Poor Jaken. He is forever doomed to follow the greatness that is Sesshomaru. Is that even a bad thing though? With a master like Sesshomaru, who needs to worry about enemies? Besides, Jaken isn’t really a fighter anyway, which is why he isn’t suited to the life of a nomad, but such is the life of a retainer forever bound to his lord, and what a handsome lord he is.

Jaken’s lack of any real combat experience firmly places him at the bottom of the list. But, his loyalty will forever be the strongest in our hearts.

Shippo may be small, but he’s got some fight in him when the going gets tough. As the adoptive son of Kagome, he is extremely protective of her and frequently risks his own life to defend her despite being scolded by Kagome later. His abilities to shapeshift and create illusions have often come in handy for hiding or spying on enemies, though not so helpful in full on combat. The only real technique Shippo has to defend himself is his fox fire ability that doesn’t actually harm his enemies but does cancel out others’ moves. Shippo may be cute, but unfortunately he really isn’t a fighter.

As the last surviving member of the taijiya clan, Sango has big shoes to fill. Her family was born to fight and exterminate yokai, a skill she mastered at the age of only sixteen and is why she is such a huge asset to Inuyasha and his crew. She can defend herself and her abilities are only enhances with Kirara by her side. She possesses superhuman strength as well, seeing as her main weapon, Hiraikotsu, is a giant boomerang bigger than her. Both her and Miroku are on the same level and come in handy defeating the many smaller minions Naraku pumps out while Inuyasha and Kagome pursue the larger targets.

Forced into an unfortunate fate, Miroku inherited the curse Naraku gave his grandfather and is destined to be consumed by the Kazaana or Wind Tunnel that resides in his hand. Thanks to his prayer beads, the process is significantly slower, but Miroku must frequently make use of the power that will destroy him in order to defeat Naraku and his goons, risking his life in the process. Knowing that he will be poisoned for sucking in Naraku’s miasma never changes his mind, and so he continues to do so in order to aide his companions.

The cause of all the grief in the series, Kikyo, even in death, still has a surprising amount of power left in her. She is still able to purify and heal humans through her priestess powers. Naraku also seeks her out fairly often, knowing that she is powerful and she is Inuyasha’s weak point. His even pushed her into a river of his own toxic miasma and she STILL was able to survive. Afterwards, Naraku pierced her chest, something any normal person would die from, and she remained alive, though in poor condition. Kikyo is more like a cat due to the fact that she has nine lives.

The star of the show, Kagome has a surprising amount of latent power thanks to being Kikyo’s reincarnation. Kagome’s raw spiritual power and ability to detect the Shikon shards are priceless assets when tracking down the shards. She also possesses the ability to purify the shards and heal wounds, helping her comrades in their time of need.

Kagome also serves as Inuyasha’s backup, using her purified arrows to weaken Inuyasha’s enemies and get him out of a pinch. She also can frequently be seen in the larger battles teaming up with Inuyasha’s Kaze no Kizu by shooting one of her sacred arrows into it in order to enhance the damage done to the enemy.

Being Kikyo’s reincarnation naturally makes her a yokai magnet and she can easily defend herself against the average yokai. Her strategic skills also serve her well when she is cornered or tricked into less favorable positions in battle making her the natural leader of the Inuyasha crew, though Inuyasha will never admit such a thing.

Probably the second most popular character with the ladies, Koga leaves an impact on everyone he meets, ESPECIALLY Inuyasha. His cocky attitude has led him into trouble a number of times, but overall, Koga has a good heart. The crystal shards in his legs allow him to travel at the speed of the wind which causes tornadoes to form every time he is seen running through the forests. He uses his speed to his advantage when he fights since most of his attacks are physical and based on some sort of martial art. Seeing as he hails from the wolf tribe, which lives a natural life in the woods, his natural fighting style suits him.

Koga isn’t just a kind man, he’s also a leader who thinks of his people first. He is the one everyone seeks out when something is amiss. Ayame’s tribe sought him out when an evil minion of Naraku’s invaded their village and wiped out most of the wolf yokai there. While he struggled a bit, he managed to outsmart the demon and save the day.

Koga has gone toe to toe with Inuyasha and almost always ends up the unofficial winner due to his animalistic instincts and abilities such as his super strength, his incredible amount of stamina, and his amazing ability to sense and predict his enemy’s movements, all of which make him a top contender on this list.

Yes, yes, Inuyasha is ranked below Sesshomaru and Naraku, but listen first. He already started with the short end of the stick when he was born a hanyo, and he’s come a long way. From being pinned to a tree for years from Kikyo’s arrow to FINALLY defeating Naraku, Inuyasha is no one to sneeze at. That being said, a majority of the series saw him struggling, even against Kagura whose wind slices don’t seem to cause any trouble to his older brother, Sesshomaru. Time and time again, Inuyasha has had to continue training because he is so far behind the rest of the pack and without his sword’s many abilities, he would be lost.

Even though Inuyasha must play a deadly game of catch up, he naturally possesses an enormous about of demonic power thanks in part to his father, Inu no Taisho, one of the greatest Daiyokai that ever lived, therefore Inuyasha’s natural abilities are much more powerful than normal hanyos. Senses such as hearing, sight, and smell are all enhanced accompanied by a longer than average lifespan and the ability to heal incredibly fast. Inuyasha is also able to channel this energy into his claws to create a deadly scratch attack known as Sankon Tesso or Claws of Steel, a move that can easily slice away Naraku’s lower minions.

A good example of Inuyasha’s latent power lies in the first episode of the series when Kagome releases him from his slumber so that he could slay the yokai chasing her. The yokai that had JUST EATEN the Shikon no Tama. He beat her down hard too, so Inuyasha is far from a pushover, but having struggled through the entire series doesn’t get him the coveted number one slot. If he had been number one, then the series would have been over before it started anyway.

On this list for obvious reasons, Naraku is the main antagonist of the series who is on a quest to obtain all of the jewel shards before Inuyasha and the others prevent him from doing so. While Naraku is technically his own being, his body consists of thousands of other yokai he has absorbed over many years and he can disperse them from his body to do his bidding. Accompanying these powers of control, he also has the ability to create strong barriers and disperse miasma that can be highly toxic to mortals. Naraku’s strength is in numbers, seeing that the physical attacks he does dole out are rather weak in comparison to the supernatural abilities of other creatures. A good comparison would be the Hydra from Greek Mythology. Every time one of Naraku’s puppets is cut down, two more take their place.

Though Naraku’s weakness as a hanyo may pose as an opportunity for his enemies to strike, he is still able to keep those who wish to harm him at bay with his cunning mind. In fact, he is the mastermind behind Kikyo and Inuyasha’s betrayal towards each other so that he may steal the Shikon in the confusion and purge his human half, therefore making him a full-fledged yokai and more powerful than anything before. His plan half failed since in the end he was unable to obtain the jewel, but a second chance arises when Kagome travels back in time to the feudal era.

Naraku’s ability to sprout heads wherever and whenever he wishes supports his position on the list considering Koga and Inuyasha have fought countless battles with Naraku, and all save one have resulted in failure. The ability to strategize and create grandiose plots to keep Inuyasha occupied makes Naraku a force to be reckoned with.

What it is with one armed dudes that make them so powerful? Shanks, Edward Elric, and now Sesshomaru are some of the most badass characters around and are well respected within their own universes. Perhaps the remaining body parts inherit the power of the missing arm just as senses are heightened when one has been taken away. Whatever the case, Sesshomaru does not mess around.

While Sesshomaru is capable of compassion (Why else would he carry Rin around with him?), he is especially known for being regal and ruthless. He frequently carries himself as though he is the god's’ gift to yokai, (He is to women, am I right?) but also has the guts to back up his claims. Sure, Inuyasha may have taken his arm, but he is still as badass as ever.

When Naraku decides to add Sesshomaru to his yokai collection, or rather, his own body, he steals Rin away from Sesshomaru to lure him into a trap. Little does Naraku know, Sesshomaru doesn’t play around. Knowing that Rin is located elsewhere, Sesshomaru takes the bait and just strolls right on into Naraku’s castle. Screw the barrier and miasma. Sesshomaru is too powerful to be affected by such frivolous attacks. In fact, he looks almost bored. Naraku keeps throwing his tentacles at him and Sesshy just keeps hacking away, which was all according to Naraku’s plan to absorb Sesshomaru into his own body. Naraku seems to think that Sesshomaru has no clue what is going on when in reality, he most likely does and yet he STILL ALLOWS IT TO HAPPEN. LOOK AT HIS FACE. He is BORED. He probably smelled his half-brother and decided to let him handle it since the fight wasn’t even worth the effort. HE WOULD RATHER BE SWALLOWED BY DEAD DEMONS THEN FIGHT AN UNWORTHY OPPONENT.

When all is said and done, Sesshomaru hacks his way out of the yokai cocoon he was in like nothing ever happened. The true mark of a badass. You keep doing you, Sesshomaru.