Midoriko

Midoriko (翠（みどり）子（こ）, "Green Child") was an extremely powerful miko who created the Shikon Jewel in order to eliminate the wicked demon-of-demons. Once in doing so, she had forced out not only the demon soul, but her own soul as well, which is the Shikon Jewel. She represents Naohi, the purity of the jewel.

History

Origins

Midoriko lived in the yōkai taijiya village five hundred years before the events of the series, during the Heian period^[1], a time when the court nobility were still in control of Japan.^[2]

As a legendary priestess in a local shinto temple, Midoriko was well known in her job to protect humans from demons, for her vastly strong spiritual abilities and connection to nature, more specifically her ability to purify weaker demons' souls, rendering them completely powerless. It was because of this ability that she was both hated and feared by demons, who frequently targeted her. At some point of her life, a mortal man secretly desired Midoriko and many vengeful yōkai possessed him as an easiest Kodoku spell.

Death

In her final battle, Midoriko was ambushed by the dragon yōkai, her hateful nemesis. The battle lasted for a whole week and eventually the demon captured her in his jaws. In one final attempt to defeat the demon, she pulled his soul into her body, fusing it with her own soul, and then expelled them both simultaneously along with her heart.

Both the demon and Midoriko died, but their souls combined to give birth to the Shikon Jewel. The two remained imprisoned within the jewel and continued to endless battle ever since. As the Jewel's bright light, she can freely move even in the darkness, while the demon she was fighting can't do the same thing in the goodness, since he would be instantly purified as not longer protected by the darkness born from his soul.

During the story

Although many years have passed, her old physical body exists (in crystallized form in the anime, as a mummy in the manga) in the yōkai taijiya village. She was first seen when Sango explained to the group how the jewel was created. She made a cameo, in which she saved Myōga, though it could just have been Myōga seeing things.

Midoriko's soul is later called upon by Kikyō to help purify her wounds from Naraku after they had re-opened. Kikyō figured that since they were alike spirits in the sense that they were both miko who fought yōkai and wanted the jewel to be purified that she would help Kikyō. After Kikyō's wounds were successfully healed by Midoriko's power, Midoriko herself was able to erect powerful barriers to prevent Inuyasha's group from following Kikyō and Kohaku, who through his jewel shard her voice ordered to go after Naraku.

Midoriko begins to enact her will in Kōga's shards and regularly stops his legs from moving in order to allow him to be captured by his enemies like Mōryōmaru and Naraku in an attempt to purify them. In Kikyō's final battle with Naraku, Midoriko remotely purifies Kōga's shards so that when Naraku captures him in the battle Naraku would take the purified shards in and then Kikyō could do her part and purify the jewel and Naraku at once.

However, Naraku noticing the effect the purity of Kōga's shards had on his body even when he slightly touched him gave him enough reason to hide his jewel in Kikyō so that when he fully took the shards once he captured him he wouldn't be purified which unfortunately worked. Once Kikyō's final plan was defeated and she died at Naraku's hands it seemed that the plan had failed, except for the small light in the jewel and Kohaku's shard which still remained.

At the end

When Inuyasha entered the jewel to save Kagome, he finally saw Midoriko herself and witnessed her to help him fighting and defeating a huge amount of demons that form the demon of the Shikon Jewel, with Magatsuhi replaced by Naraku's darkness itself as pure hatred for Inuyasha. Then, she disappeared in a huge light flash and never returned.

In the original manga, although it is not directly explained, it's obvious that Naraku's wish dissolved forever her soul in order to prepare the new place for Kagome. In fact, after her disappearance, the demons said Inuyasha that her battle with them has lasted for the hundreds of years since the Shikon Jewel was born and Kagome will continue it from here. Furthermore, as soon as the light dies, the huge spider web with Naraku's soul appears. Then, with her final death, Inuyasha became her true successor in the ancient fight against the demon, proving with Tessaiga to be even stronger than her immense spiritual power itself, as she fought so many demons physically superior to a human for an entire week instead. Seeing her made Inuyasha more determined than ever to prevent Kagome from being trapped in the jewel.

Instead, in the anime version, after Kagome makes her wish to destroy the jewel and also stop its plan to replace the demon and Midoriko with Naraku and herself, Midoriko ceased her fighting and disappeared along with all the demons she fought, implying that her battle had finally ended and she was allowed to move on to the afterlife.

Physical description

Midoriko's appearance differs in the manga and anime adaptation.

In the manga, save for her corpse, Midoriko's face is always hidden in shadows, preventing the reader from seeing what she looked like in life. Her corpse was mummified and in an advanced state of decay. Her face shrunken and the right of her abdomen torn open by her opponent revealing her ribcage. She had a star-shaped marking in the center of her forehead.

In the anime, Midoriko's full face is shown to the audience, revealing her to be a beautiful young woman with determined eyes, she is also shown speaking. Her corpse in the anime appears to be a crystalized statue retaining the beauty she had in life.

Powers & Abilities

• Immense spiritual power: Midoriko is probably the most powerful priestess shown in the entire series. She was said to be greater than any priest/priestess and generals in her time. As the representation of the purity in the Shikon no Tama, Midoriko possessed extremely high levels of spiritual power, strength and energy. Even a priestess like Kikyō had specifically sought to obtain Midoriko's soul in order to completely destroy Naraku due to the strong powers she has over the Shikon Jewel.
  • Immense purification: Her purification abilities are said to be capable of purifying hundreds to thousands of demons all at once, similar to Inuyasha's Wind Scar which can destroy a hundred yōkai in a single swing. This is shown when her powers were able to completely purify Naraku's miasma when Kikyō fused Midoriko's soul unto her body to heal the miasma inflicted wounds that Naraku inflicted upon her body, even though Kagome's purification could only temporarily heal Kikyō's injuries.
  • Shikon: Midoriko's most fearsome and all-powerful ability was to exorcise Shikon. One's spirit is made up of four souls in Naohi (直霊): Aramitama (荒魂, Courage), Nigimitama (和魂, Friendship), Kushimitama (奇魂, Wisdom) and Sakimitama (幸魂, Love). She contained these four spirits at their maximum and balanced, giving her the ability to drive out the soul of anything and purify it. Midoriko mainly used it on demons which left them powerless. It was this ability that she used to defeat the dragon demon and create the Shikon no Tama.
    • Shikon Jewel influence: As the good and purity of the Shikon Jewel, Midoriko has some influence and control over the jewel and its shards that can be exerted into the living world even if she has long died. Her influence over the jewel was so great that the collective power of the wolf tribe ancestors was only able to temporarily override her control of Kōga's jewel shards.
  • Barrier: Midoriko has the ability to create very powerful barriers, even though she was within the Shikon no Tama. She could maintain the barrier on the entrance of the cave (anime only) where the Shikon no Tama was created, having enough strength to easily withstand the barrier-breaking Red Tessaiga (manga only). The barrier she has within the cave is capable of physically expelling anyone who displays a selfish desire for the jewel straight out of it, as seen when Inuyasha boasted about obtaining the jewel to become a full demon which cause him to be thrown out of the cave which Shippō likens to being Midoriko's version of the Beads of Subjugation.
• Master swordswoman: Due to the endless battles and wars she had experienced, Midoriko was a skilled swordswoman, able to ward off a multitude of demons with a single blow. Her swordsmanship led her to have the strength equal to one hundred samurai according to lore.
• Immense endurance: Midoriko had extremely high stamina, fighting many demons, who had all merged into one single demon, for seven days and seven nights without any rest. It was even shown that she had managed to defeat him after losing her left arm and being impaled by his tentacles with little reaction.

Weapons

• Sword: Midoriko carries and uses a large two-edged sword as her main weapon. It doesn't seem to have any special abilities outside of being an excellent medium for her spiritual powers.
  • Purification slash: Midoriko can imbue her spiritual powers into the sword, purifying hundreds upon hundreds of demons in one sweep.
• Samurai armor: Midoriko is shown to wearing samurai armor over her priestess attire when she fought, though she only seems to wear the chest plate, shoulder plates, and skirt portion of the chest plate.

Manga vs. Anime

• Midoriko's appearance is different in the anime as detailed above.
• Midoriko's admirer is not adapted into the anime.
• It is hinted that Kirara fought by Midoriko's side in the anime, while in the manga, no such suggestions were made.
• In the anime, Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippō, Miroku, and Myōga are unable to enter the cave and they can only get in after Sango tells them how. In the manga, they are able to walk in without her.
• In the manga, her soul inside the jewel hasn't the left arm lost in life and one of the demons is biting her empty sleeve, while the anime shows it.

Trivia

• Midoriko's name pronunciation was changed in the English Dub of InuYasha The Final Act, pronounced "meed-oh-ree-ko", instead of "mee-door-e-ko" as it was in the original series.
• When the Shikon no Tama is pure being held by miko, exorcist, hōshi or priest it turns a soft pink color by Naohi/Good, whom is represented by Midoriko, means she is winning over Magatsuhi, the evil within the Shikon Jewel.
• In the fourth movie, the clothing that Kanade is wearing looks pretty similar to Midoriko's clothing.
• She is the only priestess shown in the story that wields a sword, not counting Kanade and the Kikyō clone that appeared in the fourth movie.
• Despite being responsible for the whole story of InuYasha as responsible for the existence of the Shikon Jewel, she has a really minor role in the actual story.
• Midoriko and Kikyō were alike in that they were miko fighting demons. However, as seen in episode 26 and in the final scene, Inuyasha himself is her true model and she gradually fades to him.

Media appearances

Notes

References

Naraku
Incarnations	Kanna • Kagura • Goshinki • Kagerōmaru • Jūrōmaru • Musō • Infant • Hakudōshi • Byakuya • Akagane
Rejected parts	Unnamed incarnation • Hair monster • Eye monster • Onigumo (reabsorbed) • Kugutsu • Kodoku
Allies	Saimyōshō • Tsubo Tsukai • Sesshōmaru (formerly) • Jaken (formerly) • Ryūkotsusei • Tsubaki • Hakushin • Shichinintai • Salamander • Entei • Abi • Tekkei • Mōryōmaru (formerly) • Gorai • Mirror demon • Magatsuhi • Demon of the Shikon no Tama
Enemies	Inuyasha • Kagome Higurashi • Kikyō • Miyatsu • Miroku's father • Miroku • Sango • Kirara • Kohaku • Kōga • Ginta • Hakkaku • Kai • Shinta • Sesshōmaru (currently) • Kaguya • Mōryōmaru (currently) • Hōsenki I • Hitomiko • Kansuke • Kaede • Midoriko • Shippō • Jaken (currently) • Rin • A-Un • Janis
Locations	Onigumo's cave • Naraku's castle • Mount Hakurei • Naraku's cave
Miscellaneous	Shikon no Tama • Kazaana • Onigumo's cave • Naraku's castle • Mount Hakurei