Character Profile: Miroku

Miroku is a fellow who has earned where he is now... by cheating, lying, and stealing. His trick is to lure folks into believing that a dark spirit is stalking them, and then "helping" them out while getting to spend the night and eat a hearty supper. The next day he finds another poor sucker to set up and he leaches from them for a night or two, and so on.

He comes into contact with InuYasha and Kagome early on and Kagome senses shards of the Shikon Jewel and the fight is on. During the battle, Miroku unleashes his trump card, and his curse. His great grandfather was cursed to have a black hole in his hand, called the Windtunnel, which sucks up anything in it's path. Miroku inherited that curse. He unleashes it, nearly taking in InuYasha, but he closes it when Kagome jumps in the way as he didn't want to kill her.

He joins the quest for shards of the Shikon afterwards. Miroku becomes even more involved in the quest for the Shikon Jewel when he learns that Naraku had been the one who had stolen the jewel. Naraku had also been the demon who had cursed his grandfather (and now him) with the Windtunnel [Kazaana]. Now he has to take care of his own Windtunnel in order to prolong his life.

The Windtunnel is normally sealed by prayer beads wrapped around his hand. It will slowly grow over time and can be aggravated if treated badly. Unless Naraku is defeated and the curse lifted, the Windtunnel will eventually grow beyond his hand and become uncontrollable, engulfing Miroku himself before disappearing. That had been the fate of his father and grandfather.

Miroku introduces InuYasha and company to his friend, the raccoon demon Hachi. Also, Miroku has feelings for Sango.

I'm told Miroku's name means "The Buddhist Messiah" in Japanese.

Miroku's everything a monk shouldn't be. He's a real skirt-chaser, and asks every beautiful woman he meets if she'll do him the honor of bearing his child. This isn't without a reason, though, as his father was cursed by Naraku with a hole in his right palm which acts as a vacuum, sucking up everything in it's way. Since the air void eventually sucks in the person who carries it, and since every male descending from his father will carry the void until Naraku is destroyed, Miroku sets out on a quest to destroy Naraku and stop the void in his hand from growing. He wants an heir to continue the quest if he is to be sucked in before he can defeat Naraku.

Miroku joins Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippou after discovering that they all have a similar goal: find Naraku and defeat him. Plus, they already have Shikon Jewel fragments in their possession. Being a lecherous monk, he spends a lot of his time feeling up on Sango and Kagome, and asking various women to bear his child.

Miroku is very good with his holy powers and can 'sense' evil energy. He is very talented at fighting with the staff that he carries with him. Being a priest, he's useful to the local villagers since he can perform exorcisms, and is usually welcomed into the village with open arms.