Personality

Kikyou is a character with a somewhat complex personality because it changes depending on whom she is with. Kikyou grows a little after her resurrection, but otherwise is a rather static character personality wise.

To me, the personality trait of Kikyou’s that stands out the most is how kind and gentle she is. If you get past the part of her she has to put up as an act, you will find a soft-spoken woman inside. Kikyou was the shrine maiden of her village, and everyone liked her and looked up to her. She took care of the elderly, the sick and the wounded alongside her job of protecting the Shikon no Tama and the village from demons and enemies. She always made time for people and put the protection of others above herself. Although exterminating evil was her job, Kikyou took it to heart because of her will to help and protect others. And even though she had to kill many demons, Kikyou never killed anyone she did not have to. She let Tsubaki live, even though she probably should not have, and she did not kill Inuyasha no matter how many times he tried to steal the jewel either. She was gentle and soft-spoken with Inuyasha once they began to get to know each other better, and even the tone of her voice seemed sweeter than the outward front she had to put on as the guardian of the Shikon no Tama. Kikyou also spent a large amount of time with the children of the village, playing games and teaching them useful medicinal herbs and flowers. They loved her and looked up to her as mother figure, but I think the whole village did really. Despite warnings from her sister, Kikyou took care of the wounded bandit Onigumo, and hid him from others. Kikyou cared for everyone, and that trait was not lost after she was brought back to life. She stayed in villages and became the shrine maiden she once was, taking care of everyone and playing with the children, and even during her travels she would help people. She became well known for healing and treating the wounded and sick on both sides of the battlefield, showing her care for everyone who is hurt.

Kikyou is mature and motherly because she takes care of everyone, as well as having a lot of experience with children. Though she is eighteen and technically and adult, Kikyou was forced to grow up sooner than she might have otherwise. She became the shrine maiden and was burdened with the responsibility of taking care of the village, and eventually guarding and purifying the Shikon no Tama. People, including myself, tend to forget that she really is just a woman who wanted to be normal.

Resulting from her duties, Kikyou ends up developing a strong poker face. She cannot show any signs of being human otherwise demons will overpower her. Love ended up being her downfall after all. Her poker face ended up carrying over until after death as well, even though she says her soul is freer than it was before. Despite the painful situation of being forced to live off of dead souls in a body made of clay with your love falling for your reincarnation, Kikyou never cries or shows any real sign of sadness. The only emotions that ever show through most of the time are anger and her confidence. Of course she still smiles and is kind to the children and people she takes care of, but you would think some sadness would show through. Kikyou is therefore a strong woman who can keep going even when everything is turned against her. She cries only one time, and that is when she is leaning against Inuyasha while dying. But her tears are not really sad, but happy, for she is finally free from the moment where she and Inuyasha died. Since she was free and became a normal woman, she could show her emotions and smiled warmly at the man she loved as well as being able to cry with him.

I would argue that Kikyou is probably one of the more intelligent characters in the series because of her common sense as well as vast knowledge on close to everything. Even if she makes a mistake, she can easily see through what happened and devise a way to get out. Kikyou also can analyze situations and know when there is more than meets the eye, which allows her to see through Naraku’s plots and that there was something wrong with Suikotsu. She is able to keep her head in any situation and never has her thoughts or actions clouded by emotions. She thinks about things until she finds an answer, and is unsatisfied with nothing coming out of things that trouble her. Kikyou is also able to be deceptive to find out or get what she wants. She pretended to be unconscious to get to Naraku’s base, as well as pretended to be controlled by the tainted sacred jewel shard in order to devise her plan to destroy him.

Though full of confidence with her actions most of the time, Kikyou has shown to have doubt, mainly in herself. This, of course, only came about after she was resurrected. Most people do not know that she is dead, so she is almost deceiving the people in villages she stays at and I am sure that makes her uneasy. After the monk Sekai found her and told her to go back to her own realm in front of the children, Kikyou asks Sayo what she thinks of her, ignoring the young girl’s previous question. Also, in the second movie, when the small girl gives Kikyou the cup of Buddha, Kikyou asks her if it is all right to give it to her because she may be a demon as well. Kikyou obviously doubts her new existence, and turns towards others to see what they think. The Kikyou that was alive would not have felt so much doubt, nor actually express any. Her hesitation to kill Suikotsu also shows doubt in herself, because she knows she will eventually meet the same end as him. So even though she acts confident with every move she makes, she obviously has some second thoughts brewing on the inside. But, it is human nature to have some self-doubt, and that just goes to prove that Kikyou is human, no matter how she may appear on the outside.

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