Miroku

"Would you consider bearing my children?"

- Miroku whenever he meets a woman Miroku is the secondary male protagonist of the anime/manga series Inuyasha. He is a monk who travelled with Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippō, and Sango. His grandfather Miyatsu was cursed fifty years ago by Naraku, leading to the creation of the wind tunnel, which was destined to be passed down to all of his male descendants, including Miroku. Miroku is known for his on and off relationships with Sango, who eventually becomes his wife and bears him three children.

He is voiced by Kōji Tsujitani in the Japanese version of the anime and Kirby Morrow in the English version.

Appearance
Miroku has black hair tied in a small ponytail on the back of his neck, dark blue eyes and wears golden earrings. He is called handsome by some people (usually women).

The robes of most wandering monks are actually quite poor and ragged - often stitched together out of whatever pieces of cloth a person might give them on their travels. Miroku's robes are quite extravagant and expensive compared to those of most itinerant monks. However, this is consistent with his tendency to loot the wealth of greedy merchants whose homes he rids of demons and ghosts.

Rosary:

Miroku carries a string of beads used for Buddhist prayer and invocation. They are usually associated with a chant repeating "Amida Nyorai". The most common type has 108 beads. The nenju carried by Japanese Buddhist monks were typically made of 112 wooden beads.

Originally rare and made of semi-precious stones, the spread of Buddhism brought wider use of nenju from the Heian Period (8th-12th century) through the Kamakura Period (12th-14th century). By the Warring States era, most poor monks carried wooden beads. The number "108" (a sacred number in many Buddhist traditions) represents the number of earthly passions and desires that blind and delude us, entrapping us in the Six States of Existence (the wheel of life, the cycle of samsara, the cycle of suffering and reincarnation).

Miroku makes further use of his nenju to seal off the Wind Tunnel in his hand.

Tekko:

The arm protectors worn by both Miroku and Sango are called Tekko. Miroku normally wraps the Tekko over the Wind Tunnel, then seals it with his Nenju (rosary). However, he abandons it once the Wind Tunnel was removed.

Personality
If he failed to defeat Naraku, his life would be cut short by the Kazaana curse set upon by Naraku in his right hand. The threat of dying on his head, he forged under heaven's command in the face of his cruel destiny which was later reverted due to Naraku's death. He has a strong spirit that allows him to conduct himself in an easygoing manner, not showing his weaknesses and hiding his true feelings. As his body is in the service of Buddha, his soul is well-balanced.

Miroku is very brave, willing to sacrifice his own well-being in order to protect the lives of innocents and those he cares for, as seen when he willingly sucked up many demons and Saimyōshō to allow Inuyasha to go rescue Kagome and Sango, even though he knew he would be badly poisoned by the Saimyōshō. That being said, running away from someone he feels he's no match against is not something he's shameful about if he feels it's the most reasonable option (Unlike that of Inuyasha, whose pride and stubbornness often causes him to still fight even if the odds are against him). However, when it comes to protecting his friends and loved ones, he will risk his life without a second thought. Repeating such acts (which he had done many times over to almost all of his companions, especially to Sango) caused Miroku's life to be threatened even more so than usual. But he is not just being reckless, he's demonstrating his bravery and sense of justice.

Basically, he is kind and friendly, but he does not have a lot of patience and can be somewhat short-tempered if others think ill of him. He sometimes shows a completely different facial expression than his usual calm one. When he meets someone who is adverse in his advice or questions, he becomes a bad monk, verbally criticizing and becoming violent without hesitation. He'll punish anyone with his foul language, even if it's the first time he's met the person. Miroku's temper has been shown to arise in both the anime and manga, towards Inuyasha, especially Hachiemon, and on one occasion, he even violently beat up Jaken (An event that left Jaken being terrified of the monk).

He will not harm innocent people for his own convenience and dislikes pointless fighting. Miroku is a pacifist, and even if someone challenges him (like Inuyasha did when he first met him), he'll run if there is no need to fight. Even during battle, he thinks about the people around him first and has much compassion towards innocent people. Often, when simple villagers are put against him in battle, Miroku, though he defends himself, restrains his counterattacks and refuses to kill other people when he easily could. He treats even enemies with respect and consideration (excluding Naraku). When enemies lose their hostility (like Rōyakan for example), he believed it unnecessary and cruel to attack any further. His Buddhist heart is open to everyone.

Miroku has an open heart and thinks more about others than himself, naturally being very unselfish. He is sensitive to people's feelings and can be attentive on an individual basis. To make things well, he treats people gently or, when required, severely. He never adopts a pushy attitude, but instead is nonchalantly attentive such as when he acted towards Sango over Kohaku. Being warmhearted by nature, he cannot stand by and see innocent people suffer or grieve when he knows he could do something about it. His sympathy and consideration of others' feelings are always seen.

Miroku was constantly up against the memory of death and avoided relationships with people, for in the back of his mind, he always had an image of his father who died by being sucked into the Wind Tunnel. He was forced into a lonely, merciless life because of Naraku's curse. Even when he began to journey with Inuyasha's party, he could not relieve his torment and tried to solve things on his own. However, his heart began to heal through the strong bonds he formed with his companions, healing his loneliness as time passed. Despite having friends, Miroku still anguished over his Kazaana and condemned fate to die; his greatest fear being his Wind Tunnel sucking up his companions and then himself along with them. He often hid his true feelings with a carefree and easygoing exterior, but his fear of dying still showed through on occasion. Though once the Wind Tunnel was gone, Miroku was free to live his life.

In addition to his intense curiosity, he takes an objective view on things. Should a question arise, he would investigate it, even in the midst of battle. When suspicions or ambiguities arose, he would actively investigate, even if he was in a dangerous place. He tried to see clearly the actual conditions or truth in things. He also has a great ability for understanding and an excellent memory. Miroku also has knowledge on a variety of things, all of which he understands deeply. He has particular knowledge of gods, spirits and other such entities. From these things he gained clues to deciphering Naraku's actions and deceptions. Miroku is obviously the tactician of Inuyasha's party, due to being the most intelligent and wise out of all of them.

As he is capable of calm judgment in a variety of situations, he was able to fight and act cleverly. He can also perform analysis based on only scant information and make accurate guesses that become solid information. Miroku analyzes matters on the basis of his experience and leads with conviction. He is insightful and can sense changes in enemy movements. He speculated all possibilities and comes to the most likely answer. What's more, there are many cases in Miroku's analysis of tactical situation that gave his companions a strategic advantage.

Because nobody could predict the outcome of their journey, their daily life depended on unplanned circumstances. When there was no place to stay, Miroku finds the most magnificent premises around and performed fake exorcisms, thereby getting a place to sleep and eat by taking advantage of his position as a monk. Miroku employed blackmail and theft, making him manipulative and resourceful, but means no harm by it. He simply does all these actions to gain a favorable situation for him and his friends. He even believes it to be just dues (much to the annoyance of his companions). Also being the most responsible with managing, he was left in charge of the money. He has gotten used to telling lies with very little to no remorse, and is not above lying to simple and honest villagers or spirit monkeys.

Miroku, much like his father and grandfather, is a peerless womanizer. Unusual for a monk, he easily gives in to his perverted desires and does nothing to hide them as he expresses them freely. As soon as he saw a beautiful woman, he wasted no time in pursuing her. No matter where he is, he takes pleasure in the company of beautiful women. He often staged palm readings to meet women. And once, an entire town of women found themselves captivated by his palm-reading skills. He took pleasure in shameless flirting with women during his journeys, but not just any women. If a woman was old or unattractive, he has been known to run away from these types of women out of fear (especially when these particular women were infatuated with him).

He has asked scores of women to bear his child and often tried to connect with them heart-to-heart through physical contact. His desire to have children was very serious but people around him did not seem to understand this. Women often viewed him with hostility or mistrust, thinking he was joking, but it is human instinct to want to leave descendants when one feels his life is growing shorter, like Miroku did. Given an opening and opportunity, he would touch any women's behind. He has an obsession for women and has fondled them even in the middle of serious conversation or suffering from injuries or poison. Miroku touches women in front of him almost as if it was an unconscious reflex. At one point when he is called possessed by the white and red priestesses he states that the hand is possessed by a demon. Being a true lecher, he is unconcerned by being verbally insulted, slapped, or receiving scornful glares. Miroku has consistently perverted thoughts. However, he cared about Sango and thus left her alone when she was distressed. He did eventually touch her breasts and butt though, once Sango stopped being so sad.

Although he continued in his flirtatious ways toward women, his feelings for Sango are not like that. She is shown to be very important to him and a reliable companion while pursuing Naraku. Though the attitude he showed Sango under normal circumstances was the same as he showed towards other women: lecherous. Even when he plied her with kindness, he showed no sense of romantic love which is shown to somewhat annoy Sango. He looked as if he had no feelings towards her as a woman. (Miroku stating in his confession to her that was the problem; his inability to see her as an ordinary woman and more of a comrade, a woman he fought alongside). Despite this issue however, Miroku fell deeply in love with Sango, protecting her with his life when Kagura almost killed her, admitting he loved her. He eventually proposed to Sango, who tearfully accepted, becoming his fiancee. Three years after Naraku was killed, it shows Miroku and Sango had started a family together. The couple had twin girls and a newborn boy.