Character Profile: Shippo

Shippo is a little fox demon that used to live in the hills, but came across InuYasha and company in their quest for the Shikon Jewel. If in need of a quick getaway, he can make dolls and spread them out to fool the enemy.

He has lots of other little tricks and suprises.

Even though Shippo looks like he's about 5 years old, he's actually closer to 50 years old. Demon's age differently than humans, and usually it's a lot slower. In episode 75, when InuYasha and the group are listening to the story of when the cat demons attacked (which happened about 50 years prior), Shippo says he doesn't remember it, and InuYasha says of course he wouldn't because he would have been a little baby at the time. This, however, conflicts with information presented in the InuYasha Profiles book that states Shippo is 7 years old.

Shippo learns a magic spell named Fox Fire when he, InuYasha, and Kagome avenge his father's death. The spirit of Shippo's father casts Fox Fire to protect them from the Thunder Brothers.

Editor's Note: Someone told me that in one of the manga issues, it is said that demons just stop aging one day, which could also account for his childlike appearance. However, the scenes of the Fox village depict Fox Demons of varying ages, so one might assume that if Shippo's father aged into an adult and had children that Shippo would do the same.

I'm told that a book titled "The Art of Inuyasha" states that Shippo's name means "Seven Treasures" in Japanese, however my Japanese translation program says it means "tail".

Shippou is a young fox demon from Inuyasha's time who lost his family to other demons. His main goal when he first meets Inuyasha and Kagome is to steal the Shikon shards they have with them to help him become strong in order to defeat the two Thunder brothers that killed his father and took his father's pelt.

Fox demons are known for their shape-shifting abilities, and how they like to play tricks. Shippou's no exception, and he can transform himself into basically any form he wishes, though sometimes his transformations are rather incomplete. When he first meets Kagome and Inuyasha, he tries to intimidate them by turning into a huge pink ball. He can turn into various other things, such as a bow, a rat, and images of other people. He can also use this ability to create "toys" such as a toy top that can expand and be used as a distraction. He can also split himself into many different parts to help him confuse and enemy, and can send out little "help" signals via this illusion. Shippou has another unique ability, Fox Fire, which is a blue fire that he uses to attack. Since he's very young, his attacks usually don't do much more than allow him time to escape from enemies.

After meeting up with Inuyasha and Kagome, and being saved by Inuyasha, he decides to stay with the group since he's lost both his parents anyway. He is nothing more than an annoyance to Inuyasha, but Kagome takes kindly to him and Shippou starts to see her as a mother figure.