Tōga's History
Tōga (闘とう牙が, "Fighting Fang"), also known as the Inu no Taishō (犬いぬの大たい将しょう, "Great Dog General") or Inu no Daiyōkai (犬いぬの大だい妖よう怪かい, "Great Dog-Demon"), was a powerful inu daiyōkai who was known quite well and feared throughout feudal Japan as being the very strongest of his kind.[1] He fathered two sons, the firstborn of which was the powerful inu daiyōkai Sesshōmaru, mothered by a female inu daiyōkai, his first wife, but their relationship did not work out. His second son was the inu hanyō Inuyasha who was born from the human woman Izayoi, Tōga's second wife.
Tōga had many adversaries during his lifetime, and many of them have ended up crossing paths with one or both of his sons and granddaughters a couple centuries later.
At an unknown time in the distant past, Tōga discovered the Sō'unga, the sentient sword from Hell, whose soul was the ancient spirit of an evil demon. He took possession of the hellish sword in order to contain it. 600 years ago in the Heian period, Tōga had fought with Kirinmaru, the Lord of the Eastern Lands in battle as he cut his left horn and right arm. After he defeated Kirinmaru, he tells him not to bring his daughter Rion in battle.[3][4] One century later in 1005 AD after this, Tōga joined forces with him in order to destroy the Grim Comet, a comet that would travel close to Earth every 500 years, causing war and famine to spread throughout the land, causing the deaths of many people. With their combined power, the two lords were able to destroy a fragment of the comet.[5]
At some point during the Kamakura era, Tōga fell in love with a human noblewoman named Izayoi, which led him to task Tōtōsai to use one of his fangs to forge the sword Tessaiga.[6] He continued traveling and challenged great demons (occasionally crossing paths with Sesshōmaru, who would ignore his advice). Among them were the invasion of a Mongol army led by the Lord Hyōga and his son Menōmaru of their clan,[7] and the Panther demon tribe led by the Panther King.[8] His earliest known adversary was the daiyōkai Shishinki, who lost half of his face and had part of his Meidō Zangetsuha absorbed by the Tessaiga.[9] However, since it was an incomplete and unstable technique, Tōga had it sealed within Tenseiga which was sheared from Tessaiga by Tōtōsai.[10]
While Tōga was away battling a new yōkai (the dragon Ryūkotsusei), his beloved had become pregnant with his second child. However, a samurai named Takemaru Setsuna who served Izayoi's mansion was also in love with her and discovered that her pregnancy was the result of a tryst with a yōkai, thus sought to prevent the hanyō child from being born.
Tōga had finally met his match. Although he managed to seal Ryūkotsusei into a cliff while in his true form, he was unable to deliver a fatal blow, and he suffered lethal wounds. Myōga then brought him the knowledge that Takemaru was after Izayoi and his unborn son. Sesshōmaru sensed his father's imminent demise and demanded he bequeath him his swords Tessaiga and Sō'unga. Tōga refused to give them to him, asking if he was willing to kill him for them. Sesshōmaru stated that he wished to match his father's power by gaining one of the swords, so Tōga asked him if he had something to protect. Not realizing that his father had always been trying to teach him compassion, Sesshōmaru scoffed, deriding the need to protect something as weakness. It was this belief that truly cemented his hatred for Inuyasha centuries later, as he blamed the Dog General's death on his compassionate need to protect his wife and son. Tōga then took his true form and, despite Myōga's pleas, went for Izayoi one last time.
Arriving at the mansion, he easily overpowered Takemaru's troops with Tessaiga, though suffering further injuries from arrows. Takemaru then challenged him, stating that he had killed Izayoi so that she would not be defiled by birthing a demon. Enraged and grief-stricken, Tōga sliced off Takemaru's left arm and raced into the mansion as he heads to the birthing room, while Takemaru ordered his troops to burn it down. Arriving at the birthing room locating Izayoi's body and her newborn son, the Dog General resurrected her with Tenseiga as the mansion burned around them. He covered her along with the baby the Robe of the Fire-Rat to protect them from the flames, when Izayoi gets up, Takemaru returned. As they prepared to flee, he drew Sō'unga as Takemaru told the Dog General that he have no regrets about fighting him to the death and let them journey together into the underworld. Knowing his injuries were fatal anyway, Tōga told Izayoi to live long — as well as naming his second son Inuyasha and after that, he told her to flee. When Izayoi with newborn Inuyasha gets out of the mansion, Tōga produces the Dragon Twister and began battling with Takemaru, as the burning mansion collapsed around them. Neither Takemaru nor Tōga survived. His voice tells Izayoi to survive, live a long life, live long and well with Inuyasha.
Tōga's remains, along with Tessaiga, were consigned to the gateway region of the Netherworld — the gateway itself sealed within a Black Pearl that was hidden in Inuyasha's eye. This was the first of many indications that he reserved the mastery of Tessaiga for his younger son. Myōga had been charged with keeping an eye on Inuyasha and helping him access the inheritance when he was old enough. Also in accordance with his will, Tōtōsai 'delivered' Tenseiga to Sesshōmaru (nailing it to Bokusenō's trunk with a sarcastic note, knowing Sesshōmaru would probably try to kill him). No plan was left for Sō'unga as it was too unstable of a weapon, so it was sealed and thrown into the Bone-Eater's Well. After Sō'unga was finally defeated by the two brothers' Backlash Wave and Dragon Strike, Tōga's soul briefly appeared before them, expressing his pride as Myōga, Tōtōsai, and Saya saying "The master!". Tōga was very proud to his sons and informed that Sō'unga will be consigned to Hell forever. By the end of the series his deepest wishes have been granted: Inuyasha has found a secure and happy life with Kagome Higurashi and his friends, despite his half-demon heritage. Meanwhile Sesshōmaru has been taught the values of compassion, which balance his constant search for power and create a strong bond with his human ward and eventual wife, Rin. His children’s fulfillment’s would give Tōga's three granddaughters.
While the various yōkai in Tōga's service scattered after his death, they remained loyal to his memory and showed deep respect to Sesshōmaru and — less frequently — Inuyasha. When the Panther tribe attacked again, all of Tōga's former allies joined to form an army under the command of Sesshōmaru, and once more drove them back.
