Yura of the Hair

Yura of the Hair
Age	50
Race	Hair Demons
Techniques	Comb of Hair Hair Barrier Ogre-Fire Hair Flight

Yura resided in an invisible cocoon made up entirely of hair while hiding her true form, a red comb, in a red skull. She was at least fifty years old before the Sacred Jewel returned to the Feudal Era hidden inside Kagome's body.

During the Story

Yura manipulated the townspeople of Kaede's village via her hair in order to defeat Inuyasha and take his Sacred Jewel shards. During their final fight, when she had Inuyasha cornered, Kagome was wearing his fire rat robe, and was thus protected from Yura's razor-sharp hair. After Kagome found Yura's true form, the comb hidden away in a red skull, she grabbed one of her arrows and smashed it into the skull, breaking the comb and causing Yura to dissolve into dust. While Yura was relatively short-lived, she nevertheless had the distinct honor of being the first powerful opponent that Inuyasha and Kagome faced together.

Personality

Although she only briefly appeared, Yura had a distinct personality. She worshipped hair, finding Inuyasha's especially lovely, and became rather angry when the hair she manipulated was damaged. She was also quite confident, believing herself to be extremely powerful. She was also very comfortable with her body, to the point of having an outwardly flirtatious attitude. Contrary to this, she seems to consider herself a lady, calling herself such when verbally reprimanding Inuyasha for his rudeness, and becoming outright furious when he ran her through the chest with his claws. She wasn't angry he had hurt her but that "a half-demon she just met sticking a hand in her chest."

Physical description

Unlike most of the demons who appear in the series, Yura had a very human-like look (although her "true form" was technically a red comb). She took the appearance of a young girl with short, dark green hair, which she had tied up fan-like in a hair bob style. Her hair was dark enough to appear black in some lights. She had creamy skin and sharp fingernails, as well as a lithe and very agile body. She had reddish-violet eyes, wore red eye shadow, and red lipstick.

Outfit

Yura tied her hair up using a red ribbon, and adorned a black ribbon choker, tied at the back of her neck in a bow. She wore traditional kunoichi (female ninja) garb. Her ninja tunic was black and sleeveless, was cut off midway down her thighs, and exposed the cleavage of her large breasts. She also wore a bright yellow sash which tied at the front of her outfit. Yura wore thin, tight, black gloves on both of her hands, which were holstered by her middle fingers and extended beyond her wrists, just short of mid-forearm. They were more decorative in nature rather than serving as actual "guards", similar to what most ninja wore at the time. She wore tight, black cloths acting as foot guards on both of her legs, which started midway up her shins down to her middle toes, each held by thin straps at the bottom arches of her feet. They were also more decorative in nature rather than serving as actual "guards", leaving her practically barefoot. Her wakizashi sword Benigasumi was holstered on her left hip. She normally wielded her comb in her right hand.

Powers & Abilities

Hair Manipulation: Yura's trademark was her razor-sharp hair strands, which were apparently capable of cutting through anything except Inuyasha's Robe of the Fire-Rat. The hair was made up of the hair of her victims, as she stated that once she killed Inuyasha, all his hair would be a "pleasure to control".^[4] Kagome noticed that there seemed to be strands of Yura's hair that shimmered, signifying that a certain strand (or strands) controlled a large group of the hair.^[5] These shimmering strands could be traced back to Yura's location. Yura had perfectly mastered the hair she has collected over the years, the volume of which increased as she killed more people and took their hair which gives versatile usages in battle.

• Kushi no Ori (櫛乃檻, "Comb of Hair"): Yura was able to direct a large mass of hair upward, forming a massive cage made of her hair, in which she could securely trap her enemies.
• Puppetry: Controlling people by making them lose consciousness and using her hair as marionette strings.

• Entanglement: Catching her opponents, preventing them from moving freely and hanging them if necessary.
• Tracking: Following her enemies, by sticking a hair to her enemy and following it where it went.
• Hair Barrier: Protecting herself when she encountered strong attacks like Inuyasha's Blades of Blood.
• Suspended Weaponry: Controlling objects from a distance, the most explicit example being when she used her opponent's sword controlled by the hair.
• Restoration: Using these hairs to heal her amputated limbs (only in the anime), as shown when Inuyasha cut off her sword hand, only for it to be reattached soon after. It could also be used to heal from seemingly any injury, shown when Inuyasha sliced Yura in half.

Immortality: Due to Yura placing her true self and soul within her red comb hidden within a red skull at the very center of her hair cocoon, her body is merely an empty shell and thus she's capable of recovering from just about any bodily damage she may sustain within little time and little reaction to them. This is proven when during her fight against Inuyasha, he was able to inflict a number of grievous wounds on her with none of them impeding her in any way with one being an impalement in her chest where her heart should be and being bisected from waist didn't stop her neither. Only when Kagome stabbed the skull and the comb which are her true form with her arrow infused with spiritual power was Yura finally vanquished for good.

Pyrokinesis: Through her comb Yura can generate fire on hair that she claims can incinerate someone to the bones in mere seconds and leave nothing behind though wasn't able to get through the protection of the Robe of the Fire Rat.

• Oni-Bi Gushi (鬼火毛, "Ogre-Fire Hair"): Using her red comb, by making a sweeping motion, Yura unleashed a torrent of flames which could be channeled down her hair for a better attack.^[6] She used this attack on Kagome, claiming that it would incinerate her body, and that "not even her bones would be left". This would have happened, had Kagome not been wearing Inuyasha's fireproof robe.

Flight: Yura had the ability to fly and hover in midair.

Immense Agility: She was extremely agile and flexible. Her balance was also incredible, as shown when she stood on and sometimes jumped onto single strands of hair.

Enhanced Strength: She has a good deal of strength as she managed to combat effectively against the likes of Inuyasha at close with little effort and even managed to push him.

Expert Swordswoman: Yura has shown high skills in swordsmanship as she managed to grievously wound Inuyasha multiple times within close range before he was able to react to her most of the time. Through her hair she can wield her sword in an unconventional method of having suspended in mid-air and attacking from there.

High Demonic Power: Despite being only an oni, Yura has proven herself to be a very serious threat to Inuyasha and Kagome despite not enhancing her power with the Shikon Jewel shard she had in possession then. Through the versatile applications of her hair and prowess she was able to narrowly kill the two of them.

Weapons

Benigasumi (紅霞, "Red fog"): During close-range combat, Yura used a wakizashi named Benigasumi, which she claimed was a treasure among the oni. It had the ability to cut flesh and bone without cutting her specialized hair.^[7]

Quotes

"Well, I never! A half-demon I just met sticking his hand in my chest?!"

―Yura^[src]

"Half demon, half power. I should have known."

―Yura^[src]

"Well that was strange... Come to think of it, so was that girl."

―Yura^[src]

Trivia

• Some translators translate "Kushi no Ori" as "Cage of Hair". However, "Kushi" (櫛) uses the kanji for the word "comb", while "Ori" (檻) refers to hair, making the actual translation "Comb of Hair".
• Yura bore a fair resemblance to Nabiki Tendo from Rumiko Takahashi's previous work, Ranma ½. She also shared some characteristics with Temari Kaminarimon from the same show.
• Her seiyū, Akiko Yajima, also voiced Kohaku, while her English voice actress, Chiara Zanni, also voiced the Infant and Hakudōshi.

Screenshots