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Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha: The Real Truth

Written on February 18, 2008
Last revised on February 19, 2008.


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This article was originally hosted on The Puppy Files, written by Razzy. The website is no longer available, hence I took the liberty to retrieve it from Wayback Machine, a site that archives the internet. (Mind-boggling, I know.)

 

As everyone knows, Sesshoumaru is Inuyasha's older half-brother. He is a full demon and proud of it! I can really relate to this particular baddie. He doesn't exactly loathe humans, but they are far beneath him. I can completely understand! Humans are inferior beings that are nothing more than annoyances. They aren't worth his time. So little brother Inuyasha is also far beneath him. Inuyasha is half human, after all. But really, why does Sesshoumaru hate Inuyasha so? Yes, its because he's totally unsophisticated and brings shame to their father. That's definitely part of it. But there's more to it than that. You have to remember that Sesshoumaru absolutely idolized is father. He couldn't find fault with the demon. And yet, his great father fell for a human woman, and Inuyasha is the result of that. Inuyasha represents a "weakness" in their father, and Sesshoumaru cannot STAND that. It doesn't help that Inuyasha doesn't accept this, and doesn't really listen to Sesshoumaru's rantings about how he's inferior. Despite this hatred, Sesshoumaru absolutely will NOT kill Inuyasha. Oh, he says he will, and fights with him like he's going to. He'll mortally wound the hanyou and laugh about it. But when it comes down to it, Sesshoumaru has no interest in killing his little brother. After all, they are blood, and Inuyasha is still the son of their great father. Of course it infuriates Sesshoumaru that Inuyasha does not show proper respect for their father, and of course he beats the hanyou for that. This ties into why he was so determined to take Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha in the beginning. Why would their father leave him such a spiffy sword, and give Sesshoumaru a "useless" one? And Inuyasha didn't even show respect. So Sesshoumaru decided he would set things straight, and take the sword for his own. Of course, he later decides that he'll let Inuyasha keep it, and gets a sword of his own. You see what happened there? He decided against killing Inuyasha and just let him keep the dumb sword. It's kind of like a pouting thing. Think about it. Two normal brothers are fighting over something. The older one realizes he can't get what he wants easily, and pretends he never cared about it anyway and leaves in a huffy fit. Then he goes out and buys something better than what his little brother has, and goes on his way, feeling much better about the whole thing. That's what happened with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru! They really do act just like normal brothers would. Just throw in the fact that they are demons, and that's where your differences come from. In fact, neither of them want the other to die. Inuyasha would be perfectly happy if Sesshoumaru never bothered him again. But he doesn't want the youkai to die. In all their fights, Inuyasha has never tried to fatally wound his brother. Yeah, he took off an arm. Yeah, he's managed to take his older brother out of commission. But he's never gone for the kill. That's actually the reason Totosai let him keep Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha had the opportunity to kill off Sesshoumaru with the wind scar, but he held back. Why? Well, Sesshoumaru is still his older brother, and Inuyasha can't forget that no matter how much he wants to. Its not like he cares about being accepted or respected by Sesshoumaru. (much). No, he'd be happy if his big brother just left him alone. Ah, but he won't get that as long as the two have the same goal- to kill Naraku. But I digress. Sesshoumaru doesn't want Inuyasha to die, either. When he was first introduced in the manga, Jaken mentioned Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru silenced him immediately. Was it because Sesshoumaru didn't want to be reminded of the worthless dead brother of his? No. I think it was because Sesshoumaru didn't like the thought that his worthless half brother had gotten himself killed. By a human, no less. That was definitely a sore spot with him. Of course, when he found out Inuyasha was alive, he had to go and pick on him, like any good older brother would do. Yet during all their fights, Sesshoumaru never tried to actually kill him. Came close an awful lot, but never went the whole way. He doesn't want Inuyasha to die, because he's still his brother. Which may be part of what prompts Sesshoumaru to aid Inuyasha and his friends every so often. My conclusion? The brothers don't actually hate each other. Sesshoumaru will even go so far as to tease Inuyasha about Kagome. He thinks its kind of fitting that Inuyasha would have the same weakness for humans their father did. In fact, Sesshoumaru wouldn't bother Inuyasha at all if their interests never conflicted. As for Inuyasha, nah, he doesn't hate his brother. He just severely dislikes him, and wants him to go away... forever.

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