Naraku // Onigumo

( Private to Kikyo )

I don't understand. Why am I so... what have they done to me? I feel... I feel...

[ Guess what happened to Naraku because of the event? He's no longer cruel, evil, and suppressing his emotions. Now he's a heartbroken open floodgate of every emotion he's kept pent-up for five decades. Onigumo's out, for the most part. Have fun with him. ]

[ There are empty packages of food strewn about the room. Despite this, the room visible is otherwise immaculately clean, and relatively dust-free. Naraku seems to be in somewhat physical pain, his knees brought up to his chest, and his face fixed in an uncomfortable expression. ]

Hunger is not something that I am familiar with.

[ He starts off, looking at the packages. ]

Neither is thirst.

[ The small bottle of water in his hand is down to its last mouthful. ]

I will require the knowledge of a location where I may scavenge more supplies.

Name: Pain
Livejournal: I have no personal LJ. This is because of my over-abundance of social networking accounts elsewhere. XD
Contact: AIM @ "s3r1es0fpain". Everything else given on request.
Other Characters Played: None. I'm new. 8D
Are you 18 or over? I am! In fact, my birthday is a week away.

Canon: InuYasha
Character: Naraku
Timeline: Just after re-absorbing his human heart.
Personality: Naraku is a master manipulator, superior in intellect, ability, and cunning to his 'human' half, Onigumo. He always seems to be several steps ahead of his enemies, including InuYasha and company, Sesshoumaru, and even his own rebellious detachments. Unlike Onigumo, Naraku is cold, merciless, and obsessed with gaining the Shikon no Tama (ultimately leading to his undoing).

He is also clearly capable of hiding his true personality; he was easily able to impersonate InuYasha and Kikyo with his shapeshifting ability, and was convincing enough to turn the two against each other, leading to the former's sealing within a tree and the latter's death. Also, prior to absorbing vast amounts of demons and gaining their powers and strength, Naraku recognized his own weakness as a half-demon. However, he was able to circumvent this with a near-masterful use of dirty tricks, traps, and deception.

The more demons that Naraku absorbs, the deeper and deeper Onigumo seems to vanish beneath the amalgamation of demons that make up the Naraku personality. This has shown that the Faustian bargain that Onigumo made to spare his own life with demons has still, ultimately, lead to his own death.

Naraku seems to despise his human emotions, a trait due in part to being a hanyo (half-demon). He knows that he is able to feel emotions such as sadness, love, and attachment, and sees this as a source of weakness. Unlike InuYasha, who is hesitant to become a full demon for this very reason, Naraku relishes the chance to be rid of his own human emotions, simply because it will make him more powerful.

Despite his hatred for his human emotions, he is cearly not immune to them. There is even an argument to be made that he has leftover feelings for Kikyo from when he was Onigumo, though Naraku does an excellent job of suppressing Onigumo's affection for her. Naraku fully acknowledges that he is still capable of feeling emotions, and at several key points in the series, he is shown struggling to deal with emotions ranging from anger to what can possibly be described as a mix between depression and confusion. This has shown that, while he is clearly able to suppress emotions for very extended periods of time, extreme stress can cause an emotional meltdown. This is likely due to the fact that internally, there is still a struggle between Naraku's personality, and Onigumo's personality.

Even with the emotions, he appears cold and vicious. His 'children' in the form of Detachments hold absolutely no value to him, except as slaves. He killed Kagura without a second thought, and mockingly returned her heart to her - the very reason she actively rebelled against him - as she laid languishing and dying. He also told Kanna to kill herself in a kamikaze attack on InuYasha and Kagome, showing how little he cares for his own creations, even if some of his creations actually did feel affection towards him.

Naraku can ultimately be described as evil, cruel, and bent on gaining as much power as possible. When deprived of the possibilities of such a goal (i.e. the Shikon no Tama now being beyond his reach in this world), it is entirely unknown what his goal will be. That will honestly depend on any developing plot within the game itself.
Background: Naraku's previous human self, Onigumo, was once a simple bandit. However, the bandit ran across Kikyo, and tricked the leader of the group of bandits into approaching the priestess and taking the Shikon jewel from her. However, Onigumo omitted the fact that a half-demon, InuYasha, was with her, resulting in the poor old dude losing an eye. When he returned to the camp, he found out that Onigumo had taken over the group, and they were all celebrating. The former bandit leader then blew up the inn the bandits were staying at. Somehow, Onigumo survived, but only barely so. When the bandit leader threw him over a cliff.

By some miracle, Kikyo discovered Onigumo, and nursed the dying man back to a stable condition. He began to fall in love with her; but because he was paralyzed, he was forced to summon demons to him. He allowed the demons to devour his body, if they would be willing to give him a new body to claim Kikyo and the Shikon Jewel for himself. They agreed. Onigumo, serving as the connector for an amalgamation of demonic bodies, was reborn as the half-demon Naraku.

Naraku quickly became his own personality, with Onigumo being forced back into the furthest reaches of Naraku's subconscious. Rather than having the demons think for Onigumo, they forged a sort of hive-mind, calling itself Naraku that commanded all of the demonic bodies absorbed into the humanoid body of Onigumo. Naraku, unlike Onigumo, was not as interested in Kikyo to the degree the latter was. With his newfound body, Naraku immediately set off to gain the Shikon Jewel for himself, by using his shapeshifting power to turn InuYasha and Kikyo against each other. Using InuYasha's form, he killed Kikyo, and with Kikyo's form, he tricked the villagers into believing that InuYasha was going to steal the jewel; leaving InuYasha no choice but to attempt to obtain it by force. Kikyo, believing InuYasha to be a traitor, used the last of her strength to seal the dog hanyo into the Tree of Souls. Much to Naraku's disappointment, though, Kikyo requested Kaede cremate the jewel with Kikyo's body.

Deep inside Naraku's unconscious mind, however, Onigumo struggled against Naraku, angered at Kikyo's death. This caused Naraku to go into hiding, meditating to suppress Onigumo, while waiting for the Shikon Jewel to reappear for more than fifty years. Even throughout the remainder of the series, despite Naraku's clear dominance in his mind, Onigumo continued to rebel against Naraku in his own subconscious.

During these fifty years, Naraku absorbed more demons, while disposing of his own humanity and any weaker demons who managed to be absorbed accidentally. This eventually lead to him gaining much more power, to the point where his own power was comparable to that of a full-fledged Yokai, despite being a Hanyo.

Eventually, InuYasha was able to break Naraku's barrier, and severely wounded Naraku, nearly killing him. He was forced to retreat, shocked that his newfound power was not enough, and was forced to live on Mt. Hakurei. In his weakened and vulnerable state, he tricked a dead priest into developing a holy barrier that was impassable for any demon without being purified (and thereby, weakened or killed). For many months, Naraku lived within a cave, safe from the barrier's effect, while he waited for his broken and mangled body to rebuild itself while expelling any demonic part that had made him weaker. Kikyo was eventually able to convince the priest to dismantle the barrier. However, by this time, Naraku had disposed of his human heart, rendering himself nearly invincible.

Unbeknownst to the protagonists, Naraku had a very specific reason for making the form of his heart, known as Akago, physically very weak, despite the fact that the death of Akago would have killed Naraku himself. Naraku had (correctly) predicted that his own heart would turn against him, along with Moryomaru, a demon that had agreed to protect Akago. Even though Naraku was aware that eventually he would need to reabsorb his heart, Naraku had predicted that Akago would grow fond of his freedom, or perhaps even disapprove of Naraku himself. As a result, Naraku planned several steps ahead and purposely set it up so that he would have no difficulty in reclaiming Akago.

After the second death of Kikyo, Naraku was seldom seen again in the series. Eventually, however, he finally did reappear, as he absorbed an extremely powerful tree demon that had absorbed many humans and demons itself. He was forced to have to re-absorb his heart at this point, but in a shocking twist, Moryomaru absorbed Naraku instead. It turned out, however, that Naraku had planned this all along. He then absorbed Moryomaru from the inside out in a sort of Trojan Horse-like trick, leaving his heart, in the form of an infant, utterly defenseless. Naraku then reclaimed his own heart, becoming even more powerful by doing so.

By this time, Naraku had surpassed even the vast majority of full-fledged demons in terms of power, becoming a truly terrifying force in Feudal Japan. That is from where I am taking him in canon.

Abilities/Additional Notes: (For a complete list of Naraku's abilities, see this page. I will attempt to summarize his main abilities here.)

An asterisk (*) means I am fully willing to omit this power for the game.

• Superhuman Strength/Endurance: Fairly standard for humanoid demons and hanyo, Naraku's physical strength and endurance are far superior to that of any normal human.
  
• Absorption: Naraku gained the majority of his power from absorbing weaker demons into his own body. The absorbed demons are then integrated into Naraku's 'hive mind.' As a result, he has access to the powers and abilities of every demon he has absorbed, and is able to use their own limbs thanks to his shapeshifting ability. The downside, however, is that he will need to expel and filter out useless powers and demon parts. He often does this when he needs to revert to his human form (see his wiki page for more info), much in the same way InuYasha occasionally needs to. He has absorbed literally thousands of demons; despite Naraku technically being a Hanyou (half-demon), his net-absorption puts his power far above even most full-blooded yokai. He was more than a match for even Sesshoumaru and InuYasha together.
  
• Shapeshifting: Naraku is able to shapeshift his entire body, including individual body parts. While this mostly consists of turning his appendages into weapons (such as 'sharp' tentacles) or his body into armor, he has been able to convincingly shapeshift into entirely different people, and perfectly impersonate them.
  
• Regeneration: Naraku has been able to fully recover from life-threatening injuries throughout the series. However, the amount of time it takes for him to recover is directly proportional to the amount of damage he has sustained. A minor injury such as a deep gash or a broken bone can be fully healed within twenty-four hours, but everything up to and including fatal injuries requires him to stay in hiding for months. While Naraku can certainly die from his injuries, he has been able to absorb even more demons to recover from them. When deprived of this ability, however, he will need to find a safe place to hide should he ever be mortally injured. As for dismemberment, Naraku has been able to simply replace a severed limb with another he has taken from a demon he previously absorbed. Thanks to his shapeshifting abilities, it will appear as if it never happened in the first place. Blame the creators for the inconsistency.
  
• Full Body Control:Naraku can control every single part of his body up to and including his hair and heart, even if said body part was severed. This is especially useful when he is trying to absorb something.
  
• Saimyōshō *: Naraku can summon an control his demonic wasp minions. While they themselves are extremely easy to kill, they are mainly used for spying, gathering Shikon no Tama shards, and serving as a deterrent to people trying to absorb him. While their sting is fatally toxic to humans and demons alike, they're physically extremely weak (especially for demons), and were easily dispatched by InuYasha and his party.
  
• Barriers: Naraku is able to create barriers around himself, capable of deflecting all but the most powerful of attacks. Later, after absorbing Mōryōmaru, he gained the ability to cover himself at will with Mōryōmaru's impenetrable shell. Mōryōmaru's shell is a physical barrier about as hard as diamonds, while his barriers are energy-based, and are likely a manifestation of his Shoki.
  [Unknown site tag]Beams: Naraku can fire beams from the spikes on his shoulders (and presumably elsewhere as well). They appear to be heat-based, as they leave burn marks wherever they go, and can burn through solid steel. However, since they are created by Shoki-infused body parts, they cannot be countered by Bakuryūha, as a technicality counts it as a physical attack.
  
• Detachments *: Naraku occasionally needs to dispose of weaker parts of his demonic bodies that he unintentionally absorbs. These can sometimes take the form of Detachments, sentient demons that are born from expelled demonic parts, complete with their own independent personalities. While Naraku cannot control them (Kagura being a prime example of a Detachment that rebelled against him), they have served as minions of his. However, due to the fact that he will have no demons to absorb in this game, the chances of him doing this in-game are slim-to-none, as he would need to willingly sacrifice a portion of his own power to do so. Though, if the mods would like, I could do this as part of a plot? Just an idea.
  
• Miasma: Naraku's trademark. His power has evolved to the point where his Shōki (demonic aura) has literally become this. It is a form of poisonous gas, and can instantly kill anyone who inhales a full breath of it. It has even shown to be mildly corrosive to the skin, similar to acid. Naraku commonly used this to cover his entrances and escapes. His body is literally full of miasma, and has lead to the deaths of demons who have bitten or dismembered him. Miasma infections can be cured through holy objects or powers, as it is technically a demonic aura and not an actual poisonous gas like carbon monoxide.
  
• Psionics: Naraku has displayed psychic abilities throughout the series, including telekinesis, astral projection, the creation of illusions, telepathy, and flight.
  
  
  Sample Journal Post:
  This world is sickening to me. Humans in all directions, like flies on a corpse. I can feel the way this planet has died; destroyed by its very inhabitants, motivated by their own greed and arrogance.
  
  Even at the height of their own power, humans cannot resist destroying that which they hold dear. It would be tragic, if not for the irony of the end result. Truly, humans are far more sinister than any demon I have seen before.
  
  Sample RP:
  The sounds of insects could be heard, like a slow rumble at first, but soon amplified into a loud clatter, like a thousand windows being shattered at once. The sun itself seemed to be blotted out, and the red eyes of Saimyosho illuminated the newly created darkness caused by the snuffing out of all light by tens of thousands of small, arthropodic bodies.
  
  Beneath the cover of the vast swarm was a small, hunched over figure, clad in a white cloak, and masked by the face of a slain baboon. The creature was sitting cross legged, but from the way the cloak covered the body, it resembled a fat, squatting creature, pathetic and maimed.
  
  Suddenly, the creature raised its dark, shaded eyes to the small bit of sunlight peeking through the vast swarms. It was then that a vortex appeared overs its head, and the swarm parted like the Red Sea, revealing what they were carrying; hundreds of thousands of small demonic creatures, never larger than the size of a small child. As if it were some kind of unholy ritual, the small creatures were dropped by their insectoid carriers. Thousands of small voices screamed out at once, seeing their fate below them; the large, gaping maw of the vortex sucking all of them into the body of the baboon-faced creature, like a black hole drawing in a meteor shower into its singularity.
  
  And then, in a microsecond, all was silent. The insects departed as quickly as they arrived, and the creature resumed its eerie silence and statuesque stillness. Naraku was satisfied. His patience had paid off.
  
  But still, it was never enough.