intelligent and often compassionate... so what's a little lechery and thievery? Seriously, I don't understand why we love him either. It's not as though he's got us fooled...
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